I am feeling increasingly estranged from FR. It’s too bad, because this is the first ‘home’ I ever had on the Internet, starting ten years ago. (I changed screen names slightly because my other one was getting too many unwanted pings that didn’t respond when I asked to be removed.)
I couldn’t stand the cult of personality around Obama because of the irrational focus on personal presentation in front of cameras. Intelligence, background, experience—these were what made people like RWR our heroes. This cycle I’m seeing I was wrong—many people weren’t really against the worship, they were just against the focus of that worship. They champion people who simply aren’t up to snuff because they “like” these people they’ve never met, as if they were supporting the person they want to be their friend.
I hated the Global Warming-style fake-religion of the left, the fixation on things like ‘first black president’ or ‘first woman nominee’ or whatever, and the blistering, personal rhetoric. We were the mature ones who didn’t want earmarks just for us, we wanted them cut across the board. We so wanted government programs reduced that we were willing to give up what we put into them (which, of course, is the only way out of these economic suicide pacts they tricked us into).
But we have Republican, and even conservative, versions of all of this garbage.
Now we come to the magical thinking of the democrats, who tried to change the rules of the 2000 election on election day and immediately after. We don’t like the candidates, so some are getting all psyched about this TV-style phony drama of a brokered convention! Wheeeee! How exciting!
As someone already asked, do the people cheering for this even know what a brokered convention MEANS?
We are so fixed on this idea that if we don’t get a candidate we can like or love, we are going to sit out the election and let Obama win. I think part of this is due to the mistaken idea of what the political landscape in this country truly is. As I’ve said before, remove Reagan from the picture and you will have a much clearer view of the landscape we ACTUALLY have had over the past half-century.
Wishin’ and hopin’ for some dramatic crowd-goosing moment when a savior arrives is Democrat Chris Matthews ‘insider’ crap, childish pageantry having NOTHING to do with the unromantic WORK of being president.
We have a process. These are the people with the guts to go through that process, which is why I find the bile aimed at Romney (and I’m not a supporter) so nauseating. I’m certainly far from perfect and occasionally lob bad one-liners about some folks, but overall I respect them all for TRYING, while some of us bask in the fantasy of those who’ve sat on the sidelines being PERFECT because they haven’t gotten themselves dirty.
These are our choices. None are perfect. All are better than Obama. Pick one, and support him/her. Then in the final election, support our nominee, or stand by and let one Obama vote go unanswered.
But enough with the silly Paul Wellstone memorial-style political drama.
amen brother.
Sadly, the cult of personality thing effects many people of all political ideologies. One would hope that conservatives are too smart for it, but alas they are not. Human nature is what it is, and it's never going to change.
Well said.
Not me. If I believed they were TRYING to get elected to an office for the purpose of helping their Country, I might agree with you. However, I believe they are mostly narcissists who are running for their own self aggrandizement. I believe most are corrupt and my personal freedom is one of the farthest things from their minds.
It is a game of money and power and those with little of either are unimportant.
Thanls for contributing to the discussion.
I’ve followed your postings through the years and have appreciated your common-sense answers.
The tone has definitely changed here at FR, as I fear that subversive DU’ers have lied-in-wait for times such as this.
I hope that we can agree to debate without dividing.
Thanks again.