You’ve been restrained for most of the past going-on-eight years, which have mainly limited you to playing on defense, far from the best part of your game. Literally, you’ve had to defend W., backed by a mostly Pubbie Congress and mostly Pubbie Scotus, which isn’t any fun, I understand. You’ve been forced to stand by their actions and policies, while a horde of liberal anti-Americanists have made a series of wisecracks, jibes, and critiques of them. It’s not only that you don’t like playing defense—you’re really not much good at it, especially having to defend the increasingly corrupt, inept and self-destructive leaders of your party as they tried to pull the entire society with them swirling down the porcelain vortex.
But in just 8 more days—you can unleash your offensive (and I do mean offensive) brains, and jump every proposal, idea, speech, and sneeze Obama makes, with both feet and unrestrained glee. Remember what fun you had attacking everything Bill Clinton said, did, thought, dreamed, or felt? Remember those bygone days when you could even make shit up, and fling shit in his general direction so furiously that some of it would stick no matter how ludicrous it was? How jolly! Well, you’re about to have your chance again. You can blame Obama for everything he does, or everything you wish he’d do, or simply anything at all. Break out the boxes of poo! Flush your meds! Loosen those manacles! Happy days are (very nearly) here again! Only 8 more days until you’re free at last, free at last, thank Gawd a-mighty, you’ll be free at last!
8 days and two months, until he tkaes office. Until then the Pubs will have to limit themselves to whining about the highhandedness and arrogance of the transition team.
Maybe the Bush staff wil steal all the ‘O’ keys from the keyboards.
This really is pretty much a matter of personal style. Or lack of it.
I hope Obama does win, not only because I think he’d do best by the country by far, but also because all along he’s emphasized the need for mutual respect and effort by political opponents. He hasn’t demonized conservatives. Maybe his example will help heal some of the corrosive divisiveness. I truly don’t think he’ll permit much at all in the way of juvenile gloating or antagonism. Not his style either.
FWIW some of my conservative cronies are expressing a kind of fatalistic, weary relief. They’ve been pretty unhappy for a quite a while with the GOP marginalizing centrists. They sure won’t celebrate but many of them seem to regard this election as unpleasant in the short term but ultimately healing, rather in the nature a strong laxative after a prolonged junk food binge.
I don’t want to pursue that line of reasoning any further.
:: arranges all 10 bullhorns front to back, so that each one will magnify the one behind it, and puts whole damn thing on magically-appearing support device::
:: inhales deeply ::
STOP COUNTING YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH, GOD DAMN IT! WE CAN STILL LOSE! WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS FOR THIS THING UNTIL THE VERY LAST MINUTE!!!
:: watches in grim satisfaction as every window in Springfield shatters::
This campaign, despite heroic efforts by some of the candidates*, never reached the high standard set by the eighth-grade Hershey squirts jokes. How can it revert to a level of tastefulness, and class that it never achieved in the first place?
The thread, man, not the campaign. McCain’s campaign has reeked for ages.
Though in stern fact this thread started out pretty tacky too. Really now. Loud gloating and celebratory pelvic thrusts, far too often accompanied by rhythmic grunting, might be perfectly understandable and human but some things are just better indulged away–far away–from public view. I mean, a person can and all but…ick.
I hope, if Obama does win, that honest conservatives will use his transparency tools to keep him honest and frugal, especially if he finds himself with a large congressional cohort. I expect him to have to justify his moves, and to answer to tough questioning, even if it is sometimes unfair.
I would prefer to see Obama and the newly majority liberal thinkers encourage the smart ones among the opposition by airing their arguments and engaging , because I agree a good deal with some of them, and I respect most of them. I would prefer to let the old ornery rivalry be, let the hannities flap their gums to a dwindling number, while those who have honest disagreements see them aired and engaged. And I hope to see compromise that trims wasteful spending, nearly the only thing that McCain is correct about, though his examples have been humorous. Conservatives have a significant role to play in all of this.
So if my hopes prove true, I will plan to do the little I can to bring in people who are willing to disagree and argue with intellectual weight, and to discourage those on my side who tend towards gloating and later, blinkered defense of party.
Obama ain’t perfect, but he’s a darn sight better than we have any right to expect, and I think we will have a grand opportunity for real inclusion and progress here under a pragmatic, respectful administration.
