An Inhuman Condition

“There is one thing solid and fundamental in politics. What is up today is down tomorrow.”
-Richard M. Nixon

Today I felt immensely anxious and altogether distraught about tomorrow. I feel like I am on trial for a crime I didn’t commit, and the jury has reached a verdict. I feel like I am about to walk into a court room facing four to eight years of serious prison time, and I cannot be sure what to expect. I would hope that the system was functional and everything would work out, but there is a large part of me that knows the system a little too well for that level of naïveté.

Liberals have been fluffing Barack Obama like he is already heir apparent to the oval office throne and red phone. The same folks who were so sure of John Kerry’s election are now celebrating the coming of Obama. The logic was that after four years of George W. Bush in Washington, that the country could not possibly re-elect him. It happened. Back at the end of the Reagan days with Iran-Contra still fresh in their minds, people thought there was no hope for a snake like George H. W. Bush to go from a key player in that debacle to the commander-in-chief. It happened. After Nixon they said Republicans wouldn’t win an election for 20 years. It happened. I can’t help but feel like Obama’s victory is far from won.

“And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. And one of his heads was as it were slain to death, and his death stroke was healed. And the whole earth marveled after the beast.”
-Revelation 12:2-3

If the Republicans can do one thing correctly, it is their ability to win elections. McCain might not look like the hot “maverick” he was at the beginning of the game, but the people dedicated to him are still going to come out and vote. The republicans can always frame the debate to their advantage. There are people in this country who still believe that Obama is a Muslim, and somehow I doubt these people are equally represented in CNN and Gallup polls. My grandmother believes that Barack Obama will, “only be out for the blacks.” I’ve yet to determine what exactly she means by this, but she feels like it is a sound political argument.

It seems to me that liberals underestimate their own pretenses and disconnection from the majority of Americans. I think they get caught up in circles where everyone they meet is like-minded, and they forget there is a country out there where the only news people receive is local news. They forget that not everyone has a high-school education and can openly debate economic theory. There are a whole lot of poor, religious white folks who vote red because everyone they know is voting red.

“And they worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshipped the beast saying, Who is like the beast? And who can make war with him?”
-Revelation 12:4

It has been said that only a southern Democrat can get enough electoral votes to become the president, and it seems to be the trend. Clinton was an Arkansas man, Carter was from Georgia and Johnson served in Texas. It is not an accident that the democrats who have won elections in the past 45 years have been southerners; they can carry the votes because they speak to the average American in a way that someone from Massachusetts has a difficult time doing.

Obama does have a driving force behind him; he does have a way of captivating people with his speeches. Unfortunately for him, there are people who made up their minds without hearing one of his orations. I am not saying that it is impossible; I am simply saying that I have my doubts. I have a feeling he will take Michigan, but McCain and I seem to agree on this point. It’s up to the other 49 now, and either way it should be a fun ride.

“Scrubbing floors and emptying bedpans has as much dignity as the Presidency.”
-Richard M. Nixon

Either way I do not envy the next president. He will inherit the mistakes of both Bushmen and Reagan. He will have to hustle his ass off to end up anything but a failure. The next four years will make Carter look like a success unless the next man to take office is one lucky son of a bitch. At this point it’s all damage control anyway. We shall see who gets to roll the dice in January.

Infinitus est numerus stultorum.

“The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.”
-Mao Tse-Tung