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fuck it. mccain and palin will win this. There is no amount of cut-and-dry scandals that could be found (or conjured) that will convince voters to think that perhaps McCain is a bad choice for president, and his choice for Vice President, a worse one. Most conservatives don't see this as a John McCain presidency, they see it as a Sarah Palin administration. They even state it as 'Sarah-and-John'. At this point Palin could come forward with information that she had an abortion and most of American would say that this doesn't even matter because she's a Christian. The anti-intellectual snobbery is not a minute infection anymore; it has become cancerous in this country.
The Republicans for years have embraced this anti-intellectualism in thier campaigns. Since Spiro Agnew's 'nattering nabobs of negativism' attacks on his oponents, up through the present cult-of-personality mentality of a "W" and Palin who in thier own right attack not just intellectual liberalism, but worse, intellectual conservatism, the GOP has taken a stupid pill, and are wallowing in thier bliss. At least the Left pays lip service to the notion that the best course of action is always using one's mind. They manage to get the means right, but the end always wrong. Republicans have both means and end wrong. And this country has paid dearly for it.
The push for teaching creationism in schools, or intelligent design (regardless of whether evolution is taught), elevating clumps of cells to the level of actual thinking beings, the expanse of faith-based initiatives and excluding religious (read: christian) organizations from taxation, and much, much more....is indicative of Republicans abstaining from doing any thinking whatsoever. The Right has militantly embraced faith, militantly because faith and force are corollaries. Every period of mysiticism in the history of mankind was one of statism, dictatorship, and tyranny. The short-term effect of faith is prevalent: faith short-circuits the mind, the effect of which has generated tens of millions of persons who willingly suck up whatever they read and watch in the newspapers and on television. Thus, it is no great suprise that even some of the more intelligent political thinkers of this era devolve down to such low levels of thought formation. Case in point: http://buchanan.org/blog/2008/09/pjb...and-one-of-us/
But there are other consequences of this. For example, conservatives have always been highly skeptical of federal powers and political motives. Now, there is very little skepticism of our government by conservatives, and those who venture to do so are met with great attacks from anti-intellectual base of Republicans. How dare you question George Bush's resolve. How dare you question Sarah Palin's legitimacy. And those attacks, might I add, are in themselves devoid of coherent thought.
I think this accurately describes the background to this 'unsettling' feeling some of you have about the state of our country and perhaps, our civilization. It is sitting at mediocrity and slowly drifting toward dismal failure. And, they gleefully cheer, "more average please!" to those who are at the helm. Yet, one cannot so quickly blame the politicians before addressing those who have given them a helping hand into power. The low-digit approval ratings of our elected officials is a testament to this. The stewards of freedom and liberty that we elect, have, over time, failed to keep house of those very principles and values we as individuals hold true. If it is mysticism, celebritism, and instinct which guides your hand to the level on the voting machine, then you've earned this feeling.
I will try not to address any more Palin threads or be tempted to do so. The debate is as pointless as it is fruitless. Those who have drawn the line in the sand do so believing no level of incompetence or anti-intellectualism will change thier minds; not because of her total, utter, and complete lack of qualifications, but because they merely point to the other team and say, "look!".
The Republicans for years have embraced this anti-intellectualism in thier campaigns. Since Spiro Agnew's 'nattering nabobs of negativism' attacks on his oponents, up through the present cult-of-personality mentality of a "W" and Palin who in thier own right attack not just intellectual liberalism, but worse, intellectual conservatism, the GOP has taken a stupid pill, and are wallowing in thier bliss. At least the Left pays lip service to the notion that the best course of action is always using one's mind. They manage to get the means right, but the end always wrong. Republicans have both means and end wrong. And this country has paid dearly for it.
The push for teaching creationism in schools, or intelligent design (regardless of whether evolution is taught), elevating clumps of cells to the level of actual thinking beings, the expanse of faith-based initiatives and excluding religious (read: christian) organizations from taxation, and much, much more....is indicative of Republicans abstaining from doing any thinking whatsoever. The Right has militantly embraced faith, militantly because faith and force are corollaries. Every period of mysiticism in the history of mankind was one of statism, dictatorship, and tyranny. The short-term effect of faith is prevalent: faith short-circuits the mind, the effect of which has generated tens of millions of persons who willingly suck up whatever they read and watch in the newspapers and on television. Thus, it is no great suprise that even some of the more intelligent political thinkers of this era devolve down to such low levels of thought formation. Case in point: http://buchanan.org/blog/2008/09/pjb...and-one-of-us/
But there are other consequences of this. For example, conservatives have always been highly skeptical of federal powers and political motives. Now, there is very little skepticism of our government by conservatives, and those who venture to do so are met with great attacks from anti-intellectual base of Republicans. How dare you question George Bush's resolve. How dare you question Sarah Palin's legitimacy. And those attacks, might I add, are in themselves devoid of coherent thought.
I think this accurately describes the background to this 'unsettling' feeling some of you have about the state of our country and perhaps, our civilization. It is sitting at mediocrity and slowly drifting toward dismal failure. And, they gleefully cheer, "more average please!" to those who are at the helm. Yet, one cannot so quickly blame the politicians before addressing those who have given them a helping hand into power. The low-digit approval ratings of our elected officials is a testament to this. The stewards of freedom and liberty that we elect, have, over time, failed to keep house of those very principles and values we as individuals hold true. If it is mysticism, celebritism, and instinct which guides your hand to the level on the voting machine, then you've earned this feeling.
I will try not to address any more Palin threads or be tempted to do so. The debate is as pointless as it is fruitless. Those who have drawn the line in the sand do so believing no level of incompetence or anti-intellectualism will change thier minds; not because of her total, utter, and complete lack of qualifications, but because they merely point to the other team and say, "look!".
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