Live From Manchester, It's the New Hampshire Debates
I can't admit to viewing these in their entirety. Man, as the Philosopher says, is a political animal, and this particular zoos politike enjoys being political amidst friends and drinks. Viewing a debate alone lends itself to too many distractions. So I chose Korean drama over much of the Republican debate and missed a smidgen of the Democratic debate.
Some observations:
1. The informality of our society now lends itself to perversity. The moderator addresses Senators, Governors, Congressmen X,Y, and Z, but amidst the candidates, we have John, Ron, Bill, and Hillary. It smacks not of democracy but of royalty amongst themselves. Our respectful forms of address are not anti-democratic but a recognition of the dignity of each individual. It was a blow for equality when African-Americans went from boy to sir, from X to Mr. Y.
2. It's easy to see why Ron Paul is despised by neoconservatives. He's completely unlike anyone on the Republican side, having more in common on foreign policy with the extreme left than anyone else in his party. As anyone who knows Pat Buchanan will tell you, the extreme right and the extreme left have surprisingly similar views on post-WWII foreign policy. Paul ranted constantly, but I thought it was frightening when Romney alluded to Al-Qutb (of In the Shade of the Quran fame) and the idea of the universal caliphate, but Paul seemed to have the deeper understanding of what could motivate Al-Qutb's extremist philosophy. I don't think a little regret for the conduct of the Cold War while asserting the rectitude of our cause is problematic. But clearly the Republicans aren't there yet.
3. I don't know why Hillary Clinton breeds such contempt in me. I like much of what she's done in her own capacity even if I really have little respect for her form of contract with Bill. But two moments really disturbed me. At one point, she quoted from an AP story about Senator Obama saying something like, "Senator Obama could have an animated debate with himself three years ago.". Of course, it's an AP story, not an opinion piece, so Obama quickly exposed the quote as from someone connected to her own campaign. It looked like some sort of rhetorical device to deceive the simple and a crude one at that. Then later in the debate, she talked about the changes that would come if she was elected the first woman president. I suppose I have to admit gender essentialism to a limited degree, but there are serious problems facing the Republic. If I could be convinced that those problems could be solved most effectively by a black lesbian Jew, I gladly would vote for one. But this is not the time in our nation's history to elect the identity politics equivalent of a novus homo just for kicks.
4. Poor Bill Richardson. If elected, he actually might try to do something, but I look at his record as Energy Secretary and as envoy to the North Koreans and wonder whether he can make anything last.
5. Best moment of the debate was when Charlie Gibson estimated the salaries of two St. Anselm College professors (SLAC, I'm betting) totalled over $200,000.
6. Obama and Edwards belong together as running mates. They're both extremely good-looking. They seem to like each other even if they disagree on the nitty gritty of everything. John Edwards has his sexy Southern drawl and Barack Obama has his sexy Northern aloofness. And they do like to talk about change at every opportunity.
7. Edwards seriously proposed nuclear disarmament. There's hope for this country yet.
Happy Epiphany!
ESA(20070105.1)
I can't admit to viewing these in their entirety. Man, as the Philosopher says, is a political animal, and this particular zoos politike enjoys being political amidst friends and drinks. Viewing a debate alone lends itself to too many distractions. So I chose Korean drama over much of the Republican debate and missed a smidgen of the Democratic debate.
Some observations:
1. The informality of our society now lends itself to perversity. The moderator addresses Senators, Governors, Congressmen X,Y, and Z, but amidst the candidates, we have John, Ron, Bill, and Hillary. It smacks not of democracy but of royalty amongst themselves. Our respectful forms of address are not anti-democratic but a recognition of the dignity of each individual. It was a blow for equality when African-Americans went from boy to sir, from X to Mr. Y.
2. It's easy to see why Ron Paul is despised by neoconservatives. He's completely unlike anyone on the Republican side, having more in common on foreign policy with the extreme left than anyone else in his party. As anyone who knows Pat Buchanan will tell you, the extreme right and the extreme left have surprisingly similar views on post-WWII foreign policy. Paul ranted constantly, but I thought it was frightening when Romney alluded to Al-Qutb (of In the Shade of the Quran fame) and the idea of the universal caliphate, but Paul seemed to have the deeper understanding of what could motivate Al-Qutb's extremist philosophy. I don't think a little regret for the conduct of the Cold War while asserting the rectitude of our cause is problematic. But clearly the Republicans aren't there yet.
3. I don't know why Hillary Clinton breeds such contempt in me. I like much of what she's done in her own capacity even if I really have little respect for her form of contract with Bill. But two moments really disturbed me. At one point, she quoted from an AP story about Senator Obama saying something like, "Senator Obama could have an animated debate with himself three years ago.". Of course, it's an AP story, not an opinion piece, so Obama quickly exposed the quote as from someone connected to her own campaign. It looked like some sort of rhetorical device to deceive the simple and a crude one at that. Then later in the debate, she talked about the changes that would come if she was elected the first woman president. I suppose I have to admit gender essentialism to a limited degree, but there are serious problems facing the Republic. If I could be convinced that those problems could be solved most effectively by a black lesbian Jew, I gladly would vote for one. But this is not the time in our nation's history to elect the identity politics equivalent of a novus homo just for kicks.
4. Poor Bill Richardson. If elected, he actually might try to do something, but I look at his record as Energy Secretary and as envoy to the North Koreans and wonder whether he can make anything last.
5. Best moment of the debate was when Charlie Gibson estimated the salaries of two St. Anselm College professors (SLAC, I'm betting) totalled over $200,000.
6. Obama and Edwards belong together as running mates. They're both extremely good-looking. They seem to like each other even if they disagree on the nitty gritty of everything. John Edwards has his sexy Southern drawl and Barack Obama has his sexy Northern aloofness. And they do like to talk about change at every opportunity.
7. Edwards seriously proposed nuclear disarmament. There's hope for this country yet.
Happy Epiphany!
ESA(20070105.1)
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