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Sunday, August 17, 2008

What We Have Become

From my watching of Obama and McCain's performances at Rick Warren's Church, Obama came off unequivocally more thoughtful, wise and deliberative. One would think that would count for something. Well, from the media bloviators' political commentariat's perspective, substance and nuance count for sh*t and the only people who win debates and get elected are pandering one-sentence hacks who jump up and down about "destroying evil [, my friends]".

As Andrew Sullivan puts it:

[One Reason We're Polarized.] Because Chuck Todd can describe the following as a reason Obama lost last night's debate:

The two answered the Supreme Court justice question VERY differently, with Obama seemingly trying to say a nice thing or two about justices he disagreed with, while McCain went right to pander mode in his answer. And yet, McCain's straightforward answer easily penetrated while Obama's did not.

Chuck basically says that unless you pander in soundbites, you lose. If you show respect for your opponent's views, you lose. However defensible this is as analysis, it isn't part of the solution, is it?

It disgusts me at times like this what we've become as a country. Fat, satisfied, too afraid to rock the boat and more concerned with spraying our children's toys with Lysol (TM) Disinfectant Spray than we are with our President torturing innocent suspects.

As a reader at the Dish so wisely points out:

More and more, November seems to be shaping up, above all, up as a referendum on the American people - on what we collectively are prepared to take responsibility for. If McCain wins, we'll deserve him.

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