OK, YHB has more or less caught up on political blather, but my lefty blogs have left this blogger confused. Perhaps you can help, Gentle Reader. Which of the following statements reflects the universe you perceive?
- No Democrat who opposed the invasion of Iraq can possibly be elected President in 2008.
- No Democrat who supported the invasion of Iraq can possibly be elected President in 2008 without admitting that such support was a mistake.
- No Democrat who admits to making a mistake about supporting the invasion of Iraq can possibly be elected President in 2008.
- No Democrat who was wishy-washy about the invasion of Iraq can possibly be elected President in 2008.
- Nobody really knows anything about who can or cannot possibly be elected President in 2008.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
Myself, I’ll take option 101.
I’ll take option
Your jester commenters to the contrary, I pick (e) — I think there’s too much time for things to change in Iraq between now and 2008, and that what happens will have a big impact on how people feel about it. If it gets vastly better, those who were in favor all along will seem smarter; if it gets vastly worse, vice versa. If it stays pretty much the same? Who knows, I don’t have a good read on mainstream opinion these days.
i think people should start polling reporters. if the election were to be held tomorrow, would you:
a) forgive people who went against the president in a time of war;
b) seek out the most repentant, patriotic candidates;
c) search for a hero amidst the villainous miscreants who drove us to disaster;
d) intelligently, painstakingly work to reveal the candidates capable of winning the war on everything (WOE).
Gary Hart, bye-the-bye, wants a breast-beater, although how such a person is going to get elected is not discussed.
I think my “nobody knows anything” options subsumes irilyth’s “depends on events” option, but I really think that it isn’t just irilyth that doesn’t have a good read on mainstream opinion these days. I don’t think anybody does. People clearly dislike Our Only President, but they dislike everybody else, too, I think.
I think the survey of reporters would be enlightening. I’d love to put a hypothetical “I made a mistake” speech in front of a hundred reporters and find out what stories they would write or tell.
Thanks,
-V.
first, hats off to the bush operation for their skill at muddying the waters.
second, from the biz pages, i gather that the current economic successes in the US are related to the housing bubble and exploiting asian growth. our credit is good but we’re cutting costs everywhere, particularly in social services where we are taking gigantic risks. if the housing market goes under in the next 2 years won’t that be interesting.
third, oil. current biz models are based on cost per mile for fuel of near zero; in particular, personal/collective indebtedness is based strongly on this assumption – people buying into some variety of import/export. we have a vulnerability of all systems, particularly food supply. also, i’m a little worried about military vs civilian fuel supply access – “blood for oil” is maybe more like “blood for oil for blood,” with our military planners hoping to secure iraq to ensure that we’ll have enough fuel for both “growth” and ongoing military supremacy. in their minds, domestic supply is probably now counted entirely as military property. i suspect some of the flag-waving from the administration is in defense of the military-industrial complex setting up its own foreign pipeline, and that ANWAR drilling is related to this concern.
fourth, climate. how bad will the republicans look on this? there will be a democrat standing on former permafrost. there will be fisheries trouble, likely storm trouble, ag trouble. republicans could tie future subsidies and tax breaks to plant modernization or go whole hog and pay for the fixes but, they won’t. we let the steel industry pretty much fall apart. most likely they’ll just keep pushing for nukes and military intervention.
i don’t get it.
did i mention how much of a disaster it is that we have no energy conservation plan?
“They dislike Our Only President, but they dislike everybody else, too” is a good sign for libertarians, who encourage people to distrust politicians in general.
Sadly, this distrust hasn’t yet translated into making politicians more accountable and less powerful. :^( The flap over base closings seems like the latest sign of this.
i liked it better when there were (european) commies. that was something that could really get me up in the morning, and wasn’t president reagan just so noble…