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After the Future

An Enormity Awe-Inspiringly Surreal

The whole political situation has taken on a bizarre, surreal quality.  2000 and 2004 were weird, but this one is for the ages. I am made stupefied and nearly speechless…

The whole political situation has taken on a bizarre, surreal quality.  2000 and 2004 were weird, but this one is for the ages. I am made stupefied and nearly speechless by it. To proceed as if we are involved in anything that is sane or normal is about the most insane thing anyone could do. The idea that there is still a possibility that McCain could win this thing is just mind boggling at this point.  His campaign has just become a sick joke.

In any event, John Cole called Palin's Couric interview a train wreck.  One of his commenters wrote in and said:

“Train wreck” is being charitable – it was more like a train derailing on a bridge, tumbling a thousand feet into a canyon and landing on a pile of old dynamite and gas drums. And then a jumbo jet crashed into the flaming wreckage. Followed by an earthquake that caused the whole mess to slide off a cliff into the sea, where the few miraculous survivors were eaten by sharks.

It's maybe an image that has pertinence for our broader political/economic predicament.  But regarding Palin, Cole went on to comment:

Conservatives sometimes remark that Sarah Palin must worry liberals since we can’t stop talking about her. Worry has nothing to do with it. You cannot look away.

I have to say that a change has come over me in the last week.  I've stopped worrying for some reason.  It's as if things have moved beyond a point where worry has any relevance. My attitude now is rather one of fascination as I watch this magnificently cinematic train wreck. Whatever happens happens. It all has a macabre beauty. Is there a Swift or Hunter Thompson out there with enough power of imagination to grasp and represent back to us what is truly happening now? 

Comments

5 responses

  1. Matt Zemek Avatar
    Matt Zemek

    At least Obama’s chances of victory increase the longer Americans’ minds are (blessedly, relievedly) fixated on an actual issue (the economy) and not diverted to an element of the politics of (Palin’s) personality, which had been dominating the campaign, much to the benefit of the McCain ticket, until mid-September.
    But yeah, this train wreck is impossible to look away from.

    Reply
  2. Guy Fawkes Avatar
    Guy Fawkes

    Pride/triumphalism goeth before a fall.
    I like to gloat and laugh same as anyone, but the deep anxiety doesn’t go away. After 2004, when I was convinced there was NO WAY Bush would get re-elected, I won’t be satisfied until 11/5 when Obama is declared the winner. There is just way too much dumb shit left in this country and its broken politics for me to believe that Obama has anything in the bag. Even if it were one month from now with the same numbers, I’d still be a bit nervous.
    And we’d better hope to (insert deity name) that no one in the Obama campaign, from the high to the low, is kicking their heels up for a single second!

    Reply
  3. Jack Whelan Avatar
    Jack Whelan

    My point in emphasizing the surreality is that I am at a point where I would almost expect McCain to win. Because Obama’s winning makes too much sense he probably won’t. But it’s ok. We left normal reality a long, long time ago. We’re just going along for the ride now wherever it may take us.

    Reply
  4. Guy Fawkes Avatar
    Guy Fawkes

    Try some Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Jack. It’s yummy. I expect I’ll empty a whole bottle on Nov. 4th, regardless of outcome.

    Reply
  5. Matt Zemek Avatar
    Matt Zemek

    One thing worth injecting into this whole financial/political crisis is that the nation is getting to learn (well, anyone who’s paying attention and has an open mind, that is…) how much Bill Clinton went along with the McCains and Phil Gramms of the world in the late 1990s, allowing the current financial climate/subculture to flourish.
    No wonder Bill is doing an awful lot of McCain-praising in his errr…… uhhhhhh…. “campaigning” for Obama, who, interestingly enough, has tabbed Bill Clinton’s own guru, Bob Rubin, as his own economic point man.
    *sigh*

    Reply

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