| "...that one..." |
[Oct. 8th, 2008|12:11 am] |
With any luck at all, those two words will spell the end of the McCain campaign. In two words, he disrespected his opponent to the extent of separating Senator Obama from his humanity. And we all know damn well that if Obama had referred to Senator McCain using a nonpersonal pronoun, half the country (I'd like to think it's down to a third of the country by now, but it's pretty clear it required half to give us 8 years of Dubya) would have jumped to its feet shouting "uppity n-----" and loading guns and braiding nooses. The shouts of "terrorist" and "kill him" by members of Sarah Palin's stump audiences confirm that those who are still comfortable with their ignorance, bias, and ultimately hate, are also the ones most comfortable continuing to support the Republican party, knowing that its ideology and social agenda still represents them so faithfully, even while their ticket is headed by a self-proclaimed "maverick".
In this YouTube clip of the "How Do We Beat the Bitch" incident, way back during primary season, note what McCain says at the very end of his answer: "I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat party." Did that answer slip McCain's mind, along with the name of the second audience questioner last night, Oliver, whom McCain addressed by the first audience questioner's name, Allen, as well as Senator Obama's name?
McCain actually came out fairly strong in the first half of last night's debate, but he fizzled while the slow-starting Obama gained footing and energy in the second half and finished very strong. As usual neither delivered a knockout blow, but McCain erased any gains he made at the start with those two little nasty words, and probably knocked himself out. As much as I hate to focus on these niggling nonissue-related points, I have to think that if voters are really as viscerally (rather than intellectually) affected by the campaign appearances and debates as voting patterns and commentators analysing them seem to suggest, that moment has to speak to McCain's character, and say to every voter who may still have the ability to change his mind, or might not have made it up before, that McCain either lacks sufficient self-restraint and decorum to be statesmanlike in dealing with Congress and foreign leaders, or has enough senior moments that he will unintentionally insult people, and either makes him a very weak choice to lead the most powerful nation on Earth. I suppose everyone should just be grateful he did not refer to him as "whatsisname over there" and point backward with his thumb at Obama.
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| "...that one..." continued |
[Oct. 8th, 2008|07:12 am] |
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It just occurred to me what the most common context is for using that phrase, and why it sent my offensometer into the red zone: it's what you say when you're identifying a suspect among a police lineup! Creepy old bastard! |
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