Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
The Telegraph notices it’s suddenly cool to bash Barack Obama.
Well, at least he’s still got Sir Paul McCartney. At the White House last week, the 67-year-old crooner was gushing in much the same manner as his own groupies did at Shea Stadium in 1965. “I’m a big fan, he’s a great guy,” McCartney told American critics of President Barack Obama. “So lay off him, he’s doing great.”
Later, McCartney serenaded the First Lady with a rendition of Michelle and, receiving a prize from the Library of Congress, took a cheap shot at President George W Bush that was as unfunny as it was unoriginal. “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Bush. Doesn’t read books. Stupid. Geddit?
The problem for the President is that even if the former Beatle does speak for billions, the overwhelming majority of those are overseas. Polls show that around 10 per cent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 now disapprove of his performance and the heavy turnout of young people and black voters among the 69 million who back him will not be repeated again.
McCartney’s banalities were an example of a transatlantic dissonance that is all too apparent these days. Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.
That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama’s natural constituency – Hollywood and the Left. The “no drama Obama” demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability.
Bemoaning Obama’s passivity after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the director Spike Lee thundered: “He’s very calm, cool, collected. But, one time, go off! If there’s any one time to go off, this is it, because this is a disaster.”
This is the same Spike Lee who once described Obama’s election as a “seismic” change that represented “a better day not only for the United States but for the world”.
It’s funny how quickly we tire of what we once wanted. I would argue exactly the same kind of thing happened to George W. Bush. Think about it: Isn’t Bush a personification of what, in a simpler setting, with no flesh-and-blood contenders to muddy up the picture, we “all” want?
“I’m sick of these poll-driven, ‘stick a finger in the air and see which way the wind blows’ politicians. Give me someone who’s secure and consistent in his convictions — I don’t even care if he disagrees with me here and there, I just want someone who will stick up for what he believes in and be honest about it.” How many times have you heard something like that? And yet what really drove Bush’s poll numbers down. It wasn’t Katrina or Iraq. It was a method of governance. “Bush’s eyes are closed to science! He doesn’t listen!”
The same fickle nature of our modern electorate has now torn the Obama visage asunder. Darn that humdrum unflappable Obama, he doesn’t get sufficiently upset about things.
I have faith; I don’t think we’re locked into a pattern of choosing our presidents according to their emotional profiles, as opposed to their sense of judgment…a pattern which surely would be a death spiral. I think good decision-making skills are still important to us, as ineffectual a consideration as that was in ’08. And I think our evaluation of this decision-making, were it to become important again, would remain fairly consistent, even as our criteria for the emotional behavior has become rather pinwheel-like.
And I think that is timeless. As a species, we are fickle and unpredictable when we choose our leaders based on their temperament, but steady and reasonable when we choose them based on their ability to produce a good outcome.
I think we choose them based on their emotional “vibe,” when all’s said & done, when we are bored. In 2008 we were bored. That’s all there is to it.
You know, there are three ways to piss off someone who puts too much of an emotional investment in something:
• Tell a Star Wars fan Obi-Wan Kenobi means “Loses Every Single Duel”;
• Point out to an Indiana Jones fan that the “obtainer of rare antiquities” has never actually produced anything from one of his travels;
• Opine that the word “Obama” is an ancient Kenyan utterance that means “colossal disappointment.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.