Good editorial

[gwendolyngrace]

Sarah Vowell's OpEd in the NY Times today really hit the nail on the head:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/opinion/13vowell.html?th&emc=th

(registration required, but free).

Highlights: A couple of weeks ago, on this very page of this here newspaper, Senator John Kerry wrote an Op-Ed article imagining "The Speech the President Should Give," about that night's televised presidential address on the war in Iraq. Of course, Kerry had about as much chance of George W. Bush's following his advice as the producers of "MTV Cribs" have of getting the president's mother to show them around Kennebunkport.

Still, Kerry stunned me, not because his ideas were sane, but because he was actually able to fantasize that President Bush would give a speech offering just and concrete solutions for that black hole. Because I don't even remember being able to dream that big.

The only possible presidential speech fantasy in my wildest of daydreams, my oratorical castle in the air, is that one day, for just one measly speech, the president - the man of "mission accomplished," the man who was once asked at a press conference to discuss one of his mistakes and couldn't think of any, the man who is surely the sunniest looker-on-the-bright-side east of Drew Barrymore - would sit behind his Oval Office desk, stare into a TV camera and say: "My fellow Americans, good evening. As if that's possible."

....

The speech goes on for hours, pre-empting Conan. There are long tangents about mercury levels, under-armored military vehicles and war profiteering. Finally, losing his voice, he hoarsely ends his diatribe in the middle of the night, whispering "sweet dreams" while putting air quotes around the word "sweet."

Then I realized I was picturing George W. Bush giving this presidential bummer speech while wearing a cardigan sweater. Which is when it hit me. I was fantasizing about Jimmy Carter. I can stop whiling away the hours writing forlorn presidential speeches in my head and look up Carter's forlorn presidential speeches instead.

....

These days, there's just something refreshing about reading through Carter's clear-eyed political suicide. Daydreamer though I am, I have never expected a president to solve our chaos. It's just nice to know that once, one of them acknowledged it.


Brilliant.

Comments

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

Well, I see him as a megalomaniac who will stop at pretty much nothing to do whatever he wants to do, and who sees the presidency as a big playground where he and his gang get to shakedown all the littler kids for their lunch money, and with not a teacher in sight. I think he gets a huge kick out of being able to use his position to influence politics, manipulate people on a gigantic scale, and indulge himself on the ultimate power trip. His so-called beliefs have fuck-all to do with it.

As for Americans handling the truth, you're making too broad a statement. It's true that America is the mob, and mob mentality is, well, stupid. But in the case of Reagan, look at how he was eulogized. They may have grumbled at the time, but they liked him enough to elect his Vice President (and see what that legacy has wrought!). The trouble with Reagan is that they *didn't* turn on him, not nearly enough.

The real problem is that America is full of a bunch of drama queens who want their leaders to be as charasmatic as their superstars. And considering what we have for up-and-coming superstars these days, that's possibly an even more frightening thought than whether there would ever be a politician ballsy enough to simply tell the truth.

[hedwig-snowy.livejournal.com]

Paris Hilton for President!!!!

Yes, but I don't understand something (or alot of somethings). There is a Union that wants its members to think beyond the Democrats to all politicians that support their priorities. What about the Christian Right? Do they really think they'll eventually turn back the clock to the 1950's? What has the GOP done for them? They promise an awful lot, but every election they put another moron up there claiming they will get rid of this or put this back into the schools and they get...nada... Maybe the media-driven idea that the Christian Right is such a formidable force is just that... It's driven by both sides to collect campaign cash. "You should be afraid of them. They want God out of your life. Send us cash." "No, you should be afraid of them. They want to turn schools into Christian training grounds for the Crusades of the 21st Century! Send us cash...now!"

And I take offense at that. I am not a Drama Queen...I'm a Drama Princess thank you. ;)

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

There is an undercurrent of feeling that the Blair administration has done more to turn the British political system into something narrative-driven and personality-led than any other previous prime ministership. I can see their point.