Hubris
There
is a moment in a Greek Tragedy when the main character meets his disastrous fate
not from forces without but from the character flaw that drives his
persona. In last night’s debate, we
witnessed the flaws of the two men who aspire to be the president in the next
term. Romney is clearly a brash bully
who feels entitled, a flip flopper who will say anything to win the hearts and
the minds of the electorate. Obama
presents himself as the cool detached man who resides in and presides over a
bubble.
In
the case of Romney, we have a man who forces his way into the issues and
hammers on points either different from his previous pronouncements or based on
fabrications. He is a skilled prestidigitator, almost a
shift shaper, appearing at once both your ally and nemesis. That he ran and won a party’s nomination on
the basis of being more conservative than right wing fanatics and screwballs
speaks to his deft ability to appear to be whomever it is you wish to see.
The
president, on the other hand and after four years in the white house, seemed to
convey the studied and even temperament of an intellectual armed with reason
and civility. He repeats points as if
they are truisms that should be taken by all as gospel. His gestures and demeanor showed that he is detached
from the reality of confrontation. He
was, in short, speaking to the TV audience while his opponent was doing that as
well but attacking him directly and indirectly with a barrage of concocted
facts and premises, all the while, shaking the etch a sketch.
In
the end, we got little more than a reality show, which of course has nothing to
do with being real. Fact is that if
these guys need a “debate school” to “pimp” them out for a public display then
I will conclude Romney had the better “paint job.” His team took a standard sedan and made it
into a hot rod. While the Obama folks
thought they could squeak by just hand waxing the Prius.
Fact
is that neither showed the vision one would expect a leader should demonstrate
in these troubling times. Romney spouted
sad allusions to the great nation with the (and I hate this word) awesome
military. To be quite frank, anyone who
would admit that they like Snooky of the Jersey Shore should be disqualified for
the Presidency on that basis alone. When
asked that question he should have responded, “I don’t watch that shit.” The president continues to demonstrate that
he is no liberal. He certainly didn’t
bring the righteous indignation that most of us liberals harbor. To stand across from some conservative who
talks in clichés and false hoods and not call him out is tantamount to being
perceived as weak. Of course, Obama had abandoned
us left wingers a long time ago. For
example, when Romney attacked “Obamacare” where was the retort with the facts
to show this country supposed great health care rankings. Hearing
Axelrod the morning after is to hear the strategy, “be cool, be presidential,
show the country you are a level headed operator.” Problem is sometimes the game plan needs to
be adjusted to win the game.
I
have a libertarian friend who posted “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” as his take on
the debate. That may have captured the
debate from his perspective. I believe
that Romney supporters were energized because people follow bullies. It is on the rare occasion that someone steps
into the fray. Check out the moderator,
a decent man, letting the bully bully.
Underneath all this rhetoric of god and country and conservatism is an
outright distaste for people of color.
As for Obama, he will continue along his path being cool and
detached. Unfortunately, I am afraid he
will appear as his handlers want him to appear and that is something less than
what he should be. He said it last night
when he insisted that at times one has to say no when principles hang in the
balance, but where the hell was the passion to defend that position. Problem is that he had abandoned the high
road when he continued the wars, when he opted out of the fray and avoided a
single payer provider in the health care law.
He has in short alluded to following the role of Lincoln but he hasn’t
even come close to channeling him.
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