Election 2004 vs 2008
Four years ago I got in deep shit with my internet provider. My only way of keeping up with the 2004 election was downloading torrents of the Daily Show and my monthly bill went from $50 to $1400 (not that I paid those extortionist fees - let’s just say the provider settled out of court).
Jump ahead to the current election, four years later. Now I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report via the internet directly on their respective sites. I got to see the debates on YouTube and MyDebates.org. I get to see the SNL clips and other news clips on blogs like onegoodmove.org and CrooksAndLiars.
For some reason I thought that I would stay dispassionate about this election. My feeling is that whoever wins America is far too morally bankrupt and corrupt to change in any significant and meaningful way. Red or Blue, the differences are really not at all “fundamental” as Obama/Biden love to say.
They say that the election should be a giveaway to the Democrats. What they decline to factor in is that this year the candidate is a black guy with a terrorist-sounding name. That’s the major reason why he doesn’t have an insurmountable lead. That and the fact that most American’s have such warped values: elite is bad, thinking is dangerous, violence is good, science is mythology, mythology is truth.
If Obama does win, clearly it will be an important milestone in American history. It will offer the world a glimmer of hope that America might actually be willing to confront its demons and maybe even conquer them. If he loses, it really will be the downfall of the US. I’m pretty convinced that if he loses it would cause race riots, and rightfully so. If it did cause riots then the only hope is that it might spark a full scale revolution.
Win or lose, I’m so incredibly proud of Obama. He has been working his ass off, looking out for best the interests of the “average” American, standing up for his convictions with complete clarity, honesty and determination. Unlike any politician from the past 20 years*, he wants to be President to unite the world, to make it a more fair and decent place, not simply to be leader of the “most powerful nation on earth”. (* if you rule out Nader as a politician).
I can’t wait for November 4th, but if I really search my soul I probably don’t want it to end. I think that this election has been one of the most gripping, revealing and admittedly entertaining.
Posting your comment
Wayne | October 25, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
I’ll be happy to see it end. Obama has been heads above any candidate in our lifetime. But as “transformative” as he has been, the sad fact remains that, despite the serious and complex issues at hand, most people want reductive coverage. What’s so disheartening is the media is willing to devote the amount of time necessary, but that time is spent at a child’s level.
What I will remember of this election is seeing many clips like this one:
What scares me is a lot of these people went to college, drive minivans and work in offices. They are well-fed on Applebees. They aren’t illiterates that emerged from some distant woods. And, at the end of the most prosperous years, they have been reduced to this. Now Obama is faced with leading them through the lean times. I’m concerned.
Wayne | October 25, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
I guess the youtube embed doesn’t work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vagD-4AH4Vc