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At the guru's lotus feet
McCain may not be as inept and clueless as he seems. Strapped for cash, by falling so far behind in the polls he has turned Obama, not Bush, into the "incumbent" and the focus is now on Obama and not Bush. The question for flat broke McCain is to keep the focus on Obama and build up doubts among the "low information voters" (LIVs) who, with the World Series finished are just tuning into the presidential campaign. And of course the essential challenge is to keep that focus on Obama with out spending any money.
I expect that now we will be seeing all the nasty material that the Republicans are said to have saved up on Obama. We have already heard the "socialist" radio tape, there is now supposed to be a "Palestinian video" which the Los Angeles Times is accused of suppressing and also some sort of mysterious girlfriend, a certain Vera Baker, who seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. If the Reverend Wright is not encased in cement at the bottom of Lake Michigan by now, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned up, say around Friday
The "low information voters" (LIVs) who are just now tuning into the election are only really hearing about Obama for the first time. At this point rumors about girl friends and wealth redistribution can really catch the attention of the LIVs. All this focus on Obama is a force multiplier for McCain's meager dollars.
In short, the idea is to look at the polls of the key battleground states and if Obama is not over 50% (no matter what lead he has) than those states may very well go to McCain.
Perhaps someone who can make a dollar go such a long way would do well during a severe economic crisis. Certainly spending four to one and not having everything sewn up does smell a little bit of the classic "tax and spend" Democrat that Republicans love to portray.
It is very striking how any trivial story about any other candidate that I can remember has always been considered legitimate news, but stories about Obama are considered off limits.
Somehow, someone that has appeared literally "out of the blue" is infused with some holy aura. What it most reminds me of, from my dirty hippy days of yore, is of "ashrama", the hot house climate of an Indian ashram, where the guru's every nose picking becomes cause for worshipful, treasured, celebration and collection.
Like everyone else, I really know very little about Obama, but I am coming to know quite a lot about his supporters and I find quite a few of them frankly sinister.
In full disclosure: I actually am a socialist (definition: I really believe in the welfare state, high taxes for the super rich and strict regulations for the greedy), but I don't think that this is some sort of sin that cannot speak its name. (Is there any sin besides being a socialist that cannot speak its name anymore?) I can't get a clear view of what Obama is, was, what he wants (besides power) or what he will do if elected. If after so much money has been spent over so many months and the candidate still appears all things to all men, then I don't think that this is by chance: I think that that this is the general idea, the effect desired.
What astonishes and offends me is how people are painting in the empty spaces with their fantasies and dreams. It reminds me of previous "great awakenings"* where Americans sold everything and sat in fields waiting for the second coming.
*The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ would come after mankind had reformed the entire earth. The Social Gospel Movement gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene movements, and Christian Science. WikipediaNext comes the "Great Hangover".
http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/
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Concern troll. "Off limits", bozo?
October 30, 2008 7:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am not a "concerned" troll I am a contrarian... not part of what, in Disney Land, they call the "cast".
October 30, 2008 7:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's my problem with most contrarians. They are contrary not out of any belief, just self amusement.
October 30, 2008 8:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
If I were in my 20s I would be a huge Obama fan myself. I would drink all the Kool-Aid and sit at the Guru's lotus feet. But, having been around the track a few times and had a few laughs, the needle on my bullshit meter has been going off the dial since I read "Dreams from my Father". I will admit I am a "happy warrior". I pride myself on always being civil, but I like a scrap... must be the Irish, who knows?
October 30, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
As in , "Hit im, Seamus! I'll hold yer cap."
October 30, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I haven't seem any Obama fans that creep me out as much as Palin fans.
October 30, 2008 8:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama fans are a new breed of creep, the Palin fans are old hat.
October 30, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Would that be mission creep?
October 30, 2008 7:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
You wrote,
It reminds me of the Republican party's embrace of similarly vague and empty concepts, such as the Muskogeean virtues of "livin' right and bein' free." Don't get me wrong--empty-eyed, lamblike Obamaboppers creep me out, too, but their vacuousness doesn't strike me as a new problem.
October 30, 2008 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
David, you're grasping here.
These so-called low information voters have an excuse to say they " can't get a clear view of what Obama is, was, what he wants (besides power) or what he will do if elected."
You have no excuse. He's been talking about it for the better part of two years. What's more, there are hundreds of pages of policy papers on his Web site. Since you can write, I assume you can also read.
I think JSFox has hit on something. I think you're a contrarian because it amuses you to annoy others. I'm betting you write on conservative Web sites about how you don't trust McCain and, even though you don't think Obama's right either, the thought of a McCain presidency is just terrifying to you.
When I peruse those sites, I'm going to be on the lookout for your alter ego, Savid Deaton, an Ezra Pound-like expat living in Paris.
October 30, 2008 9:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Contrarian is not the word. Sneering superiority calls for a different descriptor, especially when not supported by facts.
Sure, losing is good evidence of sound management skills, and what would be at least an easy Democratic win under normal circumstances is a scary mass hysteria, millennial fever, and profligate expense. Oy.
That a large number of Americans are tired of being outspent by business-supported conservative candidates does not mean Obama is a spendthrift. He is doing what we want, winning. Don't recall paying a tax to elect him. Why do you even mention that incorrect and insulting GOP calumny?
And it couldn't possibly be that there are still some racists here, that makes Obama not ahead by twenty points overall?
"Like everyone else, I really know very little about Obama..." Who says everyone else knows little, other than you? Sure looks like "everyone else" knows rather more.
Still afraid of disappointment, huh?
October 30, 2008 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Contrarian is not the word. Sneering superiority calls for a different descriptor, especially when not supported by facts."
Egg-f'ing-zactly. This loopy old man is trolling for attention, mostly negative (I guess he has a masochistic streak as well), not trying to engage in serious argument.
It's possible to be a strong Obama supporter and not be a patchouli-wearing starry-eyed hippy; in fact, probably 90% of his supporters meet this description. And most of the progressive types I have talked with are expecting to be disappointed by his presidency.
If you don't know Obama and John McCain well enough to decide who to vote for, maybe you should stop trolling for traffic to your blog and read a goddamned newspaper.
What about Obama's fitness for the presidency do you feel you are missing at this point in the process?
October 30, 2008 9:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
brewmn61 sums it up:
"This loopy old man is trolling for attention, mostly negative (I guess he has a masochistic streak as well), not trying to engage in serious argument."
I've always suspected a sexualized component to Seaton's Obama obsession and thought he was compensating for his inevitable loss of virility by counting coup in the form of negative responses to his posts here. Seaton's masochism and eager victimhood are essential building blocks in David's pitiable construct of his delusionally grandiose persona.
Seaton himself provides proof of this thesis in this post about TPMCafe responses to his blog about Michelle Obama and the mythical "Whitey tape":
"I was gratified by the tremendous response I received. The TPM forum is a unique opportunity to take the pulse of any issue and anyone who earns his bread and cheese in political speculation has to be grateful for the opportunity.
That said, I really had to dodge the flung dung.
They called me everything but pretty.
I am pleased to share with my readers some of the choicest stuff that that was tossed my way over the "Sword" and a follow up post to it, which I'll reprise below. Enjoy."
snip]
"If you are a friend, please don't be upset by any of this, I'm certainly not. "Sticks and stones," as we used to chant as tots. The Obamites haven't gotten to sticks and stones yet... but, only time will tell.
In fact, the above abuse is music to my ears. It means that my probing has connected solidly with an exposed nerve and that a fruitful path of investigation has been revealed to me.
In fact, the reaction I received to my post convinces me more than anything else that there is something to this rumor.
Or perhaps I should say that it proves that there is a tremendous fear among Obamites that there is something out there of equal caliber and destructiveness."
snip]
"I'm beginning to wish Obama does win, just for the fun I'll have taking the piss out of his starry eyed supporters as he triangulates the conservatives on every issue in true, Clinton (Bill)/Blair fashion and slows down and dilutes every transformational initiative from the left of the Democratic Congress and Senate.
I am beginning to think that I might have as much fun with Obama as I have had with Bush."
http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/2008/06/si-non-vero.html
In other words, the Seaton formula absolutely requires negative responses in order to "prove" (to himself and his fans) that he is still potent.
October 30, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
David, I can't follow the point of your post. It's like scatter shot.
If you have a minute, could you cull what you're trying to say in one sentence?
October 30, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
One sentence: "McCain sucks, Obama suck too. With McCain what you see (not much) is what you get. With Obama, your guess is as good as mine."... You betcha.
October 30, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
okay, that's much clearer. I do disagree, but at least I know what it is I disagree with.
October 30, 2008 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's three sentences, four if you count the "you betcha," which isn't a complete sentence. Call it a half to make it 3.5 sentences. But the first should really be two sentences unless you insert a conjunction or semicolon. Let's call it a quarter, leaving a round 3.75.
October 30, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
anyone who has taken the time to look doesn't have to guess. this impotent attack was worn out before the lipstick smearing.
next!
October 30, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
That sounds to me like a remark from a low information voter.
October 30, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a very funny piece, David. Good job.
October 30, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, I don't much encouragement around here 's fact.
October 30, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
How many of Obama's supporters were surprised by his FISA cave? I was shocked but not surprised because I had been predicting caves to the center ever since reading his books and looking at his lies about passing nuclear leak legislation.
He has formula which allows him to be all things to all people. It goes as folllows: X action is bad for the following reasons but I know that you who support X action do so from the best of all possible motives which I share.
Hence, Obama opposed impeachment for Bush, lauds Reagan and so forth.
What terrifies me about Obama is his empty core: he recounts in Dreams the girlfriend who was left shaking when she encountered him after he made a moving plea for ending Apartheid and he claimed that he didn't mean it. She informed him that it was not all about him. He proclaims that this was a turning point: he now orates that you ought to help other people because it will make you feel good. It is all about the "I".
What I see is someone who had not learned to care about other people by the time he had reached his twenties. His mother shared the same opinion wondering when he would develop a social conscience. Yes, I know about the community organizing -- he describes it as an inchoate plan -- that he couldn't even tell others what a community organizer did. It was a part of his attempt to find a community -- not a desire to help. If it was a desire to help there would have been a drive to find out how to do it effectively which was lacking.
So how much of his desire to be President is simply for his greater glory and how much is because he has any desire to help anybody. Remember this is a guy who gambled the future of America on the proposition that we have recovered from racism. His first reaction when his group discussed whether racism would prevent him from winning was that if it did, it would still be there for the rest of his lifetime. (Given the dropping rates of racism by age this is false -- waiting until the more racist cohorts deceased would have reduced the impact of racism on his campaign.) Again, it was about him and his greater glory -- not about whether he had a better or worse chance of prevailing than did Hillary (and he conducted his campaign in ways which would have been severely damaging had she prevailed with the super-delegates) and were the differences between them worth taking the chance that he would have a harder fight against McCain than she would. TPM to the contrary, McCain has been much mroe restrained than say Lee Atwater who would have been beating Wright like a drum since Obama got the nomination?
On which topic, how many of you would even consider voting for a Presidential candidate who had clerical connections who sounded about blacks the way Wright and Pfleger sounded about women?
October 30, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
DS & AJM - Why don't you guys get together and spend some quality time reinforcing each other's paranoia and sense of superiority to the unwashed masses? We clueless zombies will be waiting slack-jawed to marvel at the insights that spring from your meeting of the minds.
October 30, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can't recommend this post, it's the same old song and dance. Would love to recommend this comment esp. with Halloween coming up.
October 30, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks ranger 11! And may I add for DS & AJM - after we zombies have marveled at your insights, we will most assuredly feast on your brains, your delicious brains : : :
October 30, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's some evidence that zombies are made from the poison of a fish in the Caribbean similar to fugu - perhaps the same ingredient in Rev. Jones' kool-aid. Please recommend my comment too.
October 30, 2008 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You think that McCain came up with this strategy? Please. I've been running the stealth strategy for months and far more effectively than McCain IMHO. Voters are completely unfamiliar with my policies, which is not surprising, since I don't have any. I'm so far down in the polls that I'm not even in the polls. Heck, I'm not even on the ballot. Putting your name on the ballot only draws unwanted attention and wastes valuable resources. My entire ad campaign consists of a single comment on an obscure thread in the corner of a liberal blog. But my brilliance will soon be revealed. The LIV's, not to mention the NIV's and the TMIV's, will be so disenchanted by the media obsession with the other candidates that they will write me in as an alternative. Put your intrade dollars on "☠enghis." You'll make a fortune.
My name is ☠enghis, and I approved this comment.
October 30, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I shall right you in for sure. Your the first candidate in this race that makes any sense.
October 30, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Posting while drinking? ;-)
October 30, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Strained irony?
October 31, 2008 1:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, just noticed more spelling & grammatical slips from David than usual. Not that I don't occasionally lapse into incoherency and coma at the keyboard.
October 31, 2008 4:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thought maybe David was intending those errors.
October 31, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let me tell you something - I've not felt like this about a candidate ever before.
And anyone who doesn't like that - well tough shit.
I'm old enough to know what I'm doing.
And McLame is running the most clueless and inept campaign of all time.
October 30, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn! Clicked on it for the title and then I realized who posted it! A waste of time!
October 30, 2008 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, David, I see that you've finally decided to shake all the pennies from your crackpot's piggybank in time for the election. I suspect your trouble is that you lack discernment.
Because you may have been around the block a few times is no excuse for switching on the mental auto-pilot. Because you may have been fooled before doesn't mean you are being fooled now. Use more of your head and less of your feelings. You mistake your cynical feelings for wisdom.
October 30, 2008 10:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
David, I appreciate the post, even if I may not agree with all of it. There are many yogis, for example, who came away from Kripalu very disillusioned (arguably a good thing) after the revelations about Desai came to light. Similar situation with Trungpa Rinpoche, though to a lesser extent. It's a fair warning not to project hopes and dreams onto another human being, and we don't know what foibles may come.
Another way of saying this is this election is only a starting point - what happens next is not only up to Obama (should he win), his executive team, and the way they execute the laws of the US, but it is also how the new congress legislates.
Finally, it is about us - because if we implement the change we need ourselves (choosing better foods, greener transit, doing business with "fair trade" companies etc), it becomes that much easier for politicians to help us out.
October 30, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink