Smells like a Pageant

Color me a conspiracy theorist, a paranoid, a fanciful fairy in a pink dress and tiara, dancing beyond the rim of reality, but is this crazy campaign season starting to look more and more like a pageant? You know, those elaborately rehearsed rituals, where everyone goes through their paces as if the steps were painted on the floor? Where the proceedings are both implausible and sacrosanct, and the conclusion is determined long before the first character steps upon the stage? Yeah, like that.

Oh, I know - the pageant has been playing forever and ever, and it’s the power-brokers who write the script, but suddenly it seems much more obvious, as if the man behind the curtain hired a publicist. Too many people are acting unaccountably strange in the public forum. Too many people have uttered head-smack-worthy things that are curiously well received (it’s a wonder they can keep a straight face, I think naively). Too many events have fallen neatly into place, forming a picture that never should have existed on this plane. Public figures are behaving erratically, and putting forth thought-strings so bizarre, that I cannot fathom how they ever rose to prominence. Can they really aspire to greater power acting like this? More importantly, can the king-makers actually watch, smile and applaud?

A few obvious examples:

A barely articulate Bush is elected. Twice. He flagrantly champions the agenda of his cronies (and only his cronies), consolidates power in pursuit of a level of sovereignty appealing to a Visigoth, and, when questioned? Well, he looks surprised. Then insulted. Then he turns the channel. One would expect that Congress, that body that thundered in on promises to end the war, steer us back on the good road, and rescue our global reputation, would slap the President silly for his insolence, wrestle him down, bring him to account for his outrageous misdeeds. No. Harry Reid drones on about Senate procedures, while Nancy Pelosi shrugs her shoulders. The war? FISA? Subpoenas? Piffle. An administration guilty of war crimes? Yawn. Credit woes, gas prices, immigration? Yeah, we need to do something about that. Bush and Co. are now MOONING Congress, and we watch, mouths agape.

Meanwhile …

Hillary ran from snipers, but there really weren’t snipers THERE, just the THREAT of snipers. And, she didn’t run, she walked. And, received a poem. This most-prepared of candidates seemingly had no strategy beyond the first months of the primary season. Her husband, for his part, said so many silly things about racially motivated voting, and hope (his hometown) being a fairy tale, where he never before spoke so carelessly. And, Hillary’s supporters blamed sexism for her loss, and vowed to jump to McCain in significant numbers. Even if Obama’s policies are quite close to Hillary’s and McCain’s are miles away. Even if McCain, too is a MAN.

Meanwhile …

McCain is a war hero, but not a war monger. He merely recognizes the sad necessity of combat that grinds on forever without clear goals. We don't WANT to do it; we NEED to do it. But, he's not like Bush; he's a maverick. Also, he’s a dogged advocate of veterans, but against a vet bill that promises to bring veteran benefits out of the '50s. Because it's too generous. To veterans. He knows nothing about the economy, and his chief economic strategist calls us whiners who never had it so good. His moral compass is strong, but his vices are legend. His temper gives generals pause, and large crowds somehow cause him to grin sinisterly and chuckle oddly.


Meanwhile …

Obama is our hope, but badly in need of a plan. He’s been running forever, but we still don’t know who he is. He insults a key demographic, because HE IS JUST AMONG FRIENDS in San Francisco. Reverend Wright pops up periodically to misbehave gleefully, and Jesse Jackson quietly threatens to geld Obama in a FOX News studio BECAUSE HE IS JUST AMONG ENEMIES. Oh, and, he’s married to a militant. And, he’s just so black/liberal/arrogant/Muslim/young [pick one]! And, he really likes the word "notion".

Meanwhile ...

The media follows ever silly scandal like the promise of treasure it has sadly become, and I cannot fathom how the power-brokers keep all these balls in the air.

And, somewhere, in the wings, the producers smile and applaud.

Or, maybe this thought is better articulated here (you can pause my music at the bottom of the blog):

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