(no subject)

[proximoception]

I'm not very happy about the Palin business, and I'll use folksy metaphors to explain why not. She was much more dangerous as a vice presidential candidate. Palin's like a dog whistle or something, her 'folksiness' works only on the biologically predisposed - I suspect she'd have been a wonderful lightning rod, keeping the nomination away from Huckabee. Free extra points for Obama in the general election, now gone up in smoke. Now Huckabee, who I genuinely fear, is going to get most of her chips. Huckabee has a charisma that works on me - not to any effect on my actions or opinions, but even when he's preaching the most hideous, potentially murdersome wrongness I'm horrified to find I rather like him, whereas Palin I could never stand. What he has will work on underinformed independents (if that isn't redundant) - especially if he keeps watching Bob Roberts for tips. He is therefore the devil, and, the future being who knows what, conceivably more dangerous than Bush. Big war daddy McCain blocked him last time, lil' darlin' Palin looked set to in '12. Nobody now.

Comments

[wolodymyr.livejournal.com]

I don't know - if I can lateralize, or maybe just digress, to something that's been obsessing me, a lot of the trees here are in trouble. Like, maybe 5% just died this spring for no apparent reason. About 30% are in visible trouble, with huge dead patches.

When there's big human trouble that has a long history of human actions, like a Depression, that's one thing - you can have these platitudes about Work and Business.

What happens when suddenly, everyone's trees are dying? I understand that supposedly the crazy bible-thumping core can take this in stride. But I think they're a minority. I think what actually happens if we start getting unavoidable pervasive climate change effects is that...politics becomes less certain. Neither D nor R are *actually* responding to these issues - or a number of others. If those issues suddenly acquire new priority, it may mean...not that Republicans as such aren't plausible, or that, yes, the Demonically attractive Huckabee won't have traction. It's just I think *how* that traction will work will become much more difficult to forecast.

Late night frothing, maybe.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Depends how fast the blight hits some red states, I guess? You have not made me feel better.

[wolodymyr.livejournal.com]

I haven't made you feel better, but get this - it's at LEAST every 3rd tree I see on the freeway that's affected, and sometimes more, and there's not a single person I've brought it up to who's noticed it AT ALL.

To some extent, there's no sense trying to prepare for what's coming, because you can't. For all this thing I alone seem to be noticing, in a city of some however many million people - I myself am one of the million on another more serious scale.

When you really look into what's going on ecologically, you do start feeling better, in a very peculiar Rabelasian smoke-em-if-you-got-em way. Lamely, that's the best I can do.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

I think all of us have those moments, but those of us with some passing acquaintance with rationality will move on and accept that Things Need To Be Done. Not in any kind of good time or anything, but we will - the present day ignorers will creak into motion, reluctantly voting some of their own money away. The other people are the dangerous ones, the ones who will refuse that guilt-unto-action because they still have refuge to that alternative view of reality when it's convenient. The laziness of apocalypticism - that's what I smell in the Huckabillies.

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

See, I felt this way about Reagan. When he got the nomination (which Carter worked hard to get him), we all thought: great, now Carter wins, sucky as he's been. And then we got Reagan. And so this time I thought: worth the slam dunk likelihood that Obama would beat Palin to risk the 5% chance that she'd win? And the answer is, no. I think Huckabee may be a problem. But Palin so lowers expected gain (so increases expected loss) in any election she's part of, that I prefer Huckabee.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

I don't see the same flames and Carmina Burana behind her eyes. But yeah, glassy nothingness may not be preferable.

[andalus.livejournal.com]

cmon, she's still running.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Let's bet.

[andalus.livejournal.com]

how much.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Loser writes an ode to her. And also has to mail it to her.

[andalus.livejournal.com]

we're defining "running" as being on the ballot in any primaries correct? Because you know we're going to argue about it later.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Second she officially announces she's running for president you've won. Second there's a Republican nominee who isn't her, or the second you concede she isn't in, whichever comes first, I do. That work?

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Huh-hem.

[andalus.livejournal.com]

you have to admit she came close.

I was hoping you'd forgot.