Sunday, May 25, 2008

Obama and the irregular verb

I would prefer to ignore the irregular verb rule of life, but it keeps surfacing, obviously part of the human condition:

“I have considered positions; you are prejudiced; he/she is a raging bigot.

It is something we tend to live with, but is a real worry when it shows so strongly in a national election. We might be criticized for being elitist, but when it comes to real bigotry few people want to talk about it.

In my considered opinion analyses of the primaries don’t really show America in a good light, but then the same can be said of most national attitudes. Leaders don’t help, as they tend to run with the lowest common denominator.

Obama has tripped over on some of his comments, but they have been more in the realm of trying to balance supporter’s excess than anything he has personally stated. Australia’s PM Rudd annoyed me far more this week over art censorship, at least Rudd has been decently accepting on racial issues.

Many will recall the pressure Kennedy had to overcome for being Catholic, obviously before my anti-Catholic time. Even so, it would have been the dumbest possible attack on Jack. His father’s criminal past as a bootlegger should have been more relevant, if any outside issue was relevant.

We live with bigotry at all levels of existence, but to even consider it on a major national/international level is taking it almost insane extremes. Barack Obama is viewed around the world as the logical next leader of the US. Despite of, according to one US commentator, having a bad paint job Obama is selling well among the non US bigots, just as Kennedy did.

It is not about a choice between a woman or a dusky bloke, it is about the best possible outcomes!

5 comments:

D.K. Raed said...

you'll have to remind me; it's been far too long since I've considered parts of speech. What is the irregular verb rule? Is it that they are inconsistent, or?

Cartledge said...

Irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. Wiki.
But in this sense it is more about the irregularity of though processes. I had come across the ‘rule’ in fiction, but tend to agree the basic premise.

Anonymous said...

They tried discrediting JFK with all of that - his Catholicism, his father's past, his own privileged upbringing. And I think to a large extent it worked. The election was much closer than it should have been, with this young, charming war hero up against the sweating Tricky Dick.

As for the 2008 election, you're right - the bottom line is to have the best possible outcome. But to do that, we'd have to elect not the woman or the dusty bloke or the old guy - we'd have to elect Ralph Nader. And that's where the real prejudice in American politics lies. It's against anyone without an R or a D after his name.

Utah Savage said...

Isn't Hillary nice to hang around this long just in case something happens to Barack like "something happened to Bobby." What a gal. Like a vulture on the wire looking down at the road, just hoping for a little accident to swoop in and clean things up for us.

Cartledge said...

Abi, Ralph is yesterday's man - in my considered opinion.
Savage, do I detect a touch of disenchantment there?