Interiors

During last week’s news cycles we were treated to the delicious spectacle of crestfallen BBC news presenters announcing the results of the EU Parliamentary Elections. How is it possible, they asked, that a mostly apathetically pliant public could fail to hold “capitalism” to account for all the world’s ills and vote overwhelmingly for conservative candidates (defined as anyone holding any stance that does not unambiguously endorse Marxism)? The answer in this particular case was “immigration”.

Meanwhile here in America, the continuing drone of partisanship has become ever so boring. Take any issue, determine the political affiliation of any prospective candidate and you can virtually guarantee his or her stance no matter how absurd. Compromise has become impossible. Allegiance is now to party alone. Those attempting to triangulate are routinely pilloried by all sides.

Written opinion, overall, is equally lacking in depth. We cheer when we recognize ourselves in any given editorial; we boo when we don’t. We’re that close to taking the strap to anyone who disagrees with us. We’ve already resorted to calling each other unpardonable names.

Worst of all, we no longer listen. “What is there to listen to?” you might ask. Manufactured talking points? They all do it so shamelessly. It’s a disgrace the way they take money simply for sticking their pinkies in the dyke (and running the other way when she’s about to blow) – and, in the end, it’s always us who get screwed.

They don’t even bother to hide it anymore. Everybody knows they can fix it so that they’re in for life; that voting no longer matters much. Though, admittedly, recent elections in Europe were a surprise. We’ll speculate endlessly how Americans will vote the next time around; who or what they will blame for America’s continuing downward slide.

Still, it’s refreshing when you happen to see something that rises above the level of common discourse – it’s also humbling. From time to time I fancy myself as a commentator. Then a piece like this comes along and dashes all illusions. “Obama's women reveal his secret”, by Spengler (of the Asia Times), was published nine months before the election. It just goes to show, that the facts were out there, if anyone had only bothered to look. Not that anything would have changed much. Like I’ve said before, McCain would have been a bigger disaster than Bush for a whole host of reasons – and I won’t take it back. Either way, we were long overdue for a reaming. History has a way of supplying the individuals required at any given moment. In many ways Obama and his wife are perfect Punch and Judy foils for Clio.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JB26Aa01.html