Sorry, sorry, sorry . . . I know you are all waiting for some of my incisive thoughts written in spellbinding English which will open your poor, pinched minds to the subtleties of modern politics . . . but just at the moment I can't be arsed! And anyway, why bother when there are people like Nick Cohen (see post below) who do it so much better than me and apparently without any effort. No sooner had I struggled to hide my envy at his perceptive skills when up pops another wise ass, oops sorry, astute observer in The Financial Times of all places. I do not recall ever reading the FT outside of a dentist's waiting room but if their columnists are as good as Clive Crook, I might give it a go.
In this essay he chides the Democrats, not too gently, for their inept stupidity in the way they re-acted to the appointment of Mrs. Palin. He points out the, er, 'internal contradictions' in a party that likes to see itself as being on the side of ordinary, small-town America but when faced with a real example of the species it spits out its ideological, and snobbish, dummy:
"Ms Palin is a small-town American. It is said that she has only recently acquired a passport. Her husband is a fisherman and production worker. She represents a great slice of the country that the Democrats say they care about – yet her selection induced an apoplectic fit."
Mr. Crook reminds his readers that "Mr Obama made a bad mistake when he talked about clinging to God and guns" whilst referring to working- and middle-class Americans, but he absolves him, rightly, in my view, of holding this view seriously, or even sincerely - it was a throw-away line to the Party faithful who do believe it! There-in lies Mr. Obama's main problem. He is a decent and, I suspect, a thoughtful man, but he has chained to his ankle the dead weight of a Democratic liberal party that assumes it has a right to rule. They could be in for a rude shock - again - McCain was 5 points ahead in the latest Gallup poll.
I am obliged, yet again, to Harry's Place for the tip.
It's interesting that the last two Democrrats to win the presidency both had the kind of small town backgrounds that provokes such contempt in the party nowadays. They don't seem willing to nominate candidates from outside the beltway anymore.
The Republicans generally nominate whoever has the best chance to win the election whereas the Democrats nominate whoever is the most ideologically in line with their metropolitan base.
Posted by: Ross | Monday, 08 September 2008 at 17:53
Shrewd point, Ross. I suspect something similar has happened here with nu-Labour infiltrated by know-nothing apparatchiks who have no connection to the electoral constituency that they are supposed to support and nurture, and when one does rear its ugly head and say something along the lines of there are too many immigrants, or whatever, they flee in disgust and terror.
Incidentally, I really must get round to putting your site on my blog roll. I always enjoy it - not least because, unlike me, you make your posts short and to the point!
Posted by: David Duff | Monday, 08 September 2008 at 19:32
David
Off subject.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1967:where-eagles-dare&catid=34:dispatches&Itemid=55#yvComment>The Parachute Regiment in Afiganistan.
Thought you might be interested.
Posted by: Hank | Tuesday, 09 September 2008 at 10:38
Thanks, Hank, see post above.
Posted by: David Duff | Tuesday, 09 September 2008 at 11:27
Thanks for being added to the blogroll.
Posted by: Ross | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 at 00:01
My pleasure.
Posted by: David Duff | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 at 14:14