Bet you can't wait to vote for President Kill instead.
Me: Man, FUCK Obama. Fuck him for agreeing with the Insane Clown Party about the necessity for "austerity," and fuck him for agreeing to cuts that are going to hurt and kill actual people in order to indulge his narcissistic delusion that he can reason with the ICP (fuck him for other stuff too, like extending our Middle Eastern wars, but let's try to stay focused for now). Maybe he can get them to vote for him in 2012, if they're so goddamn reasonable.
You: I agree with you that Obama is pretty awful, but if you're under the impression that the ICP candidate wouldn't be way the fuck worse, then you, my friend, are the insanely delusional one.
Me: You're right, and I'm not under that impression at all. President Bachmann would make the living envy the dead. But imagine being forced to choose between voting for one of two serial killers, only the one serial killer promises you he's going to serial-kill twenty percent fewer people, assuming he can get the real psychopaths to agree to a compromise. That's basically what we're dealing with here. Remember that bizarre would-be meme where wingnuts kept waving around this picture of Obama photoshopped as the Joker from The Dark Knight? Dimwitted though they are, they were bloody well right, though I don't imagine they thought it was because he was kowtowing to them excessively.
You: Look, man, I'm not arguing with you, and yeah, it really, really sucks to forced to make such a shitty choice, but the fact is, you're dancing around the central point, which is that it is a choice, with real consequences. No matter how colorful the similes get, that fact doesn't change.
Me: Yes, again, you're right. Here's my thing, though. I have accepted the fact that ain't nobody going to make any serious, meaningful steps towards putting my Marxist wet dreams into practice. I know this! But--although our current system is never going to be ideal--I've also accepted that within it, things can be better or they can be worse. And I would prefer better, even if that makes the aforementioned wet dreams even more remote. So let's say Obama is only making things a tiny, incremental bit better. Not ideal, but I'm voting for him, no question! Fuck, say he's not making anything better, but he's firmly preventing things from getting worse. I'm still there, most likely! But that's not what we're getting, is it? Yeah, we have the odd no-shit inevitability like DADT repeal, but as far as the larger economic issues go? All we can expect under Obama is for things to get worse somewhat more slowly. This country is an alcoholic, and until it hits rock bottom, it ain't gonna change. So why drag it out? Let's just get this bullshit over with.
You: I notice you failed to define what "rock bottom" entails. Not to get all Godwin-y on you, but…
Me: No, it's a fair point.
You: Is social democracy "worth" a Holocaust? I realize I'm being extreme here, but since we're speaking in murky hypotheticals, we can't ignore the possible negative outcomes. Maybe something good will come--with only a modicum of suffering--from the American Empire's final downfall. I can't say I like the odds, though.
Me: So it's "vote for Obama so that we can avert complete social meltdown for slightly longer, maybe." Very inspiring.
You: Hey, I'm not saying it's a good situation. In fact, it's an unbelievably terrible situation, but granted that we have no choice but to live in it, what can you do? Besides, who knows? It's not inconceivable that, in the meantime, some sort of genuinely progressive and effective politics will emerge from somewhere and save us from out idiot selves, and no, there's no need for us to rehearse all the many, many reasons why that's wildly unlikely--but Pandora's Box has been well and truly opened, and that Hope sitting there may not look like much, but it's all we've got.
Me: How about booze? We've also got some of that.
You: Yeah, that might be better.
You: I agree with you that Obama is pretty awful, but if you're under the impression that the ICP candidate wouldn't be way the fuck worse, then you, my friend, are the insanely delusional one.
Me: You're right, and I'm not under that impression at all. President Bachmann would make the living envy the dead. But imagine being forced to choose between voting for one of two serial killers, only the one serial killer promises you he's going to serial-kill twenty percent fewer people, assuming he can get the real psychopaths to agree to a compromise. That's basically what we're dealing with here. Remember that bizarre would-be meme where wingnuts kept waving around this picture of Obama photoshopped as the Joker from The Dark Knight? Dimwitted though they are, they were bloody well right, though I don't imagine they thought it was because he was kowtowing to them excessively.
You: Look, man, I'm not arguing with you, and yeah, it really, really sucks to forced to make such a shitty choice, but the fact is, you're dancing around the central point, which is that it is a choice, with real consequences. No matter how colorful the similes get, that fact doesn't change.
Me: Yes, again, you're right. Here's my thing, though. I have accepted the fact that ain't nobody going to make any serious, meaningful steps towards putting my Marxist wet dreams into practice. I know this! But--although our current system is never going to be ideal--I've also accepted that within it, things can be better or they can be worse. And I would prefer better, even if that makes the aforementioned wet dreams even more remote. So let's say Obama is only making things a tiny, incremental bit better. Not ideal, but I'm voting for him, no question! Fuck, say he's not making anything better, but he's firmly preventing things from getting worse. I'm still there, most likely! But that's not what we're getting, is it? Yeah, we have the odd no-shit inevitability like DADT repeal, but as far as the larger economic issues go? All we can expect under Obama is for things to get worse somewhat more slowly. This country is an alcoholic, and until it hits rock bottom, it ain't gonna change. So why drag it out? Let's just get this bullshit over with.
You: I notice you failed to define what "rock bottom" entails. Not to get all Godwin-y on you, but…
Me: No, it's a fair point.
You: Is social democracy "worth" a Holocaust? I realize I'm being extreme here, but since we're speaking in murky hypotheticals, we can't ignore the possible negative outcomes. Maybe something good will come--with only a modicum of suffering--from the American Empire's final downfall. I can't say I like the odds, though.
Me: So it's "vote for Obama so that we can avert complete social meltdown for slightly longer, maybe." Very inspiring.
You: Hey, I'm not saying it's a good situation. In fact, it's an unbelievably terrible situation, but granted that we have no choice but to live in it, what can you do? Besides, who knows? It's not inconceivable that, in the meantime, some sort of genuinely progressive and effective politics will emerge from somewhere and save us from out idiot selves, and no, there's no need for us to rehearse all the many, many reasons why that's wildly unlikely--but Pandora's Box has been well and truly opened, and that Hope sitting there may not look like much, but it's all we've got.
Me: How about booze? We've also got some of that.
You: Yeah, that might be better.
posted by GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. at 3:37 PM
For want of me the world's course will not fail/ And when its work is done the lie will rot/ The truth is great and shall prevail/ When none care whether it prevails or not
Part of what makes a President worthy (or unworthy) of the position is the ability (or lack thereof) to represent the nation as its spokesman or figurehead--a face to show the rest of the world, and ourselves. That's clearly not all there is to it, but it is an important piece. On that end, Obama's better than anybody running for the Republicans.
Small consolation, perhaps, but if we have to go to Hell, I'd rather do it in a smart handbasket than, say, one styled by Rick Perry.
A valid point. There is also, somewhat relatedly, the fact that Obama enrages plenty of racists, crypto and otherwise. Good to have that out in the open, I suppose, rather than maintaining the delusion that we're a post-racial society.
I'm with you there.