Tossed Salad

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

It’s been a good week for titillating political factoids, now that Obama’s robust debate performance has put campaigning back on an even keel. These funky little events are like mushrooms, sprouting up everywhere we look, ripe for the picking, tasty with sound bites. I’ve gathered a few in my cyber-basket.

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If we collect enough of them, sorting them into clumps of like kind, they turn into puzzle pieces for the larger picture. And by the way, titillating is a titillating word, isn’t it? (I’m pretty sure it’s the ‘tit’ part.) Things HAVE to be titillating if they’re going to grab our attention in the great soup of infotainment, opinion and conjecture we have substituted for news in the 21st century.

For instance, I learned this week that it’s possible that Britney Spears dabbled significantly in crystal meth. Surprised, are you? Flabbergasted by such a turn of events? And how does this inform the larger picture? Well, that MIGHT explain her shaving her head as a public event, losing her parental rights along with career cred and even suffering parental conservatorship.

Some of these things are so obvious that they should be self-explanatory to sentient beings, don’t you think? I mean, is anyone REALLY shocked about the Boy Scouts’ secret files, exposing decades of sexual abuse? In both instances, the only thing that I find shocking is that anyone actually is.

Back to our ‘shroom harvest, let’s start with the pious little religious mushrooms, shall we?

Billy Graham came out of his advanced dotage to let the evangelical cultists know that Mormonism really isn’t a cult, despite the fact that when our Mormon brothers and sisters hear Joni Mitchell sing “we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden,” they think about the planet Kolob. And what might Billy say to those who embrace the notion of a plurally married Jesus, with many, many children? Or even the part where only those who marry in the temple and immerse themselves fully in the lifestyle get to hobnob with God and Jesus, their most prestigious priests (like Mitt) earning a planet of their own to rule over their spirit family as a virtual god.

Much as Dems are overlooking what Obama didn’t do in his first term, it appears the Christocrats have aligned themselves in overlooking what Mitt does as a leader of a church that they’ve considered Christian “in name only” since its inception. Frankly, I think that’s a pretty surprising pronouncement from the godfather of fundamentalist fire and brimstone, but I guess it’s no stranger than the Christocrats courting the Jews in Jerusalem so that they’ll be properly placed for sacrifice when Armageddon arrives. (Or maybe it is stranger by a good bit, and we should be grateful a Scientologist isn’t running on the conservative ticket. But who knows? If the evangelicals can overlook the Mormon scripture so pragmatically, perhaps they’ll eventually forgive astrologers for their pagan, demonic and Satan-inspired secular humanism.)

Ann Romney proved herself as slippery as her hubby when she showed up on The View. Mitt determined the ladies too ‘sharp tongued and non-conservative,’ so once again, he sent his wife into rocky territory as surrogate to court the women’s vote. This was surely for the best, since his mere presence is enough to raise the hackles of most liberal females, his patronizing insincerity as obvious to their sensibilities as an unzipped fly. Let’s give Mrs. Romney credit in facing down Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and even a somewhat confrontive Barbara Walters without a whip and chair. Her one dependable ally was resident evangelical and Republican, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The two women align in social politics and share the first rule of religious fealty in common: pay, pray and obey.

As it was, Whoopi put the screws to Ann in what FOX News is calling “gotcha politics,” asking for a clarification of Mitt’s mission to France instead of service in Vietnam. The Whoopster understood that to have been a deferment on religious grounds, instead of a convenient timeframe, but it was a tense moment as Ann explained that Mormons do serve in the military. Framing religious service as faintly military, she said she’d sent her five sons away on mission as boys and they’d returned men. We love that ‘boys to men’ meme, don’t we? But even that’s beginning to fade now that our experience tells us that we send our kids to the military and they return to us damaged, depressed and often dangerous, which — remarkably — seems to upset us even more than their return in body bags.

On the same evening as the Albert A. Smith annual dinner, the Prez made the rounds on late night, at ease in a verbal joust with Dave Letterman, and later responding to Jon Stewart with surprising candor. He’s still trying to close Gitmo, he says, and his use of the extraordinary “terrorism tools” Bush put in place — like spying on public communications, etc. — have been defanged, redefined and brought under the legal umbrella. Obama is a “rule of law” guy, he wants everything encoded, which, you might suggest, does not address his furthering of Bush’s assault on the Constitution in the name of national security. I’d like to hear more of what the Prez has to say on this topic. I was really shocked to hear him speak off stump, as it were. He obviously sees this differently than many of us do, and as good as I’ve gotten at reading between the lines, I’d like to get a sense of what that means to him, real time.

My contention that an Establishment president is never going to work outside the approved structure of what’s deemed acceptable holds. Obama — as the bright, moderate black guy — has the fight of a lifetime in securing another four years to keep the nation in liberal hands, let alone establish an altruistic progressive front. And those of us who stand here holding an alternate global view of politics need to acknowledge that we’re down the rabbit hole when John Yoo — he of the infamous torture memos — can accuse this president of holding a ‘radical vision of executive power’ by willfully violating the Constitution in not deporting Latino kids.

Yes, THAT John Yoo, who was recently protected from prosecution by the Supreme Court, the one who should read Robert Burns’s famous poem about seeing ourselves as others see us. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? I’m sure Yoo considers himself nothing less than a patriot. Do you hear the cognitive dissonance between his position and Obama’s? I’d say it’s a question of character, but you know that each side would give a stormy argument in its own behalf with only a popular vote to define the difference — in other words, back where we started.

I’ve been one of the few who has said that 9/11 changed a lot but not everything; that our basic national contract still holds. It appears that that contract has fallen into the dark void defined by our polarity, held hostage to our fear that we are never going to be ‘safe’ again, as if we ever were. Its ransom seems dicey.

For a couple of comfortable centuries, we were insulated by the nature of our borders, our sense of complacency compounded by our inflated opinion of ourselves, but no nation can ever consider itself entirely safe. As Pluto makes its way through Capricorn, we will discover how much of our old institutional thought is flawed; it’s not just systems that Pluto will dissolve, it’s the cultural forms and opinions that produced them.

The President mentioned the coming presidential debate in his appearance with Romney at the annual Smith roast and charity event. Said Obama, “Monday’s debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy. Spoiler alert: We got Bin Laden.” That’s a laugh line; it’s also a concern to those of us who thought the presumptive-leader of Al Qaeda shouldn’t have wound up sleeping with the fishes quite so soon after his capture.

One would think that conservatives would respect that particular talking point, coming as they do from the Chuck Norris foreign policy camp, but instead they have minimized Osama as a threat as well as the Commander-in-Chief’s part in his capture. You’ve got to admit, that’s quite a historical rewrite, when national security is still our biggest bugaboo. Even Britney would have to put down the pipe for a moment on hearing that bin Laden didn’t really matter all that much.

In this last presidential debate we’ll hear the outline of two different ways of dealing with our national security via international affairs and relationships (think of it as the speak-softly-big-stick philosophy vs. the big-stick-up-aside-yer-head-where’s-yer-oil-and-minerals gambit.) And although many of us on the left are not comfortable with Obama’s strong support of the military-industrial complex and international use of drones and cyber-warfare, there is a case to be made that he has changed the American brand from radical imperialism to something softer, less colonial and aggressive if not less corporate and self-serving.

As the Middle East progresses through sociopolitical shifts, as the power-mongers attempt to shore up their holdings and influence, as the Western nations attempt to stabilize their flagging economic outlook, we’re still deciding if we want to go back to old paradigm warfare or refine the inhumane aspects of the new. The big picture too often falls back to the little mushroom heads that continue to poke up, distracting and begging attention, but no matter how much establishment-think Obama brings to his foreign policy, I had to nod agreement when he told Jon Stewart that this election is about big things, among them war and peace. Several of Romney’s foreign affairs advisers worked for that other Prez who was both a governor and the son of a politician, eager to define himself as a tough, powerful president. Listening to Romney speak on foreign affairs is a disturbing déjà vu of this early century. Best to remember that some political positions, like some mushrooms, are just plain poisonous.

And yet, despite all that, the polls are tied and our polarization is — while certainly not new to American politics — newly profound. It will remain that way as long as we are able to gerrymander congressional districts and allow corporate broadcasters to make no attempt to mandate truth-telling on ‘news’ channels. At least for the moment, we appear to be an “I know you are but what am I?” nation, Pee-wee’s Playhouse without the necessary sense of whimsy, a cartoon of a cartoon, badly drawn. On any given topic our positions are so conflicted that even as we’re talking at cross-point, we’re missing one another conceptually, and it’s taken a weird twist: the radical Pubs and the establishment Dems are stuck in limbo, immovable, and the progressives who are disgusted at the larger unaddressed fault lines of American politics have little interest or enthusiasm in securing the conventional seat of power that defines the presidency.

I’ve got to admit that in thinking about asking Obama about anything on my list of pressing political questions, I’d likely end up in handcuffs (which is why I never sent a few bucks to enter the dinner contests; any fantasy about Barack, George Clooney and me in cuffs didn’t include me being dragged away from the dinner table by guards.) Nevertheless, my voting choice is very clear. So many of us have glimpsed the chaos a Romney win would produce: noteably Chomsky, a number of influential Republicans that refuse to have Mitt’s back, Robert Redford for the environmentalists, and even critical, plain speaking Robert Scheer.

Jonathan Chait wrote an interesting piece on what we can expect of each candidate as winner, out the gate. Remember all those, “on my first day” quotes of Mitt’s? He’s serious. And so, I believe, was Obama in his statement to Stewart that war and peace are what is at stake in this race. He also mentioned the Supremes, which got my attention since one of the mushrooms in my basket this week was Ruth Bader-Ginsberg’s 80th birthday, her cancer still in remission. As this drama continues to unfold, I can’t help but think that no matter how this all turns out in November, it ain’t over ’til it’s over, and unlikely to be quickly enough to suit any of us. And, as usual, when tossing this salad in the next few days, best to be careful what you swallow.

3 thoughts on “Tossed Salad”

  1. Glad to have found your funny bone, Miss be, and can’t imagine you not shining, no matter the circumstance. There’s more than a little Scorpio snark this weekend, but your point about pathos is well taken. Although our current time/space seems so very serious, we are best served by taking ourselves as Lightly as possible — recognizing the vulnerability that underscores our angers and fears and projects them on to others, finding the common thread of our humanity to give it a playful tug. If we can’t laugh at ourself, we’re lost.

    And my stuttering friend, GaryB — now I know how to get your attention! Thanks both of you for the kind words.

    On topic, over at AlterNet, former fundy leader, Frank Schaeffer, has an instructive piece called “Neoconservative Jingoism Plus Mormon Delusion Equals Perpetual War.”

    http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/neoconservative-jingoism-plus-mormon-delusion-equals-perpetual-war

    Interestingly, especially given Eric’s speculation about Romney’s lifestyle and desires — the wine, women and song portion — Schaeffer hopes that Mitt turns out to be a “bad Mormon,” not as dedicated as most of his clan. It’s a good piece to read before the debate.

    As a rule of thumb it’s politically incorrect to go after religion for its own sake, unless it intrudes on others. I don’t question the intent of Buddhists or Sikhs or most other belief systems that mind their own business, and up until recently, Mormons (who are apt to keep a low profile.) But in this instance, we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t recognize that this particular belief system is based on American nationalism (on steroids.) Once again, as a former Mormon put it, “In this religion, there IS no separation between church and state.”

    And while you’re on that page, check out the links for the ongoing Billy Graham drama. Seems he’s (or his people have) kicked over the bee hive, inadvertently calling attention to the differences between Mormon and mainstream Christian belief. I’d wondered why there wasn’t more backlash. My Southern Baptist relatives consider smoking a sin punishable in Hell, I can’t imagine them knowingly cozying up with a religion that puts equal weight on a 19th century testament detailing Jesus arriving in America.

    Seems kind of late in the game for such an internal conversation but it appears to be happening, nonetheless — and as that’s the Pub base we’re talking about, it’s one more mushroom to add to the salad, perhaps showing up in wobble on November 6.

  2. be,

    Couldn’t have been stated any better!!!

    Another titular uh titillating oh anything with tits article! Thank you Judith

    GaryB

  3. Life would be without motivation for me, at least on weekends, if there were no Judith Gayle / Political Waves article every Saturday morning waiting at the PlanetWaves bloggery. No matter how dreary a Saturday morning it is, and it is, there is the promise of more than a few good laughs, some new information and even a different slant on my own views to boost my energy level. There is a reason to rise, if not shine. You make me wish I’d watched the View Jude.

    Your picture-perfect “We are a nation” description (Pee-Wee’s Playhouse?) demands we have a good sense of humor about ourselves and that can be elusive at times. I marvel at your ability to always provide enough humor in your writing to take away the sting of the latest smackdown; politial or otherwise. It is balm for pain – humor, and best shared with others. Saturn is supposed to be prominent in the charts of comedians (timing is everything) and now that transiting Saturn is in Scorpio we can expect the humor to bite.

    However, with a trine to Neptune in Pisces now, the best humor will be blended with a bit of pathos as we say goodbye to the way we were. Ignorant, naive and spoiled but willing to to grow and learn. . . hopefully.
    be

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