Will it be the kid or the old goat?
Say there, Barack and John, “Will you love me in December as you do in May?”--and June?
That timely question arises, since the national election’s bloviations have already begun. And someday after the parties’ conventions, but not now, we’re liable to find out what the candidates are really like. Will they, like the old song title quoted above, wear well or--in McCain‘s case--perhaps run out of steam?
About that song title, you do recall how it goes, don’t you. Here’s a verse from that true oldie:
Will you love me in December as you do in May?
Will you love me in the good old-fashioned way?
When my hair has all turned gray,
Will you kiss me then and say,
That you love me in December as you do in May?
Kissing may not be on either party’s agenda since Hillary is no longer in the race. Don‘t dismiss the idea, though, in case Obama feels he must really go after the gay vote with a symbolic smooch.
Of course, lest we forget (but let’s do), there’s also the other two guys running: Bob Barr and Ralph Nader. I forget why.
But those concerns can wait for another month or so. For now, let’s look back fondly on the 2008 election personalities. Personally I was attracted most to Mike Huckabee, although too soon he was largely beside the point. He was, as someone remarked, Huckabeen.
Start with Obama. (And don’t you just know he’ll make a big deal out of this year’s Juneteenth celebration of Emancipation Day--officially June 19-- in the South.) No confusion over his name anymore, right? Especially since there’s no politically correct middle name for him. Yet, as the Associated Press reported from Crow Agency, Mont., on one of his final campaign events of the primaries: “The newly named Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish--better known as Barack Obama--faced east, the symbolic source of new life. His adopted Crow father... prayed over him...Obama promised to live up to the meaning of his new name: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."
Next stop China Town?
Don’t get me wrong. His election campaign will be studied for years for its miraculous effectiveness against huge odds.
Even so I hope we can put behind us the campaigns‘ abundant divisive stuff, which flourished as long as Hillary stayed in the race, thanks to race perhaps. “ [T]here has been a consistent media theme that it's acceptable for blacks to vote for Barack Obama because he's black, but racist for whites to vote for Hillary Clinton because she's white,” observed blogger Noel Sheppard. But how about the crime of ageism, since Obama is still a young twerp and McCain an old one? Just wondering.
Regardless, Obama must hope he’s done with Bill Clinton, the clown of the primaries who surely lost the top spot for Hillary. As former Clinton ally Dick Morris put it, “The public Bill Clinton has morphed...from a statesman...to angry, cursing, spoiled narcissist, accusing everyone of being sleazy and biased...And make no mistake, Bill comes along with Hillary.”
Similarly for Obama, so does wife Michelle. She says things like, "He is going to demand that you...move out of your comfort zones...And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed." Well, if that happens, he’ll have bigger problems on his hands than Michelle‘s mouth or hate-spewing preachers.
Beyond the headline personalities, gasoline prices and oil companies are hot topics. I agree with a recent comment by blogger Glenn Reynolds: “[S]omebody needs to pin down the critics on just what sources of energy are acceptable, given that they don't like oil, don't want nuclear, oppose gas drilling, are limiting oil shale, and even get in the way of wind power.”
By the way, the candidates will surely try to outdo each other on who hates global warming the most. Too bad it won’t make any difference. Nobody can do anything about keeping the climate from changing. Unfortunately, I won’t live long enough to say I told you so, but nobody will have proven me wrong in that very short eon either.
Meanwhile, reflecting on how everyone will one day appreciate his nomination victory in early June, Obama said, "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth."
Next, parting of the seas? What nonsense from such an elitist. But don’t despair. Even if he becomes the second term of Jimmy Carter, I think we‘ll muddle through somehow. God Bless America.
___________________________________________________________________
Note: You can access recent Blurb columns of Ben Blankenship at staffordcountysun.com. Click on columnists.
That timely question arises, since the national election’s bloviations have already begun. And someday after the parties’ conventions, but not now, we’re liable to find out what the candidates are really like. Will they, like the old song title quoted above, wear well or--in McCain‘s case--perhaps run out of steam?
About that song title, you do recall how it goes, don’t you. Here’s a verse from that true oldie:
Will you love me in December as you do in May?
Will you love me in the good old-fashioned way?
When my hair has all turned gray,
Will you kiss me then and say,
That you love me in December as you do in May?
Kissing may not be on either party’s agenda since Hillary is no longer in the race. Don‘t dismiss the idea, though, in case Obama feels he must really go after the gay vote with a symbolic smooch.
Of course, lest we forget (but let’s do), there’s also the other two guys running: Bob Barr and Ralph Nader. I forget why.
But those concerns can wait for another month or so. For now, let’s look back fondly on the 2008 election personalities. Personally I was attracted most to Mike Huckabee, although too soon he was largely beside the point. He was, as someone remarked, Huckabeen.
Start with Obama. (And don’t you just know he’ll make a big deal out of this year’s Juneteenth celebration of Emancipation Day--officially June 19-- in the South.) No confusion over his name anymore, right? Especially since there’s no politically correct middle name for him. Yet, as the Associated Press reported from Crow Agency, Mont., on one of his final campaign events of the primaries: “The newly named Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish--better known as Barack Obama--faced east, the symbolic source of new life. His adopted Crow father... prayed over him...Obama promised to live up to the meaning of his new name: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."
Next stop China Town?
Don’t get me wrong. His election campaign will be studied for years for its miraculous effectiveness against huge odds.
Even so I hope we can put behind us the campaigns‘ abundant divisive stuff, which flourished as long as Hillary stayed in the race, thanks to race perhaps. “ [T]here has been a consistent media theme that it's acceptable for blacks to vote for Barack Obama because he's black, but racist for whites to vote for Hillary Clinton because she's white,” observed blogger Noel Sheppard. But how about the crime of ageism, since Obama is still a young twerp and McCain an old one? Just wondering.
Regardless, Obama must hope he’s done with Bill Clinton, the clown of the primaries who surely lost the top spot for Hillary. As former Clinton ally Dick Morris put it, “The public Bill Clinton has morphed...from a statesman...to angry, cursing, spoiled narcissist, accusing everyone of being sleazy and biased...And make no mistake, Bill comes along with Hillary.”
Similarly for Obama, so does wife Michelle. She says things like, "He is going to demand that you...move out of your comfort zones...And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed." Well, if that happens, he’ll have bigger problems on his hands than Michelle‘s mouth or hate-spewing preachers.
Beyond the headline personalities, gasoline prices and oil companies are hot topics. I agree with a recent comment by blogger Glenn Reynolds: “[S]omebody needs to pin down the critics on just what sources of energy are acceptable, given that they don't like oil, don't want nuclear, oppose gas drilling, are limiting oil shale, and even get in the way of wind power.”
By the way, the candidates will surely try to outdo each other on who hates global warming the most. Too bad it won’t make any difference. Nobody can do anything about keeping the climate from changing. Unfortunately, I won’t live long enough to say I told you so, but nobody will have proven me wrong in that very short eon either.
Meanwhile, reflecting on how everyone will one day appreciate his nomination victory in early June, Obama said, "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth."
Next, parting of the seas? What nonsense from such an elitist. But don’t despair. Even if he becomes the second term of Jimmy Carter, I think we‘ll muddle through somehow. God Bless America.
___________________________________________________________________
Note: You can access recent Blurb columns of Ben Blankenship at staffordcountysun.com. Click on columnists.
posted by Ben Blankenship at
5:11 PM
