Monthly Archives: January 2012

Old Custer

by






“Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is…maybe he didn’t.”








The crickets and the rust-beetles scuttled among the nettles of the sage thicket. “Vámonos, amigos,” he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight.

Some unsolicited advice for the President’s reelection campaign

by

Here’s an idea for a poster (too much for a bumper sticker)

OBAMA
Not as terrible as W was,
Not as disastrous as McCain would have been,
Not as awful as Mitt would be.

Because politics is a team sport, I feel confident (90%) that I will vote for Obama again, although if Romney is 5-6% ahead in Missouri going into the election, I’ll be tempted to acknowledge the mathematical and procedural reality of the electoral college by abstaining.

But… quit asking me for money.
I (we) donated (small potatoes) for a particular view of what our country should be. Instead, we have gotten status quo protection of the establishment. We’ve gotten center-right economics, diminishment of civil liberties, adoption of W’s monarchical signing statements, and the overriding priority of a second term over everything else. My wife (and smart friends) were right–I should have voted for Hillary.

As an aside… it is fascinating to watch many of those on the right continue to batter Obama with demonstrably false accusations — “socialist,” “counter-cultural,” “environmental radical,” “peacenik,” Muslim,” etc. etc. etc. So, one has to wonder what the motives (realized or not) are for their vitriol when Obama has practically governed as “one of them.”

And besides, Wouldn’t the lefty fringe be crowing about their ascendence if President Obama were really aiding their cause?

But alas, the confused and often hateful nature of many on the other side gives me no joy, no relief, no consolation.

So, my predictions from 9 months out:
Obama wins a relatively narrow 20-40 vote electoral college victory and 51% of the popular vote.
Republicans keep the house and take the Senate (52).
Divided government, gridlock, stalemate, sound and fury signifying nothing.

Ick

(bonus)
Clinton v. Ryan in 2016.