Let Bygones (Not) Be Bygones [Archive] - Debate Policy

stephanie

11-05-2008, 01:23 PM

here's to giving peace a chance..:laugh2:

Twelve-hundred-and-eight words, and we're supposed to forget the months of ugly that came before?

Not so fast.

"I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together."

A gracious gesture, and - poof! - the "Country First" ticket is off the hook, just like that, for the lying, red-baiting, character assassination, rabble-rousing, and calculated polarization that preceded it?

I don't think so.

A dog that behaved that badly would be sent to obedience school. A child who was that reckless would face consequences up the wazoo. But just because Americans are good people, a campaign's end requires us to willingly come down with a national case of amnesia?

Gimme a break.

What an insult it is to the idea of accountability, this notion that responsibility for the ugly emotions unleashed by demagoguery is wiped away by a concession speech. What an affront to the dignity of democracy, this remorseless draining of meaning from language, this quadrennial rush to retroactively trivialize our public discourse.

from the love and peace site..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/let-bygones-not-be-bygone_b_141467.html

stephanie

11-05-2008, 01:42 PM

The End of the Ignorance

so maybe it's not the end of racism as we know it, but it's certainly an important step toward shedding the skin of that diseased mentality. It took generations for the old guard to die out and for the country to start growing better people. And now they've finally come of age to vote. In that sense, we can begin to wave farewell to our ignorant past. And that is reason to celebrate.

In another sense, it's an end to ignorance and a victory for intelligence, as we once again have someone in the Oval Office who can put sentences together while possessing actual thoughts that go into framing them. Comedians may have to take the hit, but you can't say it hasn't been a good ride.

As for the GOP post mortem, McCain's concession speech showed actual moments of class and honor. My only thought: where was that class and honor during the election? And we should all celebrate the fact that he didn't let the Disasta from Alaska speak. I'm hoping that in a very private moment, he looked her in the eyes and said: "Thanks for trying. But now I'm going to have to ask you to shut the fuck up." If so, he was speaking for much of the country.

And for those who think it was sexism that brought her down -- sorry. No one sat her down before that Katie Couric interview and said: One last piece of advice before you go out there: Make sure to say many stupid things." She had every chance to dazzle the country and the world with her knowledge and grasp of the issues. But she didn't. Because she's a moron. Sarah in 2012? Have at it. In four years, she'll be a Jeopardy question all the contestants get wrong.

As for McCain's future, he now has time to go home and rest. To take a walk in the garden and try to rediscover what it is he stands for, and bring it back to Washington. Sure, he'll have to eat some shit, but there's still time to work on the legacy. Nothing we like more in this country than sinners who repent. We bought Nixon as an elder statesman. We'll buy damn near anything.

As for the Republican brand: who gives a shit? They either can stop being a bunch of dicks and work with the incoming administration to fix the many problems we face, or they can start aiming for 2012, just in case in four years we're jonesing for more mean, rich, clueless old white men.

But that's years away. Now is a time to come together. To feel hopeful again. Because there is much to look forward to. We will have an intelligent president who will surround himself with the best and the brightest. A Congress that may actually find its balls. And the fact that, sometime in the next year, Limbaugh and O'Reilly will probably whip themselves into states of on-air apoplexy so violent that they induce crushing, fatal heart attacks. Ok, that's not very gracious. Maybe just shingles and anal warts. After all, this is a time to celebrate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-gurvitz/the-end-of-the-ignorance_b_141468.html