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Golem Turns on its GOP Masters

By Elstun Lauesen

There is a powerful tale of biblical dimensions unfolding in the politics of these latter days. It comes through the drama within the Grand Old Party. As we all know, the Republican Party has used religion and ‘faith’ as its most powerful organizing weapon. But what we are witnessing in the political theater today is what happens when that weapon is turned upon its creator. Those within the Republican Party who understand the mainstream purposes of government are staring helplessly at the advancing shadow of their own creation like the legendary Rabbi of Prague beheld the ravages of his golem.

The golem was created (according to legend) to serve mankind but it was a crude creation and understood commands only literally. Carelessness by the golem’s owner can lead to disaster. According to the narrative of Judah Leow ben Bazalel, the Rabbi of Prague wanted to protect the Warsaw Ghetto from the persecution of Rudolph II, the Holy Roman Emperor, so the Rabbi used magical incantations to turn clay into a life form—a golem. Across the forehead of the golem was written the Hebrew word ‘emet’ or Truth; to destroy the creation, the creator would have to remove the Hebrew ‘aleph’ which changed the word to ‘met’ meaning ‘dead’. To the golem ‘Truth’ was whatever its creator told it and there is no more dangerous creation than unthinking ‘Truth’.

One day, the Rabbi carelessly gave his creation a command and it began to destroy innocent gentiles and virtuous Jews. To his horror, the creature had turned on him, spinning its own versions of ‘Truth’ to justify its terrible actions. Finally the Rabbi used an incantation to remove the Aleph from the golem’s forehead and it lost its animation.

Karl Rove is now famously at war with Rick Perry, his creation. What Karl understands is that Perry only knows one play book—the one that made him a success in ultra-conservative Texas, but will surely doom him in a national contest against a centrist incumbent president. Karl knows that he has to kill off Perry and do it soon because, while the Texan knows only one play, he knows it really well—well enough to win the early nominating contests dominated by his other golem, the Tea Party Republicans. Newsweek’s Howard Fineman even used a golem-like metaphor recently to describe the Rove-Perry conflict. “The Perry-Rove story is shaping up as the ultimate tale of dangerously unintended consequences, with Rove in the role of Dr. Frankenstein and Perry as his living, rampaging political creation.”

“Unintended consequences” is also the story of the Tea-Party. While most Tea-Partiers fancy themselves as part of a spontaneous movement, most unaffiliated observers recognize the important role that was played in organizing the Tea Party movement by the very billionaires who stand to gain the most by its anti-government ideology. The Koch Brothers funded Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks to seed the Tea Party. News Corps Billionaire Rupert Murdock and his

Fox News Channel helped spread the word. Armey organized and Fox News fed the Tea Party its lines. Here, too fits another legendary golem metaphor. Legend and folklore suggest that writing a specific series of letters on parchment and placing the paper in a golem’s mouth could activate golems. In this case, the power of the words fed to the monster was greater than any learning, wisdom or truth that could be arrayed against them.

Just imagine the horror of Karl Rove as the Tea Party congress took the nation unnecessarily to the brink after wrangling more concessions out of a weak Democratic leadership than Rove would have dared to dream would be possible. He wanted Boehner and the Republicans to declare victory and hit the campaign trail with Obama’s scalp and the Democratic base angry at their president and in disarray. But, instead, purists took certain victory and drove public opinion against the Republicans.

Far wiser minds than mine say that the legends of the golem are moral tales of the consequence of hubris. Appropriately, then, the creation of the Tea Party may prove to be deadly for the Republican party.

Comments

comments

Comments
69 Responses to “Golem Turns on its GOP Masters”
  1. Jackie says:

    There are not musical notes that’s the hebrew word “truth”. Anyways the parallel between golems and politics it’s a very svery long shot and the story lost me, to be frank

  2. AJ Billings says:

    Phenomenal post on the unearthly creatures loosed on American political landscape.

    What concerns me even more, is what unholy and mutant creatures these golems may give birth to with Tea party fanatics marrying the religious supremacists, all supported by Koch cash infusion

  3. Does anyone know what the musical notes on the gollem’s forehead translates to?

  4. ex-alaska guy says:

    I’m old enough to remember John F Kennedy’s administration and the parallels to how he was treated to the attacks on Obama are eerie. There was a great effort to portray him, JFK, as weak and not up to fending off the USSR. They (the ultra-conservatives) were able to thwart his domestic agenda and undermine his credibility in foreign affairs. The play book hasn’t changed. They just dusted it off and are using the exact same tactics on Obama. Sadly, we all know how that turned out.

  5. Cammie says:

    The entire GOP scares the hell out of me, with the exception of a few last remaining moderates in the party (who will soon be picked off or flee the party). Whether Perry or Romney wins the nomination makes no difference. Both are heartless, both would sell their mothers’ souls for tax cuts for hedge fund managers, and both would break their legs in a race to hand over Social Security to Wall Street sociopaths.

  6. Polarbear says:

    Elstun, are you certain Rick Perry is a Golem? I thought he was a Bene Tleilax face dancer, of Chuck Norris returned as a Baptist politico. I keep hearing the Walker Texas Ranger song every time he takes the microphone.

  7. Mag the Mick says:

    There is also a wonderful and terrifying evocation of the Golem in Pete Hamill’s book “Snow in August” (highly recommended), in which an Irish-American boy in 1947 Booklyn conjures up a golem to revenge the death of his best friend and mentor, a refugee rabbi.

    One reason I love coming to this site is that we can discuss politics, literature, and mysticism all in the same thread.

    • What is literature and what does it do.praytell?

      • Mag the Mick says:

        Well, for one thing, Mikey, it has given me the inspiration to write about my alternative-universe life with the Duke! You have not only enjoyed the stories, but have allowed yourself to become part of the plot. Literature boosts our imagination, humor, and world view, even if the view is sometimes into a totally different world. I would be a whole heck of a lot poorer without Harry Potter, Scout Finch, Huck Finn, and Leopold Bloom in my life, not to mention Mike from Iowa.

        So this is a shout-out to Crow Woman and all teachers and librarians like her who give us the key.

        • boodog says:

          I second that, Mag!

        • Mag-for Christmas sometime before I die.I would love a series of penny dreadfuls about the misadventures of the Dowager Duchess and friends. Heavy on the snark and humor,which are two of the most treasured elements of your literary skills. Am I laying it on thick enough,yet? When I win the lottery,you shall be richly rewarded,as will Uncle Sam with tax revenues.If there is any money leftover,I will send hugemangous checks to every teacher and liberrian I can think of.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      Snow in August!
      *shiver*
      seconding that recommendation

      • Zyxomma says:

        Next time I’m in the library (probably to pick up Marjane Satrapi’s latest graphic novel, “Chicken with Plums,” which I’ve reserved), I’ll look for it. And Mag, Scout Finch is one of my sheroes.

  8. Zyxomma says:

    For a great novel about The Golem, that also has resonance for the 21st century (it was published in 1987), read Marge Piercy’s “He, She, and It.”

  9. leenie17 says:

    Is it expected that governors from Texas be outrageously and blatantly corrupt or did we just luck out with this one? Great story on Rachel Maddow tonight about Perry’s cozy little deal with two businesses.

    One was a big contractor that built houses that now have serious toxic mold problems. Conveniently for him, Perry signed a law that prohibits people from suing the contractor. Shortly after the law was signed, the builder made a very large contribution to Perry’s campaign. Coincidence???

    Another company wanted to build a nuclear waste dump in west Texas but the laws prohibited it because the proposed dump was only 14 feet above the water table. Sooo…the law was changed to grant this company a license. The law also stipulated that ONLY ONE company will be granted a license. Ever. And, if that wasn’t enough reason for the radioactive waste guy to do a happy dance, the license was changed so that, instead of limiting the dump to accepting waste from only Texas, Vermont and the federal government, they are now allowed to accept nuclear waste from 34 states, further increasing the odds that the local tap water will glow in the dark.

    Cha-ching!!! More bonus bucks for the campaign!

    If the worst happens and he becomes POTUS, I suspect he will hang a big For Sale sign on the front door of the White House.

  10. Krubozumo Nyankoye says:

    beth – I like your thinking it is very much in accord with mine in some ways but not all of course. I am not so concerned about the next election in a general way. We will have to wait and see of course. There is a great effort going on now to generate a sore of concensus impression that Obama has failed as a president. That has been and still is the avowed aim of the republicans in general, common welfare be damned.

    To a certain extent I think that what it all will come down to is simply whether or not people are paying attention. If they are we will have progress towards solving some of our most vexing problems. If they are not, we will have more and additionally vexing problems. At some point in the future, in my view not all that far in the future, our confusion will result in the pot boiling over, and things will get scalded.

    If you look at the long history of the world, this cycle has repeated itself many times.

    We will live by our wits or die by our convictions.

  11. lacy lady says:

    This border thing has been going on for many many years. I can remember in the 1950’s, a former boyfriend my mine, got a job as a border patrolman after college. He told the story of a woman who was PG, that he and his partner hauled back over the border almost every night, as she tried to get to the US to have her child. He lost his leg in a wreck chasing the illegals . Was then transfered to the Canadian border and worked in immigration.
    My point here is——this border thing has been going on for a very long time, and I get upset when I hear that our President isn’t doing enough to protect our border.
    How many Presidents, and congressman have been in office since the 1950’s?

    • laurie says:

      I have read that he is tougher than Bush on people here illegally. The numbers being sent back to Mexico are greater because this administration is trying harder than the last one to enforce the laws.

    • BeeJay says:

      And overall, the numbers of illegal entrants are waaay down right now. An improved Mexican economy, and a sucky American economy have combined to reduce the number of crossers to new lows. There still are people trying to cross, yes, but they are only a fraction of those came before.

      Along with Mag the Mick, I live within a few miles of the Mexican border. There just aren’t that many folk coming up here now, and the Border Patrol has been taking a bit of a breather, which they need. The big activity is in drugs of course, and that hasn’t stopped or slowed at all. If we concentrated on reducing the demand for drugs in some way, that would be the biggest step towards “securing” the border.

      The border can’t really be “secured” either, but that is a matter of degree. How far do we want to go to secure the border? We don’t want to go the East German way with landmines, deathstrips, and machine guns, so we’ll always have to settle for some permeability.

      As for Senor Perry, “No sólo decir que no, pero el infierno no!” (I say not just no, but Hell no!)

      Baja Arizona, America’s 51st state!

      • Mag the Mick says:

        As usual, I’m in agreement with my companero, BeeJay. The border essentially CAN’T be secured. It’s physically impssible, and in the words of a former AZ governor, “Show me a 50-foot-high wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot-high ladder”. Yet, it remains an empty, but emotionally-ridden buzzword for Republicans. They all say it should be done, and fault Obama for not doing it, but not one of them can say what a “secured border” would look like or would cost.

        I am in sympathy with Mike from Iowa. I would like to think that Obama’s seeming lack of resistance to Republican and Teabagger demands is all part of a master plan that will, like jujitsu, use the Repub’s strength against them in the end, but so far, I just ain’t seeing it. Right now, I feel like we’re in the middle of Yeats’ greatest poem, where he sees “some rough beast, slouching towards Bethlehem”, and bemoans the fact that “the best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate certainty.” I simply want our good man to take a stand, dammit.

        In these times, I am rather grateful for living close to the border. In the event of a Perry victory (spitting on the ground as I write this), I may just want to pack up my old kit bag and head south for a spell. I can walk there from here.

      • I don’t want to augur,but according to the resident illegal immigrant exspurt from Wasilla,Alaska,Obama just isn’t interested in sealing the border. Better to have Snowdrift Snooki’s mukluks on the ground in Alaska to learn you border residents what is what.

  12. beth says:

    Althooooooooough… he may have come thiiiiiiiiis close to jumping the shark today.

    First off, he signed ‘the pledge’ that his priority as POTUS would be to get a writ-in-stone Constitutional Amendment that marriage is between one man and one woman. Period, end of discussion — none of this ‘teh gay lifestyle’ in a Perry-run country, by golly. {Bachmann and Santorum have already signed this pledge also, too.}

    And then he decided he was going to show what a forward-thinking, fiscally astute, and ballsy kinda guy he is, so he [are you ready for this?] bills the Fed $350 million for housing illegals in Texas jails and prisons. Yowza!
    “““““`
    snip: In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry criticized the federal government hasn’t been doing enough to secure the border with Mexico, thereby allowing illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources, including prisons and jails. It’s a claim the Republican governor has made many times before.

    The letter was dated Aug. 10, three days before Perry formally announced he is running for president. […]

    As governor, Perry was one of the first to talk about immigration by breaking out the issue of border security, a move that has won him support from conservative Hispanics. But he angered Hispanic leaders in June by endorsing legislation that would have prohibited cities from adopting “sanctuary” rules for handling suspected immigrants. /snip
    [here: http://tinyurl.com/3lkkdsq ]
    “““““`
    I guess the question, then, is: How many well-established (large) groups of voters can a candidate afford to offend/lose before the ‘base’ that candidate is playing footsies with, becomes useless as a bloc in the final vote tally? beth.

    • benlomond2 says:

      a better question is how many business group donors can he offend and dry up his large political donations ? Any “plan” he comes up with on immigration will have holes big enough to drive a truck thru – full of cheap illegal labor for his donors to make back the $ spent on donating to his war chest. 9/11, and homeland security and the Patriot Act… and the southern border is just as open as it ever was before Shrub took office..

  13. I See Villages From My House says:

    Extraordinary summary of the whole mess. Great job Elstun, you are an Alaskan treasure.

  14. StillNOThappy says:

    I want a Democratic Party candidate that will govern according to democratic principles not one who governs like the previous Republican. Do not see it so far so why vote for him again.

    • And your choice is to vote for one of the extreme republicans who are running? How will that possibly make your life, or anyone else’s, better. Cutting your nose off to spite your face doesn’t work so well if you still want to look normal and be able to smell the roses and the coffee.

    • I agree with you,StillNOThappy. When there is so little difference between what we have now and what we had before,it is time to be looking at our options. I think we have that right,regardless of whether it meets other people’s considerations. I will never vote for a rethuglican or t-bagger-ever. I do want a Dem or an Independent who won’t fold like last weeks newspaper at the first sign of opposition. Pres. Obama acts like he is into S and M. He offers his hand in bi-partisanship,rethugs serve it up to him on a silver platter(and then give the wealthy more taxbreaks). Then the president offers them both arms and a leg or two. Rethugs aren’t gonna play nice so it would be in everyone’s best interests to “Nuke” the opposition and start all over. We only need one wimpy Dem to stand up and push the red button.

  15. Bob Benner says:

    As we all know, the Republican Party has used religion and ‘faith’ as its most powerful organizing weapon.
    ===================
    Really? We ALL “know” this?? I thought conservative values were the Republican Party’s most powerful organizing weapon… How about this one: Entitlements (promises of more and threats of less) are the Democratic Party’s most powerful organizing weapon??

    • SomewhereHere says:

      Yes, we DO know this. I have yet to see a single Republican present their case without someplace along the way invoking their “personal Jesus” and insisting their “God” is the only “true” ruler. Perry, Bachmann, and the other mudders have declared publicly that they were each personally told by this “God” that they were each his/her candidate.

      Since so many are saying the same thing, either God is really a Democrat and playing them or they are all schizo and hearing voices. Pick one. All I know is that I am really sick and tired of being asked if I am a Christian every time I challenge a Republican/Tea Party member on their misrepresentations of reality.

    • That is not necessarily true. In my experience-RWNJ use fear against the elderly and the poor . The fear of “death panels”,the fear of increased taxes,the fear that Dems and the ACLU kicked god out of schools and public places. They claim Dems have wasted all Social Security trust fund monies. They claim Dems ruined the Military and are giving comfort to our enemies if we don’t allow everyone’s mail to be read or phones to be tapped. They claim every two years that our deficits are the results of tax and spend godless,Dem. commies and we can trust korporate Amerika to do what’s best for the public if we just deregulate everything. Get rid of frivolous lawsuits against doctors and insurance companies and medical costs will drop dramatically. I don’t know of a single RW that has ever not lied about all this stuff and more. I also will not claim that Dems don’t lie.

  16. beth says:

    Thanks, EL – excellent post!

    A couple things us (semi-)sane folks have to remember, imho, too and also… as ks sunflower pointed out @ 4.1, there are not a few who’ll vote –for the reason(s) ks mentioned– against Obama, rather than for [him], and then there is that vast sea of “conservatives” out there who also get to vote. As leenie17 posted over on today’s Open Thread ( https://themudflats.net/2011/08/26/open-thread-the-richness-of-english/#comment-274813 ) conservatives seem to have No trouble voting ‘single issue.’ (That’s not to say progressives don’t ‘single issue,’ too, but I’d hazard –over all– the instances of them doing so are so way few and so way far between as to be almost negligible.)

    So in steps Perry.

    Good old Rick. He has experience running a ginormous border state. He’s a 4-termer governor. He’s ‘folksy’ as opposed to ‘elite’. He’s not afraid to publicly beseach G-d for help. He’s pro-gun. He is pro-business – 40% of all jobs created last year (?) in the US were created in his state. He is against big government. He balanced his budget (using stimulus money, but…) He’s anti-choice. He believes neither climate change nor evolution have satisfactorily been proven enough that they should be taught in schools as factual. He believes local issues should be handled locally, not by mandate out of DC. He knows his bible and his Constitution. And the list goes on and on.

    In other words, Perry brings an over-stuffed bag of goodies to the campaign — there’s something for everyone in it: religion, economics, education, self-determination… He’s the full package.

    It’s only when one looks at each piece of his ‘assets’, individually, that the glaring cracks in his whole run pop out so clearly. Not but about quarter-dozen of his ‘assets’ could stand up to tests of full disclosure, honesty, legality, best-for-the-constituent, logic, and/or plain old humanity. Sadly, single-issuers will champion and vote for him anyway.

    I can only hope he gaffes and crazies himself out of the running long before the RNC convention. I’d really like to see a more non-divisive (read: all-American inclusive!) candidate emerge from that gathering. I mean, how do you campaign against 24/7 bullc*it and batc*it? beth.

    • John says:

      And no one seems to mention that Texas has a “weak governor” form of government. They don’t actually get to make a lot of decisions.

    • leenie17 says:

      With the economy as bad as it is right now, most people are desperately trying to keep their heads above water and don’t follow politics as closely as many of us here at the ‘flats do. Unfortunately, Perry looks the part and has that Good Ol’ Boy demeanor that plays better to a lot of voters than the educated and more reserved President Obama. Perry is able to spew enough of the expected talking points that far too many people won’t take the time to look past the hair product, cowboy boots and high-pressure sales job to see the ugly truth behind them.

      Combine that with the rampant voter disenfranchisement and election fraud happening throughout the country now, add in the unrestricted deluge of cash from corporations, and it makes me very afraid…VERY afraid!

    • SomewhereHere says:

      Perry is making a big deal about those jobs, but he forgot to disclose–as usual–where those jobs come from.

      Many of the “miracle” jobs are part-time minimum-wage service jobs. He also found a way to declare prison labor as regular workers even as his state increased its prison population. The worst hypocrisy, though, is that even though he rails against federal money and assistance, the biggest employer in the state of Texas is the federal government (military, the space program, some DoD agencies, etc.).

      He’s a thief, a liar and an all-around mean person. Just look at what he tried to do with retired teachers if you don’t think so.

  17. Diane says:

    Excellent article.

    One would hope that perry would/could never be elected POTUS, but we spent 8 long years with GW.
    And people re elected him after 9/11!!! An attack on our country and the man sat there a read a book!!!!

  18. You are entitled to your opinions,as are the rest of Americans.

  19. lacy lady says:

    It is happening here in Iowa——Not just Wisconsin.
    Just received this e-mail.

    ‘Last fall, when Terry Branstad and the Republicans swept into complete control of the government in Iowa, we knew things could get ugly. But “ugly” is a polite word for what we’ve seen.

    Iowa Republicans have gone on a right-wing binge, slashing funding for K-12 public education, Iowa’s colleges and universities, and pushing us toward a double-dip recession. And Republicans are pushing the same far-right agenda in state capitols across the country.”

    The scariest part is, these right-wing extremists are pushing for even more. In states across the country, Republicans are calling “special sessions” to ram through even deeper budget cuts and partisan redistricting maps that will lock in GOP dominance for years to come.2

  20. Deni says:

    I still maintain that the BEST thing that could have happened in 2010 was for the Tea Party idiots to get into Congress. It would put the GOP in disarray and ultimately sink them. I sure hope I’m right, and based on what I’ve seen so far, I think I am. The hubris of Rove and his cronies knows no bounds. I think the American people are FINALLY catching on. Well, at least those of us that can think for ourselves and don’t take our marching orders from Faux News and the right wing noise machine. If Perry wins the nomination, Obama ought to win in a landslide. Perry makes Dubya look like a Rhodes Scholar.

    • tigerwine says:

      Deni – I predicted after the shellacking the Dems got after the November election, that this might be the best thing that could happen to Obama. And, like you, I hope I’m right.

      Every morning, it seems, I wake up to new, unbelievable stunts the Repubs have pulled, the latest being the Congressman demanding that police remove and confisate all cameras from his public meeting. Even if you were a Republican, would you put him back in office? For me, this next election will be fascinating to see just how many are voted out of office.

      • They’d better hide and watch…because they will come crawling out of the woodwork to keep republicans of the ilk of Perry…and the dim-wittedness of David Barton, from turning our nation into a dull-witted theocracy. We will re-elect Obama…..THEN, the republicans should be able to act like grown adults….at long last.

        • Krubozumo Nyankoye says:

          Rocky – but they won’t remember the last two term democratic president? Since the republicans could not thwart him and things were in good shape, in his second term they trumped up a lame reason to impeach him.

          It awes me to what extent some people will go to avoid recognizing spite when they see it.

          • benlomond2 says:

            I’ve noted that with the Evangical Right Wing, if you don’t think and believe as they do, there ARE NO RULES as to what they can’t do to you… you AREN’T like them, therefore anything goes to eradicate and eliminate you and your non-conforming values.

          • Krubozumo Nyankoye says:

            belomond,

            You are quite correct, unless you are a member of the cult, you are cannon fodder. Compost. Garbage. Damned.

            What year is it again? 2011 or 1102?

          • benlomond2 says:

            after recent watching “Kingdom of Heaven” and the fanatical Templers with their “God Wills It”… I’d say 1102 … 🙂

  21. lacy lady says:

    What an interesting tale. Just when I think I have heard it all.
    Will add this one to my new found knowledge of “dominonism”.
    It is almost like the Reps have formed a new Cult. Drinking the Kool Aid!—-Red Kool Aid that is.
    The color of blood.

  22. ks sunflower says:

    OT- but I want to wish those mudflatters on the east coast safety and health. Take care and let us know how you are doing when you can.

  23. WC loves Elstun Lauesen like a brother, but there might be hubris in thinking that Karl Rove’s golem can’t be elected president. Famously, “It’s the economy, stupid.” If the unaffiliated voters are unhappy enough about the economy, they will vote against the incumbent, even if the alternative is a Dominionist opportunist.

    Too many independent voters will vote against someone, rather than for someone.

    /WC

    • ks sunflower says:

      Well said, WC. We’ve even seen a couple of folks who post here on a regular basis say just that – they’d vote for non-candidates (write-ins) rather than vote for President Obama simply because they are frustrated by the economy and the slow pace of implementing changes they want.

      Why anyone would throw away votes or vote for any of the GOP/TP opponents when to do so is against their best interests is beyond me. People who will simply not vote also worry me. Those folks are equally as responsible for the mess we are in from the 2010 House debacle.

      As for me, I will take hope over hubris every time. Even small progressive changes are better than none.

      • Alaska Pi says:

        The largest concern is that those who loosed the golem will not manage to deactivate it before the damage extends well beyond the GOP. I would suggest that the damage already has well exceeded party boundaries in that :
        “the power of the words fed to the monster was greater than any learning, wisdom or truth that could be arrayed against them.”

        The act of
        “writing a specific series of letters on parchment and placing the paper in a golem’s mouth (which ) could activate golems” was the specific work of Karl Rove for many years. So far he has done nothing which shows he realizes what he has wrought. He has simply tried to reel in his lumbering child-of-the-dark without taking responsibility for that which he created. He is still too enamored of his own work and the years of power it has given him to accept the creature(s) he has loosed can and will undo him along with everyone else.
        I also think it bordering on hubris to dismiss or question people’s sanity for voting “against their best interests ” as there is a long history of people voting with very little attention to what their best interests might be, as well as distinctly different notions of what one’s best interests might be.
        Unlike many other really-left-left Dems, I did not see Mr Obama as a progressive and therefore have not felt left out or down by him in the ways many of them do.While the press was busy tooting up the controversy about his so-called lack of experience I was reading about his years and work in the Illinois State Senate. I am deeply concerned about his environmental politics and unwillingness to push back at big business but not surprised. I still think Mr McCain would have been much worse and THAT was the choice at the time, something many progressives have forgotten.
        Depending on how one defines best-interests my vote for Mr Obama could be seen as merely the least-of-two-evils though I think it more on the level of waaaayyy-better-than-the-other-one.He’s solid and he’s an adult which is considerably more than can be said about a whole heckuva lot of the folks who make it to the national stage. I disagree with him emphatically on many, many things.
        I am not a centrist, I am not a moderate. I am left, left, left. I am used to being pretty much out in the cold. There are millions of Americans who were, or assumed they were, THE mainstream who are hurting, disenfranchised, and left behind who are casting around looking to take down whatever it is which has harmed them or walking away from active involvement because-you-can’t-do-anything-about-it-anyway. Too many of them only have the words Rove and his ilk put in their mouths to operate with.
        That must change.
        I see no small progressive steps. I see a holding the line and a bit of a tug to pull our national discourse back towards a real center, the place many more live at than is currently assumed in all this free-for-all we have going on.
        I do accept that others will make protest votes, either direction, because dissatisfaction is a powerful motivator.
        Rather than waste time saying they are throwing away their votes, how about we go to work stopping the golems?

        • Zyxomma says:

          Yes, how about we do just that? I, too, am no liberal (that was a dirty word when I got into politics as a teen); I am now, and have always been, a radical. Thus my laughter every time the RWNJs try to paint Obama as one. Our president is a centrist, a corporatist, and a militarist. Our president is about as far distant from the radical left as he is from the radical right (on some issues, he leans more right than left, IMO). That did not stop me from voting for him in ’08, and will not stop me from voting for him in ’12.

          Let’s say the magic words necessary to defeat the golems.

    • CoyoteMarti says:

      Or the disaffected and/or horrified just won’t show up, while the crazies will.

  24. Ivan says:

    A GIRL NAMED FREEDOM-

    “Mine’s a tale that can’t be told, my freedom I hold dear.
    How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
    T’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
    But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her….yeah.”

    led zepplelin

  25. LiladyNY says:

    Excellent post!

  26. 1smartcanerican™ says:

    Oh, I pray that the Tea Party proves deadly to the Republican Party! I just hope the damage to our country is not too great.

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