I'm not sure how I could have missed it, out of the many millions of words I have read in my life. I found a link to it today, via the blog of our Canadian hero, he of the nerves of steel and brass balls, Mr. Ezra Levant. Ezra understands the value of freedom of speech and the value of celebrating our individual differences from each other, rather than having us all made to be somehow 'equal' under some officially defined notion of fairness.
Today is election day in the United States. McCain and Obama are battling it out. Whatever happens, whoever wins, it is my belief that the United States is headed for a fate not too different from the Kurt Vonnegut nightmare, in his story Harrison Bergeron, linked to here. That story is what I read for the first time today.
God help us all.
We don't need to be controlled in the low-tech manner described by Vonnegut in his story. We are already controlled by idiots in high places, sometimes even well-intentioned idiots, telling us what to do and what to think. Or else.
Sadly, Canadians too suffer the same fate as the Bergerons and others in Vonnegut's story. In fact, all over the world, the lunatics are truly in control of the asylum.
It is disappointing that Canada is so affected by what happens in the USA. I hope that things work out okay.
ReplyDeleteIf there is really very little difference between the two candidates, then a lot of money has been spent for nothing. On the other hand, I guess that kind of money being spent has to be good for the economy.
Oh, my friend, of all your lines: "We are already controlled by idiots in high places" pierces me the most.
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of the few Americans who is not voting for Obama. Here's my point of view:
*a Senator who has done nothing for the state he represents (Illinois, in which I live) holds no hope of doing anything more in a higher position of power
*his sheer lack of experience scares the f--k out of me
*a recipe for change does not Good Change define: how can so many people vote for him because he's going to bring about change (and has a good speaking voice)?
I think many votes cast today in America will be as much against Bush as for Obama. People literally hate him here.
I am almost persuaded to be as hopeless as a few of your lines in this post. Ultimately, it doesn't matter who I vote for. My voice is not heard among the millions of American citizens. And, alas, idiots too often reign.
Trooper: McCain is not a true conservative by any sane definition. He is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the American equivalent of our own 'red Tory' and one-time prime minister Joe Clark. The only real differences between Obama and McCain are in where they would intervene and to what extent they want to pull the puppet strings of the American taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteI think we will fare somewhat better than the United States primarily because we have our financial house in order, sort of. The bloodbath in the markets isn't over yet and our own Canadian real estate collapse hasn't yet really begun.
Bellezza: Obama is erudite (usually) and polished and photogenic. Those attributes alone are enough to get him elected by many voters who are looking for a leader who will think for them and promise them the moon, even if he doesn't actually deliver on any of his promises. What scares me is that any serious attempt to deliver on any re-distributive schemes and universal health care and so on will push the already fragile U.S. economy over the edge.
Actually, what am I saying? The U.S. economy is already over the edge. Nothing anyone can do or say will save it. In that case maybe an Obama presidency would be ideal. It would increase the odds of a complete collapse so that the pain could be dealt with sooner and everything could start over again, hopefully in a saner fashion.
Or, maybe we can somehow stumble along for a few more years. I wonder.
I don't know the exact form of what's going to come out of all this, but I'm pretty certain the substance of it will suck hard and big-time.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama wins, the bill will arrive: He's not a Papist, therefore will not be granted unlimited access to borrow everything he needs for whatever promises he has made (Sorry, not a camp-follower/don't buy it).
GOPhers have suffered 8 years of empty/broken promises and wealth-transfer to the OMFR, and now the Donks get the same from their corrupt leaders.
The tax base does not exist in all the Earth, let alone America, to pay off Der Schtaat's massive indebtedness. THAT IS the "crisis" Biden was talking about: He's gonna hafta pay off Dubya's debts in the middle of a well-planned and politically engineered recession.
Ain't gonna happen! If he gets the White House, it might be presumptuous to call him the "winner".
BTW, it's okay to put the other blog on your blogroll if you still read it, because that's where I'm at most the time, and the more that read my bathroom-wall-scribblings the better...
ReplyDeleteMy son sure don't.
Thanks, Ted. Searider Falcon is back up on the blogroll.
ReplyDeleteI spent a few moments this morning reading and listening to all the gushing and fawning about Obama and how the world is going to change for the better in a dramatic way when he takes office. A partier, in an interview taped last night and played on the radio this morning, said: "Obama is going to turn all of the hate in the world to love." Yep. That'll happen. I can hardly wait.
And no, McCain couldn't have saved the U.S. either. Nor could Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, turn things around. We're all just going to have to ride things out and see where it all leads.
Let's break out the scotch and cigars and watch from the sidelines. That's the sanest place to be right now.
Normally, I'll take a seat on the balcony rail OVER the 50 yard line, but can only budget for a nosebleed seat, but in this case, I'd rather watch the whole thing on TV...
ReplyDeletePreferably from an underground bunker, or maybe bin Ladin's fabled Afghan cave:
Third parties in America are only good for a protest vote: They wield no significant power or influence, represent only the working middle class by and large, and are therefore ignored by the political class who goad their Fourth Estate fifth-columnists to dispatch them as "kooks" and "anarchists" - which they do effectively.
If the information leaking through the cracks here, and being well reported in international media is half-right, Americans (specifically white ones) that have any personal net worth may be looking at untamed retribution from this regime.
I hope it can all be written off someday as sensationalism. I grow more and more concerned this storm will not pass without an extensive amount of permanent collateral damage.
The real reason that third and fourth and so on political parties don't work in the U.S., is the simple thing of, TAH DAH! Money!
ReplyDeleteWe, the people, can no longer demand that our representatives seriously limit how much money can be spent in any election.
And whether the violent game makers or porno TV producers tell us that TV does not have an effect on our youth, why does anyone think that all those expensive ads don't convince people to vote for an ill prepared person?
We know people believe the worst lies from the internet. Why should we accept the idea that computer clickers are above reproach?
P.T. Barnum got it right: "There's a sucker born every minute."
And don't forget: "No one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public."
True, Catmoves. I'm not a big fan of restricting anyone's right to promote whatever cause or ideology they wish, but I do wish that people would think critically and independently before they commit to their own favourite dogma.
ReplyDelete