Well, the People Who Matter have spoken.
The pundits have weighed in every sonorous Sunday morning. The news has credulously paraded every staged bimbo and jewelry store debt across our screens to the point where we can't tell
60 Minutes from
TMZ.
Failed mancrushes (and girly crushes, too) have been splashed all over blogs, Twitters, Facebook, Tumblr and the rest of the metastizing 'social media' like an Occupy porta-potty as someone or another's dream candidate turns out to be clueless, fallible or human. Talk radio hosts have eagerly cribbed these tantrums as though they had ideas of their own.
The special interests have show why they get the special bus to school, the Democratic leadership have shown they don't give a damn about democracy and the Republican National Committee doesn't give a damn about the future of the Republic as long as their rice bowls remain filled.
The election is over, we are told, and all that matters is which party's heir apparent gets anointed.
AND NOT ONE DAMNED VOTE HAS BEEN CAST. No caucus held, no primary voted, no convention assembled, no campaign run. It's as though the World Series was awarded on the basis of spring training, or the Super Bowl decided by exhibition games.
In short, Mr. and Mrs. American Voter (or, in the words of a pre-PC Harlan Ellison, 'sir, madam, or bisex'),
NOBODY ASKED YOU. Whether it's Karl Rove or Kos Moulitsas, James Carville or Ace of Spades, you'll take what we decide to give you.
Except, and here's the funny part,
you don't have to. All the experts and hysterics and hysterical experts have had their say. Now it's up to you.
Listen to the candidates.
Look at them.
Learn what they've done in the past and measure it against what they say they'll do now.
These are all, with one or two exceptions (decide for yourself), people of genuine material accomplishments, unlike the current mannequin in the White House. They are all, one or two exceptions (decide for yourself), people of substantial virtues, unlike our current Neurotic in Chief, who stands revealed more and more as a crudely assembled collection of stale ideologies, grievances and appetites.
You probably can't tell that from us. Sorry about that, but those Nielsen points and site visits won't create themselves. You can trust us if you choose, but in the words of our last truly great President: "Trust... but verify."
Just don't sit back and let us do your thinking for you. We are, mostly, no more up to the task than you are.
Peck, peck, peck...
