My friends Alex and Dave have asked me "Is McCain really going to win?" and "What makes you think that?"
Other than the polls - showing McCain level and America warming to the moose eating MILF (if she didn't have a habit of getting pregnant at the thought of foreplay) - I think that Jeffrey Lord may have something when he talks about America and the Reptillian brain. And that my boss here may have something when he talks about Freudian instinct.
Freud first.
When you're talking about how America is hurting (on the Economy say) you wheel out the mother figure to say how she feels your pain and how she's going to help soothe it.
When you're talking about things that scare you (terrorism, extremism, homosexuals) you wheel out the guy who has been in battle and who believes in going out and kicking some ass. It's the father figure.
The issue for the Democrats is that for all of his feminine talk of "Hope" and "Healing" Obama can't be as female as the walking symbol of fertility that is Palin.
When it comes to Manning up then Biden is more nuanced and less 'my dad will kick your dad's ass' than McCain.
And nobody has seen that this is an Obama vs Palin; Biden vs. McCain contest.
Now the Republicans may make a mistake by 'Manning Up' Palin. Strapping a dildo and a shotgun on her and selling her as a guy is tempting. They shouldn't. She should cry (look what it did for Hillary), she should empathize and she should care.
So that's point one.... McCain has the Freud thing down.
Reason Two " The "reptilian brain" - responsible for two and only two things: survival and reproduction.
democrats have long shunned the Reptilian and promoted higher order areas of the brain. Cortexes responsible for Logic and Intelligence.
The result - John Kerry being accused of being "Too French" and Obama being labelled an 'elitist' just because he happens to be smart.
American culture thinks with its gut. An American presidential candidate doesn't need to be extremely reptilian, only more reptilian than his opponent is.
Americans are not culturally disposed to thinking. Witness the way they get into college - multiple choice SAT tests rather than wordy French style essays. America is a culture of action, of rebellion, of instinct.
When it comes to choosing between two candidates for president, we gravitate instinctively to the one perceived as more "reptilian." In essence - "We don't want our presidents to think too much."
We want a President who will act. A president we could have a beer with. A President that we can relate to, Not a president who is smarter than us or more erudite than us, or more visionary than us.
We want them to 'feel it in their gut', to 'hear the voice of Jesus' and be certain of their instincts. We want that because we think that the gut is essential to survival.
So Reptillian Brain : Survival and Reproduction. And we have a warrior and a mother on the ticket. Against a thinker and a debater.
Wow this blog is getting heavy huh?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
My last Palin post for a while
... you know I'm sure she believes that she's a good woman and that goodness is enough when it comes to ruling the world --- or at least that goodness equates with rightness and gives you the moral justification to do anything. It's the Bush Doctrine. If they're evil-doers then you're do-gooders. Therefore anything they do is evil. Anything you do is good. Difference? You have right (and Jezus) on your side. A simplistic view of the world to be sure but a clear one - and America hates lack of clarity.
Anyway Palin interview today. She admitted that until very recently she'd only been out of the country to Canada and Mexico. But said that a recent trip to a US army base (US Soil then) in Kuwait and Germany had "Changed her life" - she didn't say how.
She'd never met a foreign leader. But didn't think that mattered (I have a feeling that Russian shadow puppet master Putin may eat her liver as an appetizer - but that's also true of Obama; or anybody with a pulse)
Oddly she thought that her time as a former chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission made her a good person to talk about energy independence and a reduction in the American thirst for oil and gas. Hmmm - and I'm a violent maniac who should therefore be charged with looking after the weapons cache in a kindergarten (they have them, in Alaska, it's a moose thing)
Pressed about what insights into recent Russian actions in Georgia she had, Palin answered: "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." - really, she did.
She was a little stuck on the Bush pre-emptive strike doctrine. Well clueless actually. She didn't go as far as to say "We did that?" but it was close
On Bush --- ""I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation,"
But she did back down on her God's War stance... she said at her former church that "our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."
Asked whether she thought the United States was fighting a holy war, she said she meant to convey that she agreed with Abraham Lincoln's quote that "I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words."
It's too fucking desperate for words. And they're going to win
Anyway Palin interview today. She admitted that until very recently she'd only been out of the country to Canada and Mexico. But said that a recent trip to a US army base (US Soil then) in Kuwait and Germany had "Changed her life" - she didn't say how.
She'd never met a foreign leader. But didn't think that mattered (I have a feeling that Russian shadow puppet master Putin may eat her liver as an appetizer - but that's also true of Obama; or anybody with a pulse)
Oddly she thought that her time as a former chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission made her a good person to talk about energy independence and a reduction in the American thirst for oil and gas. Hmmm - and I'm a violent maniac who should therefore be charged with looking after the weapons cache in a kindergarten (they have them, in Alaska, it's a moose thing)
Pressed about what insights into recent Russian actions in Georgia she had, Palin answered: "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." - really, she did.
She was a little stuck on the Bush pre-emptive strike doctrine. Well clueless actually. She didn't go as far as to say "We did that?" but it was close
On Bush --- ""I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation,"
But she did back down on her God's War stance... she said at her former church that "our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."
Asked whether she thought the United States was fighting a holy war, she said she meant to convey that she agreed with Abraham Lincoln's quote that "I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words."
It's too fucking desperate for words. And they're going to win
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Everything I know abt Sarah Palin
She had a good line at the convention "America is at war but the only time I hear Barack Obama talk about Victory is when he's talking about his own campaign"
She supported a Safe Haven Bill - allowing mothers to give up newborn babies without penalty, if say t hebaby was really ugly or its hair clashed with the carpets (or something)
Voted Okay to deny benefits to same sex couples in 2006, then flip flopped in 2008 Vetoing a bill denying benefits to gays
Wants to "Collect DNA samples from felons" - quite how she'd do that we're not sure but in my head it involves rubber gloves, a prostate probe and a 15 minute 'leave us be' window
Wants to teach creationism alongside evolution in schools - you know the idea that God had a plan that included evolution and anything else that might come along that makes a belief in God seem a little primative. 'Cause he's like, really meta - you know?
Convinced McCain to drill offshore - probably by telling him that there's viagra there
She's not exactly Al Gore having....
Opposed protections for salmon from mining contamination.
Sued US government to stop listing polar bear as endangered.
encouraged timber, mining, drilling, & fishing.
Lobbied that Feds shouldn't list beluga whales as endangered.
Said we should convince the rest of the nation to open ANWR.
Is fertile
Has fertile daughter
Supported infamous "Bridge to Nowhere"; now criticizes it. Kinda flip floppy
Promotes Alaska wherever she can - even recommending its Big Game Hunting to troops in Kuwait
And of course she wants Teacher Led Prayer in Schools
A vagina, a flag, a gun and she'd shoot Al Gore given a chance.... she's great
She supported a Safe Haven Bill - allowing mothers to give up newborn babies without penalty, if say t hebaby was really ugly or its hair clashed with the carpets (or something)
Voted Okay to deny benefits to same sex couples in 2006, then flip flopped in 2008 Vetoing a bill denying benefits to gays
Wants to "Collect DNA samples from felons" - quite how she'd do that we're not sure but in my head it involves rubber gloves, a prostate probe and a 15 minute 'leave us be' window
Wants to teach creationism alongside evolution in schools - you know the idea that God had a plan that included evolution and anything else that might come along that makes a belief in God seem a little primative. 'Cause he's like, really meta - you know?
Convinced McCain to drill offshore - probably by telling him that there's viagra there
She's not exactly Al Gore having....
Opposed protections for salmon from mining contamination.
Sued US government to stop listing polar bear as endangered.
encouraged timber, mining, drilling, & fishing.
Lobbied that Feds shouldn't list beluga whales as endangered.
Said we should convince the rest of the nation to open ANWR.
Is fertile
Has fertile daughter
Supported infamous "Bridge to Nowhere"; now criticizes it. Kinda flip floppy
Promotes Alaska wherever she can - even recommending its Big Game Hunting to troops in Kuwait
And of course she wants Teacher Led Prayer in Schools
A vagina, a flag, a gun and she'd shoot Al Gore given a chance.... she's great
I saw a nice headline today
looking at a sportscar that has really managed to improve its MPG
"Drinks less. Just as Mean"
I loved that.
And wished I'd thought of it.
It's all in the moments people, all in the moments
"Drinks less. Just as Mean"
I loved that.
And wished I'd thought of it.
It's all in the moments people, all in the moments
Busier than ever
It's a busy day today. The meetings are jammed back to back; the thinking time cut to nothing and the end of day stretched long beyond dusk and into what looks like being a COLD (2c cold) night.I've been up since 4am - trying to stay on top of everything. Which is weird. And tiring. And I have a 7am meeting tomorrow morning - which is just dreadful and means that I'll have to skip the gym (something I hate doing)
Still the new t-shirts are SMALL and they seem to fit, I'm getting stronger and Jude is working her way through applications to some pretty interesting places.
So it's not all stress.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Holding my shit together
This week is going to be an exercise in holding my shit together. Work is insane at the moment and the projects are going to keep flying in just as fast as I manage to direct them to the appropriate people.
The temptation is to eat into personal time and get the stuff done at weekends and at 3am when you wake up with palpitations over all that needs to be done.
Actually the temptation is just to eat.
Or to skip the gym.
And eat instead.
But I will not bend, I will not yield and I will hold on to the idea that a year from now I'll be doing the same shit from a different location. Or I'm hoping to be.
Which reminds me - gee people along on the Green Card and check out agencies in Asia.
Still - people have it worse ---> and the sun is shining.
The pic - btw - is from the cycle racing that happened around A2 yesterday. Alongside a bookfest. Very different pace at each.
The temptation is to eat into personal time and get the stuff done at weekends and at 3am when you wake up with palpitations over all that needs to be done.
Actually the temptation is just to eat.
Or to skip the gym.
And eat instead.
But I will not bend, I will not yield and I will hold on to the idea that a year from now I'll be doing the same shit from a different location. Or I'm hoping to be.
Which reminds me - gee people along on the Green Card and check out agencies in Asia.
Still - people have it worse ---> and the sun is shining.
The pic - btw - is from the cycle racing that happened around A2 yesterday. Alongside a bookfest. Very different pace at each.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Football
So yesterday we went to the football - along with 106,000 other brave souls.
Michigan pretty much sucked, their inability to throw a ball reminding me of wee Petey McGuire back in 2nd grade. But they started strong and held on for a win that convinced nobody that this was a team destined for anything.
Still the sun shone, the temps crept into the mid 20s and the crwd played its part in making for something memorable. So all was good.
Birthday today. Jude bought me photographer's lights... me much happy.
The next house will have a 'studio' for me - lots of white walls and sound deadening so that nobody will hear the screams.
Michigan pretty much sucked, their inability to throw a ball reminding me of wee Petey McGuire back in 2nd grade. But they started strong and held on for a win that convinced nobody that this was a team destined for anything.
Still the sun shone, the temps crept into the mid 20s and the crwd played its part in making for something memorable. So all was good.
Birthday today. Jude bought me photographer's lights... me much happy.
The next house will have a 'studio' for me - lots of white walls and sound deadening so that nobody will hear the screams.
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