One Of Us

It begins yet again. Actually, it never ends. We are throttled by elections, primaries, fund raising, attack ads, appeals to cheap nationalism and tribal hatred. A conga line of energetic mediocrities, to lift Gore Vidal's timeless description, deign to manage us for their employers.

We're told how lucky we are. How blessed. Envied by countries with freer elections. Americans gorge on envy. Our national lifeblood. Advertising relies on envy to sell shit. So why not inject it into our politics, such as it is?

I know -- this is obvious. We've been down this tangled path too many times to count. But at least this time around, there's ferment from below. Occupy is off the front burners, but remains lit.

This election is the perfect space to occupy. How it's done, to what end, is still developing. My sole hope (that battered, abused word) is that Occupy isn't swallowed by Obama and the Dems. There's a risk of that happening. Obama still casts a seductive spell on many liberals. A sexy savage mule.

I wonder if Obama's staff are amazed by how much they've gotten away with. Success usually breeds arrogance, especially at the presidential level. Obama's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act closed 2011 with a perfect Fuck You to his supporters -- to the extent that his supporters oppose police state legislation. Or bother to notice.

No, most liberals are busy portraying the Repubs as a unique menace to all that is Good and Pure about our nation. The GOP certainly makes it easy for them.

But as primary season drags on, money, not ideology, will decide the matter. And that looks more and more like Mitt Romney. For all the booga-booga about Gingrich, Perry and Santorum, liberals truly fear a Romney nomination.

Like Obama, Romney is a reliable corporatist, pledged to endless war, indefinite detention, expanding surveillance. Romney's advisers helped Obama frame his healthcare "reform." How do you demonize an Obama collaborator? We'll soon see.

Liberals can be creative in tight spots. Romney's Mormonism must be tempting, but it's a limited target. I suspect liberals will play the Patriot Card. Obama the Osama slayer. The quiet storm that topples dictators. That sort of thing.

I don't envy those employed to follow and report on this twisted charade. Which probably makes me a bad American. Well, they certainly know where to find me.