Party Mask Party

May we have the election now? Please? To save what's left of our sanity?

I know: more naive optimism from yours truly, Mr. Glass Half Full. Hey, a smile costs nothing. Today is the first day, etc.

The corporate class and its employees are shuffling reality again, attempting to show a massive gulf between governing philosophies. To them it's simply business. Part of the package. To consumers, it's a chance to pretend that they have political clout. A say in our envied system.

To hear liberals tell it, Mitt Romney is Gordon Dracula Gekko set to drain us of precious democratic fluids. Only Barack Obama: Vampire Hunter can slay him. And since Obama is on the side of powerless mortals everywhere, his mission is crucial. Life itself teeters on the edge.

I don't read or listen to much reactionary chatter. It ceased being interesting around 1987. I usually wait for rightist opinions to become liberal talking points before digging in. But I can't imagine much enthusiasm for Romney. Big money likes him, but will that be enough?

To repeat, this is shaping up to be one dull contest. If Romney's handlers are savvy, they'll puncture Obama's populist rhetoric by showing how compromised he is by corporate money. How he's coddled bankers. How he's as invested in corporate rule as is Romney.

This involves risk. By highlighting Obama's similarities with Romney, including giveaways to the insurance industry, the election would boil down to personalities. There Romney loses. But if he paints Obama as a mad socialist, Romney will look ridiculous, save to white reactionaries in the Bizarro World. And maybe some liberals who still wish it were so.

Again, I don't see Romney winning. Not from this distance, anyway. Adding Condi Rice to the ticket might liven things up a bit, but Obama still wins. If big money decides that Romney gives them a better deal, he may have a shot. Yet Obama's proven himself loyal to private power. That's about as close as it gets.

For now, endless blather. False choices. Hubris. Ideological bullying. Loud commercials. The vital ingredients for freedom.

Are you more desperate than you were four years ago?