To The Ann Arbor News:
With the election over, here’s some local observations on the last two weeks. The urgency of this presidential race, like most pivotal moments in history, gestures toward an earlier aesthetic analog that presages what’s before us: William Butler Yeats’ much anthologized poem, “The Second Coming” (1921).
There’s no gainsaying our culture is perilously close to a time when “the centre cannot hold.” Just as there’s no amount of American will, or sense of Exceptionalism, that can turn a paradigm shift into a predictable cycle.
The clinging belief that economic issues are the crux of America’s problem belies the fact that we are ignoring the real issue of how best to position ourselves for a radical global realignment where we are not the dominant world power. Evidence of this has been growing over the last decade. China is the looming mercantile power, and we’ve globalized and outsourced our way into an economic nightmare. All the while, ignoring the facts of an unsustainable housing bubble, “house of cards” credit debacle, and dead end addiction to grossly consumptive vehicles. When Al Gore came to Detroit some years ago, preaching the message of hybrids and fossil fuel reduction, he was laughed out of town. Now comes the auto companies, hat in hand, and on the brink of bankruptcy, begging for a government bailout.
So where’s the endorsement angle? The Ann Arbor News, a paper which supported Bush in the last two elections, could focus only on tax policies in refusing to endorse either candidate. And this in an election where the obvious attention to substantive issues, and desperately needed break from eight years of disastrous policies, made the choice of who should be president a no-brainer. One of the major tragedies of 9/11 was that it allowed Bush to play the fear card, and the subsequent public paralysis this strategy engendered has alienated us from the world and emboldened our enemies. My friends, regardless of what the News saw as the reason to waffle, we have much more to worry about than our pocketbooks. That commerce and profits are the News’ sole concern is glaringly evident in those obnoxious advertizing stickers they now affix to their masthead, favoring crass commercialism over journalistic pride.
Torture, war, hunger, and social and economic justice, also bear mentioning as issues to consider in making an endorsement. Not surprisingly, The Ann Arbor News ignored these concerns. The News’ moral and political indecision certainly confirms Yeats’ bitter resignation that we live at a time when “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity.”
As for embarrassments, I’m appalled that some Obama supporters would trample upon that most fundamental right of a liberal democracy: political dissent! On the issue of McCain/Palin signs being trashed, there were some letter writers who assumed the role of apologists for those who did this. Shame on you. Others I spoke to claimed that these were contrived occurrences trumped up by conservative conspirators.
As someone who has received hate mail for protesting the war, and who plays in a local band with a left-leaning political agenda, I can assure you that a “blame the victim” rhetoric, and intolerance of publically displayed conservative values, doesn’t help the liberal cause. In fact, engaging in this outrage smacks less of liberalism than vandalism, gangsterism, and thuggery.
I live on Marian Avenue, a street on which there is a majority of Obama/Biden signs. On the day following Halloween, I noticed my Republican neighbor’s McCain/Palin signs had been pulled up and thrown in the gutter. Another neighbor and I gathered them up and returned them to his lawn. I also noticed a fellow citizen, a resident of 5th Street, carefully straightening out and repositioning her defaced McCain/Palin signs.
Engaging in this kind of behavior is not only civilly unconscionable, it is also a betrayal of what American Democracy is all about: the toleration of differing political beliefs; the willingness to allow free expression of those beliefs; and a commitment to defend this freedom of expression no matter how much it might conflict with one’s own set of political values.
To any and all McCain/Palin supporters who suffered these indignities, I deeply apologize for those who perpetrated these profoundly unpatriotic acts.
With the election over, here’s some local observations on the last two weeks. The urgency of this presidential race, like most pivotal moments in history, gestures toward an earlier aesthetic analog that presages what’s before us: William Butler Yeats’ much anthologized poem, “The Second Coming” (1921).
There’s no gainsaying our culture is perilously close to a time when “the centre cannot hold.” Just as there’s no amount of American will, or sense of Exceptionalism, that can turn a paradigm shift into a predictable cycle.
The clinging belief that economic issues are the crux of America’s problem belies the fact that we are ignoring the real issue of how best to position ourselves for a radical global realignment where we are not the dominant world power. Evidence of this has been growing over the last decade. China is the looming mercantile power, and we’ve globalized and outsourced our way into an economic nightmare. All the while, ignoring the facts of an unsustainable housing bubble, “house of cards” credit debacle, and dead end addiction to grossly consumptive vehicles. When Al Gore came to Detroit some years ago, preaching the message of hybrids and fossil fuel reduction, he was laughed out of town. Now comes the auto companies, hat in hand, and on the brink of bankruptcy, begging for a government bailout.
So where’s the endorsement angle? The Ann Arbor News, a paper which supported Bush in the last two elections, could focus only on tax policies in refusing to endorse either candidate. And this in an election where the obvious attention to substantive issues, and desperately needed break from eight years of disastrous policies, made the choice of who should be president a no-brainer. One of the major tragedies of 9/11 was that it allowed Bush to play the fear card, and the subsequent public paralysis this strategy engendered has alienated us from the world and emboldened our enemies. My friends, regardless of what the News saw as the reason to waffle, we have much more to worry about than our pocketbooks. That commerce and profits are the News’ sole concern is glaringly evident in those obnoxious advertizing stickers they now affix to their masthead, favoring crass commercialism over journalistic pride.
Torture, war, hunger, and social and economic justice, also bear mentioning as issues to consider in making an endorsement. Not surprisingly, The Ann Arbor News ignored these concerns. The News’ moral and political indecision certainly confirms Yeats’ bitter resignation that we live at a time when “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity.”
As for embarrassments, I’m appalled that some Obama supporters would trample upon that most fundamental right of a liberal democracy: political dissent! On the issue of McCain/Palin signs being trashed, there were some letter writers who assumed the role of apologists for those who did this. Shame on you. Others I spoke to claimed that these were contrived occurrences trumped up by conservative conspirators.
As someone who has received hate mail for protesting the war, and who plays in a local band with a left-leaning political agenda, I can assure you that a “blame the victim” rhetoric, and intolerance of publically displayed conservative values, doesn’t help the liberal cause. In fact, engaging in this outrage smacks less of liberalism than vandalism, gangsterism, and thuggery.
I live on Marian Avenue, a street on which there is a majority of Obama/Biden signs. On the day following Halloween, I noticed my Republican neighbor’s McCain/Palin signs had been pulled up and thrown in the gutter. Another neighbor and I gathered them up and returned them to his lawn. I also noticed a fellow citizen, a resident of 5th Street, carefully straightening out and repositioning her defaced McCain/Palin signs.
Engaging in this kind of behavior is not only civilly unconscionable, it is also a betrayal of what American Democracy is all about: the toleration of differing political beliefs; the willingness to allow free expression of those beliefs; and a commitment to defend this freedom of expression no matter how much it might conflict with one’s own set of political values.
To any and all McCain/Palin supporters who suffered these indignities, I deeply apologize for those who perpetrated these profoundly unpatriotic acts.
Randall L. Tessier
5 comments:
Here here.
Their their.
China-- you are correct. This summer I saw “Koppel on Discovery: The People’s Republic of Capitalism”, and was blown away with what is going on over there. We may well be eating their dust before long.
Campaign signs, freedom of political expression, etc. I commend you for your sense of fairness and the passion with which you express it.
RJ
Ditto
Ditto
Holy Wah, here I am being mentioned by name in the blog again. What's this, the fifth time? Let's see, three times by our host, Dr.Tessier, a ditto from gl, and a shout out from Sean. I believe he called it sarcasm. I know I called it lame. So there I was, sport fucking this lovely St. Norbert coed down by the banks of the Fox river on an equally lovely sun drenched afternoon. I'm watching beads of sweat collect on her breast, then lazily make their way to her nipple, where gravity takes over. Like a second baseman waving everybody off, I whisper "I've got, I've got it". My new friend, who is half my age, (I'm 54. Get your calculator), giggles. I open my mouth to make the catch and who flashes in my mind but our favorite BIID boy from down under, Sean! What the Hell is that guy doing showing up at a time like this, you might ask? Language. You know how your mind flashes from one thing to the next? Well, I was thinking how just about an hour ago, I was talking with this fine young thing in the public library; an observation or two; a few well placed anecdotes; one well timed inquiry; and I've got this Chicago Goddess grinding me to pieces.
So I wondered how it went for the BIID inflicted.
Sean:"So, do you come around here often?". Comely Southern Hemisphere Babe: " Yes, I love coming here where the countryside is beautiful and the men are real men. It's nothing like my native New Zealand. So, what do you do in your spare time?' Sean: "Well, I walk around my kitchen with a knife between my vertebrae, while I fantasize that I fall backwards, severing my spinal chord. Since I have no actually done this, I am considered a 'Wannabe' in the BIID world.You can go to the website I have created and read all about it!" Comely Babe, after twenty seconds of astonished, open mouthed, wide eyed staring: " I, um, abada, my, look at the time, I just remembered that I, err, I gotta go."
The problem with you wannabes is that you are, well, wannabes. Whining to everybody that you can't be happy until you jam a pencil in your eye, or lay your legs across the railroad tracks is little hard for the rest of us, who would rather keep these physical assets intact, to comprehend. But if that is what will make you happy, then by all means, do it. Feel free to take an ax to your spine, shut the fuck up about it, and get on with your life.
Then, when you are in your wheelchair, and feeling all happy about yourself, go on down to the grocery store, and cruise the aisles. When the women come down the aisle, make like you are struggling to reach something on the top shelf. If the woman helps you but moves on, cast the hook again. Eventually, one will start a conversation with you. Now, this may take you six days or six months, but I guarantee that it will happen. It's the sympathy/mothering card you will be playing and your hook will be set. Here in the USA, we have this deranged sub-class of females who actively seek out and marry our Death Row Inmates. These females are usually white, with wavy mousy brown hair, glasses, and blend in the crowd. This is what you need to look for. Now, this woman will be a whack job, but that's OK, because so are you. When the conversation gets past small talk, and she asks you about your paralysis, go ahead and tell her how. But for Christsakes Sean, don't tell her why.
Just some compassionate advise from your ol' buddy Bill. Glad to help.
Lofty rhetoric and the cult of personality, that will really pull us through. Go Obama eh.
Also, some of us more northern folk are voting yes for global warming.
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