Opps

Read a bit, just to check on what the world was doing. The big story is Alito and the only important matter is whether he's going to be confirmed or not and I saw no opinion fearful that he would not garner a majority and no opinion more than speculative that it might come down to filibuster and the nuclear option. The general sense is that the nuclear option is firmly available and thus a filibuster's unlikely and the Democrats probably wouldn't try it anyway because they're just not able to paint Alito as scary enough to get public support.

I think it's true that he isn't scary enough. I haven't heard him speak (since I never have the sound on the tube) but I have watched him and I have read his words and he just comes across as a pleasant cerebral nerd. That just isn't going to draw up the recessive fears of evil necessary for demonization.

I would like to think that Americans have grown tired of such tactics but I'm sure they haven't. A demon is an explanation and it's deep and instinctively human. But this guy just don't cut it as Dracula.

And Bush is being very intelligent in this respect. He understands that while you can dislike many people at one time you can only have one demon. That's because the demon expresses the irrational and the irrational is formless and can be given form and contained and handled only through the singularity of one image and that image is Bush.

So he's out and about making speeches about Iraq and criticizing his critics. Dirty dog. Those Democrats that need hate and fear directed toward Alito if there's to be any chance of defeating him instead find Bush just hogging up all that hate and fear and my it sure takes the wind out of their sails. All the hatred-demon focus is on Bush and the would be demon Alito remains a pleasant harmless nerd. Smart guy, that Bush fellow...


Pleasant day yesterday. There sure are a lot of things that are fun if you stay away from politics.

I'm thinking I might make Opps --that is, Obligatory Partisan Political Screed-- a weekly part of my blog. You gotta do some politics to be a blogger (but you can't do much if you want to have a mind). So that might be my pattern. If I'm exercised about something I'll write, if I happen to have an insight (insights do happen) I'll write; otherwise perhaps just a once a week entry.

There is a substantial difference between reading politics and writing about the stuff. It is necessary to read to know ones nation and with reading there's some muse. But writing becomes a tedium. Advocacy positions tend to be pretty automatic and actual insight pretty rare. It would not be bad to add my voice to my side, it would be modest but it would be honorable, but it would be d-u-l-l. There would be no intellectual entertainment.

So, to restate: I think politics will be occasional. Insights will be put down should they happen; my foes will be smitten, should I get excited (that's kind of fun, actually); and once a week there will be Opps, my chance to put my foot in just to maintain my credentials as a fair, moderate, balanced, objective, right-wing Republican.