Wowie Zowie

by tristero

The drama queen will debate, as if there was any real doubt.* And think about it. He does well, that proves he can multitask. He does badly, he’s got the perfect excuse. After all, the country comes before…the country.

Y’know, he’s been going around acting like a jerk the past umpteenth days/weeks/months/years/millenia and we’ve been hearing alllllllllllllllllll about it. Meanwhile, scooting under the radar, Barack Obama has very calmly gone about his job. We all heard that McCain hardly said a word during the Most Historic Photo-Op Ever but buried in the back of some articles was the report that Obama “peppered Paulson with questions.” Bad alliteration to one side, that’s what a president’s supposed to do: bring an informed, inquiring mind to a complex discussion. Obama doesn’t look cool in this. He simply looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing.

One of these days, we need to confront the experience issue in an honest fashion. Let’s face it, crashing five jets and spending five years in hell is not any kind of experience that is relevant to the job of being president of the United States. A compelling story it may be, but far more relevant to the job of running the country (and the world) is the amount of careful thought and intelligent action a person has given to the problems we confront. By that metric, which I submit is a real metric of relevant experience, Barack Obama in his forties has far more experience than McCain. All those things held against him by the Neanderthals – like authoriing two books, mediating disputes, working as a community organizer, his work in the Senate, serving as an inspiration – are, in fact Very Good Things for a potential president to have in his resume. McCain has his ancient bravery, a financial scandal, some campaign reform he’s doing his best to circumvent, support for the stupidest war in America’s history, and a cave in on the issue closest to him: torture.

Some experience.

UPDATE: Why he’s bothering to debate, considering he already won is a bit of a puzzle.

UPDATE: Another thought. For all the drama queen histrionics, the real agenda, the one McCain is following, is Obama’s. Obama refused to compromise on the debate and McCain was forced to concede. Now that’s impressive poltiicking and don’t underestimate the skill that took.

Looks like Josh figured it out, too.

UPDATE: During the debate, will McCain’s back show signs of a wireless receiver, like Bush in the ’04 debates? Be on the lookout.

UPDATE: Incredible. As I watch, the blow-dried creatures inside my tv set are rewriting history a la 1984. Yesterday:

His campaign has said he wouldn’t participate unless there was consensus between Congress and the administration, and a spokesman said the afternoon developments had not changed his plans.

‘There’s no deal until there’s a deal. We’re optimistic but we want to get this thing done,’ McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said.

Obama still wants the face-off to go on, and is slated to travel to the debate site in Mississippi on Friday.

Today we learn, he didn’t want to go to the debate until a deal was set.

We live in straaaaaaaaange times.