Ah, Hubris!
by tristero
Ryan’s selection by Mitt Romney is a huge gift to Barack Obama and Joe Biden – and to the country. This is a clear electoral choice, with the potential for a rousing debate about the future of our country.
I don’t want “a rousing debate about the future of our country” between centrist/moderate and extreme rightwing presidential candidates. I want a serious debate between liberal and conservative (in the Rockefeller/Eisenhower meaning of the term) presidential candidates about the future of our country.
As for Ryan’s selection being “a huge gift” to Obama/Biden – how? As discussed yesterday, with Ryan as a VP candidate, Ayn Rand’s kooky nonsense has advanced to the exact center of the national discourse, openly espoused by a candidate who, if his ticket wins [perish the thought], will be one hearbeat away from You-Know-What.
I hope Joan Walsh is right, but where she sees a gift, I see the potential for serious problems. Anything can happen in the next few months, including scandal, illness, and catastrophe. And if it happens to Democrats, and Obama is discredited or disabled, the only choice remaining will be two power-hungry far-right lunatics hell-bent on impoverishing this country to enrich their own class.
As I see it, this is a deeply frightening moment. Perhaps I’m a worry wart, but either way, let’s not rejoice at the injection of more extremism into the mainstream discourse. We have far too much already.