Yes, I suppose I'll vote for Barack Obama, despite the fact that he voted in favor of The Decider's warrantless spying program, despite his support of continued indiscriminate military action in Afghanistan (where--whoops!--civilian casualties have been much higher than initially reported), despite his curious silence on the fate of detainees in Gitmo (where seventeen prisoners--the worst of the worst, according to the Bushinistas--have been ordered free by a federal judge), despite the fact that there's no reason to suspect he'd be anything other than a business as usual president.
That's what we need now. We need someone extraordinary, but we all know there is no way that could happen. But the last eight years have been so terrible, and the prospect of a Sarah Palin presidency so much worse, that finally, it seems, there is nothing to do but support Obama.
And after last night's debate, I feel at least a bit better about doing so. Obama looked, well, presidential. Smart--"elitist" in Republican-speak--but full of empathy for the slobs out there in the real world. Calm, his words carefully measured, but letting righteous anger occasionally boil just beneath the surface. And honestly, if he had walked over and decked McCain for calling him "that one", I suspect the entire nation would have applauded.
(A word about that. Part of the reason why it's becoming so much easier to get behind Obama is the barely-disguised racism of McCain's campaign. Palin seems to be openly courting the Klan vote, and and in that context, McCain's undisguised contempt for Obama when the two of them are onstage can easily be read, fairly or not, as racially tinged. These are not people we want making policy.)
Oh, but what with my blood pressure and all, I'm not supposed to be writing about this sort of thing. So hey, here's a Burger King commercial from the tail end of the disco era. Not only does The King lay it down Denny Terrio-style, you also get appearances from Sir Shakes-A-Lot and The Duke Of Doubt. And you know, just typing the words "Sir Shakes-A-Lot" makes me feel hollow inside.
