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| Stephanopoulos |
"Good mourning, 'murka; I'm George Stephanopoulos. We lead with DeflateGate, DeflateGate and Tom Brady, Tom Brady and DeflateGate. [Puff piece on Brady... can you say "puff piece" about a QB?] Next, after these interminable messages, we'll tell you about the commercial plane forced to land because of smoke in the cabin, the earthquakes in northern Texas absolutely positively caused by a tornado not by fracking, ISIS online recruitment of youth in 'murka, scary storms in California (complete with a huge red spot on our ABC map to make them even scarier), and we'll probably close with a cuuuute kitten or puppy or baby, or maybe a courageous disabled person or injured 'murkan soldier. Now a word from those who bring all of that into your living room..."
[/satire]
OK, maybe it wasn't Stephanopoulos, maybe that isn't quite what the announcer said, and maybe DeflateGate wasn't the very first story, but the prioritizing of DeflateGate over air travel hazards, earthquakes in an unusual place, terrorists among us and dangerous weather in America's dryest state was as real as it ever gets on the national noose... hey, am I growing cynical in my old age?
But who gives a sh*t about George Stephanopoulos
ReplyDeleteActually, Enfant, many years ago, his name once provided me a splendid rhyme for a bit of doggerel I wrote. I styled him as "Georgie StepOnAllOfUs," an appellation which I noticed on Google today has been taken up by the American right wing, but hey, I came up with it probably a decade before they did, so fv<k 'em!
DeleteMainly, when I think of Stephanopoulos, I feel a certain sadness: he had a real opportunity to become a center-left Democrat, but he chose instead to become a New Democrat (Blue Democrat, whatever term you prefer) whose politics did not resemble mine even back in the day when I was still a card-carrying member of the DP. Now the Dems have no star-quality young adult with left-leaning politics in any highly visible position; moreover, they've lost me in the meantime (though I still vote mostly "D") and I've grown old! :-)
Oh, and here is that doggerel, still out there after all these years...
DeleteGreek Democracy 7min15sec
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKeyizCv6Xo
vote for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton
Still, you have not grown old!
Any way:
ReplyDeleteThis is my photo about two Vietnamese Hmong ethnic children taken in 2007 in Ha Giang province, it’s NOT about Nepal (Photo Na-Son Nguyen)
https://inconue.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/this-is-my-photo-about-two-vietnamese-hmong-ethnic-children-taken-in-2007-in-ha-giang-province-its-not-about-nepal-un-garcon-et-sa-petite-soeur-dans-le-village-de-can-ty-dans-la-province-vietnami/
Enfant, Sanders is one of my personal heroes. If Hillary Clinton crashes and burns, or does something unethical that I personally cannot tolerate, and if Elizabeth Warren does not run, I would certainly endorse and vote for Sanders; it wouldn't be the first time I had switched candidates within an election cycle.
DeleteBut there is a price to be paid for voting for a so-called third-party candidate: the American electoral process is structured (for reasons that have nothing to do with our Constitution, which does not mention parties at all) to ensure the failure of that candidate. Combine that fact with our electoral-college system, and you will realize a stark fact: most of the time, a vote for a third-party candidate is effectively a vote for the candidate of the major party you would oppose at all costs, in my case, the Republican Party.
Republicans sometimes strategize based on this quirk: in highly Democratic districts, they will sometimes give money to third-party candidates likely to be appealing to Democrats, attempting to siphon off voters who would typically vote for those Democrats. All too often, the strategy works. So I probably will not vote for Sanders unless, for example, Texas is certain to go for the GOP candidate, in which case I'll vote my conscience rather than my optimal strategy. That could very well happen; we'll see!
A truly tragic photo, Enfant.
DeleteLet us see then!
ReplyDelete