Blowback

You hear a lot nowadays about blowback. I’ve never seen a precise definition of the term but I imagine it has to do with something like peeing against the wind. That is, doing something and having it backfire. This is what I believe is happening (or is going to happen) with Calamity John’s negative ads trying to belittle Obama. I understand that Rove is supposedly advising the McCain campaign. If he is responsible for these recent ads he is certainly not doing McCain any favors. For example, it is now widely admitted that McCain has no chance of winning the election unless he can destroy Obama. As everyone who pays attention now knows this they easily see through the ads. The ads themselves are so ridiculous it is hard to believe anyone would take them seriously. Obama is portrayed as being responsible for the high gas prices. No one except perhaps the lowest grade of moron is going to believe that. Then there is the now notorious Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Obama ad, trying to portray Obama as just another mindless celebrity. Everyone knows this ad is absurd, that Hilton and Spears have nothing to do with politics or Obama, and all McCain is getting from it is a devastating comment from Hilton’s mother (how embarrassing). Not only is this ad being widely condemned it is now being picked apart with accusations of using phallic symbols and whatever, all in the spirit of trying to portray Obama as a black man consumed with his desire for white women. In this case white women of questionable morals and brainpower. Now comes the ad presumably mocking Obama’s incredible popularity, featuring no less than Heston parting the Red Sea and the voice over saying “he’s the one,” another ad that is patently silly and also pretty offensive. McCain is teetering on the brink of becoming no more than a laughingstock, and rightly so. Even one of his supporters today said that the ads were sophomoric and better considered something that might have been done in high school. And some of Calamity John’s oldest friends have commented on how far he has fallen into the gutter with his campaign. If he continues in this kind of attack he is going to hurt himself far more than he will hurt Obama. I’d feel sorry for him if he didn’t so rightly deserve it.

I have started to read Charlie Wilson’s War. It is reputed to be a true story of how one Congressman, a rogue CIA agent, and a few others managed to arm the Afghans sufficiently to drive out the Russians. While I haven’t finished it, the one thing that comes through to me very clearly is the fact that there is no way on earth we will ever manage to “win” anything whatsoever in that wild and savage land. It is a complete waste of time and money that will exhaust our military, to say nothing of our budget, a genuine fool’s errand. I cannot understand why Obama would want to continue it, or McCain, or anyone else for that matter. This is worse than a mistake, it’s basic insanity. I cannot shake off my suspicion that Osama bin Laden may still be a CIA asset and has made some kind of deal with this administration. Stranger things have happened, especially when it comes to the CIA.

LKBIQ:
There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant.
Ralph Waldo Emerson