Pierce on Obama

The cynic is Pierce, that's pretty clear. I'm not sure he's convinced.

 

That piece is far from an unabashed love letter.

But it's written by a guy who (a) who has a solid grip on where BO's coming from, and what he's looking to sell to the electorate, and (b) has a jeweler's-eye read on what's happened around these parts the past 28 years -- especially under the current regime.

Not to mention that it's splendidly-written, as per usual.

Kudos.

 

Definitely.

 

Pierce's words are often misread. Remember:

“If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.”

He even "won" some quote of the year award for most ridiculous quote from some right-wing site (probably Bozell's), which, apparently didn't get the meaning of the line.

 

It's not about being right or wrong, it's about stating your opinions forcefully, covering up the fact that you're full of shit.

It's something mizzou's perfected over the years.

 

Again, a well-written piece.

And I think the views of "the cynic", even if Pierce is casting himself in that role, can be understood by many who have not yet jumped on the bandwagon. Sometimes in that piece, Obama is cast - as he has been by the cynics - as akin to the eighth-grader running for student government promising no homework and Fridays off.

That's why I think the cynic could be anyone. And still, I think the piece can be read as a rip on the cynics. I came away thinking the cynic was a jerk.

 

I know what I'm getting Mizzou for Christmas. Anyone wanna go halfsies?

 

Oh my sweet Jesus do I love a good Learned Hand reference.

And I wish I was smart enough to have thoughts like this ...

I should put that on a t-shirt.

 

I really, really liked the opening scene for at least two reasons that I can elucidate now:

1. It's fantastically written, with so much great detail, that anyone who has ever been in that part of the world is immediately sucked into the piece.

2. Intentionally or not, the frame of "the cynic" in the car alone listening to the speech on the radio presents an interesting dichotomy with the campaign "bubble" and the bubble of the cynic himself -- both the physical environment of the car and the radio and the far-flung Wisconsin setting and the cynic's own personal bubble that is taken apart in the rest of the story.

 

Mizzou and I actually went to middle school together. I've known him for 20 years.

 

Oh sweet Jesus, the ghost Hunter S. Thompson walks among us.

This may be the finest piece of political rhetoric since the dear doctor captured Jimmy Carter's speech at the graduation of the University of Georgia law school.

Pierce is walking in the shoes of many Americans. This is what we bled and died for? God help America.

It has been a long time since an essay has affected me so deeply.