Where In I Rant About The Sad State Of Rural America And Then Extol On The Virtues Of Ego
OK, so my Yankee friends are probably aware of all the comment that Barack Obama made about how people in small town America are bitter over the loss of jobs and their bitterness tends to make them cling to things like guns and cause them to blame Mexicans, and that in their situation, that's understandable. For my Canadian friends who might not follow American politics all that closely... all those things I just said that he said? Well, he said them. First of all, he said them in a closed door meeting, so it's kind of bullshit that we're hearing those comments anyway. He thought he was talking in private. Uncool, whoever leaked that to the press.
Second, I don't care if some people find that offensive, he's TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY ACCURATE! 100%. Seriously, go down to the South, it is doubleplusbitter. It's the kind of place where when mothers tell their seven year olds to say their prayers, the seven year olds take the cigarette out of their mouths just long enough to say "Yea right, ma. Like there's a God." It's the most depressing place on Earth, and that's coming from someone currently living in a third-world nation. At least in India every generation is having it better than the last one. Go down to Bitterssippi or Where-Hope-Goes-To-Die-ia and you'll see that that isn't the case. I've spent time in Arkansas. Every morning, I woke up, looked outside, and then I said to myself "You know, I was gonna have some breakfast, but instead I think I'll just cry." All the jobs are gone, all the land is owned by agrobusiness so you can't farm, all the schools suck, and no one is helping you. Your screwed. You're stuck in a hellhole with no way out and no one is doing anything to try and make it better, because the Democrats don't give a crap about you for the most part, and the Republicans have been using bullshit about how Democrats are gonna ban the Bible to get you to vote Republican for years, all the while doing nothing to improve your lives. No one is helping you. Both of our political parties have turned their backs on you. HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY NOT BE BITTER?!?! You're human beings, not Disney Princesses!! You don't have that level of insane, child-like optimism! See, that's exactly what the news and the politicians want you to think about rural America. That they're fucking Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Ariel thinks her dad is domineering, she has no control over he life, she's all upset, but then HOLD ON! WAIT A MINUTE! EVERYTHING'S BETTER NOW! She's happy all of a sudden! You know why? 'CAUSE SHE FOUND A FUCKING FORK!! She's just that fucking easy to please! She finds a fork and suddenly she's so happy that it's DRAMATIC MUSICAL NUMBER TIME! That's what the news and politicians think about the South. They think they can get photographed pulling a lever at a factory or feeding milk to a goat (which are jobs that no longer exist down there, by the way) and everyone will love them. Why people find Barack Obama's comments more offensive than the incredibly patronizing way that our leaders have been treating rural America for the past 30 years, I can't fathom. However, I'm very happy that someone is running who seems to get that when a President is elected, he is President of the WHOLE COUNTRY, not just the people who gave money to his campaign. Sorry rural America is poor Republicans, and sorry you don't like their values Democrats, but you still have to help them.
Third, people are saying that these comments indicate that Barack Obama is elitist, that he thinks he's better than most people. Well, you know what? OF COURSE HE DOES, HE'S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! Think about that. He's is attempting to lead the most powerful country in the world. He is looking at our nation right now, with it's horrible economy, it's unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's flagrant abuses of human rights, it's impending climate crisis, it's energy crisis, it's healthcare crisis, it's massive poverty both urban and rural, and after looking at all of that, he is looking at himself in the mirror and saying "YES! I WILL FIX THIS! I WILL LEAD THEM OUT OF THE DARKNESS!! FOLLOW ME, FOR I AM THE OBAMA, AND I SHALL TAKE YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND!!!!!" Hilary, McCain, and every other Presidential candidate they we've EVER HAD is doing that by running, with the exception that they probably don't call themselves "The Obama". Hilary probably calls herself "THE SECOND COMING OF CLINTON" and McCain probably calls himself "THE BEE'S KNEES" (Note to my Canadian friends : John McCain is very old). LOL, now I can't stop laughing at the phrase "FOR I AM THE BEE'S KNEES, AND I SHALL TAKE YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND!!!!!" I've gotta get the giggles out of my system. Gimme a minute.
OK, I'm back. Anyway, running for President means that you think you're better than most people. There's no way to say that you will lead some 300 million people without in some way thinking your better than them. If you didn't think you were better than them, you'd think one of them should have the job. Sorry, that's how it works! Our elected officials think their better than us, and they could probably get a lot more done if they didn't have to pretend that they didn't think they were better than us, so let's please abandon this silly notion so we can let them get back to work. Their ego is what allows them to make decisions for millions of other people with confidence. It's a good thing.
And fourth, while I'm at it, why on Earth do we want someone "just like us" to be President in the first place? Shouldn't we actually want someone BETTER than us? Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't "elite" actually mean "the best of the best"? Isn't that who should be President? Think about it long and hard. Do you really want someone just like you to be President? No, of course you don't. You suck. You suck a lot. Not as a human being, as a human being you're probably great, but in terms of world leaders, you suck. Big time. Granted, I don't actually know who I'm talking to here, but I'm betting there aren't too many people who would make good world leaders reading my blog. Here in India, the Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh has two undergraduate degrees, a masters degree, a Doctorate of Philosophy, an honorary Doctorate in Civil Law, and a long, impressive career as an economist. He went to Oxford and Cambridge. He is an intellectual. Most of the people that I speak to over here say that they elected him because HE'S A GENIUS, AND HE HAS THE INTELLIGENCE AND SKILL TO FIX INDIA'S PROBLEMS. WHY CAN'T WE THINK LIKE THAT?!?! DOESN'T THAT MAKE SENSE!?! Have any of you ever even HEARD of a US President's intelligence BEING CONSIDERED AS A MAJOR ISSUE?! I, for one, want us to think more like India in this regard. I want someone for President who is, as Jon Stewart put it "embarrassingly superior to me". Someone who speaks 16 languages, has 8 doctorates, someone who is an absolute super-genius and is capable of understanding everything that goes on in the world. For my friends who've played Scion, someone with at least three dots of Epic Intelligence. I want to elect The Professor from Gilligan's Island or The Doctor from Doctor Who. Someone with "The" as a first name. OK, The Doctor was born on Galifrey, so he's not eligible, but you get my point. SUPERGENIUS FOR PRESIDENT!!! Because while The Constitution may be right when it says that "All men were created equal"... look around you. Just look around at the people in this world. You'll realize that while we may have been create equal, we sure as hell don't stay that way for long.
Also, send a link to this blog to any of your friends who you think might enjoy this entry, because while we're on the topic of ego being a good thing, this is one of my best rants ever.
Second, I don't care if some people find that offensive, he's TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY ACCURATE! 100%. Seriously, go down to the South, it is doubleplusbitter. It's the kind of place where when mothers tell their seven year olds to say their prayers, the seven year olds take the cigarette out of their mouths just long enough to say "Yea right, ma. Like there's a God." It's the most depressing place on Earth, and that's coming from someone currently living in a third-world nation. At least in India every generation is having it better than the last one. Go down to Bitterssippi or Where-Hope-Goes-To-Die-ia and you'll see that that isn't the case. I've spent time in Arkansas. Every morning, I woke up, looked outside, and then I said to myself "You know, I was gonna have some breakfast, but instead I think I'll just cry." All the jobs are gone, all the land is owned by agrobusiness so you can't farm, all the schools suck, and no one is helping you. Your screwed. You're stuck in a hellhole with no way out and no one is doing anything to try and make it better, because the Democrats don't give a crap about you for the most part, and the Republicans have been using bullshit about how Democrats are gonna ban the Bible to get you to vote Republican for years, all the while doing nothing to improve your lives. No one is helping you. Both of our political parties have turned their backs on you. HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY NOT BE BITTER?!?! You're human beings, not Disney Princesses!! You don't have that level of insane, child-like optimism! See, that's exactly what the news and the politicians want you to think about rural America. That they're fucking Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Ariel thinks her dad is domineering, she has no control over he life, she's all upset, but then HOLD ON! WAIT A MINUTE! EVERYTHING'S BETTER NOW! She's happy all of a sudden! You know why? 'CAUSE SHE FOUND A FUCKING FORK!! She's just that fucking easy to please! She finds a fork and suddenly she's so happy that it's DRAMATIC MUSICAL NUMBER TIME! That's what the news and politicians think about the South. They think they can get photographed pulling a lever at a factory or feeding milk to a goat (which are jobs that no longer exist down there, by the way) and everyone will love them. Why people find Barack Obama's comments more offensive than the incredibly patronizing way that our leaders have been treating rural America for the past 30 years, I can't fathom. However, I'm very happy that someone is running who seems to get that when a President is elected, he is President of the WHOLE COUNTRY, not just the people who gave money to his campaign. Sorry rural America is poor Republicans, and sorry you don't like their values Democrats, but you still have to help them.
Third, people are saying that these comments indicate that Barack Obama is elitist, that he thinks he's better than most people. Well, you know what? OF COURSE HE DOES, HE'S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! Think about that. He's is attempting to lead the most powerful country in the world. He is looking at our nation right now, with it's horrible economy, it's unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's flagrant abuses of human rights, it's impending climate crisis, it's energy crisis, it's healthcare crisis, it's massive poverty both urban and rural, and after looking at all of that, he is looking at himself in the mirror and saying "YES! I WILL FIX THIS! I WILL LEAD THEM OUT OF THE DARKNESS!! FOLLOW ME, FOR I AM THE OBAMA, AND I SHALL TAKE YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND!!!!!" Hilary, McCain, and every other Presidential candidate they we've EVER HAD is doing that by running, with the exception that they probably don't call themselves "The Obama". Hilary probably calls herself "THE SECOND COMING OF CLINTON" and McCain probably calls himself "THE BEE'S KNEES" (Note to my Canadian friends : John McCain is very old). LOL, now I can't stop laughing at the phrase "FOR I AM THE BEE'S KNEES, AND I SHALL TAKE YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND!!!!!" I've gotta get the giggles out of my system. Gimme a minute.
OK, I'm back. Anyway, running for President means that you think you're better than most people. There's no way to say that you will lead some 300 million people without in some way thinking your better than them. If you didn't think you were better than them, you'd think one of them should have the job. Sorry, that's how it works! Our elected officials think their better than us, and they could probably get a lot more done if they didn't have to pretend that they didn't think they were better than us, so let's please abandon this silly notion so we can let them get back to work. Their ego is what allows them to make decisions for millions of other people with confidence. It's a good thing.
And fourth, while I'm at it, why on Earth do we want someone "just like us" to be President in the first place? Shouldn't we actually want someone BETTER than us? Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't "elite" actually mean "the best of the best"? Isn't that who should be President? Think about it long and hard. Do you really want someone just like you to be President? No, of course you don't. You suck. You suck a lot. Not as a human being, as a human being you're probably great, but in terms of world leaders, you suck. Big time. Granted, I don't actually know who I'm talking to here, but I'm betting there aren't too many people who would make good world leaders reading my blog. Here in India, the Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh has two undergraduate degrees, a masters degree, a Doctorate of Philosophy, an honorary Doctorate in Civil Law, and a long, impressive career as an economist. He went to Oxford and Cambridge. He is an intellectual. Most of the people that I speak to over here say that they elected him because HE'S A GENIUS, AND HE HAS THE INTELLIGENCE AND SKILL TO FIX INDIA'S PROBLEMS. WHY CAN'T WE THINK LIKE THAT?!?! DOESN'T THAT MAKE SENSE!?! Have any of you ever even HEARD of a US President's intelligence BEING CONSIDERED AS A MAJOR ISSUE?! I, for one, want us to think more like India in this regard. I want someone for President who is, as Jon Stewart put it "embarrassingly superior to me". Someone who speaks 16 languages, has 8 doctorates, someone who is an absolute super-genius and is capable of understanding everything that goes on in the world. For my friends who've played Scion, someone with at least three dots of Epic Intelligence. I want to elect The Professor from Gilligan's Island or The Doctor from Doctor Who. Someone with "The" as a first name. OK, The Doctor was born on Galifrey, so he's not eligible, but you get my point. SUPERGENIUS FOR PRESIDENT!!! Because while The Constitution may be right when it says that "All men were created equal"... look around you. Just look around at the people in this world. You'll realize that while we may have been create equal, we sure as hell don't stay that way for long.
Also, send a link to this blog to any of your friends who you think might enjoy this entry, because while we're on the topic of ego being a good thing, this is one of my best rants ever.