Fire up the base!
I can be shockingly naive sometimes. For a very brief period of time, I actually entertained the hope that with the emergence of two relative outsiders as presidential party nominees, we could begin to move American politics away from the old Left/Right slug fest and toward something new. I was hoping we could begin debating some arguably significant things, such as:- how to bring about a positive endgame in Iraq- how to achieve energy independence- how to address global warming- how to promote economic stability in unstable timesWhat a rube I was. With the emergence of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate, it's straight back to the old culture wars.How maddeningly tedious.It's not her fault, really. I mean, sure she happens to be an anti-choice, anti-gay rights, anti-sex education, creationist. But it's only her elevation to national stature that makes all of this irritatingly relevant. Now instead of debating the best way to face the future, we're going to be stuck fighting off the forces of backwardness.Again.You want to know something? I'm tired of arguing about abortion rights, gay rights, sex education and creationism. As far as I'm concerned, the suite of values social conservatives love to carp on about with respect to these issues is nothing more than a lifestyle choice. If that's what you're into, fine. Don't have abortions. Don't go to your gay cousin's wedding. Extol the virtues of abstinence and the beauty of intelligent design. Live it up. Whatever. We don't care. No seriously. We don't care. It may surprise you to know that we don't sit around in our urban cafes wringing our hands (between bites of arugula salad) over the way you live your lives. We're sort of busy living our own and we'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to codify your lifestyle choices into law. We're aware of your values; we know the arguments. Thanks but no thanks.Can we move on?Dumb question. Of course not.Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate to "fire up the base." I don't think anyone disputes that. But do you know what "fire up the base" really means?
Fire up the base: to stroke the fragile egos of people so desperately insecure about their way of life that they need to have it officially sanctioned by the government
No seriously, look it up. That's exactly what it means.Now to be clear, as Vice President, Sarah Palin will have no power whatsoever to enforce the value judgments of this terribly sensitive gang of would-be mob rulers. Doesn't matter. We're going to be talking about them from now until November. We're going to spend the rest of this presidential campaign arguing about stupid stupid things instead of the desperately important issues we actually face.Nice going, McCain. Thanks a lot. Way to be a maverick.