Herman Cain once again has demonstrated you can never go wrong blaming your problems on the media, as he called out “dishonest” and “nitpicky” members of the media for making him try to explain his virtual ass-grabbing while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. He had about as much luck successfully doing so as he has had trying to explain why he didn’t know China has nuclear weapons or how the 9-9-9 plan will make taxes fairer for everyone. The man is a colossal meathead, vacuous and willfully ignorant on the issues but capable of the occasional rhetorical flourish and skilled at giving the tea party crowds what they want to hear, whether it makes any sense or not. His hand-holding date with his pal, Newt Gingrich the other night gave him an opportunity to spread this swill to a large audience – ironically right in Rick “Hey, he’s a black guy” Perry’s back yard in Houston – out tea-partying Rick to his face, both of them pissing in his corral while debating who was more likely to slash social programs with the most cold-blooded vigor.
That Cain can get a standing ovation from a tea party crowd is not so surprising; what is surreal and very much a Chauncey Gardiner moment was his invocation of Ronald Reagan and his notion of American as that “great city on a hill” at the end of the debate, to stomping cheers and whoops from the mostly white crowd, apparently forgetting a few details like Reagan’s record of relentlessly increasing government spending like there was no tomorrow, to help dig the country out of the oil embargo recession that got him elected.
Neither of them apparently grasps the irony of complaining about members of the media who are dishonest, as the stiff-haired cheerleaders of Faux News regularly distort and dissemble on their behalf and that of the other brain damaged dwarves on the campaign trail. I guess it's just a matter of telling the right lies, right Herman?
In a rare exhibition of political guts, Jon Huntsman called Herman out for his garbled explanations and denials, telling him to get his dirty laundry out, sort the colors from the whites and get it cleaned before the filth brings all of the candidates down.
Ron Paul, as is his wont, called a spade a spade, saying the whole thing is blown out of proportion and, more importantly, completely misses the point and obscures the obvious fact of Cain’s lack of basic competence and qualification for the job for which he is running and currently the leading candidate.
But now today when a fourth woman has come forward – publicly – it looks less and less likely that blaming the media, denying any wrong doing and, finally, refusing to discuss it, will be the most successful long term strategy, no matter how much love you keep getting from the far right.
I agree with Ron Paul; it is a distraction. I wish someone would ask Cain for his opinion on the fact that one out of a hundred Americans is in jail. Or how he reconciles John Boner standing straight faced and saying there’s no money to try to provide jobs or aid to the states for education and cops but plenty of money for the Pentagon – more than they really want - and massive tax cuts for the biggest and richest corporations and the wealthy.
I’d like to ask him how he feels about the republicans’ systematic attempt to disenfranchise whole blocks of voters to try to limit the votes they think will go against them and steal the 2012 election like some two bit dictator in a banana republic. And speaking of two bit dictators, how would he handle Hugo Chavez, leader of the most hostile country in the hemisphere but one which provides the US with about the same amount of oil as Saudi Arabia.
The thing is, he’s been asked questions like that and answered them sounding like what he is; a personable man who is completely out of his depth and hasn’t a clue really about most anything.
His continuing appeal to the far right of the republican party is a true mystery but maybe it’s the same reason America embraced The Cosby Show; here is a non-threatening black guy who smiles a lot and makes them laugh and feel comfortable. It’s like it’s a relief that he’s not sporting a big fro and he’s not pissed off at them for being white. But seriously; president? First Bachman, then Perry, now Cain...who’s next? Carrot Top...? Somewhere Jon Huntsman is smiling...
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