On the Cubs, Sarah Palin and Futility: Our Collective Stockholm Syndrome

I just finished watching the debate between Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden. Then I turned on the Cubs - Dodgers NL Division Series playoff game to my horror to see the score 6-0 Dodgers. I am from Chicago's Rogers Park (East) neighborhood, where I moved from an address just off Lake Shore Drive which is the address where I was brought home as a baby, so the Cubs were my idols from as early as I can remember. If ever there was a claim to be a victim of "Stockholm Syndrome", I am one, as I have been held hostage by the Cubs, sapping me of energy, disappointing me and shaming me. Yet I persist in my adoration for them, regardless. My idol, if you will, was one Kenny Holtzman who had a couple of important things in common with me: he was left-handed, as am I; he was Jewish, so was and am I. I saw his no-hitter in August, 1969 against (I had to look this part up) the Atlanta Braves. My Grandma Van took me to see the Cubs. My own father did not.

She was the black lady native to Cotton Plant, Arkansas who essentially raised me while my mother went to work to bring in the money to raise my sister and I. We were sent to the best private schools until high school - my education and my health were her most fervent interests. Mom acted like the federal government; Grandma Van was the state I came home to every day after school. Grandma Van did everything for me. She showed me right from wrong. And a sense of what and who is right. And to respect everyone. I owe her so much for who I am today it's impossible for me to fully comprehend.

Just by way of background, I also attribute my love of soul and R&B music directly to her and her affinity to WVON radio in Chicago, which used to play Aretha Franklin (Grandma Van's favorite was "Chain of Fools"), Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and undoubtedly others whose names presently escape me. My love of straight ahead Jazz must've been the result of an overdose as a child on records of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Carr that my other, biological mother gave me.

And it is on my experience with both of them, understanding the fundamental dignity that these two women possessed despite impossible odds, that I base my judgment of Sarah Palin. I viewed tonight's debate with a first-hand understanding of what it feels like to watch a white woman struggle to "make it", as my own mother did, but not without Grandma Van's help. I saw the same fear on my own mother's face as I looked at Sarah Palin's brain scrambling to find the right words to say. I was among those who were actually fearful for our Democracy that a woman like Sarah Palin, fearful of her proximity to power from all I had seen from the media, could literally be a 1:6 chance to be our President at some point in the near future. While Mrs. Palin seemingly acquitted herself quite nicely tonight in showing us who she is without any filter or other structural restraints like directly answering Gwen Ifill's questions, I have to say that I felt like I was watching the world's longest stewardess announcement. And at other times, I felt like I was watching someone whose head had been stuffed with garbage and was just regurgitating it as if it was a natural act.

What gives Sarah Palin the notion that she is in any way, shape or form qualified to even potentially come near the reigns of power of this great country? To me the answer is an arrogance of power that is just unquenchable. I have seen what arrogance does to a person. Delusions follow arrogance like Friday does Thursday. And indeed, Sarah Palin is delusional if she thinks that she is, again, qualified to be President of the United States of America. That this is comprehensible and a possibility, no matter how remote, shines a light on several things: the level to which our country has sunk, why this country's best and brightest were not lined up with Senator McCain as a Vice Presidential pick and the relationship between politics and the media. Regardless of arrogance and delusions, politics make strange and potentially interesting bedmates.

And so we have to accept the fact that Sarah Palin, despite herself, is a candidate for Vice President. Tonight, she passed the test of having to drop out, a very, very, very low bar for justifying one's existence on a political ticket. That was about it. Me? I never asked her to drop out. Indeed, I hope she stays in, because she is the gift that keeps on giving.

The more Katie Couric interviews her, the more exposure the better, as far as I am concerned. Because in the end, I know what both my mothers would say about Sarah Palin: "Are you kidding me? She's as phony as a three-dollar bill." Winks? Please. "Doggonit?" You have to be joking. They would, as do I, say "good for her", but in the end, they would both agree that she should (in Grandma Van's terms) take her "cracker ass" back to Alaska. They would agree that this country is so messed up that there can be no room for this particular great experiment in mixing anti-feminist, Fundamentalist Christianity with politics.

While there should eventually be a woman president, it absolutely, positively isn't Sarah Palin. And while people will fawn over her now that she didn't force McCain to have to seriously debate whether to eject her from the ticket, the longer she will remain so "we" can get to know this person better. I am convinced that the American voter, in the end, will eventually put country first and everything else - bigotry, racism, sexism, every ism and hatred that exists - to the side.

The American public, and women in particular, will realize that this woman in particular is not fit to be either Vice President or President. Perhaps the most telling point of the whole night was when she referred to her running mate as "McCain". This demonstrated the utter political motivation - the essence of why she was chosen - of her nomination, as it is evident that she does not know John McCain well enough to be able to naturally say "John" or "Senator McCain".

If there's one thing that Senator McCain and Senator Obama would agree upon, it would be the obligation to really put country first in one's public and political life, and if Mr. McCain thinks for a second that he is fit to be President of the United States given his record of letting Wall Street run wild, his erratic behavior, his age and his medical condition (which such records he has yet to make public), he is either delusional or deeply upset at the Republican party for having him pick this woman from Alaska to be his running mate, despite the fact that he relies on Joe Lieberman for nearly everything, though I can't see Cindy McCain and Haddassah Lieberman at an ORT meeting together.

Mr. McCain has to know in his heart that despite everything, he is in a no-win situation. He is running with the record of George Bush and his own complicity in that debacle at the same time as a preventable "economic Pearl Harbor" was occurring, the term that Warren Buffett used when interviewed by Charlie Rose last night.

Pearl Harbor set off a war which set off the largest industrial boom in the history of mankind. We were fortunate to have the entire country mobilized in that effort.

It will take a leader as wise and possessed of judgment as FDR, only more intelligent and less prone to listening to bigots and racists to bring this country back to its former greatness, if that is at all possible any more. With globalization and the melding of countries and economies, I am not sure that country boundary lines matter when it comes to buying a loaf of bread or anything else any more, does it? Regardless of whether boundaries really matter, they will continue to exist and evoke strong emotional responses from people like me who would like to think that America is a special place where anything is possible; a place like none other in the world.

Alas, the events of the day show us that we are indeed like everyone else, and this is the most devastating indictment: I know we are better, and Sarah Palin is a reminder of just how far we as a people have come down in our own eyes as to what is, and what is not, required of a Vice President or a President of the United States. For it is in the people we elect that we see a mirror image of ourselves. And while Sarah Palin is good, and she did try the best she could, her best just isn't good enough. For us as a people.

I think that if I was watching the Cubs' game tonight, and it was the bottom of the eighth inning, 9-1 in the second game of the NL Division Series, Grandma Van would say that the party was over for the Cubs. And considering our long history of watching many, many Cubs' games together, even she wouldn't blame me if was to disown the Cubs as utterly futile and would agree with me that Wrigley Field should be razed to make room for something not so deeply and viscerally associated with angst and sadness as is that temple to the loser in all of us. Enough with Stockholm Syndrome. It's the same feeling I get when thinking about this country right now, with one important difference: I can't disown the country. I can get over the notion, however, that I am trapped by the past. We don't have to be victims. We deserve better as fans and voters than to have to watch someone who, not too far removed from a PTA meeting in a state whose culture I admit I do not understand, is too close to being taken seriously as a Vice Presidential Candidate and for that matter by actuarial estimates too close to being President if John McCain is elected and dies while in office.

Let us hope that when it comes to the future, resistance to change among the American electorate will not be quite as futile as being a Cubs fan. Let history note that I watched the Cubs' game until the very last batter. Final: 10-3.

Randy Shiner

McCain's Forced Error - Sarah Palin

McCain's Forced Error by: Josh Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 11:42:23 PM EDT

Sara Palin is less likely to be VP than Harriet Miers is to ascend to the Supreme Court.  The Palin nomination is DOA.  Her nomination will go down as the singular event which destroyed the McCain candidacy.  That's not the full story, but that's how it will be remembered.  Here's why: Virginia Democrats learned three powerful lessons from the Webb campaign in 2006: 1.  No Republican is invulnerable against a Democratic candidate of character ready to fight for a powerful vision of America. Jim Webb ran on character and issues: foreign policy, economic fairness, government accountability.  He ran a forceful campaign against George Allen and defeated him.   2.  Once pressured, Republicans buckle, and make forced errors which cause the overriding narratives of their public personae to unravel. George Allen would never have exposed his dark side unless he had been pushed and pressured by the Webb camp for months before.  "Macacca" exposed Allen's true feelings to the "Real World of Virginia".  It cost him his Senate seat and it cost Republicans the Senate. 3.  It takes passion and powerful volunteer turnout to turn a candidate's advantages into election day victories. In addition to the campaign's efforts and Senator Webb's enduring character, it took a pumped up "rag-tag army" of volunteers to make Webb's nail-biter victory a reality. Democrats are bringing the lessons of 2006 to bear on 2008 .  Obama has forced the error and John McCain has provided his own "Macacca" moment:  the nomination of Sara Palin for VP.  Now it's time to get to work and win this thing.

Josh :: McCain's Forced Error

On Thursday, Barack Obama simultaneously united and invigorated the Democratic party with such force and power that it sent a shock deep into the McCain campaign.  So effective was Obama's speech and so well-orchestrated the conventionthat it drove John McCain to make a critical error that will lose him the White House. Terrified and desperate, the McCain campaign took a wild risk and nominated the un-vetted right-wing extremist, Sara Palin for the number two slot.  In so doing, McCain fundamentally failed in his responsibilities as a major party candidate.  John McCain has proven himself fundamentally incapable of making critical decisions.   This is not by accident.  It is by ideology.  Just as Bush is the fulfillment of conservatism's ideologically driven incompetence, so is McCain another Deadbeat conservative, short-changing America for political expediency.  John McCain did not vet his Vice Presidential pick, Sara Palin, and now the steady drip, drip, of Palin-related scandal has become a roaring river.   Palin was director of indicted Senator Ted Stevens' 527 - There goes that "reformer" brand. Palin lied about being against the "bridge to nowhere", and she Hired a lobbyist to get $27 Million in earmarks for Alaska. There goes that "honest public servant" brand. Woops!  There goes that "America First Slogan", maybe "Alaska First", or "Caribou over Red White and Blue"?  Kinda catchy that... Sara Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse.  Yeah, these guys want to institute some crazed Christian Sharia, and put the world under a totalitarian regime until the rapture. It's not just crazy it's completely against scripture. If you think the totalitarian thing is just hyperbole, consider that the only thing that stood between Palin and a good old fashioned book burning was a lone, principled librarian Reckless John Disses America She uses her power for vengeance against personal enemies. more. She was almost recalled as mayor. Sarah Sinking So Fast RNC Just Called Her "Sarah Pawlenty" Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial World View McCain Fought Teen Pregnancy Programs Palin claims massive foreign policy credentials, that she doesn't have, because she basically has paid no attention to the most important foreign policy issue of our time, except to note that Iraq is a war for oil, oh and that we were sent there by God. Can Sara Palin Give Blackwater's Mercenaries to Joel's Army?  (This is rather a stretch, but Palin is associated with Joel's Army, read this and try to remain calm. At this point, Sara's failed business, and her husband's DUI seems completely inconsequential, indeed, prosaic. Her friends think she's just wrong for the job. And finally with regard to news reports of Palin's 17 year-old-daughter's pregnancy and impending shotgun wedding to a guy who is "proud to be a "f******ing redneck" (high school hockey is awesome!), two questions arise.  First, how could a woman be so ambitious that she would knowing of her daughter's condition, she would expose her to national and international scrutiny of this level.  Second, could there be a greater irony than the fact that that this anti-Roe candidate has produced a truly magnificent example of a true pro-Choice poster child.  Even though everyone in Alaska knew about it the McCain campaign didn't think to ask. The media is asking whether Palin should leave the ticket and Intrade.com is taking bets. There's more on the horizon... Not only is the McCain Campaign stalling an investigation into whether Palin's used her power to get a public safety commissioner fired, it now turns out that Palin lied about traveling to Ireland. The press is now asking whether Palin was vetted at all.  It clearly seems she wasn't.  All of this calls McCain's judgment into question, as it rightly should. The truth is that this endless stream of Palin scandal is not the critical issue in this story.  The critical issue is that John McCain has proven and reinforced every assertion and attack made by the Obama campaign.  Just as Obama in Denver won the argument for the future of America, John McCain has lost the argument of who has the judgment to lead that future.  When so much depends on leadership, you don't shoot dice with the future of America. Now it's time for us to get to work and bring this thing home. When McCain announced the pick, it was viewed as a high-risk.  This in itself is an example of an epic failure of judgment, it completely disrespects the responsibilities of the presidency.  Even Karl Rove agreed that the Palin pick was a political and not a governing decision.  This was a simple play to achieve 2 political ends: 1.  Rally the extreme constituencies that made up the Bush electorate.  Palin as Bush in a Dress.  2.  Recruit the fringes of disgruntled(rapidly dwindling) Hillary supporters before they all settle in and support Obama.  Hillary + Ralf Reed = Palin. In attempting to put lipstick on the pig of Republican betrayal of American principle of responsibility, McCain has yet again failed to live up to his responsibilities.    This is a cynical, desperate choice, that puts McCain's ideology front and center.   To take a high risk with the critical constitutional responsibility is not leadership it is the same irresponsible failure that America has suffered these long 8 years. With Palin's pick, John McCain's desperate, insulting, and demeaning campaign concedes that Obama has won the argument for the future of America, but they are determined to hold onto power. It will take a magnificent volunteer effort combined with the continued excellence of the Obama campaign itself to wrest power from these deadbeat Republicans and put a responsible leadership back in the White House. Now, more than ever, McCain is more of the same.  By picking Sara Palin, McCain has empowered the anti-Hillary.  Hillary crusaded for critical issues like equal pay, universal health care, and reigning in the power of oil companies.  Sara Palin is no Hillary Clinton.  She is, in fact, pale in comparison to the greatness of HRC.   Obama has done his part. He has won the argument and continues to lead by example. McCain has done his part. He has buckled to Limbaugh and produced a failure of epic proportions, so desperate to win that he has abandoned judgment, reason, and his moral compass. Now it is time for us to do our part. It's time to work tirelessly to win this election and send Barack Obama to the White House.