"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Saturday, February 02, 2008

It Is A Puzzlement

Maybe it's just me, but one thing I'm not seeing in discussions of the candidates, Republican or Democratic, is the question: Will he/she be good for the country? Maybe it's just the assumption that "our ideology is by definition better for America" (although I have real trouble believing anyone on the right can actually say that with a straight face), but no one, either in the corporate media or the blogosphere (which prides itself on its focus on issues -- or at least, its willingness to criticize the MSM for its lack of focus on issues) seems to be asking that question.

Sure, Obama is very inspirational and will undoubtedly try to unify us again, but toward what end? Clinton is divisive, just ask anyone in the Washington press corps, but is that kind of partisanship necessarily bad for the country? (It does, after all, provide a lot of the energy that keeps the system working.) Romney is a fake, but we've had fakes in the Oval Office before -- some of them were pretty effective. And McCain is a danger to the Republican party. I can't see how that's necessarily a bad thing, although I wouldn't vote for him if he were the only one running.

I guess what bothers me is that my question is really the central question, but all I see is commentators nibbling around the edges of it.

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