October Surprise

Osama lobs a PR stink bomb into the three-ring circus of the Presidential election and the network media, caught by surprise, goes berserk with a frennzy bordering on the Grand Guignol --endless analysis and dire predictions; the usual line-up of worn out talking heads; Fox News alerts. The two candidates struggle to formulate a "reaction" to the dire developments. Partisan foot soldiers take to the airways to manipulate the spin that will ultimately reach the eyes and ears (forget the minds) of the anxious electorate. Bush remains resolute and steadfast, and reminds us that we are at war with the evildoers. Kerry, in his annoyingly stultifying way, points to Bush's failures.

Advantage Osama. The three-ring circus, now in its fourth year, consuming a near half-biilion dollars from the political parties, thousands of hours of air time from the networks, millions of words from the print media, and the collective energy of a minority of eligible voters, is eclipsed by the elusive shiek. His central theme, "stay out of our lives", will be ignored and swept aside by the arrogance and hubris of the American id.

Bin Laden figured us out a long time ago. That we still haven't figured out him should trouble any American with a conscience.

Strike Three

After watching Bush do the "rope-a-dope" for three sessions with Herman Munster it's quite clear that he's in over his rather inflated head. With nothing but his feeble talking points (and an increasingly smirky, creepy countenance), as ammo he continues to drive home the central themes of his campaign: Saddam was a bad guy, freedom is on the march, you're safer with me. The hope being, of course, that the relentless repetiton of the message will steer the fearful electorate to exactly where Karl Rove has planned.

How Bush plans to continue the "success" of his first term has not been determined, neither by him or the pundits. Moreover, his enthusiastic supporters seem to have no idea what to expect in a second term. More preemptive war? Bigger deficits? Fewer and fewer jobs? Quite a record. Yet, he still has the solid support of half of the eligible electorate.

If four years of an Al Gore presidency had delivered this mess the Republicans in Congress would have already drawn up articles of impeachment, a special prosecutor would be running down the Halliburton connection, and the shouting heads in the media would be in full attack mode.

Mediocrity has reached dizzying heights in the last four years. It seems to be part of the culture. Hopefully the voters will have the good sense to see through the smirky veneer and vote mediocrity out of office.