By John Aloysius Farrell
Just when I was digesting the happy fact that the next president is going to be one of two quirky and interesting characters, not named Bush or Clinton – that politics might actually be fun again – they’ve begun the campaign by calling each other quirky, as if it is some foul epithet.
McCain: Obama is the candidate of Hamas.
Translation: A vote for Obama is risky; he wants to try new foreign policy approaches, like opening negotiations with rogue nations like Iran.
What McCain really wants us to think: If we elect the weirdo, terrorist-hugging Obama, our daughters will be traded for camels in the New Islamic Caliphate of America, and, hey, you Jewish voters! Those parts of Israel that are not radioactive craters will be provinces of Iran!
Obama: If McCain said that, he’s lost his bearings.
Translation: McCain is mired in a Cold War paradigm. We need to think anew.
What Obama really wants us to think: The old dude is a dotty madman, old and out of touch and suffering from senility, who can’t be trusted anywhere near the Oval Office. And did I mention he is old?
Guys! Wait! Quirky can be good!
JFK’s was a quirky presidency. So was Teddy Roosevelt’s.
Obama is black. We’ve noticed. McCain is old. We’ve noticed that too.
So can we cut to the chase? And talk about, say, what you’re going to do as president? Or are you going to spend the next six months shouting “Weirdo!” and “Old Fart!” at each other?
The US of A could use a good dose of quirky.
Or maybe you think the status quo is fine?
