Monday, January 09, 2012

Or Does It Explode?


I really dig the idea that a presidential campaign is all about authenticity.  Do we really know who Willard Romney is?  His être-au-monde and être-en-soi?  Is he a self-created avatar of his own beingness, the observer, the fire, the shadow, and the cave?  Now obviously what is meant by authenticity here is something more like truth-in-advertising.  Does it taste great?  Is it less filling?  Do the curtains match the drapes?  And in this regard, let me suggest to you that Romney, despite all this shit about his inconsistency and incoherence, his too-slick demeanor and penchant for reversing himself, is far and away the grande dame of Executive Realness; he is exactly what he seems--all id and superego and a Cheshire grin where his I used to be.  The other candidates suffer from remnants of actual personalities, and will likely lose because of it.  Interestingly, Obama has always struck me with an almost identical impression, a human personality reduced entirely to its formal, gestural elements, Commedia dell'arte where the soul's 'sposed to be.  I can't wait for the general election season.

32 comments:

Professor Coldheart said...

(1) Nobody cares about what the Washington Post cares about as hard as the Washington Post cares about it.

(2) I dunno about you, but I'mma need at least 8 more Republican debates before I can pick a candidate.

(3) I look forward to electing a slightly indented beige cube in 2024.

BDR said...

Rzzz!

Romney is Tarlekian.

Anonymous said...

@professor

Sure like heck I won't be voting for that crimson polka dotted raycist oblong spheroid running against it.

Capt'n Obvious

Happy Jack said...

The Shamwow! guy versus Ron Popeil. Just $19.95 plus S&H.

Inkberrow said...

Agreed on Romney as an analogue to Obama. Perhaps our Talented Technocrats really are the ones who Should Lead, because it's easier to collate policies and principles in the service of anti-change when one's relationship to them is pretextual.

Justin said...

I can't wait for the general election season.

When did the last one end?

mistah charley, ph.d. said...

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.
Jean Giraudoux (1882 - 1944)

davidly said...

Wow, this just got me all goosebumps-excited 'bout Romney!

Leonard said...

Another similarity between Obama and Romney is that they both have the problem of having tried at one point in their career to conform themselves to a more leftist electorate than the one they currently face.

Also, they both profess a religion that considers itself Christian, although in both cases many more conservative/orthodox Christians disagree.

On the other hand, the read one gets off Obama is very Being There, whereas for Romney it's bog-standard power-lust combined with a touch of noblesse oblige.

IOZ said...

Obama is much to stentorian to be a Chance Gardener. Honestly, Leonard, I think you need to adjust your antenna.

Hoagy said...

"Obama is much to stentorian to be a Chance Gardener"

True, but lots of Obots do think he can walk on water.

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

"Commedia dell'arte where the soul's 'sposed to be."

My goodness! One would think you'd you never seen Arletty and Barrault as Garance and Baptiste.

The soul IS commedia dell'arte, dontcha know?

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

But nice trope, nontheless ...

Sorry said...

"Now get this, honky. You go tell Rafael that I ain't taking no jive from no Western Union messenger. You tell that asshole if he got something to tell me, to get his ass down here himself."

Take a drink every time Obama makes a garden metaphor, or talks about an actual garden.

rob payne said...

That's the beauty of the election, both candidates shall be exactly alike. It's mandatory. You get a choice without a choice. It's perfect.

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

geez Rob - Tito (among many others) had that trick down pat last century, and it only took one of him (them) ...

rob payne said...

Eerily, Americans are slowly catching up! It's inspiring.

High Arka said...

The Obama personality observation is so FTW it hurts.

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

rob - I suspect you're too young to remember this, but when General Hershey (head of Selective Service during LBJ's V-up)) was asked why there were deferments for teachers and engineers, he said Selective Service is the "American way" of doing what's accomplished in other ways in other countries (speaking of course of the two track education system that was still in effect in the UK back then).

So you're correct - American ingenuity in this regard has always been inspiring ...

Hey - maybe the lyrics should have been ...

freedom's just another word for nothing left to choose ...

rob payne said...

Eerily, I am old enough to recall LBJ, he tried to kill me by trying to send me to Vietnam. I declined, tore up my draft notice and threw it in the trash bin. It scared the crap out of me I can tell you, saw all those pictures of mutilated dead bodies in Vietnam. The draft was a rather horrible form of slavery back then. I never did care much for good ol’ LBJ. Still I never heard that Hershey quote before but it sounds par for the course. The draft was rather like a lottery for those who could not qualify for a deferment. I suspect if there was a draft today there would be more of an anti-war movement than there is now under The One. I kept expecting the police to show up to arrest me but nothing happened, you go figure. I guess it was more trouble than I was worth.

Anonymous said...

"I can't wait for the general election season."

You have truly shocked me, mawnswaer. Tomorrow's tee time has been cancelled whilst I give this some thought.

Hmmmm?

-the real nonny

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

Rob - glad to know I'm not the only old-timer here who appreciates our young whippersnapper host (or so he and his friends say) ... according to them, you and me are like VonAschenbach and they're all just to-die-for Tadziu's ..

Justin said...

I think Ioz is older than he appears. My guess is late 30s to early 40s.

IOZ said...

Forever 21.

Anonymous said...

Forever 26 gets you better rates on your auto insurance.

anne said...

whoisy has a driver.. .

Anonymous said...

Over / Under at 35, apropos of American pasttimes, that is.

Capt'n Obvious

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

Early 30's, Justin.

That's why his biological clock is ticking ...

Professor Coldheart said...

IOZ is younger than me, and I'm MTV's age. The NSA confirmed it.

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

On another note:

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/10/the_selling_of_occupy_wall_street/

Anonymous said...

My eyes! Oh, the unspeakable horror!

Serves me right for followin an EL suggestion.

Capt'n Obvious

Eerily Lackadaisical said...

Capn @ 6:41

Oh I don't know - it seems to me that we were all taught to know our place as dissenters when Paul Krassner claimed in the Realist that on the plane back from Dallas, LBJ fucked JFK's corpse in the neck to make the exit wound look like an entry wound.

And the establishment didn't say a word.

So why be appalled when it co-opts your notion of "anarchy" to sell a product?