Election 2008: Entropy or bust!

The winnowing of the field of presidential candidates rolls inexorably on toward its desultory, entropic conclusion. Recently, three more candidates, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, and (scarcely noticed) Dennis Kucinich ended their bids for the White House.

Presidential elections in the United States are really little more than long, drawn-out compromises. Are they not? Let's tally the fallen:

Here is a man. Whence comes such another?

Alas for Dennis Kucinich, my first choice. I have known all along that he had no chance for the nomination. I supported John Edwards, bowing to that realization and also, accepting that, in this vast, diverse country, no one gets his first choice. Either one compromises or submits to the deadened numbness of non-participation. My heart goes out to Dennis, who subjected himself to the indignity of being ridiculed by persons far his inferior in the media and the Washington beltway because he actually held ideals. Here is a man, people.

Best of luck, John. And, thanks.

Alas for John Edwards, who took up the mantle of populism, who spoke out against the corporate hegemony that is destroying this country and civilization. John made his cause the eradication of poverty in America, a noble goal made anachronistic by fiends and shills of the plutocracy. Further, his wife, Elizabeth, is a personal inspiration, battling breast cancer. I'd like to think I could show as much courage when faced with a potentially mortal illness.

Back to the abyss with thee, creature!

Hisses for vampiric Rudy Giuliani, forced to retreat to his joyless crypt, there to nurse his hatred and pull ineffectively at the various strands of his webs of corruption. The death of his campaign is but a harbinger of a larger death to come: that of the neo-conservative movement.

Sigh....I suppose so

As I've said, Edwards was my compromise choice. But obviously I hadn't compromised enough. By default, my increasingly unenthusiastic support falls to Barack Obama. Why? Simply because he is not Hillary Clinton. Will it be enough, I wonder? Or will I be forced to abandon the last vestiges of civic dignity and cast a vote for Hillary in the general election? (Because I'll be damned if I allow a Republican, any Republican, into the White House without casting a vote against him.)

I hold out small hope that Obama can withstand the assault of the seasoned and ruthless Clinton machine, but, I suppose "Obama for President" is where it stands with me, at the moment.

As for the Republicans, it looks like McCain will get the nod. He's hated by the most rabid of Bush supporters, but, to their way of thinking he's something of a known entity. I'd like to see Romney put up a fight, but I'm afraid Mitt is a wimp. He'll roll over meekly. Huckabee, Christian warrior, could prove to be a fly in McCain's ointment, especially if the Huckster raises hell at the week-long hatefest that is the Republican convention. But, in the end, Huckabee supporters will fall in line, just like they always do. It's bred into them: submit to authority, bend to the lash.

All in all, the 2008 presidential race is progressing predictably. Compromise, concession, humiliation. Change the color of the drapes in the Oval Office. Put a new shade of lipstick on the pig. Just don't mess with the power structure.

Barak Obama for President!