didion's take

For more balance on the strange turn of politics in the US, Joan Didion's piece in the NY Review of Books is a nuanced, critical view of the Republican and Democratic conventions and the subsequent media coverage. If Kerry loses or wins, this is one take on the political scene that will resonate for me. In a way, Didion is an anti-blogger -- she is all about the slow take here and I appreciate it.

Two salient points -- Why did everyone agree with Elizabeth Edwards that people hate negativity? I hate it when Democrats try to rise above the fray. Muting any critique of Bush & Co may be seen as a critical tactical mistake.

Second, the 9/11 commission despite its apparent dissension with Bush & Company has offered even greater consolidation of executive power, and thus serves the sitting president's agenda very well. No one seems to have objected to the commission's recommendations for placing the central anti-terrorist intelligence gathering agency under the executive branch.

Didion is suggesting that we have all gone along with the Bush administration's remaking of American government in reaction to 9/11.

But I'm predicting a Kerry win. In fact, I am predicting that Kerry wins Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Of course there is Florida, whose voters may again be disenfranchised on a massive scale, but the Dems may not need Florida to win, which does not solve the problem of Florida's democratic institutions, but there you have it...