Assorted Random Thoughts

I realize I've been MIA on the blogging front for a period. Part of it is that the work I'm doing now is a combination of incredibly boring, process management, and highly sensitive, so it's not really blog-able. Simultaneously, the race has become incredibly pedestrian, as it seems to have resigned itself to a game of political one-upsmanship. It's kind of like watching Crossfire, only before John Stewart exposed it for the ridiculous sham it is. My comment, politically, for the moment is simply this: anyone but Hillary Clinton would have long since been forced out of the race, or, like Ron Paul on the Republican side, marginalized to the point of virtual extinction. But, because of who she is, there was no real call from the media or the political establishment after her series of 11 straight losses, nor after her less than game changing performances in recent contests. Now, because she is Hillary Clinton, once heir apparent to the throne and queen to the aging king, she is being allowed to continue what is essentially a clear eyed, kamikaze attempt to usurp the vote. In so doing she is making a mockery of the process, of the system, and of the voters.

But I'm tired of it, to be honest. Tired of the handwringing pundits, and breathless suspense that doesn't exist, and the endless speculation about who knows whom or how what who said is surely the end of everything. Short of the miraculous (earning upwards of 70% of the remaining pledged delegates), there is no legitimate way for her to win any longer. The popular vote, no matter what they tell you, is not a legitimate metric, and becomes especially illegit when made, as she would, to count votes in MI where she was the only person on the ballot. The rules were agreed to by all, and the rules don't change halfway through. But as this continues, one candidate insists on playing a high-profile game of Calvinball, constantly shifting the goalposts and the means of scoring. It doesn't change the simple fact that most people with an understanding of the process and an ability to look beyond the most recent dustup understand that a nominee chosen by superdelegates despite trailing in the one metric that everyone agreed to follow would serve only to open significant fault lines in the party. And, should that take place, I feel confident we will see the '68 Convention repeat itself, Rush Limbaugh's finest dreams be realized, and the democratic party perform a spectacular and no doubt painful act of ritual suicide.

But that's about all I'm inclined to say on that.