Off to Pennsylvania

Waiting in the rain for it to stop so we can break camp and move another step closer to Maine, I ponder Obama’s state of mind. Remembering the Onion headline before the Inauguration (“Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job”), it’s hard to imagine worse circumstances under which to govern. Two wars, economic collapse, pandemic, sheesh. All we need are locusts, boils and death of the firstborn.

Anyway, I think he’s doing a great job, especially under current circumstances. His continuing popularity is encouraging too, but (as both my readers know) I expect the economic malaise to last for much of a decade, and I fear how patient people will be as the reality sinks in.

The self-immolation of the Republican Party is sort of disturbing and fascinating, like a car wreck. As the angry southern white racists die off and the hip-hop loving kids come of age, the Southern Strategy comes to a grinding halt, and the response from most of the party is to get rid of the moderates. Oh my. Breathtaking hubris has defined this party for decades now, and OMG, it’s coming home to roost.

There was a great piece in the NY Times last year about how there are two approaches to family and childrearing and how they are reflected in party affiliation; one is the strong Dad demanding good behavior, with corporal punishment for wrongdoing, and the other is the supporting, nurturing family that protects and supports the kids. I grew up in the former in a staunchly Republican family, so I bought into this theory pretty easily. I had friends whose parents were much more relaxed and supportive, and, go figure, the parents were generally Democrats.

Listening to Limbaugh, et al, they seem to be saying that the cure for the child that ran away is to beat the remaining kids that much more harshly. We’ll see how that works out.