Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, April 27, 2004 at 9:05:09 AM     People wonder why the polls show such support for Bush. It is simple. People make a choice between alternatives. In this case people feel that major things are wrong: country divided, technology, pollution, weak economy, china, jobs, income distribution. So they look at Bush and Kerrey in that context and make a judgment. And the judgment is, better a known bad than an unknown middle. People feel they have adapted their life to the current realities, and they don't want more change. In fact, "the less change, I can vote for, " I will, they say. Many people also feel that we, the United States,  are not smart about foreign places, and because we are not, we can't do well diplomatically, so we must rely on force. Its a dangerous world, filled with weird people. Play it like football, drive the fastest lap. Kerrey can win, with slow appreciation by voters of his presence and differences, but it will be a slow process. One danger is that the deep frustrations in the country are, a far as we can see with what we know,  as likley to lead to a conservative "revolution" as a progressive one. ********

Posted here Tuesday, April 27, 2004 at 7:06:59 AM     Read http://www.geocities.com/tom_slouck/iraq/polk_iraq_1958.html in the Atlantic, December, 1958,  on the way a responsive hopeful government initiative, in the 1958 coup,  turned towards Saddham. The implication is that the same forces are at work. I'd add Tito and Yugoslavia as a similar set of dynamics. ********