Tuesday, October 26, 2004
The Brain's got Heart
Interesting article on the Op-Ed page of the Gazette today. It's by Ariel Dorfman and it's called "Is Kerry too Smart?" (or something close to that; I don't have it in front of me).
Anti-intellectualism is a serious problem in the American electorate, a fact of which everyone in the world seems to be aware but most most Americans. In a way, Clinton (who has just made a campaign appearance for Kerry. Go Bill!, er, I mean, Go John!) was the perfect democratic president: smart as hell, from a poor southern background, and just a little bit edgy and fun to watch (unlike say, Carter, who is good and smart and southern, but sooo earnest).
I still can't believe that Bush got elected after Clinton. Talk about your pendulum swing.
I genuinely like Kerry's qualities of moral and intellectual courage. I'm sorry that he's rich as Croesus, but happy that that didn't stop him from fighting in Vietnam, and then fighting against it after he saw what was going on over there. I don't agree with everything he says and has done in the senate, but he seems to be a thoughtful, intelligent man who lives by his convictions but is open-minded enough to say "we were wrong". I don't imagine that he's the saviour of America, but I honestly think that he would make an honourable, respectable president who could begin to bring America into the wider world. For the first time ever, I will be nervous on an American election night. If Kerry were to lose, I would count it as a genuine loss of an opportunity for positive change. If he were to win, I wouldn't envy him the mess he's taking on. I hope he has a really stellar team around him.
I guess I'm hoping that the uneducated and the anti-intellectuals don't get the leader they deserve this time.
Interesting article on the Op-Ed page of the Gazette today. It's by Ariel Dorfman and it's called "Is Kerry too Smart?" (or something close to that; I don't have it in front of me).
Anti-intellectualism is a serious problem in the American electorate, a fact of which everyone in the world seems to be aware but most most Americans. In a way, Clinton (who has just made a campaign appearance for Kerry. Go Bill!, er, I mean, Go John!) was the perfect democratic president: smart as hell, from a poor southern background, and just a little bit edgy and fun to watch (unlike say, Carter, who is good and smart and southern, but sooo earnest).
I still can't believe that Bush got elected after Clinton. Talk about your pendulum swing.
I genuinely like Kerry's qualities of moral and intellectual courage. I'm sorry that he's rich as Croesus, but happy that that didn't stop him from fighting in Vietnam, and then fighting against it after he saw what was going on over there. I don't agree with everything he says and has done in the senate, but he seems to be a thoughtful, intelligent man who lives by his convictions but is open-minded enough to say "we were wrong". I don't imagine that he's the saviour of America, but I honestly think that he would make an honourable, respectable president who could begin to bring America into the wider world. For the first time ever, I will be nervous on an American election night. If Kerry were to lose, I would count it as a genuine loss of an opportunity for positive change. If he were to win, I wouldn't envy him the mess he's taking on. I hope he has a really stellar team around him.
I guess I'm hoping that the uneducated and the anti-intellectuals don't get the leader they deserve this time.
# posted by becca : 10:19 AM
