"First as tragedy, then as farce."

I suppose its fashionably droll to say, well, "that's just politics", or "both sides are guilty of it", but the more I stare at the symmetries in this election the more enraged I get. I've mentioned it before, sort of as a wry observation or a curious and whimisical comment, but it's become so painfully obvious now I don't see why there isn't rioting in the streets by an enraged citizenry.

Forget about your ideological superstitions and partisan preferences for a moment and look at just how these campaigns are being conducted, how they are run, from a strictly tactical point of view. The Democrats claim they are turning over a new leaf and going for someone with fresh ideas, a champion of change who is not part of the usual Washington crowd and who will bring new strategies to bear on the issues of the day. Their Republican opponents counter that the Democratic candidate has no experience, is a superficially charming and charismatic celebrity of no real substance or gravitas, while their man has solid experience in government and public service. OK, fine. Both sides have made valid points and the voters have a clear choice--or do they?

When the two campaigns pick Vice-Presidential candidates, they select individuals totally opposite their stated philosophies, people who most resemble the Presidential nominee of the other party! Now it's the Republicans who have a young and attractive crowd-pleasing celebrity of little experience, and the Democrats a grizzled old Washington insider and knife-fighter. You can say it's to "balance the ticket", but what I find infuriating is that each side is now attacking the other using the same arguments the other side used against them. The Reps are attacking Obama with the same rhetoric the Dems use agains Palin, and a similar symmetry is in place with the other candidates. And both sides defend against the attacks of the other with the same defenses and counter arguments. Meanwhile, the ideological undercurrent, which is mostly composed of phony cultural posturings, completely ignores the issues and the distribution and sources of political and economic power that are really driving both sides.

The mainstream press refuses to address any of this, and concentrates on strategy and tactics while doing everything it can to provoke controversy for controversy's sake. It sells advertising space or minutes. The alternative press is so partisan it simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth at all. The real centers of political power are souless corporate and government bureaucracies and greedy little single-issue constituencies interested in advancing only their own agendas and preserving their existence and growth and power. They will support either side, or both, to maintain their position and increase their influence--or profits. And the citizenry, seduced by cultural and ideological smokescreens, is so stupid and pig-headed that sometimes I wonder if they don't deserve exactly what they are getting. For the first time in my life I feel myself starting to lose my faith in democracy. I don't see why we even bother with this vulgar charade any more.