This Has Nothing To Do With Gastroenterology
May 25th, 2008 at 4:54 pm by Chris
Like every other rational person on the planet, I’ve had my fill of sports analogies in politics, and then some. Nevertheless, this is pretty funny.
Barack Obama has just retired Hillary Clinton in the top half of the ninth inning of the seventh game of the American League Championship Series.
He’s the home team, and he’s leading 9-7, so he’s already won, not just the game, but also the series.
But Clinton is insisting on taking the field to play out the final meaningless frame. It’s never been done before in the history of baseball, but Obama, being a gentleman, is obliging.
Strangely, the umpires don’t do anything to stop the game from continuing, even though it’s completely under their control.
After Clinton finishes her warm up pitches, Obama steps up the plate. Clinton delivers three fastballs, each right over the heart of the plate, but Obama doesn’t lift the bat off his shoulder. He strikes out in three pitches (West Virginia), clearly mailing it in in the hopes of avoiding injury.
Clinton, not recognizing the reason for Obama’s nonchalant attitude, taunts him mercilessly. “You can’t hit my kind of pitches!” she she screams.
Instead of trading insults with Clinton, Obama smiles. He congratulates her on striking him out and steps back into the batter’s box for the next at-bat, eager to get things over with.
Have I ever mentioned how much trouble I have thinking up titles for my posts?
Heh …. another one of those “make sure to read the byline” posts. I assumed it was one of Susie’s and couldn’t figure out what she meant by it. Now it makes sense. But I thought Obama only played in the Negro Leagues ^_^.
If you wanted to be over-obvious, you could title this baseball vignette … The Natural …
Very amusing! Unfortunately politics does not have the same clear cut rules that apply to baseball. I would sit back and not count the coniving Mrs. Clinton out.
You could have stolen from Ernest Thayer and then paraphrased:
“There is no joy in Clintonville
Mighty Hillary has struck out.”
Cute and all, except that in baseball the winner is whoever has the most runs when the last out is made and it doesn’t matter how many runs that is. In this campaign, the winner is the one who gets a very specific number of votes from the delegates at the convention, and Obama does not have those votes YET.
And, despite all of these skeezy declarations of ultimate victory, I think that the Obamasphere is quite aware that they have *not* wrapped up a victory by a long shot, and are is worried that they might still pull off a traditional Democratic “pull defeat from the jaws of victory” move. Given that the polls consistantly show the old white guy meeting or beating Mr. Obama in the general election, and given that the polls continue to show a large chunk of the Clinton-supporting electorate saying “fuck you, if we don’t get Clinton we’ll vote for the Evil Party candidate”, the sensible move (even for the Democrats) would be to stop heaping abuse on Ms. Clinton and her supporters, but to instead focus your ire on the old white guy (who you *still* have to beat to get the brass ring) and start making soothing unity noises towards your defeated foes.
The sexism and the base libel is still offensive, of course, but if you’re panicking that at least explains it.
Lance, I’m with you and you’re so right. I wonder if you’d like to make a bet on who’s the nominee at the convention. I’ll put twenty grand on Obama. I’m good for it. Do you want to put the same on Clinton? Let me know.
Except MACJAZZ….. his candidacy is anything but Natural. It feels forced and contrived. That is the heart of the matter, as far as I’m concerned.
Unlike Hillary’s candidacy, of course ^_^.
Whatever one thinks of Obama as a candidate, he’s a remarkable political performer. I’m not the first person to be reminded of that other Clinton, Bill, when seeing Obama speak. I’m certainly ambivalent about Bill, but there’s no denying his political skills. The same could be said of Obama. Bill Clinton was the best political speaker I’ve ever seen, as a performer, and Obama comes very, very close to that.
Those guys are GOOD, though other speakers may talk more meaningfully to me. Noam Chomsky comes to mind - really kind of a dry and abstract speaker, not very good at all in that sense, but it was a mind altering experience to hear his ideas (this was quite a number of years ago). Or currently, Ralph Nader tears it up pretty good in his speeches, with what he says, not so much how he says it.
So yeah, Obama’s a “natural” political performer, much in the mode of Bill Clinton. Roy Hobbs for President!
no doubt Obama could sell snake oil. I meant his”candidacy” not him, silly. Anyway, you’re right Bil C is like a rock star at rallies. I don’t know how many swooning blonde/babe type women I encountered as he keeps you waiting.
Ever heard Jerry Brown?
eunice, you admire bill because of his abilities to be a hit with the ladies? his “hound dog” past has no play into misogony/sexism? he is married and cheats on his wife (a woman) with others (women). Some others take it pretty hard (monice, ????) and this is ok with you? from a feminist POV, please share with me how his actions are not misogonist/sexist, and if you think they are, how it makes you feel towrda him and mrs. Clinton. i’m very serious. thank you.
Who’s monice?
Gosh, Joe, if I thought you were really interested in misogyny instead of playing gotcha, I might be inclined to address that point.
zuzu: monice would be a typo for Monica (Lewinski). Of course you knew that and were just playing gotcha. Gotcha over a typo in comments which is a really cheap, dismissive strategy.
Just once I’d love to see you actually respond to any of the detailed criticisms here instead of dismissing the writer, slaying a straw man, or just disappearing for a day or two. Pointing out that Bill Clinton has some issues with women is hardly a shocking statement. He clearly does. That he was able to overcome said problems in his public life and generally (although by no stretch of the imagination always) do the right thing is something I am grateful for. Still, eunice henwood brown’s comment struck me the same way. I am familiar with her from comments here, consider her a feminist, and found the whole “swooning blonde/babe” argument bizarre. One potential defense is humor - she was being funny. Ok, but based on her past comments I doubt it. If not, how is it not demeaning to women? I can’t believe for a minute if Joe or steeveboy or I had made the same comment we wouldn’t immediately have been slammed for it - and rightly so. So is it ok for a woman to reduce other women to swooning groupies in the presence of serial-cheater rock star Bill Clinton but not ok for men to do so?
bill’s not exactly having the same effect he used to these days…
he– like hillary, had his moment in the sun/white house.
Well, we were talking about Bill Clinton (and also Obama) as a “political performer”, and I took Eunice’s comment to be written in that context. That is, the “swooning blonde/babes” were evidence of one aspect of his effect as a public speaker. A stronger dose of irony attached to the statement might have helped, but I did take it as an on point response to the discussion.
But the Bill Clinton/sexism dynamic is a pretty interesting one.
I haven’t heard Jerry Brown speak in quite some time. He was always an interesting guy. Dated Linda Ronstadt for a good while too, lucky boy!
zuzu - no gotcha intended in any way.
I have talked to this topic many times with women (teenages - grandma’s) and usually end up more confused…it’s as if certain women feel flexibility with sexism with certain men (sep if they are physically/mentally/financially) attracted to him. I find it confusing when I try to line it up with the expected zero tolerance I was raised with.