For political junkies, that is.
First the Clintons got kneecapped by the Kennedy clan [here]. It was a remarkable event that for the first time gives the American people some small hope that we might at long last be able to kick the horrible Democrat families off the national stage [here]. To the aging radicals in the Democrat fold it brought back memories of the "Sixties" when they were young and even more feckless than today. Over at MSNBC Chris Matthews was positively orgasmic. I have a much less happy memory of the sixties. When Chris was in the Peace Core I was in the Army -- we remember things quite differently.
It was Barak's big day -- too bad it was overshadowed this evening by the President's State of the Union address [here is the full text]. It was a good speech, one that wrapped up a number of issues with which the President has been wrestling for years -- Iraq, taxes, intelligence matters, etc. -- and it dealt with a number of campaign themes -- earmarks, health care, the economy, etc. -- in terms that Republicans will find congenial. All in all, a nice job and, considering the response from Frank Luntz's focus group, one that was well received.
And of course there is also the upcoming Republican battle for Florida pitting Mitt against Mac in a struggle for the party's soul. The latest polls have them running even and the whole thing might be settled by absentee ballots from New York. What is clear is that at long last the Republican race, like the Democrats', is now a two person affair offering a clear choice between very different candidates.
Hillary was not the only casualty of the day. Toni Morrison officially deposed Bill from his title as "First Black President" [here]. And of course there was Rudy!, the other New York hopeful, whose campaign is rapidly collapsing [here]. If both Rudy! and Hillary! fail that would leave Mike Bloomburg as Gotham's best hope at capturing the country.
Hardly anybody has noticed that Mike Huckabee has been dropping nearly as fast as Rudy. Shows how much he matters.
Of course, all this could change rapidly. If Hillary! makes a big comeback on Super Duper Tuesday the whole Kennedy thing will be forgotten and black leaders will scramble to make nice with the horribles again. I don't really care much -- I'm rooting for Romney -- but it sure has been fun seeing the Democrat contest degenerate into a gang war, and to see the entirely admirable President Bush at the top of his game standing tall above the pitiful spectacle of the wannabe mud wrestling and squabbling that is going on in both parties.
Makes me long for four more years.
The whole thing boils down to whether anyone outside the lunatic precincts of NBC and the NYT still cares about the Kennedys. I never cared much for any of them. JFK was just another hack and a mediocre president, Bobby scared me, and Teddy..., well, he is just disgusting. Young Patrick is a loon. Kathleen is a third rater. I know nothing about Caroline, she seems innocuous enough. John John seemed like a nice, vacuous young man. None of them really matters much any more. But then, I'm not a "Progressive".
