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“’Reality’ is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.” – Anonymous/ MLWTTKK.
As I pop between watching election results come in from Indiana and North Carolina, and the various programs on Comedy Central and the Cartoon Network that are the salve for the pageant sobriety* coursing into our collective rapture through the cheese-greater* screen, I find myself face-to-face with ‘reality’.
Well, no… I find myself face-to-face with the reassertion of ‘reality’.
Ok, let me clarify; I looked up and I saw what was the practical equivalent of another sunrise after a long night of hanging out at a sports’ bar trying to convince some of the patrons that no matter how much fun they were having, and no matter how badly they didn’t want the party to end, the sun was going to rise. Oh… and just to stay clear… it rose.
Welcome to ‘reality’.
I’ll get to the specifics of that ‘reality’ in just a bit. But first, I need to say something fundamental but intentionally vague about myself;
I’ve made a lifetime out of the study of ‘reality’. Behaviorists are great folks, but they deal with the ‘reaction’ to ‘reality’, not the methods of its’ conscious inception.
I like to deal with how people come to perceive the world they live in as all of their actions are derived from perceptions that result in behavior rather than the other way around. One of the side-effects of approaching cognition this way is a fervent, if not zealous appreciation for the empirical universe and all that can be objectively measured therein.
Of all the very interesting discoveries I’ve made, that particular penchant is a disadvantage when it comes to discussions about politics… especially anywhere political passions are predominant. The cold hard attention to facts and detail, the empiricists’ razor of veracity is an unwelcome intrusion to the world of wistful abandon and dreams of political absolution. Eventually those tools begin to appear ineffective, even rusty in a world from within which they cannot excise myth and alleviate adherence to dogma.
Soon the empiricist finds himself resorting to the unwieldy brushes of satire and the kaleidoscope of painted reason to merely reveal the tumor of twisted desire that replaces all sanity in an otherwise healthy collective consciousness.
I was that empiricist, and I found a place where so many people saw and understood the horrific conflict between ideology and principle that I didn’t care about their passion. They knew the difference between what was ‘real’ and what was fed to the American people by the corporate media, and that was all I needed to know that this place was a place of magnificent and abundant cognitive vitality. And as an overwhelming ‘reality’, it still is.
“Reality” seemed to dominate here. Heck, it was a welcome matriarch in every thread. “Reality” was the school-marm with the yardstick behind every “deleted post”, it was the ultimate trading-card action figure on all of DU; “Oh yeah! Well I play GAO Report 2005! Watch your Drudge-monster BURN!” For years DU has been the bastion of reason wherein any charge that was leveled was ultimately substantiated lest the accuser be bounced from the rational world.
And so it was good.
Well, you can’t have it all, can you?
I would very much have liked to written it off to ‘trolls’ and such, but it has become stunningly apparent that many long-time DUers aren’t interested in acknowledging some of the simple “realities” that plague their candidate. It is, in the opinion of this humble denizen, fascinating that so many DUers are making claims that are utterly unsupported. It is a tragedy that here, of all places, someone can say that “Keith Olbermann is a LIAR!” while those same accusers provide no basis for such contention. Add to that the fact that so many accept the efforts of Rush Limbaugh to elevate their candidate and it becomes quite more than obvious that many are not interested in the wider implications of their desires.
No… I’m not saying that only Clinton supporters are deluded, but it is apparent that many of them are willing to dismiss the ‘reality’ at hand.
Apparently, it is a small minority that have exchanged reliance on the contemporary ‘realities’ of fact for dependence upon the ‘reality’ of desperation. With nothing left to rely on, I can’t blame anyone for clinging so desperately to hope despite the facts.
Back to the reality I’ve been alluding to;
Obama won.
My apologies for not couching it more comfortably for those who haven’t managed to reconcile their desires with the empirical universe yet, but I’m not into short-changing reality so it’s more comfortable.
Here are the stats with 99% in;
Indiana;
Clinton 51%
Obama 49%
(That’s TWO percentage points difference in Clinton’s favor)
North Carolina
Clinton 42%
Obama 56%
(That’s FOURTEEN percentage points in Obama’s favor)
Now, here in the real, empirical universe, 14 is 12 more than 2.
Then, in the colder, harder reality, that 14 point advantage in a larger state represents a much more significant gain than a 2 point advantage in a smaller state.
One more time; a 14 point victory in a state with more voters and delegates means “it’s over” when held up against a 2 point victory in a state with fewer voters and delegates.
Now, we know how much politics can influence ‘reality’ these days. We’ve ALL seen how the right wing tries to tell America that ‘obliterating’ the enemy is the best option. We’ve seen it on Faux News, We’ve seen it crush the voice of FBI whistle blowers, and the voices of earnest patriots.
Please don’t let political passion crush reality here on DU. I’m looking forward to a new dawn of worthwhile governence. I also hope to change my registration soon, and I’d like to think it will be more than worth it.
Either way the bottom line is the same;
Obama won tonight, by a larger margin... and only the people who decide not to live in reality can pretend otherwise.
For myself, I am glad that so many DUers are rational empiricists. I'm glad that sanity will return to this 'reality' soon enough.
Thank you for your service Hillary Clinton. You've done very well. 'Reality' formally requests that you step down so that we can unite under the next President of the United States; Barack H. Obama.
God Bless us all.
Dr. E
*what… you got a problem with nouns and adjectives interposed? Wanna fight about it? I know a sports’ bar what might sanction that!
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