(From my Blackberry. Pls forgive the typos and abbrevs.)

I watched the Rep conv from my hotel room in Norway. It was 4:30 am when Polin came on. I saw ten mins, enough to see that she’d become a cultural stand-in. She is now not what she is but a symbol in our ugly, perpetual cultural war. (As Jay Rosen has said.)

Then I had to get into a cab, so I watched the rest via twitter on my phone. Fascinating. A play that consisted solely of reactions. The O fans were reacting to her content, as if this weren’t about the Reps hatred of the media and distrust of intellectuals. (And, yes, I believe there’s some racial stuff going on as well, at the archetpal level. What do I mean? Even if I knew, I couldn’t type it on a bberry.)

I experienced the conv in another alienated way: Among Europeans, to whom SP looks like the ultimate US joke on itself. We make a B movie star into a prez, and now we tell ourselves that absolutely anyone can be president. You’re a model citizen? Great, go bring peace to the Mideast. Oh, and here are the launch keys.

But I hope the O campaign continues to steer clear of attacks on SP. That’s the cultural war game the Reps are playing. Instead point out that the Rep ticket is now more conservative than Bush or Goldwater. Stick to the issues. Let the bloggers surface the cracks in SP’s pose…

Well, I guess I’ll press the Send button, athough a jetlagged, frightened person typing on a bberry should never be allowed to post…

I haven’t been able to view the video, but the write-up of this Jon Stewart segment on the hypocrisy of Rove, O’Reilly, and Dick Morris makes it sound quite satisfying to those of a certain ilk.

Categories: Uncategorized dw