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Edited on Sun Sep-28-08 06:57 AM by zazen
I've believed these elections were stolen by Republicans since 2000, but as demonstrated in 2006 and in their state by state pastiche of suppression, computer tampering, absentee-vote tossing, etc., it's not like there's one switch that controls the outcome. I absolutely believe they're doing whatever they can to steal this one, but while I'm terrified that McCain's erratic behavior is an even more dangerous prospect in the WH than Bush, his behavior is making me wonder how sure they are they have this wrapped up.
Is his behavior consistent with someone absolutely convinced that the White House will be his?
At first I wondered if, in addition to his vile temper, the reason why he couldn't look Obama in the eye is that not only is he lying his ass off about his policies and past but that he knows the fix is in. Then again, I thought, he's so aggressive that he'd then enjoy displaying the dominance of looking down an opponent he absolutely knew he was going to defeat.
He's clearly an angry, controlling, resentful, sexually insecure male, who can't ever get enough emotional distance from his own demons to "fake it" very well--hence, the almost saccharine nice-guy vocal cadence that barely contains the rage behind it. The good news, I guess, it that he doesn't appear to be a sociopath. Sociopath's fake it. Or don't even feel it. This guy isn't a sociopath. He's an emotional batterer. I can't speak to how he behaves physically, but he fits the profile of a batterer, and most of their abuse is psychological anyway and simply depends upon the threat of violence as a drumbeat in the background. The John Bolten type. (The DSM should have a classification for this other than "intermittent explosive disorder," but we all know how political that is, so we won't get into that.)
In short, if McCain's sure of something we don't know, he couldn't hide it very well. He's a strutter. He'd have to give it away in little throwaway asides. He'd have to rub it in Obama's face already. Given his psychological makeup, he couldn't help himself. He's a dominance junkie.
I believe he believes he's _entitled_ to the presidency, but that doesn't mean he's sure of it. He's furious he's having to deign to defend himself and go through the motions, but I still don't think if he knew for sure he had this in the bag he'd be acting so enraged. He's enraged because he's having to tolerate the possibility of another male very publicly demonstrating dominance over him, and he's clearly so miserable with that proposition that he'd grab at and telegraph any proof he had that he wasn't going to end up in the lower primate status. I have to conclude he's not sure they'll succeed.
Now, that doesn't mean that Rove et al aren't up to something. Maybe they've set him up to lose. Maybe they're trying to run things and he's taken it from them and is screwing it up.
So, while the McCain /Palin candidacy is terrifying me, McCain's raging, erratic behavior does give me a little comfort.
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