Today's Musical Selection: "Train in Vain" by the Clash
Hello, all. Well, I'm still pretty down, but I wanted to take a moment to alert the world that just when you thought Alan Keyes couldn't embarrass himself any further, he's found a whole new level:
Alan Keyes blamed the media and fellow Republicans on Thursday for his lopsided loss to Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate race in Illinois.
Keyes also said he did not congratulate Obama after the race was called, a tradition among politicians, because doing so would have been a "false gesture" because he believes Obama's views on issues like abortion are wicked.
"I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for and will stand for a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country," Keyes said. "I can't do this, and I will not make a false gesture."...
He also said he was disappointed in what he called the number of "Republicans in name only" in Illinois. An Associated Press exit poll showed that four in 10 Republicans voted for Obama, a liberal state senator from Chicago.
"I had counted on the fact that Republicans would come back home on Election Day rather than vote a socialist into office who stands against everything they profess to believe as Republicans," Keyes said.
Keyes noted that 1.3 million people voted for him.
But Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs pointed out that 70 percent of the vote went to Obama, more than 3.4 million votes.
"The people of Illinois rendered a very clear decision on Tuesday by handing Alan Keyes the greatest election defeat in Illinois Senate history. Barack Obama's attention is focused on the important work he now must do for all the people of Illinois."
Keyes said a major difficulty in his campaign was overcoming the "stranglehold" the media had on trying to define the issues of importance in political campaigns.
"I refused to accept their authority, and I still do," Keyes said.
Alan Keyes, Mr. Classy.
I'm not sure what bothers me more about this: the fact that Keyes will look anywhere except in the mirror when looking for the reasons behind his defeat, or the fact that he refused to congratulate Obama. Keyes doesn't get it. There are plenty of politicians who have called to congratulate opponents they despised. You do it because it's the polite human thing to do. Keyes clearly equates civility and courtesy with insincerity, which is his right. But a civilization that builds itself on that principle, as ours is starting too, is a sad place indeed. A civilization where obnoxiousness and being rude to people you don't like is considered a badge of honor... well, that's a place I don't want to live.
Also, I think the world needs to know why my dad watches public television. Is it because of the superior quality of programming? No. Is it because of the fact that public TV has fewer commercials? No. So what is it? Well, you know how at the beginning of each PBS show they list off all the show's sponsors? And how at the end they credit the support of "viewers like you"? That's what Dad likes. "It's my daily affirmation. 'Viewers Like You.' Viewers like me! They really like me!" Who says television can't bring joy into our lives?
Sorry this is so short. I'll try to do better tomorrow. Ciao.
Alan Keyes is not just an idiot, he is such an idiot.
Posted by: ensie at November 6, 2004 01:35 AMIt's really quite scary that 1.3 million Illinoisians (Illini? Illinoisites?) voted for this loon.
Posted by: frinklin at November 6, 2004 02:07 AMAt least until this year, Keyes was popular with hardline religious conservatives. After all, he's the rare opponent of legal abortion who's willing to stand up and say that the fetus created by non-consensual sex* is just as much a person as that created by consensual sex, and therefore ought not be aborted either.
However, I think some of his wackier attempts at grabbing votes, as when he suddenly came out in favor of reparations, caused him to lose even some of those supporters. But the 1.3 million indicates that he didn't lose quite enough of them.
* I had to change that from the r-word because the r-word is considered to be "questionable content" by the comment robot. Not complaining about the comment robot so much as the r-word porn sickos who make it necessary to avoid spam by avoiding that word.
Posted by: PG at November 7, 2004 11:30 PMI'm just as scared as any of you. That's the great thing about Keyes: people from all across the political spectrum can unite in their horror at him.
And PG, I assume the r-word that the comment robot trapped was... ricotta. Damn those sickos and their dirty cheese porn. (Seriously, the r-word porn sickos are some of the few people more disturbing than Keyes.)
Posted by: Mediocre Fred at November 9, 2004 01:04 AM