Ah spin, where is thy sting? It’s supposed to be this big nail biter and all, but why does it seem like so many media parties are going out of their way to hype this like a Monday Night Football Game?
Dispatch Poll: Ohio’s a toss-up
Darrel Rowland / The Columbus DispatchObama has edge, but high GOP turnout could turn Ohio to Romney — Early voting in Franklin County — The “Ohio firewall” precariously stands for President Barack Obama, but a strong Republican turnout could enable Mitt Romney to tear it down on Election Day….
Here’s the numbers that matter, to be fanatically deconstructed by that side that doesn’t accept any facts that don’t support their fantasies:
I realize that this will come as a shock to many, such as my local phony tea party “scientist” Art Robinson*, who is now in pre-victimhood mode, screeching that Congressperson Peter DeFazio is putting up “illegal” billboards. [* A renowned chemist, he is also a virulent global warming denier etcetera. but NOT as a scientist. Botanists have no more expertise in the area of meson interactions than any other interested layman.]
You know, the Ayn Rand/creationist who’s now stealth- funded for the second straight election by that Long Island computer trader, Bob Mercer, who plays in high stakes poker tournaments and once sued a contractor over the $2 million model train setup he had built in his backyard. I’m sure he’ll “scientifically” explain how the polls are lying if they don’t tell him and his shadowy backers what they want to hear. If not, he has a legion who will, including Dick Morris, Karl Rove, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Hilariously, his last ditch attack ad claims that he GETS NOT A PENNY FROM WALL STREET. Bull.
Yesterday and today and tomorrow and tomorrow are spectacles of partisans grabbing whatever outlier information supports their position/worldview, since facts don’t seem to matter to Americans anymore. Makes for lousy headlines, bad prose and worse reading. But that’s the jet-engine noise drowning out all other issues. From here on in, it’s pro forma, to the obligatory photo op of Mitt and Ann voting in whatever state they claim to be residents of, and Joe and Jill Biden voting in Delaware. (The President and Michelle Obama voted early in Illinois, famously, but there will be some other requisite photo-op.)
We are now in the fact free zone. Facts may again appear by late Wednesday or early Thursday, but if you like actual information with your narrative, I’d suggest you hunker down and not worry about seeing any for the next couple of daze. [sic]
We’ll hear the same old stories from the same tired mouths, working on the same lined faces and then, God and Karl Rove willing, we will find out who actually won and lost the election.
And then, the next day, the 2016 speculation will begin. No respite, no succor, no rest for the wicked.
Let’s see how it plays out.
Art Robinson’s FaceBook ad
Whatever. Here are the relevant charts, again, from Nate Silver’s 538 blog on/in the New York Times.
Facts, John Adams said, are stubborn things. But let’s see what happens Tuesday.
Great to have the election on the Tuesday after the circadian rhythms of every man, woman and child in America have been knocked off kilter by going OFF Daylight Savings Time. Because, as we all know, people make their best decisions when they’re punchy from suddenly wrenching all their bodily routines an hour forward in Ür-Time.
Oy.
Courage.
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A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, an honorary Texan, Clown (ditto) and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog.
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog, His Vorpal Sword (no spaces) dot com.