Archive for November, 2008
Obama our first Postmodern President
While watching election coverage tonight, I heard Charles Gibson mention that some have been calling Obama the “first postmodern candidate.” The term “postmodern” is about as loaded a term as imaginable, and it has a ton of positive and negative connotations depending on your worldview. I found the statement interesting, googled “Obama postmodern,” and found this article. I think it’s insightful and worrisome in some aspects, just as postmodernism can be insightful and worrisome. If Obama is our first postmodern president, then he reflects the postmodern worldview that has largely invaded Western popular culture.
p.s. – I am not trying to be anti-Obama, nor am I anti-Obama (at least as things stand right now). I do believe that the election of a black man in America is a huge step forward for race relations in a country that is still largely divided in many areas.
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No commentsSarah Palin & the End of a Culture War
I just read this op-ed piece from the Washington Post on culture, politics, and why Sarah Palin was the wrong choice for McCain’s running mate. This is an excellent piece of writing and I think it perfectly captures a shift that is happening in American ideals. Here’s an excerpt:
Why has America turned on Sarah Palin? Obviously, her wobbly television interviews haven’t helped. Nor have the drip, drip of scandals from Alaska, which have tarnished her reformist image. But Palin’s problems run deeper, and they say something fundamental about the political age being born. Palin’s brand is culture war, and in America today culture war no longer sells. The struggle that began in the 1960s — which put questions of racial, sexual and religious identity at the forefront of American politics — may be ending. Palin is the end of the line.
Check out the rest of the article here.
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