>>The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland is warning us that "The World's verdict will be hard if the US rejects the man it yearns for.
Probably an appeal to what Henry James called "the American disease," i.e., the desire to be loved by everybody.
Jonathan Freedland's threat may influence my ballot. Instead of a write-in vote for David Petraeus/Noam Chomsky, I may ape the Pakistani option, and search for a Madman President I can support. Not some feeble Bush, Obama, or McCain, but a real full-throttle madman.
What would I look for in a Madman Ticket? The kind of president who would:* order nuking a smiley-face on the moon during difficult negotiations with North Korea or Putin;
* jail corrupt Congresspeople in the Congressional Jail (there is one but it's not used);
* execute corrupt lobbyists for treason on the White House lawn;
* proclaim April Fool's Day to be a federal holiday then claim to be joking about the proclamation, only to enforce it;
* make "product placement" in movies and TV a federal crime;
* legalize duels;* perform soliloquies from Samuel Beckett plays during televised national addresses.
Noam Chomsky would still be the VP pick. Of course, Noam would never run for office because it would spoil his outsider purity, so he'd have to be forced on the ticket. Some sacrifices would have to be made for a crazier world.
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