The Gentle Discourse of American Elections

If you think the U.S. presidential election is getting a bit ugly, you're right. But David Kenner of Foreign Policy reminds us that it could be a lot worse. As a point of comparison, take Russia’s presidential election earlier this year.

Vladimir Putin plopped Dmitry Medvedev (above) into the president’s chair, but Liberal Democratic Party candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky went down shooting. He used a high-powered rifle to shoot a cardboard cutout of Medvedev at a campaign rally.

How crazed was Zhirinovsky? At a televised debate, he shouted the following at candidate Andrei Bogdanov’s campaign manager:

“He’s a scoundrel! Look at his face! The guy’s sick! A typical schizoid! Any psychiatrist will tell you the guy’s a wacko.”

Zhirinovsky then pushed the campaign manager off the stage and told his bodyguard to take the man outside and shoot him.

This sort of puts complaints of un-retouched photos in a new light, wot?

Toughening Up for West Point

At the age of ten, my interest in playing RISK ("the board-game of world domination") led me to become a military man. I wore t-shirts in cold weather, and ran (not walked!) everywhere as part of my campaign to toughen up for West Point.

Applying for membership with the Military Book Club seemed like a good way to beef up my résumé. For weeks, I anxiously waited to see if I'd be accepted into that select group. (And I was! Those were giddy times.)

Reading about tank battles in the USSR, island-hopping in the Pacific, and air wars over England was good stuff, but the biggest thrill was probably just getting packages in the mail.

I also found the the graphic elements of war and propaganda posters particularly appealing. (I've cadged a few more of them here.)

My readings taught me that Hitler had never played RISK; anyone who has can tell you can’t hang on to Europe if you attack Russia. As for West Point, I would ultimately choose a more reputable place for scholarship: San Diego State University. (Sure, it has a 17% graduation rate, but I love having the odds stacked against me.)