Some op-eds are better than others

Yamatotakeru no mikoto* ! Will miracles never cease? I have found a Brad Glosserman op-ed that does not drive me into slavering madness.

I believe...I believe...I have found a point that I can almost agree is both salient and true.

Here it is:

The fissures in the DPJ are well known and provide opportunities for the LDP. They provide a ready mirror in which the ruling party can demonstrate its stability, maturity, and political competence. If the July Upper House vote was a vote against the LDP, rather than a vote for the DPJ, then the opposition's recent fumbles could be very damaging, if not fatal. The LDP is now likely to woo disaffected DPJ members, and the attractiveness of those offers has increased significantly over the last week.

Fatal, of course, is too strong a word--the DPJ will not keel over and die just because party leader Ozawa Ichirō had to crack the whip over the heads of his minions when they dared defy him.

But I do agree that if the vote in July was more anti-LDP than pro-DPJ...

(Since Ozawa betrayed the policy traditions of the Democratic Party of Japan in order to attract the farm vote, is the pro-DPJ vs. anti-LDP dichotomy even at issue?)

...then recent fumbles could be very damaging.

Or perhaps not.

Because if the public mood is anti-LDP, then the voters will choose Miwa Akihiro, Garu Sone or Nakamura Shidō...

(I know what you are thinking. "Be serious. No one would ever vote for Nakamura Shidō for anything printable." Upon reflection, you are probably right.)

...before they would cast their votes for the LDP candidate.

Which sort of means I do not really agree with the sentence...which means...oh no...

AiiiiaaaaeeeuuuuuGlossermaaaannnnnnnnnnn!!!!!


[All apologies to reader MT who forwards highlights from GLOCOM's website, a place where one can find all kinds of interesting stuff]

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* I have been doing a little background reading on the traditions of Musashi Mitakejinja and the Okutama Region.