Let me preface all of this by saying: With few exceptions, and regardless of party affiliation, I hate politicians.
I really don't like to discuss or argue about politics, because inevitably, my opponent knows more than I do about statistics, history, geography, and how the Electoral College works. I didn't even want to post anything about this, but it just keeps nagging at me and I'm hoping to find some others out there who feel the way I do.
I couldn't wait to register to vote when I turned 18. I have voted in every major election since then. I am a responsible tax-paying citizen. I say the Pledge of Allegiance at every Boy Scout meeting, Girl Scout meeting, military event, and ball game. I tear up when I sing the National Anthem. I went to law school and learned about our Constitution. I took an oath to support it when I was admitted to the bar. I work hard to help our nation's veterans. I would like to feel good about casting a ballot this year, but I don't see that happening. I truly want to abstain from voting in this election, and that is not a small matter to me.
I have a few strong political opinions, but the rest range from ambivalent to weak. Most of them cover a spectrum somewhere between Bohemian, Birkenstock-wearing, granola-eating, tree-hugging vegans and upper-middle-class, churchgoing, gun-toting, politically-incorrect meat-eaters. I've always been a little left of center, and that goes for my political views as well.
I have always considered myself a Democrat. I was born that way, and no, I don't think it was a birth defect. But I must confess: I do not have Obama fever. All other issues aside, I don't think he has the experience to be the President of the United States, not to mention the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces. If my liberal friends want to disown me for making that statement, I ask only that they first show me something on his resume that could sway my opinion. The only thing I can say about Joe Biden is that at least he has some experience and would probably make a decent puppeteer.
I don't think the current president had much qualifying experience and look where that got us. Then again, he's a Republican.
As for McCain, I always thought he was fairly rational and moderate as Republicans go. I feel the same way about Lieberman. I think a lot of right-wingers see moderates as namby-pamby panderers, while the left-wingers see them as sellouts. I guess I see them as namby-pamby sellouts. I think a moderate Republican is akin to a guy who is kind enough to cuddle after taking advantage of you. I don't think anyone doubts that McCain has the experience (whether you like him or not) to hold the office of President. But let's face it, he is 72 years old, and if he lives out a four-year term, my calculator tells me that he would be 76. Sure, 76 is not nearly as old as it used to be. But when you look at who he chose for a running mate, 72 matters. Some 72-year-olds could be knocked off by a good scare. And with McCain's sketchy skin cancer history, I am incredibly uneasy. I have seen with my own eyes how fast melanoma can take a person down.
Then again, mean old men keep living out of spite. I don't think Dick Cheney is much younger than McCain, and look at how many times his so-called heart has tried to fail him. I've heard McCain has a temper problem. I say all former POWs are entitled to be as quick to anger as they want to. They just better let a clear head prevail before they decide (for example) to bomb Libya for something the Saudis do. Or the Indonesians for that matter. So maybe if he gets sick, or if PTSD flashbacks start to creep in--as they tend to do as vets get older--he'll keep living out of pure meanness. Call me a pessimistic alarmist.
Before and during Dan Quayle's Vice-Presidency, his youth, qualifications, and questionable intellect gave rise to the horrifying phrase, "One Heartbeat Away." And at that time, the first President Bush was only about 65-ish I think.
I don't know how (what's her name again? Excuse me while I Google it… Oh yeah) Sarah Palin's statistics would stack up to those of Dan Quayle, but I do know that this woman would be just one good scare away, or as my sister said, one suspicious mole away from the presidency.
And that right there scares the holy living crap out of me.
Remember the outcry when Bush tried to appoint his buddy Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court? Experience? Dallas Bar President? Texas State Bar President? She was crucified.
Experience matters. Age matters. Logic tells me I should vote for McCain and hope he doesn't die. But if he won and lived, I would also spend those four years kicking myself for contributing to a lot of policies I strongly disagree with. If I vote for Obama and he wins, I will spend those four years hoping he doesn't do more harm than good.
I'm disappointed that this country did not come up with some better choices. Then again, maybe we deserve what we get.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
One Suspicious Mole Away
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11 comments:
mccain’s been giving the finger to his party for a long time now, but palin’s selection is particularly galling. it’s the selection of an erratic egotist.
among other things, he has made a mockery out of his campaign's longtime contention that barack obama is too dangerously inexperienced to be commander in chief. palin appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era. shameless pandering to women should not be the basis for a VP choice. besides, the gender gap traditionally has been determined by party preference, not by the gender of the candidate- the idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong.
history doesn’t always require a serious president. the US could afford a collective mulligan with that lecherous bumpkin in the 90s, when the biggest problem facing us was seeing billionaires become mere millionaires after the dot-com bubble burst. but play time is over- this is the real deal. FANATICAL LUNATICS WANT TO DETONATE NUCLEAR BOMBS IN OUR CITIES AND MURDER OUR CHILDREN. Experience matters. Age matters. so in the darkest hour of our generation, who do we send up to stare down this evil? a naïve socialist with a Jesus complex, an ancient curmudgeon whose health problems make Dick Cheney look like Usain Bolt, a serial blowhard, and a former beauty queen?? how the f*ck did we get here?!
ps- in the spirit of joe biden, I have plagiarized large sections of this text :-)
and by the way Jill, name ONE issue where you come down on the meat-eating side, you commie!
Go Obama!!!
Chris:
Hey, it looks like we are finding some common ground here, so stop dissin' me. Don't be hatin'. Where do I come down on the meat-eating side? Well, I eat meat, for one. I've been known to attend a Christian church. I've been known to be a hypocrite and a judgmental stone-thrower. I look away when panhandlers approach. So there.
you almost had me persuaded of your right-wing tendencies when you described yourself as capable of being a "judgmental hypocrite". still, i note that the examples you give aren't positions on party platform issues, as i challenged you. like, whether you believe we should be drilling in ANWR, the outer continental shelf, and anywhere else we can find tarry piles of black goo- like inside nancy pelosi's skull, that man-made global warming is a crock, that judges should be strict constructionists- that type of thing.
i'm beginning to warm to the idea of sarah palin, mostly because of the google images i’ve found that display her great rack (there’s one of her in college, wearing a t-shirt that says “i may be broke, but i’m not flat busted”). perhaps she’ll be able to mesmerize ahmadinejad et al with a little T & A milkshake
I have always been all for drilling. Including for oil. And especially in some tiny pristine preserve that maybe 3 people would ever go to for a vacation. Drill ANWR all the way to China, I say. Drill on.
As for any other "conservative" tendencies, I am adamantly against political correctness. I want to go back to the days when it was OK to show movies like Blazing Saddles and TV shows like All in the Family without people getting uncomfortable about hurting any ridiculously sensitive feelings.
I am also anti-militant-femininst. I think that makes them counter-productive.
I think "global warming" may be overblown, but I don't think it hurts to encourage environmentalism. I'm not a huge tree-hugger, but I'm not going to litter or dump motor oil into a river, either.
Otherwise, I remain pro-choice (even though my personal "ethics" will always struggle with it). I think abortion must remain safe, legal, and rare. Otherwise I guarantee it will go pre-Roe back-alley. Planned Parenthood prevents pregnancies. Sex education and condoms prevent pregnancy. But abstinence programs don't hurt. Kids get and compute mixed messages all the time.
I will also always be against organized prayer in public schools. A moment of silence, though, would be fine. Even though during most of those moments, the kids will probably be thinking about sex. Even in the parochial schools where prayer is mandated.
Call me an idiot. This is me.
Wow, Jill. I have been reading your blog for some time now, but have never felt compelled to make a comment until now. Did someone spike your kool-aid?? You are a disgrace to all of your liberal friends, especially me!
Kate:
You know I've always been a disgrace. And I do like to spike my Kool-Aid. As for jumping on the Obama bandwagon....that's one form of peer pressure I have been able to resist so far. What are his credentials? Will someone please tell me? I can't wait to see the debates. I bet we get a lot of hemmin' and hawin' out of him as well as what's-her-name. Of course that may be better than listening to Biden and McCain bloviate. Would someone pass me the Kool-Aid? Either way, I'll be chugging it come November 5.
Sister,
I hope you have come to your senses and that Satan has stopped putting LSD and similar substances into your drinks. Once I read a book by a Neo-con and thought it was great. Then I realized that I was undergoing prednisone-induced psychosis. Once I was off the prednisone, I could see clearly again. Logic points in the direction of McCain? I had to fast and pray for a month to get over that one. Only now has the Lord directed my hand to write.
If you do not vote for Obama, I am afraid your soul will be in danger of burning forever in the Lake of Fire reserved for the Devil and his Angels and, the Lord just told me to add, for John McCain, GWB, Dick C., Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and almost every other post-Eisenhower Republican politician. Sad, isn't it, that they think they are on the highway to heaven when, in fact, the exact opposite is the case. It turns out, paradoxically, that most of the people God sends to heaven are atheists, agnostics, "liberals", and other labeled "unpatriotic" by the jingoists. And if you believe--or even pretend to believe--in talking snakes, walking on water, the Ark of the Covenant, Noah's Ark, Creationism, the efficacy of prayer, American Exceptionalism, or, especially, that McCain has ANYTHING to do with either sanity or righteousness or a a good future for this screwed up country, you will most likely end up frying for all eternity.
But, you know, in order to get to heaven, one actually has to STOP believing in heaven or hell--that is the way the Lord in "His" infinite and incomprehensible wisdom has set it all up; it boggles the mind, but all good Christians know that arrant nonsense and incomprehensibility (e.g., the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, The Atonement) are signs of the Divine Hand/Mind--just as St. Paul told us in I Corinthians: the wisdom of God appears as foolishness to man. So I don't really believe that you will go to hell. As with smoking, voting for McCain will not send you to hell, but it will certainly make you SMELL like you have been there.
Peace,
Brother W
P.S. Noam Chomsky, John Lennon, and Townes van Zandt say hello.
Thanks for clearing things up for me, mon frere.
I have decided I will probably exercise my right to not vote this time. Don't you yet think the Democrats could have and should have found someone more experienced or "qualified?" It is always a matter of voting for the lesser of the 2 evils, but I just can't help but think that if the roles were reversed and Obama were a republican, the dems would bash the same inexperience and so-called "shady" connections that we now defend. Same if McCain were a democrat, republicans would have no problem questioning the old age, sanity, VP choice, that they protect now.
It's all politics and I hate it all. Disingenuous BS on both sides. I don't trust any of them. Not with my money, my health care, my protection, my kids' education, nothing. I'll take what they offer but I'll always feel like they give with one hand and take with another, I don't care which party they belong to.
Call me cynical, but I think 99% of them are unethical (one way or another) self-serving spinmasters. All but maybe 1% and I'm not sure who she is.
I may be ready to start a polygamist compound with myself as the leader. We'll be like the Amish or Mormons but with way fewer kids, and have way better parties, will a bathtub full of Everclear & Kool-Aid.
The end is near, folks. Thank God. (Or the supreme being or non-being of your choice.)
First, the Lord told me that it is "Townes Van Zandt" not "van Zandt". Second, I should have said "others" not "other" at one point. Third, have you lost your freaking mind?! A lot of the things about politics and politicians you mouth here are just ancient platitudes. We all know that; tell us something new. That's all beside the point. Yes, it is, as usual, a lesser of two evils deal, but there is indeed a difference in evil here. Look, in a way I agree with you (though I think of it the way Chomsky does): there is really just one party in this country--the business party. So the election of Obama is not likely to change things AS MUCH as they should be changed. Nevertheless, there will be a difference that will have very important consequences for a lot of people. Obama's proposed policies are much more likely to take us a step--even if only a tiny one--in the right direction: toward universal health care, toward more funding for college education, perhaps away from the insane amount of military spending we do (though I have my doubts about that), perhaps he will get us out of Iraq, etc. In other words, Obama is more likely to implement some good changes than is McCain. And McCain, by the way, is a consummate sleaze ball. Have a closer look at his record. Ok, so Obama is not Jesus, but there is really no comparison between McCain and Obama in this regard. And the business about his lack of experience is a silly red herring at this point--especially, as you point out, given the fact that McCain has a foot in the grave and his running mate is actually much less intelligent than Danny Q. Don't you think that Obama will surround himself with a cabinet that draws upon tons of experience? And finally, even if, as Father Chomsky says, Europe's love for Obama is a sort of delusion based upon wishful thinking, there can be no doubt that Obama in the White House would be excellent for the perception of the US abroad. And that is something we need very very much. We need to make steps toward rebuilding the international bridges that Bush and his Forces of Darkness spent the last eight years destroying in their Quixotic quest to "end turr", as Bush says it. Come on you self-professed Francophile! How would France vote? Vote likewise. My real worry is that Obama's election and term(s) in the White House will be used by the Right to make Americans think, once again, that the country has moved too far to the Left and is in dire need of correction, lest it fall into Soviet Communism and all our guns are taken away. If the Clinton years (which seem now in a way like the good old days) are any indication, the venomous Right will be publicly frothing at the mouth for the duration of Obama's stay in the White House. People will once again be misled into thinking it is time to go Republican. And they'll vote once again from some character from a political shop of horrors--a Reagan, a Bush II, a Nixon. Whereas the truth of the matter is that this country is so far to the Right, so idiotically religious, so ill educated, so uncivilized, militaristic, savage, and delusional, so narcissistic, blind, and dangerous that, I fear, nothing will stop us from a slide into real fascism in the name of God and Country. Every American kid should have to go live in Russia for a while and then live in France or Sweden or Holland for a while. That way they'd get a sense of what America is becoming (a Social Darwinist, Disaster Capitalist, hyper-religious, hyper-nationalist state with an iron-fisted internal security apparatus and a huge nuclear arsenal) and a sense of what real culture is and a sense of what America could have been--what it still can be if people would just pull their heads out. The real problem, then, is our brainwashed, distracted, militaristic, uneducated, hyper-religious populace. I mean people here believe in Noah's Ark and the Rapture? I used to believe in that crap myself. How I could have benefited from people pointing out that the Old Testament is a savage and bloodthirsty book of Bronze Age mythology! But it does not take too long to figure that out if one reads it without the blinders provided by indoctrination. But our politicians have long taken advantage of this deep stupidity and the insufficient penetration of the Enlightenment in these here parts; and they have taken great pains to make sure that it pretty much stays like that and yet seems like it was all freely chosen by us. They have not had to be too fascist at home...not yet.
Well, vote Obama! Even if you cannot do it with complete enthusiasm. And if you can't do it for you, do it for you know who, since he won't be there in the great state of Texas on election day to vote for Obama--something he surely would have done with some pride. You seem to believe in ghosts and disembodied spirits and life after death and all that other nonsense sometimes. Well, don't you think he might find out, take possession of the body of that charlatan on Crossing Over, drive down to San Antonio, knock on your door, glare at you, point a lit cigarette in your face and say "Real GD good, Jill!" I don't believe in ghosts, so I don't have this sort of worry. But you should, especially when it comes to political matters.
Yours,
Brother W
Ouch, bro. Off the meds again, huh? I love the real you--all that ranting. Love it. After last night's debate, and in spite of your vitriol, not because of it, I think I may be convinced to get back to the left where I feel at home.
But I think my main reason to cast a vote against the geezer and the cheerleader is to honor not necessarily the ghost of the one who isn't here to do it, but to honor his spirit.
You got me with that one.
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