OK. I think enough time has passed for me to get my mind around this one a bit. Here is a collection of my thoughts on the political spectrum for the last few weeks.
1. Palin. Here’s a small-town beauty queen who becomes governor of the 4th smallest state in the Union (believe it or not, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming have less people), and then gets picked to be a VP candidate. Why? Let’s not be so stupid or afraid of political incorrectness to say the truth – she’s a woman. Plain and simple. McCain (or, rather, his staff) picked her to be a little controversial and to attempt pick up the Hillary vote.
Now here’s the problem I have with Palin (aside, of course, from her politics): McCain has been campaigning on the “Obama has no experience” platform. But here’s a woman who has been governor for 1 month more than Obama has been on the campaign trail. Before that, she was the mayor of a town I could fart bigger than, and an unknown. And she comes on the scene and then delivers THAT speech after 5 days – berating and belittling Obama, just because she is riding the coattails of McCain. Shame on you.
And stop parading that poor infant around. He is a human being, not a show-piece.
And great work with the “abstinence only” sex education policies. Practice what you preach. So your 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. But, it’s OK, because they are going to have a shotgun wedding! See, we’re Christians! The hypocracy of that is almost too much to comment on. And guess what, Obama, families are NOT off-limits. You are a civil servant and a public figure – your home life is public as president. But, on the other hand, is Obama’s daughter was in the same situation, the Repubs would be all over him for it.
Palin is a pathetic role-model and choice as a VP. She’s a joke. Politicians, especially those who touch the highest office in this land, must be held to a higher standard than “they seem just like normal people” or “I could have a drink with them”. They must be BETTER than the rest of us. And she’s not.
Oh, and the Bush Doctrine? Google it. You know how to do that? Ask your buddy Ted Stevens, if you don’t. He’s an expert on the series of tubes.
2. Speeches. Which leads me to the speeches at the RNC. Venom. Namecalling. Belittlement. Every single speech was filled with hate. That’s all I need to say about that.
And not one word about policy. How about more of what you plan on doing, Republicans, and less of how much you think Dems suck?
3. Namecalling. Both sides need to stop this. This “go on the attack” politics that the TV is rife with right now. We are less than 2 months from election day. The intelligent among us want to hear more about the policies and issues that matter. Which leads me to…
4. Idiocy. I hate to say it, but most of us are dumb. Yeah, I’m talking about you. You fall for this crap. You don’t question it. You say “I like that guy, so he should be president,” or, “I read an email that said he’s voted for this and that, so it must be true!” Listen, a forwarded email with no chain of ownership from a guy with the email address “bud1975@dipshit.com” is not a reliable source for accurate information.
Question what you hear or see. Read about things. Research. Then make a decision.
5. Issues. I’ve found down here in Arkansas (as in many states) that often one issue, or a misunderstood and misguided explanation of a policy is make or break. Gun control is a biggie. “The Dems want to take my guns away” is often the definition of the words “gun control”. Mention it as one of your policies, and you lose the vote down here.
My uncle owns many weapons. He’s also a Republican and a staunch Bush supporter, bless his soul. And he believes in gun registration, though he is not currently required to do so. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
6. POW. Now, I know I’m going to anger some people with this. But being a POW does not make you fit to be president. It doesn’t even make you more or less patriotic than the next man or woman. It does make you worthy of deep respect and admiration. In order to be John McCain, you have to first be a soldier, which is something I could never be.
But these facts are not worthy of spending half of your presidential nomination acceptance speech reliving. And it does not make you automatically a better person, a better American, or a better candidate.
7. Experience. Obama’s campaign is attacking McCain for being in politics too long and being too old-fashioned. By my math, Biden is only 7 years younger than McCain, and has 14 more years in the Senate. You can’t have it both ways, boys.
But on the other hand, that means that the Obama/Biden ticket has MORE government experience that the McCain/Palin ticket.
So let’s all just STFU about it, and get on with the business of being the best candidates we can be, eh? Oh, I forgot, this is America.
For some great additional commentary, watch the Daily Show for the week of the RNC.