Ah, the rhetoric!!

What can I say, I have a love-hate relationship with politics. Little else frustrates and irritates me more, yet I always come back for seconds, and thirds. AAHHH! The lies and half-truths we are told! The hypocrisy of their words! Even more infuriating to me, is that as an American public we allow them to do it again and again!

So whats the 'sound bite' of the last two weeks? Socialism.

At no point in history has there been as great a dichotomy between rich and poor than in our country right now. But, despite this, we are scared when someone talks about increasing the taxes for the wealthiest and decreasing it for those in the middle-of-the-road. As it stands now, the wealthiest of the wealthy pay a smaller percentage of their total net worth, than 'joe the plumber.' Why? Because they can afford the accountants that know the loopholes in the current convoluted tax system. How is that fair?

The hilarious part of it all, the government has talked about using the 700 billion buyout package to buy stock in private banks!! So lets see. Its ok for us to partially nationalize banks when we are in an 'economic crisis,' but if a dictator of a country we don't like (i.e. Venezuela) does it, we condemn the act? I'm not saying I agree with it either, but interesting nonetheless. Still more interesting, both presidential candidates approved the buyout and President Bush signed it, so how can you point the finger at one candidate about being a socialist?

In my humble opinion, public figures (and the media) play off our fear of what we think socialism means. Surely, the word conjures up memories of the atrocities of the old Soviet Union, North Korea, Cuba, etc. However, haven't we - a capitalistic society - committed atrocities as well? I fundamentally believe the similarity of both is the sin nature of greed. Karl Marx famously stated, "religion is the opiate of the masses." He saw religion temporizing society's desire to 'rise up' against a ruling class in the final transition to communism. Let me say this, it is not religion that pacifies us, it is naivety. We no longer question what we do not know. We as a country have done far to little questioning of our government, our corporations, and ourselves.

Lets Vote!

The third and final presidential debate is over, so you must be ready to vote! Yeah, neither am I. Watching the debate last night, I was unimpressed. It’s the same old rhetoric again and again.

The most notable aspects for me are the following:

1. McCain comes off as an irritable and smug candidate. The contrast to Obama is striking, because he exudes calmness and a quiet confidence. The presidency shouldn’t be based on this alone, but lets be honest, he seems more ‘presidential.’
2. Obama likes government. A good number of his policies center around spending more money and more government regulatory oversight. I’m not convinced that’s the way to go and I don’t like the government in my business.
3. McCain keeps repeating “We can do it. We’ll get it done.” (this is especially evident in the second debate), which continually gives me the impression he thinks its going to be easy. As a country we are facing a multitude of problems and yes I think we can get through them, but not without changing the way we live our lives and sacrificing a few things (I’m not talking civil liberties here people). It is ludicrous, knowing the scope of the issues, to think we are going to tackle the environment, social security, AND healthcare at the same time like he proposed in the second debate.

Obama was right on in his closing statement and said two important things. First, that we need to make sacrifices. Economically speaking, we can’t continue to live outside our means as a government, as families, or as individuals. We are a credit-loving people, who want everything now. The blame for the current economic crisis does lie mostly on Wall Street, but every citizen should be prepared to accept some responsibility. Secondly he said, we need to get back to investing in the American infrastructure with education, small businesses, jobs, etc.

I still haven’t decided who to vote for and November 4th is coming quickly (even quicker if one has to vote by absentee – which I do). I found a website (www.glassbooth.org) that asks you to answer a series of questions on relevant issues, tallies the answer, then provides the candidate(s) – in rank order – that aligns best with your own beliefs. My choice was strikingly clear: Obama 71% and McCain 71%. So I guess that means if McCain and Obama have an illegitimate son or daughter who runs for president, they’re getting my vote!

Swapped Out?

I, like most other Americans, was glued to the VP debate last night. Less of my interest was to hear a sincere appeal to a country's citizens - as I'm not sure politicians are capable of sincerity - but to see if Gov. Palin would implode. I, like most other Americans, was surprised; pleasantly.

Was that the same Gov. Palin who gave Katie Couric multiple interviews last week? She was direct and on cue with her responses. She appeared to know what she was talking about. She did, however, fail to answer multiple questions, which is less of a personal failure and more of a character trait inherent to politics. It wasn't, in my opinion, that she hit a homerun, but merely showed she can talk on a national stage. Granted, every day for the last two weeks she's been coached on what to say, but still.

On the other side of the stage, Senator Biden seemed angry and equally as surprised in Gov. Palin's lasting fortitude through the evening. I haven't looked at any poll numbers, but my suspicion is that her performance will boost their ticket into the coming week.

Please Tell Me You're Kidding

I must be irritated to break out from an almost 4-month blogging hiatus to write today. In truth, it seems I only write when I'm irritated and need to vent, or on the infrequent occasion I have an original thought, which, quite frankly, is very infrequent. With still a month left, I am already fed up with this political season. I'm tired of the 'spin.' I'm tired of people who care more about their political party than our country (example). I'm tired of candidates and pundits alike speaking with such astounding certainty, in an uncertain time. Most aggravatingly, I'm tired of being lied and pandered to. I feel so betrayed and skeptical about anyone in politics, mostly because I don't believe my or my country's best interests are represented.

As is plainly obvious, there is little that 'gets my ire up' like politics - unless we're talking traffic, which is entirely another story. Having said that, I find myself continually drawn to watch and be perpetually irritated. This past week I took to catching up on the presidential race, watching interviews and debates. So, I have watched and so have become irritated. Most interestingly, I watched the multiple interviews of Gov. Palin by Katie Couric. I frankly, was utterly amazed and pretty sure I sat with my mouth wide open for a good 5 minutes.

In one of the interviews, she astonishingly stated '...all of them, any of them, that have been in front of me over the years' in reference to the question of what newspapers she read prior to being picked as the VP nominee (video here). Really? I'm supposed to believe you read all the newspapers across the country to keep up to date? How hard is it to merely state one or two examples? Not very in my opinion. Maybe she misspoke. Ok, I'll buy. We all misspeak at one time or another, so I understand that. But did she take a step back and retract or change her statement? No she immediately went into a defensive diatribe about how Alaska isn't a foreign country. Really? Really?

What about all that 'executive experience' Gov. Palin has, lauded over and over again by the McCain campaign. I'm pretty sure they've even gone as far to say she has more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined. I wish not to contest that statement, but merely point out that as the executor of a city or state, one must deal with budgets and the economy, right? Then you would think, having had that experience, one would be better apt to deftly and intelligently converse on the current economic crisis facing the US. Well my friends, you'd be wrong. Take a listen to her ramble: video. I won't pretend for a second that I, myself, understand the cause of and nuances involved in the falling market or how to fix it, but then again I'm not pursuing the vice-presidency of arguably the most powerful and influential (read: imperialistic) nation in the world.

And probably the funniest moment of all these interviews is on the second go-round, when Senator McCain is present to moderate. Right out of the gate, Gov. Palin defends what she said. Hmmm, canned? McCain sits there looking like an unhappy father and smiling uncomfortably. Think she'll have another unchaperoned interview? Unlikely.

Despite what you might be thinking right now, I have yet to determine whom I will vote for. But as this election season continues, I am more and more convinced Gov. Palin is unqualified and McCain chose her in order to shore up the evengelical base and appeal to Hilliary supporters. And no I'm not just attacking her because she is a woman as people argue. The truth be told, I don't care if you are white, black, male, or female; I expect you to be able to answer the tough questions and do the tough job that I can't do. If you're reading this, identify yourself as a republican, and critized Hilliary when she complained of being picked on, don't you think you're being a little hypocritical at this juncture? And for the record, no, I don't want you to be "joe six-pack" because joe-six pack shouldn't be president or vice-president.

Sorry, I said I get irritated. Note to self: take blood pressure medicine before the debate starts.