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.