Tuesday, September 23, 2008

WHY BOTHER...

Since I have been so absentee, all of you have left. Maybe that brings the appeal back to this space, maybe not (I honestly can't decide) But it does mean I want to write some things here, and if you read it, so be it.

I DONT UNDERSTAND

Why so many people are saying "I will wait for the debates.." to decide who they will vote for, while those same people say both sides are liars. Look, people, you can't have it both ways. What will a debate with two liars tell you that you don't already know? This is a stupid way to base your vote. That's right, you are stupid.

Really, what people ought do is look at the voting records and compare them with the platforms of each candidate. Pick out the three or four most important things in your life, and see which candidate meshes. Truth be told, that is a tough enough task. Then compare that with the records (which don't lie).

BUT NO ONE WANTS

To do the leg work, do they? It is easier to just listen to the ads and sound knowledgable, and easier to agree with a party, rather than a candidate.

And you know where easy gets us? Right where we are now. 100 years ago, we did not have mass media, the internet, or even TV. We do now, and people ought learn to take advantage. Fact checking is a few keystroke away. Watch shows that are FOR the person or position you are against. Read the Times AND the Post. Hell, read TIME and NEWSWEEK (and, maybe U.S. News and World Report, I guess). Watch PBS and listen to NPR. Check out Rush Limbaugh's "show" (ok I couldn't help myself on that one).

THE TRUTH IS

This election could easily turn out to be the most import in our recent history, and everyone is treating it like an episode of "Survivor". The reality is it IS reality, and in a very real sense, we are in danger of losing our country.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Lipstick, the Pig, and the whole bloody mess

OK, I wasn't going to post anything political (hell, I wasn't even going to post, I am just that lazy, dammit) But I felt this whole issue spoke to something large enough it was worth taking time out of my already boring day to talk about.

Enough is enough, already! Look, the problem here is not the wording, it's not the supposed inexperience of one side, or the clever catch phrase of the other. It's the damned sensationally driven media.

Here's an example given by some writer I don't care enough about to link to:

Suppose it was McCain who had used a worn out, tired old phrase. But instead of a phrase used by McCain before (such as the lipstick on a pig phrase) or even the same phrase that one of his top aides NAMED HIS DAMNED BOOK (that's true, look it up) he used this phrase, "Let's call a spade a spade"

Would the media be all over it? You betcher ass they would. Would the Obama campaign try to capitalize on it? In a second. Doesn't that mean it's ok for the McCain camp to jump on it?

That's a big resounding HELL NO!

It's wrong for both sides, dammit. And it's wrong for the media to get into it at all. In fact, I think, it's up to the media, if either side gets into it, to call shanagans on the whole thing. It's up to the media to call it what it is, childish misdirection aimed at tugging the emotional strings of the populous in an attempt to lead them away from the political issues of the campaign.

And I am sick of it. I am hoping beyond hope the TV watching, internet browsing, paper reading public is sick of it too. If not, we could easily see another election as popularity contest, and another 4 years of say one thing and do anything politics.

And, think if you will on this: How sad is it, and what does it say for the state of politics, that on THIS DAY, when we are asked to reflect on Patriotism, and what it means to be an American, Both candidates have decided to call a "cease fire" on attack ads - for the day. That they both recognize how terrible these ads are, and that they both quit these ads and join together in addressing the nation can be seen as noble by some, and maybe it is. But what does it say for either candidate when they start the attack ads up again tomorrow? If they can recognize how unpatriotic, and petty, it is to attack each other instead of talking about the issues today, why not tomorrow?

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