Political opinions
Yesterday someone implied I was negative. HMMMM. Occupational hazard and probably temperament, but I don't think I'd be as healthy and stable as I am under the circumstances (I live with a person suffering from chronic depression) if I were negative. I am analytical. Ha! My recently published novel (that was a shameless and shameful plug) deals with all the subjects you're not supposed to talk about in polite conversation--religion, politics, rape, and abortion. And it's dark.
Anyway, it's hard not to be negative about this presidential race.
First, McCain. He really doesn't seem to be working very hard. The people who are potentially going to vote for him need to be courted. The Republican party has laid down and died since the primaries. Why aren't we registering voters? Why aren't we making a big, honking deal about what Obama is going to do to this country? It may a the lesser of two evils (I don't think so), but the more evil candidate is a lot more evil than the less evil one.
Second, Obama. I have tried to be diplomatic about Obama. It's great a half-black (and let's be honest here, he's white as much as black and he proves that race is a social construct in many ways) candidate is doing so well. He is a good father, faithful to his wife, more honorable than many politicians, etc. I don't think he'll exploit his children for the race. I can have some sympathy for him as far as the church issue went. All that said, he's a politician, and when it comes to politics, he is no less or more unethical than others. His recent turnarounds were egregious pandering to the center; I am shocked by them. Everyone can add nuances to their positions, that is growth; he has totally switched. What strikes me is the calculatedness of it all; he had every intention, in my opinion, of changing after the primaries, because anyone with a brain would know he couldn't get elected by the majority of America with his record and his positions.
Third, the media. The fact that Obama's recent trip to the middle East was taken with a congressional delegation was not reported; pictures of Obama show Obama alone, not with others. The fact that three anchors followed him is outrageous. Here I have to agree with Sean Hannity, with whom I often disagree--this is the year journalism, at least television journalism, died. CNN recently had two programs on Obama in one night, one of them explicitly disproving myths about him.
Fourth, the negativity. I know it's tough for a lot of people, but the American definition of tough is not a realistic definition of tough. Families' having to cut out cable television because money is tight is not a sign of the apocalypse. We are spoiled and any reduction in the level of our spoilage is seen as deprivation. The other day I heard Gore say, "I can't think of a time when things have been as bad as they are now." And this is from a man who wanted to be president? I could name plenty of times things were worse. I find it interesting that oil has dropped $20.00 a barrel in the last few days. It's never going to be $2.00 a gallon again, but why should it be? How else are we going to get serious about alternative energy sources?
Americans do need to stop whining, except those who have truly done the right thing, worked hard, paid their bills, and are suffering. There are many of these people and our whining about things that don't matter drowns out the pleas for help of those who really need it, just like the media coverage of rock star Obama drowns out the debate over real issues.
Anyway, it's hard not to be negative about this presidential race.
First, McCain. He really doesn't seem to be working very hard. The people who are potentially going to vote for him need to be courted. The Republican party has laid down and died since the primaries. Why aren't we registering voters? Why aren't we making a big, honking deal about what Obama is going to do to this country? It may a the lesser of two evils (I don't think so), but the more evil candidate is a lot more evil than the less evil one.
Second, Obama. I have tried to be diplomatic about Obama. It's great a half-black (and let's be honest here, he's white as much as black and he proves that race is a social construct in many ways) candidate is doing so well. He is a good father, faithful to his wife, more honorable than many politicians, etc. I don't think he'll exploit his children for the race. I can have some sympathy for him as far as the church issue went. All that said, he's a politician, and when it comes to politics, he is no less or more unethical than others. His recent turnarounds were egregious pandering to the center; I am shocked by them. Everyone can add nuances to their positions, that is growth; he has totally switched. What strikes me is the calculatedness of it all; he had every intention, in my opinion, of changing after the primaries, because anyone with a brain would know he couldn't get elected by the majority of America with his record and his positions.
Third, the media. The fact that Obama's recent trip to the middle East was taken with a congressional delegation was not reported; pictures of Obama show Obama alone, not with others. The fact that three anchors followed him is outrageous. Here I have to agree with Sean Hannity, with whom I often disagree--this is the year journalism, at least television journalism, died. CNN recently had two programs on Obama in one night, one of them explicitly disproving myths about him.
Fourth, the negativity. I know it's tough for a lot of people, but the American definition of tough is not a realistic definition of tough. Families' having to cut out cable television because money is tight is not a sign of the apocalypse. We are spoiled and any reduction in the level of our spoilage is seen as deprivation. The other day I heard Gore say, "I can't think of a time when things have been as bad as they are now." And this is from a man who wanted to be president? I could name plenty of times things were worse. I find it interesting that oil has dropped $20.00 a barrel in the last few days. It's never going to be $2.00 a gallon again, but why should it be? How else are we going to get serious about alternative energy sources?
Americans do need to stop whining, except those who have truly done the right thing, worked hard, paid their bills, and are suffering. There are many of these people and our whining about things that don't matter drowns out the pleas for help of those who really need it, just like the media coverage of rock star Obama drowns out the debate over real issues.
Comments
Things will get worse with McCain.
Things will get much worse with Obama. And that is why I am voting for Obama. For things will only get worse with McCain but they need to get much worse for us to survive as a nation.
Of course a statement like that needs an explanation. And I will do so in the form of an analogy. Do you know how to cook a frog? Well, if you put it in a pot of boiling water the frog will quickly jump out. But if you put a frog in a pot of water that is warm and turn up the heat gradually up to boiling the frog will just sit there not even realizing it is being boiled alive.
Obama is the one who puts the frog into the hot water and McCain is the one who turns up the heat gradually. With Obama his extremism will cause a backlash so great that America will start electing good leaders to oppose him. It happened in 1980 and it happened in 1994. And it will happen again.
But McCain he will really be the death of the Republican Party. As I said above things will get worse with McCain and therefore he and the Republican Party will get the blame. And then America will elect a Democrat in 2012 for President. And if recent history has shown us anything it has shown that the Democratic Candidate has been getting increasingly extreme. So I can’t tell you who the Democrats will put up that year but I can tell you that person will be as extreme if not more extreme than Obama. So, how long are we putting off having an Obama-like President? Four Years?
And meanwhile McCain has shown that he wants to drive conservatives and conservatism away from the Republican Party. For those of us who believes that the only solution to our country’s problems, it is unacceptable that neither of the two major parties represents conservative values.
So, I am left with the ultimate act of “tough love”. Not to say there aren’t hard times ahead for there is but that is true with McCain as well. But at least with Obama there is hope that things will get better after him. With McCain all hope is lost.