Call Me a Fool, But...
File this in the "Politics" category, one of the least-used categories on this blog. And with good reason: I hate politics. It was not always so. I used to relish it. I read every political mag (left and right) that came my way and I made sure lots of them did. But life has a way of grinding you down. I got completely exhausted by the whole subject. I have never held or heard a political opinion that did anybody any good. I have refrained from any political commentary for a very long time, but with the election just days away, I feel I must make at least a gesture in that direction. It is, I am sorry to say, an obscene gesture, albeit a non-partisan one. This is without a doubt the worst pair of candidates I have seen in fifty years.
For most of the time I have been alive, John McCain would have easily been mistaken for a Democrat, and not the good kind. His "bipartisanship" consists largely of caving to liberal interests (McCain-Kennedy) and passing unconstitutional restrictions on freedom of expression (McCain-Feingold). He seems to think the way to a better America is to adopt left-leaning policies while giving pats on the head to right-wing religion and lowbrow flag waving. Couple his moderate-to-left politics with his doddering, unsteady manner and creepy grin and you get a measurably worse candidate than Gerald Ford or even Bob Dole. And of course, the Republican nominee has two opponents: Obama and George W. Bush. Of the two, the latter is a far greater threat to a McCain-Palin victory on November 4th. It is the Democrats' good fortune that Obama only has to run against the ineffectual McCain.
Then there's Barack Obama. What can you say about him?
Seriously. I mean, what the hell has this guy ever done? What are his achievements? What are his accomplishments? What legislation has he sponsored? Whom has he helped? In what way is this less-than-single-term Senator qualified to sit in the big chair? I wish someone would give me a good reason to vote for him.
And that's the real problem—neither candidate is wasting any breath on why we should vote for him. Both are killing themselves telling us all the reasons not to vote for the other guy. How inspiring! And yet, as I drive around my neighborhoor, the usual bumperstickers and signs include some proclaiming the bearer's love—yes, that's the word they use—for their candidate. I want to grab these people and scream at them, "Love? Why? Has that word lost all meaning for you?"
Ask anyone with a view on this election what possible reason they can give you to vote for their candidate. Unless you're talking to an Marxist Afrocentrist radical (Obama booster) or a white, 8th-grade educated Pentecostal Christian (Palin—I mean McCain supporter), you will almost certainly hear a rationale couched in terms of the opposition. Almost no one is voting for their ticket.
And so, neither am I.
I intend to vote on Tuesday, but only because of the three ballot initiatives in my home state of Massachusetts. Question 1 would repeal the state income tax (I'm for it in principle, but the way it would be implemented it would never work, so "No"); Question 2 would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana (a needed incremental step on the way to abandoning the idiotically wasteful "War on Drugs"—"Yes"); Question 3 would ban greyhound racing in the Commonwealth ("Yes," because dog racing is a stupid, barbaric pseudo-sport and an opportunity for gambling—another name for picking the pockets of gullible and usually poor people).
Call me a fool, but that's what I think.
For most of the time I have been alive, John McCain would have easily been mistaken for a Democrat, and not the good kind. His "bipartisanship" consists largely of caving to liberal interests (McCain-Kennedy) and passing unconstitutional restrictions on freedom of expression (McCain-Feingold). He seems to think the way to a better America is to adopt left-leaning policies while giving pats on the head to right-wing religion and lowbrow flag waving. Couple his moderate-to-left politics with his doddering, unsteady manner and creepy grin and you get a measurably worse candidate than Gerald Ford or even Bob Dole. And of course, the Republican nominee has two opponents: Obama and George W. Bush. Of the two, the latter is a far greater threat to a McCain-Palin victory on November 4th. It is the Democrats' good fortune that Obama only has to run against the ineffectual McCain.
Then there's Barack Obama. What can you say about him?
Seriously. I mean, what the hell has this guy ever done? What are his achievements? What are his accomplishments? What legislation has he sponsored? Whom has he helped? In what way is this less-than-single-term Senator qualified to sit in the big chair? I wish someone would give me a good reason to vote for him.
And that's the real problem—neither candidate is wasting any breath on why we should vote for him. Both are killing themselves telling us all the reasons not to vote for the other guy. How inspiring! And yet, as I drive around my neighborhoor, the usual bumperstickers and signs include some proclaiming the bearer's love—yes, that's the word they use—for their candidate. I want to grab these people and scream at them, "Love? Why? Has that word lost all meaning for you?"
Ask anyone with a view on this election what possible reason they can give you to vote for their candidate. Unless you're talking to an Marxist Afrocentrist radical (Obama booster) or a white, 8th-grade educated Pentecostal Christian (Palin—I mean McCain supporter), you will almost certainly hear a rationale couched in terms of the opposition. Almost no one is voting for their ticket.
And so, neither am I.
I intend to vote on Tuesday, but only because of the three ballot initiatives in my home state of Massachusetts. Question 1 would repeal the state income tax (I'm for it in principle, but the way it would be implemented it would never work, so "No"); Question 2 would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana (a needed incremental step on the way to abandoning the idiotically wasteful "War on Drugs"—"Yes"); Question 3 would ban greyhound racing in the Commonwealth ("Yes," because dog racing is a stupid, barbaric pseudo-sport and an opportunity for gambling—another name for picking the pockets of gullible and usually poor people).
Call me a fool, but that's what I think.
I really hope Obama has a good team because i think your assessment here is DEAD ON. He does not look very experienced. Biden is obviously very experienced but I have no clue what he's done on the committees he's served on.
I hope that he proves a great president but really, he is not a person whose held very many positions of responsibility.
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