So I was watching the first Presidential debate last night and got a major cramp from sending out so many Tweets to my internet friends. Now I found out Current TV and Twitter are combining services for the next debates where your messages may appear onscreen in a live blog format. I love it!
I was sooo bored that I dozed off for about 8 minutes. I'm sure the 5 glasses of champagne I drank on an empty stomach may have had something to do with that. It was the only cold beverage I had in my fridge. Naw it was debate. Obama was Mr. Cool and McCain was trying to throw dirt to see if anything would stick. Obama obviously put on his insect repellent and scotch guard. The consensus on who scored is of course split, but Obama is given the nod amongst independent voters. Those of us firmly in the trenches on either side don't count right now.
I found myself yelling at the tv for Obama to mention McCain's voting record and throw a hook when Old Man Grumpy said something that was an obvious lie or if you prefer, a misrepresentation. I also was annoyed with McCain for being generally pissy and not looking at Obama. If he could look at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and see K-G-B he must certainly see puppy dogs and rainbows when he looks at Obama.
McCain is approximately 26 years older than Obama. That's the length of time he's been in the Senate. I don't get the experience argument. If I was going to do a comparison I'd look at what McCain did during the same period of time and what legislation he'd supported, introduced and rejected.
Since he's rejected making a national holiday of Martin Luther King's birthday that's something I'd evaluate. He voted for laws that have favored and is currently being advised by those crooks on Wall Street. They managed to implement an elaborate Ponzi scheme, bilk the average American who has not even set foot on Wall Street and then came back for more.
I don't think every person who works on Wall Street is a crook, nor every CEO flouts the law, but I do think when you've gotten rid of any regulation then it's a free for all until it all comes down. They should not get to borrow money from the gov't at .025% and charge us 8% (or more) AND not pay (hardly any) taxes. Of course they WILL if they CAN, I mean who's gonna voluntarily turn that down?
This fallacy of how the wealth of a few executives who are mostly white, male and from a similar cultural background will somehow fall like manna from heaven onto you and me needs to STOP! Seriously. This is a lie. I'd feel the same way if it was a group of mostly women or people of color - but seriously when do you think that's gonna happen in this country? Individuals, sure but not a core group of people. It would change the power structure and dismantle white supremacy.
Anyway - weren't people paying attention to the dot.com flop, Enron and Tyco from a few years ago? This had been pre-warned, but so many of us were preoccupied by shiny toys (evil illegals and evil fags coming in the night). In California a big part of our economic shortages come from over-priced housing and defaulted mortgages, but everything was so grossly inflated basing a budget on that was just stupid! And I will keep saying it 'til the cows come home: when Gov. Gray Davis started investigating Enron (it turned out they were intentionally overcharging us for services on behalf of Bush) he got 'recalled' by that fake selection of an Austrian actor.
And though those of us in Northern CA still kept our wits the rest of the state was a little too star-struck. Where was the discussion about experience then? How does starring in an action movie and being rich make you a great politician? Do you think people in Hollywood tend to have a grip on the reality of the average American? Do you think a man worth more than $100M understands that? It's not as if McCain has ever been poor.
So do you evaluate the time he spent in jail as a POW as a character assessment? Then why not include his cheating on his wife and leaving her after she became disfigured? Besides he was fighting an 'illegal' war that was just as much about dominating a smaller nation as is Iraq. This wasn't a Nelson Mandela imprisonment and fight for justice.
Maybe if he'd performed better in the Naval academy he wouldn't have gotten captured in the first place.
I want a President who actually remembers the cost of a gallon of milk because they (ok probably their spouse) bought it. Why? Such a person is more grounded. There are other necessary skill sets like being able to deal with assholes and keep a smile on your face - which I am so NOT inclined to do. I want that person to have some good qualities I don't have. I want them to be life smart. I want them to have compassion. I don't want them to be totally co-opted by corporatists - but I do accept they have to build a relationship with them. They can't get their way all the time and have to be willing to compromise sometimes.
It dismays me that so many people seem willing to have no standards at all. Or worse are basing their choice on superficial or limited reasons. I have concerns. I know I won't be living in a utopia. Things are a mess - even more than we realize. We have to take responsibility for our part in this. We equate spending and material accumulation with freedom. Yet this has only enslaved us. We're spiritually and civically bankrupt. Our intentions were good but we went off the path a while back. We have an opportunity to get back on track, but making sound decisions are part of that. There is no easy way out either. We have a lot of work to do. Our muscles have atrophied from lack of use. It remains to be seen if we will collectively move towards the path of rebuilding or of further collapse. This time there will be no one to blame but ourselves.
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