For the Love of Money!

Leave it to our politicians to fight over who fucked up the most while our economy goes down in flames.  I have my own opinions on who fucked up the most.  I think it's fairly obvious from my other posts who I point the finger at the most.  The fact is that no one who has been part of Congress or the White House for any extensive length of time is free of blame.  Obviously since the Republicans have been the majority in Congress since prior to Bush and there has been a Republican president for 8 years, it would seem they have been making most of the policies that led up to this cluster.  I realize that as the minority party the Democrats wouldn't have been able to do a heck of a lot to stop it, but to borrow from Bill Maher, they need/needed to show some balls.  Tell America what goes on.  Don't use political-speak.  Say it in a way that the average Joe or Jane can understand.  Don't hold back.  Don't let them off easy.  Let everyone know what voting for 4 more years of Republicans in charge will do to the country.  This little freak show is just the beginning of what lies ahead with more Republican incompetence at the helm.

Debate Night

I'm watching the debate right now between McCain and Obama.  It is interesting to me that McCain believes that sitting down and speaking to someone somehow ligitimizes their opinions.  I also it find it laughable that he talks about the fact that Obama didn't go to Afghanistan because somehow that means he is incapable of knowing and caring about what is going on.  There are lots of other opinions I have about things said in the debate but I don't have time to write about them all at this time.  I think Obama has held is own very well.  I enjoy how patiently and smoothly he gets his point across.  I sure would like to take a look at McCain's record as he keeps bringing his own record up because then it would be pointed out how often he has voted for the very things our people are unhappy with.  Bring it on. 

Country First? NObama? Is That the Best You've Got?

Today as I left the elementary school after dropping off my 5 year old daughter for school, I was waiting in line to exit the parking lot. All the cars coming down the street I was turning onto were stopping, letting one car out and then going, until it got to a silver Ford Edge with a woman driving. She stopped, blocking the exit to the parking lot, which also blocked people from turning into the parking lot, staring inattentively out her windshield while fluffing her already big, fake blond hair. It's not that she didn't know what the flow of traffic was or that people were waiting or that she was blocking traffic; it was simply that she didn't care. I thought to myself "what a self-absorbed bitch." What does this have to do with politics you ask? Well, I noticed as the woman finally pulled her car out of the way that she had a sticker on her car that said "NObama." It was hard at first to see the "N" as it was red and not easy to make out, while the background of the sticker was white and the rest of the lettering was black. And so of course I immediately thought how Republican it was to be selfish and self-absorbed. Which also led me to think: "NObama"? Is that the best they've got?

I later read an article about John McCain with his big "Country First" signs trying to detach himself from his years in Congress wherein he pushed deregulation. For years he's been an advocate of deregulating big moneymaking industries, helping to line the pockets of the "fat cats" he keeps spouting nonsensically about in television interviews and speeches. Now suddenly he's talking about the "greed" and "power" and rather than talk about the financial fundamentals of the economy that have gone down the toilet, he bypasses the questions by stating that the American worker is the fundamental piece of the economy and they are strong! Sure that sounds good on a soundbite, but it has no substance. It's all meant to sound good in short 2 second clips to entice people who don't pay close enough attention to the rest of the interview and/or speech to understand that there is no substance to it and no plan to help them. He is a GOP shark in populist clothing. "Country First" they say. That sounds good until you realize that the country they are talking about is different than the one you and I live in. It's the country of 13 cars and 8 houses. It's the country where McCain considers deregulation of the healthcare industry. It's the country where the financial industry was deregulated to the point of meltdown by years of GOP Congress. Sure, we all live in the United States of America, but the country isn't the same for McCain as it is for the mother who works two jobs to feed her children and still needs food stamps and still has no health insurance. It's not the same for McCain as it is for the people who have lost their jobs and their house.

Let's get real. The only thing John McCain and Sara Palin stand for is money. And the only thing they put first is greed. So, go ahead, make your NObama bumper stickers and your Country First signs. None of that will save you in November when voters realize the McCain/Palin platform is nothing but smoke and mirrors.

"Be the Change"

I could analyze this and I could write something that would serve to summarize it, but it speaks for itself. There is nothing I can say. I love what she wrote. I particularly loved the quote that she used from Ghandi "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Beautiful. Read the blog here. There is only one candidate who can truly be the change: Barack Obama. Well said Jaime Lee Curtis. I applaud you.

Vote McCain for Change!....NOT!

While reading a blog written by Scott Hopkins on Taylor Marsh's website, I came across this story.  The story talks about Senator Obama's visit today to Terre Haute, Indiana.  The race is on now.  It is great how he points out the holes in the theories of the McCain camp.

I particularly enjoyed this quote, as Obama reiterates McCain having voted with Bush 90% of the time, "And suddenly he's the change agent? Ha. He says, 'I'm going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over.' Who is he going to tell? Is he going to tell his campaign chairman, who's one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he going to tell his campaign manager, who was one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington?  I mean, come on, they must think you're stupid." 

Of course the Republicans think Americans are stupid, in fact they are counting on it.  They can't get elected without making American's feel unsafe and insisting they are the ones who can make them safe.  They can't win by pointing out what it is that they would actually do that will benefit the every day American (because they have nothing!).  They use "values," fear, and lies to win.  Oh, and let's not forget, if they don't actually win the election, they use the Supreme Court to get into office. 

McCain's Speech

I caught most of McCain's speech at the RNC last night. I think he was trying to bring the McCain of years past back to the present, but I don't think he succeeded.  Yes, once upon a time I would have said McCain was an independent minded person.  There was once upon a time dare I say I might have considered voting for McCain.  But that time has long since past.  As I listened to McCain drone on about how Obama was the devil in a nice package, I heard him say that he was going to curb government spending.  This coming from the man who supports the surge?  I guess what he means is to cut spending on programs that actually mean something to the American people while dumping whatever money he can into "the surge."  I heard him talk about his time as a POW.  I'm sure it was a very hard, life-shaping experience for him.  I know that he was doing what America asked of him.  However, it struck me to hear him say that America "saved" him.  But he failed to mention that it was an American President that put him in that position in the first place in another war that meant endless death and violence with no real winner.  It is ironic that he is now willing to put others in that same position and have the nerve to stand up and say that he's the true voice of change.  Now, if you'll excuse me while I try not to vomit....

Three Republicans and a Baby

I heard today that McCain's VP pick, Sarah Palin, has a 17 year old daughter that is pregnant.  I am 100% in agreement with Senator Obama that we should not base any of our thoughts about Palin on her family, nor should we attack her family in any way.  I have never felt that those personal type issues should be our determinant on who should and should not hold office.  However, I was disturbed to hear the GOP very quick to announce that her daughter was having the baby and getting married to the 18 year old father.  Many teenagers younger than Palin's daughter have babies and keep them, so that really isn't the part that disturbs me.  I know that's a hard choice to make for anyone, especially when that person is so young.  The part that I took issue with is the marriage.  It has to make one wonder if she was urged to get married because it meets with Republican "values" and thus would look better for the McCain/Palin ticket.  Perhaps I'm wrong.  I don't know the girl and I don't know any of the intimate details of the situation, but I do remember being 17.  When I was 17, I viewed marriage in kind of an unrrealistic fairytale type way.  At the same time, I also broke up with my long time high school boyfriend because I thought we were too young to be so involved.  We hadn't seen anything other than our small town or experienced anyone other than each other and that scared the hell out of me.  I also don't think that a pregnancy is a good reason to commit yourself to another person in such a way.  Having a child together automatically commits you to one another forever in a way, but not in the way that marriage does.  Hopefully they will take some time before getting married to really figure out of that is what they want before rushing into it. 

I see a bigger issue also.  It is further proof that abstinence only teaching is not working.  I realize that even teaching safe sex methods won't guarantee prevention of teen pregnancies, nor will it guarantee the end of STDs among teenagers.  However, it is not realistic to believe that the majority of teenagers and young adults will wait for marriage to have sex.  Some of them may wait because of religious beliefs, but then often they end up married at a very young age, and often times, those are the marriages that do not last since they are married to another person before they even know who they really are.  In the small town in which I was born and lived for 18 years, I knew many girls who got married young like that; some with babies and some without.  Most of those marriages did not last two years, others lasted a little longer, but the majority of them are no more at this time. 

I truly hope that Governor Palin's daughter is happy and that it is not something she is being pushed into.  An unhappy marriage can be a prison for those in it.