None of the Above …
Posted: September 17, 2008 Filed under: No Obama, U.S. Economy | Tags: mccain, none of the above, Obama 7 CommentsAs this depressingly stupid but important presidential election drones on, I have to say I’m more inclined to opt out by the day. There are simple truths that both campaigns are avoiding. Perhaps it is true that common sense is a most uncommon trait. Let’s look at just a few things my mother taught me that I thought was pretty much common sense. I wasn’t sure if she got them all from Dear Abby or if they were under the collection of old wives’ tales, but damned some body in these campaigns needs their mom to tape some old copies of Dear Abby to their bedroom mirrors. Just like my mom did for me so that I would develop some common sense.
First, I was taught that People in Glass Houses shouldn’t thrown stones. That means if every one supporting Senator Barack Obama is going to criticize Sarah Palin for lack of experience, they better take a good long, hard look at the top of the ticket. Which is worse? An inexperienced Presidential candidate with a Washington Hack at the second position or an inexperienced Vice Presidential candidate with a Washington Hack at the top of the ticket? You decide.
Second, I was taught to not open my mouth when I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. Neither McCain or Obama seem to know enough about the economy that either of them can answer questions without sounding clueless. Maybe I’m being hypercritical here since I am a financial economist, and what’s going on is right up my area of expertise, but PulEEZE tell me that one of these candidates had your basic macroeconomics and microeconomics courses somewhere on their college transcripts? Oh, right, we have NO idea about that because Obama won’t release his … and McCain was busy crashing planes and trying not to be absolutely dead last in his class. I’m not expecting a Rhodes Scholar for President, but … wait, we did have a Rhodes Scholar, as I recall, and things went pretty well then … maybe we SHOULD start asking for candidates that did their homework for a change.
Third, I was taught not to talk out both sides of my mouth. McCain has evolved into a Teddy Roosevelt Republican who likes government oversight seemingly overnight. None of his primary stump speeches would’ve lead any one to that conclusion. Obama has taken so many sides on one position, I feel like that little green possessed girl in The Exorcist every time I hear another speech. I mean, really, how many sides to a single issue can there possibly be? Obama seems to find a new one with every new audience.
Fourth, i was taught if you keep on lying it increases your chances of being caught and that people really NEVER trust anything a liar says. I don’t even know where to begin here. The first thing thing that comes to mind though is the Obama interview with O’Reilly. He just keeps brushing off those specious friends of his. They just folks he knows in his neighborhood. That was it, these are the people in his neighborhood, in his nieghborhood, in his neighborhood … yes these are the people in his neighborhood, they’re the people that you meet each day. I mean, right, we all have thousands of folks we know, and each of know at least one person who tried to blow up the pentagon and was sorry they didn’t blow up more buildings, another person who is in jail for corruption and fraud, yet another person who says Goddamn America and blames the country for 9-11 … sheesh, I know I’m highly odd, that I don’t have any friends like this? and I mean… you do, don’t you? Then there’s this week’s McCain thing: the fundamentals of the American Economy are strong and what I meant was the American workers are the most productive in the world. Yeah, right, that’s not a non sequitur there.
Fifth, I was taught Birds of a Feather flock together. Neither of these candidates can say they are outsiders looking in on the current financial crisis. Senator Obama with his limited amount of time in Washington is the number two Senator to get funds from both Fannie and Freddie. Penny Priztker is the mother of the subprime mortgage meltdown as well as his finance chair. Half of his finance committee has major connections to most of the big players in the current housing bubble and investment banking blow up. John McCain relies on Phil Gramm for advice. Puhleeze! You think we don’t know if you weren’t part of the problem you at least turned a blind eye to it? Or were so busy on the campaign trail you wouldn’t even have known what was going on even if you read the news?
This has to be the worst set of candidates I have ever seen or heard of in U.S. History. Why can’t we just have some folks that show a little decency, wisdom, and common sense? If we don’t get some primary election reform soon, I’m going to expatriate to some place that appreciates democracy pretty soon. It’s a lost art form here.
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
For eveyone–
There are other candidates. The corporate media and two corporates like to pretend they do not exist. I think the American people should get a chance to hear them. How about demanding they appear in the debates? There is one scheduled for Louisiana. Call radio and TV stations. Call newspapers. Make some noise.
Dakinikat–
Good luck with your hurricane recovery.
dakinikat , I wrote a piece about a week ago called “Throw All The Bums Out” that came to the same conclusion, that the only viable option for a concerned voter to make this year is “none of the above.” We ought to start a petition to have that option added to every ballot in every election, especially if the party leaders insist upon foisting such damaged goods upon the masses.
http://cinie.wordpress.com/2008/09/07/throw-all-the-bums-out/
There is a man who can bring real change. He’s part black, part white. He’s clean. His name is Chester Hopewell. He wants to be your President. Everything is going to be fine.
http://chesterhopewell08.blogspot.com/
Having just changed from 42 years of Dem to Ind, I do understand how you feel. I am not overjoyed by McCain, but will be voting for him,for reasons you already know. I feel, as I am sure you do, that my party was perverted and made into something that I cannot be part of.
The more I thought about what is happening to the Democratic Party, and warching the Republican Party (though not one I can be a part of, either}. treat its members in a much more civilised manner, and actually embrace a woman candidate. They clapped for Bill Clinton,they clapped and cheered for Geraldine and Hillary. I kept thinking that it was a bad dream and somehow the parties had switched places. How could this be happening? Then I started thinking back to “the Party of Lincoln”.
The Republican Party was the party of fairplay and inclusion. It was the party against slavery and in favor of a civilized rehabilitation of the south after the civli war. The Democratic Party was the party of seperation and punishment for the south. They promulgated the Jim Crow laws and originated the Ku Klux Klan, and segration.
How must the Republicans have felt when they first realized that their party was being taken over and becoming something they didn’t want to be part of? It is cyclical, I guess. It is a private party, and if we behave ourselves we can attend, and maybe participate. But never forget it is a private bash. There will be times when change occurs and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Then the choice is to be part of it, or to leave and find a place where we can feel good about the party, again. I wish I knew where that was, right now. what I do know is that with the amount of communication we now have with the internet, it will be easier and take a lot less time to find that new home than it did for the Republicans in the 1880’s.
warrior princess: I have to say I was a republican at one time and quite active … they are not the party of inclusion and they don’t treat all of their members in a civilized manner. Believe me, if you are a pro-choice woman in that party, you will be treated horribly. If you look back at a previous post of mine on that a candidate is responsible for how his/her minions act, you’ll hear some of my stories about running as a pro-choice republican woman. The folks that treated me horrbily were my own party. That’s when I switched. I knew they only wanted government off of their bank accounts. They were the party of big government when it comes to your personal decisions and they are not afraid to do witch burnings to enforce their intolerance on the party members.
Dakinikat,
Don’t worry, I was tlking about the Republican Party of the 1880’s when I made the reference to “party ofLincoln”. All I am saying is that takeovers happen on both sides. I am not blind to the fact that big business owns the Republican Party. The problem is that someone owns theDemocratic party now, too, and I ‘m not sure any of us know exactly who it is.
The rank and file Republlicans have been embracing their woman candidate, and have acted in a much more civilised manner than what is left of the Democrats. I do think, fromtime to time, that it must be choking some of the older, hard-line Republican bosses.
I also think that they might actually have gone with a couple of mavericks, at least mavericks as far as Republicans are concerned. Of course, what were their choices? WE don’t even want what the Dems. are offering.
Well, I just wish McCain came from the Teddy Roosevelt side of the party! He used to say nasty things about Farwell! Hopefully, if he does become president, which I believe he will, he’ll go back those roots and remember when he called them agents of intolerance when they were all doing nasty things to him to bring Dubya through the primary.