PART 1 of 2

As I’ve alluded to in previous posts I usually enjoy American politics, not because of the process, but because of the mess.  It’s like watching an episode of the Simpsons; everyone knows Bart or Homer will do something zany (invade Iraq), there will be awkward panic (The first bank goes Chapter 11), possibly the Apocalypse (the recent market dive) but in the end we have faith that Springfield will return to normal (Bush will be gone) in the next episode.

However, with the introduction of  hick-ish religious zealot and uninformed hockey mom Sarah Palin as the VP candidate, the rules have changed.  The prospect of having a future Vice-President with so many  fundamental cognitive loop holes and personality defects sends a terrifying shudder through most thinking Americans.  It leads us to believe that if selecting Palin is the McCain administration’s first major decision its likely just the start in a line-up of future disasters.

This two part post will outline the major factual information that in my opinion, makes it unacceptable as a logical being to vote McCain/Palin into office.  The McCain/Palin campaign has come to the point where the issues have unfortunately been given a backseat to Hateful Politics and evil attacks inciting fear and anger in place of discussion and a foundation of civil unity.  When it comes to finding an absolute answer as to who should run the most influential country on earth, the solution is far from simple. However, the answer to who should not run the country has been handed to the American public on giant silver platter.

We the world now lay in wait for November 4th as the United States will partake in the largest assembled IQ test of its time.

When it comes to policy disputes, I get it – Republicans and Democrats will never get along.  To speak in general terms, one party believes in a laissez-faire government (unless needed), guns for all, abortions for none, and the synergy of god and country.  The other party is in favour of universal healthcare, sizeable government regulation in matters of the economy, and the view that “make love not war” is still a good idea (crazy hippies).  One aspect or another of these issues is typically what creates the divide in both Canada and the U.S., and that’s fine.  I accept that these are personal opinions that govern the lives of most Americans and they should be allowed to vote according; yet the McCain campaign over the past couple months has successfully eroded any useful policy laden conversation into a childish game of, “We are good, they are bad.”

Admittedly, like the anti-Palin Republican writer Kathleen Parker, when Palin was announced as the VP candidate I thought it was a great move. Not for any reason of substance, but because the strategic marketing implications were brilliant.  Pick a sexy female Governor from a nobody state, turn the media spotlight away from Obama and steal the “take my ball and go home” Hillary voters to win the election. I felt like I was watching a Harlem Globetrotter bounce the ball off a defender’s head and then shoot a 3-pointer with his eyes closed.  Touché GOP, touché.

But then we got to know Mrs. Palin, and where oh where do I start with The Lipstick Pitbull herself…

Below are merely snippets of the many reasons why putting a woman like Sarah Palin into the White House would by a failing grade for the country.  Not to mention sending a loud and clear message to the citizens and leaders around the world that the United States’ political process is nothing but an empty beauty pageant and a global joke.

RAPE VICTIMS

We can begin with Palin’s more than likely involvement in the issue of rape victims in Wasilla having to pay for their rape kits? Sure, there is a back and forth rhetoric on this issue, but its public record that regardless of where Palin says she stands on the matter, the law was in place while she was Mayor while almost every other city in Alaska seemed to have a conscience.

CREATIONISM

It’s also a well known fact that Palin believes creationism should be taught in science classes alongside evolution? Respected Prof Avinash D. Persaud wrote a powerful editorial on how this issue alone is a strong indicator of an individual’s capacity for intelligent judgment.  For crying out loud, even Pope John Paul II became a cheerleader for evolution, but I guess that news skipped Alaska on its way onto Russia.

RELIGION and STATE

A recent article in the Huffington Post sums up the review the Associated Press did of Palin’s record as Mayor and Governor and reveals her use of office to promote religious causes.  The article also reports that while acting as governor, Palin and her family have spent “more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds for religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham.”

Religion and faith can be a positive thing if they are kept to the confines of your home.  The Oval Office requires an objective, logical leader for the intellectual demands of the role.  If it’s “god’s plan” and the coming of judgment day that dictates Palin’s actions and perspective on issues such as climate change (it DOES matter what caused it Mrs. Palin), U.S. diplomatic relations, and all other policy initiatives.

THE ECONOMY and other, umm, issues

I really am amazed that there are so many Republicans out there that are not bothered, put off, or straight up terrified that Sarah Palin could possibly one day be President in light of McCain’s age.

Am I the only one that thinks Palin looks like a scared teenager on a first date in every interview not held on FOX News? I do wish Palin supporters would stop their ludicrous claims of “gotcha journalism”.  I will even acquiesce to Charlie Gibson’s Bush doctrine question being a “gotcha”, but only because there are just so many other instances to draw from.  But even in the case of the Gibson interview, when Palin responds to the question with, “In what respect Charlie?”, just take a look at Gibson’s reaction, he’s as surprised as everyone else with her response.

Take a look at THIS clip for example where Palin is laughably uninformed and unprepared.  Couric lobs up a simple, honest, and direct question which any State Governor would be expected to have a qualified response for.  Palin is obviously reading the whole time and still comes across as almost unintelligible. She’s like a highschooler taking an open book exam and still failing, but instead of holding her back a year she’s nominated to the Vice-Presidency.

Now I don’t know about you but I seem to have the crazy belief that the men and women at the federal levels of government should be of above average intelligence, or at the ultimate minimum be able to sit highlight to highlight with Katie Couric and properly fake the fact that you know what you’re talking about.  How will Palin react when meeting with Heads of State from around the world?  Where will she hide her cliff notes on Middle Eastern history, or the world economics?  It seems Mrs. Palin is incapable of adequately discussing anything of actual importance without a host of general clichés and at least one “maverick” reference.  When asked a direct question by anyone other than Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin seems to lack the ability to form a  cohesive intelligent sentence independently.

My opinion of Sarah Palin is not grounded in half-truths and faulty data, but based on openly available facts that should be concerning every thinking American citizen.  Republicans should be insulted that not only was this hillbilly nobdy Governor selected to represent them on a Presidential ticket, but that there is a possibility of her one day holding its office.

In Part 2 I will address Palin’s role in the VP debate, her executive experience, and her current role of encouraging the unethical villainous portrayal of Barack Obama based solely on misleading or incomplete information.

To read on to PART 2

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This is unbelievable.

So, let me first catch all of you up on recent news.  Our buddies to south, you know, the United States? Well, it seems that their economy is not doing so great lately.  Apparently, banks and investment conglomerates seem to be folding quicker than Starbucks these days.  The reason why that’s not a good thing is because when a Starbucks closes it doesn’t cause people to have work until they’re 106 years old.

So again, this is like, a big deal.

All weekend while the stock market has been doing its best impression of a WWII Kamikaze pilot, congress was locked behind closed doors trying to make amendments to a proposed bill that would give Bush and The Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson extremely broad power and free reign to spend $700 BILLION of taxpayer money however they see fit to rescue an economy next to life support.  It surprises me that congress would have trouble passing a bill like this, its like they have no confidence in their leader.  Hmm.

Now with Republicans and Democrats alike both receiving a lot of heat from their constituents on this very unpopular bill, congress was unable to pass the legislation on Monday, which consequently sent the stock markets into yet another heavy dive.  So all of you out there, even if you’re just tuning in probably realize that this is an extremely grave situation and reaching a resolution as soon as possible is of the utmost importance. You would expect those that hold the responsibility of passing ANY sort of legislation that could fix this should be working day and night to find a way to move forward and help the American people.

Right? Makes sense doesn’t it?

Nope. Way off.  Idiots.

We forgot something waaaaay more important than people losing their retirement savings, jobs, and houses, you guessed it… Jewish New Year. Seriously.  Congress is now out of session for two days and at the earliest will make their next vote on the most important bill in their country’s history on Thursday; that is of course unless Kwanzaa is radically early.

I can’t even imagine the grand leaps of logic these pompous bastards are taking to make it acceptable for them to take two days off when the entire country is losing their shirts and lives because of this disaster and depending on them to be working together towards an answer.

This is the most self-serving, irresponsible move I think I have ever seen in politics and something I don’t think I could have made up if I tried.  Its just one more reason to tack onto my list why I think the United States needs to seriously re-evaluate her priorities.  Because you know what congress, your god will always be there, but the way things are going your country might not.

Get back to work.

No matter which way your political pendulum swings or how absurd the United States election campaign has been, it is hard to deny the importance of this most recent Presidential Debate.

In a country that is divided on so many issues and desperately looking for a telling feature or phrase to help them cast their vote, this debate selivered those expectations.

There is such an overload of information for the American public that sometimes even making decisions based on the candidate’s policy platforms can be difficult depending on where you get your information. There is always a spinster ready to explain McCain’s “great” tax cutting plan or Obama’s voting record and it’s always someone else’s bias coming through in their reporting of the issues at hand. Its never been more important to learn the ability of reading between the lines.

For example, at the debate John McCain kept hammering out his boycott on spending, or maybe it was a ceasefire on spending, perhaps an abortion on spending…whatever, we all get the point that McCain wants to stop government spending.  This issue summed up the entire debate for me, for many questions McCain painted every topic with the swoop of one brush, rarely answering the question with a specific plan and opinion. In my view, he addressed the entire American public like I would address a grade 3 class while explaining the reproductive system; just get out the general facts, but don’t get too specific otherwise the discussion could get messy and I might have to answer things I don’t particularly feel comfortable answering.

And to address the spending issue, saying government spending is the problem with the economy is like saying all Muslims should be blamed for terrorism, which I hope everyone understands is obviously not that case.  Government spending is supposed to be used to help and build an economy, but when its all spent wastefully away from domestic issues and away from home, well, what you have is a proposed $700 billion bailout for the worst economic forecast since 1929.

If you took the $10 billion a MONTH the U.S. is spending in Iraq and you inject that into the economy it would be like giving a scurvy patient a bucket of Tropicana.  You could reform healthcare, help out citizens that have lost their homes, improve social programs, invest in alternative energy, and the list goes on and on and on. Remember, that’s $10 billion a month, give or take, over the past 5+ years, not including the cash spent on Freddie Mac, Frannie Mae and AIG recently.   So there is no debating if that money could have saved the economy, there’s just the question of how many amazing things could have been done.

I look at the two candidates and before the election I was indifferent on McCain, but now he reminds me of disgust and disdain I have for the current right-wing American voter and the apathy of the Democrats and Independant voters that gave their country to a band of unaccountable, irresponsible criminals and idiots for the past 8 years.  It makes me sick that a country with so much wealth and so much opportunity to give their citizens an unprecedented high standard of living and offer so much assistance to the rest of the world have fallen to the point we’ve arrived at today.  And it wasn’t a gracefull fall either; it was the equivalent of a drunk, power tripping police officer, falling down a flight of subway stairs after taking a swing at a hooker.

And on the other hand, I look at Senator Obama, and until today’s debate I was only a supporter by default. I was a Hillary supporter originally, and since I don’t at all agree with any Republican rhetoric or their views (as I believe they rarely make sense), Obama was the only choice left. But after this evening I was impressed to a level I didn’t think was possible.  Senator Obama not only stood his ground like the prodigal Democratic Candidate everyone has been waiting for since 2000, but he eloquently and with an abundance of class, fiercely showed the world who should be the next President of the United States of America.  Barack Obama is intelligent, composed, logical, and extremely quick on his feet.  He is everything a country should want in its leader. As Senator McCain produced a number faulty claims and ideals, Senator Obama poked holes is every step of his logic and platform, while respectable defending his reputation and policy beliefs.  All the while upholding the utmost respect for both the American people and the debate moderator.  What I like the most about Senator Obama is that he treats Americans like thinking adults, whereas I see McCain as a dog owner giving an animal medication by hiding it in a big cookie.

You may have policy differences with Senator Obama, you may not agree with his stance on healthcare, and you may think that it matters that he has no “executive experience” (as if this actually means anything) but to put this election into its barest, simplest terms; Everyone should want and badly desire a leader that understands that every country is based on its poor and middle class and every country owes their citizens a chance at a great life.  And to look at the Republican party and John McCain, it just seems to me like their entire philosophy was stolen from the game I used to play on snowhills and tree forts as a child.  “I’m the king of the castle, and you’re all the dirty rascals”.

Things need to change in the U.S. and I am on my final bit of dying hope that the American public will awake from its coma of ignorance and apathy and do themselves a favour by strongly voting for Barack Obama as their new Commander-in-Chief.

I wish my neighbours to the south all the best in the upcoming election.