POLITICAL BLAME GAMES

Insurance giant AIG and Investment Bank Lehman Brothers are failing, and no amount of finger pointing will stop it.  But that hasn’t kept our elected officials from trying.

Harry Reid and Nany Pelosi today blamed McCain – Bush policies for the failures.

I’m sorry?  Was John McCain in the White House these last eight years?

Republicans are blaming Democrats for higher gas prices again.

Aren’t you just sick of this infantile whining?

The Dow dropped five hundred points today, and the best thing our elected officials could find to do about it was to play the political blame game?  Yet again the two political parties are wasting time pointing fingers; time that could be essential to finding a solution to these current problems.

But never mind that.  We’ve got campaigning to do.

Neither side is wholly right, and neither side is wholly wrong.  But both sides are wholly responible for wasting time engaging in political blame games.

While both parties ramp up to win the last, greatest Presidential election, will they lose the American people in the process?

PALIN SPEAKS WITH GIBSON

DON' MESS WITH ME

I pride myself on being able to judge intelligence and quick wittedness.  It’s one of my vanities, sadly.

After watching Sarah Palin speak for just a few moments in an interview with ABC”s Charles Gibson, I have just four words for Mainstream Media interviewers looking to skewer her:

GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!

I have nothing to say yet about whether she is good or evil with regards to politics.  I won’t judge whether she is ready to be Vice President.  You judge that for yourselves.

But if you think you are going to roll this woman on television, you’d better have an Olympic Gold Medalist editing team ready to just plain make things up.  She will swallow anyone alive who attempts to make her look bad.  The Barracuda came through with Charles Gibson.

This is not a woman I would want as an enemy, and I certainly wouldn’t want to get into a war of words with her.  Joe Biden, maybe you can be sick when they hold the Vice Presidential debate…it’s your only hope.

HUFFINGTON SAYS OBAMA NEEDS TO GET ANGRY

Arianna Huffington has written a new blog post.  Yes, it really is a new blog post, even though it’s probably printed in dozens of newspapers around the nation.  I remember when news was news, not opinions.  Her latest post is just that,  another opinion in favor of her latest Martin Luther King Jr. wannabe, Barrack Obama.

Arianna talks about righteous indignation, and Obama’s need to embrace that if he wants to win this election.

When we think of King, we usually think of him as resolute and dignified. But, as Michael Eric Dyson points out, King was also filled with a prophetic anger, especially in the later years of his life, when he turned his attention to fighting poverty, entrenched racism, and the Vietnam War.

As a leader fighting for fundamental change in this country, Obama has to be willing to show us that kind of righteous anger. I don’t know about you, but when I think about what George Bush has done to this country — and what John McCain wants to keep doing — I consider outrage the only rational and legitimate response. So why don’t we see this outrage from Obama?

You can read the rest of her post here:

Enough!: Why Obama Should Release His Righteous Rage

For my part, I don’t think Obama has any right to righteous anger.  Being an Independent, it has been fairly easy to remain impartial throughout this entire process.  From where I stand, if Obama wants to get angry over McCain’s lies and attacks, he needs to stop doing the same thing to McCain and Palin.  I have seen numerous lies from both camps, countless attacks, and Obama’s gameplan for Hillary Clinton has been carried oer to this contest as well.

You can’t attack Obama’s record and get away with it.  The press won’t let you.  But if you are an Independent, I am here to inform you that there are plenty of places you can find the information you need to see that Obama has carried himself no differently than John McCain in this election.  You can also find information about both Senator’s voting records here:

VOTING RECORDS

For impartial news, I invite you to visit NPR or NewsMax.

We owe it to ourselves to stay focused on the real issues of our times.  Those issues have nothing to do with Sarah Palin’s daughter, or Biden’s combover.  They have everything to do with corruption in Washington, in both political parties, with Social Security reform, healthcare reform, national security, economics, and a united direction for our one nation.

Both Candidates are now running on a platform of change.  Isn’t it plain to see, however, that it’s politics as usual with this election?  Change?  Not likely.

WHY DO DEMOCRATS DEFEND ABORTION RIGHTS SO STRONGLY?

Call me an idiot if you must, but I don’t get it.   Some science has claimed (or claims they have proven) that life begins at the moment of conception.  Okay, so where is the big issue here?

Abortion proponents claim something else, although what they claim isn’t clear.  No one really knows how a pro-choice person defines a human being.  There is no set-in-stone formula for when a fetus finally becomes human.  This has been argued for ages.

So the question remains, what’s the big deal?  Why do Democrats defend abortion rights so vociferously?  What do they have to gain in such a controversial issue?  Look, when it comes to human life, shouldn’t we be erring hugely on the side of safety?  After all, if we’re wrong, it’s murder.  No one takes murder lightly.  No one defends murder in a political campaign.

I am not a doctor or scientist.  I have no way of proving that life begins at conception.  But for me, the issue isn’t when life begins.  Rather, it’s about human life at all, and knowing with one hundred percent certainty that what is in the womb is always human as an end result.  I would think this would be enough for everyone, but I am willing to allow for differing opinions.  Where we go grey is when we base our opinion on something other than fact.

It’s a woman’s right to choose, pro choice people say.  That’s the basis of their opinion.  There is no other basis to their cause.  Democrats defend this, to the point of sounding almost ridiculous.  Take the case of partial birth abortion.  In this procedure, there is absolutely no doubt that the aborted fetus is human.  The shape is completely consistent with human structure, and the procedure used is to destroy the brain by stabbing it and vacuuming it out of the skull.  That’s pretty graphic, I know, but that’s the procedure.

Someone please tell me on what basis this can be defended?  A woman’s right to choose?

There is no defense based on facts for pro choice.  If science claims that life begins at conception, then pro choice is based on opinion.  If human life does not begin at conception, and many say this is true, I still don’t understand what is defensible about that.  It’s still based on a guess.  Isn’t human life worth more than a guess?

At the very least, isn’t human life worth more than defending a guess?

That’s where I am confused.  People refuse to take risks based on facts all of the time.  We won’t cross a street with our eyes closed because we know there’s a chance we could get struck by a car.  We rarely do anything when we think there is a chance we could end our lives as a result, so highly do we value our own human life.  Therein lies my problem with defending abortion.

I wonder, would people who defend abortion rights still defend them if their own life was at stake?  Maybe that’s it.  Maybe the life inside of the womb just isn’t real enough, or just isn’t “me” enough.  Because no one would disagree that when “me” is in danger, “me” has a right to life.

Arrianna Huffington Snubbed by Forbes.

Now I know why Arianna Huffington has been so pissed off lately in her writing.  She was ignored completely in Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful Women of the World.  For a woman like Arianna, it has to really sting when Oprah is still more powerful than you are.

Here she is, campaigning for Govenor in California.  So close, Arianna, yet sooo far.  Had you won, you’d have made the list for sure.

AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES ARE SILLY

Like the title?  Wonder where I am going with this?

It’s simple. I just polled the search engine results and found that someone had actually come to this blog using the search phrase, “American Political Parties Are Silly”.

You just gotta love it!  I’m laughing so hard I think I might pee myself.

THE MOB…AMERICA

In the movie The Gladiator, there is a line one of the Roman Senators uses.  “Rome is the mob”.

So is the theme for today’s post.  This year’s election has heated up earlier than usual.  The two sides (are there really only two people running for president?) are already at each others throats, and if the  mainstream media has anything to say, it will only get nastier.  Watching the two party conventions, I became convinced of one thing; there truly is a mob mentality when party members come together for rallies and speeches.

That’s amazing, but not nearly so much as the fact that neither party can see beyond their own ideology.  Visit one or the other’s blog, and leave a comment disagreeing with one person, and you are immediately attacked by the mob.  It makes no difference if what you said was true or not; if you disagree with the mob, you’re wrong.

Watching Sarah Palin and Barrack Obama give a speech is a thing of beauty; until you wake up from the stupor of agreeing with all that they spoke.  Then, you realize that both sides are right, and both sides are wrong; but only if you are an Independent.  If you are a Republican, the Democrats are completely wrong.  If you are a Democrat, the Republicans are just plain silly.  Here in the middle, you are left hoping someone will do the right thing, and break this country from its stupor.

For neither side can be entirely right, but either side will tell you that they are; and their followers will agree wholeheartedly.  God save the man or woman who disagrees with them.  Have you ever seen what happens when a mob attacks one person?

Political parties are becoming almost completely reliant on the mob.  Gone are any new ideas, or any great willingness to compromise in order to do what’s right for this country.  I no more believe John McCain’s “Country First” slogan than I believe Obama “can do it”, when it comes to ending partisan politics in Washington.  So long as political parties exist, Washington will stagnate.

The theme of this year’s election is “Change”.  As in, change Washington, change the way we do things, change taxes, change our reliance on foreign fuel, change our morals, change healthcare, change Social Security, change our underwear.

The call for change has come from the middle, and the left, and the right.  It has come from citizens sick and tired of seeing Congress do nothing.  It has come from watching a president lie and spin and hide.  It has come from economic downturn, and sinking standards of living.  It has come from a new generation of American Citizens who no longer believe that “if it was good enough for my grandparents, it’s good enough for me”. It has grown from the country needing to fix Social Security and Healthcare for over twenty-five years, while neither party has so much as moved a step toward a solution.

This call for change did not originate with Obama or McCain, despite what either one has to say about it.  They call for change to save the country, and their mobs believe them.  I’ve got news for you.  The country isn’t in danger.  The two parties are.

So what is this call for change really about?  It’s about two chronically ill political parties, desperately clinging to their power.  Rather than blame themselves for the mess they are in, they call for change, as if neither had a hand in what is going on in our government.  The left and the right sop up their every word as if it is gospel.  It has to be the other side that is wrong.

The middle, the Independents are left watching this cat-fight, and they are the only ones who know why change is necessary.  It’s not necessary to save the nation.  Real change is only necessary to save the two ruling parties.

What if we independents said, “we refuse to save you, we won’t vote for you anymore.”  What if Independents began a grass roots movement to eliminate Democrats and Republicans from their local elections?  You know, Thomas Jefferson said a nation needs a good revolution every so often.  Revolutions always start at home, with the citizens.  It will be no different now.  The two parties can cry for change all they want, but Independents no longer believe the parties are capable of change, and thus, we no longer believe they are capable of governing.

MY FELLOW AMERICANS

As I have watched these last two weeks, the proceedings of the two political party conventions, I was struck by the subtlety of a simple statement.

I listened to the talking heads and spin doctors as they told me, time after time, that the Democrats spoke to the Independents and undecided’s at their convention, while all this week, it’s been reported that the Republicans have spoken only to their base.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I listened, both weeks, as I waited for the words that tell me I am part of something bigger than myself.  I remember them best when I remember Ronald Reagan speaking them at his first nomination acceptance speech.

“My fellow Americans…”

There’s just something about those words that includes everybody.

I heard that phrase often this week, during the Republican convention.  I did not hear it once at the Democratic convention.  Instead, repeatedly, I heard the words, “My fellow Democrats”.

I know, it’s such a small thing.  It’s subtle.

But an Independent like me notices subtle things like that.  I don’t know what the media was listening to these last two weeks, but I am certain of what I heard.

The Democrats are speaking to themselves, and to an Independent like me, it sounds sort of elitist; sounds like something I am not a part of, like something they don’t want to include me in.  I’m an Independent, but I’m not a Democrat.

I don’t know what the Republicans are saying, but because of that phrase, I’m listening.  I’m an Independent, but I’m an American first.

The subleties of language seem so insignificant at the time, except to those who are listening, hoping to be included and welcomed.  We are the people who are Independent because we don’t trust either party to change.  We are the people who are only paid attention to when those two parties need votes.

Both parties had a chance to grab our attention these last two weeks.  Only one party tried, and it wasn’t the party that cares about our feelings, or is known for tolerance and liberalism.

And the party that didn’t will wonder this year again why so many states look so red.

Palen Can Thank Obama Supporters For Her Rock Star Status

Now that we’ve heard Sarah Palin recite the speech written for her (and please don’t come here trying to tell me her opponents haven’t done the same thing, pleeease), it’s game on.  If this were a normal election, her speech would have been about it for the Vice Presidential candidates; save for maybe a poorly viewed VP debate.  Let’s face it, people just don’t vote for the VP.

Until now. 

Democrats across the nation swamped blogs and news websites with derogatory comments about the Republican Veep Nominee.  Bringing into question her morals and experience, they did the one thing they could not afford to do in this election; make it about more than the issues and the country.  They have made it about experience (but don’t want you to talk about Obama’s lack of it), Change (as if either of the two parties are capable of accomplishing that whale), and about Sarah Palin.

Big Mistake.

Sarah Palin, last night, proved to the nation that she is not too small for the stage.  She held her own in terms of explaining herself and her experience, and in more than a little way, refocused the election microscope back onto Obama’s inexperience.  Needless to say, with an election season nearly three times as long as the normal baseball season, things can change yet, and probably will.

But one thing that won’t change is Obama’s supporters.  They are behind him one hundred percent, and willingly defend him and attack others even when he doesn’t want or need them to.  It is my opinion that Obama has been trying as hard as he can to rise above the pettiness of politics in this election; to make his campaign about who he is rather than who screwed what up.

Unfortunately for him, his supporters just won’t let him do that.  Had they said “Sarah who?” when McCain announced his running mate, and left it at that, the Republican campaign would have died a rapid, silent death.  Instead, Obama’s supporters attacked Palin with an intensity not seen since the last Pit Bull attack on a small child.

In essence, this is now a race because Obama’s supporters have made Sarah Palin a celebrity.  They’ve made her as exciting as their own candidate; at a time when this election direly needed to be about the country, they made it about two people.

Who wins?  I don’t know.  Sarah Palin has not had enough time to piss me off.  Barrack has had more than enough time, and has accomplished it.  McCain?  Well, let’s just say he’s a Republican; there’s no change there.

But it’ll be interesting, I promise you that.

Obama’s Foreign Policy Palin By Comparison

Yeah, catchy title and all, this post promises to be a dud, so I won’t keep you hanging for the punch line real long.  Obama has no foreign policy experience, and neither does Palin.  For that matter, when it comes to being an executive, McCain and Biden have zero experience as well.

Wake up!  You only get executive foreign policy experience BY BEING PRESIDENT!

Get it?

(still loving the title?)

Obama is running for President, Palin for Vice President; why is there even a comparison being made?  One is trying be the executive, while the other is on the ticket as a distant assistant/trainee type of thing.  There’s no comparison.  Obama can be an immediate success, or an immediate threat.  Palin is the future, maybe.

In review, none of the four candidates have any executive foreign policy experience whatsoever.  This is a non-issue, and the two sides are looking absolutely foolish.  You know what a fool is, right?  He’s the guy pontificating about things he has no experience in.  Looks like we have four guilty parties here.  Let’s let ‘em know that we know that.

Okay, this post is over.  I know, it sucked, but you’re going to have to search the internet long and hard before you’ll find a better title, right?