Last of Our Kind

Tonight’s debate accented the already stark contrast between our presidential candidates. We saw and heard the same Barack Obama that we see and hear day in and day out. And we saw the present incarnation, or personality, of John McCain. Tonight McCain appeared angry the majority of the time, and quite often, sounded condescending. McCain’s demeanor displayed his disdain for Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, we did not hear any of the recent smear tactics emanating from the McCain/Palin ticket. We saw, and heard, a very typical, two-faced politician in McCain.

McCain and Palin have spent the last few days assaulting Obama’s character. The McCain campaign has tried to tie him to a domestic terrorist who was active when Obama was eight years old; they have tried to dredge up the Rev. Wright controversy; and they have generally attempted to incite the mob against Obama. McCain flat out called Obama a liar. Now, I’m keeping it folksy here so get ready, but ain’t that just the pot callin’ the kettle black? (You betcha!…wink…wink) There were several video clips in the news today of McCain/Palin event speeches. During those speeches, McCain and Palin attacked Obama’s character in the ways mentioned above, and when they did this, supporters in the crowd could be heard calling Obama a terrorist, accusing him of treason, and calling for his death. If this does not scare you, if this does not anger you, if this does not disgust you, then I am completely baffled. McCain and Palin should denounce these responses from their supporters. And more importantly, they should immediately cease any sort of speech that incites hate. These tactics are hypocritical and cowardly.



McCain and Palin forget that when you attack someone’s character, you leave your own life wide open for examination. And let me just say, he who lives in a glass house should not cast stones. Palin refuses to cooperate with a federal investigation of the Troopergate scandal. She has charged the state of Alaska a per diem for days spent at home in Wasilla instead of in the state’s capital. She claimed to be against the bridge to nowhere when she was actually for it. Her husband belonged to a group that called for the secession of Alaska from the union. And McCain’s “superior judgment” chose this person as his running mate? McCain was calling for a clean campaign a short time ago, and he is now running a campaign that is as dirty as any that came before. He “suspended” his campaign, but continued to air political ads and give media interviews to sing his own praises. He continues to level character attacks against Obama, but in tonight’s debate, he did not mention his campaigns’ assertions even once. And why not? I will let you be the judge…

Tonight, McCain attempted to appear charming and show humor. Every attempt at doing so fell completely flat. The first thing he did after shaking Obama’s hand was head over to his notepad and scribble down all of his talking points. Some of McCain’s answers were substantive. Some of them were good answers. I will not deny that. But so many more of his answers were meandering, misdirected, and, at times even nonsensical. He sounded like a more intelligent, better rehearsed, and more experienced version of his running mate.

I have said before that I believe McCain is erratic. I believe that he does not have the composure and temperament required to be a good leader. I believe he lacks the judgment to lead this country in the right direction. I believe we see and hear from a different John McCain everyday. It all just depends on the political climate, and what face he thinks will best fool the American people.

Well you are not fooling me Mr. McCain. You do not fool me when you and your running mate assault my intelligence. You do not fool me when you try to dumb down the American public. You do not fool me when you hypocritically attack Obama’s character. You do not fool me when your campaign perpetuates and oozes lies. Your antics do not fool me. You do not fool me Mr. McCain. You do not fool me. And I hope that the American people are beginning to feel the same way.

I am hoping that people are beginning to see McCain for who he is. He is not a Maverick. He is not a straight talker. He is not a reformer. He is not a change agent. He is a two-faced politician. He is a liar. He is a hypocrite. He is a coward.

He is the personification of everything that is wrong with Washington.

He is a 20th century politician, running a 20th century campaign, in the 21st century.

He is politics as usual.

Here's to the 21st century,
-LoOK

Can we please talk about the dumbing down of the American people? Can we please talk about how pathetic it is that Sarah Palin’s expectations were so abysmally low in this debate that all she had to do was use full sentences to come out a winner? Can we please talk about how ridiculous it is that the post-debate spin is claiming that Palin accomplished her mission? What mission might that be mass media? The mission to complete a sentence? Give me a break!

If you watched the debate (or should I say non-debate) tonight you probably know by now that Palin did not answer any questions. She gave plenty of answers, but they were not answers to the questions that Gwen Ifill was asking. She bobbed and weaved better than any boxer I have ever seen. She tricked everyone into thinking she was intelligent by repeating rehearsed talking points. I have said before, McCain’s campaign is assaulting the intelligence of the American people, and tonight, they did it again. Tonight we saw someone who is completely unqualified to be a vice-president give her best performance. A performance meant to fool America into believing that she is actually intelligent, and actually has some working knowledge of the issues facing the US today. It was a performance meant to dumb us all down. It was an assault on our intelligence. Palin’s expectations were so incredibly low that she literally could do no wrong so long as she formed complete thoughts and stayed folksy. Sure she sounded intelligent. Unless you actually listened to the answers she was giving. The answers to questions that were not being asked. So I ask now…

Can we please talk about the dumbing down of America? Are we really supposed to believe that Palin knows what she is talking about? Are we really supposed to believe that the drivel pouring out of her mouth tonight was her own thoughts and ideas? I think not. I believe we should be holding our leaders up to a much higher standard. Our leaders need to…God Forbid…wait for it…LEAD! They need to lead by example. They need to lead by displaying their intelligence, their knowledge of the issues, and their knowledge of the struggles of the American people. Palin displayed her ability to cram for an exam like everyone who pulled an all-nighter to pass that final in college. She displayed her ability to recite from a script. And somehow the mass media is saying she has done a great job tonight?!

I am so blown away by this assertion. I am so completely baffled by the idea that Palin did well tonight. Tonight’s debate was not even a debate. It was disgusting. Biden was walking on glass all night. Unable to challenge Palin on anything because he might come off as intelligent…no wait…I meant condescending…yes…that is exactly what I meant. Not only were Palin’s expectations lower than low, but also, the mass media has created such a stigma of sexism around her that she can use it like an invisibility cloak to hide from real debate. The American people deserved a debate tonight where Biden and Palin could have actually confronted each other on the issues. Biden was not able to do this for fear of looking sexist or condescending. Palin was not able to do this because she does not have enough knowledge to debate Biden. So what we saw tonight was a political joke. We saw Biden answering exactly the questions he was asked, and we saw Palin answer the questions being asked by the fictitious moderator at a fairy tale debate in her head (most likely near a creek in Sedona, Arizona).

Tonight’s debate showed me one thing. It showed me that America has got to wake up. We have to take action. We have to pay attention. We have to start asking the tough questions. We have to prove that yes, the lights are on, and someone is home, and we are paying close attention. We have to prove that we are not going sit and allow our leaders to dumb us down. We have to prove that we are more intelligent than they think we are. We have to demand more of our leaders. If we do not do this, we get exactly what we all witnessed tonight: A highly qualified individual unable to challenge, and truly debate, his highly unqualified opponent. We get answers that sound perfectly intelligent and plausible, if only they corresponded to the questions. We get mass media force-feeding us the notion that someone who had no ideas or thoughts of their own was successful. We get mass media telling us that Palin connected with the average American. We get mass media feeding us the idea that because her expectations were so low, that she far exceeded them. We get mass media assuming that the average American is so unintelligent that we will not notice the difference between rehearsed, indoctrinated answers and actual ideas. We have to stand up and proclaim for all to hear, “No, you will not assault my intelligence. You will not get away with it. Not with so much on the line. Not this time.”

We can no longer sit complacent and expect more from our leaders, we have to demand more. If Palin wants to be my leader, she is going to have to start holding press conferences. She is going to have to start talking to the media. She is going to have to start actually answering the questions she is being asked. She is going to have to show us that she has her own ideas and thoughts. She has to show us that she can do more than simply recite the indoctrinated talking points of the conservative base. She is going to have to prove to me that she has some semblance of an idea of what the Bush Doctrine is.

I know, I know…I am just another nobody blogger in a vast sea of blogs. To some, I am just another liberal nut job. I am just a socialist that does not believe in freedom or democracy or whatever talking points you wish to insert on any given day. Tonight, I am not writing as a liberal, a democrat, a nut job, or whichever label you may wish to use. Tonight, I am writing as an American who believes that our leaders our assaulting our intelligence. Tonight, I was insulted, and if you were paying attention, you should be too. Tonight Mr. “Maverick”, Mr. “Straight Talk”, Mr. “Change”, Mr. McCain insulted us all by presenting us with a candidate so unqualified that all she had to do to appear successful was form complete sentences. Tonight the mass media insulted us all by declaring success for a candidate who’s “Straight Talk” answers were so crooked they resembled one of the numerous meandering rivers of Alaska. Tonight Palin insulted us all by attempting to pass off her answers as legitimate.

Everyone has something to say. Everyone has something to complain about. I am just one person writing down my thoughts and hoping that they will mean something to someone. I am just one person daring to write about how things could be, rather than how they are. Writing about how things could be, and asking: Why not?

So…why not? You tell me…

Stay folksy,
-LoOK