Palin Debate, Really?

Am I the only one taking crazy pills here? Please tell me there is a mass hysteria, at least, and that I am not seriously hearing the news pundits and reading blurbs and hackneyed articles about how Sarah Palin did "better than expected" and Joe Biden "narrowly came out on top."

People of America, it's time to wake up and smell the bullshit. Maybe we've been floating in it for so long that our noses have become accustomed to the stench, like people who live next to cattle yards and slaughterhouses, and insist that they don't smell anything bad. Maybe they don't, but every other poor sap driving down the highway has to jam their nose into an old dried out coffee cup to mask the stench and keep from vomiting all over their dashboard. Can you blame the nose deadened residents of said towns? Surely they must pray for olfactory numbness so they might avoid the stinky truth that where they live smells like cowshit and death.

Deny all you want, the same stench has lingered all over this campaign, the candidates and the republican party. Bullshit and death.

Now, I could go many directions here, talk about the current administration and its role in the death and subsequent nostril curling decay of its shaky credibility, our civil liberties, our rule of law, the sanctity of our Constitution, separation of powers amongst the three branches, our environment, our credibility and standing amongst the rest of the world, our economy, our pension funds, New Orleans, our educational system, the value of our dollar, and did I mention civil liberites? However, I want to talk about something else - as that Maverick Sarah Palin suggested, I am going to focus on the present and the future here. Enough of Bush and his crooked cronies and failed policies and lubracationless rape of us all. Let's talk straight, shall we?

A vote for McCain-Palin is not only irresponsible, it's reprehensible.

Let's talk straight, yes? Let's talk the debate last night. I honestly heard Sean Hannity (himself a truly reprehensible whiny windbag) say (out loud, mind you), "We all saw Sarah Palin kick Joe Biden's behind."

Really? That's funny, because I saw a probably reasonably intelligent woman so outclassed by an intelligent and experienced man with an actual grasp on politics and policy that it seemed farily obvious that he was almost embarrassed to be there. Am I the only one not terrified about the idea that she knows nothing about our so called "enemies." That there might be cultural differences along the way, and that "President" Ahmadinejad has no real powers like OUR president. That foreign policy is more than 'we good guy, they bad guy'. That Iran is NOT a dictatorship, and that being able to talk in circles without crying and running off the stage IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE.

Just how low IS the bar set for Sarah Palin? The right wing bemoans affirmative action but I think we're seeing it in its most insidious form right here. She's like a political special needs child. It's one thing to applaud a 15 year old brain trauma victim who learns to finally feed himself, but a regular 15 year old should have learned that long ago. Why is Sarah Palin getting lauded for not freezing under pressure? That's something I would expect from any elected leader. And "holding your own" is not spouting party lines and talking in circles. She debated like a teenager in the principal's office, or a Jehovah's Witness defending a Watchtower pamphlet. SHe's like an old BASIC computer program: If Then, Go To, Repeat.

The whole performance was so obviously contrived, so overly "Aw shucks, a whole heckuvalot of good hockey mom folks working like heck..." I, I, I'm just flabbergasted. Maybe that is her weapon. I saw Joe Biden give similar looks in the whole debate. Did he not seem like he was trying very hard NOT to tear her apart verbally? And she took advantage with snide, right wing jabs.

Admittedly, Obama is no messiah. He's not perfect and won't save us all. And Joe Biden is not the gleaming perfect diamond either. For that matter, John McCain is, I believe, a pretty honorable, normally straightforward guy who, in the far past, was a bit of a middle-ground maverick who I'm sure has done a great service to his state.

BUT, we're talking history here, people. We're talking reality. John McCain is in his seventies with a medical history of melanoma and subterfuge. The possibility of his demise while in presidency is very real. Not a pleasant subject, but a REAL ONE. Can you really see that ill-informed "shuckster" as president?

And McCain has been wandering in a doddering state since he began this campaign. He has gone back on many of the issues that made him a "maverick" - immigration, campaign finance. His economic policies are, well...c'mon. And I am frankly frightened of his foreign stance. Here's a crazy idea - what if we took some of the billions we spend monthly in Iraq and used THAT to help us out of our economic woes? If you believe the money-bent hype of terror and winnable wars spouted by the administration then your nose is dead, too. Read some of Robert Baer for some insight into middle eastern affairs. Read something more than our glitz and hype.

So, why is a vote for McCain-Palin irresponsible? For the reasons above! First and foremost, if McCain were to pass while in office, we've got Pailn there and that is simply irresponsible. We've already had a "good old boy" village idiot in office having his puppet strings played and we can see where that has gotten us. And, honestly, for those who like her cutesy charm, want some one who's in touch with the average american...you're not going to get it, and if you do, you're the idiot, too.

Here's a thought: I don't want someone like me to be my leader. I want someone to represent me, but I don't want someone like me. I want someone who is smarter than me, more experienced than me, thicker skinned than me, and better educated than me. If I wanted another asshole in office, I could run.

And reprehensible? Several reasons. First, if you are voting because you are fiscally conservative and terrified at what the "mad socialistic democrats" will do, tell me how McCain will be different? Tell me how Bush was different? People cringe at higher taxes, but don't bat an eye at debt. Bush came in and lowered taxes across the board, sent bribes, er, rebates to every family, then went to war, wasted trillions and siphoned all public moneys into private hands while dumping private debt into public hands (from Naomi Klein - read Shock Doctrine). Our social security is bankrupt, our reserve is depleted, but our taxes were lowered...and our bridges collapsed and our cities flooded without recompense. Our infrastructure is in shambles...you tell me how we pay for anything needed without taxes? I don't hate paying taxes near as much as I hate knowing that money is being wasted or passed into some bastard's deep pockets.

Do you really think the republican party lives up to its original "conservative" ideals? Is our government smaller? We dropped social programs and supplanted them with Homeland Security. We privatized war while building our military beyond our capacity to pay for it. What the fuck do you think the army is if not government?

If you are truly an economic conservative, your vote for McCain is a sham. You should vote for Ron Paul, or Bob Barr, or some other Constitution-minded candidate. Your republicans have betrayed you, sorry.

And if you are voting for MCCain-Palin becasue you always vote republican - after all I have said, how is that NOT reprehensible?

Of course, this is only my opinion. But it is, I believe, informed and reasoned. And I am ill to my stomach with the die hards trying to lie their way through another campaign. You can't be the reform party, Sarah, Sean, Rush, John, if you are the incumbent party with no visible difference in policy. Sorry about that. It's just how it goes. You can gold plate a turd, but after all is said and done, it's still a piece of shit.

Now, I've been accused of being an angry person. I don't think that's so. I am a passionate and sensitive person, and above all, I have a very sensitive nose, and the stench of this campaign, the soggy media, and the mooing conservative pundits has left me nauseous and a bit perturbed.

And if you don't think McCain-Palin stinks of the same bullshit and death, I would advise you to take a vacation. Leave home for a week or so and clear the nostrils. But be careful, when you come home to your cattle yards and abbatoirs, you might be feel as sick as the rest of us.

-bhw