The Debate

The debate…well, I frankly had a hard time paying attention. Whether it was the white noise coming from the candidates or the third beer or just being tired, it was mind-numbing like reading a grammar textbook. A Virginian caller to C-span Saturday said what was on my mind pretty well; “I think the American people were the losers last night….” (His comments are here—go to recent programs > Saturday, 27th > “watch entire program” > and scroll to 15 minutes.) I brought away two main things and a few lesser points.

Like the caller to C-span says, both candidates are “warmongering”—declaring nations “rogue states” and aggressors without weighing the facts. It doesn’t surprise me that McCain does this, but to have the left wing candidate participate in this insanity is just baffling to me. Being too busy to rewrite what I wrote the other day, I said to my brother, “For both of them (and, I am particularly disappointed in the case of Obama), I found the tough talk (if not "warmongering") against Russia, Venezuela and Iran deeply troubling. I believe strongly (though it is very hard to be certain with the lack of factual media coverage) that Russia was rightfully defending S. Ossetia which is populated by ethnic Russians with Russian citizenship, which was only included in Georgia fairly recently as a matter of post-Soviet convenience, and which has a history of being treated brutally by Georgia. It baffles me that we/ our politicians stand with the oppressor against the liberator and call us the defender. Iran, i think, we ought to deal with via hyperdiplomacy--simply try to build some sort of cultural understanding. Economic times should make this more acceptable than trying to beat the antiAmericanness out of them. The hyperbole of Ahmedinezhadorhoweverthefuckyouspellhisname is blown up to be all sorts of crazy genocidal rhetoric by the west while he's just just saying what he thinks he needs to say to get elected (all too familiar). Fucking Chavez--he's a Democratically elected president of an American nation, and I think most USAmericans fail to understand that Communism is an economic system absolutely compatible with Democracy, which is a political system. In fact the US has gone around the world for fifty some years now undermining democracies over and over again because when given Democratic government, the people frequently choose a Socialist or Communist leader. This is the reason that Chavez spews his antiAmerican rhetoric--because we (US tax payers) have sponsored a coup attempt which successfully (though temporarily) deposed his democratically appointed administration and subsequently have sponsored the opposition media which lays a constant barrage of attacks against him. Thereby we have encouraged him to use hateful rhetoric against us. We have given him reason to clamp down on the "free press" (can you imagine if China was so rich that they bought our media and used it to shape US public opinion re. our leaders? We would have a fricken fit too.) and attempt to appoint himself permanent ruler. If instead we took him by the hand and said, "hey we really admire what you've been able to do for your people by using oil wealth for the general good and we hope that you'll strengthen your fragile democracy and your nation by abdicating your office and letting someone else have a shot at it," we could have a MUCH more productive relationship.”

Oh hell; I need to get to work. This is the rest of the e-mail to my brother:
“Another 5% was that McCain is again aiming really low. By not looking at Obama the whole time, I think he was trying to send a message that Obama is inhuman or unworthy of acknowledgement or something. He had to have some psychologist on his staff telling him to do this, because it was just so obviously intentional and such an unnatural/artifical interaction (or lack thereof). He's aiming for some gut response because he can't compete on substance...again.

“One of them answered that first question quite succinctly--"there is no final form of the legislation, so I cant say whether i'd sign it or not." I was glad one of them could at least spit that out. Big deal about nothing.

“Re. What would you cut? McCain said basically everything but the military, and Obama wouldn't say he'd give up anything. McCain was speaking to the shortsighted antigovernment folks and I would think he alienated anyone who values anything other than war. Omaba has said in the past and should have said in that context, "I'd give up tax breaks for people making over a quarter million a year" and "I would get the heck out of Iraq"--hows that for a budget cuts. I guess he was thinking more about what not to say; must be tough to be on the hotseat. Lerher (sp) shoulda said,let me put it like this, "tomorrow, every country on earth tells it's banks and citizens, do not lend any more money to the US. How are you going to balance the budget?"

“BTW, did you catch when McCain said Obama doesnt know the dif b'tween tactics and strategy and then not two minutes later called a tactic a strategy himself?”