Sunday, February 14, 2016

A Man Among Boys

 


Justice Scalia is gone.  May he rest in peace.  He sure wasn't going to get any in court!  There was a ton of air time given to him hallowing him as both man and Supreme Court Justice. What I take away from it is that he was a good, devout man and maybe more importantly a Constitutionalists, where  words matter more than personal philosophies.  We're not likely to see the likes of him again, whether or not you agree with his decisions.

Then there is the Republican presidential field.  I couldn't watch it. It was like a bunch of grade school kids having a squabble on the play ground. C'mon guys.  You're trying to convince us you can lead the country back to greatness?  Well, I've got a hot flash for you, trying to out shout and out besmirch your fellow candidates, you're in danger of losing your audience.

If I never saw Donald Trump smirk again I don't think my world will fall apart. If Cruz and Rubio don't cut it out I'll file them in my "Don't even bother" file.   

Sure I understand why they are behaving the way they are.  They want to oust their opposition.  But at what cost?  Will it get more civilized?  I doubt it. Will people really tune out?  They may continue to watch for the entertainment value if nothing else is on but to choose a candidate from the singed earth doesn't cut it.

I have some friends who are staunch Democrats who vow to vote for Hillary or whoever the nominee is.  I'm not so staunch in my beliefs.  I find myself moving more and more to the center, leaving most of these guys behind.  Maybe it is time for "None of the Above" on the ballot.  Or that ever elusive third party.

Both parties would do well to revamp their debate format.  I haven't yet seen one where the candidate defends his own policy rather than demonizing their opponents.  They are not debates in the true sense anyway so why give them a platform to have screaming matches?

Tomorrow is Presidents Day.  It makes me think of Mount Rushmore.  What giants of American politics have been immortalized in that stone. None of them perfect to be sure, but as a whole they're a heck of a lot better than the current batch of want-to-bes.

3 comments:

Linda said...

I much prefer town hall meetings. I learn more than I learn from debates. Now about voting "none of the above" or for a third party. I don't do that because I feel like I'm throwing my good vote away. I want it to count for something somewhere. I am a Democrat. I will vote a Democratic ticket no matter how much I may dislike the name at the top because I want to keep as many Democrats in office as possible. I'm not excited about Hillary, and Bernie is a third party candidate in my eyes. I prefer seeing Democrats in cabinet positions, and heading agencies. While I'm weary of Hillary and have absolutely no excitement about voting for her I will because of the appointments she will make for the Democratic Party. There's also Supreme Court appointments to make and I prefer a Democrat make those. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now fossilized I think on the court but one of these days she'll fall off, or who knows, perhaps a heart attack among the young justices and I want a Democrat in office to make those appointments. I'm not sure I could every vote "none of the above" or third party.

Word Tosser said...

I think the people who are running the show.... should have control over the mikes... and when some goes over the limit, have them deaden the mike.. also tell them,, if you talk over the other candidates, your mike will have a 5 minute dead air... maybe there would be a bit more civility to it..

Word Tosser said...

And by the way..as a person who has voted twice for NONE OF ABOVE.. I felt a great deal of satisfaction by doing so.. I did not throw away my vote... throwing away my vote would have been if I had voted for someone I could not believe in..