It's More About The Parties Than The Candidates

Ever since I read that the Republicans were including a plank in the party platform stating, in essence, no abortion regardless of the circumstances of the pregnancy and that Romney was going to turn a blind eye to it, I began to realize our fight is more with what the parties stand for than the men running for President.

Neither are the monsters the parties would have us believe. Neither is strong enough to be a monster, but they are what they are.

That people don't find Romney warm and fuzzy isn't nearly as important as the fact he understands how businesses work and business is what drives the economy.  Obama does not. His focus has been on making sure his union backers are well cared for.

Both have wavered on issues.  Their parties have not.  Christian conservatives have hijacked the Republicans by their obstinate and irrational stands on stem cell research, abortion and gay marriage .  The Democrats insist on spending without regard to the debt, government intrusion into just about everything and class warfare.

Both candidates will say whatever is necessary to win votes whether or not they personally believe what they are saying.  I do think it's obvious that Obama is a big government man. It's all he knows.  He has no other experience to draw upon. He has never pretended to be anything but.  Romney is just as obviously a free enterprise man. He has been in the private sector, understands how it works and has had his successes.  He didn't really get himself into trouble until he entered politics and had to say what was needed to win over voters.  It doesn't exactly generate confidence in either man's ability to lead.

We've had three plus years of Obama following the lead of his party, not the other way around.  We've watched Romney morph into whatever was necessary to win his primary.  We haven't a true picture of either of them because they have no convictions of their own to show us.

That brings us to the House and the Senate and who we elect to those offices.  We tend to latch on to buzz words like 'abortion' and 'debt' and 'social security as we know it' rather than substance.  The politicians however seem to latch on to whatever is likely to get them elected.  We lose.

I'm not sure we even have a handle on the issues.  One cannot be informed by reading Tweets or Facebook.  One only gets snippets of a politician's views designed to cater to our fears.

This election business is nasty stuff but we may be castigating the wrong people.  We need to look more closely at the people behind the throne than the men on the throne.  The people behind it are in a far better position to pull it our from under the individual seated upon it.  When that happens you have either the strength of, and I don't mean this as a compliment, of a Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi or the weakness of a Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.  It all depends on who is better at playing the game.

I'm just sorry our country is the board on which this game is being played. The direction of the country depends on who wins, but then you know that much.  The question is do you have enough knowledge to understand the implications?

Tom Friedman Identifies The Missing Piece in Political Discourse

Ever since Tom Friedman started winning Pulitzer Prizes  he has become the poster child for those who know everything about everything, whether correct or not, and he never lets us forget.

I usually give short shrift to his postulations but when I saw his New York Times opinion piece calling for a 'Conservative Party' I took notice.

A call for a third party by a figure of some note blew my mind.  Whether or not I agree with his theories on anything is beside the point.  On this issue he is on the mark.  His piece takes you another place than what I'm writing, so I urge you to read it.  I am going to merely address his point that in order to have serious political debate  the Republican 'conservatives'  need to separate themselves from the radicals - the Tea Party.  Unless they do so there will be no cohesive opposition to Obama. The Republican house is more divided than Obama's.

I disagree with him as to who exactly the conservatives are.  I see them as synonymous with the tea party.  The conservatives he refers to are the old school Republicans we now refer to as moderates and have tagged as RINOs.  Republicans in name only.

He says much the same about the Democrats though he doesn't seem to see as much of a gap between the far left and the center left.  I disagree with him on this point too.  Where I do agree is that the centers of both parties would do well to get together with the independents and stray Libertarians and form their own party. One committed to serious debate on issues and policy and a willingness to compromise.  You know, government the way it used to be until we started electing ideologues with blinders.

There are many attempts being made to get such a movement going.  The problem I've found so far is that there has been more discussion than action.  Part of the reason, I think, is because no one with national name recognition has joined in the effort.  At least no one with   solid credentials no matter which way they lean.  Mr. Friedman does lean.  Left.  But he also recognizes that the country is going in the wrong direction,  pinpoints a reason why and suggests a solution.

What a way to end the week.  No matter how short lived this may be, no matter how much I disagree with Mr. Friedman on other topics, I feel a weight lifted.  That someone who is a recognizable name and is nationally known finally has the fortitude to tell it as it is wafts over me like a fresh breeze. Ahhhh.  I had forgotten how good it can feel!

Franken(stein)'s Monster - He Of His Own Making

Remember when Senator Al Franken (D - MN) was a comedian of some note?  I never thought him funny then nor do I think he is now, years later.  His humor, to me, was always crude and I don't find such humor laughable.

Now he's a Senator, though I wonder why.  He certainly didn't have the credentials when he ran and won under a cloud of suspicion.

That being said, however, it is interesting to note that the Democrats have someone as clueless as Republicans Akin and King on the campaign trail.  It's fitting, isn't it, that Al Franken is campaigning with another famous for quips of questionable taste, Joe Biden?

So what has my dander up about Mr. Franken?  The fact that back in his days as a writer on Saturday Night Live he made quips about raping Lesley Stahl, a reporter for CBS. Humor?  Funny?  You tell me.

"... and I give these pills to Lesley Stahl. Then when she passes out I take her to the closet and rape her."

and

"When she passes out I put her in various positions and take pictures of her."

How crude, insensitive and offensive can you get? 

Yes, it happened a long time ago.  So?  It's an issue now and improprieties have a way of never going away. Why make yourself vulnerable to it now that it is a huge issue?

What is it with these men? Are they really that insensitive as to what rape is all about? Do they not understand it? After all, they are the ones who commit it. Are we still living in an age when women are merely tolerated, being here solely for their pleasure or sport?  

Of course not. The men I know are not like this, but the last several days shows that still too many are.  The idea that they sit in seats of power is disgusting and certainly demeaning. To women and to men who don't and never have wallowed at such depths.

The issue of abortion is an issue about the 'when' of life.  It has it's legitimacy even though I don't believe the political arena is where the debate should be played out. Rape is an entirely different matter.  It's a crime.  For politicians to be so  uninformed as to exactly what rape entails is pathetic.  To joke about it is worse.

It makes me wonder if it's a battle women are winning or if we're just being paid lip service by those holding the most vile of attitudes that they try to veil with smiles and platitudes. Until the veil is accidently dropped and we see the truth of what's hidden.

I Give Up!

I give up. I really do.  The folly of Representative Todd Akin's views on rape and abortion is one reason.  He made the mistake of opening his mouth.  But was that the end of it? No.  Representative Steve King, in defending Akin,  extended the issue to include statutory rape and incest.  In his vast well of knowledge he said he didn't know anyone who had become pregnant from statutory rape or incest but he'd be open to learning more.  I  don't know anyone either but I have no doubt what-so-ever that it happens!

How can these people legislate on issues where they have such scant knowledge?  Aren't these the very people who are so sure exactly when life begins? How can they be so precise on one while being so ignorant of the other.

I understand this is where their stand on abortion comes from.  If life begins the moment sperm meets egg and killing said life is criminal than abortion for any reason would be criminal.  But it's not criminal.  It's still legal in all 50 states.

There's one big problem with this thinking.  Not everyone agrees.  While many hold this belief, it is not a scientific fact.  It is opinion.  Conception versus birth.

I do believe some things should not be legislated and this is one of them.  I've ranted about government intrusion in my life for a very long time.  I will also rant about religious intrusion in my life.  I may choose to surround myself by like minded people on social issues.  There is some comfort in that, confirmation that others believe as I do.  I will not try to force those who do not agree to do so. Nor condemn other opinions and beliefs as being wrong or criminal.  There are too many variables and complexities.

I find it disturbingly ironic that those who bemoan the government taking over more and more of our freedoms don't recognize the parallels among themselves when they try to do the same with their social/religious beliefs.

For me it boils down to very simple truths.  If I choose not to pass on the gene pool of a rapist it should be my right.  If I don't care to breast feed my baby it should be my right.  Should I want to drink a large sugar laden soda it should be my right.

It should not be the right of some ill informed politician to be making those decisions for me.

I cannot see in either party a platform I can come close to supporting.  Don't tell me the Republican platform doesn't reflect Romney's views, just the party's.  What's the point of having it if it isn't going to be adhered to by those elected?

In the same vein,  what's the point of having laws if the President is able to bypass them by executive order without the country having recourse?

I don't know what to think any more.  Nothing seems to make any sense.  Listening to the falsehoods and nastiness and ignorance is exhausting. There was a time I thought we could do better and I was heartened.  But I no longer do.  How many more out there are like me?  Ready to turn away in disappointment and disgust? Ready to just give up?

Tea Party - Hijacked Movement

Hitch your political wagon to the Tea Party and you're assured a place in infamy.  This post is based on observation from reading various publications without reference to fact or figures.  After all, it's how most of us get our news these days anyway.  Even Obama's spokesperson thinks we get it from programs like Entertainment Tonight. How I hope she is wrong!

I do admire that a group of citizens fed up with out of control spending was able to cobble together a movement that is known as the Tea Party. There lack of cohesive leadership, however, has been detrimental to their cause and most certainly the Republican party.  Candidates who otherwise would not have had a chance to be elected were savvy enough to latch on to the Tea Party mantra thereby garnering their support.  Too many of them have been losers and good people have been turned out of office or kept in office because of them.  Sharron Angle losing to Harry Reid was probably the worst.  There was Christine O'Donnell who was odd to say the least. There are others. They all wear the Christian Conservative badge.  Now we're saddled with Todd Akin who seems to think the most important election of our time revolves around his being forgiven for a statement for which he obviously is not sorry. He is a Tea Partier.

If the Tea Party wants to maintain influence without a formal organization they're barking up the wrong tree.  They're going to have to vet candidates who claim to sympathize with them or we will continue to have a divided Republican party with moderates on one side and nut cases and obstructionists on the other and a Tea Party losing it's steam.

Granted, and I've said it often, a lot of the old war horses should be turned out to pasture but be sure it's for the right reason.  Willingness to work with the few Democrats who are also willing is not it.

Romney is a weak candidate.  I'd hoped he'd learned from his last run what he did wrong and make an effort to make corrections but that doesn't seem like it is to be.  When the VP candidate is more popular than the presidential candidate you've got a problem.  It's deja vu all over again!  McCain/Palin.  At least this time the VP candidate has some substance whether or not you agree with his positions.

Meanwhile,  as I often say, Syria continues to be a blood bath, our soldiers continue to be killed in Afghanistan and Iran is getting ever closer to a nuclear bomb.  Can we afford to turn a blind eye to the Akins of our political world hoping they'll miraculously 'get it' before it's too late?  I'd say the Tea Party has a part to play in this.  The ball is in their court. Tell Mr. Akin he must go.