Saturday, October 11, 2008

Thoughts on the November Election

I think its a combination of drugs I'm taking for my ear infection and the alcohol I'm drinking, but the whole election process is depressing the hell out of me.

No matter who wins, we are still in the economic shitter, and there is no clear resolution for the problem.

The situation in Trashcanistan and Iraq is a drain on our diplomatic credibility, North Korea and Iran are going to continue to do whatever they want, regardless of our impotent blustering.

The American people, as a whole, are the losers in this election, no matter who gets in the office.

It really doesn't seem to matter at this point who wins. Both choices are abysmal.

You can't believe the media, and you *definitely* can't believe the campaigns...

It's beyond choosing between the lesser of two evils, since they are equally bad. You can't judge them on their associations (all bad) or their merits (neither has any)...

And no matter who wins, the following will still be true:

  • My 401k will still be in the toilet for years.
  • The US economy will take years to recover.
  • The US dollar will still do poorly worldwide.
  • Europe will still hate us. (Who gives a shit?)
  • Islamic militants will still try to find ways to kill Americans.
  • The US will still throw away billions on "Homeland Security" needlessly.
  • Gas prices will continue to rise.
  • People who identify themselves as Democrats will continue living in a dreamworld.
  • Republicans will call theirs an economically responsible imaginary realm, but it is just as intangible.
I'm voting, and I'm encouraging you to vote too.. But I'm not very sanguine about the future.

TBG- tired, frustrated, and depressed.

7 comments:

TheWrongWay said...

It's like you reached into my head and yanked out my current most depressing thought.

The Big Guy said...

It's killing me.
You have no idea.

And you can't escape it.

If the press isn't harping on their chosen Messiah, they are wringing their hands about the credit crisis.
(And guess what- the more they talk about it, and the more they scream "the sky is falling", the worse it gets. Obviously the press hasn't figured out the "cause/effect" concept.)
It's the same thing with the election... The press NEEDS the scandal, the controversy, the headlines...
Election season is the biggest money-maker for the media...

Election reform now!
Minimum campaign seasons, 30 days only.
Capped campaign ad times for all candidates.
Make them talk to people LIVE- rallys and town hall meets only.

It'll never work, but we can dream.

Jay

Anonymous said...

Minimum campaign seasons is the worst idea I've ever heard, especially as short of a time as 30 days. It's nowhere near enough time to disseminate all the critical information a voter would need to make up his or her mind. It may seem like you hear things over and over again, but some people may not have heard it at all yet. Being informed when it comes to something as important as a presidential election is critical.

Anonymous said...

"Messiajh" is an interesting term for him, although not appropriate. However, it may seem that way when you look at the abysmal qualities of the other candidate.

Anonymous said...

It's doubtful that any candidate will fully agree with everyone's stances on everything. To refer to the decision as choosing the lesser of two evils is taking an extraordinarily negative slant on the issue.

The Big Guy said...

Well Anon...
Isn't it just like a Democrat to espouse a position without the guts to sign your name...

Just a couple comments on your oh-so-wise nuggets of wisdom...

Minimum campaign seasons is the worst idea you've ever heard?
Jeebus, you need to get out more.
Without even trying I can come up with 25 worse ideas, starting with Global Warmening and running with scissors... Give me an hour and I'll write you a book on ideas worse than short elections seasons.

Minimum campaigns work- take a peek at how the Japanese do their elections and the restrictions they face.
(I will grant you they have less area to cover, but the idea of a short election season has a lot of appeal.)

http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/19/news/mn-42560

https://qir.kyushu-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2324/1546/4/KJ00000742797-00001.pdf

It can be done, and it works...
The problem is that by and large, the US people are a herd of sheep who want to be spoon-fed what to think and what to do, and refuse to do the required research, and won't put the needed cognitive power to work to make an informed decision, which is WHY politicians spend so much time and money beating us to death with their slogans, rhetoric and promises.

As for the Messiah, that's Louis Farrakhan's term, not mine...
From the Associated Press...
(who took the link to this article [ http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsH788z7q8_B5BpcOtdkCK0IwN5wD8V11KQO0 ] down recently since BHO is trying to distance3 himself from Farrakhan)
-"The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.

"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."

Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father. "A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall." "-
Boy, if there was ever a reason to vote AGAINST someone...

As for calling my "slant" on the issue "negative", (and I'm assuming you mean negative because it includes your candidate, since in the previous comment you felt the need to label the other candidate as "abysmal" [my term]...)
To portray your opinion as non-negative you should have at least characterized both candidates as equally positive or negative, or else your partisan bias will show, and thus your credibility as an informed individual goes out with the proverbial bath water.
(Look it up.)

Not that it is a big deal to me, but why don't you sign your name next time...
(In reality you might be Anon to others, but with all the tools available for web statistics (statcounter.com and google analytics for instance), you'd be surprised how much info is available about who hits what parts of a 'site. I'm just saying...)

Thanks for your comments...
Really.
TBG

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of a minimal campaign season. 90 days should about do it. They have that in Australia though I don't remember the duration. They also can not advertise in any way the last three days before the polls open - only talk to people face to face.

That would give me some peace and quiet to mull over the lesser of the two evils and a chance to read the 112 page booklet on the amendments in Colorado. Did I mention the 30 page booklet for the county amendments? I haven't had this much homework since... I can't remember when. :- )