Blogs Are Stupid

Doesn't anyone believe in Dear Diary anymore? What happened to the joy of putting actual pen to paper? And why does every ordinary Jane and John think they can write well enough to burden the world with their scribblings? It’s a mystery that badly needs solving. My first entry contains my thoughts about blogging and will set your expectations. The rest will probably be stream of consciousness garbage, much like you’ll find on any other blog. Perhaps we will both come away enlightened.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Way To Take A Stand There, Dude

I'm not voting for John McCain.

That doesn't mean I'm completely convinced Barack Obama is the best man for the job. I won't go into all the reasons why, but I do have a list of pros and cons. Suffice it to say, I don't think there's a politician out there that could inspire in me a deep and abiding faith. As always, for me, it comes down to the lesser of two evils.

Obama has some strong qualities. I wouldn't hate him in the White House. And really, that's about as good as it gets for me. I have an inherent dislike of politicians and their ilk. I have an extreme aversion to politics in general.

It's all a bunch of gladhanders doing their best to bullshit whomever they can into endorsing and then voting for them.

Embittered, much?

Maybe not so much embittered as...jaded. I was alive when Nixon was nearly impeached, and the resulting backlash imprinted a healthy suspicion upon my psyche, I suppose. I remember the adults talking. I remember the shock and the outrage. I remember the profound sense of betrayal. I think it was the end of a more innocent age.

I was very young, but I remember realizing, from the snippets of conversation that I overheard, that what happened was a very, very bad thing.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES committed a crime. He lied. I could think of nothing worse. Because, if THE PRESIDENT can lie, then who in all the world can you possibly trust??

It was then that my sense of mistrust in regard to politicians was spawned, I think. Years later I would learn, of course, that Watergate was an even bigger political clusterfuck than I could have ever imagined and that the seeds of corruption were sown very deeply, which only solidified my distaste for the entire enterprise.

Anyway...as I said, it's come down to the lesser of two evils for me and Barack Obama falls firmly into that slot.

I've known for a while that he would be my choice, and my list of complaints against McCain has been slowly growing.

Today, it's the fact that the man is distressingly wishy-washy.

"McCain opposes gay marriage but also a constitutional amendment against it and has expressed limited support for the rights accorded couples in same-sex civil unions. Apart from opposing a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, he is against most abortion rights and says he would favor overturning the Supreme Court decision affirming those rights."

Wow. Now that's a man who is committed to his beliefs.

Yech.

Those are two of my deal breakers, and I think the same can be said for a great many Americans. So instead of taking a real stand and risk alienating a sizeable percentage of his constituency, he has chosen to flirt with liberalism while married to conservative idealism.

I suppose some people appreciate his seeming willingness to see both sides of the respective issues and his ostensible sensitivity to the very strong emotions that they elicit.

But me? I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for the man if he would just pick a philsophy and stick with it. I know the same criticism has been made of Senator Obama as well. So just where does the distinction lie between diplomacy and lip service?

I don't know.

What I know is...my position does not waver. And I'd like a candidate who can say the same.

18 Comments:

  • At 6:09 AM, Blogger Woman in a Window said…

    hum. I like how you draw your argument out. Honest.

    I think one can see McCain's beliefs lying right there beneath the surface, he's just afraid to say, Yes, Yes I'm an archaic meathead, lest he scare away too many, you know...humans.

    And Obama is a bit of a mystery, albeit fresh.

    In Canada, for what it's worth, the first ingrediant we add to any political pot is skepticism. We're not a bunch of trustworthy nicity-nice people, as the world would have you believe. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

     
  • At 7:13 AM, Blogger All Things BD said…

    I'm a conservative, and I don't like McCain for the same reasons you stated. I want someone firmly on one side or the other. Moderates really do nothing for me.

    If you're for or against abortion rights/gay rights/gun control/limited government, then BE COMMITTED. Take a stand. I respect liberals who are firm in their beliefs way more than someone who purports to be a conservative but who doesn't actually stand up for those ideals.

    Still don't know who I'm voting for, and it will probably end up as you said: lesser of two evils.

     
  • At 8:16 AM, Blogger SUEB0B said…

    John McCain called his wife the C word in front of other people. I wonder what he calls her in private? Even if he was wonderful in every other way, I think that might be a deal-breaker for me. But he's not wonderful - he's one of the architects of the savings and loan disaster, for goodness' sake.

     
  • At 9:13 AM, Blogger Namito said…

    You are paying much more attention to this whole thing than I have done in the past month or so.

    It takes too much energy to read and listen through all the bullshit to get what really going on in their heads.

     
  • At 12:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    McCain lost me four years ago, when he didn't defend his wife and daughter against the smear that she was his illegitimate "black" daughter, when she was really and truly legally adopted. I'd have come out swinging on that one. And then he cozied up to Bush, after all the smears the campaigners did to him. Yech. Too bad, because I used to respect him, long, long ago.

     
  • At 1:30 PM, Blogger Shelley said…

    As a native of Arizona, John McCain has been our senator since I was in high school. And that's a long damn time. And I have never liked him. The first reason I didn't like him is because he was always playing that POW card. Ok, you were in Vietnam, a POW, I get it. You're a war hero. That in itself deserves respect. But when you start pulling that out in a political arena, as a reason to vote for someone...it's just not. He doesn't really seem to take a stand on much, and he also seems confused a good deal of the time. Let's face it, he's up there in age. I think Obama, a fresh, young idealist, is what we need, where we need to go. Of course, I'm a card-carrying, bleeding-heart liberal, so of course that's what I'm going to say. But when he speaks, I feel hope, and not fear. I think that says something.

     
  • At 2:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm not a big McCain supporter but Obama scares the crap out of me. Lesser of two evils indeed.

     
  • At 5:58 PM, Blogger Crazed Nitwit said…

    I'm thinking they all be idjits.

     
  • At 6:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yep. Just yep.

     
  • At 8:15 PM, Blogger Green-Eyed Momster said…

    I'd vote for you if you were running! Any chance?
    Hugs!!
    :)

     
  • At 10:21 PM, Blogger silk purse maker said…

    Every four years, we pinch our collective noses and enter the voting booth. I've learned to avoid this walk of shame by voting by mail, but I still cry myself to sleep every election night. McCain probably is a good guy, but is just so caught up in the neocon bullshit that he can't think straight. Cindy Mc scares the hell out of me. The Big O might be OK, but bottom line is, he's still a politician and will tell the moronic electorate anything he thinks they want to hear, and they'll eat it up with a big spoon, every time! We're basically uber-screwed no matter who gets elected. I'm going for Nader this year. What the hell.

     
  • At 5:28 AM, Blogger Amy Y said…

    I think, for the first time in a long time, we have the opportunity to elect someone fantastic in Obama. I don't see him as the lesser of two evils at all... I think he has some big ideas and I love that he isn't afraid to dream a little bit for our country... it makes me feel like I can dream of a better place to raise my boys than what we have now.

    But whether Obama gets your juices flowing or not, I'm happy to hear that you're not voting for McCain.

    And I love hearing you talk politics :)

     
  • At 12:56 PM, Blogger Notes and letters to myself.... said…

    I am voting for Mickey Mouse for President and Goofy for Vice-President.

     
  • At 2:09 PM, Blogger sltbee69 said…

    I'm a conservative as well but I'm not crazy about McCain for those such reasons as well. Obama - nope. I'm not a fan of let's just redistribute the wealth to those who don't have it. Sounds a bit too much like a socialistic state to me. So, I've got to decide if I can get past what I don't like about McCain or just sit this one out. My state (IL) my vote doesn't seem to much matter anyway, the DEMS always win out.

     
  • At 3:30 PM, Blogger Girlplustwo said…

    Ah BA. I am so inspired by Obama I can barely type.

    If you ever want to guest post at MOMocrats, let me know. Door's open!

     
  • At 9:24 PM, Blogger elastic waistland said…

    I could not have said it any better!

     
  • At 5:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "McCain opposes gay marriage but also a constitutional amendment against it and has expressed limited support for the rights accorded couples in same-sex civil unions. Apart from opposing a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, he is against most abortion rights and says he would favor overturning the Supreme Court decision affirming those rights."

    When I read this, it didn't sound wishy washy at all to me. The way I interpreted this statement was that McCain's personal opinion is that he is opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage, and he doesn't believe that either of these issues should be federalized (as they would be with a federal constitutional amendment, or if the US Supreme Court finds a federal constitutional right somewhere, as it did with abortion). This would leave the issues for each of the 50 states to decide; it would not make abortion or same-sex marriage illegal generally.

    I agree with an earlier commenter regarding the wealth redistribution issue. I will not be voting for Obama, because quite frankly, he is too much of a socialist for me.

     
  • At 2:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I am puzzled by the "wealth distribution" discussion point. Can someone explain it to me? Help me out here!

    I have looked at McCain's and Obama's tax plans. Obama plans to lower taxes for 95% of Americans. McCain plans to lower taxes for the other 5% -- those that make more than $5 million a year.

    I'm not rich, so McCain does not represent my interests. And the fact that he is in a position to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe and make abortion illegal -- well, as Margaret Sanger said, you're not really free unless you can decide for yourself whether or not to become a mother.

    --Lisa

     

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