I have been reading the comments given by all on the current events of our great country and have a question and of course an opinion (doesn't every one...). Whether it be Bush, Obama, Clinton, McCain etc, when was the last time or how many times in your voting lives have you walked into a voting booth and voted for the person you fully agreed with and endorsed for president. If I can even narrow this further why does it seem that we continually vote for the better of two evils on election day. I understand the system of democracy and its quest for the popular vote even though I have doubts about the electoral college and how congress refuses to pass a constitutional amendment to go to a direct popular vote. It seems to me that beyond all the political rhetoric we are bombarded with daily from the Republicans & Democrats we Americans refuse to see the total control these powerful systems have over us. We have a system that continually devours each other until they feel a threat to their own institution and then they join hands, sharpen their claws and wipe out that which might take away their power share. I realize our country was based on checks & balances to keep us on the straight and narrow but our leadership and ritual to vote in new leadership has morphed into something beyond that. It now has only one goal and that is to stay in power no matter the cost. We can argue one fact or another that is bothering us or affecting us in our lives because of the past or current leadership but in the end its wasted oxygen. Wait a period of time and the same distress we are feeling over this problem will manifest on another stupidity instituted upon us. I truly have no faith in our current system in its form and do not have an understanding of how it will ever change. I wish I had a magnificent answer to it all but I do not. I will keep thinking, reading and communicating with others in hope that someday I will run across "the answer" to my questions. RC
Man is that ever the truth. I think one problem....a huge problem is that we live in the age of the blogger....the irrational media celebrity....and instant judgement by the internet. These things combined make it very hard for that moderate....sincere candidate I described in a different topic to emerge as his or her party leader. The ability to say to hell with the extremists is what we need desperately because far left or far right is far wrong for this country right now.
Our last half century has been dominated by TV. Every since Nixon's sweaty upper lip influenced voters in the 60 campaign, we've become a nation where appearances are more important than ideas. Dukakis in the tank, Clinton's "dreamy blue eyes" , the anti war Kerry, these are all campaign images with impact. A hundred years ago, most voters never saw the candidates live. They read speaches and editorials in newspapers. We voted for ideas not looks or soundbites. It's all part of what someone call the United States of Entertainment.
Good post Gipper. Image control has become more important than substance. Palin had the looks but her experience factor or lack thereof had a spotlight on it that was hard for her to shake and once that perception took hold there wasn't much she could do. Of course....maybe her selection by the GOP as a running mate was a mistake to begin with and they let looks/gender overrule substance.
The GOPs biggest mistake is that they picked a moderate to lead the ticket. While there are those out there that long for moderate politicians to run, in the end those same people vote for radical socialists instead. And speaking of Palin's "experience" someone sent me what they thought was the quote of the year. It was by Newt and went something like this "It wasn't that the Nobel Prize was awarded to Barrak Obama despite the lack of any qualifications, it was that the American people awarded him the presidency on the same basis."