October 6, 2008

NEITHER JOHN MCCAIN NOR SARAH PALIN WILL EVER REDUCE TAXES, SPENDING, OR THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT

McCain and Palin say they want lower taxes, and reduced spending and size of government. With one swift vote on the "rescue" package, John McCain has undercut all of his campaign's few remaining "reduced government" themes. This massive bill is a severe contradiction, spending gobs of tax payer money on useless, random pork barrel crap. McCain, and his "energizing" sidekick Sarah Palin's "reform" spin on reduced spending and size of government, have nothing left to say now that they have supported this package. A criticism only has legs if it can't also be applied in reverse. McCain can't whine about taxes and spending without recalling his support of the bail-out package. It can be argued that the government "had" to do something about the economy. It can also be argued that, based on the party's founding principles, Republicans should've done nothing to intervene in the free market. Two people so spastically obsessed with a reduced federal government could just as easily made a bold, "maverick" move by opposing the bill. This would've harkened the original days of the Republican Party, and emboldened the unifying principles of both McCain and Palin's entire careers. Republicans used to believe in frugality. Oil drilling is another contradiction to financial prudence. Interest rates, inflation and market demand will soon spike the price of oil so high that domestic drilling will be inconsequential compared to the amount that could be penny-pinched with subtle changes in practices. At least Obama has offered a drilling compromise, not just another stubborn barking of a campaign slogan.

The U.S. system is too complex for a "big government" to hinder private initiative and large corporations. In vice versa, most government corruption theories are impossible considering how little the free market can affect the government within its checks and balances. Evidence lies in the infeasible electability of both Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. Kucinich is a descendent of Ralph Nader, calling for the transparency and indictment of government corruption with more regulation and stringent laws. This ideology may be the direct root of the Republican "big government" argument, embodied deeply by Ron Paul. Paul would essentially have little to no government control, which may also be a root cause of our current financial meltdown.



THE DARK DOUBTS OF THE MCCAIN TICKET EVERYONE'S AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT

If Obama's past can be riddled with fear and doubt, so can McCain's. John McCain admits to being a "rebel" and "cocky" youth who drank excessive amounts of alcohol. He admits to being un-educated, a drop-out, and failure in school. He is one of many who have nothing better than to join the military by default. I have total respect for anyone signing up to risk their lives for a larger purpose. I doubt that was John McCain's original intention. He joined the military to clean up his personal life, got shot down, and stayed alive. He deserves every U.S. citizen's respect. This does NOT deserve him the Presidency. By the same slim threads that slimy arguments try to tie Obama to radical Muslims and "anti-American" sentiments, the legitimacy of John McCain's U.S. citizenship can be questioned given that he was born on a military base in Panama. It may a non-contintental state, but at least Barack was born on U.S. soil.

Republicans undercut the "big government" critique with intervention into private matters like abortion and gay rights. Republicans are now also undermining the moral fiber of the Conservative movement. Considering both McCain and Palin's personal lives, with a failed marriage, drug abuse and pregnant teenage daughter, Conservatives can no longer ride a moral tide that has shifted under Republicans' feet. The Obamas look like boring, nerdy, Christian squares compared to the checkered pasts of the McCains and Palins. Malia Obama was born on the Fourth of July, for Christ's Sake. The Republicans shoot themselves in the foot enough with personal drama. Social conservatism interjected into government undercuts the "small government" platform further. Recently, there's been enough ugly personal drama in the personal lives of Republicans that the GOP now has a formulaic response to scandal: re-deflect and distract attention away with further attacks. At any time, McCain and Palin won't hesitate to push the button on Obama's past if the heat on their own past gets too hot. And if things slip too far out of control, they'll sound the losers cry, "it's the media!". McCain and Palin become more like Hillary Clinton with the criticism of the mainstream media, the same exact media they use to make the attacks. With the game on the line and time running out, it's always the ones about to lose who whine and bitch about the referees.

If people are paying too much attention, Republicans can't get away with total hypocrisy. They want their simplistic zingers and short-sighted sports arena chants to work on a dumbed-down electorate. McCain leans on the loaded stigma of "playing politics" whenever he's backed in a corner. The new comeback is 'he's interjecting bi-partisan politics!' Obama as a "celebrity" is another appeal to a uninformed electorate. This assumes Obama's name is known only because of the "fame" that falls on stupid crap like getting out of a limo showing naked crotch. He has risen to international stature very quick, yet there are substantial reasons why. The least substantive reason is that he is perhaps the greatest orator in a generation. They're trying to tie "politics" with the baseless trash of celebrity drama so that people will tune out of the details, hoping people will see Barack as just another good-looking talent with no substance. This rests on the assumption that Obama has indeed blasted politics into massive new voting blocks. The Republicans are freaked out. They hope people aren't paying much attention to the details.



THE INTANGIBLES OF NON-PROFESSIONALISM

We need a hard-nosed "bulldog" like John McCain to serve us... in the military, not as President. A President can be passionate without militance. I hesitate to set up a simplified dichotomy, yet this election may indeed come down to intelligence versus emotion. You always need a brawny bruiser in a fight, but if you're smart enough, you can flex one muscle and talk yourself out of ever throwing a punch. Unfortunately, meat-heads keep becoming the politicians who run this country. I can't think of how many times on the street when, with the right physical demeanor, I've essentially talked myself out of a fist fight. Meatheads aren't bred with street smarts. They haze each other with stature and posturing. There is a nitty-gritty business of politics beyond the cocky posturing. Both McCain and Palin constantly employ the same phony smiles and winks that George W. Bush has fed TV cameras for 8 years. These are the intangible behaviors to scrutinize when foreseeing a Presidency. Watch the demeanor closely in the debates. McCain and Palin both had poor eye contact. McCain never looked Obama in the eye during the first debate. Palin looked at the camera and said "you" while addressing Biden, demonstrating a fear to criticize him while looking him in the eye. Both McCain and Palin condescended heavily during the debates. McCain repeated many times: "(Obama) just doesn't understand..." Palin: "oh, there ya go again Joe..." and "I just don't know how you work".

We've had 8 years of cocky, unprofessional politics. Bush's fast food taglines over-played the public enough to walk willingly into war. "Drill Baby Drill" is meant to have the same effect. I won't defend ivy-league politicians with wordy rhetoric who talk down to us. I cringed every time John Kerry and Al Gore rattled off windy explanations. Both Barack and Biden have learned from these mistakes. Their language has become hardened, simplified, even repetitive. They are both smart, but they do not condescend, not to their opponents, and especially not to the public. "Straight Talk" is code for talking down to people. Talking honestly and directly is not just simple talk with colloquial language, and the Presidency isn't only about domestic communication. How can we expect a leader to be a diplomat to the world or "across the aisle" if they can't professionally debate an opponent or reign in the condescending rhetoric? This isn't just the folksy popularity contest of a beauty pageant. McCain and Palin are not feasible leaders if they can only interact with people on one level. The job description requires massive participation with smart opponents, world diplomats, and those who are "across the aisle".



MCCAIN WILL BE WORSE THAN GEORGE W. BUSH

In 2000, I was one of many independent voters who would've said of McCain, "I'm not voting for him, but I have a lot of respect for the guy". Even up until as recently as last month, I worried that McCain may be seen as an inferior President to Obama, but better than Bush. McCain talks far too aggressively about Iran, as if he's already entered into a pro-active stance. Nevermind another MidEast blunder to embolden terrorists. McCain and Palin rail on Obama for "giving away strategy to the enemy", while they vocally support a plan to attack Iran on worldwide news media. Iran is one thing, but the bail out vote is the last straw. McCain has no backbone. He lost the nomination in 2000 to an eventual President with an approval rating worse than an impeached Nixon. Considering his eminent war stance, and how little he would ever do to actually reduce taxes, spending and the size of government, it looks like McCain would actually be worse a President than George W. Bush. McCain is right: he does put "Country First"; the abstract ideology in his brain is prioritized over the pragmatic realities in the U.S.



THE MCCAINS ARE THE RICH ELITE. THE OBAMAS "R" US.

The average income and donation of an Obama supporter is much smaller than those of a McCain supporter. Considering Obama's part in historical turn-outs and new voter registration, he will be accountable to a much larger amount of lower income people. The smaller handful of the richest rich are still the Republican base with McCain. Republicans protect their own personal fortunes because they are constantly mis-managing their money. It's now a mainstream stereotype that Democrats manage their money better, and usually carry the U.S. out of economic crisis. Understandably, McCain doesn't know the size of his fortune. Most of it is Cindy's. These people are LOADED. They want to avoid higher taxes because they pay massive taxes on their enormous personal wealth. They want the government to spend less money because they waste their own on over-priced real estate, cars, clothes, and plastic surgery. If they realized that the rest of the U.S. is not as rich as they are, they'd know that most Americans don't have the wealth to waste. If they were in touch with the rest of the country, they'd know that many of us are never worth enough to pay enormous taxes. NONE of us should have any patience left for rich people on TV complaining about paying too much taxes and spending too much money.

The world is watching Barack. The Berlin rally was only a tiny sliver. The massive amounts of campaign donations that can't be made from foreign citizens would be translated instantly into foreign investment once Obama is President. Not only would the worldview of the U.S. change for the better literally overnight after Election Day, the world would put money where it's mouth is. It's not just diplomacy, it's business. The U.S. would have more income, exports would increase, and the U.S. dollar value would stop it's slide. The world would believe in the American Dream again; that anyone can make it here, not just the inbred whiter-than-white frat boys. Barack wasn't bred for this job. He was born for it. As just another non-entitled American, he is hell-bent on empowering us, not himself. We're all waiting to have a real leader as President, and even though Barack is the one, he says, "WE are who we've been waiting for." We must each go out and vote for Barack Obama on November 4, 2008.