(no subject)
In a political discussion this morning, someone made the comment "I'm usually a liberal, but this time I believe I'm going to vote for McCain." I promptly told them not to be so concerned, which was returned with a confused look.
I woke up this morning far earlier than I normally do -- which is to say, essentially, that I actually woke up on time -- so I took a few minutes to sit and watch CNN while waiting for my brain to wake up. On the morning edition, they had a brief sit & chat with one Ron Paul, a Republican candidate who, until the last weekend, didn't see much news coverage. I have to admit, a few of the things he said were probably some of the more honest statements I've heard among all the Election 2008 BS so far. Not to say I agree with him on everything or that I think any one President could make some of the changes he was touting, but he at least seemed a little more disconnected from the Hive Mind crap McCain/Clinton/Obama bring to the table.
I'm torn over how to vote. I can say, with conviction, that I pretty much hate the Big Three. Between McCain, Clinton, and Obama, I think they would all be terrible Presidents. Who would have made a good ticket? I don't know, perhaps Paul v Edwards? That's a much more difficult call. I am, however, pretty distraught at the current options.
My personal opinion on Hillary is that if she had a Y Chromosome and a different surname, she never would have been elected in New York, let alone made her way onto the Democratic Ballot. And while Obama is a fine speaker, he's little more than an idealogy spewer -- he has no concrete plans on how to achieve anything he says. Of course, that's enough to get the attention of most younger voters. And McCain, well -- he truly does earn the "Republicrat" badge.
So, then comes the choice. Do I take the "Vote for the lesser of the three evils" route, or if someone else I find more interesting is on the ticket, vote for them out of principle. Or even do a write-in. When I was younger, I didn't like the idea of what I perceived as a wasted vote. However, I can't help but wonder if people voting not based on who they thought was best, but instead on who they *didn't* want to win, is how we got into this sort of situation to begin with.
The amount of kiddy-grade politics going back and forth right now is driving me crazy. November cannot get here soon enough. The Democrats could not possibly be embarassing themselves more (I'm ashamed, honestly, to have ever associated myself with the party), and the amount of water cooler chatter the primaries are still generating is reaching the point of political involvement burnout for a lot of folks. I did find it funny, though, that this morning CNN had a poll -- "Have you heard enough about Reverand Jeremiah Wright?" The numbers, at the time, were somewhere around 70% "Yes, please move on." and 30% "No, tell me more." And of course, they followed that poll with probably 10 minutes of coverage on the Reverand.
I would love to rant more, but I have a lot of work to do.
I woke up this morning far earlier than I normally do -- which is to say, essentially, that I actually woke up on time -- so I took a few minutes to sit and watch CNN while waiting for my brain to wake up. On the morning edition, they had a brief sit & chat with one Ron Paul, a Republican candidate who, until the last weekend, didn't see much news coverage. I have to admit, a few of the things he said were probably some of the more honest statements I've heard among all the Election 2008 BS so far. Not to say I agree with him on everything or that I think any one President could make some of the changes he was touting, but he at least seemed a little more disconnected from the Hive Mind crap McCain/Clinton/Obama bring to the table.
I'm torn over how to vote. I can say, with conviction, that I pretty much hate the Big Three. Between McCain, Clinton, and Obama, I think they would all be terrible Presidents. Who would have made a good ticket? I don't know, perhaps Paul v Edwards? That's a much more difficult call. I am, however, pretty distraught at the current options.
My personal opinion on Hillary is that if she had a Y Chromosome and a different surname, she never would have been elected in New York, let alone made her way onto the Democratic Ballot. And while Obama is a fine speaker, he's little more than an idealogy spewer -- he has no concrete plans on how to achieve anything he says. Of course, that's enough to get the attention of most younger voters. And McCain, well -- he truly does earn the "Republicrat" badge.
So, then comes the choice. Do I take the "Vote for the lesser of the three evils" route, or if someone else I find more interesting is on the ticket, vote for them out of principle. Or even do a write-in. When I was younger, I didn't like the idea of what I perceived as a wasted vote. However, I can't help but wonder if people voting not based on who they thought was best, but instead on who they *didn't* want to win, is how we got into this sort of situation to begin with.
The amount of kiddy-grade politics going back and forth right now is driving me crazy. November cannot get here soon enough. The Democrats could not possibly be embarassing themselves more (I'm ashamed, honestly, to have ever associated myself with the party), and the amount of water cooler chatter the primaries are still generating is reaching the point of political involvement burnout for a lot of folks. I did find it funny, though, that this morning CNN had a poll -- "Have you heard enough about Reverand Jeremiah Wright?" The numbers, at the time, were somewhere around 70% "Yes, please move on." and 30% "No, tell me more." And of course, they followed that poll with probably 10 minutes of coverage on the Reverand.
I would love to rant more, but I have a lot of work to do.