Vice Presidential Debate
Posted by Dean in Rant, tags: American Government, Election 2008, TVThe 2008 Vice Presidential debate was on tonight. The “first and only” of such debates as the moderator described it. And after watching the first 30 minutes of it, I can’t tell you how glad I am that it won’t be happening again. I got so frustrated with how the “debate” was proceeding that I actually turned it off and left my apartment to take a walk, and when I came home and turned it back on the first thing I heard was Sarah Palin talking about nuc-u-lar weapons. The word is NUCLEAR. What is it about this word that seems to be difficult for both her and our current grammatically challenged president? If you can’t say it, you shouldn’t have the power to enact it.
When I first sat down to watch the debate I was actually looking forward to it. I honestly had no clue it was going to be on tonight because – quite frankly – I didn’t care and had no interest in keeping up with the daily happenings of the presidential campaign. However, once I realized I’d have to change the channel to avoid it, I decided that it might be worth watching. How wrong I was.
It was not so much a professional debate as it was watching two grown adults squabble like children. ”No, what I said was…” ”Well, 8 years ago you said this…” ”Well last week you insinuated this…” ”Well a couple minutes ago you misrepresented that…” I got so tired of it, and so did the moderator from what I could gleam of her few words. She would address a question to the two candidates, and they’d sidestep and address a comment the other candidate had made during the previous round of questions. During their tirade of defending themselves and tearing down the other, neither got around to answering quite a few of the new questions posed to them. The moderator tried to reign them in, but they’d have none of it. They would’ve been better suited in a child’s bouncy house with big cushioned boxing gloves on than in formal attire in front of the nation.
Biden would defend Obama and tear down McCain while Palin provided glowing praise of McCain and criticized Obama. They went back and forth in this patter until I couldn’t remember the actual question that was even being discussed because they were referencing passed bills and proposed tax reforms that happened so many years ago, constantly trying to guide the conversation to a topic that made their presidential candidate look better. Granted, I’m not so dumb as to not realize this is the whole point of the debate, but it was gone about utterly wrong and was a supreme disappointment to watch.
I’m embarrassed that these are the two choices I have to vote for. Luckily, neither is the presidential candidate, but I’m afraid to tune in and watch an Obama vs. McCain debate for fear that it will be the same circus if not worse. I dread the next two months leading up to the election. The campaigning is only to get more intense. If they were monkeys, they’d be flinging poo at this point. If I were you, I’d duck and cover.
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A a wise man I know stated “We are choosing the lesser of two evils”.
I for one would love to see a debate were the candidates would not do the he said she said and go at each other. But since it is very easy to twist the truth buy leaving out a few facts. Example: one may state you voted no for the bill to give health care to more children and to increase pay to teachers but leave out the part were the reason they voted no was that there was to much pork in the bill, that had nothing to do with the bill as it was original written, or that there was a better bill that was going to be voted on that would address these issues. The problem I see is to much of the I want power and to keep my job. I do not see enough of the do what is right for our country and her people.
I could go on and on but I won’t, let me end with the statement that we need to stop sending our dollars to other countries and spend more of our money at home by using our own oil, by building refineries in our own country, by using and looking for all sources of energy, just think of all the jobs that would be created buy do this ad how we would become stronger as a nation. I do recognize that there are may states and companies that are putting allot of money and time in these ares and I am grateful for their efforts.
Welcome to the world of political debates. This is the reason people need to be well-read on the candidates, and not get all they [know] from watching a debate on TV. People are too easily (mis)led by the spoken word. Research, research, research is the key to seeking wisdom, so you don’t just settle for who looked and sounded the best. Politicians know that people have short memories and that’s why these debates become so important just a few weeks before it’s time to vote. They also know that people are very busy and most won’t take the time to look elsewhere to verify what’s been said. Read up on where each candidate stands, and do so from various sources/publications — some of those are bias, if you can imagine — and not just one source, because wisdom comes from seeking out the expected as well as the unexpected information.
PS It’s not a perfect world with perfect people where nothing bad ever happens and nobody makes mistakes — either with pronounciations or facts in history. Yes, we should expect our leaders to be able to say the word “nuclear,” but we should also be able to expect our leaders to know that the stock market crash was in 1929 when Hoover (not Roosevelt) was in office, and people didn’t have TVs in their homes…what are you going to do? Stuff happens. People who don’t yet understand that the President doesn’t make every decision on everything need to educate themselves so that they aren’t ignorant or appear stupid!
Y’know, folksy is great stuff at times. However, I don’t want “Joe” or “Jill Six-pack” running the nation. Just because someone is a nice person, do you want them building a weight-bearing structure, such as a bridge carrying thousands of trucks and commuters everyday? Or, would you rather have an engineer design the bridge and trained construction workers build it? Who wants someone who is just one of us running the nation when their experience is so slight and their knowledge of national issues so shallow.
ah….i thought it was good.
Someone much smarter than me once stated: “The America policital system was perfectly created by geniuses to one day be run by idiots.” It’s not about you… it’s not about me… it’s about US as a whole. Remember the saying: “united we stand, divided we fall” Are you an American first or a Democrat/Republican first?
I’m not perfect, nor have I ever claimed to be, nor will I ever try and fool myself into thinking I could achieve perfection… If you think our leaders should be perfect and be exactly what we imagine in our minds… shoot yourself now and save the rest of us from your stupidity. Everybody has flaws, everybody is influenced by their upbringing or religion or whatever… and since there are over 300 million of us… I’m quite sure there is someone out there that doesn’t fit our image of the perfect leader. Stop talking about it and let your vote be your voice. The rest of us don’t wanna hear it!!!