Voting Booth, Volume VIII

Warning: This is a slam on the Democratic party. Perhaps I should have let some time pass before writing this, but I am too annoyed by what I just watched.

I was going to wait for the GOP to have their convention so I could (most likely) rail on both parties for the practice that has thrust me into anger and rage.

I love the political process. I love two people saying the same thing in different ways and people deciding that one is right and one is wrong just because of the letter by their name. "That ball is red (D)" "That's a red ball (R)" Well, clearly the former is correct because the ball could change colors so right now it's red but the ball is the most important part, not the color. Obviously the latter is correct. It differentiates it from the other balls. That's the red ball. If it gets changed to blue, then we'll talk about the former. It's hysterical.

Sidenote: During Hillary's speech she said that "we need to take back America." From whom? From Bush and Cheney and the Republicans? Funny thing, last time I checked they won the election which means that more Americans voted for them than for the other candidate... which means what you've really said is that we need to take back America from the majority of Americans. Yup, that sounds like the Democratic party. (Oh, and if Hillary really meant what she said in supporting Barack, it means that she'll never be president. You don't run against the incumbent from your party and she'll be in her 60's in eight years which, according to Democrats, is too old to be President) End Sidenote.

That having been said, what I cannot abide is what I have seen every time I've tuned into the DNC (And what I expect to see when I watch portions of the RNC). I apologize, for this post I have to discuss only the Dems because they are the only ones who have spoken nationally on such a stage as their National Convention.

They claim that the Right are fear mongers, and yet all they do is claim that the Republican agenda is the destruction of America! Do they ever say it outright? Practically.

Their speech is reminiscent of war time rhetoric. "The future of our country depends on Barack Obama." "It's for the children." "This is a fight we must win!" Why? Why is this a must win? For either party?

Time and time again, the speaker talks about the things that need to happen in the country: Jobs must be created. The country must be protected. The environment must not be destroyed. Clean energy must be utilized. And Barack Obama is the only candidate who will accomplish this and the Democrats are the only party who will fulfill these goals. That if one were to vote for the other party it would amount to treason.

Here is a direct example. Obama said "Government cannot solve all of our problems. But it should provide us with clean toys, safe water, roads, new technology. It should be for us, not against. Help us, not hurt us. Ensure opportunity not just for those with money and power, but for all. It should protect American jobs and workers." By saying this, he is shamelessly implying that McCain doesn't believe these things and will not do them.

As I type this, Obama is giving his acceptance speech, and I must respond to these statements lest I explode!

Let me first say that I respected Barack before this speech. All of the tactics that I'd been ranting about above had come from other Democrats. Obama had yet to play this game. He talks a lot about "same old politics" and then put on the jersey of the team he claims to oppose. Fear fear fear.

I am livid at all of the strawmen that the speechwriters are setting up. The DNC is not the party of the people as it likes to pretend, it is the party of the strawman. Fear this that the GOP might do, fear that that the Republicans have planned.

Here's an example: Obama said, "I have news for you McCain. We all put our country first." McCain has never implied that Obama doesn't. But now, uninformed people can do nothing but assume that he's made repeated claims to that nature.

Obama mentioned Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech and said that the people who gathered in Washington that day could have heard any number of things. Anger. Discord. Disunity. Division from so many dreams differed or destroyed. Funny thing is: That's exactly what I heard from Obama. Discord. Anger. "Eight is enough." Implying that McCain is a Bush mini-me. I'm hoping the irony was not lost on others.

He claimed that when a candidate has "no fresh ideas, the revert to stale tactics to scare voters. They make their opponent out to be someone people should run from." I wonder what Obama meant to do, then when he claimed the following (each quote followed by my response):

"McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time." What does this even mean? Bush doesn't write bills, he doesn't cast a vote. Is he considering Bush's Veto as his vote? Ok, how many bills that Obama voted for has the president veto'd? If voting with Bush means voting the party line, what's Obama's record? 97%? Even when the majority of his party voted with Bush he still stubbornly stood alone as one of the few people who doesn't have to say "I voted for the war before I voted against it." When even his running mate admits "Well, the point is, it turned out they didn’t, but everyone in the world thought he had them. The weapons inspectors said he had them. He catalogued — they catalogued them. This was not some, some Cheney, you know, pipe dream. This was, in fact, catalogued" -Joe Biden

One time Obama voted against the grain of his party was when he voted to hold lobbyists more accountable. Any guesses the name of another Senator who voted for that bill, who co-authored that bill? Oh yeah, John McCain.

"In November, Bush and Cheney will ask this country for a third term." Newsflash: George W Bush is not running for President! And McCain is not a Bush clone as you'd like to paint him. Actually, you said several times that "McCain stands alone..." in his unwillingness to retreat from Iraq, in his stodgy old time political views, his "worn out ideas of politics of the past," etc. Gee, if all of these things are what we need change from and yet McCain stands alone... sounds like he must be the most powerful Senator ever!

To scare us even more, he mentioned the following "failures" of the Bush administration:

The average American salary has "gone down $2000." Of course, he fails to explain this. Not many people have actually taken a pay decrease. But when you compare wages to inflation and the rise in cost of certain expenses this is true. But what's driven this? Well, I'll list a few: Oil cost due to A)Higher global demand and B) Opec lowering supply. But we can't give the American relief by A) drilling offshore, B) releasing some of our own storehouses, or C) temporarily repealing the gas tax. These are all Republican ideas to ease this burden voted down by Democrats. There's been a sharp increase in food costs. Mostly due to the increase in cost to ship it (due to the higher oil costs) but also due to alternative fuels. Ethanol is a component in many alternative fuels. Ethanol is made from corn. This has caused corn to go through the roof. Corn is the primary food for numerous livestock, causing the cost for meat and poultry to increase as well. But we aren't going to mention those things.

"American people can't pay the mortgage," Yes, yes, it's the president's fault that irresponsible people paid more than they could afford for a house because the adjustable interest rate was just too good to pass up and because mortgage companies were too eager to give loans to people who probably couldn't pay them back. Absolutely, let's blame the president for that. Boy Obama, if you win, you better hope that nothing bad happens. It's your own track record to blame the president.

"A President who sits on his hands while an American city is drowning." Hopefully, this is the last time I'll have to mention that the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana were both Democrats. If my towns school system is failing, do I go to the Governor of CT and ask why? Do I go to my town representative? Or do I go to the Superintendent? Why do the Democrats love to skip over the people who were responsible for such a smaller area and were given the means and the power to protect the people who live there? In the Roman army the Prefect was in charge of the camp. The Centurion was in charge of the Legion. And the Legionnaire was in charge of guarding 16 square feet of ground. If that Legionnaire fails, do you blame the Prefect?

Obama claimed that the policy of the Republicans is that "You are on your own," left to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps to get ahead. (Another strawman) But failed to mention that the policy of the Democrats is that you can't do it without the government. You'll be in a place where you have to rely on it. Of course, he then went on to tell stories about people who did "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and succeeded or allowed their children/grandchildren to succeed. That was just weird.

"unlike McCain I will give tax breaks for companies creating American jobs." Check your facts. McCain tried to bring this about in a bill years ago.

"I'll cut taxes for 95% of working families." Funny, I seem to remember Bush desiring across the board tax cuts. That would be 100% of working families and yet Obama voted against this. Why should I believe that he'll be cutting taxes now? Especially seeing as he wants to pay for everything for everyone:

Obama promises "Change" we cannot afford: He wants to pay for education, pay for people's mortgages, pay for healthcare, pay to create jobs, pay teachers higher salaries, but cut taxes for 95% of Americans. Where will all of the money come from? He promises to "close corporate tax loopholes." And he will go through the "Federal budget eliminating programs that don't work." Brilliant, why didn't anyone else think of that? Who's going to decide what did and didn't work? Why didn't you do this as a Senator? Do you really believe that you are going to be able to increase spending as much as you hope, and decrease taxes as much as you promise, and cover it all up by cutting a few corners in the budget and causing companies to pay more in taxes (that they are just going to pass on to their customers)? As Seth and Amy would say, "Really?"

Obama promised to "give the military the equipment they need" to carry out their missions yet several times voted against funding the war.

"John McCain is fond of saying that he'll follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell but won't even follow him to the cave where he lives." Barack, if you know where Bin Laden is and you've been keeping this from us so you can win an election, that's despicable. If not, how can you possibly make this stupid claim? (Anyone else find it interesting that "Obama and Biden" sounds a lot like "Osama in hiding"? Just wondering)

Misc

"you don't deter Iran by talking tough in Washington." No you do it by talking tough in Iran without requesting anything in return. Honestly...

"that's a debate I'm ready to have." Yes, we all know you've been very specific on what, when and how you will and will not debate John McCain. I know you aren't one, but it strikes of cowardice. Every one says how inspiring he is, but he shys from offer after offer to debate. Why?

In 10 years, Barack promises to "end our dependence on oil from the middle east." He pledged to dedicate $150 billion on renewable energy and that it will create 5 million jobs. Well, it better. Because if we wean ourselves off of oil it's going to end 30 million jobs. Gas station attendants, fuel truckers, oil refineries, oil heat service people, etc. Oh, and what are we supposed to do with the 9 years of oil that we have stored in our reserves? Once everything runs on renewable energy our reserves will be like having every album on cassette just in case.

Here is what Barack said that I can agree with:

"programs can't replace parents, government can't turn off the tv and make them do homework." I'm very glad to hear this. I think this is something that both parties should be focusing on. Programs that keep the government out of my living room and encourage Dad's and Parents to return to their living rooms are how we can turn this country around. You want to lower the number of unwanted pregnancies? Teach Dad's how to love their daughters. You want to have all kids have an opportunity to go to college? Teach parents how to tutor their children instead of solely relying on public education.

He also said that his desire to lead is guided by his understanding of being his "brother's keeper." I get that. But his solution to that call on his life is terribly misguided! There is too much corruption in the government to successfully carry out what he wants to do. And because it is a career, there is too much self preservation for the government to truly desire that people be free of their need of the services they provide. Barack should take his Christian beliefs (which I firmly believe he has) and bring the services he wants to provide before the universal church. Let God be glorified for what he wants to do, not Uncle Sam.

I should have cooled off before writing this, but I didn't. Frankly, I don't expect anyone to actually read this. Afterall, it's all just my current opinion.