Because I’ve been insanely busy, and a bit lazy, this one’s gonna be a two-parter. So, if you’re also too busy, pick your poison: boys or politics? The latter is the focus of the rambling below.
American’s are stupid. It’s pretty simple actually. It begins with the old adage “a person is smart, people are stupid.” As evidenced by the video above. (Let’s not forget the responsible, well-informed voters featured in the clip are Ohioans. Still wonder why I’m on the fast track out of this godforsaken state?)
Over the past few months I’ve heard people on both sides of the aisle saying some of the most ignorant things for the reason they’re voting for Arizona Senator John McCain or Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Some of them being my own family and friends. As a journalist I felt the record needed to be set straight on some things. So here it goes…
Idiots Against Obama
This should be the bumper sticker for about 70 percent of McCain’s supporters. I’ve been approached by many of them claiming, “One of the reasons I’m voting for McCain is because Obama doesn’t put his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance.” And also, “I’m not voting for him because he’s a Muslim.” And yet another, “I’m not voting for Obama because he’s for abortion.”
First of all, I can’t believe people still believe this ridiculousness about his hand over his heart and him being a Muslim after it was disputed by the main stream media (including Fox News) nearly a year ago, as evidenced by this article.
Also this talk about abortion is out of control. I’d like to begin this argument by saying, who cares!? We are in the midst of the deepest financial recession since the great depression and are involved in two wars, about to be three. Whether some 16-year-old whore is saving herself from a life of misery shouldn’t be our main concern.
Now many of you would think I’m being harsh. And maybe I am. So, I’ll put it this way. Whether you’re pro life or pro choice one thing is clear. Teenagers and people who have no means with which to raise their offspring should not be having children. It’s that simple.
Roe v. Wade (the famous court case which legalized abortion in 1973) was initially instituted mainly because of teenage mothers who were using coat hangers to perform self abortions or simply leaving their newborns in trashcans. There was also the rise of “underground abortion clinics” where unqualified individuals would perform abortions for a quick buck, ultimately resulting in the patients being mutilated beyond repair. The common saying was, we might as well make it legal so women would go to professionals and decrease the tragedies from cases where women disposed of the fetus at any cost.
If Roe v. Wade is reversed this underground abortion society is sure to crop back up, but no one seems to be worried about that angle of the story. Also, teen pregnancy is on the rise. Females are becoming pregnant at much younger ages. Kids are horny. They’re going to have sex. It’s that simple. Programs like Planned Parenthood and Safe Sex Education (as opposed to its ridiculously naive counterpart, Abstinence Only Sex Education) are keeping pregnant teens in school so they can still achieve their education and provide a better life for their child. If you believe that passing condoms out to 14-year-olds is somehow indecent then you need to adjust your mindset from 1948 to 2008, because sex is rampant is American junior high schools and the only way to stop it is safe sex. They’re doing it, whether you want to believe it or not.
Okay I know abortion is a bit of a tangent, but I had to get that off my chest. Now on to this whole William Ayers insanity. (Don’t worry I’ll get to McCain. Sad thing is, I actually like the dude, but we’ll get to that later.)
For those unawares, William Ayers, now a 63-year-old college professor, was apart of radical anti-war group called Weather Underground that bombed public buildings in the 1960s and 1970s (when Obama was around eight years old by the way).
McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin (oh, don’t worry, we’ll so come to her later) said in one of her speeches that Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists” because he and Ayes served on a school board sponsored committee and Ayes hosted a fundraiser for the senator. It became a huge controversy and has been the main issue the McCain camp has been using as an attack on Obama. The main stream media once again has proven this inaccurate, as evidenced by this article.
My take on the whole thing: Obama is ahead in the polls and McCain is getting desperate. End of story.
McCain Misnomers
Moving on to McCain.
It may shock many of you, but I used to be a supporter of John McCain. It wasn’t during this election, but it was back during the late ‘90s (yes I was a dorky kid who liked politics) when Clinton was in office. McCain wasn’t vey popular amongst his own party, he was very good friends of Bill and Hillary, and was known for stepping out of party lines and going with what he thought was right on many major Senate decisions. It was because of him that many of Clinton’s policies made it through a, at the time, Republican-run Congress.
Many of you may not know this, but in 2000 McCain ran against President Bush in the primaries for the Republican nomination. He surrounded himself with a staff that was full of democrats, republicans and independents and planned, as he says now, “to bring truth and change to Washington.”
However, during the campaign Bush’s camp went on the attack leaking rumors that the black child he and his wife had adopted was from an affair and that his wife, Cindy, was strung out on drugs. Subsequently McCain lost his bid to run in the election. This is also the basis for the Bush/McCain “strained” relationship that you hear so much about in the press.
In 2004, McCain was even thinking about switching over to the Democratic Party, even talking with Ted Kennedy, at one point about officially making the conversion of his senate seat. He backed out at the last minute and joined forces to help get Bush reelected, ultimately seeing the potential for his present run at the White House.
Okay, I say all that to say this. McCain sold out. He did an about face and completely aligned himself with a party who pretty much hated him eight years ago. But in a sense he had to, or he wouldn’t be running for president today.
On to McCain’s age, which has been a major factor for those aligning themselves with Obama. And subsequently has been the butt of every Late Night Talk Show hosts’ jokes.
For the record he just turned 72 in August, and according to his doctors he has a “clean bill of health.” And though he graduated at the bottom of his class during his military training and doesn’t have a college degree (Obama has a degree from Harvard), McCain has a very brilliant political mind. I will give him that. But, seeing that McCain has made it his goal to hammer home Obama’s William Ayers association I have to bring up The Keating Five scandal he was involved in, which I’m surprised Obama hasn’t used as his offensive during the Ayers attacks.
Again a little background, The Keating Five was a group of five senators that were accused of some major political corruption in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Basically these five men (of which McCain was apart) was accused of intervening on behalf of a famous banker by the name of Charles Keating. He was involved in some pretty insane money laundering scheme and he allegedly paid off these five senators to get him out of it. Three of the senators dropped out of politics after their terms finished because of it. McCain was cleared legally of all chargers but was still reprimanded by the government.
Vamping For A VP
Both of the candidates’ choices for running mates were complete and total political publicity stunts. There I said it. I must say, however, that McCain’s choice was a bit more so then Obama’s, here’s why.
Obama’s running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, in my opinion, was chosen because Obama was getting roasted in the press for being too young and having little political experience. So he chose someone who was old and had lots of experience. Biden appeals to the white, working class demographic that Obama has been having trouble reeling in. However, despite these politicking sins, Obama picked someone who could help him make political decisions where his experience lacks. He killed two birds with one stone so to speak, he made a choice that worked for the public and for himself.
Now on to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. (This is gonna be fun.)
McCain completely gave in to a rash impulse decision simply to gain Hilary’s voters with his VP pick. I’ve been having trouble finding the right words for what she does to America, so I’m calling in the assistance of this article from Rolling Stone by the prolific Matt Taibbi. He says:
“…Here’s the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.
And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she’s a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin’ Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else’s, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning.
Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States…”
That pretty much says it all. (You must check out the rest of the article. Taibbi is simply brilliant.)
The main argument of Palin supporters is that she’s a regular hockey mom from a small town, she’s a good ol’ regular American, she’s one of “us.” I don’t mean to a traitor to my fellow “regular folks” out there, but I don’t want a “regular American” running the country. Like I said at the start of this post, Americans are stupid. They’re the “mob,” they follow any fad you throw at them. I love my mother and all, but I don’t want her running the country.
Palin is a joke and the fact that someone as smart as McCain actually agreed to add her to the ticket was the final straw when it comes to my respect for him.
The Bottom Line
I know this blog has been long and boring but the point was not to endorse one candidate over another. Anyone who’s ever spoken to me knows that’s I’m voting for Obama. That’s not the issue. The issue is that you must have valid and factual reasons for why you’re backing said candidate. Vote for McCain, vote for Ralph Nader even, just please, please, please know why and what you are voting for. Especially my fellow black brothers and sisters. Too many people died so you could have the right to vote. Please use this right wisely.
To reinforce my support of voting in general. Check out the below video:
Why am I voting for Obama you may ask?
In the simplest of terms the Republican Party has systematically destroyed the country over the past eight years. For the first time in history we are in the midst of a major economic crisis while simultaneously being raped for resources by two wars overseas. I no longer trust the Republican Party to run the country. When Clinton was in office we had a surplus and were at peace (except Bosnia, but does that really count?). It’s time to change hands again. Though I have some reservations about Obama, I believe he’s an extremely educated man who has surrounded himself with political geniuses that represent the change we need (to steal a cliché lol). It’s that simple.
(If you are in any way an acquaintance of mine and I ask you why you’re voting for whomever you’re voting for I want a similarly educated and informed answer! There’s only a week left people, get it together! P.S. Isn’t anybody else as scared as I am that Ohio’s going to fuck up the election again because of this new fangled early voting?)
Okay I’m off my soap box.
Until next time…
~D.A. Steward
For those wondering why I haven’t mentioned a single word about my job (which has kept me hella busy and is the reason why I haven’t written in so long) in these past two posts, it is because there will be an entire blog on Nov. 12 dedicated to the culmination of my hard work: Metromix Columbus’ debut! And if you know me you will be using it! You have no choice.
