Irony At Its Finest

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 died in the House yesterday. A slim majority of the lawmakers did not feel that the bailout package was in line with this nation's founding principles, nor did it properly protect taxpayers from paying corporate executives of failed companies massive amounts of money. 133 of the no votes came from House Republicans, some of the most fiscal conservative members of Congress. 

Fate, it seems, is not without a terrible sense of irony. 133 of the most conservative Republicans in Congress literally just handed the American Presidency to who they call the most "wildly liberal" member of the Senate. 

The American people do not respond to the way things are, they respond to the way things seem. And the way things seem is that 133 Republicans killed a bill that caused the country to lose 1 trillion dollars in a single day. 

This, ladies and gentlemen, was what is called in politics a "Power Play." The House democrats just played the Republicans like a fiddle, presenting a bill that they did not have 218 votes for, almost guaranteeing its doomed fate on the floor. 95 democrats voted against the bill as well, providing just the right amount of votes to place the emphasis of the blame on the House Republicans. 

The American people will not see the Democrats setting up the Republicans to be blamed for the bailout package's failure, and thus the 800 point loss on the Dow Jones. The American people will see a Republican President, with a Republican economy and a Republican refusal to provide assistance as the cause of their economic problems. This fact alone will serve as the catalyst to Barack Obama's propulsion into the Presidency. 

Let us be clear, the Republicans were right to kill the package. The entire concept of the bailout plan undermines the principle of capitalism and would of cost all of us dearly in taxes. But that doesn't really matter to the market, it responded with panic, as the dems knew it would. The inevitable outcome will be Obama's victory. 

First Debate Uneventful, But With a Clear Victor

Like many of you, I watched the debate last Friday night. In all honesty, it was not as eventful as I had believed it would be. Both candidates were hesitant on initiating the hostility for fear of appearing as the aggressor, something you can be sure will change for the next two upcoming debates after they hear the feedback on the debate's overall dullness. 

It is clear by most objective observers that Obama won, but the margin of victory was not a substantial one. He won because he was able to display more knowledge on foreign affairs than many had expected he possessed while seeming more Presidential than McCain as he did it. The conservative media has been spinning it to seem as if a tie would still be a victory for McCain, which is simply an act of double-think. How could a tie in a debate about McCain's strongest area be a victory for him? Intuitively, McCain should have dominated the debate, save the first 40 minutes of it. Even then, why should we overlook his weakness on the economy if we are supposed to focus on Obama's "alleged" weakness on foreign policy? This is just another example of the right wing's agenda to manipulate realities. 

Obama's largest folly during the debate was constantly repeating the phrase "John is right," something he should have known the Republican Attack Machine was going to use ad nauseum. Clearly, he meant it in a tone of humility, but the right seldom preoccupy themselves with how things really are, and tend to emphasize how they seem. He should transition from saying "John/Senator McCain is right," to "John/Senator McCain and I agree." And although he was the only one actually speaking directly to his opponent on some occasions, he didn't do it enough. It would of been a wiser strategy to do so, given McCain's obvious discomfort with it. 

McCain's weakness during the debate was not only his demeanor, which was much more stiff than his opponent's, but it almost seemed as if whenever asked a question, he only had one "tactic" (not to be confused with strategy), which was to tell old war stories. If he wishes to create distance between himself and the image of an old politician with nothing left but his past, then he needs to start talking about what's happening now, and not what happened then. It is clear that his intention was to emphasize the fact that he has stories because he has experience, but to the audience it just gives the appearance of another seasoned public servant on his way to retirement. 

If McCain wishes to have a fighting chance in the next two debates, then he needs to become both more animated and more Presidential in his demeanor. Otherwise, he is doomed to the same fate that befell Richard Nixon in 1960 when he debated John F. Kennedy, who's calm composure and executive disposition served as his propellant into the White House. Obama's strategy must be to maintain his air of Presidential presence and continue to consistently challenge McCain directly when debating, which will trigger McCain's discomfort as well as his notorious temper. If Obama can effectively push McCain's buttons, the Senator from Arizona will bury himself by displaying a hint of frustration that Obama can then capitalize on with the contrast of his inherent ability to keep a cool head. Hopefully both candidates employ the aforementioned strategies, which should make for a much more lively debate. 

Palin Incest Skit Was a Very Bad Idea

Most of you have already seen or read about last week's episode of Saturday Night Live in which a skit mocking the out of touch mindsets of biased fringe left reporters at the New York Times features a remark made by one of the actors that implies Todd Palin, husband to Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin, has incestuous relations with their daughters. 

I'm not even going to attempt to make excuses for the poorly-tasted sketch but I want to be clear about something, the skit's intention was to poke fun at the ridiculous approaches of biased reporters, not to actually imply that Todd Palin has sex with his daughters. The fact is, however, it was incredibly stupid to try to use incest as a vehicle for the joke. Rape and incest really isn't that funny, this much is obvious. The Saturday Night Live sketch writers could have conveyed the message of their skit through other means, and I agree with conservatives on the fact that it should open next week's show with a formal apology for any unintentional harm it inflicted on the Palin family with it's bad joke. It should not be forced however, this is still a free country and freedom of speech is one of our most basic principles, I just think it would be terribly unwise for NBC not to. 

If it were REALLY smart, it would include within said apology an explanation/commentary on the boundaries that the biased media have crossed themselves, both conservative and liberal. This will change the dialogue back to what they intentionally meant to comment on in the first place, while drawing agreement from members of both political parties. 

If Libs are smart, and they have their moments, they will also condemn the remarks made on the show and begin to distance themselves from what has obviously become a radicalized version of the SNL we all grew up to know and love. This will force the studio to purge itself of all the "taking it too far"-left wing elements within the corporation itself, a purging it is in dire need of. 

"Just Another Election" Appearance Disastrous for Obama

Here we are again, in the midst of yet another Presidential Election. For three and a half years we bemoan politicians and talk about how full of shit they are, and then for six months, actually start believing one of them running for President. At the start of this election, both party's candidates told the world that they were going to run a different campaign, an elevated campaign, one that was going to be about the issues and not about mud. Well they were telling half the truth I suppose, they haven't been slinging mud at each other. It's full fledged human shit being hurled at each of the camps. 

We all know how these things work. Both parties do what they must to win because each want to govern, and you can't govern unless you win. This is their overall objective above all else during an election. What we as the public find despicable is the lengths at which individuals will go to smear another just to win an election. Both parties in this campaign have done it, but I have to say, and perhaps I am perceiving this through the filter of my own bias,  that the Republican party has taken this game to a whole other level. 

Senator McCain is a smart man, and a good strategist. For or against him, one must acknowledge the shear brilliance of the Palin selection from a strategic standpoint. It was an ingenious political maneuver, probably the most ingenious in Presidential election history. Unfortunately, it was also the most reckless and irresponsible thing I have ever witnessed a politician do for political advancement. Let us stop the partisan bickering, stop making excuses for it, it is clear that Senator McCain selected Governor Sarah Palin simply because she is a woman, and given the circumstances of this election, knew it would be a move that would knock the Democratic ticket off balance. Like I said, genius, but unbelievably irresponsible. 

Another tactic that the McCain campaign has decided to run with is a tactic that has been used by the Republican Attack Machine many times before in the past. Given the fact that although the overall voter turnout in this country typically leans Republican, there are more people in this country that identify themselves as Democrats. Then there are Independents, more of which tend to vote Democratic. Given this reality, both parties find themselves in divergent circumstances, and thus employ divergent tactics. If there are more people that will generally vote Democratic if inclined to vote at all, the Democrat's logical agenda would be to INCREASE voter turn-out, the Republican party's logical agenda would be to DECREASE voter turn-out. The best way to decrease voter turn-out? Negative campaigning. Negative campaigning has been shown to dissuade voters from showing up to polling booths more effectively than any other method. 

The Obama Campaign seems to have no idea, but they are doing exactly what the McCain campaign wants them to. There are two reasons why McCain selected Palin: 1. To inject the Republican ticket with excitement and appeal, the very thing it was missing, and 2. To use a political shield by exploiting the sensitive nature of having a female on your ticket by taking every statement made by the opponent out of context and make it appear as a personal, sexually motivated attack on her. It doesn't even have to make sense necessarily, just take a statement, like lipstick on a pig for instance, and smash it together with any sound bite you can find that has to do with her, and in the viewer's mind it will appear as if he were responding to something she said moments ago, even if it really was two weeks prior.

This seems to be the Republican's strategy. Talk about lipstick, talk about flag pins, harp on the novelty of Governor Sarah Palin being a V.P. selection, imply that Obama is a baby killing pervert that wants to teach kindergartners about sex if you have to. Just don't talk about the issues. Don't talk about the issues because there's no way you can convince the American people that the last 8 years of Republican rule has brought a desirable result. 

The Obama campaign has obviously been thrown off its game with the Palin pick, as any opposing campaign would be by such a move. If it were smart, it would avoid getting in the mud with the McCain campaign. If it were smart, it would do what it was doing during the primaries, and play the role of the antithesis to its opposing camp. Hillary Clinton couldn't wait to get in the mud, and Obama was wise to avoid it. That's how he inched by with the nomination. Going negative is not a game he plays well, and he needs to stick with what he's good at. Make the enemy fight your fight, do not fight theirs. This is how McCain has overcome Obama's lead in the polls, and will continue to do so if Obama keeps trying to fight his fight. 

Obama needs to kill McCain with kindness if he wants to lock up this election, that's his only chance amidst the Palin phenomenon.  He needs to instead say that he is certain McCain did not intentionally mean to imply that he wants to teach sex to kindergartners, and negative accusations from both conservative and liberal outlets need to stop the bickering because it will not help solve the problems this country faces. He needs to say that Senator McCain does want to change Washington, just like we all do, but that he is just too set in his ways to know how to do it. He needs to say that the corrosion of media objectivity of which both Fox News AND MSNBC are guilty of, is purposefully intensifying the angst of the country and causing more division, not unity. He needs to return to his message of change, and say that if we honestly want to change the way things are done in this country, then we have to stop looking at ourselves and each other as Republicans or Democrats, and instead look at ourselves as Americans. That the problems this country faces effects all of us, rich, poor, black, white gay or straight, and arguing over who picked who or who said what to who is not going to solve those problems any faster or more effectively than the same arguments we were having four years ago did. He needs to say that if he is given the privilege to serve as President of this great nation, then his vision will be to see the Sean Hannitys and Al Frankens, the Laura Ingrahams and the Chris Matthews, the Ann Coulters and the Keith Olbermans all working together to address the issue of weaning off foreign oil, or the downward spiral of the economy, or how we can ensure that the climate crisis doesn't escalate to apocalyptic proportions in generations to come. If Obama does this, it will remove him from the stain of being "just another politician" that the Republicans have been effectively tainting him with, and make McCain appear as overtly aggressive and borderline menacing. McCain will be forced to buckle and take on a more positive tone as well, and then the rest of us won't be subjected to AS MUCH human shit flinging. 

Obama's message up until now has basically been "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." This election so far has proven to be more than likely the most exciting Presidential election we will see for a very long time. If this election takes on the appearance of "Just Another Election," between two unscrupulous politicians, then it will cripple Obama's message and catapult McCain into the Presidency. After all, if they're both doing what has always been done, then we might as well get what we always got.