19 October 2008

Rumbling thoughts from me

I’ve commented before on how the conservatives like to say that intellectualism is some how anti-American. That it leads to liberalism and thus hatred for America. Pat Buchanan believes that America is naturally central, but leans towards being conservative. So that with the odds not leading towards a Barack Obama win, the liberal side will take over and ruin -and more importantly - disregard a majority of people.

The McCain/Palin ticket seems to think this, as they struggle in the final weeks of the 2008 election, to communicate with Americans that having smart, intelligent people at the White House is somehow tantamount to treason. That because Obama is liberal, because he believes everyone should have a chance at succeeding (instead, of what I feel, the conservatives think only a few should have) that this is wrong, and anti-America.

Now I’m not saying people should not have to work for goals; I actually believe in doing away with (or trying to change) welfare. I do believe that setting goals for people to get out of poverty is a good thing. But I’m also realistic in that there is a small majority of people who will never get out of it. But we need to get the losers who keeping popping babies out like cigarettes in a vending machine off the dole. We need to get tough with them and when they cry racism or wrap themselves in the American flag, we need to be tough and take a stand.

On the other hand, we need to stop running America like a corporation. Sure, the influence of people like Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Jack Welch stretch far into the pockets of all people with in our government, but just because they do does not mean we should.

And we continue to be lead by these people, we need to hold them responsible when things go wrong. Our economy has gone to hell in a hand basket because we refuse to hold these people beholden for their actions. These CEO’s are destroying America more than any liberal (or conservative) could.

Being smart, being intelligent seems to baffle Americans. Why?

Of course, a simple explanation can be seen in our TV programs. Pushing Daises is a charming, witty, fairy tale of TV show. It does, in someways, tell a complex tale of a man with the power to bring back the dead, if only for a minute. It is, in someways, a procedural show -much like the horrible CSI franchise. Yet, it is losing in the ever important ratings war to the revamped version of Knight Rider. Why? Maybe its because while Pushing Daises makes you think, Knight Rider just tells you to put your brain in natural and enjoy an hour of dumbness.

As a curious after though, I wonder how many watching Knight Rider are conservative, registered Republicans. And vis versa with Pushing Daises.

As much as the right wants to make the world black and white, right and wrong, it can never be. The world runs like a toy Top - it has a set of rules: it spins until it runs out of energy, but it will never stop in the same place twice.

The real world runs much the same way. And no matter how you try to control it, you can’t.


And the smart person, the intelligent person understand this.

McCain and Palin think that they are for the everyday people, the ones who don’t have the college education and are working paycheck-to-paycheck. The damn Joe Plumber. They think they will be able to help them, even though history proves that neither party can do much of anything except help the ones who donated big time to their election campaign.

I don’t see that. Joe Plumber is smart, and as pointed out, his job is recession proof.

If McCain and Palin really wanted to understand Americans, they should really be asking after folks like me, who work in retail. Our jobs are the first to go when the economy is in such a mess. We need our jobs protected, but they turn a blind eye to us. We, they seem to think, are to be blamed for not getting a better job, one that is more secure.

I’m not saying Obama has all the answers, but I do think he is smart, and extremely intelligent. And I think I would take that over some guy who thinks he should be president because he was a P.O.W. And let’s not forget a governor who’s only qualifications seem to be her looks and that she’s a hockey mom.

Really? I mean, really?

In the end, Obama realizes -at least I hope he does - that we are stuck in two wars we cannot win. That we have an economy -though the president can do little to effect its change - in the toilet, and something must be done to save it before we tumble into a world wide depression. That we need to make America a better nation with the rest of the world.

And, Americans need not be divided by a simple thing as religion, also. We’ve left extremist on both sides become way too powerful. We’ve become, in some ways, as bad as our religious people outside the US. We’ve let hate mongers take over the mantle of our Constitution so they can dismantle it to prove we are a nation not built on equal rights, but a Christian world were no one should question its direction.

The Pat Buchanan’s, the Sean Hannity’s, the Rush Limbaugh, the Anne Coulter’s, the Michael Savage’s and the Bill O’Reilly’s of the world are much more dangerous than Obama could ever be. They are truly the ones who must hate the idea of having someone who’ll be calm, cool and make decisive decisions.

They are the real dividers of the world. But because they have faith in their religious views, it’s hard for them to see that the world is made up of many things, and religion - while good as a way of life - should not be used as end all when it comes to politics.

It should -my goodness, it always should - be kept at arms length at all times.

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