Things I'm Glad We Don't Have To Watch Any More

[Plaid Adder]

Now that the debates are over, I'm just going to do my core dump about stuff that has bugged me all along:

1) We Are Winning The War In Iraq!

Of all the things that kept coming up, this was the bit I got most frustrated by. Obama never addressed the question of whether the surge was working or not; he always moved back to the decision to enter the war. I'm not saying that wasn't a good tactic, just that I would have liked to see *someone* say this: The fact that violence in Iraq has decreased since the surge does not mean that we are now finally victorious--or, even more infuriating, that we should all have known all along that we would eventually be victorious, which is what McCain is implying by making Obama's opposition to the surge an issue. A strategy that 'works' only after tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, the middle class has been destroyed, the country has become a magnet for fundamentalist terrorist organizations, and violence has been the only law of the land for years on end is not a winning strategy. To say that the surge has "worked" and that we are now "winning" is like saying that Bush's Hurricane Katrina strategy is "working" because three years after Katrina's landfall there are no longer bodies floating in the streets.

2) Same Shit, Different Debate.

This is something both candidates did that drove me nuts: recycling the exact same answers to the exact same questions across all 3 debates. I understand why they do it, but it does not inspire confidence, and it makes the whole process of having multiple debates kind of pointless. I don't think we got anything out of #3 that didn't come out of #1 or #2 except for a few more chances for McCain to ramble on about Bill Ayers and Joe the Plumber.

3) The Middle Class

Does anyone in this country really know what "middle class" means any more? To hear politicians talk it sounds like the "middle class" includes, basically, anybody who has a job and a family. And yet at the same time policies directed at the middle class all seem to be oriented toward a more restrictive definition of middle class which assumes, among other things, homeownership and the expectation of a college education for all the family's children. If you're a single woman working as a housekeeper at a hotel, raising two kids, living in a tiny rented apartment, and focusing on making it to next week with enough money to buy groceries rather than on buying a house or sending your kids to college, are you middle class? If so, why? And if not, how come nobody ever talks about you and what you need?

I get that Obama's concern for the "middle class," however it's defined, is sufficient to distinguish him from McCain, who apparently only cares about the magnate & mogul class. Still. I cannot help thinking that it's a problem that nobody ever acknowledges that for a lot of working Americans, a recognizably "middle class" existence is still pretty far out of their reach no matter what kind of tax cuts they get handed.

4) McCain's Tongue.

I really did not need to see that.

Ah well, it'll all be over soon,

The Plaid Adder

[KG]

1. the candidates aren't ever asked the important and meaningful questions

and are happy they don't have to give meaningful and insightful answers.

and that's the reason some of us know important and meaningful change will never come from the two major political parties.

[Plaid Adder]

2. And another thing!

Re "if you want to run against Bush you should have run 4 years ago:" Next time, could Obama just respond, "Hey, if YOU want to run against Bush you should get out of his party!"

Seriously. They're BOTH running against Bush and in fact the entire Republican record. It's just that for McCain, this involves running against himself and his own record as well.

@#$!,

The Plaid Adder

[PatSeg]

3. I found it frustrating that all three debates

were pretty much the same and I don't recall that from past presidential elections. They really were pretty boring, especially being McCain's answers were usually right out of his stump speeches. That was really annoying!

The VP debate was far more interesting to watch.

[CrispyQ]

4. Biden had a speech recently where he mentioned the surge.

Wish I'd saved the link to it. But the point he made was this -- what now? So what if it worked - so what if it didn't. What do we do NOW?

Also, I recently heard or read (again, no link) that Obama wants to implement an infrastructure account -- money to be used specifically to re-build our roads, bridges, etc. Maybe I missed it in the debates, but I don't recall hearing that. Our infrastructure is something that I think most people, dems, repubs, indies, all agree, needs to be updated. We all use roads & all of us are affected when a major bridge collapses. Every time you drive over a bridge in your own area, you get this little twinge of worry, "will it hold?"

I would also like to hear a dem call out the repubs on their successful brainwashing of the American public to be afraid of paying taxes. Bill Maher summed it up well last night on Larry King. He said that repubs have gotten people like Joe the Plummer to focus on their dreams - not that anything is wrong with dreams, he said. However, what happens is that JTP disregards that Obama's tax plan would actually help him out more now. Instead, he is focused on his dream of being rich someday & he doesn't want to pay more taxes, when that happens. :eyes:

I once worked for a very, very rich man. One year, his accountant was reluctant to tell him how much more he had to pay in taxes, so he left the message with me. I went in my boss' office & told him that his tax bill was $2.5 million. He smiled. "You may think that upsets me, but do you know how much money I made to pay that much in taxes? I'm happy to support a civilized society by paying my share." Zang!

As for McCain's tongue -- :P

;)

[rucognizant]

6. I once provided

decorating services for the very rich! They were a whole different breed than the rich B______s now! They competed to see who could provide me with the best gourmet meals, give me little gifts and at the end of the job very frequently overpaid by several hundred dollars to show their pleasure at the work I had done. THAT was the GREATEST GENERATION.....
survived 2 World Wars and a Depression and were GRATEFUL, GENEROUS, HUMANITARIAN!
It really turned my stomach to see Treasury Sect. Snow gloating as he exited TOYS R US, with $250.00 worth of CHinese made crap for his Grandchildren's xmas, while F A O Schwartz filed for bankruptcy!
By supporting FAO Schwartz, regularly, his CLASS made it possible for me to go there on the rare occasin that I could afford that well made beautiful doll or train set for my kids. Now I have only ONE CHOICE; Chinese crap!

In my opinion, anyone that speaks english well, is a Gentleman or a LAdy, can spell, knows about lots of things biology, science the arts, ( with out having a DEGREE!)has beautiful manners, discerning taste buds which can appreciate good food is a critical thinker, ..............is upper class.............That excludes at least 1/2 the CNN journalists, sarah palin, Donald Trump may have money but he's real trailer trash!
My income is below the poverty level, My preferred entertainment has always been live opera, ballet, concerts, art museums, cooking gourmet food for dinner guests...........Not doing much enet tertainment ths-ese days.....just can't get into bingo night and Allen''s Coffee Brandy,with a buncha repigs, my fellow financial peers............
Class warfare has certainly ruined this country!

[sarah FAILIN]

5. Same speech, different town, different outfit..

That's what I'll be glad to hear the end of, kind of like your #2. Palin specifically does this same exact speech from town to town and I've almost got it memorized. It's just too much talking out of her without having one of those pointy sticks in her hand and a weather map on the wall.