Of Mavericks, Lipstick, and Secret Muslims

Now that Election Day is mere months away, is anyone else besides me tired of everything?

Sometimes, I can be the biggest nerd imaginable. I mean, who else would read BBC when they're bored? What can I say, I love news and politics.

What's been on my mind lately is the language and media coverage. I've become so disillusioned by both parties this year. This campaign, like so many others, has abandoned all the issues and has become a political circus. All I hear about these days is mudslinging between the two campaigns, each one trying not to be the last one to be attacked. What happened to the issues? Your platforms? Your dignity? I realize the last one's a difficult request for politicians, but for Christ's sake, you're in the national spotlight!

I think the comedian Lewis Black put it best:

"In this country, there are two major political parties. The Democratic Party, a party of no ideas, and the Republican Party, a party of bad ideas."

It's so true. The Democratic Party, for all its talk of change, fails to outline how exactly they'll bring it about. Sure, it's some nice rhetoric to ring in our ears, but what about after that warm feeling leaves my body? I can get that same feeling from soiling myself. Prove to me you have a plan, a REAL, feasible plan to save this country's economy and reputation.

Now, as for the GOP, they're just horribly misguided at this point. I don't think I even want to talk about George W. Bush; too much for one post. Mostly, they're a party of really bad ideas; the last several years have clearly shown that. My liberal bias obviously plays into this, but I don't really care. Deregulating business? Hmm, our economy's in the crapper; I wonder what could've caused this. Global warming doesn't exist. Of course it doesn't, a myth can't drown the polar bears. Gay marriage, abortion, and gun control? Clearly, they are the demonic trifecta from Hell that is damaging our global reputation and weakening the resolve of our allies.

And then there's the hypocrisy. Senator John McCain, I used to admire you greatly. Back in 2005, you were the example every politician should have followed. Back then, you were indeed a maverick. You worked across party lines, stood against torture, and disagreed with the Dubya on his misguided policies. When you appeared on The Daily Show, I had hope in the GOP.

Ever since McCain began running for president, though, he's sacrificed everything he believed in. I realize that he had to pander to his own party and heal the wounds he inflicted as the maverick; so, he's a sycophant. But to then have the audacity to cite his previous actions as indication that he is the true agent of change, that's just pathetic. Only in Washington could such a flip-flopping attitude lasted this long.

His choice of running mate, Governor Sarah Palin, is anything but a good one. She is in every aspect a ticket booster, nothing more than a mere tool in his campaign machine. With President Bush's former campaign advisors on his staff, McCain clearly did not take great care in his decision. Who knows, maybe it wasn't his decision at all. To me, it seems more like the GOP's desperate attempt to exploit the fallout from Senator Hillary Clinton's primary campaign. Women will automatically flock to a woman candidate, right? It shows you how much credit the campaign advisors and McCain give to women's intelligence. Last time I checked, it took more than two X chromosomes to win women's votes.

And yet, there are constant reports about her campaign stops. Of women flocking to her, saying she's the woman for them. These same women who support gun control, universal health care, the right to choose, and education reform. Perhaps I've given America too much benefit of the doubt.

As for Palin's qualifications, I don't think there's any real debate about that. Anyone who's seen or heard about her resume knows she's not ready for any of this. As much as I am wary about Washington oldies, I'd trust Joe Biden as a stand-in for president if my life depended on it.

Now, as for media coverage, I think hypocrisy runs even deeper in its veins. For decades, conservatives have cried foul over what they saw as "liberal media bias". And, in their defense, I do perceive it in several news sources. But there really isn't such a thing as unbiased media. In fact, the conservatives have their own platform for trumping their beliefs, Fox News. It's one thing to be biased, but it's a whole different story when you're being just dishonest. Bill O'Reilly can hardly be called a beacon of partiality and truth. He is arrogant, he is ignorant, and he is just downright out of control. Fox News is clearly "conservative media bias" at its most grotesque. It rarely (if ever) criticizes Bush's administration, spreads pointless and false rumors about Obama's religion and patriotism, and spews its hypocritical views like it's everyone's opinion. You called the media unfair and sexist towards Palin? Where were you when Clinton was on the campaign trail? Oh that's right, you were in the same place. How ironic.

Can someone bring us back to the real issues, the real crises in this country? I hardly think an unconventional middle name and a lack of a flag pin are going to endanger national security. The media needs to grow up. Oh, and speaking of Obama's religion. First of all, who cares what Jeremiah Wright said? Does anyone honestly think Obama swallows every word that man has said. I'd put my bet on him being a bit brighter than a doorknob to know sound reason. Second, all this talk of Obama being a "secret Muslim". The real question here is: Who CARES if he was actually Muslim? I'd have hoped we had matured enough to move beyond that issue. Freedom of religion, wasn't it? I don't quite see Obama and bin Laden holding hands. One God, right?

Lipstick on a pig. Palin introduced it, Obama used it, McCain got antsy and released an ad that CBS had yanked off YouTube. The cycle of life, really.

So come this November, if I haven't gone crazy from the frenzy of attack ads, I'll go into the poll booths and ask myself, who's been lying the most to me this year?

Oh, and check these out:
LA Times on Palin
BBC on Lipstick

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