politics and Japanese homosexuality.....conspiracy? Could be!
In keeping with everyone’s hype about the recent debates, I too have decided to post my political commentary. A short disclaimer first: I was only able to view portions of the debate. My vice principle was kind enough to tape it for me, via his satellite dish and ensuing 4 million channels, but he must have been flipping channels and not realizing for there are brief stints of horridly flaming Japanese games shows between Edwards’ and Cheney’s comments….confusing, yes, frustrating, yes, entertaining, you betcha. If you ask me, that’s exactly what this debate needs, some homosexual Japanese game shows…spice things up a bit.
Seriously, here goes…..ready?
It’s true Edwards has less political experience than Cheney. However, many citizens, myself included, claim career politicians to be self-serving and egocentric, with good reason, so perhaps someone with less political experience, someone new to the game with real ideals of improvement and possibility for the American populace is more what we need, rather than a candidate defending his incumbency, aka “throne.” (::Insert pop culture quote which comes to mind:: “We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.”) Something Edwards said struck me, “One thing that's very clear is that a long résumé does not equal good judgment." I could not agree more. How many assholes do you know in positions of authority, abusing their privileges to gain self-serving interests? Point well received Mr. Edwards.
To me, it seemed that Cheney spent a good deal of time defending his actions, or inactions, in office, as well as those of his administration, rather than explaining his objectives for the future of “this great nation.” Coulda, shoulda, woulda. What’s done is done, let’s improve international diplomacy and cooperation and move on…closure. If he’s stuck in the past, defending himself for the next four years, how can the nation possibly progress? Answer: it won’t.
Kerry and Edwards are perhaps out of touch with foreign diplomacy, but here lies a tricky issue. True, Bush has more experience in dealing with foreign diplomats and leaders, but at the same time, he has more experience threatening Asian nations with nuclear attacks due to premature assumptions of guilt and weapons arsenals (sounds vaguely familiar,) ignoring some of the most extreme human rights abuses in history and truly pissing off the European Union to the point of virtually isolating America. As much as I admire George Washington for his foresight, his policies on isolationism are antiquated and deserve revision, not repetition. Foreign cooperation is exactly what we need right now, especially considering the grave situation in Iraq.
Following up on Iraq, Cheney stated that he would recommend the same course in Iraq if he had it to do over again, claiming that the world is safer today because Saddam Hussein is out of power and that America did “exactly the right thing.” No way. I don’t buy it. You can’t possibly assume some supra-moral position and claim the current administration did the right thing, for we haven’t experienced the consequences of all other actions in this area, so that alone disproves him and disappoints me. What really hurts, having lost a friend in the war, is that neither Cheney nor Bush apologizes for the lack of control they have over the casualties and confusion, or even owns up to the mere possibility that pre-emptive quasi-unilateral attacks were unwarranted, or more boldly, a mistake. Even though the war is declared over, and has been for quite a while, American soldiers continue to die, hostages are taken on a daily basis and the country is racked with refugees, famine, political instability and insanity…that doesn’t sound like the conclusion of “exactly the right thing.” I wouldn’t repeat that mistake if I had another go, nothing is safer because Sadam is gone, in fact, now the American populace is at risk even more, and the only ones benefiting are those with economic stakes in Iraq, i.e. Haliburton, which receives 7.5 billion annually from Iraq alone, convenience?…no, setup…um, gonna go with yeah.
Moving on, I agree (as a friend stated) you can’t inform the American people of every political strategy and decision for their perusal, for it’s simply not plausible. But there is a large difference between withholding info for the sake of overabundance and misinforming or lying to your constituents in order to garner support for certain military actions. For instance, claiming ties between Hussein and 9/11, or Hussein and WMD which has been proven false, but was ardently supported and hailed by Bush and Cheney. Not only is that promoting falsities, it’s assuming guilt prior to investigation. That’s not what the American judicial system maintains, neither should the executive branch.
Some may say that Kerry and Edwards are too wishy-washy for politics (those are exact words I heard yesterday.) It’s true they’ve changed positions on multiple occasions, but doesn’t everyone? Given that more information is present now than before, the correct information is only now being given some attention - and given that the American response to the war has changed and support is lower now than initially, of course they’re going to change their statements. The point of being president isn’t to assume stupidity of your constituents and presuppose your own mental superiority, it’s to adhere to their wishes, and that’s exactly what Edwards and Kerry seem to be doing. THEY are the ones following the opinions of Americans, adapting them, adding their own spin, and throwing them back out there, willing to truly serve the people rather than some misogynistic desire to rule the world both politically and economically.
The highlight of the night was when Cheney defended gay rights, due to his daughter’s sexual preference…thumbs up for him, and following, despite difference of opinions in terms of gay rights legislation, Edwards applauded Cheney for supporting his daughter. In the end, isn’t it really all about people instead of legislation? I know firsthand what little impact the plebes of America have on influencing domestic policy, and it’s not promising, but it’s not necessarily about the party or the legislation, it all comes down to people.
P.S. I should add that Edwards' oratorical skills need some practice, or a lobotomy, either works. His insults were especially disheartening, not even witty, just plain lame....but no one is perfect...needs to be reiterated every so often.
Seriously, here goes…..ready?
It’s true Edwards has less political experience than Cheney. However, many citizens, myself included, claim career politicians to be self-serving and egocentric, with good reason, so perhaps someone with less political experience, someone new to the game with real ideals of improvement and possibility for the American populace is more what we need, rather than a candidate defending his incumbency, aka “throne.” (::Insert pop culture quote which comes to mind:: “We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.”) Something Edwards said struck me, “One thing that's very clear is that a long résumé does not equal good judgment." I could not agree more. How many assholes do you know in positions of authority, abusing their privileges to gain self-serving interests? Point well received Mr. Edwards.
To me, it seemed that Cheney spent a good deal of time defending his actions, or inactions, in office, as well as those of his administration, rather than explaining his objectives for the future of “this great nation.” Coulda, shoulda, woulda. What’s done is done, let’s improve international diplomacy and cooperation and move on…closure. If he’s stuck in the past, defending himself for the next four years, how can the nation possibly progress? Answer: it won’t.
Kerry and Edwards are perhaps out of touch with foreign diplomacy, but here lies a tricky issue. True, Bush has more experience in dealing with foreign diplomats and leaders, but at the same time, he has more experience threatening Asian nations with nuclear attacks due to premature assumptions of guilt and weapons arsenals (sounds vaguely familiar,) ignoring some of the most extreme human rights abuses in history and truly pissing off the European Union to the point of virtually isolating America. As much as I admire George Washington for his foresight, his policies on isolationism are antiquated and deserve revision, not repetition. Foreign cooperation is exactly what we need right now, especially considering the grave situation in Iraq.
Following up on Iraq, Cheney stated that he would recommend the same course in Iraq if he had it to do over again, claiming that the world is safer today because Saddam Hussein is out of power and that America did “exactly the right thing.” No way. I don’t buy it. You can’t possibly assume some supra-moral position and claim the current administration did the right thing, for we haven’t experienced the consequences of all other actions in this area, so that alone disproves him and disappoints me. What really hurts, having lost a friend in the war, is that neither Cheney nor Bush apologizes for the lack of control they have over the casualties and confusion, or even owns up to the mere possibility that pre-emptive quasi-unilateral attacks were unwarranted, or more boldly, a mistake. Even though the war is declared over, and has been for quite a while, American soldiers continue to die, hostages are taken on a daily basis and the country is racked with refugees, famine, political instability and insanity…that doesn’t sound like the conclusion of “exactly the right thing.” I wouldn’t repeat that mistake if I had another go, nothing is safer because Sadam is gone, in fact, now the American populace is at risk even more, and the only ones benefiting are those with economic stakes in Iraq, i.e. Haliburton, which receives 7.5 billion annually from Iraq alone, convenience?…no, setup…um, gonna go with yeah.
Moving on, I agree (as a friend stated) you can’t inform the American people of every political strategy and decision for their perusal, for it’s simply not plausible. But there is a large difference between withholding info for the sake of overabundance and misinforming or lying to your constituents in order to garner support for certain military actions. For instance, claiming ties between Hussein and 9/11, or Hussein and WMD which has been proven false, but was ardently supported and hailed by Bush and Cheney. Not only is that promoting falsities, it’s assuming guilt prior to investigation. That’s not what the American judicial system maintains, neither should the executive branch.
Some may say that Kerry and Edwards are too wishy-washy for politics (those are exact words I heard yesterday.) It’s true they’ve changed positions on multiple occasions, but doesn’t everyone? Given that more information is present now than before, the correct information is only now being given some attention - and given that the American response to the war has changed and support is lower now than initially, of course they’re going to change their statements. The point of being president isn’t to assume stupidity of your constituents and presuppose your own mental superiority, it’s to adhere to their wishes, and that’s exactly what Edwards and Kerry seem to be doing. THEY are the ones following the opinions of Americans, adapting them, adding their own spin, and throwing them back out there, willing to truly serve the people rather than some misogynistic desire to rule the world both politically and economically.
The highlight of the night was when Cheney defended gay rights, due to his daughter’s sexual preference…thumbs up for him, and following, despite difference of opinions in terms of gay rights legislation, Edwards applauded Cheney for supporting his daughter. In the end, isn’t it really all about people instead of legislation? I know firsthand what little impact the plebes of America have on influencing domestic policy, and it’s not promising, but it’s not necessarily about the party or the legislation, it all comes down to people.
P.S. I should add that Edwards' oratorical skills need some practice, or a lobotomy, either works. His insults were especially disheartening, not even witty, just plain lame....but no one is perfect...needs to be reiterated every so often.
posted by Chishiki Lauren at 9:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home