I’m not going to bother covering all the backstories here, and there are a few of them, as anyone looking at a political blog already knows all about them. Pretty much every blogger out there has something to say, so I haven’t been feeling too pushed to add my two cents worth. But, since this IS a blog and blogs usually talk about something and there IS an expectation of updated material every now and then, I suppose this is as good a subject as any.
First off, there is a definite feeling of unreality to all of this. After 7 plus years of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their intent on turning this country into a police state while redistributing the wealth of this country upwards, I didn’t think things could get any stranger. I figured that once we got into the presidential election cycle, things might start getting a little bit more predictable. But, I guess I was wrong. It just looks to be a continuation of the current insanity.
I just cannot believe:
- John McCain’s team had about seven months to vet their picks for VP, and they blew it. They were stymied about whom they did want and ended up with an unknown that McCain had met a total of one time before he offered her the job. And there is now more than ample evidence that absolutely no vetting was done of her. What did they expect was going to happen?
- When things did start going south and all these embarrassing revelations came gushing out, what is the strategy? That tried and true Republican method: blame the media! The same media that has held McCain in such high regard, they let him get away with multiple gaffs, lies, misstatements, and incredible nonsense. And when the press coverage gets a little too hot for St. McCain, he a) pulls out of a CNN interview with Larry King (that heavy handed interviewer) in protest and b) his campaign managers declares "This is the end!" of the Palin stories. Yeah, like the press stops and starts on orders like that. Just ask John Kerry or Al Gore how effective that is, telling the press that the controversy "is over".
- Any criticism of Palin is being tagged as sexist! By Republicans!!
- A 17-year-old daughter who is five months pregnant is now being held up as “True America”, not some elitist baby-killing abortionist thing. After years and years of hearing about family values, Murphy Brown’s out of wedlock kid on a national sitcom, an avalanche of criticism of unwed mothers and teenage pregnancy, etc., now all of a sudden the Republicans are trying to sell this as a virtue.
- The Republican elite keep saying these incredibly dumb things (e.g., Americans are a “bunch of whiners”, the ecomony is in great shape, Obama is somehow an out of touch elitist while McCain’s wife is worth perhaps as much as a billion dollars and he doesn’t even know how many houses they own) that just show how disconnected they are from the problems that are affecting us ordinary citizens. However, their approach seems to be to attack Obama and the Democrats for being “elitist”.
- Republicans are not mentioning the economy, or the war in Iraq (other than to say the Democrats want to lose). McCain’s campaign seems to be based on the attacking Obama and the Democrats.
- McCain had been beating up Obama on his lack of experience, and they he goes an nominates someone for Veep whose major accomplishments include a stint on the PTA and “commander in chief of the Alaska national guard”. And that last one isn’t even true!
But the big one, in my mind, is this:
- Republicans are running away from George Bush as fast as they can, knowing he is a millstone around their collective necks. They are advertising themselves as “the party of change”, without admitting that THEY have been the people in charge in the White House and both houses of Congress for most of the last eight years. They want to “rebrand” their image, but yet, they want to keep doing the same exact things they have been doing the last eight years!
To steal a bit of McCain’s speaking mannerisms, that, my friends, is insanity at its finest.
I hope that the Republicans, all the way down to City Water Manager, get their collective clocks cleaned in November.
(Photo from McClatchy)
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