35 days - 5 weeks until election day

I really need to start making entries earlier in the evening. Well I'm in Sedona, AZ right now. Not far from where I'm typing this is Sarah Palin. The Vice Presidential candidate from Alaska is at John McCain's Sedona residence practicing for the debate Thursday against Joe Biden. Apparently she flew here commercially. She was escorted to McCain's house here by the secret service. The VP debate promises to be a good one. I think it may even be more widely viewed than the first Presidential debate. For sure, both Palin and Biden will have gaffes, and we'll come away from that debate with new and improved sound bites.

36 days...

I know that I said I would be including another war narrative in this entry, but I am quite tired. The only thing I want to talk about tonight is the Bailout. It failed today in the House. The Republicans say that it failed to pass because of Speaker Pelosi's inappropriately partisan speech before the vote. Democrats point the finger to the House Republicans who voted against the leader of their party's bill (President Bush). I think an agreement needs to be reached soon. This current economic situation is hurting Wall Street, Main Street, Broad Street, Broadway, Rodeo Drive, and just about every street across the United States of America. I think ultimately, Republicans don't want to sign their names to it. They are so set on the power of the free-market system. It will be really interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days. My projection is that more banks will have been sold, the Dow Jones will have dropped another several hundred points, and people will have started to panic and make rash adjustments to their personal finances.

37...

So first off, I think SNL is doing a great job covering the election. I think it's awesome that Tina Fey impersonates Sarah Palin because, well, in a line-up I can't tell them apart. The political satire thus far has been first rate. I'm absolutely engrossed in Indecision 2008 much like I was in Indecision 2004. Hopefully, there will be a different outcome at the end of it all. The Colbert Report has also been particularly witty and hilarious. In fact, it's sad when the weekend is here because I have to wait until Monday night for more Daily Show and Colbert Report. Keep the satire coming!

I'm currently reading a few books. They all deal with different topics. One of them is, The Political Mind, Why you can't understand 21st-century American politics with an 18th-century brain. It's really good so far. It's written by highly regarded linguist and cognitive scientist, George Lakoff. There is one excerpt that I'd like to share.

Narrative and War

In the first Gulf War, the first President Bush first tried a self-defense
narrative: Saddam Hussein was threatening the United States. He was choking
off our oil lifeline. Antiwar demonstrators countered with the slogan "No Blood
for Oil," and it worked. A poll taken three months before the war showed that
Americans would not go to war for oil. But they would go to war for a rescue.
Immediately after the poll, the president's narrative changed to the Rape of
Kuwait, a rescue narrative. The daughter of a Kuwaiti diplomat, who lived in the
United States, but was identified falsely as a victim of Saddam's army in
Kuwait, testified to seeing brutal rapes. The rape testimony shored up the
Rape of Kuwait narrative. Saddam was the Villain (inherently evil, beyond
reason), Kuwait was the victim (innocent, too weak to defend herself), the
United States was the hero (the rescuer), and the coalition members were the
helpers.

Tomorrow, I'll post an interesting parallel to this war narrative and discuss more about what this means to us as Americans and what it could mean this November.

38 days away...

One thing that I was thinking about as I watched McCain and Obama square off last night, is how the two candidates really appear to the American people. McCain has been characterized as a regular, ordinary guy--sort of the George W. Bush of this election. I guess that makes Barack Obama, Al Gore and John Kerry. Somehow it has gotten into the minds of a lot of people that the Republican candidate for President is more down-to-earth and ordinary. While the Democratic candidate is elitist and better than most Americans. Wait a second. Shouldn't the Commander-in-Chief be better than most Americans? Isn't that one thing that separates the President/President-to-be from most Americans. I can't figure out why, but a lot of Americans seem to want someone just like them in the Oval Office. I think I'm an okay guy and good at certain things, but personally, I wouldn't want someone like me as President. I want someone better than me, who has proven his or herself as a leader.

The President has such capacity to influence the American people. Instead of trying to influence the American people for good, Dubya chose to focus on the power that comes with being sworn in when promising to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution. As I looked at both candidates last night, I saw one candidate being true to himself. And I saw one candidate trying to appear average, regular, and "American". Barack Obama spoke naturally, carried himself the way he always does, and had a Presidential poise that showed me that he is ready to lead this country. John McCain tried to appear like he isn't part of the upper crust of society. He spoke like a regular, old-fashioned American. I feel like this was exactly the ploy the Republicans used for Bush. But John McCain certainly is not George W. Bush. So it upsets me greatly when he acts like he is. He may agree with Republicans in Congress and the policies proposed by the Bush administration, but he certainly has quite a different resumee from Bush.

Regular and average is not owning 4-8 houses. I sure hope that the voters saw through that last night. Still, there's a lot of time left before November 4.

39 days... Debate Night

Well, I wasn't able to watch the debate live tonight due to being at a baseball game, so I'm watching the replay right now on CNN. I'm sure I'll go into further detail on the debate tomorrow.

All I gotta say for now is... fundamentals. I think I made a fundamental mistake by going to the Cardinals/Reds game tonight and not staying in to watch the debate. Fundamentally, it wasn't a sound decision. There are some fundamental differences between millions of Americans and me. John McCain might say that one of those is that I attended the Cardinals game tonight and millions of Americans did not. Whereas a fundamental difference between J Mac and me is that he believes most of our spending should be in Defense. Now I played basketball and I played soccer in high school, but in this case, I don't think that defense wins.

J Mac wants to protect programs like for Veterans. Obama is arguing in favor of Early Childhood education, Social Security, College Loans, etc. I'm really wondering which votes McCain is trying to court here. 'Cause I'm pretty sure he already has the votes of Veterans. Well, at least those over 60. Maybe I'm wrong.

One more thing. This strategy in Iraq has "succeeded"? J Mac just said that we are winning and we will come home. I guess he's getting soft in his old age. What happened to the McCain we knew and loved who said things like, "We could be there for 100 years, we will win this war, and won't come back until we do so, etc."?

More on this tomorrow. Now, back to watching the debate.

40 days until Judgment Day

I guess, first I should say that I'm not claiming to be a political authority on this Presidential election or any election for that matter. I like to consider myself a bit of an amateur, political junkie. I've been following this race for about a year and a half, and now since we're getting down to the wire, I've decided to join the fray of avid bloggers and frequent posts as we all follow the McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden tickets.

Got bailout?

I can't believe that there are talks about a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street at the expense of working Americans. This economy is in the worst shape it's ever been in my lifetime and the lifetimes of the two previous generations: home foreclosures, highest unemployment rate in two decades, the continued devaluation of the U.S. dollar, etc. If there was ever a time for a real change, you'd think it would be now. I honestly can't understand how this election in contention. I mean, seriously, one candidate proposes the same policies as the current "dead duck" President. The other candidate advocates for major changes to the current administration's policies. I am not able to comprehend these so-called undecided voters either. How can you be undecided in this election? HOW? What are ou waiting for? What more do you need to know about these candidates? What would be the deal breaker? I don't really care which side you are on (well, yes I do), but would you please just pick your guy and get off the fence!?

Another thing, this special White House meeting today settled absolutely nothing today. President Bush, the two Presidential candidates, and the Congressional Leadership met today in the Cabinet Room in the W.H. but no agreement was met. I wonder why. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, proposed a faulty, short-sighted plan that would not be reviewable. Essentially, Hanky P. wants a "do it now, ask questions later, but oh wait you can't hahahaha". But seriously, what values are we promoting to Americans when you can mess up, cost millions of Americans jobs, homes, and investments, and then be bailed out by the Federal Government? I think it's teaching the value that it's good to be rich and powerful.

I don't have the solution for this crisis, but I sure as heck wouldn't agree to hand over $700 billion without maximum oversight and promises to help the countless Americans who have lost their homes, jobs, and money.

On a lighter note, Sarah Palin would not approve of some of my favorite books: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter, and Slaughterhouse-Five.