Oct 08 2008
PSA – it’s two syllables, noo-cleer. two syllables.
so i've been hearing this or some variation of it a lot lately: i don't like obama or mccain, so i'm not voting for either of them. it bugs the crap out of me, and yes i realize some of the two of you who read this are included, so don't get pissed off, that's not the point. the point is, i don't understand how not voting is a good solution. i say this having not voted in the last election, i'll admit it. i was undecided down to the wire, i thought they both sucked and i didn't feel like finding the time in my day at the moment. i can tell you at this moment that a) i'm certainly not proud of the fact, and b) if there were some sort of do-over i would definitely vote. moving on to the point that i'm sure i had. neither candidate is perfect, no candidate in the history of candidacies has ever been perfect, nor will one ever be. if i ever find myself to be completely in agreement with someone like that there would be two things to do, one, make sure i'm not in some sort of mental institution already, and two, retrace my steps to locate when i drank that strange kool-aid and who gave it to me. like it or not, it will always come down to the ugly task of choosing the lesser of two evils.
yes, two evils. like this or not, our country runs on a two-party system, and very likely will for many moons to come. so while you may be thinking, "i'll vote, i'm gonna vote for nader or write in oprah, that will express my distaste for these candidates and the two-party system," that's not the case. ugly truth time: it really won't. you may as well stay home. the simple fact is either barack obama or john mccain is going to be the next president of this country. why on earth would you not have your say? you're going to complain about whoever the next president is and what he does, so why not at least be a bit proactive here at the beginning, perhaps leave yourself that, "i voted for the other guy" grumble that people are so fond of. or have that moment to say, well yes, this particular thing he's doing makes me unhappy, but it's sure better than what that other guy would've done. if you don't vote, you have no right to complain either way. you had your chance and you didn't take it, you chose not to express your opinion on election day, you really shouldn't for four more years. yes, that's harsh and not totally right, but it's not totally wrong either. how could i be mad at ben for picking a green shirt instead for me of a brown one when i offered no thoughts of my own?
if you're unsure about exactly where they stand on some things, or even unsure about where you stand on certain issues, do some digging. investigate where both candidates stand on the things that are really important to you. do this for yourself, don't count on john mccain to tell you about barack obama or vice versa. don't count solely on obama to tell you about himself or mccain about himself. granted the candidates' sites are the easiest places to find info on just about everything they want to do and believe and certainly shouldn't be discounted, but a little more investigation from an outside type source might not hurt. (notice how i didn't say unbiased? ha. i'm not sending you unicorn hunting people). i've watched both debates, they haven't been enlightening, or even engaging, neither person has said anything they haven't been saying for the last six months, they're just getting more repetitive and annoying and snarky with it. (side note and personal rant - we get it mccain, you don't like or respect obama. guess what? right now, he's on the same level you are, a candidate for president. he is not beneath you, nor is he gum stuck to your shoe. blatant slights and refusal to acknowledge his existence do not make you look clever or better, they make you look like a tool, tool.)
anyway, i'll wrap this up i guess, if anyone is even still reading. please, for the love of God, Allah, the Hindu dieties, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the Great Pumpkin and anything else you hold dear, pick a candidate and cast your vote. rest assured, that whomever lands in office still has congress to answer to and that despite what sarah palin make think, no one person has power over all those individuals (many lobbyists, giant business and extortionists do, sure). but seriously, of all the elections to stay out of, why would you choose one so important and pivotal when our country is in the midst of such a colossal clusterf#@$? for real. things are going to break, grow, shift, die and be born in the US in the near future. surely you have thoughts on that, and surely at least some of those thoughts align even a little more closely with one candidate than the other.
civil and thoughtful discussion in the comments is welcome and encouraged.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
green and brown shirts? what? i would not do that and you know it.
regardless i am in a similar vote boat. this will be my first presidential election to vote in. i never felt like i had a candidate that i could fully get behind and i also never did enough research to feel like i was well enough informed. but not this time. i think it really is important to inform yourself of what is going on, be it the election politics, this ridiculous economic situation or even small things like what kind of haircut to get.
oh, and according to the dictionary it's 3 syllables:
October 8th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Nice blog! I'm excited to see what both of you have to say in coming months.
We are always faced to choose between two inadequate people every election. But aren't we all inadequate? I think the most disappointing thing is how much we demonize one candidate or the other, one party or the other. How many of us have made mistakes in our lives (failed jobs, failed marriages, etc.) or voted in a way we later thought was maybe the wrong decision? I totally agree that you should investigate and just try to make the best and most educated decision you can. Unfortunately, most people will not. They will buy into the US Vs THEM game instead of realizing that we are all in this together. To quote a guy I saw speak recently "real change does not come 1 day every 4 years." We should be the change. And the challenge to us should be to shake ourselves out of our cynicism and apathy and do our part to change our own communities. We can pass all the laws we want. We can elect all the politicians we want (or don't want as the case may be). But the reality is that broken people are not fixed by politics. Broken ways of living are not fixed by passing laws. We have to band together and resolve to live in a way that rises above all this rhetoric.
I hope that came across as thoughtful and unpartisan as I meant it!
October 8th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
i agree with you, mostly. except about the 3rd party thing. i think that the only way to stop the cycle of craptastic presidential choices is to enforce a 3rd party system by voting 3rd party if you don't agree with either of the main two. how else will we ever get a legitimate 3rd party system? yes, that means for the next 2 to 3 elections the vote will be split and 3rd party voters' candidates will not be elected, but if we can get enough money and support flowing in that direction, we could finally get a serious 3rd party candidate. it just takes time and patience. yes, you won't be able to say "the guy i voted for won," though you WILL be able to say "I voted for another guy." but later you'll be able to say that you influenced your country for real change, opening the door to a new system and better choices instead of this same-old-same-old rote formula where neither party will look after the best interests of Americans but rather the best (and yet somehow worst) interests of their respective parties. a 3rd party vote DOES count. : )
October 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
i'm not in any way opposed to the 3rd party option, i just don't think that in reality, and particularly not in this election, that a 3rd party candidate will be elected, for a lot of reasons. i don't think it's out of the question ever - though someone more appealing and conceivable than ralph nader will certainly have to come along. any hope of "fixing" the system comes from those inside the system. the game has to be played to some extent, it's the only way to exact any sort of change. and like bill said, it's not going to come through one presidential election or one person. i wish people would take a few minutes to educate themselves in ALL elections, the people we put in Congress are the ones who make and shape the way things work, for the most part. i'm simply saying that this year, of all years doesn't seem the one to abstain or vote for someone essentially guaranteed to lose. i'm not being cynical (which is so unlike me anyway) i'm just saying that harsh reality needs to be accepted, regardless of how unappealing it is. and that said, i'd still rather someone go vote than stay home.
and benjamin, fine, but it's a southern sort of three syllables, as as the very end points out, it certainly is not nuculer.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
yes, megan, as as.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
"Southern three syllables"? Is that synonymous with just saying it wrong?
I'll take nu-cleer over nuculer though. that's one of my biggest pet peeves. I'm sure you two will start saying it all the time now. I can't wait.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
there's no way i could start saying nuculer as it is one of my biggest pet peeves as well. megan's too. so, you're probably safe, our fancy friend.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Ok, somehow I guess I was supposed to read this. I'm getting all kinds of grief about my desire to vote third party from my significant other.
What you said is basically the same thing she is trying so hard to get me to believe—that I should, in fact, vote for the lesser of two evils in this particular election. I want so badly to vote for the Constitution Party (well, actually, I REALLY want to vote for Ron Paul, but since he isn't running and has endorsed Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, that seems like the next best thing to me), but (and I already knew this was true), the president is going to be either John McCain or Barack Obama. I'm not going to be shy about my choice. I'm not pro-McCain, but I am definitely anti-Obama. There are things I like about McCain, but he is doing too many things that piss me off for me to vote FOR him. So IF I select McCain on November 4th, it will not be a vote for McCain but, rather, a vote against Obama.
When you said, "i don't like obama or mccain, so i'm not voting for either of them," did you mean the same thing? That you will just be voting against one of them instead of for either of them? As I read on through your blog, that is what it seemed like.
I still don't know what I'm going to do. I know I may be ridiculed for this, but I really do like Sarah Palin. I would vote for her before I would vote for John McCain, foreign policy experience or not. Neither Bill Clinton nor Ronald Regan really had any foreign policy experience before entering office either, and they both seemed to manage somehow. Now, I am with you on the "nuclear" thing (though I agree with the guy who said it is three syllables, which is how i say it). What I don't understand is WHY she keeps saying, "Nucular." She knows how to say it. I know she does. She said it correctly all throughout her speech at the Republican National Convention. But prior to the convention and in every appearance since the convention, she has pronounced it like George Bush. And what bugs me about him mispronouncing the word is that you KNOW people have told him at various points during his eight years in office how it is supposed to be said and that it bugs people that he mispronounces it ... yet, he still continues to do it. Arrrrgh! Not good for this former English major's nerves or soul. And I'm afraid Palin is doing the same thing. Did somebody tell her it's folksy or cute to mispronounce it? That's what I'm afraid of. If that is the case, I doubt she'll ever pronounce it correctly again.
Oh ... and one final thing. I have a blog too! You can check it out by clicking my name! Woohoo! I'll link to your blog on my mine.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hahaha, I said I agree with "the guy" who said that "nuclear" has three syllables. I guess that "guy" is Ben. I wasn't paying attention.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am
donnie, thanks for acknowledging me
i have a question for you though. how can you really feel palin would be a good president (you said you'd vote for her over mccain) when she has displayed an amazing level of ineptitude and inability to respond to direct questions. her lack of understanding of the position she is up for is really scary – she will not be queen of congress, VP is a tie breaker vote. i just don't understand it. every time she opens her mouth she appears less qualified to be an elected official – whether a VP or even a governor.
you can't cute away issues. winking will not get rid of the economic crisis. have they relised this and that is the reason they are resorting to calling obama a terrorist? outright slander, by any candidate, to me is abhorrent. i've seen it from both sides during this election cycle, but calling obama a terrorist is not only not true but furthers the misconception by many small minded people that he is a muslim fundamentalist bent on turning us into a radical islamic nation.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am
more about palin's experience:
October 9th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
husband, if you plan to start some political war, make your own bloody blog post. that comment there, totally long enough for a blog. plus, you've commented more than anybody on this.
to the donnie: i think that's pretty much what the lesser of two evils thing comes down to a lot, voting against one rather than for another. but that is still making a choice and exercising what itty bitty bit of power we as lowly american citizens have, which i think we all need to do. and really, do you need to be told it's best just to listen to your woman?
October 10th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Well, I guess I should respond to why I like Sarah Palin. Frankly, I think she has the kind of experience I want to see in Washington. That video you posted talked a lot about V.P.s who have had significant federal government experience, but that isn't really something that excites me. Nor do I really care how long someone has been in power. I know she hasn't been governor of Alaska for very long, but I find it funny that while Matt Damon thought it a valid point to ridicule the fact that she has so little experience, Barack Obama had been in the U.S. Senate for an even shorter amount of time when Damon decided to support him in December of 2006. So going by the standards of that video you posted, if Palin doesn't have enough experience with her two years in the executive branch, Obama didn't have enough federal government experience when he first started running to be president (a position which, if experience is required, probably ought to require even more than the V.P. slot). And let's not forget that he has really been running ever since 2004 when he spoke at the DNC. People back then were talking about him like he was the "it" man for the next presidential election, even though he was only an Illinois State Senator at the time. And then, apparently, they made it happen.
I care about results and accomplishments, and I believe Palin has a good record for getting things done. She does have executive branch experience, and she has accomplished quite a lot in a short amount of time. She isn't entrenched in Washington politics. She has a record for standing up to wasteful spenders, even those in her own party. The one thing about our federal government that has me so sick is the wasteful spending. I want somebody who will go in there and reject big spending bills and cut our government down to size. Unfortunately, I don't think Obama will do that, and despite what McCain says, I'm not so confident anymore than he will do so either. She is also right on with her stance on energy and drilling, in my opinion.
I admit that she didn't do so well in some of the media interviews, but I really just chalk that up to poor preparation by her handlers. I do wish she had not be so stand-offish about what newspapers or magazines she reads while talking to Katie Couric, but I don't think that is a hard-hitting negative on her. Do you think Barack Obama is always cool and collected under pressure? Have you seen any of his inept videos? Not on TV of course, but check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GaU-ExYm30 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU
Check out these sites too:
Glenn Beck shows how many of the things being reporter about Palin just aren't true: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/11/beck.palin/
This website gives a list of her accomplishments (and a cheesy video of her in a bathing suit during her beauty pageant days): http://hubpages.com/hub/Sarah-Palins-Accomplishments
I don't think Palin is just trying to "cute away" issues. I think she has a better stance on the issues than either of the people at the top of the tickets. That's why I like her. I don't think it was ever her intention to "cute away" anything. I think the media has done that to her, and Tina Fey's portrayal on SNL, while very funny, isn't helping any either. To be honest, I had heard a rumor a long time ago that she was a potential V.P. choice for McCain, but nobody in the media was talking about her, nor were they putting her on his short list (or any list for that matter), but I read up on her when I heard the rumor. And I just kept thinking that she was actually the person I wanted him to pick. Of course, I never thought it would happen (especially since she wasn't on any published lists of candidates for the job), so I was just as surprised as everyone else on the day he actually chose her. I remember driving to work that morning and listening to them speculate on who it might be. Romney, Huckabee, Hutchinson, Pawlenty, etc. And I was thinking that I wish it could be Palin. And then, lo and behold, it was Palin. And I only say that so that you don't think I've just been drinking the Kool-Aid and decided she was great because that's what everyone else was saying at the time.
And now I have commented more than anyone else on this blog, and I am sorry, Megan.
I just really wanted to respond since I was asked here. I guess you can take this as my response to the comment you left on my blog as well. 
If anything further needs to be addressed after this, I'll be happy to answer any other questions too.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:30 am
hey thanks donnie bighead. and also thanks for all the commenting. now we look somewhat less pathetic. i mean, how sad is it when the most comments on one's blog are left by the one of the bloggers? yeesh. anyway, thanks for your thoughts and stuff. it's nice to have an articulate and well-thought out view on who a friend of mine refers to as Caribou Barbie. though i don't agree, and there are major hang-ups that i could never get past with her even if i'd ever had a moment's thought of voting for mccain. but, that's not the point of this blog post. i obviously would prefer you vote for who i'm voting for, but so much more than that, i want you to educate yourself and weigh in on one of the two men who will be our next president.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:54 am
i think donnie's explanation of why he would endorse palin is the first well thought out and well put together explanation i have heard on this subject. it's one that i can't criticize because it is based on his beliefs and how he feels about the issues. so good job donnie on being the first person with a brain to explain this!
October 10th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Oh, I did see one thing I didn't address. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure she has not called Obama a terrorist. She did say he pals around with terrorists, but frankly, I am also a bit nervous about his connection with William Ayers. Based on news reports, I really do not believe it is as innocuous as he is telling us it is. And again, that is not to say Obama is a terrorist, but I believe he is being and / or has been heavily supported throughout his political career by a number of people who truly dislike capitalism and the United States of America. Williams Ayers, Tony Rezco, Jeremiah Wright, the dude who took over for Jeremiah Wright, the New Party (an offshoot of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America), etc.