Disaster Averted

I tried to watch the vice presidential debate. I started to, saw that Biden was taking the approving uncle tactic in dealing with Palin and concentrating on her running mate and breathed. It was going to be alright. He was tiptoeing through a minefield there and not many people appreciate how hard it must have been.

If he attacked her, he'd be 'mean'. If he pointed out instances where she's lied or bent the truth about her own record, he'd be attacking her because she was a woman. Biden played it smart. He didn't let her get away with charges that weren't true, but he watched her with what appeared to be genuine approval as she fielded questions we all know she was totally unprepared for just a week or two ago.

As for Palin, she didn't humiliate herself. She dodged questions she didn't want to answer and sometimes she got away with it. She painted herself as an expert on energy. But she was coherent and if there wasn't much substance there, at least she didn't sound stupid.
I saw that much before I crashed. Two days at a hospital with your son make these debates a lot less compelling.

So the pundits today say it's back in the laps of the presidential candidates. As it should be.
And as I'm writing this perhaps the House has voted on the latest version of the bailout.
But I wonder if anyone's paying attention to Ralph Nader. He may not be a viable presidential candidate, but there's no arguing he does his homework. He's got an idea that would help the current Wall Street mess without charging us, the people who can't afford to bail them out.

You can read it here.

Dandelion Salad

or more analysis here:

Now Public

Just because an idea comes from someone outside the system doesn't make it a bad one. In fact, it might make it a very good one indeed. I wonder if anyone will listen.

Rain, Paint Fumes and Revolution in the Air

I'm feeling kind of low. The weather doesn't help...hot, muggy and way too wet to be comfortable. I just read Judith O'Reilly's latest entry on wifeinthenorth.com
and felt worse. She's apparently getting shit online from people jealous of her success. What the hell is wrong with humanity? If one of us makes good, the rest of us have to pick her apart so we can feel better about ourselves. Low low low. Little brains.

Then there's my personal fallout from the first presidential debate. Nice of John McCain to show up. I watched it all. I watched the little 'mood meter' running as each candidate spoke. The independents (green) made nice new colors when their reactions blended with the red or the blue lines. And I realized that our debate system is dirt stupid, and nothing that was said that night is likely to change anyone's mind.

Obama, if you like him, held his own. He was in control, he knew his stuff, he didn't attack but he didn't sit back and leave attacks unanswered. McCain, if you like him, played the "I've been around longer than you" card nicely, frequently pointing out that Senator Obama, as he consistently called him, "didn't understand."

There was one moment that made my night. Remember when McCain tossed out a comment that Obama didn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy? I watch people closely. And if you watched Obama, his eyes flashed. This, apparently, is where Obama draws the line: don't question his intelligence. He didn't lose control, but he caught fire and I was glad to see it. We need someone at the helm who can get angry but keep his head. Obama is often far too even tempered. I don't want him to get nasty, but I want him to be passionate.

That said, I have come to mistrust both of them. These candidates were chosen by the machine that decides who we can vote for. We shoot down independents, or we ignore them until they go away. We'll be voting for the lesser of two evils again this year.

And how about those vice-presidential candidates? I dread their upcoming debate: it has the makings of an historic train wreck. I may have to scream until my throat explodes if Joe Biden manages to somehow give the advantage to a woman I have truly come to dislike. Sarah Palin has no more business in Washington than I do. But she's got the cute, feisty thing down solid. I've met her kind too many times and I don't trust them...they like power and they get it by winning people over. If Palin gets into power, it will legitimize views that I firmly believe will send this country back to the Dark Ages.

Then there's our bailout of Wall Street. There are stories no one is telling. I know a woman who was part of a march on Wall Street last week protesting the bailout. Above her, she said, brokers leaned out of windows, threw dollar bills at the marchers and yelled "Get a job!"

A lovely attitude for people who are begging for nearly a trillion dollars in free money to save their jobs. They are "us" and the people who will give them money are "them." It begins to feel like we're going to go without so that Wall Streeters can save their lofts, their vacation homes and their luxury cars. I am most definitely one of 'them.' I'm trying to figure out how to pay my bills, keep my home, pay for heat this winter. Perhaps I can keep warm by the light of the thank you letters I'm sure to receive from investment advisers and stock brokers.

So I'm painting my living room. If we lose the house, at least it'll look good. And we can enjoy it as long as we have it. The physical activity gives me an outlet for my growing anger. Did Thomas Jefferson really say he thought it would be healthy if we have a revolution every two decades? We are long, long overdue.

Let the Games Begin

Sarah Palin made her acceptance speech at the RNC. I watched. She was smart, she was charming, she was funny, she was sincere. She cracked a good joke about the grit of soccer moms. She went for the heart with a vow that parents of special needs kids could count on her support if she wins the election. She went for the jugular with a crack about community organizers doing what mayors do, but without any responsibility.

What she didn't do was explain how her strong family values reconcile with her refusal to put environmental concerns anywhere near the importance she places on energy exploration. She didn't talk about her lawsuit to keep the government from putting polar bears on the endangered list or identify a unique species of whale in an area where she supports oil drilling.

That's to be expected. She's preaching to the choir, as Democrats did just a week ago. She's standing on the pedestal of right, of conviction, of virtue.

Barack Obama's had that podium pretty much to himself up until now. And now both sides will do their best to knock the other off it. Whoever is King (or Queen) of the Hill at the end of election day wins.

It was interesting to watch Rudy Guiliani play head cheerleader for a man he did his best to bury on the campaign trail a few months ago. But again, that's politics. If you don't win, you'd better get behind the one who does and cheer him on.

But I find myself growing tired of it all. Thousands of rabid Republicans chanting for more drilling, angry activists mugging GOP delegates, Democrats taking swipes at their opponents and hoping some of the blows connect - this is a strange way to run a railroad, as my mom would have said.

American politics seems to have come down to a simple question: "Who do you dislike less on election day?"

What if the answer is - "I'm sick of all of you?"