OT Friday: It’s Bitch About Politics Day!
Oct 29 2010
I can’t help myself…I just have to write this blog!
OK, is it me or is this the worst year ever for negative campaign ads? I honestly could not tell you one thing about any candidate in California based upon their television ads. 100% of the content of their television ads is about the other guy! The ads are no more advanced than saying “well, you suck!” on a playground. I cannot determine one single thing that the candidate is promising to do, what they stand for, etc., from their own ads. I can hear allegations about those things about them only on their opponent’s ads. At this point, I have been saying that I would vote for just about anyone whose ad was about themselves.
I think most voters are REALLY sick of this crap. Would you go to a job interview and spend the whole time talking about how the other applicants suck? Of course not. So why do we have to listen to this angry, snarky, pointless crap 24/7 on our television sets? It does not make most people want to vote for you. It makes most people want to say fuck it and not bother voting.
Well, that and the fact that YOU ALL DO SUCK. My fellow Californians know what I mean. Here are our choices:
A former CEO who got canned from her job. As one site snarkily, but accurately, noted: “It’s exceedingly funny that “pro-bidness†types are supporting her, since she’s proven that she can’t run a business.” You know, that was pretty much MY first thought when I heard she was running. I doubt I am alone. I like the idea of people who have proven they can manage things running for office. Can’t we nominate someone who didn’t fail to meet expectations (by a lot!) and get fired? (Probably not. Those people are still making millions of dollars and are not going to trade it in for a relatively low paid job that destroys their personal privacy and gives them gray hair. Hence the problem.)
versus
A career politician who is well known and ridiculed for being one of the dumbest bunnies in the not-that-impressive hutch known as the U.S. Senate. She is scared to participate in a debate and won’t do it, counting on her incumbency to keep her in office. I mean, seriously, the woman cannot answer a simple question about how she is going to vote without someone coaching and prepping her. TMZ can put Paris Hilton on the spot and get a more coherent answer than Barbara Boxer can come up with. WTF.
Then for governor we have:
A former governor whose most memorable accomplishment in the minds of most Californians would be “banging Linda Ronstadt” and who has become well known during this election for getting caught on audiotape calling his female opponent a whore. Oh, and he was once quoted as saying the Internet and computers were “aspects of a degenerate economic system.” If he gets elected, I want him drug tested.
versus
A woman who, while a successful businesswoman who has undoubtedly created a lot of jobs, has done a truly hideous job of parenting, creating some of the worst examples of racist, sexist, knuckle-dragging frat boys on the planet. On one hand I think, oh well, we’re not hiring her to teach grade school. On the other, I think that you learn that behavior by living in a household where it is accepted as normal, and that makes me wonder what Meg is really like.
As my mom used to say, oy vey. Who wants to vote for any of these people? And their negative, childish and uninformative ads are not helping. I’d like to vote for someone who can show me how they are going to try to fix unemployment — because unemployment is the root cause of just about every other serious problem in the state. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this out! Of course tons of houses are sitting empty, real estate crashed and the construction industry is in the toilet — unemployed people can’t buy houses! Of course we have a zillion pets in rescue — unemployed people can’t afford to care for pets. Then there’s crime — unemployed people are more likely to commit crimes out of desperation, depression, etc. Unemployed people don’t buy things and that causes retailers to go out of business, causing more unemployment! Unemployment leads to financial pressures that ruin marriages and leave kids caught in the middle. I could go on in this vein for 30 more pages, but you get the picture. We can’t fix anything unless we fix the employment situation. And if anyone thinks the typical large business is going to pay Americans $15 an hour for a job some third-world person will do for forty cents, especially considering the third-world person won’t be suing if they don’t get their lunch break or asking for holiday pay, then they must also believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Yet no one seems to have the guts to take any concrete action to keep jobs from going overseas. I actually had an educated person tell me with a straight face that sending jobs overseas creates jobs here. Um, what? They hire someone here to rename their overseas customer service reps? (Dear Time Warner Cable: Trust me, I know when I am talking to a Bangladeshi with a script even when you make him tell me his name is Bob.)
I mean, I am not a politician or an economist so there could be some very valid reason why we can’t do this, but why can’t we require companies who want to sell things in America (including online sales to USA addresses) to maintain at least X percent of their workforce in America? You don’t do that, you don’t get to do business here. Wouldn’t that fix a lot of the problem? It’d be totally fair if every company – regardless of their corporate location – was held to that same standard.
Now, I know it is very hard to get anything done once in office. I know that pushing something sensible through Congress is kind of like pushing a wheelbarrow of horse manure through deep, sucking mud. I know that it is all about deals and alliances, and in reality resembles a “Survivor” episode, but with better food. I know that every truly idealistic, honest person I have ever met who got themselves elected pretty much ran screaming after 1 term, maybe 2, back to the comparative sanity of private industry. But seriously, can we have some candidates who at least start out with some good ideas and common sense? I’m certainly not seeing them in Southern California. Are you, where you live? Do you have anybody good to vote for? Are the ads this bad all over the country? Is anyone talking about themselves anymore?
290 comments to “OT Friday: It’s Bitch About Politics Day!”
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The thing that I want to ask all those who are so worried about the deficit is: When did you start worrying? Was it when Bush started building the deficit when he came into office in 2000 (it was $0 when he took office), or was it only since Obama has taken office in 2008? The deficit rose from 0 to $11 trillion while Bush was in office, and has risen to almost $14 trillion now. Obama inherited the war(s) and the worst economy since the Depression. I don’t know of any way to pay down a deficit when noone except the wealthy has money to spend. I think it is worthwhile to add to the deficit if the investment will pay off in the long run, and people will begin to earn enough money to add to the economy. It does not make sense to me to add to the deficit to extend tax breaks to the wealthy. How long will it take for people to learn that TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS DOES NOT WORK! Well, except for those who are already wealthy.
I just don’t understand why or when it became okay to think that the sole purpose of a business is to earn money for its shareholders. If a business has the same rights as a person, then the business has the same responsibilities as a person. The business and its shareholders have an obligation to be ETHICAL.
And, since I have had to plan my life around the ability to obtain health insurance (I have had Type 1 diabetes for 40 years), I am SO grateful that I can no longer be denied due to pre-existing conditions. You probably can’t imagine how scary it is to lose your job due to disability, and then not to be able to buy health insurance at any price.
Sorry for the disjointed rant. Thanks for the opportunity to vent. I’ve read every entry, and appreciate almost all of them.
Right on, janeliess! I am very, very frightened about all the austerity talk I hear — that misguided (to be charitable…) attitude is why the Great Depression went on so long! Doesn’t anyone learn from past errors?
I read Paul Krugman’s editorials in the New York Times and find his arguments compelling — he is a Nobel laureate, after all! — but he also seems like a voice crying in the wilderness. Well…I suppose a lot of the Tea Party people can’t read…
Oh, and I heard another economist who originally hails from the UK saying on NPR that he can’t understand why the Tea Partiers are bent on sandbagging their own best interests. Austerity means cutbacks in government services, duh — which isn’t going to hurt the Koch brothers and the other billionaires, or even Sarah Palin, but it will affect Joe not-the-Plumber, or Samuel or whatever his name really is. I understand that the Tea Partiers don’t give a crap about helping the people who are less fortunate than they are, but one has to marvel at people who are so intent on shooting themselves in the feet.
Stopped reading when you said Jerry Brown called Meg Whitman a whore. The error has been pointed out and noted, but not corrected. Awesome.
I’ve been reading FHOTD for years, though rarely commented. Is this S.O.P.?
I would LOVE to see the following happen.
1. Each party and candidate has the same amount of time to campaign and can only campaign for a maximum of 8 weeks. If you can’t get the message across in 8 weeks there is a problem.
2. Each candidate and party can only spend x amount of dollars, each gets the same amount.
3. Each candidate and party get the same amount of advertising time, x amount of TV ads, radios spots, newspaper etc.
4. Presidential election – winner of popular vote wins period, end of story.
If this were the case candidates might actually have to speak about the issues and their solutions to problems. Not just sling mud at each other. They sound like a bunch of 3 year olds on the playground.
Limiting spending, wow what a novel concept. Is their ANY politician on the local, state or federal level that has a clue what that means? I don’t think so.
I am totally sick of all the BS in politics and with politicians in general. I don’t think ANY can be trusted. Each party is out to smear and blame the other and has no concern for the voter.
I have always remembered what a Poly Sci. Prof. said “The USA has a great system of government with it’s checks & balances system, but we also have politicians which screws everything up”. Kinda sums it up for me.
Off my soapbox and back into lurk mode.
I live in Southern Nevada. This election cycle cannot end soon enough.
A few observations:
1. It really, really bothers me when candidates duck the media. If they’re unwilling to explain themselves during the campaign, what makes us think they’ll be any better once they’re in office? Isn’t the campaign THE TIME to talk about oneself and one’s political ideologies? Supposedly, Sharron Angle used a decoy to dodge reporters after an event. Really, Sharron? I think you need to Wo-Man Up and answer the tough questions.
2. 50% of Las Vegas high-schoolers don’t graduate. FIFTY PERCENT. How are we ever going to make improvements to this state if half of kids don’t even earn a high school degree? I haven’t heard either candidate for any office tackle this one. Why? Because if you strike fear in the senior citizens over the loss of Social Security (Harry Reid is going to bankrupt the system so you won’t have it, while Sharron Angle wants to “phase Social Security out”) or threaten to raise taxes (Rory Reid is going to raise taxes while Brian Sandoval is going to raise taxes [both running for governor of NV]), that’s who will turn out to vote. Seniors vote in greater numbers than any other group. So, running on a platform of fixing our horrible public education system isn’t going to garner votes from that sector.
2.a. On that note, in order to diversify Southern Nevada’s economy, we need employment sectors that are not gaming and service industry oriented. So, generally, that means that we need educated people. But Harry Reid fought to close Yucca Mountain which eliminated hundreds of high-paying, technical jobs — the type of jobs that need educated people to fill. He fed on people’s NIMBY attitude and fear of “nuclular” waste just a couple hundred miles from Las Vegas. Way to go, Harry. So now what? Now we have hundreds of less secure sites all over the country holding spent nuclear fuel.
3. damaia says: “I want the people leading my country to be so staggeringly smarter and cleverer than me that I look like a fucking sea sponge in comparison.” I totally agree, which is why I don’t want a regular Joe or Jane holding high political office. I know lots of regular people. The thought of them with power to make or enforce the law is frightening. Think about that when you suggest leadership should be given via lottery. Holy crap. I can think of several people with whom I work who have Master’s degrees and clean criminal records, yet who I would shudder at the idea of them in a position of political power.
4. I cannot stand the “Anybody but ________” method of voting. I thought it was irresponsible when it was “Anybody but Bush” and I think it’s irresponsible now with the “Anybody Butt (sic) Reid” mentality. That is an example of a complete lack of critical thinking and decision-making ability.
4.a. Here’s what Nevada’s probably going to get because of the anti-incumbent at-all-costs voting method:
i. “I hope that’s not where we’re going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around?” Oh, the Second Amendment is the one that talks about the right of the people to keep and bear arms. When asked repeatedly by a reporter to explain what she meant, Angle ran to her car and sped away.
ii. “And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade” Yes, that’s right a 13 or 15 year old girl who has been raped by a family member and finds herself pregnant as a result needs to look at the bright side of the situation.
iii. “They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under ‘autism.’ So, that’s a mandate that you have to pay for.” Yes, “autism” with finger quotes. I’m sure parents with children who have “autism” (insert finger quotes) are appreciative of that.
iv. “I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.” Read: “All non-WASPs kinda look alike to me.”
v. “Government shouldn’t be doing that to a private company. And I think you named it clearly: It’s a slush fund.” So, the businesspeople who found themselves in a financial ruinous state after the BP oil spill needn’t be assisted by the responsible party? You actually think BP would’ve set up the compensation fund by themselves?
vi. “We support what the organization stands for. Sharron does.” That would be Mr. Angle and the organization in question here is the Oath Keepers.
5. Nevada is a failed state. Unemployment and poverty is rising. We lead the nation in foreclosures. The state government is perpetually in the hole. Clark County is in the hole because they’ve taken on University Medical Center’s indigent care program. Is this Harry Reid’s fault? Yes and no. Yes, in part because he has wheeled and dealed to cater to the gaming and construction industries which cause education and healthcare to be put on the back burner. No, in part because the fall of Nevada is part of the economic mess as a whole, which has no specific direct cause, rather multiple causes that create the whole. Does Harry Reid need to go? Yes. But now is not the time, considering the alternative.
I’m currently located in Texas’ McClellan County (yes, that one) and oi. It’s gotten so bad that a local car dealership (of which we have far too many for such a poor county) are starting to air commercials that are composed like the nasty political ones that bookend every commercial break.
Makes me glad I retained my PA voting card- though at this point anything is better then what we have in office there (seriously, a string of blond girlfriends while his judge wife entertains back in Philly, ugh. Still bitter about his antagonistic view on historic preservation.)
Hey, not sure any details on this, but I saw this on my local CL, and I thought I’d pass it along. I know there’s a few of you here who like Icelandics, or know people who do. Pass it along!
62 Icelandics waiting for slaughter
That is CBER again and $am. The latest name is Phantom Meadows. She just changes the name and goes merrily on!
I tell you, the only thing worse than 17 automated political calls yesterday is going to the Fugly page and finding instead of intelligent commentary about horses, it’s all about politics too. Yeesh.
To the woman who called Sarah Palin an idiot, it takes one to know one. You are no better that the political ads Fugs is bitching about. She never, ever, put an ad out there putting down another person. So what if SNL had a field day with her. She’s a regular woman, a mother, who was ASKED to run with Senator McCain. So what if she didn’t have all the answers. Do you personally know how to solve all this countries’ problems? Do you know every issue out there and have a great response already planned? I’d like to see any normal, sane, hardworking, morally sound individual in office who HASN’T been in politics since day one to put a fresh perspective in office. Otherwise, we are spinning our wheels and getting nowhere. Maybe you should put your money where your mouth is and run for office, lets see if anyone makes fun of you.
Oh, come on! She IS an idiot, and not a benevolent one. Isn’t she the one who came up with the Death Panels lie? Because of the ensuing brouhaha, now Medicare will NOT pay for a medical advice session about end-of-life options. This lack doesn’t benefit anyone (except I suppose medical device manufacturers…).
Really? I think you need to do your homework, maybe study a little more on what she stands for and you might change your mind. Maybe she did get a little mixed up with the Death Panels, but not entirely, and she didn’t lie. You are not going to change my mind in thinking she is a good person and deserves to stay in politics. I do not appreciate your name calling, though, no matter who you are spouting about.
“She never, ever, put an ad out there putting down another person.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! Wow, I haven’t heard anything that funny in ages! Awesome….also, bullsh*t. She mudslings all the time! Watch an ad for Miller where she attacks Murkowski if you want to see her putting someone down! To name one. Talk about needing an education. Yeesh.
You can *think* she’s a good person until the cows come home, but that doesn’t make her one! She’s a quitter, and she makes Alaskan women look like idiots. I wish she would shut up already, or at least permanently move to another state so I can stop being so embarrassed by her. Every time she opens her mouth, I cringe. Have you seen the “Palinisims” page on Slate magazine? These are all DIRECT QUOTES. The only thing funnier was the Bushisms…and to be honest, the Bidenisms…
Anyway, it’s fine if you like her, you are entitled to your opinion. But don’t get all huffy because lots of intelligent women don’t like her. Honestly, most of the women I know can’t stand her, and most of *them* have actually met her. (As have I, if you care.)
Seriously, mad chicken, you are going to stand up for Murkowski? Who’s daddy GAVE her that seat?
You, YOU make Alaskan women look like idiots. Do you have no sense of pride? Do you even know what nationalism is? She quit because at that point in her life, she couldn’t give Alaska her full attention anymore and moved on. You seem like the kind of person that would read Slate magazine. I’m sure it was real special shaking her hand at a rally, but you don’t really know her, and you can’t consider that “meeting her”. You should be ashamed of yourself, coming from Alaska and all you can do is talk shit about your former governor. I wish YOU would shut up already, and move permanently to another state. Let me guess…you moved up to Alaska with the military?? Two words, “GO HOME!”
And now, it seems, the guy running against Moran is dwelling in what I call Republican Fantasyland.
You know. The country where we’re going to increase spending, lower taxes and reduce the deficit.
I assume that all the people who think that their credit card limit is extra cash will vote for him.
On a different note, I’m of the growing opinion that the road to true democracy is to abolish political parties, but I think the human desire to form factions and have ‘our guy’ will prelude that ever happening.
In Colorado here. I mostly missed a lot of ads because I don’t watch TV much, and when I do it’s usually stuff I’ve DVR’d so I fast forward through the commercials anyway. I do know (as has already been stated) that Hickenlooper didn’t run negative ads, but I never saw ANY ads for ANY other candidates for governor.
I go to school in Boulder (CU), which is known for being primarily Liberal (and having one of the biggest 4/20 celebrations in the state. Just to provide more information about the town.) Some of the on-campus advertising there made me want to throw things and make it rain very hard (to wash away the chalk ads)…an example: “Vote for Bennett! Buck will take away your student loans!” Made me want to NOT vote for Bennett…I just didn’t like how it was presented. I don’t care who takes away my student loans, because I don’t have any. (Yes, we’re basically paying for college out-of-pocket. JOY.) Because that’s the ONLY thing Buck will do. Of course. Fortunately, my ballot address is not in Boulder, so my vote wasn’t outnumbered bu a bunch of others.
My two cents on production overseas vs here: I’ve been to China, land where all things are made. KEEP INDUSTRY THERE. Never in my life have I seen so much smog. Blue sky doesn’t exist in China. I couldn’t breathe for two weeks. It was absolutely awful. Yes, it’s unfortunate that jobs aren’t here, but we have to find some other solution. Industry in the US is not a good solution, in my mind. How jobs can be created in America, I don’t know, but factory work is NOT the way to do it, from an environmental and health standpoint. An photo of China, taken in Shanghai, completely unedited:
That building is located around half a mile away from where the picture was taken. Visibility? Not so much.
This was the first election I could vote in. I was really excited until I sat down to learn more about the candidates…then I just wanted to bang my head against the wall. I seriously considered just flipping a coin to decide my vote for senator…(Don’t worry, I didn’t. I just wanted to.). However, I did put my “I voted” sticker on my wall of all things important…on the temporary license plate for my car. After all, it’s an important milestone in my life!
Anyone wonder why the skies over the western states aren’t as blue as they used to be? Take a look at global high altitude wind patterns. That crap gets blown over here!