(no subject)

[avevale_intelligencer]

I have to admire some commentators' heroic efforts to maintain that the two sides in this election are indistinguishable. I didn't think there was anywhere to stand that far off. It's no wonder they can't hear that clearly what the rest of us are saying. I mean, the air must be pretty thin out there.

Let's say it again: Obama is not perfect. McCain is not the devil. Neither party is in possession of a monopoly of good or evil. Hardly anybody seriously thinks they are, or says they are. One will be better for America, and better for the world, than the other; that is abundantly, manifestly, and I would have thought unavoidably apparent to everyone. (Shows how much I know.) Trying to make them seem equivalent, trying to imply that seeing them as different is fanatical extremism, seems not entirely unakin to a desperate attempt to recapture some ground for the currently losing side, or at least to put a few people off voting at all.

Sigh. As I say, I have to admire them, but I still hope they don't succeed. At the moment, from where I stand (which is far enough away to get a perspective, but not far enough away to be safe if this all goes wrong), more of America than ever is aware of the issues that need to be faced, and seems to have decided who is best qualified to deal with them. I'd really hate to see that spoiled.

Comments

[earth-wizard.livejournal.com]

I'm in agreement. Both have moved to the center in their political speeches to gain the support of the independents, but when politics as usual returns we both know that each of these candidates have quite different agendas and stances. I do not see how any commentator could think otherwise? Yes, McCain is a moderate Republican, but is still a firm pro-life advocate and free-market economist. Obama is still a pro-choice advocate and a defender of regulation, healthcare, and community which have been part of the democratic mainstream for 50 years. With all the rhetoric from both sides in this last week you'd think they were both monsters on the loose according to which side of the divide, but after the election McCain will go back to being a senator from Arizona, and Obama will be our next President. Then the real fun will begin.... then the new battles for the political agendas of our country will be fought out in the media and political sphere for the next four years. It's all part of the way things seem to cycle round... one party gains ascendancy till they screw up, then the next gets their shot to do some more damage... Until we, as citizens, wake up and realize that both parties have their own agendas, and that for the most part neither party truly has the good of the people on their minds, we will just continue to be ruled by the corporate lobby system as usual and the bereaucrats in Washington who are never elected but truly run our government. That's the sad thing, that most of the people who really run things are not our leaders, but the invisible bureacracy of small minded petty individuals we hardly ever see but who vie for power and money behind the scenes. lol

[howeird]

While I agree in theory, a cautionary tale. Two, actually:

I. Before I was old enough to vote, School teacher turned US Senator Lyndon Johnson ran against Air Force General turned US Senator Barry Goldwater. Johnson was the Peace candidate, Goldwater was the hawk. Johnson turned out to be the guy who go us mired in Vietnam and couldn't get us out.

II. I joined the US Peace Corps because Nixon was re-elected. I wanted to be out of the country. I voted for Jimmy Carter from the US Embassy in Bangkok, partly because his mother had been one of the first Peace Corps volunteers, and I expected Carter to expand the peace side of US foreign policy the way Kennedy would have done. Boy, was that a disaster.