I am furious.
I am so furious that it is late at night and my body is literally quivering with anger. I am so furious that I will likely not sleep tongiht unless I use some very heavy medication or some kind of self-inflicted blunt force trama.
I am so angry that I am resurrecting this poor, neglected blog.
With a reaction like this, you might think I've failed a test. You might think I'm high on something. You might think that perhaps something horrible has happened to me.
It has. And it has happened to every one of us, every American who even pretends to give a damn about the direction our nation is headed.
I am talking about the ludicrous farce that the American people were presented with as the second Presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.
I watched the debate by myself, laying out on a couch in front of a television. I began serene, expecting a stimulating debate on the pressing issues of our time, expecting two politicians that I have grown to respect more and more on the campaign trail speak openly, and frankly about the unprecedented challenges our nation faces. I expected the two to discuss the recent economic catastrophe in measured, yet still intense terms. I even had some hope, some slight vestige of belief that maybe, just maybe, the down-to-earth war hero and the charismatic orater could cast down partisan rancor and maybe, just maybe give the American people some kind of hope.
What the hell was I thinking.
Instead of my perhaps too-lofty expectations, I watched as a politician I have admired above all others since I became politically sentient, a man who I have seen consistently be a force of unity and bi-partisanship, a man who I had hoped might bring some kind of unity to a polarized country degenerated before my very eyes into a bickering, finger-pointing monster. I watched him fling barb after barb at his opponent, desperation tactics that I had thought the man was above.
To my horror, I found myself praying that John McCain would be ignored.
Yet under the barrage that my now-fallen hero hurled at Barack Obama, he eventually responded in kind...how could he not, when McCain was throwing out bombshell accusations that were, if not blatantly untrue, then spun until the facts were left dizzy and broken in a muddled pool of propaganda.
Because my own words are fast turning into hysterical gibberish, let me use some of theirs. Yes, I took notes... I recorded every misguided, malicious barb that I caught during the debate on my text phone.
I filled up 5 different documents on the notepad software.
Here are some of the gems; they are not related to each other:
John McCain claimed that Senator Obama received the most money from large companies of any senator in history.
After one of McCain's quotes, Obama said, and I quote, "I have to correct John on this, not surprisingly."
McCain: "I want you to see the letter that several other senators and I sent that warned that this might happen. Guess what, his (Obama's name) isn't on it.
McCain: "Obama has the most outrageously liberal record in the Senate."
McCain likened an Obama presidency to that of Herbet Hoover.
Obama: "John says government hasn't done anything about alternative energy in 30 years; he's been there for 27 of them!"
The candidates began to rail so heavily against each other that they utterly abandoned the debate format, leading Tom Brokaw, one of the most venerable journalists alive today, plaintively begging them to stay on topic. Like children, they utterly ignored the established rules in order to hurl accusations at each other, hoping to get in the last damning word before their opponent could respond.
When they did discuss their own policy issues, it was largely the exact same stump speeches we have heard since the first rumblings of the campaign. Many times, it was word for word exerpts from previous speeches and debates. Even though between the two debates a financial meltdown of almost apoctalyptic proportions occured, the speeches, the phrases, the stances were almost identical.
What is most disturbing, and what has me so furious, is the utter disregard that the candidates had for any refreshing debate or any real answers to tough questions. Call me an idealist, but when we face the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression, when our own citizens are losing jobs and homes, when we are still embattled in dangerous conflicts abroad, isn't it time to cut the political crap and actually answer something? Isn't it time to abandon the stump speeches and "facts" blatantly twisted in your own favor? With the American people staring into the inky black void of an unprecedented recession, isn't it time to show them that they are humans, not dogma-spouting machines?
Apparently not. Apparently the two men who are running to lead our nation believe that in the face of challenges that Americans have not faced for generations, bickering, mud-flinging, demonizing politics as usual are still the right way to proceed. And this from two candidates who claim that to be the sworn enemy of the political status quo.
It's true that every debate is like this, and it's true that I have watched those debates without nearly this level of disgust. You may be wondering why I'm all of a sudden so vehement about this.
Maybe it's because I'm in a bad mood. Maybe it's because I was alone, and didn't have any way to diffuse my frustration.
Or maybe it's because I have finally had enough, and, as we stand at the brink of another Great Depression, I am just too furious to stomach it any more.
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