Cleaning My Attic

I'm tired of politics. I wish the election were tomorrow. I think everything that's needed to be said and done has been said and done. It's like having an NFL pre-season that lasts six months. It makes no sense. Working for an all-news station means, though, that I will be hip deep in all the action right on through the first Tuesday in November. I'm tired of talking heads. I'm tired of the typing heads. That said, here's a quick two-cents worth from me. Then I'm done with it

I find it interesting on how so many people are cool with the fact that the Leader of the Free World could possibly be someone with essentially entry-level political experience. No other job has that potential.

Those who won't vote for a presidential candidate because of who the VP selection is really need to stay home on Election Day. That's like deciding you're not going to go see Van Halen because you don't like the opening act.

If Obama loses, all we'll hear is that America "wasn't ready for a black president". Never mind that America will have chosen the overwhelmingly more qualified candidate (which doesn't happen as often as it should). The media will simply focus on the color of his skin (Remember, Obama's mom is white, so we call him "Half-rican American" around here). That's easier to do than taking the time to examine the facts.

The fact that people are saying that Sarah Palin should stay home and tend to the babies offends on two levels of sexism: one for saying that the woman must stay home and raise the children, implying that- two: a man is incapable of raising a family while the woman is away. As far as I know, the Palins are happily married and the husband can stay at home. Am I missing something?

Still, the pick of Palin wasn't motivated by anything else other than to sway disenchanted fans of Hilary Clinton who aren't happy voting for Obama. That's all it could be. If this were the workaday world, the promotion of Palin to second-in-command would be met with sex discrimination lawsuits until the cows come home.

Women are much tougher on women than men are on men. Guys are happy for other guys when they do well. Women are jealous. A guy gets together with a hot gal? High fives all around the bar. A woman picks up a hot guy? Women think "what a whore". Women aren't likely to vote for a McCain/Palin ticket simply because a woman is a part. In fact, it might be a tougher sell. And Oprah likes Obama, you know.

One quick point: The presidents during my life have been: LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush II. I don't know how my life would've turned out differently if McGovern had been elected over Nixon, Mondale instead of Reagan, Dole instead of Clinton, Gore instead of Bush II, etc. I'm sure my parents would've still been teachers, my upbringing decidedly middle class and happy. Does it really matter who's at the top? In this day and age of the suitcase nuke, probably more than ever. So, does the guy from essentially the political mailroom win the key to the golden throne? My answer was yes two months ago and my answer is yes today.*

*not an endorsement