It's been a rough day for me, in terms of television viewing. You might scoff, but working in the industry - there's a television in the office. I usually have MSNBC on for the news. There are days (especially with all the hyped up political coverage and BS breaking news stories) that I can't watch the news anymore so I flick around the channels to try and find a marathon (SVU, Law and Order, Tabatha, NCIS - anything to escape the news). Today there was nothing. Wait, there was a marathon of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo. So if you don't want to watch the lies and the deceit and the hypocrisy...oh wait, switching to the RHOBH would be the same thing...never mind.
The Republican debate is on tonight and it's led me to wonder - we're down to 4 candidates now vying for the nomination, but what are we debating? Are we debating which of the four is the least hypocritical? Are we debating which of them is the least racist and homophobic? Are we debating which of them is the most conservative (which in turn, makes them the most racist and homophobic - usually)? Are we debating which of them wants to go up against President Obama in the election with the most altruistic of intentions?
If we were debating any or all of those things, we would not be giving these candidates a free pass on the answers that they give. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they stand up and at the top of their voice proclaim themselves to be a defender of the sanctity of traditional marriage when they themselves are on marriage number 3 after committing adultery twice. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when it's revealed they cheated the system and paid for non-campaign events with campaign funds. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they lie to the public and say that they didn't call for Congressional action, when it can easily be researched, that yes, indeed you did. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they say they have never been homophobic when, indeed, they have - repeatedly. We wouldn't be giving them a pass at all when they attack reporters because they don't like the question. Guess what - you're running for the highest office in the land, perhaps the world. You aren't always going to like the question you're being asked, and you don't get to just bully your way out of answering it.
What are we debating here folks? Blaming the other guy, blaming the incumbent and blaming the middle class is not debating...it's attacking without offering any of your own thoughts. If you'd all get your heads out of your asses long enough to formulate your own opinions and ideas instead of worrying about straying too far from your right leaning, conservative base we might be debating then, but that's hard to tell until it happens. We can't all agree with each other, and compliment each other's ideas and not offer up any new ones other than criticisms of the current policies and call that a debate - that is just the Good Old Boys network on national television...
The Republican debate is on tonight and it's led me to wonder - we're down to 4 candidates now vying for the nomination, but what are we debating? Are we debating which of the four is the least hypocritical? Are we debating which of them is the least racist and homophobic? Are we debating which of them is the most conservative (which in turn, makes them the most racist and homophobic - usually)? Are we debating which of them wants to go up against President Obama in the election with the most altruistic of intentions?
If we were debating any or all of those things, we would not be giving these candidates a free pass on the answers that they give. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they stand up and at the top of their voice proclaim themselves to be a defender of the sanctity of traditional marriage when they themselves are on marriage number 3 after committing adultery twice. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when it's revealed they cheated the system and paid for non-campaign events with campaign funds. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they lie to the public and say that they didn't call for Congressional action, when it can easily be researched, that yes, indeed you did. We wouldn't be giving them a pass when they say they have never been homophobic when, indeed, they have - repeatedly. We wouldn't be giving them a pass at all when they attack reporters because they don't like the question. Guess what - you're running for the highest office in the land, perhaps the world. You aren't always going to like the question you're being asked, and you don't get to just bully your way out of answering it.
What are we debating here folks? Blaming the other guy, blaming the incumbent and blaming the middle class is not debating...it's attacking without offering any of your own thoughts. If you'd all get your heads out of your asses long enough to formulate your own opinions and ideas instead of worrying about straying too far from your right leaning, conservative base we might be debating then, but that's hard to tell until it happens. We can't all agree with each other, and compliment each other's ideas and not offer up any new ones other than criticisms of the current policies and call that a debate - that is just the Good Old Boys network on national television...
No comments:
Post a Comment