Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Ranting about the debates

Mission Point Lighthouse

The photo at the left is of Mission Point Lighthouse, located north of Traverse City, MI.  It has nothing to do with what I'm writing, but I was there last week and decided it looked peaceful, something we all need a bit off these days. 


I think it may have been providential or at least a divine hint West Michigan was hit with a major thunderstorm last night during the debate and the dish kept losing the signal from the satellite.   I could have attached a regular antenna or have gotten the debate off the internet, but instead I took naps between the interruptions.   What little I heard sounded like the first two debates.  These spectacles have become a great platform for our two candidates to spout off their talking points and platitudes.  We got to hear the President’s claims about hunting down Bin Laden and other bad guys and Romney’s five point plan and how he is going to create 12 million jobs.  Personally, from what little I saw of the debates last night, I’m beginning to think Romney has a god-complex.  He makes it sound like he will, single-handedly, regardless of what anyone else does, create these jobs.  Obama was a little like that in 2008, but he’s been humbled by his four years in office.  Both of these guys use way too much “I” language.  They should be talking about what we can do together, but that would mean hardwork is expected from everyone, but it seems no one wants to hear that.  I also felt that this “foreign policy debate” was anything but.  Maybe a better format would be a geopolitical quiz where they play each other in a trivial pursuit type game.  At least then we might learn who has the best understanding of the world.   Or, we should invite at least one third party candidate into each debate.  This third clog in the wheel would serve as the loose cannon on deck, forcing each candidate to jump off their well-scripted talking points and maybe we’d actually learn something new.

The good news is that we’re going to have a good World Series (and if the Tiger’s win, it’ll be a great World Series).  The bad news is that every inning will bring more political ads…    

8 comments:

  1. I think Obama has won the election. I say this for two reasons. The incumbent factor, if the fellow sitting in the office drops below a % then he will go into free fall and nothing will save him. And, events. These so far haven't conspired against Obama.
    Even the debates. These are of no advantage to the incumbent. And I really don't see why they take part, it really is lose lose. But even there he is seen to be ahead if only just. So all in all the Reps haven't met the bar. But the very fact they came so close shows just how weak a candidate the Dems fielded last time.
    And remember to Vote your ancestors and mine dies so you can do just that. So I implore you to vote early and ...... .

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  2. I don't watch the debates because the candidates are so rehearsed. Just imagine, "You've got to be more forceful this time!" that kind of thing. :) You said it "well-scripted."

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  3. The debates are pretty much verbal fisticuffs. They can be interesting but not a lot of help in making decisions on who to vote for.

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  4. I'm old enough to have watched several presidential debates with a third party candidate present and it didn't do any good. It just took longer and the main two parties largely ignored him.

    I'm glad that we are down to less than two weeks.

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  5. I am not troubled by "I" language. It is the language of personal responsibility, as well a a language that enables you to judge if the speaker has a realistic notion of what he can possibly achieve.

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  6. I watched the first two, didn't watch the last one.

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  7. pulling for the tigers...we used to go watch a bunch of those guys at their minor league in FL...

    the debates....what can i say...the best part was watching the perma-smile fall off romney's face about halfway through...that being said i am pretty sick of it right now...and am ready for the apocalypse to begin...smiles.

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  8. Traverse City! I think that's where the National Cherry Festival is held each summer! You should've hung around. I'm still trying to get my Ode To The Cherry post read aloud at that one year.

    The Giants eliminated my Reds, so I'm not sure if that means I should root against them, or root for them so at least we can say we lost to the eventual champs.

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