Opinions-->Politics 2008

All right. I made the mistake of reading the opinion/letter page in the newspaper today. To be quite honest, the shear stupidity made me question if what I was reading was honestly how the person felt. I'll quote a bit from the letter that made me do a double take, interrupting it with how the person is wrong."

"...in his column 'kindergarten president' bashing Obama. The picture is very clear; it is about choosing between two men; one an old pro-war redneck that will only continue the atrocious policies of the present administration, a total failure that has taken the country to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, an adventure worth billions of dollars."

1: the picture is not clear in this election. It rarely is, in any given election.
2. you just insulted a potential candidate with a slur that shows you are no better than those you would be insulting. Any chance you had of bringing me to "your side" was just lost by this. I don't like insult-slinging. It's petty and, quite frankly, a waste of time.
3. The column you are griping about is written by a man known for his sarcastic humor. I do hope you know what "sarcasm" is, sir.
4. The war in Iraq. Are you against the soldiers being in Afghanistan too? "No, they need to be there." Well, someone thought the same way about Iraq. Stop picking and choosing wars. Personally, I'd have picked a different country, but the President didn't agree. The loss of lives is saddening, and I hope the sacrifice has not been in vain and that, in our future conflicts, the citizens of Iraq will remember when we helped them despite the rest of the world and even our own fellow citizens disagreed.

"Furthermore, after eight years this government is exiting, leaving the country in a recession with high prices of fuel and a weak dollar. A total disaster."

1. The president can sometimes give a small influence of economics with taxes and the like, but does not control the economy or the federal government's budget. I suggest a talk with your congress representative.
2. Maybe if companies would stop leaving the country--outsourcing--the dollar wouldn't be as weak. Please don't dump all complaints of the economy on the president. We contribute by buying cheaper items not made in this country.
3. We import most of our fuel. The president tried for offshore drilling and the Democratic part of Congress shot it down. The environment was apparently more important to them than high fuel prices.

"The other choice is a younger, fresh face that will redirect the country to a better path that will enable the U.S. to work with the rest of the world. After eight years, we are ready for a face lift."

1. If Obama's looks are what's winning the election, I hope the next one has people who are covered by black boxes until they win/lose.
2. A better path by running out of a war (which, mind you, from when I've talked to Vietnam War veterans, they've usually agreed that more casualties came when we left) and having more troops die.
3. Obama mentioned something about a war with another country. I don't know how based in fact that rumor was, and I'll be looking heavily into it.


So this isn't a "clear picture" as the letter writer believed. Hope and change are good--they're in most of Obama's speeches.

Change of policies in a war won't be good for the soldiers. When is changing abruptly halfway in anything so big ever good?

I don't know who I'm voting for in November. But if candidate supporters are like this, I might throw away my vote on an independent for the sake of "hope" that things can "change."

But then... I sound just like a certain someone, don't I?