I Just Want This Election to be Good (What’s So Wrong With That?)
by Richard Laermer, Guest Author
It’s no secret that I lean left. I think the world of FDR and JFK, and I don’t know if I can stand to hear one more misguided ditto-head, all glassy-eyed and empty-headed, deify Reagan. (Really, people, my gag reflex can only take so much.) Today I will take a break from my all-too-partisan perch and ask…What is going on here?! When it became clear that Obama and McCain would be the nominees, I was optimistic. With two men of principle and integrity who have, to some extent, built careers out of bemoaning the morass of the political status quo, I thought we might finally get the kind of campaign we deserve. But instead we have white people accusing black people of racism, men calling women anti-feminist, and of course, lipstick on pigs. Maybe this is the campaign we deserve.
We’re mired in two wars, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and now WaMu are deader than Keith Richards’ modeling for Vuitton, and we’re talking about beauty products on shit-bathers! Not pigs as in “pork barrel spending,” but pigs as in Babe or bacon!
Really?
The debate this week proved one thing to me. There I was watching ole Governor Palin. She wants us to know the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom, while I want to know why the American financial system is imploding. I guess that means we have different interests. Tomato, tomahto.
Republicans and Democrats, right and left, McCain and Obama, they’ve all let us down. Let me count the ways in this simple essay.
It is so far a lot of rhetorical hypocrisy. Lobbyists for each side rear slander as they self-index their own agendas, fueling rampant rhetoric that is hardly ever relevant to, well, anything. Yet the truth is so lost that as the rhetoric grows, actual reality, issues and matters of importance fade. Instead, we are saturated in spin as the day-to-day realities are lost in the shuffle. No offense, Criss Angel, but illusions are not my thing nor am I in the mood to get mind freaked right now.
Ugly smear campaigns are running the process. (Again, why did I think two esteemed senators might be above this?) Do us all a favor, would you take a page right out of the good ole book of FDR and rise above this nonsense? Senator Obama, I am talking to you. Don’t just back down, rise up and put the justified conversations back in the mix. Don’t wait for stand-ins who talk to themselves to do it for you. Do it yourself.
Here’s what drags me down about this election. I don’t care how many cars John McCain may have, or how much drugs his wife may take, or how many celebrity endorsements Obama can procure. I don’t even care how much their wives’ outfits may cost (I admit I did like Michelle in that black and white number). You and I know it does not matter. None of it. It’s a non-issue distraction, and frankly I find it offensive. Sure it’s a little entertaining, but when I’m sans audience I’m strictly offended.
Hypocrisy and rhetoric truck on. Republicans scoff at Obama’s experience and claim it isn’t enough. Palin’s experience somehow doesn’t matter because she’s Alaskan where they get their knowledge (and money) via osmosis. McCain is too outdated - and by outdated I really mean old Biden? Well, people are too Palin-whipped with visions of GILFs dancing through their minds to take notice of the serious candidate to the left. Some smart people have called Ms. Palin “stunning.” How is the electorate supposed to react to that!
One pesky word keeps popping up and that’s experience. It’s a word that counts. But I don’t get the meaning: experience in what? They’ve mastered Going Through the Motions 101. All I want to see is the experience of the candidates’ mouths moving so the non-sayers can make some decisions out there.
Which finally comes down to: it does not matter what side you’re on–not this close! It matters what happens to our country next. O and Mc better shed the nonsense and represent who they claim to be. Now that we’ve beaten the pit bull and lipstick joke into the ground let’s call out for a real race. We’ve gone through eight years of ridiculous Bushisms, and deserve an election process that makes us feel good, that brings the messed-up country together.
And if Maybelline or MAC were smart they’d say that in a cosmetics ad right about now.
Who am I besides a hopeful patriot? The author of the book 2011: Trendspotting and the beleaguered CEO of RLM Public Relations in NY. And I approved this message.
Beyond Civil Rights.
By Kal Raj Ayyar, Editor Emeritus, afrique news.
Blog: planetcompassion.blogspot.com
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“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still
have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that my four children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content
of their character”.
So said the Rev. Martin Luther King in his famous “I have a dream speech”, on the steps at the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington D.C. on 28 August 1963.
In his fiery oratory the Reverend declared: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent
words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to
which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That was more than 43 years ago. Today, in modern America, African Americans have more than
achieved that dream that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X sacrificed their lives for. It was not in
vain. Today, millions of African Americans have achieved success by any measure.
The younger generation is no longer held back by their skin color. They have achieved material
success. They have good jobs, good homes, cars and material possessions. Their children get
admittance to the finest schools, and their progeny even consider previously unattainable feats like
running for President of the United States. Their collective purchasing power is more than $750
billion dollars a year! What more could one ask for?
But even as African Americans have achieved that civil rights dream of Martin Luther King, millions
of African Americans languish either in abject poverty, jail cells, or on street corners selling crack
cocaine, to feed a ravenous population with a voracious apetite for drugs, misleading hip hop music,
and the hope that only drug dealing, rap music, or sports can lead them out of the ghetto. This is
happening from our shores to Latin America to Brazil. Many others in America suffer from a paralysis,
thinking still that “they are owed something” by the rest of America, hanging onto futile dreams of
reparations and handouts.
Yet, as King’s dream has been achieved, its place has been quickly taken up by fresh new nightmares,
that not only threaten Black people, but all of humanity. Global warming, global poverty and global
conflict, come immediately to mind.
Today, I have a dream. That dream is that we will elect the first Black president in 2008. I dream and
pray that Senator Barrack Obama, who traces his roots back to the Kenyan bush and the pristine
wilderness of Africa, will not only get elected, but bring a fresh perspective to the White House.
I hope and pray that Senator Obama, who appears to be a man of destiny and character, will lead
America and the world into the new century, and help us grapple with mankind’s most intractable
problems such as poverty at home and in Africa, global injustice, genocide, global environmental and
habit destruction and the ever present threat of global terrorism fuelled by age-old flames of hatred.
Not to mention combatting and defusing the threat from the Orient, from the fiery dragon called China
that is consuming vast amounts of minerals and natural resources and could well transform Africa into
the first Red colony. While America has been spending a hundred billion dollars on the war in Iraq,
China has leaped into the vacuum, threatening the fragile world eco-system with its utter disregard for
human rights, environment and the needs of the indigenous peoples of Africa.
Let us hope and pray that the Black man and people of all colors and faiths will unite and help us
achieve our collective vision. The collective vision that is embodied by leaders such as Senator
Obama, U2 Singer Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Gardner, Hugo Chavez as well as great many others
who are toiling as activists, or conscientious police officers, firefighters and community workers to
effect change at the local level.
Let us support the efforts of these individuals in their quest to build a better world for themselves and
their children. Thank you.
Note: For Kal Ayyar’s personal views on global issues please visit his blog:
planetcompassion.blogspot.com.