After discussing last week's DNC in this post, I thought it only fair to give the same attention to this week's events before and in MSP. So here are some thoughts on the RNC, Palin, and McCain.
1. I do not believe McCain's VP pick will help him. If anything, it came off as a desperate attempt to match Obama's novelty. "Since we have a black man running, we better match it with a female VP." I see right through it, and no doubt so do many of the female Clinton supporters.
2. It's great that Palin is so popular in her state. Too bad it's a state with a very low population. It would mean more if it was a governor from Texas or California. It's also very nice that she did all of these wonderful things, but like Obama, she is still relatively a newcomer on the national stage.
3. What I am about to say may be misconstrued, but I am going to say it anyway. With a five- month- old baby with down syndrome and knocked- up teenage daughter, it seems like Palin should stay home. That would keep many people busy enough. What do you think? This does NOT mean I think women shouldn't be VP's. But who am I to say that Palin has a full plate... Just a thought.
4. McCain is so old. His wife looks like Grandma Barbie.
5. I appreciated hearing about McCain's life. I know he has this wonderful history and it is being used for propaganda, but that doesn't make his past any less admirable. Five and a half years as a POW? That is cool and brings to mind presidents like Andrew Jackson (also a POW).
6. Those protesters were annoying. Have some respect and protest on public grounds or your own. This was a private event, and I am glad that they got thrown out. It would have been just as annoying if this had happened at the DNC. Americans are tuned in to hear what these candidates want to say. This is their time, not the protesters. There are other outlets to get your message out with making yourself look like an...well, you know.
7. I hated everytime a protester made a disturbance people chanted , "USA, USA, USA..." I am not sure why. I guess it seemed cheesy or something. GIT 'R DONE.
8. That screen that changed scenes behind McCain was distracting. Not that it matters, but it bothered me.
9. Did you catch the fat, sweaty guy in the audience with a huge elephant on his head? That was probably my favorite part.
10. How about those Texans in their cowboy hats and matching sweatshirts?
11. I do enjoy the fact that McCain isn't afraid to vote against the party. If you remember the DNC post, this is one of my beefs with politicians and the party system.
12. I don't think I will ever see benefits in providing school vouchers. It just has never proven to work. In theory, competition for public schools is a great idea. It just doesn't work in real life and it actually makes our schools worse. As a teacher, I have seen this in action. The only upside is that it takes the weirdo kids and parents from your school and puts them in the charter schools. Why don't we work on making ALL schools better?
13. I am pro-life. A woman is given a choice when she decides to have sexual relations. As adults, most people know that every instance of sexual intercourse comes with the possibility of conceiving a child. If you are that worried about it, take the measures BEFORE to ensure you don't pregnant. The pro-choice stance is selfish and without regard to responsibilty. THERE IS NO FREEDOM FROM RESPONSIBILITY.
14. I love veterans. My grandpa is a veteran (he was in the US Navy at the end of WWII). There has been conflicts in the Middle East for much of my life, but my life has not really felt the effects of war (even in the last five years) to the extent that WWII affected my grandparents thorugh rations and conscription. While the lives that have been lost in the last seven years are tragedy individually, I can't help but think we sure don't behave as children and grandchildren of these WWII veterans. Our sacrifice is no where near those made more than sixty years ago. I feel like we have become a country of spoiled brats that want everything instantaneously. I felt bad as I looked at those veterans in the audience last night. They know so much more about war than we do.
15. With that said, let's NOT go to Georgia. I just don't see how we can be in all these places when we are tied up in the Middle East. Let's finish what we began in Iraq, and let's do it right. An immediate withdrawl is not the answer and will only cause more upheaval. I could say much more about this and get into the history of changing war tactics and the long term stability, but it will bore even me.
16. This is for both Obama and McCain: Show, not tell.
Obama, don't tell me that we are going to "find" and make available are other source of energy and leave it that. To make an informed decision I want to know HOW you are going to do that. Are you going to run gas up to $10 a gallon so that no one will be able to buy it, displace millions of people because that can't transport themselves to work and meanwhile say that you are improving transportation and infrastructure? Because if that's what you have in mind I need to know so I can say, "NO!"
McCain, how exactly do you plan to take people who are suffering from the effects of the economy and technological advances changing the kind of jobs available and giving those people jobs that are going to be around permanently? You kind of left me hanging there. I need to know how you plan to do that. Are you sending these people back to college? Will they get on- the- job training? What are these new jobs? How do you plan to pay for the sustaining of these people and their families in the meantime while they train for these jobs? Are these people former Starbuck's employees? Will they get new jobs at Apple stores?
17. The thing I am most worried about is the economy. I don't want somebody who is going to raise my taxes. I want somebody who will clean up this mess in Iraq, but do it the right way. I don't want gas to go up in price (and I don't care if Europe is paying a billion dollars a gallon. That doesn't mean I want to). And I want somebody who I feel will follow through on their pre-election promises and won't forget them once the campaigning is over and he is enjoying the comforts of the White House. As of now, I think it is obvious who I would vote for, but let's not forget there are two more months left for these campaigns.
Your thoughts?
4 comments:
i really like all of your points. i agree with pretty much all of it and think you just might be on to soomething with the fact that a mentally retadrd baby and teenage daughter who is pregnant might point to the fact that she has some work to do at home, but hey, that's just me as well.
i am pro-life in the sense that i dont like it when people get abortions, and i agree with what you said, but i am pro-choice in the sense that i always think the option should be available because everyone's case is different (rape, incesst, and other such emergencies)
ok, i am sure there are a lot of typos in this comment, but im just gonna post it and roll with it. :)
Yes, Stephanie, I agree with your point on options. Especially with rape, incest, and if it threatens the mother's life. I just don't want this pro-choice matter to go so far that we start paying for the termination of teenage pregnancies and such. But there does need to be some flexibility here.
Allison, I am glad you have political opinions and such, because I don't. Can I borrow yours?
Can you explain a little more why vouchers make schools worse? I've gone back and forth on this issue and would like to hear a teacher's perspective.
Also, in discussing this with co-workers, the topic of parental involvement in education was brought up. One person thought that parents need to be totally involved in their child's education, to the point of sitting down with them and their homework every night; teaching and making sure they understand. Another person thought parents should just enrich their child's education by taking them to zoos and such. And that is was the teacher's/school's/curriculum's responsibility to make sure they understand what is being taught. What do you think?
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