The race for the Democratic nomination has become a bloodsport unlike anything that has been seen since the days of the gladiator. Quite frankly, although I support Senator Obama, I have not been happy with either campaign this week. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida, a Navy town, in a Navy family and in military housing. I am a patriot and I believe that both a former and a current President of these United States deserves some baseline respect and the benefit of the doubt. Consequently, I did not agree with former President Clinton being compared to McCarthy. On the reverse side, I believe that former President Bill Clinton should remain presidential and above the fray and implying that another American is unpatriotic is definitely not presidential. I would love to see him retire from the campaign trail and preserve his legacy. There is something important about being dignified and preserving your legacy.
I also found the comments about the stains on the blue dress to be in such bad taste. It is not as if those were Senator Clinton's stains. I believe that Chelsey Clinton was completely right to decline to answer questions on this issue during her question and answer session at a college campus. Can't we maintain some modicum of respect and by the way it is still appropriate to call people by their title. Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, Senator McCain, these people have earned that respect and I think calling them by their first name alone is disrespectful.
And just when you thought things could not get any more bizarre, we have Senator Clinton lying about her experience in Bosnia. I know there are those who would call these a mistake or a simple embellishment, but every college student who has beefed up their resume to get a job knows that this was an outright lie. Getting shot at by snipers is not something you forget. The thing that makes this particularly sad is that Senator Clinton is an undeniably accomplished woman. She redefined the image of the First Lady from being just pretty decoration and instead blazed a trail that proved that women could be smart and independent in their own right. This is the perfect example of "why tell a lie when the truth will do".
I hate to leave Senator McCain out of the discussion. He took a campaign trip on taxpayer money and then took along a few of his friends to sell us on the story that this was official Senate business. Then he came home and gave a truly awful speech on the economy. The upside for him is that the Democrats are capturing so much of the headlines (and not in the good way) that by the time anyone pays any attention to him, he may have actually have figured out what he should be saying about the economy.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
When is enough, enough?
I don't feel safe yet
We have passed the five year marker of the war in Iraq and we mourn the loss of the lives of 4,000 brave Americans on foreign soil. At this sad point in American history, I am forced to ask myself, do I feel safe yet? This was the war post-911 that was supposed to make me feel safer, but just like the weapons of mass destruction that never materialized that feeling of security has yet to show up either.
This past week we have discovered that all of the presidential candidates have had their passport files snooped into. Regardless, of which canidate you are cheering for, one of these people will be the next President of the United States! Not to mention that one of the alleged snoopers was a new employee..ie..a low level employee. If I hear the phrase low level employee one more time I might just scream. I can't figure out how every low level employee in these political campaigns and in governmental agencies has such free reign and access to secure information. When I was a low level employee I was stuck guarding the stapler and the copy machine. I guess times have changed, and consequently,I am seriously considering quitting my current occupation and becoming a low level employee, because obviously the perks are much better. Forgive me if I am wrong, but if our government can't protect passport information I believe that I am entitled to feel a certain lack of confidence that the war in Iraq is going to protect my life and make my children safer.
Moreover, rather than keeping weapons out of the hands of other countries, today came the revelation that we have shipped missile parts to Taiwan. President Bush and Senator McCain keep telling me that we can't leave Iraq until we have won the war, but when I looked at my children hunting for Easter eggs on Easter Sunday and then went into my house to be confronted by images of Iraqi mothers cradling their children wounded by landmines, I just could not conjure up the feeling that we are winning. Maybe I am just not that bright, but I would love to have the current administration explain to me when I will know when we have won this war. Where exactly is the finish line? Maybe, it is hiding out with those weapons of mass destruction?
