I’ve been having an ongoing argument with geah about whether I’m open minded. My impression of our discussion was that hHe seems to believe you are open-minded only if you drink the Republican Kool-Aide (note that he sees it differently, and will be clarifying his position in this comment thread). To me, being open minded is listening to all sides, and being open to being convinced. So, in the spirit of equal time, I’m watching the Republican convention. There are times I have voted that way, when the candidate was right (such as Dick Reardon). I don’t believe their current candidates are right, but I do want to hear what they have to say. Here are my observations.
- It’s amazing, watching the camera pan across the faces, how pink they are. There appear to be no shades of brown. Certainly no rainbow signs. On the other hand, as I watched the DNC event last week, the colors of the delegates reflected much more what I see around me in the city.
- They bungled the pledge. Don’t they know the first two words are “Ready, Begin” and the last two “Play ball!”.
- There was an interesting talk on KPCC about Sarah Palin, and why the choice is so troubling. Based on the information out there, it appears McCain and his advisors rushed into it based on little input. As they have learned their intelligence might be wrong, there’s no notion of reconsideration. Just march with the party line, right or wrong. No protest will be quartered. This is what the current administration has done, and seeing it repeated is quite troubling.
- Palin doesn’t seem to be consistent. Although she’s supporting her daughter’s teen pregnancy (as she should), earlier this year she used her line-item veto to slash funding to teen mother support. If you want to encourage these young women to keep their babies, shouldn’t you help to provide them with housing and medical support? That’s part of talk the talk and walk the walk. McCain has also opposed funding such programs.
- I was impressed by the speeches of Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman. I certainly agree with them that John McCain is an honorable man, a man who does have strength of character, who loves his country. However, both aspects were equally acknowledged in the Democratic speeches. Earlier today, I was thinking about the Burger King commercials: “Have it your way” implies that the competition forces their way down your throat. We forget about such implication. Saying “My restaurant is sanitary” creates the implication about the other guy. That’s one thing that bothered me about the speeches: they never showed equal courtesy in acknowledging that the Democratic team has equal love of country. Let’s stipulate the both sides are honest and good people, that love their country, and that truly want to rise above the partisan bickering that is in Washington.
- I was also impressed by the work on Reform that McCain has done… but the emphasis on both McCain and Palin being mavericks bothers me. Yes, I want Reform, but I want someone who thinks about how to do it right, how to get there, what the desired goal is, and has a well-thought out plan. I think Obama and Biden will do that. I’m less confident that McCain will think first, and then act right.
In the end, Joe Liberman turned to the television audience and said we must not vote solely on party ticket — we must put our country first. That’s a sentiment that I heartily agree with. I think that putting our country first — and putting the rights that it stands for first — is vital to the restoration of our stature, of our economy, and of justice in this nation. Our country is more than just business, more than just those doing well. Our country is more than the evangelicals in the south, the social conservatives, or the hawks. Our country is the straights and the gays, the people that are pro-life and the people that our pro-choice, the people that believe in sex education and those that do not. I strongly believe that it is not the place of government to be dictating social morals… and both McCain and Palin haven’t convinced me that they believe in that — rather, they seem to have a strongly social conservative agenda. I cannot support that agenda: I think it moves our country in dangerous directions, moves us away from the principles of equality, freedom of thought, and freedom from government imposed religion.
I think both candidates want to reform the system. I think both candidates want the situation in Iraq resolved honorably (just different timetables). I think both candidates want to improve the economy (but again, with different ways). From what I’ve heard so far, I still prefer Obama’s approach. I like the ideas of building a “green” economy and using that help dependence on foreign oil (which will also help the trade imbalance). It recognizes that the strength of this country is our technology. I do believe the taxes need to be restructured so the upper small percentage… and large corporations… pay more. A recent study showed that two out of every three US corporations paid no income taxes. That’s wrong, and needs to be corrected (there are also equivalent problems with Prop 13 and business). I think Obama will do something about that. I don’t believe that McCain-Palin will.
So, Joe, I am doing what you are saying. I am putting country first and thinking about what I believe is the right direction for the country. Although the candidate you support is an honorable man, a man with character, I do not believe that his positions — all of his positions — are the right direction for the country. Additionally, he has certainly not demonstrated measured judgement in his selection of a running mate.
P.S.: Gene Spafford posted a great image related to the campaign, a parody of the Juno poster with McCain and Palin, titled “Juneau”.
