A number of political items in my lunchtime news reading over the week have been building up the head of steam, so it’s time to release some of the pressure.
I’ve been watching Sarah Palin’s bus trip with interest. I mentioned this earlier in the week, where I noted how she’s being true to her Fox exclusivity contract by talking to non-Fox media, and how she was encouraging Trump to run. Here are a few more items on the tour… on the tour’s recent visit to New York, she was spotted wearing a Magen David (Star of David), obstensibly in honor of Jerusalem Day, but some feel it might be pandering to Jewish voters. Odd vacation. She’s also been talking about Paul Revere… and getting it wrong (she thinks he did his warnings to preserve our rights to own guns … and were for the British). [ETA: Here are even more errors she has been making, courtesy of the Washington Post] But I think the biggest thing that has raised the steam was this article from the Washington Post about the Influence Industry. Who do you think is paying for Sarah Palin’s tour, which she claims is a personal vacation, not a campaign tour. Her PAC: SarahPAC. As she’s not a declared candidate, she can legally use the money for anything: paying her mortgage, personal vacations. And of course, this is just a vacation. To her kids it is; they are annoyed by the reporters. As for Palin herself? Her appearance in New Hampshire the day that Romney announced was just a coincidence. Well, my thought on this is: what she is doing may be legal, but it sure is not ethical, and it bothers me.
So far, I have yet to see the Republicans propose a viable candidate. Oh, sure, there are candidates that can appeal to the narrow conservative bases. But I don’t see one that can appeal to the independents and moderates sufficiently to win the election. USA Today has a nice editorial on that today, pointing out that the Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by the rigorous adherence to the Tea Party and equivalent voices. There was another article I read (which, alas, I didn’t save) that indicated this is the same problem that doomed the Democrats in 1972—focusing far too much on adherence to the anti-Vietnam voices that they lost sight of the larger picture.
The Tea Party folks are hurting the country out of good intent, often because they either don’t understand how the system works (compromise), how the government is actually financed (which isnt’ like personal finances), or the need for some level of debt or spending to help during bad economic times. An example of this is their current push for a return to the gold standard, which almost all leading economists agree would be disasterous.
You combine this with the various economic news that has come out this week: both in terms of employment and housing. I’m wondering how this will play out in the election. Will Obama get the blame, even though he hasn’t been able to get any of his policies through Congress of late? Will the Republicans get the blame, for the glimmer of recovery turned back into a downturn after the Republicans took over the house and made progress difficult? There will be lots and lots of finger pointing to be sure.
I’m also annoyed by the folks who claim Obama is not supporting Israel. Just today, it was reported that conservative pro-Israel groups have launched TV ads and robo-calls attacking President Obama’s call for negotiations based on 1967 lines. Of course, they are misunderstanding the position: in particular, that it is the same position as President G. W. Bush had, and that it is not a return to the pre-“7 day war” borders, using those borders as a starting point for the negotiations, to be followed by mutually agreed land swaps (so that Israel can keep its settlements, east Jerusalem, and land required for strategic purposes, such as a connection to the Jordan River). Obama is also insisting on secure borders for Israel, and a non-militarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel as Jewish. How that is lack of support for Israel is beyond me.
One last thing. The Birthers. I wish they would go away, and I wonder what their goal is? After 3 years, they aren’t going to invalidate the election. Even if their claims were true (which they are not), they would end up with Biden, who would endorse all of Obama’s actions. They would not end up with McCain, who did not win sufficient states. They can’t go back in time. To me, they are like the dog who is chasing the car… what does he think he will do if he catches it?
