'Tis the Season

It's finally here! After eight LONG years of the worst president in the history of the United States the voting is finally underway for a new leader. Obama and Huckabee winners in Iowa, Clinton and McCain took New Hampshire, we're down to three candidates on the Democratic side (and poor Dennis Kucinich who may be forever doomed to have the best ideas in the country and no shot at ever winning because he's short and has big ears. *Reminder to those who've already forgotten four years ago, the policies that the front runners are proposing this time around are the exact same ideas Dennis proposed in 2004 and everyone called him a radical left-wing nut job. More evidence that Americans care more about a pretty face than a substantial message), and the Republican side down to four who actually have a shot at this point. Here's some sites to follow on the stats and polls:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.html
http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/latest_results_from_rasmussen_markets

According to these records there's only one combination that looks possible for the Republicans and that's John McCain vs. Hillary Clinton. Any other combination and the election is going to the Dems (Thank GOD! Not that this can't change as it gets closer). There's actually a tie if the general election is between Obama and McCain, which either way it goes could be bad for the country. Another dead heat, wait three days and still have a large enough margin of error that the election could be construed as being "stolen" would not be good for our divided nation. However, with how intensely we are divided over our values I don't see how it could go any other way. Conservatives, from my humble perspective, want to continue scaring the shit out of Americans and then substituting religion and "faith" in unknowns for facts and reality and realistic plans for overcoming worldly problems, while liberals want to live in a more educated, healthy, intelligent and sophisticated society that actually leaves the country once in awhile and explores the planet instead of sitting at home eating junk food and watching their bank accounts grow. The Republican debates sound like/ are a bunch of pissed off white guys who can't stand that they might live in a nation where they actually have to learn a second language to communicate, learn something about science and logic and be forced to partake in healthy, open-minded behaviors that allow all human beings an equal chance to be treated like human beings (save John McCain whom I often disagree with, but genuinely respect because he fiercely sticks to the facts and minimizes his pandering to the right-wing nuts). The Democrats look like the future--a woman, a black man, a Hispanic man, a non-Christian (Kucinich), and an old ranting man all on the same stage and providing viable insights into how we can treat our country as a whole. They sound informed, they sound strong, they actually, for once, sound inspiring like they may actually do something to bring our liberal values to fruition.

I personally won't be happy until I live in a country more like Canada and western Europe where I don't have to expend energy thinking about how I'm going to pay for things should I become suddenly ill, how I'm going to get my kids through school because it's so expensive that life becomes this cycle of borrowing to get through it and then working like a dog to pay it back and never enjoying the profits of your hard work, where I can travel in the world and be just another Joe from a country where people are frequently seen out in the world community (as opposed to some obtrusive fat-ass that comes to their country on a tour bus and demands to be treated like an American), and where I can feel safe sending my kids into the world to travel and learn without worrying that they'll be abducted over the actions of our leaders. I'll be happy when the right looks more like the left does now and the left can actually be progressive enough to make a difference (if you look at western European politics, this is the case. Even the conservatives are more liberal than the most liberal of our democrats) and where religion is minimized to something people openly debate and rail against and figure out what about it is any different than sitting around talking about wizardry and magic that can somehow break all natural laws of science and logic to bring about mystical happenings in the world. Maybe even live in a world where good people can sit in a pub and have a few drinks after a hard day--of something that isn't watered-down piss with a ridiculous alcohol content--and maybe hear some music and throw a game of darts and have an intelligent conversation without it being a depressing place full of grown frat boy children getting hammered and talking about their high score on Halo. Not that I'm trying to crap on what people think is fun, but there's a point at which grown men should stop playing video games and actually participate in society. Guess I'm just strange like that.

Anyway, Super Tuesday is coming up next month and by the end of February we should know who our candidates are. Please, please--I'm begging you--please don't listen to the mud-slinging emails and the vamped up pundits during this election. Try going to www.npr.org and listening to the live stream of your local public radio. They'll give you only the facts, they ask intelligent questions and try to get at the truth of the situation without getting hostile and starting pissing contests. You'll help both your blood-pressure and your intellect. Check your facts (by the way Snopes.com is NOT really a valid way of doing this. I guess they're better than nothing, but it's just two people who own some kind of folk-society organization in southern California running checks on emails and urban legends. They aren't really anymore qualified than the people sending this stuff around), stay informed and vote wisely. And by wisely I mean vote for Barack Obama ;) There's my plug. Take care.