RED VS. BLUE AND THE HYPOCRISY OF A NATION (Part One)

Let me start this off by saying I have a lot of intelligent friends who are not on the same page as I am politically.

This is NOT aimed at them.

Some of my friends and I get into political conversations on a regular basis. My buddy Tom and I do it all the time.

Tom is as intelligent of a guy that I know. I respect him greatly. We also agree on a lot of polictical topics.

But sometimes the obvious differences in our political allegances is so extreme it's a wonder we don't draw swords and go at it.

We're like brothers though... so we'll never let that sort of thing come between us.

I'm a Republican. I'm a McCain fan and have been a supporter of his for a LONG time. Anyone who knows me well knows that I voluteered for McCain back during his last two election runs and have been pushing him for the Presidency since 1999. EDIT: As was pointed out to me by a close friend, despite the fact I am a Republican, I fit more into the "Maverick" camp due to the fact I hate all big business and rich people and am much more in support of programs that take care of the homeless and elderly than seems to be done by the GOP. That's another reason I love McCain. he's as close to a Democratic Republican as you will ever see. He seriously skirts both parties.

There's a lot I like about McCain. I like the fact that he's a true patriot. I like the fact that when he was told he was going to be released as a P.O.W. because he was the son of a High Ranked Admiral he refused to go because he could not abandon his fellow Prisoners of War and would only go if they released all of their prisoners. I like the fact that he takes pride in challenging party leadership and establishment forces. I like the fact he goes after corrupting influence of large political contributions and is a propent of campaign finance reform. I like the fact he took on the tobacco companies and went after them big time. I like the fact he was a leader in HMO reform. I like the fact he co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship Act (something that Barak Obama supported also). I like the fact he defended John Kerry's war record and refused to dismiss his military career during the 2004 campaign. I like the fact he is opposed to high salaries and lucrative severance deals for corporate CEOs and is in favor of 'Say on pay' laws that give stockholders a vote on executive compensation.

Do I dislike Barack Obama? No. Not at all.

He comes across as sincere and I agree with some of his views. I do believe he wants to take away the fat cat mentality from Washington.

His inexperiance does worry me. His wife's views do scare me.

But I'm not about to run screaming into the night if he's elected.

Ok, now that you have some insight to my political views... let's get to it.

Now... I've heard it all. All of the spouting and screaming and pointing fingers.

And I'm getting mighty sick of it.

Listen, I know this election is just variations on the same theme we've been seeing for the last Thirty-odd years. I get that.

I understand the way politics work. I really do. I'm a student of politics. I pay close attention and keep myself informed as much as possible. I do not rely on any one news source for my info since a majority of it is biased (Fox News anyone?) I get a large amount of my actual news from CNN and 1010wins. I don't feel pressured by either to form an immediate opinion. Both give me more actual facts and less propaganda.

Let's start with the recent bailout situation.

Why did it fail? Well.. it failed for two simple reasons.

The Republicans and the Democrats.

Listen, do I relish the thought of bailing out the Wall Street Fat Cats who live free and loose with other people's money?

No I do not... but this bailout is NOT a bailout of them.

It's a bailout of the American Economy.

Without this bailout, things will get worse and worse to the loint that no one will be able to get a loan. No mortages. No car loans. No credit cards. Nothing. Nadda. Nilch.

So... as much as it bothers me... I know we have to do it.

So... the GOP felt it had the proper number of votes to get the job done. In the end, they did not as 12 Republicans changed their minds at the last second.

They changed their minds thanks to Nancy Pelosi.

Now, it's it all her fault? No.

But did she do what she did on purpose to elicit the response from GOP members in order to help the vote fail? Yes, I believe she did.

So the charge is that a bunch of GOP members let their feelings get hurt and changed their vote becuase of it. Not quite the correct fact, but it's close enough to the fact that it's not a totally unfair accusation.

However, do you really believe that Pelosi didn't know that was EXACTLY what was going to happen... well... I'd have to disagree.

My point is that Pelosi gets up RIGHT BEFORE the vote and goes off sounding a HELL of a lot more like the ninty-five Dems who ended up voting against the bill than someone who was in support of it and was looking for it to go through. She goes off referring to the bailout as 'alarming,' and "is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies — policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system." Whether she is correct or PARTLY correct or wrong or whatever (she IS correct about the '"alarming" and "staggering" parts for sure) that's NOT how you go into the vote when you SUPPORT the frigging thing.

She predictably lays all blame for the crisis at the feet of Republicana and their "anything goes economic policy," and goes off on a bizarre wondering on how the crisis was able to "sneak up on us so silently, almost on little cat's feet."

Not quite the call of duty and rally for support some House Democrats might have liked to hear from their leader as they prepared to vote on an extremely sensitive situation.

Hey, I'm not on the GOP side on this. I'm appalled at the freaking Republicans that changed their votes. They are weak kneed assholes who care only about themselves. This stupid situation was created by greed and it's going to have to be solved by this bailout because it's really the only way to stablize the economy.... and without a stable ecomony the rest of us are SCREWED.

However, do not think for ONE SECOND that Pelosi's speech wasn't well thought out and made for one reason and one reason only... to help facilitate the failure of the bailout. There was NO REASON for her comments at that point. She could have made all of those comments AFTER THE the vote and still got her points across. She KNEW there were members of congress who were reluctant to vote yes but were doing so. I believe she also KNEW she'd push them over the edge. Shame on HER. Shame on THEM. Shame on BOTH parties. I'm totally disgusted.

However, all I hear from most Dem supporters is how the GOP killed the vote. Not one person seems to acknowledge the fact that Pelosi and the Dems helped sabatoge the frigging thing... all so they could point their fingers once again and say "See? They suck."

The fact that Pelosi did nothing in her press conference afterwards but trash the GOP and praise about 42 Democratic members for their "non-partisanship" was quite ironic since her actions were NOT "non-partisan".

See? Hypocrisy. Just one example.

Then Eric Cantor gets up and completely blames Pelosi for the failure of the vote. While he does admit that some of his own party members changed at the last second, he does NOT take them to task on it or call them out on the carpet. He instead kills Pelosi on her "partisan speech".

See? More Hypocrisy. Why didn't you just call out your own party members who nixed the deal cause they were scared out of their bipartisan clothing by a floor speech?

But hey... the Republicans got to the microphones first which I'm sure is viewed as a tactical victory for them. Yay.

Next up... the supporters and their insanity.

THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Well, I've made it no secret over the last eight years that I am a huge supporter of John McCain. I wanted him to win the nomination back in 2000 and was highly disappointed that he did not.

I'm not looking to go into a long post of why I support McCain (although I plan on doing so soon). I just wanted to express my contentment that he won the Republican nomination. For the first time in a long time I'm comfortable with the Republican nominee.

I know his age is a factor to consider, but I really think McCain is the man for this job. I'll list why soon.

Conratulations to him for his victory. Already I have much better feelings about the future of this country.

I hope those positive feelings remain.

As for Obama and Clintoover the democratic way... I have to wonder if many democrats were hoping for an Obama sweep... if only to allow the dems to focus on the fight against McCain instead of at each other. Clinton's strong showing in Ohio was huge though... it showed that the dems aren't quite ready to name Obama their top dog... and if memory serves me right... no candidate has ever won the election who didn't also win Ohio.

Let the games begin.