The Republican candidates have descended upon our fair state of Florida en masse and the Silly Season is junking up our air waves. The Ron Paul signs are everywhere and Mitt Romney is on the TV virtually every other commercial.
This isn't a friendly, coffee-shop affair like you might find in New Hampshire or Iowa. There are 18 million people living here. So we see pre-packaged photo ops and caravans of campaign buses complete with police escorts.
A side effect of the Silly Season is the robotic, computer-driven campaign phone calls in which the candidates say really nasty things about each other. They come at all hours of the day. Romney called us twice last night and John McCain called today and it is still early.
We've turned our Privacy Director back on.
Gayle and I are also swearing off the candidate debates. We found the "You-represented-a-slum-lord, you-served-on-the-board-of-WalMart" Democratic debate Monday disheartening.
The Republicans here are pandering to their base by dividing very complicated issues like Iraq into black and white. The chant of "victory or defeat" somehow rings hollow to me and offensive to Gayle given the complexity of the war.
But here's what I haven't heard:
Better benefits and pay for the military;
Better screening for PTSD;
More educational opportunities for soldiers particularly the combat units whose inflexible schedules make it difficult to take classes;
Better benefits for Vets;
And on and on....
When will that public discussion take place?
Oh, yeah. There is good news. We can turn our Privacy Director off on Wednesday.
3 comments:
Oh, that discussion WONT happen. Ever. Neither party. I am disgusted with what is happening.. I am wishing really hard that Richardson hadn't dropped out.. but this media fed election season isn't about who will really think about what this country needs, it's soundbites, confrontations and smarmy nastiness. It's enough to make you get literature from New Zealand about emigrating.
LAW
LAW -
Couldn't agree more. You'd be surprised how often New Zealand is discussed at our house. :)
BTW, Romney just called again.
I'm sending an email to the candidates, "want to lose my vote, call my house". If I want to hear more about them, I'll go to their rallyes when their in town, or watch the debates.
I hated it when people call me.
unless they're friends or relatives.
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