And It's On To New Hampshire
I can't possibly compete with the post below which almost had me thinking this particular old lady should start wearing Depends I was laughing so hard.
Nevertheless, I will persevere.
So the Iowa Caucuses are history for the next four years, praise be. If I'd had to listen to one more day of how important one small, white bread, conservative state is to the fate of the nation, I would have gone insane. Sorry, Iowa - nothing personal but did anyone but me notice that the only non Caucasian face in most of those rooms belonged to the winning Democratic candidate?
I'm not at all surprised that Governor Huckabee won. I'd be more surprised if he hadn't. But to treat his victory as a mandate is ridiculous. Enough said about the Republicans for now.
As for the Democrats, I've listened to what the three leaders have to say and I honestly can't see that much difference between them. At the end of the day I'll vote my (losing) choice in the California primary and for the Democratic nominee, even if I'm not thrilled by the choice, in the national election. I'm sure he or she won't be either of my first and second choices.
And so, with the pundits punditing away, we move on to New Hampshire and the ABC debate. I've been fuming about the debates for a while now. How can it possibly be a debate if some candidates are excluded or, if they are allowed on the stage, are virtually ignored? I watched the earlier debates before Senators Dodd and Biden dropped out and watched the mediator skip past them time and again.
Governor Richardson and Congressman Kucinich didn't fare much better in the earlier debates and Dennis Kucinich was shut out of the ABC debate completely. I understand he's filed a complaint with the FCC and well he should. And, speaking of Governor Richardson, he had the best line in the entire debate when he said (paraphrasing here) "I've seen more civility in hostage negotiations".
I didn't see the Republican half of the debate although I'd intended to. I imagine though the same thing happened to Congressman Paul. It's as if the media is frightened of original thought.
Why can't we have all the primaries on the same day or a national primary? Why can't we have debates that are actually debates? Why is it a foregone conclusion that any candidate who can't win in Iowa and/or New Hampshire is a dead duck? There are 48 other states. Why does the campaigning start the day after the inauguration? Why does a candidate's faith (or lack thereof) make a difference? There's something in the Constitution about that. And why does anyone have to buy an election? Once upon a time, any child could dream of becoming President. Not these days unless they sell their soul to the devil. There has to be a better way.
And, while I'm ranting, one more thing. You'll notice I used their past or present titles when referring to the candidates; even the Republicans. I'm not usually that formal but it irritates me no end to hear the candidates referred to by the media as Senators Edwards and Obama, Governor Richardson, and Hillary. No matter what we or the media may think of her, the last time I looked, she was still the Senator from New York. Maybe I'm overreacting but it seems demeaning every time I hear it. If she's Hillary, the others are John, Barack, and Bill.
Personal note:
Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes. Ray and I are almost recovered from the nasty colds that attacked day after Christmas although I'm still coughing and sneezing a little. My eyes bother me if I try to do much reading so I'm way behind on your posts as well as online news.
The California storms of the past few days dropped by for a visit but we in Merced missed most of the damage. No real flooding, a few branches down, one extremely brief power outage. Fresno, 60 miles to the south, was hit much harder and so was the San Francisco Bay Area.
COMMENTS:
Nevertheless, I will persevere.
So the Iowa Caucuses are history for the next four years, praise be. If I'd had to listen to one more day of how important one small, white bread, conservative state is to the fate of the nation, I would have gone insane. Sorry, Iowa - nothing personal but did anyone but me notice that the only non Caucasian face in most of those rooms belonged to the winning Democratic candidate?
I'm not at all surprised that Governor Huckabee won. I'd be more surprised if he hadn't. But to treat his victory as a mandate is ridiculous. Enough said about the Republicans for now.
As for the Democrats, I've listened to what the three leaders have to say and I honestly can't see that much difference between them. At the end of the day I'll vote my (losing) choice in the California primary and for the Democratic nominee, even if I'm not thrilled by the choice, in the national election. I'm sure he or she won't be either of my first and second choices.
And so, with the pundits punditing away, we move on to New Hampshire and the ABC debate. I've been fuming about the debates for a while now. How can it possibly be a debate if some candidates are excluded or, if they are allowed on the stage, are virtually ignored? I watched the earlier debates before Senators Dodd and Biden dropped out and watched the mediator skip past them time and again.
Governor Richardson and Congressman Kucinich didn't fare much better in the earlier debates and Dennis Kucinich was shut out of the ABC debate completely. I understand he's filed a complaint with the FCC and well he should. And, speaking of Governor Richardson, he had the best line in the entire debate when he said (paraphrasing here) "I've seen more civility in hostage negotiations".
I didn't see the Republican half of the debate although I'd intended to. I imagine though the same thing happened to Congressman Paul. It's as if the media is frightened of original thought.
Why can't we have all the primaries on the same day or a national primary? Why can't we have debates that are actually debates? Why is it a foregone conclusion that any candidate who can't win in Iowa and/or New Hampshire is a dead duck? There are 48 other states. Why does the campaigning start the day after the inauguration? Why does a candidate's faith (or lack thereof) make a difference? There's something in the Constitution about that. And why does anyone have to buy an election? Once upon a time, any child could dream of becoming President. Not these days unless they sell their soul to the devil. There has to be a better way.
And, while I'm ranting, one more thing. You'll notice I used their past or present titles when referring to the candidates; even the Republicans. I'm not usually that formal but it irritates me no end to hear the candidates referred to by the media as Senators Edwards and Obama, Governor Richardson, and Hillary. No matter what we or the media may think of her, the last time I looked, she was still the Senator from New York. Maybe I'm overreacting but it seems demeaning every time I hear it. If she's Hillary, the others are John, Barack, and Bill.
Personal note:
Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes. Ray and I are almost recovered from the nasty colds that attacked day after Christmas although I'm still coughing and sneezing a little. My eyes bother me if I try to do much reading so I'm way behind on your posts as well as online news.
The California storms of the past few days dropped by for a visit but we in Merced missed most of the damage. No real flooding, a few branches down, one extremely brief power outage. Fresno, 60 miles to the south, was hit much harder and so was the San Francisco Bay Area.
COMMENTS:
posted by Granny @ 1/07/2008 07:18:00 AM
yeah- you pretty much nailed everything in that rant :) glad you are feeling better.
Monday, January 07, 2008 9:14:00 AM
Granny's back, alive and well on planet Earth!
Welcome back, Granny. Glad you're feeling better and hope Ray is too.Also glad you missed the worst of the storms.
Good post. You do so much better on internal politics than I do. Except. ofcourse, I rant more vociferously on Bush, Cheney and Fundies.
Again, glad that you are back. And a BIG Thank You to Gadfly for carrying the blog while we were out of commission. She did a GREAT job!
Monday, January 07, 2008 2:18:00 PM
Gadfly did a wonderful job. My brain simply wouldn't connect with my fingers. I'd have these wonderful thoughts in the middle of the night and by morning had forgotten all of them.
I rant against the Repubs and the extremists too but not this time. The media and the debates commit the same crimes against them (Ron Paul) as they do against us (Dodd, Biden, Kucinich, Gravel, and to some extent Richardson).
No matter the party, our system is owned by the corporations, not the people, and it's broken. Somehow, we must recover from being a nation of sheep (or lemmings?).
(Apropos of absolutely nothing, I just reached over for my mouse to find a cat sitting on it)
Monday, January 07, 2008 3:23:00 PM
I'm just stopping in to say hi and to let you know I'm lurking. Glad to see everyone is doing ok...
Monday, January 07, 2008 9:03:00 PM
Hey, Granny, while waiting for this box to load I decided that if America only let Grandmothers and Grandfathers vote, all its political problems would be solved.
Hell, you need experience to vote, wisdom, an ability to see through all the hoopla and lies. Whippersnappers just haven't got the maturity, no way.
Liked your post. Says some of the things I've been saying and a whole lot more that needs to be said.
Good on you and a pox on the manipulators!
Monday, January 07, 2008 10:01:00 PM