As usual, and of course after sitting home today with a wisdom tooth extraction blues (I missed my students!), I watched and read all of the flitter and fodder over the presidential election and the tornado of a cultural war the nomination of the Republican Veep has wrought over this beautiful land of inclusion.
I am struck by two things: the amount of tip-toeing around the gender issue implicit within this nomination and the idea that liberal-thinking people are evil people. Therefore, I have two things to say:
1) Every political candidate in every election is under scrutiny. That is what comes with the proverbial "throwing your hat into a race." And when one is confronted with that scrutiny, there are two options: ignore it or confront it. Ignoring the scrutiny is a wise move, especially regarding the short term effect and affect of the issue at hand. In other words, more often than not news will blow over and the issue will become so "last week." In our fast pace yet informatively rich and diverse country, shifts, twists and terms are always encountered and reshape in sensational stories that are (quote/unquote) newsworthy. "Jamie Lynn's pregnacy was sooooo last year." Those who ignore the scrutiny of the public eye, via ANY media outlet, hope that the scrutiny will pass like a quick thunderstorm (and we are all inside so we didn't even know it rained).Now, confronting scrutiny is difficult. The reason is more complex than we may first think. It is human to feel embarrassed or awkward over a public faux pas that was caught in the media. But at the heart of confronting this scrutiny is a very important notion, a notion that by name has been talked about a lot but not by issue: ACCOUNTABILITY.
When in the limelight, especially as a political figure where you are asking us to have faith and vote for you, you must be held accountable for your actions. You must confront the issue dead on; quell the tensions and if you f-ed up just admit it. It's simple, but uncommon. If people are spreading lies about you, confront the lies. If the public is getting mis-information, inform us. Answer questions. Engage in dialogue. DON'T TRY TO STOP IT BY SAYING IT IS OFFENSIVE OR DEMEANING. Although it is a clever (short term) tactic to claim BIAS, the "bias" is only going to get worse if not confronted. The media is called the fourth estate for that reason. It was meant to scrutinize the public actions of public citizens--and scrutinize it will; the pendulum will swing one way to the next with each passing day and each poll, with each breath...CAUTION....this is not an never ending pendulum. Without confrontation or accountability, the issues themselves will become it's own tornado wielding mess. Silence is the politician's deadliest foe.
This verbose thought comes from watching about 4 hours of news programming on different networks. From the political campaigns, I saw one side engage in dialouge with the media, answering questions in Dayton and Missouri, discussing the facts, issues and some mis-information about their camp. On the other side, I heard the same speech, with the same talking points (that have been disproved by both the right and left media outlets) and the same political zings that are frankly as tired as Marge Simpson's Channel suit in that Simpsons episode from over a decade ago. And when it is not the Channel suit, it is the claim of BIAS, LIBERAL NEWS, POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS...ENOUGH!
What we want to know is more about stance and substance not about how the Democrats via Obama want to destroy this nation. AND HERE IT IS: Barack Obama fights against the divisions that some Americans just want to hold so dear. When he is under scrutiny he attacks what is being said about him. He is accountable by answering questions, going on news programs, sticking to the issues at hand, making himself as wide known as possible and as available and accessible any person running for this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT POSITION should be with some pretty big issues at stake! Issues much bigger than lipstick and where it is applied.
As for accountability I will leave this thought with a "what do you think about this?"Anna Quindlen's Newsweek "Last Word" from this week: "[McCain] when asked during the primaries, on the subject of Senator Clinton 'How do we beat the bitch?' he responded 'Excellent question."IS THAT BIAS? POLITICALLY INCORRECT? Should our leaders be held accountable for their actions and what they say? It's for you to decide.
2) much shorterI do not consider myself a "liberal" as connotated these past few years i.e the folks who want to raise taxes, reduce the military, allow for political machines to keep their influence inside and outside of Washington, and leave Americans and all global citizens vulnerable to attacks from fanatics, despots and terrorists. Matter of fact, in the terms of this campaign I consider myself rather conservative. That is, A CONSERVATIVE READER OF THE CONSTITUTION AND LAW OF THIS LAND. So now the tables have turned, the Dems are the sexists and liberals want to abort teenagers....So all that I studied and write about is untrue...liberals are not only evil, they are do-nothings that do (and know) too much.
FACT: If liberals were evil:
Barack Obama would not be a nominee for a major political party (race)
Joe Biden would not be the nominee for a major political party (religion)
Sarah Palin would never get the chance to be the "uber-woman" she is proported to be, let alone the next President of the US. (gender)
THE SPIN ON CHANGE WILL NOT END UNTIL WE ALL SAY **ENOUGH!** seriously....
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