My Sunday Feeling

I didn't watch the debate Friday night. I was busy taking pictures at a high school game. But even if I didn't have anything else to do I would not watched it. In the first place, I know how I'm going to vote in November and nothing either candidate might conceivably say could change my mind. So why watch?

I know that lots of friends of mine watched as they are political junkies. Some of them are professionals in that line of work. So they watch debates much as I might watch a sporting event. I'm just not tthat interested in the spectacle of politics although I confess that I might watch the Palin-Biden debate to see if she if she remains as loopily incoherent as she has been thus far on the stump. But if there's a good college football game on at that time, I will probably watch that instead.

I might watch if the candidates could depart from their talking points for long enough to tell the truth about what they really think. Or admit to making a mistake or that their thinking on any particular issue has evolved from a previously articulated stand. Just think:

Barack Obama: "Where do those whack jobs in the Republican Party get off calling me an elitist? Granted, I was on law review at Harvard while my opponent's choice for VP attended 15 different colleges before getting an undergrad degree. But where did my opponent go to school? The United States Naval Academy. Which ain't exactly Phoenix University.

And sure, my numbers on health care and taxes don't add up. But none of that matters because no matter the form of the bailout of the financial markets, whoever gets elected will be inheriting a complete mess. And yes, I was in the Senate while this bomb was ticking and maybe I should have actually paid attention to those reports getting sent in to the Congress by Freddie and Fannie that had been cooked to a fair-the-well. But getting ready to run for President can keep a guy pretty busy.

While I am proud of my vote against the war in Iran, I gotta admit that this surge thing seems to be working. I didn't see that one coming. Bad on me but thank God. As long as we can get out of the Middle East with fewer casualties and on a quicker timetable? That's all that matters."





John McCain: "Thank God for the surge. Maybe that will cause voters to forget that I was all for this incompetently prosecuted fool's errand that has cost us so much in blood and treasure.

Sarah Palin? Was my choice of her for VP a cynical attempt to placate the religious nuts that I have no use for other then the fact that they have the franchise? Or was it the intemperate, go-with-the- gut coin toss for which some say disqualifies me to have my finger on the button? Fuck, I don't care. You decide. Pick one.


Oops. I did it again.

OK. The Charles Keating thing? Wish I could have a do-over. The economy? No clue. Not my thing. No biggee. You think anybody else has got a clue how to defuse this bomb W.left one of us to deal with? Making noises about cancelling the debate. Bad idea in retrospect. But hey! I showed up didn't I?

Oh. The prisoner of war thing. I did my duty for the country that I love to the best of my ability. Doesn't mean I'm any better or any worse than any other man or woman that ever wore the uniform. I am one tough son of a bitch. I will admit that. But so is Brian Ehrlacher. That's no reason to vote for him for President either."

But we would never hear anything like that from either candidate in any debate. So I didn't watch.