Politics Wednesday

Nah, I'm not actually going to ramble on about politics every hump day. It's too tiring. Sometimes, though, things get really ridiculous and you have to say something, not only to your local buddies, but to the online population at large. :)

When this campaign started, I (and a lot of other Independents and even a few of my staunch Democrat friends) wanted so badly for the Republicans to choose someone at least somewhat moderate and minimally acceptable as their guy, so I could vote out a president I voted in, who I feel went back on his rainbow promises almost immediately upon taking office. In the first weeks, Obama selected a few cabinet members who had problems with their character and/or the law, when there are hundreds of wonderful people of integrity he could have chosen, who would have honored those important posts. So, politics as usual, these people had to have been owed a favor to get in there.

He wanted to encourage bipartisanship, but he was never able to lead and persuade even his own majority Dems in both houses of Congress to adopt that philosophy.

I also personally think he just doesn't like the job. I like to imagine it's because he honestly tries to get things working between the two dug-in parties in Washington, but the uphill battle is just too wearying. That would be my unjaded, optimistic side talking.

So the Reps put up Romney. The guy is so detached from average Americans that he thinks we should be impressed that he paid 13% taxes over the last 10 years, while the middle class pays about 20%. (I think there should be a flat tax, with an exemption of the first x dollars of income, to cover low-income folks. Over that, we all pay the same percentage. No deductions. A simple 15% would be great. Nothing is more fair than a flat tax. No loopholes. No jacking around.)

And Romney's latest "47% of voters are dependent on the government..." stuff. Just because someone doesn't pay taxes doesn't mean they feel they are entitled to government handouts. Much of the 47% of Americans who pay no income tax are working individuals who are upstanding and contributing members of society who simply don't make very much money, or retired people who've paid into the system all their lives and are now living on social security (also reports the Washington Post).

Romney is dancing around, desperate to say something that resonates with people, but he just continues to dig himself into a hole. And so many of us, Dems and Reps and others, will vote Obama to avoid the greater demise. I'm sure Obama is happy to have the votes, but really? Must we vote every four years out of fear that the other guy would be worse? Very sad.

That all said, Obama was great on Letterman last night. He reiterated all that stuff about being everyone's president. It all sounds really fantastic. At least he knows how to say the right thing, even if it's just the means to an end.