• Please pass the Xanax

    Presidential debates scare me. They don’t scare me like a horror flick or clueless voters… or do they? A few small blood vessels burst (and I lose small clusters of brain cells) every time I hear an undecided voter say they don’t know enough about the candidates yet. Really? How hard do you have to work to stay ignorant during a two year presidential campaign? Have they heard of the internet? Hell, do they know what a newspaper is? These guys have been laid bare over the last two years. What the hell are they going to learn in three weeks? It scares me more when these folks tell me they’re waiting to hear the candidates speak in the debates to make up their minds. Maybe you think that sounds pretty reasonable, but consider… these folks are hanging their decision on some of the most rehearsed television they’ll ever see. They’re making a decision based on who makes them more comfortable, who comes across as more genuine. Tell me, how “genuine” is a well rehearsed campaign speech?

    It scares me because there’s no telling what’s going to resonate with these folks. Bush 41 looks at his watch and his numbers drop. Gore sighs and his prospects sink. McCain walks around the stage like he’s looking for something he lost (his reputation?), and he takes a hit in the polls. With some exceptions (Clinton, Obama), the smart guy with the best command of the issues often “loses” these things.

    So electoral politics have been reduced to which party can produce the best live infomercial… which candidate has the best Tony Little impersonation in their pocket.

    Maybe you think it’s odd for me to be worried, seeing how Obama has clearly benefited from the format so far; but I can’t help but wonder how quickly it all can change with one more coming tonight. I can’t help but wonder if the election now hangs on the whims of the least informed, most indecisive group of lemmings in the electorate. Is McCain one zinger away from the White House?

    I’m tempted to say it’s driving me crazy, but my friends know that’s not a long trip.

  • Absentia

    More than a year ago my mother was committed to the state hospital, three hundred miles away. She hasn’t gotten any better. The last news I heard from the staff was they were going to try stopping all her meds and start over from scratch. The options are somewhat limited because the medication that worked (for a long time) just about destroyed her kidneys.

    Before she was shipped off to the state hospital she spent time at a local, short term facility. In between stints there she spent time at an assisted living facility. When you add it all up, she’s been away since the spring of 2007. It seems longer.

    In the mean time we’ve become familiar with the shortcomings of our health care system. We’ve seen first hand the lack of parity between the care given to our physical and mental needs. I’ve seen the lack of sympathy some have for those suffering mental illness. But worst of all, I haven’t seen my mother for a very long time. I’ve seen the container she used to inhabit… but she’s not really there.

    It’s her birthday today. I may not talk about it much, but every day my mind inevitably wanders to two things: the leukemia coming back someday, and my mother. I don’t really worry about the leukemia, it’s just kind of there in the back ground. Similarly, I don’t shed many tears over my mother, it’s mostly just a persistent ache. Not today though.

    I don’t want your pity or your sympathy. Instead, I want you to think about my mother if/when healthcare is debated in the coming year.

    Maybe you’re thinking I’m taking advantage of my mother’s illness, to which my reply is: you bet your ass I am. I’ll take advantage of any story… any statistic… any evidence of injustice to make sure it doesn’t have to happen to someone else.

    If you really want to know how I feel today, go back and read this post.

  • Does your glass house come with large shutters?

    Conservatives are begging McCain to hit Obama with Rezko and Ayers at the next (and final) debate. I don’t know why. Ad money does a lot of talking – talking that can’t be immediately rebutted. The question is, in a room with both candidates present, would they be as giddy talking about Liddy?

    From where I’m sitting, I think he’s better off running his attack ads and playing relatively nice face to face. After the first two debates, it looks like it would be a serious miscalculation to assume they can ruffle Obama on stage.

    Since I think it might a mistake (and I’d love to see him make one), I might be interested to see him try.