Local politics. Feel free to ignore.
I watched some of the Republican convention, and a fair bit of the Democrats, and I'm astounded that this election is even close.
True, I am biased, but I was inspired by my governor's speech, and by Elizabeth Warren's, and Michelle Obama's, and Bill Clinton's, and the President's, as well. Maybe it's my depression, but I was moved to tears when the President said that we were the change we voted for 4 years ago, and that we had made a positive difference. I don't hear that enough in my own head, so it was nice to hear it on TV.
Watching Ryan and Romney, I was reminded of an early memory I'd nearly lost, from when I was 3 or 4, and watching Richard Nixon on TV. The Watergate scandal was dominating the news, and while I recall none of the details from my emerging consciousness, I do remember an inchoate distrust of Nixon, and as I have gotten older, I have always been astounded that anyone can't immediately see what a poisonous, untrustworthy person he was. Similarly, with Mitt Romney, can't everyone see that he's a sack of money in a suit? I can understand disliking Barack Obama, and I can understand disagreeing with Barack Obama, but anyone who doesn't find him personally impressive has terrible judgment. Obama is a substantive person, and Mitt Romney isn't. It really is as simple as that.
On a related note, here is a brief snippet of an FDR speech, deriding the critics of the New Deal for saying essentially the same things the Romney camp says about the Affordable Health Care Act.
Here in MA, I'm distressed that Elizabeth Warren is behind Scott Brown in the polls for the Senate race. Scott Brown won the special election to replace Ted Kennedy, and he's toeing the Republican line as much as he can. He is, it's true, voting pro-choice, supporting funding for Planned Parenthood, opposed to human trafficking and violence against women. To me, though, it feels like the same political theater Mitt Romney went through when he wanted to win office in this state. He claims to be socially liberal, but if that were true, he wouldn't describe gay marriage and Roe V. Wade as 'settled law'. He call them good fucking ideas.
He refuses to raise taxes, even though he thinks we need a balanced federal budget, and he wants to repeal Obamacare. His website no longer mentions his position on carbon taxation and trading, but given that he used to claim that climate change wasn't a problem, I suspect that this is because he doesn't care about it.
I notice he says nothing about financial regulation, which is Elizabeth Warren's signature issue. If he's serious about creating jobs and dealing with the national debt, reigning in the big banks is priority one. His silence speaks volumes. I really hope Ms. Warren's convention speech fires up voters here in MA, because Brown is a terrible senator, especially for our state.
True, I am biased, but I was inspired by my governor's speech, and by Elizabeth Warren's, and Michelle Obama's, and Bill Clinton's, and the President's, as well. Maybe it's my depression, but I was moved to tears when the President said that we were the change we voted for 4 years ago, and that we had made a positive difference. I don't hear that enough in my own head, so it was nice to hear it on TV.
Watching Ryan and Romney, I was reminded of an early memory I'd nearly lost, from when I was 3 or 4, and watching Richard Nixon on TV. The Watergate scandal was dominating the news, and while I recall none of the details from my emerging consciousness, I do remember an inchoate distrust of Nixon, and as I have gotten older, I have always been astounded that anyone can't immediately see what a poisonous, untrustworthy person he was. Similarly, with Mitt Romney, can't everyone see that he's a sack of money in a suit? I can understand disliking Barack Obama, and I can understand disagreeing with Barack Obama, but anyone who doesn't find him personally impressive has terrible judgment. Obama is a substantive person, and Mitt Romney isn't. It really is as simple as that.
On a related note, here is a brief snippet of an FDR speech, deriding the critics of the New Deal for saying essentially the same things the Romney camp says about the Affordable Health Care Act.
Here in MA, I'm distressed that Elizabeth Warren is behind Scott Brown in the polls for the Senate race. Scott Brown won the special election to replace Ted Kennedy, and he's toeing the Republican line as much as he can. He is, it's true, voting pro-choice, supporting funding for Planned Parenthood, opposed to human trafficking and violence against women. To me, though, it feels like the same political theater Mitt Romney went through when he wanted to win office in this state. He claims to be socially liberal, but if that were true, he wouldn't describe gay marriage and Roe V. Wade as 'settled law'. He call them good fucking ideas.
He refuses to raise taxes, even though he thinks we need a balanced federal budget, and he wants to repeal Obamacare. His website no longer mentions his position on carbon taxation and trading, but given that he used to claim that climate change wasn't a problem, I suspect that this is because he doesn't care about it.
I notice he says nothing about financial regulation, which is Elizabeth Warren's signature issue. If he's serious about creating jobs and dealing with the national debt, reigning in the big banks is priority one. His silence speaks volumes. I really hope Ms. Warren's convention speech fires up voters here in MA, because Brown is a terrible senator, especially for our state.