Pres. Race May Require Coin Toss
Check out the current polls at www.realclearpolitics.com.
Looks like we're in for a real sumo match on Tuesday. 3 of the 5 tracking polls are showing a dead heat. One web site I saw calculated 33 different ways the race could end in a tie; 269-269. In that case, the House gets to break the tie.
I rather think the candidates should settle it like men: paper, rock, scissors, or if you prefer, thumb wrestling.
Here are some closing arguments on behalf of the candidates:
Bush, by Steve Forbes: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110005831
Kerry, by the Alaskan Daily News: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/news/news_2004_1031d.html
Anyway, I promised I'd get to the point(though I'm sure it's been made before). So here goes...
Our only hope for finding real solutions to our problems is an honest, ongoing debate on the issues. Sadly, most people vote with their hearts, not their minds, making the decision a largely irrational one. Irrationality and government do not mix.
We can't allow our votes to be hijacked by our dislike of the kind of people who support the other side. Our voting decisions need a serious dose of rationality.
We can't let ourselves support a progressive tax system simply because we hate rich people and don't want them to be any happier. We need to look at the effects a progressive tax system has on business, job creation and the economy, and ask ourselves whether those effects are helping us or hurting us. Opposing something that will help us simply because we're not the ones who benefit the MOST seems ill-advised.
We can't let ourselves blindly trust the UN because we're afraid to be isloated. The US is by far the biggest world power, and as anyone who's ever played King of the Hill knows, the one on top is the one everybody's looking to dethrone. When we were the world's only hope for countering the Communist threat (and the one protecting everyone else in the world with our ICBM's), those countries in old Europe needed us and wouldn't do anything to rock the boat. Now that the Soviets are gone, our protection is less valuable to old Europe, and they no longer have any reason to kiss up to us.
We have to ask ourselves whether being popular with the world is the most important thing to consider when determining foreign policy, or if there is a danger that the world will use their power to influence us to act in THEIR interests, not our own. Are we, as Americans, more afraid of being unpopular than of being wrong?
Most of all, we can't let ourselves believe that a return to the pre-9/11 world is possible. I suspect that more Americans than we can fathom are casting their votes based on that very thing. We're all secretly hoping that whoever is in office will be able to finish mopping up the things that changed after the attack and put everything nicely back the way they were. We'd believe the UN was great and pure in motive. We'd be the country everyone in the world loved. We'd be the undisputed world power that no one would dare threaten or dislike. We could resume our carefree American lives again.
As heartbreaking as it is to say, that scenario is a pipedream. Once Frans Ferdinand was shot, the world changed. Once the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the world changed. Once the Soviet Union fell, the world changed. None of those events could be undone, and neither can 9/11.
We might be able to resume our carefreee American lives someday, but it won't happen by moving backward. Our only hope is to fight through the difficulties we face as a nation, stomach the temporary distate the world might feel for us, and do what needs to be done. American life suffered during WWII, but we stayed the course and led the world to brighter times. We're going to have to do that again, whether it makes us popular or not.
Looks like we're in for a real sumo match on Tuesday. 3 of the 5 tracking polls are showing a dead heat. One web site I saw calculated 33 different ways the race could end in a tie; 269-269. In that case, the House gets to break the tie.
I rather think the candidates should settle it like men: paper, rock, scissors, or if you prefer, thumb wrestling.
Here are some closing arguments on behalf of the candidates:
Bush, by Steve Forbes: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110005831
Kerry, by the Alaskan Daily News: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/news/news_2004_1031d.html
Anyway, I promised I'd get to the point(though I'm sure it's been made before). So here goes...
Our only hope for finding real solutions to our problems is an honest, ongoing debate on the issues. Sadly, most people vote with their hearts, not their minds, making the decision a largely irrational one. Irrationality and government do not mix.
We can't allow our votes to be hijacked by our dislike of the kind of people who support the other side. Our voting decisions need a serious dose of rationality.
We can't let ourselves support a progressive tax system simply because we hate rich people and don't want them to be any happier. We need to look at the effects a progressive tax system has on business, job creation and the economy, and ask ourselves whether those effects are helping us or hurting us. Opposing something that will help us simply because we're not the ones who benefit the MOST seems ill-advised.
We can't let ourselves blindly trust the UN because we're afraid to be isloated. The US is by far the biggest world power, and as anyone who's ever played King of the Hill knows, the one on top is the one everybody's looking to dethrone. When we were the world's only hope for countering the Communist threat (and the one protecting everyone else in the world with our ICBM's), those countries in old Europe needed us and wouldn't do anything to rock the boat. Now that the Soviets are gone, our protection is less valuable to old Europe, and they no longer have any reason to kiss up to us.
We have to ask ourselves whether being popular with the world is the most important thing to consider when determining foreign policy, or if there is a danger that the world will use their power to influence us to act in THEIR interests, not our own. Are we, as Americans, more afraid of being unpopular than of being wrong?
Most of all, we can't let ourselves believe that a return to the pre-9/11 world is possible. I suspect that more Americans than we can fathom are casting their votes based on that very thing. We're all secretly hoping that whoever is in office will be able to finish mopping up the things that changed after the attack and put everything nicely back the way they were. We'd believe the UN was great and pure in motive. We'd be the country everyone in the world loved. We'd be the undisputed world power that no one would dare threaten or dislike. We could resume our carefree American lives again.
As heartbreaking as it is to say, that scenario is a pipedream. Once Frans Ferdinand was shot, the world changed. Once the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the world changed. Once the Soviet Union fell, the world changed. None of those events could be undone, and neither can 9/11.
We might be able to resume our carefreee American lives someday, but it won't happen by moving backward. Our only hope is to fight through the difficulties we face as a nation, stomach the temporary distate the world might feel for us, and do what needs to be done. American life suffered during WWII, but we stayed the course and led the world to brighter times. We're going to have to do that again, whether it makes us popular or not.
posted by Blogmeister3000 at 7:00 PM
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