I've been rather busy this week. On travel and next week I will be working some unusual hours. So what that means is posting will continue to be light.
Plus, if the truth is to be told-I am viewing the upcoming election in the United States with increasing pessimism. Primarily because of what the argument says about the average American. If you think American electoral politics paints the country in a good light you are just kidding yourself in the extreme. The face we are presenting to the world is one of stupidity and selfishness in the extreme.
If Obama wins-it will be a good thing, but he will still not be able to govern the country because of the caliber of people in the Congress. If Romney wins-it will be a disaster, if he gets the Congress to approve his draconian proposals. I have no doubt that Romney will enact the Ryan budget, and as I have clearly stated before-his budget and his policy ideas are evil. I despise Ryan personally and politically-Charles Pierce's term "zombie eyed granny starver" is an apt description.
But fundamentally, the reason our politics is fundamentally screwed up has nothing to do with either man. They are simply reacting to the body politic. They speak to the level of education that is becoming apparent. If the US electorate was truly educated-the GOP would be on its way to oblivion, or it would have reformed itself and cast its tea bagger zealots out into the outer darkness. They haven't however-and that should speak volumes about what they REALLY value.
In the macro sense I view this election as one of the capstone events of America not recognizing the changes that have occurred in the world. The changes are going to go forward-the fundamental question is whether America can adapt to the changes. Increasingly it appears to me that we cannot-or will not adapt to those changes. So we will get passed by. We are already seeing evidence of it-it will get worse. Again, this will happen no matter who wins.
And that's depressing. America needs to fix itself. Don't like the caliber of our leaders? Look in the mirror-you created them. Through your own selfishness and stupidity. As a result you get the politics you deserve. Wake up and grow up.