I hate it because of the advertisements that appear.
One example that has been airing for awhile where I live is this one:
I find this advertisement particularly repugnant for a variety of reasons and none of them have anything to do with the candidate it is trashing.
This advertisement is completely disjointed and ridiculous.
The term "independent" in politics, and in the context of this advertisement, means that one is not affiliated with a political party.
This advertisement attacks Angus King's declaration of political party independence and states that his voting records shows otherwise. This makes no sense without supporting evidence and explanation - it, in short, is a terrible assertion to make in an ad because one cannot support it. The nature of being independent from either major political party means that you vote however you feel is the right direction for the people you represent. Sometimes your votes may align completely with one of the parties' agendas and other times your votes may be scattered back and forth between the two parties. Even if you voted 100% in alignment with one party agenda it doesn't mean your record tells a different story because you are still not a member of that party and, by definition, an independent.
The last portion of the ad, where it blatantly says "Maine needs jobs" is also a complete and total disjunction. It is obvious that the people who built the ad believe that commenting on the employment situation in the state will draw more attention to their cause and they are probably right. I, however, noticed that that one last comment in the ad was thrown in there in a haphazard fashion and really has nothing to do with the rest of the ad. It weakens the ad. It hurts their cause. It makes the writer(s) and editor(s) of that ad look foolish. If you want to take a direction of "too much spending" in the ad - do it. If you want to take a direction of "not enough jobs" in an ad - do it. There are probably ways you can create an ad that covers both in a productive manner - this advertisement was not one of them.
Furthering my problem with the campaigning season is the level of ignorance that many politicians seem to uncover about themselves during their speeches and interviews.
Chief among those at the moment is the, apparently, rampant belief among Republican public officials and nominees that women who are "legitimately raped" cannot get pregnant from the action. They go so far as to include a separate rider for incest (where I disagree with that as raping your children is still rape and statutory rape of your children is still statutory rape) and some of them claim one cannot get pregnant from that, either.
I firmly believe that the core purpose of politicians is to represent the people that they are elected (and paid) to represent. Their job is to PROTECT our interests when examining legislation changes and problems in the country. Their job is NOT to try and oppress the people and make themselves wealthier. Sadly, the latter is what politicians in this country have become very good at.
I recently watched a movie that dealt with trying to get from East Germany to West Germany in the 1960s as a barrier to the characters in the story. It made me realize that if you have to turn your country into a prison to keep people there so you, the government, have something to govern then you are doing it wrong. Shortly afterward this image starting floating around facebook:
and I found it very fitting.
The bottom line on this upcoming election is that the Republican party has, in my humble estimation, thrown themselves overboard and into the deep-end of crazy, fundamentalist thinking. The people who are getting airtime from this party are showing that their core values are, essentially, no different from those of the Taliban - except their book is "The Holy Bible" instead of the Koran (I know there are multiple spellings, I am going with the easy one).
I am fiscally conservative. I like the idea of supporting people who need it but I also realize that the money has to come from somewhere. I like having my paycheck and dislike seeing how much goes into taxes. What I dislike more is the idea of my country turning into a prison where I am regulated by irrationality and religious fundamentalism. I fear being trapped in a country, unable to leave, where the people in charge will force inequality upon the people and discriminate against half the population based solely on their gender. I fear a country where progress out of that condition (because we are still living within it) has stopped and any chance of it resuming is lost.
I have now come to not only dislike both parties and refuse to join either but to actually fear the republican party and all that it is proclaiming to stand for,
I have said before that voting for the BEST candidate is not throwing your vote away since your vote serves to outline that very purpose. I have stated that voting for a candidate as a vote against another candidate contributes to the downfall of the system as it is designed to support us. I still believe these things but, I feel that the republican party has gone to the point where I may be forced to vote for the democratic nominee as a defensive play against the republican candidates. I hate this idea but I would rather do it that see the misogyny and homophobia continue to run rampant. I would rather do it than see us move more and more toward a religiously-ruled country. I would rather do that than see the continuing decline of scientific knowledge in this country. I would rather see my taxes go up for programs that allow more and more people to view welfare as a lifestyle choice (and yes, they do exist - I have seen it first-hand) than be subjected to the alternative.
Great job, republican party, you are pushing an independent away from you out of a need to defend their own position in the world.
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