Politicalamity

From a CNN article, it was stated that in the VP debate between Joe BIden and Sarah Palin; the levels of langauge usage were grade 7.8 for Biden and 9.9 for Palin.  This sort of analysis being almost as pointless as the “React-o-meter” used by CNN to gauge immediate audience response, I was amazed to see that Palin was out ahead of Biden from this scale.

So from this one would expect that Sarah Palin might have sounded more intellectual, but the flaw in their system is seen when looking at one of her closing sentences:

But higher grade level doesn’t necessarily mean better sentence, Payack said. He pointed to Palin’s second-to-last sentence in the debate, which the formula put at a grade level of 18.3:

“What I would do, also, if that were ever to happen, though, is to continue the good work he is so committed to of putting government back on the side of the people and get rid of the greed and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington,” Palin said.

“When she said it, it sounded good, but on paper it’s a completely different animal,” Payack said. “It’s like, what is that?”

I remember several other sentences. constructed by Palin, that cast a wide net over diverse and tenuously related topics.  So basically we have an analysis that has almost as much real intellectual value as the term “hockey mom” or by the findings of the Ig Noble scientists.

Somehow I am always reminded of Otto from A FIsh Called Wanda.  No this isn’t because of the co-starring role of Michael Palin, but instead of Otto’s insistance on appearing intelligent through publically reading and quoting lines from Nietzche.  Strangely enough, Palin also has the habit of harvesting lines from past politicians in order to make her lines look more eloquent than her points can support.  If the McCain campaign isn’t borrowing lines from Herbert Hoover, Teddy Roosevelt, or an anti-Semite activist who once called for the assassination of Robert Kennedy; and they are borrowing the campaign slogans of George W. Bush and even Barrack Obama, they might want to start looking for a place to crash come election day.

It was once a bit easier to call Democrats the waffling flip-floppers, but McCain is fast becoming the new king of waffling. For most of his career, McCain has supported the deregulation of government interests in the economy. He has consistently supported free market policies designed to cushion big business and provide financial cart blanche for industry. Yet when the “fundamentally strong” economy came crashing down, McCain needed to soft shoe his way into the minds of the public.

Unlike Obama/Biden’s message of, it’s been broke for 8 years-let’s fix it; McCain has casually forgotten that many of his economic concepts were fundamentally the causes of this collapse. His chief political advisor helped create this tangled web of economic down turns and yet McCain remains embarrassingly aloof to that fact. His recent speeches have changed his image from anti-government regulation to a shockingly populist tone of “workers vs. Wall Street.” He claims to have the answer to solve this crisis, but continues to keep that secret formula hidden from the public; much the same way that the campaign is hiding Governor Palin from her inquisitors. If the answer is so definite, why keep it to yourself? Isn’t it immoral to have allowed the economy to falter and ruin so many citizen’s lives? McCain’s inexperience with economic matters has not been given enough light in recent months but I think this video says it all.

Instead of admitting that he had no clue as to how to approach the economy, he spouts vacuous buzz words and circular statements of progress. He has latched onto the Obama inspired need for change and hopes that the voters will buy into his newly found self-adopted belief in financial reform. Even though he has historically supported the economic policies enacted by the Bush/Cheney administration. So has he changed his ways? Sarah Palin effectively put her feet in the campaign’s mouths by declaring, “John McCain is the same man.” Someone needs to explain to Governor Palin that you can’t be the same man if your views you want everyone to believe are counter to you prior views.

If there is any inclination that McCain and Palin have some ideas on how to “fix” the economy, they have to remember not to contradict themselves, especially not in one speech. Palin stated that, “the outdated regulatory system needs to be overhauled.” But then contradicted that by saying, “…we need to get government out of way for private sector progress.” Governor, you can’t push for more regulation and less regulation at the same time. Unless you mean that you are pushing for a manner of progressive equilibrium, which would in effect mean that everything is fine as it exists today. Just plain wrong.

The McCain campaign also tried to impress their middle-class audience by pointing out that Obama was attending an A-list fund raiser by stating, “Let me tell you my friends, there’s no place I’d rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio.” The problem with that is it’s hard to suggest that you are just one of the guys while your millionaire wife stands by your side. McCain may love the fact that the crowds sound enthusiastic about his campaign, but his circular rhetoric on the economy won’t resurrect their lost jobs and savings.

Obama needs to spell out 3 things that he can do to correct this broken system. Don’t tell me you have a plan; tell me the basics of that plan. Stating the facts and promising something will be done is as pointless as seeing the snow in winter and promising the snow will change by May. We know it will, but will the sun come out in March or will it rain in February?