I am deeply proud to be an American. With all sincerity I do believe this is the greatest nation on the planet. A lot of my progressive brothers and sisters look wistfully at Europe. Oh, in Germany you get eighty weeks off every year, they say. In France there’s a free nanny for every baby. In Switzerland, chocolate bars are good for you! Whatever.
There’s no choice for me on Election Day. Barack Obama is the only candidate on my ballot because not only do I disagree with Mitt Romney’s economic policies but I disagree with him on a human decency level. I will simply not vote for a candidate who does not have any interest in human rights for gays and women
Regardless of who wins the election next Tuesday the issue of primary importance in the lives of most Americans—the increasing wealth gap and economic hardships that arise from it—is not likely to be addressed in any serious way. Barack Obama came into office with a chance to overhaul the financial system, and arguably a mandate provided by his decisive victory to do so. But instead, Obama played to the status quo, inviting Tim Geithner and Larry Summers and other key players in the 2008 collapse to be heavily involved in determining the financial direction of the country.
Typically, I don’t find advertisements effective. I’ve never bought Doritos because of their slapstick Super Bowl ads. I’ve never bought Budweiser because of their inspirational stories about unlikely donkeys and underdog Clydesdales rising through the ranks. I don’t buy lingerie from Victoria’s Secret in hopes my wife will look like those airbrushed and wind-blown models. And I’ve been especially unturned by political commercials. At least until now.
Can you imagine if Barack Obama had turned in the kind of performance in the first debate that he turned in last night? Mitt Romney would have had to concede defeat well before the big date, return to the ranks of hopelessly corrupt obscurity, and settle for becoming mayor of a bouncy castle filled with stuffed animals. It would have been the political equivalent of never again being able to get arrested in this town.
In glimpses, Walt is the man we wish we could be: having sex with his smoke-show wife in the car outside a school board meeting; staring into the eyes of cold-blooded killers and not flinching. While we’re conscious of that fact that it is not real, this is also what good art does: it reflects small pieces of ourselves and allows us to explore those dark corners we hope we’ll never have to face in our own lives.
One of my favorite professional wrestling promos of all-time is an oldie from the days of World Championship Wrestling. “Mean” Gene Okerlund was interviewing Harlem Heat, Booker T and Stevie Ray, and the late, great Sherri Martel. It’s an interview longtime fans still mention to this day. Mostly for the part where Booker T, who was and still is a great promo guy, roars “Hulk Hogan, we comin’ for you, nigga!”, immediately realizes what he’s just said on live television, and just as quickly wishes he could hide somewhere in Mean Gene’s very smart tuxedo.
A lot of people have suggested over the last couple of days, in the time since Joe Biden miraculously resisted the urge to do something to Paul Ryan that would have gotten him arrested (probably), that we should go with Biden and Ryan for the rest of the debate series. The verbal sparring, between two men whose job consists mostly of breaking tie votes, certainly seemed to deliver for most people the sparks they felt were lacking from the first Obama/Romney debate.
On November 6, Americans will choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for the office of President of the United States. In the weeks leading up to the election, Drunk Monkeys presents reflections from its editors, staff writers, and regular contributors on the choice ahead and what it will mean for the future.
You think Mitt Romney won the debate.
I guess we were watching a different debate, but I can understand how yelling, relentless lying and interrupting people could be seen as winning or “strong.”