Thursday, January 12, 2012

Random Thoughts on American Politics in 2012

Now that it is officially 2012, I can without guilt start paying attention to the 2012 elections. I actually started thinking about the 2012 elections in 2008. But I felt guilty about it. Because I'm a junkie and that's what junkies do. They feel guilty about doing what they shouldn't but do it anyway.
Presidential election years are immense fun. Democracy, a form of government where the unwashed masses decide their leaders in a manner that can only be described as insane, demands that every once in a while the unwashed masses vote.
* Presidential elections are a joke. They are predetermined, scripted affairs. One thing I've learned about the rich and powerful is they do not leave events to chance.
* Mitt Romney would have to die not to be the Republican Party nominee for president.
* Barrack Obama would have to die not to be the Democratic nominee.
* Presidential elections have always been scripted. Take a look at the line from Jefferson to Madison and Monroe. Aaron Burr fought against the predetermined outcome. How did that work out for him?
* Ron Paul is fighting against the predetermined outcome. How is it working out for him?
* To say that it is inevitable that Romney is going to win after gathering 12 delegates only makes sense when you understand the outcome is predetermined.
* The powers that be will go to any lengths to insure their outcomes happen. The Supreme Court's intervention in 2000, as well as 1876, illustrate this.
* It could be argued that Kennedy's election in 1960 went against the script. JFK's assassination in 1963 can be seen as a correction. RFK's assassination in 1968 can be seen as a preemptive action to make sure it didn't happen again.
* Pat Paulsen in 1968 and beyond and Stephen Colbert today shed light on the insanity of American politics.
* I am biased toward the print media. Television coverage of elections is a waste of time. Only the print media is worth paying attention to.
* Most polls are fairly accurate. I follow Nate Silver's polling especially . He is an uber-nerd who knows more about politics than all the pretty boys and girls on TV. Silver is the Big Bang Theory of American politics.
* Obama has continued Bush II's policies. They continue to be disasters. The Clinton's policies actually had the country in pretty good shape.
* Check out how Clinton handled the WTC bombing in 1993. That approach in 2001 would have worked.
* I don't see how Romney will be any different than Bush II or Obama. Maybe that's the point. Sorry Ron Paul. Sorry Rick Santorum. I am not sorry, Newt.
* Newt Gingrich is a failed insider. So was John McCain. Maverick. Yeah, right. Sarah Palin may have been a maverick. Palin had no chance to ever be president. I can't see her following any script but her own.
* I wanted Michelle Bachmann to stay in the race. Her husband is  a hoot and a half.
* Herman Cain, although he won't win the tiara, deserves the Mr. Congeniality title for the warm and fuzzy way he acts toward women.
* Obscene amounts of money will be spent in the 2012 presidential race to go through the motions of a predetermined outcome and give us peasants the illusion that we actually live in a democracy.