Intermission

In the quiet between conventions, as we ruminate over Obama's magnificent Thursday speech and await the McCain camp's VP announcement, a couple thoughts:

Dear Democrats: Please stop denouncing your opponents as too rich. You're all rich. You can't move in the circles of upper-level national government without being rich. You can't afford to run for federal office without being rich.

Not only that, but I want you to be rich. Wealth is one of the surest sign of success in a capitalist society. I want people in office who have demonstrated that they have achieved success in the private sector, in business, law, and industry. I want people who have turned a profit; they would seem--seem--less likely to run a deficit. I want our leaders to be successes. We've seen what happens when you elect a serial failure.

Dear Republicans: Please stop denouncing your opponents as too elite. You're all elite. You can't move in the circles of upper-level national government without being elite. You can't successfully debate ideas and perspectives on the federal level without being elite.

I want my elected representatives to be smarter and more educated than I am. I want them to be thinkers and dreamers, and I want them to have advanced degrees. I want them to have the widest vocabulary of words and thoughts possible. Salt of the earth is valuable, but advanced degrees and deep thought are what's called for here. We're not hiring someone to run a corner fruit stand. I want our leaders to have master's degrees and PhDs. Higher education doesn't necessarily disconnect you from the common man; it can (and often does) put you more in touch with humanity. It's okay by me if my elected leaders think the country needs things that I don't understand.

On a personal note, I've been justly criticized lately for claiming centrist views that my writing here doesn't really reflect. (Kind of like MSNBC.) In my defense, I know that most of the people who read and comment on this blog tend to the left. There's been plenty to criticize the GWBA about for the past several years. I just really didn't want to be yet another theatre artist bitching about conservatives and/or praising liberals. I've endeavored to be a questioner, a discussion-starter, and a devil's advocate. I want to raise issues and perspectives that those reading this might not seek out otherwise.

That said, as I look back on my previous political posts, I find that I have written almost nothing about the liberal causes I feel strongly about, and much less against the GWBA than I have felt. I'm going to shoot a bit more toward "fair and balanced" than I have, starting with this very post.



EDIT: Sarah Palin? Really?

As much as Biden is the safe choice for Obama, Palin is an unsafe one for McCain. She's an interesting woman, a social conservative, yet she exercised veto power to assure rights to same-sex partners. She's been a reformer in the face of corrupt Alaska politics. And she has two years more executive experience than Obama, Biden, and McCain combined.

But I said it about Obama and I'll say it about Palin: she'd be a really interesting candidate in a 2012. If I'm concerned about Obama's lack of experience, I'm terrified of Palin's.

And Biden is going to eat her alive in debates.