Random Thoughts - 9

The NotePocalypse - Why I'm Choosing Obama and Why You Should To...

Ground Rules - I'm not writing anything without backing it up.I'm posting this on Facebook and on Blogspot, and the blogspot (andyszymas.blogspot.com) will have the links and sources. Facebook won't, because facebook notes don't have great ability to incorporate links. Please stick to the subjects I've mentioned here, because I want to reach some consensus on these issues before we start talking about anything else.
One last thing. If you say anything stupid, I'll still be your friend, but I'll just think you're stupid. I reserve the right to call anything stupid by the name "stupid."

So why am I writing this? Well, to be honest, I'm seeing a lot of facebook notes with a lot of blatant misinformation and misconceptions on both sides. There are some stupid democrats and some stupid republicans, and that frustrated me enough to finally come out of the political closet and let you all know publicly who I'm supporting. So I'm rereading some of the notes and addressing what they've said on some of the issues. So with all that said, to the issues:

Abortion. The standard thinking is that McCain is pro-life because he values the sanctity of human life, while Obama is pro-choice and wants to eat your babies. Let's examine that a bit closer. So how does McCain intend to be pro-life? Well, I searched quite a bit on the internet, and all I could really find was from McCain's own website. McCain says he would nominate justices in the model of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, two supreme court justices who are pro-life in belief. I find it interesting that McCain intends to nominate a justice in the vein of Roberts, who is one of the more conservative justices on the bench. Oops, guess McCain forgot to tell you that Roberts himself said he wouldn't overturn abortion. And of course, McCain has said he wouldn't make abortion his litmus test for nominating a judge. Also, McCain should mention he voted in favor for the two most liberal justices on the bench. And finally, let's not forget that he's been pretty flip floppy on this issue.
Obama? Yeah, he's pro-choice. But unlike McCain, Obama has a plan to reduce abortions. The 95/10 initiative calls for government policy and legislation to reduce abortions by 95% in 1o years. So Obama has an actual plan in place, and it's a plan he's been committed to for some time.

Vice President - One of the silliest arguments I read was that Palin would be okay for veep because she was governor of the largest state in the USA. Well, that's a pretty dumb argument. I'm calling that one stupid. Alaska is the 47th least populated state. It's has approximately twice as many people as the city of Charleston, SC. And lest you think I'm being biased, Delaware is the 45th least populated state. So clearly, if we're talking about the size of the body you've ruled, Palin and Biden are poor choices.

Change - Here's a direct quote from a facebook note: "Obama is "changing" for whatever the people and the media want you to see. McCain is an honorable man to the core...which is why he has not spoken or attacked sooner."
This is a great example of saying something that isn't true and hoping by saying it that it becomes true. Obama has been the straight man here; he hasn't flipped any of his policies or ideas for political gain. The most you can argue is that he left a church, after the pastor embarassed himself. Obama's policies and ideas and political beliefs are still the same. I already highlighted in the above Abortion section how McCain has flipflopped on Abortion, so I don't really see the need to cite any more sources. Obviously, McCain is doing the very thing that this quote is saying he doesn't do but Obama does do. Also, McCain's not speaking or attacking sooner? The first mention of a negative ad that I can find was released by McCain. Also, did you watch the second presidential debate? It was very honorable for McCain to blatantly misquote Obama about Pakistan. Check it out; search for Katie Hamm's question, and read Obama's response. Then read what McCain has to say.

I think that's about it for this round. I'm tempted to start a discussion about war theory, and whether Jesus would bomb countries that attacked him. I'm tempted to start talking about economics, but from what I've seen, there's plenty of finger pointing going around, and noone seems to agree on anything. Republicans say everything needs to be deregulated, and democrats say everything needs to be regulated. Since we have no one's word to take but their own, I find that debate meaningless. If you want some fodder for reading on the economic side, check this out - Scott Adams did a survey of Economists, polling them about politics.