November 04, 2006
Clint called me about a half hour ago. You know. Clint Eastwood. Yeah, he and I are pretty tight. He called so we could have a talk about the significant issues that are going to be decided next Tuesday. Ok. It was a recording, and I'm sick and tired of this. I actually found myself reprimanding Clint for joining in this horrible political situation we have found ourselves in. Ten minutes later, the phone rang again, and this time I waited. Apparently, the tools used for these automated calls wait for a voice. I finally said hello, and heard, "Rudy Guilliani says..." I hung up. How have we turned into this? How have we let ourselves be viewed as a society that can be so easily swayed by well designed rhetoric? Are we as a whole so stupid that we can hear crap about people and automatically assume that the other option is better? I'm disgusted with us as a species. How did we get this way?
This time of year has turned into a horrible experience. Voting time should be a period of discussion and substantiated evidence. I heard an add while I was in the shower today that just made me shake my head. Granted, I might not have heard it all over the shower and suds, but it seemed like a teacher had been hired to give support to a senator running for a state position. The 'support' was all about the failings of the incumbent, and how he had failed in delivering California a secure voting procedure. She gave him an 'F' to play on the teacher role. She then indicated her (and supposedly the combined support of all California teachers) to the competition. She made it clear that other groups supported this individual as well. She concluded with saying that person running against the incumbent got an 'A' for security of voting. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear anything that showed how this person did something to further the security of the voting process.
The phone solicitation has gotten out of control. The other day I answered a call that began, "this is so-n-so, and I'm calling you regarding..." I stupidly told the recording that no, they weren't calling me, it was a recording, and hung up. Does anyone actually listen to this tripe all the way through? I figure whoever is contracted to deliver these messages simply says that they made x number of calls, and claims victories, regardless of how few people actually listen. I always laugh when people make snide comments about how 'backwards' Missouri is. It's a fairly unassuming state. People don't think much about it, and internationals don't have a clue where it is. Like about half of Californians, I consider somewhere else my homeland. I was born in California, but to date over half of my life was spent in Missouri, and they were my most formative years. Consequently, that is my homeland. I may never return, but I can't lose the accent, so I might as well accept it. Some years ago, I remember smiling while Californians poked fun at Missouri for including the recently deceased governor on the ballet. Missouri may be considered backwards for such a 'progressive' state as California, but everyone that voted knew that they were voting for his wife, who was the new runner under the Democratic ticket. The decision was made to leave the ballots the same given the high cost of making new ones, and distributing them. Perhaps California could step off the pedestal and realize how sensible that was given that as a state receiving more tax income than many countries they continue to spew out concerns that the state is going to go bankrupt. I bring this up because I've learned that Missouri is looking at making it a law that if a call is going to be placed to a 'no-call' number there had better be a freakin' live person there. Hmmm. Imagine that. A phone call that actually came from a person. By the way, Clint, you can call me any time you'd like. After all, we are practically neighbors, give or take fifty miles.
I am so sick of hearing ads that simply point fingers at the other person. I tell my daughter to not tattle. I tell her to spend her time thinking about her own actions, and less on what other people experience and have. I assume that all parents do this. How many times have I heard, "if everyone ate poop, would you do it, too?" Do the consultants that put these ads together actually believe that as adults we buy into this? I long for the person running for office that can ignore what the competition has done and simply tell their story without all that crap. I fear that I'll have to run for office to make it happen. My mind turns up so many analogies that make me wonder about the motive for so many of these ads. If you wanted to hire a contractor to work on your house, and all they did was run down another contractor, but never said what they did, would you hire him/her? Frankly, virtually every religion has a benevolent and malevolent being. Look at the world. The melevolent being could easily say 'the Benevolent being hasn't done what you needed, so you need to turn to me.' How is that different?
Alright. I'll stop with my irritation, now...
Update: 10 minutes later - just got a call from the something-or-other in the state government.
Voting on my own perception, not someone else's.
This time of year has turned into a horrible experience. Voting time should be a period of discussion and substantiated evidence. I heard an add while I was in the shower today that just made me shake my head. Granted, I might not have heard it all over the shower and suds, but it seemed like a teacher had been hired to give support to a senator running for a state position. The 'support' was all about the failings of the incumbent, and how he had failed in delivering California a secure voting procedure. She gave him an 'F' to play on the teacher role. She then indicated her (and supposedly the combined support of all California teachers) to the competition. She made it clear that other groups supported this individual as well. She concluded with saying that person running against the incumbent got an 'A' for security of voting. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear anything that showed how this person did something to further the security of the voting process.
The phone solicitation has gotten out of control. The other day I answered a call that began, "this is so-n-so, and I'm calling you regarding..." I stupidly told the recording that no, they weren't calling me, it was a recording, and hung up. Does anyone actually listen to this tripe all the way through? I figure whoever is contracted to deliver these messages simply says that they made x number of calls, and claims victories, regardless of how few people actually listen. I always laugh when people make snide comments about how 'backwards' Missouri is. It's a fairly unassuming state. People don't think much about it, and internationals don't have a clue where it is. Like about half of Californians, I consider somewhere else my homeland. I was born in California, but to date over half of my life was spent in Missouri, and they were my most formative years. Consequently, that is my homeland. I may never return, but I can't lose the accent, so I might as well accept it. Some years ago, I remember smiling while Californians poked fun at Missouri for including the recently deceased governor on the ballet. Missouri may be considered backwards for such a 'progressive' state as California, but everyone that voted knew that they were voting for his wife, who was the new runner under the Democratic ticket. The decision was made to leave the ballots the same given the high cost of making new ones, and distributing them. Perhaps California could step off the pedestal and realize how sensible that was given that as a state receiving more tax income than many countries they continue to spew out concerns that the state is going to go bankrupt. I bring this up because I've learned that Missouri is looking at making it a law that if a call is going to be placed to a 'no-call' number there had better be a freakin' live person there. Hmmm. Imagine that. A phone call that actually came from a person. By the way, Clint, you can call me any time you'd like. After all, we are practically neighbors, give or take fifty miles.
I am so sick of hearing ads that simply point fingers at the other person. I tell my daughter to not tattle. I tell her to spend her time thinking about her own actions, and less on what other people experience and have. I assume that all parents do this. How many times have I heard, "if everyone ate poop, would you do it, too?" Do the consultants that put these ads together actually believe that as adults we buy into this? I long for the person running for office that can ignore what the competition has done and simply tell their story without all that crap. I fear that I'll have to run for office to make it happen. My mind turns up so many analogies that make me wonder about the motive for so many of these ads. If you wanted to hire a contractor to work on your house, and all they did was run down another contractor, but never said what they did, would you hire him/her? Frankly, virtually every religion has a benevolent and malevolent being. Look at the world. The melevolent being could easily say 'the Benevolent being hasn't done what you needed, so you need to turn to me.' How is that different?
Alright. I'll stop with my irritation, now...
Update: 10 minutes later - just got a call from the something-or-other in the state government.
Voting on my own perception, not someone else's.