The Song Remains The Same
29 October 2008 | 3:40 PM
I have to admit that during this election cycle more than any other, I avoided watching the debates as if they were the plague. The fact is these things can’t be considered debates, any more than Splenda™ can be considered sugar: they are pre-packaged stump-speeches with moderators and timing lights, and that’s it. Heck, much as I’m disgusted by Sarah Palin, at least she announced that she wouldn’t be answering questions during the vice presidential debate up front. Instead, the presidential debates are, more or less, exercises in jingoism, false empathy and character assassination, telling us very little about the candidates except how well they shake hands or shuffle note cards. To wit, I direct you to this very enlightening bit of synchronized video:
Uncanny, no? And if it wasn’t supposed to be our most substantive way of getting to know who our next leader might be, it’d be rather humorous.
[Tip o' the hat to 23/6]
Posted by Andy in Politcally Incoherent
Dude, that’s hilarious. I’m glad I’m voting for Bob Barr.
My own feelings about Barr aside, I think it’s likely that if you drop Barr (and Nader and McKinney and whoever else you can think of) into those same debates, their talking points will be the same. While you and I might go back and forth about whether one party’s ideals are bat-shit crazy or not, the fact is politicians stay “on-message”, yielding this kind of result pretty much every time.
Unless they’re Ross Perot, in which case, all bets are off.