I'm watching Game Change this morning
as TBG recovers from his visit to the dentist. He's napping and I'm
rubbing his forehead and Julianne Moore is morphing into an Alaskan
governor. It's no wonder that my thoughts have turned to Paul Ryan.
John Stewart was looking for substance
last night. The Republicans touted their vice presidential nominee as
the intellectual leader of their party. Given that, there ought to
have been thoughtful, issues-based, questioning. All he could find
were quotes about the Congressman's exercise routine, his father's
early death, and how clever he was to sneak out of Janesville and
into Boston without the media's knowledge.
Where was the substance? Certainly,
when dealing with the man who created a plan for the future of our
country, a budget to reorganize our government's priorities,
certainly there is more to discuss than his abs. Now, when people
might just be paying attention because it's something new, while
people are listening to stories they might otherwise avoid, now would
be the time to bring policy and insight on the issues of the day to
the fore.
An informed populace is, somehow, less
frightening to imagine than the mindless mob I picture every night
before I go to sleep... the idiot in the lane ahead of me, the
cashier who was flummoxed by the math required to include those two
pennies I put on top of the bills, the family at the table next to
us, each one playing a separate game on a smart phone, exchanging not
a word nor a glance. They are permitted... and might even show up...
to vote. Now, when even their thoughts might be captured , now would
be the time to show how the Ryan budget plan would affect a young
family of 5 living on the Congressman's salary of $174,000, forced to
maintain two residences because of the job.
Make it real. Make it pertinent. Make
it factual. Make it interesting.
Sarah Palin was the mother of a special
needs baby and a pregnant teenage daughter and a son in Iraq while
she was running for office. They were props in the campaign.
Congressman Ryan has an adorable family with no skeletons revealed...
thus far. Frankly, I don't care about their families, except as to
what it says about the candidates as men. There was a time when Bill
Clinton's only redeeming feature, as far as I was concerned, was
Chelsea.
PX-90 is not a campaign platform. Why,
when the candidate is presented as a man with a mind, why are we
subjected to drivel?
A Mormon chose a Catholic to run with
him against an African-American and an all-American. There's a
lesson to be learned here. It's a moment for pride, a real melting
pot taking place in our polity, and I have yet to hear anyone wax
eloquent on the topic.
It's a piece of the election story that
resonates with me. As a child, I knew I couldn't run for
president.... I was poor, I was Jewish, I was female. Today, even
the richest candidates spend two hours each and every day making fund
raising phone calls. Religious beliefs are less important than Tea
Party allegiances, and being female is now a blessing instead of a
political curse. Times have changed and I'd like to hear someone say
something about it.
Actually, I'd like to hear someone say
something about anything other than the potential veep's abs.
