I tried to watch the presidential debate last night. I sat in a chair in front of the television.
But just like last week, I couldn't bear to listen to it. Three men at a table, four if you count Joe Plumber. The Palin/Biden debate held my attention, with Gwen Ifill moderating, but this all-male tv screen for an hour and a half (again) was irritating and boring.
"He's going to raise taxes"--how many times did McCain repeat that?
"Let's go on to a new topic,"said Bob Schieffer every time McCain circled back to taxes.
Obama and McCain made so many contradictory claims, sometimes citing statistics--there was no way to sort out truth from half-truths or lies. Fast-forward to the fact checkers, please.
It was depressing. Both candidates seemed to think Americans don't care about any issues except low taxes. I felt talked down to.
And then there was Joe Plumber, replacing Joe Six-pack. He got a lot of air time.
Hello, what about Jane Teacher? McCain said of soldiers enrolling in the Troops to Teachers program, "We should not make them take these exams." That set off alarms for me. Was he scorning the training, testing, and certification needed to teach?
Yeah, let's not make doctors, nurses, and lawyers take tests either. Who needs tests?
I walked in and out of the room. I turned to NatGeo but then felt guilty and turned back to the debate.
In answering the question on abortion, Obama spoke of "youth;" McCain referred to "those young women."
Yo, debaters! Middle-aged women get abortions too, married women. These women make choices about those difficult third trimester abortions, which occur mostly when the fetus has a severe deformity. That is, they make choices unless the US government has already done it for them.
McCain's sneering tone irritated me. I felt panicky over the possibility that he could be on my tv screen for the next four years, patronizing and dismissive of "liberal" concerns.
Mostly I just want this campaign to be over. Give me a ballot, let me vote.
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