Monday, November 05, 2012

Political Madness 2012: Election Eve



Well... tomorrow millions of America's sheeple (including me) will go to vote for a new leader, as well as a path for our country & the world.

It's the culmination of 2012's election season of Political Madness:


I know people of all political persuasions who back different candidates, & also people who will refuse to vote at all. I try to see all sides of all issues. It's understandable why there's so much cynicism toward voting & "The System," in general.

Despite the many flaws in both candidates, and the voting process itself, the act of voting had definite real-world consequences... which I choose to have a say in.
My superficial reason for voting is that I enjoy discussing politics. Complaining about the government if you don't exercise your right to vote is hypocritical.

I'm registered as an Independent. However, anyone who knows me or happens to read this blog knows I'm firmly on Barry O's side in this one. Mitt Romney is almost a caricature of an out-of-touch billionaire, with a horrible personality to match. His stated policies would purposely make government more ineffective, while ceding power to corporate interests & Wall St.

Does anyone seriously think we'd see the following headline under a President Romney?


There are definitely undecided people out there, like my own parents who I was talking to tonight & have legitimate issues deciding which candidate would really be better.  It's true that each candidate & their policies have flaws. I just happen to think Mitt Romney's flaws would be much more detrimental for the country as a whole. For the record, here are some unbiased comparisons of the candidates:

Find the Data:

The argument that Obama's made the country worse (or has not done anything), is disputable at best. The economic numbers are mixed, but the economy's at least improving compared to the situation Bush left. Republicans have this myth of being better on the economy, but that's just a political myth. The national economic numbers since Reagan consistently prove otherwise.

No President will be perfect, but I'm baffled how someone would think Obama is anti-business Socialist menace. If anything, business in general are doing better since he's been in office:

Think Progress:


I blame most of the ignorance in political discourse on Fox News & the right-wing reality distortion machine. The opinion programming on Fox News is simply brain poison. It's important for me to listen to the opinions of reasonable conservatives, who may have insights I haven't thought about. However, Sean Hannity, Fox & Friends, and Ann Coulter are anything but reasonable. Entering their narrow, little world is like taking a trip to some hate-filled, idiotic alternate reality.

Although numbers can always be twisted, the interesting thing about modern technology is the amount of data that can be processed & analyzed in short time spans.
For the past couple months, I've been closely following Nate Silver's popular "538" blog on the NYT website. I've also been watching the Intrade markets for this election cycle. I'm not a gambler & I don't play the stock market, but I think market dynamics is an interesting prediction method. We'll see if the forecasts are correct, but they seem more objective than listening to the pundits of either side.


Of course, statistical models CANNOT predict the Political Madness that inevitable arises during Election Day. 

With GOP-led state governments trying to blatantly hinder people's right to vote, & the questionable state of electronic voting... there are plenty of room for shenanigans.

We will soon see what direction the next 4 years will take. Either way, alot of people will inevitably be pissed off!

*On a side note, my answer to many problems of the Presidency would be to replace the 1-person office with a 5-person executive council. This council would be made of 2 people from each major party, & also a 3rd party candidate. I might expand on this idea another time- but it would be a more representative system.

Until that day, we citizens have to take sides & make a choice. There's NO way I'll be choosing R-Money... but if he somehow wins, I'll probably have plenty to rage about on this blog for the next four years. Until we find the answer, here are some videos of Republican leaders vs. Mitt... and also Mitt vs. Mitt Himself:





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