Vince_Condella's Blog

I'm a big fan of Ted Perry and his feature "Ted's Take" on FOX 6 News at 10.  He hit the nail on the head last night when he referenced the mud-slinging that has become the hallmark of this presidential campaign.  Barack Obama made reference to putting "lipstick on a pig", the McCain campaign thought he was calling Sarah Palin a pig because of her "hockey mom" reference during her acceptance speech at the convention, and the whole thing has disintegrated into a name-calling contest.

As Ted rightfully pointed out, how does this benefit the 140 employees that will be laid-off from Bemis Corporation's Menomonee Falls facility?  Thousands of people are being laid-off across the country, and all we hear are schoolyard names and accusations.  Issues, anyone?  Anybody?

Perhaps it was naive of me to believe that we could have a presidential campaign where both sides stuck to laying out their solutions to the problems of this country.  Yes, we can all get a list of proposed solutions on the candidates' websites.  But truth be known, most voters don't dig that deep.  We get most of our political news from the sound bites we see on TV and hear on radio.

Okay, okay, I get the main thrust of each campaign.  Both sides are agents of change.  I understand that notion.  Everybody wants to distance themselves from the Bush administration and a do-nothing Congress.  And I get the fact that Sarah Palin has been brought in to energize the Republican party.  Making rock stars out of politicians is now working for both sides.

Solutions to the issues of this country?  Lost in the name-calling.  Ah yes, politics as usual.  Silly me, I thought things would be different this time around.

Never wrestle with a pig, as the old saying goes.  You both get all dirty, and the pig loves it.  Anybody offended by that?

Is it true that the Republican National Committee is blaming the "left wing liberal media" for Hurricane Gustav?  They figured the storm was purposely placed by the media just to mess their convention plans.  Okay, okay.  Just kidding on that one.  But c'mon folks, let's stop blaming the media for everything these days.

The selection of Sarah Palin for VP has started the "left wing liberal media" chant once again by those on the right.  I guess they think it is terrible that anybody would raise questions about an essentially unknown governor that few people had heard of outside of Alaska.  The Republicans think it is terrible that the liberal media would doubt her capabilities of being a mother and a VP.  But here's the problem with that argument:  those questions weren't raised by the so-called liberal mainstream media.

It is a whole new ballgame these days because of blogs.  People who write blogs are not necessarily members of the left wing liberal media.  Just because you read something in a blog doesn't mean it was written by a journalist, i.e. a professionally educated journalist.  And yes, there is a difference between people who simply write stuff on the internet and those who present the news professionally.

I'm not a professional journalist.  I am trained as a professional meteorologist.  However, I see everyday how newsroom decisions are made and how our journalists cover the news.  Nobody is sitting there trying to get the "left" to look better than the "right".  This liberal bias nonsense is so ridiculous.  For somebody like me who sees how newsrooms work, it is a laughable accusation.

Look, here's the deal:  Rush Limbaugh, Charlie Sykes, and others on talk radio are also members of the mainstream media.  They like to portray themselves as outsiders, but they are as mainstream as it gets.  FOX News Channel is mainstream and as right-winged as you can get.

If the "liberal left-wing media" is to blame for all things, then who can we blame for the rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim?  Remember when the news came out that he was really a member of Al Queda and was determined to overthrow the U.S. government?  Hmm, I don't think we can blame the left-wingers on that one.

When you listen to the arguments and debates over the next two months leading up to the general election, remind yourself that the "mainstream media" is not the enemy.  Take in all opinions and decide for yourself.  Don't let some talking head behind a microphone make decisions for you.

We are a society that loves to blame other people for everything.  It's the left-wing, no wait...it's the right-wing.  Anybody out there in the center?  Yes, most Americans are in the center, and most Americans can think for themselves.

My challenge over the next two months is to tune out the bipartisan noise and think for myself.  What I read on-line in blogs, what I hear on talk radio, and what I see on television can be taken collectively.  No one person has the definitive answer.  When it comes to deciding our next president, individuals can think for themselves and make an informed decision.

This could be better than any sporting event or the summer olympics.  If we thought it was a knock down dragged out election fight so far in the primaries, things will really get interesting between now and the political conventions later this summer.

 

How would you like to be Barack Obama and have the vice-presidential decision in front of you?  He needs Hillary Clinton's support and the votes of her supporters.  But if he makes her the VP candidate, will that solve the problem?  Will that be enough to bring in the Clinton voters to his camp, or will it alienate too many people who do not want another Clinton near the White House?

 

As for John McCain, his speech Tuesday night after Obama wrapped up the Democratic nomination was a gem.  McCain hit home his vast experience and consistent views on Iraq while pointing out the inexperience of Obama.  With Senator McCain, however, his speeches often read better on paper than they translate visually.  He is not the most dynamic speaker to light up a room and fire up a crowd.

 

In this video age, appearance is everything, for better or worse.  Senator Obama has proven he is a great communicator and can rally a crowd.  He reads off the teleprompter during speeches much better than Senator McCain.  But will this election come down to who looks and sounds better on camera, or will it come down to substance?  Probably a little of both.

 

For political junkies, these next couple of weeks will be very fun to watch.  The rhetoric will be ramped up a notch or two and a little mudslinging will be thrown in there as well.  Most Americans are eager for a change from the past eight years, and we will all be getting an earful from both parties throughout the summer.  It should be fun.

Apparently I've led a sheltered life and have gone to the wrong churches.  Sure, I was raised Catholic so I have participated in many masses and some interesting sermons delivered by the priest.  The subject of the sermon usually pertained to the bible versus read in the gospel, or perhaps the priest would talk about faith and God's teaching and how it applied to our lives.

 

Silly me.  All this time I thought I was getting a full spiritual experience.  Then this race for presidency comes along and the star of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, comes along and gets his 15 minutes of fame.  The video I have seen of Rev. Wright's "sermons" don't sound very Christian to me.  They sound pretty devisive and polarizing.  And here I believed that God wanted to bring us together as a human race, that we should love one another and look for the things that unite us and not divide us.  Silly me.

 

Now Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest from St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church on Chicago's southwest side, comes along and gets his 15 minutes of fame while giving a "guest sermon" at Trinity.  He mocked Senator Hillary Clinton's tears during the New Hampshire primary way back in February.  I wasn't there to see the entire sermon in person, but the extended version posted on You Tube and other video sources didn't have a Christian tone to it.

 

Maybe there is something about that pulpit at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago that brings out the bizarre in the clergy.  These two "men of God", Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger, have become celebrities, at least for a short period of time.  Unfortunately their rantings have detracted from this election process, and Senator Barack Obama will be battling this church fiasco throughout the entire general election process.  Great.  Just what we need, more distractions from the really important stuff that should be discussed by our candidates.

 

To his credit, Father Pfleger issued this apology regarding his sermon mocking Clinton:  "I regret the words I chose on Sunday," he said in a statement. "These words are inconsistent with Sen. Obama's life and message, and I am deeply sorry if they offended Sen. Clinton or anyone else who saw them."

Thank you Father Pfleger.  Now you're making sense.

The constant need to "feed the beast" of news has created some interesting moments.  Whether it's the radio talkshow circus or the constant chatter on television, pundits can take an issue and run with it until it has no legs left to stand on.  The recent Hillary Clinton comment about Robert Kennedy's assassination in June of 1968 comes to mind.

 

Clinton was answering reporters' questions concerning her continuation in the primary race for president.  She answered by stating that her husband didn't wrap up the nomination until June 1992, and that Robert Kennedy was still in the race when he was assassinated in June 1968.  Only the last part of her answer, the one pertaining to the assassination, was widely reported and repeated.

 

When I first heard the news about her quote, I shook my head in disbelief.  Surely this was a major political and personal gaffe.  The talkshows on radio and TV went full bore with this one, and the Obama campaign called the comment "unfortunate".

 

Then I heard the entire quote and suddenly I heard it in context.  The point she was making made sense.  As a rationally thinking human being I understood her intention.  Yes, nominating processes sometimes take time and can last into the beginning of summer.  In fact, I'm old enough to remember when the presidential nomination wasn't wrapped up until the convention later in the summer.

 

But even today, several days after Clinton's comment and her apology, the news media still drags out only one part of the quote - the assassination part.  It reminds me that in this day of the 24-hour news cycle, we are hit over the head with certain headline-grabbing events.  These events are analyzed ad infinitum.  Yet most of the chatter about Clinton's quote rarely mentions or replays the entire quote.

 

Don't misinterpret this as an endorsement for Clinton.  Frankly, I haven't made up my mind regarding who I will support for president.  This does remind me, however, of the long drawn-out nature of this nomination process.  These candidates have been on the road for a year and we still have until November before we get to cast the presidential vote.

 

I take away two things from the whole Clinton thing.  First, these campaigns are getting way too long.  The candidates are tired, we're tired of listening to them, and they are running out of things to talk about.  Second, the 24-hour news cycle, with its need to constantly fill time, often will obscure the important facts.  Instead of dealing with the key issues facing this country and instead of asking the tough questions, the media brings out the sensational.

 

I vote for shorter campaigns and shorter talk shows.

We are still over one year away from the next presidential election.  That sounds strange, doesn't it?  It feels like the election is next week.  Debates, campaign speeches, the candidates appearing on talk shows.  Everything has been full-tilt for many months now.  Are the candidates peaking early?  Will the public even care about the presidential race by next year at this time?

Although Hillary Clinton has the nod as the Democratic front-runner, there are still many months to go and plenty of time for lead changes.  As for the Republican candidates, this could come right down to the wire at the Republican National Convention next summer.  That would be fun and a throw-back to the old days of conventions, when the presidential candidate for a party wasn't decided until the actual party convention.

It will be interesting for us voters to watch how delicately each candidate on both sides tries not to blunder.  In today's You Tube society, any little slip-up will be made public in a hurry.  So the candidates will be walking the tightrope, afraid to say too much and always fearful of offending someone.

Politics truly is the great American sport.  And there is a lot at stake in this game.

Two billion dollars a week.  That is the estimated cost to the United States to fight the war in Iraq.  Two billion dollars a week.  And that doesn't even consider the cost in human life.

I watched part of the movie Flight 93 the other night on HBO.  As I viewed this recreation of a terrible day, I thought back to times before September 11, 2001.  Remember those days?  We didn't know much about terrorism.  It wasn't a part of our daily life.  Now it is.  And it always will be.

God Bless our troops in Iraq,  Afghanistan, and the many other places around the globe where U.S. military personnel are located.  Let's hope that many of them can come home soon.  In the meantime, $2 billion a week sounds like a bottomless pit.

As much as I long for the days before Flight 93, I realize that life will never be the same.  But there is no way we can just get up and leave Iraq tomorrow.  This will be a long, drawn out process with many more billions being spent.  And unfortunately, more lives to be lost.

No matter where we are on the political spectrum, all of us hope to climb out of the bottomless pit soon.