the future

with recent polls showing a marked bump from the RNC resulting in a national lead for mccain, its time to envision a potential mccain-palin administration! we should all really start thinking about this, particularly because the GOP ticket doesn't seem particularly interested in wading into issue-based discussions.

Abortion - I think we can all be sure that Palin's inclusion on the ticket indicates a strong pro-life stance. In addition, the party supports cutting funding on any family planning programs and exclusively supports abstinence-only education. birth control access? a thing of the past!
verdict: no abortions, no condoms, no birth control, but its ok, because, no sex before marriage! (and no sex during marriage except for all-important procreation)

Education - Well, we certainly won't be learning any evolution (and say goodbye to its ridiculous counterpart, genetics!). And prepare for your precipitous nosedive, public school systems! Especially because McCain-Palin would allow dissatisfied parents to opt out of their public school system and use their taxes towards charter schools, creating a spectacular brain drain in low SES areas! Plus, the abomination known as No Child Left Behind will be continued under the stark aegis of our new administration, continuing to penalize (rather than, and here's an insane thought, HELP) teachers and students that perform poorly. What's that you say? Your kid cares about the arts? Well fuck him! (Or her! Especially her! What is a girl doing in school anyway?) Schools need money, and they're only going to GET money in a palin-mccain administration if their kids do well on tests! So what will they learn? How to pass the test! and what will teachers learn? How to cheat for their students, so they get raises!
verdict: Goodbye Mendel, goodbye Darwin, Hello Adam, hello Eve. Goodbye choir, hello scantron sheets. Goodbye creative learning techniques, hello test-oriented teaching. Goodbye upward mobility for kids in poor educational systems, hello penalization of poor educational systems that give kids in ghettos the extra push towards crime that they really don't need.

Energy: drill, baby, drill! forget about being competitive in the rapidly emerging green technology market, a market that is guaranteed to synthesize new, sustainable jobs while being environmentally friendly. Our 2 pals of big oil aren't going to let Exxon Mobil suffer any monetary losses!
verdict: fuck you, prius.

Oh fuck this, time to streamline my tirade.
health care: bogus tax credits for people to "buy their own health insurance." Yeah, that's the problem of the 45 million uninsured. The taxes. So, get used to those crowded emergency rooms. What's the quote? Oh yeah. John McCain "supports a free market based health care system." How does that NOT mean "Rich people deserve better access to health care than poor people"? The reality is actually much, much worse. It's more like "Rich people deserve so much health care that poor people generally don't deserve it at all."

Foreign Policy: Get ready for military engagements in Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. How, exactly, are we going to get the soliders for all these engagements? By reinstating the draft, of course.

Losing steam. They also suck ass when it comes to the housing crisis, ideas for stimulating the economy (where at least one of them doesn't understand how Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae work), and taxes. They don't think global warming is real. And Scalia is going to have a few new pals on the supreme court.

I know very few rational humans who are excited by the promise of what is aforementioned. yet, I watch coverage of this election season, and i start to think that I'm losing my mind. Why is the GOP so effective? Well, we know that. They brainwash you with repetition. They denigrate the opposition, and they protect themselves by demonizing the news media that would dare report on their lies and smear tactics. They call this "liberal media bias." Just once, I would love to see news media outlets come out and outline the following:

1. The function of the news media is to provide factual analysis. This is often dominated by the need to shed light on misleading statements by candidates. It is not 'liberal bias' to have to continually correct all of the contradictions and bullshit that emanate from the GOP.
2. Another significant function of the news media is to comment on the current state of affairs. Reporting our getting fucked over and left for dead by the Bush/Cheney administration isn't bias. It's fact.
3. Karl Rove is like the great equalizer. If he's a member of the news media, there's no such thing as liberal media bias. By the way, how in gods name does Bill O'Reilly get away with referring to NBC news as "liberal media fascists"????
3. Whether you like it or not, the private affairs of public officials are legitimate news items. In fact, they directly influence executive judgment, right, Monica Lewinsky?

Of course, the media hasn't done this. They've put their tail between their legs, clammed up, and conveniently removed the few reporters willing to speak out against explotative propaganda. as a result, today CNN viewers were treated to fascinating insights on what Sarah Palin's biographer and priest think of her abilities, rather than the monumental Bob Woodward story. I mean, Bob Woodward tells us that the surge, one of the wedge issues of the election, was a sham and had little if anything to do with the success in Iraq, and we care more what some biographer looking to capitalize on the newest GOP star has to say about her executive abilities? Jesus.

Honestly, I thought I had a much more fiery rant in me, but I don't. I'm tired of watching intelligent, thoughtful candidates lose out to sneering, dismissive, divisive, pandering smear tactics. I'm tired of watching terrified media veterans like Tom Brokaw championing the factless, soulless speech of Sarah Palin. I'm tired of watching McCain hold a white blanket over his pathetic sellout to the neoconservative Right, deliver a hollow speech on reform, and have everyone believe him. I'm tired. I can't imagine how Barack Obama and Joe Biden feel. I watch Biden struggle on Meet the Press to do battle with the issue-less rhetoric being put forth by Republicans and shamefully parroted by Tom Brokaw. I watch Barack Obama bravely face down a condescending Bill O'Reilly, delivering thought provoking responses that are sure to fall upon deaf ears. Their continued ability to maintain hope that the public is still interested in making an informed decision despite countless demonstrations that they have no interest in knowledge, only perception? Impressive, and certainly beyond my pay grade.

One more thing, on a personal note. The current administration has slashed NIH funding precipitously. The impact in science has resonated, and resulted in an exodus of legitimate talent from the field. I'm truly terrifed for the future of science in the hands of another Republican administration. This is an area of "American ingenuity" that nobody seems to give a shit about. And its dying.

A few final reads that I highly, highly recommend.
1. The New Yorker's piece on General Petraeus.
2. The New York Times Magazine on the emerging Taliban dominance of northwest Pakistan (amana, can you shed some light on this?)