I really wanted to watch a baseball game, but it was requested that we switch to the debate during the commercial. So I only caught bits and bobs, but I was predictably unimpressed. To me, it sounded like this:
“You did X!”
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes you did!”
“You voted for x!”
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes you did!”
MOM!!!! Seriously, it’s all back and forth, with no real substance. Check this out to get a feel for the ridiculous back and forth on both sides. And people still take this politics stuff seriously? Like so many other things involving government, it is impossible to take complicated ideas (and even how someone votes is complicated) into a sound bite. These debates are beyond silly, nothing gets explained, nothing gets solved.
I was also reminded of how much I dislike disagreements. As I watched the debate, I found myself getting tenser and tighter. The same thing happens when I witness an argument (or I’m in an argument), I get frustrated and tense. Sometimes you need to argue, but I don’t think I’m going to subject myself to that on TV anymore. Why raise my blood pressure?
4 replies on “Caught some of the "debate"”
Its all “back and fourth” until you educate yourself and decide who’s full of shit and who’s not. I really can’t stand when people write off the whole process as useless just because they are too lazy to actually learn more about the issues and the candidates records. Whats useless is that baseball game you were watching.
Whats the point of that? One team will win, one team will lose. Will the world be any different the next day? Definitely not.
Sorry if this is a bit curt. I just avoided getting into this with my dad an hour ago. Looks like you caught some residual flack.
Randy
Too lazy to learn about the issues? WTF? Perhaps, just perhaps Randy, I know all I need to know about both of them to know that they’re both full of shit. Checking facts after the debate (see the link in my post) proved that. What, exactly, am I going to learn by watching the debate? What am I going to learn that I won’t learn by reading about everything else they do? Watching the thing and getting all worked up and then reading about it to sort things out sounds like a total waste of time to me. The best you can hope for is to hear a zinger from one of them…
BTW, I don’t think the “whole process” is useless, but I don’t like what the process has spit out. How am I going to get all excited about watching each of them butchering the other’s record on national TV? What’s the point?
I will not make any emotional investment in either of those two prima-donnas. So Randy, who “won” the debate? Who “lost?” What is different about the world now?
I wasn’t saying that you in particular wrote the whole thing off Isaac. I’m sorry that is the way my post sounded. I also regret that it appeared I was saying you are lazy. After all, you had the factcheck.org link and it was a simple matter to go through the article and spot the distortions on both sides of the debate.
But I do think that your post is emblematic of a mindset that I see more & more these days and it just irks me. Most folks don’t bother to check facts. They either accept whatever their chosen candidate has said as fact and demonize the other side or they throw their hands in the air and claim the whole thing stinks.
Well, I’m sorry. Sometimes the whole thing does stink. Its not supposed to be fun. Its not a baseball game. Its our job to determine who sucks the least even if both candidates suck.
And come on Isaac, don’t tell me you’re averse to getting “all excited” about things. Half of your posts are the result of being excited about one thing or another.
To answer your question about who won… Obama. He didn’t screw up. He came off sounding more credible and reasonable than McCain. McCain seemed angry and barely able to control himself at times.
How is the world different? Well hopefully, we are a small step closer to electing someone who is at least reasonable and diplomatic as our president instead of someone who is dogmatic & inflexible.
Who won the baseball game and will you care in ten years?
Randy
You’re right, I do get excited, but not about the election so much. I’ll get bent out of shape when someone does the inevitable stupid thing. I also think you’re right about people just accepting what they hear. Confirmation bias is endemic, it’s one of the reasons I think these debates are a waste of time. People see what they want, including me. I was only seeing 5 minutes at a time, but one of them would have had to come across as a genius in order for me to change my opinion of them. I think the same this holds for supporters/haters of each party/candidate.
My main point is that the debate does nothing. At best, it’s a waste of time, at worst, it can deceive and confuse people. The debate is EXACTLY like the baseball game. Nothing changes, it is all about rooting for your “team.” It is “politics” for the lazy, for the people that want sound bites and zingers.
My question is why wouldn’t people throw up their hands? If there isn’t anything in particular to like about the candidates, why would someone care who won? Like I’ve said in another post, I slightly lean towards Obama, but even that’s a gamble, there’s a lot of uncertainty there. I’m not sure if I’m going to vote or not. If Jerry Brown or one of the Buchanans were running, I’d make sure to vote against the more extreme position(assuming the alternative is reasonable). This election really doesn’t strike me as that situation.
Isaac