The Thought Salesman

As Canadians we have a unique position in this upcoming US election. The position that we occupy is that of the observer, not the sort of observer that watches from afar like a person watching the column of smoke from a far off fire, but rather the sort of observer that sees something happening up close, like someone looking through their fenceposts to see a neighbour’s barbeque fire. And like the second observer, we learn important lessons, such as not going overboard on the lighter fluid.

I’m going to list the top three things I’ve observed about the current US primary elections.

Firstly:

Collection of Fox attacks on Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AxQOLqAw3w

CNN broadcast of baseless implications of fraud in Indiana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5goTs_Bp8I

NBC accuses Clinton of being a political Chameleon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMssGeYbnxI

Cable news

It’s hard to verbalise what’s wrong with cable news. Certainly it’s not all bad, it can be generally informative and useful, but it always has that ‘teen magazine integrity’ sort of feel to it. Around elections though, the cable news networks tend to don a sort of attitude that can only be properly described with a visual aid:

http://i31.tinypic.com/2qkhvs2.jpg

Essentially they see themselves as crusaders for truth and justice. Ironically, they foster a culture of rhetoric and intuitive responses that leads to the opposite effect. If any story from this sort of station ever describes itself as ‘hard-hitting,’ it’s probably either baseless over-accusatory innuendo, or radical-pandering ratings grabs. At least they have the guts to claim they are fair and balanced though.

Secondly:

Article claiming that much of male Obama support it based on misogyny:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/04/14/obama_supporters/index.html

Article discussing why old guard feminists feel it is every woman’s duty to vote Clinton:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michelle_goldberg/2008/03/hell_hath_...

Article discussing the idea that Obama isn’t ‘black enough.’
http://www.bongonews.com/layout3.php?event=3019&topic=

Inappropriate identity politics

Barrack Obama is black. Hilary Clinton is a woman. John McCain is a white guy. Get over it! Of course there are going to be some people that won’t vote for Obama because they are racist, and of course there are going to be some people who don’t vote Clinton because they are sexists, and I’m sure there are some people who won’t vote for McCain because they have some other hang up about him that is equally irrational. Likewise, I’m sure there are some people who are going to vote for them just for those reasons.

So much attention is paid to the identities of the candidates that it detracts from the real issues at hand. Electing a woman to the office of the president isn’t going to mean that feminism has now achieved its goals and women are 100% equal. Electing a black man isn’t going to mean that the civil rights movement has achieved its goals of racial equality either. And of course, electing the 44th white man in a row doesn’t mean that either of those movements has failed. What’s exceptionally aggravating is that people on both sides of the Clinton/Obama split seem to be competing for who has the most socially disadvantaged candidate. Obama supporters claim that Hilary has “never been called a nigger,” (Wright) while Clinton supporters make similarly ludicrous claims that if Obama were a woman, he’d never have been nominated (Steinem). This sort of rhetoric has actually been dubiously dubbed “the Oppression Olympics,” and there is nothing positive to be gained from competing in these Olympics.

In the end, the people that have sexist, or racist hang ups shouldn’t be voting democrat anyways. If you can be swayed by something that a candidate is congenitally, then you probably shouldn’t be voting in the first place because you really aren’t good at it.

Thirdly:

Hilary Clinton’s Health Plan:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/healthcare/summary.aspx

Barrack Obama’s Health Plan:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

John McCain’s Health Plan:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2e...

Nobody actually has a health care plan

This is the point that makes me proud to be Canadian. Not one of the Candidates actually has a health care plan. McCain’s seems to be the simplest attempt at one, and is truly conservative. It passes the responsibility from the government to the private sector. Under McCain’s plan the government would foster competition between the insurance companies to, in theory, allow for a more consumer-friendly market. It’s naive to say the least. In fact a review of the behaviour of any large corporation will show you that humans are greedy, and when humans have economic power over other humans they will intensify that power to blatant and selfish ends. Helping giant corporations to compete is irresponsibly gambling with American lives, and it is not a plan.

Hilary Clinton’s plan is to give out relief to Americans who the government deems unable to afford health insurance, as well as forcing all Americans to buy health insurance. That’s right, instead of the government taking responsibility for health care, something that by many measures is a human right, they are passing the buck onto the average American, as well as the insurance companies. This sounds strangely authoritarian, and strangely conservative. This is compulsory consumerism, and it is not a plan.

Barrack Obama’s plan is to do the same thing that Hilary is doing, but without forcing people to fuel the insurance industry. Basically then, what Obama’s plan boil down to is just to provide relief funds to people that the government deems are unable to pay for their own health insurance, something that is already happening to a lesser degree. Obama’s is the closest thing to a plan, but it still isn’t really a health care plan.

So, as I said earlier, we Canadians are given a unique opportunity to view the current US elections from a position of intense investment, but little real danger. Perhaps through this race we will learn not to overdo the lighter fluid. Likely, we will not.

With apologies to Marvel Comics
The Thought Salesman