Palin Is Ready? Please.

In this opinion article written by Fareed Zakaria from the October 6, 2008 Newsweek, it is argued that McCains choice of Palin as a running mate goes against his 'country first' policy and that Palin is simply not ready to be a vice president, much less be president. Zakaria uses specific  examples from interviews with Palin to demonstrate her incompetence and inexperience in a wide range of topics, specifically her Russian comments and her knowledge on the current financial status. The writer uses logos to appeal to readers through his critiquing and analysis of Palin's recent speeches and interviews. Zakaria links these exapmles of inexperience to the Mccain's campiagn habit of keeping Palin away from the public. He says 'the more palin talks, the more we realize it may be common sense that's causing the Mccain campiagn to treat her like a time bomb'. Zakaria gives these examples in hopes of raising questions and concerns among readers about sarah palin, and furthermore, Mccains 'country first' slogan. If Mccain had chosen Palin as a campaign strategy instead of as a plan for the country, Mccains validity would be seriously in question.

Pointing the Finger the Other Way

I recently came across a small audio clip from npr about the economy and how the Presidential candidates are dealing with it. During perilous times people have a habit of looking for someone to blame. This is proven in the current situation on Wall Street. Both democrats and republicans are pointing the finger and blaming the other on why the economy is currently so bad. At the same time they are defending themselves from each others attacks. The economic crisis has given either candidate a good opportunity to take the lead by playing off of voters fears and promising something different. Playing the blame game works because people are motivated by fear, and if voters do not trust a candidate it is likely they will not vote for him. Obama is saying McCain does not know the economy and is out of touch, playing the fear that he will not know how to handle the economy. McCain claims that the problem on Wall Street originated with the 'washington culture of lobbying' and says Obama was in the middle of it. Obama comes back and defends himself by saying how could he blame him if McCain has been in washington longer than him. This game of attack and dodge is the two candidates playing off of voters fears in a time of peril by blaming the other for economic woes, a sort of witch hunt. The opportunity has arisen and both candidates have leapt at the chance of playing the other as the one at fault. Only time will tell who will gain the most out of this time of peril.

The Real life Coyote Springs

The previous post I wrote led me to a video of a modern Indian blues band named the 'Plateros'. Personally, I dont think they are too bad, but its not something I would put in along with the rest of my library. The Plateros

Native American Sings national anthem at DNC

I was just cruising what the kids call 'the interweb' during some of my free time. and I came across an article with a single line that made me think. the single line was from the Democrats convention schedule, it simply said that a Rosebud Sioux indian named Robert Moore was scheduled to sing the national anthem. I tried to delve deeper into this bit of news, but after exhausting searches, I couldnt find anything more than one line about it and a few pictures. None of the mainstream media had anything about it, but my searches did yield dozens of Indian websites covering the simple act with lengthy articles and coverage. I found it a bit unfortunate that this interesting bit of information lost the spotlight to Obama and Mccain, just as many other news stories have been made seemingly insignificant by the election race. Dont get me wrong, I love to hear about the two nominees as much as the next guy, but I was just a little disappointed this didnt get more news coverage, as it should be.