I've got a rant in me that's dying to get out

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

I may as well post it here.

When I look at Republican candidates I always feel like they don't mean "ME" when they speak of "Americans". "Americans" to Republican candidates seem to all come from the South or the Midwest. "Joe Six-pack" is not who I am. I was a band mom, not a soccer mom. I play classical piano and am not interested in sports and have always wished music and art got as much recognition and funding. And when a Republican says he represents "Real Americans", he (or she) doesn't seem to realize that *****I****** am a real American. Just as much as Joe Six-pack Soccer Mom. All it takes to be an American is a birth in this country. That is all.

I do not want to see Republicans starve or lose their home, or die in an emergency room or lose a child to illness or see a child with rotten teeth because the parents can't afford a dentist. But it doesn't seem to bother a Republican at ALL to see an American suffer, unless they are Joe Six-pack Soccer Mom. But what Joe Six-pack Soccer Mom doesn't seem to understand, is that Republicans ONLY care about their votes. If they die or starve, all a Republican is going to do for them is tell them the Democrats caused it.

When John McCain got the nomination, I was surprised. Even though I do not have the same political beliefs as John McCain, I thought, well, at least he is real. I honestly thought that unlike Reagan, unlike Bush, McCain was NOT a puppet with someone else pulling the strings. Then he pulls Palin out of the woodpile, turning the Vice President of the United State into a great stunt. Making a mockery of the office. Making a mockery of women everywhere.

I was an admin for someone who was just like Palin many years ago. Pretty and dumb as rocks, she could memorize, with a lot of coaching, a presentation that I wrote and prepped her to deliver. She wore tight short skirts and had a dazzling smile. I worked my ass off, and she, without any embarrassment or even any appreciation would take the credit. Then she'd buy me some obscenely expensive Christmas present, but make a point of making a public show of giving it to me. When she was awarded "Employee of the Year" and given a trip to Hawaii, she called me up to thank me in such a condescending way I almost puked. As I walked up, someone said, "WHO is she" and I heard another admin say, "She's Traci's BRAIN."

So I listened to Palin tonight, and I wondered who was sitting on the sidelines that was Palin's brain. And it occurred to me, I have wondered that an awful lot of times about an awful lot of Republicans. Reagan. Bush. They are not leaders. They are just spokespeople. The ONLY real problem Republicans had with Bush was that it turns out that he could not deliver his lines convincingly. That's all. He was a terrible spokesperson. They made a mistake. Maybe Palin is a mistake as a spokesperson, too. But they will keep polishing her up right up to the point where they throw her back on the woodpile, right on top of Bush. But they won't toss her right away, because they hate admitting they've made a mistake. And they'll keep on telling us how wonderful she is, and how Real Americans relate to her. And she'll keep trying to deliver her talking points, and scripts without even realizing that she is just another package, another puppet, in a long line of spokespeople. And Joe Six-Pack Soccer Mom will never even have the faintest clue who they are REALLY voting for.

Ack. I'm so tired of their games, and their cynicism and their mockery. So tired.