Rocky III

We are all toddlers informed only by single syllable words and unable to do simple arithmetic.  That is the most important conclusion I drew from Monday night's debate.

Mitt Romney tells us that all nations exist only to serve American purpose.  We are not allowed to understand our enemies or imagine objectives that may not be Americentric.  Good guys and bad guys.  White hats and black.  Life is so simple.  Be tough, send messages, and continue to inflate a military that has, after 11 years in Afghanistan and 9 in Iraq, fought to poorly defined stalemates.  Do you remember those bumper stickers that said, "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam"?  Mitt doesn't.  I do.

The world's greatest businessman and financial wizard has a plan to simultaneously (1) balance the US budget, (2) cut taxes by 20%, and (3) increase military spending.  Half of America is believes him.  Then, again, half of all Americans are below average intelligence.  I don't know the size of the correlation, but I would be willing to bet -- $10,000 anyone? -- that it is large.

Liar's Logic

Romney has discovered a corollary to Goebbels' Law.  The Nazi propaganda minister said tell one big lie and then repeat it again and again and again. Mitt prefers breadth to depth.  Romney's tells a million lies.  Each Romney lie can be refuted, but there just isn't enough time to knock them down. One big lie can be answered.  A million lies are like a denial of service internet attack.  The system crashes from overload. 

There is an old joke about Lyndon Johnson that applies well to Mittens.  Johnson lied often, so people became adept at reading his body language.  If LBJ tugged at his ear, you knew he was telling the truth.  If he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up, he was telling the truth.  If he interlaced his fingers, he was telling the truth.  And, if he opened his mouth, he was lying. 
 

The Basics

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  So many words; so few ideas.  I wish that President Obama was tougher and sharper on Wednesday night.  Sure.  And I wish that Mitt Romney had been battered with sweet science precision; a bleeding cut above one eye, a good bruise on one cheek.  Enough damage to guarantee a unanimous decision, but not enough to draw pity.  Didn't happen.  Too bad.

But, the real disappointment was the distance both candidates stayed from the fundamental principles that should define these United States:

1. Health care is a right, not a privilege.  
2. No one in America should go hungry.  
3. Everyone in the country has the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and eat uncontaminated food.  
4. All children have the right to high quality education including university education.
5. The laws of this country including the tax code must guarantee items 1 through 4.  

 Keep your eyes on the prize.