Taking "Family" Back

I don't know if you know this or not, but the Vice Presidential debate was on last night. I can't find anything about it in the media...

Sheesh.

One of the few refreshing points during last night's debate between Democrate VP candidate Joe Biden and Republich VP candidate Sarah Palin was when Senator Biden took "family" away from Governor Palin.

Here's what I mean:

Check out Biden's last statement:

"But the notion that somehow, because I’m a man, I don’t know what it’s like to raise two kids alone, I don’t know what it’s like to have a child you’re not sure is going to — is going to make it — I understand."

I've mentioned this before. Men are not, nor should they be, separate from or above their family. Not to their spouses. Not to their children. Not to their respective circles. Not to outsiders and certainly not to the government. Period.

Unfortunately, there are many men in this country and in this world whose actions disparage my opinion.

My ex-brother-in-law embodies this. Cheated on his wife. Overpromises and disappears on the kids. Now he has a son who wants nothing to do with him, doesn't respect him and a daughter who clings to the hope that her father will actually be a "dad" someday. Maybe the other child he had, who he claims isn't his, wonders the same thing.

But I digress.

So this post goes out to all those slack and elitist men out there who think that bringing home a paycheck means that their duties as a father and a husband are complete. Be a man and be a dad. Be with your family. Play with your children. Maybe someday this notion that only women raise the children will fade away and the concept that men and women, moms and dads raise a family together will become a common reality.

Dumbing down

Unfortunately, I see masses of dumb people heading to the polls on November 4th and voting for the wrong presidential candidate and his equally wrong vice-presidential candidate.

From CNN.com:

"Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons ... Do it for your country," conservative columnist and former Palin fan Kathleen Parker of Nationalreview.com pleaded on Friday.

In defense, Republicans say the complaints are coming from "intellectual" conservatives -- not Main Street Republicans, who they insist love the "hockey mom," from Alaska, as Palin describes herself.

"These are the folks that really have responded to the candidacy of a McCain-Palin ticket. These are the folks that are showing up in huge numbers, tens of thousands, to the rallies," Leslie Sanchez, a CNN political contributor, said.

First of all, "intellectual conservative" is an oxymoron.

(Sorry. I had to get that out of my system.)

Second, that bolded statement shows both great strategic insight and a depressing realization: The Republicans do a great job of dumbing things down to reach their armless constituents. There are people out there who blindly pick a candidate simply because of the ticket or banner they run under, even if the candidate's policies end up putting them at a disadvantage.

The fact that this is even the case, that some people are so uninformed, with no reason or desire to become informed, that they will actually vote for a person, a party, or an ideology that limits or even oppresses them, is truly depressing and discouraging.

My wife, a staunch proponent of women's rights, argues that no woman should ever vote for a conservative candidate, as it's basically a vote against self-interest. The thought of a woman deciding for herself what her life should be like is just too much for conservatives to process.

She's right. But it's that blinding tie to ideology that continues this cycle.

Ideology is a heavy weight to shake once you have it. As my old professor, Dr. Bill Thompson once said, "Gang, ideology will get you killed."

He also said that "65 percent of the U.S. population has shit for brains."

Let's hope the masses forget to vote on Nov. 4.