The first presidential debate took place last night. Virtually everyone agrees that President Obama did poorly. I wonder if we will ever know what happened with the president, because we all know he is capable of so much more. Is he growing tired? You can't blame him if he is. Who has ever endured so much as he has had to since being elected. Between the general evil that just seems to be part and parcel of the Republican agenda, he has had to carry the added weight of his skin color, and what has to be among the greatest load of expectations that any president has had to face. But if there is one thing Barack Obama has shown us as president is that it is much easier to get him down than to keep him down, and only a fool would count him out even after such a poor performance.
What I find more compelling is the performance of Mitt Romney, and the reaction of his supporters and of those who claim to be still uncommitted. Clearly Romney did what he had to do. He was arrogant and bullying; displaying the kind of strong will some admire. But what he mainly did was to look down his nose at the American people and lie. And he didn't just tell huge lies, he changed his lies in many cases from the lies he had been telling since he started campaigning. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have both set a new standard in telling lies about their lies. Many of these lies have already been proven to be lies. Even his own supporters have at times admitted that, well yes, he lied. More than anything else Mitt reaffirmed that he will tell any lie in order to get what he wants, which, of course, we already knew. But what is truly astounding is the willingness of fellow Republicans, seemingly decent people, to accept and even embrace this strategy.
Among the things my mother taught me as a child was to never trust someone who lied so easily. Even if they were lying to someone else, and even if the lie benefited you, it was important to understand that people who succeed through lying grow ever more bold with those lies, and no matter how strong an ally you think they are, someday you will catch them lying to you. People who have become accomplished liars cannot really respect other people. How can you respect people who you can fool so easily? And ultimately you must have even less respect for those who know you are lying but support you anyway, because they have shown they are as dishonest as you, so whatever they ultimately get from you, they deserve. The most amazing thing about this all is that any of Romney's supporters believe that after all this lying, they can trust him to do what they want once he is in control.
Which to me brings up another point to consider, have the people of this country gone too far to ever be redeemed? I'm not saying that most Americans are so lacking in moral character, but how can the fact that we have allowed such a group of people, many among the richest and most powerful of our nation to become so arrogant that they openly demonstrate their disdain and utter lack of respect for any of us, not be a sign that the end of this nation as we have known it must be near. History has recorded that every empire that has ever existed eventually implodes, and that always happens when that nation becomes torn apart by those who become so obsessed with power that they work to undermine their nation, ensuring their own demise in the process. Whether you believe in any religion or not, it would seem just common sense that humankind's greed and obsession with power will eventually undermine it. But then it becomes even more crazy when you see the large number of so called Christians who support this man knowing full well he totally lacks any shred of moral decency.
The media celebrates his decadence, even as they occasionally admit that he is embarrassingly full of shit. The rest of the world stands astonished that the nation that for so long claimed the moral high ground so shamelessly panders to this charade. Not just the privileged few, but millions of those who don't have much more than a pot to piss in but delude themselves into believing they might someday become one of the wealthy privileged few listen to these lies, know they are lies, but aren't bothered at all. Meanwhile, these people like the Romney's barely are able to contain the obvious fact that it is their mission to do all they can to make sure as few as possible ever have that chance to be among them, even as they lie about it with that smirk on their faces.
How can we not believe that the prophecy of the bible is clearly coming to pass. How can we not see that we may have reached a point of no return in our willingness to put up with such evil. Even as we wink and laugh at how ridiculous Romney is, he is still accepted as a viable candidate to lead and represent this nation.
I fear, and I predict that no matter who wins this election, this nation is on a very short journey to its end. It is time for those who are decent thoughtful people to prepare, and to start considering where we go once this has all collapsed. Because it will. It must. Nothing built on lies and deceit can last. Surely your mother told you that.
What I find more compelling is the performance of Mitt Romney, and the reaction of his supporters and of those who claim to be still uncommitted. Clearly Romney did what he had to do. He was arrogant and bullying; displaying the kind of strong will some admire. But what he mainly did was to look down his nose at the American people and lie. And he didn't just tell huge lies, he changed his lies in many cases from the lies he had been telling since he started campaigning. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have both set a new standard in telling lies about their lies. Many of these lies have already been proven to be lies. Even his own supporters have at times admitted that, well yes, he lied. More than anything else Mitt reaffirmed that he will tell any lie in order to get what he wants, which, of course, we already knew. But what is truly astounding is the willingness of fellow Republicans, seemingly decent people, to accept and even embrace this strategy.
Among the things my mother taught me as a child was to never trust someone who lied so easily. Even if they were lying to someone else, and even if the lie benefited you, it was important to understand that people who succeed through lying grow ever more bold with those lies, and no matter how strong an ally you think they are, someday you will catch them lying to you. People who have become accomplished liars cannot really respect other people. How can you respect people who you can fool so easily? And ultimately you must have even less respect for those who know you are lying but support you anyway, because they have shown they are as dishonest as you, so whatever they ultimately get from you, they deserve. The most amazing thing about this all is that any of Romney's supporters believe that after all this lying, they can trust him to do what they want once he is in control.
Which to me brings up another point to consider, have the people of this country gone too far to ever be redeemed? I'm not saying that most Americans are so lacking in moral character, but how can the fact that we have allowed such a group of people, many among the richest and most powerful of our nation to become so arrogant that they openly demonstrate their disdain and utter lack of respect for any of us, not be a sign that the end of this nation as we have known it must be near. History has recorded that every empire that has ever existed eventually implodes, and that always happens when that nation becomes torn apart by those who become so obsessed with power that they work to undermine their nation, ensuring their own demise in the process. Whether you believe in any religion or not, it would seem just common sense that humankind's greed and obsession with power will eventually undermine it. But then it becomes even more crazy when you see the large number of so called Christians who support this man knowing full well he totally lacks any shred of moral decency.
The media celebrates his decadence, even as they occasionally admit that he is embarrassingly full of shit. The rest of the world stands astonished that the nation that for so long claimed the moral high ground so shamelessly panders to this charade. Not just the privileged few, but millions of those who don't have much more than a pot to piss in but delude themselves into believing they might someday become one of the wealthy privileged few listen to these lies, know they are lies, but aren't bothered at all. Meanwhile, these people like the Romney's barely are able to contain the obvious fact that it is their mission to do all they can to make sure as few as possible ever have that chance to be among them, even as they lie about it with that smirk on their faces.
How can we not believe that the prophecy of the bible is clearly coming to pass. How can we not see that we may have reached a point of no return in our willingness to put up with such evil. Even as we wink and laugh at how ridiculous Romney is, he is still accepted as a viable candidate to lead and represent this nation.
I fear, and I predict that no matter who wins this election, this nation is on a very short journey to its end. It is time for those who are decent thoughtful people to prepare, and to start considering where we go once this has all collapsed. Because it will. It must. Nothing built on lies and deceit can last. Surely your mother told you that.
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