Vice President Debate a Spectacle

Spectacle may be putting it mildly. A better word would be that it was a circus, or potentially a travesty waiting to happen. Granted, when everything is all said and done, will anyone remember what the Vice Presidents said? Somehow I doubt it, as it is just window dressing. Yet the battle between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden really did have some awkward moments.

2012 Vice Presidential Debate

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had their say in the Presidential Debate last time around. This time, we are going to hear from the two men who will be their running mates. In one corner we have Barack Obama's running mate, and current Vice President Joe Biden. In the other corner, we have Mitt Romney's running mate, and hopeful Vice President of the United States Paul Ryan. We heard what the number one attractions in the United States had to say. What do the number two men in the country have to say?

The 2012 Presidential Election has been one that has worried many Americans. When we entered the 2008 election, many were hopeful change was at hand. However, those hopes were dashed by a depressingly dismal four year term from Barack Obama. The debates between Presidential Candidates can be rather illuminating to say the least. Perhaps not so much on the night they occur, but after they have wrapped up and after a term has concluded for the winner of the election.

The Vice Presidential debates might hold some interest for people, but the interest is not there. It would be just like watching a junior varsity game after a varsity game. There will be some interesting moments, but the main attraction has wrapped up. Therefore, pretty much what everyone is there to see has long since concluded. The debate between Obama and Romney, frustrating as it might have been to some, really was the point of interest for this election.

The debate between Ryan and Biden tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, yeah there might be some moments worthy of listening too. However, will it matter in the end? The fact of the matter is the Vice President tends to pale in comparison to the President. He is the number two man on the ticket. He may be able to tip the scales, but he tends to work for the most part as window dressing.

This entire debate tonight is even more of a vanity than the debate between the two main players. It is really interesting to go back to 2008 and see what Obama has accomplished. I'm sure his supporters will say a lot and his detractors will say nothing at all. The truth does lie somewhere in the middle. The self serving nature of the American political structure indicates anyone has been doomed. It is becoming obvious that Obama might not have been the right man to win that 2008 Presidential Election. Of course one might argue there was no right man to win that election.

Regardless, the Vice Presidential Debate will take center stage tonight. It does give people much to talk about in the end, so there is that. The floor is Joe Biden's and Paul Ryan's tonight. What they decide to do with the floor, only is up to them.

Five Points about the Election

The United States Presidential election comes closer with each passing day. The battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will take center stage in November. Americans will cast their vote, but what are they voting for really? Are they just voting for the person who will only lead them through another four years of misery and woe? Here are five interesting points about the presidential election. 
 
1) Your vote both does and doesn't matter at the same time. It has been said that the American people do not have a say if they do not vote. Yet, we don't have the choice we think we do. We cast our vote, but after over two hundred years it is not the popular vote that matters. We hang onto a concept that was relevant two hundred years ago.

2) The choice is either A or B, Republican or Democrat, there are really no other choices whatsoever. Third parties exist, but there is a mentality that exists that voting for a third party would be wasting your vote. Granted, one should not vote just because it is a third party, but more choices would allow the American public more control over their lives.

3) The economy is rather screwed up beyond all belief. Four years ago it was bad, but after four years of Barack Obama, the situation for many Americans has not improved. Plus, we have heard a lot of talk and very little action. If we had just let it ride out, we would have been fine as a nation.

4) We are rather short tempered as a nation for a lot of reasons. The rest of the world is the same, but the United States tends to be the center of attention. Therefore, we are going to be all prone to irrational actions, and thus emotions will ruin us.

5) It used to be the government officials served the people. Now the people serve the government. We have had our rights stripped away so gradually few have barely knew it. "Freedom" is merely a business buzzword. The United States Government has become just like the most corrupt organization in America.
As you head to the polls in a little over a month, remember the choice you make could be just for what politician will continue the slow decay of American society.

Mary Todd Lincoln Retried for Sanity

As you all know from history, Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of Abraham Lincoln. During that fateful April 15th 1865 day when President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, it caused Mrs. Lincoln to be declared legally insane. The woman has been dead for many years and the matter seemed closed.

Or so it seemed. It appears one hundred and thirty years after the fact Mary Todd Lincoln has passed away, the Illinois Supreme Court may be give her another medical evaluation post-death. More modern standards of evaluating the sanity of an individual will be applied. Mrs. Lincoln was committed for a brief time but was she committed due to just cause?

Naturally, what we know now in the year 2012 and what we knew in the 19th century is night and day. Medical science has come a long way. Especially when evaluating the mental illness should it be present of an individual. There are advances in medical science far beyond what we knew years and years ago. Medicine has been improved that can allow the afflicted to live rather comfortable and peaceful lives. Therapy has come a long way.

It seems evident seeing her husband shot right before her eyes did a number on Mary Todd Lincoln. She may have suffered with what could be diagnosed as post-traumatic disorder. Similar to veterans of war who have seen a lot of death and destruction. Obviously by a more modern medical standard, perhaps treatment would have been easier. Yet in the 1860s and 1870s, such advances did not really exist.

The real question is why bring this matter up now. It seems like a folly and really just a waste of time and resources. Whether or not Mary Todd Lincoln could truly be considered legally insane should be best left up to historians. The Illinois Supreme Court will hold "a trial" dressed in period clothes. Again, given the state of the economy in Illinois, is this really the type of thing we should waste money on?

The death of her husband right before her likely would do some damage. Whether or not, this is relevant in 2012, could be left up to historians. However, to dig it up after the fact is rather irrelevant.

Is the American Economy Better or Worse

The American people are right into election season. The battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will take place this November. One of the big questions on the tips of the mind of the American public, is are we better off than we were before Obama got elected or not? That particular query will be a huge sticking point as it pertains to the Presidential Election.

Four years ago, towards the end of the George W. Bush administration, the American people were slipping and sliding into a recession. Jobs were lost. Companies failed. Obama got elected on the principal of change was coming. Change may have come. Is it change for the better? The answer to that question depends on your own personal perspective.

The stock market has shifts even in the best of economic times. Now more than ever, traders on the New York Stock Exchange have their ears glued to the latest information. The turbulence of the stock market will be high as November approaches and all of the cards are on the table. Statistics are available but keep in mind statistics are selective at best.

The economy continues to be unbalanced. There are signs that things will get much worse before they get better. Signs that many people will read but naturally are not going to be spelled out in any mainstream news report. American people across the board are rather short and impatient these days. There is an attitude of instant gratification across all parts of society in the American people.

This attitude of impatience and instant gratification has splashed up to the government. The government wasted its time trying to implement half-baked quick fixes and thus essentially opened the wounds of the people further. The United States of America is deep in debt. We the people are paying for sins long before Obama, long before Bush, that have been decades in the making. We opened up the purse strings for others and loaned money. We borrowed money and the sinking debt crippled the world eventually.

Perhaps it may be time for the United States of America to be selfish to other countries and stop helping them. It's a dog eat dog world out there. That fact is an entirely new discussion for another time.

The crime rate is up across the nation. More people are out of jobs. Unemployment figures might seem lower, but they are merely an imperfect metric. The stock market is too unstable to read at certain points and really only is relevant to a portion of the American people at this point.

Is the American economy better or worse than in 2008 when Barack Obama got elected? He most certainly barely helped with anything. Then again, one must wonder if anyone who got elected would be in a no win situation.