Bill and Hillary 2.0

Up here in Vermont, we do something that I just don't understand.

We vote for some cabinet level positions. The last election there was a tight race for the position of "Auditor of Accounts". As I recall there was a recount, and in the recount the Democratic challenger defeated the Republican incumbent who was previously ahead by a couple of votes.

Auditor of Accounts?? How in the wide world of sports do I vote for auditor of accounts. How do I know which of the two folks running for this position is the best qualified for it. The fact is that I don't. I don't even know what an "Auditor of Accounts" does. I am not qualified to pick a person for "Auditor of Accounts".

Same thing for Attorney General, Secretary of State, and the other cabinet level positions that perplex me every second November. I leave these positions blank.

The older I grow, I am finding the less I know. This upcoming election is supposed to be about the economy. Now I did have an economics course in college, but thirty years later I must confess I have totally forgotten about it. The only thing I remember is some professor drawing these curves on the blackboard and saying they mean something. So how do I know which of the two folks who want to be my President is best at managing the economy? Guess what, I don't.

Same thing with global warming. Al Gore believes that it is real, that we did it, and we darned well better fix it soon or dire consequences will result. For all I know he is correct. Still there are some scientists who disagree (I don't think the disagreement is whether it is real or not, I think the disagreement is whether this is caused by humans and its severity). And I do remember in the 1960s reading similar dire consequences that would hit the planet in the 1990s over the population explosion. For that matter I remember reading about dire consequences that will happen to the earth and its computers when the year 2000 occurs. Come to think of it I remember watching Pat Robertson on TV in the 70s and being told that Christ will return in the 90s. So I also know that people exaggerate and get things wrong. So who knows. I don't, at least for sure.

The point is that in most of these issues, I may have my tendencies and beliefs, but I don't know for sure. Take Iraq for example. When the war started, I was sitting on the fence. So I decided I was going to watch this and learn. When we kicked butt the first month or so, knocked down the statue of Saddam, and declared that "mission was accomplished", I was all for it. But as we encountered problems mopping up the accomplished mission (and never did find the weapons of mass destruction), I found myself as an opponent to the war. But now that the surge is apparently working, I find myself changing again to "it probably was a mistake to begin with, but at this point it is best to finish the job and do it right than to leave it as a mess". Who knows how I will change again in the future.

However, I do think though that I am at least a fairly decent judge of character. And the older that I grow, the more important character becomes to me.

Which is why the prospect of Bill and Hillary 2.0 is alarming to me. I have been following this campaign at least a little (I do notice that the political adds on Vermont TV have stopped now that the NH primary is history). Watching the smear job and blatant lies that Bill and Hillary are applying to Obama (who at least seems to be a decent human being..even though he does support the deliberate killing of innocent human life) reminds me of everything that I hated during the Clinton era.

Which is why I find myself pulling for Obama in the Democratic primary (even though he is the tougher 'D' nominee IMHO). At least if he gets it, Bill and Hillary 2.0 are history. Now I will never vote for him myself, because of my little thing about killing babies, but I don't especially dislike him, and I don't see myself voting against him (meaning that if I don't care for the Republican either, I have no qualms about voting 3rd party). This is in contrast to his female opponent. If she is the one, no matter who the 'R' is and how much I may dislike him, I will press the 'R' level in November.