Keith Olbermann's comments on Bush

Recently, Keith Olbermann had some rather passionate commentary about Bush.

Here's two links to the video of it:
Windows Media Player
Quicktime

This was circulated at work, and at first, I thought that Olbermann was finally going after all politicians over their kowtowing to corporations and special interest groups that has become a way of life for politicians in recent decades. I thought this because of the way the sender had sounded so excited about his commentary. Well, I was wrong.

Having now seen the video in question, I can add my commentary on this: I think Keith Olbermann is entitled to his opinion. My main beef with his commentary is that he didn't say anything original that I haven't already heard from the left wing. Olbermann hit all the usual left-wing complaints, right down to "stealing the election". All that was missing from his commentary was the conspiracy theories about Bush intentionally blowing up the World Trade Center. If I wanted to listen to this sort of emotional venting about Bush, I would have listened to commentary by Rosie O'Donnell.

Before anyone starts labeling me a "Dubya lover" let me say that, yes, Bush has made his mistakes and questionable judgments. For instance, I was against going into Iraq. I don't deny that the man's made his share of "misunderestimations" (Bushism), nor do I deny his critics the right to lambaste him over his mistakes and questionable judgments. As a public servant, his feet *should* be held to the fire. However, I feel that Bill Clinton also made his mistakes and questionable judgments, because he also put party and self ahead of country.

Actually, it is because of both Bill Clinton AND George Bush that I have lost faith in political parties. I feel that today's politicians are whores for big business and special interest groups who vent so much hot air that they should install windmills around D.C. to harness all that wind. Then at least all that hot air can be put to some productive use.

I feel that politicians of both political parties and all political ideologies have long forgotten the little man. We have no money and we have no power, so we're nothing to them. The only ones who matter to them are those groups with either money or power, and usually both.

The main pitch from Olbermann is that Bush should resign from office as Nixon did over Watergate. But if anyone should resign, it's a great deal of the politicians who have served for far too long, so that fresh blood can invigorate D.C. The main thing that I do agreed with Olbermann on is that I believe that the institution will survive even the ineptitude, cronyism, and wholesale whoring to corporations and special interest groups that currently infects D.C. What the Founding Fathers created is a marvel, but it's a marvel that works best when we all do our part.

This makes it all the more important that we not only vote, but vote responsibly. I want this nation's citizens to remind those in office just who it is that runs this country. *That's* the sort of stuff that Olbermann should have been talking about instead.

Congress, Bush about the same in the polls

In this article, it states that the Democratic-led U.S. Congress and President Bush are about the same in the polls. In other words, those polled feel that the Dems are doing about as well in Iraq as the president, which is not well at all.

It really makes me wonder why the Dems are so all-fired insistent on passing these bills that try to have us leave Iraq when they know that Bush will veto such bills. Why waste their time, why waste his time, and why waste the time and dollars of the American people with such inane political grandstanding? And most of all, why keep using the American troops serving abroad as a political football?

The most important thing to the Dems and to Bush is getting their way, regardless of what the people want and regardless of what is going to help the troops. Nothing else matters other than getting their way and looking good doing it. It's because of such ego-stroking insanity that the American voter is so sick of all this.

Earlier in the week, I was wondering why someone would run for office - especially a high profile office such as President or a member of Congress. Your whole life - all the way back to grade school, if necessary - is put out in the public eye. If there are skeletons in your closet, then your political enemies will put it out there, whether or not it is relevant to your campaign. Also, someone who is able to run for office is also able to just work in the private sector and earn a whole lot more. And last, many times in order to run for office, you have to "go to bed" with many undesireable sorts if they're bringing in the money for your campaign, and often you will also have to sell your soul.

For instance, Mitt Romney was once pro-choice on the abortion issue, until he became a potential candidate for office, and now he's pro-life. The timing of his "conversion" is rather convenient. Rudy Giuliani was also talking the pro-life talk, but he's about as credible as Romney. Once, Al Gore and Bill Clinton were pro-life, until they became candidates for D.C. offices. Then they switched to the pro-choice position. Basically then, all four of these candidates changed their views to suit their respective party's agenda so as to qualify for running as a candidate for office. In other words, they sold out.

Selling out is part of being a politician, in other words, and again I ask: Why bother? What gain do politicians get from putting their whole life out in public, getting pay that would be many times higher in the private sector, and often involves selling one's soul? Is the power that one gains from winning an office worth all of that? What kind of person is left over after having gone through such a wringer? Essentially, someone that would say and do anything to get and keep an office for the pleasure of weilding power. Doesn't sound like much of a public servant to me.

And then you have the instances of the inanity of our president and Congress passing and vetoing bills back and forth all for the sake of a show of doing something when they're really not. How did our system of government get this way? No doubt that it didn't happen overnight, and fixing it won't happen overnight, either. Before we can do anything, though, we have to figure out what went wrong. This might take a while, in other words.