Obamney 2012

Remember Americans; in a matter of weeks you will be asked to make a big decision.  You will be asked to decide to vote for the guy who wants to keep us in Afghanistan for many more years versus the guy who wants to keep us in Afghanistan for many more years.  You will be asked to vote for the guy who wants to implement  the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. “Obamacare”) versus the same guy who implemented essentially the same plan (a.k.a. as “Romneycare”).  You will have to actually decide if the guy who supported the TARP bailout versus the guy who, well you get the point by now.     

In some Frankensteinian step of fortune, we have actually created an election where the “choice” between the two “top candidates” is no real choice at all.  “It’s alive!”  And it’s name is Obamney. 

Anyone who would vote for either the current President or Mitt Romney should have their head examined.  You may as well flip a coin, folks.  

Even on the issues they slightly disagree on such as abortion rights (Romney once identified himself as supporting the law as it is), the likelihood that it will be changed, due to the makeup of Congress, is  slim at best, even if Romney is taken at his word (a reach at best).    In fact, the only real differences between the two candidates are their stances on  taxes (which differ slightly), who they would appoint on the Supreme Court (and remember the body that confirms the judges, the Senate has a Democratic majority) and cuts in entitlements (see earlier parenthetical) . 

Now let’s address how “scared” we are of a Obama or Romney Presidency.   it’s like saying you’re more scared of Jason Vorhees than you are scared of Freddy Kreuger   All of this talk about how “dangerous” President Obama or candidate Mitt Romney is farcical.  Overall, neither candidate is any worse than the other.  It’s like asking for six or half a dozen bagels.  Particularly for most middle class Americans, their policies differ only slightly.  Besides, I suffered through 8 years of W so I can withstand anything.  What it boils down to is most politicians, and these politicians are no different, favor the status quo.  Real change will not happen in the next 4, or even 44, years.  And that is our own fault cause we’re afraid to vote for people who actually demand real change.   

In my short yet auspicious lifetime, I have never seen one side so much against the other side.  The kicker is this: there are more similarities than differences between the two candidates.  I have never seen so much disdain and vitriol for essentially the same thing.  While there may be some differences, the two candidates have identical or similar positions on numerous issues.   

First and foremost, they both believe deeply in the capitalist system that drives our economy, or more pointedly the system that stalls our economy and drives people into squalor.  While they both claim to be capitalists and even their opponents describe each candidate as capitalists.  True, Romney has been considered a “vulture capitalist” and Obama has been described as a “crony capitalist”.  But, they are capitalists nonetheless.  

At the same time, both Romney and President Obama have supported programs that have been considered “socialistic” such as supporting the TAR ( the bank bailout), as well as supporting gun ownership rights.  

Although it’s harder to pinpoint Mitt Romney’s stance on the issues since he doesn’t have a Congressional voting record and his positions seem to be continually “evolving”. Romney has, in an infamous video clip, been quoted as saying he believes abortion should be “safe and legal”.  His opponent during his senatorial campaign, Ted Kennedy called Mitt neither pro-choice or prolife but rather “multiple choice.”  In any event, at one point, not very long ago, Romney and Obama agreed on the issue of abortion rights.  

They also both believe in and implemented a health care system that mirror each other.  They both support a health care plan that mandates you must have insurance and has many other similarities.   Additionally, President Obama  has no immediate plans for a withdrawal from Afghanistan.  In fact, While Romney has been more cagey/vague about his Afghanistan policy, he has no immediate plans to withdraw and his running mate Paul Ryan has indicated he would actually increase our troop involvement in Afghanistan.   

The really troubling part for the Romney/Ryan ticket is while Romney doesn’t have a Congressional voting record and he seems to take all sides of the issues, poor Representative Paul Ryan does have a voting record to drawn upon. And it’s not as rosy as his supporters might think.   Paul Ryan has supported and voted for the following plans that Obama has backed: TARP,  troop presence in Afghanistan,  the death penalty (as do most politicians these days) , a global economic system, gun rights, a tax code that favors the rich and corporations. 

The far overarching point is that they are both different sides of the same coin.  They are only different in party membership alone.  We have tried that before with disastrous results.  To use the most overused quote of all time,  “ Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  It is a tired line but it is also true.  And that is what we have been doing the past 7 decades (since FDR).

 What’s particularly upsetting is that both the President and Romney still support the overall political machine that has caused so much pain, suffering and loss for so many people.  People are still losing their homes while banks make record profits.  War rages on with little vision to an end.  The system we have been using is still turning on the same people that vote for the same candidates that run it.  It’s time to think of doing something substantive different and not just using the phrase as a slogan to inspire the masses.  

This isn’t the first time this has happened.  When Al Gore ran for President in 2000, much to his detriment, he spent more time agreeing with George W. Bush than pointing to their differences.  Ditto for John Kerry.  The reason for this is because there are so few differences.

What’s puzzling is no matter how similar these policies are, people on both sides call the other candidates policy folly and abysmal.   If we really wanted “change and hope” the candidates who were left standing should be Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Stewart Alexander, Jill Stein, et al.   Like them or dislike them, these are real agents of change.  Instead, we’re stuck with 4 more years of the same. 

Of course there is one obvious difference between the two candidates.  But, I wouldn’t hold Obama’s singing ability against him.