Possum Philosophy: Election junkie vents

By ROBERT “ROCKY” CAHILL/Columnist

Most folks who know me know I am, shall we say, a political aficionado. In fact, most of them would say I am an election junkie. I actually like the stuff, the campaigning, voting, the whole nine yards. But this time even I got tired of it. A presidential campaign that ran nearly two years is simply too much. Way too much. And because of that, there are a number of other issues, subjects, whatever one might wish to call them that have begun to bug me as well. And I can’t think of any better way to cure my “low-down, irritatin’, aggravatin’, I’m-tired-of-it-all-and mad-as-well-you-know-what blues.” So, at the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes, the sometimes news show, let’s say what we mean and mean what we say and clear my mind about some of this stuff.
This election business has gotten way out of hand. After all, it only took the U.S. and our allies a little over a year to whip Germany, Japan and Italy (don’t laugh, they were our enemies too, just like the French were our allies). Now yes, it took way longer than it should have for this country to decide to do some world-wide housekeeping but once the Japanese messed up and, as one of their own top commanders stated, “…woke the sleeping giant,” we waded right in and took care of business. So now it takes us two years or so to choose candidates and elect a president? It is ridiculous.
And have you ever heard such whining and crying when it was over. Oh yeah, the Democrats surely threw a fit over the last two, but while it took so long there was and are still some small but nonetheless legitimate questions there. But it’s done; let it go.
Now the Republicans, at least the most conservative of them, are bouncing off the walls. Obama won. He won by a significant margin of electoral votes (this is the same argument the Republicans gave when their man lost by quite a few in the popular vote yet was awarded the presidency). Now I have heard complaints that McCain was done dirty by that mean old bugaboo, the “liberal” “leftwing” media. Oh how they lied on Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin.
Now I have a couple of problems with this claim. Yes, television journalism is a different beast. They may claim they are as thorough as newspapers, but they have deadlines several times a day, practically each hour. As a former working reporter who, much to my own surprise, actually won an award for “in-depth and investigative reporting” from the Virginia Press Association, I can assure you while newspapers make occasional mistakes, and newsmen are no saints, it is generally not for lack of thorough fact-checking. After passing through fellow reporters, an editor and sometimes even a publisher, the facts are generally pretty well verified.
One other aspect to consider, most media, be it broadcast or print is now owned by large and in some cases huge companies. And who owns these companies you may inquire? Well generally stockholders. As with any company owned by stockholders, a few wealthy individuals will most likely hold the vast majority of the stock. And to what party do most of this country’s wealthier folks consider themselves a member? Why the conservative Republican Party, that’s who. So if the media really wanted to give a candidate a break it would likely be one of their own party. Any working class boy knows that.
So, President-Elect Obama is a U.S. citizen. No, he is not a Muslim. And if he is a terrorist because of association with some “‘60s radical then so are a lot of folks my age and among these must be McCain since he helped said radical get a large government grant for some project he was working on a while back. Get over it. Frankly John McCain has. Had he been half as gracious and supportive during his campaign as he was in his speech when he conceded the election the outcome might have been different.
One more thing before I move on. The Republican claim that Obama had no experience as an executive just didn’t fly with me. No he did not. But that irritating commercial showing the chair and saying when a crisis arose it would be Obama’s first time in the seat made absolutely no sense. Until one is elected and has taken office, he or she will not sit in that seat of power. At least McCain and Obama were U.S. senators, as was Joe Biden. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is governor of Alaska, a state with a population of less than 700,000. Even Joe Biden’s state, tiny Delaware, has over 800,000.
And God forbid any of us kid ourselves that anyone is fully prepared to deal with the first major problem they face as president of the United States. It is a terrible burden for anyone. Get over that stupid commercial too.
Now I’m moving to another topic that has irritated me lately, Veterans Day. Of our holidays, this is one of a very few that I respect. It is a day that honors men and women who have earned respect. They are veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States. They have served in war and in peace. Many gave their lives defending what they believed to be right. Others suffer debilitating injuries acquired in combat. Yet, despite promises made when they joined either by draft or volunteering, for many health care is difficult if not practically impossible to receive. You see many of them homeless, suffering from wounds of the mind. These are every bit as destructive as any bullet, shell or bomb.
Just this week I attended the ceremony in Saltville as did my brother Rusty. Neither of us were in the military but many family members and good friends were. We come out of respect for those folks and all others who have served our nation. Yet almost each year, the attendance drops. This week, had it not been for the fourth-grade students from Saltville Elementary School, there would not have been more than 30 people or so in attendance. I can remember when there would be a couple of hundred, sometimes more. We owe our veterans at the least our respect. I certainly don’t think they are asking too much. It’s a shame we don’t pay as much attention to our veterans as we do phony campaign ads.

A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.