It Would Be Way Easier If I Wasn't An Idealist

America is just too good for politically-motivated slander.

It's that time again, when certain political analysts on CNN and Fox News and overzealous supporters from both sides of the political aisle conjure up the gods of meaningless insult, acrid slander, and empty arguments. You've heard me rant on this before, but get ready, 'cause here comes another one.

I'm all for political debate, as long as it's at least loosely concerning issues that Americans will actually be affected by. Part of Mitt Romney's speech at the RNC earlier tonight, when considering that a movement away from recent conservatism sought by the Democratic Party isn't really accurate: "Is it liberal or conservative when the Supreme Court awards constitutional rights to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? Is it liberal or conservative when Congress listens to the teachers' union instead of being concerned about our children's education?" I heartily disagree with that, but hey, at least he's addressing issues that matter without resorting to petty name-calling, rumor-spreading, or other inappropriate propaganda.

When you start involving a VP candidate's family (i.e., Sarah Palin) or insisting that, dammit, Senator Obama was sworn in on the Quran, then I've got a problem. It's a tactic employed by people who probably don't fully understand an issue, and so desperately scramble for other arguments that miss the point, play on emotion, and support their prior beliefs (or, more accurately, destroy opposing beliefs).

Now, to be fair, I've been watching both conventions on both CNN and Fox, looking for things to get mad about and put in this blog entry. And to their credit, both networks have for the most part refrained from any egregious (in my mind) cases of slander, etc. You kinda have to look for it. Although, once you start reading some far-right or -left blogs, you don't have to look that hard.

But you have to believe that as we get closer and closer to that first Tuesday in November, you'll start seeing negative campaigning, negative mudslinging, and a generally negative attitude towards politics engulf our country. True, we were meant to debate -- it's what we like to do -- but not to the point where it gets needlessly offensive.

Like when religion gets mixed with politics. (And weather...?) The result usually isn't good:

"I was just thinking that [Hurricane] Gustav is proof that there is a God... that it would be on its way to New Orleans on day one of the Republican National Convention."
-- Michael Moore on an interview on CNBC.

"Would it be wrong to ask people to pray for rain of Biblical proportions two minutes before [Barack Obama's] acceptance speech begins?"
-- Focus on the Family spokesman Stuard Shepard as quoted in this article. (And by the way, apparently he wasn't kidding...there was an urging for people to do just that.)

Not dignifying either with a response.

So please, let's not say things that demolish rather than accomplish. And let's try and avoid those "I'm Right, Those Other Guys Are Wrong, End Of Story" television advertisements, chain e-mails, or casual discussions over drinks (alright, those are usually harmless and way entertaining). It's an attitude that will do our country a lot of good. And I think the vast majority of Americans are fed up with it anyway and, no matter who's elected, would love to see Democrats reach out to Republicans (and Joe Liebermann) and Republicans (and Joe Liebermann) reach out to Democrats and actually get some good stuff done.

*Stepping down from soap box, to wild applause*