Shire Network News #150: Kathy Shaidle

Shire Network News #150 has been released. This week’s guest, Kathy Shaidle, has just released her new book (co-written with Peter Vere): "The Tyranny of Nice:  how Canada crushes freedom in the name of human rights — and why it matters to Americans".  Kathy blogs at five feet of fury and speaks to us about the abuses of the Canadian Human Rights system.  Click here for the show notes, links, and ways to listen to the show; directly from the web site, by downloading the mp3 file, or by subscribing with your podcatcher of choice.

Below is the text of my commentary.

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Hi, this is Doug Payton for Shire Network News asking you to "Consider This!"

Are you an American who hasn’t yet determined who you’re going to vote for in the upcoming election?  Or perhaps you haven’t yet decided if you’ve determined who to vote for.  Or maybe you’re not sure if you need to decide whether or not to determine who you’re going to vote for.

Well please, make up your mind.  It’s time to pay attention to what some of us has been watching for over a year now.  Yes, yes, I may sound a bit condescending, but this is rather important.  Voting for the person who will be the presumed "Leader of the Free World" is worth a moment of your time once every four years. 

Unfortunately, if you’ve waited until now to start deciding, you’re not going to get much from the news organizations to help you.  It’s the 2-minute warning, bottom of the 9th and 2 outs situation; it’s sound-bite time.  Yes, now is the time when the complexities of all the issues of the day, national and international, must be distilled to 7-second audio clips.

"Vote for me; I’ll spread the wealth around."

"Vote for me; I won’t punish you with a baby."

"Vote for me; I’ll make Wall Street repave Main Street with the money they took from Elm Street."

"Vote for me; I’ll scale back our defenses and make everyone love us again, like they always used to."

Yeah, OK, this may sound like an ad for Barack Obama, and it almost could be, but these simplistic promises don’t convey the gravity of the situations they purport to deal with.  So as a public service to our as-yet-undecided listeners, here is the "Consider This!" Election 2008 Issues Quiz.  This is an open book quiz; you keep searching and searching until you find the right answer.  And with this latest fad all the kids are using, the Internet, you should have plenty of sources of information.

 

Question #1: "Joe the Plumber" questioned why he should:

A.  Be taxed specifically to "spread the wealth around".

B.  Be given more media scrutiny in 2 days than Barack Obama got in 2 years.

C.  Be demonized for trying to buy his own business.

D.  Trust the government to run a charity organization.

 

Question #2:  Barack Obama’s position on fixing the credit crisis is:

A.  Raise taxes to pay for the bailout.

B.  Don’t raise taxes in these times of financial difficulty.

C.  Both A & B.

D.  "Present"

 

Question #3:  John McCain’s position on energy independence is:

A.  Drill here, drill now, drill later.

B.  Nuke here, nuke now.

C.  Wind, solar, and clean coal.

D.  A, B, C, and anything else you can think of.

 

Question #4:  Barack Obama’s associations with people of dubious character include:

A.  An America-hating pastor, an unrepentant domestic terrorist, and a guy who makes shady real estate deals.

B.  Joe Biden

C.  Larry, Moe and Curly

D.  "Present"

 

Question #5:  If you were voting for the top executive position in the land, would you rather…

A.  Vote for someone who had actual executive experience, and took on government corruption even in her…um, his or her own party.

B.  Take a chance on someone who has spent most of their very short national political career campaigning.

C.  Go with the person who looks most like me (bald, left-handed or some other external feature).

D.  Do nothing, since my vote doesn’t matter.

 

If you answered D to that last question, you might as well stay home on Election Day.  For the rest of you undecided voters, it’s time to get into the game.  Check out the issues, find out the candidate’s positions, and get informed.  Take the time to consider this.

Filed under: Podcasts • Politics • Shire Network News

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