Residential Space

While I, along with millions of others around the world, have been experiencing visceral reactions to the market’s rise and fall over the past two weeks, I suppose the one sliver of good that can be gleamed from this crisis is that Americans are being forced to evaluate what really matters. After years of anti-intellectualism in the political arena, now they want an intelligent “elitist” to save their portfolios and pensions. The media found Sarah Palin intriguing, with her moose-hunting and lipstick. Some Americans seemed to think she was qualified to become the vice-president because she decided against having an abortion (and I suspect some still do believe this makes her qualified to run the country). Now, morals are well and good, but please save our money! It’s interesting that the right wing can tout morality, but when threatened with economic uncertainty, well – the abortion issue may not matter quite so much anymore.

I ran across this in a recent MSNBC article:

Last week’s near-meltdown in the financial markets and the subsequent debate in Washington over a proposed government bailout of troubled financial institutions have made the economy even more important in the minds of voters. Fully 50 percent called the economy and jobs the single most important issue that will determine their vote, up from 37 percent two weeks ago. In contrast, just 9 percent cited the Iraq war as their most important issue, its lowest of the campaign.

The media continues to separate “the economy” and “the Iraq war” as issues, and I don’t think this is possible. Our economy is in a lot of trouble right now, in large part because we spend more than we earn. We borrow, and borrow, and borrow – to pay for things we cannot afford, whether it is for homes or for wars. The first thing Obama should do when he gets to the White House is begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. I heard recently on NPR that the war is costing approximately $5000 per second. If we’re going to throw $700 billion into bailing out financial institutions, then the money has to come from somewhere, and I would prefer it not be in the form of newly printed currency.

I think it’s interesting that the worst the right-wing can say about Obama is that he is some sort of Messiah-type figure. After the last two weeks, they had better hope that he is capable of performing miracles.

I love segments on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report when they are able to speak volumes simply by rolling raw news footage and allowing hypocrisy to show itself.

I hope you will take the time to watch this clip prior to the presidential election in November. For anyone who thinks there is a “liberal media bias,” please think again. Please pass it around. I really wish this would get more play in the national media, because it is quite telling.

Rather than celebrating the diversity that Barack Obama’s very existence embodies, his critics (or rather, his opponents), are playing to people’s fears in an attempt to bring him down. I’ve seen examples of this recently:

1. In order to test a neurologic patient’s mental status, I will often ask about his familiarity with current events. In particular, right now, I will ask about the presidential race and the names of the candidates. When asking this question recently, one patient answered right away with “Hillary,” “McCain,” and “the other guy – I can see him, but I can’t think of his name.” His mother immediately jumped in with: “You know he’s a Muslim.” Trying to avoid a political discussion, I just pointed out that he is not a Muslim. “Yes, he most certainly is,” she assured me.

2. A patient I saw last week for delirium was presented with the same question about current events and the presidential candidates. Again, it was: “McCain,” “Hillary,” and this time, “Obama.” My attending neurologist asked, “What is McCain’s first name?” “John,” he answered. “Okay, and what is Hillary’s last name?” “Clinton,” he answered. “Right, and what about Obama’s first name?” The guy thought, and thought, and then said, “I’m not sure. I know what his middle name is, though.”

Regular people, even in “liberal” Washington state (although I will point out that neither lives in Seattle), commenting on Barack Obama’s rumored Islamic faith and more aware of his middle name (Hussein) than his first name. I can’t help but wonder – do his opponents even care that he has been a member of the United Church of Christ for decades? Perhaps when the footage of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, were aired, he should have responded with: “But wait a minute – that can’t be my pastor. I’m supposed to be a Muslim, right?”

It just doesn’t even make sense.