Presidential elections in America are becoming eerier by the day. Reminds one of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
Both parties are running their campaigns without much respect for sophistication. The Republican campaign is focusing on the pedigree of John McCain and the record of his sacrifices in Vietnam War. The Obama campaign is insisting that change is the only remedy to fix the mess in which the nation most decidedly is.
On September 14, 2008 John McCain made a statement of epic proportion which will reverberate in history for long time for its stark absurdity: "The fundamentals of the American economy are strong."
The veteran of Vietnam War is a man of few words and of impeccable lineage. Either the worthy Presidential hopeful was only vaguely aware of what the word fundamental means, or he was cheerfully out of touch with the reality of American economy. Sounds tragically hilarious against the backdrop of governmental seizing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! Forget the travails of the small fries like AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch!
To be fair to him he perhaps realised his error and tried to correct it by saying that "the fundamentals are at great risk." Somebody is bound to ask him if the fundamentals of the economy are really strong how the economy is proving so vulnerable?
You can give a charitable interpretation and say that it was slip of tongue of an old man working under truly formidable stress of his campaign. However, if it was a mere slip of tongue and he did not really mean it, it is a more serious thing. Dangerous for a man who is aspiring to become the nuclear-button pusher!
He further observed: "We shall never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street". Was he admitting that it was his party who had put America in this position? He was not specific on how he will clean up the Wall Street. Has he got some magical formula up his sleeves which he is shy to reveal for tactical or strategic reasons?
Sarah Palin, the maverick(?) Vice-Presidential hopeful, said in Golden, Colorado, "John McCain and I are going to put an end to the mismanagement and abuses in Washington and on Wall Street." A truly profound statement! Maybe fixing the mismanagement in Washington DC and Wall Street is as easy as pinning down a Viet Cong soldier or killing a moose in Alaska.
The brutal fact is that American economy has been under huge stress for quite some time. Fiscal imprudence by the Bush administration, bordering on irresponsibility, has brought the nation to this stage. To fix it will not prove easy for whosoever wins the White House. Neither candidate seems to have a plan to repair the damage to the economy. Maybe after the dust of election settles down, and the new administration is sworn-in, a miracle may happen. Amen!
Both parties are running their campaigns without much respect for sophistication. The Republican campaign is focusing on the pedigree of John McCain and the record of his sacrifices in Vietnam War. The Obama campaign is insisting that change is the only remedy to fix the mess in which the nation most decidedly is.
On September 14, 2008 John McCain made a statement of epic proportion which will reverberate in history for long time for its stark absurdity: "The fundamentals of the American economy are strong."
The veteran of Vietnam War is a man of few words and of impeccable lineage. Either the worthy Presidential hopeful was only vaguely aware of what the word fundamental means, or he was cheerfully out of touch with the reality of American economy. Sounds tragically hilarious against the backdrop of governmental seizing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! Forget the travails of the small fries like AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch!
To be fair to him he perhaps realised his error and tried to correct it by saying that "the fundamentals are at great risk." Somebody is bound to ask him if the fundamentals of the economy are really strong how the economy is proving so vulnerable?
You can give a charitable interpretation and say that it was slip of tongue of an old man working under truly formidable stress of his campaign. However, if it was a mere slip of tongue and he did not really mean it, it is a more serious thing. Dangerous for a man who is aspiring to become the nuclear-button pusher!
He further observed: "We shall never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street". Was he admitting that it was his party who had put America in this position? He was not specific on how he will clean up the Wall Street. Has he got some magical formula up his sleeves which he is shy to reveal for tactical or strategic reasons?
Sarah Palin, the maverick(?) Vice-Presidential hopeful, said in Golden, Colorado, "John McCain and I are going to put an end to the mismanagement and abuses in Washington and on Wall Street." A truly profound statement! Maybe fixing the mismanagement in Washington DC and Wall Street is as easy as pinning down a Viet Cong soldier or killing a moose in Alaska.
The brutal fact is that American economy has been under huge stress for quite some time. Fiscal imprudence by the Bush administration, bordering on irresponsibility, has brought the nation to this stage. To fix it will not prove easy for whosoever wins the White House. Neither candidate seems to have a plan to repair the damage to the economy. Maybe after the dust of election settles down, and the new administration is sworn-in, a miracle may happen. Amen!
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