Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...(aka the ignorant American voter)

(title borrowed from a fleetwood mac song)

So this is just a random thought on the election campaigns currently underway. I am so sick of the candidates thinking that I'm ignorant, and sick of being lied to. 

Here's the meat:

I'm watching television, and I see an advertisement by the Obama campaign on abortion. 

Obama: I'm Barack Obama, candidate for president. And I approved this message.

Announcer: As president, John McCain will make abortion illegal. McCain says quote, “I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.”

Alright, so the issue is with the announcer's first sentence. The Obama campaign is assuming the ignorance of the typical american voter (in this case, the female voter), and is not afraid to let you know it. "How so?" you ask. 

They assume you're ignorant because the campaign KNOWS that the president cannot, by himself, "make abortion illegal." There are three branches of government - legislative, judicial and executive. The President is the top of the executive branch. He DOES NOT, and CAN NOT make laws. The legislative branch does that by drafting the legislation (bills), and sending it to the president to either be signed into law or vetoed, which sends it back to Congress to be redrafted or to see if enough votes can be mustered to overrule his veto (it's in the Constitution, people...).

The president can not even overturn the infamous Roe v Wade court case (which in itself wouldn't make abortion illegal, anyways - would return the decision to the individual states - it's in the Constitution, people...). To overturn the case, there would have to be another case brought before the Supreme Court, and the opportunity given for them to correct the mistake the court of 1973 made. THAT is where your vote really matters - this president will more than likely be able to appoint three Supreme Court justices. One of our sitting President's high points is that he appointed two justices who promised to rule by the Constitution, instead of by public opinion or by their own "feelings" that they find an interpretive wording for and attribute to the Constitution.

Anyways, to say that McCain WILL make abortion illegal is a prediciton of the future, which will certainly turn out to be a lie. As such, it is an example of the much dreaded "fear-mongering" always attributed to conservatives by the media. Of course, they let Obama run with this one...

This is not to say that the McCain campaign isn't guilty of the same types of advertisements, because they are. This is just one that I decided to write about. Love ya.