Politics- Let's Get Past the Nonsense and Solve Some Problems!

It does no good to vilify political opponents. When we decide to make personal attacks or nitpick every stupid remark that a candidate makes, we end up focusing on trivialities and ignoring the issues that would really make a difference. We all know that people make dumb remarks. There's not a single one of us who hasn't. No one can be careful enough to say the right thing ALL THE TIME, so why don't we cut these guys a break, at least in regards to this nonsense?

For example, recently both Obama and Romney have said some kind of dumb things. Obama made the comment "If you've got a business, you didn't build that" in reference to government funded tools that entrepreneurs have access to. I don't think that he meant it the way that it has since been portrayed by his opponents. I think he has a point- if you have used government funded tools to build your business, it wasn't just you that made it a success. You probably wouldn't have gotten as far if you didn't have that help. The same would go for someone who built a business without government assistance- there are many other people who helped it become a success- whether it's investors, employees or the customers who buy your product or use your service. Sure, it takes hard work, ingenuity, and sacrifice to build a business, but very rarely is a business successfully built by one person alone.

I don't think it's fair or productive to focus on and give negative meaning to one comment when there are such important issues that need to be brought up, discussed, and finally resolved. I would much rather hear about real solutions to our national debt, the insolvency of government programs like social security and medicare, and the need to get back to the basic principles this country was founded on so that we can see the prosperity that we enjoyed before.
The same goes for Romney's remark about the Olympics when he said London's difficulties with security guards and threats of border staff strikes were "obviously... not something which is encouraging. It's hard to know just how well it will turn out." If any other citizen had voiced concern about these same issues, they would have been considered sensible and well-informed. After all, it IS disconcerting to find out that there are major issues with the security for the games. I also think Mitt Romney has more ground to stand on when speaking about how the Olympic games will turn out than most of the rest of us. How many of us have been President and CEO of the Olympics Organizing Committee? Who would know better what it takes and how iffy the outcome is until it actually happens?

Again, focusing on such trivial comments has distracted our country from the real issues. Although we see plenty of ads vilifying each candidate, there has been little said about solutions. Since the Republican Primary debates, there hasn't been much talk about what really matters. Now that they're into campaigning mode, attention is being drawn to personal attacks and nitpicking comments.
We're never going to get serious about solving our country's crises if we can't push aside the unnecessary focus on trivialities and hold the candidates to a higher standard- one that requires them to work for and share ideas for solutions. I want to hear what Obama or Romney will do to help businesses grow, unemployment to drop, spending to be drastically cut, the deficit to be diminished, health care to be more affordable, and social security to become solvent. I don't care about how much money either candidate makes/made, what wardrobes their wife wears, or whether they like a certain sports team. I'm also not worried about what Britain or Palestine or anyone else in the world thinks of us at this point. I'm worried about being able to afford food, shelter, and medical care. And I think there are a lot of other people who have the same concerns. We're not selfish or saying that we don't want good diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, but when it comes down to it... we need to save America and bring her back to the glory and prosperity we once enjoyed so that we can have a real impact for good on the rest of the world.