After watching Matt Damon bash Alaska Governor and candidate for Vice President, Sarah Palin, my brain had to take a break or it would have short circuited. Watch the video, you will understand.
Before we dive into the non sequitur that are Matt Damon’s comments, let’s get personal politics out of the way. My vote is still undecided, but Ron Paul will probably be my write-in choice. I want a small federal government with a balanced budget, so that knocks the current Republicans and Democrats out of the running for me. How do I come to this conclusion? Simple, look at the history of our country, our government, and the reasons we were founded in the first place. “No taxation without representation” sums it up well.
Now, for the real issue. Matt Damon, an actor, critiques Palin on a few things, but the one that stood out was the issue of dinosaurs and nuclear weapons. Damon stated, “I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. That’s important… I wanna know that, I really do. Because she’s gonna have the nuclear codes.” What? How is there any kind of correlation between her personal beliefs on evolution and nuclear weapons politics? Is he implying that he believes Palin thinks dinosaurs are still around and she is going to nuke them? At the very least, Damon’s comment is a logical fallacy and completely unnecessary. The truth is, it does not matter what her beliefs are regarding when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, what matters is her understanding of foreign politics and the issues at hand in this country. If personal beliefs are so important to the left, then Obama’s association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers should be just as important. If there is a correlation between dinosaurs and nuclear weapons as Damon suggests, then there has to be a correlation between the black liberation movement and nuclear weapons or at least the Weathermen and nuclear weapons. The latter actually blew things up.
To be honest, I do not know why I am getting so worked up over this, it does not matter, people are so engrained in their idea of what is normal and acceptable that Damon’s words are simply more fuel for a fire that has been burning for a while. The idea that there are correct and incorrect ideas is fine, but the notion that someone’s beliefs make them crazy and unacceptable are outside the bounds of what we tell ourselves we stand for. The side that touts equality and rights for all bashes others for what they believe, and imposes their own “correct” beliefs. If similar accusations were made toward a Muslim running for President, something like “I need to know if he really thinks 72 virgins is the reward in heaven. That’s important… I wanna know that, I really do. Because he’s gonna have the nuclear codes.” there would be an absolute uproar in this country. Neither the Palin attack by Damon, nor the statement about virgins is appropriate or even relevant to the issue of who is going to lead America, if they were then the whole ideal of our nation being a melting pot would vanish, leaving behind a dusty, dirty mess.
The best we can do is ignore people like Damon when it comes to politics and focus on what he does well, movies. Now step away from YouTube and watch the Bourne Identity one more time. I’ll try to tackle the market issues in my next post.