RubalcabaRajoyRage

Tonight, I watched the Spanish presidential debates.

Since my seat at the dining room table is closest to the TV, and I can't always have a real conversation in Spanish at meals, I've actually be listening to the news a lot. I know the parties and the politicians decently. And I feel like I know the newscasters on CanalSur, TVE, Uno and more. I also love the pre-news game show of math and spelling, Cifras y Letras.

So tonight, instead of trying to crack codes and make words, we sat down to dinner with Mariano Rajoy and Alfredo Rubalcaba. Both of their first names sound like pasta-related dishes and we happened to be having spaghetti.

Spain has some issues you should be aware of. Five million people, 22% of the population, are unemployed. 55% of young people cannot find work. Over 1 million households have no members at work. And the government, led by Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (Spanish Socialist Worker's Party. Funny because no one and nothing is working) managed to pretend everything was totally fine, hiding the complete fail of an economy and their inability to face the facts as the unemployment stats went from about 8% to present-day. No one knew there was La Crisis for the first five years at least. No one seems to be able to tell me what the government is doing to fix the problem besides having early elections. Instead, the politicians are still employed and the news is about the weather, with pretty pictures all around the country. Great.

So, PSOE candidate Rubalcaba had one really nice idea of an employment structure to implement in 2012 and 13 but why didn't his party do anything for the last two terms? He was not the slightest bit apologetic or defensive and had no intention of changing any policies, really. I, on behalf of PSOE, wish I could apologize... or beg for forgiveness, for screwing over an entire nation for the recent past and for the forseeable future.  He could've at least admitted his party's errors and promised some sort of change - given them the Obama-style glimmer of left-side hope circa 2008.

Anyway, Rajoy slammed Rubalcaba, PSOE, and the government. It wasn't tough - they've really messed up here. Rajoy is an emotive speaker with right-side economic values. I relate. Also, he has kickass signage all over the city on subways and streetlamps and just about everywhere you look. And his beard makes him look very jolly.

In third grade, I made a speech about socialism's virtues except I was 9 and didn't know it was called socialism. It took me 12 years and a 2 month stay in a country with a devastated labor situation to understand why a classmate's mom laughed at me that day.

I'm still kind of hurt she laughed at me. And I want socialism to work just to prove her wrong. But, Spain makes me think it doesn't, and if I could vote, I'd probably go for Rajoy and PP at this point.