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Stephen
Views the News 10/12/08
http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/
* A note to attendees of McCain-Palin rallies – After
participating in these rallies that get your juices flowing with hateful responses to
hateful and divisive remarks by the Republican standard bearers, go home
and open your quarterly retirement plan statements. Perhaps even read a
newspaper. If there is objective grey matter still functioning, consider how the
U.S.
reached this weakened state. Republicans blame everyone but themselves while
their blame game and desire to maintain power has reached a vicious level. Seeing
the crowd reaction at your political rallies one could conclude that the
dumbing of America
now mirrors the Dow Jones Average. And is it not ironic that your political
party, that touts its affiliation with the religious-right, has no problem
promoting ungodly hate, prejudice, ugliness and divisiveness? If there is a God
of Hypocrisy you are on his wish list.
NY Times columnist Frank
Rich offers a thoughtful analysis of the McCain campaign strategy and
McCain and Palin’s refusal to condemn Republican rally attendees’
yells of “terrorist,” “treason,” “kill him,”
and “off with his head” directed at Obama. Rich pointedly notes the
anti-black sentiment the McCain campaign and Palin’s speeches are
engendering. While thinking about my very negative opinion of such despicable
tactics, as well as the ticket and policies of the 2008 GOP, I remembered
emails I recently exchanged with a conservative friend who calls himself a Libertarian.
He said that he is voting for McCain. My reply to him was, “I just
don’t get it.” I am curious to learn if my friend is changing his
mind. I would like to think that fair-minded Americans who were for McCain now
have serious doubts.
* Choices - In many respects this presidential election is a
wake up call for America.
It is an election that offers very clear choices. John McCain offers a
continuation of the Bush strategy of blind military power and a deregulation
philosophy that favors the haves and disregards the needy and disadvantaged. Barack
Obama offers a foreign policy approach that includes negotiation supported by a
strong military. Obama offers a healthcare plan that enables all citizens to
have access to medical care. McCain would give further tax breaks to the wealthy
and the mega corporations while Obama offers tax decreases to individuals
earning less than $150,000, including small businesses. Obama’s campaign
appeals to the broad spectrum of Americans while McCain’s campaign raises
fears of difference. Consenting Adult
has a video of Donna Brazile, Democratic activist and Al Gore’s campaign
manager for his presidential run in 2000. She speaks about growing up in a
segregated South, sitting in the back of busses. Brazile notes that America
has come a long way since those days. She emphatically states that she is not
going back. Let us hope that America
makes the same choice.
* A “friend” of veterans they don’t need
– When John McCain utters his often-used expression “my
friends” he would have you believe that the expression includes veterans.
He is fond of saying, “I know them. I know them well.” Then why
does McCain get consistently low ratings from veterans groups? At VetVoice.com I
counted over 25 examples of Senator McCain not supporting those who have served
in the military. McCain’s abandonment of his fellow veterans is outlined
in the article: McCain's Miserable Record of Not Supporting America's Troops
and Veterans. One can imagine Jack Nicholson’s character in A Few Good
Men addressing McCain supporters and bellowing, “You can’t handle
the truth.” Too often history has demonstrated that fear mongering and
hate overshadow truth and facts. The McCain campaign is trusting that history
repeats itself.
Another take on McCain with respect to veterans was offered
by Paul Rieckoff, founder and Executive Director of Iraq
and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-partisan group, and author of
the acclaimed book Chasing
Ghosts – Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier’s
Perspective. Appearing
on the Rachel Maddow Show Rieckoff discussed his organization’s analysis
of McCain’s 2008 voting record on veterans’ legislation. McCain
earned a D from IAVA. A synopsis of the legislation and a rating of all senators
and representatives is available at this link. Senators Obama and Biden earned
a B. My friends, Senator McCain is not a friend of veterans.
* Another non-friend of veterans – Sunday October 11,
2008 marked the 100 days left in the Bush Administration.
* Handling the truth – An aspect of the Republican
smear campaign on Barack Obama is their accusation that three former executives
of disgraced Fannie Mae are economic advisors to Obama. FactCheck.org
investigated this claim and shows it to be a fabrication. It is interesting
that the lie comes from the political campaign that currently employs over 150 former
lobbyists, many of whom lobbied on behalf of the financial industry for less
regulation. As I have noted before, McCain’s chief economic advisor Phil
Gramm legislated as a senator and subsequently lobbied on behalf of financial
institutions for less regulation. McCain’s current mantra is for the
voter to take a closer look at the real Obama, a test McCain cannot stand up
to.
* Media myopia – ThinkProgress.Org
noted that some in the media have excused McCain for his campaign’s
virulent political tactics against Obama. The article notes that Ben Pershing
and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post and Bob Schieffer of CBS have made
excuses for McCain, implying that he is in a bubble - his campaign is responsible
for the effluence. Since McCain has been repeating most of the crap appearing
in his ads, the ads that end with “I’m John McCain and I approve
this message,” I find it difficult to believe the Arizona Senator is
operating in a bubble. McCain owns this strategy. One of the criticisms of
George W. Bush has been that he functions in a bubble. Perhaps these media
types have not noticed that this country does not need consecutive bubble heads
or a president that is dangerously divisive or a president that does not know
what is going on. Been there, done that.
* Broken Brokaw ~ indifference, incapacity or agenda-based
punditry? – On Sunday’s Meet the Press Tom Brokaw was interviewing
a Republican talking head (RTH) whose name I did not get. He asked about
McCain’s negative ads. The RTH responded that Senator Obama has run more
negative ads than any other campaign in history, much more that Senator McCain.
As ludicrous a remark as this was, Brokaw proceeded to mosey on to his next
question. There was no follow up as to the veracity of Mr. RTH’s claim. Is
Mr. Brokaw incapable of functioning outside of a script or does he have an
undisclosed agenda? Neither alternative serves the public’s interest.
* Cockeyed optimism meets cockeyed spin – On Thursday
night the McCain campaign released a statement saying that the investigative
report concerning Sarah Palin in the Troopergate scandal exonerates her. This
was before the report was released. On Friday, when the report was actually released,
we learn that Palin
“unlawfully abused her authority.” During the Biden-Palin
debate we were given the impression that a poster of authority-abuse rock star Dick
Cheney hangs in Governor Palin’s bedroom - bless her heart. The fact that
the Governor of Alaska abused her power and lied about it was not exactly shocking.
After a review of the report Time magazine
concludes: “Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes,
it is. Disturbingly so.” The report also reveals that when you elect
Sarah Palin you also get an active husband Todd – a recent member of the
Alaska Independence Party that wants the state to secede from the U.S. Yes,
this election offers Americans a clear choice. It is a choice of moving forward
or backward.
* Each vote that we cast is more than the selection of a
candidate. It is a profound statement about who we are.
