October 2008 Archives

The McCain campaign suddenly has a new spokesperson, Mike Goldfarb, for this particular subject? What happened to Nancy Pfotenhauer? Too shiksa? Or is she currently too busy in "Real Virginia?"

The McCain/Palin campaign (or is it the Palin/McCain campaign?), with five day left till the Presidential election, is beginning to pull out all the stops in order to win at whatever cost to America as a whole. The GOP didn't get quite as much poll traction as they had hoped from the William Ayers/ "Obama palls around with terrorists" fear mongering, so they are now going for another past association in the hope that Jews will turn their back on Obama.

Rashid Khalidi is a widely respected, if controversial, Palestinian-American Middle East scholar who founded the Center for Palestine Research and Studies as well as numerous academic panels and news outlets. He is an author, a teacher, an adviser, a journalist, and geo-political expert. He has also been erroneously linked to the PLO as their "spokesperson" or "figurehead" because of his reporting for WAFA in the late '70's and his participation in the Madrid Conference in 1991.

John McCain is now taking that false claim and running with it, claiming that Khalidi is another terrorist and extremist with whom Barack Obama has a close relationship. Sara Palin, at a rally in Ohio yesterday, called Khalidi a "radical professor" and Obama's "political ally," all while sneering his name and generally attempting to whip her crowd into yet another hate-fest.

As I have stated before in these pages, I hate hypocrisy. Fear mongering at the cost of truth runs a close second. Put the two together and I run a fever. Thus, I feel it is necessary to shine a little light onto the bullshit that is McCain's new attack on Barack Obama.

Before you claim that I am a partisan hack with a hard on for the Democratic ticket, please let me say, my distaste for political hypocrisy knows no party boundary. Should a democrat or an independent say or do something monumentally stupid or nefarious, I'll be there to illuminate it and deconstruct it as well. Don't worry.

In 2003, when Rashid Khalidi was leaving his position as Middle East professor at the University of Chicago, Barack Obama attended his farewell dinner. He had some nice things to day about the academic who was leaving the city for Columbia University. This is fact.

Another fact? While John McCain was chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in the 1990's, the IRI granted more than $500,000 to Khalidi's Center for Palestine Research and Studies to fund studies in the area. You can read details of the transactions in Michael Tomasky's Guardian article.

I repeat. John McCain and the International Republican Institute gave money to Rashid Khalidi. If Khalidi is such a terrorist and radical, why would John McCain give his research group American money?

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is one of the most heinous and recalcitrant geo-political messes currently on the books. Any and all light thrown on its causes, reinforcements, and realities is money well spent. This is not only research but due diligence. As a Jew, I think all measures taken to encourage diplomacy and understanding should be employed. The issue is not black and white and to treat it as such is irresponsible.

To turn around and use Rashid Khalidi as yet another tool to cast suspicion on Barack Obama is first class hypocrisy and it sits about as well with me as a day old oyster. The depth to which the McCain/Palin campaign is now stooping is right up there with what Rove and Eskew did to John McCain himself in the Republican Primary of 2000 (it's notable that the GOP ticket now employs Tucker Eskew). These actions do not speak well of Senator McCain and are an embarrassment to the political process.

Want to see who else voted to table the measure to fund troop body armor? You can see for yourself on the Senate.gov roll call. You'll be surprised. Remember, the "yea"s are to shelve the proposal NOT to pass it.

Back in the day before I had health insurance, I received the bulk of my health care at the wonderful Boulder Valley Womens Health Center. If my appointment happened to fall on the day when Operation Rescue was protesting, I would have to walk through people spitting at me, yelling at me, calling me a baby killer, throwing photographs of fetuses at my feet, and basically making the process of trying to get my cholesterol and blood sugar numbers as difficult as possible. I, personally, always relished the opportunity to face down the protesters. I held my head up high, smiled at them, and walked right on past. As long as they remained at a safe and legal distance, it was within their right to scream whatever popped into their head, no matter how disrespectful, cruel, or outright crazy.

But anyone who doesn't think they are there to terrorize patients is making a huge miscalculation. They are there to make patients feel unsafe and to attempt to make women feel ashamed, not only about their bodies, but their sexuality. That, in my opinion, is an outrage.

Organized protest is considered by the right to life movement as the tip of the spear. The real terrorism is found in bombings and assassinations:

• Dr. Barnett Slepian and Robert Sanderson (killed in 1998)


• Dr. Jack Fainman and another unnamed physician (wounded in 1997)


• Dr. Hugh Short (wounded in 1995)


• Dr. John Bayard Britton, James H. Barrett, Shannon Lowney and Leanne Nichols (killed in 1994)


• Dr. Garson Romalis and five others (wounded in 1994)


• Dr. David Gunn (killed in 1993)


• Dr. George Tiller (wounded in 1993)

When She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named refuses to use the label "terrorists" to describe the people who perpetrate violence against physicians and their patients, make no mistake regarding her intention. She is not simply using dog-whistle code under a winking guise, she is broadcasting loud and clear to the anti-choice fanatics that their actions will be given a pass and that in her, they have finally found a leader who will support their agenda.

See it for yourself:

Thanks to Meteor Blades over at the Daily Kos for the list of those killed by Anti-Choice terrorists

It is easy to slag one's opponent, ridicule them, find humor at their expense. I have been guilty of this through the entire election cycle, mostly because at the center of my being, I loathe hypocrisy and lies. If I can shine a bright light into the bastardized and corrupt mechanism, I hope a little bit of truth will blossom.

That is at the heart of why I support Barack Obama. When I hear him speak, I feel hope for the future, not just of our nation as a whole, but for every individual. I am reminded that we can be good, righteous, empathetic, responsible, and, most importantly, better. Better at taking care of our communities, better at how we conduct ourselves in the world, and better in what we leave behind for younger generations to inherit. Frankly, I hear a message that makes me feel proud to be part of a movement that wants this country to work a little harder at its own humanity, not for the sake of our piece of the pie, but so that everyone can at least have a seat at the table.

I admit that I feel it is my duty to point out bullshit when I hear it, but the widening chasm between the "right" and the "left" terrifies me. The hatred, fear, vitriol, threatening gestures, and disrespect is disheartening and demoralizing. This is the best we can do as Americans? Rip each other to shreds? I am all for political dissent, it's the loud heart of what makes a democracy great, but the apoplectic, spit flying, hatred aimed at one American from another speaks to the very worst of our human nature. If we can't function as a nation of individuals, then we don't deserve to carry on the mantle of the Constitution or march beneath the Flag. It's One Nation Indivisible, remember? Otherwise, what a waste of a Revolution.

I bring it up because though I am outraged myself from time to time, and I certainly get angry in the face of thinly veiled manipulation and untruths spouted as gospel, I hope to never fall so far as to threaten my ideological opponent, lie to prove my point, or bring the discourse too far into the gutter.

I give you fair warning, however, I will stoop to the curb.

With all of the noise John McCain has been making this month about "elitists" and "Georgetown cocktail conservatives" and "Washington insiders" (not to mention the nasty spittle practically flying every which way), it is interesting to note that not only did his father, a four star Navy Admiral with whom he was raised, hold the political post of the Navy's Chief Liaison to the Senate, but so did John McCain III. The man was raised inside the Beltway and attended Episcopal High School, a prestigious and well heeled Capital prep school. Of course, we are all well aware of his twenty-two years in the US Senate. If those points, alone, are not enough to illustrate that Mr. McCain may well possibly be the mother of all "Washington elite", his brother sure is doing his best to remind the world that the McCains were raised in an atmosphere of entitlement and privilege.

While in Alexandria earlier this week, Sen. McCain's brother Joe was apparently caught in some rather annoying traffic. We, the unwashed masses, have learned to dutifully, if with frustration, wait our turn for passage. After all, there is nowhere to go when trapped in your vehicle. Joe, on the other hand, is a man of action. After fifteen minutes of unbearable prostration, he decided that the inconvenience was inappropriate for a man of his stature. The well heeled, apparently, are not designed to suffer the common indignities of waiting. Thus, he called 911 to complain about the traffic. Yes. The man vented his frustration using a public resource reserved for emergencies, a public resource that, by Sen. McCain's own definition must be one of those socialist plunders, as it is paid for with hard working, Real Americans'™ taxes.

When the dispatcher asked, "Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic?" Joe shot back, "Fuck You!" and hung up.

It could have ended there, but the dispatch (who, in my opinion, should receive a special commendation), called back, only to receive Joe McCain's outgoing message toting his involvement in a "very important family political project." The dispatch left a message saying that it is criminal to frivolously tie up the 911 resource.

That would have been ironic enough on its own, but wait, there's more! Joe McCain called 911 back to complain about his treatment at the hands of the original dispatcher! I swear, I couldn't write this any better myself. While the indignant and, might I add, wickedly spoiled Joe McCain might have assumed the 911 dispatcher would apologize profusely and offer to send out a police escort to shuttle him through the delay, he was, instead, met with another sharp rebuke.

I can't embed the video, but you can watch WJLA Newschannel 7's story, which includes the 911 tapes, over at The Raw Story.

Sure, John McCain is not his brother's keeper and I certainly wouldn't want to be judged by my siblings behavior, but if John McCain is trying to convince the Joe Sixpacks and Joe The Plumbers and Real Americans™ everywhere that he is of the people, for the people, and not one of those martini swilling Georgetown types, it's best not to have those subtle reminders of your exceptionally privileged childhood popping up in the form of your petulant brother whining to the Alexandria, VA Emergency Services to do something about the damn traffic.

There has been no comment from Joe McCain or the McCain campaign. I suppose this could be an extraordinarily well crafted hoax, but until I hear other wise, I stand by the events as they were reported.

Joe The Plumber sure has proved to be a useful hack for the GOP. This evening, during one of the weakest interviews ever aired on CNN, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was asked whether she thought Barack Obama was a socialist. Her reply? That she, herself, wouldn't call Obama a socialist, but that Joe, The Plumber, sure thinks he is and he represents the American people.

I have to admit now that this election has turned me into somewhat of a ranting madwoman, obsessed with political hypocrisy and the hate filled propaganda machine. I bet you've noticed. I am not sure how to climb back off the ruined ledge of big business democracy and at the risk of sounding like the dude on the corner holding the cardboard sign and screaming about black helicopters, I can't help but feel that the process is slowly killing the animal.

The good news, of course, is that with the advent of the interweb, its series of tubes, and (most importantly) YouTube, we can now all educate ourselves by going right to the horse's mouth (so to speak). Certain politicians have not yet caught onto the fact that EVERY SINGLE WORD that comes out of their mouths in public, even spit from under clenched teeth, is being caught on tape and will be distributed to the masses within moments. The days of plausibly deniability are over. You say it, you own it.

Such is the lesson to be learned this week by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC). Ms. Bachmann was actually being interviewed on Hardball at the time of her astounding call for the media to launch a "penetrating expose" on the American legislature and who is pro-American and who is anti-American. She can spin it ten ways from Sunday, but her call for the second coming of the House Un-American Activities Committee is on video. She may have thought she would be embraced by She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named for trumpeting her call to class warfare, but I am thinking she will, instead, be thrown under the political bus.

Then there is Mr. Hayes, who opened a McCain/Palin rally by saying:

"Liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God."

This came just after the congressman said that he wanted to "make sure we don't say something stupid, make sure we don't say something we don't mean." I guess you only mean it if you're not caught on tape saying it.

I called Congressman Hayes campaign office directly and I spoke with the assistant to the Communications Director (I am getting to know quite a few of those GOP CDs these days). I told him that I wanted to get confirmation of his statements directly from his office instead of relying on the filter of the "mainstream media". He was saddened by the affair but admitted that he had, indeed, made that statement. He testified to the Congressman's character and that he was not just a decent man, but a great man. It was an interesting exchange and I gave his campaign points for not trying to force the cat back into the bag, as so many politicians attempt to do, even in the face of an audio archive.

Which brings me back to that queen of manipulation, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. She has the nerve to imply that she isn't calling Barack Obama a socialist, but that Real Americans™ think that's exactly what he is and she is just real concerned, y'all. It's too late in the evening to collect all of her speeches this week. If you google Obama, socialist, and GOP, there are more examples of deft mob manipulation that you'll care to see. That's the thing about the internet. It's just so much easier to discover which politicians are balls out, shameless liars.

As an addendum, the Vice President is not "in charge" of the US Senate and has no constitutional authority to "make a lot of good policy changes." Regardless of Dick Cheney and his questionable extra-branch activities, the office of VP is not actually described in the Constitution as "flexible". You want to be veep so gosh darn bad? How about you sit down on that plane of yours and read the United States Constitution. If you can't read the WHOLE thing (I know, I know, it's looooong), how about just Article 1, Section 3, which states:

The Vice President of the United States shall be president of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

Or how about Article 2, Section 1. Or how about the 20th Amendment? Or the 25th Amendment?

Call me an elitist, but I want the people sitting in the Executive Branch to not only be smarter than I am, more educated than I am, more articulate than I am, and more experienced than I am, but I demand they be more familiar with the Constitution than I am. You want to effect policy change and speak for the Real Americans™ who live in Pro-American pockets of Real America™? Then run for Congress as Alaska's single Representative At Large. You can talk until you're blue in the face about the reg'lar Americans you directly serve. Vice President, on the other hand, is not an office for which you are qualified.

According to Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, liberal feminists dislike She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named because she is "very attractive," "very competent," and "very happy". I shit you not. So basically, liberal feminists are catty, petty, jealous, and inherently unhappy. Wow. I do not even have something snappy to say in response. Now I know for certain that the GOP really does think women are dumb as posts. It's as if the Republican party really does want to see the country split in two and watch it burn through the next decade.

You can hear it for yourself:

The following video exemplifies the most incredible tolerance in the face of hatred I can imagine:

I do think, however, the two videos watched as a pair offer a very clear picture of the wide economic and education gap in America.

How is it that the Republican Party has successfully been able to convince the very people who are most hurt by the GOP to consistently vote against their own self interests? It is mind boggling.

When I first watched this, I thought it was actually a satirical video. Unfortunately, it's real.

Regardless of who wins the election next month, how in god's name will we heal this country?

After having been on the receiving end of some of the most vile hatred I have ever witnessed for simply and silently holding up a pro-Obama/anti-Palin sign and after two weeks of deft mob manipulation and fear mongering at McCain/Palin events, you would think we would all be prepared for the culture war to simmer over to a boil. Perhaps because my sense of human decency is surprisingly still intact, I feel overwhelmingly depressed by the show of violence directed at the press pool recently reported from a Palin rally at Elon University outside of Greensboro, NC. Journalist and blogger Joe Killian was attacked by a McCain/Palin supporter as he attempted to interview a group of Obama supporters who had gained entry into the event.

The man began to say something about how of course I was interviewing the Obama people when suddenly, from behind us, the sound of a pro-Obama rap song came blaring out of the windows of a dorm building. We all turned our heads to see Obama signs in the windows. This was met with curses, screams and chants of "U.S.A" by McCain-Palin folks who crowded under the windows trying to drown it out and yell at the person playing the stereo. It was a moment of levity in an otherwise very tense situation and so I let out a gentle chuckle and shook my head. "Oh, you think that's funny?!" the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. "Yeah, that's real funny..." he said. And then he kicked the back of my leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.

So this is what we have become. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have yet to see an Obama supporter attack a McCain protester or a reporter covering the campaign. John McCain may like to say that these are simply fringe individuals and how dare the media criticize the Veterans' Wives For McCain with their "you, know, little hats" who make up the bulk of his supporters. Well, John, I have news for you. I AM a veteran's wife and I know bullshit when I hear it.

All of this makes for some interesting political theatre, but the implications are grim for our nation's collective future. Americans may love to chant "U.S.A! U.S.A!", but that aggressive nationalism appears to undercut the reality of America's true diversity. With a large voting block now on an IV drip of unprecedented belligerent propaganda,
we are beginning to see the first stirrings of true violence. One American turned against another American, not in civil disagreement, but mano a mano.

Certainly, the Colorado Women Against Palin protest scheduled for the upcoming Palin rally in Loveland on Monday should be interesting. I was planning on getting a ticket and bringing our video camera, but perhaps, for fear of my own safety, I will instead document the proceedings from outside the Events Center. What shame.

---

In an unusual turn of events, according to Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, the Secret Service is now under orders (from whom, exactly, I have no idea) to restrain the press from mingling with and interviewing GOP rally attendees. This comes after repeated attempts on the part of Palin staffers to restrict the media's movement at a Clearwater, FL rally, because "in the past, negative things had been written." I hate to drawn an unfair comparison, but that kind of media babysitting is quite similar to what western press sources used to experience while traveling within the Soviet Union and what they still experience when reporting from within China.

I could not be more pleased to discover that the peaceful protest Colorado Women Against Palin staged the day Sarah Palin appeared in Centennial two weeks ago merited a piece in the Huffington Post! Mayhill Fowler wrote a very nice report on our gathering and captured the spirit of our endeavor (and a few pictures to boot). Even with my nose running and having to evade water bottles hurled out of pick up truck windows, it was incredibly empowering to be part of the process. Democracy in action!

Protesting Palin Down the Road in Swing State Colorado - Mayhill Fowler

It is now considered de rigeur for American political candidates to engage in heavy handed negative campaign tactics aimed at the outraged emotional heart of the lowest common human denominator. George Bush I had the infamous and tasteless Willie Horton ad. George Bush II had the carpet bombing "McCain has an illegitimate black baby" calls in South Carolina. Now we have the McCain campaign's unrelenting drive for the American people to see Barack Obama as a black, Muslim terrorist who doesn't "see America as you and I see America." Wink. Wink.

We have already endured ten days of She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, the presumed GOP VP, race baiting and hate mongering at rallies all over the country. Apparently inciting fear based violence against one's political opponent is now considered acceptable behavior from a major party candidate, regardless of the damage it inflicts on the health of the nation.

On October 12th, Time magazine ran an article by Karen Tumulty on the a new campaign tactic adopted by Virginia state GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick:

With so much at stake, and time running short, Frederick did not feel he had the luxury of subtlety. He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points -- for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true -- though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former 60s radical, was enough to get the volunteers stoked. "And he won't salute the flag," one woman added, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born."

According to the McCain campaign itself, in order to shore up his flagging Virginia polling numbers, Senator John McCain is scheduled attend a GOP rally this Saturday in Woodbridge, VA. With Jeffrey Fredrick. Such an appearance does not give the impression of a tacit endorsement of Fredrick's campaign strategy. It actually is a flat out endorsement. Considering McCain was practically foaming at last night's debate over what he perceives as Obama's negative campaigning, one would think McCain would want his own campaign to stick to the facts. Well, McCain's very actions prove otherwise.

Today, while perusing the news, I came a cross a startling article in the San Francisco Chronicle which further illuminates the lows to which the GOP has sunk in order to get its man into the White House.

Violent anti-Barack Obama rhetoric - such as "Waterboard Barack Obama" - and images linking the Democratic presidential candidate to terrorist leader Osama bin Laden appeared this week on the official Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party, the latest in a series of increasingly graphic attacks nationwide on the Illinois senator that seek to cast him as a terrorist sympathizer.

As if Fredrick's campaign approach wasn't horrifying enough, now we have a GOP office with "Waterbaord Obama" on it's official page. I decided to call the office directly to find out what the hell they were thinking. I found their telephone number on their website, and gave them a ring. The brief conversation went as follows:

"Good afternoon, Sacramento County Republican Headquarters."
"Hi! I am a registered independent voter and the wife of a Navy veteran in a swing state and I am wondering if the news reports are true that you posted on your official website 'Waterboard Obama!'"
"You're going to have to call our Communications Director Hector Barajas."
"You can't just tell me what was on your website?"
"You have to call our Communications Director Hector Barajas."
"What is your name, please?"
"I am not going to tell you that."

With that, I was given Mr. Barajas's telephone number and hung up on. I called Mr. Barajas. According to his out going message, he is actually the California State Republican Party's Communications Director. So I was shuttled up the chain of command because, apparently, the Sacramento County Republican Headquarters was no longer permitted to speak on its own behalf. They were permitted to put hate speech on their website to rally their base, but because they were caught by the media, they have had their reins pulled up.

I left a message with Mr. Barajas asking for an explanation, but as just another voting citizen, I don't truly expect to receive one. I decide to again call the Sacramento office to give Ms. Anonymous GOP staffer another shot at explaining their campaign approach.

"Good afternoon, Sacramento County Republican Headquarters."
"Hi, I called earlier about your website. I called Mr. Barajas and left him a message, but I thought I would call you back one more time just to ask if you could confirm that you had posted 'Waterboard Obama' on your website."
"You really have to speak with Hector Barajas."
"Yes, you told me that once already, but I am an independent voter in a swing state and I am trying to get a clear picture of how John McCain is running his campaign for President, so I am hoping you can just tell me a little bit about the way in which the Sacramento County Republicans are campaigning for John McCain."
"Listen, you are going to have to call Hector Barajas. He is much more knowledgeable about this subject than me (sic). I can not comment on this matter. He is the man you should speak with."
"So you are not going to tell me anything about your official website."
"I told you no."
"OK, then. That's all I need to know."

And, really, that is all I need to know. The individual GOP campaign headquarters are now approaching this campaign in the most undignified manner possible in the hope that there are enough uninformed Americans who will vote from a place of ignorant terror. This has nothing to do with the economy, or the failing wars on two fronts, or the fact that the bill for said wars has never actually been included in the national budget. This has nothing to do with the personal debt crisis looming on the horizon like a darkened iceberg, or how you and I will pay for health insurance as we age, or tax cuts or tax increases. This has nothing to do with eight years of unprecedented deficit spending, or the failing national infrastructure, or the fact that buying canned beer gives you a better return on your investment than most financial stocks. The McCain campaign is now about portraying Barack Obama in the most negative light possible, regardless of truth or reality, in the hope that the American public is as easily manipulated as they believe. Well, I choose hope over fear because I think we can do better and that we deserve better, regardless of how little John McCain actually thinks of the American people.

I leave you with a little food for thought, straight from the horse's mouth in 2000:

*update*
Hector Barajas actually called me back this afternoon and left a message on my cell phone inviting me to call him back. I certainly intend to! I'll keep you posted!

According to a piece on Daily Kos this evening, Wachovia Bank, the very bank that is on the brink of utter and total collapse, the very bank whose solvency is so questionable that CitiCorp and Wells Fargo are picking over its desiccated bones, has just offered up an emergency $8,000,000 (yup, that's 8 million) cash loan to the Republican National Congressional Committee to help out in getting those GOP candidates into the House. A bank that is so ruinous it would need to be NATIONALIZED were it not for Wells Fargo's interest is handing over 8 million bucks to the RNCC. That stinks like something dead in the sun.

On the other hand, at least this wasn't a post about She Who Shall Not Be Named!

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Last Saturday, when I was pulling the Egg into a parking space at the Centennial Airport, having arrived to join other Colorado Women Against Palin in peaceful protest, I noticed a older man getting out of a pick up truck covered in McCain stickers a few spaces behind me. I had no more opened my door before he yelled at me, "I guess you don't read, do ya." Oh, jesus, here we go. I donned the most beatific smile my jaw could hold and with every fiber of patient kindness I could muster, I turned toward him and asked, in my most calm, first grade teacher voice (yeah, uh-huh, it sounded just as condescending as I am describing), "Now, what would make you say a silly thing like that?" And thus began twenty minutes of patiently cornering and twisting off every single crazy, bullshit argument against Obama this bigoted, xenophobic, sexist, dumb shit American could throw my way.

I am balls out tired of holding in my elitist nature, damn it. I AM educated! I DO cherish critical thought. I DO read newspapers, even the ones I don't agree with (what better way to craft a tight argument?). I had a father who dragged his life out of a one room tenement with no electricity or toilet, who worked through middle school, high school, college and medical school so that he could provide for his children a better, safer childhood than he had. In my household, education WAS religion and we were expected to worship the twin gods of vocabulary and science five days a week. I will be damned if I will sit back and watch an entire political party say on one hand they want to fund education and then on the other, dish this "reg'lar American" bullshit to the smallest minded, the least informed, and the most easily manipulated, winking while reminding Joe Six Pack to fear those more educated than himself.

In the last four days we have seen racism and fear intentionally and proudly injected into the Republican's campaign strategy as a way to "rally their troops" or, in my opinion, whip up the most noxious mob frenzy since the end of the Wiemer Republic (their economy was in a panicked crisis as well). I recognize deft mob manipulation when I see it. It was this very kind of hate mongering that the Nazis effectively employed in Germany in the 1930's to sell their brand of fascism to "the people." It was this kind of pandering to the lowest common human denominator, the rawest form of emotional and visceral hatred, that allowed half of my family to be decimated in Europe.

Take the following, for example:
"The inheritance which has fallen to us is a terrible one. The task with which we are faced is the hardest which has fallen to American statesmen within the memory of man. But we are all filled with unbounded confidence for we believe in our people and their imperishable virtues. Every class and every individual must help us to found the new America.

The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and co-operation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life.

Now, people of America, give us four years and then pass judgment upon us. May God Almighty give our work His blessing, strengthen our purpose, and endow us with wisdom and the trust of our people, for we are fighting not for ourselves but for America."

It sure sounds like Palin's recent speeches, doesn't it? What with the "difficult road ahead" and how she and McCain aren't running for themselves but for America. Country First! It speaks to a great deal of what normal American life should look like, moral and Christian (as opposed to "that one" who sees "palls around with terrorists"). All that talk of "unity" and "mavericky bipartisanship".

Exchange every "America" with Germany and you get my point. The above excerpt is taken from a speech Adolf Hitler gave to the German people on February 1, 1933 one week after being named German Chancellor by German President Hindenburg. Call it hyperbole, but I see no difference in Sarah Palin's dangerous political grandstanding. When the Vice-Presidential nominee doesn't see fit to stop her speech to quell the chants of "terrorist!" or "kill him!" or "treason!" then not only is she encouraging this outrageous behavior, but she is not fit to govern this nation. I hate to pull out the Jew card (after all, I only get a couple of them upon birth), but we have been down this race baiting, hate-mongering road before and it doesn't end well.

In the end, the hate spewing McCain supporter and I agreed to disagree. I couldn't convince him that Obama was the better man to lead this country (and that he isn't a terrorist) or that McCain's voting record regarding veterans' issues is miserable and he couldn't convince me that Obama's tax increases were going to kill my family and leave us starved to death. With a rictus grin plastered to my face and a relieved laugh, we said our goodbyes. A half hour later, he drove past me standing on the sidewalk and gave me the finger. Lovely.

Be careful the seeds you sow, for ignorance can breed a mighty beast:

I promise, from here on out, unless Sarah Palin pulls out a shotgun and starts firing off shells into the air at her rallies, there will be no more mention of That Woman. She is, from here on out, persona non grata and, like Voldemort, She Who Will Not Be Named. Because I believe in HOPE and, quite honestly, we as a species can be better than this.

The level to which the current presidential campaign has descended should surprise no one. After all, we are a nation that incubated two of the greatest manipulative, mean spirited, hate-mongers in contemporary history, Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. These two men innately understood the power in tweaking bigotry, xenophobia, and visceral fear. Lee Atwater himself acknowledged that the more uneducated the target audience, the easier it was to incite anger and moral outrage. Atwater may have renounced his life's actions on his deathbed, but he had already opened Pandora's Box for a new generation of political strategists. Interesting, then, that the only value to remain within said box was hope.

I have been working for two days on a separate post regarding Sarah Palin's recent injection of racism and hate-mongering into the campaign (including her apparent glee in inciting an audience member at a recent campaign stop to cheer "Kill Him!" in regards to Obama). In the meantime, I thought I would post a recently aired "Special Comment" from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.

As my nutty mother loves to say, "Those in glass houses should not throw stones!" Someone should mention to Ms. Palin, that when she skillfully nudges her audiences to chant "terrorist" in response to Obama and demands "truthfulness" from her opponent, she is throwing open her own closet doors and inviting the bright light of inquiry. Or perhaps Ms. Palin thinks that as long as she refuses to give a press conference, she is above public reproach. That must be it.

Recently on Facebook, a polite debate took place regarding the definition of marriage, which quickly progressed into a discussion of God and "his" place at the American political table. While I have little interest in what the founding fathers whispered before bed and whether or not those intimate principles should define this nation, I do feel it's important to question the relevance of "god" in regards to marriage, which is a civil filing with your resident state. My husband and I were married at city hall. Never once while we were signing the paperwork was the word "god" uttered, nor is it mentioned in our contract with the State of Colorado (aka: our marriage license). I have not found in the federal Constitution justification for the accouterment that accompany religion holding dominion over a civil, legal procedure.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), by Barry A. Kosmin, Egon Mayer, and Ariela Keysar at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (2001), the religious demographic within this country includes, along with mainstream Christian denominations, the following: Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, Pagan, Wiccan, Spiritualist, Native American, Baha'I, New Age, Sikh, Scientologist, Taoist, Deity, Druid, Eckankar, Santaria, Rastafarian. Also represented are self described agnostics, atheists, and those who stated "no religion what so ever".

Regardless what the Evangelical community cries about the true Christian nature of America, regardless that Bill Gothard and his evangelical Institute in Basic Life Principles would love to fundamentally change this country one town at a time, and regardless of the Pledge of Allegience (written, btw, in 1892 not during the Revolution), we are not actually One Nation Under One God. We are a nation of many gods and none at all. That's the beauty of it.

Morning is not electric for me. I do best with about ten hours in bed and need an hour or two before I morph back into some semblance of human right around noon. How I got my ass up and out of the house this morning at 7am is beyond me, as I didn't really catch up with the world till I was halfway to Denver (so strange to snap to it when you're behind the wheel, zipping along an interstate at 75). Nothing could have possibly enticed me, after a week of struggling with this autumn cold, other than the thrill of protesting Sarah Palin's appearance in Centennial. Colorado Women Against Palin organized the peaceful protest and it was both exhilarating and enlightening. I am too tired to go into details this evening, but let me give you just a few choice names I was called from the passenger window of passing pick up trucks: bitch, fucking bitch, stupid fucking bitch, asshole, stupid asshole, stupid fucking asshole. And then there came the addition of the imperative verbs: Die bitch; Die, you stupid bitch; Die, you stupid fucking bitch. And so on. Old men gave me the finger. Bleach blond, permed mothers sporting curled bangs screamed at me to fuck off over their children in the passenger seat. Anyone who doesn't think this country is bitterly divided along political and ideological lines has not recently stood at a ten lane intersection with a political sign. Yesiree. I saw a good deal of hate today, raw and furious, and heard a great deal of inaccurate ignorance. Luckily, there was a great deal of support to temper the impact. I'll write more tomorrow after a full night's sleep, but I will leave you with this David Letterman clip form last night. Enjoy!

It's the middle of the night, but unfortunately, I am jacked on Sudafed. I watched the debate and I have to say, outright, I am now officially in love with Joe Biden. Who knew? He was dignified, knowledgeable, visibly experienced, articulate, succinct, and (as my 80 year old mother would say) a man of class. He spoke to all of the issues I care about and proved himself to be an effective leader and impressive proxy. I will waste no energy on Sarah Palin as she, obviously, wasted no energy on correct grammar construction or educating herself beyond route, empty talking points (so that's what Americans get after five days of debate camp).

Instead I will lead you to one of my favorite blogs, deusexmalcontent. Chez, as enlightening as always, has a much better take on the Governor than I can muster at this late hour.

For those interested in playing the home version of Liar, Liar Pants on Fire, check out Factcheck.org, a non-partisan website that take candidates to task for their whoppers. Ah! Truthiness!

OK, I know it seems as if my writing has been consumed by the election as of late. I guess that's what happens when a political junkie finds herself suddenly, unexpectedly in a swing state. Colorado is currently being inundated by political ads, campaign stops, candidate appearances, pollsters and I find the process fascinating. Maybe it's because I feel that we finally, as a nation, have the opportunity to rise above the level to which we've descended over the last seven years. I feel so hopeful these days.

Well, today I feel less exhilarated and more sniffly. Quarantined in bed, as I have been for the last four days, has given me ample time to read on line and watch cable news programs (jesus, I had no idea the crap that passes for news on tv these days). Yes, I even read newspapers! All of 'em, any of 'em that, um, have been in front of me. The New York Times and the Boulder Weekly, just to name two.

My apologies to those of you who are sick of politics, sick of the news, sick of current events (as they were called in grade school), but this is the gear I seem to be grinding. It's better than smoking crack in a dimly lit stall of a gas station bathroom, that's for damn sure.

With that said, shall we move on to McCain? With the amount of tissues I am destroying and the red, raw look I am sporting, I have to cancel my jaunt this afternoon down to Denver to participate in John and Cindy's town hall meeting. I'll just have to rely on his Senate voting record to make an informed opinion about him.

Which leads me to today's episode of Liar, Liar Pants on Fire! If you watched the Presidential debates last week, you heard John McCain, just after reminding us of his POW experience (although, truthfully, it sounded as if he was just in prison), say the following:

"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."

My husband is a Navy veteran. He served his country proudly and honorably and I admire the experience for which he volunteered during the first Gulf War. I would never presume to speak for him, but when McCain uttered the above words, my beautiful husband actually snorted and then laughed. Loudly. He continue to laugh as he muttered, "Bullshit!" and walked out of the room. Baby, when you've got veterans laughing, the very people you're pimping in your campaign, you've got a problem. So, I did a little digging.

Via Crooks and Liars, one of my favorite fact check websites, I found a GREAT web resource outlining exactly how McCain has voted on veteran and troop issues over the years. Vetvoice.com is a diary compendium edited by Army veteran Brandon Friedman that focuses on veteran and troop issues. The posts written by enlisted men are an incredible read and offer a perspective rarely heard in the mainstream media.

Friedman wrote an incredibly detailed post regarding McCain's voting record. This is not conjecture, opinion, or partisan politics. McCain's voting history is public record. It's fact. If you're voting for McCain based on the notion that he cares deeply for the American veteran, please read Friedman's post. It is an education regarding how McCain has truly treated our vets. McCain states that the vets know that he will take care of them. Based on what exactly?

For a detailed description of all the bills mentioned in the VetVoice's piece, or for any public record information regarding political officials' bios, party affiliation, speeches, issue positions, interest group ratings, committees, sponsorships, votes, and campaign finances, please visit Project Smart Vote. There you can search for your representatives and view their actual records. A little information is a powerful thing.

McCain's Miserable Record of Not Supporting America's Troops and Veterans - VetVoice.com
McCain's Awful Record on Troop and Veterans' Issues - crooksandliars.com
ProjectSmartVote.org

My nose is chapped red and running, my body aches as if I got caught up under a bus, and I am a sweaty, sweaty girl, but god damn it, I am going to get up tomorrow morning, take a shower, wash my hair, put clothes on that don't involve a drawstring, and drive myself down to Denver. I am going to John McCain's "Women's Issues" Town Hall Meeting.

Since this cold has settled in like a tick, I moved my office tv into the bedroom for a little bed-bound, non-reading activity. This morning I could not sleep, stuffed as I was, so I flipped it on and caught my very first ever morning news program (I am not a rise and shine person). In between the local weather and a seemingly incongruous puff piece on assembling and baking twenty minute tartlets (I am not a breakfast person, apparently, either), announcements regarding the elections aired and what do you know? John and Cindy McCain are going to be in Denver tomorrow afternoon to have one of their "informal" Town Hall meetings! And the subject? Women's Issues! Oh my god, it felt like my birthday all over again. Unlike Michelle Obama's voter registration rally in Boulder today, which was open to the public and easily accessible for all, the McCain event was a by-ticket-only affair. What are the chances I would be able to get a ticket?!?

It was only 8am and this was the first I had heard of it. I did a little search on line and initially couldn't find info anywhere on the event (nothing on the McCain/Palin website). Eventually, buried deep in the Rocky Mountain News site, I found a listed number to call. A VERY chipper young man, Ron, answered the phone (who the hell is that happy at 8:15 in the morning?) and asked how he could help me.

"I just heard that John McCain is going to be in Denver tomorrow and I would LOVE to get two tickets to the event!"
"That's great! Can I get a little info from you?"
"Um, Ok"

Ron proceeded to ask me for quite a bit of personal information, just short of my birthday, social security number, and bra size. He then asked the same questions regarding my friend Emily, for whom I was procuring a second ticket. He did not, however, ask me for my or Emily's party affiliation. I was surprised about this, as I have been trying to get in to see President Bush speak for eight years and have never been able to get within two miles of him. Seriously.

Ron then asked if I would be coming in to my local McCain headquarters to pick up the tickets and would I be willing to volunteer my time in the crucial coming days. Um, no and no. Luckily, I can simply pick the tickets up at the will-call table at the event. Whew! So, easy as ordering a pizza, I was able to secure two tickets to tomorrow's Town Hall Meeting with the McCains.

I am a registered Independent. Even though I don't get invited to the primary parties here in Colorado, I just can not bring myself to name an allegiance. I am an American and a voter. Beyond that, I expect the the parties to work a little harder, with a little bit more integrity than they have exhibited in recent years to prove that they deserve my registration, my affiliation, or my whole hearted devotion.

Those of you who read my journal regularly know where I stand in this election. I have abandoned the past efforts of 2000 and 2004 to simply encourage people to vote and keep my own political opinions to myself. The stakes are too high at this point in history and I have made my peace with loosing listeners, record buyers, and audience members. I have accepted myself as a political creature at the risk of being rejected by the people who have given me a career over the last decade. I am putting my literal money where my mouth is. Such is life.

That being said, I would be one flaming hypocrite if I stood from the sidelines and condemned a candidate without ever personally attending a rally or at least attempting to ask him/her a question. I want to hear the bullshit right from the source, so to speak. After all, had I never had that ridiculous conversation with Fred Thompson's media manager and aspiring musician grandson, I never could have said with such totally and utter conviction that his campaign was as flimsy as a single ply tissue.

With this in mind, I am going to go down to Denver tomorrow afternoon and give the Senator two hours of my time for his so-called "Women's Issues" town hall meeting. We'll see if I can get a question in. Such as:

• Why should I vote for you when you repeatedly voted for (and co-sponsored) the Federal Abortion Ban, a law that criminalizes a wide swath of abortion services, with no exception to protect a woman's health, and carries up to a two year sentence for doctors?


• Why should I vote for you when you have not written, sponsored, or supported a single piece of legislature over your 21 years in the US Senate that aids in reducing the number of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies?


• Why should I vote for you when you voted AGAINST the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which established criminal and civil penalties for those who use force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to interfere with access to reproductive-health facilities?


• Why should I vote for you, Senator McCain, as an independent voter and the wife of a Navy veteran who proudly served his country, when you voted against an amendment that would ensure that military personnel have access to abortion services in military hospitals, facilities that are often the ONLY medical services available to military wives?


• Why should I vote for you when you say you are a proponent of "equal pay for equal work", yet publicly came out against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a piece of legislature written specifically to address pay inequity?

Or, more to the point, as my beautiful friend Heidi wrote to me this afternoon, what about simply, "What the fuck, Senator?" Do you think I'll be accused of GOTCHA! journalism?