Pales In Comparison

Freedom From..

I have no great love of guns or hunting, but I have a great love and passion to defend liberty, personal rights and the Constitution.
Because of that, I LOVE this video

Obama's Closing Argument

In this election, we cannot afford the same political games and tactics that are being used to pit us against one another and make us afraid of one another.  The stakes are too high to divide us by class and region and background; by who we are or what we believe.  

Because despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country.  There is no city or town that is more pro-America than anywhere else – we are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots.  There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies.  The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.  They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

It won’t be easy, Ohio.  It won’t be quick.  But you and I know that it is time to come together and change this country.  Some of you may be cynical and fed up with politics.  A lot of you may be disappointed and even angry with your leaders.  You have every right to be.  But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of Americans throughout our history.  

I ask you to believe – not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.

I know this change is possible.  Because I have seen it over the last twenty-one months.  Because in this campaign, I have had the privilege to witness what is best in America.  

I’ve seen it in lines of voters that stretched around schools and churches; in the young people who cast their ballot for the first time, and those not so young folks who got involved again after a very long time.  I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see their friends lose their jobs; in the neighbors who take a stranger in when the floodwaters rise; in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb.  I’ve seen it in the faces of the men and women I’ve met at countless rallies and town halls across the country, men and women who speak of their struggles but also of their hopes and dreams.

I still remember the email that a woman named Robyn sent me after I met her in Ft. Lauderdale.  Sometime after our event, her son nearly went into cardiac arrest, and was diagnosed with a heart condition that could only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Her insurance company refused to pay, and their family just didn’t have that kind of money.  

In her email, Robyn wrote, "I ask only this of you – on the days where you feel so tired you can’t think of uttering another word to the people, think of us.  When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back harder."

Ohio, that’s what hope is – that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting around the bend; that insists there are better days ahead.  If we’re willing to work for it.  If we’re willing to shed our fears and our doubts.  If we’re willing to reach deep down inside ourselves when we’re tired and come back fighting harder.

Hope!  That’s what kept some of our parents and grandparents going when times were tough.  What led them to say, "Maybe I can’t go to college, but if I save a little bit each week my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but if I work really hard my child can open one of her own."  It’s what led immigrants from distant lands to come to these shores against great odds and carve a new life for their families in America; what led those who couldn’t vote to march and organize and stand for freedom; that led them to cry out, "It may look dark tonight, but if I hold on to hope, tomorrow will be brighter."

That’s what this election is about.  That is the choice we face right now.

Don’t believe for a second this election is over.  Don’t think for a minute that power concedes.  We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does.      

In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up.  

In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future.  

In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo.  

In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history.  

That’s what’s at stake.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  And if in this last week, you will knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and talk to your neighbors, and convince your friends; if you will stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you this – we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world.  Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America. 

Please, no matter who you vote for, vote. 

Olbermann Calls McCain Out

In his special commentary, Keith Olbermann castigates the entire Republican party for the divisive Us vs them slime that they've been spewing.  But he saves special mention for John McCain and his responsibility to return to the morals and decency that so many of us respected about him.

The Cause of The Angry Attacks

David Lightman explores the reasons for the attacks on Obama. 
I'd say that there's no acceptable reason for the lack of civility and the unraveling of decency we've seen.  It's just plain ignorance, stupidity and nastiness. 

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

Colin Powell speaks for many of us former Republicans (yeah, that's me) who no longer know or understand our former party. His remarks regarding the selection of Sarah Palin, the movement to the right by the party and the ugliness of the campaign are all spot on. He didn't say it, but I can't help but wonder if he looks at John McCain and thinks "I don't know you and I can no longer respect you." I surely do. Every single day.

His comments on Michelle Bachman's despicable tirade are even better:.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters after his appearance on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that his decision to endorse Barack Obama was driven, in part, by comments like those made by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Bachmann said Friday that the media should investigate members of Congress to see if they were "pro-American" or 'anti-American." "This business, for example, we've got a congressman from Minnesota who's going around saying, 'Let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America and whose not pro-America.' We've got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and our diversity," Powell said.

Close To Home

My hometown and the town where my parents and my sister and her family still live are featured in this article on CNN.com.
My mom just read the article and would like you all to know that it represents only a portion of
Ashland, Ohio.  The university is still thriving and she doesn't personally know anyone interviewed, but I'd like to point out that news of the Archway closing was one of the first topics of conversation when my parents arrived at our house on Thursday night.

I disagree strongly that this town is a place where people are having a hard time voting for Obama because of race.  That's not the town I grew up in....I grew up in a town of hard-core Evangelicals who will vote for the Republican nominee on religious and cultural issues regardless of qualifications or abilities to lead, but who are completely color blind.  If racism is an issue in Ashland, Ohio, it's far separated from anyone I know. 

He Is One of Us

The job that pays the mortgage has interfered with my responsibility to properly monitor the antics of Sarah Palin and John McCain.....but I did manage to catch Sarah's Angelic Appearance in Florida live on Monday morning and when the first refrain of He's Not One of Us rang out, my instinctive reaction was "Because he's black, Sarah?  Is that why?"  I wasn't the only one (or That One for that matter).  By the time she was done whipping the crowd into a frenzy, a frenzy that would include one man yelling "kill him", racism seemed just a portion of the insidiously dark mob mentality that Sarah Palin is intentionally inspiring (and in my opinion, enjoying--and if not enjoying then certainly not repudiating). Semantics matter. Words matter. We all know that.   

The McCain-Palin ticket, with little hope of winning the Presidency, has decided to go for scorched earth, to further erode the divide between red and blue America, to convince those who support them that anyone who does not is "different", dangerous, un-American, un-Patriotic. In the process they leave  in their wake dangerously heightened emotions, hatred, and elevated rhetoric.  This nasty turn isn't like Swiftboating.  As Jonathan Martin points out, it's worse:

Party activists of the sort who show up at rallies always tend to be more partisan, but it's difficult to imagine even the most hard-core conservatives saying that Al Gore or John Kerry were terrorists.

It's far worse because one might dislike a candidate and hate his/her politics, but if someone really and truly believes that Obama is a terrorist, that's not recoverable. It's a "fatal flaw."  This President will face difficulties and issues far greater than any President since FDR.  This nation will have to make uncomfortable choices to right the economy and continue to keep us safe, and unity is necessary. 

By elevating the rhetoric as McCain-Palin has done, they're saying "McCain First, Country Be Damned".
W. coined the term Homeland.   McCain is very close to changing that to the Fatherland. Do you think I'm engaging in my own personal fear-mongering, exaggerated rhetoric and hyperbole?  Watch the video below, as well as the video from the post below and then tell me what you think.

Update: Kathleen Parker makes my precise point far more eloquently than I could:

Time magazine examined voting habits and concluded that most people do not vote for issues, but rather for the candidates. Specifically, they vote for people who are most like themselves. Which is why McCain and Palin have amped up their rhetoric of difference.

Neither McCain nor Palin would dare mention Obama's middle name, Hussein, but they can play up Obama's past associations and let others connect the dots. Terrorist. Muslim. Dangerous. Other.

It is legitimate to question character and dubious associations -- and William Ayers is certifiably dubious. The truth is, Obama should have avoided Ayers, and his denouncement of Wright was tardy. But this is a dangerous game.

The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn't a Muslim or a terrorist, but they're willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.

But words can have more serious consequences than lost votes and we've already had a glimpse of the Palin effect.

The Post's Dana Milbank reported that media representatives in Clearwater were greeted with taunts, thunder sticks and profanity. One Palin supporter shouted an epithet at an African-American soundman and said, "Sit down, boy."

McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates.

Forget Roe V. Wade. What the Palin Interview Really Means

Watch CBS Videos Online

Palin and Biden answer Couric's question on the separation of church and state. Palin doesn't exactly mangle this question. She even starts out with a pretty definitive statement that's not factually wrong. But then she falters and starts to well, Bullshit. She meanders into the wisdom of the people...which as she continues, wanders into half sentences and uncompleted thoughts and finally ends with a statement (or half question) that  Thomas Jefferson wanted to protect the wisdom of the people by separating church and state? (smile).

Biden on the other hand, gives a crisp concise answer, without a lot of fluff because he inherently understands the intent of the Founding Fathers.  No BS. Just the facts, ma'am.

We have a Vice Presidential nominee (Palin) who appears to not understand the fundamental protection of freedom promised to our citizens by the founding fathers.  Millions of Americans do not understand the Wall Separating Church and State and by extension, that Wall has been under assault for years.  Based upon this answer, it appears that Sarah Palin doesn't understand the importance of this, either.  I'm not going to guess her mind and say that at this time she's for removing this wall, but I'm going to say that if she does not fully understand it, then there is a strong possibility that she can be influenced by those who want to tear it down. 

Similarly, her answer on Roe v. Wade (forget that she couldn't name one other Supreme Court case, including one earlier in the year which she disagreed with and about which she issued a statement as Governor of Alaska) indicates that she does not know the Constitution of the United States of America.  Couric asked her if she believed that there was an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution.  Palin answered yes.  Roe v. Wade is based upon the right to privacy, but that right isn't Constitutional nor is it in the Bill of Rights.  It came into being in Griswold vs. Ct (another important case for women's rights and contraception). 

Sure, most of Joe Six Pack America can't name a Supreme Court case and they don't understand Constitutional Law....but don't we want the elected officials who represent these wise Americans to not only know it, but to understand it well enough that they can uphold it, protect it and defend it?  Isn't that really how the President represents Joe Six Pack? 

If This Makes Me Elitist, So Be It

Sarah Palin was interviewed by right wing nut job blogger and radio personality,  Hugh Hewitt.  His first question was about the "extreme hostility" that Palin's nomination has caused. Before I could get all up in arms about his biased question, I read Palin's response to that question and it took me right off course. So now I want to get all up in her grill about this:

...It’s time that normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of sorts, and they’re ticked off about it, but it’s motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious, and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe six-pack like me,....(emphasis mine)

No, Sarah. I agree that our elected officials should represent the interests of their consituency, be that Joe Six Pack or Suzy Chardonnay. But I strongly disagree that it's time that we elect Joe Six-Pack to the White House. 

I'd argue that it's time we sent Joe Six-Pack packing. We elected him in 2000.  Maybe his daddy was of the Walker's Point, martini and cheese straw set, but W. was his plain-spoken, folksy common-man son. 
W. was the man of little book learnin' and lots of self-purported common sense.

Sure, I want my President and my Vice President to represent my interests, but I think that's best accomplished by a  President who is way friggin' smarter than I am. 

I want my  President and VP to read voraciously and to study history so that we aren't embroiled in more unwinnable wars.   

I want my President and VP to have gotten a passport before she hit middle-age and to have used that passport to learn about the other folks we share the planet with, so that we can try to repair our standing in the world and rebuild diplomatic channels.

I want my President and VP to be smart enough to know that homosexuality is not a choice so that we can stop denying basic rights to Ameican citizens.   

I want my President and VP to value science and education enough that we can fix our broken school systems and raise a generation of kids who realize that books other than the Bible are valuable. 

I want my President and VP to be open-minded enough to realize that the best way to reduce the number of abortions in this country isn't to overturn Roe v. Wade, but to provide sex education and contraception to teen agers.  And I want my President and VP to be compassionate enough to provide basic services and help to those who become teen-aged mothers so that the cycle of poverty can be broken. 

And I want my Vice President to be smart enough to know that it's "John McCain and me" not "John McCain and I". 

It's time this populism and anti-intellectualism be discarded for the complete rubbish that it is. We didn't build this country by being a bunch of mediocre half-wits, did we?

The Bloom is Off The Rose

Well, well.  Obama now has sizable leads in Florida and Ohio* and is trending very strongly in Pennsylvania, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Poll. 

This, coupled with the latest polling data from PEW showing that 51% of Americans now believe that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be President (what in the world are those other 49% thinking?) has to be correlated. Sarah Palin is hurting John McCain's campaign.   Which is as it should be.  With Sarah Palin on the ticket, John McCain is not qualified to be President, either. 

*Ohio continues to be troubling, and I instinctively mistrust all polling data from the Buckeye state.     Sadly,  race, I believe.  It hurt Obama in the Democratic Primary and it will be a factor on election day in Ohio. Befor we castigate the entire state, I should point out that the race issue is primarily limited to southeastern Ohio, which is Appalachian.  The rest of the state is more enlightened and I'm optimistic that Obama will do well enough in Ohio's urban areas and rural northern Ohio to carry the state.