If the Democrats Win - Then What?

November 1, 2008 – 2:49 pm

“Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.”

That adage holds true for Barack Obama and likely for many presidents before him. Is it going to hold true for the American public in a couple of years?

We’ve had it with Republicans. They overreached, became increasingly unyielding and evermore narrow in terms of the interests to which they appealed, and they drove both our foreign and economic policies into the ditch in a stunning double display of ineptitude.

The utter irony of it all happens to be that the Republican candidate who had to go down with the ship was the only Republican on the national scene who for years decried the excesses of the right. Bush screwed McCain – and the nation – in 2000, and he screwed him again in 2008 by letting McCain take the fall for Bush’s incompetence.

The media cannot wait to gush about Obama. And the guy likely deserves it, as it is a feel-good story on many levels, and he does have very uplifting oratory.

It remains to be seen how the electoral college will shake out, but Obama should come in somewhere north of 340 of the 538 electoral votes out there in the arcane presidential electoral process. Likewise, he should enjoy a filibuster-proof senate majority while picking up another 20 to 30 congressional seats.

The nation, in short, is throwing the Democrats the car keys saying, “Here you go. Don’t screw it up.”

And that is the problem for the Democrats. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in Business World, election 08, north america, politics | Comments (2)

Obama’s Final Pitch

October 31, 2008 – 2:08 pm

Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Barack Obama’s biggest challenge as a candidate has been convincing people not to fear him, fear his difference, his skin color, his name. Luckily, it is a task to which he has proven himself well suited.

Obama’s calm demeanor has been his biggest selling point through the ups and downs of the past few months, and his 30-minute infomercial ad was the icing on that cake. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, north america, politics | Comments (1)

The GOP’s Own: Women and Inappropriate Remarks Against Sarah Palin

October 30, 2008 – 1:59 pm

It seems as though there is dissent in the ranks of the Palin/McCain campaign. This past weekend anonymous McCain staffers released a less than pleasant statement regarding Palins performance, and willingness to support McCain’s message. It seems that they have a “rogue” vice presidential candidate on their hands.

According to CNN, a McCain staffer was quoted as saying, “She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone. She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else”.

“Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom.”

Another staffer has even gone as far as to label her a “whack job.”

Well, it seems that McCain didn’t get the submissive vice presidential candidate that he wanted. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, feminism, politics, women | Comments (0)

November 4th and Obama’s Hereafter

October 28, 2008 – 10:42 am

Jack Carter is a businessman and politician. He is the son of former United States President Jimmy Carter.

With just a few days left until the election, Sen. Obama has a substantial lead over Sen. McCain. While many Democrats remember elections in 2000 and 2004 and fear that lead will somehow evaporate, I expect the margin to hold.

For all the negative advertising, its polling impact seems minimal. McCain has little else to offer, and the economy – represented by falling global stock markets – is still stealing the headlines.

Governor Palin has become a drag on the campaign, witnessed by the increasing number of high level moderate Republicans, including Colin Powell, who are endorsing Obama. And the “Experience Issue”, once the cornerstone of McCain’s campaign, has collapsed beneath the weight of his sporadic actions over the last two months, including the Palin VP pick.

On the other hand, Obama still has the advantages he began with in September: he’s a better campaigner; his issues are much more in line with the voters; he’s got the best campaign strategists and organization; he has substantially more money to spend; and, most people don’t want to vote for Republicans this year, anyhow.

Barring some political catastrophe, the combination of McCain’s problems and Obama’s assets should, if anything, continue to widen the lead. Which brings up some interesting questions… Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, north america, politics | Comments (1)

Obama the “Socialist” Boogeyman

October 26, 2008 – 2:54 am

So the McCain campaign won’t let go of Joe the Plumber. He’s still being trotted out in speeches by McCain and Palin. They mention again and again how Obama wants to “spread” Joe’s wealth.

Aside from the condescension (yet again) implicit in McCain’s reduction of Joe to a stereotype (and leaving out any of the frenzied investigations into just who Joe really is), I want to look a little closer at what the Joe the Plumber rhetoric really means.

Joe, of course, is white. He’s from Ohio, a state connected with middle-American whiteness, as opposed to the cities that McCain likes to emphasize in reference to Obama (”I don’t need any advice from a…Chicago politician!”).

The city is black; Middle America is white.

Joe the Plumber’s purported wealth is used in conjunction with his whiteness: Joe is just a plumber, just an average guy, but he’s going to be taxed more under Obama’s plan. The subtext, of course, is that your “average,” white, hardworking guy is going to be taxed to give money to those who don’t work hard. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, money, north america, politics, racism | Comments (7)

Sarah Palin: the 150K Woman and the Garment Industry

October 26, 2008 – 2:36 am

It seems as though controversy and Governor Palin are going to be wedded to each other until Election Day. In this week’s startling revelation the public learned that 150 thousand in RNC donations was spent to purchase a new wardrobe, hair styling, and make-up for the Governor.

Who says that McCain didn’t pick her for her potential to be election eye candy?

Much of the conversation regarding this revelation has revolved around the double standard when it comes to appearance between men and women in the public eye. Campbell Brown commented on CNN, “Compare that with the attention given to Senator Barack Obama’s $1,500 suits or Senator John McCain’s $520 Ferragamo shoes. There is no comparison,” she said.

It is clear that for Brown the issue is not about the money that was spent but about the fact that this is only a story because of the inequality that exists between men and women. She went on to further state, “I speak from experience here. When I wear a bad outfit on the air, I get viewer e-mail complaining about it. A lot of e-mail. Seriously. When Wolf Blitzer wears a not-so-great tie, how much e-mail do you think he gets? My point is for women, unfortunately, appearance is part of the job.”

While I would agree that this is indeed a women’s issue, I feel that it is also important to note the women who are not being discussed in this recent controversy. It is well known that the fashion industry is highly dependent on sweat shop labour to produce cheap garments for the Western world.

The majority of these labourers are women of colour and they are invisible, not only in this particular situation, but often times when it comes to discussion about the ways in which the fashion industry can have negative impact on society. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, fashion, human rights, money, north america, politics, women | Comments (0)

A Tale of a Scary Black Man: Ashley Todd Admits Mutilation Story False

October 24, 2008 – 4:24 pm

On October 23, it was reported that a McCain volunteer was robbed and assaulted by a black man. She claimed that after robbing her, her assailant noticed a McCain/Palin bumper sticker on her car, chased her down, and carved a backwards B into her face. At one point, she even alleged a sexual assault.

The police spent many hours investigating this case attempting to prove the veracity of her claims, only to have her admit today that she made the entire story up.

McCain, for his part, his been quick to point out that she is an unpaid volunteer, and as such has no deep involvement with the campaign. Yet had McCain not unleashed such clearly racist rhetoric throughout this election cycle, would a woman like Todd have believed that her behaviour was appropriate?

Though I firmly believe McCain’s dirty campaign tactics did indeed play a factor here, what should also be recognized is the history that white women have of blaming innocent black men of assaults. From Susan Smith, to Carroll Donham, white women have been either complicit in false accusations against black men, or else have been used as props in justifying murdering black men. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in Current Affairs, crime, election 08, north america, racism | Comments (8)

Volunteering for Obama: What It’s Really Like

October 23, 2008 – 4:32 am

I’ll say it right away: the campaign trail is not for the thin-skinned.

You will have doors slammed in your face, sometimes by sweet old ladies who take one look at your button and scream “NO!”

You will see people peer out through a crack in the blinds and then pretend they’re not home.

More than that, on a presidential campaign, you will have to use the things you like least about your candidate as selling points to “swing” voters. You will have to choke down your anger at blatant racism and sexism to try to keep smiling and convey your point.

You will have to keep yourself honest.

But you will also make new friends, some who last only a day and others who you’ll call in the middle of the night to share stories or cheer at a debate performance. You might fall in love, or at least fall into bed.

You will bond with people who you would otherwise never have met, people older and younger than you, people with more money and people with less, people with Ph.D.’s and people who didn’t graduate from high school. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, north america, politics, racism | Comments (1)

John McCain: I Am Not George Wallace

October 20, 2008 – 10:22 am

America is a country that is undergoing the throes of racial animosity. For many the recent election process has brought to light the racial tension that has been brimming under the surface.

The Republican Party understood very well the racial division, and has sought to capitalize on it by encouraging its supporters through the use of rhetoric to identify Obama as an ‘other’. It has become so virulent that Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement felt compelled to chastise John McCain by comparing him to George Wallace.

In part of his statement he said that John McCain was, “sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.”

He followed that commentary by stating, “George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

John McCain took great umbrage with the statements made my John Lewis. During the final debate he said, “Every time there’s been an out-of-bounds remark made by a Republican, no matter where they are, I have repudiated them. I hope that Senator Obama will repudiate those remarks that were made by Congressman John Lewis, very unfair and totally inappropriate.”

This of course is a blatant falsehood.

The very first time that McCain decided to address the racism that his rhetoric has made public was at a rally when one of his supporters called Obama an Arab. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, north america, politics, racism | Comments (2)

Joe Six-Pack, the Man Who Was Not There

October 20, 2008 – 9:45 am

I have spent the past weeks trying to find Joe Six-Pack, AKA Joe Average, AKA the real American, a political heavyweight with more aliases than the average Wu Tang Clan member.

I’m in a pretty liberal mountain town but there are still some W stickers on cars from 4 years ago, and some war vets, cowboys, and bikers who live here and frequent local establishments and wouldn’t take kindly to a fellow diner/drinker in a “Bush lied, they died” shirt (which are also produced here).

I’ve been led to believe that Joe, if he was to be found, would be found amongst such folk.

So I started my search for Joe, with the intention of getting his views on the election and possibly buying him a six-pack.

I live in a sort of economic limbo between Flagstaff’s main drag and the ghetto. If I had to guess I’d break my smallish neighborhood down roughly into equal thirds White, Latino, and Native, my wife representing the only Asian presence I’m aware of and two nearby neighbors representing the only obviously Black faces.

You don’t see a lot of Tibetan prayer flags like you might have a mile east, but you also don’t see a lot of Confederate flags on trucks. We do have a gang in the neighborhood, but they generally won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. This is where I started.

I began with people I knew, mainly Native (I at first assumed Joe would be White, but this was a baseless supposition), using a two-pronged approach of asking questions about lifestyle and politics.

Joe certainly would not have to be a political conservative but he would, according to his advocates, tend to avoid intellectualism and go for similar, Six-Pack Americans like Sarah Palin and John McCain, who very likely got a cut of the last six-pack Joe bought. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in election 08, north america, politics | Comments (3)