October 10, 2008 – 5:40 am
As the McCain campaign’s desperate attempts to paint Barack Obama as all but a “domestic terrorist” have elicited cries of “kill him!” from the lynch mo… *cough* the adoring crowd, McCain’s own running mate refuses to hold a press conference, leaving questions about her documented ties to a secessionist party and a witch-hunting wacko unanswered.
But who are we, the great unwashed, to ask anything of Her Majesty Sarah Palin? What, you think we’re in some kind of a democracy, pal? And anyway, whatcha bein’ mean to a nice white hockey mom for? Look over there instead! It’s a BLACK MAN who thinks he’s better than you!
John McCain, formerly a respectable politician, has sucker-punched the remains of his dignity, dragged them out back, blasted them with a shotgun, stomped them into the ground, and fed them to the wild hogs.
Buoyed up by the “young and plucky” governor from Alaska, “plucky” enough to hear death threats against her opponent and not bat her mascara, this campaign has entered into its most surreal phase yet. Read More »
October 8, 2008 – 9:24 am
The second presidential debate didn’t explore much new territory, with the candidates repeating talking points over and over. Yet the strongest line of the night went to Barack Obama, when the candidates were asked if health care was a right, a privilege, or a responsibility.
After John McCain’s slightly scolding “responsibility” spiel, Obama stated bluntly that healthcare was a right. The question was his to lose, much like the election seems to be at this point, and he nailed it.
Though McCain spoke of bipartisanship over and over, it was Obama who was willing to agree with McCain when he was right and disagree when he thought he was wrong, without seeming disagreeable. And it was Obama who gave what seemed to be the only straight answers of the night to audience members.
Though the question-to-actual-answer ratio was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9:1, Obama did manage to cut through the spin a few more times than his rival, explaining his health care policy in simple yet specific terms, and stressing fairness in his tax policy. He again managed to emphasize the middle class and strike out at high-paid fat-cat executives, this time with the specific example of AIG execs taking a spa trip on the taxpayers’ bailout dollars.
Yet again, McCain’s obsession with spending cuts rang false, due to the fact that he doesn’t want to cut the biggest expense of all: war. Read More »
October 5, 2008 – 8:14 am
One of the most wonderful things about humanity is that we are social beings. Interaction with each other is absolutely essential to us. In a desire to avoid isolation we spend our lives building relationships with those that we have shared commonalities with.
Many a poet has written beautiful words regarding the value of friendship, and many a philosopher or wise sage has critiqued both its value and necessity. Friendship or non-sexual pair bonding has been in existence since the dawn of humanity. It has survived the rise and fall of great civilizations. Very few ideals have the kind of global and historical endurance as friendship.
What does it say about us that we now take friendship, a relation that we clearly socially value and cheapen it to uphold bigotry, intolerance, and hatred?
This trend of using friendship as a weapon is daily employed by not only our leaders but by those that seek to lead:
Sarah Palin is staunchly anti gay marriage and, in my opinion, homophobic. She has made this abundantly clear in various public interviews and stump speeches. Yet Palin views her so-called relationship with a lesbian as providing her with permission to make homophobic commentary, as well as promote social injustice. Read More »
October 1, 2008 – 7:57 am
Should McCain defeat Obama in the US Presidential election, the world will descend into a state of mass depression.
Political and psychological despair piling on top of the worst global economic recession since the 1930s is the last thing we need. I don’t say this lightly.
The Bush years have been hard on planet earth. Add to that the general absence of inspirational leaders on the global stage, and from Patagonia to Tokyo, you have an overwhelming desire for something exciting and meaningful. And Obama, for better or for worse, is filling that void.
I am seeing people from all nationalities buoyed by the Obama factor. The detractors will tell you it’s all about his soaring speeches and it doesn’t mean anything as far as reality goes. Read More »
