The wheels on the Republican bus have officially fallen off

I didn’t think that the Republican Party could fall out of favor any further than it has.  But in true Republican fashion, they never let you down when it comes to disappointment.

I would not have believed if I didn’t see it.  Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher blamed Barack Obama for the violence and death on the streets of Iran.  He said that if Obama had spoken up and denounced the violence three days ago, the violence would have been avoided.  That woman who was shot and died on live television would be alive if it weren’t for Barack Obama.  Yes, this guy actually said it.

And what if John McCain was our President.  According to his recent remarks, we would be at war with another Islamic country; further degrading the standing of the United States around the world.  And thousands upon thousands more would be dead.  McCain couldn’t even answer this question:  Is Barack Obama on the side of Majmud Ahmadinajad or is he on the side of the factions that are protesting an unfair election.  McCain said “Well I know what side I”M on” insinuating that Barack Obama was on the side of the tyranical President.  He’s kidding right?  No he’s not.

Then, Republicans like radio host and columnist Mark Savage, and a Maryland Republican women’s group, and many others too numerous to mention, have been, just in the last few days, comparing Barack Obama to Hitler.  They are litterally trying to make direct comparisons between Obama’s actions and policies to Hitler’s reign of terror.  It is amazingly ridiculous and hateful, and so far off base that I can’t figure out who these people are trying to convince to join or support their party.  They should have stuck with the idea that Barack’s birth certificate is a fake.  At least that is a conspiracy theory the right wingers can REALLY get behind. 

And now Mark Sanford, South Carolina Governor, admits to infidelity with an Argentinean woman, which explains where he was over Father’s Day Weekend when neither his wife, his sons, nor his administration  knew where he was.  And all the while they thought he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.  He was lost in the woods, alright, metaphorically speaking.  I can’t wait to see how Sanford’s close friend, Joe Scarborough handles this tomorrow morning on “Morning Joe”.  Will he defend Sanford using tax payer money to go to Argentina for a booty call?  Just this morning (Wednesday) Joe was defending Sanford’s behavior.

This is like a bad plot in a bad daytime soap opera.  Even Luke and Laura knew when it was time to give up the Ice Princess plot line.

So Mark Sanford goes on TV today and gives a very long list of all the people he hurt; beginning with his sons.  The young people behind him in his news conference were giggling.  I don’t know who they were or why they were there.  But it was sad, demeaning, and even somewhat humorous.  If there were ever a reason to have a pre-planned speech or tele-prompters, that news conference was it.  This is a man who said President Clinton should resign for such sexually deviant behavior.  Well, Mr. Sanford, will you now resign, because you should based on your own moral compass.

Is it any wonder why the Republican Party is falling apart.   What comes next; calling Barack Obama a extra-terrestrial being while some other Republican congressman gets arrested for molesting pre-school boys. 

Barack Obama is poised to strike and get whatever he wants out of Congress; Republicans or Democrats.  Now is the time Barack.  DO IT!  Get health care passed.  Clean up the environment, Get all the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, create millions of jobs, send America over into the financial abyss; finance our asses off.  Who cares?  It can’t possibly be worse than anything that brain trust we call the GOP can come up with.

And just yesterday, the GOP had begun to lay out plans to take back Congress in 2010.  Sorry guys, I don’t think so.

And the cherry on top?  Rush Limbaugh said about Sanford – “he could have been our JFK”.

I can’t even keep up anymore with the train wreck and casualties that make up the GOP.

It’s time to Fade to Black.

Right America Feeling Wronged

In Alexandra Pelosi’s new documentary “Right America Feeling Wronged” she does to radical, right-wing, evangelical America what family and friends would do to an addict at an intervention; she holds a symbolic mirror up to their faces and asks them to take a good, hard look at themselves. 

Like all interventions, if things go well, the addict will see the error of their ways, begin to take responsibility for their actions, and begin down the road of recovery, all with the support of those who intervened in the first place.  If things don’t go well, the the addict will continue to lie, cheat, steal, and fool themselves into thinking they are OK and not doing anything wrong.  Meanwhile, the addict spirals out of control once again.

Below is an exceprt from “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC where Rachel is interviewed filmaker Alexandra Pelosi and show some brief clips from the documentary.  While these two liberals don’t always have the same views on “middle America”, the certainly agree about shedding some much needed light on some real problems.

 I will admit right here, right now.  I recorded this documentary on my DVR and when I sat down to watch it, I had to turn it off after about 5 minutes.  Why?  Because I was truly freightened.  Some of this clips that I found freightening are those included in the very brief film trailer leading into the MSNBC interview.

As I switched channels and sat back for a bit watching something else, I just had to do it.  I turned it back on.  Once I again I wretched in disbelief and had to turn it off.  To me it was like watching a grotesque surgical operation.  You are curious and want to see it, but you sort of look through your fingers that are half-covering your face.  And when the really bad parts come, you look away and say “OOOH, GEEEEEEZ!!!

As I watched “Right America Feeling Wronged” a few thoughts came to mind.  First, it seemed to me that every person showcased in this movie had a glazed-over, blank-but-hate-filled look in their eyes.  Or maybe it was blank with fear.  Or both.

I encourage everyone who’s interested in what the Evangelical crowd is doing and thinking to see this documentary.  This is not a narrated documentary where you might be led down a certain path of opinion based on what the filmaker dictates.  This movie leaves the character development up to the characters themselves.  They reveal a great deal about themselves on their own without prodding from anyone.

While I know that the hatred exposed in this film is real and still exists, I can’t help but think what would have happened if McCain got elected.  What I saw in this film was what I have always seen in Republicans; they don’t tell you what they are “for” but hey will certainly tell you what they are “against”.  In fact at one point a woman was asked what all McCain supporters have in common and she said “We don’t want Obama to win”.  To this radical group the 2008 Presidential Election wasn’t about standing behind a candidate, it was about standing in front of an adversary.   To them Barack Obama became the enemy; out of fear, ignorance, hate, misinformation, and and outright lies by the Right Wing conservatives of the party.

I hope you watch the interview above but hope even more that you watch the entire documentary.  If you do watch to film and don’t see why Barack Obama should fear for his life, then you weren’t listening; play it again.

Election Night 2008 (part 1)

As I sit down to write this post to be published on Election night, I find that no matter how I look at it, the post starts the same way:

I can’t believe who we elected to be our next President!

If Barack Obama wins this election, we will be witnessing history, in a good way.  I didn’t know how to find the right words but somebody else said “He is a transforming figure in our history” and I can’t say it any better than that.  I will feel so proud of us (Americans) for getting beyond race, class, and culture, and for voting with our minds and hearts.  After 8 years of what I call Republican Oppression, i.e. a total lack of regard for our own laws and our constitution, Americans have finally figured out that Bush and his entire administration lied and cheated their way into the office of the President, twice, and into an unjust war in Iraq.  People don’t trust the Republicans any more.  And why should they.  And if it weren’t John McCain running, who is only a quasi Republican, I don’t think this race would be as close at all.  If any run of the mill Republican was running against Barack Obama it would have been over a long time ago.  McCain has just enough, or HAD just enough, indepedence in him to get some to stop and think.   

I had a conversation with a friend the other day and found myself saying things like “this election is not about the economy, the war, taxes, education, the deficit, abortion, or who is associated with whom.  It is about the next President’s personality, temperament, and intelligence.”  As a people, we are wounded.  We feel like we were let down and lied to for 8 years.  I feel sorry for the next President whoever it is.  I don’t think that Senator Obama or Senator McCain has a clue what he will be walking into, or what secrets he will uncover, or what messes Bush has left behind to be cleaned up.  And neither do we as voters.  But I do know who I trust to make calm, rational, thoughtful decisions based on integrity and looking at the problems from every angle.  And that is Barack Obama.  Joe Biden was right; Obama has a spine made of steel and he won’t waiver from the path of steadfast corrective action.  John McCain is a rash, emotional, quick tempered, war monger whose first instinct is to simply react with both guns blazing. 

If John McCain wins, I will be aghast that the politics of fear have once again won out.  McCain has so little left of a campaign that I don’t know what he is “for”, I only know what he is against.  And his latest ads are basically saying “Vote for me or you will most likely die at the hands of terrorists”.  That viewpoint is not what we as Americans are believe in.  We want calm, rational thinking.  That doesn’t mean we won’t go to war if that is the absolute right decision.  But it must be a last resort.  As far as Iraq goes, there is no winning, and there is no defeat.  McCain gets so wound up, and caught up, in both of those ideas.  Everything is so black and white with him (no pun intended).  Its yes or no, right or wrong and the decision for him must be made right now!  In these last day of McCain’s campaign he continually and repeatedly uses “Air Quotes” for just about every word that comes out of his mouth.  It makes no sense.  Air quotes are supposed to be used extremely sparingly to make a point.  If you air-quote everything you say, it has no meaning and he ends up looking like a complete fool, or a complete idiot.

I don’t want to get too confident but I can not believe how many conservatives, everyone from Christopher Hitchens (conservative columnist for Vanity Fair) to Colin Powell (Former Secretary of State under Bush) to Scott McClellan (long time aide and former White House press secretary under George Bush) have now endorsed Barack Obama.  I’m not sure if it is sincere.  I don’t know if some of these hard line republicans know that their party is going to take a huge hit so they are tyring to save their careers.  I’m just not sure.  If it all leads to Barack Obama becoming President through the politics of hope over the politics of fear, then I don’t care how he gets there.

If it weren’t for the politics of fear, the Republicans would not have gotten a free ride from 2001 to 2006.  Their power, no, their arrogance, continued unchecked for years.  The things that the Bush Administration and the Republicans in general have gotten away with is nothing less than criminal.  Our basic constitutional rights have been stripped away at many levels and it seems as if nobody noticed.  Do people realize that our own government can listen in on our phone calls, and read our emails without permission or probable cause.  No court or warrant is needed.  Do you realize what the implications are?  And which of the two candidates is likely to rectify this situation?  I know; do you?

So in preparing a post for Election Night 2008, I decided that any post on that night will be short and to the point.  Any analysis of that night will be done later.  I decided to post all of these thoughts that have been running through my head now, before the election.  I can tell you that on Election Night I hope that very quickly after the polls on the East Coast close, I will be able to make my Election Night post and then get some sleep.  Some good old-fashioned, happy the country will be in good hands, the republicans are finally gone, ding-dong the which is dead, sleep.

Election Season 2008 Update

I can’t believe how long it has been since I blogged anything substantial.  In some ways I have checked out mentally from this election.  I am so tired of Palin and McCain and the ridiculousness of it all.  I’m tired of Bill Ayers, and irate republican rally attendees, and Sarah Palin’s clothing budget, and Joe the plumber.  Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

And I can just sit back now without guilt anyway.  I’ve done all I can.  I’ve written all I can.  I have already voted.  I’m going to spend some time writing my election night blog post ahead of time; one if Obama wins and one if McCain wins, and I’ll just publish one of them that night.   Unless of course there is a tie and a long drawn out process.  Or god forbid we have another Florida 2000; I don’t think I can handle that again.

In my final analysis, as much as I hate to say it as to jinx it, I believe Obama will win by a landslide.  We have not used that word in the country for politics in quite some time.   But an Obama landslide would make me proud.  Proud of us.  Proud of us Americans.  Proud of America.  Even if Obama were to win by the smallest of margins I would feel that pride.  But for whatever reason, I want the BIG win. 

After 18 months of being unemployed, I finally have a job.  I did not think I would survive the ordeal but somehow I hung in there and things worked out OK.  I have a huge financial hole to dig out of but at least now I can start digging.  It is strange now because I am on a full-time work schedule and have far less time to write about current events, politics, and pop culture.  I spend far fewer hours thinking about and watching TV about politics.  I think this is a good thing because it was becoming all-consuming.  I was watching cable TV News all day and night.  And I would get angry and I would write on my blog.  And when I wasn’t doing that I was worrying day and night about how I was going to survive another day.  Survival at its basic elements is an ugly thing.  How will I eat?  How do I get to an interview now that my car has been repossessed?  How can I afford to buy decent clothing to wear to an interview or a job?  How in the world, with my failing health, am I ever going to even hold down a job?  All of this was on my mind 24 hours a day. 

I am feeling better these days.  Tired, but it’s a good tired.  I really like my new job and its only a few miles from home.  In Maine, that’s almost unheard of.  People here commute long distances.  So even if gas were to go to $4.00 or more a gallon again, a tank of gas will last me more than a week.  My life taking a turn for the better has made my health take a turn for the better as well.

Things are looking up.  After 18 months I actually went to Target to splurge on a pair of jeans, some cargo pants, and a few shirts.  I have changed so much since going through a job loss.  I’ve always known what’s really important in life, but living as I did really brought that point home.  Friends and family are really all there is in the end.  And I was blessed in so many ways by people who reached out to help me during my time of need.  You can’t even make some of this stuff up.  People are truly kind deep down.  There’s so much bitterness and hate in the world and that is what is shown on TV every day.  But in reality, the kindness of strangers has at times amazed me.

That’s it for now.  Eleven days left and unless something major happens, I’m going to lay low until election day.  I should write about what a complete idiot Elisabeth Hasselbeck is and how I’d like to smack her, open-handed, right across her mouth and then back it up with a smack upside the back of her head.  But she’s not worth it.  In my opinion, let her leave and go have her own show on Fox Noise.  It’s only a short step from there to obscurity.  Hey, that would be a great name for her show:  “From here to obscurity”, get it!  And I still get the giggles when Hasselbeck shows up in spell check with a suggestion of “horseback”.

Anyway, Ciao folks.  See ya’ soon.

AND DON’T FORGET:  VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE., VOTE (not more than once, just go vote).

The Sarah Palin week in review

She started the week by saying Obama was “palling around with terrorists”.   “Palling” isn’t a word; I believe she meant to say “hanging around in a friendly way like you would with your best pal”.  As a result of these statements, Palin and McCain supporters started yelling things like “off with his head” and “kill him” in reference to Barack Obama.  And when the ground swell was out of control she did nothing to stop it.  I finally found something that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have in common.  They both wanted Barack Obama assassinated at one time or another so that they could move into a position of power.  Clinton mentioned it in passing in June of 08 when she said the race wasn’t over yet because it was only early June.  And Bobby Kennedy was murdered in June during his 1968 run for the Presidency, so she still had time.

Next, because of Palin’s remarks, a woman at a McCain rally said she didn’t trust Obama because “he’s an Arab”.  Well first of all, if he was Arab he wouldn’t be allowed to run for President.  You have to be born an American citizen to be President.  What scares me is that one woman spoke out loud, in public, about show she was afraid of Obama because he was an Arab, and one man at another rally said that he was afrad of Obama being President because Obamais a terrorist.  If two people think it, that means a whole lot of people think it, too.  There should be a few simple questions asked of a voter to prove they have the faculties to cast a vote.  Start with “Can you spell you own name?” and then move on to difficult questions like “Do you have to be born in the USA to be President?  YES or NO”.  If you can’t answer these, you don’t deserve to vote.  When did acts of violence against American Presidents or Presidential Candidates become part of our culture.  Well, there were those “unfortunate incidents” but it’s not like it’s commonplace.

Next, I’ll take Abuse of Power for $200 Alex.

Check out this transcript of Palin’sconference call with reporters on Friday, October 10th, after the report of her “abuse of power” case was released.  It is all-telling and frankly, scary.  I still can not tell if she is dumb or clever. 

Here’s what the commission said:

“For the reasons explained in section IV of the report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.11(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. 

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

Here’s what Palin said on Friday after the above report summary was release:

I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.

Here is a transcript of part of the Palin conference call with the press

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/through-the-looking-glass-with-sarah-palin/

If you want to see the whole interview (with audio), click here.

Lastly, for fun, try the Sarah PalinBaby Name Generator.  With offspring named Track and Trigg, don’tcha wanna know what yer name would be if you were her child:
http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Have a nice day and I hope your next Sarah Week is as good as you last.

The Implosion of McCain

John McCain claims that Obama has no experience, or not enough, or he’s “green behind the ears”, or whatever it is he says.  On the other hand, during the debate he was blaming Obama for something and referred to Obama “and his cronies”.  Well, you can’t have it both ways.  He’s either “too new” or has “cronies”.  It can’t be both by mere definition.  It’s just more of the same unintelligible rhetoric from the McPalin campaign.

And now both Sarah and Cindy are calling Barack Obama a terrorist, and unpatriotic, and allow audience members to say things like “kill him” (meaning Obama) without any attempt to put that crowd in its place and not allow such hateful anger to be spewed.  They don’t stop it because they invite it.  The McPalin campaign has become THAT desperate.  They have no more ideas, no platform to speak of, and their support system is waning.  All that is left for McPalin is hate-mongering and inciting violence.

Candidates that run against each other are opponents, not enemies.  Barack Obama and John McCain are fellow Americans.  They have different opinions on what should happen next in this country and they should discuss those opinions openly so that Americans can decide for themselves who they agree with more.  That is what we call democracy.  But to try and make Americans believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim (not that there is anything wrong with that but they know Americans are afraid of Muslims), or worse, that Obama is an actual terrorist, is simply going too far.  You can’t tell me that McCain and his surrogates can’t hear the hate speech eminating from the audiences that attend their “hate sessions”.  You can’t tell me that they don’t hear audience members yelling out “Hussein!” when yelling out something hateful about Barack.

As for Cindy McCain, she should simply be taken out back and shot.   To stand there and say a chill went down her spine, or was it up her spine, when Barack Obama voted against funding for HER SON as a soldier in Iraq.  She never did say that her own husband, John McCain, voted against that very same war finding bill.  How big was the chill when she learned that her own husband didn’t support her son.  This is how desperate the McPalin crew is.  Obama is an unpatriotic, Muslim terrorist who was somehow involved in 9/11 because  he’s a mamber of the sleeper cell in Chicago.  Didn’t you know that?

I don’t know if this country can stomach any more of this bullshit.  I don’t know if Americans will stand for this stuff for another 27 days.  It’s time for America to tune out, or speak up.   I’ve decided to speak up.  Enough is enough.   

There was a hate-monger at a McCain event who said “Can you imagine waking up on November 5th with a President named Barack HUSSEIN Obama.  Let me answer that, please.  Yes, I can.

Thanks but no thanks to that campaign to nowhere

McCain has pulled out of Michigan.  McCain/Palin is doubling back to campaign in perennial red states like Nebraska.  McCain/Palin have lost serious ground in the polls in all 50 states.  And finally, McCain/Palin have nothing left but character attacks on Barack Obama.

If all of this doesn’t look like a political campaign that has already lost, what does?

Across the Republican landscape, and that includes right wing talk radio, Obama is being skewered with lies and half truths relating to his background.  Republicans are dredging up old topics that have already been addressed like Reverend Wright and William Ayers.  Most people know about the Reverend because he was covered by every news organization out there.  The William Ayers thing is a bit more obscure so the Republicans think they can get away with slanderous statements because they think the voters will listen to them enough to question whether or not it is true.

Well, to set the record straight, Obama was on the board of a school committee.  Mr. Ayers happened to be on that same committee. Ayers ended up donating to Obama’s Illinois State Campaign.  That’s it. That’s all there is.  Obama and Ayers were not friends, or buddies.  They didn’t hang around together, go to dinner, have play dates, etc.   Their relationship is the equivalent of being in the same homeroom in high school.  Yes, you are somewhat in the same area at the same time.  Yes, you may be involved in some activities together for whatever reason.  But you are not scampering around together, at night, dressed all in black with black wool caps, plotting to blow up buildings together.

But McPalin would have you think differently saying that Obama was an associate of Ayers.  There’s vague word: “associate”.  What the hell does that even mean?

I can only hope that Obama, Biden, their supporters, and those on the fence but leaning their way can hold out long enough to keep things in perspective.  Question everything you hear.  A desperate campaign will do desperate things.  You will begin to hear to truly terrible things about Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  But don’t fall for it.  They did the same thing to John Kerry in 2004.  Can you say “Swift Boat”?  It is now a verb.

McCain’s run for the presidency is over.  And those that think Sarah Palin is perfectly set up for 2012, think again.  What people will remember about her is how negative she was against the other side, how she turned into an attack dog in the final days of the campaign, and the Katie Couric interviews that will haunt her forever.  Let’s face it, simply not screwing up too badly in the VP debate isn’t enough to make you a star in politics.  And McCain will be close to 80 years old by then.  Their best bet is to pick a Republican Moderate next time around.  America is sick of extremist anything, including our own political parties.

Palin is a lying manipulative Republican whore

Today, Palin said it was time to take the gloves off.  OK, Sarah, you want to take the gloves off, mine are off too.  You are a bigger Republican whore than talk show host Laura Ingraham.  If the Republican Party was a whore house, Palin would be the madam.  Anything for a price.

Palin finally admitted that she read a newspaper, once.  She read the New York Times.  And this particular newspaper, in Palin’s opinion, said that Barack Obama is “palling around with” Terrorists.  “Palling” is not even a word, like so many others that come out of her mouth.  And I believe she said pallin’ with no “g”.  She doesn’t finish her words, her sentences, or her thoughts.

Again, I wrote about desperation previously, but this has got to be the limit.  Does McPalin really think that they are going to convince the American public that Barack Obama is having coffee and going to the movies and having play dates with terrorists? 

This domestic terrorist to which Palin is referring is now a college professor.  Yes, he was involved with some unsightly activities back in the early 1970’s.  But so was half the world.  

McPalin and their supporters are nervous; like a feral cat caught in a corner.  They are scratching and clawing at anything they can to survive.  They continue to attempt feats of distraction; slight of hand, if you will.  Obama wants to talk about issues.  The horrible condition of our economy.  Jobs. Foreclosures. the war in Afghanistan.  McPalin wants to talk about who Obama had lunch with or even more importantly, what he had for lunch.  If there were bean sprouts on his sandwich, then he is an elitist domestic terrorist.  Yes, that makes perfect sense.  I think I’ll vote for McPalin now.

Have you noticed that Palin can’t say NUCLEAR.  And who is the other famous world leader that says “NUK-YA-LUR” instead.  Yes, George W. Bush.   If there is one thing that will tell you that there won’t be any changes in Washington if McPalin is elected, it should be that she can’t even bother to pronounce words correctly,  just like Bush.  I find it truly offensive, and embarrassing that the leader of my country is illiterate.  And the next Republican team standing in line to take over will embarrass me EVEN MORE than Bush.  I never ever thought it was possible.  But I was wrong.

Let’s talk about health care.  I think Barack Obama said it best.  McCain wants to tax you on the health care benefits that your employer provides, if you are lucky enough to have an employer that provides them.  So if you make $40,000 and your employer spends $10,000 on health care for you, you will pay tax on $50,000 because McCain will count those benefits as income.  Furthermore, McCain wants to give you a tax credit of $5,000 so you can buy your own health care if you don’t have it through your employer.  First of all, you can’t buy health care for $5,000 a year.  It’s more like $10,000 – $12,000.  AND, since it is through a tax credit that means you have to pay for it yourself first, then at the end of the year you can deduct if from your taxes.   I don’t have $12,000 up front to pay for health care, do you?  And if you do, you’ll only get $5,000 back for your $12,000 of expenses.  How is this a universal health care plan?  Thanks but no thanks.

Barack’s plan is simpler.  If you have insurance, keep it.  If you don’t you can buy into universal health care even if you have a pre-existing condition.  Simple, yet logical.

So, like McPalin, I got off topic so I’ll just restate it.  Palin is a lying manipulative whore.

McCain and Palin – Desperate times call for desperate measures

Desperation is the name of the game for the next month leading up to election day.  McCain and Palin are trotting out hideous, hateful attacks against Barack Obama.  They are trying to send messages to the American public like “be very afraid of this Obama guy, he hangs out with terrorists”.  

Are you kidding me?  The see themselves slipping in the polls.  They are losing this election.  They will lose this election.  But in a last ditch effort to convince themselves they could actually win they are launching fear at the public.  Just wait.  McPalin is going to bring up Reverend Wright again.  The Republican Talking Points memo is circulating as we speak to right wing talk radio heads.  I don’t advocate listening to them but if you wanted to check, you could channel surf on your AM radio dial to Lush Windbag, Glenn Peckerhead, Laura Ingraham – REPUBLICAN WHORE, Yawn Hannity, and the rest and you would not know, I bet, which show you were listening to if you could not discern the voice because they are all going to say the EXACT SAME THING.  It really, really is as if they are all reading from some daily fax or email they get from the Wizard.  And by Wizard I mean Karl Rove.

Over the past month or so, it has been more noticeable, although I have noticed it right along.  And that is when the world starts spinning out of control McCain spins right along with it.  Obama, on the other hand, is clam, steady, and logical.  The Republicans are betting on calamity.  They want white noise to cloud up the real issues to that they can slip in unnoticed.  But America is too smart for that, I hope anyway.  As they may have learned with Bush, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  McPalin’s campaign is based on smoke and mirrors.  They are not saying anything yet they continue to do a lot of talking.  The is one desperate campaign, full of anger.  And the one thing I am sure of is America doesn’t vote for angry people.

McCain and Palin – The Mavericks?

I wrote a piece back in June that outlined the real meaning of the word “maverick”.  That was before Sarah Palin came on the scene.  But after last night’s debate where Ms. Palin (or as I call her, “Palin-comparison) referred to herself and John McCain as “mavericks” so many times, I thought it was time to revisit and repost my original piece.  I wrote this so long ago that I forgot about it until a recent visitor commented on it.  So I want to thank “Laura” for reminding me of this post.  Here’s the original, edited for content and to include Palin:

I honestly don’t know if John McCain associated himself with the word “maverick” or if it was the Press, or some other person or group.  But what I do know is that whenever John McCain is discussed on TV News, or Talk Shows, radio or television, his supporters (which I think at this point are limited to”Fox News”) refer to him as a “maverick”.  I decided to dig a little bit deeper into what “maverick” really means.

In the southwestern United States (including, obviously, Arizona from which John McCain hails as one of two U.S. Senators) the word “maverick” means an unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf) that belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it (see American Heritage Dictionary).  Or, in other words “a bullock or heifer that has not yet been branded, and is unclaimed or wild” (according to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary).

In an alternative definition from Dictionary.com, which refers to politicians specifically, the definition is “a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates”. 

Well, John McCain servers the public (his constituency) just as all of the other U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives in the Legislative branch of the government do.  It is their collective duty to have open, robust discussions; entertaining ideas and solutions from a broad range of perspectives and then make decisions, as a collective unit, about how to move forward.  In our two party system, there is obvious disagreement among the Legislators of the Land.  But, they must operate a a cohesive group, even with all of the disagreements, to pass any legislation.  Therefore, they are all his associates.  So how could McCain be a political maverick when any one of his supposed independent views is certainly in line with at least one other Senator or Congressperson, whether Republican, Democrat, or unaffiliated.  You can’t be a maverick when other people agree with you, even if the people agreeing are not the ones you want to agree with you.

So what we have left, for possible appropriate definitions of “maverick”, is an “unbranded range animal … that belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it”.  So in the State of Arizona which John McCain represents in Congress, a “maverick” is defined as “someone who has not been officially affiliated with any one person or group, but is available to the first bidder, or highest bidder”. Since Palin has also resorted to referring to herself as a “maverick”, the definition applies to her, too.

I”m just saying….