Rant warning..../rant on

As a christian I'm finding this whole line of 'obama as socialist/marxist' attacks more and more disgusting. McCain and Palin claim to represent the Christian Fundamentalist Base. Is that not the people who believe that:
I wish these people would start reading their Bible and not their propaganda!

./rant off - back to work.

I've been listening with interest to the interviews on CNN with a gentleman from Genoa Nv. who is supporting McCain. His main point seems to be over and over that he is a 'self made' man who does not depend on anyone for his income and doesn't feel that he has a social responsibility towards others.

This is the least plausible rationale that I can imagine for voting Republican. This Self-made businessman would be the first in line at the welfare office if people do not have the income to purchase his products. If his suppliers get outsourced and he has to buy from China or India his prices will rise, decreasing his profit margin once again.

The rugged individualism of the American Frontier is legend, and rightly so. But the frontiersmen and women would not have survived without the community and family supports that ensured food for everyone in the winter, and walls for the barn to keep the stock. We live in a new frontier, a 'global village' to quote McLuhan. If we dont band together, strengthen each other and re-stock the economic barn. We're ALL In for a long cold winter.

I think I may finally be getting a glimpse of what could happen when November 5 arrives and the crowds go home. Did you notice that McC. has demonstrably softened his attacks on Obama over the past few days even as Sarah has sharpened hers to an almost hysterical pitch. Someone starts race-baiting at a rally... Sarah. Someone drags out Bill Ayers from the 1960's blur... Sarah.

Does this sound plausible? 3 weeks from now (or slightly less if Troopergate implodes) Sarah is discredited for her part in the vituperative tenor of the race and the 'stoking' of racist and hateful people at the GOP rallies. She goes from being the hockey mom to being in truth the pit-bull. The attack dog that gets put down when it bites once too often. With no mention of the fact that someone was holding her chain and feeding her the red meat. She dissappears into the Alaskan mist to face her own judgement in Troopergate.

And John? Having pulled back to a more fact (okay.. half fact) based policy discussion. He can slide back into his role in the Senate with just a 'might have been'.

This is a point of view on the whole Joe SixPack meme that I hadn't considered. The whole post can be found here, but I'm quoting the first few paragraphs for epic truthiness!

My Fellow Joe Six-Packs:

Sarah Palin et al like to call us "Joe Six-Pack," and they think we like it too. They think it sounds folksy and homey and cute.

Sure. It's a folksy, homey, cute way to euphemistically call us something very close to trashy, ignorant hillbillies. We're just not supposed to be smart enough to realize it.

See, JSP isn't referring to our rock hard abs. JSP literally means "the blue collar guy who picks up a six pack of cheap beer every night after work and goes home to watch Nascar (and probably beat his wife/kids and light a cross on the black neighbor's lawn but we won't say anything about that wink wink nudge nudge)." That is the message that they are trying to get across to America.

I knew that the whole idea of 'lowest common denominator' was bothering me. Thank you to the folks at copperwise for clearly stating why.

Here is a well made tool for those of us still trying to decipher exactly what happened last night.  I almost fell out of my chair laughing reading it the first time. Then I realized what I was reading and I almost cried.

http://adennak.dailykos.com/

I've read a few threads here and there in the blogosphere about Palin being the next Dick Cheney. Propping up and eventually 'managing' an elderly and often frazzled figurehead. Something didn't sit right with that picture. Now I think I understand. A recent comment in Huffpost shed a bit of light on the situation.

What if it turns out that McCain was actually well aware of Palin's "Troopergate" problems? What if McCain accepted the fact that he needed Palin to win the election, but reckoned that he could deal with her later, after they were inaugurated? So here's the scenario: on January 20, 2009, Palin is sworn in as vice president of the United States. But soon thereafter, with McCain's behind-the-scenes support, the Troopergate investigation explodes and Palin, forced to cop a plea, resigns as vice president. McCain then gains his revenge on the conservative wing of his party and appoints Lieberman or Ridge to the vice presidency. Like Gerald Ford 35 years earlier, either of these gentlemen would be likely to receive bipartisan support from Congress.

The post goes on to favorably compare the chances of Leiberman and Ridge to get the Veep position after an 'unfortunate disgrace' to Ms. Palin.

Thought provoking.. listening John?

This is a nice article by Mr. Boot laying out his own idea of what a 'neo-con' is and admitting that he surely is one.

My favorite from a first reading has to be this quote:

"If we are to avoid another 9/11, they argue, we need to liberalize the Middle East--a massive undertaking, to be sure, but better than the unspeakable alternative. And if this requires occupying Iraq for an extended period, so be it; we did it with Germany, Japan and Italy, and we can do it again."

Did you guys catch the slip that Sarah Palin made in her speech today. At least once, and I'm fairly sure twice she referred to the Palin/McCain Administration. Makes me wonder who is the figurehead in this team? Signs seem to be pointing to a different form of the George Bush/Dick Cheyney presidency. Old John, respected, honorable, loyal,... etc. etc. etc..... figureheading for Sarah, the barracuda of AK.

An interesting piece I found on michaelmoore.com while working (sniff) this afternoon.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=10477

I've got no verification that this person is a 'cousin' to McCain. But given the details in the piece it seems legit.

If so, then I really do start to feel sorry for Mr. McCain. Not only is he alienating the country he truly wants to serve, but his own family seems to be seeing the differences between John McCain 2002 and McSame 2008.

For the past two days something has been itching at that corner of my subconscious which, in my earlier days, used to be dedicated to working out the ethics and philosophy issues in my college classes.

Tonight, watching with an admittedly jaundiced eye the RNC and the commentary afterward it finally bubbled up to the surface and now I know why I am so uncomfortable with Governor Palin.

It isn't that she is a mom of 5 - I have kids and I know anyone who can keep a family going can run any nation on earth.  It isn't that her daughter is pregnant out of wedlock - If that were a crime half the great men in history would be the children of jailbirds.  It isn't even that she's a Republican - less of a failing than a delusion to my mind.

The issue for me is what I see when I get under the hair, behind the lipstick and past the 'look you in the eye - moose hunter' attitude. What I see is George W. Bush looking back at me.

I see a Mayor who led a campaign to ban books from the public library, apparently seeming to claim some form of 'ownership' (emphasis mine) over the morals and standards of the town.   I see a Governor who claims to be a reformer and to stand against 'big oil' but has repeatedly gone to bat for the oil companies to ensure that environmental bills did not affect their profits. I see a Vice Presidential Candidate who hired lawyers to delay her own investigation so that the process of determining truth would not be seen to affect the popularity of her candidate.

And most distressing to me, I see a claim to a 'divine right' of her philosophies to override any other thought, lifestyle or culture because 'its american'. Well, the Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Blacks, Whites and Purples are also American. America isnt a jigsaw puzzle made of one shape/one colour pieces. It is part of a great global mix and if America wishes to be the dominant force it was 15 or 20 years ago it will have to earn that right by its leadership in economic development, assistance to underprivileged nations, development of safe sane energy practices and many many other fields that have fallen by the wayside in the search for some sort of divine manifest destiny.

America is not great just because it is America. America is great when it acts in such a way as to show leadership in the world by example.