John McCain gave his concession speech last night in Arizona. It was noble, humble, and sincerely congratulatory. It reminded me of a John McCain that I remember from years ago.

John McCain was a man whose integrity I once admired, but not anymore. After watching him repeatedly sling mud, including implying that his opponent was a socialist, I find it difficult to muster even an iota of respect for him. The one moment I held out hope that I would still be able to respect McCain was when he seized the reins on his runaway fearmongering. When he corrected audience members and told them, “you have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency,” and took the microphone from an old lady claiming Obama was a Muslim and corrected her, I thought I could respect him again.

The next day it was right back to scare tactics.

McCain’s ideals are outdated, and his party loyalty is far too strong. While it looked like he was genuinely uncomfortable at times smearing his opponent during the campaign, he did almost nothing to stop it. While he played up Obama’s win at his concession, he did not apologize for his campaign at all, though a presidential rally in a concession speech is probably not the best place for that.

So, congratulations, McCain. You’ve managed to make yourself not look like a complete asshole. Now I just have to listen to people call the leader of this country a socialist who hangs out with terrorists for the next four years. Thanks a lot.

Originally two draft posts, one from 2007, and one a couple months ago. I had been sent this chain letter twice, but decided not to send these to their original addressees, but combine the two response emails into one post. Please to enjoy:

I agree with most of this letter, except:

“Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11?”
No, this is the same president who told the intelligence community to find information linking Iraq to 9/11 so he could invade the country.

“The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession?”
The economy ebbs and flows; presidents and taxes have little actual causal effect on it. Cutting the death tax doesn’t count, as that tax really applies to rich people.

“Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?”
Keeping us safe by invading other countries on false pretenses to serve his own self-interest? I’m sure that will keep us safe.

“Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn’t kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way……Insane!”
I’m sorry, I thought this was America, the one with freedom of speech. I’m not condoning the book, but he’s free to express his thoughts however he wants. Besides, aren’t you innocent until proven guilty?

Regardless of individual points of contention, my personal feeling of dissatisfaction (I am not an unhappy person) with this country is with the current presidential administration, particularly its views on foreign policy. I fear that our involvement in a civil war that doesn’t concern us, the way we are playing both sides, will only ensure more attacks on this country. We weren’t attacked because we’re “spoiled brats.” We were attacked because of our constant involvement in the Middle East, and our economic extortion of developing nations.

From John Perkins’ book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (which I highly recommend):

Today we see the results of this system run amok. Executives at our most respected companies hire people at near-slave wages to toil under inhuman conditions in Asian sweatshops. Oil companies wantonly pump toxins into rain forest rivers, consciously killing people, animals, and plants, and committing genocide among ancient cultures. The pharmaceutical industry denies lifesaving medicines to millions of HIV-infected Africans. Twelve million families in our own United States worry about their next meal. The energy industry creates an Enron. The accounting industry creates an Andersen. The income ratio of the one-fifth of the world’s population in the wealthiest countries to the one-fifth in the poorest went from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1995. The United States spends over $87 billion conducting a war in Iraq while the United Nations estimates that for less than half that amount we could provide clean water, a equate diets, sanitation services, and basic education to every person on the planet.

And we wonder why terrorists attack us?

Don’t get the wrong idea. I love this country, and am grateful that I live in a first world country with all the benefits and rights that I have. I am not opposed to the bravery of soldiers executing their mission, but that’s what it is: a mission. It’s their job. However, the person leading the current charge, their commander-in-chief, is the epitome of what exactly is wrong with this country. A group of out-of-touch rich old guys attempting to become more rich by plundering anything and everything they can while gaining support by using fear against harm and specific groups of people. That is the true definition of terrorism. Look it up.

Complaining about the direction our country is heading is not unpatriotic. It’s what defines our country as a democracy, and a dissenting voice is the definition of patriotism: wanting the best for your country. The beauty of our system is that we don’t have to like our current officials, and can change them out without having an entire governmental coup and throwing this country into chaos and anarchy.

Maybe it’s the fact that I have to defend the decision not to go with McCain (who wants more of the same BS) at my workplace (who are all hardcore christian right-to-lifers) constantly, but I almost feel the need to illustrate: this country, in its current direction, is fucked. Unless something seriously changes soon, we will not be the world’s superpower, we will not be the nation the world looks up to, and we will certainly not be the nation that we all want ourselves to be. George Bush is not our savior; he was a CEO (of a company that was financed with money from Osama bin Laden’s half-brother) before he was a president, and is even less qualified to be president of the United States than Sarah Palin.

Let me clarify: I’m not a liberal by nature, at least in the classical sense. I don’t think the government should be involved in as much of our lives as they are, but the conservative party now is not the traditional conservative. They’re neoconservative, which is a euphemism for “against social programs” and “against equality.” Neoconservative viewpoints hide behind a “God said this, and I know it to be true, therefore it must be true” thought process, which I can’t seem to wrap my head around. Neoconservatism is like traditional liberalism, but without the liberal belief system. They still believe in legislating opinion to protect the citizenry from themselves.

If you believe this country is doing just fine as-is, and that McCain represents a positive future for America, then I am truly saddened. No amount of pleading or convincing on my part will be fruitful. I’d like to tell you about how the GOP lies to its constituency, and how they portray benefits for people making over $250,000 per year as being relevant to normal middle-class citizens, and how their health care plan (which was contrived in the first place by Nixon and Kaiser Permanente) makes you feel like you’re the one at fault is completely screwed up, but honestly…

Nobody listens to somebody who says these things. At the first mention of death tax, health care, or energy concerns, people who listen to the GOP completely shut down and repeat the mantra, “estate tax bad, social welfare bad, offshore drilling good.” I’ve been told that McCain’s policies are good because he’s against taxing working folk, against large corporations, and against “Big Oil”…but what does that mean? Anybody can take a stance against taxing, stealing from, and raping people.

Words don’t mean anything with regard to political rhetoric. Take a look at the record of this country. If you want specific examples, I’ll give them. What I don’t want is another intellectually dishonest conversation about how expressing my issues with this country is unpatriotic, or how Obama is another Hitler, Castro, or other dictator. I don’t want to hear about campaign-trail-soundbites about some exaggeration that Obama made about McCain. I certainly don’t want to hear about how disagreeing with some of these things makes me less of an American.

With that, I’m done discussing politics. I will continue to support Barack Obama until he is elected, but my vote has been cast.

A co-worker sent me these video links some time back, after we had some minor back-and-forth about our candidate choice. He then called me blind, and said that voting for Obama was “stupid.” This, after introducing his polarized beliefs by calling Obama my “magic man” and comparing his speeches to Fidel Castro and Hitler (a common tactic of the right-wing).

These YouTube videos are his attempt to, I don’t know, show me what an awful person Obama is. These came to my inbox back in July, so it’s time to recycle my email response (which is why it is addressed to “you”).

My responses follow the video links:

Obama Lies Again On Today Show About McCain - Obama says McCain wanted troops there for 100 years, but McCain says being there for 50 or 60 years is “fine with me.” Yes, they caught him in an error, because that is not precisely what McCain said, even though McCain’s point was that we would stay in Iraq for as long as it takes.

Obama LIED About Taking Money From Oil Companies (PA Ad) - About Obama taking oil and gas money…$214,000 or so? McCain has taken $548,712 from the same companies…and voted for $5b in tax breaks for oil companies in 2006.

Factcheck.org CAUGHT BARACK OBAMA LYING! - A chain email? I automatically distrust the source of spam, no matter the content. This same report says he’s not technically lying about lobbyist money.

[Video removed by user - Obama's remarks about "guns and bibles"] - More media whipping. The “bitter” remark was poor wording, which he copped to.

Obama gaffe - I am so not impressed that he messed up his example of how to explain the cost of healthcare. People make mistakes.

Obama Claims He’s Visited 57 States - He says “57 states,” but accounts for AK and HI, plus the one state he didn’t go to. I really think he meant to say “47″ (47 + AK + HI + the unvisited state = 50) Again, people make mistakes, and I truly hope nobody’s dumb enough to fool themselves into thinking he doesn’t know how many states are in the US.

Barack Obama - Gaffe Mania I - Dumber than Dumb - Each one of these mistakes except the third- and second-to-last are some nitpicky BS about getting exact dates wrong.

Barack Hussein Obama Exposed: Lies, Gaffes & Backtracks 3 - He says “If Iran tried to pose a threat to us, they wouldn’t stand a chance,” then says that Iran with nuclear weapons would be a grave threat to the region. Not really backpedaling, but a clarification of a different situation.

Morning Joe to Obama: START TELLING THE TRUTH - I agree that Obama’s defense of this man is stupid, and I disagree with most of what Rev. Wright says, but on the other hand I also don’t think Obama’s going to be a Jew-massacring antisemitic Muslim terrorist just because he won’t turn his back on his pastor. This seems more like a personal issue, and not a political one. Oh, and John McCain himself took this issue off the table.

Obama Is A LIAR - Obama IS a member of the CFR. So is Clinton (Bill & Hillary), McCain, Romney, Edwards, Dodd, Guiliani, Cheney, Gore, Bush (Sr.), Colin Powell, Angelina Jolie, Halliburton of Dubai, BP, Exxon, IBM, Time Warner, and many, many others. It doesn’t mean the CFR is some Illuminati organization or cabal that wants to globalize the world. It’s a council…on foreign relations. Knowing how to handle our foreign relations and talking about it with other companies and persons that have foreign interests doesn’t automatically make you a fan of globalization.

If ‘consistency’ is your only measure of worth for the president, then you’ve somehow forgotten the past 8 years and what ’sticking to the same story no matter what’ has gotten this country. If you are looking for mistakes in speeches, they’re pretty easy to find. The following are literally the first results I found on YouTube for McCain (which, incidentally, are about more serious issues than the ones you keep sending me):

The Videotape Catches McCain Lying Again
McCain Lying AGAIN 7-2-08
John McCain Lying About Oil Spills at GM Town Hall
YouTube catches McCain lying about Iraq troop level gaffe

Politico: Obama’s own voice may haunt him - I guess I can preemptively create the next anti-Obama piece: “Obama Enthusiastically Endorses Drug Use” The end of the article even has a quote on how the next attack ads will use Obama’s words against him. You might as well just send the links to the next McCain campaign ads featuring Obama’s voice instead of the piece describing them.
[Note: he did, and then asked if I believed that was Obama's voice because I was refusing to see the "truth"]

There was a young charismatic leader. He promised change,free health care, help for the poor, better education, regulated commerce…

What was his name? Obama?

No. It was Fidel Castro.

(Query for “change” in Castro’s speeches)

(Query for “promise” in Castro’s speeches)

I shouldn’t have to address the fact that McCain and every other leader in the history of mankind has promised change, but there you go. I guess I do.

I suppose this…

He claims further that people have misinterpreted a remark of his in a recent speech which indicated he intended to abolish both the lower and upper economic classes and put everyone into a level middle class. “We do hope to raise the standard of living of everyone to what the middle class now has,” he says. But he insists he has no thought of taking money away from any wealthy individual who invests in industry. “Industry owners will still make money,” he promises.”

…means that Obama is a communist. Well, there’s no arguing with that kind of “logic.”

Hamdan gets 5 1/2 years on terror charge
Obama Muslim Outreach Adviser Resigns Over Fund Ties - I’m not sure I understand what Obama’s muslim outreach advisor has to do with Osama bin Laden’s driver. Also, I’m not sure how you can be surprised that the muslim outreach advisor would have ties to Islamic groups. Isn’t that his primary job responsiblity?

“Call me right wing, call me whatever. But there are lies and inconsistencies coming out of this mans mouth that bear scrutiny. He has a thin veneer of polish, that once you peel it away leaves you with some very disturbing facts.”

I don’t think your opinions on this make you right-wing, but I’m also not sure why you disliked Obama even before any of these “gaffes” happened. You keep saying it’s because he’s some sinister person behind his charismatic facade. To imply that a presidential candidate might not be the person his campaign says is laughable, because everybody already knows it to be truth. Saying you don’t know how a presidential race works with regard to honesty is being dishonest with yourself.

If you had any issue with any of his plan for America, you haven’t mentioned it aside from “he’s going to raise taxes,” which I already told you is a non-issue for me. I have tried on a couple different occasions to have an honest discussion about the presidential candidates, but the only thing you’ve said about any of his other issues are, “his plans are crazy,” then proceeded to basically forward everything that McCain supporters are trying to spread to everyone else, though you haven’t said you support McCain, only that “he sucks too.”

I would be willing to have a fair and reasonable discussion about presidential candidates, but I don’t consider “fair and reasonable” to mean you bashing my candidate choice as being stupid. I actually took the time to rationally address every piece of information you’ve sent me, and you’ve continued to mock and belittle my decision to support Obama. If your only goal is to tell me what a bad choice I made, then please stop sending me links about the presidential race.

 

In yet another pathetic gambit by the McCain camp, they wish to suspend the first presidential debate with Barack Obama.

Now, this debate has been a long time coming, ever since McCain alleged that the “tone of this whole campaign would have been very different if Senator Obama had accepted my request for us to appear in town hall meetings all across America.”

Town hall meetings are a way for GOP candidates to spout the mindless drivel that hits all the emotional centers of people who live their lives according to knee-jerk reactions, shutting down any and all logic. I think McCain knows that in a serious debate, Obama would tear him limb from limb without breaking a sweat.

McCain and Obama both already agreed to put politics aside for a moment and issued a joint statement about the economy:

Now is a time to come together - Democrats and Republicans - in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail. This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

With them both being senators, I wholeheartedly agree they should focus on the economy, but only to the extent that they are needed. This raises the question: who the hell do you think you are, McCain? You’re one senator. Your bowing out of one debate on a Friday night is not going to save this country from economic disaster; you’re not even proposing legislation.

He says he will “suspend [his] campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative,” even though he’s uh, not the President. He’s not the House leader, nor is he the President of the Senate.

(On an aside, he also said, “I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me,” which is almost complete bullshit.)

Neither McCain or Obama will singlehandedly save this country, and suggesting that refocusing their efforts elsewhere is disingenuous, and smacks of the shallow sort of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.

Update while this post was sitting the draft queue: According to the AP, the Senate has reached an agreement only hours before Obama and McCain were scheduled to meet with President Bush on this very issue. Since he’s no longer pivotal to this agreement, maybe McCain can show some balls and move forward with the debate? If not, Obama says he’ll go forward with it anyway and answer questions from the moderator himself.

Talk about having somebody by the balls.

I’ve noticed that during the past eight years, there seems to be a huge distortion of reality that the current administration projects that makes them invulnerable to political attack. Despite the widespread knowledge that our rationale for invading Iraq was completely false (and how that rationale mysteriously changed), despite the facts coming to light about warrantless surveillance while ignoring existing FISA laws, despite McCain reversing his position on certain torture techniques to strengthen his conservative base, conservative pundits and followers still cling to their party.

Recently, the GOP has decided they’d like to pander some, and pick as his Vice President someone who is less qualified than the Democratic nominee they’ve been bashing for the past year. With McCain’s acceptance speech for nomination, and Sarah Palin’s subsequent whipping of the media, they’ve now insulted your intelligence, and continue to do so daily with the soundbites and hypocrisy I keep seeing.

Why are you not angry at these people? They have, for months, told you how unfit Obama is to be our leader because of his inexperience. They have implied that he is secretly a Muslim, that he engages in “terrorist fist jabs” (for proper use of the fist pound, see here (note that this does not imply that anyone involved murders hundreds and hundreds of people)), and that he wants to raise your taxes.

Now, with the nomination of Sarah Palin, they tell you ridiculous things like, “Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia.” I suppose that implies that Alaskans are constantly fighting off Russian attack, and Russian leaders come through Alaska on diplomatic missions? She’s the “commander-in-chief” of the Alaska National Guard (by the way, Tucker Bounds is a fucking weasel…he can’t even answer a question on GOP-mouthpiece Fox News, bonus points if you notice that after being pinned down, he says McCain will absolutely not raise taxes, after McCain himself has said that “nothing is off the table”).

It’s obvious to anyone who looks at it objectively that the GOP continues to sling mud to defend a candidate who, like George W. Bush, is vastly unqualified to be the President of the United States. Whether you “trust” Obama or fear him because of his charisma, consider this: he started as a civil rights attorney, met his wife while championing the rights of the working man, and ran a very upfront and honest campaign (especially when you consider the 2000 and 2004 elections), and won. As the presidential candidate, he continues to focus on issues to help America, and the right continues to make it about terrorism and taxes, the bane of redneck-thinking everywhere. Can we just for once not elect a candidate based on how he feels about abortion and gay people?

Unless you make well over $120,000 per year, there is absolutely no reason to support McCain, because he’ll continue doing what the right has been doing since the Bush administration started: lower corporate taxes, deregulate industries (which only helps the industry, never the consumer), and strive keep working poor people in the poor house. They constantly insult your intelligence by spouting a load of pandering crap (which you inexplicably gobble up and repeat endlessly), telling you things that are easily verified as untrue, and waffle back and forth on key issues. I honestly don’t understand it. Why are you not lynching these fucking people?

At least candidate I support doesn’t treat me like a dumbass.

There is so much more to this, but it would take forever to write, and who’d read the whole thing? Honestly, even I’m starting to get tired of how long this is.