Palin, The Popes and The Patriot Act

Been reading all the rationales, defenses and support for Lady Sarah and her nearly 8 minute video on the recent events in Tucson. Didn't intend to write anything myself because my thoughts on what she said were purely negative and it takes soooo much energy to answer negativity with more negativity. There is already enough of that out there.

However today, I read columnist Stanley Fish, who among other things compared Palin to a Frank Capra story, specifically, Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Fish obviously did a lot of work on the column, as have most who have weighed in on this issue. To me, however, all are missing the point. Fish's column is here.

The 8 minute video by Palin was simply a bad audition tape put together by a wannabe broadcast journalist who has found that huffing politics is a better high that can last for years, if you work it right. She looked uncomfortable in the staged setting. Even her clothing didn't seem to fit right. She was playing the part of a presidential candidate or at least what in her mind was a presidential looking person.. And then, there was that thing she does with her mouth when she finishes a sentence.

Those ticks can make or break you on camera. Instead of taking her cues from Reagan, who was very photogenic, she should have taken one or two from Nixon, who refused to wear make up during his debates with the luminous JFK. That one thing cause Nixon to look bad on camera and probably, more than anything else, lost him the election in 1960. Palin should practice in front of a mirror while she is studying up on policy. It is not only what you say..it is how you look when you say it.

-0-

Doesn't there seem to be a rush on to make a saint out of the late Pope John Paul II? His miracle was reportedly curing a French nun of Parkinson’s disease. Well, what about the 2000 or so children who were abused during his reign as Pope? What kind of miracles did he work for them? The evidence is getting stronger every day that he actively took part in the three decade long coverup which was overseen by the current Pope Benedict.

Santo subito? I think not....

-0-

The Patriot Act is coming up for renewal once again. This nefarious piece of legislation, which was passed before the ash and dust settled on the World Trade Center, takes away many, many freedoms that we citizens take for granted. Under the Patriot Act, the government can come into your home without a warrant...they can gain access to your phone records, your emails, or your medical records...just to name a few things....without ever having to show that you are suspect of crime. They don't have to ask for them either.

And...there is an on going “gag order” meaning that anyone involved cannot tell you that you are under suspicion, either.

Everything we, write, say or do is now under surveillance by the government, if this act stays on the books. This act means I can be arrested and jailed for what I am writing now.

A simple call or email message to your congressman will help. Big brother really is watching...

Palin/McCain Land at Lunken

The straight talk express flew into Cincinnati’s municipal airport this evening for a brief visit to the Queen City. Several thousand people crowded the hangar and adjoining tarmac, in order to hear from the candidates. The GOP loaded the back stage with office holders like Jean Schmidt, republican chair Alex Triantafilo, and Rob Portman to name a few. Portman also mc’ed the pep rally. Gretchen Wilson was the entertainment prior to the arrival of the candidates.

A coatless Cindy McCain, looking very cold in the 40-degree temperatures, warmed up the crowd and then introduced the Governor of Alaska, to thunderous applause and chanting. It was obvious from the response that the crowd was mainly there to see and hear their Sarah. She didn’t disappoint them, quickly jumping on the attack with her now familiar stump speech, crammed full of “gotcha” lines aimed squarely at Obama. She sprinkled the new and latest buzz words throughout her talk, switching socialist for terrorist, leaving out Bill Ayers, and accusing Obama of planning to raise taxes on everybody. She was sharp and to the point.

But I can’t say that about McCain.

He began okay, opening a notebook with a prepared script to keep him company along with the teleprompter. But he still managed to get lost within his words, constantly losing his place and repeating himself over and over, sometimes, obviously confusing his listeners. He retread the same attack territory previously trodden by his VP. He was very animated throughout. So animated, in fact, that I wondered if he was amped on something. He leaned heavily on his past history and reputation, as the man who acts and strikes quickly to solve problems. His delivery, along with being unusually hyper also smacked of desperation. Something I hadn’t seen earlier in the campaign.

He promised to cut taxes for everyone from the top, down, and told Cincinnatians that he could tell from the audience that he was in McCain country and that Ohio would make him president.

I was curious to see what fashionista Sarah was wearing today. It was dark and subtle, a suit that I’d seen her wear before. She’d peaked my curiosity because of all the talk the past couple of days about how much money the RNC had paid to buy her new clothes. She may talk and sound the way she thinks hockey moms talk, but she’s not dressing like one these days. As reported, yesterday, the republican national committee shelled out 150,000 dollars for a new wardrobe for her. That’s more than she makes as governor of Alaska. That’s not exactly a hockey mom’s budget. It’s not a Cindy McCain budget either, but close. Mrs. McCain routinely wears jackets that would pay for three or four of my house. But, then she can afford to dress like that, since daddy left her a 100-million dollars.

The republicans jumped all over John Edwards about his 400-dollar haircuts, but haven’t yet said a word about McCain’s 5000-dollar make up artist.

The thing that really got me though, was that the McCain campaign, in defending the cost of the wardrobe, said that it will be donated to charity after the election.....REALLY!? She just went to Nieman Marcus for the first time in her life, picked out some really, really nice, classy clothes, and they’re going to make her give it to charity? I don’t think so.

I mean, why lie about it? The pictures don’t lie...like many suddenly thrust into the spotlight people, Sarah has no taste...doesn’t know how to dress....she had to kick it up a notch....We Americans like our representatives and celebrities to look good, not tacky. Honestly, from what she was wearing as the mayor of Wasilla, she needs to find the negatives of those pictures and burn them.

In addition to a new wardrobe, she needs a speech and voice coach. Did you notice that she talked with no accent on Saturday Night Live last weekend? You betcha!

Race Card

You’ve seen those old 20th century postcards depicting lynchings in America. There are museum exhibits of these cards that were sent through the mails , just like you, or I would send a card from our latest vacation spot, like Las Vegas or the Virgin Islands.

When I look at those, it’s not the mangled man or woman, hands tied behind their back, dangling at the end of the rope, slowly twisting in the wind that horrifies me. It’s the crowd surrounding the spectacle that terrifies me. The looks on the faces of the men and women who had witnessed the killing of another human being, for no other reason than they were black and had offended some white woman or crossed some invisible line drawn in the dirt, by some white man.

Washington Post columnist, Charles Krauthammer, opened his column today, which he titled; “Who’s Playing the Race Card?” with these words:

“Let me get this straight. A couple of agitated yahoos in a rally of thousands yell something offensive and incendiary, and John McCain and Sarah Palin are not just guilty by association -- with total strangers, mind you -- but worse: guilty according to the New York Times of "race-baiting and xenophobia."

Mr. Krauthammer goes on to argue that McCain and Palin are being vilified for injecting race into the campaign when actually it was Barack Obama who brought up the subject.. He maintains that McCain and Palin should be held guiltless when a couple of “yahoos” as he calls them, shout obscenities every time Palin or McCain say Obama. Continuing his reasoning, since McCain and Palin can be held accountable for these stranger actions, Obama should be held accountable for his past associations with William Ayers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the organization ACORN.

Mr. Krauthammer’s argument is comparing apples to oranges. The McCain/Palin role in their campaign rallies is more like the one or two guys who beat the black man, found the rope and tree and strung him up as the crowd watches in not so silent approval.

If this scenario was also happening at Obama rallies when Obama/Biden invoked the names of McCain/Palin, then Krauthammer might have an argument. But I’ve personably attended these rallies on both sides, since I do live in the swing state of Ohio. There are no similarities.

Until shamed into speaking, McCain/Palin stood silently smiling, while the rage spread through their crowds. Obama’s press releases tell you up front “don’t bring homemade signs, and he shushes the crowd as soon as anyone tries to take his opponent’s names in vain.

I don’t worry about who surrounds me when I’m at an Obama rally. I do worry when the rhetoric starts to heat up at a McCain/Palin rally If the violent rhetoric was happening on both sides within the same type of situation, then Krauthammer would have an argument. He doesn’t. His column is merely a thinly veiled attack from the right attempting to paint Obama as a shady man with a shady past. The extreme right can’t beat him on issues, so they slam him with mud balls.

Now if Obama were to suddenly flood the market with campaign advertisements that talked about, say, Palin’s husband’s affiliations with the secessionists of Alaska, or her affiliations with the African witch doctor, or McCain’s past affiliations with General John Singlelaub or current affiliation with Oliver North, or pastor John Hagee, or even McCain’s past affiliation with ACORN, then Krauthammer would have had justification for some of the things he stated in his column. There is even a white supremacist group hiding in McCain’s past. But none of this has been brought up by the Obama campaign, in ads or at campaign rallies.

The scenario that I opened with, is ugly. It doesn’t feel good to even talk about or to write about. It is an open wound on all of us over the age of 45. But as long as the Charles Krauthammer’s of the world refuse to take responsibility for their own racial blindness while at the same time justifying the racist subtexts that still permeate American politics, I will continue to bring it up.

Obama may be our next president...a black man in the White House...But he is only the beginning of true racial healing in America. Columns like those written by Charles Krauthammer show us that we still have a very long way to go.





.

The Fat Lady is Tuning Up

She won’t be singing until November 4th, but she is beginning to clear her throat. The first word that comes to mind tonight was not presidential with regard to John McCain. It was condescending. But I’m gonna back off and exhale. We’re closer than we’ve ever been and like Obama tonight, we all need to keep our cool and get our collective butts to the polls and cast our votes, to make this man president of the United States.

McCain threw the kitchen sink at him tonight. He brought up Bill Ayers, which was a tactical mistake if you know anything debates. He started talking about his plans and possible programs but then fell back to his old attack lines. Lines so familiar by now that I could’ve parried them without breaking a sweat.

Tonight, it wasn’t Joe Sixpack. It was Joe the Plumber. And here, McCain made another mistake. He screwed up the guy’s last name, not good on TV. That’s always an indication that you haven’t fact checked yourself.

McCain had more passion tonight. Several times it looked as if he was gonna cry, especially when he talked about Congressman John Lewis’ statements last week. Lewis, you will recall, took McCain/Palin to task for demagoguery, harking back to the days of George Wallace, the segregationist who ran for president. I guess he was angry, taking Lewis' comments personally, since he said previously, that Lewis was one of his heroes. McCain wrote in his memoirs that when he was a little kid, if he got mad he would throw himself down on the ground and hold his breath until he passed out. That's what it looked like tonight, many times, except he didn't push himself to pass out. It's tough when your hero takes you to the woodshed for stuff you said.

McCain was also given a chance to defend his vice presidential choice. He said she was a great politician, a great reformer, but I never heard him answer the question, which was....Is his VP ready to step in and lead the country. McCain kind of talked around that, never actually endorsing his VP.

Another thing....is one of Palin’s kids autistic? McCain mentioned that a couple of times. You would think that he would know that, given all the thought he put into selecting Palin.

I thought he also blew it with the base when he said he would not use the litmus test of abortion in making his judicial appointments. Obama danced around that one too. Not around a woman's right to choose, but whether or not he would use the litmus test to select judges.

John McCain needed a knockout tonight. I’m a boxer’s brat and one thing I know about fights is that you can’t decision a champ. McCain did not get his knockout. In the end he just kind of faded, tired and out of shape.

I would have like to hear more about the current financial mess, but I guess we will have to wait until after the election.

I think Obama won this one, too. And I guess many Ohioans agree with me, the Channel 12 phone poll had it 55% thought Obama won. Up until last week, this poll was overwhelmingly favoring McCain. I guess Ohio is painting itself Blue these days.

These next three weeks will be like waiting for Christmas..

Town Hall Debate

Well, the senile mutant ninja turtle didn’t get it done tonight. He stayed true to form and couldn’t resist getting in a condescending slap or two, as well as a new slur. Got to give McCain an “A” for creativity, when he came up with a new phrase to go along with Elitist, Uppity and N*****.

THAT ONE?..... WTF is that in reference to a United States Senator.

Otherwise, McCain was a bit more subdued tonight. He’s apparently going to let his attack bitch, er dog do his dirty work. The only thing that Palin isn’t bringing to her lynching/campaign stops is a rope. But then I’d lay odds that someone in her crowd probably has one stashed nearby, based on reports from the field today.

Obama played safe and presidential tonight. I didn’t hear anything about the economy that made me comfortable. We’re screwed and both incoming candidates don’t really have a clue, or so it seems.

On to next week...