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McCain and Palin: To Their Eternal Shame
Outrage is a columnist's best friend.
When you're working up a good head of steam, words pour out in self-righteous anger and columns almost write themselves.
This is not one of those columns.
It started out as one, because I spent most of last week in a state of horror, anger and disgust over the way presidential candidate John McCain was running his campaign.
Here's McCain, that poor, corrupt and putrid man, during the last debate: "Let me just say categorically I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies... (but) you're going to have some fringe peoples. You know that. And I've... we've always said that that's not appropriate."
Notice that last part -- "we've always said that that's not appropriate." If you're scratching your head and wondering why you've never heard McCain forcibly tell his supporters to stop shouting "Kill Obama" at rallies, it's because he never has. Never.
And here's his running mate, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, last week: "It's not negativity. It's truthfulness." And here are some of those random "truthful" quotes from people attending Palin rallies in Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
"Charles Manson was a community organizer."
"I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over. That's not Christian. This is a Christian nation."
"When you've got a nigra running for for president, he's not a first-stringer. He's definitely a second-stringer."
"He's related to a known terrorist."
"He must support terrorists. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a duck."
"The whole Muslim thing and everything. A lot of people forgot about 9/11, but..."
"I don't like the fact that he thinks white people are trash. Because we're not."
"Obama - Osama: one and the same."
"Communism!"
"Obama is a socialist."
And just in case you forgot what decade -- sorry -- what century we're in, "Get a job!"
The AP reported that, "The Secret Service is looking into a second allegation that a participant at a Republican political rally shouted 'kill him,' referring to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama."
And the official Web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party compared Obama to bin Laden and urged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama." The Republican National Committee made them take it down.
And here's McCain again, talking about Palin: "As a cold political calculation, I could not be more pleased... She has excited and energized our base, she is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America, she's the best thing that could have happened to my campaign and America."
In light of all this, outrage would be too easy.
But most sane people treasure the fact that America is a nation where people of all religions, races and creeds are welcome to contribute -- the Statue of Liberty says, "give me your tired, your hungry, your poor, your wretched masses yearning to be free." It doesn't say "give me only your uneducated white bigots, thank you very much. You can keep the rest."
Jesus was a community organizer. Moses was a community organizer -- in a big way. Charles Manson? Not so much. He's just an all-round crazy guy with a swastika carved in his forehead.
Most sane Americans also know that being a Muslim is not inherently evil. When former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, endorsed Obama on Sunday, he spoke movingly about a photo of a woman crying on the grave of her son who died in Iraq. The grave, he said, "didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have a Star of David, it had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Ushad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11. And he waited until he could go serve his country, and he gave his life."
As a woman, I'm as confused as I am repelled by McCain's contempt for the "liberal feminist agenda." What are you sneering at, Mr. Maverick Mac? I know we disagree over abortion, but what else? Equal rights? Equal pay for equal work? The right to not be raped or abused? The right to choose the way we live our lives? Women are about 51 percent of the population. What kind of a cretin are you?
McCain's last futile grasp for power is so blatantly and transparently pathetic that most Americans are turning away in disgust. For example, when Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., running for reelection, accused Obama and other members of Congress of "being anti-American," her opponent saw his contributions triple virtually overnight. Obama raised $150 million in September, while McCain has had to pull out of several states because of funding shortfalls. And the Yahoo electoral college projections, the last time I looked, had Obama with 344 to McCain's 167.
The Obamas are decent, extraordinarily bright, hardworking and gifted people. It's impossible not to respect and admire their accomplishments. They are also courageous. They know what happened to JFK and Martin Luther King. They know that the rest of the world is holding its breath. And yet they keep campaigning. Perhaps you saw that inspiring photo of Obama speaking more than 100,000 people in St. Louis last week?
True, the fact that McCain and Palin have managed to inflame anger and hatred in small pockets of this country means that the embers were there to begin with.
But we're not looking at the second coming of the Third Reich. These McCain-Palin supporters don't represent the real America that most Americans believe in. We're much better than that. It's to their eternal shame that McCain and Palin aren't.
- Posted in
71 Comments so far
Show All"I don't like the fact that he thinks white people are trash. Because we're not."
Well, if you are a Bush/Cheney/Rove/Bachmann/Nixon/McCarthy Republican, you most certainly are.
Wow, she must be a mind reader,BURN THE WITCH!! because I never heard him say THAT. He may THINK it about the GOP, like I do, but have never heard him say it, or even give the impression that he thinks it.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
right-wing weirdos believe whatever they feel like believing. "Obama is an invader from Alpha Centauri, who took an evil wormhole through Hell to get to America, so he could DESTROY US! AAAAAAAAAH!!! RUN!!!!"
I KNEW IT!!! He has ties to ALIENS!!!!
I do believe that people are deifying Barak Obama. I said this months ago. Americans are looking for a 'Redeemer' and unfortunately for Barak, no one could live up to the mythology that is being created about him.
I am frankly tired of reading this kind of piece--not that it isn't heartfelt and well written. But enough is enough! I doubt that readers of this site are Mccaine/Palin supporters. If it were written in a newspaper in a small 'red state' town, I would think it may be important. But why keep preaching to the choir? Honestly.
I find nothing extraordinary about Obama. He is a main stream Democrat. He isn't crazy and highly intelligent. Is he wise? Who does he look to for advice? The old Clinton crowd. I am supremely unimpressed that Colin Powell, Iraq war monger (and not apologetic about it either), supports him. In fact, it makes me think of voting third party.
In a Christian nation, I would expect that people would look for a Saviour figure. But this is just so immature. I don't happen to believe that the Democratic party is Divine or redemptive. It is not that much different from the Republican party. And while I am on the subject, Obama voted for FISA.
I think there are some Obama devotees out there that really do need to get a grip. They are close to treading in the waters of unreality themselves. Desperation is not an excuse for mindlessness.
After the tragic legacy of Republicans in charge i.e. George Bush, who could blame anyone for looking for a "redeemer." However, I don't look at Obama as a "redeemer." He's just the better candidate, so why not vote for him?! I disagree with you regarding Obama's inteligence; I think he's pretty smart.
There are Republican plants on this site trying to persuade people to not vote for Obama.
Exactly, I doubt that many people voting for Obama are under the illusion that he will be some sort of "Lefty Messiah", but the way he has run his campaign contrasts starkly with the race-baiting, rabble-rousing pseudo-white-supremacist campaign McCain and his attack dog Palin have run.
Nothing any of these plants say can change this reality.
"I find nothing extraordinary about Obama" - so I assume you were raised by a single mother, raised in a mixed race environment (where people tend to be looked down upon by both whites and blacks), graduated with multiple degrees from Columbia, graduated magna cum lauda from Harvard, and taught constitutional law? If your "resume" makes THAT look ordinary, why aren't YOU running for president?
Yeah, well, Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar and Rumsfeld was an Eagle Scout, what's your point?
I think Chomsky is right again, if you are in a swing state, vote for Obama. I am not in a swing state, therefore, I will vote for McKinney.
Yeah, single parent black harvard law professors within a hairs beadth of the Oval Office are a dime a dozen....I ran into a couple dozen on the way to work this morning....doh!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Bravo!
Some people may be expecting too much from Obama. If they are looking to him to
solve all our problems, then they will no doubt be disappointed. However, having
said that, what can anyone expect from McSame/Palin? He voted with Bush 90% of
the time. (His words, not the Democrats) Now he is also FOR some of the 10% he
didn't vote for the first time around. He was against Bush's tax cuts for the
wealthy, now he wants to make them permanent. He was against torture, now he
thinks water boarding is OK. We should know what to expect from McSame, more of
the same piled higher and deeper. I know the Democrats are much the same as the
Republicans, and have very low expectations of them. Maybe, just maybe, they will
be an improvement over the last eight years. If they aren't, then America is on a
downhill track at full speed ahead.
double post
I am reminded of a song from Neil Young's Living With War. The album came out in early 2006, way before Obama was even really being considered as a presidential front-runner.
The lyric, from "Lookin' for a Leader", goes:
Someone walks among us
And I hope he hears the call
And maybe it's a woman
Or a black man after all
Yeah maybe it's Obama
But he thinks that he's too young
Maybe it's Colin Powell
To right what he's done wrong
Interesting. Neil Young is extremely prescient.
readytotransform October 22nd, 2008 12:33 pm: "I am frankly tired of reading this kind of piece--not that it isn't heartfelt and well written. But enough is enough! I doubt that readers of this site are Mccaine/Palin supporters. If it were written in a newspaper in a small 'red state' town, I would think it may be important. But why keep preaching to the choir? Honestly."
Honestly, readytotransform, I'm sending a link to this article to some email friends who know Low Information Voters who may not have heard some of the points made by Joyce Marcel. You really never know who is reading what where and the impact it might have. I know several 'recovering Republicans' who began to think about their political beliefs after they had happened upon pieces like this one. So, the choir this article is preaching to may include some apostates.
I know many people who support Obama, including a relative of his, and not one of them have any extraordinary or unrealistic expectations of him beyond his enacting a moderately liberal agenda which, in the current fringe-right neocon political structure, seems far to the left, but is not when put in historical perspective.
For the most part, the Obama supporters I know recognize that we can't survive another four years of the kind of contemptible Republican stupidity and graft we've had for the past eight. McCain and Palin represent, contrary to their protestations, the very worst of Bush/Cheney neoconservatism, and the idea of the ignorant and Rapture-Ready Palin becoming president should be enough to compel anyone sane to vote for Obama.
I'm sure the starry-eyed 'Obamamaniacs' are out there, but I have yet to meet them. Even my friend who happens to be related to Obama doesn't think he's free of flaws -- in fact, he'd laugh out loud at the idea, and so would Obama.
Michele and Sarah, now there's a grusome twosome. I love the GOP playbook that has people spit out lies and distortions and then do a little back peddling after the fact while the lies have become indelible. Somewhere in this context are shadows of the Stepford Wives. Anything for their moment in the spotlight, but they are both candles in the wind.
Huh? I think you mean Cindy the adulteress (the adulterer McCain's wife) and Sarah the animal killer. They'd fit the role of Stepford Wives. Michelle is no Stepford Wife; she's her own woman and very classy.
The reference is to Rep. Michelle Bachmann, the Minnesota wackjob who called for 'aggressive investigation by the media' ON HARDBALL of all places, to find out which congressmen are "pro-American" and which are "anti-American"
I wonder if things will progress to the point of McCarthyism where people like Ethyl and Julius Rosenburg are executed for not being "patriotic" enough, and for being sympathsizers to the Islamic religion? I doubt it could go that far, but nowadays yo gotta wonder. I do think they could realistically pose a threat to Obama personaly.
These folks are wingnuts of the first degree and play on the stupidity of the huge population of Amerikans that will bellieve anything they hear as long as it comes from a repuglycun. I wonder how dangerous they could potentialy become?
I wonder about that a lot these days. The Republican base these days is as brainwashed and mindless as the people in Germany in the 1930's, except that instead of vilifying Jews they vilify Muslims. As an American with a Pakistani dad and a mom from Alabama, this is a repugnant strategy to me on many levels.
Sadly, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave is home to a lot of bigots who are neither, who continually vote against their own interests because they are so thoroughly indoctrinated.
nimblehuman October 23rd, 2008 10:10 am, my sympathies on your plight. A friend of mine was born in Baghdad and his family left in the 1950s since, as Christians, they didn't feel comfortable there. Since 9/11 he and his daughter been subjected to much verbal abuse by the same sort of bigots that attend McPalin rallies; ironically, these people claim to be Christians and, when my friend protests that he is too, they laugh at him and increase the abuse. (Fortunately, my friend hasn't been physically attacked yet, but it's been close.) One of 'the Saved' informed him that no 'damn Arab' can be a Christian, which begs the question of how this theologian would react if the Semitic Jesus of the New Testament, the one who criticized gentiles, returned as his faith teaches. I have no doubt the ugly crowds at these GOP rallies would look for nails and wood if their Middle-Eastern-born Messiah reappeared on this earth while God's Own Hockey Mom screamed he was a radical socialist who would surrender to the terrorists -- Turn the other cheek? Forgive your enemies? Love one another? Help the poor? -- and McCain bubbled about how proud he was of her.
Michele Obama is a sincere, well spoken, diplomatic Lady who will bring a ray of sunshine into the White House. I was speaking of Minnesota Michele of anti-American self-induced fame.
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5 YEAR OLD, SARAH PALIN???
The subject of the vice president's duties came up as Palin sat for an interview with KUSA-TV in Denver, which has a feature called "Question from the Third Grade." The interviewer asked, "Brandon Garcia wants to know, 'What does the vice president do?'"
"That's a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the team mate to that president," Palin said.
"But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job," she said.
BUZZZZ!! SORRY, BUT THANKS FOR PLAYING! YOU BETCHA!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Just to set the record straight, since I did post a comment, and not to get into arguments for no real reason or purpose. I did not express a certain sentence well. I DO think Obama is highly intelligent.
And I would agree with the fact that he has an exceptional background. However, his politics are not much different from a mainstream Democrat. I live in a swing state, so I may follow Noam Chomsky's advice and vote for the lesser of two evils. However, if I lived in California, I might vote for Nader.
This should also serve to clear up the idea that there are 'Republican' operatives (I suppose based upon my original comment), on this site.
I do believe that looking for a saviour, while totally understandable, is not the mindset that we need if we are going to begin to think in wise and creative ways. "No problem can be solved by the consciousness that created it". Einstein
We are expecting 'experts' to get us out of the multi-leveled crisis we find ourselves within. We are going to need to start to get creative and realize that we are the ones that are responsible--No parent figure is coming to rescue us and save us from ourselves and our short sightedness. Only WE can do that. I think it is a lesson that will be very hard learned--if at all...
Peace.
Peace.
Very true, on your last paragraph. It is up to us, and we continue to put all our "hope" in parent figures that we think are going to resolve the problems for us. There really are no "experts" who are going to save us. It is up to us to make change happen, whether through voting, or protesting, or some other way of affecting change in the system.
Unfortunately, the system is shutting us out. The doors have been completely closed to the people for at least 8 years, and probably much longer.
WOW.
Did Palin really say those things? Outloud? In public? Not in the privacy of her limousine or to the makeup person on SNL?
I knew she was unqualified for the job, but really!!
And McCain stood by her?
This is the most abhorrent pair who ever tried to get into the White House.
If you are referring to the quotes in the article, no, Palin didn't say those
things, people at the McCain/Palin rallies did. However, they (McLame/Palin) have
both stoked the fires of fear and hate until the nut-jobs are out in force. If
you have nothing to point to as a success, then plan B is excite fear and hate
with lies and half truths. What's McCain going to say, "I voted with Bush 90% of
the time?" We all know how that has worked out. So he constantly brings up his
POW years as if that alone qualifies him for POTUS. He got shot down while
bombing civilians in another immoral war we should have never been in. So get
over it John.
She did say those things about the duties of the VP, though, if that's what the question referred to : )
Mccain/Palin sure know how to be the desperate couple when they know they're losing.
Funny, an article expressing primarily outrage about the extreme regressive radicalism of the McCain movement is used as a springboard to bash Obama. I feel that it is necessary to qualify this by stating that I have never been a big Obama supporter, although I will vote for him for the obvious reasons discussed in this article and because he does have some intelligence. Yet is seems many of the posters intent is to search out Obama thrashing opportunities as the first priority.
The intent is not to bash Obama, but to point out the differences between what people think about Obama, and what Obama actually represents, in terms of his record and his actions and words.
There is a weird schism in the left here, where we swing to the center every election period, and miss our opportunity to vote for a candidate that really, truly represents progressive ideas.
This is marked by a dimming of the mental apparatus, where people start pretending that the Democrat of the season is really progressive, and is going to work to help the people, and all kinds of great sounding, liberal talk.
Or it is marked by fearful cries of "No more Republicans!" or "Vote against the right!" i.e. Anybody But Bush, which got us nowhere.
Wrong. We suffer no illusion at all, but we are aware of the constraints of the political landscape. See Zinn and Chomsky.
I don't mean that all people are deluded. Some people appear to want to play chess with their vote, which is okay too. Vote for the most progressive person that has the best chance of beating the Republicans, block the Republicans, install a Democrat, and then work from there to affect broader, more progressive change.
That makes sense, and I'm willing to accept Obama's election as a watered-down victory for progressives, but it's still a capitulation, and we're still handing the progressive vote to the center of the political spectrum, when we should be able to give that vote to more progressive candidates as a real measure of what the consciousness of the left is actually thinking.
There's been a "vote-to-the-center" attitude among progressives for as long as I've been voting, and I don't see it changing in four years. The Republicans will have a new, scary, evil demigod in four years for us to fearfully capitulate our vote to Democrats because of.
So when will the progressive left be able to really express its ideals in the political arena here? Will it ever happen, or will we always be guided by fear of descent into naziism? Is that the sign of the times, actually? Is it that now we are on the precipice of fascism and corporate domination, so close to the edge that we must sacrifice our ideals in the name of joining a larger movement to push back against the Republicans? My fear is that this continues, not only now, but in 2012 too, and 2016, ad infinitum.
Terrorist advocate endorses McCain (Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:50:21 GMT)
An al-Qaeda supporter has called for a pre-election terror attack
in the US to help Republican candidate John McCain win the presidency.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=72889§ionid=3510203
Does that mean al-Qaeda endorse McCain/Palin?
Yes, they did.
Yup, they don't want their best recruiting tool ever to disappear after this election. They're counting on McPalin to continue the boneheaded wars of aggression that have made us the most hated country in the Muslim world.
If Palin really did say those abhorrant statements, why didn't the Main Stream Media broadcast them for all of the dumbed-down idiots across this homeland hear them?
The "Main Stream Media" did show some of those McCain/Palin supporters saying
those things, for about 10 seconds. Palin didn't say them, her supporters did.
Most of them should have had "Dumb-ass redneck" stamped on their foreheads. Like
another poster above said, I hear some of the same statements every day. Of
course I live in Redneck Central, East Texas. I have my Obama sign out and am
surprised someone hasn't trashed my yard or worse. Fear, racism and hate is all
the Republicans have to offer and they are serving it up on large platters.
You posted "I have my Obama sign out and am surprised someone hasn't trashed my yard or worse" .That is the reason I am afraid to put an Obama magnet or bumper sticker on my car.
Wow, another CDer from East Texas. I am too (Lufkin) and you are 100% right, this is redneck central (we even have a town named Central and yup, it is redneck). Not only is Lufkin chock full of McCain/Palin signs, there is a group going around town stealing Obama/Biden signs from the yards of people who display them. Of course, I have spoken with many people recently, and they STILL think Bu$h has been god's gift to the U.S. of A. The ironic thing is that this area is so poor. The only professional jobs are in the medical profession, along with a handfull of engineers, teachers, and a few business leaders/small business owners. The rest are laid off paper mill workers, foundry workers, and other blue collar employees many of whom have been laid off.
The poorer people/minorities seem to be the more knowledgeable about the political climate. These are the handful of those who support Obama.
I think the reason Bu$h/Cheney have been so popular in this area is the fact that it also the buckle of the Bible Belt. The pseudo-Christians around here believe Bu$h is a born again evangelical still, and as such, like Palin for that same reason. Some one says they are a Christian around here, they are going to get votes becasue of that. Too bad religion and politics had to become one in the same starting with Reagan. Now it seem that one of the most important qualities a political leader can have is his religious beliefs. You simply cannot change the minds of who they support as long as they believe their candidate is an evangelical, and most around here truly believe Obama is a dreaded Musum. I hear it every day.
All I can say is talk to those you know best and are good friends with and try like hell to explain to them that if they support McCain/Palin, they are voting to economically cut their own throat.
Just curious, if you don't mind divulging where in East Texas you live, I am curious. If you post any editorials to the Lufkin Daily News, I know your name at least, and you mine.
Take care my friend, and hang in there! Hey, at least after 70 some odd years (Prohibition), we can finally buy beer and wine in our country:) Talk about rapid progress!!!
***These McCain-Palin supporters don't represent the real America that most Americans believe in.***
Man, I'd like to believe that. I KNOW people just like this and I live in, supposedly, liberal California, not too far from Hollywood.
No gods, no kings
LeeAnnG
Obama is certainly not my ideal candidate (FISA and all that), but to say, as some posters have, that he is not anything out of the ordinary is absurd. We probably will not get a true progressive as a candidate in this country until we have had a few centrist or slightly left-leaning presidents who can prove their more liberal policies work for the betterment of the country. Obama is a start, not the ultimate goal.
Tennessee Williams said, "A high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace." Obama has run against the ugliness of the Clinton campaign (and, yes, she has at least partially vindicated herself for her "McCain is more fit to take office than Obama" rhetoric) and the extreme horror show that is the McCain/Palin campaign. Appalling experiences, indeed. He has come through with a rather strong showing of gallantry and grace.
Although there has been an element of negativity from the Obama camp, it's like there's this mountain of elephant dung on the McCain side and this little tiny pile of mouse poop on the Obama side. Fortunately, there seem to be enough US citizens who can smell the difference.
I can see the logic in your comment, "We probably will not get a true progressive as a candidate in this country until we have had a few centrist or slightly left-leaning presidents who can prove their more liberal policies work for the betterment of the country. Obama is a start, not the ultimate goal."
It makes sense, and I can respect that. And I hope that Obama would be a "start", at least HOPEFULLY, though he hasn't really indicated that to me as of yet. But we'll see - vote him in, and we'll see what he does.
I have to disagree with the comment, "...but to say, as some posters have, that he is not anything out of the ordinary is absurd."
He is not anyhting out of the ordinary. He's a mainstream, corporate Democrat. Very smart guy, and I respect his intelligence, but overall, no different than Carter or Clinton.
In fact, if you watch some of the available videos of presidential debates and speeches from Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, you'll see that the message of the Obama campaign is EXACTLY the same. Clinton's '92 run and Obama's '08 run are eerily similar in their messages - almost identical.
I'll take 4 years of a Clinton over 4 more years of Repugnicant domination, but I refuse to believe it'll be any different than it was in the '90's. Hopefully I'm proven wrong. Until then, my vote goes to Ralph Nader, who very clearly speaks to my fundamental beliefs and ideals.
To say that we need a centrist candidate or two to prove the workability of liberal polices is like saying we need a nice blue sofa to show how pretty green looks in the living room. Huh?
Centrist policies will allow most of the outrageous policies of the Rove-Cheney administration to continue unabated. It’s like buying a new sofa to distract from the termites that are destroying the framing and beams and eating all the other furniture hollow. It’s: all the important provisions of the constitution scraped out; plans that won’t stop the coming climate catastrophe; a couple, three disastrous foreign military occupations and US bases in about a thousand other countries; no child’s behind left; drill and strip mine everything in sight; no clear skies; no healthy forests; tort deform; punishing bankruptcy laws; no universal health care; the Rubicon crossed; the media dominated by huge right-wing corporations; nearly-destroyed ecological protections, worker protections, citizen and immigrant protections; legal spying on anyone anywhere anytime for any reason (“FISA and all that”); a trillion plus giveaway to speculators and robber barons just for being—now what was that reason, exactly?
How ‘bout instead we vote for someone who wants to, and would: restore the constitution, the rule of law and the balance of power between the three branches; reduce the power of corporations; initiate a program of conservation and renewable energy construction that will actually stop global climate catastrophe and reduce other ecological destruction; stop invading countries; stop torturing and killing innocent people; pass financial, health and legal policies that will help the poor and the middle class instead of helping the rich to help themselves to the money of the poor and middle class; regulate speculators; restore anti-trust legislation; get us out of NAFTA and generally care what happens to people and the country beyond a tiny number of rich people and corporations…
We will get a true progressive in this country when the majority of people who agree with progressive values, ideas and policies actually have the courage to ask for and stand up for what they want.
When people, even those on the Left say they do not think Obama is "extraordinry", I think what they mean he isn't extraordinarily different from mainstream Democrats. If that is what they mean, they are most likely correct. However, his academic and career achievements are extraordinary, although he's no Einstein. I'm not an Obama supporter, and I don't live in a swing state, and although I'm terrified of what might happen to this country if McCain/Palin wins, I'm going third party. If I lived in a swing state I would vote against McCain/Palin by voting for Obama.
Any American (notwithstanding a rock star) who can draw a crowd of 200,000 in Europe is NOT ordinary. Have you heard the man speak? In person? It's amazing. The energy and the optimism and excitement of the people who gather to hear/see Barack is NOT ordinary.
Barack is many things, but ordinary is NOT one of those things.
Obama/Biden 2008!
Even if he is just another Dem thug. Which is most likely true. The fact that because of the same reasons you just said. Barack as POTUS will make a huge difference in the way the world sees the US. And it might make up for us allowing GWB to finish two terms (Why he wasn't impeached I don't know). Maybe we can save face.
You know, here's the problem with Common Dreams. We're all standing in the middle of a house that's burning down. There are plenty of buckets and there is plenty of water to put out the fire. But you all stand around bickering with each other about which buckets to use and who gets to throw the first pail and who gets to fill the buckets and how full should the buckets be ad nauseum. Meanwhile the house continues to burn down around us.
Get a clue folks. With Barack we have the opportunity to save our country. With McCain, there will be certain disaster. Get a damn pail and start putting the fire out!
The usual CD nonsense from Ms. Martel. She blathers about "eternal shame", then with stars in her eyes writes of Colin Powell who "spoke movingly" on some MSM geek show, thereby proving that eternal shame does not exist in Amerika. It's all about whose ox is being gored. Nothing more.