The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

I just read a wonderful article in the Christian Science Monitor today that gave me goosebumps,  a lump in my throat, and tears on my cheeks:  "My Wife Made Me Canvas for Obama; Here's What I Learned" by Jonathan Curley.

First, the catchy title caught my eye. Then the tone of the article took over. Jonathan Curley is a self-professed conservative banker, a white guy who voted for both Bushes. He was upset when Bill Clinton was elected, but says that in the end he wished Bill could have another term. He really endeared himself to me with his response to his wife who asked him to spend a morning canvassing for Obama. He said, "But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told."

I got the goosebumps when he talked about he and his wife knocking on doors in a predominately Black neighborhood and the overwhelmingly positive response they received.

And I got the lump in my throat when he wrote, "I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the big things.... I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama."

And the tears started to roll down my cheeks as I read his last paragraph: "My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors, But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do the for Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me."

The Bad

The bad side of this final week of campaigning has to do with winning at all costs -- voter intimidation. I came across another article today, 'Tis the season for tricking voters," from the Associated Press, that talks about the use of confusing emails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers to keep people from voting through intimidation or misinformation.

If you read my earlier blogs, you already know about the situation in New Mexico. But here are some more --

In Philadelphia, fliers have circulated in predominately Black neighborhoods warning that voters could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or criminal convictions.

In Virginia, bogus fliers that looked real with the commonwealth seal and all said that because of the anticipated high voter turn out there would be two elections. Republicans should vote on Tuesday and Democrats on Wednesday!

In Pennsylvania, emails were received linking Obama to the Holocaust. According to the AP, the email was sent by a group calling itself Republican Federal Committee and said, "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930's and 1940's and made a tragic mistake."

Additionally, intimidating leaflets were taped to benches at Drexel University in PA; phone calls to Latino voters in Nevada from so-called Obama supporters ready to take their vote, right then and there, by phone. It is not that this never happened before, but this time, according to those interviewed, it is much more widespread.

The Ugly

This is really ugly; it is in the category of "so upsetting I didn't know whether to spit or to cry." But, believe it or not, the ending lifts you back up again.

Zorn Redeems Himself

Remember last week when I was upset that the Chicago Tribune blogger, Eric Zorn, moved away from reasons why Obama would win to 08 reasons why McCain could win? Well, he has redeemed himself with his posting on October 30th -- Counterpoint: 8 reasons Obama will win.

1.  Obama's supporters are more energized. 

2.  Obama has a superior ground game.

3.  Obama has a superior air game.

4.  McCain has lost his brand.

5.  Sarah Palin is turning out to be the disasta' from Alaska.

6.  Obama hasn't lost his cool.

7.  McCain hasn't been able to fight the Bush head winds.

8.  Obama has been lucky.

Zorn's explanations, evidence and eloquence regarding each of these reasons are right on! Reading his blog certainly helped to restore my optimistic hope for a double digit win!

HOPE

I received an email from Val after my last blog entry and lo and behold -- HOPE -- enjoy!

Lies, Intimidation, and Racism

A little over one week to go... and I'm fluctuating between unabashed optimism and abject depression almost on an hourly basis.  I want to be positive, and in my heart of hearts I really do believe, that Barack Obama will be our next President. But then I watch TV or read the news on the Internet, or receive an email and the worry sets in again. I know that this week will be filled with lies, intimidation and racism coming from the McCain / Palin campaign. Some cases in point --

LIES -- McCain continues to misrepresent (lie) and misspeak (lie) about Obama's tax plan. It is amazing to me that he continues to do so even though he was corrected in two debates and all the major fact-finding groups have determined that he is wrong about Obama's plan. In the meantime, McCain's plan is full of holes -- the same philosophy of economics that the Republicans have always espoused -- and it hasn't worked! 

My best guess is that we are going to continue hearing this for the next week and probably even bigger whoppers. My fear is that people will begin to actually believe this bullshit because they have heard it so often. My hope is that my fellow citizens aren't that stupid to fall for a bunch of lies.

INTIMIDATION -- Lest you think that voter intimidation only happens in struggling democracies (oh, maybe that is us!), be sure to follow some of the stories like the one reported in New Mexico this past week. A Republican attorney, Pat Rogers, claimed that 10 voters were fraudulent. Project Vote working with ACORN charged that the voters were eligible to vote and further charged that the visit to two of the voters  by a private investigator constituted voter intimidation. It seems that this Pat Rogers also filed claims of voter fraud in 2004 and 2006 and he was one of the New Mexico GOP activists (named in the report on the firing of U.S. attorneys) who complained to the Department of Justice about then-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Pat Rogers also hired the private investigator, Al Romero, to pay visits to the voters. Here is what Romero told one of those he visited. "You have to realize we're just trying to protect the people, we just want to make sure that she's a legitimate voter and if she votes and she's not supposed to, then it's illegal." The granddaughter of another voter said, "He tried to tell me to tell her to be careful when she's voting. He was trying to tell me stuff to scare her from voting." It is interesting to note that the voters in question were both Hispanic and both over 65 years of age. 

My best guess is that we will see more of this type of intimidation before the election and all kinds of voter fraud accusations during and after the election. My fear is that voter fraud could be a reality that steals the election away and that voter intimidation will actually work to keep people away from the polls and voting. My hope is that people vote despite the intimidation and fear and that Obama wins by a landslide (I want double digits!) and people turn out in record numbers to vote for him.

RACISM -- This is a really tough one. Very few people will admit to being racist, but there is so much evidence to the contrary. Take for example the white woman on the NPR series about York, PA voters and racism who said she wasn't a racist but feared that if Obama were elected the blacks would get back at whites by making them move off the sidewalk to let Blacks pass and she was afraid that blacks would riot. She said this to a black NPR commentator in a room with 15 people -- black, white and Hispanic. But of course she discounted those in the room who were black and said it was "those out on the street." I had to listen to that twice to absorb it all! No wonder my friend Sue who lives in the city of York is scared about this election! I lived in the suburbs of York for nine years before moving to Washington state -- believe me when I say that racism is alive and flourishing in York, PA -- both in the city and the county named York. My daughter Michele told me about an election - racism piece on Chicago Public Radio's This American Life aired on Saturday, October 25th. I searched online for it, but noticed that they only post on Mondays. So I'll be adding some thoughts and that URL on the 27th or 28th. I talked to my brother Greg in Western PA yesterday and he is amazed at the role that race is playing in the election. He said there are many code words and phrases like "can't trust him," "not like us," and "he's different." But there are also the blatant comments like "I'm not convinced he isn't a Muslim." We have that same sort of talk here in Washington, too. 

My best guess is that we are far from moving beyond racism in this country despite all the hard work, education and soul searching and it will effect this election. We have already seen and heard the effects of the McCain/Palin rhetoric like "He doesn't see America the way we do." My worst fear is that McCain and Palin will ratchet up that rhetoric and whip the stupid side of the Republican Party into near hysteria with ideas of conspiracy, treason, violence and killing. My best hope is that we have made sufficient strides in the areas of tolerance, inclusiveness, and fairness to counter any racism residue.

So... my goal this next 8 or 9 days is to stay on the hopeful side and not give in to the fears and negative dialogue... But then that nagging little voice whispers, "what if he doesn't win?"

The First Presidential Debate

I thought the first presidential debate was an awesome victory for Barack Obama. Barack was poised, articulate, looked at McCain when speaking to him, and all in all was very "presidential." McCain on the other hand seemed discombobbled at times, had too many military examples and analogies, hardly looked senatorial let alone presidential, and NEVER looked at Barack!! Furthermore, what were his handlers thinking when they put that skinny stripped tie on him?? On HDTV the stripes ran together and blinked like a neon sign!

Both candidates made some errors according to factcheck.org. Here is a short summary of some of their factual mistakes --

1. Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks (not to be confused with backtalk or talks back) with Iran without preconditions, but McCain disputed that. The fact is that Kissinger did recently call for "high level" talks and said that he didn't believe we should make conditions. After the debate the McCain folks issued a statement quoting Kissinger saying he didn't favor president-level talks with Iran. (I personally liked the part when Obama said that preconditions usually meant agree with us then we will talk to you! He made a very good distinction between preconditions and preparation.)

2. McCain and Obama contradicted each other on what Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen said about troop withdrawals. Mullen did say a timeline could be dangerous, but was not specifically talking about Obama's plan as McCain said he was. (In my mind, this is a good example of the kind of change McCain is good at -- if reality is against you, change the reality!)

3.  McCain said that earmarks had tripled in the last five years when in fact they have sharply decrease! (Well, there goes that bogus campaign issue!)

4. Obama said Iraq has a $79 billion surplus. It once was that high, but currently less than $60 billion. (I'm not sure the difference between 79 and 60 is all that great when you are talking billions!! Same point holds true -- they should be paying us to keep the peace for them rather than the American people footing the bill!)

5.  McCain claimed that the US pays $700 billion a year for oil to hostile nations. Actually, imports run about $536 billion and a third of it comes from Canada, Mexico and the UK!!! (Whoa, now that was a really, really big whopper! That's the liar, liar, pants on fire kind.)

6. Obama said 95% of people would see a tax cut under his proposal. Factcheck.org says it will be 81%. (Not sure where the discrepancy lies.... I need to look into this one.)

7.  Obama said under McCain's health care plan employers would be taxed on the value of health benefits provided to workers. Actually not employers, but WORKERS would be taxed! (How bad is that!!)

8.  McCain claimed Obama would hand the health care system over to the federal government. Actually Obama would expand some government programs, but would allow people to keep their current plans or chose private ones.

9. McCain claimed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had crafted a letter of resignation from the Army to be sent in case the 1944 D-Day landing at Normandy turned out to be a failure. Ike prepared a letter taking responsibility, but he didn't mention resigning. (Another military history example, but he fucked it up!! Military History -- that must have been one of the courses at the Naval Academy that McCain failed!)

The full article with analysis, images, citations is available at Factcheck's website.

Service to Our Country

The first draft of my blog on Monday was titled "McCain's Service." In subsequent drafts I changed it to "McCain's Military Service." I wanted to be sure to specify just what service I meant. Ever since then my thoughts keep coming back to service: different kinds of service, the value of various types of service, and the many ways people serve our country and our citizens. In the process of clarifying my thoughts on the topic, I had several conversations with my son in Vermont regarding his service in the Peace Corps and I also thought about a book I recently read.

The work of the Peace Corps and similar volunteer organizations is a public service that not only benefits the countries they serve, but our country as well. There have been a total of 190,000 Peace Corps volunteers to date and currently 8079 volunteers are serving in 74 countries. These volunteers are working in agriculture, education, medicine, construction, small business, etc., with great results. And, by the way, with a current budget of only $330.8 million dollars. Less than a day of military warfare in Iraq??

I also thought about the work of Greg Mortenson that he describes in his book,"Three Cups of Tea." Since 1993 he has built over 58 schools serving over 24,000 students in Afganistan and Pakistan using no government money, yet gaining the trust of thousands of families in rural areas of those countries. His projects have been funded by American citizens. Greg believes that if you want to have a positive impact on a culture, educate the girls. His humanitarian service is of great value to our country and the world.

In my conversations with my son about his work in the Peace Corps, I asked him, "What did you leave behind in Paraguay?" He talked about the development work -- new latrines, wells, fruit trees, beekeepers, erosion control, reforestation, an understanding of agricultural chemicals, etc. Then he paused a moment and said, "But you know what, I think the most important thing I left behind is letting people know that gringos are just people, too. We are not Baywatch, Miami Vice, MASH, or any other old, dubbed show. We are just people. We are not Bush I or II, or Clinton, or any other government figurehead. We are just people who laugh, love and care. People that you can become great friends with."

Then I asked what he gained from his experience and he said, "Besides the obvious stuff like second and third languages, I gained perspective -- what it is really like to live poor in a third world country; what really makes one happy; needs vs. wants; looking at things from the perspective of another culture. Things like that." Then he added with a smile, "Finally, I gained my wife!" (also a former Peace Corp volunteer in Paraguay)

Later that evening Kent sent me the following email:

Mom,

I forgot to remind you about when I arrived in Paraguay. It was 2 months after the coup that rid the country of Alfredo Stroesner who had been president since the 1950's. He was a huge pal of the US because he hated communism despite gross human rights issues and a series of fixed "elections." Then Jimmy Carter put sanctions on Paraguay for human rights abuses. Reagan continued the sanctions and the Peace Corps remained. People feared the Policia Capital and many fled to Argentina. Lots of these people lived in my village of Caazapa. The general who took over after the coup unbelievably agreed to hold elections. The elections were interesting to watch. Many didn't know how to vote. Many were afraid. Some asked if I was voting! People died so that they could finally vote in a fair election. Meanwhile, how many people vote in the US each election? I don't think I have ever missed voting in my country since that first election in Paraguay.

Kent

Service to our country, service for our country. Have you seen Barack Obama's plan for service? Expand the Peace Corps and Americorps; connect senior citizens to volunteer opportunities; require service learning for students, and more. It's a plan that will serve our country and our citizens and help to restore our position of respect in the world community -- please read it and tell others about it. And please remember that our greatest service to our country and to ourselves is to VOTE!