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?"

Dirty Politics

It has been a while since my last posting. I have plenty of excuses ranging from visiting relatives to canvassing the neighborhood for Obama to no time to post! But in reality I just haven't been able to focus on a clear, concise topic for posting. Until today. Dirty politics.

I'm sick and tired of McPalin's lies, innuendos, rabble rousing, abuse of power, lame-brained ideas and not-so-subtle racism. Clearly, they believe that the end justifies the means and will stoop to any depth to get elected. 

I don't buy that they didn't hear people at their rallies shouting "kill him" and "off with his head." At the very least they should have addressed this outrageous behavior when they heard about it later!  Sure looks like they want to incite this sort of behavior. Makes me very fearful for the Obama family.

Then there is the issue of Palin found guilty of abuse of power regarding the firing of her ex-brother-in-law's boss. I certainly don't want a vice president who carries out personal vendettas using the power of the executive branch!

And of course I'm appalled by all the hog wash about Obama's relationship with Ayers. Speaking of relationships and guilty by association-- what about Palin and "First Dude's" relationship to the Alaskan Independence Party??? Obama and Ayers were both board members for an Annenberg Educational organization, run by the Annenberg's -- major contributors to the McCain campaign and staunch Republicans!! The Alaskan Independence Party calls for Alaska to secede from the US!! Anyone see a major difference here? 

But what bothers me the most about this use of "dirty politics" by McPalin, is the subtle racism that they use and the blatant racism that their followers show. When McCain is introduced and the person making the introduction refers to Senator Barack Obama as Barack Hussein Obama -- that is subtle racism. Of course that is Senator Obama's full name, but the context in which they use his full name is designed to tie him to the Arab world and to terrorism. In a town hall meeting recently conducted by McCain, a woman in the audience referred to Obama as an Arab. McCain then used the opportunity to back down from his previous rhetoric by saying they shouldn't fear Obama if he is elected. That statement was uttered in the manner you would comfort a small child in the face of impending disaster! Moreover, it gave him the way out from fulfilling his promise to another town hall groupie that he would confront Obama about all the accusations that McCain and Palin have said in the past two weeks. The extreme conservatives were disappointed that McCain didn't use all the anti-Obama stump speech rhetoric at the second debate. They want him to do so at the third debate. But it now looks like he is trying to back out of doing so. Bottom-line is that McCain on the stump will do anything, say anything to please his constituents and to avoid any depth on the real issues. McCain in the debates will continue to come up with half-cocked ideas for fixing the world just so he sounds like he knows what he is doing.

Every time McCain says that Obama is not a leader, not honest, lacks character, untrustworthy, is a terrorist, guilty by association, etc., it makes McCain look worse and does not diminish Obama one iota! The people who show up at McCain's rallies will vote for McCain no matter what. It is the independent voters and the undecided voters who have distanced themselves from McCain because of his failure to grasp the importance of the issues at hand and because of McCain's desperate, transparent mud-slinging.

Last, but certainly foremost in my mind, is the ugly racism that has begun to spew forth in the wake of McPalin's negativity. There were two incidents in Bellingham this week of very blatant racist items and pamphlets being sold / distributed to people attending political events. The fact that one individual was never challenged by anyone in attendance and the other sold his "branded product" for over an hour before organizers sent him away, does not speak well of the citizens of Whatcom County. But it isn't just Whatcom County. I understand this same sort of think is happening across the country. Last week at a christian college in Oregon, a life-sized cardboard cutout of Obama was found hung from a tree. 

Obama had it right when he talked about fearful people clinging to their guns and their religion. I would have added the word "ignorant," meaning lacking knowledge, not capable of critical thinking, to that description. And I blame McCain and Palin for their own ignorance of the harm they are inflicting on our country by promoting hatred and vengeance -- they are truly a throw back to some of the worst days of our country's history.

The Politicizing of 9/11

Even after seven years, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard about the first airplane flying into the Twin Towers in New York City. I'll probably never forget it. It was the day we began to understand that some people in the world really did hate us beyond just the usual "ugly American" stuff, but that most of the world was grieving with us. Why we were (and still are) hated by the people represented by the terrorist groups has been slower to creep into our understanding and denied by many citizens and in many ways by our government as well. Our government's reaction to 9/11 has done nothing to  improve our safety nor our standing in the world, but probably has done much harm in both areas.  They have failed to understand that the Muslims are not to blame, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq and Iran are not to blame. Our wars against Afghanistan and Iraq have not brought those responsible for 9/11 to justice at all. They have only served to strengthen the resolve of the terrorists. Power yielded without social  responsibility, compassion and foresight is immoral, unethical and just plain wrong.

On top of that, for the Republican Party to use Guilliani's speech and the images of 9/11 in their campaign convention to continue feeding the fears of the American people is also immoral, unethical and just plain wrong.

I didn't hear much buzz about it during or after the convention and began to think that I was just being over-emotional about it all -- until I heard Keith Olbermann last evening. His comments should be heard loud and clear by every American. The McCain campaign with its Rovarian play book should be ashamed. McCain has dishonored himself and negated his service to our country.

On this day of national mourning -- I say, "Enough, Enough, Enough!" No more politics of fear.