Are you following the news? Are you a bit freaked out at the cries of "Kill him" and "He's a terrorist" directed at Barack Obama, coming from the folks who attend McCain/Palin rallies? How does Sarah ("she's a mom!") Palin justify inciting that level of dangerous hatred against a candidate for president of the United States? She asks, "How well do we know Barack Obama?" (the man who has been on the nightly news for 2 solid years and has done more press conferences, debates, interviews, rallies than all the candidates) when she has done three media interviews, NO press conferences and most Americans had never heard her name until 6 weeks ago!? Where does she get off creating a dangerous linking between Obama and Ayers (as terrorist, as dangerous, as Marxist) when Ayers works as a professor at the University of Chicago and the two of them were on a board together related to education (a board populated by Republicans as a matter of fact), while her own husband was a member of the Alaskan secessionist group in the 1990's?
What galls me the most are the racial undertones of all these charges - the idea that Obama is somehow scary, risky, dangerous and foreign. If McCain is that ideal "bi-partisan" American senator and war hero, wouldn't he be the first to shush this wild descent into the politics of hate? Wouldn't he at least want to start by saying, "Look, Obama is no terrorist" (what an insane accusation!!) and "Please calm down. We're here to debate issues."
In my dreams, he'd say it even more forcefully: "The politics of hate have no place in my campaign or the Republican party. We will NEVER condone or support the cries of assassination in one of my rallies. We do not want the votes of people who believe Obama is a terrorist or who wish him dead!" My God! Is anyone awake? This stuff is serious! We've had presidents shot before. Even Reagan was shot for God's sake!
McCain's willingness to send Sarah Palin into the fray as the attack pitbull in lipstick and beehive hairdo shows that he is more about winning than Country First. It is disgusting that he can't make the attacks himself, if he believes in them. He thrusts the newcomer in to do his dirty work. That Palin feels comfortable going after an honorable man she's maybe met once shows such an appalling lack of class and critical thinking (and worse, a complete misreading of history... blacks have been shot and lynched in this country due to bigotry and fear!) that I find it impossible to take her seriously (except that she must be now that she's catalyzing a level of hate I've not seen in the last 30 years of politics).
But Obama, being the cool as a cucumber candidate through all the muck flung in his direction, had this to say in July (the man saw it coming, what can I say?):
I'm appalled and embarrassed by the Republican party. I'm ashamed of them. I'm ashamed to have ever been affiliated with them. They deserve to be sent packing this fall. Republicans, reassess what it means to be a party for the people (not just the xenophobic whites). If you are not one of those who would call Obama a terrorist, who would call for his "murder," why would you vote McCain after this despicable demonstration of dangerous fear-mongering?
18 comments:
McCain is the scary candidate.. he scares me when he says things like "I can fix this" when speaking of very complex problems. His behavior of the past several weeks has been downright scary.. running all over the place like Chicken Little saying all sorts of bizarre things and seemingly flying by the seat of his pants.
Lets hope that this year America wants a different kind of president. We need a thoughtful president that will act and not react when difficult times come.
Please watch both candidates before passing judgment. A few bad apples at a rally don't make the candidate. McCain has done an excellent job of controlling the stage and negativity. Granted McCain's campaign has taken a poor direction the past two weeks, the man himself has done this right.
I've always wanted to make someone's dreams come true. I'll offer the following link where you can watch McCain respond to his less rational supporters.
http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20081011/john-mccain-says-barack-obama-would-be-a-good-president/
Vote for who you think will do the best job as long as you vote.
Yes, Obama saw it coming. And, amazingly, when he predicted it some of my friends of the caucasian persuasion called him race-baiting for pointing out what was coming. But, as much of a genius as Obama is, it didn't take a genius to see this coming. I knew it was coming. That's why I was actually more comfortable when the polls were closer and when McCain had a couple of points lead. I knew as soon as they got into trouble, they were going to reach into their bag of old tricks.
The good news is I don't think America is falling for it this time. Oh yeah, the "base" will eat it up. The Republican rallies are getting even more scary than they were. But, the independents and undecideds seem to be turning away, as are even several respectable Republicans already in office and running for re-election. Maybe, we're just about to put this stuff behind us.
Chris,
It's more than just a few bad apples at a rally. Palin's and McCain's rhetoric over the last couple of weeks have brought these "bad apples" to the forefront. You didn't see this type of behavior from McCain supporters even a few weeks ago.
Chris, thank you very much! I'm so heartened to hear McCain say these things publicly. Do you know the date of that report on NBC? Which rally?
Palin has consistently talked about Obama "palling around with terrorists" and saying "Who is Barack Obama?" as if we don't know him. It was at one of her rallies that the cries of "Kill him" and "terrorist" have occurred.
I agree with you that the merits of their ideas and judgments are what ought to be the issues. I've been deeply disappointed and disturbed by the attack style of McCain's campaign... just glad that he at least saw reason recently.
Julie,
McCain's talking down of the crowd was pretty well documented on the Rachel Maddow show last night. He corrected the man who said he was fearful of raising his child under an Obama presidency and a woman who appeared to be confused and said Obama was an Arab.
I missed Rachel Maddow's show last night so that is why I missed it.
Even with the correction or retraction, I still hold the campaign responsible for participating in inciting fear.
I say..."what happened to the John McCain I voted for in 2000 when he ran against George Bush in the Republican primaries?" I liked that McCain..but lately he seems to have gotten caught up in the political machine that so characterizes these elections.
Instead of preferring to "lose an election and win a war"...it seems nowadays that McCain would rather win an election rather than worrying about losing his credibility in the process.
Julie
Your candidate lost me when he said he wants to take my small business profits and spread it around. Under his administration, what incentive do I have to succeed, if I can't decide what to do with my success? Plus if I have to buy healthcare for all my part time college employees, I dont' see how I can survive. So what is my reason to vote this upon myself?
watchman
So does your small business earn more than $250K per year? That's the cut off. Also, why would you have to buy healthcare for part-time college-kid employees? Most of them are covered under their parents' plan or college. That's not mandated.
Anyway, you will make the decision that feels right to you. I have ZERO assurance that McCain is going to be kind to anyone in the middle class, nor that he knows a thing about economics (by his own admission).
Plus I may have different criteria for voting than you do. My income tax is not the highest priority for me.
I should add that Jon and I each have small businesses so we understand that taxes and mandates for small businesses matter. I'm not arguing from ignorance.
Most small business owners (I believe it's well over 90% make less than $250,000 in profit on their small businesses.
Also, the requirement to provide health insurance would not apply to very small businesses and I cannot imagine it would apply to part time employees. Obama has talked about making health care more affordable for small business owners to provide by giving them a tax credit.
Obama’s plan exempts small businesses from the requirement to provide health care benefits or contribute to the costs of the national plan.
There have been no guidelines presented yet as to what constitutes a “small business.” However, if the guidelines applied by the Small Business Administration were used, the definition of “small business” is still vague (and has been redefined many times over the past ten years):
“The Small Business Act states that a small business concern is "one that is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation." The law also states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately. SBA's Small Business Size Regulations implement the Small Business Act's mandate to SBA. SBA has also established a table of size standards, matched to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries.”
Lastly, I agree with Julie, we should not vote based solely on whether our own individual tax burden will go up or down under Obama or McCain's plan. We should vote on what is best for the country and the most fair plan. As a small business owner who will probably see his taxes increase under Obama (I can only hope because that means I'm making more money), I think I'll see a net positive effect as the middle class has more money to spend and the overall economy improves. Here's hoping I can hit that 50% bracket!
Peace,
Brian
It would be hard for me to ignore the very thing that keeps me, two families and 20 other people afloat as a lesser priority. Its all I know and all I have to go on. I just don't like the idea of the government punishing me for doing well. I trust myself more than either McCain or Obama to treat my employees right and take care of them.
Look Watchman, you have to vote according to what your conscience tells you to do! Me too. I hope that you find Obama to be in alignment with your values and priorities, but if he's not, then by all means, vote McCain! He's one of the choices too.
I get what you mean about not trusting either to care for your employees as much as you do. That's because you are a good business owner. :) Peace.
Julie
I guess I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in your answer, coming from someone who is so passionate about the cause. I would have liked to hear more than just I have higher priorities than income taxes and to just vote my conscience.
My struggle with this election is that I am a conservative, more so fiscally than socially, and I don't have a conservative candidate from which to choose. I have a charismatic, believable man that I wish I could vote for, but I don't believe his policies will be any more than another Jimmy Carter. Then I have an aging candidate that represents more of the same.
What I am looking for are the reasons why people like yourself have abandoned their conservative point of view in exchange for either a liberal perspective or just simply voting for a man that appears likable and different because of anger toward the old guard. I can't tell which one you are.
watchman, valid questions and I thank you for a clearer articulation of your purpose in asking about the small business taxes. I will use it to write another blog post this weekend. All right? Can't guarantee it will satisfy you, but I'll take a stab. I think my temperament and ideals may not match yours, but hopefully you will understand me better and my commitment to Obama.
Btw, I am Julie Ann. :) That's a diff. gmail account I have and didn't realize I was logged into it when I posted my comment. :)
Julie
thats all I am asking for. I have a good friend here in Lincoln that I disagree with completely when it comes to politics, but at least he can articulate to me why. Most conversations like that turn bad out of ignorance, and neither side really knows what each other is trying to say.
I guess I see a lot of anger, rightly justified, but anger can lead us to make some uneducated decisions, and I don't want to be guilty of that.
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