It is starting. The forces of hate and fear are amassing to try to turn this election into another Republican distortion of reality.
US Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of the Third Congressional District of Georgia has publicly called Barack and Michelle Obama “uppity”.
Westmoreland, age 58, born and raised in central Georgia, is now incredibly denying that this word has any racial connotations.
Nonsense! People from this generation (I am one) know that the word “uppity” is routinely followed by the word “nigger” (please excuse me), and means a darkie who is reaching out of his proper, low station. A guy like Congressman Westmoreland who was raised in a mill town in Georgia during the 50’s and 60’s certainly knows it.
Congressman Westmoreland is announcing that it’s open season for racism.
Make no mistake, if they come against the blacks, they will come against the gays, the Latinos, and anybody else they view as offending the eye.
Bob
WHERE ON EARTH WILL YOU VOTE? FOR HELP:
http://www.votefromabroad.org/
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Hillary to the rescue?
It weighs on me. Sarah Palin, with little substance but high TV ratings, is distracting the national debate.
Selecting her was a political stroke, but also an act of singular irresponsibility by John McCain. She is clearly not qualified to be a heartbeat from the Presidency of the United States, especially when in John McCain’s case that heartbeat would be that of the oldest president we ever elected.
But there it is. The cameras like her. The public seems to be attracted.
This election will not be decided by the votes of people who, like me, are passionate and follow every day’s news. We decided whom to vote for years ago.
The election will be decided by the 5-8% of Americans, many in swing states, who will make up their minds in the final weeks. And they seem to like looking at Sarah.
The Democratic Party needs a specific strategy to attract these relatively uninformed, relatively uninterested voters. They are important.
In my view, we have to fight fire with fire.
Only one person can take on Sarah: that’s Hillary.
In order for the Democrats to win, Hillary should go to blows (figuratively) with Sarah Palin, day-by-day, state by state, from now until the election. Hillary has to show clearly that Sarah is no Hillary, and use her appeal to working class voters to compete with Sarah’s.
Joe Biden cannot do it. With Sarah, he will have to walk a tightrope. A man cannot be tough on a nice lady and win, no matter how abhorrent her thoughtless politics might be. He cannot appear to bully her. It won’t help that Joe is hugely more qualified and knowledgeable on the issues than Sarah. That will just make it an unfair fight, and attract sympathy to her.
This is important.
Bob
Selecting her was a political stroke, but also an act of singular irresponsibility by John McCain. She is clearly not qualified to be a heartbeat from the Presidency of the United States, especially when in John McCain’s case that heartbeat would be that of the oldest president we ever elected.
But there it is. The cameras like her. The public seems to be attracted.
This election will not be decided by the votes of people who, like me, are passionate and follow every day’s news. We decided whom to vote for years ago.
The election will be decided by the 5-8% of Americans, many in swing states, who will make up their minds in the final weeks. And they seem to like looking at Sarah.
The Democratic Party needs a specific strategy to attract these relatively uninformed, relatively uninterested voters. They are important.
In my view, we have to fight fire with fire.
Only one person can take on Sarah: that’s Hillary.
In order for the Democrats to win, Hillary should go to blows (figuratively) with Sarah Palin, day-by-day, state by state, from now until the election. Hillary has to show clearly that Sarah is no Hillary, and use her appeal to working class voters to compete with Sarah’s.
Joe Biden cannot do it. With Sarah, he will have to walk a tightrope. A man cannot be tough on a nice lady and win, no matter how abhorrent her thoughtless politics might be. He cannot appear to bully her. It won’t help that Joe is hugely more qualified and knowledgeable on the issues than Sarah. That will just make it an unfair fight, and attract sympathy to her.
This is important.
Bob
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
More Palin Revelations
I think it's important to get a very clear picture of the woman who, if elected, will be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Given her lack of national experience, we really don't know much about her.
Sarah Palin's politics in Alaska, running for mayor of a town of 7,000 people, were marked by divisiveness, threats of book censorship, religious overtones, and a lot of other stuff we should NOT see on the national stage.
The difficulty is that she will present herself as a nice lady, which she probably is. Her politics are abhorent, but the lady has charm. This will make an opponent difficult for Joe Biden to be tough with.
Please read this New York Times article for more information.
Bob
Sarah Palin's politics in Alaska, running for mayor of a town of 7,000 people, were marked by divisiveness, threats of book censorship, religious overtones, and a lot of other stuff we should NOT see on the national stage.
The difficulty is that she will present herself as a nice lady, which she probably is. Her politics are abhorent, but the lady has charm. This will make an opponent difficult for Joe Biden to be tough with.
Please read this New York Times article for more information.
Bob
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sarah Palin's Pregnant Daughter
Sarah Palin's 17-year old daughter is five months pregnant. This is not a secret. It's on page one of the New York Times.
Personally, I think such things are, well, personal. Every family has its dramas. Yours does, too.
And as a gay person, I think it's extremely dangerous to start being judgmental about somebody else's sex life.
But that's not what this story is about. It's about the hypocrisy of the Christian right, the danger of opposing abortion when young lives are ruined and unwanted babies are born.
And most of all it's about the now questionable competence of John McCain, who chose Sarah Palin without adequate background investigation.
What was he thinking? Or wasn't he thinking at all?
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? Get help at www.votefromabroad.org
Personally, I think such things are, well, personal. Every family has its dramas. Yours does, too.
And as a gay person, I think it's extremely dangerous to start being judgmental about somebody else's sex life.
But that's not what this story is about. It's about the hypocrisy of the Christian right, the danger of opposing abortion when young lives are ruined and unwanted babies are born.
And most of all it's about the now questionable competence of John McCain, who chose Sarah Palin without adequate background investigation.
What was he thinking? Or wasn't he thinking at all?
Bob
Where on earth will you vote? Get help at www.votefromabroad.org
Louisiana Levees
Ignore that grin in my photo. It is not intended for these ghastly pictures.
I just think we all need to see what happens when our government doesn't build adequate dikes. In Holland, this is something we know about. The technology is a thousand years old. But our government in America, with definitive proof that a disaster will come, seems unable to protect the population. Now, what is wrong with this picture....
I just think we all need to see what happens when our government doesn't build adequate dikes. In Holland, this is something we know about. The technology is a thousand years old. But our government in America, with definitive proof that a disaster will come, seems unable to protect the population. Now, what is wrong with this picture....
Hurricane Gustav - a gift to the Republicans
I don't mean to seem unfeeling about real human suffering in New Orleans. I'm not.
But the fact is that the Republicans have been pondering how to remove George Bush and Dick Cheney from their national convention, or at least make them invisible. After all, George Bush takes the prize for unpopularity and Dick Cheney is, well, Dick Cheney.
They got a gift - Hurricane Gustav. At a stroke President Bush disappeared, John McCain got to look caring (though not particularly Presidential) and FEMA sought to prove that it was no longer run by political hacks.
It's too bad that John McCain visited the area. He distracted valuable resources that should have been used for rescue efforts. NOT going to New Orleans was the one inadvertently competent thing George Bush did the last time around.
But hey, it's an election year.
Bob
But the fact is that the Republicans have been pondering how to remove George Bush and Dick Cheney from their national convention, or at least make them invisible. After all, George Bush takes the prize for unpopularity and Dick Cheney is, well, Dick Cheney.
They got a gift - Hurricane Gustav. At a stroke President Bush disappeared, John McCain got to look caring (though not particularly Presidential) and FEMA sought to prove that it was no longer run by political hacks.
It's too bad that John McCain visited the area. He distracted valuable resources that should have been used for rescue efforts. NOT going to New Orleans was the one inadvertently competent thing George Bush did the last time around.
But hey, it's an election year.
Bob
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sarah Palin – An Irresponsible Act
I respect John McCain, but I cannot respect his decision to make Sarah Palin his running mate.
She is not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with McCain at 72 years old, there is a good chance the Presidency will fall to her.
Palin is an evangelical Christian, an anti-abortion, anti-feminist woman, anti-gay, anti-gun controls, sometimes pro-creationism, who comes from a state dominated by big oil and intense corruption.
Palin has no national or international experience whatever. Her major responsible job before less than 2 years as governor of Alaska was as mayor of a town of 8,000. She was also Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year, so she knows how big oil works.
Her strategic plusses for McCain: She will play well with the evangelicals (who have been falling off the Republican bandwagon) and some of the working class who Hillary spoke to but who have eluded Obama.
The Alaska papers vacillate between “home town girl makes good” and horror at the possibility.
The sleaze factor is back. Why does this remind me of Spiro T. Agnew, for those of you who remember? People who think they can use government to further their personal ends. Google “Palin Trooper Gate” and see what comes up. Palin has been under investigation for pressuring the Alaska Government to fire her ex-brother in law, who is a state trooper, as part of her sister’s nasty divorce.
Will America fall for this? The Hillary people certainly won’t. Sarah Palin is as far from Hillary Clinton as could be.
Mr. McCain, this was irresponsible.
Democrats: Every vote counts!
Bob
Live Abroad? Need to Vote?
We make it easy. See www.votefromabroad.org
She is not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with McCain at 72 years old, there is a good chance the Presidency will fall to her.
Palin is an evangelical Christian, an anti-abortion, anti-feminist woman, anti-gay, anti-gun controls, sometimes pro-creationism, who comes from a state dominated by big oil and intense corruption.
Palin has no national or international experience whatever. Her major responsible job before less than 2 years as governor of Alaska was as mayor of a town of 8,000. She was also Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year, so she knows how big oil works.
Her strategic plusses for McCain: She will play well with the evangelicals (who have been falling off the Republican bandwagon) and some of the working class who Hillary spoke to but who have eluded Obama.
The Alaska papers vacillate between “home town girl makes good” and horror at the possibility.
The sleaze factor is back. Why does this remind me of Spiro T. Agnew, for those of you who remember? People who think they can use government to further their personal ends. Google “Palin Trooper Gate” and see what comes up. Palin has been under investigation for pressuring the Alaska Government to fire her ex-brother in law, who is a state trooper, as part of her sister’s nasty divorce.
Will America fall for this? The Hillary people certainly won’t. Sarah Palin is as far from Hillary Clinton as could be.
Mr. McCain, this was irresponsible.
Democrats: Every vote counts!
Bob
Live Abroad? Need to Vote?
We make it easy. See www.votefromabroad.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
