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This Is What Democracy Looks Like
www.NationalView.org's Note From a Madman
October 21, 2008
The Future of American Politics
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel then how does one implement it
as a strategy? If you're running for President of the United States you do it by
assassinating the character of the person you're running against.
So far in this election we have seen the John McCain campaign machine attempt to
call Barack Obama unpatriotic, a Muslim, an Arab, a traitor, a socialist and a
few other words which one shouldn't speak in mixed company. Oh, sure, they use
euphemisms and more "politically correct" words to insinuate that the character
of Senator Obama is lacking, but it all comes down to the same thing.
After the endorsement of Obama by former Republican Secretary of State Colin
Powell it was obvious that race was going to come back into the election
equation. And although it hasn't (yet) emanated from the McCain camp itself, we
have heard from the likes of Rush Limbaugh that the only reason Powell is
backing Obama is because both men are Black.
This was all about Powell and race. Nothing about the nation and its welfare. He
said it's not about race, and I said, 'Okay. Show me all of the inexperienced
white liberals you've endorsed.' If it's not about race."
-Limbaugh
Limbaugh is, of course, playing to his audience of "ditto-head" followers who
scream and yell for the meat thrown by Rush their way, and that's the way his
show has always been. There's no one who's changing their minds from supporting
Barack Obama to being a McCain-iac on Rush's say-so. He is just fuel onto the
fire.
However, it is a totally different part of the equation when those in the
McCain-Palin camp, and the Republican National Committee play Rush and do the
same thing. McCain appears to have little desire to play the race-baiting,
name-calling game which most in the GOP feel is the only tact they can take to
win in two weeks, but that doesn't really stop him. McCain is uncomfortable in
his new role as the reluctant assassin, but he pulls the trigger nevertheless.
Palin, on the other hand, relishes her position as the go-to assassin. She has
taken her role as the name-caller-in-chief of the Republican Party and appears
to do so without remorse, pause or even a second thought.
Let's be honest about that "second-thought" thing - she probably doesn't second
guess anything she ever does. If that sounds familiar, it should - it's the
George W. Bush philosophy of governing which got us into all of our various
messes in the first place. Palin is not much more than Bush in a skirt suit.
We've heard Palin align Obama with terrorists with the end result being having
those on the Right calling Obama a terrorist himself. We've heard shouts from
her crowds calling Obama such and offering solutions such as having him killed.
During a Palin rally just last week, we all heard the audio of a man yelling
"Kill him!" as Palin was stirring up the crazy-hate-pot. All of the crowd heard
it; the television cameras and reporters' recording devices heard it; and we all
heard it either live, as she was carried live on various media outlets or
recorded. The only one who hadn't heard the "Kill him!" threat was Palin
herself. Her dismissiveness of the near-riotous acts she perpetrates at her
rallies smack of everything that's wrong with politics today.
And her failure to repudiate those in her crowds who offer up such solutions as
calling Obama a "terrorist" or suggesting the solution of "Kill him!" makes one
realize that John McCain made the worst choice possible for his running mate.
The real problem with the McCain-GOP strategy of character assassination, hate
and fear is that this is now what they (the Republican Party) will offer up as
their answers for years to come. The spirit of bipartisanship is over along with
the ability to compromise, share credit or take blame. The GOP put this snowball
in motion and it is now careening down the political mounting of US politics.
Sarah Palin will be around and in the public eye for years to come as the
Republican party's go-to female politician. She is ambitious enough to keep
herself in the various spotlights and work the political room as her party's
flag waver to keep her minions scared and vicious.
And we have John McCain to thank for putting her in that position.
Win or lose, we are all going to be stuck with Sarah Palin in the national
spotlight for all of those years to come. And with Palin leading the charge of
the not-so-bright brigade for the next generation of those who will follow
blindly, this flow of our political culture will be nothing more than a sea of
despair.
-Noah Greenberg
On Trickle-Down Economics
(The Economics of John McCain and the Republican Party)
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has a new
report out. As detailed in a AP article by Emma Vandore (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hh8ZaftBXioX8AVFItMGq8RFvj_wD93UP48O0):
"The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger in the world's richest
countries — and particularly the United States — as children and low-skilled
workers slide deeper into poverty, according to a 30-nation report released
Tuesday."
"The United States has the highest inequality and poverty in the OECD after
Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000, the report
said. Meanwhile France has seen inequalities fall in the past 20 years as poorer
workers are better paid."
If trickle down works, why is the gap between the rich and poor growing? In this
sort of economic environment, giving further tax cuts to the wealthy as pro
posed by John McCain is absolutely criminal.
-Robert Scardapane
Revisiting the Eighties, Puppet-Style
McCain's quesy overlarge smile, the one where he gritted his teeth, and then
would draw his head back into his hunched shoulders (during the last debate)
reminded me of something:
There used to be these weird puppets on TV on some adult political show, I
think, that had big heads and overlarge toothy mouths dubbed onto the picture.
McCain and some of these look very similar. Know what I'm talking about?
-Ken Kraus
They're the UK's Spitting Images puppets made famous in the US by Phil
Collins and Genesis in the 80's video Land of Confusion. They also had a brief,
but funny life as political commentaries.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ykU2MtcZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VErtCpaxtsI
-NG
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-Noah Greenberg