Desperation

So, this is a McCain acolyte making yet more unsubstantiated and insane charges against Senator Obama. Yet he can't quite bring himself to speak the words. What was he instructed to say? "Osama Bin Laden?"

The Obamamercial

I just watched the half-hour Obama campaign ad. Couldn't help but notice that there were no frantic allegations of John McCain being connected to terrorists, no ugly innuendo, no angry attacks. Instead, we saw a calm, thoughtful and well-reasoned case laid out as to why Senator Obama is the right choice as our next President.

Exactly the sort of well-thought-out argument that has been conspicuously absent from the Republican nominee's operations.

Decency. Reason. Steadiness. Exactly the reasons that I, in my absentee ballot, cast my vote for Barack Obama. I would urge you to do the same.

The Strange Case Of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio -- a.k.a. "Joe The Plumber" -- is illustrative of everything that is wrong with the presidential campaign of John McCain. Since last week's debate, Joe The Plumber has become a personal talisman, an emblem, for the Republican nominee concerning his economic religiosity (calling it a philosophy would infer far more thought than has actually been applied to the subject).

See, Joe Wurzelbacher confronted Barack Obama on the campaign trail, purportedly concerned about the Democrat's economic plan. “I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes $250,000 to $280,000 a year,” he told Senator Obama, identifying himself as a plumber. “Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?”

McCain seized upon one small sentence in Obama's answer -- "I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” -- as proof positive that Obama is out of touch with the entrepreneurial aspirations of the American people, that his proposed tax policy will hurt average Americans.

The only problem with McCain's assertions? They are based upon a lie. Or several.

Joe The Plumber, as it turns out, isn't actually a plumber. He has no plumbing license. He isn't about to buy the business for which he works; the fact that has a state tax lien upon his home makes that a practical impossibility. Even if he were to miraculously do so, the business doesn't make the amount he claimed; his employer reports that he is lucky to clear $120,000 annually (and if Joe were to purchase the business, he would probably clear less, considering the fact that he would have to employ an actual plumber). Wurzelbacher, in any conceivable reality, would be helped by Obama's tax plan. And it would seem that John McCain vetted Joe The Plumber about as well as he vetted Sarah The MILF.

Yet this is the perception of the Republican Party faithful: That "average Joes" somehow manage to make a quarter-million dollars a year without breaking a sweat (perhaps believing so because everyone that they know does). That it is somehow common or easy for a schlub making close to minimum wage to move into the highest marginal tax bracket (the economic statistics say otherwise). That the American Dream hasn't receded from the grasp of most Americans over the past 25 years of right-wing policies (again, the statistics say otherwise).

We live in a time when conservative pseudo-economics has held sway for over a quarter-century, when real wages continue falling for working people, when it becomes more and more likely that a working person will not have health insurance coverage, and when the disparity of wealth in America is at its highest point since 1929. We cannot afford to be duped by the fool's gold of the great right-wing lie.

Even when it is propounded by a previously-honorable man like John McCain.

My New Favorite Word

This post has been on the back burner a while (due to my preoccupation with electoral politics), so it's slightly dated. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Anyhoodles...

About the time that the film Tropic Thunder was released on August 13, protests broke out concerning a character's use of the word, "retard." It was a reflexive protest, divorced from any sense of context or appreciation of genre. Exactly the sort of thing that is associated in today's society with left-wing craziness.

But let me be absolutely clear: Nothing is more illiberal than political correctness. At its root, any attempt to control language is an attempt to control thought. In a free society, that is unacceptable.

To quote one of my favorite authors, Robert A. Heinlein:

"When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,' the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives."

In these times, there is much about the state of free speech that gives me pause. Just two examples: On one hand, hate-crime legislation that attempts to punish not one's actions, but one's purported thoughts as somehow divined by a jury; on the other, attempts to limit speech on private subscription services such as cable and satellite radio and TV, done in the name of decency.

Those on the far left and the far right seem to have only one thing in common: their desire to save me from myself.

And so, in honor of the Tropic Thunder protests, I have a new favorite word. That word is, "retard." As in, "Michael Phelps' latest interview makes me think he's a total retard."

Take that, thought police.

Off The Deep End

Lunatic fringe
I know you're out there
-from the song "Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider

I was "lucky" enough to recently be exposed to the not-quite-sane philosophies of two lunatic fringers, from two wildly divergent points of view. It was an experience.

The conservative in question took the right's tendency toward self-righteousness to its illogical extreme, positing himself the sole arbiter of Good and Evil in the world (and you can guess which alternative he thought himself to be). He declared any disagreement (no matter how small) with any of President Bush's decisions (no matter how ill-fated) to be the result of BDS (that's Bush Derangement Syndrome) and thus invalid. And liberals? They all, every single one, hate America and want our troops dead.

The blind rage was astounding and frightening.

*****

The leftie wacko started out with an oldie but a goodie: George W. Bush is the real terrorist! Then came the inevitable follow-up: The 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by some combination of Bush, Cheney, the CIA, the NSA and the Mossad. And our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq? Well, it's all about oil, pipelines and the military-industrial complex, of course.

Again, mindless, blind rage.

*****

Nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right
-from the song "Ride Across The River" by Dire Straits

It certainly is easy to marginalize people of this sort, to simply tell them to don their tin-foil hats until the voices go away. But upon further reflection, I can't help but think: There, but for the grace of God, go I. It is doubtless that I have strong points of view, and that I can often get rather worked up about matters political. Is it really that great of a step from where I am to where they are?

Fortunately, I have my wife. She, when necessary, is more than capable of letting me know what a blowhard I can be, and is diligent in telling me when I'm full of shit. She is, as John Adams said of Abigail, "my ballast." Has been for over 23 years.

So, thank you, Barb. I love you. God knows how far off the deep end I'd be without you.

Separated At Birth?

Okay, okay, so Andrea Mitchell isn't quite as pasty-skinned as the Joker... and she isn't as flamboyantly dressed... but it's pretty damned close.

We Are Forced To Reap What You Have Sown

It was nice yesterday to briefly see the old John McCain, the one I used to like, the one I would've considered voting for. At Friday's town-hall-style rally in Lakeville, Minnesota, the Republican presidential nominee was forced to actually defend Barack Obama against an ugly mob that seemed about ready to form a lynching party (and doesn't that make me proud to be a Minnesotan!).

"He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues," McCain admonished his supporters in reference to Obama. "I admire Senator Obama. I want everyone to be respectful."

The mob's response? Boos and catcalls.

While I am happy that Senator McCain was willing to risk alienating his base in order to tamp the insanity down, this particular brand of madness is a direct result of the McCain campaign's actions over the past several weeks -- actions that seemed specifically designed to elicit just such a response.

Running mate Sarah Palin has been telling the GOP faithful that Obama sees America as "imperfect enough that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." During her introductions at these events, it has been common practice to emphasize that Obama's middle name is "Hussein" in order to underscore his supposed otherness.

McCain himself has made his disdain for Obama quite apparent at the two presidential debates, refusing to even look at the Democratic nominee and referring to Obama as "that one." He has attempted to stoke racial fears by calling Obama a "man of the streets." And he has remained tellingly silent at other events, during which supporters have called Obama "a terrorist" and screamed "kill him" and "off with his head."

So, while it is gratifying that you have finally decided to do the right thing, Senator McCain, I think it is more than fair to point out that your supporters have merely followed your lead. We are reaping what you have sown, and the end result is a further poisoning of the American political process.

McCain's Plans For Your Health Insurance

Interesting column by Paul Krugman today in the New York Times. It includes this rather disturbing recent quote from John McCain:

“Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.”

Doing for health care what we've done for the banking industry? Super. Sounds great.

And if you don't believe me (or Doctor Krugman) as to the veracity of this quote, you can read McCain's own words here, in the piece he wrote for Contingencies magazine.

The more rope fed the McCain/Palin ticket, it seems, the more eager they become to hang themselves.

Hilarity!

Take that, tree-hugging pussies.

A Film Worth Watching

Today I was able to finally watch the much-talked-about documentary, Taxi To The Dark Side. Not exactly the feel-good movie of the summer, it is nonetheless well worth seeing for any concerned and engaged denizen of this planet.

I know, I know: some people will call me an America-hating monster for ever letting such treasonous photons enter my eyeballs. I would beg to differ.

Certainly, it would be easy to blind myself to the harsh realities of this world. I would wish nothing more than to believe that the U.S. is an unadulterated force for good, that our actions are always true and righteous. But I am no longer eight years old; those fantasies have been left behind as surely as have my G.I. Joe figures.

The world is not a simple, easily-explained place, unless you are a mental midget. And Taxi To The Dark Side gives -- or should give -- all of us things to ponder about the nature of our nation's place in the world, about the disparity between our purported ideals and our realities, and about what has been inflicted upon the servicemen and servicewomen whom we ask to do our dirty work.

Veep Picks and Facial Tics

So, the big V.P. debate happened. Yippee. My impressions:

First of all, it seemed pretty much pro forma; nothing that was going to change any one's mind, one way or the other. Each candidate made a minor gaffe or two, and stuck to the predictable talking points.

*****

It says a great deal about the recent difficulties of Sarah Palin that her mediocre performance at this debate was hailed as a major triumph: At least she didn't have a Tina Fey-worthy moment! Never underestimate the power of lowered expectations.

*****

Do you think that, during debate prep, Palin was told to use the word "maverick" repeatedly? Good lord, she beat that word like a rented mule.

*****

Just how many of moderator Gwen Ifill's questions did Sarah Palin actually bother to answer? Certainly not too many; she was far more concerned with getting back to her prepared talking points.

*****

What was the deal with Palin's bizarre facial tic that has, quite charitably, been called a "wink?" She looked a bit like Diane Chambers of Cheers fame... Maybe this is a signal that Palin, too, needs to be "written out of the series?"

*****

Or maybe it was a signal to the far-right faithful that all this talk about reform and regulation is just talk. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Don't worry, oligarchs and plutocrats, once we're elected nothing will change. A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat.

*****

One of the minor irritants in this election season is Governor Palin -- she, of the seven-figure net worth; she, who owns an airplane; she, whose RNC jacket cost more than I take home in a month -- referring to herself as "Joe six-pack." The woman's down-home appeal is about as credible as a celebrity rehab stint.

*****

But the single most telling (and frightening) moment of the evening for me was Palin's assertion that Dick Cheney is right, that the role of the Vice President is somehow constitutionally malleable to fit whichever investigation or whatever oversight you're currently attempting to dodge. The Constitution, as well as over two centuries of tradition and practice, gives the V.P. a very narrow set of duties: essentially, breaking ties in the Senate and succeeding the President, should the need arise. That's it. We don't need another "Imperial Vice Presidency." Good grief.

Dubya's Stalker Strikes Again

Gosh, I sure am glad to be represented by that woman.