Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Character and Distractions

It is weeks like this one that make being an observer of the food fight that is also known as American Electoral Politics such a weird and wondrous joy to behold! As predicted on this site early Friday afternoon, McCain and Unable will never be able to win this election on the merits of their ideas. Why? Because their ideas suck! What to do? Go into the gutter, baby!

Within minutes of posting that piece, there she was: Sarah Palin was being broadcast on MSNBC, practically foaming at the mouth (cute 'n' perky as always, though) accusing Barack Obama being someone who would "pal around" with terrorists:

"I'm afraid that this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who targeted his own country."

The "terrorist" in question is William Ayers, 63, whom along with his wife Bernardine Dohrn, was one of the co-founders of the radical organization from the sixties, the Weather Underground or the Weathermen as they were also known. They apparently took their name from the old Bob Dylan song, Subterranean Homesick Blues: "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." Although Ayers was never convicted or (to the best of my knowledge) even charged with any terrorist-related activities, the McCain campaign has labeled him as a terrorist. If I were Bill Ayers, I'd sue Governor Palin for slander.

In 1993, Ayers held "a tea" - a freaking tea for Pete's sake! - in order to introduce an unknown hopeful for the Illinois state house with the curious name, Barck Obama, to local Chicago Democrats. Although Obama and Ayers have sat on a couple of not-for-profit boards of directors together, their association throughout the years has been largely peripheral. Ayers, today, is a college professor and is a threat to no one. As far as I can tell, he has never even been placed on the national "no fly" list. It should also be noted that when Ayers was involved in his naughty, extra-curricular revolutionary activities, Senator Obama was in the third grade. Governor Palin was in kindergarten.

You see, John McCain and Gidget have no other choice. They have to change the subject. The "lipstick on a pig" controversy last month backfired on them so they decided to they needed to change the subject to the topic of Barack Obama's character.

Character? Character?? These assholes want to talk about character? Let's talk about character....

One of the Founding Fathers of the Republican party, Abraham Lincoln, believed to his core that no state in the union had the constitutional right to secede from that union. He even fought a civil war to kind of drive home the point. Can you even imagine the hell the right wing would have raised if Jill Biden (Joe's wife) had until relatively recently been involved in an organization that advocated Independence for the state of Delaware? They would at this moment be positively apoplectic! That very fact alone would have disqualified my man Joe from being on the ticket. The fact that Mr. Sarah Palin (Todd) until a few years ago belonged to a political party which sought Alaskan secession means not a thing to these hypocrites.

Another thing the Macainiacs are rehashing this week is the old controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Not a good idea. Not only do the member's of Sarah Palin's church "talk in tongues", a number of years ago while one of her current pastors, Thomas Moothy, was the head of a church in a small town in Kenya, the Right Reverend Moothy organized a mob that literally ran a woman out of town. You see, Moothy charged the poor gal with being "a witch" [LONG, STUNNED PAUSE] Yeah, you read that right: "a witch". My advice to Camp McCain? Don't go there. Don't even think about going there.

When it was announced (by Governor Palin!!!) that her seventeen-year-old, unwed daughter was expecting a child, the GOP spin machine went into full-tilt, warm and fuzzy mode:

"Isn't that sweet? She chose life!"

Good for her! But I ask you....can you even fathom the stink that those jackasses would have made were it revealed that one of Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters was pregnant? Ahh! I can just hear them now:

"Well all their women are sluts, what did you expect?"

And while we're on the subject of Michele Obama....

Are you even able to conjure up the image in your mind, how the Conservatives would have reacted had Ms. Obama - A BLACK WOMAN! - been caught red handed stealing drugs (as Cindy McCain was) from a charity devoted to caring for sick children? I can just picture the fuss Hillary Clinton would have made over that nasty little subject. Not only would the loony right have freaked out, Barack never would have received the nomination of his own party!

In December of 1972, six weeks after a brash, twenty-nine-year-old named Joe Biden was elected for the first time to the United States Senate, his wife Neilia and his infant daughter were killed in a horrible automobile accident while picking up the family Christmas tree. His two young sons were also seriously injured in the crash. Suppose....just suppose....that poor Neilia had not died in that wreck. Suppose she survived but had been terribly disfigured as a result. Wait! It gets better (I mean, worse)....

Suppose Joe had taken a good look at Neilia and decided that this gal just was not the trophy wife who should be seen arm in arm with a United States senator. Suppose he initiated an affair with a....umm....oh....I don't know....a beer distribution heiress maybe? (Just for the sake of argument, you understand). Now suppose Joe at that point in time decided to give the unfortunate woman the old heave-ho by divorcing her. Knowing all that, do you think someone like Joe Biden would have had the chutzpah in 2008 to stand before the American people - with a straight face - and portray himself as the guardian of family values??? Heavens to Betsy, I'm lovin' this!

And you mean to tell me that two pathetic hacks like Sarah Palin and John McCain have the unmitigated gall to question the character of Barack Obama? Is it just me or are you able to detect a little bit of a double standard here? Am I imagining things? Please drop me an e-mail.

Oh, and speaking of characters....

Karl Rove is at it again. He is now saying that Senator Obama will be the probable winner twenty-eight days from now. In "Turd Blossom's" own words:

"If the election were held today, Obama would win every state John Kerry won in 2004, while adding New Mexico, Iowa and Colorado to his coalition."

Rove can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time - but he can't fool Tom Degan. I can read Karl Rove like a cheap, dime novel. Here's his trick: By implying that Obama is going to win next month, he is hoping that the base of the Democratic party will hear his words and will jump with joy, "KARL ROVE SAYS THAT OBAMA WILL WIN? MY SENSE OF URGENCY JUST DISAPPEARED! OH, HAPPY, HAPPY DAY!" I guarantee it; that is the motive behind his recent statements.

Here's what he is doing. He's trying to hypnotize the Dems into thinking that this election is over and that the Republicans are doomed. He's trying to instill in them the idea that getting out the vote on Election Day is no longer as important as it previously had been. This will be a victory the Democrats will merely be able to phone in. Remember that this is the most Machiavellian creature since, well, Machiavelli! He knows damned well that if the GOP is successful on November 4, he will never be called to account for his crimes against the American people. That, dear friends, is his real motivation. Don't get fooled again.

This will be remembered as the dirtiest, most disgusting presidential campaign since the Adams/Jefferson contest over two centuries ago. The Republicans are desperate. Have you had a good look at the First Fool lately? He's aged about ten years since the spring. No one in this country is hoping for a McCain/Palin victory more than George W. Bush. He knows that when a Justice Department run by competent, responsible prosecutors is finally able to look at the crimes committed by the Bush Mob, he and a whole hell of a lot of people in his administration will be on their way to federal prison for a very, very long time.

The only way the Republican party will be able to win this election will be by stealing it - again. Don't put it past them.

Seriously, did you ever get the feeling that you were living within the pages of a brilliant, dark comic masterpiece?

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

There are one-hundred and four days until George W. Bush is hiding out in his bunker in Crawford, Texas

For an entertaining perspective on the very topics covered in this posting, have a look at the excellent comment Keith Olbermann made last night on MSNBC. It's from the Huffington Post and in classic Olbermann tradition, it is disturbing and a scream at the same time. Here's a link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/olbermann-special-comment_n_132456.html

25 Comments:

At 6:05 AM, Blogger HAPPY IN NEVADA said...

I am so proud of you! I have a son who is named Tom - he was born May 14, 1969, and damn if he'd written this post, would I have been ever so proud! I hope your parents are reading this and praising you for your wisdom and insight!!!!

I'm going to send this post to others who are not only my age, but your age - I want them to read what a solid individual thinks; a person who is not swayed by media and bullshit..a younger man than some of us, who calls it like it is!

Jesus, I read your post twice because it gave me such a lift. If you'll notice your time versus my time, it's 3:04 in the morning here, in Nevada........

I'm ever so glad to have found your blog, Tom - truly glad!

Diane

 
At 6:12 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Well, heck, Diane! That's just about the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me! Thanks a heap. you've made my day!

Love and Peace,

Tom Degan

 
At 9:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your point on Rove is so well taken. I've been very concerned about this, and hope more people will see the danger. (So I tell them again and again, as I'm sure you do and will.)

I'd love to see a popular show with a mental health professional discussing the concept of projection and this perfect example of it. Calling Obama a liar, touchy, dangerous...hellooooo.

It astounds me that there remain so many people who can't see the jaw-dropping hypocrisy, blatant dishonesty, and delusional behavior of what someone called the buffoon and the bouffant.

I'm embarrassed to say that I'm happy to see Keating brought up. And, although it brings me to the level of the old man and the she, at this point I almost would like to see his "heroism" debunked for the fantasy it is.

I sooo want to see him blow up on the air tonight...

 
At 9:38 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Nice piece, Tom. Your thoughts were echoed last evening during a Special Comment on Keith Olbermann's Countdown. I hope you had a chance to see it. If not, click through the hyperlink to YouTube. It's well worth the ten minutes it aired.

Yes, it's apparent that John McCain will stoop as low as he deems needed to discredit Barack Obama and win this election. That's a given. It's also understandable. After all, all is fair in love and in politics. But, what is bewildering to me, and something I can't come to terms with, is the millions-upon-millions of supposedly patriotic and law-abiding citizens who listen to this nonsense, know it to be untrue, but still support him in his quest for the presidency.

 
At 9:49 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

J.G.
I went to bed early last night, As I was finishing off this piece, I had Olbermann on and, yes, I was struck by the similarities! I guess we're both on the same wave length. Or maybe it's more likely the fact that these issues are so damned obvious that they are literally SCREAMING to be addressed.

Cheers!
Tom Degan

 
At 12:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom,

You wrote:

When it was announced (by Governor Palin!!!) that her seventeen-year-old, unwed daughter was expecting a child, the GOP spin machine went into full-tilt, warm and fuzzy mode:

"Isn't that sweet? She chose life!"

All I can add to this, is at least she had a CHOICE. Don't they see the hypocrisy!?!

If Palin/McCain are elected, our daughters will no longer have a choice. Or I should clarify, poor & middle class women won't have a choice. The rich can always afford to fly to another country to take care of their little problems.

Is it just me, or do you think that Obama/Biden need to be hitting back a little harder? I appreciate that they are trying to be different than the Rethugs, but the average voter does not notice this subtlety.

I have high hopes for tonight's debate that Obama doesn't behave like the President of the "John McCain Fan Club", and comes out swinging. I swear, if he says just once, "I agee with Senator McCain" or "Senator McCain is right", I will tear up the check I just wrote out to the Obama campaign!

Tom - keep up the great work. You lift my heart with each of your rants. I appreciate that you allow us, your audience, to rant a little, too.

Peace!

Jo Reside
Scottsdale AZ

 
At 12:45 PM, Blogger Kurt said...

Rave on Mr Degan! I share your outrage. The duplicity and hypocrisy that these bastards engage in is just breathtaking.

Thanks

Kurt

 
At 2:07 PM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

More troubling than the Repugs hypocrisy is the mentality that breds it. It takes an incredibly brainwashed and uncritical mind to not question these blatant contradictions and double standards. Oh wait.....brainwashed and uncritical mind.....I've just described the Amerikan voter. Ah, now I understand.....bird brains of a feather flock together !!

 
At 4:38 PM, Blogger Prairie Waif said...

The REALITY of JOHN McCAIN the so called "Maverick" is actually a Make-Believe Maverick.

The hot link is to an article posted on Truthout.org and to be published in The Rolling Stone, Thursday, 16 October 2008.


A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty.

The topic headings alone should scare the hell out of every thinking voter who knows some moron who thinks this clown is a "hero." When you read the REAL TRUTH as told by many who served with him throughout his "Military Career," you would want the guy tried for TREASON, not that his Congressional Branch performance, alone, isn't reason enough. Some of the headings:

1. McCain First
2. The Navy Brat
3. Bottom Gun
4. Trial by Fire
5. Violating the Code
6. The Confession
7. "A Bellicose Hawk"
8. Booze and Pork
9. The Carpetbagger
10. The Keating Five
11. Favors for Donors
12. "He Is Hotheaded"
13. "Next up, Baghdad! "
14. Mr. Flip-Flop

It goes to show what a bastard he really is and how other POWs DIED because of his "service while a POW."

I am waiting to see the gloves go on OBAMA when McCain tries to play his, "I am a PATRIOT who served my country you SNOTTY ELITIST LIBERAL!" What BS. If you read the comments at the end of the article, you will see reference to another article which demonstrates how McCAIN did everything in his power to stop the search for other POW's who would collaborate with his "cell mates" the lies he told Americans while giving up the goods to the Communist Vietnamese.
McCain and the POW Cover-up
The "war hero" candidate buried information about POWs left behind in Vietnam.


Take the time to read both articles and debunk the bullshit that McCain's Moronic Minions are spreading about their hero.

 
At 4:49 PM, Blogger Prairie Waif said...

Oh! I forgot to add my exceedingly rising sense of loathing for McCain since he "flip flopped" on being AGAINST TORTURE, until he became the Republican nominee for the White House.

How many citizens of the USA realize that this ENDANGERS each and every one of them? Being a tourist? What's that? You are an enemy combatant with information we want. . .logic, for those who have functioning brains and analytical skills (all that are needed fit into the What I Learned in Kindergarten category of life skills).

I hope Obama makes him scream and blow his top the way Jack Nicholson does in A Few Good Men when he is pushed too far by someone he views as insolent (a "snot nosed Navy Lawyer"). It would be BEAUTIFUL AND SWEET for McCain to lose it the way his has so many times before. . .

Any body else FREAKED OUT by his constant use of My Friends?? If he gets elected we may end up wearing Mao-type pajamas and reading a book with his Scottish tartan on it. . .God help us!!

 
At 6:06 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Tom, I know this is sort of "off-topic", but it's really central to everything that's going on right now. I was following a thread on another site and was intrigued by a graph (Total Credit Market Debt as a % of GDP) that...well...is causing me to crap my pants. Anyway, this chart reflects the accumulated public debt (i.e., "national debt"), plus consumer or personal debt, plus corporate debt, all rolled-up into one, nice, neat "little" number. This number is divided by the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the accepted measure of national income and output for any given country's economy. Please note that, through last March (latest period in which data was available), the American debt is almost 350% of GDP. The only other time this percentage was higher in modern-day American history was in 1933.

I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm a little confused about the relationship of Total Credit Market Debt, being a cumulative value, reflected against a point-in-time (GDP). Whatever the interpretation, it doesn't look good. It's certainly a "moon-shot".

Like the concept of "Peak Oil", it sounds like we've reached "Peak Credit" -- a once in a lifetime event. Some are calling what is happening "credit deflation" (with the word "credit" an unnecessary label). Obviously, deflation is about the contraction in money supply and credit. The conditions now are very similar to what happened in 1929. The primary difference is that prices of many goods and services (notably energy and food) have been rising. There are a few reasons for this: (1) China and India are on a different credit cycle than the US; (2) Inflation is running rampant in China; and (3) The US Dollar is falling due to poor budgeting by the current administration and Congress. Apparently a weak dollar policy by this administration, coupled with inflation elsewhere in the world, is masking the actual deflation in the US.

Things don't look good in Mudville, or Gotham City, or anywhere in between. Not by any interpretation.

 
At 7:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I JUST CHECKED MY 401K AND IT'S DOWN 31% SO FAR THIS YEAR THAT SUCKS! I KNOW IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR POST BUT THANKS I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. WAIT BITE ME COWBOY, NOW THATS BETTER.
THANKS TOM

 
At 9:11 AM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

Okay J.G. let me see if I can put this in layman's terms. I don't have an MBA from Harvard but it seems to me that Amerika is completely BANKRUPT ?? Our economy is like a fire that has burned out and become cold ash ?? It's time to start a new fire with smarter, wiser ethical people running the show. Apply now.....openings will be available soon.

 
At 10:41 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Ellis, I essentially thought the same thing. Following is how it was explained to me, and I quote:

"You are exactly correct...

What we have is an amount of debt so large, in all sectors, that one sector cannot bail out another. We are or have reached the point where what we are earning as a country, beyond expenses, is less than the interest on that debt. It is called insolvency...
"

That says volumes, in my mind, and it appears that the liquidity bailout, or $700 billion giveaway, by our Congress last week was nothing more than applying a Band-Aid to a hemorrhaging patient.

Like you, I believe the "Faal Plan" is more a distinct possibility than most realize. If enacted, I suppose my biggest worry will be whether I'm designated "Red" or "Blue" when they roust me out of bed at four o'clock in the morning. Either way, it's over. As Naomi Wolf's book title claims, it'll be The End of America.

Best of luck...

 
At 11:59 AM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

J.G. So the financial wizards with their MBAs don't understand simple basic economics like the concept of solvency ?? That's hard to believe.....could it be Wall Street is made up of evil, greedy people so sociopathic that their last hurrah was fleecing the people out of another 700 billion dollars. This is exactly why I NEVER trusted the establishment and I never will. This never would have happened if hippies were in charge......our brains actually work !!! As far as the " Faal Plan " and martial law.....to quote the moron chimp " Bring em on " !!! I'd be more than happy to die fighting for something worthwhile like a real democracy !! I always thought I'd die in jail on a hunger strike like Bobby Sands. I never thought it would be in a shootout with the establishment!!

 
At 1:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom, I wish I had your way with words, but I don't. So all I can do is thank you for being spot on in your observations on politics this year.

I haven't been this excited about a candidate since I was a 19 year-old bride living in Fort Rucker Alabama. Martin Luther King was inspiring people to understanding, and Bobby Kennedy was running for president. 1968 was one hell of a trumatic year. The assassinations of those two remarkable men made me extremely cynical of the political process. I was a Pennsylvania girl completely out of my element, and listening to people in the land of Wallace cheer and applaud the death of the "nigger" and the "nigger-lover" is something I never could erase from my memory.

I look at this election as chance to show the world, our children, and our grandchildren that this great country might have lost its way for a while, but we are capable of looking beyond race to find and support a remarkable man. He is not a perfect man, but a smart, brave, and extremely able one. I hope that we can undo the damage that was started in 1980 and find our souls.

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

Tom, another great article. And Prairie Waif, thanks for posting the Rolling Stones link; it is lengthy but a great read.
After watching last night's debate, McCain seems more and more like a shuffling, doddering old fool, and Palin? Well, gosh darn, doncha know, she has never had a serious thought up until now, but if they are elected, he had better watch out because she will be pushing his wheelchair over the cliff before he knows whose hand is on it. If by any chance those two are elected, this contry will be so fucking screwed that we will never recover.
And mentioning the Booty Queen's association with a nutty church, I live in Chicago, home of Obama and I have written constantly to the Chicago Tribune and the Sun Times asking that they write about Palin, her church and ministers the way they did with Obama and Wright, and guess what? Not one response! They will not even go there.

 
At 4:25 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

lkm226,

Your words are indeed inspiring. Keep your fingers crossed and your hands folded. I couldn't imagine how heart breaking it must have been being a progressive-minded person, living in Alabama when Dr. King passed on.

Charles,
I have only one thing to say about the Chicago Tribune:

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

'Nuff said?

My late, beloved Uncle Bill Clements was a reporter for the Chi-Town Daily News and, later on, the Sun-Times. He thought the Trib was the worst Newspaper this side of the Milky Way.

Cheers!
Tom Degan

 
At 8:50 PM, Blogger Avram Mirsky said...

Tom,
What I don't understand is why that slug is allowed to serve as "special election correspondent" for Newsweek, while actively involved in the McCain-Palindrome campaign.

 
At 12:27 PM, Blogger SGL CafĂ©.com said...

So true.

Rove is not to be trusted. If he says stand up -- duck.

A lot of republicans are afraid of being held accountable if a democratic landslide does take place. Not just Porky Rove.

 
At 1:43 PM, Blogger Prairie Waif said...

We CANNOT BECOME COMPLACENT!!

As it appears, *APPEARS* Obama will take it by a landslide, HOWEVER do not become complacent and take it as actually happening.

The vote rigging is already happening.

GET INVOLVED!!

Make sure voter registration was completed legally.

DRIVE PEOPLE TO THE POLS TO **VOTE**

If we don't deliver the votes because people "are certain it will be a landslide" (as I heard on the news today), we are going nowhere fast.

It's no good to say you'll vote OBAMA if you cannot get to the voting station to do it.

ENCOURAGE EARLY VOTING! The ballots are more "stable" when it comes to counting as they are not on Diebold machines or paperless computers.

MJ

 
At 4:00 PM, Blogger Ellis D., Esq. said...

Prairie Waif is exactly right...don't let up. It ain't over til it's over. Let's run up the score and rout McShithead. Give me an O Give me a B Give me an A Give me an M Give me an A What does that spell.... OBAMA !!! See Palin we can cheerlead too you stupid bitch !!

 
At 5:17 PM, Blogger Prairie Waif said...

Ellis D., Esq.

Of course we are *BETTER* cheerleaders than Alaska Barbie.

She can't lead a decent cheer, hell, she is one of those religious fanatics that believes Jesus had a throng of Wedding guest begging him to make GRAPEJUICE!

Those who believe that? Ha!

I'd be a Wedding Guest begging Jesus to turn water into Guinness and then get so shitfaced I'd cheer like an insane idiot.

But that would have to be a few days before November 4th. Gotta be sober if your driving people to polling stations!

"Motor boat
Motor boat
putt putt putt
We got a TEAM
that will
KICK YOUR BUTT!"

 
At 8:12 PM, Blogger Avram Mirsky said...

Download Bobby Kennedy Jr. & Greg Palast's "Steal Your Vote Back" here. Better yet, order 100 print copies and hand them out while you're canvassing for Barack.

 
At 8:19 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Thanks, Avram!
I've met Bobby Kennedy several times inn the last twenty-plus years. He is a friend of my cousin, Tom Cullen. The guy is the living, breathing truth.
Cheers!
Tom Degan

 

Post a Comment

<< Home