Five Days

These are going to be the longest five days in our entire lives. So desperate is the GOP and Camp McCain, they are throwing everything at Barack Obama. Expect him to be hit broadside by a kitchen sink in the next one-hundred and twenty hours.

But my absolute favorite moment was when they dragged out of the closet, the tired old bugaboo of Communist sympathies. First they accused him of being a Socialist. That didn't work so now they are accusing him of being a Marxist. You read that right, my friends: A card carrying, freaking Marxist! Yeah, right. And I'm a Nazi. Seig Heil.

The Bush administration at this moment is in position to do some serious damage to the American electoral process. Remember, an American president, regardless of his status as a lame duck, still has much power. George W. Bush is going to do everything humanly possible to see to it that the votes of Democrats - particularly African American Democrats - are not counted. You see, The First Fool is going to be remembered as the first former chief-executive in American history to go to federal prison. He is going to die there. That is a prediction I have been making on this site since the day I started it almost two-and-a-half years ago on June 2, 2006. He's got a big problem - A REALLY BIG PROBLEM! He knows damned well that once the United States Department of Justice is finally placed into the hands of competent, intelligent prosecutors, he, Dick Cheney and a whole lot of others will be facing a very long stint in the Big House. His very freedom depends on a victory for John McCain and Gidget von Braun.

This will probably be the most tumultuous Election Day since 1861. That was the Election that sent Abraham Lincoln to the White House. The country was weeks away from dissolving into a bloody Civil War which would eventually lay claim to six-hundred and twenty-four thousand human lives. Although the times we live in aren't quite that weird, they're weird enough to be sure. The Grand Old Party operatives are in the process of stealing this election. However, it won't be one tenth as easy as it was in 2000 and 2004. All they had to do in those years was steal one measly state. - the final results were that close. That's not the case this year. Not even close.

In 2000, every exit poll had Al Gore winning Florida. Four years later, the polls had John Kerry taking Ohio. As the hours tick down to November 4, 2008, most of the polls have Senator Obama headed toward a landslide. If the headlines on November 5 proclaim "PRESIDENT-ELECT McCAIN", contrary to every exit poll that says Barack Obama won - overwhelming - I promise you that there won't be anything as drastic as a civil war, but there will be a revolution. Of that you may be absolutely certain. We're not going to allow these bastards to once again overthrow this country. We're going to take America back from these people by any means necessary.
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GOOD NEWS:
When and if that revolution comes, I will be non-violent. Honest to goodness, I will.
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BAD NEWS:
I don't speak for everybody. Sorry 'bout that.
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Do I sound paranoid to you? I've lived through nearly eight years of the most criminally corrupt, incompetent administration since the invention of dirt. I've earned the right to be paranoid, thank you very much. How am I so sure that they're are planning another coup de'tat? It's all in the language they've been using in their talking points. Over and over again, they've been predicting a so-called "Bradley effect". This is named after the late Los Angeles mayor, Tom Bradley. In 1982, when he ran for Governor of California, the polls said he was a sure winner. When he lost, the theory was that white voters didn't want to admit that they would vote against an African American. Is this why the talking heads are are talking up the Bradley effect? Will this be the reason they put forward when and if the election is stolen from Barack Obama?

And why is John McCain spending so much time campaigning in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania is lost! Some polls have Obama ahead by as much as ten or more points in that state! There's no way humanly possible he will be able to close the gap in a mere five, short days. Are they planning on stealing the Keystone State and saying the next day, "See? All of Senator McCain's eleventh hour campaigning paid off in the long run. It was the Bradley effect! Honest!" I don't know about you, but I smell a rat.

This is 1932 all over again. I've spent much time in this year comparing the two campaigns. It may seem trite by now but it cannot be emphasized enough. Tuesday is the most important election in seventy-six years. Back then, the people got their information primarily from newspapers. Broadcast journalism hadn't even been invented yet. Although Edward R. Murrow was employed by CBS in 1932, it was purely in an executive capacity. He was seven years away from revolutionizing the broadcast medium. The American people were not being bombarded by round the clock, right wing propaganda. Sending Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the Oval Office was pretty much of a no-brainer to the voters in 1932. They knew what the right thing to do was. Unfortunately, that's not the case in 2008.

Here's what's changed: In the three-quarters-of-a-century since the Roosevelt/Hoover contest, the I.Q. of the American people has dropped about seventy-five points. Herbert Hoover was a very flawed chief-executive. But it can not be doubted that he was not only an essentially good man, he was also possessed of a great and agile mind. Remember, he was an engineer. In 1928 (the year he was nominated by the Republican party as candidate for the White House) had the half-witted son of a failed, ex-president sought the presidency, no one - even in that party - would have taken him seriously. Sixty-eight years later, a huge segment of people registered to vote in the Republican primaries thought the idea of an asshole like George W. Bush sleeping in the Executive Mansion was just a dandy idea. American standards have fallen alarmingly.
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The fact that, in 2008, the prospect of a McCalin/Pain administration doesn't scare the hell out of the overwhelming majority of Americans is scary in itself. Sarah Palin is a more dangerous extremist than Bush! I didn't even think that was possible! If John McCain is elected and dies in office (which is a better than fifty/fifty possibility - look up the stats) we might as well pack it up and move to another country. My brother Pete lives in Toronto. Brother Jeff lives in France. Save me a cot, guys.
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Apprehensions aside, these are exciting time to be alive, aren't they? Believe me, My undying, passionate support for Senator Obama's candidacy is not solely due to the fact that he is a Black man. Were he an albino, I would still be supporting him over John McCain. Why? Because I believe his positions on what is best for America are essentially correct. John McCain's policies are awful. It's as simple as that.
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But let's be honest here: The possibility of sending a non-white person to Washington as the leader of a quarter billion people is a beautiful thing to contemplate. Those who share his skin color suffered more hardship and injustice than any other group throughout our history. Their time has come. This is their moment. Don't try to stop it. It will be easier to keep the sun from rising.
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Watching Senator Obama's half hour program last night, which was carried on three networks, lifted up my spirits in a way I can't even describe. If President Barack H. Obama is sworn in on January 20, 2009, for the first time in my life (I turned fifty on August 16) I'll be able to say, "That's my president!" For the first time since I dropped by for this extended visit to this planet in 1958, I'll be proud of my president. I'll be able to say to everyone, that I helped send the first African American to the White House. Many people will be able to say the same thing with pride.
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But we have every reason to be wary. Right now there are forces at work, trying to deny people of color the right to cast their precious ballot, to have a say in the direction their country takes in the second decade of the twenty-first century. As I write these words, there are people who are trying to overthrow our republic. It's already happened twice. Think it won't happen this time 'round? Think again, people. Think again.
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God help them if they're successful.
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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AFTERTHOUGHT:
I have two working titles for the piece that I'm going to write on the morning after Election Day. One is, "Wake Up and Face the Dawn". The other is, "STUPID FUCKING AMERICANS". We shall see.
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Hark!! There are eighty one days until the most murderously reckless, criminally inept president in American history is out of office forever! Hang in there, kiddies!