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