Something that scares me

One of my friends (Hi Tim!  Long time no talk!) keeps posting news items (ie the hideous things that John McCain and Sarah Palin are saying about you know, everything.  Essentially, the lies are the main point.  For example, the latest news item is about the ad claiming Obama supports comprehensive sex education for kindergartners, which is a blatant lie, in case you were wondering.) and then commenting on them: "These people think you're stupid."

It's definitely true, Tim.  Here's what scares me:  most of America is THAT stupid.  Right now, somewhere in Pennsylvania (only chosen for its swing state status, could be ANY state in the union) some old lady is saying, "Ain't no black Muslim gonna teach my little grandbabies about sex and that dirty stuff."  And you know she believes it, and you know she's gonna go into that booth and think something like, "I'm a-scared of Muslims!" and she'll vote for McCain/Palin.  Because dude!  We're only as good as our lowest common denominators, and our LCDs will believe the Republican sound machine because they're scared and stupid.

That scenario?  My biggest fear right now.  And my fear?  It's not leading me to vote for Republicans, it's leading me to think that perhaps the Republicans can yet again mobilize over half of America's (xenophobic, misplaced, but still) fears and pull out a win in what would be the most disgusting, throw-up inducing election of my life. 

I was thinking the other day, and GW Bush (that man) has been in office since I've been an adult human being, and that thought makes me feel slightly green around the gills.  I've never known a government that I trusted, and I'm sort of ready for that.  And by sort of, I mean: YES PLEASE DEAR GOD PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET IT BE THE GOOD GUYS.  And not the party of liars and fearmongers. 

Ok, I'm done now. 

Comments

[Dadmo]

I just erased an email from a guy with the appropriate last name of Kreep who hails from the Republican Majority Committee, whoever they are. In this email that had to be written by trashy tabloid writers, there was a picture of Bill Ayers with a quote caption from back in his ultra radical days...basically inferring that, among other things, Obama advocates "killing your parents". How disgusting. The republicans are obviously going fast and furious for the absolute moron vote. Come to think of it, that may be a good description of someone that would even think of taking a chance on continuing what has been wrought upon us for the last 8 years.

What kind of frikin game is this whole outrage about the lipstick comment? I am insulted by McCain and his "mentors". He lost my vote a long time ago...Sarah Palin is no more a pig than she is a good candidate for the vice presidency.

[Rita]

Actually, you are 100% right. NPR did a story on how race affects how people vote. They went to York, Pennsylvania and gathered about 15 people of various races. Nearly all of the white people were voting for McCain, and all of the non-whites were voting for Obama. When they went around the room, asking people to say why they were voting as they chose. This is what one older white woman said:

"I look at Obama, and I have a question in my mind," she says. "Years ago, was he taken into the Muslim faith? And my concern is the only way you are no longer a Muslim is if you are dead, killed. So in my mind, he's still alive."

Although Barack Obama has said repeatedly he is not a Muslim and has never been a Muslim, Moreland is still unconvinced.

"There is something about him I don't trust," she says. "I don't care how good a speaker he is, I just can't trust him."

(Link to this story, part of a series on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94523754)

We should be afraid. There are a lot of people out there - people who seem smart and rational - who just never listened when the facts came out that Obama is not a muslim, or who just don't trust a black man in the oval office. I've been shocked by what people have said - people I thought I knew, who I would have assumed knew better than that.

The scariest thing, to me, is that this race is focusing on the wrong things. We're talking about whether or not McCain will die in office, whether America is "ready" for a black president, if Pailin is the victim of sexist attacks. We need to be focusing on the issues. We need to focus on the fact that the next president will likely place three new supreme court justices, and what that means for Roe v Wade and reproductive choice. The next president's interpretation of the constitution and their stance on a wide variety of issues needs to be addressed - because it will have long-lasting effects well after they leave office. Forget taxes and domestic policies, even, our system of checks and balances prevents any one president's policies from being put in place unchecked. Neither candidate will be able to fulfill all of their plans, that's what the house and the senate are for. But the people placed on the Supreme Court are not checked, and rarely overturned. And those are life-long positions, and their decisions create the laws of this country.

/end rant.