McCAIN AND PALIN: FEAR AND LOATHING

McCain and Palin want to throw sand in your eyes. The collapsing economy--which McCain typified as rock solid just before it crashed--has left their campaign flatfooted, so they're pouring on the sleaze in the homestretch. Desperate to get their numbers up, and distract us from the real issues facing the nation, the Republicans are reverting to what they do best: attacking character. From now until the election, expect a campaign of fear and loathing.

According to the Washington Post, "McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said."

Sarah Palin is claiming Obama doesn't believe in America, and he "pals around with terrorists." She is referring to Obama's association (what the NYTimes calls "sporadic interactions") with 60's radical, Bill Ayers, "a founder of the Weathermen who later became an education professor in Chicago and worked on education projects there with Mr. Obama." (New York Times)

According to the Associated Press, "...though [Palin} may have scored a political hit each time, her attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret."

I don't think he'll regret anything, if it works. Greg Strimple, one of his top advisers, said the campaign will be very aggressive the last 30 days. "We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for Americans."

The trouble is, a campaign of bald-faced lies and dirty tricks can work!

According the Associated Press, "Effective character attacks have come earlier in campaigns. In June 1988, Republican George H.W. Bush criticized Democrat Michael Dukakis over the furlough granted to Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who then raped a woman and stabbed her companion. Related TV ads followed in September and October.

"The Vietnam-era Swift Boat veterans who attacked Democrat John Kerry's war record started in the spring of 2004 and gained traction in late summer."

From CBS News: "'We think the McCain campaign made a huge error by telling the press that their strategy was to distract from the most important issue facing voters,' a senior Obama official said. 'Every attack going forward will be easy to characterize for what it is - an attempt to distract from the Bush-McCain economic record.'"

For his part, Obama is preparing for the onslaught by sticking to his guns, taking the high ground, and countering the bullshit calmly and effectively. He slammed the McCain Campaign's "sordid attacks amid economic peril." His numbers are up, and he's gaining ground. Still, it's a long time till November 4th.

Read "Obama Warns Against McCain Smear Tactics," in today's Washington Post, HERE. Here's Obama's response to the latest wave of sleaze:


As usual, check the sources:
The New York Times story if HERE
The Associated Press story is HERE
The Washington Post story is HERE
The CBS News story is HERE

HAPPY MAY DAY!

On International Workers' Day, we salute West Coast dockworkers protesting the Iraq war. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said more than 25,000 members in 29 ports stayed off the job today.
“Longshore workers are standing down on the job and standing up for America,” Bob McEllrath, the union’s president, was quoted in the New York Times. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.”


Little Steven Van Zandt sings "I Am a Patriot!"

A great song, a snippet of the lyric was used out of context on the PBS television show "Carrier," a ten part series focusing on the shipmates and their deployment aboard the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier. They only used the first part, "I am a patriot, and I love my country..." Yes, that's part of the song. Here's the rest, along with an incendiary introduction from Little Steven.

Like "Born in the USA," by bandmate Bruce Springsteen, this song was misunderstood by the simple minded. It should be obvious, but it bears repeating that there is more to patriotism than blind obedience and waving flags. You can love your country and still believe in peace and justice, and still speak out against the war, and still oppose a president who after all is not a king but an elected official.

FIVE YEARS OF FIGHTING

Here's a segment from "Late Night with David Letterman" featuring Bill O'Reilly.

It's been five years since the start of the war in Iraq. At this moment, 4,297 US troops have died (not counting soldiers-for-hire, a sizable group) and more than a million Iraqis. More than $500 Billion has been spent so far, with estimates as high as three trillion for the region before this is over. There is nothing clever to say about it. Still, I thought it shouldn't pass unremarked in these posts.



THE FUNERAL OF A SOLDIER


The funeral of Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, killed in Iraq, disrupted by fundamentalists from the Westboro Baptist Church. The "church" is a hate group run by Fred Phelps, of Topeka, Kansas, who believes "God Hates Fags" as well as Catholics, Jews, Irish, Swedes, and Mexicans. Their gripe with the army is the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. This proves you don't have to go half way around the world to find crazy religious extremists. Meet the American Taliban.


To make the numbers more real, check out the "Faces of the Fallen" in the Washington Post by clicking HERE.

A casualty counter is located HERE.