To change the future, know the history.. I'm glad people like Bill Ayers got a voice now (never mind the reasons). Though Obama can't fight for them, their voice in the media by itself is a great benefit to our democracy.
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn on the Weather Underground, the McCain Campaign Attacks, President-Elect Obama and the Antiwar Movement Today - Part 1 (Nov 14 2008)
In the late stages of the presidential race, no other name was used more by the McCain-Palin campaign against Barack Obama than Bill Ayers. Ayers is a respected Chicago professor who was a member of the 1960s militant antiwar group the Weather Underground. In their first joint television interview, Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn discuss the McCain campaign attacks, President-elect Obama, the Weather Underground, the legacy of 1960s social justice movements, and more.
On tonight's Real Time with Bill Maher [Friday, October 17, 2008] Sarah and Todd Palin's association with the Alaska Independence Party (AIP) received much-needed attention in light of the McCain's campaign use of robocalls linking Sen. Obama with terrorism.
The founder of the AIP, Joe Vogler who died in 1993 in mysterious circumstances had stated, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." He also stated, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." At the time that Vogler died, he was scheduled to give a speech being sponsored by the Government of Iran at the United Nations on Alaska Independence. Vogler got his wish. He and his wife are buried in Dawson, Yukon Territory, Canada.So why does the mainstream media focus so much on Obama's connection with former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and almost totally ignore the fact that the Palins have had such a clear relationship to a secessionist party? Todd Palin was a member of the AIP from 1995 to 2002. Gov. Palin actually gave a welcoming speech to the AIP’s 2008 convention in June 2008. The Palin’s relationship to the AIP is today’s news while Bill Ayers is yesterday’s. In fact it’s so much in the past that Sen. Obama was 8 years old when Bill Ayers was at the height of his radical activities. We should remember that those activities were directed at the Vietnam War. While many people, including me, know that violence, whether organized warfare or domestic terrorism, is never the answer, many more (also including me) know that the Vietnam War was a huge mistake then, as the Iraq War is today. The sad difference is that 14 times more Americans died in Vietnam. We should also remember that it was the outpouring of public sentiment, violent and otherwise, that helped end the war. Bill Ayers intentions were appropriate for the time but his actions were not.The New York Times could not find any kind of a close connection between Sen. Obama and Bill Ayers. Sen. Obama has stated that the acts that Bill Ayers perpetrated were despicable a number of time times. He clearly stated that he does not now or at any time in the past condone Ayers’ terrorist activities. That should be the end of it.But the Republican lie machine is in full swing and won’t let it die. So we need to raise our collective voices to let them know we won’t let them get away with it, not this time.And if they persist we need to use our media, the Internet, to let Americans know that people who live in glass houses should not throw bricks, meaning that the Palin’s association with the Alaska Independence Party will be receiving increased scrutiny from now until Nov 4th.
Ad Hominen Attacks
I hope that Obama keeps his next debate simple and direct. I thought it was very thoughtful of him to mention education at least twice in the townhall debate; an issue that I do not remember McCain even implying.
The false, negative rumors escalated against Obama gained their strength through being recognized and publicized even though they lacked validity. Regarding the contrived, personal attacks, Obama should merely dismiss any ad hominem statements against him as false. It would be a mistake to address, for example, the Ayer rumor at the level of details because a detailed, convoluted response implies its credibility. In other words, if Obama responds to the Ayer rumor in a detailed manner, he will seem deceiving and mildly self incriminating. On the other hand, if Obama dismisses these attacks as falsely poised and invented by an racist, resentful anti-Semitic, he will gain the upper hand through attacking the rumor and the source of the rumor itself. Additionally, if he criticizes the McCain campaign for even recognizing the rumors of the racist Andy Martin he will gain a greater advantage.
The Sadistic Victim versus the Scapegoat
In terms of psychology and literature, there are two scenarios of irony in which an individual is segregated and attacked. The first is as the scapegoat of a tragedy, but this victim, after being tortured and harassed, is reborn as the god of the next generation (ie. Jesus Christ, Dionysus). The second scenario of segregation is that of the sadistic comedy and its victim whose torture is cathartic and pleasant for the audience. The ad hominem attacks by the McCain campaign against Obama represent the sadistic and cathartic torture of comedy, the laughing angry mob, the second type of irony.
Within this article, a functional definition of tragedy and comedy are used. Tragedy is the protagonist and his separation from society; comedy is the integration of society.
Let me explain the differences between the two scenarios; pretend there is a group of x-children who harass a lonely y-child. In a tragedy, the perspective of the audience would follow the y-child and his separation from the group. The audience would be compelled to sympathize with the y-child to and pity this tortured scapegoat. An example of this is the story of the crucifixion of Christ where the audience sympathizes with the tortured scapegoat.
The alternate perspective occurs within a comedy. Likewise, in this scenario, the x-children inflict torture on the y-child. However, from this comedic perspective, the audience feels a sadistic catharsis through the torture of the y-child. Why?---because from this perspective the audience identifies with the x-children. Many Americans ethnically and nationalistically identify with McCain, the Caucasian Patriot, and the associated leaders of campaign. This is why you can search youtube to find some horrifying videos of republicans at campaign rallies making aggressive personal attacks against Obama. Many of his radical supporters are driven by the sadistic pleasures of a comedy and its victim. They empathisize "Hussein", his middle name, to indicate he is an outsider. An this is the least of it, there are plenty of cases were he is called Osama instead of Obama. This is the emotional state of the present, sadistic perspective that permits such segregating, ad hominem remarks against Obama.
Yes, Barack Obama will have no problem appealing to individuals that focus on policy. Some people are usually not able to distinguish correctly between the proposed policies of the two presidential candidates; nevertheless, Obama connects with these people through the clear manner in which he words his proposals making his policies pertinent to all people willing to listen. When Americans listen, they realize that Obama's policies are better for Americans now and better for the future of humanity. But how will Obama appeal to emotional Americans that can not understand policy or perceive their long term effects?
I am a little worried that Obama will lose to the McCain campaign's comedic, angry emotions of identity and segregation. I would suggest that he change the perspective of the dissenting audience from identifying with the x-children to identifying with him, the y-child. I doubt any extreme republicans will budge, but with this change in perspective, emotionally driven swing voters will feel guilty for leaping on to the angry, segregationist wagon, and will join those who sympathize with the scapegoat, the y-child. If Obama makes dissenters emotionally realize that they actually identify with his values and aspirations, the same, authentic values and aspirations set forth by our founding fathers, then he may convince a few of these dissenters.
Fundamental Values and Aspirations
Listening to Obama's words at last week's townhall debate was reassuring; he had the right experience and the right proposals. However, only until the closing statements was I really pulled in to sympathize with Obama at the emotional level. In these closing statements, he mentioned his background and how the image of a revered America inspired his father. He mentioned, in a thankful manner, the opportunity that America stood for; the opportunity that made it possible for him and his wife to receive an education. He brought us into his perspective and compelled us to relate to him with mutual respect and sympathy. I hope he moves our perspective in the days preceding the election, once again, like he did last week in those closing statements. We must be illuminated; we must associate our values and aspirations with those of Obama; we must identify the inhibiting problem within his opponents; we must realize that through Obama's values and policies our future will be realized.
As the lies continue flowing the the McCain Campaign and RNC, CBS News has looked in to a recent McCain Web Ad and found out that the the Ad is misleading.
OCT 13, 2008(CBS)
A recent web advertisement from Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain makes two false claims about a connection between Bill Ayers and Senator Barack Obama.
1. “Ayers and Obama ran a radical education foundation, together.” The foundation they are referring to is the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), set up in the early 1990’s with funding from the Annenberg Foundation to reform public schools. Walter Annenberg is a well-known philanthropist and conservative Republican. “This was not the Bill Ayers and Barack Obama show,” says Ken Rolling who was the Executive Director of the CAC and ran the organization, “It was not created by two people, it was created by a hundred people.” Was it radical? Rolling says that’s in the eyes of the beholder, but he confirms that the CAC funded programs with the following purpose: teacher training, music education, support for new school council candidates, afterschool programs, education research, improvements for literacy and arts programs and initiatives to strengthen parental involvement in public schools. “The idea that the Annenberg Challenge was somehow the extension of the Weather Underground of the 1960’s, that is just one of the most lunatic contentions I can imagine,” says Mike Flannery, political editor at the CBS Chicago affiliate WBBM who has covered Chicago politics for 35 years. Flannery says the other people on involved in the CAC with Obama and Ayers were "business types and Republicans." Obama chaired the board of the CAC but he did not serve on the board with Ayers. Ayers served on a separate advisory board. 2. “They wrote the foundation’s bylaws together.” “They didn’t sit over a coffee table somewhere and say ‘let’s do it this way,’ they were involved with a large group of people,” Rolling says, “They did not actually write them.” Rolling says Ayers served on a voluntary advisory board that hired a lawyer to write the bylaws that were eventually approved by the entire board of directors - one of the votes for the bylaws came from Obama. Flannery says the negative attention that is being paid to the CAC is mystifying to Chicago reporters, "Those of us who have covered politics in Chicago the way I have for 35 years simply don't recognize the caricatures and the ridiculous descriptions of this group."
It’s no accident that we’ve come to this. Losing in the polls and on the economic issues that now dominate the election, the McCain campaign has decided that it’s only hope is to demonize Obama.
Criticizing Obama for voting against a bill to pay for the troops in Iraq, Cindy McCain said, "The day that Sen. Obama cast a vote not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body." In truth, Obama has voted for Iraq troop financing except for one bill that did not specify steps for withdrawal. Ironically, she didn’t mention that her husband failed to vote for a troop-funding bill because it did call for withdrawal (Smear Campaigning Should Be Beneath John McCain).
At least this sort of criticism falls within the realm of issues and policy positions, an area where Obama rightfully feels free to criticize his opponent as well. The sort of attacks we’ve heard from Sarah Palin, however, clearly do not.
At an event in Colorado, she said, "We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
The terrorist Palin refers to is Bill Ayers, whose group, The Weathermen, carried out a series of attacks protesting the Vietnam War. After turning himself, Ayers has been a professor at the University of Illinois and was asked to chair a board for education by conservative Walter Annenberg, who also asked Obama to be on that board (Presidential terrorism).
As William Ibershof, chief prosecutor of the Weather Underground in the 1970s, wrote, "Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator [who was eight years old at the time!] to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago" (Assessing Ayers: Innuendo vs. Information).
More to the point, conservative columnist George Will pointed out that, in the context of the financial crisis, “the McCain-Palin campaign's attempt to get Americans to focus on Obama's Chicago associations seems surreal."
And even if questioning Obama’s relationship with Ayers is legitimate, “coming that close to calling your opponent a terrorist himself is incredibly dangerous and [McCain’s] crowds seem to be flirting with that line between violent vocalization and violent action” (Presidential terrorism).
But this doesn’t keep Palin from saying that Obama "is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," because for her, stoking the fire of the McCain-Palin base in this way has traction, even causing one person at a rally to say, in reference to Obama, “Kill him!”
While Palin basks in the glory of her hateful rhetoric, McCain seems less enthusiastic, more concerned about the monster his campaign has unleashed, more aware of the violence (might I say terrorism) that such hate speech can incite.
As McCain told a man at a Minnesota town hall, “he [Obama] is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States,” many in the crowd booed.
Later, when a woman said that she didn’t trust Obama, because “he's an Arab,” McCain took the microphone from her and said, "No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."
At the same meeting, seemingly in response to his own question – "Who is the real Barack Obama?” – McCain said, “I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments. I will respect him, and I want … everyone to be respectful.”
Too bad the campaign messages he approves are not.
McCain has sacrificed his honor in desperation to win the election. In addition his and Palin's tactics are beyond smear. They are lies that have stirred up hate and such emotion that it is a danger to Obama's life. The only good news is it seems to have now blown up in McCain's face and I think most Americans are finally realizing where Rovian ways lead. The last 8 years have been a disgrace and a national tragedy. Remember all lies lead to the truth.
OBAMA/BIDEN '08!
The Alaskan legislature has spoken and the bipartisan commission (download the 263 page report) finds that Gov. Sarah Palin abuse of power was contributory to the firing of the Alaskan public safety commissioner. She apparently did not break the law since the person fired served at the will of the Governor and the firing procedure, as dictated by Alaska law, was properly followed. However, according to the report, she did break the public trust, especially in allowing her husband to interfere so much in state affairs regarding the issue.Quite something coming from a person who has been painting Sen. Obama as untrustworthy, and the campaign that has co-opted the reform mantra. Sounds like politics of old to this writer. McCain-Palin already have a scandal andwe haven't even reached Nov 4th. Can you spell Bush?
Going forward the McCain camp should have a more difficult time equating Obama’s association with Bill Ayers, the distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois as having anything to do with terrorism. Obama first served with Ayers on the board of an educational non-profit in 1995. As is well known, Ayers was a domestic terrorist in the 1960s and 70s. At the time that Ayers was involved with the Weather Underground Sen. Obama was 8 years old. Enough said.Not only have the recent economic events put Reaganomics out of business, but hopefully Obama will get elected and dismantle Atwater-Rove style politics.
This report could be another nail in the politics of hate and division.
For the past week, Sarah Palin, has been condemning Barack Obama on the basis of an article she read in the New York Times Obama and 60’s Bomber: A Look into Crossed Paths written by Scott Shane and printed on 10/03/08. From this article she argues that “This is a man who sees America different as you and I do”. I agree with Sarah that how someone sees the world IS very important. There are so many factors to be taken into consideration as we evaluate our candidates, especially in these most difficult and complex times. A glimpse into someone’s American/world view does help us determine the candidate’s leadership qualities.
Since Ms. Palin thought that the New York Times article provided these insights into Obama’s American/World view, I read the article in full and I encourage you to do the same. When I read the article, I became confused, because, for me, the article did not support her conclusions. Although it does state that Ayres and Obama paths’ did cross, after a review of the records of projects and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, it basically states that the two men do not appear to have been close, that Ayres played no role in Obama’s appointment on the Chicago Annenberg project, that little influence has been seen and that Mr. Obama has never expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers.
What Ms. Palin seems to have missed is the full page describing Mr. Obama’s involvement in community service. How when he returned to Chicago as a young lawyer, he joined the board of the Joyce Foundation, a non-profit that “supports efforts to protect the natural environment of the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure that its people have access to good schools, decent jobs, and a diverse and thriving culture.” The article goes on to say that a year later, because of his contribution to the Joyce foundation, he was recommended to be chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a project sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation to increase the ability of schools to better themselves. I ask you, what kind of a world/American view does someone have to get involved and join programs to improve education, or environment, or to reduce violence, or have access to jobs on their spare time? What kind of judgment does this display in regards to the use of his time and the type of organizations that he wished to serve?
I then began to wonder if Ms. Palin actually read the entire five-page article, or whether she has a reading comprehension problem, or whether she just wanted to distort the article for ruthless political “shenanigans”. After reading the article, I began to question if Sarah Palin, rather than Obama, was someone who sees America different from you and me? Do we aspire to see the world in context, as a whole or do we merely want to pull out pieces of information out of context to distort our world view? Because of the complexity of the world’s problems today, can we afford to have a leader that does not take all of the information available to make judgments? What kind of “shenanigans” could such a leader cause on the world stage?
I watch all the grimaces, the looks away and heard the reference “That one” and the direct third person “He”. To end it all, the refusal to offer a hand shake and leaving the hand standing. There has been an obvious disdain followed the next day by some very steamy provoking platform talks. But with all said and done Barack won the debate yet there are so many intellect that refuse to accept this. For me this means that and this Presidency is going to bring about some serious ill feelings in America, with people behaving very extraordinarily bad.
That One Voted
There have been name calling and calling no name
Have been mud slinging and Palin’s disgusted shame
A role of attack pit-bull wearing lipstick
This hairdo, designer lens politician is John McCain’s trick
Obviously she’s placed there to be a catch your eye
No stunning beauty, it’s just that she’s not a guy
Elegance questionable with her repeated blink
Voters looking on don’t know what to think
On debate night MaCain laid the worst blow
Though it seems unnoticed you and I know
Executive positions like the Presidency you must understand
Don’t call people “That one” or refuse to shake their hand
Get your copy of "Path to the White House"
Prior to last night's debates in which Barack Obama was the clear victor, Cindy told reporters earlier that day that Obama has "waged the dirtiest campaign in American history". This coming at the onset of McCain's new strategy to stop talking about the issues, and focus on Swift Boat-style tactics to defame Obama and try to make him seem like some kind of un-American radical. Cindy is giving a response founded on emotion, not logic. She's upset that Obama is pulling away in the polls and on the Electoral map. Obama is widely considered the "nice guy" that wants to be above the bipartisan smear tactics and fear-mongering that Republicans seem to own a patent on. But, he has learned from the Kerry campaign that we should strike back when they strike at us. Calling Obama "dirty" is a stretch, but calling it the "dirtiest" in "American history" is an illogical form of desperation, and just more smearing from the McCains to say the least.
Welcome to The Twilight Zone folks. Where all forms of reality & logic has been suspended in this political parrallel universe, brought to you by the Republican Party.
Obama's "The Subject" ad (in response to John McCain's smear tactics)
I hope someone reads this before tonight. During the Haymarket Riots in 1886, a terrorist threw a bomb into the crowd and killed 17 people, and injured I don't know how many others.
Since then, in Chicago, the sentiment is, if your best is to throw a bomb and hide in the shadows, you've got nothing. It doesn't matter what you believe, or what your politics are, if this is your best, you've got nothing! This is relevant to Bill Ayers (among other terrorists, *ahem*). He is still sitting at home going "Evil government, boo hoo." Barak Obama on the other hand, is in there, trying to make the country better.
Go get 'em Senator!
Scott123
Harold Myerson in the Oct 6, 2008 edition of the Washington Post sets the stage very clearly what kind of reformer John McCain has been and would be if his pal and close adviser, Phil Gramn, is any indication. According to Myerson, Republican Gramn was instrumental as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee in getting a provision attached to an omnibus spending bill on Dec 15, 2000 that really set the stage for the credit market meltdown that is underpinning the current financial crisis. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) prohibited government regulation of credit default swaps. These are the insurance products, most often in the form of derivatives that expanded to $62 trillion when the housing market was hot. Although Myerson does not say so, the lack of regulation has an implicit role in the leverage that brought down Lehman Brothers. Myerson also states that the CFMA prohibited regulation of the energy-trading market. This enabled Enron to so manipulate the energy market that it was able to hold the state of California hostage and outsmart itself into bankruptcy. Unlike Bill Ayers or Rev. Wright, McCain’s relationship with Phil Gramn is a close one. Myerson clearly states, “…that Gramm's relationship to McCain is not comparable to the relationships that Ayers or Wright have with Obama. The idea that either Ayers or Wright would have any impact on the workings of an Obama administration is nonsensical. But Gramm and McCain do have an enduring political and economic alliance [emphasis mine]. McCain chaired Gramm's short-lived presidential campaign in 1996; Gramm is co-chair of McCain's current effort. McCain has not repudiated reports that Gramm is on the shortlist to become Treasury secretary if McCain is elected, even after Gramm labeled America ‘a nation of whiners.’”In relation to the presidential debate on Oct, 7, 2008, when McCain may try to assassinate Obama’s character by inappropriately tying him to Bill Ayers and terrorists, Myerson’s last sentence sums it up neatly, “If pressed, though, he [Obama] can mention that it is McCain's senior economic adviser who has diminished American solvency and power beyond the wildest dreams of anti-American terrorists.
If McCain does try to malign Barack during the debate, my guess is that it will backfire as has already started because of Palin’s disgusting accusation concerning Sen. Obama and terrorists. The electoral avalanche in Obama’s favor that is starting to happen could only accelerate. The Republicans may finally learn that when there are real problems facing the country the politics of mean doesn’t play in Peoria.
This is an update to a blog I wrote below. As many anticipated, the attacks by association against Senator Obama were going to get even more brazen. If you look at the quote below from
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/palin-defends-a.html
you see that now, instead of just tangentially knowing Mr. Ayers, now Barack Obama is being accused of supposedly being, "associated...with a known domestic terrorist group." Think of how ludicrous that is, how it moves farther from the initial lie to a greater lie. How could Barack Obama be associated, in 1995, with a group that had not existed for 30 years, a group that existed 40 years ago from today, when Barack was 8 years old?
What we need to recognize is that guilt by association is what happened during the McCarthy era and America supposedly learned how horrible that was, that we should never repeat that, that when our government, when our politicians, support such behavior, we are on the brink of an ideology that is what America stands against, a corrupt government fueled by propaganda and fear. Using this guilt by association tactic, Senator McCain, who knows Senator Obama, would in the 1950's be guilty as well and be called up by the Senate to explain his link to terrorism. Is this what we want for America today and in the future, a return to the 1950's and McCarthyism? This sort of right wing radical government is what leads to regimes such as what is in North Korea and China, an "electorate" that is manipulated by falsehood and held in place by fear of association and reprisal.
The quote from the latest Palin remarks are below and below that is my original blog on this issue.
"And he of course, having been associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group, it's important for Americans to know," Palin said of Ayers. "It's really important for Americans to start knowing who the real Barack Obama is.
ORIGINAL BLOG ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER:
Anyone who cares about Senator Obama should not stay silent on a resurrected lie that is now being used by Palin and McCain. If you can, please forward this to everyone you know, as this latest slander could hurt Senator Obama seriously enough to cost him the election.
Now that McCain and Palin are becoming desperate, hardcore "Swift Boating" is ratcheting up to a level that is once again trying to destroy Senator Obama by making him responsible for the actions of other people he has met or known.
Never underestimate the power of an outrageous lie. Here's the story:
On the stump, Sarah Palin and John McCain are now routinely spouting a shameless sensational lie, that "Obama pals with terrorists." One could not even imagine that such statements could be made and believed, but they are being made and they are being believed.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/04/palin.obama/index.html
It's such a distortion, that it is amazing that McCain and Palin have the guts to lie to this level. In case you're curious about the facts, Bill Ayers (who was a militantin the 60's, accused and by all accounts guilty, but not convicted, of bombings that did not kill but did damage property) lives in my and Barack Obama's town, Chicago. Bill Ayers' days of militancy was when Barack Obama was 8 years old. These days, Bill Ayers is a reformed establishment guy, and amazingly, a professor of education at the University of Illinois. He's even consulted for Chicago's Mayor Daley on issues of education. His reformation is as improbable as his past was despicable.
Senator Obama and Bill Ayers crossed paths a few times, as you, me and everyone in the world cross paths with thousands of strangers who become momentary acquaintances. Barack Obama doesn't know Bill Ayers as a friend, confident, "pal" or anything of the sort, anymore then I can be said to know someone I sat next to and met on a plane.
When you look into the specifics of how Bill Ayers and Barack Obama crossed paths, you find that it was moments like a cocktail party thrown for an outgoing politician as the public welcomed Barack Obama into the State Senate, or a chance encounter on the streets of Barack's hometown suburb, Hyde Park, Illinois.
That's it.
There is no relationship. They are not "pals." as Sarah Palin distorts. In defense of these unbelievable attacks, Barack publicly has stated many times, vehemently, that he obviously disagrees with Bill Ayers'past and finds his horrible acts completely distasteful. For Sarah Palin and John McCain to say that Obama is cavorting with terrorists, and the implication being that by association Senator Obama might be one as well, is shameless. That sort of slander shouldn't even be legal.
Want to know some actual facts about John McCain?
See:
http://www.johnmccainrecord.com
Yes, these facts are from Obama's viewpoint, but factual nonetheless and diametrically opposed in substance and style from the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to "reveal facts" about Senator Obama.
“All that is necessary forthe triumph of evil is that good people do nothing”
The biggest problem with the success of the Obama-Biden ticket is that it infuriates Republicans. Everytime Obama or Biden demonstrate their competence, intelligence and credentials some new slew of attack ads emerge. The worse part of these attack ads is that they prey on a citizenry's deepest fears and emotionally manipulate people using very sophisticated psychological principles and techniques.
Get ready to feel frightened, hurt and vulnerable. You will notice that some ads will make Obama look darker and more menacing. Biden will be made to seem hypocritical and untrustworthy, or rambly and pompous. There will be an attempt to make activism seem bad, wrong and un-American. Be prepared for distortions of history and of association. Especially keep an eye out for Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright and Rezko. Remember that these ads are designed to link our passion for Obama to something dangerous and un-American. This is because the people's embrace of Obama-Biden is a rousing endorsement of democracy. Such populism is a direct challenge to the non-consultative authority that Bush-Cheny have made synonymous with the Republican party.
Remember this: Every attempt to cast Sarah Palin as main street or Joe six-pack and you as something else is a divisive manuveur. Every attempt to frame Obama as dark, or black, or foreign or muslim is a challenge to the civil rights that founded and unite this great country. Every criticism of education, experience, and intellect is a blatant attempt to undercut what enables us to reach the ideals of liberty and freedom. The Republicans will try to create the illusion that there is an us versus them. The idea of an us versus them is what helps dictators, and other rulers dominate populations.
We are a democracy, and this is a government of citizens. Trust your instincts, your intellect, and your own sense of right and wrong. Don't let yourself be manipulated. We are all vulnerable to these feelings . . . but we are all also underestimated. Every person brings the gift of their mind to their lived lives when given the opportunity. Whether or not you are from Harvard, or Howard, or Hometown USA - you have a mind that is alive and active and very capable of recognizing truth. No one should even attempt doubt the agency of the American mind and spirit. The citizens of this country - including me - are not apathetic or incompetent. We are bitter (and I do mean bitter), disappointed and angry about the condescending leadership and abuse of citizenry practiced by the current administration.
Counter the attack ads with the naturally ocurring love, competence and humanity of our minds and hearts!
