March 12, 2009
I received mail dated March 9, 2009 from the Illinois Department of Human Rights. The letter states "...Your letter to Governor Quinn was referred to the Department of Human Rights for a response. The letter that you received from the Department of Human Rights, dated July 15, 2008, explained the process regarding the cooperative agreement between U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Illinois Department of Human Rights (Department)...When you have received a final determination of your charge from EEOC, please refer the July 15, 2008, letter for further instructions...." Mr. Brent A. Harzman, Acting Manager signed this document, copying it to Rocco Claps, Betsy Ebeling, Governor's Office of Citizen Action and Thomas Roeser.
January 29, 2009 Honorable President of the United States Mr. Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 CERTIFIED MAIL Re: Bias and Prejudice Investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Mr. President: Please excuse me from taking your valuable time away from governing our country, but I must submit this writing seeking advocacy for shared beliefs in an honorable employment system free from discrimination and indifferent treatment along with responsible government intervention when an employment entity compromises the laws governing employment practices. At this time in your Presidency, it appears your priorities are focused on the economy and employment. This writing addresses both priorities. You signed a bill today, January 29, 2009, requiring women to get equal pay in employment, which also expands the time for filing discrimination claims. The lady to whom the bill reflects battled the powers to be for equal rights and pay for everyone. My fight is similar. I have been battling with the powers to be for equal employment under the law. Background/History with the Illinois Department of Corrections: First, I have been subjected to discrimination, marginalized and retaliated against because of my non-violent criminal drug convictions in 1988 and 1992. Sir, when I was sentenced in 1992 I did not have a G.E.D. I received my G.E.D. in Chicago’s county jail while waiting to go to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). I started going to college in prison. Once released in December of 1994, I achieved my Bachelor degree in General Studies with a focus on Social Science (1997) and a Master degree in Mental Health with a focus on Community Counseling (1999) from Roosevelt University in Chicago. I started my PhD program with Walden University in 1999. I will receive my PhD in Human Services with a focus on Social Policy Analysis and Planning in February of 2009. While I was incarcerated in IDOC in 1992, I suffered racial discrimination, indifferent treatment and retaliation attempting to access the courts. I was still litigating my criminal convictions while incarcerated. When going to court from an IDOC prison in Vandalia, my legal papers were purposely taken and destroyed by IDOC personnel. The legal papers contained information against Judge Paul Foxgrover who convicted me and my personal lawyer William Swano. Paul Foxgrover was convicted of a felony 18 months after convicting me receiving a 6-year sentence, and Attorney Swano was convicted in Operation Greylord and disbarred. I filed a civil action against IDOC for denying access to court, with the caption Fred Nance Jr. v. J.D. Vieregge, et al. The District Court denied my claims. The U.S. District Court of Appeals overruled the District Court on appeal stating “Nance has two options, which are not mutually exclusive: to seek damages in state court for the value of the photocopies as ordinary personal property; and to initiate a collateral attack or request for pardon concerning the judgment that rests on his guilty plea.” As stated above, this Appellate Court overturned the lower court’s decision dismissing my original complaint stating I had not pleaded facts showing that Vieregge acted deliberately. I did not know about this Appellate court decision until 2005. I was litigating another matter regarding “access to court” in the Federal court when through my research I found my case. I filed for clemency with Governor Blagojevich in October of 2006. Governor Blagojevich never responded to my petition for clemency. After I filed my civil complaint against IDOC and J.D. Vieregge, IDOC transferred me from a minimum security prison to a medium security prison. I was put in segregation because I complained about my missing legal papers. I was put in segregation 2 more times bogusly for administrative reasons. I was transferred 2 more times to various Southern Illinois institutions with IDOC knowing I would not get visitation because my relatives lived in the Chicago area. My wife of 16 years was murdered on July 5, 1993 while I was incarcerated. My daughter, who was 9-years-old at the time, found my wife’s body lying in the alley behind the house where they were living. IDOC refused to let me attend my wife’s funeral and visit with my children at the funeral home. Present matter with IDOC and EEOC: Second, I filed 2 charges, one on April 16, 2007 and one on May 12, 2008, for employment discrimination based on race, sex, age and retaliation against the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and WestCare Foundation, Inc. (WestCare) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has been severely hindered and nefariously interrupted with biases and prejudices by staff of the Chicago District office of EEOC. Facts: I applied for a counseling employment position with Gateway Foundation, Inc. (Gateway) on or about April 2005. Gateway had the State of Illinois counseling contract with IDOC at Sheridan Correctional Center (Sheridan). IDOC refused my employment and security clearance. I appealed IDOC’s decision. One of the issues for my denial of employment with IDOC was that I visited my brother while he was in prison. I was not a convicted felon when I visited my brother. In April of 2006 I was granted a security clearance to work at Sheridan. I reported for work on May 1, 2006. On June 6, 2006 AFSCME the union had a strike at Sheridan. I tried to come to work and cross the picket line. Sheridan’s Warden Michael Rothwell denied me access to work. Warden Rothwell and a person who identified himself as an Assistant Director in Springfield informed me I could not cross the picket lines and go to work. They would not tell me why I could not cross the picket lines. I filed for unemployment compensation. I was denied because IDOC said I was off from work because of misconduct. Upon successful appeal with the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) I received my benefits. I was identified as “non-participatory” with IDES in this matter. IDES reported in its summary “…The unemployment of the “non-participatory” claimant-appellants is not due to a work stoppage caused by the labor dispute…there was one efficient cause of the claimants’ unemployment and it was not the labor dispute. It was the unilateral actions of IDOC…The actions of IDOC were a separate and the only cause of the claimant’s unemployment.” After this decision and my return to employment on September 6, 2006 I was retaliated against by IDOC personnel and the administration at Sheridan. I suffered race, sex, and age discrimination in my job duties, promotions and job placement at Sheridan with IDOC personnel and WestCare employees. I was denied supervisory promotions several times while white and black females, younger than me, were placed in the supervisory position with less experience than I. I was discriminated against when IDOC and its staff denied me access to work while allowing white males and females, younger than me, to cross the picket lines. Yet, EEOC says I have no case. EEOC has all the documents I am sending you. Ms. Janel Smith is the investigator on my cases with EEOC. I have complained continuously to her supervisor since filing my charges about her biases and prejudices toward me and my endeavors for EEOC to litigate my charges against IDOC and WestCare. Finally, I wrote President Bush whose office forwarded my complaint to Chicago’s District office Director, Mr. John P. Rowe, where my EEOC charge is filed. I thought Mr. Rowe would monitor the process. These events are documented in detail on my blogs. The letter to President Bush is posted on your website. I will be posting this letter on your website. My intention by posting this issue is to demonstrate the inadequacy of EEOC and the discriminatory practices of IDOC and WestCare. Also, I believe there is an unethical and unnatural partnership between EEOC and IDOC, along with WestCare. Let us not forget about Governor Blagojevich and Illinois politics. This is real. Sir, it is rare we find someone of your integrity and honesty. Even though you practiced law in Chicago, you did not taint your character and behavior. For that, I applaud you. Since the EEOC is a Federal entity, I plead with you for your intervention. Ms. Janel Smith informed me on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 and on Thursday, January 29, 2009, that my charges with EEOC were being terminated. On Tuesday I asked Ms. Smith did IDOC tell her why they took my security clearance. Ms. Smith told me that IDOC did not want me working at Sheridan. On Thursday Ms. Smith told me that IDOC and WestCare told her I was locked out for poor performance and misconduct. I wrote a letter to Director Roger Walker on July 30, 2008 requesting a reason for being lockout of Sheridan and my employment. Mr. Walker never answered my certified letter to him. I asked Ms. Smith did IDOC and WestCare provide written documentation for this charge against me. Ms. Smith said they sent her the same documents I gave her. What does this mean? I told Ms. Smith that WestCare sent me a letter telling me that I was terminated because IDOC locked me out. I informed Ms. Smith that I worked for WestCare and not for IDOC. Therefore, how could IDOC say that I was locked out for poor performance and misconduct? It seems strange as I told Ms. Smith that she would call me now after I e-mailed her last week requesting status on my charges. It appears on its face that she decided as she has tried to do all of last year to dismiss my charges. Ms. Smith once told me that EEOC does not have the manpower or resources to properly address the discriminatory charges I bring before it. Where I do I fit in this scenario? I guess I get sacrificed. I guess IDOC’s discriminatory actions continue. Sheridan’s substance abuse program is supposed to reduce recidivism. How can it promote such a charge if it is not willing to work with those who have rehabilitated themselves? It may be due to my personal rehabilitation because IDOC had nothing to do with mine. I am enclosing the following documents with this correspondence: EEOC charges 440-2007-04512 (original and amended) & 440-2008-05507 Illinois Department of Human Rights control #s 090714051 (WestCare) & 090714051 (IDOC) Initial letter to Rod Blagojevich dated June 6, 2006 regarding IDOC denying access to cross the picket lines at Sheridan Illinois Department of Employment Security responses to my claim for benefits (discharge for misconduct, Labor Dispute Determination (I appealed decision), Recommended Decision after appeal, Decision of the Director of Employment Security giving me my unemployment benefits) Termination letter from WestCare Foundation Inc. Letter to Governor Blagojevich dated May 12, 2008 Letter to President Bush dated May 19, 2008 Letter received from EEOC Director John P. Rowe dated June 23, 2008 responding to President Bush’s letter Letter to IDOC Director Mr. Roger Walker and Asst. Director Deanne Benos dated July 30, 2008 requesting a reason for taking my security clearance Appellate Court decision Fred Nance Jr. v. J.D. Vieregge et al Profile of Judge Paul Foxgrover from an Internet address http://www.ipsn.org/foxg.html Petition for Post Conviction Relief filed by Attorney Roosevelt Thomas, my 3rd lawyer in my conviction case Respectfully submitted, Fred Nance Jr., ABD, MA, CADC, NCRS cc: President Obama’s website and Certified Mail Mr. Patrick Quinn, Governor of Illinois (Certified Mail) Mr. John P. Rowe, District Director, Chicago District Office (fax this letter only)http://clickforjusticeandequality.blogspot.com/ http://click.townhall.com/ http://clickforjusticeandequality.wordpress.com/ http://www.frednance.newsvine.com/
The Question is, Who cares. All voters have experienced the last 18 years or more. Are you using that experience to improve your decision making? That is the question that the media and the voters should be asking.
Noone disputes McCain is experienced. He has a long history in government and the military. So what? It is his policies and philosophy that are important. He has alot of experience in backing a bankrupt economic philosophy that is the fudamental cause of the current financial crisis. He has experience in supporting a failed and dangerous foreign policy philosophy that isolates America from its allies and threatens our and the worlds security. He backed Bush's childish policy of not talking to people he doesn't like. He supported Bush'spolicy of shoot first, shoot second, shoot somemore, and, if anybody is still alive, ask questions.
In all his vast experience, he has refused to learn anything from it. Experience is meaningless if you refuse to learn from it and stubbornly stick to your original beliefs even when they are demonstrated to be wrong or ineffctive. Who was it the said essentially, one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome? McCain may be olde, but in my opinion he demonstrates a immature stubborness to policies and philosophies that repeatedly fail.
His energy policy is another example. His "experience" is a few large corporations control the supply of energy from oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear. So his solution emphasizes increased drilling, nuclear, and coal. Paying lip service to alternate, renewable energy as some far off minor contributor at best because they are haeder for "big energy" to control. Is that the experience we want deciding our future energy policies?
I, for one, couldn't care less how much experience McCain or Palin have. Or Obama for that matter. What is important to me is that Obama has looked at our past actions and learned which have not worked. He has concluded, it is time to try new approaches. Are all his ideas going to be successful. No. But, he has demonstrated an ability to assess and adapt. He has demonstrated a willingness to learn and grow with his experience. That is the exxence of a mature, sane, and effective leader. The significance of experience is what you do with it, not that you survived it.
It's always made me crazy to hear descriptions from people about someone who've done something nuts. The man or woman who shoots up a mall or his or her workplace. "He was a normal guy, kept to himself," etc. What people do not see, or are willing to overlook, about strange behavior is strange.
Why do folks consider McCain's five-and-a-half years being tortured in Hanoi to be a benign fact, something that has taught him strength and resolve, something that hasn't killed him but made stronger? Why don't people consider the long term effects of this? I don't mean simple psychological effects, but physical, neurological ones, which affect parts of the brain in inalterable ways. Why isn't it possible to connect his volatile anger and his sometime confusion to this? Should we just look at this and chalk it up to, well, he's just a normal guy, kinda testy? It's one thing to have a 72-year-old as president. It is another to have a former POW who was tortured for (at the time) a fifth of his life. There must be a rule somewhere that you don't put that person in charge of executive decisions.
DISPATCHES FROM THE GROUND WAR ...
McCain: "I'm Not For Privatization Of Social Security" ...
McCain 2004: "Without Privatization, I Don't See How You Can Possibly Over Time Make Sure Young Americans Are Able To Receive Social Security Benefits"... Watch The Video
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
If you are turning 18 this year, check your state's laws for voting age. In Arizona, you can register at the age of 17, as long as you will be 18 by the day of the general election. That means that if your 18th birthday is November 4, you can vote, so don't wait to register! Your form needs to be in by the 4th of October for you to be able to vote!
If you are not going to be eligible to vote for a while still, you can find other ways to help turn the vote blue. Volunteering is a great way; not only does it help educate people about the election and other political matters, it will go on your college resume, and you will feel great about helping for a cause. There are many ways to volunteer: ask your school if they allow students to set up booths for voter registration and information tables, ask your local unemployment office if you can register voters outside of their building (this will help get the minority into voting), see if you can hold an open discussion group at your city library, or ask relatives and neighbors to donate money. If you are going to do fundraising, remember to be safe about it.
Barack Obama represents no less than our future, grounded solidly in the present and tied to our past. All of a sudden, I've realized that my years place me in an age category that I don't quite recognize yet, a realization brought on by Sen. Obama's youthful maturity. As I reflect on my spot on the chronological continuum of voters, I think about the eras of my voting life, beginning in the late 60's, and how my political values have been shaped.
Barack Obama came along before the Internet, which has changed everything. My children are a few years younger than he, but old enough to have begun their computer experiences in elementary school, programming coordinates in dot-matrix form to create graphics and stories. Babies, we have come a long way. You and he embrace change like a melting popsicle--it just happens and you move on. It's a great example.
Born far away from the mainland US, Obama was the child and the grandchild of extraordinary people. While I, a white child, was attending segregated schools, he was gaining a world view from a unique perspective. He lived in a place rather devoted to simplicity, community and far horizons, a place where beauty is taken for granted and where "island fever" can inspire great imaginings. Thank goodness! Like his, one of my parents was from Kansas, the grandson of homesteaders from northern Europe. Unlike his, my other parent was also descended from immigrants--in the 1700's--who settled the American frontier.
One of Obama's great strengths is that he can take his personal history and make it relevant to my personal history along with that of many others. We all talk about where we came from and find links to others whose families passed through the same waystations over the generations. He was inspired by President Kennedy, without having any way to actually remember the man, nor to have that November 22 seared into his brain, but his appreciation of that experience in his elders makes us know him.
We can relate to the altruism of his early public service as if he were in the room when we heard the "Ask not..." speech. His expression of faith and family looks like what we knew in our 1950's family life. His mixed race speaks to us of the proud ethnicities about which we learned in our U S History books. We all know something of that Melting Pot concept.
And yet, he is so much of the present that our adult children know him, too. They observe the difference between him and another candidate with values less like theirs. They feel the need for service to our communities; for straightforward speaking and thinking; for unfettered support for educating their children to see themselves in the world and not only in this country; for a perspective on war as a tool of defense and last resort, to be used only after all other negotiations have failed to keep us secure; for an embrace of the middle class as the great demographic of this country, the great mass of productive workers who carry on their backs the security of the aging generations who preceded them; and for a knowledge of and responsibility for successful financial management and the execution of a just legal system, the underpinnings of our Constitution and our economic freedom.
In the end, though, his is the face of our future. Our multiculturalism will look more and more like him, within a few short years. His intelligent compassion is the expression of the only way we will survive as a society. His command of justice, the law, and fairness, along with his unbridled honesty, are our guarantee of equality and freedom from fear of a judicial system run amok under the GOP. As a man a half-century younger than our eldest citizens, he sees only 20% of our nation's history on a parallel track with his own. He sees the US as a grown-up country in the world, rather than as a still-emerging nation. With a bit of the frontier spirit in his blood, he sees vastly different frontiers than the majority of us voters. His commitment to civilty is where we want to go--enough of the "win at all costs" attitude that has pervaded our lives in recent years, from our elections to our government, from our corporations to our recreation.
I have been working the "neighbor to neighbor" phone banking for weeks now. The biggest complaint I am getting is from "older folks" that do not have a computer. They want information on when debates will be held with BIDEN & PALIN. They do not have access to a computer and are kind of offended. They feel "out of touch" with the campaign.
My thought is this: After I canvassed in Pennsylvania, I received a recorded "thank you" message on my landline voicemail from Senator Obama. This would be a great way to contact those on "the list" as an Obama supporter, of the exact times and dates of upcoming debates.
Also, I am getting "older" (55-80) people) that are just furious that Biden is not getting enough media attention. They wanted me to pass this on, and this is my only way of getting their concerns heard. I am trying to help everyone and remind them, that what the media covers, or does not cover is not something I can fix.
I have to agree, that I have only seen Biden on one time and it was only for 5 minutes. They think Biden should handle Palin and OBAMA should stick with just McCain. Some people go on for 10-15 minutes, and I allow them to vent.
People on the phone also do not think Barack is aggressive enough on the character assasinations by McCain, and also McCain insisting Barack does not "reach across partty lines." They feel Barck is not defending these obvious lies.
It is amazing how, as the election gets closer, people are getting more passionate and also very ANGRY at the way the OBAMA campaign is allowing this slander to continue.
I also got yelled at by one lady, because I did not know the dates of every single debate between Obama & McCain and Biden & Palin. Oh well, don't sweat the small stuff. She did want a return call about the debates, so I took her number, and will try and research this for her. In the meantime, if there is a link or something I missed to access this, please educate me. I am not perfect, but I am trying in my spare time, to do what I can.
Thanks for any help or direction with these issues. Also, if someone knows how to contact the OBAMA HQ, and make these issues brought to light (especially the lack of internet) it would make people calm down and feel part of the campaign. Some are feeling left out due to their age and not being technologically up-to-date.
I think Obama needs to focus more on Mcain's age than BushIII.
I'n saying to drop Bush III completly, but people need to realize how old and sick this man is. If i were Obama I would be posting more stats about this guys likehood to die or even be sick in the next 4 years, its got to be close to 95%. Do you know any 72 year old guy who doesn't need treatment of some kind or another. When McCain is sick Palin in Pres. Even Cheney took over the white house for a few days when Bush was sick.
I think if Obama would bring this up more than just saying, "one heartbeat away" which has been way overused in the last few months, than people would start to realize how scary this situation would be.
Ben
Dear John,
As we celebrate our respective 72nd birthdays it is apparent that we have a lot in common. You were born on August 29, 1936; I was born two days later on August 31st. While you went to the Naval Academy, I attended Stanford and we both graduated near the bottom of our respective classes. We were commissioned as Naval Officers in 1958 and each of us failed in our first marriages. Luckily, however, we both are now happily married to successful women who each are over 18 years younger than we — quite a challenge to keep up with them, and a real incentive to enjoy life after 72.
While I cannot claim an experience comparable to five years in captivity in Vietnam, it is apparent that our Navy service has substantially affected our lives. You recovered from your captivity to become a lobbyist for the Navy and then a Congressman and Senator. After the Navy, I “grew up,” applied myself, headed the University of Chicago Law Review and became a trial lawyer. We both have been life-long Republicans and we both personally knew and were influenced by Barry Goldwater. We both believe in service to our country, but have we learned to recognize our limitations?
Where we differ — John — is that I know that I am too old to be President of the United States. From every indication, you are too.
There is a reason that nobody our age has previously run for the highest office in the land. I am much too old to be a CEO of a major corporation. How many captains of industry have assumed the helm at age 72? And, as you more than I know, by 72 virtually all of the Generals and Admirals have been sent off into retirement. What I absolutely do know John is that I am now too old to run a major law firm or to try a major case as lead counsel. Where I used to bill over 2,000 hours a year and work late into the night and on weekends, now I am awake late at night contemplating my prostrate. It’s not a complaint, John – just a fact of life – I just don’t have the stamina anymore to work the hours required of a chief executive much less as our nation’s President.
While unlike you, I regularly use the internet, I recognize that technology is passing me by and I must rely upon others to do things I used to do well myself. While I have been in good health, exercise strenuously and play hardball in a league with players as young as 30 year olds, I am just not what I used to be when it comes to dealing with a crisis or working long hours. Each morning as I climb out of bed my aching limbs remind me of my age and mortality. Given your POW experience and medical history, I cannot imagine that you are not experiencing the same.
I also find that my memory is slipping. I have always had excellent recall, but now and again I am frustrated by the fact that I am occasionally drawing a blank when seeking to remember a name or event. I can still come up with the information, just not as quickly or as accurately. In that connection, I often find myself either embellishing or confabulating events of my past life. Those old stories just keep getting better and I find myself telling them over and over again to the point of tedium. I also find that I am less diplomatic and more prickly than before, so I fully understand your frustration in dealing with that Time writer who wanted to know your definition of “honor.” From observing you throughout this campaign I know that you are sharing my experiences. At 72 we should not have to explain ourselves and we have earned the right to lose it occasionally. That said, however, John I am not sure that approach works in diplomacy or that it is appropriate for the President of the United States.
John, we both have a wealth of experience in our chosen areas of endeavor and we have much to contribute based upon our age and experience—but I know that given our age we both have blind spots in dealing with the challenges of the 21st Century. Our experience can only take us so far — at some point we must pay our respect to father time. That is the reason why, in business, law and politics, age matters.
John, on our 72nd birthdays I wish you well for a long and distinguished career in a role that is appropriate for our age — the United States Senate.
With all best wishes and Happy Birthday,
William A. Wineberg
Stanford, Class of 58
U.S.Navy 1958-61
Even though it may not look like it or feel like it, you are making progress.
Continue working towards progress instead of perfection.
Nothing or no no one is perfect.
Just keep taking steps.
Keep making those phone calls.
Continue following your plan.
Remain focused on your goal.
Do what you have to do right now to get to the next level.
Complete every task.
Keep every promise and commitment.
Don't look back.
Let no one weaken your walk of faith and determination.
Remain teachable.
Place yourself in a blessing position by associating with people on-the-grow.
Talk with teachers.
Walk with winners.
Climb with champions.
Study successful people.
Something great is about to happen for you!
Start giving thanks right now before you can even see the outward manisfestation of your prayers and desires.
Everything you do from this day forward will take you further away or closer to your potential for successful living.
-by Dr. Jewel Diamond Taylor, Motivational Speaker & Author
'A surprisingly Immature politician' Posted: 04 Aug 2008 09:37 PM CDT
By: Steve BenenJohn McCain has always seemed to revel in the sycophantic adulation he's enjoyed among the media elite, so it's kind of fascinating to see McCain's one-time media fans realize that he's not the man they thought he was. The first, and probably most notable, was Time's Joe Klein, who conceded last week that he was wrong to believe McCain is an "honorable man." Soon after, writing on the inanity of McCain's attacks against Barack Obama, Klein's headline read, "The Scum Also Rises."It looks like Newsweek's Jonathan Alter has joined the club, noting with noticeable regret that he "misread McCain."In the middle of John McCain's dopey Britney & Paris attack ad, the announcer gravely asks of Barack Obama: "Is He Ready to Lead?" An equally good question is whether McCain is ready to lead. For a man who will turn 72 this month, he's a surprisingly immature politician -- erratic, impulsive and subject to peer pressure from the last knucklehead who offers him advice. The youthful insouciance that for many years has helped McCain charm reporters like me is now channeled into an ad that one GOP strategist labeled "juvenile," another termed "childish" and McCain's own mother called "stupid." The Obama campaign's new mantra is that McCain is "an honorable man running a dishonorable campaign." Lame is more like it. And out of sync with the real guy. [...]McCain is patently insincere when his heart's not in it, like a little boy who eats his peas when his parents tell him to but remains transparently unhappy about the experience. It's not clear how committed McCain himself is to this latest assault on Obama. Does he genuinely believe that Obama is an out-of-control egomaniac who thinks he's Moses? McCain no doubt comforts himself that the ad making that argument -- an argument that is beneath a major-party candidate for president -- was not part of a big media buy but just chum thrown to the media piranhas via the Drudge Report. [...]On the night of the 2000 South Carolina primary, I was in his hotel suite and watched Cindy weeping over what Rove and his goons did. Her husband was plenty mad, too. Now he's got Rove's protege, Steve Schmidt, running his campaign.Alter concludes that McCain "mortgaged his precious personal honor." I think that absolutely true, but I still get the sense that even newly-critical McCain detractors are still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. At least a little.
Alter's piece is a very good one, so I'm reluctant to criticize it, but his column still argues that McCain is being fundamentally led astray by Republican hatchetmen giving him bad advice. McCain, Alter argues, is waging a negative and dishonest campaign, but this is "out of sync with the real guy." McCain may be on the attack, but his "heart's not in it." He's foolishly taking the advice of "knuckleheads." It's that darn Steven Schmidt who deserves most of the blame.I even realize why Alter wants to think McCain is only partially responsible for his ugly turn -- if media figures respected and admired McCain, and sang his praises for the last decade, and all the while McCain was really just a shameless Republican hack, playing the media for fools, it's hard to accept. If, however, McCain is really a great guy underneath, but has been corrupted by a dishonorable and pathetic Republican machine, then there's some comfort in knowing that reporters hadn't misjudged his character all along.But I'm quite certain they did. McCain was playing a role, and the media bought it. Kevin explained quite well the other day why this it's-not-McCain's-fault argument misses the mark.Apparently he's just a straight talking guy who woke up one morning and found himself mysteriously under the sway of a vile cabal of political hit men and unable to do anything about it.Enough's enough. McCain hired Steve Schmidt, he approves the strategy, and he signs off on the ads. If his campaign is mired in sleaze, it's not happening despite McCain, it's happening because of McCain. Stop making excuses for him.Quite right. McCain hired Rove's operation for a reason: he really wants to be president, and doesn't much care how he gets there.It's nice, I suppose, to examine all of this and think McCain is just the latest good guy to go bad, but I think this is fundamentally flawed. John McCain simply is not a man of strong character.
I got an email invitation to hear Rahm Emmanuel at the local JCC from the local Obama Jewish Community Leadership Committee. So I went. My older daughter thinks seeing prominent politicians is more exciting that seeing rock stars, so she was all over coming with me.
I was surprised, really, that the crowd was relatively small. A hundred or so? And the only press was the JT News.
I thought Emmanuel was intelligent and articulate. After hearing him speak, my daughters and I made the goal of converting at least one convertible Jewish person we know who is currently supporting McCain over to the side of Obama. Our easiest target’s first: David’s Aunt Debby, who after all is a Democrat at heart. All we need to do is convince her that Obama isn’t a secret enemy of Israel, and I think we’re on board.
One thing I thought was funny: Emmanuel said that the breakdown was on generational lines. When you’re looking at whites and Asians (of any ethnic or religious group, not just Jews), the young people are overwhelmingly on board with Obama; the 35 – 50 year olds are generally OK with him; but those between 50 and 70 really are suspicious. Then, and I think this is interesting – the 80 year olds are like the 18 year olds in terms of their support. What do you think that’s about?
Paris Hilton's ad brought this to mind. There has been this stigma against bringing up McCain's age in this campaign, as if the issue was the same as racism, or sexism. It's not. Someone who's white can do just as good of a job at being President as someone who's black. A man can be just as good at leading the nation as a woman. The same does not apply for someone who's elderly.Potentially, they can be just as good. But let us consider the last rather youth-challenged President that we had. Many people loved Reagan. (This is a liberal blog. Do not be surprised that I was not one of them.) But Reagan had a regular ploy with the press. He would pretend not to remember things. Not to remember nearly everything. That allowed him to get away with the Iran-Contra affair, where, in the early Clinton years, we learned that the Reagan-Bush administration was actually culpable.Now, it is possible that he actually didn't remember. For tragically, as we all know, Reagan was afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease shortly after he left office. Looking back, most experts feel that it was actually setting in in the final years of Reagan's second administration. Perhaps it was some sort of judgment of God, where if you lie enough about forgetting, God allows you to be in the state of forgetting; perhaps in truth he wasn't forgetting, but was afflicted by a disease.This is not to say, of course, that McCain will lie to us, or will get Alzheimer's Disease, or simply forget a lot. But it is to say what doctors and scientist's well know- with age, the chances of getting a debilitating illness dramatically increase, and the older you are, the more those odds increase. And with extreme age, the odds of getting Alzheimer's are much higher than with someone who is younger. Unfortunately, as with Reagan, we will not necessarily know that the disease has set in, and there is no constitutional provision for removing someone from office with the beginnings of dementia. And already, we see signs of McCain stumbling over his words. Maybe he's just a bad speaker. Maybe not. Do we want to risk it?McCain. He's old. Is he worth the risk?
A Washington Post story on McCain's unending stream of gaffes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/22/AR2008072203201_2.html
A rather ugly and disturbing story, from the Huffington Post. Seems this guy in New York is selling "Obama is My Slave" t-shirts:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earnest-harris/obama-ugly-slave-tee-but_b_114235.html
In other news, did you hear that McCain erroneously believed that Iraq and Pakistan share a border? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/22/politics/politico/main4281173.shtml
