@Randem

War, war, POW, oil. Drill, prisoner, America, terrorism. Maverick, 9/11, terrorism, al Qaeda, patriot, and don’t forget POW. Noun, verb, terrorism. Noun, verb, POW. Hero, independent, POW, oil, America, oil, maverick.

That about sums it up.

Last night was McCain’s big night — his big chance to even the score. And what did he do? Nothing. What did he say? Nothing. He spent the duration of his speech telling people (lest they forget) that he was once a POW. He even opened his mouth and said point blank that he was a maverick! (You CAN’T do that!!)

But the one thing McCain did NOT do was offer us any idea at all of what his policies would be. Sure, he pandered to the base — anti-abortion, drill for oil, blah blah blah — but in spite of his promises that he would free us from foreign oil, fix education, keep America safe, and fix our economic woes, he did not offer the tiniest clue as to how he meant to do that.

McCain-Palin is looking like an even bigger ideologue than Bush-Cheney was. Both Palin (on Wednesday) and McCain (on Thursday) have offered huge promises for oil companies and anti-abortionists, but in stead of policy, he only discussed ideology. Apparently that’s what’s really important to him. I fear his administration wouldn’t be the same as the last eight years, it would be worse.

The only hint he gave at how anything might get accomplished was perhaps the most chilling indication of all: he instructed people to volunteer for things. So let me get this straight. You want us to elect you to fix our problems, but your plan for fixing our problems is to tell us to get off our asses and fix it ourselves? Then what do we need you for, eh McCain?

Poor people should quit whining and go help other people? What will that accomplish? Probably make them feel better about themselves and stop worrying about being poor, right? So instead of fixing the economy, you think we just need to re-frame it? I’m way too scared to let this asshole become my next President.

Thanks to Mort Snerd for compiling this list of things we know about John McCain, complete with references:

1. He graduated at the bottom of his class at the naval academy. Some reports state that he wouldn’t have graduated at all if not for his father, the decorated admiral.
2. He crashed five planes.
3. He broke both his arms, not from abuse by Viet Cong but failing to hold them in when he ejected after being down.
4. He received special treatment in POW camps due to his father’s position.
5. He gave military and other information to his captors in exchange for medical treatment not afforded other prisoners.
6. He made 32 propaganda films/tapes for the Viet Cong.
7. He was given access to dignitaries and international reporters.
8. He was kept away from other prisoners much of the time (which makes verification conveniently tough).
9. He was given the nickname “Songbird” because he so freely gave out information.
10. He snubbed the villager that saved his life after the crash, but maintained a life-long relationship with one of his captors.
11. He was not promoted after being released, which is often the case.
12. He went to great lengths to have his military and POW records sealed.
13. He also fought to seal the records of other MIA/POW’s and prevent their families from investigating and trying to recover their loved ones.
14. He continues to hedge against benefits for GI’s, even though he is the recipient of those benefits.

So, is he really the great patriot people are making him out to be? Is he really a hero, or just some jackass capitalizing on his former POW status?

Day 1 of the Republican National Convention was canceled due to the hurricane, and then later un-canceled, and mostly a clusterfuck, so I just didn’t bother to watch. And a dramatic Cubs game last night was more important to me than listening to a bunch of wing-nuts talk. But the real meat happens on days three and four.

I can’t help noticing that the Republican party seems horribly out of touch. I heard talk like making people earn a meeting with the United States, and exerting our strength and power. These people are talking as if the U.S. is still the world leader and the lone superpower, holding all the cards in world economy. Haven’t these people been paying attention? We’re broke, unemployed, falling apart, and in debt up to our eyeballs. Exactly what muscle is it that they think we’re going to flex? And even if we did have it, and used it, what would it accomplish?

The speakers look and sound as insincere as a grade-schooler reciting the Gettysburg Address, and that is made more evident by the lack of interest and lack of response in the audience. (Not to mention the lack of attendance.) When they say that John McCain supports women, you can almost see the pain in their eyes over the lie escaping their lips. And I’m not even sure what to say when I see a black man speak about a color-blind society and the camera shows a crowd full of white men in cowboy hats who are not even paying attention to the “colored” man who is speaking. How sad.

Drill, baby, drill. Can’t we stop lying? Can’t we stop pretending that this party cares about the American people, and start being honest about the fact that this is the party of Big Oil?

Maverick, maverick, maverick. Blah, blah, blah. The funny thing about being a Maverick is that you can’t claim to be a Maverick. A real rebel never tells people “hey, I’m a rebel” — they just know.

POW, POW, POW. Blah, blah, blah. This is a bit like playing the race card. It’s like the Seinfeld episode where every time Elaine tries to break up with the boyfriend, he brings up a tragedy and plays the victim card. It’s as if he knows nobody likes him, and he’s trumpeting his POW experience to make it faux pas for anyone to actually say it.

And Sarah Palin. Hmmm… More of the same. Name calling, mud slinging, attack politics. She spent most of her time repeating the same mantra: maverick, maverick, maveric, POW, POW, POW. I heard no substance in her speech. (But there were plenty of LIES.) After all the media, I expected (feared?) that I might hear her talk and take a liking to her, but all that happened is that she set herself out clearly as another brain-dead right-winger who repeats party talking points with no sense of reasoning or logic — another wing-nut who allows ideology to trump logic and common sense.

I suppose I should be excited. I suppose this should give me hope that Obama-Biden is a sure thing. But I can’t help fearing that this means there’s a 50-50 shot at four more years just like the last eight. I’d have been far more encouraged if I thought there was a ray of hope on both sides.

I don’t know what I think is worse, the fact that John McCain’s latest campaign ad has sunken low enough to call Obama the Antichrist, or the fact that there are people out there who are actually buying into this horseshit.

There is so much wrong with this that I don’t know where to start. I suppose a good place to start is Snopes, which points out plainly how much bullshit all the antichrist talk is anyway.

But I’m really mind-blown at the baseness and audacity of such an ad. I mean seriously, people… how can you even call that political? This is the equivalent of campaigning on a message of “elect me because my opponent is clearly better than me, and that makes him evil.” And this from the guy who promised to run a policy-based campaign without attacks. Come on!

Moreover, doesn’t this defy all logic? I mean, if Christians truly believe the horseshit they keep telling each other, then they should welcome the antichrist! I can’t believe I’m even humoring the thought of it, but let’s just go down that road for a minute…

So let’s play along, and assume there actually will be an armageddon, and that we’re near the “end times”, and that the antichrist had just made his appearance. If you really believe in all that bullshit, you should be happy! You should be celebrating! It would signal the beginning of God’s great plan, and you’re going to magically disappear anyway, right?

And wouldn’t it be heresy to vote against him? If he really is the antichrist, wouldn’t a vote against his election be the equivalent of a vote against God’s plan? Wouldn’t it make sense then to say that voting against the antichrist is voting for evil? Because, after all, by working against the master plan, you are actively trying to keep “the devil” in the world and delay its destruction?

Yeah.

So the fact that these religious nut-jobs and assholes are actually biting this bait proves something much bigger: deep down inside, they really don’t believe any of this horseshit either. They’re afraid the world will end, but they don’t really believe they’re going to be spared (or “saved”, as they call it in their cult code language). A vote against a possible antichrist is the equivalent of saying “I want to live — right here on earth — because I’m not sure I really believe in this place called heaven, or my place therein.” And thus the entire religious argument uravels yet again. Funny how that always happens when you follow logic.

Which leads me back around to where I started. I just don’t know which I find more offensive: the hideous depravity of Republican campaign tactics, or the self-deluded masses who are, like sheep, swallowing it up.

Hillary Clinton may have won three of the big states last Tuesday, but it’s not states that count, it’s delgates. She continues to lag in delegates, and now it’s mathematically impossible for her to win the nomination by the agreed rules. Nevertheless she continues to keep the drama rolling.

So now we have Clinton and Obama clawing and scratching at each other while McCain sits pat. McCain now has the luxury of proactively winning more support while the Democratic contenders do all his dirty work for him. For the Democratic Party, this is a horrible strategic mistake.

This draws a nice parallel to another of history’s big rivalries: that between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Let me elaborate…

Just like two parties, both the Packers and the Bears are hoping to find the new leader. On one side you have the Packers who, like the Republicans, have picked out the person who they want to be the leader, and have begun to prepare him for the task. On the other hand you have the Bears who, like the Democrats, can’t commit to a leader, and the candidates for the role have to fight each other to win it.

The Packers will go into training camp committed to one guy — Aaron Rogers — and no matter what else has to be worked out for the team, the quarterback will spend his time preparing to lead his team and win games. Meanwhile, the Bears will spend the majority of their off-season distracted by multiple quarterbacks competing; whoever wins out will be underprepared, and he will be second-guessed all season.

So what’s my point? If the Democrats or the Bears want to have a chance of winning, they need to make a commitment to one person, stop the in-fighting, and start preparing to win because their opponents — the Republicans and the Packers — are already formulating their strategies to win.