I'm getting a tad alarmed that McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate seems to have turned his fortunes around to such a degree. John McCain lies. Sarah Palin lies. Does that say nothing about their character and the principles they hold dear? Are there principles that they hold dear? What are those principles? Does integrity not matter at all?
As Josh Marshall at TPM says:
How can we trust a liar as big as John McCain?
I'm using the L-word. So that may come across as a slashing blog remark.
But let's slow down and look at the facts that are not being disputed. John McCain is telling lie after lie. Not off the cuff remarks that can be excused as accidents or flubs but the same lies consistently and many of them. Serial liars are never trustworthy people -- that is a truism. But it also demonstrates a deeper character flaw. A normal job applicant would be disregarded out of hand after such a record became clear.
That's right. How can we trust a liar in the White House with another liar standing with him, just a heartbeat away? How can we count on them to restore trust in government? How can we count on them to begin to restore our blackened reputation around the world after eight years of the Cheney/Bush maladministration? The answer is that we can't. WE CANNOT!
If you are counting on a Congress with more Democrats to hold back a McCain maladministration, recall to mind the many times our DEMOCRATIC senators and representatives caved in to Cheney/Bush's demands. We cannot afford a McCain maladministration. I refer you to Athenae's rant at First Draft on that very subject.
But the past two years have shown us nothing if not that what Congressional Democrats are most afraid of is being called pussies and partisans and hippies and liberals on TV. We saw it on the war and we saw it on FISA and we saw it every time Joe Lieberman opened his mouth (ooooh, he's not getting invited to party lunches he himself voluntarily stopped attending months ago!) and we're seeing it with SCHIP and we're seeing it with drilling. We're seeing that on every issue who the Democrats actually respond to is their big-business bankrollers and the cable TV loudmouths and professional assholes like David Broder, and we're not replacing them this election, more's the goddamn pity.
Athenae's rants are awesome. Read the whole thing.
Obama needs to stop reacting and ACT. and he needs to get some good repeatable phrases like he had at the beginning of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteAnd he needs to be passionate, but not angry.
Welcome back, Mimi.
glad you are ok.
My "two most scary words" change from time to time. Right now my two most scary words are "President Palin".
ReplyDeleteAs one of McCain's senior guys said, "It's not about issues, it's about personalities," which was the scariest thing I've heard in a while. And it's scary because it has turned out to be true, at least for the moment.
ReplyDeleteDiane, exactly. Obama needs to drive the narrative and not simply react defensively to THEIR narrative.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of these two people as president and vice-president scares the hell out of me. Unfortunately, the race is too much about personalities, RB, and not about who will govern best.
We pick the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, a decision that directly affects the lives of millions around the world, like we pick American Idol favorites. We vote our resentments and our fond wishes, not our interests or our allegiances.
ReplyDeleteBut what the hell. The Chinese will be signing all of our paychecks in a few years anyway. McCain/Palin aren't going to be able to do much without borrowed money, and guess who they're going to borrow it from.
Mimi,
ReplyDeleteThere is an old French saying:
On appelle un chat un chat.(For your non francophone readers: You call a cat a cat.) So it's just fine if you call McCain and Palin's lies, lies. The MSM seems to be so busy trying to figure out what animal is wearing lipstick that they don't have time to actually address an issue.
We here in New York (I'm a friend of both Counterlight and the Rev. Boy) are keeping all of Souther LA and TX in our prayers.
There is nothing NEW about this brand of liars...they will do, and say, whatever it takes to get whatever it is they think they MUST HAVE! It's proven to us over and over again in most all that they do...frankly I think they have very disturbed personal characters...they think they are entitled to destroy the lives of other people because they are somehow MORE vastly righteous and brilliant human beings...tell you what, even the most street wise, uneducated person knows a thug when they seen one...using ones innermost WARNING SIGNS ought help us discern right from wrong...why are we surprised? Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove have created a climate for deceit...then their are the religious criminals who preach fear/hate and THIEVE! Please, lets say no to culprets and degenerates who would destroy mankind with their arrogant stupidity....concerned? Be very concerned, these dominionist cut throats are emotionally and spiritually SICK (and they've given themselves permission to be unaccountable to themselves and to society)!
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to underestimate the intellectual level of the electorate in the US? Some days, like today, I'm driven to near despair.
ReplyDeleteUber-g, yes, the media drone on and on about the animal wearing lipstick, as though there was nothing more important in the world to which they might give their attention. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Thanks especially for the prayers. We need them down here, as do the folks in Texas.
ReplyDeleteAny friend of Counterlight and Reverend Boy is a friend of mine. You choose your friends well.
As PT Barnum once observed, no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
ReplyDelete