Posts under ‘McCain’

Big Oil, Defense Contractors, Wall St. Speculators and Lobbyists.

They should be afraid because they will no longer have ‘one of their own’ in the White House. Barack Obama is not one of them. He is not the grandchild or child of one. He didn’t take their money to fund his campaign or his career in the US Senate. Although he may have met their children in Harvard, but he did not go to work for them.

The topic of voter suppression comes up at election time and is largely regarded as tricks to keep votes from being counted on election day or stopping voters at the polling place doors. We hear about them all and will hear about some today. These attempts are both obvious and trivial compared to the greater, large scale voter suppression that has been going on for decades.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Image courtesy of Remembering Rosewood"][/caption]

I almost pity poor John McCain. Almost. How did he end up with this ‘crap job’? It has fallen upon him to fight the last battle of slaveholders and plantation owners. I expect this bile from Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney and any of the rest that fall into the ‘angry white patriarch’ model that is interchangeable with KKK grand wizard or plantation owner.

The thinly veiled race baiting of the GOP that has been in force since Richard Nixon’s ‘Southern strategy’ is no longer thinly veiled at all. For a generation, the GOP was able to reliably manipulate themselves into power by scaring white voters about the danger to them from ‘the other’. They have expanded the cast of dangerous people to include gays, Latinos, (always) women and Muslims.

Eugene Jarecki has detailed his experiences with and assessment of dealing with John McCain on the Huffington Post today. He is the director of “Why We Fight”, a film that I posted already on this blog. I highly recommend watching it, if you have not already done so.

Mr. Jarecki was granted an interview on camera with Sen. McCain for his opinions on Defense spending and corruption. In an all-too-familiar fashion, Sen. McCain spoke of the need for accountability, then his staff scrambled to retract his words for fear of upsetting lobbyists.

My Friends,

there I was watching the 3rd and final Obama / McCain debate and it dawned on me - John McCain is recycling different aspects of previous Republican campaign strategies.

* He is using the Bush / Rove smear & spin tactics. He claims outrage over Rep. Lewis’ statements while ignoring “Kill Him!” comments as the topic of the conversation. Then, he goes on that endless diatribe about veterans at rallies, instead of talking about how he has personally addressed his crowds and told them that such behavior is specifically unacceptable….

Maverick used to mean finding a novel way to solve a problem. Now, it means ignoring the law, abandoning ethics and screwing everyone to get your way.

I have reached the point now, where if I ever hear someone use the word ‘maverick’ again, I may resort to uncontrolled sobbing or projectile vomiting.