I’m loving the Rachel Maddow Show. She has a knack for talking about exactly what I’m interested in, then analyzing the situation with a keen eye. I love her analysis of Palin’s use of quotes. She really did her homework here.
Dad blogged about this today. It was back during the “Sorry, Everybody” many Americans sent to the world after the last election. I’m still sorry, too. It actually turned out WORSE than I had imagined it would. Looking back, the Democratic candidate wasn’t anything to get excited about, but that last election (selection) was a MESS. Let’s hope there’s no “selection” this time and that it’s a landslide. It deserves to be. Barack Obama is the strongest candidate I’ve seen in my lifetime. He knows how to reach across the table of division, how to look opposition in the eye and see them as a person who deserves respect. That matters to me.
My greatest fear right now is that there are enough Americans who would rather watch hell freeze over than elect a black man to keep Obama from winning. I know they are there. They probably know enough to keep quiet, but in the solitude of the voting booth, people do what they want. That’s what makes this country great, but it’s also terrifying. With freedom comes great responsibility and great risk as well.
McCain could have chosen qualified black Republicans to be on his ticket (Condaleeza Rice? Colin Powell?), but his decisions have been chosen to reach victory. The sad thing is that McCain was fighting to win over the people who accused him of being a moderate. In doing so, he’s chosen an extremist, and an unqualified one at that. McCain isn’t a healthy man, and he’s not young. President Palin is a very real possibility. I can’t shake this feeling of impending doom I’ve had ever since he picked her. We don’t know who will win this election (no matter what polls say). And even the possibility of President Palin makes me want to run for the hills, move to Canada, move to England, etc.
Thinking about this sort of thing has lead me to articles like these:
That I’m even looking this up is a problem for me. I’m trying to wrap my mortal mind around this hugely risky decision made ONLY TO GET VOTES. A risky decision that will affect my life, my future child’s life, my family, my world.
Guess Who’s NOT Coming to Dinner by Roger Ebert
Excerpt:
Obama is my guy. If you are rude to him, you are rude to me. If you came to dinner at my house and refused to look at or speak with one of my guests, that would be bad manners and I would be offended. Same thing if I went to your house. During the debate, you were America’s guest.
Oooooo. Well said, Ebert. As time has passed, this inability to look Obama in the eye has bothered me more and more since the debate. I used to really like McCain, not enough to step outside my party of choice, but I liked him. His recent behavior has tested that a LOT. I was actually surprised McCain did as well as he did at the debate. The debate reminded me (after a week of inexplicable behavior) that McCain is a smart man who knows something about something. That was enough to get me less annoyed with him for a little bit. I think I’m over it again. Looking at those on the other side in the eye is the first step to finding common ground, and finding common ground is ESSENTIAL to negotiating with other people, other countries, other world leaders. I need that from McCain if he’s my president, and I don’t think I’ll get it.
WOW! There is so much I could say about the political insanity of John McCain yesterday, but I will attempt to resist. For more discussion about this stuff, go read my dad’s blog. OK, so I’m up early this morning, watching a bit of Letterman on my TiVo, and even though it says it’s supposed to be John McCain, it’s Keith Olbermann. Dave is talking about how John McCain called him personally to say that he was literally jumping on a plane to get back to Washington to fix the economy, etc, etc. And then Dave show LIVE VIDEO of McCain getting makeup put on at CBS News with Katy Couric. WHAT THE HELL? Look, I never wanted McCain to win. I’m a HUGE fan of Obama and a lifelong liberal Democrat, BUT… that said, I always liked McCain. But man, I’m telling you the man has totally lost the plot. It’s very sad to me to see someone I respected lose their integrity. I want to just be pleased the guy on the other side is making bad choices, but really, I feel bad for the guy at this point. These are the actions of a desperate man. Obama makes it all look so easy. He’s remaining focused. He’s ready to talk about the issues. He’s even ready to skip the debatey aspect of the debate to meet with McCain and provide a united message (That word… “united”… where have I heard that before? OH YEAH!). McCain is furthering a Divided America. I, for one, am tired of it.
(Heh heh. Just noticed Dad blogged about the same damn thing this morning. Looks like he ain’t too impressed either.)
