The Vulgarization of America by McCain and Palin

[Joanne98]

The President of the United States is not just the Commander and Chief of our military. He or she is also a statesman who represents all of us to the world. The president is also an example for every citizen and is responsible for setting the tone for his or her administration and thereby our culture. This feature of the presidency should not be underestimated. It has worldwide and local repercussions and its potential impact has been seen throughout this campaign. Is there any doubt that McCain and Palin have elicited the hatred and witch-hunt environments that surround their rallies? Has any presidential candidate in modern history ever been accused of being a domestic terrorist by association or a Marxist? How about a Muslim leaning Israel hating secret agent? The Fact Checks have been very clear that almost everything McCain and Palin have stated about their opponent is either untrue or misleading. But still they are allowed to punch their fabrications through the media like a couple of crazed gamblers who stand at their slot machines, frantically pulling the arms down hoping to hit that big scandal in the sky. Is there anything more un-American than using Free Speech, one of our most cherished principles, for self-serving ambitions? Is this a legacy we wish to give to our children? Anything goes as long as you win? Inciting potential hatred and violence is acceptable? If you mislead the public by denigrating a person who has achieved the status of running for the highest office in our land with lies and half-truths its just part of the political game? Is not such reasoning a shame for our entire country?

Granted, presidential races have always been mud-slinging events. We all expect rhetoric, accusations, a reinterpretation of the facts, but what we have witnessed by McCain and Palin does not fall under the definition of status quo. It is a symptom of a bankrupt culture that has mistaken vulgarity for logic. Take a look through history and see what has happened to cultures that have made this same mistake. Obama has received the endorsements of many respectable republicans. The reason for this is not simply because George Bush and too many years of republican policy, have defaulted our nation economically, morally and spiritually. Their endorsement is a plea for sanity and a hope that they can return their party back to its rightful respectful position in American politics. McCain and Palin do not literally represent the Republican Party. They represent a small faction of it. A fair comparison would be to equate their interests and practices to the extreme fringes of the Democratic Party. It's like saying the Students for a Democratic Society (William Ayers) were Democrats because that had the word 'Democratic' in their title and tended to endorse Democrats while they were busy destroying federal buildings. McCain and Palin do not represent the Republican Party as a whole and history will one day prove this point whether they win or lose this election. Personally, I once respected McCain, but I have decided he is no war hero, at least not in my book. He is a self-serving embarrassment to every soldier or patriot that ever gave his or her life to the betterment of our nation and he has proven the descriptions of his fellow POWs that were interviewed in the Rolling Stone magazine's recent article on the subject, Make-Believe Maverick: a narcissistic aristocrat who used his father's position in the Navy to soften the blow of being a prisoner of war and to get into schools that had deemed him unqualified. John McCain is used to getting his way and he has no qualms about reverting into an undignified lug if the situation calls for it.

Palin's inadequacies in terms of the White House are painfully obvious to the majority of us and need no further explanation. However, I would like to address one issue about her reputation. I have heard a few compare the accusations against Palin with what she and McCain have stated about Obama and I feel this is unfair, inaccurate, and even an injustice to what has occurred during this presidential race. If you want to charge that the media has been unfair to Palin, I would say I wholeheartedly disagree. The press gave her the same attention and opportunity they give any candidate for the Vice Presidency. If she responded with inaccurate or vague answers that could be interpreted as a lack of knowledge, she is responsible. Palin is asking the American people to trust her with the potential position of leading our nation. Anyone who asks for this role is dutifully obliged with handling a great deal more than the American press. There are no excuses and there is no wiggle room. If such a person cannot handle a simple every day chore like the media, how can she handle the greatest superpower the world has ever known? But there is one more issue that makes this comparison ludicrous. Obama and Biden have resisted every temptation to move into overdrive when it comes to personal slander in their campaigning. They avoided accenting the obvious 'liberal' free-sex life style that Palin's daughter has indulged in. If they wanted, they could garnish the fact that Palin's daughter is very much out of the loop in terms of Christian church doctrine, which Palin wears on her hip like a gun. After all, where were her parents? Isn't this a question Rush Limbaugh would demand if Palin's daughter were a welfare child? Does morality change with income and political affiliation? Obama and Biden have also intentionally avoided using the controversy that Palin's husband was a member of a radical group, the Alaskan Independence Party, that has advocated as one of its founding principals, voting on leaving the US and becoming a state like Puerto Rico or joining Canada. He was a member for seven years and Palin, herself, has attended their conventions within the past few years. My point is the press and not Obama seized on these facts and he should be honored for not duplicating McCain and Palin's deplorable strategy. It is Obama and Biden who have taken the high road and this is while running against the most disrespectful, demeaning, racist campaign in modern history.

McCain and Palin have set the stage for the further decline of our culture. They endorse vulgarity, immorality and deceit. They have sent a message to our younger generation that says there is no separation of church and state; preemptive strikes against any nation even when unjustified are approved; violence is acceptable and racism does not exist. Gays and Lesbians are un-American. Their love and commitment to one another is a sin and should remain a crime and never legitimized because Fundamentalist Christianity dictates our government. Scientific theories of evolution are to be equated with the story of Adam and Eve. The press is nothing but a tool to be bent to your personal will. Abortion is a crime without considering scientific knowledge even in the cases of rape and incest. All of the healthcare systems in the Western World that have produced much healthier populations than our own through "Socialized Medicine" are wrong. Our economic strategy has not been mistaken, we just need to do the same but more intensively. Ninety-nine percent of the world's scientists are mistaken about the causes of global warming. The impact of these ludicrous proclamations would cause the US to become isolated from the worldwide community of educated progressive nations and put our children's future at risk.

McCain and Palin have vulgarized our nation. They have represented the US as an uneducated, intolerant racist country that chooses folklore over history and science. A nation that is so egocentric that it chooses leaders because they appear to be like 'common folk' rather than leaders who are educated and capable. They are a disgrace to the political process and their constituencies are a disgrace to common sense and democracy. We all deserve to vote but we do not all deserve to be president or vice president. America suffers from more than an economic crisis it suffers from a cultural crisis. We do need a strong economy and we do need a strong military but we also need to build a culture of tolerance, empathy and mutual support. We need intelligent leaders who can listen to diverse ideas and utilize the best parts of those ideas while forging a new vision that includes all Americans and the rest of the planet. This is the challenge of the twenty-first century and it won't be obtained without proper leadership. Obama and Biden have proven they have the most important qualifications: intelligence, calmness, ability to see the larger issues and the moral fortitude to resist undermining our country's highest aspirations while seeking office.
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http://1158munich.blogspot.com/2008/11/vulgarization-of-america-by-mccain-and.html

[Demeter]

1. They Aren't Going Anywhere That W Hasn't Been

first time it's a tragedy, second time, it's a farce.

This is a case of imitation not being the sincerest form of flattery, but rather the most cynical use of history.

[Joanne98]

2. True. Let's hope it's over.