My next "Last" Commentary on the 2008 Elections

In my last "last" commentary, I was remarking about us entering the major "mudslinging" portion of the election contest - "palling around with terrorists" comes to mind, among other things. And I suspect we are about to relive the Jeremiah Wright nonsense again, over and over and over and over and over, again.

And much of this criticism coming the the VP candidate who has been cozy with the "Alaskan secessionists" and their creepy connections. I'd like to see some credible reporting on the ties between the various secessionist movements in the states and the far too many white racist movements out there.

The hate speech from McCain supporters has been pretty revealing, I think - "kill him," "terrorist," "assassinate him," he's an "Arab," a double-whammy of racism in today's America, not only is Barack Black but he's got an Arab middle name, Barack "Hussein" Obama, etc., etc.; so much so that even John McCain himself has finally stepped up a bit and tried to temper some of the rhetoric. Afterwards, McCain spokesman Paul Lindsey said, “We do not condone this inappropriate rhetoric which distracts from the real questions...." But McCain has to shoulder the responsibility for the inflammatory rhetoric of his VP running mate that has led to this sorry state. And he certainly lost an opportunity to address racism against Arab Americans....

I have an idea for an Obama ad: show John McCain asking the question over and over again - Who is Obama really? and the same line repeated by Palin over and over again --- and then cut to John McCain's answer:

"I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States," McCain said. "He's a decent family man...." "I respect Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." Hmmmm. Could work.

I wonder which McCain will show up this week on the campaign trail?


And finally, I want to pass along a commentary by David Brooks of the NYT - hey, even Sarah Palin quotes it, that hits a nail on the head. The gist of it is that the Republicans have painted themselves into a bit of a corner with its culture wars over the last many years. It's something like a "growing share of a shrinking market":

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/10brooks.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1

Later,
Bud