Last of Our Kind

According to CNN/TIME Magazine, Barack Obama is up in five key swing states.

Florida: Obama 51, McCain 47
-- Minnesota: Obama 54, McCain 43
-- Missouri: Obama 49, McCain 48
-- Nevada: Obama 51, McCain 47
-- Virginia: Obama 53, McCain 44

I know there are over thirty days left until Election Day. I know the Republican spin machine and McCain will turn this news around and say everything will change, but let’s look at some reasons why these numbers are changing.



1. Sarah Palin will not shut up. I know, I know, I know, at first everyone (including us at Last of Our Kind) wanted Sarah Palin to stand up and tell us where she stands. We wanted to hear her speak and know what defines her as a human being and a candidate. Well, she has now spoken and reminded us all of the reason she has been kept under lock and key. It is because she has nothing to say, and when she tries to speak she trips on herself so bad it becomes a Saturday Night Live sketch. Need I remind you how verbatim the latest sketch was?

2. Elderly voters are swaying. I was watching MSNBC the other day and there was an older retired woman making a comment on her shrinking IRA. She said, “I guess it’s better if I don’t live so long.” Take a moment to let that sink in… Now she gave a chuckle while saying that, but it was one of those ‘I have to laugh because I'm serious’ moments. There are people facing life or death decisions because of the situation the economy is in, and we know John McCain just doesn’t get it because…

3. John McCain said, “The fundamentals of the economy are strong.” We may be getting repetitive on the failures of leadership John McCain is showing. We certainly write about it regularly, but it is important to remind people that complete lack of leadership John McCain has showed since the financial crisis has exploded into the headlines and hands of taxpayers.

4. George W. Bush has another disaster to add to his legacy. Just when you thought he was done being a bad president, just when you thought Katrina, and Iraq, and Abu Ghraib, and domestic spying, and Walter Reed were bad enough, the economy is a disaster. Thank you Mr. President for leaving an even bigger mess for your successor.

5. Barack Obama is organized. Everyone knows how well he is organized, but people don’t realize how that translates into votes. According to the AP “Since the last federal election in 2006 …more than 2 million Democrats [were added] to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 thousand voters in the same states.” This is simply remarkable.

6. Bill Clinton is finally on board. President Clinton has finally begun to make the rounds on talk shows and swing states praising Senator Obama. He claims Obama has the “better answers” and continuously says Obama will win. Thank you Mr. President for finally convincing many that have doubted you cared.

7. Partisan politics. Barack Obama has yet to play politics on the economic meltdown. Yes, he ties McCain to George W. Bush as often as he can (because it is true). However, Obama did not take his politics to D.C. during the last week. He went to listen, to offer ideas, and to stand up for middle class voters everywhere. Obama stood by his claim for four key points in the bailout plan and got them. That is true leadership not blowing wherever the wind blows.

8. It is no longer about “Lipstick on a pig.” Times have gotten so tough for people that we no longer care about dumb comments like “Lipstick” and “Pitbulls.” We care about issues. We care about solutions. We care about true leadership that will inspire a future generation to continue to lead this great nation toward higher and higher goals.


9. Joe Biden. Barack Obama showed true leadership in his selection of Joe Biden. Joe Biden has the credibility that critics say Obama does not. And tomorrow Joe Biden will take center stage in his debate with Sarah Palin. Personally I think he will make Sarah Palin look silly. Personally I think that we won’t have to try very hard. Now, this could definitely be the moment where Biden seems like an ogre and attack Palin, or it could be the moment where Palin will stand up and have nothing to say. I’m betting on the latter.


10. Senator Obama represents change. You can’t spin this one. It has been his message from the beginning. Barack Obama wants to go to Washington to make a difference. McCain has tried to steal this message. McCain has tried to say that he will be the true change Washington needs, too bad he represents everything in Washington that needs to change.

This week Obama is winning. There is a lot of time left. Let’s hope the American people aren’t persuaded by spin and lies.

I want to know if McBush actually believes the spin that emanates from his campaign on an hourly basis. In the last week we have seen McBush:

· “Put country first” with a faux suspension of his campaign
· Continue to run campaign ads despite his suspended campaign
· Refuse to debate until a deal had been reached on the bailout plan
· Debate when there was no deal on the bailout plan
· Inject presidential politics in a national crisis
· Put his political campaign above the American people
· Claim that his leadership convinced Republicans to vote for the bailout
· Fail to convince even his own Arizona republican colleagues to vote for the bailout
· Blame the democrats and Obama for the failure of the bailout
· Accuse Obama of “phoning it in” on the financial crisis
· Phone it in on the financial crisis
· Assert that this is not the time for blame
· Then blame Obama for the failure of the bailout
· Attempt to make us believe that he would ride into Washington and save the day
· Ride into Washington and watched the bailout fall apart
· Claim the fundamentals of our economy our strong
· Claim that this is the most significant financial crisis of our lives

Do I really need to go on? I could fill this post with pages and pages and pages and…well you get the idea. So my question is: Does McBush actually believe the assertions he is spewing forth? Or is he just hoping that all of us are stupid enough to fall for this ridiculous political spin factor?

In a previous post, I mentioned that it is my belief that McBush’s campaign is attempting to make us all just a little more unintelligent with their tactics. That if they shift positions and present enough contradictions we will all forget what they were talking about in the first place. If they talk politics enough, and attack Obama enough, we will forget that McCain rarely speaks about the issues. That if they lie enough, and with enough fervor, we will all forget what the truth actually looks and sounds like.

McBush’s tactics look incredibly un-presidential. In a time of crisis, the American people not only need, but also deserve a leader that does not panic and add to the chaos. The president cannot act erratic and unpredictable in times of crisis. I do not believe that the recent tactics of the McCain campaign have anything at all to do with our country and the American people. I do not believe any of the spin and lies spewing forth from the McCain campaign. How many times in the next week will McCain change his views? How many contradictions will come from his campaign before this election is over?

I just want to know…Does McCain really believe all of the lies, contradictions, and distortions coming from his campaign lately? If he does believe it, then he is even more out of touch than I ever thought possible. If he does not believe his own lies, then how can he continue to claim that he is here to “put country first?” I’ve said it before, and I will say it again…Congratulations McBush, you have officially made me stupider.



During all of this, what was Obama doing? He was working behind the scenes, trying to prevent presidential politics from poisoning the financial crisis. He was steady and sure of himself. He did not make any rash decisions. He did not exhibit erratic behavior. He did not fall into the political trap McCain set for him by suspending his campaign. Now McCain has to eat crow. Now who looks inexperienced? Now who looks unprepared for the job?

Wake up Senator McCain…your actions actually do have consequences and no amount of spin is going to change that.

I will leave you with some random thoughts:

• Has McBush un-suspended his campaign?


• Will he re-suspend his campaign now that the bailout has failed?


• Or is it still suspended? I can’t tell the difference


• When did McCain decide that he is a political martyr?


• His antics make me feel like I am watching a Mel Gibson flick


• SNL’s parody of Palin’s Couric interview lifted, verbatim, so much from the actual interview that it’s scary


• Biden has debate experience dating to 1972…Palin was in 2nd grade


• Thursday night’s debate should be deliciously entertaining
  

How many lies does it take to get to the center of...?

-LoOK

Manipulations of the American People:

1. The politics of fear. The attempt by the Bush administration to convince the American people and its leaders that they must support and hastily approve a $700 billion bailout. (Who’s the Socialist now?) The Bush administration is trying to scare us all into signing a blank check for Wall Street. They are trying to scare us into this in the same exact way they scared us into a war in Iraq under false pretenses. This financial crisis was created by the Bush administration, and now we are supposed to trust them to fix the problem? McCain represents, and has supported, the same failed policies of this administration and we are supposed to elect him to office? We are supposed to believe he is going to bring change to Washington? If that is not manipulation, I have no idea what is.
   



2. McBush’s decision to suspend his campaign, postpone the presidential debate, and “put country first” in this time of financial crisis. This is the most thinly veiled political move I have seen since…well…the last mass distraction concoction of the McBush campaign. This political move was purely designed to either cast Obama as a follower of the “true” leadership of McBush if he agreed, or cast him as the candidate that does not put country first if he does not agree. Fortunately for us all, Obama refused to interject presidential politics to the proceedings at Capitol Hill. He held a short press conference and refused to create yet another distraction from the issues. McBush has suddenly decided that this financial crisis is serious enough to suspend his campaign. Quite the erratic shift from “the fundamentals of our economy our strong.” And where is his running mate in all of this? Desperately attempting to add foreign policy and international relations credentials to her resume.
   


3. Proposing the use of taxpayer money to bailout corporations whose CEO’s make more in a month than the average American. Need I say more?
   


4. The No-Talk Express. The continued media isolation of Sarah Palin by the McBush campaign. Finally, the mass media is beginning to show some anger over the refusal of interviews. They are finally starting to question exactly what it is that Palin is hiding. Could it be her complete and utter lack of experience? Perhaps it is her lack of interview experience (spectacularly showcased in her interview with Charlie Gibson)? Or maybe, just maybe, McBush realized that his campaign should have more thoroughly vetted this purely political choice for VP. Maybe he realized that Palin is actually more like Bush than himself. Maybe McBush realized that his running mate is thoroughly unprepared to stand up to real media questioning, and in so doing, would expose herself as evidence of his irresponsible and erratic behavior.
   

Road to Nowhere:




5. The No-Talk Express using sexism to prevent any and all questioning of Palin’s qualifications. Never you mind the actual Alaskan road to nowhere in Ketchikan that actually leads to a non-existent bridge, is used by no one, and was built while she was governor, yet she still claims to have opposed the bridge to nowhere. Never you mind the trooper-gate scandal she is refusing to cooperate with. Never you mind her not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is. Never you mind that she has no foreign policy experience. But for some reason, if we ask these questions, if we examine these issues, we are sexist. Never you mind…you sexist.
   


6. McBush’s continued insistence that he is a change agent and a maverick. Erratic and irresponsible behavior does not make you a maverick; it makes you a bad leader. McBush has proven time and again that his reckless behavior does not put country first…it places politics first. Politics as usual. Pick the running mate that will create the most buzz and surprise. Suspend a campaign to appear “presidential.” Distract everyone from the issues using bona fide lies.
   


7. Claiming to put “country first,” and then choosing a highly unqualified running mate. Claiming to put “country first,” but refusing to attend a debate and inform the public of your policies. Claiming to put the “country first,” but distracting us all from the financial crisis to discuss your political acrobatics. Claiming to put “country first,” but hiding your running mate from the media, and flat out refusing interviews. I could go on forever…
   


8. The attempt to convince us that drilling for oil will make a difference in the price of gas and energy in the short term. This is preying on the American need for instant gratification. If you convince enough people that drilling will ease the strain on their pocketbooks two years from now, of course they will jump on the bandwagon. The crude oil from drilling on US oil will not reach refineries and become actual fuel for at least ten years. This is a ploy by big oil companies and corporations to get you to agree to destroy our planet so they can reap the profits.
   


9. The American Express Business credit card commercials that imply you are a threat, and will be apprehended by airport security if you do no use their card.
   


10. My use of the name McBush to remind you all that McCain will continue to enact and carry out the same failed policies of the Bush administration.

Still pissed off...still paying attention,
-LoOk

Things that completely disgust me:

1. The manipulation of America’s need for instant gratification. The government and big oil want you all to the think that drilling is going to make a difference in the short term, that it is going to make gas prices fall the minute we start drilling. That is NOT going to happen. Guess what? Drilling will NOT affect gas prices until ten years from the start of drilling, and even so, it will not affect them by much. Drilling will not make a difference in the short term, and it will not make a difference in the long term. People advocate drilling without even stopping to think…what difference is this going to make? What it will do is make big oil companies more money. What it will do is destroy thousands of acres of untouched wilderness, which brings me to my next point…

Alaska National Wildlife Reserve:




"Clean" drilling and oil operations currently in Alaska (and the ANWR if we allow it):




2. Our willingness to destroy and devour the earth for our own selfish desires now, with little regard for the future of our planet. What more is there to say? But I am just an extreme liberal that believes in the myth of global warming, climate change, the greenhouse effect, melting glaciers, and the tooth fairy (sorry if I spoiled your belief in the tooth fairy).

3. The inability of our prestigious presidential candidates to discuss the issues. Last week we spent three days discussing lipstick on a pig. We spent time hearing a distortion that claimed Obama wanted to teach kindergarteners about sex. We have wasted precious time worrying about whether or not we are being sexist by questioning Palin’s qualifications, and not enough time actually examining her qualifications (Charlie Gibson has now vetted Palin more thoroughly than McBush…can you say Bush Doctrine?). We have WASTED time sifting through, and sorting out, the lies the McBush campaign have been spreading about Obama. As a result, Obama has spent the majority of his time responding to these outrageous lies.

4. People who attack Obama’s lack of experience and then attack him as the most liberal senator in the US. Which one is it? If he has no experience, then how can his record possibly show that he is the most liberal senator? If he is the most liberal senator, then he must have experience to have built that record right? Then you will attack me by saying he has no record at all, and no experience…to you I say, better than a record that reflects and supports the complete failure of the Bush policies of the last eight years.

5. Both McCain and Palin are against abortion but for the death penalty. Now I am not advocating either side, but isn’t that a contradiction? We are pro-life…but we’ll give you the electric chair? That makes sense.

6. The wall that has been put up around Palin. The media has been given one interview, and nothing more. If we question her qualifications, they cry sexism. If we say she is not qualified, we are sexists. If we talk about the failed policies of Bush and McCain, we are accused of calling Palin a pig and being…you guessed it…sexist. And the McBush campaign wants us to believe they picked her for her qualifications and not purely political purposes? If she was highly qualified, I think there would be no hesitation in allowing her to speak to the media.

7. McBush said he thinks, “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” He said this on the same day that the DOW plummeted, and since then, it has continued to plummet, and only starting to rebound today…who knows about tomorrow. Remember when you told us the economy was not your strongest subject McBush? Thanks for not lying to us on that one.

8. McBush and Palin attempting to run as the change agents.

9. Palin’s ideas on the economy…oh wait…she doesn’t have any…nevermind. Palin's ideas on anything...oh wait...she doesn't have any. At least she knows what the Bush Doctrine is now (you can send a thank you card and chocolates to Charlie Gibson).

10. People who use fear mongering to attack Obama. Referring to him by his middle name only to prey on the fear of the American people. Haven’t the American people endured enough? So his middle name is Hussein…big deal (or do Americans now have something against anyone with a middle-eastern sounding name?). My middle name is George Bush…scared yet? You should be.

Pissed off because I'm paying attention,
-LoOK

There have been many criticisms of Senator Barack Obama and his plan for America’s future. Perhaps the biggest one of all is by those who love to throw out the word “Socialism.”