Save the Gays!

I apologize for the lack of updates as of late. Honestly, there just hasn't been much to write about - we all know the economy sucks and Obama doesn't take office for another month, but thankfully there's always one issue that's sure to spring up every couple months - the gays!

Outside of the election, this is probably the most frequent topic here at American Razor and it just makes me even more angry every time I have to talk about it. I still have no idea why this is even an issue and why we can't just leave gay people alone, but two occurrences have brought the topic back to the forefront.

First, Barack Obama selected Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the prayer or whatever the hell it is they call it at his inauguration. Warren supported Prop 8, which we all know banned gay marriage in California and homosexuals are upset that Obama would select him for this role. The media - dying to undercut Obama before inauguration like they did with Clinton - has pounced on this story and made it out to be this huge thing. Here's the bottom line - 99% of these well-known religious "leaders" are a bunch of raving lunatics that have at least one belief that will piss off at least one minority. Obama's pandering, no question, and he needed someone that would appease the crazies that thought Jeremiah Wright would be there screaming "kill whitey" while delivering the prayer. Still, pretty lame on Obama's part to throw these people a bone when that style of religious politics was rejected with extreme force when he won the election in a landslide.

The other part of this story was that the Pope came out this week and said gays must be saved in the same essence that the rainforest must be saved. On one hand, I'm kinda happy that the Catholic Church believes the rainforest needs to be saved - there are a lot of nutjobs out there that think it's totally okay to ravage the planet because Jesus is coming really soon and it won't matter if we trash the place; all the good Christians will get to go to Heaven and those silly Jews and the other sinners can tidy up afterwards. But on the other hand, the guy that runs around in his flowing robes, magic wands and fabulous hats is equating gays to the destruction of the planet, which is offensive on about 47 different levels.

Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Liberace I

I'm not going to beat the dead horse - I've made my feelings on gay marriage and mixing politics with religion abundantly clear over the last few months and every time I ask a very simple question - why is gay marriage an issue? Give me one, single, solitary reason why we're still talking about this and why any straight person would actually waste a portion of their life to oppose something that will never have any impact on them whatsoever. Honestly, if one person could ever provide me with a legitimate, legal reason as to why gay marriage should remain illegal, I will at least entertain the thought. Until then, I will maintain my position that there is no excuse for this kind of discrimination and anyone who opposes gay marriage is either incredibly naive, closed-minded, bigoted or just plain stupid. Sometimes all of the above.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays) to all and for my religious friends like the Pope, remember that nice Christmas tradition of peace on Earth and goodwill towards men... even if they have sex with other men.

The Burnout Bailout

After spending $700 billion to bailout the banking industry (although apparently there's some shady business going on with that), now the auto industry wants a bailout too; in the interest of fairness, Obama supports this, I do not. Granted, he's more qualified to speak on this in his sleep than I ever would be, but I still have to disagree with it. I know it would be bad for the economy and could potentially leave four million people without work, but you know what? Nobody is going to bailout Circuit City employees.

Here's the deal - Ford, GM and Chrysler are in trouble because they've done nothing but present shitty cars that nobody wants to buy anymore. GM passed on the patent to the Hybrid car several years back because it "didn't make business sense" and now they're trying to tout how much they care about the environment with their SUVs that get a whopping 22 mpg! Yeah, let me know how that makes good business sense when gas goes back up to $5 a gallon.

We love to talk about free market capitalism, but when things get REALLY ugly, our government - Republicans and Democrats - go running right to socialism to save it. The Big Three have all been prime examples of what happens when you let greed and irresponsibility run rampant in business with absolutely no regulation and we can't keep giving these people the so-called "golden parachute." Let them all fail and let it be a sobering wake up call to any business that thinks the practices of the last thirty years - downsizing, slashing benefits, killing off pensions, etc. - is the way to run a business. Just a little fun fact to illustrate how out of hand big business has gotten - twenty years ago the average CEO earned about $35 to every employee's $1, today, they earn $475 to every dollar.

But it's pretty cold to just let all those people that depend on the auto industry to go without work, right? You're right, I'm way too liberal to just let these people fend for themselves, so let's put all those people back to work in a budding new industry - marijuana!

Yeah, I said it. While the American auto industry rebuilds itself to provide consumers with cars that serve a better purpose than compensating for men with small penises, all those people that are out of work can work in the marijuana industry. Come on, if we're going to get serious about fixing this economy, there's no better way to do it than the complete legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana. You might think I'm crazy, so let's go to tale of the tape:

$45 billion
That's how much money is spent per year in the War on Drugs by federal and state governments. Just typing the numbers isn't enough, so let me spell it out - forty-five billion dollars per year! That's almost double what the auto industry is asking for in their bailout. Now of course, not all of that is just spent on marijuana and there's no way I'm going to convince anyone to legalize all drugs (that would just make too much sense), but marijuana is the most widely distributed illegal substance, so it probably takes up a good portion of that $45 billion.

$26 billion
That's how much money state and the federal governments receive in tax dollars per year from tobacco sales. Some analysts say that if marijuana were taxed like alcohol and cigarettes, it could bring in at least $6 billion per year in taxes. Sounds like a lowball figure to me, tax it a little extra and get it into the tens of billions, people will pay... it's legal weed.

83 million
The number of people over the age of twelve that have admitted to smoking pot in their lifetime. Now imagine if it were legal and people didn't have to go to the ghetto or call their creepy dealer to get it.

$113 billion
If this were the Price is Right, that would be the estimated retail value of the illegal marijuana trade according to a study done by Jon Gettman, a pothead with a PhD in public policy and regional economic development. He estimates that of that $113 billion, at least $30 billion would go to the government in taxes... what could we buy with all that money? Some new schools, new roads, fix our failing bridges, and oh yeah - bailout the automakers.

Hey, if we're "going green," let's get serious - all this pot isn't going to farm, grow, distribute, and sell itself. And you know there isn't going to be one brand of weed - all those potheads you went to college with are going to start their own businesses and turn marijuana into BUDweiser, Miller HIGH Life, and Rolling Blunt. Think about how many people are employed by the liquor industry and think of how many people would be employed by the pot industry if it were legalized. It would be a billion dollar industry, boost sales for Frito-Lay and could totally save our economy... and even if it didn't, we'd all think everything was just fine anyway.

I'm a Uniter, Not a Divider

Wow.

Despite all the ranting over the last few months, I never thought things would turn out like this. Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, Nevada and Iowa all turning and giving Barack Obama a decisive victory - a landslide - in this election. It still hasn't quite sunk in yet that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States - the same United States that looked like an entirely different country four years ago. I remember coming home from work the morning after the 2004 election and just having this sinking feeling in my stomach that the Neocons were going to hang onto government for decades, but here we are, just four years later and the world is an entirely different place.

I'm writing today, not to gloat, not to rub it in anyone's face, but just to be happy. I know I've written some harsh things about John McCain in the last few months and I stand by every word, but the man gave a powerful concession speech last night and should be commended for his gracious and classy exit from the race. As I watched McCain last night, it got me thinking about where it all went wrong for the Arizona senator; now there will be plenty of time to place blame, and I will, but there's only one thing that really held him back - he wasn't John McCain.

Think back to the primaries, who was McCain running against? A borderline theocrat, Mike Huckabee; a Bush clone, Mitt Romney; and a cross-dressing, egomaniacal, scumbag, Rudy Giuliani. All three Neocons in every sense of the word and would undoubtedly continue many (if not all) of George W. Bush's policies. Why did McCain win that primary? Because Republican voters came out and voted for the guy that would be least like Bush and given McCain's history, he was the most logical choice. Republicans, Democrats, the entrie country was done with Bush and that's why McCain won the primary, but then as the campaign heats up and Obama gets the Democratic nomination, McCain becomes Bush.

I loved John McCain, I would have voted for him in 2000 if he got the nomination and I would have likely voted for him in 2004 against John Kerry, but that John McCain was not around in 2008. I've been over this numerous times and I'm not going to beat the dead horse, but I honestly don't know what McCain was thinking when he surrounded himself with "Bushies." Hindsight is always 20/20, especially when America overwhelmingly rejects the policies of the last eight years, but these people do this for a living, how could they not have seen this coming? Neoconservatism is dead... I wouldn't be surprised to see them try one more time in 2012 with someone like Palin, but that's another discussion for another day; as it stands now, Americans are done with Neocons.

So let's move forward. Obama supporters - I know after the last four years, you're dying to just let loose and go crazy, but we still have a lot of work to do. Getting him elected was just step one, if we sit back and kick our feet up, then Obama's presidency will be about as effective as Bush's second term. The far-right got Bush re-elected and just figured that everything would be fine and dandy and look where it got them four years later. We have to prove to our opposition that Barack Obama was the right man for the job. When someone calls you a socialist or a baby killer for voting for Barack, instead of just calling them an idiot, tell them why they're wrong. If someone makes an inaccurate statement about Obama, politely correct them. When someone tells you America is doomed, tell them why you voted for Barack.

Non-Obama supporters - I hope you can look at this presidency with an open mind. It was ugly campaign, no question and you may have heard a lot of misconceptions about Barack Obama, I ask that you give him a shot. I know our side freaked out when Bush got re-elected, but we already had four years of the guy, we were pretty sure what was going to happen. Obama's brand new, give him a chance to sink or swim, don't let the blowhards on talk radio sabotage him before he's even inaugurated. They did the same thing to Clinton in 92, but we turned out okay over the next eight years, right? We don't know if Obama will be a good president or not, but we're all in this together and it's not going to help anybody if we let the far-right destroy his presidency before it begins.

Barack Obama ran a campaign unlike any other presidential candidate in history - he took the high road, he surrounded himself with people who weren't the typical Washington insiders, he didn't take a dime from corporate lobbyists, and he ran on a message of hope and change rather than fear and smear. Supporters, let's make our president-elect proud and show the world that we support Obama in a fashion similar to how he campaigns. Those on the other side, we welcome you with open arms and we'd be happy to do whatever we can to inform you about the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Obama 08!

So throughout the history of this blog, I have constantly ranted and occasionally raved about why John McCain, Sarah Palin and the current Republican Party should not be allowed anywhere near the presidency or our government in general. My writings are generally negative because the world we live in is negative - the hypocrisy of our politicians, the lies, the smears, the incompetence, the idea that there's a "Real America," etc. - these things make me angry and my desire is to shine a light on them... but not tonight. Tonight's piece isn't about why I'm voting against the Republican Party and John McCain, this is strictly about why I'm voting for Barack Obama.

When Barack Obama first appeared on the national stage at the 2004 Democratic Convention, I could instantly tell that he would be a major player in American politics, but I never thought he could potentially become president. Honestly, I didn't even think he had a chance of getting the nomination when he announced his candidacy, but his entire campaign has been about bucking the status quo. I'm glad I was proven wrong and I'm proud to say that I experienced history when I cast my early vote for the first black man to ever receive a major party nomination for president of the United States. Does Obama's race matter? We all like to say it doesn't, we especially like to say it shouldn't, but it does. Don't get me wrong, I'm not voting for Obama because he's black, but I do think it will send a major message to the rest of the world if a country with such a racist history like ours elects a black man named Barack Hussein Obama to the presidency.

Obama is the candidate the world wants us to elect; now of course we're not at the mercy of the rest of the world when it comes to who we vote for, but we do need to consider things like this. This isn't the early 1900s, it's 2008, we can literally communicate with the rest of the world in seconds, we live in a global market and when our economy fails, so does everyone else's. I've heard a lot of small-minded people say it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks, but it does. Our dollar is practically worthless, our reputation throughout the world is possibly the lowest its ever been and our basic infrastructure - roads, power grids, bridges, and communications - becomes more antiquated by the day as China trailblazes. Barack Obama understands we've lost our standing in the world and that's not a slam on America, that's a fact. You don't get fixes from people who don't think something is broken, but Obama understands that we've lost our way in the world, but watch the video of him in Germany where 200,000 Germans are waving the American flag and cheering him on - the world wants us to lead again, we just have to step up to the plate.

You can run down the gambit of issues and see where Obama stands on everything, but at the end of the day, we're voting on who can restore America's reputation and make the country a better place to live in. Barack Obama is a once in a generation kind of candidate who certainly doesn't have all the answers, he certainly won't fix every problem facing our country, but he's the step in the right direction that we need right now. We're at a crossroads in our history and we can choose to continue down our same path or we can finally make a change. It won't all get better on January 20 if Obama is sworn into office, but it very well could be the day that the world looks back on and says "this was the moment." Again, it's not all about Barack Obama, it's about every person in this country and on this planet that know we can do better as a society and Obama understands that desire.

We can continue to look at America like a child looks at his mommy - perfect in every way and anyone who criticizes her is wrong - or we can look at America like a person looks at their spouse - flawed, but through hard work and compromise, they can come together to improve one another. I choose the latter, I hope you do as well on November 4.

God & Government

In case you haven't seen it reported on the news, Senator Elizabeth Dole (wife of former presidential candidate Bob Dole), is in danger of losing her job come election day. In a true act of complete desperation, Sen. Dole put out an ad linking her opponent Kay Hagan to an atheist group and the ad ends with a picture of Hagen and a woman's voice saying "there is no god!" Of course, the voice is not Hagan's, but it's certainly the message that the smear is trying to convey. Here, see for yourself:

Pretty disgusting. Hagan has no "godless" connections, in reality (where the non-Republicans live), she's an ex-Sunday school teacher. But you know what, even if Hagan were some godless atheist - who cares?! Let's read that silly little thing called the Constitution again:

no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Oh how I wish that were true. We like to say there's a separation of church and state, but we all know that an atheist or an agnostic has no chance at higher office in this country. Sure would be nice though, someone governing based on personal morals and principles rather than their warped vision of a belief structure, but when Sarah Palin is possibly three days away from becoming Vice President, I have no hope for that scenario.

Look at what religion has done to our country, just in the last eight years we've been ravaged by a bunch of complete lunatics that think God is talking to them. 9/11 was religiously motivated, George W. Bush claimed he had superpowers when he saw Vladimir Putin's soul, he also said that God told him to invade Iraq. Religious nutjobs got Bush reelected in 2004, how's that working out for us? And now, thanks to John McCain's maverickosity, we get someone even worse than Bush in Governor Avon Lady.

Sarah Palin belongs to a church that believes in witches... literally. I'm sorry, that has nothing to do with morals and values, that's just stupid. We've had eight years of this "values" nonsense and it has affected every facet of our culture from Janet Jackson's tit at the Super Bowl to the Ten Commandments being displayed on public property to women's rights being on the verge of being stripped away to homosexuals being treated as second-class citizens just because their bedroom behavior doesn't meet the standards of people like Sarah Palin.

A little less God would do our government a lot of good. To be honest, I really don't think Barack Obama or John McCain are all that religious; pure speculation on my part, but I think Obama sees the church as a way to unite people around improving their community and I think McCain sees religion as a way to get votes from the people that reelected Bush. For the sake of our country, I hope that they're both lying when they talk about how devout they are, but the scary thing is, I know Sarah Palin is not. This woman isn't just your average Christian who is trying to live her life by the teachings of Christ, she's a theocrat like Mike Huckabee who thinks we should change the Constitution so that it fits "God's" will. Of course, her god is an ultra-corrupt bigot that wants to tell you how to live your life.

This notion that a person isn't fit for office because they don't believe in God turns my stomach. Honestly, I think the more devout you are, the less qualified you are to be serving our secular nation - if you want to preach, get out of the governor's mansion and go to church. There's a place in our culture for religion and if that's what gets you through the day, fantastic, but when it comes to our government, the Elizabeth Dole ad is right - there is no God.

Razor the Blogger vs. Joe the Plumber

A quick heads up - in the next few days, I'm going to be posting a piece on why I'm voting for Barack Obama. Not why I'm voting against John McCain, not why I'm voting Democratic, why I'm specifically voting for Barack Obama, so be on the lookout for that, I should have it posted by Sunday.

Now I'd like to talk about the biggest thing pissing me off today... Joe the Plumber, or as he should be known: Sam Wurzelbacher, the unlicensed plumber that is nothing but John McCain's desperate attempt to show he has a connection with the everyman! Yeah, you know all those everyday Joe Sixpacks out there that have a PUBLICIST! Are you fucking kidding me?! This douchebag has hired representation and is working on a book deal and a record deal to produce a country music album with Aaron Tippin.

I tried to let the Joe the Plumber thing go, it was painfully embarrassing to watch, but whatever, it's the kind of thing politicians do - put a face to an idea. But now this guy is out there with all this media, saying that an Obama presidency would be the "death of Israel," and even talking about running for congress... I can't take it anymore. So here's what I'm going to do, I'm publicly challenging Joe the Plumber to a debate. We're both Ohioans, we both feverishly support our candidates and we're both about as qualified to be Vice President as Sarah Palin.

If you're one of the seven or eight people that read this blog, tell your friends to tell their friends about this challenge. Hopefully, it'll get back to Joe (you can even tell him that I called him a douchebag) and he'll agree to it. I'll go anywhere - Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, even Defiance, OH... Joe can name the place, he can name the venue, he can even pack the crowd full of Republicans, just make sure there's a camera there to tape it and a moderator from that wacky liberal media. I guaran-damn-tee that I know more about the American political system than JTP and I want to expose this guy as nothing but empty overalls, plucked from obscurity by the McCain campaign and presented to me as what "Real America" supposedly is.

Joe Wurzelbacher is not an accurate representation of the average American, he's a puppet that is milking his fifteen minutes of fame for all its worth. He's a fraud, a shill, and I'm pretty sure utterly clueless as to what he's talking about. I'm so sick of the political process being turned into a pageant, we're talking about the direction of the free world, not what makes a cute story to make up for your sagging poll numbers and your complete absence of an agenda for getting the country back on track. Joe the Plumber is a joke, and I would love the opportunity to prove it. So how bout it? Wouldn't you like to see two "average" Americans from a crucial swing state debate the issues just days before the election? Well, I don't have a pending record contract, so I don't know if I'm as average as Joe, but hopefully he can make time in his busy schedule for the little people.

C'mon, if we're going to spend the last five days of the election turning it into a circus, let's get serious about it!

Pump and Pay

I know it's instinctual to be happy about the recent drops in gas prices, a few people told me that they paid under $2 a gallon today! Awesome, right? Well... no, not really. I know what you're thinking, "Oh c'mon, I can't even enjoy my $1.99 gas?! Why does this guy hate everything?" Hey, I'm happy about paying less to fill up too, but we can't allow ourselves to become comfortable again. Americans got a huge wake up call in 2008 when we started paying $4 a gallon, it was a taste of what it's like to live anywhere else in the world. If we get complacent because we're paying less for gas now, it's just going to come back and bite us in the ass in a couple years.

After 9/11, alternative energy should have been our number one priority, but surprise surprise, the ex-oilman president did nothing. It was irresponsible, has made our country less safe and has set us back a decade in breaking free of our dependence on foreign oil. When you hear Governor Avon Lady chanting "drill, baby, drill," the image that should pop in your mind is a drug addict needing his next fix. Oil is Republican crack, "c'mon man, just one more offshore oil rig... I'll suck your dick!" and just like when a crackhead offers, you need to turn it down from a Republican... God knows where that mouth has been. And just like drugs, it's great at first, but then you hit rock bottom; these low prices aren't going to last forever and neither will the oil. I read an article today about the possibility of the SUV craze returning due to lower oil prices, so let me say this: if you're thinking about buying a Hummer right now, you're a fucking tool. Well, you're a tool if you ever wanted to buy a Hummer, but you get my point.

There is no excuse to not start investing in alternative fuels and it should be a top priority for the sake of the environment, our economy and our national security. Offshore drilling won't provide results for twenty years, it's time to let it go and move forward. It's fantastic that my wallet is heavier right now, but if we don't start acting, this mess is just going to blow up in our faces again and we'll be right back where we were, and then how much will it take for Americans to be outraged enough to demand change? $5 a gallon? $10 a gallon? This year was our wake up call, we can't afford to hit snooze.

Immoral Majority

Well it's a new day, so that means a new McCain attack strategy. Let's see, so far we've had: celebrity, inexperienced, community organizer, elitist, doesn't support the troops, terrorist, socialist, and not a part of "Real America" - all hilarious attacks and all well-documented in John McCain's laundry list of hypocrisy, so what's left? With ten days to go, the McCain campaign is now running on "the Democrats will have control of the House, Senate and the presidency... you don't want a liberal majority do you?!"

FUCK YES I DO!

Hell, I've only been waiting 25 years for a liberal majority so we can finally toss out your crusty old asses. The Conservatives have been trying to keep this country in the 1950s since the 1950s, and personally, I'm ready to act like we live in the 21st century. I don't want just a majority, I don't want a super majority, I don't want an ultra majority, I want an UBER MAJORITY! Oh yeah, "uber," that's European... that's how much of a dirty liberal I am.

I started this blog as a way to vent my rage about the Neocon Republican Party, let me be perfectly honest - I want them all gone. Seriously, I want every Neocon out of office on the federal, state and local level; every moral-crusading asshole, everyone of these criminals that wants to eliminate the separation of church and state, all of these bloodthirsty warmongers, I want them all to be unemployed so they can really see what it's like to be a REAL American. Some true Republicans can stay, I can live with guys like Chuck Hagel, Ron Paul and John McCain from eight years ago, but they need to come up with something new to call themselves, the word "Republican" just makes me cry. Or they could just join the Libertarian Party, if we have to have a two party system, I'm perfectly comfortable with Libertarians and Democrats because we might actually get some fucking work done!

Okay, sorry about the rant... I'm a little fired up today. Honestly, I'm a concerned about this possible Democratic majority because the minute anything goes wrong, the Republicans will swoop in like the vultures they are and say, "See?! Told ya!!!" and that'll be that. Also, despite what you've heard, I don't really like the Democratic Party. Why? Democrats aren't really that liberal, no matter how many times conservatives try to say it, it's just not true. They're all pretty much in the center, a lot of them even in the center right, the problem is the Neocons have taken the Republican party so far to the right, that anything looks liberal by comparison. Here, I'll illustrate:

Liberals--------------------------------------------Democats------Republicans-------------Neocons-

We're at an extremely important moment in our country's history, serious changes need to be made and that's not going to happen with partisan gridlock, which is pretty much what the government has been like since I've been alive. The people are fed up with their government - I certainly am - and are demanding sweeping changes, that's not going to happen as long as the Republican Party exists. It's not that Democrats are going to fix it, they're not, but the Neocons are leeches that have bled this country dry and they must be stopped. Once we've removed this parasite, we can begin working on the Democrats and either fix that party or do away with it as well and start fresh.

I sincerely hope that one day we can get rid of the two-party system, it's completely outdated and unneccessary in this modern culture we live in. Sure, it worked when our quickest way of delivering information was the Pony Express, but now we can access anything in seconds, so we don't really need to align ourselves with a party that kinda-sorta represents our worldview. Make no mistake, I don't think all people that identify themselves as Republican are bad people, if you personally believe in a conservative lifestyle, that's your choice and I respect it. The problem lies in Republican leaders who have no agenda and are merely interested in power and money, that's what's killing America. Republican Party, Democratic Party, they can both go for all I care, but we're not going to see the kind of change we need as long as we let these power-hungry Neocons keep their hand wrapped around America's throat.

I've bashed George W. Bush a lot over the last eight years, but oddly enough, I have to thank him. Yes, by him being the worst president in American history, he's opened a window of opportunity for outraged Americans to get in that voting booth on November 4 (or before that - vote early!) and possibly destroy the ultra-corrupt Neoconservative Republican Party once and for all. This isn't hyperbole, I'm not joking, and I'm going to say this loud and clear - in order for America to survive, the Republican Party has to die.

Designing Palin

I don't hide my hatred for the Republican Party, there's certainly no questioning that, but I don't hate them just because it's fun. I honestly believe that the Republican Party is a malignant tumor that is slowly and painfully killing the United States of America. Don't get me wrong, I'm not overly fond of the Democratic Party either, but I feel like there is some good left there and they haven't been destroyed from within like the Neocons did to Republicans.

The biggest problem with the Neocon Republican Party is that it's no longer about issues, but rather about keeping the political structure of the nation in a state of permanent campaigning. The Republicans can't govern, they don't want to govern, they run on a platform that says government doesn't work (which as I've joked before, it doesn't work when they're in charge), but they do know how to campaign. Until Barack Obama put together the most impressive ground game in campaign history, Democrats almost always were out-campaigned by Republicans. But when you have no agenda other than to retain power and control people, it's no wonder why the country has gone to shit after eight years of George Bush, seven of those with Republican control of the House and Senate.

With their disgusting claws being pryed off the levers of power, Republicans are growing desperate and have resorted to these sleazy attacks and smears. It's not surprising, I'm just stating the fact in order to get to my point - as these attacks fail in the age of YouTube, the Republicans become more and more transparent and they're now exposed as the no good hypocrites that they are.

This is the party that attacked John Kerry as an elitist, mocked John Edwards' $400 haircut and called Barack Obama an empty celebrity. Yeah, the Republicans love to paint themselves as Joe Sixpack, Hockey Moms, just your average blue collar guy that loves 'Merica and wants to take out 'dem 'terrists! Well, if the Republicans are just like every other average guy out there, then why are they spending $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe? Let's keep in mind, the average American family of four takes in less than $50,000 per year, and the RNC is spending triple that on the clothes that Palin has worn in her short two months on the campaign.

Remember, this is the supposed "reformer" that saved the people of Alaska all this money - she didn't need the fancy jet, the private chef, or a limo ride to work, she was just your average "Real American" that wanted to shake up Washington! If you're one of those average Americans reading this, let me ask you, when's the last time you spent $2,500 on a Valentino jacket? Have you recently spent $90 on a hat for your infant son? When's the last time you got to go on a $75,000 shopping spree at Neiman Marcus... was that before you lost your 401k or after you got laid off?

Look, I don't care what the Republican National Committee does with its money; if Sarah Palin wants to go out and pretend she's got a cameo in the next Sex and the City movie, that's fine. But don't act like you're speaking to me or the rest of Real America when you've spent more money in one day than the average Joe makes in a year. This stuff is funny to an extent, but you have to remember these are the people running for office and winning based on the myth that they connect to middle America more than those damn dirty liberals do. Maybe if they took off the Dolce & Gabbana and stepped outside one of their eight houses, they could have a claim to understanding the problems facing the average American.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Barack Obama's rich too!" Yes he is, but he's not out there calling himself Joe Sixpack. Obama's not running around talking about what parts of the country are "Real," he's just actually bothered to learn something. Oh I know, that "L" word is scary to a Neocon, but while their nominees are bashing the "elitist Democrats," no one is bothering to mention that they're nothing but emprty suits spewing empty gestures for cheap applause. When you're running for office and you have no vision for the future and all you're presenting is marketing for this character that doesn't actually exist, you're hurting America. This isn't a popularity contest, it's not who you want to have a beer with, it's who is the most knowledgeable of the problems facing the country and who is best equipped to offer a solution to it.

She may have spent $150,000... but the Empress has no clothes.

Real America

Aside from calling Barack Obama a socialist, there has been another disturbing talking point coming out of the McCain campaign this week, this notion that there are parts of the country that are "Real America," I suppose implying that other parts are "Fake America." I noted Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman's Neo-McCarthyism over the weekend, but it didn't stop with these two; North Carolina congressman Robin Hayes threw out this gem that was reported in the New York Observer:

First, Representative Patrick McHenry cheered what he called the “biggest crowd John McCain has gotten in North Carolina” and emphasized that this was a critical election with a stark choice between the candidates.

“It’s like black and white,” someone in the crowd at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center yelled out, laughing. McHenry let the remark pass and finished his speech. He yielded the microphone to Representative Robin Hayes, who prefaced his comments by saying it was important to “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.” Republicans, he reminded the crowd, were kind people. Plus, he added, the liberal media had shown itself eager to distort such remarks. With the crowd duly chastened and put on best behavior, he accused Obama of “inciting class warfare” and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”

Wow... "hey let's not saying anything stupid, but you know those fucking liberals hate real Americans and people that believe in God." Yeah, no class warfare there at all.

If this is going to be the main point that the Republicans drive home in the last two weeks of the election, I have a much better idea for them. John McCain, your poll numbers are slipping even further, your support is waning, your message isn't resonating, maybe it's just time to give up on some of America, instead of trying to become president of the whole country, John, you could just be president of Real America!

Think about it, your supporters don't want to live in a country with people like me, it's just a recipe for disaster. I honestly have no problem giving you Real America, you're all clearly better people than I could ever be, so I should have to stay behind here in Fake America. Here's my plan for your new country:

REAL AMERICA
President - John Sidney McCain
Vice President - Sarah Louise Heath Palin
Speaker of the House - Joe the Plumber
Chief Justice - The Honorable Toby Keith
Motto - Jesus is American!
National Anthem - "God Bless the USA" - Lee Greenwood
Capital - Wasilla, Alaska
Largest City - Houston, Texas
Official Language - American (Color isn't spelled "colour" you silly Europeans!)
Currency - $1 bill - Ronald Reagan, $5 bill - A Fetus, $10 bill - An Oil Rig, $20 bill - Dale Earnhardt, $100 bill - Jesus!
States - Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Nevada (except Las Vegas), Northern Wisconsin and "Real Virginia"

Isn't that awesome, John? You get all of Real America to yourself! As Governor Palin said, this is where you find "goodness and courage," and it's the "hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation." You don't really want to be president of places like New York, California, and New England, do you? Of course not, and neither do your supporters, they deserve something better than that since they are the Real Americans after all.

Us here in Fake America will just have to get by on things like the entire entertainment industry, the media, Ivy League schools, and advanced science. Yeah, don't want to stain your reputation with those God-hating scientists and their medicine, but you guys have the power of prayer, so I'm sure you don't need anybody for cancer treatment, heart disease or anything else that may afflict us atheist, America-hating liberals.

Well, good luck to you Real Americans, although I'm sure you won't need it since we all know Jesus is a Republican. He did preach the virtues of wealth, greed, ignorance and bigotry, so having him on your side must be a huge bonus. Oh, I almost forgot, I made a flag for your new country, hope you like it!

The Top 10 Hypocrisies From the John McCain Campaign

If you asked me to name what it is about the Republican Party that I hate the most, it would undoubtedly be their shameless hypocrisy. So with only two weeks left in the campaign, I figured it would be nice to recap some of the most infuriating double-standards in the 2008 presidential election. Of course, there are only two weeks left, so that gives the Republicans plenty of time to add another dozen or so to this list.

10. "Robocalls are despicable... now listen to my Robocall about Barack Obama!"
In the 2000 Republican primary, John McCain's reputation was attacked from all angles by the Bush campaign - they used Robocalls to put the idea into voters minds that John McCain may have fathered an illegitimate black child. In reality, it was his adopted Bangladeshi daughter, but it worked and McCain lost the bid for president to Bush, and we all know how that worked out. Fast-forward eight years and McCain is using the exact same company that smeared him to smear Obama as someone who "works with" terrorists.

9. "Candidates children are off limits... but have I mentioned how ugly Chelsea Clinton is?"
After some pretty vicious rumors about Sarah Palin's daughter began circulating, the Palin family came out and announced that their 17 year old daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. Palin praised her daughter's "choice" to keep the baby - a "choice" that a McCain administration very well could take away (two for one hypocrisy!) - and then said that families should be off-limits. Of course, I'd like to know where they were in the 90s when John McCain joked "you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Stay classy, Johnny!

8. "Barack Obama is a celebrity... now who wants to watch me in Wedding Crashers?"
Soon after Obama locked up the Democratic nomination, John McCain launched a series of ads equating the Illinois Senator with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears as an empty, Hollywood elite. But wait a minute, which one of these candidates has hosted Saturday Night Live? Had a cameo in Wedding Crashers? Appeared on 24? That would be John McCain. McCain has also appeared on numerous other entertainment shows: 11 appearances on Jay Leno, 8 with Letterman, 3 with Conan O'Brien, 12 visits to The Daily Show, 3 episodes of The View, 6 episodes of Entertainment Tonight, an appearance on Last Comic Standing , and even an appearance on WWE Monday Night RAW. John McCain was a celebrity's politician long before anyone had even heard the name Barack Obama.

7. "How dare you use the phrase 'lipstick on a pig?!' That is a clear insult to my running-mate... but please ignore the fact that I used the same phrase when discussing Hillary Clinton."
Ah, do you remember the good ol' days? You know, like back in August when the only thing we had to worry about was "Lipstickgate?" Yeah, kinda sucks that the economy imploded and everyone conveniently forgot about this little piece of crazy from John McCain. McCain exploded when Obama used the phrase to describe McCain's policies, but nobody had the time to ask the Republican nominee what he meant when he used the exact same phrase to describe Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan.

6. "The attacks on my running-mate have been nothing short of sexism... now who wants to hear a joke about rape?"
John McCain has an uncomfortable history joking about rape, we discussed his association with Clayton Williams in the very first entry here at American Razor, a man who once said "as long as [rape] is inevitable, just relax and enjoy it." McCain's also made jokes about a woman enjoying being raped by a Gorilla and he called his wife a cunt, so I don't know if he's really the foremost authority on sexism. Look, I'm not one to be offended by someone's tasteless jokes, but if you get to joke about rape, then I get to call Sarah Palin "Governor Avon Lady."

5. "Barack Obama is way too sensitive about criticism... but any attack on me is 'beyond the pale.'"
While John McCain supporters are busy shouting "kill him," "off with his head," "terrorist," "traitor," "treason," "socialist," and "Arab" at rallies, John McCain himself is running around with his phony outrage about anyone who calls him out on creating this environment. After Governor Avon Lady stirred the pot and essentially called Obama an America-hating socialist terrorist at her rallies, Civil Rights legend John Lewis attacked the Republican ticket for creating such a hostile environment. He said while they are not directly engaging in any sort of violence, they are encouraging their supporters to become more and more rabid towards the first black presidential nominee; much like the atmosphere that surrounded segregationist George Wallace during the Civil Rights Movement. It's a completely accurate statement to make, but John McCain came unglued over it and instead of condemning what some lunatics in his crowd had been saying about Obama, he tried the "I'm rubber, you're glue" defense and tried to put all the blame on his opponent. Now who's touchy?

4. "Negative campaigning shows you have no vision for the future... now let's watch my slew of negative ads against Obama."
As mentioned earlier, McCain was the victim of a hideously negative campaign in 2000 and he said "sooner or later people are going to figure out that if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it." Now before he rolled out the Robocalls, McCain had already been running the sleaziest campaign in modern history. Whether it's a distortion, half-truth, smear, or flat-out lie, McCain's campaign has thrown it at Barack Obama. After the 2000 primary and after he said this year that voters were tired of negative campaigning, McCain surrounded himself with the same people that smeared him eight years ago and took his campaign down the low road.

3. "You're a socialist... but my plan for the government to spend $300 billion to buy up every bad mortgage in the country is called being a Maverick!"
As I noted yesterday, the latest tactic of the campaign is to revert back to McCarthyism, one of our country's most embarrassing chapters and paint Obama as a socialist. It's working with the Republican base, one woman even began shouting "SOCIALIST" at Obama at a restaurant over the weekend and refused to listen to him or shake her hand when he attempted to better explain his positions. Of course, there's only one candidate in this campaign pledging to use tax dollars to buy up every bad mortgage in the country and it's the crazy Commie John McCain. We've already nationalized the banks, but now John McCain wants to nationalize your property and he has the audacity to call Obama socialist.

2. "You pal around with terrorists... but my relationship with G. Gordon Liddy doesn't count."
If you missed it, you can read this entry about McCain's relationship with G. Gordon Liddy, a man that McCain says he is "proud of." What part is he proud of? Liddy's involvement in the Watergate scandal? His plot to murder two men? His plot to bomb buildings? Or him telling people to shoot ATF agents in the face? Liddy served his time in jail and now works as a radio host, but his connections to John McCain are just as solid (if not more) as Obama's ties to William Ayers. Ayers and Liddy are both rehabilitated domestic terrorists, but only one of them served time in prison (Liddy), yet the media only reports on Obama and Ayers? A stunning and sickening hypocrisy from the McCain campaign and the lazy media.

1. "Barack Obama has no experience... now I'd like to introduce you to my running-mate, Sarah Palin!"
I could probably do a top ten list solely on the hypocrisy of selecting Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential nominee, but she undoubtedly belongs at the top of this list. The claim that Barack Obama is inexperienced is a valid argument, I won't debate that. It would have been McCain's best line of attack in this campaign had he not selected Governor Avon Lady as his running-mate. You mean to tell me that I shouldn't vote for Obama because he's inexperienced while the Republicans are offering up a 72 year old, four time cancer survivor as their nominee with a potential Vice President who's been governor of a state with a smaller population than Albuquerque, New Mexico and before that, Mayor of a city with a population smaller than the attendance of a high school football game? We've also gotten to know Sarah Palin over the last few weeks and she is the biggest embarrassment in the political history of this nation. Selecting her as a running-mate is a slap in the face to every American and it shows that McCain's judgment is a far greater liability than Barack Obama's lack of experience.

Red (State) Scare

The Republican Party is in utter disarray - the wheels are flying off, people are abandoning ship, they are in a nosedive, name any other metaphor for a vehicle crashing, it's happening to the Republicans. Now, I certainly don't want to start clicking my heels together just yet since this is a close race and there's still two weeks to go, but there's no doubt that even if McCain pulls it off and wins, it'll be like becoming the new lead singer for Journey. Sure, Journey was an awesome band, but there's no Steve Perry!

A lot of issues came to a boil this weekend and if you're unlike me and you have a life, you probably missed out on a lot. On Friday, Sarah Palin mentioned how much she loves visiting "the pro-America parts of the country," pretty much abandoning any subtlety that the Republicans had left and just flat-out said they truly think that only certain states, cities or towns are American. Basically saying that if you live in New York, Chicago, LA, or any place where there's not necessarily a huge concentration of white Christians, you hate America.

Minnesota Congresswoman (and lunatic) Michele Bachmann did an interview on Friday where she called for an investigation of the United States congress to see which members were anti-American. I did a piece on Neo-McCarthyism a few months back, I'd like to thank Michele Bachmann for proving my point. If you needed anymore evidence that the Neocons are desperately trying to take this country back to the 1950s, just turn on one of your 24 cable news outlets, the big word of the day is "socialist," oh no, the Reds are coming!

Much like McCarthyism, you don't need to provide any actual facts or evidence to prove that your opponent is a dirty Commie, just repeat it over and over and eventually someone will believe you. Barack Obama is this America-hating socialist liberal that's looking to redistribute wealth! Yeah, I'm sure that's why the richest man on the planet, Warren Buffet, has endorsed him for president, he's just going to let his $65 billion get spread around! Of course, all Obama is going to do is cut taxes on 95% of the country and then raise taxes on the upper 5% to what they were when Bill Clinton was president. But you can understand why Republicans would be upset about that, despite the eight years of peace, the roaring economy and the low unemployment rates, people were getting blowjobs! Clearly, we can't let our children be reminded of such a dark time in our nation's past. Oh Republicans, you're so cute sometimes.

All this nonsense came to a screeching halt today when a true American hero endorsed Barack Obama - General Colin Powell. The Republican General Colin Powell... the former Secretary of State for the Bush Administration Colin Powell... one of the architects of the Iraq War Colin Powell. How's that for a kick in the balls, Republican Party? Powell's endorsement is a concise rejection of this sleazy, irresponsible and shameless campaign that John McCain has run these last few months. A clear rejection of these ideas put forth by Michele Bachmann that part of our congress hates America; a clear rejection of the hate being spewed and encouraged at McCain rallies where people call for the assassination of a political candidate; and it is certainly a clear rejection of the intelligence-insulting choice of Sarah Palin as a nominee for Vice President.

Colin Powell is a good man that got a raw deal from the Bush Administration after the occupation of Iraq blew up in their face. After it all began to fall apart, he was one of the first people to have the courage to speak out and shortly thereafter, quietly "resigned" as Secretary of State in 2005. Powell isn't afraid to tell it like it is and that goes directly against the ideals of Neocon Republicans, so it's no surprise both sides went their separate ways. Here we are now in the middle of this divisive election and a lifelong Republican, one of our most respected generals, has come out to endorse the Democratic nominee for president because of the horrible campaign that his party is running. He knows McCain will run the country exactly like Bush (into the ground), he knows we won't get away from this culture war under a McCain presidency and he knows it will truly be more of the same, so he's speaking out... very Maverick of him, don't you think?

Of course the right-wing media is already trying to brush this off as a racial thing (how many other black Democrats has Colin Powell directly endorsed? Oh yeah, none), but don't let their racism get to you. The Neocons have very little tricks left up their sleeve, so they're going to throw everything they can at Obama - race, terrorism, socialism, anti-Americanism, elitism, etc. - but just remember, while they're slinging mud, Colin Powell was the Republican that truly put country first.

I'm also troubled by – not what Senator McCain says – but what members of the Party say, and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, "What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" The answer's "No, that's not America." Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own Party drop the suggestion he's Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star; showed that he died in Iraq; gave his date of birth, date of death. He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Kahn. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.

-General Colin Powell (October 19, 2008)

Neocons.

I'm often asked about my pure, unadulterated hatred for the Republican Party, do I really paint all Republican politicians with the same brush? Not exactly, there are two types of Republicans in the party right now - those who were complacent in the hijacking of their party and the ones who orchestrated it, the Neoconservatives... Neocons. About two years ago, many Republicans started crying that they wanted their party back after the Neocons destroyed it, but I say too bad. Republicans sold out to the religious right and corporate interests, in order to get votes and when you make your bed, you have to lie in it.

But much like the Taliban in Afghanistan, there's been a Neocon resurgence in the 2008 presidential election. It looked like we may have begun to close the book on this sad era of American government, but then John McCain just had to go to the frozen tundra of Alaska and uncover the archetypal Neocon - The Abominable Sarah Palin. Yes, the governor is everything the Neocons look for in a candidate - Bible-thumping, attractive, folksy (talks in a cute accent of some kind... nothing foreign though), and incredibly stupid but proud of it.

The Neocons had to have been so proud of their young apprentice over this past weekend as they watched her perform that amazing sleight of hand that they're all so good at. A bi-partisan committee made up of eight Republicans and four Democrats finished their investigation into the so-called "Troopergate" scandal and found that Governor Palin unlawfully abused her power and violated the state's ethics bill. Gov. Palin's response?

"Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

This is how ballsy the Neocons have become. They can be standing over a dead body with a knife in their hand and say "see? I had nothing to do with it." It's pretty damn funny, but it would be a lot more humorous if these people weren't running the country. These clowns have become so accustomed to no one calling them out on their bullshit, that they don't even try anymore.

"Hey governor, this investigation says you your office to settle personal vendettas."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Oh, okay."

Remember, this is the campaign that has been making such an issue about Barack Obama's character and judgment, meanwhile the Republicans have a candidate who selected an incredibly corrupt, embarassingly unqualified and incredibly ignorant governor of the third smallest state (population-wise) in the nation. What does that say about character and judgment?

When Barack Obama made the claim about people being "bitter" and "clinging to guns and religion," he was talking about the kind of people that have voted in the Neocons. These people are generally decent human beings, they've just been screwed over by the government so much, that they no longer trust them to help economically. However, the Neocons know how to appeal to these people without actually having to help them, they pander to them with God and Guns. Neocons run on a platform of government being ineffecient (which it is when they're in charge of it), so they tell "small-town" folk, to not vote for those silly Democrats because they'll take your guns away and get rid of God. These people then pull the lever for the W's of the world and then the Neocons take power and do nothing to help those who voted for them, that's what Obama was talking about.

But after eight years of the country going to absolute shit, people have smartened up and the Neocons have to up their tactics. Simple, small-town people aren't enough anymore, they have to engage in full-on culture war and energize the lunatic fringe of America. So while the Neocons run a campaign based on fear, distortion and flat-out lies, they start to energize a certain portion of America that is unlike anything we've seen in decades. Blatant racism, bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, it's all out there and the Republican Party is playing with fire. John McCain used to be above all this but he sold his soul to the Neocons and now the genie can't go back in the bottle - he will regret his entire campaign from the moment he picked Sarah Palin until these final three weeks that have highlighted the ugliest portions of America. And just like those Republicans that wanted their party back a couple years ago, sorry John, you made your bed.

The country is going to go in one of two directions in the event of an Obama victory. If it's a landslide, the Neocon Republicans will likely take a critical blow; I'm hopeful that the party will die an embarrassing death and all of these criminals that hijacked America will be run out of office permanently to make way for a new, better political party to be the yin to the Democrats' yang, but I don't think the country will be that lucky. But in the event of an extremely close race, it's just going to get uglier. The Neocons will fight Obama tooth and nail and do whatever they can to sabotage his presidency. If they succeed, I fully expect them to run Sarah Palin in 2012, which should be a scary enough thought to get you in the voting booth on November 4.

Barack Obama needs a clear, decisive victory to put an end to Neocon rule once and for all and Sarah Palin needs to be forever-regarded as the biggest embarassment this country has ever seen on a political stage. Obama's not perfect, but Palin isn't even below average and if she's the direction the Neocons want to take this great nation, then it needs to be stopped now. Palin can never be allowed in a position of federal power because I fully believe she'll get in her helicopter and shoot America in the back of the head.

McCain wants a cookie for things he's supposed to do

I'm getting tired of people telling me that I need to respect John McCain for correcting people at his rallies that call Obama a terrorist or Arab (which apparently to McCain supporters, simply being an Arab is bad). Wow, way to go Johnny, you're putting out the fires that your campaign's been pouring gas on for the last two weeks. That's like a serial killer expecting parole because he hasn't murdered anyone lately.

To be brutally honest, I have absolutely no sympathy or respect left for John McCain; I want him to lose in November, I want him to lose his next Senate campaign and I want him out of our political system altogether. I say this because I want to have some memories of the John McCain that I once respected and admired, a man whose story hadn't been cheapened by the campaign and a man that just seemed like a decent human being. This election has changed John McCain and I can't feel sorry for him because he brought every bit of this on himself. Great, he finally managed to reign in some of the idiot racists at his campaign rallies, but this is still the guy that decided to associate himself with slimy, disgusting figures like Karl Rove, Rick Davis and Sarah Palin, he should have expected this negative tone when he aligned with these scumbags.

The far right is all over who Obama is associating with, but what about McCain? Let's take a look at McCain's shady friends and ask why the media isn't bringing them up whenever a McCain surrogate talks about who Obama "pals around" with:

Karl Rove - A man who was once described as "Bush's Brain," he got George W. Bush the Republican nomination for president in 2000 after running an incredibly sleazy primary campaign against John McCain. Rove's smears included allegations that McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter was his "illegitimate black baby," and that the Arizona senator didn't support funding for breast cancer. As a member of the Bush Administration, Rove was instrumental in the US Attorney Scandal, the political destruction of an Alabama governor, and the outing of a CIA Agent, which last time I checked, is an act of treason. It should be noted that Rove was never convicted of any link to the outing of the agent's identity, but we'll never know since he brazenly ignored congressional subpoenas and the spineless Democrats in congress just let him slither away. Rove is now a FOX News contributor and an advisor to the McCain campaign, which would be a blatant conflict of interest if FOX News was ever considered a legitimate form of journalism.

Rick Davis - A registered Washington lobbyist and the chief executive officer of John McCain's presidential campaign. Davis was the head of a group that lobbied on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac where he earned over $30,000 a month; as of August of this year, it was revealed that Davis was still receiving $15,000 a month from Fannie and Freddie. Of course, we now know that the actions of those companies are largely responsible for the current mortgage crisis that has caused our current economic crisis. But the fun doesn't stop there, in 2006, Davis also set up a meeting between John McCain and a man by the name of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire. Later that same year, the United States revoked Deripaska's visa, denying him entry into the country due to his connection with organized crime.

G. Gordon Liddy - A man that McCain desribes as an "old friend" that he's "very proud of." Liddy is a convicted criminal who was sentenced to twenty years in prison due to his role in the infamous Watergate scandal. Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, illegal wiretapping and burglary, but he also admitted plotting to murder a journalist, kidnapping leftists, and bombing the Brookings Institution. For this lovely behavior, Liddy was rewarded with a commuted sentence and his own radio show where he encouraged his listeners to shoot ATF agents in the face. He has donated at least $5,000 to McCain campaigns since 1998 and their relationship is far more concrete than Obama's ties to 1960s radical William Ayers.

Funny how the media never brings any of this up, isn't it? One could make an argument that it's underlying racism and it's a lot easier to connect the dots of "terrorism" to a guy named Barack Hussein Obama than an old white guy named John Sidney McCain, but I don't this it's that nefarious on the media's part. Honestly, I just think it goes back to the lazy journalism I often discuss - the media will talk about whatever the campaigns talk about and since the McCain campaign is playing up on their racist supporters' unrelenting hatred of Barack Obama, it's what the media will report on.

But unless John McCain answers for his associations with men who have been accused of treason, connections to organized crime and domestic terrorism, why should I be taking any of these accusations against Obama seriously? Honestly, do I think these connections disqualify McCain from the presidency? Of course not, but I have to ask why no responsible journalist is using McCain's own tactics against him when he has just as many (if not more) shady associates than Obama. If this is the political climate we're going to create, why aren't these questions being asked of McCain?

So to go back to the original point, no I'm not going to give McCain a thumbs up for suddenly telling racists that Barack Obama isn't an Arab while his running-mate is still out there repeating these ridiculous charges. He is responsible for setting this tone and now he has to undercut his message of the last two weeks while simultaneously taking heat from the racists and fringe-lunatics that have been coming out to hear that very message. I know that McCain doesn't believe any of this garbage that his surrogates have been spewing lately, so I hope it burns just a bit hotter now that this has blown up in his face.

Republicans cry "VOTER FRAUD!" as country collectively groans.

Top news item on FOX News today? Was it the roller coaster ride that the stock market took? Oh no, today's top story was something extremely important to our country as a whole - voter fraud; an issue I'm surprised to see that Republicans suddenly care about.

Make no mistake, if there are issues with voter registration, then it needs to be investigated and fixed immediately, but the Republicans crying foul? That's like a guy who beats his wife calling the cops when she gets fed up and hits him in the face with a frying pan. Voter fraud allegations coming from the Republican party is damn funny when you look back at the last two presidential elections. All I really have to say is "Florida 2000" and "Ohio 2004" and the Republicans should shut the fuck up - between disenfranchisement, blocking registration, voter suppression, illegal voter purging, Katherine Harris, Ken Blackwell, and voting machines, Republicans have absolutely no room to talk.

But this sudden outrage should not surprise you, it's typical Republican sleight of hand. Remember, this is the same party that, during the primaries, referred to Hillary Clinton as a "bitch," a "whiner" and when she brought up sexism, they claimed she was "hiding behind the apron strings." The far-right has had it out for the Clintons since 1992 and they have never let up - they've called Chelsea Clinton a dog, John McCain himself called her ugly; Hillary's been called every name in the book and Bill... well we all know how Republicans feel about Bill Clinton. All that changed of course when McCain picked Governor Avon Lady as his running-mate and suddenly any question directed at Palin was "sexist." Calling Hillary Clinton a bitch is okay, but we're supposed to play nice with Governor Avon Lady, who is best described as everything a woman shouldn't be? But it goes further than Hillary Clinton, this is the same party that has voted against every women's issue, ever: abortion, equal pay, proper sex education, violence against women, you name it, the Republicans have opposed legislation for it.

To bring things back to voter fraud, the Republicans have already been devising schemes to keep certain groups of people from voting. In Michigan, a Republican official bragged about a plan to keep people away from the voting booth if their house was in foreclosure, even if they were still living in the home on election day. Remember, Republicans aren't concerned about people voting, they're worried about a couple million poor people voting that have realized the right-wing has destroyed this country in the last eight years. So please, don't be fooled by these criminals who are suddenly whining because an isolated group on the other side started getting their hands just as dirty... you reap what you sow. This is the environment Republicans have created and it has dealt a critical blow to our country, I can't say that I'm surprised some have decided to strike back.

Seriously though, I want all these issues on both sides to be resolved quickly and fairly. Let's have a fair election for once, let's make sure everyone has the chance to vote and let's actually count all the ballots this time. But despite their newfound love of Democracy, I don't think that's the kind of election the Republicans really want when they still have the dark cloud of George W. Bush lingering over them.

Support the Troops? Vote Obama

You hear it all the time, "I support the troops!" It's easy to say, doesn't cost anything and it makes the person saying it sound noble. Governor Palin is running around saying that Barack Obama doesn't support our troops, harsh words, but John McCain does have that strong military image, so obviously he would support our troops more, right?

Well... no. Not at all.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America (IAVA) released their scorecard today for the candidates and good ol' troop-loving, "we're winning in Iraq" John McCain scored a D. That's not a typo; Senators Obama and Biden each scored a B, Sarah Palin did not receive a grade because she's never done anything, ever. McCain scored so low mainly because he's missed just about every crucial vote for veterans in the last year (most notably the new GI Bill), he missed more votes than a congressman that was in a coma. In 2007, McCain missed 10 out of 14 votes on Iraq alone, remember that the next time someone you know brings up Obama voting "present" in the Illinois State Senate (which is a completely bullshit line of attack anyway, "present" is used as a protest vote in Illinois).

Cindy McCain has recently been out on the campaign trail attacking Senator Obama for voting "against funding for my son in Iraq," she claims that vote "sent a cold chill" down her spine. But did she feel that same chill when John McCain voted against similar legislation just two months later? To clear up this issue that has been discussed since the VP debate, Obama voted against the bill because it had no timetable for withdrawal in Iraq - the most pointless war in this country's history - Senator McCain voted against a similar bill months later because it contained a timetable for withdrawal.

There's a reason why deployed troops donate to Obama six times more than John McCain, they know that Obama is the steady hand they need as Commander in Chief. Obama knows we're in a different kind of war, there is no "victory" in Iraq, no matter how many times McCain says it. General David Petraeus, a name McCain invokes at every chance, has gone on record saying he wouldn't even use the phrase "victory" in Iraq:

“This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade… it’s not war with a simple slogan.”

This isn't World War II, Obama understands it, as do the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. But why even expect any sort of serious discussion about how we treat our veterans when McCain sings little songs about sending them in to bomb Iran? To put it bluntly, if you want to be able to accurately state you support the troops, you should cast your vote for Barack Obama on November 4.

John McFussy

Today the McCain campaign came out and called the Obama campaign "fussy" due to their "sensitivity." We went over this yesterday, pointing out the glaring hypocrisy in calling Obama "touchy" when McCain flew off into a fit of rage when anyone asked a question about Sarah Palin. No one even asked a legitimate question like, "you do realize that this woman is the biggest embarrassment in American political history, right?" but instead they got angry at a question like "what newspapers do you read?"

During last night's debate, John McCain called Barack Obama "that one." Now, a lot of people are making an issue out of this, but I'll give McCain the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't mean it in any sort of racist way, but when you're a 72 year old white man, it's probably not a good idea to refer to a young black man in that manner. Racial undertones aside, the comment was unbelievably rude and dismissive and it shows that McCain has little respect for his opponent; he has a name and a title, it's Senator Obama, not "that one."

I shouldn't be surprised though, that's been the entire tone of the campaign since McCain's poll numbers started to nosedive - try to dismiss Barack Obama. As I've said numerous times, John McCain has no agenda that really differs from the policies of George W. Bush, so of course his only weapon is to distort and smear Obama, then say he's being "too touchy." Yeah, I'm a little touchy when someone calls me an America-hating terrorist, which is exactly what Governor Avon Lady has been doing since Saturday. These McCain campaign rallies have all been started by someone invoking Obama's middle name, Hussein, as if it's some sort of epithet and then Palin comes on stage to call Obama a terrorist's best friend. That's a different kind of mudslinging than what you see from the Obama campaign of things like "John McCain has proven over the last two weeks that he is not a steady hand in a crisis and his angry smears distract voters from the real issues in this campaign."

And let's clear up this Obama/domestic terrorist stuff right now - Barack Obama's ties to ex-terrorist William Ayers is about as solid as McCain's ties to ex-terrorist G. Gordon Liddy, I'll let the experts fill you in:

As Media Matters for America has documented in detail, Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Both connections are a stretch and based on events that happened over thirty-five years ago, but of course the media only reports on Obama/Ayers because that's what John McCain talks about. Obama has too much class to stoop that low while McCain has no problem flying erratically all over the map.

Here's the part that really bugs me, if this William Ayers connection of Obama's is so bad and is akin to treason and terrorism like so many idiots at McCain rallies have shouted, then why didn't McCain bring it up in last night's debate? If Obama has ties to terrorism, why would McCain even dignify the man with a meeting or a debate? Why won't John McCain just ask the question, "is Obama a terrorist" rather than dancing around it with things like "who is the real Barack Obama?" C'mon, I thought this was the Straight Talk Express, I thought McCain was the tough maverick that's not afraid to stand up to people? Perhaps it's just the simple fact that McCain knows these ties are bullshit, but he's hoping voters will draw their own conclusions from these smears just like with the Swiftboat ads in 2004?

Did you notice McCain wandering around all over the place during the debate, even when it was Obama's time to talk? I don't think a greater metaphor could be used for McCain's campaign than a broken down, ailing man wandering around like a lost Alzheimer's patient. And they're the ones that want to talk about the other campaign being "fussy?" I pity John McCain because this is not the Arizona senator that I respected and admired, this is a cynical man that is willing to try any gimmick, any stunt or any lie in order to get elected. He has surrounded himself with scum like Rick Davis, Karl Rove and Sarah Palin and has made it perfectly clear that he would rather win an election than to put country first.