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.

Neo-McCarthyism

In case you haven't heard by now, McCain adviser Charlie Black recently said that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was a "positive event" for resurrecting John McCain's presidential bid and that another terrorist attack would be a "big advantage" to him.

Okay, so let's just ignore how fucking horrible that is to say and let's move onto the fact that a terrorist attack would be good for John McCain. As much as I hate to admit it, whenever your average voter worries about terrorism, they go running to the Republicans. For fuck's sake, they almost nominated Rudy Giuliani for president despite the fact that he's never done anything besides have a corrupt police department get rid of sex shops in Times Square and look like he was doing something while standing on a pile of rubble.

Actually, while I'm talking about Rudy, do you mind if I rant for a second? It'll seem a bit off-topic, but I'll bring it all around, trust me. It's okay with you? Cool.

Okay, so you remember the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, right? Well a few years after that, Rudy decided to build a command center for his Office of Emergency Management to be ready in the event of another terrorist attack. The funny part is, everybody involved told him to put it underground in Brooklyn - where does Rudy put it? The 23rd floor of World Trade Center 7, which collapsed on 9/11. All that parading around in the rubble on 9/11, yeah, that was because Giuliani's Emergency Management Office was destroyed and he had nowhere to coordinate any sort of plan. So while he came out looking like the hero, photographed "in the thick of it," it was because he was too stupid to put himself in a position where he actually could have put together a relief effort. And where is this Office of Emergency Management now? Underground in Brooklyn. Remember friends, this man was largely considered to be the next president of the United States about a year ago.

So what does this have to do with McCain's adviser talking about terrorist attacks being a "big advantage?" Because I don't have a fucking clue how anyone in their right mind could ever think that after the last seven years, the Republicans are the ones to go to when it comes to terrorism. Giuliani is just one example and he's not even a real politician - take a look at Bush. Okay, let's remember - 9/11 happened on Bush's watch after his administration received a memo titled "Osama bin Laden determined to attack within the United States." Now, I'm not some idiot conspiracy theorist that says it was an "inside job" or anything stupid like that, but what I am saying is that they were just really lazy.

"Oh but Razor, 9/11 happened just a few months after Bush took office, it was Clinton's fault!" Oh, so we want to play that game? Okay then, the first WTC attack in 93 happened right after Clinton took office, so that was George HW Bush's fault. And we know Daddy Bush was Reagan's Vice President and I know you conservatives won't ever admit Reagan made a mistake, so we probably don't want to go down that road.

"Oh, but Razor, we haven't been attacked since 9/11!" You're right! And you know what else? I wear the same pair of underwear everyday and I've never been mugged by a group of Bisexual Hookers with meth problems, it's clearly my lucky underwear keeping that from happening. Pardon the sarcasm, and while I'm trying to illustrate that correlation does not imply causation, we seem to forget that we are being attacked every single day in Iraq by terrorists we helped put there after demolishing the country's entire infrastructure.

Regardless of all that, just look at the last seven years of Bush rule and really think for a second, are these the people you want protecting you in the event of another terrorist attack? If you answered yes... really? These assclowns? I hate to pile on Bush because it's such a cliché these days, but he truly is the worst president in modern history. I wouldn't trust this guy to water my fucking plants when I go on vacation, let alone try to keep me secure from the threat of "the evil-doers" and "the freedom-haters."

Really, George W. Bush and John "The Sequel" McCain are the guys you would want to trust your safety to? Just run the gauntlet of fuck-ups and then ask yourself one more time: the complete bungling of helping those in need after Hurricane Katrina, outing a CIA agent, declaring "mission accomplished" in Iraq five years ago, the politicization of the Justice Department, Abu Graihb, the Walter Reed scandal, the suspension of habeas corpus, practically forgetting Osama bin Laden exists, using fear for political gain and claiming "God" told him to invade Iraq.

These are the policies you want to continue for another four years? These are the guys that you think can stop terrorism? These are the guys voters would be more inclined to go with in the event of another attack? I'm sorry folks, but if this is the way your mind works, then there is no hope for you. You have been brainwashed into voting against your own self-preservation by the people that have made you less safe in the last seven years. If you vote against your own self-interests out of fear, then you have truly let the terrorists win. I'm not saying that for a cute spin on Bush's words - you have allowed these people to achieve political goals through fear, the very definition of terrorism.

We've been down this road before with McCarthyism. The Neo-Cons don't have to actually combat terrorism, they just have to paint their opponents as weak, sympathizers, appeasers, or even terrorist themselves. Manufacture outrage, muzzle dissent, play on people's fears - these are the very methods used by Senator McCarthy sixty years ago and here we are, falling for it yet again. The Republicans somehow have the populace convinced that they are the party to combat the commies terrorists, but this time, we don't have an Edward R. Murrow to call them out on their bullshit, most reporters today just accept it as fact - "terrorist attack? Oh yeah, totally beneficial to McCain."

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men.
Good night and good luck.

-Edward R. Murrow