Fear Mongering

It's no secret that I'm a liberal. Social and civil liberties have revolutionized this country into the amazing place it is today. Our founding fathers were revolutionary and progressive in thought. They had ingenious ideas of their own making, and borrowed ideas from Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, and yet we censor and shut out those exact forms of government and ruling that would change our country for the better! I don't care what you think about me being a democrat, to be frank. I try to educate myself daily with the best options for my family in terms of religious freedoms in my home, the right to an education, a job, and a pursuit of a happy life. And I afford others the SAME pursuit. I'm sick of hearing racist, back-woods, uneducated, "feelings" about Obama. You can't FEEL something when it's in a legal and political ramification. You either know it, or you don't. It's either law, or it's not. It's either a right, or it's not. So, to clear some things up about McCain (for a change) I thought I'd blog about why I WON'T be voting for him (even though he is one of the most liberal republicans to run for office). The issues at hand that plague this country will not be solved with him in office! Period! I won't vote for him because I would like someone in office who has been candid and honest with his supporters that put him in office in the first place (that would be Obama). McCain is not a loyal person, let's face it. He has tried more than once to abandon his party and cross lines (which would be sweet) and for the past 8 years has disappointed his loyal followers by voting liberal (which is fine). Don't think that by voting him to office you will get your trustworthy, conservative, stuffed-shirt "you can trust me" person. So why all the fear mongering about Obama! He's black. Oh, oh wait, he comes from an interesting background that is too much to handle for you? Or is it that his dad was once a muslim and is now agnostic? Since when is it okay to judge a person by their parent's religion!? It's ridiculous. I suggest you check it out on snopes.com. If you want fear, because that seems to be how you operate, let's get some out there. Here is some reading to educate and enlighten your senses. (Yes, I feel it a duty to inform and protect this country just as much as you do. I’m just as patriotic. I have no problem waving the ol’ red, white and blue. But I do have a problem when it is laid over the bloating bodies of the innocent. Most of this information can be found in “The New Republic” under Maverick Vs. Iceman.) I know you need more "facts" though, right? I mean, true fear mongering doesn't work unless there is something factual to back it up. (That's why it doesn't work for me when all I hear Glen Beck say is "Obama scares me." Oooo, okay, and your point Mr. Beck?)

*First, he has moved across the political spectrum not once--like Al Smith or Mitt Romney--but twice. And, second, he refuses to acknowledge his change.

*During Bush's first term, McCain was the most effective advocate of the Democratic agenda in Washington. (Hey, the more the merrier, thanks McCain!)

*In health care, McCain co-sponsored, with John Edwards and Ted Kennedy, a patients' bill of rights. He joined Chuck Schumer to sponsor one bill allowing the re-importation of prescription drugs and another permitting wider sale of generic alternatives. (If any of you have ever been to a dr where it seems they run a drive-through service, you would want protections. Been there, done that, and I'm thankful that I have rights as a patient. And the drug industry...generic is cheaper and more affordable for all Americans, and that's how we like it, right Wal*Mart buddies?)

*On the environment, he sponsored with John Kerry a bill raising automobile fuel-efficiency standards and another bill with Joe Lieberman imposing a cap-and-trade regime on carbon emissions. He was also one of six Republicans to vote against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (As we all know this will not stop our consumption as guzzling Americans with monster trucks, but only allow us more leeway to depleat the earth that God commanded us to be stewards over, not demolishers of! And what in the heck is wrong with automoblie fuel-efficiency? NOTHING.)

*McCain teamed with Carl Levin on bills closing down tax shelters, forbidding accounting firms from selling products to the firms they audited, and requiring businesses that gave out stock options as compensation to reveal the cost to their stockholders. These measures were bitterly opposed by big business and faced opposition not only from virtually the whole of the GOP but even from many Democrats as well. (Hey, honesty is the best policy!)

*McCain voted against the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. (These cuts were for the rich, we all know this now in hindsite, and did nothing for my class of citizen, which was supposed to be the promised result. Hmmm, did I pay less in taxes that year? NO. Was education more affordable for me that year? NO. Did my parents suddenly flourish because "tax cuts" were made possible by the Bush admin? NO. Were more jobs created? NO. That's why tax breaks and tax cuts from the republican party only support their butts in office and the rich oil companies. These tax cuts weren't used to create more jobs! The money grubbing businesses held on to those subsidies -different topic- and the economy has failed - different topic. Look, everyone complains about the low income family living on welfare, like, their not paying into the system. Neither is corporate America. Their tax cuts helped them. They are putting just about as much into the economy as the family on welfare. So get off the high horse! Thanks McCain for seeing the falacy in these proposed "tax cuts"!)

*McCain co-sponsored bills to close the gun-show loophole, expand AmeriCorps, and federalize airport security. All these things set him against nearly the entire Republican Party. (Gun control. I know...you're cringing at the thought. Have you ever been to a gun show!? I have, and let me tell you, I could walk up to any counter, lay my green president down and walk away with a high caliber rifle, .22, pistol, you name it. No checks to see if I have warrants, if I'm on parole, if I was just released from a psychological clinic with instructions to not sell me a fire-arm. That's why gun-show loop holes need to be addressed! We all threw a hissy fit when we needed to maintain airport security. Why people!? Couldn't it have saved us some lives on 9/11. I know, it does get annoying, but it's safe. We like that word "safe".)

*McCain was best described as a progressive--like Teddy Roosevelt (and I'll add like Obama which is now used as a slander, not as something positive), whom he cited constantly. McCain tended to see politics as a contest between the national interest and the selfishness of private agendas, and he favored a role for government in counterbalancing the excesses of organized wealth. In 2002, for instance, he was asked about the Bush administration's view, with regard to the Enron scandal, that "[t]he company had a duty to inform its shareholders and its employees about things that were going on inside the company. That's not a federal government responsibility." McCain thundered in response, "Well, Theodore Roosevelt would not agree with at least that rhetoric....We have had regulatory agencies always to curb the abuses or potential abuses of the capitalist system."

*McCain did not leave his party, but he came close. The Washington Post (at the time) and The Hill (again last year) reported that, in 2001, McCain met with Democratic leaders to ponder a party switch. McCain and his allies deny these accounts, which are obviously devastating to his current prospects, and reporters almost never mention it in their McCain coverage. They also rarely mention how, in 2004, John Kerry wooed him to join his ticket as vice president. The reported half-dozen conversations the two held on the topic are about a half-dozen more than would have been needed if McCain truly was a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republican.

*McCain obviously decided that his only plausible path to the presidency lay with the Republican Party in 2008. So he set about re-ingratiating himself with the GOP establishment while maintaining his reputation as an unwavering man of principle.

*And last but NOT least, McCain recently voted NO to help fund rehabilitation and hospital expenses for American soldiers who have served in a war. Voted NO to help compensate their families further, during their husband's/wife's time of recovery. Not only did he vote no, he was not even at the debate and vote meeting. He just called it in. What a swell guy! As a United States Veteran I would expect more!

None of this scares me, per se, because I think his voting record is pretty much in line with most liberals to moderates. But if you're thinking of voting for McCain just educate yourself on any topic to see what he "really" believes. And, no, I won't take my bumper sticker off of my car. I believe in change, not in changing the greatness of this country (unless it only means getting better), but in changing the face of the white house, the caliber of person that serves the highest position, and I believe in changing the way we see each other and respect for each other. Obama will lead us in that direction.

Stop being afraid.