I mentioned in my last post that my next would be about Republican hypocrisy. The hypocrisy takes 2 forms: 1. the hypocrisy of McCain’s selection of a person who is simply unqualified for the office of president, and 2. the hypocrisy of many of Palin’s positions.
But since I wrote those words, many have done a marvelous job in making both points much more strongly than I could have. McCain’s prior statements about experience have come back to haunt him. Palin’s positions – such as her “rejecting” the “bridge to nowhere” have be soundly debunked. Anyone who watched Palin’s performance on ABC news should be frightened both about her lack of understanding of some pretty basic political decisions (for example, the Bush Doctrine), and her refusal to answer direct questions. I also found her enthusiasm to throw in newly-learned words with a sense of pride that was (to me) rather creepy. I was reminded of my days as a high school debater.
The nugget related to her qualifications I find most frightening is the claim that because Alaska is in close proximity to Russia, that somehow Palin has foreign policy experience. She took it a step further in her ABC interview – from one part of Alaska, one can SEE Russia! Now there’s a qualification. Hope that the mayor of Niagara Falls, New York is monitoring this – s/he should start planning (but not for the next couple of years) to run in 2012, given how close that city is to Canada.
I think what’s important now is to show how unfair (“perverse” was one word used appropriately) McCain/Palin’s attacks on Obama have been, and to keep our eye on the prize. McCain/Palin have successfully put the Obama/Biden ticket on the defensive – we must regain the offensive.
So, after this brief break, in my next entries I hope to regain the positive. Why do I support Obama? It’s not primarily because I don’t like McCain (although that’s getting stronger daily). Rather, it’s because Obama can bring positive change to the United States and to the world. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come by very often, an opportunity we must seize.
In the meantime, I urge everyone to watch the following YouTube video, and pass it onto as many people you can.