Where Do People Get This Stuff?

Where Do People Get This Stuff?

Will Truth and Issues Ever Prevail In This Campaign?

I recently read a letter-to-the-editor in a local community newspaper that in which views were expressed that are probably quite common in the neo-con world.  Her comments, I call her Mrs. Smith, are based upon half-truths and outright lies heard on Fox and other right wing media outlets and she takes them at face value. 

Now that the Republi-cons have their own savior, messiah, anointed one, second coming (take your pick) in Sarah Palin you’d think the use of those kinds of words to describe Obama would stop but clearly they haven’t.  Here’s a man who has given his life to the service of others and this person calls him narcissistic.  What?!

That rapture you mention, Mrs. Smith?  I guess you’ll be headed to Alaska, the refuge for those who are left behind like her church in Wasilla believes.  There you can hear other wisdom such as the Iraq war being "God's task" and some pipeline Palin was backing as being God's will.

You also state, rather proudly, that you’ve never voted for a democrat and have no intention of doing so this time.  That’s not very open-minded of you, but wait, the definition of liberal is one who is open-minded so, never mind, you’re just being you’re conservative self.

How about that “dust up” with a Middle East dictator you mention?  You can bet on McCain not surviving his first term if he is elected and I sure don’t want that beauty queen Palin in the oval office if some real emergency happens.  She would call a meeting of her hockey moms and mobilize the mini-van gang to thwart terrorists.  No, I’ll take someone who has actually been outside of the U.S. (Canada doesn’t count) and has actually met with world leaders.   His Washington experience counts for way more than her Juneau experience.  And don't forget, Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor. 

You’ll never admit it, but Obama really is brilliant.  Don’t take my word for it.  Read your buddy Bill O’Reilly’s article in the September 8th  Courier.  In quite a departure from the standard spun truth being told on Fox, Bill-O was quite impressed with Obama. 

Obama didn’t have a famous father to pull strings to get him through his Ivy League law school.  Just listen to the words out of his mouth not the words out of your Fox News Bush/Republican propaganda disinformation machine.  His intelligence and eloquence as a speaker are quite apparent.  Don't hold it against him.

Of course, the lies abound about what Barack is going to do with taxes and health care.  Unless you make more than $200,000 a year your taxes won’t go up.  If you’re one of those lucky top 3% of income earners I congratulate you.  But I’m not going to lose a minute sleep over the fact that your taxes will go up.  Mine will go down.  I work very hard to make my very middle income and I need help with ridiculously high health insurance costs.  I pay $250 per month for health insurance and I’m perfectly healthy and I won’t ever get to use it unless I check into a hospital because my deductible is so high.

I don’t want corporations whose profit motive is a higher priority than my health care or my child’s education to be running our hospitals and schools.  This is a fundamental difference between the two major parties right now.  What could be more important than your health?  Why do you want people who consider their profits more important than your health making health care decisions for you?

Mrs. Smith, I HAVE voted for members of both major parties.  I don’t agree with everything Obama, or anyone else for that matter, says.  But, I believe he is by far the better of the two to be making decisions that affect me and my country.  How can a man who can’t remember how many houses he owns criticize a man who grew up poor as being an elitist? (Or maybe it’s just that McCain is senile)  Educate yourself; don’t believe most of what you hear unless you actually hear it coming from that person’s mouth.

All kidding aside I think the best candidates were Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.  No, they don’t have good looks or a great TV presence, but they have values and integrity you can count on and believe in and would be much better for this country.  But since the corporate owned media would not benefit from either of them being in the White House they were ignored by that media. 

God help us all and let’s pray that issues, not personality or good looks, actually become important in this presidential campaign, and real soon.