My wife called and asked what I was doing; she could hear MSNBC in the background. In Denver on business and at Kinko's, I told her that the stock market was down 200 points in the first ten minutes and that they were discussing Palin's $150K wardrobe purchases and that Alaska spent $21K on travel for her children to be with her.
My wife sighed and I told her that it was the fault of the Republican Party, selling Republicans a bill of goods that couldn't be further from the truth. Selling Bush and McCain/Palin as of the people while Obama is a latte sipper and Kerry a windsurfer is how they operate. Win at any cost.
But further down the slippery slope of jingoism and nothing else, they keep commonizing (made up word, I think) the leader of the free world and reaping the results of failed leadership to retain power. And further down the slippery slope of retaining power, Palin utters phrases that fuel vigilantism, slashed tires at Obama campaign events and death threats in mailboxes of folk with Obama yard signs.
And even further down that slippery slope is right wing radio. For hours on end, Limbaugh and the rest scream and feign life threatening injury at every single thing a fucking Democrat does. Pelosi is the spawn of Satan and why won't Ted Kennedy die already.
My former next door neighbor in Old Hickory, TN, a white kid (he's 30 now but I knew him at age 9) stood in my driveway ready to fight because I said something about the Iraq War. He's got friends over there goddammitt and if you ain't supporting the President in a time of war, you really oughta think about what you're doing. He didn't even stop to think my brother was over there and my cousin who was slated to retire months earlier was extended on a carrier. Why? Because he listens to right wing radio on the way to work, while he delivers auto parts all day and on the way home. And every day, Rush Limbaugh eats another kitten.
My wife and I now live in Baltimore with another couple, Ce Ce and Big O, whom we have known for 20 years, since our college days at Tennessee State. Big O has become my best friend and his wife introduced us at their family reunion as a "combined family". In an old house, we live upstairs, they live downstairs and we congregate for dinner. Big O is a Republican, the NRA magazine, American something or the other arrived yesterday with Obama on the front and his "entire" record on the inside spanning pages. They work for the federal government, I have heard him lament about taxing the people who create jobs, he has a key to the church and she has taught an economics class there.
They will be quietly voting for Obama. Not evangelicals, they are libertarian-leaning conservatives is my best description. They are the fodder of a failed Republican strategy that has baited their most ideological and empowered them not to even consider an opposing point of view. They are the casualties of a Republican machine that retains power to alter laws, create megawealth for a few at the expense of the rest of America and even the globe. They are your next door neighbor that brings you extra because they have it from a job, that comes over on Saturday and stands around while you tinker with an old automobile and talks sports. They are the neighbors that include your kids with their kids, that will take your kid to school that has missed the bus, that alerts you to sales.
I agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment expressed here in Kos land of "kick 'em while they're down." When Senator McCain almost bleeds while discussing Rep. Lewis statement as the worst he has ever encountered in politics, he eats another kitten. This from a man who doesn't have the greatest record concerning black folk, the King holiday and his Confederate flag stance while running for office come to mind. Palin prattles on about real America and Bachmann accuses Obama of "anti-American views" and ushers an investigation of Congress for not waving the flag fucking hard enough. More kittens.
We need to destroy the Republican machine because it is a cancer that robs from education, healthcare and infrastructure , gives no bid contracts for tens of millions, defies international law, imprisons illegally and defies subpoenas and winds up on Faux News. It is a machine that has divided America into Nascar dads and latte sippers (although I see lots of those Nascar dads at Starbucks). It is insidious and believes nothing it purports. It cons the religious into supporting the machine because after all, they are on a mission to save the lives of the unborn but there's no telling my childhood friend that the machine doesn't give a shit about stem cell research.
Once upon a time, there was such a thing as conservatism, smaller government and less laws; compassionate conservatism however, was an ad campaign. A hungry Republican party worked hard and built a machine with organization, messaging, think tanks, publications and college Republican organizations. They fed their people ideology while governing for the rich and corporate interests. And when their words didn't match their proposed ideology, they fed them blood. We became tree huggers and they hockey moms. They became regular America and we became San Francisco liberals.
Powell was spot on that we need a transformative leader. The opposition has ridiculed Obama for delivering eloquent words when they have been all message with no matching actions for the past 30 years. They are ridiculing hope and have attempted to co-opt change. Obama says that we are the change we seek. They have fed the populace cynicism, xenophobia and jingoism. The question now remains what will we be fed next. After all, you could eat kittens.