For weeks, I have endured your smears and propaganda disguised as "helpful" e-mails. I have ignored them. I have done so partly because they came to my wife’s e-mail account and partly because I wanted to maintain neighborly relations, even if it keeping silent may contribute to an ulcer.
But I have had enough. The latest e-mail was typical. It said my wife should change the "Vote on Tuesday" sign she places at the entrance to our development to a "Vote for John McCain on Tuesday" sign. Then the e-mailer proceeded to explain how Obama was "OK with late-term abortions," sponsored a bill to promote them and promised "the first thing he would do" in office would be to sign the bill.
What a crock. Obama’s position is clear. He believes as President Clinton did, that abortions should be safe, legal and rare. He has said he would not oppose a ban of the (misnamed) partial-birth abortion if it allowed for exceptions for the health of the mother. We all know John McCain’s already-infamous "finger quote" response to that in the debate. If you really want to find the truth, go to fightthesmears.com. It’s all documented there.
So this neighbor of ours was wrong about this. Typical. Almost every one of these e-mails you’ve sent consists of, at best, half-truths. At worst, and there have been plenty that qualify, they are slanderous. Questions about his birth certificate. The inevitable he’s-a-Muslim charge (though as Colin Powell said, channeling Seinfeld, not that there’s anything wrong with that). We got one e-mail last week that "Barack Hussein Obama" would decimate people’s 401Ks. Always with the "Hussein."
My neighbors, are you this stupid? What do you think has happened to your 401Ks the last few months? Are you blind to the plundering this country has endured the last eight years because of this administration and its enablers from your party?
I hold no particular grudge against John McCain. At least I didn’t before he ran this despicable campaign. I admire his resilience, and he has done some good things in the Senate.
But let’s imagine what you would be saying about him if he were a Democrat.
If it had been documented that he called his wife a "trollop" and a "cunt" in the same sentence, do you think you’d find that objectionable? Do you think that’d be grist for the e-mail mill?
If he’d cheated often on his wife, who’d been crippled in an accident during his captivity, and then married a women young enough to be his daughter, do you think you might exploit that?
If he had a volcanic temper that caused members of his own party to question his fitness for the presidency, do you think that might be fodder?
If he sponsored bills and then, for politically expedient reasons, said he’d vote against those very bills (i.e. immigration reform), might you accuse him of flip-flopping?
Here’s the truth, though it goes against the myth of the great John McCain: He was born into privilege and spent his early life stubbornly rebelling against it. He would not have gotten into the Naval Academy if he hadn’t been a legacy. He graduated fifth from the bottom of his class. He crashed numerous planes. And this may be politically incorrect – not that you mind that, of course – but the reason he was shot down over Vietnam is that he flew his plane too low. He wanted to be the daredevil and paid the price.
Now let’s take a brief look at his opponent and his life story. He was born to an 18-year-old. His father abandoned him. He grew up a biracial child in a white household. His mother left him with her parents while she lived overseas for a long time. In other words, hardly a life of privilege. And yet he advanced, through hard work, to his prominent position.
Much has been made of John McCain’s courage. Yes, he endured brutal treatment in prison. But that courage is in the past. Let me talk about the courage of Barack Obama. He could live a safe, comfortable life with his family. Do you understand the courage it has taken for him to seek the presidency, knowing this country’s history of racism and the violence used to perpetuate it? Every day he must live with the reality that some crackpot could be aiming for him. No matter how good it is at minimizing risks, the Secret Service can’t completely guarantee his safety.
Now, back to the point at hand. I have seen these e-mails and bit my tongue. I’ve smiled and said hello when I’ve seen you. Our family has done favors for you. But today’s e-mail was the one that made me finally say, "Enough!" I tried to tell you I didn’t appreciate it in as mild a form as possible. "Have you seen the Obama sign on our window?" I replied.
I know I am not alone in finally shedding our side’s reluctance to show outrage. We are tired of what you Republicans have done to our country. We are tired of turning the other cheek. We are fighting to take our country back. An army of people like me are engaged, organized and determined. In a few days, we will elect a new president. The overwhelming odds are that it will be Barack Obama. Oh, excuse me, Barack Hussein Obama. Get used to it.