My mother, a full-throated, red blooded liberal who never ran away from the "L" word, sends me articles and op eds and other things that she thinks that I and the rest of our family should read to make sure that we understand that to vote diffferently from her would be morally and ethically wrong - not to mention just plain dumb, and she knows that we are better than that. Below is my thought of the day from her. I asked her for an attribution, but she hasn't responded yet. I will update, edit, or whatever is necessary when I have more details. Enjoy.
UPDATE: Thanks to Deoliver47 for recognizing the work of humorist John Ridley.
Aaah, the ironies of politics in 2008 in the US of A:
* If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
* If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
* Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America .
* White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
* If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
* Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
* Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
* If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
* A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."
* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget f rom $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registratio n drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law
professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
* If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to l ead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
* If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity."
* If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base."
* If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous."
* If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
* If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America
* if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis , with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
* If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit."
* If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced execut ive."
* If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist."
* If you believe in creati onism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled."
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky."
* If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
* But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
* If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
* If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
* If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
* If you have an abortion, you're a murder er (forget about if it happened while being raped.)
* If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
* If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election.
* If you're a Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife who has terminal cancer is to blame.