So it appears that both Sens. Obama and McCain will be commemorating the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero in NYC together http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/... . I'm not entirely sure of the politics of this, but it does make me feel a little better about the country.
First, the politics. It seems to take the "Democrats don't honor 9/11 and our troops, firefighters, etc." and the "Only Republicans remember 9/11, so only they can keep America safe" memes off the table. Of course these are hard to kill zombie lies in the media, but this may shut them up for a bit. It plays to both candidates bipartisan/beyond partisan themes, and reminds people that the country was united for a bit. I think it may play a bit better for Obama, because it reinforces his "let's move beyond partisan bickering for the good of the country" message, and it makes McSame's personality based negative campaigning look even more petty than it already is. I think McCain's doing it just to get ratings. He wants to draft off of Obama's popularity, as they say in NASCAR.
I'm happy it's occurring because I honestly believe in Sen. Obama's message. I don't think Republicans hate the country, I just think they're unfeeling greedy bigoted assholes that have the capacity to change, they just won't. However, they are also citizens, and they have the votes at the moment to make them necessary for any significant change that the country needs. Sen. Obama knows this, and he wants America to see that we're all in this together. I also believe this may be a refection of Sen. McCain's true feelings, the ones he sold out long ago to the Rethug political machine. If we can all remember that it really does take all of us together, it heps us all in the end.
Well, I'm off to go phonebanking for the eventual president, Sen. Obama. I hope that this event goes well, and reminds all Americans that we can grow from tragedy, and move forward together.