As the United States continues to spin out of control, taking the majority of the world with it, it shocks me that the election polls are as close as they are.  I suppose this is what happens when a portion of the population receives all of their information from heavily biased (see:flawed) sources.  These sources not only broadcast blatant lies as part of their scheduled programming, but also brainwash their listeners/viewers to hate any other outlet of information.

Any current McCain/Palin supporter reading the above paragraph swears I am referring to the New York Times (cue mob screams and some gosh done pandering), when in fact I am referring to the right wing media like FOX News, the National Review, and a host of other ethically and logically blurred organizations.

The reason there are so few right wing outlets (in comparison) is because the devil has a limited amount of capital from which to purchase souls to work for them.  I do try and read from a variety of sources, as there are always multiple facets to a story, and to acquire all of your data from one source is never a smart move.

Its like in high school when your buddy tells you the girl you have a crush on is a total skank, so without gathering any further information you stop courting her.  Two weeks later you hear she is in fact not a skank, but is now dating your (former) buddy.

Important lesson: Know your sources well and understand their motives.

Today more than any other day I subjected myself to a frustrating few hours by reading almost every recent article from The National Review (uber conservative “news” outlet).  Then I immediately took a shower and even had to scrub off the extra stench of manufactured righteousness, and unabashed propaganda.  Some articles, such as Point of no Return, by Mark Steyn are as disturbing as they are decently written.  Point of No Return is the perfect combination of  propaganda, opinion based historical review, misleading facts, and absolute conviction.

It is people within the same frame of mind as Mr. Steyn that likely concocted the McCain aide Mutiliation Hoax. Its the Mutilation Hoax story that has finally put FOX News and other faith based media in some hot water (see: well lukewarm at least). As the story goes, a McCain aide was assaulted and vandalized by an Obama supporter, who was described as being a large black man.  These allegations and corresponding pictures were proven by authorites to be completely fabricated.  It was nice to see Rick Sanchez of CNN take issue with this obvious ploy, as it could have escalated into the unknown in the absence of further scrutiny. Read the article and see the video HERE.

In my opinion, proper journalism is the reporting of the facts, not their creation.  In theory it is the media’s job to obtain factual information and provide it to the public so to inform us adequately so we may form our own opinions. In articles like Point Of No Return, Steyn and most right-ish accounts I’ve read, paint the picture of “us vs. them” and conclude with one version or another of, “So are you with us, or against us?” playing to the frailty of human psychology and our need for acceptance.  This tactic seems to compliment the Republican fear tactic quite handsomely.

Meanwhile, it appears those “crazy left-wing liberal rags” as they have been so endearingly named, are reporting much more factual information.

Every reporter, author, and blogger alike pen their phrases on the foundation of whatever slight or heavy bias they may have.  The crucial difference is; are those biases causing the author to distort the truth to aline with his/her perspective? Furthermore, are the writers basing their opinions on facts, or uneducated assumptions and unverified informed?

As a quick summation, the McCain campaign have positioned the following as truths at one moment or another:

Obama is a Muslim – he is not

Obama pals around terrorists – he does not, and the information provided by the GOP is completely misleading.  The entire William Ayers and ACORN associations have been explained and disputed so many times it brings the “beating a dead horse” analogy to an entirely different level. This horse has been sliced, gutted and turned into glue.

Obama wants to take away money from the middle class – this is a blatant lie and how McCain and company can read Obama’s policies and say this repeatedly with a straight face is appalling.

Obama is a Marxist, Socialist and Communist -  These are all false, and the pathetic part is that most current McCain supporters likely haven’t a clue what these words even mean.  They are simply buzz words used to instill the same type of baseless fear they did 50+ years ago. I would be surprised to hear Hannity, or O’Reilly define these types of governments properly.

If current McCain supporters are calling Obama a socialist, but will be paying LESS taxes under Obama then they paid under Bush, why isn’t Bush a socialist? ahhh right, because he starts wars. My bad.

It is the distorting of facts and the fabrication of slanderous concepts that I find borderline criminal from the McCain campaign.  Take a look at THIS video of a recent interview Joe Biden gave. The accompanying article gives perfect examples of spin reporting by the right wing media.

You can’t ask a question like, “How is Obama not a Marxist?” and claim it to be unbiased. Less than a month ago Sarah Palin’s answer to “What do you think of the Bailout package?” was completely void of any useful information (and complete sentences), but somehow there were those that claimed it was a media bias, “gotcha journalism” strikes again.   I don’t think its an unfair leap of logic to think these people are out of their bloody minds.  Its like someone asking me what colour a STOP sign is, and then claiming my answer is skewed because I am bias towards red.

Simply because a magazine, TV station, or newspaper report on something detrimental to your candidate’s campaign doesn’t automatically make it a “rag” or a partisan account, it simply means that you as a *gasp* thinking voter may have a little more thinking to do ($150k on clothes. Seriously?).

Know your sources well and understand their motives

Your vote shouldn’t be taken lightly and that is why I have always taken direct offense to someone hand feeding me faulty information and passing it off as the truth.

To be frank, anyone still backing the McCain/Palin campaign disgust me (note: this does not include all Republicans, just those current lock and step supporters) with their arguments based on fabrication and half-truths.  Its like trying to reason with a child about the boogie man.  Telling them there is no such thing is the obvious answer, but it just doesn’t work.

How you vote is your own perogative, but I suggest at least opening your mind to a number of a news sources.  Though I did not appreciate the scare tactics in the National Review today, I will keep reading, because sometimes being sure where not to get your information is as important as where you should get it.

Political news is like a relationship as there are three sides to every story. His side, her side, and the truth.

The final debate between Senator Obama and Senator McCain has come and gone. I now sit patiently to see how Republican pundits around the U.S. will put on their imagination caps and claim McCain won by a landslide.

Last night’s debate was far and away more effectively moderated than the previous confrontations.  Bob Schieffer finally put both candidates in the hot seat, and I believe did his best to finally open up some helpful, informative, and telling discussions. Minus the repeated mention of Joe Plumber, this was ridiculous and it was unfortunate to see Obama lower himself to those standards.  Next time, at least for entertainment’s sake I would like the candidates to speak to Jill Stripper, and Murray Masseuse.

Aside from shouts outs, the topics I appreciated most were those on government spending, campaign etiquette. and the always good for a chuckle, your favourite and mine…abortion.

I personally see government spending as a necessary part of each and every well formed democratic government.  Like it or not we all NEED the public system.  Be it for education, fire and police, infrastructure as well as civil and social services. We need the government to spend the money they have so happily collected from us. However, the key is intelligent and prioritized spending (ie. no real-life games of RISK to invade sovereign nations). McCain wishes to cut all government spending except of course for the DoD and other veteran services.  If the government is not spending its revenue, Washington effectively becomes a  broken arcade game;

Joe Plumber’s son joey- “Excuse me sir, I keep putting quarters in but the game won’t let me play”

George Government – “That’s because I’ve turned it off Joey. This way I can use all of your quarters to buy a new rifle to protect you and me, and security cameras to spy on everyone inside the arcade.”

Joey- “But why are you buying a rifle and installing cameras to protect an arcade with broken games nobody wants to play with anymore”

George Government- “Because otherwise the terrorists win”

In any case, McCain’s “across the board freeze on government spending” is the most impractical campaign promise I’ve yet to hear. I was just glad to hear Senator Obama call him on that fact when McCain tried to pander to families with special needs children promising more support; because without funding I guess McCain just meant Palin would be praying more.

When the candidates addressed campaign etiquette I sat by and happily watched as Barack Obama calmly and intelligently vetted himself on both his association with William Ayers and ACORN, two issues the GOP have been holding onto like a crazy person holds onto their favourite fake hat.  I mean sure its only tupperware, but if someone puts it on their head and tells everyone its a hat, still doesn’t make it a hat.

William Ayers is a University professor, the 1997 Chicago Citizen of the Year, and has also won nearly $50 million for public school reform. Now because of his past and slight connection with Obama his name has been dragged through the mud by the McCain campaign and I find that appalling. I can only imagine the impact on his life and those important to him.  I thought America was a place of second chances, where anyone can turn their life around if they truly want to?  I guess that doesn’t apply to those people that can be used as weapons three weeks before an election.

When the candidate began discussing negative campaign ads and rallies, I was extremely happy to hear Senator Obama bring up the Palin rallies where there were shouts of “Kill him” and “Terrorist” at the mention of his name. I felt it was important the Obama mentioned these remarks went completely unaddressed.  It was too bad that John McCain, did not take that opportunity to be a respectable man and apologize, or at least admit those rallies and shouts were inappropriate and wrong.  I was however, shocked that McCain instead found it appropriate to sit there and cry that his feelings were hurt both by John Lewis’ and the fact Obama never repudiated Lewis’ statements.  This was an out and out lie.  I read the response statement from the Obama campaign the very next day, so it surprises me that the statement went directly to CNN and the Associated Press yet somehow McCain didn’t receive a copy.

Senator McCain had a chance to be a stand-up man and instead chose to side with the lowest common denominator of American citizen: The ignorant, the uninformed, and the obviously racist.

As the candidates neared the end of the debate, the question of Roe v. Wade came up, yet was worded so that both candidates, if they wore their tap shoes, had plenty of room to dance out of the way and avoid giving their direct opinions on abortion.

I will admit, it was at this point I was slack-jaw shocked that Obama looked into the camera and gave his full unwavering explanation on his stance on Roe v. Wade.  That segment of the debate, for me, was easily the most inspiring and moving part of the entire campaign.  Not because I agree with his sentiments, but because through his thought process I see the type of leader Barack Obama has the potential to be.

The problem with most topics such as political perspective, policy debates, ethics, and abortion is that both sides only speak in absolute truths. Black. White.  There is never any middle ground,  never any possibility  the other side may have mentioned something worth while.  Within this mentality, not only do we as human beings become more narrow minded, but the biggest tragedy becomes our collective loss of intellectual progress.

Senator McCain continually referred to Senator Obama as Pro-Abortion, opposed to the much more accurate title of Pro-Choice.  I found this once again, a complete disrespect to the progress Obama has been trying to achieve.  Obama even made the statement, “No one is pro-abortion”, and went on to describe practical ideas about adequate sexual education to avoid irresponsible sex and therefore reduce the amount of women placed in those unfortunate and life altering situations.   After all of this, Senator McCain refused to lay down his “pro-abortion” label, and to me, sounded like the bigot grandfather you try to keep away from guests at thanksgiving.

It seems that the McCain campaign is running full steam ahead on bold faced lies and incomplete information.  Each and every statement McCain made was logically and effectively explained and defended by Obama only to have McCain counter with the exact same argument. From my perspective, Senator McCain was two questions away from, “I’m rubber and your glue…”.

To watch Senator Barack Obama sit before the nation he wishes to lead and not only defend himself from the callous remarks and attacks from his unscrupulous opponent but also try to make an attempt at reason and common ground was remarkable.  It seems no matter how low his opponent or the American people may stoop, he is ready with an unconditional belief in hope and the possibility of a future common ground.

Personally, I think Obama’s beliefs are idealistic and completely crazy, but its the kind of crazy we should all aspire to.

Since Sarah Palin burst onto the national political scene she has caused quite the frenzy.  Yet she’s done nothing more than provide endless material for every political comedian in the known world and by association dragged the good reputation of the senior Senator from Arizona directly into the ground.

Continuing my summation of the punch-you-in-the-face facts for keeping Sarah Palin out of the White House…

THE VP DEBATE

I thought political debates were for the candidates to stand in front of the American people to discuss subjects that concern the voters? In this arena, a possible future world leader should not have to be treated with kid’s gloves, especially when she has appeared as an unknown candidate two months before a crucial election.

Senator Biden was supposedly coached to ‘go easy on her” to not appear sexist.  Biden should have been openly allowed to treat her as an equal as he would have treated any male opponent. This began the notion  on the Republican circuit, that if Biden did let her have it, he would been made to look like a bully picking on a woman.  This paradigm is basic sexist logic in itself and a clear indicator Palin hasn’t the substance to play at the highest levels of government.  A Governor who is supposedly fit to co-lead one of the most powerful countries in the world should not have to be spoken to like the new religion teacher at a PTA meeting.

By Republican standards, Hillary Clinton has “less executive experience” than Palin so by following that logic Clinton should be less fit to lead the country.  With that being said, can anyone honestly tell me Hillary Clinton would have received special treatment if she were involved in a Presidential debate?  Would any self-respecting Republican out there have given Clinton one-inch of space at a debate just because she’s a woman? I highly doubt it, nor should they, because Clinton was a qualified candidate and gender should never have been an issue at this year’s debate.

What voter in their right mind could have watched that debate and not walked away disgusted with the prospect of the future?  Sarah Palin repeatedly and openly avoided direct questions, gave a shout out to a grade three class like she was doing a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest and at one point winked at the camera like she was shooting a Doritos commercial.  It was appalling and in my opinion a complete disrespect to thinking Americans on both sides of the aisle.

EXPERIENCE

The big trump card being played by the right-wing faithful is Sarah Palin’s executive experience as a Mayor and State Governor over Obama’s being a “community organizer”.  I must admit, this made me feel pretty stupid. Here I thought Barack Obama was a graduate of Harvard Law and a United States Senator.  Boy is my face red.  I wonder if Obama could help me put together my upcoming Halloween party.

Being Mayor of a town that has less than six thousand people, and the Governor of a state that has a population smaller than Columbus, Ohio is hardly something to brag about as you jump onto the Presidential Ticket. Even if the entire State of Alaska were compared to Canadian cities it would barely make the top 10.

Experience and job title alone does not a quality candidate make, Dubya is a prime example of that.  Palin’s other highly touted attribute is her raising of oil taxes against the oil companies, “I’m a maverick, and I stood up to big oil”.  So though this was a positive move for Alaska, according to most analysts, this strategy is what most oil heavy countries had already done (Venezuela, Canada etc) so it was merely the popular thing to implement opposed to a calculated executive decision.

To be a world leader you should, to a certain degree be familiar with the geopolitical playing field and have some sort of experience and exposure to the rest of the planet. The fact that Palin only acquired a passport for the first time last year speaks volumes to her world exposure.  Living in the world we have today, and to operate with domestic blinders is not only an ignorant mentality but an almost obsolete perspective.

HATE POLITICS

In the past week Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign have inspired nothing but violence and rage towards their opponent Senator Obama in a sickening display of political manipulation.  At least John McCain appears visibly uncomfortable lying to the crowd as his mannerism visibly change. Palin however, the master manipulator whose sultry smile and fabricated folksy quips stay straight as ever in the face of even the most bold faced lie.

Thankfully McCain has recently been trying to sow the oats of healthy disagreement between himself and Senator Obama. McCain has begun respectably standing up for Obama in the face of a handful of racist voters, one of which has been mislead to believe Barack Obama is an Arab.  Palin’s rally rhetoric have evoked shouts of, “Terrorist”, “Traitor” and even “Kill him”, at the mention of Obama’s name.  The McCain/Palin campaign is resorting to using the same type of propaganda used dangerously in past campaigns, like the poster below of John F. Kennedy provoking an angry mob mentality.  Even respected Republican Congressman Ray LaHood has gone on the record claiming Palin’s campaign rallies “don’t befit the office she’s running for”.

The most recent of attacks has Palin claiming Barack Obama “gives unconditional support for unlimited abortion”, this statement alone is empty and worded solely to provoke anger.  Unlimited abortion?  Palin shouldn’t compare abortion to the bread and salad policy at East Side Mario’s and expect me to take her seriously, and neither should anyone else.

The bottom line through all of this is that Sarah Palin is in fact a smart, charismatic woman who also possesses an unwavering, blinkless confidence in herself that is as admirable as it is baseless and dangerous. This all amounts to the fact that though she may be very capable of running Alaska she is no where near capable enough to effectively function within the highest ranks of the American government.

At 72 years of age, If McCain/Palin are voted into office the possibility of a Sarah Palin Presidency is a very serious reality.  All I can hope is that some of the items I’ve presented will be remembered by even the staunchest Republican supporters when they head into the voting booths.

Neither Presidential ticket is perfect, that is obvious, so I dare not suggest that voting for Barack Obama would be a better choice for someone than voting McCain/Palin. In fact I don’t care if current Palin supporters end up voting for Nader, Dr. House, or for the Governor of Louisiana like RedState co-founder Joshua Trevino. But for the love of their country and common sense I desperately hope they will not play a part in putting Sarah Palin into the White House.

It has often been my view that Americans are much smarter than the last eight years would have the rest of the world believe. On November 4th as their entire country steps into the voting booth, this new standard of IQ test has but two answers: PASS or Palin.