A Matter of Urgency

As hard as I try to find uplifting and beautiful things to post -- and I do post some of those, too -- I end up coming back to the nightmare of politics because I hate to see our country heading down the tube and if, "we the people" lose this election, that is exactly where we're headed.

The New York Times Op-Ed Section had an insightful and scary picture of the politics of today written by Frank Rich and I think his insights into this election are all too true – chillingly true. America had better wake up. NOW! Last week people were asking if Palin is qualified to be so very close to, not just the vice-presidency, the presidency itself. Now it seems a more likely question is, what kind of president would Palin be?

Rich says, and I couldn’t agree more, “It’s an urgent matter, because if we’ve learned anything from the G.O.P. convention and its aftermath, it’s that the 2008 edition of John McCain is too weak to serve as America’s chief executive. This unmentionable truth, more than race, is now the real elephant in the room of this election.

No longer able to remember his principles any better than he can distinguish between Sunnis and Shia, McCain stands revealed as a guy who can be easily rolled by anyone who sells him a plan for “victory”, whether in Iraq or in Michigan. A McCain victory on Election Day will usher in a Palin presidency, with McCain serving as a transitional front man, an even weaker Bush to her Cheney.

The ambitious Palin, who lies with ease about her own record, and the ruthless forces she represents know it, too. You can almost see them smacking their lips in anticipation, whether they’re wearing lipstick or not.”

Even though I was too young to be actively engaged in the politics of the late 1940s, I do remember the fear mongering of Joe McCarthy and how we were all told to see our enemies everywhere. Guess what? That’s the same pitch Republicans, McCain and Palin are using all over again. The same old game to pit the good, patriotic real Americans against those subversive, probably gay, urbanites, not to mention blacks, who threaten to take away everything small-town folks hold dear. Well, guess what “small-town folks”? They are using you and they do not share your values. They are after power and control and this country cannot afford another eight years with them in the White House and more of the same.

As Rich says, “This election is still about the fierce urgency of change before it’s too late. But in framing this debate, it isn’t enough for Obama to keep presenting McCain as simply a third Bush term. Any invocation of the despised president – like Iraq – invites voters to stop listening. Meanwhile, before our eyes, McCain is turning over the keys to his administration to ideologues and a running mate to Bush’s right.

As Republicans know best, fear does work. If Obama is to convey just what’s at stake, he must slice through the campaign’s lipstick jungle and show Americans the real perils that lie around the bend.”

In other words, people, wake up, pull you head out of the sand, pay attention to what is happening in this election! We only have 127 days to move our country towards real change – change that matters, desperately.