After dire warnings of the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy triggering a second Great Depression, inflicting the very financial paralysis the doomsayers were warning against (self-fulfilling prophecy, anyone?), the House reluctantly approved a porked-up version of the very same financial rescue plan they’d turned down last week. The bill, designed to bail out ailing financial institutions by purchasing toxic loans from them, is the very model of Moral Jeopardy, as the U.S. government now conveniently removes consequences from questionable ethical behavior. This is the same government, by the way, which would not help you or I save our homes. Wall Street responded with a shrug. Rather than a soaring rally to bookend the bailout deal, Wall Street just moved on to other financial worries, the Dow falling around 150 points. Which, in turn, put the worry back into the American bloodstream: that the $700 billion package would still not be enough to stave off a deep and prolonged recession or, even worse, that the American people may somehow have been duped by all the drama into fattening up the wallets of the very people who caused this mess to begin with. Despite the smiles and high-fives going on on Capitol Hill, the nation is a long ways away from being out of the woods, with the scariest parts of that journey still ahead of us.
An anonymous source within the McCain Campaign told the Washington Post the campaign intends to go almost entirely negative in the remaining weeks before the election, a "strategy" which began with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's despicably introducing racism into their desperate campaign by accusing Senator Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" Saturday. This is an accusation which will only be taken seriously by complete idiots, racists and, likely, the Christian right. Palin told a group of donors at a private airport, "Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." Palin was referring to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. Its members took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, during the Vietnam War era four decades ago. Obama, who was a child when the group was active, served on a charity board with Ayers several years ago and has denounced his radical views and activities. (AP) Senator Obama does not "pal around" with Ayers and Ayers has no connection to Obama's campaign--and Palin knows this. Which makes her a liar, and a capricious, deliberate one. Palin also said, in obvious racist code, "This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America." Douglass K. Daniel of the Associated Press wrote, "Palin's words avoid repulsing voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the false image of a black presidential nominee 'palling around' with terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn't see their America? ...Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as 'not like us' is another potential appeal to racism."
"The heels are on, the gloves are off!" Palin said to rousing cheers Saturday in her patented annoying eighth-grade science teacher whine. What does that mean? What does *anything* this woman says actually mean? Normally, I'd point out how such obscene attacks are well beneath the dignity of someone claiming to be a follower of Christ, let alone seeking the second highest office in the land, but Palin has demonstrated, time and again, to be an empty suit, a punchline, a national joke. Someone so completely out of her depth that she's caused millions--with an "M"--of voters to question John McCain's judgment in selecting her. She is now knowingly and capriciously lying, sowing discord and prostituting herself in an effort to get elected, perhaps banking on McCain's precipitous health to land her in the Oval Office. This ridiculous accusation is the product of the naked ambition of a liar. I condemn her choices, here, and I absolutely condemn the Christian right for supporting this nonsense, these terrible, racist scare tactics intended to divide and polarize the nation at a time when we desperately need to pull together. These people have no solutions. Have no plan. Have no apparent campaign strategy other than to destroy the other guy, improvising as they go. These are the politics of destruction by an aging cancer survivor, a $100 million man with more money and more houses and cars than he knows what to do with--and it's still not enough for him. He wants to be president because he wants to be president--knowing his health will likely not sustain him through even his first term. The entire pursuit is wholly selfish, as is Palin's perversion of her alleged Christian faith in a cynical grab at power. These are shameful, terrible people. We crucify Christ afresh when we support them, when we fail to speak out against the lies, against the divisive tactics, just because these people claim to be Christian and pro-life. Beloved: it's not enough to *claim* to be Christian: there needs to be evidence in our lives, in our choices. Paul said the works of the flesh are obvious. The evidence before us, in the Republican tactics, is a perverse and blasphemous exploitation of things we hold sacred. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. [Proverbs 6:16-19]. If you're calling yourself a Christian, you should condemn this foolishness. "Well, she's pro-life," I hear my conservative brother say. Maybe she is, but here she is demonstrating she is anti-God. She is a liar who is knowingly lying and deliberately out to destroy someone. And when you support her, you become just as big a hypocrite as she obviously is.
All of which, of course, beggars the question, at what point was the McCain campaign anything *but* divisive, racist and negative? For about five minutes at the start of the presidential race, McCain’s ads were hopeful and encouraging, talking about his vision for America. Six minutes into the campaign, McCain hired Karl Rove protégés to assault Barack Obama’s character and distort his record with misleading and untruthful claims, the strategy being to knock Obama off-message as the Obama campaign scrambled to respond to every petty accusation the McCain camp made. Needless to say, this is not, by any stretch, Christian behavior, which puts the lie to the McCain campaign’s core claims of integrality and both Senator McCain and Governor Sarah “Winky” Palin’s assertion that they have bee born again. As a follower of Christ, I could never authorize such a divisive, scorched earth plan which, if successful, will bloody the hands of the next U.S. president while further dividing the nation this man has pledged to unite. These are the tactics of George W. Bush: claim to be a follower of Christ, a “uniter” while setting neighbor against neighbor through hateful tactics. And, by the way, the notion of McCain “going negative” in the waning days of the campaign is hardly a surprise to the Obama campaign, which has, often to its detriment, attempted to remain on the high road. I am quite sure the Obamas have a rack full of negative McCain spots—most assuredly ample video of Governor Palin making a fool of herself and the ultimate McCain bomb: details of the infamous Keating Five Scandal, wherein McCain was criticized by the Senate Ethics Committee for having exercised “poor judgment” in a major corruption scandal involving five U.S. Senators (including McCain) accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, during the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. To date, neither the Obama campaign nor any independent political groups have attacked McCain with the Keating Five scandal, which is ominously similar to the economy’s current financial crisis.
Obama going negative, of course, diminishes his brand name and reduces him to the status of Just Another Politician—which is likely what the McCain camp wants. Announcing their intention—anonymously, which gives cover to the campaign, may encourage Obama to go negative first. But I tend to have more confidence in the senator himself, who clearly holds the reins of his campaign and, unlike Senator McCain, does not allow the tail to wag the dog. He knows the swiftboating is on the way, and I’m sure he’ll fight defensively. But I believe the senator’s bigger fight will be to retain the dignity and integrity of his campaign, and not sink it to the level of scare and blame tactics exhibited by an elder statesman now squandering his greatness in an increasingly desperate, childish, selfish and foolish grasp for the brass ring. McCain, the straight-talk hope for white conservative Christians, has announced his intention to destroy another human being through lies and innuendo. And the Christian right marches in lock step behind him in the "name of Jesus." Honestly, if this guy invested even half as much energy in coming up with solutions to America's many challenges as he does in coming up with ways to attack his opponent, he'd have half a shot at earning my vote. As a Christian, as someone who graduated seventh grade, I could never vote for these people. Ever. Certainly, as followers of Christ, we need to put our ethics where our mouth is. Which may not necessarily translate into a vote for Obama, but it ought to be a vote for Jesus, in Whose name these two shameful liars come.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin engaged in a spirited if ultimately inconsequential debate with Delaware Senator Joe Biden Thursday in St. Louis with a polished, pristinely prepped Palin clearing the hurdles cleanly while laying on the folksy Soccer Mom shtick. Biden, for his part, reined in his gregariousness to a kindly, fatherly college professor, effortlessly negotiating the debates’ turns while thwupping Senator John McCain every chance he got. While the news media seems ready to award the debate to Biden, I actually think it’s a net win for Palin. After all, John McCain’s *entire campaign* rested on this debate. Had Plain frozen up, moose-in-headlights, what remained of the GOP faithful’s faith in her would surely have collapsed. But moderator Gwen Ifill never seemed to ask any questions that might have stumped Palin—such as asking her to name *any* Supreme Court decision other than Roe v. Wade or, perhaps, what newspapers she reads. To that end, I was a little disappointed with the moderator, whom I found quite dull. I didn’t find the questions terribly probing or demanding, just open pportunities for rehearsed stump speeches. I doubt the debate moved the needle for either candidate: if you liked McCain, you probably still do, if you liked Obama, you probably still do. The big disappointment: so far as I can tell, at no point did the moderator ask the most obvious question: “Why should the American people feel comfortable with you being a heartbeat away from the presidency?” A glaring omission for a veep debate. An even bigger disappointment: no major comedy from Palin, whose generic, grade-C performance fell far short of the cringe-inducing mindless rambling of her recent network interviews. She walked across the stage. She didn’t fall down. Net win: Palin.
O.J. Simpson was found guilty on all counts on kidnapping and armed robbery charges in a Las Vegas court yesterday, the verdict coming 13 years to the day after Simpson was cleared of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. I am deeply saddened by this squandered greatness, a man who once had it all, whose towering arrogance made him believe he could do anything, get away with anything. An appeal seems likely, as Simpson’s lawyers will likely contend this jury convicted O.J. not of the Vegas robbery but of the Los Angeles murders. IN any case, this seems an abject lesson for Simpson and, by extension, Michael Jackson and other celebrities: when God spares you from punishment you rightly deserve, it is your duty to turn your life over to Him, to spend the rest of that life paying back God for his kindness, for His mercy. Simpson’s arrogance—participating in a heist instead of calling the cops to retrieve alleged stolen memorabilia—is reasonable evidence of a reprobate mind, much like Jackson continuing to sleep with little boys after his first criminal case. It is simply head-shakingly stupid. I’d like to summon up empathy for Simpson, but I find his post-acquittal conduct to be fairly blasphemous of the mercy God has shown him. Which isn’t to say God had anything to do with the Vegas case—I’m quite sure that was all Juice doing it to himself.
