Our Voice Now

With McCain’s age being a serious consideration in this election, his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate was, well, I suppose a foreshadowing of what choices we can expect from him as President - patronizing and un-informed.

What record does Palin bring to the ticket? She voted to take Polar Bears off the endangered list because their endangered status was interfering with oil drilling in her state. She supports banning abortion for every reason - including rape, incest/rape by father, and the endangerment of the mother’s life. She is currently under investigation for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan when he refused to fire a state trooper - her former brother-in-law - who was involved in a nasty custody battle with her sister. She is currently under investigation for that firing as well as a few other questionable actions such as trying to claim land through ‘eminent domain’ so she could build an ice-skating rink. She initially supported the “Bridge to Nowhere” proposed by Senator Ted Stevens until it became a negative project - then suddenly she pulled her support.

However, many are saying, oh, she has a child born with Down Syndrome she must take care of - how wonderful of her to take on such a task. First, the child was born in April, making that child currently 4 months old. How well will she handle the require care in a few years time if she can’t afford a nanny? What about the millions of parents who have to work two or more full-time jobs just to pay the medical bills for caring for a disabled child? Why aren’t they being praised? Her husband is, this is fun, a world-champion snowmobiler. Yes, folks, the possible First Man knows how to snowmobile with the best of them and used to work in an oil field - apparently he no longer works there but does spend his summers fishing in their hometown in Alaska.

Her education? A Bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor degree in political science from the University of Idaho. Yep, that’s right, we could potentially have a beauty pagent winning, tv journalist as our President. Although, she did get a college scholarship for winning the beauty pagents. Glad to see she worked hard by using her brains to get her education.

For those who still say Obama has no experience - he has 6 years experience in the state senate and is currently finishing out his 4th year in the Senate. Prior to that, he spent many years working with and in local goverments in Chicago actually helping the average American. Palin? 20 months as a govenor of a state that most people think of only when planning a vacation and mayor of her tiny town 40 miles outside of Anchorage.

What amazes me more is that the GOP are actually saying she is more than qualified to run the country!! These are the same people who said that Obama was far from qualified even though Obama worked hard to get himself through college, was the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review, passed bills that gave children in Chicago health coverage when their parents couldn’t afford it, has graduated from both Columbia University (where he majored in Political Science and specialized in International Relations) and Harvard Law School. In between Columbia and Harvard, he spent three years as the director of the Developing Communities Project - a faith based organization aimed at setting up job training programs, a college prep tutoring program and a tenants rights organization.

It would seem that McCain and the GOP are still living in the dark ages when women were seen and not heard. It would seem as though they think somehow we will all just simply vote for someone based on gender. Women were not supporting Hillary simply because she was a women (well, okay, some were but they were the very few). Women supported her because of who she is, what she has done and what she will continue to do. I was not a Hillary supporter but even I acknowledge she has done quite a bit and it was simply a personality choice for me. McCain and co. seem to think that women are stupid and will not look at the issues and the records simply because we will all be just so grateful that a Republican is giving a woman a chance. THAT is far more of an insult to women than calling his wife the ‘c’ word.

I also suppose McCain is no longer patriotic as he was not wearing a flag lapel pin at all today when the announcement was made about Palin. For someone who wasted no time getting on Obama’s case about it - I guess we can now claim he hates this country because he isn’t wearing a pin that was made in China.

If McCain gets in it will either show the GOP is right and women are sheep who will vote simply on gender or it will prove that Americans are lazy when it comes to voting and couldn’t be bothered fact-checking and instead believe what they are told in a 30 second ad.

The idea of Barack Obama choosing a Republican as his running mate has been around for quite awhile. While it makes some Dems cringe, there may be something to it.

He has said he wants to cross party lines (now there is a concept to those of us who never vote based on party but on person) and what better way than to have a bi-party ticket?

But who would be a good choice? A few have been mentioned - thankfully not including any more Bushs! Yet there is one that has not been mentioned and, while I never thought I’d say this back when he was first running for Governor, he has proven to be smart about decisions and has also proven his ability to look at all sides before making a decision. Before I mention his name, I am sure there are a few in his state that will disagree but that would hold true for the Governor of any state… Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I will give everyone a few minutes to absorb the shock and to stop laughing :D.

Continuing on, Schwarzenegger has made alternative energy and the environment two of his biggest issues and has actually managed to get things done in regards to both! Instead of shuffling his feet and repeating “Yes, we need alternative sources” but does nothing, he has help to continue the harnessing of energy through windmills throughout the state and has made very strict environmental laws for the state - which admittingly if you walk along the beaches in Santa Monica or Malibu you’d never be able to tell based on all the trash. California is a large and very diverse state and he has managed to work with ALL people of the state and has earned the respect of both Republicans and Democrats alike.

On a less serious note - he also married into the Kennedy family so he really wouldn’t be allowed to screw up as much as Bush without being whacked upside the head a few times - starting with his wife!

But seriously, as strange as this ticket sounds, it would be a ticket that could and would do wonders to get back the respect from the world that we have lost since the Bush Administration. Granted, those that still think that we are the only country in the world and all others are beneath us won’t care one way or the other about how other nations view us.

That all said, I know that a President has to have been born in the US (which, to those who still believe the Obama was not born in the US - yes, Hawaii IS a state!), I do not know if a VP has to have been born here too.

But just a random thought as these ideas are being tossed around.

Just when I didn’t think Bush could destroy this nation any more than he already has - he managed to find a way.

Today it was announced that Bush wants to mess with the Endangered Species Act. He wants to reduce (greatly) the requirement of independent reviews by scientist as to whether a project would harm or intrude upon an endangered or threatened species. Bush wants to put those decisions in the hands of the local authorities. Isn’t that creating a conflict of interest and leading to even more potential for corruption in governement on all levels?

Current Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is quoted as saying “It is important to use our time and resources to protect the most vulnerable species. It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and distant observations of impacts on species.” Really? Because the fact that this link has been made and proven time and again in the last 20 years by experts doesn’t mean anything? Oh, wait, with this administration it’s what *they* say and believe that’s true, all else is just a mere figment of our imaginations. I just wish I’d stop imagining such high gas prices and high health insurance costs.

Mr. Bush has done more to harm the environment and the people than any other President before him. The worst part? He simply doesn’t care. It’s nothing that affects him and his Crawford ranch so why should he be bothered? This man never should have been allowed to even think about being Governor much less President. Shame on all the people who voted for him the second time around - all this is on your hands as well.

Oh, and the main reason for repealing a lot of these requirements? It’s costing the developers too much money while they wait on the results of the environmental reviews. Once again with Bush it comes down to money and not what’s best for the nation. Katrina’s devistation was nothing compared to eight years with this administration. Heaven help us all if McCain gets in. He’ll probably legalize hunting Polar Bears for sport.

Many were surprised by John Edward’s admission over having had an extra-marital affair in 2006 but how surprising is it really? We have seen time and again in recent years politician after politician admitting to the public they had an affair while in the public spotlight. Both parties are equally as guilty. Starting with Bill Clinton (and no doubt many politicians - including JFK - long before that but they didn’t have 24 hour news networks watching their every move), we have sat through leader after leader admitting their guilt on national tv. We have found out that Rudy Guilani has been married four times - including one time to one of his cousins. We know that John McCain left his first wife when he found she had been disfigured in an accident while he was a POW and had started a relationship with Cindy before he was divorced from his first wife. We all still have nightmares when cigars and a blue dress are mentioned in the same sentence and nothing could be more made-for-tv drama than the McGreevey’s nasty divorce when Gov. McGreevey admited he was gay and then left his wife for his billionaire boyfriend.

But why has this become common practice and, more importantly, in a nation where many (especially the conservatives) claim to be about morality and family, why are these people continually re-elected? The conservatives had a wonderful time attacking Clinton when his affair was revealed and yet have no problem with McCain and Guiliani having had affairs. They pointed their fingers and said “we told you so” and tried to make McGreevey into some evil thing for being gay yet have continued to support Sen. Craig even though he was caught propositioning another male in a public restroom - while he was married! They have criticized Obama’s pastor for being questionable racist remarks yet continue to support their own conservative pastors even when they are convicted of being pedophiles, having homosexual or heterosexual affairs or murdering their wives whom they had been abusing for years.

So I ask, how can we expect our political leaders to act in a way that is moral and upstanding when their own supporters say one thing and believe another?

The GOP, McCain, Rush and so on have all once again been claiming Obama is out of touch with reality. Hillary nicely already set up the ‘elitist’ idea that the Republicans have been running with since - despite the fact that Obama’s wears worn shoes and clothes he has had for awhile while McCain feels the need to spend $520 on Italian loafers. Exactly *who* is out of touch?

Well, it does appear that Obama was right when he suggested that if all Americans keep up with regular care and tire pressure of our cars we could save as much oil as what would be retrieved if we drilled off our coasts. Hmmm… to me that seemed like common sense, although we are talking about the average voter who seems to be seriously lacking in that department anymore. Not only will it save gas, it will also help extend the life of the car. Time Magazine just posted an article backing this up. They were also very quick to point out that those who have been in power for the last 8 years all have big ties both personally and financially to oil companies. Isn’t that like letting the fox watch the chicken coop?

So to all who have laughed at Obama’s suggestion that we ALL do our part instead of sitting back and expecting someone else to do it for us, guess what - he is right. We cannot expect that after the election we can go back to doing nothing and that our politicians will fix everything by themselves. It doesn’t work that way. It takes all the people to work together to fix a community.

Instead of buying into 30 second tv ads or random emails, why not do this country a favor this year before any of us vote and actually read up on both candidates (and their running mates) and learn the truth about each one. For some, it has appeared as if Obama is ‘flip-flopping’ - a term coined by Bush when he had nothing else to use against Kerry. Well, what actually is happening is that Obama has his opinion, like we all do, then has gone out and talked with people, listened to others with opposing views and has *gasp* accepted that maybe his view wasn’t the only view. Personally I’d rather have a President who is willing to listen to others AND to accept he’s not always right and admit it versus what we’ve had in Bush - the inability to admit he is wrong and the willingness to allow our soldiers to die due to his stubborness and McCain is no different. Pride and stubborness are only going to destroy us.

Just when it appeared McCain could go no lower than comparing Obama to Paris and Britney - he did. CNN’s website has announced a new ad comparing Obama to being the Messiah right down to quoting (not shockingly out of context) the Bible and Obama and even using a clip of Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea to prove their point. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVQaHpOnO8

This is beyond disgraceful - this is outright blasphemy. It takes a heck of a lot to offend me but McCain has finally managed to do it and if I had been supporting McCain I can absolutely guarantee I would not be now.

Why aren’t Christians outraged by this? The white Christians were certainly outraged by clips of Obama’s pastor when white pastors have been preaching the same stuff for centuries. If Obama had put this ad out it’s safe to say that the right wing would be outraged and rightfully so. If another country had put an ad out like this we’d be going to war with them! For the record I am a white Baptist.

McCain has gone too far this time. For a man who claims he is still only focusing on the issues I ask, what issues? His racism? His bitterness at never having been President? His anger at the fact the world hasn’t fallen in love with him?

I never thought anyone could be worse than Bush and Cheney. I truly never thought any candidate could pull dirtier stunts or be more selfish than them - I guess I was wrong.

At this point, quite frankly, anyone who continues to support McCain - especially Christians - do not deserve to have the right to even be a citizen of this nation let alone the right to vote. He has done what Hitler did in his time - invoke fear by playing on people’s concerns over other ethnicity or religious beliefs. To suggest Obama is the anti-Christ??? HOW are a majority of Americans not outraged???

Forget spying in on Bush’s meeting with God - I now want to be there for when McCain has to answer for this one.