Are McCain and Palin Evil? There are Bigger Stakes…

As we put the debates behind us and the rhetoric heats up in anticipation of

election day, it’s a good time to pause and take stock.

During the debate Obama clained that McCain’s ads were 100% negative.  While not true for the entire campaign, it was apparently true for the 30 days prior.  It seems apparent, in the news, in the polls and to my own perception, that McCain and Palin are moving issues to back burner status and going negative.  This means we’ll probably be hearing and seeing some pretty evil stuff, particularly as the 527s flush their crap into the media.

Because they’re going negative, are John McCain and Sarah Palin evil?

That’s a valid question, and I think that clearly, they’re not.  I don’t think that’s the crucial issue.

I do think that many of the people aligned behind them are just more of the same that we’ve seen from this and the previous Republican administrations, and they’re not the stars, not the conservative intellects.

The targets of my concern are the nabobs of neo-conservatism that have been tearing at the heart of our democracy and our regulated captitalistic system in pursuit of a twisted global vision of American hegemony.  They are the rabid ideologues, the Project for a New American Century zealots and a whole host of other crazies.  I do  believe they are evil and that’s why McCain’s campaign needs to be stopped decisively, to send a message to this sector of the American political landscape and to the world at large, that this is not the vision of the American people.  They’ve brought us to the edge of the financial precipice, and they’ve brought us to the brink of global conflict over two critical issues: energy and theology.

I have no doubts regarding the misguided corruption of the Bush cabal.  I think Tom Franks makes some credible arguments in his new book, The Wrecking Crew (http://www.amazon.com/Wrecking-Crew-How-Conservatives-Rule/dp/0805079882/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224343364&sr=8-1)

I sincerely hope that Joe Biden will remain true to his word about investigating and pursuing any crimes perpetrated by them.  That would be an extraordinary service to this country, and establish an example for the future.

I reserve a lesser focus of my displeasure for the small – and hopefully shrinking – minority that voted for the Bush regime and would continue to do so, either for Bush or his proxies, which I feel McCain and Palin would be.   Clearly, the majority of these voters aren’t voting for the peace and prosperity we’re now enjoying, they’re voting in fear and hatred of “the other” represented by Barack Obama, the Democrats and people of progressive inclinations.

Are John McCain and Sarah Palin evil?

No.  As a matter of fact, when you scrape away all the political feces, they’re probably decent people.  They’ve just succumbed to the political expediencies of the process rather than adhering to their base principles.   It’s about winning at all costs.  And we can’t afford that.

Would McCain and Palin even be just more of the same?  I’ll be charitable and say I truly believe, probably not.

But they would be too much of the same to shift the course of history into a new path.  The momentum of our times has the characteristics of a super-carrier: only vast forces applied in a perpendicular plane can overcome the inertia of this massive flow of history.  Even with the best of intentions, which I would question, McCain and Palin would lack the directness of force in opposition to the status quo to steer us away from the precipice.  Their minions and proxies would undercut the effort to effect change, and in general, the GOP fails to inspire within me any degree of confidence that their plans could put us on the right course.

The bottom line is… They’re not good enough.  They’re wrong for the times, and they don’t know it.

And getting on the right path, or at least a less perilous path, is absolutely critical at this moment in time.

Humans are supposedly less than 2 percent different genetically from chimpanzees.  I don’t have enough confidence in “good enough for government work” at this juncture.

Nothing less than the best leadership we can lay our hands on will do.  For my money, the best men on the stage are Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  I honestly believe that Barack Obama can change the world for the better, and I have no doubt that Joe Biden is the kind of fighter we need, and a good man in the clinch.

We need leaders who have the courage to speak softly without brandishing the big stick, who realize that the world has changed.  Who know that despite our strength as a nation, we’re no longer in a position to speak and expect the global community to jump in line.  Because if we miscalculate this time, the potential for disaster is unthinkable.

So the choice you make now is incredibly important.  Forget the fact that in the future, some may look back and wonder what the fuss was all about.

Decades ago, a guy shot another guy.  In one case, Archduke Franz Ferdinand took the bullet and it sparked the First World War.  In another case, John Fitzgerald Kennedy died, and a tide of change was weakened.

If you do nothing else of note for the next decade, go out and exercise your franchise come November 4.  Think long and hard before marking your choice.

With the lessons of history at our backs, this could be the most important election of our lifetime.

So button up your rain coats.  The airwaves are going to get nasty.

I mentioned bigger stakes.  Watch for our next post.  It may scare you.

May the Higher Power of your choice keep the Light of Reason alive and fan the flames of peace.

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