Category Opinion Politics
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First, let me say that I have laid off the controversial, politically-driven posts based upon feedback I got from my last round of them; however, the amazing and surrealistic events occurring almost daily in the U.S. Presidential election of 2008 forces me to get a few things off of my chest. So, if you don't like it when I talk about politics, this is your fair warning - feel free to move along, maybe go to Bob's Blog and see what he's talking about lately. Go on, I won't mind.

OK, if you're still here, then you either like my political posts, or you're just curious about what I'm going to say; either way, welcome.

Background
First, let me give you a bit of insight into my political leanings. Overall, I consider myself an independent centrist, with libertarian leanings. I like the spirit of the Libertarian principles, but I don't like some of the planks in their platform, but generally I fully embrace their overall principles, as stated in the previous link:

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose. (**emphasis mine)

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely,

(1) the right to life -- accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others;
(2) the right to liberty of speech and action -- accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and
(3) the right to property -- accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Before I get a ton of responses about the Libertarian Party, I want to make it clear that THIS post is NOT about the Libertarian Party, the problems I have with it, nor the problems you have with it; we can save that for another day, and another civil discourse. Today, I am talking about the upcoming general election (I'm not going to say U.S. election from now on, everyone knows that's what I'm talking about).

Because of my independent nature, I tend to vote for the guy that seems to a) be very intelligent, and b) has the most planks in his platform on which I mostly agree. Now, I put those two things in that order because that is the order in which I evaluate a President (or any other elected official, but that's the one I'm talking about today). I want a President that is as smart or smarter than me. I want a President who is well-versed in the issues facing our country today, who is able to think on his feet, and who is able to choose a supporting cast that address his "blind spots", or areas where he is not as well-versed. Incidentally, I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, and even Libertarians in the various elections where I have exercised my responsibility as an American voter.

I should also mention that my decisions are also influenced quite a bit by my Humanist, UU, and Skeptic background and basis for my view of the world in which we live.

Sen. John McCain - Some Thoughts
I want to start by stating that early in the 2000 election, I actually liked John McCain. He was a moderate Republican, wasn't afraid to piss off his own party, and seemed to be a man of principles. I also thought that he would be a better President than pretty much anyone else in the Republican side of the house, so it was really down to McCain or Gore - and believe me, Gore wasn't a great choice, in my eyes. Unfortunately "W" won the race and the rest, as they say, was history.

Fast forward to today. We have a sitting President who is less popular than Nixon was when he resigned, and so the Republican party is already starting behind the curve. They go through their preliminaries to find the successor to Bush as the leader of the Republican Party, and they settle upon McCain. Interesting, I thought. Maybe, just maybe, the Republican Party is moving away from the extremism and polarizing nature back towards a moderate stance. And if so, the McCain is a very good choice to lead them back.

Boy, was I wrong.

And before I go on, let me go off on a rant. What has happened to our parties, but especially the Republican Party? It used to be - and let me state right now that these are my perceptions, but I feel they are at least partially right - that the Republican Party was led by people who were reasoned, well versed, and temperate in their tone. In fact, they were a party who, when compared to the WAY leftist leanings of the Democratic Party, seemed to be more moderate.

Well, the pendulum has swung the other way.

Now the Democrats seem to be temperate and well versed, more centrist in their overall demeanor, than the Republicans. Now the Republicans appear to be led by an extremely vocal, loud, and obnoxious group of people who spew vitriol and hate, who attack rather than debate, who would rather scream you down than consider your viewpoint and attempt to find some common ground. I think that we owe this to the media, who have stirred up the base instincts of these people, who have filled their minds with a very twisted and slanted viewpoint of pretty much every topic in the world, who spin stories and facts to make them sound so true, and yet they are so far off. This includes conservative talk radio, Fox News, and even some of the evangelistic and Penecostal ministers fall into this category.

And speaking of the "religious right", I firmly believe that the turning point, the time when the Republican Party can point to as the milestone when it changed (for the worse, I believe), is the formation and influence of the Moral Majority. The Moral Majority is the first group used by conservative and penecostal religious leaders, led by Jerry Falwell, to influence politics. They were a force to be reckoned with, and the changes they drove into the Republican Party are undeniably visible today. Now the "base" of the Republican Party is considered to be the religious right, or the conservative Christians. This has alienated the non-religious right, such as many of my "Skeptic" friends, making it very difficult for them to feel a part of the Republican Party. Now everything the Republican Party does is steeped in religious colors, and what was previously considered the extreme right of the Republican Part is now the "core" of the party.

How sad.

OK, back to the current race. I believe that the man John McCain was a man who stuck to his principles and voted in a way that was reasoned and thoughtful. He put his own thoughts of what was "right" and "wrong" above what the Republican Party said was right and wrong - and this (and god I hate to use this word) "maverick" way of voting, and his tendency to work with the Dems in the Senate, pretty much pissed off the Republican Party; but was very kewl to those of us who are independent and centrist.

So, when McCain became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party I was actually pretty excited. I thought his nomination would signal a swinging back of the pendulum towards a more moderate Republican base, which would mean that those disenfranchised social and economic Republicans who happened to not be Judeo-Christian could feel like there's a place for them inside the "GOP tent".

Once again, I was wrong.

Instead of the "core" of the GOP Party moving towards a less-extreme stance, McCain moved towards the extreme. He was told by his handlerss that he needed to do this in order to win over the Republican base, and he began changing his platform to reflect this advice. Furthermore he decided to deepen his support from the GOP base by choosing his Vice-President - Sarah Palin.

Gov. Sarah Palin
Wow, what can I say - the first thing that comes to mind is WTF??? Are you kidding me? He chooses his VP based on a quick phone call - with out any vetting out of the candidate, without an extensive background check, without seriously reviewing the vast array of choices available to him?

Are you serious, McCain? Sarah Palin is the BEST candidate you could find?

I was dumbfounded by this choice; however I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and watched her GOP Convention speech. "Not bad," I thought. It was definitely targeted towards her audience, and I must say that - taken in that context - it was a decent speech.

But then she had to go out on the road. She had to speak to reporters, and participate in interviews. And it became readily apparent that there is NO WAY this woman is competent and qualified enough to be Vice President of the United States of America. There is NO WAY she is qualified to be one 73-yr-old heartbeat away from the Presidency.

No way, folks. None. Period.

How in the world can you participate in a debate, and then just announce that you're not going to answer the questions? She said she wanted to "talk directly to the American people". Bullshit. She may not admit it, but I know why. She refused to answer questions because she didn't know the answer to the questions being asked, so she simply stuck to the script given to her. Are you kidding me?

What an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment to the GOP, and an embarrassment to me as an American.

So, the selection of Sarah Palin as the VP candidate, along with many other statements and actions of McCain, has caused me to realize that the McCain of 2008 is simply a hollow shell, a shadow of the McCain of 2000.

What a shame.

The 2008 Election
While the GOP Party continues to serve the religious extremists of their party - what is now considered the "core" of the party - the Democrats have actually swung back towards the center, to a certain extent (note that I did NOT say they were AT the center, they just moved away from their extremists). Maybe this is from 8 years of trying to get any part of their platform pushed through during the years of "Dubbya", but the Democrats appear to have become more willing to compromise, to work with others and "play nice" to get things done. Now of course the Dems are going to fight back against the vicious attacks and vitriol coming out of the GOP campaign, but in general the Obama campaign has been more responsive to the country's needs and pain and more empathetic to their plight. The McCain campaign, on the other hand, has been more interested in attacks and smear campaigns instead of addressing the crippling problems of the American public. McCain has become a whore to the polls and demands of his conservative handlers and extremist vocal party, and he has sold his soul in order to win the campaign - and it is transparently obvious.

But the truly scary part, at least to me, is not what McCain has been doing and saying - it is what Palin has been doing and saying, and how her rally attendees have responded. The McCain/Palin campaign spent these last few weeks launching a smear campaign against Obama/Biden, and working their crowds into a vocal, hate-spewing frenzy.

And it scares me.

I cannot believe how much hatred is coming out of what is considered to be the "core" of the Republican constituency. Palin whips them into a frothing frenzy, and then it is reinforced by conservative talk radio and pundits like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and so on. This is the ugliest I have ever seen the crowds at a political rally, and it carries over into our society. Comparing Obama to a terrorist, calling him a Muslim, saying all kinds of ugly (and untrue) things about him, and what I consider to be the worst of all - shouting "Kill him!", and it happened more than once. And this is just the stuff we see - the comments on blogs, forums, and so on is no less ugly.

Conclusion
The McCain/Palin campain is a joke; and by extension, the GOP Party, as it stands today, is an embarrassment. I expected my choice for whom I would vote would be a difficult one, and that I would have to spend a great deal of time reviewing each platform, weighing my options, etc. That could not be further from the truth. McCain/Palin has made it an easy choice, as there is no way I would want those two leading our country. While I know Obama and his platform has problems as well, it is infinitely more desirable than the joke represented by McCain/Palin.

So, for me at least, the choice is clear. I am supporting Obama/Biden because I feel like they represent a steadier hand at the helm, they have assembled a staff of advisors that is impressive, and Obama isn't afraid to seek those who are more knowledgeable than him about a particular topic to provide him counsel. A truly wise leader realizes he doesn't have all the answers, and he attempts to find people who are experts to advise him and provide him information so he can make an informed decision. Obama has demonstrated this tendency, and I trust him more because of this.

Incidentally, I will be out of the country for the election, so I voted early today - and Obama got my vote, as well as many Libertarians in local elections. And I feel good with this vote.

BTW, GOP readers - don't get too excited, I live in a hopelessly "Red" state (Georgia), so it is pretty likely that my vote won't count for squat. At least I lived up to my responsibility as an American to vote.

Rock