photo credit: springhill2008

How quickly they rush to rewrite history. News media all over have been quick to praise McCain’s concession speech last Wednesday (Australian time). And without a doubt it was a very pleasant speech, interrupted only by the boos and catcalls of his ‘diehard supporters’. Journalists and commentators rushed to praise the speech and give accolades to McCain – a great man, a hero.

Um…  hello? What about the last 6 months? Do we just forget that?

Are we just meant to forget the slurs, the insults, the downright dangerous campaign that McCain and Palin waged? Do we forget the shouts of ‘kill him’ at McCains rallies? We’re meant to forgive the outrageous lies and the attempt to paint Obama as a terrorist in the minds of the American people?

WEE think it’s astonishing that this is all now forgotten. WEE don’t want to ruin the Americans party. The election of Barack Obama is worth celebrating, but not without some perspective and commentary on what was the most unpleasant campaign in American history. It is the first time that the patriotism of a candidate was called into question – the first time that a question was raised by a campaign that their opponent doesn’t love America.

When will the apologies be coming from the GOP? When will the media hold McCain and Palin to account for the appalling way they behaved during this campaign.

So as well as inspiring us all this week with the election of Obama, the US continues to astonish in its ability to brush aside rank hypocrisy and create a fairytale where the viciousness of the McCain/Palin campaign is simply ignored, forgotten or forgiven. WEE think that is bizarre. At some point it must be acknowledged that the campaign mounted by the Republicans was not only divisive and deceitful, it was down right dangerous.

You can praise McCain all you like for the speech after the election was over, but what about all of the speeches prior to that? The ones where he was hoping to paint Obama as an unpatriotic, dangerous, treasonous, America-hating individual who ‘pals around’ with terrorists? They are just ignored now.

If McCain had fought an honourable campaign, if he had debated, argued and presented his presidential ambitions with grace and generosity then you might be able to call his concession speech gracious. All WEE see is that it was too little, too late. WEE see a man diminished by his attempt at high office.

WEE see no reason to celebrate the man or his campaign. Not until there is some acknowledgement that it was wrong and dishonourable to disparage your opponent to the point that you encourage others to propose that some violent, physical harm comes to him. That isn’t politics, that is capricious incitement of hatred. That was what McCain and Palin contributed to the last presidential election – and that’s hardly presidential.

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photo credit: pfala

“Spread the wealth around: We will focus acutely on that,” said Steve Schmidt, Mr. McCain’s chief strategist. “Spread the wealth around is a big mistake.”

Polls Cause Campaigns to Change Their Itineraries – NYTimes.com.

Exactly what is wrong with spreading the wealth around? Isn’t that exactly what both parties want to do – they just have different methods of doing it. One is the hugely successful ‘trickle down effect’ that has resulted in an enormous class of working poor in the US – this is the method favoured by the Republicans. The other is redistribution of wealth through government programs and the welfare and tax system – favoured by Democrats.

But both in the end are about “spreading the wealth around” aren’t they? Surely? Or is Mr Schmidt advocating that only a few in American society should share the wealth and the rest can go to hell in a hand basket – is that the expression? How out of touch are these people that they cannot even understand the language and concepts that they are spouting. How bereft of humanity and compassion is the man that has made this statement? The mind simply boggles.

WEE can only hope that these monsters don’t get anywhere near the presidency come 4 November. They do not deserve to win – the statement above combined with a very negative campaign that personally attacks their opponent, not for his policies, but for his lack of patriotism reflects a society that is going nowhere.

The once great American dream has been subsumed by narrow-focused men and women who do not put country first. They put power first. They put hate first. This won’t stop if Obama wins the election. And who knows what will happen if McCain wins. The crumbling prestige and authority that the US once held internationally is not going to be well served with another four Republican years in the White House, and it’s not entirely clear that the other side can reverse the damage if they come to power.

If Obama does win, it’s going to take some hard work and a generation to expunge the poison that now passes for political debate in the US. Other two party systems in western democracies face the same dangers – that after 100 years of western democracy the political class have become to adept at manipulating the system. WEE see it in Australia and it is laid bare for all to see in the US.

To get to the point where spreading the wealth of a nation to all of its citizens is somehow seen as a ‘big mistake’ is quite the most shocking statement of this election. Far worse that accusations of racism or terrorism or anti-Americanism, this statement reveals a political class that is truly sick.

WEE can only hope that someone in the US wakes up. There isn’t much time left.

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photo credit: Mykl Roventine

Please Kevin, can you eat a moose?

By Laurie Oakes

September 06, 2008 04:10am

Article from: The Courier-Mail

IT’S not fair. The Americans have Sarah Palin. Why can’t we have one of those?

Mooseburgers may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect feed, and some people might baulk at giving their kids names like Track or Trig or Bristol.

Also, the Alaskan Governor holds some views so far to the Right that she risks toppling off the edge.

Please Kevin, can you eat a moose? | NEWS.com.au.

Out they all come. All suckered in by the Repulican PR machine. Now Laurie Oakes is beginning a love affair with Palin. Anyone can have the positions this woman has – they are easy.

It’s so terrible that Laurie has to sit through boring press conferences with politicians. Perhaps if he did some real work and research into some of the issues facing this country he might find some really interesting things to report.

Alas he prefers to sit around waiting for someone to send him juicy gossip emails that then form the basis for his ‘scoops’. Oh it’s so much more interesting to listen to someone like Palin who is a ‘conviction’ politician who believes everything has an easy answer – gee, it sounds eerily like the present encumbent. The US needs oil in the Middle East – start a war. The economy is tanking – cut taxes for the rich. Teenagers keep getting pregnant – just stop having sex. Heavans, if it was all this simple then none of these things would be intractable problems.

Still, that doesn’t bother Laurie, he prefers people that can deal him simple answers – wow that makes for interesting interviews. If someone is poor – it’s their fault. If there is oil in Alaska you just drill for it. There’s no such thing as climate change – it’s just a bunch of old cobblers.

Yeah, that easier to report isn’t Laurie? No research required. Just some ‘good ole’ home truths from people who prefer to let those at the bottom of the pile rot. Or worse, if they live outside of the US, just blow them up with cluster bombs.

It’s time for Laurie to hang up his keyboard. It’s obviously got a little too hard for him.

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