Integrity Has Left The Building.....

Once upon a time, John McCain stood out from the crowd as a Maverick, a Regular Guy, a virtual Embodiment of Integrity. In spite of, or perhaps because of, his role in the Keating 5 scandal, McCain carried the image of the burned innocent, reformed, upright, honest.

This myth has stood for many years, bolstered by his seeming affability, another key element for the integrity icon. However, recent events have blown this image apart.

Ever since the 2000 election, McCain has been behaving erratically, or at least differently. During the 2000 primaries, McCain played the role of the noble hero, ex POW, stand up guy fighting the "agents of intolerance". After he lost the primary, McCain began sashaying his way to the far right and dropping, one by one, the pretense of his maverick label. From his embrace of Bush policies, to his embrace of Jerry Falwell.

Now in the 2008 campaign, the bloom is off the rose. John McCain has jettisoned all integrity, while running for president. He doesn't even hide behind PAC's as Bush did. He has no problem putting his name to every sort of lie, innuendo and falsehood. His ads, have been proven incorrect and misleading, and yet, he continues to lie without compunction.

But we have to ask the question. Do we really want to elect a man of so little integrity and honesty? Is it better for our country to have 4 more years of rule by deceit? Frankly, I thought Bush was bad. But McCain is making Bush look like a choirboy in the integrity area. I never thought that would happen.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Since its inception, the Bush administration has called wolf time after time.

First, was the invasion of Iraq. You remember the drill, if we didn't invade Iraq, those evil Iraqi's were gonna burn your house down, kick your dog and steal your bible. Oh, and they, Sadaam Hussein did 9/11 wink, wink.

Department of Homeland Security - If we didn't invest so much power in the DHS, our cherished way of life was in danger. I guess, New Orleans missed that memo huh?

Then the Patriot Act, that old chestnut of spying on Americans. If we don't give the president the ability to spy and lock up people indefinitely, our way of life was threatened.

The warrant less wiretapping practiced first in secret by the administration (welcome back Stasi), and then browbeaten into law - remember, it was for our own good.

I don't know about you, but the past 7 years of lies and obfuscation, it is rather hard to take the newest crisis seriously. Unfortunately, this crisis is actually the real deal. But it in itself was created by the lies and policies of the Bush Administration.

Do you remember way back in the beginning of Bush's first term, when concerns for the economy were breaking though the public consciousness, Bush's mantra was "spend, spend, spend". The crux of his argument was that if we, the main street residents, would only go out and buy big houses, and spend on whatever took our fancy, the economy would recover naturally because we did our part. Well, that worked didn't it? We spent our way into the next great depression.

Now to be fair, we could have, should have seen through the lies - but we obviously didn't want to. We wanted to buy the lie. And now we are up to our necks in crap.

I do think that Bush, and his disastrous policies have destabilized the entire world. Frankly, I think he and his cronies knew that the price for their hubris would be high. I think they didn't expect things to fall apart so quickly. I can't believe that they would make the decisions they made without understanding that the bill would come due. Maybe they thought the price was worth the lies. I say that the price we are paying for Bush, Cheney, and the neocon agenda is way too high. And the Americans who voted for him twice, need to take a step back and really look at the devastation they have wrought and decide very carefully who to vote for.

This is the time to not only figure out how to move forward, but to firmly remember how we came to this precipice. If we don't understand how we got here, we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes over and over.

On November 1, 2004, Osama Bin laden released a tape stating his goal to bankrupt the US. The story is at CNN. What amazes me is the arrogance of the Bush administration to recklessly throw away our country to spite Sadaam Hussein. I guess Bush was too busy to notice that he was playing right into Bin laden's hands. Al Queida didn't need to attack America again - Bush did it for him.

My Thoughts on the Bailout

I have some suggestions for the companies about to be bailed out. I believe that the bailout should be contingent on a few small requirements.

1. The CEO and top executive pay packages should be funneled into an account which will serve to paydown the debt assumed by the government. Now I am not heartless, the CEO should keep a
salary equal to the lowest middle manager currently employed.

2. All bonues for CEO and top executives will go into this account.

3. All "extra" perks, such as stock options, jet, homes, etc, will be liquidated at put into the account.

4. If the CEO, or top executive leaves the company, he or she will NOT receive a golden parachute. Rather, the parachute will be funneled into the account as well. The CEO or top executive will receive 2 weeks severance.

5. Due to the extraordinary measures of the bailout, the contract for CEO & top executive compensation will be considered null and void.

6. Any company who does not accept these terms will not be part of the bailout.

I think this is a viable solution to partially pay for the bailout. And, if this becomes the law of the land, forfeiture of pay and bonuses for a bailout, I predict that the companies will be run a bit better from now on.

The Hypocrisy is Astounding!

Today, in Mother Jones, David Corn discloses the names and affiliations of the 117 lobbyists working on the McCain campaign. (The full article can be found here.) On this day when McCain is posturing about the evils of Wall Street and the influence peddlers, he has neglected one simple fact: His campaign is riddled with the very vermin he is now decrying. One would think that McCain, that reformer, that Maverick, would have cleaned house completely before making such sweeping indictments against influence peddling. Ah, I remember, this the McCain, the myth - remember he was a POW. That must explain it; POW's are exempt from complete truth and clarity.

The last few days have descended into a chaos for McCain. First, he repeated Bush's main talking point "the fundamentals of the economy are sound", just after Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America and the fate of AIG hung in the balance. Investopedia defines the fundamentals as "The qualitative and quantitative information that contributes to the economic well-being and the subsequent financial valuation of a company, security or currency. Analysts and investors analyze these fundamentals to develop an estimate as to whether the underlying asset is considered a worthwhile investment." In essence, the fundamentals are the framework in which American work, save and strive to improve their quality of life.

However, when the Obama campaign questioned McCain's statements, McCain changed his story. Suddenly, the "fundamentals" no longer were the underpinnings of the economy, but the workers themselves. In McCain's view, then, workers aren't hurt when the overall economy goes south. By that convoluted logic, Enron didn't hurt workers by wiping out retirement and investments, rather, it set them free to "fundamentally" try to make up the difference. According to McCain, the "fundamentals (workers) are strong, resilient, and creative. What McCain doesn't address is that in a weak economy, when money is hard to come by, commodity prices are through the roof, there is less left over to start that business. Not to mention that with banks failing and tightening their belts, it is harder to get that small business loan. So, I would like McCain to point out just how he defines his "strong" fundamentals.

It appears that McCain, and his pet lobbyists, are doing all they can to obscure the issue once again. What little respect I had left for McCain, has left the building.

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Back in the day, when John McCain actually deserved the Republican nomination, say circa 2000, I had no qualms about supporting him over Bush. All I knew of McCain was what I heard in the news reports, "he's a maverick", "he breaks with his party". And as I have written before, he seemed a good alternative to Bush. My impression, needless to say, has changed dramatically.

This election cycle has seen McCain move inexorably away from the maverick label, while screaming the word "MAVERICK", hoping that we won't notice that he voted with Bush over 90% of the time. McCain's ace in the hole appeared to be the "Straight Talk Express", or at least the assumption that the express was still on the right track. Oh, I realize that he tepidly crossed party lines to attempt immigration reform, only to back-pedal when his "base" threw a hissy fit. I think the end of all things McCain was when he crawled to Jerry Falwell and sought Falwell's "blessing", a member of the former "agents of intolerance". Since choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, one untruth after another has rolled out from team McCain, I remembered the phrase from the Sermon on the mount, "By their fruits, ye shall know them", meaning that you can tell who and what a person is by their actions, words and intentions. I believe that people will tell you who they are, if you listen hard enough. So, let's review some of the words used by McCain again, shall we?

When I hear John McCain speaking about the experiences of "everyday Americans", he always says "you are struggling with whatever". To me, this sounds completely out of touch. And when you add the fact that unemployment is at a 5 year high, families are losing their homes to foreclosure, gas is at an all time high and people are struggling to pay the bills, Cindy McCain waltzes around in Couture fashion. Marie Antoinette much? So, McCain is stating, and Cindy is echoing, that we, and not the McCain's are struggling. When the chips are down, McCain doesn't understand the issues facing everyday Americans. By their fruits, ye shall know them.

Recently, Meghan McCain went on the Today show and blithely announced that "her family", alone are the only ones who understand war. Now, granted, Meghan is young, and her father was a POW, but the statement appears to me to be essentially telling, when you combine the statement and behavior from her parents. Regardless, the McCain family seems to be spectacularly out of touch with the experiences of you and me. Wow, maybe some community service might have come in handy, ya think?

Now we add Palin into the mix and more issues present themselves. As reported on the Crooks and Liars blog, Rob Caldwell from WCSH in Portland tried to pin McCain down on specifics on Palin's actual foreign policy experience. What ensues is McCain asserting that Palin was right and Obama wrong on a laundry list of issues. However, no specifics were included, such as "her position was XXX, which turned out to be correct". I guess we were expected to shake out heads and come out of our respective trance and gasp "Wow, she was right about Russia!". How could I have been so blind, all we have to do is LIVE next to Russia and we become an expert! This spate of doublespeak and vague tripe, culminated in the assertion that Sarah Palin knows more about energy than anyone in the United States. You can see the interview here.

I have looked at the fruit on McCain's tree and frankly, the fruit is moldy and rotted on the tree.

Web of Lies!!

If one were charitable, one could call John McCain, Sarah Palin and the entire campaign apparatus misguided and with the best of intentions. However, in my opinion, being charitable stretches credulity to the breaking point. So I'll say it flat out. John McCain, Sarah Palin and the entire campaign apparatus lie like rugs! There are several examples of the lies and deceptions in the media right now:

1. Sarah Palin has flat-out stated that she "turned down the Bridge to Nowhere" and continues to repeat this little gem in the face of it being completely debunked. Apparently, she did accept that the bridge would not be funded, but she in no way turned the money down. In fact, the opposite is true, she kept the money, and used it for other "projects".

The McCain campaign has stated that "she did her part". That is crap. Not only did she bow to political reality, but SHE KEPT THE MONEY!!!!!!!

2. Sarah Palin stated that she "put the jet on Ebay". What she neglected to add was that there were no takers on ebay. She did finally sell the plane, at a 500,000 loss through a private contractor. Again, a complete fabrication. This is not just omission, but outright falsehood!

3. Reform - Both Sarah Palin and John McCain attempt to claim the reform title. While the record on each is shaky reformwise. Frankly, John McCain has a reputation as a reformer, little though he may deserve it. But that is the past. In the past 7 years, McCain has fully abdicated his right to the term "reformer". Sarah McCain may have reformed a few things, but to what cost? Banning books? Asking rape victims to pay for their own rape kits? Charging the state for living at home? The audacity boggles the mind.

4. Troopergate - As was reported today, Palin was censured by the judge in her sisters divorce court for continually harassing her soon to be ex brother in law. Palin has stated that she was reacting to his harassment. Based on the court documents, it was Palin who was the harasser, not the harrassee. Yet again, another itty bitty lie

5. This lipstick on a pig bru ha ha. Can I just say Good Lord! This is stretching, even for McCain. McCain used such derogatory comments, and worse, about Hillary Clinton, and there was no hand wringing then. Frankly, to compare the scrutiny that Palin has had does not compare with what Hillary endured. And I would like to remind that Hillary mentioned the denigration only after months of the behavior! She did not whine until the sexism was undeniable. In addition, Hillary did not duck the tough questions, rather, she answered the tough questions, with poise and grace.

The least Sarah Palin can do is to emulate a real class act!

When you put all the behaviors together, it paints quite a picture which requires some true reconciling, not stonewalling, not revisionist rewriting, truth. This is a woman who wishes to be considered for the second, potentially first, highest office in the land, and she has a seriously questionable past.

This must be another reason the McCain campaign is working so hard to spin the victim web. There are actual questions about both candidates. Let's make a concerted effort to not become tangled in the web of lies!

Will the nightmare ever end?

I am disgusted.

I can no longer sit idly by and assume that sanity will return before November. I spent the last 2 Presidential elections assuming that the gaping holes I saw in the Republican candidate, namely Mr. Bush, were visible to everyone who profess to care about our country. In 2000, I looked at Bush's record as Governor of Texas and was appalled! This man had no qualms about executing prisoners, even when their guilt was in question. I felt that if Bush could not find compassion for potentially innocent prisoners, he would not care for people "less fortunate". However, with the collusion of the Mainstream media, I watched in horror as the Republican machine lied its way to power, and again in 2004.

And now, McCain and Palin are possibly going to lie their way into power and continue the disaster of the past 7 years. McCain and Palin now bitch and moan about the "liberal" media. I don't know what media they are talking about, because the only liberal I see is Keith Olbermann, and he has been sidelined for the election coverage. As far as I can see, the Right and its agents receive overwhelming positive spin and support. While, Obama, receives either no coverage, limited coverage or derisive coverage. Liberal my a**?

The insidious nature of this method of covering the candidates ensures only one outcome - the voice of the few overruling the voice of the many.

What makes me insane about all this that otherwise rational and sane people end up thinking there is no viable alternative to Bush or McCain. For instance, I have a friend who has worked for years in the inner city schools and in ordinary circumstances has great compassion for African American students, but she swallows the email campaigns and the whisper campaigns, hook line and sinker. And while she is as disgusted with Bush (after the fact), she can't make the leap between what she reads and sees and buys into the hype.

Frankly, there should be ethical constraints on reporters and reporting. If the past 7 years have taught anything, it is that the press should be forced to disclose bias and conflict of interest up front. No longer should a reporter be able to skew a story toward one candidate or another without fully disclosing the intent of the reporter or the corporation they report to.

And that brings me to another pet peeve. And this only has to do incidentally with the press. I am a Mormon. And while many of my "people" are republicans, and "tow the party line", I want to ask, "ARE YOU ON GLUE???" The religious right HATES us. They think we, Mormons, are EVIL. Why in hell would I ally myself with a group who sees, not just my religion, but ME as evil? As I watched Mitt Romney at the RNC, I noticed that he had no problem rolling around in the hatred mud, but seemed to be oblivious to how much the evangelical Christians disdain everything Mitt stands for. Talk about being of "two minds".

Whenever I hear one of my "people" blather on about Bush, and now McCain, I ask them how they reconcile the fact that the religious right hates them, and has no use for them or their beliefs. Most are completely floored. Somehow, the rank hatred the right spews toward Mormons slips their minds.

Good God! Will this nightmare ever end??

Do We Really Want His Finger On The Button

I realize that John McCain was a POW - and I can only imagine the difficulties he lived through. And from every speech he gives, his POW years are obviously still with him. Otherwise, he would not need to remind us constantly that he "lived in a 5' cell. By constantly referring to his time as a POW to explain away each and every gaffe, Mr. McCain has cheapened his service to our country. Either that, or he suffers from a massive case of PTSD. Frankly, I don't know which is worse - cynically capitalizing on his POW status to get out of all scrapes, or being mentally unstable. Either way, DO WE REALLY WANT HIS FINGER ON THE BUTTON??

John McCain's temper is legendary, as are his "gut" decisions. While using your intuition or "gut" is a valuable instinct, it should not replace knowledge, advice, wisdom and "facts on the ground", but should enhance these traits. As I have watched John McCain and his "famous gut" in this election cycle, I am more and more concerned about John McCain's gut. The decision to choose Sarah Palin as a running mate is the latest, in a long series of questionable decisions. To my mind he has become more erratic as this election as progressed.

Like so much in life, I do not know all the answers to fix the myriad problems facing our country right now. But I do know that when the wolves are at the door, and times are so bleak, I want more than John McCain's gut and his pit bull between us and ultimate chaos.

An Affair by any other name...

WarRoom on Salon just announced the possibility of outing an affair between Sarah Palin and her husband's former business partner. I wouldn't be surprised to find that this is absolutely true. Why would I think this of Sarah?

I knew a woman in California, let's call her Madelyne, shall we? Madelyne had six beautiful kids and a loving husband. She attended church regularly, and was stridently conservative in her viewpoints. She was for the harshest of punishments for "sinners", and loved to quote the aphorism "HATE THE SIN, but love the sinner- if they repent."She installed her design office in a building owned by her neighbor, let's call him Sven. All of Madelyne's furniture, such as sofa, dining table, etc was in Sven/Madelyne's office.

A friend of mine became Madelyne's business partner, and spent a great deal of time with Sven, Madelyne, Madelyne's husband and Children. One night my friend called me and asked what I thought of Madelyne taking her personal furniture for use in the business. I said, "well, maybe she's frugal."

My friend asked me what I thought of Madelyne going on business trips with Sven, even though Sven wasn't a designer at all, but a real estate developer. I said "well, maybe she is negotiating better terms on the lease for office space".

My friend told that she found Madelyne at a romantic dinner with Sven. Madelyne had tried to pass it off as nothing more than a dinner meeting. But my friend said it didn't "feel" like a dinner meeting. She asked Madelyne, point blank, if she was having an affair with Sven. Madelyne was stunned, and asked how she could have possibly guessed. My friend said it was all the little pieces put together.

What was most disturbing about this incident, and the reason for this blog post, is that another congregation member was caught by her husband having an affair and Madelyne went after her with no mercy at all. Though Madelyne had finally admitted the affair to her husband, and he had forgiven her, she wanted this other woman thrown out of the congregation. I noticed other areas where Madelyn was equally vindictive and uncaring.

In my experience, people who need life to be black and white, with no understanding for personal struggles, often have unresolved issues they have not dealt with, such as an affair. The vicious tone of Ms. Palin's speech at the convention and her lack of compassion lead me to believe that she has unresolved issues, such as an affair in her closet. As I read the story in Salon, I am pretty sure that soon we'll be hearing all about the peccadillo's in Sarah Palin's closet. I predict that they will be doozies!

Actions are stronger than words

I read this morning that John McCain promised to "end constant partisan rancor". Is he on glue?? After the speeches of Rudy Guiliani and Sarah Palin, he can't possibly make that claim with a straight face.

The overall tone of Guiliani's speech was hideously vicious and cruel - and Palin's "pit bull" moment was anything but "ending rancor". It seems to me that McCain is using the model of dysfunctional marriages, and poor presidents, everywhere. Hide your aggressive and nasty proclivities behind a rancorous spouse. Bush had Cheney, and McCain has Palin to be the "pit bull" while they can look middle of the road.

It is an old tactic and very effective because we want to believe that people are essentially who they say they are. But when one member hides their vicious tendencies behind a more vocal partner, the deceit is real. If we buy into the McCain/Palin bait and switch, we are in for four more years of extended Bush. As John Dickinson said the first continental congress of the Declaration of Independence, "It may bear Virginia's stamp, but it is Adams, Adams, and more Adams". A McCain administration may bear the name "McCain, but it reeks of Bush, Bush and more Bush!

Let's be honest, the nasty edge of the RNC doesn't bode well for "ending partisan rancor". If that were true, there would have been a more decorous tone. The key is to look to those who McCain authorizes to speak for and with him - that tells the truth. Actions really are stronger than words.

Dear Mr. McCain

Dear Mr. McCain,

I would like to take a moment to let you know why I will not be voting Republican this year. To introduce myself, I am a registered Republican who has not liked the direction the party has strayed since, well, since Reagan. I have to admit that I am not, nor have I ever been a Reaganite. I have never felt that Reagan was God, great, or even a good president. And, although, I am deeply religious, I cannot abide the, what did you call it, "agents of intolerance" which exemplifies our religions - Oh wait, that was before you became one! But I digress.... I was telling you why I won't be voting for you - or Ms. Palin this November.

Let me see, where to begin. I briefly flirted with voting for you in the 2000 Presidential primary. I could foresee, even then, that George W Bush would be a disastrous choice for president. I looked into his record as Governor of Texas and was less than impressed. However, when Bush won the nomination, I decided to vote for Gore.

At first, you retained my respect as you stood firm against the excesses of Bush & co. However, all to soon, you began to feel it was more important to appeal to the far right than to the middle... to the extent that when you initially proposed a "sweeping" immigration bill, I wasn't at all surprised when you turned against your own legislation when the religious right moaned, I was not surprised.

By the time you decided to run for President in 2008, I was thoroughly disenchanted with you - and your wishy washy far right propaganda. I have no patience with the Karl Rove or his playbook, which you seem to have swallowed. In every instance, you have voted against women 's issues, and you have major lobbyists on your campaign. Tell me, Mr. McCain, how can you call yourself a "reformer" or "maverick" without bursting into flames for blasphemy?

And now Sarah Palin? Do you really think that I will forget all my concerns about you and your judgement just because she is a woman? I listened to her speech last night and was appalled at how vicious and unkind she appeared. I realize that she has been coached by Rove & his cronies, and I cannot expect much else. But come on - who thought up the pit bull joke?? Does she think we are going to suddenly warm up to the dogs who routinely maul children and the helpless? According to my dog trainer, it depends on how the dog is socialized - but I a fairly certain, based on her talk that in normal conditions, she would be euthanized in any city in the United states.

To sum up, Mr. McCain, I will not be voting for you this year. And though I live in Utah, which may likely go Republican, I intend to speak to everyone I meet at the gym, the dog park, work etc and encourage them to look at you & Ms. Palin a little deeper. And if I can, move my area, at least, toward Obama, who actually is a maverick and a reformer.

I do wish you well Mr. McCain, but I don't wish you president!

Socialized Rant

I don't recognize the world I live in anymore. The trappings are all there, Christmas and Easter come every year. I go to work and church, see all the same people, but something is different. Maybe it's in the water. Maybe it's me.

But I have noticed that we seem to have lost the ability to agree to disagree. That civil discourse of allowing our differences to pull us into the middle of an issue. I have always said that I have strong opinions, but the are not set in stone. Because I know that I have strong opinions, and because I know that I don't know enough to be "right" all the time, I try never to impose my opinion on others. I do exect, when talking the same respect. But respect is in short supply.

To be completly honest, I do have some pet peeves on the intolerant side. I am sick to death of fundamentalist - any- fundamentalist ideology, which sees evil in the other sect, group, clan. Come on! In my opinion, the fringe right fundamentalist yahoos and the fringe fundamentalist muslim yahoos have much more in common with each other than they do with me.

Have you ever noticed how the language of intolerance, no matter who is speaking, all sounds alike? Have you ever noticed that whether you couch the jargon as "states rights" or "family values" it's the same warmed over argument? I mean, look at this, in the intolerant handbook, "someone" has to be elected as the other, that elusive icon to be feared above all others. Think about it, there have been Witches, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Pagans, Blacks, Gays, Women, Liberals. Each one of these groups, has at one time in history been classified as other - the group it is alright to hate.

The current crop of right-wing, neo-conservative christians parading around in their sheets and hoods make me want to scream. Because it is all the same hatred that has existed tricked out to look acceptable for todays audience. The Right and all of its intolerant yammering is reheated KKK, Neo-Nazi Bull-shit - and I don't know if anyone sees beyond the tag-lines and the emotional phrases.

Please, can we all wake up now?????

WHY IS ANYONE SURPRISED??

I just read an article in Salon titled, Is Briana Waters A Terrorist?
about the fate of Briana Waters tried under the new Terrorism Law for an ELF (Environment Liberation Front) fire. My first reaction was "Oh come on!", mixed with unease about feeling sorry for a member of ELF.

Let me begin by stating that while I have very strong views on protecting the environment, I am fundamentally uncomfortable with the tactics of such organizations as ELF.

My major concern is that with the new, basically unfettered laws allowing the government to eavesdrop on my calls, or to snap me up and hold me without charge and suspend my right to habeous corpus if they suspect me of any terrorist activities. But then I have to ask myself, just what is considered to be domestic terrorism in the new world after 9/11? What little indisrection will get one thrown in the slammer without a key?

I hear all the time that these new measures are to make sure we are safe. But I don't think I trust the sources.

The Rant Divine

This is my innaugural rant! I am writing this blog because most of my friends are sick of hearing my rants on everything from politics to religion to the love of my dog. So, I will apologize, in advance, for subjecting you all to my ranting. But thank you for reading!