Barry Goldwater was the 5 term Senator from Arizona and candidate for the presidency who died in 1998. He can be described as the original maverick in some ways – the maverick both McCain and Palin are claiming to be. They should read up a bit on Goldwater and understand what a maverick really is. You never had to interpret what Goldwater said and I suppose that is why he got into so much trouble. I didn’t agree with his beliefs on a number of issues; however, I respected his integrity and belief in the US Constitution. He is still seen as the epitome of Republican conservatism and strong libertarian.

Love him or hate him, he acted according to his conscience. He desegregated his own department stores and helped desegregate his home town’s schools and restaurants before it was an issue in the Federal government. When he went first took office as Senator, he took a black woman with him to be his assistant. Yet, this same man voted down the 1964 Civil Rights Act because he believed it was unconstitutional. His views on how to fight the Vietnam War are still shocking to me – he advocated using nuclear weapons and was a strong opponent of Communism. A man of his times when it came to fighting the Red Tide – the same red threat McCain-Palin ticket are desperately resurrecting by the way in their use of Anti-American rhetoric.

Goldwater didn’t like the neo-Conservatives that were running Washington by the end of his life. He said in a 1994 interview with the LA Times

A lot of so-called conservatives today don’t know what the word means, … They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the religious right. It’s not a conservative issue at all.

In a side note, his wife was involved in setting up Planned Parenthood in the 1930′s, that same group so vilified by the current conservative crop. There were certain things the government had no right in interfering in, and to his dieing days, he spoke out about it. What did he really believe about abortion? Who knows, this was a private issue to him.

This deeply conservative man so believed in the rights of the individuals, he fought to allow gays to serve in the US military and he also fought for a Federal bill that would end the discrimination of gays: “You don’t have to agree with it, but they have a constitutional right to be gay. And that’s what brings me into it”. How does this square with Sarah Palin’s admission she would love to have a Constitutional amendment on gay marriages and her ties with the Family Research Council who state on their own website they believe “that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed.” Sarah Palin is no maverick and she would gleefully trample on the rights of others in order to push through her own narrow agenda. Rights? They are what she will determine them to be.

Now where does this take us in terms of the current election? CC Goldwater, on behalf of the Goldwater family issued a press release this week: Why McCain Has Lost Our Vote. It is a stinging rebuke of the McCain-Palin ticket, coming from McCain’s own state:

There always have been a glimmer of hope that someday, someone would “race through the gate” full steam in Goldwater style. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened, and the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear. Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician. The McCain/Palin plan is to appear diverse and inclusive, using women and minorities to push an agenda that makes us all financially vulnerable, fearful, and less safe….

After the last eight years, there’s a lot of clean up do. Roll up your sleeves, Senators Obama and Biden, and we Goldwaters will roll ours up with you.

I said in a previous post that I don’t trust polls. Let’s hope they are right and McCain-Palin get the thumping in the polls they so rightfully deserve. Any candidate that stirs up the mob mentality to win an election is capable of anything and we should be very concerned. Mobs are the antithesis of democracy and the Republicans should take their leaders to task for indulging in this dangerous tactic.

If this were true, then why did the Republics so blindly follow the Bush administration into launching a war?

Where were the Bush children – all the Bush clan! Did any Bush except for Bush Senior serve in any war?
Where were all his advisors’ and their children?
Cheney’s family? Any serving there?
Any other advisers? Any??
Conspicuous in their absence.

Mitt Romney, failed candidate for the Republican leadership said “My sons are adults. They’ve chosen not to serve in the military in active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. … And one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I’d be a great president.” S’alright, someone else’s children will die or get maimed in their place.

Republican leaders saw no problem in allowing a government with no experience in a war situation to blissfully send troops off to war, but suddenly this is an issue because a handful of Republican children are off to serve?

One other factor, a big, looming factor, in this election has me increasingly worried. While I have poked a lot of fun at Sarah Palin, behind that humour lies a very real fear. This is a person who never saw a smear tactic she didn’t like. She represents the worse in politics, and the utter bottom for women’s rights. Her courting of the “Joe Six-Pack” mentality displays a marked lack of respect for the working class, women in general and the American Constitution.

Oh Palin, how frightening are you. Let me count the ways:

Let’s start with this Joe Six-Pack myth, because it is a myth. She isn’t courting the mainstream, hard hit working class. On the contrary, she is pulling in what I call the angry mob – the same sorts who trash the main streets during sports riots and hurl abuse, because they are bigger and stronger, at anyone who cannot protect themselves. This hackneyed term, in itself, is derogatory. There is a classist implication that the working class are uneducated, disinterested beer drinkers.

“You tell ‘em baby,” a man shouted out at a rally in N.H. “Drill, baby, drill”?
Does any woman out there not feel her skin crawl at this type of comment? This is endemic at her rallies. Worse still, she does NOTHING to stem this sexist behaviour. And yes it is sexist.

How about when she was governor of Alaska? Why hasn’t anyone asked why her UNELECTED husband was allowed to sit in on a wide range of meetings while SHE was in office. Did you know, Todd Palin sat in on many of the private meetings she held. If Mr Palin had been the First Wife rather than the First Husband there would have been hell to pay. But the subliminal sexism that colours the entire Palin campaign sees nothing wrong with this. It seems to be okay, because he’s male. Sorry, he wasn’t elected by the people so stay out of the meeting. According to the probe into ethics violations while Sarah Palin was governor, Todd spent about 50% of his time in the governor’s office using the phones, attending meetings etc. Sarah’s own security detail stated that anytime they needed information from her, they were told to go through Todd. Doesn’t this man have a job to go to? I feel the need to ask this question: Does she need to vet every decision through her husband? Is there a bit of smoke and mirrors going on as to who is making the decisions? She is not the “new face of feminism”, she’s the old face of sexism. She reminds me of one of the Stepford Wives, and that scares the pants off me.

And don’t get me started on the term “First Dude”. That’s just plain hokey.

Obama should prove he’s “Pro-American”. This is McCarthyism all over again. When I started hearing the terrorist accusations leveled against Obama, I felt this horrible sense of deja vu. It is impossible to defend yourself against this type of snide campaign that cloaks itself in patriotism. Instead of addressing the very real issues facing America, Palin has let loose her hounds of paranoia and mobilised a lynch mob mentality.

Angry mob rants at her rallies are not being addressed by the Palin handlers. On the contrary, their silence on this issue is simply ratcheting up the hatred. Why has she not openly repudiated the statements shouted out – “terrorist, kill him”, bomb Obama, and more. She and McCain should stand up at each rally and state clearly this type of behaviour is not tolerated. Have they done that? No.. on the contrary, Palin has upped her hate mongering by allowing people to say Obama is an Arab or Muslim – which is NOT A CRIME, but they’ve made it into one. Palin and her pals would rather let this insidious type of fear leak out and infect everyone, no sense in running a clean campaign – it would simply show how morally bankrupt she and her supporters are.

More evidence of this type of McCarthyist behaviour has sprung up in the form of fellow Republican Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. She wins the prize for the scariest Joe McCarthy incarnation with these words:

“What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America,”

When pressed to name any anti-American members of Congress, Ms Bachmann, in true Tail-gunner Joe style, refused to name any. Smells like a laundry list to me.

She also stated in her interview that Americans “are just now learning about” Bill Ayres. Obviously she didn’t watch the last presidential debate in which this question was asked and answered. Ms Bachmann, this is a dead horse, please stop flogging it. He was 8 years old when Ayres was involved in the Weathermen.

She also accuses Obama of being very liberal and leftist – which to my knowledge is not on the list of the seven deadly sins. Evidently offering up any type of criticism of the current government would be deemed a crime in the narrow view of Bachmann, Palin etc. By the way, I just love the way Bachmann uses the word liberal as though it were a dirty word. Guess Canada should never tell her we have an entire political party called Liberals – might get us invaded. Once again, being liberal is not a crime. You don’t have to agree or like it, but if you try to paint it as a something to be ashamed of then shame on you. When asked by MSNBC interviewer Chris Mathews, “If you have liberal views, does that mean you have anti-American views? What’s the connection?” Bachmann lumped the two together – liberals are “over-the-top, anti-American” but supplied no proof, just open ended rhetoric. When pushed, she did equate being liberal and leftist – like Bill Ayres – as being anti-American and then she went on to continue in her accusation that people like Obama, Biden and a number of other dutifully elected US congressmen were leftist and liberal. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together and figure out what she is saying.

Mind you, right after the interview with Congresswoman Bachmann, Chris Mathews interviewed Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s senior campaign advisor. Her response was perfect:

Well I’m not sure that, that Congresswoman really reflects where the American people are. If she does, I think I’m getting the next ticket to Canada.

Ms Cutter, you would be a welcome member of Canadian society. We’d be proud to have you as a citizen. Bring Obama and his family with you when you come.

Palin holds the same ideas – she can’t seem to get past the notion that Americans have the right to question the government and the path it is on. Nor can she and her like, get past the fact the American people have the right to vote any-way-they-want-to without the fear of being blacklisted. Her rants on leftist, un-American behaviour have let a rather nasty genie out of the bottle. This divisive attitude could tear America apart. They are very slippery in that they don’t offer any proof of their allegations, they just keep saying the words over and over. If you say something enough times, you believe your own lies. You cannot be liberal and be American in their minds. You say anti-American, I say un-American, let’s call the whole thing off.

The now notorious robocall – what I’ve lovingly named Dial-O-Hate – which is spreading variably incorrect information, is yet another symptom of this angry mob mentality behind the McCain-Palin campaign. Listen to this:

Hello, I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayres, whose organisation bombed the US Capital, the Pentagon, a judge’s home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington

Whoever wrote this, and approved it, should be held criminally responsible for hate mongering. First, Americans were not killed, secondly how many times can this be repeated before the Republican mob listens: Obama was 8 years old at the time. You cannot hold him responsible for something he had nothing to do with. Also, they are not PALIN around! And Ayres is a free American. Don’t like what he did during the Weathermen days, but he is not in jail, nor is he currently a terrorist, he works within the confines of American law.

I’m also deeply suspicious of the way the McCain team have been keeping Palin away from anything but carefully controlled venues. Her inability to speak in a coherent manner, when not coached, would be a real nail in the Republican coffin, and they know it. Instead of being honest with themselves and yanking her as candidate, the brains behind her nomination are willing to put their country at risk by having this ill-equipped, issues challenged individual in a position of extreme power. When asked recently, why she blew the entire Katy Couric interview, Palin gave this rambling, nonsensical answer:

And it’s not just that question, but it was some of the other questions that she asked me also and, and it was, I guess, my being such an outsider from the Washington elite and the media elite is the questions she kept asking me were, I kept thinking why aren’t you asking me things that really, really matter right now about our economy and about how we’re going to win the war and about protecting our constitutional rights in this country, some of the questions that were being fired at me, I was kind of impatient and I think that showed, it’s like come on, Katie, let’s talk about the things that really matter. And two, the other part of that was I knew that whatever I threw out there, whether it’s the USA Today, or New York Times or whatever I said, that’s just more fodder for someone to not only mock, but tear apart and presume to at least claim that that is a reflection of my own beliefs, so you know, so I just felt like, let’s just move on to the next question

Enough with the outsider/maverick spiel! Being an outsider in Washington has nothing to do with being incapable of delivering a straight answer. You are seeking a high office, not VP of the local high school student council. The ability to think on your feet and speak in a clear coherent manner are essential. And her comment “I kept thinking why aren’t you asking me things that really, really matter….” cause you bloody well never answer questions, “about how we’re going to win the war” …. erp you claimed you were already winning it with the Surge and “about protecting our constitutional rights” – the first step would be to NOT elect people like you, who would institute a witch hunt and throw out of work or jail everyone you disagree with.

Her utter lack of knowledge when it comes to how the US government works is breathtaking. This is a candidate for the second highest office who has no idea as to how the government works. This isn’t being an outsider, this is being uninformed and woefully ill prepared for the job. She believes she will “be in charge” of the US Senate and that she “can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes”. No dear, you won’t be able to do that. Please repeat these words “Separation of Power” – it’s there for a reason. Anyone else concerned with the fact that I am a Canadian, yet I have a stronger grasp of how the American government operates than she does. She won’t be allowed to “get in there”, this would be seen as interference. Perhaps Sarah should consult the Constitution which clearly states the VP “shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be evenly divided” (Article I, section 3). People like Palin and her pals love to be seen as the standard bearers of the American Constitution and the basic Rights of Americans, yet they are the first to stampede over the same in the name of preserving them.

Palin and her faith send another tremour through me. She has said things like the $30 billion dollar gas pipe line through Alaska was “God’s will” and the Iraq war was a “task that is from God”. Come again? When did God get involved in oil drilling? God save the world from people like Palin. They hijack faith and use it like a weapon – don’t agree with me, well it was God’s will! That makes you anti-Christian. I may be an agnostic, but even I resent their cheapening of the Christian faith. They are marketing God and Church like they were just another commodity that will get them votes from anyone they can frighten enough. How cynical can they get. God did not tell them to “drill, baby, drill” or build a pipe line through delicate areas – greed did. Leave God out of it – he’s busy enough.

Her faith extends into the notion of creationism, a belief she would like taught in school. You know, man and dinosaurs walking together, the world was created approx 6000 years ago. Once again, spare me your beliefs. Show me PROOF and I’ll listen. Don’t brandish the Bible in front of me and say here it is. This-is-not-proof. It is a book of faith. I can read the Bible all on my own thank you very much – I have a Catholic Bible, King James Bible, The Book of Mormon, a translation of the Koran, Buddhist texts and volumes on Hindu beliefs. None of which mention dinosaurs or tell me to distrust science. And not a single one of them states clearly the world was created on such-and-such a date. Palin said in one interview that creationism should be taught “don’t be afraid of information”, might I suggest she open her mind up and not be afraid of a little proof. The Bible is the basis of faith, not science.

Faith is a private matter, and made up of many, many flavours. It should be taught at home and in your house of worship. It is none of my business what faith you follow, and what I believe is none of your business either. If, as the creationist ideology states, the world was created 6000 years ago, then please explain away the evidence of early farming communities – 1000 years before the world was created:

The 7,000-year-old farming-village site includes evidence of domesticated animals and crops—providing a major breakthrough in understanding the enigmatic people of the Neolithic, or late Stone Age, period and their lives long before the appearance of the Egyptian pharaohs.
National Geographic Egypts Earliest Farming Village Found

Or Catal Huyuk, a town populated as early as 6000 BC? Creationism is a belief, not a science, teach it all you want to your own children but keep it away from the schools and public office. Palin muddies the waters when it comes to public office and religion: “I think in this issue is that people have the right and the ability and the desire to express their own religious views, be it a very personal level, which is why I choose to express my faith, or in a more public forum.” I would like to suggest some further reading for Sarah Palin and all her supporters, dig up a copy of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists. Written in 1802, Jefferson made clear his views on the separation of Church and State:

…religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State. Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect…

Sarah Palin would have opinions substituted for actions. Perhaps this is what she meant by “getting in there” with the Senators to effect real change. How muddy is the religious waters surrounding her? In 2000, she wrote “What a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders, even though I know it’s all through the grace of God”. God help the world and save us from her vision. Doubt me? Watch this video of a speech she gave while GOVERNOR in which she melds evangelical beliefs with government policy making. This wasn’t long ago and it speaks to the heart of the separation of church and state.

Catch that part about the Alaska Pipeline? Palin was there, not as a private citizen, but as the GOVERNOR, therefore she was there in her official capacity.

And a lot of people are looking at the state for our vast wealth that we, uh, are embracing right now. We’re the richest state in the union in terms of natural resources: our oil, our gas, our minerals, the gold that we have under the ground. We’re very very rich. But our most important natural resource of course is our people, and I’m thinking what I need to do is strike a deal with you guys as you go throughout Alaska. I can do my part in doing things like working really really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, about a $30 billion project that’s going to create a lot of jobs for Alaskans, and we’ll have a lot of energy flowing through here. And pray about that also. I think God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.

But I can do my job there in developing natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns and making sure our public schools are funded, but really all of that stuff doesn’t do any good if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God. And that’s going to be your job. As I’m doing my job, let’s strike this deal, your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God’s will be done here.

She should be ashamed of herself for prostituting her faith in the name of commerce – “And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, “My House Shall Be Called A House of Prayer”; but you are making it a Robbers’ Den.” Mathew 21:12 and 13. Jesus didn’t cast out just the moneychangers, he chucked out all that were using the Temple as a great place to hawk their wares. Seems to me, Palin is using the house of prayer to sell a gas pipe and more, but I guess that’s okay because they are Christian, right?

The fact she happily whips up the mob mentality and lets them loose tells me the world would not be safe from her – anyone not like her is in danger of being rounded up and branded an undesirable. She’s too eager to smear, threaten, harass, harangue and beat down all who do not fit into her very narrow view of what is America. It’s going to be a long wait until the election. I hope the polls are right.

Just north of where I live, in Toronto there has been an outbreak of violent vandalism of the likes I don’t think we have ever seen. Specific political party supporters are being targeted by someone in a campaign of hate and terror.

For non-Canadians here’s a quick lesson before I go on. We have 3 main political parties: the Conservatives, the Liberals and the New Democrats (NDP). The Green party is now making some impressive inroads on the political scene so we really have 4 main parties to choose from. Conservatives have traditionally been right of centre in their views, the Liberals left of centre, the NDP and Greens further left of centre. Throw in a few independent candidates and you have a pretty lively political scene up here in the frozen north.

The Liberal supporters in the St. Paul’s voting district have woken up to find graffiti spray painted on their garages and homes, cars have been keyed, and more disturbing their brake lines, phone and cable  have been cut. All the victims have had Liberal support signs on their lawn.There were 26 reported incidents.

Do the words appalled, horrified and frightened come to mind? How about furious and angry? This is the work of some lone sick b@stard who is taking pleasure in scaring people. To cut a brake line is a deliberate attempt to hurt or kill someone. This is premeditated. It is also an act of electoral tampering. Whoever it is will get caught and should face more than vandalism charges. I like the idea of attempted murder charges, perhaps the police can find something about tampering with telecommunications lines and election tampering.

Of course all parties are condemning this action. No right minded person would ever sanction this action. This is the action of one or two creepy individuals with their own axes to grind. It may turn out the Liberal signs simply provided the person an easy target and has nothing to do with the election here in Canada. Somehow, I don’t think so. There was a spat of vandalism during a by-election in Guelph and Willowdale during the summer, again aimed at the Liberals.

Our right to vote and support whatever party we damned well please is sacred. No one is going to tell me how to vote, nor are they going to scare me enough to stop me. There is no power strong enough to stop me from supporting my candidate of choice. For the record – I’m a Liberal with leanings towards the Green Party. Although I strongly believe in the right to privacy in your choices, face it, anyone reading this blog for any length of time must have figured I’m not a Conservative (ya think??) so there wasn’t much choice. Criticise me all you want for my choice, it is still MY CHOICE! Don’t like it – TOUGH! Go vote on election day.

So how are the people reacting? One person said “I think we should get a bigger sign”. With the exception of a few people, all are opting to put their signs back up, and some actually getting bigger signs. Liberal leader Stéphane Dion stated (and seriously, this applies to all our leaders, not a one of them will disagree with this statement)

[W]e will not be intimidated by that … It’s something we cannot accept in Canada.