RIPOSTE
by RIP RENSE |
|
OBAMA MUST
CALL FOR PALIN'S REMOVAL FROM THE TICKET
(Sept. 10, 2008)
To quote
W.C. Fields, The Democrats must "take the bull by the tail and face
the situation." Sarah Palin must be dealt with, and without restraint. No
more of this focus-group pre-figuring all the language, all the angles, of
each carefully staged "attack." That will focus-group Obama right out of the
White House.
The fact is that the
woman is now the central issue of the campaign. The fact is that the woman
is unfit for office.
Obama must call for her
removal from the ticket in the interests of national security, and
call into question McCain's impetuous, imperious, nutball "judgment."
He must make the correct
and compelling case that putting this corrupt amateur governor with zero
foreign policy credibility in direct line to become president is wildly irresponsible, and jeopardizes the health
and safety of the nation.
Palin is under
investigation for ethics violations in Alaska related to allegations that
she used her office to try to fire an ex-brother-in-law state trooper (of
all things bush league!) She spends Alaska taxpayer money to take her family
on trips, to fund her visits to sporting events, to pay for her husband's
jaunts. Total for her husband and daughters alone (including commuting from
home to work): $43,490. She bills the state a travel per diem when she
spends nights at home in Wasilla (of all things bush league!)
She is withholding
e-mails that pertain to so-called "Troopergate," and reportedly
implicate her husband in anti-law enforcement union influence peddling. She
believes that so-called creationism (read: Bible scripture) should be taught
in schools. She tried to get certain library books banned while mayor
of Wasilla, then threatened the librarian when her request was refused.
She lies easily, from
claiming to have stopped the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" to saying that
Obama opposes nuclear power and offshore drilling. . .to boasting that she
is anti-government "earmarks," when in fact she has sought and won hundreds
of millions of fat Washington dollars. She tried to cover-up her 17-year-old
daughter's pregnancy, and to arrange for a quickie marriage prior to the
Republican National Convention. She's had an "affair," as the polite term
goes, with her husband's ex-business partner.
Need more?
She belongs to a weird
"end times" Evangelical church that believes God has designated Alaska as a
refuge for the "annointed." She has called the disastrous Iraq occupation "a
task from God," has exhorted church members to pray for an Alaska natural
gas pipeline, a project that she insanely labels "God's will." There are
reports circulating that she has referred to Obama as "Sambo," and eskimos
as "Arctic Arabs."
Then there is her
champion, callous hypocrisy concerning teen pregnancy and birth control. Her
daughter---who obviously emulates one-time good-time gal Sarah (who in
college favored T-shirts such as "FCK---The Only Thing Missing is U")---is
five or six months pregnant, probably by a local lout whose Myspace page
(long pulled) says he enjoys "fuckin' chillin'." Yet Palin has cut funding
to pay for housing---housing---for teen mothers.
And in a move that would
have pleased the Marquis de Sade, Palin---who inhumanely insists that
pregnant rape victims bear their children---saw to it as Wasilla mayor that
rape victims must pay for their own sexual assault exams, at a cost
of up to $1200. Now there's compassionate conservatism.
And you can laugh off
the fact that she says "pundint," "nook-yoo-luhr" (her RNC teleprompter
spelled it phonetically so she would say it correctly) and "Eye-RACK," but
these are sure indicators of, well, exactly what she is: a person with a
bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho. Take it from
me: a degree in journalism is like a degree in nose-picking. Anybody with
fingers can do it. You learn journalism on the job, not in a classroom. It's
definitely a step up from majoring in physical education. And if you
disagree with this, you must at least admit that the degree did not prepare
her to spell or speak properly.
The woman is a scandal
circus. And we've probably only seen the first ring.
Never mind that the
country is traumatically split between so-called right and so-called left.
(The right is comprised largely of extremist corporatocratic religious
fanatics, and the profoundly ignorant; the left largely of cautious
"centrists" who are essentially conservative.) Never mind the acrimony and
charges of "negative campaigning" that would ensue from calling for Palin's
removal. Americans have grown accustomed to having acrimony with breakfast,
and the campaign is already ugly. Do the right thing, Obama. Palin is unfit for
office, and every sensible person can see this (this leaves out, apparently,
members of a Hillary support organization called WomanCount, which
pathetically called for backing off of Palin because some have said a mother
of five can't do justice to a full-time job.)
Palin's appointment, in
other words, is not just a matter of an opponent's policies being
"dangerous," "wrong-headed," or various other conventional campaign cliches.
It is a matter of a famously impulsive, high-rolling candidate (who loves to
play craps) caving in to advisors and picking a frighteningly unqualified
person to become vice-president of the United States. Dick Cheney is a
towering statesman by contrast. It is a matter of McCain throwing
caution to the wind---when caution was never more required---and grabbing a
nice-looking, young piece of baggage without so much as a routine FBI
background check. All the McCain aides did was Google Palin, which is
slightly more thorough than making goo-goo eyes at her.
The choice was not
merely a cynical grab for hard-core reactionary extremist right-wing
Evangelicals. It was not merely a cynical ploy to make the campaign look
progressive and compel more ladies to vote for the increasingly corpse-like
McCain. It was not merely a cynical means of sexing up a campaign that would
otherwise have been led by boring old white guys (God help us---Joe
Lieberman.) It was all of these things---but with breathtaking disregard for
the safety and welfare of the nation.
If you were running for
president, wouldn't your first concern be that your vice-president is
capable of holding the job, and keeping the country stable? And wouldn't
your second concern be that your vice-president would not engage in
dishonest or corrupt activities---that is, outside of those dishonest and
corrupt activities that are officially sanctioned in D.C.---let alone
peccadilloes such as scamming a few free trips? I mean, if you're going to
be a crook, go all the Abramoff way, right?
After those concerns are
met, then sure, you're free to be as "strategic" (cynical) as you like in
your choice.
McCain did not do this.
McCain is a hotdog pilot who has clipped power lines and been involved in a
number of air crashes. With Palin, he clipped his own power line, and the
only thing preventing a crash of his campaign is the ignorance and hatred of
the American right-wing.
That's correct. Hatred is
what is holding his campaign together, and giving it any kind of fuel. It is
not running on inspiration. It is not running on encouraging human
cooperation. It is not running on even the commercial-slogan-deep ideals of
change and hope, as Obama slickly did in the Democrat primaries. McCain and
Palin tap directly into black bile.
Think about it. Their
power base comes from resentment: resentment of "Hollywood liberals,"
blacks, minorities in general, Affirmative Action (can't blame them for that
one), welfare abuse (can't blame them for that one, either), illegal
immigrants (can't blame. . .) taxation of their hard-earned millions (or
billions.) It comes from fear of terrorists and hatred for those who
ridicule their generally infantile and often fascistic idea of
"Christianity." It comes from hatred of "junk scientists" who want to take
away their "Constitutional right to own an SUV" (as many have e-mailed this
site through the years), and from hatred of those godless heathens
who imagine that humans are descended from apes. It comes from hatred of
anyone who does not claim to believe that all human life is sacred (except Iraqis, apparently, or Darfurians) and hatred of anyone who will not
allow so-called creationism to be taught in public schools.
It comes from hatred of
absolutely anything that can be smeared as "liberal," "socialist,"
"leftist," when in fact these things are normal, integral parts of any
successful society and government. Imagine "privatizing" (read: destroying)
social security and veterans' benefits.
And it comes from
ignorance. Republicans/McCain supporters are generally of the ilk that
simply reads newspapers/websites that reinforce their dumb-as-dirt
reactionary thinking and beliefs. Of course, the majority don't read at
all---they just watch Fox News. To imagine that these people---stupid
enough to believe that McCain is some sort of maverick, when he votes with
Bush 90 percent of the time, and turned against his own campaign reform
spending bill---can be persuaded, reasoned with. . .it's folly.
So write them off,
Obama---write off their bile, their rage---and do what's right. Palin
and McCain are a danger to the country, and nothing less. Now is the time to
say it, and to say it bluntly. The clock is ticking on this election. If
they are elected, the clock will be ticking on whatever is left of the
country.
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