"Spread the wealth" seems to be the latest gobble ever since John Mc Cain, in his desperation, attempted to conflate the Obama tax policy, which hardly differs from what we've had since the beginning of income taxes in America, with socialism. It's not much more of an idiotic redefinition than is typical of the 2008 campaign rhetoric which has it that a hundred year occupation of a foreign country is a "victory" and accomplishing the goal of regime change and democracy is "surrender." Indeed the trickle down theory is little more than a scenario in which people the government helps to get rich then redistribute a small part of it by spending.
In St. Charles Missouri this weekend, John McCain attempted to show the show me state that lifting some of the burden from the struggling classes is Socialism. Senator Martinez from Florida compared Obama's tax plan to that of Fidel Castro and the chorus of boos from their gobbling audiences is not directed at the dishonest and sometimes demented charges or the turkeys who make them, but at anyone outside the circle of the tribe by virtue of sanity, education, honesty or intelligence: particularly intelligence. There is no idea too stupid, too false, to demented that the tribe will not dance around the fire and scream "kill him!"
It there any charge quite as incredible as insisting that presidents like Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan must have been socialists who wanted to redistribute the wealth by not giving the kind of tax breaks to the top 5% that George Bush did and that John McCain wants to continue and extend? We have never had a bigger and bigger spending government than we have now and McCain has no plan to change that that could pass a second grade arithmetic teacher's scrutiny. He has hot button topics like earmarks, and socialism and spreading the wealth, but the rest is only "trust me my friends."
"Our opponent's plan is just more big government, and John and I think that that is the problem, not the solution," said the gobbler in the glasses "Instead of taking your hard-earned money and spreading your wealth, we want to spread opportunity so people like you and Joe the plumber can create new wealth."
Of course it's not more big government by any measure. It's a return to the time before George Bush's borrow, bloat and spend policies.
What's the Palin plan? Give it to the rich and let it trickle down. Gobble, gobble, gobble. What's the plan? borrow and spend and put the burden of all that debt on people like you and me and Joe the plumber and our children and grandchildren, and how do we sell it? We lie about palling around with terrorists, we call Obama an elitist Arab Muslim Terrorist, who conspires with Vietnam War protesters, who is a Chicago Machine politician with no experience, whose house was paid for by gangsters, who reads books by terrorists and whose education was paid for by Pakistani Fundamentalists and who isn't even an American. Did I mention that he's black?
At this point and regardless of who wins, I'm ashamed to be part of this. If Obama wins, the country has been so damaged already and will be filled with a large minority who think he's the devil, the future is so dim my old eyes can't see anything but gloom.
Welcome back, Captain Fogg. I just saw this very disturbing story today: Tires slashed during NC Obama Rally --
ReplyDeleteFAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Authorities say someone slashed tires on at least 30 parked vehicles while their owners were attending a Barack Obama rally in a North Carolina coliseum. The tires were cut Sunday outside Fayetteville's Crown Coliseum, The Fayetteville Observer reported Monday …
Lynne Steenstra said it cost $120 to get her van towed and repaired. Steenstra said she was concerned that the slashing might be a scare tactic to harass Obama supporters.
This incident plus the taunts and shouts of “kill the terrorist” at Palin rallies … and still McCain has not spoken out to deplore this incidents. The man, the campaign, the Republican Party are so morally bereft, there is no redemption for them.
As you may have notice, I changed a picture over the weekend from a wine bottle label to a Photo-Shopped Palin-as-vampiress. Yes, I know, it may offend people, but as the campaign has gotten uglier with each passing day, I said to myself, “What the hell, this is hate speech. Show it like it is.” Indeed, I have with no apologies.
Truly - where does this all end. I do not want to live in the same country or breathe the same air space as the people pictured on Octopus' post last week about McCain rallies or with the clods who now sliced those tires. And Octopus - this reminds me of my comment on your other post about the taunting of McCain supporters by Obama supporters. The angry rhetoric of this campaign is going to - already has! - poison us all from within. I too am guilty. SP has not brought out the best in me. I am tired of feeling angry. I am tired of feeling anxious about the outcome of the election which is NOT certain. An e-mail was circulating at my work about reports of increased republican attempts to drop voters from voting roles.
ReplyDeleteI am worried. I am angry. I am fed up. I want to go back down to the depths of the deep, dark blue sea & relish being a giant unknown creature who haunts scientists' minds.
I want to go back down to the depths of the deep, dark blue sea & relish being a giant unknown creature who haunts scientists' minds.
ReplyDeleteI can dig it! Really, I can. For me right now, I have found a moment of tranquility ... rare these days. I was having dinner tonight with a friend, a conservative Republican, who is voting for Obama (our two cars are the only ones in the car park sporting Obama stickers).
I give him a lot of credit for voting his conscience, something many Republicans have been forced to do this year. Other conservative defections: Susan Eisenhower (the granddaughter of President Eisenhower, Christopher Buckley (the son of William F.), Peggy Noonan, Judy Miller, and, of course, Colin Powell. It takes courage to break ranks and abandon old loyalties. It must be hard, and I give them credit.
This posted at Majikthise: “As Capt. Fogg observes in the Swash Zone, the crazies have added "socialist" as a line item in their increasingly fevered anti-Obama litany.”
ReplyDeleteYou got a plug, Captain.
Capt. Fogg, Squid and Octo, I think the "socialist" meme is just to appeal to the old folks -- it's so far out of date as to be pathetic; why don't they just wear bell-bottom jeans and get it overwith?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, when I look at the polls today and at the images of those vast St. Louis crowds, I see something to celebrate. Yes, there's the usual dirty politics, but the howling morons at the McCain/Palin rallies have been breathing our air along with us forever--150 years ago the same sort of people were talking up the benefits and moral rightness of slavery. But there's genuine excitement about the democratic process this year. Just when we seem really to be on the eve of destruction as a republic, people start participating enthusiastically! I voted early today, by the way, so I'm in a positive mood. Chalk up another non-human vote for Obama and Biden.
There may be reason for optimism, but then there was reason for optimism in 1968. I used to wear bell bottoms. I'm an old folk, I guess, but it's the people 10 years older than I am whose knees jerk when you mention socialism, but it isn't those people who are calling Obama a Marxist without knowing what that means - it's the teenagers I hear - the 20 somethings.
ReplyDeleteI do think Obama will win, but I don't think Karl Rove or Fox News will disappear, nor will the people who produce these viral e-mails or slash tires. Obama will have such a huge mess to work on that any progress will be hard to notice and he will take all the blame for a recession that could last through his term.
Don't count them out - they will be back.
Amen, Fogg. Disturbingly so.
ReplyDeleteFogg, my point was that they've always been with us. I hear you on the 1968 atmosphere--a time of great hopes (and bell bottoms, or was that the 70's? I vaguely remember them pants, being in my mid-forties) sadly dashed by violence and repression. I suspect that there's some bottom-line percentage of our population that would give the thumbs up to exterminating minority groups and homosexuals, obliterating whole regions of the planet because they said something bad about America, turning the country into a rigid theocracy, etc. That percentage might well be distressingly high, too--they would constitute the core for an American Nazi Party if one should ever be instituted. For the mouth-breathers ye have always with ye, as the good book saith. The struggle is always a matter of percentages, and nothing is guaranteed, as we know. All that notwithstanding, I will enjoy the moment if and when Obama, like some candidates before him, shows that it IS possible to keep the idiots at bay, at least for a time. Maybe that's as good as it gets, but I'm with Wilde in saying that "a map without Utopia isn't worth looking at."
ReplyDeleteI remember them, I wore them -- I had hair longer than Jay Silverheels (Tonto) and sandals from Johhnie Brown of Chicago.
ReplyDeleteHey I really am optimistic about the election, if not the long term prospects, but I'm looking to flying the flag on November 5th. It's been a long time since I've done that.