John McCain's acceptance speech last night was disappointing in so many ways.

Of course, the narrative of his experience as a POW was compelling, last night's being the best rendition I have heard, and really defines who John McCain is: a broken warrior.

This speech sounded so much more like an ending than a beginning.

After the bloody red meat and vitriol stew served up by last night's speakers, who were apparently intoxicated with their own bitter brew of sarcasm, McCain seemed so tired and flat.

Ironically, after mocking the very idea of community service last night, McCain's theme, if one could be discerned, was service for "something greater than oneself".

He absolutely blew through the middle part of the speech - the part about policy. It was so clear that he really doesn't care. He managed to misrepresent Barack Obama's positions on several issues, but offered only the most banal generalities on his alternatives. The obligatory mentions of taxes, abortion and activist courts even failed to rouse the delegates, his delivery was so perfunctory. And, of course, Americans are so over the "war on terror".

McCain is bored with governing, that was clear.

Of course, with the Republicans having screwed things up beyond any-one's wildest nightmares, McCain's task is basically impossible. He repeatedly, and unconvincingly, called for "change", as if the audience was not aware that he has been in Washington for a quarter of a century or so. As if he has not been part of the problem. As if he represents anything other than a continuation of George Bush's failed policies. As if no one had ever heard of Barack Obama.

In the final moments, McCain tried painfully to be heard above the screaming delegates, who were apparently more interested in making noise than hearing what their candidate had to say.

The man seemed old and worn down, especially when he stood beside the vibrant Palin. McCain has made the classic mistake of selecting a running mate that will dominate the news and relegate his own position to the second page. And from what we have learned about Palin in the last week, that news will not be good for the Republicans.

John McCain's tired and flat appearance last night brought a very confused and negative convention to a sputtering end. It is clear that in spite of the jolt of the Palin nomination, the Republican Party is in disarray and has critical conflicts raging within itself. This is another legacy of George Bush, *** Cheney and Karl Rove.

John McCain's own nomination is the result of the chaos within the Party, and he is not the man to restore it, nor the man to restore this country.

The language of intolerance is not without consequences. Unfortunately, the intolerant are too weak minded to understand the consequences of their own words.

So-called "conservatives", taking their cue from the "You're with us, or with the terrorists" jargon of their President, love to use the word "hate".

While they constantly accuse those who disagree with them of being "haters", as in "Bush-hater", which is practically a proper noun in their writings, the right-wing began to fall into its current pattern of extremism during the Clinton administration. Clinton is still a favorite target of right-wing haters.

The appropriation of the Conservative ideology by the extreme right-wing has its roots in racism, in reaction to the human-rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, which threatened their social privileges and illusions of superiority. George Wallace nearly rode a wave of fear and hatred to the Presidency, and seven elections later George Bush succeeded in re-mobilizing the hate movement, unifying racists, homophobes, religious fundamentalists and the just plain greedy to form an alliance that narrowly lost the popular vote in the 2000 election.

George Bush's handlers, in fact give some credit to George Bush, were smart enough to recognize that hate is a powerful weapon if you are willing to set your personal morality aside and use it. This is the essence of fascism, and the current culture of right-wing hate lacks only the label. Let's call it what it is; fascist.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 gave rise to a wave of terror among the so-called conservatives, and the language of hate and extreme pseudo-patriotism felt empowering to those whose moral values are insecure, and soothed their fears of a world that is changing around them.The Bush administration stoked this fear and loathing in order to carry out it's dastardly crimes against the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. The President, the Vice-President and top members of the administration cultivated hatred as a national policy, and bear personal responsibility.

The radio wave of right-wing hate has subsided somewhat, but it is not hard to find both local and national loudmouths who use ignorance, intolerance and hate to get their dim-witted listeners foaming at the mouth.

Of course, Fox News is now giving these hate-mongers a run for their money, with outright demagoguery masquerading as television news. There is a lot of money to be made pandering to the fearful and weak-minded.

Right here on these pages the implied violence of the right is on prominent display. For disagreeing with the president, I have repeatedly been accused of hating George Bush, the "troops" and my country.

Writers such as Amy Geiger-Hemmer and Jim Hayett frequently base entire blog posts on a message of hate and intolerance. Their comments on other's blogs are peppered with the word "hate".

In their ignorance, they think that whipping out the h-word wins an argument. What they and the right-wing media are actually doing is promoting violence and death. Yet, they deny any personal responsibility for the violence that they promote. Any personal responsibility for the wars that they continue to promote but decline to fight.

Last weekend, one of their kind decided to put his hate into action, and took a shotgun into a Unitarian Universalist church, a church that actively supports human rights and social justice for all people.

This is the end product of the culture of right-wing hate. If you preach intolerance and hate, you are promoting violence.

Personal responsibility may be denied, but it can not be escaped. I hope your God grants you grace.

 

The endorsement by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Senator Barack Obama's proposed 16-month timeline for the withdrawal of the bulk of American troops has significance well beyond its positive effect on his campaign. Obviously, it demonstrates that Obama's instincts and advisers are more than a match for the vaunted foreign policy expertise of John McCain.

The call by the Iraqi Prime Minister for a specific timeline for American troop withdrawal was more than a huge blow to the credibility of George Bush and McCain - it may be the last nail in the coffin of the neo-conservative movement, headed up by Vice President *** Cheney.

The plan, of course - as articulated in a rare moment of candor by John McCain - was to stay in Iraq indefinitely. In the negotiations of a Status of Forces agreement, the U.S. had originally demanded more than 50 permanent bases on Iraqi soil, immunity for all U.S. soldiers and contractors, and the ability to use those forces unilaterally against Iraqi citizens. (And presumably, against Iran.)

This permanent occupation of Iraq was the primary objective of the war, and now it has turned to sand. A "free and democratic" Iraq was to be the home base for American military power in the Mid East. From Iraq, we could control the flow of oil, assuring that American companies would receive royalties for every gallon.

The Iraqis may be divided by religion, but the one thing that they all agree on is that they want their country back.

The endorsement of Obama's proposal blows wide open the Bush/McCain illusion that American occupation was at the request of a free Iraq. Both have said in the past that if the Iraqi government asked us to leave, we would.

Well, we have been asked.

Now, how we will reconcile our further occupation? Will McCain now advocate staying in Iraq against the will of the Iraqis? Assuming that we cannot simply walk away from our "investment" in Iraqi oil and strategic control of their forces, how long will the Iraqis tolerate our presence?

This conundrum proves the bankruptcy of the neo-conservative dream of American empire, and exposes the myth of McCain's so-called expertise in foreign policy.

 

While I am delighted that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee this fall, and genuinely awed by the historical significance of this fact, I am struggling to repress a sense of foreboding on this damp gray day.

 

Bobby Kennedy was shot down forty years ago today, just as his drive to the Presidency was getting momentum.

 

Kennedy and Obama have at least one common characteristic - being messengers of significant change in the status quo, which made Kennedy and makes Obama a target for so many who feel threatened by their potential to act on that promise.

 

There is a steady drumbeat on right wing radio, and countless emails circulating that carry this message:

 

“He’s not one of us. He’s not a real American. His loyalties are elsewhere. His faith is corrupted. He will betray our interests. He is dangerous. He cannot be allowed to succeed.”

 

These messages are not political. They are personal. It would be ignorant to deny that Obama’s half African blood has stirred ugly emotions in a large number of Americans.
 

I have refrained from writing about John McCain’s pastor problem.

I really resented the way so many people used Rev. Wright as an excuse to unleash their racism and guiltlessly attack Barack Obama for being black – and worse – attack the institution of the black church, which has provided hope and inspiration for African Americans during centuries of slavery and oppression.

Also, I think that mixing religion and politics is just a really bad idea.

Politicians should keep their religion to themselves. As always, Bush provides us a perfect example of how not to lead.

If, in fact, the President of the United States is a born again Christian, this means that he believes that for God’s will to be fulfilled, and for Jesus Christ to return, there needs first to be an Armageddon.

I have wondered if one the factors motivating George Bush, who claims such beliefs, and has also stated that he believes that God selected him to be president, to attack Iraq is that he believes it is his Biblical providence to lead us into the cataclysmic battle between God and Satan.

Personally, I don’t want to see a nuclear war so that the born-agains can get their reward of sitting at Jesus’ hand. Any more than I want to get blown apart by a Muslim fundamentalist so that he can get to his own version of heaven.

I think I’d rather have a clear-eyed atheist with his finger on the button, thank you.

John McCain, who has famously criticized leaders of the religious right as "agents of intolerance", nonetheless has spent the last year currying favor with these same televangelist preachers in order to pander to the religious right, a core constituency of the Republican Party since the days of Ronald Reagan.

Among those is the Pastor John Hagee, who is about as whacked out (or as prophetic) as a preacher can get.

Among his other bizarre statements, Hagee has excused Adolph Hitler for annihilating millions of Jews, claiming that Hitler was acting on God’s behalf, driving the Jews back to Israel so that Armageddon could occur and Christ could come back.

He blames the Jews for the Holocaust. And gays for Katrina. And your sins for 9-11.

John McCain has said that he is “proud” to have this sociopath as a spiritual advisor.

Today, McCain tossed Hagee under the bus. Like the four lobbyists who were his key advisors, but became a liability to his ambitions by being, well, lobbyists.

Considering the endless looping of a 5 second clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s most inflammatory remarks over a period of at least a month, and the inference that Barack Obama shared those sentiments, it will be interesting to see how long the media’s attention remains focused on the anti-Semitic rantings of Pastor Hagee.

My guess: one news cycle.

 

A range of factors, including the ongoing waste of everything by you and me, global warming causing droughts, and political instability as a result of centuries of imperialist policies by the “major powers” have resulted in the current run on commodities.

Everything from corn to gold is inflating in price at unprecedented rates. (Water is next.)

The speculators and even ordinary investors like you and me, via the mutual funds in our 401ks, are sucking up commodities like there was no tomorrow.

For many of our fellow humans, there may not be.

While you and I are sending our money to those who, on our behalf, are hoarding metals, oil and, most importantly, grain, millions of people around the world are facing starvation due to our “investments”.

These people will do whatever they have to in order to eat. How this will affect you is that they will hold us accountable for their children’s hunger. They will be “patriotic” to whoever distributes food to them. This is how Hammas, Iraqi militias, and al Queda gain recruits, including those anxious to become “martyrs”.

It is pathetic, but there is an obvious tendency for certain people here in the U.S. (Waukesha County) to grab what they can while it’s still available. How else to explain the gas-sucking pickups and SUVs flying down the freeway at 80 MPH? Towing four wheelers or a giant boat. One can only conclude that these individuals are determined to burn as much petroleum as they can while it’s still “affordable”.

So, get ready for the next bubble to burst. Commodity prices may continue to rise for a decade or more, as did housing prices. You and I make even make a lot of money. But the bubble will burst, just as it did in real estate.

You and I will lose money in the markets.

They will starve.

Is it too much to ask all you “Conservatives” to conserve? Just a bit?

 

I should not find it ironic that the people who so freely flung around the epithet “Bush hater”, are now freely spreading hate aimed at Barack Obama.

You have read this slime right here on these pages.

Not just disagreement with his political positions. Not mere accusations that his promise of hope is hollow. This would be within the realm of healthy political discourse.

What I am talking about are the kind of slurs that foment fear and hatred. I am talking about people, our neighbors, who cry out that Obama is “dangerous.”

In willful ignorance of his service as a member of the United States Congress, such people drop very clumsy suggestions that he is acting in the service of some unspecified foreign power.

And the repeated lie – I’d like to think this comes from ignorance, but I am now convinced that it’s a deliberate campaign of lies – that Obama is a Muslim.

Personally, I can think of nothing that would work more to heal the current global religious schism than for the United States to elect a Muslim president, but it is so obviously false that Obama is Muslim that for him to deny it would only feed the bigotry that leads to the lie.

I have recently received an email, from a loved one at that, which suggested that Barrack Obama is in fact, the anti-Christ.

I can come to no other conclusion than that people feel free to attack Obama so viciously because he is black.

 

The era of the conservatives is coming to a very hard stop, and they are not taking it well, I have to say.

 

The majority of Republicans have actively rejected the extreme ideology of the "true" conservatives and elected the “moderate” John McCain to run for President. You’d think he was the gay boyfriend of Osama the way the conservatives have welcomed him.

 

McCain shouldn’t feel too bad, because none of the candidates that started the race was pure enough to survive the gauntlet of acid tests set up by the true believers. Once may have believed abortion should be safe and legal, not sure that the homosexuals have an actual agenda for converting our children, raised some tax somewhere to provide a public service, might become queasy while inflicting certain forms of torture, thinks we actually need public schools, carries his gun unloaded, believes all that crap in the Fourth Amendment - the list of deviations from the party line was just heartbreaking to the guardians of All That is Right.

 

So, rather than accept the wisdom of the Republican voters, who have surmised that the path to True Conservatism likely runs straight through Iran, the conservatives are eating their own.

 

The policies of conservatism have brought us two wars, more than 100,000 dead, countless limbs lost and brains damaged, a 30% drop in our home values, an all-time record deficit, collapsing infrastructure, a dying environment, stagflation, government monitoring of our private communications, indefinite incarceration without a trail, and the hatred of people all around the world.

 

And the conservatives can’t believe that the American people are clamoring, literally clamoring for change?