http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp#anthem
When I first started navigating the seas of these here interwebs I, believing that I was helping out my fellow man, forwarded warnings of the dreaded Budweiser Frog virus.....you know the one that says a screen saver of the frogs saying "Bud....Wei....ser" would ruin your computer. As was pointed out by several folks I should look at a particular website called Snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/ who is an impartial group of folks who take every single one of these email warnings at face value and investigate it. What they find 95% of the time is that these emails are complete bunk. Now from the above link you can see every single Obama email that has circulated. All but 2-3 of them are false. I looked at all the McCain ones...there's about 5 total. So I guess the fact that Obama is the first candidate in a long time that might actually help out the people of this Country and not the 5% that hold all the wealth has got that 5% so scared that they are pulling BS out of their collective asses and trying to flood the internet with it. My extended family is guilty of not listening to me and passing this crap along. My Aunt in Florida took about 6 tries before she started checking before she forwarded.....its worked in the effect that her forwards are of the joke variety...usually about our Italian heritage. My Cousin, we will call her M, and her husband, we will call him T love to forward these things. I have referred them to http://www.snopes.com/ (notice a pattern here folks....it's a site worth bookmarking.) on numerous occassions. They haven't listened. Myself and a slew of other folks I don't know but are on their mailing list (well okay...two of the names were my Cousin's Mom my Aunt S and my Mother) just got forwarded the most recent Obama lie...how he wants to raise Capital Gains taxes and how McCain wants to make them 0%. Now mind you, even if this was true, and it's not, most of the people I know aren't selling their houses nor are they going to be able to get 500,000 dollars for them; not in this market anyway. But my Cousin is so worried, then again she tells me she's an independent but she's married to a right wing Repulican (and they're Catholic.....something wrong with that as the Right Wingers don't consider Catholics to be Christian.....that whole King James Version vs New Bible version thing...) who thinks that Michael Savage is God and that if it doesn't come from Fox News it's not News. He's also racist. Not openly but he is. When discussing sports with him and sports atheletes in particular one time his reply to me was, "Ah I don't care about those guys, I tend to only care about the White Guys." He's made other comments along those lines but that's one of the most telling. Not only did I reply with the Snopes link to the actually snopes report on the falsehoods contained in her email, but one of the other folks on the list did too and that person proceeded to lecture them on the spreading of lies about her chosen candidate and that they should learn a bit more about both candidates before spreading lies. My Cousin replied back to me with "aren't opinions great!! Choose wisely!!". Obviously she didn't read the link I sent her as the reports of the email being false isn't opinion but well researched fact. Even a sermon I heard on TV the other Sunday...yes I know, let me explain. We watch the Sunday morning version of the Today Show then proceed to get ourselves ready for the day, by the time we come back across the TV Cornerstone Baptist Church in Nashville has started or is in the middle of their Sunday Service broadcast which I usually turn off.....from a very Conservative Baptist Pastor (so Conservative that when Tennessee had a proposition on it's ballot one year to define Marriage as between a Man and a Woman or Person and a Person he purchased a 2 hour block of TV time to tell everyone how EVIL the gays are) who was talking about the candidates. He made a statement I agree with; if you can't take the time to educated yourselves on the candidates and at least know basic things about them you shouldn't be allowed to vote. Wow, I actually agreed with a sentiment from a Baptist Minister. Amazing I know. He said that in his travels he decided to ask folks what they knew about the Candidates. He discoverd that alot of folks believed the crap. Obama is a Muslim, being a POW makes McCain a good Candidate for President (I take it this Pastor is pro-Obama because his statment on this was "I don't think it qualifies McCain for President, I actually am not sure what does because we know nothing about his stance on things") that Obama is mixed-race (some Moron actually answered "His race is Democrat right?"). At least my Oldest Step-Daughter is honest about it. She tells me that she doesn't vote because she really doesn't care about Politics and that it's all the same. I'd love to smack her for that, but at least she doesn't waste a vote. It may not seem like it matters, but it does. There are people in other Countries who would be killed if they voted. People have died for the right to vote in many parts of the World, but yet here we are in the US with folks like my former Father-in-Law who told me "I vote for every Democrat and No on all propositions." Wow, thanks for participating. Then there are those that blindly vote Party lines. I voted for Clinton the first time around because he was the better choice. I ceased being a Democrat years ago because I noticed that both parties were interchangeable and really a True Dem and a True Repub didn't exist anymore. The second time around I voted for Ross Perot because Clinton had done nothing for me and kept beating the dead horse of Gays in the military to death. Look if you are Gay and want to serve in the Military, fine by me. Don't expect special treatment though, but do expect to be treated like everyone else. Along came the next election and Lo and Behold we had the Moron and Al "I invented the internet and I'm going to save the country from itself" Gore. I voted for Nader which I was told was "a vote for Bush".....no it was a vote for Nader. I didn't vote for Bush, I voted for Ralph Nader. What part of that did you not understand? I found out these friends "would have" voted for Nader but didn't think he stood a chance (apparently this was the attitude of a lot of Democrats....hmmm wonder if these "would haves" would have actually voted for Nader if he would have won????). The last election I was guilty of throwing away a vote. I wished the ticket would have been Edwards/Kerry not Kerry/Edwards (and yes I really don't care who a person has affairs with, it doesn't make them a bad/good President. It actually has no bearing whatsoever.) as I thought John Kerry was a dead fish who had no clue. I remember Obama then and thought he should have ran. My vote was basically one of those "Anyone but Bush" votes. Hell I'd have voted for Mickey Mouse if it got Shrub out. I am a big advocate of the "none of the above" option. Seriously, if neither Candidate can get it done you vote None of the above. Enough of those, and we get two new Candidates who have to tell us exactly what they will do, right now, at this minute. Might make people actually think about pulling that lever and what it means. I like how out here in Tennessee you don't have to register for a Party when you vote, you actually pick the ballot you want at the polling place. In closing, I'd just like to impart to you this little pearl of wisdom; please inform yourself about the candidates before you go making a decsion that will affect every Man, Woman and Child in the United States. Obama=a change for the better. A Candidate that admits when a choice he's made is incorrect and after hearing all the facts will publicly change his mind. Unlike Bush who still thinks there are WMD's in Iraq and stands by his decision to invade said Country. McCain=4 more years of business as usual. McCain used to be a Centrist, he really was. I've notice though that everytime he tries to go to the Center he's yanked back to the Right by the GOP. Bob Dole started off like that when he was running and I actually considered him, then it was like he had a Republican brainwashing session with Emperor Rove the evil Sith GOP Dark Jedi and started spouting right wing BS. McCain is doing the same thing. Read their websites, see what they believe in. Read the interviews, try and cut through the BS. It boils down to this: Obama wants to help the Middle Class (most of the folks reading this) and wants the term "made in America" to appear on more products sold in this Country (about 95% now say Made in China) whereas McCain wants to keep us in Iraq forever and still cater to the Corporations. Who has your best interest in mind? Obtain some knowledge please before you vote or stay the Hell away from the polls.
4 comments:
You should add, "Fear" to "Hate" in your title. Its really a multi-pronged approach by the extreme right to appeal to the emotions of all easily manipulated Americans.
1. Hate works on racists...always will. Racists are mostly uneducated, ignorant, and married to any backwards belief they have...a better way of describing them is that they're DUMB, as in lacking in intelligence. NONE of them will ever vote Democrat let alone Obama and he and/or we shouldn't even bother changing their opinion.
2. Fear works on all people...and it almost always works as a political campaign strategy. Unfortunately, neo-con fear-mongers have successfully used this approach with regard to foreign policy. The rhetoric is insidious and subtle and preys upon our fear of the annihilation of our country, our freedom, and our way of life. Its the reason GW got re-elected despite his approval ratings.
It absolutely cracks me up when I hear Savage talk about how conservatives are the free thinkers and that the Left are the "sheep". People who see him as anything other than an entertainer are past stupid...they're dangerous.
Talk about sheep, the demographics are undeniable: uneducated, blue-collar folks (we're talking millions of voters here) in homogeneous, small to rural communities have consistently voted Repub for over 2 generations. They are the vaunted conservative BASE.
They have no inkling that the top 5% are invested in maintaining the status quo with regard to Tax laws, industry regulation, import and export oversight, etc.etc. They have no clue that we're talking trillions of dollars. They have no idea that they contribute billions to politicians for quid pro quo. Or soo naive as to think that their "wealth" has little "power" when in fact our top 5% is the most powerful force in this country and our economy. And to think that they are above influencing politics is complete IDIOCY.
I'm certainly a capitalist at heart and believe we need strong business, industry, and economy. But it will NOT be at the expense of the poor and the middle class...NEVER.
Sorry about the length. Man, I gotta get back to work!
No worries regarding the length SG you get my point and bring up some real good ones yourself. Someone on Fark.com today wrote a comment that fits well. Most voters are single issue voters and cling to that issue no matter what...these are the "guns and religion" bitter people Obama referred to. It always confuses me that Blue Collar workers cling to "their Lords" in the form of Republicans. They think the Repubs get them...but really the Repubs don't care about them, they just care that they don't question those in charge and just let them do their thing because "the Government is always right..." Sure it is.
Soo right bro...
One more thing. Repubs get their votes via the "gun" issue, the "gay marraige" issue, the "immigrant" issue, etc.etc., but it's all window dressing...what its really about is taxation and wealth. As much as I can't stand extremism from either ends, one can arguably posit that the extreme Left has little in the way of a hidden agenda with regard to their political platform...at its worst, its all about redistributing wealth.
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