Most of the people who pay attention to my writing are in some large part sympathetic to my point of view, though some who disagree have let me know they find me generally fair. So, when I rail against a usual suspect, it has a speaking to the choir quality to it. All the same, sometimes, it becomes crystal clear why I simply don't disagree with some of these people. They simply disgust me. McCain, who I did respect in the past (and read two of his books), has arrived there.
The third debate, on as the Dodgers showed why they are not quite ready for prime time (still, they called out Joe for a curtain call ... nice place to spend one's golden years for a good piece of change), underlined the point.* McCain apparently did better this time around; in fact, TPM etc. even like the moderator. Still, "better" is a relative term. A few examples will underline the point. Let's remember this is the candidate for President for one of the two major parties.
On some level, one might expect a bit more shame. I know this is quixotic, but hey, I said "on some level." The poll numbers (knock on wood) suggest that a lot of Americans -- even with someone they need to trust more than current politicians leads one to -- expect more too. In effect, too many agree McCain has become a sad character, one leading to the likes of William F. Buckley Jr.'s son and the like finding him a no go. Various examples, other than Sarah Palin, can be supplied. She's up there surely, but back to the debate. Here's something that pissed me off:
We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.
"One of the greatest frauds?" They register loads of people to vote and a tiny number (single digit percentages) of the registrations might be problematic. I'm not sure this matches the history of depriving blacks the right to vote by various illicit means. This aspect of the "history" of this country is where the disgust comes in. The disdain comes in also to the degree of all the other, including in recent history, examples of voter fraud. Plus the fact Obama has little real connection to the group. This involves the right to vote. What a bastard.
[BTW, think getting a driver's license or non-driver's id is a piece of cake? Check this out. I researched this for someone with a job, bank account, is registerd to vote, but has no government picture id. Just getting an official copy of the birth certificate might be problematic.]
Just again, the example of the eloquence of Senator Obama. He's health for the mother. You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything.
That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health."
Yeah, health. Nice picture of a child born because of a health of the woman rule. More here, but the air quotes hits it home. Then, there is the Ayers B.S. A number of people -- up the mayor of Chicago -- worked with and praised this former 1960s radical. Republicans included. How about the shot at his wife being in the same firm as Ayers' wife ... and thousands of others? Now repeated outlets (see, e.g., the NYT) suggest "Joe" the plumber leaves something to be desired too. And, McCain is just full of shit on taxes too. [Just one example.]
Honestly, I want someone on the other side that I can have a bit of respect for, someone that doesn't make me nauseous. Someone who has the honor and decency not to let his (or her) ambitions lead to this sort of thing. I expect too much, huh? A few babies cry that Obama is flawed, so I just have to vote for someone 10x worse (I put aside the third party brigade, but the leader of the Nader** and Green Party candidates do leave something to be desired all the same) or focus on some b.s. reason to ignore the fact. This only leaves to more of the same.
And/or, a lot of muckracking on blogs.
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* The Phillies have become the Braves -- the fact the Mets owned them this year didn't help much. Note that the Yanks mostly took care of the Rays too. It helped that the Cubs collapsed; they very well might have been no match for the Phillies too, but probably would have played better than the Dodgers.
** A member of the "Nader Party" and having about as many supporters, though Democracy Now! keeps on putting him on as some grand alternative voice (the gentlelady who even black Dems felt went too far, now leading up the Greens, is not a grand alternative either), as the leader of the "Lieberman Party."