Why Don't The Rabid Anti-Obamites Just Tell it Like it Is?

Over the course of the last two years as Barrack Obama has moved to the forefront of American politics, we have seen an increasing number of attempts to discredit him in some way. All are obvious as to their goal. Those who would advance these ideas are trying, of course, to influence the vote in favor of John McCain...or are they? Could it be that they really don't care who the next president is, as long as it isn't Obama?

There is the "fake" birth certificate, which, according to those who have compared it to other Hawaiian birth certificates, is identical to all others. Then there is the "Obama is a terrorist" label. I saw a car yesterday festooned with a dozen or so stickers, one of which read "Vote Obama Bin Laden." Along with terrorist we then add "Muslim." It is a given that if you are a Muslim, then it would follow that you are a terrorist. These labels are very easy to attribute to Obama because of his name and because his father was born Muslim.

Many groups including the Republican party and the McCain campaign are of course guilty of using these slanderous labels in a sly way to describe Obama. I have asked myself many times, why are they working so hard? Why do they seem to hate this man so much? Some, like the man in line in PA with his monkey, named Obama, are open and obvious. Others cover up their real reason with Muslim, terrorist, communist or the fake birth certificate. They are too "nice" to say what they really mean.

When you hear these Anti-Obamites say that this is the scariest election in the history of the United States, they mean one thing and only one thing. Barrack Obama is BLACK . They aren't scared of his policies. They know that what he says makes sense. It is obvious to them that this man is intelligent and well organized. Many of them claim to be Christians. Of course, the southern slave owners claimed to be Christians as well. They simply do not want the president of the United States to be an African-American. For them it is the end of life as they have known it. For the first time in our history there will be a man of a different race in charge, and they are simply scared out of their wits. I'm sure that somewhere in the book of Revelations, someone can point to a verse that says that the United States is forever to be a "white" nation.

The Republicans are playing this racist fear of Obama to the hilt. They are using all the right words and phrases to attract these people and to get their votes. They know what they are doing, and they know that racism is at the heart of so much of the anti-Obama sentiment. The bottom line is the simple fact the McCain and the Republican party are so pent upon retaining the power that they have had for the last forty years and particularly the last eight years, that they will do or say anything to get the vote. They will prey upon every fear they can muster.

On The Daily Show last night Obama handled this issue with class and humor. When asked by Jon Stewart if because he is half white, half African is he torn when he goes into the voting booth, Obama replied that "it is a problem, I'm going through therapy to make sure that I vote correctly." It would appear that there are many millions in this country who need that therapy. They need to learn that this country has changed. We, the Caucasian population, are soon to be in the minority. We can work with other ethic groups to make the transition smooth and peaceful or we can be Neanderthals and fight it. We can fight it, but we can't win it. The train is at full speed and we can't stop it. As the modern saying goes, "deal with it," and get on with life.

The Republicans' Banzai Charge

As we watch the last desperate attempts by McCain and Palin to win the election, and this election is far from over, we hear more and more lies and innuendo. McCain and his Bimbo have turned from the "terrorist" scam to a more outdated 'ism, but still effective with those voters, who lived through the Cold War. Now Obama, according to Palin, will bring us a dangerous, "communist" state. Say what? At the first of the week it was socialism, but by midweek it has descended to communism. What the end of the week will bring, one can only guess. Fascism? Islamic fundamentalist communist socialism? Did I leave anything out?

We are hearing desperate Republican congressional candidates fabricating their opponents' voices in ads. The lies get worse, the accusations even more slanderous. These rogues fear that their regime may be coming to an end and their power taken away by an electorate tired of their bad policies and right wing rhetoric. As the days go by they become more rabid and more afraid.

This last ditch effort is not unlike a desperate army beaten and bedraggled, but still rabidly brainwashed in to believing that only they are right. If they don't win, it will be the end of life as they know it. Finally, they make one last effort, gathering all of their resources in an attempt to break the enemy's will to fight and make them turn tail and run. Hitler did it with the Battle of the Bulge in WW II. The Japanese did it on the Pacific Islands as they were beaten into submission by U.S. forces. They would often tank up on liquor to raise their level of courage and then make that one final charge to a violent end, yelling banzai.

These last few days are the Republicans' banzai charge. Their glorious eight year rule may be coming apart. They are desperate. Some of the intelligentsia have already defected to the enemy, drawing the everlasting scorn of their former colleagues. Some are beginning to fight among themselves and resort to name calling and accusations. They are trying to gather their forces for one last glorious charge to November 4. They have their bayonets fixed and bandoleers of ammo over their shoulders. As they run, they yell Communist! Socialist! Terrorist! They are desperate to change voters' minds and to put fear into their hearts as they tear toward that final day of reckoning on Tuesday.

If they lose, and some will, they will tuck their tails and limp home in defeat, dreaming of the days when they will rise again and bring back the glorious days of Bush. The days of Constitution stomping, war mongering, and the driving of the economy into the ground. A day when they can grind their enemies into the dust, calling them names and making up lies to keep them in their place. A time when they can hold fear and hate over the heads of the electorate as they push their agenda through Congress.

But who will lead them? The beauty queen from the cold north? The suave sophisticate from the auto-state? The suspect "foreigner" from the bayous? Maybe there is someone waiting to rise and be crowned the new leader of this gang. We will have to wait to see what Tuesday brings us and continue to hope and pray that this charge is broken and defeat isn't yanked from jaws of victory by the onslaught of lies and mudslinging.

Expect the Unexpected?

Yesterday, I got up a littler earlier than usual because I had a meeting at 10 a.m....or so I thought. I arrived at the Old Courthouse for a meeting with the county building inspector and the president of the Union County Historical Society to discuss our plans to install a small elevator. However, I found that the meeting wasn't until 12:30 p.m. I had two and one half hours to kill.

No problem, I headed for the library to return some books and find some good reading for the week ahead. I also had some shopping to do at The Home Depot for electrical supplies to wire and install lights in our newly installed suspended ceiling in the basement. Then there was a deliciously unhealthy double stack and a "co-cola" (Georgian for Coca Cola) at Wendy's.

I arrived back at the Courthouse in time for our short meeting, which started a half hour late. We got the information we needed, told a few stories, and I was ready to go home and work. Not! The president of the historical society is a musician and singer. He had been asked to sing at the funeral of a 97 year old lady, whom I didn't know. The funeral was to take place in just over half an hour, and he had also agreed to video it for a relative, who wasn't able to attend. You guessed it. He asked me if I could help out.

Now, I was in jeans and a fleece because it was chilly out with temp of about 48 and a stiff wind blowing. Not exactly funeral dress. We rushed out to his house to get the camera and returned to the funeral home with about ten minutes to spare. I found a spot from which to film, spoke to a couple of friends who happened to be there and settled in to my job.

It turned out that the deceased had been married to my aunt Essie's twin brother, Esker. Good old southern Appalachian names, I suppose. Essie and Esker. I never knew Esker, but my aunt Essie was a trial. She married my father's brother way back when, and I hated to go to their house, because she was a kisser. You know the kind of aunt I'm talking about. She always needed some "sugar" from her nephew. Lord, how I hated to undergo that. All these memories flooded back as I listened to the pastor.

At any rate, it was soon over. Of course the service was underway, and my friend was singing the first song, when I discovered that the camera was on standby. It was a very small digital video camera and hard to hold steady for a long period of time. I hope the person who has to view it can figure out what was going on. Maybe it will appear to be a funeral.

The first thing my friend said after the service was, "I'll bet when you woke up this morning, you never dreamed that you would be videoing a funeral before the day was over." You can count on that. It was definitely a different experience, but what the heck, every day has to be an adventure or life would be dull.