To Debate, or Not To Debate...

While on a recent trip to DC - home of the terminally self-absorbed - I passed through a gift shop with a sense of humor. Among the offerings was a coffee mug: one side was a drawing of a shadowy figure in obvious disguise, and the other contained this message:
WHEN CONFRONTED
1. ADMIT NOTHING
2. DENY EVERYTHING
3. DEMAND PROOF
4. MAKE COUNTER-ALLEGATIONS
5. ACCUSE SOMEONE ELSE

The shadowy figure could easily be replaced by caricatures of candidates for President of the United States. And this year, the candidate with the most "experience" has the most need of this strategy.

From his refusal to release his complete medical history ("Admit nothing") to his self-proclaimed status as a maverick ("Deny everything" - apparently voting with Bush only 90% of the time means voting against Bush 10 % of the time - woo! - some maverick!), John McCain has nothing to gain and everything to lose in a debate that may or may not happen this evening.

Unfortunately for me, I won't know until late in the evening whether or not there was a debate. During its time slot, I will be working at $8.50 and hour, selling dowdy clothing to middle-aged, middle class women in Macomb County, Michigan - birthplace of Reagan Democrats.

I do this for a variety of reasons. My most recent paycheck was sent it its entirety to an unemployed friend in Florida, to give her another week or so to find a (non-existent) job and not be put out on the street or under a freeway bridge. You see, unemployment isn't just an issue in the Rust Belt. There are no jobs. Anywhere.

During the Bush Administration, a conservative estimate is that 400,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the State of Michigan. If you are reading this in another state and/or driving a car produced by a manufacturer whose corporate offices are somewhere other than the United States, let me explain to you what that means:

400,000 lost manufacturing jobs means that 1.6 million people who once had health insurance no longer do.

The health implications are, of course, enormous. That means that necessary treatment is not happening. And don't even think about preventative health measures.

Above and beyond those 400,000 now-jobless people and their covered dependants, are millions of others who are affected by their joblessness. For instance, no health insurance means no patients in medical or dental practices. No patients in these practices means layoffs of health-care staff, fewer supplies purchased, diminished disposable income. Diminished disposable income for health-care professionals means fewer haircuts, restaurant meals, new sneakers for the kids.

Have I hit something in your home state yet?

Right now, my $8.50/hour seems like a godsend. The fact that I have a job at all, like a true miracle.

Of course, I am not allowed to express my political opinions while on the job. But nothing prevents me from listening to what is said by customers - predominantly white women. And it isn't pretty.

I will readily admit that people in Michigan might well be tougher...harder...more cynical...than people in many other places in the country. The weather, the grind of working on the line, the mocking from pretty people from places like California and Colorado tends to thicken the skin. Maybe even dull the senses. But know this: just because I live within 1000 feet of a foreign country does not delude me into thinking I am an expert on foreign policy - as McCain's VP Candidate seems to feel her geographic proximity to Russia does.

And the tough, hard, cynical white women of Macomb County - former Reagan Democrats - both know and understand this.

The polls might now show it. Yet. But if McCain is smart (notice I said "if"), he will skip the debate, and quickly grab the shadowy disguise on the front of the DC coffee mug and disappear into the night...because the strategy on the back won't work. Not this time.

Children

Every year when the semester begins, someone posts a list of things with which the current crop of college freshmen would be UNacquainted. Here is my very unofficial list of things that have been lost since this year's second graders were born:

The Bill of Rights of the US Constitution
Under the guise of Homeland Security, all those ethical issues which we felt held our country morally superior to others on this planet have been rescinded or otherwise subsumed by the White House...the same White House that has made the phrase "big government" an obscene term, despite growing the government larger than anyone ever dreamed possible.

Retirement
Once the expected benefit of all middle class people, it will no longer be an option to Baby Boomers who have not already achieved such status. Between the loss of employer-paid or sponsored benefits, the collapse of the stock market (where those who were lucky enough to have some, invested their retirement funds), the collapse of the housing market (everyone's favorite "hedge fund"), and the hardships that are about to be created by the inevitable bailout caused by Wall Street greed, my husband and I - as well as our peers - anticipate working until dementia takes over.

The National Anthem
Already lost to our children is any Christmas song touching on the birth of Christ - although grandmas and reindeer are still acceptable. Since 9-11, not only has the Anthem not become a patriotic rallying cry, but it has been reduced to "that thing that some semi-famous person slaughters before a sporting event begins". Our children no longer know the words nor the tune - and our adults don't care. (Just watch a hockey game from Canada to be reminded of what this used to be like here.)

Two-Parent Families
Although it still takes one person from each gender to make a baby, the idea that there might be something important to be learned from this concept is lost on this generation. The number of children growing up in a home where each child is biologically related to both parents in the home has become statistically insignificant. And the notion that a baby born to a teen-aged mother might have a chance at a better life if adopted by a stable, mature, married couple is now even rejected by the evangelical candidate for Vice President on the Republican ticket.

Personal Responsibility
There are no consequences. No one is allowed to lose or fail. "Mistake" and "bad choice" now mean the same thing. Just watch the current President fly off to his ranch on January 20, 2009 - financially secure and with no children in military service risking their lives to clean up his messes - to see the prime example.

This is just a quick list from me. Can you think of others?

Lipstick on a Republican

Sara Palin made a joke during the Republican National Convention. (And who knew Republicans had a sense of humor?) She said the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick. There are many variations on this theme. As a former liturgist, our variation was that the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist is that you can negotiate with a terrorist. Whatever. (And if you have no idea what a liturgist does in the Roman Catholic Church, don't bother trying to figure it out, because it will give you a headache.)

Again, I did a superficial search of the phrase "lipstick on a pig". Barak Obama is being castigated for his use of this phrase...apparently because Palin used the word "lipstick", and now has copyrighted all its uses in the English language. Guess what? Between October 13 and November 1, 2004, Vice President and MRS. Dick Cheney used the phrase at least 4 times in various speeches from Hawaii to Michigan to Ohio to Pennsylvania, referring to John Kerry. And less than a year ago, John McCain used the phrase when referring to Hillary Clinton's health care proposals.

Now, Class...let's be clear about this:
#1. I deliberately termed my search "superficial", because that should indicate to you that I found only the most obvious uses, and a more in-depth search would likely reveal more. Actually, I never even got past page one of a google search for the instances cited.
#2. Republican spin masters are endeavoring to label this is a sexist attack of Obama on Palin, ignoring the fact that a Republican woman - Mrs. Cheney - used the phrase about John Kerry, as well as the Republican Presidential candidate - John McCain - using it about Hillary Clinton. And the last time I looked, despite her pant suits, she is still a woman.
#3. This type of obfuscation should be recognized as the Republican tactic used in the last campaign, named "swift-boating", for deflecting attention away from real issues and onto fluff.

I have to admit being barely able to type at this point. In 2004, John Kerry ran an almost successful campaign for president. Kerry, a man who served this country in combat conditions in the same war that earned John McCain "hero" status, lost the election - at least in part - because a man who couldn't even prove he showed up for all his National Guard sessions convinced his lackeys that Kerry's service was not medal-worthy. Huh?????

Now, because the tactic was so successful, Republicans are trying it again. Forget that Obama was talking about failed Republican programs being recycled by McCain. Nope. The word "lipstick" was used, so they're going to run with it, as a sexist blast of Palin. And the worst part is that there are millions of mindless people out there who will believe this outright lie.

And while we're on the subject of Palin and lies.....

In the same hockey mom/pit bull speech, Palin commented on the 18 million cracks that Hillary Clinton had put in the glass ceiling, and how she (Palin) was going to shatter it. This one in particular, is for you Hillary Haters. For 19 months Hillary campaigned and took all the sexist garbage that was aimed at her. And there was a great deal of it, and you said if she wanted to be President she had to learn how to deal with it. Now any implication of negativity about Palin is viewed as heresy? Gimme a break! What's fit for the goose is...fit for the goose.

Or would that be...pig?

NOT Part 2

Not exactly, anyway.

Earlier today I read a blog about how the Dems were blowing the election. Let me add my two cents.

This "small island" is in the Detroit area. Every morning while drinking my coffee I listen to a local news radio station. Every morning there are radio spots for Obama...several...but always just repeats of the same spot. Every morning the spot is about abortion.

Part 2 was actually going to be about abortion. I did an extremely superficial search of the CDC website, and came up with the statistic that in 2004, there were 839,226 legal abortions in the US. I had intentions of working with that number, to demonstrate how it is really statistically insignificant, when it comes to choosing a "single issue" - if such is the mindset (or NONmindset) of the voter.

But I am beyond "statistically insignificant" and now believe the repeated use of this spot over other possible issues is nothing but stupid. And not only stupid, but playing into the hands of the opposition.

Those of us who live here call all of southeastern lower Michigan by the generic name of "Detroit". So...this is Detroit, for God's sake, and we have more important things to worry about than whether or not McCain/Palin will propose a Constitutional amendment to ban abortion!!!!

Hello? Has anyone noticed that hundreds of thousands of people here have lost their health insurance during the Bush administration? Does anyone running the Obama campaign realize how much unemployment has increased here in the last 7.5 years? How many of our jobs have gone off-shore? How many homes foreclosed here? We're too damn busy trying to keep food on the table to worry about abortion as the key issue in this election. An issue? Yes! But way down the list of what would or would not attract an independent voter in Michigan.

To quote a recently-famous Democrat: IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!!!!!!!

If Obama's people keep running an abortion spot to the exclusion of all other issues - particularly the economic one that dominates all of our waking hours - this birthplace of Reagan Democrats will spawn a new generation of such, and we will have another 4...if not 8...years of cronyism, stagnation, and stupidity.

Wake up, people!!!!!

Don't Be Duped - Part 1

Class, pandering to a "single issue voter" is dubious at best, and being one is just over the top.

As we knew it would, abortion has reared it's ugly political head. Just the word sends both sides into a frenzy of sign-making. Whatever side of the issue is yours, take a deep breath and consider:

Both sides have needed it to remain an issue, and for the crass-est (is that a word?) of reasons... because people who vote on that issue and that issue alone - without a single thought to whatever else a candidate stands for or condemns - get candidates elected. No brain power expended on the voters' parts. No serious effort to convince expended on the candidate's part. Just chalk up another vote and move on. Do you seriously think it was anyone but the single-issue voters of Ohio who ultimately put George Bush into the White House in 2004 over John Kerry?

How do I know this, you may ask. Read on.

Recently, John McCain said that he favors a Constitutional amendment, making abortion illegal. While not a simple process, it is certainly more direct than waiting for Supreme Court justices to die, and hoping that there is a pro-life President in office to appoint a like-thinking new justice. And it is a process that has been available since the very instant the court decided on Roe v. Wade. How many years is that?

If all those politicians who have been put into Congress and the White House by single-issue voters had spent a couple of years working on this amendment right after Roe v. Wade, it would now be a moot point - one way or another. Remember how quickly the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned, as it was rejected at almost light-speed? But in fact, they didn't use this route, instead preferring to use the "dead Supreme Court justice" tactic. Using that tactic, the first substantive case on abortion is wending its way to this Supreme Court, and may arrive there sometime late in the next President's first term. Maybe even later than that - thereby keeping it alive as an issue for yet another presidential election.

So, while abortion may be a gut issue for you, for politicians it is just a way to assure themselves a certain portion of the electorate with no effort expended. That, Class, is my take on those running for office in this manner. Stay tuned for my thoughts on those who vote in this manner!

Recess!

So you THINK you're Pro Life.....

With the selection of Sara Palin as VP candidate on the GOP ticket, the issue of abortion once again raises its head. She calls herself an "anti-abortion feminist". Okay - at least she keeps the terminology clear. But for the rest of us, Class, a lesson in semantics.

First - Anti-abortion DOES NOT EQUAL "Pro Life". And here's why: the ability to abort one specific life ends once a fetus has been removed from the uterus - alive or otherwise. Life, on the other hand, continues for years or decades beyond the delivery room...or not.

Fellow Roman Catholics, listen up. Because any minute now Church leaders will be endeavoring to make this into yet another single-issue election, all the while muddling the single issue. And even if you are not Catholic - perhaps not even a believer - the distinctions still apply.

Pro Life:
Webster's defines the terms thusly:
"pro" - (adv.) in favor: for
"life" - (n.) 1. the quality that distinguishes a vital and functioning being from a dead body or inanimate matter (emphasis mine)

The Roman Catholic Church states that to be Pro-Life, one is committed to preserving and defending life from conception to natural death. Uh huh...

So that means that, to be considered Pro Life a person must necessarily:
--insist that the infant and her mother receive adequate and affordable healthcare throughout their lives
--pay taxes to provide an education that makes the child competitive in the global job market
--establish the means to obtain safe and affordable housing, and punish predatory lending practices on the part of banks and other financial institutions

I could go on. Healthcare, education, and housing, are, after all, necessities of life.

Being Pro Life means the environment must be preserved, and natural resources used wisely and distributed fairly.

Being Pro Life means that Iraqi children have as much right to be "vital and functioning" as American children do.

Being Pro Life means that those approaching retirement need not fear that their hard-earned retirement funds will somehow disappear into a cloud of management greed.

Do you get it, Class? Too often people proclaim themselves Pro Life, yet don't give a damn what happens to that life once it has gone beyond the hospital delivery room. It simply doesn't work that way. If I am Pro Life, then I am for the person throughout life.

These are tough decisions, because they involve a financial and moral cost to me. They involve a commitment to my fellow human beings for longer than 9 months - and we have such a short attention span! But I cannot, in good conscience, call myself Pro Life if all I am interested in is anti-abortion.

As Americans we used to be so much better than that!