Saturday, October 4, 2008

Thirty Days and Counting

In about thirty days, the voters of this country go to the polls to elect the 44th president of the United States. The decision will affect all of us for at least four years and possibly longer. I say longer, because our current president's bad fiscal judgment and horrendous foreign policy has put this nation in a very precarious position that will effect us for years to come. As I get closer to retirement, I wonder if I'll be able to afford it. My question for all of those voters is: Are you still thinking seriously about voting for John McCain, that rebel maverick, and his pit bull, hockey mom, VP candidate, Sarah Palin? To listen to John and Sarah in their respective "debates" you would think both belong to some mythical third party because they sure weren't acknowledging that they had anything to do with the Republicans who held office for the last eight years.

If you haven't made your decision yet, think about these facts.
First, John McCain, as a prisoner of war, gave aid and comfort to the enemy in the way of giving military information and participating in radio broadcasts for the communists and meeting with communist delegations that including the Cubans. These matters never reached a military court even though other soldiers in similar situations were court martialed. In 1989, US Senator, John McCain, was one of five US Senators accused of corruption as part of the Savings and Loan scandal. Known as the Keating Five, only 2 of the five managed to save their political careers. One was McCain, the other John Glenn. Miraculous what name recognition will do for you. Even today, John McCain calls himself a maverick despite the fact that he has supported George W. Bush on almost every political decision in the last eight years. Yes to tax cuts for the highest economic brackets, yes to war in Iraq based on false intelligence. He voted against bills supporting women's rights in the area of reproduction, including the Teen Pregnancy Education Act. In several other matters, Mr. McCain chose the route of No Vote, perhaps so he could later say he did not support the failed policies of the Bush administration.
John McCain is also the man who didn't know how many houses he owned. Okay, we all know his wife is the one with the money, but he has been married to her since 1980--don't tell me he doesn't know how many properties she or they own. And if he truly doesn't know--are you sure you want him running the largest democratic nation in the world?
To all in public education, John McCain supports vouchers as well as charter schools and merit pay for teachers. All three ideas weaken public education in my humble opinion. Frankly, I am tired of Washington politicians telling the nation how bad our public education system is. There is NO other nation in the world who educates the masses as we do.

And now for Sarah...is there anyone in Alaska prepared to vote for her--or only those who want her out of the state? As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin, who ran on fiscal conservatism, spent an unapproved $50,000 to remodel her office. She attempted to fire the city librarian because she refused to comply with Ms. Palin's censorship of certain books (this librarian blogger opposes censorship). As governor, Palin supported the "bridge to nowhere" appropriation until it became a national joke and even then, kept the money in Alaska. So much for being fiscally responsible and cutting down on pork barrel expenditures. Ms. Palin attended five colleges and universities in six years before receiving a degree in journalism. Apparently in all that time she did not work on a school paper, or do anything else journalism related. And apparently that journalism education did not help her in her interview with Katie Couric where she came off as naive, uneducated, small minded conservative--who later reported on FOX that she didn't like Katie's questions--that she simply wanted to inform the public, in an unfiltered way, of what would happen if Barack Obama became president. The public would like to hear what Palin and McCain offer, but they never talk about that--mostly because they have nothing to say.
Frankly, Sarah Palin, master of folksy phrases like 'you betcha,''straight up,' and 'darn,' scares the 'heck' out of me. She is totally unqualified to be vp let alone slipping into the presidency should something happen to McCain.

Join me at the polls on November 4. Let's make sure that we really do bring CHANGE to Washington politics and our national government.

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