Gosh, look at all this amazing new stuff we taxpayers own since we started saving the economy! Manchester United Football Club, Bear Stears, Fannie & Freddie…
What? You mean… we’re not following Dennis Kucinich’s sensible-sounding proposal to give Americans partial ownership of institutions receiving bailout money? Hmph! So, I can’t spend my tax dollars to fund environmental protection, social services, health care, education, public transportation or alternative energy, but I still get to pay for an insane war and bail out multi-gazillionaires? Well, gee. Thanks.
Still, last week’s financial plunge was only one element of an astonishing barrage of breaking news — just more fuel for the fiery and, dare I say, colorful Obama – McCain contest. Ok, it’s old news and well-reported, but my eyes are still wide, my jaw is still resting on the floor. It was a simply incredible series of events, and I simply must join the multitude of re-cappers.
It started with McCain and Palin intensifying the fear/hate component of their anti-Obama campaign (as evidenced by the fact that a flat 100% of McCain’s Wisconsin TV ads were “negative” ads impugning Obama’s character and questioning his loyalty to the nation; not even 30 seconds of promo on the Republican candidate’s policies and positions). The McC/P effort to “consolidate their base” by smearing Obama incited the crowds at their rallies to a frenzy of mob mentality. As their supporters got ugly, McC and MsP got uglier, allowing blatantly racist invectives and threats of violence to go unchecked and unanswered.
Until their tactics backfired.
I can’t remember it happening before. Not ever. People think in pictures, so it’s the slimy images voters remember, not who threw the slime.
Only this slime somehow stuck on the McCain/Palin base; it triggered overtly racist and hostile reactions from pro-McCain/Palin crowds. Not pretty. Americans may be racist, but we don’t like to think of ourselves that way. We may be war-mongers, but the looming Depression has piqued our interest in the country’s economic health.
The icing on the cake? Friday evening, as the stock market closed its door on its worst week ever, Palin was found guilty of abusing her gubernatorial powers in the pursuit of personal ends — a decision that could lead to censure or impeachment. That same day, McCain capitulated to poor poll numbers and media pressure (pressure not just from left and mainstream media, but from right-wing pundits and commentators) to show some honor and decency and stop using his “town-hall” meetings to foment hatred and suspicion in a nation with a long and bloody history of racially-motivated assassinations.
A couple of months ago, when the conversation turned to the news of the day, my stomach would crunch into a knot and I’d flee the room. The night before last, I stayed up talking politics till 2:00am. Seems thrashing through the seas of financial disaster amid the wrack of political storms has wrought a sea-change upon me.