Lipstick and pigs

How fun! Lipstick on a Pig. No doubt if you have been anywhere near a television lately you are aware that Barack Obama, speaking of McCain’s policies, referred to them as being basically Bush policies that were being dressed up by “putting lipstick on a pig.” The McCain campaign immediately responded by claiming Obama was talking about Sarah Palin and that this was a kind of personal and gender insult. This interpretation, being pushed by McCain, is totally far-fetched. It is perfectly clear that Obama was not speaking of Palin in any way. Why then, would McCain be so sensitive about it and respond with such emotion. Most seem to think it is because McCain wants to keep from having to discuss any serious issues, which may well be true. He does gain a couple days of relief from discussing anything of importance by this absurd interpretation. Given the fact that McCain doesn’t seem to think too clearly these days, could it be the case that he is so sensitive about such a statement because it could well be true. Metaphorically speaking, you could very easily say that the McCain campaign, by selecting an individual clearly not qualified for the job, is trying to put lipstick on that individual to make it appear that he/she is qualified. This says nothing about Palin’s personal appearance or physical characteristics, merely that she is not qualified and is trying to be prettied up. Obama pointed out an alternative explanation that could also be a perfectly reasonable interpretation. Namely, that Palin is herself the lipstick they are trying to put on the McCain campaign. McCain himself commonly employs this phrase, indeed, according to his daughter, he uses it quite a lot. He once used it in connection with Hillary Clinton’s failed health care plan. No one at the time interpreted it to be a reference to Hillary herself. I think McCain may feel guilty because he knows that is what he is trying to do with the Palin pick, and is therefore so overly sensitive he jumped to conclusions. But maybe not.

It seems to be common knowledge, at least among those who follow these things more closely than most, that the McCain campaign has degenerated into one of the sleaziest, slimiest, most despicable rovian attacks ever. Trying to link Obama to child molesters because he favored a bill (that failed) to protect children from predators is about as low as it gets. He lies blatantly in his ads about Obama’s tax plans, uses 9/11 as a political tool, and has even attacked Michelle Obama (so far he has spared the Obama children). It is also common knowledge that McCain is doing this because he has no defense whatsoever for the Bush/Cheney administration and their record of dismal failure on all fronts. As he has no record of accomplishments of any kind he has to resort to this sleazy, disgusting campaign. And as Palin appears to have some potential undesirable baggage, and is so clearly unfit for the vice-presidency, they have to keep her under wraps (this didn’t prevent her from making the mistake of thinking Fannie and Freddie were government entitites). But if McCain/Palin are so bad, how is it they seem to be running neck and neck with Obama/Biden? I have been pondering this for the past few days and I confess I cannot understand it. McCain is a terrible candidate for President in many ways. Palin is a terrible candidate for Vice-President in many ways. So how do they apparently manage to do so well in the polls? It could be, as I mentioned previously, the polls are being manipulated to keep the race fairly close because otherwise it would be too difficult to steal it outright as they have done in the past. The polls could be easily manipulated by the corporate powers that be. Another explanation that has crossed my mind is even more terrible than the above. It might be the case that after almost eight years of Bush/Cheney the voting public can no longer distinguish between lies and the truth. Bush/Cheney and their supporters have seldom told the truth about anything and have, in fact, lied outrageously. The MSM has never challenged them on this. We have lost the so-called Fourth Estate which has developed into nothing short of partisan hacks just repeating whatever they are told to repeat. Lies repeated often enough come to be believed. Now when McCain and others repeat their lies no one knows whether they are lies or not. It was primarily the MSM that did in Al Gore and John Kerry and they are going to do it again to Obama if they can. It might not work this time, partly because of the internet and partly because they have at last been losing credibility.

During my lifetime the basic distinction between the Republicans and Democrats has been pretty simply that the former have always favored business and the latter have always favored labor. But there was never a time when both parties, however much they differed, did not have the well-being of the nation in mind. For the first time we have a corporate culture so strong and influential that one party is willing to sacrifice even the national interest to maintain it. What was always the Republican party has changed into nothing less than a criminal conspiracy, the Bush/Republican mafia (Brafia), dedicated to maintaining power and wealth for themselves, forever, if possible. Brafia interests take precedence over all others, even those of our nation. The military/industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about has now become the military/industrial/political complex and is not going to relinquish power easily. The McCain/Palin campaign is one demonstration of this. The fact that they are at this very moment scheming to purge voter rolls and tune up their voting machines are others.

LKBIQ:
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
Friedrich Nietzsche