Myth of the Maverick

John McCain portrays himself as a maverick, the guy who's not afraid to go against his party. (He also says "friends" far too much.) In reality, McCain's record shows him to be reckless and dishonest.

Tim Dickinson, of Rolling Stone, lays out the full details.

Why I have lost faith in Barrack Obama

This article says it well.

With less than a week to go until the Democrats officially nominate Obama at their convention in Denver, and with barely two-and-a-half months until the election, the candidate’s speech underscores a stark political reality confronting the American people. Once again this November, the two-party system will offer no means of expressing the massive popular opposition to war, but rather an empty choice between two big business candidates who are committed to the expanded use of militarism in pursuit of US corporate and financial interests.

On issues after issue, from Iraq to the economy, Obama has become a party parrot. Obama and McCain are no longer candidates, no longer men with opinions and beliefs. They are bags of meat, stuffed with the same old bullshit we've seen before. We do not have a choice in this election. We do not have a voice. We have only a familiar illusion--The Power Of The People--to comfort us from the harsh truth. Populism is dead. The voice of the majority means nothing without the cash to back it up. And with John McCain and Barrack Obama taking money from the same people, the next four years in this country will look the same no matter who wins. The fallout from eight years of mismanagement, reckless spending, and a foreign policy reminiscient of a five year-old in a sandbox will hit the country hard. And it won't be the CEOs on Wall Street or the Beuracrats in Washington who pay for it. The burdens of eight years of failure will fall squarely on us, the common people.

Obama promises Change We Can Believe In. But until he delivers change we can see and feel and touch, actual change, he isn't worth shit. The only thing about Barrack Obama that is any different from any other would-be President is the color of his skin. And although his candidacy is an important step forward for this country--as was Hillary Clinton's--it won't put food on anyone's table.

I'll still vote for Obama in November. Because when it comes time to nominate a new Supreme Court Justice, he is likely to nominate someone who won't try to overturn Roe V. Wade or undermine the Establishment Clause, the kind of people Bush put on the bench, and the sort John McCain is also likely to pick.

Is McCain another George W. Bush?

Yes.

The end is particulary adept. Frames the current shitstorm surrounding our country---Bush's legacy to the Union.

Saddleback

On Saturday, McCain and Obama met at Saddleback Church in the OC to answer Pastor Rick Warren's questions in a Civil Forum. It was an interesting exchange (you can see video of it here). Warren talked about worldview a lot. And those of you who know me can imagine how much I enjoyed that discussion.

The real gem for me had to be when McCain was speaking about marriage and said he was a federalist, he believes state's should decide issues like marriage, but that if his home state of Arizona decided to permit gay marriage (by the rights he just said they should have), he would then support a marriage amendment. In other words, "I'll leave people alone--until they do what I don't want them to do." The illusion of freedom strikes again. His comment "I don't believe in class-warfare" is perfect evidence of why I won't vote for him (even though, for the record, Obama doesn't thrill me). McCain, true to his party, refuses to acknowledge the realities of this country. Rather than admit the fact that every other industrial nation in the world has instituted universal healthcare and it has worked, he totes out the party line: "The government shouldn't take over healthcare", falsely equating universal healthcare to some sort of Stalinism

This whole exchange can't help but make me think of the debate that didn't happen. A debate that could not be more important to the present and future of this nation.

The only scientific issues discussed at Saddleback:
--stem cell research
--John McCain citing $3-million spent to study the DNA of bears in Montana as a misuse of taxpayer money. Of course, he never talked about what that research was doing. He simply dismissed it, affording no thought to the science at work, and took advantage of a cheap laugh line about bear paternity tests.