Post Election Tensions

Exuberant after the election, I returned home from my Congressman's victory watch party and found that there were several op-ed pieces already published online. Being inspired I wrote my own post about the election.

And then I shared the following in a email to my co-workers:

Two hundred and thirty-two years after Thomas Jefferson penned the words
within the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness", we have elected an African-American as the 44th POTUS
all the while many asked if our nation was ready for such a thing. So deeply run
the scars of our inhumanity towards each other caused by slavery and the lack of
respect for life that this injustice has wrought, we still today have to ask if
we are ready for a black man to be president. Maybe it is fitting that this man,
son of a white woman from Kansas "the Free State" in the heart of America and a
black man from the distant shores of Kenya in the continent from which slaves
were brought to this land, should unite us in the understanding that all people
are indeed created equal. The blood of both races flows through his veins. How
symbolic, how right, how just is it that Barack Hussein Obama II should be the
first black man to stand in the office of President of the United States
signaling the final breaking down of the wall caused by the injustice of
slavery.

Many will still ask this question and we may see difficult times in
future days as our nation absorbs the significance of this election. It is my
prayer that we as a nation and as individuals live out the words Thomas
Jefferson was so ardent to add to the Declaration and that we embody the
sentiment, "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." Our nation is a beacon
set upon a hill and the eyes of the world are upon us. May the "someday that we
shall overcome" be this very one.

And in the spirit of his campaign the people answered, "YES WE
CAN!"

I received many thankful and complementary emails but was also reported to HR and had to have a discussion with my manager.

I had been low-key at work about the election except for a single campaign button on my purse. We have a casual dress code and yesterday I was wearing an Obama campaign t-shirt I received for walking neighborhoods in Missouri to help get out the vote. I figured the election was over so this couldn't be seen as political campaigning. And I had brought in a poster of my president which I had also just pinned up in my cube. I admit that my computer wallpaper and screen-saver had screen shots from the Obama campaign site. After the conversation, of my own choice and not the suggestion of my manager, I put on a sweater and buttoned it up to conceal my Obama t-shirt, I removed my computer wallpaper and screen saver, removed my campaign button and I sadly took down the poster of my president. I felt truly sorry that my comments had caused offense.

I didn't think at the time that I wrote my comments that they would be offensive, but that rather I was pointing out the historic significance of the election outcome. I should not have sent it realizing that McCain supporters would have been very disappointed. That was something I overlooked in my excitement over this historic event and I do feel bad about that.

However it was brought up to my attention that the complaint had to do with someone who was very religious and that I should understand how deeply religious people would feel about my comments and the election outcome.

The sad thing, is that at that moment in the conversation, I did totally understand since I had previously read James Dobson's letter from 2012. It was not until this morning that it hit me that my email had nothing to do with religion. This was a bogus argument. I could be called up for sending a message over company email about politics and that would be fair, although I was not campaigning and the election results were in and I was speaking about our president-elect in terms of the historical significance of his election. I said nothing about John McCain at all and did not offer Barack Obama as the better candidate.

I myself am a deeply religious person. Of course that is irrelevant to the conversation except that was a reason given for my email being offensive, that a deeply religious person found it so. The stretch would be to say this comment of mine brought religion into discussion, "It is my prayer that we as a nation and as individuals live out the words Thomas Jefferson was so ardent to add to the Declaration and that we embody the sentiment, "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." Our nation is a beacon set upon a hill and the eyes of the world are upon us. May the "someday that we shall overcome" be this very one."

In any case, I am repentant for causing offense to any of my co-workers. I am also deeply grieved that the religious leaders of our nation have so vilified my president to the extent that many in our nation are afraid of their future under his leadership. That is the deepest offense of all.

I confirm that I am a private citizen and in no way officially connected to the Barack Obama campaign other than personally being in support of the Obama candidacy.

Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos

Buzz it up

How the Republican Party will Self-destruct in Sixty Seconds

I predict a seismic event greater than has been seen in political history when the circular firing squads take up arms to play the blame game. The Republican party will spew out bodies with volcanic force. I cannot imagine what the party will look like in 2012, but it will not be the same.

The GOP is dumping McCain: what prominent Republicans are saying these days.
The Republican campaign strategy now involves sending their candidates to areas where everybody is a die-hard McCain supporter already. Then they yell about Obama until the crowd is so frenzied people start making threats. The rest of the country is supposed to watch and conclude that this would be an enjoyable way to spend the next four years.

Blame game: GOP forms circular firing squad: “If you really want to see what ‘going negative’ is in politics, just watch the back-stabbing and blame game that we’re starting to see,” said Mark McKinnon, the ad man who left the campaign after McCain wrapped up the GOP primary. “And there’s one common theme: Everyone who wasn’t part of the campaign could have done better.”

“The cake is baked,” agreed a former McCain strategist. “We’re entering the finger-pointing and positioning-for-history part of the campaign. It’s every man for himself now.”A circular firing squad is among the most familiar political rituals of a campaign when things aren’t going well. But it is rare for campaign aides to be so openly participating in it well before Election Day.

"thats the kind of people who really do cling to their guns and their faith."- Karl Rove

Crooks and Liars: Karl Rove Says Rural Pennsylvanians Really DO Cling To Guns and Religion By Nicole Belle

“Well, he's got a problem,” Rove replied. “[..]James Carville once famously referred to Pennsylvania as Pittsburgh on the west, Philadelphia on the east and Alabama in between. I think that was his way of sort of mimicking what John Murtha said. But it's a conservative part of the state. And then if you take the far southwestern corner, over there near Pittsburgh and the suburbs, that's coal country and that's the kind of people who really do cling to their guns and their faith.”

"I Cannot And I Will Not" Vote McCain- James Dobson

James Dobson: "Should John McCain capture the nomination, as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime."..."If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life."

"Life as we know it will end if Obama is elected." - Steve Strang
The evangelical bully pulpit is busy now trying to bully Christians to vote Republican using outrageous and irresponsible rhetoric. Along with "reigning in out-of-control spending" there is also a lot of reigning in of "off-the-ranch" christians who would dare ignore the pulpit and consider voting for Barack Obama.

Steve Strang, Strang Report: Life as we know it will end if Obama is elected. I was amazed that during the presidential debate this week Sen. John McCain didn't make the point that if Sen. Barack Obama is elected, life as we know it in many ways will end. America will be more socialized and have less free enterprise and freedom. ...Meanwhile, Christians seem almost asleep. There is no outcry! And there is a group of Bible-believing Christians who appear to have decided to overlook how dangerous Obama will be and plan to vote for him anyway. ...we must pray as never before. And we must work to wake up Christians. That is what happened late in the 2004 election—Christian leaders rallied believers, and as a result, George W. Bush was re-elected president.

Focus on the Family Action (James Dobson): Letter from 2012 in Obama's America

The 2008 election was closer than anybody expected, but Barack Obama still won. Many Christians voted for Obama – younger evangelicals actually provided him with the needed margin to defeat John McCain – but they didn’t think he would really follow through on the far-Left policies that had marked his career. They were wrong. Read More...

Associated Press. Christian right intensifies attacks on Obama, by ERIC GORSKI and RACHEL ZOLL: Like other political advocacy groups, Christian right groups often raise worries about an election's consequences to mobilize voters. In the early 1980s, for example, direct mail from the Moral Majority warned that Congress would turn a blind eye to "smut peddlers" dangling pornography to children.

"Everyone uses fear in the last part of a campaign, but evangelicals are especially theologically prone to those sorts of arguments," said Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University political scientist. "There's a long tradition of predicting doom and gloom." Read more about the outrageous scare tactics targeting Christian voters.

Circular firing squads are starting to form in the blame game.

Ben Smith, Politico: Palin allies report rising campaign tension. Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline.

Best friends always have your back: Thank God she won't have to be president on day one! - Joe Lieberman

Blame game: GOP forms circular firing squad by JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN & JOHN F. HARRIS 10/23/08 : One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides — a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.“It’s not an extraordinarily happy place to be right now,” said one senior McCain aide. “I’m not gonna lie. It’s just unfortunate."

And now let's talk about the erosion of freedom we have experienced in the past 8 years of Bush.
This will give you pause to think and it will be a lingering affect of George Bush. We can't have four more years of erroding freedom. Our country is now militarized in violoation of our constitution with miliatry troupes our our own soil to police our own people. The Pre-election Militarization of the USA.

I confirm that I am a private citizen and in no way officially connected to the Barack Obama campaign other than personally being in support of the Obama candidacy.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Buzz it up

Bloggers called out the story on Sarah Palin's daughter

I must point out that what has happened in the blogging community over Labor Day weekend is a triumph, even if a sad one, for free speech on the world-wide-web. The MSM was not willing to touch the rumors which were bubbling up about the newly named VP candidate for the Republican party, but an avid brigade of bloggers brought the news into the light of day forcing the hand of the McCain campaign to bring further disclosure of the candidate he has selected for the position of Vice President on his ticket.

And before people begin hocking disdain on bloggers, we should all step back and recognize the power of blogging to keep our press free and honest. Once in our history we had a brigade of "minute men" who watched the shores for invasion from the British as our past and paternal government began wrenching freedoms away from them one by one. Now in a reminiscent way, a new group of people, whether they realize it or not, take this stead in the arena of freedom of speech.

To realize that photos and documents were being scrubbed from public domains as quickly as bloggers were uncovering them makes me take pause to wonder about how free our Internet will remain. It is not just for the fun of it that bloggers must remain vigilant to report the news and their views daily on this very public venue.

This is how the radically right will spin this situation, but as you read this statement from the dean of the Liberty University Law School founded by the late Jerry Falwell, keep in mind that anyone taking public office puts their entire family in the spotlight. Also keep in mind that such people have been egregiously intolerant of anyone with whom they disagree. It was Jerry Falwell who said the next day after 9-11 that the attack was the fault of the ACLU, the Gay community, and a laundry list of anyone with whom he disagreed and Pat Robertson sat on the interview, nodding his head in agreement.

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, told Liz Sidoti of the AP: "We're all sinners. We all make mistakes. Certainly, the ideal is not to get pregnant out of wedlock. But she made the right decision after her mistake. It's absolutely shameful to put her child in the spotlight. She's not running for office. When someone can't face issues, they try to tear down a family."

Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family issued a beautiful statement of support and forgiveness punctuated by this statement:

"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human. They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans."

Everything that I have seen from the media thus far has been respectful of Bristol and the Palin family. I believe the American public is very sympathetic to this young woman. It is the lack of judgment of the parents and the McCain campaign in thrusting Bristol into the public limelight without properly supporting her situation that is the tragedy. It shows shame from the family and lack of trust of the American people to have the ability to understand this very human situation.

Barack Obama has responded in this way:

"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."

On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:

"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."

It would not be proper for either campaign to use such a situation for profit. However it is fair ground for the blogging community to address this issue and it is the duty of the press to report on it. Yes, this is a family issue and was a private family issue before the family entered into the public arena with Sarah Palin. The fact that her daughter is pregnant is not the vital issue here. I will point out one more time, the real issue is the manner in which the Palin family and the McCain campaign chose to handle the news about Bristol's pregnancy.

If Bristol's pregnancy would have been acknowledged with loving support as part of the families introduction to the public when Sarah Palin joined the McCain campaign this would have been a strong point for the family and the campaign. It has become a disgrace because the campaign chose to shroud Bristol in a dark dress and blanket and have her hold baby Trig during Sarah first speech to the public hoping to camouflage her condition. She was treated as if her condition is shameful. This is not a loving and supportive way to treat your daughter.

To now try to turn the tables and cast shame on the blogging community and the press for reporting on this situation is shifting responsibility from those that should have been in charge of the story: the Palin family and the McCain campaign.

I confirm that I am a private citizen and in no way officially connected to the Barack Obama campaign other than personally being in support of the Obama candidacy.

Media Reports:

In Wasilla, Pregnancy was no secret - Time
Palin's Teen Daughter is Pregnant - CNN
GOP VP Candidate's Daughter is Pregnant - MSNBC
Palin Daughter, 17, is Pregnant - USA Today
McCain's Campaign Demands Respect for Palin's Pregnant Daughter - US News
Palin Pregnancy Rocks Political World - ABC News
Palin's Daughter Pregnant - CBS news
Bristol Palin's pregnancy was an open secret back home - NY Daily News
Levi Johnston: Most Famous High-School Hockey Player of All Time - Chicago Sun Times


.
Buzz it up

Sarah Who? Just who is Sarah Palin?

Was McCain's selection of Sarah Palin a campaign gimmick or a game-changer?

My first reaction to the news was, "Sarah who?" and then it was, "Well, that's just a blatant attempt to attract Hillary supporters." But there is more to it than that.

If you are not aware of who Sarah Palin is, then you are obviously not part of the radically right movement. They love her! She has been the best campaign donation tactic yet. McCain has raised $7,000,000 in the past two days after naming her to the veep slot. And Rush Limbaugh is so happy he is quoted as saying that McCain has hit, "a home f***ing run."

McCain now calls Palin a "soul-mate." He said in an interview with Chris Wallace today on Fox News that when he first met with Palin that he met a, "partner and soul-mate."

After seeing his campaign bank account McCain is undoubtedly effervescent. Palin, which is pronounced, "Pay - lin" not "Pah - lin" is living up to her name.

First of all, I was wrong. This could not have been an attempt to grab for Hillary Clinton supporters. The women who support Hillary are all saying this in unison, "I know Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton!" No, this may seem like an olive-branch attempt to give the disenfranchised Clinton supporters their chance to shatter the glass ceiling, but it most certainly is not.

This is a desperate attempt to secure the voter base that McCain has been pandering to for months after seeing the success of the the DNC and the 76,000 people cheering in Invesco Field where it did not rain, even though one of James Dobson's cronies, Stuart Shepard of Focus on the Family, was spreading the word to their followers to "pray for rain" on the last night of the Democratic Convention.

"I'm talking 'umbrella-ain't-going-to-help-you rain," the former pastor and television meteorologist said.



In case you didn't watch the event, it was a beautiful evening in Denver, so I guess God didn't see fit to intervene on Shepard's or Dobson's behalf. God smiled on Obama and all was well.

Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer on Friday called the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "a historic moment for women and for the Republican Party as well as a choice guaranteed to energize Values Voters. This is a grand slam home run for John McCain."

"Sarah Palin is an outstanding governor, an exemplar of all that is good and true,” said RNC for Life National Chairman Phyllis Schlafly. “She is a major leader in the pro-life movement and that is main reason we chose her as our keynote speaker for our ‘Life of the Party’ party at this year’s GOP convention."

The Christian Coalition in a press release about Palin said, "Christian Coalition of America commends Senator John McCain for his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a pro-life conservative mother of 5 children including a Downs Syndrome baby born during April."

Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition of America said: "Governor Sarah Palin is a bold choice for Vice President who is a courageous advocate for unborn children. In addition, she is a conservative who is a reformer not afraid to shake up the establishment. I congratulate Senator McCain for his outstanding selection for his vice presidential running mate."

In an interview with Top of the Ticket, Ralph Reid, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, had this to say about the qualities the veep pick by McCain should have:

Reed: He needs a running mate who is 1) a proven, credible conservative to energize the grass roots of the Republican Party; 2) someone with a demonstrated crossover appeal among women, independents, Democrats, and preferably Hispanics; 3) can pass the laugh test among both voters and the chattering class as someone ready to become president down the road.

Whatever one thinks of Dick Cheney (and I think he's gotten a bum rap), he has transformed the vice presidency into the second most important office in the nation. This is a real change, and the bar is now higher for running mates.

And given McCain's age, he needs a running mate who will be seen by voters as someone who could succeed him.

Finally, if Obama does not pick a woman, especially after beating Hillary, then McCain should look seriously at qualified women. I'd prefer not to get into names because the bench is so deep and there are so many qualified people (and I don't want to offend any friends who are on the list!)

John McCain was obviously not shy of offending the long list of qualified candidates. But with only having met Sarah Palin once and that just six months ago and with a very fast and incomplete vetting process, is McCain ready for the Pay-dirt that will soon come rolling out about Sarah Palin? Already rumors are starting to swill and bubble up. (Who scrubbed Wikipedia the day before the announcement?)

Did she overstep the power of the Governor's office to fire Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan? What is the controversy about her fifth child with some speculating that Trig is actually her grandchild? And if this is false, then was it grit or incredible lack of judgement that moved Palin to continue with a thirty-minute speech at a conference in Texas on April 18th even though she was supposedly already in labor? After the speech she did not check into a local hospital in Texas but flew over 12 hours to get back to an obscure hospital in Alaska and then returned to work just three days after delivering a premature, special needs infant. Either she is the last of the idyllic prairie woman type that delivered a baby and then went back to the field to plow or there is more to the story.

For McCain to have offered and for Palin to have accepted the veep slot for the Republican ticket says volumes about them both and only time will tell exactly what that is. It is sure to be a long walk in mukluks to Washington, DC for Sarah Palin as her splash on the national scene plays out over the next two months. Whatever you think of Sarah Palin, it would behoove all those that believe to keep her and her family in their thoughts and prayers. It's going to be a bumpy ride. (picture of Sarah Palin from Vogue Magazine story, Feb '08)

Sarah Palin Fires Up Conservatives - Politico
The Coming War on Sarah Palin - Renew America
Palin's Child - Anchorage Daily News
Where's the Rest of the Moose? - Slate
Mum of 5, Sarah Palin, Steps into the Limelight - Herald Sun, Australia
Palin fires Alaska's top safety official due to a family feud - Newsvine
That Sarah Palin Rumor - Knox News
What McCain Didn't Know About Sarah Palin - The Atlantic
Things that Make you go Hmmm - the Daily Dish
Meet Sarah Palin - CBS
Just Rumors? Sarah Palin is tops in Google Search - RRU

Just what would 'ya say you do here in the office of Vice President of the United States of America?
"What is it exactly that the VP does every day? I am used to be very productive and working really hard... This is a pretty cool job here being Governor of Alaska." - Sarah Palin

Buzz it up