tazlmo's Open Salon Blog

My Voting Story

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 20:11:02 -0500

I have voted every year but one since I was 18 years old, but was never as excited about voting as I was when I contemplated casting my vote this year. I started out 30 years ago registered as an Independent until Tom Bradley ran for Governor in my home state of California, when I switched to Democrat so I could vote for Mr. Bradley in the closed primary.

Politics has changed a lot since I cast my first ballot and so have I. A year ago, after moving to Wisconsin for a job, I was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) more commonly called "Lou Gehrig's Disease” in the US. ALS is a degenerative neurological disease that leaves those afflicted to deal with muscle weakness and paralysis. My particular type of ALS affected my speech and leg muscles so I cannot speak without assistance and I rely on a wheelchair to get around.

My partner and I recently moved to a new apartment in the same little town in Wisconsin, so my partner went to the election center about 10 days ago to make sure our address was updated and my absentee ballot request was processed. The poll worker updated our address and let my partner vote, then told her my ballot would be mailed.

We checked the mail every day expecting my absentee ballot, until finally we called the city clerk and were told I would have to come in and physically update my address myself before a ballot could be issued.

I thought for a brief second about not voting this year, because I am new at being disabled, and not very adept at functioning in public, but then I imagined how I would feel if I didn’t vote and Obama lost. I thought about how I would feel if I missed this one chance, finally, for my vote to count in a way it had never count before, and I decided I would have to vote, no matter what.

This morning my partner used a Hoyer lift device to transfer me from bed to my chair, then assisted while I got cleaned up, changed into street clothes, had breakfast, and then packed my wheelchair bag with Ensure and water in case there was a line. The next challenge I faced was getting out of my apartment, since there are no ramps on the door thresholds and I had to get a running start for my wheelchair to get over them.

Once on the sidewalk I was rewarded with a beautiful sunny autumn day and a nice wide bike trail for my chair to scoot along. My partner accompanied me the 2.7 miles from our apartment to our tiny polling place. I was surprised to find a small room full of people registering and voting early. We were especially delighted to see a large number of young people, some accompanied by parents and friends, many of whom were voting for the first time.

I have to say I felt a bit silly to be so excited, as I waited for my turn to vote, but I realized it was an excitement born out of hope. Hope that our country will move forward, hope that we can reverse the harm done by the Bush Administration, hope that Civil Rights will be afforded to everyone, the kind of hope that can stir even a jaded cynic like me.

Even if Obama somehow loses this election I can now feel that I did my small part to contribute an honest effort to reform the country, but I have great hope that he will win.

Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and Socialism

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:10:44 -0400

While Sarah Palin has made many colorful, deceitful and some times amusing charges against Barack Obama during this election year, the latest charge that he is a socialist for wanting to redistribute the wealth is beyond ridiculous, and more than a little ironic.

This recent charge of socialism stems from Obama’s statement to false plumber Joe W that he wants to spread the wealth through the restructuring of tax laws. Now any person who has read a newspaper, a web site or watched a cable news show, knows that Obama wants to “redistribute” wealth by restructuring tax laws to give a tax break to any person making less than $250k per year. This tax program to assuage the financial burden of the middle class, which was heightened under the Bush administration, equates to socialism in the McCain/Palin political dictionary.

The irony inherent to this charge of socialism stems from Sarah Palin’s own state of residence. Alaska is the most socialist state in the Union, a place where Sarah Palin said, according to Hendrik Hertzberg at the New Yorker, “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”

You see Alaska doesn’t have sales or income tax and instead imposes large levees against the Oil companies that drill the state’s fields. It is the job of the Governor to distribute the money from those levees to each Alaskan citizen equally. “One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor” according to Hertzberg, “is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269.”

Palin insists calling Obama a socialist does not suggest he is un-American; and she defends her claim by telling ABC News’ Good Morning America, “There is nothing wrong, though, with calling someone out on their record, their associations. The association issue here, it's not mean spirited, it's not negative campaigning. It's important and fair to the electorate.” Another affirmation that I don’t want Ms. Palin deciding what is fair for me.

Much like other claims made by the McCain/Palin campaign against Obama, this claim of socialism rings hollow when looked at under the cool clear light of truth. Obama’s tax plan is no more socialism that the existing US progressive tax plan, the social security fund or other monetary funds used to fund federal social service programs. Sarah Palin calling Obama a socialist smacks of classic hypocrisy and the plain ignorance we have come to expect from the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.

Sources: The New Yorker, Like, Socialism, Hendrik Hertzberg, November, 3.2008.The Times of India, Barack Obama is not un-American: Sarah Palin, October 30, 20008. Fox News, Amid Campaign Talk of 'Socialism,' Palin's Alaska 'Shares' Oil Wealth, October, 30, 2008. The Associated Press, Fact Check: Palin's Alaska spreads its wealth, RITA BEAMISH, October, 30, 2008.

The Blame Game: A Faltering McCain slams Bush

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:10:31 -0400

Recent poll results that show McCain falling behind Obama in key states like Iowa and Florida have spurred the campaign to adopt a new strategy in hopes of separating himself from sitting President GW Bush.

During a recent interview with the Washington Times John McCain blasted Bush for everything from Global Warming and economic failures to failing policies regarding the War. McCain blamed Bush for misconduct of the War, for growing the government to a size not seen since the “the Great Society,” for increasing the national debt to $10 trillion dollars, and for owing a $500 Billion dollar debt to China.

McCain also blamed Bush for failing to support the expansion of Medicare and for abusing executive powers, as well as for failing to enforce and update financial regulatory agencies responsible for safe guarding the economy. McCain especially blasted Bush for supporting the Medicare prescriptions drug plan because he said taxpayers should not pay for the plan.

This strong criticism of Bush was no doubt meant to counter claims by Obama that electing McCain would be like re-electing Bush. A substantial number of comparisons between McCain and Bush have been suggested, and a recent Obama advertisement features McCain proudly stating he voted with Bush over 90% of the time. Now McCain is attempting to settle the blame for any upcoming failure squarely on Bush’s shoulders.

There are problems with McCain’s criticism of the Bush years since he did in fact vote for most of the policies he now criticizes. McCain voted to authorize the war and had to know funding for the war was being borrowed from China. McCain voted against preventing cuts to the Medicaid program and continually opposed any attempt to institute strict financial regulatory protocols for Wall Street and the Banking industry.

While McCain might want to create distance between himself and Bush, they really are birds of the same feather. Interestingly, the one item that McCain truly disagrees with Bush about is Global Warming, a topic that his running mate, Sarah Palin, considers to be unaffected by human activity and largely a media exaggeration.

Those same polls that show McCain losing also show that 50% percent of those poled report negative feelings toward Sarah Palin. McCain will only have himself to blame if Palin proves to be a fatal drag to the campaign that leads to his demise.

Sources: New York Time, A Onetime McCain Insider Is Now Offering Advice (Unwanted) From the Outside, ADAM NAGOURNEY, October 22, 2008. The Washington Times, McCain lambastes Bush years, Joseph Curl and Stephen Dinan, Thursday, October 23, 2008. Progressive Punch, John McCain voting record on Medicare and Medicaid funding. Slate Magazine, Election Scorecard, Where the Election Stands today Fox News, McCain Sharply Criticizes Bush's Policies as 'Abuse of Power', October, 23, 2008.

McCain evokes illusion of an average Joe

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:10:40 -0400

During the last presidential debate McCain mentioned “Joe the Plumber” over 20 times. McCain chose Joe Wurzelbacher, who once questioned Obama regarding his tax plan, to illustrate his deep concern for the economic security of small business owners and average Americans. He also hoped to finally find a way to connect with America on that pesky economic issue, since it is not his strong suit.

McCain readily admits that he knows very little about the economy, and has to rely on advisors like Phil Graham, the bank lobbyist that called America “a nation of whiners” in response to economic concerns, and Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and co-chairperson for the McCain campaign.

Meg Whitman’s 10 year tenure at eBay is littered with the destruction of small businesses and the expansion of eBay profits. When Whitman was tapped to introduced the McCain small business plan during the Republican National Convention, it is likely that some of those small business owners who once made their living selling merchandise on the eBay website, but who had to close shop when Whitman raised eBay’s commission prices, were less than impressed.

McCain continues to invoke Joe the plumber as a means to suggest that small business owners will suffer a severe tax burden under Obama, despite facts indicating the assertion is false. In fact, small business owners making over 250,000 a year would only pay taxes on the excess amount under Obama.

McCain doesn’t seem overly concerned with facts, however, and didn’t even take the time to find out that Joe Wurzelbacher is not really a plumber, or that Joe only makes 40k a year and will actually save $500 a year on taxes under Obama’s plan. Of course those facts don’t square with McCain’s desire to show his support for “average” small business owners, so maybe he just chose to ignore them.

McCain wants us to believe that he is interested in the economic affairs of average folks, despite his long record of supporting corporate business interests over everyone else. McCain was very slow, for instance, to respond to the housing crisis. In February McCain said that a government fund “to help borrowers who are facing foreclosure on their homes” was an unnecessary step to solving the housing crisis.

Facts are not really important to the McCain campaign, since his VP, Sarah Palin has made a career out of reciting half truths and McCain tells outright lies regarding his record on veteran’s affairs and other issues. The campaign is now gearing up for a final round of character assassination, doubt creation and false rhetoric. So far that binge has included robo calls accusing Obama of working closely with “terrorist” Bill Ayers, and assertions that he voted to let infants die, both of which are shameless lies.

Shameful is a good way to explain the race baiting, truth conflagration, and out right deception being employed by the Republican Party in their desperate attempts to win election 2008, by any means.

Recent racial tensions whipped up at McCain rallies, his selection of Palin as his running mate, and the fact that McCain chose Joe, an extremely conservative critic of democrats, who has been featured on conservative radio programs, to represent his concern for the “common man” suggests that McCain is willing to pander to the most biased elements in our society to win.

This divisive, win at any cost strategy, seems to clash with McCain’s “Country First” motto, and illustrates just how far the campaign will go to win. It is perhaps unfortunate for McCain, but probably very fortunate for the rest of us, that Joe Wurzelbacher is not even registered to vote.

Sources: Huffington Post, "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher Not Voting for McCain, Off the Bus, October 16, 2007. MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, October 16, 2008. Economist for Obama, The Other List: McCain's Economic Advisers, June 14, 2008. Think Progress, McCain’s Record Of Denying Assistance To Homeowners, March 25, 3008.

Race, Fear, Rhetoric and Election 2008

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:10:54 -0400

I have been following election 2008 since the primaries and have noticed a serious undercurrent of racial tension expressed through euphemisms, rhetoric and fear mongering. This tension has increased in recent weeks with the false rhetoric being spewed at Republican rallies by McCain and his VP pick Sarah Palin, but it began early during the primaries and went mostly ignored by most mainstream media outlets.

In the primary race when Reverend Wright became a national topic discussed on every cable news program, he was used to raise questions regarding Obama’s judgment. It became apparent that people in the media were actually reacting to the expressive nature of a black church, rather than to any true equivocations over Obama’s decision making ability. Few white people have ever attended a black church, and this first look into a progressive black church scared white conservatives and media members alike.

The obvious racism inherent in the universal outrage over Rev. Wright was further illustrated by the tepid and complacent responses to McCain’s spiritual advisors, John Hagee and Rod Parsley, both of whom have extreme evangelistic political views and opinions that are far more outrageous than any Reverend Wright ever espoused.

Pastor John Hagee once called the Catholic Church “the great whore,” equated Hitler to a righteous hunter carrying out Gods will, and suggested that hurricane Katrina was God’s retribution for New Orleans planning a Gay pride parade. Hagee also wrote, in his book What Every Man Wants in a Woman" Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." Can you imagine the outcry if Rev. Wright ever uttered such insulting sexist rhetoric?

Rod Parsley is so far off the beam that he insists Islam was founded by a demon, and that America has a divine mandate to destroy the evil religion. Parsley also suggests that AIDS and HIV are the product of "Gay sexuality…” which “… inevitably involves brutal physical abusiveness and the unnatural imposition of alien substances into internal organs, orally and anally, that inevitably suppress the immune system and heighten susceptibility to disease." Parsley fails to site any reliable medical reference to back these beliefs or to provide any explanation for the large number of heterosexuals with AIDS and HIV.

Parsley continually quotes discredited studies to suggest that Lesbians and Gays in America have unusually short life spans, that homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking, and mistakenly attributes 60 percent of all syphilis cases in America to gays. The reason we do not hear more about these outrageous statements in the mainstream media is that they are somewhat familiar to the any white person who ever attended a Pentecostal Christian church.

Scary hateful rhetoric spewed by white evangelical preachers is familiar and expected, and does not garner the attention of mainstream media outlets. This was demonstrated most recently when video of Sarah Palin being blessed by a “witch doctor” was released on the net, and few mainstream media sources even carried the story. I call the practitioner a witch doctor by the way, because he was exorcising witch craft from Palin, not because he happened to be black.

In all fairness I must mention that McCain dismissed Hagee’s support early in the election process but, sadly, still counts Rod Parsley one of his personal spiritual advisors.

We saw racism rear its head again, when conservatives responded to Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter by suggesting Palin was a wonderful conservative mother for supporting her child’s illegitimate condition. They lauded Palin’s parenting skills and suggested that the girl’s pregnancy was proof of Palin’s conservative credentials.

Imagine if you would how those same conservatives would respond if Obama had a pregnant unmarried black teenage daughter. We can imagine the outcry over his judgment as a parent, and over the teenage girl’s irresponsibility for getting herself in that condition. We’d probably hear complaints that Michelle Obama had failed to supervise her child appropriately because she was too career oriented, and the outcry over another pregnant black teenager would almost certainly be universally critical.

It is not hard to imagine the negative response a black pregnant teenager would evoke when we consider that most critics of welfare programs incorrectly blame single black mothers for being the average recipient of public assistance programs (AFDC) when studies indicate the number of whites on AFDC is always higher.

Recently we have seen Republicans use deceptive rhetoric and code words like “character” to evoke racist response among their followers. It was at a rally in New Mexico, when John McCain asked “who is Barack Obama” that a supporter yelled out “kill him.” Sarah Palin has repeatedly whipped crowds into frenzied shouts of “treason” and other invectives by suggesting, falsely, that Obama pals around with terrorists. At one heated rally audience members verbally attacked a black cameraman working for a local media outlet, by ominously telling him to “sit down, boy.”

Rally goers in Ohio, when asked if Obama was a terrorist, responded that Obama had the name and the “blood lines” to suggest he could be a terrorist.

While McCain asked his followers to tone down the rhetoric, his campaign is still releasing ads evoking racial fear responses and hatred by tying Obama to terrorists or suggesting he is “foreign” and unknowable. It is apparent that racial tension is still an effective weapon in the political arsenal of the Republican Party, and they are attempting to use that weapon to affect the outcome of this election.

According to veteran civil rights activist Congressman John Lewis, Republican John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin are "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" which remind him of the segregationist era tactics of Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who incited violent responses to his race baiting rhetoric.

What is even sadder is that most of the mainstream media, and many white Americans will fail to recognize the racist rhetoric employed by McCain and Palin for what it is; Pure unequivocal opportunistic racism.

Sources: Mother Jones, McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam, David Corn, March 12, 2008. Open Left, Top 10 Outrageous Quotes From McCain's Spiritual Advisers, Katie Halper, May 01, 2008 Think Progress, McCain Spiritual Advisor, Allah was a Demon Spirit, Amanda Terkel,March 12, 2008. The Huffington Post, McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO), Sam Stein, May 21, 2008. The Huffington Post, John Hagee's McCain Endorsement Sparks Uproar, February 29, 2008 Department of Health and Human Services, Indicators of Welfare Dependence, 1997. Liberalism Resurgent, People on Welfare, Steve Kangas, editor. Reuters, Congressman says McCain sowing 'seeds of hatred', Matt Spetalnick, Oct 13, 2008.