A Letter for McCain Supporters' Eyes Only
If you're voting for McCain and you've clicked to read this I promise this will be pain free and fast. First off, I respect you for voting tomorrow. Right away you've set yourself above the apathetic millions and clearly you care about this country.
Before you punch, click or fill in your ballot for John McCain I would like to have a small one sided non-argumentative conversation with you as a person who also cares whether this country continues to grow and flourish or not.
If you're not going to vote for Barack Obama because of the emails and rumors that he is a terrorist or hangs out with criminals or is a Muslim please do not let that be the reason.
This begs the first question: why in the hell should you listen to me? Well my answer would be, why not? I have no tax breaks or corporate interests to be supported by Barack Obama. In fact, as someone who makes over 250k a year I will pay more. So why would I lie or shill for him unless I truly believed he is the right choice?
And remember, there were a lot of us who said very early on that Bush was up to no good and that the Iraq war would be a mistake. If you voted for Bush in the past why not at least listen to another point of view? If you're one of the twenty something percent who still think Bush has done a good job then I'm guessing you aren't reading this anyway.
The bottom line is that I believe no one wants a bad leader on purpose so clearly you were given some bum information if you voted for Bush. That's okay. You were doing the best you could. But don't rely on that very same information all over again. Whether it be FOX news, emails or friends or family.
Which brings me back to the rumors and emails about Obama. They are false. Not only are they false, they're crazy false. They are. And it would be a tragedy for anyone to make a decision based on those kinds of dark ugly lies.
It's also possible you are voting for McCain because he is "pro-life." I ask you to please remember that there is not one person in this country who thinks abortion is a "good" thing. The only reason any of us think that it should be open as an option to women is because if it wasn't, then people would do it anyway and they be hurt and assaulted by creeps offering illegal abortions. That is literally the only reason. The way to stop abortion is to offer sex education and protection. For that reason there were fewer abortions during the Clinton administration then during the Bush tenure.
If by chance your religion is against protection or sex education then I ask you to question that stance and any group that resists educating kids about how easy it is to have a baby. After all, is there anything more precious than a baby? Nope.
I'm almost done. Stay with me (or stay against me but please keep reading).
If you are a person who is voting for McCain because you think Obama is a communist who wants to redistribute the wealth, I know you are smarter than that. Bush already gave obscene tax breaks to people like me and Warren Buffet and we are saying it's not fair. Why would we work against our own interests? The answer is simple: because fair taxation makes the whole country stronger and if the country isn't strong our money ends up disappearing anyway (see massive stock market crash currently in progress). Bush redistributed the wealth and McCain has been very clear that he will continue to give tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthy in the name of trickle down economics. He really truly has. It's a big fat fact.
I also know that from years of Corporatists and fundamentalists turning the word "liberal" into a code word for gays and hippies and commies you think that blue staters all want to corrupt our country and have people marrying dogs and smoking crack and burning Christmas trees. Here's the real truth we're pretty much just like you. We really, truly are.
And finally if you are not voting for Barack because of the color of his skin, then there may be nothing I can say to you. But I just ask that you really consider this decision. Can anything good come of a backward way of thinking like judging someone based on skin color? No way. And I think in your heart of hearts you know that is very true. The world is changing and if we think and act like it's the 1600s then America will slip hard.
That's it. Thank you for reading. Now let's send a message to the world and our children that the United States learns from it's mistakes and can change when necessary. Remember, you're alone in that voting booth. You don't have to tell your McCain loving friends who you voted for. And chances are one or two of them will secretly vote for Obama. And as a reward for reading this a 30% off coupon for Dave & Busters is being sent to your home.
On a separate train: anyone from California looking for help with how to vote on the Props, check this site out. It combines the stances of six different organizations.
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Your claim of ... "For that reason there were fewer abortions during the Clinton administration then during the Bush tenure"... is simply wrong.
Abortions have been on slow steady decrease since the mid 1980's, continuing through this Bush administration.
Still 1.3 MILLION abortions per year is nothing this country can be proud of.
Great point.
Levi
If you're against abortion, then don't have one. It's called choice.
And if you're a man against abortion, then stop having sex.
Simple choices, eh? And it's not YOUR choice anyway.
What choice does the living unborn child have?
There's always vasectomy.
>>>>>>>If you're against abortion, then don't have one. It's called choice
Abortion is not a choice issue. It's a privacy issue. Roe v. Wade is about privacy and what a person decides to do in their private lives.
Choice. You opened the box. Do you dems actually believe in choice? Do I have the option not to participate in the social security system that is strongly weighted against me? Will I have the choice to not participate (for me, participating will be paying higher taxes) in Obama's health care plan? Will I always have the right to keep my loaded handgun ready to defend my home , property and family?
These are all choices I have been or may be denied in the near future. It's a good thing abortion is a choice, nothing else seem to be.
1.3 milliion abortions per year is unfathomable, yes. But I read every day how babies are scalded,
shaken, microwaved, dropped, put in garbage and that is even more disturbing. People need
to learn how to have responsible sex. To simply discuss abortion is missing the point when sex
is the problem and we will go around and around and accomplish nothing. Sex is being crammed down our throat via TV and magazines, just look around, and one has to wonder why
the entertainment industry is now pushing gay sex on TV? I am not opposed to gay people but
these are subjects who need more control. We don't need to see the details of it all, imagination
serves us better.
Sorry, I cheated (but in a good way); I just had to have a peek at your letter even though it clearly was not written to me. That's not like opening someone's mail, is it?
I have been an ardent Obama supporter since the Democratic National Convention. I just regret that it took me so long to come around. In previous elections, I have been content to just vote on election day. This year, however, for the first time I contributed money and time to a presidential campaign on Barack Obama's behalf. I am very hopeful that we are truly witnessing history and that our whole country can support whoever is elected to serve as president.
I voted for John McCain today . He is the better candidate for president... Fiscally, voting records , and experience. I am from Illinois and Barack Obama lacks all qualifications to be president.. Barack's association with Ayers,Farrakhan,Wright, Rezko, the Chicago ,Cook County, Illinois style of corruption only add to this... And as far as skin color,, how dare you when 95% of the African American community are voting for one candidate mainly because of race ... I put it to any pundit here to survey specifically the AA community and the Democratic voters in general about Barack's qualifications see if you can get beyond "hope, change, Bush, and of course that not taxing the rich white guys and the corporations"
Too bad this person never got a chance to read Rolling Stone's piece on 'The real McCain'.
It might have given him quite a different perspective on who he really is.
Educational Background: Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Jurist Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude.
Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)
Vs. John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho - 2 semesters – Journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - B.A. in Journalism
Ok , I will grant you that both Obama and Biden are better qualified to be educators than McCain and Palin....
GW Bush is a Yale AND Harvard Grad (still want to use education as part of your arguement) :)
One of the 20%. Don't mention McCain's cozy companionship with G. Gordon, Gramm, Cheney, Dubya, Keating, and too many lobbyists-now-advisers to mention (or aren't in jail). Don't mention McCain's 90% voting record he WAS so proud of just a few months ago that's put this Nation in horrible situations. Don't mention his choice for VP candidate - a totally unqualified, egomaniac who's husband's former associations and her religious bent is every bit as questionable as Ayers and Wright.
Some people live their lives with closed minds and biases they cannot confront. You have drunk the Kool Aid and are voting against the best of interests of your country and your country's future. That is your right. But for those of us who have barely endured 8 years of Bush and 12 years of Republican Rule (1994-2006), enough is enough. Your sources of information have corrupted your beliefs.
Thanks you for voting.
The only thing worse than voting for McCain is not voting at all.
Peace.
95% of African Americans are voting for Obama because he's a smart guy and a great candidate for president.
If race was the only factor, 95% of African Americans would have supported Al Sharpton when he ran for president in 2004. But they didn't.
What qualifications does McCain have. Other than voting down every bill that was good for the middle class or for the soldiers he claims to support. What qualificiations, him missing 63% of his time in the senate, yeah we need that. Him having 8 houses and is rich beyond belief, sure
he can feel our pain. 26 years and still has not learned anything. Keating 5 and his succeeding
millionaires' party at a Naval Base where he illegally used the facilities and personnel?
Why does the tax payer have to stand for it. Enough of it already!
"McCain has run such an utterly distastful campaign that he made it impossible for me to vote for him..if someone can stoop so low as to call his opponent a socialist and someone who consorts with terrorist,s then he has already shown me what he is made of..his picking sarah palin was another huge mistake and his debacle of shutting down his campaign then restarting it for the bailout was another mistake...mccain has no idea about the middle class..he came from USN hierarchy he led a life of priviledge ..he cant relate to the struggle..the only credit i give him is his time in a pow camp...other than that he fails in every respect...so thats why the republicans who read this should not vote for him..".
_______________________________________________________________________________
I couldn't have said it any better. We had enough of irresponsibility and lies over the last 8 years and most don't want any more in somebody else just like GWB.
If McKay got such an "obscene" tax break from Bush then that means he kept more of his money. What do you think he did with the extra cash?
a) Spent or saved it.
b) Gave it away to charity (and claimed a tax deduction).
c) Gave it to the government anyway.
You make the call.
Levi
You sound like a true believer in bank deregulation and trickle down. That's about as easy to seel in 2008 as a bucket of rotten fish
How is your comment relevant to mine? I asked a simple question to which no liberal can respond.
Levi
He pi**ed it away funding his failing campaign.
Are you talking about McCain? I was referring to McKay's article.
Levi
mccain has run such an utterly distastful campaign that he made it impossible for me to vote for him..if someone can stoop so low as to call his opponent a socialist and someone who consorts with terrorist,s then he has already shown me what he is made of..his picking sarah palin was another huge mistake and his debacle of shutting down his campaign then restarting it for the bailout was another mistake...mccain has no idea about the middle class..he came from USN hierarchy he led a life of priviledge ..he cant relate to the struggle..the only credit i give him is his time in a pow camp...other than that he fails in every respect...so thats why the republicans who read this should not vote for him...
Adam, what a GREAT DEBUNKING of all those excuses! Good job, and I hope it brings a few votes.
I think too of all the people around the world who will breathe a sigh of relief in just a matter of hours. We all around the world have waited too long.
MSNBC has a great discussion on right now about how presidents have brought us to this moment in time ... LBJ (no matter what you think of him) made it possible for us to see today how Obama can be our friend-roommate-boss-employee etc., and president. We really have turned a cultural page. Great thoughts. We are about to witness, live, a very significant moment in history.
Well written article. Sensible and level headed unlike most of the Bart Simpson politics going on.
A point I would like to make is, the house the Republicans built, also known as DHS, is one of the lousiest organizations in the world if a socialist, marxist, communist, muslim, christian, black, blacker, terrorist, terrorist sympathizing, Arab, American, non american citizen could possibly attain the status of Presidential candidate and US senator in your country.
And that all happened while the Republican administration was doing everything in it's power to stop terrorism.
It's obvious people are gullible. I hope you changed at least one or two minds.
This is how I see it:
GOP Pols: win election through fear of their oppenent
Dem Pols: win election through fear of their oppenent
Republicans: evil, stupid, or just plain delusional
Democrats: slightly less delusional, oblivious to evil when it's convenient
Thats a great post if you are a third grader, but as an adult?
This is a great post regardless of your age. I did know that pregnancies are up during the Bush administration, compared to pregnancies during the Clinton administration. However, dumb me, I did not tie it to the fact that teens now are not allowed to have education and facts about sex and pregnancy. How sad! It seems that conservatists actually messed up bad when they said "no" to sex education, because they are also so conservative and uptight they cannot talk to their teenagers about these things. Now look where we are, and look who is suffering for it.
what the heck is an oppenent?
The irony is that Corporatists are also on the butt-end of the "liberal" aspersion. Reachin' across the aisle indeed.
Youi letter is insulting, and wrong. You can't redistribute wealth when you are letting people keep money they have earned.
You are also wrong about all of Obama's associations with people I would call the radical fringe or extreme leftists, socialists, and Marxist's. I would agree with you if if was just one or two people, but it is quite a few, and his answer when asked about all of them is the same BS.
His view of the United States in the world is also troubling, with his global war on poverty.
His plans call for much more spending, and he won't be able to raise taxes enough to pay for his spending.
His view that the Supreme Court wasn't that radical because they didn't take on wealth redistribution, and that Judges need to look at more than just the law are very troubling.
Not to mention his Carbon Tax, or cap and trade proposals to fight the hoax called global warming which would double or triple energy costs and electricity and bankrupt the coal industry.
I'm not voting for McCain, I'm voting against Obama's radical extreme leftist change that has failed everytime it has been tried in a country.
Dead on Photofarm. Obama hasn't been taken to task by the media on a single thing that he has said or done in this campaign. The attitude has been; "Hey, we owe them this one"
Can you imagine a white republican presidential nominee even still being in the race after referring to someone as a "typical black person"? Hell, we couldn't even challenge Obama on his policies without being called racist! Obama's probably going to win. But please don't insult my intelligence by telling me he did it on his policies and ideals.
I can't wait to watch the MSM try announce his victory with a straight face..
There is one pitfall for the democrats if they sweep this election...they can't blame anything that they FU going forward on the republicans...though it will be entertaining to watch them try..
Another genius! See what you want to see, hear only what you want to hear. You and photofarm ought to join up for a good old fashioned circlejerk with all of your family members (and then go to school or read a book).
Actually, if anyone has gotten a pass by the media in this campaign, it has been McCain...
-- Everyone knows about John Edwards' $400 haircut... did the GOP get as much flack for Palin's $150k wardrobe? It was a 1-day story.
-- Everyone knows about Obama's pastor, Rev. Wright... did the GOP get as much flack for Palin's preacher who is literally a witch doctor? Or for Palin and her husband's association with a party that literally hates American, wants to leave the union, and whose leader thinks that being buried under the US flag is the worst thing that could happen to him.
-- McCain, on numerous occasions, could not differentiate between Shia and Sunni tribes in Iraq, yet he is the one who has the 'Foreign Policy Experience'. Could you imagine the cries of 'inexperience!' we'd hear if Obama made this mistake even once, let alone 3, 4, 5 times as McCain has?
Check out this great piece last night about how the campaign would have looked if Obama had said some of the things that McCain said... you tell me then that McCain's not the one who has been let off the hook: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522443/
If you think that the media has gone soft on Obama, you're simply following the right-wing playbook of blaming the media... do the research and think for yourself!
Sorry your mind is so warped that you seem to only remember Obama's "past associations", yet forget that McCain has several in his closet. Obama just ran a campaign on the issues, but he could have dragged your boy McCain right into the gutter, like they did Obama. Pathetic that you actually can't catch onto these ploys, yet you try to come across as "in the know".
Uh... no matter who is president will have to increase the tax coffers due to 8 years of debt. Where's your patriotism and sense of sacrifice in a time of war? Again, pathetic.
The USA is committed, partisanly, to reduce worldwide poverty. There are children out there who didn't get the golden ticket of being born in the US, but you really dont care, do you?
I'm sorry that you latched onto a few articles calling GW a hoax. I know it would be much harder to actually research some material from several different views and charts and peer reviwed artciles and field studies. That's just so darn hard, ain't it? Your brain couldn't take it anyways, judging by the brilliant points to this post. Bwahahahahahahahaha
PhotoFarm: Every one of your points is a half-truth or misunderstanding based on out-of-context distortions pushed by right-wing commentators.
1) Regarding your comments about Obama's "global war on poverty," about his "associations" with people on the "radical fringe" or remarks about the Supreme Court: your meaning is clear, but you don't and can't cite any credible information to support what you believe.
2) John McCain has a very similar "cap and trade" plan for energy and coal to Obama's.
3) It sounds good to say that we should have a tax policy that lets people keep what they earned. But we don't: we have a tax system that allows the rightest 1% to hold 40% of the nation's wealth, with people like Warren Buffet's secretary paying more in taxes than he does. That's because the Bush tax cuts provide the greatest relief to the wealthiest and relatively less relief to the middle class. The McCain campaign and its right-wing media boosters have so distorted Obama's policies that ordinary people-- people who would benefit from them-- are scared they'd be giving their hard-earned wages away to the undeserving.
4) Independent tax policy organizations have pointed out that John McCain's policy proposals would incur a higher deficit than Obama's ($5 trillion by 2018 for McCain, $3.5 trillion by 2018 for Obama). For independent analysis of McCain's claims on taxes, read this: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/a_new_stitch_in_a_bad_pattern.html,
NER,
A couple of issues with point 3:
First, regarding your statement "...1% to hold 40% of the nation's wealth" - I don't see it as "the nation's wealth" - I see it as my wealth that I work hard to earn.
Second, re Warren Buffet's secretary:
"You might wonder how Mr Buffett managed such a low tax rate. Most likely, it arose because corporate dividends and capital gains are taxed at only 15 percent. But the corporate income that funded those returns was already taxed at the corporate level, where the tax rate is 35 percent. Mr Buffett seems to be ignoring the first round of taxation. Written by Greg Mankiw
Just trying to help.
On point 1, there are a lot of sources, and if the mainstream press weren't in bed with Obama, you would here them. In fact, if Obama and were a Republican instead of a Democrat, they would have been blasted over and over the air waves.
On point 2, That is why many Republicans are holding their nose when they vote for McCain.
On point 3., The reason we have such a F upped tax code is Democrats try to tax the rich, and then have to back peddle with tax breaks to certain groups to jump start the economy, or a certain sector the economy. Republicans get in on this act as well. It is called social engineering by the tax code. There is nothing fair about a tax code that taxes income at different rates, or gives tax credits for certain purchases etc.
On point 4, these are so F up it is not even worth quoting them. The studies are too complex to be accurate, and peoples choices and spending or saving are too fluid to accurately predict. To make them manageable, they use a lot of assumptions, which often are not true.
Obama, as chief editor of the Harvard Law Review enjoyed hanging around and debating with both the conservatives and the liberals on campus. The liberals on the Law Review were surprised when he gave quite a few plum jobs to the conservatives. Obama, remember, is someone who believes in diplomacy and trying to find common ground with other nations, rather than declaring war on them. The war thing hasn’t been working so well, so it might be nice to try something new as a first step.
The key point I am trying to make is that Obama is open to all people; he was interested in Professor Khalidi, who did work for the PLO before he taught at U of Chicago (where Obama got to know him) and Columbia U in NY, because he could learn something about the Middle East from the perspective of the other side. This is what real political thinkers and diplomats who want to bring people together do. Bush stated in 2002 (just before he got us into war in Iraq) that North Korea, Iran and Iraq formed an “Axis of Evil” -- not the statement of someone interested in learning or considering all sides of issues; Bush refused to learn about Iraqi history and culture before the invasion; he and his neo-con war friends (Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, etal) pooh-poohed Iraqi ex-pats/experts suggesting the hard part would be “winning the peace.” After six years, we are still trying to do that.
Nice reverse Psych! Shame its not going to work. Changing someones mind takes years for rational people
Adam,
Would you consider it even remotely possible, that people will vote for McCain because they think he is the better candidate?
The assumption in using the word "think", ironically not only targets the actual issue here, but turns your whole statement into an oxymoron.
One question.
Did you vote for Bush?
Now, drag a little comparative analysis into your current position.
In other words . . . You should have probably done more work if you believe any part of the McCain/Palin thing would have actually reversed this unbelievable train-wreck caused by Bush and the greedy that care nothing about you. It amazes me that more people don't recognize that they vote against their own best interests (including those of their children), rather than take the time necessary in ascertaining the actual truth. It goes against reason . . . and that in itself is why so many of us don't trust your ability to read between the lines, or even get your facts straight. In other words, if you're voting for McCain, you have far bigger issues. Good luck with that. Seriously.
Jahzilla,
Thank you for your comment.
I have said it before that, because there will always be people whose opinions differ from our own, this by no means invalidates or demeans the person with the opposing view (foolish though that view may seem to be, especially in the heat of the moment).
I have found that civilised and constructive discourse wins (almost!) every time.
CEOs maximize profit for shareholders in the short term, gutting R&D, employees, inventory and in many cases an ability for the company to make it in the future. Then they take their bonuses and parachute away because they are entitled to them somehow.
The whole CEO thing is such a bad analogy for POTUS; we should flush it down the john for the good of the country. The job is much too important to leave to a mere CEO.
Don't agree! If CEO's were truly doing their jobs, they could have prevented the Wall Street mess. People have to be held accountable. Someone has to give them those golden parachutes, you know ....
Please note that many support McCain for NONE of the reasons stated in your "Letter"
Exactly, I haven't met any McCain supporters who think Obama is Muslim or a terrorist. For me it's experience, and Obama has none.
Levi
No one has any experience being president unless he or she is running for a second term. To me 'experience' of that kind is an invalid reason. Being a POW is not experience.
Obama has run what may prove to be the most brilliant campaign in American history. That says to me that he might just be a really good administrator, a BIG plus in my opinion. And he is extremely willing to listen to a variety of opinions before making a decision.
Levi--I think you missed my point or I wasn't clear enough. I'm utterly FOR Obama.
I work with several people who've said "Obama is a terrorist" and "Obama is a Muslim". Obama has plenty of experience in service to his country by helping communities and a fair run in state government, a short run in the Senate. He's extremly intelligent, well spoken & visionary. McC's only vision is for the rich to get richer and keep Iraq going.
OBAMA & BIDEN, '08
Then you would not have voted for Abraham Lincoln? He had exactly the same amount of experience as Obama. And I think he turned out just fine.
Really? What??
But, glad to see you read this.
Now that's a statement I can agree with it. I'm not voting for McCain because I liked the BUSH administration. Not because he's white or any of other reasons stated. I didn't support going in to Iraq. I don't support the Bush economic policies. I don't think government should tell me I can't seek an abortion. The list goes on and on. I don't think McCain is George Bush. I don't think Obama is John Kennedy or Martin Luther King.
Fair taxation? LOL. You really think that the wealthy / corporations aren't going to find another loophole to hide in? Dream on. And who do you think paid for this campaign? O yeah, no corporate dollars there......just lots of little people seeking the dream......I don't think so.
I probably could have voted for Hillary, but I can' t vote for Obama for all the reasons Hillary mentioned when she was running.
I'm a card carrying, union member who has ALWAYS voted democrat. Not this year.
And by the way...I might still be voting Democrat if only they had kept their hippy ways!
and one more point
If Warren Buffet and Martha Stewart.....(now that's a laugh, guess that jail stint helped)......and all those other wealthy Hollywood individuals, who feel they can pay more taxes want to........why don't they? Can't see the IRS sending their check back!
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