The Final Distraction: McCain/Palin Worse Than Bush

We all know McCain has sold his soul to win. Big mistake: the Democrats are taking the GOP bait, especially on Palin. She is the ultimate distraction. If we're not careful she'll be the final distraction. The perfect new celebrity -- Sarah Barracuda -- to capture the message in the 24-hour spin orgy, all the while attacking Obama as an elite celebrity. Any narrative that focuses on her -- any -- is a win for Republicans, carrying an undercurrent of race wars, gender wars, class wars. All ending with a debate on God and a return visit to Rev. Wright.

Palin is a gateway drug to a back-alley brawl Obama can't win. A Joseph Conrad-produced reality show/sitcom with Palin replacing Roseanne Barr fighting for the little guy with sass and sex. Wonderful.

Watch McCain repeat "maverick" 300 times a day, like a mantra, 'til Election Day. Republicans and hockey moms against corruption and Lear jets. Orwell for second graders: distraction and chaos, phony scandals and bullshit patriotics from the crew that would install an inexperienced neophyte -- not even put through the crucible of the national stage -- a heartbeat away from the greatest nuclear arsenal the world has ever known, and not blink. Darkest reptilian politics that speak to the ultimate calcified cynicism of Republicans.

Democrats need to ignore her -- unless she speaks about policy -- maybe she can explain and solve the collapsing world markets -- and keep the focus relentlessly on the disastrous results of Bush/McCain/Republican rule. They need to remind voters of the disasters of the last seven-plus years. Specifically. And as people have been saying, we need to be mad as well as inspired.

John McCain is the Republican Party as much as Bush -- we need to be constantly reminded of the policies (and, yes, the crimes) that are threatening this country from within.

Obama must hit Republicans ten times harder. Let's hear about war profiteering, taxpayer-funded mercenary armies and privatizing core functions of state, habeas corpus and warrantless wiretapping and presidential signing statements, and Katrina and justice department politicization, and phony intel and Abu Ghraib, rendition and torture.

If the Democratic leadership wants to disregard its base and continue to disregard the rule of law, they deserve to lose...and will. Let's hope the Obama campaign doesn't come to this conclusion 10 days out. He needs to articulate his vision of the future, but he also needs to articulate a version of reality. The fiercest urgency is needed now.

But some other fundamentals seem to be lost in the frenzy. McCain is no maverick, but it is worth understanding why the rabid right wing is cheering his call for government "reform" and to change "how government works at every level."

McCain won't just be more of the same -- it will be worse than Bush-Cheney -- using the disasters of the past eight years and the actual crises we face to double down on the American Enterprise/Heritage Foundation vision of government that desires, as Grover Norquist said, to shrink government until "we can drown it in a bathtub."

I would recommend a return visit to the groundbreaking Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.

McCain, who said he knows nothing about economics, will surely hand over the reins to the Friedmanites and neoconservatives who have sent the country on a path to ruin. Anyone looking at his team could tell you that. Palin and the interests she represents are even further to the right.

Now, no one in their right mind -- including reasonable independents and Republicans -- wants to double down on neocon ideology, but here comes the "maverick" and his economic advisers to use the crises we face to implement more "change" and "reform" to the system by privatizing everything in sight. Is this what the American people want? When they are aware of it, the answer is always no. It's the same bullshit re-branded.

It may happen in a shock therapy in the first 100 days, or financial chaos may force them to wait until things stabilize, but sooner or later they will follow their fundamentalist creed. Ruin the government you are purporting to run and turn it over to privatization frenzy, creating a shadow government of private corporate rule. That's the whole idea.

So let's brand bust this maverick gibberish but understand the coded language that belies their true mission... we should take them at the true meaning of their words.

Not just more of the same -- worse than the same. Times of crisis are great opportunities to implement the radical agendas we usually reject.

That's also the idea.

McCain and the neocon ideologues won't "reform" government, they will gut government and privatize everything in sight in the name of responding to the crises they helped engineer through Bush and Cheney. Their view of government is the reverse of the Hippocratic Oath: do harm and then when the patient is sick, give the wrong medicine, watch him die, and sell off the body parts.

They will destroy the Department of Energy, HUD and anything else they can get their hands on. With this crew, all you need to do is destroy government, privatize it and get out of the way, and then a magic utopia appears. Well, actually it doesn't, but a lot of connected people get rich, and in the privatized war business, blood money flows and a fuck of a lot of innocent people die. The numbers and the misery are staggering. The legacy of Bush/McCain is a legacy of shame. Any man that stood with this criminal administration should be forced to answer for it.

The Republicans have been ruinous and most of it stems from an ideology that leaves the government in ruins. McCain has been on board hook, line and sinker. He voted with Bush over 90% of the time. End of story.

It is fundamentally corrupt and dishonest to call it reform when leaders want to cripple government, then hand it over to private industry, usually subsidized by taxpayers, but for other people's profits. More like contempt for government.

Red meat for dummies... a horror show for the rest of us.

Obama needs to explain to the country what this will cost us in real terms -- however many billions a day in Iraq and what that could buy, repair, fix, and allow in human terms -- ask us if can we afford it, and Obama must -- to use imagery the neocons can understand -- knock them down, put his boots on their throats, and never let up.

Comments

[Pattycakes90]

Great job, John. The scariest thing about this election is that we still have three more weeks left. Goodness knows what McCain will do next...no one ever knows, including John McCain himself. But I have confidence in Obama that he has a plan for the these remaining weeks and he has got to stress the fact that McCain-Palin in the White House would be disasterous on all levels. I've been bothered by Palin since McCain chose her. What was her purpose? Didn't he vet her? Doesn't he give a darn about us if something should happen to him? She is just not what she appears to be...I think they call that "phony."

[ecargnc]

Pattycakes90 and John,
Three weeks is going to seem like an eternity. I live in one of the reliable republican states that is finally starting to see the light and is now one of the swing states and as I drive to work every morning, I see the signs posted in yards supporting John McCain. It chills my blood. Do you vote for the candidate simply because you can't break from the party? I really never have been much into politics, but this election has galvanized me to discuss my views with people and try to convince them that you can break with your previous party and vote for a candidate that understands people and the complexities of living in such a diverse great country.
The only bright side is now I am seeing more Obama signs and since I'm still waiting on mine (it's backordered), I'm hoping that many others are going to see the light and not put the country through more Bush/Cheney agony.

[nunneygirl]

Calling in from your satellite nation, the UK...

RE John's comment: "Democrats need to ignore her -- unless she speaks about policy -- maybe she can explain and solve the collapsing world markets....."

I was amused/horrified to read this today from Ms Palin:
“That's what I say that I like every American I am speaking with
we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is
the taxpayers looking to bailout, but ultimately what the bailout
does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform
that is needed to help shore up our economy, um, helping the, oh,
it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy
and, and putting it back on the right track; so healthcare reform,
and reducing taxes and reigning in spending has got to accompany
tax reductions and tax relief for Americans and trade we have we
got to see trade as opportunity not as, a, a, competitive, um,
scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector
today we, we've got to look at that as more opportunity, all of
those things under the umbrella of job creation, this bailout is a
part of that.”

Well, that's clear then. My head is in my hands about the upcoming election: we in Europe have a stake in this too. The Gore/Bush/chad fiasco was bad enough..

[sepsgirl]

I have someone very special in Iraq right now and wow what I wouldn't give to sit down with John Cusack and give him more to dig on. This war is horrible from where I stand. I know it all first hand.

[IrthAingel]

Hello Mr. Cusack,

How fast can you throw together a seriously stellar DVD Release Party?

How about one in the form of the 'jumbotron' from the convention playing War Inc at three free shows in the state of Arizona; one at NAU, one at ASU, and one at UofA...or in demo-friendly Tucson, the local community college has several locations and just might be willing to allow it to be there. You might even be able to get a place called The Loft Cinema to host party central.

Could be a great way to kick off the release of War Inc's DVD release on 10.14...and in AZ, complete with the usual 'runs'...oh the subversion! Come on, how could you resist that?

Irth Aingel

[marniebaar getaSL]

Careful, John Cusack. Though I believe all of the above, I think Obama’s strategy of staying away from an extreme offense is a good one.
“Watch McCain repeat "maverick" 300 times a day, like a mantra…” You’re correct to assume that when repeated over and over, society is prone to believe anything; true or false, positive or negative. (Normalization.)
Republicans have been reciting their mantra since Bush’s “New World Order” (most likely since Reagan/Bush). America is now woven into the fabric of this discourse. Evidenced by:
1. our entertainment: reality shows vs. thought-provoking contexts;
2. our news coverage: highlighting black violence, newscasts for product promotion;
3. our schools: creationism vs. evolution, no child left behind;
4. our consumption: American-made vs. outsourcing.
5. our American Groupthink persona touts him as elitist! Democrats will never verbalize it, but many of us cringe when we hear his even-handed glibness. (How f-ing politically correct we are, so correct that we let Bush get elected AGAIN!)
As I watch the platform of our society shift from “civil rights” to “right-to-life,” I can only wonder how we got here.
We let ourselves become normalized between a neo-conservative rock and a fundamentalist hard place.
Obama must stay centered until elected.
After elected, THAT is when Obama should “put his boots on their throats, and never let up.” In my opinion, his single most important task while President, will be ensuring that we’re normalized back into sanity.

[IrthAingel]

Hello Mr. Cusack.

Have you seen Babylon AD yet? (aka Babylon Babies). Remove all the extraneous distractions and one might be quite interested in the head of the 'neolites' and the ultimate agenda...

[MaureenSharkey]

Yes! "Legacy of Shame"!!! That's what Obama should use in every speach and debate.

John, can you call the Obama camp and get in there for a meeting with Obama and Axelrod----before we lose this election!?

[IrthAingel]

Hello Mr. Cusack,

An interesting paladin note...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/the-witch-hunter-anoints_b_128805.html

[gravsled]

john cusack seems to come a long way since the nader, kerry campaigns up to the present. though he is consistent on his view that one should excercise to his vote, he is more discerning on the characteristicsof polical parties and for whose interest they truly serve. he shows more savvy on using his access to the media to get his point across.
someone once campaigned for cusack to run for president. wisely he has chosen to stick to the arts as his arena of struggle and making films as his weapon of choice. he reminds me of mark twain, a famous american anti-colonialist writer activist. though almost one century separates them, the context of the times that both men exists in is similar as well as the message they wish to convey. twain used his pen to lambast the mackinley government on its colonialist policy when it chose to invade the philippines, as manifest destiny of the american people. likewise cusack tries to expose the neocon, new market economy policy of the bush government and its heir apparent rep pres candidate mcCain, masquarading as the global war on terror giving the US government the right to invade any country with impunity.
on that note, cusack did not make the mistake of addressing the palin issue as a simple issue on gender, as both obama and mcCain unwittingly or not obviously did. They muddied up the lipstick on the snout of the silly lipsticked pig.

[PurplePhase]

Proof from the poodle's own lipstick lips that she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieuA7nAOBXQ

[imtrc]

What he said! And i don't write that lightly. I agree with every word Mr. Cusack wrote. No elaboration needed.

[PurplePhase]

Republicans who favor small government are not careful with their wishes. McCain and Palin are the most prominent careless wishers.

The recent financial bailouts aren't the problem, they are the symptom to the problems deregulation and institution dismantling cause. Many institutions were originally formed to prevent such calamities.. The bailouts send a message to conservatives that they don't see. This is the price for deregulation and smaller government. Wild swings that make or break fortunes like the days before the Great Depression and massive unemployment. Conservatives aloofly disregard the millions who are disadvantaged by such economic debacles and the global wide impact.

The libertarian notions of small government are so idealistic they don't work in the real world. Conservatives who embrace and advocate libertarian principles fail to see how a country of over 300 million people diverse in culture, ethnicities and religions need to strike a balance between government and the private sectors. Dubya failed to see the importance of such a balance and chose to enact one mantra of his ideology, "smaller government". Dubya's attempts to shrink government resulted in unnecessary loss of life and property due to natural disasters, more mining deaths, a collapsed bridge, a weakened military, weakened economy, fragmented culture, etc. Through his puppet Gonzales, Dubya went further and tried to overhaul the Department of Justice by discriminating qualified applicants during hiring practices.

Right wingers are suppressing science in favor of the Bible. They are regressives and foolishly so.

[careerkath]

John, you raise a number of noteworthy points. Palin is a distraction from McCain's true intent. Need I remind everyone about his deplorable policies and voting record regarding the invasion? Lacking a sell-able personality, he decided to purchase one in the former sportscaster they now call their VP candidate.
I make no mistake as a woman. McCain is contemptuous of women and for him to choose her as VP is hypocritical. John, you've mentioned in interviews the "c" word is a favorite; men can lust after them, women can be glad to have them, but NO man should ever call a woman one- especially in public. McCain makes it a habit of belittling his wife in public by calling her the "c" word. I will NEVER, vote for a man that behaves this way.
His lack of respect for women does not compare with his lack of respect for voters; he thinks forgot his b.s. about "cleaning house in Washington." He did- he moved all the oil lobbyists to his campaign headquarters!
I watch deregulated businesses go down in flames. I watch family and friends dying from cancers caused by deregulated companies poisoning the environment. I see friends losing homes while McCain can't remember how many he has. I see myself, with an advanced education , who cannot afford simple things. If bullshit had wings, McCain would be an airport. If Democrats do not get aggressive on these and points that John makes, they deserve to lose.

[fiberoptimist]

Cusack tells it like it is, and Obama would be wise to follow his suggestions. My hope is that Obama is holding back the really strong indictments of the entire Republican party and it's bathtub drowning vision of government for the debates. A reverse October surprise.

[Pascaline]

I'm french, living in Paris, and i read every day the Huffington Post ! I love your country and i follow this election since the beginning, important for America of course, but for the all world ! I really liked this article. Wish all the actors in France could be as smart as you are, and especially as much concerned by people rights and freedom ( not only interested by their little lives ). It's quite funny because France is fascinated by Obama and in the same time we would never be able to give a black person the chance to be president of our country. Anyway, here we can't believe that Mac Cain and Palin could be the next team to run your country. I think Palin is very dangerous and as a woman i don't recognize myself in her fights. And i really agree when you say that Mac Cain / Palin would be worst than Bush ! Hope this financial crisis will open the eyes of all the americans who still believe that Mac Cain will make a good president ! Wake up people ! If Mac Cain becomes the next president and if something happens to him, can you really imagine that Palin can run your country ??? No way !
KInd regards and please excuse my bad english.

[zanzig]

Given the litigious nature of American society (suing a dry cleaner for millions for destroying your Zegna suit does denote a certain excess) it continues to baffle me why Americans have not taken to the law to correct the real problems in your society. Why have you not sued these bastards for so many of their crimes? Do you have any provision similar to a Mandamus action in English law? This is a Writ that is issued to force a civil servant (or public official) to comply with their duty; i.e. to take the action for which they are paid. You could start with Treasury officials, and then move on to DoJ. Maybe start small with your local dog catcher.

[ckomeshian]

Good point. And why didn't we rise up when Gore "lost" the election to Bush. Our system is very convoluted. We're all exhausted and broke and given the option of taking a vacation to nice places like England OR staying in the U.S. and hiring a lawyer to sue our elected leaders, the vacation wins out.

[PurplePhase]

We are far from perfect and could use improvements in a heartbeat. However, I can't forget that Winston Churchill said the American political system is the best in the world. He had a witty way of saying but I don't have the quote at hand.

I would also like to see plaintiffs pay the defendants legal fees when the plaintiff loses but the legal lobby is strongly opposed to that. Still some measures have been enacted to reduce frivolous litigation. The reason why the case with the dry cleaners went that far is because the plaintiff was a new and foolish judge who lost the case and was humiliated. He was ordered to pay the defendant's court costs.

Also that story was a sensation in the media and reported world wide. But don't get the impression this is the norm here.

By the way, is your country perfect?