Sinclair Lewis and Sarah Palin

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." -- Sinclair Lewis, 1935

How appropriate and brilliant is that? And it is only 73 years later.

When I listen to Governor Palin repeat over and over again how she told Congress to keep the money for the "bridge to nowhere," it makes me nuts. When I hear the "born again" Governor Palin talk about praying for a pipeline, that makes me nuts as well. When I hear Governor Palin "faking it" in her Charlie Gibson Q&A conducted with deference and the simplicity of questions more appropriate for a high school sophomore, I cringe.

When I hear Senator John McCain change positions on important issues during the same day it is "crazy making time."

I fear both McCain and Palin equally, but for different reasons.

Barack Obama may or may not be the right guy to lead our nation, but at least he can string an entire sentence together, and does not feature Jesus in his comments. Sadly however, there is nowhere in his state where he can see any part of Russia.

What can be better for our country then Joe Biden (a real grown up) as the Vice President?

Is it not possible for Senator McCain to have selected someone better suited to replace him should he die in office?

When I see the video compilations showing McCain contradicting himself or outright lying, and send them to my Republican friends they claim that it has been skillfully edited in order to embarrass McCain.

Show them McCain's appearance on The View and they blame the hostile liberal women hosts.

When I ask about Palin and the "bridge" among other things they say that I am just a sexist.

When McCain/Palin champion "change" I admit that I question a Washington insider for all these years changing anything but his suits, shirts, and ties.

I loved the movie A Guide to a Married Man. A husband is caught in the act by his wife. The admonition to him is "deny, deny, deny." That is what McCain does every day.

The day-to-day lies that are made by or "approved" by McCain make me ashamed of our political process. Shame, shame, shame on you Senator McCain!

Everyone is now aware that:

Obama is a Muslim.

Obama voted to give sex education to kindergarten classes.

Palin never accepted an earmark.

Obama demeaned Palin with the "lipstick on a pig" statement.

Palin was the Mayor of Alaska's second largest city.

McCain walked safely on the streets of Baghdad without protection.

After McCain chose Palin as his running mate, his campaign has waged an intensive assault on the news media. McCain is attempting to refer to the media as one corrupt monolith, stirring up the conservative base and working to pressure the media from further aggressive reporting on Palin. At the Republican Convention Fred Thompson said, "This woman is undergoing the most vicious assault that anybody has ever seen in public life."

I wonder if these guys want her left alone because she wears glasses and is a woman.

"Our campaign would much rather prefer to aim our criticisms at our opponent's record of inexperience than the shortcomings and misrepresentations that appear in the media," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.

Sure!

McCain's people moved seamlessly against many legitimate questions posed about Palin's record and experience, and ignored or denied them.

When CNN pressed a McCain spokesman to identify an example of Palin's experience commanding the Alaska National Guard, one of her bragging points, the campaign retaliated by ruling out a McCain interview with Larry King.

It turned out that Palin never has commanded the Alaska National Guard to do anything, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

When other reporters asked questions about Palin's experience, McCain's campaign accused the media of being sexist, charging that "nobody" had ever asked about Barack Obama's experience, despite thousands of articles mentioning Obama's relative inexperience.
I know that the Democrats have done some bad stuff as well, however if you think that to be the case, research it and write your own article.

When Senator McCain has the temerity to shout about "the changes" he will make, I can only wonder why this great reformer" has not raged about the Bush administrations policies during all these years.

Comments

[ouroborous]

The problem with all of the outrage we're expressing is that it keeps the focus where the Republicans want it to be: on the Republican campaign. Have you ever heard the phrase that "there's no such thing as bad publicity?" Well, it sorta applies.

The best thing Obama can do right now is:

1) CLEARLY explain how he'll get us out of the mess(es) we're in.
2) Swiftly dismiss any stupid "lipstick on a pig" controversies as the made-up outrage that they are.
3) Keep the spotlight on McCain/Palin only as a topic of derision. Don't let them gain legitimacy for their "narrative" by focusing on the outrageous claims; dispute them, dismiss them, and move on.

If he can do that (and if Bush/Cheney don't engineer a coup), he'll win in November. End of story.

[chadpengar]

Obama is much closer to the definition of fascism.

Where's the Beef? Obama talks in a lot of generalities but in very few specific details, and those details are patently absurd. Obama is a naive politician who has not a clue of the demands of the Presidency. Obama has no real plans that he could actually implement and so all he can do is try and get people to associate McCain with Bush but without any clear link. He thinks that if he says it enough, it will become true.

Obama keeps talking about failed policies of the Bush administration. Which policies exactly? His tax rate cuts spurred the economy and raised IRS receipts to record levels and grew jobs. His Iraq policies of late, including the surge and other adjustments, have been working quite well.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are more a Democrat problem and an Obama problem than a Bush problem. Obama is in the top three recipients of F&F special interest money (along with Kerry and Dodd) and Barney Frank is the patron saint of F&F and pushed for them to take on even more questionable loans.

The "mortgage crisis" and wall street meltdown are not attributable to any Bush policy. They came about due to a multitude of interconnected reasons that go back to past administrations and congressional action as well as action by the Fed and the operations of the market -- much bigger than any administration or central bank. Try Google

[ByersL]

you are in some kind of lala land. every single thing you wrote is completely absurd.

[Rmtns]

Spewing Repuglickin' talking points (lies) does not political discourse make, dude.

[genopetro]

Mr. S. Lewis also said, “The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, ''The trouble with this country is...''”

[genopetro]

Mr Lewis also said, “The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, ''The trouble with this country is...''"

[InfinitePeace]

Hate to bring this precedent up, and certainly there would appear to be big differences in intelligence level, but Hitler officially came to power in Germany on the coattails of a doddering old soldier, General von Hindenburg ... just another indication that as a nation we are really playing with fire.

[IIell]

This is possibly the best article I've read on about McCain/Palin so far. I hope the undecided voters make the right choice this election year.

[annecordelia]

What drives me crazy is that an inexperienced senator is the Democratic nominee in a year when it was almost impossible for the Democrats to lose the White House--"almost," of course, is the operative word as the Democrats have a rare talent for losing elections. If Hillary Clinton were the nominee or the VP selection, Sarah Palin would still be in Alaska eating moose burgers and John McCain would not be ahead in the polls.

I'm not sure which Obama you know. The one I've heard speak often references Jesus. Perhaps you should reread his speeches, particularly the one he gave in Texas before the Texas primary vote.

[ByersL]

STOP. HILLARY LOST. WE REJECTED HER. SHE COULD NOT AND WILL NOT BE PRESIDENT. SHE HAS A 50% NEGATIVE RATING. IF BILL KRISTOL AND PAT BUCHANAN ARE PUSHING HILLARY, THERE IS A PROBLEM! STOP IT. SHE LOST.

[BKrause]

Will someone in the press please ask Palin what her grade point averages were at Idaho State University and the myriad other schools she attended while attempting to earn her degree in "journalism?" We heard they were mediocre..­.actually lower than McCain's 5th-from-the-bottom of his class at Annapolis of 899 students. And since one of Palin's issues is education, we are curious what the level of excellence of her own education meant to her?

[dexxjones]

i actually heard him say "enough!" today, trying to steal another effective phrase from somebody (obama) who actually has new ideas. i long for the day (and it will come) that the sarah palins of the world are a national punchline and safe to mock. and i aint talking about her accent or lipstick either