PRESIDENT PALIN AND THE FIRST DUDE

My letter to the Fort Myers News-Press ...

I DON’T THINK SO. At McCain’s age, in his state of health, with the extreme stress of this campaign and intense pressures of the actual job - Palin would most assuredly finish his term. Under-educated, unsophisticated and shrill … do you really want her and “The First Dude” serving as our faces to the world?

When news of her backing of aerial hunting of wolves and bear rippled through the internet, I started receiving emails with photos of dead and aborted babies. As if a vote for Obama was a vote for dead babies. As Ms. McNally so eloquently stated in her recent letter, “pro-choice is not the same as pro-abortion!”

I thought of retaliating to those emails with photos of our dead sons and daughters coming back from the war Palin supports as “holy” - but there aren’t any. And I would never stoop so low.

Tolerance? Let’s compare the blinding white of the Republican National Convention to the Obama Debate Watch I went to in Fort Myers Friday night. There were people of all colors, ages and incomes gathered together like FAMILY.

After a week of the worst national news in eight years, I think a lot of us finally got our HOPE back.

Hard times, presidential debates, mean-spirited lunatics and me - the word whore.

(Photo from the anti-Palin rally in Wasilla, Alaska. "Somehow" this event escaped media coverage. Want more? Write me, I'll send you a link.)

I sleep with the TV on. Like you - every morning this week I awakened to some of the worst news I have ever heard. Strange concepts ... bailing out the mega-wealthy by breaking the backs of American workers. Six and seven figure exit payments to the bankers who brought it on, some who should be going to jail.

Terms like "another depression - worse than the last."

I never paid attention before. I told a friend this morning - sometimes I will switch off the news to watch reruns of Friends because you MAX OUT ON IT.

Who in their right mind will buy non-essential goods in this economy? Some will bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is happening. Check the morning shows ... candy ass chicks are still aspiring to designer handbags that cost the average mortgage payment.

I work at an ad agency ... try being a person of conscience coming up with words that convince hard-working people to part with their money. For the most part, the demographic of our clients is my own age group. The people who survived Nam, the assasination of Kennedy, who lived large in the 80s and are scrambling to survive now as they (we) age with dwindling funds and limited prospects.

As I listen to the giant swooshing sound of my karma going down the toilet, I placate my inner word whore with the thought that if people don't buy these unnecessary things, there won't be jobs.

IF AND WHEN YOU BUY, PLEASE BUY AMERICAN MADE!!!

I know, it's hard to find American made goods these days. You want four more years of this bullshit?

I posted the Democratic Debate Watch to my singles group. (I founded the group, started with 7 lonely people on July 4, 2007; now we have about 205 people.)

I am a paid professional when it comes to words. First I went to meetup.com to make sure it was kosher to post political events. Then I took great pains to be fair. I invited Democrats and undecideds, gave the details and welcomed Republicans to post their own events. I asked that members of my group RSVP to the event portion of http://www.barackobama.com/ instead of my meetup group. Because I thought people would take shots, as people do.

I was blown away by the number of mean-spirited remarks I endured. I know some of these people. I wrote them "I have Republican friends; we treat each other with honor and respect." None of them bothered to read the details I provided in the posting, they saw what they wanted to see, accused me of being biased, of having invited Republicans to a Democratic event (that was a total lie) and censorship when they attempted to copy the entire group with their inflammatory remarks.

As of Thursday I had to cancel the event on that board because McCain was off to Washington as if Washington would be hopeless without him. If you post an event on Meetup and it is cancelled at the last minute, people are stranded.

On Friday morning I got a notice from the New York Times that McCain WOULD be at the debate. So around noon I sent out an email with a link to the news story on the New York Times. I suggested everyone watch the debate. There was no mention of Democrats or Republicans, just those who might realize they HAVE A STAKE IN THE FUTURE OF THIS COUNTRY.

And I heaved a sigh of relief, knowing there was no way ANYONE could take offense.

And again with the venom, as if suggesting people watch the debates was somehow offensive. All non-organizer emails must be approved by the organizer (me) so I was able to head them off. One of the most vicious attackers "quit" the group saying there was "too much drama".

One Democratic event posted on a singles site and one email to the group suggesting they watch at home was "too much drama" for this bitch.

It's a singles group. You quickly find out why some people are SINGLE.

Frustated beyond belief, I wasn't sure I would attend the debate because the first "Obama watch event" had been a reality check; bigots and rednecks were out in force. The organizer had accidentally chosen a hostile venue. (See previous posts.) So I was a little nervous about this one.
I walked in to an alternate universe ... people of every age, color and persuasion. Not the blinding white of the Republican Convention.

I was intellectually "home" for the first time in a long time. If I could find a church like this, I would go just to hang out. Good people from all walks of life on the SAME PAGE. I was early enough to snag a barstool where I could easily see the TV. Next to me was a Phillipino (?) woman my age. Then came an adorable young gay guy. We shared our two barstools with him, rubbing shoulders during the debate, laughing, yelling and booing for all we had.

A middle-aged woman with giant hooters walked by on her way to the john. My new gay friend said "those have to be fake" and I said "no, I think they're original equipment." He asked why ... I said "they're structurally unsound." He's like "oh, so you're saying it's the bra?" And I said YEAH.

More people attended than expected, many stood throughout and two women near us got tanked and had to be shooshed; but on the whole it was a major success. We all walked out smiling and energized.

Like everyone, I've been giving everything a lot of thought this week. And I came to some conclusions. Understand that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to this stuff.

But here's what I think.

A vote for McCain is a vote for President Palin because his age, health, and the stress of the election compounded with the heat of the presidency will certainly kill him. And Palin? I was wondering what people see in her.

Anti-choice, against informing kids about birth control (abstinence doesn't work for her family - why would it work for anyone else?) born again, pro-war, pro-aerial hunting of wolves and bears ...

So who is for Palin?

Fundamentalist Christians. You know what? I have a few born again friends I love dearly. I recently received an email from one of them - it contained photos of dead and aborted babies. As if I were a baby killer because I believe in the right of people to make their own choices.

Palin is ALSO pro-war.

Where are the photos of America's sons and daughters coming back from Iraq in BOXES?

I thought church and state were supposed to be separate ... how long will that last with President Palin?

McSame and Saracuda; how stupid do we look to the rest of the world?

This old take on The Sixth Sense is about the only humor that fits this country in these deathly serious times.

I was on the Southwest Florida Obama board and I forwarded an email on registering young voters - for a measly $12 donation you get a free shirt. (Here's a link:)

https://pol.moveon.org/newobamatshirts/index.html?id=13949-9283835-ta6o9Tx&t=5&enc_min=UmFuZG9tSVZKVNfJ1DjuVNcvnAiF7eA%2Bp0liNwxQol4%3D-agLtdoweCfd1OBb3eQ%2FTcw

A Canadian wrote back complaining that MoveOn.org wouldn't take his information. I wrote back he should probably go to Obama's main site.

I don't know what I was thinking - it took a few email exchanges to realize HE DOESN'T EVEN LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY AND HE CARES ENOUGH TO DONATE.

So I asked him - what do Canadians think of this presidential race? This is what he wrote.

"I'll tell you what they think.....they think it's a completely disgraceful show, mostly on the part of McCain and the joke that Palin is.....I'd say the support for Obama here is very, very heavy.....over 90%...if not 95%.....I've come up with a plan for that $12.00 donation for the t-shirt.....make 3 separate donations but have them sent to my sister's and nephew's home address.....just have to confirm their complete mailing address:))).....personally my wife, my son and I can't stand to watch Palin at all.....we know all about Alaska since it was part of Canada once upon a time.....it's Eskimo country.....with a very small population....not really in touch with mainstream america......her voice annoys us to the point we have to change the channel when we hear her speaking......and as for McCain, we watch him because it's better than the stuff they have on the comedy channel!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol.......I've donated personally $250.00 towards the Obama campaign and I'm in about 35 state groups across the U.S.......this includes all the battleground states.....so when I pass blogs on they reach all 35 state groups....the internet is a wonderful tool.......to easily reach to as many people as you can.........like Florida:))!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......"

Well said my Canadian friend.

There for a while, I had forgotten the whole world has a huge stake in what happens here.

President Palin?! Holy crap, warn the young folk ...

At our ad agency we were thinking about creating a television commercial that would poke fun at "change". When we realized, to our horror, that some of our coworkers had NO IDEA McCain has tagged onto Obama's promise of change!

One of the younger account people, a favorite of mine who is about 24 years old, admitted she knew nothing about either candidate but would probably vote for Obama.

It is not enough to use your instincts or follow those you trust, our young people NEED TO KNOW WHO WE'RE UP AGAINST!

They have more years of future than most of us! They have the most to lose! So - knowing she loves animals as much as I do - I wrote ...

Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:53:38 AM
Subject: You need to know about Palin.

Obama touched my heart right off, whereas Palin struck me as gum popping big haired trailer trash; until I learned more.

You need to know how dangerous she is because there is a huge chance she will be president if the old guy is elected. I sent the following email out last week, click the link. This is the TIP OF THE ICEBERG.

Palin thinks global warming is nonsense and has full fox pelts on the walls of her office. Imagine her as president. McCain is an old cancer survivor and he looked like he was going to pass out from stress on The View. I think Whoopie wanted to castrate him ... Deepak Chopra came out and called her evil.

Please get information to your friends. It's the young voters that need to come out and protect their futures. She will change this country in ways you cannot imagine. (She is an evangelical Christian, believes we are in a holy war and is pro-life. To me, backing the war and being pro-life contradict!! I don't understand denying abortion but thinking it's ok to send young men and women to die in a stupid war??)

Your generation needs to be VERY *&%ING AFRAID. NOBODY has more at stake than your age group.

Sorry for the rant, I have lived long enough to go through nuclear drills where we hid under our desks in elementary school (like that was going to help if they dropped The Bomb) ... I have seen Kennedy die and Martin Luther King die (my step-dad marched with him) and thousands of guys from my generation die in Nam and the riots in Detroit in the sixties where my black friends had to sleep under their beds because bullets were coming through their walls and a black man stepping off the sidewalk as I approached as if Lincoln hadn't freed the slaves ... but God, I have never seen our country perched on the brink of disaster.

Click the link. That's a hint of our future with McCain and Palin.

Please spread the word.

Micki

(Forwarded.)
As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin proposed paying a $150 bounty for the severed left foreleg of each dead wolf. She has championed aerial gunning of wolves and bears and approved a $400,000 state-funded campaign to promote this awful practice.
Learn more about Palin's record online at:
http://actionfund.defenders.org/palinvideo

As a single mom raised by a single mom ...

Palin bugs me on a lot of levels.

If I've got this right, she's for teaching abstinence (not birth control); as we can see, that's not working very well in HER houshold. Well of course not, it's unrealistic.

I wonder if I would run for vice president if I had a baby with Down's and a pregnant teenage daughter. I ask myself where her priorities are. Where her heart is.

I don't mind that she hunts, so long as she uses what she takes. I don't know a lot of women who are comfortable picking up a gun and taking a life. Women bring life into the world, they cherish it - I don't have any female friends who kill - except for one who did it to survive a winter in Northern Michigan.

A woman would do that out of necessity, to feed family; not for bloodsport. Not to "prove something" to the guys.

I have a friend in Missouri - she's taking care of her dying mother, hard pressed for money, all alone on the family farm, just the two of them.. She went fishing for dinner the other night and had to release what she caught ... "they were too beautiful". She ate cottage cheese instead.

Every strong, powerful, amazing woman I know is a NURTURER of creatures great and small, two legged and four. I know a man who said he couldn't hunt again after watching "the light go out of the deer's eyes."

I mind that she backs aerial hunting of wolves and bears. That's barbaric. But we are growing accustomed to barbarity in this country. It breaks my heart.

I mind that she ignores global warming. I worry that when my grandchildren have children, they'll have to show them where Great Grandma lived by boat with depth sounder.

I mind that in her speech she comes out attacking the man - Obama - who was so gracious in discouraging attacks on her family. Zero class.

I read that there's a scandal coming out about her having an affair with her husband's business partner.

Hypocrisy and ignorance ... this is just what I expect from a party whose priorities are wealth and power for a few.

If I fully comprehend her religious leanings, there also - salvation for a few. The rest of us? Unworthy. That's cool with me, I don't want to be part of a group like that.

It's easier to visualize Palin doing shots off the dash of a Camaro than being second in command in the White House.