Motley Moose – Archive

I originally posted this diary on Nov. 5th. It is even more appropriate for today so I decided to repost it on the front page.

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This electoral race has never really been about race to me. There are reasons to support Obama other than wishing to see an African-American in the White House. However, I’ve also been aware of how historic an Obama victory would be for this country. With that thought in mind, here is a verse from one poem and another full poem written by Langston Hughes, another half-white/half-black American, that I thought were especially suited to this day’s historical events.

The last verse of Langston Hughes poem “Let America be America Again”

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,

The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,

We, the people, must redeem

The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.

The mountains and the endless plain–

All, all the stretch of these great green states–

And make America again!

and this poem by Hughes is particularly relevant.

I, Too, Sing America    

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

The image of Gov. Sarah Palin being promoted by the McCain campaign is of a straight-shooter who talks truth to power. The true image is of a person who lies repeatedly, even after being called out for her lies.

The Vice-Presidential debate offered more examples of her ability to lie with a straight face. All politicians obfuscate during debates and frequently misstate their opponent’s position. But, not all of them make up lies as they go along. Gov. Palin did that at least twice during Thursday’s debate.

One of the lies, about post-surge troop levels in Iraq, could have been caused by lack of knowledge on the part of Palin, but the other, about divestment of investments in Sudan, was a pure unadultrated prevarication.

This news clip is hilarious. Even the people in the video laughed at the commentator. I especially liked the older couple. He started to raise his hand for McCain before his wife forced it down, then raised it for Obama.

There seems to be a disconnect between the way the pundits and the politically active class saw the debate and the way the average viewer saw it.

Since I’m in the politically active class, I definitely had a different take on it than the other people who were watching it with me. McCain exceeded my expectations, given his actions of late on the campaign trail. Obama, on the other hand, came across as the man I’ve come to respect and admire over the long course of this election cycle. I fell into a trap, because of those views.

Because Obama came across the way I expected, he gained no points from me for performance, while McCain did better than expected. This boosted McCain in my view. Uncommitted voters saw it differently.

Parsing the CBS post-debate poll (pdf) of uncommitted voters shows some interesting findings.

The recent addition of the Rachel Maddow Show to the MSNBC nightly lineup has added a highly effective voice to the liberal arsenal. Ms. Maddow has proven herself to be a witty, highly intelligent, and effective commentator. Her show has garnered rave reviews and wide viewership. I, for one, am grateful to MSNBC for giving her a platform.

A recent article in The American Prospect gives a full background on Rachel and the path she took to her present prominence in the political commentator world.

Maddow’s self-deprecating, wry wit comes across clearly in the article, just as it doesn on her radio and television shows.

“I think I have a fear in general about whether being a pundit is a worthwhile thing to be,” Rachel Maddow tells me over dinner at a Latin restaurant in lower Manhattan. It’s more than the ordinary self-deprecation of someone who just got her own cable commentary show. It’s an insecurity essential to the on-air style that’s powered the 35-year-old’s rapid rise from a wacky morning radio show in western Massachusetts to the liberal radio network Air America and now to her own prime-time show on MSNBC.

Does anyone really think this woman is prepared to step into the Presidency of the United States if necessary? We need to send her back to Alaska, so she can keep the Russians at bay.

Watch CBS Videos Online

There’s nothing like a long road trip for allowing time to think. Many, if not most, of the thoughts are silly or nonsensical. However, some seem worth sharing.

Pre-trip thought: God, I love Google Maps.

9:30 pm – 1 am CST

The trip from Memphis, Tennessee to Genesee county Michigan is 800 miles. The first portion runs east on I-40 from Memphis to Nashville. This leg of the trip is a little over 200 miles. It seems longer. I came to the conclusion that it feels longer, because it is running east instead of north. It doesn’t feel like the trip back to Michigan begins until you get to Nashville. No wonder it seems so long.

Another thought that came to me through this stretch is that Tennessee is a beautiful state with more than its share of bigots and small-minded people. The Tennessee Republican Party gives the Texas Republican Party a close race for the most offensive state political party in the country.

This caught my eye while I was searching for McCain's original statement on the qualifications he would be looking for in a vice-presidential pick.  

This is the text on Google's result page when I searched for "john mccain qualifications for vice president".  Note the part that I've emphasized with bold italic lettering. This text would be from Google’s cache of the page.

Lexington | The case for John McCain | Economist.com Mr McCain's qualifications extend beyond character. Take experience. … Provided Mr McCain chooses a sound vice-president, his many positive qualities … www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10251179

Now look at how the article reads since the Palin announcement. It has been edited to remove the reference to a “sound vice-president”.

Take experience. His range of interests as a senator has been remarkable, extending from immigration to business regulation.

Does anyone doubt where the Economist stands in this election? Very shady actions by a supposedly respected MSM operation. I don’t know whether this article appeared in the print version. It is datelined Dec 6th 2007. Please leave a comment with a quote of this paragraph from the print version if you happen across it.

Back in 2000, I actually thought John McCain might make a good president, not that I would have voted for him. However, I did think he would surely be better than George W. Bush.

When the Rove attack machine turned on McCain in South Carolina, I was outraged and expected McCain to turn against Bush even more. It wasn’t long before I discovered just how wrong I was about McCain. He not only forgave Bush for the smears about his adopted daughter, he actually embraced Bush. If it had been me, I would have punched him.

Over the last eight years, McCain has shown that he will do and say anything to have the title of President of the United States of America. He has flip-flopped on nearly every important issue. He has embraced people he would have once shunned and reached out for support from people he has condemned. Does this man have any principles left?

He said the war would be quick and easy and then flipped and said that he had always claimed it would be a long hard war.

more after the break, plus videos

This poem was written during the Fallujah campaign in 2005. It is also listed on the Poets Against the War web site.