What Makes Us American

We are a nation unlike any on this planet. We think differently, of ourselves and of others. We are not "American" by blood necessarily. In European communities, for example, one must be of Greek descent to be Greek. One must be English to be English. Same holds true for much of Asia. Koreans in Japan are still not Japanese.

Here in America, things are different. What binds us, what makes us a nation is a belief system. And it stems from the following:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

As you should know, this is the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. It is the single purpose of our government. It is, essentially, what makes us American. Let's break it down a bit.

...in order to form a more perfect Union: argument makes a more perfect union. Disagreement and resolution is what makes us stronger. We as a nation have not always made the best decisions, but that we are able to voice our opinions and reach a collective decision strengthens our nation. Claiming that those who disagree with your viewpoints is somehow unpatriotic and anti-American goes against the very first principle of what makes us American.

...establish Justice: Justice is the concept of moral rightness. Not "right" in the political sense, mind you. But right as in correct. There is nothing morally or ethically right by creating an "us and them" mentality. Phrases like "real America", "real Virginia", "Redneck Pennsylvania" are morally and ethically wrong. It does no justice. Every citizen, especially every elected official, must always fight on the side of justice.

...insure domestic tranquility: On 9/11, our nation came together as it has only a handful of times in our short history. We were as united as ever. One cause. For a number of reasons, that unity is gone. We languish in a divisive nation right now. Feeding that divisiveness goes against this Preamble. Calling candidates names ("terrorist", "socialist", "Muslim") with the intent to divide is dangerous. Feeding the hatred that has been growing among these factions keeps us from being a United States.

...provide for the common defense: This obviously concerns national security. Maintaining and defending our nation is a charge of the government. To defend our nation, we must defend it against attacks and defeat any enemies. How we do that is what our government is supposed to do. Attack, defend, negotiate, talk, sanction -- these are all options at our disposal. Choosing one or another in defense of our nation does not make one unpatriotic or foolish or anything else. But note: nowhere does it state we are required to spread our democracy to others. That is not a charge of the American people or its government.

...promote the General Welfare: This sort of sounds like "spreading the wealth around", doesn't it? Again, we may disagree as to how to do this, but we as Americans are responsible for every American. And that means that our government must act, especially in times of crisis. The wealthier among us pay more taxes than the rest of us now. Keeping with that same strategy is not Socialist, unless of course we already are Socialists. And if we were, we wouldn't have had the Great Scare on Wall Street these last weeks now, would we?

...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity: And so it is. We are responsible not only for making decisions to help ourselves, but we have the responsibility to help the generations that follow us. Every single decision we make must take into account our future. It is how we as Americans are going to survive. It is the charge of the American people to fight for liberty for ourselves and our children. And we can let no one ever take that away from us.

The Gloves -- And Veil -- Are Off

With just two weeks remaining and far enough behind, the McCain campaign has gone beyond negative. They are pulling no punches. The tactics are ruthless -- anything for victory. Country be damned. The smear campaign is worse than I have ever seen it in politics.

And yet I am not suprised.

All this has done is exposed what the Republican elite is at its core, and has them repeating some of the darkest moments of American history. Here is what I mean:

McCarthyism: the Communist Scare of the 1950s is a dark moment in an otherwise bright time in American history. While Americans at home were enjoying peace and the birth of the suburbs and the nuclear family, Sen. Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon and others created a paranoia across the nation about communism. Innocent people's lives were destroyed in a false crusade against a phantom enemy.

We've witnessed history repeating itself time and again by John McCain, Sarah Palin and others, questioning Barack Obama's link to terrorism through Prof. Ayers of Chicago. If that wasn't 50s enough for you, the Republicans have even taken the old charge off the shelves to throw at Obama. McCain, Tom Ridge and, especially, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota have called Obama's tactics "socialist". Bachmann went so far as to, on MSNBC, suggest that liberals in the Senate and Congress were socialist, anti-American and should be investigated.

McCain, by the way, has supported the charge of socialism and has gone so far as to say Obama's tax policy is a socialist tenet.

Bush Tactics: Looking back at the last eight years, we can see a familiar tactic. Every time the opposition made attempts to thwart or question Bush's policies, the opposition was bullied into submission. It happened to the Democrats on the Patriot Act and the invasion of Iraq. It happened to the United Nations. It happened to John Kerry.

McCain does the same thing. He demands that Obama explain himself regarding Ayers. His cronies want answers on Rev. Wright. He demands repudiation of comments by John Lewis. Yet he does not demand the same thing for his own campaign. Saying that Obama is a good man does not repudiate yelling "kill him!" It doesn't stop charges of terrorism and socialism. These bullying tactics are nothing short of disgusting.

And John McCain's hands are filthy with it.

White Supremacy: We knew all along race was going to be an issue here. Make no mistake, it is. Where you stand on the issue of race in America will certainly be a factor in how you vote. For most of us, however, it isn't the only factor. Most of us, at least I hope, can also see the economy, two wars and the future of American culture in this election.

Not Colin Powell, at least according to George Will and Pat Buchanan. Colin Powell, according to them, lied to the American people about the issues and has endorsed Obama simply because he is black. And if that wasn't enough, we were treated once again to the perils of handing a junkie a mike when Rush Limbaugh spewed exactly that Colin Powell's decision was solely based on race.

Implying a black man cannot vote anything based on race is, in fact racist. If it is true, every white person who casts a vote for John McCain on November 4th is a white supremacist. It's the same exact logic.

It is not true, however.

What is true is this: racist spewings from Republican mouthpieces such as Will, Buchanan and Limbaugh harken back to the single worst stain on this nation of ours. We as a nation have battled this issue from day one. It hasn't yet gone away. The Republicans, and not Colin Powell, are making sure of that.

John McCain's silence on it concerns me. He should know better.

The gloves have definitely come off in the McCain campaign. I fear something else has come off as well. Hearing the words of hate being spewed out in the waning days of this election, I fear we may be seeing the real Republican Party.

Having policy disagreements is one thing. Those debates are what make us as a nation stronger. This is something entirely different.

The Evils Of Elephants

At Republican rallies we now hear McCain supporters yelling "Terrorist" in reference to Barack Obama. The head of the Virginia GOP has gone on record to compare Obama to Osama bin Laden. We've heard, "Kill him! Kill him!" And now this, stating that Obama and Biden are the bad guys.

Let's set the record straight. Only one candidate has chosen a running mate whose spouse is a separatist. Only one candidate has been a member of an anti-American organization. Only one candidate has had his hands dirtied by scandal, such as the Keating Five. And while Obama certainly has associated with Bill Ayers, McCain has his equally un-American association in G. Gordon Liddy.

You don't hear cries out to kill John McCain, however. Why is that?

The fact is, any and all "patriotism" John McCain has claimed is washed away by his cowardice by not shutting down this hatred. He should know better. His failure to be better than this has made him guilty of inciting the hatred.

Calls for killing a political candidate is not American. In fact, it is anti-American. There is more in common with Nazi Germany than any America I know. John McCain is refusing to stand up and say to his party, "We are better than this." What that tells you about John McCain is that he is no better than this.

This isn't about political views now. It's not about liberal or conservative, the economy, foreign policy or anything we should be discussing. It's about an anti-American group of bad people who have kidnapped a political party and so twisted, through propaganda and fear, the minds of its constituents that they would support the assassination of a political rival.

Until John McCain speaks up against what his party and his supporters are saying, he is no longer an American hero.

And Round Two Goes To...

Well, you do you think I'm going to say?

It was less of a push than debate one. Obama, I believe, was the clear victor. He did not deliver a knockout blow. Then again, he didn't need to. All Obama needed to do to succeed was not trip up his momentum. If anything, last night will increase that momentum.

McCain had a tougher challenge. He had to stop the rolling boulder. To do it, he needed to nail Obama on the economy. It really is the only way for him to take this election back. I believed he failed at this. He looked like a frustrated man who didn't have real answers. Instead, he went on the attack, going so low as to call his opponent "that one". More on that later. The attacks failed him.

John McCain is fast becoming a punchless former warrior. His verbal assaults may be bitter, but they fail to have any sticking power. When it comes to debating -- to fighting -- Hillary Clinton he is not. This is all quite fine with me. Barack Obama is on course for the White House.

As for McCain's poor choice of words when debating, I have only to say that I expect more from America's leaders. McCain and Obama are battling to become the leader of what is still the leading nation in the world. The leader is to act in a dignified fashion -- with a sense of class. Calling a political opponent "that one" was classless. It did not degrade Barack Obama, as his non-response to it showed the class expected of the leader of the free world. It did degrade John McCain. Shame on him. He should be better than that.

VP Debate Follow-Up

The Republicans dodged a big bullet last week in the Vice Presidential debate, though they are still getting hammered on all fronts. Here's what we know:

Sarah Palin did her best Claire Standish from The Breakfast Club imitation at the debate. If you recall from the 1980's classic film, Claire circled around the answer as to whether she had ever had sex. Sarah Palin did the same dance, around every single question asked of her. Unfortunately, as is the nature of these debates, she didn't get taken to task for it -- as Claire did.

Also, I must say I wasn't sure if Palin was pandering or flirting with me. She winked more times at me than I'd been winked at by any one before. It left me scratching my head.

And, lastly, her English is nothing short of atrocious. Her failure to speak correctly would be a major cause for attack if she were a different candidate. But, because she's Sarah Palin, white journalists are calling her "folksy". Personally, I find it distasteful. I don't want my executives sounding like that.

Joe Biden, for his part, answered questions -- in proper English -- and outdid his opponent. Still, it was not the knockout punch we on the left had hoped. The Republican Machine is still there to fight another day.

Or are they?

John McCain has pulled out of Michigan -- a key state. He also now trails in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. The McCain campaign must recognize they are on the verge of losing it all. It's why they have decided to change tactics.

Beginning this week, the McCain campaign will now focus on Barack Obama. They will start to bring up the dirt already brought up in the Democratic primaries. I'm sure that Rev. Wright and others will get fifteen more minutes. They will attempt anything to divert the American attention from the issues by trying to smear Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, this type of dirty trickery can and does work. We all remember how "swift boat" has managed to become a verb. If enough mud is slung, something may stick. And that can swing votes.

Let's hope America has learned from the last presidential election. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

Race & The Race

I was wondering how long it would take for racism to rear its ugly head.

On the eve of the Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin, we have a new issue to contend with, that of racism. It comes as follows:

Gwen Ifill is moderating the debate tonight. As we have heard from our friends at Fox News, Gwen Ifill has written a book. The book, entitled The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. The book takes a look at a new wave of politicians -- politicians of African-American descent.

There has been an outcry from the right claiming this is unfair. She is biased, they say. She cannot conduct herself in a fair manner, they say. Even John McCain has jumped into the picture. “Frankly, I wish they had picked a moderator that isn’t writing a book favorable to Barack Obama, said John McCain on the show Fox and Friends. He later stated, "Life isn't fair."

Where was the outcry that Jim Lehrer, a former Marine, moderated the first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama? Mr. Lehrer, after all, has written books about the military.

The fact is, there shouldn't have been an outcry. Jim Lehrer is a journalist and did a capable job. Why, then, would the spinners at Fox not believe Gwen Ifill is capable of the same fairness.

There is only one difference. Gwen Ifill is black. That is the only reason why the right is able to cry foul.

* * * * *

McCain's experience has been a selling point for his campaign. Barack Obama simply does not have the volume of experience that John McCain has. This is true. This does not, however, imply that John McCain is better qualified. Here are three reasons that "experience" is not a legitimate qualification here:

1) John McCain served for years in the military. He followed orders. In the Senate, he was not in an executive position. In fact, he may have less actual experience in leadership roles than Barack Obama. Even in his debate with Obama, McCain proved my point, consistently and continually going to the words of General Petraeus for his opinion of the war. Even in Iraq, where he is supposed to be far more experienced, he followed.

2) Experience does not equal ability to lead. Look again how each of them reacted to the financial crisis of last week. One remained calm. The other wanted to suspend his campaign. One assured his fellow citizens the country would survive it (quite presidential). The other seemed panicked and unsure of himself.

3) You would think that the more experienced candidate would have a clear timetable to get out of Iraq. Not true. While Obama has a set timetable and exit strategy, McCain continues to argue the difference between strategy and tactic. He still did not give an answer.

* * * * *

Sarah Palin will be debating Joe Biden tonight. I'm sure many are predicting a debacle. I am not. I predict a Biden victory, most definitely. But there will be enough wiggle room at the end of the session that the Republicans will not have been knocked out. And they will likely go on the offensive tomorrow if that happens, claiming media bias (see above).

I just hope she knows a little bit more about the American media outlets and our justice system before tonight.