Wandering Artist's Journal

The divisive GOP rhetoric we've been hearing lately is hardly new. But with each passing year, the "real" America of GOP mythmaking bears less and less resemblance to the America most Americans live in. About 80% of Americans live in metropolitan areas, not small towns. A third of us are ethnic and racial minorities, but that's changing: Already, nearly 45% of children under 5 are minorities. Although 88% of us believe in God, 70% think that religions other than our own are equally valid routes to truth. And while 59% of us think that wearing an American flag pin is a decent way to show patriotism, even more of us (66%) think that protesting U.S. policies we oppose is a good way to show patriotism. These days, more than half of us say we prefer the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Given this, why do McCain, Palin and their team keep pushing the message that the America where most of the electorate lives isn't "real"? (from Rosa Brooks at the L.A...

For The Record, Mrs. McCain*... The non-partisan group Disabled American Veterans gives John McCain a 20 percent rating for his voting record on veterans' issues. (It gives Barack Obama an 80 percent rating.) The non-partisan group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gives McCain a "D" grade for his voting record on issues such as additional funding for combat body armor, and additional funding for post-traumatic stress disorder and other medical treatment. (Obama earned a B +.) "It ruffles our feathers when someone claims that Barack Obama doesn't support the troops, because the Obamas have gone out of their way to understand the military, its families, and its veterans," Stephanie Himel-Nelson, deputy director of outreach for Blue Star Families for Obama, told OffTheBus. "In fact, Michelle Obama has adopted military families as one of her causes." * At a rally in Bethlehem, Pa. last week, Cindy McCain spoke about having two sons ser...

Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believe that the 2008 elections have already been stolen. What's an American to do given these circumstances? They suggest: "Steal it back" . More at truthout .

The biggest problem: when Palin came out to onto the Wachovia Center ice Saturday night — greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos from the Flyers crowd — the the two hockey players who had no choice but to appear with her in that photo op were turned into props in a political campaign. If Rangers center Scott Gomez or Flyers center Mike Richards wanted to make some sort of political statement, that would be fine, but in this case, they were thrust into a situation not of their choosing. Flyers owner Snider put them there with his ill-advised mixing of politics and sports. more here

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune . Today it's Sarah Palin; rest of the candidates will be up next week.

Today, in Lakeville, Minnesota, John McCain finally attempted to reign in some of his more rabid fans. He and Sarah Palin have been stoking crowds who booed Barack Obama and yelled “off with his head.” At a rally in Florida, The Washington Post reported that a man yelled out “kill him.” At the same rally, a racial insult was hurled at an African-American television cameraman. Per the NYT , although today's crowd was not as large and angry as previous crowds — Ms. Palin appears to attract greater numbers of frustrated voters — Mr. McCain at numerous points had to try to tone down the intensity. At one point, after a voter told him he wanted to see a “real fight” at the debate and the crowd responded with a roar, Mr. McCain replied, “We want to fight, and I will fight, but we will be respectful. Later, a woman stood up at the meeting, held at Lakeville South High School in a far suburb of Minneapolis, and told Mr. McCain that she could not trust Mr. Obama because he was an “Arab.” M...

Tim Dickinson wrote a lengthy, detailed article in the current Rolling Stone magazine , covering John McCain's life and his documented behavior. Dickinson made a short video of "The Five Myths About John McCain" HERE . (a movie preview runs first) 5. John McCain - Washington outsider? Nope. Except for a few short stints, he grew up there, went to school there, has been in Washington social circles for his whole life. 4. John McCain - top gun pilot? Nope - he crashed 4 planes (only shot down two enemy planes.) 3. John McCain - the central hero of the POW camps? Not according to other POWs, who were there at the same time. He gave up information under torture (not everyone did.) Was he exceptional for turning down the chance to go home early? Everyone was given the chance to go home early, almost no one did. 2. John McCain - straight talking reformer? Not really - he set up a "reform institute" that was actually a vehicle to solicit large unregulated sums of so...

Who knew? The original Mavericks were/are fiercely liberal and they're insulted to hear McCain and Palin calling themselves Mavericks. The word "maverick," as it's used today, was coined by Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870.) His great-great-grandaughter Fontaine Maverick was interviewed yesterday on KGO radio (810, San Francisco) and she said, "I'm Fontaine Maverick, and John McCain, you sir are no Maverick." KGO radio host Charles Karel Bouley wrote: Samuel Maverick was a Texas cattleman, land baron and politician, so influential that he was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence . Fiercely independent and equally liberal, Sam became well known for what he didn't do. It seems, according to Fontaine, that he had taken some cattle in lieu of a debt he was owed. He let them roam on an island off of Texas, and for whatever reason, didn't brand them. So, any unbranded cattle became known as Maverick's. Sam's grandso...

From George Packer at the New Yorker : Don’t try to scan Sarah Palin’s syntax; don’t even bother making fun of it. By now we all know that she can’t think and talk at the same time on the national stage. What interests me more is what her particular kind of incoherence reveals about her as a political figure. Palin’s sentences quickly clot up with nouns, but you can wait a long time before you’ll hear a verb. Sometimes most of a paragraph can go by without one. Palin’s candidacy is pure identity politics—a play for Christian conservatives, women, and anyone who resents the coastal big-city know-it-alls. What does Palin offer these voters? Herself. String along a chain of nouns in the form of politically symbolic platitudes—“Hockey Mom Pitbull Joe Six Pack Wasilla Main Street Reform Soccer Mom Every Day American People Maverick”—and you have practically the whole of her program, her policies, her world view. Palin’s self-infatuation is staggering: asked any question, she describes her...

Thanks to Stu at Zanshin Art for this tidbit . . . Paul Krugman uncovered the source for Sarah Palin's Ronald Reagan quote, used in her closing remarks during the recent VP debate: "It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we’re going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free." Reagan worked for the 1961 campaign against Medicare. You have to see it to believe it - here and here .

It was Li'l Mom Folksy versus Ol' Joe Insider. Watching it was less painful than I expected, as she managed to speak in (some) complete sentences. Neither one of them made any major gaffes. Some people are criticizing Biden for using the term "Bosniak," but in fact, it is the correct term for one of the ethnic groups in Bosnia. Palin was unclear on the Constitutional limits of the office of the VP - asked if she agreed with Cheney's interpretation that the VP is part of the legislative branch she said: "Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer ...

From The Wonk Room - Written with Daniel J. Weiss , a Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has handed to Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), his running mate, the responsibility of handling his “ energy independence ” agenda — much as George Bush did with Dick Cheney. On NPR this morning, McCain expressed his devotion to her, saying, “ I’ve already turned to Governor Palin particularly on energy issues.” In an interview last night with Katie Couric of CBS, Palin — who McCain claims “ understands the energy issues better than anybody I know in Washington, D.C.” — outlined her plan for America’s energy future. What she says she wants to do is inarguable: We need to make sure that our nation’s taking those steps to become energy independent. . . I support all that we can do to reduce emissions and to clean up this planet. However, the steps McCain-Palin would take to “become energy independent” and “reduce emi...