Nothing is Too Low for the McCain Campaign

Recently I heard a report by NPR. The overarching topic was "Is America Ready for a Black President?" and one of the people interviewed said that he didn't have a problem with a black president, but that Barack Obama wasn't "the right black man".

Why not? Is Obama too "uppity"? Too well spoken? Too well educated? I have to wonder why the GOP fears educated voters. Who would this guy have considered the "right" black man to be president? It seems to me that honkies (and I am one) haven't done particularly well when it comes to running this country. What's wrong with giving an educated black man who can easily think his way out of a paper bag a chance? We've tried stupidity for the past 8 years. Might it not be reasonable to give intelligence a try? Just this once? Instead of electing the guy you might be happy to have a beer with, might it not make sense to elect the guy who has the smarts to solve some of the nation's problems?

The GOP is actively spreading lies about Obama, but that's typical for the party of Nixon, the party of dirty tricks. What's both surprising and disheartening is that John McCain is now using the same tactics he decried in 2000 when George W. Bush used them against McCain. Lies. Whisper campaigns. Half truths.

Maybe you've heard about "Snopes", the urban legend people. I don't know whether the Snopes folks are Republicans or Democrats. Or maybe independents. I do know that I trust them to investigate claims and report the truth.

So I encourage you to consider ...

• "50 Lies by Barack Obama" (GOP LIE): http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp
• "Barack Obama is not a US citizen" (GOP LIE): http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp
• "Obama is a Muslim" (GOP LIE): http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
• "Hugo Chavez is funding Obama's campaign" (GOP LIE): http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/chavez.asp
  

If you visit Snopes and type "Obama" into the search box, you'll get at least 66 hits. At least 60 of those hits indicate that the scurrilous comments are FALSE. Lies. Untruths. If John McCain can't win fair and square, it seems that he's willing to use unethical (might one say "immoral"?) tactics.

Try the same thing with the word "McCain" and you'll get 37 hits. Surprisingly (Really? Does this surprise you?) most of them are TRUE.

• E-mail lists facts about Senator John McCain's wife, Cindy McCain. (true)
• Article recounts details of Senator John McCain's divorce from his first wife, Carol. (true)
• E-mail describes the military pedigrees of Senator John McCain's sons. (true)
• Article by Karl Rove describes Senator John McCain. (undetermined)
• Does John McCain not qualify as a natural-born citizen of the U.S. because he was born in Panama? (undetermined)
• Did John McCain once say that 'the Democratic Party is a fine party, and I have no problems with it.' (true)
• Did John McCain say he would define the income level that divides the middle class from the rich as $5 million? (true)
  

The difference is that most of the reports circulating about John McCain are true while most of the reports circulating about Barack Obama are false.

Does this tell you anything?