The Choice is Clear

The presidential race this fall shouldn’t even be close. One only needs to watch a speech by Barack Obama back-to-back with a speech by John McCain to see the glaring gap between intelligence and ignorance; between compassion and heartlessness; between hope and warmongering. John McCain sees nothing wrong with keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years. His reasoning is that we have kept troops in South Korea, Japan and Germany for “peacekeeping” purposes, so we should be prepared to keep forces in Iraq for the same reasons. Part of their impetus for invading Iraq in the first place was to establish a permanent U.S. military presence right in the center of the Middle East. There are now “negotiations” going on between the U.S. and Iraqi government to lay out the military plan for years to come. Basically what this means is that the U.S. is pressuring Iraq to agree to military terms favoring an U.S. presence in their country for the unforeseen future. This includes the building of 58 permanent military bases. Just last week on the Today Show John McCain was being interviewed by that intrepid journalist Matt Lauer. Lauer asked that, since he McCain supports the notion that the surge is working, can he reasonably start to predict when U.S. troops might come home. McCain’s response: “No, but that’s not too important.” Not too important?!! He went on to say that what is important is the safety of our men and women there on the ground in Iraq. Well John, what could be safer than bringing them home? Below is a clip from YouTube with John’s cold-hearted answer. If your right-wing response is: “Context!” then find the rest of the interview online. The rest of his answer is even more appalling, because he makes clear that his Iraq policy is a permanent U.S. military presence. When we these old fools stop killing innocent people in the name of fossil fuels? We got a veteran who is practically a fossil himself — who admitted the other day that he doesn’t know how to use the computer, and has almost proudly admitted that he doesn’t know anything about the economy — promising to continue to run our country into the ground.

Have you noticed how creepy John McCain's smile has become since he sold his soul?

I finally bit the bullet and ordered some Obama paraphernalia. In fact, right now to my right there is a 24x36 poster of Barack Obama adorning my wall. I also got a few bumper stickers (Independents for Obama), a few buttons (Veterans for Obama), and I a yard sign that I need to get up before my right-wing father comes out for a visit next month. I’m now officially a “hopemonger.” I even upped my donation when I ordered the merchandise and if I can stop buying books for a couple of weeks I’ll probably donate again.

Speaking of books, I finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front this evening. It’s novel about the front lines of World War I as told by a young German soldier just out of high school. At times the scenes felt quite familiar to me, because of seeing films like A Very Long Engagement, and reading books like By a Slow River by Philippe Claudel. I’ve learned from various blurbs and reviews that All Quiet on the Western Front is considered a great anti-war novel. (It doesn’t say that anywhere on the book itself, although in several places it exclaims that it’s one of the great war novels of all time.) It can be easily viewed as anti-war, because the realities of war would make any sane human be against ever having to fight another war. The bonds that grow between the classmates as they mature under fire is quite poignant. In the end it’s heart wrenching as young boys are treated as meat in a grinder in order to fulfill the military maneuvers dreamed up by some chicken hawk ensconced in comfort miles from the front. It’s the way wars have always been fought and are still fought today. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld never served in the military. George W. Bush was given a cushy stateside position in the National Guard through his daddy’s connections. Yet these militaristic cheerleaders have no compunction sending off soldiers to die, because of their schemes and lies. They are against the new G.I. Bill, because they don’t want to treat soldiers like humans. They would rather treat them like cannon fodder. It’s the only way they can send thousands to their deaths and still cash their oil company checks.

It’s nearing midnight and I’d like to spend a little time trying to chose the next book that I’ll read before I go to sleep. Justin is currently sleeping soundly. We’ve been having sleep issues with him lately. Now that he’s in his “big boy bed” bedtime has become quite a chore. But that’s a topic for my other blog.