McCain/Palin So Unreal As To Be, Well, Unreal

Would you rather have a nice glass of smartly brewed Amber beer or cheap white wine in a plastic cup?

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By Rocky Boschert

As an independent voter and businessperson, I have watched McCain and Palin for the last few weeks with much amazement. Their campaign reminds me of a line in the Coen Brothers movie “Oh Brother, Where art Thou” when the corrupt incumbent southern Governor says incredulously to his son: “You dummy, we can’t run for re-election as a reform candidate when we’re the Party in power.”

McCain is just a shell of his old self

It seems the McPalin political stable and the Republican National Party will say anything to get the old guy elected. And if you watch John McCain closely, he seems almost a shell of his old self, both mentally and physically. He appears to be an increasingly frail man who is being worn down with this campaign. But being the soldier that he is, even at his age, he would never admit the physical and mental strain he is experiencing. Maybe because of his recent soulfully difficult compromises, McCain no longer exemplifies many of the values he was once known for. His speeches are riddled with regurgitated and contradictory campaign clichés that have 45% of the surveyed voters in the country proving how gullible and fearful they are. Just the fact he chose Sarah Palin as his VP mate shows how cynical McCain has become.

Another thing I noticed during the Republican convention is the attendees seemed to enjoy being lied to – over and over again. Yes, some Democrats are that way, too, but nothing like the Republican devotees. I’m trying to figure out why. Maybe they have kind of a “dysfunctional family” syndrome, where they have been abused so much by their own paternal and maternal leaders, it would be too disorienting to admit the lies.

Recalling who's been in charge

The way I see it, the McBush Republicans were in charge of national security when the 9/11 attacks occurred, they got us into Iraq, adopted torture, ran up a massive government debt (even more now after this banking bailout), filled the wallets of war contractors with our tax dollars, stood by and did nothing when a major city in the United States drowned, and now Wall Street is falling apart, a financial crisis largely fostered by Republican deregulators like ex-Texas Senator and current lobbyist Phil Gramm. You remember Gramm: “We are a nation of whiners.” I guess fat cats don’t whine.

Call me old fashioned but I believe political leaders deserve respect when they answer questions honestly and intelligently. The McPalin political machine, however, is just the opposite of integrity. And McCain/Palin seem to generate enthusiasm by answering questions with dishonesty, outdated platitudes, chronic flip-flopping, and bragging about stalling and fixing ethics investigations. In fact, both McCain and Palin stood up on national television and lied to their cheering supporters about the selling of the plane on E-Bay and then about earmarks. Although this is not a one party problem, Republicans especially don’t seem to care about facts. And they do it openly. Amazing!

Accelerating the lying game

Since the convention, McCain and Palin have continued to accelerate the lies about Barack Obama. They accused Obama of wanting to raise taxes on the middle class. In fact, Obama’s economic plan would only raise taxes on Americans making over $250,000 a year. One of the sleaziest McCain attacks accused Obama of backing a bill that would give young children comprehensive sex education. In fact, the bill Obama backed was designed to protect children from sexual predators. Both of these lies have been exposed as such in the September 20 edition (page 22) of the “Economist” magazine.

The old Republican Party, the one I once had respect for, used to believe in less government, supporting small businesses, no corporate welfare, and national defense (as opposed to attacking countries simply for oil and natural resources). You know, the Ron Paul message. Sadly, it now seems the Republican Party in power has gotten so confused they remind me more of Larry Craig than Ronald Reagan.

Here’s what’s at stake in this Presidential election: If the Democrats take the White House and keep the majority in Congress, they would hopefully reincorporate serious accountability and competent regulatory scrutiny over Wall Street. Hence, the Republican Party would face the probability of losing control of the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board – along with their ability to print money and hand out government bailouts and loans to their corporate cronies. I wonder what Republican voters think now about having their tax dollars used by their own to bail out their own on Wall Street?

Palin, the saddest commentary

In the end the saddest commentary about the current version of the Republican Party is the selection of Sarah Palin as the VP pick, or as one commentator called her “Bush in Drag.” To be sure, the Alaskan oil Governor and helicopter animal sniper is a smart opportunist who says the right things. She also has a scary power lust. But let’s face it: the selection of Sarah Palin as VP choice is a farce. By choosing Palin, John McCain is saying very loudly to the American public that he no longer cares about national security. At his age, if McCain were to win in November and then die in January, who would feel safe with President Sarah Palin in a world of global terrorism, huge global economic change, the increasing occurrence of hurricanes and natural disasters, Russia’s renewed global aggression and Pakistan with nuclear weapons? It simply shows what a cynical figure John McCain has become. And if you believe you would feel safe with a President Palin, I have some mortgage default swaps I want to sell you.

Winston Churchill once said: “Americans always do the right thing after they have exhausted all of their options.” This is exactly where the United States is at now. If somehow independent swing voters in the crucial states are not quite fed up with the Republican Party’s self-enriching solutions to America’s problems and vote in the McPalin ticket, you can be sure they will finally be exhausted in four years. In fact, one could say the same thing about most of the upcoming State and local elections as well.

Voting for President of the United States in November is akin to a culinary choice. Would you rather have a nice glass of smartly brewed Amber beer or cheap white wine in a plastic cup? I believe the latter would leave a very bad aftertaste.

Rocky Boschert has resided in Wimberley since 1993. He currently serves as board president of the Katherine Anne Porter School (KAPS) in Wimberley. Mr. Boschert owns and manages Arrowhead Asset Management.