Twelve Days to Go...

...and I have been hit with some kind of election malaise, a weariness born, I think, out of the 24 hour news cycle, and my addiction to the minutiae that comes out of that news cycle.

But it's not just that. I've grown weary of the flat-out lying that's coming out of the McCain campaign. They're not even trying to win on issues now - they're trying to win on fear. Of Obama the terrorist sympathizer. Of Obama the socialist. Of Obama the sex-education for kindergartners advocate. Of Obama the government-run health care advocate. And on and on and on, ad infinitum, stretching the truth until it breaks. You can find a collection of the lying, detailing the robocalls and the misleading mailers, here at Talking Points Memo.

Both campaigns engage in distortion, but the McCain campaign just takes it to new levels. The thing that's wearing me out is the zeal with which they seem to engaging in this nonsense, especially McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah "I'm-just-like-you-everyday-Americans-just-don't-mind-the-$150,000-designer-wardrobe-that-costs-more-than-what-most-of-you-pro-America-folks-who-come-to-my-rallies-earn-in-two-or-three-years" Palin. Commie pinko liberal that I am, I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered on the way home from picking up my daughter, and they played a clip from a Palin speech she gave today at a rally in Troy, Michigan (or Ohio - it's unclear). (Here's a link to it.) The gist of the clip is that Palin, smug as ever, credits folk hero Joe the Plumber for getting Barack Obama to say in plain language that he wants to "spread the wealth," and then bashes Joe Biden for saying paying higher taxes is patriotic, before saying that it all sounds like "socialism" to Joe the Plumber "who is speaking for all Americans worried about their economic future," and that "now is not the time to experiment with socialism." To which the crowd responds with loud cheers and jeers. Can I remind the Governor that out of economic necessity, the Treasury Department, led by the former chair of GOLDMAN SACHS, JUST NATIONALIZED THE FREAKING BANKING SYSTEM! So clearly, our government, and our Republican Fed Chairman, decided that it is time to experiment with socialism, at least on a temporary basis.

(Dialing it back now.)

Somehow, she and McCain have these people hoodwinked that they are going to do better under McCain's tax plan then Obama's, which is going to cut taxes for people making less than $250,000 a year. It's probably a safe argument that most of the people at that rally would benefit from the Obama tax plan. I have no problem with anyone who takes issue with the way taxes work in this country - it's a legitimate argument to be had there - but we have a progressive tax system for a reason, and that is so those who don't make much money either don't have more taken out of their pockets, and those who can afford to pay more do so - and with the huge income disparity in this country, the top 1% aren't going to miss the few extra dollars they're going to have to pay - never mind that they're still going to be paying less in taxes then they were under Reagan. And paying slightly higher taxes right now to help bail our country out of this mess we're all in together is patriotic. Sacrifice is patriotic. That's not something that our current president or his would-be Republican successors seem to understand.

Anyway, they also have people going around saying Obama is a socialist. He's not a socialist. I know this is an Obama talking point, but if he were really a socialist, why would he have the support of a capitalist like Warren Buffett, the most respected businessman in the United States? The socialist nonsense, the palling around with terrorist nonsense, the do we really know who Obama is nonsense is all just designed to scare people into thinking that if Obama wins and takes office, he's going to unveil a secret evil agenda and sell out our country to the United Nations and bow down to terrorists. It's small-minded rhetoric intended to play into the conspiracy theories we seem to buy into all to easily in this country.

I'm also tired of the way McCain and Palin have been hammering Obama on how well he speaks. (Somehow eloquence and intelligence are supposed to be bad things, threatening and different to the "everyday Americans" Governor Palin is so fond of talking about.) She intimates in the NPR clip that Obama has not been speaking clearly about his tax plans - and nothing could be further from the truth. He's been clear and consistent about his intentions all along. All you had to do to know this is pay attention. Of course, people not paying attention to what is actually true is what McCain and Palin are counting on now. After all, if you can't make inroads with voters on issues, half-truths and outright lies are all you've got.

-EB
p.s. I think I've worked my way out of my malaise. Blogging is good therapy.