Republicans: The Masters Of Fear

In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, there were George W Bush and Dick "Undisclosed Location" Cheney, squeezing the fear monkey for all they were worth. "You don't want to put Democrats in power," they argued (successfully, as it turned out), "because if you do, the terrorists'll getcha!" Four years ago, enough Americans were susceptible to that campaign of terror that Bush and Cheney got a second term... and things continued to get worse.

This time around, it's John McCain and Sarah "Winky" Palin trying to scare their way into the highest office in the land. Their TV ads are out in full force this weekend, indicating that Barack Obama is "too radical... too risky" because of his past ties to whack job Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This approach is akin to the guy who tells the girl he likes that she should choose him because the person she's with now is no good for her. Not only is the motivation in any such argument suspect - he just wants to get inside her pants and therefore will say anything in the pursuit of that goal - but it's hardly any sort of endorsement for him! "I may stink, but that other guy's scary!"

Then you stop and consider that, of all the black men ever granted a celebrity status in the history of mankind, has any ever come across less threatening, or less dangerously radical, than Barack Obama? (Never mind that his opponent has branded himself a "maverick," which sounds completely radical!) Obama is a more eloquent speaker, a more rational debater, and a less reactionary contestant in going after his goal than just about any person I can think of... male, female, black, white or whatever category you might want to choose! He's amazingly cool in temperament, and - here's the money shot - everything he says makes sense! Does that sound like any radical we've ever seen, no matter what era you care to look at? Sarah Palin, on the other hand...

I think if I was an American citizen and considered myself a member of their Republican Party, I'd be embarrassed this century to be a part of an organization that does nothing but prey on peoples' fears. Doesn't the U.S. deserve a better governing body than that?