The post where we all learn not to send me political propaganda e-mail

I got an e-mail from an acquaintance today with this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkWFzvITkO0  You've probably already heard it. It comes to us via Howard Stern. I first learned of it last week when another friend posted it on an online bulletin board.

This is my reply to the e-mail I received today. His last line was to me was "Isn't this crazy?"

I have already seen this. It is crazy. But what is even crazier it that some people take it as fact or a valid truth when it is really just entertainment. My hope is that no one will base their vote on something (anything) that is handed out by Howard Stern (or others like him who base their livleihood on being entertaining and grabbing attention).

On that clip we hear, what, 4 people? What thinking people will do is laugh at it and toss it out. A smart voter will realize that propaganda comes in all forms. What we don't know about that is so numerous. First is it even true? Was it a real reporter and real people? How do I know it was not a group of actors? Second, if it is real, how many people were interviewed? Was it 4 or 400? It makes a difference. Do we know how many people they interviewed that said, "What in the world are you talking about?" Third, I guarantee you that I can take a reporter and go out and go to a specific area and get the same result with McCain voters. Because of the way that was presented I really think it was pretty classless and really kind of racist. They made a point of stressing that it was in Harlem and making it obvious that it was the black community. Surely, you realize that that is not the typical Obama supporter. I think one of the accusations thrown out has been that Obama is elitist and appeals to the more educated voter. In contrast McCain/Palin are going for "Joe Six Pack", "Joe the Plumber" and "Hockey Mom". I wonder how many "Joe Six Pack" (Did you watch Palin in the debates? Those are her words.) guys you could find to answer correctly on policy specifics.

Sorry, if you are going to want to sway my opinion you are going to have to come up with someone better than Howard Stern. Because I have a brain, and am not afraid to use it, I find this clip sways me more in the direction they are fighting against. However, I do not delude myself into believing that many people will grasp all of this. Because, ultimately, you will not get me to argue against the "people are stupid" mantra.

I am not in favor or totally in agreement with everything that Obama says, but I think that many of the negatives said about him are ludicrous and ridiculous. It annoys me that people will decide they like a candidate or political party and then turn into sheeple that will believe and follow along with everything thrown out there. I do not, and can not, believe that he is a Muslim, terrorist, or socialist-- I would not believe that even if I did not like him at all. He himself has shown me none of that- those are only things that have been said. Are you aware that as well as going to a Muslim school for a short time when he lived in Indonesia (which is a largely Muslim country, so it makes sense that most of their good private schools would match that), he also went to a Catholic school for a time? Does that make him a Catholic? You notice we have not heard much about that. It does not serve a purpose, since after all, JFK managed to overcome that particular handicap. I was not there to remember it personally, but I have read history. At the time of Kennedy's campaign many people were appalled and afraid. Afraid of what a Catholic would do in the Oval Office. Appalled that he would even be considered. He was also considered to be too young. And then? He was loved and revered as a President. (Now, also because I read history, I am not so sure in hindsight, as time passes, that he is wholly deserving of that reverence. But the fact remains.)

One important thing JFK had going for him at the time was a military record that was deemed heroic. Well, guess what? Many people of my generation did not have to go to war, so for a while we are going to have men of importance and intellect and quality that do not have military experience. That is a good thing, a thing our country should be proud of. We should honor the fact that the years between the Viet Nam "conflict" and this war that most of our battles were relatively small and short lived. Among people of my age, there was a time when, among my peers, the only guys going into the military were the ones who could not make it in school, or the ones who had no where else to go. Are those the only ones who went in? Of course not, but among my social group, the military was looked upon, for a time, as the last resort. Would I still support and admire those guys for fighting for my feedom. You bet. Do I think they were among our country's best and brightest? I would have to say no. Many, many bright, courageous men of my age went to college, got degrees and moved up in the world without ever serving in the military.

Barack Obama, is one of those men that did not enlist in the military-- just like most of the men I know and love. Obama is, however, very educated. He has a degree from Columbia University and a law degree from HARVARD. He was the first African American president for The Harvard Law Review. He also taught at Harvard. Do you know what he taught? I have asked many people this and have yet to find someone who could tell me. He taught Constitutional Law. Constitutional Law. Seems to me this would be good for a President to know. Seems to me our current president could have studied it a bit more. I won't even start on the things he has done to the constitution during his terms. I believe that Barack Obama knows very well that there is no way that he, as one person, can change our society from a democratic to a socialist one. Fortunately, I know that as well, even if I believed that was his intent. Which it is not.

Now, as a woman, there is no way I can vote for McCain/Palin. I am surprised that you, who seem to have an interest in protecting women and girls, as well as a genuine interest in their health and well being, can overlook the callous way McCain deals with the issues concerning women. I also am saddened by the fact that after finally having a woman on the Presidential ballot it is one that hinders rather than helps a woman's rights.