Nathaniel Salzman

The most recent, last-ditch tactic of the McCain campaign is trying to paint Obama as a socialist. Phrases such as “Obama is the most liberal senator in congress” and “he favors the redistribution of wealth” are at the forefront of the latest fear mongering attempt by the campaign. Sadly, it’s also being vehemently repeated by the unfortunate souls buying into this line of horse shit rhetoric.

“Most liberal.” What does that even mean? Is he especially pro-choice? The “redistribution of wealth” argument first showed up on my radar in the final presidential debate where McCain cited Obama’s conversation with the now infamous Joe the Plumber as proof positive of Obama’s socialist, wealth sharing agenda. In the last few days, the actual word “socialism” has been added. McCain’s socialism tack is actually pretty ironic given that the current Republican administration has just literally socialized the majority of our banking system — a piece of legislation that McCain himself voted for and defends as necessary government intervention. Additionally, Obama has a long list of Republican endorsements. If he’s so liberal or so obviously a socialist, why does he have such a strong conservative following? Yet the McCain campaign continues to insist that we essentially trust them on this — “Obama is a socialist! Just look what he told Joe!”

With all the coverage that Joe’s gotten (ironically having now given more press conferences than Sarah Palin), what I missed was the actual conversation between Joe and Barack Obama. I’m kicking myself for not looking this up sooner. Here’s the conversation — a far cry from the socialist manifesto it’s been made out to be.

This to me is pretty much proof positive that the “trust us, he’s bad” point of view of the McCain campaign doesn’t hold a drop of water. Obama’s use of the phrase “spread the wealth” is obviously colloquialism, not socialist agenda. This is a great example of what we find when we listen to the source, not the feed.

With “socialist”, “terrorist”, and “Muslim” used up, the only asinine accusation left in the McCain fear arsenal would be that Obama is a closeted homosexual. I suppose there’s still time.

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My hat is all the way off to Keith Olbermann and the most spectacular string of on-air editorial I’ve ever seen or heard. I see here the kind of outrage that should be all over our media coverage right now. It’s a tremendous example of an informed journalist holding a politician truly responsible for what they say. What’s more, though the Right would surely color it as slant, this diatribe is fiery righteous indignation. That’s what I imagine those in the Right would have us miss. The press is “out to get them” because they haven’t swallowed their lies hook, line, and sinker. Rather, the media is at times getting in the way of their propaganda machine, and thank God for it.

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The Obama campaign has produced the best campaign ad I’ve ever seen. If you’re on the fence, think about the kind of country we could have. Imagine the difference that could be made by leadership that believes in hope, in change, and in making a real difference in people’s lives. I, for one, am inspired.

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Here is a politician, a Senator in the United States Congress, actually telling the truth. He’s calling all this political knee-jerking what it really is. Here is someone who understands the ins and outs of this dysfunctional political system, but refuses to play their game by their rules. Instead, he’d rather get down to the business of making this a better country. Not in some some abstract, lofty way, but with an honest view of the struggles we face. It’s this kind of judgement, this kind of vision, that our country so desperately needs. Not more of the same. This is what real change looks like.

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I was in bed. It was a normal Tuesday at Union College. I didn’t have class on Tuesday mornings that semester so the only thing that got me out of bed was Chapel at 10:30, and that’s if I felt like going. Our phone rang. I was bottom bunk, so I picked it up. It was my roommate’s brother.

“You guys have to turn on your TV!”
“Okay, why?”
“A plane just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.”
“Seriously? Holy shit.” I turn the TV on. “Must be some sort of accident. But how to do screw that up? They’re kind of hard to miss.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I gotta go, but I thought you guys would want to see this.”
“Thanks. Later.”
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You don’t have to be an Obama supporter to utilize this great voter registration website. This quick little site checks your information against the national voter registry, letting you know if you’re registered to vote where you live. If not, it gives you the state-specific forms, tools, and action steps to get registered — for any political party on the ballot in your state. The site also includes key dates, deadlines, and procedures specific to your voting state. 

Regardless of who you support for President, it’s awesome that the Obama campaign has made something this useful available to anybody who’d care to use it. What’s even better, there’s no rhetoric to wade through, no selling you to one candidate or the other, simply the tools you need to get out and vote. That’s fantastic in my book. No matter who wins this upcoming election, I hope they win it soundly. I hope it’s a true reflection of the will of the people. But in order for that to happen, we all have to get off our asses and participate. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up with jury duty. I would LOVE that. Help dispense some justice!

Visit VoteForChange.com

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I am not particularly pro-Democrat. I am not even anti-Republican. However, I found the recent speeches at the RNC quite alarming. What got me was the overwhelming use of logical fallacies. Beginning with Governor Romney’s speech made up almost entirely of straw man arguments and undefined terms. Then former NYC Mayor Guliani was sort of one non-sequitur after another. Then Governor Palin’s nomination acceptance speech was a mix of all three, plus a hefty dose of unsubstantiated rhetoric.
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