2008 Elections: Remaining Neutral

La Casa de Los Gatos has tried to remain neutral as the political storms rage. Friends (including our co-bloggers) made it known early and often on which side of the fence they stood, and asked us our political position.

We here are all about participatory democracy, and we have hesitated to state our own position because we want all our friends, visitors, acquaintances, colleagues, neighbours &mdash and even our enemies &mdash to vote. To engage in politics at every level and participate in creating the country that they want to live in.

As we watched the sleazebags on all sides of the political spectrum steal power for themselves by stealing the vote, we have often despaired but we have not spoken out exclusively for any candidate. We made no secret of the fact that we wished Dennis Kucinich would win the election. But we're pragmatic, for all our foolishness, and knew that he didn't stand much of a chance. We hoped Edward might win because we are pro-labour and we feel working people are getting screwed in this country, without even the courtesy of a little lube and a kiss.

Above all, we felt it was more important to focus on fixing the mess the country is in than espousing any one candidate. Now the time has come for us to take a stand. Today, we're going to discuss the possibilities and take a position.

John McCain is the Republican nominee. We have always had a fondness for McCain because he is an intelligent, funny, cranky guy who doesn't &mdash make that didn't &mdash always toe the party line. You could count on him to say something silly or eccentric or even against his own best interests at times.

When he wised up and realized just how much the Republican Party stalwarts hated him, he decided &mdash because he wants to stay in politics &mdash that he'd better mend fences. There is no way that John McCain could ever pretend to be a Democrat, so he didn't try (unlike LIEberman) switching parties. He didn't try to run as a Libertarian or an Independent. He decided to be the best Republican he could be.

Unfortunately, that meant cozying up to some pretty slimy people &mdash like Karl Rove and the religious right. It's not for nothing that Rove is now fawning on McCain's adopted daughter. On the other hand, Chimpy McFuckface served McCain hot dogs for lunch when he endorsed him, and knowing Chimpy's mean streak, we do not believe that was mere happenstance.

McCain's betraying the best part of himself &mdash his eccentric streak &mdash for power sealed his fate. When he stood up and called the religious right on its hate-mongering, few people had the guts to stand with him. When he embraced hate-monger Jerry Falwell, he lost the respect he had worked so hard to earn. When he embraced Bush and Rove, who stuck him in the back like a pig at slaughter &mdash how can anybody respect a man who lets a slime merchant like Rove take shots at his family? Sorry, John. When you sell yourself for political power, you become a common whore. We can't afford to elect you if you're going to keep the country in a war for another hundred years, or even four years. There's too much broken that needs fixing. We need someone to start the fixing, not drag out the breaking.

We haven't said anything negative about Hillary Clinton to date. We remember the Clinton years, and they were mostly good years. Our 401(k) was growing daily, life was good, people were happy. Sure, there were assholes like Newt "Pouty Wife-Dumper" Gingrich in Congress, but life was so good, we never even thought about them.

But as the battle for the Democratic nomination drags on, we're finding ourselves in the uncomfortable position of really not liking Senator Clinton much. We could live with that if we felt she would fix the country. But when she practically urged voters who didn't want to support her to choose John McCain instead, we had to draw the line. McCain will not fix the country. He does not seem to understand the terrible economic problems we're facing, the health care crisis, the inequity that is breaking the back of the working class and the middle class. He wants tax cuts. He wants war. That is not going to fix the country.

And for you, Ms. Clinton, to endorse him over your Democratic rival Barack Obama, is unconscionable. Loyal Democrats &mdash mostly working people, poor people, young people, students, women, and union workers &mdash did not give their dollars to you and to the Democratic Party just so that you could ensure the election of a warmonger who will prolong the suffering of this nation. You have repeatedly voted for war, even going so far as to declare another sovereign nation's military to be terrorists. As a lawyer, you should have found the Kyl-Lieberman bill a complete travesty. You should have voted against it. We could overlook your previous lapses in judgment, but your inability to manage your campaign, your inability to rein in your husband and your employees and set high standards for them, your willingness to "throw the kitchen sink" at a fellow-Democrat to the detriment of the party and your supporters &mdash that we can't overlook.

When you lost one state after another to Senator Obama, we figured there were a lot of people out there who were beginning to have their doubts about you too. Then came the kitchen sink, and you won the popular vote in Texas (though not the majority of delegates) and in Ohio.

But shortly before these elections, we hear, Rush Limbaugh urged Republicans to cross party lines and vote for Hillary Clinton because he expected Senator Clinton to "bloody" Senator Obama up.

Senator Clinton, if you knew that and embarked on this disastrous course of action anyway, then you really ought to switch parties. You're doing the Republicans' dirty work for them. And if you didn't know it, then you're not politically savvy enough to run this country. Most disheartening of all is the news that is coming out of Ohio, where you won by a significant margin against Senator Obama.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer informs us that 16,000 Republicans crossed party lines to vote for you, Senator Clinton. Why would these people commit fraud and put themselves in danger of criminal prosecution? You can switch parties at the polls in Ohio, but must pledge allegiance to your new party

Lying on the pledge is a felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

[...]

Edward Foley, an election-law professor at Ohio State University [...] said Ohioans need to learn the rules governing their voting - and poll workers need to enforce them.

If a majority of poll workers at a precinct doubt a voter's sincerity, they can challenge the voter even if the voter signed the pledge.

[...]

"Elections are not something you should be playing games with," [Cuyahoga County Republican Chairman Rob] Frost said last week during a telephone interview.

Rob Frost is to be commended for taking such a stand. Further troubling reports of fraud in Ohio here.

Thus we find ourselves in the position of supporting Barack Obama in the elections. We're deeply cynical, at heart, and all politicians pretty much look the same to us. So to Senator Obama, we say, please don't disappoint us. Please. Don't turn out to be just like the rest of these whores and liars we've suffered with for the past X years.

We will do everything we can to ensure you win the party's nomination and the general election &mdash sadly, not so much because you have convinced us you're The Second Coming, but because the two people running against you are pretty much guaranteed to fuck the country up as much or even more than Gee Dumbya already has.

Senator Clinton, you worked really hard to lose our support. Once the nomination has been clinched &mdash hopefully by Senator Obama &mdash perhaps the required fence-mending can begin. But you have done yourself, your party, and your country a disservice. Although I really doubt you give a good goddamn.

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