Like most Americans, I get angry when I feel manipulated.
The first point is mild. We expect politicians to lie, and so it's no surprise to me the game Sen. McCain is playing with conservative Christian voters. He's announced (not for the first time) he's strongly considering asking a pro-abortion politician to be his running mate (various names we hear -- Lieberman, Tom Ridge, etc.). If he's "straight talking", then he's just stupid. He's got a good chance of fooling many conservative pro-lifers into voting for him if he keeps pretending to be pro-life. But it's just an act, and despite the fact that many pro-lifers seriously want to be duped so they'll be able to vote for him, there are others who just won't suspend their disbelief and will stay home on election day (or better yet, who will choose a real pro-life candidate to vote for, like Alan Keyes!). But if he names a pro-abortion running mate, the mask is off, and many Christians won't even be able to pretend McCain is pro-life. If he's lucky, most will simply believe that he is pro-life, and that he needed to add "balance" to the ticket by choosing a pro-abortion running mate. Idiocy (on the Christians' part, for believing him)!
But I have a strong suspicion Mr. Straight Talk is playing a clever, cynical game with pro-lifers. He wants to upset them, to get them riled up, so they'll raise a ruckus and demand that he choose a pro-life running mate. When he does, finally, announce an "acceptable" pro-life congressman as his real running mate (it would, as I said, be stupid to do otherwise), his announcement will surely be met with rapturous glee from the Christians who made demands of him. They will feel empowered! They will feel listened to. They will be so relieved that McCain has "proved" his dedication to pro-life ideals by choosing a pro-life fifth wheel for his campaign that these Christian conservatives will gladly cast their vote for him in November. After all, he's pro-life, with a pro-life running mate, right? Idiocy!
In the end, it doesn't matter who McCain chooses to run with him. McCain may oppose torture in war, but he's still for torture in the womb. He still favors taxpayer funding (yes, you!) for ghastly medical experiments on helpless, captive human beings (where have we heard of that before?). No varnish can cover up the rot of evil in McCain's heart.
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The second point of idiocy and manipulation that's been in the news the last couple days is the pretense that there's "no terrorism" inside the United States. That's been the Bush Administration mantra for some time now. And for the most part, I agree with him. But the doublespeak language the US law enforcement community uses is wearing thin.
Two days ago, a man died in Denver of cyanide poisoning. He had a pound of cyanide in his room -- enough, we're told, to kill 100 people! What was he doing with that much cyanide in his room? "We don't know," supposedly. But what we do know is that "foul play is not suspected" and "we have no reason to believe this was a murder or a suicide". Furthermore, "this was not related to terrorism in any way." Idiocy!
The guy's name was Abdulrahman! That's not exactly played up in most news reports. But what are we supposed to think when a Muslim man dies (accidentally) in his hotel room with 100 pounds of deadly cyanide in his room?!
We are not stupid. Neither are the law enforcement professionals. But they think we're stupid, and that we'll believe them when they lie to us, saying this wasn't terrorism or foul play. Come on!
There's a long history of this sort of propaganda. An Egyptian, Islamic, cab driver goes to the airport and starts shooting white people. "It wasn't terrorism -- he was just crazy." Two Muslim freaks start shooting individuals in Virginia and Maryland at long range -- the famous Washington snipers -- but "it wasn't terrorism". They were just serial killers. Sure. Who just happened to believe Allah sent Muhammad as his prophet. Idiocy!
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