Indeed the bigotry knows no bounds

What follows below is from an email I received today. By no means to I subscribe to anything in this; I just wanted to share it. I thought I would share what is being said, about a political candidate... one I happen to support, but that's not even relevant to how disgusted I was by what was said. And this wasn't said by some right-wing nut-job. This was forwarded to me by someone I thought of as a nice person, a caring person, a reasonable and rational person.

I'm deeply offended by what I read, but more importantly, I think this typifies an issue I see in the whole campaign this year. It seems the right can post crap like this, and it's everywhere. The left, unfortunately, is preaching to the converted. I write this blog, and already know that 90% of my readers already agree with me. I try to speak out on my Facebook page, and the right again knocks me for forcing my beliefs on them.

But they can send me this...

A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they
imagine that America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to themselves.
Pause a moment, reflect back. These events are actual events from history.. They
really happened!!! Do you remember?


1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a Muslim male extremist.


2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and
massacred by Muslim male extremists.


3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by Muslim male
extremists.


4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by
Muslim male extremists.


5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by Muslim
male extremists.


6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by Muslim
male extremists.


7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens , and a US Navy diver
trying to rescue passengers was murdered by Muslim male extremists.


8. In 1988 , Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by Muslim male extremists.


9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by Muslim
male extremists.


10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by
Muslim male extremists.


11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles
to take down the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into
the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers.
Thousands of people were killed by Muslim male extremists.


12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against
Muslim male extremists.


13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by-- you
guessed it-- Muslim male extremists.


No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So,
to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on
killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile
certain people... Absolutely No Profiling! They must conduct random searches of
80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification,
secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old
Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor Joe
Foss, but leave Muslim Males alone lest they be guilty of profiling.


According to The Book of Revelations: The Anti-Christ will be a man, in
his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive
language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people
will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is
in power, he will destroy everything.


And Now: For the award winning Act of Stupidity Of all times the People
of America want to elect, to the most Powerful position on the face of the
Planet -- The Presidency of the United states of America .. A Male of Muslim
descent who is the most extremely liberal Senator in Congress (in other words an
extremist) and in his 40s.


Have the American People completely lost their Minds, or just their
Power of Reason ??? I'm sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the 'unknown'
candidate Obama... Let's send this to as many people as we can so that the
Gloria Aldreds and other stupid attorneys along with Federal Justices that want
to thwart common sense, feel ashamed of themselves -- if they have any such
sense. As the writer of the award winning story 'Forrest Gump' so aptly put it,
'Stupid Is As Stupid Does'.

I'm disgusted; how about you? And if you are, don't just tell me, forward the link. Infact, forward the link to every McCain supporter you know; every Independant you know; every undecided person you know. Forward the link to people who would agree, but only if they're going to send it on to everyone else they know who isn't already supporting Obama. We all know what's being said, and we're outraged, but the right isn't watching CNN or Bill Maher, they don't read the Huffington Post or my blog, they don't listen to NPR, and they're inbox isn't flooded with 100s of messages from my.BarackObama.com...

but perhaps they should be.

It's 10 p.m.; do you know who your candidates are?

I don't normally quote other people here. Generally what I write is my own. But in this case, others have compiled these facts more completely than I could, so in this case, forgive me for borrowing.

That being said, do any of us know who McCain and Palin really are? With McCain, I can't figure out when the McCain who ran as an Independent in 2000 became the McCain running as a Republican in 2008. Moreover, I can't figure out who this candidate McCain is, when you compare his platform to the record of Senator McCain.

The 3 McCains aside, who on Earth is Sarah Palin? Asking what she's done that merits her nomination is apparently an inappropriate line of questioning, so we may never find out. So, since they won't tell you before Novemeber, let's take a look at what I've found out about this year's Republican ticket.

We'll start with John Sidney McCain III:

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws. 1 2
   
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi." 3 4
   
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban. 5
   
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned." 6
   
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill. 7 8
   
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations. 9 10
   
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." 11 12
   
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates. 13 14
   
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult." 15 16 17
   
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year. 18

And now Sarah Louise Heath Palin:

1. Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even admitted she hasn't thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." 1 2
2. Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she called its 'inspiring convention.'" 3
3. Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn't made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact. 4
   
4. Palin doesn't believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being manmade. 5
5. Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP. 6
6. Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn't even support abortion in the case of rape or incest. 7
7. Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She's said she will only support abstinence-only approaches. 8
8. As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, "news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor." 9
9. She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." 10
   

So there's 10 things you may or may not have known -- 10 things the McCain - Palin camp never would have told you -- about the 2008 Republican ticket. Just thought you should know.