I have one more 'campaign' essay that I would like to finish today before the American election on Tuesday November 4th, 2008.
It is concerning the four words that Obama used in one of his speeches that McCain has jumped all over, and has been using to try to turn his campaign around from 'also ran' to a 'last minute run for the Presidency -- and the White House'.
The four words were/are -- 'spreading the wealth around'.
Obviously, McCain has been using -- or shall I say 'exploiting' -- these four words to his maximum political advantage in order to try to convince the American people that Obama is, in effect, a 'socialist'.
Not that the term 'socialist' in an by itself effectively means anything -- it is just one of those hugely 'abstract terms' that can mean any of a thousand different things depending on who is using it, and/or who is interpreting what it means, or stated otherwise, what both 'talker' and 'listener' mean by the term which could -- and probably is -- radically different.
Again, I emphasize the fact that McCain has been using this 'alledged Obama political gaffe' to his maximum political advantage.
McCain wants the American people to associate Obama's four words -- 'spead the wealth around' -- with 'socialism' -- which he then effectively wants the American people to 'negatively stereotype' like they have since the Russian Cold War -- with 'inherent badness, evil, pathology, the Devil...'
That is what McCain wants the American people to do -- to 'loosely associate' and 'negatively steretype' highly abstract phrases like 'spread the wealth around' which he wants the American people to loosely associate with 'Socialism' which he then wants the American people to effectively negatively associate with 'The Devil' which he then wants people to negatively associate with Obama which he then wants to translate into 'votes for McCain and The Republican Party' on Tuesday November 4th, 2008.
Now to be fair, this is not a political tactic that only McCain and The Republican Party use/s. Obama and The Democratic Party have utilized exactly the same age-old political strategy.
In Obama and The Democratic Party's case, the political strategy and the 'negative associating' has gone something like this:
McCain is closely associated to Bush and The Republican Party in The White House which has made a complete mess of 'The American Dream -- meaning, the start of the Iraq War, the crashing American economy, the trashing of the United Nations, the trashing of foreign affairs diplomatic relations due to the 'pathological' effect of 'American Unilateralism', and invading other foreign countries unilaterally (Iraq, Pakistan, Syria...) without the explicit agreement and co-operation of Amerca's allies -- thus, America keeps losing allies and 'foregin good will'; the start of the 'Free Trade Agreement' that has resulted in all of the American manufacturing jobs being shipped overseas to 'dirt cheap labor countries', and to the importation of 'dirt cheap Chinese (toys, milk, other foods...)and Mexican products (Jalapeno peppers) that are not safe to the American public; the porousness of America's borders particularly along the Mexican borderline that has allowed countless illegal immigrants to pour through this border and into American farms and jobs, taking jobs away from Americans, 'cheapening the labor force', and bankrupting those companies who try to remain competitive while hiring Americans at American labor prices; not Mexican...
All of this -- rightly or wrongly -- Obama and The Democrats have tried to associate first to Bush -- then, secondly,to McCain who has been portrayed by Obama, rightly or wrongly again, to effectively have been for the last 4 or 8 years: 'Bush's side-kick and pussy-cat' (my metaphor, not Obama's).
Sorry, but I couldn't resist extrapolating on, and advancing the Obama-Democrat argument a tid-bit.
Quite frankly, I think that McCain has been more of a Republican pussy-cat than a Republican maverick. Excruciatingly, unoriginal.
McCain's best speech was his Al Smith Dinner comedy speech. That is the one and only time I can remember McCain 'outperforming' Obama.
Other than that...
Who has been the more eloquent speaker?
Obama.
Who has had the stronger political-logical-rhetorical arguments?
Obama.
Who has the stronger intellect?
Obama.
Who has the better depth and strength of philosophy?
Obama.
Who is the better integrationist?
Obama.
Who is the stronger divisionist?
McCain.
Who is the greater 'divider of the classes' and the person who wants to 'pit class against class, white against black, rich against poor...'.
McCain.
Who is closer connected to all the 'bad places' that America came from?
MCain.
Who is the bigger supporter of war?
McCain.
Who has the closest ties to Wall Street?
McCain.
Who receives the most money from Wall Street?
McCain.
Who has 'spread the most wealth' throughout Wall Street? To the bankers? To the Oil Companies? To the CEOs who bankrupted huge banks and mortgages companies -- and slid away, out the back door, in huge executive limosines, with multi-million dollar severance packages, to go on post-bankruptcy spa retreats to celebrate the 'multi-billion dollar bailout' to Wall Street.
While 'Main Street' continues to lurch in the ditch, exploited by these same CEOs, and their 'trojan virus mortgage contracts', Main Street houses being foreclosed everywhere, their money effectively stolen from their bank accounts, their pockets picked -- by these same 'government bailed out, multi-million dollar, bankruptcy, escape-out-the-back-door CEOs'...
The same ones that probably have given the largest campaign contributions to Bush's -- and McCain's -- Republican Party.
And McCain -- and Palin -- want to talk about Obama 'spreading the wealth around'.
Almost makes a person want to vomit.
I rest my case on the inherent ambiguity of the phrase 'spreading the wealth around'.
-- DGB, November 2nd, 2008.
