Change is afoot in the final days leading up to the election.  The McCain campaign is pulling out all the stops.  They're moving forward aggressively on the character debate.  They've decided it's time to wallow in the mud.  This is Presidential politics, and despite what some of you may have heard, it has always been very nasty.  We have yet to rise above the fray, and it looks like it is not going to change this time around.

On the eve of the second Presidential debate Sarah The Barracuda Palin has come out attacking.  The McCain campaign, which has stooped to trying anything to win has unleashed the VP candidate.  They are working feverishly to paint Obama as a terrorist by association, with an agenda that will spell doomsday for America.  They are attempting to leverage what is common in all of us, our inability to sometimes think.  Through propaganda they want to make up your mind for you.  They are following an old rule book that has been improved upon by the genius of Karl Rove.  This is the practice of fear.  They want to instill fear in White America, and for many they're doing a pretty good job.

Let me repeat what many of my friends have heard me say over the course of the last few months.  When it came down to the final three, I was quite happy.  Hillary?  I can vote for her.  McCain?  I can vote for him.  Obama, I can most definitely vote for him.  In fact, he is my candidate of choice, and not because he's black.  I practiced Critical Thinking skills in choosing my candidate.  I looked at the platforms, and who pursued the most innovative ideas.  Obama was the winner hands down.  I was incredibly impressed, more with his initiatives than with his oratory.  Still, I was moved when he spoke.  However, even as the Democratic primaries turned nasty, I still had a place in my mind for Hilary.  Even as friends started imitating the Republicans by calling her a bitch, and stating they would rather not vote at all if she won (anger and passion replaced Critical Thinking), I still had her back.  With John McCain I saw a hardened hero who still wore a smile.  A man who lived life hard and fast, flew against convention, railed against his party, and was truly a leader.  If he won, I knew things would remain the same, no big change, no innovative ideas.  I would lament our loss, and go back to counting my money, and watching out for my family (I hope you all do this).  But no, fate had another plan.  Barack Obama won the primary.  He became the presumptive (don't you get tired of this word?) democratic candidate for President of the United States.  The race was on, and I was firmly in his corner. 

Understand, I know this is Presidential politics, and it has always been a low sport.  Character assassination is a tradition, and fomenting hate is part and parcel to this ultimate game.  Still, it saddens me that McCain has given in to perceived necessity in order to win.  He's chosen a creationist as his running mate, not someone who can compliment his intelligence and skills, but rather a person that panders to the Republican core constituency, which has been completely hijacked by Fundamentalists.  These are people who have agendas that actually run counter to much of what McCain has stood for over the years.  If there is a basis for saying Obama is left of center, there is now a strong argument for saying McCain is right of center.

Or, maybe he's trying to pull a Sonny Purdue.  The governor of Georgia told everyone he was going to keep the reminder of Southern tradition and Black oppression waving over the state capital.  HE DID NOT!  He got in office and thumbed his finger at the people who put him there.  It was quite hilarious.  Maybe that's what McCain is thinking?  

Anyway ... 

As I said, the so-called Fundamental Right is once again practicing propaganda and character assassination.  They are making use of the power of MDC, Media-Driven Consumercelebreality.  Through the might of the media, radio, television, and periodicals, they are explaining to you how you should think.  If you are not thinking critically, they will succeed.  They will spread doubt and fear.  They will choose for you, if you're not vigilant.

Kindergarten Thinking point: The phrases Fundamental Right and Fundamental Extremist (usually meant for Islamists) share the same word.  Can you say it with me?  F-U-N-D-A-M-E-N-T-A-L, that spells Fundamental.  

I am a strong believer in the Fundamentals, unfortunately, extremism of any type is not good for your mental health.  It is inflexible, intolerant, and seeks to replace your ability to think Critically.  

Shawn Hannity has produced a television series in an attempt to tie Barack Obama to terrorism.  It's called Barack Obama and his Radical Friends.  The sole purpose of this show is to strike fear into the hearts of Americans.  His goal is to paint Barack as a radical through his associations past, present, or otherwise.  ASK QUESTIONS PEOPLE. 

If Shawn Hannity asked critical questions that did not pander to fear and hate, I would not be so moved to speak against him.  He spins the truth and presents half-facts as solid facts, using words like indisputable, certified, and truth to distort and filter what his audience receives.  This filter is powerful in how the message is delivered.  It is incredibly important.  This filter emphasizes showmanship around the message and is designed to influence the mind, and control conscious thought.  IT IS DANGEROUS! 

William Ayers:
When Barack Obama was eight years old William Ayers and his Weathermen were domestic terrorists.  They were fighting against the establishment within the framework of the social upheaval of the sixties.  If Sarah Palin thinks we should not look to the past, then she should heed her own advice.  Again, Barack Obama was eight years old. 

Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

HANNITY'S AMERICA is all about inciting fear and hate in the mind's of White America.  He is counting on people not being able to think for themselves.  Through his reporting he is tying Wright to Obama and painting Obama as a racist against White America.  Critical Thinking blacks have long understood that even as African-Americans rail against oppression, remembering its past, fighting it in the present, and working to ensure it has no future, we must walk a fine line between indulging our generational pain, and keeping our heads held-high as we remain determined to walk tall in a white man's world.

Hannity's video montage, swapping Reverend Wright with images of Obama is Hannity's sincere attempt to destroy Obama's character.  Make no mistake, such tools are incredibly effective.  KNOW THAT EVEN KNOW AS I TYPE IT HAS SWAYED THE MINDS OF MANY WHITE AMERICANS!  

Father Flager, staying true to his own personal ideals, has tried to stand up for Americans that have lived their entire lives in the shadow of racism, hate, and death, TRUE hate, subtle, and insidious.  He may be incendiary, but the onslaught of the radical right, driven through MDC has forced Barack Obama to distance himself from them.  Now, critical thinkers understand the necessity of such actions.  Unfortunately, you must distance yourself from such persons in order to carry an election.  In my opinion Reverend Wright is obviously not thinking too critically these days.  You don't want to get too close too such a mind.  Still, it puts Barack in an untenable position, when part of his job is to convince the non-critical thinking that he's not tied to those that are considered hateful.  

These individuals are indeed radical.  They say charged things.  They even say hateful things.  However, Hannity's America does not concern itself with the ongoing struggles of the oppressed.  It does not recognize the phsycological impact of generational hate.  It does not tolerate the idea that people will speak passionately in protest because they feel the soul eroding, heart rending pain of systemic racism.  It does not tolerate the idea that even today, even as a black man runs for the highest office in the land, that the multitudes know the pain of persecution, the denial in discrimination, and painful subtle bias of exclusion, even as one does what the HANNITIZED always say we need to do, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.  WE ALL, EVEN CLARENCE, HAVE FELT THE SOFT STING OF BIAS AS WE HAVE CLIMBED, pulling ourselves up.  Yes, we do this, we do pull ourselves up.  We do know what a bootstrap is.  Still life ain't no crystal stair.  

THE HANNITIZED ARE INTOLERANT!
 
Even as we strive to live up to the true American ideal, we are attacked.  It is the American ideal which did eventually recognize and legitimize the struggle of the Civil Rights movement.  It is in the America ideal, rooted in the bond that we be tolerant of each other, that we use what has been given to us to truly understand what such a bond means, and live according to a creed ... that all are created equal.

THIS ENTIRE SHOW IS DESIGNED TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF WHITE AMERICA ... AND WHAT'S MORE AS USUAL THE Soonish MASSES ARE DRINKING THE Fool-AID.  The Fundamentalists are counting on changing the hearts and minds of people who are just now getting over the fact that Obama is black.  Sincerely, I'll clarify this later.  Racism does indeed have an impact on this 

HANNITY'S AMERICA:

William Ayers is an terrorist that hates America, and he is Ba rack's friend!  in 2002 they spoke together at a forum.  He lives in Ba rack's neighborhood.  These are facts that are certifiable! So the important question is what does this mean?  How does Bill Ayers control (oops) Ba rack's thinking!    &let;-- Come on, people!

HANNITY'S AMERICA is actively using MDC to convince the masses that Obama is indeed some kind of terrorist sympathizer.  Hannity is quoting what Williams Ayers said and what he's done.  He's tying sentences together, stating that these are incredible revelations.  The television show has very high production values.  It's scintillating.  It's exciting.  It's got music designed to raise your blood pressure.  By the time you're done watching, most especially if you're white, you're supposed to go, "OH MY GOD!!! Barrack IS A TERRORIST!!!"  Now, without coming out and saying it directly, this is the sentiment you're supposed to have.  You internalize it.  You believe it.  HANNITY'S AMERICA is just asking you to drink the Kohl-Aid.  They're asking you, but they're not ASKING you in a manner that allows you to think.  They are counting on your infection to carry the propagandists message into your very soul.  And it does work.  

Spread the word.  As Hannity talks about Obama's oratorical skills, and his eloquence, his ability to articulate, which are subtle signs of racism African-Americans have long since come to recognize, he quickly moves the conversation to how Obama is out to DESTROY AMERICA.  That's right, DESTROY AMERICA.  Without saying it, this is what he's espousing.  These are fascist tools, and you must learn to recognize them.  You must be vigilant.  You must think critically.  They are the same tools once used throughout Europe to promote the religious elite.  They are the same tools once used in Spain during the inquisition.  They are the same tools once used in Moscow.  They are the same tools once used in Berlin.  These tools, when utilized, take advantage of the tolerant, and allow the intolerant to come to power, to the detriment, and eventual death of many.  IT'S THAT SERIOUS!   

This election rests at the crux of a pivotal moment in history.  If the pendulum swings in the wrong direction, hope is not lost.  However, if we remain true to the gift God has provided, and we recognize when people are trying to make us drink the poisoned Kook-Aid, then we can save ourselves years, if not generations of pain and heartache.  Yes, this is my opinion.  However, I feel just that strongly about this election.  Again, I stress voting based upon what you have discerned to be true.  Vote based on what you and your essential critical mind have discovered.  Based on what's good for you, your family, your community, and your country.  DO NOT LET SOMEONE ELSE TELL HOW TO THINK!  DO NOT LET SOMEONE ELSE TELL YOU HOW TO VOTE!!!  DO NOT BE A SPOON!!!!

Go out.  Engage someone around this debate.  Ask them ...

Do you think Barack is a terrorist?  
Do you think he's evil?  
Do you think he's in bed with Osaka Bin Laden?
Do you think Barack knows Satan and is his pal?

Go ahead, ask.  Don't be shocked by some of the answers you receive.  

More critical questions:

Does Barack want to destroy white people (like his own family)?

Is Barack part of a terrorist sleeper cell (come on, people!)

I have heard some of these questions, and corrected them with wit and wisdom.  It's alway good to find a convert.  And it's really a pleasure to see them come around after they see how soonish they were being by listening to mindless drivel.  Barack Obama has stated that he does not support William Ayers or any other individual that would sow violent dissension in America.  As we consider such a statement, Critical Thinkers must push the question back to the Fundamentalists, back to the dangerous fringe elements that are well funded, and terrifyingly determined to reshape America into something Critical Thinkers would not recognize (we will save this for another entry).   

Obama THE RADICAL!

How many times does a man have to say he does not have radical elements on his staff?  How many times does he have to say they are not his advisers.  I encourage you to talk to people.  Talk to those that are not staunch immovable Republicans and Spoons that are not open to meaningful debate.  If you're talking to a Republican that is a Critical Thinker, just ask them questions.  In fact, I'll ask you to do a simple exercise.  Use the Fundamentalist's tools against them, but in your case, be truly sincere.  If, after the exercise, they still believe the propaganda, smile and walk away.  However, if they begin to question, continue to engage them. You've caught a possible convert, someone you can free from Fundamental Spoon Culture.  

Ask them to go over each and every reason they can't support Barack Obama.  Ask questions about each point.  Ask them to support their point of view.  Don't counter what they say.  This is important.  You don't want to anger them and cause them to turn away.  You're trying to simply get them engaged.  You're simply trying to get them to think.  You don't want to answer for them.  That's no better then the proselytizers in Hannity's America.  You want these people to THINK, just think.  Judge their body language.  See if they're truly getting engaged.  Are they thinking about the things they're saying?  If so, start to ask them if they can view the situation from a different perspective.  It's all about the questions.  It's all about thinking.  It's all about change. 

Tonight's debate should be very interesting, to say the least.  Be sure to pay attention.  STAY VIGILANT AND THINK CRITICALLY!