E-Mail Forwards: Say It Ain’t So, Joe…

I recently received yet another e-mail forward that was decidedly anti-Obama.  This one didn’t even try to hide its fearmongering with “facts”.  It just tried to imply that anyone who wanted to vote for Obama was caught up in some mindless euphoria and was just going along with the crowd.  

Hello, pot?  This is kettle.  You’re black.

“Joe Porter” of course is doing the exact same thing, just in the opposite direction.  He is caught up in a mindless anti-Obama euphoria without looking at any real facts.  He also tries to make the argument that McCain is qualified because he was in the military.  Sorry, but that doesn’t excuse his decisions in the last eight years.

The original forward is in blue, my response is in red…

 

Dear Friends: My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign, Illinois.

Hello, Joe.  My name is thecapedcrusader and I’m originally from Pennsylvania.

I’m 46  years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small
business  owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. 

I’m 30 years old, Catholic, a husband, and just trying to find a way to get by in these harsh economic times.  I can’t buy a home because thanks to Republican deregulation of the housing market, we’re now in a credit freeze.  But I’m told this isn’t the best time to buy a home anyway…

I don’t consider myself to be either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican
or Democrat.

Likewise, although I’m much more liberal leaning than conservative.

I don’t believe there are ‘two Americas’ – but that every
person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if
they’ll just work to get there – and nowhere else on earth can they find
such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are
legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of America
first. 

I’d go along with that as well.  Who wouldn’t?

The purpose of this message is that I’m concerned about the future of
this great nation. I’m worried that the silent majority of honest,
hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too
long. 

Wait a second.  Are you saying there is a vocal minority that not only runs the country, but is also dishonest, lazy and don’t pay their taxes?  I mean, really, don’t we all want what’s best for America?

Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics.

Yeah, well that’s kind of one of our problems right there.  People don’t get “involved” in politics, meaning they don’t learn anything about the candidates or their policies and plans, so the way they vote is with their gut.  We’ve just had eight years of being lead by gut instincts.  I could do with a little more involvement and learning, thank you.

They go about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids,
and doing what they can to maintain the good life. 

I hear that.  It’s been pretty tough lately, but we’re getting through…

They vote and consider doing so to be a sacred trust.

Voting isn’t a sacred trust.  Learning about what or who you’re voting for…becoming an informed electorate.  That’s a sacred trust.  The act of voting without any real research or knowledge about what you’re voting for isn’t sacred…it’s just stupid.  That’s like going to church and saying all the words without understanding what any of them mean and, more importantly, not caring to learn what they mean.

They shake their heads at the political pundits 

Like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilley, and Lou Dobbs?  Me too…

and so-called ‘news’, thinking that what they hear is always spun
by whomever is reporting it.

Sadly, this seems to be the case now no matter where you get your news from.  Some networks, like FOX News, don’t even try to hide their bias behind a cloak of impartiality…

They can’t understand how elected officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork-barrel spending. 

Well, in theory, I don’t have any problem with politicians getting money for their state.  They’re there to represent our interests after all.  But when money is wasted on a “Bridge to Nowhere” when it should have been used to rebuild bridges damaged in a hurricane, it’s gone way too far.

They don’t want government handouts. They want the government to
protect them, not raise their taxes for more government programs. 

I’m with you on that one.  In fact, I’d like to see taxes lowered–especially for those who barely make enough to get by now…

We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders.
It’s a privilege to do so.  

It should be.  But most people see it as a right.  Since it’s a right, they don’t need to be bothered with learning anything about the candidates.  If it was a privilege, and only available to those who knew something about what was going on, we’d be in better shape than where we’re at now.

I’ve never found a candidate in any election
with whom I agreed on everything. I’ll wager that most of us don’t even
agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time. So when I step
into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast
my vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I’ve hired a
lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that’s what an election
is – a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for
me?  Whom can I trust to do the job right?

Well, I also consider what shape the country is in, and if we’re on the right path, I’d like to elect someone who will continue down that path.  Conversely, if I think we’re headed the wrong way, I’m looking to cast my vote for someone who might be able to alter our course. 

I’m concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply
don’t get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can’t explain, and
calling it ‘change’.

Change what?, I ask. 

Well, it’s costs $4 a gallon for gas, we’re fighting two wars, Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose, our economy is crashing, lending is frozen, homes are being foreclosed, and there is zero confidence in our leaders to get us out of this mess.

I’d like to change any of that.

Well, we’re going to change America, they say. 

Oh, you answered your own question.  Sorry.

In what way?, I query.

We want someone new and fresh in the White House, they exclaim.

So, someone who’s not a politician?, I press.

Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we’re voting for
Obama, they state.

So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has
enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education,
raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news and win his
party’s nomination for the White House – that system’s all wrong?

I don’t think those are the things they’d change.  In fact, I would assume that’s why they love this country.  

No, no, that part of the system’s okay – we just need a lot of change.

It sounds to me, Joe, that your problem is you hang out with a bunch of morons.  

And so it goes. ‘Change we can believe in.’ Quite frankly, I don’t believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me.

Vague?  Like what?  A tax plan that will lower the taxes for anyone making less than $200,000 per year?  That seems pretty specific to me.

In recent months, I’ve been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they’re
voting. I live in Illinois, so most folks tell me they’re voting for Barack Obama. 

Same here in California, and in fact, the rest of the country.

But no one can really tell me why – only that he’s going to change a lot of stuff. 

Well, besides lowering the taxes for anyone making less than $200,000, he has a specific plan for exiting the war in Iraq, he wants to concentrate on the reasons for the wars in the first place by capturing Osama Bin Laden, and he wants to improve our standing with the rest of the world by acting like a member of the world community, instead of ignoring concerns of both world leaders and citizens of his own country.

Change, change, change. I have yet to find one single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation on earth  

Well, according to the Constitution, he merely needs to be 35 years of age or older and be a natural born citizen of the United States.  But he would know that because he actually was a Constitutional law professor.  He’s studied the document we base our entire government on and understands the weight of the promise of the President to defend the Constitution.  He has also been a part of government on the local, state, and federal level and while yes, he has been a Washington insider for less time than John McCain, he has shown that leadership and wisdom doesn’t necessarily only come with age.

- other than the fact that he claims he’s going to implement a lot of change. 

We’ve all seen the emails about Obama’s genealogy, his upbringing, his
Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let’s ignore this for a
moment. 

I thought we were, but you kinda just brought it up.

Put it all aside.. Then ask yourself, what qualifies this man to
be my president? That he’s a brilliant orator and talks about change?

And in addition to what I outlined above, he isn’t as eager to pander in order to get votes.  I want a leader who will stand up and say “No, this is a bad idea.  I’m not going to go along with this just because it sounds good.”  You want an example?  McCain and Clinton both said we should implement a tax holiday on gasoline earlier in the summer.  Sounds good, right?  Obama stood up and said, “No, that’s won’t help the problem and will only increase the tax burden on the people in other ways.”  You know who agreed with him?  Virtually every single economist in America.  Instead of simply pandering to get votes because it sounded good, he made a decision that was in the best interests of the country.

 CHANGE WHAT?

The view the rest of the world has of us, the complete disregard of the Constitution and bill of rights, the no-bid contracts to pay off business pals, and hopefully, find a way to lower the cost of gas, implement an exit strategy in Iraq, diffuse high tensions in Iran through diplomacy, find Bin Laden, implement oversight in the market to prevent another economic crash in the future, and much much more.

This is like, the third time I’ve said this.  You don’t listen too well, Joe.

 Friends, I’ll be forthright with you – I believe the American voters who
are supporting Barack Obama don’t have a clue what they’re doing, 

Well, your friends anyway.  I think I’ve shown that just because someone is voting for Obama doesn’t mean they are clueless.

Besides, I could say the same thing about anyone who thinks Palin is qualified to become Vice-President and maybe President.  I think my argument is much stronger, frankly…

as evidenced by the fact that not one of them – NOT ONE of them I’ve spoken
to can spell out his qualifications. 

You mean like I did above?  Hi, we met at the beginning of this e-mail.  Remember?

Not even the most liberal media can explain why he should be elected. 

I just did.  Aren’t you paying attention?

Political experience? Negligible. 

Or…maybe it’s that he has experience at a federal level, thus having to deal with national matters, but no so much as he is in the back pocket of big oil or lobbyists.  

You know, lobbyists like the kind that are running John McCain’s campaign.

Foreign relations? Non-existent.

Well, except he does.  “In the U.S. Senate Obama is unique among Senators in that he serves on three of the four Senate Committees dealing with foreign policy issues including the Foreign Relations; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans’ Affairs committees and is the Chair of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Relations which is responsible fore U.S. relations with European countries, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (i.e., NATO). When comparing Obama’s foreign policy experience with other candidates for President you have Democrat Joseph Biden who is Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and John McCain who is the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee yet there is no Senator except for Barack Obama who serves on three of the four committees that deal with foreign policy.”

Notice Sarah Palin, despite living next to Russia, is not on the list.

Achievements? Name one. 

Becoming the first African-American to be nominated by either of the two major parties for President of the United States seems pretty impressive to me.

Someone who wants to unite the country? If you haven’t read his wife’s thesis from Princeton, look it up on the web. This is who’s lining up to be our next First Lady? 

I didn’t bother.  I don’t plan on voting for her and neither should you.

The only thing I can glean from Obama’s constant harping about change is that we’re in for a lot of new taxes. 

You “gleaned” wrongly then, my friend.  If you make more than $600,000 a year, your taxes will go up.  I’m guessing you, Joe Porter, do not fall into that category.  If you make between $200,000 and $600,000 your taxes will be about the same.  If you make less than $200,000 a year, your taxes will go down.  And they’ll go down more than under McCain’s plan.

For me, the choice is clear. I’ve looked carefully at the two leading
applicants for the job, and I’ve made my choice.

Me too.

Here’s a question – where were you five and a half years ago? Around
Christmas, 2002. You’ve had five or six birthdays in that time. My son
has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a
half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of
sleep.  6,000 meals, give or take.

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North
Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.  When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held longer than he should be released first. Did you get that part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture began. 

And while I cannot imagine what that was like, and commend him for his bravery, that action, by itself, cannot erase every poor choice he has made in his political career, especially in the last eight years.  It also does not automatically qualify him to be President.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a
foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your
fellow man? 

Probably not.

I submit that’s a quality of character that is rarely found,
and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.

The Republicans are definitely trying to make that the case anyway.  But again, I cannot allow his heroism excuse his poor decisions over the course of the last eight years.  For someone who claims to look at all sides of a candidate, you seem to be forgetting a lot of his more recent decisions that tell us about his character as well.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military
service is questionable or non-existent, 

You mean like John Kerry?  Oh, wait, I forgot.  He was a war hero too.  You must be talking about George Bush…

you will not find anyone to denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A graduate of
Annapolis,

Barely.  But whatever.  I didn’t pay much attention in school either…

during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq.  

And he should be thanked for his service, as should all veterans.  That said, it simply doesn’t qualify him for the job of President.

Barack Obama is fond of saying ‘We honor John McCain’s service…BUT…which to me is condescending and offensive – because what I hear is, ‘Let’s forget this man’s sacrifice for  his country and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some more about ‘change.‘ 

But on the other side, you seem to be saying “John McCain has made poor choices over the course of the last eight years–choosing Sarah Palin is only the latest in a long line of them–BUT…”  Don’t you think it’s just as important to take a look at his decisions over the course of the last eight years as it is to commend him for his service in the military?

I don’t agree with John McCain on everything – but I am utterly convinced
that he is qualified to be our next President, 

I think he’s qualified as well.  I really don’t think anyone (including Obama) has ever questioned his qualifications.  In my statements above, I was only saying that being a veteran cannot be the only qualification he can rely on.  We have to take into account his decisions as well.  And because of the kinds of decisions he’s made, especially in the last eight years, I think he will continue to lead this country down the path it’s currently on instead of changing course and righting the ship.

and I trust him to do what’s right.

And that’s where we differ.  In the last eight years, he has voted consistently with the current Bush administration over 90% of the time.  He has pandered to the religious right in an effort to garner votes, and he chose as his running mate a governor who has never really thought about national and international mattera.  He needs to be held accountable for these poor decisions and his military service cannot erase his poor judgment over the last eight years.

I know in my heart

You mean your gut.

that he has the best interests of our country in mind. He doesn’t simply want to be President – he wants to lead America, and there’s a huge difference. 

Hold on there.  I believe Obama has the best interests of the country in mind as well.  Is there any American who doesn’t?

Factually, there is simply no comparison between the two candidates.  

Um…just because you say it, doesn’t make it factual.  

A man of questionable background  

What’s so questionable about Obama’s background?  The fact that he was raised by a single mother or that he worked his way through school?

and motives who prattles on about change can’t hold a candle to a man who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from the Navy in 1981 and elected to the Senate in 1982. 

Is it simply years in office that impress you?  Shouldn’t you then just write in Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who is currently the President pro tempore of the Senate and has been in office since 1959? I mean, sure, he has ties to the KKK, but he has a lot of years under his belt.

Again, I think it’s the decisions made while in office that should be the defining reason to vote for someone and again, John McCain has shown poor judgment time and again.

Perhaps Obama’s supporters are taking a stance between old and new.

That’s true.  I’m tired of the old ways this country has been run and I want someone with new ideas sitting in the Oval Office.

Maybe they don’t care about McCain’s service or his strength of character,

I don’t think that’s the case.

or his unblemished qualifications to be President. 

Unblemished?  I don’t think that’s the case either.  Again, just because you say it, doesn’t make it true, Joe.

Maybe ‘likeability’ is a higher priority for them than ‘trust’. 

Nope.  It was in the last two elections, but God willing, not in this one.

Being a prisoner of war is not what qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America -

We agree on that.

but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.

Actually, it’s the exact reason that disqualifies him for consideration.  He’s against lobbying, but hired lobbyists to run his campaign.  He’s against earmarks, but chose a running mate who supported building a “Bridge to Nowhere” with federal money.  He thinks experience is important in this election, but his running mate lacks any on the federal level.  If this is your idea of demonstrated leadership–contradiction after contradiction–then you should buy a dictionary and look up the word leadership.

Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking
Americans to say, ‘Enough.’ It is time for people of all parties to stop
following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep America
first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a dialogue
with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they’re voting for, and
why.

I agree.  This is important.  There should be actual factual reasons for voting for a candidate, not just made up lies about religious views or raising taxes.

There’s a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to
all of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a
man who knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want
a  man who puts my family’s interests before any foreign country.

I want that too, but the answer to every problem cannot simply be with our military might.  Diplomacy is the path to peace in the world, not bombing Iran like McCain has been caught singing.

I want a President who’s qualified to lead.

I do too.

I want my country back, 

Back from what?  The Republicans?  Me too.

and I’m voting for John McCain.

I am voting for Barack Obama.

Joe Porter

thecapedcrusader

*******************************
An added note…. recently my cousin was visiting from Texas. I knew
that she had been for Hillary, and now since a vote for Hillary was no
longer an option, I wondered if she was going to cross over with her vote.  At a family gathering on the 4th of July, I asked her, ‘Since you can’t vote for Hillary, who are you going to vote for?’  She smiled and answered, ‘Obama.’ 

I asked why, and she said, ‘Because I like him.’  But what are his
qualifications for being President of the United States?  … and she
repeated, ‘I like him.’  End of story.

Actually, there’s more to the story.  At a recent rally reported in the LA Times, a supporter was asked why should was voting for McCain/Palin.  She responded “I like her.  She looks like me.”  

Ignorance runs deep on both sides, I’m afraid.

I was flabbergasted.  ‘Because I like him’ is a good reason to vote for homecoming king, not for President of the United States.   

And because “she looks like me” isn’t really a valid reason either.

I have the feeling that there are so many others out there,… thinking, smart people, .. who are for Obama for the most shallow, not thought-through reasons. 

I would argue there are even more of those types of people who are smitten with Palin at the moment and will vote for her simply because she winks a lot.

He speaks well, he is articulate, he has very good writers and handlers.

She does not.

But he really has no track record….or perhaps to be more accurate, his
Senate track record is so far out in left field that he has left the stadium and is in the Starbucks across the street.  He’s an unknown factor. 

I think that’s hardly the case.  That said, no one knows what anyone will be like in office once they become President.  Who would have guessed a small-time lawyer named Lincoln could hold this country together during it’s darkest days?  Or a farmer named Jefferson could write the Declaration of Independence?  Or an actor from California could help this country win the Cold War?

There are huge red-flags that are being ignored.

Again, McCain’s against lobbying, but hired lobbyists to run his campaign.  He’s against earmarks, but chose a running mate who supported building a “Bridge to Nowhere” with federal money.  He thinks experience is important in this election, but his running mate lacks any on the federal level.  

These are true red flags of a candidate who is now willing to do anything to get elected.  And we’ve just gone through eight years of that.  I want something better from our President.  THAT’S the change I’m looking for.

This is scary.  …and what also upsets me is that I will only pass this on to friends that I’m sure agree with me, because my friends don’t go ballistic when they hear the truth. 

I will pass this on to people that I know disagree with me, in the hope that those with an open mind will listen to a counter-argument.

We really need to be on our knees about this coming election.

While you choose to pray, I firmly believe that God helps them who help themselves.  If you don’t like where this country is heading (or where it is right now) how could you possibly re-elect the Republicans to office for a third term?  If you want this country to change, you need to cast your vote for change and elect Barack Obama.