Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

"It is this collective responsibility that built America into a great power without peer in the history of the world."

An Esquire endorsement doesn't necessarily carry enormous weight with me (as is apparent by the contents of my closet), but one passage in particular from their editorial resonated strongly with me. It's a notion that may very well encapsulate the reason I will be voting FOR someone this year for the first time in my life, after previously merely voting against the likes of the two Bushes, Dole, etc.

It's also the reason that a blog about the erosion of community and hopeful possibilities for change spends so much time shining a light on this Presidential race. The choice could not be more stark; I wear my partisanship on my sleeve.

After eight years of ineptitude and blatant self-interest disguised as public policy, there can be no doubt; it's time for Barack Obama and real change.

We hear in the McCain/Palin rhetoric - - which consists mainly of evasion, misdirection, appeals to fear, derisive sound-bites,  and, increasingly, outright hatred - -   nothing more than a call for more of the same failed policies that brought us here. John McCain has now employed the tactics and indeed the very people he deplored so much in 2000 when he could very nearly be characterized as a "straight talker."

He has abandoned those "straight talk" principles in service to personal ambition. Nothing could be more condescending and of an outright cynical, tactical nature than his incredible choice of the naif Sarah Palin as his running mate. It's a decision that signals his disdain for the intellectual capacity of his base. It is McCain First; he must win at any cost.

McCain embraces and employs Washington lobbyists as his closest advisers while at the same time claiming to despise the lobbyist culture in Washington that his party has nurtured and strengthened. Imagine their power if McCain is elected.

As Wall Street flails, he suddenly suggests regulation after years of championing deregulation that enriched - as per their arrangement - his party's base of CEO's and wealthy investment bankers.

Demogaugery of the sort practiced by McCain/Palin can get a partisan crowd to chant "USA! USA! USA!"; it can also get them to openly express fear of an "Arab" president. They've engendered rage in their followers based on lies they have endorsed and repeated; and then express shock at the monster they've unleashed. Disgraceful.

Sarah Palin, who courted an Alaskan secessionist movement when it served her purposes, openly questions Barack Obama's patriotism, fomenting crowds to expletives and threats aimed at Obama: "Terrorist!" they scream. "Kill him!" they yell. Is that something to be proud of?

Are there lefty knuckleheads out there as well? Absolutely. But here's the difference: The hate and selfishness from the right comes straight from the top and is virtually institutionalized. It appears to be intrinsic to the movement.

ABOVE: Why deface this elderly couple's sign with a swastika of all things?

This is the party that sends Sarah Palin out to ridicule Barack Obama's boots-on-the-ground service to the community; face-to-face, eye-to-eye problem-solving in neighborhoods that Palin has seen only on TV is amusing to them. To paraphrase the Esquire article, he worked for and with the people and for his trouble was jeered for it at the Republican National Convention.

This is the party that laughs at the idea that it is patriotic to pay your fair share of taxes. To these people, sacrificing your child to a highly questionable war is patriotic; the concept of actually paying your fair share of taxes so those children can be properly armored and have access to the right equipment makes them giggle. That is just despicable, and a continuation of the Bush-Cheney ethos of responsibility avoidance.

Time for a change. Time to remind ourselves that America was built on collective responsibility and not the "I got mine; go get yours" mentality championed by the modern Republican party.

Excerpt from "Esquire Endorses Barack Obama for President - Election 2008" - Esquire:

... Senator Obama is the only one of the two candidates who seems to believe in the idea of a political commonwealth, that there are those things -- be they the guarantees in the Bill of Rights or mountains in Alaska -- that we own together. Barack Obama stands, however inchoately and however diffidently, for the notion that a common purpose is necessary for common problems, that "government," as it is designed in our founding documents, is our collective responsibility. It is this collective responsibility that built America into a great power without peer in the history of the world. And it is this collective responsibility that has succumbed to nearly thirty years of phony rightist populism, corporate brigandage, and the wildly cheered abandonment of a common American civic purpose. It is shocking that in America an argument for salvaging the common good is regarded as a radical notion by anyone, but that is where we are. And that is what Barack Obama seems to stand for. After all, as a young man with his potential, he could have headed straight to midtown Manhattan and made a fortune. Instead, he took a church job working for poor people in Chicago, and for his troubles, he and those poor people have been viciously jeered by the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. Such is their regard for the common good. And such is Obama's promise. And in that, however inchoately and however diffidently, Obama stands not only against Bushism, but against Reaganism, which gave it birth. And that is more than enough.

You reap what you sow, pt. II: McCain's Supposed Adviser John Lewis Calls Him Out

This may also be filed under McCain/Palin's  "Just say stuff" strategy tactic.

Via Crooks and Liars:

McCain's Supposed Adviser John Lewis Calls Him Out:

Back in August, Republican presidential candidate John McCain stunned the audience at Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Forum by citing Democratic Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis as one of the "wisest people that you know that you would rely on heavily in an administration." On Saturday, Lewis offered McCain some sage advice - and a stern warning - about the disgusting turn his increasingly ugly campaign had taken. Unsurprisingly, the supposed maverick shunned his supposed adviser's wisdom that the McCain campaign and its Republican allies were "playing with fire" by "sowing the seeds of hatred and division."

At Warren's Saddleback event with Barack Obama this summer, McCain surprised many by adding Lewis to a troika of trusted advisers featuring the usual suspects General David Petraeus and former Bay CEO Meg Whitman:

WARREN: This first question deals with leadership and the personal life of leadership. First question, who were the three wisest people that you know that you would rely on heavily in an administration?

MCCAIN: [...] I think John Lewis. John Lewis was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Had his skull fractured. Continues to serve. Continues to have the most optimistic outlook about America. He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than ourself...

Afterwards, Congressman Lewis responded to the news of his previously unknown role as a Republican presidential adviser by noting:

"Senator McCain and I are colleagues in the U.S. Congress, not confidantes. He does not consult me. And I do not consult him."

But on Saturday, Lewis did offer McCain some counsel and a stinging rebuke. In the wake of McCain campaign events in which Barack Obama was threatened and called a "terrorist," an "Arab," and a "traitor," Lewis blasted McCain and his running mate:

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

For his part, McCain played the victim and demanded Barack Obama repudiate Lewis' hyperbolic comparison of the McCain-Palin ticket to George Wallace:

"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale...I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track."

In response, the Obama campaign kept the focus squarely where it belonged – on the hatemongering of John McCain and his increasingly desperate supporters. Just hours Obama had signaled his appreciation to McCain for scolding some of his angry GOP backers, his campaign responded:

"Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies. But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States 'pals around with terrorists.' As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together."

As for John Lewis, his short but unhappy tenure as a close confidant to John McCain has apparently come to an end. As for McCain, he still has General Petraeus, who this week to McCain's certain dismay acknowledged, "You have to talk to enemies." Meanwhile, on Tuesday Meg Whitman got John McCain's seal of approval as a potential Treasury Secretary, just one day after eBay announced it was slashing 10% of its workforce.

Podcasts available of Franklin Technology Commission Podcast Subcommittee as they struggle with the concept of... podcasts

Blogger Janet Evans has posted meeting podcasts of the latest Franklin Technology Commission Podcast Subcommittee meeting.

That, my friends, is pure and simple irony.

McCain booed by rabid supporters for defending Obama as a "decent person"

Uglier and uglier.

You reap what you sow. After months of strongly implying to his followers that Obama is "Un-American," an embarrassed McCain is now forced to attempt to control the monster he and Palin have created.

McCain booed by rabid supporters for defending Obama as a "decent person":

(Via . Crooks and Liars)

Republican rallies become hate fests: You don't need hi-def TV to see the seething rage

This is what it's come to. From the Washington Post:

The crowds that show up for his rallies these days appear to have little appetite for the talk of bipartisan compromise that had been at the heart of his message around the Republican National Convention. During a rally outside a small airport in Mosinee, Wis., on Thursday, McCain said that "it's time we come together, Democrats and Republicans to work together. That's my record. I'll reach across the aisle."

The crowd stood silent.

Sure would hate to be on the road while this guy's driving. What a shameful display (the whole nation gets to see it) - and it's only gonna get worse:

(via Brew City Brawler)

And even more elevated discourse (via Blogger Interrupted):

First 5-Star Coffee, now Ka Lounge CLOSING

Less and less to do in Franklin. From Franklin Today: 'BREAKING: Ka Lounge CLOSING"

To our valued customers… Due to conditions beyond our control, we will be closing our doors Saturday night, October 11. Beginning at 3pm, we will have free food until the kitchen is empty and discounted drinks all night. This is our way of thanking you for your continued support here at the Ka Lounge. We’ve had a lot of good times behind these doors… Please help us close them with a bang! Thank you all. We hope to see you Saturday! -       

- The Ka Lounge Staff

In other news: City officials willing to look into the possibilities of this "wheel" gadget

What we really need is digital audio of all meetings; two trips to Radio Shack and this could be done. However, in city government we form a "subcommittee."

From FranklinNOW.COM:

City may stream meetings on Web

People who follow Franklin government, may soon have the ability to watch city meetings online.

The Franklin Common Council last night approved the Technology Commission Video Streaming Subcommittee's request to run a trial taping of the Oct. 21 council meeting to investigate the possibility of making Web casts available to the public via the city Web site.

See also Franklin Today.

Columnist McIlheran: Keep those truth-tellers off the radio before the First Amendment is harmed!

An interesting world-view is held by those whose paychecks are tied to their ideology. Take, for instance, the following "Quick Hit" by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel right wing columnist Patrick McIlheran:

You’ve heard of Chicago radio legend Milt Rosenberg, interviewer of passing authors? Alas, he ran afoul lately of Barack Obama by talking to David Freddoso, who wrote an unflattering book. The Obamanation was alerted via campaign Web site, whereupon disciples flooded WGN-AM with talking-points calls. They did the same a month earlier when Rosenberg interviewed a journalist who irritated Obama. How touchy for a guy wanting to protect and defend the First Amendment.

It's a breathtaking display of cognitive gymnastics to somehow position voicing one's beliefs and sharing facts on the public airwaves via a call-in format as threatening the First Amendment.

Let's be clear about something: The average member of the Republican Noise Machine (and McIlheran certainly qualifies) is not interested in the introduction of pesky facts into a perfectly entertaining radio call-in spin session. Their model call-in contains the following preamble: "Hi, this is Steve from Ozaukee. Couldn't. Agree. With. You. More. You hit the nail right on the head. And, may I say, you're a great American."

Now that's a great call-in guest!

But when someone gets by the call screener armed with facts to correct the stream of misstatements billowing from a guest or the host, they are referred to as "seminar callers" (a term popularized by Rush Limbaugh). Facts are not entertaining on right wing radio.

Evidently, host Milt Rosenberg and his call-screener do not play by the rules of squawk radio and let call-in facts on the air.

Noise Machine operative McIlheran picks up the thread here: "disciples" dare to make "talking point calls" when an author promoting an opportunistic book full of half-truths and innuendo uses the public airwaves to move more units. Not cool when that author gets his hindquarters handed to him by informed listeners.

Another way to put it - a more accurate way to put it - would be that persons concerned with the truth were made aware of a public spin session and cared to call in with the the facts. I'm at a loss as to where the First Amendment is pinched anywhere in that equation.

You know those "talking point calls" you fear, Mr. McIlheran? The less dogmatic among us tend to view them as examples of intelligent debate and conversation. Something we hear precious little of on the local squawk radio you champion.

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

No matter what you thought you knew about John McCain, this piece is an eye-opener. I consider his period as a POW off-limits to speculation; none of us are in a position to judge or criticize a person's behavior in that horrific situation. However, McCain's career and choices since then are, of course, fair game.

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

"Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back."

I remember Bruce Springsteen saying a long time ago, "Trust the art, not the artist." Great advice when you really, really like the music of musicians like Amy Winehouse and Ryan Adams, for instance, but would be wary of sharing a beer or two with them based on their reputations. (The whole notion also came in handy when Brett Favre retired/unretired/retired/unretired.)

How wonderful to dig a man's music and agree with him philosophically. My 30-year love affair with the music of Bruce Springsteen is constantly rewarded.

I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.

I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real: opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.

I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities, the distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people's hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.

So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising.

(via Veritas et Venustas)