Smells Like Desperation

Smells Like Desperation

Recently, (ok, for the past six months) I have been receiving numerous email about Obama and all the crazy shit he is said to have done or said. Among them:

1. Obama is a Muslim who won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Obama was sworn into office on the Koran.
3. Obama holding a telephone upside down.
4. Obama wants to change the National Anthem.
5. Obama is, or could be, the Anti-Christ.
6. Obama isn't a natural born citizen.
7. Obama hides his birth certificate.

A quick check on these stories clearly shows that there are blatant lies.

After awhile, I began to wonder why there were so many patently false anti-Obama emails and rumors going around and not nearly as many McCain ones. At first, I thought that it was just that the people who are my email contacts were conservative Republicans and would obviously not send anything that goes against their candidate. Then, I decided to dig a little deeper, thinking maybe people on the Democrat side were doing the same thing and I just wasn't getting them because I'm not on their contact lists. So, I went to Snopes.com - a fair repository for finding out the truth behind sooooo many email and internet rumors and falsehoods - and did a little comparison of rumors about Obama and McCain. Here are the results:

Obama
36 total claims about him
21 are 100% false
4 were classified as true
7 had parts that were both true and false
4 were of indeterminable veracity

McCain
9 total claims about him
4 are 100% false
3 are true
2 were of indeterminable veracity

A little analysis:

Obama has garnered 4x the number of rumors as McCain. Over half (21/36 = ~58%) of the claims made about Obama are flat-out lies. For McCain, less than half (4/9 = 44%) were lies. Only 4 of the 36 claims about Obama were true (~11%) whereas 3/9 were true for McCain (~33%).

It seems to me that the Conservative side of this contest is sensing defeat and has pulled out all of the stops to try and slow Obama and the Democrats down. Increased smear and slander tactics, whether approved of by the campaign or not, are tell-tale signs that the campaign in question is heading downhill and sees their loss on the horizon. It stinks of desperation and foul-play.

Some people have tried to convince me that if I vote for someone other than one of the two Party Candidates (McCain or Obama), I'm throwing away my vote because no on else has the chance to win. I will concede that the person I am voting for (Ron Paul) doesn't have the slightest chance in hell of winning. However, that doesn't make my vote for him irrelevant any more than any other vote for a candidate in a state where the result is practically a foregone conclusion (ie. Washington State which will most definitely vote for Obama). In fact, by this logic, anyone voting in New York State or California who doesn't vote for Obama has also "wasted" their vote. Logically, if "Voting for a person who cannot win = wasted vote; then voting for McCain in Washington State or California = voting for Ron Paul in Washington State or California because neither can win."

In reality, it is not a waste because I am voting for the best man for the office. I am voting based on my views in comparison with his views and I am voting in hopes that a future third party candidate will see that there needs to be a viable choice other than the Democrats and Republicans. We will never have other options unless we first make it clear that we WANT other options. Continually voting for the "lesser of two evils" only guarantees an "evil" outcome. Slowly, but surely we will choose the lesser evil into oblivion. Why not take a stand now for the "good" choice? Even if it means losing today, it at least holds out the hope of winning tomorrow. By voting for the best man, my conscience is clean, and my ideals were not compromised by voting for the "lesser of two evils."

Not much will change in America, regardless of who wins. If Obama wins (which I have a sneaking suspicion he will, based on the desperation being displayed by the Republican Party and its supporters) the Assault Weapon Ban will become permanent (until it is challenged in the Supreme Court) - so, get your assault rifles while you still can. If McCain wins, there will be little if any change from the way things are now. Honestly, the President has little to do with the ultimate course of the country. He has little power of his own and only acts to speed up or slow down the processes of Congress. So, do we want to get where we are going faster or slower? THAT is the question this election decides.