This will take some time, kittens, including the videos which you must watch for context. So get a cup of coffee (or tea, if you’re inclined that way), settle in and get comfy.

I received a string of e-mails from a friend of mine, today, urging me to vote for Barack Obama – as if I needed urging. A couple of them included videos and contained the usual plea to forward them to 10 of my friends.

One of the members of her e-mail list felt compelled to respond to each one in a manner I consider, well, textbook “Bush-y / Rove-y”. I knew what I was in for when, in the first of her responses, she referred to Fox “News” as “centrist media.” Hee hee hee hee! You can see why I couldn’t resist responding. Anyway, rather than bothering my friends (I only bothered her friends – hey, she started it!), I thought I would reproduce the exchange here. I swear that I didn’t edit her remarks in any way, except to break them up into more digestible portions to which I responded.

Here’s the first video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0xzsogzAk

Now, here are her comments:

“Hahaha…Wow MSNBC? Liberal Media? New York times is a liberal newspaper. ABC and Lou Dobbs prefer Obama. There is no centerist media anymore. Fox is closest ive seen believe it or not. Watch centerist media. Because i am shocked to see how much people are sucked in by this liberal media storm. If there will be a fairness act for radio shows there should be one for the media too. Stop the liberal media shockwave. Watch fox. Thank you ”

…and my response:

You’re joking, right? FOX is centrist???

The same network who, just a few weeks ago referred to his WIFE as Obama’s “baby mama”??? For those uninitiated few of you, a “baby mama” is a street reference to the unmarried mother of a man’s children. Usually black. A “man” can have several “baby mamas”. It is not generally used as a compliment, and when used by white people, a racial slur.

Puhleeze! Fox “News” is known far and wide as the mouthpiece for Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and the Republican fear-mongers. Whenever the Republican Party and the right-wing religious fundies can’t debate an issue civilly – because they have no response – they deflect the country’s attention by fueling some irrational white fear, such as immigration. Fox can always be counted on to sound the charge. “Fair and Balanced” my left pinky toe.

Next video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7acdvJegOY

Here’s her rebuttal:

“There is a lot of untruth in this, plus a complete lack of ALL the facts.
Lots of people would not agree with this. It’s a baby, not a ‘thing’.
There are better options.”

And my response:

First, you didn’t say anything to refute the “untruths”. So, what are ALL the facts, dear?

Second, I’m sure there are “[L]ots of people [who] would not agree with this.” More about that, later.

Third, I don’t recall anyone using the word “thing”, so for those on this mailing list who did not watch the video, you shouldn’t give the wrong impression. As for when a cluster of cells becomes a “baby”, well, I’m betting there are about as many opinions about that as there are people on this mailing list. Maybe more. I’m entitled to mine as much as you are entitled to yours. That’s what makes the world go ’round.

While I think I may have heard McCain say that he is for a woman’s right to choose (at least in cases of rape, incest, health of the mother, etc.), there is no doubt that Sarah Palin is vehemently against it. Even in cases of rape and incest. She believes that birth control, not just abortion, is murder. And if she wants to hold her family up as a reflection of what “average American parents” go through on a day-to-day basis, we can all see how well preaching abstinence-as-birth control worked for them. Now we have an old-fashioned shotgun wedding to look forward to – a child marrying a child. Is that one of your better options?

Considering McCain’s age, the phrase “heartbeat away from the Presidency” takes on a literal meaning. Do I want a woman to be President? Hell, yeah! Do I want this woman to be President? Hell, no!

So just what are your “better options”? Leaving young people ignorant about the ramifications, health and otherwise, of having sex? If Bristol Palin had had access to information about birth control and STD’s, would we be having this particular conversation right now? Bristol’s got a wealthy and politically powerful base to support her and her child. Therefore, we should force a young woman of possibly limited means to carry a child she doesn’t want and either give it up for adoption or raise it, supported by the taxpayers? Oh, wait! That’s right! You’re against “welfare”! That’s another e-mail. Don’t worry – I’ll get there.

Now, for the “[L]ots of people [who] would not agree with this.” You know what? I’ll vote against abortion and sex education, too. On one condition: Pass a law that you, and each and every man and woman who rallies, marches, sends e-mails, signs petitions, preaches and protests against a woman’s right to choose, against government and private insurers paying for contraception, and against a child’s right to know, is required to adopt and raise every single child – black, white, brown, green or purple, including those we euphemistically lump together as “special needs” – resulting from these bans. All of them. Feed them, clothe them, educate them. On your own nickel. No help from the government.

When you and everyone who voices your viewpoint makes that commitment, I’ll reconsider.

And finally, the last e-mail:

If You were The Boss… which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year.

Let’s look at the educational background of the candidates and see what they bring to the job:

Obama:
Occidental College – Two years.
Columbia University – B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware – B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy – Class rank 894 <out of 899 (meaning that, like George Bush, McCain was at the bottom of his class)

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester
North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study
University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester
University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in journalism

Now which team are you going to hire to lead the most influential nation in the world?

I broke this one up to address her “arguments” one by one. Hers are the statements in quotes:

“First of all, an academic education, with ‘head’ knowledge, does not make a person WISE. It mostly makes them arrogant.”

Really? You know, the idea in this country over the last, oh, eight years or so, that you have to relate to the President of the United States, that the President doesn’t have to be smart, that the President should be just like you and me, is bullshit. I want the man or woman with their finger on the button to be WAY smarter than me. I want my President to know “arrogant” things, like how to fix the economy that the last “President” flushed down the toilet. I don’t want a President who has to rely on shadowy influence peddlers to tell him/her what to think. I want an “arrogant” President, full of “head” knowledge – someone I can look up to and respect, not someone to drink a beer with. I’ve got friends for that.

“And HELLO, the democrats are the ones who constantly increase the federal spending for the federal programs, so we can support all the immigrants and people on welfare who don’t want to work or contribute.
And if those of us who work didn’t have to support the hospitalization & medical care of immigrants and those who don’t work, our medical bills & medical insurance wouldn’t be so high. Reality check, people.”

And HELLO, the Republicans are the ones who keep driving this country into recessions and depressions, taking perfectly robust economies and looting them with their tax loopholes and revisionist policies, making the rich, richer, and the middle class scrambling from paycheck to paycheck. It has ever been thus. After every disastrous modern-day Republican administration, this country had to be “rescued” by a Democrat. See Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover (now, there was a winner in the fiscal responsibility department!), followed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, followed by Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush followed by Bill Clinton.   Eisenhower might be an exception, but that may be either because a) no one actually remembers the Eisenhower administration, or B) it may be that he just didn’t screw up the post World War II economic boom that was already in place.  Otherwise, each and every Republican Presidency in the last 80 years ended in economic depression or recession. Each and every Democratic Presidency in that period resulted in economic growth and social progress.  Just how the Republican Party ever got the reputation for fiscal responsibility, I’ll never know.  It’s a historical paradox.

Medical bills and insurance are so high, not because of immigrants and social programs, but because of avarice. I’m sorry, is that word too arrogant? How about greed? Historically, Republican administrations have fostered cultures of greed and acquisitiveness. Remember the “Me Generation” of the 1980′s? Remember the movie quote “Greed is good”? Have you heard of the largest growth industries in this country today? They’re called Healthcare Fraud & Insurance Fraud. Dishonest individuals, doctors, lawyers, and yes, even insurance agents – all in various combinations, work together to scam insurance companies, looking for free money. Billing for tests never performed, fake accidents, drug companies charging ridiculous prices for medications, baseless lawsuits against doctors and hospitals, the list goes on and on. If the powerful lawyers’ lobbies in this country worked with, instead of against, lawmakers for meaningful tort reform, you’d see more reasonable healthcare costs. But if you’ve ever padded an insurance claim, you are also personally responsible for escalating costs. Reality check, yourself, girlfriend.

“And, in case you missed it, the Congress, who makes the majority of the decisions about spending and programs, is run by democrats, not Republicans.”

And in case you weren’t paying attention, the Democrats didn’t take control of Congress until the 2006 election, and weren’t installed until January 2007. Try again.

“And if we would execute more criminals, instead of spending millions of dollars trying to rehab them, with very little success, thanks to bleeding-heart liberals, our prisons wouldn’t be so full.”

You know what really amazes me? I have never known or spoken with or gotten a chain e-mail from a Right-To-Lifer who wasn’t also in favor of the death penalty. Let me get this straight: Every cluster of DNA has a right to live until it does something “criminal”, then you should kill it. Hypocrite.

“So before you attempt to blame the Republicans for the messes you believe we’re in, get your facts straight. Better take a closer look back at American history.”

So before you attempt to blame the Democrats for messes we ARE in, Cupcake, you’d better get your own facts straight. My husband and I are students of American history, and you don’t have to go far to find the facts. Try taking off your Rove-colored glasses.

But I do want to thank you. I’ve been a little dry for blog material, lately, aside from Project Runway recaps, and I intend to reproduce these little chats we’ve been having. Don’t worry – I won’t use your name.

Sincerely,
RJ

Yes it was 8:00 a.m. and I was in "zen" mode as I wasdriving in to work, this morning, and then:

Bumper sticker I thought I saw:  Young Women'sPurgatory Academy

What it actually said:  Young Women's PreparatoryAcademy

I know there's a joke in there, somewhere.