| Obama 44th President of United States |
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Political campaigns are duels to the end. Sloganeering as part of this growing political culture temporarily transforms communities into courtyard rallies as signs, banners and posters are plastered ad infinitum. Strategic sloganeering is designed to consciously omit controversial issues that cost votes. The current campaign is not exception. There are three omissions hanging in the air, waiting for human intervention, the “R” word recession, the “I” word immigration, and the “N” word; but I won’t go there.
Let’s start with the “R” word. McCain and Obama have bickered about the economy, hurling intellectual promiscuous statements at each other’s plan. Resorting to muttering at best John McCain won’t even mumble the word recession. As the economy implodes, McCain simply buries himself in denial. His contradictory statements paint a picture of a political nincompoop, oblivious to the American economic consciousness.
McCain has even symbolically distanced himself from President George W. Bush. He has been given a maverick title and ostensibly has taken on other gun slinging Republicans, a no-no rule in politics, especially in front of the public; unless it is a preemptive strike. The impression is that he will “fight” anyone, anytime anyplace, a good bullying tactic.
Republicans have cast invectives at Barack Obama ad hominem regarding his plan to revitalize the economy without realizing a supreme irony. It was their administration that rescued the economy with a $750 billion dollar bailout. It was a point blank “redistribution of the wealth,” incidentally at the expense of the hard earned bucks by the working class. When Barack Obama talked about spreading the wealth because it was good for everyone, he was accused of practicing socialism.
Remember the despicable word socialism an archenemy to capitalism, when the state owns the major means of production to avoid monopolies from accruing a stranglehold on the economy? Radical Ralph Nader termed the bailout as pure socialism, a political contradiction aimed at the failure of capitalism. The old guard can toss political nomenclature around whenever it is convenient; but in reality, the gesture was a supreme hypocrisy tainted with a double standard.
McCain is a patriot. He is part of the war machine that revived the Sedition Act, passed in 1798 to protect the power mongers of the time. It has been buried in the American unconscious psyche since the 17th century but seeped out as the Patriot Act in 2001, following 9-11. The Sedition Act impeded upon American’s freedom of speech. According to Howard Zinn in, A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present, this act “made it a crime to say or write anything, ‘false or scandalous and malicious against the government.’”
The Patriot Act provides much government interference with very little checks and balances. It is the thought police in action hiding truth from honest hard working Americans. It provides unabated governmental agency power to monitor personal habits of suspected terrorists, in the United States and at U.S. citizens residing abroad. Although the 2005 Act was less intrusive, our personal liberties have been violated. Secrecy is still used for those under surveillance to curtail civil liberties.
There is a difference between being part of an administration that creates laws that protect tyrants and writing laws that prohibit revolutionary social change, a crazy idea practiced by America’s founding fathers. McCain has walked with his chum George W. Bush to protect the former at the expense of the ladder. Recollect President Bush’s arrogant statement, “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror,” in his November 6, 2001 speech. This administration has picked fights, made enemies and expected the poor to fight for democracy and the innocent to protect the rest of society from hostile attack.
The “I” word immigration has been whispered by the candidates. There are long lines of hard working immigrants waiting for a savior. They continue to fight the war, pay taxes, feed their families and live in anxiety; but no one came to their rescue. This initially left a bad taste in my mouth as the grandson of third generation immigrants.
I recollect during the “English for the Children,” public policy war, I struggled with who should be selected as the window dressers for this fight. It was decided that Latina/o leadership was not a good tactic. I was appalled. A good friend and mentor stated to me, “Do you want to win? And if you do, what are you willing to compromise?” This was a tough lesson for me. I wanted to win; but in the process realized that I had to compromise my own perspective for the common good, for a common victory.
In a similar vein, Obama does not want to touch the immigration issue until he is in office. Why? Simply put, he will lose votes, not a very smart political strategy. Yes, this is a compromise issue. But it does not mean that it will fade into oblivion after the election. What it means is that we have to hold him accountable once he grabs the reigns. McCain, on the other hand, divorced himself from the McCain/Kennedy immigration proposal and has no intentions of crossing party lines on this one. His maverick behavior is limited by the whims of the party.
I won’t use the expletive “N” word, I’ll substitute the word race for it. The polls are saying that Americans are not voting for anyone based on the color of their skin. Yeah right! Behind closed curtains, race matters, especially when you are in this space with your conscience as your only guide.
It’s time to reclaim América and its principles of freedom and liberty. A decade of totalitarianism is enough.
Practice freedom of speech; but with political savvy. Vote Obama!
Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an Independent Journalist.
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