Alcyone wrote:
All of this underscores how this election has degraded into a mudslinging contest.
That is a shame. But remember that ever since the election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, supporters of candidates have flung mud at their champion's opponents however and whenever they could. Adams was accused of trying to put the fledgling nation under the control of the Presbyterian Church. Jefferson was accused of being an atheist (a serious charge in those days). Adams was accused of being hard-hearted and caring only for the rich. Jefferson was accused of wanting to become king in fact if not in name.
And that was by no means all that was said.
We have to remember that people who are committed to a person or a cause sometimes step outside the truth to "help" their guy or gal. It might give someone a bump at the polls, but when the truth is revealed, it often backfires on them. Remember the "evidence" that George W. Bush never completed his National Guard service? An entire television news department flushed their credibility on that one, and a very prominent newscaster resigned in disgrace. In that same campaign, some desperate conservative circulated a "photograph" of John Kerry sitting on a bench behind Jane Fonda at an anti-American "peace rally" against the Vietnam War. The picture was a fake, and all it really did was discredit those who forwarded it to others on their mailing lists.
Personally, I support John McCain and Sarah Palin over Barak Obama and Joe Biden, but it's on the basis of the issues each stands for and not because of skin tone or gender or age or party affiliation or "Wow!" factor. I hope that those of you who are American voters support the candidates of your choice for the same reasons: namely, because of the issues.
We can discuss those issues - hopefully in a calm and reasonable manner - without lowering ourselves to character assassination. Now, if someone
proves to me that either John McCain or Sarah Palin has something in their private lives (such as drug addiction, slave trading, second job as contract assassins, serial jaywalker, etc.) which would disqualify them from serving in such high office, I'll change my stance. I hope that we can all stay on track in this thread and remain civil to each other. If you disagree with me on the issues, that's perfectly fine. If you disagree with me on the basis of wild rumor or personality or party label, there's no basis for reasonable discourse. And that's what we all should be striving for.
Thanks for letting me get my three cents' worth in. (Inflation gets everything eventually.)
