Irrationality, Anti-Science, Dangerous Tactics, and Race in the race

Okay folks, so I’ve been waiting for a coherent theme to develop before sending, but it’s getting more incoherent all the time. Maybe that’s the theme.

So here’s some random tidbits, after which a theme should emerge:

Responding to the “Palling around with Terrorists” accusation, some of Palin’s un-American activities:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/

And this is not a joke:
http://www.observer.com/2008/media/hugh-hewitts-how-sarah-palin-won-election-and-saved-america-does-not-yet-have-publisher

Neither is this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate_15
But we’ll find out the results of that probe soon. Either way it turns out, exonerating yourself is a little silly.

A little bit on McCain’s claim of a three million dollar earmark for an “overhead projector” for the Adler Planetarium. That one’s gotten a lot of science and education folks’ hackles up! McCain is seeming pretty anti-science for his comments. This is a great blog post by “The Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait (he exposes “Bad Astronomy” in various places, debunks hoaxes, etc.)
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/10/08/

Dangerous Tactics
The McCain Campaign is getting truly dangerous and also irrelevant – lets hope their new tactic (or, wait, is it a strategy?) causes moderates and thinking Republicans (and yes, I still believe in them – I leave Obama buttons under my pillow at night hoping to wake up and find donations...) to leave the McCain/Palin camp in droves.

A Seattle blogger said it very well here:
http://weskimcom.tumblr.com/post/53894436/an-open-plea-to-all-american-voters

And Andrew Sullivan names the fear out loud:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-dangerous-p.html

Some thoughts on race as a factor:

Dear White Voter:
http://www.racialicious.com/2008/10/10/an-open-letter-to-white-voters-or-what-mccain-really-thinks-of-you/

These are older, and I may have sent them before, and I’m sure most of you have seen them, but they are good food for thought about racism. I love that the Obama campaign is downplaying this, and focusing on the issues. But racism is no doubt a factor in this vote as it influences our thinking in subtle, invisible ways:

White Privilege:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1755

How Racism Works:
http://seriouslythough.tumblr.com/post/50281935/what-if-john-mccain-were-a-former-president-of-the

Donna Brazile, also rising above, but at the same time not mincing words. I really like this woman!
http://jezebel.com/5059945/donna-brazile-is-not-going-to-the-back-of-the-bus

And a hopeful, positive note about race:
Obama’s Race is Receding:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/09/obamas-race-is-receding/

“We are witnessing something remarkable here: Obama’s race is receding as he becomes more familiar. His steadiness has trumped his skin color; he is being judged on the content of his character.”

That is the America in which I want to live. It’s a good short post that goes on to say what we need from Obama, and I agree.

And it’s looking good:
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/election2008/2008-election-map.html

But we cannot become complacent – we need a “landslide” - and it would be great if it were not only an electoral landslide.

Why?

The Bradley Effect: if you haven’t heard of this, it’s when former LA Mayor Tom Bradley ran for governor, and the polls showed him winning by a large margin. He lost, though. People did not want to admit they would not vote for him in polls, but in the privacy of the voting booth, their true nature showed. It’s been many years since then, and I hope we, as a people, have moved beyond that.

Voter Registration Challenges:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09voting.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

“Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.
The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.
Still, because Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, any heightened screening of new applications may affect their party’s supporters disproportionately.”

Voter Intimidation: Hear about the anonymous fliers in the poor areas of Pennsylvania warning people not to vote, “for their own protection”? False warnings that if they had any outstanding warrants, parking tickets, etc, there would be undercover police there to arrest them.

So we need a substantial margin to feel confident of victory. Keep doing good work out there people!!

Also, I believe today is the last day before the election to register to vote, so if you aren’t registered yet, get your butt in gear!!
http://justvote.org/

(**Great Quote: “Voting is the best way to avoid feeling like an asshole when someone asks you, ‘did you vote?’”)

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/im52?source=pm-info-t-web