December 13, 2007 Issue

This is the time of year when people generally think of peace on Earth and good will towards men, unless you happen to be a politician running for president next year. Anyone who still thinks politics is a lofty profession; clearly has no access to the outside world.

Politics has become one of the dirtiest businesses around and furthermore it takes a fortune to pull off dirty tricks. With new ways of infiltrating people’s consciousness, such as the Internet, candidates have myriad ways in which to get their names in front of the voters. Frequently name recognition is enough since the platforms seems to change with the direction of the wind.

Ever since Barack Obama declared himself a candidate, I’ve been stunned by the number of emails I have received about this young man. Everything from questions about his loyalty to the United States to speculation he might be a latent Muslim have come unbidden into my personal email box. My conservative sister, who happens to live in Illinois, where Obama is her senator, forwarded all of them. It is impossible to tell the origin of this trash, but each of them was debunked at snopes.com, the website dedicated to busting urban myths and so forth.

My favorite one showed a photo of a huge American flag, with Senator Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin (an Illinois senator’s widow) standing in front of it. Everyone but Obama had their hands over their hearts, but none of them was looking in the direction of the flag. Obama is off to the left with his hands in his pocket. The caption read: “A picture is worth a thousand words. Barack Hussein Obama (that’s his real name) refused not only to put his hand on his heart during the pledge of allegiance, but refused to say the pledge.”

Photoshop anyone? Much empty noise has been made about his middle name. Hussein is to Middle Easterners as William is to Americans. It’s a freaking name. Further, no politician wishing to be president would be so stupid as to refuse to say the pledge or put his hand over his heart. Even if Obama were a hate-filled Muslim seeking the highest office in the land of the free, he would be smart enough to know he has to be elected first. The photo simply does not pass the smell test, yet there are thousands of misguided fools who got this email and believed it.

When I first got it, I thought it might have been created and circulated by the elephant party. Then I had a darker thought: maybe the donkeys did it. There’s not much point in the elephants trying to crush this guy at this juncture, but there are possible payoffs for the donkeys if they can derail one of the frontrunners. A lot of Obama’s competitors say he is simply too inexperienced to be president, but we are currently being led by a president who came to office with very little experience. Furthermore, Obama hasn’t been in politics long enough to be totally corrupt, although I suspect he’s beholding to a few people. With politics the way it is in this country, it is almost impossible not to be, although the largest base of his support (pre-Oprah, that is) was from small donations from the people, which is as it should be.

It’s gotten to the point where all the candidates seem like empty talking heads. The debates are a joke. No one is given enough time to fully outline any plans they might have on where they want to take the country and all we get are snippets of information. Worse yet, there are few places to go to become more fully enlightened. It’s not like newspapers dissect the platforms of candidates as they once did, discussing whether or not such platforms are viable and affordable.

However, in just a few weeks, Jan. 3 to be exact, Iowans will weigh-in on who they think should be the nominees for each of the two major parties. How Iowa managed to get itself into the exalted position of first choosers is a mystery. I’ve driven through Iowa and there isn’t much there, except a nice road leading into South Dakota and Mount Rushmore. At any rate, after the non-binding caucus is over, the race starts for real. Expect for it to get ugly in the next 11 months.

In the calm before the storm, best wishes for an extraordinary Christmas. For me, my desire is peace on Earth and true goodwill towards men.

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