What Happened to John McCain?

Most Americans had respect for John McCain whether or not they agreed with his politics. That respect has been severely strained for some and completely broken for others. He has allowed Sarah Palin to whip his supporters into such a far right frenzy with all the trappings of ignorance and prejudice that they all have lost sight of reason. This is a shame considering that John McCain was the first to declare earlier this year that he wanted to run a "clean" campaign.

The Dow has nose-dived 2000 points in the last 5 days to less than 8,600 points; my brain still cannot comprehend. The Federal Government through the treasury and the Federal Reserve has committed trillions to rescuing the economy without any negligible effect. This downturn is so serious, even the rich are losing money. Yet, all we hear from McCain-Palin is nasty attacks about Barack Obama's connection with Bill Ayers, the 60's era anti-Vietnam Domestic terrorist turned educator, who Obama worked with on education reform.

Joe Conason of RealClearPolitics.com wrote today:

"Entering the election's final weeks, the rhetoric of the former maverick and his lipstick-toting pit bull, Gov. Sarah Palin, has turned so ugly and inflammatory that their rallies have begun to sound like lynch mobs."

"What these concluding weeks have told us about the Republican candidate, to the shock and surprise of many of his admirers, is that he misunderstands the meaning of honor. Evidently he believes that the credit he accrued for suffering bravely for his country in Vietnam somehow licenses him to campaign as crudely and deceptively as he can, if that will help him to win. He seems not to realize that the respect he earned so many years ago requires him to uphold a higher standard of decency in politics."

Even Cindy McCain has jumped into the fray declaring that Obama, who has lobbed his own attacks on MCain though he has not sunk as low, has run the "dirtiest campaign in American History." What? The heights of denial to which the McCain campaign has sunk will require years of therapy to unwind, for all of us. Obama has kept calm, continues to evoke a Presidential aura and push his economic policy to salvage America; meanwhile McCain's supporters are so rabid, it is clear that they are beyond listening to his economic prescriptions. Ever thought a 1/2 black man with a funny name could be President? McCain really thinks so and he is fighting against it like mad.