We can't let America elect another unhinged raving lunatic

I’ll start by saying that this is a call to action continuation and follow up to my diary last week about starting to attack McCain. And I’ll also say that the events of this past week were nothing short of stunning in the contrast between what can be accomplished by Obama and the potential for repairing our image around the world - and what would happen in terms of 4 more years of the same tired failed McCain/Bush/Cheney/neoconservative ideas and policies.

It floored me so much that I donated my first $50 to Obama’s campaign earlier today - more than I donated to Dodd’s campaign during his too short candidacy.

To see stories like this about Obama and then things like this about McCain, it shows just how much more can be done when you don’t piss off everyone just because you feel like being an asshole.

Back in 2004, the entire world was rooting for Americans to do the right thing. And yet, we end up with this:

I said that I would start a series of diaries that would go on the attack against McCain. And based on the response I got from my diary last weekend, I started a GoogleGroup called “Know Your McCain”. Anyone that wants to contribute research, videos, diaries or help out otherwise is welcome to join and should send me an email (see my profile). Some have already been in touch, and have provided some very good links, information or videos. You can also get to any of the links from any of the many diaries in my signature, or go to McCain Source as well.

We are starting to see McCain completely lose his shit. He is blowing off reporters. He is becoming unhinged in a big time manner - lashing out at Obama on the most crazy of attacks, all while continuing to make mistake after mistake about basic foreign policy issues and trying to run a campaign based on two things:

• Something that happened close to 40 years ago (his Vietnam service and POW status); and


• Something that he credits himself with (the so called “surge”) which, at best, has only resulted in some decrease in violence - which is related to more than just “more troops” and has no bearing on what needs to be done now in Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan.

The problem here is that nothing that happened in Vietnam has any real bearing on what is going on now in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and we only know that McCain has no plan for anything other than “I told you the surge worked” when it comes to Iraq, forgot (or even worse, doesn’t think) that Afghanistan was the first major conflict since 9/11, and thinks that Pakistan shares a border with Iraq.

But it isn’t just that, even though “that” is more than enough to warrant an Obama win at all costs. It is the instant rise in credibility that the United States will get with an Obama Presidency - one that will enable us to be strong where we need to be and smart about diplomacy.

Too many Americans rejected Kerry in 2004 because he wasn’t enough of an asshole to the rest of the world, and we all know how great it was for our standing in the world with Captain Asshole in charge of pissing off everyone else just because he could. With McCain it is even worse - just like Bush but angrier, older, more unstable and with more of a temper and grudge against more people.

Which is a scary thought.

As I wrote the other day, your kids and grandchildren will fight McCain’s “more wars”. Our foreign policy will be unpopular, aggressive, conducted with haste and arrogance. And we will lose more ground both overseas and on the homefront.

Big time.

With Obama, things will be far from perfect. And they will be far from easy. And too many things that will get accomplished will likely be out of necessity, reaction and crisis, not out of foresight or planning. But that is the hand we have been dealt, and not even a President Obama and a very progressive Congress can do what needs to be done.

However, with an unhinged raving lunatic with a grudge against the world, many members of his own party and horrible domestic policies (because the issue of economics is too big for him to understand and he has trusted advisors like Phil Gramm) - the hole that this country has been dug into by Bush and the republican Congress will need to be around 6 feet deep.

Because we might as well be dead to the rest of the world at that point.