I READ IT ON THE NET, SO IT MUST BE TRUE

Recently, I was discussing the upcoming Presidential election with a fellow attorney who I thought was an Obama supporter like myself. For simplicity sake, I'm going to call my friend "Posie". After a few seconds I noticed my friend had a pained expression on her face and then she came out with, "I've heard some really bad things about Obama lately."

I asked her what she'd heard and she replied, "I've heard that Obama is not an American citizen." To this I exclaimed, "He was born in Hawaii!"

Posie shook her head and claimed that Obama's birth certificate had been falsified. There was a young clerk from Posie's office sitting next to her who was nodding her head in agreement with Posie.

I asked what else had Posie heard that was "bad" about Obama. Posie didn't hesitate and came out with, "He's a Muslim." More nods from her clerk.

I asked where Posie and her clerk who had imposed herself into the conversation had heard these ridiculous claims, and the clerk solemnly told me, "I read it on the Internet."

Bingo! Following the lead of former generations who's mantra was "I read it in the newspaper, so it must be true," the new unimpeachable source is the almighty Internet.

Now, to be honest, I use the Internet all the time. I think that it is a wonderful communications device but I'm not gullible enough to believe all that I read on the Net any more than I believe everything I hear on television news.

When Posie and her friend confronted me with these verifiability false claims about Senator Obama, I pointed out that Barrack had been "vetted" for two years. The "false birth certificate" had been proven to be unfounded. I also mentioned that I have read both of the Senator's books and believe him when he says he is a Christian.

I was met with looks which told me Posie and the clerk thought I was deranged.

Therefore, I have decided to spread the word about all of the negative, often bizarre, things that I've heard about Senator McCain and Governor Palin. My sources are unimpeachable. I read them on the net or friends told me they'd read these facts on the net. Here goes:

1. McCain fathered a Black child in South Carolina. We all know that this is true because the Bush/Rove campaign of 2000 used it to beat the senator in that state's primary. Have you heard McCain deny it during this campaign?

2. McCain is really an atheist who frequently makes fun of respected religious leaders. Remember when McCain criticized the late Jerry Falwell as being an "agent of intolerance"? So what if McCain later changed his tune to attract the religious right vote. That just proves the third fact that I've heard about McCain:

3. McCain is the king of flip-floppers. Not only has he flipped on Falwell, McCain voted against his own Immigration Bill. He was against off-shore drilling for years, but now he claims it's the only way to gain energy independence. McCain was the King of De-Regulators for 26 years (along with his buddy Phil "Americans are a bunch of whiners" Graham. Now? McCain suddenly wants to regulate everything and stop those evil Wall Street grimy golden parachute boys.

4. McCain is terminally ill. How do I know? I read it on the Internet. For God's sake, he's had cancer four times. And, folks, he's 72 with a history of bad health.

5. McCain has the temperament of a deranged pit bull. When his own lovely millionairess wife Cindy teased him about his receding hairline, he responded with a series of invectives which ended up with "You f*cking cunt." Even if own fellow Republican Senate members have said that having McCain with his finger on the nuclear button "sends shivers up their spines."

Let's move to the moosehunting mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

1. Palin is really a Russian spy. She confessed to Katie Couric that she looks at Russia all the time. Why? She's picking up secret codes to destroy the U.S.

2. Palin supports Alaska's secession from the U.S.A. Her hubby was a member of the of the Alaska Independence Party founded by Joe Vogler who stated: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government...And, I won't be buried under their damn flag." Sarah Palin greeted opened the 2008 Convention of te AIP with words of praise.

3. Sarah Palin had an affair with her husband's former business partner, Brad Hanson. As Palin was being nominated as McCain's VP, Hanson was asking the court to seal his divorce file.

4. Todd Palin acted as "co-governor" with Sarah in Alaska. He took an active part in the now infamous "Troopergate" firing of the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner.

5. Sarah Palin, contrary to having been vindicated by the investigation against her on Troopergate, was found to have abused her office.

6. Sarah Palin was baptized by a witch doctor and is therefore a practicing witch.

7. Palin was on her basketball team in high school and is rumored to have had relationships with lesbians.

These are only a few of the "truths" that I've read on the Internet and from such unimpeachable sources as the National Enquirer. Please feel free to circulate these facts on the Internet so that the "real" McCain and Palin can be uncovered.

THE VP DEBATE: FACTS VS. FANTASY

As a former debater in high school and college, I'm somewhat offended that the political events known as "Presidential or Vice-Presidential Debates" are even classified as debates. But, that's just a personal prejudice against the "debate" process that now exists.

Tonight, while watching the "debate" between Senator Biden and Governor Palin, there were moments which can be only classified as surreal. Now, it's common for politicians not to answer the exact question that is asked in almost any context. However, Mrs. Palin took a road seldom traveled down in a national "debate". She not only failed to answer the questions she was asked, she even stated in a gloating fashion that "I may not answer the questions the way you (Biden) or the moderator wants me to. I'm talkin' straight to the American people."

This might appeal to the "Joe Sixpacks" or some of the right wing fanatics as a form of dissing the press but I felt that I was listening to a woman who had a strict agenda from which she was not going to stray. That agenda was: I am going to give answers that can be used as sound bites which are in lockstep agreement with the McCain campaign.

Senator Biden, on the other hand, managed to answer most of the moderator's questions except when he had to respond to one of the many false characterizations (or lies) spoken by Mrs. Palin.

I have previously written in another blog about the propensity of McCain and Palin to lie about everything. That methodology was followed again by the Alaskan governor. She continued her lies that Senator Obama plans to raise taxes. But, more importantly, she kept insisting that the all-time "King of De-Regulation", Senator McCain, was now going to fight all those terrible Wall Street robber barons and predatory lenders. Of course, she failed to mention that those "mean" folks were able to do what they have done precisely because of what McCain has voted for time and again: de-regulation.

Thankfully, Senator Biden was present to inject actual facts into the debate. After Mrs. Palin had used the word "maverick" three or four hundred times to describe McCain, Biden responded with several important votes by the Arizona senator which hurt children, schools, our military and veterans. The so-called "maverick" of the senate has voted with the Bush administration over 90% of the time. Some maverick.

One of the most surreal moments of Palin's fanciful view of reality occurred when she was asked about the job of Vice-President. Once more showing her total ignorance of what the U.S. Constitution says, she stated that she wanted to increase the powers of the Vice-President due to the flexibility allowed in the Constitution. Once more, thankfully, Senator Biden pointed out that the Constitution is quite clear about the duties of the Vice-President. No where does that document give any flexibility to increase powers.

Why is this important? Why, indeed, is it quite frightening? Because, as Senator Biden pointed out, "the idea of expanding that office came from Cheney who he pointed out is probably the worst VP in U.S. history." The fact is, the expansion of both Presidential and Vice-Presidential powers is the dream of the neo-cons who don't really believe in the separation of powers.

Throughout the debate, Senator Biden exhibited a complete grasp of the factual situation not only in the U.S. but in the entire world. Mrs. Palin, on the other hand, winked and "shouted out to the third graders back home" and exhibited a total lack of understanding of what the world situation is. To the specifics mentioned by Biden to fix the ailing economy, Palin kept saying that Maverick McCain was going to shoot down all those fat cats (who he has protected for 26 years).

I think that it's safe to say that we won't be seeing Mrs. Palin on any more interview shows. I'm sure that the people who already liked her thought she did a great job tonight ignoring the questions and zapping the media and Senator Obama. What she failed to do at any time in this "debate" was give specifics about how the McCain/Palin administration would do anything different than the Bush administration.

As Senator Biden repeated in the debate, this is the most important election that we have ever voted in. Let's not waste our vote by electing a team that doesn't know the meaning of the word "change." Let's send Mrs. Palin back to Alaska to shoot moose and hire more of her cronies. The job of Vice-President of the United States needs to be filled by a person who knows actual facts, not just talking points.