Words of Wisdom

I promise that after the election, my posts will return to dealing with mainly my child and pregnancy and other details of life in general, but until then, I can't help but keep throwing my political opinions and thoughts out there, thinking that maybe I will reach someone. So, here goes another toss...

I was so, so pleased to hear that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. I was fortunate enough to be near a TV yesterday morning when Mr. Powell made his endorsement on Meet the Press (R.I.P. Tim Russert) and I was struck by his words and sentiments. Believe it or not, there are a few Republican leaders whom I admire--Colin Powell has generally been one of them (except for that whole Iraq War thing), along with (gasp) John McCain, before this election turned him into Dr. Evil.

See, he has the air quotes down and everything. Totally.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have grown increasingly angry with this whole election. One of the things I admired about John McCain was that during his campaign in 2000 he managed NOT to go negative against George Bush, despite the lashing he was taking by W and Karl Rove and the rest of that pleasant gang. Although I didn't agree with his positions and was a Gore supporter all the way, at least I respected him and felt he was taking the high road. This election, I see John McCain resorting to the same type of fear-mongering and lies that were used against him in 2000, and any respect I had for him is gone. What's worse is that the lies and fear that he and his VP candidate are spreading about Barack Obama are ACTUALLY taking hold--people actually believe and buy into this crap. I see a level of hatred and fear in people that I haven't seen in any election that I can remember, and much of it is due to McCain's campaign unapologetically sowing the seeds of fear and suspicion.

The latest of these attacks on Obama suggests that because of Obama's comments about taxes and "spreading the wealth", he is a socialist. Hearing Sarah Palin call Barack Obama a socialist is enough to make me toss my cookies, but the fact that people actually believe this is even worse. However, I was heartened to hear the following quote from Colin Powell today on CNN :

"...Now I guess the message this week is, "We're going to call him a socialist, Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have."

Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who paid them, in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there is nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more, who should be paying less. And for us to say that that makes you a socialist, I think is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate.

I don't want my taxes raised. I don't want anybody else's taxes raised. But I also want to see our infrastructure fixed. I don't want to have a $12 trillion national debt, and I don't want to see an annual deficit that's over $500 billion heading toward a trillion. So, how do we deal with all of this?"

Words of wisdom that come during a time when it seems like sense and reason have been tossed out the window. Thanks, Mr. Powell, for speaking up for what is right instead of obediently towing the party line. It was a breath of fresh air.