<rant>

I have voted Republican my entire life. I will admit, much to my shame, that I even voted for Bush twice.

Today I say, Hell will freeze over before I will vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Up until this morning, although I definitely have never stopped leaning Obama, I had been stirred somewhat by the Palin nomination since I have a child with Down Syndrome. That was until this morning. HERE is a new ad by John McCain. It says:

Script For “Education” (TV :30)
ANNCR: Education Week says Obama “hasn’t made a significant mark on education”.
That he’s “elusive” on accountability.
A “staunch defender of the existing public school monopoly”.
Obama’s one accomplishment?
Legislation to teach “comprehensive sex education” to kindergartners.
Learning about sex before learning to read?
Barack Obama.
Wrong on education. Wrong for your family.

Just so you get the facts straight, Obama supported, but did not sponsor, a comprehensive and scientifically accurate K-12 sex education legislation in Illinois that among other things would have taught kindergarteners about inappropriate touching, with a sole purpose of protecting young children from molesters. Parents would have been able to opt out of that instruction if they so wished. Now, I say “would have” because the legislation, in fact, did not even pass out of committee. And this ad calls it his “one accomplishment”.

My brother Steve, has repeatedly made the point on this blog that politicians lie. I agree its their native language. Especially John McCain, master of the flip-flop.But this ad, approved by the man himself, is insidious. It’s the kind of thing that he promised he would never do.

When, quite by accident, I saw Obama speak at the Democratic convention in 2004, he said

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America — there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?

That day I embraced a politics of hope. I actually envisioned a leadership and a politics that believed in justice. One that could actually cause us to rise above the lying and smearing and the hate-filled anything goes as long as we win approach to campaigns. This spring, I actually had hope that John McCain really was a maverick in how he would run his campaign, especially since he was a victim of these kinds of lies and smears of the cynical Bush / Rove campaign in the 2000 primary. But as this campaign has progressed, I have come to realize that McCain and the Republicans really will do anything to win. They will tell bald-faced lies to the nation and do it while smiling and then DARE the press to call them on it. Sarah Palin the anti-earmark reformer? Sarah Palin was opposed to the bridge to nowhere. WTH? Those are just lies. Not the garden variety kind of lies. Lies on Steroids. And during this campaign, whenever the press has asked McCain hard questions, like about his 7 houses, or did he properly vet Sarah Palin, his answer, or that of his evil minions, is to tell us, to remind us, that he once was a POW. John McCain, we got your message loud and clear. Now tell me something that actually matters. Just answer the darn question will you.

Yesterday the Secretary of State of Mississippi released the copy of the ballots for the general election. They put an important Senate election where the democrat is presenting a significant challenge for Trent Lott’s old seat AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BALLOT!!! In direct violation of a very clear MS law. I’ve come to the conclusion that, in fact, Republicans will do anything to win, and that means fundamentally that they don’t care about our Republic, that they will crap on the constitution as long as its principals get in the way of winning. I refuse to vote for the party that would rather win political points even if it gets them Chester the Molester’s vote. I’m voting for the ticket that hasn’t completely abandoned honor, truth and the constitution. If it turns out that the people aren’t with me on this, then Costa Rica isn’t looking too bad right now.

</rant>