Watching America writhe through the throes of this political contest I’ve felt disillusioned and inspired; often whipsawing back and forth between the two in the same hour.
What’s disillusioned me?
Watching parents encourage their children to hate Barack Obama. (example at 2:54) When I first saw that footage a couple weeks ago, I broke down and sobbed. I cried those heavy, heaving sobs that make a guttural sound as they move up from your belly, past your chest and out through your throat. I was so forlorn and a little bit …

Big hat tip to Sandra Rose!
Enjoy. (Stay tuned for the surprise contestant toward the end…)

In the latest example of what she calls “gotcha journalism,” Sarah Palin just got pwned by a third grader whose biased temerity compelled him to ask, “What does the vice-president do?”

Mrs. Palin’s answer:

PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. SOURCE
Um nope. That’s not it. Wrong answer.
From …

If you’ve been watching cable news coverage of the presidential campaigns like I have, the black man who stood up at a recent John McCain rally and begged McCain to take the "gloves off" and to "take it to Obama" might have struck you recently. That man’s name is James T. Harris.

And as I saw Harris’ plea play out I was uncharacteristically speechless. I wasn’t speechless because this black man was supporting McCain, that choice left me unfazed. I was shocked by the resolve of Harris’ full-throated allegiance to McCain. …

What kind of person fans hatred as a get out the vote (GOTV) strategy? Whether you like Barack Obama and Joe Biden or not, I have to believe most Americans are appalled when the phrase "kill him" is shouted out at Palin’s rally and "terrorist" is shouted out at McCain’s when Barack Obama’s name is mentioned. McCain and Palin just smirked when this hatred was spewed and continued on with their speeches. I refuse to believe this is the kind of America most Americans want to live in or have …

Can you imagine the reaction if Barack Obama had said "I have to suspend my campaign because the economy is in a complete mess, although less than 10 days ago I did promise the American public that the "fundamentals" of our economy were strong. And I can’t debate right now and my Vice Presidential pick can’t debate right now either. Must. Focus." Just imagine the unanimous criticism if Obama made a move like this. Why do you think that would be?
And the Democratic party leadership has been critical:
For what it’s …

Sure, I know, I know the Dems do the same thing. But it’s still funny.

Senator John McCain accepted his party’s nomination with an unusually personal speech that chronicled his harrowing time as a POW and featured the word "change" more than ten times. Has McCain abandoned his ‘Straight Talk Express’ to grab onto the caboose of the ‘Change’ train?
I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.
We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when …

"Red Meat" is a term political insiders use to describe a speech intended primarily to fire up a party’s already committed supporters. Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, served up the "red meat" bloody and in big slabs during her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. She started off straightforward enough:
I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.
I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election… against confident opponents … at a crucial hour for our country.
And I accept the …

It’s been said that the way to make sure a meme is widely adopted is to repeat it over and over and over again. During the primary battle between Obama and Clinton, a nasty little internet email gained enough traction to spill over into mainstream discussion.
That email purportedly "proved" that Barack Obama is the anti-Christ. Now it’s hard to believe that in the 21st century, a stupid, fact lacking, anonymously spread internet rumor would impact a person’s opinion of a presidential candidate – but it has.
In fact the …

I want to go to the movies with Senator John McCain. Well only in my head really, but we do share strikingly similar tastes in television shows and movies. Now I know you can’t judge a book by its cover. But can you judge a candidate by his pop culture picks? Leave it to the cheeky folks at Entertainment Weekly.com to concoct a presidential survey that entertains and informs. Well, mostly it just entertains and that’s the point.
Some of my all time favorite programs and movies were listed as a …