Electronic Writer

John McCain Capaign: Riding the Fox News Fear and Lies Wave in just the beginning of the campaign.

It has not even been a week since I noticed the Pay-per-click Advertisements of John McCain on the Internet, and somehow, the pool of John McCain Campaign advertisements has been filled with racism and lies. In the advertisement, you see the leader of Iran facing Barack Obama. Below it, it says, “Is it OK to Unconditionally Meet with Anti-American Foreign Leaders?” It then displays a simple Yes/No below it, and Paid for by John McCain 2008 at the bottom.

This is a clear example of how the John McCain Campaign is pandering fear and spreading lies in the same fashion as the Fox News Network–using the rumor that Barack Obama is connected to the Muslim world.

To visually tie Senator Obama with the leader of Iran is disingenuous, and smells of Karl Rove and some of the techniques that he has used to win elections in the past. Visually, their faces are the same size and their skin colors are more similar than different.

The question is also garbage–with the text containing words that would return on a search for the words, “Barack Obama anti-american.” Wait! Did we touch on another lie about Barack Obama? We DID! Inconceivable!

Pandering fear and lies is a terrible way to run for president.  Here is a 3-step process for running for President of the United States:

1. Fire Karl Rove (or stop listening to him), and fight a good fight. How about some debates? What about knocking on doors? All of those values that you talked about in the 2000 primaries are rapidly diminishing because you have taken to pandering fear to the American public, spreading lies in order to win.
2. Look at your policies. Does your own platform actually represent your values? Your Republican constituents have elected you because of your policies. How about listening to them? How about representing their interests–rather than the companies with the cash.
3. You have lost your “maverick” status because you no longer say or do what you believe to be true. You have become a mouthpiece to the private corporations–and, followed suit with your predecessor.

Big Oil Fuels John McCain is the title of an interesting video produced by TheRealMcCain.com. It describes McCain’s connection to oil lobbyists, and describes his financial connection to Big Oil.

Vote Republican? I don’t think so. Take a look at this video, and see if it hits you a little too close to home.

Have we really come to this?

With the beginnings of World Cup Soccer happening around the globe, I thought I would post this Nike Commercial as a bit of relief.

Who knew that Good versus Bad could happen on a soccer field? Enjoy!

In an extremely high-profile example of racism, Fox News flashed a racist saying across the screen as the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly spoke with columnist Michelle Malkin.

The text, in full, read: Outraged Liberals: Stop picking on Obama’s baby mama!

According to the NY Times article, “Fox Forced to Address Michelle Obama Headline” by Jim Rutenberg, “The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as one “chiefly in African-American usage” that refers to, “The mother of a man’s child, who is not his wife nor (in most cases) his current or exclusive partner.””

Putting the Oxford English Dictionary definition together with the actual statement, I would surmise there is a bit of slander going on, as well. Not only is this a racial slur, it also denigrates the Obama marriage.

Bill Shine, a Fox News senior vice president, has issued an apology today, but does this cross the line? This is the third formal apology from the Fox News network for Attacking Barack Obama in the last few weeks, and this racist attack was levied by some nameless, “producer” who apparently was not fired or reprimanded.

According to the NY Times, “A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment,” Bill Shine, a Fox News senior vice president, said in a statement.

Does Bill Shine’s statement infer that there are APPROPRIATE places for this chyron?

Frankly, the apology from Shine makes this example of racism sound as if some rogue employee took it upon themselves to type the letters across the screen. I surmise that the construction of this message takes a bit more approval and proofreading. How many more Fox Employees were either an explicit part of this incident, or played an implicit role by allowing the message to be displayed?

According to the Wikipedia entry on the News Ticker, Fox News adopted it (along with two other major news networks) on September 11th, 2001. Fox News decided to continue to use the ticker and have retained it as part of their news broadcast ever since. While some may simply use the tool as a way to broadcast information, Fox News Network might stretch the uses a bit.

I am personally angered by this message. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and columnist Michelle Malkin should be enraged that racist messages are being displayed by Fox News Network alongside their names. Regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, it raises plenty of questions.

At the time of publishing this post, there is an entry in the Wikipedia for Lower Third (technical television name for the portion of the screen displaying this information). Specifically, in the Notable Mistakes section, the Fox News Network’s message is already noted.

Tired of exorbinant gas prices, but still need to drive your car?

If you are dependent upon a vehicle and the gas prices are over budget, think about making Ethanol in your own home. That’s right!  You can make Ethanol in your very own home using simple ingredients, like water, household sugar, and left-over alcohol.

While this may sound a bit like an infomercial, it is actually true.  There is a FANTASTIC feature video on the it at the AutoChannel.com with the inventor of the EFuel 100 – Microfueler.

The EFuel 100 is a machine that creates 100% ethanol, which you can pour directly into your gas tanks and supplement or replace Gasoline or Diesel altogether. (Some cars may require a slight modification.)

The interview also discusses how Henry Ford created the Model A car to run on Ethanol–simply to avoid a dependence upon Oil.

Watch the Video:  http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/05/29/088371.html

There is a really moving piece at OhMyNews Citizen Journalism site today about the current state of the world.  It ties the impending global recession with the actions of the world–especially the conflicts in the Middle East.

The author, Pablo Ouziel, connects the dots about the world events–how the trucker strike in Spain is related to the multi-million dollar salaries of oil executives and the war in Iraq, and how they are both related to your neighbor who commutes to work having a difficult time feeding his/her family

The Beginning Global Order: When Will We Understand that our Politicians are Lying to Us

E.D. Hill, anchor at the Fox News Network has apologized for the allegations she made that Barack Obama and his wife were displaying a secret terrorist fist jab at a rally.

See for yourself:

How many days since Barack Obama was nominated? In this news clip from Fox News Network, the anchor E.D. Hill off-handedly links Senator Barack Obama to terrorism–and gets slayed for it on MSNBC.

So, I was scrolling down Electronic Writer, and what to my wonderous eyes did appear? A full motion banner advertisement for John McCain, and I thought, “Oh what a year!”

That’s right, John McCain is running advertisements on this very blog. It certainly has created a great opportunity for me to expound a bit on the man, and ask a few questions.

Let me begin–I don’t know if he will make a good President, or not. Personally, I like his “maverick” style, or just the fact that everyone thinks he is of the rebellious type.

I certainly respect him for his service to our country, and REALLY respect him for his time as a POW.

There is this certain moment at the 2004 Republican National Convention where he awkwardly hugs George Bush. The hatred for Bush (nearly his arch-enemy for the games and political fraud from the 2000 election) is pretty evident. And, yet, George is giggling away like he is collecting on some bet while John McCain is hugging the man. I would have LOVED to be the fly on the wall when whomever (probably Karl Rove) gave McCain his lecture telling him that if he EVER wanted a shot at the Presidency, he would have to swallow his pride and hug George Bush on-stage and on television . . . . I lost a little respect for the guy there.

His policies COULD appeal to me. He is a pretty liberal conservative (or moderate):

• Here is a SLATE.com article from 2002 saying that McCain should run as a Democrat:
  http://www.slate.com/id/2064727/
• Another 2002 article in the Washington Monthly:
  http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0205.green.htm
• A January 2008 blog post from Political Friends on the same subject:
  http://politicalfriends.blogspot.com/2008/01/john-mccain-democrat.html
• And, an Op-ed piece in the Sacramento Bee on the same subject:
  http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/646189.html
• Tom Delay HATES the guy (this is really a bonus for me). In fact, Delay says that John McCain has hurt the Republican Party more than any other politician.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf7e7R3gSos

There is, however, a glaring problem. John McCain supports the war. Actually, he supports 100 years of war!