My Letter to a McCain Supporter (Continued)

So I got a response to my letter. I won’t post the whole thing here as I’m not going to ask permission to do that, and it could embarrass the person. But here are the main points, responded to inline. Her text is blockquoted.

Dear Daniel-
Thanks for sending your opinion to me. I appreciate the time and effort it took on your part. I must say, however, that I remain unconvinced.

And thank you for responding as well. Before I respond to your points, however, I ask you to consider a possibility. Consider the possibility that you thinking with your heart and your emotion. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it can often obscure deception and truth in debates like this. I ask you to openly consider my responses to your points below.

I also ask you to remember that I’m a very logical person. We’ve agreed on countless issues. I also tend to be Republican/Libertarian. If I’m normally logical and don’t like welfare and don’t usually vote Democratic—why would I support Obama without good reason?

I consume mass amounts of information every single day. And it’s not from just one place. It’s from the entire spectrum of views. My conclusions are based on the actual policies of the candidates, and the research I’ve done to find the lies planted by media and campaigns. I’ll show you some of those lies below.

Please recognize my impartiality. Please hear me out.

I still say big government is not the answer to our nation’s inequalities. I don’t think taking money from those who struggle to improve themselves and do good for their families and putting into the hands and pockets of burocrat is not the answer. Do you want social action? Then go volunteer somewhere. Find an underprivileged child and make a difference in their life, and stop expecting other people to do it for you on someone else’s tab.

I have worked my butt off to improve myself and in the mean time, I have spend many hours of my free time volunteering to help others and raise money for those who need it, in addition to contributing to charitable organizations. I don’t need others to do it for me. America is a great country where people are offered the right and ability to improve themselves, they don’t need the government to do it for them.

People are offered options, yes, but they are not equal options. The majority of people who reject intellectualism, school, and the opportunity to go to college don’t do so fully understanding what they’re giving up. You can’t punish a poor kid for finding books and education unattractive when they have been programmed to think this way since they were children. And that’s what you’re doing by saying we decided to be successful and they decided to fail.

In short, we can’t punish children for choices they don’t make. And children who grow up stupid will be stupid adults. To claim that once they are adults they should be able to drop their programming and “shake it off” is an active denial of reality. It’s not that simple.

They didn’t decide to be a failure any more than children in Africa decide to be hungry. The problem is the system. And I agree that the answer is NOT to just throw money at it; all that does is perpetuate and exacerbate it. What’s needed is actual intervention; we have to get to their children before their culture does. But again, that’s another conversation.

Yes, Sarah Palin is pro-life, but she isn’t going to overturn Roe v. Wade and take away others rights to choose. If a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy, then that is her right.

$name, McCain is running on exactly the opposite. Here’s a quote from his website:

“John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.”

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm

That’s his official stance, right of his own webpage. And it’s understood by most that Palin agrees. She describes herself as, “as pro-life as any candidate can be.”

I’m not sure what your views on this are, but if you thought they (McCain and Palin) were going to leave women the right to choose, you’re seriously mistaken.

However, what Obama has advocated in late-term abortions on infants that would survive outside the womb. That is ridiculous. At that point, it isn’t a abortion anymore, it’s infanticide.

$name, where did you hear this? Do you not realize you’re being manipulated? You have to research, my friend, you have to verify this stuff that’s designed to inflame emotions and nothing else. Here’s Obama’s ACTUAL position on late-term abortion, as described by Obama 13 years ago. It hasn’t changed.

Strang: Based on emails we received, another issue of deep importance to our readers is a candidate’s stance on abortion. We largely know your platform, but there seems to be some real confusion about your position on third-trimester and partial-birth abortions. Can you clarify your stance for us?

Obama: I absolutely can, so please don’t believe the emails. I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.

Obama has changed his opinions back and forth so much that I don’t think it is possible to really understand what he is capable of.

He has had VERY FEW flip-flops, actually. And they have been relatively minor. I know because I’ve researched them all.

Are you aware of McCain’s flip-flops? They are legion, and they are severe. Obama has a few too (FISA, for one), but they’re tiny compared to these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEn4awr5UTA

And here’s a written list of his flip-flops, with references.

http://thinkprogress.org/mccain-flip-flops/

What I have heard him say, either I see as all fluff and distraction from actual planned policy or else something I don’t like. I can guarantee you that he is not pro-Israel.

Shimuel Rosner over at Haaretz.com disagrees with you. He writes:

“Today, he sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period.”

This is after Obama said this:

“My view is that the United States’ special relationship with Israel obligates us to be helpful to them in the search for credible partners with whom they can make peace, while also supporting Israel in defending itself against enemies sworn to its destruction.”

You can argue that after being a student of Jeremiah Wright all those years (who was clearly anti-Israel) that he couldn’t possibly believe this. That’s possible, but I don’t think it’s true. And even if it were, McCain’s pastor Hagee thinks Hitler was sent by God to bring the Jews back to Israel. He argues in the following video that the Holocaust was God’s work. It’s utterly insane.

http://www.vimeo.com/1264130

And yet McCain has said numerous times since then that he was glad to have Hagee’s support.

He has outright offered concessions with known terrorist nations.

Not concessions—the opportunity to openly communicate. You can absolutely disarm terrorists by being nice to them because they become powerful by making people hate their enemies. If the leader of America is cordial, friendly and respectful it’s a whole lot harder to hate America, and hence to find people who want to kill themselves to assist in its destruction.

Again, as I talked about in my previous email, leaders like Obama can be transparent. They can tell the world what they’re offering the terrorists, e.g. let’s talk about releasing sanctions in return for x, y, and z. Or let’s try this, or let’s try that. And when the terrorists deny these things he can then say to the entire world, “I TRIED. THEY CAN’T BE REASONED WITH.”

At that point we’ll have world backing to kick the crap out of them. And when America tears them up, everyone will know it was the right thing to do. That’s the moral authority we need right now, and it’s something McCain simply can’t provide because of his affiliations with Bush, his support of Bush’s foreign policy, and his overall approach to diplomacy.

So I ask you not to confuse transparent, easy diplomacy with weakness. He’s doing the Roosevelt thing: “Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far.” Roosevelt, by the way, is one of the most revered Republicans in history, so this isn’t some crazy liberal idea; it’s just sound foreign policy.

He has never sacrificed for his government and he has barely spent anytime serving it.

I think donating his time to his community in South Chicago instead of being a millionaire on Wall Street qualifies as sacrifice. And Ronald Reagan was a smooth-talking movie star, so again—character is more important than experience.

He is straight party line Democrat, so how can he possibly represent change?

I actually agree with you on that one, but McCain is far worse.

Sure, increase taxes on big business and watch the increased prices filter down to everyone. Sure increase minimum wage, and decrease the value of the dollar. Sure, make small businesses offer more benefits, and watch unemployment go up. That will be great, because now the government will have an entirely new group of people to support. Sure, tax people retirement, and watch people stop investing and the stock market falter. Sure, increase capital gains taxes, and watch people stop investing. This looks like Jimmy Carter all over again.

I’m not an economics expert, and I don’t know much about Carter’s policies, but I can tell you that Obama isn’t about giving out money to people without getting something in return. Take for example his “work for college plan”. It’s money for college, but only if you work for it. He describes it here:

“One of my central platforms in this campaign is we’re going to provide a $4,000 tuition credit every student, every year, but in exchange for giving something back. And so, young people of modest means, who are interested in going to college, this gives them an opportunity to serve and at the same time, pay for their college education.”

I sent you two links that cover in detail more reasons I will never vote for Obama. I hope you will at lease consider them.

I checked the content of the links. Honestly, it was typical pro-McCain garbage. There are so many good ways to attack Obama, and they didn’t even use any of them.

They said he supports infanticide. That’s emotion-based rhetoric designed to get people upset. I covered this above.

They mentioned his affiliations with Ayers and Dorhn. I think these are real affiliations, but I don’t think it means you have to subscribe to extreme beliefs just because you know someone and associate with them. See McCain/Hagee and Obama/Wright. You can love/respect someone and still think they’re crazy about certain stuff.

They said he was a Muslim apostate “according to devout muslims around the world”. Can’t you tell when you’re being fed garbage? This kind of stuff is designed to appeal to the masses with no education. How are they going to attack him for his 25-year CHRISTIAN relationship with his pastor and then call him a Muslim at the same time? Seriously…

As much as I dislike the fact, he is quite Christian.

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And as far as negativity goes, McCain makes Obama look like a Boy Scout. Did you know he started courting his current wife, in public, while he was still married? He left his wife because she got mangled in a car wreck and wasn’t pretty enough for him. Don’t take my word for it. Read about it.

And then there are the multiple people who have known McCain for years that say he should never be President. Here’s a quote from Philip Butler’s essay on the military.com website. Philip Butler is a friend of McCain’s who was a POW with him in Vietnam:

“I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button. It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush’s war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual.”

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html.dk

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Anyway, all I ask is that you consider the possibility that things are not so simple. Obama has major policy problems in my mind, and I’m sure you’d agree with that whether or not you were emotionally engaged. But McCain is not the saviour that you seem to think he is. He is, as a matter of fact, a career politician and a liar who will continue flip-flopping and perpetuating Bush policies that have failed us.

He’s also a hero, but that doesn’t make him capable of leading our country.

Again, I beg of you to look at the whole election with different eyes. Assume you’re being lied to, by almost everyone. Research everything. Check links. Check facts. The pro-McCain stuff that you’re being sent is propaganda aimed at the uneducated, and I’ve seen some bad stuff that was pro-Obama as well.

You’re above being manipulated like this. I only hope that whatever decision you end up making, you make it based on solid, factual information and not on something you heard somewhere. Don’t believe the hype pushed by anyone–even me. Go read about the stuff. Find the actual quotes. Find the real history of who flip-flopped on what issues. Don’t let someone else push their opinion on you.

And if you ever feel up to it, let’s get a coffee and chat. :) We agree on so much else, so I think we can come to an understanding on this as well—especially if you take my advice and research the things I’ve talked about here. If you do that I think a whole different view of the election will emerge. Not necessarily one good for Obama, but definitely not one good for McCain.

Alas, the world is a complex thing.

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So that’s what I wrote her like three days ago. My fiance talked to her today and I asked her what she said about my most recent letter. Her response shattered my belief in humanity. She said:

It was a very nice letter, but I’m still for McCain. He’s saying exactly the things I want to hear.

Fuck me. I give up.: