Obama knows names won't hurt
Barack Obama's mother must have taught him the same lesson a lot of us learned as children. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you. Unfortunately, the names he is being called may hurt the nation.
If we are denied the honor and privilege of electing an intelligent, reasoned, thoughtful President, after the horror of the past eight years, because there are Americans stupid enough to believe, once again, the lies of the Republican Party's attack machine, this great country may never recover.
Barack Obama should be praised for the calm, even tempered, undramatic demeanor that he and his campaign have displayed in the past couple of weeks, as the GOP attack dogs, led by Sarah Palin, have whipped crowds into frenzied mobs screaming, "terrorist, traitor, kill him." One woman at a Palin rally said she thought Obama was a terrorist because "just look at his name."
Barack Hussein Obama, like all of us, did not choose his parents or his name. Let's get real, folks. The Obama campaign has been ready for everything the GOP has thrown at him. When they tried the "guilt by association with William Ayers" ploy, Obama came back with an ad about McCain's association with the Keating 5. Another cliche, but still true; people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Nobody's perfect.
John McCain is not necessarily to blame for, or even comfortable with, this nasty turn of events. He has been led, by the nose, by the Republican Party from their choice of his running mate to their attack ads. Hey, those tactics worked against McCain in 2000, they worked against Kerry in 2004. Maybe, they'll work again in 2008. The problem is a lot of Republicans don't have their hearts or stomachs in this fight, most Americans are worse off than they were eight years ago, and our democracy is a two party system. It is time for a change.
Barack Obama, unlike John McCain, is a leader, not a follower. Obama has led with a solid economic plan, with a comprehensive health plan and with a plan to get away from our dependency on foreign oil. McCain has no coherent plans, and promises more of the same. We need leadership at this critical time in our country's history, and sometimes we need to take a leap of faith. If you, once again, vote out of fear, shame on you!
Diane Niesman
Wheaton