Thanks to Pam Spaulding over at Pam's House Blend, I learned that a school teacher was suspended without pay for using the N word in class:
"The 7th grade teacher, Greg Howard, asked his students what "change" stood for in relation to the Obama campaign and proceeded to write out the acronym "come help a n..... get elected."
Well, it sure ain't come help an old white fart get elected.
Why does this seem like such a republican inside joke? Questionable though the studies of why people vote republican may be, it does seem to me that the party is largely fear-based. And what's more to fear than a black man in the highest office in the land? After all, we did lynch a whole lot of black folk back in the day.
Sounds like guilt to me.
From Gawker, here is a piece I recommend, if only for the ha ha value. Apparently, several social and political scientists have done studies on why people vote the republican ticket. Answer? They're fraidy cats!
"Rice University Political Scientist John Alford published some research in thecreatively named journal Science about a possible biological basis to liberalism and conservatism. Basically, "46 mostly white Midwesterners who self-identified as having strong political beliefs" were shown "threatening images" ("a large spider on someone's face, a bloodied person and maggot-filled wound"). The conservatives were more scared of all of the images. Or as Newsweek puts it, "illegal immigrants may = spiders = gay marriages = maggot filled wounds = abortion rights = bloodied faces. Liberals were not sensitive to the scary images. Which means they're biologically inferior, because they'd die if a gay spider tried to abort their faces to death. Notable problems with this study: small sample, also wtf this doesn't explain anything."
Well mister, it explains that people make a whole lot of poor decisions based on irrational fear. It can't be explained because it's not rational.
The article cites a couple of other studies, probably equally suspect. But it's fun to think about.
Also on Gawker, Inside the Angry, Angry Brain of John McCain, you can find McCain's written response to a green Senator Obama's polite letter declining a discussion of campaign finance reform with McCain's peeps.
Apparently, from what I heard on one of the Sunday morning news shows, McCain has the rep in the senate of turning his opponents into enemies.
Dude, it's just not attractive. And how does this promote bipartisanship?
Oh, and here is Obama's Senate website where you can read the two letters, and a follow up letter from Obama to McCain wherein Obama concludes:
"I confess that I have no idea what has prompted your response. But let me assure you that I am not interested in typical partisan rhetoric or posturing. The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem."
John McCain, a legend in his own mind.