A bit of my Uncle Kenny...but this is it I promise

Okay, in our family Uncle Kenny or now Uncle Kennedy according to Camryn, has been the lone liberal. They guy who actually voted for Nader! That was after we all thought that Florida went to Gore..but I digress. Somewhere along the lines my mother failed (succeeded in my opinion) to create Reaganites. Amazingly it was her own doing, she wanted us to think for ourselves and ask intelligent questions. As a result at least 2 out of the 3 of us girls voted for Obama...possibly all 3 did.

Caveat: This is not intended to be a political blog where I complain about one party or the other. In fact, I will not even do that in this post which seems to be heading that way. I just wanted to let you know where I stand. So here is my issue and I hope I am not the only person in the entire United States that is appalled.

Lately I have been watching a lot of TV. I have watched most of the debates and feel somewhat up on the issues. For someone who never voted without a Bush or Clinton on the presidential ticket this is a big election. Heck, for most of my life...minus about 4 years, a Bush or Clinton has been in the White House. Leaf and I discuss what is going on and follow the news coverage pretty regularly. I watch all the channels not just the liberal or the conservative ones. Lately though I have gotten uneasy about what is being covered and said by the news casters and some candidates. There have been some lines crossed lately that are dirty and expose the underbelly of America.

We all claim (or at least in public) to be open minded, accepting, and appreciative of people unlike ourselves. Like the affects of to much alcohol...when politicians are threatened the truth comes out. Within 24 hours of telling America she was honored to be running with Barack Obama the next day Ms. Clinton was screaming "shame on you Barack Obama." Why? The polls showed she was down. Then mysteriously pictures of Obama show up on the news wire of him in traditional Muslim clothing...mmm. Whoever sent those was trying to prey on our prejudices. How many politicians travel to the middle east and wear traditional clothing. Bill Clinton wore a kippah in Israel, Madeline Albright covered herself in Saudi Arabia, and the list goes on. Did Bill become a member of the Tribe? NO. So what is going on?

I will commend Obama and McCain for showing some dignity in the last few days. Obama accepted that when Clinton said she did not know who released the pictures that she was telling the truth. Obama could have gotten dirty about it and accused Clinton's "people" of doing it. A lesson in civility Clinton should pay attention to. Clinton, of late, has resorted to accusing Obama of taking pages from "Carl Rove's playbook." Who is playing dirty here and why?

As for McCain...I detest his political beliefs but he is a pretty stand up guy. When he heard that a man introducing him was attempting to play on peoples prejudices by constantly saying Barack Hussein Obama...he apologized. For a politician, a conservative, pro-war politician this was big. The worst part is today McCain is taking hits from his fellow conservatives for apologizing...they see nothing wrong with what was said.

This incident, for me is exactly why I am so upset. For a long time, people in this country have fought for equity. Racism was supposed to be a thing of the past by now. I am just as guilty as the next guy for laughing at an off color joke or complaining about Asian drivers (if you ever drove with Alex...British should be added to the list too) but I cannot remember a time when this ugliness has been so in your face as now. Who are we as a nation if we are going to let some scumbag prey on the fact that Americans associate the name Hussein with terror? Just because Barack Obama has relatives that are Muslim does not make him a bad man....or Muslim himself. What is really being said by the scumbags who make the claims that Obama is part of a secret plan to take over America and convert us or who remind of us of his Muslim roots is that all Muslims are terrorist.

Americans are ignorant about world politics and religion. Most of the worlds Muslims are peaceful, god loving (same god as yours and mine), and well educated. There are extremist in every religion known to man. John the baptist was a pretty radical guy for his time. Martin Luther had a death wish...today most Americans look at them kindly but what did their contemporaries think? Looking back at religious history, no religion is unblemished. The Crusades decimated entire populations, the Moors too...all in the name of religion. Time causes us to forget the atrocities of our past.

So before we let our emotions be played we need to step back and look at what is being said and why. Really what we need to focus on is the economy, health care, education, and who is the best person to help us reach our goals. Obviously, we will never erase hatred and racism...it is as American as apple pie but I do not want to see a world where people are persecuted for their religion or ethnicity any longer. It has gone on to long. There is not much any of us civilized beings can do but pray that people will change, hope that it miraculously stops, and try to make sure that in our small little part of the world there is not place for all this ugliness.