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Big Picture — It’s Not Funny Anymore!

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

~~~ Abraham Lincoln

Yes, that is the same quote I used in the last article. It still applies. As I say in the title to today’s article, the political campaign here in the USA isn’t funny. It’s darn serious. There for awhile, the late-night talk-show hosts were having a lot of fun with some of the antics being used by both political parties. Lately, they’ve been making fun of the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. I don’t like it. The humor has gone out of it. It’s reached the point where we need to look at some of the recent antics and inject a bit of realism into the Big Picture.

First, let’s look into the way the Republican campaign has been riling people up by the way it uses Obama’s name, putting the emphasis on his middle name, Hussein, and invoking some sort of connection between his name and terrorism. This has even reached the point where people at the Republican rallies are concluding that Barack Obama is a terrorist himself. A woman recently, stated she wouldn’t vote for him because he was an Arab. This just isn’t funny.

Last February, conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham, no doubt wanting to play up the Obama-as-foreign-terrorist angle, repeated Barack Obama’s middle name three times prior to an interview with John McCain. When McCain was informed, he released a statement saying that it was inappropriate to invoke Obama’s middle name. “I absolutely repudiate such comments,” McCain said. “It will never happen again.” Of course it happened again, most recently when a Florida sheriff introduced Governor Palin at a rally. Palin’s campaign spokesperson, Tracey Schmitt, later called the sheriff’s use of Obama’s middle name an “inappropriate rhetoric.”

What bothers me, in addition to the fact of the dangers of riling up the potential for extreme reactions, is the fact that we still pander to the elements of racism. Why should the use of Obama’s full name even be a fear-inducer? When are we going to stand up and defend the use of Obama’s full name? When will we be able to show that the use of any name, regardless of race or origin, is free to be used without fear of abusive reaction? Can you see why I feel it’s not funny anymore?

Where did we get this idea that a person who has a name that is from Arabic origin cannot be a true American? It wasn’t that long ago that the anti-Semites sent the same message to Jews. Irish, Italian, Polish and other immigrants, as well as African-Americans, all have a history of being penalized for their names. If we truly believe that it is the content of a person’s character that should be judged, and not their skin color or ethnic origins, then we should stand up to such belief. We should welcome the use of his full name, Barack Hussein Obama. It’s not something we should be ashamed of. We should be proud to be supporting such an impressive member of the human race. We should be proud of the fact that Obama is such an outstanding American.

I live in an area of Ohio that still carries many of the old feelings about race. I was doing a “Visibility” event recently (where groups of people gather at busy intersections and hold signs supporting their candidate), and was amazed at how many people shouted terrible, racist words out of their car windows at us. I know racism still exists. I also know there are people still hoping there will never be a cure for this. However, those of us who don’t believe in it should never allow ourselves to be shamed into silence. It’s not funny anymore.
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On to another issue that is also not funny and is being blown all out of proportion by the main stream media and the politicians. This is about ACORN. The Republicans are stating that some of ACORN’s canvassers were turning in voter registration applications with fake names and information in order to meet their daily quotas. As a result, the media and the GOP are screaming “voter fraud”.

Did some lazy ACORN canvassers turn in a bunch of fake registrations with names like Mickey Mouse and the entire Dallas Cowboys starting lineup in order to pick up a few dollars without doing the work? It looks like that did happen. This prompted the political machine to turn up the volume on the phrase “voter fraud”.

Why are they doing this?

If Obama wins in November, they will be able to scream, “He won because of “voter fraud”. They are laying the groundwork now so they can cry foul after the election. It is true, that some of the ACORN canvassers may have been a few bricks short of a load. Did some of them turn in bogus voter registrations like the one for Mickey Mouse? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. Is that registration fraud? If it’s proven, it sure is. And the people who did it should be appropriately punished.

Is is voter fraud? No, it is not.

The only way this becomes voter fraud is if Mickey Mouse shows up at the polls on election day and tries to vote. My state of Ohio is one of those being accused of voter fraud. All I can say is if a bunch of Mickey Mice show up and are successful in casting a vote, then I’ll agree there has been voter fraud.

Anyone who registers a voter, including ACORN, has to turn all the registrations into the board of elections, even the ones that look bogus. They have to — it’s the law. ACORN starts the verification process by attempting to call the individual names on the application. If they’re not successful in this attempt at verification, they flag the form and send it on as required by law. In Ohio, the Board of Elections also has to verify the registrations are valid. They do this by sending out a verification form to the address shown on the registration application. If the card bounces back, the registration is not processed. Even if a fake registration somehow does make it through the verification process, the fake person still has to show up at the polls to vote and identify themselves. If the person doesn’t exist, how can they show up to vote?

I don’t see where the voter fraud exists if no vote is ever cast.

The big picture here is how the ACORN myth allows the Republicans to do more arbitrary purging of the voter rolls based on so-called “anomalies” in the voter registration databases. Richard L Hasen, author of the Election Law Blog and a distinguished law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles recently wrote, “Careless purging–driven by unsubstantiated fears about voter fraud–can lead to many eligible voters being incorrectly removed from the rolls.” Already, here in Ohio, the Republican Party is pushing for more purging and they found a federal judge who agreed, citing ACORN’s activities.

All this ballyhoo is about those newly registered voters and who they might vote for.

It isn’t funny anymore.

My advice to everyone is this. Be sure to vote. Be sure to check your registration before you vote by contacting your local voter registration office. If somehow your registration is being purged, you will know by checking first. Do it now, so you won’t be pressed for time just before election day. If you can, vote early to avoid long lines at the polls. And my last bit of advice — tell everyone you know to do the same.

And .. Thanks for hanging in here with me. I appreciate it.

There’s more to come next week. Come back and help us to continue this important conversation. Invite your friends. We need many more people to be listening and sharing.
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Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

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I meditate every day to help keep me sane in this crazy world we live in. Those glimpses we get of peace, love, acceptance and happiness when we’re meditating will soon grow into more than glimpses if we keep practicing. Keep those feelings alive. A meditation can be as simple as one, deep, conscious breath. When something happens in one of your moments to cause you to suffer, just stop and take one of those breaths and remember, “This too shall pass!” Another thing that is wonderful, especially at certain times of the year, is to have a fresh flower where you work. Just stop from time-to-time and look at it — don’t label it — don’t judge it — just be with it for a couple of moments. It really does work. I’m looking at mine as I write this.

“Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature”

~~~ Gerard de Nerva

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“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

I share these words for you in closing — remember these words …

“Be happy now, my dear friends. Today is all we have. Be good to one another. Take comfort in whatever spirituality you are so inclined (or not), and learn to be happy despite your circumstances. Follow your path; pursue your dreams. Work hard, love your family be generous and forgiving. Do it today, while you still have the flicker of life, for one day your own candle will dim.”

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ Ron
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