Editorial Submission at the CW

There is a distinct problem present in the United States. Exacerbated here at the University of Alabama, sentimental voter preference has become an epidemic. The Clinton supporters who have bought into McCain’s brilliant political move to bring a woman aboard, the Obama supporters who revel into his ample rhetoric, and the McCain supporters who adore him because of his military background, they are the voters who elected Dubya and they are the voters who are sending this nation down a very dark road.

Do any of them understand the consequences of voting based on aesthetic qualities and not on a candidate’s factual policy making history or ideology? I don’t think so. The past eight years and the lack of any substantive domination by the Democratic Ticket in this election are evidence of that.

Here’s a newsflash for you all: Sarah Palin isn’t a feminist, Barack Obama isn’t a revolutionary, and John McCain isn’t a brick-topped military man.

I’m a lifelong Democrat. I was raised in a lunatic evangelistic family, and surrounded by bigots and racists as a child. And I fled to the opposite pole of the ideological and political spectrum. But Barack Obama won’t have my vote, nor will John McCain. How can I, in good conscious vote for either of them. With Obama I see some wonderful ideas but no substantive plans, and an over-socialized agenda which I cannot endorse. With McCain I see the same ignorant, nationalistic, and “maverick” tendencies that Dubya had. More importantly I have seen him polarize his policy positions to fall in line with the GOP and select a VP that appeals to a voter base and not to running a nation and though, for personally beneficial purposes, I love his tax policies, I will not endorse him. And in Palin I see an exacerbation of some of my own idiotic family-members: Out-of-touch, ignorant, and small-minded. Before you say I’m just a nay-sayer, I love Joe Biden.

How many of you will be voting for Obama because he’s black? Too many I think. And before you go search the internet for a policy that you support, think about the consequences of what you don’t know. And how many support McCain because Palin is a woman? Were you Clinton supporters? Don’t fool yourself with some idiocy about Palin being a feminist, she’s not.

My girlfriend’s mother is voting for McCain because Palin is a hockey-mom and she loves hockey. This is completely beyond comprehension to me. Don’t you people understand what the consequences of uninformed voting are? Nazis! Millions dead, massive wars, financial crises, Fascism! Go inform yourself and don’t speak of politics until you know something more than a candidate’s party, gender, or race.

And if you really want to break that glass ceiling or bridge that racial divide then sit down, look at their policies, and choose who you like best; and if you can’t decide, then I think you are in the right to make the decision to break either barrier.

Tim Spires

Sophomore majoring in Management Information Systems, Finance, and French

We Interupt This Broadcast for a Service Announcement

I normally don't use this as a typical blog but more of a record of my activism. But, with the looming election, I simply cannot resist the temptation to berate the lunatics who have recently taken the political stage.

Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin recently suggested that a gas pipeline was "God's will" and the Iraq War a "task that is from God." A striking response to these blasphemous comments can be found at newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith by Martin Mart, professor emeritus, the University of Chicago.

My thoughts are simple. To say that an act of war is the will of God is blasphemous. No longer do we live in the time of the Old Testament. And it is time for those who call themselves Christians to fulfill the responsibilities of Christ and not the ignorant and hegemonic ways of the Old Testament. I believe that the Christian extremist in America, the Far Right (including the Supreme Bitch Sarah Palin), will as Samson pull the temple walls down over our heads. There are too many of them, with their guns and hate speech. Too many damned fools who don't think enough about their actions and words.

Though I held some sentiment for John McCain earlier in the election, I have lost it. He has proven that not only will he alter his policies for the approval of others, but that he will turn the White House over to a group of people more ludicrous than we can imagine even eight-years after the start of one of our most lunatic administrations. A quote from the above article and "Mr. Dooley:" "A fanatic...knows he's doing exactly what the Lord would do if the Lord were also in possession of the facts."

My Letter to the Editor of The Huntsville Times Endorsing Parker Griffith

I am writing to reinforce popular support for the Democratic candidate for the 5th Congressional Seat, Parker Griffith. Parker Griffith is not a candidate who represents the partisan politics of many members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. He wants to lower the cost of health care, and his first-hand experience as a oncologist gives him the knowledge to attain both low-cost and efficient health care for all of us. Parker Griffith will carry on the legacy of our esteemed Senator, Bud Cramer.

Parker Griffith believes the nation needs drastic changes in education. I dropped out of high school to skip my senior year and attend the University of Alabama through a obscure early admission option, because the Huntsville City School System was wasting precious years of my life. Idiotic bureaucracy and failure to meet their own goals, much less ideal ones, characterizes the Huntsville City School System. And Parker Griffith understands that: "We cannot continue to be competitive in a global economy if we continue to have a second rate education system."

This is a time for change! And Parker Griffith, though not a radical, represents a path toward viable changes and ideal solutions for our nation's, and our state's, problems. Parker Griffith, has gained the support of myself and many of my like-minded peers. I hope that many more will join his cause; and, though he may not be perfect, he is the best choice in the upcoming election compared to the same old brand of ignorance and oppression of the 21st Century Republican Party. Parker is an advocate of further reliance on imported fossil fuels. And he believes that the education of our children should be left to often incompetent state and local governments.

Parker Griffith is the best, and only, choice for the upcoming election.