Bellicose Bumpkin

This senate race to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat has been a surprise. Everyone expected the Democrat – Martha Coakley – to walk away with it. Martha seemingly thought so as well and ran a terrible “campaign” – sleep walking through the process until she woke up in a panic a couple of weeks ago when Scott Brown started getting some significant momentum. After waking up, Coakley ran some pretty negative, yet accurate ads that turned a lot of people off. So here we are with a close race.

I have to admit that I’m very surprised at the amount of support Brown has in progressive Massachusetts. Personally, I think much of it is a reaction to FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt – being whipped by those “fair an balanced” pantheons of journalism over at Fox News, nutboy Rush Limbaugh, and the current king of crazy talk Pat Robertson. I take that back. Robertson and Limbaugh are the co-kings of crazy talk.

If you’re afraid, look at the issues and pick your candidate. Generally, if you are a far-right conservative vote for Brown. If you are a progressive Democrat, a centrist, or a far left liberal, vote for Coakley. It’s just that simple. Here are a few articles that compare the two on issues:

Go make your own choice and know that a vote for Brown is a vote for a highly conservative candidate.
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For me, there is no contest. Coakley is getting my vote. I find her positions to be far more in line with my own progressive values. Brown’s positions on the issues I care about are way too conservative and look like a mildly rehashed rerun of the far right conservatives of the Bush era. Like a neo-con in sheep’s clothing. Or rather a neo-con with come-hither eyes beckoning from the glossy pages of a magazine.
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When it comes to the environment, rights for *ALL*, and the Democratic tradition of giving a voice to the voiceless, Coakley is easily the candidate for me. Brown seems to be a bit of an empty shirt with positions that seem timid and status quo rather than the “bold new leadership” he keeps touting.
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As I said, be aware that a vote for Brown is a vote for a highly conservative Republican that will probably oppose every Obama initiative just for the sake of opposing it – in the same way the Gingrich congress tried to torpedo every Clinton initiative. Change can be scary but I think much of the fear is simply Fox FUD.
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So if you’re a Coakley supporter – get out and vote. If you’re going for Brown, you can safely stay home since he seems to have sufficient momentum to pull this off. Really. Stay home. And make sure you are voting for Scott Brown and his positions rather than trying to scratch some itch of disillusionment. Vote on the issues – not on the FUD.

Jessie Jackson, appearing on Fox News, was caught making a disparaging comment about my buddy Barack Obama. Forgetting what he said – which was bad, I question Fox releasing this video at all. The comment was clearly part of an off-air private conversation with another guest.

This is yet another reason that I will not be appearing on Fox – with the first reason being that I will probably never be asked to.

Good ‘ol Bill O’Reilly seems so magnanimus and fair minded in his report. Let’s see how he behaves when he thinks he’s off the record:

WARNING: The following clip is laced with profanity

WARNING: The following clip is a spoof on the last clip and is laced with even more profanity