Barack Obama says...

"Whoever is in charge of the Tennessee GOP needs to think long and hard about the kind of campaign that they want to run, and I think that's true for everybody, Democrat or Republican...but I also think these folks should lay off my wife. All right?"

Sure, we can do that. As soon as you drag her uptight ass off of the stage. No one can have it both ways. ANYONE in this country who gets a microphone and declares their political views is fair game for those who hold differing views. So now that I think of it no, I don't think we can let your wife off the hook dude, unless you shut her up.

Obama loves his "strong" wife, an asset that she claimed when she said:

"He's one of the few men I've met who is not intimidated by strong women," she said. "He relishes the fact that I'm not impressed by him."

Strong women do NOT need to be protected from those who disagree with them. They stand up and take it like the strong women they are and then they, as strong women, fire back with some of that strength. (And I just have to ask Michelle something...it's more rhetorical than anything else but I can't help but wonder why I should be impressed by a man who doesn't impress you?)

I don't know Cindy McCain's opinions at all. I don't know if she is proud of America or not. I've never heard the woman say a word. That's OK, there's no law against a person shutting up when their spouse is trying to convince the nation that they are the right person for the top job in the country. I'd love to see Barack exercise some strength himself...it'd be nice if the man who wants to lead the most powerful country in the history of planet Earth would defend that country with at least half of the fervor and ire that he showed when some smart asses in Tennessee decided to take Michelle's own words and use them against her. I still don't know whether or not Obama believes that America infected the black community with the AIDS virus. He refuses to tell us his views on that topic.

He has been "using" his wife for personal gain since the first time he met her family and wanted the "stability" that her family seemed to possess. But it would seem as though Michelle could lend him a bit of stability for the cameras but as far as Stability Ability, he seems to have very little. Obama quotes his wife as saying:

"I never thought I'd have to raise a family alone."

I bet he never told her that she would have to raise a family alone either.

Many people have questioned whether or not a candidates' life is up for discussion. It appears to me that lives are up for grabs if those lives belong to Rush Limbaugh, Bill Clinton or President Bush. People feel perfectly justified when they crank out the insults and innuendo, and when they do so, there's very little that can be said or done. Like Michelle...Limbaugh, Clinton and Bush all picked up microphones and told us their opinions.

It's interesting to watch people apply such different standards when judging those with whom they disagree. It's an phenomenon that I first noticed in the 90's. People defended President Clinton with such ferocity that one couldn't help but wonder how such blind faith in leaders could exist in modern day America. It wasn't that I was a "Clinton hater" at all. It was simply that Clinton was a politician and we all KNOW that politicians rank right up there with used car salesmen and Amway distributors when it comes to ethics. None of them get to the top without making a few questionable decisions.

There absolutely is a group of people in this country (I won't refer to them as "low class", I might want the vote of the lower classes one day.) who refuse to listen to politicians and each other without any degree of critical thinking. They cheer as loudly when their modern day gods say "God Bless America" as when they say, "God damn America!" They don't care, they just want someone in whom they can place blind faith and as Bruce Springsteen said in 1985, "Blind faith in your leaders can get you killed!"

I cheered when I heard him say that then and I'd cheer if I heard him say it today. And that's because it's TRUE!

Patriotism is one thing, you can be patriotic and still be a card carrying member of the KKK. Those are some patriotic sons of bitches. My idea of patriotism may differ from yours but that doesn't make me less patriotic than you. Patriotism isn't how nasty you can be toward those with whom you disagree. It isn't a label that requires the support of other people, it's something that only the patriot himself can comprehend at any given moment in time.

Some of the older people out there might remember a quote that went something like this:

I may not agree with what you say but I'll defend to the death your right to say it!"

You don't hear that phrase too much nowadays. Society has opened up over the past 50 years and is now much more tolerant of personal differences. Yet this same society seems to be utterly intolerant of those whose opinions differ from their own. That shouldn't be surprising because rights aren't like balloons floating on the wind, you can't reach up and grab one at no cost. You necessarily have to take rights away from one group of people to give them to another group. For example, when we gave blacks the "right" to live amongst white people, we took away that EXACT same right from the white people. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, just that it certainly is a true statement.

I know already that I will be called racist for what I just said so I thought that I would remind us all exactly what racism is. According to Dictionary.com's website:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism

racism is defined thusly:

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

When calling me racist, please point out exactly when and where I committed an act of racism because if I did, I would want to be chastised immediately. Racism is a very bad, not to mention stupid and shortsighted, concept and I want no part of it.

You can disagree with what I said...you can offer an intelligent counter argument..you can even call what I said stupid...that's only an opinion and you have your right to one as well as do I. But you can't call it racism.

Just remember that the reason that you can disagree with me and that I can post my beliefs for the world to see is that we were specifically given the RIGHT to do so when this country was founded. It was actually one of the biggies you know. Freedom of speech is up there with the freedoms of religion and expression. And remember one other thing, you can disagree with me because I took a chance and put my opinions out there. If I had stayed silent you couldn't possibly disagree with me because you wouldn't know what I was thinking.

Perhaps it would have been smarter for Obama if he had muzzled Michelle long ago. But since she told us what she believes, we can tell her when and if we disagree with her. I submit that Americans have the right to disagree publicly with public people and like it or not, the wife of a major presidential candidate is absolutely a public person.

And yes, Obama has the right to defend his wife as well. But were I she, I wouldn't send a man to fight my battles for me.

Isn't it cool that we can have this type of disagreement with waging real wars against each other? Countless people died defending our right to free speech and it would be an affront to each and every one of them if we didn't exercise that right when it suited us. It would also be an affront to those men and women who gave their lives should we rally against dissent. This nation was built by dissenters as a haven for dissenters everywhere. And I've ALWAYS been proud of that fact.