The 11th Hour

I watch cable news.  Quite a bit of it, actually - some would argue to a degree of pointlessness.  

I talk about politics.  Quite often, to be sure - whether it's at work, at home, or over the phone, the subject comes up often.

So when I come to MetalReview with a sweaty PBR in one hand and a fistful of heavy metal in the other, the last thing I want to write about is this seemingly unending presidential contest that has captivated our collective conciousness.  The merits of Blaze Bayley's latest solo album?  Sure, I'll defend that.  The hypnotic awesomeness of Krallice's self-titled disc?  Consider it vouched for.  However, I tend to avoid the intense-as-all-fuckall Obama/McCain debate, because despite the fact that my mind has been made up for quite awhile, I still feel uneasy/nervous/jittery about pontificating about the damn thing.  Besides, it's doubtful that Obama would benefit from another Reverend's endorsement - this time that of a long-haired, tattooed asshole with a long history of inflamatory remarks and general douchebaggery.  But here it goes:  

I, Reverend Jordan Campbell, wholeheartedly endorse Barack Obama for President of the United States.

There are many reasons for this, and I will go into (moderate) detail as to why I support his candidacy.  But first, I need to be clear as to why I do not support Senator John McCain, beyond the fact that I cannot identify - at all - with a 72-year-old man that cannot give an honest answer when asked about the number of homes he owns.  This is not a smear-campaign.  I am not a wannabe pundit, I'm a voter.

The first area of concern, compounded with his age and history of melanoma (one of the deadliest forms of cancer), is his service and imprisonment during the Vietnam War.  There is no way a human being can endure that type of trauma without carrying long-lasting and deeply-carved scars, many of which adversely affect a person's temperament an decisionmaking abilities.  My mother's ex-husband was a Vietnam veteran that was employed by the VA as a psychologist.  Each day, he administered therapy to countless veterans - veterans that had their brains flame-broiled by the fires of hell and were forced to relive the trauma on a daily basis.  Despite his right-wing ideology, Texas-bred authoritarianism, and significant lack of social skills, he was a normal, functional human being that provided a great home and ample financial opportunity to my mother and half-sister.  While my personality didn't mesh with theirs (leading to my exit from the household at age 14), he had proven to be, at the very least, a well-respected individual by the estimation of both his family and his peers.  

A half-decade after my exit, however, his behavior started to change.  He began drinking bourbon with increased frequency - in seclusion from the rest of the family.  He started to carry a loaded handgun while letting the poodle out for it's nightly piss, in fear of what may lurk in the backyard.  Amidst other issues that shall go unmentioned, his behavior pipebombed their marriage into a mess of distrust, intimidation, violence, and emotional wreckage.  After a harrowing and protracted legal battle, my mother finally reached a divorce settlement, as the VA concluded that my stepfather had become 100% mentally ill.  This fall from grace - this freefall from the pedestal of a respected professor and psychologist into the throes of a psychotic meltdown - was striking in it's swiftness.

There's no reason believe that the same thing couldn't happen to someone like John McCain, especially as he reaches the twilight of his life.  If he had picked a logical running mate - a Tim Pawlenty, a Bobby Jindal, a Richard Lugar - the issue wouldn't be as scary.  But this...this...

...is fucking scary.  The fact that he would place someone with such an embarrassing lack of knowledge on basic issues (the Bush doctrine, the First Amendment, etc...) a heartbeat away from the Presidency, simply to energize the uneducated, gun-clutching, God-fearing, starry-eyed philistines that make up the majority of the Red State base, is outright shocking to me.  Especially since I have been following McCain's career since his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination.  At that time, when I clung to a more fiscally conservative worldview, I had hoped that McCain would secure that nomination and go on to lead our country.  But this is not the same man that I admired eight years ago.

No, that man had fully embodied the "Straight Talk" that he claims to espouse, but now wholeheartedly lacks. Back then, he played by his own rules, displayed a steadfast determination, and was a trustworthy anomaly among a sea of swine.  Ultimately, he was defeated.  A victim of his own design, he was beaten down and smeared by a hateful, win-at-all-cost campaign.  To the Senate he slunk, nary making a noise (beyond stirring shit up with Russ Feingold on campaign finance reform...way to make a difference, Johnny) while George W. Bush ran this country into nearly-insurmountable debt, crippling the value of our currency and diminishing our stature among other world leaders.  

When McCain re-emerged eight years later to defeat a Jesus-fellating crackpot (Mike Huckabee), a neoconservative warmonger (Rudy Guiliani), and a used-car salesman (Mitt Romney), I thought we were in for a riveting contest, one which I would be debating within myself for months.  However, this McCain is different.  I don't know if he's letting himself be molded by his handlers (effectively snuffing out his "maverick" tag), or he's just become a desperate old man that will do anything to complete the legacy he feels "entitled" to, but he's become alien to me.  Tt's as if a  freakish, horrifying creature from another galaxy has donned a rubber McCain mask, and is running around the country spewing baseless attacks at anyone that will listen, flashing an ultra-creepy pedo-smile everytime he says something remotely witty (or avoids walking into an inanimate object).  While struggling with my feelings towards McCain and how to verbalize them, Jon Stewart sent me a lightning rod of frankness in the midst of a recent interview with Bill Kristol, basically ripping the words from my throat at the 5:21 mark.

Bottom line:  McCain and I have trust issues.  

He'll do anything to win, besides come up with a reason why you should vote for him, instead of against Obama.  On the issues that I have deemed most important, his positions are, at best, ambiguous.  At worst, they simply don't exist.  Despite the American public's shift in focus to the ecomony as Issue Numero Uno, my main concern has always been the Iraq War, because only a fool would think that the two issues aren't joined at the arthritic hip.  As we spend billions of dollars each month on this war, our national debt rises to astronomical levels.  This effectively does three things:  First, it weakens our dollar, which tightens the vise on working-class Americans like myself that are geting their asses kicked at the gas pump and the grocery line.  Second, it weakens our standing as the world's only "true" superpower; if China is buying all of this debt (which they are), that means that a significant chunk of our country's net worth is in control of teh world's most rapidly-advancing nation - in my eyes, this is a much larger threat to our national security than a bunch of empty aluminum tubes.  Lastly, it adversely effects our own citizens, because we don't have the money to spend on our ourselves.  We unable to invest in transportation solutions, new job initiatives, and the education that is needed to bolster our workforce and generate revenue.  I don't give a FUCK about the Iraqi people.  I never have, and I never will.  There is absolutely no reason why we should be spending money on them while our own citizens are being fucked, and fucked hard.  John McCain has no plans for withdrawal, yet cannot define the term "victory in Iraq".  He has no plan for advancement.

Barack Obama has a plan. 

And he's consistently laid out his plans in stump speeches, interviews, and debates.  Not just on this particular issue (an issue which has been pushed to the wayside by people that refuse to peer their eyes over their paycheck stubs and look at the bigger picture), but on the most important issues we face as a nation.  In my eyes, these are our country's infrastructure and health care.  While there is absolutely no way we can afford a universal health care program at this juncture (again, due to the wasteful Iraq endeavor) Obama's health care plan is exponentially better than the laughable proposals that McCain has attempted to defend over the course of their 3 debates.  Granted, these things will cost money, and it will have to come out of our pockets.  The one thing that McCain has done well over the course of his campaign is force Obama to play the numbers game when it comes to taxes.

So the "Joe the Plumber" debate rages, as Obama has played into the trap, forced to defend his tax policies concerning those that make 250k per year (or 200k per year, depending on the day).  Thing is, I don't make anywhere near 200k per year, so, quite frankly, I don't give a fuck about what he's going to do to this tax bracket.  I'm sure if I was making 225k, I'd be freaking out right now, but it doesn't fucking mattter to me.  What does matter to me, is that McCain is spewing the tired "tax and spend liberal" mantra, and is claiming to never raise taxes, but still has no qualms about spending billions of dollars per month on Iraq.  Those that are getting upset over a possible 3% tax increase should be even more upset over the fact that this ever-acculumating war debt is in danger of crippling our economy and rendering our currency a lame-ass cousin of the peso.

Barack Obama has sensible, tangible ideas about the direction of this country.  Whether all those ideas will be winners?  Fuck, time will tell.  His...