BillyHallowell's blog

While no presidential campaign is innocent when it comes to trading jabs, the recent Obama ad (watch it above) that targeted John McCain’s inability to use a computer set a new low for standards and political sportsmanship.  In the ad, the Obama campaign painted McCain as “out of touch” and unable to operate computer technology.

In formulating the ad, the Obama campaign thought it would be clever to tie together outdated imagery (a picture of McCain from the 1980s with large glasses and an out-of-style suite, a disco ball and other such images) with accompanying words about the economy, tax cuts and other Republican positions on important economic issues.  In the end, the overarching goal was to tie McCain to Bush, thus showing that McCain’s policies and world view do not jive with contemporary realities.  But, the method of reaching this conclusion and the words used to do so are unsetting and unbelievably insensitive:

“1982, John McCain goes to Washington. “Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn’t.

“He admits he still doesn’t know how to use a computer, can’t send an e-mail, still doesn’t understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class…”

Why would a legitimate presidential candidate authorize an advertisement that makes fun of one’s literal disability?  McCain’s physical inability to use a computer has been published in the past.  The Obama campaign must have assumed that the American people would be too inept to know that McCain’s past war injuries prevent him from regularly using computers.  Or, the campaign was simply so desperate to regain a lead in the polls that it sunk to such subhuman levels.

John McCain cannot lift his arms high enough to comb his own hair, let alone sit at a computer desk and endure the unbelievable pains it would take for him to string together a few typed sentences.  Thus, making fun of this makes Obama a political playground bully — a title both candidates pledged they wouldn’t hold during this presidential campaign.  Sure, both campaigns have told half-truths and distortions in their political advertisements, but this targeting of a well-known disability is disheartening and wrong-headed on all counts.

And while I am no fan of Joe Biden, his statements on the matter are quite intriguing.  Even Biden believes that the computer ad went way too far.  When asked about the matter in an interview with Katie Couric he said the following:

“I thought that was terrible, by the way.  I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we’d have never done it.”

At least there’s someone in the Obama camp who has the integrity to speak the truth.  Forget worrying about the “teaching sex ed to kindergartners” issue; Obama seems to have a “let’s make fun of those who are disabled or less fortunate” mantra brewing.  Anything to win the presidency, I suppose.

In May, 19 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq. This marks the lowest monthly death toll of U.S. troops since the war began in 2003. While this by no means erases the meaning of the individuals' lives lost, it does show that there have been improvements in the war-torn country. So, with death rates declining and with progress more than immanent, why have the U.S. media been so reluctant to cover Iraq? The Washington Post's editorial board weighs in:

"THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war."

This lag in news coverage is intriguing, considering the overall progress that has been made. It's ironic that the only time the media are harping on Iraq is when death and destruction have taken center stage. Why is it that when progress is made, the media decide to turn away? What in this world could possibly be more newsworthy than the war that liberals have continuously berated actually taking a turn for the better?

Now, don't get me wrong. The war was mismanaged, which surely called for anger and responsiveness on behalf of the American people. But at a time when positive advances are being made, everyone should be standing behind the mission and recognizing the importance of completing it. Unfortunately, this isn't the case.

We've reached an odd crossroads in America. Today, the defeatists seem to have an upper hand, as their negativity has guided the nation into a mentality that continues to trick citizens into believing that this war is lost.  Unfortunately for the defeatists, recent developments show that the U.S. is actually winning in Iraq.

So, while the media fail to properly report the positives, we're forced to listen to Barack Obama and his enthusiasts devilishly try to appeal to a war-weary nation as they call for complete abandonment of a war that might actually be successful. What will Obama say once he realizes that the U.S. might actually win the mission? And wouldn't it help if the media would do their job and actually report on the positive strides that have been made?

I'm not the first person to complain about this. Conservative angst has existed since the beginning of the surge, as commentators have relentlessly made the case that the media have ignored the positive results that emerged from the troop surge.

"Iraq passed a turning point last fall when the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign launched in early 2007 produced a dramatic drop in violence and quelled the incipient sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites." - The Washington Post

Perhaps Hot Air says it best:

"The defeatists have been exposed. They cannot run, but they can keep spinning. Even their colleagues in the media have begun to notice the good news, however, and the facade of defeat has begun its inevitable collapse."

Let's hope that the defeatists don't win.  Their ideology is counterproductive and could lead the U.S. to prematurely pull out of a volatile region before getting the job done.  We don't need leaders making false promises; what we need is to complete our pledge to the Iraqi people, while remaining realistic about the challenges ahead.  While the mission may not be easy, abandoning Iraq should be America's last resort.