I’ve been keeping quiet here about the upcoming election. This is largely due to the fact that I’ve been so focused on getting the book done and I’ve been spending a lot of time planning the curriculum for my Bear Cub Scout Den for this year. And, before two days ago when I moved this blog over to WordPress, it was a major project to post anything to this (I’ll go on an extended rant on why I am so disappointed in RapidWeaver another time).

Excuses out of the way, I am not going to say all that much in large part because plenty of others are saying quite enough and my main interest this fall is action at a more local level. I want to focus my writing on other subjects and not turn this into another political blog.

And so, I am only going to throw out a few links I’ve read today which really resonated with me and I think are important reads. I do not like at all what I am seeing. The McCain campaign is essentially lying and plenty of people are falling for it. It amazes me that they do given how blatant some of these lies are, but they are. These articles I read today do an excellent job of summarizing some of the key points. Do with them what you will, but I think they all deserve some consideration. I know that many Republicans stand behind McCain because of who he once was (and I think a lot of people don’t realize just how much he has changed from that man over the last four or so years) and I understand that. The man he was (prior to his sudden turn-around endorsement of Bush in 2004) was someone I could grudgingly get behind. I felt he was a Republican I could respect. But that changed and his latest actions over the last ten or so days have left me feeling a lot of trepidation. So, here are the articles:

• Conservative Blogger Andrew Sullivan sums it up best in “McCain’s Integrity“
• Author Christopher Moore blogs on “Experience and Imagination“

It is easy to get swept up in poltical rhetoric at this time of year and it is also easy to get personal and mean with people who don’t agree with us. If you look at this election purely on the issues, there is a simple dividing line and I would never judge someone who is voting based on what they believe is the right way to run this country, even if I don’t agree with it. There are basic differences of opinion and part of being in a Democracy is accepting that. We can argue about it, but at the end of the day, we all believe what we believe for good or ill. What I do not like is the fact that McCain’s campaign is trying to distract us from the issues and make this about personal attacks, pointless (and intentional) misunderstandings (“lipstick on a pig” was about the McCain economic plan, not his running mate), and outright lies (the sex education commercial). I believe both candidates should say what they believe and what they will do and let the voters decide which person has the better plan. What McCain is doing is dishonest and dishonorable.

Some closing links of articles I read earlier in the week and liked:

• John Scalzi reprimands Democrats for being so defeatist in “A Previous Message Repeated, Slightly More Forcefully“
• DailyKos diarist, Plutonium Page, writes about his experience at the DNC in “‘This is a Fight for the Future’“