You know, I learn stuff all the time that I would have never known before- thanks to the Internet.

This diary entry on the DailyKos site is a terrific example. It’ll take about 5 or 8 minutes to read through, but if you’re like me you’ll come away knowing about 100 times more about Georgia, Russia, and the relationships in that part of the world (along with the US and western Europe) than you knew before.

Go on, give it a shot. Take ten minutes out of your day and read it. It’s a lot better than anything *I* could write about the situation.

If you needed any more clearly defined for you the difference between Republicans and Democrats, here’s a perfect example.

Here’s a listing, from the ACLU, of various events where President Bush or Vice President Cheney were going to have a town hall meeting, or give a speech, and people were arrested. If someone manages to sneak their way into such a speech or meeting, and jumps up to make a stink, they’ll almost always be ejected from the venue pretty quickly.

And they’re doing the same thing at McCain appearances.

But Barack Obama? A few angry dudes showed up at one of his speeches, unfurled a big sign protesting what they see as him ignoring issues affecting black people, and started yelling and interrupted his speech.

Barack Obama’s town hall meeting Friday on the economy was interrupted by protesters. Three African-American men stood up holding a banner that read: “Barack Obama, what are you going to do for the black community?”

The crowd tried to drown them out with chants of “Yes we can!” But the three protesters just stood there.

“It’s okay, you can ask a question later,” Obama said to the men.

“Yeah, that’s right,” they said. And Obama went back to delivering his speech on the economy.

Obama handled it calmly and told the audience (which was trying to drown out the protesters with a cheer of “Yes We Can”) to hush and that the protesters would get their turn. How awesome is that?

The protesters were cool with that and sure enough, when Obama took questions, their lead dude asked him the question that they wanted an answer.

And here’s how it went down:

UPDATE: The main protester got to ask the first question. He cited the way blacks were treated in post-Katrina New Orleans and other current events. “In the face of the numerous attacks that are made by the black community by the same U.S. government, the same government you want to be…Why is it you haven’t not one time spoken in the interests or even on behalf of the oppressed and exploited African community, the black community?”

The man was booed but Obama tried to silence the crowd. “This is democracy at work. He asked a legitimate question.”

“I think you’re misinformed when you say not one time. Every issue you’ve asked about, I have spoken about,” Obama said. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to always satisfy the way you want these issues framed. It gives you the option of voting for someone else. It gives you the option of running for office yourself. But the one thing that I think is important is that we are respectful towards each other and what is true is that I believe…the only way we’re going to solve our problems is that everyone comes together, black white.”

Now, I’m a believer that if someone’s having a town hall meeting and the campaign arranged the venue and such, that someone interrupting the speech should be given a minute to calm down and then be ejected if they don’t. All the OTHER people who’re there, after all, are there to hear the speech, and they have rights too.

That said, a silent protest- wearing costumes or shirts with messages, carrying signs, whatever- should be allowed to stay. It’s not stopping someone else from going and HEARING the candidate (or President, or Vice President) talk. If you’re truly worried about security (which is the excuse that the Administration gives) then scan ‘em, search ‘em six ways to Sunday, but don’t reject ‘em for content.

(Besides, let’s face it- the “security” excuse is obviously garbage. If I wanted to do harm to the President, would I show up wearing a shirt that says “I hate George Bush”? Or would I maybe try and blend in with the neocon crowd that’s there?)

Obama handled it perfectly. Said to the guys “hey, you’ll get a chance, how’s that?” They figure that’s fair, shut up, then get to ask their question after the speech. They might not AGREE with the answer or like it, but they got their point across to everyone attending, to Obama, and to the media.

And that’s just one of a bajillion clear differences between Obama in particular (and Democrats in general) and the Bush/Cheney/McCain crowd. With McCain’s temper, there’s no way they’re going to allow protesters to stick around in his speech… and in my opinion, groups fighting against McCain should keep sending them. Sneak in if you have to, but keep doing it; sooner or later he’ll lose his shit, because that’s how he’s wired.

Shocked by the title of this post? What if I told you that on a vacation in South Africa, to visit a game farm and see some lions and giraffes or something, I was captured by some black guys who held me hostage for a couple of weeks.

And I explained that I use the word “nigger” to refer to my captors, who beat me up and tortured me and so forth. Would that make it okay to use the word, in that way (or any way), to refer to someone who happened to be black?

Oh, but I don’t mean it towards ALL blacks, only the mean nasty people who kept me captive. And it’s not because they’re black that I’m calling them “nigger”, but because they treated me terribly. That’s why I’m calling them nigger, and that’s actually about the nicest thing I can call them.

Would THAT make it okay?

Yeah, I don’t think so. And yes, I’m using the word to make a point here, and frankly it turns my stomach to write it, but sometimes being shocking is called for.

Back in 2000, John McCain thought it was perfectly okay for him to call his ex-captors in North Vietnam “gooks”. And he explained it away for pretty much all the same reasons I used above. And no, I’m not making this up- it’s been reported before.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I’m not proud of it; in fact, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve used racial slurs before. I’ll probably do it again. I don’t think of myself as being particularly racist, and I work in my head and in my heart to NOT be racist, but I’ve said pretty nasty stuff.

I’ve never said it TO someone, or even AROUND someone else; and I honestly believe that no matter what race you are it doesn’t matter in terms of your worth as a human being. But yeah, I’ve used the terms under my breath to myself, and I’m ashamed of it.

John McCain, in 2000, was a leading candidate for President of the United States, and he used the term for Asian people that’s roughly analogous to the infamous “n-word” for African people.

Sorry, but that’s just wrong, on many, many levels. Don’t get me wrong- in a way, I don’t blame him, because it’s a perfect illustration of how we can let our emotions get away from us. McCain obviously will always carry strong emotions in his heart about the guys who held and tortured him- deservedly so, in fact.

But I’m sorry, if you’re running for President, you don’t get to call Asians the “g-word”. You just don’t. You have to learn the reasons why, you have to serve as an example, and you have to rise above- yes, even above the type of anger and hatred that his torture probably planted in his heart.

Race WILL be an undercurrent in this campaign, even more than it already is. McCain’s latest ad- which juxtaposed images of Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton- is a not-very-thinly hidden racial shot. Look at it this way- both Britney and Paris are kind of old news. The hottest celebs these days are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or more properly, their newborn twins), Tiger Woods, and others.

Given ALL of the various celebs that are out there, the two that the McCain admeisters come up with happen to be two young single white women? Sorry, but they were chosen for a reason or reasons, at at least somewhere on the list is that they’re white, female, and moderately hot.

(Well, personally I don’t think Paris Hilton is hot- too skinny, and she’s got feet like skis. Seriously. Look at how big her feet are some time. Britney, on the other hand, is faily hot- and she’s crazy too, and the crazy ones might be a pain in the butt in the long run and you don’t keep ‘em, but they’re really fun in their own way in the short term.)

Just remember this when you’re watching the campaign. If you’re an independent who’s considering your options (and you should vote for Obama; if you carefully consider, I believe that’s the conclusion you’ll come to) then I urge you- look into McCain’s past. The guy has serious issues, and the very fact that just 8 years ago he thought it was perfectly acceptable to call people “gooks”… well, that should trouble anyone of good conscience.

Ted Stevens, the senior US Senator from Alaska, just got indicted. Good, and about time- he’s as perfect an example of how people can get corrupt and arrogant in Washington DC.

I don’t think it’s inevitable, but I think that if our Congressmen and Senators don’t actively work to ensure that they do NOT turn into crooked bastards, it can wind up happening to any of them.

Stevens is a special case- it’s nice to see him going down. Hopefully Mark Begich can now win election (Stevens was up for re-election this year) and fill the seat.