Why Barack Obama is the Lesser of Two Evils

Because he's running against John McInsane, that's why.

What's wrong with McInsane, you might ask? Plenty.

First off, he's simply not tempermentally suited to the White House. Since at least his high school days, McInsane has been known as a hot-tempered and vindictive person. He is an angry paranoid who equates any disagreement with him as some sort of betrayal. Hell, his own wife (who frankly looks like a caricature of a demented Stepford bride) is said to have compiled a lengthy list of people she imagines are their enemies (she calls it her "grudge list"), against whom they apparently intend to abuse the office of the Presidency in order to wreak vengeance upon. McInsane himself frequently loses his temper, and and even shouts obscenities at his fellow Senators. The Arizona Senator was also diagnosed by Naval doctors as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, a potentially quite severe and chronic mental disorder.

This is the man who thinks going to war with Iran, which would surely lead to the deaths of many thousands of Iranian children, women, and other civilian non-combatants, as well as Lord only knows how many American military service personnel, is simply hilarious. This is also the man who apparently doesn't realize the Cold War ended almost 20 years ago, as he intends to make confronting Russia and China one of the cornerstones of his administration. I don't know about you, but I'm not very comfortable with a hot-headed mental defective, who wants to take us into a new and much larger war in the Middle East (against Iran), and who wants to antagonize Russia at every turn (such as by expelling them from the G8 group of industrialized democracies), having his finger on the nuclear button.

I was born in 1970, so I can recall when we lived under the constant specter of global thermo-nuclear war. I can also remember when that threat receded during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and how it was the single greatest event to occur during my lifetime. But now John McInsane threatens to bring that nightmare back. I'm not saying he'd intentionally take us into a nuclear conflagration with Russia and/or China (although once we go to war with Iran, there's just no telling where things might lead), but I do think its eminently plausible he might hot-headedly miscalculate the strength of Russian (or Chinese) resolve on some issue or another, and inadvertently plunge us into the nuclear abyss. OK, sure, there's easily a 90 percent chance that wouldn't happen. But are you willing to risk that ten percent chance it just might? I know I sure as Hell am not!

Col. Larry Wilkerson (retired), former top aide to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, had this to say about the senior Senator from Arizona: "No dissent, no opinion to the contrary, however reasonable, will be entertained. Hardheaded is another way to say it. Arrogant is another way to say it. Hubristic is another way to say it. Too proud for his own good is another way to say it. It's a quality about him that disturbs me." United States Senator Thad Cochran, a Republican from Mississippi, said this of his Arizona colleague: "The thought of his being President sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper, and he worries me." The thought sends a cold shiver down my spine as well.

But wait! There's more!

He also sponsored the bill to give amnesty to as many as twenty million illegal aliens, and is an advocate for de facto "open borders" with Mexico. And he angrily denounces anyone who doesn't share this view, as fellow Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas was made rudely aware, when McInsane yelled at him to "Fuck off! ," during a closed Senatorial hearing. He also informed his Senatorial colleagues that "I know all on immigration." Sounds like just the sort of psychological persona to be leading this country. Not to mention the fact the American people don't want amnesty for illegal aliens, as every public opinion survey has indicated.

And then there's the USS Forrestal incident.

The fire aboard the USS Forrestal killed 134 U.S. Sailors (and maimed numerous others), and cost over 72 million dollars to repair, crippling a U.S. Aircraft Carrier in the middle of the Vietnam War. No definitive cause for the fire has ever been made public, although one thing that is not in dispute is that our future Arizona Senator was in the cockpit of his jet, and was about to take off, at the moment the fire erupted a few feet away. Some eyewitnesses claim that the fire started due to McInsane's having initiated what is know as a "wet start." This is a particular maneuver wherein fuel is allowed to pool in the engine prior to ignition, thus sending a burst of flame out the tailpipe. The burst of flame is said to have "cooked off" the Zuni rocket in the plane directly behind him (the pilot of which was killed, so we can't ask him what occurred), thus triggering the calamitous fire.

What we do know is that McInsane was the only able-bodied crewman to be immediately evacuated upon the arrival of the USS Oriskany, which when combined with the fact he was present just a few feet away from where the fire started at the time of the initial conflagration, does seem rather to imply that he was whisked off the ship in order to ensure his physical safety. There are rumours of a secret Naval report that indicate his guilt in this matter, but as his father, Admiral John Sidney McCain, would become Chief of Pacific Naval Operations just a few months after the incident, its not difficult to imagine how such a report might have been suppressed from public attention. Perhaps tellingly, Admiral McCain was also involved in the attempted cover-up of the USS Liberty incident.

In any event, one has to come to one's own conclusion about John McInsane's involvement in the Forrestal Fire, as I have come to mine. I believe his reckless initiating of a "wet start" did indeed lead to the deaths of 134 innocent Sailors, and that his status as a son of privilege is the only thing which kept him from justice.

The picture that emerges of John McInsane is that of a mentally unstable, reckless individual, and a bit of a clown, who does not belong anywhere near the levers of power. His foreign policy record suggests a dangerous war monger who can't be trusted with this nation's security. His record as a "maverick," "moderate," "neo-conservative," and all-around darling of the national press corps, seems to demonstrate his domestic policies won't be that different from those of Senator Obama. Peope who are counting on John McInsane to nominate the Supreme Court Justice who will provide the fifth vote against Roe vs. Wade, for example, are likely to be sorely disappointed. But at least with Barack Obama, we should be able to avoid World War III (or even "just" a war with Iran).

The Presidential candidacy of Senator Obama clearly represents the lesser of two evils, due to the terrifying specter of a McInsane Presidency (the Mayan calendar has been interpreted as indicating an apocalyptic end to Humanity itself will occur on December 21st, 2012, so perhaps John McInsane is destined to play out the role of a veritable Anti-Christ). Yet there may actually be some reasons why an Obama administration might be a good thing in and of itself, although they are certainly not the reasons he and his supporters would indicate. More on that later.

--Jake Featherston