Big thanks to Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes, New Hampshire’s two reps, for voting against more funding for the US occupation of Iraq. The bill passed and will be signed by Bush, but your votes are appreciated nonetheless.

From a war started and fueled by misinformation, we move to a Republican campaign similarly powered. When you don’t have a whole lot to recommend you, it’s easy to just fall into smearing the other guy. And McCain doesn’t actually have to stoop to doing it himself. He can just stand by quietly while others dirty their hands for him … there are plenty of racist tools out there ready to have at it.

Unfortunately, this means that the Obama campaign must devote time, effort, and money to debunking the smears. Actual, meaningful issues aren’t debated, in this debased politics. Instead, viral lies must be constantly identified and extinguished like small, destructive brush fires … because ignoring them, as John Kerry attempted to do four years ago, didn’t seem to work.

However, fighting the smears can be a fine line to walk, too – as reflected in the incident with the Muslim women who were not permitted to stand behind Obama at a rally. He apologized, but the whole flap is petty and off kilter … and some of the comments appended to the post just cited are very scary.

What fertile ground America presents … for fear mongering … for small-minded lies! After eight years of divisiveness, exploitation of ignorance and prejudice, and generally dumbed down politics, I guess it should come as no surprise … but it’s discouraging, nonetheless.  Dubya and his cronies have used the bully pulpit just like … bullies.

As an antidote, the plain and simple truth isn’t necessarily going to work, either. No – unfortunately, as noted in this piece in Salon, just how the truth is presented may have a huge impact. If the smear is listed before the debunking fact, the smear may still be more readily retained and repeated. Apparently people can’t be bothered to read, assimilate, and remember facts. The oft-repeated lie is more likely to stick than the truth … a reality that we have seen play out with tragic consequences over the past nearly-eight years.

As discouraging as it is that people actually believe this stuff … I find it even more damning and despicable that those who know better continue to fuel and exploit fears and narrow hatreds, in the service of power and greed.