I know Barack Obama promised to run the United States of America if he became President.  But making overtures to John McCain and embracing Joe Lieberman are way over the top. I was taught to stay away from venomous snakes, and Obama is getting much too close to wounded vipers who will strike at him if they get the opportunity.

I am sure that by now you recognize that thieves and racketeers have infiltrated the leadership of the Republican Party. They have shown in recent elections that they are without scruples and have abandoned all pretense of legitimacy. You will recall the way George Bush and his gang stole the 2000 election from Al Gore, and how they rigged electronic voting machines to steal Ohio from John Kerry in the 2004 election.  They employed similar underworld tactics in the 2008 election, trying to skew the results by massive voter disenfranchisement and by rigging voting machines. These “dirty tricks” almost succeeded in winning Ohio for McCain-Palin.

Obviously, these people have no regard for the laws of the land or the principles of fairness. In my book, they are gangsters. The wholesale looting of the U.S. Treasury by George Bush and his associates should shed some light on the type of people who have wormed their way into the leadership of the Republican Party. And the disregard demonstrated by the Bush Administration for the welfare of working Americans and the relentless crusade to line the pockets of the rich while impoverishing the country should also make you wonder just who these people are.

You know they are treacherous and shameless. You can’t have forgotten the lies and slander spewed by McCain and Sarah Palin – and Joe Liberman – during the recent campaign, or the way in which they used race prejudice and religious bigotry to poison the minds of voters. If your memory needs to be refreshed, listen to the venom still spewing from right-wing radio and “conservative” web sites. It is the kind of demagoguery that could incite violence against the President-elect and his family; but obviously, the hatemongers don’t care about that.

Barack Obama is not likely to read this blog, but if you know someone who might have his ear – or someone who knows someone – please try and get a warning to him to keep the snakes at arm’s length. These vipers will not change their stripes. A snake is a snake is a snake.

UPDATE (Nov. 20, 2008):   Raymondville, Texas – A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a state senator and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a South Texas federal detention center.