The S Word: Sneaky

John McCain and his running mate are making great political hay out of linking Barack Obama with this year’s latest dreaded word. Yes, every presidential campaign has one of those, and they usually come out at around this time in the election process. “Liberal” was a famous one, whispered about John Kerry and Al Gore.

Right now, that word is “socialism.” Governor Palin, in an attempt to misrepresent her opponent’s positions, tells her goggle-eyed acolytes “that this is no time to be experimenting with socialism.”

Well, guess what, Governor? We already are. We have been since the federal income tax was instated. People send the IRS their money, and the government spends it as they see fit. And, with the advent of the Social Security system, this money gets spent on retirees. With Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” the money goes to more people whom the government deems needy. Ditto Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.”

And another news flash, Ms. Palin: what do you think the government bailout is? The very “rescue plan” that your boss suspended his campaign to race down to Washington (after an interview with Katie Couric, a good meal, a good nights sleep, and a speech at an event sponsored by Bill Clinton) to “help” get passed. And he also voted for said bill.  Allowing our banks to become nationalized -- is that not more experimentation with socialism?

And this “flash of genius” (the author says sarcastically, if you haven’t figured that out already) that John McCain released during one of the debates about having the government buy back failed mortgages – isn’t that just more socialism?

So I’d be careful about the words you toss around, Governor – like I’ve found so many times, they can often come back not just to haunt you, but to bite you in your ever-more-socialist and designer-clad ass.