John McCain: Meet Some Of Your Fundamentals

Forest City is one of those places in western North Carolina that does not evoke images of much. Primarily because no one has ever heard of it. Nearby is Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, and that's about it. It is, however, a nice place to live; one of those "small towns" with matching "values" that the McCain campaign is quick to extoll, thanks to the Embarracuda, Sarah Palin.

There are no hockey moms or soccer moms. Maybe a bunch of Joe six-packs. It is the essence of what the Republican Party refers voters to when complaining about the evils of liberalism.

But....Forest City was also once a hub of textile activity. After NAFTA the area was devastated by plant closings. One by one the jobs (and machinery) made fast exits for China and Mexico. One remained however. National Textiles (Haynes Brand) still chugged along. In the Fall and Winter, one could see the plume of steam from the National Textiles plant rise in the clear sky. It was like the last candle burning on the cake.

Two weeks ago the evening shift was called together at 8 p.m. The plant was closing. The machinery was going to be relocated to Honduras. Good luck and don't let the door hit you on your unemployed ass. 500 people have been tossed onto the globalization bonfire, but that's small potatos, I guess. But in a small town, that's 500 families, 500 car payments, 500 mortgages. Anyone who has undergone this can relate to the rather implausible future that requires one to adjust from say $17.00 per hour at 40 hours a week to the Walmartized standard of $7.00 with no more than 32 hours a week.

This happened because of the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. So I did a little digging, and this bill passed with a razor thin margin in the House, and by a 55-45 vote in the Senate. The votes were as follows:

Voting in favor:

Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

Voting against:

Barack Obama (D-IL)
Joe Biden (D-DE)

Now maybe the adults among those 500 families, tossed into the wilderness by the above votes, will go for McCain because Sarah Palin is cute; winks good, and promises "change." They may, as is the pattern, fall for the "re-education required" to get themselves "decent" jobs in the future. And hey, they are part of the strong "fundamentals" that McCain/Palin insist are strong.

Three weeks from the election and they are getting all the "education" they need. And it's real simple:

Their votes are needed to stop "radicals" like Obama and Biden from winning this election. After that, they won't be needed for anything.