Time's person of the year

So this may be a duplicate post...I'm not sure, but I just found it in my email tonight and remembered emailing it to myself to put on the blog.  Unfortunately I don't know if I ever did so here goes anyway.  Its a great explanation of why Barack Obama was winning the campaign back in late October.  Its a bit of a lengthy read, but considering I sent this to myself back on Oct. 23rd and still deem it worthy to post after all this time, I think its worth a few minutes of your time to read this look into the factors that helped put President-Elect Obama over the top in this historic time.  (I just love those words, President-Elect)

Check out the article here

How to define marraige...

If we follow how the bible defines marraige, we also need to follow the bible's other definitions of marraige then. Here's a few other definitions from the bible revolving around marraige:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

So maybe the last one is a little far, even for my sense of humor but still...you get the point from A-F. You can check out the original posting here.

This is supposed to be the party that "gets" the average American??

I read this and think of the addage, do as I say, not as I do. Should be the RNC's new slogan if you ask me.

Gov. Sarah Palin’s traveling makeup artist was paid $68,400 and her hair stylist received more than $42,000 for roughly two months of work, according to a new campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

So the McCain campaign was willing to spend this sort of money when unemployment is soaring. But guess where the money really came from? Since the McCain campaign was publicly funded, that means the money came from the pockets of us, the taxpayers. I feel bad for all those red state Americans who are suffering from the massive layoffs, only to realize their money was pissed away on makeup and hair for an Alaskan wingnut. But remember, she "gets" Joe The Plumber and Joe six-pack. What about Joe the recently unemployed family man?

Read the article, courtesy of the NY Times, in full here.

Every state should be doing this...

Hawaii has decided to partner with Better Place to bring car battery exchange stations for electric vehicles to the islands, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle announced Tuesday.

Better Place stations, similar in concept to gas stations, offer drivers with electric vehicles an automated system that swaps out exhausted lithium ion car batteries for fully-charged ones. The swapping system is intended to be convenient for both drivers and local electric companies, since Better Place can recharge the exhausted batteries with excess electricity generated from renewable sources during off-peak electricity hours.

Lingle said the project is an example of Hawaii's efforts to gain independence from foreign oil, and to stimulate its economy through investment in energy technology.

Imagine the potential for not only cleaner air but the overall cost savings to each and every one of us, AND how many jobs this could create if each state were to adopt this in, at the very least, their metropolitan areas. In a time where unemployment is soaring and we've already established that oil will continue to be a problem, why not work towards a solution that makes so much sense?? Wind and Solar are two energy sources that aren't going anywhere and all you need to do is pay for the initial investment of the equipment itself, and the maintenance of keeping the equipment going and you're good to go! Its cheap, and fairly simple once the install is completed. This is a no-brainer...we should all be pushing for this with our state legislators.

Full article can be read here

Another call to action! (and it won't cost you a dime)

Feeling a post election letdown? Looking for another dragon to slay? Buddy, have I got a mean, scaly, ugly one for you.
Coal River Mountain in West Virginia is a beautiful forested area surrounded by communities with long experience with coal mining as been practiced for decades. How long have these folks been settled around the mountain? Many are descendants of those who moved to the area on land grants given soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Now the mountain itself is threatened by coal mining as it's been practiced under the Bush administration -- mountaintop removal.
Just yesterday, a permit to start blasting the top off the mountain was awarded to Massey Energy, headed by Don Blankenship. Who is Don Blankenship? He's the guy who spent millions putting his own man on the West Virginia Supreme Court so he could get out of a lawsuit. Then, when he was caught vacationing in Monaco with that judge, he bought himself another. And another. He spent millions on smear campaigns so he could get his own brand of justice. He's the guy who was named the scariest person in America when it comes to the environment. This is the guy behind the death of miners in the Aracoma mine after hundreds of safety violations.
This is a guy who makes $15 million a year, and spends as much as $9 million of it reshaping West Virginia into a deep red state that supports his strong arm tactics. You think West Virginia has an "Appalachian problem?" No. It has a Don Blankenship problem.
Now Blankenship has Coal River Mountain in his grip, and if he has his way, it will soon join more than a million acres of ancient mountains, towering forests, and free-flowing streams that are turned into the acidic rubble left behind after mountaintop removal mining. And perhaps worst of all, Coal River Mountain has already been studied as a site for a wind farm. This wind farm would produce more energy than the coal that Blankenship will get from blasting down the mountain. It will employ more people. And it will do it cleanly, preserving both the mountain and the surrounding communities.

Please help us take a stand and sign this petition. It will only take a second of your time and isn't that worth the potential of bringing about change? I've already gone and signed it, isn't it time you do the same?

P.S. - I totally lifted this from this Daily Kos posting because I felt this was an important issue that we should all be taking a stand on.

More Damning evidence against the Big 3 Bailout

Looks like things just aren't looking good for Ford, GM, and Chrysler. The more we look into this mess, the more it appears it was just poor business management on their side. Unwilling to keep up with the competition because their cars are "Amerkan" slowly brought them to the crossroads we're at today. CNN wrote a great article about the locals of Anna, Ohio and their take on the bailout. Turns out there a Honda manufacturing plant just down the way. Here's a little snippet:

"Honda's really helped this area as far as housing, retail sales, the restaurant business," said Tim Rogers, who has owned the Inn Between Tavern in Botkins, just up the road from Anna, for 33 years.

"People who are in here at night are also Honda employees. They have more money to spend. My business has been good since Honda came into the area."

So who knows, maybe we should let them fall flat on their faces...the only sad thing is that because of the greed stubbornness of the Execs of the Big 3, many average Americans would take the fall...losing their jobs and retirement. Meanwhile the suits over at the Big 3 will most likely find jobs elsewhere, or just retire off the millions they've already banked from their careers thus far. Unfortunately, this is a very complex issue which really is a lose-lose no matter which way you go.


You can read the article in its entirety here.

The Big 3 Auto Companies

So I've had a real hard time determining where I stand on this issue. A large part of me has continued to feel that the Big 3 has brought the financial issues upon themselves by making shitty cars. After reading this article, I feel that Michael Moore puts some things in perspective about the difference between the decision makers and the average American factory workers and where we need to draw the line. He also provides a great potential solution that he parallels with Roosevelt's decision at the beginning of World War II. Its a good, fairly short, read. Check it out here.

So its been a while...

And honestly I'm enjoying the slower pace of the post-election news.  It was a tough battle that was hard fought, so I'm enjoying a bit of a break.  I did have 2 points that I wanted to comment on though, for all those who may stumble across this blog.

First is where the new Administration stands on our energy crisis and climate change.  While I'm very glad to see an Administration who has energy and climate change on their minds, I must say this could potentially be my first issue with the coming administration.  So far I've seen no clear committal to follow through with a 10 year timetable that Al Gore suggested.  Al Gore is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, for God sakes, for his work on education the masses on climate change.  I think the guy knows what he's talking about and if he says that the U.S. can, and should, stick to a 10 year timetable for energy independence and that we should create a national power grid in order to do that, then we should be doing that!  My main concern is that Obama hasn't definitively said anything about a national power grid...which I guess is to be expected.  He always has a way of making statements that leave him plenty of "wiggle room".  However I personally feel this issue alone can solve so many other issues, including generating new jobs, and pulling us out of this recession.

Second issue is the blogosphere seems to be blowing up since the Lieberman verdict today.  After reading a few different perspectives I must say that I think that the DailyKos is being a bit over-dramatic with this issue.  Yes, I really disdain Lieberman as much as the next guy given the things that he said and, yes, a part of me is pissed he's keeping his chairmanship.  But after reading a few articles, I read on CNN or MSNBC I believe that the way it went down is that Lieberman was not stripped of his chairmanship, but his committee is now filled with stronger Democratic senators, which in turn will dilute his power in that committee.  So while a part of me does wish that things had gone different, I definitely don't agree that this situation is as "life or death" at others seem to want to portray it.  It is what it is, and in the end, perhaps not pissing Joe off will result in him siding with Dems on important votes and blocking filibuster on issues that are important to us such as climate change and energy issues.  Afterall, he does have a record of voting with Dems on those issues.  Ultimately though, time will tell whether or not the decision was a good one.

Open Thread

I hate elitists.  We all have someone in our lives that fills these shoes to some degree.  There are few things about these people that I can actually deal with.  They always seem to think that they are not only better than you, but that they, for some reason, have the right to belittle you and continually talk down to you whenever they have the opportunity or just whenever they feel like it.  Seeing as how I'm a fairly passive person, especially in the work place, I never really get to fully realize my dreams of telling these people what assholes they really are, but maybe someday I'll find myself in a situation to where I just don't care anymore and I can just let loose on some unsuspecting victim.  Till then, I guess it will just have to remain a figment of my imagination.

Amazing/Inspiring

No matter how many times I see or hear this, it still moves me. Maybe you've heard it before, maybe you've even heard it 100 times, but just listen to it once more. If you're anything like me, it will be just as touching as the first time you heard it.

And the in-fighting begins...

I won't say its a beautiful sight, because it is kind of sad to watch. But a small part of me is loving every second of this and finding out just how crazy, and well...stupid Palin really is. Take the time to read the whole article here. But here's a few snippets for you...

Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.

The New York Times reports that McCain aides were outraged when Palin staffers scheduled her to speak with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a conversation that turned out to be a radio station prank.

Newsweek reports that Palin spent far more than the previously reported $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family.

Several publications say she irked the McCain campaign by asking to make her own concession speech on election night.

The tension is likely to continue or get worse. Lawyers for the Republican National Committee are heading to Alaska to try to account for all the money that was spent on clothing, jewelry and luggage, according to The New York Times.

Perhaps the most dangerous allegation for Palin are reports in The New York Times and Newsweek that when she was urged by McCain adviser Nicole Wallace to buy three suits for the Republican convention and three suits for the campaign trail, she went on the now-infamous shopping spree at swank stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

A Republican donor who agreed to foot a majority of the expenses was stunned when he received the bill, Newsweek reported. Both the Times and Newsweek report that the budget for the clothing was expected to be between $20,000 and $25,000. Instead, the amount reported by the Republican National Committee was $150,000.

That wasn't the whole tab, however, according to Newsweek. The magazine claims that Palin leaned on some low-level staffers to put thousands of dollars of additional purchases on their credit cards. The national committee and McCain became aware of the extra expenditures, including clothes for husband Todd Palin, when the staffers sought reimbursement, Newsweek reported.

Wow! She's one crazy chick, that's for damn sure! Its kinda funny to see this all spill out now that the campaign is over and realize what could've been if they had won, and if McCain died. Imagine the havoc she would wreak as as Commander in Chief. Fortunately we, the American people, are smarter than that.

History has been made

It's finally over and we did it! We should all be so proud to say that we were a part of this historic movement. Many of us not only cast our vote, but contributed what little money or time we had to the campaign to help bring about the change necessary for this country. Some of us (my family included) are fortunate enough to say that we got to hear Obama in person...somethiing I personally will never forget, and I will remind my daughter she was there too. I know the road will be rocky, and it will be a long, tough road...but we at least are headed in the right direction with fresh leadership. I am profoundly proud of the American people's ability to begin to bring about the type of change we need so badly.

So thank you all for all that you have done, this wouldn't have been possible with each each and every one of your efforts and I, and my future generations are so thankful for everything you have all done. So once again, a very humble thank you to each and every one of you out there.

I love this...

It makes me laugh. Someone had a lot of spare time, and some very funny creativity.



There's a lot of other great ones you can check out here. The Baracky one is hilarious as well!

We can do this

As he says, I'm holding on to hope because tomorrow will be better.  We can do this, together, as Americans, as brothers and sisters.  Its been the longest, but most incredible and inspiring election cycle we will probably see in our lifetime.  I'm sure its the most historic election season we will see in our lifetime and possibly our children's lifetime as well.  We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to tell our children, and grandchildren that we were part of the movement that brought hope back to American people, when faith in the government was all but lost.  Thank you each and everyone for doing what you can, to help bring this campaign to a close and put our best foot forward.  I'm confident if everyone turns out and casts their ballots tomorrow, we will see the return on our investment of time and money.  Please view this for one last reminder of why we're all in this together

Your vote does count

So don't let them stop you! Get out and make your voice heard!

Another memory lapse

So this is one of two things, further proof that McCain is losing his marbles...or proof that Joe the Plumber isn't exactly the poster child the GOP was hoping for. I personally think its more of the 1st because there's been enough evidence to prove that Joe wasn't the poster child the GOP hoped for. Not a registered plumber, won't be making 250k a year, hasn't paid his taxes...

So I just had a thought...

Supposedly we are to see record turnouts for voting this year. How could it be, if we see record turnouts, that McCain could even stand a chance? McCain has constantly struggled through the Primaries as well as through the General Election to even rally his base, let alone record numbers of new voters. It just doesn't make any logical sense to me, that if record numbers turn out, that these new voters would be voting for an old grumpy white guy with 20+ years in Washington...but a new young, inspriting candidate? Now that's a different story.

Lest we forget about Joe Sixpack...

With Joe Plumber taking the spotlight, poor Joe Six pack is feelin' kinda left out.

Change is coming

Just not from Sarah Palin. This article delves deeper into Palin's record as a reformer, and its not looking too good for her. The truth hurts:

The Associated Press reported this month that Palin charged the state more than $21,000 for her three daughters' commercial flights since she became governor in December 2006. She later ordered changes to travel forms to specify official business on the trips.

The complaint released Wednesday says Palin charged the travel costs for events her children were not invited to and where they served no legitimate state business.

Not a huge surprise after the troopergate scandal, but if she's willing to do it with Alaskan's money, which is chump change compared to the Federal Tax revenue, imagine how much damage she can do if she were to make it to the White House.

The truth about Obama's tax plan

from the horses mouth. Although I do feel to some extent we're beating a dead horse on this subject, I suppose it never hurts to share, especially if it helps even just 1 person see the truth behind all this.

The end of the Republican party?

This article is a great read which poses many important questions about the party's future. I think this article is relevant no matter who you are and where you stand on issues. It raises a few tough questions about where the Republican party, as a whole, goes from here. Check it out

Great video

Young or old, black or white, male or female...this movement transcends age, race and gender and we should all be so proud to be a part of this movement. We are making history with this election and with our movement. We will be able to tell our children, and our grandchildren about this election and how we all believed that with Barack Obama as the catalyst, we were able to change this country for their benefit. Just as Charles is working for ours.

SNL does it again...

Once again thanks to Daily Kos for this link, its a great video of SNL spoofing CNN's big touchscreen TV.

View here

Open Thread

How to deal with stolen lawn signs

thx to Daily Kos for the link.

Too bad these guys can't vote...

considering they potentially have the most to win or lose from the outcome of this election

Wassssup!

Kinda like the Super Bowl commercial.  Only better.

Patriotism at its finest...

these are truly amazing human beings. We should all be so lucky to know someone like this

The Orwellian language continues...

At this point, I've almost grown accustomed to the constant use of Orwellian language from the Republican party. McCain's accusal that Obama will say, "anything to get elected" is just another fine example of this. It shouldn't really be anything new or surprising to us by this point. Bush has made Orwellian language a staple of his presidency, some great examples are: No Child Left Behind, the Clean Air Act, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. McCain has, like almost every other facet of Bush's policies, adopted this language. His campaign slogan is one of the most obvious, Country First. Meanwhile, as they put Country First, Sarah Palin gets a $150,000 new wardrobe from the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. So to hear McCain claim Obama will say anything to get elected, while his campaign continues to peddle the lie that Obama is somehow a terrorist in sheep's clothing is something so illogical it will only make sense to the wingnuts stuck on the far right.

A recognizable organization finally endorses McCain!

Too bad its Al Qaeda. You can read the full article here but I'm quoting the best part for you down below.

What was absent from the call, oddly enough, was any discussion about why Al Qaeda might want McCain to win. And there the case is simple enough. Al Qaeda prefers an indefinite U.S. occupation of Iraq and a bellicose U.S. all across the Muslim world to radicalize Muslims to its terrorist cause and drain the U.S. of its financial wealth — what Osama bin Laden calls his “bleed to bankruptcy” strategy. Hence, the reason why, as the CIA eventually concluded, Bin Laden tried to help George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004 by releasing a late-October tape. McCain pledges basic continuity with Bush on the Iraq war. As Scheunemann put it, “John McCain will spend what it takes to win.”

Wow, this can't be good for the McCainiacs out there! First, $150k of donor dollars going to Palin's wardrobe and now an endorsement from Al Qaeda. I've heard of rough news days, but wow!

Way to put Country First

What does the RNC do to help Palin win an edge? Why they go on a $150,000 shopping spree for the "average hockey mom" and her "joe six-pack" family. To think that the average Americans in this country are seeing the greatest recession of our time, and looking for leadership and these people have the audacity to piss 6 figures away on campaign clothes, or essentially campaign props, is insane. And to think that somehow we are supposed to believe that the McCain campaign will be fiscally responsible with the tax payer money in the future is almost just as crazy. Keep in mind the money that paid for this luxurious shopping spree most likely came from donors to the McCain campaign. Granted they have many HIGH dollar donors, I feel bad for the people who still can't see beyond the facade and got suckered into donating their hard earned money just to see it spent on clothes rather than something of real value for, you know, Country First.

You can read the LA Times article here.

A lot of people say that Barack Obama has adopted the "Change" idea in order to better position himself to win this election.  I challenge these people to re-think those statements.  This is a great, short video that shows that Obama has been talking about bringing about Change since the early 90's.  It was us who needed to believe in the change we can bring about.

Not my favorite guy in the world...

but still a respectible man who got out before things got really crazy. I must say he has quite an accurate assessment of our political climate though and what's really going on in both campaigns. It will be interesting to see what his endorsement does for Obama, but its still good to hear kind words from someone who's considered a prominent republican.

From the people who know him best...

Check out this really cool endorsement that the Chicago Tribune wrote:

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.

The change that Obama talks about so much is not simply a change in this policy or that one. It is not fundamentally about lobbyists or Washington insiders. Obama envisions a change in the way we deal with one another in politics and government. His opponents may say this is empty, abstract rhetoric. In fact, it is hard to imagine how we are going to deal with the grave domestic and foreign crises we face without an end to the savagery and a return to civility in politics.

***

The Republican Party, the party of limited government, has lost its way. The government ran a $237 billion surplus in 2000, the year before Bush took office -- and recorded a $455 billion deficit in 2008. The Republicans lost control of the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 because, as we said at the time, they gave the nation rampant spending and Capitol Hill corruption. They abandoned their principles. They paid the price.

We might have counted on John McCain to correct his party's course. We like McCain. We endorsed him in the Republican primary in Illinois. In part because of his persuasion and resolve, the U.S. stands to win an unconditional victory in Iraq....

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

***

Obama is deeply grounded in the best aspirations of this country, and we need to return to those aspirations. He has had the character and the will to achieve great things despite the obstacles that he faced as an unprivileged black man in the U.S.

He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.

When Obama said at the 2004 Democratic Convention that we weren't a nation of red states and blue states, he spoke of union the way Abraham Lincoln did.

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

No matter how nasty these campaigns really get, I still can't help but be moved by the testimonies of those that know Barack Obama and his true character.  Just imagine the difference this one president could make and how he potentially could change our mindsets about the President once again being a noble job that our children may aspire to be one day.  His candidacy has been amazing and I think we will pride ourselves on telling our grand children one day that we were proud to be a part of this incredible movement that forever changed our history.

btw, this was originally posted here and the full endorsement can be read here.

Also notice what DemFromCT notes: 

Just a reminder that when the Chicago Tribune says "This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president." they're talking about the first time in 161 years.

Campbell Brown FTW!

Sorry, but Campbell brings up a very important point in this article. There are far better ways we could, and should be spending 30 million dollars over the next few weeks than on negative ads from both campaigns.

This article is really a great read, and pretty short.

Forget about foreign policy...

How about someone who knows where the states are on a map??

I love how everyone is getting involved in this...

Its pretty cool to see such a diverse group of supporters get involved in this election, this is another great example

Who IS John McCain??

Good read, you can read the full transcript here:

ROBERT PARRY: Well, the piece also cites a very good article in Rolling Stone that looked at McCain’s history. And in a way, you can look at McCain in a fairly consistent way, that he’s always been, a bit like George W. Bush, someone who was a scion of a very powerful family. In the case of McCain, it was obviously in the military. His father was a four-star admiral, his grandfather was a four-star admiral. In the case of George W. Bush, his father was president, and his grandfather was a powerful senator.
So you have this—you have this person who wants to essentially compete with his father and grandfather and achieve something, but who is essentially not very effective. McCain did very poorly in school, much like Bush did, and was much of a screw-up when it came to his military career. He was involved in crashing planes. He was able to get out of trouble, much like Bush did, by having his father pull strings. So you have this very similar kind of personality.
And if you look at McCain as someone who is burning with ambition, and has been for quite awhile, trying to achieve this kind of success that even his father didn’t—in the case of Bush, it was two terms in the White House; in the case of McCain, it would be to be commander-in-chief, when his father was a four-star admiral—you have this idea that McCain, if you look at it that way, has always been a person driven by this ambition who puts his own political interests ahead of his country, not the image that he wants to project of some selfless person who came out of his experience in Vietnam and always put country first. He clearly has not done that, in many cases.

One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time

Courtesy of Daily Kos :

Man this is a great article!

Read it here. It talks about Obama's "link" with Ayers and really does a good job of putting this whole thing into perspective.

Desperation is setting in...

According to the AP Mr. McCain is now openly calling Obama a liar for bringing up the Keating 5 incident, which McCain by the way, was disciplined by the U.S. Congress for being involved it. As you'll see in the article McCain has in fact admitted it was the worst mistake of his life and has owned up to his poor judgement in the past, but this week he's poor inicent little guy who got picked on by the big bad congress. All I can saw about the whole article is that McCain is down in the polls, Palin is nothing short of completely underwhelming, and the voters aren't buying the bullshit that McCain's selling. Now is where he gets nasty and personal and now is where he begins to seal his own fate by making errors that will amount to political suicide. Palin earlier was defending a statement she made about Obama being buddies with terrorists...is this really the level that they've sunk to?

Grow up! Apparently the McCain camp is still stuck on the playground and their main strategy is to call names, because their policies either don't exist or they don't want people to know what they really are. To date, I've heard McCain and Palin only speak in generalities about each issue that's important to us voters rather than what their real plans are for "reform". Does anyone else find it insulting that McCain expects us to believe he's a reformer when he's continued to support de-regulation...the primary cause of our Economic Crisis! Let alone, the fact that he's been in the Washington Culture for over 20 years. How dumb do you think we are John?? At least I feel confident that the American people are seeing through the smoke and mirrors and can really see that McCain is doing everything he can to lie, cheat, and steal his way into the White House, rather than earn it by doing what's right.

They stole it once, don't let them steal it again!

This is possibly the most important post I've done to date, on this blog. Why this story isn't getting more national coverage is completely beyond me but we cannot let a repeat of the 2000 election happen again, despite the fact that it appears the GOP is back at it again.

Yeah its definitely split...

Markos from Daily Kos posted this one this afternoon and its too funny not to share. Notice the laughter in the room after the Fox News reporter gives his assessment of the tally.

End the sexist treatment of Sara Palin!

Great article from a female journalist today.

I call upon the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.

This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong, she is tough, she is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff.

I agree, let her show her stuff! Or maybe the problem is that the McCain camp doesn't want her to show her stuff, because when she showed her stuff in the ABC/Gibson article, it wasn't nearly as high as the bar was set for her. I think the McCain camp knows the more she's kept away from the media the more they can shelter her false image and the less likely she is to screw up the picture they've painted of her. But back to the CNN article, I do agree it is sexist and I think she should be scrutinized just as any other VP candidate should be, male or female.

Whose the one who's out of touch?

courtesy of Daily Kos:

I mean, who is the New York Times anyway?

The Washington Post has a great article about one of the McCamp's people spouting off about how The New York Times is not longer a journalistic news source. If you can't take the heat, McCain camp, then get out of the kitchen! Seriously, who the hell are these guys to call the The New York Times an incredible news source, come to think of it I can't think of another name in journalism that ranks higher in credibility than the New York Times. However I'm sure these guys probably sing praises of people like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity and Fox News, because that's real journalism!

This is a sad day...

I come from a family with many devout Mormons and most have them treated others the way they would like to be treated. There are many in my family that have given me a very positive glimpse into the church, unfortunately, this is just too far...this comes from the church's 1st Presidency. In other words, the top 3 leaders of the church and this is in regards to the California proposed amendment to the state constitution in regards to the definition of marriage.

We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.

I had always heard that the church does not involve itself in politics, apparently things have changed because this is pretty ridiculous. Sorry but I think this is the last nail in the coffin for me, I'm done.


P.S. - you can read the article in full here

Open ended letter to Ms. Palin from a woman...

This is a must read, and it can't be pinned as sexist because it was written by another woman. Enjoy!

All I can say is Wow!

ABC News is beginning to show parts of Palin's first interview the the results, which can be read here, are rather shocking. It turns out that Sarah Palin has no idea what the Bush Doctrine is. Now I can understand that the common citizen may not know what it is, but we're talking about the potential second in command, and most likely eventual 1st in command given McCain's age and medical history with Cancer! This woman obviously has no clue about Foreign Policy. She then proceeds to flip-flop on Global Warming and all but calls Charlie Gibson a liar when he challenges her remarks by insisting she never said anything about Climate Change not being affected by man. In the article there are a few statements clear as day that she has contradicted herself.

I'm sorry but this is completely unacceptable. The fact that she is willing to lie straight faced, then have the audacity to lie even more when anyone challenges her! I swear if McCain/Palin win this election I will have lost all hope in the ability of the American people to make any sort of sound political choices. Till then I must remain hopeful that people will ultimately do the right thing and see through these people's lies.

New Header finally....

Its not a finished product, I would like to tweak it so that it is centered and takes up a majority of the top of the page, but that will take some playing with the layout and seeing as how its 11:30 right now I just don't have the motivation to play with that at the moment, so something is better than nothing.

This one's for all the ladies...

The last line says it all, "The failed to tell us the other 10 were Republicans". Funny how the always seem to forget to add those minor details when they're whining.

Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon....

Many would probably begin to slam this as any sort of credible evidence one way or the other for Palin.  I'm completely inclined to agree that Matt Damon is hardly a credible source when it comes to political analysts, however I do like seeing how candid he is about how little we really know about Palin, and what we do know so far has been mostly cover-ups, scandals, or lies.  The other thing that I do like about this video is the fact that Matt questions why we aren't hearing more about her and where she stands and why more people aren't afraid of the reality of her becoming president.  Let's face the facts, McCain is in his 70's (72 I believe) which would make him the oldest president to hold office, and on top of that, he's had 4 bouts with cancer!  Lets get real folks, when it comes to the McCain/Palin ticket the VP choice holds a lot of potential impact for every single American.  Yes, she can deliver a speech, but seriously think about who you would be electing.  You're talking about someone who has lied consistently about her "Bridge to Nowhere", someone who's undergoing an investigation in her state over abusing her power as a governor, and somrone who hired a federal lobbyist when she took office as governor to begin taking the Federal Government for as much money as she could possibly get.  And despite the factual evidence supporting all these claims except the abuse of power, she lies to the American Public straight-faced and says it never happened!  How stupid does she think the American public is?  Apparently she doesn't think very highly of the "peasants" who eek through life with only 1 home or less.  

He was for it, before he was against it...

Today's big headlines are about how outraged the McCain camp is about Barack Obama using a somewhat common analogy in the political world; "You can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig. According to multiple source, including the L.A. Times, McCain even used this analogy himself when speaking of Mrs. Clinton's Healthcare plan. "I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig."

Funny how McCain can use the same phrase, almost verbatim, and get away with it, but now that Obama used it, there's an uproar. More of the same from the far right wingnuts.

Caught in another lie

Despite the fact that McCain says we'll all be paying more taxes under Obama, its completely untrue. Or maybe he's just preaching to his base, you know the middle class Americans that make a meager 4 million a year. Read this article from BusinessWeek for the real story. Click Here.

Lobbyist ties...

CNN has a great article fact checking the lobbyist ties to both Candidates right now, you can check it out here. I don't know about you, but even if there are questions about potential ties to Biden, I'd still rather chose the ticket that doesn't have any ties to our future president (even if there may be for his VP) than the campaign that has 7 tied to the Presidential Nominee. Keep in mind the president is the one who runs the show, not the VP so who's more likely to bring about change with Washington special interests? The guy who's VP may have ties, or the guy who actually has 7 strong ties within his inner-circle of his campaign?

The Reformed Maverick

In light of the completion of the RNC, I thought I'd share this.

On a positive note

This almost perfectly sums up why I am making the choice to vote for Obama.  Its so easy to get caught up in all the lies that are thrown out there, but beneath it all I feel so humbled by the fact that we as an American people can humble ourselves to try and bring about change.  Also, Barack has been so humble about his position in today's changes, and that he knows the limit of his own capacity but has limitless faith in the American people.  Make fun of me all you want, but I will gladly maintain my position of being hopeful rather than just giving up and forfeiting my ability to really try and bring about any sort of change for myself, or more importantly, my children.

Fact Check Please!

ABC News was kind enough to give a a fact check on Palin's Speech last night. Not as peachy-keen as it was last night when you know the truth.

Wayyyy too good not to share

Real Maverick-y

MSNBC just published a report, apparently the key witness in the investigation over whether or not Palin abused her power as Governor to fire a state trooper has mysteriously changed his mind about testifying in the investigation. And somehow we're supposed to believe that she's a reformer, and that she's not part of the D.C. culture?

Just 1 example, please...

Actually Tucker, I hate to break it to you, but on a factual basis, when the National Guard is active duty their orders come from the Pentagon to be deployed to Iraq. Now seeing as how the Alaska National Guard has been in an active status since before Palin took office, it would make sense why you can't seem to find even 1 example of a decision she's made. Because all the decisions have been made by the Pentagon.

Who buys this crap?

Two observations:

1) Its absolutely hilarious to hear Romney mention that Washinton Liberals are clueless when it comes to the economy.  Afterall, its not like the past 8 years have consisted of Bush's far right economic policies that have gotten us to the place we're at currently.  Afterall, it was those crazy liberals that Bush inherited the multi-billion dollar budget surplus from, just to squander it in 8 short years and now we stand with a multi-trillion dollar deficit that our children will end up paying.  But Romney's prescription for change is to elect McCain/Palin, because somehow the people who continue to support the policies that converted a budget surplus to a massive deficit will change our economic status?  Right wing logic plain and simple for you.

2) He did get one thing right, America's people are its greatest source of strength, BUT what he forgot to mention is that the economic policies that the Republicans in power have been supporting are tax incentives for companies who outsource their jobs to foreign countries like China and India!  But for some reason he forgot to mention that policies that he supports are counter productive to creating American jobs, selective memory is a tricky thing.

"Most qualified? No."

Courtesy of former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former McCain strategist Mike Muprhy. 

Well at least we know that its not just the "big bad media" and "the crazy leftists" that understand that Palin's nomination was one of the biggest blunders judgement-inept Republican Nominee could have made.

Finally somebody said it!

And set those crazy right wing nuts straight! Boston Globe said, "Questioning Sarah Palin's credentials to be vice president isn't automatically sexist, any more than it is automatically racist to question Barack Obama's readiness to be president." 

I cannot begin to explain how infuriating it is to see the far right say that anyone who questions Palin's record is degrading all women.  Bullshit!  This is the same rhetoric that was used by the far right when we first invaded Iraq, which I was completely against from the beginning.  I remember having a debate at a Christmas party with some very extended family about the mistake we were making and I was told by a majority of my opponents that if I didn't support Bush that I was not patriotic and I needed, "to get out of this country".  Unfortunately things haven't changed and those old dogs apparently don't have any new tricks.  Now keep in mind that as much as I would LOVE to gloat about how I was right about the Iraq War, and George Bush for that matter, I've moved past it and haven't brought up that conversation.  But I guess that's the difference between most on the Left and most on the Right...the right are generally self-absorbent, pompous, asses who always need that validation that they were right, even if it means denying all factual evidence.  Whereas, most people on the Left probably wish that we weren't right and that the war, and Palin's nomination, weren't such a mess because our lives would probably be better if we were wrong...but that's just not reality and unfortunately we're completely fucked because of these stupid aristocrats who continue to smile to your face stab you in the back.

Too funny not to share

Too good not to share

Thanks again Daily Kos for showing us just how far the far right is willing to go to win an election.

Worst decision ever...but that's to be expected from the Right

Why going to the ER, isn't the same thing as having health insurance

Educate yourself....this posting from Daily Kos has links to the sources where they get their information, so good luck disputing this one McCainiacs Click Here

A good laugh to start off the weekend

Damn...I forgot

According to MSNBC this morning, McCain can't seem to remember how many houses he and his wealthy wife Cindy actually own. While some may say this isn't necessarily politically related, it definitely makes you think...if McCain's memory is so poor that he can't even remember how many homes he owns, then how can we expect him to run this country? His memory has been proven to be his own worst enemy throughout his bid for president, even a quick search on YouTube will show him saying things in interviews then a few months later completely contradicting his earlier statement and insisting that he never said that! So what good are all those years of experience really, if you can't even remember them or what you learned from them?

Universal Healthcare

So I just had a thought about Mr. McCain and how a few months ago he stated that President Bush was right to veto a bill that would have provided healthcare to America's youth. McCain stated the reasoning being that we really couldn't afford to pay for it. After doing some research, I came across some figures, and according to The L.A. Times the war currently costs us about $8.4 billion a month. How about we get the f*ck out of there and take the $100 billion a year we would be spending in Iraq and stop denying our children such basic human rights such as the right to receive medical attention when needed?? On a secondary note CNN reports that Iraq may have up to a $80 billion surplus this year, and Iraq's government has already stated that they would like to see U.S. troops begin withdrawl. So how does any of this make any logical sense for the average American tax payer? It doesn't. But this just goes to show you who McCain has in mind for his presidency when he talks about how we need to stay up to 100 years and "win" this war, despite the fact that the Iraqi government has already stated they don't want us there, and obviously they don't need us from a financial standpoint. But I suppose if we were to do the logical thing and withdraw, it would cut off the cash flow to all the people who are trying to buy McCain's way into the White House...and that would be an awful shame now wouldn't it?

In the spirit of the Olympics

Senator Charles Schumer of New York weighed in on the performance of the Bush Administration:

"If this administration were competing in the "bad economic policy" Olympics, they'd receive four gold medals today. Inflation jumped for the third straight month, weekly paychecks are smaller, more workers are filing jobless claims, and home foreclosures continue to put more families on the economic edge. It is long past time for this administration to help families and workers compete in a stagnating economic environment - economic stimulus should be at the top of the agenda before this administration throws in the towel."

Great, Great, Great new ad!

Check it

Oh the world we live in these days...

"In the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations." Says the guy who not only voted for the war in Iraq, but also wants us to occupy that foreign country for potentially the next 100 years. I still don't think McCain has any idea of what YouTube is, if he did maybe he wouldn't be contradicting himself every time we blink an eye.

Need I say more?

Can I get an amen??

Corruption...

I've realized more and more with each year that passes that there's essentially no difference between the corruption that goes on within our government and any other government that exists in today's world; including Cuba. The only difference is that up until recently, our government did a better job of covering it up. Fortunately, the people are demanding answers to tough questions, unfortunately I don't believe that justice will ever be served and the entire Bush Administration will freely go on their way with no accountability for past wrong doings.


Source: NYT

Why Obama made the right decision with Public Financing...

Read...


Courtesy of the SF Gate

Read McCain's lips, NO NEW TAXES! riiiight...

Here's a nice little fact I found today that I thought I would share with you all...despite the fact that Mr. McCain seems to think that Obama's Fiscal plan will be breaking the middle class' piggy bank.

In a study of the candidates' plans made public Wednesday, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concluded that in contrast to Mr. McCain, "Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers."

And it just keeps going...

John McCain said earlier today in a statement that the courts ruling on the right of due process and trials for tortured prisoners of Guantanamo Bay is, “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.” I mean, why should they have any rights, right? They're our POW's and all's fair in love and war, unless one of our soldiers is tortured. It never ceases to amaze me that somehow when our soldiers are tortured, there will inevitably be a war crimes trial held, but when the U.S. tortures our POW's...well there's no problem with that! More Orwellian language from the far Right! Its like when the discussion of waterboarding was going around and someone in congress, I don't remember who exactly, said that they did not consider waterboarding torture, unless it was done to them.

Facelift on its way...

For any that have come by, and plan on revisiting just know that I plan on giving this rather plain blogger a facelift.  The only problem is that it may take a little bit of time, seeing as how I'm rather busy it will just take some time.  So bear with me in the mean time!

Bill O'Reilly's at it again...

Here's the latest from one of the highest rated "journalists" on the Fox "News" Network:

While discussing ninth-grade students at a school in New Jersey who were suspended for distributing topless photographs of their classmates, Bill O'Reilly stated, "But it's an amazing amount of kids involved with this --20-- in an affluent school district.  This isn't, you know, the inner city; you would think that these kids would have some kind of a values system."

Of Course!  How could I forget that all kids who grow up in the inner city are completely devoid of any sort of values system at all.  But at least you can always count on Fox News, and more importantly, the far right's logic to always be Fair and Balanced...right?

On second thought...

For those who have the time...just read the whole thing. Its a bit lengthy but extremely worth the read http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/11/54116/8362

This comes courtesy of the blog DailyKOs:

So here's my gentle question for Rep. Boren. Let's just suppose that he was right, and Obama really was "the most liberal senator" in the entire Democratic contingent -- a term magically conferred by conservatives on whatever figure wins the nomination, election after election, while hyper-mega-death-penalty-mocking-war-humping-salmon-punching-archconservative Republicans magically turn into "moderates", using those same conservatives' exact same terribly objective calculations for such things.
So let's just stipulate that someone might be "the most liberal" senator. My question for Rep. Boren, and for his Oklahoma constituents, is this: so what? So what if someone is a "liberal"?
What exactly are you afraid of?
What, will he start some wars? Will the economy go to hell? Will gasoline suddenly cost four bucks a gallon, so that getting from one end of town to the other starts to be something you have to plan for in your family budget? Oh, wait, no -- that's what conservatism has wrought. So what big, scary menace will "liberalism" rain down upon us all?
The horror of free public education? The apocalypse of affordable healthcare for families and the elderly? An energy policy that consists of something other than "hell, let's just sit on our asses and see what happens"? My God, maybe we'll have a foreign policy that doesn't revolve around sucking thousands of dollars out of your constituents' pockets, lighting all that money on fire, and using the pyre to make super-special Democracy Smores in the middle of the Iraqi desert?
What, are we afraid less American soldiers will die? That our trade deficit will be, if not reversed, at least addressed? Are Oklahomans all huddled in their closets, lest some of the now-legions of outsourced jobs start reappearing in their towns? What? What is it that is so absolutely alarming about the word "liberal" that you'd rather stomach having everything that's happened to America for the past decade continue, rather than being seen as someone who might secretly have tolerance for, shudder, that word?


What the hell is wrong with this country? Forget Cancer, apathy is the national disease.