More on Obama and Warren

The Obama-Warren issue has totally gone viral. There isn't a site, now, not addressing it, a talk show not variously talking about it, a radio or television news program without some meme on it, and were I working, I cannot imagine a water cooler discussion excluding it.

Nonetheless, I want to address it, again, from a different point of view.

*****

Those of you who are regular readers know how strongly I feel about the topic of theocracy and how bright a line I believe there should be between government and religion despite the fact that I am a strong Episcopalian. And yes, I am extremely liberal in almost all ways. And yes, I am devoted to the right of lgbt folks to marry and for all people to have equal rights. I am also a huge advocate of the First Amendment.

On the matter of Warren and Obama, Obama has the perfect right to do as he will. That right carries consequence with it. Nothing about Obama gives him any sort of "free pass" to escape criticism from me or anyone else on this or any other topic.

As I stated yesterday in my blog post, Obama's choice of Saddleback (mega)Church pastor Rick Warren (Warren describes them as friends) to give the inaugural invocation appears to be a political move. And a bad one. In fact, it might be the worst decision Obama has made, to date.

Many folks--lgbt folks included--have stated that Obama is a "bring everyone to the table kind of guy" and that this somehow makes Warren's appearance at the inaugural okay. Well, that's great for a buffet. It isn't palatable when it comes to equal rights.

Am I supposed to somehow support giving someone that doesn't believe in equal rights a place at the political table? Well, am I?

If Rick Warren shows up at my door asking for food, he'll get it. If Rick Warren shows up at my door advocating against lgbt marriage, he'll get a dressing-down from me. I can and do separate Christian charity from political street talk. Apparently, Obama cannot.

The inaugural is a POLITICAL and constitutional event, not a religious get together, issue forum or a debate. And while many of us will not like everything Obama does--and the people he appoints to political positions--this isn't about that. The objection to Warren is about his basic opposition, from a Biblical perspective, to equal rights and the fact that our president-elect is embracing this person at a political event of unequaled precedence. It is also about the hateful language he has used to describe and compare lgbt folks to we not.

If McCain did this, people would be enraged. Oops. In fact they were enraged over McCain's embrace of the wacky theocrat and San Antonio megachurch pastor John Haggee. So much so, in fact, that McCain finally distanced himself from the uber right Christian Haggee.

If you read the above link to Politico's piece, you will notice that the dems took McCain to task for his relationship with Haggee. Understandable. So now, somehow, we are supposed to look the other way with democrat Obama and his relationship with Warren?

I will have none of that hypocrisy.

*****

So, we wonder, what exactly was Obama trying to accomplish in inviting Warren? Some have suggested--and I disagree with this--that he is interested in the image. The right wing evangelical, popular author, and megachurch pastor praying for the president. Surely Obama realizes that while Warren has millions of fans, his invocation won't sway people to Obama. That is just plain stupid.

Is it that Obama wants to show that he can work with people he is not in total harmony with? That might be a possibility, though some of his recent cabinet nominees surely have sent this word out already. Many are very hard line hawks when it comes to war, and have been, at best, mediocre on issues important to us all like clean food, water and air. Obama's nomination of Salazar to Interior almost couldn't be worse.

So we get it. You can and are reaching across the isle. WAY across in some cases.

No, I think this is personal. I think Obama genuinely believes this is a good decision and that he likes most of Warren. This is troubling.

Obama's not gay. He does not understand lgbt issues and he doesn't understand the fight. There is just NO way to equate the civil rights fight of African Americans to that of the lgbt community. I have said this a bazillion times. This makes a bazillion and one. They are different fights. Yes, they can sometimes look the same.

The Los Angeles Times had this to say about it tonight:

In a written statement Thursday, Warren commended Obama "for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn't agree on every issue, to offer the invocation."

Warren continued: "Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America." [my emphasis]

Obama opposed Proposition 8 even though he, like Warren, opposes same-sex marriages. Aides said earlier this year that Obama believes state constitutional amendments such as Proposition 8 can threaten the legality of same-sex civil unions, which Obama supports.

Obama said that he had been invited to speak at Warren's church in recent years despite the pastor's "awareness that I have views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues about abortion."

"That dialogue is what my campaign was all about," Obama said. "The magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated. And so that's the spirit in which we have put together what I think will be a terrific inauguration."

*****

Let's think a bit about the term "model civility" in several contexts.

Picture the KKK in suits and ties. They plant the burning cross on a front yard of a black family, then ask the residents to come out and have a chat over some ice cream and cake.

The torturers carefully place the tortured and emaciated guest of honor at the cloth-lined dinner table. It's pork, of course, and the tortured is an Orthodox Jew.

The Host wafers are respectfully and gently cradled in hands and respectfully set atop the leftover spaghetti and other "bread" in the garbage can.

These are civil approaches to actions that are each horribly reprehensible. Does that make them nicer or more acceptable?

If you look at what Warren has said and done, and the way he does it, the above are tantamount to his approach on lgbt issues. He has friends that are gay. Gosh, he has had dinner at their house! He is not a homophobe. He fights AIDS (like that is just a gay issue? Did I miss something?) in Africa and has given a lot of money to the cause (and yeah, he palled around with some Anglican Communion folks there that advocate violence... but hey, it's "civil" and we work together in our differences, right?).

*****

There is simply NO escaping Obama's screw-up and I don't care what one believes or what party one identifies with.

Yes, we must work together. Obama can work with theocrat Warren all he likes.

But having a bigot give the introductory prayer at a political inauguration is beyond the pale.

Some Neat-O Stuff! Fun + Nobel Endorsements for The O

Susan Russell has a great vid over at An Inch At A Time, well worth watching and it will make you smile.

Here is Dr. Gellman, a US Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1969 in Physics), reading a letter from 76 other U.S. Nobel winners in physics, chemistry and physiology and medicine endorsing Obama (2:50). By the way, the prestigious Nature magazine also endorsed Obama, the first endorsement of a president they have ever made.

Think this election is important to scientists?



This is a fun You Tube Video on John McCain, "Friends":



And this is JUST amazing! Two Canadian radio show hosts pretended they were the French President... and Palin responds! TOO FUNNY. How this happened is just a giant question!



And Politico has this coverage of the call.

Quote of the Day: FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR...

Sarah Palin has become the poster child for hypocrisy. Her repeated branding of Obama as a socialist, a taxer, a big spender, a radical and so on were intended to do exactly what? Would that be to make people fearful of the charismatic mixed-race Obama do you suppose?

With that in mind, here is a Palin quote from a campaign stop in Florida:

“We’ll also keep our defining commitments to our senior citizens. Barack Obama goes around promising a new kind of politics, but then he comes here to Florida and he tries to exploit the fears and the worries about Social Security and Medicare to our retirees and that is the oldest and cheapest kind of politics there is.” Palin said.
--Fox News 'Embed', November 1, 2008

*****

The most characteristic oddity of this is that Palin, once again (or should I say 'as usual'?), has tipped truth on it's head. Indeed, it is actually John McCain who has several times said he wants to privatize social security in fact attacking the very basis of the system which is that younger people pay for the older retirees--just as it always has been, and as the system was designed.

Here is what McCain has said:

On the privatization of accounts, which you just mentioned, I would like to respond to that. I want young workers to be able to, if they choose, to take part of their own money which is their taxes and put it in an account which has their name on it. Now, that's a voluntary thing, it's for younger people, it would not affect any present-day retirees or the system as necessary. So let's describe it for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That's why it's broken, that's why we can fix it. [Emphasis added.] --MotherJones.com, July 9, 2008

Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed. --MotherJones.com, July 8, 2008

Asked about the apparent change in position in the interview, Sen. McCain said he hadn't made one. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts," he says. When reminded that his Web site says something different, he says he will change the Web site. (As of Sunday night, he hadn't.) "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed." --Wall Street Journal Online, March 3 2008

So is John, um, just confused again, or is he flipping like a pancake once more? You be the judge:

New 30 Sec Add... WOW

This add is from a 527 group, ourgreatestfear.org. Whew! Boy, the visuals here are very powerful.

McCain Goes After Obama's Fund Raising + Other Nifty Stuff

Barack Obama has raised a TON of money, no question. And every time the pubs open their mouths these days, he raises more.

The choice of Sarah Palin by McCain for VP probably spurred millions of dollars of donations for Obama. Seen as a terrible threat given McCain's age--let alone her lack of qualifications and strident neocon views on everything from the environment to foreign affairs--I know it certainly has been driving my wee wallet.

Obama raised over $250 million as of June, 2008. In September 2008, after both the democratic and republican conventions, Obama hauled in a record-breaking single month of donation: $150 million.

Federal law requires that campaigns disclose donations of over $200.00 from small donors. It does NOT require the reporting of names for these small donors. I think most of we small donors really appreciate that, I know I do.

Obama's television add spending--in line with the DNC's 50 state approach:

Based on his current spending, CMAG predicts Mr. Obama’s general election advertising campaign will surpass the $188 million Mr. Bush spent in his 2004 campaign by early next week. Mr. McCain has spent $91 million on advertising since he clinched his party’s nomination, several months before Mr. Obama clinched his.
--The New York Times, 10-17-2008

It's no wonder McCain is whining and almost tripping himself on accusations these days given the original underdog is now winning, thanks to his platform. Here is what McCain said today on Fox News Sunday (transcript):

And finally, there's $200 million of those campaign contributions — there's no record. They're not reported. You can report online now — $200 million that — that we don't know where the money came from — a lot of strange things going on in this campaign.

Cry me a river, John McCain. Obama's campaign outsmarted you, and out fund-raised you. Why? Because he's got a better plan, a better message, and better campaign staff.

And those (spooky music) 'strange things going on in his campaign'? It's called Americans like him better than you. Hard to accept, I know, John.

You are in the first stage of grief, John, which includes denial, but are also integrating stages two and three, including anger which people seem to see in you all the time. Your personality is uneven and you are unable to control your emotions as your facial expressions exhibited in the last debate:

1. SHOCK & DENIAL-
You will probably react to learning of the loss with numbed disbelief. You may deny the reality of the loss at some level, in order to avoid the pain. Shock provides emotional protection from being overwhelmed all at once. This may last for weeks.

2. PAIN & GUILT-
As the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of unbelievable pain. Although excruciating and almost unbearable, it is important that you experience the pain fully, and not hide it, avoid it or escape from it with alcohol or drugs.

You may have guilty feelings or remorse over things you did or didn't do with your loved one. Life feels chaotic and scary during this phase.

3. ANGER & BARGAINING-
Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay unwarranted blame for the death on someone else. Please try to control this, as permanent damage to your relationships may result. This is a time for the release of bottled up emotion.

You may rail against fate, questioning "Why me?" You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair ("I will never drink again if you just bring him back")

One of the things I find incredible is that any Republican, knowing that money controls campaigns and successful outcomes, and given Bush's campaign funding history, would have the temerity to knock Obama on this point. Hey, republicans, look at it this way: We took a page from your book, changed it a little, and used it against you. I hope you can adjust.

The other little factoid is this: The public didn't put their money behind your 'gal' (her words), just their anger. Even the GOP doesn't like you much, John. Those right wing, homophobic, sometimes racist attack-everyone-on-the-planet types love ya though. I guess there are not that many of them, and apparently, they don't donate. No surprise there.

I think you could take Palin-speak advice on this point: They don't like to 'spread their money around'. Talk to your wife, John. She's got bucks, and a bunch of homes, and spends over $270K annually just for domestic help. Maybe she'll loan ya a few bucks.

The dems didn't take it easy this time... they were prepared to kick the pants of the GOP. 16 days until we know if that paid off not only for Obama, but for down ticket dems, as well.

*****

You know, while Sarah Palin has lived in a media vacuum since her nomination, Obama has been out there now for two full years against one of the best of the best for most of that time, Hillary Clinton. Anyone that can't figure out who Obama is needs to blame themselves or perhaps their favorite right wing radio host, TV station or even, perhaps, their church. But don't blame the media and don't blame Obama.

While the McCain campaign dares say that 'something is funny' with Obama's campaign, Palin has been dodging the truth since nominated, and, actually, long before. Using private e-mail accounts on Yahoo to do official business--as Rove does, and has--she attempted to keep her personal communications out of the line of fire from public records requests and public scrutiny.

After an Alaska court recently ordered that those e-mails (and those of her staff who have also been using private accounts) be preserved, and media requested the information, Alaska has now informed them that it will cost $15 MILLION dollars for them. ROFL. What a massive fraud on the public and media. Gads.

Had Palin conducted her business on the up-and-up (read legally) it would be so much cheaper. This is the famous Sarah Palin's real-life version of honesty, integrity, transparency and reform. She is a Maverick, though. No one else has ever tried such a stunt.

I use the CA Open Records Act all the time for information and I know just how valuable a tool it is for the public. I have likewise use the federal Freedom of Information Act on many occasions, including their appeals process. The media should never be denied access regardless of right, left or center and neither should the public.

Yet McCain/Palin scream, accuse, yell and whine that Obama should reveal every single point of every single contention. What hypocrisy.

A recent comment by the whack-job Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachman who said that Obama is anti-America, says liberals in Congress should be investigated for their Anti-American stands...and invoked McCarthyism at its finest likewise suggests that every jot and tittle be covered by Obama when the BIG stuff is being hidden by McCain/Palin. In case you have not seen her diatribe, watch this... it is actually super scary but you really should experience what a Palin look/act alike says when not on the national ticket. The anti-American nonsense (which she implies is characteristic to ALL liberals) begins at about 4:00:

Turning an ACORN Into a Political Oak Tree

I know a bit about acorns and oak trees. I live under three California live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and have for about 35 years. Were it not pretty black outside, I would take a picture of my pride and joy, one that is about 1,000 years old. It's a beaut and is treated with great respect.

When I had to get a permit for working on the house, they had to hand-write mine. They told me they had no box to check or anything else to explain downsizing a home and, in fact, the 30 year planner told me he had never done it before. Chuckle.

Twice we downsized to save our oak. We either had to cut the tree, or move our home and its structure back to save it and our home. Twice we have done the latter, the more recent giving the tree perhaps another 100 years of growth before the oak protections we are working on will guarantee its survival. I will be dead, then, but I fully intend to be watching over this tree even so. And God help the person that attempts to destroy it.

You can imagine my discussions with the property tax assessment department on the change of square feet. Our house is small to begin with... and getting smaller. They actually raised my property taxes getting all the math wrong because they haven't done it before. Two hours and countless documents later, I have them (currently) at a draw. Wait until they get my recession-based appeal to my tax assessment. Won't be pretty.

When the santana winds come in their full threatening force (we get well above hurricane force winds here every fall), the rattle of falling acorns on any solid matter is deafening at 3am.

That is exactly the sound you are hearing upon the GOP defensive armor right about now. Trouble is, they are using the opportunity to call them ballot-box nukes. You know... the Rovian thing. Up is down, black is white, registration fraud is voter fraud...

This is the sound of potential new growth pounding on the GOP's well deserved failure to thrive.

*****

ACORN is a group that seeks, in the usual sense, to promote issues. Why not let ACORN speak for themselves?



So let's get to the claim of voter fraud by ACORN, as suggested by McCain and the GOP [and in the larger sense the main stream media (MSM)] which doesn't seem to be able or perhaps willing to discern much of anything right now out of the way because it is a factual non-issue.

ACORN paid workers to register voters. Clearly, some workers either falsified registrations--in some cases many--or looked the other way when registering voters did. Not a good situation but NOT voter fraud. Voter fraud is defined in this way:

By legal definition, to commit voter fraud means a person would have to present some kind of documentation at the polls — a driver’s license, a phone bill or another form of ID — that bears the name of Mickey Mouse, for example. To do so risks a fine and imprisonment under state laws. [my emphasis]
--BostonHerald.com, 10-17-08

This doesn't excuse fraudulent registration. It's still a crime. Fraudulent registration, however, merely falsely and fraudulently inflates the roles of registered voters. It inflates the porcupine. It doesn't mean the porcupine votes twice or two hundred times or two thousand times. The porcupine can vote one time. And heaven knows, the GOP doesn't like porcupines or (apparently) any other species.

Let me give you an example.

Someone submits a registration form under the name of George Wellworn Bush. In that registration they submit an address, as well. If the local board of registration accepts such a registration, George Wellworn Bush has to go to the polls with legal ID to vote (under current law, there are strict ID parameters for this where prior to 911, legal ID was much less stringent) and the ID has to have the same address as the registration. So someone desiring to commit voter fraud has to actually have a picture ID (Driver's license, current passport, etc... something with a picture of the few things legally allowable) with a false address on it. Likewise with the various Mikey Mouse and Donald Duck registrations actually submitted or the registrations with every names of the Dallas Cowboys, each registered in Nevada.

Are you getting the picture? (sorry for the pun)

Here is one assessment of the threat:

"It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than he will impersonate another voter at the polls," the report said.
---BostonHerald.com, 10-17-08

Here's the rub: This is a presidential election, and a contentious one at that. Perhaps the most contentious one ever.

Now, looking back, we should be secure with the fact that both the 2000 election (decided by the Supreme Court, not votes) and the 2004 election (voter manipulation) were FAR, FAR more serious examples of massive fraud, yet those tactics are being repeated in this election NOT by ACORN but by the GOP, the very group attacking false voter registration. They cannot possibly be talking about voter fraud because the vote has not been done, is not finalized, and not tabulated. There has been no voter fraud, provable or not, to date.

DUH.

Nonetheless, both Palin and McCain and others are going after ACORN as if the entire election hinged upon this "community organizing" (recognize that?) group while the GOP cages and strips voter roles in at least seven states with the help of highly paid and well connected generally white guys and gals (to use Palin terms) with important titles like Secretary of State.

And while we are on the topic of Palin and McCain, lets have a look at the history and rhetoric, shall we?

From ACORN:

"We appreciate Senator McCain's effort to stir up the Republican base by attacking a community organization working to increase public participation in our democratic process. However, these attacks reflect an increasingly panicked candidate. Unfortunately, the Senator McCain we saw tonight is very different than the Senator McCain who stood shoulder to shoulder with ACORN at a February 20, 2006 immigration reform event.

It is clear for us to see that John McCain was for ACORN before he was against ACORN; he was for reform before he was against reform; and he was a maverick before he became erratic. What is really going on here is that Senator McCain and his allies are part of a coordinated effort to engage in what appears to be an unprecedented effort to suppress voter turnout. Repeating a lie doesn't make it true, and the McCain campaign has resorted to the worst type of deceptions in regards to ACORN."

Ouch.

ACORN, Ayers... Gee, I can hardly wait until they get to the letter B. What's next, the Better Business Bureau?

And, ever the rapture/dominionist/'world-is-coming-to-an-end-because-of-somebody "Palin"', here's some of what this lost cause had to say:

“Now, Obama says that his only involvement with ACORN was when he represented the group as a lawyer. But what about the training that he provided ACORN in the past and ACORN staff, and his role in past ACORN voter registration efforts,” Palin said. “And then, there’s the two hundred thousand dollars that he got for ACORN when he was on the board of the Woods Fund. And the fact that ACORN endorsed him this year and they’re working pretty hard on his behalf.” --Fox News, 10-17-2008

"The truth is that far-left groups in this country will do anything to help the Obama-Biden Democrats win the White House and maintain their majorities in Congress," Palin says in a fund-raising e-mail.

"The left-wing activist group, ACORN, is now under investigation for voter registration fraud in a number of battleground states... We can't allow leftist groups like ACORN to steal this election." --Kansas City Star, 10-14-2008

"You deserve to know," Palin told thousands surrounding her stage in a suburban community park. "In this election, you're going to be asked to choose between a candidate who will not disavow a group permitting voter fraud and a leader who will not tolerate it."

"This group needs to learn that you here in Ohio won't let them turn the Buckeye state into the acorn state," she told a roaring crowd. --Ohio.com, 10-17-2008

and my all-time favorite (remember Alaska is asking $15 million dollars for copies

of Sarah's illegal yahoo account e-mails under open records act laws!!):

“John [McCain] and I are calling on the Obama campaign to release communications it has had with this group, to do so immediately,” Palin told 24,000 cheering fans at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. --Chicaco Sun Times, 10-17-2008

I swear, when I read that last one I was laughing so hard I just about hurt myself. Oh my dear Lord... such sweet irony.

The bottom line is this: The GOP has, in fact, been attempting to throw voters off the roles because they are scared crapless of the landslide they think is headed their way. There are already illegal caging and voter suppression cases involving the GOP in eight states. In Ohio, the state where the 2004 election was largely lost due to GOP manipulation, they are heading to the Supreme Court to stop the GOP from such nonsense again.

And what does Obama do about all this? Does he attack back? Nope.

Obama stays cool. He has little to hide and less to defend, unlike McCain and Palin.

Ice cool.

One heady controlled due, "that one".

McCain's Non-Vetting has REAL Implications: 'Joe the Plumber' Meets Palins' Problems

John McCain may become the official antonym to the word "vet" as used under this meaning:

2 a: to subject to usually expert appraisal or correction <vet a manuscript> b: to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance <vet the candidates for a position>

It is amazing that the man just cannot get it right, or doesn't care, or has a staff with their head's so completely immersed in the bizarre that self-created media bombs don't even trigger an evacuation notice.

As it turns out, "Joe the Plumber" has a few, um, issues:

1. Joe isn't licensed. Oops.
2. Joe isn't union, and Joe has never completed an apprenticeship program. Tsk, tsk.
3. Joe has a couple of tax leans (big oops).

Joe's claim to fame, of course, was his repeated (and repeated and repeated) mention in last night's debate by John McCain.

As the story goes, Joe was out tossing a football with his kid, and up drives Obama campaigning in his neighborhood. Joe stops tossing the skin and starts asking Obama about his tax plan and the $250K tax line.

Of course, McCain wants to tax Joe, and give relief to the extremely wealthy. Nothing new there. I'm sure the Wall Street gang and the wealthy CEOs expect nothing less. But this isn't something McCain readily admits.

Obama, on the other hand, doesn't increase taxes one penny for those making $249,999.99/year. Apparently, Joe doesn't think that if he makes that much he should pay taxes either. Heck, apparently, he doesn't pay his taxes now.

We all know the old story... the more you make, the less you feel you owe. And as McCain said last night, Obama wants to tax those above $250,000.00 and spread it around. One can only wonder what McCain thinks he have been doing historically.

I pay taxes, you pay taxes and yes they get spread around. Alaska doesn't contribute one nickel to the feds, but they get earmarks [c/o Palin and Alaska Senators. In fact, AK just got some more oink bucks from the bailout c/o Alaska Sen. Don Young (Section 504 of the bill). BTW, section 504 basically gives settlement moneys from the pro-oil drilling, benefit receiving, welfare state of Alaska Exxon Valdez spill via income averaging].

I guess Sarah is right. Paying taxes really isn't patriotic since she and Young tend to take, but never give. In light of her AIP support, shucks it fits. Yup, yup.

Obama wants the folks making that $250K and above to increasingly (with increased income) to pay more money to spread around.

I don't see the problem. This problem does bother me though:

First, McCain doesn't vet Palin, or at least he/his campaign did a nasty job of it if they did. Even some in his own party say that the pick was selfish and put the country at risk through his own ambition. Add me to that list from the liberal/progressive side. Her intelligence, her history, her affiliations and her lack of background on issues scares the hell out of me.

And I absolutely despise her environmental stands and buddy, she ain't no hunter of wolves. She approves wolf slaughter, not hunting. At a projected $1.2 million net worth, she and Todd are hardly middle class. Yet to listen to her, she seems to suggest she is. If $1.2 million net worth is middle class, then I just dropped seriously into the destitute class.

Nor is she a subsistence hunter of caribou or moose. If she would forgo hunting, and likewise the profit-making hunters who drive the expedition hunters, perhaps a few wolves could be saved. But heck, she loves her sport and hates wildlife as her record clearly shows. She's a liar and an inciter, and clearly her campaign stops show that.

Second, McCain's campaign did lie in saying that Palin cleared the FBI. The FBI doesn't vet candidates except for security clearances, and the FBI eventually said they did not vet Palin.

I still insist (and have insisted since I commented on it on 9/14), in fact, that both Palin's (because of their activities in the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, AIP--Todd being a member for 7 years, and Sarah's close affiliation--and because of this party's affiliation with other national groups, including some hate groups and racist groups) could likely be on the National Terrorist Watch List.

Wouldn't that just be a kick? Our VP candidate and/or her snowmobiling 'first dude' ( I have to say, the name disgusts me), the inanely stupid hockey mom guilty of ethics violations as Alaska Gov and her hubby tied at the political money-grubbing hip on the U.S. Terrorist Watch List?

Well, apparently, someone else finally got it too:

A charitable characterization of AIP might be "quirky down-home Alaska politics." However, the security processes that govern access to our defense and national security institutions might not look so kindly on Todd Palin's past political associations. Indeed, if Todd Palin were applying for a job in the US government or at a contractor that required access to sensitive classified information -- a security clearance -- he would very likely be ineligible.
--Huffington Post, 10/15/2008

Yeah, it's true. A month after I observed the clear problem with national security, the Huff brought it up. Yeah. Someone at least is doing their homework, albeit pretty late.

I mean hey, if Nelson Mandella was on it (and it took an act of Congress last July to get him off the list), and if Ted Kennedy was on it because of a similarity in names, heck anyone could be on the list which has now spiraled to over a whopping one million names. If the former US Assistant Attorney General (Justice Department), Jim Robinson, landed on the list in 2008, one really has to wonder how much better this Patriot Act-inspired list has been managed.

*****

Sometimes politics is about throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Palin has a longer stick-life than most though a similar IQ to spaghetti. Joe, unfortunately, has probably had close to his 5 minutes of stick-fame. Outing him as an unlicensed plumber and behind in his taxes just isn't all that great. If he was making a national statement about taxes with liens on his home, then perhaps his IQ, too, is spaghetti like Sarah's.

Hey, it doesn't get more spaghetti than that. And it ain't stickin'.

Read the New York Times on Spaghetti-O Joe.

Photo Credit: Jim Young/Reuters

The Why of What Palin is Doing in Attacking Obama

Much has been said in the last week about the hateful invective continually delivered by Sarah Palin in her campaign stops across the country. She delivers it so cunningly, and so deliberately. Her convention speech reference to "community organizers" gave us a clear picture of her capability to use a scalpel to excise and lay before the public her version of worthy and not, and now we see this applies to evil and terrorism. Palin can elicit strong hate responses, and one can only do that if one can personally connect to the issue themselves.

I have contended--and still hold--that Sarah Palin was chosen as VP to solidify the evangelical vote within the GOP. It was not about attracting the women's vote, though handy she was female. And she has certainly solidified that base. Recent Pew polling (September 9-14, 2008) shows a 10 percent rise in support of McCain by Evangelicals from June 2008 to September 9, 2008.

But Palin has also done something else, as well, and hardly by accident: She is playing on fear, pointing to Obama and saying terrorist in the same sentence. Why? Well consider this Pew chart from 2004:

*****

Now, let's switch gears slightly for a moment to discuss a September 9, 2008 talk given by Jonathan Cohen, Director of Polling, Washington Post. (You tube video in entirety, below.)

According to Cohen (about 16:00), in 2004 terrorism reigned as the issue with voters according to exit polling data. 49% of voters polled indicated this in 2004 election exit polling saying they trusted only George Bush to handle terrorism. 97% of these 49% voted for George Bush. Do the math. That is 48% of the electorate. Bush won against Kerry with 51%, needing only 3% of additional voters (voting on other issues) who did not believe terrorism was the issue to win the election, which he did.

But here is the clincher:

What Cohen says, after this (see point about 17:26), is that "(...) It remains a core GOP belief that they can win on terrorism, and I will get to later McCain's advantage on the issue over Barack Obama..."

Cohen then goes on to cite that as of September 2008, fear of terrorism (domestic) has dropped to almost 1997 levels, levels extent well before 9/11 (19:00), though noting that 2/3 of those polled remain apprehensive about the possibility of another major attack.

Cohen then goes on to show there has been more decoupling between the war on Iraq and the war on terrorism (19:43), noting, nonetheless, that McCain holds a polling advantage on the war on Iraq and on terrorism (21:00), which he says has been a consistent lead... and is a 20 point lead over Obama (this would be part of the post convention polling, which, he suggests, is similar to other polling of late August).

September 9, 2008 Berkeley, CA talk, Jonathan Cohen, Director of Polling, Washington Post.
13:20 about the next 45 days from 9/9/08.

*****

While no one can say for sure what is going on behind the doors of the McCain campaign aside developing scenarios to knock Obama off his game, what people do know is that the McCain campaign, like Obama's, poll constantly. This gives the campaigns information on where they are falling down, where they have a leg up, and can serve as the basis for the tone and issue preference the campaign will set in the immediate and/or long term future. We are talking immediate future now, with 24 days to go.

McCain has nose-dived, is doing poorly in many battleground states, and Palin's favorability ratings have plummeted as well. Obama, depending on the polling, shows a 6 to 11 point national lead, with a commanding number of electoral votes in hand as of today if polling is anywhere near correct.

So, does McCain believe he can harvest votes through Palin's invective about Barrack, using in the same sentence, over and over, Obama and the word terrorist? Of course. Was this just a personal attack? No.

The one area where McCain leads Obama in the polls--and has consistently--is on his credibility and trust on the Iraq war and on terrorism. This is precisely WHY Palin is bringing it up, and why McCain isn't apologizing. It could make or break his presidential bid.

Palin never had to say Obama was of Arab descent. Terrorist and Arab, in the post 9/11 world, go hand in hand and a recent spate of hate crimes against Islamics underlines this, as well as its seeming connection to Palin's rhetoric.

John McCain did correct that notion at one campaign stop--with an audience member accusing Barack of being of Arab descent--but barely. And don't look for other corrections or for Palin to change direction. If it isn't terrorism, it will be another polling vulnerability.

McCain's campaign has rightly come under considerable heat from both the public and media for the oft hate spewing crowd Palin seems to be whipping up for him while he stands doe-eyed behind. And no doubt his campaign is playing from the internet nut playbook which has accused Obama of everything short of being a space alien.

This is nasty politics, but it is politics.

McCain knows he has to pull every single string to hope to unweave the web Obama and his supporters have carefully woven and he, and only he, can make the decision whether a principled loss or an unprincipled stab at winning are more important.

I think we all see what he has concluded.

Biden Addresses Palin's Comments

Yesterday, I posted about the hate spewing from Sarah Palin and its effects on the GOP "crowd" at rallies. It is inappropriate at any level.

This hate is somehow spilling over onto the press--the "third rail"--as well in a sort of "shoot the messenger" approach, complete, in one case, with a racial epithet:

“Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, ‘Sit down, boy’, Milbank wrote.
--Reuters, 10/7/2008

Biden addressed the issue this morning, in a mild way. Too mild for me, but at least someone addressed it:

"This is beyond disappointing, this is wrong," he [Biden] said at a rally in Tampa, Fla. [parens mine]
--Los Angeles Times, 10/8/2008

Media is generally buzzing about the "that one" statement in last night's debate. In this McCain statement, instead of calling Senator Obama by his name, he referred to him as "that one". Rather a nasty slip for McCain, actually. Later, as Obama outstretched his hand to McCain, McCain turned away. Instead, he shook Cindy McCain's hand.

McCain insiders have admitted that their only hope to win the presidency is to go negative indicating the trouble they know--and we see--is upon them. With one more debate to go, and McCain literally struggling to stay afloat far below Obama, McCain is staying home this weekend to reassess his campaign... or so they say. After his lie of suspending his campaign, who knows what he is really doing.

Palin is, in my opinion, now in dangerous waters as she incites hatred among her God-loving supporters.

Photo credit: Sarah Baxter, Washington, from TimesOnLine

Palin Seriously Dissed by AK Newspaper

It would appear that Sarah Palin's elevation to VP nominee has changed just about everything in her home state and folks, they ain't at all happy.

Read it here.

When McCain returns to the Senate and Palin to Alaska, their worlds will not be the same, and Palin, having taken a major, if well deserved, hit may never recover, politically.

Unless Palin pulls a bunny out of her hat on Thursday against Biden, it may, indeed, be over for the McCain/Palin campaign. Their numbers are waning.

Additionally, many top conservatives are calling for Palin to remove herself from the campaign for the good of the country. CBS will be airing, apparently one or possibly two more very embarrassing segments of her interview with Katie Couric/CBS, before Thursday. It cannot get much worse than it was with Couric as it is. However, we are told these segments are as bad or worse.

Here's one!



Um, wow. No one can really say much about that.

Short of bailing out the US, I cannot imagine what McCain can do now to shore up his campaign--especially where Palin is concerned. Palin will be doing some conservative radio shows, but that is not likely to do much of anything. These are the folks likely already voting for her.

It was a roll of the dice. Maybe there is a miracle roll out there of sixes, but right now, it sure doesn't look that way.

McCain Says It Himself: I am Bush! 47 seconds

Get it out!

McCain Bails In Several Ways: Letterman goes Nuts

You really MUST see this entire thing... it is almost minute x minute. McCain is a liar.

McCain was scheduled to be on Letterman's show last night. Having yesterday literally suspended his campaign, including pulling ALL commercials (maybe he finally thinks he should review them before airing them?), he also calls Letterman and says... I am literally flying back to D.C.... gotta get on this bailout thing and fix it.

As it turns out, he is in the studio next door with Katie Couric interviewing WHILE Letterman is on, and Letterman shows the interview...

Hardly on a plane... maybe more like trying to bail out Sarah Palin from her rather disastrous interview with Couric.

Watch what happens... This is just classic. It doesn't get ANY better than this. This is 10 min of Letterman on this issue.

If you want to skip to Letterman talking about McCain not showing up--and the extremely last minute bail of McCain--skip to about 2:25.

HSUS Leg . Fund Endorces Obama!

Alright you dogs and cats... get out and support Obama! Humane Society of the US does!

Tonight, after my EFM class, we were talking about the election and the infamous P word came up. I am a rescuer and have been for many, many years. I was speaking to two died-in-the- wool republicans.

We had a long conversation about Palin's support of aerial wolf hunting and sow and cub bear hunting, likewise.

Two more republicans will not be supporting McSame/Killer Palin!

Animals, unite your humans!

If there is one thing I know for sure, you don't mess with animal lovers, rescuers or animal welfare advocates. They are among the most passionate people on the planet and have very strong views on animals.

I said it when she was announced and I stand by it: The animal welfare/rescue community will not support McSame/Killer Palin. In fact, the most effective campaign add yet was released by Defenders of Wildlife, a 527 group, on aerial wolf slaughter something that Palin not only supports, but spent $400K "educating" the Alaskan public on the issue just prior to the recent initiative vote. Most hunters don't like it either and feel it is very unethical.



Palin also proposed giving $150.00 for the left front foreleg of every freshly killed wolf claiming it was an "incentive".

The Mark of the Feminist, McCain Advisor on Health Care

Palin, falsely branded as a feminist, might best be judged by her actions: She is seen but not heard.

In continuing efforts to keep her away from press that knows more about world affairs and foreign policy--let alone economics--that she does, her "handlers" have again taken the unusual tactic of shutting out the press. Note this is a CBS article, nothing from a progressive journal.

Anyone who has dealt with media knows that there is nothing sweeter than good press, and nothing more devastating than bad press. The Palin approach is to avoid the latter since the former is impossible at least when it comes to issues of the day.

There was an alleged reason (maybe communication was in the wrong astrological house?), as mentioned here in The Atlantic.com.

I just don't know how much more obvious they can be... until, of course today when McSame decided to bow out of the debate on Friday. That is an entirely 'nother post.

When they cannot answer, scream 'sexism'. When you know you are going to get beaten up in a debate, bow out to attend to business. Nevermind that McCain is directly responsible for the anti-regulatory schemes and privatization that has knifed Americans in the back while lifting our wallets. And nevermind that he has 27 lobbyists working for his campaign, including his rove-child, Steve. Nevermind that he lied about lobbying for Freddie (and being paid for it) to its dissolution, lying about his status.

No one in that campaign is able to tell the truth. No one.

*****

I have been meaning to touch upon the issue of health care coming from the McCain camp. More Bizzaro World, from the Dallas Morning News:

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

I don't know what planet Goodman lives on but perhaps he has never HAD to have this kind of intervention as a policy of last resort. But I have.

When I was uninsured and broke my elbow, I went to the emergency. They x-rayed it, confirmed what I already knew, put it in a sling and told me to go see a doctor. I had just lost my job where I didn't have insurance to start with.

For two days, I called every clinic and bone doc in the county. NOT ONE would take payments. So, I let it heal on its own. I had limited movement of that arm for almost one year. I am also a cancer survivor, so just ask yourself how easy I am to insure.

My ex, who has juvenile onset diabetes, cannot even GET insurance. When very ill and in the hospital, they would not have a specialist in to see him because he was uninsured. The treating physician told me this to my face when I asked. He was visibly embarassed, as he should have been even though it was not his fault. I told him--and this was 15 years ago--he should get off his butt and do something about it. My ex cannot possibly be the only one who has experienced this.

The irony is that McCain, married to money, is covered by the Senate's insurance coverage and of course has the ability to pay way beyond that. He cannot be privately insured as he is a four-time cancer patient.

Ironically, his ticket partner, Palin, has a Down's child--meaning, unable to get private insurance there either.

But Goodman goes even farther:

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

Neocon-speak. If you don't like reality, just change the reality.

McCain Cannot Get His Campaign In One Bucket...

If you follow politics, you know (much younger face, much more putrefied brain) Phil Gramm. That smiling face to the right is him pondering deregulation and privatization.

How is your face doin' today? Smiling like he is over the bright and fundamentally sound economy?

Two paragraphs from an online Austrailian Newspaper pretty much get it right, as I see it.

DESPITE trying to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, John McCain is seen by voters as less likely to bring change to Washington than Barack Obama.

Here's Phil Gramm on July 9, 2008, telling us we are whining about the US loss of competitiveness (31 seconds):



So, who the hell is Phil Gramm (for you that don't recognized that well-healed, very right wing GOP name)? Read this from cron.com, the Houston Chronicle (his home-state newspaper), titled Phil Gramm's fingerprints are all over market mess. Elected Texans must have it out for the economy.

Yes, this is the same Phil Gramm that was McCain's Sr. economic advisor (from summer of 2007 until July 18, 2008. Gives an entirely new meaning to the word 'whip') that called Americans 'whiners'. Gramm "stepped down" from his McCain position nine days after calling millions of people whiners though he still advises McCain's campaign, which explains oh so much.

Here's a quote from the article:

Last February, Fortune Magazine called Gramm "McCain's Econ Brain.

"Gramm lost the official title of economic adviser for making an impolitic remark about this being "a nation of whiners." But Gramm's belief in letting speculators do as they please was never an issue. And even after he left the campaign, Gramm had been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary in a McCain administration.

Another Gramm contribution was the "Enron loophole," which prevented federal oversight of Enron's electronic energy trading. Such favors proved very expensive to consumers but profitable to the Gramms. Enron CEO Ken Lay chaired Gramm's 1992 re-election campaign, and wife Wendy Gramm spent years on the Enron board, earning as much as $1.8 million, according to Public Citizen, a consumer advocate.

Golly. He does sound like a brain, doesn't he? Never mind the "impolite remarks". Gramm was out to screw the American people through his failed economic philosophy, and he succeeded. During the Bush administration, he had considerable weight.

McCain hired him, advocated his positions and now has the absolute gall to tell us he has a clue and will "reform" the gov, first saying he was against increased regulatory oversight, then saying he was for it.

And never mind what the "P" said. That would be Rove talking, and she has absolutely nothing to bring to this table absent memorization and she can barely get that right. P inherited a healthy economy in her little town and left them $20million in debt. Yup, she is a Republican alright. Yup, that would be the same Rove that not only developed Bush's positions, he now develops McCains as well, and P's likewise. Rove told her what her positions were, then, as a staff contributor for Fox News, Rove reviewed her fake Hannity interview and his own positions. That's Fox's brand of 'no conflict'. And that's totally Rove.

Gramm also wrote and shepherded laws through congress, while a senator from Texas, advantaging the very kinds of business that we are all concerned about now.

Gramm's wife was on the Board of Directors of the Enron Corporation while he was drafting legislation to advantage Enron and corporations like them.

This is what voting for McCain will do... more of the same, or worse. For now, P (as in pathetic, her rating by the American public plummeting) is being outshined as people actually focus on the issues.

More Campaign News for Today

1. Palin refuses to release e-mails. Wah! Read it here.

2. Wisconsin article covers McCain's campaign efforts to steal votes through errors. Finally! Not just happening here, either. It's going on in at least four other states (notably all of them are key battleground states). Read here.

That has caused consternation of the part of vote

rs around the state. "They're trying to knock me off the rolls," says Beverly Jambois, of Middleton, who complained after she got one of the McCain mailings. "I can't tell you how upsetting it is to me. This is how (McCain tries to) win elections? By disenfranchising voters?"

*****

And coming at the same time that Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a McCain campaign co-chair, launched an aggressive new effort to purge voting rolls, this development is deeply unsettling.

*****

The McCain camp has created serious concerns for Wisconsin voters. Those voters will not be able to trust the Republican nominee or his party unless those concerns are addressed quickly and completely.

3. One minute video from our guy Joe on the campaign trail in Michigan... get em Joe!

4. Obama was in Colorado (so was McCain's liar). Here is a yet unreleased add on John McCain opposing equal wages for woman.

Watch it here.

McCain/Palin Awash in Lobbyist Trouble and Pork

GOP VP candidate Palin has said that the lower 48 doesn't understand Alaska. Yup, yup. She is so very right. So let's embrace her thinking--her life--for a moment, shall we? Let's get to know the independent economic frontier politics of the self-reliant earmarkless, next-best-thing-to-the-Virgin-Mary Palin.

Earmarks, Reform: Yup, Yup.

Recently, there has been a spat about earmarks. It started with the infamous bridge. We now have that settled. She lied.

Reformer Palin has brought a new meaning to the word Maverick and so has McCain.

Palin supported the bridge before it was nixed and when the writing was on the wall, and congress (led by McCain) kept citing the bridge as an example of bizarre earmarks and withdrew its support, she did too... but kept the money. No, she didn't tell them... well you know. We have heard the lie a thousand times now.

Then when that lie wouldn't work, enter McCain. McCain said as Governor of Alaska, population of 670,000 in 2006, Palin asked for no ear marks.

BUUUUUUZ. Sorry, John, wrong answer, but nice try. Your gal Palin was porkin' at the trough.

Here is a list of earmarks specifically requested by Governor Palin in 2008 before her miraculous rapture to the VP position as reformer and Maverick, candidate of "change"--31 earmarks for $197.8 million. Go Sarah! We're lovin' this change!

Okay, so that won't work either. While McCain was talking to the ladies on The View, Sarah was taping an interview with Charlie Gibson (a series of three broadcasts). So, enter Palin to try out yet a new line.

In the last interview with Charlie Gibson, 9/12/08--on the same day that McCain insists she requested no earmarks as governor--Palin insists that earmarks aren't all that bad! As long as those earmarks are up front, no problem. We just need transparency. No back room deals for her! As long as you do it the way she does... 'hey, stuff your earmarks and get out of my face'. Given her love for slaughtering living things, I wouldn't push it. As McCain brags, she can field dress a moose. Apparently a new qualification for the second highest office in the land. Given she hasn't a clue on foreign policy, good that John is makin' stuff up.

Here is what she last said about her earmarks. Go here for the whole transcript of this press interview:

GIBSON: Governor, this year, requested $3.2 million for researching the genetics of harbor seals, money to study the mating habits of crabs. Isn't that exactly the kind of thing that John McCain is objecting to?

PALIN: Those requests, through our research divisions and fish and game and our wildlife departments and our universities, those research requests did come through that system, but wanting it to be in the light of day, not behind closed doors, with lobbyists making deals with Congress to stick things in there under the public radar. That's the abuse that we're going to stop. That's what John McCain has promised over and over for these years and that's what I'm joining him, also, saying, you're right, the abuse of earmarks, it's un-American, it's undemocratic, and it's not going to be accepted in a McCain-Palin administration. Earmark abuse will stop.

And I guess John missed this precious little bit of Palin prognostication:

"The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column.
--LA Times, 9/3/2008

The fact is that the state of Alaska (a welfare state) hauls in more welfare pork dollars per capita than any other state in the union by far. Arizona less than any.

So there you have it. The the snout and butt of the federal pork scheme. Ironically, Palin really is where the lipstick should be (her state is number one) and McCain where the tail should be, and fast becoming the butt of of his running mate's reality.

But McCain picked her cuz gee, that gal is a real reformin' type. She just kicks butt. You know, that aeroplane thing on the intertubes and all and the bridge and everythin'. Yee haw, what a gal!

On Lobbyists: Yup, yup!

Palin doesn't like lobbyists. You know those long Alaska nights have a way of just sort of easin up on the memories of the past. But come spring, new fresh daisies of information come to light. Oops.

Sarah was busy hiring lobbyists who worked in the same firm as now convicted jail-sentenced Abramhoff (who is tied to McCain through hearings, records of the corruption hearings sealed by McCain) to get her little Wasilla 6,000-person town earmarks to the tune of $26.9 million including a rail project (here we go again!) from Wasilla to now-indicted US Alaska Senator Steven's town.

Oh, did I mention Palin was Director of and worked for Sen. Stevens' 527, "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," (no, that is not my humor!) a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors and was a signatory to its incorporation?

Prior to being indicted, Sen. Stevens endorsed Palin for Governor, something she was absolutely thrilled about and bragged about on her Governor's site until, um, he was indicted and even then she stood by him through thick and thin until...

On the day Palin was named VP candidate, Stevens' treasured endorsements vanished from her site. Vanished. Bye-bye. Don't need that there right now. But thanks to the net, you can still see it here.

And speaking of reform, and particularly of lobbyists, let's just talk for a wee moment about Palin's faithful leader, McCain and his take on--or perhaps from--lobbyists. This was released just hours ago. Hardly a lefty rag. You can read the pdf here. McCains awash--snout to butt--in lobbyists. So maybe we should have a future discussion on parasites, because the ol boy sure is awash in them.

A more thorough take (and actually a better net news paper) on his well-known lobbyist problem is here from a few months back. The list of lobby problems and McCain is absolutely endless. Google it, and you will see. My eyes are spinning, and so is my wallet.

Yep, that's our ol' reformer boy! That Maverick son of a gun with sidekick "Yahoo Palin"! Those rough riders gonna bust some butt in Washington alright!

Unfortunately, that butt will be yours and mine.

Finally, an amusing take on what you hear from the hallowed malls of American on the McCain/Palin Ticket and their really nifty version of reform, change and about the (sound of the whip) Mavericks:

So you go my little reform girl! You really are change! What a freaking Maverick! I'm tellin' ya, Palin and McCain just embody the kind of honest reform we need--the integrity this country needs--right now! No more lies, you just get out there and boldly ask for earmarks to study crab mating habits girlfriend! Get it out in the light! We folks from the midwest are behind ya! We really wanna know about crab mating habits! I swear, it's all we talk about! I'm tellin' ya I've never seen anything like this real reform! This is truly amazing! The woman is a true red, white and blue inspiration! McCain is a God for finding this amazing Betsy Ross! McCain knows exactly what we need! He da man!

Oops.