Please make her go away...

First it doesn't appear she has ANY idea that she is a) not the top of the ticket and b) what the positions of the top of her ticket are



Second, she now says that by calling her out on her "negative" campaigning the press is violating her first ammendment rights.

Salon's Glenn Greenwald calls her out

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

According to Palin, what the Founders intended with the First Amendment was that political candidates for the most powerful offices in the country and Governors of states would be free to say whatever they want without being criticized in the newspapers. In the Palin worldview, the First Amendment was meant to ensure that powerful political officials such as herself would not be "attacked" in the papers. Is it even possible to imagine more breathaking ignorance from someone holding high office and running for even higher office?

Rashid Khalidi

Back in my college days I was assigned to write a paper after 9/11 investigating the cause. While others focused on American freedoms being hated by the 'evil doers' my paper focused on the history of western influence in the middle east. To me it was much more important to understand why they hate us than just the mere fact that hate exists. Well my conclusion was basically that while some intentions are/were good and just, often the outcomes were not. I traced the real problem back to the British white papers and the start of establishing an Israeli state (and what should have been the start of establishing a Palestinian state as well). The promise to one people that would displace another group of people.

Well, now the latest attack against Obama is his tie to Rashid Khalidi. I do not know much about Khalidi but I did just read this article he wrote regarding the Palestinian plight. From this article I do not see him as radical or anti-semetic. I think America has lost it's way with the divisive demonizing of the "other".

I recognize that it is human to want to identify your enemies, but I think that a focus on understanding our enemies would serve a much greater purpose and lead to much more favorable results.

Poll

Poll: Obama-Biden 13 points up in national poll
By The Associated Press – 42 minutes ago

THE POLL: CBS-NY Times national poll.

THE NUMBERS: Barack Obama-Joe Biden 52 percent, John McCain-Sarah Palin 39 percent.

OF INTEREST: The Democrats have a 13-point lead when Bob Barr and Ralph Nader are included. Obama-Biden lead by 52-41 if the race is narrowed only to the Democrats and Republicans. More than two-thirds of voters feel Barack Obama could work well with members of the opposing party. More than half say he is prepared for the job of president. And almost half are confident he could handle an international crisis. But more than half of McCain's supporters say they are scared of an Obama presidency. Obama leads McCain by 20 points among those who have already voted.

THE DETAILS: The poll of 1,005 likely voters was taken Oct. 25-29 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Haven't we let fear drive our decisions for the last eight years? How's that worked out for ya?

Wit and Wisdom

This blog is hilarious, I love fiesty old women that have actually learned from their life experiences!!

This is my favorite of all the posts.

My hat’s off to McCain for trying to set the record straight about Obama not being an Arab, but what does it say about his judgment that he handed a live microphone to Ma and Pa Kettle in the first place? I mean what truck and tractor pull was cancelled to make room for that stop on the Straight Talk Express?

I have posted a collection of the crazies at McCain/Palin rallies before but couldn't put the right words together. Thank you, Helen.

Enjoy!

Nice!

Misquote me once, misquote me twice...I'll call you out!

For awhile, critical thinking, was what I felt was one of the main causes of the crazy statements and mis-information being tossed around the "newshole" (my other new favorite word). I have a new word of the day. Comprehend. I now realize that many people do not even understand the concepts, policies and talking points they try to think critically about. Not that I am some genius that really gets it all, but damn if there is some major lack of comprehension of basic (and complicated) ideas going on.

Main Entry: com·pre·hend
Pronunciation: \ˌkäm-pri-ˈhend, -prē-\
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French comprendre, comprehendre, from Latin comprehendere, from com- + prehendere to grasp — more at get
Date: 14th century
1 : to grasp the nature, significance, or meaning of
2 : to contain or hold within a total scope, significance, or amount [philosophy's scope comprehends the truth of everything which man may understand — H. O. Taylor]
3 : to include by construction or implication

Another for the history books.

Denver.

Image found on Huffington Post, courtesy of Getty Images.

A well studied candidate...

Bush endorses Palin/McCain

Well, well, well...

Mr. Greenspan has admitted that the de-regulation (or lack of regulation) on deriritives has largely contributed to this meltdown. He was "shocked" that company heads failed to manage these appropriately on their own.

Full article here

"Greenspan reiterated his ``shocked disbelief'' that financial companies failed to execute sufficient ``surveillance'' on their trading counterparties to prevent surging losses. The ``breakdown'' was clearest in the market where securities firms packaged home mortgages into debt sold on to other investors, he said."

"If a financial institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist."

I think Senetor Bernie Sanders is one of my new favorite politicians. I first saw him on Bill Maher and now he has written this editorial for the Huffington Post. Fantastic read.

From the comments to the article one, SparkyJP, posted the following which I found very interesting:

Marriner S. Eccles, was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1934 1948

In his 1951 memoir Beckoning Frontiers, Eccles detailed what he believed caused the Great Depression.
Our current situation is eerily similar.

Eccles wrote:

"As mass production has to be accompanied by mass consumption, mass consumption, in turn, implies a distribution of wealth " not of existing wealth, but of wealth as it is currently produced " to provide men with buying power equal to the amount of goods and services offered by the nations economic machinery.

Instead of achieving that kind of distribution, a giant suction pump had by 1929-30 drawn into a few hands an increasing portion of currently produced wealth. This served them as capital accumulations. But by taking purchasing power out of the hands of mass consumers, the savers denied to themselves the kind of effective demand for their products that would justify a reinvestment of their capital accumulations in new plants. In consequence, as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped.

A thought on empathy...

So it has been discussed that some are resistant to Obama's tax plan because they see it as a "slippery slope" (as Joe the plumber says). I'm guessing this means that they may benefit now but what happens when they win the lottery? What happens when they get that quarter of a million dollar job they are planning on getting one day? Well, then they sure would regret voting for Obama because their taxes would be 3% higher. So, they are putting themselves in the shoes of the poor millionaires that will be unfairly taxed at a higher rate under Obama.

It makes sense. It's great to feel empathy towards the rich by thinking about your dream of one day becoming rich. But can I ask a favor?

Can you try to direct that empathy towards those with no access to health care? Or to the Iraqi and American troops and families that are dying due to a senseless war? Or to your children's future energy needs? Or to your retirement savings? Or to the unemployed worker that can't afford groceries? Can you try to direct that empathy towards the other 95% of American society (you know, the group you are a part of) instead of the bank account you one day hope to have?

I'm not saying you should give up the hope of one day being in that top 5%, in fact I hope you get there. But the conversation right now should not be about those that are not hurting or the future version of what you hope to someday be. The conversation should be about you, today, right now. And everyone else, today, right now that needs a little help because whatever your hopes are for the future, they are nothing if we don't fix the problems of today. Whatever your political leanings, we have to come together to get ourselves on the right track in regards to energy, finance, security and health care. Then, once we get on track again we can split up if necessary...or maybe we can move forward in conversation instead of wars (class wars, culture wars, political wars, religious wars). Doubtful but heck! I'm still young, I can hope.

Collin Powell

Got thirty minutes?

I highly recommend watching/reading this speech.

A more perfect union

A new picture for the history books...

Image found here

If the election was decided based on music videos...

The GOP agenda

This is a fantastic essay on the current Republican party. To the author, I concur.

Why I Hate Today's Republican Party


The craziness of the current talking points of the McCain campaign make me roll my eyes and shake my head. Hearing responses from their supporters, including the recent one by an actual Congresswoman stating that the media should conduct an investigate to weed out "anti-American" members of the senate and congress, make me want to bury my head in the sand and possibly leave the country. These cannot be the beliefs of a majority of Americans, they just can't be.

Examples (disclaimer: I do not believe ALL McCain supporters are nut jobs but the shear volume of the "fringe" caught on tape lately is enough to at least make understand why so many conservatives are distancing themselves from this campaign):

Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (anyone remember, what was it...oh! McCarthyism)


Crazy McCain/Palin fans:












Then there are the robo calls, the mailers, the racist depiction of Obama on a food stamp surrounded by fried chicken, ribs and watermelon, Obama waffles...and this gem from the National Review. That doesn't include the crazy talk radio guy that claimed Obama was a dictator that had his own flag created because he saw a picture of Obama standing in front of the Ohio flag (which happens to have an "O" on it).

McCain wants corporate tax breaks

According to this article, it's hard to pay less than zero.

"The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005."

What's in a name?

This makes a good point about the name game.



But, like every argument from the McCain campaign, the needle goes both ways. Anyone remember King Hussein of Jordan?

King Hussein I

Against which America?

The idea of someone being "against America" seems to be a hot topic in all campaigns. I have to ask though, which America? During these last few weeks (and really, these last eight years) it has been painfully clear how partisan America has become. This concept of us versus them isn't new but it sure has gained momentum lately. So, the question is a fair one. When you say someone is against "America" which one are you talking about?

For me, the easiest way to answer that is to define what America I am for. I am for an America that believes in equality and opportunity for all. I am for an America that takes care of it's poor, it's elderly, it's sick and it's children. I believe in an America where everyone pays their fair share of taxes. I believe in an America that puts education first. I believe in an America that supports individual entrepreneurs more than corporate entities. I believe in an America that strives to push the limits of science and technology. I believe in an America that promotes free markets but understands that civilization is based upon basic laws and regulations. I believe in an America that honors it's laws, treaties and international alliances. I believe in an America that supports community organizers and others that work for the benefit of others. I believe in an America that holds itself accountable for it's actions. I believe in an America free of racial and social divides. I believe in an America that promotes hope and possibilities.

I am against an America that pushes the poor aside. I am against an America that protects corporate interests before individual rights. I am against an America that supports one belief but not another. I am against an America that fights political wars. I am against an America that would deny a child health care. I am against an America that violates an individuals right to privacy. I am against an America that protects one person against torture but not another. I am against an America that promotes fear and hopelessness. I am against an America that belittles education. I am against an America that does not tolerate those that are different. I am against an America that does not see all people as created equal. I am against an America that believes every man for themselves. I am against an America that does caters to the lowest common denominator without pushing itself to be better.

With that said, when someone goes 'against America' perhaps they are just going against one failing portion of America. Perhaps they are speaking out the same way a parent reprimands their child. Not because they do not believe in them, but because they know they can be better. In my opinion it is far more un-patriotic to never question or go against America than to blindly follow and believe America is not without it's flaws.

The new dirty words, courtesy of the McCain campaign

The McCain campaign has successfully created a new list of supposedly 'dirty' words among it's followers. From reading comments and essays from the right I have noticed the following are now negative.

"Community Organizer"
"voter registration"
"minority votes"
"youth vote"
"Muslim"
"Arab"
"pals"
"sex ed"
"elitist"
"ivy league"
"Pro-life"

Of course, these have always been negative but are also really popular right now:

"Socialist"
"Communist"
"Terrorist"
"Un-American"

And then there are those pesky liberals and their hot words:

"lies"
"deregulation"
"corruption"
"abuse of power"
"ethics violations"
"hope"

Both are now promoting change but personally if for one side, 'change' means that voting, education, diversity and community outreach will now become negative terms; I'll take that other kind that promotes hope, tolerance and unity thank you very much.

The problem with the Ayers connection

The Bill Ayers-Obama connection has been a favorite of the McCain campaign as of late. It has led to hateful, dangerous comments from the crowds ("kill him" , "treason", "terrorist", "off with his head"). It has even led to McCain having to get boo'ed in defending Obama from the crazy assumptions this connection is causing his supporters to make (he's dangerous, he's "Arab"-as if that in itself is some kind of evil). It didn't work for Hillary, yet it's all the McCain campaign seems to have left.

So, here's what I think is the biggest problem (aside from the fact that there is no proof his run-ins with Ayers has made him sympathetic to the Weathermen's cause).
Bill Ayers was an anti-war terrorist.

The problem here is that the McCain campaign is trying to help people link Obama to the terrorists of today. The fundamental, anti-American, Jihad waging suicide bombers that are killing innocent people in the name of God (Allah). The weathermen, on the other hand, were against the political nature of the Vietnam war. There are few today who would argue that the Vietnam war was a good one and that alone is NO EXCUSE for property destruction but the Weathermen's protests were just that, property destruction. They didn't strap bombs to their chest in an attempt to kill anyone sympathetic to the cause they fought against, they destroyed property to make a statement. Is this okay? Absolutely not. Bombs are bad, period. There are better ways to make a statement. Ayers and his Weathermen were stupid using destruction to make a point against the destructive force of political agenda wars. However, they were not trying to execute a race of people, they were not killing women and children, they were not waging war in the name of God.

Helping un-informed people draw a link between the terrorists of today and Obama via a passing association with an anti-war 'terrorist' is dangerous and misleading. It also insults all the other republicans, teachers and community organizers that also worked with Bill Ayers.

I'll end with this analogy. Say I served on a yearbook committee with someone that ended up coming to school and shooting a teacher. If I ran for president would that association be enough to prove that I was somehow closely linked to this crazy gunman? Would it somehow link every other person on the yearbook committee to this guy? No. No, it wouldn't. There is no evidence that Obama and Ayers were anything more than acquaintances, leave it alone. There are already enough reasons for the crazies to assassinate Obama. Can we please try to avoid adding to the list??

Random thought of the day...

Just a random observation in terms of speaking for Americans (which both parties love to attempt) I have noticed the following.

Democrats - Americans need help

Republicans - Americans are scared, angry and fired up

Just a difference in how they see us I guess. Joe six-pack versus [insert name].

Six-degrees to Keith Olbermann

I admit that lately I have been angry. I have been angry that both campaigns have had to get ugly. I have been angry that McCain has decided that close to 100% of his budget would now go towards attack ads that held little credibility (Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright = all been done. We've heard, we've looked into it, we've concluded minimal damage). Of course, being an Obama supporter I have wanted to shout out how crazy it was to play six-degrees-of-barack-obama when you only have to play two-degrees-of-sarah-palin or one-degree-of-john-mccain. But I was mostly just extremely frustrated that McCain-Palin supporters could care less about how ridiculous it was because they were so desperate for something, anything to attack Obama with. You see, I hadn't realized how attacked they had personally been feeling. I hadn't realized that when the 'biased liberal news media' reported all the dirt on McCain and Palin, many people that support her felt the media was attacking them, questioning their intelligence, and otherwise 'shit talking' about someone they admired. I guess I didn't get it because less than five weeks ago most people had never heard of Sarah Palin so I'm not sure how they've become so attached (knowing nothing but the fact she was a woman, mom, had high approval ratings and could tell a joke about lipstick).

When Sarah Palin winks at the TV, she is NOT winking at you. She doesn't know you, she doesn't even know you exist, she is just banking on the likelihood that you're out there and you have become so attached to this six-degrees type theory that you will actually feel like she is winking at you. She is hoping you'll feel that way because as long as you feel that connection, you will feel attacked when you hear all the negative facts about her, because when someone calls your friend a liar you error on the side of your friend. She is hoping that you will feel that connected to her so when she tells you that Obama is a terrorist (in such an informal way she could have followed with, "hey didja know that people love my glasses?!) you'll just believe her because, hey! she winked right at you and only a friend would do that so she must be telling the truth...why would she lie?

Anyway, back to my original point. I was feeling angry but didn't know how to release that anger so I could get back to not feeling angry. Well thanks to my new friend Keith Olbermann (he said "Sarah" so we're friends right?) I feel better and I didn't have to yell at anybody.

The real reason we watched the debate...

Was so that we would get the joke on SNL...

About Dick.

Watch CBS Videos Online

I heart Rachel Maddow

No wonder she is soaring in ratings!

Powerful Obama Speech

It was in the news the other day that a group of men from a Christian college had admitted that they hung a cardboard cutout of Obama in a tree outside the school. It is appalling that racism still exists but it is not something we can remain silent about. It's so hard to discuss the election and hear people say they "just can't" vote for Obama without being able to present a valid reason why. I can list a dozen reasons why I will not vote for McCain and not a single one has to do with the fact that he's an old white guy.

This video is a great response to those that "just can't" vote for Obama.

[sigh]

So, I would imagine that most of Palin's supporters are pro-life. Not that some may not be pro-choice but I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess that most if not all are probably pro-life (since she would council a teenager raped by her father to choose life).

Well, by now most people following the election have read or at least heard of the article conservatist, Kathleen Parker, wrote saying that after the Couric interview Palin should step down.

Since that article came out Parker has apparently been getting hate mail from Palin supporters (no big surprise). In this article she says that one of the things said is that "her mother should have aborted her and left her in a dumpster".

I'm just not sure what the right response is to that statement.