Keeping the Liberals and Republicans on the OUTSIDE

PM gets by with help from Yo-Yo Ma

2009-10-05T10:53:00.002-06:00

Looks like our Prime Minister can find a little help in all kinds of places.

The article can be found on the link below

Prime Minister Stephen Harper - the piano man

IBM's Watson to compete on Jeopardy!

2009-04-27T20:44:00.003-06:00

Fascinating! I can't wait! Much more exciting than politics!

Obama Inauguration Speech - in text format

2009-01-20T13:48:00.002-07:00

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.
They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Lest We Forget.

2009-01-13T22:35:00.004-07:00

Written by a housewife in New Brunswick , to her local newspaper. It's going viral across Canada and the USA but it did sound familiar. Further checking found the original letter and is located at this link.

Nevertheless, it's a statement about our blinded vision of what it is to be Canadian and the loss of respect for our brave Canadian soldiers and it's worth repeating.

The following is the Canadian modified version.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not
started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since?

Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan.

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blows themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behaviour!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country!

And may I add:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.'

I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this.

One last thought for the day:

Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ

2. The Canadian Soldier.

3. The British Soldier.

4. The US Soldier, and

5. The Australian Soldier

One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.

This is the American and original version of the letter.

Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran
By Doug Patton
June 6, 2005

First, Newsweek pulled a Dan Rather on us, running a fabricated story just because they wanted it to be true. They told the world that an American guard at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center had ripped pages from a prisoner's Koran and flushed it down a toilet. As a result, innocent people died when practitioners of Islam rioted in protest in Afghanistan.

Oops, said Newsweek, it seems we can't back up our story. Oh well, it's probably true; we just can't prove it. (Isn't it convenient for Newsweek that the media now have "Deep Throat" to talk about so they can revel in their glory days and divert our attention from their criminal negligence.)

The lie heard round the world about the flushed Koran has caused convulsions in the Bush Administration and forced the Pentagon to launch an investigation of unfounded allegations contained in an unsubstantiated story. The results of said investigation are now in, and it seems there are at least five incidents of "mishandling" of the Koran at Gitmo.

Well, guess what? I don't care!

Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

I'll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!

-----------

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist and political speechwriter who has worked for conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations at the federal, state and local levels. His weekly column can be read in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites. Readers can e-mail him at dpatton@neonramp.com.

2008 - a year in review by Uncle Jay.

2009-01-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

more political nursery rhymes

2008-12-03T10:37:00.005-07:00

Birds of a feather flock together,
And so will Liberal pigs and NDP swine;
Bloc Rats and Green Party mice will have their choice,
And so will I have mine.

--------------------

Hush-a-bye, Dion,
on top of his beanstalk.
When the wind blows,
your house will rock.
When the political bough breaks,
the house will fall,
And down will come Dion,
house and all.

---------------------

Jack Layton, be nimble,
Jack Layton, be clever,
Jack Layton pretending
to be a prime minister

Jack Layton jumped too high
Jack Layton stooped so low
Jack Layton bumped off
by his political foes

Baa Baa Black Sheep - Stephane Dion

2008-12-03T10:18:00.003-07:00

Baa, baa, coalition sheep,
Have you any money?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master Gil Duceppe,
And one for the dame Elizabeth May,
And one for the little boy Jack Layton
Who lives down the lane.

12 Little Liberals - a variation on the famous poem

2008-12-02T15:25:00.009-07:00

To stop this coup by the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition; the current minority government of Canada just needs to see 12 seats from this coalition to disappear...permanently. Let's be creative and have some fun with the original Ten Little Soldiers poem.

Twelve Little Liberals

Twelve little Liberal boys thought about their heaven;
One repented his little self and then there were eleven.
Eleven little Liberal boys signed a document with a pen;
One too excited, stabbed himself and then there were ten.
Ten little Liberal boys drank way too much wine;
One suffered alcohol poisoning and then there were nine.
Eight little Liberal boys started to question their heaven;
One leap from the clouds and then there were seven.
Seven little Liberal boys fought with politically right hicks;
One got severely bludgeoned and then there were six.
Six little Liberal boys taking the Canadian economy out on a test drive;
Irate taxpayers shoved their returns down one's throat, now there were five.
Five little Liberal boys walking along the shore;
A big rogue wave swept one away and then there were four.
Four little Liberal boys playing way up in a tree;
One fell off and then there was three.
Three little Liberal boys paddling along in a canoe;
One without a life jacket fell out and then there were two.
Two Little Liberal boys shouting "we won, we won";
One had a heart attack and then there was one.
One little Stephane Dion all bruised and nearly done;
He left politics forever and then there were none.

Barack to reverse Bush directives - Change we can believe in

2008-11-09T22:44:00.002-07:00

People wanted Change; they will get Change. Science should leap by considerable bounds with no restrictive limits on stem cell research. The Bush administration held back research due to outdated religious beliefs. Research that could help people walk again from spinal injuries. Research that could cure debilitating diseases. 8 years lost as scientists tried to find creative new solutions while their best tools were locked away due to the "power and wisdom" of President Bush.

Barack Obama prepares to reverse hundreds of Bush directives

Barack Obama is preparing to overturn hundreds of rules and regulations on stem cell research, climate change and birth control introduced by the man he will replace in ten weeks.

By Alex Spillius in Washington
Last Updated: 12:02AM GMT 10 Nov 2008

Mr Obama is to meet Mr Bush at the White House on Monday. The visit will include a tour of the residence for his wife Michelle conducted by First Lady Laura Bush, and forms part of what Obama aides described as a "collegiate" transition of power.

Despite his fierce criticism of the Bush administration during the campaign, Mr Obama and his advisers are being treated with full cooperation as the handover gets properly underway.

John Podesta, head of the victorious Democrat's transition team, said White House staff were "being very forthcoming". "We are moving in a very professional way," he said on CBS' Face the Nation.

In his weekly radio address Mr Bush, who has fully embraced the historic nature of Mr Obama's election last week as the first African American president, said that a smooth handover was paramount.

"I told him [Mr Obama] that he can count on my complete cooperation," he said. "Ensuring that this transition is seamless is a top priority for the rest of my time in office."

Mr Podesta, who is heading the president-elect's transition team, said that the incoming administration was reviewing Bush's executive orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling, and other matters.

He told Fox television that the idea was to use executive orders to move quickly without waiting for Congress to act.

"I'm not going to preview decisions that he has yet to make. But I would say that as a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed, and decide which ones should be kept, and which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be amended. And that process is going on. It's been undertaken," said Mr Podesta, who was chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action," he added.

Other aides said probable early targets for reforms would be regulations regarded as overtly political. During the campaign Mr Obama indicated that we wanted to end limits on stem cell research, which the scientific community has claimed has hampered the effort to combat a range of diseases.

He may lift a ban that prevents international family planning organisations that receive US government aid advising women about the possibility of abortion and in some cases discouraging common contraceptive methods.

Last year the Bush administration denied California the authority to limit carbon emissions from vehicles. During the campaign Mr Obama stated his belief that the country's biggest state should have the power to do so.

A friend of the Obamas yesterday affirmed that Michelle will not seek a Hillary Clinton-style role at her husband's decision-making table.

Valerie Jarrett, a co-chair of the transition team, said that she initially be focused on settling in her two daughters.

Then, Mrs Jarrett said, the next first lady would want to help women juggle a career and motherhood, assist military spouses and promote volunteerism.

Obama's Economic Transition Team

2008-11-07T11:29:00.003-07:00

This is the team that will hopefully lead the USA out of recession in short order.

Obama's Economic Transition Team

07 Nov 2008 12:12 am
At 1:30 ET today, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden will meet with their economic transition team. Members of this team will be incorporated into next week's White House economic summit. The team also likely includes the eventual Treasury Secretary.... hmm...

· David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003)
· Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway)-will participate via speakerphone
· Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner)
· William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000)
· William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005)
· Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)
· Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan)
· Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox)
· Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner)
· Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt)
· Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997)
· Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999)
· Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO, Google)
· Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001)
· Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President's Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)
· Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles)
· Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987)

Documentary: Ed Norton was inspired early by Obama

2008-11-06T08:55:00.006-07:00

Ed Norton has shown incredible insight and captured the imagination of the world with this documentary in progress. I'm sure will see the joys and sorrows of primary races won and lost. People that have crossed paths with Obama and left with stronger ideals for the country. Hope trumping despair. Love overwhelming hate. Certainty overcoming doubt.

Looking forward to the release of the documentary.

Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending

November 5,2008

Long before President-elect Barack Obama had even made up his mind to run for the highest office in the land, Edward Norton and his Class 5 Films production company were already documenting the Senator’s life. The 39-year-old actor said that he became inspired by Obama’s 2004 speech at the National Democratic Convention and felt inspired to capture someone from his generation — and not his parent’s — inspiring so many and rising in leadership.

“At the time, he was the new senator from Illinois,” Norton told Variety earlier this year. “None of us had voted for him or contributed to his campaigns. None of us was saying, ‘I want to back this guy for president.’ It was more this generational experience, of seeing someone we felt represented us in a very unique and fresh way, and the desire to explore what would happen to the first person our age who staked a claim to national leadership.”

Since 2006 — starting with Obama’s trip to Africa — Norton and his team have had the cameras rolling every step of the way. The whole project was kept fairly secret — since neither the campaign nor Norton wanted it to fuel any criticism of Obama’s ‘celebrity’. Last month, Norton spoke briefly about the project to the Vancouver Sun saying, “We’re making a historical record, not something to play a role in the election. So we have an agreement with [the campaign] that we won’t talk about this, or publicize it until the election is over. I can’t talk about access [but] it’s a fascinating thing to document.”

What an amazing hunch to run with documenting Obama — from before he declared his candidacy to last night’s acceptance of the Presidency! Such a historical record of those behind-the-scenes events is certainly priceless.

Of course, you can bet this footage to carry some kind of price. Back in August, it was reported that HBO was highly interested in snagging the rights to the footage. Their initial plans were to air the series within the first ‘100 days of the Obama Presidency’; provided he win. Mission accomplished.

So — stay tuned. We may have witnessed history last night, but we’ll also be privy to the behind-the-scenes two years of effort and drama it took to get there. Thanks to Edward Norton for having the foresight to document the ride.

Memorable music parodies of John McCain

2008-11-05T23:25:00.002-07:00

Yes We Can.

2008-11-05T22:29:00.004-07:00

Impressive music videos for Obama

Robert Kennedy Jr. - Enviormental Protection Agency

2008-11-05T20:20:00.003-07:00

Whoa... this will be an interesting portfolio for Robert Kennedy Jr. As a fellow Albertan in the country of Canada, we have come across Mr. Kennedy quite a few times in the recent years. Our Premier will be quite keen on following this possible appointment and any discussions with Alberta will be quite significant. Alberta holds considerable fresh water access and of course a huge oil resource that the USA needs for consumption. Any move to label our oil resource as dirty would be a mistake. We are an incredibly friendly country with very easy access and an ability to ramp up more oil production as the USA weans itself from overseas oil. We have fresh water to use as a negotiating tool also. Do not dismiss Albertan's resolve on this matter.

Robert Kennedy Jr. On Obama Administration: If Asked I W ill Serve

Expressing deep satisfaction -- almost relief -- with the election of Barack Obama yesterday, Robert Kennedy Jr., the longtime environmental activist and member of the Democratic Party's most cherished family, said he would serve the next president if asked.

"You know what, I would be of service in any way that the administration asked me to be," Kennedy told the Huffington Post. "But I am also very happy and I believe I am being effective doing the stuff I am doing currently."

On Wednesday, Politico reported that Obama was strongly considering putting Kennedy at the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The appointment would represent a major and early victory for environmentalists and would undoubtedly please Kennedy's cousin, Caroline Kennedy and uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy - who was an instrumental Obama backer during the primary and is in poor health.

Robert Kennedy downplayed the idea of any imminent announcement, saying,
"I haven't had that discussion with anyone in my family about" joining the Obama administration.

And yet he did not hide his pleasure with the election of the Illinois Democrat. Saying it would be great "just to have a President who can give a speech and who can write," Kennedy compared the sensation of Tuesday night to the "kind of feeling that the French had and the Belgium and the Scandinavians had when Europe was liberated."

Kennedy, who works as an attorney and officer for the environmental group Riverkeeper, said he saw in Obama's ascension to the presidency many of the political traits that defined his uncle and father's runs at the office.

"His disposition is very much like my uncle," he said, referencing President John Kennedy. "The intellectual passion and the coolness and the dry humor. And I think his obsession and his preoccupation with justice, and including all of the different members of our society -- he just understands that we have to go forward as a community... The extraordinary demonstrations on election night and through this morning, with young people, we didn't even see that magnitude of demonstration in 1960 when my uncle was elected."

Much of Kennedy's excitement, however, is linked not to the similarities between Obama and his family members but rather to the overhaul of the environmental agenda that the president-elect has planned.

"I think that Barack Obama understands that energy must be the centerpiece for his administration. That there really are two big issues, one is health care and the other is energy," he said. "And energy is intertwined with all other issues. If we can get off of foreign oil, for instance, we can save 700 billion a year. We can pay back the Wall Street debt we just ran up in just one year."

"That whole dark cloud of the Bush administration," he added, "has all the sudden been lifted."

Fox News - Sarah Palin insider info

2008-11-05T19:40:00.002-07:00

I knew that Fox News would come to their senses and move their election coverage more to the center of the political spectrum. If they want to be taken seriously as a news source; they have to show both sides. This video report showcases some of the insider info from the McCain campaign regarding Sarah Palin.

Latest Rumors of President Obama's adminstration - John Kerry or Chuck Hagel

2008-11-05T15:40:00.003-07:00

John Kerry: Secretary Of State?

The Washington Independent reported before the election that John Kerry is a leading candidate for Barack Obama's Secretary of State:
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, has emerged as a leading candidate for secretary of state -- should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency Nov. 4.
Obama campaign advisers declined to comment on the record for this story. Nor would many Democratic foreign-policy experts who might join an Obama administration. But off the record, Obama aides made clear that Kerry's name is on a very short list of contenders to become the country's top diplomat. Another person talked up by the great mentioner is Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a Vietnam War veteran whose foreign-policy views align surprisingly well with Obama's.

Asked about the position, Kerry has refused to say much.
"I have no job I'm looking for in the Cabinet at this point in time," Kerry told WCVB-TV just moments after he delivered his victory speech. "If the president talks to me, I'll listen to him and talk to him, but there's very little I would leave the U.S. Senate for."
Asked specifically about secretary of state, a position mentioned because of Kerry's interest in foreign affairs, the senator replied, "Well, I'd talk to the president if he called me and asked me about it. But I never heard anything. It's speculation. We don't have a president yet. Let's get down the road and see where we are."

From NBC's Ken Strickland

If the Obama transition team is trying to bring outgoing Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel on board as part of a future administration, it hasn't made those intentions known within the past week, says a source close to the Nebraska senator.

While the source wouldn't give up much, there was no denying that there has always been an open channel of communication with the Obama campaign, since Biden was picked to become future VP. Biden and Hagel are very good friends -- both as Senate colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee and as close personal friends who talk often.

Could Biden be talking to Hagel about a job as "a friend" instead of in his official capacity as VP-elect? Entirely possible, but not knowable -- or confirmable -- at this point.

Looking foward to 2012 and beyond

2008-11-05T14:26:00.004-07:00

Republicans should be very scared. The USA is currently in recession for approximately 8 months according to people like Warren Buffet. Most recessions last about 1.5 to 2 years.

Obama will have his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009. So within 1 year of his 1st administration, the recession should be over. There will be mild economic growth and then strong growth as the world enters another Bull cycle. Yes, Warren Buffet and his team are predicting another strong Bull cycle that will last approx. 10 years after the recession is over. Who is the president that will be riding this economic wave? President Barack Obama. He will easily win his 2nd administration in 2012.

John McCain's concession speech.

2008-11-05T13:43:00.002-07:00

Congrats to John McCain. His concession speech was gracious and well-spoken. It does not heal the wounds caused by a morally corrupt Republican Committee and his campaign advisors but it's a small step in trying to rebuild a bridge of co-operation between Democrats and Republicans.

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

My friends, we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him, to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.

Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her Creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

We fought — we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.
The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign.

All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also, of course, very thankful to Gov. Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength, her husband Todd and their five beautiful children for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight — tonight, more than any night — I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Sen. Obama -- whether they supported me or Sen. Obama.

I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender.

We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

More World Press for Obama's victory

2008-11-05T11:19:00.002-07:00

Much of the World Applauds Obama

By JIM SCIUTTO and ZOE MAGEE
LONDON, England, Nov 5, 2008

With unprecedented news coverage worldwide, this year's presidential election had already captured the globe's attention. Now, it has delivered a winner who is capturing the world's imagination. World leaders, normally diplomatic in their official statements, were unusually effusive in their praise for President-elect Barack Obama.

"I applaud the American people for their courage and the great morality that they showed," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was even more glowing in a letter to Obama: "In choosing you, the American people have chosen the path of change, openness and optimism. Your election raises immense hope in France, Europe and beyond: the hope of an open America."

Nelson Mandela, as qualified as he is complimentary in his comments, gushed, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."

Newspapers at first stumbled over each other to declare Obama the winner, and then to find the language to match the moment.

Britain

The sense of global excitement is palpable in Britain, the United States' closest ally. Even before the results officially came in, the British press was both confident and biased: Headlines read "Gobama!" (Daily Mirror); "The History Man" (The Independent); and "Yanks Very Much" (The Star).

Obama's victory is being especially heralded among the young in London. "Obama is an inspiration, especially as an orator," 23-year-old Alexandra Demper told ABCNews. "We can't quite say what the effects will be for Britain yet, but it is a great change for America."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent his "sincere congratulations" to the U.S. president-elect, saying Obama would be a "true friend to Britain."
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, David Cameron, said Obama's victory has restored America's status as a "beacon of hope."

Message to Obama supporters - Thank You

2008-11-05T09:24:00.006-07:00

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history.
And I don't want you to forget how we did it.
You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing...
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack

International Press reaction to Obama victory.

2008-11-05T08:44:00.003-07:00

News from around the world on Obama election victory

(CNN) -- Around the world, media reaction to the Democrats' victory has poured in, as newspapers and broadcasters reflect on the Barack Obama campaign and the global impact his win will have.
The International Herald Tribune said that America had "leaped" across the color line, calling Obama "a 47-year-old black man who made history both because of his race and in spite of it."
The Times of London said Obama had revitalized U.S. politics. "The immense turnout in yesterday's election was testament to the energy, excitement and expectations of a rejuvenated American democracy, as well as the fears of a nation standing at a crossroads of history," the paper said.
It added that Obama's inheritance would be challenging. "The new president faces economic and social convulsions at home, conflict abroad."
Also in London, The Guardian focused on the historic nature of the Democrats' win, saying: "Victory in the end came as easily as the polls had predicted," and comparing Obama's achievement with Roosevelt's of 1932 and Reagan's of 1980.
In Germany, Der Spiegel's Gregor Peter Schmitz, writing from Chicago, called Obama's rise "astonishing," adding that his "curious ability to remain untouched by all the razzmatazz around him is likely to prove a source of strength."
Al Jazeera said Obama had "surfed to power on a wave of voter discontent generated by the failures of President George Bush and the Republican Party" and added that he faces "unique challenges." It continued that he must "act quickly" to restore confidence in the economy and with his country "sick of war" is "unlikely to make any additional major overseas military commitments."
The Jerusalem Post said that the transition in Middle Eastern policy from the Bush administration to Obama's would be "'evolutionary, not revolutionary,' according to diplomatic assessments in Jerusalem."
Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz called the U.S. election an "example of democracy at its best," citing Americans' "plethora of opportunities" to learn about the candidates' policies and stance on key issues. It also paid tribute to Obama's unifying influence, saying, "Whites and blacks, Jews and Muslims, all decided to give their votes to a candidate who is young, black and lacking in governmental experience," and expressed its hope that the President-elect would "rehabilitate the status of a superpower that remains unrivaled in its influence over the peace and welfare of all humanity."

Jordan's English daily, The Jordan Times, wrote an article entitled: "The American leader we need," in which the writer said: "Around the world, America's presidential election campaign has attracted as much attention as domestic political controversies in each of our own countries. The interest the world has taken in America's vote is the best example of America's soft power, and a lesson in democracy from the world's only superpower. If only we could all vote as well as watch and listen, because the outcome is vital for everyone around the world."
UAE Arabic daily, Al Khaleej considered in its editorial that "whoever is the winner, Israel had guaranteed that the White House will be biased to her."
In Tunisia, the Arabic daily Al Chourouk said: "Today America elects "The President of the World."
China Daily wished Obama well, saying that although it was elated at his landslide win, he faced "daunting challenges." It cited the economic crisis and the Iraq war as the driving factors behind the Democrats' victory, adding: "We have every reason to anticipate a more cooperative and talk-savvy new America."
And The Asia Times heralded the "End of a subprime era," calling the Bush administration "classic American salesmen" for whom "selling was their passion."
The Times of India called Obama an "advocate of strong partnership with India," saying the President-elect had "made it clear India poses no threat to Pakistan." But it also expressed concern about Obama's references to discouraging outsourcing, a policy it says would have an adverse effect on India.
The Kenya Times said Kenyans were "exuberant" and called Obama "the foremost blaze-trailing son of this land," adding that "[he] has convincingly shown that the world could be better through diplomacy than intimidation and arm-twisting tactics."
Japanese news agency Kyodo said Obama's task to repair the economy was "daunting," saying the American sub-prime meltdown had "sent global financial markets into a tailspin."
In Russia, Pravda was ecstatic, announcing that "Eight years of hell are over." It proceeded to catalog George W. Bush's perceived failures and slights against Russia and criticized the cost of the "grand American soap opera" during a time of economic crisis.
Over in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald paid tribute to the Obama campaign, calling it a "stunning grassroots political movement, powered by massive multi-million dollar fundraising." It said his "stunning ascent" to the leadership of a nation "still riven by racial divides" would close an "eight-year era of turbulence under Bush."

President Obama's speech

2008-11-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Election Night Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

2008 Election Results

2008-11-04T14:39:00.004-07:00

2008 Election info from FiveThirtyEight.com

2008 Election results from MSNBC

2008-11-03T22:53:00.002-07:00

I've always been impressed with John Cusack as an actor. I'm now impressed with his political insight. This is a well written article for the Huffingtonpost.

John Cusack
Posted November 2, 2008 08:09 PM (EST)

No Currency Left to Buy the Big Lies

As I contemplated the real possibility of an Obama victory and listened to right wing pundits revise history still unfolding, I thought of titles for this blog:

"Neocon Logic: This Statement is Untrue"
"The Modern Free Market System is False But a New Revelation Shall Come"
" They Would Feast on Themselves: All the Money's Gone, Nowhere to Go"
I decided on:
"No Currency Left to Buy the Big Lies"

In the pre-capitalist reality, James Madison said when he put power in the hands of the business elite, he would be entrusting "enlightened statesmen and benevolent philosophers who would devote themselves to the welfare of all."

Clearly, he believed this statement in the way I guess some modern Republicans do. The only problem was that he eventually realized this didn't work and in 1792, disillusioned and worried about the democratic experiment, condemned what he called "the daring depravity of the times." He went on to denounce the business elites who, given ultimate power, "become tools and tyrants of government...they overwhelm government with their powers and combinations and are bribed by its largesse." That's how he perceived the system he had helped design. In 2008, this is an apt description of the Republican relationship to government and power.

Finally, some blue light, tectonic plate shifts, a sea change, we hear... a wave of despair carrying us to a new place. The bastards are finally meeting their grisly ends and will be discarded and abandoned as men come to power who will actually try to govern. I know we're supposed to be civil but I'm not a real believer in this method when dealing with crimes.

What does the sea change mean? How can we help people understand what is happening and help them contextualize it?

First the past: Senator McCain, Governor Palin and assorted surrogates are delusional and breathtakingly corrupt. They disgrace themselves and their country as they lie, smear, slur and write it off as political manner.

Yet the creeping truth must frighten them late at night: there is no currency left to buy the big lies.

There is no more money left to loan or borrow the big lies or to sell them. No more money left to pay off the debt, the wreckage in the wake. The orgy of excess has drained every bottle, smashed the furniture and left the cupboards bare. All that's left is derivative debts -- bets between liars and lies. Trillions of dollars. Turned capitalism into a Ponzi scheme for trading worthless paper. No real value anywhere. No matter how much money Ben Bernanke prints.

We are asked to stand over the abyss and experience our own destruction as another political game show -- just another surreal horse race. We watch millionaires and paid Republican hacks appear on television yelling "Socialist!" at Obama as if the Bolsheviks are coming to rape our daughters. These are the same people who oversaw the greatest upward redistribution of wealth in the history of this country. The same people who, through general lawlessness and a privatization frenzy, succeeded in shredding the Constitution, turning war, illegal domestic spying, security, border patrol, interrogation, and even torture into profitable industries gorging on the state.

So define the big lie: free marketers want free markets. Not so, the facts say. They are the biggest welfare freaks on the planet.

These men and keepers of the faith would lecture us with a straight face on the evil socialists/ communists/terrorists /vampires/space aliens who would dare "redistribute wealth" by amending the tax code. Two wars and the only shared sacrifice they want is more tax cuts for the rich and for the U.S. citizenry to continue shopping. As Sidney Falco said, you gotta give it to them, their gall is gorgeous.

If we stay the course, we are told, we will finally, one day, reach that shining city on a hill, the free market-based fundamentalist utopia. Even though all evidence points the other way, we should listen, reason, step back and watch them as they devour what's left of the government. They will feast on themselves -- the feast of carrion the Book of Revelation tells us -- but I digress, sort of. It's over. This would be a great system if there were no human beings.

Mathematical realism. Eat what you kill. The bottom line. Greed is good. Graphs and flow charts and metrics for success. All social organization is based on profit as the unifying force and engine of the common good and even social justice; worship the market, even as you corrupt it.

Our perfect system will provide for all.

And yet Wall Street cripples America and the world because it won't adhere to the same rules it says we must obey for the good of freedom. Because reality won't be a slave to their machine.

And so this is how we can rationalize privatizing war. At last look, with 630 corporations like Blackwater and Halliburton getting 40% of the $2 billion spent each week in Iraq, no one can doubt the corporatist dominance of the war machine.

Mathematically, the market crash shouldn't have happened according to their system, but human feelings make panic and panic cannot be calculated. I would bet that someday someone will discover that math adheres to a quantum reality: the participants and the observers affect the outcome. I digress again. But not really.

Instead of an international consensus based on trust and global community, the Neocons say trust no one, need no one, ask no one. Rigged, "open" markets are created at the barrel of a gun after bombing a country. We must all bow to the market.

Collapse, chaos, lawlessness. And even the market voted with its feet.

The era of market idolatry is over.

This is the end of Milton Friedman, Reaganomics and supply-side theory. This ideology has never been about free markets but a fundamentalist vision that is a cover for naked aggression and a social contract based on fear and greed. The government's job is to create optimal conditions for corporate profit, to privatize everything in sight and to sell off its own body parts. To literally devour itself.
So we have laws that allow borrowing money against derivatives -- basically a bet between two people who create nothing without collateral. They leveraged the public financial health on something you wouldn't be allowed to do in Vegas. It illustrates the corruption that has become institutionalized through deregulation and a culture of predatory greed. Alan Greenspan testified that he was shocked: business didn't regulate itself. The common good was not achieved by greed. Naomi Klein read him the definition of crony capitalism and asked if it fit the description of the Bush administration's relationship to its favorite corporations.
I suppose he was shocked about that too. His testimony was incredible and felt like it was coated in lies or at least standing deeply in their shadows. But one doesn't doubt him as a true believer, absolved of messy feelings of collective responsibility. We made him a high priest even though we saw the suffering and the cruelty of the system.

The final irony of the free-market Darwinist model is instead of the strongest and best surviving, it's really the weakest and the worst. From a moral and spiritual point of view this is hardly in doubt. See George Bush. The gospel he purports to serve tells us this but perhaps he saw Christ as a conqueror. I've always doubted men who call themselves Christians who live by the law of the jungle. The gospels, the Koran and the Torah make no bones about it: wealth is not strength; power often represents not the brightest and the best but the weakest and worst. The beast in the Book of Revelation is not a horn-rimmed devil but Rome. Empire. Any empire. Every empire.

As Bush leaves office, the real truth is this: the new economies of the world disprove everything he ever said. Apparently that doesn't matter.

Neoconservatives will lie in the weeds and gather forces, the same players in a revolving door. They want back in and if history has proved anything, worshiping the markets is not enough. We must actually kill to feed them. A horrible cross-pollination of fundamentalism, dementia and market fever has turned America into a willing enabler of corporate cannibalism. Nothing else to call it when murder is seen as a legitimate extension of economic policy. Preemptive war is not only justified but openly referred to as a market opportunity. The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. As we look out at the wreckage -- world economies collapsing, nationalized banks and a complete loss of trust -- we can see the hypocrisy as all are revealed as true socialists on the way down, crying in their scotch and Ambien as they run to the state for cover.

Many, like the Financial Times, endorse Obama. But let's remember when the F.T. and the Wall Street Journal talked glowingly and starry-eyed about the "Baghdad Boom" -- as horrifying a moniker as Shock and Awe. It was not the site of a gold rush, it was the sight of massacre and armed robbery. Now these men jump like rats off a death ship but don't be fooled. Francis Fukuyama and company will just lay low, regroup and rebrand. They speak openly about such things, beaten but unbowed, with no moral connection to the fiasco they have fostered. They speak as passing spectators watching the Weather Channel, (see Frum, Kristol, Brooks and all the rest), rather than intellectual architects, defenders, and foot soldiers in an illegal war and the thirty-five year assault on the New Deal.

As we help Obama try to implement another New Deal, I asked Naomi Klein about the parallels to The Shock Doctrine as it's polar opposite. She told me:

"I have been talking about the need for a progressive shock doctrine in speeches a lot. I call it disaster populism and the key difference is democracy. The right has been using shocks to suspend and sidestep democracy, declaring states of emergency and the progressive use of shock to enlarge and deepen the democratic space to bring more people into the political process. This is why it is important to remember that the New Deal did not come only from kindly elites handing it down from on high, but also because those elites were under massive popular pressure from below. We can all use shock and crisis to move the political direction of the country, but the progressive route is a democratic one, the right is an authoritarian one, even if it takes place within an electoral democracy."
The real challenge is to erase the delusion that greed equals freedom and prosperity, let alone the hideous lie that it somehow spreads justice. Amazingly, we are asked to listen to this gibberish in political life no matter how high the bile rises.

Many believe economies must serve humanity and not the other way around. Economies must make a moral connection to the republic. Brace yourselves free marketers: the quality of economic and human transactions will have to take priority over money. Faith and hope have to manifest in the social transactions we make.

A new social contract could be coming based on a real currency my friend Kevin McCabe calls the currency of grace. It is a currency of economic fairness and institutionalizing concepts of shared responsibility; a currency based on the gold standard that every human has value and should be awarded respect and opportunity, the dignity that comes from human beings protecting each other from the values and ideals of a Darwinist world. Its spirit is in Keynesian economics, a mixed economy with regulated markets and social spending. In the new era, we must remove fundamentalist right wing economists as the high priests and kings. Their ideology will stay dead only if we remain vigilant and call things what they are. It's a battle for the idea of America and it's just beginning if Senator Obama becomes president.

We should worship God if we want to, not the markets.

latest prediction - Obama 98.1% chance of winning!

2008-11-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

check out http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ for the latest in election prediction!

Maya Angelou: It's time to lift America's spirit

2008-11-03T15:08:00.002-07:00

Politicians must set their aims for the high ground

NEW YORK (CNN) -- At 80, Maya Angelou says her "knees are not all that swift and my lungs need some extra help but other than that, my desire to learn and to share, that has not abated."

She shares what she's learned in an eventful life in her best-selling new book, "Letter to My Daughter." Angelou achieved fame for her autobiographical writing, including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and her poetry.

She read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Clinton's first inauguration. She was only the second poet invited to read at the swearing in of a new president.

But her career has had many facets -- Angelou has been a singer, dancer, playwright, director and teacher.

In 166 pages, "Letter to My Daughter" distills stories from Angelou's life into universal lessons. She writes about birth, life and death, about the ways people misunderstand each other and then transcend their conflict. She calls on national leaders to raise the country's spirit and on Americans to remember that this is the nation that defeated the Nazis and expanded people's freedom through the civil rights movement.

"Politicians must set their aims for the high ground and according to our various leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, we will follow," she writes. "Politicians must be told if they continue to sink into the mud of obscenity, they will proceed alone."

In an interview last week in her 1881 brownstone in Harlem, decorated in vibrant, bright colors, Angelou sat at the round table in her dining room, sipping coffee, as she talked about the election and her work.

She supported Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination and then backed Sen. Barack Obama once the primaries were over.

CNN: In the chapter called "National Spirit," you call on political leaders to raise the level of discussion. Could you elaborate on that?

Maya Angelou: What I've encouraged voters to do is to vote for the person I am extolling, and also don't expect that if your man or woman gets in, that all things will be rectified immediately. It's taken us a long time to come to this place of weariness and almost hopelessness.

So because Obama gets in or McCain gets in, it's not going to be repaired overnight. The economy is not going to be repaired, the schools -- the disaster in our schools -- will not be repaired overnight. Nor will the social conversation be repaired overnight.

However, I would encourage every voter to say to his or her candidate, go in and do it, and you will not do it alone. I will help. You have to get up off that sofa or off that couch and give something to the country -- even if it's one hour every other week to an old people's home -- I will read, go into the children's ward and read, or give to your church or your synagogue or your mosque. ... Offer something to the country. So you don't just sit there.

CNN: What does it say about the country that Barack Obama is a candidate to be president?

Angelou: The country is growing up and confessing to something we've know all along. What prevented us from admitting that we knew that? And I was taken back to slavery.

If you will have a person enslaved, the first thing you must do is convince yourself that the person is subhuman. The second thing you have to do is convince your allies so you'll have some help, and the third and probably unkindest cut of all is to convince that person that he or she is subhuman and deserves it.

Well, such a job has been done on all of us that people found it very difficult to admit that human beings are more alike than we are unalike. We've known it. But to admit it, you have to stop saying because this guy speaks another language, because their eyes are shaped differently from mine, because they're first-generation Americans from Eastern Europe, then they don't count, I don't have to consider them. With this, the country is finally able to see through complexion and see community.

CNN: You've known and worked with people like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Could you imagine what their reaction would be to this?

Angelou: I think everybody would be weeping tears of joy really.

I think of my grandmother who raised me. She was a daughter of a former slave. She knew this was going to happen. You know that when I was young, I was physically abused and so I stopped talking. I thought that my voice had killed the criminal. ... The man had been found dead. Police said he had been beaten to death. So I knew, because I told [people] that he did it, that my voice could just go out and kill people.

So after a few months, my mother's people sent me and my brother back to this little village in Arkansas to my grandmother, my father's mother who was raising me, and she used to braid my hair.

My hair was huge and very curly, black. And my grandmother put her hand behind my neck and held it so she wouldn't break my neck by accident. And she would start to brush my hair and she would say, "Sister, Mama don't care what these people say about you, that you must be an idiot, you must be a moron because you can't talk. Mama know when you and the good Lord get ready, you're going to teach all over this world. You're going to be a mighty teacher."

I didn't speak for six years. She said that to me all the time, in this little village in Arkansas. [Now] I teach all over the world, I teach in French and Spanish, so when I stand up on a stage or see a book of mine gets accolades or a piece of music I've written, I think about my Mama, and she died before I really came of age, and I just think she knew it.

CNN: She was prophetic about you, but beyond that?

Angelou: Yes, [she believed] it will get better. And you have to continue to prepare yourself, continue to build yourself, continue to elevate yourself and be a benefit, be a blessing rather than a curse, and things will get better. And they have, so when I think of Dr. King and Malcolm, Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers, I also think of Chief Albert Luthuli, one of the first Africans to earn the Nobel Prize.

I mean that after Chief Luthuli, apartheid was so rigid, unbreakable that men had to carry their IDs on plastic cards that were too large for any suit, so they flapped, reminding them constantly who they were. It was my blessing to meet Nelson Mandela before he went into prison and I've seen him many times since. He knew this day would come, and to be able to stay in prison for 27 years, knowing that the day would come.

CNN: What gave you the inspiration to call the book, "Letter to My Daughter," even though you don't have a daughter? [Angelou has a son, the writer Guy Johnson.]

Angelou: There was an African-American poet, her name was Anne Spencer; she wrote a poem called "Letter to My Sister," around the turn of the 20th Century. ... I started making notes to Oprah [Winfrey] about 20 years ago. She really became a daughter to me.

So there were things I wanted to talk to her about; I made notes, copious notes, and about a year and a half ago, I got out that box called WIP, works in progress, and I started going through two or three lines and I said, "Hmmm, there's an essay in here."

So it is a letter to all my daughters, to those who don't know they are. It is my intent to say you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. You will be changed, events will change you, but you have to decide not to be reduced.

CNN: Have you been in touch with Oprah lately about the election?

Angelou: I spoke to her about a week ago ... [During the primaries], a newspaper reporter said this proves that Oprah Winfrey doesn't listen to everything Maya Angelou says, because she was supporting Sen. Obama and I was supporting Sen. Clinton.

And when I was asked by the reporter, "What do you say to Oprah?" my answer was, "I say nothing, she's a woman who thinks carefully and profoundly and she has courage. So she's chosen the person she thinks would be the best person for our country. I do the same."

The primaries proved that Oprah had selected the one that most people wanted, so I went to Sen. Obama right after that. Hillary Clinton ... telephoned me and thanked me for my unwavering support, and then asked me to please put that same energy behind Mr. Obama.

CNN: Another theme in the book is to believe in yourself, to have faith in yourself. Why is that important?

Angelou: You need to know that you can go somewhere. You're not just like grass growing on the street. You're like trees, you have roots, and they've done wonderful things, and you need to know that, and by knowing that, you see how outfitted you are for these times. And that you really owe it to those who went before so that you can add to them for those who are yet to come.

You need to know that you are in a continuum, and if you understand that, you realize that you are worthwhile. This continuum would be broken without me.

With 1 day left to go; an Obama quote from Wall Street Journal

2008-11-03T14:37:00.001-07:00

"Tomorrow, you can choose policies that invest in our middle class, create new jobs, and grow this economy so that everyone has a chance to succeed. You can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo. If you give me your vote, we won't just win this election -- together, we will change this country and change the world."

Palin campaign stonewalls on medical records

2008-11-03T11:43:00.003-07:00

Posted: 09:45 AM ET, November 3

From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

LAKEWOOD, Ohio (CNN) – With less than 24 hours to go before the presidential election, Sarah Palin still has not released her medical records and there is no indication the campaign is planning to do so.

Two weeks ago, Palin’s campaign told several reporters traveling with the campaign that a summary of the governor’s medical history would be made public before election day.

Reporters were told that details on Palin’s medical background would be released early last week. Last Thursday, after that timeframe had passed, a campaign aide backed off the previous pledge, saying the campaign wasn’t sure when the information would be released.

John McCain, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden have all provided details about their medical history.

Why? There is quite a bit of speculation about the birth of her son Trig.

This link talks about the Trig pregnancy from an outsider's perspective.

Also there is rumors that the Anchorage Daily News is sitting on an investigative report in the health records of Sarah Palin.

Lots of innuendo and conjecture waiting for final analysis of medical records. Extreme public scrunity for those with their eyes on Public Office.

UPDATE:

November 3, 2008
Palin releases letter from family physician
Posted: 11:03 PM ET

(CNN) — After weeks of requests, the McCain-Palin campaign released a letter late Monday night from Sarah Palin's doctor pronouncing the Republican vice presidential nominee in "excellent health" with "no known health problems."

Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who had been Palin's physician at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center since 1997, also said the Alaska governor had had a 1992 biopsy for a breast lesion that was found to be benign. She said Palin was on no routine prescription medications, with no known drug allergies, but that no screening tests for heart disease had been performed because those tests were not routine for “young healthy women with no risk factors.”

"Governor Palin is in excellent health and has no known health problems that would interfere with her ability to carry out the duties and obligation of Vice President of the United States of America," said Baldwin-Johnson in the November 3 letter.

Two weeks ago, Palin’s campaign said a summary of the governor’s medical history would be made public before Election Day, though they gave no precise timeframe for the release.

John McCain, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden have all provided details about their medical history.

U.S. Attorney - Assassination plots and double standards

2008-11-03T10:12:00.004-07:00

Colorado U.S. attorney Troy Eid is showing some considerable bias in his job. He made the right call regarding an incident involving a letter to John McCain.

full story at this link

POSTED: 12:49 pm MDT August 22, 2008

LITTLETON, Colo. -- The man accused of sending a threatening letter to John McCain through McCain's Colorado headquarters office detailed the contents of his letter in an exclusive interview with 7NEWS Friday.

Marc Ramsey, an inmate in the Arapahoe County Jail, admitted that he sent the letter.

On Friday afternoon, the US Attorney Troy Eid announced Ramsey will be charged with knowingly threatening to harm or kill through the U.S. mail. The charge is punishable up to five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 fines.

"We won't stand for threats of this kind in Colorado," Eid said. "A death threat is not a legitimate form of political expression," Eid said.

......

Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama 'assassination plot'

Brad Jacobson
Published: Friday October 31, 2008

Interviews with numerous legal experts suggest that Colorado US Attorney Troy Eid misled reporters and diverged from state law when declining to prosecute any of the three men arrested in Denver for threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Eid, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, declined to prosecute the three men on charges of threatening to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the suspects were "just a bunch of meth heads" and their words failed to meet the legal standard for "true threat."

"When you talk about threatening presidential candidates, there's a legal standard you got to meet," Eid told reporters. "It's got to be a credible threat as defined by the law. And that means that someone has a way to carry it out. And at this time we don't have sufficient evidence that there was a true threat."

He added, "They didn't reveal a plan" and characterized the alleged threats and assassination plot as merely "the racist rantings of drug users" and "one meth head talking to another about life."

But multiple legal experts interviewed by RAW STORY -- including criminal and constitutional law scholars, former Assistant US Attorneys and Denver-area defense lawyers also familiar with Colorado state law -- agreed that voluntary intoxication is not exculpatory and that such a claim, especially for a prosecutor, is unorthodox. While it may be presented in an effort to reduce a sentence after a conviction, experts say it is normally the domain of defense counsel.

"It's very unusual," says Scott Horton, a Columbia Law School professor who also writes for Harper's Magazine. "Basically, you have a US Attorney trotting out the sort of arguments that defense counsel makes on a plea for reduced sentencing."

Legal experts say that Eid's definition of true threat directly conflicts with the statute covering threats to presidential candidates, 18 U.S.C. 879, which defines the threat as "whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate."
.....
Adolph "not your normal criminal"

According to a federal affidavit, one of the men arrested, Nathan Dwaine Johnson, said that another in the group, Sean Robert Adolph, had come to Denver to shoot Obama during his DNC acceptance speech. Johnson told the Secret Service that Adolph said "it wouldn't matter if he killed Obama because he was going to jail on his pending felony charges anyway."

Vicki Harbert, an investigator at the Weld County, Colo., sheriff's department, who had pursued Adolph since 2006, told RAW STORY, "It's very easy to see Adolph saying something like that. He had nothing to lose. With his criminal history, he was going to jail for the rest of his life." (Adolph has an extensive rap sheet, including aggravated motor vehicle theft, burglary, larceny, habitual criminal, skipping on a $1 million bond and was on the Weld County sheriff department's "Most Wanted" list at the time of his arrest.) Harbert also feared he would wind up shooting a police officer before he was captured, saying Adolph would've had "no problem shooting a cop." She asserted that he "was not your normal criminal" and added that he was "very sophisticated, very cunning, very intelligent, very street smart and a professional criminal."

The affidavit goes on to detail Johnson admitting to a Service Service agent, "Adolph had in fact threatened to kill Obama on a prior occasion [as well]." Johnson further related that Adolph said that he wanted to kill Obama on the day of his inauguration [should he win the presidency] and additionally stated that Adolph said he would specifically use a 22-250 sniper rifle and high-powered scope, and find high ground to set up and shoot Obama."

Johnson also "stated that he believed that [Tharin Robert] Gartrell was also present in Denver, CO to assist Adolph in killing Obama."

Physical evidence "tools of the drug trade?"

In downplaying the threat, the US Attorney's spokesman also characterized the physical evidence recovered from the suspects "including, along with methamphetamine, two high-powered rifles with scopes (one threaded with a silencer), 85 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, wigs, two walkie-talkies, three fake IDs, tactical pants and camouflage gear" as merely "tools of the drug trade." (FBI special agent and spokeswoman Kathy Wright admitted to RAW STORY that this physical evidence initially "sounded ominous," which is what compelled the FBI to obtain a warrant for search and seizure; yet contrary to reports in alternative media and the blogosphere, the FBI never sought to "charge" any of the suspects for threatening or plotting against Obama.) The implication was that all of these men were, at once, "just a bunch of meth heads" incapable of following through with any plan yet also hardened drug dealers, whose ownership of these items would be commonplace.

But according to narcotics experts, while the amount of methamphetamine recovered from Adolph's Denver hotel room legally constituted enough to charge him with intent to distribute, it does not suggest he or the other suspects are serious drug dealers or even drug dealers. Nor does it explain the kind of weaponry found on them.

One narcotics expert, a former senior DEA special agent who spoke with RAW STORY on the condition of anonymity due to his current consulting work, said that such a relatively small amount seems to point to either "very low level" dealing, the kind in which those involved are selling just to make ends meet, or an amount they simply planned on using themselves.

Michael Levine, one of the most highly decorated former DEA agents in agency history and an expert witness in over 300 federal and state criminal and civil cases, said of the amount of methamphetamine recovered in this case, "It's really not that much at all; that's roughly one ounce of meth. And one ounce of meth is what someone using might buy for himself or to share with friends. It was a small amount, still within the bounds of reasonable intent for use."

Levine also disputed the characterization of the weaponry recovered. "They are not tools of the trade," he said, explaining that while some drug dealers carry weapons, real evidence of drug dealing is the seriousness and amount of trafficking materials, primarily packaging materials, records of buyers' names and contact information, and evidence of witnesses who've said they've purchased from them.

The US Attorney's office has never clearly explained what the suspects were doing with the recovered weapons. During Eid's Aug. 26 press conference, he said, "I don't know what they were for," adding, "a bunch of meth heads get together, we don't know why they do what they do." The US Attorney's office told RAW STORY it couldn't comment further on this evidence. The FBI and the Secret Service also declined to comment.

"We're from the Obama campaign" said a former Bush voter

2008-11-03T09:18:00.002-07:00

link to original article

This election is not about major policies. It's about hope.
By Jonathan Curley

from the November 3, 2008 edition

Charlotte, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

Jonathan Curley is a banker. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.

The sprint to the finish - Don' t fool us now.

2008-11-03T08:24:00.002-07:00

The McCain/Palin campaign have run a morally corrupt campaign. It was full of racism, poor ethics, lies and fear. It was perhaps the worst campaign ever run. They deserve to lose. Hopefully this will purge the Republican party of it's radical right fanaticism and lead to cleaner, honest and accountable elections in the future.

There have already been 2 failed Republican administration's by President Bush. There CANNOT be another failed administration with McCain/Palin at the helm.

Fool us once. Shame on you.
Fool us twice. Shame on me.
Fool us thrice. The end is near. You bet'cha

SNL highlights of the Presidential Campaign

2008-11-02T22:41:00.005-07:00

Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton (SNL parody)

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (Katie Couric interview)

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (VP debate)

Obama & McCain (SNL debate 1st of 3)

The real Sarah Palin (opening monologue for SNL)

The real Sarah Palin (SNL visit)

President Bush endorsing McCain/Palin (SNL skit)

McCain's opening skit on SNL

McCain's on Weekend Update (SNL)

McCain backstage at SNL

Barack Obama variety show (SNL skit of 30 minute infomercial)

John McCain - your losing and have no convictions

2008-11-01T00:01:00.002-06:00

Wow.. this video tidbit is coming from Fox News. Perhaps the tide is turning, out with the old and in with the new.

Craig Ferguson thinks John McCain is a spectacular speaker

2008-10-31T23:54:00.001-06:00

Let's listen in.

Orange and Black Day. Is Toronto, Canada really that stupid?

2008-10-31T11:33:00.005-06:00

What the heck is wrong with Toronto. What's next Valentine's Day? Halloween is just a special day to play dress-up. Nothing more, nothing less. It's about creativity. The parents and school boards are stifling it. What's next? No music. No art.

Orange and Black Day.

Comment: How the Toronto school board sterilized Halloween

Posted: October 29, 2008, 3:43 PM by Rob Roberts
Comment by David Menzies

Forget about the War on Christmas. The mavens of political correctness have a new target in their crosshairs: Halloween.
A case in point: the Toronto District School Board has several “concerns” with respect to the imagery – and even the foodstuffs – associated with All Hallow’s Eve. In fact, some schools in Toronto and elsewhere now refer to Halloween as “Black and Orange Day,” fearing the H-word itself will be as potentially offensive to certain groups as Christmas may be for some non-Christians. The TDSB’s Halloween policy is outlined in its 2008 Teaching Resource for Dealing with Controversial and Sensitive Issues in Toronto District School Board Classrooms. This document, dripping with spine-tingling bureaucratese, outlines six reasons why Halloween isn’t as fun as you might think.
For instance:
1. “Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully.”
According to Kurt MacIntosh, the TDSB’s supervising principal of equity and inner city, nobody knows how many students of the Wiccan faith attend Toronto schools. Nor have complaints been quantified.

2. “Peer and social/media consumer pressures target all children and their families as consumers of costumes, makeup, food products, etc. Many students and their families can feel this socio-economic marginalization keenly.”
The TDSB is on to something here. Indeed, my six-year-old son, Sean, was planning on dressing up as Iron Man this year. But since money is too tight to mention, Sean realized Dad wouldn’t be able to afford repulsor ray gloves or a pair of jet-propulsion boots. “Daddy, forget about buying me a costume this year,” Sean said the other day. “I just realized social/media consumer pressures are fueling my desire to dress-up as a superhero. I’ll stay at home on Black and Orange Day this year so that you don’t feel any socio-economic marginalization, keenly or otherwise.”

3. “The images and icons associated with consumer-oriented Halloween can come into conflict with some students’ and their families’ religious beliefs.”
Does dressing up as a zombie mock the resurrection of Christ? In any event, the TSDB’s MacIntosh notes that “tombstones, the trivialization of death, and gore” are offensive to both Christians and Muslims. Still, if a devout [fill in religion here] student was offended by Halloween celebrations – or, more accurately, if the parents of that student were offended – wouldn’t it make more sense for that pupil to stay home on Oct. 31 rather than alter Halloween celebrations for the entire student body?

4. “The food products that are marketed heavily during the Halloween period can come into conflict with students’ and their families’ dietary habits.”
Certainly this is the biggest red herring put forth by the anti-Halloween camp. Since “offensive” food products are marketed all year long, surely it is within the bailiwick of parents to control such foodstuffs. Besides, Halloween fun at our strictly peanut-free schools involves dressing up, not consuming copious quantities of conflicting candies.

5. “Some students have had first-hand traumatic experiences of violence that make talking about death, ghosts, etc., extremely alienating.”
The TDSB has no tangible evidence to support the position that a rubber werewolf mask might “alienate” or “traumatize” a child who has previously experienced violence. Are we to assume children who have experienced trauma are forever incapable of embracing make-believe fun on Halloween?

6. “Many recently arrived students in our schools share no background cultural knowledge of trick-or-treating or the commercialization of death as ‘fun.’”
Forget Halloween. Surely “recently arrived students” have no cultural knowledge of Canadian history, the lyrics to the national anthem, or for that matter, the delayed offside rule in hockey. Isn’t it incumbent upon teachers to, well, teach the kids about Canadian culture?

Halloween is all about kids from all cultures and faiths dressing up and having fun. The TDSB appears to be basing its policy paper more on phantom concerns than quantifiable complaints.

Happy Black and Orange Day, nevertheless.

Update! This is also occurring in Calgary! Arrghhh!

John McCain's vile smears and idiot winds

2008-10-30T23:26:00.002-06:00

An 'Idiot Wind'
John McCain's latest attempt to link Barack Obama to extremism
Friday, October 31, 2008; Page A18

WITH THE presidential campaign clock ticking down, Sen. John McCain has suddenly discovered a new boogeyman to link to Sen. Barack Obama: a sometimes controversial but widely respected Middle East scholar named Rashid Khalidi. In the past couple of days, Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have likened Mr. Khalidi, the director of a Middle East institute at Columbia University, to neo-Nazis; called him "a PLO spokesman"; and suggested that the Los Angeles Times is hiding something sinister by refusing to release a videotape of a 2003 dinner in honor of Mr. Khalidi at which Mr. Obama spoke. Mr. McCain even threw former Weatherman Bill Ayers into the mix, suggesting that the tape might reveal that Mr. Ayers -- a terrorist-turned-professor who also has been an Obama acquaintance -- was at the dinner.

For the record, Mr. Khalidi is an American born in New York who graduated from Yale a couple of years after George W. Bush. For much of his long academic career, he taught at the University of Chicago, where he and his wife became friends with Barack and Michelle Obama. In the early 1990s, he worked as an adviser to the Palestinian delegation at peace talks in Madrid and Washington sponsored by the first Bush administration. We don't agree with a lot of what Mr. Khalidi has had to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the years, and Mr. Obama has made clear that he doesn't, either. But to compare the professor to neo-Nazis -- or even to Mr. Ayers -- is a vile smear.
Perhaps unsurprising for a member of academia, Mr. Khalidi holds complex views. In an article published this year in the Nation magazine, he scathingly denounced Israeli practices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and U.S. Middle East policy but also condemned Palestinians for failing to embrace a nonviolent strategy. He said that the two-state solution favored by the Bush administration (and Mr. Obama) was "deeply flawed" but conceded there were also "flaws in the alternatives." Listening to Mr. Khalidi can be challenging -- as Mr. Obama put it in the dinner toast recorded on the 2003 tape and reported by the Times in a detailed account of the event last April, he "offers constant reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases."

It's fair to question why Mr. Obama felt as comfortable as he apparently did during his Chicago days in the company of men whose views diverge sharply from what the presidential candidate espouses. Our sense is that Mr. Obama is a man of considerable intellectual curiosity who can hear out a smart, if militant, advocate for the Palestinians without compromising his own position. To suggest, as Mr. McCain has, that there is something reprehensible about associating with Mr. Khalidi is itself condemnable -- especially during a campaign in which Arab ancestry has been the subject of insults. To further argue that the Times, which obtained the tape from a source in exchange for a promise not to publicly release it, is trying to hide something is simply ludicrous, as Mr. McCain surely knows.

Which reminds us: We did ask Mr. Khalidi whether he wanted to respond to the campaign charges against him. He answered, via e-mail, that "I will stick to my policy of letting this idiot wind blow over." That's good advice for anyone still listening to the McCain campaign's increasingly reckless ad hominem attacks. Sadly, that wind is likely to keep blowing for four more days.

Republican Secretary of State - Palin is Not Ready

2008-10-30T23:23:00.001-06:00

Palin is Not Ready

A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain's most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise.

Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an "adequate" commander in chief.

"And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested," he added for good measure -- referring both to Palin's policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office. (Listen to audio below.)

The remarks took place during an interview on National Public Radio that was, ironically, billed as "making the case" for a McCain presidency. Asked by the host whether Palin could step in during a time of crisis, Eagleburger reverted to sarcasm before leveling the harsh blow.

"It is a very good question," he said, pausing a few seconds, then adding with a chuckle: "I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not."

Eagleburger explained: "I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency. I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either. So the question, I think, is can she learn and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place?

"Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job. But I think she would be enough to get us through a four year... well I hope not... get us through whatever period of time was necessary. And I devoutly hope that it would never be tested."

The indictment of Palin was all the more biting because both she and McCain have held Eagleburger up repeatedly during the past several weeks as evidence that the Republican ticket has firm standing and support within foreign policy circles. (In fact, McCain conferred with Eagleburger by phone just this week, on matters pertaining to national security.)

Where is Waldo, err... I mean Joe - I'm John McCain and I approve this message

2008-10-30T13:56:00.002-06:00

Joe? Where did you go?

Posted: Thursday, October 30, 2008 12:08 PM by Mark Murray

DEFIANCE, Ohio -- "Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today?"

That's the question John McCain asked roughly 6,000 people at Defiance Junior High School here this morning, But the correct answer was no -- Joe the Plumber was nowhere to be found.
There are conflicting reports about where or when or if Joe will appear with McCain at some point during his two-day bus tour of Ohio, but the candidate clearly thought that he was meeting him here in Defiance, the first stop on the tour.

While riffing on a common line from his stump speech about Obama's desire to "spread the wealth," McCain confidently proclaimed, "Joe's with us today. Joe where are ya? Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today? Joe, I thought you were here today."
.....

A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.

"Say it ain't so Joe", I guess this quote bears some truth because Joe didn't say anything. He didn't show up for a scheduled McCain campaign rally.

Busing in kids for a rally. What would McCain be teaching them? How to use innuendo and lies to try to steal a election? It is a good to teach our children different aspects of the political process during an election. I would certainly follow-up with another rally for Obama or a video review for comparison on how to run a rally with class, intelligence and integrity.

Robert Draper on John McCain's disdain for blogging

2008-10-30T09:10:00.002-06:00

Robert Draper is a journalist for GQ and has written a book about the Bush years. Draper has written numerous articles for magazines and is now offering some rare insight in the McCain campaign.

Interview with Robert Draper

Unlike some of the journalists for not only the daily papers but for networks, who have to constantly blog as well as file stories, I could be a little more leisurely, and beyond that, maintain a big-picture perspective. And frankly, the McCain campaign was much more responsive to that approach. They’ve come to be rather disdainful of the hyper-blogging that takes place on the press bus, and they think it has increased this mind-set of “gotcha” journalism, where every time John McCain would say something, instead of asking a follow-up question, people would go scurry off to their laptops and post to their blogs. And the McCain campaign believes that’s not what journalism ought to be. I’m not positing myself as some kind of superior journalist, it’s just that the format of long-form journalism allows me to be a little more leisurely, allows me to look at the longer view of things, and allows me two-and-a-half months on a single story.

Really surprised by the McCain campaign. Blogging is a incredibly powerful way of getting media out to the public. The Republican bloggers such as Michelle Malkin and the Drudge Report helped push out the Bush agenda the last election and made a difference. It is now the Democrat bloggers who have built up a powerful blogger media base that is far stronger than the Republicans. You don't underestimate the power of blogging. Bloggers have reported legitimate news before the main stream media got a hold of it. We have seen it all over the world.

It's almost sounding like the McCain campaign wants to suppress people's right to freedom of expression. Does the McCain campaign want to control the message? Looks like Communism to me.

Obama - the infomercial - history making.

2008-10-29T22:59:00.004-06:00

Beautifully done infomercial. No negativity about John McCain. No hate. Just a real desire to help everyone. One amazing message by an amazing man.

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

Obama & McCain - election polling in Warcraft?

2008-10-29T22:40:00.002-06:00

There are so clever people doing some very unique polling for this election.

Get out and vote. It makes a difference.

2008-10-29T22:33:00.001-06:00

Another fanatical Republican on ... FOX NEWS!

2008-10-29T16:20:00.002-06:00

I mentioned earlier that Fox News is treading in some deep water. If they continue to stay in the far right political spectrum, their viewership numbers will shrink. They know it has already started and they are having to express regret for their actions. The country is shifting to the center and Fox News is in danger of becoming irrelevant.

Fox News expresses regret for booking a anti-semite

In an October 27 article, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz reported that Fox News Channel "now expresses regret for booking [Andy] Martin" -- who, as Media Matters for America has noted, has, among other things, referred to a judge as a "crooked, slimy Jew" and accused African-Americans of being "willing to corrupt and abuse their public offices" -- on the October 5 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America. As Media Matters documented, Sean Hannity hosted Martin -- identified by Hannity as an "Internet journalist" -- to make what Hannity called "the explosive claim that [Sen. Barack] Obama's role as a community organizer was a political staging ground perpetuated by the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers." Kurtz wrote: "[Fox News Senior Vice President Bill] Shine says Hannity disagrees with some of Martin's past comments. 'Having that guy on was a mistake,' Shine says. 'We obviously didn't do enough research on who the guest was.' " But according to searches of the Nexis and Factiva databases, Hannity himself has not expressed regret or acknowledged having made a mistake regarding Martin on either Hannity's America or Hannity & Colmes, both Fox News shows.

John McCain - No Maverick, 100% Negative

2008-10-29T15:53:00.003-06:00

Shays concedes McCain defeat

Zeke Miller
Staff Reporter
Published Tuesday, October 28, 2008

NEW CANAAN, Conn. — The first ballot has yet to be tallied, but some Republicans are already hammering nails into the McCain-Palin campaign’s coffin.

Locked in a tight congressional race, Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut’s 4th district is the latest in a slew of Republican incumbents, including Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, to concede a near-certain victory to the Obama camp.

“I just don’t see how [McCain] can win,” Shays said in an interview here on Sunday.

Shays, the Connecticut co-chair of McCain’s campaign, said he was disappointed by the standards of McCain’s race, which has increasingly relied on mudslinging.

“He has lost his brand as a maverick; he did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign,” Shays said.

But Shays — who is famous for never running a negative campaign ad, even when behind — said the negativity in the presidential race has nevertheless been flowing both ways. He said that though they have been diluted by positive ads, Sen. Obama’s campaign has empirically run a greater number of negative ones.

“Obama has four times the amount of money McCain has, so for every negative ad he runs he can balance it with an upbeat one,” Shays said. “McCain, on the other hand, has been nearly 100 percent negative.”

Shays laid much of the blame on the far right, which, he said, has “hijacked” the Republican Party, threatening to walk out if its demand are not met — despite being in the minority.

Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Dirty tricks and lies

2008-10-29T10:43:00.004-06:00

Will these Republicans ever learn. How can they be so stupid all the time. Again these Republicans prove they have no substance; all they have are dirty tricks and lies to campaign on.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole has uncorked one hell of a charge

Falling behind in her reelection race, Sen. Elizabeth Dole has uncorked one hell of a charge: The Democrat running against me is godless.

Dole's 30-second ad, which is running on television in North Carolina but has not (understandably) been promoted by the GOP, uses a September fundraiser co-hosted by 40 people, including a representative of the Godless America PAC, to falsely accuse Democrat Kay Hagan of being an atheist herself.

The end of the ad features a picture of Hagan with a female voice yelling "there is no God!" -- the clear implication is that the voice is Hagan's. In fact, the Democratic candidate is a Sunday School teacher and an elder at her Presbyterian church.

The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday morning that Hagan's campaign is seeking a "cease and desist" order against Dole's new attack.

"A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser in Kay Hagan's honor," the ad begins, showing some ominously blurred footage, ostensibly of the event in question. The ad then quotes the group's Ellen Johnson making atheist claims on two cable news shows. Summing up, the spot asks: "Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras, took Godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?"
Two weeks ago, when the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a similar attack, the Fayettville Observer described it as "the nastiest, most misleading, negative ad of the campaign.

UPDATE: The Hagan campaign has released a prepared statement to be delivered by Hagan in response to the ad:

State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan
Remarks as prepared

October 29, 2008 press conference

* Thank you for coming today. I know this was called at short notice, and I appreciate you being here for this.
* Let's get right to it. Elizabeth Dole should absolutely be ashamed of herself.
* I don't know what things were like when she grew up in North Carolina, but the North Carolina I was raised in would NEVER condone this kind of personal slander.
* I can't begin to tell you how upset I am that she has attacked my Christian faith.
* She's been in Washington for too long, gotten too close to George Bush and the special interests and this is what she's become.
* I am appalled at these tactics. This is politics of the worst kind, and it's been rejected by North Carolinians at every level. This is so unbecoming of the woman she claims to be.

* I have taught Sunday school. I'm an elder in this church, where the Hagan family has attended for over 100 years. I go on mission trips. I was raised going to Sunday school and church every week. And I raised my children that way.
* On Christmas Eve, we attend the 11:00 evening service, then early on Christmas mornings, my children and husband and I go to the Bell House and cook breakfast for the residents there. My family, my community and my church are the anchors of my life.
* If Senator Dole wants to pass judgment on my faith, that's her right - but it's not what my faith teaches.
* This is a fabricated, pathetic ad.

* I am outraged...That is not my voice at the end of the ad, and I do not share their beliefs.
* This was an event with nearly 40 hosts, including an ambassador and a sitting U.S. Senator (John Kerry).
* We have already contacted our lawyers and are proceeding with a cease and desist order sent to Elizabeth Dole.
* This kind of politics should not be tolerated.
* The politics of George Bush won't create one new job, lower the cost of health care, or do one lick of good for North Carolina.
* At their core, Americans aren't Democrat or Republican, red or blue - they're Americans, plain and simple. We ALL love our country, and we all value the role of faith in American life.
* Shame on anyone who says differently.
* Congress just had to bailout Wall Street, workers' retirement savings are out the window, people are genuinely concerned about keeping their job in this tough economic climate, and Elizabeth Dole is trying to talk about ANYTHING but the issues.
* This attack speaks volumes about her personally and politically, but more importantly, it speaks to the lack of leadership she's shown on behalf of North Carolinians. At this critical point in American history, why isn't Elizabeth Dole talking about what she's done for North Carolinians and what she's planning to do if re-elected?
* This is exactly why people in North Carolina are supporting me - I have real, concrete proposals to help fix what's broken in Washington and advocate on behalf of working families. I've been talking about the issues and ensuring North Carolinians know what real leadership looks like.
* Elizabeth Dole is just relying on the same old, tired rhetoric that divides people instead of bringing them together, and that's the last thing people in North Carolina want right now.

McCain's campaign ejecting young people from rallys?

2008-10-29T07:46:00.002-06:00

Hmm... who is the real communist? Censoring public comment. Johnny.... John McCain get a hold of your out of control campaign advisers. I know your scared of the college crowd. They are part of the future and they see the road of destruction that the Republican administration has laid before their feet over the last 8 years. But you don't kick out your own young Republicans because you can't trust young people.

Pre-emptive Ejection

By Dylan Boyle — Daily Staff Writer | Monday, October 27, 2008 11:24 PM CDT

Audience members escorted out of Sen. John McCain’s, R-Ariz., campaign event in Cedar Falls questioned why they were asked to leave Sunday’s rally even though they were not protesting.

David Zarifis, director of public safety for the University of Northern Iowa, said McCain staffers requested UNI police assist in escorting out “about four or five” people from the rally prior to McCain’s speech.

Zarifis said while the people who were taken out weren’t protesting or causing problems, McCain’s staff were worried they would during the speech.

“Apparently, they had been identified by those staffers as potential protesters within the event,” Zarifis said. “The facility was rented by the RNC for the McCain campaign, so it’s really a private facility for them. We assisted in their desires to have those people removed.”

Lara Elborno, a student at the University of Iowa, said she was approached by a police officer and a McCain staffer and was told she had to leave or she would be arrested for trespassing.

“It was a very confusing, very frustrating situation,” Elborno said. “I said that I had a right to be there, I wasn’t doing anything disruptive — I was sitting, waiting for the rally to start.”

She said McCain staffers wouldn’t tell her why she was being asked to leave and when she got outside, she saw “a group of about 20 people” who had all been asked to leave.

Elborno said after seeing the people who were asked to leave, she was concerned that McCain’s staffers were profiling people on appearance to determine who might be a potential protester.

“When I started talking to them, it kind of became clear that they were kind of just telling people to leave that they thought maybe would be disruptive, but based on what? Based on how they looked,” Elborno said. “It was pretty much all young people, the college demographic.”

Elborno said even McCain supporters were among those being asked to leave.

“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” Elborno said. “They were handpicking these people and they had nothing to go off of, besides the way the people looked.”

Elborno said while she has protested at events before, no plans were discussed beforehand for a protest and she shouldn’t have been taken out because she was not causing a disturbance.

“If I had been disruptive, then I would have deserved to be taken out,” Elborno said. “But at the time I was asked to leave, I wasn’t doing anything.”

Elborno said she’s stunned at how the situation was handled, especially McCain’s staffers’ refusal to discuss the matter.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.

Despite repeated attempts, McCain’s campaign could not be reached for comment.

Barack Obama - 96.7 percent chance of winning election

2008-10-28T22:28:00.004-06:00

Odds are, he knows the score

Chicago statistician Nate Silver has turned from sports to politics, with striking results

By James Janega |Tribune reporter
October 27, 2008
Nate Silver's political rags-to-riches story plays out on a BlackBerry brimming with e-mails and a schedule conspiring to run him into the ground.

Last spring he was a sports statistics savant virtually unknown outside the world of obsessive baseball fans. Now he dreams about hiring a personal assistant. With the election eight days away, the Chicagoan has become one of the most sought-after election analysts in the country, thanks to a computer program he built to blend poll results, demographics and political trends.

Silver boldly predicted a Barack Obama victory months ago. As of Sunday, he's 96.7 percent sure of that. He breaks down the numbers into a dizzying array of scenarios: On Sunday, he sees a 4.75 percent chance of John McCain winning the popular vote. There's a 2.13 percent chance of Obama losing the popular vote but winning the most electoral votes. There's a 0.25 percent chance of a tie in the Electoral College.

Silver earned his baseball credibility in 2005 by predicting the White Sox would win it all. He earned his political stripes during this year's primaries with several smart forecasts, such as picking the Super Tuesday results within 20 delegates out of 1,700.
Now Silver's political Web site, FiveThirtyEight.com, is a must-read for political wonks.

"I don't know who his publicist is, but he's doing a hell of a job," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist and co-founder of the influential site Pollster.com, which gets 1.8 million visitors a week. Silver's gets 700,000 a day.

"I mean that mostly out of jealousy and admiration," Franklin added.

A nose for statistics
Silver has been a partner at sports think tank Baseball Prospectus since 2004. He was a high school debate champ in East Lansing, Mich., and got an economics degree from the University of Chicago. Back when he was a consultant at international tax accounting firm KPMG, a side fixation with baseball statistics led him to create PECOTA, his system to wrestle reliable predictions from raw numbers.

Since he created the computer model that powers FiveThirtyEight.com late last winter—the name refers to the number of votes in the Electoral College—demands on his time have grown.

Fresh numbers drive everything. Silver feeds 30 state polls into his computer model every 24 hours. He weights pollsters by track record and averages state polls, checking them against national polls and similar demographic slices elsewhere in the country. A statistical model allocates undecided voters and simulates the election 10,000 times a day.

Andrew Gelman, a statistician and political scientist at Columbia University, used a similar approach with a colleague from Harvard University in a paper on Sept. 21. Both Gelman's and Silver's models agreed: They gave Obama a convincing lead in the popular vote and more than enough electoral votes to seal the election.
'I don't dabble'
"I'm meticulous," Silver said. "I like getting into details, and when I get into something, I get into it. I don't dabble in a lot of things."

So far, he has also been accurate when it mattered.

On the morning of May 6, he defied conventional pollsters who saw a 5-point lead for Hillary Clinton in Indiana and rapid momentum for her in North Carolina. On May 7, election results bore Silver out by giving Indiana to Clinton by 1 point and North Carolina to Obama by 17. The world came knocking at Silver's door.
A volatile election
Silver wasn't always so confident in his prediction program. He was stunned by a leap for Obama when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September. Markets fell, and so did McCain's chance of victor in Silver's model.

"I got a little bit worried," Silver said. "This isn't the actual condition of the election. Ordinary logic goes out the window."

And so Silver left to finalize a deal that sends text messages of his predictions to readers' cell phones, wondering what would happen to his numbers if emotional voters just changed their minds.

Sarah Palin - scripted robot or an unscripted ignoramus

2008-10-28T21:44:00.002-06:00

Palin, Alone Aboard the Bus

......

I’m sympathetic to Eskew and Wallace, and not just because they’re decent people. They’ve held their tongue from leaking what a couple of McCain higher-ups have told me—namely, that Palin simply knew nothing about national and international issues. Which meant, as one such adviser said to me: “Letting Sarah be Sarah may not be such a good thing.” It’s a grim binary choice, but apparently it came down to whether to make Palin look like a scripted robot or an unscripted ignoramus. I was told that Palin chafed at being defined by her discomfiting performances in the Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Sean Hannity interviews. She wanted to get back out there and do more. Well, if you’re Eskew and Wallace, what do you say to that? Your responsibility isn’t the care and feeding of Sarah Palin’s ego; it’s the furtherance of John McCain’s quest for the presidency.

.......

Click the link above to read more of Robert Draper's blog article.

More fanatical Republican dirty tricks

2008-10-28T11:51:00.002-06:00

More morally corrupt Republicans playing dirty tricks. Should we really be surprised how low these fanatical Republicans will go to try to change an election.

Phony flier says Virginian Democrats vote on a different day.

By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 28, 2008

RICHMOND

A phony State Board of Elections flier advising Republicans to vote on Nov. 4 and Democrats on Nov. 5 is being circulated in several Hampton Roads localities, according to state elections officials.

In fact, Election Day, for voters of all political stripes, remains Nov. 4.

The somewhat official-looking flier - it features the state board logo and the state seal - is dated Oct. 24 and indicates that "an emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the following (sic) emergency regulations to ease the load on local electoral (sic) precincts and ensure a fair electoral process."

The four-paragraph flier concludes with: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but felt this was the only way to ensure fairness to the complete electoral process."
No emergency action has been taken by the General Assembly. It is not in session and lacks the authority to change the date of a federal election.

State Board of Election officials today said they are aware of the flier but disavowed any connection to it.

"It's not even on our letterhead; they just copied the logo from our Web site," said agency staffer Ryan Enright, noting the flier has been forwarded to State Police for investigation as a possible incident of voter intimidation.

Election officials did not specify in which Hampton Roads localities the flier had been spotted.

State Police are aware of the complaint and are looking into it, said spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed a law making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly communicate false information to registered voters about the date, time and place of the election or voters' precincts, polling places or voter registration statuses in order to impede their voting. The measure is one of the few such deceptive voting practice laws in the country, according to the watchdog group Common Cause.

Remembering John McCain - his quotes

2008-10-28T10:45:00.002-06:00

"You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." --breaking into song after being asked at a VFW meeting about whether it was time to send a message to Iran, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, April 18, 2007 (Watch video clip)

"I was looking at the Sturgis schedule, and noticed that you had a beauty pageant, so I encouraged Cindy to compete. I told her [that] with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip." --on the annual Miss Buffalo Chip Pageant, which features topless (and occasionally bottomless) contestants, Sturgis, South Dakota, Aug. 4, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"Make it a hundred...That would be fine with me." --to a questioner who asked if he supported President Bush's vision for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 50 years, Derry, New Hampshire, Jan. 3, 2008

"At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt." --to his wife, Cindy, after she playfully twirled his hair and said "You're getting a little thin up there," as reported in the book The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter

"The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should. I've got Greenspan's book." --as quoted in the Boston Globe, Dec. 17, 2007

"Sure. Technically, I don't know." --asked if the U.S. is in a recession, "60 Minutes" interview, Sept. 21, 2008

"I understand the economy. I was chairman of the Commerce Committee that oversights every part of our economy." --ignoring the fact that it is actually the Senate Banking Committee which is responsible for credit, financial services, and housing -- the very areas currently in crisis, CNBC interview, Sept. 16, 2008

"Ma'am, let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said." --after a woman at a town hall meeting said, "If we don't re-enact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell," Las Cruces, N.M., Aug. 20, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"I am a illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance I can get." -after being asked whether us uses a Mac or a PC (Watch video clip)

"The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush. --"Meet the Press" interview, June 19, 2005

"Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course." --on President Bush, "Meet the Pres Interview," Oct. 27, 2008

John McCain admits he doesn't know much about the economy. He is sexist and is known to have angry childlike outbursts. How can someone that wants to be the president not know how to use a computer! He admits he likes war and wants war. He admits he is no Maverick and essentially the same as President George W. Bush. Not really the type of overall persona that people want in a president.

Remembering Sarah Palin - her quotes

2008-10-28T09:35:00.008-06:00

"Well, let's see. There's -- of course -- in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" --Sarah Palin, interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co," July 31, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008 (Watch video clip)

The American voters should be seeing a recurring set of linguistic challenged ambiguities coming from Palin and Bush. They are the cousins of the "Grammar and Syntax Disaster Group". Check out my previous blog post about George Bush and read the quotes he has made throughout his presidential career.

If you vote for Sarah Palin , you get George Bush reincarnated.

George Bush has admitted through his quotes over the years that he was not articulate, he was against peace and prosperity. He also mentioned that he was the master of low expectations. Do the voters really want to continue this Republican legacy with Sarah Palin and John McCain? President George W. Bush with his best and probably most truthful and revealing quote:

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

STOP THE REPUBLICAN MADNESS.

Remembering President Bush - His legacy. His quotes

2008-10-27T16:12:00.008-06:00

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008 (wow.. might be quite true)
"This thaw -- took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw." --George W. Bush, on liquidity in the markets, Alexandria, La., Oct. 20, 2008
"I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement: If I had a magic wand -- but the president doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, 'low gas.'" --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., July 15, 2008
"I've got God's shoulder to cry on. And I cry a lot. I do a lot of crying in this job. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count, as president." --George W. Bush, "as quoted by author Robert Draper in Dead Certain
I've heard he's been called Bush's poodle. He's bigger than that." --George W. Bush, on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as quoted by the Sun newspaper, June 27, 2007
"Bush goes to Hel. That's what a lot of people want." --George W. Bush, on his visit to the Hel Peninsula, Gdansk, Poland, Jun. 8, 2007 (quite funny and shows he has a sense of humor)
"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007 (looks like John McCain & Sarah Palin is learning from the best)
"You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one." --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006 (The American people got their wish. Don't do it again!)
"I will not withdraw, even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me." --George W. Bush, talking to key Republicans about Iraq, as quoted by Bob Woodward (We wonder if he is talking about the big purple dinosaur)
"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --George W. Bush, interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006
"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?" --George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006 (One of the Best!)
President Bush: "Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?"
Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times: "I can take them off."
Bush: "I'm interested in the shade look, seriously."
Wallsten: "All right, I'll keep it, then."
Bush: "For the viewers, there's no sun."
Wallsten: "I guess it depends on your perspective."
Bush: "Touche.
--an exchange with legally blind reporter Peter Wallsten, to whom Bush later apologized, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006 (Watch video clip)
"If the Iranians were to have a nuclear weapon they could proliferate." --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., March 21, 2006
"I like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young, I liked them then I was middle-age, I liked them before I was president, and I like them during president, and I like them after president." --George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 1, 2006
"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel." --George W. Bush, after visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006
"Listen, I want to thank leaders of the -- in the faith -- faith-based and community-based community for being here." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio) (true words from a Republican. John McCain is listening)
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." --George W. Bush, Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2004
"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004 (Wow.. you really wonder if this quote would have been true)
"I own a timber company? That's news to me. Need some wood?" --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." --George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004 (Watch video clip or listen to audio)
"I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?'" --George W. Bush, Beaverton, Oregon, Aug. 13, 2004 (another winner!)
"Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life." --George W. Bush, Annandale, Va, Aug. 9, 2004 (Republicans talking about communism again!)
"The march to war hurt the economy. Laura reminded me a while ago that remember what was on the TV screens -- she calls me, 'George W.' -- 'George W.' I call her, 'First Lady.' No, anyway -- she said, we said, march to war on our TV screen." --George W. Bush, Bay Shore, New York, Mar. 11, 2004
"The recession started upon my arrival. It could have been -- some say February, some say March, some speculate maybe earlier it started -- but nevertheless, it happened as we showed up here. The attacks on our country affected our economy. Corporate scandals affected the confidence of people and therefore affected the economy. My decision on Iraq, this kind of march to war, affected the economy." --George W. Bush, Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004
"I'm the master of low expectations." -George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." -George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?" -George W. Bush, to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by Paul O'Neil, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2002
"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." -George W. Bush, as quoted in Bob Woodward's "Bush at War"
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." -George W. Bush, Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002 (that is why the oil companies love the Republicans!)
"The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." -George W. Bush, discussing the decline of the French economy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair
"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right." -George W. Bush, in Rome, July 22, 2001 (sounds like a famous Jean Chretien quote "A proof is a proof")
"It is white." -George W. Bush, asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001
"It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency." -George W. Bush, June 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling. (how did he get elected?)
"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead." -George W. Bush, May 11, 2001 (again why did he get elected?)

"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." -George W. Bush, speaking at the Radio & Television Correspondents dinner, March 29, 2001

"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." -George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001 (debt by end of 2008 will be over $10 trillion. It was approx. $3.5 trillion in 2001)

"There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it." -George W. Bush, speaking to Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31, 2001

"I want everybody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president of everybody." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2001

"It'll be hard to articulate." -George W. Bush, anticipating how he'll feel upon assuming the presidency, Jan. 2001 (again I ask "why is he elected?")

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000 (Listen to audio clip)

"They misunderestimated me." --George W. Bush, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000 (you're absolutely right. America was confused and your linguistic challenged cousin Sarah Palin is knocking at your door to the White House)

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --George W. Bush, Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000 (Listen to audio clip)

Pentagon Panel: Biden Was Right, Prep for 'Crisis'

2008-10-27T15:36:00.001-06:00

Pentagon Panel: Biden Was Right, Prep for 'Crisis'

The McCain campaign pounced the other day, when Joe Biden said that his running mate would be tested by an international crisis at the start of his White House tenure. But the chairman of a key Pentagon advisory panel is sounding a similar warning, telling the next administration to "prepare for a likely first-270-days crisis."
Veteran Pentagon consultant Michael Bayer, chairman of the Defense Business Board, told his fellow panelists that the new president's inner circle should "set aside time in transition to identify the planning, gravitas and interagency process necessary to respond to a likely first-270-day crisis."

From Kennedy (Bay of Pigs) to Johnson (Gulf of Tonkin) to Bush (9/11)," too many presidents were ill prepared for this," Bayer warns.

"For months, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the service chiefs and the Joint Staff have been preparing for the first wartime transfer of Pentagon political authority in four decades," notes Inside Defense, which broke word of Bayer's presentation. "In addition to identifying defense policy issues for an incoming to understand, the military is also on high operational alert."
A key goal for the next administration, according to Bayer, must be to fill civilian posts requiring Senate confirmation as soon as possible.

The incoming administration “must not wait until June” to get assistant secretaries confirmed and October for deputy assistant secretaries to be Senate confirmed, his briefing states.

“Need a very concerted, well-defined process to have top 3 tiers ready to go to Senate confirmation in first 30 days,” Bayer recommends.

Chuck Hagel - Respected Republican says Palin is the weakest link. Goodbye!

2008-10-27T14:25:00.003-06:00

Palin is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for VP.

In early June, Senators Chuck Hagel and John McCain met in Hagel's office on Capitol Hill. McCain, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, considered Hagel--a fellow-Republican and the senior senator from Nebraska--among his closest friends in Congress. Six months earlier, in December, 2007, McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, had asked Hagel to endorse McCain and campaign with him in the upcoming primaries. Hagel had demurred. ...
Hagel skipped the Republican Convention, choosing instead to go, with two aides, on a fact-finding trip to Latin America. He did hear McCain's speech, which, in its evocation of the need to bridge a disabling partisan divide, echoed the theme of his discussion with McCain in their meeting in June.
But, Hagel said, he's been "very disappointed" by McCain's campaign. "He gave one unifying speech and then has spent fifty million dollars to destroy his opponent." Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. "I don't believe she's qualified to be President of the United States," Hagel told me. "The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is--and I don't think John made a very good selection." He scoffed at McCain's attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. "To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia--and that she's commander of the Alaska National Guard." He added, "There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America."

Financial Times : Obama is the Better Choice

2008-10-27T14:16:00.003-06:00

Obama is the better choice

Published: October 26 2008 19:31 | Last updated: October 26 2008 19:31

US presidential elections involve a fabulous expense of time, effort and money. Doubtless it is all too much – but, by the end, nobody can complain that the candidates have been too little scrutinized. We have learned a lot about Barack Obama and John McCain during this campaign. In our view, it is enough to be confident that Mr Obama is the right choice.

At the outset, we were not so confident. Mr Obama is inexperienced. His policies are a blend of good, not so good and downright bad. Since the election will strengthen Democratic control of Congress, a case can be made for returning a Republican to the White House: divided government has a better record in the United States than government united under either party.

So this ought to have been a close call. With a week remaining before the election, we cannot feel that it is.

Mr Obama fought a much better campaign. Campaigning is not the same as governing, and the presidency should not be a prize for giving the best speeches, devising the best television advertisements, shaking the most hands and kissing the most babies.

Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

Nor should one disdain Mr Obama’s way with a crowd. Good presidents engage the country’s attention; great ones inspire. Mr McCain, on form, is an adequate speaker but no more. Mr Obama, on form, is as fine a political orator as the country has heard in decades. Put to the right purposes, this is no mere decoration but a priceless asset.

Mr Obama’s purposes do seem mostly right, though in saying this we give him the benefit of the doubt. Above all, he prizes consensus and genuinely seeks to unite the country, something it wants. His call for change struck a mighty chord in a tired and demoralised nation – and who could promise real change more credibly than Mr Obama, a black man, whose very nomination was a historic advance in US politics?

We applaud his main domestic proposal: comprehensive health-care reform. This plan would achieve nearly universal insurance without the mandates of rival schemes: characteristically, it combines a far-sighted goal with moderation in the method. Mr McCain’s plan, based on extending tax relief beyond employer-provided insurance, also has merit – it would contain costs better – but is too timid and would widen coverage much less.

Mr Obama is most disappointing on trade. He pandered to protectionists during the primaries, and has not rowed back. He may be sincere, which is troubling. Should he win the election, a Democratic Congress will expect him to keep those trade-thumping promises. Mr McCain has been bravely and consistently pro-trade, much to his credit.

In responding to the economic emergency, Mr Obama has again impressed – not by advancing solutions of his own, but in displaying a calm and methodical disposition, and in seeking the best advice. Mr McCain’s hasty half-baked interventions were unnerving when they were not beside the point.

On foreign policy, where the candidates have often conspired to exaggerate their differences, this contrast in temperaments seems crucial. For all his experience, Mr McCain has seemed too much guided by an instinct for peremptory action, an exaggerated sense of certainty, and a reluctance to see shades of grey.

He has offered risk-taking almost as his chief qualification, but gambles do not always pay off. His choice of Sarah Palin as running mate, widely acknowledged to have been a mistake, is an obtrusive case in point. Rashness is not a virtue in a president. The cautious and deliberate Mr Obama is altogether a less alarming prospect.

Rest assured that, should he win, Mr Obama is bound to disappoint. How could he not? He is expected to heal the country’s racial divisions, reverse the trend of rising inequality, improve middle-class living standards, cut almost everybody’s taxes, transform the image of the United States abroad, end the losses in Iraq, deal with the mess in Afghanistan and much more besides.

Succeeding in those endeavours would require more than uplifting oratory and presidential deportment even if the economy were growing rapidly, which it will not be.

The challenges facing the next president will be extraordinary. We hesitate to wish it on anyone, but we hope that Mr Obama gets the job.

Declaration of Support by 330 Former Diplomats of USA

2008-10-27T09:40:00.004-06:00

We know that if someone is given a Foreign Service appointment; their qualifications for the job must be in considerably high order. This kind of endorsement speaks highly of Obama and his campaign.

Declaration of Support by 330 Former Diplomats of USA

Dear Friends and Relations,

A friend and former colleague of mine in the Foreign Service, Kevin McGuire, some time ago drafted a short statement of support for Obama and began to ask retired Foreign Service officers if they would sign it. So far 334 of us have done so, including by my count 66 former American ambassadors.

If you would like to know why we have done so and who we are, you can find our reasons and our signatures at Foreign Policy for Obama.Com: Declaration of Support by Over 280 Former Diplomats. (Ed. note: the number is now over 330.)

You can go to ForeignPolicyforObama.com and click on the link in the left hand column.

I will remind you that the Foreign Service of the United States is our country's career diplomatic and consular service. We staff both the State Department in Washington and our embassies and consulates abroad. Usually two-thirds or more of our ambassadors are Foreign Service officers, although both Democratic and Republican administrations have made a number of ambassadorial appointments for political reasons. Some of these Republican appointees and, by my count, two former career officers, have come out for McCain.

Our Service has sometimes been criticized by Republicans who label us a bunch of liberals. I cannot speak for my former colleagues, but as I said in a recent essay, if we must use labels I want to be considered a liberal conservative. I am a conservative because, among other reasons, I believe in a prudent course for the country, including a conservative fiscal policy and conservation -- two old Republican virtues that present-day Republicans have forgotten.

In the Foreign Service we serve the President and the Constitution faithfully -- I served under seven Presidents, finally as ambassador to Somalia under President Reagan -- and we do our best by our country. We do not speak lightly about national security. Five of my friends and colleagues were killed by terrorists. More American ambassadors have died violent deaths since World War II than our admirals and generals combined. Two other friends and colleagues were kidnapped by terrorists, but survived.

I have backed Obama since I wrote, in early 2007, the review of his second book that I hope you will read at The Cal Review. He is a prudent manager, a professor of constitutional law, and a moral and upright man with sound judgment. I agree with Colin Powell that Obama is fully qualified to be commander in chief. He understands the problems that we face at home and abroad, and he will begin -- though it will take years -- to resolve them. He has a sturdy and experienced running mate, Joe Biden, whom I have admired greatly since I first met him in 1981.

Obama is running against a man whose chief virtue seems to be that he withstood five years of arduous imprisonment and torture and, since he could not equal the Navy record of his father and grandfather, went into politics after he married a rich wife. McCain has changed his positions as the years have progressed, but he has always supported the super-rich through the years as our society has divided.

He is the candidate of a party whose last candidates for President and Vice President were George W. Bush and Richard Cheney -- who inherited a budgetary surplus, sent us to war under false pretenses, and ran the country into the ground. McCain has chosen as his running mate and possible successor a woman who backed hundreds of Federal millions for the "bridge to nowhere" before she opposed it (and then kept the money) -- whom an independent investigator in Alaska finds guilty of ethics laws in the Troopergate scandal--and who knows so little about our Constitution that she says the Vice President is in charge of the Senate. I will leave it to the Republicans to explain the new report that she spent $150,000 of party funds on clothing and cosmetics.

Barack Obama did not approve this message. It's all mine.

Regards to all--
Peter

The average McCain/Palin Republican

2008-10-26T12:38:00.002-06:00

Wow... is it no wonder that the USA has a hard time with Racism. Hate begets hate. It's a vicious cycle that the McCain campaign wishes to continue and foster to the highest degree.

via videosift.com

2008-10-26T10:32:00.002-06:00

Defining Moment. Truer words have not been spoken by anyone else. The Democratic campaign actually talks about it's Plan for America. All we see from the Republican ads are disgust and hate for other Americans. The Republicans do not bridge gaps. The Republicans make gaps larger and wider.

Another Republican to add to the "going to hell" list

2008-10-26T01:28:00.004-06:00

The Republicans continue to run the most diabolical and hateful political campaign I've ever seen.

McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known
By Greg Sargent - October 24, 2008, 5:12PM

John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

The KDKA reporter had called McCain's campaign office for details after seeing the story -- sans details -- teased on Drudge.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

The claims to KDKA from the McCain campaign were included in an early story that ran late yesterday on KDKA's Web site. The paragraphs containing these assertions were quickly removed from the story after the Obama campaign privately complained that KDKA was letting the McCain campaign spin a racially-charged version of the story before the facts had been established, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

The story with the removed grafs is still right here. We preserved the three missing grafs from yesterday:

A source familiar with what happened yesterday confirmed that the unnamed spokesperson was communications director Peter Feldman. Feldman was also quoted yesterday making virtually identical assertions on the Web site of another local TV station, WPXI. But those quotes, which we also preserved here, are also no longer available on WPXI's site, for reasons that are unclear.

This is problematic because the McCain campaign doesn't want to have been perceived as pushing an incendiary story that not only turned out to be a hoax but which police officials said today risked blowing up into a "national incident" and has local police preparing to file charges against the hoaxster.

There's no evidence that anyone from McCain national headquarters put out a version of events like this.

After the story appeared on KDKA's site and this and other pieces in the local press started flying around the political world, an Obama spokesperson in the state angrily insisted to KDKA that it was irresponsible for the station to air the McCain spokesperson's incendiary version of events before the facts were fully known, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

After that, KDKA went back to McCain's Pennsylvania spokesperson, Feldman, and asked if he stood by the story as he'd earlier told it, but he started backing off the story, a source familiar with the talks says. That prompted KDKA to remove the grafs.

Feldman couldn't immediately be reached, and a McCain HQ spokesperson declined to comment.

Another star Republican votes for Obama - more to follow the lead

2008-10-26T00:58:00.002-06:00

Reagan Appointee and (Recent) McCain Adviser Charles Fried Supports Obama

Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

Fried is exceptionally thoughtful and principled; his vote for Obama is especially noteworthy.

--Cass. R. Sunstein

UPDATE: Fried writes to TNR: I admire Senator McCain and was glad to help in his campaign, and to be listed as doing so; but when I concluded that I must vote for Obama for the reason stated in my letter, I felt it wrong to appear to be recommending to others a vote that I was not prepared to cast myself. So it was more of an erasure than a public affirmation--although obviously my vote meant that I thought that Obama was preferable to McCain-Palin. I do not consider abstention a proper option.

Prominent Republicans Line Up Behind Obama

Susan Davis reports on the presidential race.

Since Colin Powell crossed party lines to endorse Barack Obama last Sunday, a steady stream of prominent Republicans have endorsed the Illinois senator over rival John McCain.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld is endorsing Obama today at a press conference in Salem, N.H. Weld was a public supporter of Mitt Romney in the Republican primaries. In a statement, Weld called Obama a “once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America’s standing in the world.”

On Thursday, former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson endorsed Obama at the state capitol. “I think we have in Barack Obama the clear possibility of a truly great president,” he said. “I would contend that it’s the most important election of my lifetime.”

Scott McClellan, a former spokesman for President George W. Bush, also endorsed Obama Thursday. USA Today reported that McClellan told CNN in a taping to be aired this weekend that Obama has “the best chance of changing the way Washington works.”

Ken Adelman, a prominent conservative on foreign policy matters announced his support for Obama on Tuesday, telling the New Yorker that his decision was based on temperament and judgment.

Adelman called McCain “impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird” in his handling of the U.S. economic crisis. He also was unsettled by McCain’s choice of running mate. “Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency,” Adelman wrote.

More fanatical Republicans that can go to HELL

2008-10-25T23:44:00.003-06:00

The Republican campaign continues on it's rollercoaster to hell. They continue to scrape the bottom of their hellish bottle of dirty tricks.

"An unexciting truth may be eclipsed by a thrilling lie."(Aldous Huxley)

A quote that the Republican party is using to run it's campaign.

Republican sends false anti-Obama email

October 24, 2008, 7:13 pm
Pennsylvania Republicans Send False Anti-Obama E-mail
By Jim Rutenberg

Updated | 9:20 p.m. A new e-mail making the rounds among Jewish voters in Pennsylvania this week falsely alleged that Mr. Obama “taught members of Acorn to commit voter registration fraud,’’ and equated a vote for Senator Barack Obama with the “tragic mistake” of their Jewish ancestors, who “ignored the warning signs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.”

At first blush, it was typical of the sorts of e-mails floating around with false, unsubstantiated and incendiary claims this year.

But where most of the attack e-mails against Mr. Obama have been mostly either anonymous or from people outside of mainstream politics, this one had an unusually official provenance: It was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s “Victory 2008” committee.

And it was signed by several prominent McCain supporters in the state: Mitchell L. Morgan, a top fund-raiser; Hon. Sandra Schwartz Newman, a member of Mr. McCain’s national task-force monitoring Election Day voting, and I. Michael Coslov, a steel industry executive.

After several calls for comment about the e-mail, leaders of the state party repudiated it on Friday. They said it had been released without their authorization and that they had fired the strategist who helped draft it, Bryan Rudnick.

“There were some points that were accurate, there were two that we cannot substantiate, however; as a result of them we’ve let him go,” said Michael Barley, the communications director for the Pennsylvania state Republican Party, who said other issues had contributed to Mr. Rudnick’s dismissal. “There are points that could have been made and he touched on some of them, but he definitely went a little bit farther than the facts would support.”

Mr. Barley was referring specifically to the letter’s allegation that Mr. Obama had “taught members of Acorn to commit voter registration fraud.” Mr. Barley said the party had no substantiation for the claim and should not have made it. (Mr. Obama’s campaign and Acorn have reported he did conduct two pro bono training sessions, of one hour each, for officials there more than a decade ago.)

Mr. Barley was also referring to a statement in the letter that Mr. Obama was “associated with a known terrorist, William Ayers, who thought the terrorists didn’t do enough on 9/11.”

Mr. Ayers was quoted in the Sept. 11, 2001 edition of The New York Times, printed before the attacks, saying he believed that his group, The Weather Underground, “didn’t do enough.” The Weather Underground had bombed several government buildings in the 1970’s that resulted in several deaths — including those of three police officers. He was not referring to Al Qaeda or the Sept. 11 attacks.

And, working off of a common refrain of Mr. McCain that Mr. Obama had once described Mr. Ayers as “just a guy in the neighborhood,’’ the letter goes on to ask, “If a known terrorist lived in your neighborhood, would he just be a guy in your neighborhood, or would you be calling the FBI to have him removed?”

While that would seem to imply to uninformed voters that Mr. Ayers was on the lam, Mr. Ayers is now a professor of education at the University of Illinois, and worked with Mr. Obama on two charitable boards with mainstream, civic support in Chicago. Charges against him were dropped in 1974 because of prosecutorial misconduct, including illegal surveillance.

In a brief interview earlier Friday, Judge Newman — a former state supreme court justice now in private practice –- said she had helped write the letter. Then she quickly passed the phone to Mr. Rudnick. He said the e-mail was sent to 75,000 voters in Pennsylvania and asked that other questions be e-mailed to him.

Mr. Rudnick did not respond to that e-mail. But, contacted again on Friday night, Mr. Rudnick disputed the party’s version of events and said he had approval for the letter from officials at several levels.

Mr. Rudnick said he usually works in Florida but was dispatched to Pennsylvania to help with Jewish outreach there.

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Mr. Obama, said, “If they really cared about telling the truth they’d send the list an email debunking their own lies.”

Mr. Barley said the party would send a correction to those who received the email. “We apologize and that was definitely not something we authorize,” he said.

He could not be reached late Friday to address Mr. Rudnick’s refutation of the party’s official version of events.

McCain campaign aides are revolting?

2008-10-25T23:39:00.002-06:00

McCain/Palin aides are letting us in on a secret!

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

A Palin associate defended her, saying that she is "not good at process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls were answers to process questions.
But this Palin source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news conference on a Colorado tarmac.

Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt tried several times to end the unscheduled session.

"We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing more," a different Palin adviser recently said, arguing that "it's not fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network interviews.

The Politico reported Saturday on Palin's frustration, specifically with McCain advisers Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. They helped decide to limit Palin's initial press contact to high-profile interviews with Charlie Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, which all McCain sources admit were highly damaging.

In response, Wallace e-mailed CNN the same quote she gave the Politico: "If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there."

But two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended the decision to keep her press interaction limited after she was picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse.

They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record.

"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."

Schmitt came to the back of the plane Saturday to deliver a statement to traveling reporters: "Unnamed sources with their own agenda will say what they want, but from Gov. Palin down, we have one agenda, and that's to win on Election Day."

Yet another senior McCain adviser lamented the public recriminations.

"This is what happens with a campaign that's behind; it brings out the worst in people, finger-pointing and scapegoating," this senior adviser said.

The Sarah Palin Debate Chart - who knew it was so accurate!

2008-10-24T16:15:00.005-06:00

This particular blog article goes back to the VP debate. Just came across it today. Loved the chart!

Sarah Palin - a brutally honest blog article

The truth is that Palin didn’t answer any questions she didn’t want to tonight, and she said she’d do exactly that at the start of the debate. She had a hand full of index cards and a brain full of buzz words, and it was her job to say them all in front of the camera. Actually, it was her job to say them while looking at Joe Biden for five seconds, then looking at the camera for five seconds, and then looking back at Biden to start over again. It was like she was on a timer. One of the many things she’d probably been coached on after the whole flap about McCain not looking Obama in the eyes.

I choose to leave you (at 4:30 in the morning) with the following flow chart. Doubtless, it will grow prettier and more robust over time.

Palin's Makeup Artist making big bucks!

2008-10-24T13:41:00.004-06:00

Again....Sarah Palin is not spending like your typical "Hockey mom" or "Average six-pack Joe". She has got the resources of the Republican National Committee which will obviously spend a lot of money to keep Palin looking good for the camera. I thought the Republicans were calling Obama a celebrity; looks like Palin is the true celebrity with the "Big Daddy" bucks.

Palin's makeup stylist is highest paid staffer on McCain's campaign

Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?

Not Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser; not Nicolle Wallace, his senior communications staffer. It was Amy Strozzi, Gov. Sarah Palin’s traveling makeup artist, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday night.

Ms. Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her makeup work on the television show “So You Think You Can Dance?”, was paid $22,800 for the first two weeks of October alone, according to the records. The campaign categorized Ms. Strozzi’s payment as “Personnel Svc/Equipment.”

In addition, Angela Lew, who is Ms. Palin’s traveling hair stylist, got $10,000 for “Communications Consulting” in the first half of October. Ms. Lew’s address listed in F.E.C. records traces to an Angela M. Lew in Thousands Oaks, Calif., which matches with a license issued by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The board said Ms. Lew works at a salon called Hair Grove in Westlake Village, Calif.

W Magazine’s blog reported earlier this month that “the Guv has been traveling with a hairstylist named Angela, who usually works out of a salon called the Hair Grove,” and that she was directed to the salon by none other than Cindy McCain, whose own hair stylist, Piper, works at the Hair Grove as well.

The campaign’s payment on Oct. 10 to Ms. Strozzi made her the single highest-paid individual in the campaign for that two week period. (There were more than two-dozen companies that got larger payments than Ms. Strozzi). She easily beat out Mr. Scheunemann, who received $12,500 in the first half of October, and Ms. Wallace, who got $12,000. Ms. Lew was the fourth highest paid person in the campaign during that span.

In September, Ms. Strozzi, who was first identified by the Washington Post this week as Ms. Palin’s makeup artist, was also paid $13,200 for “communications consulting.” But several individuals were paid more by the McCain campaign that month, including Mike DuHaime, the political director, who received $25,000 for “Gotv Consulting,” and Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s senior advisers, who got $13,224 in salary.

Ms. Lew collected $8,825 in September for what the campaign labeled in its report as “GOTV Consulting.”

There has been much attention this week, of course, on the $150,000 Republican National Committee spent outfitting Ms. Palin in September at high-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, as well as for makeup services.

The campaign finance reports filed on Thursday night, which showed the McCain campaign and the R.N.C. had about $84 million left in the bank on Oct. 15, did not immediately appear to show any similar payments in the first half of October.

John McCain's Republican supporters "a special place in hell"

2008-10-24T11:14:00.004-06:00

During the run for the Presidential campaign in 2000 against George Bush; McCain faced unrelenting malicious and false rumors. McCain had said after the primary loss in South Carolina, "I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those"

A Special Place in Hell; an article with some great insight by Will Samson.

This is the problem with hate - it cannot be contained. It breeds after its own kind. To quote Dr. King, "hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Hate can only generate more hate and it will eventually consume the hater.
I believe the John McCain is, even now, deeply regretting the tenor of this campaign, a tone he has allowed and encouraged. I wonder if the 2000 South Carolina loss pops into his conscious mind more than he wishes. And, I wonder if he believes that, win or lose, he will have made the world a more volatile, violent and dangerous place to live, a fact that seems increasingly obvious given the tone of his own supporters.

There appears to be no low moral ground for the supporters of John McCain. Welcome to hell.

Clerk regrets distributing 'black Hitler' letters

Associated Press
9:13 AM CDT, October 24, 2008

FRANKLIN, Ind. - A Republican county election clerk said Friday she has apologized to two employees for distributing copies of Internet blog posting referring to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as a "young, black Adolf Hitler."

The employees, who had voted for Obama in Indiana's Democratic primary, discovered the printouts at their desks after returning from Labor Day weekend, sheriff's Deputy Doug Cox said in a police report made public this week. One of the workers complained, and surveillance video showed Johnson County Clerk Jill Jackson placing an item on one worker's desk at 5:27 p.m. on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, Cox said.

"She admitted to being responsible for the letter, but only did it as a joke," Cox said. Jackson told Cox she had intended to speak with the workers upon returning to work but forgot.

However, she told The Associated Press on Friday that she did not intend it as a joke but was merely passing along to the workers an item that already was circulating around in the office, much like a fundraising order form or an interesting newspaper article.

"It was no more than an Internet blog that was circulating around the office. There was no motive, no intent," Jackson said, adding that she has apologized to both employees. "I never intended to offend anyone."

The Daily Journal of Franklin first reported the item's contents on its Web site Thursday.

Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said Jackson did not violate any laws. One of the employees also filed a complaint with County Coordinator Kathleen Hash, who said Thursday she didn't know the status or disposition of the complaint.

Officials from both parties called the incident unsettling.

"I don't find anything funny about Adolf Hitler," said Jonathan Swain, Indiana campaign spokesman for Obama.

Doug Lechner, Republican Party chairman in the county just south of Indianapolis, said the incident was unacceptable and taints Jackson's ability to appear unbiased in administering this year's election. County clerks are elected officials responsible for training poll workers, providing all voters an opportunity to cast their ballot without influence, and overseeing vote counts.

"She's in a sensitive position and she has to give all the appearance of fairness," Lechner said.

The item does not mention Obama by name but refers to events in his life that make clear Obama is the target.

The unsigned posting urges readers to send it to everyone they know.

"The U.S. citizens are just not ready to give up their country to this young, black 'Adolf Hitler' with a smile, poor direction and absolutely no experience!" it said.

Indiana this year is considered a battleground state, and Obama campaigned there Thursday, drawing an estimated 35,000 people to a rally in downtown Indianapolis.

Johnson County is heavily Republican, with nearly three-quarters of the votes cast in the 2004 presidential election going to President Bush.

Why Obama is Winning.

2008-10-24T08:47:00.003-06:00

This is an excellent article describing Obama; his decisions and why they are made. I've included some highlights but click the link for the full article.

Why Obama is winning the election race.

General David Petraeus deployed overwhelming force when he briefed Barack Obama and two other Senators in Baghdad last July. He knew Obama favored a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq, and he wanted to make the strongest possible case against it. And so, after he had presented an array of maps and charts and PowerPoint slides describing the current situation on the ground in great detail, Petraeus closed with a vigorous plea for "maximum flexibility" going forward.

Obama had a choice at that moment. He could thank Petraeus for the briefing and promise to take his views "under advisement." Or he could tell Petraeus what he really thought, a potentially contentious course of action — especially with a general not used to being confronted. Obama chose to speak his mind. "You know, if I were in your shoes, I would be making the exact same argument," he began. "Your job is to succeed in Iraq on as favorable terms as we can get. But my job as a potential Commander in Chief is to view your counsel and interests through the prism of our overall national security." Obama talked about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the financial costs of the occupation of Iraq, the stress it was putting on the military.
Barack Obama has prospered in this presidential campaign because of the steadiness of his temperament and the judicious quality of his decision-making. They are his best-known qualities.

And at the crucial moment of the campaign — the astonishing onset of the financial crisis — it was Obama's gut steadiness that won the public's trust, and quite possibly the election. On the afternoon when McCain suspended his campaign, threatened to scuttle the Sept. 26 debate and hopped a plane back to Washington to try to resolve the crisis, Obama was in Florida doing debate prep with his top advisers. When he was told about McCain's maneuvers, Obama's first reaction — according to an aide — was, "You gotta be kidding. I'm going to debate. A President has to be able to do more than one thing at a time." But there was a storm brewing among Obama's supporters in Congress and the Beltway establishment. "My BlackBerry was exploding," said an Obama aide. "They were saying we had to suspend. McCain was going to look more like a statesman, above the fray."

"I didn't believe it," Obama told me. "I have to tell you, one of the benefits of running this 22-month gauntlet is that ... you start realizing that what seems important or clever or in need of some dramatic moment, a lot of times just needs reflection and care. And I think that was an example of where my style at least worked." Obama realized that he and McCain could be little more than creative bystanders — and one prominent Republican told me that McCain was "the least creative person in the room at the President's White House meeting. He simply had no ideas. He didn't even have any good questions." Obama had questions for the Treasury Secretary and the Fed chairman, but he was under no illusions: he didn't have the power to influence the final outcome, so it was best to stay calm and not oversell his role. It was an easy call, his natural bias. But, Obama acknowledged, "There are going to be some times where ... I won't have the luxury of thinking through all the angles."

If he wins, however, there will be a different challenge. He will have to return, full force, to the inspiration business. The public will have to be mobilized to face the fearsome new economic realities. He will also have to deliver bad news, to transform crises into "teachable moments." He will have to effect a major change in our political life: to get the public and the media to think about long-term solutions rather than short-term balms. Obama has given some strong indications that he will be able to do this, having remained levelheaded through a season of political insanity.

His has been a remarkable campaign, as smoothly run as any I've seen in nine presidential cycles. Even more remarkable, Obama has made race — that perennial, gaping American wound — an afterthought. He has done this by introducing a quality to American politics that we haven't seen in quite some time: maturity. He is undoubtedly as ego-driven as everyone else seeking the highest office — perhaps more so, given his race, his name and his lack of experience. But he has not been childishly ego-maniacal, in contrast to our recent baby-boomer Presidents — or petulant, in contrast to his opponent. He does not seem needy. He seems a grown-up, in a nation that badly needs some adult supervision.

New York Times endorsment for Obama

2008-10-24T08:39:00.001-06:00

Endorsement for Obama from New York Times

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for U.S. president on Thursday, saying he had "met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change."
The Times posted its endorsement on its Internet site on Thursday evening and was to publish it in Friday editions of the newspaper.

Earlier this year, the newspaper endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but it said Obama had long ago erased the reservations that led it to make that decision.

"He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility," the Times said. "He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation's problems."

The newspaper declared that the choice between Obama and Republican John McCain was easy.

"Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing," it said.

The endorsement was not unexpected. The Times endorsed Democrats John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.

According to Editor & Publisher magazine, Obama is outpacing McCain in newspaper endorsements by about three to one, even winning the nod of the Chicago Tribune, the first time it has endorsed a Democrat for president.

However such endorsements are considered to have little influence on voters, especially in presidential races.

(Reporting by Alan Elsner; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

John McCain's Republican "Country First" - lose your house, lose your vote

2008-10-23T14:34:00.004-06:00

Michigan Republicans plan to foreclose African-American voters

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

State election rules allow parties to assign “election challengers” to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can provided they “have a good reason to believe” that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a “true resident of the city or township.”

The Michigan Republicans’ planned use of foreclosure lists is apparently an attempt to challenge ineligible voters as not being “true residents.”

One expert questioned the legality of the tactic.

“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

click the link above for the full story.

Republican's change their minds - find new tactics to suppress voting

The Macomb County Republican Party chair who told Michigan Messenger earlier this week that Republicans planned to challenge voters at the polls using a list of foreclosed homes has changed his story.

James Carabelli now says the party has “no plans to do anything,” according to a story in the Macomb Daily.

Reports of the plan for foreclosure-based challenges have spurred outrage and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) planned a demonstration today at the Macomb County Republican headquarters.

Eric Doster is former counsel for the Michigan Republican Party and a lawyer who plans to represent GOP election challengers on Election Day.

Doster returned a call Wednesday afternoon and in a 30-minute conversation told Michigan Messenger that while he is unfamiliar with plans to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters, he does expect party volunteers to challenge voters in other ways.

When asked whether Michigan Republicans plan to create a challenge list based on returned direct mail, a practice known as “vote caging,” Doster replied, “I think so. I know this has been done in years past … both parties may be doing this.”

Doster said that the party’s deputy political director, Kelly Harrigan, would have more information about the challenge lists. Harrigan did not respond to a call from Michigan Messenger.

“Voter caging” is controversial because it can be used to target certain groups of voters. Some say that a piece of returned mail should not be enough to challenge a person’s claim of residency.

Last week Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner acknowledged that the use of mail for vote caging has disproportionately affected poor and minority communities and she instructed that returned mail should not be considered reasonable evidence that someone has moved.

Michigan voter foreclosure lawsuit settled

By Ed Brayton 10/20/08 11:17 AM

On the day the judge was to hear arguments in the Barack Obama campaign’s lawsuit against the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and the Macomb County Republican Party over alleged plans to use foreclosure lists to challenge Michigan voters at the polls on election day, the parties agreed to dismiss the case and issue a joint statement to reassure voters that such challenges will not occur.

Here is the statement they released in full:

“Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and individual Macomb County residents have alleged that the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and the Macomb County Republican Party were planning to use foreclosure lists to challenge certain voters on Election Day. The Republicans have denied the allegations and have stated that they never intended to challenge voters based on any such list. To clarify the matter for all voters, all parties are pleased that they agree that the existence of a person’s address on a foreclosure list does not provide a reasonable basis for challenging the person’s eligibility to vote and that none of these parties will challenge any voter’s eligibility on that basis.”

The Michigan Messenger will have much more on this as the story develops.

John McCain - playing in the mud - Oink Oink

2008-10-23T11:25:00.002-06:00

John McCain's campaign is as dirty as the Liberal campaign in Canada when the Liberals put in ad on TV that said the Conservatives would put military in the streets of every city and point guns at everyone.
It was pathetic and downright dirty politics; nice to see John McCain likes to roll with the pigs too.

Woman quits job at call center over anti-Obama script

October 22, 2008

Chaylee Cole, a student at Fairmont State University, lost her part-time job in Weston last Friday after refusing to make telephone calls attacking Barack Obama.

By Paul J. Nyden
Staff writer

WESTON, W.Va. -- Chaylee Cole, a student at Fairmont State University, lost her part-time job in Weston last Friday after refusing to make telephone calls attacking Barack Obama.

McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee were paying for the calls, according to a "work paper" handed to Cole and her co-workers at the Weston offices of 1.2.1 Direct Response, a company based in Philadelphia.

"I was working at the call center," Cole said. "We got a campaign ad talking about how Obama had been part of terrorist attacks on the Capitol, the Pentagon and a judge's home and had ties with Bill Ayers.

"Last Thursday, I told them I did not want to read it," Cole said. "They said, 'Either you read it or you go home.'

"I told them I wasn't going to read it. They made me go home without pay for the rest of the day."

The "work paper" told callers to say:

"Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers [airs], whose organization bombed the US Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans.

"And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democrat allies lack the judgment to lead our country.

"This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee."

Cole said, "We were just supposed to read that message and hang up. One of my other issues working there was that someone told me it didn't matter who picked up the phone, whether it was a 5-year-old or a 95-year-old. We should read the message."

"I talked to one of our 'coaches,' which is what our supervisors were called. I said I was unhappy with the situation and I quit," she said Tuesday.

Asked about the claims about Ayers and the "extreme leftist agenda," no one from the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., returned telephone calls on Tuesday. Neither did Gail Gitcho, regional spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, based in Alexandria, Va.

Russell Andrews, a spokesman for 1.2.1 Direct Response, did not return several telephone calls made to his Philadelphia office on Tuesday.

1.2.1 Direct Response helps private companies and other organizations with fundraising, media coverage, advertising, marketing and publicity, according to its Web site.

That Web site reports that the company employs more than 550 people to make telephone calls, including 220 in Weston, 210 in Parkersburg, 170 in Media, Pa., and 150 in Philadelphia.

The McCain-Palin campaign has repeatedly tried to tie Ayers, now a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, to Obama. When Ayers was associated with Weather Underground, Obama was 8 years old.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement about Obama and Ayers reported by The Washington Post on Feb. 19.

"Sen. Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an 8-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost 40 years ago is ridiculous," Burton said.

Numerous other publications - including The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and Time magazine - have also noted that Obama and Ayers never had a close relationship.

Ballot troubles already?

2008-10-23T11:03:00.003-06:00

Voters allege ballot trouble

More say machines changing their votes

WINFIELD - Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
By Paul J. Nyden
Staff writer

WINFIELD - Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain."

In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.

They also blamed voters for not being more careful.

"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.

Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.

"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.

"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.

"I heard from some other people; they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it," said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.

Ketchum's son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.

"I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead," Oates said of her experience Thursday.

She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.

When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, "I'm absolutely positive."

Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are "so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.

"But we haven't had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work when they come in," Wood said.

In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical-scan ballots - paper ballots on which people mark their election choices.

Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices.

"The reaction time [on the machines] may be different. And when you hit the screen a second time, it cancels your vote," Wood said. "When you get in a hurry, if you go too fast and hit it again, you can cancel what you just did.

"The main thing people need to remember is that when you are done voting, make sure everybody you wanted to vote for has a check mark beside them," Wood said.

Ketchum said, "I am educated person. I know what I wanted. I am anxious to see who wins.

Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright, a Republican, said 400 other people voted without reporting any problems.

Wood said he and Waybright are both very careful to guarantee people's votes are recorded properly.

Wood said, "Voting machines are very reliable. I hate the fact that stories like this are printed. It makes everybody get scared.

"That is not good for anybody. Where the fault is, I don't know and the voter doesn't know. There needs to be good communication between the voters and the poll workers."

Wood offered this advice to voters: "The best way to solve this whole problem is that before you leave the voting booth, make sure on the review screen that everybody you want to vote for is checked."

More than 1,000 voters from 48 local precincts in Putnam County cast early ballots in the past three days, Wood said. Putnam County has 36,000 registered voters.

We've all experienced some touch screen issues at airports and other service locations. Sometimes they don't register the touch correctly but when it comes to elections, wouldn't it be prudent to have machines that work correctly every time and prints a receipt of your vote for verification.

Republicans - rigging elections

2008-10-23T09:37:00.004-06:00

The hypocrisy of the Republicans accusing the Democratic party of pandering to poor and homeless people for votes(through ACORN) is appalling considering the illegal games they play. I should like the Republicans based on their conservative views but this party has shifted so far to the fanatical right side; it's darn right scary. It's no wonder that Republicans that fall into the middle of the political spectrum have shifted sides. It's time for the Republican Party to take a political beating. They need a serious house cleaning. The Republicans have sunken into the tar pits and it seems like they want to go further down into hell.

How to rig an election - an Ex-GOP operative.

Allen Raymond is living proof that political dirty tricksters do exist. The former Republican political operative went to federal prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of phone harassment. He jammed the phone lines of New Hampshire's Democratic Party on Election Day six years ago.
"The concept was to disrupt lines of communication. That's a fancy way of saying, 'make it so the phones didn't work,' " Raymond said recently. "No calls going out. No calls going in."
We're not going to give away exactly how Raymond did it. According to federal prosecutors, two top Republican Party officials tapped Raymond's Virginia-based telemarketing firm for the operation. Raymond then contracted out the job to a private phone bank in Idaho.
Former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan remembers the ensuing flood of hang-up calls that created havoc in her office.
The operation also jammed the lines inside a firefighters union hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Jeff Duval and other local firefighters were lining up car rides to help senior citizens get to the polls.

"It almost felt to me like an election might have been stolen," Duval said. "I know for a fact that we received calls a few days later from people saying 'we tried to call you.' And I say 'did you get out and vote?' And they said 'no.'
Looking back, Raymond said, he thinks the scheme was ingenious in an "evil genius sort of way."

In his book, "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative," Raymond details how he got caught. An hour and a half into the jamming operation he received an e-mail from a Republican official, frantically telling him to shut down the calls. The e-mail read: "Chairman wishes not to proceed with this project ... insists it violates federal law."

Federal agents eventually paid a visit to Raymond's office.

Raymond decided to come clean about his role in the operation and cooperate with investigators.
One of Raymond's alleged co-conspirators, James Tobin, was a top official with the National Republican Senatorial Committee that year. He went on to serve as George W. Bush's Northeastern regional re-election chairman in 2004. Tobin was initially convicted. But he succeeded in having that decision overturned by an appellate court. Just last week, Tobin was again indicted in the case on two counts of making false statements to a federal agent. His lawyer had no comment.

Another co-conspirator and former chairman of New Hampshire's Republican Party, Charles McGee, pleaded guilty to phone harassment in the case and served seven months in prison.

California Republican Arrested for Voter Fraud

SACRAMENTO -- Dozens of newly minted Republican voters say they were duped into joining the party by a GOP contractor with a trail of fraud complaints stretching across the country.

Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed.
I am not a Republican," insisted Karen Ashcraft, 47, a pet-clinic manager and former Democrat from Ventura who said she was duped by a signature gatherer into joining the GOP. "I certainly . . . won't sign anything in front of a grocery store ever again."

It is a bait-and-switch scheme familiar to election experts. The firm hired by the California Republican Party -- a small company called Young Political Majors, or YPM, which operates in several states -- has been accused of using the tactic across the country.

Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Ventura counties say they are investigating complaints about the company.

The firm, which a Republican Party spokesman said is paid $7 to $12 for each registration it secures, has denied any wrongdoing and says it has never been charged with a crime.

The 70,000 voters YPM has registered for the Republican Party this year will help combat the public perception that it is struggling amid Democratic gains nationally, give a boost to fundraising efforts and bolster member support for party leaders, political strategists from both parties say.

Those who were formerly Democrats may stop receiving phone calls and literature from that party, perhaps affecting its get-out-the-vote efforts. They also will be given only a Republican ballot in the next primary election if they do not switch their registration back before then.

Some also report having their registration status changed to absentee without their permission; if they show up at the polls without a ballot they may be unable to vote.

The Times randomly interviewed 46 of the hundreds of voters whose election records show they were recently re-registered as Republicans by YPM, and 37 of them -- more than 80% -- said that they were misled into making the change or that it was done without their knowledge.

Lydia Laws, a Palm Springs retiree, said she was angry to find recently that her registration had been switched from Democrat to Republican.

Laws said the YPM staffer who instructed her to identify herself on a petition as a Republican assured her that it was a formality, and that her registration would not be changed. Later, a card showed up in the mail saying she had joined the GOP.

"I said, 'No, no, no. That's not right,' " Laws said.

It all sounds familiar to Beverly Hill, a Democrat and the former election supervisor in Florida's Alachua County. About 200 voters -- mostly college students -- were unwittingly registered as Republicans there in 2004 by YPM staffers using the same tactic, Hill said.

"It is just incredible that this can keep happening election after election," she said.

The Republicans accuse the Democrats of using ACORN for voter fraud. There will always be over zealous members of the public that support their parties and break the rules. The main difference, big difference, is the Republican National Committee PAYS people to do it.

John McCain - I've learned nothing from the Iraq Information Minister

2008-10-22T11:07:00.003-06:00

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, John McCain conceded that he is trailing Barack Obama but seemed optimistic about his chances. Wrapping up an interview with Don Imus, John McCain had this to say.

“We’re doing fine. We have a lot of enthusiasm out there. We’re working hard and enjoying the rallies and having fun. I’m very confident,” he said. “I think we’re behind, but it’s within the margin of error and we’re coming up. All the indicators are that we’re coming up.”

We have heard these kind of lines before. When the walls of Baghdad were collapsing during the early days of the Iraq war and the tanks were rolling in, the information minister of Iraq said some incredulous things.

"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"
"I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad."
"Be assured. Baghdad is safe, protected"

When will John McCain learn that "stupid is as stupid does"; a quote made famous by Forest Gump.

Sarah Palin - Average "Joe" American? NOT!

2008-10-22T10:20:00.004-06:00

Sarah Palin has told the American public that she is like Joe Six-pack(the average American). I would like to know how many average Americans get to spend this huge amount of money on clothes. My guess would be next to nil. I would think most Republican campaign donors would not like to know their financial donations were being used for clothing sprees.

Palin's spending spree at Saks and Neimans.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.

click the above link for the whole article.

During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class -- and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber -- it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years.

Sarah Palin - pathetic! as told by CNN's Jack Cafferty

2008-10-21T22:01:00.002-06:00

Sarah Palin - leading expert on energy issues?

2008-10-21T21:09:00.002-06:00

The question from the audience. "Would there be a ban on exporting new drilled oil?"

click on this link for the video

Sarah Palin: "Oil and coal, of course it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the, in the sense of the congress today they know that there are very very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So I believe that what Congress is gonna do also is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans who get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here pumped here that’s gotta flow into our domestic markets first."

What???... are you as confused as the rest of the nation? More Palinspeak? Will she ever be able to answer a question that isn't scripted and that the human mind can comprehend.

Sarah Palin - Good to be the Queen of Alaska

2008-10-21T20:43:00.003-06:00

She said she would be different; a real maverick like McCain. Different than the old cronies in Washington.

hmmmmm..... it's good to be the queen of Alaska.

Alaska funded Palin kids' travel

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.

.....

The state is already reviewing nearly $17,000 in per diem payments to Palin for more than 300 nights she slept at her own home, 40 miles from her satellite office in Anchorage.

Tony Knowles, a Democratic former governor of Alaska who lost to Palin in a 2006 bid to reclaim the job, said he never charged the state for his three children's commercial flights or claimed their travel as official state business.

Knowles, who was governor from 1994 to 2002, is the only other recent Alaska governor who had school-age children while in office.

"There was no valid reason for the children to be along on state business," said Knowles, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. "I cannot recall any instance during my eight years as governor where it would have been appropriate to claim they performed state business."

Knowles said he brought his children to one NGA event while in office but didn't charge the state for their trip.

Sarah Palin - I'm Back! and I'm in Control!

2008-10-21T20:25:00.003-06:00

Palin claims the Vice President controls the senate

Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:

Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”

PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

....
Article I of the Constitution establishes an exceptionally limited role for the Vice President — giving the office holder a vote only when the Senate is “equally divided”:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

see the video here

More McCain Hypocrisy - there is no dignity left

2008-10-21T14:10:00.003-06:00

Republican voter shenanigans worse than the disputable ACORN claim.

John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.
According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters." The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket.

In a letter to the Justice Department last October, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said that that Sproul's alleged activities "clearly suppress votes and violate the law."

That Sproul would come under the employment umbrella of the McCain campaign -- the Republican National Committee has also separately paid Lincoln Strategy at least $37,000 for voter registration efforts this cycle -- is not terribly surprising. Sproul, who has donated nearly $30,000 to McCain's campaign, has been in the good graces of GOP officials for the past decade despite charges of ethical and potentially legal wrongdoing.

But his involvement with the Republican Party's voter registration efforts has the potential to create a political and public relations headache at a time when McCain can ill-afford one. For weeks the Arizona Republican and his allies have been seeking to tie Barack Obama to the community organization ACORN, which they have accused of potentially committing massive voter registration fraud. Sproul's contract with the GOP ticket -- in addition to news of Republican officials attempting to suppress Democratic turnout in California -- raises, for some, questions about McCain's own efforts.

"It should certainly take away from McCain's argument," said Bob Grossfeld, a progressive political consultant based in Arizona who has followed Sproul's career. "Without knowing anything of what is going on with ACORN, there is a clear history with Mr. Sproul either going over the line or sure as hell kicking dirt on it, and doing it for profit and usually fairly substantive profit."

As Republican Congressman Chris Cannon summarized during a joint hearing for the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law back in May 2008: "The difference between ACORN and Sproul is that ACORN doesn't throw away or change registration documents after they have been filled out."

Please click the link at top of article for more info about Republican voter shenanigans.

More Republicans endorsing Obama & slamming McCain on judgement

2008-10-20T16:11:00.006-06:00

First Colin Powell, Now…

more on the endorsement of Obama on this link

Ken Adleman's changing his tune

Ken Adelman is a lifelong conservative Republican. Campaigned for Goldwater, was hired by Rumsfeld at the Office of Economic Opportunity under Nixon, was assistant to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld under Ford, served as Reagan’s director of arms control, and joined the Defense Policy Board for Rumsfeld’s second go-round at the Pentagon, in 2001. Adelman’s friendship with Rumsfeld, Cheney, and their wives goes back to the sixties, and he introduced Cheney to Paul Wolfowitz at a Washington brunch the day Reagan was sworn in.

In recent years, Adelman and his friends Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz fell out over his criticisms of the botching of the Iraq War. Still, he remains a bona-fide hawk (“not really a neo-con but a con-con”) who has never supported a Democrat for President in his life. Two weeks from now that’s going to change: Ken Adelman intends to vote for Barack Obama. He can hardly believe it himself.

Adelman and I exchanged e-mails today about his decision. He asked rhetorically,

Why so, since my views align a lot more with McCain’s than with Obama’s? And since I truly dread the notion of a Democratic president, Democratic House, and hugely Democratic Senate?

Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.

When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I’ve concluded that that’s no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign—Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.

I sure hope Obama is more open, centrist, sensible—dare I say, Clintonesque—than his liberal record indicates, than his cooperation with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid portends. If not, I will be even more startled by my vote than I am now.

More Republicans disappointed with McCain

2008-10-16T11:27:00.002-06:00

Put Country at Risk with Sarah Palin VP pick.

Matthew Dowd, a prominent political consultant and chief strategist for George W. Bush's reelection campaign eviscerated John McCain on Tuesday for his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president.
Dowd proclaimed that, in his heart of hearts, McCain knew he put the country at risk with his VP choice and that he would "have to live" with that fact for the rest of his career.
"No, I don't agree," said Mark McKinnon, a former McCain aide, after chiding Dowd for claiming particular insight into McCain's soul.

"Well," responded Dowd, "that's even more disturbing than my thought" -- the implication being that it would be truly frightening if McCain didn't know how bad Palin truly was.

Time columnist Joe Klein summed up what seemed to be the panel's Palin consensus.

"It was a gimmick," he said of the pick. "It was one of the most disastrous decisions I have seen in a presidential campaign since I've begun covering them."

John McCain playing the lobbyist game.. hmmmm...

2008-10-16T10:43:00.003-06:00

John McCain has said a number of times, he is against lobbyists.

Birds of prey

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.

“Whenever there’s a corrupt system, then you’re going to have these birds of prey descend on it to get their share of the spoils,” McCain said in a half-hour interview with Politico following a town-hall meeting in the southern part of this swing state.

McCain’s plan for the strict admonition on future lobbying by White House aides is part of a policy he imposed on his campaign staff this spring after questions were raised about their past clients.

“I would not allow anyone who worked for my administration to go back to lobbying,” McCain said. “They would have to make that pledge.”

But... I guess times are a changing for the McCain campaign based on the investigative report from the Washington Post.

Verizon and AT&T offerings to the McCain campaign

BY JAMES V. GRIMALDI
Washington Post Staff Writer

Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy McCain sought to resolve an old problem - the lack of cellphone coverage on her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, Ariz., nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley.

Over the past year, she offered land for a permanent cell tower, and Verizon Wireless embarked on an expensive public process to meet her needs, hiring contractors and seeking county land-use permits.

Verizon ultimately abandoned its effort to install a permanent tower in August. Company spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said the project would be "an inappropriate way" to build its network. "It doesn't make business sense for us to do that," he added.

Instead, Verizon delivered a portable tower known as a "cell site on wheels" - free of charge - to the McCain property in June, after the Secret Service began inquiring about improving coverage in the area. Such devices are used for providing temporary capacity where coverage is lacking or has been knocked out, in circumstances ranging from the Super Bowl to hurricanes.
n July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon's offer. "This is an unusual situation," AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B. Jones said. "You can't have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage."
Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain's dealings with the wireless companies stand out because her husband is a senior member of the Senate commerce committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. He has been a leading advocate for industry-backed legislation, fighting regulations and taxes on telecommunication services.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign officials, including manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staff member Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan G. Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential effort, and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving his campaigns more than $155,000.

McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black Jr. and several other campaign staff members have registered as AT&T lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have donated more than $325,000 to the Republican's campaigns, putting the company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

"It raises the aura of special consideration for somebody because he is a member of the Senate," said Stanley Brand, a former House counsel for Democrats and an ethics lawyer who represents politicians in both parties.

The hypocrisy of the McCain campaign is really starting to show and the media is bringing it all to us to read.

Donor access to McCain

Over the years, Mr. McCain has nurtured a reputation for bucking the Republican establishment and criticizing the influence of special interests in politics. But an examination of his leadership of the Republican institute — one of the least-chronicled aspects of his political life — reveals an organization in many ways at odds with the political outsider image that has become a touchstone of the McCain campaign for president.

Certainly the institute’s mission is in keeping with Mr. McCain’s full-throated support for exporting American democratic values. Yet the institute is also something of a revolving door for lobbyists and out-of-power Republicans that offers big donors a way of helping both the party and the institute’s chairman, who is the second sitting member of Congress — and now candidate for president — ever to head one of the democracy groups.

Operating without the sort of limits placed on campaign fund-raising, the institute under Mr. McCain has solicited millions of dollars for its operations from some 560 defense contractors, lobbying firms, oil companies and other corporations, many with issues before Senate committees Mr. McCain was on.

By the time AT&T financed the 2006 institute awards dinner, Mr. McCain was no longer the committee’s chairman, but the firm’s merger with BellSouth, pending before the Federal Communications Commission, was of major interest in Congress, which has significant sway over the F.C.C. Mr. McCain rarely opposed telecommunications mergers, but he had raised questions about a previous AT&T merger, with MediaOne, during the 2000 presidential campaign and pledged to hold hearings on telecom industry consolidation. In 2006, however, Mr. McCain remained silent on the AT&T-BellSouth deal, which was eventually approved by the F.C.C.

George Bush - Budget Surplus to Budget Doom

2008-10-16T09:15:00.002-06:00

President Bush and his administration inherited a budget surplus from the Clinton administration in 2001. The economy looked to be in relatively good shape based on mid-term economic update.

Budget surplus info from 2001

Washington, DC, August 22, 2001 – The FY 2001 budget surplus is $158 billion, the second largest in U.S. history, according to the Mid-Session Budget Review released today by the Office of Management and Budget

Debt Repayment: From 2002 – 2011 surpluses will allow a total of $2.0 to $2.2 trillion in debt repayment. At the end of 2011, the public debt will total around $1.1 trillion. At 6.1 percent of GDP, this will represent the lowest debt burden since 1917. Public debt will fall to $3.3 trillion at the end of the current year, from a high of $3.8 trillion in 1997.

Document Online: Mid-Session Review, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2002 (August 2001) is available online at www.omb.gov.

Almost 8 years later. Let's look at the economic situation based on July 2008 info.

Current budget deficit 2008-2009

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. budget deficit will widen to a record of about $490 billion next year, an administration official said, leaving a deep budget hole that will constrain the next president's tax and spending plans.

more info from the government.

Let's look at the current economic situation as of October 2008.

Cost of the economic crisis

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The global financial crisis is turning into a bigger drain on the U.S. federal budget than experts estimated two weeks ago, ballooning the deficit toward $2 trillion.

Bailouts of American International Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely will be more expensive than expected. States are turning to Washington for fiscal help. The Federal Reserve said this week it will begin buying commercial paper, the short- term loans companies used to conduct day-to-day business, further increasing costs. And analysts now say the $700 billion bank- rescue plan passed by Congress last week may have to be significantly larger.

``I always assumed they would be asking for more money along the way if it was necessary, and it looks like it's going to be necessary,'' said Stan Collender, a former analyst for the House and Senate budget committees, now at Qorvis Communications in Washington. ``At the moment, there's nothing happening here that's positive for the budget. Nothing.''

The 2009 budget deficit could be close to $2 trillion, or 12.5 percent of gross domestic product, more than twice the record of 6 percent set in 1983, according to David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley's chief economist. Two weeks ago, budget analysts said the measures might push deficit to as much as $1.5 trillion.

How in the heck did the Republicans create this economic mess? Fiscal stupidity of the Bush administration is a great answer. John McCain will not make it better; he will stay the course.

Why is the rest of the world falling down with the USA. This chart will show why.

U.S. Debt Held in Foreign Countries

On July 31, 2008, the total federal debt stood at $9.586 trillion. Of that amount, $4.182 trillion was owed to the various “trust funds” (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, federal employees retirement funds, etc.) because the government “borrowed” that money from them. That leaves $5.404 trillion of debt “held by the public.” Of that amount, $2.728 trillion is held domestically by banks, mutual funds, and other U.S. investors. This leaves $2.676 held by foreign countries, institutions and individuals.

Pulse of the Canadian Economy

2008-10-16T08:49:00.002-06:00

Canadian Economy updates

The above link shows information of Canada's current economic situation.

Population 3rd quarter 2008	33,311,389
Unemployment rate September 2008	6.1 %
Inflation rate August 2008	3.5 %
Real GDP July 2008, % change	0.7 %
Exports 2nd quarter 2008, % change	-1.5 %
Imports 2nd quarter 2008, % change	0.6 %
Exchange rate September 2008 - $CAN buys US$	0.9449
Prime interest rate September 2008	4.75 %
S&P/TSX Composite Index September 2008 (1975=1000)	11,752.90
Federal debt 2008 - $ millions	457,637.0
Retail sales July 2008 , % change	0.1 %
Housing starts September 2008,thousands	217.6
Composite leading indicator August 2008, % change	0.2 %
Last modified: 2008-10-10 Source: Statistics Canada

Nobel Laureates Endorse Obama for President

2008-10-15T16:01:00.007-06:00

In yesterday’s YouTube video posted by Marty Chalfie, he referred to the fact that all three science Laureates for 2008 had endorsed Obama. Now it is official. From the Obama campaign; “With one voice, 65 of the nation’s greatest minds, the largest number of Nobel Laureates to ever endorse a political candidate for office, have encouraged the American public to vote Obama on November 4th.”

Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien won the prize in Chemistry with for their pioneering work on the use of green fluorescent protein. Yoichiro Nambu won the prize in Physics for his mathematical model, which unified the smallest building blocks of all matter and three of nature’s four forces in one single theory.

Nobel Laureates Endorses Obama

An Open Letter to the American People

This year's presidential election is among the most significant in our nation's history. The country urgently needs a visionary leader who can ensure the future of our traditional strengths in science and technology and who can harness those strengths to address many of our greatest problems: energy, disease, climate change, security, and economic competitiveness.

We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.

During the administration of George W. Bush, vital parts of our country's scientific enterprise have been damaged by stagnant or declining federal support. The government's scientific advisory process has been distorted by political considerations. As a result, our once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk. We have lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve our economy.

We have watched Senator Obama's approach to these issues with admiration. We especially applaud his emphasis during the campaign on the power of science and technology to enhance our nation's competitiveness. In particular, we support the measures he plans to take – through new initiatives in education and training, expanded research funding, an unbiased process for obtaining scientific advice, and an appropriate balance of basic and applied research – to meet the nation's and the world's most urgent needs.

Senator Obama understands that Presidential leadership and federal investments in science and technology are crucial elements in successful governance of the world's leading country. We hope you will join us as we work together to ensure his election in November.

Signed,
Alexei Arikosov Physics 2003 Roger Guillemin Medicine 1977
Peter Agre Chemistry 2003 John L. Hall Physics 2005
Sidney Altman Chemistry 1989 Leland H. Hartwell Medicine 2001
Philip W. Anderson Physics 1977 Dudley Herschbach Chemistry 1986
Richard Axel Medicine 2004 Roald Hoffmann Chemistry 1981
David Baltimore Medicine 1975 H. Robert Horvitz Medicine 2002
Baruj Benacerraf Medicine 1980 Louis Ignarro Medicine 1998
Paul Berg Chemistry 1980 Eric R. Kandel Medicine 2000
J. Michael Bishop Medicine 1989 Walter Kohn Chemistry 1998
N. Bloembergen Physics 1981 Roger Kornberg Chemistry 2006
Michael S. Brown Medicine 1985 Leon M. Lederman Physics 1988
Linda B. Buck Medicine 2004 Craig C. Mello Medicine 2006
Mario R. Capecchi Medicine 2007 Yoichiro Nambu Physics 2008
Martin Chalfie Chemistry 2008 Marshall Nirenberg Medicine 1968
Stanley Cohen Medicine 1986 Douglas D. Osheroff Physics 1996
Leon Cooper Physics 1972 Stanley B. Prusiner Medicine 1997
James W. Cronin Physics 1980 Norman F. Ramsey Physics 1989
Robert F. Curl Chemistry 1996 Robert Richardson Physics 1996
Johann Diesenhofer Chemistry 1988 Burton Richter Physics 1976
John B. Fenn Chemistry 2002 Sherwood Rowland Chemistry 1995
Edmond H. Fischer Medicine 1992 Oliver Smithies Medicine 2007
Val Fitch Physics 1980 Richard R Schrock Chemistry 2005
Jerome I. Friedman Physics 1990 Joseph H. Taylor Jr. Physics 1993
Murray Gell-Man Physics 1969 E. Donnall Thomas Medicine 1990
Riccardo Giacconi Physics 2002 Charles H. Townes Physics 1964
Walter Gilbert Chemistry 1980 Roger Tsien Chemistry 2008
Alfred G. Gilman Medicine 1994 Daniel C.Tsui Physics 1998
Donald A. Glaser Physics 1960 Harold Varmus Medicine 1989
Sheldon L. Glashow Physics 1979 James D. Watson Medicine 1962
Joseph Goldstein Medicine 1985 Eric Wieschaus Medicine 1995
Paul Greengard Medicine 2000 Frank Wilczek Physics 2004
David Gross Physics 2004 Robert W. Wilson Physics 1978
Robert H. Grubbs Chemistry 2005

The views expressed in this letter represent those of the signers acting as individual citizens.
They do not necessarily represent the views of the institutions with which they are affiliated. The Medicine award is for “Physiology or Medicine.”

Election Results - Oct.14/08

2008-10-15T15:39:00.002-06:00

Here are the highlights of the Canadian federal election. Click the link for more info!

Canadian federal election info

	First Party	Second Party
2006 • members TBD ›
Canadian federal election, 2008 308 seats in the 40th Canadian Parliament
October 14, 2008

Leader	Stephen Harper	Stéphane Dion
Party	Conservative	Liberal
Leader since	2004	2006
Leader's seat	Calgary Southwest	Saint-Laurent—Cartierville
Last election	124	103
Seats won	143	76
Seat change	+19	-27
Popular vote	5,205,334	3,629,990
Percentage	37.64%	26.23%
Swing	+1.37%	-4.0%
	Third Party	Fourth Party

Leader	Gilles Duceppe	Jack Layton
Party	Bloc Québécois	New Democrat
Leader since	1997	2003
Leader's seat	Laurier—Sainte-Marie	Toronto—Danforth
Last election	51	29
Seats won	50	37
Seat change	-1	+8
Popular vote	1,379,565	2,517,075
Percentage	9.98%	18.19%
Swing	-0.50%	+0.79%

Fiscal prudence? Sarah Palin say it is!

2008-10-11T23:57:00.003-06:00

Billing the state to stay at home. More Sarah Palin ethics issues. It's good to be the queen!

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

Governor Palin abused authority.

2008-10-11T23:47:00.003-06:00

Should we really be surprised that Palin has been caught playing with fire. She is as corrupt as Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska, who is a good friend of Palin.

Legislative panel: Palin abused authority

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner.
The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.
The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated.
Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers have emerged from a private session in Anchorage where they spent more than six hours discussing a politically charged ethics report into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her state public safety commissioner.
The legislative panel began its public session by discussing whether to release the report's findings. The investigation was examining whether Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, fired a state commissioner to settle a family dispute. The report was also expected to touch on whether Palin's husband meddled in state affairs and whether her administration inappropriately accessed employee medical records.
Critics claim Palin fired Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan after months of pressure on him to fire Mike Wooten, a state trooper involved in a nasty divorce and custody dispute with the governor's sister.
Lawmakers indicated they planned to release the report even though there was disagreement about its findings.
"I think there are some problems in this report," Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens. "I would encourage people to be very cautious, to look at this with a jaundiced eye."

More news about Troopergate

But even though she won't likely face any legal repercussions, the amateurism and cronyism of her brief administration hardly leaves Palin sitting pretty. Troopergate's final verdict may be even more damaging than a rebuke: her administration was, at least this regard, just as self-motivated as the Washington fat cats and lobbyists she hopes to unseat.

Stephan Dion - You don't get do-overs!

2008-10-10T15:25:00.002-06:00

Dion is complaining again.

Harper initially responded to the interview by saying it proved Dion wasn't equipped to handle the current economic uncertainty, and that prime ministers don't get "do-overs."

On Friday morning, speaking in Brantford, Ont., Harper defended his response, dismissing claims it was a mean-spirited attack on Dion's English skills.

"I think the interview speaks for itself. Canadians can watch it. The issue is Mr. Dion's response on the economy," Harper said.

"Mr. Dion says that he has no plan for the economy other than a carbon tax and that's what the issue is in this election. Canadians are being asked to pick a prime minister, myself or Mr. Dion, and I think Canadians expect that you have a plan before you are elected, that your platform is not that you will develop a plan only if elected."

Harper has passionately railed against Dion's Green Shift carbon tax plan, calling it an "experiment" that would raise prices, damage investments and eliminate jobs.

The plan took a couple of hits from within the Liberal party on Thursday. Recently published comments from both Rae and deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff suggested the Liberals might have to rethink the carbon tax if a deep global recession develops.

Later Thursday they released a joint statement of support for Dion.

Conservative Party -endorsement from a left-wing newspaper

2008-10-10T15:02:00.002-06:00

The Globe and Mail has now offically endorsed Stephen Harper to lead Canada. This is impressive considering the usual contempt they have shown for the Conservative Party. Everyone is starting to find out that Stephane Dion is gaffe-prone, confused and generally not ready to lead a country especially after the Dion interview with CTV. Hello, Sarah Palin can you offer Dion some interview advice?

Globe and Mail endorses Stephen Harper

TORONTO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Citing his ability to get "the big things right," the Globe and Mail's editorial board on Friday unenthusiastically endorsed Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Canada's Oct 14 general election.
The nation's second-largest newspaper began the endorsement with a list of what it says are Harper's two most worrisome personality traits: that he is a right-wing ideologue and that he is possessed of a mean-spirited and controlling nature.

"But despite these personality traits, Mr. Harper has governed moderately and competently for nearly three years," the newspaper said. "He has not taken the country in dangerous new directions or significantly eroded the capacity of the government to act."

"On balance, Mr. Harper remains the best man for the job in the tough times now upon us," the newspaper said.

Harper's government, struggling to protect Canada's economy from a deepening global financial crisis that has hindered businesses and consumers from getting loans, has launched a plan to boost banks' ability to extend credit by buying up C$25 billion in high-quality mortgage assets. It has also welcomed a deep interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada this week.

The Globe and Mail said Harper's main rival, Liberal leader Stephane Dion, is a "man of great integrity and tremendous courage" but is not up to the task of leading the country.

"If you want to meet the most inflexible head of a major political party, Mr. Dion takes it in a cakewalk," the newspaper said.

Dion is proposing a carbon tax to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- the cost of which he says would be offset by income tax cuts. Harper says the tax will trigger a recession.

With just four days before the election, the ruling Conservatives have maintained a lead in the polls. (Reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Frank McGurty)

Current Canadian Election Predicitions.

2008-10-10T14:52:00.002-06:00

click link for updates

Looks like the Conservatives are holding on to a minority. This website has been fairly accurate.
As of Oct 10 @ 11:50AM

Conservatives: 118
Liberals: 77
N.D.P. : 29
Bloc : 47
Other: 2
Too close to call: 35