President-elect Barack Obama made a now-famous Election Night promise to his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7: "You've earned that new puppy that is coming with us to the White House."
There's no taking it back now - he said it front of a hundred thousand people in Grant Park, Chicago and hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide.
Obama's was the first acceptance speech in U.S. history to include the mention of a family pet, though presidential pets certainly have received their share of the limelight. The White House website has an entire section devoted to the pets that have occupied their masters' chambers, and there is even a Presidential Pets Museum in Williamsburg, Va.
There hasn't been a president in residence in the White House in a long, long time who did not own a dog. Not since Woodrow Wilson, in fact.
Most presidential dogs were purebreds - a notable exception was Lyndon Johnson's mixed breed, which he named J. Edgar - but Obama hopes to adopt a "mutt" for his daughters - from a shelter where there are "mutts like me," our 44th president said in his first news conference as president-elect.
Obama disclosed that the family will need to find a "hypoallergenic" dog because his daughter Malia has allergies.
Dr. Jack Boden, veterinarian at Imperial Animal Hospital on St. Thomas, said that dogs that don't shed are the best option for people who suffer from allergies. When a dog sheds, the skin attached to the root of the hair follicle - skin that contains the protein to which some people are allergic - breaks up into small particles that can be breathed in, Boden said.
Frequently brushing the dog is good for both the dog and owner who suffers from allergies because it stimulates oils in the skin to keep the coat shiny and gets rid of fur that would otherwise be spread throughout the house.
"By and large, short-haired dogs with single coats - no undercoat - seem to be the best recommendation for allergy sufferers," said Boden.
Some of the breeds and mixes that are considered hypoallergenic are Chihuahuas - both long-hair and short-hair - Bichon Frisé, Greyhound, Schnauzer, Poodle, Goldendoodle or any Poodle hybrid, Yorkshire, Silky Terrier and any from a long list of non-shedding terriers.
Many websites have emerged to help the Obama family find a dog, including www. obamafamilydog.com, and thousands of people have given opinions on personal blogs and on news websites.
But since the Obamas have stated they would like to get a dog from a shelter, what better place than from one here in the Virgin Islands?
If the Obamas are interested in Chihuahuas, The Humane Society on St. Thomas has three cute little Chihuahua-mix puppies up for adoption. The three are 2-month-old sisters found in the Crown Bay area and brought into the shelter on Oct. 19. All are in good health and have up-to-date shots. Dolly is a short hair mix and has a cream coat with a little touch of white, and Loretta and Reba are both tan with short hair. All three have sweet dispositions, the Humane Society staff say.
On St. Croix, the Animal Welfare Center has more than 100 dogs waiting for adoption, and most are mixed breeds.
Shortly before Election Day, the AWC put two of the mixed breed puppies up for adoption: "Obama," a black and white Crucian mix, and "McCain," a lab-bulldog mix. McCain was adopted the day before the election, but "Obama" is still waiting for a home.
A White House would be nice - big lawn, lots of room to run, two adoring little girls to play fetch with.
"Obama" has qualities of "leadership and and can-do attitude" said Animal Welfare Center's communications director, Gretchen Sherrill.
Other St. Croix shelter puppies that might work for the Obamas are "Sticky," a black terrier mix with longish fur and brown eyes, and "Chrissy," also a terrier mix. "Chrissy" has short tan fur with a white chest and belly and a dark brown face.
"I think it'd be great to have a Crucian in the White House; we'd love for the Virgin Islands to be represented through man's best friend," said Sherrill.
To find out about animals for adoption on St. Croix, call 778-1650, on St. John, call 774-1625 and on St. Thomas, call 775-0599.
First dogs
The dogs that belonged to the presidents of the United States. As Harry Truman said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."
- George Washington: Mopsey, Taster, Cloe, Tipler, Forester, Captain, Lady Rover, Vulcan, Sweetlips and Searcher, all foxhounds.
- Thomas Jefferson: Briards and foxhounds.
- James Monroe: Spaniel.
- John Tyler: Le Beau, a greyhound.
- Abraham Lincoln: Jip and Fido, unknown breeds.
- Ulysses S. Grant: Faithful, a Newfoundland.
- Rutherford B. Hayes: Grim, a greyhound; Duke, an English mastiff; Hector, a Newfoundland; Dot, a terrier.
- Grover Cleveland: Unnamed Japanese poodle.
- Benjamin Harrison: Dash and various dogs of unknown breeds.
- Theodore Roosevelt: Pete, a bull terrier; Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever; Skip, a mixed breed; Manchu, a Pekingese; Jack and Peter, both terriers.
- Woodrow Wilson: Davie, an Airedale.
- Warden Harding: Laddie Boy, an Airedale; Old Boy, a bulldog.
- Calvin Coolidge: Peter Pan, a terrier; Paul Pry, an Airedale; Rob Roy, a white collie; Prudence Prim, a white collie; Calamity Jane, a Shetland sheepdog; Tiny Tim and Blackberry, both Chow Chows; Ruby Rough, a collie; Boston Beans, a bulldog; King Kole, a German shepherd; Bessie, a collie; and Palo Alto, a setter.
- Herbert Hoover: King Tut, a German shepherd; Big Ben and Sonnie, both fox terriers; Glen, a Scottish collie; Yukonan, an Eski.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Fala, a Scottish terrier; Majora, a German shepherd; Meggie, a Scottish terrier; Winks, a Llewellyn setter; Tiny, an English sheepdog; President, a Great Dane; and Blaze, a mastiff.
- Harry S. Truman: Feller, a cocker spaniel; and Mike, an Irish setter.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Heidi, a Weimaraner.
- John F. Kennedy: Charlie, a Welsh terrier; Shannan, an Irish cocker spaniel plus their puppies: Blackie, Butterfly, Streaker, and White Tips. Also, Pushinka, a gift from the premier of Russia, who was the daughter of Laika, the first dog in space.
- Lyndon B. Johnson: Him and Her, both beagles; Freckles, their puppy; Blanco, a white collie; Yuki, a mixed breed; J. Edgar, a mixed breed.
- Richard Nixon: Vicky, a poodle; Pasha, a Yorkshire terrier; and King Timahoe, an Irish setter. Checkers, a cocker spaniel, immortalized in a 1952 political speech by vice presidential candidate Nixon, died five years before Nixon was elected president.
- Gerald Ford: Liberty, a golden retriever.
- Jimmy Carter: Grits, a mixed breed.
- Ronald Reagan: Lucky, a Bouvier des Flandres; Rex, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
- George H. W.Bush: Millie*, a springer spaniel; Ranger and Spot, two of Millie's puppies.
- Bill Clinton: Buddy, a Chocolate Labrador.
- George W. Bush: Spot, Millie's daughter, an English springer spaniel; Barney and Mrs. Beasley, Scottish terriers.
* While in the White House, Millie was a busy dog. She "co-authored" a children's story, "Millie's Book," with the help of First Lady Barbara Bush and she gave birth to a litter of six puppies, one of which was Spot, who returned to the White House with President George W. Bush, making Spot the only dog with the distinction of being a second-generation presidential dog.
- Contact reporter Genevieve Ryan at 774-8772 ext. 340 or e-mail gryan@dailynews.vi.
Dear Friends,
During the last weeks before election, I noticed none of you were posting comments to my messages, so I figured everyone was too busy doing something else. I decided to send a private group of emails to friends and "foes" of Obama to correct the lies spread by McCain people, complete with verifyable sites and didn't copy them also to this site. I have just found out that a number of them said they were energized by my emails to get going with discussions with other reluctant friends and family and were as pleased as I was with the ultimate results.
In the last few days I have emailed a couple of suggestions directly to the new site set up by the campaign, change.gov. Perhaps we can share those ideas here and with change.gov to do our part to help with making meaningful changes. As Barack said, it's up to us to help. This is not the end. It's the beginning.
Gen. David Petraeus (WDCpix)
Throughout Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, the Republican nominee has wrapped himself in the mantle of U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, proclaiming himself the leading advocate of the former commanding general in Iraq who devised last year’s controversial troop surge. Yet during a talk Wednesday about Iraq at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington policy organization, Petraeus repeatedly made statements that bolstered the foreign-policy proposals of Sen. Barack Obama, McCain’s Democratic rival, or cut against McCain’s own lines.
Petraeus relinquished command in Iraq last month. He assumes responsibility for U.S. Central Command later this month, putting him in charge of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia.
Illustration by: Matt Mahurin
As a serving military officer, Petraeus attempted to avoid any explicit political discussion. “I’m not walking into minefields now,” Petraeus said, to laughter, when asked a question that referred to Tuesday night’s presidential debate. In fact, the general averred that he didn’t watch the debate.
Yet Petraeus, whether intentionally or not, often waded into areas of dispute between Obama and McCain involving Afghanistan, negotiating with adversaries and other recent campaign controversies. Each time, the general either lent tacit support to Obama or denied tacit support to McCain.
Unbidden, Petraeus discussed whether his strategy in Iraq — protecting the population while cleaving apart the insurgency through reconciliation efforts to crush the remaining hard-core enemies — could also work in Afghanistan. The question has particular salience as Petraeus takes over U.S. Central Command, which will put him at the helm of all U.S. troops in the Middle East and South Asia, thereby giving him a large role in the Afghanistan war.
“Some of the concepts used in Iraq are transplantable [to Afghanistan] while others perhaps are not,” he said. “Every situation is unique.”
Petraeus pointed to efforts by Hamid Karzai’s government to negotiate a deal with the Taliban that would potentially bring some Taliban members back to power, saying that if they are “willing to reconcile,” it would be “a positive step.”
In saying that, Petraeus implicitly allied with U.S. Army Gen. David McKiernan, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Last week, McKiernan rejected the idea of replicating the blend of counterinsurgency strategy employed in Iraq. “The word that I don’t use in Afghanistan is the word ’surge,’” McKiernan said, opting against recruiting Pashtun tribal fighters to supplement Afghan security forces against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “There are countless other differences between Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added.
McCain, however, has argued that the Afghanistan war is ripe for a direct replication of Petraeus’ Iraq strategy of population-centric counterinsurgency. “Sen. Obama calls for more troops,” McCain said in the Sept. 26 debate, “but what he doesn’t understand, it’s got to be a new strategy, the same strategy that he condemned in Iraq. It’s going to have to be employed in Afghanistan.”
McCain qualified that statement in Tuesday’s debate, but clung to it while discussing Afghanistan and Pakistan. “Gen. Petraeus had a strategy,” McCain said, “the same strategy — very, very different, because of the conditions and the situation — but the same fundamental strategy that succeeded in Iraq. And that is to get the support of the people.”
Petraeus also came out unambiguously in his talk at Heritage for opening communications with America’s adversaries, a position McCain is attacking Obama for endorsing. Citing his Iraq experience, Petraeus said, “You have to talk to enemies.” He added that it was necessary to have a particular goal for discussion and to perform advance work to understand the motivations of his interlocutors.
All that was the subject of one of the most contentious tussles between McCain and Obama in the first presidential debate, with Obama contending that his intent to negotiate with foreign adversaries without “precondition” did not mean that he would neglect diplomatic “preparation.”
McCain, apparently perceiving an opportunity for attack, Tuesday again used Obama’s comments to attack his judgment. “Sen. Obama, without precondition, wants to sit down and negotiate with them, without preconditions,” McCain said, referring to Iran.
Yet Petraeus emphasized throughout his lecture that reaching out to insurgent groups — some “with our blood on their hands,” he said — was necessary to the ultimate goal of turning them against irreconcilable enemies like Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Petraeus favorably cited the example of one of his British deputies, who in a previous assignment had to negotiate with Martin McGuiness of the Irish Republican Army, responsible for killing some of the British commander’s troops. The British officer, Petraeus said, occasionally wanted to “reach across the table” and choke his former adversary but understood that such negotiations were key to ending a war.
Petraeus reflected at length on the need to “take away and hold the strongholds and safe havens” possessed by Al Qaeda in Iraq during 2007 and 2008, saying that without doing so, the rest of the counterinsurgency strategy “won’t work.” While he did not initially make reference to Al Qaeda’s much greater presence in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, it was hard not to hear the overtones of the current argument over Pakistan policy between Obama and McCain.
McCain has attacked Obama for explicitly stating conditions under which he would order U.S. military action against the senior leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, deriding that by saying Obama is “going to attack Pakistan,” while advocating that the Pakistanis perform the task instead of U.S. troops.
Barbara Starr of CNN attempted to draw Petraeus out further, asking him about the importance of capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, believed to be in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Petraeus did not tip his hand on advocating anything, saying merely, “clearly, Osama bin Laden remains very important, if for no other reason than sheer symbolic importance,” and warning that “decapitating” Al Qaeda would not end the threat from a jihadist entity that he compared to a “syndicate.”
He did, however, say that he was encouraged by what he called signs that the Pakistanis “increasingly see an existential threat to their country being in FATA,” referring to the tribal areas — something that might gel with McCain’s stated preference.
Naturally, since Petraeus centered his hour-plus talk on progress in Iraq, McCain could fairly claim to be closer to the general than Obama — who opposed the surge — on the subject. But, particularly given the Republican-friendly audience, it was remarkable as well what Petraeus did not say.
Unlike his three recent rounds of congressional testimony, Petraeus did not discuss withdrawal from Iraq. He did not issue warnings that withdrawal — which Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki support, while McCain instead calls for “victory” — would lead to a downward spiral of violence.
While the general warned that there were several “potential storm clouds” threatening to undermine progress, he said that Iraq was on a more stable footing since his last appearance on Capitol Hill in April. He never said terms like “victory” or “success” that McCain uses, and which the GOP nominee frequently chides Obama for avoiding.
The Heritage Foundation crowd clearly loved hearing from Petraeus. The think tank’s executive vice president, Philip Truluck, referred to Petraeus’ “history-making service in Iraq” before the audience greeted the general with the first of two prolonged standing ovations. A questioner proclaimed himself “honored and proud to be in the same room with you.”
Petraeus has repeatedly averred that he has no interest in running for president. “I think that Gen. Sherman had it right,” he told Fox News’s Chris Wallace in December, when asked if he’d run, referring to Sherman’s famous declaration that if nominated he would not run, and if elected, he would not serve.
But given McCain’s recent lagging poll numbers, perhaps many at Heritage hope Petraeus will change his mind before 2012.
Watching John McCain stagger and stumble through last night's debate was hard to do. I found it curious that he seemed stuck on stupid with an "earmarks" rant about Senator Obama having approved money for a "$3 million dollar projector".
When I hear the word "projector" it brings to mind the AV projectors that aides wheel into my classroom weekly. I had no idea what McCain was talking about, and promptly forgot about it as the debate moved on towards the conclusion.
This morning, while reading through the roundups of articles on the debate, and other commentary on the campaign, I headed over to the NYT to read their editorial Politics of Attack and afterwards, I decided to read and recommend comments, and post one of my own.
Much to my surprise I found this comment, which I recommended as did many other readers. I hope the Editorial Board will make it one of their featured selections.
I am an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chicago (the University that today has added yet another Nobel Prize winner in the sciences for the US). I would like to comment on Sen. McCain's statement during the today's debate that Sen. Obama has earmarked "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"The way Sen. McCain has phrased it suggests that Sen. Obama approved spending $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment (overhead projector). The 3 million is actually for an upgrade of the SkyTheater - a full dome projection system, which is probably the main attraction of the Adler Planetarium and is quite sophisticated and impressive piece of equipment.I find it appalling that Sen. McCain would call a science education tool for public (largely children) for a historic planetarium with millions of visitors a year a wasteful earmark. The planetarium's focus, as stated on their website (http://adlerplanetarium.org) is "on inspiring young people, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in science." Is an investment in such public facility at the time when US competitiveness in math and sciences is a constant source of alarm a waste?"American's ability to compete in a 21st Century economy rests on our continued investments in math and science education," said Rep. Brian Baird, Chairman of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee in Congress, after the passage of The 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007.Considering such investments "wasteful earmarks" today, even in the face of the financial crisis, will severely cripple US economic competitiveness in the increasingly high-tech world down the road. — Andrey Kravtsov, Chicago, IL
I am an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chicago (the University that today has added yet another Nobel Prize winner in the sciences for the US). I would like to comment on Sen. McCain's statement during the today's debate that Sen. Obama has earmarked "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"
The way Sen. McCain has phrased it suggests that Sen. Obama approved spending $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment (overhead projector). The 3 million is actually for an upgrade of the SkyTheater - a full dome projection system, which is probably the main attraction of the Adler Planetarium and is quite sophisticated and impressive piece of equipment.
I find it appalling that Sen. McCain would call a science education tool for public (largely children) for a historic planetarium with millions of visitors a year a wasteful earmark. The planetarium's focus, as stated on their website (http://adlerplanetarium.org) is "on inspiring young people, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in science." Is an investment in such public facility at the time when US competitiveness in math and sciences is a constant source of alarm a waste?
"American's ability to compete in a 21st Century economy rests on our continued investments in math and science education," said Rep. Brian Baird, Chairman of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee in Congress, after the passage of The 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007.
Considering such investments "wasteful earmarks" today, even in the face of the financial crisis, will severely cripple US economic competitiveness in the increasingly high-tech world down the road. — Andrey Kravtsov, Chicago, IL
http://community.nytimes.com/...
Shame on McCain - again, for misrepresentation and distortion (read "lying").
Curious I went to visit the Adler Planetarium website, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring their exhibits.
You betcha! Biden was as close to perfect as anyone could imagine--he did himself and the ticket proud.
This could help in persuading voters to go for Obama:
"
Dear concerned citizens of America and Mass Media of the U.S.A.
As a concerned registered independent voter, forensic psychiatrist, disabled American I made my decision to vote after taking into consideration following joint tickets attributes and characteristics.
1. Has the ticket shown adequate calmness, coolness, and connectedness’s under pressure to lead our nation [Presidential Temperament]?
2. Has the ticket shown sustained sound “Judgment and Caliber”?
3. Has the ticket shown adequate understanding of depth and degree to address the crucial challenges in their their purpose, policies, and positions [ Honesty, integrity and sincerity]?
4. Has the ticket sufficient “understanding and knowledge” of inside Washington workings [Experience]”?
5. Has the ticket reservoir resilience, wisdom, and vigor to address the present and future f our beloved “Great-grand Nation”?
6. Has the ticket enough joint foreign policy experience and exposure based on ” Values, Virtues, Vastness, and ” [American moral soul]”?
7. Has their campaign talk, slogans, ads, plans, and programs based on facts and are they free of fear, fiction, frivolous labels, unfair attacks, negativity, and impulsively? [No “imminent danger to nationalsecurity and safety”].
8. Has the ticket genuinely kept on message of country first and politics last and avoided copying [Message change”]?
9.Has the ticket message stayed away from Culture divide and war[ Disaster prevention ]?
10. Has the ticket resisted being surrounded, supported and surrogate’s by divisiveness, distortion’s, and destructive characters, [ Real patriotism VS shiftiness and shameless parrot-ism]?
I have personally and professionally concluded that OBAMA-BIDEN ticket will lift and inspire our greatgrand nation back to its greatness within and restore our global standing with the use of maximum, firminternational diplomacy and minimal force if and when indicated {” Peace thru Strenght “}.
Yours sincerely,
COL. A.M.Khajawall [Ret] MD.Forensic psychiatrist, Disabled American Veteran and IraqFreedom team. Grass roots California leader per Senator McCain’s mailings."
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/16/palin-to-meet-foreign-leaders-at-un/?mod=blog
The voter fraud coming from the McCain camp has begun--this is beyond outrageous: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/11/215330/858/425/595547 also read http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/11/215330/858/425/595547 and keep on this story
"Hot off the wire from the Cincinnati Enquirer:
About one-third of the absentee ballot applications received at the Hamilton County Board of Elections have been ruled invalid because Republican Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign printed a version of the form with an extra, unneeded box on it.
Just wait! It gets better!
It turns out the problem is that the McCain campaign added a box on these forms that required you to check it to confirm you were an eligible voter. Yep, that's right- check here if you are eligible to vote. I guess the act of actually requesting an absentee ballot doesn't qualify that. And if you don't check it...
... bingo. You get the picture. And the McCain campaign has sent out over a MILLION of these forms. The State of Ohio and the local election boards, understandably, don't want to pay to fix the mistake on this- how much d'you want to bet the McCain campaign wants to pay to fix it?
Over seven-hundred and fifty absentee applications have been rejected so far. If we're counting on absentee and early voting to help us mobilize our GOTV effort, then this is a clear and present danger to it.
It looks like these were sent to the general public, meaning all Ohio voters would be affected. And again, remember, these were the applications for absentee ballots... but if you're going to be gone, and there's a process to have to do everything all over again... how many votes are we going to lose, especially with a million in the pipline?
We need to get the word out! Make sure our boys and girls on the ground know about these sorts of shenanigans, and can take action to fix it! Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio Secretary of State is already involved, but we need to get the media's attention on this one. We're gonna need every single vote we can get this election cycle. We can ill afford another debacle like Florida, and we all know the shenanigans that were played in Ohio the last go-round.
Spread the word!
UPDATE:
From the comments, thanks to Chumley, seems like this is the tip of the iceburg:
See HERE. Quote:Just listening to the substitute host, Lee Rayburn, on the Thom Hartmann show:"Misleading" absentee ballot applications are being mailed out by the McCain campaign to registered Democratic voters in purple states. The return addresses are inaccurate, as well as other information. "Misleading, lying" mailers are going out in Florida and other purple states. It's a caging tactic.Calls are coming in verifying that this is happening in small towns, as well as larger ones.
See HERE.
Quote:
Just listening to the substitute host, Lee Rayburn, on the Thom Hartmann show:"Misleading" absentee ballot applications are being mailed out by the McCain campaign to registered Democratic voters in purple states. The return addresses are inaccurate, as well as other information. "Misleading, lying" mailers are going out in Florida and other purple states. It's a caging tactic.Calls are coming in verifying that this is happening in small towns, as well as larger ones.
Just listening to the substitute host, Lee Rayburn, on the Thom Hartmann show:
"Misleading" absentee ballot applications are being mailed out by the McCain campaign to registered Democratic voters in purple states. The return addresses are inaccurate, as well as other information. "Misleading, lying" mailers are going out in Florida and other purple states. It's a caging tactic.
Calls are coming in verifying that this is happening in small towns, as well as larger ones.
UPDATE 2 Wow, my first time on the rec list! Thanks, guys! For someone who sneered at Democrats less than four years ago, and who was an active RedState poster less than two, it's a hell of an honor! There's power in numbers, we need to make damn sure we're letting people know this BS is going on.
UPDATE 3 Edit: In the comments below, BerkeyBee mentions that:
... the Republicans mailed out requests for ballot applications to Republicans. Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic Secty of State, ruled the applications were ILLEGAL, meaning that the Hamilton county BOE could not send out absentee ballots to Republicans.But instead of just requiring that the ballot applications be thrown away (which is what Ken Blackwell would have required), they are notifying these people that their applications were invalid.The Republicans are claiming that they have used these forms before.
... the Republicans mailed out requests for ballot applications to Republicans. Jennifer Brunner, the Democratic Secty of State, ruled the applications were ILLEGAL, meaning that the Hamilton county BOE could not send out absentee ballots to Republicans.
But instead of just requiring that the ballot applications be thrown away (which is what Ken Blackwell would have required), they are notifying these people that their applications were invalid.
The Republicans are claiming that they have used these forms before.
So, in Ohio at least, we may just have a case of extreme irony and misfortune amongst McCain's base. As much as I enjoy schadenfreude (sp), no matter the party, election fraud needs to be stopped. As as chumley pointed out, this is happening elsewhere. Since Ohio is a key state in this election, we need to be aware of similar things happening in the future."
Please assist in disseminating this video, it is very important that voters are made aware of just who Sarah Palin really is. I have also read that her church believe in "converting" homosexuals to heterosexualty. Disgusting!
"Palin's Pastor Agrees God Punishes Jews Who Don't Convert"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqMCvq26d2M
How many voter-registration mass mailers are "returned to sender" in the run-up to Election Day may determine how many Ohio residents are eligible to vote.
By: David Rosenfeld | September 05, 2008 | 05:00 AM (PDT) | 1 Comments
Ohio election officials are sending out a mass mailer stamped “do not forward” to all registered voters today (Sept. 5) with an absentee ballot application and other important notices for Nov. 4.
What’s important here is not so much what’s going out as what’s being returned to sender.
Unbeknownst to the would-be recipients, the same mailer — just 60 days before the election — has the potential to determine their eligibility to vote, challenged not by election officials but by partisan opposition.
A similar mailer in March netted nondeliverable mail from almost 600,000 registered voters in just five Ohio counties who could now have their ballots thrown out for voting under the wrong address.
The National Voter Registration Act prohibits any state from purging names from the voting rolls within 90 days of an election.
The law doesn’t, however, preclude mass partisan challenges on or shortly before Election Day — known as voter caging — based on the same returned envelopes from state-sponsored mailers like the ones in Ohio and others going out across the country.
In 2004, the year the national election hinged on results from Ohio, the Ohio Republican Party challenged 35,000 voters based on returned mail from the GOP's own friendly reminder notices. From 2004 to 2006, Republicans challenged 77,000 voters this way nationwide. A consent decree issued in 1982 and amended in 1987 enjoins the GOP from instituting “ballot security programs” that focus on minority voters.
No evidence so far suggests Republicans — vote caging is essentially a GOP sport — have mounted a caging campaign this year. Yet, in July, Franklin County Election Director and County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse told reporters he didn’t rule out challenges before November, particularly because of increased home foreclosures, which would make failures to change address on voter registration records more common.
A challenged voter will likely cast a provisional ballot, which often requires voters to return to election divisions to prove their identity and address. Nearly a third of all 1.6 million provisional ballots cast in 2004 were thrown out.
Voting-rights groups don’t oppose voter-roll housekeeping, but they cite the federal law as evidence that executing it so close to the actual election isn’t fair.
The fraud that voter caging purportedly roots out is relatively rare, although vote solicitors working for the liberal group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, in 2004 and again this year were accused of submitting false registration forms. Ohio is one of five states where ACORN employees have been investigated and, in some instances, jailed over submitting false voter registration forms.
Unrelated to ACORN, the Web site GOP.com cites two voting-fraud court cases in Ohio, both focused on individuals casting a second ballot intentionally.
On Nov. 1, 2004, voter-rights groups reacted and challenged the partisan caging in Ohio all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in just two days but lost in a final-hour appeal. This year, they want to be as proactive as possible, said Donita Judge, Ohio staff attorney for the nonprofit Advancement Project.
“A single returned piece of mail is not a reliable basis for challenging the right to vote,” Judge said. “Mail may be returned for many reasons, including errors in the database from which the mailing is derived, errors in the mailing labels, failure to include an apartment number or poor matching criteria.”
Since 2005, Ohio state law has required a non-forwarded mailer 60 days before each federal election. The suspicious part about the law, Judge said, is that it’s set to expire after the November election.
But it’s not all about throwing votes out. Another aspect of Ohio’s reformed election law is that it opens a window between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6 when voters can register one minute and cast a ballot the next.
That’s generally seen as a benefit for Democrats this year since the new registrations refer mainly to 400,000 or so resident college students in Ohio. Obama holds a 2-to-1 lead over McCain among 18- to 34-year-olds, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month.
Following a statewide mailer similar to the one going out today, before the Ohio primary in March, the Advancement Project obtained the lists of returned notices through simple public records requests. The organization requested records from five urban Ohio counties — Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas and Summit.
The total came to 600,000 names out of 3 million voters, amounting to 19.7 percent of all registered voters.
Sally Krisel, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, said the high percentage was misleading because the mailer in her county included those on the inactive voter roll. Considering only active registered voters, the county received about 5 percent returned in March, she said.
Inactive voters, tagged for possible removal, are given two years to cast a ballot before they can be removed from the rolls. None of the returned, 60-day notices are used for that purpose, Krisel said.
“We have not purged anybody this year,” she said. “In big counties, we’re often carrying a lot of inactive voters.”
In Franklin County, the March mailer went to all registered voters as well. Out of 780,000, more than 150,000 notices were returned. Those voters are now excluded from receiving another notice this week, said Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections. The only public records request for the list so far came from the Obama campaign, Piscitelli said.
Meanwhile, the sweeping Ohio election law loosens the rules around challenging voters. It also strips much of the ability of voters to know they are being challenged and defend their right to vote before an election judge.
"How would she effectively run a city without experienced leaders? ' 't’s not rocket science,” Palin said, “It’s $6 million and 53 employees.'”
http://www.washingtonindependent.com/4027/palin-on-running-wasilla-its-not-rocket-science
Digg it!
John McCain may have been a man of honor at one time in his life. He was a man of courage.
Now, he's a liar. And a thief. Literally.
Today, on a day he reached out with one hand to reach out in the spirit of national unity, with the other he slaps the very notion of decency in the face.
The lies, the smears, and the crimes below the fold.
The Denver Post exposes the shameful stunt:
This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story."What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags," a Republican official emailed. "We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag."I’m not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone’s patriotism here.
This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story.
"What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags," a Republican official emailed. "We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag."
I’m not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone’s patriotism here.
Oh noez! The Democrats hateses the flag!!
Not quite.
"American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago."
That's right.
McCain Republican operatives STOLE flags. That's right. Not 'rescued.'
STOLE.
All of the flags at Invesco were picked up and put in bags and into storage, along with the unused flags and campaign signs. The flags were going to be donated, and the signs were going to be sent out to be used elsewhere
But, that didn't stop the McCain Republicans from attempting to lie about the patriotism of Obama supporters.
They did so gleefully. Because they have no shame, no decency, no honor.
John McCain was a hero at one point. Now, he's just another lying Republican criminal in the line of Nixon, Bush, and Cheney. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/6/183034/8308/70/575554
Anyone who would ask a librarian about her view on book banning is a Nazi in my book--no thanks!
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/51821.html
Want the low-down on Palin? http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/09/05/alaskans-speak-in-a-frightened-whisper-palin-is-%e2%80%9cracist-sexist-vindictive-and-mean%e2%80%9d/
and here is the entire article:
September 5, 2008
by Charley James –
“So Sambo beat the bitch!”
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.
“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.
Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”
Racial and ethnic slurs may be “just Alaska” and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.
Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N’-Fetch-It, “darkie musical” swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska’s Aboriginal people as “Arctic Arabs” – how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description – as well as the more colourful “mukluks” along with the totally unimaginative “f**king Eskimo’s,” according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.
But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We’re talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.
No wonder the vast sea of white, cheering faces at the Republican Convention went wild for Sarah: They adore the type, it’s in their genetic code. So much for McCain’s pledge of a “high road” campaign; Palin is incapable of being part of one.
Tough Getting People Who Know Her to TalkIt’s not easy getting people in the 49th state to speak critically about Palin – especially people in Wasilla, where she was mayor. For one thing, with every journalist in the world calling, phone lines into Alaska have been mostly jammed since Friday; as often as not, a recording told me that “all circuits are busy” or numbers just wouldn’t ring. I should think a state that’s been made richer than God by oil could afford telephone lines and cell towers for everyone.
On a more practical level, many people in Alaska, and particularly Wasilla, are reluctant to speak or be quoted by name because they’re afraid of her as well as the state Republican Party machine. Apparently, the power elite are as mean as the winters.
“The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here,” an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. “It’s corrupt and arrogant. They’re all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to.”
“Once Palin became mayor,” he continued, “She became part of that inner circle.”
Like most other people interviewed, he didn’t want his name used out of fear of retribution. Maybe it’s the long winter nights where you don’t see the sun for months that makes people feel as if they’re under constant danger from “the authorities.” As I interviewed residents it began sounding as if living in Alaska controlled by the state Republican Party is like living in the old Soviet Union: See nothing that’s happening, say nothing offensive, and the political commissars leave you alone. But speak out and you get disappeared into a gulag north of the Arctic Circle for who-knows-how-long.
Alright, that’s an exaggeration brought on by my getting too little sleep and building too much anger as I worked this article. But there’s ample evidence of Palin’s vindictive willingness to destroy people she sees as opponents. Just ask the Wasilla town administrator she hired before firing him because he rebelled against the way Palin demanded he do his job, or the town librarian who refused to hold the book burning Walpurgisnach Mayor Palin demanded.
Ironically, Palin was pushed into hiring the administrator by the party poobahs who helped get her elected after she got herself into trouble over a number of precipitous firings which gave rise to a recall campaign.
“People who fought her attempt to oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day,” states Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident and one of the few Alaskans willing to speak on-the-record, for attribution, about Palin. In fact, Kilkenny actually circulated an e-mail letter about Palin that was verified and printed by The Nation.
For good measure, Palin booted the Wasilla police chief from office because, she told a local newspaper, he “intimidated” her.
Running on Extreme Fringe Evangelical ViewsSarah Palin drew early attention from state GOP apparatchiks when, during her first mayoral campaign, she ran on an anti-abortion platform. Normally, political parties do not get involved in Alaskan municipal elections because they are nonpartisan. But once word of her extreme fringe evangelical views made its way to Juneau, the state capitol, state Republicans tossed some money behind her campaign.
Once in office, Palin set out to build a machine that chewed up anyone who got in her way. The good, Godly Christian turns out to be anything but.
“She’s doesn’t like different opinions and she refuses to compromise,” Kilkenny notes. “When she was mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t hers. Worse, ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them.”
Sound familiar? Palin may well be Dick Cheney’s reincarnate.
Something else has a familiar Republican ring to it: Her tax policies, and a “refund surpluses but borrow for the future” attitude.
According to Kilkenny and others in Wasilla as well as Juneau, Palin reduced progressive property taxes for businesses while mayor and increased a regressive sales tax which even hits necessities such as food. The tax cuts she promoted in her St. Paul speech actually benefited large corporate property owners far more than they benefited residents. Indeed, Kilkenny insists that many Wasilla home owners actually saw their tax bill skyrocket to make up for the shortfall. Two other Wasillian’s with whom I spoke said property taxes on their modest, three bedroom homes rose during the Palin regime.
To an outsider, it would seem hard to do, but an oil-rich town with zero debt on the day she was inaugurated mayor was left saddled with $22 million of debt by the time she moved away to become governor – especially since nothing was spent on things such as improving the city’s infrastructure or building a much-needed sewage treatment plant. So what did Mayor Palin spend the taxpayer’s money on, if not fixing streets and scrubbing sewage?
For starters, she remodelled her office. Several times over, as a matter of fact.
Then Palin spent $1 million on an unnecessary, new park that no one other than the contractors and Palin seemed to want. Next, Sarah doled out more than $15 million of taxpayer money for a sports complex that she shoved through even though the city did not own clear title to the land; now, seven years later, the matter is still in litigation and lawyer fees are said to be close to at least half of the original estimated price of the facility.
She also worked hard to get voters approval of a $5.5 million bond proposal for roads that could have been built without borrowing. Anchorage may not be the center of the financial universe but, like good Republicans everywhere, Sarah Palin knows how to please Alaskan bankers and bond dealers.
For good measure, she turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots.
Sarah BarracudaEn route to the governor’s igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings. She took the job despite having no background in energy issues and, as it turned out, not liking the work.
“She hated the job,” an OGCC staff member who is not authorized to speak with the news media told me. “She hated the hours and she hated what little work there was to do. But she couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the thing without offending Gov. Murkowski” and the state Republican Party regulars, some of whom were pissed off they didn’t get appointed.
But ever the opportunist, Palin quickly concocted a way. First, she waged a campaign with the local news media claiming that the position was overpaid and should be abolished – despite the fact that she lobbied Murkowski hard to get it. Then, mounting what she saw as a white horse, Palin raised a cloud of dust by resigning from the OGCC and riding away with an undeserved reputation as a “reformer.”
But when a local reporter dared to suggest that the reformer Empress has no clothes, Palin tried to get her fired.
“She came at me like I was trying to steal her kids,” said the targeted reporter, who now works for an oil company in Anchorage. “I heard she had a wild temper and vicious mean streak but it’s nothing like you can imagine until she turns it on you.”
Not surprising since some of her high school classmates still openly call her “Sarah Barracuda,” Kilkenny insists.
Still, as a Republican Party hack Palin managed to get herself elected running under the false flag of a “reformer.”
And what did she bring to the job? No legislative experience other than a city council of a village of 5,000 people, which is smaller than some high schools in Chicago. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; after all, she needed to hire a city administrator to run Wasilla. No executive experience, except for almost being recalled as mayor. A philosophy of setting public policy based on one word: No.
And what has she done since winning the job?
According to Kilkenny, nothing. Well, nothing other than suggesting the state’s multi-multi-million dollar, oil-generated surplus be distributed to residents and finance future state needs by borrowing money. Gee, doesn’t that sound precisely what George Bush did with the surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton in 2001 and we all know in what great shape Bush’s economic policies left the nation.
It may explain why, when asked by reporters, including me, what she thought about Palin being picked to be McCain’s running mate, her mother-in-law replied with a sardonic, “What has Sarah done to qualify her to be vice president?” Of course, when the woman – said by many I spoke with to be well-respected in Wasilla – was running to succeed Palin as mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her, so that may explain the family tension.
As Governor, Palin gave the legislature no direction and budget guidelines, according to the chair of a legislative committee. But then she staged a huge grandstand play of line-item vetoing countless projects, calling them pork. “They were restored because of public outcry and legislative action,” the aide said. “She vetoed them mostly because she had no idea what they were or why they were important.”
But it was enough to get the McCain, who is mostly unobservant of the world around him anyway, to think Palin has a reputation as being “anti-pork”.
In fact, Juneau observers note that Palin kept her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork ladled out by indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be politically unwise to keep supporting it, these same insiders assert. Then, Palin fell back on her old habits and publicly humiliated him for pork-barrel politics.
As for being “ready on day one” to be commander in chief, despite the repeated public claims she’s made, the Alaska National Guard commander said that, “she has made no command decisions, other than sending some troops to help fight a few brush fires and march in parades at county fairs.”
“Sambo Beat the Bitch”“Palin is a conniving, manipulative, a**hole,” someone who thinks these are positive traits in a governor told me, summing up Palin’s tenure in Alaska state and local politics.
“She’s a bigot, a racist, and a liar,” is the more blunt assessment of Arnold Gerstheimer who lived in Alaska until two years ago and is now a businessman in Idaho.
“Juneau is a small town; everybody knows everyone else,” he adds. “These stories about what she calls blacks and Eskimos, well, anyone not white and good looking actually, were around long before she became a glint in John McCain’s rheumy eyes. Why do I know they’re true? Because everyone who isn’t aboriginal or Indian in Alaska talks that way.”
“Sambo beat the bitch” may be everyday language up in the bush. Whether it – and the outlook, politics and worldview Palin reflects when she says such things in public – should be part of a presidential campaign is another thing altogether. The comment says as much about McCain as it does about Palin, and it says a lot of things about Americans who overlook such statements (as well as her record) and vote anyway for McCain.
by Charley James
Charley James is an American journalist, author and essayist who lives in Toronto.
Reprinted with permission from The Progressive Curmudgeon
They really have no shame:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/03/bidens_vote_total_higher_than.html
By Juliet EilperinST. PAUL -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee got a big laugh from the crowd at tonight's convention when he said that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin outpolled her Democratic counterpart, Joseph Biden."She got more votes running for mayor of the town of Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States," Huckabee declared, sparking applause.There's just one problem with Huckabee's statement: it's not true. Biden collected a total of 63,157 votes during the Democratic primaries and caucuses this year. By contrast, Wasilla boasts a population of 9,780.Running statewide, Biden still comes out on top. Palin got the backing of 114,697 Alaskans in her 2006 gubernatorial bid, compared to the 135,253 votes Biden got in his 2002 Senate race.
