Tickets to the 56th Inaugural Ceremonies will be provided free of charge and distributed through Members of the 111th Congress. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies does not provide tickets to the public. Members of the public interested in attending the Inaugural Ceremonies should contact their Member of Congress or U.S. Senators to request tickets.
The public should also be aware that no website or other ticket outlet actually has inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, regardless of what they may claim. Tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pick-up.
“Any website or ticket broker claiming that they have inaugural tickets is simply not telling the truth.
The website to the inaugural committee is http://inaugural.senate.gov/From there you can link to your congressman and submit your request.
ELECTION NIGHT CELEBRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE 2:07am
YES WE DID!
Hi again!! Some fabulous looking new events for this Sat and Sun! Sunday is going to be posted soon, but do not forget the events for the remainder of this week as they are really rockin!!!
Check it out:
Illinois Veterans For Obama CAll Bank and Reception-OCT 11 (Phone Bank)
Dear Fellow Illinois Veterans For Obama,
On Saturday, October 11 from 12pm to 4pm the Illinois Veterans For Obama call bank team will be making outreach calls to neighboring battleground states.
Obama Campaign Office
566 W. Lake Street (Lake St. & Clinton )
Chicago, Illinois
Reception/meet and greet from 4pm-7pm to follow at
Celtic Crossings
751 N. Clark Street ( corner of Chicago Ave. & N. Clark St. )
312.337.1005
Here we will also be selling Veterans For Obama T-Shirts and bumper stickers.
Catering services and food provided by Andres Montoya.
Please forward this on to veterans so they the opportunity to participate.
STAY FIRED UP!
Warmest Regards,
Adam Navarro
Illinois State Chairman
Veterans For Obama
646.468.0455
adamcnavarro@gmail.com
Soccer / Football Fans in Chicago for Obama (Fundraising)
Join us on Saturday 11 October 2008 for the USA - Cuba World Cup Qualifier Watch party and help us raise a few $$$ for Barack's Campaign. Admission to the watch party is FREE, however we hope that you can make at least a $10 donation to support Barack Obama's campaign to become President of the United States of America. Share with friends and wear your favorite team's soccer jersey. Cash bar. Matches from other World Cup Qualifiers will be shown throughout the day for more information visit www.theglobepub.com.
Saturday, October 11 at 5:00 PM
Duration:
4 hours
Host:
Alfonso Michell
Location:
THE GLOBE PUB (CHICAGO, IL)
1934 W. IRVING PARK ROAD
CHICAGO, IL 60613
Benefit Concert! (Fundraising)
As a way of using our talents to help do our part in the community, we've put together a really fun concert/party, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Obama campaign! The program will be an extremely diverse mix of music, from Baroque flute to indie rock. The concert will be informal, fun and feature some of Chicago's best young musicians...a great way to relax, unwind and help benefit the campaign.
WHEN: Saturday, October 11, 2008
WHAT TIME: 2:00PM
WHERE: Mary's Attic (which has awesomely agreed to donate the space for this event!)
5400 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
HOW MUCH: Admission will be a free-will donation. We're suggesting $10 regular/$5 student
This event is completely open, so please invite anyone you know who might be interested. It's going to be a great show, with some of Chicago's best young talent. Aaaaaand, if you're a musician, ANY kind of musician, and you'd like to perform, please let me know!
I hope to see a lot of you there!
Divas For Obama (Women for Obama)
ARE YOU READY FOR A CHANGE? You are cordially invited to attend "Divas For Obama" (A Girls Night Out Charity Event) Join us for an evening of Networking, Socializing and Exclusive Private Shopping! Complimentary Martini Hour 7-8!! RAFFLES, DOOR PRIZES AND MORE!! Appetizers will be served! $15.00 Donations MUST BE PREPAID ONLINE OR BY CALLING 773-250-4315 Donations can be made @ www.paypal.com (Send to: uniquedesirez@yahoo.com) MUST RSVP BY OCT 8!! 7PM-10PM SATURDAY OCTOBER 11, 2008 **This is a private upscale event for friends & family! Space is limited RSVP Only** Proceeds will be donated to the Barack Obama Campaign!! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! EMAIL FOR ADDRESS AND LOCATION..uniquedesirez@yahoo.com SPREAD THE WORD!!!! A Unique D.Sirez Event www.myspace.com/uniquedesirez www.unique-desirez.com
***VERY IMPORTANT- IF YOUR HAVE RSVP'D OR PLAN TO RSVP PLEASE EMAIL uniquedesirez@yahoo.com IN ORDER TO RECEIVE YOUR OFFICIAL INVITE AND DETAILS!!***
Time:
Saturday, October 11 at 7:00 PM
3 hours
Robynne Holloway
Contact Phone:
773-250-4315
BARACKS NEIGHBORHOOD (CHICAGO, IL)
Directions:
email.. uniquedesirez@yahoo.com for location and details..
South Side Spirits for Senator Barack Obama! (Fundraising)
Join the South Side Spirits for the Senator Barack Obama Fundraising Event! Featuring Special Guests, Entertainment and Great Food! Donation: $20.00 ($50.00 Gift Certificate awarded to the prize ticket holder). LET'S DO IT! Let's bring REAL CHANGE to Washington D.C. in 2009! We can't afford four more years of the same. Each of us must do our part. History is in the making. Come out and enjoy your contribution. Barack Obama needs YOUR help!
Saturday, October 11 at 3:00 PM
Monique Rooker
773-874-2015
MR. G'S ENTERTAINMENT CENTER (CHICAGO, IL)
1547 WEST 87TH STREET
CHICAGO, IL 60620
Unique' Boutik Grand Opening (Women for Obama)
Grand Opening at Unique' Boutik
332 E. 95th St. (95th & Calumet)
Chicago, IL 60622
Starts Friday, October 10th, 10am-6pm
Women for Obama Day-Saturday Oct. 11th, 8am-4pm
Brothers for Obama-Sunday, Oct. 12th, 2pm-6pm
10% of Sales will be donated to Obama Campaign.
Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 AM
Eva Thorpe
UNIQUE' BOUTIK (CHICAGO, IL)
332 E. 95TH ST.
CHICAGO, IL 60622
Baracktoberfest 08' (March for Change & Vote Early)
Please join us Saturday from 8am to 3pm at Ryan's Irish pub (conveniently located across from the courthouse, the early voting site in Michigan City). We will be having a cookout, bands and other fun activities going on all day. Please join us and cast your vote early to elect Senator Obama and turn Indiana Blue. Please call 219.809.0008 for further details. Cheers!
8 hours
David Hunter
219.809.0008
RYAN'S IRISH PUB (MICHIGAN CITY, IN)
401 FRANKLIN STREET
MICHIGAN CITY, IN 46360
Have fun and lets get Obama elected. Every bit you do helps us much! Thank you,
Molly K
I attended the Welcome Home rally for Sarah Palin this morning. Hooo. It was an experience. About a thousand (maybe) hard-core Palin supporters showed up to hear her speak at the new Dena’ina Convention Center in downtown Anchorage.
After shaking it off with a good double shot of espresso, and a brisk walk back to my car, it was time to head to the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally. It was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.
The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It’s probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally “a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots”, and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received many nasty, harassing and threatening messages.
So, as I jettisoned myself from the jaws of the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ crowd and toward the mystery rally at the library, I felt a bit apprehensive. I’d been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it’s a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren’t sent by Eddie Burke, we’ll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing “socialist baby-killing maggot” haters.
It’s a good thing I wasn’t tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody’s trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.
Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.
So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around (links are appreciated) to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say.
By David IgnatiusSunday, September 14, 2008; B07
In the military culture that shaped John McCain, there is no more important responsibility than the promotion boards that select the right officers for top positions of command. It's a sacred trust in McCain's world, because people's lives are at stake.
McCain wrote in his memoir of the officer's responsibility for those who serve under him: "He does not risk their lives and welfare for his sake, but only to answer the shared duty they are called to answer."
McCain made the most important command decision of his life when he chose Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee. Two weeks later, it is still puzzling that he selected a person who, for all her admirable qualities, is not prepared by experience or interest to be commander in chief. No promotion board in history would have made such a decision.
Because of Palin's dynamism and political appeal, she's being hailed as an "inspired choice," to use President Bush's words. And she certainly has energized the Republican ticket: The polls show it, as do the enthusiastic crowds. And if a politician's primary responsibility is to get elected, this may indeed have been a sublime choice. But was it the right one? And what does it tell us about McCain?
McCain is 72, and he has had a serious bout with a virulent form of cancer. Thus, he had a special responsibility to pick a running mate who could be, in effect, a deputy commander -- someone who could take over for him if his health should fail. The country is at war, as McCain so often reminds us, and he was picking someone who might be responsible for the security of the nation.
McCain's appeal is that he presents himself as a man of principle -- a person who will do the right thing, even if it is politically costly. He did that in championing the troop surge in Iraq, and he has taken courageous stands in the Senate for years. He defied his party on issues he believed in -- from ethics reform to climate change to torture.
But John McCain also likes to win. And he has an impulsive streak, sometimes bordering on recklessness, which is described by many of his friends and by McCain himself in his memoir, "Faith of My Fathers." The desire to win, and the impulsiveness, converged in his decision to pick Palin -- a bold move that has allowed McCain to regain his maverick identity.
Palin is an immensely engaging political personality. But that doesn't make her a suitable commander in chief for a nation at war. She has almost no knowledge or experience of foreign affairs; no military leader would entrust command to someone so inexperienced or unprepared. Her performance in her first major interview did little to allay concerns. In speaking about Russia, for example, she was much sharper in tone than the Bush administration has been.
Barack Obama faces a similar question, but he has been in the national spotlight for four years and has traveled, studied, prepared -- and chose in Joe Biden a running mate who is one of the Senate's real experts on foreign policy. The country will watch Palin's performance in interviews and the debate with Biden, but right now she seems a genuinely risky bet.
Thinking about the Palin choice, you begin to ponder other moves McCain has made on the road to winning the Republican nomination. McCain was right a few years ago to warn that Bush's tax cuts would have potentially ruinous fiscal consequences; now he favors extending the cuts that have produced a crisis of debt and deficit. Why did he switch his position, other than political opportunism?
McCain even seems to have forgotten what saved his greatest legislative achievement, which is campaign finance reform. When he was asked during the Saddleback Church debate which Supreme Court justices he would not have nominated, he named Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. It happens that those are four of the five justices who voted in 2003 to uphold the McCain-Feingold law.
In May 2006, after McCain had courted the Rev. Jerry Falwell in an effort to win conservative support, I asked him if he was bending his principles for the sake of winning. "I don't want it that badly," McCain answered. "I will continue to do what is right. . . . If that means I can't get the Republican nomination, fine. I've had a happy life. The worst thing I can do is sell my soul to the devil."
He was right.
The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues. His e-mail address isdavidignatius@washpost.com.
Dear Barack,
Next time someone asks what you think of Sarah Palin, please don't just call her a "skilled politician" with a "compelling biography." Call her a liar, too. Here's how that would work:
Reporter: What do you think of Sarah Palin? You: She's a skilled politician with a compelling biography who lies a great deal. Reporter: Wow! That's a pretty serious charge. You: Actually, [insert name of reporter], it's not a charge. It's what certain people in your profession call "a fact." Reporter (suspiciously): So you're calling her "a liar"? You: Right. As in someone who lies a lot. Reporter (gravely): With all due respect, Senator, if you're going to make that kind of accusation, you'd better be specific. You: Sure. Remember when she said I'd never written a major piece of legislation? That was a lie. And when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere? That was also a lie. And when she said I would raise taxes on American families? Again: a lie. And you know how she talks about opposing earmarks. Given that she hired a Jack Abramhoff-affiliated lobbyist to haul in $27 million in earmarks for her beloved small town, that's a real whopper. So she lies a lot, about my record and her own record. Just as a reminder, though, I'm not running against Sarah Palin. I'm running against John McCain, who is also a liar. Reporter (even more gravely): Wait a second, so now you're saying -- You: Yes, John McCain is a liar. He routinely lies about my tax plan, which will cut taxes for 95 percent of families with children. He lies about his own tax plan, which will continue the tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires he once called "irresponsible." He lies about his support of renewable energy. He lies about his judgment on the Iraq War, a war he himself declared over five years ago, on national TV. He lies about his vetting of Sarah Palin, which was clearly reckless and inadequate. Virtually every time he opens his mouth he lies. Reporter (frankly aghast): These are harsh words, Senator. You: Not really. I'm just tired of listening to the Republican nominees and their surrogates lie with impunity. And the only way these liars are going to stop telling lies is for reporters like you, [insert name of reporter], to report when they lie. I urge you to show the same concern for the truth with us Democrats. Politicians shouldn't be rewarded for lying.
What would happen if you actually said this -- even some toned down version? 1. You completely dominate the news. 2. You force the media to assess your "inflammatory" claims, which, as it turns out, are true. 3. You force McCain/Palin/surrogates to stop lying, or at least risk being held accountable. 4. You reassure those who are worried you're not tough enough to protect the homeland. 5. You show us, your loyal supporters, that you don't plan to pull a Kerry/Gore. 6. Maybe (just maybe) the race starts to become more about real issues, where the Republicans get slaughtered.
Oh, and next time Bill O'Reilly asks you to admit you were wrong about the surge, tell him John McCain needs to admit he was wrong about the entire war, and to stop lying about his failure to support veterans. Honestly, dude, quit making John Stewart do all the heavy lifting.
More concerned than ever,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-almond/dear-barack-when-they-lie_b_124621.html
Really? You’re 72 years old. You have cancer scars on your face. Your entire campaign is built around your actions in a war four decades ago. You have repeatedly referred to “Czechoslovakia”. And you have publicly admitted that you don’t know how to use a computer.
Your opponent, meanwhile, is a biracial 47 year old who was raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, has used the Internet to revolutionize politics, and who recently gave a speech to 200,000 screaming fans in Germany.
And you’re going to run as the candidate of the globalized future? And portray him as a backward-looking fossil? Really? Really?
I’m waiting for McCain to tell us he’s the candidate who will help American move past its racial divide.
Last night, Sarah Palin made a convert out of me.
Eight months ago, I was a registered Republican, standing in a cold room in Iowa supporting Ron Paul in the Iowa caucuses. For most of my life, I've been a believer in small government and individual liberties, the ideals that, according to what I learned in high school civics, the Republican Party stood for. I voted Libertarian in 2004, simply because I felt that the Libertarian candidate seemed to best voice those ideals at the time.
As I stood in that cold caucus room, I listened to several people stand up and talk about their candidate. For the most part, instead of giving me compelling reasons to vote for that candidate, each stump speaker (aside from the bubbly young woman who spoke about Ron Paul) spent their time not talking up their own candidate, but hurling shovels of specific insults at the people in the Democratic caucus in an adjacent building. I didn't learn much about Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney or John McCain, but I did hear a lot of talk about the negative character, poor experience, and profound ignorance of the primary Democratic candidates, Obama, Edwards, and Clinton.
Over the next several months, as the campaign season went along, I started actually opening my ears and listening to talk radio a bit. Previously, I would just listen to music in my truck during my commute, but I started tuning into a pair of local talk radio stations, which aired programs by Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the like.
And I was deeply disturbed. Instead of hearing compelling arguments for why John McCain was the right man for the job, I would hear three nonstop hours of insults levied toward Barack Obama, much of it not directly aimed towards him, but intended to serve as character assassination by association. Breathless stories about his pastor, Reverend Wright, and a guest pastor at his church, David Pfleiger. Amazing tales about William Ayers.
Very rarely did I hear a word about policy, and when I did, it was usually just deriding a specific plank of Obama's plan.
After a month of listening to a large daily dose of talk radio, I learned virtually nothing about what John McCain actually planned to do for this country.
What I did hear, though, is a lot of supposedly negative things about Barack Obama, most of which seemed nonsensical and completely frivolous compared to the problems of this nation. The worst, for me, was repeated harpings on the idea that Barack Obama was somehow "bad" because he was a community organizer.
I know what community organizers do. I have friends and family who are involved with social work and community organization. They register people to vote. They get people involved with the political process. They know the real, day-to-day problems of the people in their community like the back of their hand. They help people with their life problems, helping elderly folks keep the lights on and helping groups with a significant problem get organized enough to get the attention of an alderman or city hall. The people on the ground, the "community organizers" and very local politicians, do a ton of good work for the people of this country. And through that process, they gain a deep understanding of the real problems and thoughts of everyday people.
That brings us to last night. Until last night, I was slightly leaning towards Obama, but I hadn't firmly decided who I was voting for. I held out hope that during the Convention, I could get a real grasp on where the Republican Party was.
Last night, Sarah Palin gave a speech that was in theory meant to get people like me excited about the Republican ticket. This was one that should have gotten me back on board and excited about the McCain/Palin platform.
Instead, it sickened me in a very deep and personal way.
I could go through some of the quotes that made my stomach turn, but many others have already done a great analysis of the speech.
All I heard was a long stream of extremely bitter attacks against Barack Obama, none of which go even the slightest step towards solving the problems of this country. When I tuned in, Rudy Giuliani was firing off some attacks, but I expected that - every convention has some room for criticism of the opposition.
But Palin's speech was obviously meant to be the centerpiece, the real statement about the direction of the Republican party.
And I heard absolutely nothing about their plans for the future.
All I heard was a long, long stream of pointless attacks against Barack Obama, the Democratic Party in general, and the media.
No solutions. No real content. No anything.
There was one line at the end that really twisted things for me.
"Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?"
Every single human being has the right to a fair trial and to be treated humanely by their captors. John McCain, of all people, should understand this. He was a prisoner of war.
On the one fundamental issue that his entire campaign is centered around - the character-building experience of his POW stint - he gets it wrong.
America cannot be a shining beacon of light in the world when we condone policies of treating our enemies with the same standards as the Viet Cong treated their enemies.
Every criminal, no matter how heinous their crimes, deserves humane treatment and a fair and expedient trial. Period. That is a fundamental human right.
When you're giving the central speech of your party's convention, to make a joke out of it makes a joke out of me. Not just as a (former) Republican, but as an American.
This morning, I donated $250 to Barack Obama's campaign. Tomorrow, I'm stopping by the voter registration office to change my party affiliation to Democrat. Saturday, I hope to plant an Obama-Biden sign in my front yard.
This lack of respect for your political opponents, this denial of basic human rights to those who oppose us, this complete emptiness of policy - it ends. Right here, right now.
He's struggling, as he sometimes does -- misplacing the emphasis on words, sounding at times like he's reading the speech for the first time, losing energy during the sections on issues he's never been particularly passionate about, buring applause lines in a string of sentences. It's as if he can't bring himself to pretend he's not reading a teleprompter -- that the charade distracts and frustrates him.
and No flag pin! He's a Muslim!
Sarah Palin delivered a great speech tonight -- for her party, for John McCain, for herself, for what she set out to accomplish. This was America's first real glimpse at the Alaska governor, and what we saw was a boffo politician who speaks in a plaintive prairie voice that channels America's Heartland like a chilling breeze rippling a field of wheat, who knows how to tell a joke, how to bring down the house and bring a tear to a few eyes. She is proud of her family, as she should be, and there is much to admire in her own "personal journey of discovery" (don't we all have these, by the way?) including her efforts to raise her son Trig. It is indeed nice to think that there would be an advocate for such children inside the corridors of the White House, although I'd surely like to hear what -- if anything -- she's done for special needs kids as governor of Alaska.
But...it was a great speech -- written for someone else, a male in fact, days before the Palin selection was even a gleam in John McCain's eye, but a great speech nonetheless. The pundits are fawning over it as I write this -- Tom Brokaw said she could not have been "more winning and more engaging" -- and in a world that is dominated by horse race journalism I can understand why, because I agree that Palin's one-of-a-kind story has given her long shot running mate a decent chance now of pulling this one out at the finish line.
It's a good metaphor, a horse race, because in the end it finishes right near where it started -- just as it will be for America if John McCain and Sarah Palin are sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009. Yes, it was a great speech politically, and a great night for her family, but an empty speech for America -- and for America's families. It was defined by its lowest moment, Palin's shameless lie about "the Bridge to Nowhere."
This was a Speech to Nowhere.
It was a Speech to Nowhere when Palin said that "I told the Congress 'Thanks but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere, because that was a lie, and the worst kind of lie in American politics, a blatant falsehood that showed utter contempt for the American people that Palin pledged to serve, assuming we are too stupid to look up or know that truth, that she pushed for those funds in Congress and while she got great political mileage out of announcing that she was killing the project, she still has not returned the funds to American people.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because Palin also boasted seconds before that other lie of fighting against wasteful earmarks in Congress, even though she pushed for and accepted $27 million of such grants when she was mayor of Wasilla.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because Palin said that "we've got lots" of oil and gas this country, and while one supposes that all depends upon what you definition of the words "lots" is, the production of oil in the United States has been irrevocably on the decline since 1970, and with her words she showed this nation that she and John McCain will perpetrate the dangerous myths that began with Ronald Reagan at his acceptance speech in 1980, that sunny optimism is the solution to all our energy woes, and not a posture that put energy research on a war footing, or requires moral leadership on conservation, mass transit, or any other common sense answers whatsoever.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because Palin boasted that "I stood up to the special interests, and the lobbyists, and the Big Oil companies," and the audience cheered -- after eight brutal years of the same crowd's cheering for two oilmen in the White House who fiddled while $4-a-gallon gas burned and while American men and women died in a needless war fought on top of an oilfield, and while lobbyist friends like Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed got rich at the same time.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because Palin had the nerve to talk at length about John McCain's "torturous interrogations" in the very same speech when she all but condoned the continuation of similar, abhorrent practices that have been directed for eight years by our own U.S. leaders, when she stated that Democrats are "worried that someone won't read them [terrorism suspects] their rights."
It was a Speech to Nowhere because Palin belittled "community organizers" -- thousands of Americans who work long hours for little pay in some of the toughest neighborhoods, trying to assist the American Dream that even the poorest among us can pull themselves out of the muck with a helping hand. Palin and other GOP speakers have turned a noble job into a dirty word tonight -- shame on you! Listen to what CNN's Roland Martin said after Palin's speech was over.
My two parents are sitting home in Houston, Texas and they are both community organizers and the GOP and Sarah Palin might have well have said "being community organizers doesn't matter" to my parents face. I'm disgusted. Community organizers keep people in their homes, keep their lights on, keep food in the fridge.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because it made no mention of the men that Sarah Palin and John McCain are running to replace -- their names are Dick Cheney and George W. Bush, in case you've forgotten this week -- and no acknowledgment that as many 80 percent of Americans believe this country is on the wrong track, or that you can't solve a nation's problems when you deny they exist.
It was a Speech to Nowhere because...well, I urge everyone to read the text, without Palin's sharp delivery or her adoring fans in the crowd and in the press box, and tell me where there is any kind of policy at all -- except for the short boilerplate passage on energy -- or any mention of the issues that concern everyday Americans, including the No. 1 issue of the economy. Show me the part where this "grand slam" of speech touches on how citizens can afford health care or sending their kids to college.
But more than anything else, it was a Speech to Nowhere because for all the acclaim, the great bulk of it was devoted to one thing, and that is the one thing that millions of Americans are talking about in 2008 when we talk about "change" -- to the ugliest kind of "pit bull" politics, to use Palin's words, that tear down the other side with cheap ad hominem attacks, surrounded by a cloud of half-truths (uh, those "Greek columns"...did you actually even watch Obama's speech? Because there weren't any) and ridiculous innuendo about "parting the waters" which means nothing but fires up a big hockey rink full of Dittoheads. These kind of vicious attacks -- without having the grace to acknowledge that, despite some real differences on issues with Obama, that he has already accomplished something impressive that says something positive about America and the progress we've made -- were utterly lacking in class. And this is what Tom Brokaw considers "winning" -- have we really sunk that low as a nation?. The people of America want and deserve a real debate, now trash talk from the basketball point guard who was once called "Sarah Barracuda."
I hope America wakes up tomorrow and realizes that Sarah Palin's words were rousing -- and completely empty, that they offered no road map (let alone bridge) for America other than more of the bogus partisan name-calling that has gotten us into the mess that we're in now.
Actually, let me rephrase that.
I hope America wakes up tomorrow.
Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?
Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.
We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK
She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK
Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK
She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK
I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK
So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.
In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.
Dangerously Inexperienced...
What's most notable about John McCain's confusion over the number of homes he owns isn't merely that it demonstrates that, after running his campaign based on depicting Barack Obama as an out-of-touch elitist and himself as the all-American Everyman, McCain lives a life that is about as far removed from the Average American as one can get, and has done so for decades. What's notable is how McCain was able to live that way. McCain himself isn't actually rich. He just lives off the inherited wealth of his much younger former mistress and now-second-wife -- for whom he dumped his older and disfigured first wife -- and who then used her family's money to fund McCain's political career and keep him living in extreme luxury (after insisting that he sign a prenuptial agreement, which would make McCain the first U.S. President to have one).
In 2004, numerous leading right-wing pundits had many things to say about men who do that:
Joseph Farah, World Net Daily, "President Gigolo?":But if there is one characteristic of Kerry's life that should disqualify him absolutely as a candidate for president, it is the fact that he has sought out millionaire wives to take care of him. Not to put too fine a point on it, he's a serial gigolo. Let me ask you this: How many single women do you know worth a hundred million dollars or more? . . . After raising children with her, Kerry sought and received an annulment of that long-term marriage. Then he married Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of a Senate colleague five years his senior. She is worth approximately $500 million. Is marrying well good preparation for serving as the president of the United States? . . . . He's always had a net underneath him throughout his political career -- in his case, a net woven of homespun 24K gold. And, once again, as Boteach points out, his second wife, Teresa made him sign a prenuptial agreement when they were wed: "Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?" Teresa Heinz Kerry is not sure about her husband's character. Are you?Rush Limbaugh, throughout 2004:I mean, [Kerry]'s been there, but he's basically a skirt-chaser, folks. He's a gigolo. . . .Kerry is cheap. Most gigolos are. I mean -- I think it -- I think it goes with the, with the definition. . . .[W]hat do you consider a fair wage? John Kerry considers a fair wage a wife with 500 million. So, he had to find a company that had one. Well, there aren't too many of these companies that have little heiresses running around that are single, have 500 million that some guy can marry into. . . .Because see, Al Gore's daddy was a senator and Al Gore's daddy worked his way up from wealth and power to wealth and power. I mean, he got more of it than anybody ever dreamed of for having as little to go on. I mean, he's one of those old boys. You know how that worked back then. Then John Kerry's daddy is his wives. (laughter) I mean, he's a gigolo. Everybody knows this. There's nobody in our party really has much respect for this guy and you can see it last night, but I can't say that. I mean, you got sugar daddy wife back then. You got sugar daddy wife now. He worked his way up from a blue blood to a platinum American Express card, and it doesn't have his name on it.Knight Ridder, October 30, 2004:In Kissimmee, Fla., when Cheney brought up Kerry's name, a listener shouted, "He's a gigolo!" Cheney's response: "Ahhh, I'm not sure. I got to concentrate here on my work."Hannity & Colmes, Jan. 24, 2004: ANN COULTER: John Kerry can't really speak to the middle class tax cuts, inasmuch as he is ... SEAN HANNITY: Yes. ANN COULTER: ... a kept man. He lives off the money made by other men and left to their daughters or wives.Good Morning America, October 5, 2004:CHARLES GIBSON: In going, in going through the book, John Kerry. You refer to him as a gigolo, the male Anna Nicole Smith . . . . What does that achieve, Ann? ANN COULTER: Well, okay, then I don't want to hear him talk about a middle class tax cut when he has made his living living off rich women. I mean, it is simply a fact that he has married two heiresses. His specialty in life, I mean, if he has an economic plan, I think the one I'd like to hear about is how to snooker millionairesses into marrying me and living off them. I mean, that is not an, a, a trivial point.New York Times, March 14, 2004:Comedians have tried the Rich Guy persona along with a variation of the Gold Digger, which Jay Leno used in explaining how Mr. Kerry would eliminate the federal deficit: "He said all we have to do is find a really rich country like Switzerland and marry it."Rush Limbaugh Online, "John Kerry's Resume":[Kerry] has lived the life of a millionaire living off the inherited wealth of his two wives. As an Ivy League educated millionaire who did not have to work for his fortune, Mr. Kerry never had to worry about the money he earned, the taxes he paid, or the programs he and Ted Kennedy forced the rest of us to pay for. . . . Mr. Kerry Heinz is not effected (sic) when these neighborhoods are destroyed and working class families lose the largest asset in their retirement plans -- their home's value.Rabbi Smuley Boteach, World Net Daily, May 25, 2004:Now, having a wife who provides you with a private jet and eight multimillion-dollar vacation homes provides for a comfortable life. But is this the right preparation for becoming president? . . . To be sure, that does not mean Kerry never did an honest day's work in his life. On the contrary, he was a successful prosecutor, lieutenant governor and distinguished senator. But even while he did these jobs, his wives' wealth always gave him a safety net. He was going to be taken care of whether he succeeded professionally or not. . . . Whether Kerry wins or loses the presidency, he will still be living like a king. For most people, that would be a blessing. But for someone who wants to be the president of the United States, having such a significant fallback position is actually a curse. Alas, there is yet one other important consideration that should get us all thinking. Before they married, Teresa Heinz made John Kerry sign a prenuptial agreement. Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?Taki Theodoracopulos, American Conservative, May 24, 2004:If John Kerry wins in November, he will be the premiere president of this great country of ours to be also a gigolo. The dictionary defines "gigolo" as a man supported by a woman in return for his sexual attentions and companionship. It might sound rough for John Kerry, but it's right to the point. Let’s face it. The 44th president (maybe) is as close to a gigolo as I can think of, and I have known many.John F. Cullinan, National Review, July 15, 2004:To the mayor's ill-considered suggestion that commuters simply work from home, take vacation (on Menino's schedule) or just lighten up, the Boston Herald tartly responded with an editorial aptly headlined DNC to commuters: shut up, stay home. Howie Carr, the most irreverent local political columnist [who routinely referred to Kerry as "Gigolo John" and "Senator Gigolo"], greeted last week's addition of Sen. John Edwards to the Democratic ticket with this puzzler: "For this dynamic duo" — helpfully identified as "the gigolo and the ambulance chaser" — "all of Boston is to be placed under house arrest for four days later this month?Michelle Malkin, "Limericks for John Kerry," July 24, 2007:Lucianne’s rhyming readers have responded with their own verses. A sample: There once was a phony named Jawn Who almost sailed in on a con He thought he was shifty But got beached by the Swifty Now lives as the Gigolo Mon
But if there is one characteristic of Kerry's life that should disqualify him absolutely as a candidate for president, it is the fact that he has sought out millionaire wives to take care of him. Not to put too fine a point on it, he's a serial gigolo. Let me ask you this: How many single women do you know worth a hundred million dollars or more? . . . After raising children with her, Kerry sought and received an annulment of that long-term marriage. Then he married Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of a Senate colleague five years his senior. She is worth approximately $500 million. Is marrying well good preparation for serving as the president of the United States? . . . . He's always had a net underneath him throughout his political career -- in his case, a net woven of homespun 24K gold. And, once again, as Boteach points out, his second wife, Teresa made him sign a prenuptial agreement when they were wed: "Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?" Teresa Heinz Kerry is not sure about her husband's character. Are you?
Let me ask you this: How many single women do you know worth a hundred million dollars or more? . . . After raising children with her, Kerry sought and received an annulment of that long-term marriage. Then he married Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of a Senate colleague five years his senior. She is worth approximately $500 million.
Is marrying well good preparation for serving as the president of the United States? . . . . He's always had a net underneath him throughout his political career -- in his case, a net woven of homespun 24K gold.
And, once again, as Boteach points out, his second wife, Teresa made him sign a prenuptial agreement when they were wed: "Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?"
Teresa Heinz Kerry is not sure about her husband's character. Are you?
I mean, [Kerry]'s been there, but he's basically a skirt-chaser, folks. He's a gigolo. . . .Kerry is cheap. Most gigolos are. I mean -- I think it -- I think it goes with the, with the definition. . . .[W]hat do you consider a fair wage? John Kerry considers a fair wage a wife with 500 million. So, he had to find a company that had one. Well, there aren't too many of these companies that have little heiresses running around that are single, have 500 million that some guy can marry into. . . .Because see, Al Gore's daddy was a senator and Al Gore's daddy worked his way up from wealth and power to wealth and power. I mean, he got more of it than anybody ever dreamed of for having as little to go on. I mean, he's one of those old boys. You know how that worked back then. Then John Kerry's daddy is his wives. (laughter) I mean, he's a gigolo. Everybody knows this. There's nobody in our party really has much respect for this guy and you can see it last night, but I can't say that. I mean, you got sugar daddy wife back then. You got sugar daddy wife now. He worked his way up from a blue blood to a platinum American Express card, and it doesn't have his name on it.
In Kissimmee, Fla., when Cheney brought up Kerry's name, a listener shouted, "He's a gigolo!" Cheney's response: "Ahhh, I'm not sure. I got to concentrate here on my work."
ANN COULTER: John Kerry can't really speak to the middle class tax cuts, inasmuch as he is ... SEAN HANNITY: Yes. ANN COULTER: ... a kept man. He lives off the money made by other men and left to their daughters or wives.
SEAN HANNITY: Yes.
ANN COULTER: ... a kept man. He lives off the money made by other men and left to their daughters or wives.
CHARLES GIBSON: In going, in going through the book, John Kerry. You refer to him as a gigolo, the male Anna Nicole Smith . . . . What does that achieve, Ann? ANN COULTER: Well, okay, then I don't want to hear him talk about a middle class tax cut when he has made his living living off rich women. I mean, it is simply a fact that he has married two heiresses. His specialty in life, I mean, if he has an economic plan, I think the one I'd like to hear about is how to snooker millionairesses into marrying me and living off them. I mean, that is not an, a, a trivial point.
ANN COULTER: Well, okay, then I don't want to hear him talk about a middle class tax cut when he has made his living living off rich women. I mean, it is simply a fact that he has married two heiresses. His specialty in life, I mean, if he has an economic plan, I think the one I'd like to hear about is how to snooker millionairesses into marrying me and living off them. I mean, that is not an, a, a trivial point.
Comedians have tried the Rich Guy persona along with a variation of the Gold Digger, which Jay Leno used in explaining how Mr. Kerry would eliminate the federal deficit: "He said all we have to do is find a really rich country like Switzerland and marry it."
[Kerry] has lived the life of a millionaire living off the inherited wealth of his two wives. As an Ivy League educated millionaire who did not have to work for his fortune, Mr. Kerry never had to worry about the money he earned, the taxes he paid, or the programs he and Ted Kennedy forced the rest of us to pay for. . . . Mr. Kerry Heinz is not effected (sic) when these neighborhoods are destroyed and working class families lose the largest asset in their retirement plans -- their home's value.
Now, having a wife who provides you with a private jet and eight multimillion-dollar vacation homes provides for a comfortable life. But is this the right preparation for becoming president? . . . To be sure, that does not mean Kerry never did an honest day's work in his life. On the contrary, he was a successful prosecutor, lieutenant governor and distinguished senator. But even while he did these jobs, his wives' wealth always gave him a safety net. He was going to be taken care of whether he succeeded professionally or not. . . . Whether Kerry wins or loses the presidency, he will still be living like a king. For most people, that would be a blessing. But for someone who wants to be the president of the United States, having such a significant fallback position is actually a curse. Alas, there is yet one other important consideration that should get us all thinking. Before they married, Teresa Heinz made John Kerry sign a prenuptial agreement. Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?
To be sure, that does not mean Kerry never did an honest day's work in his life. On the contrary, he was a successful prosecutor, lieutenant governor and distinguished senator. But even while he did these jobs, his wives' wealth always gave him a safety net. He was going to be taken care of whether he succeeded professionally or not. . . .
Whether Kerry wins or loses the presidency, he will still be living like a king. For most people, that would be a blessing. But for someone who wants to be the president of the United States, having such a significant fallback position is actually a curse.
Alas, there is yet one other important consideration that should get us all thinking. Before they married, Teresa Heinz made John Kerry sign a prenuptial agreement. Which begs the question: If his own wife doesn't trust him with her money, why should we trust him with ours?
If John Kerry wins in November, he will be the premiere president of this great country of ours to be also a gigolo. The dictionary defines "gigolo" as a man supported by a woman in return for his sexual attentions and companionship. It might sound rough for John Kerry, but it's right to the point. Let’s face it. The 44th president (maybe) is as close to a gigolo as I can think of, and I have known many.
To the mayor's ill-considered suggestion that commuters simply work from home, take vacation (on Menino's schedule) or just lighten up, the Boston Herald tartly responded with an editorial aptly headlined DNC to commuters: shut up, stay home. Howie Carr, the most irreverent local political columnist [who routinely referred to Kerry as "Gigolo John" and "Senator Gigolo"], greeted last week's addition of Sen. John Edwards to the Democratic ticket with this puzzler: "For this dynamic duo" — helpfully identified as "the gigolo and the ambulance chaser" — "all of Boston is to be placed under house arrest for four days later this month?
Lucianne’s rhyming readers have responded with their own verses. A sample: There once was a phony named Jawn Who almost sailed in on a con He thought he was shifty But got beached by the Swifty Now lives as the Gigolo Mon
There once was a phony named Jawn
Who almost sailed in on a con
He thought he was shifty
But got beached by the Swifty
Now lives as the Gigolo Mon
The reason why this has worked is that there are almost never any attacks on these myths, no aggressive examination of the real lives of these leaders. Critics of Republicans shy away from these themes. There is a squeamishness to use their own weapons against them. . . . It needs to be shoved into the media's faces and into our public discourse how false and deceitful and artificial are these "Republican Values" and personality attributes that they concoct for themselves. To do that, the most prominent right-wing political leaders need to be put under a microscope -- their actual lives and beliefs -- to show how lacking they really are in the virtues they claim to exude and revere.
-- Glenn Greenwald
Jack Cafferty says John McCain shows virtually no intellectual curiosity, emulating President Bush
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.
His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.
Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.
I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.
It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.
Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?
Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.
He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.
He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.
One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.
Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?
John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.
He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.
I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.
George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.
I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.
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