http://www.youtube.com/crazycatherder
http://www.youtube.com/BuckMcKeon#play/uploads/1/PAg_Gx_0VZs
Well Saturday's September 26th event turned out to the largest LA COUNTY Townhall meeting to date since the Congressman Adam Schiff’s event in San Gabriel Valley. McKeon and his staff were busy pleasing themselves over the 800 RSVP’s. I watched them giving one another high fives.
Someone had left a visible unlabeled box under the stairwell and the sheriff department responded cautiously to its contents. After one bold sheriff realized that it wasn't ticking, he opened it. And all disgustingly shook their heads to find La Rouche magazines with Obama w/a Hitler mustache on the cover . . . They reclosed the box and shoved it back but out of view, I agreed with their disgust, but this is a country of Free Speech, exhibit #1. There were close to 1,500 people there. Of course, the repubs say that it was 2,000. The initial anxious and alert crowd snaked around the building well before 8:15AM. One event planner was giving the others high fives in relaying “we have up to 2,000 RSVP's”. They had done their job. NOT. For it to be a healthcare meeting, the elevator didn't work for the physically impaired. Although, later in the morning, I heard the janitor exclaim to the sheriffs “it was working on Tuesday, I checked it myself”. Funny, there was little signage to let the public know that the elevator was even there.
I heard the janitor explain to the sheriff officers that the spring wasn't leveling as it should, hence it wasn’t usable. One officer offered that it was a safety violation and should be fixed quickly. I watched the janitor huffing up the stairs. I thought to myself, he’s in relatively good shape, not lean, but if he is huffing up the stairs and stopping at the first landing, what did he expect from moms with a child in a stroller? Some wheelchair bound and motor cart attendees looked dejected when they saw the final set of stairs. There was no signage telling them to keep going up the 20 degree hill to the side entrance of the gym. Some turned around expressing angry others called up asking for assistance.
I saw one young woman run down the stairs and offer to walk the man around the building. The person concerned, but not sure responded, “if you will take me all the way”. The guest obliged him.
She asked me if I knew where the side door would be, I told her it was my first time there also, “I don’t know”. I thought if democrats were in charge, we would have known to facilitate the handicapped and physically challenged. It is a requirement to holding a democratic event.
Eventually a guy in a white Boys and Girl’s Club polo called on a phone and a man came up with a golf cart. The cart man wheeled around to help the gentleman on the canes. I watched Good Samaritans grabbed the front of baby strollers to assist several mothers and a father. I saw audience members descend the stairs to aid physically exhausted elderly men and women, who were measuring their steps to ascend the stairs. One lady I ran down to help pulled her arm away. “I can help myself thank you, ” she was feisty but physically unstable. I retreated. Another man who had seen her too, came down behind me and she allowed him to help her up the last landing. “Thank you sweetie”, I heard her smile and say to him, as she turned around and sneared at me. He and I bodily shrugged at the same time and simultaneously shook our heads . Another form of Free Speech, I thought.
If the planners were concerned about healthcare wouldn’t they have had a plan for this situation I thought. But maybe that was the ultimate message “everybody for themselves”, because they have pulled themselves up by their boot straps why worry about anyone else? No one ever considers that someone made those boots. We can’t get there by ourselves, it takes all of us to make a village and I was taught this years before Hillary Clinton ever wrote the book! (to be continued)
There’s no shortage of allegations that small business will be hurt by healthcare legislation, as Nancy Duff Campbell, a founder and co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, points out today at Reuters, with: “Women small business owners really need healthcare reform“ (subtitled: We need reform.)
Small businesses owners are suffering from the current system. That graduated surcharge that some say is a job killer? Campbell found that only 1.2% of all taxpayers, including 4-5% of those with some business income, would be affected. Not exactly a death-knell for job creation when you examine the spin coming from big insurance companies more closely.
Read more: http://obamesque.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/myth-busters-small-business-owners-jobs-and-health-insurance-reform/
"A centerpiece of Obama's health proposal would be a new government health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. The administration says the public plan would help cut costs by introducing competition, and cover the uninsured. Republicans and insurers oppose a government plan, arguing that it would undermine the private healthcare market. By focusing on delivering more efficient care, Obama is weighing in on one of the least controversial aspects of his healthcare proposal rather than the much more heated topic of whether to establish a new public insurance plan."
Republicans and insurers oppose a government plan, arguing that it would undermine the private healthcare market.
By focusing on delivering more efficient care, Obama is weighing in on one of the least controversial aspects of his healthcare proposal rather than the much more heated topic of whether to establish a new public insurance plan."
While you're wondering why anybody would oppose a plan that would both cut costs and cover the uninsured, do ask your friends that same question. Health Care is a 2 trillion dollar per year industry. Maybe somebody's making some serious green? Point friends at the article, perhaps.It's at: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE54A01P20090511?sp=true
The fight's not over.
The full Democratic Caucus is set to vote on Joe Lieberman's Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee next week. Write to your Senators, or call them, today!
Here's what I sent to WA Senators Murray and Cantwell today:
Dear Senator Murray: First, thank you for visiting our Canvassing Kickoff with Howard Dean and Governor Gregoire on the Saturday before the Election!
I am writing, as a constituent from West Seattle, to beg you on bended knee to vote to remove Senator Joe Lieberman (Joe Lieberman for Joe Lieberman party, CT) from his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee when the Democratic Caucus convenes next week to vote on this issue. While I'm sure you're receiving plenty of emails, letters, and phone calls from constituents urging Sen. Lieberman's ouster from his committee Chair assignment for more partisan reasons (and his broken promise that he would support Senator McCain's candidacy, but refrain from attacking Senator Obama, is certainly a breach of faith with the Party, the Caucus, and his own word), there's something just as important to consider, if not more so:
Joe Lieberman has been incredibly ineffectual in his role as chair of the Homeland Security committee - particularly when it comes to the role he, and the committee, were supposed to play in standing up to the shameful actions of the Bush White House during these past years. Unlike its much more effective and active counterpart in the House, the Committee, under Joe Lieberman, failed to challenge the Bush Administration on its failures and offenses on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the "war on terror", torture, Hurricane Katrina, and a host of other issues the Committee was charged to oversee and investigate. It could be argued that Joe Lieberman's inaction as head of the Committee enabled and shielded a whole laundry list of failures of the Bush Administration, resulting in countless wasted tax dollars - and lives.
But there's ample reason to be suspicious, given his past behavior patterns, that an embarrassed, embittered Joe Lieberman may abuse his Chairmanship to "go after" the Obama Administration in a way he abjectly failed to do under the Bush Administration.
While Joe Lieberman's personal and political conduct during the Presidential election of 2008 (and his campaigning in support of other Republican candidates to the House and Senate in the recent past) are shameful enough, it's his dereliction of duty, lack of leadership, and failure to fulfill his role as chair of his Committee that should be the primary rationale for stripping him of his Committee assignment.
Let Joe Lieberman continue to caucus with the Democrats if he so chooses. Offer him Chairmanship of a different Committee - something that Mr. "Agreed with us on everything but the War" can be trusted with. But he's been an embarrassingly ineffective Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, and has failed at his duties in that role.
It's time to give someone else a chance to do a better job. If I dared to exhibit such lackluster performance and failure at my job, I would have been fired a long time ago.
Please vote to strip Joe Lieberman of his Committee Chair assignment.
Chris Roy
Precinct SEA 34-1545 / 34th District Democrats
---- 15th Avenue Southwest
Seattle WA 98136
206-_-__ nullemail@nullemail.com
The Ugly New McCain
By Richard CohenWednesday, September 17, 2008;
Following his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain did something extraordinary: He confessed to lying about how he felt about the Confederate battle flag, which he actually abhorred. "I broke my promise to always tell the truth," McCain said. Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised.
The precise moment of McCain's abasement came, would you believe, not at some news conference or on one of the Sunday shows but on "The View," the daytime TV show created by Barbara Walters. Last week, one of the co-hosts, Joy Behar, took McCain to task for some of the ads his campaign has been running. One deliberately mischaracterized what Barack Obama had said about putting lipstick on a pig -- an Americanism that McCain himself has used. The other asserted that Obama supported teaching sex education to kindergarteners.
"We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."
Freeze. Close in on McCain. This was the moment. He has largely been avoiding the press. The Straight Talk Express is now just a brand, an ad slogan like "Home Cooking" or "We Will Not Be Undersold." Until then, it was possible for McCain to say that he had not really known about the ads, that the formulation "I approve this message" was just boilerplate. But he didn't.
"Actually, they are not lies," he said.
Actually, they are.
McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though.
I am one of the journalists accused over the years of being in the tank for McCain. Guilty. Those doing the accusing usually attributed my feelings to McCain being accessible. This is the journalist-as-puppy school of thought: Give us a treat, and we will leap into a politician's lap.
Not so. What impressed me most about McCain was the effect he had on his audiences, particularly young people. When he talked about service to a cause greater than oneself, he struck a chord. He expressed his message in words, but he packaged it in the McCain story -- that man, beaten to a pulp, who chose honor over freedom. This had nothing to do with access. It had to do with integrity.
McCain has soiled all that. His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir -- the person in whose hands he would leave the country -- is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.
At a forum last week at Columbia University, McCain said, "But right now we have to restore trust and confidence in government." This was always the promise of John McCain, the single best reason to vote for him. America has been cheated on too many times -- the lies of Vietnam and Watergate and Iraq. So many lies. Who believes that in Afghanistan last month, only five civilians were killed by the American military in an airstrike, instead of the approximately 90 claimed by the Afghan government? Not me. I first gave up on the military during Vietnam and then again when it covered up the death of Pat Tillman, the Army Ranger and former NFL player who was killed in 2004 by friendly fire.
McCain was going to fix all that. He was going to look the American people in the eyes and say, not me. I will not lie to you. I am John McCain, son and grandson of admirals. I tell the truth.
But Joy Behar knew better. And so McCain lied about his lying and maybe thinks that if he wins the election, he can -- as he did in South Carolina -- renounce who he was and what he did and resume his old persona. It won't work. Karl Marx got one thing right -- what he said about history repeating itself. Once is tragedy, a second time is farce. John McCain is both.
cohenr@washpost.com
Get this whole story out there. Flags stolen from Dem. Convention then given to McCain campaign saying the Dems. trashed them. False, lies,.......halfway reported get the up to date facts here
I think this may be too important to let it slide. Please read this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/06/thrown-away-flags-story-f_n_124499.html
...to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.I wasn't planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response. I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign. But worst of all — and this deserves to be noted — they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political proces. [...]
The title and quotes are from an email from David Plouffe referring to the hate fest formerly known as the Republican National Convention.
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.
In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=1
3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=7
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-3005361-o9XSo8x&t=8
What a fun evening! We watched history and made new friends at our convention watch party last night. Our evening started about an hour before the speech as our guests trickled in after work. Being on the west coast and dealing with rush hour traffic, we decided to have a dinner of chili, beans, cornbread, chips and queso and margaritas ready for everyone so we could be fueled up and ready to go for the big night:
That's Vicki, Linda and Roseanne
Here's Julie and Les
And here's Jerry, Velma and Brett.
We watched the speeches leading up to Barack's and had a great time hearing their unique stories. And we LOVED Barney Smith's zinger! We also got the chance to tell our stories of why we are supporting Barack Obama and how everyone knew how important this election is going to be.
And then the speech. To say the energy in our living room was electric would be an understatement. We were a vocal group and I'm sure our neighbors heard every cheer. :)
We ended our night taking pictures, exchanging numbers and reflecting on the speech. I can't tell you how proud I was last night to watch history being made with all our new friends. Most of us were strangers at the beginning of the night and we came away with the profound responsibility that we, together, have to get this man elected President and it's up to us.
That's Janet, cardboard Barack and Julie!
That's Shawn, Brett, Vicki and Linda
Our group photo with Woody, our dog, wondering if the signs were edible.
Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed it and I can't wait for the Debate House Party! Whoo hoo!
Take a look at this latest video by Brave New Films. It it one of us, a middle class American, describes her experiences as she and her family lost their house to foreclosure. Juxtaposed against that is a series of clips which highlight (1) John McCain's complete lack of empathy and (2) the fact (one systematically ignored by the traditional media) that he and his wife own 6 houses and a corporate jet. If you saw McCain at Saddleback Church this weekend you saw that he thinks that to be rich in America you need to make something like $5 million a year! Now I don't know if that is too much, or too little, I do know however that in this whole country less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the people earn that much money in a year. In the America I grew up in and the one I think we need to move back to being, the rich constitute a bit more than .001 of the population.
Yay! I FINALLY decided to host an event. Brett and I are hosting a convention watching party to watch history being made as Obama accepts the nomination for POTUS.
We're hosting it Texas-style with a pot of chili, margaritas, beer, (softdrinks for the non-drinkers) chips and salsa, etc.
We also have yard signs, buttons, bumperstickers, etc., available and I'll run by the Darcy Burner campaign in Bellevue to see if there are some things I can have if folks would also like to show support for Darcy, too!
We LOVE a big boisterous crowd in our home, so don't be shy! Y'all join us for the fun!
OH! EXTRA BONUS: You get to meet our dog, Woody, a staunch Democrat and proud progressive:
This is from an interview the Boston Globe conducted with John Patterson and myself and several other Kansans. About turning Red states Blue. Nice Video of John's nifty Obama Van. here is a link
http://www.boston.com:80/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/07/20/grass_roots_networks_in_kansas_connecting_online/?page=1
My blog posts for the 'Blogging for Obama' event can be found on http://www0khancorner.blogspot.com/.
9 weeks more!
Ant!
![[Palin and McCain]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CE877_829pal_NS_20080829173332.jpg)
