Lest we forget, here is Caroline Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama from January of 2008:
A President Like My FatherBy CAROLINE KENNEDYPublished: January 27, 2008OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”
http://www.youtube.com/v/4FCNKwHRCQM
Smear emails like this one have been going around the Internet for months, and every word of them is manipulative and false. The truth is, Barack Obama is a committed Christian, and faith plays an important role in his life and the lives of his wife and daughters. He has never held any other faith.The YouTube video this smear cites has been heavily edited. For the transcript of Senator Obama's original speech, please click here:http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal/Shameful shadowy smear emails started by anonymous attackers lie about Barack’s faith to create division and distrust in a time when we need to come together. Preying on cynicism and people's worst instincts is the worst kind of appeal to hate and fear, and it should have no place in our elections.There's no way to stop all of the dangerous, misleading viral emails, but together we can take the political process back from the cynical politics of fear. And we can all start by spreading the truth about Barack Obama. Start by heading to Fight the Smears, where you can find out the truth about a wide range of attacks on Barack:
http://www.fightthesmears.com Learn more about Barack's position on faith: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/ And learn more about Barack's own faith: http://fightthesmears.com/articles/3/baracksfaith Here are a few facts about Barack Obama and his faith: * Barack has spoken often about his Christian faith: "I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him.… kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works."
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/06/23/a_politics_of_conscience_1.php
* Barack Obama has been endorsed by a number of prominent Christian leaders, including Brian McLaren and Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. A group of pastors has also praised Obama for standing up for American families and addressing social justice concerns:
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/08/21/new-christian-group-airs-ads-%E2%80%93-for-obama/
* Other Christian leaders have announced they are supporting Barack Obama, and you can watch their video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eUkc9GCMEQ
* Barack believes faith can be a powerful force to help those who need it most. As President, he will establish a Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to help churches and religious groups provide much-needed social services in their communities:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/us/politics/02obama.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=sloginPlease forward this to anyone you know who has received hateful smear emails about Barack. Together we can make sure these negative and divisive attacks don't affect this election.
Early Voting for the entire state of Florida has just been extended.
Every Early Vote location in Florida will now be every day from 7am-7pm up through November 2.
Please pass along this great news to everyone you know who will be voting in Florida. Click here to find your nearest early vote location.
Here's the release:
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS ~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~October 28, 2008Contact:GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008. "I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote." Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting. Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting. Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29. Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217. STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217 WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties; WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; andWHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008. GOVERNORATTEST:SECRETARY OF STATE
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS
~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~
October 28, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008.
"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."
Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting.
Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting.
Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.
Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217.
STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217
WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and
WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and
WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and
WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties;
WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:
I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008.
GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
Does anyone have any ideas about how I should answer inquiries like this one:
"I am not a US citizen, but is there anything that we can do to help the Obama campaign in/from the UK?"
I am inclined to request prayers. Any other ideas?
Thanks.
Mike Underwood
Tallahassee, Florida USA
Today in Minnesota John McCain showed a little bit of his true self and was forced to defend Barack Obama against his base supporters. While it wasnt a ringing endorsement, he did the brave thing and stood up for Obama, when the easiest thing to do was remain silent.
Obama can sieze on this moment to further solidify his lead.
First, he should publicly thank McCain for standing up and maintaining a sense of decency. He should propose suspending all negative campaigning if the the McCain camp agrees (which they won't), and focus on improving our country through intelligent policy debate.
Second, and most significantly, Barack should put together a poignant and well publicized speech (a la his "race" speech) focusing on ending our divisiveness and uniting as a country in difficult times. The speech should not name McCain, should not blame anyone, and should not address policy or issues. It should be a broad announcement to America, something presidential -- a true demonstration of leadership.
I beleive that Obama's recent negative campaigning ("erratic," and the Keating video) is understandable considering the recent turn by Republicans, but Barack Obama does not need negativity to win the election. He has a significant electoral lead. From this perspective, democratic negativity comes across as petty and spiteful.
If the entire Obama camp does not rise above the negativity, they are only stoking the dangerous hate riled up by the McCain's campaign. Something that could come back to haunt Obama and Democrats.
Now is our opportunity to seize the moment, lock in a landslide victory, and begin making a real difference in this country, even before the Obama presidency oficially begins.
ps It would also be perfectly timed if he could get this together the day before the debate, essentially erasing McCain's shot of turning the debate negative.
How do we get this idea off the ground?
This was NOT great planning on the Obama campaign's part. First of all, everyone knows Tallahassee is football country.
I could have told them that this would have been the worse weekend to be in Tallahassee. FSU is playing Colorado in Jacksonville and their fans left last night. FAMU has a huge classic in ATL and most of the "VOTING" students are gone to the game there.
Tallahassee is like a ghost town right now. The voters that need to be reached are doing football in another city.
Again, if they would have just asked me........................................
All jokes aside, this is plain and simple bad planning. If you want to win the capital, Tallahassee, you will have to have the student vote.
by Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News
Republicans for Obama? Yes, but the numbers nor the desperation are not quite at the level of rats leaving a sinking ship, not yet, anyway....
"An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team," said Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. "Biden's selection is good news for Obama and America." Hagel said. "Palin doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything." Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not? "I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said. McCain and other Republicans have defended Palin's qualifications, citing Alaska's proximity to Russia. Palin told ABC News, "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Hagel took issue with that argument. "I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."
Hagel told the newspaper that other governors have been elected to serve in the White House without experience in Washington. He said judgment and character were also important for the job. "But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world," Hagel said. "I think that's just a requirement."
from Chuck Lasker of GOPforObama: Here's some research for you! As a Republican for Obama, I collect these links....
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/gophome
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/22/susan-eisenhower-leaving-gop-for-good-cites-mccains-rove-style-politics/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-lundgren/my-catholic-faith-pushes_b_125023.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chuck-lasker/economy-tanking-war-on-tw_b_126981.html
http://conservativesforobama.blogspot.com/
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/09/19/what-republicans-say-about-mccain-palin/
http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?nm=Core+Pages&type=gen&mod=Core+Pages&tier=3&gid=B33A5C6E2CF04C9596A3EF81822D9F8E <http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?nm=Core+Pages&type=gen&mod=Core+Pages&tier=3&gid=B33A5C6E2CF04C9596A3EF81822D9F8E>
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0908/Republican_Congressman_endorses_Obama.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/950451/republicans_for_obama.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/us/politics/31repubs.html?ref=
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/mar/24/0002/
"The economy is fundamentally strong." - President Herbert Hoover, after the stock market plummets in 1929.
"The fundamentals of the economy are strong." - John McCain, after the stock market plummets in 2008
Iowa Congressman Jim Leach discusses the effect that recent events have had on the election. "The post-convention dust has settled, and the current financial crisis is bringing the media focus back to which candidate can provide the change we need. This is neither a time for the Obama camp to panic nor shift basic strategies. Elections are about issues and personalities. And on the issues -- ending the war, establishing a tax policy that puts middle class concerns first, addressing the health care needs of Americans --the case for a new fairness and new decency in public life is compelling. So is the remarkable personality of Barack Obama. While Governor Palin has sparked enthusiasm in the Republican Party's base, the Obama campaign continues to organize assiduously and register new voters, many under 30.
Former GOP Virginia Governor Linwood Holton today endorsed a Democrat for president for the first time and is going to stump critical areas of the state for him. Linwood Holton is the hero of moderate Republicans in Virginia. He defeated the segregationist Democrat for governor and fought GOP rightwingers. Holton is widely regarded as the father of the Republican party in Virginia. When Richmond public schools were ordered integrated Holton enrolled his children in the AA school close to the governor's mansion and walked them to school. He supported his son-in-law Tim Kaine for governor but has never supported a Democratic presidential candidate.
from Reporter Brunswick in Minnesota: Four prominent Minnesota business leaders announced their support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, an effort to counter criticism from Republicans that Obama's tax policies would hurt business and stifle job creation.
"We've spent so much time trying to incent those at the very top that we've forgotten about those in the very middle and that makes up the vast majority of the American population," said Robert Pohlad, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiAmericas, Inc. and president of Pohlad Cos., at a State Capitol news conference announcing the endorsements.
Acknowledging that they might find themselves paying higher tax bills if Obama were elected, the business leaders suggested that more government spending, used prudently, would move people up the economic ladder and strengthen the middle class.
Robert Ryan, a retired vice president and CFO of Medtronic, said Obama's health care proposal would benefit the uninsured and underinsured.
Lois Quam, a onetime UnitedHealth executive and now managing director of alternative investments for Piper Jaffray, said business leaders should be concerned about McCain's decision-making skills, pointing to his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a hasty bow to the right wing of the Republican Party. Quam is a longtime Democratic contributor, was a Hillary Clinton delegate to the Democratic National Convention and is the wife of former DFL House Majority Leader Matt Entenza. Phillips, Ryan and Pohlad, whose family owns the Minnesota Twins, have contributed to both Republican and Democratic candidates and political committees over the years, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Republican venture capitalists support ObamaTwo Seattle-area venture capitalists who have long supported Republican candidates are tossing their support behind presidential candidate Barack Obama. Bill Ruckelshaus, who led the Environmental Protection Agency in the Nixon and Reagan administrations and currently serves as a strategic director at Madrona Venture Group, said in a statement released today that the "stakes are too high" not to support Obama. He went on to cite Obama's plan to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil by focusing on clean energy technologies.
Bob Nelsen, the co-founder and managing partner of Arch Venture Partners, offered this rationale for supporting Obama. "I have never voted for a Democrat for President in my life because I never saw a true leader like Senator Obama who wants to lead the world by building on what is best about America. I trust Senator Obama to do the right thing and to listen to dissenting views. I believe he deeply cares about the country as whole, not just a few partisan factions. I am not voting for him based on a list of his positions, but I will cast my vote based on a belief that he is the right man at the right time for the United States."
The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal recently faulted McCain's attack on the SEC chairman as "unpresidential", saying the assault on Mr Cox was both false and deeply unfair. The broadside came as polls show his Democrat rival, Barack Obama, edging ahead in key swing states amid public anxiety over the banking crisis.
By Frank Schaeffer: Dear Republicans: This election all Republicans who love America must vote for Obama. A vote for business-as-usual and a continuation of the Neoconservative/Religious Right/ party of corporate American alienation is a vote against America. As a former Republican activist, I appeal to your patriotism and honor.
Unless you haven't been paying attention to the recent history of the Republican Party you will know that today Republican ideology and energy is derived from three sources:
* The Religious Right,
* The Neoconservative Movement,
* Corporate business interests.
You also should know that when it comes to the Religious Right my late father and evangelist, Francis Schaeffer, was the intellectual voice that made it happen. As his young sidekick (in the 70s and 80s) I helped take his message to a huge evangelical audience. I mention this by way of saying that even if you hate my guts -- for having dropped out of the Republican Party, for writing novels that make fun of you, and for reregistering as an independent voter, let alone for supporting Senator Obama -- perhaps you should listen up. I happen to know what I'm talking about.
Let's look at the three power centers that drive the Republican Party today.
The Religious Right came about for one reason and one reason only: it was a reaction to Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion in 1973. The Supreme Court essentially created the culture wars. (A state-by-state approach to legalizing abortion would have been better and resulted in much the same situation we have today in terms of the availability of abortion.) Take Roe out of the political mix and there would be no Religious Right.
That said -- certain power-hungry individuals (Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, Rove, Reed et al.) took the energy of our original pro-life movement and used it to build a hate campaign reminiscent of the early momentum that drove European Fascist parties in the mid-1920s through the mid-1940s. Fear of the "other" gays, immigrants, intellectuals, artists, the media, feminists, etc., morphed into a general critique of "the elite" which turned out to be anyone with an education or even big city dwellers. The Religious Right became a crude populist movement pitting the resentful rubes against the rest.
Take a hard look at yourselves. Play back this year's Republican convention and you'll see an all-white crowd of people screaming for offshore oil drilling -- fat lot of good that will do! more carbon! more polution! -- and essentially reacting like starved hyenas when presented with a piece of juicy carrion. At the convention Sarah Palin and others produced nothing more than a snide list of smart ass put downs aimed at the really dumb, with so little substance that former conservatives such the late William F. Buckley, for instance (let alone my late father) would simply have been ashamed to be in your company. You have become a hate-filled rabble proud of your ignorance and resentful of the rest of your own country, resentment that's exceeded only by your maudlin (and false) sense of victimhood.
People that hate half the population of their own country can scarcely be called patriots. On the contrary, people who exult in mocking as their only way to "contribute" to solving our huge environmental, energy, military and economic problems are true subversives.
The smell emanating from your convention was that of a beer hall putsch circa 1930s, not anything remotely like participation in a democracy. Now you all know what it felt like to be in a lynch mob minus the hanging. You should be ashamed. But shame is something that apparently Republicans are no longer capable of feeling, at least when you get together in a mob.
If you could feel shame there would have been a series of contrite public apologies at your convention for the incredible fiasco of non-governing that has typified the Bush administration. My pension, other people's pensions, our homes, jobs and economy are in chaos because of you. Young Americans are dying in Iraq because of you. The world is a more dangerous place because of you. America is hated because of you. Yes, that is you personally. I blame all of you.
You are the people who gave us eight years of Bush. My Marine son fought in his wars. Cowards, where were most of your sons and daughters? The President's daughters were getting arrested for under age drinking and harassing their Secret Service detail. The rest of you were shopping.
Far from saying you're sorry for the state our country is in you're trying to change the subject by reviving a culture war that has nothing to do with the principled fight against abortion of the 1970s that my dad and I began, and everything to do with simply hating people not like yourselves. The ultimate irony is that you're doing this in the name of Jesus Christ, someone, by the way, whom I try to follow as a Christian. You have become blasphemers by dragging our Lord into your political games.
The Republican Party and the Religious Right have become "Christian" warmongers who applaud the use of torture, start needless wars, fight against civil rights for gays and other disadvantaged Americans, and perhaps worst of all, in terms of the long-term impact, have literally turned your hands against God's creation.
You have a little fool for a vice presidential candidate who says she doesn't believe that human beings have anything to do with the phenomena of global warming and the endangering of all human life on this planet. Dream on. This fool claims to know what she knows because of an absolute "I don't blink" confidence in herself. So on top of everything else this fool who says she is a Christian, proves she is not. She lacks any shred of decent humility, the most basic biblical virtue.
The Neoconservative MovementLet's be honest: the Neoconservative Movement is nothing more than an kill-all-the-Arabs, pro-Israel-at-any-cost, morally bankrupt lobby that actually turns out to be anti-Israel. Why? Because taken to the logical conclusion the neoconservative's position on everything--from illegal West Bank settlements, to making war on Iran, not to mention the absolutely useless waste of life that's taken place in Iraq, warlike preparations against Syria and just about every other Middle Eastern country, no, scratch that, every other country in the world--puts Israel in worse jeopardy than ever before.
Fortunately for everyone, it seems that most Israelis "get" this, as well as most Jewish Americans (who vote Democratic) even if a few Neoconservative Jews, most Evangelicals and all the other Republican zealots don't. (Most Jews also know that the idiot fringe so-called Christian Zionists like Rev., Hagee, are no friends to Israel, rather they are perpetuating a doomsday nineteenth century Armageddon/ "Rapture" cult that wants to use the Jews as cosmic "End Times" cannon fodder.)
Get it through your thick heads: a state of permanent war between the West, including Israel and the United States, and the Muslim world is a war that Israel will eventually lose. Do the demographic math!
Republicans: You have been tricked and misled by; Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, Robert Kagan, Michael Ledeen, William Kristol, Frank Gaffney, Jr. Dick Cheney. These neofools have unwittingly set in motion the destruction of Israel (probably in our lifetimes) and have maybe killed America too. Bastards! Republicans: It will be remembered that you embraced these world-hating self-deluded paranoid blabberers and made their twisted sound-bite polemics your own.
Those who, like me, actually believe that Israel has the right to exist should look on the Neoconservatives listed above with the same loathing that we look back on the idiots who goaded Europe into World War I, also in the name of "nationalism," "democracy" and "freedom."
Belligerent posturing is not a policy, it is idiocy. You Republicans have become the party of perpetual fear and aggressive non-provoked war, seeing enemies where there are none and/or provoking former friends to become our enemies, and/or faking reasons for war and/or wasting our soldier's blood in places such as Afghanistan, where our cause was just but you fumbled the ball.
Your moron vice presidential candidate is still at it! While turning her son's deployment to war into a flag-dishonoring political circus stunt she repeated the Bush lie and said that her son was going off to fight the perpetrators of 9/11. This is a barefaced lie and you all know it. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack. The only reason we attacked them is because the fools listed above decided it would be good for Israel and our stupid "president" went along.
Now you belligerent asses are supporting the same idiot (McCain) that helped bring us Iraq. He is now champing at the bit to revive the cold, and maybe a hot war with Russia! Have you gone mad? Can't you see you have an old foolish semi-senile man mired in the bathos of post-Vietnam "we were denied victory" psychosis for a candidate? Don't you know that Bush has made us weak?
You Republicans did to our military what the USSR could not do: demoralize it, stretch it beyond breaking and set it back decades. And now you want MORE wars?!
Corporate Business InterestsThe Republican Party claims traditional values. It has propagated a laissez-faire attitude toward corporate interests and has -- literally -- stood back and encouraged the rape of the earth. You are the party of the earth-hogging SUV. You have literally sowed the wind and reaped the hurricanes.
This is as self-defeating as it is embarrassing for those claiming the moral high ground, particularly those who say that their philosophy represents traditional Judeo-Christian values. We all live here for crying out loud! Will you now fight our God and Creator too for the "right" to burn the last drop of oil while on a weekend jaunt to nowhere in your all-terrain piece of garbage?
ConclusionThe Republican problem is a systemic disparagement of government, community, faith in our institutions, family, God's creation and the mitigating institutions that put a check on something any party aligned with a religious movement should know all about: sin. Greed is not the only problem. Human weakness and stupidity (i.e., "sin") is the problem! And the genius of the American system is supposedly that we have a system of checks and balances to mitigate our fallen state. You have destroyed those checks and balances.
Bush felt no guilt about promoting completely unqualified people to high posts merely on the basis of social, ideological or political connections. I'll take that a step further: I don't think Bush ever wanted the government to work. You Republicans hate our government as bitterly as our terrorist enemies do. You have been trying to deconstruct it. Since the government is seen as the enemy of freedom by you, if it doesn't work so much the better!
We have met the enemy and he is us! When Islamists tried to destroy our country by flying planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers, we rightly called them terrorists. When the Republicans in the Congress and the White House set about destroying our country, our standing in the world, our military and our economy, but much more effectively, you called them statesmen. It is time for all Americans -- including all you who are patriotic Republicans -- to sweep away these putrid earth-consuming, family killing, government bashing "me" worshipping individualistic fools--that or to watch our country be swept away by them. We can't afford eight more years of this willful ignorance. Obama in 2008!
There was a message circulating some of our groups in Florida yesterday that spread incorrect information conerning the the ID needed to vote. We're going to clarify below.
A message from the Florida Campaign for Change chief election lawyer:
I am the Obama-Biden campaign’s chief election lawyer in Florida, and I have received the 'no match no vote' message from several sources. This message is categorically false. Our reading of the clear statutory language does NOT require that the address on the driver’s license (or other ID) that the voter presents at the polls match the voter’s address in the precinct register. Furthermore, this press release from the Florida Secretary of State definitively ccnfirms:http://www.dos.state.fl.us/news/communications/pressRelease/pressRelease.cfm?id=330 See the last bullet:· I.D. required and checked at the polls is used solely to confirm the voter’s identity. Not to verify the voter’s ID number or address. The photograph on the ID is compared to the person standing before the poll worker and the signature on the ID is compared to the signature on record.
I am the Obama-Biden campaign’s chief election lawyer in Florida, and I have received the 'no match no vote' message from several sources. This message is categorically false.
Our reading of the clear statutory language does NOT require that the address on the driver’s license (or other ID) that the voter presents at the polls match the voter’s address in the precinct register. Furthermore, this press release from the Florida Secretary of State definitively ccnfirms:http://www.dos.state.fl.us/news/communications/pressRelease/pressRelease.cfm?id=330
See the last bullet:
· I.D. required and checked at the polls is used solely to confirm the voter’s identity. Not to verify the voter’s ID number or address. The photograph on the ID is compared to the person standing before the poll worker and the signature on the ID is compared to the signature on record.
Please feel free to email florida@barackobama.com with any questions or concerns.
I had a habit of being such a dedicated non-Republican that I'd write off a candidate simply due to his/her affiliation with the GOP. I'd do this without even researching the particular candidate, only knowing some details why I liked my guy, or gal. If someone would ask me why I didn't like the Republican in question, I would parrot a general stereotype that could probably apply to most right-wingers. However, a new roommate, she's politically moderate and planning on voting for McCain, and her tendency to talk politics inadvertently required me to do some research. I knew the typical one-liners wouldn't prove anything, except that I'm as ignorant as the people that vote for a candidate just because their parents do.
Although a candidate's website is an efficient way to get an overall idea about a candidate, I prefer going to www.votesmart.org and reviewing how actual votes were cast, rather than refer to an eloquent stump speech. I was shocked when I looked up McCain on the Project Vote Smart web page.
As a sergeant in the U.S. Army, I was quite interested in former P.O.W. McCain's voting on military issues. It turns out that he's not so pro-troops as he is pro-war. I've already deployed once to Iraq, back in 2004, and I am scheduled for a mobilization next year to Baghdad, so I am quite concerned about my rights and why someone is sending me halfway around the world in danger's way. There are ways to effectively use the military, and I think Bush failed us all in that matter. I'd prefer for my Commander in Chief to be someone who'd follow the idea that Bill Clinton stated during this year's DNC: "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."
The first time I served overseas my vehicle wasn't even up-armored, and instead the doors consisted of scrap metal. I was a week or so from convoying to Tikrit, Iraq from Kuwait when Rumsfeld visited the base I was at and said, "You go to war with the army you have—not the army you might want...". Now I'm rather wary of a candidate that alleges to be a real friend to those in uniform.
On September 9, 2007, McCain voted no on "S Amdt 2909 to S Amdt 2011 to HR 1585: To specify minimum periods between deployment of units and members of the Armed Forces deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom." By voting no, McCain denied military members the time needed to recuperate after operations in the Middle East. With PTSD levels up 50% since 2006 and 2007, about 40,000 members suffer from PTSD according to the Pentagon, why deny troops what is essential? There are too many soldiers who serve three tours almost back to back, with only a few weeks or months in between.
In addition to this piece of legislation, McCain was a no show for the vote on May 26, 2008 for "HR 2642: Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes." This bill gives veterans a modest increase in their GI Bill, and also gives more aid to Veteran's Affairs, which is not at all adequately funded. I understand that McCain is busy running for president, but as a politician he is supposed to act as a public servant, which requires serving, even when it's not convenient. How does a man who has gone through so much in the service, who consistently touts his experiences in Vietnam, not empathize enough with military members to show up and vote for this important bill?
Barack Obama was present for both of the aforementioned votes. We got two yeses from him. Thank you sir.
I tuned in to Meet the Press this morning, 9/7. Joe Biden was being interviewed by host, Tom Brokaw. The interview was going well, then Tom asked Joe to comment on what he described as the question Rick Warren posed to Barak during that Saddleback church interview, "In your opinion when does life begin"? (Actually Warren asked, "When should a person receive human rights?")
Joe's response was that he follows the teaching of his faith, Catholic; he believes life begins at conception. He went on to say that he also believes that many other people of deep conviction other than Catholic, believe life begins at another point. For this reason, Joe said, he didn't believe he should make their choice for them by taking away the "Right To Choose". Joe went on to say that he opposes federal funding for abortion [as that action implicates all of us in a woman's decision to go through induced abortion].
Now this is what made my day, my whole year! Joe said that an Obama-Biden administration would make it possible for a woman to carry to term and deliver if she chooses to do so,
Folks, this is huge! This does away with the "infanticide", "worst [voting] record on abortion" onus that some were trying to attribute to Barak and thus to the entire campaign. In all other areas of national concern the Obama-Biden positions are easily victorious. Now, thanks to Joe's response, we've got this one practically sewed up, too!
Obama Campaign Managers: after the Guiliani and Palin speeches last night, the lines are drawn. Reaction is not the way to go. I believe the best approach is to quickly prepare simply stated advertisements to be aired in specific targeted communities throughout the country. These ads should present exactly what Barak will do as President to address that the most pressing need is in that particular community.
The rest of us: bone up on Barak's stance on all issues and be ready to answer anything. Don't get defensive.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes! I've heard a few Catholics complain about Obama's pro-choice stance, and yes, I agree with them, it is contradictory to our beliefs as Catholics. However, it's important for Catholics to realize that while Obama's policies on this issue are contradictory to our beliefs as Catholics, John McCain's policies, repetitions of the abusive Bush policies that neglect the needy and fill government with corruption, are ever more contradictory.
Yes, Obama's policies contradict our Catholic morality, but a small percentage of the time. John McCain's policies, for the most part, offend Catholic morality and should offend any good conscience.
