Anchorage for Obama

Inaugural Weekend 2009

Cultural Tones — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 10:29:40 EST

January 17, 2009

After two months of making and changing plans, I am ready to attend the Inaugural Ceremonies, however, subject to change at any time. From planning a day trip to Washington DC, to what is now a four day stay, I am excited and humbled about witnessing one of the most historic events in America, the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America,

Barack Obama.

My journey since February 2007 has been incredibly inspiring and an action packed experience. The lifetime friends I have made and the places in America where I have campaigned for change, as in Alaska and New Mexico, has so enriched my life, forever.

Some of the unexpected highlights that happened during these two months include being given a ticket to the Inaugural Ceremonies by Senator

Marie Cantwell (I retrieved the message from my cell phone on Christmas Eve), getting a ticket to one of the official Inaugural Balls at the last minute (I had to find a party dress for this), and this morning, signing up for the White House Open House, I am stunned. If Barack Obama did not open the doors of Democracy and if it were not for my many friends who think of me when they receive information about upcoming opportunities, I would have none of these privileges.

I am so proud of Barack Obama. His message is genuine and his actions are consistent. He has a natural ability to lead and an extraordinary instinct to inspire others to action for causes that contribute to society. As I celebrate this once in a lifetime event with millions of others, I salute America who carries the banner of liberty and justice for all.

Where to go from here?

akmk — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:02:30 EST

The question of the moment is where do we go from here? As Alaskans? As a nation? As my.barackobam.com participants?

For my part, I have updated my profile, dropped some groups, maintained some groups, and altered E-mail settings on some groups. Would like to continue to build alliances among Alaskans and others for a more healthy, just, peaceful, and sustainable planet, peoples, and all our relations.

We've built some invaluable alliances here and it will be interesting to see if this site remains active and influential in the future for building upon the movement of change and mutual support begun here.

What does everyone think about the best ways to move ahead from here? In Alaska and elsewhere?

Election Eve

Cultural Tones — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:56:30 EST

Since Alaska, my travels have taken me to Washington, Arizona and back to Washington where I am this Monday, November 3rd, 2008. During my travels, having the BarackObama.com site makes it easy to jump on-line, when I can, and make phone calls nationwide as part of the campaign nationl call team. Also, some of the Washington campaign call teams supply me with call lists...it's all good!

The internet radio show that a friend of mine and I started during the Democratic National Convention has continued, too. Although, call-ins are few, the show is fun and informative when there have been featured guests, i.e. from Wasilla, Anchorage, El Paso and Spokane. Tomorrow may be my final show for this election cycle.

It has been an incredible journey as a volunteer with the Barack Obama campaign. I have met incredibly dedicated people every place I have gone. The hope for a stronger and better democracy is what each of us wants for our country, it's what drives us to work at the grassroots level in ways we never imagined.

One of the most significant parts of this campaign for me, up to now, was Wednesday evening at the convention in Denver, when I signed my name on the ballot for Senator Barack Obama as the democratic nominee for President of the United States and when Senator Hillary Clinton pushed through a crowd of people to get to her podium, then asked for the nomination of of Barack Obama by acclaimation, it was seconded and voted on...that moment was full of emotion. Finally, the vote for which the precint, legislative and congressional district delegates had sent me was cast and all the hard work during the primary was rewarded.

Then, Invesco Field. Exhausted by Thursday of the convention, to have the privilege of sitting in the third row from center stage, I was overwhelmed with disbelief and humility. Watching the expressions on Senator Obama's face and hearing the roar of 70,000 supporters as he delivered his message of hope to the nation....I still cant' get over it!

My fellow Washington National Delegates made my experience complete. The caliber and diversity of individuals who made up the delegation was a source of pride for me. I will cherish my handbook of delegate biographies.

So, tonight, I as I reminisce, I hope for tomorrow's future that will be sealed by millions of precious votes.

Hope in Spokane, Washington

Count your vote, Make it count

Duane Kuehn — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:00:38 EST

Hi All,

     Election Day is upon us, then we can go back to regular commercials on television.
     Congratulations, it appears that everyone's hard work will surely "pay-off".

    Unfortunately, one major problem remains unaddressed and appears to be worse this year, more widespread, than the 2004 election. Vote Fraud. Not, mind you, voter fraud, but computer dysfunction, hacking, and even built in "flip" voting.

     Do we remember the 2004 election? All the networks declared John Kerry the winner, except Fox News. As the very important Florida votes came in, Fox News declared George Bush the winner. The other networks checked their own figures and "gosh darn" George Bush was the winner. How did that happen, all the other networks somehow had the wrong figures, or more exactly, suddenly those figures "flipped".

     Later, December 2004, a man named Clint Curtis testified under oath before the House Judiciary Committee on vote fraud.

      http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/465.html

     Mr. Curtis testified that he worked for Yang Enterprises Incorporated (which proudly proclaims on its site, "To provide high quality engineering and computer services for both the government and private industries"). Clint Curtis testified under oath that he was approached to create and did create a program that would “flip” a percentage of the votes to the other candidate. I hope you will click the link and watch the full video (from a movie insert but apparently the true testimony)

     The House Judiciary Committee did find vote "flipping" in the Presidential election of 2004. One "hint" of this happening is the flicker on the screen. The program which Curtis mentions, however, does not "flip" as the individual votes, a person flips a specific percentage of the votes after the voting is finished. Did the 2004 Florida vote “flip” at the last minute? We the People should be very worried.

     Already, some machines are showing flickers, many called “over or under sensitive screen problems etc. This is not some programmer or screen-maker error. This could easily be resolved in programming, why was it not done. We like to believe in honesty, especially in the election process, however, it is just no longer feasible to believe this.

     Like it or not, we need to take back our country, "change from the ground-upward" as we have been told. Our politicians will do nothing to address this problem but "We the People" will, in order to KEEP this more perfect Union more perfect!

     Election Day, Tuesday November 4, 2008, I plan to go to my appointed voting place, vote and stay there, all day if I must.

     I will take with me a large cardboard box having a hole cut in the top. I will take thousands of slips of scratch paper and a gang of pencils. Staying at least 25 feet from the building entrance, I will ask voters to please write "M" or "McCain or "O" or "Obama" on a slip and put it, unseen, into the box.

     Explaining that this is an anonymous gathering of the votes to check with the computer totals at this precinct to make sure there is no large difference between the ballots cast inside and the intended receiver of that individual vote. The ballot is the private business of the individual voter but the total of votes cast and for whom is important to keep the system honest.

     I will wear no campaign materials, this is not for campaigning, supporters are to take the day off, says Obama. You deserve that.

     This situation, however, demands our time. We are doing this for the honesty of this election and the protection of future elections in this country. If the other candidate wins in our individual districts, one need not be happy but we know that we are able to accept what comes.

     We are much stronger than to tamper with the paper trail we are creating in our individual districts. Tampering, with our own totals, will only do us harm and is out of the question. This is for the future voting rights of all Americans.

     I am inviting anyone to volunteer for this with me. Regardless of political affiliation, color, creed, etc. This is for the nation at large, not for our individual egos. Wherever you live, gather and do your individual precincts.

     I hope you will join me in this. Some may scoff at me but I do not care, this very Democracy deserves my time. Be it alone all day, I wholly plan to do this.
     I hope that you will do the same at your precincts. We have come too far to trust this election to others. Nobody will watch out for us, We must take action. If the results are true, then great. If the results are incorrect and we have done nothing, we get what we get, like it or not.

     For input or more information please contact me at   de-wah@usa.com
Loveya,
Duane Kuehn

Rosa sat so Martin could walk...

Rusty Murphy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:14:58 EDT

Rosa sat so Martin could walk...

Martin walked so that Obama could run...

Obama is running so our children can fly!!!

In Memory of Paul Wilson

akmk — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:46:21 EDT

A beloved Tlingit elder in our rural community passed away this weekend. Paul Wilson, Kadashaan, embodied love, kindness, and compassion. He practiced his cultural traditions and always put his wife and family first.

Paul was a member of our Obama family. He came to the caucus on a cold, snowy evening last winter where with 77 folks (100 total) cast his primary vote for Obama and stated with a bit of awe. "All these people for Obama, I can't believe it."

There is a photo of Paul (that he gave me permission to post) illustrating the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group on the my.barackobama.com site. In the photo, Paul is in his backyard stringing hooligan for the smokehouse. Hooligan (eulachon) are small smelt-like fish rich in healthy oil that return to many Alaskan rivers from their mostly ocean life for a few days each spring to renew their life cycles.

I chatted with Paul on the street just a week ago or so. He was still an Obama supporter, though his family and the local tribal community are not united in this. He also spoke of the place he loved above else, a beautiful valley above Skagway where he used to hunt goats. "When I win the lottery, we'll fly over there and get a picture of that place so I can look at it when my mind starts drifting away," he told me.

To have a look at Paul's photo and to join the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group (rural Alaskans and anyone anywhere), here is the link.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/RuralAlaskansforObama

Paul, I hope your spirit can feel the love surrounding your spirit coming back to ya.

Prominent Conservative say's "Yes WE Can"

ObamaMan-GA — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:51:07 EDT

October 10, 2008A Buckley endorses ObamaPosted: 11:08 PM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, is backing Obama.

(CNN) — No, hell has not frozen over, but a Buckley is backing a Democrat for president.

Christopher Buckley, the son of the late conservative icon William F. Buckley, said Friday he's decided to back Barack Obama's White House bid, the first time in his life he will vote Democrat.

“It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup [sic] are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance," Buckley, a columnist for the conservative National Review, wrote on the Web site The Daily Beast Friday.

Buckley, who praised McCain in a New York Times Op-Ed earlier this year and defended the Arizona senator's conservative credentials against wary talk-radio hosts, said McCain is no longer the “real” and “unconventional” man he once admired.

"This campaign has changed John McCain," Buckley wrote. "It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget 'by the end of my first term.' Who, really, believes that?

"Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis," Buckley added. "His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?"

But Buckley made clear he's not just voting against McCain, praising Obama for his "first-class temperament and first-class intellect."

"Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy 'We are the people we have been waiting for' silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for," Buckley wrote.

Enough of the hate and smears! Palin has her own skeletons!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:11:15 EDT

McCain, Palin and the GOP want to talk about Bill Ayers and terrorists.......well it looks like they a Major problem. Please get this out there.

If Palin gets VP talk about anti American! She is stirring up hate wherever she goes. We have to say Enough!

This is not acceptable!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/index.html

We don't not need hate and partisanship stirred up. Palin is stirring it and McCain is letting her run free with whatever she wants to say. This country needs to work together to get us out of this mess we are in. Barack is the only one who has the intelligence, knowledge, temperament and vision for that great future.Let's all help Barack and make sure all the slurs and hate stops!

Enough!

LuAnn

Gallup "Drills Down" To Younger Voters; A Generational Shift

Elstun — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:54:56 EDT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- America's youngest voters are mindful of history and the impact on their own lives as they prepare to cast ballots on Nov. 4. Among 18- to 29-year-old registered voters surveyed for a USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll, 61% support the Obama-Biden ticket, versus 32% who prefer the McCain-Palin ticket, with Obama's voters being far more likely to be certain about their vote than McCain's.

Obama's strong appeal to younger voters is apparent in that he outperforms McCain by double digits on every single character dimension tested in the poll of more than 900 18-29 year olds nationwide, conducted by Gallup for USA Today and MTV Sept. 18-28, 2008. The 47-year-old Obama swamps 72-year-old McCain, 71% to 12%, on understanding the "problems of people your age" and even wins on what is a McCain strength among the broader electorate, being a "strong and decisive leader," 46% to 36%.

While only a minority (37%) of young adults have qualms about McCain's age, a majority (55%) do have concerns about his running mate Sarah Palin's qualifications to step in as president if necessary. In contrast, a majority are satisfied with both Obama's experience and running mate Joe Biden's qualifications. (The poll was conducted before the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.)

Obama also beats McCain on several lighter dimensions tested in the poll. A majority of 18- to 29-year-olds would choose Obama over McCain as a teacher, boss, drinking buddy, or advisor. McCain's only appeal on this level with young adults appears to be his personal life story as young adults are more likely to be interested in reading McCain's private diary than Obama's. While such items may seem trivial, basic likeability can be a key indicator of a presidential candidate's ability to win votes.

When asked in an open-ended fashion to name the single most important issue affecting their vote for president this year, 18- to 29-year-old registered voters most often cite the economy (30%), followed by the war in Iraq (13%), healthcare (5%), energy and gas prices (4%), and international issues (4%). These issues are, in a broad sense, little different from those listed by all voters, regardless of age. Asked which candidate they think would do a better job on their top-priority issue, 58% say Obama versus 27% who say McCain, again echoing their basic candidate choice.

On the Outcome

The poll results make it clear that young Americans perceive that the outcome of the election really does matter, both to the country and to their own lives. Nearly-two thirds (64%) of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed say they have already given the election a lot of thought. Nearly half (44%) consider this election to be the most important of the last 50 years, and another 37% consider it more important than other elections.

When asked about the consequences of the two possible election outcomes, 84% say an Obama victory would have a great deal (47%) or moderate amount (37%) of impact on their lives and 72% say the same about McCain (36% great deal, 36% moderate amount).

Going a step further, the survey asked those who said an Obama or McCain victory would impact them "a great deal" or "not at all" to explain in their own words why they feel that way. In Obama's case, nearly one in four (24%) volunteered that good or positive changes would take place, while in McCain's case, the most common responses were negative or pertained to the War in Iraq.

Asked in a separate question how a McCain administration might compare to the Bush administration, 55% said they would view a McCain victory as "four more years of the Bush administration" versus 37% who said they would view it as "real change from the Bush administration."

The two tickets this year also carry the distinction of the first major party black nominee in U.S. history, and only the second major party female vice presidential nominee. In the eyes of young voters, victory for the Obama-Biden ticket would be much more of an historical event than victory for the McCain-Palin ticket. A majority (53%) agree that if Barack Obama is elected president, it would be one of the most important advances in racial equality over the past 100 years. By contrast, only one-third (32%) agree that if Sarah Palin becomes vice president, it will be one of the most important advances in gender equality in the past 100 years.

Bottom Line

A majority of 18- to 29-year-olds are registered to vote in this election and have given it a lot of thought. They prefer Barack Obama, both as an alternative to John McCain, but also as the candidate who is the most likely to understand their problems and to bring positive change to their own lives. Casting a ballot for Obama also carries the excitement of making history. Nearly 8 in 10 consider this election to be more important than other elections, if not the most important in the past 50 years. What remains to be seen is how many of this highly sought-after demographic will in fact turn out and vote on Election Day, and thus help to determine the winner.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted September 18-28, 2008, with 903 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29, 633 respondents of whom were randomly selected from a national sample of landline and cellular telephone numbers, and 270 respondents of whom had participated in earlier national Gallup polls and agreed to be re-interviewed for a future poll. For results based on the total sample, which is weighted for demographic information to be representative of 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 742 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

First Gallup 3-Day Running Average Incorporating Palin Attacks: Obama Up By 9!

Elstun — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:21:54 EDT

>Note. This 3 day running average goes back to the start of Sarah Palin's "heels on, gloves off" campaign. While it appeals to the 18% of the electorate that constitute her die-hard base, it appears to be turning off the independents. This is the first time any candidate has gotten a 51% posting on the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking poll shows registered voters preferring Barack Obama to John McCain for president by 51% to 42%.

The nine percentage point lead in Oct. 4-6 tracking matches Obama's highest to date for the campaign, and the highest for either candidate. Obama led McCain by 49% to 40% near the tail end of his international trip in late July. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)

Obama has now held a statistically significant lead since Sept. 24-26 polling and has not trailed McCain since Sept. 13-15, roughly coinciding with the intensification of the financial crisis.

McCain has an opportunity to try to reverse Obama's momentum at tonight's town hall style debate in Nashville. -- Jeff Jones

These facts about John McCain need shared ASAP!

LuAnn in Indiana — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:51:21 EDT

These are facts about McCain, his family, his life and all the mistruths that he likes to brag about. Please take the time to watch these and you may be shocked.People everywhere have the right to know these things about John McCain.He is no maverick. He would be a disaster as President. He is strictly out for John McCain and has proven he will say or do anything to get elected.Please help Barack and share these facts. McCain’s campaign is getting nastier.

Thanks, LuAnn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06zsn5BuL3Y

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=4588

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain/page/1

Fox News Delivers For McCain-Palin's Scorched Earth Politcs

Elstun — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:13:57 EDT

Fox news has launched its all out assault on Barack Obama, just in time (Probably in close coordination with) the RNC and an army of 527 groups.

I got a sample of it over the last couple of days of watching Fox.

My first peek came on Fox and Friends with anti-Obama hatchetman Stanley Kurtz, from a right-wing opnion-factory named The Ethics and Public Policy Center. Kurtz was given several minutes of free air time to paint a picture of Barack Obama and William Ayers' relationship implying two things: that they were frequently in the same room together, along with scores of other people, and that Barack Obama "funneled" (Kurtz's term) money to one of Ayers' project. Obama was, in fact, on a board that recieved grants and Ayers' project was one of the grant recipients. That is what Kurtz meant by 'funneling' money. Kurtz is obviously confused. "Funneling Money" is what happens when Right-Wing millionaires want to discredit Barack Obama and they make a donation to a 501 (c)(3) called...oh, I don't know, say...The Ethics and Public Policy Center so a slack-jawed bottom-feeder like Stanley Kurtz can provide 'unbiased' information to its viewers. Anyway...By the end of the piece, if one was an uncritical viewer of Fox and Friends, one would certainly have the impression that the so-called "Main Stream Media" was trying to 'cover up' something.

Comes now Sean Hannity. A special entitled "Obama and Friends: A History of Radicalism" was launched today. In this so-called documentary, Hannity spends several minutes created dark sounds about Saul Alinsky, a widely read and much beloved community organizer of the 1950s and 1960s. By the end of the Alinsky discussion, he is characterized as a communist who launched the 'community organizing' movement as a means to manipulate well-meaning people; whatever that means. And Fox News certainly knows something about manipulation. Hannity then draws a line connecting a horrible patch-up inlcuding grainy newsreels of radical islamists leading to Barack Obama and an extreme subculture of Chicago.The racist subtext is undeniable, inspersing images of Jerimiah Wright and Malcolm X and other black nationalists and Barack Obama, they are saying in essence--this guy is black, folks and so are these radicals.

Then Fox has also dredged up one of the police officers wounded by the Weather Underground when Barack Obama was all of 8 years old and we can expect to see his recollections of pain to be used by Fox to attack Obama.

Expect the worst kind of McCarthyesque attacks and distortions that have EVER been seen in an American election over the next 30 days. The decision by the RNC-Fox-McCain camp is a political scorched earth policy. If they can't win this election, they will so poison the well of American Opinion so as to make it ungovernable.

One percent

Mike from Lansing, MI — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:37:46 EDT

1%, or 1 vote out of 100

There have been 12 Presidential elections that were decided by less than a 1% margin; meaning if less than 1% of the voters in certain states had changed their mind to the other candidate the outcome of the entire election would have been different. More than half were decided by less than a 2% margin.

In 2004,    57,787 votes would have given us President Kerry.
In 2000,    269 votes would have given us President Gore
In 1996,    575,515 votes would have given us President Dole.

From ABC News:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html

==========
"Squeakers"
Ned Potter
ABC News
September 29, 2008

How close have Presidential elections been? Closer, perhaps, than we ever guessed. Mike Sheppard, a grad student in statistics at Michigan State, has done a mathematical exercise that shows it.

He ran a computer program to answer this question: "What is the smallest number of total votes that need to be switched from one candidate to another, and from which states, to affect the outcome of the election?"

The answer: in some years, very, very few. Take a look at his analysis HERE. It shows the powerful interaction between the popular vote and the electoral college.

[...]
==========

Full article here:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html

Detailed analysis here, including colored maps:
https://www.msu.edu/~sheppa28/elections.html

-Mike Sheppard

Send John a Message

Andy & Donna Holleman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:11:52 EDT

Mr. McCain feels he is needed in Washington to straighten out this mess. Since the VP candidate is not allowed to speak, he has to shut down his campaign. You can go to http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/ and send a message to their campaign that NOW is the moment we would like to hear from the person that wants to lead us for the next 4 or 8 years.

Drop them a note, and ask them not to cancel out, but rather, show up and talk to us. It's the only way they have to hear you.

Michael Moore ~ "Slacker Uprising"...Super Relavent!!!

ObamaMan-GA — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:44:12 EDT

Michael MooreFriends, It's officially September 23rd and my new film, "Slacker Uprising," ...
12:30 AM (10 hours ago)

Michael MooreLoading...12:30 AM (10 hours ago)

Michael Moore to me
show details 12:30 AM (10 hours ago) Reply

Friends,
It's officially September 23rd and my new film, "Slacker Uprising," is now premiering live at SlackerUprising.com! It is available for free as a gift from me to all of you. And you have my permission to share it or show it in any way you see fit.

Watch it all: http://slackeruprising.com/download/location.php?utm_medium=download&utm_source=30255701
At that link, there are five ways you can watch

Univ. of Iowa Students Interrupt McCain-Palin Rally

John From Cape Cod. Ma — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:34:58 EDT

LINK:http://www.opednews.com/articles/University-of-Iowa-Student-by-Stephen-Fox-080920-773.html

Univ. of Iowa Students Interrupt McCain-Palin Rally

by Stephen Fox Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

This just in, via Obama Rapid Response Team, the work of several writers:

Dozens of students from the University of Iowa were kicked-out of the McCain-Palin rally for speaking out for peace and justice and against four more years of the same unacceptable policies of George Bush.

Activists from the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the University of Iowa Anti-war Committee engaged in a steady stream of "rolling disruptions" to advocate for peace and justice and highlight their discontent with McSame's pro-Bush policies.

It should be noted that heckling is a constitutionally protected form of free speech. During Palin's rally a group of UI female students (including Megan Felt, Hannah Rounds, Laura Kacere, and Marni Steadham) advocated for women's rights, which are being seriously threatened by the outdated policies of McCain and Palin.

They chanted "our body, our choice", "equal pay for equal work", and "Palin, Palin get off our back, women's rights are under attack!" They also held up a large banner reading "War is menstruation envy!" Following this protest these women were escorted out by the local law enforcement. Shortly after, a second group of protesters (including UI students Robin Berman, Dan Rathjen, and David Goodner) called Palin and McCain out when they blatantly lied to the crowd about the current economic crisis.

In particular, Palin and McCain promised to reform our economy, even though their economic policies are no different than the current administration. These protesters were also escorted out. Toward the end of the speech McCain talked about his pro-war viewpoint. At the same time, UI graduate student, Justin Feinstein, screamed out, "John McCain, you never learn! We lost in 'Nam! We lost in Iraq! You can never win in war!"

The third wave of students (including Feinstein, Brooke Bachelder, Lara Elborno, Naomi Prager, and Anthony Carter) began loudly chanting, "Bring 'em back, from Iraq", "No justice, no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East", "Wars, wars, that's his name, 100 more years with John McCain", and "All we are saying, is give peace a chance."

All protesters were escorted out peacefully and their demonstration isa testament to the 1st amendment rights given to every US citizen. The protesters encourage all people to exercise their right to freedomof speech.

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

Note from Stephen Fox: I think these students (Megan Felt, Hannah Rounds, Laura Kacere, Marni Steadham, Robin Berman, Dan Rathjen, David Goodner, Justin Feinstein, Brooke Bachelder, Lara Elborno, Naomi Prager, and Anthony Carter) deserve our commendation for their Gandhian courage and their intelligence to do what they did.

This could be in the form of letters to the editor of

1. Daily Iowan, the University Paper (diopletters@gmail.com)

2. Iowa City Press Citizen (opinion@press-citizen.com)

3. Des Moines Register (letters@dmreg.com)

4. Cedar Rapids Gazette (news@gazettecommunications.com)

plus five more listed at: http://www.usnpl.com/ianews.php (this is a "Live Blue" list of Newspapers in Iowa)

Sarah Palin To Be Dropped From McCain Ticket

Ruth Calabria — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:20:09 EDT

Dear Friends,

The guns on the conviction of the sinner, Senator Barack Obama, are about to be silenced. Sarah Palin has done her job of connecting with the everyday people who will make the difference in the election. She has managed to make the Republicans, the party of, by and for the ruling class, the hope of the people in the margin, the smarter evangelicals who might have voted for Obama, the moms who struggle so hard to raise their kids in this mom unfriendly environment, the moose hunters and those Hillary women who can’t distinguish their bras from their pocketbooks.

Palin has also managed to distract us all from the consequences of the hundred billion dollar bank bailout necessitated by the blind greed of Republican mortgage scammers, a grand heist on all who work for a living whose paychecks will be cut in half by the stupendous inflation this will bring about. Stocks, mostly owned by the rich, go up; and the real income of the workers and middle class goes down. This effective transfer of wealth from worker to ruling class is a continuation of the broader capitalist Republican manipulations that have caused worker incomes to drop by 2% in the last decade while those in the top tier went up by 200%.

McCain’s conservative handlers have planned from the beginning to have Sarah leave the scene, once her job was finished, along with the baggage of her Trooper-gate conniving and her obvious lack of qualifications for the presidency. We suspect her coming exit to have been intelligently designed from the start in its reeking of our situation down here in Texas where my fundamentalist mother still tries to control me, a 67 year old woman, from the grave by having left me an inheritance totally controlled by my castrated conservative brother, a lawyer who made it clear immediately after my mother’s death that there’s no way I would ever see a penny of the money left me unless I left my evolutionist professor husband of 35 years who rescued me from this moron, child abusing, family I had the misfortune to be born into. And if I know these scheming conservative game players correctly, Palin’s exit will be blamed on something Michelle Obama said about Christmas or some equally absurd and vicious zinger.

The communists used to say that the capitalists would sell them the rope they needed to hang them. This has proved to be unnecessary. Instead we have seen our greedy pig ruling class hang themselves with their mortgage scam that backfired, and hang all of us in the process. To highlight their lunatic decadence and stupidity, we note the dribbling remarks of an upper class jerk by the name of Wayne Angel, a retired Fed Board member who owns his own seven homes and blames the economic meltdown on unions demanding more money for the workers! Did we really hear him say that!? Such callousness and the fact that he truly believes it (!) borders on a criminality that calls for the forced feeding of cake to Marie Antoinette’s severed head. This bailout grand theft, soft peddled and hidden by media shills whose employment is at the discretion of said ruling class, the same crew of peppy liars who helped sell the War in Iraq that has been used as an excuse for the taking away of our freedom, fairness and justice in America, must be reversed. The upper class must go!

But rather than have the rerun of the French Revolution that these rich pigs so richly deserve, it is much easier to throw them out of power by electing Barack Obama, who, whatever his shortcomings, is a hell of a lot smarter and a hell of a lot more caring than these ruling class wolves and their loathsome surrogate in sheep’s clothing, the truly dippy, smiling lunatic, John McCain, who however he may come off in well edited sound bites on TV, looks in person like he would have trouble finding his way to the men’s room.

Don’t be fooled by kindly Uncle John. Be scared on Election Day, scared enough to make sure you go out and vote. Hidden in briefly appearing stories on the net are the new rules for domestic spying and for FBI surveillance and harassment without due cause, also known as, welcome to the police state. The Republicans are as treacherous in their plans for the coming Inquisition as they are in consistently making black out to be white in presidential campaigning.

And while we are at it, let’s put the blame for the personal unhappiness and heartache of young people where it belongs to make sure they get out and vote. It’s not hard to understand. First turn off Dr. Phil, a castrated propagandist who has enough money to buy a trophy wife to cover up the fact that his fast talking is as cross wired as his face is goofy. The problem of the breakdown of love and happiness in America is not a mental problem.

Rule #1: The ruling class has the power to do whatever they want to do.

Rule #2: What they and their managers want to do is screw all the women, which they do in the workplace and in the schools in various ways.

Rule #3: If you want to keep your job or get an A on that term paper, honey, pull up your skirt, as happens as often as folks drink coffee in the morning.

Rule #4: Every woman comes to know these rules.

Rule #5: No woman talks about them.

Today’s women are a harem for the ruling class. The owners and bosses and the worst teachers and priests get to toy with the women (and with the kids) while the men who fall in love with the women are DENIED ACCESS, crowded out by the creepy lechers whose taking advantage insults the women and destroys the self respect and emotional integrity necessary for successful courtship and love, with the problem made all the worse with the cockeyed morality spouted on corporate run TV. And men being made obedient fools out of by bosses, also as common as morning coffee, doesn’t improve their attractiveness to women. It’s time for a revolution and electing Obama is the first step. We make the case for what we say, as taboo as these truths are in an America where lies rule by swift condemnation of truth tellers as evil or crazy, on www.matrix-evolutions.com where we use a compelling scientific argument based on a mathematical understanding of evolution and information.

Mrs. Ruth and Dr. Peter V. Calabria

Thank God McCain-Palin Were Not In Charge of Social Security!

Elstun — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:10:24 EDT

> note, we can all be grateful that McCain's 'private accounts/private management' scheme for Social Security was not in place before this latest tanking on Wall Street. Point THIS out to McCain-leaning Seniors when you have an opportunity to do so....

John Neffinger

Hello? If McCain Had His Way, That'd Be Our Social Security Money Wall Street is Losing

What do we democrats have to say about the mess on Wall Street?

Today Obama said it proves that the Republican economic philosophy has failed, and I heard him mock McCain for calling for a commission because "we know how we got into this mess." Now some people think about things like "economic philosophy" a lot, and many have at least a general notion of how we got into this mess. But even though everybody cares about how much money ends up in their pockets, most people are understandably a little fuzzy about all the policies and philosophies and market forces behind our very complex economy.

And to further confuse the issue, McCain is also saying something about reform, and taking on "fat cats," and accusing Obama of being just as cozy with these Wall Streeters as anyone else. The upshot so far is that slightly more voters trust John McCain to handle the economy than trust Barack Obama.

As it happens, though, not that long ago we had a rare political moment in this country, a moment where the public sat up and took notice of economic policy -- and spoke out and made its voice heard too. When George W. Bush made it to term #2, he decided to try to privatize social security to reward his supporters on Wall Street with a new source of capital, customers, and fees. (Those would be the same people whose firms are now cratering under the weight of the bad debt they recklessly took on while Republican regulators looked the other way).

But as it turned out, we Americans were not about to let our elected representatives turn over our social security taxes to Wall Street financiers to gamble with if it meant losing the guaranteed income that has allowed millions upon millions of American seniors to live out their sunset years with at least a basic measure of dignity.

But while ordinary Americans spoke out, John McCain stood with Bush (hugged him awkwardly in public, even), against the American people. In fact, just six months ago, McCain again let slip his fondness for privatization.

I have been scratching my head why this has not been talked about more, especially since Obama has been having trouble winning votes among seniors. There may well be some good reason I'm missing why it hasn't been a top argument thus far.

But now that you can't look at a newspaper or TV screen without seeing the mayhem on Wall Street, it's time to remind Americans what the world would look like if John McCain was in charge of our economic policy. Plenty of people are losing plenty of their retirement savings as it is.

But if we had let Bush and McCain privatize social security, some of those people would be losing a lot more. And a lot of other people with less retirement savings would be hurting even more, because they depend on social security to cover basic needs.

This is something Americans understand: social security is secure, and the stock market is anything but. There are few more personal or dramatic ways to illustrate McCain's terrible judgment than to imagine the nightmare scenario so many Americans would face if McCain and Bush had gotten their way on this -- or if McCain were to get his way as President.

Support Obama/Biden and Wolves in Alaska

akmk — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:31:46 EDT

Please donate to my fundraising page to support Obama/Biden and wolves in Alaska http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/dashboard/main/AlaskanWolves

Comments from AK Dem Chair, Patti Higgins

akmk — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:51:13 EDT

The following comments from AK Dem Chair, Patti Higgins, are worthy of consideration:

"While we can appreciate the attention to Alaska, Governor Palin is not the reformer that McCain claims she is. When she was Mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbying firm to secure federal earmarks. As Governor she has continued to seek and accept federal earmarks, the very practice that McCain has fought, despite her claims that she now opposes them. Palin is under investigation for abuse of power, and now it appears she is stonewalling the Legislature's investigation of Troopergate, after she previously said she would cooperate. In Alaska, and in the nation, it is Democrats who have led the way to reform and change. Ultimately, the national race is about the choice between McCain and Obama, about who will be the better leader for our country, and what direction our country will go in. Will we have change or more of the same? Barack Obama will focus on the needs of middle class and working people, not special interests and the wealthy. Obama has empathy with the thousands of Alaskans are struggling to get by, because he has been there himself. John McCain can't remember how many houses he owns. At the Republican convention this week, McCain and Palin didn't offer any solutions to help families meet the challenges of high prices and rising costs of everything. They didn't offer any solutions for jump-starting the economy, making health care more affordable, or keeping good jobs here in America. The Bush/McCain agenda has brought us an endless war in Iraq, the highest gas prices in the country, and companies getting big tax breaks to move American jobs overseas. John McCain thinks we've made great economic progress. Sarah Palin fully supports his agenda. Alaskans, and the country as a whole, are ready for change. John McCain won't give us the change we need. We can't afford four more years of the same failed policies of George Bush. For these reasons, I hope you will join me in voting for Democrats at every level."

'Throw the bums out!' -- say the bums

John From Cape Cod. Ma — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:36:37 EDT

'Throw the bums out!' -- say the bums

By Garrison Keillor

September 11, 2008

So the Republicans have decided to run against themselves. The bums have tiptoed out the back door and circled around to the front and started yelling, "Throw the bums out!" They've been running Washington like a well-oiled machine to the point of inviting lobbyists into the back rooms to write the legislation, and now they are anti-establishment reformers dedicated to delivering us from themselves. And Mayor Giuliani is an advocate for small-town America. Bravo.

They are coming out for Small Efficient Government the very week that the feds are taking over Fannie and Freddie, those old cash cows, and in the course of a weekend 20 or 50 or (pick a number) billion go floating out the Treasury door. Hello? Do you see us out here? We are not fruit flies, we are voters, we can read and write, we didn't just fall off the coal truck.

It is a bold move on the Republicans' part -- forget about the past, it's only history, so write a new narrative and be who you want to be -- and if they succeed, I think I might declare myself a 24-year-old virgin named Lance and see what that might lead to. Paste a new face on my Facebook page, maybe become the Dauphin Louie the Thirty-Second, the rightful heir to the Throne of France, put on silk tights and pantaloons and a plumed hat and go on the sawdust circuit and sell souvenir hankies imprinted with the royal fleur-de-lis. They will cure neuralgia and gout and restore marital vigor.

Mr. McCain has decided to run as a former POW and a maverick, a maverick's maverick, rather than Mr. Bush's best friend, and that's understandable, but how can he not address the $3 trillion that got burned up in Iraq so far? It's real money, it could've paid for a lot of windmills, a high-speed rail line in Ohio, some serious R&D. The Chinese, who have avoided foreign wars for 50 years, are taking enormous leaps forward, investing in their economy, and we are falling behind. We're wasting our chances. The Republican culture of corruption in Washington hasn't helped.

And a former mayor of a town of 7,000 who hired a lobbyist to get $26 million in federal earmarks is now running against the old-boy network in Washington who gave her that money to build the teen rec center and other good things so she could keep taxes low in Wasilla. Stunning. And if you question her qualifications to be the leader of the free world, you are an elitist.

This is a beautiful maneuver. I wish I had thought of it back in school when I was forced to subject myself to a final exam in higher algebra. I could have told Miss Mortenson, "I am a Christian and when you gave me a D, you only showed your contempt for the Lord and for the godly hard-working people from whom I have sprung, you elitist battleaxe you."

In school, you couldn't get away with that garbage because the taxpayers know that if we don't uphold scholastic standards, we will wind up driving on badly designed bridges and go in for a tonsillectomy and come out missing our left lung, so we flunk the losers lest they gain power and hurt us, but in politics we bring forth phonies and love them to death.

I must say, it was fun having the Republicans in St. Paul and to see it all up close and firsthand. Security was, as one might expect, thin-lipped and gimlet-eyed, but once you got through it, you found the folks you went to high school with -- farm kids, jocks, the townies who ran the student council, the cheerleaders, some of the bullies -- and they are as cohesive now as they were back then, dedicated to school spirit, intolerant of outsiders, able to jump up and down and holler for something they don't actually believe.

But oh Lord, what they brought forth this year. When you check the actuarial tables on a 72-year-old guy who's had three bouts with cancer, you guess you may be looking at the first woman president, a hustling evangelical with ethics issues and a chip on her shoulder who, not counting Canada, has set foot outside the country once -- a trip to Germany, Iraq and Kuwait in 2007 to visit Alaskans in the armed service. And who listed a refueling stop in Ireland as a fourth country visited. She's like the Current Occupant but with big hair. If you want inexperience, there were better choices.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.keillor11sep11,0,4084302,print.story

Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" can be heard Saturday nights on public radio stations across the country.

Important Talking Point: Military Donors to Obama.

Elstun — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:20:32 EDT

The following from military.com

Military Donations Favoring Obama

August 15, 2008Associated Press

WASHINGTON - U.S. Soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous White House campaigns in which military donations tended to favor Republicans, a nonpartisan group reported Aug. 14.

Troops serving abroad have given nearly six times as much money to Obama's presidential campaign as they have to McCain's, the Center for Responsive Politics said.

The results also are striking because they favored Obama, who has never served in the military. McCain meanwhile, is a decorated war veteran who spent nearly five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The Arizona senator graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and had a 22-year career as a naval aviator.

Obama has opposed the war in Iraq and says he would withdraw combat troops within 16 months. McCain has been a steadfast supporter of the war, saying he would withdraw the troops only when conditions on the ground warrant it.

"Obama will work tirelessly to uphold this nation's sacred trust with its veterans, to ensure they are not forgotten after they return home and he will provide our troops with the leadership they deserve, as well as the support they and their families need," Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

McCain's campaign played down the significance of the donations.

"John McCain has been endorsed by more retired admirals and generals than Barack Obama has military donors," McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement.

"We feel confident that many U.S. troops stationed overseas will support John McCain in the election this fall, but we suspect most are too busy doing the important work of defending this country than to make political contributions," Goldfarb said.

The report tracked donations of $200 or more. It found that 859 members of the military donated a total of $335,536 to Obama. McCain received $280,513 from 558 military donors.

Among Soldiers serving overseas at the time of their donations, 134 gave a total of $60,642 to Obama while 26 gave a total of $10,665 to McCain. That was less than the amount received by Republican Ron Paul, who collected $45,512 from 99 Soldiers serving abroad, the report said.

My Solo Protest This Morning

Elstun — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:35:00 EDT

Sarah Palin was the star attraction at a Republican rally this AM at the Dena'ina Center. Several Tribal leaders had complained about this use of the facility because this was being done before the Center was properly smudged (cleansed) and blessed. The facility, named for the First Peoples of Cook Inlet, was supposed to be opened under the ceremonial protocol of those people. But what Sarah wants, Sarah seems to get in Alaska and the brightly lit sidewalks, traffic control barriers and troopers heralded the first event to ever be held in our new convention center-- remember this fact if you are playing Trivial Pursuit (The Alaska Edition) 30 years from now.

While I had texted scores of people--hoping for some companionship in my endeavor-- I was the only one foolish enough to show. So I stood there with my sign facing the Palin fans who had begun lining at the front doors before I arrived at 7AM. The State Troopers and the Center's security staff actually defended my right to stand by the front door with my NO MORE MCCAIN-PALIN LIES sign as the Palin fans filed in. One loud, hyper woman tried to have me removed. One fellow nodded at me and said: "I will admit that you've got guts". As luck would have it, I found myself standing by the media queue, so I had several interviews while they were waiting to be let in. One interviewer with a cameraman began her interview by calling me "The Oddball..." I tried to deflect that. She must have been from Fox. I tried to speak in sound bites, but it really is hard to do. While I was standing there, a big, shiny vehicle pulled up to the front door and the intense looking driver ran up to the security desk and told them that he has a VIP that he wanted to get escorted in to the VIP-Section. "What's his name?" Security asked, "Oliver Leavitt", the man said. Leavitt is on the Board of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Finally, security signaled it was time for the media to go in and...as most of the crowd had filed past me and it was already past 8AM (I made a commitment to myself to be there from 7AM-8AM), I bid everyone a good morning and returned home.

I have a friend who is on a Spiritual Path and he likes to say that difficulty "...is a meditation". For him, the goal in living is learning to take Right Action and if something is both right AND difficult, we learn from that. After a while, the folks at the front of the line with whom I spent the most time, seemed get used to my presence and even warm up to me. I certainly warmed up to them as they seemed to be decent, nice folks. When I shouted to them to enjoy themselves as they entered the Center, they waved and smiled at me.

So what did I accomplish? I offered an alternative perspective to the new media, I got to meet some nice people, and I have calmed that anxious knot in the pit of my stomach telling me to do something, take some action that stands up to the national Right-Wing machinery now rolling through our state. It was not much, I admit, but it was something and I am glad I did it!

Back To The Future, Part IV

Ganeshaka — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:49:45 EDT

I think maybe it's due to the hadrons escaping from that satanic swiss supercollider, but I had the most vivid vision last week.

I was reading "Sarah: How a Hockey Mom etc." last week, keeping up with current events, when I grew weary and fell sound asleep. I dreamed I was in the waiting room of my dermatologist, waiting for my annual checkup. Ever the impatient patient, I was flipping through the dated reading material when a Newsweek magazine caught my eye. It was a Newsweek from January 23, 2009! Sarah Palin's picture was on the cover in front of the Presidential Seal. On page 12, the lead story began...

"Newsweek
January 23, 2009
(Washington, DC)

In an historic freak accident - what Matt Damon was later to call "a bad Coen brothers movie" - Sarah Palin, last Tuesday, leapfrogged, in five astonishing minutes, from Governor of Alaska to leader of the free world.

The tragic and incredible turn of events occurred moments after John McCain was sworn in as 44th President of the United States of America. As a beaming Chief Justice Roberts looked on, McCain turned to his side to embrace his new VP, who many pundits claim was responsible for his election. Palin had just begun an enthusiastic "victory wave" to the crowd (the same "wave" a CNN photo editor was once accused of framing as a Nazi salute).

The sudden upward thrust of her stiffened right arm caught McCain awkwardly under his elbow, causing him to wrench his shoulder, wince in pain, and jerk backwards into the Chief Justice. Startled, Roberts, who has an apparent history of epilepsy, then had the misfortune to react to the sudden movement with a grand mal seizure.

In the ensuing and entangled tumble of the two, McCain apparently hit the soft edemic portion of his left temple twice, first on the sharp edge of the McCain family Bible stand, and then again on the speakers podium. He fell bleeding from his ear to the stage floor where Mrs. Palin and Mrs. McCain both rushed to his aid. Before the President slipped into unconsciousness, the necktie mike of ABC reporter Charles Gibson who was standing close by, caught him distinctly saying "My God, you c*nt!..."

This unfortunate utterance, Maureen Dowd of the NY Times later speculated, suggested that Mrs. Palin had pushed Mr. McCain - ambitiously and deliberately. Republican spin apologists claimed it was merely his last joking words to his loving wife.

President Palin, when asked, explained what she believed was a manifestation of God's Will. She pointed to a whorl in the wood of the podium which was shaped exactly like the Madonna. She too was puzzled by McCain's choice of words, but she believed McCain's reflexive oath was actually a death bed conversion upon seeing The Mary, and, too, a prophetic reference to her imminently becoming the first female President. She confessed that he had sometimes endearingly interjected "why you damned c*nt" in private, when expostulating with her on foreign policy."

At this point the doorbell rang, and I awoke, a bit foggy, and went to the door. It was FedEx. When I finished signing for my Amazon delivery, I came back to write down the dream in its entirety. But the portion above was all I could remember.

Oh, what books did I order? The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, and Xanadu and Other Poems, by S.T. Coleridge.

Obama and the Palin Effect by Deepak Chopra

Elstun — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:20:37 EDT

(Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, A Jungian Fantasy at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Jill Michael and Joe Jung)

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

* Small town values - a nostalgic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America ' s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.

* Ignorance of world affairs - a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.

* Family values - a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be needed.

* Rigid stands on guns and abortion - a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
*Patriotism - the usual fallback in a failed war.

* "Reform" - an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow - we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

Everybody Calm Down! Obama Is Hitting Back

Elstun — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:31:35 EDT

Quit your whining, Democrats. If Obama loses this election, it won't be because he didn't fight back.

Tim Fernholz | September 11, 2008 |

There's a picture being sent around e-mail lists and posted on blogs that many a Democrat ought to bear in mind -- and no, it's not another anonymous smear. It's a picture of an assertive Sen. Barack Obama with a LOL-style caption promising, "I GOT THIS!"

Of course, few political observers are quite that confident. In light of Sen. John McCain's post-convention bounce in the polls and the media obsession with Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Democrats are starting to panic prematurely. Now they're armchair-quarterbacking Obama's campaign: He should attack! He should attack creatively! Why isn't he more populist/more personal/more disciplined? Obama-supporting friends outside of the realm of political journalism are now asking me to allay their fears.

This is what I tell them: Quit the hand-wringing, Democrats, and don't believe the hype. Barack Obama is a lot of things, but he isn't John Kerry and he's not Al Gore. Obama's campaign has been the most disciplined and aggressive Democratic effort of the last eight years. If he loses, it won't be because he didn't hit back.

Even the Prospect staff is not immune to the paranoia about a return to 2004; each poll jump sends my colleague Adam Serwer into inspired anxiety. Just yesterday, founding co-editor Bob Kuttner wrote that Obama's campaign isn't doing enough to go after McCain on issues. As an example, he cited the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, suggesting that Obama base a major policy speech or advertisement around explaining that these entities, wrongly privatized, were at the root of the unnecessary sub-prime mortgage crisis and that this crisis exemplifies why conservatism is a failed ideology and liberalism a better one. All true, as far as the economic analysis goes. But a campaign commercial? It took an entire article -- a good one at that -- for Kuttner to explain that in these pages.

Instead, Obama is making a simple case, one that he has been making for a while now: John McCain is George W. Bush. Each of his recent ads reflects this message. And look at his stump speeches and the remarks of his running mate, Joe Biden. Obama has carefully cultivated his campaign themes of change and reform since 2007, with specific examples of what that change would be, while forcefully demonstrating that John McCain represents more of the same. If Obama switched tactics now, no doubt the same folks criticizing him for his lack of reaction would criticize him for his lack of message discipline.

At the Republican National Convention, McCain adopted Obama's rhetoric and has promised that he and Palin would be the true agents of change, though he declines to specify exactly which Bush-era policies he would change. Ironically, a common castigation of Obama is that he isn't setting the narrative of the race -- that the debate isn't on his terms. But it should be clear by now that this isn't true: The race is about change and who can bring it to Washington. Obama's campaign is betting that its message will be the one that resonates with voters, and McCain's will be seen for what it is: pure rhetoric. Maybe that's a bad bet, but nonetheless Obama's story has set the frame, and McCain is the one who's had to work within it. Obama should not get nasty because that undermines the entire narrative of his candidacy.

The McCain campaign's stream of personal attacks against Obama, and its emphasis that Palin has been victimized by the media, has the day-to-day news cycle focused on foolish back-and-forths instead of the issues. Make no mistake: This is part of the McCain team's strategy. Rick Davis, a senior McCain aide, explicitly said that they don't want the election to be about the issues; they want it to be about personality. It's a cynical ploy, but it's one that Democrats see working against Obama's message. Liberals and reporters alike recognize that low-information voters are likely to hear accusations louder than rebuttals, or simply assume that both candidates are slinging the same kind of mud.

Obama has responded, however, with vigor, straightforwardly denouncing the attacks and turning the conversation back to the issues important to Americans. Following yesterday's laughably false accusation from the McCain campaign that Obama called Palin a "pig," he accused McCain of not taking the issues -- or the country -- seriously, and his spokespeople turned the charge around on McCain. When McCain falsely accused Obama of supporting sex-ed for kindergarteners, Obama's campaign rightly questioned McCain's honor. When they mocked his work as a community organizer, he laughed off the accusation and asked who, exactly, the Republicans were working for. When Sarah Palin attacked the Constitution, he said in no uncertain terms that she was attacking the fabric of this country. Each time the McCain campaign comes out with a negative, misleading advertisement, Obama publicly sets the record straight, often within hours. Remember how long it took John Kerry to respond to the Swift Boat accusations? And Obama does more than simply correct the lies -- he calls out McCain for his dirty tactics.

Is it enough? Liberal blogger Steve Benen observes that only thing Obama hasn't done so far is fight fire with fire and use the same dishonest tactics as McCain. For instance, Benen suggests, they could argue that McCain wants to cut U.S. military aid to Israel, since that aid is an earmark and McCain claims he wants to eliminate them. Of course, Obama knows that McCain doesn't actually want to cut aid to Israel. But McCain also knew that Obama doesn't want to give sex tips to kindergarteners. Others argue that Obama needs to attack McCain's character. The Obama campaign has gone so far as to call McCain and Palin liars and flip-floppers and to call their attacks dishonorable -- which they are. But some Democrats would have Obama mount a character attack against McCain for abandoning his first wife and family, for instance.

Obama won't do that, though, because his message is change, and because he has more integrity than McCain does. This is not "naïve" and "idiotic," as Terence Samuel at The Root calls Obama's response to the "lipstick affair" -- it is part of a larger strategy. Obama has shown as well as anyone that he is a rough-and-tumble politician who doesn't shy from a fight. But his campaign has made central his commitment to changing the way we do politics. That doesn't mean he's a wimp, but it does mean he can't buy into the Bush-Rove politics that McCain now espouses. Obama remembers, to recall the old adage, it's not worth wrestling a pig: You get dirty, and the pig likes it.

Samuel argues that Obama needs to get down in the mud, but doesn't offer even a single example of an attack that would work -- one that would tar McCain's reputation without sullying Obama's. This is a great example of my favorite kind of liberal armchair-quarterbacking: "We need to hit back harder … but not by saying something I can't print here." As Samuel waxes rhapsodic over Palin insulting Obama, he forgets that just two weeks ago John Kerry and Joe Biden were going after McCain at the convention. This is part of the problem. Even liberal journalists who should know better spend more time giving nonsensical advice to the Obama campaign rather than looking at McCain's shortcomings.

It's not that it's wrong to criticize a campaign, or that some criticisms don't ring true. The Obama campaign and its surrogates need to stop saying that McCain is such a great man before they tear him apart. (Joe Biden, for one, has already gotten the message.) They could be doing a better job sending out rapid responders on the state level, but it's clear they're not in a bubble. They understand the concerns of their supporters. Still, they are on the offensive -- that sex-education smear by McCain was actually a response to an Obama attack ad that ran that morning. The Obama campaign, day-in and day-out, is extraordinarily disciplined about delivering its message.

Obama is essentially tied in the polls with McCain, even as the Republican senator experiences his convention bounce. These numbers will change with events, especially with the debates, and as the sheen wears off Palin. (A reminder: She has been known nationally for less than two weeks.) Obama has invested in a much larger field operation than McCain. The press seems to be developing a spine, if these comments criticizing the media's "outrageous" cowering before the McCain campaign from conventional wisdom apparatchik Mark Halperin are any indication.

But it certainly doesn't help to have Democrats wringing their hands and complaining about problems Obama doesn't have. Enthusiasm is the big indicator in an election that will ride on turnout, and Democrats have every reason to be enthusiastic.

Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's spokesperson during the primary campaign, has made this point on his new blog. During the primary race, many counted Obama out, didn't understand his campaign's strategy, didn't think he could keep himself in the race. Clinton adopted Obama's change rhetoric and attacked him the same way McCain has -- on experience and for his eloquence. But Obama and his team hewed to their strategy and pulled out the win. The senator from Illinois is known as a closer, and there is plenty of time left. Keep the faith.

Don't Watch Real Time Sarah Palin Interview

Tammy — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:48:30 EDT

Please tell everyone not to watch the Palin interview tomorrow. Watching will only help the ratings. I think all the Dems watching the Republican convention falsely drove up the ratings. Watch the rerun only. This is very important.

Barack was great on Letterman last night! Please watch, read and share with everyone!

LuAnn in Indiana — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:49:37 EDT

I am not sure if you got to see Barack on the Letterman show last night but he was fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hf6qd8b65s

I just posted this video on the DIGG site and really would appreciate you going there and digging it.

I took a swipe at McCain and how his VP pick was strictly a political move and how Barack vetted Joe and made "HIS OWN DECISION".

If we can get enough Diggs on it it will possibly be in the top 10 of the day and everyone will see it.

It would be super exposure for Barack as he commented on the stupid "lipstick on a pig" controversy and made some other great comments on several things. He showed both Humor and also made some great POLITICAL points!

Please take a minute, watch the video and PLEASE go to DIGG.com and digg it. The Republicans have been burrying some of our good stories on the DIGG site so PLEASE help!

Number-crunching pollster sees decisive Obama win

Elstun — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:28:17 EDT

A pollster whose mathematical model has correctly predicted every winner of the White House popular vote since 1988 is banking on a decisive victory for Democrat Barack Obama in November.

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz said Wednesday that according to his "time for change" model, Obama would secure 54.3 percent of the popular vote against 45.7 percent for Republican John McCain.

That margin would virtually guarantee a crushing victory for the Democrat in the state-by-state electoral college that actually selects the next president, Abramowitz said.

He said unknown variables, such as the nation's bitter partisan divide and resistance to Obama's African-American race among some white voters, may result in a slightly smaller popular vote margin for the Democratic nominee.

But, "the combination of an unpopular Republican incumbent in the White House, a weak economy and a second-term election make a Democratic victory in November all but certain," he writes in the October issue of the journal "PS: Political Science and Politics."

"The good news for Democrats is that 2008, unlike 2004, is a time-for-change election -- one in which the president's party has controlled the White House for two or more terms," Abramowitz said.

His model evaluated Republican President George W. Bush's dismal approval ratings, the change in economic output in the second quarter of the election year, and above all an anti-incumbency mood against the White House party.

"Regardless of the popularity of the president or the state of the economy, it is simply much more difficult for the president's party to retain its hold on the White House," the pollster said.

Abramowitz said his model had correctly forecast the popular vote winner within two percentage points or less in every presidential election since 1988.

That includes the 2000 election, when Democrat Al Gore carried the popular vote. But Bush came ahead in the electoral college after his Supreme Court-mandated win in Florida.

And the model faces a complication this year with the wild-card presence of two third-party candidates, independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr, on the ballot for the November 4 election.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

WALL STREET JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 10: REVIEW & OUTLOOK Running Alaska September 10, 2008///[SURE WOULD BE NICE TO SEE A LOT OF ALASKANS WRITE INTO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REALLY STRONG LETTERS ABOUT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE PALIN AS GOVERNOR! an idea from Ste

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:50:54 EDT

Page A14

One rap on Sarah Palin's qualifications to be Vice President is that she governs one of our least populated states, with a budget of "only" $12 billion and 16,000 full-time state employees.

On the other hand, it turns out that the Governor's office in Alaska is one of the country's most powerful. For more than two decades Thad Beyle, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina, has maintained an index of "institutional powers" in state offices.

He rates governorships on potential length of service, budgetary and appointment authority, veto power and other factors. Mr. Beyle's findings for 2008 rate Alaska at 4.1 on a scale of 5.

The national average is 3.5. Only four other states -- Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia -- concentrate as much power in the Governor's office as Alaska does, and only one state (Massachusetts) concentrates more. California may be the nation's most populous state, but its Governor rates as below-average (3.2) in executive authority.

This may account in part for Arnold Schwarzenegger's poor legislative track record. The lowest rating goes to Vermont (2.5), where the Governor (remember Howard Dean) is a figurehead compared to Mrs. Palin. In Alaska, the Governor has line-item veto power over the budget and can only be overridden by a three-quarters majority of the Legislature.

In 1992, the year Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected President, his state budget was $2 billion and among the smallest in the country. Compared to that, Sarah Palin is an executive giant.

COMMENT?

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal.

And add your comments to the Opinion Journal forum.

Sarah Palin's Record on Alaska Native and Tribal Issues, by Teresa Germain

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:34:28 EDT

[I thought you might be interested in Palin's activities against Alaska Natives and tribal sovereignty issues. Feel free to share this information with all American Indians and/or Alaska Natives and others.]

author's email: mothert43@yahoo.com

1. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing

Perhaps no issue is of greater importance to Alaska Native peoples as the right to hunt and fish according to ancient customary and traditional practices, and to carry on the subsistence way of life for future generations. Governor Sarah Palin has consistently opposed those rights.

Once in office, Governor Palin decided to continue litigation that seeks to overturn every subsistence fishing determination the federal government has ever made in Alaska. (State of Alaska v. Norton, 3:05-cv-0158-HRH (D. Ak).)

In pressing this case, Palin decided against using the Attorney General (which usually handles State litigation) and instead continued
contracting with Senator Ted Stevens' brother-in-law's law firm (Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot).

The goal of Palin's law suit is to invalidate all the subsistence fishing regulations the federal government has issued to date to protect Native fishing, and to force the courts instead to take over the roll of setting subsistence regulations. Palin's law suit seeks to diminish subsistence fishing rights in order to expand sport and commercial fishing.

In May 2007, the federal court rejected the State's main challenge, holding that Congress in 1980 had expressly granted the U.S. Interior and Agriculture Departments the authority to regulate and protect Native and rural subsistence fishing activities in Alaska. (Decision entered May 15, 2007 (Dkt. No. 110).)

Notwithstanding this ruling, Palin continues to argue in the litigation that the federal subsistence protections are too broad, and should be narrowed to exclude vast areas from subsistence fishing, in favor of sport and commercial fishing. Palin opposes subsistence protections in marine waters, on many of the lands that Natives selected under their 1971 land claims settlement with the state and federal governments, and in many of the rivers where Alaska Natives customarily fish. (Alaska Complaint at 15-18.)

Palin also opposes subsistence fishing protections on Alaska Native federal allotments that were deeded to individuals purposely to foster Native subsistence activities. All these issues are now pending before the federal district court.

2. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting

Palin has also sought to invalidate critical determinations the Federal Subsistence Board has made regarding customary and traditional uses of game, specifically to take hunting opportunities away from Native subsistence villagers and thereby enhance sport hunting. Palin's attack here on subsistence has focused on the Ahtna Indian people in Chistochina.

Although the federal district court has rejected Palin's challenge, she has carried on an appeal that was argued in August 2008. (State of Alaska v. Fleagle, No. 07-35723 (9th Cir.).)

In both hunting and fishing matters, Palin has continued uninterrupted the policies initiated by the former Governor Frank Murkowski Administration, challenging hunting and fishing protections that Native people depend upon for their subsistence way of life in order to enhance sport fishing and hunting opportunities. Palin's lawsuits are a direct attack on the core way of life of Native Tribes in rural Alaska.

3. Palin has attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty

Governor Palin opposes Alaska tribal sovereignty.
Given past court rulings affirming the federally recognized tribal status of Alaska Native villages, Palin does not technically challenge that status. But Palin argues that Alaska Tribes have no authority to act as sovereigns, despite their recognition.

So extreme is Palin on tribal sovereignty issues that she has sought to block tribes from exercising any authority whatsoever even over the welfare of Native children, adhering to a 2004 legal opinion issued by the former Murkowski Administration that no such jurisdiction exists (except when a state court transfers a matter to a tribal court).

Both the state courts and the federal courts have struck down Palin's policy of refusing to recognize the sovereign authority of Alaska Tribes to address issues involving Alaska Native children. Native Village of Tanana v. State of Alaska, 3AN-04-12194 CI (judgment entered Aug. 26, 2008) (Ak. Super. Ct.); Native Kaltag Tribal Council v. DHHS, No. 3:06-cv-00211- TMB (D. Ak.), pending on appeal No 08-35343 (9th Cir.)).

Nonetheless, Palin's policy of refusing to recognize Alaska tribal sovereignty remains unchanged.

4. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Languages

Palin has refused to accord proper respect to Alaska Native languages and voters by refusing to provide language assistance to Yup'ik speaking Alaska Native voters.

As a result, Palin was just ordered by a special three-judge panel of federal judges to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup'ik voters residing in southwest Alaska. Nick v. Bethel, No. 3:07-cv- 0098-TMB (D. Ak.) (Order entered July 30, 2008).

Citing years of State neglect, Palin was ordered to provide trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup'ik; sample ballots in written Yup'ik; a written Yup'ik glossary of election terms; consultation with local Tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup'ik translations; a Yup'ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-election reports to the court to track the State's efforts.

In sum, measured against some the rights that are most fundamental to Alaska Native Tribes - the subsistence way of life, tribal sovereignty and voting rights - Palin's record is a failure.

Two Road's Pick One

Jodie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:45:22 EDT

If you’re tired of just sitting at home watching the news and getting angry at the current situations, then you need to decide between two roads to travel. road one: We are currently on, war, escalating poverty and starvation, racism, and increased waste that is harming our environment. road two: requires a new direction, change, honoring the earth, redistributing resources, ending the war, illiteracy and poverty. It is you that holds the power, the energy, and the will to change directions down the right path. When you find your voice, your passion, your boldness, that is when you can change the world.

over $894 million!!

Jodie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:19:44 EDT

The United States has lost more than 4,000 soldier's lives and spent over $526 billion on the war in Iraq.

Alaska has lost the lives of 109 people who were residents or stationed in Alaska.

Alaskan taxpayer's share of the cost of the Iraq War is so far:
$894 million

A new poll shows that when given a choice of spending this money at home or in Iraq, Alaskans answered
. Spend at Home 58%
. Spend in Iraq 36%

$894 million could buy Health Care for 125,663 Alaskan adults for one year

$894 million could buy Health Care for 171,192 Alaskan children for one year

More than 110,000 Alaskans have no health insurance, according to a Commonwealth North study.

Alaska's health care costs are approximately 40% higher than in the rest of the nation

$894 million could buy Head Start Education for 114,517 children for one year

$894 million could buy Housing for 5,665 families

On any given day Anchorage has from 500 to 700 persons without homes, many of them are children.

$894 million could buy Clean Water in 200 villages
Dozens of rural communities lack water and sewage systems

$894 million could also buy: Protections for children in foster care
Staff in the Office of Children's Services is insufficient to monitor the health and safety of children in foster care.
Alternative energy to heat homes, schools and clinics

Fuel in rural communities is $8 a gallon.

Please email the MEDIA TO HELP BARACK NOW!

LuAnn in Indiana — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:09:36 EDT

I SENT THIS LETTER TO ALL THE MEDIA BELOW AND I HOPE YOU WILL do the same.Here are the addresses and numbers you NEED to CONTACT THEM! The Right has Sean Hannity and O. Reilly who can say whatever they want and call it “FAIR AND BALANCED” on FOX.Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman were just removed from MSNBC for showing some impartial attitudes. We on the LEFT have NO main MEDIA to hold Sarah and MCCAIN accountable! NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4426 List of Email addresses for all NBC news programs NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: nightly@nbc.com countdown@msnbc.com chuck.todd@nbcuni.com

Right-Wing NewsMax AntiObama Rhetoric

Elstun — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:45:09 EDT

>Note. Do you have friends who subscribe to NewsMax? Tell the to cancel...NOW! Also, check out the namew of the Executive Director of the Republican Majority Campaign PAC: Gary Kreep...true story!

Dear Newsmax Reader:

Please find an urgent message from one of our sponsoring advertisers, the Republican Majority Campaign PAC. They are seeking to defend Sarah Palin from vicious media attacks and expose Barack Obama. Please read their important letter below.

Newsmax.com

They will do anything to destroy Sarah Palin.

They will do anything to elect Obama President — the most leftwing candidate in history.

Only you can stop them.

Dear Fellow American:

As I write this letter, the far Left — the Obama campaign, the Democratic Party headed by Howard Dean and the major (liberal) media—are all working in overdrive to destroy and smear Sarah Palin.

They believe if they can destroy this courageous young woman and popular governor, they will end John McCain's bid for president.

Just this week, commentator Bill Maher ridiculed Sarah's baby son who has Down's syndrome. These people are absolutely despicable.

They have one goal: Put Barack Obama — the most radical left-winger ever nominated by the Democratic Party — in the Oval Office.

Because of this, I am urgently writing you on behalf of the Republican Majority Campaign PAC, one of the nation's largest and most influential PACs.

We are fighting to expose Barack Obama's radical agenda and defend Sarah Palin and John McCain from the liberal media.

We have plans to launch a multi-million dollar TV and online ad campaign to reach millions in the next two weeks, but we need your financial help.

We need it more than ever because Barack Obama will likely spend more money than any candidate in history to get control of the White House.

Make no mistake about it: Barack Obama has very powerful backers.

Obama promised he would abide by campaign finance limits, as John McCain has agreed to.

He lied. This week alone, Obama raised $8 million! He could easily spend $500 million during his whole campaign to buy the White House.

Worse, John McCain and Sarah Palin have their hands tied with public financing limits.

That's why the Republican Majority Campaign needs your urgent help in our major national TV ad campaign to help John McCain and Sarah Palin.

PLEASE HELP EXPOSE THE REAL OBAMA TODAY! CLICK HERE

The Republican Majority Campaign PAC is one of the nation's leading PACs.

Already the Republican Majority Campaign PAC has spent $2 million on grass-roots efforts exposing Obama, voter by voter.

But it's clear we need to do more and urgently.

We need to tell the American people the truth about Obama, his agenda and his radical associates.

In our national campaign we'll reveal the truth about Obama's radical tax agenda, including:

his plan to almost double capital gains tax

his plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire

his plan to raise gasoline taxes

his plan to nationalize healthcare

MAKE YOUR MOST GENEROUS DONATION TODAY!

We will also reveal the sordid truth about Barack Obama:

How for 20 years he sat silently as his minister, the radical preacher Jeremiah Wright, said he hated America — the same preacher who blamed the 9/11 attacks on OUR OWN GOVERNMENT.

The involvement of convicted felon Tony Resko in the purchase of Obama's$1,300,000 home.

His despicable association with his friend William Ayers, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted list for over 10 terrorist attacks.

The fact that at age 25, Obama was backed by a radical Muslim activist close to the Saudi royal family when he applied to Harvard Law School.

HELP US REVEAL THE FACTS ABOUT OBAMA! CLICK HERE

The Ayers Connection

William Charles Ayers and Barack Obama have been friends for decades.

There is clear evidence that their lives and dealings have been intertwined for many years.

We have reason to believe that Obama and Ayers were friends way back in 1986.

They even served together in 1995 on the Annenberg Challenge, overseeing the distribution of about $50 million to area schools.

That same year, Ayers hosted Obama in his own home and donated to his campaign.

What does the association between Ayers and Obama say about Obama's political views and perspective?

Ayers was an anti-American, traitorous radical who will stop at nothing to push his hateful communist agenda.

In the 1960s and 70s, he was a leader in the notorious underground terrorist group, the "Weathermen."

The Weathermen declared war on the United States government and they bombed over 30 establishments (leading to multiple fatalities, including police officers).

Obama's friend Bill Ayers

"Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at."

William Ayers

Ayers is unapologetic about his terrorist activities.

Incredibly, on Sept. 11, 2001, Ayers is quoted by The New York Times as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs … I feel we didn't do enough."

How could a man like Obama associate with such a dangerous radical?

And even defend him?

And now Obama, Ayers friend, could be sitting in the White House next year — unless we tell the American people the unvarnished truth about them!

MAKE YOUR MOST GENEROUS DONATION TODAY!

We Must Defend Sarah Palin and John McCain.

The major media have already decided who their candidate is: MSNBC host Chris Matthews says Barack Obama makes a "thrill" go up his leg when he hears him speak.

Oprah has picked your next president.

But you can stop Chris Matthews, Oprah and the rest of the liberal media.

You can say we the American people will pick our president.

Your voice can be heard — we need your urgent help with the Republican Majority Campaign PAC.

Your maximum possible gift of $5,000 would help us enormously.

Even smaller donations are going to help.

Anything you can do will give us the ammunition we need to fight for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Any amount — $1000, $500, $250, or even $100 will help show the truth before the November Presidential election.

Even if you can only afford $35 or $25 — we need your help and we need it now.

We must act quickly. We want to have our first ads up reaching millions in the next two weeks. Ronald Reagan once said, "If not us, who? If not now, when?

I will let you answer his questions today.

Thank you, and God bless America!

You Can Make a Difference — Go Here Now!

Gary Kreep

Executive Director

Republican Majority Campaign PAC

Paid for by the Republican Majority Campaign.

Not Authorized by Any Candidate or Candidate's Campaign.

Get this video to Everyone...The Reupublicans are out to destroy Barack!

LuAnn in Indiana — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:59:59 EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE

The Republicans are going to try and destroy Barack the next 60 days! WE can not let them do it!

PLEASE everyone HELP SHARE THIS AND PROMOTE BARACK!

Join STOP THR SMEARS on this BARACK site on the HOME page. It gives US things to COUNTER the attacks that are coming!

It gives us the TRUTH!

Please go there today and join!

LuAnn

US Senator Charles Schumer's Letter: Obama and Details on the 2008 Races in Battleground States, from Democrat Perspective

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:22:51 EDT

Here is something I am absolutely certain of: The only reason we're poised to achieve once-in-a-lifetime change in the Senate is because our grassroots - people just like you - have done everything we've asked to give the DSCC all the campaign resources we need to execute our proven campaign plan.

For that, you have my deep, sincere thanks. And if we elect that filibuster-proof majority in November, you'll have the gratitude of an entire nation.

Let me tell you where we stand.

There are 11 battleground states. [OREGON, ALASKA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, MINNESOTA, KENTUCKY, NORTH CAROLINA, VIRIGNIA, MISSISSIPPI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND MAINE]

And that doesn't even count the five other states just on the horizon that we'll all be talking about on Election Day. Here are just a few examples of the success we're seeing this cycle.

Democrat Tom Udall holds a commanding lead in New Mexico. In fact, just a few days ago we learned that the NRSC canceled its entire $2.3 million television buy here, essentially conceding the race.

The nation's most vulnerable Republican incumbent, John Sununu, trails Democratic ex-Governor Jeanne Shaheen by 11 points.

Even in a Republican stronghold like North Carolina, two recent polls show Democratic State Senator Kay Hagan pulling even with incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole.

I know that we can make the most of our opportunity this year because we're using the same proven strategy that took back the Senate in 2006. You're helping us frame the terms of each race, respond to every attack, and directly connect with millions of voters to drive them to the polls.

Thanks to your overwhelming support, the DSCC was able to launch TV ads in North Carolina that exposed Dole as the 93rd most effective senator, undercutting her hollow message of experience and results.

In Colorado, Democrat Mark Udall was under siege by $6 million worth of attack ads paid for by shadowy third-party Republican groups. The DSCC rushed to his defense with ads of our own and now Mark has an impressive lead.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, your contributions support a bigger and better version of the sophisticated voter contact strategy that took back the Senate two years ago. Already this year, we've made more 2.5 million phone calls and knocked on 650,000 doors in our battleground states nationwide.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. All told, the DSCC has already spent $28 million of your money to put us in position for a monster November.

Like I've said before: there is no doubt we are in such a strong position to deliver a filibuster-proof Senate majority entirely because we have you on our side.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Chuck Schumer

P.S. We're ahead in 5 races for current Republican seats. But that's only halfway to a truly filibuster-proof majority. We can't get there without your continued support.

-----------

2008 Senate Battlegrounds

Alaska
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) vs. Sen. Ted Stevens (R)

The corruption scandal sweeping through the Alaska Republican Party has put Ted Stevens - a 7-term incumbent - on the brink of losing his seat in November.

Democrat Mark Begich has opened up a lead in the latest polling, but nobody is under any illusion that this race is over. Alaska has always been a Republican stronghold, and with Governor Sarah Palin on the presidential ticket, the party is sure to be energized to turn out in November.

Begich is doing everything necessary to hold on to his lead. He's raising money and reaching out to voters. Just this week he launched a new ad to drive home his commitment to repeal the disastrous No Child Left Behind law.

Stevens won't let a 40-year career end without a fight, so we won't let up for a second before Election Day. With your help, the DSCC will do everything possible to ensure that Mark Begich wins in November.

Colorado
Rep. Mark Udall (D) vs. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R)

Six months ago, this race was neck and neck. Now, Mark Udall leads by 10 points in the latest Denver Post poll.

What happened? First, Bob Schaffer was discovered to have been the recipient of an all-expense paid tropical vacation from a front group for convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Then, it was revealed that when he was vice-president of Aspect Energy, he negotiated an oil deal in Iraq that the State Department officials specifically identified as detrimental to stability in Iraq.

Then there were two different DSCC TV ads paid for by grassroots supporters like you. Our investment here is another key reason Udall enjoys a strong position heading into the stretch run.

Colorado will be a battleground state in November, so we're not taking anything for granted in this race. In fact, Udall has already seen more third-party attack ads than any other Democratic candidate this cycle. It's our job to help him fight back.

Kentucky
Bruce Lunsford (D) vs. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R)

No matter how much money Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spends, he can't shake the tough challenge posed by Democratic business leader Bruce Lunsford. McConnell is even getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in help from corporate Republican third-party organizations.

None of it is slowing Lunsford, who is on the air with a devastating straight-to-camera indictment of Republican failures in Washington.

Let's be blunt. It's always tough to beat an entrenched incumbent, but Mitch McConnell has been the man responsible for all of those Republican filibusters blocking progress on health care, energy costs, and the housing crisis. It's critical that he is held accountable in November.

Maine
Rep. Tom Allen (D) vs. Sen. Susan Collins (R)

Republican incumbent Susan Collins likes to portray herself as a voice of Republican moderation, but the truth is that she's been a reliable cheerleader for even the worst of George Bush's policies.

Democrat Tom Allen is ready to hold Collins accountable for her record. He has built a formidable campaign organization and has more than $3 million in the bank for the stretch run. He will have the resources to bring his message of change to Mainers.

Allen and the DSCC have both taken to the airwaves to push Allen's proven record of results. This race is poised for a strong finish.

Minnesota
Al Franken (D) vs. Sen. Norm Coleman (R)

The race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is a dead heat, and the massive TV blitz has begun. Coleman has launched attack ads against Franken, and corporate special interests are blanketing the state against Franken.

That's why the DSCC has unleashed a striking new ad this week that apes a blockbuster movie trailer to make sure that every Minnesota voter knows Norm Coleman is a classic Bush Republican. We think it's pretty terrific and will break through the noise in this race to get a lot of attention from voters. Take a look and see for yourself.

Mississippi
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) vs. Sen. Roger Wicker (R)

The polls in the race for Trent Lott's old seat are just about as close as they can get. Democrat Ronnie Musgrove and interim Senator Roger Wicker have been trading the lead for months.

Make no mistake. Mississippi is top territory for Democrats. But Republicans always do well in the Deep South, so Musgrove is working hard to persuade independent and even Republican voters. Both sides are blitzing the state with TV ads.

What's going to make the difference in this race? You are. Thanks to your support, the DSCC is already running ads in Mississippi to expose Wicker's sordid record. As long as we can count on you along the way, the DSCC will be able to make the investments necessary to win on Election Day.

This is going to be one of those races - like Montana and Virginia in 2006 - where we win by just a few thousand votes. You helped the DSCC make all the difference before and I know we will do it again.

New Hampshire
Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) vs. Sen. John Sununu (R)

Jeanne Shaheen is another big target for third-party attacks ads. By our count, seven different groups have spent more than $2.5 million trying to drag Shaheen through the mud.

These groups don't have to disclose their donors, so they can't be held accountable. Instead, the DSCC just has to fight back. With our new ad this week targeting John Sununu's dismal record on supporting funding for Medicare, that's exactly what we're doing.

The DSCC's job is to level the playing field when our candidates are under attack, and it's working in New Hampshire. Shaheen has sustained a strong lead in this race, and John Sununu remains the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the country.

Still, New Hampshire is another presidential battleground state, and John Sununu has a history of taking advantage of dirty political tricks to win. We can't take a moment off if we're going to elect Jeanne Shaheen.

New Mexico
Rep. Tom Udall vs. Rep. Steve Pearce (R)

Democrat Tom Udall holds a solid lead in the latest polling and has more than five times as much campaign cash on-hand as Steve Pearce.

While Udall continues to connect with voters and run TV ads focused on the middle class squeeze, the NRSC has all but given up in this state. They cancelled a $2.3 million planned ad buy and have essentially told Pearce that he's on his own now.

The Washington Post has called a Udall victory a "done deal" and the venerable political handicapper Charlie Cook has declared that Pearce doesn't have a "fighting chance" in November. Very good news for Democrats.

However, the United States Chamber of Commerce - one of the most reliable Republican attack organizations - didn't get the memo and is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads against Udall. We haven't seen much movement in the polls as a result, but the DSCC watches this race every day. You know we'll be ready to support Udall whenever he needs it.

North Carolina
State Sen. Kay Hagan (D) vs. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R)

Senator Dole is scared. We used to call this the sleeper race of the cycle. Now, it's just another terrific opportunity to pick-up a Republican held seat in one of the most closely-watched races in the country.

After trailing by as many as 12 points in recent months, two new polls give Democrat Kay Hagan a slim lead in this race.

The Republicans are launching a major counter-offensive. Dole fired back with her first negative attack against Hagan this cycle. Even the NRSC is spending some of their meager budget attacking our candidate. They will not go down without a fight.

At the DSCC, we always say we can level the playing field for our challengers facing well-financed incumbents. The race in North Carolina is a perfect example. We'll need your help along the way, but you better believe that we'll do everything in our power to defeat Elizabeth Dole in November.

Oregon
Speaker of the State House Jeff Merkley (D) vs. Sen. Gordon Smith (R)

Oregon remains one of the hottest Senate races in the country. Republican incumbent Gordon Smith is clinging to a single-digit lead despite outspending Democrat Jeff Merkley by a wide margin. In fact, in numbers released Wednesday, Smith scored the highest disapproval rating of his career in the Senate.

It really makes for a strong pick-up opportunity, which is why we've already seen the Republicans' third-party friends taking aim at Merkley. Remember, these organizations don't have to disclose their donors and therefore can't be held accountable for the mud they sling.

Again, one of the keys to Democratic victory in this state will be a strong and vibrant investment by the DSCC. We've known Oregon would be a strong pick-up opportunity months ago and we have been airing TV ads statewide week after week since May.

In our latest spot, we are directly responding to Smith's claims last week that he's a strong opponent of the war in Iraq. The DSCC immediately launched a new ad reminding Oregonians that no matter what he says now, Smith supported George Bush's failed Iraq policy for 1,518 days.

In 58 days, we can show Gordon Smith just what we think about that and send him packing. When you make a contribution, winning states like Oregon is exactly where your money goes.

Virginia
Gov. Mark Warner (D) vs. Gov. Jim Gilmore (R)

Mark Warner has maintained a strong, double-digit lead in the polling in this race, and it's easy to see why.

Warner has more than $5 million in campaign cash on hand. Gilmore is nearly broke. Warner has been running TV ads emphasizing his bipartisan record of accomplishment. Gilmore has been reduced to sleazy personal attacks.

Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles for Obama! TravelforChange.org

Alisa W — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:41:37 EDT

There are hundreds of volunteers who want to work for Barack Obama this fall in the swing states, but a lot of these volunteers, students and recent college graduates like myself (Stanford 2008), don't have the resources to get where they are needed.

If you have 25,000 miles on any airline, you likely have enough miles to sponsor a verified volunteer's trip to work in a swing state! Registering new voters and talking to undecided voters face to face is the best way to fight all the smear campaigns and attack ads we are facing.

In the primaries one woman with a phone line raised 2 million miles for Obama! For the general election we can raise even more!

To get involved as a sponsor or volunteer please email alisa@travelforchange.org or just visit TravelforChange.org and please send this on!

The Stock Market Has Already Voted.

Elstun — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:15:19 EDT

MARK HULBERTCommentary: By Mark Hulbert,

A Poor market in September bodes ill for incumbent party and a big clue as to how it is voting is provided by Thursday's dismal stock market, in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 345 points. For the still-young month of September, the Dow is now down by 3.1%. This points to an increased likelihood that the Democrats will reclaim the Presidency in this coming November's election.

The reason I can even attempt to draw these conclusions from the stock market's recent behavior is an analysis conducted by Ned Davis Research, an institutional research firm based in Venice, Fla. Specifically, the firm constructed two market averages out of how the Dow has performed in past Presidential election years (back to 1900, in fact).

The first of these two benchmarks tracked the market's average performance during years since then in which the incumbent political party eventually won the White House, while the other reflected average returns when the incumbent party lost.

Upon comparing these two benchmarks, Ned Davis earlier this week noted that, "There does not seem to be a lot of difference in election years between those years where the incumbent party wins or loses, except in the month of September where the divergence is striking."

How big a divergence? During Septembers of years in which the incumbent party goes on to win the White House, the Dow has produced an average gain of 0.32%.

During Septembers in which the incumbent party lost, in contrast, the Dow has produced an average loss of 0.71%. That difference, which totals just over one percentage point, may not appear to be that big.

But on an annualized basis it works out to around 13%. Good statistician that he is, Davis realizes that correlation is not the same as causation. One needs to couple the raw statistics with a plausible theory as to why the stock market would perform differently when the incumbent party wins the White House than when it loses.

"Perhaps it is the uncertainty over change," Davis speculates, "or perhaps the stock market predicts or reflects the election results." Another qualification that Davis emphasizes: "The sample sizes are relatively small." So we can't be as confident in drawing any conclusions as we would if there were lots more data points. Regardless, however, the stock market's losses this week can't be good news for John McCain's campaign.

Mark Hulbert is the founder of Hulbert Financial Digest in Annandale, Va. He has been tracking the advice of more than 160 financial newsletters since 1980.

This is a CRITICAL email with video to share and help BARACK

LuAnn in Indiana — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:09:58 EDT

Hello to all my Obama/Biden friends,This is so important. Please read it, go to Digg and digg it and share it with everyone!McCain is using Palin to try and steal women votes. Hillary and her have NO basic beliefs in common.Surely there are enough of us who know the difference between a woman who wants to help ALL women and Palin who wants to help her far RIGHT side!I still think most women do not want the government telling us what to do with our bodies, want equal pay (which McCain has voted against 12 times), want health insurance (which the Republicans don't talk about) and do NOT want social security PRIVATIZED! Privatizing Soc. Security and Insurance in the end means leaving it only to the wealthy the ones who can afford it!I, personally have Federal health care and each year I can chose which plan I want. The Congress and Senate have it also.If it works for them why not us all? It is a Federal Government (social program)...I don't see any of them turning it down, do you?LuAnn Barack is our ONLY way for REAL CHANGE!

http://mybarackobama.com/page/communityblog/luanninindiana

From: rauldominguez@msn.com
Reply-to: SouthDakotansforObama@groups.barackobama.com
To: SouthDakotansforObama@groups.barackobama.com
Sent: 9/4/2008 8:13:06 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [SouthDakotansforObama] Re: ACTION: Joe Klein: "We will tell the truth about Palin, despite bullying by McCain."
Thanks for sending this! I think the messages are getting through!!!His comments are now being shown on Real Clear Politics as well.Raul
----- Original Message ----- From: Lisa Owen To: South Dakotans for Obama Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 11:43 PMSubject: [SouthDakotansforObama] ACTION: Joe Klein: "We will tell the truth about Palin, despite bullying by McCain."
Please I am begging you to digg this! Joe Klein says that McCain camp has been “bullying the press” all year and don’t give in to him! Please read it too.JOE KLEIN: TIME MAGAZINE:“There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.”http://digg.com/political_opinion/Angry_Amateurs_Swampland_TIME Spread the truth. TIME MAGAZINE:Angry AmateursPosted by Joe Klein | Comments (383) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This The story of the day out here in Minneapolis is the McCain campaign's war against the press. This has been building for some time. Those of us who have criticized the candidate--and especially those of us who enjoyed good relations with McCain in the past--have been subject to off-the-record browbeating and attempted bullying all year. But things have gotten much worse in recent days: there was McCain's rude, bizarre interview with Time Magazine last week. Yesterday, McCain refused to an interview with Larry King, for God's sake, because Campbell Brown had been caught in the commission of journalism on CNN the night before, asking McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what decisions Sarah Palin had made as commander-in-chief of the Alaska national guard. (There was an answer that the unprepared Bounds didn't have: she had deployed them to fight fires.)So what's going on here? Two things. McCain is just plain angry at us. By the evidence presented in the utterly revealing Time interview, he's ballistic. This is a politician who needs to see himself as the man on the white horse, boldly traversing a muddy field...any intimations that he's gotten muddied in the process, or has decided to throw mud, are intolerable. The second thing is more insidious: Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor. Sure, there are a few outliers--and the tabloid press--who have fixed on baby stories. That was inevitable....the flip side of the personal stories that the McCain team thought would work to their advantage--Palin's moose-hunting and wolf-shooting, and her admirable decision to have a Down Syndrome baby. And yes, when we all fix on the same story, whether it's a hurricane or a little-known politician, a zoo ensues. But the media coverage of the Palin story has been well within the bounds of responsibility. Schmidt is trying to make it seem otherwise, a desperate tactic. There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme. http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/angry_amateurs.html

This is a Critical email with VIDEO and needs to be shared to help Barack

LuAnn in Indiana — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:08:31 EDT

http://mybarackobama.com/page/communityblog/luanninindiana

From: rauldominguez@msn.com
Reply-to: SouthDakotansforObama@groups.barackobama.com
To: SouthDakotansforObama@groups.barackobama.com
Sent: 9/4/2008 8:13:06 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [SouthDakotansforObama] Re: ACTION: Joe Klein: "We will tell the truth about Palin, despite bullying by McCain."
Thanks for sending this! I think the messages are getting through!!!His comments are now being shown on Real Clear Politics as well.Raul
----- Original Message ----- From: Lisa Owen To: South Dakotans for Obama Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 11:43 PMSubject: [SouthDakotansforObama] ACTION: Joe Klein: "We will tell the truth about Palin, despite bullying by McCain."
Please I am begging you to digg this! Joe Klein says that McCain camp has been “bullying the press” all year and don’t give in to him! Please read it too.JOE KLEIN: TIME MAGAZINE:“There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.”http://digg.com/political_opinion/Angry_Amateurs_Swampland_TIME Spread the truth. TIME MAGAZINE:Angry AmateursPosted by Joe Klein | Comments (383) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This The story of the day out here in Minneapolis is the McCain campaign's war against the press. This has been building for some time. Those of us who have criticized the candidate--and especially those of us who enjoyed good relations with McCain in the past--have been subject to off-the-record browbeating and attempted bullying all year. But things have gotten much worse in recent days: there was McCain's rude, bizarre interview with Time Magazine last week. Yesterday, McCain refused to an interview with Larry King, for God's sake, because Campbell Brown had been caught in the commission of journalism on CNN the night before, asking McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what decisions Sarah Palin had made as commander-in-chief of the Alaska national guard. (There was an answer that the unprepared Bounds didn't have: she had deployed them to fight fires.)So what's going on here? Two things. McCain is just plain angry at us. By the evidence presented in the utterly revealing Time interview, he's ballistic. This is a politician who needs to see himself as the man on the white horse, boldly traversing a muddy field...any intimations that he's gotten muddied in the process, or has decided to throw mud, are intolerable. The second thing is more insidious: Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor. Sure, there are a few outliers--and the tabloid press--who have fixed on baby stories. That was inevitable....the flip side of the personal stories that the McCain team thought would work to their advantage--Palin's moose-hunting and wolf-shooting, and her admirable decision to have a Down Syndrome baby. And yes, when we all fix on the same story, whether it's a hurricane or a little-known politician, a zoo ensues. But the media coverage of the Palin story has been well within the bounds of responsibility. Schmidt is trying to make it seem otherwise, a desperate tactic. There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme. http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/angry_amateurs.html

Response on MSNBC

Tammy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:17:06 EDT

lani's speech is an example of true desperation. This is the same old tired tactics so often thrown down voters throats. Telling rude jokes and belittling those that oppose is a common tactic in the old way of politics. When are they going to understand that people are tired of this. Tonight, Guilani not only offended Obama. He offended voters, by suggesting that the people that support Obama are sitting around waiting for Government to save them and that community organizingt is a joke. Organizers throughout the United States are helping children, disabled children, families and the elderly. I suppose helping people that oftentimes can't help themselves is joke. Sorry if I don't get the joke. Organizers and Volunteers helped the women's movement. This focus on diminishing community work is disappointing. I am very independent, proud self-motivated, thinking woman and I am equally an offended woman. This suggestion that a soccer mom is a Major ingredient needed to connect with the hard-working women in America is an insult. What I don't understand is, if Gov. Palin is tough enough to go up against the elite Republicans of her party then why should Senator Biden respond cautiously as not to offend her during debates? This woman says that she is ready to be President. I believe wholehearted that no one asked that men speak cautiously when debating Hillary. Her record is up for grabs and jokes about her record and her past is up fair game. Tonight, I have witnessed disgusting behaviors and gross tackiness on the behalf of inner-circle Republican elite. I will spent every hour getting out the vote. Thanks Republicans for taking an energized person to a higher level. Your efforts are duly noted.

Tammy

It is up to EACH of US to get this to EVERY AMERICAN!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:39:59 EDT

Dear MoveOn member,

Republicans are hoping that when Americans watch this week's Republican convention, we'll forget about the last eight years.

So we've put together this list of the Bush administration's "accomplishments."

It's actually shocking, even when you've lived through it. Take a moment to read it and pass it along:

Misleading about Iraq's WMD
Implying a connection between Saddam and 9/11
Launching a war that's killed 4,150 Americans and wounded more than 30,000
Challenging Iraqi insurgents to attack U.S. troops: "Bring 'em on"
Granting no-bid contracts to Halliburton in Iraq
Failing to respond to Hurricane Katrina
Hiring unqualified crony to run FEMA
Praising crony's performance: "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job"
Neglecting reconstruction of New Orleans' homes and levees

We can't survive another four years of this. Can you chip in $25 to defeat John McCain?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=1

More highlights of the Bush record:

Promising American troops would be greeted as liberators
Declaring "Mission Accomplished" and later blaming the banner on troops
Cherry-picking facts about WMDs in Iraq, then blaming the CIA
Promising the Iraq war would lower gas prices
Claiming the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes" in 2005
Allowing Osama Bin Laden to escape
Launching a war that's killed countless Iraqi civilians
Using Terri Schiavo for political gain
Attempting to alter Constitution to allow discrimination against gay people
Wiretapping our phones without court order

John McCain supported this president from the start. We have a plan to beat McCain by registering half a million young voters in swing states. We're ready to jump into action—we just need to pay for it. Can you contribute to help elect Barack Obama?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=2

Here are more of the Bush administration's failures:

Fighting to privatize Social Security
Stealing the 2000 election (remember Katherine Harris, voter purges, and the Supreme Court?)
Concealing the pre-9/11 Presidential Daily Briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."
Ignoring security at nuclear plants after 9/11
Battling the wall between church and state
Enforcing abstinence-only programs in public schools
Doing too little to halt genocide in Darfur
Trying to slash funding for PBS and NPR

A lot of folks think McCain will be better than Bush. But don't count on it. His foreign policy advisers are to the right of Bush. And 90% of the time, McCain has stood with Bush. Please help beat McCain. Just click here to contribute:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=3

The list goes on:

Rejecting the Kyoto Treaty to stop climate change
Giving tax cuts to the rich in a time of war
Failing seniors with the costly Medicare prescription drug benefit
Suppressing the vote in the 2004 elections (remember Diebold and long lines in Ohio?)
Swiftboating John Kerry
Outing CIA agent Valerie Plame to retaliate for truth about Iraq's WMDs
Telling the 45 million uninsured Americans to just go to the emergency room

John McCain would be four more years of the same. Can you donate $25 to elect Obama instead?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=4

Still more:

Spending $341 million a day in Iraq
Neglecting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center
Allowing Afghanistan to fall into chaos, with the Taliban and al Qaeda regaining control
Pressuring PBS to carry pro-government propaganda
Paying columnists like Armstrong Williams to promote government policies
Creating fake news reels to promote the controversial Medicare law
Holding prisoners without trial at Guantanamo Bay

Can you pitch in?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=5

Bush failures, continued:

Covering up torture at Abu Ghraib
Breaking the Geneva Conventions
Appointing extreme right-wing Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito
Forcing the Patriot Act into law
Firing federal prosecutors who failed to accuse Democrats of voting fraud
Turning a budget surplus into massive budget deficit
Letting more than a million homes go into foreclosure—the highest rate ever recorded
Watching as bank failures surge
Setting the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history
Losing 2.7 million manufacturing jobs
Presiding over Enron scandal—the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history
Increasing nuclear threat by withdrawing from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia
Appointing John Bolton as U.N. ambassador despite his promise to dismantle the U.N.
Holding secret meetings with Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Shell, and BP to set energy policy
Letting gas prices double while resisting fuel efficiency and clean energy
Pushing to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts

Had enough? Donate $25 to elect Obama.

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/bushfailures.html?id=13678-9501139-knLKhpx&t=6

Then forward this email to your friends. We don't have to live through four more years of this. We have a choice.

Thanks for all you do.

–Noah, Adam G., Nita, Eli and the rest of the team

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 3.5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to LuAnn Beard on September 3, 2008. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Thoughts On Palin's Family Being "Off Limits"

Elstun — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:34:24 EDT

Finally it has happened to the Republicans. The politics of personal destruction from HR Haldeman and Lee Atwater through Karl Rove has finally splashed its filthy bilge back on the GOP. Remember when the Republicans destroyed Eagleton because it was learned that he had had psychological counseling? Or the Rumor-mongering about Hillary Clinton’s alleged lesbianism and so on. Or even the Rove’s defeat of John McCain in 2000 through a push poll just before the South Carolina primary that asked whether their vote would be affected if they learned that John McCain had fathered a black baby. In fact, McCain had adopted a racially mixed child. So now the bleating bloggers and the journalistic jackals are turning their talents to Sarah Palin and her private life. Her daughter Bristol is unmarried and pregnant. Family should be off-limits, that is true. Senator Obama said the right thing when he called on everyone to stop this intrusive form of Fox News journalism. But the problem is when you are running for the second highest office in the land based upon your perceived championing of family values, it seems fair to ask, “what are those values?” We know, for example, that Sarah Palin opposes birth control, family planning, and sex education in the schools. Such intimate matters, she and her ilk say, are the responsibility of the parents, not the school or government. So Sarah and Todd took their hormonally raging 16 year old out of small town Wasilla and moved to a new big city school to live with an Aunt. Willow yearns to fit in. She had to be relocated because Mom and Dad were never home in Wasilla. Mom has a job in Juneau and Dad has a job on the Slope. Meanwhile, they have given Bristol the “abstinence only” doctrine, and hoped that that and prayer and love from her family would protect her from the wiles of a predatory hunk named…what? Levi Johnson? According to one story about Levi Johnson’s Facebook page (which has since been scrubbed by the Republican Janitors), he really had a terrifically high regard for himself and his “crew” and none of the things he cared about included Bristol. Did Todd really need that job on the slope? Well, he does race high-performance snow machines and has a lot of other toys that must cost a lot of money to operate and maintain. Can’t do that on a governor’s salary. I guess a caring aunt is no substitute for a Mom AND Dad. Yes, family should be off-limits. But she is rallying the Focus on the Family crowd to vote for the McCain-Palin. As the Obama campaign frequently points out-- poverty is anti-family, lack of health care is anti-family, a war launched on lies is anti-family and the economic crisis including bankruptcy, foreclosure and predatory credit practices are all anti-family, high energy prices are anti-family. All of these anti-family issues affecting the lives of The Born but are trumped in Sarah’s mind by the lives of the Unborn. The Book of James informs us that it is not by faith alone, but by our actions that we shall be judged. So how should we judge Sarah with respect to family values? If Sarah Palin is installed as the next vice-president, one beat of a 72-year old heart away from being the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the leader of the free world, maybe I will be wishing that we were harder on her instead of kinder and gentler—everything that the Republicans WOULDN’T be if this had been a 17 year old daughter of Michelle and Barack Obama.

THIS WAS JUST written about MCCAIN IN AZ. Pleae Share!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:31:10 EDT

This was just written about McCain in Arizona SHARE NOW!By LuAnn in Indiana - Sep 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 am EDT

McCain Keating Five

WE need to make sure Democrats unite and help Barack. so far all the Republican's have done is insult him and Michelle and brag about WAR and POWs.

What about health care, women's rights, housing, minimum wage ane the cost of everything sky rising?

LuAnn for BARACK...our ONLY HOPE!

http://mybarackobama.com/page/communityblog/luanninindiana

Obama/Biden the Best for Alaska

akmk — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:47:42 EDT

Gov. Palin's candidacy for Vice-President is going to bring attention to her and to Alaska in the coming weeks. Now is the time to tell our stories once again and why we support Obama/Biden for Alaska. I support the Obama /Biden team for their empathy for all people and their plans to create healthy, sustainable economies within our communities and our nation based on trickle-up principles, for their leadership credentials in world affairs and national security, for working to protect social security, for their plans to create a health care system that affordable and accessible for all Americans, for their work on behalf of women's issues including equal pay for equal work, a woman's right to choose, and domestic violence legislation, for their plans for a smarter and more diverse energy policy, and for sharing the respect for clean water, healthy watersheds, wildlife, and a healthy natural environment on which our lifestyles depend.

This is a great VP choice for Barack but NOT McCain!

LuAnn in Indiana — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:12:20 EDT

This is such a slap in the face of all the other WELL known Republican Women! I personally think this is an EXCELLANT choice but for OBAMA not McCain! I hope that Hillary makes sure that women understand this woman is not a woman who stands for the things Hillary does.

She votes against the women matters that Hillary and Barack both endorse! This woman stands for the reversal of Roe vs Wade and stands along side the Bush/Cheney ideas. She is like a clone of McCain with a skirt!

Boy, they sure can't pick on Barack for lack of experience now! This woman is on the FAR RIGHT of McCain. He is playing politics to win!!

How sad and pathetic, don't you agree? He is playing the the Religious Right and HE IS NO MAVERICK here! She is NO HIllary so any Hillary supporter should NEVER even consider her.The Dems need to make sure ALL women know what this WOMAN stands for and she is not the pro woman supporter like Hillary!

LuAnn

http://mybarackobama.com/page/communityblog/luanninindiana

In a message dated 8/29/2008 10:38:38 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Ettennyl54@aol.com writes:

Dearest Obama Supporters,(re-sent due to poor grammar-I get too fired up at times-sorry)Like us, McCain knew that after Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night his greatest nightmare had come to fruition. He was desperate and had to throw what he believes is a hail-mary pass. He will choose Palin, a woman, to be his running mate. WHO IS SHE(Alaska's governor)?? McCain is going after the women's vote; and after the show of unity by the Democrats, he'll try to revive feelings of discontent in former Hillary supporters. Does he believe that women will just support ANY woman?
Is he displaying the most sexist, brand of patronizing to gain support by seeing us all as empty-heads? He knows that he couldn't have chosen Colin Powell or Condoleeza to turn around the Black vote. These pathetic political ploys are so akin to traditional Republican smoke screens! It reminds me of when they sent that crazy Alan Keys to Illinois to run against Obama when he first won the United States Senate (SEE McCain spies in the room--We women follow politics too!!) C'mon let's show this troll that REAL WOMEN know how to play REAL POLITICS!!!-Nette (fired up and ready to play hard-ball with the boys)!
YES WE CAN!!!

Every Veteran NEEDS to see this now!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:13:50 EDT

[PennsylvaniaVeteransforObama] Facts on McCain non-support for Veterans
CANDIDATES’ SUPPORT FOR VETERANS’ ISSUES

Who has veterans’ best interests in mind? Look at the candidates’ records:

Although no bills specifically on veterans’ issues were voted on since the 2004 elections, three amendments have been (source: the Congressional Record & votesmart.org):

Health Care for Veterans Amendment
10/05/2005
Official title: S Amdt 1937 to HR 2863 - To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation.
Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act to allow for adoption of an amendment that increases funding for the Veterans Health Administration in order to account for inflation and changes in the number of veterans using the health services.
Voting record:
Obama – Yes
McCain – No
(Amendment rejected in Senate)

Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment
11/17/2005
Official title: S Amdt 2634 to S 2020 - To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder.
Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act in order to adopt an amendment that appropriates $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health, and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance abuse.
Voting record:
Obama – Yes
McCain – No
(Amendment rejected)

Tax Rate Extension Amendment
02/02/2006
Official title: S Amdt 2735 to S Amdt 2707 to HR 4297 - To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation.
Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act to allow for adoption of an amendment that increases funding for the Veterans Health Administration in order to account for inflation and changes in the number of veterans using the health services.
Voting record:
Obama – Yes
McCain – No
(Amendment failed to pass in Senate)

Now, let’s turn to the candidates’ sponsorship of Senate bills & amendments directly related to care for veterans during the 109th-110th Congresses (source: Library of Congress THOMAS database [thomas.loc.gov]):

Obama (10):

S.117 [110th] & S.3988 [109th] : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.
S.692 [110th] & S.2358 [109th] : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
S.713 [110th] : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
S.1084 [110th] & S.3475 [109th] : A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans.
S.1271 [110th] : A bill to provide for a comprehensive national research effort on the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs of the members of the Armed Forces and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families.
S.1885 [110th] : A bill to provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active duty.
S.2330 [110th] : A bill to authorize a pilot program within the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development with the goal of preventing at-risk veterans and veteran families from falling into homelessness, and for other purposes.
S.1180 [109th] : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to reauthorize various programs servicing the needs of homeless veterans for fiscal years 2007 through 2011, and for other purposes.
S.AMDT.3144 to S.CON.RES.83 [109th] : To provide a $40 million increase in FY 2007 for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and to improve job services for hard-to-place veterans.
S.AMDT.5138 to H.R.5385 [109th] : To require a report on the costs of the Comprehensive Service Programs for homeless veterans.

McCain (1):

S.663 [110th] : A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the statutory designation of beneficiaries of the $100,000 death gratuity under section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, and to permit members of the Armed Forces to designate in writing their beneficiaries of choice in the event of their death while serving on active duty.

The bottom line: McCain is clearly not an advocate for veterans’ issues, and only Obama has enough interest to be a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee.

Every Veteran You know NEEDS to see this NOW!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:02:42 EDT

[PennsylvaniaVeteransforObama] Facts on McCain non-support for Veterans CANDIDATES’ SUPPORT FOR VETERANS’ ISSUES

Who has veterans’ best interests in mind? Look at the candidates’ records:

Although no bills specifically on veterans’ issues were voted on since the 2004 elections, three amendments have been (source: the Congressional Record & votesmart.org): Health Care for Veterans Amendment 10/05/2005 Official title: S Amdt 1937 to HR 2863 - To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation. Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act to allow for adoption of an amendment that increases funding for the Veterans Health Administration in order to account for inflation and changes in the number of veterans using the health services. Voting record: Obama – Yes McCain – No (Amendment rejected in Senate)

Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment 11/17/2005 Official title: S Amdt 2634 to S 2020 - To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder. Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act in order to adopt an amendment that appropriates $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health, and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance abuse. Voting record: Obama – Yes McCain – No (Amendment rejected)

Tax Rate Extension Amendment 02/02/2006 Official title: S Amdt 2735 to S Amdt 2707 to HR 4297 - To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation. Synopsis: Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act to allow for adoption of an amendment that increases funding for the Veterans Health Administration in order to account for inflation and changes in the number of veterans using the health services. Voting record: Obama – Yes McCain – No (Amendment failed to pass in Senate)

Now, let’s turn to the candidates’ sponsorship of Senate bills & amendments directly related to care for veterans during the 109th-110th Congresses (source: Library of Congress THOMAS database [thomas.loc.gov]): Obama (10): S.117 [110th] & S.3988 [109th] :

A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes. S.692 [110th] & S.2358 [109th]

: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals. S.713 [110th]

: A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries. S.1084 [110th] & S.3475 [109th] : A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans. S.1271 [110th] : A bill to provide for a comprehensive national research effort on the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs of the members of the Armed Forces and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families. S.1885 [110th] :

A bill to provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active duty. S.2330 [110th] : A bill to authorize a pilot program within the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development with the goal of preventing at-risk veterans and veteran families from falling into homelessness, and for other purposes. S.1180 [109th]

: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to reauthorize various programs servicing the needs of homeless veterans for fiscal years 2007 through 2011, and for other purposes. S.AMDT.3144 to S.CON.RES.83 [109th] : To provide a $40 million increase in FY 2007 for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and to improve job services for hard-to-place veterans. S.AMDT.5138 to H.R.5385 [109th] : To require a report on the costs of the Comprehensive Service Programs for homeless veterans. McCain (1): S.663 [110th] : A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the statutory designation of beneficiaries of the $100,000 death gratuity under section 1477 of title 10, United States Code, and to permit members of the Armed Forces to designate in writing their beneficiaries of choice in the event of their death while serving on active duty.

The bottom line: McCain is clearly not an advocate for veterans’ issues, and only Obama has enough interest to be a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee.

Primary is Over, On to November

akmk — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:42:43 EDT

The primary is over. On to November. Support your D's (Democrats) and B's (Barack/Biden, Begich, and Berkowitz) and Tim "The Best" June for House District 5.

Teacher Incentive Bonuses in Alaska

Harmony — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:17:40 EDT

I am just appalled that the Alaska State Board of Education continued the highly and rightfully criticized SBA (Standardized test score) bonus program this year! I am deeply dismayed, that the state puts so much weight on test scores, that a few days in a child's life has reduced that child, teacher and school to a number. This is a system we know has too many variables to measure a successful child, teacher or school. I teach in a Title one school and have taught at a school with a high socioeconomic population. It is not the same job. I love teaching in a title one school. But even I sometimes think of moving on to another school with out so many heartaches to witness everyday, where there is a lighter workload and parents do my photo copying for me, where I could get paid for my students' high test scores.all.As a teacher who saw huge growth in my own class last year. I'm offended that only some are rewarded for growth because they are associated with a particular school. (Don't get me wrong I do not think incentives should be based on test score, just making a point) I was outraged last year, this year I'm dumb founded that after all the uproar they did it again, even after indicating they wouldn't. Kudos to the teachers at Pearl Creek Elementary in Fairbanks who refused to pocket that money! I know many of them having had taught in that district. They all could have used that money. Clearly the state isn't listening to us. If Alaska wants to continue to force good teachers to leave schools that need them, continue to put rookie teachers in Title 1 school, continue to take the autonomy away from the great teachers who stay in those schools, and continue to ramp up the teacher turnover rate. They found a great way to do it, while insulting the rest of the teachers who worked their hearts out each and everyday.Letters and editorials didn't seem to be clear enough. We need a class action suit. I'm not looking for money. I want equal public education for all. There are so many other productive uses for that money in education!Yet another reason to vote for someone who wants to lessen the high stakes push on standardized test scores that NCLB has actively promoted.

Please read and share this ,,,I sent to the MSM

LuAnn in Indiana — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:28:22 EDT

I Spent Years as a POW with John McCain, and His Finger Should Not Be Near the Red Button | Election 2008 | AlterNet

I sent this to several medias. Don't know if it will do anything. Please share. Barack is getting put down so wrongly!

Michele was great last night!

Please read this and use it in any way you legally can. I am so tired of hearing Barack being called a Muslim and Michelle being accused of hating this country.Now these NEW ads that McCain is running using his POW experience to win "hearts and minds" is too much.I fear all his negative campaigning is winning and the polls are showing that.

Is there anyone out there who can bring things like this article to daylight?Why does the media protect McCain from the terrible way he cheated on and dumped his first wife for Cindy?If it was Barack who had done that the world would know.I talk to people daily who had no idea of his infidelity, his wife's bringing drugs in for her personal use through her out of country programs and I hear and also receive daily emails saying that Barack is a Muslim and worse. Why do more people not hear about how low in his class McCain graduated? I would think intelligence is a priority in a President of our country.

I also feel as this fellow POW does that a man with a "hair trigger" temper should not have his finger on the "button".There is freedom of speech in our country. Sean Hannity , Rush Limbaugh,Ann Coulter and others spew lies about Barack constantly.Can the MAIN STREAM media such as MSNBC please say or do more?McCain is "swift boating" Barack and WE all know that was all not true. John Kerry should have been President.Bush stole the election from Gore. Please can someone with some power help out people like me in the true EVER DIMINISHING MIDDLE Class?

I know I live in one home.

I know what a gallon of gas costs and I now people on minimum wage are hurting badly. John McCain does not care, nor does he have any way of identifying with the TRUE middle class people.His family has always had money, he is John S. McCain III and he married an heiress. How can he possibly feel for people who make $6.00 an hour?He wants to privatize Social Security and could care less if we have health care. Is it true he collects his Social Security? I happen to have Federal Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance through my X husband. Each year I am given the chance to choose which type of insurance I want. If I want to pay a lot less, I can even choose an HMO.

I believe that is the same insurance the Congressmen and Senators have and I also believe they do not have to pay for their's. If everyone in the country paid into this they should be able to get the same benefits.I pay $600.00 a month for myself but I have very good insurance. If I could not afford that I could choose a lesser plan each year.

Alaskans for the B's!!

akmk — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:57:49 EDT

Looks like it's going to be the year of the B's for Alaska. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Barack

Biden

Begich

Benson

Berkowitz

Vote in the Primary, Tuesday, August 26.

Education & Republican Doesn't Mean What it Used to

Harmony — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:32:41 EDT

Growing up in a working class, Republican family, I still hold many of the old GOP ideals close to my heart. I'm fiscally conservative, believe in the beautiful opportunities captialism promises for the American Dream. The days of Ragan Republicanism, which often referenced libertarian ideals of less enabling social programs, trickle down economics, more state and individual rights, seems a distant past. Just look at Education. Under Bush, No Child Left Behind actually reflects more of a USSR or Chinese Communist, federal take over. States with truly unique needs, such as ours in Alaska are dismissed and told to fit the one size fits all model or else. An economic growth model is applied to standardized scores which are so high stakes, teacher bonuses and school funding are in the balance. The worst part, the most devestating and sickening part is that principals are telling their staff before parent teacher conferences to "focus on the test score with the parents. It's all about data and report cards aren't as important." What does this tell us?! More importantly, What does this tell the child? They are reduced to a number from one day in their school year, not the rest of the moments of self-actualization, the connections they are making to their world and their developing sense of civic responsibility. We need change! We need a president who will listen to educators, one who focuses on the power of the individual, the unique needs of each and every state. McCain has clearly stated that he supports NCLB the way it is. I'm voting for Education, the power of the individual and giving states back the right to make decisions that directly affect them. I'm voting Obama! "We are the change we seek!"

Social Movements

Jodie — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:46:00 EDT

During Vietnam, many of the protesters that questioned the war were made fun of and ridiculed. It was not until the war was coming to a close that their words were taken for truth as the nation realized that we should not have been in that war in the first place.

The goal of a protester is to improve the quality of life in the United States.

There are many cases in history where protesters have been able to influence positive change in the United States.

There have also been times that protesters have been completely against the society's morals and ethics.

Protesters of today are closer to acting out the messages of our nation's founding fathers than most Americans are.

That is why American urban social movements are a big patriotic action that the public can make in the United States.

Obama/Biden Team Good for Alaska

akmk — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:41:10 EDT

Though a long distance from Alaska, Delaware is a coastal community. It is good to have someone on the team from a coastal community who understands the importance of healthy fisheries and sustainable economies. The Obama/Biden team is going to be great for Alaska!!

GOP Magick: The 'Expectations' Ritual

Elstun — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:40:05 EDT

> Note. One of the press/public relations games that is played by the campaigns is called "managing expectations". This is related to the maxim that it is far better to under-promise and over-deliver that the other way around. So the way this works for the Republicans going into Convention Week is to predict a massive "bump" for Obama and, when it doesn't quite materialize--rush out the talking heads to wonder aloud what "went wrong".

So this little piece of work (thank you, Jonathan Martin of Politico) is the product of Sarah Simmons, one of McCain's Karl Rove school graduate. Here she is telling the media to look for a 15 point bump for Obama out of Denver. http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/

My next post is going to wonder aloud just how the Bush Administration and the McCain camp will manipulate events to keep that "bump" low.

Beginning Monday, I will be posting from the DNC in Denver.

***********************************************************************************************************

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Sarah Simmons, Director of Strategy
RE: Obama’s Convention Bounce
DATE: August 22, 2008

Monday marks the beginning of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. A combination of factors makes this particular convention historic on many levels. Democrats have just completed an incredibly compelling primary cycle that has both energized and divided the Democratic Party. Because of the unique nature of the Democratic primary, we believe Obama will receive a significant bump from his convention.

This cycle mirrors Bill Clinton’s Democratic convention in 1992: A historic 16-point bump. Barack Obama is more similarly situated to Bill Clinton in 1992 than any other candidate in recent history. Bill Clinton was a new candidate on the national scene; he was running in a "change" oriented election cycle and the economy was voters’ top issue -- a dynamic he was able to capitalize on. He received a 16-point bump coming out of his convention. Obama is also a "new" candidate in a change-oriented environment. And, like Bill Clinton, he will spend the convention presenting himself as the agent of change who will fix the economy.

Obama will ride his VP bump. In addition to Obama taking advantage of the political environment, he will announce his Vice Presidential candidate late this week. This announcement typically gives a candidate a 5-point temporary bump that dissipates. However, Obama’s timing allows him to maximize his Vice Presidential bump and sustain press attention for the course of the week. He will ride the wave of an announcement from late this week (announcement expected by Saturday) through his speech on Thursday. This means that whatever bump he gains from the announcement has the potential to be lasting.

Obama will correct his underperformance with Hillary Clinton’s primary voters and emerge with a much more cohesive base. This convention gives Obama a platform to unite his base. There continues to be a divide in the Democratic base: Between 10-15% of Democrats are voting for McCain or sitting on the fence. In target states, that number is even higher, between 15-20% in many surveys. The Obama campaign knows that winning or losing in states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania depends on Obama’s ability to bring these voters home. If his convention successfully showcases Hillary Clinton and heals the wounds from the primary, he will move large groups of voters in those key places.

Obama’s stadium address on Thursday -- the 45th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have A Dream" speech -- will result in effusive and overwhelming press coverage. On Thursday, Obama will give a great speech, as has been his trademark. The press will sing his praises and remark on his historic address and Obama’s place in history. For example, The Associated Press today published an article comparing the historic nature of the addresses – a week before Obama’s speech. This coverage will be impenetrable and will undoubtedly impact the polls.

We believe Obama will see a significant bump, and believe it is reasonable to expect nearly a 15-point bounce out of a convention in this political environment.

Initiatives/Alaska's Primary/Tuesday, Aug. 26th

akmk — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:38:01 EDT

Please remember to vote in the primary election, Tuesday, August 26th.

A number of excellent candidates on the Democratic side are running for U.S. Senate (Ted Steven's seat) and U.S. House of Representatives (Don Young's seat).

There are also four citizen-based initiatives on the ballot. I support Initiatives 2, 3, and 4.

Initiative #2 places places reasonable limits on airborne hunting of wolves, bears, and wolverines.

Initiative #3 (Clean Elections) provides for public funding of candidates willing to meet certain requirements and reduces the influence of corporate funding and lobbying in the political process. It is modeled after the successful programs initiated in several other states.

Initiative #4 (Clean Water) supports healthy clean water in Alaska, healthy food (salmon) for Alaskans, and protects the jobs of fishermen.

Regards, Kathleen Menke, Haines

Giuliani and Romney to crash Democrats' Denver party

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:40:07 EDT

--Rudy singing along with Julie Andrews in 1997.

Here are some signs to wave in their faces when they arrive:

"WHEN ARE YOUR SONS GOING TO IRAQ, MITT?"

Remember, when he was challenged to explain why his several strapping, healthy sons are not over in Iraq fighting in the war he so staunchly supports, Mitt answered that "... have chosen to serve their country in another way: getting me elected..." Well, he didn't get past Florida, that was several months ago...have they signed up yet, Mitt"

"CAN I BORROW ONE OF YOUR DRESSES FOR THE PARTY, RUDY?"

Comedian Bill Maher has made a point of torturing Giuliani on his multiple cross-dressing outings whilst a denizen of New York City.

Here's part of the story....

By Andy Sullivan 43 minutes ago

When Democrats gather in Denver next week to nominate Barack Obama for president, they'll be joined by such uninvited guests as Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

The two former presidential candidates will be among two dozen or so Republicans in the city hoping to get their party's message out during a week dominated by Democratic festivities.

Their slogan? "Not Ready '08: A Mile High and an Inch Deep," a play on the nickname for the high-altitude city in the western United States.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Obama's rival for the November 4 election, is expected to keep a relatively low profile that week, though he is scheduled to appear as a guest on "The Tonight Show" talk show on Monday.

His surrogates will set up shop within walking distance of the Democrats' convention hall, hoping to catch the attention of the 15,000 reporters gathered there.

"With all the hype of the actual convention and all the Obama fans gathered in one spot, we're going to get beyond the glitz and the celebrity and talk about the facts of his record," said Matt McDonald, a McCain staffer overseeing the effort.

"Hurry Up And Get Iraq Solved In Time For The Election..."

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:42:55 EDT

Gee...all it takes is a little presidential campaign with Barack Obama challenging idiotic war policies to get things moving in the right direction. I guess the Worst President in History wants to help McSame get elected by moving Iraq off the table. The right thing for the wrong reason; but what can we expect from this bunch? Am I cynical? You're damned right I am!

Here is the article

Blah-blah-blah...

"We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold, are well worth having in such an agreement," Rice told reporters after meeting with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The two sides had come together on a draft agreement earlier this week and Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to press officials there to complete the accord.

More blah-blah-blah...

U.S. officials have resisted committing firmly to a specific date for a final pullout, insisting that it would be wiser to set a target linked to the attainment of certain agreed-upon goals. These goals would reflect not only security improvements but also progress on the political and economic fronts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080821/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq;_ylt=AsBCy2FTPy7oVAJBA3o07UwUewgF

McCain not sure how many houses he and wife own

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:19:11 EDT

Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states, Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.

On the campaign trail, McCain doesn't refer to his wife's wealth, estimated by some at $100 million and based on her late father's Arizona beer distributorship.

Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign has been trying to make their wealth more widely known to blunt criticism that Obama is an elitist out of touch with ordinary Americans.

According to her 2006 tax returns, Cindy McCain had a total income of $6 million. She has not released her 2007 returns, which she files separately from her husband. McCain's tax returns showed a total income of $405,409 in 2007.

In a forum last week with the Rev. Rick Warren, McCain was asked to define the word "rich" and to give a figure. After promoting his tax policies, McCain said: "I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?" The audience laughed, and he added: "But seriously, I don't think you can — I don't think seriously that — the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously — and I'm sure that comment will be distorted — but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."

Obama, asked the same question at the forum, said those making $250,000 and higher are in the top 3 to 4 percent and "doing well." Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported making $4.2 million in 2007.

Obama Economics--Trickle Up

akmk — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:19:38 EDT

Support yourself and your economic advancement by voting for Barack Obama who supports tax credits for individuals and families and tax changes that force the wealthiest Americans to pay a bit more of their share.

The alternative, with McCain, is more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and an increase in payroll taxes for the working person.

Trickle up or trickle down? You decide what works best for you.

Did McCain Cheat At Saddleback?

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:14:12 EDT

>Note. First, we have a story of the McCain Camp whining about NBC's Andrea Mitchell coverage of Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church colloquy bertween McCain and Obama. Apparently she found it odd, as did many others, including the blog Pensito Review, that McCain seemed to have prescience about the questions when his turn came. Fox is so biased against Obama that we don't even bother to complain any more. Pure objectivity is the goal that trolls use to beat media with contrary opinions. McCain was prepped; Obama was sandbagged. Either quit pretending it was otherwise or shoot those Rove attack dogs you employ, McCain.

McCain camp accuses NBC of partisan coverage

Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:52pm EDT

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The John McCain campaign fired off an angry letter to NBC News criticizing Andrea Mitchell's comments regarding the "cone of silence" at Saturday night's presidential candidates' forum at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.

Campaign manager Rick Davis cited Mitchell's comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Barack Obama campaign had said privately that they believed McCain "may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well prepared."

Pastor Rick Warren on Saturday sat down first with Obama and asked him the same questions he would later ask McCain.

Davis denied what he called "a completely unsubstantiated Obama campaign claim that John McCain somehow cheated." While Obama was being interviewed, McCain was driving to the event and then in a green room without TV, Davis said.

In a letter to NBC News president Steve Capus, Davis said that the network's "level of objectivity ... has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain." He requested a meeting with Capus to discuss news standards and objectivity.

"We are concerned that your news division is following MSNBC's lead in abandoning nonpartisan coverage of the presidential race," Davis wrote.

In a statement Monday, NBC News said that it welcomed an opportunity to speak with officials from both campaigns and said it is in daily contact with the McCain camp.

"With all due respect to the campaign leadership, they are viewing our coverage through a political prism," NBC News said. "We stand by our reporting, our journalism and our journalists."

It's not the first time that NBC has been the subject of accusations during the presidential campaign. MSNBC and NBC News were cited several times during the primary campaign over perceived mistreatment of Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Cheating at Saddleback: McCain Appparently Knew Question About Supreme Court
in Advance

POSTED: Monday, August 18, 2008

FROM BLOG: Pensito Review - News and Opinion on Politics, Culture and Media

The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.

MCCAIN: Could I — are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court Justices or should I mention –
WARREN: We will get to that.
MCCAIN: OK. All right. OK.
WARREN: You’re jumping ahead…

The McCain campaign is fighting hard against charges that McCain cheated on the rules of debate at a rightwing evangelical forum in a California megachurch over the weekend by cribbing the questions in advance. They are so desperate, apparently, that a McCain operative even played the POW card, citing McCain’s imprisonment by the Vietnamese 40 years ago as evidence somehow that he did not cheat Saturday night.
What’s suspicious here is that the topic of the Supreme Court had not come up in McCain’s interview, so it was not a topic to go "back" to.
Even "Pastor Rick" Warren, the multimillionaire evangelist who hosted the event — and who clearly favored McCain in the questioning — has admitted that McCain was not sequestered during the live session with Obama.

Warren told the live audience in the hall and on CNN that McCain was in a "cone of silence" to prevent him from having the advantage of hearing the questions in advance. In fact, McCain was in his car during much of Obama’s session, where he certainly could have listened to the interview.

And this exchange from the forum appears to indicate that McCain knew that Warren was going to ask him a very specific question about the Supreme Court. Notice how McCain asks if he can go "back" to a question about the court:

WARREN: Let’s deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time, every different angle, every different pain, all of the decisions and all of that. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people, people who believe that life begins at conception, believe that’s a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?

MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (APPLAUSE). I have a 25- year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment. That’s my commitment to you.

WARREN: OK, we don’t have to beleaguer on that one. Define marriage.

MCCAIN: A union — a union between man and woman, between one man and one woman. That’s my definition of marriage.

Could I — are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court Justices or should I mention –

WARREN: We will get to that.

MCCAIN: OK. All right. OK.

WARREN: You’re jumping ahead…

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: When we speak of the issue of the rights to the unborn, we need to talk about judges. But, anyway, go ahead.

What’s suspicious here is that the topic of the Supreme Court had not come up in McCain’s interview, so it was not a topic to go "back" to. On the other hand, Obama had been asked a question about the Supreme Court during his earlier session, which McCain supposedly had not heard:

McCain Overplayed The Georgia Hand...

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:37:05 EDT

> Note. The Conservative and timid MSM blabberclass were all about McCain gaining the 'leadership' initiative during the Georgia Crisis. Lou Dobbs hissed through his abundant teeth that "...McCain stepped up while Senator Obama golfed"...or something to that effect, I paraphrase.Well, as any politician, jounalist or ex-beauty queen will tell you, what events may give you, Time can take away. So it is with McWhatever; from today's HuffPost.

*******************************************

Crisis in Georgia Beginning to Turn Into a Big Political Liability for McCain

Robert Creamer: At first the unfolding conflict between Russia and its neighbor the Republic of Georgia seemed to be just what the McCain candidacy needed: a foreign policy crisis that would allow him to demonstrate a "tough, decisive, experienced" mastery of foreign affairs, and a new rationale for why Americans should choose experience over change in a dangerous world. But it hasn't taken long for the developments in the Caucuses to become a growing political liability instead. Click here to read more.

Alaska Selected To Join Barack Obama Backstage At Convention-Profile

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:14:37 EDT

Holly Miowak Stebing of Anchorage, Alaska
Holly, a 20-year-old Alaska Native Inupiaq, is spending her summer break from Stanford University at the First Alaskans Organization interviewing native elders about their experiences with segregation. Holly is passionate about improving healthcare access for Native Americans, and protecting Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. The 2008 presidential election is Holly's first as a voter. She says: "This was the first campaign I felt I needed to support. I don't have a lot of money, but I donate what I can because I believe in [Barack]." She will attend the convention with her mother who is the first Native American woman to pass the Alaska bar.

Congratulations, Holly!

Thousands of Doors Knocked

Emily Bokar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:34:50 EDT

Hundreds of Alaska Campaign for Change volunteers came out in force today to knock on thousands of doors across the Last Frontier!

The unprecedented statewide canvass involved about 30 locations in 16 cities, including Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kodiak, Palmer, Sitka, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Wasilla, Willow and more.

Volunteers went through a brief training at their meet up locations and then headed out to spread Barack's message of change to fellow Alaskans.

Here are a few photos from the field. Keep them coming!

Want to get involved with our next big event? On Thursday, August 28th Alaskans across the state will be gathering to watch Barack's speech at the Democratic National Convention. Find a party near you or sign up to host your own!

The Campaign of Hope and Faith Come Together

Elstun — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:24:26 EDT

>Note. John McCain is being challenged on traditionally Republican ground, on nearly all fronts, by Barack Obama's remarkable movement of hope and change. As noted in the previous post, the Military rank-and-file seem to be enlisting in the Obama army. Four developments out today on the "Faith Front". A Washington Post story today:"GOP Loyalty not a given for Young Evangelicals"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403446.html?hpid=topnews

Another commentary published in the Huffpost, with links, is pasted below, "Will the Real Pro-Life Party Please Stand Up?" Zack Exley makes the case, which those on the Christian Left have known all along, that the Republican Party exploited virtue to deliver Mammon. Neither compassion nor life was really part of the K street agenda.

Finally, two other important developments on the Faith-based front: The launching of the Mathew 25 initiative. Mathew 25, based on Mathew 25:40 (dust off your Bibles and look it up) speaks to compassion and asserts a real faith component in this campaign. I am excited about www.matthew25.org .

And this Saturday there will be a forum hoted by Reverend Rick Warren on the Saddleback Church. Rachel Zoll, AP Religion writer notes:

"Warren is an anti-abortion Southern Baptist who is nonetheless part of a shift away from the religious right's strict focus on abortion and marriage. The environment, poverty and education have also become pressing concerns, especially for younger evangelicals.

Warren is best known for building Saddleback Church into a 23,000-member megachurch in Lake Forest, Calif., and for writing the multimillion-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life."

But he and his wife, Kay, are also leading advocates for HIV/AIDS victims worldwide. They have invested enormous resources in their PEACE Plan, now under way in Rwanda, which aims to combat corruption, illiteracy and other social problems through church partnerships with government and business..."

Senator Obama is much more comfortabler discussing matters of faith than is Senator McCain and I see this as a real opportunity to resonate with younger evangelicals. Keep watching for stories on this event.

***************************************************************************

Will the Real Pro-life Party Please Stand Up?

AP/Alex Brandon

Zack Exley: Many Christians are finally getting fed up with the complete failure of the GOP to reduce abortions, even with 20 years of Republican presidency since the rise of the Christian right. If Obama can boldly articulate a pro-life platform to reduce abortion, care for children and families, reduce arms and prevent war then he could bring about a seismic shift in electoral politics that makes the "Reagan Democrat" phenomenon look like nothing. Click here to read more.

Walk for Change on Saturday

Pat DeTemple — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:44:01 EDT

Help Barack win Alaska Just two weeks from today, Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for president.

That means Election Day, November 4th, will be here sooner than you may think -- and we can't afford to sit on the sidelines.

We can't handle four more years of the Bush-McCain policies that have been devastating for families in Alaska and across the country.

That's why this Saturday, August 16th, volunteers throughout Alaska will be going door-to-door to talk to their neighbors about Barack Obama -- who he is and where he stands on the issues that matter most to Alaskans.

Face-to-face contact with undecided voters is the most important thing you can do to help Barack win in Alaska. And we're counting on you to reach out within your own communities.

Get started right now by joining a neighborhood canvass in your community.

We're already working hard all across the state, as part of the largest grassroots mobilization for a Presidential campaign in Alaska's history.

And thanks to the energy and efforts of supporters like you, we have a real chance to succeed here -- but it's going to take all of us working together.

No political experience is required. Campaign for Change staff will provide you with all the necessary resources and information.

All you need is a hunger for change and a willingness to turn your enthusiasm into action.

Join a canvass and make an impact this Saturday, August 16th.

We can't do this without you.

What Does the Military Think???

Andy & Donna Holleman — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:16:18 EDT

From USA Today, a report that donations from the military are running heavily in favor of Obama.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-14-military-donations_N.htm

Couple that with stats that say Alaska really....REALLY....is in play, and there's a lot of people saying it just can't be so.

While walking neighborhoods for a slate of labor candidates, we spoke with one teacher. She looked at the slate and said, "Well, we're military, so we tend to vote Republican". Our toss up is that Mr. McCain isn't so great on veteran's issues, or on labor issues. "We know, and we're looking at all those issues. We do like Berta and Harry Crawford. And we'll be voting for Mark. We're just not sure about what we'll do for president".

Wow....I thought, walking away. These are people that still consider themselves Republican.....but they're looking at the issues.....and they're having a hard time staying with McCain. And they can't find another Republican to vote for.

Yeah, we just might really be in play.

Mayor Whitaker Endorses Obama

Emily Bokar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:21:08 EDT

Good news from Fairbanks today. Mayor Jim Whitaker -- a registered Republican -- has endorsed Barack Obama!

Support from Alaskans from all backgrounds and political affiliations is one of the things that makes our movement so special. There is so much at stake in this election, and we need a president who can heal old partisan divisions and renew America's promise.

If you're a Republican who supports Barack, please take a moment to join our Alaska Republicans for Obama group.

We'll keep you updated on ways you can help Barack as an Alaska Republican. You can read more about Mayor Whitaker's endorsement in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner or in the press release below.

REPUBLICAN MAYOR OF FAIRBANKS-NORTH STAR BOROUGH ENDORSES OBAMA

Jim Whitaker has served as mayor since 2003

FAIRBANKS, AK – The Barack Obama campaign in Alaska today announced the endorsement of Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker. Whitaker is a registered Republican.

Whitaker said, “Barack Obama has the unique ability to bring people together from all political backgrounds—Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Partisan business-as-usual has crippled Washington. It’s time for a president who will work to unite our country and bring about the change we need.

“Barack Obama will stand up for Alaska’s families. As president, he’ll support the Alaska natural gas pipeline and work to lower the skyrocketing fuel prices that have caused an energy crisis here in Fairbanks. He has a plan to move this country forward and will be a president who is as independent as Alaskans are.”

Barack Obama said, “I’m grateful for Mayor Whitaker’s support. Fairbanks residents are paying some of the highest energy prices in the country. Mayor Whitaker knows firsthand the importance of solving our energy crisis. He believes as I do that we need to bring people together in order to solve the many challenges our country is facing right now, from energy to the economy.”

Jim Whitaker was elected mayor of the Fairbanks-North Star Borough in 2003. He served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003. From 1999 to 2000, Whitaker served as Chair of the Special Committee on Oil and Gas.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2008

New Hays Research Group Results in Alaska: Obama 45; McCain 40

Elstun — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:46:17 EDT

From Hays Research Group:

"...Our first published Presidential election poll of this campaign has yielded some very interesting results. This month Hays Research Group asked 400 Alaskan Voters who they intended to vote for in the upcoming presidential election.

As always, the results of this scientific survey are free for you to view online at:

http://www.haysresearch.com/080708.htm

If you know anyone else who you think might like to receive our monthly newsletter and free 'Opinion Counts' survey results, please encourage them to sign up for our newsletter at http://www.haysresearch.com/

And finally, if you have any questions about this survey, or any of the public opinion research services Hays Research Group provides, please feel free to contact me!

Anne Hays

Research Director

Hays Research Group

P.O. Box 110183

Anchorage, AK 99511-0183

(907) 277-1025

anne@haysresearch.com

Answered by 400 out of 400

Question 1

"Thinking about the election for President of the United States, if the

election were held today and the candidates were Democrat Barack Obama,

Republican John McCain or Independent Ralph Nader, for whom would you vote

or are you undecided?"

Obama - strong 138/400 35%

Obama - not so strong 28/400 7%

Undecided - lean Obama 15/400 4%

Total Obama 181/400 45%

McCain - strong 127/400 32%

McCain - not so strong 26/400 7%

Undecided - lean McCain 8/400 2%

Total McCain 161/400 40%

Nader - strong 6/400 1.5%

Nader - not so strong 2/400 <1%

Undecided - lean Nader 1/400 <1%

Total Nader 9/400 2%

Other 8/400 2%

Undecided / Don't Know 41/400 10%

It won't be long until we find out Barack's VP choice!

LuAnn in Indiana — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:20:52 EDT

I am sure if you have a cell phone you got the test message I got yesterday from Barack.

He is going to announce his VP pick between now and the convention. You text VP to 62262

I can't wait. I don't know about you!

LuAnn :)

Obama '08.........!

I am sure if you have a cell phone you got the test message I got yesterday from Barack.
He is going to announce his VP pick between now and the convention. You text VP to 62262
I can't wait. I don't know about you!
LuAnn :)
Obama '08.........!

New Downtown Anchorage Office

Emily Bokar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:09:12 EDT

This Wednesday, the Alaska Campaign for Change will be opening a second office in Anchorage!

The new office will be located downtown at 1015 W. 7th Avenue -- a great location for stopping by at lunch or after work.

Please join the Campaign for Change for their Official Downtown Anchorage Office Opening this Wednesday, August 13th at 12:00 pm. There will be an opportunity to check out the new space, meet fellow volunteers and learn how you can get involved with the campaign here in Alaska.

Sign up to RSVP for the Downtown Anchorage Office Opening.

This marks the 5th Campaign for Change office in Alaska. Have you been to an office near you? Local orientations are held every Wednesday and Sunday.

Here are some photos from our last round of office openings:

Fairbanks Office Opening

Juneau Office Opening

Mat-Su Office Opening

Find your local office and get involved today!

Our Obama House Party

Elstun — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:35:29 EDT

August 7, Harriet and I hosted a houseparty for Obama. Galen is the Field Coordinator for District 25 and she provided the "official" campaign presence at the meeting. We sent out scores of emails, leafleted out neighborhood and made calls and, in the end, we had about a dozen folks show up over the evening. The three people who signed up via the website did not show up. There may have been discouragement because of a thunderstorm/hail/shower that immeidately preceded the event. Afterwards, the sun broke through and our freshly-mown backyard became the venue for much of the discussion that evening until around 7 when a little sprinkle sent us scrambling inside. We had lots of food contributed by the folks who came and the discussion was wide-ranging, in fact, so much so that a couple of times it was necessary to pull us back on track.

We watched a DVD of the South Carolina Victory Speech, which, while an excellent and inspiring speech also contained a couple of identifiable jabs at the Clinton Campaign which, at this time of party unity, might not be the best video for these purposes. There were a couple of clinton supporters present at the houseparty and both made note of those comments, while expressing overall support and positive feelings from the evening.

We went around the room and each of us talked about why we were supporting Barack. I will confine myself to the comments of Harriet and me, although many great comments were shared by everyone. Harriet spoke of her own political experience this year as a local government candidate. She saw a perceptible "shift" in the mood of the electorate: liberal/progressive voters are much more motivated than conservatives. She senses an opportunity for real change at the most local level and Barack has the capacity to galvanize that mood at the national level.

I spoke of how cynical I have become over the years. The Rove image machine had twice pushed a toady press corp and the corporate media into twisting the finest qualities of our presidential candidates into deficits. Al Gore, a brilliant policy leader was turned into a muddle-headed exaggerator; John Kerry, a genuine hero became a "coward". I faced 2008 with some trepidation. Despite the excellent field of candidates presented by the Democrats last Fall. I could not help but wonder how the political machinery of personal destruction would work this year. And then Barack Obama emerged.

Hunter Thompson is his book "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" wrote about his struggles in covering the 1972 McGovern campaign for the Rolling Stone Magazine. Everything about the McGovern campaign seemed muddled and unconnected to the voter. Thompson couldn't identify the quality that was missing from the campaign until, one evening, around 4 am, driving around the streets of Chicago, Thompson heard a radio spot by the DNC that used an old clip of Bobby Kennedy's voice. Thompson had a journalistic apotheosis: he likened Kennedy's voice in the midst of the 1972 campaign to a sudden shot of the Rolling Stone's "Let It Bleed" in the middle of a recital by the Norman Luboff Choir. Kennedy's clear, nasal-accented, rapid-fire challenge to Americans to believe in themselves again was exactly what was missing from the 1972 campaign and...bring it up to date...it is exactly what is needed in 2008.

Incredibly and fortuitously, Barack Obama has come along to deliver that message and that energy and I am able to set aside my cynicism and...yes...hope again.

I recommend that everyone who can, host or participate in a house party...its a great way to bring together like-minded neighbors and be part of this time of historic change.

Where is the Media on McCain and Adultry?

Elstun — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:51:47 EDT

This comment posted to Ben Smith's Politico Blog summarizes what I have been wondering for a long time. The MSM wallows in tabloid journalism, the Edwards infidelity story being the latest example. The Edwards story has become a black hole of the political news galaxy, sucking in all the matter and letting out no light. Okay...given the MSM's pursuit of Joe Sixpack's endless fascination with gossip--feed him this one.

********************************************************************************

It will be interesting to see if any enterprising reporter asks John McCain point blank: "Have you ever committed adultery?" It is a germane question because (1) Edwards adultery is big news and (2) McCain has made "moral character" the main issue of his campaign. McCain may not be too keen to answer yes or no because the truth won't please the family values crowd. While he was a P.O.W. in Vietnam, his first wife, model Carol Shepp, was seriously injured in a horrific traffic accident in which she was thrown through the windshield. She didn't mention this in her letters to him in Vietnam to keep his morale up. When he got back and saw her 4 inches shorter, seriously overweight, and on crutches, he began having affairs. One piece of indisputable evidence is the fact that he obtained a license to marry wealthy beer heiress Cindy Hensley on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to Carol. If you type: McCain adultery to Google, you'll get 500,000 hits. Journalistic standards ought to require that if Edwards cheating on his sick wife is an indication of a deep moral flaw, then McCain cheating on his sick wife ought to be the same thing. And McCain is a candidate for President; Edwards is not.
Posted By: From electoral-vote.com | August 09, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Today's Washington Post on the Obama Campaign in Alaska

Elstun — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:00:11 EDT

>Note. Hooray For FAIRBANKS! The REAL Alaskan City! Great pic above from Flickr. Pay attention to the comments at the end from McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Republican Party, holds out hope that McCain will change his position on drilling in the refuge. He also batted aside japes from his Democratic rivals -- who issued a series of news releases suggesting vacant office space that McCain's campaign might rent -- by suggesting the influx of Obama staffers amounted to carpetbagging.

"Obama is trying to take advantage of our situation," Pierre said. "Obama has a lot of East Coast liberal staffers in Alaska" while McCain, he said, "has a real grass-roots effort, Alaskans talking to Alaskans.

McHugh Pierre's Telephone Number is (907) 276-4467. Give him a call and ask him to identify the "east coast staffers in Alaska". I did. I'm still waiting for his return call.

**************************************************************************

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; A04

ANCHORAGE -- In what might be the fullest realization of Barack Obama's pledge to run hard in parts of the country largely untouched by presidential campaigning, the Democrat's Alaska operation is making plans for organizers to hopscotch the state's vast and sparsely populated interior by bush plane, knocking on doors in remote outposts for their candidate.

"Go around, put up signs, shake some hands, see some of the important people in the village," said state representative and professional pilot Woodie Salmon (D), describing his own campaign tactics in a legislative district that includes 94 villages, 70 of which can be reached only by air. "Get things stirred up and leave again."

Conservative and quirky, Alaska last went for a Democratic presidential candidate 44 years ago. No nominee from either party has even visited since Richard Nixon's journey to glad-hand in Anchorage on the last weekend of the 1960 campaign, a stop that some argue cost him the razor-thin election.

Obama, who often boasts of having visited the other 49 states, has yet to commit to a stop here. But his vibrant campaign operation here is stoking expectations and mounting the most prodigious presidential effort Alaska has seen.

While the John McCain campaign has yet to open an office anywhere in the state, Obama has dispatched dozens of paid staffers here over the past month; the latest batch arrived over the weekend. It is assigning field coordinators in each of the state's 40 legislative districts and has been buying television ad time since June.

"The campaign is treating Alaska as a key battleground state," said Jeff Giertz, the campaign's communications director in Alaska, who arrived in Anchorage from Iowa, the scene of Obama's first victory of the Democratic nominating contest.

With only three electoral votes, Alaska may seem a low-stakes prize. But by pouring time and money into traditionally Republican Western states such as Montana and Colorado, the Obama campaign is trying to make good on its vow to redraw the electoral map and force the McCain campaign to watch its flanks -- all the while reinforcing Obama's overarching claim of nurturing a politics of inclusion.

"It's a tough state to move, but we're making a play," Giertz said. "If there's any year where a Democrat can win Alaska, this is the year."

Public surveys consistently have McCain ahead, but by single-digit margins that reflect the Republican's tepid support here.

"Obama's really holding his own," said Andrew Halcro, a former Republican state lawmaker and independent gubernatorial candidate who termed the Obama effort "amazing."

"I think they could come pretty close," said David Dittman, the state's leading pollster, who works primarily with Republicans. He added: "I don't think Obama would win."

In a state where Ross Perot drew 28 percent in 1992 and Ralph Nader banked every tenth vote eight years later, an array of circumstances offers encouragement to the underdog Democrat, starting with McCain's last-place finish in the Republican caucus in February behind Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

The Arizona Republican faces a tough sell here. Though McCain's military credentials resonate with Alaska's veteran and active-duty residents, he is also known here for railing against the "earmark" appropriations that bring Alaskans more federal money per capita than any other state.

But McCain's most dubious distinction is as the first GOP candidate in memory to oppose oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The position, which McCain reiterated even while reversing his opposition to off-shore drilling, puts him at odds with the overwhelming majority of Alaskans.

"There's a sense of betrayal with McCain in the fact that he doesn't support it," Dittman said. "There's the sense that he's not any better than a Democrat."

And this year, being a Democrat may not be such a bad thing. Every Republican on the November ballot can expect to suffer from the corruption scandal that has tarred Alaskan politics. Last week's indictment of Ted Stevens, the U.S. Senate's longest-serving Republican, follows the federal convictions of three state GOP lawmakers in cases that featured surveillance videos starring the oil executive who prosecutors say remodeled Stevens's modest Girdwood home.

Public revulsion at the continuing torrent of revelations fueled the upset election of Republican Sarah Palin as governor in 2006, on a platform of Alaskan pride and cleaning up government.

"I think Obama's message is similar to Sarah's two years ago," said Halcro, who lost his third-party bid to Palin. "People want to believe that these really complex public policy questions are going to be solved by what I call glittering generalities."

Alaskans may also appreciate being noticed.

"We've always voted up here. Just nobody's paid much attention," said Jim Schultz, 71.

Snowy-bearded and cheerful, the federal retiree worked the phones in Obama headquarters on a rare sunny evening during a cold and cloudy summer. Across the table sat a beaming Celine Gammond, 18.

"It gives us legitimacy," she said of the campaign's effort. "It's like we're a real state."

The youthful enthusiasm that powers the famous Obama ground operation first became apparent here on caucus night: The 8,800 who jammed into caucus sites represented more than ten times the turnout four years earlier, with 70 percent for the Illinois senator.

"I hope America doesn't disappoint these young people," Schultz said. But working the phones reminded him that in the great north, more than the weather can be harsh: "I think what surprises me is the animosity or the rudeness. If they're Republican they say, 'I'm not even going to talk to you.' Or they hang up."

Still, political professionals say the sheer force of effort is bound to produce dividends.

"They really appreciate that people would come to your town and talk to you. That's a big thing," said Salmon, who uses his two Cessnas for "campaigning, hunting, and odds and ends."

Fuel will be expensive, though, especially if the pilot refuels in the bush, where prices reflect the expense of delivering it there by barge or even air. "Arctic villages' last reported gas price was about $10 a gallon, and they live right next to ANWR," Salmon said.

McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Republican Party, holds out hope that McCain will change his position on drilling in the refuge. He also batted aside japes from his Democratic rivals -- who issued a series of news releases suggesting vacant office space that McCain's campaign might rent -- by suggesting the influx of Obama staffers amounted to carpetbagging.

"I don't think the views or opinions of Alaskans have changed, and the views of the Republican Party still represent the views of most people.

"Ronald Reagan didn't even have an office here," Pierre said. "This is the normal deal."

Despite Media Narrative, Obama Leads By Over 100 Electoral Votes

Elstun — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:42:49 EDT

> Note. Mark Nickolas' Blog reports that the MSM has itr wrong not only in the little things, but in the biggest picture of all...the electoral trend.

SEE the original post at

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=2974blog/&blogId=2974

by Mark Nickolas on Aug 4, 2008

With all the breathlessness over the minute movements in the irrelevant national polls, the one thing no one seems to be noticing is that the electoral map is still trending very poorly for John McCain (R).

I realize that it cuts against the media narrative right now to focus on anything that doesn't suggest a dead-heat, but it's quite instructive to see how the independent groups (and even right-leaning ones) currently see the state of the race through the only prism that matters -- the Electoral College:

                   Obama McCain    Margin
Real Clear Politics   322    216    Obama +106
Electoral-Vote.com    316    209    Obama +107
FiveThirtyEight.com   303    235    Obama + 68
Pollster.com          284    147    Obama +137
AVERAGE               306    202    Obama +104

If you think about the reporting of the fluctuating state polls lately that show a tight race, all of them involve red states that McCain can't afford to lose: Colorado, Montana, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Alaska, Georgia, etc.

Despite the media narrative that a number of blue states are competitive, the truth is none of the recent polling shows McCain making any significant inroads in the blue states. Consider:

In Michigan, McCain had not led in any poll since May;
In Pennsylvania, McCain has not led in any poll April, and a Republican poll released last week showed McCain trailing by 9, in line with the current Pollster.com average;
In New Hampshire, McCain has not led in any poll since April;
In Minnesota, while one recent poll showed McCain within the margin of error, no other poll in the past month (including one poll taken more recently) has him within 12 points.

So, while the media breathlessly reports the national tracking polls which shows a close race, the state polling is still showing a pretty significant Obama lead.

P.S. -- Again reminding us how big of a joke CNN's political reporting has become, their current electoral map has it Obama 221, McCain 189. What a farce.

Big Oil Bundling For McCain

Elstun — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:54:02 EDT

>Note. Veco provided home improvements for Ted Stevens and the Justice Department indicts him; what do they think of THIS? No quid pro quo here, right?

Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal

By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld

- August 4, 2008, 12:47PM
Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.

The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:

24-Jun J. Barclay Collins Hess Corp.Attorney $28,500
19-Jun John B. Hess Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Susan K. Hess Homemaker $28,500
24-Jun Norma W. Hess Retired $28,500
24-Jun John J. O'Connor Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Lawrence Ornstein Hess Corp.Senior VP $28,500
24-Jun John Reilly Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Alice Rocchio Hess Corp.Office Manager $28,500
24-Jun John Scelfo Hess Corp.Senior VP of Finance $28,500
24-Jun F. Borden Walker Hess Corp.Businessman $28,500
Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess.

Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.

Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.

Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too.

Late Late Late Update: Turns out that the office manager and her Amtrak husband rent their home in Flushing, Queens.

Pinyata Man

Ganeshaka — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:00:52 EDT

Humor can be devastating in politics, without the offensiveness of negativity.

The image of McCain swinging a stick wildly at a pinyata fits his 2008 campaign so perfectly, it should be jumped on. See the following article http://www.alternet.org/story/93654/swing_and_miss%3A_mccain%27s_pinata_politics/

Obama should construct an ad campaign around the image. And maybe alternate the ad, with a similarly styled ad of a youngster in chaps learning to shoot from the hip at bottles and missing - while being couched by old cowboys Bush and Lieberman.

The message, ultimately, being McCain's lack of vision.

Kathy Hilton has it so right......

Andy & Donna Holleman — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:29:10 EDT

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYXNxmjlnpC2aHwsOdPmg6u7f3PAD92BENC00

"It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs," Kathy Hilton said......"And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next president of the United States."

Yeah. Couldn't have put it better myself. I'm not sure even Barack could have said it better.

McCain Vs 'Uppity' Barack Obama

Elstun — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:40:40 EDT

>Note. Paul Jenkins--the Huffpost Blogger, not the Anchorage Times curmudgeon, had a post a couple of days ago that goes right to the heart of the narrative that the GOP, Rove and McCain are weaving about Obama being a phenomenon of shallow celebrity: Barack Obama doesn't know 'his place'. Oh, of course they don't actually SAY that, silly rabbit. That would be too...inappropriate. But what they DO say is this: how else can you explain this candidate's success? If he is an empty suit, without experience or ability, how else can you explain the fact that his has raised more money than any political campaign in US history, drawn record-breaking crowds in the US and abroad, and has been ahead of John McCain since widespread general election polling began four months ago? People of America...the subtext of this narrative goes...this 'boy' doesn't know his placed and it is up to us good ol' Amuricunz to teach him! Doesn't it just 'feel' better to have a grumpy old white man who lives in a world where Iraq and Pakistan share a common border in the oval office?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-jenkins/obama-still-does-not-know_b_115671.html

The Slime Behind The Pentagon-Germany Visit & McCain Attacks!

Elstun — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:11:38 EDT

>Note. Some breaks just happen because you are right. For example, Senator Obama benefitted from the al-Malaki support of his 16 month withdrawal 'horizon'; he benefitted from the realignment of 'official' U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe (-over a year after Senator Obama framed the issue); and Senator Obama's declaration that he would use the tools of engagement toward Iran has also been proven right by Secretary of State Rice struggling mightily to salvage some sort of legacy for the Bush Administration. Other breaks happen not because you are right, but because you are manipulative. John McCain, the Man-With-The-Angry-Voices-In-His-Head, benefitted from the manipulations of a Bush political operative embedded in the Pentagon. Here is the story from the Strategy08 Blog. Copy and paste this on all the sites you subscribe to—especially the MSM ones like CNN--this needs to get out! http://strategy08.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/the-slime-behind-the-pentagon-germany-visit/#more-289
Robert Wilkie, Assistant Secretary of Defense Legislative Affairs
This is the guy who began the sliming of Barack Obama’s planned visit to Landstuhl, the military hospital in Germany, and helped the McCain campaign get their political ad out–this is downright coordination between the Pentagon and the McCain presidential campaign. For more information on this explosive story, please continue to read below:

Robert Wilkie’s biography reads like a Republican’s wet dream of gaining access to power, first starting with his career on Capitol Hill in working for Senator Jesse Helms, the famed racist, and then his appointment to his current position by President George W. Bush in 2006 and subsequent confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 2006.
Here’s the beginning of the story, starting with the briefing by Robert Gibbs, the Obama press secretary, here:
Senior strategist Robert Gibbs said the visit to the military hospital in Germany had been in the works for about three weeks, with Gration serving as the campaign’s contact with the Pentagon.
The Pentagon cleared the Obama plan to land at the base on either July 15 or 16, Gibbs said. The plane needed the clearance because of restrictions on landing nonmilitary aircraft there, he said.
But then on Wednesday, Gration told Obama aides that the Pentagon had informed him that the visit could be viewed as a campaign stop.
“They cited a regulation,” Gibbs said of their point of contact, described as legislative affairs in the office of the secretary.
It seems that Robert Wilkie likes to cite regulations for political reasons, given a previous Boston Globe story in 2007:
Robert L. Wilkie , a former Bush administration national security official who left the White House to become assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs last year, has outlined a half-dozen guidelines that prohibit most officers below the rank of colonel from appearing in hearings, restricting testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush.
The guidelines, described in an April 19 memo to the staff director of the House Armed Services Committee, adds that all field-level officers and enlisted personnel must be “deemed appropriate” by the Department of Defense before they can participate in personal briefings for members of Congress or their staffs; in addition, according to the memo, the proceedings must not be recorded.
…
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress see the move as a blatant attempt to bog down investigations of the war. But veterans of the legislative process — who say they have never heard of such guidelines before — maintain that the Pentagon has no authority to set such ground rules.
The one way to stop slime like this, is to make the story ABOUT the slime, particularly the origin of the slime. Thus, the focus of the outrage is now on the origin of the slime, Robert Wilkie, and the Bush White House by default. This helps in creating more support for Barack Obama from the general populace when they realize that it was the White House and the Pentagon that worked in coordination with John McCain’s campaign to politicize this visit to wounded troops.

Vice President Tim Kaine?

Elstun — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:39:38 EDT

>NOTE. Tim Kaine is Governor of Virginia and, because of that, he is often referred to by the Talking Heads as a "Centrist". After all, a "progressive" could never get elected Governor of the cusp state, right? Wrong. Tim Kaine is popular, he's populist and he's progressive. Too often in the Post-Reagan America, liberal/progressive politicians are not 'comfortable in their skin'; Kaine is. And, like Barack Obama, he's got brainpower. Let the Democratic Leadership Council keep their Evan Bayhs; we need a solid progressive with fire in his belly That's Tim Kaine. Here's a profile by Larry Sabato.

***********************************

By Larry Sabato

We have no earthly idea if Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is Obama's choice for Vice President. All we know is that distinguished reporters who claim to have good sources are calling and saying that Kaine is on the short-short list.

Since the Crystal Ball is based in Virginia, and since we have followed Tim Kaine's career since it began on the Richmond City Council in 1994, we'll offer our readers a brief precis on what Kaine would add to the ticket, and what he would not, should the rumors prove accurate.

As with all potential Veep picks, there are pluses and minuses. Let's start with Kaine's advantages:

1. Personal Chemistry

There can be little doubt that this is the main reason why Obama is looking at Kaine. The first state governor outside Obama's Illinois to endorse Obama for President, Kaine was immediately drawn to the Illinois senator because they are two peas in a political pod. Both Harvard Law graduates with Kansas roots, both attorneys with a central focus on civil rights, and both relatively new to the big leagues, Obama and Kaine clearly like one another and enjoy each other's company.

Obama has realized that a modern Vice President practically lives with the Chief Executive, especially in times of crisis, and he wants someone he can trust completely. One other similarity that some see is less flattering. Obama and Kaine are both supremely self-confident, and their adversaries (and even some of their friends) occasionally detect a hint of hubris and arrogance. On the other hand, we have never known a President or governor who was genuinely humble. That special quality possessed by the meek doesn't go hand in hand with high political office.

2. Emphasis on Domestic Policy

The foremost issue in the minds of voters isn't Iraq or foreign affairs anymore; it's the sour economy and domestic policy. A governor focuses daily on the key components of domestic concern--jobs, education, transportation, health care, and the like. Kaine could speak with self assurance in these fields. Not only has he served as governor, but he was on the Richmond City Council from 1994 to 2001 (when he was elected lieutenant governor), and the Council-elected mayor of Richmond from 1998-2001. As an ambassador to the urban areas of America, Kaine would have credibility.

3. Out-of-Washington Change

It has not escaped anyone's notice that the President is at 25 percent approval, the Congress is around 15 percent, and even the Supreme Court has fallen below 50 percent in some polls. Since Obama has been in Washington barely long enough to learn the street layout, he can avoid the awful, prevailing D.C. taint. Kaine adds emphasis to the 'change' theme since he has no Washington experience of any kind.

4. Virginia

For decades, analysts prematurely proclaimed that the Old Dominion had become the New Dominion, and in the twenty-first century it's finally true. Among the most improbable of 2008's toss-up states, Virginia is on the knife's edge. It is not unreasonable to expect the sitting Governor to add a couple of points to Obama's total. Kaine is popular (mid-50s in most surveys), though not wildly so, as was his predecessor, Mark Warner, who is currently cruising to a big U.S. Senate victory in the state.

Oh, it almost goes without saying that John McCain would have a very difficult time finding the 13 electoral votes he might lose in Virginia. Keep in mind that Virginia has voted Republican in thirteen of the last fourteen presidential contests (save only LBJ's in 1964), and the state is tied for the best GOP record in the nation. Even Georgian Jimmy Carter, who won all the other states of the South, couldn't take Virginia. Defeat in the New Dominion would be a major and perhaps decisive blow to McCain. Could Tim Kaine be the first VP nominee since Lyndon Johnson in 1960 to deliver a critical, toss-up home state for his ticket?

5. Special Qualities

Kaine is Roman Catholic, often described as "devout" even though he is pro-choice in effect while projecting a pro-life image and accepting of the death penalty despite personal opposition to it. Catholics are a swing vote in 2008, and Kaine's Christian religious orientation matches Obama's. This might help with the campaign's much publicized outreach to church-going Americans. Kaine is a former missionary to Honduras and he speaks fluent Spanish, which can only assist in the effort to woo Hispanics.

Kaine is more national than real Virginian (as a native of Virginia, this author can snobbishly suggest this), having been born in Minnesota, having grown up in Kansas, and having attended colleges in Missouri and Massachusetts. Therefore, Kaine has ties to three swing states (MN, MO, and VA). Kaine has a bipartisan dimension, since his father-in-law is Linwood Holton, Virginia's first Republican Governor of the 20th century, who served from 1970 to 1974. Republicans will be quick to add that Holton has long since left the party--Holton says the party left him--and he recently told this author that the only Republican he has voted for in recent times is retiring U.S. Sen. John Warner, a moderate.

Kaine is highly articulate, young (age 50, close to Obama's 46 years), and an accomplished campaigner. As a team, they will look good and make sense, much as the youthful team of Bill Clinton and Al Gore produced synergy for 1992's Democrats. Finally, fulfilling the oldest VP mandate of "first, do no harm", Kaine is squeaky clean and scandal-free, as even his enemies admit, and he is unlikely to commit gaffes or deflect attention from the presidential nominee.

There are no perfect people, and that goes double for VP picks. So Kaine brings certain disadvantages and baggage to Obama, too:

1. Lack of Experience Where It Is Most Needed

Other than the possibility of racial leakage at the polls--the chance that many white voters who would otherwise vote Democratic this year will be unable to cast a ballot for an African-American--there is no greater threat to Obama's victory than his inexperience. With fewer than four years in Washington as a senator, most of which has been spent running for president, plus a stint in the Illinois State Senate, Obama's public office resume is undeniably thin. His recent successful Magical Mystery Tour of eight European and Middle Eastern countries notwithstanding, Obama has little or no foreign policy, military, and national security experience.

Unless one counts foreign trade missions, Kaine has even less knowledge of these areas than Obama. Survey after survey has shown that Americans have a hard time, at least so far, seeing Obama in the role of commander-in-chief. A VP pick with solid background in the military or international arena would be reassuring. Kaine provides no comfort there, and it may cost Obama. Overall, Kaine has executive experience as a mayor and governor that perhaps balances Obama's purely legislative resume. Yet this would be a team whose elective resume is rather skimpy, beginning only in the mid-1990s, with just one truly consequential office each--and not a full term in it for either.

2. The Hillary Factor

Few insiders believe there is a chance Obama will pick Hillary Clinton, despite her near-tie with Obama in popular votes and delegates. The reasons are well known, including lack of personal chemistry and the potential campaign and White House role of Bill Clinton. But given continuing reluctance among some Hillary voters to back Obama, is it a risk for Obama to form a ticket with Kaine, one of his earliest and most ardent backers? Might it not make more sense for Obama to select a former strong Hillary backer--though someone of pleasant personality with whom Obama could forge a working partnership? The obvious name is Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who some say is also on Obama's short-short list.

3. Kaine's Governorship

Few nonpartisan observers in Virginia regard Kaine's tenure in the Governor's Office as particularly successful. Having known every governor since Albertis Harrison (1962-1966) and having studied the records of the dozen most recent governors, I would characterize Kaine's term to this point as belonging to the bottom quartile. To be fair, he has a year and a half to go, and sometimes a Virginia governor can make a final push that raises his grade considerably.

So far, Kaine has had one shining moment after the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, when he handled the tragedy with aplomb--easily on a par with Gov. Frank Keating's management of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 or Gov. Haley Barbour's skill in bringing Mississippi back from the brink of chaos after Hurricane Katrina. But otherwise, his executive tenure has recorded few significant successes and one giant, overriding failure in the transportation field where Kaine hoped to make his mark. Is Kaine solely responsible? Absolutely not.

The Republican House of Delegates, controlled by social conservatives and anti-tax partisans, has been determined not to give Kaine a major achievement. "No more Mark Warners" has been their slogan, believing that the GOP's willingness to work with Kaine's Democratic predecessor to pass a large tax hike created a political juggernaut in Warner, and deeply alienated the right-wing Republican base. Still, even Democratic legislators friendly to Kaine say privately that he is often a distant governor, certainly compared to Warner, inclined to give orders without thorough follow-up and flexibility. Whether Kaine's record as Governor would matter much to a national audience is doubtful, so this may not be much of a threat to Obama.

4. The Aftermath in Virginia

Naturally, Obama would not be especially concerned about the post-Kaine era in Virginia, and given the frustrations of his governorship, one could hardly blame Kaine for grabbing a chance to move up and out--and eventually perhaps have his own shot at the presidency. However, many Virginia Democrats are privately unhappy at the prospect of Kaine leaving in mid-term, potentially the first Virginia governor not to complete the single four-year term since it was established beginning in 1852. That is because Kaine would be succeeded by a deeply conservative Republican lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling.

Undoubtedly and appropriately, Bolling would quickly move to put his own stamp on state government with a new Cabinet, agency heads, and board appointments. Under an agreement previously reached with the now-presumptive 2009 GOP gubernatorial nominee, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, Bolling would be the Republican nominee for a full term. (The election is in November 2009.) Bolling had side-stepped a divisive GOP primary with a grateful McDonnell in order to run for reelection to the lieutenant governorship, but part of their gentleman's agreement--confirmed by both men to me at the time--guaranteed Bolling the nomination if he should succeed to the top spot before the June 2009 nominating deadline. Thus, for the first time since 1852, an incumbent Governor, Bill Bolling, would seek reelection.

While mistakes in office could always deny him the prize, the presumption would be that Virginians would not want three governors in one year. Thus, Kaine's departure could deliver a five-year Bolling governorship, quite possibly followed by a term of McDonnell. (The modern Virginia tradition has been to give a party at least two consecutive terms in the governor's chair, even though the one-term-and-out rule means that different people would be elected every four years.) The Bolling term would include the redistricting year of 2011, possibly enabling Republicans to tenure in their state legislative and U.S. House incumbents for another decade. The Senate of Virginia, narrowly controlled by the Democrats (21 to 19) and dependant upon the good health of an eighty-something incumbent, could also go Republican in 2011, with a GOP governor leading the charge. This would wipe out Democratic momentum in Virginia.

We're jumping way ahead, and perhaps this nightmare scenario for Democrats would be short-circuited somewhere along the way--but it is very much in the minds of senior Virginia Democrats as they contemplate an early Kaine departure for the Vice Presidency. And the top Republicans will hardly believe their luck, if this comes to pass. In all states, gaining the governorship is the key to expanding a party's political control. The Virginia GOP has been deep down and virtually out since 2001, but they may well owe their comeback to a Democratic presidential candidate and a Democratic governor. By the way, this same situation could develop even if Kaine is not chosen VP. A President-Elect Obama would almost certainly offer Kaine a Cabinet post. Were Kaine to take it, Republicans would begin their roll.

Democrats will happily absorb the first half of this essay, while Republicans will eagerly focus on the second half. As always, the Crystal Ball tries to walk in the middle of the road--that six-inch-wide yellow line where you get hit from both sides.

This entire piece of prose is pure speculation, of course. But hasn't it been fun?

Dr. Sabato, the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, founded the Center for Politics in 1998.

From KTUU-TV Channel Two News

Emily Bokar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:07:40 EDT

KTUU-TV Channel Two News
OBAMA SUPPORTERS POUND PAVEMENT
by Heather Balderson
Sunday, July 27, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Volunteers and staff for the Barack Obama campaign spent the afternoon Sunday going door-to-door talking to residents.

With just 100 days to Election Day volunteers in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau hit the pavement to spread the word about Obama's "Campaign for Change."

Rick Gorka, communications director for the McCain campaign, says the camp still has no immediate plans to open an office in Alaska.

He says in a historically Republican state like Alaska the campaign is confident, for now, in continuing to rely on grassroots efforts to keep McCain's message going.

But Obama volunteers hope to capitalize on the success of the February caucuses when a record number of Alaska Democrats showed up to support

"I'm surprised that the McCain campaign hasn't decided to open an office up here yet but we're not taking Alaska for granted," said Obama's Alaska Communications Director Jeff Giertz. "We're pushing forward and making sure we're talking directly to Alaskans about the issues that are important to them and about Sen. Obama's plan to change the direction of this country."

Volunteers say they support Obama's vision for America.

"I am out today canvassing for Barack Obama because I believe in his character and his ability to lead this country in the direction that we need to be going in," volunteer Shelly Morgan said.

The Obama campaign opened offices last week in Fairbanks, Juneau and the Mat-Su Valley.

Interested in helping Barack make more news in Alaska? Sign up to volunteer.

Counterattacking A Viral Attack

Elstun — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:51:43 EDT

>NOTE. The letter referenced in my letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch is reproduced below. The Obama blog doesn’t support fancy fonts so you do not have the benefit of seeing the dizzying array of colorful fonts that gilded the words of Mr. Alvarez. Maybe the newspaper will print my response, maybe not. I am sharing it with you so that maybe you can share it with others who drop this piece of rhetorical “mierda” in your email box. Google "Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook" and you will see the extent that the echo chamber has spread this thing.

An open letter to Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook (Sent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Dear Manuel,

Your thinly-veiled attack on Barack Obama has been making the rounds of the Right-Wing echo chamber from the FreeRepublic.com to Fox Network News.

Your insinuations were forwarded to me by a friend who had received them from an conservative acquaintance. Your words were enhanced with colored fonts and highlights by someone along the way, perhaps anticipating an audience without the intellect to grasp your thrusts in their original form. After reading your words, I decided to write to you. As an Obama supporter and an advocate for change, I am one of the ‘dupes’ that you are targeting with your letter. Not having your address, I am submitting this to the source of your comments, the Richmond Times Dispatch in hopes that they might run it.

I, like you, am a citizen of the United States. Unlike you I am not an immigrant with an ax to grind. I have to judge things here in the United States simply as they have been and how they are now and how I hope things will be in the future. Before George W. Bush this country was more united than it was divided. Before George W. Bush this country was respected in the world. Before George W. Bush this country had a buoyant economy. Before George W. Bush our national guard existed to help combat American disasters. Before George W. Bush we were welcome partners in this hemisphere, North and South. Before George W. Bush our Constitution was the foundation of our freedom. Manuel, many of the great things that once were have been diminished under eight years of George W. Bush and I am looking for a leader who will work to reverse the disasters of the Bush era. So, yes, "Change" is important to me. You see, Manuel, those of us who only know the United States as the great and compassionate country that it once was will work for change and support change because we no longer will accept leadership that diminishes, trivializes and undermines this great country. While I am sure that you look forward to returning to a Free Cuba one day, I am focused only on strengthening the institutions of freedom here in the United States. That is why I see Barack Obama as my choice for change.

Respectfully,

Elstun W. Lauesen II

Letter from a Cuban, READ VERY SLOWLY………

“C H A N G E”

From Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, July 7, 2008 ~

Dear Editor, "Times-Dispatch",

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day, and on July 4 I celebrate America ’s. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.

On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba , and a few months later, I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.

I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said, “Praise the Lord.”

And when the young leader said, “I will be for change and I’ll bring you change”; everyone yelled, “Viva Fidel!”

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner’s guns went silent, the people’s guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received th eir free education, it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented, Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over, more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I’m back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America ?

“C H A N G E”

Would we?

Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook

MEDIA'S 'LIBERAL BIAS' BIAS: Study Says Media Tougher on Obama

Elstun — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:24:01 EDT

>NOTE. The L.A. Times has published a study and, as I pointed out earlier, the media has been 'McWhipped' into being tougher on Senator Obama than the Man-With-Angry-Voices-In-His-Head.

In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias -- but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-onthemedia272008jul27,0,2066363,full.story

Obama's Prayer

Elstun — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:08:21 EDT

By ARON HELLER, Associated Press WriterFri Jul 25, 4:26 PM ET

An Israeli newspaper's decision to publish a handwritten prayer left by Barack Obama in the cracks of Jerusalem's Western Wall drew criticism Friday as an invasion of his privacy and his relationship with God.

In the note, placed at Judaism's holiest site Thursday, Obama asks God to guide him and guard his family.

"Lord — Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will," reads the note published in Maariv.

See the rest of the story:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_obama_s_note

McCain's Prayer:

"Lord, quiet those angry voices in my head and PUL-EEEZE help me keep it together long enough to get through this campaign..."

Bush's Prayer:

"Lord, grant me unconditional immunity from prosecution for abuse of power, war crimes and crimes against humanity...Oh and throw in a new iPhone while you're at it..."

Fox News (Britt Hume) asking a panel of "experts" about Obama's Prayer: "...Don't you find that the prayer revealed a selfish preoccupation with his own safety when we have a world facing threats from terrorism?"

Rush Limbaugh: THERE IT IS FOLKS...IN BLACK AND WHITE...OBAMA THINKS HE TALKS TO GOD...OBAMA THINKS THAT HE IS DOING GOD'S WILL! THIS IS SCARY FOLKS..."

James Dobson: "...Did you hear any mention of Jesus, the Son of God, who Senator Obama 'Claims' as his Savior? I think we can now put to rest who his REAL lord is: the Lord of Abraham who is, must I say it, friends, worshipped by the Muslims as well as the Jews..."

FreeRepublic.Com: "...This is another example of Obama's manipulations of the media...they paid somebody to 'leak' that prayer to the Liberal Media!"

Okay...enough of this silliness.

My point is this: sometimes things are exactly as they appear. Maybe...just maybe, folks...Barack Obama is a spiritual person with a highly evolved consciouosness and no spin is called for.

A Day Brightener on a Rainy Saturday

Andy & Donna Holleman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:14:34 EDT

This is great stuff in the way of newspaper articles and quotes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/us/26policy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

First, there's the obvious fact that after a week abroad, American foreign policy is starting to look a lot more like Barack Obama has some control of it. One is forced to wonder how much more effective he might be as an actual office-holder.

But the real hoot of the above article isthe quote from.....of all people....John Bolton:

“But if you believe as I do that this administration is in the midst of an intellectual collapse, it doesn’t hurt McCain. Occasionally in politics it helps to be right.”

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of what an "intellectual collapse" of THIS administration could look like. I mean.......weren't they the zero plane of reference to start with? Is there a temprature lower than absolute zero??? If it exists on an intellectual scale, it would seem we're headed there, and while there may by only 100 days to the election, there's still about 170 days left in the Bush Administration. A whole school year, if you want to look at it that way.

There is a lot of leverage for positive change between now and the election. It seems to be happening already. What will Bush do in the more than two months after the election is something we need to be ready for when the time comes.

The Promise Land Eludes The McCainaanites...

Elstun — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:10:00 EDT

They burn hecatombs to the gods of the Media. The Lords of the Waste and their Minions have accepted their presumptive leader as their own, albeit begrudgingly. Treasure is offered and the Trolls of the Limbaugh Region have joined the battle. But why, O why hath the Path to the Promised Land thus far eluded them? They accuse the Obamanites of treachery, they rattle their spears toward the heavens and unto the gods with anger: are chimeras released against them? Djinn? Sprites?

What, O what can be the source of their misfortune? Perhaps the McCainaanites should look within.

******************************************************************************

McCain fighting the label 'old and confused'

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 25, 6:04 AM ET

Thomas Nast's political caricatures in the early 1870s so bedeviled New York City's corrupt Boss Tweed that he once bellowed: "Stop them damn pictures! I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures."

Not only can most of us read these days, almost everyone has a TV set. And our late-night comedians provide the exaggerated portraits — fair or not — of our political leaders.

Jimmy Carter? Inept bean counter. Ronald Reagan? Genial dope. George H.W. Bush? Clueless wimp. Bill Clinton? Randy redneck. George W. Bush? Clueless incompetent.

John McCain's caricature is being set: old man. He wisely goes along with the joke — why deny the obvious? — and tries to turn it into a plus. After all, "old" means experienced, especially when compared with a 46-year-old upstart.

But McCain must fight against those who'd add another word to the shorthand: "confused." For a Republican on the verge of turning 72 and campaigning to be commander in chief, being tagged as a confused old man could be an electoral disaster.

A series of gaffes, taken in such a context, has moved McCain toward that danger zone:

• McCain was in Jordan with Sen. Joe Lieberman on March 18 when he asserted that Iranian operatives were aiding al-Qaida fighters in Iraq. Lieberman whispered to him, and McCain corrected himself: Iran was aiding extremists, not al-Qaida.

That distinction — al-Qaida is a Sunni Muslim group while Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim nation — had tripped up McCain a day earlier in a radio interview. The next month, during a Senate hearing on April 8, McCain stumbled again by referring to al-Qaida in Iraq as "an obscure sect of Shiites."

• In an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station on July 9, McCain recalled how he had resisted his Vietnamese captors by refusing to give up the names of his fellow Navy pilots. Instead, he said, he recited the defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Actually, McCain gave the names of Green Bay Packers. At least that's what he claimed in a 1999 memoir.

• McCain has had trouble discussing the Czech Republic. In New Mexico on July 15 for a town-hall meeting he discussed energy supplies in Czechoslovakia. But that country hasn't existed since 1993 when it became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He had made the same mistake the previous day — and back on April 2.

• In an interview with ABC News on July 21, McCain said of Afghanistan, "We have a lot of work to do, and I'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border." In fact, Iraq doesn't border Pakistan.

• McCain told CBS News on July 22 that the additional troops sent to Iraq by President Bush led to "the Anbar awakening," calling it "a matter of history." Actually, the "awakening" — in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaida — began before Bush announced the so-called surge. His defense of the inaccurate statement, delivered in front of the cheese section at a supermarket, didn't help.

All presidential contenders misspeak, of course, and they are amplified by a 24-hour media world. It's what reasonable people make of their mistakes that counts.

For example, Barack Obama's erroneous anecdote, related May 26, about a great-uncle who helped liberate Auschwitz — in reality, it was a subcamp of Buchenwald — suggested some confusion of his own, not a false statement designed to deceive.

More troublesome for Obama was his remark July 23 about how "we" in "my banking committee" approved a Senate bill calling for divestment from Iran. Not true — Obama doesn't serve on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and thus didn't vote on the bill even though he sponsored it. McCain's campaign sought to use the overstatement to further the charge that Obama is eager to take credit for the work of others because he has achieved so little himself.

Because of his age, future fumblings by McCain are likely to draw more attention, especially if they are about the Iraq war, his signature issue. The tipping point would come only if he were to make a mistake when it mattered — during a major speech, a key interview, a presidential debate.

In June 1975, President Ford slipped and fell while getting off Air Force One — nothing serious, an accident that could happen to anyone. Then he stumbled two more times on the same European visit and again, a month later, while climbing the stairs of Air Force One. In spite of Ford's lifetime of athletics, comics began to depict him as a klutz.

A year later, when Ford asserted during a debate with Carter that the Soviet Union didn't dominate Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, the caricature of Ford as a lightweight bumbler seemed all too true. And he lost a close election.

For Obama, the caricature is not quite set. Is he an inexperienced wannabe? A smooth-talking elitist? A naive flip-flopper? As with McCain, age is a part of the portrait — not too many years but too few.

McCain aides would be happy to see Obama depicted as all of the above. But they have to hope their own candidate doesn't suffer more mental stumbles akin to the physical ones that badly bruised Gerald Ford.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Douglass K. Daniel is a writer and editor in the Washington bureau of The Associated Press.

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Who Else Cares about this

Andy & Donna Holleman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:33:52 EDT

If you work in Alaska and you're not Management.........well, that would make you labor.

Take a look at what your co-workers are saying.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=alaska+labor+2008&search_type=&aq=f

The McMedia, McCain and the McWhine Strategy is McWorking!

Elstun — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:56:33 EDT

There are four narratives being pushed by the Right-Wing and their echo-chamber about Barack Obama’s trip to Europe. Each has achieved traction that has served to diminish what should be a remarkable and positive moment for America. Instead of framing his trip, as many Europeans have, as emblematic of the promise of an historic change of direction in American leadership; the Irony Curtain of American Media is casting it as manipulative, dangerous and slyly subversive.

The first and most important narrative tells us that the media coverage of Obama is biased in his favor. Hence any positive images that feed through to us should be suspect. If he screws up, that has extra-impact because the mistake magically made it through the gauzy lens of an adoring media.

Bonnie Erbe of U.S. News sniffs that the Obama campaign has manipulated the media to an extent not witnesses in a recent presidential campaign. Gee, Bonnie…does the Campaign of 2004 and 2000 count as ‘recent presidential campaigns? Does the ‘swift boating’ of Kerry and the now discredited reporting of Al Gore’s ‘love canal’ comments by the New York Times that lead to a stream of false media representations of Gore fed by the Bush campaign qualify as media ‘manipulation’? I cannot resist reminding Bonnie of the latter.

In December, 1999, the news media generated dozens of stories about Gore's supposed claim that he discovered the Love Canal toxic waste dump. "I was the one that started it all," he was quoted as saying. This "gaffe" then was used to recycle other situations in which Gore allegedly exaggerated his role or, as some writers put it, told "bold-faced lies."

But behind these examples of Gore's "lies" was some very sloppy journalism. The Love Canal flap started when The Washington Post and The New York Times misquoted Gore on a key point and cropped out the context of another sentence to give readers a false impression of what he meant.

The error was then exploited by national Republicans and amplified endlessly by the rest of the news media, even after the Post and Times grudgingly filed corrections.

So if we are to believe critics like Ms Erbe, Obama’s campaign out-manipulates the two Bush campaigns?

If you believe her, I have some yellow cake from Niger to sell you.

The second narrative is the dark magic of suggestive failure. Like the critical Aunt who chastises us to not leave the yard because we will have an accident, get lost or get abducted by a stranger, this narrative talks darkly of ‘risk’ and ‘failure’ and the dire consequence of a ‘mistake’. Blogger Bob Cesca documents the following:

On Tuesday's edition of Morning Joe, Mika Brzeznski, Andrea Mitchell and Very Serious Mark Halperin (who publicly encouraged Senator McCain to convince people that Senator Obama is a terrorist) agreed that after three days of reporting the actual news that Senator Obama's overseas visit was successful, they should deliberately attempt to "trip him up" -- to "hold him accountable."

The third narrative tells that Barack Obama’s trip overseas is "presumptuous". This is the ‘how DARE he…" narrative.

Again, Cesca:

AP: "In a speech that risked being seen as presumptuous..."

TIME Magazine: "capable to become the Commander in Chief of a superpower -- without seeming presumptuous..."

The National Journal: "He is well aware voters here at home might see that as presumptuous..."

Washington Post: "Whether by the end of this week he will be seen as presumptuous or overly cocky..."

Chicago Tribune: "That means walking the fine line between looking presidential and appearing arrogant and presumptuous..."

Boston Globe: "plus the growing sense in some quarters that the presumptive Democratic nominee is getting a little presumptuous..."

Finally, the fourth narrative is the Xenophobic Narrative. There is something subversive about a candidate campaigning in Europe. This plays into the dry tinder of the wooden minds that still call their French fries ‘freedom fries’. It might spark a fire as the Rush wind blows between their ears. Lou Dobbs bares his oversized teeth as he growls his question to the panel of talking heads, "Why is he campaigning over there…Isn’t he running for president of the United States?"

Media commentator Paul Janench finds it ironic that McCain’s people whine about the swooning of the news media over Obama. …In the past, journalists did a lot of swooning over McCain – the war hero and political maverick on his Straight Talk Express. What about the scant coverage of McCain’s visits to other countries in the Western Hemisphere earlier in the year?
They were hardly as significant as Obama’s week-long trip. In just the first few days, Obama was in two war zones. Sure, the video footage and the photos of him with the troops were great public relations. But his trip also is generating real news. For example, the prime minister of Iraq seemed to agree with Obama’s time table for the redeployment of U.S. troops by the middle of 2010.

What the overseas trip of Senator Obama reveals is less about him than the media and less about his ability to manipulate the media than the capacity for the media to manipulate itself. Ironically, the current capacity for self-manipulation derives from a consciousness of those employed by the media of past failures. Besides the manipulations mentioned in the presidential races above, the failure of the media to be more critical of the manipulations of the Bush White House after 9-11, leading up to the war in Iraq is part of the new journalistic consciousness. The 'media' is so determined not to be fooled again that they are falling for the criticism on the Right like a bunch of McFools.

Anti-Obama 'Skepticism' Is The New "Political Correctness"

Elstun — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:49:23 EDT

>NOTE.

For the last two days I have been trying to follow the progress of Senator Obama's trip abroad. What I have seen mostly, however, is a concerted effort by the talking heads in the media to "tamp down" and diminish the historic character and spirit of this mission. Perhaps in an effort to be "fair and balanced" a la Fox News, Lou Dobbs, for example, bared his teeth through a half-hour panel discussion by a trio of skepical panelists who emphasized the potential for 'disaster' and virtually called upon the reporters to ferret out the weaknesses, stumbles and mistakes that may occur. But Lou Dobbs is not alone. Of Course there is Fox and their panelists--almost to a person grousing about the pro-Obama media bias. It is sickening to see this snarling and spitefulness chewing at the heels of what should be viewed as the emergence of a American renewal on the world stage after 8 years of demonic possession by the Dark Priests of the Bushniks. McCain would make more points with Independents if he made supportive sounds rather than attacking Senator Obama...there will, after all, be plenty of time for attacks later.

In this sense, I really do appreciate Arianna Huffington's contrarian piece that appeared today.

Arianna Huffington: Tell Me Again, Why Is Obama Being Popular With Our Allies a Bad Thing?

I understand why John McCain's campaign is desperately looking for negatives in Obama's overseas trip, claiming "people in Missouri" aren't "going to like seeing tens of thousands of Europeans screaming" for Obama. But why have so many in the media internalized this claptrap? People like Gloria Borger, who said on CNN that Obama doesn't "want to be seen having too many adoring people after him in Europe," and the Baltimore Sun's Paul West, who warned: "European adulation for Obama will make him the continent's poodle." Of course, at no point does the McCain campaign or anyone in the media point out what, exactly, is the danger to America if our closest allies actually, you know, don't hate us. Click here to read more.

Why care?

Ryan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:34:20 EDT

For as far back as I can remember, the United States has always been symbolic of "the great experiment," whether all nations and all peoples could coexist within the same national barriers. I believe in order to wield such a phenomenal human potential one should have an elevated sense of vision and responsibility. I've seen this power misused for too long, feeding off our fears, creating hopelessness, anger, pain and alienation. As our power to influence the international community wanes, one man steps out and declares that in order to gain international respect, we must act respectfully to other nations, and lead not by force, but by example. Barack Obama has become the candlelight we've been so desperately needing in these shadowed times.

I support Senator Obama because I see in him a catalyst for a brighter tomorrow. I see an embodiment of a moral leader, one of humanist attributes, who sees the world through a global filter, respecting all nations on principle alone.

I see this country falling once again to the failed lessons of the business dominated culture of the guilded age. I've seen for too long in our nation's history the use of fear to consolidate support in one hand, while the other sees to the complete destruction of international understanding and peace. I see the poor become poorer due to ever increasing cost of life coupled with the stagnation of low wages, the ill refusing medical treatment due to fear and a lack of the great privilege of good health care and a boy's dream of going to college in hopes of breaking the cycle of poverty shattered due to the cost of education.

Barack Obama represents the belief in our better nature. He knows understanding is created through education. He not only hears our voices of hope, our cries of desperation and our screams of fear... He listens. I refuse to wait another lifetime for his spirit to rise again. I take action for hope, I take action for people, I take action for Barack Obama.

Obama making the right moves!

Vickie — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:42:08 EDT

The present decision that Obama is making to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan is correct, he is making all the right moves. I believe the McCain camp is trying to create confusion for voters in regards to why Obama is visiting these areas but if people reflect back on statements that McCain made a couple of weeks ago, stating that he challenges Obama to travel to these destinations with him, they will see that at that time McCain was for Obama visiting those regions. McCain is upset that Obama didn't take him, because McCain wanted him to see only what McCain thought would be relevant! Obama is now free to see things on his terms and for Americans this is a better scenario, no games.

Rain-Krauthammer-Keillor

Ganeshaka — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:48:32 EDT

Is this a gloomy summer in Anchorage or what? I'll bet KBEAR radio could switch its format from country to emo - and nobody would notice! I'm sure Andrew Halcro will soon leak the news on his blog that the rain is part of Palin's insidious plan to hijack the capitol to Wasilla, by beginning with the weather.

I was annoyed by Krauthammer's Op-Ed column the other day in the Daily News pontificating that Obama hasn't "earned" the right to speak at the Brandenberg Gate, while Reagan did. How? By being fascist Governor of California? By being lucky enough to be in office when the USSR finally ran out of rubles and vodka? Puhh-leeze. I would think, considering that Bush has brought the USA close to a Day Zero - a collapse like Germany experienced in 1945 - that the Brandenberg Gate is a perfect site to speak about rebuilding and re-unifying The USA, and who better than a fresh face. I bet Chancellor Merkel would even enjoy a shoulder rub - if it came from Barack.

And, being an old crusty dude, myself, I saluted Garrison Keillor's comments in his column, today, that he was heartened by Obama's move to the center. He put it nicely by saying he was pleased to have a Democratic candiate that appeared intent on not handing the election to the rightwingers. Way to go, Garrison, on this balmy, dreamy - or Not - July afternoon in Anchorage.

Alaskans suffer nation's highest gasoline prices

Elstun — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:28:33 EDT

>Note: I just returned from a great meeting with Donna Brazile who is traveling to Alaska in behalf of the Obama Campaign. The small conference room at CIRI was packed and there was terrific audience participation. What a stellar group of 'opinion leaders' as they called us--it made me proud to be an Alaskan! One of the points made by Georgiana Lincoln was that there was a need for Ms Brazile and Senator Obama, if he comes to the state, to visit a village. This Reuters popped up on the newsfeed today...

By Yereth Rosen

Fri Jul 18, 11:51 AM ET

Think you're feeling pain at the gas pump? Consider the residents of Lime Village, Alaska, an isolated Denaina Athabascan Indian community where gasoline prices have hit $8.55 a gallon.

The price is severely curtailing movement around the interior Alaska village, where four-wheelers are sitting idle, said Ursula Graham, administrator for the Lime Village Traditional Council.

"Nobody's going on joy rides, that's for sure," Graham said.

Alaska, despite its status as a major crude oil producer, has the highest average gasoline prices of all U.S. states, according to the American Automobile Association. Alaska prices averaged $4.65 a gallon for regular gasoline on Friday, compared with a national average of $4.10, according to AAA.

Neal Fried, an economist with the Alaska department of labor, said the ironic situation reflects the hard reality that the state's small population hinders economies of scale and market competition.

"Even if you take all of Alaska into account, it's a pretty small marketplace," he said.

High oil prices have helped the state government, which relies on oil taxes, royalties and fees for at least 80 percent of its general operating revenue. Alaska reaped more than $10 billion in oil revenue in the just-completed fiscal year, double the oil revenue of the previous fiscal year.

Fried noted that North Slope oil development is bustling, which would not be the case if oil were $30 a barrel.

"There are more people working on the Slope than we've ever counted before," he said.

But high fuel prices pinch individual Alaskans, especially in rural areas with no outside road access, where shipments of petroleum products require extraordinary and costly efforts.

DOG SLEDS

Fuel that goes to Lime Village is sent 1,800 miles by barge from Anchorage to the southwestern Alaska hub of Bethel, transferred to another barge for a trip up then Kuskokwim River and then flown by small plane to its final destination. Of a representative sample of Alaska communities, Lime Village had the highest fuel prices, according to a recent University of Alaska Anchorage study.

Gov. Sarah Palin has proposed using some of Alaska's fat budget surplus to send one-time $1,200 energy-relief checks to all state residents, to suspend the state's 8 cent-per-gallon gasoline tax and other measures for immediate assistance.

The legislature is considering her request in an ongoing special session.

Meanwhile, in Lime Village, boat trips on the Stony River are fewer and more carefully planned. Villagers combine tasks such as checking fish nets and collecting firewood, Graham said.

One man even moved his fish camp, smokehouse and all, from an outer area to the midst of the village so that he could avoid the boat trip entirely.

Residents like the idea of a $1,200 payment from the state, Graham said. But long-term solutions remain elusive.

"Going back to dog teams is an option," she said. "It's kind of a joke, but not a joke."

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by David Gregorio)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

GOP 'SOFTEN UP' THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA BEFORE BARACK'S EURO TRIP

Elstun — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:23:29 EDT

So let me see if I've got this straight. The Republicans are "up in arms" because Barack Obama is visiting Europe and the trip is "political". Close coordination between the Bush-friendly German Prime Minister Merkel and American counter-parts have already infected the media with a Right-Wing virus about her "concern" over a planned Obama speech at Brandenberg Gate.

All this breast-beating on the Right about Senator Obama's European trip is targeting one audience: the American media. With three news Anchors set to roll with the Obama Trip, the GOP hounds are howling that this will be undeserved coverage and that the trip is "entirely" political. They are blasting the three networks as "sycophantic".

Oh my, a foriegn trip by a candidate for president is political? As he has always demonstrated, John McCain never, ever does what he is accusing his oppponent of doing.

In February, the McCainaanites cancelled a planned trip to meet with Gordon Brown and address a German security conference so McCain could "wrap things up" in the Republican primary. He had not yet dispatched Romney and that pesky Huckabee.

There were no political considerations affecting his travel plans in this case; just unfinished business.

In March, McCain took a well-publicized trip to Europe and Iraq. As the March 15 Washington Post reported: "Strategists for Sen. John McCain, here speaking in Springfield, Pa., say his meetings with Middle Eastern and European leaders will show voters his foreign policy experience..."

Nothing political about that.

Then, earlier this month, McCain took off to visit Columbia in South America along with an embedded Fox News reporter. And, as reported by Fox's Fin Gomez, the purpose of the trip was to: "...further contrast himself, and his extensive foreign policy record against, what the McCain campaign considers an Obama weakness."

Nothing political there either.

Here's what the real strategy is: To beat up the MSM anchors so much that they will be falling all over themselves to be "fair and balanced"--that is, criticising the hell out of the Obama campaign to pre-empt criticism by the Right.

This strategy will probably work.Which is why the MSM is no longer active newsies source of info; unfortunately, the intellectually lazy mental fatasses (ILMFs) who are traditionally late to the election game do rely on the MSM. And the ILMFs are the collateral in the so-called battle for the middle. Bottom Line: McCain and the GOPPERZ may be marginally effective in their preemption of what promises to be an overwhelmingly powerful media event when Barack rocks Europe.

Mars and Alaska

Elstun — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:26:29 EDT

Question: when will we turn the Red Planet Blue?

************************************************************************

Lee Pullen
Astrobiology Magazine
SPACE.com 50 minutes ago

Little did Bucknell University geology professors Craig Kochel and Jeffrey Trop know, as they were working in Alaska, that they would soon predict one of the most important planetary observations ever made.

The pair was in Alaska for an eight-day trip in July 2006, studying geological features and the processes that create them. As they studied photographs taken of the surrounding area, some features caught Kochel's eye. He thought they were strangely familiar, and then realized they reminded him of images he'd seen when working on the Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s.

Kochel and Trop trekked to where the shots were taken overlooking a glacier. Spotting triangle-shaped landforms called "fans" sealed the deal: They looked strikingly similar to photographs taken of features on Mars.

Mystery solved

Although geologists can usually tell what shapes the landscape around us, it was a mystery what formed the Mars-like features found in Alaska.

The conditions on Mars are quite different than anything experienced on Earth. For example, Mars is much colder than even the Arctic — the average martian temperature is -81 degrees F (-63 degrees C) — and the planet's atmospheric pressure is lower than Earth's. Still, for the same features to be present on Earth and Mars, the two professors suspected similar processes would have made them.

They had just over a week in Alaska to discover what created the glaciers and fans.

During this time they managed to see an impressive 289 events, including rock falls and floods. The vast majority of these events were snow and ice avalanches. The frequency of these avalanches astounded the scientists, who reasoned that climate change was the most likely culprit. As temperatures rise, the glaciers pull back, creating large areas where ice has been separated. Material can fall down these cracks and lead to avalanches. This was creating the features seen in Alaska, and perhaps the same thing had happened on Mars.

An astounding prediction

Realizing the importance of this discovery, Kochel and Trop presented their findings to a NASA lunar and planetary science meeting. Their comparisons were based on older photographs of Mars, but the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was sending back new pictures which further confirmed the idea of avalanches on Mars.

Kochel and Trop explained that with a bit of luck and good timing, it would be possible to snap photographs of martian avalanches.

Amazingly, soon afterwards the orbiter sent back images of an ice flow avalanche in action on Mars. Pieces of ice, dust and possibly rocks crashed down from high, steep areas, sending clouds of fine material billowing upwards. The cloud itself was about 590 feet (180 meters) across. The exact cause of the avalanche isn't known with certainty, but it could be because the sun warmed layers of ice.

This was the first time an avalanche had been observed on another world, and was the perfect confirmation of Kochel and Trop's ideas.

Valuable research

Studies like this help us understand the changes that take place during periods of climate variation. They also show that although planets like the Earth and Mars are very different places, in many ways they can be astoundingly similar.

The details of this paper will also be of interest to astrobiologists. Searching for water on other worlds is thought to be a key step toward finding life, and understanding how the water cycle takes place on Mars will help scientists make more accurate predictions. Couple water with a dynamic world experiencing changes to its landscape, and Mars looks all the more promising for life.

Kochel and Trop's research paper was published in the July issue of the journal Icarus.

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Monumental Change

Ganeshaka — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:40:07 EDT

You can't avoid those JibJab videos no matter how hard you try. Someone, my spouse perhaps, dragged me to the flatscreen this morning to see Time For Campaigin' And lo! I had a vision...kinda Pixar-y...but a vision nonetheless.

Someday, in the not too distant future, there will be monumental change. Yes, in the North, green patinaed statues of Revolutionary War heroes with muskets and powder horns will topple. In the South, pigeon coated horse and rider likenesses of Col. Jeremiah T. Goldenpone and his horse Lucretius will topple. And in village greens of small towns everywhere, even West Virginia and north Pennsylvania, rainbowhued obelisks mounted by the figure of Obama on a Sparkly Unicorn will be installed in ceremonies replete with balloons, cakes with pink icing, hiphop stylings and fist bumps galore. Be afraid Conservatives. Be very afraid.

We're here, we're near, we've got unicorns and even the Young Republicans can't stop us (because -tada- male virgins laps don't work on unicorns).

Is McCain A Luddite?

Elstun — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:50:45 EDT

>Note. The article below the cartoon is from a Silicon Valley blog. The author expresses disbelief at Senator McCain's lack of technological savvy. The cartoon I found when I googled 'luddite'. Please click 'view full post' to see the article.