Ohioans For Obama

What a privilege! Thank you Scranton!

Peter and Linda — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:15:04 EDT

This past weekend, we went to Pennsylvania to help to get out the vote for Barack. After an exhausting effort of making phone calls and canvassing, the weekend was capped off with our attendance at the "Change We Need" Rally in Scranton. Having the honor to participate in such an event was extremely rewarding.

Dr. Jill Biden kicked off the rally and was amazing and eloquent. She then turned it over to President Clinton. The President was only outdone by Hillary. She spelled out the importance of an Obama - Biden administration for the hard working middle class people of Pennsylvania. When Senator Biden spoke, he captivated the audience, with his powerful message. Barack and Joe are for us ... all of us ... no doubt about it.

Obama and Biden have laid out a plan for the economy, education and healthcare. McCain and Co. have nothing, except to criticize, smear and lie, trying to use the scare tactics of previous Republican nominees. Fortunately for all of us, their trickery isn't working in 2008.

We just wanted to share our excitement and pride for having had the opportunity to get Obama's message out and being privileged to attend the rally.

God bless Barack and Joe and may God bless America.

Peter and Linda Realmuto
OBAMA '08

Tell CNN to Reprimand Glenn Beck

Anne Miller — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:25:48 EDT

To everyone at CNN:

I am writing to impress upon you my utter disgust with the depths to which Mr. Glenn Beck has descended. It is my considered opinion that he deserves the name of neither journalist nor pundit. He does not belong on the airwaves on any network known as a respected news source.

Amid a national election widely acknowledged as the most important in a generation, when we are facing the worst economic crisis in 75 years, Mr. Beck has thrown his weight behind the cause of distraction and misinformation. I am referring, for starters, to his recent repetitions of baseless charges against ACORN, an advocacy organization for low-income Americans.

This group's valiant efforts to increase participation in our democratic system among the poor and disenfranchised have, indeed, led to a small percentage of bogus voter registration forms being turned into state boards of election around the country. There exists, however, no evidence--NONE WHATSOEVER--that the group has caused, fostered, or participated in a single act of "voter fraud" anywhere, at any time.

The charge that ACORN caused or even partially contributed to the sub-prime lending crisis would be laughable, if it were not so meanly intended to undermine the work of a decent organization. If CNN truly stands for "no bias and no bull," then you have an obligation to set the record straight. Please instruct Mr. Beck to cease and desist from broadcasting these groundless claims.

Of course, Beck's real reason for smearing ACORN is to tar Barack Obama with the brush of voter fraud and similarly unfounded claims. He went still further in a recent program, calling Mr. Obama a "Marxist" and "dirty." Need I point out that the latter remark is nothing but an insult and the former patently false? At a time when racist mob attitudes are incited among Ms Palin's followers, who call daily for Obama's death, it could hardly be less becoming for Beck to fan the flames with these incendiary charges.

Worst of all were his remarks last week about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In case you don't recall, Mr. Beck said that this sitting Senator should "have his stomach cut open and a half-starved weasel thrown in." Regardless of one's opinion of the Wall Street bailout, such ugly remarks are offensive in the extreme. Mr. Beck's disgusting rhetoric is a purely negative contribution to our public discourse. It is unworthy of your organization, and I appeal to you to reprimand him in no uncertain terms.

With sincere thanks for your attention to my concerns,

Anne Miller, Ph.D.
Pullman WA 99163

Anyone Remember Bush's "National Homeownership Month, 2006"

La Susa — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:07:37 EDT

National Homeownership Month, 2006
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

White House News

Owning a home is an important part of the American dream. During National Homeownership Month, we raise awareness of homeownership and encourage more Americans to consider the benefits of owning their own home.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans enjoy the satisfaction of owning their own home, and my Administration continues to promote an ownership society where the promise of America reaches all our citizens. The American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003 is helping thousands of low to moderate income and minority families with downpayment and closing costs, which represent the greatest barrier to homeownership. Since 2002, when I announced our goal to help 5.5 million minorities become homeowners by the end of this decade, the rate of minority homeownership has climbed above 50 percent, and more than 2.5 million minority families have become new homeowners. My Administration will continue to provide counseling and assistance for new homebuyers and expand homeownership opportunities for all Americans.

During National Homeownership Month and throughout the year, we applaud the men and women who work to achieve the dream of homeownership, and we are grateful for those who provide counseling, lending, real estate, construction, and other services to these individuals. The hard work, financial discipline, and personal responsibility of our country's homeowners help transform neighborhoods throughout our Nation and reflect the best qualities of America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 2006 as National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join me in building a more hopeful society and recognizing the importance of expanding the ownership of homes across our great Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060524-6.html

ACORN Voter Fraud and County Clerks?

La Susa — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:02:56 EDT

Arn't County Clerks able to check for duplicate SS#'s voter registrations through their computer systems? As I doubt very much that ACORN is the only group out there involved in voter fraud! What's the scoop?

A Flag and Blue Ribbons for Senator Barack Obama

Vanessa — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:31:36 EDT

You do not have an Obama sign on your yard yet?There may be many reasons for that. Your neighborhood do not allow yard signs in the yard; you had one but it was recently stolen; you ordered one but did not arrived yet; you are looking for one but they are difficult to find.Do you want to show your support for Sen. Barack Obama, because you care for America and want to see a Change so needed in this great nation?There are a few days left!!Take action; decorate your house with an American flag and Blue Ribbons. Be creative, add BO and JB blue letters decorate your pumpkin or put an American flag on your seasonal scarecrow.If you want you can post a picture of your ideas on this post as a comment.

And most important of all VOTE EARLY, so that the campaign can concentrate the energy where is needed.

"That's The Big Dipper Up There, Honey. We Used To Navigate By Stars When I Was In The Navy."

Hussein The Hope Monger — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:25:35 EDT

Fired UP!!

McCain is a taker. Why are people voting for him then?

Dave — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:26:30 EDT

McCain has outlined a tax cut plan that will give nothing to ordinary Americans who are faced with rising gas prices, loss of their homes and expensive healthcare options. Why would anyone want to vote for his plans? All conditions being favourable, Obama was always supposed to win this election by a landslide. However, you will always have some people who are in denial. Hence, they would prefer to vote for more of the same.

Barack Sees Green Economy On the Horizon in Lucas County

Michael in Ohio — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:52:07 EDT

Barack addressed a riled up crowd here in the Sea Gate Convention Center in Toledo, where prior to his appearance, excitement to have him in town (for 4 days!) boiled over into never heard before chants of "We Will, We Will, Barack You!" and "Bye Bye Bush! Bye Bye Bush!" Even during his speech, in this dark but spacious Convention Hall, they hooped and hollered and even stomped on the risers, to thunderous effect. But they paid attention when attention was due, because as Barack says, "These are serious times."

Local Field Organizer Jesse urged everyone in the crowd to not only vote early but vote today, and do their share of the work to reach out to voters, mentioning the "collective power of small action." Senator Sherrod Brown, who has become all but a fixture on campaign stops, mentioned that Lucas County had the potential to be a leader in the alternative energy sector, and it was a common theme throughout the day. A fellow who had been laid off his job for fourteen weeks made an appropriate introduction for Barack, who took this opportunity to roll out the steps of his Rescue Plan for the Middle Class:

The first involves the thing that's on everyone's mind, and it's easy to spell: J-O-B-S.
We are going to take a cue from Toledo, which has become a leader in solar panel technology...

Barack fleshed out the rest of his 4 step plan:

A New American Jobs Tax Credit - a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.
Relief to Families - penalty-free withdrawals of up to 15% of retirement savings from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009.
Relief to Homeowners - a 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners that are acting in good faith in their efforts to pay their mortgages.
A Lending Facility to Address the Credit Crisis for States and Localities - the Federal Reserve and the Treasury should work to establish a facility to lend to state and municipal governments.

He called on everyone to participate in the fiscal responsibility that Wall Street has so brazenly bucked in the last eight years, and that the nation will need to demonstrate to overcome this crisis:

We have to break that cycle of debt.
We have to take responsibility for living within our means.

As a city that has seen much better days, but never more potential progress, Toledo was the perfect place for Barack to lay the foundation of his plan to rescue America's economy.

New MISSOURI Poll: Obama Up BIG: 51%-43%

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:55:40 EDT

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/13/122040/99/317/629224

Obama 51%

McCain 43%

Obama +22% in St Louis

106-year-old voter chooses Obama

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:48:21 EDT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7665925.stm

Wow she is a Roman Catholic Nun

ND still a battleground state?

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:52:45 EDT

http://m.in-forum.com/news.cfm?page=news_article_full&id=218215

This poll has Obama 45% McCain 43%

Why is she still on the ticket?

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:46:00 EDT

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/10/palin-abused-power-but-didnt-break-law-in-trooper-case/

She broke the law, she should be thrown off

The Human Valium

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:03:07 EDT

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-human-valiu.html

The calm in the storm?

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

Obama's not-so-secret weapon in an international crisis: his calm. McCain's not-so-secret liability in a tense election: his hotheadedness. This race is about policy and the times. But it is also about temperament and character. That's why, in my judgment, it has broken so clearly in Obama's direction. He actually reassures and he manages not to take the bait almost all of the time. More to the point, he gets his opponents to destroy themselves, while he glides forward:

McCain never seemed to learn from the Clintons’ misjudgment of their rival. A key element of Obama’s strategy is classic rope-a-dope. He gets his opponents to splutter with irritation as “that one”, as McCain contemptuously described Obama in last Tuesday’s debate, glides towards them in the polls. He does his thing, raises masses of money, keeps his staff in perfect order and focuses on issues and themes. He can segue from the inspirational agent of change of the spring to the reassuring conventional pol of the autumn without anyone really noticing the seams. That takes political skill. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.

Obama rarely directly attacks. He subtly baits. His most brilliant rope-a-dope of the entire campaign was against Bill Clinton in the spring.

In a newspaper interview, Obama cited Ronald Reagan as the last transformational president. He didn’t mention Clinton. The former president was offended by being implicitly dissed, took the bait and unleashed a series of unwise public scoffs at the young Democrat, culminating in a dismissal of Obama as another Jesse Jackson. Suddenly, black Democrats abandoned Clinton’s wife, and the Clintons’ base collapsed. Obama merely stepped out of the way as the Clintons self-destructed. He didn’t just end their campaign; he helped to bury their reputation.
And that’s exactly how Obama has handled McCain.

The rest here.

Not This Time!

Brian Normoyle — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:23:18 EDT

Looks like all the hard work of so many Obama supporters is continuing to pay off.

Here's the great news: all the national polls have moved in our direction and Barack Obama continues to hold a statistically significant advantage over John McCain.

The bad news? Anything can happen between now and November 4th. Believe me, the McCain-Palin campaign is going to throw everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink at American voters in a desperate attempt to distract them from the campaign's failed policies and lack of vision. We've seen it all before and, God knows, we're already seeing it again.

Their tactics grow more and more divisive everyday as they "fire up" some of the least savory elements of their base. We see their pessimism in newspaper columns and online, we hear the fear-mongering in Palin's speeches laden with thinly veiled innuendo and flagrant untruth, and we can sense the hate shouted from the mouths of their angry supporters at rallies. This is certainly not the hopeful future of America that I dream about and I doubt it's the positive vision that you wish for our country either. But here's some good news: we have the chance to do something about it right now!

Now is not the time to grow complacent or cocky or to take the outcome of this election for granted. All of us care far too much about this country and its future to wake up on Wednesday, November 5th with the same sense of disbelief we felt in 2000 and 2004.

Remember that feeling? I do. But I have a three-word prescription for that potential post-election hangover: NOT THIS TIME. Not this election. Not this year. Not now. NOW is the time to:

Take a step and do what you can to take a stand against divisiveness and the Rove-style politics of the past.
Take a second to take back America by showing the nation we not only deserve and are hungry for a new brand of politics, we are willing to give whatever we can to fight back against the negativity, the fear-mongering and the hate.
Take a moment to move this country in a more positive direction, one that looks forward--not backward--towards our future, towards our potential and to all of our unrealized possibilities.
Take a minute, take action and take ownership of this campaign!

Click here to visit my official and secure Barack Obama page and donate whatever amount you can afford right now. Whether it's $5, $10, $25, $50 or more, participation is what matters and every dollar really does count. Remember that Obama built his entire campaign on the support of millions of average Americans like you and me who gave whatever they could, and his campaign needs the continued support of all of us at this crucial moment.

There are only three weeks left in this campaign. We will win on November 4th, but only with as much help right now from as many of us as possible.

DONATE NOW: http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/BrianNormoyle

Obama Scores 15 Newspaper Endorsements on Sunday

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:27:36 EDT

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/12/232849/90/657/628860

Oh my, now that is a great day

ABC Poll: Obama Winning Every Age

colonial82 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:19:47 EDT

http://abcnews.go.com/politics/PollTracker/fullpage?id=5611512

http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1076a2ElectionofOurDiscontent.pdf

Obama is winning EVERY age group, see the different graphs

Likely Voters:

Obama 53%

McCain 43%

REGISTERED VOTERS (THEY HIDE IT):

Obama 54%

McCain 41%

My email to the station manager of WCMH TV, Columbus

Patrick Frank — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:09:07 EDT

Some of the statements made by McCain-Palin camp have been extremely inflammatory. Palin, especially, has ginned up hatred and racist sentiment; threatening statements have been shouted out..."Kill him," Off with his head." Fortunately, in the past few days, McCain has made statements defending Obama, to the effect that Obama is a decent man, and folks need not be afraid of him.

Some of the McCain-Palin ads have been extremely inflammatory as well.

I am reminded of Liz Trotta's statement during the primary, to the effect that she wishes that Obama could be "bumped off." I was so disturbed by her statement (which I heard with my own ears) that I filed a complaint with the FCC..."Not in the public interest..."

The media needs to take seriously the possibility that when right-wing extremists are pandered to, the threat level for Obama is increased.

Do you want harm to Obama to be on your conscience?

Thanks for listening.

Patrick Frank
Grassroots Obama volunteer
Box 1283
Kingstree, SC 29556
(843) 372-8851
patrickgfrank@yahoo.com

Can we try doing this!?

Cyndioh — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:31:46 EDT

My husband just wrote Mr. Plouffe and we hope he receives this letter. Below is the idea my husband has I we both think this would be a powerful way to send our message as Americans who want REAL change! Please read the letter and pass it on to those who can help coordinate this!

Thanks,

Cyndi

Dear Mr. Plouffe,

I have never written a letter to the campaign manager of any presidential candidate until today. Although my email address indicates I live in New York (I used to), I now live in Columbus, OH with my wife Cyndi and her 3 children. We have each worked in one capacity or another in support of Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden. We would each like to give the campaign one more day of commitment but we would like to do it in a certain way.

We would like to suggest a day of rallies for the Obama/Biden campaign that would occur on the same day, at the same time, in every city across the country that has an Obama/Biden campaign office, to show that the American people truly want change and that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the people to bring it. This might sound like a lofty idea but in this age of technology and the internet, some amazing things have already taken place in this campaign. These rallies could deliver an October surprise the likes of which have never been seen before in American politics. They might also give John McCain and Sarah Palin an idea about who Barack Obama really is and what the American people really want.

I know that Barack is ahead in the polls. I truly believe he can win this election. I believe just as ademently that John McCain and Sarah Palin will never be the right choice for this country, especially in these times we are living in.

My hope is that this email reaches you and, if it does, that you seriously consider our suggestion. As I stated earlier, this may be a lofty idea but ... many worthwhile and important things have come from just those kinds of ideas.

Sincerely,
Lou McAfee
Columbus, OH

Barack Knocks for Barack in Toledo!

Michael in Ohio — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:56:19 EDT

As any volunteer knows, the Campaign for Change in Ohio holds canvassing sessions every weekend, where supporters go door-to-door to talk to voters about why Barack Obama is their choice for President. This, along with phone calls to voters, is the meat-and-potatoes of the voter outreach field effort, and such neighbor-to-neighbor interaction has been proven to have more of an effect than any other sort of less direct contact. These door-to-door outings are often called "Weekly Walks," or "Knock for Barack." Sometimes canvassing can be tiring and frustrating, but it is the most important thing anyone can do.

But today in Toledo, proving that no one is above anyone in this movement, Barack himself knocked for Barack. Just like any other volunteer, he went door-to-door to bring his platform of change to the people in Lucas County. He carried a walk list, and marked voters on a scale from 1 to 5 depending on their level of support.

He listened to their concerns and spoke to the solutions he would propose as President. Conversations involved the auto industry, the credit crisis, health care, and other day-to-day things on the minds of the people of Toledo.

Barack has clearly developed an affinity for the Buckeye State. He made five stops on Thursday and Friday (Dayton, Cincinnati, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, and Columbus), and is staying in the Toledo area from now until Wednesday to prepare for the debate that night.

But between the cheering rallies and the strategy sessions, there may be nothing Barack does during his stay in Ohio that better sums up the meaning of the grass roots organization that this movement has built than knocking doors in Toledo. It's proof that change comes from the bottom up... and then to the bottom again.

Be a part of that change. Knock doors like Barack.

Congressman Says McCain 'Sowing Seeds of Hatred' by The Associated Press, NYT

Edie "Hussein" M. Ph.D. — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:40:50 EDT

Full Article:

The New York Times

Congressman Says McCain 'Sowing Seeds of Hatred'

Saturday 11 October 2008

by: The Associated Press

Congressman John Lewis has said that the negative rhetoric of the McCain-Palin campaign reminds him of the violent hatred during the 1960's. (Photo: Getty Images)

Washington - Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.

Republican candidate John McCain on Saturday called Lewis' remarks "shocking and beyond the pale."

The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator doesn't believe McCain or his policy criticism is at all comparable to Wallace and his segregationist policies.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lewis said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," said Lewis, who is black. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

One of the seminal events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Four black girls died in the blast, which was linked to a Ku Klux Klan group.

Late Saturday, Lewis released another statement saying it was not his "intention or desire" to directly compare McCain or Palin to Wallace.

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," he said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

Lewis' comments follow widely reported examples of anger at McCain rallies that has been aimed at Obama, the first black man to be a major party's nominee for president. During some rallies featuring McCain and Palin, supporters have shouted "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar" and even "off with his head."

The outbursts came amid a harshly personal line of attack against Obama by the GOP campaign. McCain and Palin have said Obama failed to tell the truth about his ties to 1960s radical William Ayers, had a radical agenda on abortion, and wasn't really known to voters. Last weekend, Palin signaled the uptick in the criticism when she charged that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," a reference to Ayers, and that he didn't see the U.S. as others did.

McCain drew boos at a town-hall meeting Friday in Minnesota when he defended Obama after a supporter said he feared what would happen if Obama were elected president. He also cut short a woman who said Obama was an Arab, and he called his rival "a decent, family man."

On Saturday, McCain called on Obama to repudiate Lewis' remarks. While dismissing the comparison to Wallace, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said Lewis was on target in other ways.

"John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States 'pals around with terrorists,"' Burton said in a statement.

In his remarks, Lewis also said: "As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

McCain rejected any comparison to Wallace.

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," McCain said.

In August, while appearing at a forum on faith, McCain was asked to name three "wise people" he would listen to. He cited Lewis as well as Gen. David Petreaus, head of U.S. troops in Iraq, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a top adviser to his campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-McCain-Lewis.html

If you think that we are not in a depression LOOK AT THIS

WANOBLICK SSGT USAF (Retired) Disabled Vietnam era veteran — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:33:01 EDT

STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS

If you have gift cards, hurry up and use them!!

Just passing this along - FYI

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month

Eddie Bauer to close more stores
Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet st ores by the end of the year.

Cache closing stores
Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming stores this year.
The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores
About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22underperforming stores.. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill , another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.

Gap Inc. closing 85 stores
In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and BananaRepublic . The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.

Foot Locker to close 140 stores
In the company press release and during its conference call with analysts today, it did no t specify where the future store closures - all plan ned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The company could n ot be immediately reached for comment

Wickes is going out of business
Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Goodbye Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already
The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 o f its stores in December. The retailer dat es back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon, PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.

Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores
The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82st ores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23underperforming stores. The company said it's n ot pro viding a list of specific store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords. Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney in the news release said it has also obtained the
right to close about 98 Disney Stor es in the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.

Home Depot store closings (E. Brunswick, Rt 18 just put up their closing sign)
ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were noplans to cut the number of its c ore retail stores, The Home Depot Inc.announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S.economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent.The Atlanta-based company said the underperforming U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing sto res. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be rede emed at any time during the final sale. For those wh o have a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair < FONT face=Arial size=3>will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.
http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7html
<http://www.news. com/8301- 10784_3-9834177- 7.html>

Macy's - 9 stores

Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit
bankruptcyThe video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery
and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental
chain closed last fall.

Pacific Sunwear - 153 Demo stores

Pep Boys - 33 stores

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subsc ribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on
4,000 e mployees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaidcustomers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas . Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot /B> are scaling back

Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+
stores in an effort to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategicalternativ es for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four underperforming Demo stores closed last May.

Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and an nounced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operat e 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.

Bombay Company: (Freehold Mall store closed) The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United < /FONT>States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information

Dillard's to Close More Stores
Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six underperforming stores this year.

THANK YOU MR. CHENEY/BUSH AND THE ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY. WE ALL HOPE THE 16 TRILLION DOLLARS SPENT ON IRAQ, WALL STREET AND YOUR CRONIES WAS WORTH IT! OUR ENEMIES SUPPORT YOUR EFFORTS.

Warren A Noblick SSgt USAF (ret)

106-year-old American nun will to vote for Obama!

Dave — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:12:26 EDT

A 106-year-old American nun living in a convent in Rome could well be the oldest person to vote in the 2008 US Presidential election.

Sister Cecilia Gaudette, who last voted for President Eisenhower in 1952, has registered to vote and says she will vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

Although hard of hearing, she keeps herself informed by reading newspapers and watching TV at the convent.

"I'm encouraged by Senator Obama," she says.

Sister Cecilia has lived in the convent in Rome for 50 years

Read the full article

When Evil Shows It's Ugly Head

Richard — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:28:12 EDT

The recent negative attacks on Sen. Barack Obama causes me to reflect more on what has been happening in this Presidential Election. Are we Americans going to allow ourselves to be negatively impacted by the McCain/Palin Demagogly? Or are we "going to turn the page" on such despecable behavior? When such evil shows it's ugly head, will America rise Above political emotions and Think Rationally and Elect Sen.Obama President of USA? I think this time America will rise Above this negativity! Let me know what you think.

Okay folks. The time is now. This is our time.

Bobby — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:27:38 EDT

23 days,including today,until the election. The Gallup Daily Tracking Poll is tightening a bit. Sen. Obama maintains a pretty steady lead in the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. Sen. Obama widened his lead slightly today in other polls. His lead is 6-7 points but the MOEs are 2-3 points,so you all know what that means. We have to assume it's still close,even though it might really not be,and do a little extra of whatever it is that we've been doing. I made another donation today,that I might not have otherwise.

FIRED UP! This is our time.

McCain TV Current Ads Negative Lies About Bill Ayers

La Susa — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:03:47 EDT

From Factcheck.org "He Lied" About Bill Ayers?October 10, 2008McCain cranks out some false and misleading attacks on Obama's connection to a 1960s radical.AnalysisSen. John McCain has dialed up his attacks on Sen. Barack Obama's past association with former Weather Underground activist Bill Ayers. He released a 30-second TV spot Oct. 10 claiming Obama "lied" about Ayers. A day earlier he announced a 90-second Internet ad claiming that Obama and Ayers "ran a radical education foundation together" and suggesting Obama was being untruthful.

McCain-Palin Ad
"Ambition"

Announcer: Obama's blind ambition. When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied.

Obama. Blind ambition. Bad judgment.Congressional liberals fought for risky sub-prime loans.

Congressional liberals fought against more regulation. Then, the housing market collapsed costing you billions.

In crisis, we need leadership, not bad judgment.

McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
Groundless, False, Dubious

We find McCain's accusation that Obama "lied" to be groundless. It is true that recently released records show half a dozen or so more meetings between the two men than were previously known, but Obama never denied working with Ayers.

Other claims are seriously misleading. The education project described in the Web ad, far from being "radical," had the support of the Republican governor and was run by a board that included prominent local leaders, including one Republican who has donated $1,500 to McCain's campaign this year. The project is described by Education Week as reflecting "mainstream thinking" about school reform.

Despite the newly released records, there's still no evidence of a deep or strong "friendship" with Ayers, a former radical anti-war protester whose actions in the 1960s and '70s Obama has called "detestable" and "despicable."

Even the description of Ayers as a "terrorist" is a matter of interpretation. Setting off bombs can fairly be described as terrorism even when they are intended to cause only property damage, which is what Ayers has admitted doing in his youth. But for nearly three decades since, Ayers has lived the relatively quiet life of an educator. It would be correct to call him a "former terrorist," and an "unapologetic" one at that. But if McCain means the word "terrorist" to invoke images of 9/11, he's being misleading; Ayers is no Osama bin Laden now, and never was.

McCain-Palin Web Ad
"Ayers"

Announcer: Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They've worked together for years.

But Obama tries to hide it. Why?
Obama launched his political career in Ayers' living room. Ayers and Obama ran a radical "education" foundation, together.

They wrote the foundation's by-laws, together. Obama was the foundation's first chairman. Reports say they "distributed more than $100 million to ideological allies with no discernible improvement in education."

When their relationship became an issue, Obama just responded, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood."

That's it?

We know Bill Ayers ran the "violent left wing activist group" called Weather Underground. We know Ayers' wife was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. We know they bombed the Capitol. The Pentagon. A judge's home.

We know Ayers said, "I don't regret setting bombs. .... I feel we didn't do enough." But Obama's friendship with terrorist Ayers isn't the issue.

The issue is Barack Obama's judgment and candor. When Obama just says, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood." Americans say, "Where's the truth, Barack?"

Barack Obama. Too risky for America.

McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
Who's Misleading?

McCain is not accurate when he says – as he does in the Web ad – "When their relationship became an issue, Obama just responded, 'This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.' " McCain is using the same line in personal appearances, too. He said on Oct. 9 at a campaign rally in Waukesha, Wis.:

McCain: Look, we don't care about an old washed-up terrorist and his wife, who still, at least on Sept. 11, 2001, said he still wanted to bomb more. ... The point is, Senator Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We need to know that's not true.

Obama never said Ayers was "just" a guy in the neighborhood. The quote is from a Democratic primary debate on April 16 in Philadelphia, and Obama actually was more forthcoming than McCain lets on. Obama specifically acknowledged working together with Ayers on a charitable board, and didn't deny getting some early political support from him. Here's the exchange:

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, April 16: An early organizing meeting for your state senate campaign was held at his house, and your campaign has said you are friendly. Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?

Obama: George, but this is an example of what I'm talking about.

This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.

Sen. Hillary Clinton then said, "I also believe that Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the Woods Foundation," and predicted that "this is an issue that certainly Republicans will be raising."

Obama responded, "President Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of two members of the Weather Underground, which I think is a slightly more significant act than me ... serving on a board with somebody for actions that he did 40 years ago."

We wrote back then that Clinton had gone too far by suggesting that "people died" as a result of Ayers' actions. And nothing Obama said then has since been shown to be false. It is true that he did not bring up his work with Ayers on a second project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, where Obama was board chairman and Ayers was an early organizer, and where the two were together for half a dozen or so meetings. But neither Clinton nor Stephanopoulos asked him about that project. McCain could fairly accuse Obama of not volunteering the information, but it is false to claim he "lied."

"Pal Around"

The first to begin using the new line of attack against Obama was McCain's running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, after a lengthy article appeared Oct. 3 in the New York Times about Obama and Ayers:

Palin, Oct. 5: Our opponents see America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who would bomb their own country.

She's repeated the charge again and again at different campaign stops since then, citing the Times. What the Times article actually says, however, is this: "[T]he two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers." The Times says its review of documents and interviews with key players "suggest" that Obama "has played down his contacts with Ayers," but describes their paths as having crossed "sporadically" since their first meeting in 1995.

And far from palling around with Ayers, the two haven't spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the Senate in January 2005, according to an Obama spokesman. He said the two last saw each other more than a year ago, when they accidentally met on the street in their Hyde Park neighborhood.

Obama addressed Palin's claim on Oct. 8, when questioned by ABC News' Charlie Gibson:

Obama, Oct. 8: This is a guy who engaged in some despicable acts 40 years ago when I was eight years old. By the time I met him, 10 or 15 years ago, he was a college professor of education at the University of Illinois. ... And the notion that somehow he has been involved in my campaign, that he is an adviser of mine, that ... I've 'palled around with a terrorist', all these statements are made simply to try to score cheap political points.

Stormy Weather, UndergroundBill Ayers' notoriety dates from the radical, anti-Vietnam War group he helped to start in 1969, splintering off from the activist Students for a Democratic Society. The members of the new group, the Weather Underground, favored shows of violence to further their cause. On March 6, 1970, though, three of them blew themselves up in a Greenwich Village townhouse during a bomb-making session gone badly awry. Ayers and his fellow Weathermen, as they were called, soon dropped out of sight.
Barack Obama, who was born Aug. 4, 1961, was 8 years old at the time.The Weather Underground continued setting off bombs, including one in a men's lavatory in the Capitol building in 1971 and another in a women's restroom in the Pentagon in 1972. Nobody was killed, due to evacuation warnings the Weathermen sent out in advance.

After the Vietnam War ended, the group's activities petered out. In 1980 Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, another member, surfaced and turned themselves in to police. Because of illegal federal wiretaps, pending charges against Ayers for allegedly inciting a riot and conspiring to bomb government sites had been dropped. Dohrn pleaded guilty to separate charges of aggravated battery and jumping bail; she was fined $1,500 and given three years' probation. Ayers and Dohrn, who had had two children together while in hiding, married in 1982.

Several other Weather Underground alums, including Kathy Boudin, along with some members of a group calling itself the Black Liberation Army, were involved in a bungled 1981 robbery of a Brinks truck in Nanuet, N.Y., in which a security guard and two policemen were killed. Ayers and Dohrn have never been publicly tied to the incident, which took place after they had turned themselves in. Dohrn was jailed for seven months for refusing to provide a handwriting sample to the grand jury investigating it.

Dohrn is now a clinical associate professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Locally, Ayers' radical past hasn't been much of an issue. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet wrote last spring that it "was no big deal, or any deal, to any local political reporters or to the editorial boards of the Sun-Times or [Chicago] Tribune." Ayers was named a Chicago citizen of the year in 1997 for his efforts in the field of education.

In Chicago, Ayers is seen less as a "terrorist" and more as a prodigal son of the local establishment. His father was a prominent corporate executive and civic leader. Thomas G. Ayers was president and chief executive of Commonwealth Edison, the electric utility that lights Chicago and northern Illinois. There is a residence hall named for him at Northwestern University, where he was a trustee for 30 years. Bill's brother John Ayers, according to Education Week, headed a school-reform group called the Leadership for Quality Education, which represented business leaders’ interest in schools. John is now a senior associate of the Chicago-based National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Despite the fairly mainstream life he lives now, though, Bill Ayers' image took a hit with an article that appeared in the New York Times on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Ayers was quoted in the lead paragraph as saying, ''I don't regret setting bombs'' and "I feel we didn't do enough." The interview had been conducted earlier, in connection with the publication of Ayers' memoir of his years as a fugitive. But when the quotes appeared on the same day thousands died at the World Trade Center and elsewhere, they enraged his critics.

Ayers called the story a deliberate distortion of his views. In a response on his blog, Ayers wrote:

Ayers: My memoir is from start to finish a condemnation of terrorism, of the indiscriminate murder of human beings, whether driven by fanaticism or official policy. ...
I said I had a thousand regrets, but no regrets for opposing the war with every ounce of my strength.

That's hardly an apology, referring as it does to the U.S. role in the Vietnam War as "terrorism." Ayers has maintained a public silence since then, refusing all requests for interviews.

Even so, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had kind words for him recently:

Daley (New York Times, Oct. 3, 2008): He’s done a lot of good in this city and nationally. ... This is 2008. People make mistakes. You judge a person by his whole life.

FactCheck.org and the “Annenberg Challenge”

Contrary to suggestions we've seen in some conservative blogs, there is no connection between the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and FactCheck.org, save for the fact that both received funding from the Annenberg Foundation. The foundation supports a wide variety of charitable causes – a total of 5,200 grants during its first 15 years of operation. It was founded in 1989 by Walter H. Annenberg, a newspaper and magazine publisher who died in 2002.

FactCheck.org is funded by, and is a project of, the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which was established by the Annenberg Foundation with a $20 million endowment in 1993. The Annenberg Foundation also made additional grants to support our work. We also receive funding from the Flora Family Foundation to help support our educational offshoot, FactCheckED.org. We receive no other outside funding.

FactCheck.org came into being in late 2003. Director Brooks Jackson states: "Our mission is to be as neutral and nonpartisan as humanly possible. Annenberg supports that, and nobody at the Annenberg Foundation has ever tried to influence anything we've written."

For the record, the Annenberg Foundation's president and chairman is Leonore Annenberg, the founder's widow. Public records show she's given $2,300 to the McCain campaign, which announced on Oct. 8, that she has endorsed him for president.
We Have Contact!

According to an Obama spokesman, the two men first met in 1995, when Obama was tapped to chair the board of the newly formed Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Ayers had been instrumental in creating the organization, which was to dispense grants for projects that would improve Chicago's schools.
The Challenge was one of 18 projects supported by a $500 million grant announced at a White House ceremony Dec. 18, 1993, by the Annenberg Foundation, founded four years earlier by Philadelphia publisher Walter Annenberg. It was the largest single gift ever made to public education in America. The Chicago project received a $49.2 million grant in 1995, and officials administering the grant funds at Brown University announced at the time that the Chicago proposal was developed through discussions among “a broad-based coalition of local school council members, teachers, principals, school reform groups, union representatives and central office staff” convened by three educators – one of whom was Ayers. Mayor Richard M. Daley, a Democrat, and Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, took part in a ceremony announcing the grant.

There are other connections between Obama and Ayers: The same year the two men met through the Annenberg Challenge, Ayers hosted a meet-and-greet coffee for Obama, who was running for state Senate and who lived three blocks away from him. Obama and Ayers also were on the board of an antipoverty charity, the Woods Fund of Chicago, where their service overlapped from 2000 to 2002. And Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's campaign for the Illinois state Senate on March 2, 2001.

In addition, Obama told the Chicago Tribune in 1997 that a book Ayers wrote about the juvenile court system was "a searing and timely account." This is sometimes billed by Obama's critics as a "book review." Actually, a reporter simply asked three Chicagoans for a sentence about whatever they were reading at the time.

The Annenberg Challenge connection has drawn the most attention recently, though, mainly because of articles written by Stanley Kurtz, a conservative contributor to the National Review, the publication founded by the late William F. Buckley. Kurtz first suggested on Aug. 18 that there was a "cover-up in the making" when he was unable to gain access to 132 boxes of project records housed at the University of Illinois. Records were released nine days later, along with all records held by the Annenberg Foundation itself.

The Chicago Tribune, after examining the records, said they showed Ayers and Obama "attended board meetings, retreats and at least one news conference together as the education program got under way." It also said Obama and Ayers "continued to attend meetings together during the 1995-2001 operation of the program." The story played on page 2. According to the New York Times, the documents show the two attended just six board meetings together, Obama as chairman and Ayers to inform the board on grantees and other issues. (In a press release, the McCain campaign puts the number of meetings at seven, five of them in 1995, one in 1996 and one in 1997.) Ayers was an "ex officio" member of the board for the first year of the project.

United Press International summed up the reaction to the contents of the group's archives with a story headlined "No 'smoking gun' in Obama relationship":

UPI, Aug. 27: Reporters reviewing records in Chicago have so far found nothing startling in documents linking Sen. Barack Obama to 1960s radical William Ayers.

Where news reporters found little of note, though, Kurtz – the conservative writer who initially suggested a "cover-up" – cast it differently. After combing through the Annenberg records, he published an article in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal saying he found that Obama and Ayers acted as "partners" and together "poured more than $100 million into the hands of community organizers and radical education activists." He said money went to groups that "focused more on political consciousness, Afrocentricity and bilingualism than traditional education." A "Radical" Foundation? Hardly.

What Kurtz – and McCain in his Web ad – considers "radical," other observers see differently, however. Veteran education reporter Dakarai I. Aarons, writing in Education Week, says the Chicago Annenberg Challenge actually "reflected mainstream thinking among education reformers" and had bipartisan support:

Education Week (Oct. 8): The context for the Chicago proposal to the Annenberg Foundation was the 1988 decentralization of the city’s public schools by the Republican-controlled Illinois legislature, a response to frustration over years of teachers’ strikes, low achievement, and bureaucratic failure. ... The proposal was backed by letters of support to the Annenberg Foundation from Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, local education school deans, the superintendent of the Chicago public schools, and the heads of local foundations.

Among the mainstream Chicago luminaries on Obama's board was Arnold R. Weber, a former president of Northwestern University, who in 1971 was appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon as executive director of the Cost of Living Council and who later was tapped by Republican President Ronald Reagan to serve on an emergency labor board. More recently, Weber has given $1,500 to John McCain's presidential campaign this year.

Others on Obama's supposedly "radical" board included Stanley Ikenberry, a former president of the University of Illinois system; Ray Romero, a vice president of Ameritech; Susan Crown, a philanthropist; Handy Lindsey, the president of the Field Foundation of Illinois; and Wanda White, the executive director of the Community Workshop for Economic Development.

Kurtz originally claimed that Ayers somehow was responsible for installing Obama as head of the board, speculating in his "cover-up" article that Obama "almost certainly received the job at the behest of Bill Ayers." But after days of poring over the records, he failed to produce any evidence of that in his Wall Street Journal article. To the contrary, Ayers was not involved in the choice, according to Deborah Leff, then president of the Joyce Foundation. She told the Times, and confirmed to FactCheck.org, that she recommended Obama for the position to Patricia Graham of the Spencer Foundation. Graham told us that she asked Obama if he'd become chairman; he accepted, provided Graham would be vice-chair. The bipartisan board of directors, which did not include Ayers, elected Obama chairman, and he served in that capacity from 1995 to 1999, awarding grants for projects and raising matching funds. Ayers headed up a separate arm of the group, working with grant recipients. According to another board member, Ayers "was not significantly involved with the challenge after Obama was appointed." One possible reason had little to do with Obama himself, but instead was related to cautions about conflicts of interest; the group was funding some of Ayers' own alternative school projects.

In any case, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge failed to bring about improvement in students' test scores, classroom behavior or social competence. An independent consortium of educators concluded in 2003 that “Annenberg schools did not achieve an overall effect on student outcomes” compared with schools that received no support from the project. Education Week quoted some project supporters as saying it succeeded in raising interest in helping failing schools.

Conclusion

Voters may differ in how they see Ayers, or how they see Obama’s interactions with him. We’re making no judgment calls on those matters. What we object to are the McCain-Palin campaign’s attempts to sway voters – in ads and on the stump – with false and misleading statements about the relationship, which was never very close. Obama never “lied” about this, just as he never bragged about it. The foundation they both worked with was hardly “radical.” And Ayers is more than a former "terrorist," he’s also a well-known figure in the field of education.

– by Viveca Novak and Brooks Jackson

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html

www.factcheck.org

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel, TruthOut.org

Edie "Hussein" M. Ph.D. — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:01:03 EDT

Full Article;

Opinion Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel

Thursday 09 October 2008

by: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Huffington Post

In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.

Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.

But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man - her husband, actually - who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base - an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.

AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."

AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."

Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.

Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!

So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?

http://www.truthout.org/101208Z

Source article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/alaskan-independence-part_b_133261.html

Belief

Crunchy Middle — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:27:39 EDT

This election is about belief. Belief in our people, our nation, our humanity. It is about passing beyond a culture of fear into a culture of belief. In past days we have been inundated with fear by our opponents but belief can overcome fear, overcome hate. A friend of mine reminded me that I, we, are all better than the culture of fear, the culture of diversion, the culture of hate. I believe in Barack Obama and Joe Biden because I believe that America deserves better.

This country deserves someone who will not stand still, stand silent, while hate is spewed in his name. Someone who will not distract us with the sins of irrelevant men. Someone who will not stare, locked, frozen with indecision in the face of hate pulsing through crowds come to serve him, waiting for politics to push him toward objection. Our citizens are suffering while he divides us.

If John McCain will stand silent so long in the face of intolerance how long will he pause before addressing the future challenges of our nation? If this was not indecision then one must ask is this division for power? Is this division so we will fall? Implore our fellow Americans to rise to greatness, to stand together and we will all see that this nation deserves better than John McCain.

What Troopergate Tells Us About a (God Forbid) Palin Vice Presidency

Tommy from West Islip, NY — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:54:42 EDT

What Troopergate Tells Us About a (God Forbid) Palin Vice Presidency By Don Davis

"YES, IS THIS THE U.S. MARSHAL'S SERVICE? … VICE PRESIDENT PALIN HERE. DID YOU KNOW THAT PRESIDENT McCAIN WAS ABUSIVE TOWARD HIS FIRST WIFE AFTER HE RETURNED FROM VIETNAM? Lets find a way to get him fired now, dontcha know, we gotta bring him down so I can take over an perform my tasks from God and from Todd."

Unethical Match Made in Heaven

Nia "Hussein" J. — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:42:02 EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/mccain-palin-first-ever-t_n_133878.html

A HISTORIC TICKET.... Now that Sarah Palin has been found to have abused her powers, violated state ethics, and lied about it, I did a little digging and found an interesting historical footnote.

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.

McCain, of course, was admonished by Senate Ethics Committee "for exercising 'poor judgment' for intervening" with federal regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, as part of the infamous Keating Five scandal.

And now McCain's running mate has also been found to have violated state ethics laws and abused the powers of her office, as part of the "Troopergate" scandal.

The nation has had 102 major-party tickets covering 51 presidential elections over more than two centuries. And we've never had a ticket in which both candidates on the same ticket were responsible for ethics violations before a national election. McCain/Palin is the first.

It makes the whole "reform" pitch a little more difficult, doesn't it?