Upper West Siders for Obama

Caribbean Day Parade Health Care Reform Tabling

signsSansSignifieds — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:59:23 EDT

Approximately 1 million people will attend the Caribbean Day Parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Monday, September 7. Help us spread information about our broken health care system and the Obama plan for health care reform.

We will set up tables along the parade route with flyers listing online sources for issues such as comparative costs and results of health care spending (US vs. other countries), the economics of health care, how we will actually save a lot of money by investing in health care reform now, etc. We will also provide info on how to connect with other people who want to bring real change to our health care system and help people to get involved in pressuring Congress to pass a health care reform bill with a strong public option.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Details here.

Practical Yoga

Rev. Dr. Yb-lem Cueva Oskowitz — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:00:44 EDT

nBhakti Yoga = It is a philosophical concept of complete love and devotion to the Creator/God/Goddess – as it is stress in the Veda Holy book of Verses known as the Gita. nRaja Yoga = It is an ancient philosophical concept of one being in complete union with God = The Supreme Soul - through meditation and pure actions and complete total devotion to God the Father. This method of Yoga concentrates on meditation and is known to be a good technique for beginners, because it concentrates less on strength. Raja Yoga. nThis Yoga teaches us balance. nWhen you start this path of spirituality you gain this power of wisdom so that you can transform the world. nGod give you the power to transform the people and the world – with qualities such as: nGentleness nPeace nPurity nInnocence nSo, God will give you the strengths and courage and power to stand up for the Truth. nComplete spiritual development – it is the Goal for self and others – so that others can live in Peace and Harmony. nYou have to experience – the truth – which than changes your vibration – and the vibration of the Human Soul even affects the Vibration of nature – and this good Vibration of purity affects everything around. nThe Vibration spreads and everything even plants and animals catches that Vibration of Purity from the Human Soul. nMoreover, when a human being becomes pure – The Vibration of that individual can have an impact in changing the people and the world. nIn order for a person to transcend spiritually to a level of purity, one must: nChange attitude nStand out for the Truth nHabits have to change nThoughts have to change nSo, that as a result of practicing this Yoga path, one can develop spiritually. nGod passes His Vibration to us through meditation, – and we pass that vibration of God and purity to others. nRules of Wisdom: nStick to the Truth. nFallow God’s instructions and directions. nIf you reach the stage of purity and of Godlikeness and qualities – then you will become a demigod – and you can affect nature through your vibrations of: nPeace nHarmony nSo, you will be able to affect others with these good Vibrations of Purity and promote wellness to others by first healing the spirit. nHuman Being = Body, Mind, and Spirit. nWhen one becomes contented and satisfied – and have a good relationship with God – The Supreme Soul takes care of everything and fulfills all your desires. nThen, God comes to teach us, but to become Godly we have to obey him =The Supreme Soul our father -The one and only God. nOnly when your Soul becomes Pure and Peaceful, - and thoughts – and attitudes change, – Then, and only then – It is when we become worthy by observing all the laws that God teaches us – then we can become part of Gods coven and share the Vibrations of Goodness and purity to others – so that others can change and one can give those good Holy Vibrations to nature – so that nature can change also for the better. nNature serve us and it is affected by the Human beings Vibrations, which also affects plants and animals. nYoga = Union with God nOne must do this Yoga to have a relationship with God and to understand it more. nOne side of the tree of life is the awareness of God the father and the Philosophy of Karma, – and the other side of the tree the other side is not concern with love for God the father = like all religions that were created and the ignorance of religions against other religions. nThe Yoga of the intellect needs to have the connection with the Seed. nEvery religion is but a branch of the tree of life. nOne must open his/her intellect to other religions, so that one can understand everything. nWhen you have The Seed, then, you can understand The Whole Tree. nThe Seed is God. nThere must be a connections with God so that their could be complete salvation of The Soul and other Souls. nWe learned from each other even though we are all different, and we learned to cooperate. nIn this way, you can see the beauty of all those Souls for all The Souls come from the same tree – from the same seed which is God the father – and we all Souls are one family – brothers and sisters Souls belonging to the same tree no matter what color or race we are all from the same family – the family of God – The Same Tree.

Practical Yoga

Rev. Dr. Yb-lem Cueva Oskowitz — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:55:01 EDT

üWords of Wisdom
Community = a place for you = a place to belong. Together we make a difference, because we all are one person, one community, and one world. üTheology is a formulation of knowledge about the Nature of God, and its laws and or requirements of human beings.
It is the study of the Creator (the one with many names and many ways) and of Gods relations to the Universe, and it is the study of religious truth.
nThe Yoga of Writing and Sharing Wisdom – Famtrad
n
A Study conducted by the North Dakota State University found that “people who have asthma and arthritis markedly improved their health simply by setting aside time from twenty minutes a day to three days a week – to write (I call it the Yoga of free writing). Of the seventy patients that participated in the one moth research study, 47% show definite improvement,” as opposed to only 24% who showed improvement without writing. So, the researchers concluded that putting your thoughts and observations on paper relieves stress and eases the mind.”
nA research at the University of Pennsylvania School of medicine showed that by doing some Yoga exercises, some people can reduce pain in the wrist, and improve flexibility, and even reduced numbness, by practicing some simple Yoga posture exercises. These postures are believed to increased blood flow. -References – Maramatha Christian Journal – Medical School to examine role of Religion – Social Science and Medicine American Journal of Public Health – Book Natural Cures and Gentle Medicines. nThis Yoga is a method which is known to unite ones, mind, body and spirit. nYou see, free writing is a form of relaxation, of transcendental meditation, and of visualization, and of developing the practice of Yoga writing as a form of increasing the awareness of ones creative mind. nYoga writing helps one to developed patience, persistence, and or self-discipline as well self-acceptance.

Serving the community unconditionally and caring for others unconditionally all religions are one

Rev. Dr. Yb-lem Cueva Oskowitz — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:36:59 EDT

nResearch - Is any process by which information is systematically and carefully gathered for the purpose of answering questions, examining ideas, or testing theories. nResearch is a discipline inquiry that can take numerous forms. nStatistics - Are a set of mathematical techniques that are use by social scientists to organize and manipulate data for the purpose of answering questions and testing theories. nData - It is any information collected as part of a research project and expres nThe Yoga of Writing and Sharing Wisdom – Famtrad
n
A Study conducted by the North Dakota State University found that “people who have asthma and arthritis markedly improved their health simply by setting aside time from twenty minutes a day to three days a week – to write (I call it the Yoga of free writing). Of the seventy patients that participated in the one moth research study, 47% show definite improvement,” as opposed to only 24% who showed improvement without writing. So, the researchers concluded that putting your thoughts and observations on paper relieves stress and eases the mind.”

sed as numbers. nBhakti Yoga = It is a philosophical concept of complete love and devotion to the Creator/God/Goddess – as it is stress in the Veda Holy book of Verses known as the Gita. nRaja Yoga = It is an ancient philosophical concept of one being in complete union with God = The Supreme Soul through meditation and pure actions and complete total devotion to God nMission = understanding others and how they feel, encourage others to share their comments or opinions, and that no one is perfect, and that there are no right or wrong comments or points of view, for it all is wisdom and our own experiences; learn to accept others for who they are. nNo religion, or belief system, or philosophical concept, or prophet is better than the other, for these are ways to let us see the big picture and help us understand God better. nBecome community oriented, and include yourself and others in what is going on within your community; give others support and encouragement be it by listening, being there for them, etc…, if you can help others toward fulfilling their potentials brainstorm together. the Father. nPhilosophy of Religion - This involves the application and analysis to the concepts and ideas which are characteristic of religion. nMany aspects of religion are sociological in nature, for example, issues about the power exercised by organized religions. nOther features are psychological, for example, in terms of the cognitive attitudes which might tend to encourage someone to join a particular religious groups. nThe nature of religious knowledge is a fundamental issue in the philosophy of religion. nMuch of the analyses of religious knowledge has centered on the supposed difference between natural and revealed religious experience. üHigh Priestess nIt is a full – time consecrated well trained, female religious professional and researcher who cares wholeheartedly on the subject of self and others, and is always willing to facilitate, for her rewards are not of this world but divine. nA High-Priestess is also known since ancient times as a Wisdom Woman, as well as a fable advice-giver who teaches others from her vast experience and social research and can be sympathetic to the community unconditionally. nMonasticism = it is the humble existence of monks who live solitary lives of complete devotion, pure love to God, unconditional service to others, religious discipline and self-denial. nPrajnaparamita
“Subhuti, how does a person first feel a need to save beings?
He/she becomes aware of what kind of wise insight which shows him/her beings as on their way to destruction of themselves. Great compassion then takes hold of him/her. He/she surveys the world, and what he/she sees fills him/her with agitation… So such person radiates great friendliness and compassion over all these beings and gives his/her attention to them, thinking, “I would like to save these beings; I would like to release them from all their sufferings.” But he/she does not make this desire as an attachment, for even he/she never turns his/her back on full enlightenment. üRev. Dr. Yb-lem Oskowitz Words Of Wisdom nMy labor of love is teaching, educating, and making a difference in the world by sharing wisdom with family, friends, helping others without reserve, and willing to guide them towards enlightment and spiritual development. nCivic Humanism – It is a type of humanism that stresses the thought that human beings achievement and education is totally uttered merely if groups apply their talents to serve their cities. nThe Covenant I will protect the unity of my church=community and nature (Mother Earth):
Caring about other people
Refusing to gossip
Following the leaders
Sharing responsibilities of my community and city and praying for it.
Sharing wisdom with others.
Discovering my gifts and challenges
Being ready to serve others and my community
Living a Godly Life.

President's Mortgage Assisance Program Problem

Ellen from New York, NY — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:22:59 EDT

I write to speak to an abominable situation of denying assistance to people most in need...People denied because they have been late in making payments - which is more than proof to me of how financially in need they are.

I recently helped my son, whose family consists of his wife and 2 young children, by paying the $450.00 application charge required for them to apply for mortgage rate lowering under the President's program.

Not only do I think "how unfair" an application fee is...That is to charge people applying for some relief/assistance/the very ones who can't afford to pay anything else...Those who are out of work after being laid off and having severe monetary problems and who can't find work in California with 11.5% unemployed).

But, I now find that the application was rejected (causing them to continue to pay high interest rates and denying the reduction of one month's payment) because the record shows that they were late in making some payments.

This seems like "a no brainer" to me! Aren't these people, who have been forced to make late or partial bill payments, the very people who need assistance? If those who are in dire financial situations and struggling to keep their homes, feed and clothe their children, keep up with much needed medical attention, etc. are those rejected, then there must be a flaw in the President's program that needs to be fixed.

Isn't there some way of helping these good people?

OFA update - Pledge Project

Allie — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:34:56 EDT

Hello:

My name is Allie Feldman, and I'm helping Ben Baruch with Organizing for America here in New York.

We just wanted to make sure everyone sees the email and video below discussing OFA's next nationwide initiative -- the Pledge Project.
Please feel free to contact me or Ben if you have any questions or concerns.

Stay tuned for more updates coming by the end of the week!

Thanks,
Allie

--
Allie Feldman
Volunteer
Organizing for America | New York
allie.feldman@gmail.com 908-370-2689

Ben Baruch
Volunteer Liaison
Organizing for America | New York

bennett.baruch@obamaalumni.com

Just over a week ago, President Obama submitted his first budget and made it clear he was ready for the fight to come.

The President isn't alone. We're ready for that fight too -- it's what you built this movement for.

Watch a video I recorded announcing our new initiative, the Organizing for America Pledge Project:

Americans are ready for the bold new direction this plan offers. It's what they voted for in November, and it's needed now more than ever as we continue to face an unprecedented economic crisis.

But the special interests and old ways of Washington won't go away easily. In fact, they'll only fight back harder.

It's up to you to organize support for President Obama's plan throughout the country. It's the only way we'll get the change this country needs.

Take the next step now in our fight to bring change:

http://my.barackobama.com/pledgeproject

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Organizing for America - New York Update

Ben Baruch — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:47:37 EST

Hello New Yorkers for Obama:

I hope you are as fired up as I am after President Obama’s address to congress the other night! Across the country and here in New York we are inspired by the President’s message and motivated to organize for change.

I wanted to introduce myself to those of you who I don’t yet know. My name is Bennett Baruch and I worked as a grassroots organizer on the Obama campaign. Just like many of you, I knocked on doors, made phone calls and held organizing meetings with teams of volunteers. Together we won this election.

I am excited to serve as New York’s Volunteer Liaison to Organizing for America and I'm thrilled to tell you that Organizing for America is up and running! OFA’s mission is to mobilize our grassroots movement in support of President Obama’s policies for change and to build on and strengthen that grassroots organization we have all built together. I am an unpaid volunteer (not an official OFA staffer) who has been asked to help coordinate our efforts here in New York with OFA’s national office.

I know that many of you are already utilizing the Obama network to organize in your communities. In New York, we held 198 house parties and collected 1,578 stories around the economic crisis. Your efforts helped pass the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act and your involvement will be critical to its success.

You can act today to support our economic recovery. We've put together an easy to use online tool to look up the phone numbers of your representatives who voted in favor of the economic recovery plan -- take a few minutes today to thank them for doing what's right.

Take a minute to thank the Senators and Representatives who supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and encourage them to continue working with President Obama to lift America out of this economic crisis. When you're done, report back to us about the calls you made.

Throughout the next weeks and months, I look forward to working with all of you to ensure that Organizing for America is successful here in New York. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas as we continue to organize for change.

Many thanks,
Ben

--
Bennett Baruch
Volunteer Liaison
Organizing for America | New York

Respect. Empower. Include.

Columbia Expansion Protest at Floridita Resturant & C.A.S.H. Civic Awareness Seminar

Time 4 Dais — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:43:22 EST

On Valentine’s Day, concerned citizens of Harlem took to the streets against Columbia University's. As a Columbia Graduate and a Harlem Native, I am against the current Columbia Expansion Plan. At Columbia I obtained my master's in Real Estate Development and we studied the expansion plan as a part of our curriculum. A majority of the students were against the expansion. After Columbia I worked in the construction industry for 5 years. As part of the expansion plan Columbia has pledged to hire local labor forces to construct the project. Unless Columbia has struck a deal with the local unions to expand their training programs to residents of Harlem, Columbia will not be able to commit to this pledge. Columbia has the right to obtain properties through the normal channels but it is insulting they are using Eminent Domain to obtain a majority Manhattanville. Columbia's expansion would bring obvious benefits but it will also bring heartache & displacement to many New Yorkers. Harlem needs more schools. Columbia is only building one school for the community, on a 33 acre parcel. As a beacon of education Columbia should have at least built 3 schools for the community. Columbia should also offer 50 full scholarships a year to original residents of Harlem. 30 undergraduate Scholarships

I am not sure how we can stop the Columbia Expansion or 125th Rezoning Expansion since City Councilman Jackson & Dickens have basically given Harlem away in a gift basket. They can at least attempt to care about the community and force Columbia to take Eminent Domain off the table.

I think it is time that a new leadership stand up in Harlem. We need someone who will fight for the people.

This Upcoming Wednesday there is a Civic Awareness Seminar located at PS.92 222 W.134th St

Some of these pols will be on the panel. I will also be speaking at the event. If you come please look for the Uptown Dems Table.

HEALTH CARE: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

Alexandra — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:31:50 EST

Dear President Elect Obama,

Boy, it feels good to write that title!!!! To paraphrase Barney Frank, it will b great to have a President in office.

While I applaud your intent to reform health care, I am concerned that some of your initiatives are not fully thought out, and may be destructive to that increasingly small band of private practitioners who are running small businesses on their own, who have chosen to opt out of Managed Care networks, As you know managed care pays insultingly low fees to doctors. If more internists and GP's are forced out of business, guess who suffers most? Their patients.

I am referring to the requirement that all medical practitioners convert to electronic record keeping.

I am also referring to your past statements that you would not look at caps to medical liability.

My internist runs her own office in Manhattan. She is a small business provider, who provides high quality care, takes all the time that is necessary to work with her patients, always goes the extra mile in terms of calls, follow up, careful record keeping, and keeping herself up to date with current medical findings. In addition, she was at the forefront of the AIDS crisis, treating patients in NYC in the ealy 80's when they were being turned away, and humiliated in innumerable ways by most doctors and medical institutions.

My internist keeps her records on paper. She says that in order to maintain electronic records, a small office like hers, would have to pay $50,000 a year, AFTER the initial conversion costs. If required to shift to electronic recording, she would have to go out of business.

She, and other small practitioners, are willing to enter electronic information into their patients' databases, and to work with hospitals in terms of pooling necessary electronic data. They are not intransigent. They are looking at the bottom line of their survival.

I have gone to fully electronic managed care offices of doctors. Unnecessary prescriptions and unnecessary tests are the norm. In one, I reported I had congestion in my chest. Running on the clock, the doctor did not once pull out her stethoscope. Instead, she wrote me a prescription for a powerful medication, which I did not use. Instead, I returned to my internist, who did do a full medical exam, determined that I did not have severe bronchial problems, prescribed fluids and bedrest, and I recuperated just fine.

With another doctor, I reported tinitus after going to a loud concert. His medical intervention was fine, but he prescribed an MRI (to protect himself against medical liability), as a prerequisite for further appointments. As it seemed much more reasonable that the loud concert had caused the problem, not a brain tumor, I decided against the MRI. That was two years ago. my brain is working fine.

Doctors should carry malpractice, doctors do make mistakes, and occasionally doctors are negligent. However, the business of malpractice suits has run amok, and the costs of insurance are driving dedicated professionals out of the business, or into low risk professions that are lucrative, but do not serve the community. The fact that individuals can sue for gratuitous amounts, that essentially reflect what their lawyers can obtain, and that the money is there to be had, rather than the true nature of the injury, is destructive to patients and doctors alike.

We all like to have an enemy. But, the era of the fat cat doctor, has long since passed.

I hope that you and your team will approach health care issues in a complex and nuanced way.

Sincerely,

Alexandra Woods, PhD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Psychoanalyst
Addictions Specialist

The Dissappoinment

raoulroach — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 09:10:15 EST

It is sad to see the small cloud at the interior of our very large blue lining. The fact that ballot measures passed restricting Gay rights in four states is such a negative mark on our continuing struggle for equal rights in this country. To know that Gay Americans overwhelmingly supported Obama, the nation's first black president and the first black president of any major western power is testimony to the goodwill of people in general. It hurts my heart to hear that Proposition 8 in California passed narrowly with the help of 78% of African Americans in that state's electorate.

How did this happen? Our sons and our family have friends who are gay couples who have adopted or had surrogate pregnancies or sperm donors. These families are wonderful loving Americans who we should all see as a natural part of human diversity. As a heterosexual Christian family my wife and I don't see the differences in these families. Except, in our case, we see them as being more functional than dysfunctional in terms of their relationship to each other as family. We know plenty of hetero families that are broken, abusive and misguided in our circle of friends and our children's playmates but none, so far, of the Gay ones.

Obama has stated he is not against Gay marriage, but supports federalizing partnership rights, and leaving Gay marriage as a state's right issue. I couldn't more firmly disagree and with him being a constitutional law professor don't understand his reasoning. The preamble talks of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, how can being denied a right to marry into a stable and functional relationship, a core unit of a stable and functioning society, qualify under these words?

The Constitution also demands equal protection under the law and an implied separation of church and state by barring the promotion and establishment of any religion. Surely both of these argue in favor of Gay marriage. Should a state be able to abrogate the constitution in these fundamental areas as well? If your standard for barring Gay marriage is based on moral grounds, what is moral about discrimination and bigotry? If for religious reasons, then these referendums are unconstitutional on their face!

As an African American family, we don't understand African Americans who are amazed and inspired by Obama's win and could at the same time vote for erecting a new set of barriers for a subset of Americans. It seems fear has prevailed and many think they are buying a ticket to Heaven by acting on a religious litmus test. It is time we reject the Christianity of judgement and act on the commission of Christ to love as being the greatest of Christian Acts. Denying others the right to love in the way they choose, to form relationships and functional families in a secular state, is not love. This fundamental freedom of choice is every child of God's divine right.

To think of all the Gay Americans who supported and voted for Obama to help us all be better Americans, better people, only to see Gay Americans rejected as part of that American family that stood up Nov. 4th is painful. The world can no longer legitimately see Black Americans as "less than" with Obama's ascension to the most powerful office in the free world. Can't we see others in our own country in the same way? As we celebrate this great barrier falling we should look to ourselves and see the beam in our own eyes, it is this that will continue to hold us back as a unified and free American people.

I voted for change, this is one change I never expected to see. We can't go backwards, we must push forward to include and support our Gay friends and family.

Let's Send Sen. Kyl A Message

raoulroach — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:04:39 EST

http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/phoenix/stories/2008/11/03/daily77.html

Today Jon Kyl of Arizona issued a threat to President-elect Obama on his Supreme Court Nominees. Lets send him a message that change has come to America and we will campaign against him to remove from office. We came close to taking Arizona. Obama will probably nominate Sonia Sotomayor, judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, possibly to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Write Senator Kyl and let him know how you feel about his obstructionist speech to the Federalist Society. Here is the contact info for an online submission to Sen. Kyl. Please pass this on to your network.

http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Thank you.

Van — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:05:02 EST

My faith in humanity has been restored.

Obama Is Elected President - New York Times

theo — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:44:01 EST

November 6, 2008 Obama Is Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.

To the very end, Mr. McCain’s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago.

Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

The focus shifted quickly on Wednesday to the daunting challenges facing the president-elect, with his supporters offering sober reflections of what lies ahead.

“We’re in deep trouble,” said Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and leader in the civil rights movement, on NBC’s Today show.

“We’ve got to get our economy out of the ditch, end the war in Iraq and bring our young men and women home, provide health care for all our citizens,” Lewis said. “And he’s going to call on us, I believe, to sacrifice. We all must give up something.”

Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.

“This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” Mr. McCain said, adding, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation.”

Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.

The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public.

As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone —Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.

For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.

Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.

“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.

Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care.

In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.

Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.

Mr. McCain failed to take from Mr. Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated Mr. McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state Mr. McCain once had in his sights.

The apparent breadth of Mr. Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate.

“I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania who was an early Obama supporter, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.”

Mr. McCain called Mr. Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, Mr. McCain said he was ready to help Mr. Obama work through difficult times.

“I need your help,” Mr. Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.”

Mr. Bush called Mr. Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory.

“I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Mr. Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .”You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.”

For most Americans, the news of Mr. Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks, waiting for the close of polls in California, declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that they learned Mr. Obama had been projected the winner.

The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, Mr. McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to his words of tribute to Mr. Obama with boos.

Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.”

Initial signs were that Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.

In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that led to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid.

Mr. Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters; Mr. McCain did worse among those voters than Mr. Bush did in 2004. That suggests the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest.

Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.

Reflecting the intensity of the two candidates, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama took a page from what Mr. Bush did in 2004 and continued to campaign after the polls opened.

Mr. McCain left his home in Arizona after voting early Tuesday to fly to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where Mr. Bush won four years ago but where Mr. Obama waged a spirited battle.

These were symbolically appropriate final campaign stops for Mr. McCain, reflecting the imperative he felt of trying to defend Republican states against a challenge from Mr. Obama.

“Get out there and vote,” Mr. McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls, drag them there if you need to.”

By contrast, Mr. Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomize the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Mr. Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago play basketball, his election-day ritual.

Elisabeth Bumiller contributed reporting from Phoenix, Marjorie Connelly from New York and Jeff Zeleny from Chicago.

Today I Wept...

raoulroach — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:49:58 EST

This morning I awoke to a new world!

A world, not just my country, the world that has been transformed.

I woke up at 5AM and went to the computer to see this new world my sons inherited this day and I saw... rejoicing!

I soon found a picture of a celebration in Japan, JAPAN!!!

Then, I wept, I wept and said to my wife who was holding me by then... "I always thought they hated us, I always thought they hated us"... We black Americans, we n-----s, today we are no longer that! My sons are no longer that! In the eyes of the whole world that matters, they have nothing to prove to anyone except themselves!

As a nation, as a planet, we are all human beings and so much more. As I surfed through the Internet pictures from Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia... China... yes China! flashed across the screen. all with a collective exult that the dream, the American dream, is still alive and will thrive, "that all men are created equal" and there are a majority of people of good will in the world who know this in this age!

Humanity spoke last night and spoke to the ancient African slave and one of Rome's greatest poet's words, 'Nothing human is foreign to me'.

A global scream of the words spoke by Martin Luther King, that we demand that we be "judged by the content of ...(our) character."

Obama speaks to our humanity -- a humanity that can no longer be constrained by fifteenth century social and racial constructs. The age of race is dead!

LONG LIVE THE.... THE AGE OF THE HUMAN RACE!!!

Yes We Can!

Carmen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:50:53 EST

I'm sitting at a computer here in Philly at the Philadelphia Field Headquarters for Obama on Sansom Street, and the excitement of the moment is simply breathtaking. I can barely contain my emotions as the hundreds of volunteers chant "Yes We Can!" and "Obama! Obama! Obama!" I am overwhelmed. I just couldn't get myself to drink the champagne before the magic number 270, and now that Barack Obama has attained that seemingly insurmountable goal, I am overwhelmed, and finding it difficult to keep from smiling and crying at the same time.

I wish my dad were alive to witness this moment. He is not, but I am, and I am savoring every moment of this historic moment in honor of my father.

Enjoy this moment America. Because Yes, We Can!

SPEECHLESS

raoulroach — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:04:39 EST

What can one say at such a profound moment?

Words fail,.........

Last Day for Change

Benjamin from New York, NY — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:02:50 EST

Here's what you can do:

VOTE

GET OUT THE VOTE
Phonebanks are open tonight until 9pm to call battleground states. Come down and be a part of New York making history in this campaign.

The Scene at HQ-The Scene for the Final Two Days

Benjamin from New York, NY — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:49:48 EST

HQ has been so busy co-ordinating all of our wonderful volunteers, the blog has taken a back seat. Here's a taste of what's been going on.

The volunteers and staff at Obama HQ New York are fired up. The excitement created by occasional special visitors (Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Peter Yarrow from Peter, Paul and Mary in the last few days) is but a brief spike before the volunteers are back to work calling voters in battleground states:

The street team is out there inspiring you to phonebank to help Get Out the Vote on Tuesday:

Back in quieter times we had a party for the HQ volunteers:

Come down and join the excitement here at HQ or at a phonebank near you, Monday and Tuesday; all day, both days.

Last Call for Change - Final Four Days

Benjamin from New York, NY — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:22:14 EDT

This is it!

We're coming down to the final stretch and Barack Obama needs your help now, more than ever before!

Please bring your cell phone, a charger and a few fun friends who care about change and join with thousands of your neighbors in the largest ever-attempted phone bank effort in New York state history. The Obama campaign is hosting several of these "mega call centers" all over New York, so invite your friends and family to make calls to voters in key battleground states and change America for years to come.

Visit http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/nylastcall to find a location near you.

Last Call for Change Final Four Days

NEW YORK HQ — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:21:17 EDT

This is it! We're coming down to the final stretch and Barack Obama needs your help now, more than ever before! Please bring your cell phone, a charger and a few fun friends who care about change and join with thousands of your neighbors in the largest ever-attempted phone bank effort in New York state history. The Obama campaign is hosting several of these "mega call centers" all over New York, so invite your friends and family to make calls to voters in key battleground states and change America for years to come. Visit http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/nylastcall to find a site near you!

The Choice

raoulroach — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:06:25 EDT

Here is America's choice you can give a person with a private jet, eight houses and 13 cars a tax break or you give struggling middle class Americans a bigger tax break and give the rich guy the same tax he was paying under Bill Clinton!

AP Reports Palin Guarantees Win!

raoulroach — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:54:19 EDT

Okay people when teams do this to other teams it is posted on a wall in the locker room to motivate the team and piss them off at the arrogance of the trash talker. LET'S SEND PALIN, TODD AND THE BROOD BACK TO ALASKA ON A SNOW MACHINE THEY CAN KEEP ALL THE CLOTHES FOR CONCILATION PRIZES!!!

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer Dan Nephin, Associated Press Writer – AP –

Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin shakes hands with members of the Beaver Area …

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin set aside Joe the Plumber for Joe the Quarterback — as in Joe Namath — and told supporters at a rally near where Namath grew up that she and John McCain are still in the game and they're going to win.

"In the biggest game of his life, all the experts had Joe Namath and the Jets written off to defeat. They were up against the elite team that had all the money and they were held in awe by the media.

"And Broadway Joe replied, 'We're going to win the game, I guarantee it.' And they won," she said of Namath's guarantee before New York defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

"Pennsylvania, with your help, we're going to win this state, I guarantee," Palin told more than 1,000 supporters who packed a chilly Beaver Area High School football stadium, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, on Thursday night.

It's Time to Get Serious!

Carmen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:53:07 EDT

To all my friends who have been idly sitting by, watching Barack Obama's poll numbers rise, it is time to ask yourself, "What have I been doing for the Campaign for Change lately? Ask yourself, "Am I getting complacent?"

I have not posted on this blog in roughly a month because I have been knocking on doors in Pennsylvania, canvassing voters. I've also been busy entering voter registration and phone call canvassing data to prepare for getting out the vote.

We are now in the GOTV phase, and it's tme to get serious! Please don't be one of the supporters of Senator Obama who wakes up disheartened, dissilusioned and disappointed on Wednesday, November 5th, saying "If only I had done more..." If you can't give the time, give the money. If you can't give the money, give the time to this campaign. The time is NOW.

We need everybody to "Get up offa that thing" and get to work. Even if you can only donate an hour of your time to enter data, to make calls to a battleground state, to canvass in a battleground state, to knock on doors to persuade voters. We are 13 days away from the most important election of our lifetimes. Do something.

Donate to Elwyn Tinklenberg, Michelle Bachmann's opponent

Guy from New York, NY — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:59:27 EDT

To understand why we are fighting for Barack Obama, I urge everyone to read this article and especially to watch the MSNBC Hardball segment where Chris Matthews interviews Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. She has basically called anyone that is a liberal "un-american" and even called for an investigation of Congress to root out and expose those who have "un American views". She is in a close race, and these outrageous comments have fueled a significant amount of fund raising for her opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg.

You can read and watch the video here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/17/gop-rep-channels-mccarthy_n_135735.html

And you can donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18660

New Yorkers Canvassing in Duryea PA this past weekend

Guy from New York, NY — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:44:25 EDT

Tim Foley (AKA Commander Foley :) has been doing a great job of organizing Upper West Siders to go down and canvass in PA on the week-ends. I've been doing this with him for a number of week-ends now, but this Saturday was the best experience yet. We went to a small town near Scranton called Duryea of about 5000 people where, after the canvassing, we were invited to a party held by the local democratic party organizer, a delightful woman named Trina Moss. She had a party in her backyard, and here's the kicker: we got a chance to meet Congressman Kanjorski and freshman US Senator Bob Casey. I had my handy dandy Flip video camera with me and took some video of their speeches and put together a short movie. Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvPXk_0pbeQ

Tim will be organizing more trips this coming week-end. Come and join us!

Hill Harper WANTS to HEAR from you..YOUTUBE challenge

Jennifer — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:40:35 EDT

If you have a webcam or access to a video recorder please take the opportunity to respond to this youtube request by actor/activist Hill Harper.

http://www.joes4obama.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_G9o0IsPQ

Respond here (through youtube)

http://uk.youtube.com/video_response_upload?v=YQ_G9o0IsPQ

1. NAME -> All you need to state is that you are an average joe/ average joanna

2. State Profession - this is completely up to you if you want to do this?!

2. LOCATION -> What State or even Country you are located

3. VOTING for Barack Obama on Election Day, November 4

That is at least 15 seconds. Please consider taking this challenging and sharing with EVERY OBAMA supporter you know!

Remember http://www.joes4obama.com

Thank you..

First Official Obama Party!

Ben K. The Cantorial Student and Citizen Pruner — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:53:53 EDT

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my blog! This is my first blog in general, and yes, my first Barack Obama blog entry.

I just hosted a debate watch party the other night and it was such a great experience that I thought I should share it with the Barack webosphere (is that a good made up word??)

My wife and I have hosted a few political themed parties in the past, and they have been fun - I usually go all-out with red white and blue decorations (balloons and streamers, mostly...), and I can do baloon animals, so I made blue "donkeys" (which look like dogs, but you have to use the power of suggestion) and red "elephants" (which are like dogs but with long noses).

This time, due to a crazy week, the decorations were a bit less festive, but the event itself was terrific! With the help of the Neighbor to Neighbor section of the MYBO site, I created the event and posted it. While I had very few of my classmates/friends from school come, I had two neighbors from my building, as well as three other groups of people.

Based on the variety of people, and their interesting backgrounds, I think my little post may encourage people to try hosting a party/event of any type. When you make it "official" and it gets posted to local e=mail groups, then you get this kind of great mix:

Omar: An older African American gentleman. He grew up in Harlem, has seen lots of changes in America and in NYC, and is worried about how this administration has "been destroying America." He sees hope in an Obama white house.

Junko - a Japanese lady, recently naturalized (hooray! new voters!). Since coming here 8 years ago, she "has seen the country decline" and "wants a change."

Hunkar - a Turkish fellow. Concerned about peace, and wants an end to the war in Iraq. Also hopes that Obama will "reign in the excesses of capitalism."

Sandra - a 20-something African American woman from East Harlem. She likes how "Obama doesn't use the word 'change' loosely. McCain does, she thinks. "Barack Obama will give us real change."

Wendy - also a 20-something African American woman, she was "never into politics before - But this year I am getting involved...I can relate to him...He's genuine."

Elana - (my wife, lives with me in Manhattan Valley (106th St.)). She wants Obama to repair relations with the world. She also said that she likes the fact that Obama is brilliant, professorial and, yes, possibly "elitist." She says that these are good things to have in a president - we want the best and the brightist to lead us, especially after 8 years of anti-intellectualism coming from the Bush White House.

Karen - our neighbor, a 20-something white lady from Ohio? She was just glad to be there and support us/Barack.

Phil - a 50-something? white man from across the hall, he wore a button that said "unapologetic Liberal" and made the most groans during McCain's various responses.

As you can read from these mini-descriptions, we Obama supporters represent people of all ages and races, and we support this great man for many reasons.

While it was certainly fun on previous occasions to invite only my friends and classmates, the Neighbor to Neighbor tool made possible this amazing mix of neighbors whom I'd never before met. I made a brief speech as to why I support Obama (peace, hope, education, etc.) and I asked them why they support him. (Their answers are woven into the descriptions I typed above).

Finally, I wrapped up the evening by sharing information about the Neighbor to Neighbor campaign tools, and encouraged everyone to help by doing any or all of the following:

- Getting a MYBO account

- Fundraising

- Making calls from home or phone banking events

- Traveling to PA (our nearest battleground state).

- Speaking with friends/relatives (especially aunts/uncles/grandparents of an older generation) to encourage them to change their vote.

So, to sum it up: Be brave and open your home to other Obama supporters - you'll have fun, meet interesting new people, and help build the campaign, whether you are in a battleground state or not. If you'd asked me some months ago if I'd be working for Obama in MANHATTAN, one of the most blue locales in the country, I might've thought that would be silly....Instead, it's been a great experience and I want to build on it in the remaining weeks of the election!

Go OBAMA!

Scoundrel Time--Todd Palin's associates

Judy P. — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:01:19 EDT

A friend sent this to me:

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

Thursday 09 October 2008

»

by: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Huffington Post

(Illustration: Alaskan Independence Party)

    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?

»

MCCAIN SPOKE AT ACORN EVENT

raoulroach — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:19:30 EDT

Monday, October 13, 2008Sticks, stones, and ACORNsPosted by Dick Polman @ 12:08 PMPhildelphia Inquirer

There once was a time when the McCain campaign and its Republican allies insisted on a daily basis that the greatest danger to this nation was al Qaeda. But now, apparently, they think it’s ACORN.

My email in-box runneth over. Here’s a weekend sampling of the message headlines from the McCain and Republican camps: “Conference call on Barack Obama’s Ties to ACORN.” “ACORN Dropped Thousands of Bad Registrations.” “State GOP Leaders Accuse ACORN of Vote Fraud” “State of Indiana Seeks Voter Fraud Probe” “FBI Looking Into Suspect New Mexico Voter Registrations” “On Obama, ACORN, and Voter Registrations” “ACORN Vote Fraud Witness in Ohio”...

…And any second, I was expecting to receive a statement from John McCain, vowing to pursue ACORN to the gates of hell.

Two thoughts: (1) It is absolutely beyond dispute that some canvassers employed by ACORN – that’s the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – have filed phony voter registration cards in key states such as Nevada and Missouri, and that ACORN at times has suffered from a lack of quality control, and (2) It is absolutely preposterous to think that McCain, in his growing desperation, can gain any serious traction in this presidential campaign by linking Obama to ACORN, or by painting ACORN as a clear and present danger to the republic.

Indeed, the sudden focus on ACORN is proof that the Republicans are running low on effective weaponry. They have lost control of the overarching campaign narrative; as the newly-released ABC News-Washington Post poll again demonstrates, Obama is widely viewed as more credible on the number-one issue, the economic crisis. That’s no surprise, given the McCain camp’s mixed messages. Yesterday, McCain insider Lindsey Graham told CBS News that McCain this week would unveil “a very comprehensive approach to jump start the economy” – only to be contradicted later by a McCain spokesman who said, “We do not have any immediate plans to announce any policy proposals.” Meanwhile, the McCain camp isn’t even in sync with its allies; on ABC News yesterday, McCain’s proposal to have the U.S. Treasury buy up troubled mortgages was assailed as an unfair burden on taxpayers…by Roy Blunt, the number-two House Republican leader.

So McCain, increasingly bereft of effective weaponry, is apparently reduced to throwing sticks, stones, and tufts of grass. On the potency scale, ACORN ranks somewhere between sticks and tufts.

ACORN, during its 38-year history, has long rankled the Republicans, and no doubt the base voters are still sufficiently inflamed to denounce the group at McCain-Palin rallies. But to prevail on election day, McCain needs to capture most of the undecided voters, along with a healthy share of those now leaning towards Obama. Demonizing ACORN - and seeking to link Obama to a group that relatively few people have even heard of - simply won’t do the trick.

For starters – and I know this will shock you – the McCain people can’t even get their facts straight. In a Friday conference call, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said that Obama, as an attorney, once represented ACORN in a lawsuit “against the state of Illinois and the federal government.” (Thereby implying, of course, that Obama was in cahoots with anti-government law-breakers.) But Davis’ dark fantasies collide with factual reality. Obama did indeed represent ACORN in a lawsuit, back in 1995 – working on the same side as the federal government. ACORN and the feds, along with radical plaintiffs such as the League of Women Voters, went to court to compel the state of Illinois to implement a new “motor voter” law that was designed to make it easier for citizens to enroll as voters. They won.

Davis also noted that the Obama camp paid $800,000 last February to a consulting firm affiliated with ACORN, and that the Obama camp didn’t tell the Federal Election Commission, until it filed an amended report in August, that the money was intended for get-out-the-vote drives. But the FEC says that amended filings happen all the time, and ACORN says that only 10 percent of the Obama payment wound up in the ACORN coffers. Meanwhile, the McCain camp, still working the Obama link, pointed out that Obama had once done training sessions for ACORN workers. It turned out that his total time as a trainer was two hours.

ACORN is hardly pure as the driven snow. Canvassers in some locales have been kicked out for filing phony voter registration cards; some have been prosecuted. ACORN says it has fired 80 New Mexico canvassers since last December, for submitting potentially fraudulent registrations. ACORN humorists in Nevada reportedly have been caught filing multiple voter registration cards carrying the names of football stars Terrell Owens and Tony Romo. ACORN has acknowledged those incidents; the Nevada chapter says in a statement, “While the vast majority of our voter registration canvassers do a great job, there have been several times over the past 10 months that our Las Vegas Quality Control program has identified a canvasser who appears to have knowingly submitted a fake or duplicate application in order to pad his or her hours.”

The problem for the McCain people, however, is that they have oversold their case. What they are calling “voter fraud” is actually “voter registration fraud,” which is very different. The latter is much easier to accomplish than the former. Even if state election officials fail to screen out all the phony voter registrants (and apparently their screening processes are quite good), people typically don’t show up at the polls with phony identification, seeking to cast bogus ballots. Are we to believe that thousands of Nevadans will show up claiming that they are Terrell Owens? As election-law specialist Rick Hasen of Loyola University reportedly said the other day, “these claims of voter impersonation fraud are just not credible.” Indeed, in a 2005 study of recent Ohio elections co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters, a grand total of four fradulent ballots were unearthed...out of nine million ballots cast in 2002 and 2004.

Savvy Republicans recognize that, as a campaign strategy, the ACORN story will get them nowhere. But something else is going on here. By targeting ACORN (and, by implication, all the Obama-friendly voter registration drives), the McCain camp is trying to pre-spin a November defeat, by framing in advance the argument that an Obama victory would be illegitimate. It’s like that famous scene in Citizen Kane, when the headline writers at Kane’s sycophantic newspaper prepared two announcements for election day. If the boss won his gubernatorial race, the headline would be, “Kane Elected!” If he lost, the headline would be, “Fraud at Polls!”

Which is why Obama can ill afford to win narrowly. Only a decisive victory would render the “fraud” argument moot, and send McCain’s assembled team of litigators back to their law firms.

And one last observation: ACORN is involved in all kinds of issues, including immigration reform. For instance, ACORN sponsored a big community meeting on immigration reform back on Feb. 20, 2006, at a college in Miami. Care to guess who validated ACORN by showing up to speak at its event?

John McCain.

JOIN LAST CALL FOR CHANGE Saturday and Sunday in NYC

Benjamin from New York, NY — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:12:04 EDT

This weekend we're holding phonebanks at campaign offices and other locations across New York so that Obama supporters can reach out to voters in swing states. No experience is needed to participate -- staff will give you all the resources you need to succeed. All you need to do is bring your cell phone. Nothing is more powerful than having undecided voters hear from ordinary folks about Barack and this campaign for change.

http://ny.barackobama.com/NYlastcall

Watch as Obama Predicts McCain Palin Tactics

raoulroach — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:01:48 EDT

VOTE FOR THAT ONE! THE SMART GUY THIS TIME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH2iufUU1f4

That One T-Shirts

Brett — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:57:22 EDT

"You know who voted for it? You might never know: That One!"
-John McCain (pointing at Barack Obama) 10/7/08

Help me fundraise and hopefully fun-raise. Check out my Hey John: I'm Voting For 'That One' T-Shirts and tell McCain what you think.

Shirts are available at: http://www.cafepress.com/deutschphoto

Barack The Vote!

Polar Bears, Wolves and Moose? Oh My! - TMZ

theo — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:41:30 EDT

Polar Bears, Wolves and Moose? Oh My!

Posted Oct 8th 2008 3:21PM by TMZ Staff

Gotta give her points for trying to go green with her ECO friendly canvas bag -- although the tag line, "Real Women Hunt Moose" could use some work.

Guess when it comes to certain sneaky, and notoriously vicious animals, nothing makes a woman feel more alive than a well-placed bullet between the old antlers. So much for the PETA vote.

ISRAELIS FOR OBAMA

raoulroach — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:01:12 EDT

It makes you want to cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2VFRt5W4FM

REAL HOPE FOR PEACE!

Palin Equals Bush The Video... OMG

raoulroach — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:34:18 EDT

Olbermann nails Sarah Palin with side by side talking points of Bush 2000 and Sarah clips from the debate! Another must see video. Make it viral pass it on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXPMn99a7nQ

The stakes increase in Pennsylvania

Jackie Goldenberg — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:57:48 EDT

Okay, now that John McCain is pulling his forces out of Michigan, it's clear that he will concentrate more on other swing states. One of the biggest battles he still thinks he can win is right next door in Pennsylvania. Let's prove him wrong. How about taking a day to canvas our neighbors just a couple hours away?

Pennsylvanians who intend to vote for Obama are incredibly grateful for our support. Their enthusiasm is great to see. One man said: "If I could vote a thousand times, I'd vote for him." More sobering was a woman I met, who admitted that she'd be afraid to put an Obama sign in her yard. "I'd be crucified," she said. These Obama supporters are doing their best to spread the word, in neighborhoods that may be angry about Hillary or ardent for McCain.

Even more important are the undecided Pennsylvanians, who are not sure yet but are willing to be persuaded. If you talk about the economy, particularly now, particularly for so many people left behind, they will listen. "We're in trouble," said one, actually he used stronger language than "in trouble," and that was before this week.

Just because the polls are pulling Barack's way, let's not ignore Pennsylvania. Besides, with autumn leaves near their peak, the ride down is spectacular.

Palin Says She Represents 'Joe Six-Pack' - Associated Press

theo — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:58:31 EDT

Palin says she represents 'Joe Six-pack'

Associated Press

Wed Oct 1, 12:47 AM ET

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin portrayed herself Tuesday as a champion of everyday people while noting her family's stock portfolio took a $20,000 hit last week.

"It's time that normal Joe Six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency," the Republican vice presidential candidate told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

Palin said if she and John McCain win, they will "put government back on the side of the people of Joe Six-pack like me."

Palin said she and her husband, Todd, have been affected by the economic downturn.

"I know what Americans are going through," she said a day after a record 778-point plunge on Wall Street. "Todd and I, heck, we're going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don't like the idea of just an everyday, working-class American running for such an office."

Palin makes $125,000 yearly as governor, and her husband makes about $90,000 a year combined from his commercial fishing business and his part-time job as a production operator on the North Slope.

Palin said her husband's 401(k) retirement account lost probably $20,000 in the last week as the market dropped.

According to the most recent state financial disclosure forms, filed March 10, 2008, the Palins had about $164,699 in a private investment account and $198,102 in a separate retirement account.

"The relatively low number of investments that we have, looking at the hit that we're taking, probably $20,000 last week in his 401(k) plan that was hit. I'm thinking, geez, the rest of America, they're facing the exact same thing that we are," she said.

Palin was asked to clarify why things are tight for her family.

"It's just the great financial crisis that America is in, as our savings accounts also, and a 401(k), they're being hit," she said.

She didn't explain how her savings account was being affected.

MUST SEE and send on to others!

Dov Frishberg — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:17:34 EDT

ASAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2VFRt5W4FM

Spread the word!

- Dubbi (Dov Frishberg, Group Coordinator, ZAHAL Veterans for Obama)

Thank you, Sarah Palin.

Van — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:55:46 EDT

I want to personally thank Sarah Palin. That's right... and John McCain for picking her as his VP nominee. By doing so, they assured me that Barack will be our number forty-four. I normally don't count chickens before they hatch, but unless Palin's intelligence magically triples in her sleep before Thursday's debate–and I (unsurprisingly) doubt that it will–then Obama is our guy: sign, sealed, and delivered.

Palin has helped Barack more than she has McCain, and I don't see that changing before the election. On November forth I hope to release a pent-up, eight-year sigh of relief as a defeated Palin packs her bags and heads back to Alaska (where I hope she stays), and our next president Barack Obama confirms that this is the greatest nation on earth.

Thank you, Sarah Palin.

The Bar Is Painted On The Floor For Sarah Palin - Chicago Tribune

theo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:13:15 EDT

Originally posted: September 29, 2008
The bar is painted on the floor for Sarah Palin

Estimable Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria has jumped on the pile:

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. ...In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true.

Zakaria was piqued, as so many have been, by Palin's flabbergasting performance in an interview with Katie Couric last week, an interview in which she gave such rambling, dim-witted responses to predictable questions that "Saturday Night Live" lifted whole hunks of actual transcript verbatim and inserted them into a parody sketch over the weekend.

Syndicated liberal radio talk-show host Ed Schultz (heard locally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on WCPT AM 820) has been saying this:

Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless." (From his Web site)

All of which makes me wonder: Is it possible that the Couric interview -- so much worse, even, than Palin's unimpressive interview with Charlie Gibson -- and the supposed leaks to Ed Schultz are part of an audacious attempt to lower the bar down to floor for Palin in her debate Thursday with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden?

Yes, lowering the bar for one's own candidate is a time-honored political tactic (or is it a strategy?).

Our candidate doesn't really shine in the debate format, whereas our opponent is a veritable forensic champion. Yet we will do our humble best.

This positions your candidate to "win" the debate simply by exceeding expectations.

And it's fair to say that expectations for Palin almost couldn't be lower. Her ditzy ramblings have reinforced the image of her as a sparkly naif that the late-night comics have seized on:

John McCain wants to suspend his debate with Barack Obama until the economic crisis is over. And Sarah Palin wants to suspend her debate with Joe Biden until she can find Europe on a map.....Jay Leno

Similarly bar-lowering was the campaign's decision (tactic? strategy?) to keep Palin under wraps after Friday night's debate instead of coming forward, as Joe Biden did, to speak to reporters and declare victory for the running mate.

So now Palin doesn't have to do better than Joe Biden on Thursday night to "win." She just has to do better than Miss South Carolina did in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2007. Which, of course, she will.

Won't she?

UPDATE -- I'm going out on a limb here and predicting, at 3 p.m. Monday, that Thursday's debate will not go on as scheduled, and that this will be the result of some annoucement or decision from the McCain camp. Palin will cite a need to return to Alaska to help the state cope with the economic crisis or she will say it's inappropriate to have such a debate when things are so up in the air or she will be ill or she will withdraw from the race to spend more time with her family. Feel free to come back here and taunt me Thursday night when I'm proven wrong.

UPDATE TWO-- Poor, poor victimized Sarah Palin: A Voter Asks A Question, And It's "Gotcha Journalism"

ONLINE:
• `If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.' (re. Kathleen Parker column)
• Palin's foreign policy chops

James Wolcott on the lowered bar:

It's the conservative men who are now the most condescending to Palin, treating her gaffes and knowledge gaps as trifles because she brings something fresh and telegenic to the ticket. Today on Chris Matthews, David Brooks, setting the bar so low for Palin a cricket could hop it, lamely defended her as "smart" and said that if she improved in her debate with Biden, she might rise to the level of "mediocre," the shruggy wave of his hands indicating that mediocre was enough to pass muster with him. Over at NRO, that little scamp Mark Steyn, echoing the cry of Let Sarah Be Sarah, conceded that Palin Unfiltered might be Malaprop City, but what the hey:
All Governor Palin should insist on...is that every interview be live. And, if they're all disasters, they'll wind up like Biden's gaffes or Clinton's adulteries. As Stalin remarked in another context, one is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.
Not the choicest analogy.

The Moderate Voice:

All [Palin] has to do in her debate with Democratic Sen. Joe Biden is to put in a credible performance and not make any gaffes. She has been kept away from the press by McCain’s high command so she already suffers from a bad press due to her inaccessibility. She has become a comedian’s punchline. And she has been lampooned mercilessly by satirists. If she comes across the debate as being serious, thoughtful and able to respond aggressively with accurate facts to back up her responses, many will consider it a win. Expectations — and Fey’s two SNL parodies — have now been set so low that even a blah performance with no major gaffes will allow Palin’s partisans to proclaim it a home run and Biden in the eyes of public opinion could indeed be overshadowed

Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic,com:

How can it be that some people still pretend that Sarah Palin is suited for high office? This country has never seen someone so comprehensively unprepared for the vice presidency; Dan Quayle was Metternich by comparison. I've watched Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric three times, and my astonishment does not diminish. Her nonsensical answer about Russia has deservedly been highlighted, but let me focus on another question...The issue here is not that Palin didn't know the answer. ...The issue here is that she didn't know the question.

Andrew Malcolm at LATimes.com on the lowered bar:

[The Democrats] They have so successfully mocked, derided and lowered expectations for Palin in Thursday night's VP debate that if she doesn't drool or speak in tongues, many millions still open to persuasion will be impressed. Al Gore's campaign made the exact same mistake going into the 2000 debates. So all Texas Gov. George W. Bush had to do was not lose. In that sense, Democrats may have played right into a PR cul-de-sac. Biden, for instance, described Palin as merely better-looking than him. A far better communications strategy would have been to insincerely portray Palin with superlatives as a superwoman, making it harder, not easier, for her to impress. Too late now.

Over at Salon, Joan Walsh lowers the bar still further:

Palin "didn't blink" when McCain asked her to join the ticket, didn't think twice, because she's a supremely self-confident woman with a limited worldview, impressed with her own greatness and not terribly curious about anyone else. ...McCain risked his entire reputation for integrity with his cynical choice of Palin, and he'll have to live with the consequences. One consequence is the loss of respect by many journalists who once admired him. ... Boy, Republicans have to be dreading the Thursday debate, huh?

...and Rebecca Traister muses on what might have/should have been:

Let's consider that there are any number of women who could have been John McCain's running mate -- from Olympia Snowe to Christine Todd Whitman to Kay Bailey Hutchison to Elizabeth Dole to Condoleezza Rice -- who would not have provoked this reaction. Democrats might well have been repulsed and infuriated by these women's policy positions. But we would not have been sitting around worrying about how scared they looked....[Palin] boldly tries to pass off incuriosity and lassitude as regular-people qualities, thereby doing a disservice to all those Americans who also work two jobs and do not come from families that hand out passports and backpacking trips, yet still manage to pick up a paper and read about their government and seek out experience and knowledge....
When you don't have enough regard for your country or its politics to cram effectively for the test -- a test that helps determine whether or not you get to run that country and participate in its politics -- I don't feel bad for you.

Andrew Sullivan makes an important point about the gender issue:

Until Sarah Palin agrees to a full and open press conference, she should not even be considered as a possible vice-president of the United States. What has been going on with her and access to her is an outrage to democratic discourse and the entire electoral system. Since she was selected, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has held more press conferences with American reporters than she has. Forget all this debate spin or pre-spin. Just give her a microphone, a roomful of inquisitive reporters and be done with it. If she were a man, this wouldn't even be debatable. That we are being told these lower standards are acceptable for a woman candidate is sexist cant. When will the press simply stop cooperating with this farce?

Plan To Steal Election Through Voting Machines

raoulroach — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:16:54 EDT

SPOONAMORE REVEALS THE PLAN TO STEAL THE NEXT ELECTION Here, in this shattering new interview, Stephen Spoonamore goes into harrowing detail about the Bush regime's election fraud, past, present and--if we don't spread the word right now--to come. Since he's the only whistle-blower out there who knows the perps themselves, and how they operate, we have to send this new piece far and wide.
Here Spoon tells us that McBush's team--i.e., Karl Rove and his henchpersons-- have their plan in place to steal this next election: by 51.2% of the popular vote, and three electoral votes.
He also talks about the major role played by the Christianist far right in the electronic rigging of the vote.
And he defines our electronic voting system as a major threat to US national security, calling for it to be junked ASAP, in favor of hand-counted paper ballots.
Since Spoon is a Republican and erstwhile McCain supporter, as well as a noted specialist in nosing out computer fraud, his testimony is essential--not only for its expertise, but, no less, for the impact that his views will surely have on those Republicans who have been loath to see what Bush & Co. has done to our election system.

That whole story's just about to break. In fact, tomorrow there will be a number of articles appearing, on a recent breakthrough in the lawsuit that Spoon's testimony has enabled, and on other aspects of that all-important case.
MCM
9/26/08: New Spoonamore Interview - E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat
Last week, VR interviewed GOP Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore about the upcoming election and his testimony in the new Ohio litigation to take depositions of Karl Rove and others.

The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it.
Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election.
Spoon also makes a crucial point about the people who have been implicated in much of the election theft: "They are religious extremists." He names those who know about stolen elections, and he insists that the only way to protect this election is with paper ballots, hand-counted.

Check out this extraordinary interview here.
http://www.velvetrevolution.us/prosecute_rove/images/SpoonIntvw3.wmvhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyByZx5GEaw It's a network, people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadsHqxid8I Electronic voting machines are a national security threat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxuXC4QlMk The genie is out of the bottleŠ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHkY7sJ4ZI Fifty ways to steal an election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--KHOo8tkM Mike Connell: Bush IT Guru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJHmuG8d2bQ The Rapp Family: Ohio election cover-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7DK3LgiOA Evangelicals and voting machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTe8ppEIic Paper ballots please.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI McCain/Palin will win by theft.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07oi2G_K4c People should doubt the vote, it's being stolen.

McCain works his magic, Dow craters anyway

Jackie Goldenberg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:22:15 EDT

So, how much power does John McCain have over the conservative wing of his party? Gee, just about as much as W., our quacking lame duck. The bailout package fails in the House, and the Dow crashes south, as much as 700 plus points in mid-afternoon.

Glued to the tv, I watch commentators pumped over so much news. Suze Orman or somebody suggests keeping six months worth of cash just in case, and I think she may mean actual paper currency that you can touch. Or maybe not.

Downtown, protesters shout in front of the stock exchange. Up here on the Upper West Side, on the eve of 5769, the sun shines still and the streets grow quiet. Happy New Year.

Barack Obama's Team Believes He Can Win By A Landslide -Telegraph.co.uk

theo — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:19:26 EDT

US elections: Barack Obama's team believes he can win by a landslide

By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 8:18PM BST 27 Sep 2008

Barack Obama's senior aides believe he is on course for a landslide election victory over John McCain and will comfortably exceed most current predictions in the race for the White House.

Aides are convinced that Barack Obama has a strong chance of winning no fewer than nine states won by George W. Bush in the closely contested 2000 election.

Their optimism, which is said to be shared by the Democratic candidate himself, is based on information from private polling and on faith in the powerful political organisation he has built in the key swing states.

Insiders say that Mr Obama's apparent calm through an unusually turbulent election season is because he believes that his strength among first time voters in several key states has been underestimated, both by the media and by the Republican Party.

Mr Obama has come under fire from within Democratic ranks over his message and his tactics. Critics say he has failed to connect with the blue-collar workers seen as crucial to winning the election, and too reluctant to make direct attacks on Mr McCain.

But his aides are convinced that he has a strong chance of winning no fewer than nine states won by George W.Bush in the closely contested 2000 election, including former Republican strongholds like North Carolina, Virginia and even Indiana, which have not voted Democrat for a generation.

David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, said last week that Obama had "a lot of opportunity" in states which Mr Bush won four years ago.

But in private briefings in Washington, a member of Mr Obama's inner circle of policy advisers went much further in spelling out why the campaign's working assumptions far exceed the expectations of independent observers.

"Public polling companies and the media have underestimated the scale of new Democratic voters registration in these states," the campaign official told a friend. "We're much stronger on the ground in Virginia and North Carolina than people realise. If we get out the vote this may not be close at all."

To win the presidency, Mr Obama must win 270 votes in the Electoral College, which awards votes to the winner of each state broadly in proportion to the size of the population.

Statewide surveys put the likely Electoral College result at a slender Obama win, 273-265. But his campaign staff believe they have a good chance of securing between 330 and 340 votes, and could win up to 364 votes, a landslide on the scale of Bill Clinton's wins.

The senior Obama advisor said that the Democratic nominee is confident of winning all the states held by John Kerry, the Democratic candidate four years ago, a total of 252 votes.

But his team believes he can also bank victories in Iowa, where he first emerged as a force in the campaign in January, and New Mexico, where Mr Kerry only lost by 20,000 votes in 2004. Those states would leave him just six votes short of outright victory.

Taking Colorado, as Mr Obama's team are very confident of doing, would put him over the top. Even winning the smaller state of Nevada, with its five electoral votes, would be enough to guarantee a 269-269 tie with Mr McCain. If that happens, the US consititution would hand the decision over to the Democrat dominated US House of Representatives, which would presumably come down in Mr Obama's favour.

Most pollsters would regard those expectations as uncontroversial. But the Obama camp is also confident of winning Ohio and Virginia, which commentators believe are "toss up" states with the two candidates chances at 50/50.

Last week Mr Obama began investing heavily in advertising in Indiana, Florida and North Carolina, which many had supposed to be a waste of time and money.

A Washington official who has discussed the electoral mathematics with one of Mr Obama's senior advisers told The Sunday Telegraph that the campaign is spending money only in states which it believes can, and indeed ought to, be won.

"Obama has many more paths to the nomination than McCain," the source said. "They think they can defend the Kerry states. Iowa is gone. That's five votes. New Mexico is in the bag. Then Obama has four or five different ways of winning. He can go Nevada or Colorado, Virginia, any of those, even Indiana.

"McCain has got to run the board, the whole Bush table. He can probably lose New Mexico and Iowa. He can't afford to lose anything else."

The official added: "The poll numbers say Florida's back in play. McCain hasn't spent a single penny there and that's Obama's calculation, that he can capitalise on that. The Republicans can't lose Florida or they're done for."

Conventional wisdom among pollsters is that Mr Obama is at risk of losing both Michigan and Pennsylvania and possibly even Wisconsin, all large Kerry states whose loss would be a damaging blow.

But the Obama camp believes that Wisconsin in safe and that he has strengthened his position in Pennsylvania with a good ground operation. Michigan, home of the Reagan Democrats, is a concern because Mr Obama did not campaign there in the primaries and race relations are raw, but they are confident they can hang on to his slender lead in the polls.

Mainstream pollsters on both sides of the aisle last week called the election as a dead heat. Mark Mellman, who was John Kerry's polling guru, said the 2008 election is "increasingly resembling the real map of 2004" and Matthew Dowd, a top strategist on Bush's re-election campaign, added: "States that were reliably red are reliably red, and states that were reliably blue are reliably blue."

But Mr Obama's campaign team reject that analysis. Their confidence that good organisation will more than compensate for latent racism will be reassuring to some Democrats, who were concerned by a poll last weekend that found Mr Obama would be six points higher in the polls if he were white.

The scale of their ambition will trouble those Democratic sceptics who consider Mr Obama's aides to be complacent and inexperienced in national campaigns.

For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling - NY Times

theo — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:12:19 EDT

September 28, 2008

For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling

By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.

Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.

A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

The visit had been arranged by the lobbyist, Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequot, a tribe that has contributed heavily to Mr. McCain’s campaigns and built Foxwoods into the world’s second-largest casino. Joining them was Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s current campaign manager. Their night of good fortune epitomized not just Mr. McCain’s affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress.

As a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, Mr. McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America’s casinos, helping to transform the once-sleepy Indian gambling business into a $26-billion-a-year behemoth with 423 casinos across the country. He has won praise as a champion of economic development and self-governance on reservations.

“One of the founding fathers of Indian gaming” is what Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and a leading Indian gambling expert, called Mr. McCain.

As factions of the ferociously competitive gambling industry have vied for an edge, they have found it advantageous to cultivate a relationship with Mr. McCain or hire someone who has one, according to an examination based on more than 70 interviews and thousands of pages of documents.

Mr. McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests — including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors.

When rules being considered by Congress threatened a California tribe’s planned casino in 2005, Mr. McCain helped spare the tribe. Its lobbyist, who had no prior experience in the gambling industry, had a nearly 20-year friendship with Mr. McCain.

In Connecticut that year, when a tribe was looking to open the state’s third casino, staff members on the Indian Affairs Committee provided guidance to lobbyists representing those fighting the casino, e-mail messages and interviews show. The proposed casino, which would have cut into the Pequots’ market share, was opposed by Mr. McCain’s colleagues in Connecticut.

Mr. McCain declined to be interviewed. In written answers to questions, his campaign staff said he was “justifiably proud” of his record on regulating Indian gambling. “Senator McCain has taken positions on policy issues because he believed they are in the public interest,” the campaign said.

Mr. McCain’s spokesman, Tucker Bounds, would not discuss the senator’s night of gambling at Foxwoods, saying: “Your paper has repeatedly attempted to insinuate impropriety on the part of Senator McCain where none exists — and it reveals that your publication is desperately willing to gamble away what little credibility it still has.”

Over his career, Mr. McCain has taken on special interests, like big tobacco, and angered the capital’s powerbrokers by promoting campaign finance reform and pushing to limit gifts that lobbyists can shower on lawmakers. On occasion, he has crossed the gambling industry on issues like regulating slot machines.

Perhaps no episode burnished Mr. McCain’s image as a reformer more than his stewardship three years ago of the Congressional investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican Indian gambling lobbyist who became a national symbol of the pay-to-play culture in Washington. The senator’s leadership during the scandal set the stage for the most sweeping overhaul of lobbying laws since Watergate.

“I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes,” the senator said in his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination this month.

But interviews and records show that lobbyists and political operatives in Mr. McCain’s inner circle played a behind-the-scenes role in bringing Mr. Abramoff’s misdeeds to Mr. McCain’s attention — and then cashed in on the resulting investigation. The senator’s longtime chief political strategist, for example, was paid $100,000 over four months as a consultant to one tribe caught up in the inquiry, records show.

Mr. McCain’s campaign said the senator acted solely to protect American Indians, even though the inquiry posed “grave risk to his political interests.”

As public opposition to tribal casinos has grown in recent years, Mr. McCain has distanced himself from Indian gambling, Congressional and American Indian officials said.

But he has rarely wavered in his loyalty to Las Vegas, where he counts casino executives among his close friends and most prolific fund-raisers. “Beyond just his support for gaming, Nevada supports John McCain because he’s one of us, a Westerner at heart,” said Sig Rogich, a Nevada Republican kingmaker who raised nearly $2 million for Mr. McCain at an event at his home in June.

Only six members of Congress have received more money from the gambling industry than Mr. McCain, and five hail from the casino hubs of Nevada and New Jersey, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics dating back to 1989. In the presidential race, Senator Barack Obama has also received money from the industry; Mr. McCain has raised almost twice as much.

In May 2007, as Mr. McCain’s presidential bid was floundering, he spent a weekend at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip. A fund-raiser hosted by J. Terrence Lanni, the casino’s top executive and a longtime friend of the senator, raised $400,000 for his campaign. Afterward, Mr. McCain attended a boxing match and hit the craps tables.

For much of his adult life, Mr. McCain has gambled as often as once a month, friends and associates said, traveling to Las Vegas for weekend betting marathons. Former senior campaign officials said they worried about Mr. McCain’s patronage of casinos, given the power he wields over the industry. The officials, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We were always concerned about appearances,” one former official said. “If you go around saying that appearances matter, then they matter.”

The former official said he would tell Mr. McCain: “Do we really have to go to a casino? I don’t think it’s a good idea. The base doesn’t like it. It doesn’t look good. And good things don’t happen in casinos at midnight.”

“You worry too much,” Mr. McCain would respond, the official said.

A Record of Support

In one of their last conversations, Representative Morris K. Udall, Arizona’s powerful Democrat, whose devotion to American Indian causes was legendary, implored his friend Mr. McCain to carry on his legacy.

“Don’t forget the Indians,” Mr. Udall, who died in 1998, told Mr. McCain in a directive that the senator has recounted to others.

More than a decade earlier, Mr. Udall had persuaded Mr. McCain to join the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Mr. McCain, whose home state has the third-highest Indian population, eloquently decried the “grinding poverty” that gripped many reservations.

The two men helped write the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 after the Supreme Court found that states had virtually no right to control wagering on reservations. The legislation provided a framework for the oversight and growth of Indian casinos: In 1988, Indian gambling represented less than 1 percent of the nation’s gambling revenues; today it captures more than one third.

On the Senate floor after the bill’s passage, Mr. McCain said he personally opposed Indian gambling, but when impoverished communities “are faced with only one option for economic development, and that is to set up gambling on their reservations, then I cannot disapprove.”

In 1994, Mr. McCain pushed an amendment that enabled dozens of additional tribes to win federal recognition and open casinos. And in 1998, Mr. McCain fought a Senate effort to rein in the boom.

He also voted twice in the last decade to give casinos tax breaks estimated to cost the government more than $326 million over a dozen years.

The first tax break benefited the industry in Las Vegas, one of a number of ways Mr. McCain has helped nontribal casinos. Mr. Lanni, the MGM Mirage chief executive, said that an unsuccessful bid by the senator to ban wagering on college sports in Nevada was the only time he could recall Mr. McCain opposing Las Vegas. “I can’t think of any other issue,” Mr. Lanni said.

The second tax break helped tribal casinos like Foxwoods and was pushed by Scott Reed, the Pequots’ lobbyist.

Mr. McCain had gotten to know Mr. Reed during Senator Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, which Mr. Reed managed. Four years later, when Mr. McCain ran for president, Mr. Reed recommended he hire his close friend and protégé, Rick Davis, to manage that campaign.

During his 2000 primary race against George W. Bush, Mr. McCain promoted his record of helping Indian Country, telling reporters on a campaign swing that he had provided critical support to “the Pequot, now the proud owners of the largest casino in the world.”

But Mr. McCain’s record on Indian gambling was fast becoming a difficult issue for him in the primary. Bush supporters like Gov. John Engler of Michigan lambasted Mr. McCain for his “close ties to Indian gambling.”

A decade after Mr. McCain co-authored the Indian gambling act, the political tides had turned. Tribal casinos, which were growing at a blazing pace, had become increasingly unpopular around the country for reasons as varied as morality and traffic.

Then came the biggest lobbying scandal to shake Washington.

Behind an Inquiry

At a September 2004 hearing of the Indian Affairs Committee, Mr. McCain described Jack Abramoff as one of the most brazen in a long line of crooks to cheat American Indians. “It began with the sale of Manhattan, and has continued ever since,” he said. “What sets this tale apart, what makes it truly extraordinary, is the extent and degree of the apparent exploitation and deceit.”

Over the next two years, Mr. McCain helped uncover a breathtaking lobbying scandal — Mr. Abramoff and a partner bilked six tribes of $66 million — that showcased the senator’s willingness to risk the wrath of his own party to expose wrongdoing. But interviews and documents show that Mr. McCain and a circle of allies — lobbyists, lawyers and senior strategists — also seized on the case for its opportunities.

For McCain-connected lobbyists who were rivals of Mr. Abramoff, the scandal presented a chance to crush a competitor. For senior McCain advisers, the inquiry allowed them to collect fees from the very Indians that Mr. Abramoff had ripped off. And the investigation enabled Mr. McCain to confront political enemies who helped defeat him in his 2000 presidential run while polishing his maverick image.

The Abramoff saga started in early 2003 when members of two tribes began questioning Mr. Abramoff’s astronomical fees. Over the next year, they leaked information to local newspapers, but it took the hiring of lobbyists who were competitors of Mr. Abramoff to get the attention of Mr. McCain’s committee.

Bernie Sprague, who led the effort by one of the tribes, the Saginaw Chippewas in Michigan, hired a Democratic lobbyist who recommended that the tribe retain Scott Reed, the Republican lobbyist, to push for an investigation.

Mr. Reed had boasted to other lobbyists of his access to Mr. McCain, three close associates said. Mr. Reed “pretty much had open access to John from 2000 to at least the end of 2006,” one aide said.

Lobbyist disclosure forms show that Mr. Reed went to work for the Saginaw Chippewa on Feb. 15, 2004, charging the tribe $56,000 over a year. Mr. Abramoff had tried to steal the Pequots and another tribal client from Mr. Reed, and taking down Mr. Abramoff would eliminate a competitor.

Mr. Reed became the chief conduit to Mr. McCain’s committee for billing documents and other information Mr. Sprague was digging up on Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Sprague said, who said Mr. Reed “did a great to service to me.”

“He had contacts I did not,” Mr. Sprague said. “Initially, I think that the senator’s office was doing Reed a favor by listening to me.”

A few weeks after hiring Mr. Reed, Mr. Sprague received a letter from the senator. “We have met with Scott Reed, who was very helpful on the issue,” Mr. McCain wrote.

Information about Mr. Abramoff was also flowing to Mr. McCain’s committee from another tribe, the Coushatta of Louisiana. The source was a consultant named Roy Fletcher, who had been Mr. McCain’s deputy campaign manager in 2000, running his war room in South Carolina.

It was in that primary race that two of Mr. Abramoff’s closest associates, Grover Norquist, who runs the nonprofit Americans for Tax Reform, and Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition, ran a blistering campaign questioning Mr. McCain’s conservative credentials. The senator and his advisers blamed that attack for Mr. McCain’s loss to Mr. Bush in South Carolina, creating tensions that would resurface in the Abramoff matter.

“I was interested in busting” Mr. Abramoff, said Mr. Fletcher, who was eventually hired to represent the tribe. “That was my job. But I was also filled with righteous indignation, I got to tell you.”

Mr. Fletcher said he began passing information to John Weaver, Mr. McCain’s chief political strategist, and other staff members in late 2003 or January 2004. Mr. Weaver confirmed the timing.

Mr. McCain announced his investigation on Feb. 26, 2004, citing an article on Mr. Abramoff in The Washington Post. He did not mention the action by lobbyists and tribes in the preceding weeks. His campaign said no one in his “innermost circle” brought information to Mr. McCain that prompted the investigation.

The senator declared he would not investigate members of Congress, whom Mr. Abramoff had lavished with tribal donations and golf outings to Scotland. But in the course of the investigation, the committee exposed Mr. Abramoff’s dealings with the two men who had helped defeat Mr. McCain in the 2000 primary.

The investigation showed that Mr. Norquist’s foundation was used by Mr. Abramoff to launder lobbying fees from tribes. Ralph Reed was found to have accepted $4 million to run bogus antigambling campaigns. And the investigation also highlighted Mr. Abramoff’s efforts to curry favor with the House majority leader at the time, Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, a longtime political foe who had opposed many of Mr. McCain’s legislative priorities.

Mr. McCain’s campaign said the senator did not “single out” Ralph Reed or Mr. Norquist, neither of whom were ever charged, and that both men fell within the “scope of the investigation.” The inquiry, which led to guilty pleas by over a dozen individuals, was motivated by a desire to help aggrieved tribes, the campaign said.

Inside the investigation, the sense of schadenfreude was palpable, according to several people close to the senator. “It was like hitting pay dirt,” said one associate of Mr. McCain’s who had consulted with the senator’s office on the investigation. “And face it — McCain and Weaver were maniacal about Ralph Reed and Norquist. They were sticking little pins in dolls because those guys had cost him South Carolina.”

Down on the Coushattas reservation, bills related to the investigation kept coming. After firing Mr. Abramoff, the tribe hired Kent Hance, a lawyer and former Texas congressman who said he had been friends with Mr. McCain since the 1980s.

David Sickey, the tribe’s vice chairman, said he was “dumbfounded” over the bills submitted by Mr. Hance’s firm, Hance Scarborough, which had been hired by Mr. Sickey’s predecessors.

“The very thing we were fighting seemed to be happening all over again — these absurd amounts of money being paid,” Mr. Sickey said.

Mr. Hance’s firm billed the tribe nearly $1.3 million over 11 months in legal and political consulting fees, records show. But Mr. Sickey said that the billing statements offered only vague explanations for services and that he could not point to any tangible results. Two consultants, for instance, were paid to fight the expansion of gambling in Texas — even though it was unlikely given that the governor there opposed any such prospect, Mr. Sickey said.

Mr. Hance and Jay B. Stewart, the firm’s managing partner, defended their team’s work, saying they successfully steered the tribe through a difficult period. “We did an outstanding job for them,” Mr. Hance said. “When we told them our bill was going to be $100,000 a month, they thought we were cheap. Mr. Abramoff had charged them $1 million a month.”

The firm’s fees covered the services of Mr. Fletcher, who served as the tribe’s spokesman. Records also show that Mr. Hance had Mr. Weaver — who was serving as Mr. McCain’s chief strategist — put on the tribe’s payroll from February to May 2005.

It is not precisely clear what role Mr. Weaver played for his $100,000 fee.

Mr. Stewart said Mr. Weaver was hired because “he had a lot of experience with the Senate, especially the new chairman, John McCain.” The Hance firm told the tribe in a letter that Mr. Weaver was hired to provide “representation for the tribe before the U.S. Senate.”

But Mr. Weaver never registered to lobby on the issue, and he has another explanation for his work.

“The Hance law firm retained me to assist them and their client in developing an aggressive crisis management and communications strategy,” Mr. Weaver said. “At no point was I asked by Kent Hance or anyone associated with him to set up meetings with anyone in or outside of government to discuss this, and if asked I would have summarily declined to do so.”

In June 2005, the tribe informed Mr. Hance that his services were no longer needed.

Change in Tone

After the Abramoff scandal, Mr. McCain stopped taking campaign donations from tribes. Some American Indians were offended, especially since Mr. McCain continued to accept money from the tribes’ lobbyists.

Resentment in Indian Country mounted as Mr. McCain, who was preparing for another White House run, singled out the growth in tribal gambling as one of three national issues that were “out of control.” (The others were federal spending and illegal immigration.)

Franklin Ducheneaux, an aide to Morris Udall who helped draft the 1988 Indian gambling law, said that position ran contrary to Mr. McCain’s record. “What did he think? That Congress intended for the tribes to be only somewhat successful?” Mr. Ducheneaux said.

Mr. McCain began taking a broad look at whether the laws were sufficient to oversee the growing industry. His campaign said that the growth had put “considerable stress” on regulators and Mr. McCain held hearings on whether the federal government needed more oversight power.

An opportunity to restrain the industry came in the spring of 2005, when a small tribe in Connecticut set off a political battle. The group, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, had won federal recognition in 2004 after producing voluminous documentation tracing its roots.

The tribe wanted to build Connecticut’s third casino, which would compete with Foxwoods and another, the Mohegan Sun. Facing public opposition on the proposed casino, members of the Connecticut political establishment — many of whom had received large Pequot and Mohegan campaign donations — swung into action.

Connecticut officials claimed that a genealogical review by the Bureau of Indian Affairs was flawed, and that the Schaghticoke was not a tribe.

The tribe’s opponents, led by the Washington lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers, turned to Mr. McCain’s committee. It was a full-circle moment for the senator, who had helped the Pequots gain tribal recognition in the 1980s despite concerns about their legitimacy.

Now, Mr. McCain was doing a favor for allies in the Connecticut delegation, including Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a close friend, according to two former Congressional aides. “It was one of those collegial deals,” said one of the aides, who worked for Mr. McCain.

Barbour Griffith & Rogers wanted Mr. McCain to hold a hearing that would show that the Bureau of Indian Affairs was “broken,” said Bradley A. Blakeman, who was a lobbyist for the firm at the time.

“It was our hope that the hearing would shed light on the fact that the bureau had not followed their rules and had improperly granted recognition to the Schaghticoke,” Mr. Blakeman said. “And that the bureau would revisit the issue and follow their rules.”

Mr. McCain’s staff helped that effort by offering strategic advice.

His staff told a lobbyist for the firm that the Indian Affairs Committee “would love to receive a letter” from the Connecticut governor requesting a hearing, according to an e-mail exchange, and offered “guidance on what the most effective tone and approach” would be in the letter.

On May 11, 2005, Mr. McCain held a hearing billed as a general “oversight hearing on federal recognition of Indian tribes.” But nearly all the witnesses were Schaghticoke opponents who portrayed the tribe as imposters.

Mr. McCain set the tone: “The role that gaming and its nontribal backers have played in the recognition process has increased perceptions that it is unfair, if not corrupt.”

Chief Richard F. Velky of the Schaghticokes found himself facing off against the governor and most of the state’s congressional delegation. “The deck was stacked against us,” Mr. Velky said. “They were given lots of time. I was given five minutes.”

He had always believed Mr. McCain “to be an honest and fair man,” Mr. Velky said, “but this didn’t make me feel that good.”

Mr. Velky said he felt worse when the e-mail messages between the tribe’s opponents and Mr. McCain’s staff surfaced in a federal lawsuit. “Is there a letter telling me how to address the senator to give me the best shot?” Mr. Velky asked. “No, there is not.”

After the hearing, Pablo E. Carrillo, who was Mr. McCain’s chief Abramoff investigator at the time, wrote to a Barbour Griffith & Rogers lobbyist, Brant Imperatore. “Your client’s side definitely got a good hearing record,” Mr. Carillo wrote, adding “you probably have a good sense” on where Mr. McCain “is headed on this.”

“Well done!” he added.

Cynthia Shaw, a Republican counsel to the committee from 2005 to 2007, said Mr. McCain made decisions based on merit, not special interests. “Everybody got a meeting who asked for one,” Ms. Shaw said, “whether you were represented by counsel or by a lobbyist — or regardless of which lobbyist.”

Mr. McCain’s campaign defended the senator’s handling of the Schaghticoke case, saying no staff member acted improperly. The campaign said the session was part of normal committee business and the notion that Mr. McCain was intending to help Congressional colleagues defeat the tribe was “absolutely false.”

It added that the senator’s commitment to Indian sovereignty “remains as strong as ever.”

Within months of the May 2005 hearing, the Bureau of Indian Affairs took the rare step of rescinding the Schaghticokes’ recognition. A federal court recently rejected the tribe’s claim that the reversal was politically motivated.

Making an Exception

That spring of 2005, as the Schaghticokes went down to defeat in the East, another tribe in the West squared off against Mr. McCain with its bid to construct a gambling emporium in California. The stakes were similar, but the outcome would be far different.

The tribe’s plan to build a casino on a former Navy base just outside San Francisco represented a trend rippling across the country: American Indians seeking to build casinos near population centers, far from their reservations.

The practice, known as “off-reservation shopping,” stemmed from the 1988 Indian gambling law, which included exceptions allowing some casinos to be built outside tribal lands. When Mr. McCain began his second stint as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee three years ago, Las Vegas pressed him to revisit the exceptions he had helped create, according to Sig Rogich, the Republican fund-raiser from Nevada.

“We told him this off-reservation shopping had to stop,” Mr. Rogich said. “It was no secret that the gaming industry, as well as many potentially affected communities in other states, voiced opposition to the practice.”

In the spring of 2005, Mr. McCain announced he was planning a sweeping overhaul of Indian gambling laws, including limiting off-reservation casinos. His campaign said Las Vegas had nothing to do with it. In a 2005 interview with The Oregonian, Mr. McCain said that if Congress did not act, “soon every Indian tribe is going to have a casino in downtown, metropolitan areas.”

Prospects for the proposed California project did not look promising. Then the tribe, the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians, hired a lobbyist based in Phoenix named Wes Gullett.

Mr. Gullett, who had never represented tribes before Congress, had known Mr. McCain since the early 1980s. Mr. Gullett met his wife while they were working in Mr. McCain’s Washington office. He subsequently managed Mr. McCain’s 1992 Senate campaign and served as a top aide to his 2000 presidential campaign. Their friendship went beyond politics. When Mr. McCain’s wife, Cindy, brought two infants in need of medical treatment back to Arizona from Bangladesh, the Gulletts adopted one baby and the McCains the other. The two men also liked to take weekend trips to Las Vegas.

Another of Mr. McCain’s close friends, former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, was a major investor in the Guidivilles’ proposed casino. Mr. Cohen, who did not return calls, was best man at Mr. McCain’s 1980 wedding.

Scott Crowell, lawyer for the Guidivilles, said Mr. Gullett was hired to ensure that Mr. McCain’s overhaul of the Indian gambling laws did not harm the tribe.

Mr. Gullett said he never talked to Mr. McCain about the legislation. “If you are hired directly to lobby John McCain, you are not going to be effective,” he said. Mr. Gullett said he only helped prepare the testimony of the tribe’s administrator, Walter Gray, who was invited to plead his case before Mr. McCain’s committee in July 2005. Mr. Gullett said he advised Mr. Gray in a series of conference calls.

On disclosure forms filed with the Senate, however, Mr. Gullett stated that he was not hired until November, long after Mr. Gray’s testimony. Mr. Gullett said the late filing might have been “a mistake, but it was inadvertent.” Steve Hart, a former lawyer for the Guidivilles, backed up Mr. Gullett’s contention that he had guided Mr. Gray on his July testimony.

When asked whether Mr. Gullett had helped him, Mr. Gray responded, “I’ve never met the man and couldn’t tell you anything about him.”

On Nov. 18, 2005, when Mr. McCain introduced his promised legislation overhauling the Indian gambling law, he left largely intact a provision that the Guidivilles needed for their casino. Mr. McCain’s campaign declined to answer whether the senator spoke with Mr. Gullett or Mr. Cohen about the project. In the end, Mr. McCain’s bill died, largely because Indian gambling interests fought back. But the Department of Interior picked up where Mr. McCain left off, effectively doing through regulations what he had hoped to accomplish legislatively. Carl Artman, who served as the Interior Department’s assistant secretary of Indian Affairs until May, said Mr. McCain pushed him to rewrite the off-reservation rules. “It became one of my top priorities because Senator McCain made it clear it was one of his top priorities,” he said.

The new guidelines were issued on Jan. 4. As a result, the casino applications of 11 tribes were rejected. The Guidivilles were not among them.

Kitty Bennett and Griff Palmer contributed to reporting.

Palin’s Words Raise Red Flags - NY Times

theo — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:08:13 EDT

September 27, 2008

Op-Ed Columnist

Palin’s Words Raise Red Flags

By BOB HERBERT

The country is understandably focused on the financial crisis. But there is another serious issue in front of us that is not getting nearly enough attention, and that’s whether Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president — or, if the situation were to arise, president of the United States.

History has shown again and again that a vice president must be ready to assume command of the ship of state on a moment’s notice. But Ms. Palin has given no indication yet that she is capable of handling the monumental responsibilities of the presidency if she were called upon to do so.

In fact, the opposite is the case. We know that there are some parts of Alaska from which, if the day is clear and your eyesight is good, you can actually see Russia. But the infantile repetition of this bit of trivia as some kind of foreign policy bona fide for a vice presidential candidate should give us pause.

The McCain campaign has done its bizarre best to shield Ms. Palin from any sustained media examination of her readiness for the highest offices in the land, and no wonder. She has been an embarrassment in interviews.

But the idea that the voters of the United States might install someone in the vice president’s office who is too unprepared or too intellectually insecure to appear on, say, “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation” is mind-boggling.

The alarm bells should be clanging and warning lights flashing. You wouldn’t put an unqualified pilot in the cockpit of a jetliner. The potential for catastrophe is far, far greater with an unqualified president.

The United States has been lucky in terms of the qualifications of the vice presidents who have had to step in over the last several decades for presidents who either died or, in Richard Nixon’s case, were forced to leave office. Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson became extraordinary presidents in their own right. Gerald Ford successfully guided the nation through the immediate aftermath of one of the most traumatic political crises in its history.

For those who think Sarah Palin is in that league, there is no problem. But her unscripted public appearances would lead most honest observers to think otherwise. When asked again this week about her puerile linkage of foreign policy proficiency and Alaska’s proximity to Russia, this time by Katie Couric of CBS News, here is what Ms. Palin said she meant:

“That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada.”

She went on, but lost her way midsentence: “It’s funny that a comment like that was kind of made to — cari — I don’t know, you know? Reporters ...”

Ms. Couric said, “Mocked?”

“Yeah, mocked,” said Ms. Palin. “I guess that’s the word. Yeah.”

It is not just painful, but frightening to watch someone who could become the vice president of the United States stumbling around like this in an interview.

Ms. Couric asked Ms. Palin to explain how Alaska’s proximity to Russia “enhances your foreign policy credentials.”

“Well, it certainly does,” Ms. Palin replied, “because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there—”

Gently interrupting, Ms. Couric asked, “Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?”

“We have trade missions back and forth,” said Ms. Palin. “We do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to our state.”

It was surreal, the kind of performance that would generate a hearty laugh if it were part of a Monty Python sketch. But this is real life, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. As Ms. Palin was fumbling her way through the Couric interview, the largest bank failure in the history of the United States, the collapse of Washington Mutual, was occurring.

The press has an obligation to hammer away at Ms. Palin’s qualifications. If it turns out that she has just had a few bad interviews because she was nervous or whatever, additional scrutiny will serve her well.

If, on the other hand, it becomes clear that her performance, so far, is an accurate reflection of her qualifications, it would behoove John McCain and the Republican Party to put the country first — as Mr. McCain loves to say — and find a replacement for Ms. Palin on the ticket.

How McCain Wins

raoulroach — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:25:40 EDT

Re: William Kristol NYT Op Ed, How McCain Wins

http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2008/09/29/opinion/29kristol.html

This from the man who brought us the Iraq war. Little Billy is a nasty piece of work. He is not a patriot but a partisan. The problem is his candidate, John McCain is touting "Country First" and his article is saying do anything, no matter how despicable, to win first! Cultural issues divide the nation and divert from the needs of struggling working families.

Trying to use Obama's book, "Dreams of My Father" as fodder for an argument against Obama might increase interest in a great book that will help Obama. The "middleclassness" Obama spoke of is the one that rejects public service for a "strivers" mentality in the black community. It is the notion that the only path to upward mobility in the black community is to acquire the material trappings of the middle class and leave a struggling community behind. Both Barack and Michelle (and Joe Biden as an analogy in the working lower middleclass ethnic white community)rejected this form of "middleclassness" for a career in public service by making a positive difference in the lives of others for the greater good of all.

McCain on the other hand, it can be argued, has spent a life doing the polar opposite. He never rejected "middleclassness" because he's never known it, he ran away from it. He has always been an "elite" and when he decided to leave the military legacy he inherited and had the chance to make the personal moral choice of staying with his commitment to his family, getting a job and working, he chose instead to be cavalier and marry the boss's daughter from which all his "class" choices have stemmed. From that point on he has steadfastly hewed to the patterns and lifestyle only an elite class can live, well heeled associates, private jets and public charity. His policy choices reflect that elite class and so have the economic scandals those choices have engendered. No wonder he rarely mentions the middle class, it's apparent he can't feel their pain because their the "economic fundamentals" and are strong, they work hard for the rich.

The question is not when Obama "changed direction" but when is McCain going to see the middleclass is not below a net worth of five million. That as a patriot he begin to see the policies that set people towards the creation, and elevation of a larger middleclass are best for our nation. These same policies McCain and conservatives have rejected time and time again in favor of total free market solutions and unregulated capitalism that earlier in the 20th century created problems for our nation, and it appears has done the same for our nation at the beginning of the 21st century.

GOP Concerns About Palin Grow - Politico

theo — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:38:15 EDT

GOP concerns about Palin grow
By: Alexander Burns and David Paul Kuhn
September 28, 2008 07:52 AM EST

A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern about Sarah Palin’s uneven — and sometimes downright awkward — performances in her limited media appearances.

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, a former Palin supporter, says the vice presidential nominee should step aside. Kathryn Jean Lopez, writing for the conservative National Review, says “that’s not a crazy suggestion” and that “something’s gotta change.”

Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist, says Palin’s recent CBS appearance isn’t disqualifying but is certainly alarming. “You can’t continue to have interviews like that and not take on water.”

“I have not been blown away by the interviews from her, but at the same time, I haven’t come away from them thinking she doesn’t know s—t,” said Chris Lacivita, a GOP strategist. “But she ain’t Dick Cheney, nor Joe Biden and definitely not Hillary Clinton.”

There is no doubt that Palin retains a tremendous amount of support among rank-and-file Republicans. She draws huge crowds, continues to raise a lot of money for the McCain campaign, and state parties report she has sparked an uptick in the number of volunteers.

Asked about Palin's performance in the CBS interview, a McCain official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said: "She did fine. She's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate."

But there is also no doubt many Republican insiders are worried she could blow next week’s debate, based on her unexpectedly weak and unsteady media appearances, and hurt the Republican ticket if she does.

What follows is a viewer’s guide to some of Palin’s toughest moments on camera so far.

Speaking this week with CBS’s Katie Couric, Palin seemed caught off-guard by a very predictable question about the status of McCain adviser Rick Davis’ relationship with mortgage lender Freddie Mac. Davis was accused by several news outlets of retaining ties — and profiting from — the companies despite his denials.

Where a more experienced politician might have been able to brush off Couric’s follow-up question, Palin seemed genuinely stumped, repeating the same answer twice and resorting to boilerplate language about the “undue influence of lobbyists.”

These missteps could be attributed to inadequate preparation and don’t necessarily reflect more deeply on Palin’s ability to perform as vice president. But when reporters have tried to probe Palin’s thinking on subjects such as foreign policy, she’s been similarly opaque.

In an interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Palin gave a muddled answer to a question about her opinion of the Bush Doctrine.

And given the chance to describe her foreign policy credentials more fully, Palin recited familiar talking points, telling Gibson that her experience with energy policy was sufficient preparation for dealing with national security issues.

In the same interview, Palin let Gibson lead her into saying it might be necessary to wage war on Russia — a suggestion that most candidates would have avoided making explicitly and that signaled her discomfort in discussing global affairs.

Then, asked this week by Couric to discuss her knowledge of foreign relations — in particular, her assertion that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her international experience — Palin tripped herself up explaining her interactions with Alaska’s neighbor to the west.

Watch CBS Videos Online

On the economy, too, Palin has avoided taking clear stances. In a largely friendly interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Palin spoke in tangled generalities in response to a question about a possible Wall Street bailout — and even preempted her campaign by coming out against it.

On Thursday, Palin finally took questions from her traveling press — but shut things down quickly after Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel asked her whether she would support Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who has been indicted for corruption, and Rep. Don Young, who is under federal investigation, for reelection.

Unlike her other interviews, at least this time Palin had the option to walk away.

SARAH PALIN LOVER REVEALED! - National Enquirer

theo — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:26:46 EDT

SARAH PALIN LOVER REVEALED!

In a world exclusive The NATIONAL ENQUIRER names GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin's secret lover!

No less than three members of the man’s family including one by sworn affidavit have claimed that Sarah Palin engaged in an extramarital affair with husband Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson.

These sources have named Hanson as Palin’s secret love, and say their affair nearly wrecked both their marriages.

Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership with Palin’s husband Todd, who immediately dissolved the partnership after he heard stories about the affair, which occurred around 1996, according to the sources. At the time, Palin was mayor of Wasilla.

Palin has vehemently denied cheating on her husband, and Hanson insisted to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER that he was never romantically involved with the 44-year-old Republican vice presidential candidate.

However, Hanson family insider, Jim Burdett, has gone on the record and passed a rigorous polygraph test, revealing details of the affair to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER in a world exclusive interview.

Burdett is a former brother-in-law of Hanson’s estranged wife Carolyn's brother, Craig Batton, and still speaks with many family members.

“I’ve known about Brad having had an affair for a long time, but it wasn’t until just recently that I learned his affair was with Sarah Palin,” Burdett told The NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

“Sarah was elected mayor of Wasilla, Brad became a city council member in the nearby town of Palmer, and they started an affair.

“Todd found out about the affair and was so mad he broke up their partnership at the snowmobile dealership,” Burdett claimed.

Another source, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, provided The NATIONAL ENQUIRER with a sworn affidavit attesting to the Palin-Hanson story.

“Todd was away on business a lot and Sarah felt lonely. Brad was a good listener, and Sarah talked to him at length. Eventually, she realized she was falling in love with him,” one insider divulged.

“When Todd got back from one of his trips, Sarah told him that she had begun to have feelings for Brad.”

For the full story and exclusive details of the shocking allegations of Sarah Palin’s affair pick up the latest issue of the NATIONAL ENQUIRER!

Obama MCcain debate notes (Just stuff i caught to jot down..)

nicollew. — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:04:15 EDT

i had a few phone interruptions but i did learn a bit more about U.S foreign policy.

(Senator kennedy treated tonight and has been released from hospital... )

Obama opens disgussing his disagreement with McCains Plan

(mentions $5,000.00 health credit..)

strong at home and strong abroad...

we can create 700.000 jobs by building and constructing nuclear plants..

Financial crisis will effect the way you rule the country. no doubt it will effect the budget .

economy slowing down. less tax revenue. Who we are fighting for? what are priorities. we cant leave out health care.

M: says Obama would hand healthcare over to the federal govt. Says Obama has too many new spending programs.

We owe china 500 billion dollars.

if there is anyone here

O: to mcCain you said you agree with 90% of bush's tactics...

M: oppossed president on torturing on Guantanamo bay..

Q: what are the lesson of Iraq:

M: i went to iraq 2003...said to change strategy..this strategy has succeeded. we will come home with victory and honor.thanks to general David P. we are winning in Iraq ...

O: this is an area where we dont agree...about going to iraq in the first place soon to be a trillion..30, ooo wounded...how many died? we took our eye off the ball..we are spending 10 million a month. when we are in great distress here at home. we should not hesitate to use army when we need to be but to use military wisely.

M: Obama says he would oppose surge

O: they have done a brilliant job lately... at the time when the war a started it was going to be quick..u were wrong...mccain wrong on many issues re: the war..

Mccain: said he would attend the ceremony...i was honore to be there i was honored to speak to the troops.

senator Obama refuses to admit we are winning in iraq. Senator voted to cut off troops.

O: Mccain oppossed funding for troops in legislation...we have a difference in the time table...

question is it wise to go to war...was it wise to go in..mccain rushed to go into iraq...now they have reconstituted themselves..we should end war responsibly..do it in phases...provide relief to military troops..kill bin laden.

Mccain: general patreas....and obama said same thing

O: having discussed iraq lets go to Afhganistan..as quickly as possible. we have highest fatalities of US troops anytime since 2002. Attacking our troops in a brazzen fashion. we dont have troops right now to deal with afganistan, according to Republicans...we have four times more troops there than we do in Afganistan.

O:The place we have to deal with folks is afghanastan.....

M: we cant ignore lessons of history...if we have to aim a gun at someone u had better be prepared to pull the trigger...

if u have to do things u have to do things...(why is his back so slouched..)

Senator Obama calls for more troops in Afganistan...we have to go into these areas and get cooperation of people in these areas..in pakastan..we have alot of work to do in Afganastan..we will employ a strategy...in addition of troops that matters in Afganastan... pak is very inportant.

O: if pakastan is unable or unwilling to act we need to take them out? songs about bombing iran..senator mcCain is also right this is not an easy situation..we need to allow our troops to be on the defensive..we need to make decision...alienated pakastan.....we lost legitimacy in pak. and spent 10 million dollars.

Mc: Senator O does not understand failed state in ...with musaref...i admire ronald reagan...i was afraid nearly 300 marines lost their lives in bombing of barracks...a number of my own party of colleagues...i suppoerte what we did in kosovo...in smali..into peace keeping to peace making force...highest responsibilty and toughest decisions..senator mccain..woman asked him to wear bracelet. No u.s soldier ever dies in vain..we honor service with sons name on it ..mathew stanley. i will wear this bracelet with honor..Mother said to M:"promise me one thing that u will do everything in your power to make sure my son did not die in Vain..."

O: we took our eye off people who perpetrated 9/11. not true that we have consistently be concerned..we dont "muddle" through stomping out taliban..we dont "muddle" through...........mccain used "muddle" word

This is a serious threat to security in the world..says mccain

O: i believe Iran a terrorist organization..single thing that has strengthened

Akmenishad in NYC...we are going to sit down and give..to someone who is espousing "extermination of isreal.." Nixons trip to china...i will sit down with anyone ...

Obama: bipartisan history....we should meet with iran without preconditions..so we can invite them over for tea someday..there is a difference between preconditions and preparations..we need to look at exploring contacts with iran...we have strengthened our ability to impose tough sanctions...you know what happened they tested missiles...pulled out of non poliferation agreement...we have atleast made some progress...bush administration..senator mccain appears resistant..said he would not meet with prime minister of spain..if we cant meet with the president of spain....

(beautiful..now that is disgusting!!!!!our secretary of state Madeline Albright...) went to North Korea...Henry kissinger did say we should talk with our enemies/...notion that we are simply silent when it comes to our enemies..we should not say anything

McCain: kissinger would not say that..senator obama is parcing words..

Russia: how do you see relationship with Russian?

Obama: Our entire Russian approach has to be re-evaluated... critical to make clear we have unified alliance..explain : u cant be 20th century power and act like 20th century leadership. Countries like Georgia and Ukkraine are free to meet with Nato. we cant return to cold war..some of those nukes to land in hands of alquida..dont deal with russia staring into his eyes and looking in soul:

Mccain: senator Obamas reaction says Both sides should show strength,,,russia is a nation ruled by I am sure we need to bolster our plans and our allies...concerned about russian threats..russians ought to understand we will support seclusion of russia is in violation of cease fire agreement. this is georgian territory...clear russian intensions toward georgia... ....need to respect international boundries,,,has to do with Ukraine..between timoshinko(sp?) and ushinko..Ukranians need to understand we are his allies...

O: i disagree that it is illegal for russia to go into...Georgia..two points to think about .

Number 1.special envoy to resolve crisis..may have avoided crisis..

Number 2. russia is inpart resurging.. we are one of biggest consumers of oil..iran ..venezuela...only three percent of oil supply. cant drill our way out of problem..wind, solar..signifigant investment of alternative energies..mccain voted against alternative energies...pain people feel at the pump.

Mccain: I supported...

Q: no one can be opposed to alternative energy....

Q: chances of there being another 9/11..

M: After 9/11 senator joe liberman and I decided we needed a commission..we were stymied..there were series of recommendations..more than 40...bipartisan...reaching across isle..long way to go in our intelligence services .we need trained interogators..we have to make sure...our intelligence is increased..we have had a reorganization of our govt..doing better along borders as well.

Obama: we have a long way to go..not enough in terms of transit..or at our ports...our biggest fear is our terrorist getting hands on nuclear weapons...when we only spend a few hundred million dollars on nuclear..need more cooperation with allies..and focus on Al-queda...restore americas standing in the world...need to be restored..I think Obama sees more truthfully the way America is seen by the world...

Mccain: if we fail in Iraq will encourage Al-queda..we need to reguardless of conditions on the ground..what is the right path and the wrong path..

Obama:

Over last 8 years administation has been solely focus on Iraq...al queda has resurfaced..china...who we owe money to....china is active in Latin americ and In Africa...we are now spending cant provide health care to people who need it...country has declined but Veterans all across country how can i pay this bill..I have post traumatic stress disorder but i cant pay this bill.

M : I know veterans and I know them well I love them and I will take care of them..I have ability and knowledge and judgements to take

My father came from kenya..that is where i get my name..there is a notion where there is no other country on earth where you can make it if u try...part of what we need to do...is to send a message that we are going to invest in issues like education so that people can realize therir dreams...and that is what i will do when i am the president of the united states...

That ends this debate tonight.

from Oxferd miss..Im jim lehr...goodnight.

serious and sobe rdebate...two folks...very skilled debaters tonight...both wanted to avoid bailout...foreign policy..

...

buget deficit: 448 billion dollar deficit...

I like what obama said about lack of regulations in wash..in the economy...and also him pointing out how mccain wants to cut taxes on wealthy corporations.._

Brian Williams says Goodnight...

...

....

...

Palin Problem, She’s out of her league. - National Review / Kathleen Parker

theo — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:51:55 EDT

September 26, 2008, 0:00 a.m.

Palin Problem
She’s out of her league.

By Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.

To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman.

Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged.

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)

And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively).

Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.

Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it.

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

— Kathleen Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

Say it ain't so, Barack

Brett — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:05:55 EDT

It was heartening to see the (uncharacteristically) swift & responsible condemnation by the MSM of the series of McCain ads that relied on half-truths & outright lies to smear Obama. While the most ardent members of the right-wing claimed that Obama was guilty of the same thing, at that time it wasn't true. Now, unfortunately, as the New York Times reports on its front page today (& has been substantiated by FactCheck.org), it turns out that the Obama campaign recently gave up the high road & decided to engage in the same kind of irresponsible & deceptive attack ads against Sen. McCain.

Why? The truth offers more than enough ammunition to challenge every aspect of McCain's presidential campaign. Why resort to dishonorable smears? It's unnecessary & unworthy of the Obama campaign. It also lets McCain & the Republicans completely off the hook for their reprehensible conduct.

I will continue to support Obama's candidacy & to volunteer & contibute as much as I can because I believe that he is by far the best choice to be our next president. But I am deeply disappointed in this recent lapse of character & judgement by his campaign. As the old saying goes, "If you lie down with pigs, you get up smelling like garbage."

McCain will go to debate - Politico

theo — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:42:59 EDT

McCain will go to debate
By: Politico Staff
September 26, 2008 11:37 AM EST

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ended three days of suspense on Friday morning and announced that he will leave bailout negotiations in Washington and fly to Oxford, Miss., for the opening presidential debate.

McCain had said he would suspend his campaign until an agreement was reached on the administration's $700 billion mortgage proposal.

No such an agreement has been reached, but Republicans said the standoff was hurting McCain's campaign, and he would look terrible if he ruined the nationally televised, eagerly anticipated debate while Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was ready to go onstage.

The text of the statement:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announces: "The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.

The text of a statement from his camapign at about 11:20 a.m. Eastern:

John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis.

In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.

Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. And while there were attempts to do that, much of yesterday was spent fighting over who would get the credit for a deal and who would get the blame for failure. There was no deal or offer yesterday that had a majority of support in Congress. There was no deal yesterday that included adequate protections for the taxpayers. It is not enough to cut deals behind closed doors and then try to force it on the rest of Congress — especially when it amounts to thousands of dollars for every American family.

The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday, where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.

Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.

Reasons behind the need for the Bailout

PJ — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:39:12 EDT

I am writing this to describe what got us into this problem, where we stand now and why the bailout is necessary to get us out. I will be describing the system as it stands today so that you will understand the connection between the average consumer and the financial system

The System - Consumer and Banks
The US economy is driven by a number of sources, the main one being the average consumer. The consumer purchases homes, cars, consumer goods using paychecks and credit that is borrowed from banks. Also their employer pays them by receiving loans, etc from banks. In return banks, insurance funds, financial firms, mutual funds, retirement plans and pension funds use interest payments from consumers, monthly cash streams, etc to invest in the broader market. They invest in various types of assets and that is how they make their money. In return if we (the average consumer) invested in a retirement fund, mutual fund or pension we get returns from their respective investments 10 or 20 years down the line. Also the assets that these financial firms invest in vary, from credit derivatives, mortgages, mortgage bank securities, real estate, as well as stock, bonds and other securities. So that is the circle of the system

What Happened, What Got Us Here - Greed and less regulation
Financial firms (this term will include banks, hedge funds, money managers, etc) realized that with all the less regulation and the new debt instruments they create they could make lots of money. How could they make the money? 1) They could attract more consumers (because less income making consumers were allowed to get mortgages because there was less regulation) 2) They could increase the interest rates on the mortgage instruments they created by high amounts, as time passed (i.e. Option ARMS, variables, etc) 3) They were able to mix various types of these instruments (a mixture of safe and secure low interest paying instruments with riskier but higher paying interest instruments) and market it to Wall Street at high prices which were easily bought because Wall Street wanted to make money. So greed created this machine which was making a lot of money off of consumers as well as some greedy Wall Street individuals. This creation was based on "Leverage". Leverage is basically putting as collateral a small portion of money, land (or homes in this case) and purchasing most of the product through debt raised on that collateral (eg- down payment on a home). So we created an economic bubble that was based on leveraging the American consumer, his land, his car, his house. However, when the economy turned bad as expected to (it is a cycle), or when interest rates that had to be paid went up, or they had to pay principal...the American consumer could not. There are a number of reasons behind this...but it is important to note that the average consumer was lied to and not advised on the riskiness of the mortgages they bought, etc. Once the consumer could not pay, the instruments lost a LOT of value and in turn all the investors and financial firms lost all the money that they invested in. However, we have to note that the financial firms are the ones who created the instruments in the first place and did not advise the general population accurately...so in my mind they deserved it.

What is happening at Financial Firms Now?
Because their initial investments have lost value, these financial firms in turn are losing a lot of their own value. When a bank or other financial firm lends money to an average consumer or partakes in a market transaction it has to post collateral (in a financial firm's case it is the assets they own). The more these financial firms lend or transact the more collateral they have to post. However, as mentioned above, these assets they own are losing value. Thus the financial firms cannot lend, cannot invest in the market, and also have to post more collateral based on the lending and investments they have already made (because more risky and collateral posted earlier is not enough...due to asset devaluation). This has led to firms like Lehman, Bear Stearns, WaMu, etc filing for bankruptcy or coming close and thus having to be bought.

How does this affect us...the general American public?
1) Financial firms cannot lend credit so the American consumer cannot borrow money to purchase goods at reasonable rates. This can happen in a number of formats a) direct consumer borrowing from banks b) or employers and small businesses borrowing to make payments to the American consumer as wages, etc
2) Because financial firms cannot lend to one another (investment banks and commercial banks do a lot of lending to hedge funds, etc) there are No buyers of the devalued assets I have mentioned earlier. The supply of devalued assets is high, but less buyers...so the value of these assets decrease even more. Which in turn creates even more inability to lend
3) These assets are not only at hedge funds and investments banks, but they are in retirement funds (not Social Security...ALTHOUGH THAT IS WHAT MCCAIN WANTED), pension funds, mutual funds, etc where the average American citizen has moved some form of savings to. These assets losing value obviously can hurt the American citizen because it is their savings.
Note: AIG provided insurance to everyone...from American citizen to random car companies, etc. If AIG failed and filed for bankruptcy that would mean a lot of people losing insurance in number of formats collapsing that industry.
4) Finally and most IMPORTANTLY, LENDING CREDIT allows small businesses to start. Big companies (like AUTOs) to grow, and allows the American consumer to purchased these new products. Our economy is based on credit and if there is no credit, the economy would get crushed and could lead to an even worse economy which in turn leads less credit, money, etc. Once initiated it is a vicious cycle. It is similar to being close to a ledge. Once off the ledge it is Free-fall for a very long time.
THE BASIC SYSTEM WAS CREATED ASSUMING THAT SUCH A CALAMITY WOULD NEVER OCCUR. LESS REGULATION AND LESS MONITORING OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM ACTIVITY LED TO THIS.

Why Does the Bailout have to Occur Today?
Basically we are in Free-fall land now. The system has been broken to the point that asset devaluations at banks are happening everywhere. We have investors from all over the globe (this term includes American investors). The more these investors are afraid the more they sell assets. The more they sell our assets the more value we lose. The more value we lose, the less credit that can be given. In turn, destroying the US economy in the ways I have described above. If it does not happen by sometime next week...then there will be so much asset devaluation that the economy could get hurt so bad that we are going to be in a real mess.

What does the Bailout do?
The government uses taxpayers money to purchase these low value assets and hold them. Technically once the economy gets better these assets should grow in value. By purchasing these assets the government creates a floor to how low asset value can go. Once the floor is reached, financial firms can start lending and buying again based on their new collateral value (which is a floor and will include cash received from the government for the assets they sold). The hope is that this will slow down the free-fall and attract investors to invest once more as well as spur the economic growth down the line.
The Bailout items that we should want - As the government is using taxpayers money and we are acting like investors, we should be able to get the returns when these assets are sold 2-5 years down the line. Also the hope is to provide consumers with direct money to save their homes and help hold up asset value from that end.

Will it work? Only time will tell.
Is it necessary? Absolutely. But we have to make sure we get our money back and more because we are investors. Also have to REGULATE more so it does not happen again. And all the stpuid investors that started this cycle should be punished and not actually receive payments in the forms of salary or golden parachutes.

I hope that helped. I am tired now. I will answer questions if you write them as comments. Dont message me because it is slower. And everyone might have similar questions.
Bye for now
PJ

McCain-Obama debate prospects uncertain - Associated Press

theo — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:34:59 EDT

McCain-Obama debate prospects uncertain

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press WriterThu Sep 25, 11:44 PM ET

Prospects were questionable at best that John McCain and Barack Obama would meet Friday for their first presidential debate as progress appeared to dissolve between Congress and the Bush administration on a $700 billion financial industry bailout.

McCain didn't plan to participate in the debate unless there was a consensus. Obama still wants the face-off to go on and was scheduled to travel to the debate site in Oxford, Miss., on Friday.

"I believe that it's very possible that we can get an agreement in time for me to fly to Mississippi," McCain said late Thursday. "I understand how important this debate is and I'm very hopeful. But I also have to put the country first."

In turn, Obama said: "Obviously the biggest priority is making sure that we get this deal done. But I also think it's important to describe to the American people where the next president wants to take the country and how he's going to deal with this crisis."

Both candidates made the rounds on network evening news programs after meeting on the crisis with President Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House. McCain did not participate in late-night negotiations on Capitol Hill but worked the phones from his Virginia home. A senior McCain official said McCain hasn't signed on to any one proposal, though he agreed there needs to be greater protection for taxpayers.

The debate over the debate is the latest campaign twist as McCain and Obama try to navigate the uncharted politics of the financial meltdown and show leadership at a time of national angst.

In Mississippi, debate organizers continued to prepare, and Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, told a news conference he expected the debate to go on. "This is going to be a great debate tomorrow night," Barbour said.

Television networks, too, said they were moving forward.

Presidential politics ran smack into the delicate discussions over how to stop further weakening the sagging economy.

As McCain returned to Washington at midday, Democratic and Republican negotiators emerged from a closed-door meeting to report an agreement in principle. An Obama campaign official said the Illinois senator called into the meeting. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said McCain didn't participate, but held talks with Republican leaders afterward.

A few hours later, the rivals attended the private White House meeting. They sat three seats away from the president, McCain to his right, Obama to his left. As the meeting broke up, it became apparent that any tentative agreement had started to dissolve.

Afterward, Obama said he tried to understand the objections to the approach being taken by congressional leaders and the Bush administration.

"The question I asked was, 'Well, do we need to start from scratch or are there ways to incorporate some of those concerns?'" Obama said. "At this point the president, the secretary of the Treasury and those who are expressing some of these concerns have to provide some clarity."

Several Republicans and Democrats briefed on the White House meeting said House Republican Leader John Boehner raised the concerns of some of his rank and file about the emerging plan, and McCain urged cooperation by all parties to craft a compromise proposal.

McCain said he knew going in to the meeting that progress wasn't as far along as it seemed.

"There never was a deal, but I do believe the meeting was important to move the process along," McCain said. "It gave us a renewed sense of urgency and I'm confident we will move forward, and I'm confident that we will reach a conclusion."

Obama, for his part, held a news conference at a Washington hotel and suggested McCain was part of the problem.

"I'm not clear that in a very difficult situation like this that doing things in the spotlight and injecting presidential politics is necessarily useful," Obama said.

Later, McCain's campaign issued a statement that said the White House meeting "devolved into a contentious shouting match" and implied Obama was at fault. Democrats differed.

As the day began, McCain portrayed his announced halt to campaign events, fundraising and advertising as an example of putting the country before politics. But in doing so he also hoped to get political credit for a decisive step on a national crisis as polls show him trailing Obama on the economy and slipping in the presidential race.

And politics continued on all sides nonetheless.

Despite McCain's stated hiatus, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, visited memorials in lower Manhattan to those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and McCain aides appeared on news programs. Chief strategist Steve Schmidt said all television advertising was "down." But a McCain ad was later seen on local television in Las Vegas, and perhaps elsewhere.

Industry officials said Obama's campaign was inquiring about buying airtime made available where McCain was absent.

Schmidt said Obama was acting in "politically predatory fashion" by seeking McCain's abandoned air time. But Obama spokesman Bill Burton called Schmidt's claim "categorically false."

Burton also derided McCain's claim to have halted activity as a political stunt, saying: "John McCain hasn't suspended his campaign, he only wants us to suspend disbelief."

Obama, for his part, didn't curtail any of his campaign activities.

In fact, the Democrat also rolled out a new 60-second, TV ad in which he cited economic policies endorsed by Bush and McCain as essentially to blame for the troubles.

"For eight years we've been told that the way to a stronger economy was to give huge tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest. Cut oversight on Wall Street. And somehow all Americans would benefit," Obama says in the ad. "Well now we know the truth."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn, Nedra Pickler, Christopher Wills and Beth Fouhy contributed to this report.

Bubba the spoiler

Jackie Goldenberg — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:07:39 EDT

Please somebody, tell Bill Clinton to zip it.

In the midst of the Bush/McCain hijinks and dirty tricks this week, there's Bill, wagging his finger at me. To say that his support for the Democratic candidate is lukewarm and fast going cold is an understatement.

Do I need to see this selfish display over and over this week, all over national TV? There he is all anal retentive on David Letterman, fortunately, chided later by Chris Rock. Or try him on The Daily Show, fawned over by Jon Stewart (at least, Bill actually said the words, Barack Obama, on that).

And here he is first thing this morning providing cover for John McCain on The Today Show. Of course, he says, the old fellow wouldn't cancel the debate for political reasons because everybody knows John's a good debater. Thanks, Bill.

I've also read this week about Bill's praise for the lovely Palin family, how all of America can relate to them.

Hush already, Bubba. Get with the program, and get over it.

McCain's Economic Plan: Blurt Out Random Crap - Bob Cesca / HuffingtonPost.com

theo — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:14:49 EDT

McCain's Economic Plan: Blurt Out Random Crap

HuffingtonPost.com

by: Bob Cesca

Posted September 24, 2008 | 03:48 PM (EST)

There are several reasons why Senator Obama is enjoying a double-digit lead in the "honest and trustworthy" category (47 percent to 36 percent according the new ABC News/Washington Post poll). First, Senator Obama doesn't, you know, lie to the American people every damn day. Second, Senator Obama didn't vote with the dishonest, corrupt Bush administration 90 percent of the time.

But one of the main reasons why the nation appears to be lining up against Senator McCain's insanely obvious lack of integrity could be because his very serious and mavericky campaign strategy can be described in four simple words:

Blurt Out Random Crap.

"Crap," in this context, is defined as everything from lies to weasel-words to inexplicably weird nonsense. And it seems like Senator McCain does this a lot. So much so that we can only conclude that it's intentional.

The goal: Get McCain on record saying something no matter how ridiculous. This way, he can hit the stump later and boast that he said something with regards to scary stuff in the news. I said something [that didn't make any sense and was probably a lie] and Senator Obama didn't say anything [also a lie]! My friends! And whenever he's accused of routinely blurting out random crap, Senator McCain trucks out the old punishment theorem: If Senator Obama had only agreed to the town halls, I wouldn't be selling-out the last shreds of my honor or integrity just to get elected. Can't you see? Senator Obama turned me into a hack, dammit!

First thing that pops into his head. Is it truthful? Doesn't matter. Sex education for kindergarteners, for instance. "Palin sold her jet on eBay," for instance. Does it even make sense or is it just a bunch of words strung together to form a sentence? Who cares. "President Putin of Germany," for instance. "Delivering bottled hot water to dehydrated babies," for instance.

I'll admit that the latter category is more fun to document. However, the lying is especially infuriating -- and maybe that's the idea -- piss off the liberals. But it can't be helping with independents and undecideds who are discovering quite rapidly that the mythology of "John McCain" doesn't match the real-life John McCain. The Real McCain is rapidly coming into focus for those in the middle. McRage. McLiar. McPanderer. McIncompetent. McBush. And the Obama campaign only needs to tweak these frames. After all, the McCain campaign is doing all of the heavy lifting by itself.

And as we witnessed with the Zapatero episode, as soon as Senator McCain blurts out random crap, his staff scrambles onto the stage with pronouncements and excuses so as to make it seem as if McCain meant to say what he said -- a routine which only serves to compound the farcical nature of it all.

So it comes as no surprise that the McCain-Palin strategy on the economic crisis is to -- that's right! -- blurt out random crap.

All along and without regard to the actual status of the economy, Senator McCain has blurted out the well-known talking point "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." Why? Because that's the Bush Republican position. Those exact words. And shortly after President Paulson announced his bailout plan when it appeared as if we were on the verge of a complete meltdown, Senator McCain, in the most Pavlovian sense, couldn't help himself and -- WHOOPS! -- he said it again. Why? Because that's what he always says about the economy.

When he was immediately and appropriately called out for being a doof, he blurted out that everyone in the world misunderstood him. The "fundamentals," he claimed, meant "the workers." In other words, American workers are strong. What the hell does that have to do with the status of the economy? Does it mean the workforce can lift heavy things -- like factory equipment that's being shipped to China? How does one quantify worker "strength" as an economic indicator? Even if a crazy economist somewhere includes the morale of the workforce as a fundamental of the economy, the McCain campaign clearly overlooked the reality that we've lost 1.75 million jobs this year and unemployment spiked to 6.1 percent two days after Sarah Palin's overrated acceptance speech. Not strong, McCain. Bad! But, then again, he really didn't mean "the workers" in the first place anyway.

When this failed, he blurted out something about averting the impending economic meltdown by convening a government commission, ostensibly to study the urgent crisis and perhaps issue a recommendation sometime in the future. Decisive!

When that didn't work, he called for the firing of the head of the SEC, Chris Cox, even though Phil Gramm, the author of McCain's economic plan (pre-crisis), is also responsible for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 -- a piece of legislation which, along with Reaganomics and Alan Greenspan's love of all things bubble-shaped, is directly responsible for this present mess. Phil Gramm. A man who said that the economic crisis is mostly a figment of our whiny imagination. A man who could be our next Treasury Secretary and steward of the economy. Hire him, but fire the other guy. Because that'll somehow help. Oh, Magoo.

It's worth noting that while that idea was failing, Senator McCain inexplicably called for the firing of the head of the Federal Elections Commission, Donald F. McGahn II. Poor McGahn II. Minding his own business, and suddenly McCain's on television calling him out for screwing the economic pooch.

When that failed, Senator McCain rolled out one of his most egregious lies to date, claiming that Senator Obama, of all people, has been directly responsible for the crisis. Why? Because the former CEO of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines, once talked on the phone with someone associated with the Obama campaign. Like 16 months ago. And that somehow makes Raines a close economic advisor. Never mind that Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, was on the Freddie Mac payroll as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

Which leads us to Senator McCain blurting out that no-one on his staff is associated in any way with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

What's next, McCain campaign? A Mogwai ate a sandwich after midnight; morphed into a Gremlin; then caused the economic crisis? Or will it be Marty McFly's sports almanac screwing up the space-time continuum? Or will it be Reverend Wright putting a curse on the banks? Whatever is next is bound to be crazier than what's already been said.

And now -- wait. What's this? As I wrap this up, it's being reported that Senator McCain wants to delay the debates so he can focus on the economic crisis. Oh, and now he wants to suspend campaigning. If what we've seen from the senator so far is him "focusing" on the economy -- what the hell is he like when he's multitasking? What's next, McCain? Suspending the election?

So what will a McCain administration economic policy look like? From the lack of foresight and leadership we've witnessed so far, we can assume that McCain might choose a new economic policy totally at random, depending on how saucy he feels from minute to minute. "I'll have a muffin with my Egg Beaters, and replace Bernanke with that hooplehead who weedwacks the knoll." Two minutes later... "Hey Phil, we don't need the Nasdaq anymore. Kill it." Two minutes later... "My God! What have I done! Quickly -- nationalize the paintball industry! Go!"

One thing is for sure. Expecting a workable solution to this economic meltdown from a man as knee-jerk, dishonest and incomprehensible as John McCain would be an exercise in national self-destruction. He doesn't have anything real to say, and what he does say, he can't sell. He simply can't do the gig. A vote for McCain-Palin is absolutely a vote for the end of America as we know it.

Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog! Go!

Palin Once Blessed To Be Free From 'Witchcraft' - MyWay.com

theo — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:44:15 EDT

Palin Once Blessed To Be Free From 'Witchcraft'

Sep 25, 7:11 AM (ET)

By GARANCE BURKE / myway.com

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office.

The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."

"Come on, talk to God about this woman. We declare, save her from Satan," Muthee said as two attendants placed their hands on Palin's shoulders. "Make her way my God. Bring finances her way even for the campaign in the name of Jesus. ... Use her to turn this nation the other way around."

Palin filed campaign papers a few months later, in October 2005, and was elected governor the next year.

Palin does not say anything on the video and keeps her head bowed throughout the blessing. The Republican vice presidential candidate was baptized at the church but stopped attending regularly in 2002.

A spokesman for the McCain campaign declined to comment. A person who answered the phone at the Wasilla church confirmed the video was from May 2005 but declined further comment.

Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn.

Pentecostals are conservative in their reading of the Bible. Unlike most other Christians - including most evangelicals - Pentecostals believe in "baptism in the Holy Spirit." That can manifest itself through speaking in tongues, modern-day prophesy and faith healing, which includes the laying on of hands.

Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, has said Palin attends different churches and does not consider herself Pentecostal.

On a visit to the church in June 2008, Palin spoke fondly of the Kenyan pastor and told a group of young missionaries that Muthee's prayers had helped her to become governor.

"Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he's so bold," she said. "And he was praying 'Lord make a way, Lord make a way' ... He said, 'Lord make a way and let her do this next step.' And that's exactly what happened."

The Rev. Zipporah Ndiritu, who studied under Muthee in the Kiambu, Kenya-based Word of Faith Church, said the bishop is revered among evangelicals there. In a phone interview from Mombasa, Kenya, she said church doctrine focuses on ridding the world of demons - and witches.

"Even in the days of Jesus Christ, according to the Bible there were witches who were manifesting through demonic forces," she said. "You can seek from the Lord, and if you find demonic forces you cast them out."

Ndiritu said she did not know Palin.

---

On the Net:

Palin-Muthee video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vkj-on3kfWuE&featurerelated

One-On-One With Sarah Palin - CBS News / Katie Couric

theo — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:35:21 EDT

One-On-One With Sarah Palin
NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2008(CBS) When CBS News anchor Katie Couric sat down for an exclusive interview with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin Wednesday, she focused on the economy - but also addressed reports that the lobbying firm of Sen. John McCain's campaign manager received payments from the controversial mortgage giant Freddie Mac until last month. Couric asked for her reaction to that.

Sarah Palin: My understanding is that Rick Davis recused himself from the dealings of the firm. I don't know how long ago, a year or two ago that he's not benefiting from that. And you know, I was - I would hope that's not the case.

Katie Couric: But he still has a stake in the company so isn't that a conflict of interest?

Palin: Again, my understanding is that he recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that's the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I've on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made.

Next, Couric asked about the $700 billion government bailout of bad debt - and whether she supports it.

Palin: I'm all about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. And as Sen. McCain has said unless this nearly trillion dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson's proposal, really I don't believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this. The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind's blowing? They're waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson's proposal.

Couric: Why do you say that? Why are they waiting for John McCain and not Barack Obama?

Palin: He's got the track record of the leadership qualities and the pragmatism that's needed at a crisis time like this.

Couric: But polls have shown that Sen. Obama has actually gotten a boost as a result of this latest crisis, with more people feeling that he can handle the situation better than John McCain.

Palin: I'm not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who's more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who's actually done it?

Couric: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it's been proposed, has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression. But, there has got to be action - bipartisan effort - Congress not pointing fingers at one another but finding the solution to this, taking action, and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.

Couric: Would you support a moratorium on foreclosures to help average Americans keep their homes?

Palin: That's something that John McCain and I have both been discussing - whether that ... is part of the solution or not. You know, it's going to be a multi-faceted solution that has to be found here.

Couric: So you haven't decided whether you'll support it or not?

Palin: I have not.

Couric: What are the pros and cons of it do you think?

Palin: Oh, well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be rewarded, of course.

Couric: By consumers, you're saying?

Palin: Consumers - and those who were predator lenders also. That's, you know, that has to be considered also. But again, it's got to be a comprehensive, long-term solution found ... for this problem that America is facing today. As I say, we are getting into crisis mode here.

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Pakistan's President Tells Palin She is 'Gorgeous' - CNN

theo — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:31:18 EDT

Pakistan's president tells Palin she is 'gorgeous' Posted: 06:20 PM ET
From From CNN's Peter Hamby and Wes Little
Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari told Palin she's gorgeous.

NEW YORK (CNN) – Sarah Palin and the foreign leaders she has met with in New York have said very little to reporters over the last two days, but the press happened to be in the room on Wednesday for one eyebrow-raising exchange, as the new president of Pakistan lavished praise on Palin's looks.

On entering a room filled with several Pakistani officials this afternoon, Palin was immediately greeted by Sherry Rehman, the country's Information Minister.

"And how does one keep looking that good when one is that busy?," Rehman asked, drawing friendly laughter from the room when she complimented Palin.

"Oh, thank you," Palin said.

Pakistan's recently-elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, entered the room seconds later. Palin rose to shake his hand, saying she was “honored” to meet him.

Zardari then called her "gorgeous" and said: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you."

"You are so nice," Palin said, smiling. "Thank you."

A handler from Zardari's entourage then told the two politicians to keep shaking hands for the cameras.

"If he's insisting, I might hug," Zardari said. Palin smiled politely.

The Alaska governor did not answer questions from reporters at her first two appearances on Wednesday, when she joined McCain in meetings with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, and then traveled downtown to meet with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.

But she did offer brief remarks to a reporter at the Zardari meeting who asked about her day.

"It's going great," Palin said. "These meetings are very informative and helpful, and a lot of good people sharing appreciation for America."

EXCLUSIVE: LETTERMAN MOCKS MCCAIN CANCELLATION - Drudge Report

theo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:49:27 EDT

EXCLUSIVE: LETTERMAN MOCKS MCCAIN CANCELLATION
Wed Sep 24 2008 17:41:58 ET

David Letterman tells audience that McCain called him today to tell him he had to rush back to DC to deal with the economy.

Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

Developing...

The dog ate his homework

Jackie Goldenberg — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:57:27 EDT

Can it be true? No debate on Friday?

That sucking sound from Wall Street (there goes my 401K) provides a nice excuse for McCain to flee the first debate!

Old John's a crafty showboater, after his lousiest last week ever, with flip-flops and memory lapses, advisers on the take and Sarah's palling on the public ("Thanks, but no thanks!").

Talk about a big and showy gesture. Forget the $1 trillion big payoff to the free marketers in tears. It's John's counsel that will save the day.

Next thing you know, McCain and the gang will sink my 401K and call off the election.

Dad At Play On Sarah's Big Day - NY Post

theo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:40:55 EDT

DAD AT PLAY ON SARAH'S BIG DAY

CENTRAL PK. FUN WITH BABY AS MOM JOINS WORLD LEADERS

By CARL CAMPANILE and KELLY MAGEE

Last updated: 9:46 am
September 24, 2008

WHEEE! ONE: Doting daddy and Alaskan "First Dude" Todd Palin lovingly cradles baby Trig, who has Down syndrome, on The Carousel in Central Park yesterday.

---

While Sarah Palin huddled behind closed doors with global leaders yesterday, hubby Todd and baby Trig took off for some real fun - on the famous carousel in Central Park.

Todd - known as Alaska's "First Dude" - was spotted on the famous ride as he joyfully cradled Trig in his arms. The 5-month-old Trig has Down syndrome.

Daughters Piper, 7, and Willow 13, were on hand, too, but pregnant Bristol Palin, 17, didn't make the trip and neither did Track, 18, who was recently assigned to military duty in Iraq.

As the media followed his wife's every move, Todd also took his brood downtown in the morning to the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero.

On the last stop of the big-city adventure, the proud father from Alaska schlepped the kids to FAO Schwarz, where Piper enjoyed trying on some Princess dresses, the campaign said.

At Central Park, onlookers were pleasantly surprised at seeing the family of the potential next vice president.

Carousel operator Charlie Mendoza said the happy Palin clan took two rides on the horsies.

Todd then bought hot dogs, soft pretzels and ice cream for lunch and they grabbed a seat on a park bench.

"They looked happy. They all rode the carousel. They were enjoying themselves," Mendoza said.

Mendoza - who has given rides to Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro - said he did not bar the public from going on the rides while the Palins were there.

"We don't shut down for anybody," Mendoza said.

Upper West Side resident James Soriero captured the "New York moment" with his camera while walking through Central Park.

"I heard the music from the carousel. As I approached, I saw guys that looked like Secret Service," said Soriero, an actor.

"I saw Mr. Palin holding his baby on the ride. I recognized him. I saw him [on TV] at the Republican convention," he said. "It was a fun find."

"It was charming seeing them on the carousel. You could see the joy and love. It was a unique little New York moment. I feel like I caught an unguarded moment. No one else was around."

The Palins kept a low profile at the Millennium Broadway hotel, where they were staying. The family ate breakfast in their rooms.

But there was a mob scene when Sarah Palin returned to the hotel yesterday afternoon. Tourists pulled out video cameras to film the governor.

"We love you, Sarah!" supporters yelled from behind a barricade.

The Palins will be in town through tomorrow.

carl.campanile@nypost.com

For Palin in New York, a Predebate Introduction to Motorcade Diplomacy - NY Times

theo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:52:44 EDT

September 24, 2008

For Palin in New York, a Predebate Introduction to Motorcade Diplomacy

By MICHAEL COOPER and KATE ZERNIKE

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska met her first head of state on Tuesday as she crisscrossed New York City receiving foreign policy tutorials in advance of her debate next week with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ms. Palin — who scheduled a series of meetings with world leaders who were in town for the United Nations General Assembly — sat down first with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, who told her of the need for more troops in his country and bonded with her over his baby son, Mirwais. She was then whisked to the Colombian Mission to talk free trade and renewable energy with President Álvaro Uribe. She capped off her day meeting with the éminence grise of Republican foreign policy, former Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger, who spoke with her about Georgia, Russia and NATO.

It was Ms. Palin’s introduction to motorcade diplomacy, a lightning round of meetings and photo opportunities designed to portray Ms. Palin — who lacks much in the way of foreign policy experience, has traveled abroad little and had not met a foreign head of state before Tuesday — at ease with world leaders.

Democrats, and some Republicans, have tried to make Ms. Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience an issue in the campaign. The McCain campaign, for its part, has made three main points so far when asked about Ms. Palin’s foreign policy credentials.

It invokes geography, noting Alaska’s proximity to Russia, as Ms. Palin did when she told ABC News, “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” Other times the campaign cites her résumé, noting that as governor she had been commander of the Alaska National Guard for nearly two years. And it often pivots to her work on energy policy, as Mr. McCain did last week, when he said, “I’m proud of her obvious knowledge of this nation’s energy needs, because that’s a national security issue.”

But with next week’s debate looming, the McCain-Palin campaign put her on an accelerated course in foreign policy, and scheduled meetings with world leaders and foreign policy mandarins in New York on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It was not her first trip to New York; she was here last October and visited Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at City Hall. And while she rode from leader to leader, sometimes causing gridlock along the way, her husband, Todd, took their 5-month-old son, Trig, and two of their daughters, Willow, 14, and Piper, 7, about town. They took pictures with the Statue of Liberty in the background, ate hot dogs in Central Park and stopped in at F.A.O. Schwarz, where Piper tried on some princess dresses, the campaign said.

Ms. Palin’s morning began with a two-hour briefing at her Midtown hotel from the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell. The briefings are offered as a courtesy to the presidential and vice-presidential nominees, and the campaign said she was the last of the four to receive one this year. Then it was off to the first of what was scheduled to be two days of meetings.

The point of the meetings was not so much to cram Ms. Palin full of information, according to a McCain campaign adviser who has worked with Ms. Palin, but to introduce her to people like Mr. Kissinger so that she will feel comfortable calling on them for advice and counsel as the campaign continues.

Ms. Palin was accompanied on her rounds by Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to the McCain campaign, and Steve Biegun, a former staff member of President Bush’s National Security Council.

“Her primary purpose was to develop a relationship and to listen,” said Mr. Biegun, who quickly added, “I think she’s already fully prepared to be vice president.”

Visits between American officials and foreign heads of state are often perfunctory, formal affairs, and reporters are rarely let in for more than a brief photo opportunity. But the McCain-Palin campaign caused a brief rebellion among news people when it initially insisted that only camera crews could cover the first few seconds of each meeting. That proviso was reversed under pressure after the press corps threatened to boycott the events unless at least one reporter was allowed for those opening seconds as well, who could then share the information with other reporters.

Ms. Palin has been carefully shielded from the news media since she was added to the Republican ticket nearly a month ago, granting only a handful of interviews, holding no news conferences yet and exchanging only a few words with reporters on the campaign trail. (When Ms. Palin said Monday at a rally with Mr. McCain in Media, Pa., “I want to ask you a few questions, Media,” her remark was quickly e-mailed to reporters by a Democratic operative under the subject line “Irony.”)

At her first meeting Mr. Karzai spoke with Ms. Palin about the contributions of the Alaska National Guard, and said he had flown in a C-150 with some of its members, Mr. Biegun said. A television news producer who was allowed in the room for the brief photograph, or “spray,” reported that Mr. Karzai spoke of the birth of his first child last year.

“What is his name?” Ms. Palin asked.

“Mirwais,” Mr. Karzai replied. “Mirwais, which means, ‘The Light of the House.’ ”

“Oh nice,” Palin responded, at one point patting her heart.

“He is the only one we have,” Mr. Karzai said.

Later, asked how the meeting went, Mr. Karzai said, “It was fine.” Asked again, he said, “It was a very good meeting, we talked a lot about a lot of things.”

The next stop was with Mr. Uribe of Colombia, who has a warm relationship with Mr. McCain, who paid him a visit in an extremely unusual campaign trip to Colombia over the summer to express support for a free trade agreement.

Ms. Palin wrapped up the day with Mr. Kissinger, where Mr. Biegun said the two discussed China, Iran and Russia, among other things. As photographers were led in to take pictures of them, Mr. Kissinger could be heard saying that he gave someone — just who was unintelligible — “a lot of credit for what he did in Georgia,” according to the reporter who was allowed to watch.

“Good, good,” Ms. Palin said. “And you’ll give me more insight on that, also, huh? Good.”

The photographers were ushered out. When Ms. Palin emerged from the building, a news producer asked her how it went, and she mouthed the words, “It was great.”

Neil MacFarquhar and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.

McCain Aide's Firm Was Paid By Freddie Mac - International Herald Tribune

theo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:37:13 EDT

McCain aide's firm was paid by Freddie Mac

By Jackie Calmes and David D. Kirkpatrick
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WASHINGTON: One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Davis's firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Davis doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee composed of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the coming midterm congressional elections. They said Davis's his firm, Davis & Manafort, was kept on the payroll because of Davis's close ties to McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who was widely expected by 2006 to run again for the White House.

Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafort for the duration of the campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to share in its profits.

A Freddie Mac spokeswoman said the company would not comment. The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

McCain's campaign has been attacking l Senator Barack Obama, his Democratic rival, for his ties to former officials of the mortgage lenders, both of which have long histories of cultivating allies in the two parties to fend off efforts to restrict their activities. McCain has been running a television commercial suggesting that Obama takes advice on housing issues from Franklin Raines, a former chief executive of Fannie Mae, a contention flatly denied by Raines and the Obama campaign. Freddie Mac's roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Davis to run, the people familiar with the arrangement said.

Between 2000 and the end of 2005, Davis had received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall.

On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and the New York Times, McCain responded to a question about Davis's role in the advocacy group by saying that his campaign manager "has had nothing to do with it since, and I'll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it."

Such assertions, along with McCain campaign television ads tying Obama to former Fannie Mae chiefs, have riled current and former officials of the two companies and provoked them to volunteer rebuttals of what they see as the McCain campaign's inaccuracy and hypocrisy. The two officials with direct knowledge of Freddie Mac's post-2005 contract with Davis spoke on condition of anonymity. One is a Democrat and the other a registered independent. Four other outside consultants, three Democrats and a Republican also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that it was widely known that Davis was being paid though his firm.

As president of the Homeownership Alliance, Davis got $30,000 to $35,000 a month. Davis, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have characterized the alliance as a coalition of many housing industry and consumer groups to promote homeownership, but numerous current and former officials at both companies say the two mortgage companies created and bankrolled the operation to combat efforts by competitors to rein in their business. They dissolved the group at the end of 2005 as part of cost-cutting in the wake of accounting scandals and, at Freddie Mac, a lobbying scandal that forced out its former top Republican lobbyist.

On Monday, the McCain campaign accused The New York Times of bias for reporting the payments to Davis from the mortgage giants. Davis said that had worked not for the two companies but for the advocacy group, which included other nonprofit organization as well.

After the Homeownership Alliance was dissolved, Davis asked to stay on a retainer, the people familiar with the deal said. Hollis McLoughlin, who was chief of staff to Richard Syron, Freddie Mac's chief executive, arranged for a new contract with Davis & Manafort, at the reduced rate of $15,000 a month, they said. Syron lost his job in the government takeover this month. McLoughlin, who through a spokeswoman declined to comment, was a former chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady in the first President Bush's administration, and has longstanding Republican ties.

Davis was hired as a consultant, not a lobbyist, the officials said. Davis & Manafort in recent years has filed federal lobbying reports for a number of companies, including SBC Telecommunications, Fruit of the Loom, Comsat, Gtech, Airborne Express, BellSouth and Verizon—all businesses with legislative interests before the Senate Commerce Committee, where McCain has been chairman or senior Republican. It has filed no reports registering to lobby for Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

Later in 2006, Davis was working on McCain's emerging presidential campaign, as chief financial officer. The only thing that Freddie Mac officials could recall Davis doing for the company was the October 2006 pre-election forum with mid-level and senior executives who contribute to Freddie PAC, the company's political action committee.

An electronic invitation to the employees, read by an official to the New York Times, said "Please join us for political food for thought" with Paul Begala, a longtime Democratic consultant, "and Rick Davis, former 2000 presidential campaign manager and current advisor to Senator John McCain." Begala, who also was a paid consultant to Freddie Mac until this month, confirmed that the event took place.

A Freddie Mac executive said that as the event was being planned, and organizers were looking for a speaker from each party, "People at the office were saying, 'Well, we have Rick Davis on contract and we never use him for anything. Why don't we at least get him up here to talk like he knows what's going on in the campaigns?"

It was not unusual for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to have well-connected people from both parties on their payrolls, but doing little work, in the high-flying days. The purpose, people who worked at the companies said, was bipartisan insurance against new regulations or loss of the implicit government guarantee, which seemed at risk during both the Clinton and current Bush administrations.

At least two other people associated with McCain have ties to either Freddie Mac. The lobbying firm of the Republican that McCain has enlisted to plan his transition to the White House should he be elected, William Timmons Sr., earned nearly $3 million from Freddie Mac between 2000 and its seizure, federal lobbying records show. Timmons is founder of Timmons & Co., one of Washington's best-known lobbying shops. The payments were first reported by Bloomberg News.

Mark Buse, McCain's chief of staff for his Senate office, also is a Freddie Mac alumnus. He and his former lobbying employer, ML Strategies, registered to lobby for the company in July 2003, and received $460,000 before the association ended after 2004.

McCain and his advisers have argued that whatever connections Davis and other McCain campaign officials have had to the mortgage giants, McCain in the Senate has been an advocate for reforming them. And they have suggested that Obama is linked to the companies through donations from their employees ties to former officials there, including James Johnson, another former chief executive of Fannie Mae who was the head of Obama's vice presidential search team until stepping aside after coming under criticism for getting a mortgage on favorable terms.

In an interview Tuesday with conservative talk-radio host Neal Boortz, McCain said, "I remember warning at that time that Fannie and Freddie were out of control and that they needed to be reined in. And, frankly, I warned that this kind of thing could lead to serious problems. Now, in full disclosure, I didn't foresee something this huge, but certainly I saw the fundamentals there for serious problems when you have a quasi government agency acting the way they did."

When Boortz noted approvingly that McCain had co-sponsored a Senate bill to mandate new regulations, McCain said, "I remember it very well."

But a Freddie Mac official said McCain "never took on the role that some other Republicans did" to try to limit the companies. He named instead Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, all of whom were on the banking committee during recent years. "I remember working against a number of amendments and they were always introduced by Hagel and Sununu. John McCain was never anywhere to be found."

A check of the records for the legislation that Boortz mentioned shows that Senator Hagel was the original sponsor on Jan. 26, 2005, and Senators Sununu and Dole were co-sponsors then. McCain did not sign on as a co-sponsor for more than a year, on May 25, 2006.

Palin begins course on foreign affairs - Financial Times

theo — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:15:01 EDT

Palin begins course on foreign affairs

By Harvey Morris Published: September 23 2008 21:11 | Last updated: September 23 2008 21:11

Sarah Palin was on the fringes of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday at the start of a three-day crash course on international affairs to address concerns, even within her Republican party, that the Alaska governor’s knowledge of the outside world is shaky. The schedule of the vice-presidential nominee included meetings with five presidents, a prime minister, Henry Kissinger, doyen of former US secretaries of state, and Bono, the fund-raising activist. Organisers of an anti-Iran rally protesting against the presence at the General Assembly debate of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad withdrew an invitation for Ms Palin to attend. Hillary Clinton had already pulled out after she learned Ms Palin had also been invited. Ms Palin’s first meeting on Tuesday was with Hamid Karzai, the US-backed president of Afghanistan, whose government is fighting a resurgent Taliban with the support of US and other international forces. Detailed examination of the problems facing Afghanistan will be at the top of the list of foreign policy concerns for the next US administration. Ms Palin’s meeting with Mr Karzai and other world leaders, however, was expected at this stage to be on the level of “meet-and-greet”. The Afghan leader was also due to have a more substantial meeting with Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state. Ms Palin has been ridiculed by her Democratic opponents for having obtained her first passport only last year. They have also claimed the visit she had paid to Iraq – a visit to a checkpoint at the Kuwaiti border – hardly qualified her as an expert on a conflict that posed the most serious challenge of the outgoing administration. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, is promoting his knowledge of international affairs as a selling point in his campaign, playing down the disadvantages of his running mate’s relative lack of experience. Her meeting with Mr Kissinger was to bring her face-to-face with the man who personifies old-style Republican pragmatism in foreign affairs, a trend that has been making a comeback in the closing years of the Bush administration. On one issue confronting the international community, however, the two running mates appear to be at odds – climate change. While Mr McCain has embraced the view that people are responsible for climate, she has focused policies in her native Alaska on adapting to global warming rather than fighting it.

McCain still seeking firm footing on crisis - Politico

theo — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:51:44 EDT

McCain still seeking firm footing on crisis
By: Ben Smith
September 22, 2008 02:08 PM EST

With just four days until the first presidential debate and just 42 days until the November 4 election, Senator John McCain is still feeling for his footing on the financial crisis that seems likely to consume the rest of the presidential campaign.

A McCain aide told reporters last night that the Republican nominee would distance himself from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s trillion-dollar bailout plan, saying it lacks “oversight.” And McCain in a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday Night floated the name of Andrew Cuomo, the confrontational Democratic New York attorney general, as the chairman of a tough new Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Sunday night proposals were the latest in a series of attempts by McCain to draw a dramatic contrast between himself and President George W. Bush as the campaign appeared to shift decisively away from his chosen turf of culture wars and national security, and toward the economy. Obama, for his part, will have a final chance this week to duct tape McCain to the economic crisis and an unpopular president, and bury him in the flood of bad economic news.

But as McCain tries to regain his grip on the campaign narrative, and Obama adopts a more reserved posture his campaign hopes appears “presidential,” both men are struggling with their sheer irrelevance to the fast-moving wrangle between the White House, Congress, and the turbulent stock markets.

“The events are bigger than the candidates,” said Phil Singer, a former aide to Hillary Clinton.

The two candidates’ stances, though, reveal the degree to which this appears to offer Obama – who has regained his narrow lead in most national polls – a chance to pull away.

McCain has scheduled a series of attention-getting gestures: He has scheduled a round of meetings for his running mate, Sarah Palin, with foreign leaders at the United Nations. He’ll share a stage with Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. And he’s turning to a time-tested method of changing the storyline for a beleaguered presidential candidate: He plans to appear Wednesday on the Late Show with David Letterman.

“I have great respect for Secretary Paulson, but I am greatly concerned that the plan gives a single individual the unprecedented power to spend $1 trillion - trillion - dollars on the basis of not much more than ‘trust me,’” McCain will say Monday, according to an aide. “We will not solve a problem caused by poor oversight with a plan that has no oversight.”

As McCain has struggled to find his balance, Obama has been a steady, relatively low-key presence on the economic crisis. Where McCain offered his own rescue plan, Obama has demurred, saying he doesn’t want to meddle. Like McCain, he’s expressed a skepticism on the margins of the rescue plan. With other Democrats, he’ll push for it to include a domestic stimulus package, though it’s unclear how far he will stand with his party if negotiations turn into a partisan battle.

But he and his running mate, Joe Biden, sought to project a measured and steady hand Friday, a deliberate contrast to McCain.

“There’s all kinds of ideas and Barack and I are putting together a plan,” Biden said in Sterling, Va., Friday. “You can’t do this haphazardly. It’s important to get done thoughtfully so we never repeat this again.”

McCain attacked Obama for having “declined to put forth a plan of his own” in a speech Sunday to a National Guard convention in Baltimore.

“At a time of crisis, when leadership is needed, Senator Obama has simply not provided it,” he said.

McCain’s own plan for a new institution to lead the bailout appears to have been entirely ignored in Washington.

Obama, meanwhile, has chosen targets of opportunity. His campaign attacked McCain in Michigan Sunday for owning Japanese and German cars despite bragging about buying American. And Obama seized on McCain’s suggestion, in an obscure actuarial magazine, that a move to free banking from state regulators ought to be emulated in the health care sector.

“Here’s the really scary part. Now this ‘Great Deregulator’ wants to turn his attention to health care,” Obama said in Charlotte, N.C. Sunday, quoting from the article.

“That’s right, John McCain says he wants to do for health care what Washington has done for banking.”

Obama will spend much of this week in Florida, preparing for Friday night’s debate in Oxford, Miss.

The bright spot for McCain this week, meanwhile, is likely to be Palin, who drew tens of thousands to a Florida rally Sunday. Images of her meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and others, are sure to dominate the news this week.

But Palin was resolutely vague on the economy at Sunday’s massive rally at The Villages in central Florida. She offered general praise for small business and low taxes, and echoed McCain’s swipes at regulators, saying, “we don’t need a dozen agencies doing the job badly, we need the best agencies doing the job right.”

And she testified to the quality McCain has been seeking, with increasing urgency, to project: command of the economy. "Truly there is only man with the wisdom and experience to fix our economy and that man is John McCain,” Palin said.

Carrie Budoff Brown, Victoria McGrane, Amie Parnes and Kenneth P. Vogel contributed to this report.

The Gramm-McCain Financial Crisis

raoulroach — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:07:23 EDT

John McCain has as his economic advisor Senator Phil Gramm and according to Think Progress are some very, very disturbing facts which calls into judgment, McCain’s judgment.

For everyone who has lost a home due to foreclosure, this is what you should know of McCain’s economic advisor who called those who complained of their economic standing “A nation of whiners”

“As recently as December 31 of last year, still working for Swiss bankers, specifically to help kill the Emergency Home Ownership And Mortgage Equity Protection Act and the Helping Families Save Their Homes and Bankruptcy Act, a bill that would have let bankruptcy judges adjust mortgages terms so American families facing foreclosure could repay their loans and keep their homes.”

This eye-opening yet sickening piece also reported of Gramm, “Gramm’s deregulation [as a senator] help set the stage for an explosion of banks slicing up subprime mortgages, bundling them with other mortgage slices, to hide the credit risks, and selling mortgage stew to other investment firms. That gave lenders powerful incentive to make as many loans as possible, regardless of risk.”

The most chilling words are a regardless of risk. We are only speaking of the financial meltdown that occurred the other day, yet there are other risks in this dangerous world. I think we as Americans have a right to question his judgment on a whole host of issues and not only this one.

In a wonderful piece called The Real American Traitors by William Rivers Pitt, you will simply be blown away as you read, “During his administration, Clinton offered legislation that would give the Treasury Secretary broad powers to ban foreign nations and banks from accessing American financial markets unless they cooperated with money-laundering investigations that would expose and terminate terrorist cash flows.” Concerning this legislation put forth by former President Clinton, Phil Gramm killed this all important piece of legislation and he even had the audacity to say, “I was right then and I am right now. The way to deal with terrorists is to hunt them down and kill them."

Yes, you kill terrorists, but you must also cut off their funding. This is also a risk factor we must all think about especially when McCain surrounds himself with advisors in Senator Phil Gramm. I would like to know if the family members left behind on 9/11 in which the terrorists could have been stopped financially would be called “whiners” by Gramm in seeking justice for them.

You may contact the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net

Obama-Biden's policies are best for women. (Link to PDF.)

Isebrand.com — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:23:42 EDT

Read this side-by-side comparison (PDF file) of Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin.

"The Pastor Who Clashed With Palin"

Isebrand.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:09:33 EDT

From David Talbot's article on Salon.com, "The Pastor Who Clashed With Palin."

In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital's community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, [Howard] Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.
At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that

[More after the flip...]

The Sarah Palin Phenomenon Is Doomed - CBS News, MarketWatch

theo — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:55:14 EDT

The Sarah Palin Phenomenon Is Doomed
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2008(MarketWatch) This column was written by MarketWatch's Jon Friedman.

The Sarah Palin Phenomenon is doomed.

But it's not because of her lack of foreign policy experience or her deer-in-the-headlights look during part of her interview last week with ABC's Charles Gibson.

The primary reason why the Palin bubble will burst is that the media will decide that they are bored with her. They'll need to move to shine a light on a fresh issue or individual.

This is how the world works in the age of 24/7 news cycles. Whether the subject is Britney Spears, Michael Jordan or Sarah Palin, we inevitably raise stars to mythic levels, out of all reasonable proportions. Then we knock them down. (Look out, Michael Phelps. Your time is coming, too.)

It isn't a case of quixotic behavior by reporters and editors. Internet sites, blogs and cable news operations all thrive on presenting fresh headlines and updated story angles as often as possible so readers think we're on top of things. The news world moves at warp speed.

Palin's story is especially captivating because she emerged as an overnight sensation. The governor of Alaska was virtually unknown on the national scene before Sen. John McCain tapped her to be his running mate. Amid the media crush accompanying her rise, it now seems as if Palin has been around forever.

For as long as she has been in the public eye, people have been skeptical about her qualifications, but the allure of her beginner's pluck catapulted Palin to the covers of magazines ranging from Time to People.

The interview with Gibson may be remembered as the first brick being pulled out of the wall. The reviews weren't favorable from the media in the segments when Gibson asked Palin questions about foreign policy.

For instance, the New York Times called the exchange "strained." The Washington Post-owned Slate went so far as to say that "The ABC News anchor flummoxes the GOP amateur."

I'll be interested to see how Palin -- not to mention McCain and the Republican campaign machine -- reacts when the media's disillusionment sets in for real. Their actions may determine the course of the 2008 race.

If they handle the media's about-face with aplomb, her chances of looking, well, vice-presidential will be enhanced. But if Palin's handlers blow it out of proportion and show a strain, their behavior will reflect negatively on her.

Gibson, as dignified a newsperson as America has now, treated Palin fairly and didn't resort to hectoring her with "gotcha" questions, either.

Palin's supporters may be chagrined that their candidate didn't sound more self-assured or expert when she discussed Alaska's relationship to Russia. But Gibson didn't try to trip her up. He pretty much asked the kinds of questions I would have put to Palin as well.

Gibson treated her with the respect befitting a vice presidential candidate. ABC, while discussing the interview Friday on "Good Morning America" unleashed political correspondent Jake Tapper to assess the "truthiness" of Palin's remarks on the ABC show.

The television networks appear to be treating Palin carefully, trying hard not to seem sexist or liberal or come across as intellectual, big-city bullies.

When ABC noted that Tapper had found a few holes in Palin's comments (though nothing earth shattering), the network took pains to add that it, too, would be dissecting the statements of Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Specifically, Palin seemed to have little idea about the Bush Doctrine, in which the U.S must spread democracy around the world to halt terrorist acts. When Gibson put it to her and asked if she agreed with the doctrine, she answered, "In what respect, Charlie?"

Some analysts have suggested that Gibson knew more about the Bush Doctrine than the vice-presidential candidate.

"She sidestepped questions on whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander-in-chef," the Associated Press noted.

Since we're all clear on the nuances of the Bush Doctrine, we can move on to the Fickle Media Doctrine.

Now that we've built you up, it's about time for us to knock you down.

Can Sarah Palin withstand the body blows that are being inflicted by the national media?

The media aren't the bad guys in the Palin discussion. It's easy to accuse us of acting like sexists or big-city egomaniacs. Let's be real, though. McCain selected Palin for exactly those reasons - because she is a woman from a little-known state, who can take some of the heat off McCain and behave like an attack dog against Barack Obama. So far, the Republicans' plan has worked to perfection, as Palin has dominated the political discourse over the past few weeks. Now we'll see if she has the right stuff to go the distance.

By Jon Friedman
Copyright © 2007 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved

Get on the bus, Gus

JenniferSHirsch — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:31:47 EDT

Here's a little inspirational poem to encourage you folks to join the canvass day trip I am running this Sunday:

Please get off the couch

McCain is an ouch

You need to join in

If we're going to win

The campaign can't wait

so please save the date

We're going on Sunday

It will be a fun day

email me for more information jsh2124@columbia.edu. So far 15 people are signed up. We are leaving at 7:30 am from 445 Riverside Drive.

JSH

Stuck On Stupid

raoulroach — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:41:52 EDT

"Sooner or later, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is going to have to come up with a different plan than the one he's currently following: trying not to let the passengers of the Good Ship USA notice that his plan to bail out all of the sickly financial organizations isn't working. Sooner or later, whoever's in charge is going to have to let the economy hit bottom.

You think voters are mad now? You haven't seen anything. And Bush and Cheney know that.

So I think the Bush administration is hoping to keep the markets stable until November 4. They're hoping the passengers won't push the current crew off the side of the Titanic and elect a new crew from the ship's passenger list. They're hoping that if they keep lighting up the sky with firecrackers over THERE or THERE or HERE -- we won't notice the way the ship is listing to the side, the way the water is pouring in the gaping holes just at the water line.

In other words, they're counting on us being Stuck On Stupid."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-denlinger/secret-memo-from-bush-don_b_126326.html

Yard Sale for Obama!

Stacy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:57:24 EDT

Today I packed up as much as I could into a suitcase -- books, DVDs, and yes, even VHS tapes, and went to Riverside Park. Rather than throw these things away or have them sitting on my shelf, I decided to sell them, with all proceeds going to Obama's campaign. Even in New York City, without a stoop or a yard, this is a good way to get rid of things you don't need and make some money to give to the campaign. Selling stuff on Craigslist is another great way to the same.

In less than 3 hours, I made almost $100, and so I donated the equivelant to the campaign. And I even got a couple people to register to vote and change their address.

More than that, I got to know some people in the neighborhood, hear their fears (about the McCain/Palin possiblity) and just know that there are others out there feeling like me, afraid that things are going to get much worse if Obama is not elected.

Sarah sits knee to knee with Charlie

Jackie Goldenberg — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:43:18 EDT

Dear Lord and Redeemer,

Just reporting back to you on how it went. Right off the bat, my eye twitched when Charlie asked me whether I was ready to be Vice President. I answered firmly, "I do," as if he had proposed or something. Lord, that was the easy part.

Then, wouldn't you know, he made it all about foreign policy, and as much as I had practiced with Karl R., I said new-cue-lar, just like Bush. Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear.

I reminded him that we can see Russia from Alaska, and that sounds like foreign policy experience to me. So, of course, I was pretty smart about Russia, and I was able to pronounce the name of that little wacko in Iran. Then, Charlie had to go and ask me about the Bush Doctrine. What the heck's that? Old Charlie couldn't have been more sexist and patronizing when he explained it to me. Slowly.

And he spoiled the whole thing about Track's going to Iraq on 9/11 (and away from Oxycontin, I hope) by asking me over and over whether I think Iraq is a task from you, Lord. Now, you know I do, and I reminded him, so did Lincoln (Barack thinks he's got the lock on Lincoln, no way).

I did remember to call him Charlie a lot like we are friends. We're not. Usually, I do better with these old coots. Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear.

Your servant,

Sarah

The questions NOT being asked of Palin. (Also, a brilliant primer on apocalypticism and the religious right in general)

Isebrand.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:10:33 EDT

In light of questions (or the lack of) about Sarah Palin's faith, comes this very impressive article on apocalypticism by Chip Berlet. Some highlights:

Many evangelical Christians believe in a rapidly approaching End Time confrontation between good and evil. Many liberals and progressives glibly dismiss these beliefs as whacko, but the believers number in the millions, are just as smart and sane as the rest of us, and act out these beliefs in the public square--shaping policies in the domestic and foreign policy arenas.

[Berlet highlights continue after the flip...]

"What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick."

Isebrand.com — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:33:19 EDT

Juan Coles' piece on Salon.com drives home the point that a "theocrat is a theocrat, whether Muslim or Christian." He notes that Sarah Palin, the "GOP vice-presidential pick holds that abortion should be illegal," which is a view "stricter than that of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Palin's view represents "a literalist religious impulse that resists any compromise with the realities of biology and of women's lives."

More after the flip . . .

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

raoulroach — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:44:15 EDT

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGE!!!

KEEP YOUR FOCUS! THERE IS NO TIME FOR HAND WRINGING!

ITS GOING TO BE CLOSE! DONATE! REGISTER! GET OUT THE VOTE!

HERE IS A REASON FOR OPTIMISM!!!

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10

WE WILL WIN BECAUSE WE MUST WIN!!!

McCain plans new Palin rollout - Politicio

theo — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:18:10 EDT

McCain plans new Palin rollout
By: Mike Allen - Politicio
September 8, 2008 07:56 PM EST

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will speak at her son’s Army deployment ceremony on 9/11 and spend two days with ABC News crews later this week as part of a McCain campaign plan to increase Americans’ comfort with her as a leader.

Campaign and network officials had said on Sunday that her first television interview would be a sit-down with Charles Gibson of ABC’s “World News.”

But it turns out that she is spending much of Thursday and Friday with Gibson — at the ceremony in Fairbanks, Alaska, and at her home in Wasilla, Alaska.

Campaign aides said the anchorman will get extensive, repeated access to Palin throughout her first trip home since becoming the nominee.

“ABC News will have plenty of time to question her and examine her and spend time with her,” a campaign official said. “They’ll do multiple interviews over two days. No topics are off-limits – there are no ground rules. There’s tons of time to talk to her about every topic.”

The remarkable rollout reflects new confidence in Palin by her handlers, who initially had suggested it would be a while before she did interviews. Now, there will be several.

Until now, Palin has been "sequestered," as Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.), her Democratic counterpart, put it on NBC's "Meet the Press" — delivering rousing speeches, but not giving interviews or holding news conferences or answering questions on the fly. She was the only one of the four national candidates not to appear on a Sunday show this weekend.

“Once you start, you don’t stop,” a Republican official said with a chuckle. “That doesn’t mean you run the faucet on high. But once you turn it on, you don’t really ever turn it off.”

The strategy carries risk. ABC is war-gaming tough questions – not gotchas, but some requiring policy knowledge — with the thoroughness that a network prepares for a debate.

The remarkable offer to ABC, made last Friday, is part of an ambitious project to sell Palin well beyond the right — to a broad swath of women and independent voters, including former supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

“I see women right at the forefront of that, but not exclusively,” a campaign adviser said.

The official said Gibson will have the chance to “speak to her on 9/11 about her ideas for keeping America safe in the future; to speak to her as she goes back to Wasilla, where she grew up, about her life and her views and her vision for the country.”

Two interviews with Gibson are planned for Thursday, including a conversation about her support for a natural-gas pipeline – a key applause line in her convention speech. Then on Friday, Palin will spend “as much time as both parties need” in Wasilla and Anchorage, the official said. She will fly into Anchorage and then drive to Wasilla.

Palin riveted last week’s Republican National Convention with a witty, rousing speech, and has injected huge excitement into the party’s ticket in the 10 days since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) named her as his surprise pick for running mate.

“People don’t understand how to cover women politicians in a way that is completely fair and enlightened yet,” the official said. “And somehow, she has managed to transcend that.”

Christian conservatives were immediately thrilled by McCain’s choice, and his events took on new electricity.

Asked to describe her appeal, one official said: “I think she is accessible. I think she is honest. I think she is real, and I think she is fearless. In Alaska, she has been such a target because she has always fought for the interests of her constituents, because they’re her neighbors.”

The campaign adviser said: “She’s just this real, identifiable, approachable, funny, smart woman.”

Officials wouldn’t say how the ABC anchor was chosen. “There were lots of tremendous and credible and fair journalists to choose from,” an aide said. “Somebody had to go first.”

RIGHT WING CONSERVATIVE CONTROL OF THE MEDIA

Stacy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:28:51 EDT

Please read the letter that my husband wrote to MSNBC
Editor,

My name is James J. Bianco, aged 38 years, married, father of 4 boys from age 9 to 20, registered democrat and successful small business owner. I just wanted to express my disappointment at the current situation regarding a change of responsibilities for Keith Olberman. Although inflammatory in nature, I see Mr. Olberman's devotion to accurate reporting intact. Throughout my short 38 years on earth I have been witness to very few people unafraid to challenge the norm in the media. I understand also that it may be a situation perceived as detrimental to MSNBC's status of impartiality as a news reporting agency to allow Mr. Olberman to broadcast what, at first, seem to be opinions. Without his impact and ability to point out the obvious and disappointing nature of the Republican campaign, we stand no hope for real change in America. I look forward very much to his interview with Mr. Obama and see his removal from a more focused position in the reporting of McCain's foibles as evidence that we are hitting close the mark with the Republican Old Guard.

A Faithful Viewer,
James Bianco
I WANT TO GATHER A TON OF PEOPLE AND GO TO NEW YORK AND PICKET THE MSNBC STUDIOS....
Just like Palin...I guess you can say that "i'm just a soccer mom" and willing to leave all and go and suppport Barack Obama from this now totally biased news coverage.
Regards,
Stacy Bianco
"WHO IS WITH ME?!"SIGN UP NOW!http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs7qx3
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York
New York
United States

How Much Is Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit Really Worth? by Vanity Fair

theo — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:57:20 EDT

How Much Is Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit Really Worth? by Vanity Fair

September 6, 2008, 12:27 PM

Last week, the Vanity Fair fashion department priced out the ensemble Cindy McCain wore to the Republican National Convention. Far be it from those of us at V.F. to criticize people for buying fancy clothes (you've met our advertisers, right?), but even we were astonished when the estimate came back: thanks to a pair of earrings our expert valued at roughly $280,000, the prospective First Lady's get-up appeared was assessed at approximately $300,000!

That got us thinking: what does $300,000 mean to Americans who don't have the luxury of inheriting a gargantuan beer fortune?

To Cindy McCain, $300,000 is the price of an outfit.

To most Americans, $300,000 buys ...

... one and a half houses, given the national median home price of $206,500.

... a year's worth of health care for 750 people.

... the full array of back-to-school supplies and clothes for 500 kids.

... enough gas to drive cross-country 543 times.

... 365 round-trip flights from Washington, D.C., to Anchorage, Alaska.

(John McCain should have splurged on at least one.)

... a three-course steak dinner (at Mat-su Resort) and a movie ticket (for the Mat-su Cinema) for every man, woman, and child in Wasilla, Alaska.

... enough money for three Troopergate investigations

Palin fuses politics and motherhood in new way - International Herald Tribune

theo — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:11:14 EDT

Palin fuses politics and motherhood in new way

International Herald Tribune

By Jodi Kantor, Kate Zernike and Catrin Einhorn

Monday, September 8, 2008

Sarah Palin's baby shower included a surprise guest: her own baby. He had arrived in the world a month early, so on a sunny May day, Palin, the governor of Alaska, rocked her newborn as her closest friends, sisters, even her obstetrician presented her with a potluck meal, presents and blue-and-white cake.

Most had learned that Palin was pregnant only a few weeks before. Struggling to accept that her child would be born with Down syndrome and fearful of public criticism of a governor's pregnancy, Palin had concealed the news that she was expecting even from her parents and children until her third trimester.

But as the governor introduced her son that day, according to a friend, Kristan Cole, she said she had come to regard him as a blessing from God. "Who of us in this room has the perfect child?" said Palin, who declined to be interviewed for this article.

Since that day, Trig Paxson Van Palin, still only 143 days old, has had an unexpected effect on his mother's political fortunes. Before her son was born, Palin went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his arrival would not compromise her work. She hid the pregnancy. She traveled to Texas a month before her due date to give an important speech, delivering it even though her amniotic fluid was leaking. Three days after giving birth, she returned to work.

But with Trig in her arms, Palin has risen higher than ever. Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, says he selected her as his running mate because of her image as a reformer, but she is also making motherhood an explicit part of her appeal, running as a self-proclaimed hockey mom. In just a few months, she has gone from hiding her pregnancy from those closest to her to toting her infant on stage at the Republican National Convention.

No one has ever tried to combine presidential politics and motherhood in quite the way Palin is doing, and it is no simple task. In the last week, the criticism she feared in Alaska has exploded into a national debate. On blogs and at PTA meetings, voters alternately cheer and fault her balancing act, and although many are thrilled to see a child with special needs in the spotlight, some accuse her of exploiting Trig for political gain.

But her son has given Palin, 44, a powerful message. Other candidates kiss strangers' babies; Palin has one of her own. He is tangible proof of Palin's anti-abortion convictions, which have rallied social conservatives, and her belief that women can balance family life with ambitious careers. And on Wednesday in St. Paul, she proclaimed herself a guardian of the nation's disabled children.

"Children with special needs inspire a special love," Palin said, echoing the message she had shared at the shower.

A New Turn

By last winter, Palin seemed to have everything she had ever wanted. She had raised four children while turning herself into a rising star of the Republican Party of Alaska and then the national one. But then the still-new governor discovered she was pregnant. Piper, the youngest of the Palin brood, was 6. The family had long since given away their crib and high chair.

A few weeks later, after an amniocentesis — a prenatal test to identify genetic defects — Palin learned the results. Some abortion opponents decline such tests, but as her older sister, Heather Bruce, said, Palin "likes to be prepared." With her husband, Todd, away at his job in the oil fields of the North Slope, Palin told no one for three days, she later said.

Once they reunited, the Palins struggled to understand what they would face. Children with Down syndrome experience varying degrees of cognitive disability and a higher-than-average risk of hearing loss, hypothyroidism and seizure disorders. About half are born with heart defects, which often require surgery.

The couple decided to keep quiet about the pregnancy so they could absorb the news, they told people later.

And there were political factors to consider. "I didn't want Alaskans to fear I would not be able to fulfill my duties," Palin told People magazine last week.

The governor, thin to begin with, began an elaborate game of fashion-assisted camouflage. When Vogue photographed her, five months pregnant, for a profile in January, she hid in a big green parka. At work, she wore long, loose blazers and artfully draped accessories.

"All of a sudden she had this penchant for really beautiful scarves," recalled Angelina Burney, who works across the hallway from the governor in Anchorage.

As Palin's clothes grew tighter, Alaskans began to talk. She told several aides that she was pregnant, and a week or so later, her parents and her children, who called other relatives.

On March 5, as she was leaving her office for a reception, she shared the news with three reporters.

"We're expanding," the governor said brightly, said the deputy press secretary, Sharon Leighow.

"You're expanding state government?" one of the reporters asked.

"No, my family's expanding," she said. "I'm pregnant."

The trio fell silent, dropping their eyes from the governor's face to her belly.

"You're kidding," one finally mustered.

She assured them she would not take much time off: she had returned to work the day after giving birth to Piper, the child in tow. "To any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time," she said, "I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave."

There was no mention of the baby's condition. Instead, she joked about giving her child the middle name Van, since Van Palin would sound sort of like the hard rock band Van Halen.

The next day, her office issued a minimalist masterpiece of a press release, conveying the news in three curt sentences.

In private, the Palins slowly started to share the Down syndrome diagnosis. They wrote a long letter to Bruce, Palin's sister, who has an autistic son, explaining how they had come to embrace the challenges their baby would bring.

A Big Speech

In mid-April, Palin and her husband flew to Texas for an energy conference with fellow Republican governors. Days before, Palin, a little-known governor from a faraway state, was asked to speak to her peers.

Around 4 a.m. on the day of her presentation, Palin stirred in her hotel room to an unusual sensation. According to The Anchorage Daily News, she was leaking amniotic fluid. She woke her husband and called her doctor back home. Go ahead and give the speech, said the doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who declined to comment for this article.

So Palin marched through the day. At a news conference, a reporter asked the six Republican governors present to raise their hands if they would refuse to serve as McCain's vice-presidential nominee. Palin was one of two who kept their hands down.

In her lunchtime speech, Palin held forth on the trillions of cubic feet of gas in the Alaskan Arctic, competitive bidding over pipeline construction and natural gas combustion. As she left the podium, Governor Rick Perry of Texas joked, "You're not going to give birth, are you?"

Palin just laughed.

"Nobody knew a thing," said Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii. "I only found out from my security detail on the way home that she had gone into labor and that she had gone home to Alaska."

In fact, Palin was not in labor, and her doctor thought she had time. So the governor flew to Seattle, continued to Anchorage and then drove to a small hospital near her hometown, Wasilla — a journey of at least 10 hours.

"She wanted to get back to Alaska to have that baby," said a friend, Curtis Menard. "Man, that is one tough lady."

A woman with symptoms like Palin's should be examined to determine her condition, said Dr. Laura Riley of Massachusetts General Hospital. The long trip home could have posed a risk, "but the odds were still in her favor that everything would be O.K.," said Susan Gerber of Northwestern University.

When Palin arrived at the hospital, she was still not in labor, so her doctor induced it, Bruce said. Trig was born early the next morning, weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces.

Parents who were in the next delivery room said the scene looked like any other, with no security detail in sight. The three Palin daughters came and went, and as Todd Palin passed through the corridors, he stopped to accept congratulations.

A Discovery

Inside Palin's room, her daughter Willow, 14, immediately noticed her new brother's condition, according to People magazine. "He looks like he has Down syndrome," Willow said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Palin had wanted to let the news of the pregnancy sink in first, said Cole, her friend. She had intended to tell her family more after she returned from Texas. Then the baby arrived.

Her hesitation gone, Palin glowed with maternal pride. "Sarah was absolutely ecstatic," said a friend, Marilyn Lane. After months of reflection and prayer, friends say, the Palins, who are Christians, had come to believe God had chosen to send them Trig.

Later that day, Palin sent an e-mail message to her relatives and close friends about her new son, Bruce said. She signed it, "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

"Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy," Palin wrote. She added, "Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome."

Palin's three-day maternity leave has now become legend among mothers. But aides say she eased back into work, first stopping by her office in Anchorage for a meeting, bringing not only the baby but also her husband to look after him.

Many high-powered parents separate work and children; Palin takes a wholly different approach. "She's the mom and the governor, and they're not separate," Cole said. Around the governor's offices, it was not uncommon to get on the elevator and discover Piper, smothering her puppy with kisses.

"She'll be with Piper or Trig, then she's got a press conference or negotiations about the natural gas pipeline or a bill to sign, and it's all business," Burney, who works across the hall, said. "She just says, 'Mommy's got to do this press conference.' "

Palin installed a travel crib in her Anchorage office and a baby swing in her Juneau one. For much of the summer, she carried Trig in a sling as she signed bills and sat through hearings, even nursing him unseen during conference calls.

Todd Palin took a leave from his job as an oil field production operator, and campaign aides said he was doing the same now.

At her baby shower, Palin joked about her months of secrecy, Lane said. "About the seventh month I thought I'd better let people know," Palin said.

"So it was really great," she continued. "I was only pregnant a month."

Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - NY Times

theo — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:34:30 EDT

September 7, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage By FRANK RICH

SARAH PALIN makes John McCain look even older than he is. And he seemed more than willing to play that part on Thursday night. By the time he slogged through his nearly 50-minute acceptance speech — longer even than Barack Obama’s — you half-expected some brazen younger Republican (Mitt Romney, perhaps?) to dash onstage to give him a gold watch and the bum’s rush.

Still, attention must be paid. McCain’s address, though largely a repetitive slew of stump-speech lines and worn G.O.P. orthodoxy, reminded us of what we once liked about the guy: his aspirations to bipartisanship, his heroic service in Vietnam, his twinkle. He took his (often inaccurate) swipes at Obama, but, in winning contrast to Palin and Rudy Giuliani, he wasn’t smug or nasty.

The only problem, of course, is that the entire thing was a sham.

As is nakedly evident, the speech’s central argument, that the 72-year-old McCain will magically morph into a powerful change agent as president, is a non sequitur. In his 26 years in Washington, most of it with a Republican in the White House and roughly half of it with Republicans in charge of Congress, he was better at lecturing his party about reform than leading a reform movement. G.O.P. corruption and governmental dysfunction only grew. So did his cynical flip-flops on the most destructive policies of the president who remained nameless Thursday night. (In the G.O.P., Bush love is now the second most popular love that dare not speak its name.)

Even more fraudulent, if that’s possible, is the contrast between McCain’s platonic presentation of his personal code of honor and the man he has become. He always puts his country first, he told us: “I’ve been called a maverick.” If there was any doubt that that McCain has fled, confirmation arrived with his last-minute embrace of Sarah Palin.

We still don’t know a lot about Palin except that she’s better at delivering a speech than McCain and that she defends her own pregnant daughter’s right to privacy even as she would have the government intrude to police the reproductive choices of all other women. Most of the rest of the biography supplied by her and the McCain camp is fiction.

She didn’t say “no thanks” to the “Bridge to Nowhere” until after Congress had already abandoned it but given Alaska a blank check for $223 million in taxpayers’ money anyway. Far from rejecting federal pork, she hired lobbyists to secure her town a disproportionate share of earmarks ($1,000 per resident in 2002, 20 times the per capita average in other states). Though McCain claimed “she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,” she has never issued a single command as head of the Alaska National Guard. As for her “executive experience” as mayor, she told her hometown paper in Wasilla, Alaska, in 1996, the year of her election: “It’s not rocket science. It’s $6 million and 53 employees.” Her much-advertised crusade against officials abusing their office is now compromised by a bipartisan ethics investigation into charges that she did the same.

How long before we learn she never shot a moose?

Given the actuarial odds that could make Palin our 45th president, it would be helpful to know who this mystery woman actually is. Meanwhile, two eternal axioms of our politics remain in place. Americans vote for the top of the ticket, not the bottom. And in judging the top of the ticket, voters look first at the candidates’ maiden executive decision, their selection of running mates. Whatever we do and don’t know about Palin’s character at this point, there is no ambiguity in what her ascent tells us about McCain’s character and potential presidency.

He wanted to choose the pro-abortion-rights Joe Lieberman as his vice president. If he were still a true maverick, he would have done so. But instead he chose partisanship and politics over country. “God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man,” said the shafted Lieberman in his own tedious convention speech last week. What a pathetic dupe. McCain is now the man of James Dobson and Tony Perkins. The “no surrender” warrior surrendered to the agents of intolerance not just by dumping his pal for Palin but by moving so far to the right on abortion that even Cindy McCain seemed unaware of his radical shift when being interviewed by Katie Couric last week.

That ideological sellout, unfortunately, was not the worst leadership trait the last-minute vice presidential pick revealed about McCain. His speed-dating of Palin reaffirmed a more dangerous personality tic that has dogged his entire career. His decision-making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preference for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.

As The New York Times reported last Tuesday, Palin was sloppily vetted, at best. McCain operatives and some of their press surrogates responded to this revelation by trying to discredit The Times article. After all, The Washington Post had cited McCain aides (including his campaign manager, Rick Davis) last weekend to assure us that Palin had a “full vetting process.” She had been subjected to “an F.B.I. background check,” we were told, and “the McCain camp had reviewed everything it could find on her.”

The Times had it right. The McCain campaign’s claims of a “full vetting process” for Palin were as much a lie as the biographical details they’ve invented for her. There was no F.B.I. background check. The Times found no evidence that a McCain representative spoke to anyone in the State Legislature or business community. Nor did anyone talk to the fired state public safety commissioner at the center of the Palin ethics investigation. No McCain researcher even bothered to consult the relevant back issues of the Wasilla paper. Apparently when McCain said in June that his vice presidential vetting process was basically “a Google,” he wasn’t joking.

This is a roll of the dice beyond even Bill Clinton’s imagination. “Often my haste is a mistake,” McCain conceded in his 2002 memoir, “but I live with the consequences without complaint.” Well, maybe it’s fine if he wants to live with the consequences, but what about his country? Should the unexamined Palin prove unfit to serve at the pinnacle of American power, it will be too late for the rest of us to complain.

We’ve already seen where such visceral decision-making by McCain can lead. In October 2001, he speculated that Saddam Hussein might have been behind the anthrax attacks in America. That same month he out-Cheneyed Cheney in his repeated public insistence that Iraq had a role in 9/11 — even after both American and foreign intelligence services found that unlikely. He was similarly rash in his reading of the supposed evidence of Saddam’s W.M.D. and in his estimate of the number of troops needed to occupy Iraq. (McCain told MSNBC in late 2001 that we could do with fewer than 100,000.) It wasn’t until months after “Mission Accomplished” that he called for more American forces to be tossed into the bloodbath. The whole fiasco might have been prevented had he listened to those like Gen. Eric Shinseki who faulted the Rumsfeld war plan from the start.

In other words, McCain’s hasty vetting of Palin was all too reminiscent of his grave dereliction of due diligence on the war. He has been no less hasty in implying that we might somehow ride to the military rescue of Georgia (“Today, we are all Georgians”) or in reaffirming as late as December 2007 that the crumbling anti-democratic regime of Pervez Musharraf deserved “the benefit of the doubt” even as it was enabling the resurgence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. McCain’s blanket endorsement of Bush administration policy in Pakistan could have consequences for years to come.

“This election is not about issues” so much as the candidates’ images, said the McCain campaign manager, Davis, in one of the season’s most notable pronouncements. Going into the Republican convention, we thought we knew what he meant: the McCain strategy is about tearing down Obama. But last week made clear that the McCain campaign will be equally ruthless about deflecting attention from its own candidate’s deterioration.

What was most striking about McCain’s acceptance speech is that it had almost nothing in common with the strident right-wing convention that preceded it. We were pointedly given a rerun of McCain 2000 — cobbled together from scraps of the old Straight Talk repertory. The ensuing tedium was in all likelihood intentional. It’s in the campaign’s interest that we nod off and assume McCain is unchanged in 2008.

That’s why the Palin choice was brilliant politics — not because it rallied the G.O.P.’s shrinking religious-right base. America loves nothing more than a new celebrity face, and the talking heads marched in lock step last week to proclaim her a star. Palin is a high-energy distraction from the top of the ticket, even if the provenance of her stardom is in itself a reflection of exactly what’s frightening about the top of the ticket.

By hurling charges of sexism and elitism at any easily cowed journalist who raises a question about Palin, McCain operatives are hoping to ensure that whatever happened in Alaska with Sarah Palin stays in Alaska. Given how little vetting McCain himself has received this year — and that only 58 days remain until Nov. 4 — they just might pull it off.

My reactions to the Republican Convention Hypocrisy

Pivarunas — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:23:54 EDT

McCain and Palin use well-planned Machiavellian deception to attempt to attain and maintain power just as dictators would. Consequently, they are a danger to democracy. By analyzing their actions and policy, we can see that they do not respect the very moral codes they profess to hold, but instead use these values to advance their own careers. Their policies are riddled with hypocrisy. This deception may have been necessary for elitist princes in the religiously controlled, agricultural societies of the 15th century, where only the elite had access to education and information, but it is not appropriate today. McCain and Palin are minimally educated Americans seeking power in a very complex, highly educated and developed, global and secular world. They cannot be princes or dictators. This world requires a modern and truly democratic vision of leadership.

McCain and Palin publically claim a profound and devout respect of life in order to advance the anti-abortion cause. Palin has even gone as far as to parade her pregnant daughter in public and submit her five-month-old Down syndrome baby for hours to the loud screams of a political convention in order to appear “pro-life.” However, these candidates scoff at diplomacy and reduce international policy to the capacity to wage and win war. McCain parades American flags, the plight of young soldiers, and a 40 year-old experience of torture in front of the public, implying that this display somehow better qualifies him to lead a world power than the moderate thinking and the diplomacy skills of his well-educated and equally experienced opponents for office. While McCain and Palin claim to honor the lives of young Americans, they proclaim that their primary goal in international policy is not to lose a war. Therefore, they do not care how many Americans (and people of other countries) die in order to achieve their personal goal: power. It is also inconsistent with a profound respect for life to support capital punishment and the uncontrolled gun policies of the National Rifle Association that result in uncountable numbers of deaths in the United States every year. What is more, it is an attack on life to support ecologically damaging activities in Alaska such as snow mobile races, wolf hunting from helicopters, taking the polar bear off of the endangered species list. In addition, their plan to drill for oil in Alaska will further destroy the Alaskan ecosystem in order to advance the financial interests of oil companies who want to squeeze every last billion dollars of profit from a resource they control before new technology is developed to replace it. These positions betray the real values of McCain and Palin, which are no different from those of Bush and Cheney: power and money. However, not all people have been deceived.

McCain and Palin claim to uphold many other values in order to seduce supporters while their actions show that they are only using these values to deceive and manipulate. How can they value family and children while refusing to guarantee a livable wage and equitable benefits for all working families? How can they value education while ridiculing the law education of their opponents? How can they value non-partisan politics and working people while ridiculing citizen action and community organization? How can they value a government independent from lobbyists while hiring lobbyists to acquire millions of dollars in federal funds for use in a town of 8,000? How can they value small government while advocating government controls on abortion, book banning, and censorship, restrictions on science and sex education? In reality, McCain and Palin advocate the freedom to advance their personal agenda and the power to crush opposition. They will use any means necessary to reach their selfish ends: power and money.

If the United States will survive as a democracy, we need change from these deceptive and out-dated strategies. As with the previous administration, McCain and Palin are using deception to try to gain control of this country and dupe its citizens into accepting the status quo, which furthers their personal agendas. These are not the strategies of a democracy; they are the well-known trickery of dictatorship. In order to protect democracy, it is urgent to expose the fallacy in their propaganda which maintains that an unbridled free market is good for the middle class, for the working class, and for the country. Democracy does not require a free market. Furthermore, it is not un-American to control the market in order to tax profits so that the country’s programs, institutions, and infrastructure can be maintained and improved. In addition, it is critical to expose the lie which equates to communism a government which provides a living wage, health benefits, sick pay, holiday pay, vacation pay to all working Americans. It is not un-American or undemocratic to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and to revitalize the middle-class through government mandate and taxation. Calling any criticism of the free-market economy and any proposal to control it communism and un-American is an unacceptable and dangerous. This scare tactic, which dates back to McCarthyism, destroys democracy and freedom. There is no place for this in American politics today. The enough people understand this to institute fundamental change in the way this country functions by voting for qualified, reflective leaders: Obama and Biden.

It is unacceptable that McCain and Palin want to keep the United States from going beyond such limited thinking. It is also unacceptable that they and their supporters ridicule the social solutions of European countries. Europe has proven that democratic nations can maintain a high standard of living and compete well in the global market while maintaining supportive social programs through fair taxation. In fact, Europeans have shown us that heavy taxation is accepted when citizens receive security (unlimited medical coverage, vacation pay, sick pay, family leave, retirement pension ...) European taxes also provide an excellent and well-maintained infrastructure that puts the American infrastructure to shame. Obama shows his capacity for intelligent leadership when he goes to see Europe in order to consider their solutions to social issues. McCain and Palin further show their incapacity to put citizens before their personal agendas and to work with other nations by ridiculing him.

We must end the fear of instituting government programs which provide safety, security, and equity for all responsible citizens. We must stop criticizing our neighbors and become open to working with them, sharing, and learning from them. I lived more than twenty years in France, half of which were under a socialist president. The lifestyle and security I enjoyed in France were far superior to those most people in America experience today. If McCain and Palin really “put this country first” they would be honest about their values and the needs of the American people and the world. They would expand their knowledge of domestic policy in other countries and of the values of other cultures before they claim to be ready to deal with the rest of the world.

Using dishonest and immoral Machiavellian strategies makes McCain and Palin no better than dictators from the Middle Ages. Through their ignorance, leaders like McCain and Palin will only further isolate and ridicule the United States in the eyes of the modern world. They will also endanger our civil rights and international security. We need the good judgment of diplomatic, moderate, tolerant, educated, culturally and internationally experienced leaders who value democracy. We do not need the old and unenlightened ways of McCain and Palin. The leaders who can best respond to the dire needs of the United States and of the world in the current economic and international conditions are not McCain and Palin. The vision of McCain and Palin favors only a few and favors the maintenance of a dangerous status quo. The leaders who will respond to these needs and conditions are Obama and Biden. Obama, Biden and their supporters have a vision compatible with a healthy future for all. Obama and Biden are gaining the support of the majority of the American people who look forward to exciting changes because they believe in them and they believe in working toward them.

From Fox News... McCain Camp ‘Rescues’ Flags From Obama Rally

theo — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:56:33 EDT

McCain Camp ‘Rescues’ Flags From Obama Rally

by FOXNews.com Saturday, September 6, 2008

---

Democrats are not caring for their Stars and Stripes. At least that’s the message out of John McCain’s campaign.

McCain supporters, claiming they rescued 12,000 miniature American flags from the site of Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speech last Thursday, redistributed the orphan flags to audience members ahead of a McCain rally in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

The move was an overt swipe at Obama from a campaign whose motto has been “country first.” But Democratic convention organizers claimed the flags were not going to be discarded — but instead were snatched from the site of Obama’s historic address to carry out a “cheap political stunt.”

McCain supporters said the flags were discovered by a vendor at Denver’s Invesco Field after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention. The vendor supposedly found trash bags full of flags in and near garbage bins, and turned them over to the McCain campaign.

Boy Scouts were sorting through 84 bags of flags in Colorado on Saturday, before a McCain supporter had veterans distribute them to the audience.

“We want to find good homes for these flags,” radio host Dan Caplis said at the rally, adding that whatever flags remained would be placed at memorials throughout Colorado.

Audience members, who booed when Caplis announced that the flags were left in Denver, waved the flags and chanted “U.S.A” before McCain arrived at the rally with his running mate, Sarah Palin.

Damon Jones, spokesman for the Democratic National Convention Committee, released a statement saying McCain should applaud the fact that thousands of American flags were “proudly waved” at their convention.

“But instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play out a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism,” he said.

Obama has faced attacks on his patriotism since the beginning of the Democratic primary race and has set up a Web site specifically designed to fight such charges.

The McCain campaign has denied questioning Obama’s patriotism, and even released a statement Friday calling Obama’s most recent comments on the matter “hysterical.”

Obama said Friday that Republicans are trying to make the election a personality contest, and that “what they’re really saying is ‘we’re going to try to scare people about Barack. So we’re going to say that you know, ‘Maybe he’s got Muslim connections or we’re going to say that, you know, he hangs out with radicals or he’s not patriotic.’”

U.S. Code says the proper method for disposing of an American flag is actually burning, provided it is “no longer a fitting emblem for display.”

The United States Flag Store, which sells full-sized and miniature flags, says on its Web site that flags can also be put in the trash, when they are “worn, damaged or tattered beyond repair.”

FOX News’ Carl Cameron and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.

Show us the money !

Guy from New York, NY — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:20:43 EDT

Something intrigues me with Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens' "bridge to nowhere". The Anchorage Daily News reports that she opposes today after having in favor of it. However, she still hasnt given back the earmarked-money. So the question is simple: enough with the talks, let's get some action here - When Sarah will give the money back?

Some things you should know about John McCain

Isebrand.com — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:51:09 EDT

Some things you should know about John McCain:

*The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.
*McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations. (Yet, he's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires.) See here and here.

An Alaskan on the record of McCain as a public servant

Pivarunas — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:42:29 EDT

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on
> Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I
> know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that
> he picked her.
>
> The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in
> the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life
> time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow
> indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and
> bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial
> hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes,
dollars
> that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school
> system.We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the
> country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad,
> but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are
> many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is
> appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial
> hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to
> informative web sites.
>
> She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet
> the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green"
policies. The
> only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has
> consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power
> plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home
> town of
Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will
> unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy
> its environment.
>
> Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla,
> a small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education
> level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
> Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and
> other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put
> Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about.
> These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the
> serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as
> they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears
> and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the
> wilderness,
they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.
>
> Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal.
> She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't
> like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's
> performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal
> firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't
> close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin
> isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there ay be
more issues
> that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.
>
> When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable
> if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics
> (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs,
> knows nothing of national government, Social Security,
unemployment,
> health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads
> of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.
>
> In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in
> the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John
> McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that
> the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and
> possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate
> as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try
> to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her
> today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and
> Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.
>
> To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she
> did not get the
nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a
> worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you
> think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine
> her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To
> those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of
> Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified
> McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I
> guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the
> poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment.
> While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is
> obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally,
> a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and
> unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone
president.
>
> I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high.
> I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political
> affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to
> live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

Random Thoughts from Michael Moore

theo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:51:43 EDT

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008
Random Thoughts from Michael Moore

Senator McCain Cuts and Runs, Governor Palin's "Labor" Day, and a New Hurricane Called, Um, Ike? Who Writes This Stuff?

Well, I guess God got my email and answered my prayer. Man, the power of the Internet! He even emailed me back! I'll share that with you in the next few days. Proof there is a God in heaven? Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will...

John McCain said "it's time to take our Republican hats off and put our American hats on." Really? It would have been nice if Sen. McCain had put on his American hat in the three years since Katrina. Just so no one is fooled by all his fake concern for the people on the Gulf Coast, let's look at his record post-Katrina, compliments of Chris Hayes of The Nation:

If (McCain) cared about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast he could have done something these past three years. He could have made Gulf Reconstruction his issue, he could have excoriated his party for pushing federal dollars into the hands of cronies, for providing inadequate resources, for allowing the further destruction of the wetlands that serve as the only natural barrier to storm surges. He could have taken on the insurance companies that have been serially screwing the residents of the gulf. But he was too busy pushing for more troops, and more war and running for president.

Instead this is his record [via Mother Jones]:

Though McCain issued a statement the next week (after Katrina) calling on Congress to make sacrifices in order to fund recovery efforts, he was quoted in The New Leader on September 1 [2005] cautioning against over-spending in support of Katrina's victims. "We also have to be concerned about future generations of Americans," he said. "We're going to end up with the highest deficit, probably, in the history of this country."

That attitude was borne out in McCain's actions and votes. Forty Senators and 100 members of Congress visited New Orleans before he did; he finally got there in March 2006. He voted against establishing a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local responses to Katrina in med-September 2005. He repeated that vote in 2006. He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief.

So honestly, it's an insult to watch him make a show of concern now. ...

The possibility of a storm (a storm that never hit New Orleans, and was no longer a hurricane by last night) was enough for McCain to essentially cancel most of the first day of the convention. Cut and run? The AP reported yesterday that conventions have always been held when the nation was facing perilous moments. Right smack in the middle of World War II, the Republicans and the Democrats both held full conventions. Thousands of Americans were being killed every week. The Republicans held their convention in Chicago less than two weeks after D-Day. No one faulted them for that. In fact, it made Americans feel good that, no matter what happens, NOTHING stops Democracy. No retreat, no surrender...

So McCain and company used the hurricane for political advantage, to have an excuse to not have Bush and Cheney live and in person in St. Paul (Bush will appear Tuesday night via satellite). And he used the hurricane as a chance to release a potentially controversial story in the hopes that the hurricane would dominate the news and not many would notice. One hour after Gustav hit land, the McCain campaign announced that Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is pregnant. I don't want to say much more beyond this, as I agree with Barack Obama that "people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits."

I do feel very sorry that this minor, this child, now has to have her privacy sacrificed because her mother accepted an offer to run for VP. Obama's right -- the children are off limits. I remember when John McCain cruelly trashed Chelsea Clinton when she was a child in the White House. He told reporters that she was "ugly" "because her father is Janet Reno." Of course, McCain would like us now to accord Palin's daughter the respect he wouldn't give Chelsea.

This does not mean that a discussion about the stupidity of "abstinence-only" sex ed classes is off the table; nor should we not talk about the right of a teenager to terminate a pregnancy (a right that has been essentially eliminated as the Supreme Court believes forcing a child to have a child against its will is not a form of child abuse), or Gov. Palin's desire to make abortion illegal for anyone who is raped or a victim of incest.* She's "proud" of her daughter's "decision to have her baby." Uh-huh. Ok...

Word comes tonight that McCain's people lied about Palin being vetted -- the FBI has admitted they did NOT vet her. So McCain has dispatched ten operatives and investigators to Alaska to find out if there's anything else that's about to hit the fan regarding his veep pick, a woman he had run into only once in his life and then called her on her cell phone two weeks ago at the Alaska State Fair. That was it before she made the short list and was selected. McCain's radar -- honed perhaps during his own self-admitted indiscretionary phase of his life -- is telling him there's more to the Palin story. You mean things like her support of the Alaska Independence Party or being one of the directors of recently-arrested Sen. Ted Stevens' political action groups? Heck, I dunno. We shall see...

But before everyone gets all smug and self-righteous about the Palin selection, remember where you live. You live in a nation of gun owners and hunters. You live in a country where one out of three girls get pregnant before they are 20. You live in a nation of C students. Knocking Bush for being a C student only endeared him to the nation of C students. Knock Palin for having kids, for having a kid who's having a baby, for anything that is part of her normalness -- a normalness that looks very familiar to so many millions of Americans -- well, you do this at your own peril. Assuming she's still on the ticket two weeks from now, she will be a much tougher opponent than anyone expects. You live in a country that voted for Dan Quayle.

I'll close with this report on ABC tonight by investigative reporter Brian Ross. It shows Republicans in St. Paul taking off their Republican hats and putting on their American hats. In the meantime they should keep those hats ready as a new hurricane was announced today. No, not Hannah. She's already on her way to Florida for Friday. The new one is called Ike, scheduled to hit the Gulf early next week. Ike. He's the one who warned us about the "military-industrial complex."

More to come...
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

[Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Palin desires "to make abortion illegal for anyone who is raped, a victim of incest or who may die if they bring the fetus to term." A 2006 Associated Press article states, "Palin said she would support abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. When it came to her daughter, she said, 'I would choose life.' "]

An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore

theo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:45:05 EDT

Sunday, August 31st, 2008
An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore

Dear God,

The other night, James Dobson's organization asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be canceled.

I see that You have answered Dr. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.

Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.

But this past Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that the Republicans had begun making plans to possibly postpone the convention. The AP had reported that there were no shelters set up in New Orleans for this storm, and that the levee repairs have not been adequate. In other words, as the great Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!"

So the last thing John McCain and the Republicans needed was to have a split-screen on TVs across America: one side with Bush and McCain partying in St. Paul, and on the other side of the screen, live footage of their Republican administration screwing up once again while New Orleans drowns.

So, yes, You have scared the Jesus, Mary and Joseph out of them, and more than a few million of your followers tip their hats to You.

But now it appears that You haven't been having just a little fun with Bush & Co. It appears that Hurricane Gustav is truly heading to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. We hear You, O Lord, loud and clear, just as we did when Rev. Falwell said You made 9/11 happen because of all those gays and abortions. We beseech You, O Merciful One, not to punish us again as Pat Robertson said You did by giving us Katrina because of America's "wholesale slaughter of unborn children." His sentiments were echoed by other Republicans in 2005.

So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.

So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Dr. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.

Your faithful servant and former seminarian,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. To all of God's fellow children who are reading this, the city of New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. Please click here for a list of things you can do to help our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast. And, if you do live along the Gulf Coast, please take all necessary safety precautions immediately.

Survey: Paid Sick Days Find Wide Range of Support

Pivarunas — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:16:52 EDT

NATIONAL POLITICS & POLICY | Survey Examines Issue of Paid Sick Days Among Employees, Finds Wide Range of Support
[Sept. 4, 2008]

More than three-quarters of workers questioned in a national survey view paid sick days as a basic right of employment that should be guaranteed by the government, according to a survey recently conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and funded by the Public Welfare Foundation, Working Mother reports. In addition, the survey found that one out of six workers reported that they or a family member had been fired, threatened with being fired, suspended or punished for taking time off because of personal illness or to care for a sick child or relative.

Having paid sick days was considered "very important" by 77% of respondents, and 86% of those polled said employers should be required by law to provide them. Respondents also ranked paid sick days as being as important as receiving minimum wage, overtime pay, and family and medical leave. They also considered it more important than maximum hour limits and the right to join a union. According to the survey, 68% of workers without paid sick days go to work with the flu or some other contagious illness, compared with 53% of workers who receive paid sick days. Respondents said concern about sick employees spreading diseases at work is the most convincing argument for paid sick days legislation.

Strong support for paid sick days crosses all political and demographic lines and includes approval of pro-rated paid sick leave for part-time workers, according to the survey. It also found that people are considerably more likely to vote for a candidate who supports paid sick days for all workers. About 46% of respondents said they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports paid sick days and 10% said they would be less likely to do so. Tom Smith, a senior fellow at NORC, said, "Supporting paid sick days is a plus for political candidates," adding, "Both before and after hearing arguments for and against paid sick days, voters indicate they are more likely to vote for a candidate who backed this requirement."

According to Working Mother, 40% of private sector workers and 75% of low-wage workers lack paid sick days. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are the only jurisdictions that mandate paid sick days; however, a dozen states considered such legislation this year, and the issue will be on the ballot in Milwaukee and Ohio in November. Working Mother also reports that debate on the issue is expected to be taken up in more states next year, as well as by Congress when it considers the Healthy Families Act, which would provide seven paid sick days annually to workers in businesses with 15 or more employees.

Deborah Leff, president of the Public Welfare Foundation, said, "The lack of paid sick days has real consequences for Americans forced to choose between losing a day's pay or going to work sick," adding, "It's difficult for employees to be productive when they are not well. They also expose co-workers and customers to illness. Providing paid sick day -- which this survey shows is favored by the vast majority of Americans -- is a simple matter of good employer practice and good public health" (Working Mother, 9/3).

Some choice responses

Brett — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:49:35 EDT

As an independent, I've gotta hand it to the Republicans: they hate better than Democrats do -- they don't even require any legitimate reasons for it! And they're much better at telling half-truths & bold-faced lies (Dems are just too self-conscious about that).

In regards to last night's Republican convention activities, here are some excerpts from Bob Cesca's blog on Huffingtonpost:

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities.” – Sarah Palin

“Actual responsibilities, Governor? Yeah, a one-day-a-week gig in a town that's smaller than [the] crowd at the Xcel center must have been an effing pressure cooker. How did you survive?! But you're right – ‘mayor of Wasilla’ carries way more responsibility than attempting to pull together an African-American community in southside Chicago after it was ripped apart by Reaganomics.” – Bob Cesca

“She's skipping over that stuff about supporting and campaigning on the Bridge to Nowhere.” – BC

“She's also skipping the stuff about how her administration is responsible for more earmarks than any other state. But why should that matter for a party that still insists, ‘We don't torture,’ and, ‘The WMDs are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north.’” – BC

“Now she's lying about Senator Obama's Senate record. She says he hasn't introduced a single piece of important legislation. Oh well, I guess she's right-- oh wait! Look! Headline: ‘Lugar-Obama Bill to Keep Weapons Out of Terrorists' Hands Passes Congress.’ In his first two years in the Senate, from 2004 to 2006, Senator Obama authored more than 150 bills. Here's more:Introduced a bill (S.1194) directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to establish guidelines for tracking spent fuel rods. Introduced a bill (S.1426) extending provisions in the Safe Drinking Water Act that relate to preventing and detecting contamination.Introduced a bill (S.1920) amending the Clean Air Act to establish a renewable diesel standard.Introduced a bill (S.3988) improving benefits and services for members of the armed forces and veterans.” – BC

“What I still want to know is why Governor Palin is more qualified than Olympia Snowe or Christine Todd Whitman or Kay Bailey Hutchison. The McCain campaign hasn't answered that question.” – BC

"Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American." – Mitt Romney“Classy. But I guess that's retribution for the speech last week in which someone said, ‘Just like you, there has never been a day when I stole painkillers from a charity.’” – Bob Cesca

McCain Is Proposing Social Security Privatization Plan Very Similar to Bush's

Isebrand.com — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:50:54 EDT

Bush and McCain Support the same risky proposal to privatize Social Security.

McCain Is Proposing Social Security Privatization Plan Very Similar to Bush's. From the LA Times, "It was a spectacular flop: a president making dozens of fruitless trips around the country to build support for a plan his own party's leadership refused to accept. But President Bush's failed push to privatize Social Security has not deterred John McCain from putting forward the same idea.”

Beware of Repubs bearing gifts

Brett — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:30:42 EDT

At first impression, Sen. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick seemed like a colossal blunder & an unintentional boon to the Obama campaign. Obviously, she does not have the experience or the qualifications to step in as POTUS if anything happens to the 72-year old cancer survivor at the top of the ticket, so it appeared to be a gross lapse in judgement. But as it's been playing out since then, I've started getting the uncomfortable, conspiratorial feeling that the Repubs are actually playing a very shrewd & cynical game here, and that Gov. Palin may be something of a Trojan horse.

The obvious benefits of the Palin pick include throwing a bone to the evangicals & the prolife/anti-choice blocks, trying to pick off as many disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters as possible, & giving McCain some grounds to play the "change" & "maverick" cards. But in the outpouring of statements & opinions about Palin by the right-wing spin machine, 2 other themes have emerged that could be devastating if they gain enough traction with voters. The first is to conflate all negative reactions & skeptical questioning about Palin by all sources and throw them into one basket. The most offensive & irresponsible ones are mixed up with the most legitimate & reasonable ones, and then it can appear that all those who don't support Palin as VP are as bad as the worst & most vile of her detractors. This can create a "white noise effect," where all criticisms & challenges of the Repub ticket will be automatically dismissed as more disgusting, tabloid-style smears, and also seem to justify the Republican smears against Obama.

The second theme has been to try and present Palin's level of experience & qualifications as being roughly equivalent to Obama's. While most of the electorate won't accept the silly hyperbole that she's even more qualified, by making that claim over & over, the Repubs may make it seem reasonable to see Obama as being not much more qualified than she is. Since most voters will regard her as being nowhere near ready to step in as POTUS, that will undermine Obama's status significantly. If, as I've begun to suspect, the Repub plan then has Palin "deciding" to bow out as VP (perhaps claiming that she just couldn't keep subjecting her family to the vicious attacks of the "liberal media" & the Dems), then McCain can replace her with a very experienced VP pick, keep the credit for having picked an outside-the-beltway, staunchly pro-life woman in the first place, and leave the Obama's candidacy tainted as unqualified & mean-spirited.

If the lies take hold first, the facts of Obama being vastly more qualified than Palin to be president, and his fair & dignified response to her selection & McCain's candidacy, may be overwhelmed by another sickening cycle of Republican spin. It certainly has worked for them before.

Straight Talk becomes "Straight Script"

raoulroach — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:35:17 EDT

It is shameful they are knowingly using this woman to get media attention and evangelical right wing support but don't want us to know about her and run her through the crucible of public scruntiny!

This is more of the same, with Steve Schmidt at the helm McCain is no longer "straight talk" he is "straight script".

Limiting press and treating them in a controlling matter is classic Bush/Rove.

Remember Bush/Cheney caught "major league asshole" in speaking of a NYT reporter, that should have warned us of what was to come from Bush/Cheney.

McCain is promising a weekly press conference if elected, how can he promise that and act this way now? He has become belligerent and nasty toward the press when he is questioned on any issue he is offended by. This is just more of the same!!!

MCAIN'S IMPRUDENT RECKLESSNESS MAKES HIM UNFIT

raoulroach — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:12:17 EDT

From the honest look at McCain in the NYT that the right lambasted the NYT for, this is the truth of it all. It is a through line in his character from the recklessness of his piloting (he still won't release his military record to the public, why? He is running on it) to his VP choice McCain is unfit to be president.

“He is essentially an honorable person,” said William P. Cheshire, a friend of Mr. McCain who as editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic defended him during the Keating Five scandal. “But he can be imprudent.”
Mr. Cheshire added, “That imprudence or recklessness may be part of why he was not more astute about the risks he was running with this shady operator,” Charles Keating, whose ties to Mr. McCain and four other lawmakers tainted their reputations in the savings and loan debacle.

(Quoted from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html )

This is the point that article made about Vicki Iseman. He acts without thinking and carefully calibrating people's response. He uses his honor as a weapon to defend what other people might rightfully question as appearing improper or questionable. He admits this was a source of his reputation as a belligerent kid and others note his raging temper as an adult. This is a troubling and very debilitating trait for a leader. No matter the outcome it smacks of the hubris of the Bush administration only it doubles down on the "damn the American people I know what is best" attitude of Bush /Cheney.

Can you imagine a reporter asking President McCain about his decision to go to war with Iran although polls show the American people overwhelmingly against it and his response being a longer winded version of Cheney's "so!".

This "recklessness" that his friends describe is on full display in his choice of someone he barely knows as the person a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Whatever her ability, which is suspect and still being vetted, she is a reckless choice, He doesn't know her yet again he is daring those around him and the American people to question his judgement.

"Mr. McCain promised, for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix, his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers, he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. Iseman’s client. (Last year he voted to end the practice.)
Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office." (Op. Cit.)

He admits this was a source of his reputation as a belligerent kid and others note as well his raging temper as an adult. This is a troubling and very debilitating trait for a leader. No matter the outcome it smacks of the hubris of the Bush administration only it doubles down on the "damn the American people I know what is best" attitude of Bush /Cheney.

So we are left with, to quote Obama, a "big election" and as usual we and the press are being diverted with a campaign by the Republicans about "small things". This tendency for recklessness is the threshold that a Presidential candidate must pass and McCain falls far short.

RUSSIA AND MCCAIN

raoulroach — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:18:54 EDT

WHAT DECEITFUL IDIOTS!!! RUSSIA WASN'T A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT FOR TWELVE YEARS AND THE END OF THE COLD WAR!!! NOT UNTIL BUSH, DICK CHENEY AND JOHN MCCAIN STARTED MUCKING AROUND WITH RUSSIA BECAUSE OF OIL!!!

THIS PARTY CAME INTO POWER IGNORING RICHARD CLARKE WHO TOLD THEM POINT BLANK WARNING THEM AL QUEDA WAS THE MOST SERIOUS NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT!

INSTEAD "CONCEALSLEEZA" RICE, A RUSSIAN EXPERT , SCOFFED AND DROPPED THE BALL AS BUSH, CHENEY, MCCAIN ET AL TARGETED IRAQ AND HUSSEIN. THEN 911, THE BIGGEST NATIONAL SECURITY FAILURE SINCE PEARL HARBOR ON THEIR WATCH!

JOHN MCCAIN HEADS THE CORPORATE ADVOCACY GROUP THAT PRECEDED THE OFFSHOOT GROUP PNAC WHICH IS AN OFFSHOOT LOBBY OF OIL COMPANY THINK TANK FUNDED NEO-CONSERVATIVES! THE ARCHITECTS OF THE IRAQ WAR!!!

RUSSIA IS NOW A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT BECAUSE THESE BACKWARD LOOKING GROUPS WITH JOHN MCCAIN AS THERE MOST ARDENT ADVOCATE IN THE SENATE, INVADED IRAQ, PROPOSED THE EXPANSION OF NATO MEMBERSHIP INTO EASTERN EUROPE, PLAYED GEO-OIL POLITICS SUPPORTING CORRUPT DICTATORS IN THE KHAZAK SEA REGION, PLACING MISSLES IN POLAND. AND FINALLY PLACING THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA AS A PAWN IN THE PETROL WARS.

RANDY SCHEUNEMANN IS THE MAIN SURROGATE FROM THIS MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL CABAL, A LOBBYIST FOR GEORGIA IS THE LEADING FOREIGN POLICY ADIVISOR TO THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN. WHY WAS SOUTH OSSETIA ATTACKED WHILE THE PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA WAS OUT OF TOWN AND MAJOR FIGURES FROM DICK CHENEY'S OFFICE IN GEORGIA SUPPOSEDLY DOING ADVANCE WORK FOR THE VP?

NOW THE IDIOTS ARE ADVOCATING AND BELIEVING THIS SARAH PALIN, A RUBE AND A PAWN IS ON THE BORDER OF RUSSIA AND IT IS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT? NO! IT IS A THREAT BECAUSE IT IS A COMPETITOR FOR THE $35 TRILLION WORTH OF OIL FLOWING FROM THE KHAZAK SEA REGION INTO EUROPE AND ASIA, USING PIPELINES PROPOSED THROUGH ITS OWN TERRITORY, PAKISTAN AND IRAN INSTEAD OF GEORGIA AND AFGHANISTAN.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!! WE ARE, AND FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS HAVE BEEN, USED AND MANIPULATED BY BIG OIL!!! OUR BLOOD AND TREASURE ARE BEING WASTED FOR A NARROW GROUP OF SPECIAL INTERESTS!!! THESE CALLOUS MULTINATIONALS ARE MANIPULATING THE ELECTORATE TO ELECT A MAN AND NOW A WOMAN TO CONTINUE TO DO THEIR BIDDING!

THEY FOUND THEIR CANDIDATE, A PTSD SUFFERER, WHO IS STILL FIGHTING THE COLD WAR IN HIS MIND. A BELLIGERENT WARRIOR WHO HAS ONE EYE ON IRAN THE OTHER ON RUSSIA AND SHARES THE SAME TARGET LIST AS BIG OIL!!!

Stand up against slurs

Pivarunas — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:46:00 EDT

Here is what many of us are living with at work and sometimes in our personal lives. This person wrote the story below on her blog. It is about an intolerable situation at her work place, which she was brave enough to stand up against. The low behavior of her colleagues attests to the mindlessness of many of those supporting the McCain/Palin ticket. We must perservere in spreading the truth about the Obama/Biden platform in the interest of attaining a mindful America.

"I work in a hedge fund in New York City. Its a small office with only 13 employees and everyone including me, is white except for 2 employees, a Latino and an Indian American. I work for a company that invests in oil, coal, and other forms of energy. I work in an office where the majority of people make high enough salaries to own homes, cars, to take multiple vacations a year, and go to the Hamptons during the summer, for the record I'm not one of them (I work on weekends as well for extra money). The majority of the people I work with are Republicans and do not seem to grasp the rest of America, the ones who are losing their homes and jobs and are crying out for help. I work in an office full of Obama haters. I'm the only one who believes in Barack Obama and supports him wholeheartedly. Maybe its because I'm the only one who wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I know what it is to be in the middle class, to pay more taxes every month than I pay for my apartment rent, to have gone months without health insurance, to have grown up in a single parent home with a mother who had to work 3 jobs to feed my brother and I because we weren't qualified to get food stamps. I never forget where I came from and that there are so many Americans who face these and so much worse conditions every day. I hear them bash Obama almost every day. Being the lone soldier who supports him I sit quietly at my desk and put my head phones on to try and drown out their voices, while the anger towards them boils inside me. One day was worse though. A coworker sent around an email containing a racist joke about Obama. In one email he managed to make a hard working intelligent black man running for President look like nothing more than a cotton picking slave. I could not believe this email was actually on my computer screen. I was shocked and appalled at this blatant form of racism floating around the office. He looked at me waiting for me to laugh right along with everyone else and when I returned his smile with a glare he backed up and said "Come on its just a joke. People make fun of Italians all the time too!". I simply told him I didnt think it was right and the fact that people make fun of other ethnicities does not make it acceptable. He apologized and I really thought that would be the last of the racist Obama jokes. I was wrong. This morning I came into the office and should have expected there to be more Obama bashing after he gave his speech last night. His speech made me want to cry and made me hopeful that things in America could improve. I should have known that would not be the attitude in my office today. Even the executives came out of their offices to join in! I heard disgusting words full of black stereotypes being flung around about Michelle Obama and her "fist pump", that Obama was going to "get a gold tooth", that he would "paint Air Force One purple", that "the government isn't going to help you (middle class) pay off your credit cards". I ran out of the office before I started crying in front of everyone. I was shaking so much with anger and frustration I didnt know what to do with myself. How can these people say these things? How are racist comments acceptable in a place of work? How can you possibly think that the middle class does not need help and that things should stay the same? See I know from experience how easy it is to get into credit card debt. When you work full time but after taxes and bills, you have no money left for groceries for the week and you have no choice to turn to the credit cards. Its not a matter of people being lazy or irresponsible. Its not so black and white. I ran out of the office and went to the store but I knew I had to go back. I could not sit there silent for the rest of the day though without saying something about this obnoxious and ignorant behavior. I was scared to say something though because I'm the only who thought it was wrong and the only one who loves Obama. But I'm not the type of person who keeps her mouth shut when I experience injustice first hand. So i walked into one of the executives office, the one who is supposed to make sure things like that do not happen, the one who was laughing about Obama and the middle class. I told him how I thought it was extremely inappropriate, its disrespectful of any Obama supporters (well I guess thats just me), and racist comments should not be acceptable in the office. I told him that people can support whoever they want and have their political opinions but keep it at home. I told him I have to sit and hear Obama bashing every day and told him about the inappropriate email that was sent around. I tried really hard to stop my voice from shaking but my nerves sort of got to me. At least I didnt start crying though. He just kept saying "ok" and he asked "do you think everyone here is racist?". I said no but these comments were and I dont appreciate them and I dont think the other non whites in the office would appreciate them either. I walked out of his office thinking surely I just got myself fired. But a few minutes later he sent me an email saying he sent the staff an email telling people to refrain from comments that could be considered racist. Although he also said "The difficulty of mainting a family type of environment, as opposed to one of strict professional decorum is that people become accustomed to speaking freely, and this is going to occasionally cause problems. This is no way intended to excuse comments that made you uncomfortable, but I do hope you understand that we can't have the benefit of a loose envirnoment without some hurt feelings every so often". What do you think people? Sounds to me like an excuse for their behavior. I think having a loose environment where employees can be silly and talk about farts and sex is completely different than making racist stereotypical remarks about black people. Just like a wealthy republican to make an excuse like that right? So I don't think I'm getting fired but I certainly feel like more of an outsider than I did before. I also feel different like maybe I don't belong here after all. Its not a nice feeling. But you know what fuck them, because I would speak up all over again and will if I have to. If I get fired for speaking up and doing the right thing then bring it on."

What the last week wrought

Brett — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:43 EDT

Highlights of the Dem convention: the speeches of Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, John Kerry (why didn't he talk like that 4 years ago?!!), & Joe Biden. And then Barack Obama not only rising to the occasion and meeting impossible expectations (including countless hurdles fabricated by the talking heads), but he even made it look easy!

Also of note: Dennis Kucinich's speech (although I think he went too far by claiming that the Iraq war was all about oil -- that may play well with the outraged left, but it comes off as a slap in the face to many Americans who have loved one's risking their lives in Iraq, or who are coping with loved ones wounded or killed). And then there was the stage full of generals & admirals, with one of them (a fighter pilot in the first Gulf War who had previously voted for Bush) stating flatly that Obama had what it took to be commander-in-chief. Interesting that that moment received almost no attention by the pundits. I hope the Obama campaign will feature it prominently in some of their ads!

Overall, though, apart from the scattered highlights, I thought this was a C- convention at best. After nearly 8 years of the worst administration in living memory, possibly the worst one in the history of this country, and a complete refutation-by-results of the Republican agenda, the Dems did a very spotty, tepid job of pointing out the horrendous failures & dishonorable acts of Bush & his enablers. Why is it that when it comes to attacking one's opponent, the Republicans are emboldened by lies, but the Democrats are insecure with the truth?

Worth Getting Out

Pivarunas — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:34:50 EDT

Well, I finally got out on the street yesterday with the "3 Parks Independent Democrats" voter registration drive, and it was worth it. Living in New York City, where many people live isolated in their rush to get through the day, the week, the month, the year...it is easy to get complacent about life, even cynical. But getting out, carrying a sign calling people to register to vote, wearing an Obama button changed the city blocks I walked into a friendly community. It was uplifting to get smiles and thumbs up from people of all ages, colors, nationalities, sexual orientations, economic conditions, professions... They stopped shopping to wave, left stores to register, shouted out encouragement from cars. Most everyone was either already registered and voting Obama/Biden or was eager to do so. What is more, the 3 Parks is well-organized and democratic itself. They need help fixing up a store front to do calls and fundraising from, but from the looks of it yesterday, they were getting lots of it. By one o'clock, the place was buzzing with working volunteers and enthusiastic visitors, running smoothly. Even though I come from far, I'll be back there on Monday to focus on the Columbia University students, who need to be sure to be able to vote. I'll also head out to Pennsylvania with them the following weekend. I recommend that others join in their actions or in with other groups, or start their own action groups. It is definitely worth the trouble. It takes a community to raise a country. Nancy Pivarunas

Palin: the wrong choice for women:

Pivarunas — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:10:09 EDT

I received thie following letter from Cecile Richards, President Planned Parenthood Action Fund wanted to share it with you. Nancy Pivarunas

Yesterday morning, on my way back from the high of the Democratic National Convention, I learned that Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential pick.

What might have been encouraging news for women was just the opposite" somehow McCain had managed to find a woman running mate even more conservative than he is on women's rights.

It was heartbreaking news, especially on the heels of such an inspiring week. Right now there is so much shameless rhetoric from the Republicans about breaking the glass ceiling, especially from McCain and his running mate. What good does it do to break a glass ceiling with a woman who wants government to control women's reproductive health? That isn't the world I want for my two daughters.

A day later, and I'm still having trouble expressing the depth of my anger about McCain's choice of a running mate. This shameless pandering to women" with a woman who doesn't trust other women to make their own decisions about childbearing" has really got me going.

My dear friends and supporters, the stakes in this election just got unbelievably higher. More than ever before, the November 4 election is the most important vote for women's rights of my generation. And our actions in the next eight weeks" yours, mine, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's" have never been more critical. Believe me, I don't say that lightly. It's time to get to work" and hard.

If you can only do one thing, it should be to tell every woman you meet that McCain and Palin are the most anti-choice, anti-women pair imaginable. Don't stop at just telling your friends. You can bet that I'll be telling strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store, the women I see at the gym, parents at my kids' schools.

Women trust other women to tell them the straight truth " and the straight truth is that McCain and Palin would take us back to a time when women had absolutely no right to decide whether or not to have a child ... zero. It's been widely reported that Palin is against abortion even in the cases of rape and incest!

Times like these, it's hard not to hear my mother's voice in my head. I can tell you that my mother, the former governor of Texas and a remarkable feminist leader of her time, would have been downright outraged right now. What would have offended her most about McCain's decision to put Sarah Palin on the ticket is how utterly calculated, how awfully pandering it is to women. It is the worst kind of politics. Mom would have said, "Women voting for this ticket is just like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders."

We have the opportunity in Barack Obama and Joe Biden to elect a team that have always stood strong with us for women's health " end of story. I'm so excited coming back from Denver " but with this decision by John McCain, I recognize that everything for us is at stake.

Thank you, as always, for standing up with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the women Planned Parenthood health centers serve. We are quite a force, aren't we?

Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund