Stephen Views the News 11/9/08
http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/
* Republican Shell Game ~ in the guise of conservatism – Most Republican politicos and pundits are cautioning the Obama administration not to go too far left. America, they tell us, is a center-right country. This is a misleading strategy. The McCain campaign had positioned Obama as the most liberal member of congress since, uh, FOREVER. Obama gained a sweeping victory and Democrats increased their majorities in the House and the Senate. Perhaps the Republicans are observing an alternative Universe – the one their simpatico Creationists claim was created just 6000 years ago. This is not to say that all Republicans and true conservatives are religious-right fundamentalists. On the contrary, there are many intelligent and valued conservative principles and thinkers in America that have much to offer our national discourse. Unfortunately, their ideas were so bastardized during the Bush/Republican reign that conservatism lost its meaning. Perhaps it is time to step back from assigning labels and evaluate ideas and policies in terms of their benefit to the common interest and the common good. What is that interest and good?
An examination of Americans’ positions reveals the following: Based on recent polls and studies the majority of Americans do not want to see more restrictive limits on abortion and women’s reproductive rights and they do not want more restrictive measures imposed on gay relationships; minimum wage increases and union rights are supported; stem cell research has a mandate and universal healthcare coverage receives overwhelming support; science is accepted as a valuable and vital tool to advance human knowledge, address illness, spur our economy and enhance the quality of life; Americans emphatically say that the federal government has an important role in ensuring food and product safety and providing oversight of pharmaceutical efficacy; the American people do not want to see the Supreme Court tack far right; the use of torture is strongly opposed; Americans want their government pro-active on energy conservation and addressing global warming; Americans do not want the USA involved in unjustified preemptive war and they desire that the country return to a position of trusted leadership in the world community.
These are Progressive ideas and values. America being center-right is a Republican/Conservative marketing tool and about as accurate as the recently revealed eye-crosser that Sarah Palin believed that Africa is a country. In the pre-2008 election world, if Republicans said something often enough it became conventional wisdom, regardless of the wisdom. If Republican “wisdom” is to continue to move to their convoluted interpretation of the right I welcome their ensuing electoral losses until the attrition ultimately attracts Republican leaders committed to serving mainstream America. The day of single-issue social conservative values is over. Trickle down economics is in the storage shed if not the trash heap. Republican Party genuflecting at the altar of Reganomics has experienced a crisis of faith by the congregation. For the 10th straight month the American work force has lost jobs and there are currently 10 million unemployed in the U.S. Many of those still employed are working at lower-level or lower paying jobs than was the case 10 years ago. Republican/ Conservative philosophy failed Americans economically, militarily, environmentally and socially. Welcome to the 21st Century, even though it is nine years late.
* The politics of Three Card Monte ~ the dealer lost – Leading up to elections this year Republican operatives were filling the airwaves and filing lawsuits across the country raising the fear of voter fraud and the demise of democracy as we know it. The states primarily targeted with “cry wolf” warnings were Pennsylvania, Nevada, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Minnesota. Election officials in these states report that there was no evidence of voter fraud within their borders this election, nor have there been in previous elections for that matter. Perhaps the derriere-kicking endured by the Republican Party in the last two elections will inspire them to direct their efforts toward more responsible politicking and governance. Hopefully, the Democratic politicos received this message as well. It has taken an avoidable and interminable war and a crushing blow to the economy for the American people to pay more attention to the politic rhetoric but, in 2008 we did pay attention. Voter fraud was never a real issue and a more informed electorate was one of the deciding issues.
* Gay marriage ~ Straight conundrum – On November 4th three states dealt a setback for gay marriage advocates. I believe that many of those who voted for the setbacks are not necessarily anti-gay or anti-gay rights. They are having a tough time with the “marriage” part. This is understandable. Social change does not occur in flashes. It takes society time to alter long-standing custom and belief. I would suggest to gay-rights advocates that their energies be focused on the principle that same-sex couples are entitled to the same legal rights as heterosexual couples which include employer spousal benefits, hospital visitation rights and adoption rights. I believe that today’s society is ready to accept same-sex civil unions, a legal relationship between two people of the same gender. “Marriage” confuses and exasperates the issue. By advocates concentrating on civil union rather than marriage the anti-gay forces will lose a significant portion of their support, thereby fostering an environment for gay Americans to gain the rights they seek and deserve.
* Post facto, post mortem, post Joe – Senator Joe Lieberman is entertaining joining the Republican caucus upon learning that he may lose his chairmanships on Senate committees that include the very important Homeland Security. Did anyone notice Lieberman’s membership in the Republican Party took place quite a while ago. On one of the most important issues to Democrats, Iraq, Lieberman has voted with the Republicans and the Bush administration consistently. He unconscionably reiterated administration misinformation and spin relative to conditions in Iraq, demonstrating his loyalty to neocon philosophy not embraced by most Democrats and most Americans. He then jumped with both feet onto the McCain campaign giving a major speech at the Republican national convention and appearing next to John McCain on the campaign trail almost as often as Cindy McCain. During the campaign he was a conduit for McCain campaign innuendos against Obama and Lieberman sinisterly questioned Obama’s patriotism. Joe Lieberman donated his soul to the Republican Party and in their company may he rest in piece, a piece that Democrats going forward can do without.
Although Democrats seek a 60-vote Senate majority to avoid Republican filibusters blocking their legislation, I do not believe they need Joe Lieberman. I do not see Republicans voting in robotic unison as they did in recent years. They do not hold the White House, and the totalitarian hold Republican leadership held over GOP legislators is experiencing its wake. Incumbent Republican senators will look to recent voting of their constituents and conclude that the appeal of Bush’s version of Republican dogma and the track record of Republican governance has been rejected. I expect that a significant amount of legislation proposed by Obama and his party is legislation needed and wanted by a significant majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation. The Connecticut Democratic Party rejected Lieberman in 2006. The Democratic leadership in the Senate should do likewise in 2008.
* The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
Louis D. Brandeis (1856 – 1941) US Supreme Court Justice (1916 – 1939)
This just gets worse all the time!!!! I can't stand it!!!!! Yesterday, at a rally in Defiance, OH, Senator McCain started trying to get "Joe" the Plumber to come on stage. Turns out he was supposed to be there but he wasn't because he evidently can't even follow simple directions. But, of course, it wasn't HIS fault! He actually blamed McCain's campaign staff! Anyway, after McCain stood there and kept calling for him, and looking really pathetic and silly doing so, ("Joe? Where are you Joe? Are you here Joe? Well I thought you were here!) he eventually said 'oh well you're all Joe the Plumber' why don't all of you stand up'....like they weren't already!!! What followed amazed & enraged me (I didn't think it was possible for McCain to get any worse, but he DID!!) McCain then started talking about how great Joe is and, this is a quote now: "give Joe a hand, for all he's done for America!" If that particular statement wasn't bad enough in other rallies Senator McCain has stated that "Joe" his "role model", "a great citizen from Ohio", and "a great American hero"! "Joe" is Senator McCain's role model?
What about all the men and women who have fought and died for this Country, Senator McCain? What about the mothers & fathers, sisters & brothers, spouses & children of those people? People that were proud to either go fight themselves or have someone in their family who did! McCain & Palin usually acknowledge these people at their rallies by having asking them to "hold your hand up so we can honor you" and everybody claps. But when it comes to who McCain & Palin single out and bring on stage with them they choose to acknowledge "Joe" the LOSER and the LIAR!!! Here we have a United States Senator, who wants to be President of this Country, that has, by his vote, been a part of sending men & women off to war! Then this same man gets up on stage and, before national audience, announces that his hero, his role model, his definition of a great American is this loser! Then he wants the crowd to applaud "Joe" to "Thank him for what he did for America". He wants this guy cheered and celebrated, for being a liar, while, at this very moment we have troops in harm's way. How must it make those troops feel? Here they are, a world away, fighting for their country, in danger of being killed at any time, missing the birth of their children and time with their families that they can never get back. Then they see or hear about the man who wants to be President, their next Commander in Chief, a United States Senator is making some nondescript guy, whose sole 'contribution' was to ask a question that was filled with and based on NOTHING BUT LIES, being the best thing that ever happened to America. How must those soldiers families feel, when they are making the sacrifice of their loved one's presence and possibly their lives and the man who wants to be President is making some loser out to be an "American Hero" and his "role model"? But "Joe" the Plumber is John McCain's GREAT AMERICAN HERO!!! I am just simply outraged, enraged, furious, appalled, incensed, pissed off,....there just isn't strong enough language to describe how I feel about this!!!!!
What about the veteran's of WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War and the other various conflicts, police actions, diplomatic missions, etc.? My grandfather served in WWII! Like many of the young men at the time, he was drafted and sent to Germany. He married my grandmother one week before he left and my mother was 2 years old (walking, talking, the whole bit) before he ever saw her! My grandmother talked about walking down to the Post Office, praying every step of the way, that my grandfather's name would not be on the list of missing or killed in action (that's how they did it back then)! My grandfather landed on the beaches of Normandy, you know...D-Day, and was involved in several other battles! My grandfather DID something for his Country!!! My grandmother told me he was never the same when he came back. How could you be, after seeing your boyhood friends shot to pieces or blown up in front of you? My grandmother DID more for this Country than Joe the Freakin' Plumber, through her sacrifice of being without him all that time and being a new wife and mother and having to do it all by herself! But McCain wants to acknowledge Joe the Plumber for all he's done! Let's highlight "Joe's" accomplishments, shall we…
First and foremost and his whole basis for fame is simply that he is a nothing but a BIG, FAT, BALDFACED LIAR and someone who evidently likes to do and/or say things just to make someone else look bad or get other people into it so he can stayed back and watch the feathers fly!!! Lie #1: His name isn't even "Joe"! Lie #2: He is NOT a licensed plumber!! Lie #3: He is not in the process of buying his bosses' business Lie #4: His bosses' business (if he was going to buy it) doesn't make the $250k to $278k that "Joe" said it did, right there on TV! Lie #5: He doesn't make anywhere near $250k himself, he made somewhere in the area of $40k last year (which therefore makes you ask 'why would he be concerned about having to pay more tax at $250k) Lie #6: was portraying himself as an honest, tax-paying citizen...the IRS had to put a lien against him for $1,100 in tax he refused to pay! Then he goes around & comments on government policies, like foreign affairs, like he has any idea! He clearly does not!!! But he has no problem getting out there and stating his idiotic ideas and saying things that either come from his ignorance and lack of education or just blatant lies!!!
What gets me are the people that actually listen to this guy!!! I would be willing to bet that his education ended in high school except maybe for some trade school (like the how to snake a toiilet course or how to turn the water on!) I mean absolutely no disresect to trade school but it doesn't really compare to going to a university that teaches a well-rounded curriculum and upon completion you receive a bachelors, masters or doctorate degree, does it???
Senator Obama has surrounded himself with extremely intelligent and learned people that have great knowledge, expertise, wisdom & experience!!! People that are, without doubt, geniuses! Madeline Albright, Dick Lugar, Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton and Al Gore are simply the best & brightest when it comes to foreign policy! I can't think of anyone that would be better than, and few that would be as good as, any one of those people! These people also happen to be friends of and, much more importantly, advisors to Senator Obama! But "Joe" the Plumber is acting like John McCain's foreign policy guy. While he is out there stumping for him and agreeing with statements like "a vote for Obama would be a vote for the death of Israel". To which "Joe" says "I'll have to agree with you on that one, that would be a problem" He agrees with this statement even though Senator Obama has, many times, declared his support to Israel!
"Joe" the Plumber is SO BAD that FOX NEWS, who is by NO MEANS counted among the Obama Supporters, even called him out on it! The FOX NEWS anchor was so appalled and floored that he was practically speechless. He actually issued a disclaimer disavowing everything that "Joe" said. If you ever watch FOX NEWS you know what a big deal that is!!! The man is a complete and total idiot. During a rally yesterday, McCain handed him the microphone to address the crowd! He then began telling them how 'we need to take back control of our Government' and that they can do that by doing "research" and then making informed decisions about the world and what goes on in it. He didn't word it quite that way but he did say 'do research like I have'. Really...he's done research, has he? Well then why, every single time he opens his mouth, does something else ignorant and stupid come out. Further, I don't think his little speech was even his own words because he can't put more than two words together without sounding like a completely uneducated boob!
John McCain & Sarah Palin are holding "Joe" up as an American symbol, the symbol of Small Business in America AND HE DOESN'T OWN A SMALL BUSINESS!!!!! They call him a great American. Both McCain & Palin say "Obama and his media friends have attacked poor "Joe" for asking a question, what's that about?" Well I'll tell you...the McCain Campaign kept making sure "Joe" stayed in the spotlight and 'poor' "Joe", who according to McCain, didn't ask for any of this, was and is LOVING IT!!! If the man didn't want to be in the spotlight, he wouldn't jump in front of every camera he sees!!! Poor "Joe" is trying to make money off this whole farce! McCain & Palin will most probably do anything they can to help him capitalize on it. As far as him being 'investigated', the media tends to look into anyone that is getting that much press and attention. They really didn't have to 'investigate' very hard to find out THE TRUTH about Joe. Why are McCain & Palin so mad about that, because it is THE TRUTH!!! They, nor "Joe", for that matter have ever disputed any of it!!! Even after they found out what a liar he is, they still continued to act as if he hadn't lied…when they KNOW he did!!! This certainly doesn't make their characters look good! They are committing the same kind of dishonesty and questionable actions they are pledging to get rid of in Washington!!!
That whole "Joe" thing would have worked better, though not to base an entire campaign on as they have, if they had ACTUALLY USED someone who 1) owned a small business and 2) made over $250k and 3) had some kind of formal education and was learned and up to date on current events!
I apologize for the length of this blog but I could go on and on....I had to make myself stop!!!!
Please vote for change! A vote for Obama/Biden is a vote for hope!
Terri
Vote Obama/Biden '08
Pasted from <http://my.barackobama.com/ext/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/blank.htm>
Monsters Inc.
by Ed Naha
Recently, John McCain addressed his audience as "my fellow prisoners." This was no mere Freudian slip. It was closer to a Freudian evening gown.
In a sense, McCain was right. Those of us who still have brain cells are in the same position as those hapless folks imprisoned in that deserted house in "Night of the Living Dead." We're not fighting zombies who devour our flesh, however. We're battling brain-dead ideologues that take great glee in chomping on our intelligence, integrity, sense of fair play, moral values and hopes. Welcome to the McCain-Palin "Effrontery First" campaign.
The MuckCain crowd clearly thinks that creative lying is the key to success. They do a marvelous job at it, too. Look at their portrait of Obama, their own Dorian Gray..........
ENTIRE POST- http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18241
McCain
1. taxies health care.
2. increases middle class taxes.
3. supports a useless war.
The McCain campaign has been flooding swing voters with mailers and "robocalls" -- automated phone calls smearing Barack's character. Most recently, they've launched another round of these false, dangerous attacks across the U.S.
New Jerseyans are saying enough and fighting these dishonorable campaign tactics.
Don't let these under-the-radar fear tactics continue to spread, visit Radar.BarackObama.com to report attacks and find the facts about smears you've heard.
New Jersey voters are facing issues too important to allow this election to be focused on character attacks and fear tactics.
Visit Radar.BarackObama.com and fight back today. You can also join your neighbors at a Last Call for Change phonebank near you. Just one call from you is enough to counteract dozens of these dishonest "robocalls."
And NOT WHAT YOU THINK IM MAD ABOUT....
Throughout the area I reside in, everywhere I go, I see McCain - Palin signs. It is a great way to lose weight as whenever I see a sign of theirs I lose my appetite.
But really, does anyone in the area have signs for Obama - Biden. In travels just today, I counted and saw about 25 McCain signs and saw 2 Obama signs. This is in a heavily populated area in Connecticut. RTE. 25 - Monroe/ Newtown, Rte. 111 - Monroe - Shelton.
If anyone has signs I will spend hours and anyone who wants to join me to go put up them and stake claim to Connecticut and this area.
Anyone willing to help and does anyone have signs????
Lee Wilcox
203-695-5470
From the L.A. Progressive
by Charley James – Open warfare has broken out between John McCain’s campaign management with one faction backing Steve Schmidt, the Karl Rove protégé who came on board in July, and the other standing behind Rick Davis, McCain’s long-time campaign manager.
According to two independent sources working inside the campaign, it was Schmidt and his faction who directed last week’s disastrous foray into the politics of smear and hate, causing a near-collapse in support for McCain among independents and undecided voters as well as what passes for the right wing’s intelligentsia who write Op-Ed’s for Very Serious Newspapers.
By week’s end, Davis almost reasserted control over the campaign and its message.
On Sunday, Sen. Lindsay Graham said McCain would trot out a new economic policy message on Monday, which was Davis’ doing. By Monday morning, Schmidt had the campaign announce no such rollout was planned, asserting that the candidate would continue to push its already announced plans to get the economy back on track. Then, Tuesday morning with Davis back in charge for a moment – surprise! – McCain shows up in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, to give a speech touted by campaign flacks as unveiling a “new economic proposal.”
But not quite. The new initiative is simply a sliced-and-diced rehash of a previously-announced program to have Treasury buy up mortgages at face value from banks and then renegotiate them with homeowners based on the current value of the property along with a few other pandering goodies aimed at seniors but which would have no real impact on their financial well-being.
Capping off the most bizarre 48 hours in McCain bizarre campaign history, economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin actually had the audacity to tell reporters accompanying the campaign that the plan was always for the candidate to unveil the proposal today. I guess Holtz-Eakin forgot to tell McCain over the weekend, or on Monday to the spokespeople who pooh-poohed the idea that a new economic plan was forthcoming.
D’oh!
Read more:
http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/10/15/open-warfare-at-camp-mccain-the-schmidt%E2%80%99s-vs-the-davis%E2%80%99s/
This has really gotten very ugly, very quickly. It was reported on McClatchy Report that a new 30-second McCain Campaign TV ad attacks Barack Obama's record on education, saying that Obama backed legislation to teach "'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners." The announcer then says, "Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."
Fact of the matter is the legislation voted on by Obama and others in the Illinois Senate allowed local school boards to teach "age-appropriate" sex education. There was not “comprehensive sex education” lessons to kindergartners, but rather it gave schools the ability to warn young children about inappropriate touching and sexual predators.
Obama voted for a sexual education class that taught young, pre-adolescents what was, and how to avoid adult molestation by pedophiles.
http://transpolitical.blogspot.com/2008/09/brace-yourself-white-america-its-going.html
reprint from TransPolitical Blog 9/4/08
As I’d blogged before about a month ago, the GOP strategy this campaign will be one of the ugliest on record. They have discovered that racism can be their friend when it comes to scaring off white voters. And if that’s what it takes to have their nominee in the White House to choose the next Supreme Court Justices and to rid themselves of liberal influence in legislation and law, and throw it into neo-conservative sway for the indefinite future, then stirring up race wars are AOK with them.
Well make no bones about it, they are beginning the process now.
http://transpolitical.blogspot.com/2008/08/senator-mccain-define-free-nations.html
reprint from TransPolitical blog 8/13/08
Today Sen. John McCain enjoyed his own small Berlin moment with his “Ich bin ein Georgian” press confab.
It wasn’t as glorious as the Brandenburg gate. It also wasn’t even uttered in Georgia – whether in Europe or (as McCain would normally do a la his Obama Euro-trip shadowing, e.g. going to Berlin NH) whether in the U.S. in, say, Atlanta, Georgia. During a press statement made on the campaign trail in York PA, McCain said, “I speak for every American when I say … ‘Today we are all Georgians.’”
“My friends, we learned a great cost of the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked,” McCain added.
After processing what I heard the other day, the reality of this election season, this is what the message in the upcoming election boils down to:
For democrats, it’s Corporate America (big business) vs. the people.
For republicans, it’s blacks and muslims (terror) vs. white people.
http://transpolitical.blogspot.com/2008/08/race-card-you-aint-seen-nothin-yet.html
reprint 8/1/08 TransPolitical blog
“[Republicans] are desperate to win this election – there’s a lot at stake. And they’re going to say and do whatever they need to to get [re-]elected. … The Supreme Court’s at stake.”
Oh! “Buy a gun. And learn how to use it.”
This is a difficult blog to write, and I’m still mulling through how to process this information. One thing I’ve noticed over the years in politics: there are those who create chaos in order that they control and then make their own order out of that chaos.
On Tuesday, Governor Corzine and Democratic Leaders headed to Seton Hall University and Rutgers University, New Brunswick campus to headline Students for Obama rallies. Joining the students at the rallies were Senate President Dick Codey, Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democratic State Committee Chairman Joe Cryan, and Mayor Cory Booker.
Rutgers students at Brower Commons cheer on Democratic State Committee Chairman Cryan.
As the financial markets continue to experience turmoil, Americans are rejecting John McCain’s call for four more years of the same failed economic policies. In response, McCain’s camp has publicly declared that they will switch the course of their campaign. Instead of talking about how to rebuild America’s financial strength, McCain has declared that he will spend the last month of the campaign launching character attacks against Senator Obama in an attempt to “turn the page on the economy.” John McCain may want to turn the page, but students across New Jersey can’t just turn the page on the job market they’ll be facing when they graduate. Only Barack Obama can bring the change we need to Washington D.C. to get our economy back on track.Learn more about Senator Obama’s plan to jump start our economy.
For those too young or too old to remember the Michael Dukakis-George H. W. Bush campaign in 1996, the Democrat emerged from his convention with a 17% Gallup Poll lead. Perhaps the main reason his lead dissipated was an outrageous TV ad linking Governor Dukakis to a prisoner who committed rape during a weekend furlough. The commercial included an ominous photo of Willie Horton, an African-American convict.
“Wait,” I reply. “What happened to all of those statements by McCain preserved on YouTube of McCain (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbcuqfaroe4) insisting he would only run a clean campaign? No negative ads. No ‘Willie Horton’ smears?” Even his wife Cindy is captured telling a TV interviewer their side won’t engage in negative attacks.
There is a long pause on the line.
“John said that before (Steve) Schmidt grabbed running the campaign away from Rick Davis,” comes what I realize is a self-evident answer. Schmidt, a Karl Rove protégé and veteran of Bush 43’s 2004 campaign, took over as McCain’s campaign director in July.
“Schmidt had Palin test drive the line this weekend and overnight internals showed it went over big with the base,” is the explanation. “The question is will it have the same impact on independents and undecideds?”
Palin’s attack line tries linking Obama to William Ayers, a 1960s-era member of the radical group Weather Underground. Ayers, now a respected education teacher, denounced his own involvement in the organization decades ago and, in the 1990s, served briefly on a charity board with Obama.
She used the “Obama’s palin’ around with terrorists” line again on Monday, nearly causing Keith Olbermann’s head to explode as he tore her a new one in a Special Comment segment Monday night.
That the hate-and-smear campaign might work seems to be the only criteria used by the McCain campaign.
“No one knew that Dukakis had nothing to do with Willie Horton,” my contact inside the McCain campaign tells me, “or that the state’s policy of granting weekend passes to prisoners nearing the end of their term was established by the parole board, not the governor’s office,” my source tells me. “But it cost him the election.”
Young trial lawyers are taught that if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the facts and the law are against you, pound the table.
