Farewell...

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

I'm shifting my focus to action for Barack and Joe (not to mention getting back to my real work!).

To keep up with what's happening, visit my favorite pro-Obama site: http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com
this group has kept me sane.

or www.huffingtonpost.com/politics

Hasta la vista!
GObama and Joe

Antidote to the Negativity

GObama
and check out this great slide show from HuffPost

McShame's Shame Called Out

Read entire letter here.

"John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know
it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice,
to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are
doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country
with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand.
Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or
risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the
American people – forever."

Frank Schaeffer, son of the late evangelist Francis Schaeffer and former McShame
supporter.

Unfit to Lead

from Time mag
"But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so."

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

from HuffPost
"An Associated Press review of the Republican Vice President candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state."

and don't miss this from a former Palin staffer - interviewed on Hardball

St. Louis Dispatch Endorses Barack

"Over the past nine months, Mr. Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, has emerged as the only truly transformative candidate in the race. In the crucible that is a presidential campaign, his intellect, his temperament and equanimity under pressure consistently have been impressive. He has surrounded himself with smart, capable advisers who have helped him refine thorough, nuanced policy positions.

In a word, Mr. Obama has been presidential."

Full text here.

Funny postmortem on the Bush presidency

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Guilty of Abuse of Power

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics/ny-uspalin1011,0,2713582.story

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.

The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated.

Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

The New Morning After Pill - Palinex

The Extraordinary Michelle Obama

Heartwarming Antidote to Sleaze

More Repubs Fleeing McShame

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

So, I wish him all the best. We are all in this together. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship. And so, for the first time in my life, I’ll be pulling the Democratic lever in November. As the saying goes, God save the United States of America."

Entire article here.

It should be noted that Buckley posted his endorsement on the Daily Beast, not the National Review because he doesn't have the stomach for a tide of hatred and vitriol such as that seen against Kathleen Parker for calling out SlickS as a disaster for the republican party.

Former Republican governor William Milliken of Michigan says that McShame isn't the man he previously endorsed and calls him out for his negative smear tactics.

"He is not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken, reached at his Traverse City home Thursday. "He keeps saying, 'Who is Barack Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John McCain?' because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me.

"I'm disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign, when he ought to be talking about the issues."

Article here.

I'm envisioning rats from a sinking ship.

UPDATE

Veteran Republican Congressman Ray LaHood criticized his party's vice presidential nominee Friday, saying that Sarah Palin's vitriolic campaign rallies ""don't befit the office she's running for." Story here.

Believe...

I heard this quote from Barack on NPR yesterday and loved it!
"I ask you to believe, to believe in yourselves, believe in each other. If we believe we cannot fail" -- Barack Obama

Barack in Ohio
to paraphrase... I can take 4 more weeks of John McCain's attacks, but America can't take 4 more weeks of his Same-as-Bush economic policies.


Hypocrisy Thy Name is Sarah
The McShame's newest attack-tic is to claim that Obama is ambitious...yes, he has ooooo so scary - ambition!! Aside from the racist undertone, this is a ludicrous charge from someone who paid a PR consultant $31,000 of Alaska's money to bring her to national attention. Can't imagine that it's true? Read here.

I LOVE Joe!

"You can't be a maverick if you've only been a sidekick" (or something like that).

Donna Brazile is Brilliant and Lovely

Please take a few minutes and listen to Donna Brazile here. How powerful

The View from Putin

Thank you, Mara, for sending this along. Since Palin's never been to the western-most town in her state she has never seen Russia, let alone had any interactions that give her foreign policy experience.

UPDATE to blog:
Jon Stewart has given mainstream voice to something I felt the night of SlickS's speech at the RNC.
"Have you noticed how [Palin's] rallies have begun to take on the characteristics of the last days of the Weimar Republic?..."

Petreas Agrees with Obama

In spite of assertions by McShame that HE and HE alone "gets it" when it comes to Iraq and Afghanistan because he can site General Petreas. In truth Petreas' opinions are closer to Obama's. I earlier reported that he believes neither that "victory" can be gained in Iraq nor that the "surge" tactics will work in Afghanistan. Here's a great article from the WashingtonIndependent.

Anyone can make a gaffe, but this one takes the cake! We're McShame's "fellow prisoners".


Over time I've read LOTs about why vets are not in love with McShame, although in the first debate he claimed to love the veterans. His voting record is shameful. Here, he's called out on it. Good for them!


Have fun with these:

Man of the People

In the 1960s I marched for civil rights. When I attended a rally last month in New Hampshire my heart was warmed by the diversity in the crowd. This photo taken in red Indiana shows Barack's appeal across race, gender, age and more. What an inspiration!

Good for the NYTimes

"It is a sorry fact of American political life that campaigns get ugly, often in their final weeks. But Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember.

They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent’s record — into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison..."

Read On!

Oh yeah...and back to the debate. I've read on the progressive blogs that folks think Tom Brokaw is in McShame's pocket. I don't know whether or not that's true, but I wonder why this debate - which was supposed to be about domestic issues - ended up half focused on foreign policy issues. That took the spotlight off of a lot of domestic issues that will play to Obama's strengths. Who chose the questions and why did the audience get to ask 8 and Brokaw asked 9?

So Glad Joe's Back! and My 2 Cents

I wish I could figure out how to embed this video. It's worth watching Joe talk about the debate and the tenor of the McShame campaign. What a class act!! Take a look.

Here are 2 perspectives on last night's debate. The first has been talked about a bit (especially on MSNBC last night), the second I haven't heard put in this perspective.

1. McShame's disdain for the people was evident in his leaving immediately after the debate while Barack and Michele stayed for at least 20 minutes talking, posing for photos, signing autographs. And who's the elitist?

2. McShame's disdain for the people was evident in his belief that he could talk to undecided voters in the same way he can pander to his base. If he had paid any attention to the opinions of undecided voters after the first debate he wouldn't have continued to attack on character, belittle Barack and be disrespectful.

Obama Wins....Again

In demeanor, respectful and concrete answers and staying after with the crowd. Obama class act.

McShame - cranky, silly, disrespectful and dismissive, shadow boxing.

CNN and CBS polls give the debate to Obama. MSNBC and even Fixed news focus group did as well. Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews amazing in the post-debate analysis. Will try to find clips.

Not much more from me until later on Wed.

Sleep peacefully. Joe's back tomorrow as well.

GObama! Welcome back Joe.

A Little Lovin'

I needed an antidote to the vile tone of the McPalin nazi-like campaign, so I found some. ENJOY

An Undecided's Guide to Voting: What is Leadership?

A post from Susan Colantuono

As an expert on leadership, I base my work on my definition of leadership, which is this:
"Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others."

I thought it worth offering in light of the recent and ongoing tenor of the two campaigns - and as a way of helping undecided voters assess the leadership qualities of the candidates.

Let's dissect the 3 elements of the definition.

On Extraordinary Outcomes
If you think that the savings and loan debacle, the current economic meltdown, the loss of medicare and medicaid benefits, unequal pay for equal work, an overall decline in the earning power of the middle class, increasing unemployment and more freedom for businessmen to get rich off the backs of the middle class are the types of extraordinary outcome you seek, vote McPalin.

If you think that a strong middle class, investment in infrastructure, green technology and education; access to healthcare, equal pay for equal work, regulation on the excesses and malfeasance of business and an energizing of everyday citizens are the types of extraordinary outcome you seek, vote Obama/Biden.

On Engaging the Greatness in Others
If you think that campaign rallying cries of "kill him" and "terrorist" is evidence of engaging the greatness in others, vote McPalin.

If you think that campaign rallying cries of "yes we can" is evidence engaging the greatness in others, vote Obama/Biden.

On Personal Greatness
If you think cynicism, superiority, simple-mindedness, being a pawn of your handlers, reliance on smears and reckless casting about are admirable attributes, vote McPalin.

If you think having a vision, believing in the power of unity, intelligence, surrounding oneself with brilliant advisers, authenticity and keeping on issue are admirable attributes, vote Obama/Biden.

Respectfully shared,
Susan Colantuono

Shining Light on Healthcare & Economy

Say it ain't so, John! The WSJ reports:
John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

From HuffPost
Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and former Florida Sen. Bob Graham determinedly laid into McCain for proposing a policy that would result in massive Medicare cuts and higher taxes for some insured....Casey went so far as to challenge McCain to "survive without his government provided health insurance," in order to better understand the struggles of those uncovered by their employers.

What's all the fuss about Keating and McShame about? Find out here.

And...on the same subject, check out McShame/Surrogate lies (cast as "appears different") here at the WashPost.

Good News...and What's the Truth?

Great poll numbers from FiveThirtyEight.

Amid the mudslinging and lie-throwing today, I found this little bit of information that indicates that the overall economic picture is worse than we're being told. Take a look at ShadowStats.

15% real unemployment, 13% inflation rate, negative quarterly growth since 2004. We've been in a recession since Bush's second term began. We've known it but no one would admit it.

And, sadly, my dad has been sending around an email blaming 2 years of dems in congress for the current problems. I pity the FOX set and the kool-aid they be drinkin' and the McShameful candidate they be supportin'

On a lighter note, from ThePoliticalCarnival a quote of the day:

"Banks now rob people."
--Randi Rhodes just now on Progressive Radio KTLK

GObama! Stay on topic...it's the economy!

Final Word?

I thought a prior post had my final word on SlickS's coached stump speech
(non-debate) performance, but then my friend Eunice sent me this!
Thanks, Eunice.

GObama!!

Laughter and Tears

Over at ThePoliticalCarnival, Gottalaff's father-in-law served up another bunch of jokes this week. My favorite about the debate:
Aides were concerned (Palin) might make a mistake as she did on the KATIE COURIC interview when she was asked a question about the Supreme Court. PALIN told them not to worry, she said, "I may not be an expert, but I do know DIANA ROSS was the one in the middle."

You can read them all here.

Barack and Joe are up in the polls seemingly everywhere!! Even the notoriously conservative Rasumssen poll:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Barack Obama attracting 52% of the vote while John McCain earns 44%. This is the highest level of support ever recorded for Obama and is his largest lead of the year. It also continues a remarkable twenty-five days in a row where the Democrat’s support has never declined by even a single point.

And, sadly, Jill Biden's mother passed away over the weekend. Condolences to Jill, Joe and all those who loved her.

The Choice Wars

The LATimes reports on pending legislation and votes that would term fertilized eggs/embryos as persons. Scary! Would impact certain forms of contraception making women murderers.

And here's a form of terrorism that McShame supported - twice! His anti-woman sentiments unveiled.

Thank You Madeleine!

At a NEHRA conference several years ago I stood up and asked Madeleine Albright the first question - it was about the backsliding of women during the Bush administration. Within her response was the statement, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." Knowing the context I was furious at SlickSarah's misuse and mis-statement of the quote to imply that because she's a woman other women should support her. Happily, Madeleine responded herself. Here's what she said to HuffPost:

"Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."

And in the spirit of keeping the discussion on substance not smears, enjoy this spoof. BillyMires

My Sentiments Exactly!

From Michelle Goldberg of Britain's TheGuardian

"At least three times (Thursday) night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single-handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night...

And so she preceded, with an almost surreal disregard for the subjects she was supposed to be discussing, to unleash fusillades of scripted attack lines, platitudes, lies, gibberish and grating references to her own pseudo-folksy authenticity.

It was an appalling display. The only reason it was not widely described as such is that too many American pundits don't even try to judge the truth, wisdom or reasonableness of the political rhetoric they are paid to pronounce upon. Instead, they imagine themselves as interpreters of a mythical mass of "average Americans" who they both venerate and despise.In pronouncing upon a debate, they don't try and determine whether a candidate's responses correspond to existing reality, or whether he or she is capable of talking about subjects such as the deregulation of the financial markets or the devolution of the war in Afghanistan. The criteria are far more vaporous. In this case, it was whether Palin could avoid utterly humiliating herself for 90 minutes, and whether urbane commentators would believe that she had connected to a public that they see as ignorant and sentimental. For the Alaska governor, mission accomplished."

Beautiful!

Springsteen in front of 50,000!


And Barack in Ashville, NC
Check it out here. I can't figure out how to embed the video.

Funnies for a Sunday Morning and Obama on Healthcare

Tina Fey does it again!!! Here you go.

Brian Williams - I didn't know he was funny - with David Letterman


Bill Maher had me laughing out loud. Find the clip here at HuffPost.

Parts 1 & 2 of Obama on healthcare
What's Wrong With Healthcare


Why McShame Won't Fix It



Oh MY...I HAVE to show you this clip. Parts brought tears to my eyes. Hooray for the United Steel Workers!!!!!!! and Hooray for AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka

Alaska's Obama Rally

Gotta love the feisty folks from Alaska! Another great turnout...
More photos here.
I love the hard-hatted man with a "Joe Six-Pack 4 Obama" placard.
Obama/Biden 1000-2000 people
McCain/Palin 200-300
Read about it here.

Don't EVER Cross David Letterman & More Laughs

Have fun with the above. Thanks, Dave!

So, after days of dissing McShame for standing him up on false pretense, David Letterman takes well-deserved shots at Palin.




Here's what Alaskan focus group participants thought of the debate! Source.


Maryellen sent this along. I think I've seen it before so it's going viral (I hope).
POST TURTLES
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who's hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Palin and her bid.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a Post Turtle'".

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle".

The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with".

ON A Serious Note
In the last month before the presidential elections the Art of Democracy coaltion of political shows will be visible in more than fifty venues around the country. Check out the events of Art of Democracy nationwide exhibitions. Art Hazlewood is exhibiting his powerful political prints - We're All Outside the Green Zone.

Even Florida? Could it be a Landslide?

The NewYorkTimes is reporting that Obama/Biden have pulled ahead in the polls by 3 - 8 points! This is amazing. The most disturbing quote in the article was this one:

"Anecdotally, though, Mr. Obama seems to have made some headway. At Christina’s, a family restaurant in downtown New Port Richey, the red leather stools at the counter held both Republicans tried-and-true, and Republicans, like Chris Hart, 48, who had begun to sour on Mr. McCain.

“Every time you turn around, he flips,” Mr. Hart said. A front-desk clerk at a local Y.M.C.A, he said he was also motivated by his need for health insurance, which had recently forced him to buy antibiotics at pet stores because it was cheaper than the pharmacy."

The Bush/McShame policies are a disgrace!

FiveThirtyEight polls: nation looking bluer and bluer. As to why, read this article about the difference between the ground campaigns of the Dems and repugs. It's illuminating. Here's the concluding point:

"You could take every McCain volunteer we’ve seen doing actual work in the entire trip, over six states, and it would add up to the same as Obama’s single Thornton, CO office. Or his single Durango, CO office. These ground campaigns bear no relationship to each other."

Nighty Nite

My take on the debate...I'm stealing it from SatiricalPolitical. As Lou Grant said, "she's got spunk. I HATE spunk."

Palin was a scripted actress playing the VP role.
Her folksy, disdainful attitude happily turned off the independents who watched.
She had nothing but platitudes and campaign slogans to say.

Joe was awesome - knowledge, experience, real global impact; great at explaining why he and Barack are better for America and the middle class. Clearly differentiated their positions. Was bipartisan and respectful.

Good night... in all senses of the phrase.

Early AM News and Notes

Facing another day behind closed doors and suffering from withdrawal from the news, I leave you with a few juicy tidbits for the morning.

The Obama campaign's latest innovation (his 2-minute ad about the economy preceded this) - it owns DISH Network channel 73. Reported by Politico
"The channel plays his two-minute ad laying out his economic plan on a loop, over and over. The only explanation: The media buyers think they can reach enough people per dollar to make it worth the odd buy."

ABC reports that 60% think SlickS is not ready.
"Skepticism about Sarah Palin has soared since she entered the national political stage, with six in 10 Americans now doubting her qualifications for office and fewer than half convinced of her grasp of complex issues...just 35 percent say Palin has the experience it takes to serve effectively as president, down a dozen points since early September; 60 percent think not, up 15. And just 46 percent think Palin "understands complex issues," while 49 percent think she doesn't -- a poor assessment on this most basic qualification."

BOY, what's with the 46% that think she does or might "understand complex issues"? What Kool-Aid are they drinkin'?

continuing from ABC: "Biden's ratings starkly contrast Palin's: Seventy-five percent say he understands complex issues, 70 percent say he has suitable experience to take over as president if necessary and just 13 percent say his selection makes them less apt to support Barack Obama."

If you're one of the 60% who is terrified by the prospect of SlickS being "one heartbeat away", this from Americablog won't quell your concerns. Writing about McShame's disorientation when trying to leave the stage yesterday a physician says
"Let me put it like this. If I had seen a 70-75 year old man do that in front of me in the emergency room - that gentleman would be immediately admitted for what is known as a TIA. This is a mini-stroke that often comes before a big huge one.,,I showed this video to 3 colleagues today - AND a neurologist - all of us agreed - this is concerning and should be immediately evaluated. It is, however, impossible to make medical diagnosis via a video - unless you are Bill Frist or Tom Coburn. I would caution you to be careful about making any insinuations about his medical condition based on just that alone. However, I am concerned enough about what I saw of Senator McCain today that he should be seeing a doctor immediately...Just talked to two more buddies - again - they totally agree - one of whom is ardent McCain supporter."

And this from ThinkProgress
"The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology reviewed the cancer taken off McCain’s head in 2000 and found it to be “highly suggestive of a metastasis of malignant melanoma and may represent a satellite metastasis.” Even with the most optimistic scenario, if McCain has a metastatic malignant melanoma, he has only a 38% chance of surviving past 2010."

Grumpy Gramm-pa McShame

Enuf said

Watch the spin from FIXed news - and doesn't that woman pull down her husband's hand?

Rats from a Sinking Ship

Not much time today, so here are a few links:

Congressman Mark Kirk from Illinois is a bundler for the McCain campaign. He's the first elected official to publicly voice concerns about SlickSarah.

It's so common that it's not news any more, but McCain gets "testy" with the media...and mis-states (oops, lies?) yet again. HuffPost

In case you missed the fact that Maureen Dowd was banned from the McCain plane, here's an excerpt of her thoughts on the matter. Couldn't have said it better myself. Slick=Cheney in a skirt; McShame=Cheney in a shirt.
"It was disappointing because I didn't think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney."

Bill's smokin' (no, he didn't inhale this time)...
And though (Clinton) repeated his mantra that Democrats don't have to "say one bad word" about their Republican opponents to win the election, Clinton actually snuck in a dig against Sarah Palin.

"So (Barack's) got a better philosophy. He's got better answers. He's got a better understanding, and better advisers on these complex economic matters. He's got a better vice presidential partner," More here.

Polls are lookin' good for Barack and Joe.

Gotta run...check out HuffPost and ThePoliticalCarnival for other goodies including:

• McCain claims to look to Slick for foreign policy advice - now, THAT's reassuring,
• New RapeKit ad
• Being gay is a choice (SlickS)
• And more...