Flip Flop - And Payoff

I loved when at the DNC "candidate" McCain was compared with "Senator" McCain (I can't remember whose speech it was - need more blueberries). Anyway, the CarpetbaggerReport lists 76 issues on which McCain has flipped his positions. They are categorized into areas including:

• National Security
• Foreign Policy
• Domestic Policy
  
• and more.

I sure hope the Obama/Biden campaign will find this website for the inevitable and stale flip-flop attack that is bound to come from the repubs. Seventy six!! Scary.

Now, take a look at this analysis of the proposed bailout of the economy. Here's an excerpt:

• No one who foresaw the crisis, such as Krugman or Stiglitz, is involved in making the plan to fix it.

• The man overseeing the bailout is the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street Company. He helped cause the crisis.
• Paulson helped obtain the SEC exemption which allowed brokerages to increase leverage to 60:1 from 12:1.

Folks we really have to get active! Work for Obama/Biden this week.
www.barackobama.com

McCain's Horrible Record on Women's Issues

“For the past 25 years, John McCain has consistently voted against women's health. From opposing funding for family planning programs to voting against requiring insurance coverage of birth control, McCain has taken extreme positions. He has voted against women's health and has not supported legislation that would help reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. This has earned him a zero rating - the lowest rating we give in the U.S. Senate.”
(Source: Planned Parenthood)

McCain’s appalling legislative record - view it here. And here. And here.
In summary McCain's votes:
Equal Pay – AGAINST
FMLA – AGAINST before he was for
Choice – AGAINST (but he was for in 2000)
Insurance payments for birth control - AGAINST

Palin is painted as pro-women and an experienced executive. Let's consider what executive action she took to deal with “sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and murder that make her state one of the most dangerous places in the country for women and children.” What did she do about it? NOTHING Read ABC news.

The republican platform seeks to deny women the right to choice even in the case of rape and incest.

Be informed. Be for Obama/Biden

psst...Do something... AND have a laugh

" straight talk express has derailed." View more

"Big oil fuels the 'straight talk express'". View here.

FOR LAUGHS
Senator Whitehouse challenging the relative importance of drilling now. Watch

Saturday Night Live skit

Let Me Get This Straight...
email chain letter:
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight...
If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic,
different."
Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as
a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of
the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years
in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people
while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you
don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people,
20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then
you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking
executive.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the
proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no
other option in sex education in your state's school system while your
unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a
prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city
community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values
don't represent America 's.

If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI
conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until
age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of
Alaska from the USA , your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now

Lipstick vs Pig and What Can We Do

Here's what I saw 9/13 at the Obama Rally in Manchester, NH VIEW

TODAY'S Repub Lie Watch:
The idea that McCain is for women because of his VP choice is a lie. NEW
Lies about stance on combat systems? NEW
Lies about VP candidate not requesting earmarks NEW
The BEST compilation of news about repub VP candidate NEW
Lies about repub candidates' crowd sizes?
Lies about repub VP candidate having traveled to Iraq!

Great article from April Mellody on the difference between lipstick on a pig and a pig. Here's an excerpt:

Lipstick: Choosing a female running mate to help tap into the "18 million cracks" left by women who voted for Hillary.

Pig: Voting against a measure aimed at helping women achieve pay equity. Voting repeatedly against funding to fight and prevent domestic violence. Voting against extending insurance coverage to pregnant women and infants. Voting against $214 million for breast cancer research.

And here's my response to April's headline Women, Where Are You?:

Masterful stroke - to turn the idiocy of the pig/lipstick coverage back to the issues. Sad that the mainstream media hasn't.

You asked where the women are. Here are a few places:
http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/
http://defeatmccainandpalin.blogspot.com/
http://www.womenagainstpalin.com
and in every conversation I've had for the past 2 weeks, I've encountered the very outrage you wonder about.

Where the women aren't:
1. We aren't in positions of power in the media behind the scenes deciding how to cover this campaign. The worldview is male; they are out of touch with our issues; they pander to the conflict stirred up by the raving-Rovians.

2. Many of us aren't in cyberspace. In this economy and in this country many of us are too busy working multiple jobs or long hours to feed our families, we're struggling to find the time to care for children and aging parents, we're helping children through schools that are failing them, we're scrimping to save money for college educations, we're sitting in emergency rooms because we have no healthcare. The last 8 years have done much to silence us.

NY Times article on repub VP candidate's scary actions as an "executive".

So, if we can't be all over cyberspace and if the mainstream media are ignoring us, what can we do: Be informed about the issues. Talk to every woman you know about this campaign. If she's a diehard republican, listen with compassion and highlight the negative impact of a repub win for women. If she's an independent or not sure, make your best case for Obama. If she's planning to vote for Obama, ask her to speak about the campaign, volunteer for the campaign and contribute whatever she can.

Victory in Sight?

Do you trust Slick Sarah and McSame who say that "victory is in sight" in Iraq?

OR

do you trust General Petreas who says in a BBC interview that he did not know that he would ever use the word "victory": "This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not war with a simple slogan."

It should be of note that two of Bush' recent moves are exactly what Obama has been saying needs to be done. Get troops out of Iraq and focus on Afghanistan.

Obama/Biden!

In Her Own Words...

Transcript of excerpts of Charlie Gibson's interview. At least the questions weren't total puffballs...though the answers are pretty lame (and scarily megalomaniacal - although there's no indication she would understand what that means). Read here.

Here's one excerpt. I highlight it because it's about identical to what McCain said about her experience in national security. Guess they're singing from the same hymnbook.

Palin on national security:

GIBSON: But this is not just reforming a government. This is also running a government on the huge international stage in a very dangerous world. When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact that you have commanded the Alaskan National Guard and that Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials?

PALIN: But it is about reform of government and it's about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

GIBSON: I know. I'm just saying that national security is a whole lot more than energy.

From the CBS site - McCain on Palin's experience in national security:

AmericaBlog posted a clip of an interview McCain did, via satellite, with Rob Caldwell at WCSH in Portland, Maine. Caldwell noted, for example, that McCain insisted that national security and counter-terrorism is the number one issue facing the United States. McCain denied ever having said that. Caldwell moved on, asking about Sarah Palin's experience in national security. McCain responded by attacking Barack Obama.

"Well, you say you're sure she has the experience, but again, I'm just asking for an example," Caldwell said. "What experience does she have in the field of national security?" McCain responded:

"Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. She's a governor of a state where 20% of America's energy supply comes from there. And we all know that energy is a critical and vital national security issue. We've got to stop sending $700 billion of American money to countries that don't like us very much. She's very well versed on that issue."And, uh, she also happens to represent, be governor of a state that's right next to Russia. She understands Russia."

More on that interview here.

I'm still Obama/Biden. Hope you are, too.

No Lipstick, Try Silk Purse

Since the "lipstick on a pig" metaphor is now out of fashion, I'll say put it this way. "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. In other words, you can't make an anti-earmark (see the connection) VP candidate out of an earmark-seeking governor." Read more here.

Rovian lies and distortions are flying. YOUTUBE had to take down a McCain ad ostensibly showing Katie Couric attacking the media for its treatment of Palin because it was actually an old clip of her talking about media bias and Hillary.

FACTCHECK.ORG called out the campaign for misrepresenting their work.

AND here's a commentary on the media with the same perspective that I have. They are doing this country a disservice by keeping us focused away from real issues.

Vote for Obama/Biden. I am.

Woman Cartoonist on Palin

There are not very many women political cartoonists, but one I love is Ann Telnaes.

See what she thinks of Palin here.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/context/commentoon

More Questions for Palin - These from AK

Very interesting reality check on Palin's image here in Time magazine. She's no fiscal conservative. No wonder she wants to "drill, baby, drill".

Anchorage newspaper offers Charlie Gibson some questions that could make it a real interview instead of a puff piece. Here are a few:

• You present yourself as a Republican maverick who took on your own party's corrupt political establishment. In November's election, your party is running an indicted U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens, who is awaiting trial on charges he accepted more than $250,000 of unreported gifts from the state's most powerful lobbyist. Will you vote for his opponent? Will you urge Alaskans to help you change Washington and vote him out of office? If not, why not?

• Why have you reneged on your earlier pledge to cooperate with the Alaska Legislature's investigation into Troopergate?

• McCain spokesman Rick Davis told Fox News the media didn't show you enough "deference." How much deference do you expect to get from Vladimir Putin or Hugo Chavez?

Finally...Thank You Hillary!

Clinton said the nation should be proud that the Republicans have a woman on the ticket, but argued that returning Republicans to the White House "is like asking the iceberg to save the Titanic."

Watch here.

Deepak Chopra on Palin and More Qs for Charlie

Deepak Chopra weighs in on Palin's threat to America. Read here.

Other questions I'd like Charlie Gibson to ask:

1. Bill Clinton was first elected after 12 years of trickle-down economics. He was elected because the theory of trickle-down economics didn't work then. It hasn't worked during the 8 years of the Bush administration - we only have to look around to see that. McCain/Palin claims to want to bring change to Washington, but one area you haven't spoken about changing is trickle-down economic theory. Tax-cutting with extreme benefits to the very top have resulted in increasing inequity and the shrinking of the middle class and white collar jobs. Why do you think that more of the same will improve the economy?
2. Republicans have always believed in a free market without government-imposed checks. This has resulted in the mortgage crisis and oil speculation that's driven prices up beyond market forces. Both have been devastating to the American people. How do you justify your faith in the absolutely free market in the face of such concrete failures?
3. Though the Republicans denigrate Democrats for "tax and spend", the Republicans have their very own version: "borrow and spend". The war in Iraq has been paid for through this Republican strategy. It is saddling future generations with billions of dollars of debt. Why should the American youth feel more positive about this burden than the possible burden of paying for their parents' social security income?

Obama/Biden have answers. Hope you are listening and plan to vote.

Charlie Gibson's Interview of Sarah Palin

I submitted these questions to ABC and I hope Charlie will ask them of Sarah Palin:

1. At the end of his term, President Bush has made it possible for pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control pills if they disapprove of them. He tried to get certain forms of contraception banned. What forms of contraception do you approve of and how will your personal views influence the policies you will push for?

2. In the last presidential election the Republicans painted John Kerry as a "flip-flopper" over changes in his views. Given that you were for the bridge to nowhere before you were against it and John McCain has been for many issues before he is now against them, why should you and he not be painted with the same "flip-flop" brush?

3. Exactly what kind of training are you getting to prepare you to be a Vice Presidential candidate?

4. How do you as a woman feel about John McCain's repeated references to you as his "partner" and "soul mate" instead of "running mate".

Hoping the interview won't be a celebrity fluff-fest!

In the meantime, Biden has been speaking about the issues. I'm for Obama/Biden. Hope you are, too.

Making the Case

A friend of mine thinks Palin is great. I silenced him when I explained that though Obama and McCain were chosen by the people, Palin's choice is a direct reflection of McCain's judgment. It's like a CEO of a FORTUNE 1 company choosing a first line supervisor with 18 months experience to hold the number 2 slot of Chief Operating Officer. In other words, it would be like the CEO of WalMart choosing a store manager from Alaska to be COO.

No CEO would make such a choice, no board would approve such a choice. Woe to those who think it was wise.

I share this to help you make the case for Obama/Biden.

The Silence was Deafening

Working Mom ≠ Feminist, Governor ≠ Qualified VP

Gloria Steinem on Palin and the anti-feminist right wing of the Republican party.

"Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president...Read more.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,1290251.story

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

Excellent documentation on Palin's actions and positions (http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/) on the pressing issues of our time. For example on the...:

ECONOMY (reminds me of the Bush legacy - cut taxes, increase debt)
Palin Left Wasilla $20 Million In Debt. As mayor of Wasilla, Palin cut taxes while simultaneously expanding the town’s operating budget by almost $2 million. She ended her term in 2002 with Wasilla $20 million in debt. [Anchorage Daily News 10/23/06; the Politico, 8/29]

http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/

More reasons to support Obama/Biden.

Compassion? Bull$#!†

Imagine this scenario - brought to you by the Republican party:

Your husband has lost his job (courtesy of the 2nd round of the Republican's failed "trickle-down" economic policy).
Your house is about to be foreclosed (courtesy of "free market" dynamics).
In misery, he turns to drink.
In a drunken stupor he beats and rapes your 12 year old daughter.

OR
Your 16 year old daughter is abducted (as happened in my home town today)
Her abductor rapes her.

OR
Your 17 year old daughter is the victim of date rape.

OR
Your Down's Syndrome child is raped by a staff person in her group home.

OR
You're a responsible woman who practices family planning
Your husband's condom tears

To prevent a pregnancy, you ask your doctor to prescribe a morning after pill. He won't because of his personal beliefs. CHOICE GONE today courtesy of Bush.

You frantically try to find a doctor who will write a scrip, only at the last possible moment to go to the nearest pharmacy and find out that the pharmacist won't fill it because of personal beliefs. CHOICE GONE today courtesy of Bush.

Today, you have two choices abortion or pregnancy. With the Republicans you won't. CHOICE GONE courtesy of the McCain/Palin promise to overturn Roe v Wade.

Bush touted compassion. Palin is lauded as passionate. Even McCain used the word last night. Where's the compassion when a 12 year old has to bear the child of rape. Where's the compassion when a family must have an unwanted/unplanned child. Where's compassion when a collection of un-implanted cells take precedence over the emotional and physical health of a living breathing woman or girl. Compassion? Bull$#!†

A knowledgeable, educated friend of mine said after Palin's speech, "I was impressed." We had the choice discussion and she asserted, "with a Democratic congress Roe v Wade can't be overturned." She doesn't understand the power of the Supreme Court (which has already eroded choice). I'm afraid there are many like her.

I'm supporting Obama/Biden. Most of these thoughtful women are and I hope you are, too.

Height of Hypocrisy

You'll love this video from the Daily Show. Talk about being against something before you're for it. Imagine:

• against a mayor's candidacy for VP before you're for it.
• against unwed motherhood before you're for it.
• and more.
  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/daily-show-takes-on-the-s_n_123908.html

Voting for Obama! Are you?

Letter to My Son

Get energized. Be sure you vote. You and so many of your friends are apathetic about politics - and no wonder. The last 8 years have made you feel disgusted. You’ve seen families suffering from declining incomes, a “free” market that has resulted in foreclosures and oil speculation, a war launched on the basis of lies that is bankrupting our nation, weakening the dollar and placing on your shoulders the future burden of paying for the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq.

At the convention last night Republicans affirmed their plan for the economy– the failed “trickle down” and “borrow and spend” theories. It should be patently obvious that at the end of 8 years of Bush, as it was after 12 years of Reagan/Bush, these economic theories don’t work in practice. We can say now, as it we did then, “it’s the economy, stupid”.

Palin attacked the Democrats for wanting to control people from Washington, but hid the fact that if she gets to Washington she wants to control you and your future wife in the bedroom. She described her family as “typical”, but they are not. The typical family does not have 5 children – the result of her biases about reproductive rights. The typical family does not force a pregnant 17 year old daughter into marriage. As a matter of fact, the typical family doesn't have a pregnant 17 year old daughter.

I could go on, but suffice it to say I'm voting for Obama. I hope you (and your friends) are, too.

Lay Off the Kid, Lay Into the Mom

I agree with Obama, hands off the kids. The poor young things have enough to deal with - a pregnancy and shot gun wedding because of Palins beliefs and new political standing. But, that shouldn't be a reason to treat the situation with kid gloves. Please, journalists, ask these questions of the mother:

o What forms of birth control do you support and how will your personal views influence the policies you’ll push for?
o In the face of your daughter’s pregnancy, how has your position on abstinence-only sex education changed?
o Do you really want a rapist to determine the paternity of your grandchildren?

I'm supporting Obama. Are you?

Anti-Choice x 3

This weekend’s disclosure that Palin’s 17 year-old daughter is pregnant and marrying the young man should activate millions of young people, their friends, parents and loved ones to act to elect Obama/Biden. Why? Because it paints in stark relief the Republican vision for American youth. I call it “anti-choice cubed”

o Anti-the choice of birth control.
o Anti-choice.
o Anti-the choice of remaining single.

These anti-choice stances are long-standing in the Republican platform. Complacency has kept them away from the top of the political discourse. I hope this weekend’s announcement will bring them front and center.

I grew up in the era of no access to birth control, no access to choice and the assumption of shotgun weddings. I gratefully thought we had left that antiquated era behind…and here it emerges, not in small enclaves, but on the national stage.

It’s bad enough that the Republican vision of trickle-down economics will impede the financial well-being of most Americans. Now, the Republican vision is clear - women are to lose reproductive rights. It is these very rights which, research by the conservative Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, have caused the increase in women’s economic advancement.

Talk about vision for America! I'm supporting Obama. Are you?