2008 Obama VS McCain
The New Holiday Diet or How to Drive Millions of Americans from the Thanksgiving Table
Just when you thought that your Thanksgiving holiday was safe from family arguments over politics, the spirit of Leland Gaunt is saying “not so fast.”
The Alaska Dispatch is reporting that “starting Thanksgiving, an ad campaign kicks off to thank Sarah Palin for all she’s done for the nation, an effort led by Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee that’s pumping Palin as the next president.”
No, this is not a joke.
Somewhere in the middle of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of the football games or maybe even a program remembering JFK, you may suddenly be affronted by an ad thanking Sarah Palin ( not former POW, decorated war veteran and US Senator, John McCain) for all that she’s done for this nation. And John McCain thought that purchasing 30 minutes of airtime prior to a World Series game was outrageous.
This is Thanksgiving we’re talking about. The biggest family gathering day of the year. The day that some families struggle to get through in peace.
We might have been spared this, if the McCain campaign had just let her make her concession speech. But now we can only consider ourselves warned and stock up on Pepto Bismol.
Does this group really think that this is going to help Sarah Palin’s political career or are they just trying to advance their own agenda? Whatever their intent, running these ads during a holiday season to an American audience that has endured a nearly two year presidential campaign and wants to move on with getting this economy back on course runs the risk of making Sarah Palin look like the “ego-maniacal whack job” that her detractors are trying to portray.
Of course there is a potential upside to airing these ads during the Thanksgiving holiday. They’re certain to make millions of Americans pass on those second helpings.
Thanks Amanda for the warning.
Our Country Deserves Bitter
by Amanda Coyne for The Alaska Dispatch
Thought you might be able to eat your turkey and pie and ‘tators without the Thrilla of Wasilla making an appearance? Winking at your men through the pixels? Her perfectly lipped-lined lips forming sentences that need some sort of decoding machine to decipher?
Thought that maybe you might be spared the notion that we should have Gov. Sarah Palin to thank for anything but saving the country from the “real America?”
You know, those real, angry Americans who, on the whole, are white and look very well fed and who drive expensive gas-guzzling SUVs and have costume-built rooms in their basement to store their designer guns. The ones who yelled “Kill Him” at Palin’s rallies, and the ones who brought their cute little stuffed animals with them when she spoke.
Those cute little monkeys.
Think again. Word has it that Palin makes these folks feel good about their anger, even though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how she does it, or even, what they’re angry about.
Most of those angry people are also disorganized, which makes all that anger a little menacing. Mostly, they’ve resigned themselves to communicating on chat rooms (more on that later) and calling into talk radio to yell about Obama being a Muslim and the anti-Christ.
But there’s at least one group out there that’s angry, and also has organizational structure and money. On Thanksgiving, they’re rolling out a national campaign to thank Sarah Palin for all she’s done for this country. The California-based group, a political action committee, is called Our Country Deserves Better.
The group wants to thank Palin for being an “articulate, straight-forward and uplifting champion of common sense conservative ideals.”
Joe Wiezbicki, the PAC’s coordinator, told The New York Times that his group has raised a couple of hundred thousand dollars for the commercials.
During the campaign, Our Country Deserves Better was one of the few shadowy groups that defied John McCain’s pledge not to bring up Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Wright. They spent more than a million dollars on television ads in battleground states doing just that. They also ran ads questioning Obama’s patriotism, linking him to all sorts of terrorist groups, etc, etc…
It’s hard to say if Palin really understands what kind of rough beast her candidacy has borne. People get along fairly well in Alaska, even when they don’t. But her new “base” has no intention of getting along. And they’re thankful that now that they’ve got her as their figurehead, they don’t have to.
Related posts:
Big Stories You Might Have Missed!
The Obama McCain death-match has sucked all the oxygen out of the American media-space. All that’s being covered is the horse race and that’s a shame. It’s not much of a horse race anymore—the young black stallion has lapped the old gray plug—and while we await the inevitable there is so much we’re missing! Important side-stories about the election are being sadly underreported, and non-political news is being roundly ignored.
Here at Hypocrisy we aim to serve. We clean out the dusty corners and ferret out the dishy dirt so you don’t have to. Here are a few things you might have missed while glued to the tube, watching David “The Amazing Combover” Gergen and Bay “Lipsick on a Lizard” Buchanan fight it out on CNN:
The 2008 hurricane season was a bust. Named storms were down, big storms were way down and deaths disappointingly low. Nervous climatologists said it was a typical sophomore slump, Global Warming had a great year in 07, a fall-off is only to be expected. They expect climate change to do much better in 2009.
Al Gore claims Global Warming was focused on Philadelphia. “The horrible weather that caused the first-ever suspension of a World Series game was a manifestation of a new threat to the climate—The Wrath of God, also known as The Bud Selig Effect,” said Mr. Gore.
The second Phil Spector murder trial opened this week. The Free Phil Legal Defense Fund took to the streets of LA, urging mercy for the First Tycoon of Teen. “Sure, he killed Lana Clarkson,” a spokesperson said, “but what did she ever do? Phil Spector gave us the Wall of Sound, and such classics as ‘He’s a Rebel’ and ‘Walking in the Rain.’ He touched millions with his magnificent three-minute symphonies of rock, and we say he deserves a mulligan.”
Just in time for Halloween, Generalissimo Fidel Castro and Dear Vegetable Kim Jong Il announced the formation of the Not Quite Dead Yet Communist Dictator’s League. “It’s an act of solidarity between the peoples of Cuba and North Korea,” said their joint communiqué, “living and undead.” Soviet founder Vladimir Illych Lenin was pointedly denied admission to this new, exclusive club. When asked for comment, Lenin said, “Brush this stinking capitalist mold off my face, will you Comrade?”
Mahmoud Ahamadiejad was granted “apprentice” status, and will achieve full membership if his current bout of “exhaustion” goes well.
Due to the economic slowdown gasoline prices have now fallen so low that the practice of burning down your sub-prime house for the insurance money is now, once again, cost-effective.
The makers of “Kimbo Slice Instant Energy Sports Drink” have announced a total recall of the product, after reports of its being used as the latest date rape drug. “Slice’s stuff is like WMD for sexual predators,” a police informant said. “It works every time. One sip and fourteen seconds later, she’s flat on her back.”
Bristol Palin’s baby daddy, Levi Johnston, freed from the shotgun wedding demanded by a Sarah Palin vice presidency, announced his engagement to Joe the Plumber. A June wedding is planned in San Francisco, pending the results of the gay marriage amendment in California. Otherwise friends and family will bless the union in Massachusetts.
Mr. Plumber is planning to take the advance he got from his book, “Up From the Toilet Seat: How I Went From Being a Simple Plumber to a Complete Asshole,” to finance his new life with Levi. Reportedly, they are buying Goldman Sachs.
In a related story of heartwarming brotherhood and tolerance, Proposition Q, banning gay marriage but allowing plural gay marriage, is running ahead in the polls in Utah. When questioned about the apparent anomaly, Beehive staters gushed “Have you seen their compounds? I mean, the landscaping is fabulous!” The officially-banned Church of Latter Day Sodomites would not speak for the record, but remain quietly hopeful.
Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was sentenced to four years hard labor working on the bridge to nowhere, better known as the Pain-Washington Expressway. The Wasilla-DC road is scheduled for completion in 2012. Or 2016. Or, God willing, never.
Lastly, O.J. Simpson, writing from his cell in Nevada, declared that he’d finally found “the real killer.” “I found him right here in Clark County jail, sleeping in my bunk!” Simpson wrote. “Tell the Goldmans to call off the dogs.”
How Tax Policy Works, Attributed to David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer, and the bill for all ten
comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go
something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are
all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your
daily beer by $20. ‘Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.’
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they
divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share’?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that
from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end
up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would
be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount and he
proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savi ngs).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.’I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth
man. He pointed to the tenth man, ‘but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar,
too. It’s unfair that he got ten times as much as I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth man and beat him up. The next night the
tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers
without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered
something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of
them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit
from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and
they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking
overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not
understand, no explanation is possible.
Actuallly Snopes say the Author of this humorous explanation is probably unknown.
The Astonishing Biden Interview
Have you thought that it is too late for anyone in the media to ask some tough questions? Or that no one would ever confront the Obama campaign about Obama’s true beliefs? Well, guess what. It actually happened. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the person with the “balls” to do this is actually a woman but what did surprise me was to find out that she was from a TV station in my own hometown!
Barbara West, a long time anchorwoman with WFTV in Orlando, had the opportunity to interview Joe Biden last week. She only asked Senator Biden a few questions but oh what questions they were! I will include the link to the interview at the bottom but sometimes there is a greater impact to words when you see them written in black and white. Here were the questions asked to Joe Biden:
- “..Aren’t you embarrassed by the blatant attempts to register phony voters by ACORN, an organization that Barrack Obama has been tied to in the past?”
- “..Senator Obama now famously told Joe the Plumber he wanted to spread his wealth around. A Gallup poll showed 84% of Americans preferred government focus on improving economic conditions and creating more jobs in the US as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth. Isn’t Senator Obama’s comment a potentially crushing political blunder?”
- “You may recognize this famous quote ‘From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.’ That’s from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”
Wow. The first question wasn’t too bad although Ms. West followed it up with a tougher question on Obama’s affiliation with ACORN. The second question was shocking as no one has ever accused Obama of any mistakes much less a “potentially crushing blunder”. When you watch the interview, keep an eye on Biden’s face during this question. Biden smiles broadly at the mention of Joe the Plumber but as Ms. West continues with her question his smile slowly deflates until it is a near grimace by the time she gets to “blunder”. In fact I don’t think he really smiles again for the rest of the interview.
It is the last question, though, which is priceless. I almost wonder if this is a question from a viewer as it is more like the questions real people are asking each other and not questions a journalist would ask. Biden’s reaction is funny for he keeps asking if this question is a joke. No joke, Joe. Wake up and realize that in the real world this is what people are wondering about your leader.
As for Obama’s reaction to this interview? Simple. He is now banning this TV station from his campaign for the foreseeable future. And that may have been his biggest mistake. If he had ignored it and treated it as a small town problem not worthy of his attention it might have blown over. Instead, he has given it greater importance and credence by blackballing the station. Then again, the fact that somebody actually asked these questions is just too good, too juicy to be ignored. Now go see it for yourself and enjoy …. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCf4l1dtDc&feature=related.
When is a terrorist not a terrorist? Ask Sarah Palin.
You betcha. It gets worse every time Sarah Palin opens her mouth. That’s the stage we are at right now. She continues to be an embarrassment to John McCain and the Republican party. Palin also should, by now, have frightened a number of Americans. Friday evening (October 24) on the NBC News with Brian Williams she proved just how big a right-wing extremist she truly is. Here’s the exchange:
Williams: Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist, under this definition, governor?
Sarah Palin: [Sighs] There’s no question Bill Ayres, under his own admittance, was, um, one who sought to destroy, er, our US Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist. There’s no question there. Now, others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities, that, uh, er, that would be unacceptable. Uh, I don’t know if you’re going to use the word “terrorist” there, but it’s unacceptable and, uh, um, it, er, would not be condoned, of course, on, on our watch, but [sigh] I don’t know what you’re asking is if I regret referring to Bill Ayres as an unrepentant domestic terrorist. I don’t regret characterizing him as that.
Sarah Palin did her usual amount of stumbling around the English language, but it’s pretty clear that she operates on pretzel logic. She’s truly twisted. In other words, if someone is going to bomb or destroy a government building, the definition of ‘terrorist’ fits. If, however, they are only going to destroy unimportant facilities (like, say, an abortion clinic) or harm innocent Americans, she doesn’t know if the term ‘terrorist’ fits. In her mind, the difference between William Ayers (a terrorist) and Eric Robert Rudolph (not a terrorist) is the choice of buildings and causes. Sarah Palin needs a dose of reality. The Eric Robert Rudolphs of the world are terrorists. Period. Perhaps a quick review would help, so I went and researched the definitions from a number of sources. In order to define the word ‘terrorist,’ one has to define ‘terrorism.’
Terrorism: The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
Terrorist: A person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
Based on these definitions, the only conclusion a reasonable person could come away with is that abortion clinic bombers, or even better - anti-abortion violence advocates - are terrorists. There’s no gray area here; seems pretty clear. However, since her triumphant debut at the the Republican Convention, Palin has proven herself to be anything but reasonable. That a candidate for public office did not immediately label these despicable creatures ‘terrorists’ is despicable in itself. It’s an outrage. I just cannot figure out what the difference is between radical Muslim bombers and radical Christian bombers. There isn’t any difference. What does this suggest about our GOP vice presidential candidate? It suggests that Sarah Palin is a right-wing extremist. She basically just put the good hockey mom seal of approval on those who perpetrate anti-abortion violence.
Where does the ‘terrorist’ hair splitting start for Sarah Palin? Is it simply that she defines terrorists as only those individuals who hate the US government and want to destroy government buildings? Or is it that anti-abortion violence is being committed in the service of God so, therefore, it is not terrorism? By now, everyone knows that logic. Say you kill an abortion doctor or destroy an abortion facility. So what? Look how many innocent babies you’re going to save! It’s what God would want. Haven’t we heard that rhetoric over and over again when it comes time for domestic anti-abortion terrorists to justify their deeds? It’s a shame she wasn’t allowed to expand and expound on her position. Then we could have seen how far up the line on the hypocrisy scale she placed. John McCain came to her rescue and redirected the interview. Of course, Senator McCain doesn’t much want to talk about the issue either, given his voting record.
In both 1993 and 1994, John McCain voted against making “bombings, arson and blockades at abortion clinics, and shootings and threats of violence” federal crimes. He also opposed Colorado’s “bubble law.” This law prohibits abortion protesters from coming within 8 feet of women entering abortion clinics. McCain also voted to allow those who have committed violent acts at or harassment of women who go to reproductive-health clinics to avoid paying fines assessed against them by declaring bankruptcy.
Of Infamous Scribblers And Yellow Journalists
57% of stories negative toward McCain vs. 29% for Obama
The Project for Excellence in Journalism. a non-partisan Washington DC based think tank says McCain and Obama have received an equal amount of media attention since the conventions but, the quality was wildly at odds. The project judged 57 percent of the stories about McCain as negative, with 14 percent positive. The rest were neutral. Obama’s coverage was mixed: 36 percent positive, 29 percent negative, 35 percent neutral, the study found.
Many of the stories about McCain are about poll numbers are such ad ABC-GMA touting it polling when it shows Obama ahead and ignoring other polls that show contrary. NBC is arguably even more biased and CBS is hysterically pro-OBama. It is interesting that some of the most balanced reporting had been on Fox.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism studied some 2,412 stories from 48 news outlets for its study, including newspapers, Web sites and broadcast and cable news. A smaller sample, 857 stories, was used to judge the tone of the coverage.
Media bias is nothing new in American politics as Eric Burns cites in his history of journalism “Infamous Scribblers” recounting some of the darkest and nastiest examples tracking back to the nations founding hours and forward to include the epic yellow journalism era between Hearst and Pulitzer.
Presidential Polls Pulling Particularly Close - Again
Who’s Right and Who’s Wrong?
John McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that shows McCain and Barack Obama essentially running even among likely voters in the election homestretch at 44% to 43%. The race narrowed after the third debate as GOP-leaning voters drifted home to their party and McCain’s “Joe the plumber” analogy struck a chord.
Three weeks ago, an AP-GfK survey found that Obama had surged to a seven-point lead over McCain, lifted by voters who thought the Democrat was better suited to lead the nation through its sudden economic crisis.
The new AP-GfK head-to-head result is a departure from some, but not all, recent national polls, for instance: Obama and McCain were essentially tied among likely voters in the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll; a Washington Post-ABC News poll and a Wall Street Journal-NBC News survey have Obama up by 11 points, and a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center has him leading by 14. Rasmussen has the contest 52% to 45% for Obama; Zogby 52% to 41% for Obama and McCain has closed to 46% to 50% on Gallup.
Since the last AP-GfK survey in late September, McCain also has:
- Posted big gains among likely voters earning under $50,000 a year; he now trails Obama by just 4 percentage points compared with 26 earlier.
- Surged among rural voters; he has an 18-point advantage, up from 4.
- Doubled his advantage among whites who haven’t finished college and now leads by 20 points. McCain and Obama are running about even among white college graduates, no change from earlier.
- Made modest gains among whites of both genders, now leading by 22 points among white men and by 7 among white women.
- Improved slightly among whites who are married, now with a 24-point lead.
- Narrowed a gap among unmarried whites, though he still trails by 8 points.
McCain has cut into Obama’s advantage on the questions of whom voters trust to handle the economy and the financial crisis. On both, the Democrat now leads by just 6 points, compared with 15 in the previous survey.
Waiting and waiting….
I couldn’t take it anymore, the wait was killing me. Even writing m
y weekly commentary wasn’t cutting it. I had to do something to make the next two weeks pass quickly, so I took a job. I figured if I had to wait, I might as well make some money doing it….
“Welcome to Chez Hypocrisy, my name is Snark and I’ll be your waiter tonight.
“Our special appetizers, available for the next four days, seven if necessary, are Tampa Bay Ray ala Irwin, or Olde Tyme Philly Cheesesteak. Whichever you choose I can assure you, it’s World Class.
“No, I’m sorry, we ran out of Boston Chowder last week. It was a big surprise to us, too. The same is true of our Los Angeles Chokeburger.
“Our end-of-the-month dinner specials include a delicious Fillet of dry-aged Johnny Steak, smothered in Alaskan mud, with heirloom bitter herbs and a salad of Green Envy, dressed with Regret. That also comes with your choice of whine, White or Whiter.
“If you’re dieting, I recommend the Russian Bear Claw Palin. It’ll do wonders for your waistline. It’s low carb, low fat, low protein and totally without nourishment. We don’t actually serve it, but we bring it close enough that you can see it from your table.
“Also, we have a Main Street Mixed Grill that is to die for. It’s all the comfort food you ate growing up in middle America, shoved down your throat until you’re ready to explode. If you can swallow ten pounds of it, everyone at your table eats free!
“Our prize-winning roast pig comes both ways, with and without lipstick.
“You might want to choose from our everyday favorites. Tonight we have:
“Savory Chicken Balls fried in Offshore oil.
“Aged Arizona Elephant with cornbread.
“Thrice-cooked Chestnut Crackers with your choice of Sixties smears.
“Medical marijuana brownies, available in our blue state restaurants only.
“GOPher waffles with Chinese Creamery Melanin-Butter, Unfrosted Let-Them-Eat-Cake cake, and Nuclear Mushroom Glacé dusted with Clean Coal pepper on a globally warmed plate.
“Our featured cocktail is the Saturday Night Special. It’s a traditional concoction that’s been around so long it’s gotten terribly stale, but now it’s reborn in a new, lively recipe that’s too, too fey. It will have you giggling all through your meal, I promise!
“Make sure to save some room for dessert. We have Half-baked Alaska drizzled with simpleton syrup, surrounded by sour grapes and crowned with a whipped cream so airy it’s hardly there at all. Our retro dessert is a clearance item that did very well for us the past eight years, but now we’re closing it out. It’s a leftover mélange of silly sorbets and outdated broulettes glazed with new sugary frosting that’s guaranteed to taste just as good coming up as it did going down.
“Are you folks ready for the check? I hope you enjoyed your dinner. I’m sorry, we no longer accept credit cards. Chez Hypocrisy is a happening place and credit is so September! We don’t take dollars, either, but we’ll be happy to exchange them for Euros, three-to-one.
“It was truly a pleasure serving you. Be sure to come back in a couple of weeks. We’re planning a Hawaiian Luau that’ll knock your socks off!”
Palin and the politics of divisiveness
You can put lipstick on a pig, but you can’t cover up the smell. And right now the Wicked Witch of Wasilla smells pretty bad. If Senator McCain is looking at the most recent polls with open eyes, he’ll come away with the conclusion that Sarah Palin is the single biggest detriment to his presidential candidacy. Yes, that’s right. At this point in the 2008 presidential race, his association with Sarah Palin is a bigger liability than his association with President Bush, the most unpopular president in American history. While McCain spends his time blaming left-wing feminists and the liberal media for Palin’s drop in popularity, the fact is that Sarah Palin has brought this on herself because she fosters the politics of divisiveness and exclusion.
It was Sarah Palin who decided that the McCain campaign get nasty. I believe that she referred to it as “taking off the gloves.” And, of course, McCain listened and approved the strategy of moving away from the issues and into character assassination. It was immediately after that Palin began to stretch the truth about Obama’s association with the Weather Underground’s Bill Ayers. She accused Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” The right wingnuts in the McCain camp knocked this one out of the park, yelling out epithets like, “kill him,” “terrorist,” and “off with his head.” Even Dick Morris (remember him?) got into the act by stating that Obama’s association with Ayers is the equivalent of being friends with Osama bin Laden. Once again, the Republicans jumped on the politics of fear and invoked the “terrorist” theme. Hell, why not! George Bush has used this to successfully control the quivering American population for the past eight years. See. There it is again. Somehow I just can’t get away from drawing similarities between McCain and Bush.
While McCain has received kudos for toning this ugliness down over the past couple of weeks, let’s be frank about it. McCain only toned it down publicly when the Secret Service announced that it was interested in finding the people in the McCain audiences that were yelling these little ditties. Truth be told, McCain then quietly invested in ‘robocalls’ (automated messages) that linked Obama and Ayers. Again, here’s a similarity between McCain and Bush. President Bush used ‘robocalls’ in 2004 to sink John McCain in South Carolina. Might I suggest to the Secret Service that the people yelling in the McCain-Palin crowd were only accessories after the fact. The root of the problem, the instigator, is Sarah Palin (with John McCain’s backing).The McCain campaign has managed to tap into the lowest common denominator in American society: The ultra-patriotic, God-fearing bigot.
Palin’s divisive nature continued at an October 16 fund raiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she said, “We believe the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”
Let’s not stop there. Palin certainly didn’t. “This is where we find the kindness and goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”
The upshot here isn’t that she’s insulting Washington, D.C. No sir. She’s insulting everybody who isn’t living in a small town. Those living in, say New York, Chicago, or San Francisco apparently are not real Americans. Secondarily, Palin is accusing those who disagree with our government of being un-patriotic. I suspect that Sarah Palin spends very little time educating herself about our forefathers and what they had in mind for our government. She prefers her history to be Palinized because it better suits her purpose. She might be interested to learn that our forefathers not only called for protecting the Constitution from threat by forces outside our government, but also from those within our own government who seek to undermine it’s basic principles. We’ve had plenty of that over the past eight years, and a McCain-Palin regime promises even more. By the way, I’d like to take the opportunity to remind Sarah Palin that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been equal opportunity killers. Americans from all walks of life (not just farmers and factory workers) and from everywhere across our nation (not just small towns) have been killed. However, they have not died protecting the virtues of American freedom as she suggests. They’ve died protecting our access to Middle Eastern oil in order to feed our all-consuming addiction.
Speaking of assaulting the Constitution, the Wicked Witch of Wazilla has broken with McCain and emphatically stated her support for a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I’d call singling out one group for oppression to be divisive. Wouldn’t you? And wouldn’t you call a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage writing discrimination into the Constitution? This very act undermines the basic principles behind the Constitution. If an amendment is added, it should strengthen the Constitution, not weaken it. The objection to same-sex marriage is clearly based on religious ideology. For example, we now know that the Mormon church is the driving force behind California’s Amendment 8. There is no place for religious ideology in the formation of national policy. That is why there is a separation between church and state. The issue of same-sex marriage is a question of basic civil rights. It is not a topic to be voted upon by Congress, and it does not belong on any ballot in any state.
So, here we are with November 4th fast approaching. I learned today that the GOP has spent more than $150,000 on make-up, clothing and accessories for Sarah Palin and her family since she was selected as McCain’s running mate. She spent $13,200 on make-up alone during the month of September (so much for being just an average hockey mom). It’s all about image, but image only goes so far. While it may be possible to physically transform Sarah Palin’s appearance into something more vice presidential, it’s almost impossible to hide the dark side of her divisive and un-Christian character. That has been laid bare for all to clearly see.
ACORN CREEPs Into The News
I had a flashback this morning as I listened to more news regarding ACORN and their potentially illegal practices in voter registration. There are now reports of counties with more registered voters than population, plus tapes of this non profit organization’s obvious, yet illegal, support of a political candidate (Obama). Out of nowhere CREEP popped into my mind. Now that is a blast from the past.
For anyone under 50, CREEP was the Committee to ReElect the President and in this case the President was Nixon. Everyone is familiar with Watergate, the hotel where the burglaries took place, but few remember that it was at the direction of CREEP. So why does ACORN remind me of CREEP, other than the fact they both have memorable acronyms?
Richard Nixon would have clearly won his second term without the machinations of McCord, Dean, Mitchell etc. breaking into and wiretapping the offices of the Democrat Party. Assuming Obama wins in two weeks, I would think he still would have won even without ACORN’s help. Yes, it might be a lot closer race without the millions of voters registered legally and illegally by ACORN but he probably might still be the next president.
Yet thanks to the illegalities of ACORN all the votes cast for Obama in areas in which ACORN was active will be questionable. Additionally, the millions raised by ACORN will now be thoroughly investigated to see if any money was diverted to Obama’s campaign. Even the NY Times, which had previously refused to write about ACORN, is now investigating this organization because of the growing accusations.
Just as in the case with CREEP, I think the overriding problem is hubris combined with stupidity. For how arrogant and dumb can you be for an ACORN executive to give a speech at an ACORN event in which they openly and forcefully support Obama while they were being taped? Did they not know it was illegal for a non profit organization to support a candidate? Or did they think that no one would dare to take them to task because Obama is the chosen one who must be elected? Additionally can’t anyone count in this organization? It is one thing to knowingly register false names but to end up with more supposedly registered voters than there is a voting population is absurd. (Yes a few areas might be attributable to college campuses but this doesn’t explain all of them.)
Whatever the reasons, ACORN is now beginning to tarnish Obama’s campaign. Unfortunately, by now ACORN and Obama are clearly tied together in the public’s mind such that any illegalities by ACORN will reflect on to Obama. Even if Obama wins, I believe that the investigations into ACORN will continue. Unlike CREEP which eventually brought down Nixon’s presidency I sincerely doubt if ACORN’s activities could do the same to Obama. An obvious difference is that Obama will have a sympathetic Congress and media who will do all that they can to shield Obama from any criminal activities by ACORN.
I have no idea how all of this will play out. It is also important to remember that it wasn’t CREEP’s activities as much as it was the cover up afterwards that caused Nixon’s downfall. It will be interesting to watch how both ACORN and Obama react to these newest charges.
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PS - I wanted to add a short follow up to my blog about the first day of early voting in Florida. I had said that two of my friends had given up due to the long lines but that I expected they would try again. They did. Yesterday, on the second day of early voting, my friend returned to the downtown Orlando polling place where once again the parking lot was full and there was a long line. This time she was prepared for this and thinking that it might never get much better she spent the 90 minutes needed to park, stand in line and then vote. My second friend, who lived in an upper income suburb, also returned to his polling spot. This time there were plenty of parking spaces and no lines, and he was in and out in about 5 minutes. Considering the demographic trend of downtown urban voters vs. suburban upper income voters, this does not bode well for McCain….
Turning Out the Vote in Florida
Senator Obama held a rally in Orlando yesterday to coincide with the first day of early voting in Florida. Although there were 50,000 people at the rally, Obama’s supporters were also out at the voting booths, too. Mid afternoon I received an email from a friend who lives in Orlando and had decided to vote early. She assumed that mid day, when people are at work, would be a good time to vote as there wouldn’t be any lines or waiting. Wrong. She couldn’t even find a parking space in the large strip parking lot. There was also a long line snaking out of the front door, down a block and around the corner. She drove up to those near the back of the line and asked how long the wait was. To her amazement they said an hour and a half at which point she went back home. A few hours later I was on the phone with another friend who was driving to his home in an affluent suburban area north of Orlando. He, too, planned to stop off and vote that afternoon. Just as I was relaying what happened to my other friend he interrupted me. Turns out, that even in this higher income suburb, people were out early to vote. The library parking lot was full, people were parking all over the place and there was even a policeman helping direct all the traffic. Needless to say, this friend also gave up on voting yesterday.
In her email, my first friend observed that in the downtown voting area the long line was made up of primarily African Americans and Hispanics. I can only imagine that for them, voting for the first African American for President must be a joyous and exciting occasion. Actually I can’t really imagine how it must feel. To know that you or your father or grandfather had been subjected to degrading and sometimes violent racism and now you are voting to elect a black man as the next president. Wow. Whites were always told that anything is possible in America. Blacks are now finding out that the same is really true for them, too.
If I were black I would vote for Obama, even if I didn’t completely agree with his politics. Why? Because I would want my children to know that they can grow up to be President if they wanted to. I believe that the second or third time that an African American is up for election everyone will be more inclined to vote based on politics. But this first time? Blacks relate to him as family, as a man who will understand what it is like to be black in America and will speak for them. (Ironically, in the Middle East and then Hawaii, Obama rarely faced the racial problems found elsewhere in America but that doesn’t seem to matter.) In spite of what Colin Powell or anyone else says this presidential race is about race and yet I don’t think it is necessarily racist. I think it is more akin to voting for your favorite Uncle even if you didn’t completely agree with his politics. But he is family, someone more like you than any other past president so yes, you would vote for him and then believe he will help you out in return.
One can assume with nearly 100% accuracy that a black man standing in line to vote will cast his vote for Obama. Then there is the white guy standing in line amidst a sea of black faces. No wonder there have been altercations regarding wearing clothing with political slogans and names when going to vote. In many states it is illegal to campaign near a voting booth therefore wearing a t-shirt that says Obama may not be allowed. However, I don’t blame the wearer of such clothing, especially if it is a white person. If, in a line full of exuberant African Americans, I was one of the few whites then I, too, would want to wear my Obama t-shirt to proudly show I was with them. On the other hand if I were planning to vote for McCain I would probably feel somewhat intimidated, especially if I were elderly as many of McCain’s supporters are.
I worry that many Republicans will turn around and go home when faced with long lines just as my friends did. However, I am sure both of my friends will try again until they do vote (although ironically they will cancel each other out). But I wonder how many other people will become discouraged by these long lines even during this early voting period? I also imagine that there are a lot of Republicans who aren’t all that fond of McCain to begin with, who are put off by the long lines, who perhaps even feel a bit intimidated by them and who believe the polls that Obama was going to win anyway. How many of these Republicans will eventually give up and go home?
The only hope McCain has is if he has the kind of grass roots support that Obama has. For he will need supporters who will encourage and help his voters go and stay in lines, perhaps for more than an hour, in order to cast their votes for him otherwise it could be a landslide victory for Obama.
And yet, I almost worry more about the process then the results. Already there are all these problems about invalid voters, fraudulent practices and lawsuits. I truly hope that the combination of McCain supporters, Obama supporters, ACORN workers, “independent” observers and of course the media looking for a story doesn’t turn our election process into a sham and our voting precincts into battlefields.
Obama’s Ten Percentage Point Jewish Deficit Could Tip Florida and Election
Only 1.3% of Americans are Jewish but Concentration in Florida Could Decide Presidency.
Jews as a group are 30 percent more likely than other white, non-Hispanic voters to support Obama, according to an article in Monday’s Jerusalem Post. American Jews favor Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama by a ratio of two-to-one, according to survey results being released Monday by researchers at New York University. The Post does not compare that support for Democrat Gore and Kerry both of which had greater support.
According to the Jewish Center for Public Affairs, in a 2003 paper, 73% of Ameerica Jews describe themselves as moderate or liberal; 23 percent label themselves as conservative. Only 19 percent voted for Bush in the 2000 elections 76% voted against George W. Bush in 2004. According to a September 20th poll Obama leads 57 percent to 30% among those polled in the American Jewish Committee’s 2008 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion, with 13% undecided. That means Obama significantly trails in the Jewish vote for recent Democratic presidential candidates.
That deficit could tip Florida into the McCain column and hence the election.
“In fact, liberal Jews have an argument about why McCain is bad for Israel, just as conservative Jews have an argument for why Obama is bad for Israel,” lead researcher Steven Cohen, a professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College said. “There’s a tendency toward cognitive consistency.” Support for McCain tracks support for Israel, with 58% of Jews who said Israel was very important favoring McCain.
Orthodox Jews - a category that encompasses Modern Orthodox and haredi respondents, Cohen said - were the likeliest to support McCain, with 73% indicating support for the Republican over just 27% for Obama. Interestingly Christians and others who say they regularly attend church or Temple favor McCain by similar margins.
Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. “They want their leaders to be believers. They want them to believe in something higher, to have a moral framework as they lead the country.” Says a July, 2007 New York Times article.
Support for McCain was highest - 90% - among Orthodox Jews who said they socialized exclusively with other Jews, while only 60% of Orthodox respondents who said they had non-Jewish friends planned to vote for McCain. A Synovate poll conducted on behalf of the American Jewish Committee in September indicated that 57% of Jews intended to support Obama, with 30% for McCain and just 13% undecided.
Since at least before World War II two-thirds of American Jews have been liberals and registered Democrats. Democrat presidential candidates have historically accounted on 60% or greater votes from American Jews.
Faith in American is: 76% Chirsitan; 13.2% atheist; 1.3% Jewish and one-half of one percent Muslim. The United States is still the most profusely religious nation on earth. The trend is toward the secular defined as those adhering to no creed nor choose to affiliate with any religious community. These are the seculars, the unchurched, the people who profess no faith in any religion.
Obama Announces No-Surprise White House Role for Powell
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Obama has been courting Powell’s endorsement.
“He will have a role as one of my advisers,” Barrack Obama said on NBC’s “Today” in an interview aired Monday morning, a day after Collin Powell, a four-star general and President Bush’s former secretary of state, endorsed him. It was also disclosed that Obama has been courting Powell’s endorsement. On Saturday, the day before the not surprising endorsement, 57% of voters said a Powell endorsement would make no difference in their vote.
Hypocrisy.com speculated on Sunday that Powell was using his endorsement on Meet the Press as an application for an ambassadorship. Before Powell wrangled an appointment as military aide to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger (1917-2006) in 1983 his commanding officer had recommended against his promotion. Six years later Powell was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs having risen to the top of the promotions list and been advanced several times. Weinberger was President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense (1981-1987) and co-engineered the peaceful unraveling of the Soviet Union.
Weinberger’s family had left Judaism and became Christian that left lingering doubts in the Jewish community. Caspar was an involved Episcopalian and shared Reagan’s determination to confront and defeat the Soviets. His powers as a cost cutter earned him the sobriquet “Cap the Knife.” During his term with Weinberger Powell was and is viewed with suspicion by many in the military who are equally concerned that an Obama presidency could eviserate the military just as it is mostly recovered from a dibilitating 1990s when; among other things, saw 4,500 experienced combat pilots resign.
Fiduciary Fornication in Fund Raising
Illegal Foreign Contributions Could Top $60 Million
Barack Obama reneged on his pledge to limit campaign spending to the federally funded $86 million maximum. McCain has stuck to his pledge which frankly has put him at a distinct disadvantage being outspent 4 and 5 to one in swing states. Many Republicans say McCain’s decision will be fatal to his campaign.
More than half of Obama’s contributions have come from small donors giving $200 or less. But unlike John McCain’s campaign, Obama won’t release the names of these donors.
The Obama camp claims to have 2.5 million donors in all. That’s likely hype. According to a Newsmax analysis, the Obama campaign finance records contain just 370,448 unique names. Newsmax contacted some of the donors that have been revealed and discovered some could not recall giving anything although their name and address appears on the reports.
A Newsmax canvass of disclosed Obama campaign donors shows many anomalies, including outright violations of federal election laws. For example, Obama has numerous donors who have contributed well over the $4,600 federal election limit. Many of these donors have never been contacted by the Obama campaign to refund the excess amounts to them. If an excess contribution is not returned in 60-days penalties can be applied to the campaign and contributor.
Most troublesome are the more than 37,000 Obama donations that appear to be conversions of foreign currency. There is little or no regulation of foreign donations and a common practice is to use false names and cashiers checks to cover up the actual course.
According to a Newsmax analysis of the Obama campaign data before the latest figures were released, potential foreign currency donations could range up to a stunning $63 million in all. With the addition of $150 million raised in September, this amount could be much more
The inmates are running the asylum
Time is running short for John McCain, so the looneys are out enmasse. The latest Republican figure to walk off the deep end is Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn) who appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews this past Friday. Her latest allegation is that Barack and Michelle Obama are anti-American and cannot be trusted in the White House. Sound McCarthyesque to you? I’d suggest she rethink that and be one of the party faithful who shows up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to count the silverware after W leaves office. If anybody is anti-American it’s our present imperial ruler, who has just about gutted the US Constitution, spied on his own citizens, and has slaughtered literally millions in Iraq and Afghanistan all on this shadow “war on terror.”
She referred to Obama’s friendships with William Ayers (which Senator Obama explained sufficiently during the third and final debate) and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Isn’t it funny that John McCain is never called upon to explain his friendships, like the one he has with G. Gordon Liddy. As recently as March of this year, McCain referred to Liddy as someone who upholds the ideals that make our country great. Really? Someone who served time for the Watergate break-in, plotted murder, kidnappings and terrorist bombings upholds the American ideal? So, why are we worried about Obama’s friends? Or perhaps we should talk about the fact that McCain has allied his campaign with the Cuban Liberty Council, some of whose members have committed terrorist attacks. In fact, Senator Joseph Lieberman met with the wife of convicted serial bomber Eduardo Arocena on July 20th of this year prior to speaking at a McCain event. Lieberman promised to pursue a presidential pardon for her husband.
Or perhaps we should talk about the fact that Sarah Palin has actively courted the Alaska Independence Party, a secessionist group whose leader, Joe Vogler, is decidedly anti-American. Vogler stated, “My government is my worst enemy. I’m going to fight them with any means at hand.” This is the group that the “first dude,” Todd Palin, belonged to for seven years. Sarah Palin spoke at their convention in 2008, telling them, “Keep up the good work. And God bless you.” While Palin criticizes Obama for wanting to engage Iran in conversation and negotiation, let’s remember that in 1993 Joe Vogler persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American efforts.
Oh, and by the way, in spite of the fact that Sarah Palin lives with the illusion that the Troopergate report exonerated her, did I mention that Mr. and Mrs. Palin will be deposed this week by investigators determining whether or not she violated state ethics laws? I suggest that abuse of power might be considered un-American as well.
So, the next time Michelle Bachmann wants to raise the issue of un-American activities, I suggest she investigate her own party. Or keep her mouth shut.
Obamaphobia
They say it’s all over but the shouting.
“AHHHHGRRHH!”
OK, now it’s all over. And that wasn’t me doing the shouting there, that was the GOP, the conservatives. Not all of them, not the rational ones among them, not even the McCain supporters.
Nope, the ones who are screaming in pain, moaning in misery, hollering in horror, trilling in terror and generally making an unseemly spectacle of themselves are the Obamaphobiacs.
These are the people who are sure that the coming of Barack Obama signals the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. You see them at Palin rallies hollering “Off with his head!” like hillbilly Robespierres screaming for Antoinette’s blood. You hear them on talk radio, choking on their own rage, crying “Oh, the humanity!” They can be found on TV, talking heads talking like chickens with their heads cut off, and making about as much sense. They are an American tragedy.
And the very worst, most tragic thing about it all is, to them, it’s real. They mean it. They are terrified by the coming Obama presidency. They have Obamaphobia.
Obamaphobia is a disease. These poor people are afflicted with a case of the willies—and I don’t mean the ordinary willies; I mean the Horton willies. But they are also my fellow Americans. They may think that I, and my like-minded comrades-in-Obama don’t care about them, but they are wrong.
We are all patriots, and so is he. All of us will spend the next four-to-eight years together, our fates linked, like it or not. I come here today, poor afflicted Obamphobiacs, to heal your pain.
First, take a deep breath. There is nothing to worry about. I have it on good authority that Barack will not be taking the oath of office from Louis Farrakhan. Rumors to the effect that the “Star Spangled Banner” will be replaced by 50 Cent’s “What’s up, Gangsta” are without foundation. William Ayres will not be going to the supreme court. William Clinton, maybe, but he’s a bubba just like you so don’t panic.
Really guys, what’s the worst that could happen? I know you’re scared that Obama is so liberal he might nationalize the banks and federalize everybody’s mortgage. That he’ll ignite class warfare by demonizing the Wall Street crowd and the Washington elites. That he’s going to tax and spend us into the poorhouse, going so far as to tax your feeble health care benefits. I understand your fears about him.
Oh … wait. That’s all McCain. My bad.
Let me try again. Here’s what you need to know about our next president. Barack Obama is not a Muslim, he’s a Hawaiian. He loves America just like you, maybe more than you because it’s been so good to him he’s going to be running the place in three months. He wants Bin Laden dead, just like you. He wants America respected in the world, just like you. He loves you so much he won’t allow gays to marry, even though, in his heart of hearts, I bet he wishes they could.
Some people are contemptuous of you, Obamaphobes, but not me. You are patriots and so am I. And the truest form of patriotism is pride. You’ll have to trust me on this, but once Obama is elected this country will experience a rush of pride the likes of which hasn’t been seen since VJ day. You can be a grump and wallow in anger and misery for the next four-to-eight years, or you can fight your disease and enjoy the sweet, hopeful moment.
I’m not saying you have to vote for him, I’m not even saying you have to like him. I’m just telling you it will be OK, the sun will still rise in the east, the flag will still have fifty stars, and your life won’t be any worse. How could it be? Unless you drown in the bile of your self-inflicted Obamaphobia.
Of course, if he turns around on the Capitol steps on 1.20.09 and barks “Who’s your daddy now!” at the television cameras, I think you should move to Argentina, because he means you.
LATE BREAKING NEWS! Hear Snark Twain live on The Gathering Storm talk show this Friday, Oct. 17, at noon. The subjects will be the election, terror, the economy and national security. Big laughs! A splendid time is guaranteed for all. Hear it live or in the archives at Blogtalkradio.com.
McCain Stealth Missile Hits Voter Target
…but can it or anything save him?