Sunday, August 31, 2008
God Follows Up on Right Wing Prayers: Saves bad weather for GOP Convention!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Oh What A Night!
Palin Pick: Desperate, Not Serious
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Right Wing Prayers Answered
DENVER, CO
Aug 28 Today's weather
Sunny. High 76F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Aug 28 Tonight's weather
Clear. Low 59F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
(what I am taking about)
McCain's VP Pick
Best Picks (for McCain)
1. Colin Powell - If McCain should convince Powell to join the ticket it would probably sink Obama's chances. There is very little chance of it though. First, Powell has rejected the Bush/McCain foreign policy doctrine. Second, I think and hope he has learned that being a "good solider" for the GOP means only that he is used as a symbol and not taken seriously. Third, he seems to support Barack Obama
2. Mike Huckabee - He could improve McCain's chances. As I have written many times, Huckabee can actually articulate "compassionate conservatism". I doubt that it would be enough to overcome McCain's same old same old, but it would definitely help.
3. Tom Ridge - A reasonable, mature person that doesn't appear to be crazy. His Pro-Choice stance might hurt with the GOP base, but Ridge would be attractive to moderates and independents.
Worst Picks (for McCain)
1. Joe Lieberman - Many conservatives dislike him and many others believe his allegiance is not to the United States. Also, the very real prospect of having Lieberman in the White House and Natenyahu in charge of Israel would certainly lead us into an unwinnable World War. People from all political spectrum's see these things and would turn away from the ticket in droves.
2. Lyndsey Graham - There is something very wrong with this guy. I am not certain what it is but I sense that he has a dark, deep, disturbing secret. He is an emotionally troubled man who's political views are an over compensating for something. Plus he's a freakin' simple minded idiot. This pick would implode fast!
3. Mitt Romney - It would reinforce all of McCain's weaknesses. First, that McCain knows little about the economy. Second, McCain sells out all the time. I can forgive him selling out to the captors in Vietnam but his embrace of George Bush and Karl Rove is just sickening. If he chooses Romney, a man he once hated - again just out of ambition - it would be severely damaging to his campaign. Three, The houses and fortunes of these two guys would certainly highlight the "support the rich / trickle down" policies they embrace.
UPDATE: I also posted this on dailyKos and there are many comments from those readers which you can read here.
Democratic Convention: Day 3
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Democratic Convention: Day 2
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Underappreciated
Democratic Convention: Day 1
Teddy Kennedy looked surprisingly healthy and vibrant in his passing of the torch speech. Michelle's speech was just terrific too and the part where the kids and Barack chatted was priceless. It's a shame, but Monday had to be set aside to undo the damage of the lies spread by the Right. Last night was an attempt to show the country that Barack Obama is just a regular guy who has lived the American dream. Not a Muslim and not the anti-Christ. Now, I'm sure all the pill popping, impotent, right wing talking heads will jump all over it today, but they will only succeed in making the ignorant less knowledgeable, the confused more baffled and the hateful more violent.
The Democrats will never reach into those dark corners of American society. But to anyone watching this week with an open mind, a clear difference between the parties and ideologies will be made clear. If that occurs, the Convention will be a success and the American people can begin to have the type of campaign and election we deserve.
Our Loyal Opposition Is Back
"CBS4 has now learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges. CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were 'going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle ... sighted at 750 yards.' "Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Joe Biden
Friday, August 22, 2008
Comment of the Day
+ How can John McCain solve our economic problems when he doesn’t admit they exist?
+ How can John McCain even begin to understand the housing crisis when he can’t even count how many houses he owns?
+ How can someone who pays his household employees over $250,000 per year to (literally) put food on his table understand the problems Americans have putting food on their own tables? (bonus factoid - this is more than the average home IS WORTH)+ How can someone who pays more in alimony to the wife he cheated on than millions of households earn in a year understand the choices that millions of Americans have to make every day regarding money?
+ How can someone who gambles thousands of dollars at a time understand how far those thousands of dollars would go to helping most Americans pay for gas, mortgages, medicine or food?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
My preferences for VP
Check back... I may add to this later. I expect my text message from Barack in the morning.
1. Dick Gephardt - I wish he had won the nomination in 2004. From middle America, smart, experienced and mentally mature.
2. Al Gore - very long shot but I would be pleased.
3. Mark Warner - Already took himself out but would prove my very early prediction right. I always love to be proved right.
4. Tom Daschle - Another Washington insider but a really thoughtful and intelligent man.
5. George Mitchell - Why not? He has as much experience and talent as any Democrat out there.
6. Joe Biden - One of the presumptive front runners. Has the mouth for this campaign and the brains to govern.
7. Robert Rubin - An unorthodox choice but he is an economic whiz and would make a capable President if necessary.
Comment of the day
With all due respect to a true American hero, it appears to me that the bulk of the much vaunted experience of which McCain is so proud has been in losing:
1. Graduated fifth from the bottom in his Naval Academy class;
2. Got himself shot down and captured in the war;
3. Served a full career in the Navy but never matched either his grandfather or father who both achieved the rank of admiral;
4. survived a failed marriage cause by his own cheating;
5. According to his official congressional listing has had only one private sector job, that of “beer distributor;
6. Lost to George Bush in the Republican primaries during which, when asked why he wanted to be president, could only respond, “It’s always been my ambition.”
My guess is that this list could easily be extend to a much longer one. But already, I think it is longer than his list of achievements. In 26 years,one can have two kinds of experiences. One is 26 years of learning and achieving. The other is one year, repeated 26 times. It seems to me, Mr. McCain has had the latter career path and that it has been one of achieving failure.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back In The Day
John McCain: The Last American President?
This country will surely get what it deserves in this election. If McCain wins through the smears and falsehoods he has now embraced, then he will be getting a country destined to decline into the dustbins of history. I know few people believe this right now but democracy can only work if people have faith in the system. For the past generation Republicans have had great success wining elections through spreading lies and fanning hatred. John McCain may well win this election in the same way, but it will be at great expense.
The difference this time is that Barack Obama has brought in a whole new generation of people into the process. These folks, mostly young, see right through this strategy and will either give up, rebel or revolt. No matter what they do, McCain would inherent a country divided into two camps: One no longer interesting in working to restore our once great nation and another so misinformed that they will (continue to be) sheep walking us over the same old cliff. It's a lose-lose proposition.
Also, unlike the present, I believe there will be very little interest by non Republicans in trying to change things. Why bother if American can't distinguish facts from fiction and choose hatred over unity? I predict a mentality of "If they want to ruin the country let them... Maybe we will pick up the pieces afterwards... or maybe we won't".
Yes, it does matter how you win. If John McCain succeeds by his current campaign strategy he would be a very lonely President with half the country no longer willing to work with people uninterested in serious debate. He would be a leader without followers. And then a leader without a country. John McCain would be The last American President.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Warren Disappointment
I really thought Rick Warren was an independent moderator and generally wanted the Presidential forum for good rather than partisan purposes. I'm not so sure now. First, he allowed John McCain to break the rules concerning the "cone of silence". Now he gives us this hyperbolic quote slamming Obama:
For many evangelicals, of course, if they believe that life begins at conception, that's a deal breaker for a lot of people. If they think that life begins at conception, then that means that there are 40 million Americans who are not here [because they were aborted] that could have voted. They would call that a holocaust and for them it would like if I'm Jewish and a Holocaust denier is running for office. I don't care how right he is on everything else, it's a deal breaker for me. I'm not going to vote for a Holocaust denier...
Dad was right
But at 8 p.m. ET, as Warren said that [the GOP candidate was inside a cone of silence], McCain was actually not in the building. He was just leaving his hotel, with his motorcade arriving at the church nearly a half hour into the event. Yesterday on CNN, Warren confirmed that McCain was not in the building when the forum began. So how do we know if McCain listened or watched any of the discussion beforehand? Warren told CNN Sunday evening, “we flat out asked him” if he heard any of the questions.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
! & ?
SAD THAT IT NEEDS TO BE SAID! But will it be believed?
I LOVE THIS STUFF! What else would I watch this Saturday evening?
MAC DON'T KNOW JACK! Does he have a memory at all?
THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE CRONIES! You didn't get any of it did you?
HAY OHHHH! But will he have to rename his home?
BIKERS, WEAR YOUR HELMETS! But you want to look cool?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Double Standard: Part 43,398
Hold on.... Let me listen for the outrage from the presumptuous police ...
Oh really?
Just another coincidence I'm sure
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Happy Humpday
`
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Not Every Violation a Crime? Mukasey Won't Prosecute in Hiring Scandal
Get it? Got it? Good!
UPDATE:
As a bonus here is a quick list of some of the other laws that don't apply to the home team.
source: clammyc
- We know that violating the fourth amendment (which is of higher authority that "a law") is not a crime;
- We know that ignoring subpoenas by Congress is not a crime (disclaimer: IOKIYAR);
- We know that politicizing the internship program at the Justice Department is not a crime;
- We know that waterboarding another individual isn’t a crime (unless it is done to him);
- We know that destroying taped evidence of torture, after being ordered not to), is not a crime;
- We know that top Executive Branch officials ordering torture isn’t a crime;
- We know that suppressing people’s right to vote is not a crime;
- We will probably soon find out that violating FEC campaign finance rules is not a crime (again, IOKIYAR);
- We also know that violating the habeas corpus rules is also not a crime;
- We know that lying to Congress is not a crime; and
- For good measure, covering for the President himself over potential
crimes, er, "violations of law" that the President may have committed is most certainly not a crime.
John McCain - also Very Newty
While McCain was married to his first wife, who was disabled from a car accident, he was "aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich," according to a New York Times colunmist's account of the 1970s incident that predated McCain's election to the Senate. ABC News
Be the First to Know
Because God has soooo much free time on his hands
Yes - Phone
More "Conservative" Arrogance
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Good Question
No Phone
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Olympic Opening Ceremony
John Edwards - Very Newty
This affair does not rise to the level of hypocrisy that we see so frequently from those boasting of family values. It is the hypocrisy of the right wing that has always gotten my goat. They want to force so-called family values issues while living a secret life. But while Edwards has never tried to be the arbiter of morality, his decision to run for President with this secret (not to mention his wife having cancer) is very Gingrich-ian, sickening and I'm glad that it will effectively kill his future in politics.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Well Said
[T]he debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid. Now, I don’t mean that G.O.P. politicians are, on average, any dumber than their Democratic counterparts. And I certainly don’t mean to question the often frightening smarts of Republican political operatives. What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”
Is this political pitch too dumb to succeed? Don’t count on it. ...let’s also not forget that for years President Bush was the center of a cult of personality that lionized him as a real-world Forrest Gump, a simple man who prevails through his gut instincts and moral superiority. “Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man,” declared Peggy Noonan, writing in The Wall Street Journal in 2004. “He’s not an intellectual. Intellectuals start all the trouble in the world.”
In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country’s problems. It’s not going to happen — not as long as one of America’s two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Hot Oil Treatment
By the way - my position on drilling is to only drill using the safest technology available and only use that oil as additional reserves for United States consumption. Unfortunately, we are going to pay high gas prices from now on. But we need to prepared for something even worse. Any day, because of any number of reasons (supply, war, transportation breakdown), our imports could stop on a dime. So while we quickly embrace alternative energy sources, we should carefully drill domestically only to increase our reserves in the event we are left with only our own natural resources. Think of it as insurance rather than relief.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Thank You!
He [McCain] should address these issues seriously, he should take the process seriously, he should take the voters seriously and stop this deadly attempt to deepen the division and ignorance that has dominated American political discourse for the past generation.Obama, commenting on the tire gauge mindlessness being spewed by the Right wing, said:
The other thing is, they are making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by three to four percent,” Obama said. “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant. They think it’s funny that they’re making fun of something that is actually true.”
[I can hear the right wing media now: "Obama is calling all of you stupid". Just to be clear, stupid is more akin to lacking the ability to learn or understand. Ignorant is to be uniformed. The right wing have worked tirelessly over the years to keep the American people away from facts. John McCain knows he needs to keep enough Americans distracted and uninformed (ignorant) if he is to have any chance of winning the election. Even if it cost us the nation. Here are the definitions for your convenience.]
IGNORANT: destitute of knowledge or education
STUPID: slow of mind; given to unintelligent decisions or acts; acting in an unintelligent or careless manner; lacking intelligence or reason
Tuesday Roundup
So much to write about: each topic worth of a long article. But it would take me days to do that so I will have to be brief.
First of all, the Presidential Campaign has taken a disappointing turn for the worst. John McCain has evolved into the typical Karl Rove candidate, mocking his opponent, over-simplifying the issues and pandering to the ignorant and hateful. Like I said the other day, if this strategy proves to be a success, it will end this experiment in Democracy. This isn't an overstatement. People of my generation have seen this our whole lives and the younger folks coming in, I believe, will not have the patience to "wait until next time" that we have. If ignorance and hatred wins the day then I think Americans will start looking for another way. John McCain has some serious policy issues differences with Barack Obama. He should address these issues seriously, he should take the process seriously, he should take the voters seriously and stop this deadly attempt to deepen the division and ignorance that has dominated American political discourse for the past generation.
Next, it's the Anthrax case. Why in the world would they close this case just because a scientist they say they suspected is dead? The investigation should continue. It should also be expanded to determine why and how the Anthrax attacks were used to push the war in Iraq. Something here smells and the fact that they want to close this case now just makes it reek even more.
I am disappointed that the mainstream media has not reminded the public that the Anthrax attacks were a case of domestic terrorism by the Right Wing. If you look at the people who were sent the Anthrax it is the hate list of Rush Limbaugh and his flock. We all remember Oklahoma City and the militia movement of the 1990's. Let’s not pretty this up - let's tell the truth: the voices of the right setting the debate encourage hatred which has consistently leads to domestic terrorism by these same conservatives. Just last week there was that church shooting by a guy echoing what is heard in the right wing media. Coincidence after coincidence after coincidence? Absolutely not.
Seymour Hersh, one of the most accurate and respected journalist in America history, reported the other day that Dick Cheney wanted to dress up Americans as Iranian soldiers to instigate military action against that country. In a place once known as The United States of America, that would have been an outrage and criminal. In what we have now it’s an afterthought at best. That's what happens when long term ignorance and hatred breeds deep cynicism.