Anticipation and Wishful Thinking: the Veepstakes

I realized it was the day of the text that will surely be read around the world and decided to post something short just to get back into the swing of writing after a long hiatus. Here we go:

My tactical side hopes he chooses Hillary Clinton. Let’s face it, she’s a political machine and I’m certain one day she will play the Terminator. She’s sure to get things done but will bring more heat from on-the-fence “hope” voters while rallying the Republican base. All-in-all I think if this is the pick, there’s no way the Democrats can lose this election. The name Clinton is all someone with an empty wallet needs in the end.

My wishful side hopes for an Obama-Clark ticket, with the retired 4-star General Wesley Clark solidifying any notions of Obama being weak on terror, while further legitimizing the notion that Iraq is the wrong front and we’ve already declared Mission Accomplished. Senator McCain has agreed with this on several occasions so honestly it’s hard to argue he wants to retreat without victory. He wants to take the victory home after 5 years of a diversion from the real enemy at hand.

My Kansas background hopes for Chuck Hagel, Republican from Nebraska although it poses serious problems both in terms of security and in maintaining the more left-leaning votes. I just kind of love this theoretical combination and wish it were possible in a real-world scenario.

My inner comedy fan wishes for an Obama-Richardson ticket. Bill Richardson has governed a border state and has foreign relations expertise. Both the power and presence of this administration would be good for America. Both men are driven and principled with separate pet issues that align nicely, and as Dave Chapelle put it — it would be sure to keep a President Obama safe.

But my inner-pragmatist believes the choice will be Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. He is both capable of going after the Republicans and providing some foreign policy credentials to the ticket. I don’t know that military expertise is something Obama should chase anyway, because if military experience is the voting issue, McCain is going to win every time. However justified, John McCain has been entreanched as an American hero and pop icon for “maverick” politics. So Obama-Biden it is, and you’ll soon see some harsh, yet calculated words from the new number two for Senator McCain as well as many talking heads in the media, who spew and perpetuate lies without correction or remorse.

To those shouting “Denver!”

Just go away.  Go vote for McCain if you wish, but get far away from this party.  You are not Democrats.  You are ideologues.  You don’t believe in majority rules with respect to minority rights, you believe in entitlement.  You don’t believe in compromise, you believe in fighting amongst ourselves. This election isn’t about swinging a pendulum back to the other side, it’s about stopping it right in the middle, where the American people exist.  

Scum.

Two revolutionary ideas for Kevin James

Since he only had one word on which to hinge his entire argument yesterday on Hardball.  Much thanks to Chris Matthews for simply showing how some who have prominent positions and loud voices on talk radio have no idea or concern for the facts, they only concern themselves with apologizing for the current, corrupt administration.

Here are the only two ideas I have to improve the quality of Kevin James’ thoughts, ideas, and hopefully broadcasts if he’s actually allowed to sit behind a microphone.

AND A

Dictionary

 
Technorati Tags: politics, hardball
 

McCain’s ‘spiritual guide’ Rod Parsley: “We get off on warfare!”

This is absurdity ad nauseam, and I know Michael Savage isn’t taken seriously by 90% of his listeners, but I can’t even believe he thinks this nonsense is legitimate. Reverend Wright can easily be described as a harsh critic of American foreign and domestic policy, but he’s served this country for 6 years in the military and 3 decades in his Chicago community. His church is ethnically diverse, not an all-black congregation preaching separation. Still, Reverend Wright is an ego-maniac, no doubt.

Rod Parsley, on the other hand, is literally trying to start a religious war and crusade. He believes somehow that America was created to destroy Islam, ignoring the language of the 1st Amendment. It is clear that the government shall stay out of the way, and the affairs of religion. If his extremist church believes there’s a call to arms against Islam, it has nothing to do with the American government. It really has nothing to do with reality. His conception is perverse and incites violence, but by the very Constitution he ignores, his voice is protected.

The same document, complete with our 1st Amendment for 217 years gives Reverend Wright the same freedom to speak his misguided mind. The problem I have is with the coverage and the cutting of 30 years of sermons down to a 30-second clip. If Reverend Wright were truly an America hater and separation advocate, wouldn’t they be able to continually produce clips, rather than simply playing endlessly the same 30 seconds of his long career?

All I believe is that everyone should be fairly informed, not halfway informed. If my coverage appears slanted, I’d implore it is simply because the preponderance of evidence in current events is so drastically slanted in one direction. I’d protect, tooth-and-nail, everyone’s right to freely practice their faith. This includes Islam. Not because, as Michael Savage says, “the libs are gonna jump in and say that they believe in Islam, because most of them would believe in anything except Christianity,” but because I believe in the Constitution and specifically the 1st Amendment. I believe more in this country than religious ideology because it is America — not any church — which has given me most in life.

America promises two basic things, freedom and opportunity. In some cases, opportunity has been found wanting but the goals remain the same. Success rates vary over the years, but we continually find the American dream exist where freedom and new ideas meet opportunity. I’m a political scientist by training, and one who wholeheartedly believes in empirical analysis rather than reactionary zeal.

Here is the article from Media Matters that provoked this diatribe. And here’s a video of Parsley being a rod, and some clips of how Senator McCain sees this “moral compass and spiritual guide.”

“We get off on warfare!” -Rod Parsley

Compare that with the entirety of Reverend Wright’s message in the infamous “chickens are coming home to roost” sermon.

The difference is also evident in the rhetoric of the campaigns. Senator Obama says we should have a dialogue with all nations, not to appease or deal with terrorists as President Bush ignorantly and recklessly stated in Israel last weekend. Two years ago, Senator McCain said we would eventually have to “deal with Iran” in reference to a question about his diplomatic approach with dictators. The question was not about potential military action.

Here’s a clip of John McCain discussing diplomatic dealings with Hamas two years ago.

And today’s video of a McCain campaign surrogate explaining the new, updated stance on what McCain meant two years ago:

Obama wishes to have a diplomatic, yet strong position in the world. Bringing our troops home to rest, be with their families, help the homeland recover from natural disasters and protect our citizens at home will benefit our national security. Endless war at the monetary expense of future generations and the psychological expense of an entire generation of our young, often poor and minority populations.

It’s nothing new that the military is one of the best opportunities this nation offers for youth to move up in the world if they come from an impoverished area. The problem is when unjust wars are waged at their expense. In that sense, supporting the poor and disenfranchised is supporting the troops and those who support and suffer most with the troops — their families.

 
• When three-fifths of our men and women returning from Iraq are diagnosed with PTSD and depression — it is time to support our troops.
• When evidence that our government has urged Army doctors to stop prescribing PTSD and depression, in favor of the cheaper-to-treat “adjustment syndrome” — it is time to support our troops.
• When more children in a region already negatively disposed to America are orphaned in a war they don’t understand, much like those who perpetrated the atrocity of September 11 — it’s time to support our troops by taking them out of harm’s way.
• When there is an “al-Qaeda in Iraq” now, where there was not before as a result of failed policy that takes our attention away from Afghanistan where our real enemy exists — it is time to support our troops by putting them in the best position to succeed and bring justice to the victims of bin Laden.
• When those who fight, risk death and lose mental health and limbs to serve this country for only two years are denied education benefits — we must support our troops.

 

That is the way Senator Obama wishes to support the troops.  Make no mistake, he’ll be going after bin Laden, and anyone else who threatens to attack us or our allies.  He just won’t pretend talking to someone is like giving them Czechoslovakia in an attempt at appeasement.  Talking gives us a chance to look them in the eyes and say, you will not bully us.  And it gives the person with the most power a chance to work toward a solution, rather than simply declaring another war and orphaning another generation of foreign children. Here’s Obama’s response to historically ignorant attacks from President Bush and John McCain:

It is un-American to leave your children worse off than your parents left you, not to exercise your 1st Amendment right to free expression.

Senator McCain was also exposed by the DailyKos for having lied about former President Reagan’s negotiations and dealings with Iran.  This man has clearly lost his bearings.  Whether it is to do with his age or is incredible lust for the presidency, his ideas have become polluted and convoluted in a way that betrays his previous “maverick” status.

Technorati Tags: politics, obama, mccain, war, iraq, iran, appeasement, diplomacy

I sure wish John McCain would support the troops, I have friends DYING for an education

This is not uncommon.  This is how the current administration is treating the troops, and how Senator McCain will continue to treat them if he is elected.  He’s already contended that giving education benefits to soldiers who serve the country for only two years would hurt the military by decreasing retention.  This is already more disgusting than the Vietnam War.  Coming from Iraq, 60% of soldiers return with clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.  People I know, people you know, four thousand of them — gone.  But still worse is that those who return are not the same as well.  A depressed generation, guilty of doing nothing but serving their country. 

The fascinating thing that always struck me about the Cold War was how ill-defined it was.  It was hot, but it was a series of proxy wars.  And when you look at the puppeteering, and the arming of militants to combat Soviet-backed militants in places like Afghanistan, you understand that Jeremy Glick is both directly affected by 9/11 and informed about the entire history of the situation.

See also:  Iran Contra, Iraq-Iran War, Taliban history
Technorati Tags: war, iraq, education, mccain

Cindy McCain – was she funding genocide, or is she helping to stop it?

A recent AP article describing the mutual fund sale of $2 million in oil-related companies operating in Sudan by Cindy McCain. The information actually came from a McCain campaign spokesperson, which I take to mean it is relevant for public consumption of the entire picture of all three candidates. We can discuss acquaintances, pastors, spouses and certainly investments in order to find out what kind of character will lead our nation. This sale led me to some digging, where this Reuters article on a possible cure for the genocide going down in the Darfur region of Sudan offered a chance to split my perspective.

Cindy McCain sells funds, ceasing her investment in a company doing business in Sudan. Was she funding the genocide, or is she now helping to stop it? Or both? Possibly, the answer is that her investment was in fact helping to fund militant groups responsible for murder, rape and torture at alarming rates and that pulling support does remove her influence from the conflict. Her husband, however, would have a larger responsibility in this region if he were to be confirmed by the people this November 4th.

556 gallons consumed = $100 saved, happy gas tax holiday!

John McCain is speaking in Phoenix today (05/05/08), fielding typical questions along with a few ‘Cinco de Mayo’ immigration questions. It’s laughable that reporters say things like “since it’s Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to ask you about immigration.” McCain has been one of the more rational Republicans on the issue. He was asked a few questions about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his relationship(if any) with the controversial sheriff. Sheriff Joe boasts great results, and makes people feel safe. That is, unless you are darker than a paper bag, which is probably why McCain made no close association with Arpaio.

Four minutes after talking about suspending the gas tax for the summer and “taking it out of general revenues”, Senator McCain begins talking about deteriorating bridges and roads.  First of all, we’re not “taking it out” of anything, it’s money not coming in to the federal government.  Secondly, that money would normally be coming in and going straight to the highway trust fund, or the fund that repairs and improves our transportation infrastructure.  

At least Senator Clinton proposes to make Big Oil pay a windfall profits tax after their record-breaking year.  This would indeed lead to different behavior, costing us more anyway, but at least it isn’t robbing Peter to pay Paul.  There’s no sense in making Americans less safe on the road while provoking more people to drive when the ultimate goal in this time is to have less oil consumed.  It is simply a political game to make candidates look good, but in reality, even this will cost us.  

We cannot allow games to be played with legislation in order to pander and get more votes.  That’s not the purpose or role of government, and every counter-productive action we take is like taking two steps away from the concept of a more perfect Union.  Don’t fall for these gas tax holiday tricks, demand real action from your government. Start by using the rooftop of any government building for solar cells, which would generate a hell of a lot more energy than the hot air coming out of Washington generates.

Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post as an excellent account of one man’s quest to save $100 from the gas tax holiday. 200 economists and a few Nobel prize winners also disagree with this proposed gas tax holiday. I’d simply implore everyone to read these and/or do their own math with their own vehicles. I hope you have a gas guzzler, because you need to consume 556 gallons of gasoline in order to save $100 (saving 18 cents/gallon).

556 x $0.18 = $100.08 

12 gallon tank filled 46 times

20 gallon tank filled 28 times

Is that worth us paying Congress to even consider?

Technorati Tags: politics, mccain, gas, tax, economy

Barack Obama is giving Republicans a reason to roam

This comment was posted on a recent article from the Cafferty File.  

Judy from Dodge City writes:
Jack, what’s changed is my perception of the Republican party. I was raised by staunch Republicans and have never voted any other way … until this year. I’m through. Finished. The situation has become untenable. Forgive me if I sound harsh, but there isn’t a snowball’s chance that I’d vote for John McCain. And Hillary gets on my last nerve. Barack Obama represents hope for the future, and I could very easily listen to him talk for the next eight years.

I’m from very near here, and a good friend of mine has a mess of relatives in Dodge City (home of Boot Hill, but never the hatchet).  The thing that stuck with me about this comment is just how generic it sounds.  Not saying Judy’s comments were generic, but I’ve heard things like this a lot coming from that area (SW Kansas) over the last month or two.  It’s the lack of accountability.  The handling of the war and economy are equal disasters, impossible for most Americans to ignore.  

A caller to a radio show on my way home wondered how these polls were somehow showing a close contest between John McCain and either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.  He worked in a large business where politics is a frequent topic of water-cooler chatter.  At this point in the election, he says the people who were gung-ho for George W. Bush are not interested in the McCain campaign.  

My point is that the people seem to see this election as the old Republican vs. the old Democrat with a true third candidate is available.  Obama just seems to be less interested in politics and more interested in problem-solving.  People recognize he’s not slinging mud and engaging in the annoying side of politics and it’s turning people on to voting.

McCain admits oil is a motive to send troops to Middle East

My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will – that will then prevent us – that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.  

Read about this on MSNBC’s First Read and watch the video at the Huffington Post.  

After being given a way out by saying he was somehow confused with the first Gulf War, McCain again repeated his assertion.

God bless the rich elitist, screw the poor and bitter

After drawing meaning from bowling scores, Reverend Wright and the manufactured distraction of the “bitter” remarks, this crap better blow up the same way. If it doesn’t get the same kind of media analysis and speculation as those situations, there’s something disgustingly wrong with our media. They already spin things to no end, but at least the truth can be found. Not nit-picking this comment to death for a month or two would be the most hypocritical thing imaginable. This isn’t something people can stretch into sounding elitist, this comment is a revelation about Senator Clinton’s true feelings of privilege.

Tell me, Senator Clinton, what do poor people deserve? Could you build us some nice, shiny new prisons? And by that I mean, can you use our tax dollars (from the 90% of us who cannot claim we’re rich) to build them for us?

So now Hillary Clinton is a confirmed liar — having lied on a job application — and a true elitist believing those who are rich are also all deserving as a result. If the average poor man lied on their resume or job application, they’d be fired and could be forced to pay back earnings. If a deserving rich, white woman running for president repeatedly lies on her application they call it a “gaffe” and move on. I’m sorry, lying was something I learned to avoid when I was incredibly young. This is on par with forgetting how to spell your own name.

I’ll keep an eye on the coverage over the next few days. I’m shocked that a day later I’ve hardly heard a peep about this, even from mainstream sources accused of being “far-left”. If anyone sees coverage or has a link, please share in the comments.

DailyKos has a good blog with the video and a bit about Howard Wolfson’s response. He tries to cover it up by saying she said “God blessed us.” Oh, that makes it all better. God loves rich people, and thus, must not love poor people. Right? If that’s her campaign’s damage control, it only digs the hole deeper.

And I almost forgot to link back to the original article at TheZoo, where I first heard about this story and watched the video. After watching the context, it’s not hard to see what she was trying to do. She was trying to assuage wealthy people, as her campaign is seen as “populist” because talking heads like Rush and Hannity label it that way.

What America’s pulse thinks of wars:

“Sixteen military wives. Thirty-two softly focused, brightly colored eyes. Staring at the natural tan of thirty-two gently clenching, wrinkled little hands.” When people talk about attacks on the modern family, here’s an unnecessary one.

Two generations can virtually sing the same the anthem in unison. It’s not a happy anthem. It’s still one of hope. But it takes votes to turn hope into reality.

We’ve never, ever been cool with it…

This song would get labeled populist or socialist if played today. Sean Hannity would tear it apart. He’d say this land is made for the smart, strong and wealthy.

It feels like “we” make these mistakes, but “we” also hate it all. People wonder why I’m pessimistic and I ask them if they took a history class.

One of the timeless questions. A sad one, as well.

A song about fighting for good causes, like never having to fight again.

One of the most offensively anti-war songs out there. It’s not sugar-coating anything. Even 30 years after it was new, it can still turn a head for daring.

A poem about the things you’ll see in a war-filled world, by the American poet himself.

One generation may decide not to fight it’s parents wars. Or we will have war in perpetuity.

Super-delegates never were going to steal the election, but they are Obama’s insurance after a rough patch

I have a theory. After seeing Chuck Todd say that another super-delegate has jumped ship from the Clinton to Obama campaign, citing the tone of the campaign. A lot of things are happening, and the candidates are each reacting to literally everything. Partly because they’re asked a ton of questions every day. This is a consequence of making themselves available.

I believe the super-delegates are something the media has never gotten right all along, much like a lot of things (Iraq War/WMDs, the impact of rhetoric). They were never going to stroll out of some closed-door meeting and steal the election from the deserving African-American candidate, as many in the media have speculated. They simply are acting as insurance to what the people want, and many of them (seemingly) have wanted the Obama message to catch on with the people, and are all too eager to jump ship when they see polls staying put through “controversy.” The media is known for spin, the people know this, and the super-delegates know it is the positions on issues (ethics reform, the war, the economy and health care) that matter most to people. When people hear change, we’re not politicos, we think of changing the BS in government that has put us in the current predicament.

Just an idea…

Hagee and Wright: A Comparison

WRIGHT: We took this country by terror, away from the Sioux, the Apache, the Arowak, the Comanche, the Arapahoe, the Navajo. Terrorism. We took Africans from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism. We bombed Granada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel. We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenagers and toddlers, pregnant mothers, and hardworking fathers. We bombed Qaddafi’s home and killed his child. Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against a rock. We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to payback for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hardworking people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they would never get back home. We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. Kids playing in the playground, mothers picking up children from school, civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.

We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and Black South Africans and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.

WRIGHT: The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied. (more credible source needed)

• Reverend Jeremiah Wright baselessly accuses the American government of introducing the HIV virus to black communities and cites some loose and some true examples of those trampled under the tread of America’s progress.  Wright is not allowed near the Obama campaign, he’s actually been distanced for some time as having the same ideas. Recently Obama has admitted Wright’s comments about speaking only as a politician at the National Press Club will strain even his relationship with a longtime family friend.

HAGEE: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans. Media Matters for America

• Pastor John Hagee (among others) blamed 9/11 on the City of New Orleans planning a gay pride parade, and allowing for sinful alternative lifestyles. John McCain has said he’s not wise to have sought his endorsement, but he happily accepts it in the same sentence.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So was it a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement?

MCCAIN: Oh, probably, sure. […]

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you no longer want his endorsement?

MCCAIN: I’m glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking. ThinkProgress

Someone remind me, do we still have the freedom to speak our minds?  Even if we’re stupid?  Does the First Amendment have any accuracy requirements?

And again, do we have any laws protecting certain groups from discrimination?  Now I realize it wasn’t “the Gays” applying for a job from Hagee, where anti-discrimination laws would apply, but which statement seems more baseless to you?

Note:  Wright has said more than this, but everything in context and he’s nothing more than any other fringe element. Having said that, Reverend Wright needs to shut up.  He is grandstanding, but he’s not saying anything at all that would draw criticism from the same people if he were associated with no political candidate.  It might garner some news, but commentators (thanks for the definition Bill O’Reilly, see below), are just stretching the crap out of this to either smear (Hannity, Stephanopoulos) or bring balance to their coverage of the Obama campaign.  

Technorati Tags: politics, obama, mccain, hagee, wright, rhetoric

It was Congress…

…just not the 110th United States Congress. When President Bush passes the buck on the housing crisis, he sends a solar wave of hypocrisy through the nation strong enough to power every home in America for the year. Maybe that’s a bit idealistic, but we truly have a revisionist in the White House. This current housing crisis couldn’t possibly have been created by bank deregulation and bankruptcy reform of the 109th Congress.

Banks knowing Americans couldn’t get out of trouble when they employed predatory lending practices didn’t spur a wave of high-risk, adjustable-rate mortgages. That couldn’t be how it happened. It must be, as President Bush said today, the fault of a slow-as-molasses Congress divided by the fringe elements of both sides. That makes perfect sense.

Scapegoating

The 110th Congress has failed America in many key ways. Inactivity in government can mean the difference of survival and “falling through the cracks”. It doesn’t come close to the devastation that counteractive policy and reform causes the American public. We work harder for less money, but the banks make far more. The average American swaps out name brands for generics as luxury jets, high-ticket jewelry and $10M apartments in Manhattan sell like hot-cakes.

Cronyism

When you sell office supplies and your boss is underqualified and only became manager because of personal connections, work can be a source of frustration. When your personal connections begin causing entire populations to be ignored in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane, it becomes a much larger issue. Mike Brown, Michael Chertoff, Alberto Gonzales are only a few of the more well-known examples of Bush administration cronies, but they provide enough of an example of how ill-served the American public can be when cronies are appointed. This angers me no matter who is doing it, but by far the most gross example of overstretched qualifications are those appointments by the current faux-Republican, neo-Conservative administration. With recent comments exposing his lack of respect for humanity, one could put Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in that grouping as well.

Economic factors are always difficult to directly correllate and I have a feeling I may have overstretched this link. The 109th did deregulate banks and make it much harder for hard working families to file for bankruptcy. In some way this surely has affected the housing crisis, in lender’s attitude and consumer’s vulnerability. I’m just not convinced it’s a direct cause -> effect relationship, so don’t get the impression I’m blaming the entire housing crisis on the 109th or one piece of legislation.

1000 veteran suicide attempts per month in 2007

Is this how we support our troops?  Slap on the yellow ribbon magnet and off we go?  Ignoring their medical bills and the horrors they face in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis hardly seems like supporting the troops. Claiming there were 790 suicide attempts among veterans last year, when the actual number was closer to 12,000 is simply reprehensible coming directly from the Veteran’s Affairs office.

300,000 with clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.  You think this war is supporting any troop or human being anywhere?  Just who is being served?  Just who is being supported? 

Paul Reickhoff said on Countdown today that the average claim at a Veteran’s Affairs hospital takes 183 days.  Without insurance, I have a better response time than that.  These statistics are not only shocking, they really bring me pause.  The cover-up effort at the Veteran’s Affairs office by Dr. Ira Katz was only more reason we truly need a more honest executive in the White House, and ultimately a transparent government.

History will not judge this administration kindly.

McCain couldn’t even begin to understand poverty

John McCain is on another speaking tour, this time talking about poverty. The It’s Time for Action tour, at least one major news outlet likens this tour to President Bush’s ‘compassionate, conservative campaign’. We now know what a sham that was. It’s not to say that he doesn’t have a few good ideas, it’s that he wants to talk about something he doesn’t – and couldn’t possibly – understand. This further calls into question one of the traditional roles of the First Lady, if he brings his heiress wife into that role. Their hearts may very well be in the right place, but every policy plan McCain rolls out reeks of true legislative elitism. Here is a snippet from the Think Progress story about his economic policy:

The Center for American Progress has the breakdown and analysis of Senator McCain’s economic plan and its impact on the poor. To say he’d be further forgetting these parts of America is an understatement. He’s spent the past year shattering every rational person’s view of him as an unabashed maverick and turned him into a true pandering Republican party loyalist. Partisanship is not what the American people need. Hollow claims of helping the poor is not what the American people need.

$8 an hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year yields $16,640 before taxes. If you don’t think there are single parents out there unable to find a better job, making this much stretch for two or more people. It happens. If you don’t know many people actually living on this much, you’d think it were impossible. You might even believe people who lived on this much did so by choice, or by some guilt of their own. It’s just not always a black-and-white issue.

A lot of the response I hear to things like this are that people are unmotivated, addicted, or otherwise prone to poverty. What I don’t hear is any honesty about the advantages given to those enabled to speak on the issue. I rarely hear people working face-to-face with people in poverty, telling them the low-down on why they are poor and will remain poor. I rarely have someone on the ‘front lines’ of this issue willing to dismiss the struggles of the suffering.

Senator McCain is highly capable and has spoken the truth on many occasions in the past.  He is still living up to that legacy in many respects.  He recently criticized the response to Hurricane Katrina, going so far as to point the finger at President Bush.

Asked at an outdoor news conference if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has vowed to campaign with President Bush, said, emphatically, “yes.”

John McCain can observe a problem and shed light on issues to more people, but as far as understanding this issue, he’s just never been poor or even close.   Many who have never experienced poverty have done great things to improve the quality of life for others less fortunate, and I have no doubt a McCain presidency may yield some benefits for those in poverty.  To offer welfare with no teeth is as cruel as offering nothing at all.  

The problem with poverty is that if you live in poverty, it’s all you see.  If you never live it, you’ll never see.  The subject itself breeds a discontent that makes the entire issue hard to discuss, but it must be done.  It must be done with people who live the experience.  Go ask a grandmother in the poorest neighborhood of your city what happened to her neighborhood.  Ask a worker who was laid off and saw his wife leave, taking the kids, why he might be more open to criminal activity.  This is not to justify behavior, it is simply to understand the problem.  

_________________________

A day’s work is a day’s work, neither more nor less, and the man who does it needs a day’s sustenance, a night’s repose and due leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman. – George Bernard Shaw

Turd Blossom is not an analyst, he’s a McCain supporter

Fox News should probably be mentioning this.  They are, in fact, Fair and Balanced.  Right?  

When you see Karl Rove, know his ties.  He’s a maxed out McCain supporter, former adviser to President Bush, also known as “Bush’s Brain”.  He’s unofficially assisting the McCain campaign and yet through all of this, Fox News considers him a political analyst.  When any supporting, Governor, legislator, Mayor or campaign personnel are, news outlets will aptly label them on the screen “Clinton supporter” “Obama supporter”, it’s a good way to make sure their message is taken from the perspective it is given. Fox things Karl Rove does not fit into this group. They make absolutely no mention of the ties Mr. Rove has to the current administration and McCain camp.  Most Fox viewers are probably watching in the same way people cause a rubberneck when a roadside accident is being cleaned up, but some may consider Rove an expert on something.  They sometimes refer to him as the ‘numbers’ guy, rather than the McCain guy.

Karl Rove does have an area of expertise, it’s just the corruption and dirty political tricks that dupe a nation into war.  The only thing this man can do is spin lies into a false reality for a large portion of the population.  People who don’t have any desire to make politics their entire lives shouldn’t be lied to for the hour a week they devote to election coverage.  Simply put, do not trust this man until he’s labeled as any other politician on TV to push their candidate’s agenda.  

 

It’s funny how Hillary Clinton brings up the job application analogy

Senator Clinton is the guest of Keith Olbermann on Countdown tonight. She continues to make the race more divisive than she needs to, however this interview (obviously, given the show) didn’t spend time focusing on Barack Obama as unelectable. She did connect Senator McCain to our new 100 Year War and this tanking economy. He’s not going to be worse than George Bush, but he’ll be taking over when the country is already down and could deliver the knockout blow to the average American family.

Sen. Clinton pointed out a matter of her resume, saying consider this in her job application. If she’s ever lived in the real world, when you lie and inflate your resume, you lose the job. The media shattered her bold-faced lie about Bosnia with a 2-minute video clip, where Chelsea stands by her side as an 8-year-old reads her a poem. I don’t care about jokes of sniper fire, it was a lie, and the fact that you want to consider this a job application means you did something that would disqualify anyone else from any job.

Still with Stupid? Why we need a smart President by Meghan Daum

With political discourse reduced to screaming contests and actual news eclipsed by exclusive and shocking footage of celebrities without makeup, we’ve become not only impatient with but downright opposed to the kinds of ideas that can’t be reduced to a line on a screen crawl or a two-sentence blog entry. Have you fallen into this trap?

I like this line of thought, and agree Barack Obama is most likely to know the price of a can of tuna. He and Michelle are actually most likely of all the candidates and spouses. Senator McCain and Senator Clinton are the kettle and pot calling a spoon black, in this case. The LA Times has been increasingly interesting and off the beaten (to death) path of most mainstream media. This column is well worth the read.

Yes, Obama’s richer than most ordinary people, but in that pantheon, he’s the guy most likely to know how much a can of tuna costs. As for his branding as an elite or an intellectual, why the jeers? Shouldn’t they all fit that bill? “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart summed it up best: “Not only do I want an elite president,” he said this week, “I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.”

read more | digg story

McCain: Cutting taxes more important than balanced budget

Republican John McCain said Sunday that cutting taxes and stimulating the economy are more important than balancing the budget, and accused both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama of supporting tax hikes that would worsen the impact of a recession.

read more | digg story

Senator McCain thinks he’s going to reverse our $3 trillion deficit by cutting wasteful spending. That’s great, Mr. McCain, but after that $18 billion, what then? We’re 0.6% better-off. The “wasteful spending” he should target is the $500 billion/year war festering a cauldron of anti-American sentiment and making orphans out of Iraqi children. We can’t afford McBush, John McCain is a far better human being and more worthy than Bush to lead the free world, but that was in 2000.

Today he is too out of touch to be effective, associates far too often with Bush administration cronies and knows absolutely nothing about the biggest issue this election cycle: the economy. Sure, he can get advisers who understand the economy, but without some independent understanding he won’t even know who to pick as advisers. That’s a dangerous situation given what has happened to this country as a result of the neo-conservative hijacking of the Republican Party in the last 7 years.

I also noticed on CNN and MSNBC today he’s reportedly aiming for energy independence within 5 years. This is an admirable goal. I just keep thinking “who’s the one spouting empty rhetoric again?” It seems to me that because Senator McCain has been in Washington for a quarter century, he gets a free pass. Anything he proposes is assume to be a good enough idea and above careful scrutiny. A major goal for energy independence should be in 5 years, but to say a candidate can eliminate reliance on foreign oil in that short time almost reeks of corporate greed over the last 8 years.

If this is/were possible, we basically fought a war on a lie, helped our enemy gain footing in a new part of the world. Our true enemy had never been allowed or accepted within Iraq (and isn’t in Iran, for that matter). We’ve stayed 5 years, as long as McCain thinks it would take to gain energy independence. Over that time, only oil companies and corporate executives have benefited from any Bush administration policy.

As this administration destroyed the economy, it sends us $600 checks to make us feel like we’re not being ignored and our rights trampled. As this administration has needlessly put our servicemen in harm’s way, we’ve only heard fear mongering from the White House and most of the news media. As schools have become re-segregated, this administration has standardized tests, so that those with the fewest opportunities and resources are graded on the same scale as those in $100 million high schools.

This article also brings up William Ayers, 1960s-era (as in, when Obama was under age 10) radical who admitted to setting bombs. They were the most extreme part of the anti-war movement, and truly detracted from many of the ideas they tried to uphold. The interesting thing about this, however, is that this man is an English professor. He’s not in jail. I know some Americans read this and think, well WHY NOT? That is a perfectly natural reaction, but the simple fact is that he has not been convicted of a crime in a court of law. Why should Obama be guilty by association? He points out, when asked about Ayers, that he was 8 years old at the time. I believe he was living in Indonesia or Hawaii, far away from Ayers and the Weather Underground.

I’m no TV Guide, but any show with Sean Hannity will discuss this for the next 6 months. I’m also no psychic, but he’ll probably never mention McCain’s wife stealing drugs from her non-profit organizations, his absolute ignorance of economic issues and his utter confusion concerning our enemy. He thinks the way to fix our tax code is to build another, optional system and have it run alongside the current system. That will sure save money for our economy, bloat the government and tax code even more. Vote for a better economy and a safer America, pass on John McCain.