McCain’s Media Avoidance

Great first-person account of McCain’s evaporating availability to media by Maeve Reston.

Everyone keeps warning that McCain could still pull off a win, but I don’t see how a sad, sad man like McCain can eek out a victory. Even with the best Republican efforts to steal the election.

Scott McClellan Endorses Obama

Reminds me of the movie “Atonement.” Scott McClellan spent years offering his talents in evasion to the Bush Administration and now wants to come out into the sun so the rest of us rational people can forgive and embrace him. I call bullshit.

I’d tell him to go home, but he’s from Texas and that’s where I live, so I think he should just go away.

OUCH! Sarah Palin’s Children a Reflection of her Anti-Intellectualism

Yesterday, I posted a lengthy blog on my Political Mpressions blog entitled, “Simpletons Taking Over The Republican Party.” Well, today, Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic and my favorite gay British conservative, posted his own theories in “How Anti-Intellectual is Sarah Palin?“:

Ramesh Ponnuru asks the question. He refers to Noam Scheiber’s devastating piece on Palin’s Nixonian hatred of educated elites. But Ponnuru wants more evidence. Here’s one way to look at the question: how has Palin brought up her own kids? Her eldest son is a high-school drop-out. Her eldest daughter has had, so far as one can tell from press reports, very uneven attendance in high school, and no plans for college. Her other daughters seem to spend a lot of time traveling the country with their mom at tax-payers’ expense. I’ve seen them at several rallies with the Palins this fall. Are they not in school?

The least one can say is that none of her children seems to have been brought up thinking that college is something to aspire to. And her new son-in-law just dropped out of high school as well.

You think the Obamas would be at the top of the ticket with this type of parental record? Should your kids be a reflection of your parenting and your parenting a reflection of your ability to be a good political leader?

RNC Pays $150K for Sarah Palin’s Wardrobe

For the record, I actually don’t care that the RNC has paid $150,000 for her wardrobe. They’re certainly not going rest their electoral chances on her intellect, for chrissakes. I do bet, however, that Joe-the-Plumber would have appreciated a little pocket money for being the RNC’s last horse in the race.

For shits and giggles, though, I thought I’d post this pic I found on The Huffington Post from Palin’s pre-VPILF days:

Obama Kicking Ass in Newspaper Endorsements

According to Publisher and Editor, Obama has received 121 endorsements from newspapers and McCain has http://www.dallasnews.com/images/spacer.gifreceived 42. Here in Texas, The Houston Chronicle and Austin-American Stateman have thrown their lot behind Obama, while The Dallas Morning News supports McCain. Now, I think it ridiculous that supposedly unbiased sources of information feel the necessity to endorse political candidates and that the practice should be stopped. That said, this will affect how I view The Dallas Morning News and certainly lowers their credibility in my eyes. No subscription for you!

Biden Predicts a Crisis – WTF?!

This weekend, Joe Biden predicted Obama will be tested by an international, generated crisis within first six months of his presidency to determine his mettle.

Now, Joe Lieberman said last June that the U.S. will be attacked next year because “Our enemies will test the new president early.”

What intelligence are these senators receiving that they are both predicting an attack and can they give us any more details? Otherwise, this is irresponsible fear-mongering and I said so right after Lieberman made his comments. I do not see the benefit of such comments unless these men have more information to share with us.

Stop scaring the American electorate, douchebags!!

Mark Salter: It’s the Media’s Fault!

Go figure. Mark Salter is blaming everyone but McCain and his campaign for the state of their presidential efforts. In an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Salter says:

The other guy is much more negative, by some almost immeasurable factor.  His message on McCain has been consistently negative since the North Carolina primary.  Barack Obama has not made a public statement in this country which did not include a full-throated attack on McCain.  It’s just a fact.  They have ads saying McCain opposed stem cell research.  McCain voted for stem-cell research as he got ready to run for President. He offered, against the consensus advice of his staff, the immigration bill.  Obama runs an ad saying, “He’s turned his back on you.”  For three weeks Obama has walked around this country calling McCain a liar, dishonorable, and erratic.  Those are character-based attacks that he has been leveling at us for weeks and weeks and not a single reporter has called him on it.  It’s just insane.  McCain won’t even use Rev. Wright, out of an abundance of caution. So he raises the next guy, Bill Ayers, and you know what we get?  We get called racist.  How is that racist?  You got me.

I know perception is reality and we all have our own version of the truth, but Salter is in severe need a come-to-jesus meeting.

Hey, Cindy, John Opposed Funding For Your Son, Too! (but i’m sure you knew that…)

Cindy McCain said yesterday, “The day that Sen. Obama cast a vote to not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body let me tell you. I would suggest Sen. Obama change shoes with me for just one day.”

I would suggest Cindy McCain switch shoes with someone who is informed. John McCain also voted against funding for the troops. He just did it when the funding was attached to a timetable – one which would get her son out of Iraq and most likely ensure the continuation of his life.

From Media Matters June 4, 2008:

on March 29, 2007, McCain himself voted against H.R. 1591, an emergency spending bill that would have funded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would have provided more than $1 billion in additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate passed H.R. 1591 by a margin of 51-47. Once the bill’s conference report was agreed to by the House, the Senate again passed the measure on April 26, 2007, by a vote of 51-46. McCain did not vote on that version of the bill. By contrast, Obama voted for it on both occasions. President Bush vetoed the bill, citing its provision for a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Read a newsreport, Cindy, before you head to the podium and microphone. Otherwise, you’re no better than your husband and Palin wallowing in mud.

Atheists A Large Voting Bloc In Florida Than Jews

An interesting paragraph in The New Republics, “Mis-Schlep” this morning:

All this fuss seems to be misdirected. It is not as though Jewish voters make up an especially large share of the electorate. Just five percent of voters were Jewish in the 2004 elections in Florida, and they split their votes 80/20 for John Kerry, hardly qualifying them as the most unpredictable swing demographic. By comparison, atheists made up 11 percent of Florida’s electorate–but you can’t find any Atheists for Obama yard signs.

I’m a non-believer and a rationalist and the inherent qualities in an atheist tend to make them less subservient to the herd mentalities that control organized religion. We FreeThinkers now find ourselves trying to group together in an effort to practice organized movement toward a shared goal. One of those main goals is countering control of religion in our society, culture and – mainly – government. It’s working and we’re growing by leaps and bounds, but still, we’re not a recognized voting bloc (we lean liberal anyhow) or discussed in Mainstream Media. Look for that to change in the coming years – especially as we are one of the most vocal supporters of gay marriage rights.

Run, Kay Bailey, Run!!

According to the San Antionio Express,

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday she will not seek re-election to a ranking Republican leadership post and signaled she would form an exploratory committee on a run for governor in 2010.

Right now we have the worst governor in Texas history, Rick Perry. Unsurprisingly, he was George Bush’s lt. governor. He endorsed Rudy Giuliani early, early, early in the presidential race undoubtedly assuming Rudy would earn the Republican nomination for president. Poor little Rick was hoping to be Rudy’s running mate, of course. Alas, Rudy’s campaign staff fumbled bigtime when they decided to skip the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary and now Rick has decided to seek reelection in 2010.

Well, not so fast, pretty boy!

It looks like Kay Bailey Hutchison is moving closer to challenging Rick for as Republican candidate for Texas Governor. I offer my full-throated support of this decision.

While I would never, ever vote for Kay, I certainly think she would make a better governor than Rick. We need to do anything we can to remove this governor who tried to make it state law that girls of a certain age receive the HPV vaccine despite the lack of testing of the drug. Unsurprisingly, Merck had given donations to Perry and they shared staff as well. See, Perry is an excellent follower of the example set by his previous boss. And that’s just one example of the mountain of terrible decisions Perry has made.

Each year, we have more and more viable Independent candidates for governor, but they do split the Democrat vote. I support Independent candidates on state level, including those for governor, quite a bit.

If Kay enters the race, she will help split the Republican vote and offer Independents and Democrats a better chance of being elected. I do think she has an excellent, excellent chance of winning – Texans are largely name-recognition, straight-ticket voters and Kay Bailey is a very well-known name with quite decent approval ratings.

At this point, anything that unseats Rick Perry is good for Texas and I will continue to cross my fingers that Kay Bailey throws her name into the race.

Politics of Personal Responsibility an Abysmal Failure

I don’t know when people will learn that the politics of personal responsibility, pure free market ideals, and the false idea sold to us as American capitalism leads to wealth being hoarded at the top, a weak middle class and, thus, a weak economy. If this financial crisis doesn’t hammer it home for most people, I don’t know what will.

A couple articles on Truthdig describe the failures of this policy and one of the safety nets for preventing it from occurring again.

“Whatever Happend to Personal Responsibility?” by Ellen Goodman:

In the economy even more than the culture, personal responsibility has been a best-seller. We were told by conservatives and free-market holy rollers that markets were smart and governments were dumb, that the government was the problem not the solution. So when credit cards come through the mail, college freshmen are expected to just say no. When poor people were wooed and seduced by subprime mortgages, they are the ones dubbed irresponsible.

Over time, the same rhetoric justified a huge shift in economic risks of the average citizen. In the name of the ownership society, many pensions became 401(k)s while health insurance costs moved from employer to employee. All of these risks were covered like a bad bet by the idea that people could take better care of themselves.

The ownership society turned into the everyone-on-your-own society. Three years ago, Congress passed a law making it harder for people to declare bankruptcy. Just six months ago, Henry Paulson, the treasury secretary who now wants to be czar, insisted the government actions to prevent mortgage foreclosures would “do more harm than they would do good.”

Of course we do not want an over-legislated citizenry. The problem is that Republicans confuse good governance with impeding freedoms. It is in fact the political left that protects civil liberties and freedoms far more than the right. The are mechanisms through which the business sector – which will have some regulation no matter who receives the most votes – can receive appropriate oversight.

“A Special Prosecutor for Wall Street,” by Joe Conason: (an important read especially for those in favor of limited government)

Anyone who doubts that massive fraud is at the center of this crisis hasn’t been reading between the lines. While much coverage in the business press has focused on tick-tock accounts of the final days of the big investment houses or the vagaries of the roiling market, there is no shortage of stories showing how we got into this morass.

The simple version of this decentralized criminal conspiracy can be summarized as follows: Mortgage lenders handed out loans to unqualified borrowers and sometimes tricked them into signing agreements they could not fulfill. Those same companies and others then marketed those loans with false assurances of their soundness to convince investors to buy them. Some of those investors then resold the packages of crap mortgages to other investors both here and abroad. Among the miscreants implicated in these activities were many with actual criminal records, whose entry into the mortgage industry was in no way hindered by the state regulatory agencies. They proceeded to amass fortunes large and small, using the same techniques familiar from previous financial scandals—pressurized sales techniques; targeting of the weak, elderly and insecure; outright fraud, forgery and deception.

Which of the participants knew what was going on here? Which of them merely failed to perform any due diligence before passing along undue risk to the individual investors, pension funds and others to whom they owed fiscal prudence? Which companies and executives actively encouraged thievery, and which simply looked away while they booked big profits?

Those are the questions that must be sorted out by competent judicial authorities if we are ever to establish the rule of law in our markets. The FBI is currently investigating more than 20 lenders, including the defunct Indymac, but there is much more to be done—and at the moment, the prosecutors seem to have set their sights too low. Someone with prosecutorial authority and resources should scrutinize the major players at UBS, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and all the rest. The passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley law was meant to discourage this kind of financial chicanery by major firms. Now is the time to apply its criminal sanctions to those who flouted the law.

State authorities, whose years of incompetence and negligence led directly to the debacle, cannot be trusted to enforce the law now. In Florida, for example, which has suffered the worst of the national epidemic of mortgage fraud, the state regulators were recently found to have permitted thousands of brokers with criminal records—including actual bank robbers!—to enter the marketplace. The best estimate is that up to 25 percent of the mortgages recorded in the Sunshine State over the past few years were tainted.

Whether it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance, the credit industry, the energy industry, we need regulation and oversight.

One of the largest problems we have is that our government – all sides of the aisle – are in cahoots with these robber barons.

Our vote is the most powerful tool we have and we must collectively demand an end to corporate political donations, further increase in the limitations on lobbyist influence, elect politicians – especially at the executive level – who will put a stop to the rampant criminal activity influencing the policies that govern our lives.

The Republicans call for personal responsibility for poor, unwed teenage mothers, minimum wage workers, credit card users. When it comes to industrial giants, however, Repubs are off the clock – as well as many Democrats. Until the American electorate decides to exercise informed voting and support a multi-party system, this collusion and illegal cooperation will continue.

Keating 5 Scandal Explained

Thanks HuffPO. My favorite party is seeing Andrea Mitchell’s “winged” hairdo.

Al Gore Calls Upon Young People To Be Civilly Disobedient To Stop Coal Plants

Mkay… During Clinton’s Global Initiative, Gore said,

If you’re a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.

I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact. I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that.

I’m not saying I disagree – recently, American citizens have largely ceded much of their influence on the government by refusing civil disorder.

Still, it’s somehow like going nude on a European beach. I just can’t do it. I suppose I could if I lived next door to a planned coal plant… Dammit, it’s time for some surrection and uprising and gettin’ arrested!

Alaska Women Reject Palin Rally Photos

My friend sent me photos (that had been sent to him) of an Alaska Women Reject Palin rally in Anchorage. They’re way fun!

Palin Quoted An Anti-Semite In Convention Speech?

There are all kinds of “little” issues that have no direct effect on the election, but are interesting footnotes in this most exciting time in American politics.

Karen Stabiner presented one of these footnotes on The Huffpo yesterday. I certainly learned a few new things from this blog and decided to post the relevant paragraphs:

Israel Baline is known to most of us as Irving Berlin, and he wrote “God Bless America” in 1918. He wrote it after he got to New York from Russia; his family fled the pogroms in 1893 and came to the land of the free, the home of the brave. He was so happy with his new home that he wrote his anthem, which always struck me as a nice addition to the patriotic repertoire – no bombs bursting in air, just mountains and prairies and oceans white with foam. And no stratospheric high notes that always make the listener nervous – will he make it? will her voice crack? – and make singing along almost impossible. This was people’s patriotism, easy to memorize, easy to sing. It’s a unifying song.

Which brings us to Berlin’s contemporary, Westbrook Pegler, the anonymous guy Sarah Palin quoted so approvingly in her acceptance speech, because he once wrote a column about the good people we grow in small towns. He was a famous conservative newspaper columnist (think Rush Limbaugh in the newsprint age), who wrote lots of other things, too, things so offensive that I cannot bring myself to type them out on this keyboard, including evil caricatures of the Israel Balines of this country. He didn’t much care for Jews, but they were in good company: He didn’t much care for Democrats, either, and he publicly hoped for the assassination of Robert Kennedy. One can only wonder – if Pegler were alive today, would he join in when we sing “God Bless America” in a ballpark, or would he mutter nasty asides about the religious beliefs of its esteemed composer?

We have a vice-presidential candidate who quoted an anti-Semite in her nomination acceptance speech. Question #5: Was she aware, in which case we can all stay up nights worrying about the scope of her personal intolerance? Or was she oblivious, in which case, there are all sorts of other reasons not to get a good night’s sleep.

Mike Scully, of Bush speech-writing fame helped craft Palin’s speech. The “lipstick on a bulldog” comment was likely the only original Palin thought. Still, it raises an eyebrow. Accordint to Wikipedia:

Following the Palin acceptance speech New York Times columnist Frank Rich elucidated the political significance of quoting Pegler. Mr. Rich noted that “Pegler was a rabid Joe McCarthyite who loathed F.D.R. and Ike and tirelessly advanced the theory that American Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe (“geese”, he called them) were all likely Communists.”^[7] He pointed out that Palin’s use of a quote from “once powerful right-wing Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler” was intended to send a subtle but unmistakable signal to far right wing supporters.

How wonderful. The Republican ticket is offering more of the Bush administration peppered with racism. How many times are Republican voters going to say, “Well…That’s not good and I don’t agree with that, but I’m still voting for McCain.”?? This is one of those moments where common sense is knocking and ain’t nobody home…

Bill Clinton Losing His FOBs

That’s Friends of Bill, to be exact.

Bill’s lackluster performances on The View and Late Show with David Letterman have left Democrats with an increasingly gaping hole in their bleeding hearts. Though I was never a huge fan of the megalomaniacal former president, he and his wife have been held as Democratic royalty since 2000. Those days are coming to an end as all three Clinton’s give the bare minimum of their efforts towards ensuring a Democratic victory on Nov. 5. They grit their teeth and perform dutifully, but their self-centeredness has eclipsed any concern for the dire situation the U.S. faces now and will continue to face under the leadership of McCain. Obama can win without the help of Bill Clinton (and if he doesn’t win it will not be Bill Clinton’s fault) – but Bill Clinton is ruining his own legacy. And that’s worth a note.

Chris Rock commented on Bill Clinton’s sagging support of Obama on Letterman:

In Paul Slanksky’s HuffPo Blog, A Note to Bill Clinton, he laid bare the Democrat sentiment toward Bill Clinton. His blog is seriously worth a read. Here are the beginning and ending paragraphs of the blog:

Given that we would never have had the odious George W. Bush in the White House in the first place if it wasn’t for your blow jobs, Bill, it seems obvious that you owe it to the people of this country, and especially to the parents whose kids died in the Iraq War that Gore would never have started, and to all the parents whose kids would be killed in the WarFest that would be a McCain/Palin — sorry, Palin/McCain administration — to do everything in your power to get Barack Obama elected.

If Obama loses a close election — one in which even one state where you could have made a difference goes for McCain because you sat home and pouted — it will be on you. We will remember that you couldn’t be bothered to rise above your petty resentments for something as trivial as saving your country from the enemies of everything you profess to believe in. We forgave you for Monica, Bill, but we won’t forgive you for this.

Most of the comments supported Slanksy’s statements and I thought I’d post a few here:

Truebluelefty: I can promise the Clinton’s here and now that if Bill Clinton doesn’t come off of his high horse that I will never vote for his wife, never. I am profoundly dissapointed in this guy. Sure it hurts to lose, we got this message before and in part she lost because of him. No way are we going to just forget about this in 2012, no way.

renatam: Americans are not stupid. This Clinton triangulation strategy w/McCain was used throughout our Democratic Primaries and so it continues. Clintons are ONLY for Clintons. The Nation, children, healthcare, etc. are clearly NOT their priorities if they validate John McCain — who is being repudiated by even George Will in Op-Eds!

Wilsonv: Hillary will not have my vote in 2012, or my money.
Her attitude when she lost, her PUMA supporters, and Bill’s half-ass support shows me that they really don’t want Obama to win.

Disgustedbuthopeful: If he is going to do these mealy-mouthed “endorsements” of Obama, I wish he would just go away. Watching him this week, It is painfully obvious he is not an Obama supporter. He is doing more harm than good as I believe this sends a “subtle” message to some voters. When he was campaigning for Hillary, he never missed an opportunity to hit Obama hard, but somehow he now just can’t seem to find anything objectionable about McCain. Go figure…and go away!!

Sasseti: Bill Clinton is betraying the DNC ” his mealy-mouthed support of Obama is disgusting. His support for McCain is so transparent. I watched him on the View and Letterman ” Bill is clearly out to destroy Obama and hasten the day of Hillary”s election. They have a vendetta. I will never support Hillary in any future Primary. They have shown their true colors.

Romney For VP, Anyone?

Did you see the clip of Charlie Gibson’s interview with Sarah Palin in which he asks her if she thinks Obama should have picked Hillary Clinton to be his running mate? She responded,

“I think he’s regretting not picking her now, I do. What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way — she handled those well.”

The quotation is really funny when compared to Palin’s comment about Hillary at the Newsweek Women & Leadership Event last March,

“I say this with all due respect to Hillary Clinton…but when I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or you know maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think you know that doesn’t do us any good – women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country.”

Well, Sarah, my guess is that McCain’s wishing he picked Romney as his VP now. If this economic avalanche is the determining factor in the election, Romney could have been an extremely valuable tool in his arsenal. He was a CEO of a company and governor for FOUR years. Not some PTA pres who appoints former schoolmates to her cabinet and doesn’t have the chops for media interviews.

Ooops!

What’s the sound? Oh yeah! The Palin bubble popping.

Mukasey Gets Something Right

Miracles do happen.

A horrifyingly “flawed” decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals threatened to send a woman who had been genitally mutilated back to Mali. According to the court, the woman had already been mutilated, so she need not fear such maltreatment again. First of all, woman are repeatedly mutilated in Mali. Second, the woman faced an arranged marriage and having her potential female children genitally mutilated. The U.S. Attorney General gave the rare opinion that the woman should not be deported and deserves a mountain of gratitude for the action.

It is not clear who on the Board of Immigration Appeals participated in this decision. The board’s members are listed as: Juan P. Osuna, Chairman, Charles Adkins-Blanch, Patricia A. Cole, Lauri S. Filppu, Edward R. Grant, Anne J. Greer, Frederick D. Hess, David B. Holmes, Garry D. Malphrus, Neil P. Miller, Hugh Mullane, Roger Pauley and Linda S. Wendtland.

Obviously, some of these members need to be replaced. Such a short-sighted opinion offends the very basic nature of humanity. Perhaps years of hearing these deportation appeals has dulled their sense of good and fairness. Whatever the reason, their time of efficacy is over and they have forgotten the very essence of America’s soul. The decision was shameful and sickening.

N.Y. Times On McCain Debate Style

I watched almost all of the Republican debates leading up the primary and witnessed McCain pulling in fairly bold performances. They were strategic in changing the field in his favor. The NYTimes offered their own take on McCain’s debate style and I particularly liked this paragraph:

What lasts from a review of Mr. McCain’s national debates — 21 this primary season and more than seven in 2000 that included George W. Bush — is that he relishes direct confrontation. He presents himself as the authority on the broad themes of war and peace, life and death. And depending on his level of contempt for his opponent, he can drip with condescension, even as he sits calmly with his hands folded in front of him, smiling.

Needless to say, there are going to be a lot of fireworks and I really can’t wait. I hate that gut-tightening feeling when your least-favorite candidate lands a jab, but maybe a glass or two of wine beforehand will dull the pain…

Economists On The Election

I’m sure many of you read last week that the Scott Adams, author of the cartoon strip Dilbert, commissioned his own survey of economists. I decided to check out the results and they’re definitely worth a read.

At considerable personal expense, Adams commissioned a survey of over 500 economists, drawn from a subset of the members of the American Economic Association, a non-political group, some of whose members had agreed in advance to be surveyed on economic questions. The results do not represent the AEA’s position. The survey was managed by The OSR Group, a respected national public opinion and marketing research company.

Nationally, most economists are male and registered as either Democrats or Independents. The survey sample reflects that imbalance.

48% Democrats

17% Republicans

27% Independents

3% Libertarian

5% Other or not registered

86% of the economists surveyed are male, and 65% work in the field of academia or education. The rest are spread across various industries or not working.

When asked which candidate for President would be best for the economy in the long run, not surprisingly, 88% of Democratic economists think Obama would be best, while 80% of Republican economists pick McCain. Independent economists, who in this sample are largely from the academic world, lean toward Obama by 46% compared to 39% for McCain. Overall, 59% of the economists say Obama would be best for the economy long term, with 31% picking McCain, and 8% saying there would be no difference.

The economists were asked to rank the most important economic issues and pick which candidate they thought would do the best job on those issues.
Rank Issues Obama McCain No Diff.

1 Education 59% 14% 27%

2 Health care 65% 20% 15%

3 International trade 26% 51% 23%

4 Energy 61% 22% 17%

5 Encouraging
Technology/innovation 43% 23% 34%

6 Wars and
homeland security 58% 30% 11%

7 Mortgage/housing crisis 41% 18% 41%

8 Social Security 40% 24% 35%

9 Environmental policy 72% 9% 19%

10 Reducing the deficit 37% 29% 33%

11 Immigration 33% 29% 38%

12 Increasing taxes 79% 14% 7%

on wealthy

13 Reducing waste 16% 38% 46%

in government

The economists in the survey favor Obama on 11 of the top 13 issues. But keep in mind that 48% are Democrats and only 17% are Republicans. Among Independents, things are less clear, with 54% thinking that in the long run there would either be no difference between the candidates or McCain would do better.

McCain Failed Vietnam POWs Left Behind

The Nation again raises questions about John McCain’s participation in efforts to keep hidden information regarding American POWs left behind after the Vietnam War. McCain has helped pass legislation that prevents families of Vietnam POWs from obtaining answers as to the fates of their loved ones. Such actions seem subhuman, but are failing to gain any attention in the mainstream media during this most important election of our times.

An early and critical attempt by McCain to conceal evidence involved 1990 legislation called the Truth bill, which started in the House. A brief and simple document, the bill would have compelled complete transparency about prisoners and missing men.

Bitterly opposed by the Pentagon (and thus by McCain), the bill went nowhere. Reintroduced the following year, it again disappeared. But a few months later a new measure, the McCain bill, suddenly appeared. It created a bureaucratic maze from which only a fraction of the documents could emerge–only the records that revealed no POW secrets. The McCain bill became law in 1991 and remains so today.

McCain was also instrumental in amending the Missing Service Personnel Act, which was strengthened in 1995 by POW advocates to include criminal penalties against “any government official who knowingly and willfully withholds from the file of a missing person any information relating to the disappearance or whereabouts and status of a missing person.” A year later, in a closed House-Senate conference on an unrelated military bill, McCain, at the behest of the Pentagon, attached a crippling amendment to the act, stripping out its only enforcement teeth, the criminal penalties, and reducing the obligations of commanders in the field to speedily search for missing men and report the incidents to the Pentagon.

McCain’s lack of character in other areas makes it very plausible the Republican presidential candidate would hinder efforts to find these hundreds of missing POWs. What isn’t plausible is the fact that he’s getting away without answering question 1 on this topic. There is a signicant double standard in the treatment of the presidential candidate. And while the Republicans continue to cry wolf, it is inherently clear that if McCain were held to the same standards as Obama by the media, he wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of being elected.

Weeklong Political Blip Slowdown

I won’t be updating as often until next week because my sister and her two boys came up from Houston since they lost power because of Ike and my time on the computer is limited because computer games are like crack to my nephews and I only have a sliver of time on the computer to write blogs.

My nephew doesn’t want me to say games are like crack to him. And I haven’t let my sister read this, cause she might not like that either. Oh well!

Until next time, here’s to electricity!

Google Looking At Offshore Data Centers

Crazazy! According the UK’s Times Online, Google is considering storing some if their data centers on floating barges over seven miles off the California coast. My mind immediately suspected they wanted to keep them away from the government’s prying eyes or for some other sinister reason. Apparently, not so:

The supercomputers housed in the data centres, which can be the size of football pitches, use massive amounts of electricity to ensure they do not overheat. As a result the internet is not very green.

Data centres consumed 1 per cent of the world’s electricity in 2005. By 2020 the carbon footprint of the computers that run the internet will be larger than that of air travel, a recent study by McKinsey, a consultancy firm, and the Uptime Institute, a think tank, predicted.

In an attempt to address the problem, Microsoft has investigated building a data centre in the cold climes of Siberia, while in Japan the technology firm Sun Microsystems plans to send its computers down an abandoned coal mine, using water from the ground as a coolant. Sun said it could save $9 million (£5 million) of electricity costs a year and use half the power the data centre would have required if it was at ground level.

While Google could also save on property taxes should they go the offshore route, this commitment to energy conservation by major corporations is encouraging. I don’t know that I’d keep large information centers in Siberia, however. If we piss of the Ruskies by letting some inexperienced Vice Presidential candidate threaten them with warfare, all they’d have to do is a lob a few missiles “accidentally” in the direction of the supercomputers and we’d be neck-deep in economic quagmire hell. The intertwining of geopolitics and economics can be more interesting than a back-from-the-dead plot line on Days of Our Lives! No, I’m not going overboard.

Executive Branch Continues Trend Toward Authoritarianism

You know that whole “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!” philosophy for which we Americans are so famous? And you know how the Bush administration has been squashing it one civil liberty at a time? Well, the George W. Bush band plays on into the very twilight of his term.

Reuters reported Friday that the Justice Department new rules for the FBI, which will kick in Oct. 1,

Justice Department and FBI officials told a news briefing the changes would allow agents in some terrorism cases to use informants, do physical surveillance and conduct interviews without identifying themselves or their true purpose.

They said such techniques currently could be used in ordinary criminal cases, but not for those involving national security, before an investigation has begun.

Not a big deal? Remember, that these laws the government erects to “protect us” and “keep us secure” can easily be misused to inappropriately prey on U.S. citizens. Of course, red flags at the ACLU went up,

The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern the rewritten rules had been drafted in a way to allow the FBI to begin surveillance without factual evidence to back it up.

It said that under the new guidelines, a person’s race or ethnic background could be used as a factor in opening an investigation, a move the ACLU believes will institute racial profiling as a matter of policy.

Would a McCain administration continue this town spiral toward authoritianism? You bet your ass.

Palin’s Executive Experience? What About Her Executive Judgment?

I think the whole “Sarah Palin has executive experience” because she was a mayor and governor is a load of crap. Let’s put that aside, however, and learn about her decision-making while in these “executive” positions. Everyone just jumped on the bandwagon without even taking a look at her record while holding these positions.

So, I’m providing the links to the NYTimes and WashPo’s pieces on Palin’s record as mayor and governor. People need to look at her record before blindly defending her – which is what I did before deciding between Hillary and Obama during the primaries.

NYTIMES: Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

WashPo: Palin Cut Own Duties As Mayor Of Wasilla (as reposted on MSNBC)

Hope my Houston peeps have their power and internet restored soon!

E.J. Dionne Nails It (And Us Democrats)

Dionne’s latest op-ed was posted on WaPo, TNR, Truthdig, RealClearPolitics and godknows where else. That must mean it’s true. What’s funny is that on two of the sites, the op-ed is called “Tiptoeing Though The Mud.” On another, it’s called “Stuck In The Muck.” And on another, it’s called “Lame You Can Believe In.” All good titles.

What’s better is what Dionne writes:

I'm sure he's saying something intelligent

The media bear a heavy responsibility because “balance” does not require giving equal time to truth and lies. So does McCain, who is running a disgraceful, dishonorable campaign of distraction and diversion.

But Obama bears responsibility, too: His task is to remind Americans that the stakes in this election are far higher than the matter of who said what and when about Palin. He isn’t doing that.

Yes, Democrats are a gloomy lot, inclined to see catastrophe around every corner and the other side as tougher, meaner and more manipulative. Imbibing this potion of false pride about Democratic virtue mixed with paranoia about the Republicans’ dark genius only leads to defeat followed by glorious disillusionment.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that Obama has lost control of this campaign. And he will not seize back the initiative with the sometimes halting, conversational and sadly reluctant sound bites he has been producing. The excitement Obama created at the beginning of the year has vanished, perhaps because his campaign (and, yes, many columnists) bought into the McCain campaign’s demonization of the big rallies. Absurdly, McCain is now contesting the terrain of change — and doing so at celebrity rallies of his own.

Here’s the problem: Few voters know that Obama would cut the taxes of the vast majority of Americans by far more than McCain would. Few know Obama would guarantee everyone access to health care or that McCain’s health plan might endanger coverage many already have. Few know that Obama has a coherent program to create new jobs through public investment in roads, bridges, transit, and green technologies.

In short, few Americans know what (or whom) Obama is fighting for, because he isn’t really telling them. And few know that McCain’s economic plan is worse than President Bush‘s. As Jonathan Cohn points out in the New Republic, McCain would add $8.5 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years. It’s McCain who should be on the defensive.

Excuse me for reposting so much of the article, however, it is an awesome read for junkies such as myself. Which is why it’s on every editorial site in the land. Except for Townhall, that is.

I do have to defend Democrats’ gloominess. After eight years of Republican destruction, our depression isn’t so much worry Obama will lose, though that’s part of it. Much of our blues is triggered by the fact that so many are willing to turn a blind eye to Republican behavior and lies and believe the Right will still deliver to them limited government, fiscal responsibility, self-determination and lower taxes. They actually believe this. After years and years of Republican presidencies proving otherwise.

And, now all the Repubs have to do is wave a spunky pro-life, abstinence-only Creationist in front of the flock and the herd comes running. Even if you still think Obama will win, as I do, watching fellow Americans prostrate themselves before misguided folly is DEEEE-PRESSING, yo!

In Feel Good News: Medvedev Says He Would Attack Georgia

even if it was on its way to becoming a NATO member. As Reuters reports, the Russian (cough, cough) leader was speaking to the Valdai Club, which is essentially a gathering of Russian experts to discuss Russia’s positions.

Crazily enough, Medvedev also said, according the the report, “Georgia’s August 8 attack on the pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia was Russia’s equivalent of the September 11 attacks on the United States.”

Wow. A military operation in a completely separate country was Russia’s 9/11… That Slavic sense of humor! Stop it, you silly arsehole!

Latest Attacks on Free Speech Around the Globe

1. Malaysian policie arrested top anti-government blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, who runs website Malaysia Today. Malaysian law allows for the “indefinite detention” of those arrested without a trial. Ring a bell? That’s right. In a similar move, the Bush administration disregarded Habeas Corpus for the prisoners in Guantanamo. Habeas Corpus is designed to protect us from arbitrary state action, limiting the government’s ability to morph into an authoritarian regime. With the aid of Dick Cheney, and Justice Department officials who play the semantics game loosely with the law and Constitution, however, George W. Bush started to build a coffin for the freedoms inherent in The United States of America.

Freedom of speech is the most important freedom of all and the Malaysian government is once again rearing grotesque and inhumane domination of their citizens. It is a shame in a country that wields a large influence on the Asian geopolitical stage. My computer could not connect to Malaysiatoday.com. Coincidence? I think not! (okay, nevermind. I just logged on…)

2. I saw this piece yesterday and almost spit my white tea (it’s my new thing) all over the computer screen. According to the British TimesOnline, Italian comic Sabina Guzzanti is being threatened with a 1929 law “which stipulates that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President.” She could serve five years in prison. What’d she do?

She merely said,

“But then, within 20 years the Pope will be where he ought to be — in Hell, tormented by

gotta love a good phallic symbol

great big poofter devils, and very active ones, not passive ones.”(I’m sure that’s the British translation, not American)

First of all, I didn’t know it was illegal to insult the Italian President. Can you imagine if that were the law here? Eight-five percent of the country would be on lockdown. What would prison race gangs do then? Write really, really mean blogs about each other?

In any case, I call upon Giovanni Ferrara, Rome prosecutor, to pull his head out of his ass. The fact that he’s threatening the Guzzanti with these charges brought more attention to her comments than otherwise. Furthermore, if he decides to pursue this case, she’ll hightail it up to the Council of Europe (where I interned, once upon a time) and make this a huge international scandal. Also, didn’t baby jesus teach forgiveness or something?

Awesomest Political Cartoon of the Day

Kudos to the Guardian:

Steve Bell, you rock. You rock hard.

Think Progress Reports on McCain’s Silence on Iraq

McCain has been curiously silent on his policy regarding Iraq other than claims of the surge’s success. He only mentioned Iraq twice during his convention speech, despite the fact that it rates second as the biggest issue on voters’ minds. According to TP, CNN’s Dana Bash says,

Why? A McCain adviser I talked to tonight admitted that talking about anything related to Bush especially policy, especially Iraq policy, is basically a political death knell especially for John McCain right now. So he didn’t mention it at all.

Not surprising seeing as how, as TP reported, another CNN reporter who has been as embedded as you can get in Iraq, Michael Ware spoke to Campbell Brown,

WARE: Well, at this point, a win may just be getting out while minimizing the damage.

Now, to what degree has the surge played into this? Again, that’s a matter of definition. What exactly is the surge? I would love to hear Senator McCain explain that — 30,000 troops…

BROWN: The increase in troops, the 30,000 troops. That’s what he means, though, when he says it, right?

(CROSSTALK)

WARE: Yes. Well, if that’s what he means, then he has no idea what is going on in Iraq, because what has delivered the successes we’re seeing now, as drops of 80 to 90 percent in violence, and who doesn’t welcome that, began two years ago or more, when the U.S. began engaging with its enemy, the Sunni insurgency when it started bringing in al Qaeda, and putting them on the U.S. government payroll, setting them loose on hard-core al Qaeda elements, and setting them loose on Shia militias.

BROWN: So, strategy, rather than the 30,000 troops?

WARE: Yes, the 30,000 troops was sort of like the icing on the cake.

McCain knows what’s going on. But he lies for his political ambitions. Those who trust his military instincts should be careful to remember that Bush’s lies about the war are almost treasonous. McCain is lying as well and, so far, lies have gotten thousands killed.

I’ve written a number of blogs trying to shed light on what is really going on in Iraq:

Decreased Violence in Iraq

Finally, Honesty about the Surge

and Leiberman’s politicization of the surge:

Lieberman Using Surge Resolution for Shady Politics