The McCain ads make me sick. There should be some minimum level of truth required in a political ad, but so far, it seems like the Lies of John McCain are validated by a docile press whofails to call him on them.
John McCain took on the Republicans? Yeah, right...By voting with George W. Bush 100% of the time in the last year? That'll show 'em.
Sarah Palin took on Big Oil? By supporting off shore drilling, drilling in the Arctic National Refuge, and wanting polar bears eliminated? Give me a break.
I have always, up until now, held a grudging respect for John McCain, believing that he was sort of an honest person, by Republican standards anyway. I'm over it.
McCain is running the most dishonest campaign in Presidential history. Even Karl Rove thinks McCain is lying. Yeah...Him!
McCain is sincerely ill equipped to deal with the challenges ahead, and Sarah Palin?...Don't make me laugh. Sarah couldn't build a hockey rink with Federal earmark money without going $20,000,000.00 over budget. She'll do a fine job of following W. His record of amassing more debt than all pervious Presidents in American history combined could well be in jeapardy is McCain somehow gets in. The American economy doesn't stand a chance with these two driving the train.
Did I mention the McCain has had 5 occurences of melanoma? Know what the odds are?
Anyway, as we watch all those big republican financial firms collapse and have to be bailed out with your money, remember that McCain's financial advisor, Phil Gramm, was the architect of the regulations that made all this possible. And also remember the McCain first rose to national prominence as the main player in the Keating banking scandal which cost us $3 Billion in bailout money. Cindy McCain's family was heavily invested in Keating, by the way. A small detail that gets left out by the liberal press,
So McCain has no capability of solving the economic mess we're in, but that won't matter, because we'll be fighting World War Three.
Lost in the weekend's news was the fact that Bolivia and Venezuela kicked out the United States Ambassadors. Venezuela supplies over 10 percent of America's oil and could supply much more. Say what you will about Hugo Chavez, he is well loved in his country, except by rich people and multinational corporations.
Bigger still, is the news that in retaliation for installing the Spy Wars missle defense system in Poland, Russia has now landed and stationed long range bombers in Venezuela.
Here's another little bit of info: Our Missle defense system doesn't work. Whatcha wanna bet Russia's bombers work very well?
The all Universe stupid level of the Bush Administration has grievously weakened America. McCain looks for all the world to be even worse than Bush in his saber rattling and belief that war is the answer to all problems. As the article noted above points out, The only one stupider than the man running screaming off the cliff...Is everyone following him off the same cliff.
That would be John McCain and everyone who votes for him.
Peace,
Steve
McCain Lies to America
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Good is Dead?...(Maybe Not!)
It is with angry frustration that we have watched our Press fail in its solemn Constitutional duty America, that of Factchecker and Truth teller. With the McCAin campain caught on camera with its many hands in the cookie jar, they looked straight at reporters and editors and newscaster all across America and ernestly said, "It wasn't me!"
Somehow, someway, somebody needs to travel across America and wipe off the mirrors above the sinks at which the people who are supposse to call out liars wash their faces and look themselves in the eye.
But there is a glimmer that some in the media are coming to grips with the fact that they do not want to live in the America of John McCain and the power mad entities that he serves. In the struggle between good and evil, it appears that good may not be dead yet.
The McCAin campaign is gradually being busted for what they are...LIARS!
All of these quotes come from the mainstream media...Krugman, Kinsley, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Washington Post, Andew Sullivan...Many More...Is there a light rising in America? Will we demand that our candidates for the highest office in the land, simply tell us the truth?
Unless the referees in America blow the whistle, the cheaters will win.
Do I hear that whistle blowing?
Peace,
Steve
Somehow, someway, somebody needs to travel across America and wipe off the mirrors above the sinks at which the people who are supposse to call out liars wash their faces and look themselves in the eye.
But there is a glimmer that some in the media are coming to grips with the fact that they do not want to live in the America of John McCain and the power mad entities that he serves. In the struggle between good and evil, it appears that good may not be dead yet.
The McCAin campaign is gradually being busted for what they are...LIARS!
These stories have two things in common: they’re all claims recently made by the McCain campaign — and they’re all out-and-out lies.
she is a fraud, and has been proven a demonstrable liar
Whatever the motivation, the McCain campaign simply has a problem telling the truth. With each passing the day, the disdain this gang shows for the democratic process becomes a little more breathtaking.
He says he’d rather lose the election than lose the war. But it seems he’d rather lose that honor he’s always going on about than lose the election.
The American people are watching her repeatedly lie to them, day after day, and watching her do so with no apparent compunction.
All of these quotes come from the mainstream media...Krugman, Kinsley, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Washington Post, Andew Sullivan...Many More...Is there a light rising in America? Will we demand that our candidates for the highest office in the land, simply tell us the truth?
Unless the referees in America blow the whistle, the cheaters will win.
Do I hear that whistle blowing?
Peace,
Steve
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Of Pigs and Bridges
So now the American political process has degenerated to the level of the paint on a cheap whore.
Obama's words, "Lipstick on a pig", describing McCain's policies is the latest supposed outrage. McCain says it's a sexist remark aimed at Sarah Palin, which is funny, since McCain used the expression twice with regard to Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin herself said that it was the only difference between herself and a pitbull.
Can we talk about an issue, by any chance? Can we talk about Sarah Palin being the world champion per-capita earmark queen? Nope..Lipstick.
Can we talk about John McCain's votes against the GI Bill and against veterans? Nope...Lipstick.
Can we talk about the repeated lies McCain and Palin tell every day about her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere"? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's embrace of the disastrous economic policies of Phil Gramm that allowed the lending industry to destroy itself requiring tax money bailouts of Trillions of dollars? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's dangerous warmongering? His call for military confrontation with Russia? His call for military confrontation with Iran? His promise of more wars? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's support of tax policies that place the tax burden ever more heavily on the average American and give more tax breaks to the richest of the rich? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's idiotic cave in to Big Oil and now pushing for drilling off of our last remaining pristine beaches? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's promise to destroy Social Security, even while he himself draws $24,000.00 a year? Nope...Lipstick!
Ok, then...If that's what you want, that's what I'll do.
John McCain's entire campaign is based on putting lipstick on a pig, and John McCain himself is nothing more than a Bridge to Nowhere!
Peace,
Steve
Obama's words, "Lipstick on a pig", describing McCain's policies is the latest supposed outrage. McCain says it's a sexist remark aimed at Sarah Palin, which is funny, since McCain used the expression twice with regard to Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin herself said that it was the only difference between herself and a pitbull.
Can we talk about an issue, by any chance? Can we talk about Sarah Palin being the world champion per-capita earmark queen? Nope..Lipstick.
Can we talk about John McCain's votes against the GI Bill and against veterans? Nope...Lipstick.
Can we talk about the repeated lies McCain and Palin tell every day about her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere"? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's embrace of the disastrous economic policies of Phil Gramm that allowed the lending industry to destroy itself requiring tax money bailouts of Trillions of dollars? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's dangerous warmongering? His call for military confrontation with Russia? His call for military confrontation with Iran? His promise of more wars? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's support of tax policies that place the tax burden ever more heavily on the average American and give more tax breaks to the richest of the rich? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's idiotic cave in to Big Oil and now pushing for drilling off of our last remaining pristine beaches? Nope...Lipstick!
Can we talk about McCain's promise to destroy Social Security, even while he himself draws $24,000.00 a year? Nope...Lipstick!
Ok, then...If that's what you want, that's what I'll do.
John McCain's entire campaign is based on putting lipstick on a pig, and John McCain himself is nothing more than a Bridge to Nowhere!
Peace,
Steve
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Give all you can...Work your Ass off
The Sarah Palin choice has resulted in a swing of 20% of the white women's vote. This is mainly because nobody knows who Sarah Palin is, but that is changing. She has an impressive resume vehemently opposing women's health issues and that's coming out, but the pettiness of Sarah Palin strikes me as incredible offensive:
There is something deeply strange about this woman. We know she lies easily and without fear of consequence, as her big fat lie on the national stage about her supposedly opposing the "Bridge to Nowhere", but she has a narcissistic bent that makes George W. Bush look positively normal.
How does one reconcile, for instance, the ability to justify falsifying an expense report that charges for lodging in one's own home with charging the victims of rape for their own rape kit used to investigate this dastardly crime against women?
Couple that with extremist opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and where it threatens the life of the woman, and you have the makings of a doctoral level study in personality disorder.
But that's just my opinion...Here's another...
The best ever blog post on Sarah Palin.
At any rate, let's not fixate on Sarah Palin, except to point out that it illustrates everything wrong with Republicanism.
Republicans are completely inept at running our country, protecting our environment, or providing a safe and nurturing school system for our children. They've run up trillions of dollars on the American credit card, deregulated mortgage lending into bankruptcy, and screwed up our foreign policy beyond all recognition.
They are deeply corrupt, with everything they touch requiring a government bailout using your tax money. There is no Republican platform plank that will make for a better America. If they win this electionIt will mark, for all time and history, the end of Constitutional America.
Give all you can! Work your ass off!
Peace,
Steve
There is something deeply strange about this woman. We know she lies easily and without fear of consequence, as her big fat lie on the national stage about her supposedly opposing the "Bridge to Nowhere", but she has a narcissistic bent that makes George W. Bush look positively normal.
How does one reconcile, for instance, the ability to justify falsifying an expense report that charges for lodging in one's own home with charging the victims of rape for their own rape kit used to investigate this dastardly crime against women?
Couple that with extremist opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and where it threatens the life of the woman, and you have the makings of a doctoral level study in personality disorder.
But that's just my opinion...Here's another...
The best ever blog post on Sarah Palin.
At any rate, let's not fixate on Sarah Palin, except to point out that it illustrates everything wrong with Republicanism.
Republicans are completely inept at running our country, protecting our environment, or providing a safe and nurturing school system for our children. They've run up trillions of dollars on the American credit card, deregulated mortgage lending into bankruptcy, and screwed up our foreign policy beyond all recognition.
They are deeply corrupt, with everything they touch requiring a government bailout using your tax money. There is no Republican platform plank that will make for a better America. If they win this electionIt will mark, for all time and history, the end of Constitutional America.
Give all you can! Work your ass off!
Peace,
Steve
Monday, September 08, 2008
Quotes
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."...Barack Obama
America must now make a choice. We must decide if we want a continuation of Republican rule and the ruination it has brought, or a return to the Democratic principles our nation was founded upon. Eveyone has their pet issue. It behooves us as voters to examine the policies and plans advocated by our candidates. There's a problem with examning John McCain, though. He has flipped on most of his previous stands and hasn't defined himself much on any issue except war and drilling our beaches (one of his bigger flip flops).
Here is a nice set of quotes with links to detailed policy from
Barack Obama.
The McCain camp has nothing close to any of this, preferring instead to concentrate on trying to smear Obama instead of offering a positive choice for the Presidency.
And then there's Obama's record in the Senate:As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel.
After announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama emphasized withdrawing American troops from Iraq, energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and promoting universal health care as top national priorities.
But let's make sure we take a look at John McCain's record as well. Ummm...Well, it seems that Senator McCain was pretty much absent from the Senate in the last year and missed well over 400 votes, so it's somewhat difficult to compare his record with Obama's.
Actually, I have a couple of questions I would like to ask:
Dear John...
Do you still believe Saddam was behind 9-11?
Why hasn't Sarah Palin even had an FBI Background check yet?
Believe that? Hell...Even school teachers get background checks!
Frank Rich asks a few more. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/opinion/07rich.html
That should keep you guys busy for a bit.
Cheers,
Steve
America must now make a choice. We must decide if we want a continuation of Republican rule and the ruination it has brought, or a return to the Democratic principles our nation was founded upon. Eveyone has their pet issue. It behooves us as voters to examine the policies and plans advocated by our candidates. There's a problem with examning John McCain, though. He has flipped on most of his previous stands and hasn't defined himself much on any issue except war and drilling our beaches (one of his bigger flip flops).
Here is a nice set of quotes with links to detailed policy from
Barack Obama.
The McCain camp has nothing close to any of this, preferring instead to concentrate on trying to smear Obama instead of offering a positive choice for the Presidency.
And then there's Obama's record in the Senate:As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel.
After announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama emphasized withdrawing American troops from Iraq, energy independence, decreasing the influence of lobbyists, and promoting universal health care as top national priorities.
But let's make sure we take a look at John McCain's record as well. Ummm...Well, it seems that Senator McCain was pretty much absent from the Senate in the last year and missed well over 400 votes, so it's somewhat difficult to compare his record with Obama's.
Actually, I have a couple of questions I would like to ask:
Dear John...
Do you still believe Saddam was behind 9-11?
Why hasn't Sarah Palin even had an FBI Background check yet?
Believe that? Hell...Even school teachers get background checks!
Frank Rich asks a few more. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/opinion/07rich.html
That should keep you guys busy for a bit.
Cheers,
Steve
Saturday, September 06, 2008
What are we changing here?
I thought I had seen the nastiest lies ever in the past two presidential elections, and somehow, I though John McCain would be slightly better at sticking with the truth.
WRONG!
Want to know who is responsible for high spending and the deficit? According to McCain it is Democrats. McCain voted with the Bush republicans roughly 100% of the time and they got essentially everything they wanted in money bills. Bush did veto bills that would provide medical care for children...Too wasteful..Need money for bombs and tax cuts for Big Oil companies. Dang those Democrats!
So McCain is the change guy...And I'm Mary Poppins.
I think that of all the evils of the Bush Administration, and picking the one among many is a tough choice, the greatest of all was his turning the United States Justice Department into an enforcement arm of the Republican Party. It looks to me like McCain thinks this was a fine idea. Why do I say that? McCain's people are up in Alaska right this very minute doing everything they can to derail the investigation into Governor Sarah's interference with with due process in the attempted firing of her ex-brother-in-law. The Alaska papers have dubbed it "Troopergate" and it does seem to desereve the label.
Sarah Palin was not exactly happy with the Alaska Public Safety Director, who wanted to follow the law and due process. In an obvious abuse of power, Palin shows us that she absolutely WILL be ready on day one to follow in the footsteps of Dick Cheney.
Sound familiar? We can't have a bipartisan investigation of the Governor because that would be politicized. The only way we can make this a fair and impartial investigation is to let it be turned over to a panel of all Republicans appointed by the Governmor, herself.
McCain is having a hard time making the case that he will change a damned thing and we still won't investigate Republicans when he gets in charge.
John McCain has sold his soul in order to try to become President. If he is elected, American will have lost its soul as well.
Peace,
Steve
Do you know the difference between Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney?
WRONG!
Want to know who is responsible for high spending and the deficit? According to McCain it is Democrats. McCain voted with the Bush republicans roughly 100% of the time and they got essentially everything they wanted in money bills. Bush did veto bills that would provide medical care for children...Too wasteful..Need money for bombs and tax cuts for Big Oil companies. Dang those Democrats!
So McCain is the change guy...And I'm Mary Poppins.
I think that of all the evils of the Bush Administration, and picking the one among many is a tough choice, the greatest of all was his turning the United States Justice Department into an enforcement arm of the Republican Party. It looks to me like McCain thinks this was a fine idea. Why do I say that? McCain's people are up in Alaska right this very minute doing everything they can to derail the investigation into Governor Sarah's interference with with due process in the attempted firing of her ex-brother-in-law. The Alaska papers have dubbed it "Troopergate" and it does seem to desereve the label.
Sarah Palin was not exactly happy with the Alaska Public Safety Director, who wanted to follow the law and due process. In an obvious abuse of power, Palin shows us that she absolutely WILL be ready on day one to follow in the footsteps of Dick Cheney.
Key Alaska allies of John McCain are trying to derail a politically charged
investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner
in order to prevent a so-called "October surprise" that would produce
embarrassing information about the vice presidential candidate on the eve of the
election.
Sound familiar? We can't have a bipartisan investigation of the Governor because that would be politicized. The only way we can make this a fair and impartial investigation is to let it be turned over to a panel of all Republicans appointed by the Governmor, herself.
McCain is having a hard time making the case that he will change a damned thing and we still won't investigate Republicans when he gets in charge.
John McCain has sold his soul in order to try to become President. If he is elected, American will have lost its soul as well.
Peace,
Steve
Do you know the difference between Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney?
Friday, September 05, 2008
Here it comes...
The good news is that both campaigns have said they will not run negative ads on 9-11. Some of them are funny, though.
I think it's particularly ironic when someone can use a Budweiser commercial to poke at the most successful kept husband in American history. His hundred million dollar wife made her money hauling Bud in Arizona. This is interesting in another way. I remember the local Baptist church going after a local candidate because his wife owns a liquor store, and yet, not a peep out of them regarding demon alchohol this cycle.
Here's a funny from our Union folks at http://worsethanbush.org/.
I think it's particularly ironic when someone can use a Budweiser commercial to poke at the most successful kept husband in American history. His hundred million dollar wife made her money hauling Bud in Arizona. This is interesting in another way. I remember the local Baptist church going after a local candidate because his wife owns a liquor store, and yet, not a peep out of them regarding demon alchohol this cycle.
Here's a funny from our Union folks at http://worsethanbush.org/.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Enquiring Minds are At it Again
From the "most trusted name in news"...Hmm...That doesn't sound right?
Anyway, The National Enquirer has jumped on the Palin family scandals. There's a lot to jump on, and of course they skip over the "Bridge to Nowhere" lies Palin told and went straight to what their readers want...SEX!
Palin actively lobbied for the infamous bridge and when it got politically hot, she let it go, but guess what? She kept the earmark money anyway. Her Alaska cronies got their money and a small Alaska town didn't get the bridge to the regional airport like they'd been promised...But why am I harping on this little Palin lie when we could be talking about SEX? Or as the RWXtions's call it...Abstaining from Abstinence.
The story should not be about Bristol Palin, and in fact it isn't. It is about her Mom's demand that she get married and then let the cat out of the bag about her pregnancy. (Gotta be true. Enquirer says so. Hey, It was good enough for Republicans when Rush used the Enquirer to back up one of his whoppers) Only this one may not be such a whopper. Mommy has ambitions, Bristol, dear.
Remember what she said last night...
"You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?...Lipstick!"
I think that denigrates lots of people's beloved pets and isn't the correct analogy, anyway. After trying to watch the Republican Convention and cringing as they told plain old lie (Sarah Palin got more votes for Mayor than Biden did for President...from preacher Huckabee) after lie (Obama will raise taxes on the middle class...Fred Thompson...Actually McCain's plan raises middle class taxes), I decided that there was way too much hypocrisy for me to stomach at one time. I mean, all that fawning over the Constitution and our Freedoms from the political party that has done more to destroy our constitutional freedoms than any other party in the last 200 years...My personal constitution can only take so much.
This whole republican thing really isn't about whether a pit bull hockey mom who is under investigation for abuse of power is remotely qualified to be Vice President. It's about the entire Republican party being personified by the policies of George W. Bush and hiding from it. It's about incompetency on so many levels. It's about ruining the value of the American dollar. It's about letting mortgage corporations run amuck and destroy the housing market. It's about letting polluters write environmental legislation, and gun manufacturers write gun law, and Mining companies write mine safety legislation, and about giving tax breaks to an oil corporation that records the largest profit ever made by a corporation in the history of mankind...
No! The Republican convention isn't about lipstick and a pit bull...It's about putting lipstick on a Pig!
Peace,
Steve
Anyway, The National Enquirer has jumped on the Palin family scandals. There's a lot to jump on, and of course they skip over the "Bridge to Nowhere" lies Palin told and went straight to what their readers want...SEX!
Palin actively lobbied for the infamous bridge and when it got politically hot, she let it go, but guess what? She kept the earmark money anyway. Her Alaska cronies got their money and a small Alaska town didn't get the bridge to the regional airport like they'd been promised...But why am I harping on this little Palin lie when we could be talking about SEX? Or as the RWXtions's call it...Abstaining from Abstinence.
The story should not be about Bristol Palin, and in fact it isn't. It is about her Mom's demand that she get married and then let the cat out of the bag about her pregnancy. (Gotta be true. Enquirer says so. Hey, It was good enough for Republicans when Rush used the Enquirer to back up one of his whoppers) Only this one may not be such a whopper. Mommy has ambitions, Bristol, dear.
Remember what she said last night...
"You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?...Lipstick!"
I think that denigrates lots of people's beloved pets and isn't the correct analogy, anyway. After trying to watch the Republican Convention and cringing as they told plain old lie (Sarah Palin got more votes for Mayor than Biden did for President...from preacher Huckabee) after lie (Obama will raise taxes on the middle class...Fred Thompson...Actually McCain's plan raises middle class taxes), I decided that there was way too much hypocrisy for me to stomach at one time. I mean, all that fawning over the Constitution and our Freedoms from the political party that has done more to destroy our constitutional freedoms than any other party in the last 200 years...My personal constitution can only take so much.
This whole republican thing really isn't about whether a pit bull hockey mom who is under investigation for abuse of power is remotely qualified to be Vice President. It's about the entire Republican party being personified by the policies of George W. Bush and hiding from it. It's about incompetency on so many levels. It's about ruining the value of the American dollar. It's about letting mortgage corporations run amuck and destroy the housing market. It's about letting polluters write environmental legislation, and gun manufacturers write gun law, and Mining companies write mine safety legislation, and about giving tax breaks to an oil corporation that records the largest profit ever made by a corporation in the history of mankind...
No! The Republican convention isn't about lipstick and a pit bull...It's about putting lipstick on a Pig!
Peace,
Steve
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Moose and Snow
The McCain/Palin campaign is in a death spiral of epic proportions.
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I don't even think that Fred Thompson's reading from last night can save them. I thought Fred's little mythological part about John McCain refusing to give up his military secrets even though he was being tortured was touching, didn't you? I personally forgive McCain for signing all those documents against the USA while he was in a POW camp. I mean I probably would have caved just like he did, but let's be honest about it and not pretend that it didn't happen, and let's all come on out against all forms of torture while we're at it. Just because McCain has flipped and supported torture recently, he was against it before he was for it, and there's still time for him to flop. (Hmmm...Did I say that right? Guess so)
Anyway, McCain's Veep pick seems to be up to her miniskirt in the rankest form of good old boy and girl corruption and cronyism. This particular tale is all about selling icecream to eskimos...If I'm lyin' I'm Dyin'...and cheese futures to miners, and using Federal earmark money to do it. Then there's the part about Sarah firing the entire State Agriculture and Conservation Board because they wouldn't agree to funnel state money into the IceCream Scheme. The company involved was named "Mat Maid" and locals call it Sarah's Dairy Gate Scandal.
Here's the whole thing with links and references and some snark to keep the storyline moving, and yes, Moose and Snow are involved but just barely. The hook was too good to pass up.
And just so's you don't think I was lying about that miniskirt either...here you go (Thanks to Susan)
The shoes and that glass of red wine sorta top off the photo, don't you think?
John McCain needs to quit looking at this woman's ass and realize he totally screwed up.
Peace,
Steve
Teenaged Pregnancy and John McCain
Before I spiral off on my rant, I want everyone to know I agree with Barack Obama that kids should not be used for political promotion, beyond the family portrait of one form or another. Show the picture of the happy family at most, and then leave them alone.
There is a problem in drawing the line with the Sarah Palin family, however, and I can't put my pencil on the wispy line between Sarah's basking in the glow of her son who will be deployed to Eye- Rack, and the declaration that her unmarried and pregnant 17 year old daughter is out of bounds. If you want your children's lives to be a private family matter, make sure you keep them a private family matter.
...And the Palin family pregnancies were not brought to the forefront by those mean old Liberals, either. They were a matter of public discussion and speculation in Alaska for the last year. A governor who hides her pregnancy for seven months before she publicly owns up to it is bound to cause talk, but that's another story. What I think is interesting in McCain's Palin problem is the stark light it throws on republican so called family values, and the effect of conservative policies on America's children. Here are some plain old "Liberal" facts...
80% of all Teen pregnancies are "unintended".
The United States of America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world.
Compare the US rate (44 per 1000) with the United Kingdom (27 per 1000) and you see how far out in last place we really are.
The United Kingdom has the worst teen pregnancy rate in Europe.
One third of US girls get pregnant before the age of 20.
There are three quarters of a million children born to teenaged girls each year in the USA.
Abstinence programs have no effect on teen sexual activity, but more kids who have abstinence training engage in unprotected sex.
And now the biggie...The Alaska governor has the line item veto. What item did Sarah Palin personally strike from the budget last year? Funding for a state program to help unwed teen mothers find a place to live.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are on record opposing funding for pregnancy prevention programs that involve teaching information about contraception.
John McCain has made a lousy choice for his Vice Presidential running mate, not because she has a pregnant teenaged daughter, but because Sarah Palin shares McCain's Barefoot and pregnant policies toward providing information to America's children, and both of them are willing to force their own ideas on ALL of America's children even though a majority of Americans oppose McCain's policies.
Let me rephrase that...John McCain wants your children taught something most of us don't accept and in fact oppose.
Conservatism is a vile philosophy in these respects...And John McCain has sold his soul to the worst of its proponents in order to help himself win the presidency.
And the fact that John McCain has sold his soul is his real problem. The fact that he allowed his handlers to choose a completely unqualified running mate is merely a symptom of McCain's emasculation.
We must protect America's children from these people.
Peace,
Steve
More
There is a problem in drawing the line with the Sarah Palin family, however, and I can't put my pencil on the wispy line between Sarah's basking in the glow of her son who will be deployed to Eye- Rack, and the declaration that her unmarried and pregnant 17 year old daughter is out of bounds. If you want your children's lives to be a private family matter, make sure you keep them a private family matter.
...And the Palin family pregnancies were not brought to the forefront by those mean old Liberals, either. They were a matter of public discussion and speculation in Alaska for the last year. A governor who hides her pregnancy for seven months before she publicly owns up to it is bound to cause talk, but that's another story. What I think is interesting in McCain's Palin problem is the stark light it throws on republican so called family values, and the effect of conservative policies on America's children. Here are some plain old "Liberal" facts...
80% of all Teen pregnancies are "unintended".
The United States of America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world.
Compare the US rate (44 per 1000) with the United Kingdom (27 per 1000) and you see how far out in last place we really are.
The United Kingdom has the worst teen pregnancy rate in Europe.
One third of US girls get pregnant before the age of 20.
There are three quarters of a million children born to teenaged girls each year in the USA.
Abstinence programs have no effect on teen sexual activity, but more kids who have abstinence training engage in unprotected sex.
And now the biggie...The Alaska governor has the line item veto. What item did Sarah Palin personally strike from the budget last year? Funding for a state program to help unwed teen mothers find a place to live.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are on record opposing funding for pregnancy prevention programs that involve teaching information about contraception.
John McCain has made a lousy choice for his Vice Presidential running mate, not because she has a pregnant teenaged daughter, but because Sarah Palin shares McCain's Barefoot and pregnant policies toward providing information to America's children, and both of them are willing to force their own ideas on ALL of America's children even though a majority of Americans oppose McCain's policies.
Let me rephrase that...John McCain wants your children taught something most of us don't accept and in fact oppose.
Conservatism is a vile philosophy in these respects...And John McCain has sold his soul to the worst of its proponents in order to help himself win the presidency.
And the fact that John McCain has sold his soul is his real problem. The fact that he allowed his handlers to choose a completely unqualified running mate is merely a symptom of McCain's emasculation.
We must protect America's children from these people.
Peace,
Steve
More
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Good Pix, Bad Pix
We ran into a couple of things on the hike.
I've seen this berry several times at this time of year but I have yet to identify it. The bush is a couple of feet high and the berries grow directly off the stem. Anybody know?
And then there was this nice gift from someone who took down the cable and rode their ATV past the signs. I guess it is too much to ask them to buy a backpack to carry their child with them into the woods, and even more trouble to ask them to carry out their trash and their dirty diapers. This was lying right in the middle of the trail.
I've seen this berry several times at this time of year but I have yet to identify it. The bush is a couple of feet high and the berries grow directly off the stem. Anybody know?
And then there was this nice gift from someone who took down the cable and rode their ATV past the signs. I guess it is too much to ask them to buy a backpack to carry their child with them into the woods, and even more trouble to ask them to carry out their trash and their dirty diapers. This was lying right in the middle of the trail.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A Game of Risk
With the choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate, John McCain has done what Democrats could not. This election is now about him and his decision making ability...And how long he can live.
If you want indisputable proof that Republican hacks can lie with a straight face, watch, as they try to make the argument that Palin is qualified and ready to assume the duties of the Vice Presidency, much less Presidency. No thoughtful or rational human being would believe it. That won't stop Republicans.
We are busy learning about Mrs. Palin, who has served as the Mayor of a town slightly smaller than Rockwood, TN and, for less than two years, the Governor of Alaska.
Alaska is a state. It has very few people in it and is widely considered the most corrupt state in the union, which is questionable by those of us who live in Tennessee, and the scandals that are so far associated with Palin are more of the misuse of power variety rather than the normal money stealing corruption we usually associate with Republicans.
Here is a compendium of her record in government. Don't blame me if it seems a bit short.
The Cliff notes version of Palin's record is that she is a tax, borrow, and spend Republican, who doesn't believe in science, think creationism ought to be taught in school, loves big oil, and dislikes polar bears. With only her short time in public office, though, she has developed a penchant for using her power to destroy people she doesn't like or who won't misuse their office to do her bidding, Her heart beats as one with John McCain in the character trait of petty vindictiveness. She's being investigated.
That last link, oddly enough, was removed from Palin's Wikipedia entry, which was apparently scrubbed by an operative named "Young Trigg" the night before her announcement.
A blogger who lived in Wasilla, Alaska complains about Palin's record of decaying public schools and her love for Mal-Wart.
So...What does Karl Rove think about McCain's Veep pick? Here is what Rove said...
Only Karl Rove said that three weeks ago about Governor Tim Kaine, whose credentials were way too light for the job in Rove's view. Kaine had only been governor for twice as long as Palin, and before that mayor of a city with a larger population than the entire state of Alaska. I wonder if Rove's head exploded when he heard McCain picked Palin?
The bottom line on all this is that now America can plainly see that John McCain is erratic, unpredictable, and is in fact the far more risky candidate for president when compared to Barack Obama.
Peace,
Steve
If you want indisputable proof that Republican hacks can lie with a straight face, watch, as they try to make the argument that Palin is qualified and ready to assume the duties of the Vice Presidency, much less Presidency. No thoughtful or rational human being would believe it. That won't stop Republicans.
We are busy learning about Mrs. Palin, who has served as the Mayor of a town slightly smaller than Rockwood, TN and, for less than two years, the Governor of Alaska.
Alaska is a state. It has very few people in it and is widely considered the most corrupt state in the union, which is questionable by those of us who live in Tennessee, and the scandals that are so far associated with Palin are more of the misuse of power variety rather than the normal money stealing corruption we usually associate with Republicans.
Here is a compendium of her record in government. Don't blame me if it seems a bit short.
The Cliff notes version of Palin's record is that she is a tax, borrow, and spend Republican, who doesn't believe in science, think creationism ought to be taught in school, loves big oil, and dislikes polar bears. With only her short time in public office, though, she has developed a penchant for using her power to destroy people she doesn't like or who won't misuse their office to do her bidding, Her heart beats as one with John McCain in the character trait of petty vindictiveness. She's being investigated.
That last link, oddly enough, was removed from Palin's Wikipedia entry, which was apparently scrubbed by an operative named "Young Trigg" the night before her announcement.
A blogger who lived in Wasilla, Alaska complains about Palin's record of decaying public schools and her love for Mal-Wart.
So...What does Karl Rove think about McCain's Veep pick? Here is what Rove said...
I think he's going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president.
...it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I'm really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States?
Only Karl Rove said that three weeks ago about Governor Tim Kaine, whose credentials were way too light for the job in Rove's view. Kaine had only been governor for twice as long as Palin, and before that mayor of a city with a larger population than the entire state of Alaska. I wonder if Rove's head exploded when he heard McCain picked Palin?
The bottom line on all this is that now America can plainly see that John McCain is erratic, unpredictable, and is in fact the far more risky candidate for president when compared to Barack Obama.
Peace,
Steve
Friday, August 29, 2008
Watch Obama's Speech
But don't worry, Republicans...John McCain will rise to the occasion and deliver...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Privacy?
For some reason there are always some folks who seem to think they should be able to tell other folks what they should do and not do in their personal lives.
Chief among those are personal medical decisions, such as whether people should be able to end their own life, or refuse life sustaining medical treatment beyond a certain time, such as after higher brain function has ceased as it had in the famous Karen Anne Quinlan situation. I find this same willingness to interfere in others lives to be at the root of some of our more divisive social issues, such as the misnamed "prolife" movement.
The pro-life movement is actually simply the anti-abortion movement, or the anti "Roe v. Wade" movement, and is mostly driven by certain religious opportunists who gain self importance by attempting to force their opinions and views upon others. Their announced goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that regulated the state's ability to intrude on a woman's right to make her own medical decisions and not have those decisions made by her government. Contrary to what the Pro-life folks will tell you, Roe v. Wade was not a decision directly about abortion. It was a decision affirming a woman's right to privacy. It is one of the greatest and wisest decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court and the majority of Americans support it and want it upheld. This is a problem for right wing evangelicals and others who want the power of control over women's personal medical decisions.
But, for politicians, there is a problem with being direct and honest with anti-abortionists...Even though they are a small number of voters(roughly 13-17%), they vote as a mindless one issue block. The Republican party, starting with Ronald Reagan, has pandered to this group who were somehow able to delude themselves and accept that pro-war, pro rich, pro multinational corporation, pro gun, anti-middle class, and anti working class, ideologies somehow went along with the anti constitutional, anti privacy, ideology that overturning Roe v. Wade would actually represent. To think that these various ideologies support each other is nuts. Absolutely institutionally asylum lock up batshit crazy. But for conservatives it works.
Is it worth noting that pro-life voters are the most pro-war constituency in America? Does that make sense?
I'm sticking with nuts.
Anyway, 13% is a big enough number that Democrats feel like they have to do what can be done to neutralize this voting block without actually giving in...OK, maybe pandering to them but in such a way as to not compromise the vast majority of Democrats who understand and support the idea that abortion should be available under the just restrictions of Roe v. Wade and remain "Safe, Legal, and Rare!"
A meeting was arranged:
You should read the entire piece. In some ways it worries me. I see this as a very smart strategic move, but if anyone thinks they are going to reason with conservatives they are wrong.
Negotiate, yes...Reason? Hasn't happened yet and no evidence abounds to make me think it ever will.
Wall Street Journal
Peace,
Steve
Chief among those are personal medical decisions, such as whether people should be able to end their own life, or refuse life sustaining medical treatment beyond a certain time, such as after higher brain function has ceased as it had in the famous Karen Anne Quinlan situation. I find this same willingness to interfere in others lives to be at the root of some of our more divisive social issues, such as the misnamed "prolife" movement.
The pro-life movement is actually simply the anti-abortion movement, or the anti "Roe v. Wade" movement, and is mostly driven by certain religious opportunists who gain self importance by attempting to force their opinions and views upon others. Their announced goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that regulated the state's ability to intrude on a woman's right to make her own medical decisions and not have those decisions made by her government. Contrary to what the Pro-life folks will tell you, Roe v. Wade was not a decision directly about abortion. It was a decision affirming a woman's right to privacy. It is one of the greatest and wisest decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court and the majority of Americans support it and want it upheld. This is a problem for right wing evangelicals and others who want the power of control over women's personal medical decisions.
But, for politicians, there is a problem with being direct and honest with anti-abortionists...Even though they are a small number of voters(roughly 13-17%), they vote as a mindless one issue block. The Republican party, starting with Ronald Reagan, has pandered to this group who were somehow able to delude themselves and accept that pro-war, pro rich, pro multinational corporation, pro gun, anti-middle class, and anti working class, ideologies somehow went along with the anti constitutional, anti privacy, ideology that overturning Roe v. Wade would actually represent. To think that these various ideologies support each other is nuts. Absolutely institutionally asylum lock up batshit crazy. But for conservatives it works.
Is it worth noting that pro-life voters are the most pro-war constituency in America? Does that make sense?
I'm sticking with nuts.
Anyway, 13% is a big enough number that Democrats feel like they have to do what can be done to neutralize this voting block without actually giving in...OK, maybe pandering to them but in such a way as to not compromise the vast majority of Democrats who understand and support the idea that abortion should be available under the just restrictions of Roe v. Wade and remain "Safe, Legal, and Rare!"
A meeting was arranged:
"In 2004, we couldn't get a word in. This time, they reached out to us," says Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, a six-year-old advocacy organization that sponsored a convention gathering that featured antiabortion Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis of Tennessee. "The big tent is opening up."
The platform states that the party "strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade," the 1973 Supreme Court decision affirming abortion rights, "and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion." But it asserts that the party "also strongly supports access to comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education" that "help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions."
You should read the entire piece. In some ways it worries me. I see this as a very smart strategic move, but if anyone thinks they are going to reason with conservatives they are wrong.
Negotiate, yes...Reason? Hasn't happened yet and no evidence abounds to make me think it ever will.
Wall Street Journal
Peace,
Steve
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Will we let John McCain start World War Three?
Covering up any real public attempt to answer the question John McCain's suitability for the office of president is the incessant blather that he was a prisoner of war and therefore a hero.
Getting shot down on a mission may be nothing more than an indication that he is a bad pilot, and the additional evidence of his numerous other lost aircraft would seem to support that finding. We know that McCain was passed over for promotion to the rank of Admiral and left the Navy as the first failure in his military lineage, so we know that even if he could explain away such things as flying a Navy jet into the marsh on his way to the Army Navy football game, McCain cannot explain away the fact that his judgement on military matters has been a dismal failure and costly in money and devastating in the cost of lives for our Military.
Even before George W. Bush began the beat of his war drum, John McCain was already calling for the invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq!
John McCain called for the first target in the war against Al Queda and retribution for 9-11 to be Iraq. As we knew then, Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. As we know now, Iraq had absolutely ZERO Weapons of Mass Destruction. As we should all know then and now, John McCain has exactly No Rational Judgement on these matters...He simply wants war.
McCain has been nearly as great a failure as George W. Bush in his life, his military career, and his judgement. Other "heroes" who survived the same POW camp have gone public and stated that McCain is not fit for the presidency. They do not want his vicious temper, so ready to strike out at anything and anyone when he is angered, to be anywhere near the trigger for war...Especially nuclear war.
In the aftermath of the dismal failure of his beloved Iraq war, we have to ask whether McCain has learned anything? Apparently not as his saber rattling for a war in Iran so obviously indicates:
So has McCain learned anything from the tragedies caused by his championing Ahmed Chalabi and the mishandling of the Iraq war? Thousands of our troops died, remember. Well, no! His immediate call, when Russia rolled into the Republic of Georgia, was for Georgia to immediately be inducted into NATO. This was a stupid call on McCain's part. If Europe had been so stupid as to heed McCain's call, we would be facing off with Russia in what could easily become World War Three.
John McCain is a warmonger who, having failed in Vietnam, failed in Iraq, failed in Afghanistan, failed in Pakistan, is looking for a war he can win. What in the name of all that is peaceful and good does he think he will accomplish by picking a fight with the one other super military power in the whole freaking world with the capability and the will to decimate America? Of course it will decimate Russia as well, but who the hell wins in this kind of confrontation?
McCain has nothing in the way of temperament or international diplomacy skill that can guide America through the treacherous world climate that he himself was so instrumental in creating. He is that proverbial man, who has only a hammer in his tool box and therefore sees all the world and its complex problems as a nail. Given his track record of being exactly wrong on every single international issue, he cannot be allowed to take his little hammer out into a world that has the capability of hitting back with disastrous results.
Democrats must make the case that is so obvious...John McCain is unfit to lead America into anything except World War III.
Peace,
Steve
Getting shot down on a mission may be nothing more than an indication that he is a bad pilot, and the additional evidence of his numerous other lost aircraft would seem to support that finding. We know that McCain was passed over for promotion to the rank of Admiral and left the Navy as the first failure in his military lineage, so we know that even if he could explain away such things as flying a Navy jet into the marsh on his way to the Army Navy football game, McCain cannot explain away the fact that his judgement on military matters has been a dismal failure and costly in money and devastating in the cost of lives for our Military.
Even before George W. Bush began the beat of his war drum, John McCain was already calling for the invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq!
...the emotion of Sept. 11 overwhelmed his former cool-eyed caution about deploying American troops without a clear national interest and a well-defined exit, turning him into a tool of the Bush administration in its push for a war...
John McCain called for the first target in the war against Al Queda and retribution for 9-11 to be Iraq. As we knew then, Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. As we know now, Iraq had absolutely ZERO Weapons of Mass Destruction. As we should all know then and now, John McCain has exactly No Rational Judgement on these matters...He simply wants war.
McCain has been nearly as great a failure as George W. Bush in his life, his military career, and his judgement. Other "heroes" who survived the same POW camp have gone public and stated that McCain is not fit for the presidency. They do not want his vicious temper, so ready to strike out at anything and anyone when he is angered, to be anywhere near the trigger for war...Especially nuclear war.
In the aftermath of the dismal failure of his beloved Iraq war, we have to ask whether McCain has learned anything? Apparently not as his saber rattling for a war in Iran so obviously indicates:
The Sept. 11 attacks “demonstrated the grave threat posed by a hostile regime, possessing weapons of mass destruction, and with reported ties to terrorists,” Mr. McCain wrote in an e-mail message on Friday. Given Mr. Hussein’s history of pursuing illegal weapons and his avowed hostility to the United States, “his regime posed a threat we had to take seriously.” The attacks were still a reminder, Mr. McCain added, of the importance of international action “to prevent outlaw states — like Iran today — from developing weapons of mass destruction.”
So has McCain learned anything from the tragedies caused by his championing Ahmed Chalabi and the mishandling of the Iraq war? Thousands of our troops died, remember. Well, no! His immediate call, when Russia rolled into the Republic of Georgia, was for Georgia to immediately be inducted into NATO. This was a stupid call on McCain's part. If Europe had been so stupid as to heed McCain's call, we would be facing off with Russia in what could easily become World War Three.
John McCain is a warmonger who, having failed in Vietnam, failed in Iraq, failed in Afghanistan, failed in Pakistan, is looking for a war he can win. What in the name of all that is peaceful and good does he think he will accomplish by picking a fight with the one other super military power in the whole freaking world with the capability and the will to decimate America? Of course it will decimate Russia as well, but who the hell wins in this kind of confrontation?
McCain has nothing in the way of temperament or international diplomacy skill that can guide America through the treacherous world climate that he himself was so instrumental in creating. He is that proverbial man, who has only a hammer in his tool box and therefore sees all the world and its complex problems as a nail. Given his track record of being exactly wrong on every single international issue, he cannot be allowed to take his little hammer out into a world that has the capability of hitting back with disastrous results.
Democrats must make the case that is so obvious...John McCain is unfit to lead America into anything except World War III.
Peace,
Steve
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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