Friday, October 31, 2008

Reversal of Fortune

Joseph E. Stiglitz explains how John McCain's policies would be disastrous for the country:

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair (via Truthout):
"Describing how ideology, special-interest pressure, populist politics, and sheer incompetence have left the US economy on life support, the author puts forth a clear, commonsense plan to reverse the Bush-era follies and regain America's economic sanity...."

Bush: A Last Push To Deregulate

While Americans are distracted by the Presidential Election, the Bush Cabal continues to push America even further down their path of destruction....

R. Jeffrey Smith (washingtonpost.com):
"The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo...."

The McCain-Palin Camp's Final Act of Intellectual Dishonesty?

CQ Politics | David Corn:
"I've listened to Sarah Palin several times in the past few days. (It's my job--what I get the big bucks to do.) And as she whips up the crowds that come to her rallies, her biggest argument against Barack Obama is that he WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES. Did you get that? Oh, you missed the nuance. HE WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES. And her case is built on two facts. But they are not facts--or not full facts. And though these attacks have been debunked repeatedly by mainstream media factcheckers, Palin and John McCain keep using them. Call me naive, but I still find it surprising that they believe they can get away with such serial misrepresenting (or lying). So for the last time--I hope--let's look at these two claims...." Continue reading.
Photo credit: A Barack Obama ad quotes press remarks about John McCain's campaign. Democrats have added a ''Count the Lies'' Web page. (YouTube.com) The Boston Globe

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The President: America's Role Model

Before you vote, ask yourself what kind of role model you want for your children and for America's children?

John McCain and Sarah Palin, who appeal to our basest instincts, offering more of the division, hatred, and win-by-any-means-politics we've seen for far too many years?

Or Barack Obama and Joe Biden who inspire us to be better people, to take responsibility for ourselves and for one another, and to aspire to our higher selves?

Ask yourself what lessons your children are learning from the astounding lack of truthfulness and ethics displayed by the McCain campaign?

What would your child think if they picked up the phone and heard one of John McCain's hateful robo calls?

What will you say to your children when they point to John McCain's lies and distortions as reason enough for them to lie to you?

Is that the kind of moral behavior you want to instill in your children?

Think, people, before you vote.

What kind of world do you want for your children?

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Zinn: Vote for Obama but direct action needed

Howard Zinn says real change will come when people take direct action to stop house foreclosures

The Real News Network:
Howard Zinn says real change will come when people take direct action to stop house foreclosures


Howard Zinn says vote against McCain, vote for Obama. Even though Obama does not represent any fundamental change, he creates an opening for a possibility of change. Obama will not fulfill that potential for change, unless he is enveloped by a social movement, which is angry enough, powerful enough, insistent enough, that he fills his abstract phrases about change with some content. We need direct action, because only that kind of indignation is going to have some affect on the people in Washington.

Bio

Howard Zinn is an American historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and playwright. He is best known as author of the best-seller 'A People's History of the United States'. Zinn has been active in the Civil Rights and the anti-war movements in the United States. Zinn was raised in a working-class family in Brooklyn, and flew bombing missions for the United States in World War II, an experience he now points to in shaping his opposition to war. In 1956, he became a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, a school for black women, where he soon became involved in the Civil rights movement, which he participated in as an adviser to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC and chronicled, in his book SNCC The New Abolitionists. Zinn collaborated with historian Staughton Lynd and mentored a young student named Alice Walker. When he was fired in 1963 for insubordination related to his protest work, he moved to Boston University, where he became a leading critic of the Vietnam War.

Chomsky: In swing states vote Obama

People should vote against McCain and for Obama - but without illusions

Chomsky says while it's true that the two parties are essentially like factions of one party - the party of business - the differences do matter to ordinary people. If you are living in a swing state, there is nothing wrong with picking the lesser of two evils.

The Real News Network:

Noam Chomsky: Current crisis demonstrates anti-democratic nature of financial system



In part two of their interview, Paul Jay asks Prof. Noam Chomsky to weigh-in on the dominant subject of the day, the economic crisis. While Prof. Chomsky agrees that the current crisis is a very serious one that will have broad implications for the broader society, he points out that the foreseeable Medicare-induced economic crisis will "dwarf" the current one in magnitude. Furthermore, Prof. Chomsky develops his contention that democracy is hindered by unrestrained free markets. While on the other hand, state-restricted markets are democratic by design in that they allow people take control--through their government--of financial institutions to force them to include externalities and risks to the broader population in their decision-making. These factors are such that profit-seeking enterprises will not accommodate them when left to their own volition, given that free markets do not put a price on these externalities.

Bio:

Noam Chomsky has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, contemporary issues, international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. His works include: Aspects of the Theory of Syntax; Cartesian Linguistics; Sound Pattern of English (with Morris Halle); Language and Mind; American Power and the New Mandarins; At War with Asia; For Reasons of State; Peace in the Middle East?; Reflections on Language; The Political Economy of Human Rights, Vol. I and II (with E.S. Herman); Rules and Representations; Lectures on Government and Binding; Towards a New Cold War; Radical Priorities; Fateful Triangle; Knowledge of Language; Turning the Tide; Pirates and Emperors; On Power and Ideology; Language and Problems of Knowledge; The Culture of Terrorism; Manufacturing Consent (with E.S. Herman); Necessary Illusions; Deterring Democracy; Year 501; Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War and US Political Culture; Letters from Lexington; World Orders, Old and New; The Minimalist Program; Powers and Prospects; The Common Good; Profit Over People; The New Military Humanism; New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind; Rogue States; A New Generation Draws the Line; 9-11; and Understanding Power.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

In "The End of America," Naomi Wolf Unveils 10 Point Wake Up Call

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY MUST READ, MUST SEE.

"Watch. Think. Get Motivated."

And VOTE FOR OBAMA.

Watch The End of America



Eugene Hernandez writes:
"This film came together as an urgent message," explained author Naomi Wolf this weekend at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Published last fall, her book The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, was swiftly adapted for the screen by filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg ("The Devil Came on Horseback," "The Trials of Darryl Hunt") and a version was completed just in time for a Hamptons fest screening on Friday and a SnagFilms online debut this week.
"I wrote this book because I could no longer ignore the echoes between events in the past and forces at work today," Wolf begins in her acclaimed book. Like the work, "The End of America" lays out a ten-point blueprint for what Wolf calls, "closing societies." Introducing the new documentary on Friday, Wolf explained that she studied history and found alarming links that shaped her narrative. Exploring the history of emerging dictatorships in Germany, Italy, Argentina, the Czech Republic and China, Wolf predicted a bleak future for the United States in the wake of rights restrictions imposed in the wake of 9/11.... Continue reading.

Watch The End of America

Related:

Antidotes to Complacency: Four Reasons to Not Take the Election for Granted

Paul Loeb warns:
"It's tempting to begin taking the likelihood of Obama's victory just a bit for granted. The polls look good. McCain and Palin are flailing, and Ted Stevens is headed for jail. The Republicans have started their blame game.

But it's dangerous to assume that the election is over, or to settle for a narrow margin. Here are four reasons to keep doing all we can to keep working (and get our procrastinating friends to finally donate and volunteer) so we can create broadest possible mandate for Obama and his Democratic allies...."

How McCain Turned His Back on the Vietnamese Man Who Saved His Life


John McCain never tires of declaring himself a war hero. After reading this article, ask yourself, is this the way a "hero" behaves? Read all about it:
"Forty-one years after McCain was shot down in Vietnam, the man who saved his life has died in obscurity.

[...]

As I stood on the floor of the Xcel Energy Center, some 50 yards from John McCain as he accepted his party's presidential nomination, the projector flashed that same black-and-white photo image I had seen in Vietnam of McCain being dragged to the shore of Truc Bach Lake. Moments later, to my surprise, I heard McCain say: " … I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life." But McCain wasn't talking about the Vietnamese people who pulled him from that lake, people whose homes he had just bombed. He was talking about his fellow American POWs. Had McCain truly erased from his memory a touching reunion that took place just over a dozen years before?

I could only think about how different the narrative would be had McCain said: "I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those (Vietnamese civilians) saved my life (because they understood the humanity in all of us that transcends government and country)."

What's Your Obama Tax Cut?

Get the facts before you vote:
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will cut taxes for 95% of working families, and provide at least three times as much tax relief for middle class families as John McCain and Sarah Palin. The Obama/Biden plan provides $1,000 of tax relief for workers and new tax benefits to help families pay for college, childcare and save for retirement.


To find out your Obama tax cut click on the link: Obama-Biden Tax Calculator

ALSO SEE:

A License to Kill

More lies. More character assassination. More swift-boat tactics from a supremely desperate, ethically-challenged John McCain campaign:










FactCheck.org:
A new anti-Obama group runs a bunk-filled ad implying he'd give a driver's license to Mohammed Atta.

Summary

An upstart group calling itself the "National Republican Trust PAC" mixes a pile of false claims and the image of 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta to create one of the sleaziest false TV ads of the campaign.
  • The spot falsely claims Obama has a "plan" to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. In fact, Obama has said quite specifically, "I am not proposing that that's what we do."

  • The ad implies such licenses would enable terrorist attacks. In fact, Atta wouldn't have needed one to carry out his attacks.

  • It claims that Obama's health care plan will apply to illegal immigrants. But Obama has stated quite clearly that his plan "does not" cover illegal immigrants.

  • The ad falsely claims that Obama's plan "gives illegals Social Security benefits," which is also flatly untrue.
More Here.

The Vet Who Did Not Vet

A Dr. Seuss style telling of the McCain and Palin tale.



Trouble viewing this video? CLICK HERE

Will John McCain's Health Care Plan Leave YOU out?


Find out. Click here to find out how many people in your state would lose their health insurance under John McCain's health care plan.

McCain Undermines Employer Insurance

An estimated 165 million U.S. residents under the age of 65 currently receive health insurance coverage through their employer. A linchpin of this system is the tax exclusion that allows insurance premiums paid for by employers to be not considered taxable income for employees. John McCain’s plan for health care reform would end this exclusion. EPI’s report concludes that as many as 27 million Americans nationwide could lose their employer health benefits as a result. (Learn more about why Senator McCain’s plan would have such a devastating effect on hard-working families across the country.)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Who Benefits From a McCain Presidency?

One thing is for sure: it won't be you. If you want to know who pulls John McCain's strings, all you have to do is follow the money to:

McCain'$ Lobbyists

You might want to check them out HERE.

THIS IS A MUST SEE BEFORE YOU VOTE!

  • POCKETBOOK: From the price at the pump to prescription drug prices, John McCain's lobbyist ties have put him out of touch with the needs of ordinary Americans.

  • STANDING IN THE WORLD: John McCain's lobbyist friends conduct business worldwide, representing shady interests in Iraq and brutal dictators in a host of countries.

  • ETHICS: John McCain has promoted himself as a reformer, but the lobbyists running his campaign have a lengthy rap sheet entailing everything from the questionable to the criminal.

  • CORPORATE REGULATION: Big Business has little to fear from a McCain administration -- dozens of his lobbyist friends make their money representing huge corporations that put profits ahead of people.

  • SIN CITY: John McCain's lobbyist friends have excelled at profiting off other people's vices, counting the gambling and tobacco industries among their top clients.

  • PLANET IN PERIL: John McCain's shifting environmental positions may be a consequence of listening to lobbyists whose interests lie with Big Oil and other polluters of the air and water.
SOURCES:
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions ($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in July 2008.

Sources for information included in the lobbyist bios can be found in footnotes for each entry.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Battleground Voices for Obama

Compelling stuff. Watch:



-------------------------------------------------------------

Darrel Hanschen

In Jackson, Missouri we meet a pharmacist running a small business. His name is Darrell Hanschen and he is living the american dream. However, he feels that dream might come to an end if something doesn't change.

He says, "I see it everyday, I can't run and hide like the doctors... If something doesn't change, there's going to be a lot of people sick. Let's get somebody in there who cares about the person that walks the streets of Jackson. Somebody who actually Cares."


-------------------------------------------------------------

Dana Snodgrass

Dana Snodgrass understands how Republicans think. He owns an autobody shop in Joplin and runs a small 200 acre farm near Web City with his son Kyle. Like many local business people, Dana is concerned about the movement of jobs to foreign countries and the persistence of low wages in the area. Dana explains how the usual core “values” of guns, religion and abortion are being trumped by concerns about the economy, and why Missourians should vote now for Barack Obama.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Barclay Hastings

Barclay Hastings is a veteran from Columbus Ohio. He loves the people of Ohio.

In 2000 he would have voted for McCain, but he wouldn't do that today. Barack Obama is the type of leader that "comes once in a lifetime."


-------------------------------------------------------------

Sharon Houston

From Jasper County, MO we meet an antique shop owner, Sharon Houston, raised republican and always voted republican. This year she is voting for Democratic Senator Barack Obama. She is tired of the greed, cheating and lies. American people need to get back to the basics and their spirit right and move on and believes Obama's spirit is right.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Jack Moore

81 year old Jack Moore is from Nixa Missouri. He is a World War 2 veteran that served in the US Navy.

Jack is a gun lover and treasures his father's hunting rifles. He knows that "Barack won't take his guns away."


-------------------------------------------------------------

Keith Howell

Keith Howell from Fallon Nevada owns a rock crushing equipment repair business with his wife and son. His small business is among the first to feel the economic downturn because as he puts it, if they're not building houses, their not pouring concrete and if they're not pouring concrete, there is no need for crushed rock, and if they're not crushing rock, the machines don't break and they don't need me.

Keith's informed and energetic monolog on Obama's alternative energy plan lays out how Nevada stands to gain substantially because it is in fact not only a step in the right direction environmentally but also serves as a job-creating-path out of the current economic crisis, and creates a sustainable energy plan that is clean as well as American, keeping dollars from going overseas.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Joan McKinney

Joan McKinney is from Columbus, Ohio. She is a small business owner who does tradeshow exhibits. Joan is an Ohio State alumni - and has "a real love for the Buckeyes." As a small business owner he does everything from freight to the dishes.

Her biggest challenge is responsibility for her employee's healthcare. She was encouraged by Barack's possibility to cover 50% of her employee's healthcare.


-------------------------------------------------------------

Darrell Hanschen

We meet Darrell in Jackson, Missouri again where he shares with us another story. Darrell tells us he sees Barack reaching into places that he never thought would ever cross his mind.


Thanks to: truth and hope and BLOG.LOCALVOICESFOROBAMA.COM

OBAMA ENDORSEMENTS CONTINUE | UPDATED

Seems the family of McCain's professed idol, Barry Goldwater, doesn't have anything positive to say about Senator McCain. And the reasons are telling:

CC Goldwater: Why McCain Has Lost Our Vote
"Being Barry Goldwater's granddaughter and living in Arizona, one would assume that I would be voting for our state's senator, John McCain. I am still struck by certain 'dyed in the wool' Republicans who are on the fence this election, as it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Myself, along with my siblings and a few cousins, will not be supporting the Republican presidential candidates this year. We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics. I learned a lot about my grandfather while producing the documentary, Mr. Conservative Goldwater on Goldwater. Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket.

My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported. I'm not sure about how he would feel about marriage rights based on same-sex orientation. I think he would feel that love and respect for ones privacy is what matters most and not the intolerance and poor judgment displayed by McCain over the years. Paka respected our civil liberties and passed on the message that that we should conduct our lives standing up for the basic freedoms we hold so dear.

For a while, there were several candidates who aligned themselves with the Goldwater version of Conservative thought. My grandfather had undying respect for the U.S. Constitution, and an understanding of its true meanings.

There always have been a glimmer of hope that someday, someone would "race through the gate" full steam in Goldwater style. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened, and the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear. Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician. The McCain/Palin plan is to appear diverse and inclusive, using women and minorities to push an agenda that makes us all financially vulnerable, fearful, and less safe.

When you see the candidate's in political ads, you can't help but be reminded of the 1964 presidential campaign of Johnson/Goldwater, the 'origin of spin', that twists the truth and obscures what really matters. Nothing about the Republican ticket offers the hope America needs to regain it's standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama. I think that Obama has shown his ability and integrity.

After the last eight years, there's a lot of clean up do. Roll up your sleeves, Senators Obama and Biden, and we Goldwaters will roll ours up with you."

Other new endorsements:

  • THIS IS BIG: Bernanke Endorses Obama - WSJ.com:
    "Ben Bernanke apparently wants four more years as Federal Reserve Chairman. At least that's a reasonable conclusion after Mr. Bernanke all but submitted his job application to Barack Obama yesterday by endorsing the Democratic version of fiscal 'stimulus.'"
  • McClellan Endorses Obama"Scott McClellan, President Bush's former press secretary, says he is backing Barack Obama for president.,,,"

  • NY Times Editorial: Barack Obama for President
    “Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States,” writes The Times’s editorial board.
  • McCain Adviser Endorses Obama
    The Wall Street Journal today rounds up the horde of prominent Republicans jumping ship to Barack Obama. Now one of John McCain's actual advisers has switched sides...
  • NEW: t r u t h o u t | Prominent Republicans Cross the Aisle to Endorse Obama
    Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian UK: "Joel Haugen, a Republican fighting a tough congressional race against the Democrats in Oregon, has fallen out with his party. The reason: his surprise endorsement of Barack Obama for the presidency.

    'I believe in putting nation before party and my first priority is following my conscience with regard to what is best for America,' Haugen said in a statement issued by his office today. 'I have a huge amount of respect for John McCain, but I believe that he has more of a cold war mentality.'"
  • Washington Post: Barack Obama for President :
    "...it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president."
  • McCain Adviser Endorses Obama
    The Wall Street Journal today rounds up the horde of prominent Republicans jumping ship to Barack Obama. Now one of John McCain's actual advisers has switched sides...
  • Republican former Mass. governor endorses Obama - Boston.com:
    "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president on Friday, citing the senator's good judgment, 'deep sense of calm' and 'first-class political temperament.'

    Weld said he's never endorsed a Democrat for president before, but in the last six weeks or so, it became 'close to a no-brainer.' Obama has a history of bringing Democrats, Republicans and independents together and is the best choice at a time when America's standing in the world is at a low point, he said.

    'It's not often you get a guy with his combination of qualities, chief among which I would say is the deep sense of calm he displays, and I think that's a product of his equally deep intelligence,' he said in a phone interview."
  • Ken Adelman: Why a Staunch Conservative Like Me Endorsed Obama

  • Google CEO Eric Schmidt Backs Obama, Will Hit Campaign Trail:
    "Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt will hit the campaign trail this week on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, signaling Mr. Schmidt's push for a greater voice in politics while giving the Obama campaign a boost from a highly desirable constituency...."
  • Wisconsin GOP Official Denounces McCain Robocalls, Endorses Obama:
    A longtime Republican State Senator in Wisconsin history announced on Tuesday that she would be supporting Barack Obama, in part because of the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign and, specifically, the use of "dishonorable" anti-Obama robocalls.

    "All of us should be extremely wary of the half truths and outright untruths that have been spread by the recent negative campaigning and shameful automated phone calls," said Barbara Lorman of Fort Atkinson. "While my admiration for Senator Obama has grown with his positive approach to addressing the challenges facing our nation, my disappointment with the McCain campaigned has deepened. The negative tactics are inappropriate, downright dishonorable and have no place in the State of Wisconsin...."
  • Frank Schaeffer: Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents

  • Powell Endorses Obama | NYTimes.com
    In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president....
  • Amb. Peter Bridges: We Know the World and We Support Obama: "
    Dear Friends and Relations,

    A friend and former colleague of mine in the Foreign Service, Kevin McGuire, some time ago drafted a short statement of support for Obama and began to ask retired Foreign Service officers if they would sign it. So far 334 of us have done so, including by my count 66 former American ambassadors.

    If you would like to know why we have done so and who we are, you can find our reasons and our signatures at Foreign Policy for Obama.Com: Declaration of Support by Over 280 Former Diplomats. (Ed. note: the number is now over 330.) ..."
  • OpEdNews � Endorsements 7: NM Sun News, Des Moines, Anchorage,Charlotte, Asheville, Concord, Macon, Hartford, Milwaukee

Why Vote For Obama?

  1. Spread the Wealth? Soak the Rich?:
    "�For those who voice doubts about Barack Obama and some of his less progressive policy advisers, please take heart from the way he has defended his plan to cut taxes for the vast majority while raising them for families making over $250,000. Who should pay what for the costs of government raises the most basic issues of fairness. But who pays also determines whether we rebuild our economy from the bottom up, as Obama promises, or continue to wait in vain for good jobs and decent wages to trickle down from John McCain's friends at the top...."
  2. The 10 Biggest Differences Between Obama and McCain That Will Affect Your Daily Life | AlterNet:
    "The next president will influence everything from your Internet access to your ability to pay medical bills...."
  3. Obama Tax Calculator:
    Calculate how Obama's Tax Policies will impact YOU
  4. Guest column: Record belies rhetoric for 'fiscal conservatives' | The Des Moines Register:
    "The Bush administration's deficits have undermined confidence in the financial markets, contributing somewhat to the present crisis. To put this into perspective:

    Quiz:

    1. Which recent president generated the highest budget deficits as a portion of gross domestic product?

    2. Who was the only recent president to decrease government expenditure as a portion of GDP?

    Choices:

    a. Ronald Reagan

    b. George H.W. Bush

    c. Bill Clinton

    d. George W. Bush"
  5. Truthdig | Communication Scholars Call McCain Campaign Unethical: "
    A group of top American communication professors have crafted and signed a statement calling on the McCain campaign, primarily, to stop its negative campaigning. “The purposeful dissemination of messages that a communicator knows to be false and inflammatory is unethical. It is that simple,” the statement says."
  6. League of Conservation Voters | John McCain Wrong on Clean Energy:
    "John McCain has spent his career voting against clean energy solutions while supporting billions in subsidies for Big Oil...."
  7. Incoherence | TIME
    "John McCain had a fabulously loony weekend, flipping out charges and attacks like a mud tornado. The truly remarkable thing about McCain's attacks, especially on Obama's economic policies, is that McCain, in each case, is "guilty" of supporting some version of the policies he's attacking..."

TAKE YOUR MIND OFF THE ELECTION: WATCH

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam


Live streaming video by Ustream

McCain's Surrogates Confirm: McCain More of the Same

As John McCain desperately tries to convince Americans that he is not a George Bush clone, his own surrogates confirm otherwise:

Palin Unhinged


Palin: Obama's Tax Plans Could Mean Nightmare Communist State:
"Sarah Palin had a few memorable moments during her campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. But the most eye-opening of them all came, it would appear, when the Alaska Governor somehow drew a connection between Barack Obama's tax policy and an encroaching, nightmarish, communist government. The Illinois Democrat, she hysterically suggested, would, through his proposals, create a country 'where the people are not free.'"

More Palin:

Saturday, October 25, 2008

John McCain is "absolutely" proud of this:

The Republican National Committee is distributing a mail piece that says "Terrorists" on the front and opens to a big picture of Barack saying "Not Who You Think He Is."

John McCain -- who promised to run a respectful campaign -- said that he was "absolutely" proud of it.



John McCain is trying to win this election by scaring voters with truly vile attacks.

With less than two weeks to go, you can provide this campaign with the resources we need to push back in the final stretch.

We cannot let McCain take the low road all the way to the White House.

Please help fight these vicious smears and dozens of others. CLICK HERE.

Related:

Friday, October 24, 2008

McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time

John Dinges:
"John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that."
Continue reading.

McCain Featured In Iran-Contra Group's Newsletter

McCain Featured In Iran-Contra Group's Newsletter:
"A newsletter from 1984 provides more embarrassing evidence of John McCain's relationship with the U.S. Council on World Freedom, a group that was involved in funding militant anti-communists and espoused some anti-Semitic views...."

Police: McCain Volunteer's "Mutilation" Story Made Up

A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow.
read more | digg story

Thursday, October 23, 2008

How Did This Happen?

Don't Let Conservatives Rewrite History:
"Conservatives are desperately trying to shift the blame for the financial crisis away from its true cause — a bankrupt governing philosophy. Get the facts, so you can challenge the myths about the core causes of the meltdown and share the truth with others."
Educate Yourself and Take Action Here.

Ron Howard's Call For Obama With Andy Griffith And Henry Winkler

Ron Howard is the latest star to voice his support for Obama, and he did it alongside his old costars Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler in a video for Funny or Die. Watch him strip down, trim his nose hair and don an Opie wig for a black and white call to action before fast-forwarding to "Happy Days."
ENJOY:

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die


Eric Hirshberg: Republicans Voting for Obama: In Their Own Words

Eric Hirshberg: Republicans Voting for Obama: In Their Own Words
"There are a number of people in my life -- some family, some friends, some colleagues -- with whom I have never agreed upon anything political. Ever. These are my political opposites. My bizarre-o twins. And they have been my adversaries in countless debates; the kind nobody ever wins, but nobody ever seems to tire of, either.

Sadly, politics have become sort of a new sports league in modern culture. We don't really listen to each other's points of view so much as we pick a side and root for it. And just as with our favorite sports teams, our faith in our parties can become blind. I have had about as much success convincing my Republican father-in-law of my liberal points of view as I have had convincing my father, an Ohio State alumnus, to root for Michigan.

But over the last few months, something unprecedented has happened. Almost all these folks have told me that, for the first time ever, they are voting for the same candidate I am: Barack Obama.

Now, these are not casual conservatives...." Continue Reading
"...I thought we were making an ad campaign about Obama. But I think we ended up making an ad campaign about the essential ingredient that makes democracy work: an open mind. We don't belong to our political parties. Our political parties belong to us."

McCain's Radical Health Plan, Once Ignored, Now Hotly Debated


Roger Hickey (Huffington Post):
"Growing voter concerns over the financial crisis are closely connected to worries about health care. The latest Institute for America's Future Op Ed ad in Tuesday's NY Times links the two issues directly, with the headline: WILL WE LET CONSERVATIVES DO TO HEALTH CARE WHAT THEY DID TO BANKING? As voters feel the economy go into a tailspin, they join the millions of Americans already fearful they will lose their jobs and their health coverage.

Conservatives generally ignore health care, but now all politicians are forced to say something. In just the last few several weeks, the national media have finally started to cover the stark differences between John McCain and Barack Obama on health care. And it took some active education to get them to report the story...."

Continue reading.

Related:

The Health Care Debate

Sunday, October 19, 2008

ACT NOW! Tell John McCain and Sarah Palin to Reject the Politics of Division

ColorOfChange.org:



The Republican nominees are increasingly relying on a strategy of race-baiting and fear-mongering to win this election. It's completely unacceptable and it has to stop.

— Click here to see the email we sent to our members. —

Watch the video from Brave New Films showing the McCain/Palin campaign and its supporters in action. Then, please sign the open letter demanding that they reject the politics of division and fear. We'll publicize the letter and make the sure the McCain campaign has to respond.

When you're done, please pass the video and the letter on to your friends and family and ask them to do the same.

Add your voice, now!

This is the open letter we're publishing and sending to to the McCain/Palin campaign.

Dear Senator McCain and Governor Palin,

Time and again in America, people of all races and backgrounds have overcome division and fear, and come together to uplift the country and create a more equal and just society. It's part of what makes this country great.

With an African-American nominee running on a major party ticket and a woman on the Republican ticket for the first time in history, this campaign has seen Americans--men and women of all races--inspired to continue that great tradition, coming together to bridge the gaps that history has set between us in service of our national progress.

But let us be clear: while we have made great strides in this country when it comes to racial equality, we are not finished. Now, more than ever, we need leadership that understands that we live in complex times where too many are quick to judge another by the complexion of their skin or the sound of their name.

In the last few weeks, Senator McCain and Governor Palin, rhetoric at your campaign events has taken an increasingly dangerous tone that seems to ignore the precarious state of our progress when it comes to race and ethnicity.

Supporters at your rallies and other events have used hateful language and called for violence against Sen. Obama yelling "kill him!" "off with his head!" and "bomb Obama."

For the most part, you have stood by in silence. In addition, you have also repeatedly made statements that somehow connect Senator Obama with terrorism. Your surrogates have emphasized his middle name. This is problematic and dangerous, and we believe helps create the conditions that have given rise to these incidents of violent rhetoric from some of your supporters.

Today, we're standing together as Americans of all political persuasions to express our deep concern that the decisions of your campaign are contributing to a dangerous atmosphere of paranoia, division, and hate that, as we have already seen, has the potential to seriously harm our country and its progress.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

In these trying times, candidates seeking the highest offices in the land must call on the best in each of us, and call off the worst.

We urge you to join people of conscience from all races and backgrounds to reject the politics of division and fear, and come together to uplift the country and create a more equal and just society.

-- The undersigned --

Demand McCain-Palin End Hate Mongering Robo Calls!

The robo calls from the McCain campaign are very, very ugly. They are using these calls to encourage fear and hate. They call Obama everything from a terrorist to a baby killer.

202-863-8500 is the number of the Republican National Committee. Other GOP contact numbers are here. Please call and express your disgust. Also, call all your local and national politicians.

Call your local media and express your disgust. We do not have to tolerate this fear and hate mongering. It is time for Americans to stand up and say "Enough!"

Thank you!

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

Colin Powell Endorses Obama
"Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will break with his party and vote for Sen. Barack Obama. "He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's Meet the Press...." Continue reading.

Related:

  • Brzezinski: Powell's Obama Endorsement A "Comprehensive Indictment" Of McCain-Palin Ticket
    ..."I was impressed by the comprehensive indictment of the current Republican ticket that was implicit in Powell's statement. It was not just about foreign affairs, it was a comprehensive statement that conveys the message that the more traditionally centrist Republicans are coming to view the McCain-Palin ticket as some sort of deviation -- some sort of break -- with the genuine traditions of the Republican Party."...

He Just Can’t Quit W

Frank Rich | New York Times :
"McCain isn't, as he and his defenders keep protesting, a passive martyr to a catastrophic administration. He could have made separating himself from Bush the brave, central and even conservative focus of his campaign. Far from doing that, he embraced the Bush ethos - if not the incredible shrinking man himself - more tightly than ever...."

Can You Imagine It? We Can.

Take a Look:

Palin as President
Click on the link, wait to load, and then move your cursor to the various parts of the oval office. Don't forget to look out the windows, under the couch cushions, and into desk cabinets, too. And don't forget the red phone!

Enjoy. Then vote for Obama.

Friday, October 17, 2008

The Truth About Barack Obama and William Ayers

Smear groups and now a desperate McCain campaign are trying to connect Barack to William Ayers using age-old guilt by association techniques. Here’s the truth: the smear associating Barack to Ayers is “phony,” “tenuous,” – even “exaggerated at best if not outright false.”

William Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with whom Barack served on the board of an education-reform organization in the mid-1990’s. According to the Associated Press, they are not close: “No evidence shows they were “pals” or even close when they worked on community boards years ago …”

Smear groups and the McCain campaign are trying to connect Obama to acts Ayers committed 40 years ago – when Barack was just eight years old. Here’s what the New York Times reported on the connection:

But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called “somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.”
Barack has publicly denounced Ayers’ radical actions from the 1960’s:
Senator Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an eight-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost forty years ago is ridiculous.
Fight back with the truth: make sure anyone who has seen this smear also sees this page.

� Surveillance Gone Amok


The Bush Cabal continues their abuse of powers--largely unreported-- while the media obsesses over the McCain/Palin campaign's never-ending, ever more outrageous, distorted character attacks on Senator Barack Obama.

Wake up, people.

ACLU Blog:
In pushing for ever-expanding and unaccountable surveillance authority, the Bush Administration has assured the public that it aims its spying capabilities at serious security threats. But as two government whistleblowers recently revealed to ABC News, surveillance programs touted as critical to protect national security have in fact been used to monitor the private communications of innocent Americans abroad, including humanitarian workers and U.S. service-members. While disturbing, ABC’s report confirms a core contention of the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging Congress’s recent expansion of governmental spying powers: unchecked surveillance authority invades the privacy of innocent Americans, and in doing so, fundamentally undermines the efforts of human rights workers, journalists, and attorneys doing important work around the globe.

Two former military intercept operators — the people who actually intercept, monitor, and collect international telephone and email communications — told ABC News that "hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home." The operators worked for the National Security Agency ("NSA"), the spy agency chiefly responsible for international surveillance. They report that NSA routinely listened in on the innocent, and sometimes intimate, conversations of Americans abroad. There were apparently no effective procedures in place to filter out these kinds of communications.

The NSA program went beyond invading the personal privacy of Americans abroad (and their friends and family on the other end of the line). NSA also directed its surveillance powers at well-established humanitarian organizations, like the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. As one whistleblower told ABC News: "We knew they were working for these aid organizations. . . . And yet, instead of blocking these phone numbers we continued to collect on them."...
Illustration credit: seattlepi.nwsource.com/.../Cartoon20060214.gif

Let’s Get Fiscal

Paul Krugman | NYTimes.com:
"It’s now clear that rescuing the banks is just the beginning: the nonfinancial economy is also in desperate need of help.

And to provide that help, we’re going to have to put some prejudices aside. It’s politically fashionable to rant against government spending and demand fiscal responsibility. But right now, increased government spending is just what the doctor ordered, and concerns about the budget deficit should be put on hold...." Continue Reading.

The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama

Frank Rich | NYTimes.com:
"IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.

Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.

“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.

Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option...." Continue reading.
Photo Credit: http://politigal1.blogspot.com