Jack & Jill Politics

Found this while watching C-SPAN: "When Women Vote-2008. It was hosted by the Peter Hart Research Associates!

www.emilyslist.org is an organization which is committed to electing pro-choice Democratic women to offices.

DATA presented: Obama was leading "McAncient" by nice margins EXCEPT for so-called evangelical women. I couldn't copy the chart fast enough. SORRY! :>)

McCain's Ad May Violate Election Laws.....Even Fox Won't Air It.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/21/expert...

Tara Wall: Fish! .......Fish!!......Fresh Fish!!! Get your fresh fish right here!!!

TruthSeeker: LOL x2 :>) :>)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/21/205...

McCain’s POW Defense: Devaluing Our Service and His Own
by Lt Gen Robert G Gard

Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 05:56:54 PM PDT

The McCain campaign has spent weeks trying to portray Obama as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans. Today, an interviewer at Politico.com asked McCain how many homes he and his wife owned, to which he responded that he was not sure but would get someone from his staff to answer.

Contrary to what many will tell you, this does not make McCain out of touch with ordinary Americans, as many families today are in trouble with their banks and trying to figure out how many homes they have - zero or one.

Still, it's the campaign's defense we find deeply troubling:

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison."

We obviously honor and respect McCain's service and the five-and-a-half years of horror that he went through at the hands of the North Vietnamese; but it's not an excuse for everything. He has already used it to explain away his infidelities in his first marriage. He's used it to defend his healthcare plan. He just the other day used it to deflect accusations of having skirted the rules of the Saddleback forum.

It's time for the Senator to stop cheapening the war experiences of thousands of vets and his fellow POWs, and his own as well, by stretching the boundaries of logic to make his POW status a wild-card rebuttal to all accusations or an answer to all difficult questions.

We are veterans who like John McCain, who served honorably, but and we continue to serve our country honorably by not using our military experiences as unjustifiable necessary shields or stepping stones. John McCain has faced and will continue to face many difficult questions that he does not have an answer for, and problems to which that he will provides no solutions to, in the 70 days between now and the election. When he uses his status as a veteran to deflect legitimate questions and concerns, it devalues not just his service to our country but ours as well.

So today, we ask not as Veterans for Obama, but as Veterans of America that Sen. McCain respect the service of his fellow POWs and combat veterans, and stop cheapening their service by hiding behind his own.

s, I would have gladly agreed with this post and your assessment of totalitarian China had you not asserted a completely illogical strawman argument about Obama. Obama isn't "condemning the U.S.," he is explaining that China's modern, new infrastructure is a huge draw for corporations. He's absolutely right. I have some education in economic development, and let me tell you, INFRASTRUCTURE is a huge consideration for businesses in determining where to locate. China has poured billions of dollars into their infrastructure in the last couple decades, and frankly, most corporations don't care who was displaced, what architectural or historical treasures were destroyed, or whose rights were trampled in order to build that infrastructure.

Obama is calling attention to the fact that American infrastructure is on life support. A good deal of our infrastructure was put in at the beginning of the last century and cannot support the populations and technologies that we now depend on. The subway systems, sewers, street grids, etc. in most major East Coast cities are old and crumbling. Bridges have collapsed, and many are on the verge of collapse. Our storm water management systems cannot handle the populations and development that have grown exponentially over the past century and are severely undersized to handle additional rainfall and runoff attendant with global warming.

Obama is simply talking about America's ability to compete with China for JOBS. Businesses are FLEEING to China, not only because of cheap labor, but also for cheap and superior infrastructure. Infrastructure redevelopment, something that is sorely needed in the U.S., will be a HUGE generator of architectural, engineering, planning, and construction jobs, RIGHT HERE-- jobs that cannot be exported overseas.

Please read my favorite economist, Robert Reich:
The Cure for America's Chronic Recession
A Second Stimulus: Much Bigger Than the First, and Focused on Infrastructure
2008 and Beyond: Alan Greenspan's Continuing Legacy

Cheap Labor and low taxes are the main reasons why businesses are moving overseas.

The BIGGEST incentive we can offer to corporations is a lower tax rate.

U.S. corporate taxes are way too high and they are inhibiting American competitiveness. Corporations are sitting on literally trillions of dollars of gains locked up on their balance sheets. They’re sitting on this cash hoard because it doesn’t make sense to unlock them at the current 35 percent rate. It’s too high. Deals that look attractive on a pre-tax basis make little sense at all on an after-tax basis.

Not only would slashing the corporate rate result in making the U.S. more competitive, and attract more investment to our shores (as it has done with remarkable success in Ireland and Eastern Europe), but it would actually result in higher wages for American workers. This would help ameliorate the wage inequality problem because the tax savings would go roughly 70 percent to workers and 30 percent to shareholders.

But Obama and Democrats in general demonize corporations for wanting to (gasp) actually make money and they oppose pro-growth tax policies that would lay the foundation for US cities to compete for their business, spurring improvements in infrastructure and creating jobs.

Obama's general view of this nation is not one of optimism and exceptionalism but one of moral equivalence that places totalitarian regimes such as China and Russia on the same plane as the US. I do not ascribe to this philosophy. We are an outstanding nation because of our freedom, our confidence and our drive and our ingenuity, yet nothing in Obama's remarks convey that positive attitude.

To further illustrate my point today Obama equated Russia's invasion of Georgia with our toppling of Saddam Hussein:

"Democrat Barack Obama scolded Russia again on Wednesday for invading another country’s sovereign territory while adding a new twist: the United States, he said, should set a better example on that front, too.

The Illinois senator’s opposition to the Iraq war, which his comment clearly referenced, is well known. But this was the first time the Democratic presidential candidate has made a comparison between the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia’s recent military activity in Georgia.

“We’ve got to send a clear message to Russia and unify our allies,” Obama told a crowd of supporters in Virginia. “They can’t charge into other countries. Of course it helps if we are leading by example on that point.”

So our "charging into" Iraq--with dozens of allies, supported by a U.N. resolution, as a last resort after six months of build-up and negotiations, to unseat one of the cruelest dictators of modern times who had twice invaded neighboring states, was in violation of more than a dozen U.N. resolutions and was responsible for the deaths of something like two million people, who was shooting at American aircraft and had tried to assassinate a former President of the United States, in Obama's mind, was just like Russia's "charging into" Georgia, which resembles Saddam's Iraq in no respect.

Russia invaded a peaceful democracy that it wants to re-incorporate into its empire.

It was George F. Kennan, America’s ambassador to the Soviet Union, who said, 'Russia can have at its borders only enemies or vassals.' Now, Georgia has been all but dismembered. The opening phase of this crisis may soon come to a close, but it is shaping up to be merely the first chapter in a potentially long and dangerous era.

The liberal progressive mindset that Obama possess and professes: moral equivalence with our enemies and a general worldview that we are the problem is not a message voters will respond favorably to.

Two-thirds of US corporations paid no taxes last year. Two-thirds. You can't get a lower tax rate than zero.

Obama, earlier today via Hugh Hewitt:

"Everybody's watching what's going on in Beijing right now with the Olympics , Think about the amount of money that China has spent on infrastructure. Their ports, their train systems, their airports are vastly the superior to us now, which means if you are a coporation deciding where to do business you're starting to think, "Beijing looks like a pretty good option."

I suppose so. Provided you don't mind de minimus pollution controls, employing people under Chinese labor conditions, and you don't mind construction standards in the countryside that allow the collapse of thousands of buildings including schools when the earthquake hits, killing tens of thousands.

Obama has said a lot of stupid things recently, but the idea that totalitarian eye-candy engineering proves Beijing is the better than America is near the top of the list.

Not to mention that hundreds of millions of chinese live in the countryside WITHOUT REGULAR ACCESS TO UTILITIES, EDUCATION OR CLEAN WATER and modern farming equipment...about half of the Chinese hover right around malnutrition and have no education...

But Obama finds a way to condemn the U.S. by comparison.

Presidential Debate Sets

The debates and formats:

First Presidential Debate:
Date: Sept. 26
Site: University of Mississippi
Topic: Foreign policy and national security
Moderator: Jim Lehrer of PBS
Staging: Podium debate
Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

Vice Presidential Debate
Date: Oct. 2
Site: Washington University in St. Louis
Moderator: Gwen Ifill of PBS
Staging/Answer Format: To be resolved after the vice presidential nominees are selected.

Second Presidential Debate
Date: Oct. 7
Site: Belmont University in Nashville
Moderator: Tom Brokaw of NBC
Staging: Town Hall debate
Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the Internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or Internet), and not the moderator.

Third Presidential Debate
Date: Oct. 15
Site: Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Topic: Domestic and economic policy
Moderator: Bob Schieffer of CBS
Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table
Format: Same as first presidential debate, plus each candidate will get a 90-second closing statement.

Servicey! Thanks!

Oh, that's so sad.

Bwahahahahahaha!!!! :D

Why don't the PUMAs give her the money they've raised to help her out? Oh yeah, because they need every bit of that $50,000 to stage their coup!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Hillary's debt is just what it was in June:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/21...

Why do we care? CNN needs to stop peddling the Clinton's drama.

From the look on Hillary's face today (she looked exhausted, annoyed even) perhaps things aren't going as well behind the scenes as she might hope.

Her biggest problem is that for all her drama, she's a terrible actress.

Oh you aint neva lied.....she canNOT play anything off. Oh well, lots of black folks wear a mask every single day on their jobs, I don't have any sympathy that she neva had to learn to wear one too.

Good save, Howard!

SHALAMAR A Night To Remember LIVE
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Or0Fld1ejiw&featu...

More ole' school.....

Shalamar - Night to Remember
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=pVAm_obRPQ8&featu...

Ole' school.....

Shalamar "SECOND TIME AROUND" 1980
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=qTH89GS7I_c

nooooo! i REFUSE to go back to 1980!!!! ;-)

No shame...........none..........

McCain Camp Plays POW Card
Facing a Democratic Party positively giddy over his recent admission that he didn't know how many houses he owned, John McCain quickly returned to a political trump card: his POW experience.

Speaking to the Washington Post, aide Brian Rogers, in full damage-control mode, acknowledged that his boss had "some investment properties and stuff," but added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/21/mccain...

That's gonna get tiresome real quick.

You ain't neva lied.

"I can't stand John McCain," Reid flatly told his hometown paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal in comments published Thursday. The Nevada Democrat also said he had recently expressed that sentiment to Democrat-turned Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, an ardent supporter of McCain who has agreed to speak at the Republican convention early next month.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Jessica Valenti: The baiting of Ms Obama
American feminists who defended Hillary with passion and vigour must do the same for Michelle.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/au...

Bout time....BOUT DAMN TIME

Who you tellin'?

They've been mighty SILENT.

Know Enough?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m89m0pC

OBAMA USES TELEPROMPTERS AT TOWNHALL MEETINGS

According to several Democrat political consultants presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama spent part of his Hawaiian vacation working on weaning himself from a heavy dependence on teleprompters. Even in what are staged as "town hall" events for Obama, remarks are scripted or formatted into bullet points that scroll on teleprompter screens.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id...

And . . . . ????

taritac: Co-signing. AND?????????

s: 1st Amendment ! EXERCISING it -huh!?? And a 1 and a 2 and a 3!! :>) :>)

LOL

"On June 15, 2005, Obama bought a gorgeous house in Hyde Park for $1.65 million - $300,000 below the list price. Rezko bought the empty but attractive lot next door from the same seller at the same time; Obama would later buy part of Rezko's lot, overpaying him. The transaction was shady, but not obviously corrupt. The overall Obama-Rezko relationship looks worse." And now the McCain people have an excuse to bring it up.

But wait, there's more:

Obama is more vulnerable on this stuff than he thinks. Not only because of Rezko but because of Jim Johnson, his former go-to-guy on veeps who was instrumental to the mortgage crisis we have today as Chairman of Fannie Mae.

wow,s, you churn out a lot of posts, but it is very clear you are either oblivious to the facts or ignorant by choice. Now if you really want to discuss economics and why we have some the issues we do now, then please read this post.

First off, PHIL "NATION OF WHINERS" Gramm is one of the key players in both the housing and energy crisis.

HOUSING CRISIS: Phil Gramm co-sponsored the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 which basically deregulated the financial industry, allowing commercial and investment banks to merge. Because of this deregulation, banks and mortgage brokers were greedy and saw the opportunity to make record profits by offering mortgages to many people who were risky, or did not deserve the loans they were offered. Why would banks do this? Because the Act allowed banks to secure these risky loans and then turn around and trade them to securities firms. The banks no longer cared about potential losses, they became more risky and only looked at immediate profits. That is why predatory lending has skyrocketed in these past years. Now, when many homes are foreclosed on, it is not even clear who owns the mortgage--the bank or the securities firm." And Phil Gramm's Swiss bank UBS is also at the center of the foreclosure crisis.

ENERGY CRISIS: PHIL "NATION OF WHINERS" GRAMM also helped deregulate energy trading by introducing the "Enron Loophole" in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Basically, this exempted government regulation of Energy trading and allowed companies like Enron to trade "out-of-control" on energy stocks. And we all know what happened to Enron. Gramm was heavily lobbied by Enron at the time too. Now, we can also thank him for the outrageous speculation we see on crude oil , which is one of the reasons we have seen such high gas prices. It is not just "supply and demand" alone. A weakening U.S. dollar (which crude oil is traded in), plus deregulated "out-of-control" speculation is why we have the prices we do. When Bush took office in 2001, right after this Act was signed, oil traded at around $20/ barrel. Now compare that to this summer where we reached highs of about $150/barrel.

So before you start blaming Obama's circle, please look at McCain's economic advisors.

monie: s is EXERCISING his/her 1st Amendment rights. In the words of Band Leader - Lawrence Welk - And a 1, and a 2, and a 3!! :>) :>)

Tiresome nonsense.

This is weak. Obama didn't marry a sugar mama to get his wealth unlike McAncient.

Help me please.That story that Tony Rezko and Obama did anything unethical has been debunked by the Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun -Times. You take pride in your ignorance and you are very proud of it so sad.Furthermore if you care to research it Phil Gramm McCain's economic advisor wrote the rules when he was in congress to deregulate the mortgage industry that led to the current problems that you candidate McCain does not believe is a problem.

Hall of Fame football player and longtime NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw has died.

Upshaw, 63, had been fighting pancreatic cancer.

Clear Channel Online first reported the story early Thursday morning. ESPN has confirmed the report.

Upshaw played offensive guard with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1967 until 1981. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and an 11-time All-Pro selection. He played in three Super Bowls -- winning two -- and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Upshaw was the Oakland Raiders' first-round choice in the first combined AFL-NFL draft in 1967. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound lineman had played center, tackle and end at Texas A&I.

Upshaw moved to guard with the Raiders, starting in 207 straight regular-season games until being forced out of action by injury for one game in 1981. Upshaw returned the next week and played in 10 more games in what turned out to be his final season.

Upshaw was a member of the bargaining committee for the NFLPA throughout his playing days in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After his retirement, he took over as NFLPA executive director in June 1983.

Upshaw led the players union through a strike in 1987 and years of anti-trust litigation against the league, including a brief period in which the NFLPA became a professional association rather than a union. The union eventually accepted a salary cap in return for free agency. Union members got a bigger share of league revenues because of the deal.

Upshaw came up against controversy in 2006 when some 325 retired players from the AFL and NFL came forward with accounts of being given minimal disability benefits.

Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover had been leading an effort to oust Upshaw as the NFLPA executive director. In April, he e-mailed a plan to fellow player representatives to have a new union boss in place by March 2009.

Upshaw responded, speaking of the looming labor confrontation with owners when the current contract expires, by saying: "I would never leave until this deal is done."

Upshaw is survived by his wife, Terri, and sons, Justin, Daniel and Eugene Jr.

People he was diagnosed on SUNDAY....and he is dead today. Please please listen to your bodies.

so so so true!

Barack has chosen his VP (hat-tip to USA Today):

He said he was looking for not just a partner but a sparring partner. "I want somebody who's independent, somebody who can push against my preconceived notions and challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House."


Sounds like Hillary to me...I'm now taking bets. $5 says itz Hillary.

"I want somebody who's independent"...................dont' you think that sentence alone eliminates Hillary?

I guess it depends on what Barack meant by "independent." I don't think he meant it in a political sense.

No. Hillary is not independent.

I'm wondering if Biden isnt' the guy.

Ooh. I hope it's not Hagel!!

I woke up thinking Wesley Clark or Tim Kaine.

I like Clark and Kaine too.

Focus on the word "sparring partner"...Obama and Kaine are political twins--they would have nothing to fight about...Clark would see Obama as "The Commander in Chief" moreso than as a partner.

Obama-Clinton would not be drama free...but it would be worth the drama.

Webb?

Oh My!

Obama
Campaign lauches new TV ad, holds events nationwide on McCain's losing track of how many homes he owns. Ad is titled "Seven"

16 events held by senators, State Reps and Governors all talking about this little diddy.

It's a minefield.

It seems so trivial, but it's a minefield.

McCain is going to seethe.

They're baiting him.

Take.it.to.him.

shove it down his throat.

The most celebrated DNC in history! I'm so excited: http://www.theloop21.com/news/supporters-plan-o...

McCain's Secret Plot to Kill the UN
Brought to us by foreign media, who, unfortunately, have provided much more information on this corrupt administration than our own media. It looks like the cycle continues with McCain before he's even close to the office.

That was good.

The Barack campaign is FINALLY calling McCain:

DANGEROUS

Took them long enough.

Every time McCain calls Barack a celebrity, Barack needs to call McCain dangerous. Barack has some catching up to do.

I bet I know which one will stick in the voters minds more on election day.

i think their timing is perfect. everything has a season.

caligirl: "TURN, TURN. TURN!" [don't remember who sang it. :>)]

Yes, yesterday was a day of great joy and sadness. I watched Bolt's run on the live feed from the "Birdcage" last night. It took me two hrs. to get to sleep. What a thrill and good on the Jamaicans! I 'll look for them to compete again in the bobsled next Winter Olympics. I'd be glad to send the team some money if a legit website is set up.

Day of sadness too. Though I'm unfamiliar with Rep. Tubbs-Jones and her record which I am sure was excellent, its incredibly sad when someone this young & with such promise passes away. While I need to get current on the circumstances of her sad demise, all of us white, African-American, all Americans for that matter, have got to watch that diet, and blood pressure, just got to folks. Yours respectfully, >Dave

Obama/Ayers/Chiago Annenberg Challenge connection DOES matter:

"The cloak of media invisibility is slowly beginning to lift from Barack Obama's most important administrative leadership experience, helming an expensive educational reform effort in Chicago that failed to produce any measurable academic gains, according to the project's own final report. "

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/obamas_l...

"This (the Chicago Annenberg Challenge) was a big test for him, his chance to cut his teeth on bringing hope and change to the mostly minority inner city school children trapped in Chicago schools. And he flopped big time, squandering lots of money and the time of many public employees in the process."

For the love of Moses.....why would they lie about the adoption of their daughter? Geez....no shame whatsoever....NONE.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-nickolas/the...

The McCains are a piece of work, aren't they? What kind of amoral people would lie about MOTHER THERESA?

Obama Inadvertently Concedes Surge Achieves Key Administration Goal

STATEMENT: "Originally, the administration suggested that the key measure was whether it gave breathing room for political reconciliation. So far, I think we have not seen the kind of political reconciliation that’s going to bring about long-term stability in Iraq." — Barack Obama, July 22, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: August 20, 2008: "Let's be clear, our troops have completed every mission they've been given," Mr. Obama said at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Orlando, Fla., where the likely Democratic presidential nominee courted military voters who are expected to play a pivotal role in several swing states. "They have created the space for political reconciliation."

All statements by Barack Obama come with an expiration date. All of them.

Sorry, I must be kind of slow. How are the statements, "We have not seen the kind of political reconciliation that’s going to bring about long-term stability in Iraq," and "They have created the space for political reconciliation," in any way contradictory?

Our troops have always done the best that they can do, EVEN WHEN THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION FAILED THEM. Barack Obama has never downplayed our troops contributions. A troop increase helped decrease the violence, but we know the increase in troops is not a long-tem solution and so there are still concerns if lasting peace can be acheived for the Iraqis living together under what is essentially a new government, a different way of life. However, the verdict is still pending on the political reconciliation of Iraq's diverse groups, such as the Kurds, Iraqi Christians, Shi'a and Sunnis. And we may never know that answer if our troops continue to "police" the people of Iraq. Political reconciliation will probably continue as a process in Iraq, just like the racial divides and reconciliation that our own country still has to grapple with today.

So if everything is successful then why must we stay in Iraq for hundred years?

Check out this website. It was too funny.
http://www.womenforjohnmccain.com/

How brutal.

How brilliant.

An evening funny for you

http://vodpod.com/watch/955769-latest-poll-reve...

New Demographics that will decide the elections. it is funny.

Barack has a new ad out that attacks McCain on his houses.

"Seven"

What do you expect from someone who cannot even remember to pay his taxes
McCains Defaulted On Home Taxes For Last Four Years, Newsweek Reports
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/28/mccain...

Americans are used to the idea of politicians being filthy rich; it’s not wealth itself that puts fangs into the attack, it’s how wealth suggests luxury, entitlement, softness, and selfishness. Good luck with that, Barry. The instant response from McCain HQ:

Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses? Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people “cling” to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?

The reality is that Barack Obama’s plans to raise taxes and opposition to producing more energy here at home as gas prices skyrocket show he’s completely out of touch with the concerns of average Americans. –McCain spokesman Brian Rogers

Brian Rogers continues to misinform. Obama has never said not produce more energy here. It is how it is to be produced is where Obama differs w/ McCain. Wind and solar come to mind immediately.

I know you want your points for your McCain autograph of a 8 track player but this story will have legs.The AP the people who brings the OLDMAN his donuts with sprinkles has put it out on its wire.Do you know what that means every small town paper who gets their news from the AP will get this story and the myth of McCain will be further diminished.

I think there is a certain demographic that clings to gun and religion too...and here I was thinking I was 'regular people"...well guess not. If that makes me elitist, then so be it. I do believe I'm better than you anyway, so thanks for the compliment.

and I eat arugula as does my kids???? what is your point. regarding to the clinging to guns crap -- don't be an idiot.

I grow arugula. Sell it too. Eat it most every summer day.

It's very good for you.

Arugula is earthy.

Arugula is healthy.

Arugula "is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Zinc and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Manganese."

The healthier you are the less you have to pay in medical bills.

And with healthcare costs so high, I urge you to be as healthy as you can be.

Arugula is healthy. It's a bit more expensive then iceberg, but the seeds are cheap. If you live in a place with a pubic garden or have your own piece of land, and you don't need much, you can even use a window box, you can plant your own.

Crop wasn't that strong this year, though.

More yellow than green. Worthless beyond the baby stage.

Climate is off.

Speaking of the climate being off.

We need to invest in alternative energies that don't emit so much poison into the atmosphere the effects of which we are dealing with now.

Katrina. The midwestern floods.

Alternative energies break our addiction to oil.

Drive down fuel prices.

::

From smear to real in less than a minute.

Arugula is BAD. You should be eating a can of Glory Greens every day. Either that or Iceberg lettuce.

How DARE you be healthy?

This Bud's for you (and this 6-pack, and this keg, hell, take these longnecks too).

Naw, just make a spam samich and drank a grape Sam's Club sodi-pop

Corn is subpar, too. If it survived the floods, the ears are too skinny.

Tomatoes rotting on the vines. Those that make it are too small. Won't ripen at all.

Soybeans are being destroyed by insects. Turns out the ground didn't freeze completely this winter. Too much snow. Insulates the ground. The insects multiplied like crazy.

Now, they're killing soybeans.

Grits. Animal feed. Tomatoe sauce. Vegetable (soybean) oil.

Grocery/feed prices through the roof.

Climate is off.

Too much poison in the atmosphere.

Arugula is healthy.

You're WRONG. Only ketchup is healthy.

Besides, ketchup is a vegatable. Ronald Reagan told me so.

LOLOL!!!!!!!!

Be careful, your 'elitism' is showing.

Really. Thank you. Keep pushing the right buttons and I may show you something else.

btw - the vacation spot in Hawaii was a RENTAL

According to John McCain, Obama isn't rich. He only made $4 Mill last year. He's middle class.

More and more people will see that McCain knows nothing about average Americans. He thinks we're *whiners* because we're having a hard time weathering Bush's economy. We're whiners because we want health care, whiners because we're afraid of losing our houses, whiners because we want the minimum wage to be raised.

McCain can take his $500 shoes and get the hell out of here.

500 dollar Eye-talian shoes.

A guy who wears $520 shoes and can't remember how many houses he owns really can't say too much when the rest of America is wearing Payless and having their house foreclosed on, can he?

With both of your statements.....is this debate even necessary?

McCain and Obama both qualify as rich in my book, as well as most likely in the books of a majority of Americans.

There's a difference between being rich (like Obama just recently paying off his own student loan debt,) and being wealthy (which means looong money and shady friends.)

IMHO

D - it is necessary because of the ridiculous statements S is making. Read it and tell me it isn't crap.

I am sick of this sh*t. We are going to vote the way we choose to vote and we are all entitled to debate which is what this blog is all about BUT not based on that garbage that S is posting. Come on now D. Not only is that stuff old crap that has been run through the paces earlier this year for wayyyy longer than was warranted and has all been debunked multiple times but, it is so stupid it is ridiculous. I understand it is almost November and we all are going to kick it up a notch. But in what way ? I ain't going for this crap. This election cycle is too important.

Now that said . . . . How are you by the way? I haven't seen you on the posts in a while. Hope you and your family are okay.

I'm good, though Vets for Freedom is stressing me. More on that later.

What I know, and what I think:

S is a moderate independent. I don't know if he's seriously looked at Obama or not. He brings his concerns based on what he sees/hears in the media here, because he's looking for confirmation or rebuttal from Obama supporters. Some of the posters here provide that confirmation/rebuttal based on the facts, and not the standard talking points.

Now, once those concerns have been answered or rebutted, it's not productive to bring them back up again.

On this one....having the "you're 'eliter' than me!!" argument is not productive. For either candidate.

What's going on with the Vets for Freedom? Do you have something posted on your site? Haven't been there to visit lately.

The organization effort and framing a message is frustrating.

In the lions' den here, that's all I really feel comfortable saying.

Something good's gonna come out of it though; that's what I keep telling myself.

Ok. I will leave it at that. Hope it resolves itself quickly.

It's coming around.

There's nothing new on my state page; we're just now getting some events planned.

D:

Best wishes! :>)

Some of the posters here provide that confirmation/rebuttal based on the facts, and not the standard talking points.
============================================
And what facts do you base your opinion on? All I here from you and S is talking points like you and your buddy Karl Rove are text messaging each other.By the way I am still waiting for a answer on what republican policies have benefited the American people

Confusing 'elistism' with material wealth is why this line of attack will not gain traction.

Just wait until the "Bittergate" comments are used against Obama in upcoming weeks.

Those comments reveal where the real debate lies.

You really need a glass of tequila.

No. You. Didn't.

John McCain has benefited greatly fome "elitism" or better yet "privilege." Just think about it, graduating fifth from the bottom of your class SHOULD NOT have given you access to the very competitive flight school. It has been posted here before that John McCain benefited greatly from his father and grandfather's positions as Admirals in the Navy. And it could quite possibe explain why McCain crashed so many times during his career. Think about it----the next time you board a commercial plane, would you like the pilot behind the controls, with the most mediocre grades who graduated 5th from the bottom of their graduating class, flying your plane.

Monie, I like you.

You are right.....there's no way McCain could have gotten a spot in naval aviation without a hookup. UNLESS-in all fairness-there were a lot of open spots available for aviators that year.

An article on service selection at USNA

I like you too D. I've always been taught to listen to every side of a conversation, whether I agree or not. I think you bring forth good discussions on here. But as far John McCain---yea, in all fairness, they may have been a lot of aviator spots open, but by gosh, this guy had A LOT of mishaps with flying. He had mishaps in 1960, 1962, 1963, and 1965 and this was all before he was shot down in Vietnam. And I am not saying this to diminish his service, but you know as a veteran, as well as I know, the Navy, for reasons I'm not quite sure of continued to let this man fly even though his aviation performance was mediocre at best. I can't help but think a well-known last name worked to his advantage.

A no-shitter: that never occured to me until you mentioned it.

Something to think on.

Confusing pandering and soundbites with an actual platform that will change American lives for the better is what will not work this time around for Republicans.

Bittergate has been done and done again. It's an old, exhausted meme that will sound pretty desperate for someone who has been spending 26 years in the Senate accomplishing nothing but lining his pockets.

Somewhere I read that McCain has authored TWO pieces of legislation in the 26 years he's been there, then voted against them. He doesn't know his own damn mind. He takes a position one day, only to change it the next.

There is only one person who is skating by on his biography, and it ain't Obama.

Lawwwddd Lawwwddd Lawwwwwwdddd. JJP. Ya'll need a virtual exorcism up in here.

In the name of Jesus - Demon of lies and deception I rebuke you!

val: LOL :>) :>) :>)

LOL!!

There's a problem when some guy wearing $500 shoes and has been living in the lap of luxury for over 25 years starts pointing the finger at a guy who just made his fortune in the past few years. That's like Joan Rivers pointing the finger and laughing at somebody for having a face lift.

Since McCain cant remember how many homes he has or anything else here is a refresher for him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek3jAkx9m10

Why Obama Will Win

Please take a look. ;)

You're bad.

I can't believe how pale Barack's body is.

Good pics of Obama.

http://www.scouttufankjian.com/main.php

Thanks for posting, those were great.

Y'all notice that when McCain takes a 1 or 2 point lead in states that Republicans have won the last two elections, like FL and CO, the MSM turns it into a screaming headline, "McCain closing the gap" and white Liberal bloggers start screaming, "it's over for Obama," but when Obama takes a 1 point lead in states that Democrats haven't won in years, like NV, nothing is said? Furthermore, McCain is only winning by 10 points in his own state, and it's called "solid," but Obama is winning by 5 points in PA and it's called "modest". The double standard is killin me!

Smoke and mirrors...a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description.

From the Politico:

Clinton creates 'whip team' to quell anti-Obama protests

In an unusual move, Hillary Clinton's staff is creating a 40-member "whip team" at the Denver Democratic convention to ensure that her supporters don't engage in embarrassing anti-Obama demonstrations during the floor vote on her nomination, according to people familiar with the planning.

The team, which is being organized by longtime Clinton staffer Craig Smith, is working in conjunction with Obama's floor organizers to help foster the image of a unified front during a roll-call process Clinton herself has described as an emotional "catharsis" for her disappointed supporters.

"If people get down there on the floor and want to start blowing kazoos and making a scene we want to make sure we've got people who stand in front of them with Obama signs," said a person involved in the planning.

"Is it typical for a losing candidate to have their own whip team? No. But it's also not usual for a losing candidate to get 18 million votes either," said the person.

Clinton spokesperson Kathleen Strand emphasized the team would not seek to convince delegates to vote for the former first lady, but would hand out Clinton signs to supporters who requested them.

“We have been and are working closely with the Obama campaign to make sure we have an exciting and unified convention," Strand said. "Our delegate whips, along with the Obama delegate whips, are a part of a team that will be on the floor of the convention to make sure delegates have everything they need, whether that’s answering questions or passing out signs during Hillary's speech. The whips are a traditional part of every convention's floor operations.”

Plans for the squad were finalized last weekend. Although some former Clinton staffers balked at policing their own supporters, its ranks were filled by people itching for a floor pass -- not an easy get for Clinton's troops at the Obama-run convention.

Ridiculous...but I believe that Obama's campaign will handle it.

Uh huh.

So you see the obvious hi-jinks in that little plan too?

McCain Backs Away From Change to GOP Platform on Abortion

"If he were to change the party platform," to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother's life, "I think that would be political suicide," Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, told ABC News in May. "I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08...

So, now that he's spelled out his position on choice, I wonder what those Hillary feminists are gonna say now. He was champing at the bit to talk about the Supreme Court at the faith forum.

Well the reason it seemed like he was chomping at the bit to talk about the Supreme Court was because......he was chomping at the bit to get those 4 names out before he forgot them. He had to name those justices right then, question or not, he HAD to ask Warren "can we get back to the question of the Supreme Court?"...when there was no prior question...hilarious..if only the mainstream media gave a damn.

He's a moron.

I think Obama making a choice to work in the poor, underserved communities of Chicago, organizing with churches to start job programs and really working to empower the residents there is quite telling. He didn't have to be there, but he got in the trenches with those in need.

Obama often cites his time as an organizer, from 1985 to 1988, as part of the experience that qualifies him to be president.

"His greatest hits seem to have been a successful effort to convince the city of Chicago to locate a jobs placement office on the far South Side and his part in a drive to push the city to clean asbestos out of a housing project in the same area.

… Obama, not long out of college, didn't have much experience to qualify him to be an organizer. But he was black — a threshold qualification for this particular job — and he seemed able almost to work magic on those he encountered. "He didn't have experience," Augustine-Herron told me, "but he had a sensitivity that allowed us to believe that he could do that job."

Gee, this all sounds vaguely familiar. It’s one thing to take a chance on a smooth talking but inexperienced young guy to be a community organizer, it’s quite another to elect someone President with a resume as thin as Obama’s.

The truth is the only significant thing Obama was able to do as a community organizer was to advance his political ambitions.

Even the NYT concurs:

" It is clear that the benefit of those years to Mr. Obama dwarfs what he accomplished. Mr. Kellman said that Mr. Obama had built the organization’s following among needy residents and black ministers, but “on issues, we made very little progress, nothing that would change poverty on the South Side of Chicago.”

In short, this experience made good material for his book (a third of the pages are devoted to this period in his life) but he didn’t do much.

You say Obama's resume was "thin".....compared to whose?

Law firms were fighting over Obama way back then, s.

S. Go screw yourself. It is one thing to come here and post based on fact but it is another to insult our intelligence with those bullshit talking points. Either post based on fact instead of the crap that even my 7 year old knows to be false or go earn your McCain points elsewhere.

Now be a good sssssssnnnnnaaaaakkkkkeeeee and copy and paste my comments to McCain's tattle tale center.

I think s is a Hillary supporter.

I do too. To be honest, the McCain supporters I've come across on the net are not sporadic and irrational. That's the modus operandi of Hillbots.

That's an intelligent, well crafted rebuttal. You're really going to convince a lot of undecided voters to swing to Obama with a defense like that.

I am going to send every undecided voter I know over here to find out how intelligent, well-informed and post-partisan Obama supporters are.

AND . . . .??????

EXERCISING AGAIN??? And a 1, and a 2, and a 3!!! :>) :>)

You don't know any undecided voters dear. You know people who are simply phucking with your head because its a funny way to kill time.

"They’re friends. So what?"

Obama is hiding behind Mayor Daley's skirts:

John Kass has an explanation for Stanley Kurtz for why he couldn’t access what should be public records at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kurtz apparently didn’t read the name of the building in which the files from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge reside. It’s the Richard Daley Library, and when a Daley gets involved in a Chicago issue, openness flies right back out the door:

"The relationship between the ambitious Obama and the unrepentant Ayers is a subject that excites Republicans, who haven’t really thwacked that pinata as hard as they might. It really irritates Obama and his political champion, Chicago’s sovereign lord, Mayor Richard M. Daley.

“This is a public entity,” Kurtz told us Wednesday. “I don’t understand how confidentiality of the donor would be an issue.”

You don’t understand, Mr. Kurtz? Allow me to explain. The secret is hidden in the name of the library:

The Richard J. Daley Library.

Eureka!"

The son of the famous Chicago machine boss and one in his own right, Richard Daley Jr doesn’t understand why anyone would want to look into the relationship between a presidential candidate and an unrepentant domestic terrorist-cum-academic. If William Ayers was good enough to wangle a Chicago job with the help of his father, Mayor Daley wondered aloud, why would anyone question him?

Ayers has repeatedly refused to apologize for his bombings and his terrorist actions, nor has his wife Bernardine Dohrn repented of her connections to bombings, thefts, and murder. To this day, they still speak publicly about the need to overthrow the capitalist system of the United States and call America a “monster”.

They’re friends. So what? Well, most Americans don’t have friends who plotted to bomb the Pentagon, or assisted radicals in robberies that resulted in murder. Not only did Barack Obama make these people his friends, he worked closely with them on two separate projects, the Woods Foundation — and that pesky Chicago Annenberg Challenge that UIC, a public institution, ran. These were voluntary associations, not a case of both being hired by a corporate manager and forced to work together. In fact, Obama chose to work for Ayers at the CAC.

But wait...they're NOT friends? Obama characterized Ayers as '... a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. "

Why lie?

It's not the crime. It's the cover up.

Do you not understand that nobody gives a damn about William Ayers? Except for you and Sean Hannity?

If William Ayers was a black guy or non-white guy, he would generate more interest. William Ayers is a white dude that looks like Mr. Rogers. Nobody cares. Especially when Ayers was doing his dirt Obama was all of 8 years old and not even living in the United States.

Tough breaks, but nobody gives a damn about William Ayers or Tony Rezko. Go eat a Little Debbie snack or something.

I think they only serve Jello in those places, not Debbie snacks.

Oh I get it. Even back when he was a grade schooler Barack was down with the Weather Underground, and was even giving Ayers and the Missus tips on what was the best way to make stuff blow up real good.

Nice try with the guilt by association thing. I mean my high school chem lab partner was the son of one of the biggest mob bosses on the East Coast, so of course that means the Five Families have my number in their speed dial to this very day.

No.

You ignore the fact that both Ayers and Obama BOTH PLAYED IMPORTANT ROLES IN THE HIGHLY POLITICAL EFFORTS FOR EDUCATION REFORM at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Obama has lied about the relationship, characterizing as casual and of no consequence.

The Challenge allowed Barack Obama and Bill Ayers to work together in the heat of political battle to help disburse more than $100 million to allies, particularly in the Local School Councils, in the Chicago School system.

Under the circumstances, it seems more than a bit disingenuous of Senator Obama to dismiss Bill Ayers as “some guy who lives in my neighborhood.”

Do some research instead of regurgitating Obama talking points. The story has moved well beyond your lame defense.

http://globallabor.blogspot.com/2008/08/behind-...

Bull. I suggest YOU do some research. It wouldn't take much. Obama said he sat on a committee for education reform with Ayers and no he is not going to judge a man by what he did 20 years before he met him. He said it during a debate with Hillary. The media reported it several times and my response is so freaking what?

JJP -- look . We are getting down to the wire here and things will get more ugly for Obama. Folks are going to try to increase dissent among Obama's supporters.

It is time for us to take out the freaking trash. We have these lunatics desperately trying to earn McCain points by copying and pasting bullsh*t talking points from the McCain smear website to pro-Obama blogs. They deliberately trying to start internal wars, and then they seek out comments made by supporters which they in turn run home to the official McCain Tattle Tale Center and report on what McCain could then use attack Obama. So in us talking to each other out of frustration or whatever, they take that information and give it to McCain to use against Obama. Think about it . . . the last few days on JJP posted commentary that is not that helpful to the Obama campaign. All we are doing is providing fodder for the sssnnnnnnnaaaaaakkkkkkeeeeessssss.

We are our own worst enemies. We need to shut this bullcrap down and kick these house n*gr**s out of town.

I am not referring to you D. You are an exception. I am referring to the sssnnnnnaaaakkkkkkeeeessss that continues to slither on to this site playing that passive agressive role.

I am sick of it. I say kick their asses out and let us do this thing. Be like Usain Bolt, tell everybody to kiss ***** and help Obama take this thing to finish line.

I'm so glad I kept reading......

I'll cosign.....though the truth is, McCain supporters don't have to have to try to start an internal war. A lot of the time, it comes up all on its own. Remember the FISA debacle?

When I can go over to Free Republic and read some of the exact same criticisms of Obama that I have seen occasionally here on JJP (albeit with a lot less colorful language), that's concerning. Someone said it a day or so ago, and they were right: regardless of what any poll says, the Obama insurgency is the underdog here. And if y'all are fractured, and that fracture spreads, you're not gonna carry the day.

Oooh, I made s mad.

LOL, she says you're repeating O talking points!! Your chem lab partner is an Obama talking point???

Now you're gonna get it...well no...some small animal is gonna get it, but you'll be the one s is thinking about.

lets hope she's not really a kitty.

No worries, because kitty's still got her claws and she's sharpening them on the coffee table as we speak.

Rice says U.S., Iraq agree to troop withdrawal timetable
Updated 1h 3m ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday the two countries have agreed that timetables should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the battle-scarred country.
Appearing together at a news conference, Rice and Zebari mutually asserted that a final agreement between Washington and Baghdad on a withdrawal plan and accompanying strategic framework pact is close to fruition — but not there yet.

"We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold, are well worth having in such an agreement," Rice told reporters after meeting with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The two sides had come together on a draft agreement earlier this week and Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to press officials there to complete the accord.

Zebari, asked about fears expressed by neighboring countries over such a pact, said in Arabic: "This decision (agreement) is a sovereign one and Iran and other neighboring countries have the right to ask for clarifications. ... There are clear articles (that) say that Iraq will not be used as a launching pad for any aggressive acts against neighboring countries and we already did clarify this."

A key part of the U.S.-Iraqi draft agreement envisions the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq's cities by next June 30.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-08...

Obama wins again!

Suck it, s and D.

Ah, but that would be a 10 month withdrawal.

So, does the credit go to Obama for saying we have to withdraw, or to the proponents of the surge for the conditions being in place to withdraw sooner than Obama suggested?

(Don't answer if you don't want to. Just a preview of how it could be spun)

I know it will be spun. I know Bush is trying to take this issue out of contention for the election. I know the Republican playbook as well as anyone.

Obama needs to claim credit for being right about this, just like he needs to claim credit for being right on Iraq, just like he needs to claim credit for being right on diplomacy, energy, the economy, etc., etc., etc.

What's your basis for saying he's right? What's he right on?

Right on the fact that we never should have invaded a sovereign nation that posed no threat to us. Let's start there.

We'll continue to the fact that Obama called for a sensible withdrawal, mindful of facts on the ground, exactly in line with what the Iraqi ministers are asking.

And I'll finish with the idea that it's time for Iraq to determine Iraq's future. We have messed around in their affairs for long enough. If they ask for our help, we should help them, but so far, I don't think most Iraqis believe that our invasion has helped anything. They don't look to us as being their saviors and as far as they are concerned, they want us the heck out of there. They are a sovereign nation. We should give them what they want.

Disagree on point #1, but that's not really critical to the argument.

Ok, let's assume this deal goes through. Who gets the credit-the proponents of the surge, or the sitting president (whoever he is)?

"McCain has never taken an earmark. He has a lengthy, solid record of bi-partisan cooperation on a wide range of issues."

-When he wasn't nasty to other Senators.

Ok, so McCain has a temper and occaisionally pisses people off.

And this is a bad thing because........?

It's a bad thing when the people he's pissed off is Russia and we're already fighting a two front war.

You know, two front wars? The very thing that took down Napolean, Hitler, the Romans?

Now THAT'S a valid concern.

Though I'd argue that the difference is that our multiple front war has-at least in the majority-been limited to one geographic area.The Romans and Napoleon were fighting on all sides most of the time.

Thoughts?

The problem with multiple front wars is only tangentially geography. Geography is a subset of the problem.

The main problem is simply resources-- military, economic, diplomatic good will, energy, emotional, and psychological resources. Our military and economy are spread too thin, the good will of our allies is wearing thin, the will of the people to continue fighting, particularly in Iraq, is wearing very thin.

One history teacher I had made an excellent point about war. So often winning a war goes beyond military and monetary might. It comes down to questioning whether the cost is worth it. We are at a point where people are deciding that these wars are not worth it.

You make good points.

I would say that if the War on Terror led to the ultimate destruction of the American way of life-to the point that a demise takes place that exceeds any other in history-then, no, it was not worth it.

Have we gotten there yet? No.

Are we on our way? We'll disagree there.

He is a warmonger who seems to be unstable.

Unstable based on.......?

Ok you ask for it in McCains own words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cFbJFYKkQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrEOBj-CRQA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wD0Gf9w5DA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qu6B6fcfo8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJq37uGQceo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kGXKpQbt0w
On can go on but he is old out of touch and Im just tired

Based on possibly the missing pages from those files?

oohhh good one Miranda. LOL

Seems to be?

C'mon.

Jump right in.

Because a wise man controls his emotions and thinks thru his options, a child or immature man lashes out without thinking of the long term consequences.Case in point Iraq.
http://www.ajc.com/printedition/content/printed...

"Raisin' McCain vs. Obambi"

LOL
Now that is going to make me run out and vote for Obama. Good one!

Why is Obama slipping in the polls. Forget all the excuses and look at the Issues.

Obama is on the wrong side of the issues that are important to Americans. He has been following McCain's lead, playing catch-up on the top three issue that are of the most concern to voters.

#1. The Economy. Let's face it. Gas prices have become a proxy for the economy. The higher pump prices climb, the more people think the economy is sinking. McCain’s flip-flop to support offshore drilling showed sympathy. It was translated as: He is willing to fight the establishment to improve the economy for average people. McCain has got it right in advocating new offshore drilling and a federal push to add 45 nuclear generators over the next two decades.

Obama can’t depart from liberal orthodoxy (which openly favors high gas prices because it will force us to change the type of fuel we use in our cars). He finally managed to say something along the lines that while he favors higher prices, but thought prices climbed too fast. Huh? Later, he favored some sort of drilling as part of package involving more subsidies to alternative energies… His flip-flop wasn’t dramatic enough and was weeks too late.

Obama is losing on this issue.

#2. National Security. McCain fought for and was right about 'the Surge". Now, months after wide-spread acknowledgement by ever the most pessemistic critics, Obama is edging away from a long-held position, and he tacitly acknowledged the success of the Iraq troop-surge strategy during an appearance Tuesday before the country's largest organization of combat veterans.

Too little, too late.

McCain, not Obama, was right about Georgia.

It took my first-term Sen. Barack Obama three tries to get it right. Headed for a vacation in Hawaii, the presumed Democratic candidate for commander in chief issued an even-handed statement, urging restraint by both sides. Later Friday, he again called for mutual restraint but blamed Russia for the fighting. The next day his language finally caught up with toughness of McCain's.

Making matters worse, Obama's staff focused on a McCain aide who had served as a lobbyist for Georgia, charging it showed McCain was "ensconced in a lobbyist culture." Obama's campaign came off as injecting petty partisan politics into an international crisis. This was not a serious response on behalf a man who aspires to be the leader of the Free World.

#3. Government Ethics and Corruption. I find it interesting that at the Saddleback Forum Obama claimed that "I worked with John McCain" on ethics legislation. Why did he feel that he must try and link himself to McCain's record? Why did he not cite his own accomplishments.

In fact, the two worked together for barely a week, after which Obama chose to support a purely partisan, Democrat proposal.

McCain has never taken an earmark. He has a lengthy, solid record of bi-partisan cooperation on a wide range of issues.

Obama is just beginning to build his resume in this area.

s you are right about the economic issue being framed as cheap gas as a proxy for the economy. It requires however that you don't think about the 'nuances' of the situation. I realize you prefer belief for facts and ignorance for knowledge but that approach means you are exploiting the people you claim to be helping. so sit down and read some nuance.

Drilling will not bring cheaper gas prices. One, the increase in supply will be continually eaten up by other countries which are expanding their economies. Two, the states currently not allowing drilling of thier shores will get to approve drilling. The three states msot oftern mentioned for drilling are Alaska, California and Florida. All three have Republican governors. The latter two have already said no. Alaska which I do believe will allow it will not get the oil to market for at least 4 years at the earliest. Three, the increase in energy prices has moved into every input of the economy. Food, paper, fertilizer anything you use everyday has had prices increases.

so again what McCain is doing is preying on the black and white crowd inability to recognize the world has changed. The US is no longer the engine of the economic train of the world. Our demand/supply cycles no longer determine where economic inputs are used. That since our standard of living is what everybody wants and are working to get it we can't go backwards.

As I said you are correct that the issue has become political hay but it is not a realistic solution.

From Al Giordano at The Field:

Light a Candle for the Three Point Shot

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/vp-wa...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200808200009?f=h_top

Rash Limpballs calls Obama a "little black man-child."

Rush needs a hug...preferably from a hungry bear!

One step removed from N- boy.

It'll happen before this campaign is over.

Sooner rather than later.

Comcast's New Network Management Will Slow Down Heavy Users for Up to 20 Minutes
Not political, but yet another example of corporations running our lives. A few commenters pointed out that Comcast is simply trying to force people to get their entertainment from them instead of downloading or streaming online.

From the Swampland about Obama and VP choices:

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/08/obam...

Please go and DIGG this video about McCain and Adultery from the CNN special.

It's at The Jed Report:


http://www.jedreport.com/2008/08/cnn-talks-with...

Did you see how he responded when King asked him about cheating?? He went right to the party line and that fake smile. It was chilling.

John King has redeemed himself, temporarily.

Seemingly, this is CNN's opportunity to help McCain minimize his affair. An opportunity to advance the notion that John McCain is an Everyday Amerian Guy, while this fella Obama is the ...

other.

"I take full responsiblity for the break up of my marriage," the Dangrous One admitted, and then he smiled that creepy smile.

"I lied," the Dangerous One admitted when telling Cindy his age, and then he laughed that deceitful laugh.

::

Interesting the Gold Digger met his Gold Mine Heiress in Hawaii. That "elite paradise" in the Pacific where Barack was born.

I wonder how many other kids he has from other women around the globe.

McCain's Hanky/Corrupt/Fishy Financing of this campaign

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008...

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked 10 houses

LOL

Too funny

LMAO!!!!

Senator Fails in Effort to Move His Corruption Trial to Alaska

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/washington/21...


Too bad, Ted.

That is good I guess. But what will it really mean? Will he really be held accountable if he found guilty or will he get off with some slap on the wrist?

McCain unsure of how many houses he has

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12685...


You know, there's so much commentary that could be said about this.

But, I'll only say this:

flip the script and tell me what the story would be.

McCain attempts to explain away his houses gaffe, by, you guessed it, PLAYING THE POW CARD!!!

Hilarious!

This guy is an idiot. Worse, he thinks we're idiots.

I like this new Obama ad:

Obama Tears Into McCain For Houses Remark
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/21/obama-...

This is how Democrats should tell it like it is.
Kaine on McCain's House Gaffe: "He Couldn't Count High Enough"
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08...

He's SOOOOOO elitist!

OBAMA UNSURE OF HOW MANY HOUSES HE OWNS

By Johnathan Martin and Mike Allen

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Michelle, own.

The correct answer is at least four, located in tony parts of Illinois, Indiana and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven lavish properties.

In recent weeks, Republicans have stepped up their effort to caricature Obama as living an outrageously rich lifestyle — a bit of payback to the Democrats for portraying Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as an elitist, and for turning the spotlight in 2004 on the one home owned by Pres. George W. Bush) and his wife, Laura.

Anti-Obama groups have sent out mailers highlighting Obama’s wealth, and Republicans have tried to make light of his lavish lifestyle in comments to reporters.

Twice in the past two weeks, those Republicans have pointed out the hypocrisy of Obama owning so many homes.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT.) told Politico’s Ben Smith that it was Obama “who had a fancy Ivy League educations, has numerous houses and associates with the most elitist people in the country."

Obama, by anyone's measure, is very well-off, not including the massive pay raise his wife Michelle received after he joined the Senate. Michelle Obama started off making $20,000 a year but her salary has exploded to over $300,000 for essentially doing the same tasks she did at $20,000 a year.

Town, if you're not careful, some right wing blogger is gonna copy and paste this and peddle it as a real story.

hmmmmm..........s has been gone for a while....too late.

I cannot even believe that there is enough ink to print dreck like this.

Michelle Obama never took a job @UC for $20K. Hell, she made more than that @ the law firm where they both met! Furthermore, she made more than that in the public sector @ the city and she made more than that @ Public Allies. I don't even know how much she made @ each job but any god blessed idiot can put it together.

Joe Lieberman ought to be talking about fancy Ivy League educations. Last time I checked, he met the Clintons @ Yale. Furthermore, where was his tongue before Obama arrived in the Senate? That is one heckuva Ivy League fraternity.

Where are all the homes that the Obamas own? Where are all the homes that the McCains own? How 'bout the Bushes?

These people are such liars. Gives me a stomach ache so early in the a.m.

LOL, no! This is a fake article based off the real one. I just switched "Obama" for "McCain" and "Democrat" for "Republican" and added in a bunch of adjectives. LOL the fact you thought this was real means this is exactly the type of article the MSM would have written.

lol

Hell, I thought it was real....even googled it.

You should award yourself points for that one....

No, I know that you are satirizing the realities that we face!

I just took it as the realities that we respond to on a daily basis. And, it's just not that far off from what folks have the bodaciousness to print. In fact, it borders on what is on the edges of some minds and the tips of some tongues.

As long as there are people who write from privileged perspectives, we will have to deal with matters just as you creatively wrote. I just can't get over how many journalists lack critical thinking skills and then try to apply their lack to issues of cultural import.

Oy.

Brilliant, Town. The really frightening thing is that it is so easy to imagine just how the news reports would be written. Sigh.

Good Lord. I'm telling you, I've got to find a way to channel all this rage I'm feeling on a daily basis.

When Obama is criticized as "Elitist " is not synonymous with 'rich.'
Elitist defined is a person who believes that he or she is inherently a member of an elite group of people or who has some kind of special, quality that gives them license to assume that they know what is best or right.

From Mark Whittingham:

Who is more "elitist?" Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama? An even casual examination of the question suggests that Barack Obama is the winner of that contest, hands down, not even close.

As evidence for Barack Obama's elitism, one can go no further than Barack Obama's "bitter" comments, delivered to a group of rich campaign contributors at a closed door fund raiser in San Francisco. Referring to rural people in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama said, "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Heavens, could one possibly be more condescending?

Barack Obama's elitism sometimes rises toward the level of megalomania. In Barack Obama's remarks on the final primary night in St. Paul Minnesota, he seemed to become enraptured with the possibilities his Presidency would entail:

"I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals."

"The rise of the oceans began to slow?" Because of Barack Obama? King Canute once commanded the oceans to recede, but only to provide a lesson to his nobles that even a King could not do everything. No such humility for Barack Obama.

And "the planet began to heal?" As the columnist Charles Krauthammer pointed out, even Jesus Christ only proposed to heal sick people. Barack Obama's ambitions are on another level entirely.

In Berlin, where Barack Obama spoke before two hundred thousand chanting Germans, none of whom who could actually vote for him, the candidate proposed to one up Ronald Reagan.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down. "

Ronald Reagan only proposed that then General Secretary Gorbachev tear down the Berlin Wall. Apparently unaware of that old New England maxim that some good walls make good neighbors, Barack Obama wants to tear down all walls.

And what of John McCain? What are his ambitions as President? Apparently they include hammering the terrorists, keeping taxes and spending low, and empowering people to prosper and better their lives. An ambitious agenda to be sure, considering the current makeup of the Congress, but quite doable by a mere human being.

"Elitist defined is a person who believes that he or she is inherently a member of an elite group of people or who has some kind of special, quality that gives them license to assume that they know what is best or right."

That's not the definition of elitist, s. By your definition, every parent is elitist to their child. By your definition, every Christian is elitist...every doctor......every expert in his or her field would be elitist by that definition.

Here's the definition from American Heritage dictionary:

e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism (ĭ-lē'tĭz'əm, ā-lē'-)
n.

1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2.
1. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
2. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

From Politicalinaction.com:

10. In CNN's special last night....some girl who was the high school editor of a paper Obama wrote for said he was pretty deep for a high school kid, writing a pretty good line to end a story about social consciousness: "Walking a straight line in a crooked world".

Ha! That is the single line that stands out for me in that special...that and Cindy saying John thought she was a good wife and mother. Two statements that sum everything up.

Did anyone see McCain revealed on CNN last night? While they tried to push the war hero story and highlight his years of involvement in politics, I came away thinking he's an underachiever, protected and elevated by famial connections, financed by Cindy the homewrecker (who by the way thinks she's a better wife and mother than Carol his crippled heartbroken first wife). He has lived his entire life screwing up and being bailed out by someone. The spoiled thankless child who never grows up or assumes responsibility. The child who doesn't know how to behave because he never had to.

I bet he is indeed thinking that someone will make sure that he is elected president. He probably thought he would win in 2000, but there was a contender that was even more protected and connected than him and look what we got.

"..financed by Cindy the homewrecker (who by the way thinks she's a better wife and mother than Carol his crippled heartbroken first wife)"

That line jumped out at me too. Cindy's got a mean-streak. She says repeatedly that she's an only child, knowing it must be deeply painful for her 2 other sibling to hear. She says she's always been proud of her country, twisting the knife of criticism in Michelle O for what was an innocent comment. She says that John saw in her a good wife and mother, implying that Carol wasn't those things...surely she understands that would be painful for the disabled, abandoned Carol and her children.

I'm surprised she's 17 years John's juniour...she looks at least as old as John.

Well, that's how I've seen him from the beginning. Period.

I'm going to call it as I see it.

There is a choice.

A man who has already told you he WILL continue every policy that has gotten us in this fucked up position where we are TODAY...

versus

Someone who will work to turn things around for you.

It's a simple choice, really.

I don't have any qualms saying it's because of race.

If Obama were White, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, because this race would be over.

McAncient is wretched. He's a liar. He's senile. He's made more mistakes than any candidate I've seen recently at this level.

When I see bullshit in polls that 60% believe McCain shares your values...

what values are those?

Throwing away the wife that nursed you back to health for a sweet, hot young rich thing.


OR is it the value of stealing away a spot from someone deserving to go to Annapolis, and STILL graduate 5th from the bottom?

Or is it the value of pimping military service, all the while screwing over anything that would help the common serviceman or woman?

THOSE kinds of values?

Oh, and the Thieving, Junkie HO he married who tried to pin her thievery on some poor schmuck at the charity until she was busted with the truth.

THOSE values?

Barack Obama is a happily married, solid family man, who is on his first wife. WHo worked for EVERYTHING he ever got in his life - as did his wife. NOTHING was handed to him.

Like I said, if Obama were White, he'd be Horatio Alger versus spoiled son and grandson of Admirals who cheated on his wife.

And, if the script were flipped, NO WAY IN HELL would Obama even BE the Nominee - because all of this would be pointed out as to why he LACKED THE CHARACTER to be President.

I accept that Obama has to be Jackie Robinson.

But, just admit that it's race, and we can proceed.

And for those who claim they 'don't know enough about Obama', They don't know shit about Obama's positions on anything, cause they're too fucking lazy to get to a computer and read his policy papers that he has on EVERYTHING. It's there for them - IF they were actually interested in POLICY.

Unfortunately,
You are co-signing Hillary. This has been what she has said
all along. He can't be elected because he is BLACK!

She's not suggesting he can't be elected, she's just pointing out that a lot of the opposition is about race.

She's not suggesting he can't be elected, she's just pointing out that a lot of the opposition is about race.

Whew.

That's all.

You'd think there was a white journalist of stature, who had the courage to say this.

He or she would be kicked out of the club if they did.

Stone cold truth. I also want to have Rikyrah's baby.

Wow.

Welcome back.

Some right wing satire for you all:

Tales From The 57 States: John Wins in Shaman Rick's House

No thanks!

Oh, come on......it's kinda like the one the Brits did a while back. The slant at the end ruins it a little, but it's still funny.

NBC, for whatever suspect reason, chose to poll Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match-up against John McCain, and it's not surprising that she preforms better than Barack Obama, but what is surprising is by how little.

This poll and EVERY OTHER poll released this week was conducted while Senator Obama was on vacation; Senator McCain had the media to himself to assault Senator Obama's character relentlessly; and Senator McCain got a gift from Russia and yet Senator Clinton, who has been close to sainted by the media, her supporters and even Republicans since conceding, only peformas 3 percentage points better and more importantly doesn't crack the elusive 50% mark either, which means she is underperforming the generic poll as well.

Just sayin'.

But of course that's not the spin the pundits put on it.

That's why she shouldn't be invited to the convention. By now, we shouldn't be talking about her at all, she should be old news. Obama is keeping her name relevant. Why? Don't be surprised.

I heard Chuck Todd pushing the meme that the supposed 13% undecided are Hillary supporters. I can't ever remember a time when the loser or "runner up" to the nomination was a factor in the general campaign.

Do you guys suppose they will be polling how well she would have done if elected president?

Wondering the same thing! As I noted on the blog earlier what I found most
interesting in the CBS poll is that she didn't cross the elusive 50% mark.
Moreover, let's keep in mind that these most recent polls were conducted
while Obama was on vacation and under steady assault by the GOP. Since
conceding the nomination, Hillary Clinton as been lauded by Democrats,
Republicans and the media alike, and she only performs 3% better than Obama
under assault and not campaigning?

I've been one of the ones arguing the last week or so that he may have to
put his pride to the side, he pick her. Now I'm not so sure.

Hell yes - From now till 2012 they'll do it.

I said this in a different post, but I feel I must say it again: All this Hillary talk and Barack is down polls are just attempts to force hillary onto the ticket. I can smell the clintons' sleaziness all over this.

It's utterly ridiculous. And, this is the main reason why Obama shouldn't choose her. NEVER.

Win or lose ON HIS OWN.

They (Corporatist MSM) are pushing really hard for him to name her as veep. David Gergen can't mention her name without saying she should be the vp.

SHE is the only person that can MOTIVATE the Right.

THE ONLY ONE.

McCain doesn't.

And kiss the Independents goodbye.

I'm tired of depending upon the same old electoral map.

Fuck that.

I want a new electoral map. Something SHE would deny the Democratic Party.

HELL NO to Hillpatine

Just sayin' indeed, NMP.

Always on point.

The situation looks reminds me of the run-up towards the. end of the primaries. Where HRC was polling better than BO against McCain because some of her supporters thought they were helping their girl by refusing to support Obama. I believe the race has tighten ever since there was an announcement of a roll call at the convention.

I know. That awful Linda Hirshman-- the Hilltard who wrote recently that white feminists should only be concerned about white feminism-- wrote on Huffington Post about Obama's drop in the polls and how, if anyone had asked her opinion (as if), she would have told them not to have Obama's acceptance speech in the stadium because Repubs would use that against him.

These Hilltards are ON CRACK. They seem to think that Republicans would have no ammunition against Hillary. One cited your poll, that she's doing 6 points better than McCain, because, you know, McCain totally would not have campaigned negatively against her. He would have held her up as a shining beacon of patriotism and democracy, a credit to women everywhere, with a glowing resume of experience and honor.

Yeah, right. All they would have had to do would be to run her "greatest hits" from the primary, most importantly, BOSNIA. These people are sick and delusional.

This is the reason that she won't be the VP nominee; way too much baggage, and a big bullseye target for all kinds of attacks. Nothing will rally the neo-con base like her on the ticket, and Obama would lose were he to put her and Billy Jeff on the ticket. He knows this, so it ain't a happening, not in our lifetime, however long that is.

Very sick and delusional and so not wanting a black man to be their president.

McCain Comment about Reinstituting the draft

Audience Member: "If we don't reenact the draft I don't think we will have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell."

McCain reply: "Ma'am let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said and thank you and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans."

Debunked.

How do you debunk a direct quote?

Because TruthSeeker. McCain does not speak for McCain remember?

Link please

The entire transcript of the town hall.

Just in case you're interested in reading his entire answer to the question.

Thank you

Well if he wants to stay in Iraq for a hundred years,bomb, bomb bomb Iran.and since we are all Georgians and we must turn back the Russian bear the only way McCain can do it is with a draft , unless he plans on using nuclear weapons to confront his enemies.

Fear not; if there's a draft; I doubt you'll get called.

I served my country like a lot of my family and I served proudly that's why I have the right to criticize my country and not goosestep to insane policies that are not in my country's best interest.

Loving 'goosestep.' It's much more refined than delusional and foolish.

I haven't heard one thing out of McCaint's mouth that wasn't a lie or pandering, and I find it difficult to comprehend that anyone, especially black folks raised poor or middle class. have the audacity to brag about supporting this guy who only wants to be president because of his ambition, just like the present dumb as a sack of hair failure at everything he's done current occupant of the White House.

I understand the freedom to vote for whomever you want, but there's nothing in McCaint's record as a legislator nor in his current presidential campaign that should inspire thinking people who truly are concerned about the direction this country's gone in to vote for him. Absolutely nothing.

I just read The Field Negro who is saying he's voting McCaint because he's supportive of a draft, an issue that is sure to gain votes for the Dems, so I'll have to remove him from my blog list because he has totally lost his mind. I've suspected that he's a closet McCaint person anyway, just from his borderline insulting name for Obama supporters. If he wrote his blog merely to be provocative, I find that unpalatable as well.

Any black folks who openly boasts about voting for Mccaint is a house negro to the nth degree.

Better be 100% sure about that last sentence......

. . . he said as, in black face, he proudly displays an avatar of himself shaking hands with Turd Blossom the Treasonous Traitor.

LOL!!!

I couldn't resist the urge to say that to you.

:)

Me either.

Oh, by all means, please continue. God forbid your neutral, objective voice is lost in the debate.

I am partisan but please tell me what republican policies over the past eight years have benefited the people and not the richest 5%?

Not just the last eight years, during Saint Ronnie and Pappy Bush's reigns also.

I saw the race - he was awesome. The Jamaicans are doing very well.

msmartin: I was able to watch it 2! Whooo Hoo!!! :>) :>)

A Jamaican lady helps to care for my mom! She was ecstatic!! Kept giving me "daps"!! It was 2 cute!!!!! :>) :>) :>)

Jamaica is in a frenzy over this. My aunt called and told me that their are televisions in all of the squares.

My house was lit up because as I've said here before, i'm Jamaican so this is exciting.

RhondaCoca: Major "virtual daps" to you/family!!! :>) :>) :>0

What inspiring accomplishment(s) for both the men and women!!!

Yaaaaaa! :>) :>) :>)

love usain--so glad he did his thing! yaaay! :-)

haven't seen it in california yet. great picture!

From Politco.com:

McCain calls lobbyists - Birds of Prey

Birds of prey,thats to nice more like carcass feeders like vultures the way they picked thru whatever honor McCain once had

Good thing so many work for his campaign. Maybe they'll eat his ass!

From Politicalinaction.com:

Obama's Rise....in Speeches

Al Giordano over at The Field:

Return of the Underdog

First, let it be said that this map flipped exactly when I said it would: a week before the Democratic convention. Coincidence? Hell no. Due to McCAin's smears? Not as much as the pundits would have you believe.

But in any case, Al puts it down about the underdog vs. frontrunner scenario.

When Barack was ahead, his supporters did him no favors by attacking him for every disappointing move he made, which was exploited by the pundits and the Repubicans long before McCain decided to call Barack a celebrity.

But now, folks who don't want the Dangerous One to prevail and don't want the Entitled One to steal are getting down to the nitty gritty once more.

The next 11 weeks is going to be interesting.

"When Barack was ahead, his supporters did him no favors by attacking him for every disappointing move he made, which was exploited by the pundits and the Repubicans long before McCain decided to call Barack a celebrity."

Exactly, and it is demeaning and insulting to Obama, demonstrating a weak base and a divided party, thus serving the neo-cons well. You never see and rarely hear of these kinds of attacks by the opponents' supporters. Never, ever.

At this stage, in this GE campaign, the Dangerous One and the Entitled One are one and the same.

The other doesn't matter; despite this obsession with her doings, she has been effectively vanquished, and she ain't coming back as VP either.

99%: Maybe this is why I keep asking - - Where da surrogates!!?????

Re: billary - - Lawd I pray. Please NO!!!!!

Whew! Praying Deep Breaths! :>) :>)

Well, in the age of the internet, WE'RE the surrogates. We shouldn't be waiting for someone else to do what we can do.

School must have started; I've missed you online during the da. :)

99%: "WE'RE the surrogates." I agree!!! That's why I keep learning from y'all, then contributing [I hope! :>)]

I am R-E-T-I-R-E-D! Whooo - hoo! For the past 9 days, I have been intensely caring for my mom [92 years Blessed!] :>)

Will return on Sat./Sun. 23/24.

I have been trying to contribute on my breaks! :>)

Missed you/y'all during the day [some nights, 2] :>) :>)

Thank you. :>)

Thanks for posting this rikyrah! Thank goodness for the internets!