“Republican National Convention | The 2008 Election Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit
by Vanity FairSeptember 4, 2008, 10:29 AM
One of the persistent memes in the Republican line of attack against Barack Obama is the notion that he is an elitist, whereas the G.O.P. represent real working Americans like Levi “F-in’ Redneck” Johnston.

It caught our attention, then, when First Lady Laura Bush and would-be First Lady Cindy McCain took the stage Tuesday night wearing some rather fancy designer clothes. So we asked our fashion department to price out their outfits.

Laura Bush
Oscar de la Renta suit: $2,500
Stuart Weitzman heels: $325
Pearl stud earrings: $600–$1,500
Total: Between $3,425 and $4,325

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

Wow! No wonder McCain has so many houses: his wife has the price of a Scottsdale split-level hanging from her ears.”

Why do Republicans mock “community organizer” role?
9:04 AM Thu, Sep 04, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Michael Landauer E-mail Suggest a blog topic
I really don't understand the mocking of Obama for being a community organizer as a young man.

Giuliani last night: “On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked — I said — I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.”

Palin last night: I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

Now, the truth is that, starting at age 23, Obama ran a faith-based charity called the Developing Communities Project.

It was made up of eight Catholic parishes when he got there and had one staff member. He was its director, meaning he was in charge. He made decisions about it, including staffing, budgets, etc. And when he left in 1988 to go to law school, he had grown its budget from $70,000 to $400,000, its staff from 1 to 13 people. More important, he created a job training program for this community and a college prep tutoring program.

As mayor, she built a hockey rink/rec center using eminent domain (because apparently there just isn't enough land in Alaska).

And keep in mind the timeline here: Obama did this as a young man BEFORE going to law school, becoming a successful lawyer and a law professor.

I don't think it's right to attack someone for working in a faith-based charity out of college. I think we all have some embarrassing first-jobs in our past. I would not make fun of Palin for being a beauty queen and sports reporter out of college during these same years. Although, I do think Obama's experience shaped his political future a bit better …

These people are despicable. Don't doubt it for a moment. They must be defeated.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/...

I guess in these hard times everyone has to cut back.

This is almost Stockholme Syndrome on the part of millions of Americans who support the Republican Party.

This whining has got to stop.

Perhaps there are parts of the country where mothers hope their children will grow up to be community organizers. The only “community organizer” I knew growing up was Al Sharpton's work in New York City, and he seemed to define his job as going into a bad situation and making sure it got worse, sometimes to the point of murderous arson.

If our friends on the other side of the aisle really want to get into an argument about that… role (I hesitate to call it a job)… Isn't there something inherently undemocratic about self-appointed “community organizers?” For most community leaders — mayors, city or town councilmen, school board members, city or county attorneys and prosecutors, even sheriffs and judges in some jurisdictions… if they fail to perform, they can be voted out of office. They're subject to FOIA and sunshine laws, and local councils and boards have to make their decisions in public. They're accountable. Their meeting minutes and budgets are open to review by anyone.

Who the heck ever elected or appointed community organizers to their positions? By what metrics do they measure their success? To whom do they answer? Who removes them from their positions for insufficient results?

There are probably fine people who claim that title, but even by Obama's own description, he didn't accomplish much in his three years in that work. I don't doubt that when young Obama ventured to the South Side, he walked the streets with the best of intentions. But they're insufficient when contrasted with results. In fact there's a particular road that's paved with those intentions.