viatroy

I knew we'd agree on something again someday.

Late again. Happy birthday and such!

I missed it! Birthday hugs Robin!

Unwelcome Guest is the song that first turned me on to Wilco -- Jeff's backing vocals.

And the message. Because I AM a democratic socialist -- I like public schools, roads, libraries, mail service, workers' rights and a reasonable safety net. And eating the rich.

pffff ... cover songs.

I don't think our present system can address the kind of social change I think necessary for the long term survival and safety of the majority of the earth's people and resources. I certainly don't think it can address political reform, as to get to that level these folks need to sell their souls (sorry Maker). So yeah, I'm of the revolution ilk. I'd get going on but I'm not prepared to get arrested until my kid is emancipated.

I'd offer to watch Spawn, but I'll be on the front lines myself.

Vote early & often!

Mickey Mouse! (Donald Duck!)

Mickey Mouse! (Donald Duck!)

Forever let us hold our Obama banners high!*

*You've got to be older than dirt to get this reference I think. And such.

from Nicholas Kristof in the NYT

In his endorsement, Mr. Powell added that an Obama election

My electoral prediction depends on MO! Without MO, it's a tie.

Project your own electoral vote Just to be on the conservative side, I'm giving McCain OH, VA, FL, NC, NV and NH -- but not Missouri! If I turn NH blue, it's a tie.

I didn't vote for Angela, but I rocked her 'fro for many years. That was my first election. I admit that, as left as I lean, I've always gone for the Dems because they were the only option to defeat the Republicans. I'd like to see a third party I could stomach actually get their shit together enough to be a contender. Until then, I will continue to vote hard against Republicans. And that means voting Democratic.

a little daily inspiration from the campaign in NC .... a couple great speech clips, but scroll down for the vid of Obama taking part in the phone banks.

I'll be making some calls for Obama tonight myself. So Obama, if you're in the hood, drop by. (Yeah, here in anti-American NYS we aren't made to suffer through much campaigning).

I used to respect McCain too, but he's allowed himself to be used and abused by the GOP in ways that can't sit well with him.

So true. Remember thinking Nixon/Watergate had to be the low point in American political history? After enduring these years of Bush's imperial presidency and the shredding of the Constitution, even I look at Nixon's misdeeds as almost quaint.

and now to the issue we should all be most concerned about .... voter suppression. From RFK's current article in Rolling Stone.

"I don't think the Democrats get it," says John Boyd, a voting-rights attorney in Albuquerque who has taken on the Republican Party for impeding access to the ballot. "All these new rules and games are turning voting into an obstacle course that could flip the vote to the GOP in half a dozen states."

Suppressing the vote has long been a cornerstone of the GOP's electoral strategy. Shortly before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Paul Weyrich

I've learned my lesson .... from election nights for Reagan, Bush I and Shrub. And with McCain stacking up his own serious endorsements, at best I could claim to be cautiously optimistic.

very happy birthday froggie!

Does anyone know the inauguration presale password?

happy belated bday Wendy!

the line is .... 'he fathered two black children in wedlock'

Heh. Palin was selected as veep for one reason--it pisses off the left. That's it. Nobody has any delusions about her qualifications. The people with the Palin signs up mostly want to see her win because liberals will disembowel themselves in disgust (figuratively, I hope). I honestly think the GOP only put her there because they can. Because they can do something this ridiculous and have a half-decent shot of getting away with it. For everybody who has bemoaned 8 years of Bush and thought the end was in sight--here comes a giant Alaska sized middle finger for ya.

 

It might not work. There's a good chance this ticket could fail because of her. But if it doesn't...if they somehow win, the howling from the left will only be matched in intensity by the laughter on the right.

I have Caribou Barbie on ignore.

100K attend Obama rally in St. Louis

either that or they're pallin' around w/Ayers too.

Has anyone noticed Obama and McCain are both lefties?

Mr. Rain's avatar both cracks me up and freaks me out every time I see itl.

Chicago Tribune, a newspaper that has not endorsed a Democrat for president since it was founded in 1847, followed suit. From their editorial:

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.

It may have seemed audacious for Obama to start his campaign in Springfield, invoking Lincoln. We think, given the opportunity to hold this nation's most powerful office, he will prove it wasn't so audacious after all. We are proud to add Barack Obama's name to Lincoln's in the list of people the Tribune has endorsed for president of the United States.

it's front page on Huff Post.

Several readers in Minnesota also reported receiving the call, which could be a violation of that state's laws. Explains Shaun Dakin, CEO & Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry:

"Most robocalls are supposed to have two things, "paid for by X" and a phone number of the group making the call. Most do that. Now, that being said, there are some states that have their own robocall laws and they are much stricter. Minnesota pretty much bans robocalls entirely unless they are introduced by a human voice. And that pretty much never happens because it defeats the point."

and from FL's Republican Gov:

The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's governor says his fellow Republicans may be exaggerating claims of voter fraud in the state.

Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that he has confidence in Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who says there's only been a scattering of isolated incidents.

Crist said in the closing days of any campaign "there are some who sort of enjoy chaos." There may be more of that going on than fraud, he said.

I also believe that, like the Ayers issue, people who are (or are not) voting for McCain specifically based on his choice of running mate have already made up their minds on that. I still think there's a small pool of undecided voters, looking at the top spots on the tickets, who can be swayed by the Keating issue.

 

It's entirely possible that I'm wrong, but we're talking about pretty small subsets of undecided voters at this point.

Let's not forget McCain's good buddy and psychotic G. Gordon Liddy

John McCain has had a field day with Barack Obama's tenuous associations with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground who is now a Chicago professor. Obama has said repeatedly that Ayers' radical past (he was involved in a handful of bombings in the 1960s) occurred when Barack was just a child, and he repudiates those actions. Nevertheless, McCain wants more. He claimed recently:

"I think not only a repudiation but an apology for ever having anything to do with an unrepentant terrorist is due the American people."

Now, however, the Chicago Tribune is pointing out McCain's own radical associations with G. Gordon Liddy: How close are McCain and Liddy? At least as close as Obama and Ayers appear to be. In 1998, Liddy's home was the site of a McCain fundraiser. Over the years, he has made at least four contributions totaling $5,000 to the senator's campaigns--including $1,000 this year.

Last November, McCain went on his radio show. Liddy greeted him as "an old friend," and McCain sounded like one. "I'm proud of you, I'm proud of your family," he gushed. "It's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great."

For those who are unaware, Liddy helped plan the Watergate break-in that would cost Nixon his presidency and landed Liddy a four-year jail sentence. But Liddy's career of inflammatory statements and actions exceed his Watergate actions.

Liddy, on Vietnam:

"I wanted to bomb the Red River dykes [sic]. It would have drowned half the country and starved the other half. There would have been no way the Viet Cong could have operated if we had the will-power to do that."

Liddy, advising Branch Davidians how to defend themselves from ATF agents during a radio show:

"If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a firefight, give them a firefight. Just remember, they're wearing flak jackets and you're better off shooting for the head."

Liddy, on the impact Adolf Hitler had on him as a child:

When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

hope it's a great one Alison!

So some kid in a poor neighborhood busts their ass all through school and gets grants and scholarships to go to a pretty good college. He graduates with an engineering degree and goes on to develop some system that increases productivity. He's good at what he does, starts his own business, and little by little through hard work, investments, and ingenuity, he becomes a millionaire.

 

He's not entitled to take an extra vacation if he earned his money? We should take some of that away so he lives like the middle class? Why would anyone want to work hard and make something of themselves?

Taking a nice vacation, having a great car, a college fund, hell even a vacation home -- fairly middle class pursuits.

I'm suggesting a more equitable distribution to the point where people can expect a safety net, or earn wages that make it less necessary. The way that works is through the government. For thirty years we've heard the fallacy that creating a desirable climate for wealth and job creation that would trickle down and benefit us all. Not so much, it turns out (surprise!).

Again, how do you defend someone worth billions deserving more tax cuts, when people are failing? The homeless shelter here is jammed, our food pantries can't keep up (and are seeing more regular middle class folks, etc., plenty of people are going to freeze this winter).

Bernie Sanders says it best

To me, it is grossly unfair that the middle class, whose standard of living is declining, is forced to pick up the tab for Wall Street's greed and irresponsibility, and not the top 1 percent who have benefited from Bush's reckless policies. While the middle class has declined under President Bush's failed economic policies, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from working families to the very rich. Incredibly, for the first seven years of Bush's tenure, the wealthiest 400 individuals in our country saw a $670 billion increase in their wealth. That is just 400 families.