Until governor Sarah Palin gives a full press conference, it seems to me that the cable news outlets should stop running her stump speeches in full on television. The deal is: candidates get to broadcast their message if the press get to question them thoroughly. That's how real democracy works - give and take. What the Palin-McCain campaign wants is all give and no take: an indirect propaganda filter and the outrageous precedent of no press conferences in presidential campaigns. This is an assault on democracy. It is closer to Russian or Georgian democracy than American. If cable news continues to enable this chilling process, they will become complicit.

Enough.

John P. Avlon
Author, Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics

The McCain campaign's latest round of attacks on Senator Obama's association with Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers represents an unwelcome return to a constant distraction in American politics over the last 40 years – reigniting the culture debates of the 1960s.

The baby-boom generation's coming of age was tumultuous and at times violent. The counterculture chaos and at times outright anti-Americanism of the far left led directly to the election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and the ascendance of the conservative movement that has won seven out of ten presidential elections over the past 40 years.

It's no surprise then when things get desperate the Republican Party tries to re-litigate the 1960s, sticking a knife in the cultural divide to reopen the wounds and air old grievances.

There was a time when this was appropriate: At the height of the cold war the conflicts between the far left and the right seemed at times central to determining our future as a free and independent nation. In the Presidential election of 2004, it was perhaps inevitable that the competing baby-boomers George W. Bush and John Kerry would escalate that debate seeing as how they were on opposite sides of that generational divide,

But the nomination of Barack Obama promised a break with the politics of the past. Born in 1961, he is not a product of those fights – and that is in part why he's been able to campaign as a candidate of change: not just racial, but generational. Senator McCain, for his part, is part of a pre-baby boom generation that came of age in the 1950s, not the 1960s.

These two men represent different philosophies of governing, but they have in the main been united by a desire to elevate our political discourse and take it in a more honorable direction outside of the gutter fights which have divided us for too long.

With our nation at war on two fronts, facing unprecedented global fiscal crisis, diverting attention to a despicable 1960s domestic terrorist who Obama has not seen or spoken to since being elected to congress, deserves to be seen for what it is – an attempt to distract us by reigniting cultural wars which long ago lost their ability to illuminate. They have become all heat and no light, and we need to move past them if we are to move forward as a nation.

...The only hard facts that have come out so far are the $200 contribution by Ayers to the Obama re-election fund, and their joint membership of the eight-person Woods Fund Board. Ayers did not respond to e-mails and telephone calls requesting clarification of the relationship. Obama spokesman Bill Burton noted in a statement that Ayers was a professor of education at the University of Illinois and a former aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley...

"Palling around with terrorists" indeed.  That's shameful.

Some might point out that in her defense, by the standards of the Bush Administration, this is more than can be said for the "working relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda.  I'd have to agree.

Nonetheless, if guilt-by-association is the governor's game, then tell me why she has any moral ground here:

This brings to my mind a certain Christian teaching:

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

(Matthew 7:1-5)

Does mainstream media suck…or what? I think we all know the answer to that one. Only a neo-liberal or a fool would say, "or what."

In the last couple of days I've had the "privilege" of reading a couple of really poor examples of journalism from the AP I'd like to share with you.

The first one entitled, Palin got zoning aid, gifts, lamented the "sad" fact that Sarah Palin received a facial, some salmon, and flowers from merchants. The article was written in a way which implied Palin recieved these "lavish" gifts in return for political favors. The writer did everything he could to leave the reader with that impression. Everything, that is, except deliver an outright accusation buttressed with actual proof. Talk about desperation, this is some of the sloppiest "news" reporting I've seen in a long, long time. It reads more like a tabloid than actual news. Then again, perhaps the libs figure that conservatives will think Palin is not fit for office because of her acuity for personal hygien and her love of fresh flowers and sea food. Read the article. I promise, you will laugh.

The second article, entitled, Palin facing voters who doubt her readiness, is just as bad for its bias and pushes the liberal printed media to dizzying new heights of stupidity. The article has Palin entering the next debate with Slo-Joe Biden while many voters doubt her readiness  for the nation's highest office.  It then goes on to cite a poll showing that soon after she was named as McCain's running mate, 41 percent of likely voters thought she had the experience to face the nation's highest office . However, that has now dropped to 25 percent. It never cites the voters' political orientation, which is quite an ommission, since the only voters who are really doubting Palin's readiness are the liberal ones and they won't be voting the GOP ticket anyway. This is just more misleading reporting designed to influence those who are already battle hardened to the media's wily ways. The irony is that evidently, mainstream media is ignorant of this fact, and so, continues to spew this blather thinking it will affect our vote. Imbecillic? I say, "YES!"

The article also points out some of Palin's alleged missteps during interviews while conveniently ignoring both Biden's and Obama's gaffes.

Finally, the article points out that conservatives have been critical over the choice of moderator for the upcoming debate between Biden and Palin. The writer of the article points out three things regarding the moderator: She's black; she's writing a book on how the black political landscape has changed since the civil rights era;(Of course, Obama is going to be the topic of an entire forthcoming chapter in that book.) and she's a journalist. The poor AP writer is confused (not surprisingly) thinking that conservatives have a problem with color and, proportionally, with civil rights. Actually, that isn't our beef at all; it's the fact that the moderator is a journalist. But not to worry my conservative friends, I'm sure her politcal leanings won't taint her ability to be "fair and balanced."

John Dickerson at Slate is also wary, anticipating a tendency for audience members to grandstand.  He writes an article entitled "Beware of Ponytail Guy," in a reference to the pony-tailed opening questioner at the town hall debate between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton in 1992.  The questioner, a "domestic mediator" name Denton Walthall, scolded the two candidates ahead of time against going negative during the debate, imploring them to treat the audience as they would their own children (he actually used the sentence, "Could we cross our hearts?").  I remember watching that debate 16 years ago, and my gorge still rises at the memory of this tool whining for the cameras as if he were addressing 5-year-olds.

I think that's a risk you take in a loose format like this one.  When the audience controls the questioning, the chances of a sideshow, or (as in the YouTube debate) a hijacking by a campaign mole, go through the roof.  If the news is to be believed, it appears the Democrats have a longer track record of plants in town hall debates, but John McCain has been pushing for this format for months now (he is said to thrive in a freewheeling environment), and Obama has been ducking him every step of the way since early summer.  Now that the Democrats have coalesced further behind Obama since McCain first proposed his series of town hall debates (i.e. there's less chance now of Obama getting unfriendly questions from primary-opponent plants), we'll see if McCain doesn't regret taking care what he wished for.

However, Dickerson at Slate points out that there's a factor at play this year that wasn't present when Denton Walthall reared his pony-tailed head at the town hall in 1992 -- the blogosphere:

On Tuesday night, if Son of Ponytail Guy asks a question, he can rest assured that he will receive a thorough going-over in the blogosphere. So I suggest all prospective questioners Google themselves, make sure they're on good terms with their co-workers, and wipe clean their Facebook page.

And it just got a new design.

Check it out here.

So far, I have seen two videos praising, in song, Obama, as if he was literally, the Saviour. See them here and here. The only other place I have seen these types of praise videos - for a politician - was for Adolph Hitler, Mao Zedong and Kim Jong-il and we know where that all went.

You're zealous about Obama? Fine. But he's just a man - just a politician - not the Saviour of the world. In my book, he's not even that great a speaker, like say, a Tony Blair is.

Now today, I see in the news that the author of the book, "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality" Jerome Corsi was deported from Kenya, ostensibly, for not having a work permit. Corsi had been scheduled to launch his book Tuesday in Kenya, where the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate is wildly popular. Obama's late father, whom he barely knew, was a Kenyan economist and the candidate is considered by many Kenyans as a native son. Minibuses are emblazoned with his picture and vendors sell T-shirts bearing his image.

According to a statement announcing Corsi's visit, he arrived last week at the invitation of Christian missionaries concerned about the rise of Islam. Corsi was planning to file daily dispatches all week, the statement said.

They kicked him about because he wrote a deragoratory book - a book - about Obama. Censorship, in essence.

So put that all together - messianic, or youth movement praise songs like that of totalitarian regimes, and now censorship - all of a politician - and you have me seriously disturbed about Obama.

He's just a man, a politician.

I think I need to get out my Bible and re-read the part about the Anti-Christ.

John McCain, your campaign from start to finish has been an embarrassment of drastic proportions. You have lied to us, you have smeared Barack Obama when you promised you wouldn't, you have stooped to the lowest levels of indecency with your choice for a running mate, and you have shamed your entire party.

Everything about the McCain campaign is disgusting and I see people and talk to people every day who feel the same and who are ashamed that we even have this type of candidate running for the highest office in our land.

Republicans and Independents are shifting their loyalties. Every swing state is turning to support Obama - Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida...all Obama states now. The McCain campaign has lost the trust and the affection of this nation. On November 4, 2008, we need to send a clear message to our politicians. No more stupidity, no more blatant lying, no more smearing, no more below the belt politics, no more idiocy, no more ignorance. We know better. We are more informed. We are more active. We communicate with each other more. We are a nation unified by our desire to make America BETTER. And we know that we cannot accomplish that with the likes of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden '08

Menmen, förhoppningsvis ser vi en lite argare Obama den här veckan, en Obama som kan ta för sig lite mer och sätta dit den självgott smilande gamle mannen mitt emot sig lite mer än vad han gjorde senast. Var finns ifrågasättandet av McCains "Maverick"-stämpel och hans "record" som han så ofta pratar om, det är styrkor som måste, och som kan, neutraliseras om Obama bara tar sig lite ton och visar lite testiklar (mannen är svart, vi vet att han är välhängd!).

As with all things Obama, it creates more questions than it provides answers. FYI -- This is a work in progress.

First, let's take Obama at his word. Here's the contents of that c.v..

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D. 1991, Magna Cum Laude

  President, Harvard Law Review [Feb 1990]
  Executive Board, Black Law Students' Association

• Columbia University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, 1983

Experience

• Illinois State Senator - 13th Legislative District, Chicago, 1996 - [2004]

  Minority Spokesperson for the Public Health & Welfare Committee, Member of the Judiciary and Revenue Committees, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. Areas of legislative interest include welfare reform; public school funding and accountability; tax accountability and tax fairness; campaign finance and ethics reform; job training and workforce preparation; economic development and technology access; and juvenile justice issues.

• University of Chicago Law School
  

  Senior Lecturer, 1993 - [2004]

• Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. [Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland]
  

  Of Counsel, 1996 - [2004 ?]

  Specializing in civil rights and voting rights litigation, employment law, and the representation of not-for-profit and community development corporations in urban redevelopment activities.

  Associate, 1993 - 1996

  Litigated voting rights and employment cases, wrote appellate briefs and argued appeals in the United States Court of Appeals, helped to structure and finance efforts to construct mixed-income housing to replace public housing in and around Cabrini Green, served as general counsel to community health clinics, social service agencies, and charter schools throughout Chicago.

• Illinois Project Vote
  

  Director, April 1992 - November 1992

  Organized and directed a voter registration and education campaign targeted at minority and low-income voters in Cook County. Recruited and managed 10 paid staff and 700 volunteers; helped raise $200,000 for the project; coordinated a companion multi-media campaign; established office and reporting systems. Resulted in approximately 150,000 newly registered voters in the 1992 Presidential election.

• Developing Communities Project
  

  Director, June 1985 - June 1988

  Organized and directed a not-for-profit community development program in low-income areas of Chicago's Far South Side. With a membership of over twenty churches and civic groups, the organization trained local leaders to formulate and execute a range of community development projects, including job training programs for area unemployed, college prep programs for low-income students, parent initiatives to reform public schools, and campaigns to clean up hazardous waste sites.

• Business International Corporation
  

  Writer/Financial Analyst, January 1984 - January 1985

  Researched, wrote and edited articles, reports, and how-to manuals on international business and finance for multinational corporations.

Now, what's missing? Courtesy of an expanded online resume that has been circulating in blog comments around the internet, we have a bit more framework to add. This has been bolstered with notes from RBO's Rezbama timeline.

Education

• Occidental College -- 2 years before transferring to Columbia University
  

  1979-1981 - Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, California

• Columbia University 1981-1983:
  

  Janny Scott wrote October 30, 2007, in the New York Times that "Obama’s Account of New York Years Often Differs From What Others Say." Janney writes that Obama started at Columbia in August 1983, but that he "barely mentions Columbia, training ground for the elite, where he transferred in his junior year, majoring in political science and international relations and writing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament. He dismisses in one sentence his first community organizing job–work he went on to do in Chicago–though a former supervisor remembers him as ‘a star performer’. ... Yet he declined repeated requests to talk about his New York years, release his Columbia transcript or identify even a single fellow student, co-worker, roommate or friend from those years.”

Experience 1983-1985

• 1983 - In his July 7, 2008, New York Times article "Obama’s Organizing Years, Guiding Others and Finding Himself," Serge Kovaleski writes: “Before graduating from Columbia University in 1983, Mr. Obama had written to civil rights organizations and to black elected officials looking for work. No one wrote back.”

  Edward McClelland, in his January 14, 2008, Salon article "Chicago is Barack Obama’s kind of town," adds that Obama “read about" Harold Washington’s "victory" in winning the Chicago mayoral seat and "wrote to City Hall, asking for a job." Although Obama "never heard back [from the mayor's office] he made it to Chicago just months after Washington took office.”

  There is a minor problem with this "made it to Chicago just months after Washington took office" scenario. Harold Washington was elected April 22, 1983, in the general mayoral election and took the oath of office on April 29, 1983. See 1984 and 1985 below.

• 1984 - Janny Scott writes Obama "moved to Ralph Nader’s New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), a 'nonprofit organization that promotes consumer, environmental and government reform. He became a full-time organizer at City College in Harlem, paid slightly less than $10,000 a year to mobilize student volunteers.'”

• 1985 - Obama unemployed. Janny Scott writes Obama “answered an advertisement for a Chicago grass-roots organizer.” McClelland adds that, in 1985, “just out of Columbia University, he took a $10,000-a-year job as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.” Scott adds Gerald Kellman interviewed Obama and offered him a job on the spot at Developing Communities Project for $10,000 a year and $2,000 to buy a car.

  See RBO's The ever-calculating Barack Obama for background.

Experience 1987-1991

• John B. Judis wrote September 10, 2008, in his The New Republic article "Creation Myth" Obama told Kellman in October 1987 he wanted to leave community organizing, go to law school, and become a politician.

• 1987/8 - Judis reports Obama trained organizers for the Gamaliel Foundation, which was backed by the Woods Fund.

• 1989 - 1991 - According to a January 19, 2007, AP article, Obama worked as a summer associate at the Sidley Austin law firm, where he met Michelle Robinson, a Harvard Law School graduate who was his mentor at the firm.

Other

• Public Allies

  1992 - Founding member, Board of Directors of Public Allies in 1992; resigned before his wife, Michelle, became the founding Executive Cirector of Public Allies Chicago in early 1993.

• Woods Fund of Chicago
  

  1993-2002 - Board of Directors; in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund Obama's DCP

• The Joyce Foundation
  

  1994–2002 - Board of Directors

• Chicago Annenberg Challenge
  

  1995–2002 -- Founding President and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1995–1999.

• Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
  

  Board of Directors

• Center for Neighborhood Technology
  

  Board of Directors
  See RBO's Friends (and Neighbors) for Obama - The Center for Neighborhood Technology.

• Lugenia Burns Hope Center
  

  Board of Directors
  See RBO's Obama, Ayers, the Woods Fund, Lugenia Burns Hope Center and TUCC.

  ]]> http://auguriesofinnocence.wordpress.com/?p=317 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:53:41 +0000 Shay http://auguriesofinnocence.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/obama-lying-about-ayers-connection/ Not to say that Sarah Palin is blameless and completely without fault (because she obviously isn't, no one is) but even CNN (which I would say is not a conservative news forum) is saying that Obama is trying to cover up his connections to William Ayers. To be honest, when I first saw the video of this report that was posted on YouTube, I was surprised to see that it was CNN...I assumed it would be FOX. But it's CNN!

  
  You can also read a transcript of the CNN report here, it's towards the middle.

  Source: National Review Online and CNN Youtube Video & transcript

  ]]> http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/?p=6682 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:53:15 +0000 dakinikat http://riverdaughter.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/protest-voting-101/

  Player Queen:
  Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife,
  If once I be a widow, ever I be a wife!

  Player King:
  'Tis deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here a while,
  My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile
  The tedious day with sleep.

  Player Queen:
  Sleep rock thy brain,
  And never come mischance between us twain!

  Hamlet:
  Madam, how like you this play?

  Queen:
  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

  Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 222–230

   

  Puma is a protest movement.  Our blogs outline our strategies.  Our votes are our tactics.    I'm not exactly sure how much clearer I can make this but it appears that we have to repeat these simple facts over and over.  If we don't, no one gets us.

  The nature of our protest vote is that is exactly that a PROTEST.  This means that our friends who can't understand why we might vote for a candidate that doesn't have a chance (McKinney or Nader) or a ticket that we may not agree with on many issues (McCain Palin) don't understand what a PROTEST vote means. Protests voting means your vote is a protest.  It simply doesn't have to make sense to any one else.

  I started thinking about this today due to a post by Masslib on Alegre's blog and a response by Or what Vahalla said. 

  Or what Valhalla said (4.00 / 2)

   

  The premise of a protest vote is that it's not issues-related.

  What I meant to say, put more succintly :)

  This also hit me in the face when I saw a response to my own posting "The No NO Sisterhood".  A post by Ben Kilpatrick assumed I voted all women during the democratic run-off in Louisiana just because I was woman who votes for women as a means to discriminate against men.

  Just voting for women is the same as just voting for the black guy, or the republican guy, or or or

  And it’s about as smart a move as all of those.

  My vote was a protest against the treatment of women candidates this year.  I did not vote for all women because as a woman, I was voting for ALL women. I voted for all women as a protest.  I did not like the way Hillary was treated. I do not like the way Sarah Palin is being treated.  I will not stand for Helena Morena being treated similarly either.  Already, it is starting.  A blog for the local New Orleans business newspaper picked up one quote from my two day postings concerning the second congressional race and all my comments about Ms. Moreno.  You can read it here.  The only line the blog picked up from me about Helena was that most folks here were calling here the "little white girl in the race" which I view as confusing folks on her mixed white/Latina heritage and belittling her status as a woman by calling her 'girl'.

  I'm still thinking about what kind of protest vote I will make this year when I step in the booth to vote for President.  I know I will not vote for Obama.  I will not vote for the issues, for once, because I am protesting how he got the nomination, I am protesting how actively and underhandedly the DNC promoted him over a much more qualified and able woman, and how he has been given a HUGE pass by the MSM.  I know many of my PUMA friends will vote for McCain Palin, others will just skip the vote, others will still vote for Hillary, and some will vote for third party candidates.

  We do not have to explain the 'logic' of our vote over and over and over again. It's not about the issues (like Roe v. Wade), it's not about the economy, and it's certainly not about voting party lines.  It's a protest vote.  As such, it only has to make sense to us!  

  I think we need to take some time and rethink why we view our votes as protests this year.  This is especially true if you're thinking of drinking that koolaid and falling prey to the logic of voting on issues at this point.  Puma ceases to become a protest movement at that point.  It's effectiveness at supporting reform within the democratic party has no teeth at the point we stop protesting.

  There is no such thing for PUMAs as ladies (or gentlemen) protesting too much at this point.  Afterall, it is our democracy at stake.

  ]]> http://pajamaverse.wordpress.com/?p=118 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:52:18 +0000 Sir Limerick http://pajamaverse.com/2008/10/07/why-worry-were-only-taxing-the-rich/ Taxing those who have to help those who need
  The cornerstone belief of Marxist screed
      Don't let the rich buy or invest
      Our politicians know what's best!
  Everyone's wallet feeds Washington's greed.
  ]]> http://willpen.wordpress.com/?p=1067 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:51:38 +0000 willpen http://willpen.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/mccain-the-dark-arts-of-rovian-politics/ From the Fireside Post:

  By Ohg Rea Tone | October 6th, 2008

  The campaign for President has entered a troubling time.  The McCain Camp is stirring the pot, adding some spice, flavoring with acidic language, hoping for a secret potion.  The stew is beginning to boil, steam is wafting, dark clouds forming, and the warlock is pleased.  The dark arts of Rovian politics never produce positive results.  Dark Arts bring out the worst in people - The Secret Service should be on alert.

  The stew is poison.  With temporary relief from pain, the long term affects are overlooked.  Poisoning the political discourse encourages the loonies to come out to play.

  Properly mixed, the secret potion can turn Obama into a terrorist, a warmonger, a comrade to Putin and Ohmydidhesayjihad, a mixed race person with Chinese lineage, a closet communist, and perhaps even challenge his sexual preferences.  The ultimate in character transformation would be to cast Obama as a Liberal.

  The road to the white house is made of yellow bricks.  Every turn brings a new danger.  The winged monkeys are flying.  And the winged monkeys are eager to please their master.  Winged monkeys do not have good judgment - they act on instinct - and they are dangerous.

  A local cases of loonyness comes to mind.  True story - There was a man called “Corky.”  Corky had a hard life, his emotional trauma distorted his powers of reason.  Eager to please just about anyone he would commit any act requested.  One day Corky hooked up with a local thug.  The local thug wanted to rob a Drug Store, and he had the guns.  They pulled their car into the alley behind the store, and Corky was sent in to do the job.  Corkey pointed the shotgun at the old man, the pharmacist, the owner of the store.  “Give me your money,” Corky said.  Mr. Sherman said, “No, you can just shoot me.”

  So Corky shot Mr. Sherman, killed him.  The psychological evaluation noted that Corky had a ‘dull-normal’ intelligence.  Corky did what he was told.  Corky was one of the flying monkeys - eager to please the master.

  Our fear about the depth of nastiness of the McCain campaign is that they are calling out the flying monkeys.  Mindless creatures eager to please.  These folks can be stirred up, and that is just what McCain wants.  McCain has lost all sense of integrity and dignity.  He would send out mindless creatures to reek havoc on the political landscape.

  Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has been overcome by the agents of the Dark Arts.  The agents of Power, of Control, of intimidation, of lying, of hate speech, lusting for fame - the agents that transform innocent people into forces of darkness.  McCain has mixed a powerful potion of danger.

  Desperation is a poor excuse for political strategy.

  ]]> http://in2thefray.wordpress.com/?p=1356 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:50:36 +0000 Alfie http://in2thefray.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/in2the-ayer-fray/ Yeah I'll throw some chips into the pot. Pretty good article at CJ, excerpt follows.

  Calling Bill Ayers a school reformer is a bit like calling Joseph Stalin an agricultural reformer. (If you find the metaphor strained, consider that Walter Duranty, the infamous New York Times reporter covering the Soviet Union in the 1930s, did, in fact, depict Stalin as a great land reformer who created happy, productive collective farms.) For instance, at a November 2006 education forum in Caracas, Venezuela, with President Hugo Chávez at his side, Ayers proclaimed his support for “the profound educational reforms under way here in Venezuela under the leadership of President Chávez. We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution. . . . I look forward to seeing how you continue to overcome the failings of capitalist education as you seek to create something truly new and deeply humane.” Ayers concluded his speech by declaring that “Venezuela is poised to offer the world a new model of education—a humanizing and revolutionary model whose twin missions are enlightenment and liberation,” and then, as in days of old, raised his fist and chanted: “Viva Presidente Chávez! Viva la Revolucion Bolivariana! Hasta la Victoria Siempre!”

  As I have shown in previous articles in City Journal, Ayers’s school reform agenda focuses almost exclusively on the idea of teaching for “social justice” in the classroom. This has nothing to do with the social-justice ideals of the Sermon on the Mount or Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Rather, Ayers and his education school comrades are explicit about the need to indoctrinate public school children with the belief that America is a racist, militarist country and that the capitalist system is inherently unfair and oppressive. As a leader of this growing “reform” movement, Ayers was recently elected vice president for curriculum of the American Education Research Association, the nation’s largest organization of ed school professors and researchers. CityJournal

  What does this mean to / for Obama ? Probably nothing when you come to the full and honest reality that Obama is a skunk that has done nothing in his life that wasn't politically motivated. Relation with Wright, relation with Ayers,Daly, all to his oh so flexible and pliable ends. Going from Barry to Barack, again. Voting history and past campaign shananigans all him. Do I hold that against him ? Perhaps a little bit but I like to think I aim my rage more at the masses that see a pristine messiah as opposed to a dirty politician.

  ]]> http://willnevergiveup.wordpress.com/?p=557 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:50:10 +0000 willnevergiveup http://willnevergiveup.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/corsi/ [caption id="attachment_48" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="2007 W/Cousin Odinga Campaigning in Africa"][/caption]
  www.obamanigeria.org
  Jerome Corsi was picked up this morning at his hotel in Nairobi by Kenyan officials 15 minutes  prior to a scheduled news conference in which he planned to announce the findings of his investigation into Barack Obama's connections in the country. One official was quoted as saying, "We still haven't decided what to do with him."

  Corsi was neither charged nor arrested for any offense although his passport was confiscated by Kenyan officials.

  Corsi is reportedly in Kenya to unveil his new book "The Obama Nation" in Africa.

  He may be feeling the consequences of being anti-Obama in a country that has an obsession with the US presidential candidate that exceeds even America's.

  The Kenyan government may be valiantly protecting the honor of their beloved future American President Obama.

  Immigration officials say, Corsi was detained because the immigration forms his party filled out for customs had been lost.  However, another source says Corsi is being questioned because of references to Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, and allegations that Obama's Muslim supporters incited violence after the Kenyan election.

  The head of criminal investigations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, says Corsi was briefly detained before being taken to the airport for deportation.

  Immigration officials say he failed to get a work permit while in Nairobi to launch his book.

  Corsi's book attacks the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate as seething with "black rage" and unfit for the presidency.

  Obama has a long history of connections in Kenya, where his father worked as a government economist. Unfortunately, his father's downfall was women and alcohol. Obama Sr. lost both his legs while driving drunk only to later lose his life while driving intoxicated again.  (A candid article about his dad the mainstream press never reported here)

  Corsi documented this history in his book and went to Kenya to find answers to lingering questions - particularly about the links between the presidential candidate and Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

  Corsi had promised a news conference today that would "expose details of deep secret ties between U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency."

  Corsi was to report Odinga's 2007 presidential campaign strategy called for exploiting anti-Kikuyu tribal sentiments, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost. Odinga, Corsi said, also was willing to fan the flames of ethnic tribal tensions and use violence as a last resort by calling for mass action that led to the destruction of properties, injuries, loss of life and the displacement of over 500,000 Kenyans. The purpose was to compel the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare him the winner or enable him to declare himself the winner by force.

  Meanwhile, the management of the hotel where Corsi was scheduled to hold the press conference has repudiated its plans to provide the facility.

  In a press release, the hotel said: "We would like to assure our business partners and the public at large that Laico Regency Hotel is a law-abiding institution and does not condone any smear campaigns. The management cannot allow such activities to take place."

  Obama Legislation
  http://willnevergiveup.wordpress.com/obamanomicsobamanomics/

  Birth Certificate Lawsuit
  http://willnevergiveup.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/lawsuit/

  ]]> http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/?p=949 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:50:10 +0000 citizenwells http://citizenwells.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/obama-indictment-blagojevich-indictment-tony-rezko-sentencing-chicago-tribune-october-7-2008-prosecutors-file-motion-delay-sentencing-indefinitely-obama-chicago-corruption/ The Chicago Tribune has an article today, Tuesday, October 7, 2008,
  that reveals that federal prosecutors are seeking an indefinite delay
  in the sentencing of convicted criminal Tony Rezko. Rezko is a long time
  close associate of Obama. Here are some exerpts from the article:

  "Tony Rezko sentencing delay sought
  Prosecutors' motion says 2 sides are talking
  By Jeff Coen | Chicago Tribune reporter
  October 7, 2008
  In the first official sign that Antoin "Tony" Rezko and his lawyers are talking with federal prosecutors about his cooperation in corruption probes, the judge in his federal fraud case has been asked to delay his sentencing this month.

  In a motion filed late Monday by prosecutors, the two sides ask that the Oct. 28 sentencing date for the former fundraiser and adviser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich be delayed indefinitely."

  "Rezko would likely be the most valuable witness yet for investigators looking into state hiring irregularities and "pay-to-play" schemes involving campaign fundraising. Rezko was a key player in the Blagojevich administration from its earliest days, and the governor's wife, Patricia, was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as a broker for Rezko and others with business before the state."

  "At his trial, Rezko was painted as the ultimate insider who had tremendous access to the channels of power in the Blagojevich administration and as someone who used his power to leverage crooked deals to bring in kickbacks or campaign contributions. He was convicted of corrupting two state boards with the help of Stuart Levine, a member of both, who was able to secure approvals for firms seeking state business in exchange for the payment of "finder's fees" to individuals Levine named."

  Read more here:

  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-07-oct07,0,641472.story

  Consider the following from the Petition to Impeach, expel Senator
  Obama:

  Whereas: Senator Barack Obama has maintained regular contact
  with known criminals such as Antoin (Tony) Rezko and other
  criminal elements in Chicago and Illinois. Mr. Obama has
  conducted business with these criminals and received campaign
  donations from them. Mr. Obama was compelled to return an estimated $250,000 in donations related to Tony Rezko.

  Whereas: Senator Barack Obama has consistently lied about his
  contact with convicted criminal Tony Rezko. The Tony Rezko
  corruption trial revealed that FBI mole John Thomas helped investigators
  "build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former
  business partner Daniel Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by
  Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005," according to the February
  10, 2008 Chicago Sun-Times.

  Whereas: Senator Barack Obama used the office of IL Senator to
  facilitate the vote rigging in Chicago as chairman of the Illinois Senate
  Health and Human Services Committee. Mr. Obama pushed legislation in Senate Bill 1332 to reduce the number of members of the Health Facilities Planning Board from 15 to 9. Mr. Obama did conspire with Stuart Levine, Tony Rezko and Rod Blogojevich to rig the committee and was rewarded with campaign contributions. The new members appointed included 3 doctors who contributed to Mr. Obama. On April 21, 2004, Stuart Levine explicitly advised Dr. Robert Weinstein, who is now indicted, of Tony Rezko's role in manipulating the Planning Board's vote.

  Petition site:

  http://obamaimpeachment.org

  ]]> http://themountainsage.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/daily-presidential-tracking-poll-10/ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:48:35 +0000 Mountain Sage http://themountainsage.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/daily-presidential-tracking-poll-10/ Daily Presidential Tracking Poll

  Tuesday, October 07, 2008

  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Barack Obama attracting 52% of the vote while John McCain earns 44%. This is the second straight day that Obama has led by eight percentage points, his largest lead of the year. For the past twelve days, Obama’s support has ranged from 50% to 52% while McCain has been at 44% of 45% every day

  More Info.

  ]]> http://kerfuffle.wordpress.com/?p=1448 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:47:07 +0000 Neddy http://kerfuffle.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/how-do-we-be-racists/ Let Us Count the Ways.

  Since any criticisim of Presidental Candidate Obama seems to bring up charges of racism, even against his opposition's VP candidate, whose main role in past presidential campaigns has been to attack the Presidential candidate, I thought I would document the critical comments I've found that have resulted in charges of RACISM.

  • Barack Obama himself started playing the race card during the North Carolina primary when he said John McCain would “play on our fears” and “exploit our differences.” By June, Obama was accusing any and all Republicans running against him for saying: “He’s young and inexperienced, and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?” The fact that NO Republican uttered those words meant nothing to Obama.
  • A United States Congressman says you are a RACIST if you believe people without good credit should NOT receive taxpayer-guaranteed mortgages. "BOSTON (AP) - Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated. " http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93LAKT01&show_article=1
  • When Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attacked Democrat Barack Obama's relationship with a 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers who wished he had bombed more after the September 11th attacks, the Associated Press (as in Mainstream Media) labeled her attack as RACIST, explaining that although Ayers is white, terrorists of today are people of color.
  • Whoopie Goldberg speaking to John McCain on "The View" told him that those who believe in strictly following the United States Constitution want to make her a slave "again" as that is what is written in the document.
  ]]> http://pajamaverse.wordpress.com/?p=116 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:45:53 +0000 Sir Limerick http://pajamaverse.com/2008/10/07/town-hall-debate/ Tonight's the night for the big Town Hall
  Dow Jones' drop has McCain on the wall
      Both guys want one big zinger
      Give the other the finger
  Wrap up the White House for once and all!
  ]]> http://charlest.wordpress.com/?p=194 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:45:32 +0000 Molek http://charlest.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/obama-is-not-a-terroristget-over-it-crazies/ Starting right now John McCain and his campaign needs to stop inciting people to call Obama a terrorist. I realize this is "political warfare" we are in right now but this is how The Crazies get it in their head that they need to act upon some 'truth' that doesn't exist. This is much less a political plea as it is one for human decency.

  Watch and listen to someone yell out "Terrorist!!!" and McCain pauses and has a smirk on his face.....

  ]]> http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/?p=2267 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:45:12 +0000 Jon Taplin http://jtaplin.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/what-is-chris-cox-trying-to-hide/

  Senator Charles Grassley asked the SEC Inspector General Kotz to give him a report on the collapse of Bear Stearns.

  Before it was released to the public on Sept. 26, Kotz deleted 136 references, many detailing SEC memos, meetings or comments, at the request of the agency's Division of Trading and Markets that oversees investment banks.

  ``People can judge for themselves, but it sure looks like the SEC didn't want the public to know about the red flags it apparently ignored in allowing Bear Stearns and other investment banks to engage in excessively risky behavior,'' Grassley said in an e-mailed statement.

  Since the beginning of this most recent episode of the credit collapse I have written that the roots of the crisis lay in the SEC's June 2004 decision to let the investment banks set their own capital ratios, a radical move away from the traditional leverage regulations. But Bloomberg's reporting of the unredacted report shows that the SEC was clearly aware that Bear Stearns was in uncharted territory in terms of its debt to equity ratios.

  Trading and Markets (SEC Division) had oversight of holding companies for the five biggest U.S. investment banks via the Consolidated Supervised Entity Program. The division failed to follow up on ``red flags'' raised by New York-based Bear Stearns's increasingly ``significant concentration of market risk'' from mortgage securities, according to the full document.

  All the other attempts to find a scapegoat, by Republicans (Barnie Frank pushing Fannie to finance poor people's homes) and Democrats (Phil Gramm pushing through the termination of Glass-Steagel) alike, pale in comparison to the asleep at the switch role of the SEC. Never in the history of "Regulatory Capture" has an agency gone so in the bag for the business it was supposed to be regulating. There is no way the Republicans can escape responsibility for this one.

  ]]> http://willrhodes1961.wordpress.com/?p=1702 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:41:03 +0000 Will Rhodes http://willrhodesportmanteau.com/2008/10/07/ding-ding-round-two/ Will the gloves come off?

  When asked - John McCain said that tonight is the night when he will take the gloves off in the debate. But will that work - if you take into account that the audience will be made up of undecided voters.

  They, more that partisan voters, are none too keen on negativity.

  At a campaign event in Denver, Colorado, last week, a voter asked McCain when he was going to "let the gloves come off and go after" Obama.

  McCain's response: "How about Tuesday night?"

  I am sure, as you are reading this, you are looking forward to the debate just as much as I am. I am, believe me, expecting explosions tonight. McCain is tanking and he only has himself to blame.

  These are the Town Hall meeting that he wanted to take on Obama in - but couldn't agree with the Obama camp how they should be moderated so he lost out. That was the first time we saw that McCain was a bit erratic. Add to that his recent behaviour and you are getting an over all picture of a McCain America.

  It wasn't clear if the first debate would even take place because McCain suspended his campaign, he said, to focus on the financial crisis. By the morning of the debate, he said he thought Congress had made enough progress on the bailout proposal for him to go ahead with the debate. Democrats blasted his move as a political stunt.

  Political stunt indeed - McCain is now claiming credit for the "Bail-out" - if proof were needed that he would use his odd stance to promote his economic mantel - which most know that he doesn't have.

  The economy - as I have said so many time before - is what will win this election. Bush and Bush policies will just not cut it - and McCain is following Bush economic policy, with a bit more for added effect.

  Look into John McCain's healthcare plan - it will scare you to death. It is a fine plan - as long as you have a job - but with 159,000 jobs lost in the last month, that doesn't bode well for that one.

  The candidates on Tuesday will not only take questions from moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News, but they'll also answer questions from people in the audience and from Internet participants.

  The audience will be made up of uncommitted voters.

  "These debates, town hall debates, are often very telling, they often provide the most dramatic moments in a campaign," said Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst.

  "If either of the candidates tries to go negative when you're with an audience of ordinary voters, they don't like it. We've heard them sometimes get very upset when the candidates start attacking each other, so that's going to be hard to do in a town hall format," he said.

  This is another of John McCain's strong points, as was the foreign policy debate last week, even though much of that debate was the economy, which we can't reiterate enough is what Americans think about - Town Hall debates is where McCain feel most comfortable so this is his real last big throw of the dice. The pressure is on McCain because of that - if he doesn't blow Obama away tonight - you will see many more minutes aired slagging Obama off and no content whatsoever from the McCain campaign.

  When the final debate comes up I think we will see which way this election is going to fall.

  I still, as I always have, predict a landslide victory for Obama. I could be made to eat humble pie - but I just think this is going to be a big win for the Democrats.

  

  
  
  

  ]]> http://larrywho.wordpress.com/?p=666 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:40:39 +0000 Larry Who http://larrywho.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/sneak-preview-headlines-for-nov-5-2008/ This is a rerun of a June 10th article posted on this site:

  

  I believe the Lord showed me via a vision that John McCain would defeat Barack Obama in the presidential election. So, what was the vision, right? A front-page headline for the New York Times declaring: McCain Wins; Obama Loses.

  So, you’re probably thinking to yourself, what if the Christians ignore the election and stay home on election day? What if the Iraq War deterioriates? What if gasoline prices continue upward? Or a recession hits our economy? Or unemployment figures continue to rise? Or President Bush runs off with Arianna Huffington? What if? What if? What if?

  If I have heard the voice of the Lord on the 2008 presidential election, then the what if’s are not a problem. Why?

  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:10)

  Now, if I have missed the voice of the Lord on this matter, I will print an “Oops, I Goofed” article on this site. But for now, John McCain’s the man; everyone else sit down and be quiet.

  ]]>