Guess who's not coming to dinner

Guess who's not coming to dinner
By Roger Ebert
I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. Indeed, you refused to look at him at all. Even when the two of you shook hands at the start, you used your eyes only to locate his hand, and then gazed past him as you shook it.
Obama is my guy. If you are rude to him, you are rude to me. If you came to dinner at my house and refused to look at or speak with one of my guests, that would be bad manners and I would be offended. Same thing if I went to your house. During the debate, you were America's guest.
What was your problem? Do you hold this man in such contempt that you cannot bear to gaze upon him? Will you not even speak to him directly? Do you think he doesn't have the right to be running for President? Were you angry because after you said you wouldn't attend the debate, he said a President should be able to concern himself with two things at the same time? He was right. The proof is, you were there. Were you angry with him because he called your bluff?
During the debate, Jim Lehrer repeatedly called upon both candidates to speak directly to each other. Obama looked at you. He addressed you as "John," which as a fellow senator is his privilege. His body language was open. You stared straight ahead, or at Lehrer, or into space. Your jaw was clinched. You had a tight little smile, or a grimace, or a little shake of your head.
I had to do two things at once while watching the debate. I had to listen to what was being said. And I had to process your rigid and contemptuous behavior. If you were at a wedding and the father of the groom refused to look at or speak to the bride, how would that make you feel? Especially if you were the father of the bride?
You made a TV commercial showing the moments Obama agreed with you. Everybody knows he did. Did his agreement show honesty, or weakness? It is significant that you said it proved he was not ready to lead. What is the better leadership quality: (1) Willingness to listen to your opponent, and keep an open mind? (2) Rigidly ignoring him? Which of the two of you better demonstrated the bipartisan spirit you say you represent? Was there anything he said that you agreed with? Could you have brought yourself to say so?
I'm not the only one who noticed your odd, hostile behavior. Just about everybody did. I'm sure many of your supporters must have sensed the tension. Before the debate, pundits were wondering if you might explode in a display of your famous temper. I think we saw that happen, all right, but it was an implosion. I have instructed my wife to exclude you from any future dinner parties.

Confused?

I have no idea who wrote this but it is definitely worth reading:

I'm a little confused. Let me get this straight...

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re “exotic, different.”

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack, you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you’re a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well-grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you don’t have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you’re qualified to become the country’s second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you’re not a real Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state’s school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you’re very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family’s values don’t represent America’s.

If your husband is nicknamed “First Dude,” with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

The Brain in McCain Under Strain About Spain

This amusing title is from the Sydney Morning Herald. You can read the entire article here:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/the-brain-in-mccain-under-strain-about-spain/2008/09/19/1221331207145.html

When asked if he would be inviting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House after becoming president McCain responded "I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion." He then said something about Mexican President Calderon. The reporter then reminded McCain that he was talking about Spain to which McCain responded "I know the issues, I know the leaders." He then went on to say "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not and that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

Spain is a NATO ally located in Europe, not in the Western Hemisphere. Zapatero has been in office 4 years. Spain sent 1,000 troops to fight in Afghanistan with the United States and in 2004 was the target of an Al Qaeda attack which killed almost 200 and injured more than 2,000.

Sarah Palin and Westbrook Pegler

This was written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and was posted on The Huffington Post under the title Governor Palin's Reading List:
Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list.

And here is a link to a post by Erica Jong, also on the Huffington Post, and definitely worth reading:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-jong/not-that-stupid-erica-jon_b_126184.html

Alaska First Alaska Always

That is the motto of the Alaskan Independence Party, a party that since the 1970s has been trying to pass a law allowing Alaskans to vote on seceding from the United States. Rumors have been flying around ever since Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's VP running mate that she was a member of the fringe group and today ABC confirms that the rumors are indeed true. While she is now a registered Republican she and her husband attended the AIP convention in 1994. The AIP motto seems to contradict McCain's motto of Country First and also reinforces the idea that McCain did little to vet Palin before he choose her.



Here is more from the AIP platform:


Amending the Constitution of the State of Alaska so as to re-establish the rights of all Alaskan residents to entry upon all public lands within the state, and to acquire private property interest there in, under fair and reasonable conditions. Such property interest shall include surface and sub-surface patent.


Foster a constitutional amendment abolishing and prohibiting all property taxes.


Seeking the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska.



I feel pretty sure that before this is all over with, Sarah Palin will decide that she needs to "spend more time with her family" and McCain will have a more suitable candidate chosen for him by the powers that be.

More hypocrisy from McCain

According to reports, McCain is furious that liberal bloggers spread rumors about Palin's 17 year old pregnant daughter, forcing Palin to issue a statement regarding her daughter's pregnancy. McCain thinks it is inappropriate to bring the candidates children into the campaign. I totally agree, and so does Obama who issued a statement saying families, especially children are off-limits and that he would fire any of his staff who engaged in spreading rumors about the candidates families.
This is just another example of the hypocrisy on McCain's part. When the Clinton's were in office he told reporters that Chelsea Cinton was ugly because Janet Reno was her father. It can't get much worse than that.

McCain Palin Video

Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUVQDmLf7s

Let them eat cake

Seeing this picture reminded me of something that I had forgotten. After Katrina hit New Orleans, all that was on TV and the Internet for a week were pictures of people waiting for help at the Convention Center, the Superdome, and on rooftops. Everyday I thought they would be rescued but everyday it was the same. No help came. This went on for almost a week. I remember wanting to talk to some of my friends and we talked about having dinner together but none of us felt like it was right to go out to eat when people so close to us were in this deplorable situation. I don't personally know anyone who wasn't terribly upset by the scenes we witnessed daily on the news and the overall mood was similar to the mood after 911. When help finally came and buses of people poured into our city I was so relieved and proud of what our mayor, Bill White had done, opening the Astrodome and the Convention Center for New Orleans residents. And I was so proud of all the volunteers who gave time and money to help these people.
Unfortunately, the 2 people in this picture didn't feel the same way. McCain celebrated his birthday with Bush both grinning like they didn't have a care in the world, which I guess they didn't. This was right in the middle of the Katrina crisis on August 29th. Bush has no conscience. For a long time I thought McCain was an honorable person. Now I think they both represent the very worst in our society and I don't want them representing me or my country any longer.

Katrina

Last week Focus on the Family, the conservative "Christian" group asked people to pray for a "swamp the intersections rain" during Obama's speech at the DNC. Either they didn't pray hard enough or God was enjoying the speech as much as the 84,000 people at Invesco or the 38 million TV viewers at home because the weather was beautiful. It looks like a major hurricane will hit somewhere on the Gulf Coast sometime during the Republican Convention, however. At the very least, it should draw attention to the failures of the republican led administration during Katrina. On August 29th, 2003, Bush and McCain were eating cake while New Orleans drowned. Who can forget the pictures of the people in New Orleans waiting for help while Bush and his friends played. New Orleans is still waiting for help.

Picture from The Daily Kos

Paris Responds to McCain Ad

I just saw a Paris Hilton video on Countdown where she responds to McCain's ad. She actually comes across a lot smarter than McCain and the ad is certainly better than anything his campaign has put out. She has a better energy plan too.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

The Daily Kos has some maps on the state of the presidential race based on the latest poll numbers: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/1/12401/40833

Calle Vienna has an interesting post on the McCain ad that compares Obama to Paris and Britney: http://michilines.wordpress.com/
It seems that the Hiltons are not very happy about Paris appearing in the ad as they are big McCain supporters. Poor McCain can't seem to get anything right.

Obama is proposing a $1,000 emergency rebate check funded by a windfalls profit tax on big oil. I wonder how long it will take McCain to steal this idea.

McCain's Flip-Flops

1) Was against the Bush tax cuts; now is for making them permanent and even bigger.
2) Was against the GI Bill; now is for the GI Bill.
3) Was for immigration reform; now is against immigration reform - and repudiated his own prior position on immigration reform.
4) Opposed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill - which had his name on it.
5) Was for gay marriage, and then opposed gay marriage.
6) Was for Roe v. Wade, then was against Roe v. Wade; then for it, sort of; then against it, sort of.
7) Was for storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain; then was against it.
8) In 2000 was for military action against rogue states; now is against it, EXCEPT for Iran….which he sings about bombing and says it's good to sell them cigarettes so we can kill them.
9) Negotiating with North Korea; was against it; then for it, especially when Bush did it.
10) Negotiating with Castro's Cuba - in 2000 was for it, now against it.
11) No negotiating with terrorists except when Colin Powell went to Syria in 2002 and when, in 2006, said we'd eventually have to deal with Hamas.
12) Unilateral military action against terrorists in Pakistan - against it when Obama said it was good; for it when Bush did it in the spring of 2008.
13) Warrantless wiretaps - against them 6 months ago; for them now.
14) Torturing detainees - always against it; since he was tortured he should know. Now, in favor of torturing detainees.
15) Perpetual detention of detainees - bad a few years ago, good now.
16) Iraq - the right course in 2004; stay the course in 2005 and now he was always against the flawed strategy - especially when Rumsfeld was there.
17) Estate tax - for it in 2006; against it now.
18) 2004 - for privatizing Social Security; 2008 against privatizing Social.
19) February 2008 promised a balanced budget in 4 years. April 2008 said it will take 8 years. June 2008…..back to 4 years. [And, since he is now for the Bush tax cuts, balancing the budget EVER will be impossible.]
20) In 2008 - first glad to look at oil windfall profits tax; then it's a bad idea - Jimmy Carter's bad idea.
21) In 2000 - no new offshore oil drilling; now, just very recently, it's a great idea.
22) In 2000 - attacked Bush fundraising leaders; in 2006 had some of the same people co-chair his own fundraisers.
23) In 2000 - Jerry Falwell was an "agent of intolerance"; in 2006 McCain delivered the commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University and in 2008 McCain was big buddies with Rev. Hagee and Pastor Parsley.
24) Opposed and voted against the Martin Luther King holiday; now says he was for it.
25) 1986 - opposed South African divestment to attack apartheid; June 2008, praised it.
26) In 2000 - defended South Carolina's Confederate flag as a symbol of heritage; in 2002 said it should come down and it was an "act of political cowardice to not take it down."
27) 2000 - against teaching creationism in schools; 2005 - alternatives to evolution should be taught.

This is from the Ed Schultz website. Thanks to LibraryLioness8 for sending me the link. http://www.wegoted.com/news/detail.asp?newsID=268

From The Daily Kos

The McCain campaign must be really desperate. In an attempt to distance McCain from Bush, they are not only attacking Bush but now saying that Obama is like Bush. From a foreign policy advisor for the McCain campaign: "I think the American people have had enough of inflexibility and stubbornness in national security policy...We cannot afford to replace one administration that refused for too long to acknowledge failure in Iraq with a candidate that refuses to acknowledge success in Iraq. "

And if that wasn't enough, on Friday at a fundraiser, McCain announced details of Obama's trip to Iraq "I believe that either today or tomorrow, and I'm not privy to his schedule, Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators."

Details like this are always kept secret for security reasons. DUH.

On July 9, in an interview with The Washington Times, Phil Gramm, one of John McCain's top economic advisors had this to say about the economy "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," and "We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."
The DNC is referring to him as "Out of Touch Much, Phil" and McCain is distancing himself from his comments. I don't think McCain is evil like the Bush family but I do think he is totally out of touch with working class Americans. If one of his top advisors doesn't see a problem with the economy I don't see how McCain and his advisors can be expected to fix the problem if elected. It's also very insensitive to have a member of your family run up a 750,000 AMEX bill as Cindy McCain did in a one month period earlier this year, at a time when so many people are suffering from soaring oil prices, the loss of their homes from the mortgage crisis and the loss of jobs. I know it's her money and she can spend it any way she chooses but it just seems pretty insensitive to me.
Another top advisor and possible running mate for McCain, "Victory Chairman" Carly Fiorini, is also causing trouble for McCain. At a press breakfast recently she questioned why insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth-control medications and said twice, for emphasis, that "those women would like a choice." According to NARAL, McCain has voted 22 times against family planning. Included in this is his vote against a proposal that would require insurance companies to cover the cost of contraception. He doesn't seem to remember anything about this however. Look at this YouTube video to see his reaction when questioned about this. It almost makes you feel sorry for him in the same way you might feel sorry for an aging parent or grandparent who is losing his or her memory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkQDbfF4RqA

Pets and the Presidential Election

I did a blog a few months ago about all the presidential candidate's pets. At the time, Obama had none and McCain had the most (24). New polls show that pet owners prefer McCain over Obama 42 to 37 percent. Obama leads McCain in homes that don't have pets 48 to 34 percent. I usually prefer pet owners over non pet owners but have made an exception in Obama's case. What I would really prefer is a person who has lots of animals and doesn't eat any. Kucinich is the only politician I know who falls in that category.
The good news is that Obama has promised to get a dog after the election is over. Because one of his daughters has an allergy to dog dander, their choice of dogs is limited to a few. The AKC has recommended 5 different breeds and has a place on their web site where you can vote on which one you prefer for the Obama family. Here is a link:
http://www.akc.org/poll/special/presidential.cfm

John McCain -- Lost in Space

Here is a link to a video of John McCain done by Brasscheck TV:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/325.html

I don't think McCain is an evil person like bush but can we stand another 4 years with a president who can't keep his lies straight?

Quote of the Day

"I can't wait until it's Obama vs. McCain. It's gonna be Youtube vs. Feeding Tube!" - Bill Maher

Obama vs. HRC vs. McCain in the polls

According to a new poll by Time, if the election was held today, Obama would get 48% of the vote to McCains 41%. If HRC is the nominee, she and McCain would each get 46%. Independents prefer Obama over McCain but prefer McCain over HRC which may account for the difference. Democrats prefer Clinton over Obama 48% to 42% and 62% would like HRC to name Obama as her running mate. Only 51% would like Obama to name HRC as his running mate.
I know it's just one poll and polls are often wrong but I'm convinced even more that Obama needs to be the nominee.

Our [B-word] will beat their [A-word]

Last week, one of McCain's supporters asked "So, how do we beat the bitch?" referring to Hillary, and McCain laughed. I wonder if he would have laughed if someone said how do we beat the heeb (Lieberman), the spic (Richardson), or the (n word) (Obama). This would have been the end of his campaign no doubt.



Today in the Washington Post Andi Zeisler, co-founder of Bitch Magazine answers the question of what the B-word really means in today's world.



"Bitch is a word we use culturally to describe any woman who is strong, angry, uncompromising and, often, uninterested in pleasing men. We use the term for a woman on the street who doesn't respond to men's catcalls or smile when they say, 'Cheer up, baby, it can't be that bad.' We use it for the woman who has a better job than a man and doesn't apologize for it. We use it for the woman who doesn't back down from a confrontation ... When these people call Clinton (or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Sen. Dianne Feinstein or former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro) a bitch, or even the cutesier "rhymes-with-witch," it's an expression of pure sexism -- a hope that they can shut up not only one woman but every woman who dares to be assertive."



Hillary isn't my first choice but I think she will be an excellent president if elected. I do wish, and I think most people feel the same way, that the candidates would stick to the issues and stop the name calling and dirty politics. We will need the most capable person/persons to dig us out of the mess left by the current administration.