Saturday, August 30, 2008

McCain, Palin and Tokenism

I have been thinking a lot about McCain's choice for Vice President and I have to say I finally understand it. Carl Rove and his cronies who are running the McCain campaign made the call of picking Governor Palin as VP. McCain had only met the woman once before the announcement, so I seriously doubt it was his call.

Sarah Palin, though she is a lovely and intelligent woman falls into the same category as Alan Keyes. Keyes runs for President almost every year as a Republican in the primaries. Everyone knows he has no chance of gettig the nomination, but he does provide a service for the GOP. Keyes is African-American, and as such he puts a "diversity" spin on what has always be a "white guys club". Though I believe Mr. Keyes really believes he can get elected, the GOP looks on him as a convienent token. I suspect Mrs. Palin is filling the same role.

After all the complaits about experience levels and cheap shots at Obama for being a Junior Senator, it is inconcievable that the GOP would select a former mayor of a town of 9000 people and the Governor of Alaska for the past 20 months as the VP. The Vice President is a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and to put someone with so little experience in that position is both reckless and unfair. It is unfari to Sarah Palin, because she will be subjected to enormous scrutiny and pressure even if she isn't elected. It is reckless because having her as Commander in Chief is either a thoughtless choice, or an admission that the GOP machine will actually be running everything anyway.

Sarah Palin is being used as a token. The GOP is assuming that women voters are so easily distracted by the thought of a female on the ticket that they will ignore everything else. They forget that Hillary Clinton was not popular just because she was a woman. She was an experienced and smart lawmaker who worked hard to develop her following. Part of her appeal was certainly because she was a woman, but had she not been a stellar candidate anyway, that wouldn't have gotten her beyond the first coule of primaries.

The cheap trick of having a token on the ticket shows a disrespect for the women voters of this country and though it might work on a few people blinded by her gender, it wil not work on the intelligent women voters in this country who understand that McCain is no friend to women's rights.

Friday, August 29, 2008

McCain Didn't Even Know Sarah Palin - Further Proof Of The Gimmick!

Watch this video compilation from the Jed Report. McCain met Palin once or twice, they are not close associates or friends. Further proof that this choice was strictly done to pander to his base and to what few brain dead folks would vote for her strictly because she is female. Barnum may have been right!

McCain Picks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin?

The short lists I saw for McCain's VP never included Sarah Palin and his choice has all the earmarks of a gimmick. Considering that she has virtually no experience in government, having been a city councilperson and a mayor prior to winning the Governorship of Alaska it will be tough to talk about experience from the GOP with this selection.

She is a woman, and that is the gimmick the GOP is counting on. If they are hoping to lure Hillary voters by putting an inexperienced beauty queen on the ticket, they might get a few who have no idea who they vote for anyway, but for a savvy thinking woman Sarah Palin is a ridiculous choice.

If this proves to be the actual VP selection for McCain, I hope people see through this disingenuous of this choice. He is obviously betting on his view that women cannot see beyond the issue of gender. Appearing next to one another, McCain looks like her grandfather, and in a debate with Joe Biden I think she will have no luck at all.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obama's Acceptance Speech! Historic

Tonight Barack Obama gave the best speech ever tonight. In it he simultaneously managed to blunt the GOP attacks and inspire a stadium of over 70,000 people to tears and bring them to their feet in cheers.

Here is the text of the speech.
__________________________________________
The American Promise

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest – a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia – I love you so much, and I’m so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That’s why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government’s making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he’s worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we’ll also hear about those occasions when he’s broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives – on health care and education and the economy – Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made “great progress” under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a “mental recession,” and that we’ve become, and I quote, “a nation of whiners.”

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don’t believe that Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn’t know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people’s benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.

For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy – give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is – you’re on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps – even if you don’t have boots. You’re on your own.

Well it’s time for them to own their failure. It’s time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President – when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job – an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great – a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton’s Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she’s watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who’s willing to work.

That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.

That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington’s been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he’s said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don’t have that chance. I’ll invest in early childhood education. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I’ll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I’ve laid out how I’ll pay for every dime – by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don’t help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America’s promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our “intellectual and moral strength.” Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility – that’s the essence of America’s promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America’s promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we’re wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That’s not the judgment we need. That won’t keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don’t protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can’t truly stand up for Georgia when you’ve strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice – but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans – have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose – our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it – because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I’ve seen it. Because I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I’ve seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I’ve seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they’d pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I’ve seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

“We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

McCain Intollerant Of Other Religions - Video

This clip of McCain talking about his religion gives me the willies and it should scare anyone who sees it. What he espouses is about as un-American as any value I can imagine. He not only states his mistrust of any religion but his, a religion he seems confused about since one time claiming to be Episcopal and then denying it and claiming to be baptist, but he uses the blatant lie that America's founding fathers were all Christian. They were not, and in fact more were deists that any particular religion, but that doesn't matter to McCain. Watch the clip and be afraid.

McCain Looking More Frail - Health Concerns?

McCain seems like a decent enough man for a politician, but lately his speech has been frail and he has had trouble answering questions. More often he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Is he on the verge of senility?

I have to wonder when that 3:00am phone call comes just how someone as dazed and confused as McCain will react?

McCain Picks Pawlenty As VP?

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has canceled all his press appearances today and for the next few days. The move comes as speculation runs high that Pawlenty may be McCain's VP pick. Pawlenty has been on McCain's "short list" for a while.

Speculation is that McCain will announce his VP during Obama's speech to try to steal thunder from the Democratic Party's nominee.

McCain May Be Senile

When John McCain was asked about Iraqs stability by Time magazine he responded by saying that "Iraq is a peaceful and stable country".

Peaceful and stable countries do not have suicide bombings and repeated insurgent attacks. Peaceful and stable countries do not require flack jackets to go strolling through the marketplace.
McCain is borderline senile if he really believes this.

Morw=eover, when he makes his "Major Announcement" in a TV ad tonight during Barack acceptance speech, watch him closely. Is he really all there or does he look a bit frail?

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Obama Officially The Democratic Party Nominee!

It's official, Obama was nominated by acclimation unanimously after a motion to suspend the rules by Hillary Clinton. The convention just erupted into a big party as they played "Love Train" over the PA system.

It is not only a historic moment for an African-American to be nominated for President, but to have the second place winner actually do the nominating was great! The show of unity was stirig and the crowd is so emotional it is palpable even through the television screen.

Roll Call Vote Going On Now

I am watching the roll call vote at the DNC. So far it's overwhelmingly for Obama and there have been no disturbances. The best part of the process is the wonderful state speeches that proceed the votes. Kansas just voted and said they were the proud capital of wind energy in the USA and the home state of Obama's mama!

Kentuky just cast 24 for Hillary and 36 for Barack Obama. I love this part of the convention because of the grass roots feel. More later.

UPDATE: New Jersey just cast all 127 votes for Obama. More and more states are going unanimous for Obama.

UPDATE: The floor just yielded to New York. Clinton is speaking and she is requesting a unanimous nomination of Obama. She moves that the convention suspend the vote and count all votes, but select Obama by acclimation as the nominee. That's a brave thing for her to do, and she was surrounded by lots of cheering supporters.

Will McCain Pick Kay Bailey Hutchison For VP?

Want a nightmare scenario? How about Kay Bailey Hutchison as McCain's VP? The rumor mill has started cranking that one out and it sounds plausible. Hutchison, Senator from Texas, has been seen with McCain at several events recently and tongues are waging about her possible future on the ticket. A woman would be seen a pandering by some but there might be enough stir to at least pick up votes from a few brain dead folks.

Hutchison has a straight Bush voting record that really makes McCain look like a maverick, even thoug in the past year he has been 100% behind Bush. She is the senator from my district and no matter what I write her on I get a pre-printed reply that has little to do with my question. Hutchison is at the center of a small scandal in the Steven Payne ruckus. That might make her hard to vet, along with the many connections of her husband in the paving and infrastructure of Texas. Contracts etc. have always been suspect.

My hope is that her aspirations to be governor of Texas will outweigh any failed run for VP with McCain.

Michelle Obama Makes Surprise Appearance at LGBT Event In Denver

Michelle Obama made a surprise speech to a caucus of LGBT Democrats in Denver just a day after her speech to the DNC. Watch the entire speech here:

Gustav Churns Towards The Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Gustav is spinning away from Haiti and into the warmer waters south of Cuba. According to the National Hurricane Center's projections it will re-strengthen into a Hurricane as it moves toward the Gulf of Mexico.

At present the projected track for the next 5 days shows Gustav moving into the gulf just south of Cuba and then turning slightly north. The projected path puts it on a collision course with New Orleans. If it follows the predictions, and a 5 day forecast on a hurricane is not very precise, it would make landfall within a couple of days of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. More ironic would be that President Bush is scheduled to speak at the Republican Convention that same day.

The potential for another disaster is increased by the fact that repairs to the levees in New Orleans are still in progress and they have not been strengthened sufficiently to withstand another catastrophic hurricane. I am hoping the people of New Orleans are fllowing the progress of Gustav and that State and Federal agencies will be able to aid if evacuation is needed.

Gustav has already proven to be a killer as there are reports of at least 22 people dead in its wake. The storm was moving off the coast of Haiti Wednesday afternoon.

Colbert On Michelle Obama

The Colbert Report was "live from Denver" last night. (not really, but Stephen had a Denver Omelet) His critique of Michelle Obama's wonderful speech was critical as you might expect. The last bit was so funny my partner was literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Hillary Hits A Home Run For The Team!

Hillary Clinton got my attention last night when she gave a speech that was a wholehearted endorsement of Barack Obama or President. I had trepidations about what she might do, but in the end she became a party loyalist and saw that the real challenge to America right now is not her being elected, but McCain being defeated!

It is my hope that she effectively persuaded her supporters to throw their support behind the Democratic nominee and go on to vote Barack Obama into office this November. I suspect there will be a few who will still resist, but if they listen to reason they might realize that McCain will do them no favors. As Hillary said," we don't need four more years . . . of the last eight years."

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Flashback: Jon Stewart Takes On Crossfire

In anticipation of the Daily Show's coverage of the Democratic Convention, Huffington post noted that Stewart has admonished reporters to do a better job. He called the 24hour news channels "gerbil wheels".

It is really sad when a comedian understand the responsibiities of the press better than they do. Watch this clip from Crossfire back in 2004. (Note: this lame show was canceled a few month later)

McCain Uses "POW" Line Once Too Often

John McCain was a POW and don't you forget it! That seems to be the only thing the McCain camp has in the arsenal of political comebacks. Last night when Jay Leno asked McCain about his houses, the response was, "I spent 5 1/2 years in a prison cell without -- I didn't have a house. I didn't have a kitchen table. I didn't have a table. I didn't have a chair."

Perhaps he should pick Rudy Giuliani as his running mate then they could say "POW, 911" over anover again. McCain is a one trick pony just like Rudy and that trick is getting old, just like McCain.

White Supremicists Implicated In Plot To Assassinate Barack Obama

Aurora Colorado police and the FBI have apparently uncovered a plot by a group of White Supremacists to assassinate Barack Obama. Two men were stopped in a routine traffic stop and drugs as well as rifles were discovered in their car. One rifle was a high powered sniper model.

The men admitted under questioning that they were planning to shoot Obama during his acceptance speech. According to reports, two other companions were arrested when they fled police at their hotel in Denver. Both along with a girlfriend were arrested and detained on drug charges. The police and FBI will hold a news conference this afternoon.

I suppose it is to be expected that folks like these would have a problem with an African American president. I have to wonder if they are only the tip of an inbred trailer-park iceberg. I certainly hope the FBI and Secret Service will stay on their toes.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Big Brother Says - "John McCain Cannot Be Wrong, He Was A POW!"

Mitcham's Gold Medal & His Gay Partner You Will Not See On NBC

Matthew Mitcham, the Australian diving sensation who captured the gold medal in the Men's Platform Diving in Beijing gives an interview with his Mom and boyfriend. This is the footage you will NOT see on NBC. Why? Matthew is openly gay and has no problem being seen with his partner.