9/11 - 7 Years Later

My memory is still clear of that morning when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, and though I was not there, I watched it on a television in a hotel restaurant with friends from New York City. Their shock as well as my own is something I will never forget either.

The terrorists that attacked us were sent by Osama Bin Ladin and his organization, Al Qaeda are now household words. Back in 2001, he was just a shadowy figure in most people's consciousness. Now his face is familiar to everyone in the world.

The Bush administration feigned surprise even though they had a clear warning from the CIA and their intelligence officials. Immediately the White House began looking for ways to blame Iraq and Saddam Hussein. To use the tragedy of the four hijackings as a way to justify a war that need not have happened is immoral. Furthermore, the White House's attempt to now rewrite history and redirect the blame to a suspect already in custody rather than Bin Ladin would be laughable if it weren't so cynical.

It is time we stand up and let the Bush administration and the entire Republican Party including it's candidate John McCain that this madness must stop. The truth is not just a collection of factoids as presented by the press, but a sweeping story of an opportunist administration and a predominately GOP legislature who enabled them to line the pockets of big oil and defense with billions using the tragedy of 9/11 as the excuse.

John McCain represents just another chapter of the Bush legacy and though he and his VP pick tell interesting stories, the real story is that they supported the misguided and unjust policies of George Bush. Furthermore, they are continuing the tradition of lying over and over again expecting the American public to accept their empty words as truth. We are not that gullible.

McCain and Bush are cut from the same cloth and to elect John McCain and install another duplicitous Republican administration expecting anything but another 4 years of Bush is insanity. It is time for another path, one that leads to an America that is once again respected in the world and one that encourages growth at home through support and empowerment. As Americans, we are an empathetic people who value justice and freedom but also recognize that government must provide protection and empowerment. The authoritarian style of George Bush and John McCain runs contrary to who we are as Americans and we must not allow it to continue.

Bush Rewrites History of 9/11 - Now Osama Bin Laden Was Innocent!

The Bush administration is maintaining its relentless campaign to rewrite history. The figure sine they can't catch Osama Bin Laden, they will blame someone else for 9/11. Now, as amazing as it seems the White House is saying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was actually the mastermind and conveniently he is already in jail!

Again, the Karl Rove disinformation machine takes the American public for a bunch of idiots, and if anyone buys this crap, they will be right! Watch this clip of the press conference when Dana Perino makes this claim to an incredulous press corps.

ThinkProgress has more

Drill Drill Drill? Interior Department Sex Scandal

Seems the folks over at the Interior Department believe that all work and no play is not the way to do business. According to an AP report the Government department responsible for handling billions of dollars in oil royalties got perks of sex and drugs from oil company employees.

The improprieties include rigging contracts, working part-time as private oil consultants, and having sexual relationships with and accepting golf and ski trips and dinners from oil company employees. Nice work if you can get it!

The sordid details were released in three reports Wednesday by the Department of Interior's inspector general. According to the report there was a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" by a small group of individuals "wholly lacking in acceptance of or adherence to government ethical standards."

The details of the report read like the script for "Animal House". For example, the reports said former head of the Denver Royalty-in-Kind office, Gregory W. Smith, used cocaine and had sex with subordinates. This in addition to the illicit relationships with big oil companies including Chevron and others.

Read more here.

Letterman Rants About Global Warming - Funny But True!

Maurice Sendak Comes Out

Maurice Sendak, beloved children's writer and artist whose book "Where the Wild Things Are" is considered the classic illustrated children's book has finally come out. At the age of 80, Mr. Sendak has suffered a nagging grief since the death of his longtime partner, Dr. Eugene Glynn. Now, he has finally gone public with his sexual orientation. He feared that doing so early in his career would make his work less marketable.

His latest book was begin about four years ago, right after Dr. Glynn became sick with lung cancer. The work helped to take his mind off the illness, but also was a product of his fear that he didn't have much time left.

Now as his 80th birthday approaches, he ponders the sell out o f tickets for the event at the 92nd Street Y in New York. In a new York Times interview he mused, “they must be coming to see the other people,” referring to the star studded list of attendees.

Happy birthday Mr. Sendak!

Obama Strikes Back At McCain Slurs

Barack Obama today addressed the gutter tactics being used by the McCain campaign to "swift boat" him. The following clip shows why he is right for America!

McCain Tries To Distance Himself From McCain/Bush Policies

CNN reported that people inside the McCain camp feel any discussion of Bush policy in Iraq, even the withdrawal of 8000 troops would be a "death knell" for McCain. So, McCain who has backed Bush on just about everything in Iraq is now cutting and running !

McCain Against Protecting Children From Pedophiles

Is that headline a lie? Nope. The latest McCain attack ad says that Obama wanted to have "sex education" for preschoolers before they could read. The reality was his bill would provide age appropriate education and for preschoolers that would be about protecting them from pedophiles and inappropriate touching.

McCain and his team got rightly criticized for the TV ad.

"It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls - a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn't define what honor was. Now we know why," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Neighborhood Fun! Man In Wheelchair Robs 7-11

You have to hand it to him, the guy in the wheelchair who rolled into the 7-11 just a few blocks from my place had guts. He came into the store around 2:00am wielding a baseball bat and a knife. No easy task when you are trying to roll your chair either! Then he demanded cash. The clerk fled, leaving the man to bash the cash register with the bat.

The register proved stronger than his Louisville Slugger and he gave up finally settling on 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink. I figure those two items would go hand in hand.

Police arrived too late to apprehend the robber, who they suspect is homeless. The wheelchair may or may not have been a real necessity. Panhandlers often use them as props to solicit more money from sympathetic passersby.

Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home

An article in the Washington Post shows that alleged "Maverick" Sarah Palin corralled quite a bit of state money intended for her travels while staying at home. Governor Palin billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office. She got "per diems" intended for travel expenses when she was not traveling. In most folks books that looks like fraud!

I hope the press will ask her about this and other questionable practices when she finally gets interviewed.

Train Your Pet Fish?

OK, so I guess I had too much time on my hands or maybe I was just meant to find this. I have always known people who train animals. In my early career as a director of live shows, I worked in several amusement parks that had animal shows and I was well aware of how much you can teach an animal. I was not aware that fish could be trained as well!

Obama Campaign Need To Focus On Obama - Not Palin

Well Sarah Palin has had her 15 minutes of fame. Now it's tome to get back to the real issues. The Obama campaign needs to push their message out in front of the press, and it should be the message of his narrative, not that of the "Trojan Moose", Sarah Palin.

Palin is not the issue in this campaign, she is a symptom. She shows the McCain campaigns real agenda and its not a pretty one. McCain is far from the mavrick he protrays, he has become a Bush loyalist and his VP is an extreme right-wing radical, not a reformer.

Obama is a genuine progressive, with a story that mirrors the American story. He worked his way up through life, giving back to the community and doing his best to help make his community and our country a better place. Obama embodies the spirit our country was founded upon. He shows how work, determination and hope can lead to a better life for everyone.

It's time to refocus the campaign on Obama and his principals. It's time to see more crowds of people cheering "yes we can". It's time to get back on message and let the brief stardom of Sarah Palin fade as the scandals that surround her grow more visible.

McCain / Palin -The Naked Lie! Video

Proof Palin Lied About Opposing Pork Barrel Projects

Sometimes it is amazing how Republicans can completely ignore reality. For example Sarah Palin is claiming she was against the infamous "bridge to nowhere" earmark project. This is part of the egregious pork barrel projects supported by Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.

Well here is the reality. Sarah Palin defending the project in a gubernatorial debate back in 2006.

Biden Rips The GOP With Good Reason

Joe Biden is one of the best politicians I have seen. Watch as he takes the GOP convention speeches apart and leaves the crow cheering!

T-Shirts Respond To Sarah Palin

In the wake of Sarah Palins comments about Barack Obama being "only a community organizer" comes the following T-Shirt. I can't wait to get mine!

Russell Brand Begs US To Vote For Obama

Russell Brand tore up the MTV Music Awards last night! He also tore up John McCain and George Bush. Watch it.

McCain's Green Screen = Barack & Roll!

The folks at Americablog.com always find the greatest videos!

Why Can't Sarah Palin Talk To The Press?

This interactive banner says it all.

Obama Blasts McCain's Promise Of Change

Barack Obama spoke before a crowd in Terre Haute Indiana this weekend. He took direct aim at McCain and his nomination acceptance speech when he pledged to tell the corporate lobbyists that change was coming to Washington. Watch it!

McCain Biography Video

Jon Stewart had this great clip on his show last night. If you missed it, hope you enjoy. Here's the sad thing. Though the video is not what ran at the RNC before McCain spoke, it is all true.

Palin Extramarital Affair Rumor Gets Serious!

As Sarah Palin disappears for a couple of weeks to be remade into some sort of Manchurian Candidate by the McCain-Rove troops, the rumors of her alleged extramarital affair are heating up. Now comes word that the man at the center of her dalliance has hired a legal team to seal his divorce records. Those records could show who was named as "correspondent" in the divorce, in other words who was sleeping with who that caused the ruckus.

Why would he seal those unless there was someone who would be in big trouble if they were made public. I suspect Sarah Palin's lawyers are already putting money in an account of his ex wife to assure her silence...just a guess.

Now even The Atlantic has picked up the story and it moves form the tabloids to the mainstream press. So how exactly did McCain vet Palin?

HRC & The Log Cabin Republicans

Contrary to the rumor being circulated, The Human Rights Campaign Fund has made no contribution to the Log Cabin Republicans. I suspect the rumor was started by someone in the LCR who wanted to give their ludicrous endorsement of John McCain for President some credibility.

Below is a statement on the nomination of Sarah Palin and John McCain by the HRC.

"John McCain claims to be a maverick who breaks with his party, but on matters of LGBT equality, he's shown that he's anything but. He actively campaigned for a constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in his home state of Arizona. He went so far as to appear in television commercials for that campaign, is now supporting an amendment to strip marriage equality from California couples and has said that he would vote for a federal marriage amendment if laws already banning marriage equality were to be struck down by federal courts. Sarah Palin has also supported bans on marriage and even domestic partner benefits in Alaska. The Republican Party, McCain and Palin's party, has declared in its platform that they want to pass the federal marriage amendment. Their party's platform also calls gay and lesbian Americans unfit for military service, supports policies that would allow faith-based organizations to deny us jobs and services using federal dollars, and attacks judges who acknowledge our equality under the law. The Human Rights Campaign endorses mavericks on both sides of the aisle- neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin is among them," said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

The Age Thing - A Personal Rant

I have never dyed my hair. That in itself is quite a bold statement from a gay man, but it’s true. I can add it to the list of other things to disguise the aging process that I have never done, like moisturizers, collagens, Botox and cosmetic surgery. Though it may be just cause for demanding that I turn in my Gay Card, I figure growing older is inevitable and trying to cover it up is really an undignified thing to do.

I remember a friend of mine telling me years before I got into the leather community, that I should start wearing leather because, “it looks good on you as you age.” That was good advice.

In a culture that values youth and beauty over almost anything else, the real anomaly is the image of the leather “daddy”. He is a person who is valued for not only his look, but his experience and wisdom. At least that is the story I keep telling myself.

So far on my life journey the only drawback from aging, other than the continual battle with gravity is a discrimination I find in the job market. In the field of communications and advertising, having grey hair is akin to having smallpox. For some reason marketers and agencies feel that only someone who is fresh out of college can connect with the mind of the youth market. It is as though advertisers feel that the youth of today are from another planet and only “their kind” can reach them, much less understand them.

The truth is that young people today are pretty much the same as they were in my generation. Oh they have new technology and different style clothes, but they are still motivated by the same thing I was at their age. In the business of advertising that boils down to two key ingredients, sex and acceptance. If those weren’t the key motivating factors ads wouldn’t feature claims that using (insert product here) would get you laid or get you friends.

So why the bias against anyone who is older? I don’t know, unless it’s because a more experienced and seasoned professional can see through the smokescreen of jargon and bull being spewed by management and that is threatening. For some, especially in marketing and advertising jargon is power. Like the fields of Medicine and Law, if you put things in everyday terms instead of using Latin, your clients and patients wouldn’t feel your services were worth so much money.

Would you be more willing to pay your doctor in order to get a prescription for “microdose acetylsalicylic acid administered prophylactically” that you would for a “half a baby aspirin taken each night”? The same holds true in advertising.

Which would you find more trustworthy, a report that details the “differentiated marketing to counteract intense segment rivalry” or one that states simple “there are already a glut of similar products being sold, so we need to get specific as to which groups we try to sell to.” Confusion is power and as I age I find I just don’t have time to veil my knowledge in jargon.

So, I guess my next marketing position will be to, “personalize the retail experience through initialized direct contact communication”. Of course this job, unlike any other I have had will take a specialized wardrobe. Something in a blue vest should do. Now, I just need to review the marketing narrative, just to make sure I can optimize my interface with target markets…”Hello, and welcome to Wal-Mart”.

McCain And The Green Screen

Last night's acceptance speech by John McCain took place in front of a picture of what looked like a mansion. Hardly the image I would have thought appropriate for a man who has recently been under scrutiny for having more houses than he can count.

The problem was that close ups of McCain put him in the "green screen" dilemma he faced previously. Green is not a good background color. It makes you look pale and sallow, something McCain already has a problem with. Additionally it gives lots of fodder to the YouTube generation who will undoubtedly take that footage and insert any number of pictures in the green area using digital technology.

Apparently what the campaign wanted was a photo of Walter Reed Medical Center behind him, but because of some pretty poor research they put a shot of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California in its place. Strange message and even stranger because that part of California is decidedly Democratic.

So as Sarah Palin retreats to Alaska to bone up on what a VP's job is, McCain will have to suffer through another "green screen challenge" and lots of ribbing for the obvious gaff.

McCain - Trust Me, I Can Change

Watching McCain's speech today,since I had better things to do last night, I am underwhelmed. He gives a nice narrative of his story, the old POW loves his country line, but other than that it's pretty hollow.

Here's the real McCain story. McCain started his military career at the botom of his class at the Naval Academy, his father, and Admiral got him a command position in the Navy. His flight instructors said he was one of the worst pilot they had ever trained, and he ended up failing gto act on a missile alert and got shot down over North Vietnam. He was held as a prisoner but ended up giving propaganda to the enemy. When he returned home he committed adultry and divorced his wife to marry a wealthy woman who opened the doors for his political career. He became embroiled in the Keating 5 banking scandal. Now he keeps switching his positions on everything from GI Bill funding to the approving the use of torture.

Not a pretty story, basically that of an opportunist who grabbed everything he could get and styled himself into whatever wold get him votes. Now at the advanced age of 72 he is trying tio reinvent himself, but he looks like a frail old grandfather next to his clueless running mate Sarah Palin.

I kept remembering his real story all the time I watched him spinning the McCain legend and I have to say he isn't convincing. He says he wants to change Washington, yet he has more years in Washington than his opponents. Why should we trust him now?

It would do everyone a service to remember where the word "mavrick" came from. It was the name of a rancher who refused to brand his cattle. He told folks it was because it was cruel to the animals, but the reality was he just wanted to round up any strays without brands and claim them as his. I guess McCain is a mavrick when you accept that definition!

Juneau

Sometimes I get these things through the mail and I just have to share!

Sarah Palin Extramarital Affair? National Enquirer Says Yes!

The National Enquirer is hardly a bastion of great journalism, however lately they have had the stories before anyone else. Their reporting of John Edwards affair scooped the other media outlets and went a long way toward giving them the "street cred" that "real" newspapers have.

Now they have come up with a bit of dirt that could be explosive. The Enquirer reports that Sarah Palin had an extramarital affair with her husband's business partner.

So far the McCain camp is trying to dismiss the charge and has threatened a lawsuit. The Enquirer is sticking by it's story. Here is a statement made to the Huffington Post regarding the issue.

"The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum."

They may be on to something real!

Palin - Extremist In A Nice Dress

Sarah Palin looks very nice, she and her husband make a picturesque pair, and from the talking points of the Republicans, you'd think she was about as mainstream America as you can get. Not true.

Sara Palin is an extremist of the worst kind. She seeks to impose government controls on our private lives. Her politics is that of division and is antithetical to the American spirit. She opposes abortion and would make it illegal even in cases of rape. America has already voiced its opinion on this issue and the majority of Americans want to maintain a choice for women.

Palin wants "intelligent design" taught in our schools. She is out of step with America on this as well. Most Americans want real science taught to our young people so they can compete in the global marketplace. Palin's thinly disguised "creationism" is just trying to ram a Biblical narrative down our children's throats. It's bad science and worse theology.

Palin wants to ignore global warming. Her beliefs run counter to all the scientific evidence and that is an extreme and dangerous viewpoint for a person in the position of making public policy.

Palin has been embraced by the extreme right-wing of the GOP for these and other reasons. She represents another four years of Bush and Cheney in her outlook on government and the erosion of the constitution. Se must be exposed as the extremist she is and for the far right-wing agenda she brings to the McCain ticket.

Palin is the pretty face the GOP wants to paint on it's extreme agenda. They insult the intelligence of all Americans when they put her on the ticket with McCain and it's time for America to look behind the pretty face to see the ugly ideals harbored inside.

Cindy McCain - Elitist!

Let's talk about elitist! Cindy McCain stepped out last night in an outfit valued at around $300,000. Not exactly the kind of wardrobe for the common woman from America's heartland.

Read the Vanity Fair article with the price tags on her couture.

Harvey Milk Bio-Pic Trailer

Texas Republican Platform - The Language Of Bigotry

I was going to write about the amazingly prejudiced 2008 Republican Party latform of the great state of Texas, but I simply cannot find the words. I will let the platform speak for itself. Here are three issues that will resonate with most of my readers.

Marriage Licenses - We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such.

Homosexuality – We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin), custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

Texas Sodomy Statutes - We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.

Want more of this hate filled crap? Go to the GOP platform pdf.

In the meantime, please , please someone tell me why we have an organization called Log Cabin Republicans? Why not just call the group self hating sodomites for McCain?

Republican Pundits Call Palin Choice "Political Bulls#@t"

When Republican pundits throw up their hands and declare "it's over" you have to wonder what is going on behind closed doors in the GOP. After an interview on MSNBC Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught on tape after the on-camera segment discussing the Palin nomination.

Noonan flatly says, "it's over", in referring to McCain's chances at the White House. She goes on to say the choice is "political bullshit" and Murphy calls the choice "cynical and gimmicky".

Watch it here from Huffington Post.

Sarah Palin, Sexism And Reality - If She Were A Man, McCain Would Be A Laughingstock

OK, so the McCain camp is already starting to fling charges of sexism around whenever anyone says anything about his VP Sarah Palin. Let me ask you this , and answer it honestly if you can, If McCain had picked Bob Palin, Governor of Alaska, what would your reaction be?

To be honest, if Palin was a man, McCain would already be laughed out of the GOP. The former mayor of a podunk town and half-term governor in one of the least populous states in the union is about as lame a choice as you can imagine. What if he had picked John Hoeven as his running mate?

John who? Well he is the Republican governor of North Dakota. The sad thing is John Hoeven has a masters degree from Dartmouth and a real history of brining prosperity to his state. He is in his second term and though he has experience, I feel sure he would be ridiculed for lack of it and considered a pretty lame choice for VP.

So why use kid gloves on Palin? This woman has a batchelors degree from the University of Idaho and her credentials include TV anchor in the micro=market of Anchorage and her time as mayor with a staff of less than 50 people.

Come on folks, we are all being sexist when we fail to criticize her as a viable choice. The test is changing the sex and then evaluating her qualifications. She would never get the job if she wasn't a she. So enough of this crap. McCain is insulting the entire country with this chlice and the sooner someone stands up and speaks the truth the better.

Dr. Laura Slams Palin As VP Pick

I am stunned that for once I agree with Dr. Laura. On her blog she wrote a scathing analysis of the McCain Vice Presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Laura Schlessinger, known for her right wing views and occasional intolerant rants on gays and lesbians, feels McCain's pick is wrong on many levels.

From her blog:

"I’m stunned - couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain? I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age. But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?"

Palin As Governor Vetos Money For Unwed Teenage Mothers

Here's another lesson in Family Values from Sarah Palin, McCain's pick for VP. As governor of Alaska, Palin line item vetoed funds for a program to help unwed teenage mothers during their first 18 months while they learn the basic skills needed to be a good parent. She cut funding from $5 million to $3.9 million with a stroke of a pen. She also cut the budget for the Fairbanks Community Food Bank in half, those funds would have bought upgrades to refrigeration equipment and computers for the social service organization.

Funny, those were not the kind of values my family raised me with.

ThinkProgress has more.

More Hillary Supporters Move To Obama

For those worried that Hillary supporters would defect to the GOP the Gallup Poll has an interesting statistic. Prior to the Democratic Convention 70% of Hillary supporters said they would support Obama as the candidate of the Democratic Party. After the convention that number rises to 81%!

Obama's support now hits the 50% mark a full 8 points over McCain as of September 2. It remains to be seen if there is a post GOP convention bump for McCain.

Chrome Lacks A Few Features I Like

So like a good geek, I downloaded Google's new browser, "Chrome" this morning. After installing it and making sure there were no surprises included, like a Google Desktop, which I don't want, I started it up.

First impression. It's simple looking, so much so that there isn't even a home page button. That d confused me, but hey, I'm over 50! Next I finally figured out how to set my home page, which is an i-Google page anyway. It loaded fast, not so fast that I was overwhelmed, I use Firefox now and it was not so much faster that I saw a plus.

Next I tried going to the NOAA Hurricane Center. I was checking on the progress of Gustav, which just brought rain to our area of Texas this afternoon. I tried to load the satellite image loop and got a blank screen with a puzzle piece. The caption said, no plug-in available. Well I know that site uses Java, and if Google won't run Java, hey it's not getting my vote.

Next I looked for the familliar Ad-Blocker that is the feature I love on Firefox. Not there! Now there may have been those feature somewhere hidden in the overly simplified controls, but I sure couldn't find it. OK that was strike two for me. Unlike baseball, I only give players two strikes. So I uninstalled Chrome and will await the relase version to reevaluate it at that time.



My opinion. Nice try, needs work. Sticking with Firefox.

McCain Gets Testy - Cancels Larry King Interview Because CNN Asks Real Questions

The McCain camp pulled out of an interview with Larry King because CNN reporter Campbell Brown posed a really good question about Sarah Palin to Tucker Bounds. Brown was doing her job as a reporter and actually asking a good question, "what command experience does Palin have as Governor of Alaska?" Apparently that is too much for the GOP.

GOP Focus Group Video - Sarah Palin Makes McCain Less Attractive

This is a focus group taped by Frank Luntz the slimy GOP pollster and even he can't put a good spin on McCain's rotten choice for VP.. The group are all republican voters and many are not going to support McCain because of the pick.

Watch it.

GOP Holds "Hookers & Blow" Party While Gustav Rages

Like Nero fiddling while Rome burns, the Republicans in Minneapolis dressed in the wildest party clothes and boogied at a party thrown by the National Rifle Association, Lockheed Martin and the American Trucking Association. The event, held at a downtown night club featured the band "Hookers & Blow" and was hosted by former Tom DeLay aide Glenn LeMunyon.

At a time when the GOP is trying to salvage it's image from the wreckage of hurricane Katrina and the Sarah Palin pick for VP, having a blow-out party seems a bit cavalier. But what else would you expect?

Palin Member Of Alaska Successionist Party

With a theme of "America First" the DNC is going to really have to spin to explain Sarah Palin's husband's membership in the Alaska Independence Party. The stated goals of the group is succession from the US and formation of their own sovereign state self sufficient on oil revenues. Palin even recorded a greeting for the convention of the Alaska Independence Party and the Daily Kos has it here.

Again and again the McCain campaign shows their lack of concern for our country and their pick for VP. I really believe there was no vetting at all. McCain is a gambler, and his pick of Palin was a crap shoot. McCain loves to shoot craps and this time he came up snake eyes!

McCain's Veracity & Judgment Called Into Question In NY Times Article

The McCain camp has big trouble. Today the New York Times wrote the article every other newspaper wanted to buts was afraid to print. McCains judgment seems to be sorely lacking in his pick of Sarah Palin. Most obvious is the complete lack of vetting of the candidate. From the mixed reports coming from the RNC she was vetted, but probably only on Google. Now GOP operatives and lawyers are swarming in her home town in Alaska trying to find the other skeletons in her closet.

Little details like Palin being a member of a fringe secessionist party in Alaska really point to the lack of information McCain had when he picked her. The Times article points out that McCain said the FBI investigated her in the vetting process, but the FBI does not normally do that for a VP candidate. According to the FBI in a statement in the article, "F.B.I. official said Monday the bureau did not vet potential candidates and had not known of her selection until it was made public."

So who do we believe? McCain or the FBI? Personally I trust the Feds more than a desperate candidate who is looking for a gimmick to win the election.

McCain's VP Has 17 Year Old Pregnant Unwed Daughter!

Lets talk about family values. Sarah Palin announced today that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. She said in a stemet that she is proud of her daughter's decision to have the baby.

"We’re proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

What they miught not be so proud of is the fact that she is not married. There was an additional announcement about the man she "will marry", which is Alaskan for "shotgun wedding".

It is interesting that she is proud of her for not having an abortion. I have to wonder how proud she is of her for getting pregnant in the first place, but maybe she was schooled in abstenence only as a method of birth control? Worked pretty good didn't it?

This will be the first VP nominee with a teenage daughter who is an unwed mother. Gotta love those kinds of family values!

Gustav Sights On New Orleans

I am watching the Weather Channel as the report from New Orleans on the landfall of Gustav. From the other web cams that are still online, the city is a ghost town. Luckily 95% of the residents have left because it looks like a real disaster coming soon.

I have been tracking Gustav since it was just a depression and consistently the forecast has shown the Louisiana cast as the prime target are for landfall. I guess the local authorities have been watching carefully this time as well. Levees are still not to the heights the Army Corps of Engineers recommended and in some places the flood walls are still unfinished. If the storm hits where it is expected to the flooding will come from the opposite direction of Katrina, meaning areas of the city that were relatively unscathed during the last storm will be victim this time.

I pray that the city survives. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities and a big part of the soul of the country. Without the Crescent City the South will be a pale shadow of itself.

Rudy Giuliani Says Palin "Better Qualified" Than Obama?

It's funny to listen to Rudy Giuliani trying to spin the nomination of Sarah Palin into something good. On Face the Nation today he stated that Palin was better qualified to run the nation than Obama.

“You know why? She had to make decisions,” Giuliani told Face The Nation anchor Bob Schieffer. “All Senator Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does.”

I guess Obama's years as a State Senator and US Senator just can;t stack up with Palin's critical experience as the Mayor of a town of 6000?

David Brooks of the New York Times said of Palin on the program, "“She has no experience, basically. People are going to be nervous about her. And what it says about John McCain [is], some people drive the aircraft carrier, they have a big team around them. Some people take off from the aircraft carrier, they're lone fliers. John McCain is a lone flier. This was a 'lone flier' choice, it was risky."

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.

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.

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?

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."

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.

Great Obama Ad - "Don't Know Much"

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.