You Can Lead A Candidate To Oxford, But You Can't Make Him Think

A TALE OF TWO CITIES -- McCain called Letterman. "Can't make it 'ol Buddy, gotta save the world and gotta race back to D.C. to do it."

"No Problem." says Letterman, as disappointment and surprise began to wash over him. How bad must things actually be for the war hero to cancel? Wow.

Only McBeth didn't run back to Washington. He was at the same network's studio, shooting an interview with Katey Couric AT THAT EXACT MOMENT, and would be staying in NY for an additional 22 hours before he went anywhere near a plane! Dave, run that clip, will ya?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E

Spoiler Alert: I'm about to get metaphorical on his ass.

While the entire community was working hard to clean up spilled oil that had washed up on their local beaches, the owner of the faulty tanker, U.S.S. McCain, flew into town and drew a line in the dark and sticky sand.

Really? Johnny don't like the deal? You stopped everything you were doing to fly into town and say 6 sentences, sit down and not, in any way, be part of the solution???
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See Barack's address to the press about why the deal for economic stimulus stalled:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26893995#26893995
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To be honest, now I'm getting angry....

Hey, John!!! Why don't you get some gloves out and start scrubbing those birds leaking black stuff all around you???

We'll even allow you to make ONE constructive comment. Do you HAVE any constructive suggestions? Every major news outlet calls your parachuting into Washington D.C., an incredibly destructive, distracting, divisive, and dumb thing to do. People, please believe me when I tell you that he actually said, he being the Republican nominee for President formerly known as John, did not read the three (3) page proposal as put forth by Hank Paulson !!!!!!! he didn't even read it. (heavy sigh)

See for yourself: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#26894431

I'm going to sleep.

Something Juvenile

And when the dust settled, and the bipartisan committee seemed to end up in favor of 'some version' of the administration's economic bailout plan, those testifying all said it needed to be done, agreed (belatedly) to oversight, and all the King's men pushed back their chairs.

AFTERWARDS, it has generally been agreed to by everyone that Senator Cox really got behind it and Senators Crapo and Akaka are all over it now.

Cramming For The Test -- McCain wants to cancel debates

Wow. McCain is short, yes, but today he stooped to a new low. He claims he doesn't want to debate Barack because of the economy. And if Mr. O says no, and wants the debates to go on as planned, then the Republicans set up Barack to appear in front of the American public and the world as someone who doesn't care enough about the economy to halt the debates. Seriously. Wow.

As Barack's campaign so easily pointed out today, perhaps McCain is not ready to walk and chew gum at the same time. A President needs to multitask. McCain needs to take a nap.

Let's lay out how much Barack Obama actually is concerned, and has continuously been ringing the church bell in alarm, about our economy:

1. Obama's Year Old Letter to Bernanke and Paulson Regarding Housing Crisis March 22, 2007

2. Obama Calls for Modernizing Our Regulation of Financial Markets (video) March 27, 2008

3. Obama's Speech to Nasdaq (video) September 17, 2007

4. Message To The Nation (9/18 - video)

5. Obama Economic Press Conference July 28, 2008 (video)

6. Barack Obama's actual plan for the economy posted online
Use link or see the following for some key elements of Barack's plan:

-A $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families with high fuel costs right now while putting $50 billion into job creation to get our economy back on track.

-Families making less than $250,000 a year will get a tax cut three times larger than under John McCain's plan and will face absolutely no tax increases.

-While John McCain has voted against raising the minimum wage 19 times, Barack would raise the minimum wage and set it to rise automatically with inflation.

-Invest $15 billion a year in green energy research to reduce our economy's dependence on foreign oil and create 5 million American jobs a year.

7. Barack's Blueprint For Change (video)
Emergency Economic Plan in detail as released on 9/21

So much for the incredibly stupid, ruthless, and inaccurate claim that Mr. O has no plan and is MIA on the issue.
------------------------------------------------------
Two days before Senator McCain outlined his "specific plan," Barack Obama laid out a 6 point detailed plan on how we needed to reestablish oversight in the financial market. It followed on 6 months of him putting forward further detailed ideas and talking with experts like Warren Buffet, et al.

Check out McCain's website for his "detailed plan." http://www.johnmccain.com/Images/Issues/JobsforAmerica/briefing.pdf

McCain's only record, unbelievably horrible as it is, can be seen as follows:

1. ABC News 'This Week" Panel discusses McCain's comments over the last few days.

2. Video answer to foreclosure problems leading to bank closings

3. Talking Points Memo (TPM) video with Russert interview

4. Hardball (video)Shows 22 Times!!: McCain Has Said Fundamentals of Economy Are Strong

5. CNBC (video)McCain claims Commerce Committee oversees entire economy, and he was the Chairman.

6. Oversight experience gives him unique opinion (video)

7. MSNBC: McCain-onomics

Now. you really have some homework. Check out these links, learn for yourself. Its all there. Do what you need to do, write to the media, write to your friends, carry McCain in on a stretcher. Just get 'er done and get him to that debate!

BTW, my favorite part of McCain's economy video (which is really just clips of his speeches), is that he plans to balance the budget by 2013. Promises. Hmmmm....maybe I'm just not good at math, but, um, 2013 would fall after this next Presidential term in office. He is promising something that wouldn't happen until AFTER the next four years. So he couldn't really be held to it, God Forbid, if he made it to the Oval Office.

OK, I promise to initiate peace all over the entire world by 2100. So there!

Section 8. Section 8?!?!?!

Does it totally go over everyone's heads that the incredibly insane idea of giving Paulson a get out of jail free card with which he could in no way be held responsible for his actions, would be called "Section 8?"

Section 8 (military), a kind of discharge from the United States military due to mental illness and/or problems ...

ALSO

Section 8 (bailout) is the part of the bailout plan put forth by the Bush Administration stating that in regards to oversight and review, "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

P.S. for S.P.

Why we are so exhausted...Our Historic Two Weeks.

Its been going so fast and furious that many of us may not really know what it is that makes us feel so drained right now. Alot of us have fought in campaigns before, but this seems like more than the usual 4th quarter blues.

Well, I gave it some thought. Let's review.

I think it is safe to say that the Democratic party was generally happy and energized after their convention. Glowing, crying, hopeful.

Almost immediately after, Gustav was brewing out in the Caribbean and had already killed some people. The storm was bearing in on the coast of the U.S. and millions were evacuated. You couldn't be human, or part of the movement to elect Obama, if you didn't identify with all the unfortunate people that had to pack up, leave, and spend money just to find a space to sleep, find gas, etc.

Then, with that low lying anxiety, and with Ike on the way, Bush jumped out of the circle and ran to Texas as the Republican convention started to "oversee things from there." We were robbed of our ability to see the incumbent standing next to one of his biggest supporters, proving to everyone watching that McCain would be more of the same.

Instead, we got a surprise distraction and a rollercoaster ride. An unprecedented number of people started very actively arguing about politics. It wasn't a fair fight. They're shorter, so there were alot of low blows.

Then the nation watched as Ike began to bear down. Barack canceled what was to be his Saturday Night Live appearance. (Now that just wasn't fair! I was really looking forward to that). But it was o.k., we were doing the right thing. Ike was on its way and, in a rare natural metaphor, was the size of Texas. No matter where it hit the U.S., work was going to have to be done to help alot of people.

No details needed. Wipeout. Same time, Palin was doing her press junket, shaking hands, and making friends. Miraculously, the other team seemed to start to take the lead.

Last weekend was sleepless for alot of us. I don't know about you guys, but at this point I was glued to my computer, reassuring friends the polls were going to prove wrong, feeling it in my gut, which was also full of coffee and fast food.

Monday morning we woke to the news that Wall Street had lost two of its major brokerage firms. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after the government refused to bail it out, and Merrill Lynch employees bit their nails.

Barack had to swat some flies away (literally and figuratively), but the tables were turning.

Then, Bank of America bought Merril Lynch in a quickee deal and the stock market responded with a huge sell off, down 504 points for the day. There were fears about Washington Mutual, Morgan Stanley and other firms, so financial stocks tanked. Markets around the world took a beating. If you didn't know, trust me, we really wiped out everybody. Some of the markets weren't even able to reopen. AIG was on the precipice, looking out over the lemming Lehman's below, and they are huge in almost every world market, so this was going to be bad. If you watched the BBC, or any other major world news agency, THEY used the words 'earthquake, The Great Depression, Black Tuesday, and devastating emergency' to describe what was happening everywhere. I actually made the mistake of tivoing some shows from Fox News to get the other perspective and boy, there is no way for me to get those hours back.

But we rallied. We picked up. We really did folks. The more she spoke, the stupider she sounded. The more McCain spoke, the more he got things wrong in a pretty visible way. What went up, was starting to go down. Who had time for lipstick, when the house was on fire?

First, those who cared (wearing both red and blue) sat around a big table in Washington and someone said something, and someone else agreed, and someone took out a checkbook.

*The federal government jumped in Tuesday night and bailed out AIG to the tune of an $85 billion loan.
*The FCC put a ban on shortselling.
*The world's central banks took action, injecting $180 billion into the financial system to stem the losses.
*The market rallied, bounced, went back up.
*Even the government's #1 Deregulator was screaming for regulation!

So if you feel exhausted, it's not the election, it's not this fight we are in. Its all the unbelievable distractions, regrettable as they were, that hit the world the last two weeks.

Good news?

1. Their numbers are down, ours are up.

2. The judge in the Cheney lawsuit ordered Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president. Oh, you didn't know he had a lawsuit against him? Well, the lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over the past 7 1/2 years raise questions over whether the White House will turn over records created by Cheney and his staff to the National Archives in January. And Cheney lost.

3. Alaska's state Senator Hollis French said the retired prosecutor hired by the Alaska Legislature to investigate Palin (aka Troopergate), Stephen Branchflower, will conclude his investigation by Oct. 10. So they aren't giving up. And it will be in time for the election.

4. The other team's lies are getting so transparent that incredible people like that female reporter on FOX, Carl Rove, and even Hardball has to call them out on it, daily.

Bottom line, this is where we stand,

COSTS OVER THIS LAST YEAR
Status: Inflation up 5.4%
Average Salaries: Down 3.3%
Gasoline: Up 35.6%
Household Energy costs: Up 17.3%
Food: Up 7.5%

Its bad, but not unfixable. We will have alot of work to do, but we'll have to do it from the Oval Office.

So, take a deep breath.... Right now. Breathe in, and then out.

Make a bubble bath, catch a rerun of The Daily Show from their website, catch a sunset, or see the funny short: 'Its time for some campaignin'

Funny no matter what side you are on.
http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

Then remember why we're doing this. If you haven't already, see:
You Made Me Love You Obama!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW19otZgxY8

Get some yogurt to settle your stomach, splurge and let yourself have some chocolate, and take just a second to rejuvenate.

and then....LET'S GET OUT THERE AND GET 'EM.

We will do it by registering MORE voters! http://my.barackobama.com/vfc

We will do it by making the right points with our messages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJThPjvscFs

We will do it by making people aware of Barack's actual financial plan: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/economyplan

We will do it because WE CAN!

Once in a while, Blitzer wakes up from his nap...

The following is an excerpt from a detailed CNN Transcript of
THE SITUATION ROOM, occuring yesterday, September 18, 2008:

BLITZER: "When asked a specific question from a friendly audience at a town hall meeting yesterday in Michigan, Governor Palin gave what some consider to be a rather clumsy answer."

PALIN: "Oil, of course, it's a fungible commodity, and they don't flag, you know, the molecules where it's going and where it's not. But, in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic marks that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress going to do also is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's American who's get stuck holding the bag, without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic marks first."

The original question:

Would there be some sort of ban on exporting newly drilled U.S. oil, if that were to take place."

There are no typos here, click the link & see for yourself the CNN detailed transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0809/18/sitroom.01.html

Oh, Boy....

Carl Rove's Underwear is Showing aka Troopergate? What Troopergate?

If you've been following Troopergate although now it would appear Palin has swept it under the rug (no sexist housewife slur intended), then you might be interested in the dusty press release we found from 2006 sent out by Palin about Monegan (the guy she actually fired). Since we can't seem to get a straight answer as to why she "fired" him, at least we can see in her own words, why she "hired" him.

Palin Cabinet Begins to Take Shape
Governor-Elect Announces Commissioners of Natural Resources, Public Safety, Corrections

Anchorage – November 28, 2006 - Governor-Elect Sarah Palin today announced the first three members of her cabinet. Former Anchorage Police Chief Walt Monegan will serve as Department of Public Safety Commissioner, longtime corrections superintendent Joe Schmidt was named Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and former DNR Deputy Commissioner Marty Rutherfor d will take over the top job at the Department of Natur al Resources and will serve as interim Commissioner.

“I’m proud to count these Alaskans among my most trusted advisors,” said Palin. “Each one has a proven track record of success and an unwavering dedication to Alaska.”

This is verbatim. This is, as of this moment, still posted on Governor Palin's original campaign site from that time period:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070601040017/www.palinforgovernor.com/Articles.htm

The Day That Shook The World

September 16, 2008 -- It started with McCain saying something like, "The fundamentals of the U.S. Economy are strong."

Meanwhile people started to walk around and photograph all the damage from the storm before. Texas and many, many others were whiped out. So much to figure out: aide (first responders didn't have support, or water or food or supplies), how to rebuild, how to clean up the toxic mess that would no doubt be left behind. Get water pressure going, how to get a meal, power, clothes, shoes, help, phones, a place to sleep. 30,000 people in shelters just in the Galveston area. And, of course, how would the oil industry be affected?

The fact that this storm was reported as "the size of Texas" got washed away along with the video of the huge surge of water. A storm that big, for anyone who has been paying attention, is a direct result of global warming.

Ms. Palin was reported on ABC as saying, “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.”

On the same day that she said that on ABC, the Associated Press (AP) wrote "Palin opposes the Bush administration's decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act." You'd think everyone had seen the images of the bears bearly able to cling onto ice chunks, exhausted, beautiful and sad. Apparently, that was under her radar.

And now the global warming was really going to go global.

The levies, the regulatory agencies and policies and laws of the U.S. that HAD been placed there to protect its citizens from another Black Tuesday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tuesday), failed. With no regulations on speculation, and no oversight on companies that ran boiler rooms of phone sales agents selling fraudulant low interest loans, it was just a matter of time. Then it started. The wave that would shake the world. Floreclosures, banks closing, people fired, more people fired, more people fired, and then...Lehman Brothers. On the BBC they said it felt like an earthquake hit London. It was a Monday, so much of the rest of the world was on holiday.

Then came today. And AIG started to wobble on its feet. Much larger than Lehman, for those who don't know. Japan, ouch, India, oy, England, oh my, and all of the rest of the world -- body blow, body blow, body blow. Their markets crumbled.

So it would appear that this would be an excellent time to remember we are all connected. As goes the US, there goes the world. So we have to get Roosevelt on their ass. Perhaps Biden can get some of the rest of the world to invest in our rebuilding of our infrastructure. It could provide millions of jobs, if we were to share the info we invent on energy reform and renewable options with green foreign investors who are willing to put dollars in our country, jobs in our towns, and food on the table. We are gonna need help here. And we might as well realize that the rest of world needs us as much as we need them. So to defeat McBush, we need to elevate the discussion to the beginnings of a worldwide plan to get out of this. Let's get Warren Buffet in on this. Let's get some of the best brains out there. Let's be our own FEMA, our own community organizers.

The Palin discussion can fade away to cocktail jokes about lipstick and comparisons to Cheney. Let her go. She's insignificant.

What could I do?

I'm broke. Like alot of people out there. So I decided to do what I could from home. After all, I have a computer.

So I built my first website:

www.TheSarahPalinPortal.com
for All Things Palin. If you haven't filled your need yet for being IMPAILED, please come check it out, surf the links, see the videos, and maybe even leave a comment of your own. So far I've had hits from all over the world, so I'm pretty proud.

But that wasn't enough...

So I made my first YOU TUBE video:
"She's Bringing Sexy Back" which you can find at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPdCbyazp0

But that wasn't quite enough...

So I made my second YOU TUBE video:
"You Made Me Love You" starring our favorite, BO. Its a gift to Mr. Obama. I hope y'all like it. You can check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW19otZgxY8

I hope whoever reads this blog checks out my site and the videos and really likes them.

I hope you see the one I made for Obama and you like it and maybe even Pass It On.

I hope these are helpful.

Basically, I'm full of hope.

Mother Of An Unwed Pregnant Teenager

Now, regardless of your beliefs on teen pregnancy, sex education, ethics investigations, or teaching evolution in schools, you have to be able to honestly ask yourselves, "Is this really the best we can do? Is this mother of an unwed teenage girl this nation's example of our brightest, our most capable? While our politicians move more and more towards supporting the family unit as the basis for all our future good choices, is she really who we hold up to our children as a leader in whose footsteps they should follow?"

A Word About Hicks: By My Friend Lee Abbott

THIS IS IN REFERENCE TO WWW.THESARAHPALINPORTAL.COM:

"You know you just nailed a good point by accident...

When John Melancamp was on Bill Maher, he talked about the people in "Small Town" America that he knows and loves who are being completely wiped out by the Republican Agenda...but who keep voting for it. Because they believe what they are told - because most of them are honest people themselves. They just aren't sophisticated enough to keep up with Carl Rove-ian lies and clever word play. They're not "dumb" ...they just haven't HAD to be so street smart in any other aspect of their life.

I care about these people too - most of my relatives are good, honest, "Hicks" (no offense to your word choice) who believe in God and Country. And somehow...the Republicans cornered that market. My relatives and parents are now struggling with the party, largely because my sister is gay, and in a long term relationship...and this has started the chink in the armor....when folks begin to have "them" in their family.

Now....my "Liberal" ideas...are starting to be seen for what they are - PROGRESSIVE. As I told my NASCAR fan family friend, "It would be like in racing when safety "regulations" were so looked down upon - but they've not only been good for the sport...but eventually led to safer cars on city streets." Or my NRA Uncle, "It's again like auto racing...Professionals on Controlled Race Tracks do have the "Right" to drive a Dragster - but on city streets we are regulated to abide by certain rules, must have a drivers licence, have taken Drivers education, 1st Driven with a permit, can have our licence revoked if we don't abide by the rules...etc. Gun Control - just means that guns should be taken as seriously as automobiles, and that you DO have a RIGHT to have an Uzi...if you're in the military or on a SWAT team."

Websites like yours illustrate the ridiculous. Republicans like to argue that Britney Spears sister getting pregnant makes her parents "Pinheads!" ...until Palin comes along and then it's a family "Choice" and they actually use that word...."Choice!" Well...many hockey moms and hicks can also get really really pissed when they realize they are getting lied to. Websites like yours are chinks in the armor of "Belief" and thus lead us all to "Knowledge"

Thanks"

Lee Abbott
Santa Monica, CA

Palin Former Chairman of Alaska's Oil & Gas Commission

Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that early in Palin's career she was The Chairman of Alaska's Oil and Gas Commission!?!? Not a member, The Chairman. And she's pro-drilling! REALLY Pro-Drilling. Listening to those at the Republican Convention chant "Drill, drill, drill" was both disconcerting and scary. Wouldn't it be right to assume she's in the pocket of big oil? Doesn't that make her one of the bad guys?

Why Isn't Obama Getting Angry?

Many of the pundits and bloggers out there are saying that Obama isn't outraged enough over the incredible Rovian tactics the Republicans are using against him. Well, I'm jewish, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and quote some scripture: "Blessed are the meak, for they shall inherit the earth." or something like that. I LOVE that Obama is calm. I LOVE that he looks at every situation as an opportunity to learn, grow, and become an even better problem solver. All this conjecture and screaming and warning on the part of the Republicans just make them out as a bunch of chicken littles to me. In order to have an INTELLIGENT leader who can solve our energy issues and the environmental issues facing the world today, we need to come to the table sober and even tempered. We need to be able to listen and incorporate a variety of ideas, instead of yelling, ignoring, firing, and sidelining those who don't agree with our current actions. Solving those energy and environmental problems will trickle down, or up, or sideways, however you want to put it, and help solve most, if not all, of our other problems like unemployment, our economy problems, health issues, food supplies, the reasons for Russia's war, the reason for our war in Iraq, etc. etc. He doesn't need to wave his arms and scream to be the best choice for President. Outrage, closeminded tactics, and old fashioned "western" ideals are what got us into this situation in the first place.