I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere yet. Interesting: Barack Obama would like to offer John McCain a job if he becomes president, in what his allies says is an attempt to end the bitter partisan rancour that engulfed the White House race last week. Both presidential rivals are working behind the scenes to calm the increasingly incendiary atmosphere on the campaign trail, which erupted with lurid claims about Mr Obama's links with the former terrorist Bill Ayres and a lynch mob atmosphere at McCain rallies. Two Democratic sources with knowledge of the thinking in the Obama camp say that forming a partnership with Mr McCain would prove that Mr Obama will reach across the aisle and also help rehabilitate Mr McCain, who many Democrats believe has been pushed by hardline advisers into making increasingly desperate attacks on his rival. One well-connected Democrat, who spoke to Mr Obama last week, told The Sunday Telegraph: "John McCain is a good man. There's no question about it. I think we'll see Barack Obama reach out to him and say: let's work together." read the entire article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3179575/Barack-Obama-would-offer-John-McCain-a-job-is-he-wins-the-US-election.html

Sometimes I forget the real reason that Sarah Palin was thrust to the forefront by the far end of the right wing (would that be the wingtips?). They have, after all, been grooming her for this assault since the very beginning of her political career (by the way, do we know whose living room her political career was launched in?). I already posted on Palin's knack for getting her taxpayers to foot the bill for her no-so-private religious pursuits in today's Associated Press report, but find that there is quite a bit more in that review that should be cause for deep concern. Seeing her chances grow slimmer everyday, especially with the release of the Troopergate report last night and the abuse of power findings that are on the front page of every news outlet today, Palin has finally launched her anti-abortion assault on the Obama campaign. Today at a rally in Johnstown, PA, Palin said that "a vote for Obama is, in her words, "a vote for activist courts that will continue to smother the open and democratic debate that we deserve and that we need on this issue of life."" The subtext, of course, is that an Obama win means that the Rapture Right will fail in its attempt to stack the Supreme Court with its own activist judges in its desire to overturn Roe v. Wade. The AP review includes a long list of troubling activity on Palin's part to blur the lines between church and state: "Records of her mayoral correspondence show that Palin worked arduously to organize a day of prayer at city hall. She said that with local ministers' help, Wasilla - a city of 7,000 an hour's drive north of Anchorage - could become "a light, or a refuge for others in Alaska and America."" ""What a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders, even though I know it's all through the grace of God," she wrote in March 2000 to her former pastor. She thanked him for the loan of a video featuring a Kenyan preacher who later would pray for her protection from witchcraft as she sought higher office." "In that same period, she also joined a grass-roots, faith-based movement to stop the local hospital from performing abortions, a fight that ultimately lost before the Alaska Supreme Court." "Palin's former church and other evangelical denominations were instrumental in ousting members of Valley Hospital's board who supported abortion rights - including the governor's mother-in-law, Faye Palin." "Alaska Right to Life Director Karen Lewis, who led the campaign, said Palin wasn't a leader in the movement initially. But by 1997, after she had been elected mayor, Palin joined a hospital board to make sure the abortion ban held while the courts considered whether the ban was legal, Lewis said." ""We kept pro-life people like Sarah on the association board to ensure children of the womb would be protected," Lewis said. "She's made up of this great fiber of high morals and godly character, and yet she's fearless. She's someone you can depend on to carry the water."" "In November 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that because the hospital received more than $10 million in public funds it was "quasi-public" and couldn't forbid legal abortions." The AP review includes even more troubling examples of Palin's attempt to impose her religious views on the people of Alaska, and her trampling of the concept of separtation of church and state. I'm guessing that that is exactly what brought her to the attention of the Bush administration: "Palin also is one of just two governors who channeled federal money to support religious groups through a state agency, Alaska's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Palin has made it a priority to unite faith communities, local nonprofits and government to serve the needy, bringing her high marks - and $500,000 - from the Bush administration." "In fiscal year 2008, Alaska was one of only four states to receive $500,000 in federal grant money from the national initiative. "The governor has a healthy appreciation for faith-based groups that serve Alaskans in need," said Jay Hein, who until recently directed national faith-based initiatives at the White House. "The grant speaks to their organizational strength, and the dynamism of Alaska's operation."" No doubt, her record as a religious crusader is what brought her to the McCain ticket as well. (Link to the article is in the comments below.)

It just keeps getting better. An Associated Press review out today reports that Sarah Palin had no problem billing taxpayers for her trips back to Wasilla to attend church, as well as other religious events around the state: "What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees." "An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state." "Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show." As a firm believer in the separation of church and start, this is particularly galling. But will the voting public care that the Gov was pursuing her personal religious crusades on the taxpayers' dime? Of course, one has to remember that Palin doesn't answer to the people of her state, but to her belief in a higher power: ""As I'm doing my job, let's strike this deal. Your job is going be to be out there, reaching the people — (the) hurting people — throughout Alaska," she told students graduating from the church's Masters Commission program. "We can work together to make sure God's will be done here."" For a detailed list of all of the various events Palin billed her taxpayers for, click on the workable link in the comments section below.

Time magazine has an article up today on the Troopergate report, "What the Troopergate Report Really Says." http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1849399,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner Things we learned: "Did Governor Sarah Palin abuse the power of her office in trying to get her former brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten, fired? Yes." That's the big one, of course, and sharply indercuts any stand on trustworthiness the McCain/Palin camp claimed to have over the "unknown" Obama. But what the report really sheds light on, is just how vindictive and unprofessional Alaska's Palin administration has been: "The result is not a mortal wound to Palin, nor does it put her at much risk of being forced to leave the ticket her presence succeeded in energizing." "But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so." Shockingly amateurish? Haven't we already suffered through eight years of inept, vindictive government? "A harsh verdict? Consider the report's findings. Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines." In the end, it looks like not much will actually happen in Alaska in regards to any kind of punishment being levied against Palin or her staff, but the damage to her credibility will certainly register in the next few days worth of polling, and the damage that Palin has done to the McCain ticket will only sink in deeper. Just this morning, Palin has already begun to pled that she has done nothing wrong, and the McCain campaign has issued its statement whereby it is trying to dust this matter underneath the rug, but a clearer picture of who Palin is, is certainly beginning to form in the public's mind. As stated in the Time article: "Monegan consistently emerges as the adult in these conversations, while the Palin camp displays a childish impetuousness and sense of entitlement." The McCain camp has been trying to get us to answer the question, "Who is Barack Obama?" as if we haven't been examining, in detail, every aspect of the man for the past 18 months. The real question, of course, is: "Who is this Sarah Palin?", and what vendettas will she and her husband Todd be pursuing, if God forbid, they should be placed in a position that is one 72-year old heartbeat from the presidency? Now that is something to be scared of.

There is an excellent piece up on Slate.com today by a man who worked with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn in the 1990s. David S. Tanenhaus writes: "Obama first moved to Chicago in 1985, when he worked as a community organizer. But his career got on its current course when he returned to Hyde Park in 1991 to practice law and teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Four years later, he met Ayers at a lunchtime meeting about school reform." On his own initial awareness of Ayers' past he comments: "I'm embarrassed to admit that when I first met this couple, I had not heard of the Weathermen, let alone its militant offshoot, the Weather Underground, famous from 1970 to 1975 for advocating violent protest against the Vietnam War. I had no idea the group had planned and carried out bombings of the Pentagon and the New York City police headquarters and that its members, including Ayers and Dohrn, had appeared on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Some of this was naiveté on my part. But it was also generational. Vietnam belonged to history by the time I got around to studying it in college." His own recollection of the Ayers was: "To meet Ayers and Dohrn, as I did in 1995, was to encounter a middle-aged couple in their early 50s who seemed at ease in the vibrant academic community of Hyde Park. Bernardine arranged for us to have breakfast to discuss my dissertation research. When I arrived at the restaurant the next morning, she had just completed a letter to her son, who was away at college. Like Obama's dealings with Ayers and Dohrn, mine centered on local issues." In discussin Ayers contributions to education, and in particular to the work and publishing Ayers did on juvenile justice, he notes an interesting parallel with Geaorge W. Bush: "Approaches that Ayers helped publicize were being adopted in several states—including Texas under then-Gov. George W. Bush. Juvenile justice was, in fact, a cornerstone of Bush's "compassionate conservative" agenda. In his 2000 acceptance speech, he spoke movingly of a 15-year-old African-American boy he had met at a juvenile jail in Marlin, Texas, who had committed a "grown-up crime" but was still a "little boy": "If that boy in Marlin believes he is trapped and worthless and hopeless—if he believes his life has no value—then other lives have no value to him, and we are all diminished." The passage could have come directly from Ayers' book." But most importantly, Tanenhaus gives us a sense of the Ayers that was named Chicago's "Citizen of the Year" in 1997, and who was praised by a man whom John McCain himself gave his own endorsement to in his last election, Mayor Richard Daley: "After 9/11, many angry Chicagoans called Ayers and Dohrn "unrepentant terrorists" and demanded that they be fired from their university jobs. They weren't, though it was a difficult time for them." "In the intervening years, things have changed yet again. Leading Chicagoans, including Mayor Daley, now commend Ayers for his service to the city. "I don't condone what he did 40 years ago, but I remember that period well," Daley said last April. "It was a difficult time, but those days are long over. I believe we have too many challenges in Chicago and our country to keep refighting 40-year-old battles."" So once again, we have another first hand account from someone who was part of the academic and political spheres of Chicago, reminding us that during the 1990s when Obama saw his path cross with Bill Ayers, no one was dwelling on Ayers past, but his contributions to the present and future. http://www.slate.com/id/2201953/pagenum/2/

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has a new ad up attacking...Chuck Schumer of New York? Silly season is upon us: In the ad, the McConnell campaign claims that the “far-left” Mr. Schumer wants to pick Kentucky’s next Senator. The whole ad is reeking in culture-war overtones. The voice-over is a man with a heavy New York accent, who says things like “badda bing, badda boom.” There are pictures of Schumer with Nancy Pelosi (powerful woman, San Francisco native); Barack Obama (African American); and illegal aliens (who appear to be Hispanic). Mr. Schumer is attacked for criticizing the military, in the form of General David Petraeus. There is even a picture of Mr. Schumer beside a long-haired hippie in a tie-died tee shirt. At one point, the ad walks close to the line of anti-Semitism, if it doesn’t cross it, when it shows Mr. Schumer, who is Jewish, being showered by dollar bills, as the words “Big Buck$” appear on the screen. He is trying to buy Kentucky’s Senate seat, the ad indicates. http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/chuck-schumer-boogeyman/ workable link posted in comments below

Remember when most of the United States' allies began to abandon Bush during his rush for war with Iraq? Usually, when your friends start running for the exits, that should tell you something about your own actions. Well, here we go again. Josh has a link up on the front page to a great statement put out by Christopher Buckley, son of arch-conservative William F. Buckley (remember him? the guy who always sounded like he had a caramel stuck in his throat when he was speaking?). In "Sorry Dad, I'm Voting for Obama", in today's Daily Beast, he writes: "John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking? All this is genuinely saddening, and for the country is perhaps even tragic, for America ought, really, to be governed by men like John McCain—who have spent their entire lives in its service, even willing to give the last full measure of their devotion to it. If he goes out losing ugly, it will be beyond tragic, graffiti on a marble bust." Buckley cites the recent experience of his colleague, columnist Kathleen Parker, receiving "12,000 (quite literally) foam-at-the-mouth hate-emails" as part of cause for concern over where the McCain campaign has headed in recent days. In his subsequent endorsement of Obama, he points out that "He has exhibited throughout a “first-class temperament,” pace Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous comment about FDR...and a first-class intellect...the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for." McCain has also alienated his "friends from the other side of the aisle" that he keeps trumpeting. Just today, John Kerry issued a blistering statement about McCain's recent turn towards the dark side: "John McCain has shown a stunning failure of leadership. His campaign, in a time of economic crisis and foreign policy drift, has degenerated into a negative and nasty campaign of smears." "The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled." "According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad -- every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office." "We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth." Kerry has set up a website to debunk smears in real time. And he directs supporters to the link: http://www.truthfightsback.com/page/content/smearpolitics So what are we to make of Buckley and Kerry's statements today? More importantly, has John McCain noticed that his friends have and are leaving the room as quickly as possible?

Jed Lewison of The Jed Report maintains a top-notch website and puts out the best video shorts on a daily basis, and often crossposts at the Huffington Post. If you haven't checked out his site, it's at: www.jedreport.com Today's clip is a two-minute beauty: "Remember in late July when Barack Obama predicted John McCain's attack strategy? Remember McCain's howls of protest in response? Well, it turns out that Obama was right about McCain's attacks. As it turns out, he knew McCain better than McCain knew McCain. I guess that means we can call him "Nostrobamus."" The clip interweaves Obama calling the McCain gameplan exactly, with actual clips from McCain and Palin rallies, as well as actual McCain tv spots. A+ work, check it out! (note: I'm still not getting the format buttons to blockquote or post links, active link below)

This should be on the front page of TPM and every other news site: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/10/131/24458/636/625854 (I'll repost a working link below, for some reason, the html buttons aren't appearing when I post) "DailySource.org has found a video of Palin lying about her firing of the state police chief. It has not been covered by the media and needs to get into the public eye. One clip shows her claiming she fired him for his weakness in rural alcohol abuse issues. Another shows her saying right after firing him she offered him a new job as head of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board because he was strong in the very same area. If the public sees her lie in detail in this video, they won’t trust what she says overall." Got that? Either he was weak in alcohol enforcement, or he wasn't, you can't have it both ways.

Sounds like John Sidney McCoward III is gearing up to utter the dreaded "A"-word. Perhaps Obama's "Say it to my face" taunt is working its magic and McPussy is about to let rip with all of his uncontrolled rage and anger? Sparkle Starburst has the follow-up:

Waukesha, Wisconsin -- In response to a broad question about how Barack Obama "got here" -- presumably got his lead -- John McCain didn't name Bill Ayers but spoke of him directly. McCain said "We don't care about an old washed up terrorist and his wife" who said earlier this decade that he wished they were more successful. (Several in the crowd chanted: "Yes we do!")

McCain noted that Obama had referred to Ayers as "just a guy in his neighborhood," and said "we know that's not true. We need to know the full extent of that relationship to know whether he's telling the truth to the American public."

Sarah Palin, following up, took a shot at the media. "Mainstream media isn't already asking all these questions, you guys have to help us....When will the questions be asked and when will we get answers?!"

Meanwhile, Joe Biden gets into the act with his own direct challenge:

“when you've got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him!”
The Delaware senator on Wednesday called the strategy “the lowest road to the highest office in the land” and asked a small crowd at Missouri Western State University, “beyond these attacks, what’s John McCain really offering?”
“Every single false charge, every baseless accusation is an attempt to get you to stop paying attention to what's going on in this country and what's going on in your lives,” said Biden, telling supporters to not be distracted by the Republican tone.
 “John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” he added. “Well in my neighborhood, when you've got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him!”

Sounds like John McCain is being pushed directly into the last position that he wants to be in.links:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/10/mccain_goes_there.asp

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/10/mccain_goes_there.asp

Dear friends and colleagues in the field of education,

It seems that the character assassination and slander of Bill Ayers and other people who have known Obama is not about to let up. While an important concern is the dishonesty of this campaign and the slanderous McCarthyism they are using to attack Obama, we also feel an obligation to support our friend and colleague Bill Ayers. Many, many educators have reached out, asking what they could do, seeking a way to weigh in against fear and intimidation. Many of us have been talking and we agree that this one gesture, a joint statement signed by hundreds of hard-working educators, would be a great first step. Such a statement may be distributed through press releases or ads in the future.

Please click on ENDORSE THIS STATEMENT in order to sign the following statement in support of Bill Ayers and, just as importantly, FORWARD it to other friends and colleagues who would like to stand up against these attacks. (*Title/Affiliation will be listed for identification purposes only. Please be assured that we have no intention of using your name for any other purpose than beneath the words on this page.)

Thank you!

Friends and supporters of Bill Ayers

We write to support our colleague Professor William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who is currently under determined and sustained political attack. Ayers is a nationally known scholar, member of the Faculty Senate at UIC, Vice President-elect of the American Educational Research Association, and sought after as a speaker and visiting scholar by other universities because of his exemplary scholarship, teaching, and service. Throughout the 20 years that he has been a valued faculty member at UIC, he has taught, advised, mentored, and supported hundreds of undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. students. He has pushed them to take seriously their responsibilities as educators in a democracy – to promote critical inquiry, dialogue, and debate; to encourage questioning and independent thinking; to value the full humanity of every person and to work for access and equity. Helping educators develop the capacity and ethical commitment to these responsibilities is at the core of what we do, and as a teacher he has always embraced debate and multiple perspectives.

All citizens, but particularly teachers and scholars, are called upon to challenge orthodoxy, dogma, and mindless complacency, to be skeptical of authoritative claims, to interrogate and trouble the given and the taken-for-granted. Without critical dialogue and dissent we would likely be burning witches and enslaving our fellow human beings to this day. The growth of knowledge, insight, and understanding--- the possibility of change--- depends on that kind of effort, and the inevitable clash of ideas that follows should be celebrated and nourished rather than crushed. Teachers have a heavy responsibility, a moral obligation, to organize classrooms as sites of open discussion, free of coercion or intimidation. By all accounts Professor Ayers meets this standard. His classes are fully enrolled, and students welcome the exchange of views that he encourages.

The current characterizations of Professor Ayers---“unrepentant terrorist,” “lunatic leftist”---are unrecognizable to those who know or work with him. It’s true that Professor Ayers participated passionately in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, as did hundreds of thousands of Americans. His participation in political activity 40 years ago is history; what is most relevant now is his continued engagement in progressive causes, and his exemplary contribution---including publishing 16 books--- to the field of education. The current attacks appear as part of a pattern of “exposés” and assaults designed to intimidate free thinking and stifle critical dialogue. Like crusades against high school and elementary teachers, and faculty at UCLA, Columbia, DePaul, and the University of Colorado, the attacks on and the character assassination of Ayers threaten the university as a space of open inquiry and debate, and threaten schools as places of compassion, imagination, curiosity, and free thought. They serve as warnings that anyone who voices perspectives and advances questions that challenge orthodoxy and political power may become a target, and this, then, casts a chill over free speech and inquiry and the spirit of democracy.

We, the undersigned, stand on the side of education as an enterprise devoted to human inquiry, enlightenment, and liberation. We oppose the demonization of Professor William Ayers.

Endorse this statement by clicking here.

Here's a great story from a trip John McCain took to Puerto Rico in 2005:

McCain's game is craps. So is Jeff Dearth's. Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone's hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain--"very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening," Jeff says charitably--apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a "regular," reached out and pulled McCain's arm away. I'll let Jeff take over the story:

"McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: 'DON'T TOUCH ME.' The woman started to explain...McCain interrupted her: 'DON'T TOUCH ME,' he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO?' McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the 'bring it on' position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. 'Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,' the pit boss said to McCain. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM."

This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury--"DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"--and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.

I'm surprised that McCain didn't call her the "C"-word. I have no doubt that if McCain were allowed to place his un-steady hand on the tiller, he would probably break the tiller-handle off and beat someone to death with it.

Best line goes to Jeff Dearth:  “I’d happily gamble with Senator McCain again,” he says, “but I definitely wouldn’t gamble on him.”

Sounds like Obama is calling a coward a coward! More from the ABC interview with Charles Gibson: GIBSON: Change the subject for a moment. John McCain has unloaded on you in the last 72, 96 hours as has Sarah Palin. McCain is saying, essentially, we don’t know who Barack Obama is, where he came from. I’m an open book, he’s not. OBAMA: Right. GIBSON: Were you surprised, A, that he didn’t bring it up last night at the debate and use that line of attack? And, B, since you must have prepared for it, what were you going to say? OBAMA: Well, I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face. But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that — that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate. The notion that people don’t know who I am is a little hard to swallow. I’ve been running for president for the last two years. I’ve campaigned in 49 states. Millions of people have heard me speak at length on every topic under the sun. I’ve been involved now in 25 debates, going on my 26th. And I’ve written two books which any — everybody who reads them will say are about as honest a set of reflections by, at least, a politician as are out there. So, you know, I think that, you know, Senator McCain’s campaign has been focusing on me primarily because they don’t want to focus on the economy. And they’ve said as much. I mean, you’ve had their spokespeople over the last couple of days say if we talk about the economic crisis, we lose. I mean, you can’t be much more blatant than that. They want to change the subject. And I understand it because the fact is that John McCain has subscribed, for the most part, to the same economic philosophy as George Bush, the same economic philosophy that has governed over the last eight years and has helped to get us in this mess.

KING: We're back with Michelle Obama. Sarah Palin has been taking the role kind of attack dog in recent days. Here's an example. And we'll get a comment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AL), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: That don't get you any mad? M. OBAMA: You know, fortunately, I don't want it. KING: Oh, well now you've seen it. M. OBAMA: I've seen it. KING: All right. She said that your husband pals around with terrorists. And she's referring to William Ayers, I guess. Do you know William Ayers? M. OBAMA: Yes, yes, yes. Barack served on the board of the Annenberg Challenge with Bill Ayers and -- KING: That was started by the Annenberg family, right? M. OBAMA: Absolutely. And Mrs. Annenberg, in fact, endorsed John McCain. So, I don't know anyone in Chicago who's heavily involved in education policy who doesn't know Bill Ayers. But, you know, again, I go back to the point that you know, the American people aren't asking these questions. KING: You don't think it affects the campaign? M. OBAMA: You know, I think that we've been in this for 20 months and people have gotten to know Barack. He's written books. Books have been written about him. He, like all of the other candidates have been thoroughly vetted. And I think people know Barack Obama. They know his heart, they know his spirit. And the thing that I just encourage people is to judge Barack and judge all of these candidates based on what they do, their actions, their character, what they do in their lives. Rather than what somebody did when they were eight, or six years old. KING: When someone calls, and says, he's running for vice president, that your husband associates with terrorism, that upsets you, I would think. M. OBAMA: You know, that's part of politics. But -- KING: It doesn't -- it goes right off of you? M. OBAMA: You know, these issues have come up before. But, the one thing that I'm proud about with Barack is that one of the things he's been talking about is our tone. And it's the notion that he says, we can disagree without being disagreeable. And that's, you know, where he's trying to get to in this campaign. The notion that we can disagree on some fundamental issues in this country. But, we have to do it without demonizing one another, without labeling one another. Because we're in some tough times now. And what we can see from the fall of this economy is that when we fall, we all fall. And when we rise, we all rise. And whether we're Republicans or Democrats or Independents, or black or white or straight or gay, that we're in this together. And that there are times that we will disagree, that we won't share the same policies. But, we're going to rise and fall together. And that's the tone that I like. And I think that's where Americans want their elected officials to be. KING: So you bear her no umbrage? M. OBAMA: Not at all. Not at all. I mean, that's not where we need to be right now. I mean, we need to be at a point where we're figuring out how to work together. Again, whether we agree or disagree -- KING: What do you make -- M. OBAMA: -- so that we can move things forward --

Did anyone else wonder what McCain was talking about last night when he slammed Obama over funding for a "$3 million overhead projector"? I did, and so did others. Here's a great response from someone who knows what they are talking about: I am an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chicago (the University that today has added yet another Nobel Prize winner in the sciences for the US). I would like to comment on Sen. McCain's statement during the today's debate that Sen. Obama has earmarked "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?" The way Sen. McCain has phrased it suggests that Sen. Obama approved spending $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment (overhead projector). The 3 million is actually for an upgrade of the SkyTheater - a full dome projection system, which is probably the main attraction of the Adler Planetarium and is quite sophisticated and impressive piece of equipment. I find it appalling that Sen. McCain would call a science education tool for public (largely children) for a historic planetarium with millions of visitors a year a wasteful earmark. The planetarium's focus, as stated on their website (http://adlerplanetarium.org) is "on inspiring young people, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in science." Is an investment in such public facility at the time when US competitiveness in math and sciences is a constant source of alarm a waste? "American's ability to compete in a 21st Century economy rests on our continued investments in math and science education," said Rep. Brian Baird, Chairman of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee in Congress, after the passage of The 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007. Considering such investments "wasteful earmarks" today, even in the face of the financial crisis, will severely cripple US economic competitiveness in the increasingly high-tech world down the road. — Andrey Kravtsov, Chicago, IL

Biggest tell/gaffe of the night? From HuffPost: This goes beyond refusing to look at Obama in the first debate. With this slightly dehumanizing phrase, McCain may have just played into the emerging narrative of Obama-hate that has been sprouting at McCain-Palin rallies. A few minutes later, Obama spokesman Bill Burton puts his foot on the pedal ever so slightly. In an email blast to reporters, he asks: "Did John McCain just refer to Obama as 'that one'?" Expect the post-debate analysis to get a little race-focused. Darren Davis, a professor at Notre Dame who specializes in role of race in politics, writes about McCain's "that one" line. "It speaks volumes about how McCain feels personally about Obama. Whomever said the town hall format helps McCain is dead wrong."

From a wonderful diary up on Daily Kos:

This NPR piece speaks to the Republican funded cause that Obama and Ayers worked on together. And that:

"It was never a concern by any of us in the Chicago school reform movement that he had led a fugitive life years earlier," said former Illinois state Republican Rep. Diana Nelson, who worked with both Obama and Ayers over the years. "It's ridiculous. There is no reason at all to smear Barack Obama with this association. It's nonsensical, and it just makes me crazy. It's so silly."

First, Obama began working with Ayers and others (Republicans, Independents, and Democrats) at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Well, what is the Anneberg Challenge? Who is Annenberg? Well according to NPR,

The Obama campaign says he first met Ayers in 1995, when Obama became chair of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a $50 million fund that awarded grants to groups trying to implement new programs to improve inner city education in Chicago.

Walter Annenberg, a lifelong Republican and former ambassador who was appointed by Presidents Nixon and Reagan, funded an ambitious program to reform urban education in many cities in the mid 1990s. Ayers was an important member of the group that developed and wrote the grant proposal to the Annenberg Foundation.

Second, there were people of all political persuasions working on this effort with this "terrorist" Ayers and who saw him as acceptable and Obama was no closer than any of the others.

...no one on the board or on the Annenberg Challenge staff remembers Obama being any closer to Ayers than to any other member of the board. The Annenberg board also included several civic, business and education leaders, many of them Republicans...

In fact one person close to the issue states:

"I don't remember ever hearing anyone raise concerns or questions or concerns about [Ayers'] background," says Anne Hallett, who has worked closely with Ayers on the Annenberg Challenge grant and with Obama on education and other community and legislative matters. "And that included everybody I was engaged with," including prominent Republicans, and corporate and civic leaders in Chicago, Hallett adds.

Oh, really?!

So not only was Obama working on a Republican funded initiative, but prominent Republicans were involved on the board with Ayers. Do they all hate America so much that they are "palling" around with terrorist? He had been in their midst for years, why did not the republican's run him out of town.

Obama was new to Chicago. He hadn't been elected to anything. He really did even know where the bodies where truly buried in Chicago (evidenced by the thumping he received when he ran for the state senate). He just wanted to serve the community and do good work. However, Ayers had been there for years, building a reputation that was so mainstream that a life long Republican, who was a former Ambassador appointed by Nixon and Regan, allowed the release of $50 Million to let him, prominent Republicans, corporate, civic leaders, and a Harvard trained community organizer form a board to oversee the disbursement of these funds related to school reform.

And finally, the author notes:

Hallett calls this attack on Obama's association with Ayers and the Annenberg Challenge by further association, "a smear campaign. It's a political diatribe that has no basis in fact. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was an extremely positive initiative. It was well-vetted, thorough, and the fact that it is now is being used for political purposes is, in my opinion, outrageous."

And as noted earlier a former Illinois Republican state representative states:

"It was never a concern by any of us in the Chicago school reform movement that he had led a fugitive life years earlier," said former Illinois state Republican Rep. Diana Nelson, who worked with both Obama and Ayers over the years. "It's ridiculous. There is no reason at all to smear Barack Obama with this association. It's nonsensical, and it just makes me crazy. It's so silly."

I don't have a transcript. However the article provides the link to the audio.

What's a wingnut gotta do to stage a publicity stunt in order to sell copies of his new smear-laden book? Turns out the co-author of the Swift Boat Veterans book on John Kerry failed to apply for the necessary permits to do business in Kenya:

 

Kenyan police detained Jerome Corsi at the five-star Nairobi hotel where he planned to launch his controversial book, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality.

In it, the 62-year-old author accuses the Democratic Party presidential candidate of being a secret Muslim "seething with black rage" who is unfit for the White House.

Its key allegations have been rebutted point by point by Mr Obama's team, who call Mr Corsi a "bigoted fringe author" whose book was full of "rehashed distortions" and "the same old lies'. Despite this, it shot to the top of the New York Times best seller list on its release.

The entire (and very interesting) article can be read here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3152821/Anti-Obama-author-deported-from-Kenya.html

Two excellent video clips that should be on the front page of TPM.

If Sarah Palin wasn't a secessionist, than why was she pallin' around with people who were outspoken in their hatred for America?

Check this one out at the Jed Report:

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/10/sarah-palin-palling-around-wit.html

Meanwhile, making up your own anti-Palin video will get you and your family hounded and threatened by wingnuts, as this videographer discovered. Check it out, it amazes me what one person can accomplish with a little bit of talent and Youtube:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/7/62023/9162/971/622460

I can't believe this happened in England. Fortunately, the man is okay as he was shot with a "gas-powered ball-bearing pistol". Fortunately, as well, England has strict gun-control laws or the man would now be dead.

From the Daily Mail UK:

 

A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.

Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him and glared at the top, which carries an image of the Democrat US presidential candidate underneath the legend 'Believe'.

The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting 'I f***ing hate n*****s' and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.

Of course, the only news site in the US that I've seen this on is at Drudge Report. I have no doubt that the desire is to plant this same idea in the minds of Drudge's rabid right-wing following, but I hope that we don't see any copycat incidents of this here. Still, the ugly turn that the McCain/Palin ticket has taken in the past few days is certainly cause for concern.

Those of us who stand on the side of hope and peace tend to forget just how ugly things can get:

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst with Croydon Council, said: 'The venom in his voice was frightening.

'He was telling me that he was going to kill me.

'I couldn't believe it was happening - and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying: 'I've got something for you,' and 'I'm going to kill you.'

He added: 'Obama inspires me, his educational track record alone is quite unbelievable - that is why I was wearing the T-shirt.

'I did not think for one minute it could stir up such powerful feelings of hatred and I never said a word to him.'

It's a hoot! Link to video at the Jed report:

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/10/keith-os-special-comment-on-pa.html

If only the "liberal media" would pick up on the Alaska secessionist story...if only.

The endorsement game seems to be more an element of the primaries, but every little bit helps:

U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel's wife plans to endorse Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States!

RICHMOND, Va. - The wife of Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel plans to endorse Democrat Barack Obama.

Lilibet Hagel has scheduled a 10 a.m. news conference in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday with Susan Eisenhower, the daughter of Republican President Eisenhower.

Hagel, R-Neb., has made no endorsement. Lilibet Hagel said in an Associated Press interview that her decision was independent of her husband. She said she didn't know whether he would make an endorsement or whom he would support.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/6/221159/439/163/622235

Tune in at 8pm or 10pm eastern time for the first real MSM look at the Palin family ties to the Alaska Secessionist movement, plus another look at our favorite witch-hunting preacher. Excerpt:
  

The Governor of Alaska wants to start calling people terrorists -- and insisting of Senator Obama that quote "this is not a man who sees America like you and I see America" -- and whose rhetoric like that and the "pallin' around with terrorists" line were rightly described by the Associated Press yesterday as a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing kind of way of slipping racism into the equation because it's a nifty trick to remind the white folk that (psst) Obama is black.
      But overriding this sleaziness -- and dog-gone it, the Governor of Alaska has got to be the sleaziest politician working the stage at the moment -- there is the sheer blessed stupidity of letting herself become the bomb-thrower when her own life is full of domestic terrorists.
     Governor -- Bill Ayres? Your hubby was in this secessionist hate group for which you recorded a video.
     Governor -- Jeremiah Wright? That pastor you credit with helping you become Governor, is either a con man or a psycho who believes he can tell which woman in the village is the witch and which is the governor.

From the AP, courtesy of Indystar.com:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Republican John McCain is calling Democratic rival Barack Obama a liar. The GOP presidential candidate told a campaign rally: "Sen. Obama has accused me of opposing regulation to avert this crisis. I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed."

And from the Washington Post:

 

In a conference call with reporters, attorney John Dowd was asked about a specific part of the Keating Five inquiry, the fact that Cindy McCain and her father had invested in a Keating strip mall."It was part of the inquiry, but it did not -- John was unconnected to that and unaware of it at the time, and did not participate in it," Dowd said. But thanks to the quick research skills of Democratic partisans, here's John McCain's answer to an attorney who asked him about that very investment during the ethics committee hearings in 1991.

"Sometime in 1986, I was told by Mr. Delgado, who was Executive Vice President of my father-in-law's company, that they were going to invest in a shopping center and that the investment -- the project -- was being put together by a subsidiary of American Continental," McCain said. "He later told me that they -- that that had happened. And I had no interest in it and just noted in passing that this investment took place." The attorney asking the question during the hearing? John Dowd.

Just up on Huffington Post is this blistering review of just how bad the conditions are for the Alaska National Guard. Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (ret.) writes in his column "Sarah Palin: Leading Alaska's National Guard Across the Bridge to Nowhere":

 

McCain surrogates have been touting Palin's experience as commander of the Alaska National Guard. Veterans For America, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy group, has been in Alaska all last week researching the plight of the National Guard in Alaska, as they've been doing all with other state National Guard forces. Their new report about the Alaska National Guard is damning enough to make Team McCain not want to talk about her leadership of the Alaska National Guard anymore.

If Palin's record as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard is any indication of of she would serve as commander in chief of all our forces, should she ever have to, it would spell absolute disaster for our already weakened military.

The findings of the just-released report are apalling and disturbing, to say the least.

As per Josh's front page posting, I'm glad that we are only at the Kashkari stage of the bailout, as opposed to the hari-kari stage will will no doubt follow. But I digress.

Back in 1937 the Three Stooges released their 25th short subject, titled "Cash and Carry":

The film opens with the Three Stooges, as prospectors, coming home to their shack in the city dump. Finding it inhabited by a young woman and her crippled younger brother, Jimmy, they decide to help raise the $500 needed for a leg operation for the boy. They immediately find a can full of money ("canned coin," as Curly calls it), which turns out to be the $62 the boy and his sister have already saved for the operation. Two con-men cheat the Stooges out of the $62 and their car for a map they claim will lead to a treasure. Following the map, the Stooges drill into the United States Treasury, where they are arrested. The film ends happily when President Franklin D. Roosevelt learns of the plight of the boy and the Stooges. He both pardons the Stooges and pays for Jimmy's operation.

 

Most applicable line to today's crisis:

Con man (as he is driving away): "So long, chumps!" Curly (laughing): "Chumps...He don't even know our names!"

Interestingly enough, America once had a policy known as  "Cash and Carry" (not to be confused with the Florida-based "Kash n' Karry" supermarket chain in Florida).

The policy of cash and carry during the onset of World War II in 1939 revised the Neutrality Acts that were established by US President Roosevelt. The revision allowed the sale of material to belligerents, as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately in cash. The purpose was to instill a sense of neutrality between the United States and European countries while still giving aid to Britain. Previous policies forbade selling weapons or lending money to belligerent countries under any terms. The economic situation in the US was rebounding at this time (after the Great Depression) but there was still a need for industrial manufacturing jobs. The Cash and Carry program helped to solve this issue and in turn Great Britain benefited from the purchase of arms and other goods. This act also made sure that the US did not give away all its supplies and rations.

The program was aimed at preventing US intervention in the war, and required the buyers to send their own ships to US ports, avoiding the threat of US ships being sunk. The program also required all payments in cash currency, rather than on credit - this prevented US businesses from being invested in the success of any belligerent. Because of the conclusion of the Nye Committee, many Americans believed that investment in a belligerent would eventually lead to American participation in war.

Unfortunately, the policy was later abandoned after it proved unworkable:

Despite its success, this policy soon left European allies (primarily Britain) bankrupt and this forced US leaders to revise the plan. The revised plan was known as the Lend-Lease program, in which the European allies no longer had to pay cash or arrange transportation. Instead, the United States would expect payment at a later time.

So here's hoping that our latest version of a Kashkari policy rises above the level of Three Stooges antics, or a policy that ended up bankrupting its participants.

"Chumps...he don't even know our name."

(all citations courtest Wikipedia)

After Sarah Palin's mangling of a line she read on her coffee cup this morning, Madeleine Albright responds:

 

Albright responded to Palin's remarks in a statement to the Huffington Post on Sunday. "Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."

I guess that now god will have to set a special place aside in hell? Leadership: It's whatever you can read on a coffee cup.

I haven't seen any mention of this elsewhere, but it looks like The Todd is going to agree to an interview after all:

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Gov. Sarah Palin's husband is planning to speak to an investigator looking into abuse-of-power allegations against the governor, Todd Palin's lawyer said Saturday. He previously refused to testify under subpoena in a separate probe.

Attorney Thomas Van Flein said he asked the investigator, Anchorage attorney Timothy Petumenos, to reserve the third week of October to interview Todd Palin, but a date has not been set because he is waiting to hear back from Petumenos.

You can read the entire article here.