The rally to push for healthcare reform in Seattle at Westlake Center last night was very enthusiastic. Tons of people turned out to hear the speakers and show their support. I could not get close enough to actually see the speakers, so I just listened and walked around the crowd to take pictures of the people and their signs. One of the speakers was a woman who owns a small business talking about the challenges she faces to provide care for her employees, another was a minister who spoke of change and how difficult it can be and how good, affordable healthcare is a basic civil right. But what struck me was the passion of the crowd and the uplifted mood. People here are fired up, not angry but energized. We are tired of the minority opposition dominating the narrative of the news media.
At our town hall meeting the other day there were over 900 people, about 5 of whom were opposed to reform. We had two or 3 of the nazi mustache photo carrying screamers who tried to shout down our rep but they were unsuccessful. Pro reform sentiment is strong and people are turning out in support, but when I turn on the TV I only see town halls that are contentious. Enough of the excessive focus on the "Obama's waterloo" set, they really just want to see failure. They have little motivation beyond that and even fewer ideas. It's time to take back the message. The system is broken and we elected the President who had the best ideas about fixing it. The preacher speaking today said it best when he spoke of times in the past when change was brewing. He spoke of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war. He reminded us that in those times there was also a fearful opposition using scare tactics and lies, but in the end change always won.
PHOTOS from the event are here.
]]>You may have seen clip of Rick Santelli raging on CNBC about the stimulus bill and how it rewards people who have been irresponsible and doesn't offer anything for the majority of us folks that buy homes within our means and pay our mortgages on time. His rants are annoying and overdone, but he voices an opinion that lots of people have right now. Most of us recognize that this money needs to be spent and will benefit the majority of people in the long run but some are leery of paying to keep people in homes they can't really afford while they themselves may see only a small tax break incentive. What about the rest of us? How about some stimulus in the form of low interest rate incentives so we can refinance our mortgages and spend the savings? We could use that stimulus money to subsidize very low fixed rate loans (under 4.5%) available to all of us for our primary residences.
If the money for the housing sector went to subsidize lower interest rates on mortgages for the general public there would be savings to those who are struggling to keep their homes, for some of these folks a reduction in principal might be added if they owe more than their home is worth. Many fewer of these homes would be foreclosed on. People who aren't headed for foreclosure could refinance their mortgages and have extra money to spend. Most people use refinance induced savings to spend on home repairs, autos and other things that put people to work. Perhaps an extra bonus could be thrown in for those who buy an American made car. And for the people who do not yet own a home a very low interest rate (fixed of course) will bring many into the home market. They will be able to purchase homes for the first time and further boost the housing sector. It's a win-win-win. And for the nay sayers and stimulus haters they can simply turn their nose up and continue to complain. Or they could embrace the plan, take advantage of it and shut the heck up.
]]>The problem is not that Obama has discussions with Warren, that he listens to him or that they might play golf. The issue is that he has bestowed a great honor upon Rick Warren. He has elevated Warren's stature and amplified his voice. There are multitudes of holy men who emulate tolerance, who welcome those who are different and offer them teachings of Christ. Rick Warren is not one of them.
I know, LisB, we WON! It is fabulous, I am so happy and I should STFU. I will be thrilled by the inauguration and I know my eyes won't be dry. But when the event begins and our eyes turn to God it will be a representative of intolerance who will be leading the prayer. In choosing Warren for this prestigious ceremony Obama has cast a shadow on the joy of the inauguration for an entire minority group. He could easily have chosen someone who would not make anyone feel excluded. I believe Obama to be a tolerant man and his inauguration will be a joyous event for a majority of Americans, myself included. But I'm disapointed that some will feel unnecessarily offended.
]]>
I had to be here.
As the afternoon turned to evening
the polls began to close and the projections rolled in. We cheered at the
percentages when for Obama and booed when they favored McCain. As states were
called cheers rang out in increasing volume. The crowd grew in size as the
states stacked up in Obama's favor. At the top of each hour more polls
would close and we anxiously awaited the resultant projections. When the
logo for projections came on the screen everybody stood up with intense
anticipation followed by exclamations of joy upon seeing Obama's image next to
a yellow checkmark in the box for state after state. Then they called the
election and the crowd went wild. Naturally my camcorder battery died at
that moment, and I fumbled for my spare. From that point on no one sat
back down.
We waited for the speech. By
this time I had to move around the park as my son grew antsy. He found a
spot on a paved path where he could practice kick flips on his skateboard while
we waited. I chatted with my friend of 36 years who met us there. First
was John McCain's concession speech. It was gracious as was the crowd who
clapped at appropriate moments and reveled in the experience without
gloating. Then approached the moment we had all been waiting for, to hear
Barack Obama give his speech accepting the will of the people and the presidency
of the
After the speech ended people
started to stream out of the park. The perimeter fences had been moved to
accommodate the hundreds of thousands. The streets were closed to vehicles
and a sea of people filled street after street. There is something about
seeing that, about being in it that is amazing. I've been here before
after fourth of July celebrations but this was different. There was a
calm and a joy and an energy that was unmatched. Crowds streamed to the
north and south and west. We turned north on
"They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really
get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will
make life better for
Please watch this report from the BBC Newsnight journalist Greg Palast titled The Theft of 2008. At the beginning of the video a BBC anchor states that he was told by a Republican campaign staffer that it is "inevitable that his people would contest any Democratic victory". In the video Palast reports on the voter fraud/voter suppression claims of both parties as the 2008 election enters it's last two weeks. Part 1 examines both side's claims of voter fraud and voter suppression along with a report on voters in NM finding out they were purged from the rolls and voters in MI that may be challenged at the polls based on their receiving foreclosure notices.
Part 2 takes a look at the king of the
Members of the Republican party are waging a campaign of misinformation regarding voter registration fraud and it's effect on our elections as they did in 2004. We know that some paid staff of various organizations turned in fake registrations to plump the results of their efforts, but these registrations won't be verified and do not wind up on the rolls as registered voters. By raising alarm over this the Republicans are setting the stage to challenge the registrations of American citizens by the thousands, denying many their right to vote. At last weeks debate John McCain stated that Acorn, who reported that some of the registrations they collected were probably fake, "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." To date cases of fraudulent voter registrations have rarely been followed by evidence of people actually casting an illegal vote. In reality what could destroy the fabric of democracy is denying the right to vote to portions of the citizenry. These efforts are focused heavily on poor and minority areas, those which tend to vote democratic. If we continue to disenfranchise enough of them to swing elections to the GOP and that party also stacks the Justice Department with prosecutors that favor their agenda we will no longer be a full democracy. We must turn out in large enough numbers to counteract the suppression tactics that await us. Please urge all you know to get to the polls and vote!
]]>We've seen now that the smears and attacks conflating Obama/Ayers/terrorists have not helped John McCain in the polls, his numbers continued to slide after he released them. The dials in the hands of focus group members showed this tactic was poorly received by independents and undecideds in the last debate . And yet the robocalls of vicious attacks were released just yesterday. McCain and Palin continue full throttle ahead with the smears. This video shows the one audience these tactics work on, but these folks weren't going to vote for Obama anyway. They have plenty of predjudice and xenophobia already. They see McCain slipping in the polls and are becoming anxious and agitated. What is the purpose of spewing the ridiculous insinuation that Obama "pals around with" terrorists when it's only working on these folks hence no net gain?
]]>........what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.
By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.
We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.
A carpet was laid down and Palin, dressed in a beige trench, walked on to the ice joined by her daughters Willow and Piper. The GOP Vice-Presidential nominee said at an earlier fundraiser that she would stop some of the booing from the rowdy Philadelphia fans by putting her seven year old daughter, Piper in a Flyers jersey. She said, “How dare they boo Piper!”
Has she no shame?
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?
Buckley is quick to point out that he remains true to his conservative viewpoint but notice how he does his best to align them with his decision to support Obama. Hath Hell frozen over?I’ve read Obama’s books, and they are first-rate. He is that rara avis, the politician who writes his own books. Imagine. He is also a lefty. I am not. I am a small-government conservative who clings tenaciously and old-fashionedly to the idea that one ought to have balanced budgets. On abortion, gay marriage, et al, I’m libertarian. I believe with my sage and epigrammatic friend P.J. O’Rourke that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.
But having a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe-money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.
Ode to Sean Hannity
by John CleeseAping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity
j_edgar_hoover wrote on 10/06/2008 05:04:56 PM:]]>
This is the text of a e-mail I just received. These SCUM think they are above the law. If you disagree give them a call and let them know. Pass this around as much as you can.
McCain-Palin/Victory 2008 Alaska Headquarters 307 East Northern Lights Boulevard Anchorage, AK 99503 Daytime Phone: (907)338-7708
"This is your chance to help Gov. Sarah Palin!!!
Below is a petition to stop the State Legislature's partisan Walt Monegan investigation. This investigation is intended to do nothing more than politically smear our governor to influence the Presidential race.
Please print it out, have your friends and neighbors sign it, and return it as soon as you can. You can turn them in either by dropping them by the 24 hour mail slot at our Victory office (307 E Northern Lights, Anchorage) or by faxing them to 907-276-0425.
The deadline to turn the petitions in is tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 7th) at 12 Noon sharp!!
We know this is short notice, but we want to give everyone one last