So, you know how President George W. Bush has:

• Deceived the nation in to a war that has cost thousands of lives, trillions of dollars and ruined America's reputation around the world (at a time when the US had unprecedented global support)
• Detained hundreds of people without charge for years and allowed many of them to be tortured
• Failed to respond in any meaningful way to the Katrina disaster
• Failed to address our national dependence on foreign oil
• Removed America from international treaties to address Nuclear Proliferation and Global Warming
• Played a significant role in bringing about America's worst economic crisis since the great depression
• Engaged in political tactics which have driven this nation further apart

Of course there is plenty more, but this list will do for now.  Well now, as he sits on the mound of destruction he has created, in the waning days of his term, he wants to fuck up a few more things.

Please President Bush.  Surely you must feel some embarassment or shame for the negative impact of your "presidency" to the country.  Please don't touch anything else.  A grown-up is coming soon to try and clean up your mess.

 

Bush, stop.  Please!

 

Please see the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redbushy/2959382658/

Extending the current trend of the Pollster.com national average, this thing could get really close.

No complacency please.  Keep doing everything you can do!

I want to believe that there are people out there who want to lead for the right reasons.  I want to believe that things can be much better in America and in the world.  I want to believe that there are people in this country who can see beyond the color of a person's skin.  I want to believe that most people who want to live in peace with themselves, with eachother, with their neighbors.

I want to believe that the founding fathers of this country were great men and that their vision for this country was noble, honorable and great.  That despite being set in their time, they had a vision for the future that was both realistic and idealistic.  A vision that asked us to address the reality, but reach for the perfect.

I want to believe that there is good.  I want to believe that there is a god and that my God, the God, has a plan for all of us.  I want to believe that after we die we can continue to live and to meet with the ones we have loved in this life.

I want to believe all of this.  I know it's naiive.  I know it reflects weakness in me and perhaps an inability to cope with reality.  But something in my heart tells me its right to at least want to believe in these things.

A McCain presidency after watching his campaign, after watching these last eight years, will further crush this desire to believe.  An Obama presidency after watching his campaign and listening to his hopeful, reasonable words,  will not give me all, some, or perhaps any of the answers.  But it will keep this desire alive, at least for now.

These are the stakes for me this election.  Really.

John McCain's campaign has sailed way beyond negative, on past tasteless, still further beyond sleaze and is as we speak entering the elementary schoolyard of politics. I just watched Rep. Heather Wilson say on Hardball that Senator Obama is getting: "more and more desperate" This week Cindy McCain described Obama's campaign as: "the Dirtiest Campaign in American History" And McCain described Obama when being quizzed on his record as responding: "touchy...angry" Could anyone, even poorly educated, low-information voters fall for this childishness? Putting aside for a moment the unpleasantness of the McCain campaign it seems to me embarrasingly juvenile.

Here is an excerpt from a Washington Post article linking McCain to Freddie Mac lobbyists (again):

The story of how Buse came to get involved is emblematic of the interconnections among Fannie, Freddie and the lawmakers whose support was critical for their business.

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the hiring of Buse did not influence McCain. "I think the reality is that John McCain takes positions, you know, based on what he believes is in the public interest, period," Rogers said. "If these folks thought they were getting something out of John McCain . . . it's not based in fact."

I'm starting to wonder whether the depth of McCain's ties to lobbyists is all a bit of surprise to the man himself.  Perhaps he doesn't even realize that he is being manipulated by these folks.  Perhaps he thinks he can't be influenced this way.

Like some guy who only drinks Bud because its the best tasting beer, not realizing it tastes the same as all the others and that he has been totally influenced by the commercials he's been watching.

Wierd.

America.

You will have the President you deserve.

Will you tolerate a media that is heavily biased?
Will you watch news networks that do not report news, but simply pass on rumors and accusations, opinionate endlessly and feed your fears and prejudices?
Will you not bother to do your own research?
Are you not angry about voting machines that don’t work?
Can you not spare the time to make a difference?
Do you not feel the urgency?
Do you not value the beautiful principles this nation was founded on?
Do you not yearn for America to set the best example for the world again?
Do the sacrifices of America’s birth not mean anything to you?
All those Americans who died in the Revolution, the Civil War, World War I and World War II, they died for you.  Have you sacrificed for your next generation?

America.

You will have the President you deserve and your children will have your legacy.

America.

 

I spent this morning trying to register my frustration with Jake Tapper's piece on the ABC News blog.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/did-obama-accus.html

Every time I posted it was deleted shortly thereafter.  I posted comments such as:

Obama did not use the words "racist" or "xenophobic", you did!

and

Does Jake Tapper take money from the McCain campaign?

When you state it as a question it makes it almost true!

Be a reporter not a conveyor of political talking points.

I also noticed that many of the comments supporting Obama and pointing out the hypocrisy of the piece were also being deleted.  Anyone reading the user comments could be led to believe that the concensus out there is pro-McCain.

The sinister thing here to me is the editing or deleting of dissent from readers.  Is this ABC News trying to protect itself from being revealed for its shabby MSM methods, or is it Jake Tapper trying to con readers in to thinking the prevailing opinion is pro-McCain?

Have others experienced this kind of stuff?