Now I Understand Why John McCain Wrecked 5 Planes and Lost The Last Presidential Primary - He Just Doesn't Learn

My husband and I are not registered Republicans, neither of us have ever signed up to receive mailings from The Republican Party. As far as I know, neither of us have ever received a mailing from the Republican Party - until today that is.










Nice, huh?

If it didn't work on the campaign trail and it didn't work in the debate and it didn't work on television commercials what on earth makes them think it's going to work in my mailbox?

Actually, on second thought, it DOES work. I'm sending another $25.00 to the Obama campaign - and oh yeah, I'm forwarding this to them, too.

Is There No End To the Badness?

First there was the little matter of $21,000+ worth of airline tickets and hotel rooms for the Palin children being charged to The State of Alaska. (Huh, I wonder when "Kids Fly Free" became a government perk?)

Then there was the "other little matter" of $150,000+ worth of Sarah Palin campaign-clothing (as well as clothing for her spouse and children) being paid for by The Republican Party. (Now isn't that just where all you Hockey Moms and Joe Six-Packs wanted your hard-earned $25.00 campaign contributions to go to?)

Now there's THIS!!! Sarah Palin, looking mighty damned well-dressed, I might add, told Brandon-the-Inquisitive and a group of his fellow 3rd graders that a vice president "is in charge of the United States 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 Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job."

I think we were better off last August when Sarah understood how to dress herself and didn't understand what a vice president did.

Oh wait, she still doesn't really understand either of those things, does she?

PoliticalMatch.Com Introduces Joe the Plumber To Lisa the Lemming

According to Ed Rollins, Joe (the plumber)is a real guy living in Toledo, Ohio. He is representative of the millions of hardworking Americans who get up every day and go to work, and raise their kids and contribute to their communities.

I've got news for you, Ed. Joe may be a real guy living in Toledo but he's hardly representative of the millions of Americans in this country. Nor is he anyone whose opinions would count for too much with many of the other "real guys."

For one thing, many of the "guys" are "girls." And not many of them, guys OR girls, complain to a presidential candidate or a camera about the make-believe taxes that it'll cost them when they buy their first make-believe business with a make-believe salary - all the while pretending it's reality. Nor do they lead people on by claiming to be "undecided" when they've already registered as a Republican. FOr that matter, most of them aren't even home in the middle of the day chasing down a candidate who's walking around in their neighborhood - they're at work - and they, unlike Joe, can't afford to take the day off, not even if they're dying.

Not only that, most of them, unlike Joe, are already paying their taxes on their real property and their real income. In other words, they don't avoid their obligations and they don't have liens against their property for overdue and unpaid back taxes.

You do a grave disservice to the majority of working class Americans when you appoint a man like Joe the Plumber their representative. Even more so when you compare his influence upon them to Colin Powell's. Colin Powell has earned respect - he's proven himself time and time again to be a man of principal and honor while Joe the Plumber has, so far, proven himself to be capable of lying through his teeth on national television and of successfully avoiding the tax collector for the past year or so.

Call me crazy but I, personally, find Colin to be just a bit more credible. And his opinion counts for a hell of a lot more than Joe's does when it comes to foreign policies and economic principals.

Hell, now that I think about it, they've got the same plumbing credentials. I might trust him to fix my toilet, too. Might as well since neither of them are licensed to do so.

The difference is, I'd trust Colin to say so - Joe's already proven he won't mention it if you won't. And he'll deny it if you do - and then ask that you quit picking on him and leave him alone because it's the bogus questions that are important, not the character or the honesty of the bogus plumber asking them.

For what it's worth, I completely fail to understand why we must all be Joe Six-Pack or Joe-the-Plumber or Soccer Sarah - just who exactly benefits when we're all so neatly packaged and pidgeon-holed for mass consumption? And why is it decreed that it must be so?

Do we all act that much like lemmings? Does the McCain campaign think that if they can only scare us enough that we'll all congregate on the same cliff and follow them down?

Or do they just wish we would?

Not the "Real Virginia"

A McCain campaign aide, Nancy Pfotenhauer, told MSNBC today that northern Virginia is not part of the "Real Virginia." It was not, as you might think, an attempt to excuse McCain's failure to nominate a real VP.

This follows on the heels of John McCain's brother referring to the region as "Communist country."

The McCain spokesperson went on to discuss the rest of the state in a high-pitched, barely audible frequency: (h/t Jake Tapper)

"I did say outside of north – well, I mean real Virginia, because northern Virginia is where I've always been, but real Virginia I take to be the – this part of the state that is more southern in nature, if you will."

Someone better tell Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

Maybe they oughta let John McCain know, too, since his Washington DC residence is a 3 bedroom condo in Arlington, Va.

For that matter, the 9/11 dudes really screwed up - they thought they were bombing an American Landmark - instead they bombed The Pentagon - located in the heart of "Communist Country."

Not the "Real Virginia"

Green Haiku

April Northern Lights
Small polar cubs on thin ice
Flash of white and gone
___

Six shy primates play
in a disappearing Eden.
Good-bye Gorillas.

____

Thin-skinned Harlequins
shrinking pond - summer sun
Croaking dappled frogs

Princess Maddie and Sir Dom

Oh My God!! No Flag Pin? How Unpatriotic!!

PALIN AS PRESIDENT

Click often, click everywhere. Avoid the red Phone.

Should Jews Vote For Obama?

Palin Guilty of "Abuse Of Power" - Which Just Happens To Be Grounds For Impeachment

How is "abusing your power" not a crime of some sort?

Ah, what the hell - since abuse of power is grounds for impeachement I suppose it's good enough.

Don't Lie, Don't MudSling, Don't Change the Subject and Most of All, Don't Call Me "My Friend"

I admit it - I'm a Beltway-Junkie. And even I'm nauseated just thinking about tonight's debate.

I'm trying to believe that Sarah's not really ok with people yelling "Kill him" as she exhorts her crowds to see Barak Obama as a terrorist - I'm trying to to believe that the Florida sherrif whom announced her didn't deliberately refer to Obama as "Barak Hussian Obama" making it possible for Sarah to segue directly into her terrorist pal accusation.

These people need to get real - and I don't mean "By golly, God Bless Ya', Joe SixPack" kind of "real," either. I mean they need to touch base with honest-to-God reality - OUR reality. The one that sucks right now. The one where people are losing their pensions, their life savings, their homes, their jobs, their dignity - and most of all - their hope.

For many Americans this election is starting to represent not only their last hope but their only hope. They seriously deserve the right to make an honest choice based on truth and logic and common sense - and not be subjected to bogus accusations, irrational fear-mongering and childish name-calling in lieu of the former. They don't need the subject changed when and if it becomes uncomfortable or when the candidate doesn't know the answer, they don't need baldfaced lies, they don't need old rumors rehashed, and they don't need phony and/or pointless promises. They need - and deserve - truthful and thoughtful answers to their questions.

And I don't want to hear anyone - Republican or Democrat - patronizingly referring to the audience as "My Friends."

We don't need friends in Washington, we've got friends right here at home, we don't need drinking buddies or soccer moms or Joe SixPack in Washington, we've got all those things right here in our own neighborhoods, what we want in Washington, what we need in Washington, what we've been so sadly lacking for the past 8 years in Washington is a leader. Preferably one with compassion, integrity and intelligence.

And THAT'S what we'll be looking for tonight - we're smart enough to know we deserve nothing less - nor will we vote for it.

McCain Wants to "Turn The Page" - Shill, Baby, Shill

``We are very well-funded, and we are looking for a very aggressive last 30 days,'' senior McCain adviser Greg Strimple told reporters yesterday. ``We're looking to turning the page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's liberal, aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for the Americans.''

ARE THEY NUTS???? "WE ARE LOOKING TO TURN THE PAGE???"

When the stock market is crashing, when their beloved Joe Six-Packers are losing their family homes in numbers never before witnessed and all those revered soccer moms are starting to worry about how to feed their children, never mind how to pay for soccer camp, they suddenly decide they want to "TURN THE PAGE ON THIS FINANCIAL CRISIS"and talk about how some passing acquaintance who never even went to court over his alleged wrong-doings much less get convicted of them might or might not be connected in the slimmest of ways to Barak Obama???

And they call Obama's past behaviour "risky?"

Turning the page, and your back, on a financial crisis which threatens to overtake your own country as well as many of the other countries in the world in order to "discuss" a slim connection between a radical 60's type person and a presidential candidate hardly seems unrisky to me.

It sounds desperate....and the American people are in too desperate an economic situation-not-of-their-own-making to be dissed in such a manner. The last thing they need at this particular point in time is a man with his own desperate need to be king running off at the mouth and trying to turn the page on a very real crisis in a lame attempt to avoid admitting he has no valid solution to this financial crisis he's already had years to head-off/contribute to. It's hardly prime time to hold a conversation about a $200 campaign contribution made in a 2002 election - in fact it's a sub-prime discussion all the way around. You don't turn the page on a current half-trillion dollar-and-rapidly-rising USA deficit to drag up a 6 year old Chicago coffee-clach and a $200 campaign contribution. That's not "change" that's Standard Republican Swift-Boating Politics as usual - and what's more, it's just plain insulting - all more so because it's coming from a man who was investigated and cited for "poor judgement" by the Senate's Ethics Committee for participating in two meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Charles Keating. Keating, a friend, campaign contributor ($112,000 in contributions, to be exact - which is $111,800 more than the damning $200.00 contribution that Sarah is shrilling about) and savings and loan owner who was later convicted of securities fraud.

This is the same John McCain, who just last month when the whole house of cards began tumbling down, assured us that "our economy is fundamentally strong" and who has said repeatedly in the past that "economics are not his strong suit" and is, boy-golly, sure proving it, isn't he? Turning back the page isn't important anymore - We've all got pages people could turn back to - McCain and Palin included. The American people are better than that. We've seen the past, we've lived the past, and, for the most part, we've put the past behind us - we're worried about the future. We'd like a president and vice president who understand that - and ones who at least grant us the courtesy of pretending to share our concern. Too bad for McCain that he hasn't seemed to grasp the fact that he can't suspend the financial crisis to hold a discussion about bullshit as easily as he suspended his campaign to "help" draft and pass an unpopular rescue plan which somehow, somehow ended up chock-full of the very same kind of pork packages he's based his reputation on fighting against.

Someone needs to tell him we're not buying it - we're not buying anything - we can't afford to. And someone needs to tell Sarah Palin that it's just not a good time to "Shill, baby, Shill."

Sarah Palin's $64,000 Question - Complete This Sentence - "People Who Live In Glass Houses _____________________."

Sarah Palin is defending her attack on Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama after accusing him of "palling around with terrorists."

The Republican vice presidential nominee on Sunday said it was legitimate to raise Obama's association with 1960s radical Bill Ayers. Ayers and Obama are acquainted, but the charge that they "pal around" is unsubstantiated.

"The comments are about an association that has been known but hasn't been talked about," she said. "It's important to talk about how Barack Obama kicked off his political career in the guy's living room."

I wonder if it's equally important to "talk about" how John McCain "palled around" with Charles Keating? I do believe that what Obama's "pal" did when Obama was EIGHT YEARS OLD is probably going to appear a little bit less offensive to voters than what McCain's "pal" did - considering that McCain was a responsible adult and a senator who was investigated right along with his "pal."

For that matter - isn't Sarah herself still being investigated for wrong-doing in Alaska? Isn't she still refusing to cooperate with investigators into the allegations filed against her office and her friends and family? Weren't Sarah and Ted Stevens "pals" before they weren't? Didn't he endorse her for governor and didn't she use his endorsement as a commercial to show how close they were?

Maybe they don't have glass houses in Alaska? Maybe they do and the McCain campaign is counting on the Obama campaign to be too upright to resort to the same dirty tactics of half truths and outright lies. Although in the case of Charles Keating and Ted Stevens it wouldn't BE a lie, would it? Just dirty politics - something both Sarah and John seem entirely too comfortable with. I guess I'm counting on that, too, to be honest. Although it would be fun to watch Obama and Biden finish what Palin and McCain have started. After all, as Sarah said, It's important to talk about these things.

Late addition CNN's done a report on Obama's response - and their fact check people have given Sarah's allegation allegation a resounding:

Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.

McCain Calls NoVa "Communist Country"

Huh- and here I thought I lived right here in Middle America - turns out I was wrong. According to Joe McCain, brother of John McCain, who was speaking at an event in support of his brother, Alexandria and Arlington, two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia, are "communist country."

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

I'm pretty sure his brother, John, has one of his 7 or 8 homes in Arlington. What does that make him?

Oh wait, I know - a maverick. The lone capitalist in the midst of all us commies.

Does Sarah Even Read The New York Times? And If So, What's Her Comprehension Skill?

Well, now we know what Sarah Palin doesn't read:

(CNN) --Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lashed out at Sen. Barack Obama's ties to controversial figure William Ayers.

Palin's attack delivered on the McCain campaign's announcement that it would step up attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate with just a month left before the November general election.

"This is not a man who sees America as you and I do: as the greatest force for good in the world," Palin said at a fundraising event in Colorado, according to a statement released by the McCain-Palin campaign. "This is someone who sees American as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."

She doesn't read New York Times which did a fine job of outlining the virtually non-existant relationship between two men who once served on the same committee and who happen to share a common neighborhood. Having once lived on the South Side of Chicago myself, I can attest to the fact that it's nearly impossible not to run into a neighbor now and then - and it's equally impossible to ignore them if you do. We're a weird bunch in Chicago sometimes, but we're never unfriendly. It'd be like Joe Six-Pack not offering you a beer when it's 95 degrees in the shade and you're dying of thirst.

Oh wait - she cited the article in her speech - even though that article concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' "

Apparently she doesn't read the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times or The New Yorker - all of which have also debunked the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship.

I get it now.....it's like she told Katie - she reads everything "they" put in front of her - she just doesn't absorb it, understand it or retain it.

Either that or she spins around in circles and then looks at the pictures. That'd be a very mavericky thing to do.

Anticipated TrooperGate Verdict? The Expectations Are Set Low and the Explanation's Already Offered

If this unconstitutional and unlawful investigation is allowed to continue, is completed, and if the resulting report is released as planned, Plaintiffs and Alaskans in general will suffer irreparable harm," lawyers for the Liberty Legal Foundation told the Alaska Supreme Court.

The Texas-based conservative group is representing Republican legislators who support Palin and are asking the Alaska Supreme Court to shut down the probe, which they call "biased."

Apparently Sarah's people don't have much confidence that she'll be found innocent, do they? Whatever happened to the "we welcome the investigation and we will cooperate fully with officials" initial response of Palin and McCain to the same investigation when it began back in August - even before Sarah was named VP candidate? It's the same people holding the investigation - why the sudden loss of trust and cooperation on the part of McCain, Palin and the rest of her people?

Or is changing your mind and refusing to cooperate with local, state or federal officials just something those gosh-darn Mavericks do?

Yep - That's Livin' On Middle Class Main Street - You Betcha!!

The 2007 income tax return for Sarah and Todd Palin shows that last year the couple had a gross adjusted income of $166,080 and paid $24,738 in taxes — about a 15 percent rate after deductions. In 2006, the records show, the Palins earned $127,869 as adjusted gross income, with taxes paid listed at $11,944 — less than a 10 percent rate.

On federal financial disclosure forms Palin and her husband listed assets worth from $960,000 to $2.3 million. Because the values of assets are reported in broad ranges, it's not possible to calculate an exact value for their holdings.

(Just for comparison)

The median income for a household in Wasilla was $48,226, and the median income for a family was $53,792. Males had a median income of $41,332 versus $29,119 for females. The per capita income for Wasilla was $21,127. About 5.7% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older.

(And one more small comparison)

Like many Americans, their most valuable asset is their home in Wasilla, valued at between $500,000 and $1 million. According to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the land and structure at the Wasilla property is appraised at $552,100.

Estimated median house/condo value in 2006: $172,700.
Wasilla $172,700

In other words, Sarah may live on Main Street but she sure doesn't live like Main Street.

Is It Really "Joe Six-Pack's" Election?

Consider this: There are more women voting than men. The percentage of people who vote rises in direct correlation with the amount of education they have. Less than 50% of people with high school educations vote in elections. More than 80% of people with a bachelor's degree or better vote in elections. Blacks and Hispanics make up a very large block of The U. S. voting population. United States citizens of Asian descent make up 4% of the population - the majority of them vote.

Maybe, if Sarah Palin truly wants to reach the entirety of the "middle class," she should spend a little more time learning that this country is made up of much more than the stereotypical {and faintly insulting) "Joe Six-Pack" who lives in her isolated little neighborhood and eats moose burgers with her and her family. Maybe she would do well to start recognizing that Joe, for all his sudden popularity, is not the only person with a vested interest in this year's presidential election - nor is he necessarily the one she needs to impress.

Chained To A Bed With A Velociraptor

I could survive for 57 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

How Many Times Have I Lied To You - Let Me Count the Ways

My friends, we need a president who will always tell the American people the truth."

Finally, McCain says something I can agree with. Count The Lies

Bill Clinton + Wife's Loss = Passive-Agressive Little Biatch

With friends like this......

McCain Does Damage Control For Palin

And, according to McCain, the moral of the story is - people should quit asking questions when there's a microphone in front of her face.

Sarah Palin - PostTurtle

"You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, she'll stay up there until someone takes her down, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with."

Palin Contradicts McCain Over Cheesesteak and Coffee

Transcript from the McCain/Obama debate regarding Pakistan.

McCain: Now, on this issue of aiding Pakistan, if you're going to aim a gun at somebody, George Shultz, our great secretary of state, told me once, you'd better be prepared to pull the trigger.

I'm not prepared at this time to cut off aid to Pakistan. So I'm not prepared to threaten it, as Senator Obama apparently wants to do, as he has said that he would announce military strikes into Pakistan.

We've got to get the support of the people of -- of Pakistan. He said that he would launch military strikes into Pakistan.

Now, you don't do that. You don't say that out loud. If you have to do things, you have to do things, and you work with the Pakistani government.
I've been to Waziristan. I can see how tough that terrain is. It's ruled by a handful of tribes.

So it's not just the addition of troops that matters. It's a strategy that will succeed. And Pakistan is a very important element in this. And I know how to work with him. And I guarantee you I would not publicly state that I'm going to attack them.


Impromptu interview with Sarah Palin the day after the debate quoted above:

The governor got a more serious interrogation moments later when Temple graduate student Michael Rovito approached her to inquire about Pakistan.

"How about the Pakistan situation?," asked Rovito, who said he was not a Palin supporter. "What's your thoughts about that?"

"In Pakistan?," she asked, looking surprised.

"What's going on over there, like Waziristan?"

"It's working with [Pakistani president] Zardari to make sure that we're all working together to stop the guys from coming in over the border," she told him. "And we'll go from there."

Rovito wasn't finished. "Waziristan is blowing up!," he said.

"Yeah it is," Palin said, "and the economy there is blowing up too."

"So we do cross border, like from Afghanistan to Pakistan you think?," Rovito asked.

"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin responded, before moving on to greet other voters.

Do McCain and Palin even talk to one other? Didn't he just say, in his awesome debate appearance that we don't say that out loud??? Didn't he guarantee us that he would not publicly state that I'm going to attack them.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what his pet running mate very publicly announced over cheesesteak and coffee?

I wonder how gorgeous Asif Ali Zardari finds her now?

Nyac the Otter Dies at Age 20

Nyac the otter died of leukemia today - at the age of 20. Nyac survived the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and spent the remainder of her life in the Vancouver zoo.



The things we could learn from animals if we only bothered to understand what it is they have to teach.

McCain Wins Debate - A Day Early - And Doesn't Mind Telling Wall Street

McCain campaign self-proclaims debate victory in a front page ad on The Wall Street Journal - a day early.

Witnesses Silent - Sarah Speaks Full Sentences

Funny how that works - there's an accusation of witness tampering in The Troopergate scandal, McCain suspends HIS campaign due to the extremely perilous nature of the economy and here's Sarah at Ground Zero - speaking what passes for a mind at last.

Or maybe her handlers figured it was a good time for her to speak - since no one's interested anymore.

Ah, the fickle public - dropping the lipsticked moose-killer in favor of their foreclosured property.

FBI Investigating Wall Street

Wouldn't it be interesting to have had access to Cindy McCain's tax returns? You gotta wonder how a woman who owns 8 houses feels about investing in Freddie and Fannie and Countrywide.

How much of a conflict of interest would that be? Especially since her husband, John, keeps all of his assests in her name.

Regardless of what happens - I really hope the FBI investigation hangs everyone and anyone who's had a dirty little finger in the pie.

Economic McCainism's - Or How I Learned To Add and Subtract The Truth

Seeing is Believing

A random selection of McCain quotes on the economy over the last several months:

“The issue of economics is something that I’ve really never understood as well as I should.”
Boston Globe, 12/18/07

>“I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”

January, 2008

“The fact is we have some tough times ahead. We will get through this rough patch.”

"The best course of action is to let the Fed handle it.”

January, 2008


“I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong.”


GOP Debate, Myrtle Beach, FNC, 1/10/08

“Even if the economy is the, quote, No. 1 issue, the real issue will remain America’s security. And if they choose to say, ‘Look, I do not need this guy because he’s not as good on home loan mortgages or whatever it is, I understand about that, I will accept that verdict. I am running because of the transcendental challenge of the 21st century, which is radical Islamic extremism.”

The New York Times, 1/28/08


Since President Bush took office, “I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created… you can make an argument that there’s been great progress economically over that period of time.”

Money & Politics,” Bloomberg, 4/17/08


“The fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

September 15, 2008


"I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not. With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol. I intend to join it."

September 24, 2008


McCAIN’S ECONOMIC PROPOSALS PRE SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

McCain’s Economic Plan Helps Corporations, not Working Families. “McCain offered sweeping rhetoric about the economic plight of working-class Americans…even as he spelled out a tax and spending agenda whose benefits are aimed squarely at spurring corporate growth.” (The Washington Post, 4/16/08)

McCain Offers Massive Tax Cuts for Corporations and the Wealthy. McCain’s plan offers two massive tax cuts for corporations, slashing tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent, with 58 percent of the benefits going to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. This is an even larger tax rate cut for the wealthiest taxpayers than Bush gave them. (Reuters, 3/10/08; “Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/21/08)

But He Wants to Tax Our Health Benefits. McCain would make employer-paid health premiums part of taxable income, creating a new tax on working families. He would drive insurance costs up further by promoting high-deductible health savings account plans. (Health08.org Forum, 10/31/07; Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 9/20/06, 4/5/06)

McCain’s Tax Cuts Would Cut Social Programs Working Families Need. “McCain cannot pay for his tax cuts without massive reductions in Social Security, Medicare or other key programs that benefit the vast majority of Americans.” (“Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/21/08)

McCain Skipped Vote on Economic Stimulus Package Despite Being in Washington. McCain missed a key vote on economic stimulus legislation to provide rebates to taxpayers—even though he was in Washington, D.C., at the time. “McCain returned to Washington but made an eleventh-hour decision to skip the vote, aides to his campaign said.” (H.R. 5140, Vote #8, 2/6/08; Associated Press, 2/6/08)

McCain Says He Wants Tough Lender Standards—But Votes Against Them. McCain has called for strict standards and greater transparency for lenders and for cracking down on predatory lenders. But he voted against a measure to discourage predatory lending practices and failed to vote on a bill that would overhaul the mortgage lending practices of the Federal Housing Administration. (McCain’s Remarks on Economic Woes, 3/25/08; St. Petersburg Times, 1/24/08; S. 256, Vote #22, 3/3/05; S. 2338, Vote #432, 12/14/07)


Quite a bit different tune he's singing today, isn't it?

Consistancy, thy name is McCain, Palin, GOP, Republican Democrat.

GOP Postponing Palin? How Much Does That Surprise You?

Give me a freakin' break, will ya?

Now the plan is to delay the first presidential debate (because apparently The Republican World needs John McCain to single-handedly show up and settle the economic problems plaguing the nation) and to hold it one week later, on October 2, 2008, thus postponing, indefinitely, the vice-presidential debate.


They really REALLY don't want her to talk, do they?

Poll of Polls Shows McCain Down To a Single Point Lead in Virginia

Here in Virginia, as in the rest of The United States, timing really is all, isn't it?

Self-imposed Time out, anyone?

Personally, were I a John McCain supporter, I'd have to agree that now would be a politically astute (re: cowardly) time to take one.

The New (and Better) Bail-Out Plan According to a Tax-Payer

Instead of giving billions of dollars to bankers, to Wall Street, to Freddie and Fannie, to auto makers, to investment firms who invested unwisely, to all those big businesses with their hands out and their greed still apparent, and doing it all in the name of "saving the economy" with little or no regard to the millions of Americans who make up that economy - instead of that - why not allocate the same billions to us, the people, the ones who are going to foot the bill in the end regardless of who the direct recepient is, the ones who are out of work, who are drowning under mortgages which are eating 50% of their paychecks each month and let them, let us, pay off our mortgages and our outstanding credit cards and our bank loans and our auto loans?

The money would flow from us right back into the business institutions who are begging for government assistance dollars, thus easing their self-made crunch as well as our own. The dollars would circulate - but widely instead of narrowly - and I sincerely doubt that a nation composed of individuals who are mostly (or totally) out of personal debt would object to eventually paying higher taxes to repay the government bail-out loan which came to THEM instead of bypassing them and going directly to the very people who either acted irrationally and irresponsibly with their money and/or outright misrepresented themselves, lied to their customers and ripped them off in the first place.

I've been listening to CNN all morning and I've yet to see how the common man is going to benefit, other than very very indirectly, and, more likely, not at all, from a plan which will surely, certainly, without a doubt, cost them several billions of additional tax dollars in the end.

If we are going to have to bear the cost of a government bail out (and it becomes more and more apparent that we are) shouldn't we, at the very least, be the ones being bailed?

Jinx - No Mo' Foo'Ball Weekends Fer Us

Friday morning we left early and spent the night at Dan's mom's house. It was interesting. Virtually no one was speaking to one another by the time we left on Saturday morning.

After leaving his mom's, we drove about 8 1/2 hours to Ma. - 4 hours of which were spent trying to cross the G.Washington Bridge in New York. It's the first time I've seen New York - I don't wish to repeat the vision. Then we got slightly lost once we got to Mass. No biggie. We did find the hotel and it was nice. The hot tub rocked.

I have a hard time understanding that people drive through New York more than once in a lifetime and that they actually enjoy it.

Sunday morning we left for a 1PM kick-off time before 9AM. Everyone told us it would take that long due to traffic. Everyone lied. We were at the stadium by 10. We walked and walked and walked from the parking lot to the stadium. (Have I ever mentioned that I HATE walking? Or that I don't do it very well due to an old back injury and resulting surgery? Consider yourself told. I don't walk very well.) We had to go thru tunnels and over bridges and, well, you get the idea, I didn't like it. Fortunately there's a mall next to the stadium so we killed some time sitting on benchs in front of stores. They let people into the stadium at 11 so we were some of the first people in their seats - which was cool - until it wasn't. The temperature was in the 80's and it quickly got HOT. So we'd sit awhile, wander back inside awhile, sit awhile until the game started. Spent a small fortune on beers, food, bottled water and a pick Patriot's hat for me while waiting and wandering.

And then they lost. Not just lost, mind you, but LOST.

And so it went for three full quarters....and so did we. And so did everyone else. And we walked and walked and walked back to the parking lot. Which was farther away then it was in the beginning because we came out the wrong doors. It took hours to get out of the parking lot.

I have a hard time understanding that people do this more than once in a lifetime and that they actually enjoy it.

We left Ma. this morning at 9 and made a small detour to a casino in Delaware. I won a few bucks - almost enough to pay for the tire I'm going to have to buy tomorrow seeing as how we blew the left rear one right down to the rim somewhere on I95 in Baltimore.

But we're home - finally. The cats vomited all over the stairway in our absence. To say nothing of the other nasty thing they did in front of the fireplace. (Which they always do is we're gone longer than they think is appropriate...and apparently this time we were gone a whole lot longer then they thought appropriate.)

I have a hard time understanding that people do this more than once in a lifetime and that they actually enjoy it.

No Politics, No Economy, No Palin - It's FOOTBALL WEEKEND

We're out the door in a bit - off for a 4 day weekend (Oh Blessed of All Events) in New England. We have tickets to the Patriots/Miami game on Sunday afternoon. We'll drive drive drive to New Jersey, spend the night with Dan's mom and then drive drive drive to Foxborough where we've reserved a room with a hot tub and we'll giggle and soak and watch television and order room service until Sunday afternoon when we trek off to the game.

Nothing to do but have fun.

Hillary Backer Backs McCain - You Got My Back, I Got Yours

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, her spokesman tells CNN.

and if you wonder why - perhaps this will help explain it:

Forester is the CEO of EL Rothschild, a holding company with businesses around the world. She is married to international banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Forester is a member of the DNC’s Democrats Abroad chapter and splits her time living in London and New York.

AlaskaReal - A Native's Eye View of Palin and Politics in Alaska

AlaskaReal

This is one of the most comprehensive Alaska related blogs I've had the fortune to come across.

Anyone with the least bit of interest in Alaskan politics really needs to give it way more than a few second read.

More on the Flooding in Munster, In.

Hammond Clinic/MunsterMed Inn



Taco Bell on Calumet

Flooding In Munster, In.

Ike hit home yesterday.

My 85 year old mother is a patient undergoing short term physical therapy following a serious illness in a nursing home in Munster, Indiana. Her twin sister is a long term totally bedridden patient in the same facility.

Yesterday afternoon, following a record rainfall, a levy on The Little Calumet, the river which once ran immediately behind my backyard, broke. The resulting flood closed streets, cut power, and flooded hundreds of home, forcing the evacuation of over 400 families - and the nursing home.

It took nearly 10 frantic hours to locate my mother and aunt who were moved by a private ambulance company and The National Guard in specially built ambulances to several medical facilies in areas unaffected by the flood waters.

They are both safe and sound - but rattled. My aunt has not left her bed in over 5 years but she seems to have taken the move pragmatically. My mother is not coping so well. She is worried about her house which is also close to the banks of the Little Cal in Lansing, Il. No one's been able to get through the streets to check on it's condition and we are unable to contact any neighbors.

My sister, who also lives in nearby Lansing, Il. is under a mandatory evacuation order but so far is choosing to stay. She lost her entire first level to a malfunctioning sump pump just 6 weeks ago. She was, however, unable to leave once she decided to stay due to street closings. My oldest son was stuck in So. Carolina following a long weekend trip waiting to catch a flight home. My youngest son and his girlfriend, who also live in the Munster area, are stiill unaccounted for. His cell phone is not working and she has not returned my calls as of yet. Their area was not hit so hard and they live on the second floor of a large apartment building, so I am presuming they are ok....otherwise I shall go crazy.

My heart goes out to all who have suffered at the hands of such disasterous weather lately. To Texas, and Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, The Carolinas, Florida and every other place which has been affected, prayers and thoughts are with you.

A big "thank you" to The Indiana National Guard and The Munster Volunteer Fire Department as well as to the amazing staff at The Munster Med Inn who braved the waters and left their own flooded homes and families to tend to their patients. Several of the staff at Med Inn traveled with their patients to their temporary homes in order to keep their fears at bay by offering a familiar face and a friendly hand.

These are people who are underpaid and overworked. People who give of themselves and their time, putting their own needs and fears aside in order to aid those with bigger needs and bigger fears. These are the heroes. These are Americans.



The National Guard Evacuates The Munster Med Inn


update: The two unaccounted for children have called and been counted. Both are ok...one is at work and one is enroute to work but with the distinct possibility that he will not be able to make it.

McCain Throws Hissy-Fit - "My Way or the Lie-Way"

Ok...now we have it. John McCain, when confronted on The View by woman in lipstick about his current spate of lies and half-truths, blamed Barak Obama's refusal to hold joint "Town Hall Meetings" as being responsible for the current tenor of McCain's campaign.

McCain later was pressed on the increasingly derisive tone of the campaign and his new television commercial that carries the widely discredited claim Obama supported comprehensive sex education for kindergartners as an Illinois state senator.

McCain defended the ad's claims as well as those of a Web ad that said Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comments were directed at Palin. He added that the tone of the campaign might have been more amicable if Obama had agreed to his proposals for a series of town-hall meetings.

"If we had done what I asked Sen. Obama to do, I don't think you'd see the same tenor of this campaign," he said. "Why don't you ask Obama the next time he's on this show why won't he be in town meetings with me?"

Hockey Mama For Obama

Signs seen (pro and con) at a recent Anchorage, Alaska rally protesting Sarah Palin's campaign.

Bush In A Skirt
Palin: She Be Failin'
I Love My Alaska Girl
Jesus Was a Community Organizer
We Luv Our Lady Guv
Palin: Thanks But No Thanks
Smearing Alaska's Good Name One Scandal @ a Time
Candidate To Nowhere
Rape Kits Should Be Free
Voted For Her Once: Never Again!
Community Organizers are the Real Patriots
Barbies for War
I Shall Not Be Pandered To
Give Palin Your Vote AND Your Draft Age Child
Sarah Palin: So Far Right She's Wrong
Sarah Palin Is My Hero
Alaska Is Not Frisco
Gun Rights
Coat Hangers for McCain
Sarah Palin, Undoing 150 Years of American Feminism
Hockey Mama for Obama (on a hockey stick)

Who Paid for the Rape Kit if You Were Raped in Wasilla?

Women, if you've ever been raped, if you've ever known anyone who's been raped, if you even fear being raped and you're a Sarah Palin supporter, and even if you're not worried about the possibility of being forced to carry a resulting pregnancy to term, it might behoove you to know that as recently as 8 years ago the Town of Wasilla, Alaska (and ONLY the town of Wasilla, Alaska,) under the mayorship of Sarah Palin, charged the victim for her own rape exam, rape kit and forensic testing.

After numerous complaints, the State of Alaska stepped in and passed legislation requiring that the city pick up the tab. Charlie Fannon, Police Chief of Wasilla, appointed to his position by Palin after her dismissal of the previous police chief, protested the law, saying that it would cost Wasilla $5,000 to $14,000 a year if the city had to foot the bill for rape exams.


Damn good thing Ms. Palin hadn't yet been made governor at the time, isn't it?

Rock Fish and Sea Crabs and Grizzlies, McCain!!

If you've heard Sen. John McCain's stump speech you've surely heard him talk about grizzly bears. The federal government, he declares with horror and astonishment, has spent $3 million to study grizzly bear DNA. "I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal," he jokes, "but it was a waste of money."

A McCain campaign commercial also tweaks the bear research: "Three million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Unbelievable."

Ok, so we know how he feels about wasting 3 million dollars of the taxpayer's money on Montana grizzly bears - I wonder how he feels about 4 million dollar Alaskan sea crabs and 2 million dollar Alaskan rock fish - to say nothing of $8 million to "improve" a former Alaskan Navy airfield which handles 8 scheduled flights a month?

To quote Senator McCain - not about the bears or the crabs or the fish - but about the sheer hypocrisy -


Unbelievable!!

McCain Raising Money for "The Old Washington"

Ya know that maverick, McCain? The one who says he's not part of the old boy's network? The McCain that swears he's different and he's all about "change?" The dude that's not a "party person?"

Well, he's out raising money for The Old Boys all around the nation.

Republican John McCain is asking donors to give far in excess of what they can contribute to him directly, even as he is limited to taking only public funds for the fall campaign.

McCain's fundraising is legal because the money he is asking for does not come straight to him. He is collecting funds for federal and state GOP committees that will aid his White House bid. Donors can give a total of nearly $70,000 to these committees, far in excess of the $2,300 individuals can give directly to a candidate.

The Arizona senator appeared at a $4 million fundraiser Monday night in Chicago where donors gave anywhere from $1,000 to nearly $70,000. Most of the money was split among the RNC and state parties in the battleground states of Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Bill Strong, who helped organize the event.

Contributors who gave at least $25,000 attended a private dinner with McCain.

Strong said enthusiasm among donors was high, partly because of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. "We got unsolicited telephone calls from female executives in the Chicago area offering to contribute money," he said. "Fundraising has accelerated since the convention."

Bounds said McCain would do more fundraising for the joint committees; he couldn't say how much.

Jan Baran, a top GOP ethics lawyer, said the joint fundraising is not unusual. But he noted "there's an irony there that Sen. McCain is swearing off private money for his own campaign … but actively raising money for party organizations."

Change? No.

Irony? Yes.

"Lipstick on a Pig" McCain Said It First

In 2007, John McCain criticized Democratic contenders for offering what he called costly universal health care proposals that require too much government regulation. While he said he had not studied Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's health-care plan, he said it was "eerily reminiscent" of the failed plan she offered as first lady in the early 1990s.

I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," he said of her proposal.

He's not even the first, other politicians have also used the phrase in recent years, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rep. John Mica of Florida and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, among others.

Torie Clarke, a former McCain adviser, even wrote a book called, "Lipstick on a Pig: Winning In the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game."

And so - I'm unsure why McCain's camp is demanding an apology from Senator Obama.

Unless, of course, he gave one to Hillary back in 2007.

Words to Ponder

Jesus Christ was a community organizer.
Pontius Pilate was a governor.

Okey, Women, We Can Take This One!!!

The figures are in and, quite frankly, it figures - Men are swayed by figures.

62% of men surveyed by CNN have a favorable opinon of Sarah Palin while only 53% of women feel the same way. Fifty-seven percent of male respondents said Palin was qualified, 14 points higher than women. A majority of women polled, 55 percent, said Palin is not qualified.

Overall, 50 percent of all respondents think Palin is qualified to serve as president, compared with 70 percent who see the Democratic nominee for vice president, Sen. Joe Biden, as qualified.


I don't understand it, but there it is.

Men are also more likely to think Sarah Palin is being treated unfairly.

So, I never thought I utter these words, but here they are:

Sisters, Unite!!!

We really CAN do it. We really CAN get the best person elected. We've got the numbers and we've got the voices and we've got the, dare I say it, EXPERIENCE.

Women know women. There's a reason that women are less trustful of a woman who self-professes to be a hockey-mom/barracuda/pit bull with lipstick.

We are smart enough and experienced enough to question the judgement of a woman 36 weeks pregnant with leaking water who decides it's safe to travel 10+ hours on a plane and in an automobile. We are smart enough and experienced enough to know that women place their unborn children above everything - and if the unborn child is placed lower than self - there's a problem with priorities.

Regardless of it's "fairness" it's a fact. Being able to prioritize is an important aspect of both motherhood and presidency. If you can't do it in one you probably aren't going to be too good at doing it in another.

We are intelligent enough to know that there's a line which needs to be drawn between your personal life and your public life. We are intelligent enough to question how well a person can draw that line when she fires a man for not firing her brother-in-law. We are wise enough to know that we are not the only ones who feel that way - we are level headed enough to know that there is an active investigation going on into the matter. Those of us who've been around also know that, as a rule, where there's smoke there's fire.

We instinctively recognize bullshit and it's not far removed from mooseshit. We understand that Sarah Palin supported the Bridge to Nowhere long enough to get herself elected and to collect a big fat check for her state before she was smart enough to distance herself from it. We are wise enough to know she still spent the money she collected.

We, girlfriends, are smart. All of us - old, young, and in-between - black, white, brown and yellow - rich, poor and middle-class - enducated and uneducated.

We, girlfriends, are smart because we rule!!!

Get out there - read, read, read. Study the facts, seek the truth, trust your instincts. We'll get a woman in office one of these days. Let's make sure it's the right one.

We've waited all these lifetimes. We can wait 4 more years. Chosing the wrong woman would be a disaster. John McCain is basing his whole election on the mistaken belief that women are interchangable Barbie Dolls. John McCain decided that if he put a woman on his ticket that women voters would flock to his side. John McCain chose the wrong woman - tell him so. Tell him he seriously underestimated our intelligence, our ability to judge, our morality and our power.

Vote Obama.

Just a Recap

Take the time, follow the link to the New York Times.

Read it and weep.

Community Organizers - So Which Is It ?

I'm confused.

Are community organizer's some of the "best and smartest" Anerica has to offer or are they inexperienced and without responsibility?

Senator McCain appears to be flip-flopping around like a wounded moose again.

The most recent about-face took place in a Face the Nation interview when John McCain vowed that he will appoint Democrats to his cabinet if elected.

"It's going to be the best people in America, the smartest people in America," McCain said. "So many of these problems we face -- for example, energy independence -- what's partisan about that?"

He said he'll also ask some members of his Cabinet "to work for a dollar a year. They've made enough money. But I'll also ask people who have struggled out there in the trenches to help people, to volunteer in their communities, who understand these problems at that level, which obviously is lost on a lot of -- a lot -- a big segment of Washington."

Who was that lost on again, Mr. McCain? Your Washington or the other guy's Washington? Or was it your Washington last week and someone else's this week?

I am also impressed with the symbolic dollar a year salary for Cabinet members who've "made enough money." THe reason I am especially impressed is because this is coming from a man whose wife is a multi-millionaire, whose own Senate salary and book royalities in 2007 were $258,800, and who is "unsure of how many houses he owns, (the answer is 8) and still collects a cool $58,000 yearly in untaxed income (from the very government he wants to change) as disability pension.

Any plans to return the presidential salary should you get it? Or at least give up the disability pension in the hopes that one or two of those 400 homeless Iraq vets who really needs it can be fit into the budget next year?

How much is "made enough," Senator McCain?

Or does that bring us back to the magic 5 million again?

Speaking of Media Bias

Yesterday the McCain campaign announced that Sarah Palin would finally meet the press later this week in a previously offered interview with ABC and Charles Gibson.

Gibson, if you recall, cohosted the much panned and pointedly biased Democratic Debate back in April.

In the first 40 minutes of Wednesday's two-hour Democratic debate, the moderators asked Obama about his remarks that small-town residents bitterly cling to guns and religion; the inflammatory sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright (Stephanopoulos followup: "Do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?"); why Obama doesn't wear an American flag pin; and his relationship with William Ayers, a former Weather Underground radical who has acknowledged involvement in several bombings in the 1970s.

In the only comparably aggressive question directed at Clinton, Stephanopoulos cited an ABC/Washington Post poll challenging her honesty and tied it to her false tale of having once come under sniper fire in Bosnia.

"Senator Obama is the front-runner," said Stephanopoulos, the network's chief Washington correspondent and a former Clinton White House aide. "Our thinking was, electability was the number one issue," and questions about "relationships and character go to the heart of it."

It'll be interesting to see if "relationships and character go to the heart of it" in the Palin interview, won't it?

Pro-Choice Women Have Babies, Too

All the talk about Bristol Palin's pregnancy and Sarah Palin's decision to give birth to a Down's Syndrome child got me thinking -

It really is none of our business.

What is our business, however, is the fact that while mentioning the subject has been declared off-limits, Sarah Palin is still being held up as some sort of absolute saint for having made the choices she's made. Those voters who are strongly in Sarah Palin's camp seem to feel that only those who agree 100% with their and their candidate's strong position on abortion would ever dare have the courage to have reacted in the same manner.

In other words, they are as cynical as we.

No one seems willing to entertain the thought that even without overturning Roe Vs Wade, that even without strong family support, that even without strong Christian beliefs that a (dare I say it) Pro-Choice woman might have, if left to her own devices, chosen the same path as Sarah and Bristol have chosen.

Pro-Choice does not necessarily mean Pro-Abortion. It means exactly what it says - CHOICE. It means, in effect, I can do what I choose and you, you can do what you choose. It means there are people who understand circumstances, who understand agony, who understand the possibility of being backed into a corner and it means, most of all, they will not judge you, they will only judge themselves. It means they understand that the world is not black and white - that it is various shades of gray and it means they are uncomfortable imposing their morality upon others.

I know this because I was Sarah Palin's daughter once upon a time. I, too, faced a teenaged pregnancy. A friend of mine, she was Sarah Palin once upon a time. She, too, gave birth to a special needs child. We both knew what was going on, we both knew what our options were, we both, without a moment's hesitation, chose to give birth. We've both lived with our decisions for a very long time and we're both 100% convinced that we did the right thing - for ourselves and for our children. We do not, however, feel that because it was right for us that it is right for everyone. No one should have that right. No one should have that power.

What they should have is the education necessary to make an informed decision. What they should have is the support of their family and their community and their government to help them carry out that decision - regardless of what it may be.

And that, that's what Sarah Palin in denyied them when she voted for abstinance-only sexual education programs in her school system. That's what she denies them when she states that she favors abortion only in the event that the mother's life is endangered by giving birth. That's what she denied them when she reduced funding for special needs children in her school system. And these are some of the things she would like to change for the rest of us - she's just not being as vocal about it yet.

Sarah Palin does not give women credit for being capable of carrying out the most important of decisions on their own. She will, if given the chance, do her darnest to remove the decision making process at all, to narrow their option to one, to back them into that corner, to remove their education and to place their life and their future and the lives and futures of their children in the hands of the state. Either that, or she will force them back into the same dirty, infection-ridden, humiliating back alley that Roe V Wade took them out of.

I don't care where you go - I don't care what path you take or what choice you make -I will make the same assumption about you that I wish people to make about me - that you are an intelligent woman who knows her own life and her own capabilites far better than anyone who is not you can ever know. I will support you as a fellow human being regardless of your decision because I remember, with gratitude, a time when someone supported me in mine - but I have neither the ego nor the desire to force you into anything or to strip you of every option but one.

Pro-Choice supporters are not simply in favor of abortion, regardless of what Sarah and her ilk would have us believe. They are in favor of options - and education. They, unlike many of the Pro-Life supporters, are willing to trust women to do the right things for themselves and by themselves, without state-supported mandates, without government-imposed morality and, most of all, without fear.

And that means having your child as well as aborting your child.

Well. Gag Me

with a presidential spoon.

You'd think a woman who could face down a 1,400 pound moose wouldn't be so reluctant to face a reporter or two. Of course the

can't ask her questions about abortion rights or foreign policy or book banning - and you can't shoot a reporter and then drape his hide


across your office couch, but still - aren't we, as a nation, entitled to hear her speak sans speechwriter?

Wasilla City Hall

This is where Sarah Palin got her experience:

That Bird Don't Fly on eBay

One of the mainstay stories which supposedly shows us just how decisive and how frugal Sarah Palin can be is the one touted at the recent convention - you know the one - the "I put the plane on eBay" story. The one retold by John Mccain while on the road in Cedarburg, Wisconsin today when he said, "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was purchased by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit."

Great story - until you find out that the plane didn't sell on eBay, it was given to a private broker who sold it at a $600,000 loss....and the dude who bought it is now seeking another $50,000 from the state for unexpected maintenance issues.

Flip Flop Karl Rove

John McCain and Heath Care - Giving Us All The Lie

The whole speech is too much to address - and people other than myself will do a much better job of dissecting it.

I'll speak only of the small part I understand in both my heart and my head to be a bold faced lie.

Somewhere in the middle of his acceptance speech John McCain said this:

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat... where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.


1) John McCain's so-called "Health Care Plan" is not a plan it is a ramble which does everything but address the issue, filled with wishes and wants and words of no consequence which then trails off into a stance on autism and no other specific disease. Speaking as someone who's spent over 15 years working in the medical field, as someone who, over the years, has been insured, under-insured and totally uninsured, and as the parent of two children with special health needs, even the ramble stinks.

2) I am, currently, a medical secretary. I work with health insurance companies and policy holders all day long - 8 hour a day, 6 days a week. I know the good ones, I know the bad ones, I know what works and what doesn't and why.

3) Nowhere do I recall Obama's plan including a "government run health care system" but

4) Even if it did it would not be the worst thing to happen to health care. The government-run plans such as Medicare and many of the state run programs, such as Medicaid, are NOT filled with bureaucrats - nor does anyone or anything stand between you and your doctor. Medicare allows it's members to seek treatment or advice from any doctor of their choice. They do not interfer, they seldom question and they always pay a fair amount and they always pay quickly and on time. Medicare is NOT an HMO where care is dictated by the insurance company, Medicare is a PPO which allows patients to seek treatment from any primary care physician or specialist who is a member of the Medicare network - and because Medicare is such a huge provider virtually ALL physicians participate in the network.

5) In summary, a PPO type program such as the government-run Medicare is one of the best health insurance policies a person can have. With a PPO a policy holder can seek and receive treatment from any approved primary care physician or specialist without first seeking approval from either the health insurance carrier or anyone else. Because doctors tend to actually get paid by PPO's without too much hassle, most doctors are enrolled in the plans and are known as "preferred providers" which means the insurance company will cover at 100% the approved charges and the patient will pay either nothing at all or a pre-agreed co-pay and nothing else. An HMO is second best. In an HMO the policy holder can seek treatment from a plan-approved primary care physicians and they can see a specialist only if referred to the specialist by the primary care doctor. Not all physicians belong to all HMO plans, they tend to pay less and they almost always require much more paperwork on the part of the physician's office. They tend to deny charges, which PPOs do not often do, and they don't always pay even the approved charges in a timely fashion.

6) Be that as it may, ANY insurance is better than NO insurance, which is what many Americans have now and what they will continue to have if John McCain and Sarah Palin are elected.

Maybe It's Sneaky Sarah?

An ethics complaint against Sarah Palin was filed by The Alaska Public Safety Employees Association on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 charging that either Sarah Palin or aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin improperly obtained her former brother-in-law's state police personnel files and cited information from those records to raise complaints about the officer.

Sarah Snide and Shrill or Sarah Saintly and Sincere?

The Republicans and The Democrats don't agree. FOXNEWS and ABC don't agree. The Independent's can't make up their minds. The reporters and the pundits on CNN don't agree. Hell, even my own children and I are getting heated over it. Text messages are flying fast and furious. My husband's gonna kill me when he gets the cell phone bill.

Newsweek has a headline story called "She's Just Like Your Neighbor." And maybe she is - if you live in Alaska. The truth is, however, most of us don't. And I don't know about you but my neighbors are Muslims, Greeks, Jews, Africans, Indians, Hispanics and African-Americans. The closest anyone in my building comes to being "just like" Sarah Palin is me. And I'd consider that an insult.

I don't think she's a rising star here in Washington D.C., but I was pretty fearful that she might be knocking 'em dead in the small towns in the Midwest - and then I read the following article in my (small) home town Indiana newspaper this morning.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state -- by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right -- change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington -- throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.AP


My faith in small-town America is renewed. They left out a few things - like the proposed book burning when Sarah was Mayor of Wassila and they never touched on Trooper-Gate or the fact that Sarah, who repeatedly avowed to her superiour love of America, routinely courted The Alaska Independence Party of which her husband was a 6 year member or that that particular group wants to secceed from The U.S.. Nor did they mention that her church regularily holds meetings on "How to overcome homosexuality" and "The Jews are being punished by God for their refusal to recognize Jesus as their Saviour." They also neglected to point out that for all his talk about the sanctity of the family and the utter baseless gall of anyone daring to even mention Sarah's children, that Senator McCain once cracked wise about Chelsea Clinton by saying, during a major GOP speech,
"Do you know why Chelsea's so ugly? Because Janet Reno's her father"

I have real hope, though. It's a small paper and maybe there wasn't room for all of it. Especially considering there's so much of it.

They did a fine job of unmasking Sarah and John and the entire party, tho, didn't they? I'm rightfully proud of them.

It would behoove The Republican Party to once and for all quit seriously underestimating the "average" American's intelligence.

Found on FaceBook

I found this on April's facebook page.

I fell in love.

The Bugs Are Back In Town

On Being Confined Indoors

What are you, oh most fearsome bug
that haunts my balcony?
You've terrorized my fearless cats
and scared the pants off me.

The noise produced by your hind legs
fills up the Southern sky.
Perhaps it's just your mating call
but I'm prepared to die.

Your wingspan rivals aer-o-planes -
you drone most dreadfully.
I've seen young field mice carried off
by smaller things than thee.

You've got to be four inches wide
and two more inches high.
I've never seen your kind before -
you'd make St Gratus cry.

Those pinchers that you wave around -
were those supposed to be -
or were they just gratuitous
when Satan set you free?

I've always felt that bugs had rights -
I wouldnt hurt a fly.
But then again I've never had
one stare me in the eye.

I'd catch you in a pickle jar -
I'd risk the devil's wrath
would "suicide by insect bite"
not be my epitaph.

A poem FOR me!!!

What a way to start a morning!! Eratosphere has a Tribute to Critters thread and Donna, God love her, wrote one for me.

Our Mrs. Heidy-Halberstein
will save your ass or crack your spine.

She’s in your face or got your back,
protecting mice when cats attack.

Her strong positions, fast opined,
strike with force and charm combined.

She fans the flames then stirs the pot.
But that‘s okay, we like it hot!

Thanks, Donna. I needed that!!!