What a show!!! Thom Hartmann is in the house. We discuss how Barack Obama will restore the middle class. It’s a great discussion. Mark Karlin from BuzzFlash, too, is in the house!! Mark lives in Chicago and we talk about current news and Barack Obama. Aaron wishes me a Happy Birthday…one day early. Close…and I give him a thumbs-up. Alan Greenspan testifies on Capitol Hill that he was wrong but he doesn’t give us any solutions. FEMA is still handing out toxic formaldehyde trailers, this time in Cedar Rapids. There’s a lot more - Enjoy!
There is so much to say about President Bill Clinton’s campaigning with Barack Obama. After listening to Bill Clinton, I think about his presidency…how close to greatness he truly was, and yet he didn’t make it. I then look at Barack Obama and wonder if he has all of the necessary tools to be a truly great president. He has the crisis. Only time will tell. This is a great rally. Enjoy!
I was a fan of Elizabeth Dole’s back in the day. She was elected to the Senate and has really done nothing significant since then. I have lived in Asheville for almost 4 years. Dole has been to this part of the state only once that I know of. You can’t forget your state and think that you are going to get re-elected.
I have spliced together Elizabeth Dole’s ugly commercial. First, if Kay Hagen is or isn’t a Christian …isn’t that between her and her maker? Hagen quickly hits back with a calm, thoughtful ad which points out that she was/is active in her church. She also reminds us of the Biblical admonition “Do not bear false witness.”
Two polls released today show Hagan leading (Rasmussen and National Journal): one shows her trailing by four. That one is the venerable Mason-Dixon…but their results are far out of line with all other recent NC polls, and their most recent result from another race (Chambliss/Martin in Georgia) also shows a big Republican lead out of line with other polling.
One of my readers is a Republican who continually needles me on Obama and the Democrats. Now the Dems aren’t perfect and they make mistakes. I’m not perfect and I will post an erroneous something or other from time to time, too. I try not to jump on too many bandwagons.
Today, the question is where did John McCain state that he was anti-union?. The Employee Free Choice Act is something that the unions have been pushing for years. It would hamper Big Business’ ability to bust unions before they can form. McCain is against this bill.
But this is — we’ve been talking about it for a long time — this is a threat to the fundamental of labor-management relations. It’s fundamental to democracy, the right to have a secret ballot.
The way that Senator Obama envisions — and the unions, and this is their big push, they’ve gotten commitments from Senator Obama and Senator Biden — union organizer goes to your house and says, Hey, Joe, can I sign you up for the union?
That is — we all know what that opens the door to. It’s dangerous for America, it’s dangerous to small business. And I think it’s a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy.
McCain added that he would veto the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) in a “New York minute.”
Could John McCain actually have to defend Arizona? Polls are revealing a tightening race even in John McCain’s home state . Well, the good news for Senator McCain is that he’s right. The race is tightening. Unfortunately for him, though, is the fact that the slim margins are developing in some surprising states.
I just read that in Mississippi party identification is not on the ballot. This is a concern for some Democrats because many first time voters are expected in Mississippi.
I urge my fellow Southerners in Mississippi to study who the Democrats are on the ballot before voting. A new day is coming in Mississippi and in America and you want to be certain to be a full part of the change.
This all took place in the years after the terrible Hurricane of 1900. The 1900 hurricane killed many thousands of people.
In Galveston it says this—”In 1886, a commission of city leaders considered building a seawall to protect Galveston Island. Citizens rejected this proposal because it seemed costly and unnecessary.”
When folks are voting this year on the absurd idea to do away with the income tax in Massachusetts, or voting for McCain because they just can’t accept a black President, think about the folks in Galveston in 1886. If they had been a bit more forward looking they would have likely escaped a great tragedy.
There were several events in Asheville tonight for progressives. Heath Shuler hosted a fundraiser for Larry Kissell. The Buncombe County Medical Society had a meet and greet with several candidates. Progressive Talk Show host Ed Schultz was also in town. I went to see Ed Schultz and was unable to listen to Barack Obama live. The magic of the internet allows me to watch Obama deliver his message directly to the people. He was outstanding.
- Despite Bush’s being a toothless tiger, he is still president, (though, thankfully, not for much longer). He continues to ignore the rule of law. The Department of Homeland Security has ignored privacy laws. Faith-based groups, in defiance of discrimination laws, have continued to receive federal funds.
- A member of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been found guilty of killing two American soldiers. The perpetrator may hang for his crime. I do believe in justice. Read the whole story and see if you believe that justice has been served.
- John McCain hates unions. He is against a bill that has been slowly going through the Congress called the Employee Free Choice Act. McCain is either misinformed or lying about the Act. Unions are an essential part of the effort to restore the middle class.
- Republicans for Obama has a very nice post on how their blog got started and where they stand.
- Volatility continues in the stock market. The Dow Jones industrial averagerose over 11% today. Expect this volatility to continue for the next several months.
- David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, suggests that the GOP needs to cut McCain lose. Frum, a resident Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, wisely suggests that the GOP needs to concentrate on keeping as many seats as they can in the Senate. Although that would be wise, Republicans are now in a free-fall. When falling towards Earth at the speed of a meteor, you don’t always think clearly.
- One in seven female Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans has been a victim of a sexual assault. This is completely unacceptable. We are better than this.
- If we can’t laugh, we just might all go insane. Laughter is important to our well-being. This is why I laugh at ridiculous politicians everyday. They provide an endless source of comedy and thus catharsis.
- Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and now host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe has spent most of his television career pretending that he is not partisan. Ever since John McCain picked Sarah Palin, Scarborough has completely dropped the pretense. Just yesterday, he quoted the Drudge Report by stating that Barack Obama said that the Warren court was not radical enough. If you’re going to quote the Drudge Report, shouldn’t you at least look at their source? This is wrong. See the video below.
There are some things that have been truly repulsive in this election season. Over the weekend, Joe Biden did an interview with a Florida television station and the questions were simply the worst Republican talking points...ever. KFTV needs to apologize and fire Barbara West. There is a grave difference between a political operative and a news reporter.
It’s a tale of two interview subjects and one GOP-agenda-driven “journalist.” And what a tale it is. JedReport took a peek at KFTV’s Barbara West and interviews with Joe Biden and John McCain. The side by side comparison is astonishing.
Watch the clip and you’ll see exactly what I mean: bias, alla way, baby.
BT asked this morning that folks sign a petition demanding an apology from WFTV for this hatchet job posing as an interview. I’m asking for your help on this as well.
*I was really tired last night after being on call for the last week. The good news is I really voted yesterday. It felt very good to vote for somebody I truly believe in. Anyway, there were some good stories yesterday so, here’s what I wanted to post last night –
*Neo-Nazishad plotted to kill Barack Obama. The plot was discovered and two people were arrested. There are a lot of great people in this country, full of love and kindness. On the other hand, there are a lot of knuckleheads who were full of hatred, envy and loathing.
*In spite of hard economic times, the wealth of our congressmengrew by 13% in 2007. Did you know that over 60% of our senators are millionaires? When you consider what it takes to run a campaign, it becomes clear why no one but a millionaire can afford to take that kind of time off from work. Of course they are millionaires.
*National security experts have stated that the next president will be tested, no matter who the next president is. Didn’t Al Qaeda test Bush and Clinton early in their presidency? This only makes sense. Somehow, though, we need to be ready.
*Sadly, McCain seems to be running a campaign against himself. On one hand he has touted his closeness to President Bush and his policies. On the other hand, he has tried to distance himself from President Bush and his policies. It’s all rather confusing. See the RMS video below.
*Call center workers have walked off the job rather than read an inflammatory script that bashes Barack Obama. Good for them!
*More newspapers are jumping on Barack Obama’s bandwagon. The Charlotte Observer and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are only two of the latest papers to endorse Obama. Even the little paper in Wasilla, Alaska, hometown of Sarah Palin, has endorsed Barack Obama.
Senator Ted Stevens never really had a chance. Bill Allen, VECO CEO, was convicted earlier. If a jury didn’t think that Bill Allen did anything wrong he wouldn’t have been convicted. Therefore, all of the prosecution had to do was to present almost the same material.
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted today of lying on financial disclosure forms to hide tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and renovations to his Alaska home that were financed mostly by a powerful business executive and his oil services company.
The verdict was announced just after 4 p.m. in a packed courtroom in U.S. District Court in Washington. Stevens (R) sat quietly as the jury foreman said the panel had reached a unanimous decision and found Stevens guilty on all seven counts of filing false financial disclosure forms.
Jurors, who re-started their deliberations at 9:30 a.m. today when a juror was replaced by an alternate, were somber as they walked into the courtroom to deliver the verdict and did not look at Stevens. No sentencing date has been set, and Stevens’s attorneys are expected to file motions seeking to have the verdict set aside. (more… )
If English is the official language of the United States, how come I can vote in Vietnamese and Spanish in a right wing place like Texas? We’ve even been at war with Vietnam and Spain in the past.
I’m glad we have the ability to make peace with former enemies. We are all brothers and sisters.
Although Dizzy Gillespie clowned (he was a soul that was fill of life) around on stage, once the horn got to his lips, it was all business. Clearly one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century.
Very little in the McCain campaign has made sense to me. Trying to tie Obama to Bush…really? Doesn’t that destroy McCain’s Obama is a socialist argument? Doesn’t McCain allow Obama to run ads like this -
Under the circumstances, one might assume that John McCain would try to avoid talking about George W. Bush altogether. Just pretend he doesn’t exist. If asked, he’d say, “George who?”
But, no. McCain keeps pushing his luck. A few days ago, McCain brought up Bush in order to talk about how much Obama has in common with the president. A day later, McCain brought up Bush again in order to argue, unpersuasively, that he disagrees with the president about several key issues. McCain talked about Bush again this morning, acknowledging that he and the president “share a common philosophy of the Republican Party.”
I suspect the Obama campaign couldn’t be happier to have the discussion head in this direction. Indeed, Obama, campaigning in Denver today, plans to help McCain get his message out.
“Just this morning, Senator McCain said that he and President Bush – ’share a common philosophy.’ That’s right, Colorado. I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk, and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common.”
Look, this isn’t even a close call. By now, we’ve all seen the clip with McCain bragging to a national television audience about having voted with Bush 90% of the time, “higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues.”
But the connection obviously goes far deeper. As Tom Brokaw reminded McCain this morning, the senator has insisted, “[O]n the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I have been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.” A few months ago, McCain vowed to campaign alongside Bush as much as possible this year.
And perhaps most importantly of all, McCain’s policy agenda for the next four years is practically indistinguishable from Bush’s policy agenda. This is old news.
Yet McCain continues to engage on this issue, even going so far as to equate Bush and Obama, apparently unaware of just how delighted Obama is to have this discussion in the campaign’s closing days.
I was channel surfin’ yesterday and parked on BET’s Jazz Channel. They played an hour of Fourplay. They were refreshing. I have four or five of their CDs, but I haven’t listened to them in probably 18 months. My bad. Here’s their first hit.
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers.
* The Obama campaign unveiled a two-minute ad this morning that emphasizes Obama’s economic plan and how he’d pay for it. McCain and Bush aren’t mentioned.
* The National Republican Senatorial Committee has officially given up on winning Colorado’s open U.S. Senate seat, which obviously spells trouble for Bob Schaffer.
* In other Senate news, Obama cut a new TV ad for Oregon’s Jeff Merkley, the first commercial Obama has done for a Democratic Senate candidate this year.
* In Ohio, a new Ohio Newspaper Poll shows Obama leading McCain by three, 49% to 46%. A month ago, this same poll showed McCain up by two.
Minnesota Republican Michelle Bachmanncannot take her foot out of her mouth.
As the McCain Campaign continues to try to paint Sarah Palin as the girl next door, we find out that the girl next door has a hairstylist that gets paid more in two weeks than the average American gets paid in six months ($22,800).
It seems that talking to dictators is okay if you’re John McCain, but not if you’re Barack Obama. Senator John McCain flew to Chile in 1985 to talk to notorious Augusto Pinochet, who killed thousand of his countrymen. This little tidbit dovetails back on a post that I wrote yesterday which suggested long-term senators have a long track record and it’s therefore near impossible to wipe it all clean.
The blog 538 breaks down the latest CBS/NYT poll, finding that registered voters believe Barack Obama’s policies will help the middle class and the poor, 60-14 compared to John McCain’s. 59% thought that John McCain’s policies would help the rich. Now what is confounding in these figures is the number of people that believe helping the rich will eventually help them (trickle-down economics).
Finally, I believe it is laughable (and should be of great concern to the American electorate) that a 72-year-old man who has had multiple melanomas resected has not released his medical records for all of us to see. It is possible that all of his melanomas were superficial but it is also possible that some of them were more invasive than we’ve been led to believe. We’ve been told that he is healthy and yet have no idea if he’s undergone a stress test for his heart. Again, the man is 72 years old. It is outrageous to believe that he has that much greater a life expectancy than everyone else. Karl Rove last night suggested that John McCain has been a “open book” with regards to his health.
There wasn’t anyone sexier in the early to mid-90’s. Sade was just amazing. She had a run of three or four albums (and I’m old, so I can say albums). “Cherish” was one of her hits during this run. All her tunes that were hits had this slow groove injected with some jazz elements. Simply outstanding.
Let us be clear. Change in this country does not come without a struggle. At times throughout this very long campaign we’ve seen the best of Americans and we have seen the worst of Americans. Recently we’ve seen some pretty hideous things. For example, a black bearwas killed, shot in the head, and placed in front of the Western Carolina University administration building. The bear had two Barack Obama campaign signs taped together to make some sort of a hat. The young bear cub was clearly a symbol. The police have figured out who perpetrated this crime but, interestingly, they have labeled as a “prank.”
A young campaign worker for John McCain was supposedly chased down by a 6′4″ black man. The man reportedly beat the young woman, who just happened to be white. He raped her and then carved the letter “B” onto the young woman’s right cheek. This incident occurred in Pittsburgh, in the swing state of Pennsylvania. The right wing bloggers jumped on the story with Matt Drudge leading the way. As with most stories like this, with just a little investigation, Ashley Todd’s story began to fall apart. The real twist in the story was the fact that John McCain’s campaign pointed to this incident and somehow tried to link it to Barack Obama, the implication being that Barack Obama either encouraged it or looked the other way when this type of behavior occurred. This is a ridiculous and ludicrous claim. John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News stated on his blog that “if the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, for ever linked to race baiting.” This quote is particularly interesting, since the story seems to have fallen apart and Ashley Todd has been arrested.
For anyone who’s followed politics over the last eight to 10 years, it’s really quite remarkable how Barack Obama has managed to avoid the pitfalls. He has clearly learned from those who have fallen before him. His campaign has consistently taken the high road. Keith Olbermann has more.
More from TPM - McCain campaign simply made stuff up and fed it to reporters -
John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain’s Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, “You’re with the McCain campaign? I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the “B” stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
