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October 28, 2008
Hanging effigy of Palin crosses line
A likeness of Sarah Palin hanging from a noose on the side of a West Hollywood home has been deemed a tasteless but legal part of a Halloween display. Los Angeles sheriff's officials said that the display doesn't rise to the level of a hate crime because it's part of a Halloween display which includes other more typical Halloween subject matter.
Jeffrey Prang, the Mayor of West Hollywood, wants the display removed.
"While these residents have the legal right to display Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin in effigy, I strongly oppose political speech that references violence -- real or perceived," Prang said in a statement. "I urge these residents to take down their display and find more constructive ways to express their opinion."
A spokesman for the LA County Sheriff's department was unsure whether a similar display showing a likeness of Barack Obama hanging by a noose would be a hate crime or not.
I find the display extremely offensive. It goes way, way, way beyond merely tasteless, in my opinion. Who the effigy is of doesn't really matter to me. It's vile and I just don't see any humor in it at all.
I predict that if this display remains up then there will be copycat displays exhibiting an effigy of Obama hanging by a noose.
Posted by Kevin at 08:11 AM |
October 27, 2008
Which is the real Gordon Smith?
Gordon Smith has released a new ad which boldly misrepresents the truth on several issues. Chief among them is the following claim attributed to the Bend Bulletin and the Medford Mail Tribune.
"He's a moderate who... supports 'gay rights'"
Later in the same ad it says "Before you believe Merkley's ads, listen to those who know the truth."
In fact "the truth" is that the newspaper endorsements don't assert a blanket "supports gay rights," as Smith's ad clearly suggests. And the reason is quite simply because neither Smith's record nor his rhetoric would support such an assertion. The Mail Tribune asserts that Smith supports "most gay rights," which is itself a highly debatable assertion. What Smith has supported, at least in words, is hate crimes legislation. And that was arguably as much a PR stunt as anything else. But even if it was heartfelt, the Smith ad clearly distorts what the papers said. And the distortion doesn't end there.
A little over a week ago the Smith campaign gave the following statement to Jeff Mapes. "In the end, we do not think Brownlow will impact the race. He will not be a spoiler." Not even a full week later the Smith campaign launched a new ad attacking Dave Brownlow. An accompanying radio ad charges that "Brownlow supports gay marriage," another blatent distortion of the truth. In fact, Brownlow supports getting the government out of the marriage business altogether.
Smith's TV ad claims that he "supports 'gay rights,'" while his radio ad simultaneously attacks Brownlow for... supporting gay rights.
Which is the real Gordon Smith?
Posted by Kevin at 08:13 AM |
October 26, 2008
Wait for it, wait for it...
Posted by Kevin at 02:45 PM |
Sarah Palin's hometown newspaper rejects celebrity, endorses Obama
"All form and no substance." That's how John McCain dismissed Barack Obama... before he selected Sarah Palin to be his running mate.
The Anchorage Daily News sees things differently.
Since his early acknowledgement that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has stumbled and fumbled badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged. He declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" at 9 a.m. one day and by 11 a.m. was describing an economy in crisis.
Meanwhile, Commentary: Republicans summon ugly old ghosts
Posted by Kevin at 10:52 AM |
Gordon Smith's phony opposition to Iraq War
Posted by Kevin at 10:05 AM |
October 25, 2008
Palin's anti-science rhetoric underscores her ignorance
Paul Myers, writing on his science blog Pharyngula, roasted Sarah Palin yesterday for exhibiting a profound ignorance of basic science as she ranted her way through a policy speech. Her ignorance is one thing. But when she uses her own ignorance as the very basis for why her policy stance ought to be followed then she goes far too far.
Myers has the video clip on his blog as well as the text of what she said. I'll use the later.
Sarah Palin: Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? […] You've heard about some of these pet projects they really don't make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not.
WTF?
Myers, a biologist and associate professor at University of Minnesota-Morris is flabbergasted.
PZ Myers: I am appalled.This idiot woman, this blind, shortsighted ignoramus, this pretentious clod, mocks basic research and the international research community. You damn well better believe that there is research going on in animal models — what does she expect, that scientists should mutagenize human mothers and chop up baby brains for this work? — and countries like France and Germany and England and Canada and China and India and others are all respected participants in these efforts.
Myers is 100% right. The alternative to using animal models would be to follow in the footsteps of the insane Nazis and use humans. Would Palin prefer that? I seriously doubt that she would. But she's running for Veep of the most powerful nation on the planet and would, if she gets her wish, literally be a 72 year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. The onus is squarely upon her and her alone to comprehend at least the effing basics of what she's giving a gawd damn POLICY speech on.
Palin wasn't ranting against stem cell research or something like that where there's an ethical debate to be had. No! She ranted against one of the most fundamental basis of modern science - laboratory research. Without which, by the way, we'd not be anywhere even remotely close to our present medical and scientific capabilities. Hell, we'd still be "bleeding" people to release the bad humors making them sick. For that matter, her disabled son might have been diagnosed as devil possessed and her young teenage daughter would be facing the very real prospect of dying during childbirth if it were not for laboratory research using animal models and all that has been learned from it and continues to be learned!
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer
Posted by Kevin at 05:34 PM |
October 24, 2008
Just Vote. You'll Feel Better, I Promise.
I laughed right out loud when I read this angst-ridden op-ed by Larry David, who is simply beside himself living through what seems like a never-ending countdown to November 4. I can certainly relate. I've been driving myself crazy for weeks over this election.
I finally found a cure that has worked pretty well for me. I voted. I filled out my ballot and mailed it in on Tuesday, thereby negating the power of any further October surprises or campaign mailers or news stories. I cannot tell you how much better it feels to have my decisions unalterably behind me and to be able to move on. It's amazing how much else is going on in the world that is worth focusing on.
If you haven't voted yet, just do it. Now. You will feel so much better.
Posted by Becky at 01:28 PM |
McCain volunteer faked attack
Sadly, this strikes me as just one more example of how pervasive latent racism is among conservatives.
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh police say a McCain campaign volunteer made up a story of being robbed, pinned to the ground and having the letter "B" scratched on her face in a politically inspired attack.
Posted by Kevin at 12:05 PM |
Another prominent GOPer endorses Obama
They are lining up to endorse the most exciting candidate in my lifetime. This one is from former Mass. Governor William Weld who joins former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson and Secretary Powell.
Weld, in a statement, Friday, called Obama "a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world."
I couldn't agree more, Governor.
Posted by Kevin at 08:33 AM |
October 23, 2008
Um, Wrong Question, Pat
Pat Buchanan is asking a question that really ought to make every independent-minded woman angry: "What if 'SNL' mocked Michelle Obama?" In an editorial he writes:
Can one imagine "Saturday Night Live" doing weekly send-ups of Michelle Obama and her "I've never been proud" of my country, this "just downright mean" America, using a black comedienne to mimic and mock her voice and accent?"Saturday Night Live" would be facing hate-crime charges.
Let's get something straight here, Pat. Michelle Obama isn't ever going to be in line to become President. She isn't running for office.
The very fact Pat would ask the question tells me that in his mind, all women are equal - though only with each other, and not with men. What a pig.
Posted by Becky at 10:52 PM |
Al Bundy hearts Obama
Married with children was one of my most favorite shows when it was on. It fed that same potty humor-loving little boy inside that most grown men have, or so I'm told. Al sure has aged, though. He sounds the same and the facial expressions are the same. But he's definitely older.
Posted by Kevin at 06:19 PM |
What Do Steve Duin, Phil Kiesling and Kevin Mannix Have in Common?
Answer: They're all calling the Oregon Education Association liars.
I have to admit, this is one fascinating development. If you haven't yet read Steve Duin's editorial today ("The OEA Shows its True Colors"), you're missing out. The association of a measure that Keisling supports with Bill Sizemore was simply too much to bear. I have to say, I'm not sure Duin would have come out guns blazing like this if Kiesling didn't have his back, but it's still refreshing.
And let's not forget Kevin Mannix, whose measure has also been lumped in with Sizemore's on an OEA mailing. He's pissed. Does Sizemore have any friends left besides the terminally stoopid?
But back to the OEA, right now I'm nearly as disgusted with them as I am with Sizemore. Both have been in a position to do something good (Sizemore could have provided effective, charismatic leadership to conservatives, and the OEA could have brought him down when he didn't), but because of their inability to control themselves, both have blown their credibility and opportunities all to hell. What a shame.
Posted by Becky at 04:13 PM |
October 22, 2008
Will the IRS Drop the Sizemore Investigation This Time?
OMG, I cannot stop laughing. This is just classic Sizemore! I can't help but wonder whether he finally pushed it so far that even his well-connected right wing friends back east, who probably called off the dogs last time around, will be unable to stop the IRS from nailing him. Loren Parks and Dick Wendt have got to be sweating it out now.
This alone should make people vote for Barack Obama. A Democratic administration may be less likely to sweep Sizemore's abuse of his non-profit foundation's tax exempt status under the carpet than our current administration, with its key right-wing appointments and ties to Grover Norquist (Sizemore's money laundry), was.
Posted by Becky at 04:12 PM |
Check this out
I just stumbled across some very interesting data.
Over the last half Century the percentage of fed. tax filers who didn't owe anything (didn't earn enough to owe any) reached it's lowest point in 1969 at 16% of filers and the next lowest was the previous year in 1968 at 16.9%.
Now, guess when the highest corporate tax rate was over the same period.
You got it - 1968 and 69 at 52.8%
Interesting, no?
Posted by Kevin at 08:10 AM |
Running on empty, McCain resorts to class warfare
With the polls turning against him and increasing numbers of Americans expressing disapproval of his running mate Sarah Palin - 55% say she's unqualified - McCain is resorting to that classic conservative tactic of class warfare disguised as opposition to class warfare.
Despite the nation's income disparity, McCain sees Obama's exchange with "Joe the Plumber" as a means to appeal to anyone who resents paying taxes to subsidize less wealthy people. His running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, criticized "Barack the wealth-spreader" in a campaign speech Tuesday in Reno, Nev. - Spreading the wealth? US already does it
What you don't (and won't) hear from McSame is any complaints about the wealthy not having to pay payroll taxes (funds Social Security Benefits and Medicare). Meanwhile those same wealthy individuals receive Social Security Benefits upon retirement age. So not only are the wealthy NOT paying the tax while they are still wage earners, when they retire and start collecting Social Security Benefits, wealth is transferred UP the foodchain by those at the bottom being stuck paying the bill.
You don't (and won't) hear from McSame - while he rants about how high our corporate taxes are - that, in fact, most corporations doing business here don't pay ANY federal taxes right now!
Why? Because apparently McCain doesn't have a problem with redistributing wealth as long as the already-wealthy are the ones benefitting from it. It's only when the poor or middle class might benefit that he seems to have a problem with it. And this against the backdrop of the disparity between rich and poor having been growing wider and wider for years now.
Back to the corporations who don't pay ANY taxes for a moment here. So, if 2/3 of corporations don't pay taxes and roughly 40% of those who have to file tax returns earn so little that they owe no taxes... guess who is getting stuck with the bill - the Middle Class!
Posted by Kevin at 08:09 AM |
October 21, 2008
Oops - Bachmann forgot to speak in code
Rep. Michele Bachmann has long been viewed nationally as a solid favorite to retain her House seat in the Sixth Congressional District. But the controversy engulfing her campaign following Friday’s appearance on "Hardball" — during which she called for an investigation into whether her fellow legislators hold "anti-American" views — has altered perceptions of the race in the last 72 hours. - Minnesota IndependentWhat struck me as I read this piece is the fourth comment down at the bottom of the article - "Just shows how Republicans think, only this one forgot and said it in public."
Yep, that's pretty much the bottom line here. As Becky pointed out the other day, Conservatives like to speak in code.
The first thing I noticed is... the coded language, saying something that has a different meaning to the casual listener than it has for the person "in the know."
If you understand nothing else about Conservatives, understand this point and you'll be much better
Posted by Kevin at 10:36 AM |
October 19, 2008
General Powell endorses Obama, questions Palin choice
From Politico via Yahoo,
Retired General Colin L. Powell, one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP.Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world."
"I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
As a key reason, Powell said: "I would have difficult with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."
I can't find any direct opinion polling on Colin Powell done since 2005. But I can't think of a reason why it'd be any lower and he closed out just under 70% even after having been hung out to dry by the Bush administration which he'd so dutifully served. At the very least it would appear that Powell probably outpolls McCain, whom he has historically outpolled on favorability ratings. It's a bit harder to compare him to Obama because there isn't as much historical material from which to tease trends. I wouldn't be surprised if Powell outpolled Obama if there was up to date polling on him.
Powell also rejected Sarah Palin as unready to be President.
Powell said that he is "troubled" by the direction of the Republican Party, and said he began to doubt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate."Not just small towns have values," he said, responding to one of Palin's signature lines.
"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired," he said. "But at the same, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."
So, what do you think of this endorsement? Does it change your opinion? Confirm it? Have no effect on it?
As a former Republican I strongly agreed with Powell's comments about the narrowing of the GOP and in particular the latent bigotry which has bubbled to the surface lately. Powell also strongly rejected the Ayers/Obama cannard being used by Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign, which I also agree with him about.
Posted by Kevin at 09:28 AM |
October 17, 2008
Is there any portion of McCain's soul which he hasn't sold?
Not only did McCain recently hire the same dirty trickster Tucker Eskew who in 2000 McCain expressed the belief that there's "a special place in hell" for people like that...
Now it turns out that McCain has also turned to the same robo-calling outfit that in 2000 he characterized as making "hate calls" against him.
What a pathetic shell of a "maverick" he has turned out to be.
Posted by Kevin at 06:23 PM |
Oregon Republican Power Brokers Keep Surprising Me
Kari Chisolm has just posted this video up at Blue Oregon and it has, quite honestly, left me aghast.
Well, apparently the video is no longer available, but you can watch it at Dancer's website.
Basically, Rick Dancer has just received close to $100,000 from the timber industry. Within a day, he used the money to put TV ads on the air. I've got no problem with that - and I don't know anything about Rick Dancer or his character so am not commenting on that in this post.
So what about this, then, has left me aghast? Well it is not that these timber men want a Republican Secretary of State. As one of Kari's readers comments, "the Secretary of State serves on the Oregon State Land Board and chairs the Oregon Sustainability Board."
The first thing I noticed is what Kari also pointed out - the coded language, saying something that has a different meaning to the casual listener than it has for the person "in the know." In this ad, Dancer is stating that as Secretary of State he will be going after unions on the "secret ballot" issue and tackling their "commingling" of funds. And there's where the shock began to hit me, because as Kari rightly points out, that is a clear shout out to Bill Sizemore and his efforts.
The timber industry donors are long-time bulk contributors to Bill Sizemore, who has often similarly received contributions in about the same amounts from these very same men and/or their businesses all on the same day and earmarked for a particular project they liked, such as these TV commercials. (NOTE: I personally value the timber industry itself very highly, so don't assume otherwise.)
The last two Democratic Secretaries of State have both given Bill Sizemore no end of trouble in his efforts to legislate by petition. It would be very, very helpful to Sizemore and his backers to have a friend in that office. In other words, it would appear that his old friends in the timber industry have pitched in to help him again.
After everything that has been revealed about Sizemore's addiction to spending other people's money, and after all the lawsuits revealing his shady practices, he still is quietly but firmly entrenched with the "big guys" in Oregon conservative politics - not just Loren Parks and Dick Wendt, but the whole big money funding structure of the Oregon GOP. They've never lost faith in him.
It speaks to the despicable and pervasive culture of dishonesty and greed that permeates the party's power structure in the state, in my opinion, and it still continues to suprise me, even after all this time.
Posted by Becky at 02:27 PM |
GOP racist newsletter gets woman in hot water
Note the food stamps label, bucket of fried chicken and, reaching back into the more overtly racist past, a slice of watermelon.
This image was part of a newsletter sent out by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated in southern California. The group's president, Diane Fedele, claims that it wasn't intended to be racist and aknowledged that it originally came from a chain-email she'd received.
I first found out about it reading a post by Marcus over at Center Field which has other examples of the GOP/racism confluence being directed at Obama. I recommend cruising on over there to check it out.
Personally I find it all very disgusting and the lame attempts by Fedele and her ilk to portray it as something other than ugly racism that it is to be utterly unpersuasive.
Posted by Kevin at 10:37 AM |
October 15, 2008
Joe the Plumber and me
Joe the Plumber, who McCain spent a lot of time talking about in tonight's debate, apparently earns more than $250,000 if he won't be among the 95% of Americans (81.3% according to Tax Policy Center) getting a tax cut under the Obama Administration. He reportedly worked a lot of 10 - 12 hour days doing skilled blue collar work.
I'll earn less than $40,000 this year while working full time. It was the same last year. I've worked my share of 10 - 12 hour days doing skilled blue collar work too. I still do skilled blue collar work but overtime is heavily frowned upon by the corporate bean counters and the most I'm able to get now is the occasional half hour of overtime.
I don't begrudge Joe the Plumber his current affluence at all. I'm sure he earned every penny of it. But the reality is that it'll take me more than 6 years of labor to equal the bare minimum of what Joe the Plumber will earn this year alone, assuming that he'll make $250,001 on the nose. In that same 6+ years I'll spend matching his yearly salary he will have brought home over $1.5 million.
I'm actually one of the lucky ones. I've accumulated over 20 years of experience in my trade and that allows me to command a wage that my less-skilled peers can only dream of.
The bottom line here is that Joe the Plumber simply isn't representative of the average blue collar working stiff in America.
Maybe I should have taken up plumbing instead. But if I had then someone else would have had to taken my place, and the fundamental fact that Joe the Plumber isn't representative would not have been altered one iota. Someone has to mow the lawns. Someone has to change the sheets in motel rooms. Someone has to run the register at the corner Quicky Mart. Someone has to drive the fork-lifts in warehouses all over this nation. Few if any of those hard-working people earn as much as I am fortunate enough to earn. You can bank on the fact that none of them earn anything remotely close to $250,000 a year!
Enjoy your relative wealth, Joe the Plumber. Millions of Americans can only dream of what it must be like to have that kind of money and the security that goes with it.
Posted by Kevin at 10:32 PM |
October 14, 2008
Obama Does NOT Equal ACORN, You Morons
If there is one thing that throws me into a fury, it is petty people clinging to pure idiocy out of blind partisanship, regardless of the stakes involved. And that is what the utterly shameful Republican Party faithful is doing with this ACORN scandal.
I am as disgusted by the scandalous activities that it appears ACORN has been involved in as anybody and hope the perpetrators pay dearly for it. But it has nothing whatsoever to do with Barack Obama. And for the mindless robots, devious hacks, and snide hussies on the right to equate the ACORN scandal with a gentleman who is deserving of our respect is an outrage, particularly since John McCain has ties of his own to ACORN. There was a time when Americans wouldn't dream of behaving that way. How far we have fallen.
The stakes are high - very high. We are at a crisis point on so many fronts at this point in history that the choice we make on election day is extremely momentous. It is not a choice that should be made based on lunacy, team politics, lies, manipulation, or hatred. We are about to choose the next leader of the free world, and the entire globe is waiting to see what America will do. Apparently, all we're willing to do is behave like a bunch of undisciplined brats stuck in a "Lord of the Flies" alternative reality.
If it didn't bother your sensibilities to see Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin claim that the ethics investigation report "cleared" her when in fact it found that she had abused her authority, how about her statement this week to Rush Limbaugh that “Obama has a responsibility to rein in ACORN." Let me remind you of the stakes here - this woman could be President someday serving as the face of this country.
Anyone with half a brain can readily see through her silly attempt to trap Obama. If he tells ACORN to knock it off, he becomes the group's leader and is, therefore, responsible for not having "reined them in" earlier. If he does nothing, then he's complicit for not acting to deal with the problem. Equating Obama with ACORN is like equating McCain with fraudulent right-wing initiative petitioners (there actually is a link).
Maybe I'm just a little smarter than the average Republican these days.
All I can say is the behavior of the GOP is becoming profoundly disturbing to me. My sense is they are intentionally stoking the fires of hate and racism, and maybe even hoping some radical they can later disavow will be inspired to make Obama the next civil rights martyr. Yes, I said it, and I believe it.
Posted by Becky at 01:22 PM |
October 13, 2008
Poetry and Politics, oh my!
PoetryPolitic, a project of Wave Books, is in the home stretch of it's "a blog in 50 days" experiment. Kicked off on September 15th, the project will run through election day on November 4th.
In their own words,
Running from September 15th through Election Day, November 4th,
PoetryPolitic has been offering a spectrum of critical and
imaginative thinking, through poems, audio and video recordings,
essays, interviews and reviews. The work on PoetryPolitic represents
the ways in which poetry might respond to the complexity of the
times. Featured poets have included Hayden Carruth, Don Mee Choi,
Matthea Harvey, Andrew Joron, Hoa Nguyen, Alice Notley, Reginald
Shepherd, Rod Smith, among many others.
It's actually quite interesting to read through some of the offerings up so far. Some of it I don't really care for. But some of the poems are very thought provoking in that good way which leads you to mull it over for a while afterwards.
Anything that gets voters to THINK is a good thing in my book.
Posted by Kevin at 10:47 AM |
October 10, 2008
Keating Five vs. that "Terrorist" Ayers
Hart Williams puts a much clearer perspective than I've seen anywhere on the right-wingers' ravings about Barack Obama's "terrorist" friend, William Ayers, while ignoring completely McCain's relationship with Charles Keating:
John McCain was "palling around" with a convicted banking felon WHILE he was committing his felonies — which included the largest failure in US banking history to that time.Barack Obama was "palling around" with Chicago's "Citizen of the Year" for 1997 decades after he was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical response to the Nixonian excesses (like the Kent State massacre) of the 1960s.
The former is relevant and legitimate. Obama didn't take his family on vacations, free of charge, several years running at Ayers' private Carribbean estate. McCain didn't either: he took them at Keating's Carribbean estate.
I'm all for being completely fair in judging the two candidates, and both have skeletons in their closets. Find out more about McCain's very troubling skeletons here and Obama's somewhat troubling skeletons here (the Rezko thing is the only one that really bothers me).
Republicans are right now furiously forwarding slanderous emails about Obama, full of half-truths and spin. I know because I'm getting several of them a day from well-meaning friends and relatives. These people really believe that we are about to elect the Antichrist or a radical Muslim Manchurian candidate.
I'm going to say something here that might surprise you. I still have not made up my mind about how I will vote in this race.
If you are truly one of the undecided middle, as I am, and you're willing to listen to both sides, you can end up feeling like you're faced with making a choice between horse shit and bull crap. The amount of research required to discern which rumors are legitimate and which are Rovian lies is beyond my ability, as I am working two full-time jobs right now. I know that at a point I will have to weed out the peripheral noise and focus on something that really matters to me enough to cast that vote one way or the other.
That has been a very big challenge, and I still have not been able to do it. I am personally under tremendous pressure from my extended family to vote for McCain. I mean, there will be long-term consequences for me in terms of how they view my judgment and intellect if I vote for Obama because they really believe he will destroy this country and everything we care about (this typifies their feelings). He's the scariest thing since Freddy Kruger, after all. And if things go badly, which they will, of course, because we're in a very deep hole, they'll blame it all on him and I'll never live it down.
And as much as I have defended Obama here, you have to realize that I have never voted for a Democrat for major office in my life. But I've been dissatisfied with the GOP for a very long time. In fact, in every single presidential election since Reagan left office I have cast a protest vote for the major third party candidate because I couldn't stomach the Republican candidate. Still, I fear the far left as much as I fear the far right, and that fear prevents me from feeling good about a vote in either direction. The recent rumors about Obama's affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of Chicago trouble me. I've actually very seriously considered not voting at all, though that choice is also one I can't feel good about. I know it is time for me to grow up and choose a side, but as an independant, moderate person, that is not easy. So I'm asking you all to make your best case for me, one way or the other, as we head into the home stretch. I don't want to hear why not to vote for either one of them - I already know all those reasons. Convince me why I ought to vote for one of the two. Give me a reason to feel good on November 4.
Perhaps there is something to be said for people's resistance to seriously considering what the "other side" has to say. At least, in their ignorance, they can get a good night's sleep!
Posted by Becky at 08:16 AM |
October 09, 2008
Even Sizemore's Attorney Can't Defend His Spending
Oh, boy. You know it's bad when you're sitting in court and your attorney is telling the judge that he can't defend what you did because he isn't really sure whether it's legal or not, but at least he's sure it didn't violate a court order. That's exactly what happened yesterday in Sizemore's latest trial.
In his closing argument, Byrne said, "I'm not going to defend (Sizemore's) use of ATRF funds to pay family expenses. I don't know if that is a violation of the law."But, Byrne argued, it is not a violation of the injunction because none of the foundation money was given to Sizemore's initiative campaign committees. If only $14,000 was spent on the Web site, Byrne asked, where did the rest of the money go?
"We know where it went," Byrne answered himself. "It went to braces for his daughter. It went to Fred Meyer and to the gas station. It went to a lot of things. But none of it was a political contribution."
This is a fascinating development, because I know if Sizemore had been that obvious in spending money from the Oregon Taxpayers United Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3), he would have been in big trouble, and even he knew that. Of course, he knew he could get away with lying to contributors about how he spent their money when it was given to his petitioning company - on a swimming pool, remodeling, etc. And he knew he could get away with lying to friends and fellow church members years ago when he took their investments in his toy company and used it to buy a nice piece of property on which he built his family a house and a fishing pond. So this is the same ol', same ol'.
Sizemore's new foundation, American Tax Research Foundation, is registered as a "Domestic Non-Profit Corporation" in Nevada. Nevada's rules for Non-Profit Corporations can be found here. I doubt Sizemore is technically a voting "member" of the corporation, otherwise his dipping into the funds would be a blatant violation of law. So as I read the statutes, the real problem here is the proportion of ATRF's money that is being spent by Sizemore on personal expenses, as opposed to the amount being spent educating the public, which is the supposed purpose of the organization. It is clear to me and just about every other person whose head isn't buried in the partisan sand that this is another Sizemore "sham charity."
It's more than annoying to think that a couple of millionaires - Loren Parks and Dick Wendt - are avoiding paying their share of taxes by donating money to this sham charity and deducting those donations on their income taxes, when all the charity serves to do is pay Sizemore for, as he puts it, "a lot of pondering and thinking about public policy in general" while he "volunteers" as a ballot measure writer and signature-gathering organizer.
And let's not overlook the fact that Mr. Compulsive Liar Sizemore came up with another whopper when explaining to the Court why he needed to use AFTR money to buy a timeshare in Mexico:
Sizemore said use of such apartments had to be arranged well in advance and he saw this as a way to force the ATRF board to set a date for its annual meeting.Under questioning by Hartman, he acknowledged that only he and his wife have used the apartment and that the board meeting could just as easily be held in Klamath Falls.
It never ceases to amuse me how incapable Sizemore is of seeing - or maybe caring - how badly he humiliates himself with his constant lies. Polite society has allowed that to continue, because nobody want to look a grown man in the eye and say, "Are you freaking serious?" He's been playing people for fools all his adult life. I had a feeling the guy was incapable of changing his spots, and it looks like I was right.
Posted by Becky at 10:04 AM |
October 08, 2008
McCain calls for SECRET invasion of Pakistan
I know it sounds hard to believe. Luckily I TIVO'd last night's Presedential Debate so I was able to replay the moment. Yep, that's what Senator John McCain proposed (though not in those words) "the SECRET invasion of Pakistan".
First he derided Barack O'Bama for suggesting that U.S. troops should cross the border from Afganistan into Pakistan in pursuit of Usamah Bin Laden if the Pakistanis were unable or unwilling to take action. Then he rambled on about Teddy Roosevelt's adage to "speak softly, but carry a big stick".
The trouble is, McCain had already made it clear he would NOT sit down and "speak softly" with anyone he considers our enemy. So all that leaves is the "big stick".
The "big stick" is obviously U.S. Military intervention (in this case invasion of Pakistani sovereign territory).
But he was also deriding Barack O'Bama for talking about crossing the border PUBLICLY. Saying he (McCain) wouldn't "telegraph his punches".
Since McCain had previously stated he would chase Bin Laden "to the Gates of Hell", the obvious conclusion is that he too would chase Bin Laden across the border, but he would do so SECRETLY!
My conclusion: Senator John McCain advocated the SECRET invasion of Pakistan in pursuit of Usamah Bin Laden and Al-Queda (and the Taliban too, plus other unnamed enemies of the U.S.) at last night's Presedential Debate.
I would like to point out to the Senator that President Richard Nixon's SECRET invasion of Cambodia durng the Vietnam War was one of the Articles of Impeachment passed by the House of Representatives. What's more, the SECRET invasion of Cambodia (promoted by Dr. Henry Kissinger) led the World Court to INDICT Kissinger for WAR CRIMES.
I wonder what other sovereign nations Senator John McCain would advocate invading SECRETLY?
Posted by Mac at 11:32 AM |
Pushing My Paranoia Buttons
A couple of things have pushed my paranoia buttons this week in terms of our seemingly escalating move toward a heavily "big brother" government and perhaps even the proverbial "new world order."
First, let me quote French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking about "real and complete reform of the international financial system":
"We want a new world to come out of this."
I immediately thought of the first President Bush's now infamous September 11, 1990 "New World Order" speech (11 years to the day before 9/11), in which the phrase was first uttered publicly. The effort to accomplish this new world was mapped out by the Project for the New American Century, also known colloquially as PNAC, a group which, prior to 9/11, felt that "a new Pearl Harbor" was needed to push America in the desired direction.
Moving on, last night's second presidential debate didn't make me feel a whole lot better. Barack Obama disappointed me with his tired and vague campaign stump speech rhetoric, which was little better in my opinion than that offered up by John McCain. The Drudge Report's main headline this morning was "BORING," which about sums it up. But on the matter of health care, both candidates said something that pushed my paranoia button and made me sit up and take notice.
Obama: "We're going to work with your employer to lower the cost of your premiums by up to $2,500 a year... We're going to do it by making sure that we use information technology so that medical records are actually on computers instead of you filling forms out in triplicate when you go to the hospital."
McCain: "And we need to do all of the things that are necessary to make it more efficient. Let's put health records online..."
I'm sorry, but I don't want my health records computerized and accessible online. That's very private stuff and none of the government's business.
Here's a little bonus reading for those who don't see a problem:
Public Mistrust of Government Collection, Use, and Protection of Personal Information
Have a nice day!
Posted by Becky at 09:42 AM |
October 06, 2008
Palin resorts to using Tucker Eskew's dirty tricks
I've been wondering when and where we'd see the grimy smudge of Tucker Eskew's fingerprints come to the fore in the Presidential campaign ever since McCain shocked former officials of his 2000 campaign by hiring Eskew to work for Sarah Palin.
You'll recall that in 2000 Tucker Eskew and pals propagated the depraved racist rumor that McCain's adopted Bengali daughter Bridget McCain was actually African-American, with the implication that she was the product of an extramarital affair McCain allegedly had with a black woman and which he should therefore be ashamed of. Eskew's ploy was a desperate attempt on behalf of George W. Bush to regain momentum from McCain after Bush's loss in New Hampshire by appealing to the racist views of South Carolina Evangelicals. But it was also a preview of the tactics Eskew would resort to post-9/11 as a communication strategist for the Bush/Cheney administration.
After withdrawing from the 2000 race McCain gave an interview to Dad Magazine in which he stated the belief that "there is a special place in hell for people like those" who resort to such tactics.
It was with a sense of grim irony that we finally saw the distinctive Eskew fingerprints yesterday in a Palin speech falsely claiming that Obama pals around with terrorists. The Obama campaign's response eerily echoes McCain's own denouncements after feeling the sting of Eskew's racist rumors in 2000.
"No wonder his campaign's announced a plan to turn a page on the financial crisis, distract with dishonest, dishonorable assaults against Barack Obama," the ad says. "Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy and we can't afford another president who's this out of touch."
Writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's reader blogs, Rand Koler succinctly describes the desperate situation McCain/Palin find themselves in.
The only course left to him is the road most traveled by his predecessors. His camp must forage in the past for bromides used by Reagan to rally support and engage in the sleazy practice of demagoguery, fear and hate mongering. The self described "mavericks" have leaped into perhaps the oldest political cesspool.Sarah Palin this weekend has been shrieking that Obama associates with terrorists and is not a real American. CNN looked into these "charges" and found them utterly without merit. It seems a bit odd to dignify such things with inquiry but I applaud CNN's acceptance of the role of responsible medium and refusal to be a propaganda organ.
I trust that, as the McCain camp embraces its end justifying the means abandonment of integrity, that other media will follow CNN's lead and not give demagoguery the appearance of legitimacy by merely reporting its as news.
Tucker Eskew was Assistant Press Secretary for Reagan/Bush '84.
The Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva wonders whether this is merely a failed test-balloon by Palin "testing limits of campaign decency" or just the beginning of it. I suspect it's just the beginning of it.
Apparently John McCain intends to be serving Tucker Eskew iced tea in that "special place in hell."
Posted by Kevin at 08:44 AM |
October 05, 2008
An American Carol
I had not heard anything about the movie "An American Carol" before I went to see it this weekend. Apparently, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have been urging people to go see it, but I don't listen to them, so I was unaware of that. I also did not know it had Bill O'Reilly in it. I knew it made fun of Michael Moore, but because it was one of those David Zucker spoof films, I thought it would be funny, and everyone ought to be lampooned now and then just to keep them humble.
I don't think I have ever been so disgusted at having wasted money on a movie in my life. I wouldn't have minded the right-wing bias if it had been funny. But after the first five minutes, it wasn't funny at all. It was, in fact, painfully not funny. Nor was it at all clever. It was brain-dead right-wing bull crap, mindlessly dismissive of the other side at a kindergarden level, and the crap just kept getting shoveled deeper and deeper until I thought I was going to suffocate in it.
One would expect any intelligent right-winger to be thoroughly insulted by this garbage, but apparently there are scant few intelligent right-wingers out there. A quick skimming of the conservative blogs this morning confirmed my worst fears about these people - they are raving about this movie (see an Oregon example here). If ever there was proof that the wing nuts are zombies and nearly entirely devoid of a funny bone, this movie is it. It is so bad you have to wonder if the people who made it were trying to make Republicans look utterly stoopid, except the actors in the movie are known to be Republicans!
The only reason I sat through it to the end was because I was absolutely too dumbfounded to move. On the maddeningly idiotic scale, it topped Bill O'Reilly's collection of trite garbage in his book "Culture Warrior" by a mile.
I didn't think that was possible, either, but trust me, it is.
Though I still don't feel I've gotten my profound frustration off my chest, I think I have sufficiently set the stage for the sad conclusion to which I have been drawn: it is now clear to me that the Right Wing is the most narrow-minded, non-thinking, unsophisticated bunch of human robots ever to walk the face of the earth.
Posted by Becky at 06:15 PM |
Guest Essay: Is Horsesh*t Presidential?
Is Horsesh*t Presidential?
By Sankara Saranam
I've played and replayed, over and over, what should be an infamous segment from last week’s presidential debate. You know, the one where Obama was describing John McCain as the go-it-alone guy who wouldn't even meet with the leader of Spain, a member of NATO.
Under his breath, John mumbles "horsesh*t" twice.
It takes me back to my summer camp days, at the Lake of the Ozarks. We were a bunch of rowdy teens. We could hardly sit still for a moment. It happened again and again. School bus stops. Counselor stands up. Our ears are pummeled with a lecture on how important it is for us to behave in public places. And half a dozen times during the speech, we mumble-cough "bullsh*t." We couldn’t even behave while being told to behave! The counselor is perplexed. Why are the campers laughing so uproariously?
The mumble-cough was something that took practice. John McCain has it down. He hardly needs the cough.
My defense? I was 13.
Obama noticed. You can see a slight glare in his eyes as he looks toward McCain while concluding his criticism of the elderly senator, who apparently mistook the debate hall for a summer camp school bus.
The counselors that were smart to our antics called us clowns. "Stop clowning around!" they'd yell. So I guess the question is: Is McCain the clown people are seriously considering to fill the highest office in our country?
Because McCain's mumble isn't the only thing that's malarkey about his bid for the presidency. The moose muck started piling with his vice-presidential pick and apexes into a mountain of tiger turds with the feigned pause to his campaign to save the fat cats who’ve been dropping on the American people ever since the bankers seized the government's power to issue money.
And there’s another thing that's ordure: the silence from the moralizing right wing. Shouldn't its members be scathingly complaining, "If this is the way a senator running for president feels free to behave, then how are American fathers and mothers going to tell their kids to stop mumbling 'horsesh*t' when reprimanding their children?"
For the record, McCain does horsesh*t a great disservice. My Palomino drops some wonderfully aromatic and useful dung. McCain's attitude toward Spain, Iraq, and the rest of the world just plain stinks.
______________________________________________
Sankara Saranam is the author of the
multi-award winning title God Without Religion
Posted by Kevin at 03:09 PM |
October 03, 2008
Your Laugh for the Day - Or Not
Knowing Bill Sizemore, even he is probably chuckling at this new website.
He probably isn't laughing at Jeff Alworth's latest post at Blue Oregon.
And I certainly wasn't laughing when I read about the close to $1 million he's managed to con out of a couple of millionaires in the last couple of years and, apparently, put into his own pocket without paying what he owes to the unions. It's not funny simply because he is making an absolute mockery of our justice system. How can this be allowed to continue?
Posted by Becky at 01:54 PM |
Polls: Independents and Undecideds say Biden won
Pick your poll. Every one of them that I've seen give the win decisively to Biden.
Yes, Palin performed well in comparison to her controversial TV interviews. But I see very little evidence that her performance last night resonated much outside the GOP base... and the GOP base simply do not have the numbers to win this election on their own. Which is why the perceptions of Independents and undecided voters is the real story here.
Claims by talking heads that a tie - which the debate was widely seen as - translates into a win for Palin. But the polls say otherwise.
All of that said, I don't see this debate changing the outcome of this race. Obama has a narrow lead and I expect that trend will continue.
I do have one small lingering concern about Palin's performance last night.
Palin exceeded the trainwreck expectations that her Couric interviews had stoked. And that has been cited as a key basis for why she "held her own" against Biden - and thus was the co-winner last night. But what does that say about how capable women are if merely avoiding another trainwreck is the bar by which their gender is judged? I mean, isn't that an incredibly patronizing, chauvinistic criteria?
Posted by Kevin at 09:55 AM |
October 01, 2008
Borrow-and-spend Republicans in Congress holding nation hostage
By all accounts, imprudent borrowing and naked greed are at the root of what created the current financial crisis.
As the Senate panders to Congressional Republicans - hoping to entice a bare majority to vote for the bailout package - they have inevitably sought compromise.
The new approach, announced Tuesday night by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would tack large and contentious tax measures to the bailout bill. Senate leaders figure the House will have to approve it because the tax cuts are too appealing to Republicans and the financial rescue plan will still seem essential to most Democrats.
As much as Republicans love tax cuts, that by itself just wasn't enough. Oh no! Republicans wanted the tax cuts but didn't want to have to pay for them. So, provisions to pay for the bulk of the tax cuts with spending cut offsets were stripped out to please borrow-and-spend Republicans.
In a compromise worked out with Republicans, the bill does not pay for the AMT and disaster provisions but does have revenue offsets for part of the energy and extension measures.
WTF???
How is borrow-and-spend politicking somehow fiscally conservative, much less fiscally responsible at a time when our children are facing record national deficits already?
And, not to let Dems completely off the hook here..., how insulated from rank and file Americans must Senator Schumer (D NY) be to praise the compromise as "a brilliant move"? It may be politically brilliant but is it really in the nation's best interests? I don't see how.
Posted by Kevin at 12:47 PM |