Inspire Emotion

Not Politics Anymore and a Moral Conundrum

Once upon a time (1999 or so) I had a friend who was a racist. We had not been friends for long, but she knew how I felt about racism, so she never showed me her own until one evening at a local pub, as we were enjoying burgers and drinks. I don't remember precisely what she said, but it was something that was clearly racist.

Yeah, she was drinking, but that's no excuse. And, in fact, that she said it out loud wasn't the issue. What mattered, of course, was that she viewed people as "us and them", and that she considered the "them" part of the equation to be less than the "us".

One more day and more conservative endorsements for Obama

I feel like a pregnant cat ready to have her kittens at any minute. I have never had so much of my emotional well-being invested in any election, ever. 

Whatever you do, do not neglect to vote tomorrow. This. election. is. too. important. And please, please, please - NO write-ins, and forget about Bob Barr and Ralph Nadar. Throwing your vote away is silly, and it isn't like there isn't a huge difference between Obama and McCain. You aren't making a valid point if you do this, and even if you were, no one will care. Cast your vote wisely -- this.election.matters!

ELECTION NEWS - and whatever.......
► Racists for Obama [.....] A few weeks ago I had a conversation (on a forum) with a racist anti-semite over his disgusting predilection for selling Nazi memorabilia such as concentration camp armbands on online auction sites. He insinuated that he might be voting for Obama because he hates Palin more (for killing wolves). It struck me as very odd. On the other hand, a racist anti-semite thrives on hatred, so it should not really be surprising that he would vote based on whom he hates less.
► Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, died today. It makes me sad to realize that neither his mother nor she lived to see him win the presidency. RIP, Ms. Dunham.
► This is arguably the most important election in American history. [.....]
► Palin ramps up rhetoric, suggesting that Obama thinks terrorists are the "good guys". &*$%**$&!!!
► The RNC leaves no avenue of attack un-spun, and goes after Obama for his visit to his dying grandmother. Pathetic losers.
► Josh Simmons, Gators for McCain (1000+ members) chairman at U of Florida, resigned his post on Sunday, and endorsed Obama, stating “I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for.”
► The states to watch for early indications tomorrow night are Virginia and Pennsylvania. In Virginia, the polls close at 7pm EST. If Obama wins Virginia, it is close to a sure win. If he takes Pennsylvania, where polls close at 8pm EST, it will be almost impossible for McCain to win. If McCain wins Pennsylvania, it will be a very long night.
► Unbelievable. This is from Oct 28, but I just ran across it. McCain's biggest lie - (bolding & text enlargement mine) “Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, today accused his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, and the entire Democratic Party of being “too stupid to govern America,” citing as proof their falling for the many outrageous lies deliberately planted in his and running mate Sarah Palin’s public utterances to test their intellectual acuity.
“Of course that one [Obama] doesn’t pal around with terrorists,” McCain explained. “Of course, he isn’t a Muslim or Muslim sympathizer. Of course, his tax plan doesn’t punish the middle class. Of course he isn’t a socialist. Those were just booby-traps we set to see if they were smart enough to tell the difference between the truth and a whopper. And over and over again, they’ve flunked this vital test of savvy. They’re so dumb they think we meant it!”
► Palin's problem in separating family from governance includes billing the state of Alaska for her children's travel, and making her husband her chief advisor.
► More evidence from Harper's Magazine of McCain's relationship with Khalidi
► Biden mocks the "Maverick Twins" in Daytona Beach 
► Dick Cheney's hometown paper in Wyoming, the Casper Star-Tribune, switched to Obama. [.....]
► A former speechwriter for both Reagan and Nixon endorses Obama, stating “One thing I know is that both Nixon and Reagan would have agreed with Obama’s speech against the Iraq War… But all the organs of the conservative movement followed Bush over the cliff—as did John McCain.” [.....]
► Yesterday, at an airport hangar rally in Columbus, Ohio, the wing-nut Palin had some advice for Tina Fey: “Now speaking of great performances, did anyone catch John McCain last night on SNL — 'Saturday Night Live?' He was such a pro in those skits there with Tina Fey. And little advise [sic] for Tina—we want her to make sure that she’s holding on to that Sarah outfit because she’s gonna need it in the next four years.”
► Starbucks is giving out free coffee tomorrow. After you've cast your vote, head for a Starbucks and tell them that you voted --- you'll get a cup of  great java on the house.

RECENT and RELATED POSTS: ¶ = most popular posts

¶ Notable Republican/Conservative Endorsements of Barack Obama
| McCain on SNL and the Obama Ad on Cheney Endorsement of McCain
| Media Criticism of Palin Threatens Her Right to Free Speech?
| Ron Reagan Endorses Barack Obama
| Obama Interview on The Daily Show - Jon Stewart
| Former Reagan Chief of Staff Endorses Obama
| Edgar M. Bronfman Sr. Endorses Barack Obama
| State Challenges to Roe Vs Wade Disguised - Proposition 4 - Measure 11 - Amendment 48
| McCain and Bush - On the Economy, Two Pieces Cut From the Same Cloth
| McCain Campaign took $51,400 from Charles Keating law firm - including from Keating's own nephew
| Francis Fukuyama, the Original Neocon, Endorses Obama
|The Economist Endorses Barack Obama

State Challenges to Roe Vs Wade Disguised - Proposition 4 - Measure 11 - Amendment 48

If you are pro-choice and live in California, Colorado or South Dakota, please help to defeat these ballot initiatives for they will eventually affect women nationwide.

The pro-life crowd may ever more frequently be heard saying "I'm pro-choice, but I believe that it should be decided by the states." Can you say "bait and switch" twice rapidly?  That is exactly what defines this statement, and here is why.

Local organizers have been busy at work pushing to get direct challenges to Roe Vs Wade on state ballots. Currently, three states have measures on their ballots which directly attack pro-choice.

Colorado is the most dangerous of the three as a challenge to Roe Vs Wade, and to the rights of women in the state of Colorado. Additionally, if Amendment 48 passes, women in Colorado may find it difficult to utilize certain types of contraception, fertility  and related treatments, thus affecting not only those who are pro-choice and wish to have an abortion, but affecting any woman who simply wishes to use contraception, etc., even the pro-life crowd.

The stewards of Measure 11 and Amendment 48 created these ballot initiatives in the knowledge that they will be challenged. They are gambling that when a challenge occurs, the Supreme Court will have enough conservative (via McCain selections) judges to overturn Roe Vs Wade.

1. California - Proposition 4 | would limit but not ban abortion by requiring parental notification for minors. ["Proposition 4 is endorsed by Americans United for Life, among others. This is an organization that has worked to slowly erode women's access to abortion care with bills that limit available abortion methods after 12 to 13 weeks of pregnancy; require waiting periods, biased counseling, and ultrasound viewings prior to an abortion; create burdensome and medically unnecessary regulations for abortion clinics; assert that fetuses feel pain during an abortion; and allow health care employees to refuse to counsel, refer, or treat patients for any service to which they object. In other words, Americans United for Life and its allies favor laws that make it exceptionally hard to get an abortion--through cost, distance, stigma, and delay--but do not explicitly ban abortion."  ........]
2. South Dakota - Measure 11 | would ban abortion except under very limited circumstances
3. Colorado - Amendment 48 | Would create a definition of a fertilized egg as a person, resulting in severe restrictions on access to abortion, fertility treatments, birth control, and stem cell research.

Videos after the jump.

McCain and Bush - On the Economy, Two Pieces Cut From the Same Cloth

A New York Times video says it all.

RELATED POSTS: ¶ = most popular posts

| Francis Fukuyama, the Original Neocon, Endorses Obama
|The Economist Endorses Barack Obama
¶ Notable Republican/Conservative Endorsements of Barack Obama
¶ More Conservatives/Republicans Jump Ship - Endorse Obama
¶ More Endorsements of Obama by Republicans/Conservatives
| Ken Adelman, a Neocon for Neocons, Endorses Barack Obama. Huge.
| Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama
| Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, and Andy Griffith Request Five Minutes of Your Time......
| A lifelong Republican notes: "I voted American - for Barack Obama" | The Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama
| Editorial: Why I am voting for Barack Obama

McCain Campaign took $51,400 from Charles Keating law firm - including from Keating's own nephew

From Political Base:

Twenty years later and John McCain (R) is still lining his campaign pockets with contributions associated with Charles Keating, who you'll recall was Cindy McCain's business partner prior to the infamous Keating Five scandal which tarnished McCain's own political career.

On July 31, 2008, campaign finance records show that McCain accepted more than $50,000 in contributions from 41 partners of the Cincinnati law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp. As the name suggests, the firm was founded by Charles Keating. Among the partners who contributed was none other than Keating's nephew, William J. Keating, Jr..

There was no McCain fundraiser in the Cincinnati area on or around July 31st, so it appears that someone was bundling these contributions, yet no one from the Keating firm is listed among McCain's disclosure of bundlers of $50,000 or more. Was McCain reluctant to list someone from the law firm that Charles Keating founded as a bundler?

For a list of the contributions by donor and amount, click here.

RECENT and RELATED ARTICLES | POSTS: ¶ = most popular posts

| Francis Fukuyama, the Original Neocon, Endorses Obama
|The Economist Endorses Barack Obama
¶ Notable Republican/Conservative Endorsements of Barack Obama
| Cindy McCain's Business Relationship With Charles Keating and Why She Must Disclose Her Finances
¶ Cindy McCain and the Keating Five: the Unethical McCain Family
¶ John McCain, Deregulation and the Keating Five - Public Amnesia and the Truth

Francis Fukuyama, the Original Neocon, Endorses Obama

Francis Fukuyama, a prominent academic and an impassioned and early defender of neoconservatism, has endorsed Barack Obama for President, stating his case in the November 3 issue of The American Conservative magazine. Fukuyama cited Palin as a primary reason:

“McCain’s appeal was always that he could think for himself, but as the campaign has progressed, he has seemed simply erratic and hotheaded. His choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was highly irresponsible; we have suffered under the current president who entered office without much knowledge of the world and was easily captured by the wrong advisers. McCain’s lurching from Reaganite free- marketer to populist tribune makes one wonder whether he has any underlying principles at all.”

Conservative columnist, George Will, calls out McCain and defends Obama

Mr. Will calls out McCain on campagin finances, and his choice of Sarah Palin. He terms him "careless" and worse. He also ever so neatly ties him to Bush.  Related article.

More good news from McCain the deregulator

Big surprise. NOT. Palin announced today that if McCain were to be elected, he has no plans to regulate greenhouse gasses, and will not obey the Supreme Court decision that labels carbon dioxide a pollutant and requires the EPA to regulate it. He is such a ........

Editorial: Why I am voting for Barack Obama

The issues are important. And in almost all cases, I agree with Obama's policy statements on how specific issues should be addressed. Not that I would expect to agree with all of any one individual's ideas..

But, there are other reasons that I will vote for Obama that are not about specific issues, but are just as compelling, and perhaps more so. For in the end, it is the character and intellect of the man who holds the office that matters most.

McCain and Palin throw Palin's mentor under the proverbial bus

Senator Ted Stevens, the eighty-four-year-old Republican senator for Alaska, was indicted yesterday on seven corruption charges for his dealings with big oil company, VECO. He is running for re-election this year, and becoming a convicted felon does not prevent him from continuing on.

Yesterday, Palin sort of tiptoed around a direct hit on her mentor, Ted Stevens:

Firefighters Pour Water on McCain's Healthcare Plan

Hmmm............I wonder if the McCain camp will call these guys 'socialists'? 

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RECENT and RELATED POSTS: ¶ = most popular posts

| GOP Senator Chuck Hagel on the Palin Pick
¶ Sarah Palin wants to create a constitutional amendment to ban this.
| Max and the Marginalized on Hatred at McCain/Palin Rallies
¶ Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, and Andy Griffith Request Five Minutes of Your Time......
| The Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama
| A lifelong Republican notes: "I voted American - for Barack Obama" | Palin is a diva, according to a McCain adviser.
¶ Ken Adelman, a Neocon for Neocons, Endorses Barack Obama. Huge.
¶ Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama
¶ Notable Republican/Conservative Endorsements of Barack Obama
¶ Palin Indicates Support for a Constitutional Marriage Amendment

GOP Senator Chuck Hagel on the Palin Pick

Senator Chuck Hagel's unspoken refusal to endorse John McCain (In December 2007, McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, did request him to endorse and campaign with McCain in the upcoming primaries.), who is a longtime friend of Hagel's, has to have frustrated Senator McCain¹. Today, The New Yorker Magazine has likely added to that frustration in the publishing of a series of interviews with Senator Hagel. The piece was published in the November 3 issue of the magazine, and is online now.

In reading the article, it is very clear that Hagel, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations along with Senator Biden, does not appear to support any of McCain's foreign policy statements. Rather, Hagel's views clearly support Obama on all of the significant foreign policy issues. On the other hand, this shouldn't really come as a surprise.........Hagel has repeatedly praised Obama.

Regarding McCain's choice of Governor Palin as the vice-presidential candidate, and on the type of campaign that McCain has been running, Senator Hagel was not complimentary. From The New Yorker:

Hagel said, he’s been “very disappointed” by McCain’s campaign. “He gave one unifying speech and then has spent fifty million dollars to destroy his opponent.” Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. “I don’t believe she’s qualified to be President of the United States,” Hagel told me. “The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is—and I don’t think John made a very good selection.” He scoffed at McCain’s attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. “To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia—and that she’s commander of the Alaska National Guard.” He added, “There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America.”
For Hagel, almost as disturbing as Palin’s lack of experience is her willingness—in disparaging remarks about Joe Biden’s long Senate career, for example—to belittle the notion that experience is important.

It is a lengthy article, but well worth reading, especially if you are still an undecided voter.

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¹ Senator Hagel's wife, Lilibet Hagel, endorsed Senator Obama on October 7, 2008.

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Max and the Marginalized on Hatred at McCain/Palin Rallies

Song "Hounds" by Max and the Marginalized.

Hounds

For the lyrics to "Hounds", click here.

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The Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama

The Anchorage Daily News, the largest and most important newspaper in Alaska,  endorsed Barack Obama today. stating that while many Alaskan's are proud that Governor Palin is on the Republican ticket, it does not overwhelm all other considerations. From the Anchorage Daily News:

Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.  Continue reading ....

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A lifelong Republican notes: "I voted American - for Barack Obama"

An American/Republican comments on a UK article (bolding is mine):

“As a life-long Republican, one who even went so far as to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Indiana primary at the urging of Rush Limbaugh, I am telling you we are outraged that our donations to the campaign have been wasted, and further that McCain has introduced race into this election.
This may well be the week that Mr. McCain finally succeeded in sinking his own ship.
The early voting period has already started in the USA, and today, after all these years voting Republican, I voted American -- for Barack Obama. Not only that, but I sent his campaign some money.”