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".

Ron Reagan Endorses Barack Obama

President Ronald Reagan's son endorses Obama.

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| A lifelong Republican notes: "I voted American - for Barack Obama" | The Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama

Former Reagan Chief of Staff Endorses Obama

Yet another Republican gone astray. Ken Duberstein told CNN this week that Colin Powell had an influence on his decision.

“Well let's put it this way - I think Colin Powell's decision is in fact the good housekeeping seal of approval on Barack Obama.”

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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.

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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.”

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:

Top McCain advisor calls Palin a "whack job".

The McCain campaign has been talking to the press, off the record, about their ongoing adventures with Governor Palin. 

In previous discussions with CNN, they termed Palin a "diva", and today, Politico's Mike Allen reports that a top McCain advisor called Palin a "whack job".  Priceless.

And just what did they think we were all whining about from the beginning? 

Update: Palin appears to be attempting to throw one of McCain's top aides, Nicolle Wallace, under the Straight Talk Express. And, according to the campaign, Palin has a) developed quite a rep for shopping on the campaign trail, and b), she does not like criticism. Barracuda = Diva?

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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Sarah Palin wants to create a constitutional amendment to ban this.

Palin supports a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage by defining marriage as "between one man and one woman".

How is it that this hurts Sarah Palin or anyone else? And why should her religious beliefs become a part of our Constitution? 
From Deepak Chopra (bolding is mine):

“The rest of the country is watching to see if a ballot measure in California, Proposition 8, will ban gay marriage in that state. Since June California has legalized same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut. The court decision that paved the way for this change outraged the usual groups. Social conservatives and various religious groups, including a massive influx of money from the Mormon Church in Utah, are campaigning heavily for Prop 8 to pass. One wonders what business it is of theirs. Marriage has its public side, but given the sharp decline in marriage since the Seventies, what precious institution are they protecting?
If the answer is that a sacrament is at stake, these religious groups have no business interjecting their beliefs into public policy. Various religions traditionally ban the eating of pork, shellfish, and meat on Friday, but we don't allow those strictures to govern policy.”

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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.”

Palin is a diva, according to a McCain adviser.

CNN spoke to sources in the McCain and campaign and reported today that there is dissension between the campaign staffers and Palin, with spillover in to the public arena.  There is only a little over a week until the election, and this could be the kiss of death. From the CNN report: