Does Barack Obama Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?

I was really excited to hear who the Norwegian Nobel Committee would choose today to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Would it be Three Cups of Tea author and Afghanistan and Pakistan builder of schools for girls Greg Mortenson (see my post on Greg here)? Or Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Congolese gynecologist who has repaired the damage done to 21,000 gang raped women and given them hope? Both were incredibly deserving and could certainly put the $1.4 million prize money to good use helping women and girls.

President Obama at UN Security Council Meeting in September 2009 (Doug Mills, NY Times)

I was as stunned as anyone to learn upon waking today that President Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee received 205 nominations and created a short list of between 5 and 20 nominees. A group of academics who are permanent advisers to the Nobel Institute examined these candidates, gave their input, and the committee made the final decision. They had this to say about why they awarded President Obama the prize:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had this to say about President Obama’s win:

We are entering an era of renewed multilateralism, a new era where the challenges facing humankind demand global common cause and uncommon global effort. President Obama embodies the new spirit of dialogue and engagement on the world’s biggest problems: climate change, nuclear disarmament and a wide range of peace and security challenges.

There are many naysayers, though…mostly in the U.S….who ask what has he done to deserve this prestigious prize? After all, he’s only been president for 9 months. Go back even to the over two-year election period and you can see him already at work as a peacemaker. Some examples?

• John McCain called him “that one” in an election debate and Obama turned the other cheek and did not react. He has been very gracious toward McCain and included him in many high-value decisions since he’s been president.
• Hillary Clinton was snide and mocked Obama repeatedly during the election and Obama never responded in kind toward her. After her vitriol (and Bill’s) toward him, he had the grace to ask her to be his secretary of state.
• Throughout all the Bill Ayers, Reverend Wright, and Acorn debaucles and Palin hate mongering rallies, Obama said repeatedly that he trusted the American people to see what was really important and not to get sidetracked or misled.

Not once did he let all of the ugliness directed at him cause him to act ugly in return. Many people saw him as weak and thought he surely would not win the election because he didn’t go on the attack, but the American people decided they wanted someone who was peaceful, positive, and projected a quiet calm.

Besides how he conducted himself during the campaign, President Obama, in just a few short months has already done a lot to promote peace. A few of his efforts include:

• A commitment to nuclear disarmament even in the face of North Korea’s threats and launching missiles
• Meeting with President Dmitri Medvedev to begin repairing relations with Russia
• Meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan to improve relations between their countries
• Giving a major speech aimed at the Muslim world in Cairo where he spoke of a fresh start and a new relationship based on mutual respect and understanding
• Working to restart peace talks by meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine

President Obama’s spoke this morning about this honor; here are some of his remarks:

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I’ve said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won’t all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award — and the call to action that comes with it — does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

President Obama will go to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10. He has announced that he will donate the prize money to charity.

Kenyan Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said:

Many people are waiting for miracles, when miracles have already happened. The getting of the senator into the Senate, the way he conducted his campaign, the way he won… In America it may not look as big a thing as it was to the rest of the world, the hope and the aspiration it provides for the rest of the world.

Think back to election night and inauguration day. Barack Obama…even before he became president…lifted not only the American people, but people all over the world. He gave them hope, he made them believe again in decency, respectfulness, dignity, honor, honesty, openness, civility, inclusiveness, and the power of trusting and communicating with people all over the world. To me, these are the hallmarks of what creating peace is all about.

Alfred Nobel stated in his will that he wanted the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to…

the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.

Does Barack Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? For me…and the committee upholding Alfred Nobel’s wishes…the answer is YES, he does. I cannot think of a single other person who is more the active embodiment of what Alfred Nobel sought in a peacemaker worthy of this award. Congratulations, President Obama and thank you for your example and your peaceful tone as a man and as our president.

Here’s Geir Lundestad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, speaking to senior editor Simon Frantz about why President Obama was chosen for this high honor.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/nobel-prize-to-obama-defe_n_316098.html

A Brand New Day – The Inauguration of Barack Obama

Instead of a rah-rah campaign speech, Barack Obama’s inaugural address was one of a leader during difficult times…sobering, direct, forceful, confident, and often parental.

Instead of trying to make us feel good, he spoke to us honestly about the challenges ahead and of how we must all do our part. The massive crowd seemed a bit stunned. They were in a party mood and wanted to cheer during his speech. They had a few opportunities…but mostly listened somberly to his call to each of them…to each of us. If you didn’t see or hear the speech…or just want to watch it again, here it is.

 

The interviews with people who came to the inauguration were heart-warming and tear-producing. They each had a personal story to tell of why they had to come to the inauguration, no matter the hardships in getting there or the discomfort of standing in 15 degree cold for hours.

Barack and Michelle…now the President and First Lady…and Vice President and Mrs. Biden showed courage (another trait of leaders) in walking several blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue on a day when many feared for their safety.

Obama was gracious in thanking Bush for his service, but appropriately did not gush and did not mention Cheney. The sight of Cheney bowed in a wheelchair…the formerly all powerful vice president…now not able to walk on his own two feet seemed apropos. The sight of Bush leaving in a government helicopter while the crowd booed and sang “Na Na Na Na, Goodbye” also seemed apropos. The two war criminals were diminished and dismissed by a people eager to get on with forgetting the destruction they left behind.

Senator Kennedy, even with brain cancer, looked fit and delighted as he took his seat in the viewing stand at the swearing in…and later suffered a seizure at lunch. He, like so many of us, was so moved by Obama that he put his own (health) issues to the side and showed up, which is what Obama is asking us all to do.

Malia and Sasha were poised and charming and their mother Michelle was beautiful, elegant, lovely, graceful, and supportive. Barack was intimate with his wife and children and made the day as much about them as it was about him.

The planning of the day was superlative…except that more wiggle room could have been built into the schedule. It was a beautiful day, a memorable day, a joyful day, and a day to remember.

Celebrities such as Beyonce (beautifully and tearfully singing “At Last” as the Obamas danced their first dance), Alicia Keys, Oprah and Steadman, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Will.I.Am (he of the incredible video that contributed so much to the campaign), Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill, Usher, and so many more were thrilled to participate in the day and at the balls. Aretha Franklin sang “My Country Tis of Thee” masterfully during the swearing in ceremony.

Barack Obama brought change today…to our country, our minds, and our hearts. I leave you with Will.I.Am singing a song so appropriate for the day…”It’s a New Day”…a day an African American became the most powerful person in the world and moved into the WHITE House…built on the backs of black slaves.

Bushwhacked No More…A Country Breathes Again and a People are Lifted

Bush. Lies and cover-ups. An unnecessary and costly war. Ignoring the American people. Authorizing torture. Dragging our country down. Besmirching our global reputation and moral character. That smirk. That goofy look. Those gaffes. In about 11 hours from now it ends. A primal scream of joy will be heard round the world when this presidential impostor finally leaves office. We can breathe a sigh of relief.

I feel that this moment is like the movie title “Waiting to Exhale.” We’ve been waiting a long time, wondering just what else Bush and Cheney would screw up. Would they thrust us into another war? Have more people tortured or renditioned? Give several more 100 billion dollars to banks or auto makers or insurance companies without any oversight?

In 11 hours we can all let go of those worries. Barack Obama will be our new president. He is a man of character, a family man, someone who listens to others (even those who have opposing opinions), an uniter, an incredibly intelligent man, eloquent, inspiring, confident, a transformational figure. He has chosen and surrounded himself with a team of brilliant, talented people who will help him get our country back on track.

Obama won’t make David Letterman’s “Best Moments in Presidential Speeches” (showing Bush’s gaffes) or be someone that comedians can make fun of easily. Obama is admired, revered, respected…and rightly so. He is everyman, coming from humble beginnings and rising up to make something out of himself. He is the opposite of George W. Bush, who got where he is in life because of his daddy and due to brother Jeb helping fix the Florida count in the 2000 election.

Obama has a personal strong moral compass. He is so obviously in love with his wife and children. He has a strong character and has a laser focus on his goals. This is a man we can trust. We want to be him…or like him.

So tonight I begin to let go of all the stale breath that has been bottled up inside of me…fear that Bush would do one more harmful thing that might sink our country into irreversible Hades.

A new day begins tomorrow. I share with you again Seal singing “Change Gonna Come.” It’s just as appropriate tonight as it was on the night that Barack Obama was elected president. Change is coming…and we will all be better for it.

TV and Palin: Going for the Cheap Thrill and Dumbing Down America

Palin is all TV, all the time this week in interviews, which included Matt Lauer (Part ONE and Part TWO) from the Today Show, Wolf Blitzer from CNN, Greta van Susteren from Fox News, and Larry King from CNN. She even called into an Austin radio station today and talked for nearly 8 minutes to two disc jockeys.

Winners and Losers of the 2008 Election

Who do you think the winners and losers of the 2008 election are? Here are mine.

WINNERS
* David Axelrod and David Plouffe – Absolutely phenomenal – neither will ever lack for a job. The no-drama and nearly perfect Obama campaign was a marvel…probably the best-run campaign ever.

After the Election

The USA Today/Gallup survey, conducted on Wednesday, asked how people felt about Obama’s election. 67% said proud, 67% said optimistic, 59% said excited, 30% said pessimistic, and 27% said afraid.

President-Elect Obama’s Election Night Speech

Obama started his electrifying election night speech by reminding us that America is STILL a land of possibility and the realization of dreams. He spoke of us being a diverse people while seeking to unite us by saying that we are not a collection of red and blue states…we are the UNITED STATES of America.

From KKK crosses to a black president

As a white child growing up in east Tennessee in the 1950s and 1960s I remember seeing huge KKK crosses burning. I didn’t fully understand what I was seeing, but I did feel shame as a white person. My grandfather had a farm and hired several black men as farmworkers. He always referred to them as “niggers” and that term felt uncomfortable to me then. It was a way of talking about people that was demeaning…that meant they were less than in his eyes.

A Change is Gonna Come

A song for today. Seal doing more than justice to Sam Cooke’s song.

Let’s Go Change the World

This video is so inspiring. We can change the world today. VOTE.

11/4/08 WE CHOOSE A NEW AMERICA

11/4/08 we choose a new America. McCain and Palin did everything they could in this election to divide the country, create hate, inflame racism, lie, cheat, hide, deny, smear, and more. ENOUGH. 11/4/08 WE CHOOSE A NEW AMERICA.

This Election Is Making Me Ill

Do you have it? Electionitis? Bloggers, pundits, and armchair analysts…we all have it. Here are the symptoms:

Rachel Maddow and Barack Obama

I watched Dr. (and Rhodes Scholar) Rachel Maddow interview Harvard Law Review President Barack Obama tonight on her show. This was two highly intelligent, engaging, and informed intellectuals going head to head. There has been (by the McCain campaign) so much emphasis put on Obama being someone who can give a good speech and draw crowds. It’s easy to forget that Obama is also a tremendous scholar.

Obamamercial

What did you think? Love it? Lukewarm? Didn’t like it at all? Here’s what I think:

• It was incredibly well-executed. It was directed by Davis Guggenheim, the director and executive producer of former Vice President Al Gore’s global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and producer and director of the HBO series “Deadwood.” Guggenheim also directed Obama’s convention video.
• It was heart-felt, moving, and according to many Twitter posts, had lots of people in tears.
• It showed ordinary Americans with big problems due to the downturn of the economy, lack of health care, and more. Those people are everyman. He drove it home to us…made it personal.
• It was totally positive. It was all about what Obama could do for America, not what’s wrong with America.
• John McCain or Sarah Palin were never mentioned. Again, the focus was on the positive and not bashing the other guy (or gal).
• Obama came across as presidential. He was commanding yet caring, knowledgeable and intelligent, confident yet accessible.
• Obama said in this video “You can trust me. I understand you. I want to help you. I care about you.”
• Bravo! Well done!

If you didn’t see it or want to watch it again, you can watch it here. Enjoy!

Why So Angry? Afraid You’re Losing YOUR America?

You’ve seen them. Those angry people at rallies and being interviewed on TV. I’ve seen them in commentary on this blog and in hateful blogs of their own. Why are people so angry?

Any psychologist – even an armchair one – will tell you that anger often masks fear. In other words, if you display anger, you’re probably fearful about something. The Republicans may fear the loss of the election and Congressional seats. That’s understandable.

But I think there is more going on here than a fear of losing power. Often people are threatened by those who are different from them and Barack Obama is different. He has a funny (to our ears) sounding name, he has an African father and a white mother, he looks black, etc. Also, Obama is super intelligent, thoughtful, and is measured in how he makes decisions. This seems foreign to a lot of people, especially those who don’t value intelligence and education and are married to some rhetoric that tells them how to think and what to do. They say they don’t trust him because they just don’t understand that kind of intellect and ability to analyze and make judgments.

There are also a lot of people afraid of losing what they see as the normal America…the white America, the evangelical America, the dumbed-down America, the bellicose go-to-war and fight-fight-fight America, and the our-country-is-supreme America. What these factions don’t seem to understand is that while Bush and Cheney were the face of that kind of America and tried to perpetuate that facade, the real America (and I’m not talking about the real America Palin talks about) has moved on as has the rest of the world.

We are black, white, Asian, Indian, bi-racial, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Hispanic, Christian, atheist, and more. We realize we are well behind other industrialized countries in education and need to catch up. More and more of us believe that peace is possible and don’t believe in spending $12 billion a month in Iraq. And we are owned in large part by China and other countries and will go the way of England or Spain and lose world leadership if we don’t bring our focus back to our internal problems and begin to fix them.

We can’t afford anger, hatred, divisiveness, self-appointed moral authority, finger-pointing, and tearing down each other and the country. This is not what our country needs. We need inclusiveness, understanding, working together, building each other up, and hope.

Thanks to HealThisNation.org for the tip on their ads about people wanting real change and hoping for a better future. Here’s one of their great ads. Others are posted on their website and on YouTube.

The Politics of Moral Superiority

I am bothered by what I hear from some Republican evangelicals…that they are the only ones who are religious, moral, and right and their way of thinking about God is the only one that counts. Their self-annointed supremacy means that they should also be in political power in the country because the rest of us are (as one of my commenters said) “atheists” and “immoral.” Really? Last time I checked, I was neither one of those things and I’d say most people aren’t.

Palin and McCain: A Miscalculation and an Insult to the American Public

Palin and McCain thought they could use the code words of “real Americans” and “I’m one of you” (but the other guy Obama isn’t) to endear themselves to Americans. It has been a fatal miscalculation and an absolute insult to the American public. In the past, good old boy white male politicians could count on their white constituents (minorities didn’t make up much of the voting public and they often didn’t show up to vote anyway) to vote them or keep them in office. Times have changed.

I wrote a post about whether you have to be a Republican to be a real American. That’s been the implied message for Palin and McCain. The irony of this is that the Hispanic voters and the African-American voters showing up in large numbers to vote for Obama may just cost McCain and Palin the election. And then there’s the Jewish vote…they may win Florida for Obama. And they aren’t the extreme religious right that Palin seems to think are the only ones who are real Americans.

Two excellent articles were published today about this. One by Frank Rich is in the New York Times and is entitled “In Defense of White Americans.” He concludes the Op-Ed by saying about McCain and Palin that: “They see all Americans as only white or black, as either us or them. The dirty little secret of such divisive politicians has always been that their rage toward the Others is exceeded only by their cynical conviction that Real Americans are a benighted bunch of easily manipulated bigots. This seems to be the election year when voters in most of our myriad Americas are figuring that out.”

The other article is by one of my favorites – Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic. He also writes a Sunday column for the UK Times. His column today was entitled “Obama Has Got Identity Politics on the Run.” The subtitle of the article is “The Democrat is winning because he is reaching across old racial and gender lines.” This is the gist of both these articles.

Palin draws reasonably big crowds, but from reports, these are 70% men, almost entirely white people, and primarily blue collar workers. They like her because she is one of them or she’s hot. Those are not qualifications to be VP and one heartbeat away from being the President. Someone who only appeals to a small segment of the population, wants to take away rights of gay people and women, and has a religious agenda for the country cannot govern all of the people.

Future politicians can certainly learn a lot by studying Obama’s campaign…it has been absolutely brilliant. One of the most brilliant things he did early on was to not make his race a factor. He couldn’t just be the president of black Americans. He had to appeal to Americans of all races, gender, class, religion, education levels, region, etc. He has consistently had a message of inclusivity and uniting us all in a common cause. Is it any wonder that he is so far ahead in the polls and draws such huge crowds?

It makes me proud to think that the U.S. has finally progressed enough that the color of a person’s skin is no longer a factor in electing a person President. When we can have the same open mindedness about electing a woman, I’ll be even prouder.

Why Would Any Thinking Person Want Palin for VP?

Except for Bush and Cheney, I can think of no politician in my lifetime who has so disturbed me as Sarah Palin.

• She lies repeatedly.
• She has been found guilty of abusing her power in Alaska. There are more charges in the works such as her getting a free house courtesy of the builder she awarded a big contract to.
• She is secretive about her medical records (is that baby really hers?).
• She touts family values and 1)her own teenager daughter is pregnant and is not going to high school, 2) her teenager daughter is engaged to a high-school dropout, 3)her son who just went to Iraq dropped out of high school, 4)she parades her children (including the newborn) out on stage for her political purposes, and 5)she has put her own ambition above the needs of her newborn Downs Syndrome baby, pregnant daughter, and other children.
• She has fired or made life difficult for anyone who she perceives gets in her way.
• She said yes to being the VP pick even though she knows she is not qualified.
• She is WOEFULLY unqualified to be VP, much less President if something happened to McCain.
• She cannot even string together two or three sentences coherently. The woman is NOT intelligent. She went to 5 or 6 colleges and had basically a C average.
• She is a total diva. The wardrobe designer on Saturday Night Live said she had to struggle with Palin because Palin wanted better clothes to wear on the show. Palin’s makeup artist was the highest paid person in the campaign the first two weeks of October (over $11,000 per week!). And then there are those $150,000 of designer clothes that she and her family wear courtesy of hard-working Republican donors.
• She does not care about common, decent rights for others. She would like a national amendment against gay marriage. She’d like to overturn Roe v. Wade. She made rape victims in Wasilla pay for their own rape kits when she was mayor.
• Her husband was a 7-year member of the Alaska Independence Party (and only left when she ran for Governor). These people want Alaska to leave the United States. She was taped as Governor welcoming the AIP convention and saying they are important to the political scene of Alaska.
• She had an African witch doctor lay hands on her to hopefully help her get elected Governor.
• McCain insiders are saying now that she is a “rogue”…that she is out there saying what she wants to say and it is all about HER, not about McCain.
• She incites near riots and lynch mobs with her despicable and unconscionable lies about Obama such as 1)he pals around with terrorists, 2)he’s a socialist, 3)now implying he’s a communist, etc.
• She uses her sexuality and folksiness to draw people in and make them fawn over her or think she is one of them. Her rallies consist of 70% men per reports. Hmmm…wonder why?
• She has absolutely no intellectual curiosity. She could not name one newspaper she reads when asked by Katie Couric.
• A columnist for the Alaska Daily News said that Palin knows nothing about the lower 48 states much less world affairs. She thinks she knows about world affairs because of Russia’s proximity to Alaska.
• She doesn’t even know what the Vice President does. She said they are in charge of the Senate. In the debate she said she’d like to see the Vice President have even more power. This coming after we’ve had Cheney, who has totally ruled the United States however he damn well pleased and with absolute and unchecked power.
• Her ambition clouds her own judgment and is terribly unequal to any real talent, intelligence, or ability she has.

Sarah Palin is an absolute joke. She seems to be setting herself up now for a 2012 run for the presidency. I hear Republicans say “She has more experience than Obama.” The woman is an airhead. She got in power because her predecessor was a crook and she was the alternative. She presented herself as moral, etc. and people bought it. She has no intelligence. Obama was President of the Harvard Law Review, for god’s sake. He has run a masterful campaign. Palin has contributed to running McCain’s campaign into the ground.

I can only hope that McCain/Palin are soundly defeated and Palin goes back to Alaska. From what I read, it is not going to be easy for her going back. Her popularity has dropped over 20 points and she is no longer the most popular governor in the country. The people there have had their eyes opened to just what sort of woman she is. She still faces abuse charges along with her husband. I hope after the election that I never have to turn on the TV and see her face. Republican Party, enough. The charade is over. Put us out of our misery and make Sarah Palin disappear.

Above the Fray in the Final 11 Days

Republicans are floating all kinds of rumors and false charges in a desperate attempt to upset the election and Obama. This is nothing new. They are the masters of dirty politics, as we have seen in McCain’s campaign. In the past…with the swiftboating of John Kerry and the downright stealing of the election from Al Gore…their disgusting tactics have worked. This time is different. They have more than met their match with Obama and his masterful team.

For example, McCain charged ACORN with voter registration fraud and implied that Obama was behind it. The reality was that McCain’s campaign was the real guilty party. It was all a smokescreen by the Republicans to cast doubt on an Obama win. Obama’s chief legal counsel took swift action. Squash.

McCain has leveled every possible ugly label at Obama and Obama has remained unflappable, steady, and on message. Meanwhile McCain’s campaign has reeled and failed to connect on any of the many schizophrenic messages and personas they have led with. The New York Times has an in-depth inside look at the failure of the McCain campaign in their Sunday magazine.

The American people have decided they have had enough of these Rovian, fear and hate mongering tactics. This is why McCain (along with the irresponsible and impetuous pick of Palin) has been dropping in the polls.

ELEVEN MORE DAYS. Voters can take their cue from Barack Obama himself and stay above the fray. McCain and Republicans, your ugly tactics just won’t work this time.

Yes, Lashawn, Your Child Could Be President

Only white, Christian males have ever been president in the U.S. As a white female growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I never even considered that I could ever be president or that any girl could. Now I believe it will happen in my lifetime. Hillary Clinton certainly helped pave the way.

I saw the movie “The Secret Life of Bees” today. It is set in 1964 when racial prejudice meant a black man might be beaten if he were seen in public with a white woman, there were separate “colored” entrances, and the Ku Klux Klan would burn crosses and terrorize black people. As a child growing up in east Tennessee, I remember seeing those crosses burning and recall my grandfather calling the hired hands on his farm “niggers.” Even then I hated the demeaning sound of that word. I remember we had a childhood rhyme we would chant “Eenie, meanie, miney moe. Catch a nigger by his toe. If he hollers, make him pay $50 dollars every day.” It was a way to decide who went first by pointing first to me and then to the other person as we recited that rhyme. I didn’t think about the racial ugliness of that at the time. It seemed harmless. It wasn’t. It was reprehensible.

Children born into a world that eyed them with such hatred, disdain, and invisibility certainly could not imagine even being considered equal to white children, much less attaining the highest office in the land.

Things have changed. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 to ensure equal rights for all people, but attitudes and real change take time. There is still a lot of prejudice against people who don’t look like us or have a funny sounding name or have a non-Christian religion. We’ve seen it in video clips of people at McCain/Palin rallies who say they could never vote for a “colored” man or accuse Obama of being a Muslim as if that automatically means he is a terrorist. These incidents peel back the ugly layers of prejudice that still exist throughout our country.

And yet, there is progress. I have spent quite a lot of time talking to and hanging out with African-Americans. When Obama was in the primary battle with Hillary, they were sure in the beginning that not many white people would vote for a black man for president. White people had let them down and worked against them all of their lives, going back over two centuries; this would be no different. They were in shock when Obama actually won the nomination. That obviously wasn’t possible just by a strong black vote; white people were actually voting for a black man!

And now, we are on the eve of a bi-racial, self-declared black man becoming the most powerful person in the world. We still have a lot of hatred, divisiveness, exclusivity, and unequal opportunity. But now, Lashawn, and all those other black, Muslim, Hispanic, etc. mothers, you can turn to your child – be it a boy or a girl – and say “You, too, could be president one day. You can be anything you want to be!”

Change is coming…long time coming.

McCain, Why Don’t You Concede Now?

John McCain, you should concede defeat right now. You are embarrassing yourself and the Republican party. You are damaging your reputation. Every day Obama’s poll numbers go up and yours go down. Your dirty tricks just aren’t working. To whit:

An interviewer asks you if you are proud of a mailer that implies that Obama is a terrorist and you say “Absolutely.”

The New York Times has reported how you manufactured the ACORN scandal. This was a central theme of your campaign against Obama for weeks and you made it up.

Another reason we aren’t hearing about ACORN the last few days after is that you have a legitimate YPM voter registration fraud problem, as is discussed in this video.

Your VP pick Sarah Palin has the lowest favorability ratings of any VP candidate in the 28-year history of the CBS/New York Times poll. Even Dan Quayle was not viewed as negatively in 1988. Palin’s negatives are at 41%.

Your own negative ratings in that poll are even higher – 45% – and only 36% of respondents view you favorably. This contrasts sharply with 53% of respondents viewing Obama favorably and only 33% viewing him unfavorably.

Colin Powell, a long-time ally and friend, endorses Obama, questions your judgment in picking Palin for VP, and decries the dirty tactics of your campaign.

As of today, Gallup Poll has Obama ahead 52% to your 41%. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Obama ahead 52% to 42%. Other polls also show Obama widening his lead.

John McCain, haven’t you realized that all these dirty and shameful tactics, lies, and attempts to slander Obama’s character are just not working? Why don’t you concede now before your VP running mate is found guilty of anymore abuses of power (she’s testifying again on Friday in a case) and before you destroy your reputation beyond repair. Honor seems to be important to you. This would be the honorable thing to do.

If You Aren’t a Republican, You’re Not a Real American?

What happened to the UNITED States of America? What happened to us all pulling together like we did after 9/11 or after devastating hurricanes or wildfires to help our neighbors? What happened to common decency, inclusion, and our fellow man? How did we get to the place of so many people saying YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US, which means we’re better than you, you’re scary, we don’t trust you, and we’re not going to include you.

A man at a McCain rally today had printed up bumper stickers that had Obama’s name and the word “Change” written with a swastika and Islamic symbol. He was saying to Obama and the more than 50% of the American public that supports him: YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

Republican Representative Michele Bachmann from Minnesota on Friday’s Hardball with Chris Matthews says she ”…is very concerned that Barack Obama may have anti-American views”. She then called for the media to investigate whether members of Congress are pro-America or anti-America. She is saying to Obama and members of Congress who are left leaning: YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

White people have been interviewed on television saying they cannot vote for Obama because he is “colored”…they could never vote for a black man for President. Some say he is a Muslim or an Arab (he is neither) as if those are dirty words. They are saying to Obama: YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

Sarah Palin said “We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.” If you’re not a small town person, she’s saying YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

Sarah Palin also said this in a rally about Barack Obama: “Our opponent … is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country. This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America.  We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism.” She’s saying to Barack Obama: YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

Since when did Republicans and those on the right have a corner on being patriotic and country-loving Americans, of being good people, of being a force for good, and of loving God? Republicans, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and the people coming to McCain and Palin rallies with signs that say things like (and this was one waving right in front of Todd Palin’s face at a rally) “Charles Manson was a community organizer”, do you think you are MORE American with your hatred, your divisiveness, your false accusations, your racism, and your inciting lynch mobs and prejudice?  

That’s not the America I want to be a part of. If you want rioting, hate mobs, KKK, white supremacists, lynching, shunning of Arabs, Muslims, or anyone who isn’t white and isn’t a Christian, then those of us who want to promote peace, harmony, love, inclusiveness, caring for each other, understanding, and acceptance must say to you: YOU’RE NOT ONE OF US.

McCain: From Hero to Hall of Shame

Noone can deny the heroism of John McCain as a POW and even standing up to his own party in the past on issues, but he may most be remembered by the unconscionable, dirty, Rovian, hate and fear-mongering, and racist tactics he has deployed so he can become President. John McCain, this is NOT the mark of a hero.

Chris Wallace on Fox News today reminded McCain that in 2000 when McCain ran for President slime robo-calls were made against him and he vowed to never use such tactics. Wallace spoke of how even Republican leaders are imploring McCain to stop this vile practice and asked McCain if he would stop. McCain said he would not. Ordinary citizens in swing states are picking up the phone to hear automated messages telling them that Obama is associating with a terrorist who has killed people and schooling them that Obama himself, by association, is also a terrorist. SHAMEFUL, John McCain.

McCain has allowed Sarah Palin to make these same accusations at rallies and when questioned by David Letterman on Thursday if it were true, he had first tried to deny it and then said yes, she was making those statements and they are true. Letterman skewered McCain by bringing up his palling around with G. Gordon Liddy and McCain says he feels no need to apologize for that because Liddy has paid his debt to society. McCain, Ayers is a university PROFESSOR. SHAMEFUL, John McCain.

McCain is trying to imply that the Democrats are trying to steal the election with their association with ACORN, a non-profit group that has so far registered over a million voters. The truth is that some ACORN workers, making $8 an hour, have made up 10,000 names so they would get paid more…names like Mickey Mouse. These names never make it to the registration book and of course Mickey Mouse or any other person who is fictitious never shows up to vote. McCain’s campaign is using a smoke and mirrors tactic to confuse voters about registration fraud vs. voter fraud…they are not the same thing. Obama’s camp has legal counsel investigating the possibility that the McCain campaign, the Republican National Committee, the Department of Justice, and the White House may be in cahoots to claim voter fraud in order to deny the legitimacy of an Obama win. Once again, dirty tactics and SHAMEFUL, John McCain.

The pick of Sarah Palin as your VP running mate is one of THE most shameful things McCain has done and has been one of the major contributing factors to many normally Republican newspapers, party people, and media personalities endorsing Obama. Chris Wallace today on Fox News asked McCain (and this is FOX NEWS!) “Hasn’t Governor Palin become a drag on your ticket?” McCain responded by saying, in part: ”As a cold, political calculation, I could not be more pleased.” Country first? SHAMEFUL, John McCain.

Frank Rich, in his Op-Ed piece in today’s New York Times on McCain entitled “He Just Can’t Quit W“, says the following: “Bush’s impact on the next Republican presidential candidate did not have to be so devastating. McCain isn’t, as he and his defenders keep protesting, a passive martyr to a catastrophic administration. He could have made separating himself from Bush the brave, central and even conservative focus of his campaign. Far from doing that, he embraced the Bush ethos — if not the incredible shrinking man himself — more tightly than ever. The candidate who believes in “country first” decided to put himself first and sell out his principles. That ignoble decision is what accounts for both the McCain campaign’s failures and its sleaze. It’s a decision McCain made on his own and for which he has yet to assume responsibility.”

Even Colin Powell today called out McCain’s tactics and choice of Palin as his running mate as two of the reasons he was endorsing Obama.

John McCain, this might be all gamemanship to you, but you have incited hatred, racism, and divisiveness with your sleazy tactics. To me, you no longer deserve the badge of hero. Instead, you are now inducted into the Hall of Shame.

Palin: Calculating or Clueless?

A well-informed and intellectually curious neighbor and I had a conversation today about Sarah Palin. She feels Palin is clueless. Palin doesn’t seem well-informed about much of anything, but I would take it a step further. I think Palin is CALCULATING.

I listened to a NPR Fresh Air interview with Anchorage Daily News columnist Michael Carey about Palin. He provides some fascinating insight.  He says he doesn’t recognize the Sarah Palin he sees running for VP. He said that in Alaska she reached across to Democrats and now she is creating divisiveness and is partisan. Carey said that Palin’s attacks on Obama as a community organizer did not go down well in Alaska and it is going to be “extremely unpleasant” for her when/if she returns to Alaska in dealing with the Democrats there.

Carey said that Palin managed to rise to Governor quickly by exploiting and developing contrast of herself to people she’s run against. He also said that she connects with people by saying “I’m like you.” Even though she’s done nothing for women, they have connected with her because they think that she’s like them. CALCULATING.

One other telling point from Carey is that he says that not only does Palin NOT understand affairs in the world, she also doesn’t understand life in the lower 48 states…urban American…which is nothing like Alaska.

At the end of the broadcast is an interesting analysis of her voice by an expert. He points out that her voice is quite different from what it was a few years back (see YouTube videos) and she only drops g’s when she wants to appear folksy. CALCULATING.

Palin used winking, lots of folksy talk, and greeted Biden with “Can I call you Joe?” in the VP debate. She frequently trots her newborn Down’s Syndrome baby on stage and when she knows the camera is on her, takes the baby. She has refused to hold a press conference, go on Meet the Press or any other Sunday morning political show (Fox News doesn’t count…they are a Republican propaganda machine). She has the Secret Service now keeping reporters away from her at rallies. She has said that news agencies can BUY her emails (which may implicate in her wrongdoing) for a cool $15 million. CALCULATING.

She lies, says things are black when they are white, whips up people at her rallies (which are 70% men…no surprise there) into near-riots and lynch mobs, and says she is one of them (and Obama is NOT like them). Her modus operandi is to create divisiveness and convince the uninformed and intellectually uncurious (which means they won’t do any research to find out who the REAL Sarah Palin is) that she is one of them. CALCULATING.

I actually feel somewhat sorry for these folks who are brainwashed by being told that Obama is a terrorist, a Muslim, pals around with terrorists, etc. They are the sort who believe whatever they are told by someone who appears to have some level of authority even though that person…Palin…has been found to have abused her power in Alaska and is being investigated on numerous other possible abuses of power. Palin takes advantage of their ignorance and knows that if she says she was cleared of all wrongdoing, they will believe it without checking it out. CALCULATING.

Palin is intellectually unaware enough to not understand that those who actually do have a superior intellect are appalled that she could possibly be VP. What she understands is how to manipulate people for her own selfish purposes. If she really did want to put country first, she would’ve declined the VP nomination on grounds that she isn’t qualified. Instead, she took it on “without blinking” and is using smoke and mirrors, intimidation, lying, flirtation, her own children, divisiveness, secrecy, and thinly veiled racism to try and muscle her way into the White House. CALCULATING.

Barack Obama: Inclusiveness in a Time of Divisiveness

The endorsements for Obama by typically Republican newspapers, columnists, and media speak of how Obama brings inclusiveness when our divided country desperately needs it. Here are a few excerpts from endorsements for Obama by CONSERVATIVE newspapers and columnists:

• Chicago Tribune – “We know first-hand that Obama seeks out and listens carefully and respectfully to people who disagree with him. He builds consensus. He has risen with his honor, grace and civility intact. He has the intelligence to understand the grave economic and national security risks that face us, to listen to good advice and make careful decisions.”
• Washington Post – “Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. But Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.”
• Seattle Times – “At a time of huge challenge, the candidate with the intelligence, temperament and judgment to lead our nation to a better place is Sen. Barack Obama.”
• Christopher Buckley, who resigned from the National Review (which his father started) over his endorsement of Obama – ” Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy “We are the people we have been waiting for” silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for. So, I wish him all the best. We are all in this together. Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship.”
• Michael Smerconish, Philadelphia radio host – “He’s better suited to be a unifier.”

These are some of the typical Republican mouthpieces that are crossing party lines to endorse Barack Obama because they see him as the man who can help the entire country rise out of the major crises we are facing now.

The electrifying keynote speech that Obama gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which introduced him on the national stage to most people, rings even more true today to what our country needs. In part, he said:

“It is that fundamental belief — it is that fundamental belief — I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper — that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: “E pluribus unum,” out of many, one.

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”

He goes on to say that “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”

The polls reflect that people are tired of the divisiveness that Palin and McCain tout at their rallies and in their inflammatory ads and campaign letters and calls. Their inciting near-riots and mob lynches at rallies – particularly Palin – are reprehensible, irresponsible, and downright dangerous. This talk of Obama as being “not one of us” is racist, divisive, and exclusionary. Palin even questions the loyalty of some Americans and praises certain areas of the country for being more patriotic.

Our country will be well served by a president who truly puts country first, rises above what separates us, looks for ways to connect us, and invites us all to join him to make this a better country. Barack Obama is the one we’ve been waiting for…the one we need to lead us and unite us.

What’s a junkie to do after November 4th?

I admit it. I’m a political junkie. I get a high from reading about politics, hearing pundits talk about it, and watching the debates or candidate appearances. What am I going to do after November 4th? I’m sure there will be analysis for days about the election so that will keep me going a little longer.

Once we know who will be the next President (and I hope it’s Obama), I’m afraid I’m in for a huge letdown and will suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms. This has been the most exciting election ever in my considerable lifetime. I must say it’s a little exhausting trying to keep up with everything that is going on. I read Twitters faithfully and write several myself. I check many websites (see a few in my list to the right) and read tons of articles on both candidates and their running mates (and their families). I flip between CNN, MSNBC, and sometimes yes even FOX “News” to listen to pundits wax about the latest. I read other people’s blogs. I talk with people on online boards or in person about the election. I have it bad…I am a electionaholic, an election addict.

Is there a cure? Detox, maybe? They’d make me stay up for days watching every rally Sarah Palin ever spoke at and listen to the Marge-in-the-movie-Fargo voice that makes me change the channel every time I hear it. That would surely cure me. Or perhaps detox would consist of days of watching Fox News and having to stomach Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity over and over and over. I’m throwing up now at the thought.

I could get to bed earlier each night and catch up on sleep or take up a new hobby. I could spend all that free time doing research to discover a cure for cancer or the largest prime number or write a book about fellow Texan Bush entitled “That Crawford Boy: Taking the Country Out with Him.”

I’m not sure I want to be cured. I’ve grown to love politics because of this election. I know Obama is going to be fascinating to observe as President. You know what? I think I’ll just stay a junkie.

Civility Matters, John McCain

After tonight’s final debate, it’s easy to see who is more presidential: Barack Obama. McCain tried hard to ruffle Obama and he just couldn’t do it. McCain grimaced, he showed disdain, and he talked (again) condescendingly to Obama. Obama listened attentively when McCain was speaking and actually looked at McCain. When McCain talked down to Obama, Obama smiled.

Obama is exactly the person we need as president. We need someone who is steady and calm; someone who listens attentively; someone who is mannerly to others. In each debate, McCain has come off as angry, agitated, and downright rude to Obama. Obama, on the other hand, has been gracious and always…always…calm.

I heard Governor Patterson of New York interviewed today about Obama. He said he’s been in meetings with Obama going back before Obama was running for President. He said Obama is quiet, he listens, and after others have spoken, then renders his own judgment. What a refreshing change this will be from the Bush administration that thinks listening isn’t important and that just charges like a bull in a china shop headlong into major decisions without thoughtful consideration.

I can’t recall when Americans have seen someone like Obama in politics. The Republicans’ trying to demonize him is so not working. You see Obama tonight in the debate or out talking to people and you see that he is not a scary guy, he’s not a terrorist, he’s not someone who thinks differently from you and I. He’s a regular guy…a very intelligent regular guy, but a regular guy still. Obama cares about people and it shows.

I have to agree with Rachel Maddow, who commented tonight that McCain seems to care more about Obama NOT winning than he does about himself winning. McCain shows a real disdain and disrespect for Obama in these debates. We can’t afford to elect someone like that to take us out of the very real crises our country is facing.

We need Barack Obama. He is inclusive, respectful to all people, and genuinely cares about the American people…not just about winning an election.

Sarah Palin, Why Don’t You Be VP of the Country of Alaska?

CNN ran a riveting over 10 minute segment (click on the link to watch it) on the Alaska Independence Party (AIP) and Sarah Palin’s ties to it. Todd Palin was a member of AIP for 7 years. The former chair is a self-proclaimed “friend” of Palin’s and helped her get elected in Wasilla. The AIP endorsed Palin when she was running for governor and she attended their annual conference. Palin even is videotaped welcoming the secessionist party AIP to town for their conference and says they are an important part of the government in Alaska.

The AIP wants Alaska to SECEDE from the United States. That’s right, no longer be a part of the United States. The person running for Vice President of the United States is friendly with these people and her husband was a 7-year member of their organization. Does this sound like a patriot to you? Someone who puts COUNTRY FIRST???

The report that Salon.com did on this is posted HERE. This story needs to be heard. This woman is no patriot of the United States.

Sarah Palin, if you want to be VP and you are so friendly with the people who despise being part of the United States, why don’t you be VP of the Country of Alaska? You don’t deserve to hold the esteemed office of Vice President of the UNITED STATES and serve a country of people who actually WANT to be part of the United States.

Why Do Palin and McCain Glorify Joe Six Pack and Anti-intellectualism?

I am astounded that the Republicans glorify being a regular Joe, having average to low intelligence, and an absence of intellectual curiosity in this election. They think Palin is so great…she’s one of us! Yeah, I’d agree. She is. But that’s not who I want governing our country…not some average joe. I want someone is intellectually superior…someone who can think and speak for themselves without a speech writer telling them what to say.

The extreme right is displaying in Palin and McCain rallies just how animalistic they are. They get whipped into a mob-like frenzy by Palin’s continual LIES about Obama. Do these people ever watch anything but FAUX…er FOX…News? Do they ever read anything online or in the newspaper about other points of view besides Hannity’s? Why are these people so taken with the extremely below average Palin? Because she’s hot? Great qualification to be VP. Do they read about her …as Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic calls her… the “pathological liar”? Do they care?

I really believe this mob mentality and glorifying being a regular joe is a cover for pure RACISM. They try to make it cool to be Joe Six Pack and buy into the lies the Republicans feed them. Isn’t that what racism is all about? Pre-judging someone else based on their color, class, religion, nationality, etc. without knowing the individual and the facts about who they are? This is what Palin, in particular, but also McCain…particularly with his being so compliant with this tactic…are doing. They are saying to these uncurious, follow-the-leader-and-god-forbid-you-might-think-for-yourself people “This man is dangerous. He’s not one of us.” RACISM.

John McCain, shame on you for not emphatically telling Palin to STOP IT RIGHT NOW. And shame on you, McCain, for saying you’d have to understand the context and not outright decrying the shameful statements when you are interviewed about your Virginia campaign chair trying to equate Obama to Osama bin Laden because they both “hang around terrorists.”

John McCain, you and Sarah Palin, were both underperformers (and that’s to put it mildly) in college. Maybe your intellect tells you it’s okay to drag others like you…or with a whole lot less intellect…into your brand of racism. You are both showing your character and just how dumb you are. Except for the Republican right black-hating extremists, most people are tired of racism and are appalled by it. Your racism is getting you just what you deserve…a continual DECLINE in the polls.

Just wait to see what a Harvard Law graduate and President of the Harvard Law Review (Obama) does to your anti-intellectual, mob-creating selves on November 4. Obama will be joined by another law school graduate…Biden, his wife Jill (who has a Ph.D.), and Obama’s wife Michelle (who also has a law degree). There’s a lot of intellect in those two couples. People who can actually THINK, make sound judgments, and surround themselves with others who can soundly advise them.

How refreshing it will be to finally have an intelligent President and Vice President…not the bumblers we have had for the last 8 years. There is nothing cute or endearing about having a Joe Six Pack or Hockey Mom and racists in the White House. I want someone with a brain…and a social and moral conscious.

Barack Obama – Calm, Steady, Presidential

The world is in the midst of an enormous financial crisis. 401ks, life savings, jobs, banks, and businesses are vanishing before our eyes. Barack Obama is the calm, steady hand we need to lead our country out of a near-depression, a 10-billion-dollar-a-month war in Iraq, and a 10+ trillion dollar national deficit.

Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic and columnist for the UK’s Sunday Times has written a brilliant article for today’s Times about Obama’s calm and how he does not panic.

I am in awe of Obama. His challengers try and provoke him and he does not take the bait. McCain runs negative ads against him and Obama says he trusts the American people…that they are smart enough to see through all that. McCain calls him “THAT ONE” in the debate and Obama just smiles and lets it roll off his back. Obama just does not get ruffled.

His opponents try and paint him as too cool or elite. It’s been so long since we’ve had a calm, intelligent, and thoughtful president that the Republicans make that sound scary.

Republicans, the fear-mongering and swift boating just won’t work against Obama. He’s just too smart for you. He’s assembled a brilliant team of people who are just as steady and calm as he is. They are in it to win and they will win.

23 days. Calm. Steady. Stay the course. Focus on the issues. Let McCain and Palin flail in desperation. I can’t wait to have an intelligent, methodical, mature, and honest president. President Obama. Just who our country needs.

No apology, Sarah Palin?

A true leader admits when they have made a mistake and apologizes. Sarah Palin, where is your apology to the people of Alaska for abusing your power and their trust? Where is your apology to the American people who are going to the polls on November 4th to consider you for the second highest office in the land?

Sarah, you continue to show your true colors. Not only did you not apologize, but you denied the truthfulness of the bi-partisan report and said you did nothing wrong. Of course that’s what you would do. Would we expect you…Cheneyesque woman that you are…to be honest…for once? You are a practiced liar and dangerous because of your excessive ambition that in no way matches your actual talent, skills, judgment, and intelligence. You incite crowds to near lynch-mob levels and tell them they can’t trust Obama…yet YOU are the one that can’t be trusted.

We have had 8 years of a president like that who has not only driven our own country into the ground, but has impacted the entire world with his recklessness and insistence on doing things his way, everyone else be damned.

Sarah Palin, you are just this kind of person. What are your skills? Deny. Deny. Deny. Point the finger at your accusers and make them wrong. Wink and act cutesy and folksy during an important debate so people won’t notice that you are reading off cards the answers you do have and ignoring questions for the answers you don’t have. Trot your children out to hopefully endear people to you as a mom and ignore the needs of a newborn special needs child and a pregnant teenager.

You can’t apologize, Sarah, for abusing the trust of those who hired you and paid your salary? Then the American people won’t need to apologize on November 4th when we send you back to Alaska. I hope you fade into oblivion so we never have to see your actress-cum-wannabe-President’s face plastered on station after station that you refuse to do interviews with.

And you know what? I don’t apologize for what I’m saying. I’m putting Country First and voting for truly honorable leaders…Obama and Biden. You just aren’t in their league.

McCain and Palin: The Golden Rule and Karma Still Apply

Today the Alaskan legislative committee ruled that Palin abused her power as governor. Do you think there are no consequences, Sarah, to taking advantage of the people of Alaska and running shipshod over your constituents?

Palin and McCain whipped up crowds on the campaign stump to the point of inciting a near-riot with racial and vitriolic yells from the crowd. Dangerous. Today the woman at the McCain rally says Obama is an Arab. McCain, are you proud of yourself and your campaign? Look at what you are doing. You have destroyed any semblance of yourself being an honorable man. At least you told her no…that Obama is a decent person and a good family man. It’s about time. I’m surprised the Secret Service hasn’t been on yours and especially Palin’s ass (maybe they have) for inciting crowds to want to commit violence against Obama. That is reprehensible.

I understand about doing whatever it takes to get into office, but McCain and Palin, you two (soulmates that you are) have sunk to such lows that even Republicans are saying enough. The poll numbers are that way not just because of the economy. They are the American people saying that decency and respect and honor matter and they…WE…have had enough of the ugliness in your campaign.

It is unbelievable that Palin…of all people…can stand up before these mobs and tell them why they can’t trust Obama. She abused the trust the Alaskan people put in her.

Maybe one day you two will grow up to be mature, calm, and steady like Obama and Biden. Your actions have consequences, McCain and Palin. Payback is a bitch.

Snarky, snarling, sneering, sarcastic Sarah

This morning Sarah Palin was stumping and I couldn’t escape her as I turned from one cable news show to the next. Since she has nothing substantive to say, all she does is sneer and ooze with sarcasm. She lies that Obama pals around with terrorists while her own husband Todd was a member for 7 years of an organization that wants Alaska to secede from the U.S. She snarls about Rev. Wright and yet her own Pastor Muthee, a witch doctor, lays hands on her. All she does is put Obama down and incite the crowd to boo him…and remarkably did nothing when someone today yelled out “Kill him!”

This is a dangerous woman. Her political ambition is excessive and her intelligence and fitness for office are almost nonexistent. She said the gloves and heels are coming off. So be it. Obama’s campaign should let her have it. They should find every illegal thing she’s done, find proof if that baby is really hers, and expose her for the coldly calculating, flippant, abusive, and power-hungry person she is.

I had to turn off those cable channels this morning. It honestly turns my stomach to see this woman who is touted as religious, a paradigm of family values, champion for women, and every day person make a mockery of us all with her pretense, lies, incredibly inappropriate flirtatiousness and flippancy, and putting herself first above our country.

November 4th can’t come soon enough for me so snarky, snarling, sneering, sarcastic and INEPT Sarah Palin can slither like the snake she is back to Alaska.

Obama has run the Lance Armstrong Tour de France campaign

Lance Armstrong, a fellow Austinite, is methodical. He plots how to win the 23-day Tour de France and each day does what he needs to do to win in the long-run. He doesn’t concern himself with winning each day; being the one who has the best time overall is what matters to him.

This is also what matters to Obama and his brilliant campaign strategists. They have probably run the best campaign in political history. They defeated the powerful Hillary and Bill Clinton machine. They have taken Obama from being the little-known senator from Illinois to most likely the next President of the United States. They have hired the best people in the business and have used the Internet in ways never thought of or experienced before. Whereever you are on the Internet, they are there. They make it easy for people to find them, to donate money (however much you want to give), to be a part of the campaign.

When you see David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, Bill Burton, or any number of other people who work with the campaign interviewed, they are always very calm, no matter what shenanigans McCain and Palin are up to at the moment. They know they have a plan to win and it’s just another day on the trail…just as it’s just another day for Lance when he rides in the Tour de France. They know what they want to accomplish that day and they stick to the plan, adjusting course as needed.

This is a big reason why I believe that Barack Obama will make a very good President. He doesn’t get sidelined by McCain’s stunts and doesn’t quickly change course because his poll numbers drop a point. He and his team just stay the course and do the work.

Barack Obama and Lance Armstrong both have a lot of tenacity, a good team behind them, outstanding skills, confidence, the belief that they will win, and they put in the work each day to get them closer to their dream. There’s a lot to admire in them both. I look forward to seeing Obama with the winner’s jersey on November 4th.

Mighty Mouse…to save the day!

John McCain rushing (although he didn’t really) to D.C. to work on the financial crisis reminds me of the Mighty Mouse cartoons.

There would be this triumphant music and Mighty Mouse would appear to save the day. Only McCain’s attempt to save the day is a whole lot more comical than those cartoons…they were serious business and Mighty Mouse actually DID save the day. McCain just messed things up with his politicizing one of the biggest crises in our country ’s recent history…he didn’t save anything. McCain made a cartoon of himself with his claim of suspending his campaign, which of course he didn’t. At least Jeffrey Toobin on CNN today asked why we are talking about suspending his campaign when he didn’t? Right on, Jeffrey!

McCain…with his cape flapping in the wind but looking as small as the mouse…flies here, he flies there trying to save the day. It would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high and if so many people weren’t so dazed by his cape that they can’t see him for the cartoon character he’s becoming.

Presidents deal with more than one thing at a time

Bravo to Obama for saying this at this press conference and not giving in to McCain’s political ploy. McCain saw the numbers from the Washington Post/ABC News poll today that say that Obama is ahead 11 points and he is DESPERATE.

Much thanks to Steve Benen in his Washington Monthly article for more insight to that poll:

“Asked, for example, which candidate would do more to bring needed change to Washington, voters prefer Obama to McCain by 25 points (58% to 33%). Asked which candidate better understands the economic problems people are having, voters again prefer Obama by a wide margin (57% to 33%). Asked which candidate is the stronger leader, a question on which McCain used to excel, Obama now has a narrow lead (47% to 46%).

And in my personal favorite, the poll asked respondents which candidate is “more honest and trustworthy.” Obama enjoys a healthy, double-digit lead, 47% to 36%.”

McCain is running scared. I hope the American people see through this little stunt of his. Bravo to Obama for continuing to be Presidential.

This isn’t cute or funny or fun anymore

I just don’t find the selection of Palin that cute or funny or fun anymore. McCain had such fun in shocking us all with his announcement of Palin. We scrambled to get to know just who the hell is this? Wow…a woman! And she’s pretty! And has all those children and a blue-collar husband…and Johnnie’s thinking that of course the Hillaryites will vote for her because…she’s a woman!

Okay, Johnnie, you had your fun. Charades are over. You’ve handed her a speech…and she has given that same damn thing over…and over…and over. You’ve hidden her from the press so she won’t make a mistake because we all know the woman isn’t that bright and certainly not VP or Presidential material.

Johnnie, you obviously don’t put COUNTRY FIRST as you say or you wouldn’t have picked this ridiculously unqualified woman to be your VP running mate. This really isn’t funny. I know you like to see yourself as a shoot-from-the-hip maverick kind of guy and make crude jokes at the expense of women, but women aren’t laughing about this choice…at least not thinking women who realize that with your abysmal voting record on women’s rights and Palin’s abysmal stand on women’s rights, the two of you would take us back to the stone age.

You’ve had your little shocker moment, Johnnie, and managed to get people to actually show up at the rallies where darling Sarah appears. Your little fun and games moment is over. We have serious issues…big issues…that need serious candidates who aren’t playing around at the American public’s expense. You and Sarah…soulmates that you are…are so busy lying, covering up lies, and lying some more that we just can’t take you seriously.

I for one just don’t find Sarah Palin that entertaining any more. She was good for a few “Wow, you picked her?” moments, but now she is just bad, grating theater. And you have shown the American people that we just can’t trust you with this choice…and all the lies.

It just isn’t cute or funny or fun, Johnnie. I can’t take either one of you seriously.

Be afraid! Be VERY afraid!

This is how the Republicans won in 2000 and again in 2004…FEAR…and they are doing it again. They want you to be afraid of the “uppity” black man, the elitist top-of-his-class Harvard Law graduate with the equally well educated wife, the man who can actually think for himself and practices inclusion. My friends (as McCain) would say, he doesn’t look like us. He’s Muslim, they say…or at least want you to think. He’s the scary boogey man.

Only this time the Democrats are the ones who need to be warning the American people to be afraid…VERY afraid. McCain is the true rich snob, the out of touch one, the one who can’t remember what’s a country or that it’s the SEC, not the FEC. He’s the one who flip flops on deregulation within 24 hours. He’s the one who made the most irresponsible choice of VP in American history and he’s 72 years old and has had cancer four times. He’s the one who makes gaffe after gaffe, tries to paint himself as a maverick when in reality he’s just a shoot-from-the-hip guy who will do anything to get elected to the Presidency, the American people be damned.

And then there’s Palin…who is a much scarier version of Dick Cheney (and that’s saying a lot). She and First Dude Todd don’t seem to think the rules apply to them (sound familiar?). They are above the law and if you try and challenge them, they will mow you down. Johnnie boy, do you think Palin is going to be content to be in your shadow? She will run you over if you two get in office. Watch your back.

We have had eight years of an administration that has had no regard for the American people, did whatever they damn well wanted to do, took away our rights, took us from a surplus to a 10 – 12 trillion dollar deficit, and did it all in the name of God. If McCain and Palin get in office, they will make Bush and Cheney look like boy scouts. Women in particular could see many of their rights taken away from them. Bellicose McCain with his temper and “fight, fight, fight” will have us engaged in more wars.

It’s time the Obama campaign stepped up and did some serious fear mongering. This time, the threats are real. We should all be very afraid of a McCain/Palin administration. Do your part, and vote Obama/Biden…the intelligent, inclusive, thoughtful choice.

I’m not a qualified VP candidate…I just play one in this campaign!

McCain has picked a grossly unqualified person (but pretty!) to PLAY the part of a qualified VP candidate during the campaign. They trot her out, have her read a speech by a Bush speechwriter off the teleprompter at the RNC. She smiles, preens, uses her pregnant teenage daughter and her own handicapped child to show that she’s against abortion (the Republicans love that), tells all the fairy tales about how she said “Thanks, but no thanks” and was such a maverick reformer, refusing earmarks (ahhh…those things sound so good, don’t they?). She delights the NRA members with tales of shooting wolves from airplanes and is a hockey mom and a PTA mom. She’s one of us!

Only…she’s not. She is cunning, calculating, punishing, manipulative, and decimates or fires anyone who tries to get in her way. Someone else is handling all those children while she steps on people to get to the top. She calls it the “Palin/McCain” administration. She has lots of skeletons in the closet. She refuses to cooperate with an already ongoing investigation against her…and now she has the McCain handlers to cry foul and say it is all a political ploy.

And while she continues to charm some people with her carefully scripted and controlled appearances, McCain’s people tell the press to handle her with “deference” and refuse to have an open format for the VP debates because she isn’t skilled at debating. Oh, poor little Sarah…we have to coddle her.

This woman is an ACTRESS. She PLAYS a VP candidate in this campaign so McCain can shore up his excitement factor (it was zero before) and get anyone at all to come to his campaign appearances. She is fed rote answers to questions and spits them back…snarkily, sarcastically…as if she is SOMEBODY looking down on others.

I hope the press will continue to call McCain on this irresponsible choice and charade. Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic did an excellent job of this on Real Time with Bill Maher this week. We all need to say to McCain and his soulmate Sarah “Thanks, but no thanks.” We want someone who is qualified to be VP, not someone who is an actress pretending to be.

P.S….I couldnt resist.

Okay, I’m so done talking about her

Jim Moss wrote an excellent article called “Memo to the Left: Stop Talking about Sarah Palin” – it’s published on The Seminal. I’ll have to admit…I’m one of those who has been talking about her a lot…about her lies, how she treats people who cross her, her sarcasm, the way she uses her own children for political purposes, etc. etc. I don’t know about you, but I’m actually sick of all the talk of this woman. If she was really spectacular, why wouldn’t we have heard of her before the election? Was she on anyone’s list for VP pick? She is a GIMMICK that McCain is using to get elected. PERIOD.

Okay…enough about her. Let’s move on. I agree with Moss…let’s focus on what is really important….the economy. It truly amazes me that McCain’s own campaign manager says the issues don’t matter. WTF??? Since when? What planet does he live on? To quote George Bush the first, “READ MY LIPS” (and these are not Bush’s words)…it’s the economy, stupid!

I hear Obama say he trusts the American people to get this election right…that they aren’t stupid. I think, actually, that a lot of them are. They get their news only from the False News network and believe everything that Rove (who is now working for the McCain campaign and is also a political commentator on FOX…er…FALSE news…..that’s rich) and Hannity and all the good old boys shove down their throats. Bush the second’s people have even admitted they use that channel to feed people “information” (their propaganda) to the American public.

So folks…I agree with Obama…there must be some intelligent people out there. Don’t let Rove bamboozle you again with all this fear mongering. Don’t get blindside by this barbie doll (I’ve already forgotten her name). Barbie and Johnnie are Bush/Cheney…maybe worse.

I may be done talking about what’s-her-name, but I’m not done talking about how much we need President Obama to turn this country around. That is change I can believe in.