Detroit Bailout: More Socialism For The Corporations

No, we don't want socialism here in the United States, except when we need to bail out the rich executives on Wall Street and corporate America. Now we are told that the next round of taxpayer funded socialism for the corporations will be in the form of a bailout for Detroit automakers, to the tune of some $25 billion so that Chrysler and GM can merge and thereby avoid going belly up.

I have an idea. Exxon-Mobil just declared a $14 billion dollar quarterly profit. Why not have them bail out Detroit? After all, without the gas guzzlers that Detroit has been pumping out steadily where would these obscene profits come from?

Jim

Where Is Our Gay Martin Luther King?

Diane Silver writing in the Bay Area Reporter:

"...polls show an increasing possibility that we will lose the right to
marry in California.
Polls also indicate that a constitutional ban on
same-sex marriage may pass in Arizona, just two years after Arizona became the
first state to defeat such a prohibition.
Voters in Florida may be poised to
approve the most punitive kind of marriage ban - one that prohibits marriage
equality and any form of legal right for same-sex couples and unmarried
heterosexuals. Given that Florida requires a 60 percent "yes" vote to amend its
constitution, it's disheartening that polls show the ban within striking
distance of passage.
In Arkansas, an underfunded campaign is struggling to
defeat an initiative that would keep lesbians and gays from fostering or
adopting children.
Early voting has already begun in some states. The rest of
the country votes on November 4. We're running out of time. Pro-equality
campaigns report that they are short of money.
I'm not joking when I say we
need heroes right now. We need a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Gandhi. And, I
wouldn't at all mind if a Wonder Woman or Superman flew in to help."

We have no leaders...and no unified movement. What a shame.

Jim

The Opposite Of Courageous And Just Leadership

About California's Proposition 8 Andrew Sullivan notes:

"...Schwarzenegger and Obama stay silent. I will remember that. The tide of
hysteria and hatred that has swamped gay Californians and their families, funded
largely by the Mormon church, and largely ignored by the Obama
campaign..."

Shame!

Jim

Why Obama Will Not Get My Vote November 4th

The lack of an organized gay rights movement spearheaded by a single powerful national leader has crippled progress for gay equality. For decades now gay people have been left with little choice but to grovel for crumbs from politicians who throw us under the bus after we vote for them. Progress toward gay equality has happened in spite of serious setbacks suffered at the hands of politicians that we thought were our friends. However, progress could come quicker if gays and lesbians viewed their struggle for equality as a separate battle, one that is detached from American politics.

Martin Luther King, the greatest civil rights leader that this country has ever known, led a movement that remained largely independent of partisan politics. For example, in the 1960 “change” election, he remained publicly non-partisan, even though privately he was supportive of John Kennedy. King knew that the path to racial equality came through principled insistence on justice, rather than hopeful support for candidates that are unwilling or unable to be fully committed to the goals of the civil rights movement.

Gay men and lesbians would do well to follow King’s example. We should insist on a full commitment to gay equality from candidates who are soliciting our support. If such a commitment is not forthcoming, then we must not support these candidates with our votes. JFK, and later Lyndon B. Johnson came to King for his counsel. Let us wait for politicians to come to us rather than voting for them out of the misplaced hope that they will do the right thing after they are elected. What incentive do they have to make tough decisions on our behalf if we don’t insist upon their commitment to full equality in advance?

Jim

Samuel L. Jackson: NO on Proposition 8!

From Mark Malkin at E-Online:

"Samuel L. Jackson has joined the fight to keep gay marriage legal in California.
I just got word that the Soul Men actor recorded a radio spot
earlier today to urge voters to oppose Prop. 8, the ballot initiative seeking to overturn California's legalization of same-sex unions.
Jackson joins other stars who have taken a stand against Prop. 8, including Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Barbra Streisand, Molly Ringwald and Fran Drescher, as well as Pete Wentz and his Fall Out Boy bandmates. "

Good! He's a good actor and a decent person. Now we need more prominent celebrities to publicly oppose the effort to strip gay people of their fundamental rights in California. Where is Schwartzenegger? He promised "to be there" for the gay community in this. His wife went public yesterday with her opposition, but where is he?

Jim

My Vote On Nov. 4th: Nader or Libertarian

If I vote on November 4th, it will not be for Barak Obama because of his unacceptable public position on gay marriage: he opposes it. A better position would have been "let the states decide," the federalist position. But his outright stated opposition to gay marriage is a deal buster for me. It represents political pandering at its worst. Where is his leadership and sense of justice? Two states already have full gay marriage! Obama is actually telling legally married gay couples that he opposes their marriage while at the same time asking for their support. Again, this is totally unacceptable. Enough of gay people supporting candidates who say that they're our friends but act otherwise. If you want my vote you have to earn it, just like with everyone else. I will not support a candidate simply because the other side is worse.

I may vote for Bob Barr (Libertarian) or Ralph Nader (Independent), both of whom appear on the Pennsylvania ballot.

Jim

From the 2008 Libertarian Party Platform:

Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no
impact on the rights of individuals by government, such as in current marriage,
child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Consenting adults
should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships.
Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal
relationships.

Why We're Still In Economic Trouble

According to Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman writing in today's New York Times:

What’s happening, I suspect, is that the Bush administration’s
anti-government ideology still stands in the way of effective action. Events
have forced Mr. Paulson into a partial nationalization of the financial system —
but he refuses to use the power that comes with ownership.
Whatever the
reasons for the continuing weakness of policy, the situation is manifestly not
coming under control. Things continue to fall apart.

Will next week's election change this? Probably not, at least not right away.

Jim

The Vet that Did Not Vet

Kind of liked this Youtube Video. It makes much of this election so simple anyone can understand it.



M

I am not Joe The Plumber

I'm not Joe The Plumber. I'm not lower class, not middle class and not upper class. I'd rather not have my life reduced to a soundbite.

I grew up in a family of hard working people. My father died at work, my mother is a senior citizen and still works long hours every day (and I am proud of her everyday) and siblings work long hours at jobs they sometimes like and sometimes more often than not hate.

So when I listen the McPalin drivel of Obama screwing the working stiffs like myself and my family I get incredibly irritated. But not at McPalin. I get irritated at the American People for listening to the propaganda and eating it up without thinking about it first.

Read the start of a great plan for small businesses by the Obama administration here. It isn't a deep read, it will take you about 3 whole minutes. No big words or fancy ideas. Just things our government can do to make it easier for small business to operate in a country that hasn't treated them so well in the last 10 years.

By the way, running a small business here in the land of Holy Joe Lieberman is pretty difficult. CT state taxes for small businesses are overwheling. The state makes it very difficult for small businesses to be profitable. That doesn't have much to do with the Federal Government but it has an awful lot to do with our state government. Can any President fix a state government? Highly unlikely.

Hence the statement again, don't compare me to the Plumber that McPalin randomly picked out of a crowd. Actually, it's starting to look less random all the time. I wish the rest of America discouraged the use of metaphors for specific sectors of our population and instead focused on what's important, the state of our great country and what we ALL need to do to lead the world again. I'd even be willing to live with the candidates leaving Joe the Plumber on Main Street and instead get out to the mall where minimum wage workers with no health insurance still work at stores loading up for the holiday season (that might not come). Mary at Pottery Barn may never know...

M

Death and Taxes Wallstat

Check out this amazing project from Wallstats. It's called "Death and Taxes" and much to Jim's point, it shows us where our money is going. It gives a visual representation of how our tax dollars are spent. Once you look at the military, you will see the staggering amount of money we seem to want to continue to spend eventhough our checkbook is empty and most of us will probably end up as Walmart greeters if the economy continues to tank.

Check it out here:



Clean up on aisle 6!
Marc

Cut Military Spending - It's Way Past Time!

"In a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times, Rep. Frank,
D-Mass., also called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the
Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs..."

Why is the military budget the only government expenditure that is not subject to cuts? Where is the so-called "peace dividend" that we were supposed to benefit from after Saint Ronald Reagan won the cold war and destroyed the Soviet Union? Military spending is such a crock of s**t!

Jim

Itzhak Perlman talks about why he opposes Prop 8

We need more courageous people in the arts on the side of marriage equality!

Takin' it Back with Barack Jack! (For Swing voters!!!)

Yea, Man!

Animal Rights: California's Proposition 2

“If animals are going to be killed for food,” said Wayne Pacelle, the president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, “the least we can do is treat them with decency and give them a semblance of life.” - as quoted in the New York Times

California's Proposition 2 would require that animals be provided room to turn around, lie down, stand up and fully extend their limbs. Like Proposition 8, which would take marriage away from gay people, this animal rights proposition is drawing money in opposition from forces outside of California, who are afraid that as California goes so goes the rest of the country.

Let's hope that Californians do the right thing at the ballot box for animals, and for gay people.

Jim

Democrat Funny

We've seen and heard some pretty insane things from the Republicans. This little biddy from Ron Howard shows us how to get out a message that is funny, classy and meaningful to everyone.

Marc

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Greenspan: I Made An Error (IDIOT!)

Oh great, that old fart, the prince of free markets finally admits that yes, there needs to be some regulation. Really? Do you think so? And this is the expert that ran the Federal Reserve for so long, and was the darling of Republicans and Democrats alike. I think he was senile when he was Fed chairman. We're paying the price for his folly now.

Hey, don't you like Halloween?

Jim

Obama, Powell, And Proposition 8

Been busy here setting up a new desktop computer. We also had a busy weekend with performances on New York on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday. Nevertheless, I did watch Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama on Meet The Press. While it was a strong endorsement, coming from Powell it doesn't mean very much to me. Powell was George W. Bush's enabler. "W" made a fool out of him sending him to the United nations to make the case for the Iraq war. He should have known better. Now Powell worries about two more right wing Supreme Court appointees. He should have been worried before "W" put Alito and Roberts on the Court. Powell also opposed the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the military, and helped force DADT into our nation's policy on military matters. He's a Republican Uncle Tom. Who needs him.

I am heartsick over the latest polls showing that Proposition 8 may very well pass in California. It's probably too late to point fingers, but why on earth every single gay rights organization didn't make this their number one priority, and all of them band together to fight this is beyond me. If it passes, Proposition 8 will set back the gay rights movement by years if not decades.

I have issues with Obama, but I'll give him credit for one thing: he has fought fire with fire, answering the negative ads of the Republicans with negative ads of his own. Finally, the Democrats learn how to street fight with the nasty right wing crowd. Now if only gay people would band together and fight for our rights!

Jim

Not Good News For Marriage Equality In California

Polls indicate that the battle over the rights of gay men and lesbians to legally marry in California is too close to call. The religious right has made it their most important crusade since the battle against safe and legal abortions. Apparently, the gay groups waging the battle to defeat the anti-gay proposition have failed to make their case in an effective manner. Rather than forthrightly asserting that gay people exist and have real lives and loves, and ought to be entitled to full equality, they have tried to downplay the gay aspect in fighting for equality fearing that too many people are still too uncomfortable with the very idea of gay people. That's unfortunate. We're still hiding. As one commentator said, if we're going to go down we might as well go down fighting as highly visible and proud gay people.

Jim

McCain/Palin On Their Merits: Not The Smart Choice

From a friend:

What if the candidates lives were reversed? What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said "I do" to? What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards? What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to painkillers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization? What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5? What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If the above questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss... which team would you hire? With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:

Obama: Columbia University - B.A. PoliticalScience with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. inHistory and B.A. in Political Science.nbsp; Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)

versus

McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester, North Idaho College- 2 semesters - general study, University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism, Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester, University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire?

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter...

McAngry: Debate edition!

This would be president...I don't think so.

McCain: Enough Already!

The debate last night was grinding to watch. McCain went into full attack mode making the predictable accusations against Obama throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him. Do you want to see how McCain's performance played with the public? Go to YouTube and do a quick search on him. It won't take you long to find many video clips showing McCain to be angry and confused, while he flailed out at Obama. Forget about concrete proposals from McCain, except for tax cuts for businesses, the same old trickle down economics that hasn't worked for the last 30 plus years. McCain is truly a sad, washed up figure at this point. If Americans elect him they'll get what they deserve: four or more years of the same old tired Republican policies. Obama isn't perfect, but just about any Democrat would be better than McCain.

Please let this be over ASAP. No one wants to watch it any more.

Jim

Alas, they just don't get it...

It makes me sad when I see good people that just don't get it. John McCain is one of those people.

Threatening to "kick Barack Obama's ass" in the debate? "Get in his face" says Sarah Palin? Ok, so maybe these people aren't so good.

The problem is that these metaphors are extinct. I mean that. Apes throw poop when they feel threatened. Essentially human beings have to stop throwing poop at each other if we want to evolve into responsible members of the planet earth and maybe even the universe.

In a nutshell, leadership, how we conduct ourselves and the metaphors we use do in fact mean something. Primates throw feces. Humans throw inuendo and guilt by association. Both are forms of a futile attempt at driving off potential threats without any kind of substance. Actually the poop has more substance than the inuendo. Go figure.

Maybe it is time we evolve beyond threats and saber rattling and go on to what we were intended to do. Hence the title of this: so many folks just don't get it. Our minds need to be as strong as our bodies, maybe stronger. Ideas need substance and the current Republican campaign for the presidency lacks just that.

Further, it seems to constantly thrive on violence, an awkward trend in a world that is getting rocked by the economy. As tempting as it may be, we can't fire bullets into our economy to get it to perform. And we can't use a few talking point in a stump speach to jump start some structural problems resonating throughout our global economy. Our problems are far more sophisticated than a set of combatants and they need more than a few great minds looking at problems differently to come to a resolution.

The issues that we face as a country transcend smart vs. dumb, fat vs. thin, black vs. white. I myself only consider my intellect sophisticated enought to know what I don't know, which is quite substantial. That means that our collective problems won't get solved by one man but by a whole bunch of people with different experiences and intellects brought together. We can't seem to get that as a country. It's tempting to look for cheap and easy answers.

JK Rowling has a great quote: "Harry, you'll have to choose between what is right and what is easy." It's one of my favorites. Easy is declaring war, victory and spoils. Right is trying to identify the questions and problems we are trying to solve before we answer them. We need stop the reacting and start thinking.

Go figure. I am going to watch the debate and hopefully we will walk away with some ideas of who will start to ask the right questions and get some smart people in the room to address them.

Marc

Postcards From New England

From our cruise last week to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New England. This is "Peggy's Cove," in Nova Scotia. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Jim

The Gingrich Revolution In Reverse

Conservative New York Times pundit David Brooks sees the handwriting on the wall. Obama will win and the Democrats will control the House and Senate. Therefore:

What we’re going to see, in short, is the Gingrich revolution in reverse
and on steroids. There will be a big increase in spending and deficits. In
normal times, moderates could have restrained the zeal on the left. In an
economic crisis, not a chance. The over-reach is coming. The backlash is
next.

That sounds pretty good to me. We need a Keynesian "over-reach" like a second New Deal, it seems to me. As for a backlash, what backlash happened after the first New Deal? We had decades of prosperity and won a world war, and we had LBJ's Great Society, the war on poverty, and the institution of Medicare for our seniors. Things changed for the worse only after conservative saint Ronald Reagan destroyed progressive taxation, broke the unions, championed deregulation, and poisoned Americans minds with his hatred of government. We're now paying the price for going down that disastrous path. Bush Junior even tried to destroy Roosevelt's great legacy, Social Security. Fortunately for our seniors, he failed.

Conservatives like Brooks and Gingrich will just have to sulk. Their day has past. They almost destroyed America with their policies. Hopefully, we can recover with a Gingrich revolution in reverse, a contract for America rather than a contract on America. That can't happen too soon.

Jim

GOP Slime Machine

The GOP slime machine is in overdrive. The latest is that Obama is not a natural born US Citizen and thus cannot be President. Classic. There was also an allegation that rich people are pulling their money out of the US because Obama will be elected thus causing the slide in the stock market.

These are small people spewing large lies. People in the GOP, just admit it; you should have backed Romney, Huckabee or Paul and you would have been exactly 10,000 times better off. The lipstick on a pig analogy is very appropriate. McCain/Palin isn't real, it isn't even a vapor of a political campaign. Any one of your other choices would have been better/more appropriate and more up to the job of doing the right thing for the United States. It's the reason Obama and team are creaming McCain/Palin.

And by the way, you can't even vaguely claim to vote the bible for the GOP ticket. McCain left his wife in need for a rich heiress he met in a bar. Palin is leaving her kids at home (one of whom has special needs) while she pursues her national political ego. Perhaps if she or her husband was a bit less involved with shooting animals or fooling with pulling Alaska out of the United States they'd be paying better attention to their kids and her daughter wouldn't be knocked up.

I think most Americans are thinking the same thing; I don't have the cash to pay for my house this month and McCain/Palin are talking about shooting up Iran and capturing Bin Laden. Where the hell have they been for the last 8 years? I care about the next 8 years because my family will be headed off to college and I would like to think that maybe someday before I die I won't have to work a 10 hour day.

Folks, we are in a global economic meltdown. Read about it here. The truth of it is that it is a whole bunch of events put together, not just one item and certainly not due to anything Obama has done.

We can attribute this to our Republican President and Congress though. Much of the legislation specifically in the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act set the stage for the rapid chain of events that created many of our problems. President Clinton signed it into law though. Just means we gotta not get cynical and we have to watch every damned one of them!

Here's a little known item that happened in our recent $700 billion bailout (and please correct me if I have mis-interpreted this):

Market to Market valuations have been suspended. So what? Well, let's say Lehman Brothers bought a building in New York City for $10 million. Fine, who cares? Well, market to market means that the building is valued at what the market is willing to bear for the asset. Meaning that if the building is valued at $2 million because of a real estate bust than the firm must say so to their creditors.

Ok, so now Paulson and crew step in and market to market is suspended. So, if I understand this correctly, the firms that just tanked the global economy can now value assets including securities at their full purchase price on their balance sheets. Now maybe that's a rash oversimplification (and again, correct me if I am wrong) but that seems like one hell of a huge loophole to crawl through. And it is terminology that won't get picked up or acknowledged outside of the financial community. Bottom line is that it is like an invite to cook the books.

I mention this because the news media doesn't seem to want to. Stop thinking along Democrat and Republican!!! Last I checked, we are all Americans and we have to figure out how to pull together and yank our asses out of this mess. I just hope whoever is the next President has the good sense to call some of the brightest minds in our country and not try to make this stuff up as they go along!

Marc

A Postcard From New England

It's been tough to post to the blog this week because the satellite Internet connection from the Caribbean Princess is a bit slow. But we are having a wonderful time aboard this beautiful ship. New England is beautiful at this time of year. We enjoyed Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, and we spotted this bald eagle on a river cruise up the St. John River in New Brunswick. Yesterday we enjoyed beautiful Bar Harbor Maine, where the fall colors are at their peak. Today we're in Boston and tomorrow, Newport.

I've enjoyed Marc's blog entries. We're all watching the markets and wondering where the bottom is. This is the end result of nearly 40 years of Reaganomics. America will never be the same after this. I only hope that the new economic reality that emerges after this deluge is more fair and just, and that the Reagan-Bush Gilded Age has not destroyed our country beyond repair.

Jim

If They Were Trains

I saw this on AmericaBlog and I just had to post it.

Marc

Just an economic thought....

I've said it before and I will say it again. We can't spend our way out of this hole. We need more than the Fed or the Treasury pouring dollars into another bank. That isn't going to do it. More importantly, it is wasting money.

We need jobs in this country, we need to make things in this country. Is it any huge shock that this massive economic slide comes after almost a year of the country losing jobs month after month? Or over 7 years of the government spending money on a war? And politicians just don't get it; taxes aren't really the issue, jobs are. You don't need to raise taxes if you have people working and actually PAYING them.

This is going to be a long, nasty recession. And it won't get better until the United States gets the fact that we can't import jobs, fork cash to the super rich and drop billions on military engagements and military hardware we can't afford.

Maybe when we freeze our asses off this winter the cold will help us identify our priorities.

Marc

Pundit Puke

Just listening to the pundits puke out who won in this verbal masturbation exercise (the Presidential Debate). My favorite pundit is pictured above.

I have to say, the thing I liked most after the debates was T. Boone Pickens little shpiel for energy indepence.

I don't feel like writing a long winded article tonight. My 401k has vaporized a little over $20k this week. I know, some folks are far worse. Still, I am pissed. It takes me a long time to earn that kind of money. Time I'd would rather have been spending with my family.

And I'm tired of hearing from both candidates about how they are going to go kick ass on Iran. How about you un-fuck the world economy first?

There was far too much tough talk crap about putting pressure on, kicking ass and so on. By the way, the Russians stayed in Afghanistan for 9 years. Well trained bunch of folks, dedicated their whole army to taking a dump on the Taliban and it still didn't work and broke them fiscally. Do you hear me? History says we can't win with the added bonus of us going broke in the process.

Fix healthcare.

Fix the economy.

Get energy independence.

Make education a constant and inexpensive.

Give our vets the treatment they need.

Stop wars (both Afghanistan and Iraq).

McCain reminds me of Hoover. That's what he reminded me of during the debates.

One question I have for both candidates: when are you going to stop spending money we no longer have?

One observation of something I heard from NEITHER candidate: "I don't know everything, I'm going to find the smartest guys in our country and ask them what we should do." I will donate at least $100 of my dwindling funds to the candidate that had the guts to say that.

Marc

Democrats and Bubbly....

Before the Democrats uncork the bubbly and start breaking out the "we kicked McCain's ass" bumper stickers, I think a little reality needs to be injected into the converstation:

1) The main stream media and blogosphere is waxing on about the huge Obama lead in the polls. As we know, we can't and shouldn't always believe everything we read. And this is no exception. Lest we forget our recent history, the media missed the impending credit crisis in spite of the global equity meltdown last year.

I'm not sure how many of you out there use AOL email or check AOL headlines. I've watched their polls for the last year. Their last major poll before the debates had the entire country (every state) as a red state. Yet one month later AOL's headlines (0n multiple occassions) had Barack leading in the polls. I wouldn't be mentioning this but I've heard AOL polls regurgitated on CNN and on MSNBC. Clearly the message here is mixed and the polls are less than scientific.
My point is that we need to get our information from a variety of media sources, not just polls, blogs and the punditry.

Speaking of punditry:

I haven't seen the punditry call much of anything correctly and I'm not sure why journalists are getting tapped as experts on campaigns, war and the economy. Maybe it is because they can wrap a really complex problem up in an 8th grade reading level bow?

2) The biggest competitor the McCain Campaign has is themselves and their candidates track record. Barack Obama is a thoughtful, decent human being. However even as well organized as both he and his campaign seem to be, it isn't what's sinking McCain. It's American's pocket books and wallets that are pushing down McCain's numbers.

GW hasn't helped either. As a matter of fact, he's turned into a huge liability. He's waving on his way out of the office right now, riding into the sunset with a huge family fortune and most likely a substantial endowment from one of this corporate benefactors. Clearly the American people are not happy.

By the way, have you noticed on signs for politicians, you know, the one's that are on people's lawns; they've removed any reference to party? I know why the Republicans did it and I know it will confuse voters in the polling for sure. Is party affiliation important for full disclosure? I think so.

3) Democrats haven't seen all of the shock and awe Republicans have to play yet. My guess is that real slime will come out somewhere around the last week of the campaign. Too late for anyone to purchase additonal airtime on TV or radio.

Last but absolutely most important:

4) Did we forget one name? Katherine Harris? How many clones of Katherine Harris did the Republicans cast before she went down in flames? How many local votes will get chucked or swindled or stolen as the result of some kind of antics by the local Republicans? Or by Democrats acting in their own political self interests? It happens folks, both sides do things that skate on the thin ice of not quite legal but not completely illegal. Vaporizing votes in a democracy is wrong by any means and making one vote count more than another is still wrong.


So I think we have a few "action items". One item might be to have some oversight for the voting, especially in swing states. If it weren't for Katherine Harris and others like her, we might not be in Iraq or in a economic depression or in a few other messes. Her actions helped set a chain of events in place that made a whole lot of us Americans poorer and a very few Americans much wealthier. And quite a few Americans, Iraqis and others quite dead.


Another action item might be that Barack can't treat this race as a great debate in the high school gym. Take the gloves off Barack and put on some brass knuckles. Get in this to win. This is your moment in history, in time. You've done great things and nothing would be greater than having a first black president. And if that first black president came in and saved our collective asses that would even be better. Not many leaders really stand up to the test of time, quite a fwe are soiled by it. We are defined by our actions and not just our words.

You don't seem like the kind of person that is content with a B+ grade point average. And honestly Barack, I don't want to have another President in the Whitehouse that isn't shooting for an A+. I've seen enough F's from the government in the last 8 years to last me a lifetime.





Marc

Headed For The High Seas

We board the Carribbean Princess this afternoon in Brooklyn and sail this evening for Nova Scotia. This is the biggest cruise ship we've ever been on. It should be a fun trip!

Jim

Autumn Flower: Montauk Daisy

This plant blooms in early autumn at our house on Fire Island, While it's a cheery blossom it does signal the end of the season for me. I closed the beach house last Wednesday until next Spring.

Jim

CHOKE: Obama-Biden On Gay Marriage

Massachusetts has had gay marriage for several years now, and a move to make gay marriage unconstitutional there failed. California has gay marriage, an a move to make it unconstitutional there is losing at the moment. Why is it then that Obama and Biden oppose marriage equality? Sure, it's a political calculation, but it's made on the backs of gay people. It's not fair, in fact, for Obama and Biden to say that they oppose gay men and lesbians being able to marry and it is SHAMEFUL!

If they can't bring themselves to support marriage equality, then they should at least answer questions on gay marriage by saying it should be left to the states. But to say they outright oppose gay marriage - that is just totally unacceptable.

Jim

Sarah Palin Debate Flowchart

For those of you that missed the debate last night, I have something that may help. Joe Biden is a smart, seasoned politician so I think you have a pretty good idea of his reasoning/rationale. Get out of Iraq, attempt to rethink the economy, honor the Bill of Rights and Constitution, that kind of thing.

But Sarah Palin is kind of different and everyone was wondering how she could go off script and still make sense against another Bi-Ped Omnivore with active respiration and all nuerons and synapses firing.

Well, all is revealed. Here is the flowchart that unlocks all of Sarah's responses and helps you understand how a "just good enough" person can be a Vice Presidential hopeful.

Marc

PS If it is hard to read, just click on it and the picture will open another window and will be a bit larger. To put it in John McCain/Palin speak: "For those of you not technically there to... Well, ok, it's all about windows and the right to have arms."

The Second Great Depression?

The next administration’s economic team had better be ready to hit the ground
running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst
financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. - Paul Krugman in today's New York Times.

I've heard a few people in the know say that no matter what happens with the "bailout" bill, the American economy is going to get a lot worse in the next few months. It looks like it might be a bleak holiday season. If Americans elect McCain-Palin, it will be even bleaker.

Jim

Chatterbox Palin

My, she now is a non-stop chatterbox! She certainly has been programmed. What a talking Barbie Doll!

Jim

I couldn't stomach it....

Here's about 8 minutes of my thoughts watching the Biden/Palin debate.
____________________________________________________________________

Watching Sarah Palin debate Joe Biden is like watching a chimp inside a new car with a hammer. Palin is mouthing talking points strung together by McCain's election aids.

And she has "folksy hometown goodness". Let's face it folks, she's a friggin moron. What the hell were Alaskans thinking?

She'd be a great waitress at Cracker Barrel however she sets back women about 10,000 years.

Make it stop. I think I'll flip the channel to Breakfast at Bernies. More cerebral.

Sorry Joe, we thought McCain could drum up a better running mate than this.....

marc

Palin And Biden: Should Be Interesting

Of course, Biden should be able to "win" any debate with the soccer momish, gun toting, six pack carrying governor of Alaska, but we'll have to see how the personal dynamics play out. Palin is someone I can't even bear to watch. I hope Biden can control his contempt of her better than McCain, who clearly hates Obama.

Jim

One Last Sand Castle

...until next year.

Jim