McCain Claims to buy American, But...

You would think the house thing would have helped him learn his lesson. Think again. McCain tells auto workers that he has proudly purchased american made cars throughout his life. At least 4 of his current personal fleet do not fit the bill.

Shell Oil opens new office in Iraq

For the first time since 1972 a western oil company has established a field office in Iraq.

"Mission Accomplished" If there was any doubt before, it is certainly clear now that this always was and is a war for oil. As American sons and daughters continue to die on foreign soil- let's be clear about the reason why.

McCain Camp admits that Sarah Palin is "disadvantaged"

They should make the same case now for McCain's lack of Stamina- otherwise this is just plain sexist-right?

This Clip is more relevant each day.

I think this sums up the whole of what is said in a 45 minute testimony. Galloway is speaking directly to Senator Norm Coleman and his condemnation is directed both at our Nation's policies leading up to the Iraqi war and the policies involved in building up and sustaining our involvement- even against the the opinions and wishes of our allies and Norm personally (because of his vocal and continuous support of those errant policies).

Why is this imortant now?

Even as our country suffers the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression we continue to send money to our policitcal enemies for their oil- thus funding their actions against us. Further, we continue to be the sole financial contributor to the military efforts in Iraq at a rate that is almost exactly equivalent to the amounts the Iraqi's are putting into their bank accounts.

Obama has a great opportunity to rightly link our failed policy on Iraq to the overall falure of our economy. Closer to Home Al Franken can and should do the same thing.

Alaska among the smallest states in the union.

John McCain called Alaska 'one of the largest states in the Union' when he introduced Sarah Palin. But according to population Alaska ranks 47th out of 50 with North Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont falling behind. The populaton of Alaska is 683,478 and, while Sarah Palin claims to be a rejector of earmarks, the state ranks the highest in dollars per capita for earmarks from the Federal Government.

Try this: Would you want the Mayor of Baltimore Maryland to be the Vice President? The population there is 635,815. A bit smaller than the state of Alaska- but executive experience is what matters -according to the Republicans.

No, how about Austin Texas? At 690,252 Austin is actually bigger than Alaska.

In fact, in ascending order there are 15 more cities that have larger populations than all of Alaska. Columbus Ohio, San Francisco, Jacksonville Fl., Indianapolis, Indiana, Detriot, MI., San Jose, CA., Dallas TX, San Diego, San Antonio, Pheonix, AZ., Philidelphia PA, Houston TX, Chicago Ill. (at 2.85 million, more than 4 times the size of Alaska), Los Angeles and New York.

Just added to my Favorite Places

Count the Lies (link above) so far they are at 51.

On The lighter Side

You Go Miss Piggy!

What does Obama need to do to win this?

If Obama wants to win this election he needs to reclaim the “audacity of hope.”He needs immediately to stop worrying about what the opponent is doing and focus on his message.

At the same time his surrogates need to start taking apart every false claim that is levied against Obama.

As the standard bearer for the party Obama needs to bring his optimism and hope and message to every battleground state and stand side-by-side with every candidate in every race however tightly contested.

For my money, I would have him start in Minnesota with Al Franken and Tim Walz- throw in an appearance by Amy Klobuchar for good measure. Neighboring Tom Harkin from Iowa could come along- he is highly regarded in these parts.

Then swing through Colorado with Mark Udall and New Mexico with Bill Richardson and Tom Udall. While there is little if any chance of him winning Alaska I believe too he could serve Mark Begich well by going up there and standing with him for a rally.

Wisconsin would be a profitable stop, at least once.
Michigan deserves to see the top of the ticket again as well- probably twice.
Then Ohio and Pennsylvania.
He should swing through Indiana again for good measure, perhaps with Hillary.

He should make a visit to the pacific Northwest with a planned televised event in Washington.

Florida would benefit from a visit from both Clintons and Obama together and a permanent campout of Bill with frequent visits throughout the region.

VA is not gone yet - even though the Republicans think so. Standing alongside the popular Mark Warner would be a great move.

I could go on. But the main point is that Obama needs to give the media a story changer here so that they stop talking about lipstick and other nonsense.The Dems have every reason to believe that this is theirs to win at all levels. They need to start behaving like it is okay to be unified for the change we so desperately need.

This article from the Washington Post

gives us a great deal to be nervous about. The familiar tones of Arrogance, cronyism, close ties to oil money, surrounding herself with only people who agree with and defend her sound a lot like 'more of the same' and less like the promised 'reform.'

If is troubling to me that her only record of employment and involvement in the world outside her family are political positions where her record of 12 years is more spotty than we had been lead to believe.

I almost believe that she sees herself as a reformer and she reflects a tone that sounds too much like a mission. There seems to be an almost admirable optimism that allows her to jump forth with a 'yes I can' and 'yes I am' attitude about any challenge including: would would you be willing to seerve as Vice President and are you prepared in that role.

The problem is one we have seen before- A president gets elected based on drive and enthusiasm that is inflated compared to his actual experience- he surrounds himself with like-minded people who shelter him from anyone who disagrees (even to the extent of attacking voices of dissent) and moves forward with an intended mission without consideration of facts to the contrary.

This matches (too closely) the legacy of GW Bush and it matches the profile we have come to know of John McCain. Combine that with the well-honed political cynicism of the right-wing machine and it doesn't look at all like reform.

It would be overstated to say that this person scares me. It would not be overstated to say that this ticket scares me a great deal. McCain Palin would be wrong for America in ways we have not yet calculated.

It is clear that GW Bush pandered to the religious right in order to get elected- a move McCain was making that was not working among most fundamentalists (fool me once...). But what is not clear is whether Sarah Palin is also pandering or if (more likely) she is a true fundamentalist who believes she is part of "God's Plan" to Christianize the world.

If she is such a person- that would put her in an elite group of people who either does not care that GW Bush lied to get their support or believes the lies he told. Either way, such a person should make us nervous.

Our nation, and in fact our world are probably strong enough to survive a McCain presidency and we could probably survive too if Sarah Palin tragically had to step in to the role. After all, we (to date) have survived Bush/Cheney even as it spiralled into something far worse than anyone imagined.

But do we not deserve better? Do we not have an obligaton to do better for ourselves and for the world?

Greenspan has this to say about McCain's plans for the Economy

Yes, but will they give her a new speech?

I guess the American public really is stupid and we really do get the leaders we deserve.

Is it fair to talk about this?

I think so.

Gov. Sarah Palin billed the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months as governor according to a story in the Washington Post. This allowance is intended to cover the governor's expenses when she is away from her office on state business. She also billed to take her children on official state trips and her husband also billed when he went along on these trips (presumably from Juneau, the state capital, to Wasilla, where the Palins live). The legality of this billing aside, a candidate who is strongly against government waste may have some explaining to do. If Palin went alone and spent the night in, say, Fairbanks to confer with the mayor, no questions would have been raised, but billing the taxpayers to stay in your own home probably qualifies as waste, even if it is legal (which is far from clear). Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) also spends a lot of time in his Los Angeles home, but he doesn't bill the state for it. Palin's position on "the bridge to nowhere" (initially for it but later against it) is also in the news. As the press begins digging deeper into Palin's past, more of this stuff may come out. This is the downside of putting a former unknown governor in the national spotlight. In contrast, Joe Biden has been around so long that all the dirt on him is already well known and not newsworthy.

Barrack Obama on Mortgage Bailout

this is a good read

This from Slate

another piece of the community organizer story

Keith Olbermann on "McCain on Iraq"

This is from August 18th. If not for the conventions blocking out all of our media sensory organs this would be old news. But it deserves a reading.