Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Busy Day on the Trail
Well, there's been a couple of developments on the old campaign trail today. A McCain supporter at a McCain rally said she was scared of Obama because she's read that he's an Arab. Which goes to prove my point that uneducated people reading uneducated, hateful, and/or ignorant radical right wing blogs that promulgate lies and spread fear is rampant and far-reaching. See an interview with the same woman after the rally here. Another man at the rally said he was scared of an Obama presidency. My guess is he has been reading the same extreme right wing blogs. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! Look at the erratic and unpredictable behavior of your candidate. See my previous post for a few examples. It has been said that the way a candidate runs his campaign is indicative of the way he will run his presidency. If you think the economy is bad now, wait till you have a McCain presidency, whose flailing and floundering ideas and policies will cause our economic problems to be magnified to no end. His latest bright idea is for taxpayers to buy up all the bad mortgages out there, which will reward the banks who have caused all these problems in the housing market, cause all the taxpayers to lose, and will not solve the problem. Even the best fiscal conservatives are scratching their heads and denouncing this plan. Well, nevertheless, John McCain actually did right today, after all his nasty, negative ads, his allegations in his stump speeches this week, Palin's attacks on Obama, and the despicable behavior and outbursts of his supporters at those speeches. McCain actually did defend Obama today. I guess the polls have shown that all his negativity has proven detrimental and now his conscience is catching up with him. Oh, but of course, that was only after he released an ad earlier in the day saying Obama lied about his relationship with Bill Ayers. Still negative with the ads and trying to be positive in front of the people.
The other thing today, was of course, the bipartisan legislative council released a report in Alaska that Sarah Palin did indeed abuse the power of her office and broke ethics laws by trying to have her ex-brother-in-law fired. But she did not break any state laws because it was within her right to fire Walt Monegan for any or no reason. The McCain campaign responded by saying, in effect, "See, we told you she didn't break any laws and this whole thing was Obama supporters stirring up trouble." Wo, hold on here. As I recall, the council consisted of 10 Republicans and only 4 Democrats. This investigation was in the works well before Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate, and the council voted UNANIMOUSLY to release the results of their investigation. It seems like the only ones pushing their weight around were Sarah and Todd Palin and not Barack Obama's supporters. It's funny that Palin and McCain continue to say Obama is a liar. Looks like Palin and McCain haven't been exactly forthcoming, have they??
The other thing today, was of course, the bipartisan legislative council released a report in Alaska that Sarah Palin did indeed abuse the power of her office and broke ethics laws by trying to have her ex-brother-in-law fired. But she did not break any state laws because it was within her right to fire Walt Monegan for any or no reason. The McCain campaign responded by saying, in effect, "See, we told you she didn't break any laws and this whole thing was Obama supporters stirring up trouble." Wo, hold on here. As I recall, the council consisted of 10 Republicans and only 4 Democrats. This investigation was in the works well before Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate, and the council voted UNANIMOUSLY to release the results of their investigation. It seems like the only ones pushing their weight around were Sarah and Todd Palin and not Barack Obama's supporters. It's funny that Palin and McCain continue to say Obama is a liar. Looks like Palin and McCain haven't been exactly forthcoming, have they??
McCain is a Joke
I wonder how anyone with a working brain could vote for this guy. Let's make a fun little list of his irrational behavior in the last month...shall we??
1. He picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate, having met her only once. (Yeah I know that was more than a month ago, but very relevant.) See my previous post (video) for a demonstration on how great of a choice she has been.
2. After a huge drop in the stock market, McCain says, "...the fundamentals of the economy are strong."
3. Later rephrases this to say the fundamentals of the American worker are strong. (I for one think he said what he meant.)
4. Admits the economy is in trouble and pseudo-suspends his campaign to go to Washington to fix the problem.
5. Cancels David Letterman because he has to go to Washington to fix the economy, but immediately goes to do an interview with Katie Couric. David Letterman was not happy. He didn't go to Washington until the next day.
6. McCain says he will not attend the first presidential debate until he had helped finalize a bailout.
7. He went in and disrupted the bailout negotiations and caused a delay.
8. When it was apparent he could not fix the economy, and under a great deal of pressure, he went to the debate. (So nice of you to join us, Senator.)
9. He was for the bailout, then he was against it, then he was for it, then...
10. A top McCain spokesman predicts that if the campaign keeps talking about the economy, they will lose, and so they are trying to "turn the page" on the economy.
11. McCain announces his new strategy against Obama - link him to terrorist Bill Ayers, which has been disproven as far as any meaningful friendship/relationship is concerned. (Does the McCain campaign need to be reminded that Hillary Clinton tried that and failed already?)
12. A nice video came out of John McCain, in an earlier run at the white house, speaking on the trouble with running a very negative campaign.
13. Since announcing Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain has kept a tight leash on her, only allowing her a few interviews, oh and even going so far as to attempt to postpone the Vice Presidential debate during his psuedo-campaign suspension.
14. Has come up with a plan to use hundreds of billions in tax payer money to bail out banks and mortgage companies who have caused our current economic crisis. Here's Obama's reaction.
Well, that's just a few examples of the more recent erratic behavior. Well, some people I know think I'm just wrong for voting for Obama. But I'm voting against John McCain. Can we afford such irresponsible and erratic behavior?? Honestly, I fear for our freedoms as Amercians under a McCain-Palin administration. Admittedly, I do like Obama's policies on the economy, taxes, and Iraq. I appreciate that Obama is steady and thoughtful. It is encouraging that we might have a President who is much more educated than our last one (not to mention McCain who was fifth from the bottom in his naval academy class of 900). So I guess I really am voting for Barack Obama.
1. He picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate, having met her only once. (Yeah I know that was more than a month ago, but very relevant.) See my previous post (video) for a demonstration on how great of a choice she has been.
2. After a huge drop in the stock market, McCain says, "...the fundamentals of the economy are strong."
3. Later rephrases this to say the fundamentals of the American worker are strong. (I for one think he said what he meant.)
4. Admits the economy is in trouble and pseudo-suspends his campaign to go to Washington to fix the problem.
5. Cancels David Letterman because he has to go to Washington to fix the economy, but immediately goes to do an interview with Katie Couric. David Letterman was not happy. He didn't go to Washington until the next day.
6. McCain says he will not attend the first presidential debate until he had helped finalize a bailout.
7. He went in and disrupted the bailout negotiations and caused a delay.
8. When it was apparent he could not fix the economy, and under a great deal of pressure, he went to the debate. (So nice of you to join us, Senator.)
9. He was for the bailout, then he was against it, then he was for it, then...
10. A top McCain spokesman predicts that if the campaign keeps talking about the economy, they will lose, and so they are trying to "turn the page" on the economy.
11. McCain announces his new strategy against Obama - link him to terrorist Bill Ayers, which has been disproven as far as any meaningful friendship/relationship is concerned. (Does the McCain campaign need to be reminded that Hillary Clinton tried that and failed already?)
12. A nice video came out of John McCain, in an earlier run at the white house, speaking on the trouble with running a very negative campaign.
13. Since announcing Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain has kept a tight leash on her, only allowing her a few interviews, oh and even going so far as to attempt to postpone the Vice Presidential debate during his psuedo-campaign suspension.
14. Has come up with a plan to use hundreds of billions in tax payer money to bail out banks and mortgage companies who have caused our current economic crisis. Here's Obama's reaction.
Well, that's just a few examples of the more recent erratic behavior. Well, some people I know think I'm just wrong for voting for Obama. But I'm voting against John McCain. Can we afford such irresponsible and erratic behavior?? Honestly, I fear for our freedoms as Amercians under a McCain-Palin administration. Admittedly, I do like Obama's policies on the economy, taxes, and Iraq. I appreciate that Obama is steady and thoughtful. It is encouraging that we might have a President who is much more educated than our last one (not to mention McCain who was fifth from the bottom in his naval academy class of 900). So I guess I really am voting for Barack Obama.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Last Night's Presidential Debate
So, I watched the debate in its entirety last night, as well as commentary from the different cable news networks. Just a few things I want to point out. I watched the debate on CNN, and at the bottom of the screen, there were three lines measuring response from three groups: Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. The Republican and Democrat lines were predictable. When their candidate was speaking, the respective response line went up, and when the other guy was talking, their response line went down. The interesting thing was the Independent reaction. Almost throughout the debate, anytime McCain was speaking, the Independent line was below the Republican line. They responded positively to McCain at times, but the Independent response was almost never more positive than the Republican response. But when Obama was talking, the Independent response line was frequently positive, and was sometimes even more positive than the Democrat response. The bottom line is that the Independents were much more favorable to Obama than they were to McCain. If this can translate to Independents going to the polls on November 4 and voting for Obama, he should win some of those swing states easily.
For being the expert on foreign policy, John McCain was not as convincing as I would have imagined. He threw in some names of people he's met and places he's been over the years. But he seemed to me to be stuck in the past. Stuck to the policies of ol' W and not very forward looking. Obama was sure to point that out on many occasions, and it was effective. I was really impressed that Obama more than held his own and stuck it to McCain that he was wrong on a number of issues, most importantly that we are in our present situation in Iraq because of the policies McCain championed along side Pres. Bush. McCain was stuck on the fact that the surge has worked. Sure, it's worked. But if we had never gone into Iraq in the first place, and focused on Osama bin Laden, we wouldn't have needed a surge to correct the mismanagement of that war anyway. Iraq was a diversion and distraction from the actual terrorists and Obama was right on that, McCain was dead wrong. Seven years after 9/11, bin Laden is still hiding out and organizing more terrorist activities.
I thought the demeanor of both candidates was also notable. In fact, there was quite a contrast. McCain, as has been pointed out by many of the pundits, rarely looked at Obama, while Obama made eye contact with McCain frequently. McCain seemed to get his feathers ruffled often and easily, while Obama remained cool, poised, and well, presidential. McCain was - as I have come to realize is typical of him - very rash, emotional, and defensive. He was quick to point out where he felt Obama was wrong on issues. In fact, a fact check on several of his claims will prove he exagerated the truth or just did not have his facts straight. All the pundits discussed Obama agreeing with McCain. Obama said on several occasions something like, "Sen. McCain is right about _____...." The Republicans all ran with that saying that Obama was agreeing with McCain on those things, and that this shows Obama's lack of experience. When in fact, if they were listening to the rest of Obama's sentences, he would follow up with something like, "...but I differ in this way:_____." Obama was certainly not endorsing McCain, but finding common ground and then drawing sharp contrasts in their positions. McCain seemed more petty and like he was trying to lecture Obama on why he was wrong. I just felt like Obama was more respectful to McCain than visa versa.
Anyway, I don't really want to get into the actual contents of the debate. By now, everyone can pretty much tell whose side of the debate I agree with the most. I just wanted to point out a few things. Neither candidate really knocked the other out. This is more beneficial to Obama than McCain. He really needed to upend Obama on foreign policy - his supposed field of expertise, but he absolutely did not. Obama seemed more level headed and thoughtful about the questions asked by Jim Lehrer, and kept McCain kind of scrambling the whole time. The immediate polls show that Obama won the debate among most viewers. Those polls were slightly skewed as there were more Democrats that responded to the polls than Republicans. That being the case, the debate probably resulted in a tie, which is a win for Obama. McCain really needed to make a strong case for himself, but I was not very impressed that he did so. His experience and judgment arguments did not go as well as he would have hoped, as Obama pointed out that his judgment has directly led to the debacle in Iraq, for which McCain had no counter-argument. In a debate that should have been a home run for McCain, he came out of it looking like someone who is emotional, quick to make a rash decision, and stuck to the old failed policies of the Bush administration, while Obama came out looking more like a thoughtful and respectful leader.
For being the expert on foreign policy, John McCain was not as convincing as I would have imagined. He threw in some names of people he's met and places he's been over the years. But he seemed to me to be stuck in the past. Stuck to the policies of ol' W and not very forward looking. Obama was sure to point that out on many occasions, and it was effective. I was really impressed that Obama more than held his own and stuck it to McCain that he was wrong on a number of issues, most importantly that we are in our present situation in Iraq because of the policies McCain championed along side Pres. Bush. McCain was stuck on the fact that the surge has worked. Sure, it's worked. But if we had never gone into Iraq in the first place, and focused on Osama bin Laden, we wouldn't have needed a surge to correct the mismanagement of that war anyway. Iraq was a diversion and distraction from the actual terrorists and Obama was right on that, McCain was dead wrong. Seven years after 9/11, bin Laden is still hiding out and organizing more terrorist activities.
I thought the demeanor of both candidates was also notable. In fact, there was quite a contrast. McCain, as has been pointed out by many of the pundits, rarely looked at Obama, while Obama made eye contact with McCain frequently. McCain seemed to get his feathers ruffled often and easily, while Obama remained cool, poised, and well, presidential. McCain was - as I have come to realize is typical of him - very rash, emotional, and defensive. He was quick to point out where he felt Obama was wrong on issues. In fact, a fact check on several of his claims will prove he exagerated the truth or just did not have his facts straight. All the pundits discussed Obama agreeing with McCain. Obama said on several occasions something like, "Sen. McCain is right about _____...." The Republicans all ran with that saying that Obama was agreeing with McCain on those things, and that this shows Obama's lack of experience. When in fact, if they were listening to the rest of Obama's sentences, he would follow up with something like, "...but I differ in this way:_____." Obama was certainly not endorsing McCain, but finding common ground and then drawing sharp contrasts in their positions. McCain seemed more petty and like he was trying to lecture Obama on why he was wrong. I just felt like Obama was more respectful to McCain than visa versa.
Anyway, I don't really want to get into the actual contents of the debate. By now, everyone can pretty much tell whose side of the debate I agree with the most. I just wanted to point out a few things. Neither candidate really knocked the other out. This is more beneficial to Obama than McCain. He really needed to upend Obama on foreign policy - his supposed field of expertise, but he absolutely did not. Obama seemed more level headed and thoughtful about the questions asked by Jim Lehrer, and kept McCain kind of scrambling the whole time. The immediate polls show that Obama won the debate among most viewers. Those polls were slightly skewed as there were more Democrats that responded to the polls than Republicans. That being the case, the debate probably resulted in a tie, which is a win for Obama. McCain really needed to make a strong case for himself, but I was not very impressed that he did so. His experience and judgment arguments did not go as well as he would have hoped, as Obama pointed out that his judgment has directly led to the debacle in Iraq, for which McCain had no counter-argument. In a debate that should have been a home run for McCain, he came out of it looking like someone who is emotional, quick to make a rash decision, and stuck to the old failed policies of the Bush administration, while Obama came out looking more like a thoughtful and respectful leader.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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