Dr. D...damn!

I love this piece...well written and well explained...that Shadow thing! The Republicans play on the fear and insecurity factors to trick dummies into voting for them....shame on these sleazy con artists!

D everything Deepak describes is the same thing, it'all about consciousness, what else is new?

The Shadow knows!

-Steve

I will, if I am able to, vote for Barack.

But, McCain/Palin will win.

Two years into a disasterous McCain administration, Palin will become Commander-in-Chief.

Then the United States, out of desperation for mere survival because so many people are impoverished, will start even more wars all around the world . . .

Yep

Hi Deepak,

I like to refer to the shadow as the "Forces of Ego". The source disconnected ego. Protectors of the Ego Empire.

I have been using the approach of reminding myself that the shadow is an illusion, there is nothing there, and to not engage it.

I thought of a great meme to link with all this insight.

Used as an instant reminder for one another to bring to recall this wisdom.

"DON'T FEED THE SHADOW"

"DON'T FEED THE SHADOW"

"DON'T FEED THE SHADOW"

"DON'T FEED THE SHADOW"

"DON'T FEED THE SHADOW"

Dude, "you are feeding the shadow, hang loose"

Girl, "you are feeding the shadow, chill"

Just let it pass, pretend it is not there..

Do not attack or judge simply speak the truth with compassion.

An illusion created by the drama queen of the universe.

Well said Dr Chopra:

"The bottom line is that the 2008 election isn't about change versus experience or a noble candidate who may lose to one who plays dirty. This election is about consciousness."

The shadow does have a purpose though.

Drama for entertainment purposes.

Challenges for character and soul building.

Remember reality is that you are really sitting in a void of nothing. It's like when you are dreaming, especially the nightmare types, you are really home, safe, asleep, in your bed.

There was nothing to fear it was all an illusion, but the experience was real, and creating a good experience is a skill and art.

“Become lucid in your dream, take control”
~Infinite Play

Dear Dr. Chopra,

It appears that you are still misrepresenting the Republican Party as exhibiting such "dark impulses" as appealing to fear, resentment, hostility to change and suspicion. Where do you get these ideas?

I don't understand all this talk about the Shadow.

I wonder what Shadow is impelling Obama to make insulting, distasteful remarks about Sarah Palin. Carl Gustav Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist, spoke of the Anima and the Animus. The inner female found within the psyche of a man is called the Anima. The Anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies within a man such as: feelings and moods, capacity for personal love, feeling for nature and relation to the unconscious. It may very well be that Obama's Anima is not too healthy. He may well resent her strength and conviction.

It is apparent that Obama feels it necessary to attack Palin. Could it be that he cannot find a way to contend with her expressed resolve to fight an out of control bureaucracy that he wishes to expand? Could it be that he resents her for taking the limelight away from him? He was the focus of all the attention before she arrived on the scene.

Just some food for thought.

Best Wishes,

"Betsy" S.

Dear Deepak

I'm dismayed by a few things in your post, the first being a link directing me to read the rest of the piece at Intent, instead of here at Intentblog. Luckily, I'd skimmed it before you did the "read more" thing.

Generally, I agree we all have a shadow side. BUT. We don't all have all flavors of shadow within us.

The premise that we are all squirming because deep in our souls we're just like Palin and we hate to be reminded of it, feels wrong, given my experience in life. To me, many people are angry about Palin because she breaks rules that are meant to benefit others and make life somewhat fair for all. Natural -- meaning innate, biologically-determined -- goodness, benevolence and ethics do exist. I feel them myself, and I see them in action every day. What many people are feeling is an innate ethical revulsion to Palin. There is no personal shame in facing the ugly side of some of Palin's behaviors, for many people. Her behaviors are things that many people would never do. And when many of us see such behaviors, we know they're wrong. Thus the hue and cry.

Please check out this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/health/research/16cold.html

There is real goodness in the world, and much of it is innate. It is goodness that is standing up against Palin, IMHO.

love, h

Dealing with ones own shadow is like a wrestling match. It wants to act on fear and fiction, the spirit wants to act on faith and truth, the witness chooses.

If the shadow wins the match, the witness loses with an illusionary gain, if the spirit wins the witness wins with a real gain.

Eventually the spirit prevails because what is real persists, and the illusion fades away and the lesson is learned that wisdom is the path to good experience and ignorance the path to a bad one.

If the finite player can transcend the finite games to become an infinite player in the infinite game then game play does not end with death of the playing piece in the finite field of play.

Dear Deepak,
You ask:
"How could the mentality of a small-town mayor morph into a potential President making global decisions?"

It seems tied to the American qualities of dreaming, working hard, getting out in the political arena, making contacts, earning money from vested interests, etc ...
you know the game of politics
you write skillfully about it.

What is the shadow side yearning to come out in you? The one who is a politican, per chance?

~ Kate

Dear Deepak,
Re-reading your article, you state:

"By appealing to fear, resentment, hostility to change, suspicion of "the other," and similar dark impulses, the Republicans have been the shadow's party for a long time. Sarah Palin put a smiling face on feelings that normally we feel ashamed of."

With all due respect, Deepak ...
I don't believe Sarah Palin, her parents, husband, children, close friends, many fellow Alaskans, and now millions of Republicans nationwide would agree with you on this.

love,
~ Kate

"The Federal Reserve is close to a deal to take an 80 percent stake in American International Group in exchange for an $85 billion loan"

I just cannot believe people let the government bail out super-rich business buddies, while the people just worry about Brad and Angie, or football team quarterbacks; whatever . . .

This is an "every man for himself" world obviously!

I give up.

for you, dear Craig ...

I came not from Adam nor from Eve;
I do not dwell in Eden nor the gardens of paradise;
My place is placeless, my trace is traceless.
Nothing is mine, neither body nor soul -
All belongs to the heart of my Beloved.
(rumi)

The Democrats are no different than the Republicans when it comes to theft of wealth.

Both the Democrats and the Republicans have a shadow because individuals are in control.

Free market collective control removes the shadow from power.

Both by design support a privileged elite and a working class.

Both steal wealth they did not labor to create.

The Democrats use redistribution, taking a cut for themselves and the Republicans use control of the systems of commerce.

Free market collective control removes the shadow from power.

Free market collective control removes the shadow from power.

Free market collective control removes the shadow from power.

Help destroy the current system of things, and usher in the new!

Aloha Deepak

It is time to turn and look. When you look the shadow disappears. We are a thought responsive universe. Change our mind about our culture and the biology of the culture changes. The end of a one civilization and the beginning of another. love patty

hi there, Richard,
I would love to stand with you sun sky high, direct above (best time for zero shadows :)
and just
enjoy your amazing presence.
love,
~ Kate

Dear Craig

It's the some of general underpinnings of the short-term economy that are being shored up by the Fed's action on AIG. It's this kind of action that, if done in time, with the right targets, might have saved this country at least some of the misery of the Great Depression.

Back in those days, a great many businesses that were successful in real, not inflated, terms, lost at least some market value because of the equity slide. The drop in equity value across the board went deeper than it should have, given the real financials, and as a result, permanently destroyed many businesses that had "done no wrong" to consumers, investors or workers. The failure of so many businesses at once damaged the lives of the people who worked for them more than the lives of those who owned them. Kids of working parents were sometimes committed to orphanages so they wouldn't become ill and / or starve. My mother and aunt were two of those kids; the destructive effect on them spanned generations. My father's family was more fortunate, yet even they suffered, losing at least one life to the stresses of trying to keep things going in the face of a wall of bricks falling on them all at once.

love, h

Ah the law of unintended consequences. Kim Gandy, President of NOW on NPR this morning announced that NOW would be endorsing Barack Obama for president and made it really clear why:

"The 500,000-strong women's movement, which "very, very rarely endorses in a general election", broke with its tradition of neutrality after "the addition of Sarah Palin gave us a new sense of urgency," said Gandy.

"She is being portrayed as a supporter of women's rights ... as a feminist when in fact her positions on so many of the issues are really anathema to ours," Gandy said. [...]

"The idea that she opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest -- those kinds of positions are completely out of step with American women and once they find out about those positions, they get a little less excited about a woman running for vice president," Gandy said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080916/pl_afp/usvotewomen_080916152153

NOW's press release lists off those issues and for each one explains why the Obama-Biden ticket is far more on the side of women than the McCain-Palin ticket would ever be:

"ON PAY EQUALITY. Sen. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation to end wage discrimination against women.

ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHT. Sen. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act, to strengthen access to contraception and reproductive health care, and prevent unwanted pregnancies. He strongly supports Roe v. Wade and will oppose any efforts to overturn it.

ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. Sen. Obama supports the continued reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act -- of which Sen. Joe Biden is the chief sponsor -- as well as the Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) Act, which is legislation to provide legal, medical and financial support to victims of domestic violence.

ON THE SUPREME COURT. Sen. Obama opposed the nominations of George Bush's extreme right-wing nominees to the Supreme Court, who have consistently ruled against women's rights,

For more than a decade, Barack Obama has said "yes" to women's rights, while John McCain has consistently said "no."

Kudos to NOW for getting off the fence for this monumental election and -- credit where credit is due -- thanks to John McCain for helping push them.

The 80 billion dollar loan is an artificial fix to cover fundamental system flaws that cannot be covered up for much longer because of the size of the system which amplifies the flaws.

It is simple value extracted must equal value generated.

The value generated must be genuine value as determined by the informed consumers, not deceived consumers.

If a third party extracts value without generating genuine value, the other participants are short changed creating a struggle amongst themselves.

Eventually the system collapses and there is a revolt and the privileged elite are usually killed first because they are most responsible for the disparity and imbalance.

Just do the math.

Personally, I see where Deepak is coming from, so I agree. However, I have also enjoyed all the wise replies. I especially liked this one ....

"Dealing with ones own shadow is like a wrestling match. It wants to act on fear and fiction, the spirit wants to act on faith and truth, the witness chooses.

If the shadow wins the match, the witness loses with an illusionary gain, if the spirit wins the witness wins with a real gain.

Eventually the spirit prevails because what is real persists, and the illusion fades away and the lesson is learned that wisdom is the path to good experience and ignorance the path to a bad one." ~ Richard

I have been here for some time ... fighting all my shadows, as I can now see that I have been attempting to free each shadow, with the last one being my beloved brother who was strong enough to teach me a very hard lesson. That particular shadow has now been release, as I pursue the darkness with the light and I hope that I get much faster at it! ... not drag it out for over 2 years, as I am now getting it ....sort of... well, the best that I can do in releasing what is not good for me. I don't think I completely got this last one right, but I was surely given mercy and a break so I can try again.

Love,Char

Aloha Richard

Your too funny... "The 80 billion dollar loan is an artificial fix to cover fundamental system flaws that cannot be covered up for much longer because of the size of the system which amplifies the flaws.

It is simple value extracted must equal value generated.

The value generated must be genuine value as determined by the informed consumers, not deceived consumers.

If a third party extracts value without generating genuine value, the other participants are short changed creating a struggle amongst themselves.

Eventually the system collapses and there is a revolt and the privileged elite are usually killed first because they are most responsible for the disparity and imbalance.

Just do the math."

We need three things on a physical plane to survive: Food, Shelter and Transportation. When feeling scarcity go to that place of thought. With thought visualize those three things: I see myself soaring on a oak leaf, sheltered by the foliage of a new branch, while eating a raspberry.

Welcome to the new civilization in a thought responsive universe.

love patty

Carl Gustav Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist…

Carl Gustav Jung is often mentioned in connection with synchronicity. He might have helped pave the way for the "Age of Aquarius" and "New Age" psychologies; he might have made myth, alchemy and superstition seem respectable; he might have given us a notion of masculine and feminine principles ("anima" and "animus") as well as that of "archetypes" and the "collective unconscious"; but does all this amount to a good thing?

Here is what his English translator had to say about one of Jung’s trickiest patients.

“He was Jung's trickiest patient, the toughest nut the great analyst had ever tried to crack. Known by the code name, "CG", he had already suffered a complete mental breakdown and occasional bouts of delirium. He had a weakness for séances and alchemy. He was incapable of showing affection towards his children or his wife. He saw ghosts and UFOs. He believed his dreams were prophecies. He was none other than Carl Gustav Jung. As his English translator observed, ‘Jung was a walking asylum himself, as well as its head physician.’”

The great Swiss psychiatrist had a big mental handicap. In today’s language, the guy was nuts!

Could it be Sarah Palin and Pain McCain have a weakness for séances and alchemy as well?
That would explain their apparent removal from reality and the “collective unconscious” their party seems to exhibit!

YouTube Removes Viral Video on Palin’s Churches For Inappropriate Content, but here it is:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/15/youtube-removes-viral-video-on-palins-churches-for-inappropriate-content/

Goodness help the world if this nutcase ever gets to be the Commander in Chief.

Apologies if the link was posted before.

Well .... I just applied for the Obama Deputy Field Organizer Camp in my area on 9/27 & 28. And if I get selected, I will be assisting the campaign for about 4 to 5 weeks on a full time basis. I fear public speaking with a passion, but surely they might have some use for an excellent organizer like myself (what I did for a living), and I will have a lot of time on my hands. Who knows ... if it is meant to be, it will and if not, that's fine too. This will be very good experience to add to my resume, if I get selected, and when I start job hunting in a few months, as well as all these beginner software and hardware skills that I have been learning with the upgrades to my home computer during this last month. My new resume is going to be sweet :-) So, in short everything does work out with the most perfect resolution, i.e., me getting laid off today and all these new things I am trying, which translates to a better career and job. God is good and God is great!!!!

Love, Char

You are here though heath that is what is important!

Don't worry. the rich lawyers in government will bail out their super-rich business buddies, with tax-payer money, but if you think that free-(very, very expensive)lunch will trickle-down to you, I wouldn't count on it.

Just don't get behind on that house payment b/c they will repossess it quicker than you can say "bomb Iran."

I am happy that you are happy Char4, keep up the good work sis!

peace

I own nothing but my old car and and soon to be my new home ... an old used camper trailer that I got a hitch for over the weekend. So I just to buy the camper trailer when I get my separation check in a week. I will give my landlord 30-day notice and sell everything I own, which I might get $1K for as I'm will to almost give it all away to be release from my property (old anyway). Then I will still be able to pay my bills for 10 to 12 months without any hardship. I plan to start looking for a job after the campaign and then take one month vacation off to visit some of the beautiful places that we have in my area ... we have the perfect weather and the most lovely country in the USA (San Francisco, Napa Valley, Reno, and then I can travel to LA, San Diego, etc., as there is no end to the gorgeous country that I live near). I am so very excited. However, I have to release everything and be willing to start all over. God has blessed me with another chance to make my life new and whole. Praise our Lord and Amen.

Love, Char

PS: I meant to say I will vacation one month before looking for a job....that was a slip of my worries and concerns, but I will trust God to help me keep my priorities clear when I fall backwards, as I am sure I will. I think it's all about trust, i.e., faith in that everything will be okay. I keep hearing that song as I am in the car driving and I am told that "everything will be alright." All I have to do is to let go and when I cannot, I will trust God for strength as I was promised last night in answer to my prayers .... "I will."

Love, Char

PS: For obvious reasons, I will be disconnect from internet in a month, and then I will have to use the libraries, unless I figure out a way to get wireless ... cell phone just does not sound the same and that something I will be purchasing soon, as well as getting a PO Box....I've got it all planned - as much as I can.

Thanks Bro!

Char4....you will be alright...in fact better. Take the time you need, and be HAPPY!

Hey I know that voice!

Yes... I know your voice as well. She may not know the voice...but message still important! Char 4.....be HAPPY!

The federal government does bail out AIG!

Dogs!

Soon, all this nation will be able to do is start even more wars all over the world just to save the rich man . . .

Everybody enjoy!

But my people shall inherit the world!

pax vobiscum

Dear Richard

I agree with you that there are flaws in the system. I must admit that I, too, have often thought it might be best to just let the whole thing collapse so as to rebuild. But then it's easy for us who never experienced the Great Depression to say something like that without realizing the impact.

There are few people alive today who lived through the depression of the 30's. Fortunately some of us have parents and grandparents who have shared that experience with us and how many honest, integrous and innocent people, were impacted in a very negative way.

I for one consider ourselves fortunate that we have someone like Ben Bernake, who is a scholar on the causes of the Great Depression, running the Fed at this time. In my opinion, they've acted in a rational and sane manner to a very serious situation. And by saying this, I am not defending the bad decisions made by AIG or the bad decisions made by the companies they insured.

Bonnie

Aloha Char

The Meek are ready:) Your Miracles are there. God doesn't leave anyone stranded. All nature looks up to you. There are no limits for you. U are the Change we see, the Light before daylight and night. love patty

Hi Char

Many blessings on
your new beginnings!

Love
Bonnie

dear Char,
Yours is a voice and heart and spirit I will not forget. For 3 years as I have been writing at IB, your honesty, courage, questions, insights, hurts, joys, discoveries, passions, opinions - all this you have been willing to share.

I too add my blessings for your new beginnings and adventures. Love's light will lead you, I've no doubt of that, dear Char.

with love,
~ Kate

Post 12.

Nice.

Thank you Kate.

Deepak,

Intelligent post. I appreciate the angles and depth.

Trish~~

Hey Char, you could video tape your adventure, put it online and sell a subscription it would be like Reality TV. Or who knows if it's really popular it could be free with revenue coming from advertisers. You could interview people on your travels. It's just a thought in the dark.

it would be something worth watching, if you get posted on viral.me it could really take off.

I am grateful for all the shadows as they tell me where the light is coming from and what stands in the way. Face up to the light.

Yo, Kate ;)

Deepak,

Interesting article. Last night I mentioned to someone that I was considering voting for Obama although I am leaning towards McCain. He's how I'm feeling
1) On a "gut feeling", as you put it, I am drawn to voting for McCain, I also respect his service during the war, the ONLY thing that makes me consider Obama is I would like the war to end!!! BUT I am also torn, B/C Obama can't just pull the guys/gals out of the war and I am afraid (is that a "shadow" emotion coming out?) that in the interim, Obama would not be a great commander-in-chief--McCain knows more about how to conduct a war--let's face it.
2) Obama's views on abortion are not ethical.
3) I am also afraid of the government having more control--isn't that what democrats want? (Is this a shadow emotion?)

Anyway, those are my feelings.

Also I kind of agree with Heath's remark--how come when you try to read the article you have to hit a link and it takes you to a different website where every commenter agrees 170% with everything the article says? And they all seem to be riding some kind of Zen wave of happiness and optimism? I like it better here at intentblog.

Actually, it does look like a nice webiste.
But I will probably just stay here so I can be verbally attacked by John :)

Obama/Biden on some Women issues:

REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE

Supports a Woman's Right to Choose:

Barack Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him. However, he has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that case.

Preventing Unintended Pregnancy:

Barack Obama is an original co-sponsor of legislation to expand access to contraception, health information and preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies. Introduced in January 2007, the Prevention First Act will increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education that teaches both abstinence and safe sex methods. The Act will also end insurance discrimination against contraception, improve awareness about emergency contraception, and provide compassionate assistance to rape victims.

***

PREVENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Reducing Domestic Violence:

One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Family violence accounted for 11 percent of all violence between 1998 and 2002. Barack Obama introduced legislation to combat domestic violence by providing $25 million a year for partnerships between domestic violence prevention organizations and Fatherhood or Marriage programs to train staff in domestic violence services, provide services to families affected by domestic violence, and to develop best practices in domestic violence prevention.

Strengthening Domestic Violence Laws:

Approximately 1,400 women a year – four every day – die in the United States as a result of domestic violence. And 132,000 women report that they have been victims of a rape or attempted rape, and it is estimated that an even greater number have been raped, but do not report it. Senator Obama co-sponsored and helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Signed into law in January 2006, the bill funds and helps communities, nonprofit organizations, and police combat domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The legislation establishes a sexual assault services program and provides education grants to prevent domestic violence.

Fighting Gender Violence Abroad:

The genocide in Darfur has had particularly devastating consequences for women. Tens of thousands of women have been killed, raped, and displaced since the conflict began in 2003. Barack Obama has been a leading voice in Washington urging the end of genocide in Sudan. He worked with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) on the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a version of which was signed into law. Obama has traveled to the United Nations to meet with Sudanese officials and visited refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border to raise international awareness of the ongoing humanitarian disaster there. He also worked with Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to secure $20 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission.

***

ECONOMIC ISSUES

Fighting for Pay Equity:

Despite decades of progress, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Throughout his career, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have championed the right of women to receive equal pay for equal work. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama cosponsored and voted for the Illinois Equal Pay Act, which provided 330,000 more women protection from pay discrimination. In the U.S. Senate, Obama joined a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a bill to overturn the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The bill would restore the clear intent of Congress that workers must have a reasonable time to file a pay discrimination claim after they become victims of discriminatory compensation. Obama is also a cosponsor of Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) Fair Pay Act. As president, Obama will continue to promote paycheck equity and close the wage gap between men and women.

Expanding Paid Sick Days: Today, three-out-of-four low-wage workers have no paid sick leave. It is fundamentally unfair that a single mom playing by the rules can get fired or lose wages because her child gets sick. Barack Obama and Joe Biden support efforts to guarantee workers seven days of paid sick leave per year, a moderate proposal that should not impose too onerous a burden on employers.

Investing in Women-Owned Small Businesses:

Women are majority owners of more than 28 percent of U.S. businesses, but head less than 4 percent of venture-capital-backed firms. Women business owners are more likely than white male business owners to have their loan applications denied. Barack Obama and Joe Biden encourage investing in women-owned businesses, providing more support to women business owners and reducing discrimination in lending.

Protecting Social Security:

Americans are increasingly at risk of working their entire lives only to face retirement in poverty. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we need to preserve the character of Social Security by stopping any efforts to privatize social security. They also will work in a bipartisan way to maintain Social Security's solvency for future generations.

learn more here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues

Hello Deepak and Everyone,

My mature self is nothing like the Barak Obama campaign because my mature self would not have run him this election, knowing that he and the Nation needed to get more aquainted with each other.

Which brings me to the bare bones of my irritation with all the Barak Obama believers when they laud his smarts and intelligence.

If, he, in fact, is, so smart, then, why wasn't he smart enough know he had more to learn as far as national politics goes?

Now, Barak Obama, may, win this race, god, knows, with the economy the way it is, the republican record the way it is, the McCain mockery pick of a VP candidate, gves Barak and his campaign tons of help.

Frankly if Barak Obama wins this race he should thank his "lucky stars," not his campaign stratigists. I also know that his believers will have none of that thinking...it is all genius and the god's honest truth where their Barak Obama is concerned...

have a great day all, ruth

Ruth, Obama is smart, but the republican campaigners(as their history tells you) are equally smart. If you think Palin is a 'bad' pick (when it comes to election strategy,) then you are not smart. That pick gives McCain his best chance for victory. forget about governance. And of course Obama is not running against Bush/Cheney or your average republican. He is running against McCain who is as a "maverick". Independents love him. The country is partisan. A lot can change in the last 7 weeks though. Possible Swifboating by outside groups, intense character attacks and dirty smear campaign can happen. The debates could be crucial though, as regard to polls. And the ground game of Obama campaign might rivaling that of the brilliant Bush 2004 organization, and might make the difference. Republicans are no fools. They know how to win elections, if a nation can re-elect Bush, they are certainly more likely to prefer McCain/Palin, unless they have a smart opponent as in Obama.

Dear Char4,

Wishing you a smooth and enjoyable ride in your travels...keep in touch, when you can, along your way. Your spirit is alive and well...

many blessings are wished for you from all of us here at IB....ruth:)))

Hi John,

I wrote the McCain pick of Palin was a mockery of a pick.

David Ignatius's editorial piece in Sunday's washingtonpost...explains it better than I could...actully, it is copied on another blog here at IB.

ruth

"I wrote the McCain pick of Palin was a mockery of a pick." Ruth

I agree, but it will more likely win more votes(and base energy) for the GOP than they lose. That's why it's 'smart' pick.

And btw, there is much research to suggest that outright "lying" (and repeating it even after being debunked, like McCain/Palin are doing) wins more votes than you might lose because of bad publicity.

The best explanation to explain this close and tense situation is perhaps by Obama himself:

"We've still got enormous work to do because of the enormous resistance out there - resistance because people have been fed cynicism for a long time. When my opponent and the operation that they've put together starts feeding into that cynicism and starts feeding into that resentment, it's not always clear which way things are going to tip."

Obama understands the proper "role of government." McCain does not:

McCain: Change You Can Believe I Came Up With Yesterday

John McCain, the Keating Five Guy, to lead us into a new era of bailouts. Or, as the WaPo puts it:

"McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG), the nation's largest insurance company, and stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603732.html?hpid=topnews

Think Progress has an awesome collection of the iron message discipline of the McCain campaign as it tries to rewrite history:

Here is a look at McCain’s back-and-forth on regulation during the last 24 hours:

- Deregulation: McCain issued a statement Monday morning saying that “we cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks.”

- Regulation: McCain’s campaign then put out an ad calling for “tougher rules on Wall Street.”

- Deregulation: This morning, on NBC’s Today Show, McCain said, “Of course, I don’t like excessive and unnecessary government regulation.”

- Regulation: Then, on CBS’s The Early Show, McCain said, “Do I believe in excess government regulation? Yes.”

- Both: On CNBC’s Squawk Box, McCain said, “We don’t want to burden average citizens with over-regulation and government bureaucracy...And I’m proud to be a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, who said, ‘unfettered capitalism leads to corruption,’ and we’ve got to fix this.”

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/09/16/mccain-regulation-2/

This gets back to McCain's dependency on fiscal advisors that call Americans whiners (Phil Gramm, the architect of McCain's deregulation scheme) and exaggerators (Donald Luskin), and, more importantly, that McCain doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to the economy ("Economy is not my strong point.")
Which he's just demonstrated. Again.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/113427/976/504/601570

Craig, you got to love this!

Long Live the New Union of Socialist Republicans
by DarkSyde

Welcome news comrades! We the People are now We the Owners. The People's Insurance Company, formerly known as AIG, was saved for the time being from the forces of capitalism by the new Union of Republican Socialists, formerly known as the GOP. Somewhere in the great beyond, the ghost of Karl Marx is grinning while the spirit of Adam Smith forks over the one dollar bet with an invisible hand:

"In a move aimed at averting a new global economic shock, the US Federal Reserve agreed an unprecedented 85-billion-dollar rescue loan for American International Group. The deal, sealed late Tuesday, saved AIG from collapse and gave the US government a 79.9 percent stake in the insurance behemoth."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqFac57CVjDIS6bj_Lsbg8oAbdPw

Now that the People own a major insurance company, it's fair to ask how the People's Insurance Company, along with the People's Mortgage Companies and the People's Investment Banks, will benefit the People who Own them. Can we expect lower premiums, equity sharing, and corporate perks for our hundreds of billions of dollars? Should we start checking our mailbox for dividend checks? Who gets paid first, claimants, bondholders, stockholders, or we the new taxpayer owners? We the Owners, want to know, and the Union of Socialist Republicans better damn well tell us, fast.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/74214/0916/698/601376

John,

The quote that you provided in #52 is a small part of what irritates me about Obama. The "resistance" that he speaks of...this amorphous, nameless "resistance", this manifestation of the masses not fully bowing to him, seems we should surrender all to Obama unless we dare hold onto the notion that he may not be the "all-knowing" one. Same thing when he implies that he has worked so hard for this, that therefore he "deserves" to be elected and anyone who opposes him is unintelligent or malevolent. I don't like being talked down to like that. Furthermore, I think his self-image of himself is not compatible with democracy--the great leader who "knows better", who "deserves" by virtue of his "hard work" to run the land. Perhaps it is my "shadow self" feeling like this is not a democratic notion.

Ref. 52

Re. Ruth

More context for Obama's remarks during a fund raiser the other day. He is reassuring his nervous supporters and asking for their help, from the pool report:

"I know that a lot of you, just in conversations while we were in the photo lines, had all sorts of suggestions,"

"I know that won't surprise you. And a lot of people have gotten nervous and concerned. Why is this as close as it is? And what's going on?"

"We always knew this was going to be hard. And we're running against somebody who has a formidable biography, a compelling biography. He's a genuine American hero, somebody who served in uniform and suffered through some things that very few of us can imagine."

"he is a worthy opponent. And this should be hard, because what we're asking of the American people is a fundamental shift away from an economic theory that has dominated over the last eight years that says, 'You give more to the most and hope that it trickles down for everybody else, an economic theory that basically says you're on your own if you don't have healthcare, you're on your own if you don't have a job; if you're born into poverty, lift yourself up by your own bootstraps, you are on your own."

..."If we can cut through the nonsense and the lipstick and the pigs and the silliness, then I'm convinced that we're going to win,"

"We've still got enormous work to do because of the enormous resistance out there - resistance because people have been fed cynicism for a long time,"

"When my opponent and the operation that they've put together starts feeding into that cynicism and starts feeding into that resentment, it's not always clear which way things are going to tip."

"confident about winning because, 'I've looked at John McCain, I've looked at Sarah Palin, I've looked at their agenda, and they don't have one."

"They don't have answers to our economic problems,"

"and they don't have answers to our foreign policy problems."

He urged his supporters to "keep steady" in the days ahead and never forget what his candidacy is about. In case they did, he offered a reminder, saying: the campaign "is about those who will never see the inside of a building like this and don't resent the success that's represented in this room, but just want the simple chance to be able to find a job that pays a living wage."

"the ghost of Karl Marx is grinning while the spirit of Adam Smith forks over the one dollar bet with an invisible hand."

That is hilarious Scott!

This from Huff-Po: "The Dead Core of McCain's Republican Party"

peace

John,

Thank you for providing that context, although my general thoughts about Obama are still pretty much the same.
Does it ever trouble you or any of the Obama supporters here (I know there are many) just HOW MANY problems Obama claims he will solve. He truly is promising a paradise here on earth. Why do you feel he is capable of this? Is it mere "cynicism" that stops a person from believing he can deliver all that he promises?
For example in the speech that you cited John in #56, Obama is talking about how the rich get richer, poor stay poorer and he talks about how there has been the mentality "if you're born into poverty, lift yourself up by your bootstraps, you're on your own".
OK. This is merely a question, do you HONESTLY believe that Obama is going to reach into the inner city and find these poorest of the poor and lift them up, lift them up into a different class. And if so, how will he do that?

Re. 58

No one is fooling themselves here.

Obama doesn't claim to create paradise on Earth; He knows we mayn't be perfect, but we can certainly be better.

Obama is a better choice. And he has better plans.

He is talking about difference in economic philosophies and the failed economic policies.

See his tax plan. It gives more tax cuts (and far more than McCain's plan) to the poorest who need them most. McCain's gives huge tax cuts (more than Bush) to the richest. His economic plan also creates better growth over all.

Dear Richard and Kate,

Thank you so much for your voices of reason and for your perceptions of the Big Picture beyond the small, confrontational, ego-oriented, propagandized, mass concepts of the situation at hand.

It appears that most people prefer to keep arguing over peripheral events and personalities and do not care to learn about the reality of Big Brother, the Bigger Picture.

This is exactly what the governing dictators want us to do.

Best Wishes,

"Betsy" S.

John,

That seems like a simplistic recipe for curing poverty (cutting taxes). But I understand your feelings on that. In your view, Obama is trying to help.
However, I have listened to his speeches, and it seems that, overall, he is promising paradise on earth--he is claiming that he will solve all problems domestically while also ending a war.
You wrote "He knows we mayn't be perfect, but we can certainly be better." Sounds like God talking or religion. I simply ask out of confusion, why would you or anyone want him to tell you how to be "better"? Is that the place of government? In a democracy that is?

"However, I have listened to his speeches, and it seems that, overall, he is promising paradise on earth--he is claiming that he will solve all problems domestically while also ending a war."

I have listened to his speeches, interviews and read his plans. He doesn't offer "paradise." He offers plans that can better adress our situation than McCain's.

"You wrote "He knows we mayn't be perfect, but we can certainly be better." Sounds like God talking or religion."

That's just stating the obvious. He like any political leader, for that matter McCain, or myself including know that. If you think everything will be perfect, then you are fooling yourself. And no sane minded person offers perfection.

"I simply ask out of confusion, why would you or anyone want him to tell you how to be "better"? Is that the place of government? In a democracy that is?"

We can all be better, no one needs to tell someone to be better. We are talking about better polices and better plans that can take the country in a better direction.

"That seems like a simplistic recipe for curing poverty (cutting taxes). But I understand your feelings on that. "

I don't know what "feelings" you presume to understand. But I don't assume that's "curing" poverty. No.

That's just an example. It's not just tax cuts but also help in several other forms (job creation, better pay, health insurance etc) to uplift the poor which is in contrast with Republican philosophy of trickle down economics.

********************************

Learn about Obama's PLAN TO STRENGTHEN THE ECONOMY

“I believe that America's free market has been the engine of America's great progress. It's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world. It's led to a standard of living unmatched in history. And it has provided great rewards to the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon for science, and technology, and discovery…We are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other's success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers.”
— Barack Obama, New York, NY, September 17, 2007
At a Glance

The Problem

Wages are Stagnant as Prices Rise: While wages remain flat, the costs of basic necessities are increasing. The cost of in-state college tuition has grown 35 percent over the past five years. Health care costs have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years. And the personal savings rate is now the lowest it's been since the Great Depression.

Tax Cuts for Wealthy Instead of Middle Class: The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. At the same time, this administration has refused to tackle health care, education and housing in a manner that benefits the middle class.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan

Jumpstart the Economy

Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.

Provide $50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs: This relief would include a $25 billion State Growth Fund to prevent state and local cuts in health, education, housing, and heating assistance or counterproductive increases in property taxes, tolls or fees. The Obama-Biden relief plan will also include $25 billion in a Jobs and Growth Fund to prevent cutbacks in road and bridge maintenance and fund school re pair - all to save more than 1 million jobs in danger of being cut.

Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
Obama and Biden will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.

Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama and Biden will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama and Biden will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.

Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This proposal will eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors and provide these seniors with an average savings of $1,400 each year. Under the Obama-Biden plan, 27 million American seniors will also not need to file an income tax return.

Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Obama and Biden will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes. Obama and Biden will ensure that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return. Experts estimate that the Obama-Biden proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.

Trade

Obama and Biden believe that trade with foreign nations should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs. He will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security.

Fight for Fair Trade: Obama and Biden will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. They will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks. Obama and Biden will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports.
Amend the North American Free Trade Agreement: Obama and Biden believe that NAFTA and its potential were oversold to the American people. They will work with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to fix NAFTA so that it works for American workers.

Improve Transition Assistance: To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama and Biden will update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.

End Tax Breaks for Companies that Send Jobs Overseas: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that companies should not get billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama and Biden will also fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers.
Reward Companies that Support American Workers: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to reward companies that create good jobs with good benefits for American workers. The legislation would provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America if it has ever been in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military.

Invest in the Manufacturing Sector and Create 5 Million New Green Jobs

Invest in our Next Generation Innovators and Job Creators: Obama and Biden will create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to identify and invest in the most compelling advanced manufacturing strategies. The Fund will have a peer-review selection and award process based on the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund, a state-level initiative that has awarded over $125 million to Michigan businesses with the most innovative proposals to create new products and new jobs in the state.

Double Funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership: The Manufacturing Extension

Partnership (MEP) works with manufacturers across the country to improve efficiency, implement new technology and strengthen company growth. This highly-successful program has engaged in more than 350,000 projects across the country and in 2006 alone, helped create and protect over 50,000 jobs. But despite this success, funding for MEP has been slashed by the Bush administration. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will double funding for the MEP so its training centers can continue to bolster the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.
Invest In A Clean Energy Economy And Create 5 Million New Green Jobs: Obama and Biden will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, invest in low emissions coal plants, and begin transition to a new digital electricity grid. The plan will also invest in America's highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world.

Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies: The Obama-Biden plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama and Biden will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
Boost the Renewable Energy Sector and Create New Jobs: The Obama-Biden plan will create new federal policies, and expand existing ones, that have been proven to create new American jobs. Obama and Biden will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own. Obama and Biden will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.

New Jobs Through National Infrastructure Investment

Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that it is critically important for the United States to rebuild its national transportation infrastructure – its highways, bridges, roads, ports, air, and train systems – to strengthen user safety, bolster our long-term competitiveness and ensure our economy continues to grow.

Create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will address the infrastructure challenge by creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to expand and enhance, not supplant, existing federal transportation investments. This independent entity will be directed to invest in our nation’s most challenging transportation infrastructure needs. The Bank will receive an infusion of federal money, $60 billion over 10 years, to provide financing to transportation infrastructure projects across the nation. These projects will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate approximately $35 billion per year in new economic activity.

Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will increase federal support for research, technology and innovation for companies and universities so that American families can lead the world in creating new advanced jobs and products.

Invest in the Sciences: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support doubling federal funding for basic research and changing the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology. This will foster home-grown innovation, help ensure the competitiveness of US technology-based businesses, and ensure that 21st century jobs can and will grow in America.

Make the Research and Development Tax Credit Permanent: Barack Obama and Joe Biden want investments in a skilled research and development workforce and technology infrastructure to be supported here in America so that American workers and communities will benefit. Obama and Biden want to make the Research and Development tax credit permanent so that firms can rely on it when making decisions to invest in domestic R&D over multi-year timeframes.

Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we can get broadband to every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation's wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives.
Support Small Business

Provide Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start Up Companies: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. Obama and Biden will also support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to almost every worker in America. Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation.

Create a National Network of Public-Private Business Incubators: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by creating a national network of public-private business incubators. Business incubators facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies. Obama and Biden will invest $250 million per year to increase the number and size of incubators in disadvantaged communities throughout the country.

Labor

Obama and Biden will strengthen the ability of workers to organize unions. He will fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Obama and Biden will ensure that his labor appointees support workers' rights and will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. Obama and Biden will also increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation to ensure it rises every year.

Ensure Freedom to Unionize: Obama and Biden believe that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law.

Fight Attacks on Workers' Right to Organize: Obama has fought the Bush National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) efforts to strip workers of their right to organize. He is a cosponsor of legislation to overturn the NLRB's "Kentucky River" decisions classifying hundreds of thousands of nurses, construction, and professional workers as "supervisors" who are not protected by federal labor laws.

Protect Striking Workers: Obama and Biden support the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if necessary. They will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods.
Raise the Minimum Wage: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.

Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud

Obama and Biden will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. They will also make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and they will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners.
Create a Universal Mortgage Credit: Obama and Biden will create a 10 percent universal mortgage credit to provide homeowners who do not itemize tax relief. This credit will provide an average of $500 to 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year.
Ensure More Accountability in the Subprime Mortgage Industry: Obama has been closely monitoring the subprime mortgage situation for years, and introduced comprehensive legislation over a year ago to fight mortgage fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices. Obama's STOP FRAUD Act provides the first federal definition of mortgage fraud, increases funding for federal and state law enforcement programs, creates new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and requires industry insiders to report suspicious activity.

Mandate Accurate Loan Disclosure: Obama and Biden will create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score, which will provide potential borrowers with a simplified, standardized borrower metric (similar to APR) for home mortgages. The HOME score will allow individuals to easily compare various mortgage products and understand the full cost of the loan.

Close Bankruptcy Loophole for Mortgage Companies: Obama and Biden will work to eliminate the provision that prevents bankruptcy courts from modifying an individual's mortgage payments. They believe that the subprime mortgage industry, which has engaged in dangerous and sometimes unscrupulous business practices, should not be shielded by outdated federal law.
Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
Obama and Biden will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in every credit card. They also will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices.

Create a Credit Card Rating System to Improve Disclosure: Obama and Biden will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features. Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.

Establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to Protect Consumers: Obama and Biden will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama-Biden plan will:
Ban Unilateral Changes
Apply Interest Rate Increases Only to Future Debt
Prohibit Interest on Fees
Prohibit "Universal Defaults"
Require Prompt and Fair Crediting of Cardholder Payments
Reform Bankruptcy Laws
Obama and Biden will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.
Cap Outlandish Interest Rates on Payday Loans and Improve Disclosure: Obama and Biden will extend a 36 percent interest cap to all Americans. They will require lenders to provide clear and simplified information about loan fees, payments and penalties, which is why they'll require lenders to provide this information during the application process.

Encourage Responsible Lending Institutions to Make Small Consumer Loans: Obama and Biden will encourage banks, credit unions and Community Development Financial Institutions to provide affordable short-term and small-dollar loans and to drive unscrupulous lenders out of business.
Reform Bankruptcy Laws to Protect Families Facing a Medical Crisis: Obama and Biden will create an exemption in bankruptcy law for individuals who can prove they filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses. This exemption will create a process that forgives the debt and lets the individuals get back on their feet.

Work/Family Balance

Obama and Biden will double funding for after-school programs, expand the Family Medical Leave Act, provide low-income families with a refundable tax credit to help with their child-care expenses, and encourage flexible work schedules.

Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act: The FMLA covers only certain employees of employers with 50 or more employees. Obama and Biden will expand it to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. They will expand the FMLA to cover more purposes as well, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; allowing parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to participate in their children's academic activities; and expanding FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence.

Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave: As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama and Biden will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.

Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama and Biden will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve a million more children. Obama and Biden will include measures to maximize performance and effectiveness across grantees nationwide.
Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit: The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides too little relief to families that struggle to afford child care expenses. Obama and Biden will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses.

Protect Against Caregiver Discrimination: Workers with family obligations often are discriminated against in the workplace. Obama and Biden will enforce the recently-enacted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on caregiver discrimination.

Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Obama and Biden will create a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules; help businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increase federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama and Biden will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to request flexible arrangements.

Ref. 63. Nice John!

No Olivia Barack will not be able to lift the poorest of the poor, or just the poor for that matter, out of their impoverished lives, b/c this corpotocracy that rules our lives would never allow it. Democrat or republican our war industry shall continue to grow, b/c our capitalist ethos demands that we violently open up "free" markets in second and third world nations; at least this has been "our" method of operating for the last four hundred years. From the "God-ordained" Pilgrim privilege, through a Manifest Destiny, to safeguarding the world from evil Russians, Arabs, and South Americans, the bottom line is expanding corporate reach to the ends of the earth; and "Christians" love it b/c of their "Great Commission" to christianize the world (while making a profit of course, imagine that), poor people love it b/c they can join the army and kill other poor people, and the rich and powerful love sending "special" forces (who love perpetrating daring covert operations all over the world) to destroy any persons or political parties that may actually want to uplift their own people. Nothing will change it will only get worse.

Alas though, instead of watching stupid white people (Reagan, Bush, Bush jr.) cry "patriotism" for their corporate masters, it would be a refreshing change watching one of their uppity slaves do the shuck and jive . . .

Don't worry, the rich will continue getting richer!

But seriously, if we can afford giving Iraqis "freedom," and we can afford bailing out multi-millionaires, and we can afford a military budget larger than the entire rest of the world combined: surely universal health-care and a free college education for everybody able to do the work is easily affordable.

Ooooo, but the profit motive is why health-care and education are not available to everybody, but massive “defense” spending is mandatory.

We are the mightiest "Christian" nation in the world after all . . .

Now that is funny!

peace

Good God! Where's Bullwinkle when you need him?

Palin shot that poor ole moose remember!

arrrr

Too much or Not enuf, mister.
The way I see it, we have only two choices in a dualistic universe. Those are: Take it or Leave it. Barach is my take.

@ "Bullwinkle's Corner," where the moose would attempt to read poetry ;) oo

Oh come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
To talk: one thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest lies;
The Flower that once has blown forever dies.

Then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

Keatsy boy.

To anyone desiring to know the Bigger Picture,

Tonight David Icke is to be interviewed by George Noory on the Coast to Coast radio show. He is highly intelligent and a student of world governments for over twenty years.

Best Wishes,

"Betsy" S.

(Thanks to Tracey Chapman "Fast Car")

You've got a fast car, mister;
Went so fast I thought I could fly,
Hidey hi, had a feeling that I
Could be someone, be someone.

Just reading Kabbala and comparing it to Tibetan Buddhism - I am just a symbol of God's Whatever.

Palin is a symbol of God's Whatever too, but she doesn't get to vote for herself. Or does she?
Don't tell me, let me live in bliss.

Hi Kate, thank you, that could happen.

Hi Kate, thank you, that could happen.

John,

Thank you for that detailed description of what Obama plans to do.
Some of it does sound very idyllic.
I am not an expert on the economy but I do not see anything in there that will act as more than a small band-aid for those who are poor.
It looks like it will more help the middle class. Maybe he is not as much a savior as he claims to be.

Dear Olivia,
I was reading in Jewish Kabbalah that there is something called Divine Pathos; that any deficiency here in the physical world is felt in the Above and that, like it is in Buddhism, one's thoughts and deeds effect the Upper Celestial Worlds as we are One.
But how that effects the middle class I don't know. I just think Obama has the better thoughts and deeds.
Yours,

"Maybe he is not as much a savior as he claims to be."

He doesn't claim to be a savior. He does have a realistic vision and a pragmatic plan though.

When he talked about "if you're born into poverty, lift yourself up by your bootstraps, you're on your own" he was not talking about the myth of trickle down economic philosophy but also a difference in philosophy about the "goverment's role" in helping those who need help.

Republicans generally tend to be against goverment schemes and spending that use the tax money to help the poor who don't contribute taxes like the rest of us. Obama's health policy would see 35 million more Americans insured than McCain's. Naturally most of these are the poorest of the poor in America, and the burden has to be shared by all Americans.

McCain and Bush wanted to privatize social security. And gamble it on the Wall street. Just imagine in light of this week's financial meltdown which was a direct result of deregulation and policies pushed by the republican economic model that is biased towards the corporate interests.

Obam works towards transparency in the government, which is more important than reducing its role to protect the interest of people.

Moreover the remarks made by Obama #56 are during a fundraiser for the democratic party and adressed to very wealthy supporters from the Entertaiment industry. They can donate a max of 3000 dollars to the pres. campaign and a max of 28,500 to the Democratic party (DNC). This money can be used in senate races and ground game during the pres. elections, and alos can be used as ads (like the McCain camapig is benefitting) using a loop hole in the camapign finance reform.

Under his tax plan, these wealthy donors who form top 1% of the income earners in the US, will see huge tax raises. They will see a cut back on the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy. (Actually his tax plan will restore the tax spread during the Reagan era.) The republcan party RNC raised at least 4 times the money with (28,500 max xontributions) form the wealthy than DNC. It is a no brainer to assume that most (but not all) of these wealthy donors are voting for their self interests. And most of them belong to the big pharama, oil and insurance agencies. The republican party has consistently over the years raised more money than the democratic party. This is year is different, because Obama campaign raised phenomenal amount of money from the small donors who are in the latest count more than 2.5 million people, but they still lack in the wealthy donor money.

So what he was saying to the wealthy people and celebrities during the fund raiser was a remonder to them about our common good,

"He urged his supporters to "keep steady" in the days ahead and never forget what his candidacy is about. In case they did, he offered a reminder, saying: the campaign "is about those who will never see the inside of a building like this and don't resent the success that's represented in this room, but just want the simple chance to be able to find a job that pays a living wage."(#52)

"The republcan party RNC raised at least 4 times the money with (28,500 max xontributions) form the wealthy than DNC." #77

As of the beginning of this month:

DNC has $17.5 million cash on hand. While RNC has $110 million.

The Politico reports "The disparity shows the Republicans' continued edge with the wealthy donors who can give in five-figure chunks.

The party money, though, is not worth as much as the campaigns' hard money, because it can't be spent as directly on the campaign, particularly when it comes to media. That was illustrated last month by RNC-funded ads that included confusing, digressive attacks on random Democratic senators, including Byron Dorgan, to fulfill campaign finance rules.

The GOP money will, however, finance an extensive field effort."

On mayn't be an expert--or at least have a basic grasp--in economics, but there is no doubt whose economic plan the economists prefer:

Obama 66% McCain 28%

This is according to a new survey of 523 economists who are U.S. citizens and members of the American Economic Association. See a Powerpoint with methodology and detailed results here:

http://www.dilbert.com/dyn/ppt/Draft-report--9-3-08.ppt

Dear #70
My intuitions come a little delayed. I first thought Keatsy Boy was a group like Boys To Men.
But that's the way it is. You could insult me and I wouldn't know it til a day or two later, even after writing a nice response in the mean time. Good Lord.
I love this writing class, but I sure hate it when the teacher takes my paper and crumples it up and throws it in the waste basket.

Talking about the government helping the needy, here's how the republican model works. As a mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin charged the rape victims of their town for rape kits for medical tests which cost around $300. (Alaska has the highest rate of rape, and rapists generally choose poor victims for obvious reasons)

The rape kit would have cost around $ 5,000 to 15,000 for her town of around 5000. Her reason for cutting funds? She doesn't want to "burden" the tax payers in helping the victims. Not that Wasilla lacks in funds. As a mayor, she lobbied for earmarks worth $26 million of federal money for her small town from Washington. And, as a mayor she rode a $25,000 SUV (bought in 1999) paid for by tax payers.

But there seeems to be more to this story:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/175430/636/888/601186

Jacob Alperin-Sheriff
September 11, 2008

New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

Okay, now she's OFFICIALLY a pathological liar (UPDATED with transcripts)

Wed Sep 17, 2008

This is something I can't let pass--not without taking notice. Sarah Palin has just made her most blatant lie yet. It's one that the average television viewer can catch. And most tellingly, it's a lie that exposes not just mendacity, but a compulsion to lie.

In a transparent attempt to shore up her feminist appeal, she's changed her story on how she accepted the offer to run for vice-president.

Which one is it, Sarah? The problem with lying isn't so much putting the lies out there. It's in sticking to them.

[...]

Read on...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/17756/8965/82/601976

Tania Tetlow, a former Federal Prosecutor and now Professor of Law at Tulane, has brilliantly exposed how Governor Palin's policies on domestic violence and rape have undone decades of consensus, and for all her purported 'feminism' represent a backward move to the dark ages:

"Sarah Palin has provided the ultimate example of why a female candidate is no substitute for a candidate who cares about women. Compare Palin and Biden's records on violence against women, an issue on which both sides normally agree. The political right may not always prioritize the cause, but it does not disagree that domestic violence is destructive of families and that rape is fundamentally wrong. Yet Palin sailed right past apathy to downright punishment of women for reporting rapes."

http://www.motleymoose.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=166

With her field experience of law and domestic violence, Tania Tetlow knows what she is talking about. And when she quotes local officials, she also knows what this means on the ground:

"Palin did not charge any other crime victims for the privilege of law enforcement. When the Wasilla police fingerprinted a house that had been burglarized, they did not present the owners with a bill for their services. But rape, of course, is different. As an on-line reader of Wasilla's local paper wrote in response to the issue: 'To weed out the false accusations women make with respect to sexual assaults, many towns have and are charging for rape kits. I have worked enough rapes to know when the town ho cries foul just to be vindictive and YES she should be charged.'"

The only measure of a candidate is what they have done in the past. It's clear what Sarah Palin's position is from her time in Alaska. It's not just blaming the victim, it's billing the victim.

The Troopergate scandal also connects to the domestic violence issue. Monegan was ultimately fired for seeking federal funds to protect women.

From the AP:

"The last straw, the McCain campaign said, was in July, when Monegan planned to travel to Washington to seek federal money for a plan to assign troopers, judges and prosecutors who could exclusively handle sexual assault cases — one of the state's most intractable crime problems.

In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor's special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: The governor hadn't agreed the money should be sought, and the request was "out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. (Ted) Stevens."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD937N8L80

Sarah Palin: An Apostle of Alaska
We know the outlines—the moose-hunting mom who juggles BlackBerrys and kids. But what does she believe? The real Sarah Palin.

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:oU7D5Abr73UJ:news.uk.msn.com/newsweek.aspx%3Fcp-documentid%3D9496086+Palin+the+believer&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ca

I have given some thought to your shadow explanation and I think a visceral response was planned by McCain to counter Obama's celebrity status.

If Sarah Palin weighed 250lbs and did not look like a model then the cheering would not have been so loud.

I trust the voters to surprise the media.

"Thank you for that detailed description of what Obama plans to do.
Some of it does sound very idyllic. " #75

The word you are looking for is "idealistic," not "idyllic."

(although, for me, the plan sounds very realistic.)

Palin is chosen to fire up the republican base. The religious conservatives don't trust McCain. With Palin on board they are showing the same (very high)level of excitement they had for the Bush re-election.

Her favorability ratings are exaggerated by the media, and her pick coincided with the convention bounce. They are already tanking into the negatives in certain tracking polls. It's between McCain and Obama and the race to win the independents, while simultaneously keeping their bases optimal. Palin has already helped to excite the conservative base. From the GOP perspective, they hope to keep their gains and keep the eventual fall back (with closer scrutiny of the candidate) to the minimum. Still, its their best pick that can ensure their victory.

I hope the ignorants who don't really know where Obama stands on economy and don't understand his plan and his views and assume that he is "claiming" to be a "savior" and such bullshit, may benefit from reading his economic speech at Nasdaq - New York, September 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/us/politics/16text-obama.html

I hope the ignorants who don't really know where Obama stands on economy and don't understand his plan and his views and assume that he is "claiming" to be a "savior" and such bullshit, may benefit from reading his economic speech at Nasdaq - New York, September 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/us/politics/16text-obama.html?pagewanted=all

So, Palin and McCain had their first town hall tonight. Here is what CNN is reporting:

'Asked for "specific skills" she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, "I am prepared."

"I have that confidence. I have that readiness," Palin said. "And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play 'stump the candidate' if you want to. But we are ready to serve."

GOP presidential nominee John McCain stepped in, pointing out that as governor of a state that is oil and gas plentiful, Palin was familiar with energy. She knows it to be "one of our great national security challenges," he said.

He also cited her nearly two years as commander of Alaska's National Guard. "I believe she is absolutely, totally qualified to address every challenge as the next vice president of the United States," McCain said.'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/17/campaign.wrap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

This was a question that gets asked in every job interview ever conducted and she needed help from McCain. Can you imagine being asked about specific skills and you respond with, "I'm ready. I have confidence. Ask me that question again...I dare you. You can't stump me!"

You'd be escorted out by security.

Street Prophets: VooDoo Palin & The Witch Hunting African Exorcist

http://streetprophets.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/1027/18808

"WTF?" The Times Online reports on a video taken at Sarah Palin's church where she allegedly credited a Kenyan witchhunter for her election to the office of Governor in 2006:

"The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.

At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid.

In video footage of the speech,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8twqZpUT2NQ

she is seen saying: "As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he’s so bold. And he was praying "Lord make a way, Lord make a way."

"And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not "oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor," no, he just prayed for it. He said "Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened."

She then adds: "So, again, very very powerful, coming from this church," before the presiding pastor comments on the "prophetic power" of the event."

http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/09/palin-linked-el.html

Th video appears that Palin is kind of joking about the event, but there is no joke about the level of support this "witch hunter" gets from her network of churches"

"According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries, after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.

After Mama Jane was questioned by police – and released – she decided it was time to leave town, the account says.

Pastor Muthee has frequently referred to this witchhunt in his sermons as an example of the power of "spiritual warfare". In October 2005, he delivered ten sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God, the audio of which was available on the church’s website until it was removed around the time Mrs Palin’s candidacy was announced. The blog Irregular Times has listings and screen grabs of the sermons.

It was during that these sermons that Mrs Palin, who was then preparing for her gubernatorial run, was anointed by Pastor Muthee. His intercession, she says, was "awesome"."

We're getting quite a complete picture of Palin when it comes to other women. She opposes abortion in the casesof rape and incest, reuquired rape victims to pay for their evidence kits, cut funds that help teenage mothers, fired the State Public Safety Commissioner for seeking more funds to help victims of sexual assult and praises a minister who advocates witch hunts and the stoning of women. Why does Sarah Palin hate women?

More here:

Sarah Palin and the Thomas Muthee Witch Hunt

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/09/15/sarah-palin-and-the-thomas-muthee-witch-hunt/

"Now that Sarah Palin is running for Vice President of the United States, the Wasilla Assembly of God is trying to cover up for her. The church has scrubbed its web site of the sermons Muthee delivered there. Just last month, those sermons were up on the church web site. Now they’re hidden away - why? What is the Wasilla Assembly of God church trying to hide? One of those lectures was entitled How to Benefit From Authority - oh, I bet that Muthee has some real insights on that subject.

If I were one of those journalists hanging out in Wasilla, looking for a scoop, I’d go to the sermons to be given later this month by Pastor Thomas Muthee. Yes, Muthee is coming back to Wasilla. Apparently, witch hunters are very popular at the Assembly of God church.

Muthee will be giving sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God north campus this Saturday, the main Sunday Service sermon at the church and another sermon at the Teeland Middle School on Sunday, plus three more sermons on Monday.

How much you want to be that the Wasilla Assembly of God doesn’t put those new sermons on its web site?

Why does Thomas Muthee matter? Remember that it’s Muthee who Sarah Palin credits with exerting supernatural influence in order to get her into public office. Thus, Muthee’s moral values and approach to gaining political power are an important insight into Sarah Palin’s own values and approach to political power.

Given Muthee’s atrocious witch hunts, I worry that Sarah Palin’s values are the values of the Salem witch trials."

Will the media run this story 24/7? Don't hold your breath.

McCain causes diplomatic incident, American press not reporting yet?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/233047/795/762/602329

Not surprising at all...

SHOCKER! Even as it seems like the defections from McCain club in the punditocracy like David Ignatius, Joe Klein and Richard Cohen that previously constituted his "base" are becoming practically happenstance now as the conventional wisdom shifts away from the maverick myth to that McCain has "changed" there was yet another devastating rebuke of McCain from a former supporter on Tuesday that caused my jaw to literally drop.

It was ELIZABETH DREW writing in The Politico today in her stunning and personal piece "How McCain Lost Me."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13541.html

WHY is this stunning? And WHO is this Elizabeth Drew?

She is the woman who had as big a role as anyone in inventing the myth of John McCain as "the maverick" modern-day Teddy Roosevelt in her fawning 2002 account of his crusade for campaign finance reform:

CITIZEN McCAIN by Elizabeth Drew

Drew starts out with a confession:

"I have been a longtime admirer of John McCain. During the 2000 Republican presidential primaries I publicly defended McCain against the pro-Bush Republicans’ whisper campaign that he was too unstable to be president (aware though I was that he had a temper). Two years later I published a positive book about him, "Citizen McCain."'

That book's narrative is shaped around the author's total support for and trust in purported maverick centrist John McCain and his friends (and disdain for the Tom DeLay-ish Republicans and some Democrats) on his bid for campaign finance reform.

The reason it's a worthwhile journalistic read is the amazing ACCESS that Drew has in her reporting into all of the personalities and backroom negotiations that went into drafting BCRA.

In fact in the acknowledgments she offers lengthy appreciation and praise for several McCain staffers by name and says, "McCain himself was enormously patient with me --- especially when I persisted in trying to know the various levels on which he functioned and thought --- as well as extremely generous with his time."

Now with that context, back to the Politico piece...

After a few paragraphs mournfully eulogizing the old HONORABLE John McCain, Drew gets to the heart of the matter:

"While McCain’s movement to the center was widely popular (if not on the right) – and he even flirted with becoming a Democrat – there’s now strong reason to question whether it was anything but a temporary, expedient tactic."

In moving to the right, McCain began to trouble Drew with his caves to right wing conservatives on not just campaign finance reform but also torture and she even began wondering if that Bush "whisper campaign" about McCain's temperament issues in 2000 had some MERIT.

"He seemed disturbingly bellicose. He gave the Iraq war unflagging support no matter the facts. He still talks about "winning" the war, though George W. Bush gave that up some time ago. As the war became increasingly unpopular, he employed the useful technique of blaming its execution rather than recognizing the misconceptions that had led him to be one of the most enthusiastic champions of the war in the first place.

Similarly, in making a big issue of having backed the surge (and simplifying the reasons for its apparent success), he preempts debate on the very idea of the war. He has talked (and sung) loosely about attacking Iran. More recently, he oversimplified this summer’s events in Georgia and made intemperate remarks about Russia, about which he’s been more belligerent than the administration for some time. (He has his own set of neocons.) "

Drew doesn't excuse or even agree with the logic behind the political considerations that led to him embracing the Republican base to win this election.

"I had already concluded that that there was a disturbingly erratic side of McCain’s nature. There’s a certain lack of seriousness in him. And he does not appear to be a reflective man, or very interested in domestic issues. One cannot imagine him ruminating late into the night about, say, how to educate and train Americans for the new global and technological challenges."

Elizabeth Drew no longer is certain she knows who John McCain is and she doesn't like who she thinks he is.

Despite that in 2002 she was so enamored of McCain's work on the passage of BCRA in the Senate that she wrote of McCain that "one man, through his determination, guts, steadiness, political acumen, and feel for the American people's better nature made it happen."

Now, in 2008, she writes:

"McCain’s recent conduct of his campaign – his willingness to lie repeatedly (including in his acceptance speech) and to play Russian roulette with the vice-presidency, in order to fulfill his long-held ambition – has reinforced my earlier, and growing, sense that John McCain is not a principled man."

I agree. I just wish Drew and the media had figured this out sooner.

Why focusing on Palin was the smart approach
by kos

No one can doubt that McCain's choice of Palin rejuvenated a listless, dying campaign. She excited the Theocon Right and brought them home, and being a fresh new face with an interesting bio, she captivated the nation's attention. Her initial numbers were sky high, and she packed them in for McCain. Suddenly, what had been a large Obama post-DNCC bounce turned on a dime, and Palin delivered a huge surge for her ticket.

Bloggers and tradmed reporters took a hard look at Sarah Palin and began raking her over the coals for myriad transgressions. She is a liar with theocratic tendencies, sports an intellect that makes Bush look like a Mensa member, and features an obvious fondness for Cheney-style abuses of power. And that's not even the worst of it.

But then the worriers began to question, "Why are we focusing on Palin? McCain is getting a pass! We're tilting at windmills, since she's too popular to damage!" We were told to stop talking altogether about Palin, as if ignoring her would remove the spell she had cast on America. This Andrew Sullivan post must've been emailed to me two dozen times by panicked worrywarts. A few bad polls, and people seemed to be losing their minds and sense.

But we continued to focus on Palin. Republicans were busy trying to build a positive narrative about Palin -- the "hockey mom" who was so folksy she could "field dress a moose" and had "said no to the Bridge to Nowhere and other government waste" and was overflowing with "small town values". McCain had shot up in the polls because of Palin. Common sense dictated it would be hard to knock him back down as long as she consolidated her popularity. So we set out to build the negative narratives about Palin. This is stuff straight out of Taking on the System. I have a whole chapter on it, in fact.

So we focused heavily on Palin, and make no mistake, it's exactly that intense focus that has taken its toll on her numbers:

Approve Disapprove No Opinion
9/11: 52 35 13 +17
9/12: 51 37 12 +14
9/13: 49 40 11 +9
9/14: 47 42 11 +5
9/15: 47 43 10 +4
9/16: 45 44 11 +1
9/17: 44 45 11 -1

That's a shocking 18-point collapse in a single week. She went from being just about the most popular person on the top of the ticket, to the (lipstick wearing?) goat. And it's not just our Research 2000 polling showing this collapse.

[NEWSWEEK:]
"In the three days after Palin joined Team McCain--Aug. 29-31--32 percent of voters told the pollsters at Diageo/Hotline that they had a favorable opinion of her; most (48 percent) didn't know enough to say [..] By Sept. 4, however, 43 percent of Diageo/Hotline respondents approved of Palin with only 25 percent disapproving--an 18-point split. Apparently, voters were liking what they were hearing. Four days later, Palin's approval rating had climbed to 47 percent (+17), and by Sept. 13 it had hit 52 percent. The gap at that point between her favorable and unfavorable numbers--22 percent--was larger than either McCain's (+20) or Obama's (+13).

But then a funny thing happened: Palin seems to have lost some of her luster. Since Sept. 13, Palin's unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That's a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll tied for the smallest favorability split (+12)** of any of the Final Four. [UPDATE: The Sept. 17 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll shows Palin at 47 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable--an even narrower +10 split.] Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least."

The trendline is indisputable (it was just picked up by CBS). And just as Palin's initial popularity bolstered McCain, her sudden faltering is now bringing him back down to earth. You might have even noticed that the latest round of McCain ads don't even feature her or refer to "McCain/Palin". It's back to just "McCain". She was starting to drag him down.

Palin will continue to excite and energize the wingnut base. She was designed for that purpose, and won't fail at that task. But her cratering popularity now hampers McCain's efforts to expand beyond that core base.

All of this is happening because we did not relent on Palin, blocking Republican efforts to paint her in a positive light. The results are speaking for themselves.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/195514/801/936/602155

Irvine,

Actually I did intend to use the word "idyllic"--I am well aware that "idyllic" and "idealistic" do not mean the same thing. I chose "idyllic" b/c in every single speech I hear Obama or his wife give, they are promising an "idyllic" future--a future where every individual's lot in life has been greatly improved and simplified as a result of electing Obama--his light will shine on us all and make us Happy and Giddy and "unified" (to use one of Obana's favorite words). A future where the poor are no longer poor, where everyone else no longer stressed, in debt, alienated, separated. Hooray! Can I have a margarita with that? Maybe some Jimmy Buffet too?
Basically, I do not like being blamed and even accused of racism if I do not support Obama. Some of the things Obama believes and says I do not believe fall within the bounds of democracy. And yes, John was right that is basically Obama's motto, it might as well be 'you mayn't be perfect but you can do better' and Obama will tell you how. I have heard his wife too talk about what Obama will "expect" from the U.S. citizens. I was raised from an early age to think for myself and no way nohow do I need or want Obama telling me how to live or telling me what he expects from me.

Looks like someone has a "problem with authority," and it has little to do with Obama.

I don't know what's "idyllic" (or "idealistic") about Obama's economic plan in #63. It has specific policy details. And these plans have been elaborated in detail. You can read it in the campaign's new policy book:

http://www.amazon.com/Change-We-Can-Believe-Americas/dp/0307460452

I can understand if that criticism was directed at a speech that has little details and going into generalities(like what McCain keeps doing. He doesn't even have specific plans on a lot of issues like economy and health care, yet!) It seems some people are numskulls or rather hardheaded who keep repeating their strong opinions, especially when they are challenged.

The AP is reporting on the Chuck Hagel questioning Palin's credibility...

GOP senator: A 'stretch' to say Palin is qualified

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/hagel_palin

"Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska on Wednesday became the nation's most prominent Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

...

Palin has cited the proximity of Alaska to Russia as evidence of her international experience.

Hagel scoffed at that notion.

"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

A senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hagel has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and had considered making his own run for president. He skipped the Republican National Convention in favor of a trip to Central and South America.

Hagel, who says he has no plans to endorse either presidential candidate, traveled with Democratic nominee Barack Obama to the Middle East in July.

...

Hagel had said he would have considered serving as Obama's running mate.

Hagel supported McCain's unsuccessful bid for president in 2000.

Hagel said voters ultimately will decide between McCain and Obama, and he hopes that the debates will refocus both campaigns on the important issues of the day, including the economy, energy policy and international relations.

...

Irvine,

Looks like someone has a "problem with authority" and it has little to do with Obama.

Maybe I should go sit in time-out for a little while until I "come around". What I do have a problem with, Irvine, is the Obama people "pathologizing" anyone who disagrees with their message. If I disagree I guess I can be accused of harboring deep-seated racism. Or maybe on another day, it has something to do with a wounded psyche--perhaps stemming from unmet childhood needs. But then again, anyone who disgrees must be psychologically or ethically/morally flawed--that would be a prerequisite of their philosophy, since their ultimate aim is "unity" all must agree with what they say we should agree with. I guess free thinkers like myself would be pathologized.

Irvine,

There are a vast number of quotes in which Obama or his wife portrays Obama as having the healing ointment to cure all tragic happenings globally. Yes, I am well aware his actual plan falls short of delivering domestic or global healing.

The same goes with accusing others of "accusing of racism" and playing the victim when they disagree with your straw man arguments (I am not talking about "opinions," one is "free" to have whatever he/she has. And the questions raised about racial prejudice, childhood issues and such, only you can reflect upon them.) I am not questioning your "free thinking" I am questioning the thinking that calls Obama's specific plan(#63) as "idyllic" that reflect a rigid mindset that is blind-sighted to the substance.

I welcome criticism of Obama, and arguments supporting McCain and his political philosopshy. We can debate the polices and issues.

You are free to have the caricatures about Obama claiming to be a savior and that he is being righteous and promising paradise and such. Or that McCain is a honorable war hero maverick who is doesn't (of course, he does) talk about unity and American dream and prosperity like Obama does. Actually, in one of his major speeches a couple of months ago, McCain painted a paradise(literally)of how America WILL look like at the end of his first term, with little or no details about how e is going to accomplish that.

Anyway, you are free to have opinions and I welcome debate on specific claims, but don't make up shit and expect the rest of us(including McCain supporters) to call it key lemon pie.

"There are a vast number of quotes in which Obama or his wife portrays Obama as having the healing ointment to cure all tragic happenings globally. Yes, I am well aware his actual plan falls short of delivering domestic or global healing."

You can cherry pick to reinforce your perceptions. But that's a fallacy. You are simply ignorant of his specific plans and how they are different form McCain's. McCain and Cindy promise even grander things too. This is the problem when one interprets campaign rhetoric, literally, from a candidate's stump speech and are ignorant about political issues and the candidate's plan.

If you think Obama is a savior, or that he alone will magically transform the country and the world (just by his election), then you are mistaken. He never claimed that, although you may prefer to perceive it as such. His supporters largely understand that. He is offering a plan, and his presidency is just an important ingredient in allowing the change (for better) that can/and will happen. The difference between Obama and McCain has a clear implication on which way the country goes on Health care, economy, Climate Change, Energy independence and environment. Obama is not a magic ingredient, but as a president is a crucial ingredient (along with electing more progressive and better politicians for the congress) for the country to go in a better direction than the last eight years.

Its easy to get fixated on Obama, and find faults in him and his approach, but take a peek on the other side as well. Obama is a poltican after all, not a sage. Being idealistic in some politicla speeches has along history. Obama did not begin it. Bill Clinton ran on the theme of Hope and Change in '92 as well. It's just taht some people are so tuned into the "Obama phenomena" that they lose all perspective and think he is more than a politician, when he is not, and interpret him with some sort ofd exception, which is a fallacy. I have observed a tendency though, a lot of Obama skeptics (who are repelled by his rhetoric during his a certain period in primary campaign) are attracted to him, when they learn more about him. In 2007, he gave a lot of interviews to editorial boards, and campaign speeches that were too professorial ( not the passionate stump speeches), and he won over a lot of thinkers. And I was one of them.

"Actually, in one of his major speeches a couple of months ago, McCain painted a paradise(literally) of how America WILL look like at the end of his first term, with little or no details about how he is going to accomplish that." #104

This is from May 15, 2008. Arianna Huffington on McCain's un-adulterated fanatasy, "John McCain unveiled his new campaign strategy today: invite the American people to take a magic carpet ride with him to the land of Eternal Sunshine.

In a speech this morning in Ohio -- backed up by a companion TV ad -- McCain hopped into an imaginary time machine and took us all to the year 2013, offering a sneak peek of what the world will look like at the end of his first term as President.

And what a wonderful world it will be: "The Iraq War has been won": "Iraq is a functioning democracy"; "al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated"; Osama bin Laden has been captured or killed; there's been no major terrorist attack in the U.S.; Iran and North Korea have renounced nuclear weapons; "the size of the Army and Marine Corps has been significantly increased and are now better equipped"; there's been "a substantial increase" in veterans' benefits; the genocide in Darfur has been stopped; "the United States has experienced several years of robust economic growth, and Americans again have confidence in their economic future"; "the world food crisis has ended"; "test scores and graduation rates are rising everywhere in the country"; "health care has become more accessible"; Medicare and Social Security have been fixed "without reducing benefits" or "increasing taxes and raising premiums"; America is "well on the way to independence from foreign sources of oil"; "our southern border is now secure" and "illegal immigration has been finally brought under control." And, oh yeah, there are a lot fewer fat kids trudging their way through PE class.

Sounds pretty great, doesn't it?

There's only one problem: it's pure, unadulterated fantasy. The political equivalent of the trippy tour the Beatles gave us in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds -- only instead of rocking horse people eating marshmallow pies, we have "professional and competent" Iraq Security Forces and an Iraqi government "capable of imposing its authority in every province" and "defending the integrity of its borders."

Despite starting his speech by saying how important it is for candidates to lay out "what they plan to achieve not with vague language but with clarity," McCain then proceeded to spin his cotton candy daydream with nary a hint of how his lofty and admirable goals will be accomplished. He's taking us on a trip to Fantasyland, but at no point does he show us how we're going to get there.

Sure, he tossed out a few generalized, pie-in-the-sky allusions to "reforms of the [health] insurance market" and "reforms to the way we acquire weapons programs" and a handful of specifics, including "a reduction in the corporate tax rate" and the building of "20 new nuclear reactors." But when it came to Iraq, he didn't offer even the vaguest clue about how -- after five long years of failure -- victory, democracy, the defeat of al Qaeda, the prevention of civil war, the disbanding of militias, and the sudden competence of the Iraqi military will magically be achieved. Rather, one morning four and a half years from now, we're going to wake up and pigs will be flying, and all will be right with the world.

I get the thinking behind the McCain camp's strategy. With 82 percent of the public unhappy with the direction of the county, and with 68 percent unhappy with the war, and 75 percent anxious about the economy (which McCain admits he doesn't understand all that well), there is no way McCain or his fellow Republicans can run on reality or their record over the last seven-plus years, so they have to run on fantasy.

But building castles in the sky -- and painting rosy, reality-free scenarios -- runs counter to McCain's brand as a straight talker™ who tells it like it is, even when that means admitting that ending the war or fixing the economy or passing needed reforms won't be easy.

You know things have gotten bad for the GOP when John McCain, the man who ran a TV ad claiming "One man does what's best for America. Not what's easy," and who told us on the campaign trail "I've got to give you straight talk, my friends. This is a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars, I'm sorry to tell you... My friends, it's going to be tough," is now acting like Mr. Rogers. It's going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood. In 2013. I can't tell you how, boys and girls, but it will be. You just have to trust me.

I'll admit, I found McCain's fantasy speech moving and effective, especially the part where he envisions a growth in national service, fueled by young Americans who "understand that true happiness is much greater than the pursuit of pleasure, and can only be found by serving causes greater than self-interest." I also appreciated his promise to "set a new standard for transparency and accountability," abstain from Bushian signing statements, and do away with "mindless, paralyzing" partisanship while making the coming campaign "an argument among friends, each of us struggling to hear our conscience and heed its demands."

Then the pig that was flying overhead fell from the sky, showed me his McCain button, and reminded me that Hamas wants Obama to win."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/john-mccain-trades-straig_b_101961.html

THE BIG WHISPER
...WHAT'S UP WITH MCCAIN...

Rejects Bailing Out AIG One Day, For It The Next... Appears To Reject Spain As An Ally... On Palin's Plans For Female Economic Empowerment: "She Was A Point Guard On A State Championship Basketball Team"... Calls Fundamentals Of Economy "Strong" Monday, Says We're In "A Total Crisis" Tuesday... Time's Klein: "Sober Observers... Are Calling McCain A Liar"

Republican Rep. Endorses Obama

Hagel On Palin: Experience Is A Stretch

McCain Says He Would Fire SEC Chair -- Something The President Can't Do

Author Of Pro-McCain Book: McCain Has Lost Me

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

Irvine,

It is not a matter in my mind of Obama versus McCain--I do not dislike Obama b/c I feel McCain is "awesome".
Obama and his wife are both extremely arrogant. I believe they talk down to their "followers" and "non-followers" alike.
You say that It is my fault if *I* make Obama out to be more than a politician--as you say he is merely a man, nothing more. Am I the one making him out to be a savior? HIs wife has made statements about him that imply that he has abilities that will somehow redeem the suffering of the masses. It is Obama's own people who have packaged him as a healing salve to the people, well, that is, to the people who can't think for themselves and need a paternal Obama to guide them and show them the way. And am I one of his many followers who are shown at his speeches crying--weeping really uncontrollably--as if their own unmet childhood needs have suddenly been met, as if their own tormented psyches will finally be at peace once Obama takes control. No, I am not one of the people crying. I am one of the people watching thinking--what the hell is wrong with those people (the ones crying). Is that not extremely adolescent--at the very least--to weep uncontrollably as if one just caught a glimpse of one's favorite rock star--the one who is just SO dreamy. The one who could make all your dreams come true if they just noticed you one time. Like I said, blame his own people for presenting him that way. Not me for merely perceiving what is right in front of me.

"Conservative" Seattle Times endorses Barack Obama for President. The Seattle Times Editorial Board today made Obama their choice for President of the United States in a refreshingly well thought out and written Endorsement.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008190671_obamaed21.html

Describing the current reality of an economic system that Privitizes profit, and Socializes risk as an "Economic Katrina", the Seattle Times puts it's cards on the table.

"Obama should be the next president of the United States because he is the most qualified change agent. Obama is a little young, but also brilliant. If he sometimes seems brainy and professorial, that's OK. We need the leader of the free world to think things through, carefully. We have seen the sorry results of shooting from the hip."

That paragraph pretty much describes my answer to some of those who think Obama needs to "dumb down" his message. The exact same people who also criticize him when he goes into detail and nuance. We DO need a leader that is actually smart. Obama is more than that....He's brilliant.

This endorsement isn't lacking in "contrast" either....
Describing McCain:

"Consider the banking and financial morass. Neither Obama nor his opponent, Sen. John McCain, offers a perfect solution. But McCain is all over the map, veering from statements such as "The fundamentals of our economy are strong" to the more obvious "Wall Street is threatened by greed." McCain is at heart a deregulator. But it is the hands-off and ineffective federal regulatory system that allowed this mess to fester. Obama offered a more coherent approach months ago when he called for regulating investment banks, mortgage brokers and hedge funds and streamlining overlapping regulatory agencies."

Nail. Meet. Head.

The Other really great thing about this endorsement is the fact that they go down the laundry list of issues and describe why they are endorsing Barack Obama.

"American optimism has been wracked by President George Bush and a previous Republican Congress. If you want change, you do not keep what is essentially the same team in power. You try something different. You vote for the stronger matchup, Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden, a smart and steady hand on foreign policy and other matters."

I couldn't have said it better myself!

REGARDLESS OF SARAH PALIN'S QUALIFICATIONS OR NO FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY, MANY PEOPLE HERE ON INTENT BLOG, SEEMS TO ME, ARE SECRETLY (SECRETLY SECRETLY) WILDLY OBSESSED WITH SRAAH'S GORGEOUS A** AND WITH HER BEWITCHING FACIAL AND OTHER RESEMBLANCE TO MARISKA HAGARTAY OF LAW AND ORDER, SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, ON THE TELEVISION (THIS RESEMBLANCE OF THE TWO LAW&ORDER DAMES HAS RESONANCY TOO, BY THE WAY-- WITH BEAUTIFUL SEXY MARISKA KICKING IN THE SUPPOSED PERPETRATOR'S KIDNEYS BEFORE THE SUPPOSED PERPETRATOR EVEN RECEIVES DUE LEGAL PROCESS-- BEAUTIFUL SARAH WILL ALSO "TAKE CARIBOU," AMERICA, IN JUST THE SAME WAY heh heh). ........ANYWAY, THIS SECRET AND RESONANT LUST FOR SARAH PALIN THAT PERMEATES THE AIR ON INTENT BLOG LENDS A CERTAIN DANKNESS AND INSINCERE FEELING TO MANY OF THE COMMENTS BEING MADE HERE, NONE OF WHICH I HAVE READ.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Dear JANE,
Uhhhhhhhhh.........
Huh?

Dear JANE,
I was contemplating Divine Fecundity when the above statement popped out.
I can't make head nor hide of it. Sorry.