You mean I have to have a suit and tie to enter?!?

Figures . . .

yo yo ...the barracuda, hoaky mom...soon to be grand mom...told a heckler in Florida..."Sir, my son went to iraq so u can have the right to protest"

what hoaky pokey nonsense...joe-six-pack, u betcha, there u go again joe, lookin' backward again...

since when our right to protest was held by iraqis? i didn't know that we had to go there to fight them to get it back. wow!

that weirdo will score browny points for saying such crap from the ignorant haters and rednecks of this country...

I'm dying...............

"A majority of debate watchers polled thought Obama was more intelligent, by a 57 percent to 25 percent margin over McCain. Debate watchers also thought Obama more clearly expressed his views by a two to one margin, 60 percent to 30 percent.

Debate watchers questioned thought McCain, rather than Obama, spent more time attacking his opponent, with 63 percent saying McCain went more on the attack, as opposed to just 17 percent saying Obama." Quotation.

Diablo:

You are one of the funniest, wittiest, and, believe it or not, you simply have a charm that is . . . well,

Very kewl brother

You know,

I failed, I failed all those whom I should have been there for, and, I don't know, basically being one drunk fight from being homeless . . .,

I mean I was in Spokane chilling out trying to get a job, no job 4 the bad guy of course, but I came over here to Seattle to chill with this very nice lady for a minute:

but I don't see how she quits drinking after a few drinks,

I just get started at this point.

And I want to save the world . . .

Yeah

If I had something good to do I wouldn't drink at all!

I don't know how to get out at this point.

Peace

10/8 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 51, McCain 41

Today's Daily Kos Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama up over McCain 51-41. All trackers are data from three days prior to posting, with the R2K numbers from today (yesterday's numbers in parentheses) and the other trackers from yesterday (previous day's data). LV=likely voter, RV=registered voter.

Obama McCain MoE +/- RV/LV
Today
Research 2000: 51 (52) 41 (41) 3 LV
Reuters/Zogby: 47 (48) 45 (45) 2.8 LV
Yesterday
Rasmussen: 52 (51) 44 (44) 2 LV
Battleground: 50 (50) 43 (43) 3.5 LV
Diageo/Hotline: 46 (47) 44 (41) 3.2 LV [40%D, 38%R, 18%I, a change]
Gallup: 51 (50) 42 (42) 2 RV

On successive days in the R2K poll, Obama was up +11 Sun, +9 Mon and +8 Wed. The highest Obama single day lead was +13. Obama's number remains steadily at or above 50. Sarah Palin's fav/unfav was at - 14, a new low. It will be Saturday before we get tracking polls fully after Tuesday night's debate. We know the insta-polls, now.

Democracy Corps:

"Like the last debate, these voters felt that Obama was the winner of the debate (38 to 30 percent), but this time the debate also shifted their electoral preferences. After viewing the debate, 42 percent of these voters said they would support Obama if the election were held today, while just 26 percent would support McCain."

CNN, MoE 4%:

"Who did the best job in the debate?

McCain (R) 30
Obama (D) 54

Opinion of Barack Obama (before debate)

Favorable: 64 (60)
Unfavorable: 34 (38)

Opinion of John McCain (before debate)

Favorable: 51 (51)
Unfavorable: 46 (46) "

CBS:

"39 percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed identified Barack Obama as tonight's winner; 27 percent said John McCain won, while 35 percent saw the debate as a draw.

After the debate, 68 percent of uncommitted voters said that they think Obama will make the right decisions on the economy, compared to 54 percent who said that before the debate. Fewer thought McCain would do so – 49 percent after the debate, and 41 percent before."

He who leads on the economy wins the election.

SurveyUSA (WA) MoE 3.7%

Of debate watchers:

*54% say Obama was the clear winner.
*29% say McCain was the clear winner.
*18% say there was no clear winner.

After the first Presidential Debate, Washington State gave McCain equal marks with Obama. Tonight, Obama margin is almost 2:1.

There seems no doubt on the cable channels or in hockey rinks around the country as to who won the debate. Starting tomorrow, the polls will begin to see if voting preference changed because of it.

--DemFromCT, dkos

Well John McCain, that was a shameful repetition of crap and falsehoods of what Obama would do, rather than what you will do as President of United States of America.

This repetition of uncertainties is often used by leader of religious fundamentalism. These pretenders are asking their congregations to repeat and believe in the most ridiculous things and through faith these things will become true without evidence.

In a roundabout way the McPa(l)ins may do the world a huge favour though, the American people will start to examine what is happening in their own communities.

They may find out that they are being manipulated in more than just a political way. They may find out that humans and dinosaurs never walked the surface of the earth at the same time and whoever says so is either ignorant or mentally handicapped.

seriously dude...ettes

who the f... in their right mind (except the three odd amigos) would vote for the ugly M/P ticket? shhhuuusssshhh.......

Ed
Maybe you are flying.

derek

Hey Ed
Maybe you are flying.

derek

Hi,

An article that compares how McCain and Obama square up on support for the sciences:

Science Tuesday: Outside his window he sees the water that’s supposed to be clean
http://tinyurl.com/479z3s

Surprisingly the agree on some big ticket items (embryonic stem cell research, climate change, scientific integrity and even alternative energy), but differ in other crucial areas (basic research, sex education, teaching creationism in public schools).

Hey Concerned
Aren't we still walking with dinosaurs even today? Maybe not the likes of T-Rex but what about birds, alligators and millions of critters in the ocean. Everything evolves. Our mammally ancestors use to hide from those terrible lizards.

once you find the truth......it changes

derek

yo doodooman..

what up?

talking about dinos!

dude...they are still around...look at the dino from zona...still alive...but barely...

and did u hear that wizz (his running mate) the other nite in the VP debate...calling the Taliban ....Talibani...

some foreign affairs specialist she is..."that one."

Yes, Derek, you said it, “everything evolves”.

Let’s try to educate our brains so we can follow that evolution. Genome research shows that all living things are related and of the same basic building blocks.

Any living thing or organism is related to any other and genome research permits us to see what we have in common and where we branched off. It has been said that the 20th century was dominated by physics, and the 19th by chemistry and geology.

The 21st, at least so far? By biology, with genomics, cloning, stem-cell research, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology having replaced "rocket science" as emblematic of the difficult and important. Without science and technology, we would still be in the dark ages.

But you are right, without your field the arts, the world would miss something essential, precious and beautiful. There is a reason we talk about the “Arts and Sciences”.

#15
You didn't mention epigenetics, Concerned, which kinda grabs me. Is that science or woo, woo, don't go?

CNN's Soledad O was in Ohio to assess what undecideds were thinking about the debate...the majority thought that 'bama won...but when asked who they would vote for...a majority-56%- said they would vote for mackinsane...are we seeing a 'Bradley' here? scary!

the real insanes in this country are the numbballs...like that racist 'sheriff' in Florida...who would hold their freakin' nose and vote for the loser from zona.

the repugnicans have put us in this huge mess...pure and simple...so why wud anyone vote for them to continue on the same disasterous path?

Yo Concerned
Science and art are more closely related than spirituality and science and spirituality and art are more closely related than spirituality and science. Art is a kind of an invisible third leg.

When I pet my dog I imagine that moment stretched back to the first cells that started splitting into different variations and rubbing up against each other.

Hey Diablo
Some dino's are going extinct bro.

peace comes from peace

derek

mackunstable will become more tense and tenser these remaining days to the breaking point...

look for him losing it big time (and i don't mean just the election) and start using more barbed language...to appeal to the racist haters out there..

can't wait for to him and that barracuda to get off my TV for good...she can go play hockey up there...where winter has arrived...damn!

Ref # 16

Morning Ed, epigenetic inheritance is definitely not woo woo. But for many biologists Dawkins’ meme is a simpler and more elegant way to deal with cultural inheritance.

Dawkins:
“The meme, the unit of cultural inheritance, ties into the idea of the replicator as the fundamental unit of Darwinism”.

Maybe this is of interest:
http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/j-Ch.3.html

#22 I don't think Dawkins is very Lamarckable!

From my point of view, it's just the shoes he stands for and pointing the gun at those he shoots himself in the foot.
Sorry, I enjoy his rhetoric but place my awe on the footprint. Oh dear, even my own shows traces of blood!

10/9 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 51, McCain 41

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/9/7353/26252/998/624459

Pepe Escobar

You’re funny, Ed.

Yes, he is more memeable, not very lamarckable and definitely not delusional!

Hey everybody. Just dropping by. I've been focused on family things mostly these past couple months. A lot going on.

Even still, I'm completely absorbed in this election. I came across this article today, and after laughing out loud with joy, I thought, I have to share this with intentblog.

Then I came to the open thread and saw Diablo's comment #2
"that weirdo will score browny points for saying such crap from the ignorant haters and rednecks of this country..."

I was like, omg, this article is perfect.

My favorite part of this article:

"The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.

"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled."

Just imagining this made me so happy. Is it possible that we could actually have such a cool president?

Check it out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081009/pl_afp/usvoteobamarednecks;_ylt=ArkuBDQKp9gcFKygnio68XWs0NUE

I love you guys,
Sharon

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081009/pl_afp/usvoteobamarednecks;_ylt=ArkuBDQKp9gcFKygnio68XWs0NUE

oops. didn't mean to paste the link twice.

Well thanks for finally dropping in Miss, I hope it is good family things!

Peace

these last days will become interesting...

it seems the polls are accurate...and the dina is way way behind and wont catch up..so look out for the attack dogs...to be let loose

and the swiftboating..the name calling..but it wont work this time...wud it?

yo...the barracuda can put all those attack dogs in kennels and haul them up to 'laska when she packs her stuff in less than 4 weeks...maybe she cud use them to go dog sleddings to pass the long winter...whoa...

where has the tree gone
his steady presence is missed
leaves falling like tears

Norm been on the road a long time eh Diablo . . .

hello Sharon,
it's great to read your words, and to have you back. Don't stay away so long :-)
I too am fascinated by this election, and interested in the process.
I believe our country can recover from the financial disaster unfolding and really forge ahead in a cooperative way.

It is a lovely warm Autumn evening. The moonglow while I was walking make the sky sparkle - and made me feel so happy just to be in its presence.

I think Tree is shedding leaves and wants us all to enjoy the colors as they fall ...

~ Kate

yo emperor...

i hear flabs is out there...lookin' for the tree...on his big ole tractor.

dear Kavita,
Thank you for sharing the story of Andy Aviles, and his family Norma and Oscar.
His family has been forever changed by his death in Iraq on April 7, 2003.
You have shared it with care and tenderness.

always,
love
~ Kate

kavitachhibber.com
October issue

#10 Yo, Derek, #11
I'm on the blink, now.......(too close to the Sun?)

Waxwing ;)

(Zappy rules!)

10/10 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 52, McCain 40

by DemFromCT

Today's Daily Kos Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama up over McCain 52-40. All trackers are data from three days prior to posting, with the R2K numbers from today (yesterday's numbers in parentheses) and the other trackers from yesterday (previous day's data). LV=likely voter, RV=registered voter.

Obama McCain MoE +/- RV/LV
Today
Research 2000: 52 (51) 40 (41) 3 LV
Reuters/Zogby: 48 (48) 43 (44) 2.8 LV

Yesterday
Battleground: 48 (49) 45 (45) 3.5 LV
Rasmussen: 50 (51) 45 (45) 2 LV
Diageo/Hotline: 47 (45) 41 (44) 3.2 LV
Gallup: 52 (52) 41 (41) 2 RV

On successive days in the R2K poll, Obama was up +8 Tues, +12 Wed and +14 Thurs. The highest Obama single day lead was +13. Wednesday and Thursday's sample were picking up post-debate polling. Obama's number remains steady at or above 50 since 9/29.

Please look at the internals. Sarah Palin's fav/unfav is - 18 and John McCain's is - 11. McCain's South lead is down to 10. These are poor numbers and bad trends with the last two days of polling out of three reflecting the debate. The markets, of course, are the markets, and media coverage of the Palin hate rallies is perhaps a factor as well.

[...]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/10/73134/972/936/625546

We do need a “cool hand on the tiller”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyK-enrF1g

Enjoy!

the guy has a bad temper

he has bad judgement

he's erratic

he's a flip flopper

he is angry that a black man will pull the rug from under him and take the job he does not deserve..

he claims to put country first...but instead he put self first by putting an unfit hyperactive empty dress as running mate...

the ole dude can wait about three more weeks before the voters put him outta his misery...for good...

whoahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa....

For years the US population heard these horror stories about those evil socialist nations and how they will implode any moment. They will implode because no country can have laws providing fully comprehensive Medicare and Daycare and annual paid vacations.

We heard all about the Scandinavian countries and France, Germany, Switzerland and especially Canada. By now we all know about those terrible line-ups they have in Canada for surgery. What they did not tell us is that those line-ups are for elective surgery only and not emergency situation. For emergency surgery in Canada it is very likely simply, “next please”.

One big difference between the US and the countries above is CEO rewards; they are a fraction of what they are in the States.

And which country reached the point of a possible implosion first and behaves now like the biggest socialist state of them all? Which government and political party are leading the parade to buy up bad assets accumulated by its financial institutions? Which country and which political party is bailing out the rich, again, forgetting its middleclass and poor completely?

Well it ain’t one of those terrible socialist states, it is the champion of free enterprise.

What a surprise!

I hear that CWC!

Peace

the republicans have thrown macsenile unda the bus...if u listen to TV and radio commentators...lately...and his legs are crushed by the wheels...they have have given up on dude..

last night on LK...two of the three repub women showed unbelievable class in calling the dina to play fair and end his sleaze campaign...not all repubs are like the nutty three amigos...yo! damn!

10/11 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama , McCain
by DemFromCT

Today's Daily Kos Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama up over McCain 52-40. All trackers are data from three days prior to posting, with the R2K numbers from today (yesterday's numbers in parentheses) and the other trackers from yesterday (previous day's data). LV=likely voter, RV=registered voter.

Obama McCain MoE +/- RV/LV
Today
Research 2000: 52 (52) 40 (40) 3 LV
Reuters/Zogby: 48 (48) 44 (43) 2.8 LV

Yesterday
Battleground: 51 (48) 43 (45) 3.5 LV [note several iterations released]
Rasmussen: 50 (50) 45 (45) 2 LV
Diageo/Hotline: 48 (47) 41 (41) 3.2 LV
Gallup: 51 (52) 41 (41) 2 RV

Newsweek: 52 (46) 41 (46) 3.7 RV
Fox: 46 (45) 39 (39) 3 RV

On successive days in the R2K poll, Obama was up +12 Wed, +14 Thurs and +12 Fri. Wednesday-Friday's sample represent entirely post-debate polling. Obama's percentage has been at or above 50 since 9/29.

Sarah Palin's fav/unfav is now - 20, 36-56.

IEM is at a remarkable 82.5-17 (guess who leads)? It's 78.4-22.6 at Intrade.

From Newsweek:

"Obama appears to have broadened his coalition of support and made inroads with groups that have not reliably embraced him over the course of the long presidential campaign. He now leads McCain among both men (54 percent to 40 percent) and women (50 percent to 41 percent). He now wins every age group of voters—including those over 65 years of age, who back him over McCain 49 to 43 percent. Supporters of Hillary Clinton, as many as a fifth of whom had at one point told pollsters they'd support McCain over Obama, now back the Democratic nominee 88 percent to 7 percent."

From Fox:

"Obama has also improved his standing with his party faithful. A month ago, 79 percent of Democrats were backing Obama. Today it is 86 percent. McCain has consistently received the backing of over 80 percent of Republicans and is backed by 83 percent today.

Independents split their vote 34 percent Obama and 32 percent McCain, with 24 percent unsure. That's little changed from two weeks ago when Obama was up by 36 percent to 31 percent and 29 percent undecided.

A 61 percent majority of voters believes Obama is going to win the election - more than three times as many as believe McCain will (18 percent). A month ago it was evenly divided: 41 percent Obama and 40 percent McCain (Sept. 8-9). This summer, voters were more likely to say Obama would win: 51 percent Obama and 27 percent McCain (July 22-23)."

There are now more Republicans unhappy with McCain/Palin than Democrats unhappy with Obama /Biden (also seen in the R2K poll.)

[...]
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/11/73436/493/0/626466

Gail Collins is a master at making irony and sarcasm funny -- and somehow, there's never any poison in the humor, even when it's about poisonous things -- how does she do it??

"...Remember when McCain’s campaign ads were all about his being a prisoner of war? I really miss them.

"Now they’re all about the Evil That Is Obama. The newest one, “Ambition,” has a woman, speaking in one of those sinister semiwhispers, saying: “When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied.” Then suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, she starts ranting about Congressional liberals and risky subprime loans. Then John McCain pops up to say he approved it. All in 30 seconds! And, of course, McCain would think it’s great. For the first time, the Republicans appear to have captured his thought process on tape.

"The Republican campaign strategy now involves sending their candidates to areas where everybody is a die-hard McCain supporter already. Then they yell about Obama until the crowd is so frenzied people start making threats. The rest of the country is supposed to watch and conclude that this would be an enjoyable way to spend the next four years.

"Maybe the Republicans should have picked somebody else. I miss Mitt Romney. Sure, he was sort of smarmy. But when Mitt was around, the banks had money and Iceland was solvent. And, of course, when we got bored, we could always talk about how he drove to Canada with his Irish setter strapped to the car roof..."

the full column:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/opinion/11collins.html

(or click my name)

'pailing' around...on dog sleds...whoa...

hokey-pokey mom...shotgun granma...eeekkk!

u betcha, golly gee, joe, there u go again!

she's an embarassment

she runs away from the media like she has soiled her unda pantz..

the Repubs wanna force this misfit onto us before giving us the opportinity to ask her tuff questions...vetting her...but Y? seems like a typican neo-con job to me.

#44

Speaking of McCain ads... they are all 100% negative/attack ads right now for about 3 weeks now. (Obama's ads are 30% which talk about McCain, the rest are positive that talk about his polices.)

"Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it."

Who said that?

That was John McCain in 2000, commenting on the disgusting attacks against him by Karl Rove, George Bush, and a few of the people now doing their very dirty work for him.

Here's a nice story of an Obama supporter who attended a McCain/Palin meet-up at a local Starbucks in Tampa, Florida:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/10/214022/36/494/627013

"It's good to be an Obama supporter, especially when you see how scared and dejected the other side is."

the desperation to win at all cost in the mackinsane camp is reaching the toilet...

they have no shame...no morals..

boy..o..boy...u wait..the sucker lose all states except idaho, 'laska, texas and zona...

uh-huh, the barracuda doubles up on desperate lies, in her own defense...

"Gov. Sarah Palin again insisted on Saturday that an investigation by Alaska lawmakers into the firing of her former brother-in-law found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part,” and added that “there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired.” (The report did in fact conclude that she had abused the power of the governor’s office.)

"Ms. Palin’s comments came as she took a few questions from reporters outside a Sheetz gas station and convenience store here, with baby Trig strapped to her torso in a baby harness.

"Asked about the report released Friday by Alaska lawmakers that found she had abused the powers of the governor’s office, Ms. Palin replied:

"“I’m thankful that the report has shown that there was no illegal or unethical activity there in my choice to replace our commissioner,” she said. “A partisan kind of process that had been undertaken by some of the legislators who haven’t been real happy with anything that I’ve done along the way as governor, that process is now over, with that finding that I haven’t done anything unlawful in replacing the commissioner.”..."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/palin-denies-abuse-of-authority-in-trooper-case

If it weren't so pitiful, I'd laugh.

uh-huh, even the barracuda gets pulled back when someone finally realizes she and her running mate have stepped waaaay over the line...

"Despite an enthusiastic reception on Saturday in this small Pennsylvania town, Gov. Sarah Palin dialed back the attacks on Senator Barack Obama that have typified her public appearances of late, a day after her running mate described Mr. Obama as “a decent man.”

"The name of William Ayers, the 1960s radical that the McCain campaign has tried to tie to its opponent, was not spoken once by the Alaska governor, a stark contrast to a series of increasingly vituperative attacks related to Mr. Ayers that she delivered at private fund-raisers and large-scale rallies in the past week.

"Ms. Palin was by no means light on the Democratic candidate, but she shifted the focus of her attacks to Mr. Obama’s voting record on abortion, saying that he “hopes you won’t notice how radical his ideas are on this until it’s too late.”..."

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/palin-tempers-attacks-on-obama/

I wonder who bent the Republicans' arms. Was it their own fear and shame about what they might have begun to unleash, or did the government warn them, or did Obama's camp reach out?

Obama did the equivalent of forgiving McCain by praising his pulling back on the hate last night:

"The morning after Senator John McCain tried to tamp down heated comments from his supporters at a town-hall-style meeting in Minnesota, Senator Barack Obama offered him a quick nod of thanks.

"“I want to acknowledge that Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric in his town hall meeting yesterday,” Mr. Obama said, speaking at an early-morning rally in North Philadelphia. “I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Senator McCain has served this country with honor, and he deserves our thanks for that.”..."

if the barracuda thinks she gonna be prez (cause that one is so old), she got another thing coming...when in 3 weeks she packs her stuff back to her igloo...and all those 'dogs' she will need to go sleddin' to ease the boredom of a long winter which has already set in...whoa!

Tree trimming winds blew
Falseness leaves 'bout every klue
Twin tease dazed me2

the nut crashed the party at thr G7...

yo bushnut...what makes u think u matter..no one... save the 3 odd ...cares? don't u get it? i guess not? what a surprise!

dude, why don't u just shut ur &^%$*()^ pie hole up and be quiet?

I sure wish ...
the Tampa Bay Rays would win the ballgame
golly, it's about time!
:-)
~ Kate

The Rays did it.
9-8 against Boston.
Hooray!
~ Kate

Hugs, Tree,

A moth hath corrupted
Our conker trees
They, extremely browned off
This is true, UK
US2?

A little personal holographic guidance from Sabian Oracle:-

ARIES 5
A WHITE TRIANGLE IS SEEN; IT HAS GOLDEN WINGS

Lift yourself above the ordinary, using your natural gifts to find a new perspective - an uplifted view - to expand your awareness. This can picture an eagerness for spiritual integration or a capacity to escape from reality. Try to ground the vision, but allow the free flight of vision.
Inspiration and zeal. Feeling elevated and inspired through spiritual or creative efforts. Flying to a greater perspective. Self transcendence.

The Caution: Not noticing your own down-to-earth needs or those around you. Escapism. Forgetting about the needs and desires of the body. Losing the plot.

"Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds."
Goethe

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious behavior."
Henry David Thoreau

http://www.sabiansymbols.com/page.asp?id=968

Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
by DemFromCT

Capitulation.

NY Times:

"Again and again, party leaders said they were concerned that the race was slipping away and that Mr. McCain and his advisers seemed to be adrift in dealing with an extraordinarily challenging political battleground."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12strategy.html

Connecticut Post:

"She's reveling in the ugliest corner of her party's support. Rallies over the past week have featured backers yelling racial epithets, calling Obama a terrorist and worse. She has shown not the slightest indication any of this was a problem for her. (Nor, it should be noted, has a certain Connecticut senator on stage with her at a few of these events.)"

http://www.connpost.com/ci_10689915?source=most_viewed

Jonathan Alter:

"Sure, the market would likely be melting down McCain's campaign no matter what he did. But he'd have a better chance if he canned the character attacks on Barack Obama. Aside from being offensive and desperate, they don't work with undecided voters. And they're confusing to McCain's own stoked-up partisans, as he found in Minnesota last week, when he told a woman who said she was scared by Obama, because he was "Arab," that she was wrong and his opponent was actually a "decent family man." McCain's own crowd then booed him."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/163457

Christopher Buckley:

"Let me be the latest conservative/libertarian/whatever to leap onto the Barack Obama bandwagon. It’s a good thing my dear old mum and pup are no longer alive. They’d cut off my allowance.

Or would they?"

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservative-case-for-obama

Wick Allison:

"THE MORE I LISTEN TO AND READ ABOUT “the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan. To explain why, I need to explain why I am a conservative and what it means to me.

In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher."

http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp

Follow-up:

"Your article endorsing Obama found its way to my computer, Wick... and I wanted you to know you have a VERY strong "thumbs up" from three folks you might least expect: my two sisters and me. We are the daughters of Bill Miller who ran for Vice President with Barry Goldwater back in '64. We have all morphed quite independently into feeling, as you do, that the Republican Party in general and George Bush in particular do not represent in any fashion what our dad stood for more than 40 years ago."

http://www.dmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp

Harold Ford Jr.: Been there done, that. When faced with losing, Republicans turn into vicious asshole character assassins. Why? Sometimes it works. But then again, McCain's been down that road before, so it's no shock.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002558.html

Dick Polman:

"We knew already (as I detailed in this space yesterday) that John McCain's Faustian pact with the Republican attack machine has seriously damaged his so-called "maverick" brand, perhaps beyond repair. And now, thanks to the news last night, we have solid proof that the so-called "maverick" vice presidential nominee is really just another garden-variety politician who violates the public trust for personal gain."

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/americandebate/Abuse_of_power.html

Pat Buchanan: Can McCain win? With my track record of running as the pitchfork wingnut who lost, and lost badly, why is anyone even asking me? Believe, me, I am as puzzled as you as to why people care what I think. I guess they assume I have insight into Sarah Palin's hate stuff.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/can_mccain_still_win.html

Michael Barone: The sunofabitch is going to win. Let me vent. Obama's a thug who hands out at librul thug places, like universities and colleges. Sarah Palin and the Hate Talk Express? Just a nice girl who speaks her mind. Gah, I'm too old for this.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjUwZWIwZTNhY2Y0YTFkYzFmZTIyZWUwZWNkYjk4ZGM=

Stephen Hayes:

"It is, in short, a campaign heavy on tactics and light on strategy. Three weeks out from the 2008 election and John McCain's campaign has no discernible central theme, no succinct answer to the most basic question voters ask as they consider their choice: Why should I choose you over the other guy?"

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/683kgpxf.asp?pg=2

Paul Harris:

"When John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate, his supporters declared the move a masterstroke. But Republican poll ratings have been falling day by day - and now the 'Troopergate' scandal has turned the Hockey Mom from Alaska into a liability for a campaign that has lost its way."

And here's something that needs to be read by every reporter in America:

"There seems little doubt that Palin is still the darling of a huge section of red state America. But what works for the Republican base no longer works for the country as a whole."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/12/uselections2008-sarahpalin

10/12 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 53, McCain 40
by DemFromCT

Today's Daily Kos Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama up over McCain 53-40. All trackers are data from three days prior to posting, with the R2K numbers from today (yesterday's numbers in parentheses) and the other trackers from yesterday (previous day's data). LV=likely voter, RV=registered voter.

Obama McCain MoE +/- RV/LV
Today
Research 2000: 53 (52) 40 (40) 3 LV
Reuters/Zogby: 49 (48) 43 (44) 2.8 LV

Yesterday
Rasmussen: 52 (50) 45 (45) 2 LV
Diageo/Hotline: 50 (48) 40 (41) 3.2 LV
Gallup: 51 (51) 42 (41) 2 RV

On successive days in the R2K poll, Obama was up +14 Thurs, +12 Fri and +13 Sat. Post-debate polling shows no benefit for McCain (see below). Obama's percentage has been at or above 50 since 9/29. This represents Obama's largest lead in the R2K poll.

It's 49-53 for Obama in all the polls. And McCain? 40-45. The attacks that McCain and Palin launched have failed. In fact, Sarah Palin's fav/unfav is now a record 36/58 or - 22. That's Bush territory.

The above has relevance for Palin's so-called "bright future" in the Republican party. A loss, for example, and those fav/unfav numbers suggest otherwise. It makes it harder for Palin to hang a loss on McCain's neck when she's dropping like a stone herself.

From yesterday's Hotline poll:

"Hail To The Victor. LVs overwhelmingly feel Obama won the 2nd debate. Among the 71% who watched, 53% say the Dem nominee prevailed, while just 14% say McCain. In a similarly timed sample of RVs after the 1st debate, 42% said Obama won and 25% said McCain.

Made The Grades. Obama scored considerably higher among debate watchers than McCain. 71% say Obama did an "excellent" or "good" job in the debate, while only 38% say the same of McCain. 27% say Obama did an "only fair" or "poor" job, while 59% say the same of McCain."

[...]
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/12/74754/992/745/627771

Obama campaign takes offense to Fox.

Ben at Politico reports:

:::::

Axelrod vs. Davis

On Fox News Sunday, Obama chief strategist David Axelrod goes on offense against McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis:

Axelrod: "Do you sell access to Senator McCain?"

Davis: "No, I don't."

Axelrod: "Is that how you've made millions of dollars?"

Davis: "Not at all."

Axelrod: "You've never done that? You've never — nobody's ever been told they oughta hire you if they want to get to Senator McCain? I'm asking you a question."

Davis: "Character assassination has become the hallmark of the Obama campaign."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith

::::::

Of course, Rick Davis (who's firm is a lobbyist for Freddie and Fannie) was getting checks from F&F for just being McCain's adviser for over an year, until last month when they went broke.

Freddie Davis was some snooker player. I don't know about that Fannie!

Hello, Ed, and thanks!

But no...I don't run with That--

w/that crowd any more. Uncle Tree

(who's not all that what so ever)

has been temporarily grounded

from any thing closely resembling

the status YO! Yet here I am. Hi!

What a coincidence I make of my self.

.

But, please, do carry on whilst I shoulder my burden. Doubling down, not over...bye!

First prayer test
-------------------------------

No distortion, clear signal?
-- checked

An echo?
-- checked

Good intention?
-- checked

Play it, run it on screen:

"Jean, you have talked a lot about spirituality, Jean I do not see your fate in life. You have poor fate!" -- Mom

"Jean, you are "un con"! What!?!? You have a beautiful mind and you are not following it!. You are telling me stories about you that are not you" -- Alicia

For the first time
Am I in time?
Looking for life
Liar and slow to understand
Am I in time?

Don't grant it as a little need
I am not coming to change myself
To be like you

Simply show me, open me
Take this fear-control of me
Break this anti-trust-self
I want to experience you!

I'll take a shower
And I'll go
To seek life
My life...

the Love Ranch was abuzz last nite...and i don't mean with political talk...babes...late into the nite! damn! we are planning big party for election nite...and it will be a party when 'bama sends the dino into retirement ...finally where he belongs!

#63 Strawberry on the Shortcake, Jean......charming little vid.
I felt it, too.

SURPRISE?!

Paul Krugman Wins Nobel Prize In Economics
by DemFromCT

And the NY Times must be kvelling. The just-announced story:

"The American economist Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel prize for economics for bringing together analysis of trade patterns and where economic activity takes place, the prize committee said on Monday."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/14nobel.html?hp

You can read more Krugman here.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/index.html

Al Gore? Paul Krugman? Perhaps our long national nightmare really is coming to an end.

***

Daily Kos book review of "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Krugman

Krugman's political realization in recent years that liberal policies need a progressive movement, and his embrace of organized labor and the netroots as pillars of a progressive movement are a good part of his political phlosophy.

"What makes progressive institutions in to a movement isn't money; It's self-perception. Many Americans with more or less liberal beliefs now consider themselves members of a common movement, with the shared goals of limiting inequality and defending democratic principles. The movement reserves it's greatest scorn for Democrats who won't make a stand against the right, who give in on Social Security privatization or escalation in Iraq."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/20/23210/9125

Ross Douthat:

"The best reason for even the most disaffected right-winger to root for a McCain victory is simple: To the extent that much of the progressive agenda is a program in search of a crisis to justify its implementation, an election that delivers a liberal candidate who's adored by the media to White House, gives him huge majorities in both houses of Congress, and presents him with a worldwide state of emergency in which to govern, has the potential to be not just another loss for conservatives, but a once-in-a-generation defeat."

http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/be_careful_what_you_wish_for.php

Let's hope so.

::::

Nathan Thornburgh:

"But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1849399,00.html

:::::::::::::::

10/13 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 52 , McCain 40 (and ABC/WaPo is 53-43)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/13/74325/272/185/628331

some states will support republicans even when it does not make much sense...

macinsame will carry 18 states; barack 32

check it out...

Latest Poll Results By State

California 55 10/9/08 56.0 40.0

Texas 34 10/7/08 38.0 57.0 repub

New York 31 9/24/08 57.0 38.0

Florida 27 10/8/08 50.0 47.0

Illinois 21 9/17/08 56.0 36.0

Pennsylvania 21 10/7/08 53.0 41.0

Ohio 20 10/9/08 49.0 44.0

Michigan 17 10/8/08 56.0 40.0

Georgia 15 10/9/08 46.0 49.0 repub

New Jersey 15 10/7/08 50.0 42.0

North Carolina 15 10/8/08 49.0 48.0

Virginia 13 10/7/08 51.0 43.0

Massachusetts 12 9/23/08 55.0 39.0

Indiana 11 10/7/08 43.0 50.0

Missouri 11 10/12/08 51.0 43.0

Tennessee 11 9/29/08 39.0 58.0 repub

Washington 11 10/2/08 53.0 43.0

Arizona 10 9/29/08 38.0 59.0 repub

Maryland 10 9/18/08 54.0 39.0

Minnesota 10 10/7/010 0.0 0.0

Wisconsin 10 10/6/08 52.0 42.0

Alabama 9 6/26/020 36.0 51.0

Colorado 9 10/9/08 52.0 42.0

Louisiana 9 9/25/08 40.0 55.0 repub

Kentucky 8 9/30/08 42.0 52.0 repub

South Carolina 8 9/22/08 39.0 58.0 repub

Connecticut 7 9/25/08 54.0 38.0

Iowa 7 10/9/08 54.0 41.0

Oklahoma 7 10/5/08 29.0 66.0 repub

Oregon 7 10/9/08 54.0 43.0

Arkansas 6 9/21/08 41.0 53.0 repub

Kansas 6 9/22/08 41.0 53.0 repub

Mississippi 6 9/30/08 44.0 52.0 repub

Nebraska 5 9/30/08 37.0 56.0 repub

New Mexico 5 10/1/08 49.0 44.0

Nevada 5 10/9/08 47.0 45.0

Utah 5 9/12/08 29.0 65.0 repub

West Virginia 5 10/6/08 50.0 42.0

Hawaii 4 9/10/08 63.0 32.0

Idaho 4 9/9/08 29.0 68.0 repub

Maine 4 9/23/08 49.0 44.0

New Hampshire 4 10/7/08 52.0 43.0

Rhode Island 4 9/13/08 58.0 39.0

Alaska 3 10/6/08 40.0 55.0 repub

Delaware 3 9/23/08 57.0 37.0

South Dakota 3 9/20/08 39.0 55.0 repub

Montana 3 10/7/08 45.0 50.0 repub

North Dakota 3 10/7/08 45.0 43.0

Vermont 3 9/20/08 56.0 38.0

Wyoming 3 9/23/08 36.0 57.0 repub

District of Columbia 3 9/12/08 82.0 13.0

by the above trend 'bama will get 391 EC votes to that one's 147....whoahahahahahahahaaaaaa.......

10/14 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 52, McCain 41
by DemFromCT

Today's Daily Kos Research 2000 tracking poll has Obama up over McCain 52-41. All trackers are data from three days prior to posting, with the R2K numbers from today (yesterday's numbers in parentheses) and the other trackers from yesterday (previous day's data). LV=likely voter, RV=registered voter.

Obama McCain MoE +/- RV/LV
Today
Research 2000: 52 (52) 41 (40) 3 LV
Reuters/Zogby: 49 (48) 43 (44) 2.8 LV

Yesterday
Battleground: 51 (51) 43 (43) 3.5 LV last reported Friday
Rasmussen: 50 (51) 45 (45) 2 LV
Diageo/Hotline: 48 (49) 42 (41) 3.4 LV
Gallup: 51 (50) 41 (43) 2 RV See also theLV I and LV II numbers
IBD/TIPP: 45 (--) 43 (--) 3.3 LV

ABC-WaPo: 53 (50) 43 (46) 3 LV
D-Corps (D): 50 (48) 40 (45) 4.3 LV
USAToday/Gallup:52 (--) 45 (--) 3 LV II, no trend
USAToday/Gallup:50 (44) 46 (54) 4 LV I, trend
USAToday/Gallup:51 (46) 44 (50) 3 RV, trend

On successive individual days in the R2K poll (different than the topline, which is a combined three day sample), Obama was up +13 Sat, +11 Sun and +10 Mon. The next and last debate is tomorrow. Friday will start to reflect that event.

It may be too early to tell, but McCain may get some benefit from dropping the guilt-by-association attacks that have not been working. His fav/unfavs have recovered a tad, along with Palin's. They're still pretty dismal (- 6 for McCain and - 18 for Palin.)

[...]
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/14/65928/588/862/629696

he has run a dirty campaign...and the barracuda has no shame, no credibility..

JM should take no credit for scolding that dumb old woman for saying 'bama is an arab..

when one of his supporters shouted "kill him"...why did he not say something about it? and why has the hater not arrested and charged for uttering death threat..

let's hope decent republicans leave their scummy party in big numbers to vote 'bama just to make a statement...

the country cannot afford four more yrs of the same...it's time for a change and it ain't macane..

Heath et al, and poll junkies and baseball fans don't miss this lengthy profile of fivethirtyeight.com's Nate Silver in New York magazine:

"In fact, the work of stat hounds in general, and of Baseball Prospectus in particular, is so obviously the product of high-wattage brainpower and creativity that you can’t help but occasionally wonder: What if someone applied all this energy to something that actually mattered, like, I don’t know, politics?"

The Spreadsheet Psychic

Nate Silver is a number-crunching prodigy who went from correctly forecasting baseball games to correctly forecasting presidential primaries—and perhaps the election itself. Here’s how he built a better crystal ball.

By Adam Sternbergh Published Oct 12, 2008

http://nymag.com/news/features/51170/

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

Some excerpts:

"...it was comforting to sit down and have lunch in midtown with a man who can see the future. It’s not that Nate Silver is psychic, or even that he’s right all the time. He’s just proved very good, especially of late, at looking at what’s already happened and using that information to predict what will happen next."

"Silver, who’s 30, thin, and lives in Chicago, had been flown to New York at the invitation of a hedge fund to give a talk. “They just said, ‘Why don’t you come in, talk about your models,’ ” he said with a shrug. “I’ll probably just take a lot of questions.” Silver doesn’t know all that much about high finance; these days, he’s spending most of his energy on his political Website, FiveThirtyEight (the total number of Electoral College votes), where he uses data analysis to track and interpret political polls and project the outcome of November’s election. The site earned some national recognition back in May, during the Democratic primaries, when almost every other commentator was celebrating Hillary Clinton’s resurgent momentum. Reading the polls, most pundits predicted she’d win Indiana by five points and noted she’d narrowed the gap with Obama in North Carolina to just eight.

Silver, who was writing anonymously as “Poblano” and receiving about 800 visits a day, disagreed with this consensus. He’d broken the numbers down demographically and come up with a much less encouraging outcome for Clinton: a two-point squeaker in Indiana, and a seventeen-point drubbing in North Carolina. On the night of the primaries, Clinton took Indiana by one and lost North Carolina by fifteen. The national pundits were doubly shocked: one, because the results were so divergent from the polls, and two, because some guy named after a chili pepper had predicted the outcome better than anyone else."

"Silver’s site now gets about 600,000 visits daily. And as more and more people started wondering who he was, in May, Silver decided to unmask himself. To most people, the fact that Poblano turned out to be a guy named Nate Silver meant nothing. But to anyone who follows baseball seriously, this was like finding out that a guy anonymously running a high-fashion Website turned out to be Howard Cosell. At his day job, Silver works for Baseball Prospectus, a loosely organized think tank that, in the last ten years, has revolutionized the interpretation of baseball stats. Furthermore, Silver himself invented a system called PECOTA, an algorithm for predicting future performance by baseball players and teams. (It stands for “player empirical comparison and optimization test algorithm,” but is named, with a wink, after the mediocre Kansas City Royals infielder Bill Pecota.) Baseball Prospectus has a reputation in sports-media circles for being unfailingly rigorous, occasionally arrogant, and almost always correct.

This season, for example, the PECOTA system predicted that the Tampa Bay Rays would win 90 games. This seemed bold, even amusing, given that the Rays were arguably the worst team in baseball. In 2007, they’d lost 96 games. They’d finished last in all but one season of their ten-year existence. (In 2004, they finished fourth.) They had some young talent, sure, but most people, even those in the Rays’ front office, thought that if the team simply managed to win more games than it lost, that would represent a quantum leap.

PECOTA, however, saw it differently. PECOTA recognized that the past Rays weren’t a hopelessly bad team so much as a good team hampered by a few fixable problems—which, thanks to some key off-season changes, had been largely remedied. Silver argued on the Baseball Prospectus Website that the long-suffering team had finally “decided to transform themselves from a sort of hedge fund for undervalued assets into a real, functional baseball club.”

PECOTA, as it turns out, wasn’t exactly right. The Rays didn’t win 90 games this year. They won 97 games and are currently playing the Red Sox for the American League championship.

So, Nate Silver: What happens next?"

Read on...
http://nymag.com/news/features/51170/

The supreme court has proved once again at election time its power to influence voters, and so I hope that this latest action of the court to deny an appeal for Troy Davis will prove to affect this upcoming election also. I just learned that an hour ago the court denied the appeal to Troy Davis's families efforts for justice in hearing his case. To my mind, this is a shameful act but it is certainly likely to have repercussions of its own. Hopefully, it will work to help Barack Obama this time. Twice it would appear that this particular court has interfered in an election.

Post script: Besides the sorrow is that it is probably better for Troy to be in the hands of God than in the hands of man as a constant ongoing torment and torture of retrial would only rekindle old wounds and hurts. The story does say that the George parole board did have a closed door hearing and heard from all the witnesses and Troy himself and denied him clemency after that hearing. The Supreme Court simply does not seem to find this case worth its time to study. A sad decision for the rule of law enforcement in my opinion...

Supreme Court allows Troy Davis execution
By BILL RANKIN, RHONDA COOK

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from death-row inmate Troy Davis, refusing to consider his case even though seven of nine key prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony since the 1991 trial.

Davis was condemned to die for the Aug. 19, 1989, killing of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. The 27-year-old father of two, working off duty, was shot dead after he responded to the cries of a homeless man being pistol whipped in a Burger King parking lot.

The officer’s mother, Anneliese MacPhail, expressed relief at the high court’s decision.

“Especially for my grandson and my granddaughter,” she said, referring to the slain officer’s two children. “We can now settle down.”

Anneliese MacPhail, 75, said she does not expect “closure” if Davis is executed.

“There is no such thing,” she said. “We will always be thinking about Mark. At least we won’t have to go to court. We will have some peace.”

Anneliese MacPhail said she will await the outcome of the execution at her Columbus home, while two of her four remaining children plan to witness it.

Chatham County prosecutors have long expressed confidence that Davis shot Mark MacPhail dead before the officer was able to draw his weapon.

Davis’ sister, Martina Correia, was furious with the high court’s decision.

“I’m truly disgusted by these people,” Correia said. “I don’t even know what to say. I wonder why I’m still a U.S. citizen sometimes.”

Correia told her brother of the high court’s decision. She said Davis had just called her to check in and heard something in her voice.

“He said, ‘It doesn’t make any sense. What do I have to do?’ to convince a court that he is innocent,” Correia said.

The condemned inmate’s 63-year-old mother, Virginia Davis, said she has not given up hope.

“The real killer is walking around Savannah, bragging about what he’s done,” she said. “If they kill Troy, they have God to answer to. They don’t have the Davis family to answer to. I don’t feel sad. I’m going to continue to pray and seek and have faith and I want him to do the same thing.”

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International, which has supported Davis’ appeals, condemned the high court’s decision.

“It is disgraceful that the highest court in the land could sink so low when doubts surrounding Davis’ guilt are so high,” Cox said. “Faulty eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions and the hallmark of Davis’ case.”

Georgia State University law professor Anne Emanuel, who chaired an American Bar Association team that assessed Georgia’s death penalty, also criticized the decision.

“I find it shocking and dismaying that our criminal justice system could allow an execution in a case like this, where guilt is seriously in question,” she said.

Since Davis’ trial, seven key witnesses have recanted their testimony. Other witnesses also have come forward implicating another man who was with Davis at the scene as being MacPhail’s killer.

Davis’ lawyers had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of the innocent and requires at least a court hearing to assess the recantation testimony.

Davis’ claims of innocence have attracted international attention, with Pope Benedict XVI and former President Jimmy Carter among those calling for a halt to his execution.

Davis had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Sept. 23. But, with less than two hours to spare, the high court halted the execution to give the justices more time to consider whether to hear his appeal.

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles has already turned down Davis’ request for clemency.

if i speak
when no one
is listening
my truest
confession
i leave
for those
who ponder
and caress
those very things
hidden
and scorned
and blessed
i lay my soul
softly
into hands
once rough
now tender
with tears
and wisdom
and age
i go
quietly to
my home

derek

Yo!

Derek,

The scorn?

Bless

you, too!

UT

Aged are the wrinkles
Gone is the last minute thrill
Whiskers play keep away

Hi Keith

thanks and blessings

derek

Nice lil ode Derek

peace comes from peace

:)

#76 Very touching, Derek........and Troy.