Ethics

Indiana does not permit robo-calls.

When a call center was given a script declaring that Obama was soft on crime, some 40 employees walked off the job rather than read the material to voters.

Yes, people left work and sacrificed their pay rather than read McCain's attacks.

We all wish that slime didn't pay -- and these patriotic and decent people walked out rather than spread poison. Good for them. I am personally grateful that there are people like that in our country.

Accident?

Or October Surprise?

Is the US Army's navigation that bad?

Will George bluster and foam? Will he make excuses and generally add insult to injury?

Tune in tomorrow.

Excuses, Excuses

You know, no matter how the immoral candidate team tries to spin it, clinic bombers are terrorists as much as the Weather Underground ever was -- or perhaps more so, since their object is to terrify women who are trying to do responsible family planning as well as those who are doing something these immoral candidates dislike.

Have they no shame?

Nope, not a bit.

The Right Stuff

I understand that I am fortunate that I do not watch television. The ads are making all sorts of folks crazy.

As another blog said, "I know what I have to do November 4. I figure I can skip listening to all the noise between now and then." Good call.

This morning, Obama drew a crowd of 100,000 in St. Louis. This afternoon he will draw another in Kansas City. If I could stand crowds I would go, but I just cannot imagine getting into the middle of 100,000 people. I expect, however, that the hill around Liberty Memorial will be packed solid. And I expect the county I live in will go heavily for Obama even though it is in Kansas. The county I live in now, and the one I was in for 12 years, are both solidly Democratic, and they are not going to switch this time.

"If This Goes on --"

The title above is a quote from Robert Heinlein, and also one of the three basic premises of Science Fiction.

Today, they are also a warning to John McCain, Sarah Palin, and those people at their rallies who scream and cheer at suggestions of hate and violence. The Baltimore Sun has an editorial warning those candidates that they are walking a line that they need to cut short -- a line that is encouraging venom, hatred, and violence. This country does not need to have candidates going around acting as if their opponents are terrorists.

If this goes on, and the hate fest escalates, it could mean lives lost and mob actions. We do not need that. If this goes on, for generations the name "Republican" could become a stink in the nostrils of decent folk.

The candidates must put a stop to their craven techniques, and disassociate themselves from nascent mob behavior.

This must be stopped ... it must not go on.

Budgeting

If states and counties and local government were to release every prisoner in jail on marijuana possession charges, I'll just bet it would free up a whole lot of money. And if all of them who could afford it paid a small fine, I'll just bet that the money would come out to the good.

You know, this might be a good time to legalize pot -- and tax it, of course.

Aha!

The Republican vice presidential candidate is much like a self-propelled Furby. Someone says a slanderous thing in her hearing and she just repeats it mechanically until she gets another input. Do you know, someone mentioned reading the New York Times in her presence, and even though she clearly hasn't made a habit of doing this, she now repeatedly speaks of whatever article that person perused?

Considering the company she keeps, the things she says are not that great a surprise.

Oh What a Bad Idea

The Washington Post was reporting that the McCain campaign is going to attack Obama's character.

Uh-huh. And since Obama is gracious and decent, he'll take it? That is what committees are for, and a committee in favor of Obama has a rich tapestry of this to fight back on.

Judgement? Palin. Honesty? His continuous votes against veterans and serving personnel. Connections? How bout those gambling establishments, eh? Integrity? Cheated on his first wife and dumped her handicapped self for Blondie the Heiress. That will also serve for family values. Steadfastness? Selling the vice-presidency to the Fundies. Health care? Feeds from the Federal trough while advocating tax on the health benefits others get.

Do I need to go on?

It might be better if he were gracious. But no, not McCain.

A Mystery

Via Avedon Carol at The Sideshow comes a pointer to cupojoe's discussion of bailing out the rich folks.

To me, it is a mystery that so many Democrats have voted in favor of the so-called bailout. Why -- WHY? -- would so many of them vote for a scheme that does not have stringent oversight and definitions of what is being bought for this price tag? We already know that the banks and brokerages cannot be trusted to regulate themselves. It's worse than giving more candy to screaming, hyper children.

And if we permit these incompetents to declare what they shall sell and what they shall not, we are just asking to be stiffed again at a later date as they fail once more. So why are Democrats getting in line to help screw us over?

It's insane.

On the Second Day

It Arose From the Dead.

Today the Senate will vote on the bailout. The differences? An increase in FDIC amount, tax breaks for middle-class and small buisness groups -- enough to make it parade as different legislation.

Both Presidential candidates plan to be there for the vote.

I really wish that they would consider making more provision to renegotiate loans so that the ARMS were eliminated in favor of fixed loans. ARMS are just a way to shark people and feed the banks.As a matter of fact, cleaning out ARMS should be a prerequisite to either getting a loan or selling off interest in the banks. This crap of money with no strings stinks.

Funny

In 2004, John Kerry was "the most liberal Senator". In 2008 it's Obama according to McCain. This is because the Republicans think that "liberal" is the worst epithet of all.

Funnier.

Obama pointed out that McCain views everything through the lens of Iraq. McCain denied it, then went on to form his next three statements through the lens of Iraq.

McCain really has no clue. My single health insurance was about 6600.00 a year. What good is a five thousand dollar tax credit toward health care going to do for a family of four or six? Most people just do not have the income to supplement that number and buy coverage.

McCain made it clear he only wants to spend for making war. If there is any intelligence out there, he will lose.

The next thing we need

is actual debate and discussion of the proposed bailout. Is it the best plan? Would other things work as well to infuse capital and take over debt. What is a "bad debt"? What is the sale price? Not that theoretical, top-of-the-market greedy-gulp, uh uh. That is a *good* debt.

I hope that Congress has some plan other than rolling over and spreading their cheeks.

Fuck Bernake

And his little buddy Paulson, too.

Hurry up, eh? To stick our heads in a noose? To empty our pockets and shake down the grandkids?

Jesus Christ. They have no sense at all, do they?

Avoiding the Rush!

I left phone messages for all my congresscritters that bailing out Wall Street and the banks with the sweat of working America was an obscene idea.

Two of the three are up for re-election. This will pretty much determine who gets my vote to go back to DC.

The Real Bottom Line

Alternate Brain hilights it.

There is only money to bail out the plutocrats. There is not enough money to care for anyone or anything else. The free market is only free if you are an owner. As soon as you fail big, there is the good old struggling taxpayer to bail you out. Of course YOU did not want to pay taxes -- oh no! It is just unFAIR to tax millionaires and estates and capital gains and business profits. Really -- it is only FAIR to tax the wages of working folks, and then use those taxes to bail out millionaires, capital gains, and businesses.

If you vote to keep these people in office, you are insane.

consider: how many years could 770 billion keep social security going? How many years of medicare extended to every citizen could it pay for? Add in the 25 billion to retool the auto industry, which has kicked and screamed at the very idea of designing safe, reasonable alternative fuel cars -- how many more years of things needed by those who actually pay the taxes that are going to be wasted on kissing Big Boy ass?

And Mr McCain sees these jerks as a financial model?? That the health industry should be more like them? That alone pretty much disqualifies him from being a decent and responsible leader. His idiot theories are in the way of seeing reality, and we don't need more of that.

$770 Billion Bailout

You know, Bush's proposed $770 billion bailout plan should probably come with the warning that there cannot be any more preemptive wars, that all wars mus have the consent of Congress beforehand, and that the US should withdraw from Iraq upon implementation of this bailout.

I have heard it said that the US only collects about 1.3 trillion dollars in taxes annually, so Bush's war plus the maintenance of a standing military plus the bailouts will literally leave us broke. So much for "tax and spend".

Those of you who voted for him have much to answer for.

[xpost Pacific Views]

A Modest Proposal and a Question

Modest Proposal. As Freddie, Fannie, banks and brokerages are taken over by the government, I hope all their employees from the head honcho on down are given their new GS ratings and pay scales -- and the choice of taking them or resigning.

That would definitely help stem the drain of millions of dollars.

Now the question: can you describe Sarah Palin?

Why yes -- George Bush in drag.

Wasilla Assembly of God

The video You Tube pulled down.

What McCain Has

is a Mommy. Not just the mother of five, but a mommy who will make sure her new boy is protected from having to discuss things like issues. Instead the agenda will include respect-or-no-interviews, the requirement that people without policy positions be taken seriously, respect for the destruction of the constitution, respect for opinions handed down from the pulpit with no proof, and a cultural imperative to kick ass and be first no matter how many bodies pile up.

Such a mom!!

Yesterday, Mr. McCain visited John Knox Village in Lee's Summit, MO. This was his core supporting audience. To get a place in John Knox Village cost a quarter of a million dollars back in the 1970's when Grandmother bought in. Today it must be even more expensive. It is everything from assisted living to an on-site hospital; basically full of elderly white Republicans -- a McCain constituency if ever there was one.

Someone at work with an evil sense of humor suggested this scene: Mr. McCain finishes his talk to thunderous applause, and then a nurse comes up and says loudly to him "That was very nice dear, now we'll get someone to show you to your room."

Do we ever wish. He can take his perky mom along with him.

[xpost @ Mockingbird's Medley]

Politics

I put my Palin opinions up at Pacific Views and I kept it pretty clean and specific.

She has done a poisonous thing to the media coverage and to the tone of the Presidential campaign. Since her advent, discussions of issues and policies have gone away almost entirely. She has been in the spotlight stirring up culture muck and putting on a show that has the "circus" part of bread and circuses front and center.

Yeah, McCain is gonna stop those lobbyists! Have you ever heard such a lie? And he's going to cut spending. Oh yes, while he is giving billions daily to fight wars, he is going to cut spending and taxes, hallelujah!! Another lie.

It's time and past time for the news to examine the content of statements and whether accomplishing them is possible instead of just reporting any lie that candidates spout. Right now, the circus has them dazzled. And they are providing garbage 24/7 as a result. Britney for VP has them grovelling.

I hope the debates bring the current wave of brown stuff to a stop, really I do. Of course, TV may once again have a mandate to use only camera angles that mask the fact that McCain is much shorter than Obama. They managed it for Bush when the first debate showed he was the short person running. Keep an eye on those artifical shots, folks. I'm betting they contort angles dramatically again this time.

Fall Is On the Way

Convention season has arrived.

Barack Obama named Joseph Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. For me, that choice was a big null. I hope that he does act as an attack dog. Mr. McCain spends so much of his time being a hypocrite and a ditto-head that it would be good if someone pointed out his flaws regularly. In other ways, the choice of Mr. Biden is a cipher.

Next up, a pick by McCain. That should be illuminating.

Well That Was Fast.

Today Fox News was discussing the shooting in the Tennessee church, whether it was a hate crime, and whether the shooter is crazy.

"He said he hated liberals and he wanted to kill some. That is crazy."

I beg your pardon? Fox News? Look for the beam in thine eye. Fox cultivates people who "hate liberals" and "want to kill them". They have been doing it for years. It is one of the more repellent things about them. Bill O'Riley. Sean Hannity. Their pets and fellow travelers, like Ann Coulter and other repellent creatures.

They have been building toward this kind of act for years -- and now they have the temerity to declare that the gunman is crazy. Bullshit. Big heaping dunghills of bullshit. I wonder if Fox News could be considered an accomplice? They are certainly enablers.

I know

-- neither party has held a convention yet, and the campaigns are slogging along with the predictable lines by McCain and others about how horrible it is that a Democrat might act Presidential.

Well how darned awful!

I think I'd better take the rest of the summer off and not even pretend to listen. I may or may not have things to say in the meantime -- likely by a post at Pacific Views or a comment at Mockingbird's Medley.

La Jour de Gloire

Happy Bastille Day!

Some days I wish we were still in an age where it was possible to harness outrage into great changes.

We're not, and that may be a large part of what is wrong with the USA today.

Weekend Fun!

[via The Biomes Blog]

Take a Google Earth tour of McCain's ten (or so) properties!

To Revamp an Old Joke

Does Cindy McCain really want to live in an apartment in a smaller house in the inner city -- one that is essentially subsidized public housing?

Well hey, maybe she could do an annual lottery for one of those eight extra houses she has -- sort of a personal effort toward lessening the mortgage mess.

Jesse Helms

Many years ago a writer friend of mine moved from Kansas to North Carolina to teach in Raleigh. Not too long after he got there, he reported back:

"You know that I used to think that Bob Dole was the worst, most reactionary Senator. Well now I live in North Carolina, and my Senator is Jesse Helms. Let me tell you, Jesse Helms make Robert Dole look like a great statesman."

Yes. Yes indeed.

The Reason

For all the Fox criticism is because I now work in a government building, and Someone has the channel on all the public screens turned to Fox News, all day, every day. Yes, Propaganda Network is all that plays, and it's pretty rank. They have well-fed White Boyz with high, rude voices who talk over the guest segments. Most of the guest segments are blonde or brunette white women, or the occasional well-fed White Boy with a receding hairline.

It's really kind of appalling. And you can hear them fishing for some way to take Obama apart. So far it's almost all innuendo. I'd love to see them fish and flounder straight into November.

Yesterday Was "Icky Day" on Fox News

Though I suppose that almost every day is pretty bad on Fox News.

With great moral posturing they were discussing the teenage girls who made a pregnancy pact and managed to conceive. When discussing reason, some of the girls mentioned that they wanted someone who would love them. Whaaa? All those girls needed to do was examine how very much they love and honor their parents to see that this is not likely to happen between them and their child, either. Kids grow up, and often have great disagreements with their parents that challenge the myth of total loving.

The Fox anchorman also suggested that the affected school was too permissive, allowing pregnant students to attend classes and even helping them to graduate.

When I was in high school, 14 girls dropped out between junior and senior year. Pregnancy meant the end of school back then -- and the only readily available contraceptives were condoms; the pill wasn't available, nor IUD's; no shots; nothing but condoms. The atmosphere was not permissive, and yet the number of pregnancies was pretty high, even though the consequences included expulsion from school and a world without day care.

There is no way to keep a girl who wants to get pregnant from getting pregnant except a contraceptive shot, regularly renewed. Parents who think otherwise are living in a dream world.

Pain

It absolutely wrenches me that people can hate others because of their skin color.

Believe me, most people are the same -- loves and fears, anger and hope. I can't stand the idea that my friends with dark skin have been scorned, abused and pushed aside because they are dark brown. Most of them are such kind, decent people. I don't understand the wanton evil that is racism.

I still remember the first time someone ever voiced a racist idea to me. It was summer, and I was headed for fifth grade. We were going to have swimming lessons. I walked to the bus stop for the kids from our area. When I got on the bus, there was one kid in every seat, so I went back and sat with the girl with the nicest smile. She was great -- friendly and intelligent.

When we returned to the bus stop that day and got off to walk home, a boy asked me how I could stand to sit with her. I was just stupefied. I said "What is wrong with you? You are Jewish. She is Negro. But nice people are nice people." I suppose I was especially dumbfounded because almost all kids of the 1950's were aware of the anti-Semitism that was played out by Hitler. I just could not get that people felt that way about any group as a group.

Of course, I also think that people who hate blacks also tend to hate women. Racism and sexism seem to go together. Me, I hope Obama chooses Hillary so that the haters have to spread their attention, and so that they feel that they will be no better off if they play out their hatreds.