Protect Insurance Companies??

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

In a satiric video from Funny or Die, Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, and other celebs band together to "protect" insurance company profits from the evils of health care reform.

"People are saying a lot of mean things about health insurance companies and their executives and it's gotta stop," pleads Thomas Lennon.

"These great business men are American heroes," says Linda Cardellini.

"So why is Obama trying to reform health care when insurance companies are doing just fine making billions of dollars in profit?" Will Ferrell asks.

Funny or Die has history of using celebrities and humor to take a stance on political issues. Last year they released "Prop 8: The Musical" starring Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Margaret Cho, and more satirizing the push for a ban on gay marriage in California.

This "Insurance PSA," paid for by and produced with MoveOn.org, ends with a call to action, asking people to call their congressmen and tell them we need a strong public option.




Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/protect-insurance-compani_n_294406.html

Politicians are Free Agents too!

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch parties and run for reelection next November as a Democrat, he announced today, a decision that could have wide-ranging consequences for the Senate and President Obama's agenda.

Specter told reporters that he received a "bleak" poll Friday from his advisers that showed virtually no chance of him winning in the GOP primary next spring against Pat Toomey, a former Republican House member who recently led the conservative Club for Growth.

He said that the loss of several hundred thousand GOP voters, who left the party in 2008 to vote for their favored candidate in the intense Democratic presidential primary between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, left the Pennsylvania Republican Party too conservative to support a moderate such as him. "I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican Party," Specter said.

After more than 28 years in the Senate, Specter acknowledged he was "not prepared to have that record" obliterated by the conservative primary electorate. He reached the decision over the weekend in consultation with his family and top aides, many of whom are staying with him despite his party switch.

He said informed Republican and Democratic Senate leaders around dinnertime last night.

The move brings Democrats to 59 seats in the Senate, just one shy of the 60 they need to exert filibuster-proof control over the chamber. In Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken holds a 312-vote lead over former senator Norm Coleman (R), but Coleman has appealed the result to the state Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the case are expected to begin in June.

Continue...

Smart People in Charge of Science....now that's Novel....

Picking the best people for the tech and science positions, seems almost too smart for a President of the United States to do.... But that's what's happening under an Obama administration...

(CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama named his science and technology team Saturday with a pledge to ensure that “facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology.”

“It’s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology,” he said in his Saturday radio address, in an apparent offhand swipe at President Bush.

“It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient – especially when it’s inconvenient,” Obama said, adding that government support had been essential for the greatest scientific breakthroughs of recent history, like the development of the Internet.

“Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us."

Obama announced that Harvard University professor John Holdren will serve as assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Environmental scientist and marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco of Oregon State University was his pick for administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The president-elect also named Nobel Prize-winning Harold Varmus, a former Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Eric Lander of MIT and Harvard, a leader of the Human Genome Project, as co-chairs of the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

One More Day.....8 Years in the making....

A letter from Michael Moore....

Friends,

Tomorrow.

All of us.

You, me, and everyone we know.

Eight years is enough. Eight weeks was enough.

We have a chance to redeem this country, to prove we're better than this, that which Bush has made of us.

McCain is right about one thing: Barack Obama is the most liberal senator in the United States Senate. More liberal than Ted Kennedy. When was the last time you had a chance to send the MOST liberal senator to the White House? Trust me, it won't happen again in our lifetime.
Every vote is critical -- even in hard red states like Texas and Alabama; and true blue ones like New York, California and Michigan. Tomorrow, we need to create a massive popular vote that will give Obama a stunning mandate to return this country to we, the people. Let's write one for the history books and rocket Obama into the White House.

Expect trouble tomorrow. Stand your ground. Don't let some clerk turn you away. Make noise. Call the media if they won't let you vote. Let the Obama camp know. Check out his Voter Protection Center. Know where your polling place is.

Be careful inside the voting booth. The ballot still reads like a Sudoku puzzle. Be prepared for long lines. That's ok, you know how to bring the party with you! Make new friends. Plot your local revolution. The 28-year rule of Republicans (and Democrats who act like Republicans) is over. The Reagan Era dies tomorrow night. My God, I truly thought it would never end.

There are over a million of you on my list. Each of you know 5 or 10 people who may not vote. Offer to drive them to the polls. If they live across the country, call them and tell them how much it means to you that they go vote for Obama. Take your co-workers to lunch -- and to vote. Be creative. Come up with ways to convince the undecided to get their decided on and go vote. Make it fun. Lead the horse to water.

60 seats in the Senate!
30-seat increase in the House!
President Obama!

It's in your hands.

The Promised Land.

Yours,

Michael Moore

MichaelMoore.com

MMFlint@aol.com

Dozens Of Call Center Workers Walk Off Job In Protest Rather Than Read McCain Script

Dozens Of Call Center Workers Walk Off Job In Protest Rather Than Read McCain Script Attacking Obama
By Greg Sargent - October 27, 2008, 5:18PM

Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.

Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN.
"They walked out," Williams says of her daughter and her co-workers, adding that they weren't fired but willingly sacrificed pay rather than read the lines. "They were told [by supervisors], `If you all leave, you're not gonna get paid for the rest of the day."

The daughter, who wanted her name withheld fearing retribution from her employer, confirmed the story to us. "It was like at least 40 people," the daughter said. "People thought the script was nasty and they didn't wanna read it."

A second worker at the call center confirmed the episode, saying that "at least 30" workers had walked out after refusing to read the script.

"We were asked to read something saying [Obama and Democrats] were against protecting children from danger," this worker said. "I wouldn't do it. A lot of people left. They thought it was disgusting."

This worker, too, confirmed sacrificing pay to walk out, saying her supervisor told her: "If you don't wanna phone it you can just go home for the day."

The script coincided with this robo-slime call running in other states, but because robocalling is illegal in Indiana it was being read by call center workers.

Representatives at Americall in Indiana, and at the company's corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois, didn't return calls for comment.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/dozens_of_call_center_workers.php

Inland GOP mailing depicts Obama's face on food stamp

By Michelle DeArmond / Press-Enterprise

RIVERSIDE, CA — The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

The group's president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club's meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

Fedele said she got the illustration in a number of chain e-mails and decided to reprint it for her members in the Trumpeter newsletter because she was offended that Obama would draw attention to his own race. She declined to say who sent her the e-mails with the illustration.

She said she doesn't think in racist terms, pointing out she once supported Republican Alan Keyes, an African-American who previously ran for president.

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

She said she also wasn't trying to make a statement linking Obama and food stamps, although her introductory text to the illustration connects the two: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!"

Club Member Cries

Sheila Raines, an African-American member of the club, was the first person to complain to Fedele about the newsletter. Raines, of San Bernardino, said she has worked hard to try to convince other minorities to join the Republican Party and now she feels betrayed.

"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

The Obama campaign declined to comment. It's the campaign's policy to not address such attacks, said Gabriel Sanchez, a California spokesman for the campaign.

The newsletter prompted a rebuke from another African-American member of the organization, which is well recognized in the community for its philanthropy and efforts to register and turn out voters in the Rancho Cucamonga and Upland areas.

Acquanetta Warren, a Fontana councilwoman and member of the women's group, said the item is rude and requires a public apology.

"When I opened that up and saw it, I said, 'Why did they do this? It doesn't even reflect our principles and values,' " said Warren, who served as a Republican delegate to the national convention in September and is a regional vice chairwoman for the California Republican Party. "I know a lot of the ladies in that club and they're fantastic. They're volunteers. They really care -- some of them go to my church."

Warren forwarded an electronic version of the newsletter to the California Republican Party headquarters, where officials also were outraged Wednesday and denounced the illustration.

Hector Barajas, the party's press secretary, said the party chairman likely will have a conversation with Fedele, and Barajas will attend the statewide California Federation of Republican Women conference this weekend in Los Angeles to handle any news media there to cover the controversy.

Obama in Turban

The newsletter is not the first such episode Barajas has had to respond to this week. The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday posted an image it said was captured from the Sacramento County GOP Web site that showed Obama in a turban next to Osama bin Laden.

It said: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." The site also encouraged members to "Waterboard Barack Obama," a reference to a torture technique. The Sacramento County party took down the material Tuesday after being criticized.

Mark Kirk, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County GOP chairman, said he expects Chairman Gary Ovitt to also have a talk with Fedele and to attend the group's local meeting next week to discuss the issue with members, although the county GOP has no formal oversight role over the club. Kirk said these kinds of depictions hurt the party's ongoing efforts to reach out to minorities.

"It's very damaging and we're going to take steps to correct this," Kirk said. "Unfortunately, I don't know what you do to correct ignorance like this, but we will do what we can."

Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands, and state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, both criticized the illustration as inappropriate and irresponsible.

Dutton pointed out that his wife, a member of the club, is of Mexican heritage and has battled criticism that the Republican Party is not the party for minorities. The club's newsletter undercuts efforts to rise above racism, he said.

"Bias and racial comments and even suggestions are frankly what weakens us as a people. I think we as Americans need to rise above that," he said.

Emmerson said he was extremely offended and sickened by the newsletter.

Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at Cal State Sacramento, said it's imperative that people speak out about these kinds of depictions no matter how small the organization. She praised Raines for doing so.

Insults fly as Barack Obama & John McCain prepare for second debate

By Thomas M. DeFrank / New York Daily News

WASHINGTON — It's getting McNasty again.

A day after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists," Obama struck back Sunday with a tough ad painting John McCain as "erratic."

"Our financial system is in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis, out of touch on the economy," charges the spot — a thinly veiled dig at McCain's age and temperament.

In Asheville, N.C., where he's prepping for Tuesday's second debate with McCain, Obama lit into the Arizona Republican for returning to the low road by having Palin and other surrogates resurrect Obama's associations with 1960s radical William Ayers, now a Chicago educator.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called Palin's charge "ridiculous."

"I hope John McCain is a strong enough leader to tell at least his vice presidential candidate to knock it off," McCaskill told "Fox News Sunday."

But Palin kept it up Sunday. "In fact, Obama held one of his first meetings hoping to kick off his political career in Bill Ayers' living room," she told a California fund-raising event.

A top McCain adviser signaled last week that the campaign intends to "turn the page" from economic issues — which polls show have staked Obama to a significant lead — and ramp up attacks on Obama as an inexperienced ultraliberal.

"I know the policies he's supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend," Obama told a rally at a high school football stadium. "I can understand why Sen. McCain would want to turn the page and ignore this economy."

McCain and his agents are "gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance," Obama added. "They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas and running out of time."

McCain's course correction reflects a growing case of nerves within his high command as the electoral map has shifted significantly in Obama's favor in the past two weeks.

"It's a dangerous road, but we have no choice," a top McCain strategist told the Daily News. "If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose."

One-time McCain adviser Mike Murphy told NBC's "Meet the Press" he's worried because "it's McCain's barn that is on fire. McCain is defending states like North Carolina, Virginia, Florida that he has to win."

"I think McCain can win, but the fact is, if the election were held today, he'd lose, and I think he's on a losing path," Murphy added. "This trendline is very, very bad."

Former Bush political guru Karl Rove told "Fox News Sunday" that Obama now leads in states with 273 electoral votes, three more than needed to win.

Palin....Really?!?!?

So Last night Sarah Palin gave her first interview, and got RIPPED!

Shout out to Charles Gibson, I didn't think he was gonna be tough enough.....but he did a good job...

Part 1



Part 2





Even Matt Damon can't stand this person!






Palin tries to defend qualifications in interview

Associated Press

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska – John McCain running mate Sarah Palin sought Thursday to defend her qualifications but struggled with foreign policy, unable to describe President Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against threatening nations and acknowledging she's never met a foreign head of state.

The Republican vice presidential nominee told Charles Gibson of ABC News in her first televised interview since being named to the GOP ticket that "I'm ready" to be president if called upon. However, she sidestepped on whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander in chief.

Palin, 44, has been Alaska's governor for less than two years and before that was a small-town mayor. She was McCain's surprise selection for the No. 2 slot on the ticket, raising questions about her readiness to serve in the White House, particularly during wartime.

McCain has defended her qualifications, citing her command of the Alaska National Guard and Alaska's proximity to Russia.

Asked whether those were sufficient credentials, Palin said: "It is about reform of government and it's about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues." She said she brings expertise in making the country energy independent as a former chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
She acknowledged that national security encompasses more than energy but said: "I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security."

Palin said other than a trip to visit soldiers in Kuwait and Germany last year — "a trip of a lifetime" that "changed my life" — her only other foreign travel was to Mexico and Canada. She also said she had never met a head of state and added: "If you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you."
Pressed about what insights into recent Russian actions she gained by living in Alaska, Palin answered: "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

Foreign policy questions dominated the first of three interviews Palin was giving Gibson over two days.

In the interview Thursday, Palin:

_Appeared unsure of the Bush doctrine — essentially that the United States must help spread democracy to stop terrorism and that the nation will act pre-emptively to stop potential foes.
Asked whether she agreed with that, Palin said: "In what respect, Charlie?" Gibson pressed her for an interpretation of it. She said: "His world view." That prompted Gibson to say "no, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war" and describe it to her.
"I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation," Palin said, though added "there have been mistakes made."

Pressed repeatedly on whether the United States could attack terrorist hideouts in Pakistan without the country's permission, she said: "If there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend."

_Said nuclear weapons in Iran's hands are dangerous, and said "we've got to put the pressure on Iran." Asked three times what her position would be if Israel felt threatened enough to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, Palin repeatedly said the United States shouldn't "second guess" Israel's steps to secure itself.

_Called for Georgia and the Ukraine to be included in NATO, a treaty that requires the U.S. to defend them militarily. She also said Russia's attack into Georgia last month was "unprovoked." Asked to clarify that she'd support going to war over Georgia, she said: "Perhaps so."

"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help," she said.

_Said she "didn't hesitate" when McCain asked her to be his running mate. "I answered him 'yes' because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink. So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate."

_Contradicted an assertion she made at her former church that "our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Asked whether she thought the United States was fighting a holy war, she said she meant to convey that she agreed with Abraham Lincoln's quote that "I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words."

Later, in the second interview, Palin said she broke from McCain on climate change and oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. McCain has said humans have caused climate change and the federal government shouldn't permit drilling in the federally protected wildlife reserve.

Palin, however, said: "I believe that man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming, climate change. ... Regardless though of the reason for climate change, whether it's entirely, wholly caused by man's activities or is part of the cyclical nature of our planet — the warming and the cooling trends — regardless of that, John McCain and I agree that we gotta do something about it."

On ANWR, she said: "We'll agree to disagree but I'm gonna keep pushing that and I think eventually we're all gonna come together on that one."

CNN Keeping Palin Honest

Anderson Cooper....

Prosecutor Pressing War Profit charges....

I'm Alan Grayson, and I prosecute war profiteers in Iraq. In 2006, I ran for Congress in Orlando, and I lost the Democratic primary by 3000 votes. This year, I ran for Congress again, and I beat the same primary opponent by 7000 votes.

Here's why this time is different, not just for me, but for a lot of other candidates:

(1) People want solutions to their problems, and progressives offer solutions to them. In other years, Democrats supported "centrists," thinking that they could win that way. (Somehow, most Republicans never saw a need to do that.) This year, people want Democrats who are not afraid to be Democrats. They want Democrats with guts. They want Democrats who will stake out our position on what direction is good for America, and then move America in that direction. They want change.

(2) Because our problems are so severe, the last thing that people want to listen to are candidates who talk about themselves. You want to talk about what to do about the economy, health care, education, the war -- good. You want to talk about endorsements, where you're from, your loving spouse -- bad. Our formula was very simple: here's what's wrong, and here's what we're going to do about it. It's not about the candidate. It never is.

(3) The best campaign is one that involves people. Our staff and volunteers knocked on over 100,000 doors, and made over 100,000 phone calls. Our chief opponent ran a TV ad. That's a big difference. What people dislike most about elected officials is the sense that they are being ignored. When you run a campaign that touches people, and listens to them, then you're conveying the idea that you'll keep listening after the election is over.

(4) The best assurance that you can give to people that you'll do something good for them in the future is if you've done something good for them in the past. When I told people that I fight war profiteers in Iraq, it wasn't to make me look good. It was to give people a degree of comfort that I could be counted on to remain a progressive in Congress. And this opens up a wonderful possibility: that public-interest lawyers, and teachers, and social workers, and nurses -- and even documentary makers! -- will have a leg up when they run for public office, because the voters know that they will keep on doing good things for them. So, Robert Greenwald for Governor!

http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/52543-meet-the-war-profiteer-prosecutor-who-wants-to-prosecute-bush

Republicans financially supporting Obama

This is an article I've found amusing, so Sarah Palin has been using the Barracuda song of the rock band "Heart" After being asked not to use it. The group actually supports Obama.....

Ironically since the GOP refuses to stop using it due to already paying for it, the band members will be donating a portion of royalties to Barack....... AHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

McCain and Palin once again play 'Barracuda'
Posted: 12:43 PM ET
From From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

Heart guitarists Nancy and Ann Wilson don't want the McCain campaign to play their song.
LEBANON, Ohio (CNN) – The rock band "Heart" may have asked John McCain and Sarah Palin stop playing their song "Barracuda" at their rallies, but the campaign is apparently paying no heed.

The track — played at the Republican National Convention in honor of the Vice Presidential nominee, who earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" playing high school basketball in Alaska — was pumped through the streets of Lebanon, Ohio on Tuesday morning at an outdoor rally before the GOP ticket showed up.

Earlier: Heart condemns McCain-Palin use of 'Barracuda'
When the song was played after Palin's convention speech last week, the band members quickly requested that McCain and Palin pull the plug.

"Sarah Palin's views and values in no way represent us as American women," Ann and Nancy Wilson told Entertainment Weekly. "We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image."

But the McCain camp said last week that it had paid for and obtained all necessary licenses before using the song.

And the band's former guitarist, Roger Fisher, told Reuters last week that the McCain camp’s use of the song benefited both sides: Republicans get "the ingenious placement of a kick-ass song" — and Heart gets headlines and royalties. Part of that money, said Fisher, would be heading to the Arizona senator’s opponent: "With my contribution to Obama's campaign, the Republicans are now supporting Obama," he told Reuters.

Obama Holds his Own on O'Reilly

I'm not gonna act like I wasn't worried with Obama going on the O'Reilly Show.... But he held his own..... Check out parts one and two and part three is tonight....


This is what Bill had to Say about Obama after the interview.....

"On the foreign policy front, Obama has convinced me that he is tough but cautious. He rose up quickly because he vehemently opposed the Iraq war. But now I see a man who understands the victory that has taken place in Iraq. I don't believe he wants to screw that up. I could be wrong.

After going mano-a-mano with Obama on television, I am also persuaded that he is a sincere guy—that he wants the best for all Americans. He's an ideologue, but not a blind one. He understands that his story is incredible, and, I have come to believe, he is grateful to the American system for allowing it happen.It is true that we don't know whether Senator Obama has the ability to solve complex problems, but you can say that about all presidential contenders."

Check out Streetztalk for more on the post interview commentary...

http://www.streetztalk.net/2008/09/bill-oreilys-take-on-obama.html


Part 1


Part 2

Community Organizers Speak on GOP statements...

Optimum Capital Management, LLC

Announces ENOUGH!

New York, NY - September 8th, 2008

As a community organizer, I want to send this letter to John McCain and the Republican Party, on behalf of all of the community organizers in America. This is letter is written for all of those community organizers like myself who wake up every morning with only one thought on their mind, "How can I make my community better?" It is written for all of those like me who rarely get paid and are hardly ever provided any incentive much more than the joy we feel from seeing one of our fellow community members get a paying job because of our efforts. Rudy Giuliani, you asked what a community organizer is. Sarah Palin, you implied that you were unaware of any real responsibilities that a community organizer had. Let me take a few brief words to explain it to you.

Community Organizer Responds to GOP Attacks!

Community organizers are the ones who actually roll up their sleeves and work in the neighborhoods and communities that are hardly ever seen by a politician. The main gripe that we hear from those we assist is, "We try to reach out to our local politicians but we never get any response." Where a void is left from the inability or unwillingness of our local politicians to insert some action where an abundance of words exists we are the ones who step up to the plate. We are the ones in the prisons teaching for free so that we can lower recidivism rates in our communities. We are the ones holding private meetings with gang members to urge them to trade in their guns for books and job applications. We are the ones who are working with the neglected population of homeless teens providing them with education about financial literacy, health, drugs, safe sex, and life skill implementation.

Governor Palin, do not talk to me about "real responsibility" until you have walked in our shoes. I am not going to down grade your responsibility, because I am sure that to be the Mayor of a town with 6000 people can have its difficulties and challenges. However, for you to disrespect the efforts of the people in the nation who love this country just because you want to score a political point is blasphemous. You hold yourself to be a true follower and believer of the Word of God, but where in the Word does it say that we must down others efforts just to uplift ourselves? Where in the Word of God does it say that we must attack the character of others in order to fulfill our own personal agenda? Do you honestly believe that the only way that one can sacrifice for this country is to be a POW? Of course not! You should be thankful for the sacrifice and the responsibility that is taken on every day by community organizers across the country. You would not have gotten elected into your seat as Mayor or Governor without the efforts of community organizers. If there were more community organizers in Alaska maybe your state would not have such high methamphetamine addiction and youth STD rates.Instead of thanks, we are belittled. I guess that you don't have to thank Martin Luther King Jr. who helped millions doing community organizing to lead the civil rights movement? I guess you would have been condescending to Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and Lucy Stone for their work in the National Woman Suffrage Association community organizing for women across this nation? What about Jimmy Hoffa who was a community organizer for the rights of workers? Maybe he didn't have responsibility either? Let's travel overseas to look at the Ghandi, the community organizer who helped millions in India and around the world. Maybe he should have been belittled for his efforts. He himself stated what should be the creed of all community organizers, "Be the change that you want to see in the world." Are you encouraging those in this country and around the world to be that "change" with your words Governor Palin?

Last but not least, my favorite community organizer of which you and I owe a lot to because of our similar faiths, Jesus Christ was a community organizer. Do you think that He would condone your words against Barack Obama and degrading his actions to make a change in his community?

I don't have to point out famous community organizers, but can also make note of those community organizers who do not do the work for personal recognition but because it is just right. Wayne Harris who has dedicated his life to helping homeless youth...keep it up Wayne! Kevin Powell who has dedicated his life to making a positive change in the life of Black Males and who speaks out against violence against women...we need you Kevin and keep it up! George Mitchell who pulls people together to figure out ways to increase traffic to local community businesses...you have a lot of responsibility Brother George and we need your efforts! Dante Dixon who is a minister who uses the Word of God to help people start businesses across the country...I respect your efforts Mr. Dixon and please keep it up! Christina Hodges who has dedicated her life to teaching financial literacy for free throughout her community...don't let the comments from the GOP party discourage you! Lloyd Cambridge who works with youth and adults for free helping them start businesses...I respect you Lloyd! Darnell Canada who is an ex-offender yet still started numerous businesses for himself AND other people in the community...I respect and admire your work Darnell even if Giuliani and Palin do not! Barack Obama who served over 90,000 people while community organizing on the south side of Chicago... we know you could have used your Harvard degree to earn millions but you chose to work with the people! Barack, you are not the savior to the people but your actions and deeds have empowered millions across this country to be a savior to themselves! There are people who have jobs and a future because of your efforts. A "from the bottom up movement" is a movement that you started on the south side of Chicago but will end in the White House! We thank you and need more of you! To all of the community organizers out there who like me are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated we cannot stop our efforts!As a community organizer I have had my life threatened, been assaulted, disrespected, dismissed, rejected, and undercut all because I want to help my community teaching financial literacy and spreading economic empowerment. These things happened because like other community organizers, we want to create opportunities for success but many times we get the most resistance from those we are trying to help. Governor Palin and Mayor Giuliani, the criticism and disrespect that you provide will NOT dissuade us from helping our community. It only serves to show that you and the Republican Party are out of touch with the American people. You get mad at Barack because he eats arugula but degrade those across the country whose only purpose is to make a difference. You get mad at Barack's statements of clinging to guns and religion, then you belittle the earnest efforts of those in the community trying to improve the lives of those around them. Then you claim yourselves to be patriotic and always put America first? In November the people will speak...if we are smart our voices and votes will put Obama in the White House because he has proven to be the only candidate who has not displayed the moral turpitude that has been destroying this country for the past 8 years! ENOUGH!

http://www.optimumcapitalmanagement.com/contact_us

The-Ob-iden Factor

Ok so for the most part I have been giving you all a lot of anti Mccain stories, well here you go.... Just for those that thought the dems were gonna play too soft...... enter Joe Biden Stage left...

As a prelude to this I watched an early Primary, where I was still tossing up between Hillary and Obama on who's policies I liked better.... There was one lone voice I must shoutout that from the Gate stated

"Biden would be the best candidate..... He will chip' Mccain! But the dem's won't let him be on the ticket because he's "TOO REAL"......" ~R. London

Even when the cards were down for Biden, he continued and even educated me to Bidens past, stances, and once again how real he truely was....

Oh and way before the list of VP's was down to 4 or 5 he chanted OBiden' 08! (I told you to buy that website! LOL)

So what does the Biden Factor bring in reference to keeping it real???

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said earlier this week that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.

Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats' strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

When asked during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, whether he would "pursue the violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration", Biden answered in the affirmative.

"We will not be stopped from pursuing any criminal offence that's occurred," he continued, going on to praise congressional committees for the deliberate pace of their inquiries into alleged Bush administration misdeeds.

Members of Congress are "doing the right thing, they're not making false accusations about anything … they're collecting data, subpoenaing records, they're building a file", Biden said.

"If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued – not out of vengeance, not out of retribution, out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president -- no one is above the law."

Obama sounded a similar note in April, vowing that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to initiate a prompt review of Bush-era actions to distinguish between possible "genuine crimes" and "really bad policies".

"[I]f crimes have been committed, they should be investigated," Obama told the Philadelphia Daily News. "You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt, because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve."

When asked about his comments by Fox news today, Biden said he has no evidence that criminal charges would be warranted and no intention of pursuing action against the current president.

"What is true is the United States Congress is trying to preserve records on questions that relate to whether or not the law has been violated by anyone," Biden said, adding: "But, you know, there's been an awful lot of unsavoury stuff that's gone on. And the mere fact … that it occurred in a previous administration doesn't mean [a subsequent] Justice Department, if, in fact, there's evidence, shouldn't pursue them. "But I have no evidence of any of that. No one's talking about pursuing President Bush criminally."

Congressional Democrats have issued a flurry of subpoenas this year to senior Bush administration aides as part of a broad inquiry into the authorisation of torturous interrogation tactics used at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Three Bush White House veterans have been held in criminal contempt of congressional committees for refusing to respond to subpoenas in an inquiry on the firing of federal prosecutors: former counsel Harriet Miers, former political adviser Karl Rove, and current chief of staff Josh Bolten. The battle over Miers's and Bolten's testimony is currently before a federal court.

AP Points out the GOP Lies....

People it's time to wake up and smell the BS......

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held
back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and
flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the
reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing
wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark
spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge
to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a
lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town
totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly
$750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request
in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million
bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that
opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to
nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our
opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who
has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform _ not even in the
state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in
the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with
Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal
shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional
weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that
accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar
of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was
the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial
profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential
death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform
legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports
plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes,
raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the
American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run
jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that
Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by
about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts
taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income
taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly
for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax
Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger
families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and
dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with
incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses
that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in
charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20
percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I
hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is
somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he
said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims.
Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil
production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President
Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact,
her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the
Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain
could as easily have called it the 47th largest state _ by
population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National
Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of
her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state
guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual
military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for
example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they
report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard
units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard
organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes
running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of
the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996
mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of
1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got
76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the
ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change,
all right _ change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We
have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington _ throw
out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah
Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a
conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until
last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have
Democrats have been in charge of the House and
Senate.
___
Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington
contributed to this report.

Republicans Caught dissing Palin, on camera they thought was off....

Republicans caught dissing Palin on the camera they thought was off.....sound familiar?????

Shout out to Politico.com

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Noonan_Murphy_trash_Palin_on_hot_mic_Its_over.html

After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant
Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live
mike ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.
"It's over," said Noonan, who then
responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman
McCain could have chosen.
"The most qualified? No. I think they went for this
— excuse me — political bullshit about narratives," she said. "Every time
the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what
they're good at, they blow it."
Murphy chimed in:
"The greatness of McCain
is no cynicism, and this is cynical."
Noonan's blunt call contrasted with her conflicted
column today saying Palin "could become a transformative political
presence."
"The Sarah Palin choice is really going to work, or really not
going to work," Noonan wrote. "It's not going to be a little successful or a
little not; it's not going to be a wash. She is either going to be magic or one
of history's accidents. She is either going to be brilliant and groundbreaking,
or will soon be the target of unattributed quotes by bitter staffers shifting
blame in all 'The Making of the President 2008' books."

Michael Moore on Mccain

This is a very good blog I figured I would share.... take some time to check out his site also....

Random Thoughts from Michael Moore

Senator McCain Cuts and Runs, Governor Palin's "Labor" Day, and a New Hurricane Called, Um, Ike? Who Writes This Stuff?

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Well, I guess God got my email and answered my prayer. Man, the power of the Internet! He even emailed me back! I'll share that with you in the next few days. Proof there is a God in heaven? Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will...

John McCain said "it's time to take our Republican hats off and put our American hats on." Really? It would have been nice if Sen. McCain had put on his American hat in the three years since Katrina. Just so no one is fooled by all his fake concern for the people on the Gulf Coast, let's look at his record post-Katrina, compliments of Chris Hayes of The Nation:

If (McCain) cared about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast he could have done something these past three years. He could have made Gulf Reconstruction his issue, he could have excoriated his party for pushing federal dollars into the hands of cronies, for providing inadequate resources, for allowing the further destruction of the wetlands that serve as the only natural barrier to storm surges. He could have taken on the insurance companies that have been serially screwing the residents of the gulf. But he was too busy pushing for more troops, and more war and running for president.

Instead this is his record [via Mother Jones]:

Though McCain issued a statement the next week (after Katrina) calling on Congress to make sacrifices in order to fund recovery efforts, he was quoted in The New Leader on September 1 [2005] cautioning against over-spending in support of Katrina's victims. "We also have to be concerned about future generations of Americans," he said. "We're going to end up with the highest deficit, probably, in the history of this country."

That attitude was borne out in McCain's actions and votes. Forty Senators and 100 members of Congress visited New Orleans before he did; he finally got there in March 2006. He voted against establishing a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local responses to Katrina in med-September 2005. He repeated that vote in 2006. He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief.

So honestly, it's an insult to watch him make a show of concern now. ... continue reading

Vietnam vets stirring up a McCain mutiny

Vietnam vets stirring up a McCain mutiny
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/08/25/2008-08-25_vietnam_vets_stirring_up_a_mccain_mutiny.html

Monday, August 25th 2008, 4:00 AM
Altaffer/AP
John McCain

Sen. John McCain commands support at many VFW halls across the country. But a squadron of Vietnam vets and POW/MIA advocates is strafing him with decidedly unfriendly fire.
Two-tour Green Beret Ted Sampley, who helped "Swift Boat" Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race, is now gunning for the GOP White House hopeful.

The organizer of Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain claims the Purple Heart-winning former POW has "never admitted the full extent to which he cooperated with his captors."

Sampley also charges that, in the 1990s, the "unstable" McCain, whom he calls "the Manchurian Candidate," ignored "credible evidence" that American POWs were still alive in Southeast Asia.
"He wanted to normalize relations with Vietnam," Sampley tells us. "He took away the only leverage we had for getting those soldiers back. Why? He was paying back the Vietnamese for keeping quiet about him."

McCain has called Sampley a profiteering "enemy of the truth" and "one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter." (Sampley was jailed after beating up McCain aide Mark Salter outside McCain's Senate office in 1992.)

Though he's no fan of Barack Obama, Sampley says Fox News producers haven't invited him on to bash McCain the way he bashed Kerry. But Sampley is finding other comrades. Former POW Phillip Butler asserts that McCain "allows the media to make him out to be the hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true."

Former GOP Congressmen Bill Hendon and John LeBoutillier, who both served on the House Task Force on POW/MIA Affairs, write on Sampley's U.S. Veteran Dispatch that McCain "abandoned American POWs."

"He's totally dishonest," says LeBoutillier, who contends that, to win over the religious right, McCain "cribbed" his recent memory of a kindly guard leaving "a cross in the dirt" from Jeremiah Denton, another POW-turned-senator who told a similar story.
Other POWs have backed up McCain's story. And the senator, who refused Vietnamese offers of early prison release, has called the "evidence" of living POWs a "cruel hoax on their families."

Jack Cafferty Asks the Tough Questions?!?!?!

Commentary: Is McCain another George W. Bush?

Story Highlights
-Jack Cafferty: McCain gives shallow answers at Saddleback forum

-Why isn't McCain grappling with the complex moral issues we face? Cafferty asks

-Cafferty: We can't afford another president like George W. Bush

-World is too complex to entrust to someone who lacks intellectual curiosity, he says

By Jack CaffertyCNN

Editor's Note: Jack Cafferty is the author of the best-seller "It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America." He provides commentary on CNN's "The Situation Room" daily from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.

His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.

Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California. I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.

Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?
Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.

He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.

He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.

One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.

Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?

John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.
George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

Mccain's Cribs

http://therealmccain.com/

John McCain is soaring to new heights of hypocrisy on his wife's personal jet. He flies around the country bent on duping the public into believing he's "one of them," a regular guy who can empathize with Americans facing an overwhelming economic crush. What's more, he disparages those who oppose his ridiculous policy proposals as "elitist." But who's the real elitist?

The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.

Together, you have been a force in making sure The REAL McCain videos have been seen by nearly 6.5 million people. But as Frank Rich noted in his NY Times column yesterday, 40% of Americans hear too little about McCain from the mainstream media, meaning "the public doesn't know who on earth John McCain is." That's why it's crucial you ensure this video is seen by as many as possible, and that we use each and every tool at our disposal to get the word out. Send this on to five friends and family members, and tell them to send it to five people they know. Get it to your local news outlets and blogs and networking sites like Digg. Raise hell about McCain's economic duplicity!

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney summed it up best when he said McCain "simply doesn't understand the challenges America's working families are facing because he isn't remotely affected by them." It's up to us to tell people who McCain really is, a personal jet-setting elitist more concerned with corporate lobbyists than hard-working Americans.

Bonus McBushed!