JaBbA's Hut

Finally, the candidate John McCain was horrified enough by what his campaign has wrought the the honorable John McCain suddenly came out.



I was so looking forward to a campaign between this man and Senator Obama.

Of course, his running mate doesn't have that kind of honor, and is continuing to rile up the crowds. I would imagine that we'll get an apology from Senator McCain sometime in November.

Amid the Faux News screeching about widespread voter fraud, for which there is absolutely NO evidence, comes this flier being distributed in South Philadelphia.

Still think that vote supporession isn't really a problem?



Text, presented with all original bad grammar and misspellings:

Recently, at school, an Obama supporter approached me during a rock the vote assembly. He informed that on the day of the election there will be undercover officers to execute warrants on those who come to vote based on the anticipated turnout. He advised me if I had any outstanding warrants or traffic offenses I should clear them up prior to voting. They assume this to be an opportunity for those who normally go by fake names and addresses, to give their real names and id's. Allowing them to place name and face together and walla, gotcha! Arrested on the spot. So if you have one or the other to take care of it.
Due to the electronic genius of wireless technology this can and will take place all around the nation from LA to New York. Why hasn't this been done before? This seems to be a great way to arrest or just be able to identify criminals in the area. I applaud the new efforts of local and state authorities and hope to see a great success rate. I'm sorry to say bit I don't think they should be able to vote anyway! Question? Are convicted felons allowed to vote?
He also said that both Obama and McCain support this idea bit that he, "Obama", does not want the public to see any of this supported get locked up showing their support or illegally voting for him. An incentive to avoid the legal dilemmas, but still participate in the vote is being put in place. This would allow individuals to turn themselves in, prior to voting, without legal penalty. This type of incentive recently took place at a South Philadelphia church with an outstanding turnout. Is this taking away from the true freedom of voting? Is this legal?
He had also leaded that at the polling sites local authorities will not only be checking for :scoff law" traffic tickets offenders insuide, but this will also take place outside. There will be vehicles equipped with plate identifcation computers. Upon identification cars will be locked with an immobilization feature locked to its tire then towed.
I think this November will be a November to remember. I love technology.
Anonymous.

So what you say? Remember, during the 2004 vote, the Franklin county sheriff parked deputy cars directly outside polling places in the inner city. Combine that with this note, and you have a lot of black voters deciding that it's not worth the risk to vote. And plenty of young voters won't be sure if they have an outstanding traffic ticket or two - can they take the chance?

But it's picking the leader of the free world, not your ideal mate.

The ABCNews Match-O-Matic will help you find your ideal Presidential match. Send it to people you know who are unsure, or who have decided based on bad information, or any low-information votes you know. It's a great way of having people find out which candidate REALLY has positions that agree with what they want.

JaBbA says check it out and send it to your friends.

With Palin using some pretty dicey language, going after Obama's (very tenuous) association with William Ayers by saying he is "associating with terrorists", some people were wondering whether Obama would be ready to fight back.

Well, wonder no longer. 2 websites just launched - and I mean just launched, like 2 minutes ago.

John McCain's Record explores almost 3 decades of John McCain's political history. Ask it about McCain's record on Taxes, Deregulation, Women, or anything else.

And the real kicker - were you wondering why Obama had never brought up the Keating 5 and the Savings and Loan scandal? Well, he was perhaps holding off to see just how nasty this campaign was going to get. Since McCain/Palin has just hit the gutter, Obama hit back with Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis.

JaBbA says check it out, and link to it. HARD. Let's get this sucker moved up google's rankings.

Sarah Palin just came out on stage and said to Joe Biden "Can I call you Joe?".

Brilliant.

Of course he's going to say yes. If he doesn't, then he looks like a dick. And now she doesn't have to call him Senator, which deemphasizes his experience.

At the same time, every time he calls her Sarah, he sounds condescending. He really needed to be calling her Governor Palin.

Evil, and brilliant. She's a cagey one, this Sarah Palin.

Jon Stewart always makes fun of the idiocy of politicians, but watch this to the end. He actually gets pissed off about the fact that Congress is taking Rosh Hashana off!



Link: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=186754&title=kill-bill-volume-1

There has been so much campaign idiocy that has infuriated me. I have a stack of stuff to post.

I'm throwing it away. Instead, I found this video from the Obama campaign. And it once again tells me why I am voting FOR Barack Obama, rather than just AGAINST John McCain.

In 2004, After Obama's speech to the DNC, I felt we had found an inspirational leader. 4 years later, I'm glad to have the opportunity to cast my vote for that man and his ideas.


...all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

...

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

From the Katie Couric CBS interview with Sarah Palin:

Couric: What happens if the goal of democracy doesn't produce the desired outcome? In Gaza, the U.S. pushed hard for elections and Hamas won.

Palin: Yeah, well especially in that region, though, we have to protect those who do seek democracy and support those who seek protections for the people who live there. What we're seeing in the last couple of days here in New York is a President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and express such disdain for one of our closest allies and friends, Israel ... and we're hearing the evil that he speaks and if hearing him doesn't allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, especially there in the Mideast, then nothing will.

Think about this for just a minute. This is a basic issue that the Bush Administration has been dealing with - and that even they understand. Sometimes, when you encourage democratic processes, the guys who disagree with you will win. Heck, the Bush Administration's reaction to the Hamas win has been fairly reasonable, using economic and diplomatic pressure to make changes to a bad situation.

But Sarah Palin doesn't even understand the question. She doesn't say that Hamas winning wasn't in America's interest. She doesn't point out that there will be occasional bumps in the road. She doesn't understand that Ahmadinejad was elected in a (ostensibly) democratic vote. What she says here is that America should support those who are elected democratically - i.e. she supports Hamas!

And Republicans want to put this woman one heartbeat away from the Presidency?

This is completely horrible. A message from my minister:

Recently, some well-produced DVD's were included with the ad inserts in papers throughout Ohio. The Plain Dealer refused them, so now I have discovered they will be mailed out to all of us in the Cleveland area. These are malicious, anti-Islamic messages and have been characterized by some as hate speech. They are targeting swing states.

More information is on the Ohio Meadville UU District website.

Friends,

A recent Sunday edition of the Akron Beacon Journal included an obviously expensive, professionally-produced anti-Islamic DVD titled "Obsession." One of our OMD ministers who viewed the DVD frankly called it "hate-filled" and "lie-filled." It was also included in newspapers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbus, Canton, Toledo and other cities in Ohio; and, apparently, in still more cities in "battleground" states in the presidential election. The Cleveland Plain Dealer did not carry the DVD.

Many Unitarian Univeralists in the OMD have already expressed outrage that something which blatantly violates the principles of religious freedom and tolerance could be distributed in our community, and put into the hands of our children, under the label of "advertising". They are writing the newspapers which distributed the DVDs to let them know how they feel.

This is a non-partisan issue. Our congregations and the district are able to express their disgust with this kind of reactive messaging without any risk to their non-profit status. I believe that we are called by our values and principles as Unitarian Universalists to speak out against those who would promote intolerance and fear in our communities.

With blessings,

Rev. Joan VanBecelaere
District Executive
Ohio-Meadville District of the UUA

Information on the DVD is at Obsession With Hate.

I'll update here if I hear anything else. I know this kind of hatred exists out there, but people need to fight it whenever it comes out of the shadows.

This should have been an easy decision for ANY newspaper - well done to the PD for refusing the insert, but some investigative reporter needs to explore why other papers accepted this and where the money came from to pay for it.

JaBbA says get involved, let the world see that America stands against this kind of filth.

There are some pretty crazy right-wing nutjobs on the interwebs. And there's one place you can get (mostly) consistent, well-written conservative thought - the National Review Online, the digital version of William F. Buckley Jr.'s conservative standard-bearer. (What the hell Michelle Malkin and [previously] Ann Coulter are doing there, I do not know. They pretty much fit the nutjob label).

So if you are a conservative, you better at least have their acceptance, if not their support. Well, Sarah Palin has lost the support of at least one NRO columnist:

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there.

[...]

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

Well, I actually think that McCain should admit his mistake and fire her, but Parker is trying to protect her candidate. I also find Biden a breath of fresh air - Biden's "gaffes" are born of his willingness to speak his mind, while Palin's are from trying to hide the fact that she doesn't know what she's doing.

JaBbA says check it out.

Thanks to Emily for the funny.

Section 8 of Paulson's Wall Street Bailout:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Oversight? Balance of powers? Who needs that?

We're in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the Bush Administration is making another power play. You'd think Congress would have learned when they abdicated their Constitutional duty to determine when to declare war. Now they're going to create a position that will be completely non-accountable to anyone?

It blows my mind that right-wing water carriers keep on spouting the Republican talking points, even when they directly contradict last month's Republican talking points. Don't they realize that people actually SAVE the old video?

And why are these idiots allowed to spout their obvious bullsh*t over and over again?

Bruce Schneier posted an article today on the false dichotomy between Security vs. Privacy:

If you set up the false dichotomy, of course people will choose security over privacy -- especially if you scare them first. But it's still a false dichotomy. There is no security without privacy. And liberty requires both security and privacy. The famous quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin reads: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." It's also true that those who would give up privacy for security are likely to end up with neither.

The American people have been bombarded with so much fear and anxiety that they have stopped thinking. And, unfortunately, for many people that's the way they like it. But I take some heart from the freefall of Rudy "9-11" Guiliani in the Polls - given enough time, people finally started looking at something other than his constant fear speech, and didn't like what they saw. He miscalculated, thinking that the security message could last almost 2 years. It's not that people are beginning to wake up - I think it's more that they have become habituated to the constant drumbeat that they are able to look past it.

But Schneier's right - security comes before social issues like privacy on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. We have to get over the fear before we can worry about civil liberties - and that's what the government is counting on. But there is a way - and that is to get people to fear the loss of privacy. Unfortunately, balancing fear of government intrusion against complete paranoia is difficult - and it's much easier to make people fear a violent attack.

This may be why I'm attracted do Obama's message of hope. If we can look forward to a future where we don't see enemies all around us, we can be more cognizant of the importance of personal liberty. I am beginning to believe that Obama sees that future and wants to lead the country there.

JaBbA says check it out.

Andrew Meyers, the UF student who was tasered while making a scene at a John Kerry speech, was holding a copy of Greg Palast's book Armed Madhouse, which he was using as his reference while challenging Kerry.

Palast's book makes a lot of people uncomfortable. It should, because it blows the lid off the American Political scene and it's refusal to deal with reality.

Apparently, however, there are people in a lot of places that don't want you to read Greg Palast. Including Websense, the web filtering company.

When you are on Palast's mailing list, links go to http://mailings.gregpalast.com. However, click on that link at work, and you get the following:




Illegal or Questionable? Is this censorship?