YIKES!

McCain is up 10 points according to 1 poll. Most other polls have it at a dead heat.

You have to hand it to Republicans. They know how to throw together a political convention and get people fired up about nothing. I think the bloodboiling will not last. First, as most of you are aware, the GOP convention was not the most factually accurate convention of all time. It also didn't reflect the reality of the outside world. For one week, the Republicans had Americans distracted from the issues. Democrats are going to refocus their attacks on McCain/Palin, talk about the economy, and rebuild that bridge to rural America.   Read More »

How do you manage to turn the nation's largest government surplus into the nation's largest government deficit? Ask George Bush.

I heard a lot of political "buzzwords" this last week at the RNC convention. However, two key words I've noticed are slowly being phased out from the Republican lexicon: fiscal responsibility.

Republicans castigate liberals as tax and spend, but in reality tax and spend makes more sense than to spend without taxes. A government that runs deficits is forced to borrow from the Federal Reserve, which in turn prints more money which devalues the dollar. This policy leads to higher prices, reduced savings, and ultimately ends with dire economic consequences. American tax payers, already struggling to balance their own budgets, eventually must foot the bill to end the bleeding.   Read More »

Has anyone had any success at this?

Everyone here talks a good game, but really we need to be more constructive in what we are doing if we are going to win. I like the idea of using this site to gather small donations from friends to help the DNC. It not only helps the candidates we like get elected, but it also makes them less accountable to corporate donors and more accountable to us.

This is my site. I've only got 1 donor. That donor happens to be me. LOL. We should all at least take a little time and try to do this.

http://www.democrats.org/page/outreach/view/total/lars   Read More »

How can anyone who believes in individual rights, who believes in accountability for government officials, who believes in separation of church and state possible like the pick of Sarah Palin?

So McCain definitely shook things up with this one. He energized his base, but he did so in the wrong way. Opening up the culture war is the last thing America needs right now. The pick of Palin will be used as a device to polarize the country. Obama has made incredible inroads in rural small town America. Not because of who he is, but because of what he stands for. Obama has built a bridge and offered a truce. Republicans believe they can reignite that deleterious conflict with this pick.

So much of the conversation about Sarah Palin is irrelevant. She's a hockey mom. I love hockey, but I don't care. She owns a moose. That's interesting, but I don't care. She's a good basketball player, and a former beauty queen. I don't care. Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. Not my business, so I don't care. Her husband has a dui. Again, I just don't care.

The media has jumped on some of these stories, not because they have a liberal bias, but because they are good stories. That's the price you pay for being in the spotlight in America. The GOP should thank them though, because all of this irrelevant discussion distracts from the real issues. While Republicans thud their chests about her "executive experience", and how tough it is to run a town of 6700 people, the fact is that her tendencies as a leader are skewed toward fanaticism, dictatorship, and poor decision-making. I have no sympathy for a person of this mold.

She has on several occasions demonstrated that her arrogance as an executive is on par with that of the Bush administration. She abused her power in trying to get a state trooper fired order to execute a personal vendetta. That right there demonstrates lack of ethics, and lack of experience. As mayor of Wasilla, she brought a little list of books to be removed from the library. When the librarian refused, Palin fired the librarian. When we are talking about the character of a leader, these are examples that matter.

Her social views are more in line with the Saudi's than middle class America. She's for the disastrous policy of banning abortion in all cases, including rape and incest. She has pushed for creationism to be taught in schools. We can go on and on, but the fact that I don't need to demonstrates how this slate of social backwardness is nothing new. Americans know what a religious fundamentalist looks like.

You can't hold the mantle of change when you are the one that needs changing. Republicans at the convention have attempted to co-opt Obama's change message, even as they cheer for the failed Presidency of George Bush on the giant telescreen. Sarah Palin is just a more extreme version of the current White House. And let's not kid ourselves, that's exactly why Republicans adore her. They appear to be living in their own world these days. What a sad state of affairs!

Check out my bipartisan website at:
www.crookedcrux.com

In chess, you know you're dealing with an amateur when a player opens up his beginning game by streaking the queen across the board. Although it may daunt another amateur player, more experienced players see it as an opportunity to gain the immediate upper hand, as an out of position, unprotected piece can easily be exploited in a variety of maneuvers. It also leaves the aggressor's king exposed, and the subsequent back-pedaling will end up costing many moves. The board can be set for a check mate relatively quickly if one responds properly.

The political game is much like chess. Aggressive gambits always seem to fail one way or another. John McCain's amateurish choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate is one such move. It might seem a bit daunting to Democrats worried about the white female vote, but ultimately this assertive maneuver backfires for several reasons.   Read More »

...be it in 2012, or 2016. But in the meantime, let's vote Obama in 2008. We can't let the Republican Party divide us.

Hillary delivered a powerful message last night and was brilliant, as usual. It was not just a message to her supporters. It was a call for this party to realize its true potential as a majority party, capable of fixing this nation's grave problems. We have a responsibility to answer the call.

Heed Hillary's wise words Democrats. LET's THROW THESE REPUBLICAN BUMS OUT!

P.S. Chelsea for Congress!

On September 11th, 1990, George H.W. Bush used the term "New World Order" to describe a coming period of cooperation, balance and ideological agreement in the international realm. The term was in hindsight a poor choice of words by evidence of the fact that it has been bandied back and forth between conspiracy theorists to mean something that it simply isn't (not to mention anything about the unfortunate coincidence of the date). President Bush's message was simple. The Great Powers of the world, now that they've achieved ideological cohesion under the philosophy of free markets, will work together to ensure that the smaller players of the world shape themselves up, or face retribution.

Clearly recent events in South Ossetia are the stake in the heart of this theory which is based on a fundamentally flawed view of the how capitalism operates in the world. Way back in the 1990's, the argument was naively purported, that the free markets being introduced in Russia (and more gradually in China) would lead to prosperity, peace, and liberty for those nations. Evidence to the contrary however, might suggest that theory be scrapped. Russia's economy is a disaster area, aside from the enormous treasure of oil. In China, corporatism has fit far too neatly into the communist political system, and has empowered the state repressive apparatus rather than the citizenry. Worse yet, despite the liberalization of their economic systems, these states have come to view the United States as foe. Moreover, the United States and its Western European allies have not in any sense disarmed themselves against Russia and China.   Read More »

Politics in a democracy is a strange paradox. People say they want honest politicians, but they tend to flock to candidates that tell them what they want to hear. They say that want fairness and objectivity, but in reality people tend to indulge in their own biases. They want accountability in government, but when politician responds to poll numbers they are reproached for poll-watching. The fact is that the rule of the people is quite unruly, and rarely an exercise of logic. At best it's a practical game of balancing divergent interests. At worse it's a juvenile game of "he said, she said". Because of this, politicians are generally the least liked people in free societies.

So therefore, it is rare that someone enters the political arena with the swell of support that has propelled Barack Obama. If you think his popularity can be narrowed down to his ability to deliver dramatic, mellifluous speeches, you are misreading the situation entirely. His meteoric rise can only be understood in context. The backdrop of the last 8 years tells a story of de facto one party domination at all three levels of the federal government (or if you wish, 12 years because the last 4 years of Clinton were dominated by a Republican agenda). The Republican Party has become especially arrogant and contemptuous of the opposition. This is somewhat unprecedented in modern America. Not since the civil war have we seen such acrimony and partisanship.   Read More »

A political savvy Republican wants you to forget about what has transpired in the past 8 years. Moving ahead, rather than looking back, they might say, is the solution oriented approach.

Here is my retort. An election is a crossroads. You can move forward in the same direction, or you can choose the alternative path. And before anyone should even think about voting for any Republican ever again, they should demand that the Republican brass fess up to the American people about something. Bush lied about the war in Iraq, or at the very least, used a very low standard of evidence to justify it. This war was fought under false pretenses. There were no WMDs. Saddam Hussein was not allowing Iraq to be used as a safe haven for Al Qaeda. And contrary to the revisionist historians on the right, there were many people in America who were courageous enough to take the stand against the invasion. One of those brave Americans was Barack Obama. Thousands of dead soldiers later, a trillion dollars down the drain, and an Iraqi government that has still failed to stabilize itself, it is obvious that the dissenters were right.   Read More »

I was reading an article on CNN.com today about McCain's tax holiday and saw that a person that goes by Viva Obama 08 posted this:

"A Vote for Barack Obama is a vote for Hillary Clinton because they support the same cause.
A vote for John McCain is a vote for a George Bush third term more wars, bad economy and more country will not want to deal with our country. If you were really a true Hillary suppoter that want a better America for this generation and the future generation you must vote Democratic this November. Please do yourself a good favor and vote for the Democratic nominee this coming November.
No hard feeling because Hillary has none against Barack. We must put the Republican out of the white house.
As you can see, we are in a big reccession and that will get worse with a John McCain."

I couldn't agree more with this person. Other post on this article I read people claiming to be democrat but plan to vote for McCain because he is more liberal than any other Republican. Although that may be true we must remember that the presidency is made by the people in which he surrounds himself. Obama is supported by Senator Kennedy, Senator Edwards, Governor Richardson, House whip Clyburn, and Senator Clinton. McCain is supported by people such as President Bush, Fred Thompson, Peter Fitzgerald (an unpopular Illinois Senator), and oh yeah Sylvester Stallone.

For all of us that are upset that Clinton didn't get the needed delegates lets stop bickering and put our support behind the man she supports: Senator Barack Obama!

“I’m asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.” —Barack Obama.

Believe in your power...

“I’m asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.” —Barack Obama.

Believe in your power...

Today in America we face a challange larger than our personal opinons, larger than our favorite candidates and most importantly larger than us as individuals. The country is at a pivotal turning point and either we can go forward with our bickering, name calling, etc. and we can increase our divison and do absolutely nothing to further our cause or we can work towards solving the big issues and work towards a better tommorow Thanks Blue PS The list of groups I posted this in is no accident. The wonderful thing about the Democratic party is the we TRULY represent the wide peaceful diversity that is this great country of America

Hillary, at the beginning, had all the money, all the exposure, and everything necessary to win this election. She failed to capitalize because she stooped down and tried to play dirty with Obama. They can point fingers all they want, but from what I've seen there's really no one to blame except for the Clinton campaign. It's a shame because she would have made an excellent President. You can't claim that these result can be disputed. Where we had free and fair elections, Obama edged out Clinton. It's a disgrace what the DNC did to Florida and Michigan, but the only fair solution would have to be to have them revote. Then, I'd support seating the delegates. Party officials prohibited the campaigns from running in these states and many people did not go out to vote because they were told that the results would not count. That's not a fair process, and therefore, the results mean nothing. To even reward "half votes" sets a dangerous precedent.

Hillary can't get the nomination. She needs to drop out of this race so her supporters have time to lick their wounds and get involved in defeating McCain this fall. If you are an independent, or a Clinton supporter, I invite your opinion here as to how we should weild the power of our base in November. As individuals, it's time to start thinking about who you will vote for in that election.

Here's what I think:

What is there to think about? Look at the last 8 years. As a citizen, the reality is that your choice is simple and options are limited. We simply can't afford to argue back and forth forever. Before you know it, it will be the day after election day and we will have to live with our choices.

Choose one of three:

A. McCain - more of the same neocon nonsense

B. Obama - a liberal-leaning candidate who can win

C. don't vote/vote 3rd party - passing the buck to other voters


You don't need 5 months to think about it. The obvious answer is B. Brush that chip off your shoulder and get on board. We need you!

Hey! I found a difference or two...

from speakout.com
Everything he's 'voted for or against' matches Clinton.

Also see comparision from
http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/final_candidates_positions.pdf   Read More »

still getting info off speakout.com

would love any other links or information anyone has on Clinton.   Read More »

still getting my info from Speakout.com at this point in time...

Love any other links or articles that you know of.   Read More »

again, from speakout.com

for clinton:   Read More »

I swear I'll stop soon... then I'm moving onto the economy.

from speakout.com
For Obama:   Read More »

Who do you think better supports the LGBT community - Obama or Clinton - and why?

A recent discussion I had on this topic is below...   Read More »

again... been talking with a lot of people and just started this conversation...any thoughts anyone?

ME:

I think Obama v. McCain will be focused on McCain avoiding racist remarks and a lot of smiling from Obama.

I think Obama can probably beat McCain as a result.

I think Clinton v. McCain will be focused on McCain's constant aggression trying to trip Clinton up and Clinton effectively pointing out all the flaws in McCain's logic and rhetoric.

I think Clinton can probably beat McCain as a result.   Read More »