The Mad Rants of an Unconventional Soccer Mom

There should be no doubt what-so-ever that John Sidney McBush the Third lacks the intelligence and judgment to be the President of the United States. The most important decision that he has made thus far has been his VP selection. Could he have screwed it up any more? Seriously. Three days after he rolls out Palin the Wolf Slayer they have decided that maybe it’s time to vet her:

The campaign of John McCain has sent a staff of eight people into Alaska to conduct background checks and vetting on Governor Sarah Palin.

Word is they have eight rooms reserved at a Wasilla hotel.

Any person that would dare vote for this man does NOT put country first.

The McCain campaign has gone to great lengths to present the selection of Sarah Palin as one made after a careful, meticulous vetting process. But evidence continues to suggest that the Arizona Republican made his VP choice with surprising haste.

On Saturday, a Democrat tasked with opposition research contacted the Huffington Post with this piece of information: as of this weekend, the McCain campaign had not gone through old newspaper articles from the Valley Frontiersman, Palin's hometown newspaper.

How does he know? The paper's (massive) archives are not online. And when he went to research past content, he was told he was the first to inquire.

"No one else had requested access before," said the source. "It's unbelievable. We were the only people to do that, which means the McCain camp didn't."

What an incompetence buffoon. But I guess if the person is your “soulmate” there’s no need to vet, right? I wonder how Cindy felt about him saying that? He is known for leaving his aging wife for a younger version. I hope she has a prenup.

Well, it is looking like Gustav is going to hit as a Category 3 sometime on Monday. That mean less time to get out and less time to prepare.  Luckily it has weakened some after going over Cuba. But as the masses of people in the Gulf Coast region are fleeing their homes, the dynamic duo of Grandpa McSame and Palin the Wolf Slayer are rushing in:

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are traveling to Mississippi on Sunday to check on people getting prepared for Hurricane Gustav. [...]

Aides say McCain and his wife Cindy will join Palin in traveling to Jackson, Miss., Sunday at the invitation of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour because of concerns about people threatened by the storm [...]

The McCains and Palin will receive a briefing at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency — a permanent operations center monitoring hurricane response.

Just what these people need right now! I’m sure they are sooo relieved. I bet they are going to do a "heck of a job."  I wonder if they will be handing out bottled hot water to dehydrated babies?

My guess is that man who ate cake as we lost New Orleans the latest time and the beauty queen doesn’t have a lot by way of hurricane disaster relief to offer. And why isn’t the dynamic duo flying to N.O. to see about hurricane prep if they are so concerned? Mississippi isn't in any of the hurricane models as being in the path of the eye of the storm. It’s kinda like how McSame went into the Green Zone in Iraq with heavily locked-down security team to pronounce to America how safe it is in Iraq.

Yeah, yeah, I’m cynical as all hell about this, but let’s remember how much Grandpa McSame cared about the people that lives were destroyed when Katrina hit:

• McCain Voted Twice Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina. [ 9/14/2005, 2/2/2006]
• McCain Opposed Granting Financial Relief To Those Affected By Hurricane Katrina. [9/15/2005]
• McCain Voted Against Five Months of Medicaid For Hurricane Katrina Victims. [11/3/2005]
• McCain Voted Against Emergency Funding Bill, Including $28 Billion for Hurricane Relief. [5/4/2006]

You can paint lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. The people of the Gulf Coast are not going to forget how they were left to drown. The people in this country are not going to forget the thousands of people locked in the Superdome for six days straight with no food, no water, and no medical attention.  Or at least that is what I hope.

Ok..to all you mothers out there. Does this seem believable?

News of her pregnancy was kept quiet at first while Ms. Palin went about her work as governor, and her water broke while she was attending an energy conference in Texas. She reportedly delivered a 30-minute speech before flying home, where she delivered the baby boy the next morning.

So...lets get this straight. Sarah Palin didn't let anyone know she was pregnant until she was almost full term. Everyone was shocked because she wasn't showing at all. At the end of her pregnancy, knowing that she was high-risk, she goes to Texas to speak. While there her water breaks and she still waits around for her plane, boards it and takes the 7 hour flight back to Alaska.  She got home and gave birth the next morning (a Friday) and was back at work on Monday.  She took no maternity leave at all - not a single day off after giving birth to a premature baby with Down syndrome. Super woman, indeed!

What mother would put her unborn child at risk like that by getting on that plane? Wouldn't you stay close to your doctor?  And would you not immediately get to a hospital when your water broke, knowing that you were high risk? And what about the airline?  Do you really think they would have allowed her on the plane? 

Something doesn't add up.  She must be absolutely stupid and irresponsible for risking the life of her child by getting on that plane or she is lying.  Either way it goes against her character.

Yesterday was the third anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans as a category 2. And while they ate cake, over 1,800 people lost their lives. Since then, has the Bush Administration done everything it could to protect our citizens from a repeat of Katrina?

Of course not. According to a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, the hydraulic pumps manufactured by Moving Waters Industry (MWI) and installed in New Orleans are poorly designed and untested. Everyone should be asking how this is even possible after all of the death and devastation that Katrina caused? Why would the government not do everything possible to ensure the safety of our citizens after Katrina? The answer is simple and appalling:

Mr. McCain’s advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.

“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,” said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain’s health.

I can't decide whether I want to laugh, cry, or vomit right now.  I'm so glad the 72 year-old, confused man, that has been diagnosed with cancer multiple time has decided to make a joke out of his choice to replace his old ass (should he drop dead) by picking a trophy VP to go along with his trophy wife.

The more I learn about this woman, the scarier she becomes. There's a very unethical and disgusting practice in Alaska which involves the shot gunning of animals such as wolves and bears from low, slow-flying airplanes. Thousands of animals are killed in Alaska every year using this method. Sarah Palin not only supports this, she is an avid hunter, herself. Recently, the State of Alaska brutally slaughtered 14 wolf pups that were just weeks old:

State wildlife agency personnel staked out a known wolf denning site -- a practice that is illegal under Alaska law -- and, using helicopters, they gunned down 14 adult wolves from the air, part of an effort to boost caribou populations in Southwest Alaska.

When they landed, they found the 14 helpless pups in the nearby dens -- just weeks old -- and methodically shot each one in the head. 28 wolves gunned down in all.

When the news got out that this has happened, how did Palin respond:

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has even signed off on a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to justify the state's barbaric wolf slaughter from the skies.

She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts.

She also supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and anywhere else big oil wants. Big surprise!

McCain has settled on someone with 1.5 years of experience as governor of a state with fewer than 700,000 people - an unknown outside of the political junkie circles. Here is what I know about her:

• She is currently under legislative investigation, accused of firing the state's public safety commissioner for not firing her former brother-in-law.
• She is a hard core proponent of drilling in ANWR, which would make sense - her husband does work for BP.
• She is a mother of five who just gave birth in April to a son with Down syndrome.

So a month ago she didn't even know what the VP really does... and now by accepting she is implying she is ready to rule the free world if Grandpa McCain keels over? Righhht…

This pick is nothing more then a nakedly desperate political ploy to get women, and I don't think it will work any more than putting Alan Keyes on the ticket would score black voters. My guess is that any of Hillary’s supports that still refused to vote for Obama are going to sit it out if they are true democrats. Surely after the eight years of dealing with ideologues, they won’t risk four more with a completely anti-choice, anti-woman, conservative ticket.

Here’s Obama’s response:

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Nice. 

I would love to say something profound and brilliant, but damn it…I can't stop crying and my eyes are stinging! Guns. Gay Marriage. Taxes. Social Security. National Security. Patriotism. Temperament. Job well done, Senator Obama! Now let’s get to work and restore America!

Wow. Just...Wow.

Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

See it is that simple! What a great solution! Let's flood our ER's! It's not like they're overworked. It's not like they could be doing something more important then cutting out Grandma's ingrown toe nail!

So next time your child needs immunizations, or you need your annual pap smear, or your husband needs a prostate exam, your local ER with be waiting breathlessly for your arrival. No need to call ahead for an appointment. Everything is roses and puppy dogs!

Oh...And I can't wait for HR to get in today so I can tell them that I no longer need to pay the $546 a month in pay check deductions for my kids to have insurance! They're already insured! Happy Days!!! Now I can afford a pony!

In the next 40 years a Negro can achieve the same position that my brother has.

Robert F. Kennedy, 1968

Jelly...Do you remember when we were kids and we watched as Canaryville was almost lit afire with hatred because CPS had decided to desegregate Graham Elementary and bus black children in from Hendricks?

There were news cameras everywhere as people protested and fought in the streets. The Horror of it all! Black children in our schools mixing with our precious white children! How would we ever survive! You would have thought in was 1960 in Alabama…not 1977 in Chicago.

Do you remember when a black man who dared to walk down Union Avenue jumped through Irma’s front window to try to escape from the mob that had tried to kill him? He wasn’t even considered human by those monsters. But back then, that was the norm for us growing up. What a shameful, shame full time.

Tonight, I look back at those dark times and I’m thankful that our country is moving forward. I am so proud tonight that the first Madam Speaker of the House of Representatives slammed down the gavel that officially nominated the first black candidate for president. I’ve been crying for hours! I know we’ve come a long way and we still have more to go, but man does tonight feel great! Hopefully in 8 years I’ll be sitting here crying as we nominate the first female candidate.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963

Last night while Hillary was blowing us all away with her wonderful endorsement of Obama and all things progressive, McSame was in his home state campaigning. Why would he have to do that you might ask? Because his polling is so sucky in the state that knows he best, he’s on the verge of losing it. He can barely hit 45%.

But here’s the funny thing about last night…or the thing that would not be so funny if I were the parents of the girls at the school he was illegally holding his event at…It’s that he was there trying to be “hip” by endorsing the rap artist Daddy Yankee and his song Gasolina... which as it turns out is about f**king! Yes, that’s right. McCain was illegally in a high school gym full of giddy underage girls bopping his head to a song he “loves” about how women like to be filled up with ‘gasolina” hard! Here are some of the lyrics:

Da - ddy Yan- kee !
shake it mambo so that my cat (cat = babe) can turn on the engine,
shake it mambo so that my cat (cat = babe) can turn on the engine,
shake it mambo so that my cat (cat = babe) can turn on the engine,

Get ready, because whats coming is to give it to her, (hard!)
Mamita, I know that you aren't going to take away (hard!)
What I like is that you let yourself get taken away (hard!)
every weekend she goes out to have fun (hard!)
my cat doesn't stop hanging out because ...

She likes gasolina
(give me more gasolina!)
How she loves gasolina (give me more gasolina!)

And what’s gasolina? It’s not fuel!

One has to wonder if the conservative Republican was simply pandering when talking about Gasolina. If so would he have made a point of mentioning the song "Gasolina" which is a reference to semen and the song itself has lyrics loaded with sexual references.

A campaign spokesman said McCain had no comment when asked whether McCain knew about the sexual references in the song.

Brought to you by the party of “family values’!

I must admit that Hillary was really on top of her game last night. She delivered a fiery, impassioned speech that should really put to rest the bull shit meme that we are not a united party. Of course it won't...but it should.

I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children,campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family,and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last
eight years,to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

And I think she laid it all out there to her most stalwart that if they really cared about the important causes that she has fought so hard for and they really care about the future of this country, that there is no way you could possibly even consider voting for McSame.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

Take the PUMAs! If they are not on board and really to fight to take back the country, it can only mean one of two things:

• They are really republican trying to subvert our party by stirring up this shit. or
  
• They are really dumb ass, uninformed voters that would rather sit it out and and give a another four years to the republicans then vote for a black man.
  

Now can we get on with it and stop with the phony drama?

I screwed up last night by watching MSNBC for coverage instead of C-Span or PBS. I needed my Keith fix, but ended up missing an important speech:

"As a Republican, I stand before you with deep respect for the history and traditions of my political party. But it is clear to all Americans that something is out of kilter in our great republic.... Seldom has the case for an inspiring new political ethic been more compelling. And seldom has an emerging leader so matched the needs of the moment.... I stand before you proud of my party's contributions to American history but, as a citizen, proud as well of the good judgment of good people in this good party, in nominating a transcending candidate, an individual whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great president: the senator from Abraham Lincoln's state -- Barack Obama.... This is not a time for politics as usual... Obama will recapture the American dream and be a truly great president."

Former Iowa Rep. Jim Leach, was a leading Republican moderate for 30 years. He is still a well respected Republican - not some wack-job Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. He knows how important it is to end the destruction that has been caused by the party he once loved and felt it his duty to this country to speak out:

The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts.

I realize he was not the most dynamic of speakers and he looked really, really uncomfortable, but he presented a well-reasoned, articulate argument to his fellow republicans that I wish would have gotten some play in the news. Maybe it would have given some of the moderate, middle class republicans that aren't really happen with McBush something more to think about.

Just a couple of hours Hillary Clinton will get on stage and end the suspense. The pundits are all giddy with the anticipation of the big speech. They are all asking gleefully the same freaking questions over and over: "Is Hillary over it"..."Will she deliver" and "what kinds of chaos are the protesters / PUMAs / Clinton's planning?"

I wish the "news" would do just do their damn job instead of continually making asses of themselves with their bullshit meme that Obama has a problem with women voters. They keep finding the most moronic women they can to make their case that the party is divided:

I know that we really need every vote we can get, but quite frankly, why in the hell would we want these idiots in our party. These are either some of the most ignorant voters in the country or actors paid by the RNC to disrupt to convention.

I really hope that everyone took the time yesterday to watch Michelle Obama's speech at the convention. What an absolutely amazing woman she is. She was so elegant and graceful and brilliant. And what strength and faith she has to stand there and offer up to us the man that is her husband and father of her children, when just blocks away the FBI was busy questioning the men who set out the Denver to kill him.

How can anyone doubt that this family is real and that they love and have faith in the best of people and their country, is beyond me.

Rocky Mountain News is reporting:

Authorities are investigating a possible assassination plot against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

 At least four people have been arrested in connection with a possible plot to kill Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High, according to CBS4 News. The suspects are being held on either drug or weapons charges.

Aurora police arrested a longtime drug user Sunday afternoon during a routine traffic stop where the man was seen "weaving," sources said. Three possible other accomplices also were arrested, according to police.

Police found four weapons, including two high-powered, scoped rifles along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas.

I'm so glad really stupid, dangerous people - like Ted Bundy - are caught in a routine traffic stop because they can't follow simple rules of the road.

CBS4 reported one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle … sighted at 750 yards."

Law-enforcement sources told CBS4 that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."

These white supremacist...these domestic terrorist need to be punished to the fullest extent that the law allows.  Thank god they were stopped.  And do you know what else needs to stop immediately:  the bullshit meme that McCain is pushing in his ads like "The One" that paint Obama as the AntiChrist.  It's irresponsible.  It's dangerous.  It's repugnant.

• He has sucky taste in music and loves ABBA because he was a POW. 
• He admits to cheating on his first wife and leaving her for a bubbly, blond, heiress half his age, but you have absolutely no right to question the character of a POW.
• His "healthcare" plan sucks and you may die waiting for a doctor, but screw you...he was a POW .
• He skirted the rules of the faith-based forum at Saddleback Church...and what are you going to do about it...question the integrity of a POW?  How dare you!
• He can't remember how many houses he owned, but why should he have to..he was a POW.
• And what about the Keating Five/Savings and Loan Scandal that he was involved in that cost the American tax payers $160 Billion?  What nerve you have to bring that up!  It reminds him of the time he was a POW and why would you torture him by bringing back those memories!

Somebody should tell McCain that a Purple Heart and a Silver Star does not entitle you to the Presidency.  Nothing entitles you to the Presidency.  And being a POW is not a cloak of  invincibility.  A cheater is still a cheater - even if that cheater was a POW.  And we, as citizens of this country, have every right to question his character...especially after the eight years of torture we have just endured.

One of my loyal readers asked about Ron Paul. I'm not sure if he was serious, but here are my thoughts on Ron Paul. He is definitely outside of the box - but not in a good way. Sure his forceful, eloquent anti-war rhetoric sticks out like a sore thumb from the yammerings of the other republicans, but he has a lot of truly crazy ultra conservative viewpoints:

He is against any environmental regulations. He is another oil man. His abysmal record on the environment is driven in large measure by his love of oil: in the 109th Congress alone, he voted to voted allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to shield oil companies from MTBE contamination lawsuits, against increasing gas mileage standards, to allow new offshore drilling, and to stop making oil companies pay royalties to the government for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

He wants to overturn Roe vs Wade. He wants to criminalize women and their doctors for murder, so he introduced a bill that would define life as being at conception. He also is against stem cell research.

He wants to abolish social security.

Say goodbye to funding for public education. He wants to abolish the Department of Education. He believes children should be taught through home schooling & private school via tax write-offs.

He marches in lock-step with the xenophobic right wing on immigration. He even proposed a bill that would repeal the fourteenth Amendment. He wants to criminalize doctors that treat illegal immigrants.

He is an extreme racist. I think he makes David Duke look like a saint. That’s why his biggest supports are the KKK and Neo-Nazi groups. He has voted against the Civil Rights Act and the Voters Right Act.

He is an extreme homophobe. He equates homosexuality with sexual deviance. Doesn’t believe that gay people should be able to serve in the military, or adopt children or have any other rights at all.

He does not believe in the Separation of Church and State.

That's not the change I'm looking for. In fact, it seems more of the same. But if you really think that he is the answer, you can join other like-minded followers in "Paulville". Seems appropriate that it's located in Texas with the rest of the wack jobs!

So... there's some waffling among my friends. Who did you think he should have picked? Hillary? Bayh? Tim Kaine? Richardson? Someone totally unknown? Just curious. I think he did the right thing. Sure it would have been cool if he found someone that fit the bill that was totally off the radar. It would have at least made the traditional media look dumb.

But still...I’m really ecstatic about Obama’s choice. I think he brings a lot to the ticket and is a perfect complement to Obama. Does he have a perfect voting record? No. There are votes that he made that I don’t agree with. The Bankruptcy bill is one and so was his initial vote on the war, which he has said was a mistake. But he has done a lot of good for progressive causes and for protecting the people of this country:

Women/Health/Family: He authored the Violence against Women Act. He has fought to protect Roe vs. Wade. He supports Title X which funds the family planning program that provides information, services, support, and research for family planning. He sponsored the Fair Pay Restoration Act to overturn a Supreme Court decision that makes it more difficult for women to bring pay discrimination cases. He co-sponsored the bill increasing the federal minimum wage to $7.25. He helped author the Family and Medical leave act to give families up to twelve weeks leave without losing their jobs. He sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). He has fought to allow Medicaid to provide home- and community-based support services needed by disabled individuals to remain out of institutions. He also fought to allow low-income families with disabled children to buy into the Medicaid program.

Education: He authored College ACCESS legislation that would increase the Pell Grant to $6,300 and also provide families with a tax credit up to 12,000 over a four year college career. Of course this is currently being blocked by Republicans. He co-sponsored the original Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which has enabled millions of children with disabilities to have equal educational opportunities. You know – like my children who have IEP because of their disabilities. He co-authored KIDS 2000, a program which established a public/private partnership to provide computer centers and internet access in schools. He co-authored cosponsored the Facilitating Outstanding Classrooms Using Size Reduction (FOCUS) Act, which would provide $2 billion in funding to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size, particularly in the
early grades.

Crime and Civil Rights: He authored the COPS Program and fought to put an additional 100,000 police on the streets to make them safer. He authored the bill to establish an FBI registry of sexual offenders. He sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit job discrimination of any kind. He sponsored the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand federal and state coordination to fight hate crimes. He authored an expansion of the Voting Rights Act that helps protect minorities. He has fought for paper trials in the voting booths so that elections won’t be stolen again.

Listen, I can go on and on about his record, but to be honest, I don’t think it is about his record or his experience. In fact, I haven’t even touched on what are known to be his strong points – Defense, Veterans rights, Labor Rights, and Foreign Affairs. Neither did Obama or Biden in their speeches today. The fact is Obama needs him to be the attack dog. Obama needs him to be his ambassador to blue collar America. He may be little inarticulate and prone to putting his foot in his mouth, but that is the appeal. He is a “regular” guy. Yes, he’s an old white guy. Yes, he’s spent his whole life in public service. But unlike most politicians, he has spent his time actually doing his job and not hobnobbing with lobbyist for golf trips and special favors (unlike McCain). The man has a total worth of $100,000. He has not used his position for power and greed. He is a true public servant. There’s nothing pretentious about him. In fact, look at how the media is fawning over him talking about his "American story." About how he is a wonderful family man who takes the train home every day to Wilmington. About how he lost his wife and daughter. About how is a fighter and not afraid to get in the mud.

And a word about the primaries: Every single candidate in the democratic primary bashed Obama and bashed each other, as did all of their surrogates’. That is what happens during primaries. You try to make the other guy look weak or evil. The voters didn't buy it. The McCain campaign had an ad ready to go for whatever person Obama decided to go with. It’s no surprise. Do you remember during the 1980 primaries when Bush Sr. attacked Reagan and accused him of using “voodoo economics’? That was used against him and yet he was chosen as the VP. Or an even better example…what about this years republican primary? Romney ripped on McCain over his lack of economic experience and vowed never to run with him because he would be an awful president and McCain literally called Romney a pig and accused Romney of a "wholesale deception of voters". Guess who is currently #1 on McCain’s VP list?

Biden is likable. But yes, he is imperfect. Even so, he brings a lot to the table. He appeals to the rust belt. He appeals to the working class. He appeals to the elderly. He will help shore up more of Hillary’s people and will secure Pennsylvania. He is a strong pick…and again…I’m really happy with it. Obama did what he needed to do. That was to pick someone that would help him win the Presidency, so that he can advance the causes and changes that are needed in America.

There will be change. I have no doubt about it – even with the old white guy on the ticket. Obama is still about ending the war and preventing more. He is still about saving social security. He is still about advancing clean energies and reducing oil dependence. He is still about improving healthcare for everyone. He is still about appointing Supreme Court Judges that will protect women’s rights. He is stilling about restoring our reputation around the world. He is still about transperency in government. He is still about change.

2:38am.  That's when I got my text message. I was thinking how poetic it would be if he sent it out at exactly 3am, but maybe that would have been viewed as a slap in the face to Hillary. Anyway...I can't wait until people really get to know Joe. And I can't wait to see him at the debate! He is a little prone to gaffes, but he knows his stuff, especially on foreign affairs. This is going to be fun! 

People worth over $5 Million that is.

 9/26 - The first debate will be at the University of Mississippi.  The focus will be on foreign policy and national security. The candidates will stand at podiums and the debate will include nine, nine-minute segments where each candidate will have two minutes to speak and then five minutes for debate. Jim Lehrer will moderate.

10/7 - The second debate will be at Belmont University (in Nashville).  This one will be a town hall style forum where questions will come from the audience and on-line viewers. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to questions, and it will not be topic-specific. Tom Brokaw will moderate.

10/15 - The third debate will be at Hofstra University (New York) and  will focus on domestic and economic policy. The candidates will be seated at a table, and the question format will be the same as the first debate, with nine, nine-minute segments. Bob Schieffer will moderate.

Not sure the first debate will really be the best format for Obama, but he should do great at the other two.  He will surely blow McBush away on domestic and economic policy at the third debate.  I'm glad that one is last. 

There will also be a VP debate moderated by Gwin Ifill on 10/2.   And I know there is less than 36 hours until we find out who our VP will be, but the waiting is KILLING ME! Can you imagine Joe Biden (yes, I thinkg it will be Joe) shredding Tom Pawlenty?  That would be soooo awsome!  If only I would get that damn text message from the campaign!  GIVE IT UP ALREADY!  STOP TEASING ME!  I'm tired of sleeping with my cell phone next the me in bed!

From today's Politico:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M.

According to Newsweek the answer is eight houses.  No wonder why Cindy says that the only way to get around is by private jet.  With so many houses to keep up with they certainly can't be expected to have to sit in traffic with the common man getting to them all.  Oh, that's right!  The McCains have servants for all of that anyway.  Servants that they paid $273,000.00 to just last year. 

But seriously, how rich do you have to be, or how cognitively impaired, to not remember how many homes you have?  Poor, Poor, John Sidney McCain the Third.  So much to keep straight.

McCain’s comments came four days after he initially told Pastor Rick Warren during a faith forum on Sunday his threshold for considering someone rich is $5 million. 

 - And Obama is the out of touch "elitist".

Do you support Bush today more than you did four years ago?  John McCain does.  Whole-heartedly. 100% of the time.  What a maverick!

Is this nightmare even going to end? I am so tired of this wing nut administration pushing its kooky, backwards, chauvinistic ideology on us. The latest is that the Department of Health and Human Services has decided to define the pill and IUD’s as abortion methods under its new rule. That’s right. Any woman trying to responsibly prevent an unwanted pregnancy is an abortionist according to the United States government. The new rule also states that it would “deny federal money to healthcare centers that punish workers who refuse to take part in anything from a clinical abortion to prescribing birth control pills.” The rule would also allow “insurers that get federal money to drop their coverage of contraceptives.” WTF! Where is the outrage from the Hillary-supporting feminist? Where is Emily’s list and why aren’t they all screaming at the top of their lungs?

Here's what I want to know - are men who wear condoms committing abortion too? What about male masturbation? Aren’t those both acts that deny the procreation of another little miracle life to populate the pews at fundie churches??

Margaret Atwood predicted this.

Back in the mid nineties everyone was talking about this “great” book called Left Behind. I’m very particular about what I read, so I wasn’t interested in it. Unfortunately, at one point it was assigned to the book club I was in. Let me summarize the plot for anyone who has been fortunate enough not to have read it: the Rapture has come so, all the true believer go to see God, while those left behind get the worst of it. They are stuck on earth, being lead by a man named Nicholae who is a young, charismatic and forceful politician that rises from nowhere to become the corrupt, evil uniter of a post-rapture world. He is the Antichrist.

Do you see where I am going? McCain is defining Obama as Nicholae the Antichrist. It’s a dog whistler to all nut job evangelists that the Rapture is coming!

Think I’m crazy and really reaching here? The same day McCain released this ad, the Right-wing Christian Evangelical leader Hal Lindsey, who popularized the modern, Fundamentalist Christian interpretation of the Book of Revelations and the Apocalypse, wrote this:

Obama's world tour provided a foretaste of the reception he can expect to receive.

He will probably also stand in some European capital, addressing the people of the world and telling them that he is the one that they have been waiting for. And he can expect as wildly enthusiastic a greeting as Obama got in Berlin.

The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance.

Think it is a coincidence? I don’t. And it is dangerous. There are too many unbalanced religious freaks out there that will believe this crap. And put yourself in their heads. If you are a true believer and the Antichrist has come to end the world, what with you do?