Positive Obama thread

I read in the paper today that there was an interview with Palin's mother -in-law this week in which the mother in law states.....

"I don't know what she brings to the table except that she is a woman and is a conservative, but she is a quick study".....

Got a love it. 

No doubt she's an expert on U.S.-North Pole relations too.  And now more irony . . . Her own daughter demonstrates what happens when you don't believe in sex education and push an abstinence-only agenda.  Well, I guess as long as you're not on welfare, you can have as many kids out-of-wedlock as you want and still be righteous.  But won't that child need a father in its life to be normal?  The religious right keeps telling us that single women and gay couples can't raise healthy children because without both a mother and father, they'll end up as unhappy deviants.        

Obama is doing the right thing re Gustav.  He's got the organization to get help and raise money if needed.  Hope it won't be needed.

http://www.inews3.com/topstory.php?id=426574687c53696c7665726d616e

too cute

Not to talk trash, as we all have stories in the family that we would not be proud to share with the world, but this story is getting stranger and stranger by the minute! 

"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby," she and her husband said in a statement.  [emphasis mine]

I thought she was anti-choice, but she clearly sees her daughter as having a choice...

And Sarah got on a plane from Texas to Alaska after her water broke? 

Like so many hail mary passes, this decision was reckless, desperate, and clearly not thought out in advance.

McCain is toast.

i wonder if sarah would have been the vp choice if she was a man? mmm..

looks like the republican convention is going to be a bit of a non event with some people relieved that bush will be a non appearance...

sad to see ex nyc mayor and other senior republicans have to defend sarah as someone ready to step into the presidency ...

scarey too...

today i signed up to work the phones for the obama campaign and will be looking to do more.

i am thrilled to see the democratic party come together like it is.

gustav looks to be sparing new orleans enter hanna.... looks like hurricane season os going out with a bang this year... looks like bush and mccain are looking at gustav as a redo for katrina ...

have a good one ladies...! 

The DUI was over 20 years ago, when he was 22, so he gets a "young-and-foolish" pass on that one.

But the McCain campaign misled the press about the vetting process, saying it had done an FBI background check and thorough investigation of her various ventures in Alaska.  It sounds like his staff googled her and that's about it.  We know he only met her once. 

More evidence is emerging to suggest a less-than-thorough vetting of Palin. Marc Ambinder reported on Monday that, contrary to its prior claim, the McCain campaign did not conduct an FBI background check on the governor. Such a check would be against bureau policy. And as NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported, Republican lawyers are just now (i.e. currently) doing a vet of Palin up in Alaska.

What a way to demonstrate your judgment and leadership skills.  Be impulsive with your first big (and in his case, really big) decision.  This is what years of experience gets you?  I think that's the point Obama was trying to make the other night . . . that just because you're old, doesn't mean you're wise.        

Let's hope Laura's cartoon comes true!

I know it's becoming like shooting fish in a barrel, but can you guys absorb one more? . . . 

Early this year, an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News ripped into Gov. Sarah Palin's appearance on a morning "shock jock" radio show as "plain and simple one of the most unprofessional, childish and inexcusable performances I've ever seen from a politician."

So what happened? Palin has repeatedly feuded with the state's Senate president, Lyda Green, over a wide range of legislation. Last January, Palin appeared on "The Bob and Mark Show," whose host Bob Lester despises Green. That's when the trouble started:

Early on in the conversation before Palin started to crack up, Lester referred to Sen. Green as a jealous woman and a cancer. Palin, who knows full well Lyda Green is a cancer survivor, didn't do what any decent person would do, say, "Bob, that's going too far."

But as the conversation moved on, Lester intensified his attack on Green.

Lester questioned Green's motherhood, asking Palin if the senator cares about her own kids. Palin laughs.

Then Lester clearly sets the stage for what he is about to say by warning his large audience and Palin. He says, "Governor you can't say this but I will, Lyda Green is a cancer and a b----." Palin laughs for the second time.

What were teenage boys thinking when they heard the governor laugh at someone being called a b----? How about the teenage girls who look up to Palin. What did they think when they heard her laugh?

But there is more. Lester then describes Green's chair as big and cushy. A clear reference to the senator's weight. Palin laughs a third time. She's just having a grand old time.

Palin was clearly enjoying every second of Lester's vicious attack on her political rival.

I heard the audio clip from the interview and I would describe her laughter as giggling.  And she ends the interview by telling this guy she'd be honored to have him as a guest.  One heartbeat away from the presidency ladies.        

I was truly shocked that McCain would make such a bad decision of VP picking. As soon as I heard her say she was surprised to be picked, because afterall, "I'm just a soccer mom." I don't see the Hillary voters changing parties for this ticket. Dems are a lot smarter than that!

Obama campaign can surely win without "attacking" the 17 year old pregnant daughter. Truly sorry for the family to have to suffer the press pushing this story in the media circus. It's totally unnecessary and I'm glad Obama is calling the press on it. It also wastes time that could be spent on the issues--economy, gas prices, bush's folly of war, racism.

I'm sorry for the daughter also, who will be a mother and wife even before she graduates from high school. It just goes to show that no matter how well we parents think we are raising our children, these little kids can throw us for a loop. I think that Palin thinks that she can handle raising her 5 children and be VP in the WH. It means that she will have to make sure she has top-notch nannies to manage so her children are raised as she wants them to be raised. Isn't that what all these people do--whether they are in government or celebrities? It's a different life than we women down in the trenches have lived and experienced! I don't think she was a good choice for McCain to make (and I thought I saw an interview on CNN where Rove was rather surprised by McC's choice--or did I imagine that?); but heck, why not be glad he did, as this will give Obama more votes.

And I'm glad Bush finally got the message--suppose the approval rating that's in the toilet might have helped him make the right decision about Gustav and the South--let's see if he follows through. Too bad it took him almost 8 years to get something almost right! But, could we have expected more from a C-student??

It's been a sticky point in our discussions out here: How the cutting back on the Repub convention, and the Repub support for the people affected by the hurricane will or will not change people's minds about the candidates and how to vote?

And I don't think Obama lost much because McC named his Veep last Friday--don't think it took much away from the DNC at all--except maybe for those of us who thought, is this man working with a full deck?

At this point, it is what it is. I hope Obama will squelch this idea that Palin has more experience than he does. Please. Let's compare the top ticket holders--Pres candidate to Pres candidate. The McCain strategists won't answer the question of what experience Palin brings to the ticket? They just sidestep to saying she has more than Obama!! Campbell Brown tried for 5 minutes to get the McCain spokesman to cite the national decisions she has made that show her experience at the national level. He couldn't do it. No matter how she asked it, all he could do was blast Obama. And I thought McCain was going to run a "clean" campaign? Wha't up with that?

My SIL and her wife are sending more money to Obama--upping the ante as soon as they heard the news about Palin. They are disgusted that the Repubs would put up someone so inexperienced. I won't even tell you what we talked about regarding Palin's desire to have Creationism taught in the schools. No way! I certainly don't see it as a "theory." It comes from a bunch of stories handed down over the ages--first by word of mouth (ever play the telephone game--what you start with is not what you end with), and eventually written down--as the tales told by old men--and now called the bible. We need to keep religion separate IMHO. And what's with the prayers at the conventions? Are they including other religions--those that aren't of a particular "christian" faith? Seems like there's a bit of discrimination going on at both conventions. So much needs to change.

Again, on the other threads is the fear of being called a racist. Over and over again. Reminds me of James Baldwin's words: "These 'innocent people' are trapped in a history they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it."

So appropriate, don'tcha think? 

I hadn't hear that clip.  She sounds like a real twit. 

Sarah, 44, had her water unexpectedly break (just a slow leak of amniotic fluid, she shared) while attending an energy conference in Texas, but checked in with her doctor, was able to stay, deliver a 30 minute speech, and then get on a plane to return to her home state in time for the delivery (which ended up needing to be induced) early this morning.

I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to travel had I been fully engaged in labor.  After four kids I knew what labor felt like, and I wasn't in labor.

Sarah said that while she did not tell the pilot or flight attendants that she was 36 weeks along, she did not hide her condition either

Palin's pregnant daughter is a distraction.  It's ironic, in my view, but not what voters or the media should be focusing on.  Instead they should be looking at Palin's overall judgment, her leadership style and her specific political views.  It's obvious that she's very rightwing and very partisan where Alaska is concerned.  As late as 1996, she was an active member of a fringe "Alaska-first" independent state rights party, some of whose members support secession.  She didn't become a Republican until she ran for mayor.  She's another one of those rightwingers who doesn't believe in the concept of the federal government and has no business aspiring to be a leader of it.  But the Repugs will make her out to be a great American while questioning Obama's patriotism.  The fact that Obama taught the Constitution is totally lost on them.  If he doesn't wear a flag lapel pin, he must hate America.   

By the time she left her mayoral office, the town's little budget was over 1 million dollars in the red because she insisted on building a sports arena without adequate funding.  Before she was against the Bridge to Nowhere, she was for it.  Before she was against corrupt Ted Stevens, she was for him, and then she was for him again.  She's not a maverick any more than McCain is, she's an opportunist.

I love that when Biden was told that Rove called him a blowhard doofus in public, Biden responded that Rove was a "great American."  Obama and Biden are staying above the fray, where they belong.  

<<I like when republicans say her "personal story" will compel people to vote for her--- HUH?>>

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090103148.html?hpid=topnews

.....

republicans probably are hoping her personal story will be compelling to undecided voters because her professional story is really taking a beating .

what was mccain thinking? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RN5xbWtNSU

<<i think he was being generous>>

i totally agree ...