Positive Obama thread

Don't think I'm going to watch SNL this week.  I'm a little tired of the mean-by-day, nice-by-night routine of the GOP (to paraphrase Rachel).  Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade and leave it at that. 

The other day some pundit -- Thom Hartman I think -- asked his listeners to imagine how America would react to Obama if his life were anything like McCain's and Palin's.  What if it were Obama who had the out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy in his family, the ethics violations, the many affairs, the abandoning of the disabled wife, the Keating Five disgrace, and the wife who was an addict and stole drugs from a charity . . . Would Obama have even been in the race?  No, obviously not, because he would have been painted by white America as a typically corrupt person of color.  Even now, he has to defend himself against ridiculous accusations of having terrorist pals, practicing the wrong religion, and being too "street."  How anyone can say that's not racist is beyond me.  But as you say Grace, sometimes something that obvious is just too hard to see.

McCain condemns robocalls as hateful when they're used against him, but allows them to be done in his name when they're for him.  How convenient.  Here's the robocall Obama could send out:

G. Gordon Liddy, Raffaello Follieri, Jim Hensley, Charles Keating, Joseph Bonnano, and Wayne Drizin.  What do these convicted felons, Mafia bosses and domestic terrorists have in common?  John McCain.  We just wanted you to know. 

It's my turn.  I have not read many posts.  But I must say many of you surprise me.  It's like being stabbed in the back.  But you are still welcome on the republican (not repug) thread even if we are not welcome here. 

Ya know, I live in Chicago and have since the day I was born.  And I would agree that there was more violence in the poor neighborhoods this past Summer than I can ever remember.  To blame that on Obama is just silly.  It was devastating to wake up every morning and hear that another child was killed.  This is not a problem that one person can solve.  We need better education and we need better housing.  This is not unique to Chicago, we see it all over the country.  What better way to reach out to the youth of this country, than by giving them some hope.  That yes, many can be successful if given the chance.  There are way too many woman weeping tonight because they lost a child to violence.

I posted on this thread last week, that we had a hate crime right here at Elmhurst College.  It was shocking and disgusting.  Low and behold - the girl who claimed the hate crime was lying!  So I felt I had to get the record straight.

Shirley:  I made my attempts to communicate on the republican thread.  Never said a word about Obama.  My posts were always bipartisan.  I found the comments made to me about bad spelling and sentences not written in the right context to be offensive.  And even more so because it is written by one of those gals who have been following me around...just using a new alias.  I have been followed and made fun of because of my spelling for almost a year now.  That person wrote a post saying how surprised she is at how often things are not spelled correctly on these boards.  I found that an insult to every breast cancer survivor who comes here for support.  So I would say no, I wasn't welcomed there and wont go back.  And yes, I'm having an awful time with this site all over the place.  Its very slow - I thought it was my computer cause I need a new one.  See the quote below.  It wasnt necessary in my view. 

"Wonderful spouse, I was correcting the spelling I've seen all over the boards. In fact, it might be a bit suspicious about why I would know this???"

This has nothing to do with you Shirley.  You have always been kind to me and I consider you a friend.  I don't think anyone should be made to feel unwelcomed anywhere.

Donna:  Hi to you.  It is significant that the Tribune has endorsed Obama.  They have never endorsed a Democrat in their whole existence which is well over 100 years.  It was really big news here in Chicago.  I saw a reporter interviewing an executive from the tribune last night and he actually said Palin played a big roll in their decision.  Guess there are alot of us out there who are afraid that she could be put in the position of President.  McCain has made many mistakes in this campaign.  He changes his mind all the time.  By choosing Palin he demonstrated his poor decision making skills.  He shows his anger and becomes emotional.

Cherryl:  Good to see you.  I have to say it is impossible to have a civil conversation over there.   I have learned my lesson and when I want to make an apple pie, will come here instead.

Amy:  I liked your comment about the olive branch.

Ladysuz:  The pictures you posted gave me goose bumps.  I want one of those Momma for Obama T-shirts.  You mom looked so cute holding up that banner at the rally.  Sadly, you look way to young to be having to deal with this breast cancer journey.  Anyways cool pictures and you have photographed a moment in history with you and your mom.

Grace:  I watched Maddows show last night.  Call me naive.  My stomach turned upside down thinking that this whole voter fraud thing could be a set up by Bush and McCain.  It seems that if Republicans Candidates can't win by popular vote - then they will just steal it.  The smell of desperation coming from McCain's camp is getting stronger - smells like a skunk to me.

Blue:  Its always good to see you.  My tongue is hanging out because of the sexy picture of Jim Morrison.  My DH felt the same way you do.  He didn't like either candidate and up until the last debate didn't know who he was voting for or if he would vote at all.  He finally has said he will be voting for Obama.  Truly based on all the negativity that has come from McCain and his campaign strategies.  If McCain is a nice guy - and I used to think he was, he would not be sending out these terrorist messages filled with fear.  God forbid he should have to discuss a serious issue with a world leader.  He wouldn't be able to control his anger.

LA and G:  I will not be watching SNL tonight either.  It would just make me want to throw up.  I can't watch Palin anymore without throwing something.  I was watching the Letterman show last night and one of his guests was Tina Fey.  She said that SNL didn't invite Palin - she invited herself.  Blah blah blah - purty little whipper snapper she is. 

Nicki

what is sad, that is my hometown, they are the most predjudiced crowd of people I have ever seen that was awful!

Ok, if you all want to see the voter rules in Ohio I posted them on the other thread from the Ohio Board of Elections.  You MUST be a resident of the state fo 30 days and be able to prove it.  They are making so many false claims about ohio its ridiculous.  We just got voting reminder cards in the mail.  Any that come back undelieverable, those names get deleted from the official voting record and won't be able to vote if they try.  We have to sign a paper that saves our signature from last year as well as present out ID.  I really don't think you can have voter fraud easily in Ohio.

As I was telling them the surge hasn't succeeded but that fact is being hidden.  My son has to fight in major battles every day.  He cannot go to the bathroom without taking his weapon with him because he is the target of snipers.  The people do not want us there.  It is just awful!  I can't wait to get my son home.  I know what he tells me and what he says happens and I tend to believe him over a lying politician to get his way.

Now the McCain speech today.  The man had two hit sentences and now thats all we hear.  I am so tired of "if you wanted to run against bush you should have run 4 years ago" and "joe the plumber".  Kind of ironic that Joe's real name is Sam, go figure?????  I really want this election overwith before I lose friends.

I do believe some idiot is going to try and assainate Obama if he makes it all the way

Obama has stated over and over again, if we want the same Bush policies for the next 4 years, then vote for McCain. McCain's advisors change the verbage, and he comes out with that little zinger about running against Bush 4 years ago, and that he's not Bush. Well, hello!!! He thinks the American public is stupid (and I guess some are if they believe him). I'm so tired of his speeches including changes in sentence structure to infer that Obama said something else. I'm glad Obama isn't spending his time "correcting" McCain--McCain does enough of that in his condescending manner during a debate w/Obama.

I too won't be watching SNL. Palin's voice is getting more strident and shrewish. Hurts my eardrums!

We keep seeing those signs at McCain rallies showing Country First. When will they dump those--biggest lie out there--if that were true McCain wouldn't let the negative ads run against Obama. McCain says one thing and does another!

I thought Cindy's income for last year was $10 Mil, and she paid $4 mil in taxes. Did I get that wrong?

My impression is that the media is giving a little more attention to McCain now, and attempting to be less biased. At least that is what I see when I flip through the channels.

LuAnn--I think many of us here fear that. I hope the Secret Service are on hyper alert at all times. We need Obama in office now, otherwise I fear the demise of the US. 

chemosabi wrote:    

I found the comments made to me about bad spelling and sentences not written in the right context to be offensive.  And even more so because it is written by one of those gals who have been following me around...just using a new alias.  

Nicki, I remember the comment because IBC and I talked about our spelling being not always so good.  Hell, sometimes I can't spell something simple...brain fog...chemo whatever, or senior moments.  I know you stated on another thread that you were being harassed.  I'm sorry for that, but I don't believe anyone on our thread has made you feel unwelcome except for whomever you're referring to.  I really didn't realize was talking about these boards.  I'm not always quickest to catch some things.

Don't let one person keep you away.

Shirley:  Ha ha - ok, I will come over and make some homemade apple pie lol.  Love the aroma when it's baking in the house.

Nicki 

Shirley, speaking just for myself, when I talk about the racism of the other side, I'm not referring to anyone in particular on the other thread.  I don't read the GOP thread that often and I don't know who posts what.  There were a couple of recent posts there that were insensitive, and I think it's right that they were called out and deleted.  Many, many of us were offended and when that many of us complain, then I think it's fair to say that the posts were problematic.  If anyone has ongoing beefs with particular people, personally I think it should handled through PMs, not on the public thread.  Just my opinion.

I think that as soon as McCain made his campaign about instilling fear and doubt about Obama instead of promoting himself and talking issues, racism was bound to crop up.  People are naturally going to attack the "otherness" of their opponent (and let's face it, there aren't a whole lot of African Americans in the GOP) especially as their frustrations rise.  The evidence is there in the videos and in other images and props like the Obama bucks.  Those are the most obvious cases, but I think there's a more subtle strain that runs through a lot of the GOP rhetoric.  It's unfortunate because I know that the majority of Republicans aren't racist.  And no one is above prejudice.  We all are capable of it.

Ladysuz, your mom's an inspiration.  Tell her I said so!

Sam52: I'm always fascinated to get impressions from outsiders.  I think because the campaign is soooo long and we have a 24-7 news cycle, really dumb things get a lot of focus.  After Bush, though, people are looking more carefully at personality and worldviews.  I saw Tony Blair doing an interview recently and was dismayed that he's still sticking up for Bush, albeit somewhat limply.  He looks so much older and worn down now.

There was an article in the LA Times today about a group called Young Political Majors (YPM) that was hired by the GOP to register voters.  Turns out, what they were really doing was tricking Democrats into re-registering as Republicans.  They would have petitions about increasing prison time for child molesters and ask people to sign it, without telling the people they were registering for the GOP.  Or they would tell people that they couldn't sign the petition unless they registered for the GOP.  People would get material from the GOP later, and not get anything the DNC as a result.  And when they would show up to vote in the primaries, they couldn't vote for the Democrat because they were registered as Republican.  They've done this in California, Massachusetts and Florida.  And there have been civil lawsuits filed against them in Arizona.  This is real voter suppression.  So next time someone says ACORN, just yell back YPM!      

Looking forward to hearing Colin Powell's endorsement tomorrow.                    

PSK07: great points.  A lot has been said recently about how the distribution of wealth in this country now is like it was in 1929--5% of Americans control most of the wealth.  Why do people like Joe the Plumber want to protect the robber barons?  Makes no sense to me.

Madalyn: Yeah, the whole ACORN thing is a tempest in a teapot.  Mickey Mouse isn't going to show up to vote.  There are kinds of checks in place.  I heard that in Ohio (I think it was Ohio) when they investigated the supposed voter fraud, they only found 4 cases out of 4 million votes cast.  I worry though that people who work at ACORN will be targeted for hate mail and threats.  Stirred up nuts can make much mischief.   

There's nothing inherently wrong with wealth. Bill Gates (Jr and Sr), Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos all come to mind. There are wealthy people on both sides of the aisle and not all of those people are good OR bad. They just 'are'.  Leverage caused the crash in 1929 - margin loans and such.

There is a very good article in this month's Vanity Fair by Joseph Stiglitz on the current economic situation. 

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/11/stiglitz200811

Good afternoon, ladies.

It's a gorgeous day here in the DFW area!  I am taking my parents out to see 'W' this afternoon and then dinner at the Japanese hibachi place that my dad loves.

I saw on the net that Obama was speaking to over 100K people at a rally in St Louis.  Simply amazing how the people are turning out for Obama.

Several neighbors have JM signs in their yards - I am tempted to put an Obama sign out in front of mine, but I truly fear rataliation in this climate of hate (especially in a state where guns are carried by so many people!)

Hopefully, as a country, we can start to heal soon after the election.  The dinner for Alfred Smith the other night was a refreshing sight - to see McCain and Obama laughing at eachother and themselves.  Very therapeutic.  Lord knows this country will needs lots of therapy after this brutally long election is over!