Throw Your Hatred Down

And I’m glad I check my Bulk Mail inbox. I received an email about the Center for American Progress’s new website. I found a great blog entry about Stephanopolous and Gibson. It turns out that lil’ Georgie boy actually received some tips the day before the debate from Sean Hannity.

You know, a “smug, elitist grin” spreads across my face every time I hear someone scrutinizing Barack’s connections, political and otherwise. Here’s my first level of amusement: what politician doesn’t have a few “black sheep”? Secondly, with a documented upwards 8% of Americans unwillingly to support a candidate based upon race, how do you expect a Black man to rise as far as he’s risen without a few fast moves? Third, name one politician of note who’s made progress without dealing with unscrupulous characters.

So, if my disdain for the run-of-the-mill muckraking and party divisiveness makes me an elitist, so be it. I’d rather be considered so than cling to my guns and religion…

I’m generally a fan of the BBC, but I’m annoyed when they run headlines like Clinton ‘Best to take on McCain’. Sure, you’ve got quotations around that, but it’s still misleading. Of course SHE thinks she’s better equipped to take on McCain or she wouldn’t be running. Oh wait, yes she would; she feels entitled…

Perhaps there isn’t as huge of a gap between Clinton and McCain as even I’d thought. This is a disturbing statement to make on any day let alone a voting day.

But, I would think this would be particularly insulting to the Tibetan people and to say that they have suffered in recent years is an understatement.

As far as “religious leaders” go, I’d rank (and I’m sure most would) the Dalai Lama in the highest esteem. So, pardon me if I am a little more inclined to believe the Dalai Lama rather than the Chinese government.

This is bad news!

A judge has upheld the issuance of Indiana license plates bearing the message “In God We Trust,” dismissing a constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Except I don’t think you can chalk up my sentiments about last night’s debate to senility/overall aged crankiness…

However, please accept my gripes from last night as though I were your wise-ish neighborhood curmudgeon.

• Gibson and Stephanopolous lobbed softballs to a smug, smiling Hillary all-night-long
• When Obama attempted to respond, the “moderators” cut him off as though they were police interrogators
• Though most softballs were aimed at Hillary, a good many were served up ride and ready for McCain. His staffers are going to be watching last night’s debate over and over with great delight.
• Obama, all attacks aside, did a remarkable job on damage control. He also made a fantastic statement: Democrats don’t have a monopoly on good ideas. True, and bonus points for swing voters.
• Side note: the young people are going to be out in droves to vote for Obama in Bloomington. On Facebook alone Obama has a 7-1 edge over Clinton.
• The Democratic party can’t afford any more attacks from the Clinton Campaign. They are a sinking ship taking down the whole party at this point.
• Obama made excellent points regarding the distraction questions. Why does it matter if someone he happens to serve on a committee amongst or speak to on the street goes on to make inflammatory comments about anything in particular?
• I can’t believe we are still talking about the damn flag pin.
• This country’s image is deeply in the shitter. Who better to repair it than Obama? Though he is shorter on experience, his background and views are clearly the most diverse. And let’s face it, he’ll garner much more international respect. He is not, as the media loves to portray him, some kind of Jesus Cult figure. He is, in fact, a tremendous candidate with mountains of grassroot support.

But the candidate with a real Mark Penn issue is McCain, whose key consultant, Rick Davis, is a partner in a consulting and lobbying firm that has a long, lucrative relationship with the pro-Putin, anti-western, and organized-crime-linked side of the running power struggle in Ukraine; Davis even reportedly introduced McCain to one Ukrainian billionaire power broker in Switzerland a couple of years ago, though McCain backs the other side of the conflict.

-Huffington Post

Didn’t John McCain used to be anti-torture? Then why is he applauding it now?

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.
4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”
5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.
6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.
7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.