can the mccain campaign be any more negative?

So...did anyone watch Sarah Palin on SNL this weekend? I LOVE how she found time for SNL but can't make time for Meet the Press, This Week, Late Edition, or any of the Sunday morning politics shows.

Anyhoo, Palin and Co. have been working hard to appeal to Joe Six Pack, Joe the Plumber, and God-only-knows what Joe is next (and there's also, of course, Joe the Racist, who is never mentioned in these speeches but he's definitely there). The McCain campaign has been all about the politics of fear, casting Obama as 'the unknown', 'the other', the guy who goes 'pallin' around with terrorists'. Every time I hear McCain ask, "Who is Barack Obama?" I wonder, What ever happened to the Old McCain? You know, the one with integrity. He's been replaced by this man who has no problem inciting an angry mob with his campaign rhetoric.

Oh sure. McCain did denounce such reactions ONCE. Yup, just the one time. Oh, and he did mention during the debate that EVERY TIME this happens, he denounces it. Apparently, McCain, despite various news reports and videos on YouTube, thinks it only happened once. I know you've seen the videos. The ones that clearly show people yelling 'kill him!' when McCain brings up Obama's name. I have abolutely no problem with Rep. John Lewis's comments regarding McCain's campaign and the politics of race. None whatsoever. Why? Well, if anyone knows what kind of horrible things can come from an angry mob, it would be John Lewis.

Apparently, Obama is now a socialist because he wants to spread the wealth (sorry, GOP, but not all Americans have an equal shot at the American dream). And apparently, I'm a communist for supporting him. Yup, at a rally in Loudon County a few weeks ago, Joe McCain (John's bro) called Arlington and Alexandria, VA "communist country."  And so began the politics of division. As Gov. Palin would say, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" I happen to live in Arlington, VA and, seeing as that it's a pretty liberal county with pretty liberal policies and hardly any crime, I kinda like being a communist. And I have no qualms about voting for Obama. Communists for Obama!

Moreover, according to Palin, I am un-American. Why? Because I don't live in a small town.  Palin thinks that only small towns breed American values and send troops off to war to fight. How about we bring back all of those soldiers from large metropolitan areas then? I wonder how'd the conflict in Iraq would turn out then if only the 'real Americans' were out there to fight and who exactly would comprise the Surge.

Being 'American' is such a subjective description, but I'm pretty sure Palin's definition sucks because it alienates most of the country. Still, there goes the McCain campaign with their politics of division. By saying only small towns are pro-American, what does that imply about big cities? And seeing as that her husband was a card-carrying member of the Alaskan Independence Party, maybe she should be asking her partner how he feels about America before dismissing others as not pro-America.

We need someone who can reach across the aisle and work with the other side. McCain has burned so many bridges at this point, I don't think Dems would ever want to work with him again. If anything, McCain and Palin are constantly pointing out that which divides us as a country. Yeah, urban areas are different from rural areas. Liberals and conservatives have differing policies. But what would a McCain/Palin administration do about these differences? How would they bring us together?

Well, if their campaign is any indication, it appears they would only divide us further. And honestly, that is not the change America needs right now.

fox news as eloquent as sarah palin

From last night's post debate wrap up on Faux Fox News:

Tonight as those candidates debate, an army of internet fact checkers will be trying to separate fact from fiction, acting as judge and jury as to which candidate is telling the truth or a tall tale. While most of these sites are non-partisan, timely and useful, like Factcheck.org and Politifact, remember, they are uh...well, their facts are -- no one is checking the fact checkers. And their facts...unlike science...the facts are not irrefutable. And now to Washington.

So facts are refutable now, huh?

mccain and US troops/vets: friend or foe?

I could go on and on about last night's debate between Palin and Biden but I won't. Instead, I will focus on one topic of the debate.

While debating Iraq strategy, Palin said that Obama had voted against funding for troops. Biden said that was simply not true and that McCain had done so as well. Palin argued that McCain had done a lot for troops and veterans.

I already know that McCain voted against Jim Webb's (Virginia Senator--Dem) GI Bill that would expand benefits for vets. But someone who has claimed the following in regards to veterans--I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them--should probably take care of them, don't you think? Especially since McCain is a war veteran himself.

So, I needed to know McCain's real records in regards to the troops in Iraq and caring for our veterans. I did some searching and found an incredible post at VetVoice.com, the blog for VoteVets.org. Here are some highlights:

• McCain Voted At Least 28 Times Against Veterans' Benefits, Including Healthcare. Since arriving in the U.S. Senate in 1987, McCain has voted at least 28 times against ensuring important benefits for America's veterans, including providing adequate healthcare.
  
• McCain Opposed $500 Million for Counseling Services for Veterans with Mental Disorders. McCain voted against an amendment to appropriate $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, posttraumatic stress disorder or substance abuse.
  
• McCain Voted Against Adding More Than $400 Million for Veterans' Care. McCain was one of 13 Republicans to vote against providing an additional $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.

There's more. Trust.

Also, I love how someone who claims to support our troops apparently doesn't give a sh*t about them when they come back from war. You know, when they start to suffer from PTSD, anxiety, substance abuse, etc.

As far as troops go, here are some highlights:

• McCain voted Against Establishing a $1 Billion Trust Fund for Military Health Facilities. McCain voted against establishing a $1 billion trust fund to improve military health facilities by refusing to repeal tax cuts for those making more than $1 million a year.
  
• McCain voted against a ban on waterboarding--a form of torture--in a move that could eventually endanger American troops. According to ThinkProgress, "the Senate brought the Intelligence Authorization Bill to the floor, which contained a provision from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) establishing one interrogation standard across the government. The bill requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding." McCain voted against the bill.
  
• McCain Also Supported Outsourcing at Walter Reed. McCain opposed an amendment to prevent the outsourcing of 350 federal employee jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center--outsourcing that contributed to the scandalous treatment of veterans at Walter Reed that McCain called a "disgrace."
  
• McCain said it's "not too important" when U.S. troops leave Iraq. This exchange occurred on NBC's Today Show with Matt Lauer:

LAUER: If it's working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?
McCAIN: No, but that's not too important.

The waterboarding thing really gets to me. How can someone who was tortured in a time of war not be against waterboarding?

Again, there is definitely more. And sources for this info can be found at my source for this post.

I'm so over all the lying in McCain's campaign. It's getting pretty ridiculous.

palin: open mouth, insert foot, endorse obama

One day, I'm going to stop blogging about VP nominee Sarah Palin. But as long as she continues to appear on TV saying stupid things I am going to be more than happy to point them out.

Last night in the latest installment of Couric's month-long interview with Palin (seriously, will Katie ever stop talking to her?), Palin said this regarding Dem VP Nominee Sen. Joe Biden:

I’ve never met him before, but I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.

Joe Biden is 65. John McCain is 72. I'm assuming she's been hearing McCain's speeches since she was in her mother's womb.

Here is Katie Couric calling Palin out on that comment:

You have a 72-year-old running mate, is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden's been around awhile?

And Palin's response:

Oh no, it's nothing negative at all. He's got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we've been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years.

So basically, voters want new energy, a new face, and new ideas? Voters don't want all of that experience, all of those years in the Senate, and being a part of the Washington establishment crap.

Gosh, darn it. Sounds to me like she just described Barack Obama.

'gotcha' journalism and how the GOP must put an end to it

I see the Republicans have a new catch phrase. 'Gotcha' journalism. If you watched This Week with George Stephanopolous this past weekend (yeah, some people go to brunch; I spend my Sunday morning's absorbing political news for breakfast), McCain was the featured guest and Georgie asked McCain about an encounter poor, little Palin had with a VOTER (yes, voter...not a journalist, not a pundit, maybe not a blogger):



Here's a video of Palin's latest interview with Couric, this time with McCain as interview proctor (gotta keep those 'gotcha' moments to a minimum, you know):



And suddenly the term 'gotcha' journalism is born. From what I can gather, 'gotcha' journalism means that a media person asks a question which is meant to purposely stump the person they are interviewing. So, in this case, the voter stumped Palin on her foreign policy stance on Pakistan (who responded pretty much like so: hey, we've got to do what we need to do to protect America from terrorism--I believe this is memorized talking point #11). Kinda like how Katie Couric stumped Palin on foreign policy and the economy during her various interviews with her (still trying to figure out how the bailout will help health care reform and I'm hoping Palin will explain that during the debates). And how Charles Gibson did the same (but she can see Russia! From Alaska! And that's why she is experienced in foreign policy!).

Except the voter who shouted out the question to Palin is not a media person. He's not a newscaster or a journalist of any kind. Just your Average Joe with a question about a candidate's view on a particular policy. If the average voter can stump Sarah Palin, I think that says a lot about how little she knows about anything outside of the talking points she has so obviously memorized.

I have a suggestion for the McCain campaign. Since they are SO against 'gotcha' journalism that they even had to create a term for it, how about you just avoid it all together? If Sarah Palin were knowledgeable of the issues that any VP candidate would be expected to know, then you can avoid this whole 'gotcha' journalism phenomenon. It's that easy.

Basically, Palin needs to know what she's talking about. Since that has not been the case since she became the nominee, now she has to CRAM, BABY, CRAM! Hurry up and memorize those catch phrases, Sarah!

Since she's clearly NOT qualified to even be the VP nominee (let alone hold that office), those 'GOTCHA' moments are here to stay. And I personally I'm looking forward to more during the VP debates.

if you can't take the heat, get OUT of the race for president

Damn you, McCain! I had this nice little post for today about why I wasn't going to vote for you but then you go ahead and did what you did yesterday and now I need to vent.

So, apparently the media and McCain are on the outs. I believe it all started when his campaign declared that Palin wouldn't speak to the press until they showed her some respect (so many weeks later, I'm still laughing my ass off over that one). And then it continued with a statement against the NY Times and how it's Pro-Obama and Anti-McCain and how dare it call itself a news source. Hey, cut the NY Times some slack for reporting the truth about McCain's lobbyist advisors. The truth hurts, doesn't it, GOP?

AND then the McCain campaign successfully lobbied (word seems appropriate here) to get a stricter format for the VP debate--structured questions, little time for rebuttal. Hmm. So Gov. Palin is ready to lead this country but she's afraid of getting into a war of words with Sen. Biden? But I thought she had so much experience, more than any senator, what with her being mayor and governor and in charge of the Alaska Reserve. And let's not forget her crash course in foreign policy this week. How could she be afraid of debating Biden now?

AND NOW, McCain wants to suspend his campaign and postpone the debates  in order to flock to Washington to fix the economy. Really? Isn't this the same man who said the fundamentals of our economy are strong? Isn't this the same man who has missed over 60% of his votes in Congress this session? Suddenly, he wants to interject his wisdom into the economic bailout plan that Congress is trying to work out (yup, the same plan he admitted to not having read two days ago). He's not even on the Senate Banking Committee.

So, right now, with 5 weeks left in this crucial election, McCain wants to stop campaigning (save that interview with Katie Couric last night and his appearance at Clinton's Global Initiative meeting today) and stop talking about the issues so he can singlehandedly save the economy? According to those already working to solve the crisis, McCain wouldn't be much help:

"We are pleased to report we are making bipartisan progress on a rescue proposal for our financial markets," said Chris Dodd and Sen. Chuck Schumer in a joint statement. "During these discussions, we have received significant cooperation and constructive feedback from the other side of the aisle -- with one notable exception. Apart from his unproductive criticisms made from afar, we have heard nothing from Senator McCain on these critical issues. Now is certainly not the time for him to inject presidential politics into these delicate discussions."

Couldn't he just hop on one of Cindy's planes and fly to Ole Miss after he votes? I'm confused as to why McCain couldn't save the economy and show up just in time for the debates. Can the man not multitask?

If he can't attend the debates, perhaps Palin can take his place.

Oh right, she's only had two media interviews (besides the Gibson and Couric interviews, I know that she spoke to Sean Hannity of Faux News but his bending over for her to spank does not an interview make). How can Palin not be media ready right now? How much of a delicate little flower is she if she must be so protected from the Big Bad Media? I thought she was a pit bull with lipstick. Well, she's not ready so NOW McCain's camp says, we must postpone the VP debate too! Oh lordy. Whatever happened to the Straight Talk Express?

Hey, McCain and Palin: GROW A PAIR. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the damn presidential race. It's only going to get worse if you're in office (heaven forbid).

Still, despite my frustration, I have to admit that nothing makes me happier than a GOP campaign imploding.

confessions of an obama campaign volunteer

Not sure if you've noticed, but I've been really fired up about the elections lately. I've been having a hard time getting over all of McSame's lies in his commercials which seem to air every 10 minutes and just Palin in general (there is nothing about the woman that I admire and please don't give me the "hooray for working mothers" speech because people seem to forget that Hillary was a working mother too and yet the two women have nothing in common).

So, after stewing in my own anger over the last few days, I finally decided to do something positive with my negative energy--I volunteered for the Obama campaign.

To give you an idea of why this was important to me, I should preface my story with the following:

I have never donated to a political campaign before.
I have never volunteered for a political campaign before.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into before I actually went out and did it. But all nervousness and fear of any less-than-perfect experiences in political volunteerism aside, I rushed over to the Arlington campaign headquarters last week to do whatever they needed me to do.

They needed me to make some calls. I give good phone (take your minds out of the gutter) so I felt comfortable giving it a shot.

I sat at a table of fellow Obamabots (hey McSame/Vagina '08 supporters! you wanna use that word as an insult? well, I'm taking it back!): two older women and a gentleman with an ObamaPride shirt on. ObamaPride boy was clearly a long time Dem and had lots of useful information about past elections. One of the older women, let's call her NotFunny, kept on saying under her breath between calls, "This election is not funny any more." I don't remember it being funny in the first place, but NotFunny was so clearly angry about all the lies coming from the McSame/Vagina camp that she just had to do something. Apparently, she had been volunteering for weeks.

The other woman has a special place in my politically cynical heart. I'll call her MyHero because she is a DC resident and stay at home mom who had seen one too many negative McSame ads that day and, after watching one, she got up, looked for the local VA Obama headquarters and metro-ed over to offer a hand. When I showed up at 5 pm, she had already been at the phone bank for 4 hours. When I left several hours later, she was still there.

MyHero showed me the ropes and ObamaPride fed me the information. And while I had a script to follow, I felt more comfortable giving it a personal touch. Not every call went well. I had a couple of hang ups the minute I revealed myself to be a volunteer for Obama. However, the tons of people I spoke to who were passionately supporting Obama more than made up for the random hang ups.

Several calls stand out to me now. There were a number of people I called who had previously identified as Democrats who were now unsure of whom to vote for. They were all women and were all pro-Palin. Seeing as that Palin is anything but remotely liberal, I kinda questioned their dedication to the party to begin with. But for whatever reason, they were confused because McSame had thrown Palin into the mix.

I reminded them that the election should be about the issues, not the impressions candidates give. I tried to answer their questions to the best of my ability. And I hoped I helped them come to a conclusion they felt comfortable with. I'd hate for anyone to vote for someone because they can relate to them personally and completely ignore the issues for which they stand. What can I say? I'm an idealist.

My final call was by far the best. The person answered the phone by saying, "What are you trying to sell me?" I was shocked, and stuttered, "Uh, nothing. I'm not asking for money." She replied in a very unfriendly manner, "What do you want?" And then I gave her my speech, saying who I was and what I had hoped she would do. With MyHero looking on, the caller replied, "Well, are you going to thank me for my donation to the campaign?" I thanked her profusely despite the fact that I didn't know she had donated until she mentioned it.

And then, her tone changed. She began to tell me how frustrated she is with the dirty campaign McSame's running and how she just had to donate (several times) because she was so mad. We talked for several minutes about what we did for a living and where we were from and where we went to college and what to do in Arlington for fun. Turns out, she is from Southern California and had attended USC (eek! a fellow Trojan!). She had recently moved to Arlington and was missing big city life. And she was livid about the elections and wanted to do anything she could to get Obama in office.

I convinced her to come in and volunteer with me in the phone bank and to canvass Alexandria over the weekend. The call ended much better than it began.

After that call, it was hard to leave but Jesse was waiting for me outside. I said my good byes to MyHero, ObamaPride, and NotFunny and told all of them, "I'll be back again soon."

I've convinced my assistant at work to volunteer for the campaign and she canvassed this past weekend. I've already signed up for various activities like phone banking, translating, reaching out to Latino voters, and post card making. Yeah, it's a lot of time but it's so worth it.

I'm fired up about this election and I feel as though I finally have the power to do something about it.

This may be my last post of the week. I'm leaving for the US Conference on AIDS and will be out of town for until Sunday. If I don't respond to any comments right away, I will do so as soon as I can.

sorry, obama, but bristol palin is fair game

I'm not trying to turn this blog into anti-Palin all the time, but Sarah Palin is so infuriating that I can't help but vent. Today, let's discuss the hypocrisy of her teenage daughter's pregnancy, shall we?

I know Obama recently said that Palin's family life is not a fair topic for discussion (and Republicans recently lambasted the media, saying that these sort of matters are private), but considering Palin's political views, Bristol Palin's pregnancy is fair game. Why?

Well, for one, the woman is anti-choice. And yes, that means choosing to carry your child to term as well as choosing not to. Lucky for Bristol that she had a choice. If McCain and her mom get elected, others in her situation will be forced to let the government make that choice for them.

Secondly, the woman opposes the use of contraception. Clearly, whatever Bristol used didn't work (or worse, she probably didn't use any).

Palin, being staunchly anti-choice, believes abstinence outside of marriage is an absolute and attainable goal. Clearly, it was not a choice that her daughter felt she was capable of. Perhaps there are others that are not fans of abstinence.

Moreover, Palin does not approve of sex education, whether it's abstinence only or comprehensive. So, I'm assuming she taught her kids about sex then. Perhaps she forgot to tell her daughter about the part where sex sometimes leads to babies. She was probably too busy going on and on about abstinence and how great it is.

Legislatively, Palin is not a fan of teen mothers, using a line item veto to cut funding for programs for teen mothers. I suppose Bristol doesn't want in? Sadly, not all teen mothers have the support of her family in raising a new family. But Palin only cares about her own, naturally.

And quite possibly, the most hypocritical thing about this whole situation is that it's considered a private matter, not a political one. So, lay off, media! Stop being mean to the GOP's incredibly underqualified VP candidate! Oh and stop digging up all that dirt that makes her unqualified/hypocritical/unethical/look downright bad.

You know what, Palin? Yes, an unexpected pregnancy is a private matter. Clearly, government should have no say in what you and your daughter choose to do with the pregnancy. Yet you are against a woman's choice, advocating for our government to have a say in such pregnancies? So what is it? Is pregnancy private or political? Palin, you can't have it both ways.

Speaking of hypocrites, has anyone else noticed how the evangelicals are all rushing to Bristol Palin's defense, praising her for doing that 'right thing' and keeping the baby and marrying the father (yup, b/c a forced marriage at 17 is always the smart thing to do)? Apparently they forgot all that ABSTINENCE ONLY sh*t they spout and how sex outside of marriage is a sin.

I suppose it's no longer a sin when your mom is running for VP.

McCain selects poor man's Hillary as running mate

You know, the last thing I wanted to do was post something remotely negative right before a nice long weekend (and the day before a USC game too), but this is what McCain drives me to do. 

As a real feminist, I am offended by McCain's choice.  Sarah Palin is definitely not qualified to be VP, let alone President in the event that something happens to McCain should he be elected.  And considering all the brouhaha from McCain's camp about how 'inexperienced' Obama is, I am shocked that McCain would select Palin as his running mate considering these qualifications:

• She's 44 (age ain't nothing but a number)
  
• She was mayor of an Alaskan town with a population of about 800
• She has been Alaska's governor for less than two years.
• She was runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant.  However, she did win Miss Congeniality (no joke, kids).
• She has 5 kids, one of which is 17 and pregnant.
• She doesn't think the polar bears are in any danger of extinction.
• She favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Her husband works for the oil industry.
• She's being investigated for possible abuse of power (damn, she hasn't even been in office that long!).
• She's staunchly pro-life and her claim to fame is making a big deal over not aborting her youngest son who has Down Syndrome.
  

At this point, Mike Huckabee is more qualified to be VP and you all know how much I hate him. 

I can't help but thinking that McCain's decision is based on one thing only.  No, not Palin's beauty pageant good looks.  No, not her affinity for skirt suits (which the pundits at Faux Fox News appreciate).

Obviously she was picked because she has a vagina.

And McCain presumes that this means all those PUMAs and other bitter Hillary supporters will flock to him.

Well, guess what.  This feminist, who actually prefers the government not telling me what to do with my body and wouldn't mind an equal wage and equal treatment, will not be voting for Palin's vagina just to put McCain's ass in the White House. 

I expect other true feminists to do the same.  In the words of another true feminist: No way, no how, no McCain.