Keeping it Together

Totally agreed... they'll never go away.

2009-09-02T13:54:00.001-05:00

I know, I know.

2009-08-26T16:01:00.002-05:00

It's been way, way, way too long since I've posted. I was a bit obsessive and had to give something a break so I could actually get some other things done.

Please email me suggestions/interesting things as you come across them!

Sarah Palin's Fadebook Page

2008-12-13T10:29:00.002-06:00

Just received this; it's a little on the dated-subject side; but still entertaining.

2008-12-11T20:09:00.003-06:00

Ok, so it's been a week. Not that there haven't been a zillion things going on I'd have loved to have had time to get in to; but with one of the hot topics of the last week being interest rates; I've had no time to do anything but try to run figures and get things going for as many people as possible. But, this was worth taking a break for; I have some more things to get posted; so hopefully by Friday night.

Treasury's Plan for Mortgage Rates Could Be Costly- TIME

2008-12-05T16:37:00.001-06:00

EXCELLENT article, with several links to other valuable information. As I've been telling people since this 4.5% talk started yesterday; we want rates to go down for EVERYONE, not only specific people that individual banks deem worthy; and the Fed will only purchase securities backing loans with rates 1% under what the average rate is (now 5.5%). And only for purchases; not for refinances, and only for qualifying borrowers. What I see that doing is #1. not helping many of the average purchasers, #2, obviously doing nothing for the tons of people needing to refi, especially those with adjustable rates, and #3, if the deal is 1% under the average market rate, then it could actually result in "regular" rates staying high. But check out the article for a more expert opinion. I'd love rates to go down another percent; but it needs to be done in a way that everyone can benefit.

More Diversions

2008-12-04T21:18:00.004-06:00

#1. TIMELINE OF A COFFEE DRINKER.

http://www.bspcn.com/2008/12/04/timeline-of-a-coffee-drinker/

WANT SOME GEEKY, ECONOMIC OPTIMISM??

2008-12-04T21:13:00.002-06:00

Yes, this is the kind of thing that I dig. But really; it makes sense; it has precedence, and it is positive.

In Italy, Feminism Out, Women As Sex Symbols In

2008-12-04T02:05:00.002-06:00

I heard this report Wednesday morning by NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. Could not believe some of the statistics.
An excerpt of the whole transcript:

Sexism In Italy

Today, Italy has the lowest percentage of working women in Europe. Only 2 percent of top management positions are held by women — that's even behind Kuwait — and only 17 percent of the members of parliament are women — less than in Rwanda and Burundi.

Television has become women's prime showcase.

"To sell your body for a calendar, for a career, is not considered now so bad for many young women," says social scientist Elisa Manna, who has studied this issue's impact on Italian society. "This kind of attitude is connected to television, because they have this kind of model in every hour of the day."

CAN Hillary Clinton legally be Secretary of State?

2008-12-02T14:58:00.002-06:00

Interesting.

Wal Mart Stampede: A unique take

2008-12-02T14:58:00.001-06:00

Rachel Maddow, not so "Unlikely"

2008-11-28T14:40:00.002-06:00

More (fresh) skeletons in Lieberman's closet

2008-11-28T14:17:00.003-06:00

Jeff Merkley, one of the senators-elect who gave a "spirit of reconciliation" speech in support of retaining Lieberman's position in the Democratic Caucus, was unaware that Lieberman's PAC, Reuniting Our Country, had donated $5000 to Merkley's Republican opponent. He also contributed, spoke, and wrote op-ed pieces supporting several other Repulican candidates.

10 REASONS WE'RE DOOMED: Black Friday Edition

2008-11-28T13:57:00.003-06:00

Sorry it's been so long between posts. No excuses, just slacked off for a bit. I will try to make sure there's something new at least every other day; if not every day.

This is thanks to brother-in-law David Turner; very appropriate for today!

Our First Geek President

2008-11-21T23:04:00.005-06:00

Credit: Ta-Nehisi.

Any post that references Green Lantern, Bruce Campbell, Picard, MST3k, and Boba Fett...

Sarah Palin does TV interview while turkeys are slaughtered in the background.

2008-11-20T21:12:00.001-06:00

"Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being BEHEADED in the background!! Seemingly oblivious to the slaughter going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes! Was no one there to tell her how bad this looked? Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.

Watch the video."

Maru: The-cat-who-likes-to-get-stuck-in-things

2008-11-19T22:54:00.001-06:00

Flickr: Election Night Photo Album

2008-11-19T16:04:00.003-06:00

Thanks Ande for sending this to Brook. You can feel the tension and the anticipation. What a beautiful family, what an amazing night.

Heads up; Zogby releasing what Nate Silver calls a likely "Push Poll" tomorrow to discredit Obama voters

2008-11-18T14:22:00.001-06:00

PRINCE is "anti-gay"????????

2008-11-17T19:22:00.001-06:00

...So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this.” He pointed to a Bible. “But there’s the problem of interpretation, and you’ve got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn’t. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got blue, you’ve got the Democrats, and they’re, like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right.”

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

The origins of "meh"

2008-11-17T19:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks Ta-Nehisi.

2008-11-17T01:23:00.000-06:00

Since the Palin discussion won't go away.........

2008-11-17T01:17:00.001-06:00

Under normal circumstances, the VP selection might not have mattered at all, but it was because of what McCain purported to represent and because of his age and health that it took on more significance than most of these selections ever do.

Iowa's Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Ag?

2008-11-14T23:41:00.003-06:00

Joe the Plumber’s latest small business? Apparently: himself.

2008-11-14T22:35:00.005-06:00

Click the title, and then this. As my former co-worker would say, "for the love of God".

Hillary Clinton for Secretary Of State?

2008-11-14T22:32:00.004-06:00

Just might be. Check out A. Sullivan's take.

You Know Your President Is Black When......

2008-11-14T22:21:00.003-06:00

Coates:
...he paraphrases Sam Cooke in his acceptance speech, has an office of urban policy, and gives Ebony the first photo shoot.

I'm sure it also has something to do with the fact that Johnson publications, Ebony's parent, has deep ties in black Chicago. You know all them bougie South Side Negroes run together!

UPDATE: J Starr points us to this dope, dope cover from Ebony

A Good Question

2008-11-11T20:49:00.002-06:00

www.godhatesfags.com: flyer to protest Obama's granmother's funeral

2008-11-11T20:42:00.003-06:00

NICE.

FiveThirtyEight.com's Ballot Design Quiz

2008-11-11T20:23:00.002-06:00

Auschwitz Plans Discovered

2008-11-10T11:27:00.002-06:00

Germany's chief archivist, Hans-Dieter Kreikamp, is quoted by Bild newspaper as saying that the plans, which appear to have been made from 1941 to 1943, are "authentic certificates of a systematically planned genocide of European Jews", and "of extraordinary importance". [..]

The documents are undergoing close examination. If confirmed as genuine they would adjust the timeline of the planned Holocaust. Historians believed the start of the genocide campaign was January 20 1942 when top Nazi officials met at the lakeside resort of Wannsee, west of Berlin, and concocted the "final solution". One of the drawings has a date that precedes the conference by eight months. The rest..

Underpinnings and Self Tanner

2008-11-07T20:35:00.000-06:00

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Dave Barry on Obama

2008-11-07T20:31:00.001-06:00

Barack Obama is our next president, which is very bad because he is a naive untested wealth-spreading terrorist-befriending ultraliberal socialist communist who will suddenly reveal his secret Muslim identity by riding to his inauguration on a camel shouting ''Death to Israel!'' (I mean Obama will be shouting this, not the camel) after which he will wreck the economy by sending Joe the Plumber to Guantánamo and taxing away all the income of anybody who makes over $137.50 per year and giving it to bloated government agencies that will deliberately set it on fire.

He keeps going.

2008-11-07T15:34:00.000-06:00

What will be done about Lieberman?

2008-11-07T15:27:00.002-06:00

I guess I missed this; but apparently Obama did an LBJ style corner-backing with Joe the Independent back in June.

Rhambo

2008-11-07T15:25:00.001-06:00

Obama's designated a--hole.

"Reactions to the Election"

2008-11-07T14:35:00.004-06:00

Rehka Basu with the Des Moines Register and Eugune Robinson with the Washington Post both had columns in the Des Moines Register today.

Basu: "Wave of hope lifts spirits, flags around the world"
I've never been a flag-flier, though I've had citizenship in two different countries. I know that people have valid and admirable reasons for flying the flag, but it felt somehow immodest to me, like a public display of affection, or a boast of "Mine is better than yours." Maybe if we had a world flag, it would have come easier.But on two occasions, I've felt tempted to hoist the U.S. one - after Sept. 11, 2001, out of solidarity with a wounded America, and since Tuesday, out of pride.

An overwhelming, unsquelchable pride began to well up listening to Barack Obama's glorious acceptance speech and seeing the throngs of joyful, tear-streaked faces on TV, and it has hardly let up since. John McCain, in a gracious concession speech, called it a day of special pride for African-Americans. But really, it belongs to every American. Just as it took men to give women the right to vote, and a white president to sign the emancipation proclamation, it took people of every demographic to look past race and vote for change.
But tearing down that racial barrier is only one part of what makes this election so transformative. There are so many victories wrapped up in one. There's the triumph of intelligent discourse and inquiry over blind adherence to some doctrine. Let's hope now we can rebuild a culture in which a good education is not denounced as elitist but applauded and aspired to for everyone.

This is also a win for our relationship with the world. (to read the rest of the article, click here or I have posted it in full in the comments of this post).

Robinson, "Morning in America"
I almost lost it Tuesday night when television cameras found the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the crowd at Chicago's Grant Park and I saw the tears streaming down his face. His brio and bluster were gone, replaced by what looked like awestruck humility and unrestrained joy. I remembered how young he was in 1968 when he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., moments before King was assassinated and hours before America's cities were set on fire.

I almost lost it again when I spoke with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the bravest leaders of the civil rights crusade, and asked whether he had ever dreamed he would live to see this day. As Lewis looked for words beyond "unimaginable," I thought of the beating he received on the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the scars his body still bears.

I did lose it, minutes before the television networks projected that Barack Obama would be the 44th president of the United States, when I called my parents in Orangeburg, S.C. I thought of the sacrifices they made and the struggles they endured so that my generation could climb higher. I felt so happy that they were here to savor this incredible moment.

I scraped myself back together, but then almost lost it again when I saw Obama standing there on the stage with his family -- wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, their outfits all color-coordinated in red and black. I thought of the mind-blowing imagery we will see when this young, beautiful black family becomes the nation's First Family.

Then, when Michelle's mother, brother and extended family came out, I thought about "the black family" as an institution -- how troubled it is, but also how resilient and how vital. And I found myself getting misty-eyed again when Barack and Michelle walked off the stage together, clinging to one another, partners about to embark on an adventure, full of possibility and peril, that will change this nation forever.

It's safe to say that I've never had such a deeply emotional reaction to a presidential election. I've found it hard to describe, though, just what it is that I'm feeling so strongly. (my emphasis, L.T.)
It's obvious that the power of this moment isn't something that only African Americans feel. When President Bush spoke about the election yesterday, he mentioned the important message that Americans will send to the world, and to themselves, when the Obama family moves into the White House.
For African Americans, though, this is personal.

I can't help but experience Obama's election as a gesture of recognition and acceptance -- which is patently absurd, if you think about it. The labor of black people made this great nation possible. Black people planted and tended the tobacco, indigo and cotton on which America's first great fortunes were built. Black people fought and died in every one of the nation's wars. Black people fought and died to secure our fundamental rights under the Constitution. We don't have to ask for anything from anybody.

Yet something changed on Tuesday when Americans -- white, black, Latino, Asian -- entrusted a black man with the power and responsibility of the presidency. I always meant it when I said the Pledge of Allegiance in school. I always meant it when I sang the national anthem at ball games and shot off fireworks on the Fourth of July. But now there's more meaning in my expressions of patriotism, because there's more meaning in the stirring ideals that the pledge and the anthem and the fireworks represent.
It's not that I would have felt less love of country if voters had chosen John McCain. And this reaction I'm trying to describe isn't really about Obama's policies. I'll disagree with some of his decisions, I'll consider some of his public statements mere double talk and I'll criticize his questionable appointments. My job will be to hold him accountable, just like any president, and I intend to do my job.

For me, the emotion of this moment has less to do with Obama than with the nation. Now I know how some people must have felt when they heard Ronald Reagan say "it's morning again in America." The new sunshine feels warm on my face.

Nate Silver & crew from 538 OWNED this election

2008-11-06T14:49:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Phil Hester for giving me the site a few months ago. Of course I'd have found it eventually, but it has been by far my go-to source for all things poll related. He's a genius. (And so is Nate.) Ha ha!

Uncle Roger

2008-11-05T21:55:00.003-06:00

Election official Roger Miller helps Phil Barber, both of Des Moines' south side, place his ballot into the ballot box correctly on election day at Southview Manor in Des Moines Tuesday November 4, 2008.

I Didn't Vote for Obama Today

2008-11-05T20:23:00.000-06:00

How He Did It

2008-11-05T12:20:00.001-06:00

Newsweek has their analysis.

And not to "belabor" the point, but Andrew posts this part again, which I have repeated on many occasions,

I wrote well over a year ago, when Obama was 20 points behind, and McCain written off:

Consider this hypothetical. It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.

We don't have to imagine any more. It's happening. And the forces for good in the world have been immeasurably strengthened as a consequence.

Obama's Chili Recipe

2008-11-05T11:13:00.005-06:00

I made this last night for our very small Election Night get together. It was good enough that I've been asked to post the recipe. To save space, I've posted it as a comment, and provided the title link as well.

Side note: The Ciroc Obama was good, but as Brook says, I like any drinks that are blue. :)

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

2008-11-05T10:55:00.004-06:00

Prophetic words from The Onion: JANUARY 2001.

An excerpt:

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

ANYTHING SOUND FAMILIAR? Thank you, Bill Cook, for sennding this to me. And remember, The Onion is a parody publication.

2008-11-04T23:14:00.010-06:00

This

Will Be

Our Future

Photos: Linda Turner, 12/30/07

Barack Obama, #44

2008-11-04T22:02:00.000-06:00

It's official.
I can't believe it.

Ciroc Obama

2008-11-04T16:07:00.001-06:00

1 part Ciroc vodka
1/2 part Blue Curacao
1 part fresh lime juice (or sour mix)
1 part Sprite

Mix all the ingredients and shake in a stirrer with ice; serve over ice in a rocks glass and garnish with lime.
Recipe courtesy of Gypsy Bar at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City

Joe The Plumber Tries Voting At The Wrong Place

2008-11-04T15:52:00.001-06:00

See? I said there would be some good things going on this afternoon.

This Sums Up How I Feel Today

2008-11-04T12:14:00.003-06:00

From Ross Douthat @ the Atlantic:
I've spent the last couple of weeks gently tweaking my panicky, paranoid liberal friends who just can't help fretting that Obama's seemingly insurmountable lead in the polls will be undone on election day. But now that the day itself has arrived, I know what they mean: Even though I don't really see any way that McCain can win this thing, I've been conditioned - by the stalemate in 2000, by the exit-polling disaster in '04, even by New Hampshire flipping for Hillary this year - to assume that some sort of bizarre election-night twist will keep us up till three AM, half-drunk and reeling. The notion of an election where the anchors know who's won by mid-afternoon, and where the suspense for television viewers ends early (when Virginia and Pennsylvania both go Obama's way, perhaps), seems like something old-fashioned, something retro, something out of my childhood that couldn't possibly happen in the crazy world of twenty-first century America. So while my rational mind expects an easy Obama win, as of this morning my irrational mind is suddenly convinced that come nine PM tonight, some furrow-browed announcer will be remarking on his this is much, much closer than anyone expected ...

12:38pm, this made me smile, though

ELECTION DAY

2008-11-04T11:28:00.014-06:00

I just voted this morning. Then I took my mom back to register and vote (we are able to same-day register in Iowa). She wasn't showing up on the online list, so I was told she had to fill out a new registration. I arrived at the Cavalry Baptist Church, our polling center, about 9:20am. No wait; filled out the information slip, took it to the next table to be checked off the list and given a ballot; went to my "secret booth" to fill in the circles, and fed it in the optical scanner. Took less than 10 minutes, and I was voter #340. Went home, got my mom ready; took her back; they sat her down, we filled out the forms, went to the "secret booth", and she put her own ballot through the scanner; #452.

What is striking is that for both my mother and I to vote (including her registering and voting) we were in the polling place no more than 25 minutes total, between the two trips. I would gladly have waited an hour each time if it allowed the folks waiting 4,6, even 9 hours to also only have to wait an hour. What were your experiences? Please use the "comments" link below to share; I will be posting all that are emailed directly to me, also.

WE ARE MAKING HISTORY TODAY!

Barack Obama's Granmother Has Died.

2008-11-03T17:31:00.003-06:00

This will be my last post of the night. As I said earlier, I encourage you to read "Barack Obama for President", even if you do not vote for him (but please, VOTE). It is so sad that his grandmother was so close to seeing her grandson make history, regardless of what happens tomorrow. Let's hope she'll be watching, still.

A MUST READ: View from Alaska: Big money surrounded by big wilderness

2008-11-03T17:13:00.002-06:00

This was a guest column in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, brought to me attention by my father (thank you, Dad).

We Alaskans are not generally so magazine-pretty like her, nor are we so confrontational and vapid. Most of us don't have those peachy cheeks -- we have sunburn, windburn and frostbite. Our fingernails are dirty from actually gutting moose, not yakking about it. Our hands are chapped from picking thousands of salmon out of nets, not holding one up for the camera.

Having said that, here in Alaska we are accustomed to getting jobs we're not qualified to fill. In our far-flung villages and towns, we have big money surrounded by big wilderness; the combination causes warped career opportunities. Sort of an Edge of Nowhere phenomenon -- cousin to the Bridge to Nowhere one.

For example, in the village closest to the wilderness homestead where I was raised, I remember standing in my friend's cabin when his dad got a call on the CB radio: "People are writing you in for mayor."

The Farewell Edition: Fact Checker Wrap Up, Andrew Sullivan's Closing Arguments

2008-11-03T15:03:00.006-06:00

Click on any one of the above pictures for the Fact Checker; but most compelling, if you have time, read Andrew Sullivan's "Barack Obama for President". It is a thoughtful (long, so print it out!) heartfelt closing argument for the choice we have to make as a nation tomorrow.

New ad from www.progressivefuture.org. Brook said I had to post it, so here you go.

2008-11-03T11:03:00.001-06:00

McCain Gets Mean

2008-11-02T09:20:00.001-06:00

In PA: Arlen Specter gets the crowd going....
Specter, the senior senator from Pennsylvania, was talking about his "sense" that Election Day in his state was going to be a rude awakening for Democrats, despite weeks of polls showing Republicans lagging far behind in this former swing state. That's when he let loose with his reason for optimism:

There are a "couple of hidden factors" in this election, said Specter. "The first is that people answer pollsters one way, but in the secrecy of the ballot booth, vote the other way."

Yes. That is what he said, to a chorus of hopeful affirmation. Arlen Specter was openly -- in public, into a microphone -- crossing his fingers, and hoping for racism.

Nate Silver, 538.com, Pennsylvania "in play"

2008-11-02T09:15:00.001-06:00

Holy Crap! We're at War With Iran????

2008-11-01T19:18:00.002-05:00

Foreign Policy Is Confusing For Sarah Palin

White Racists and Anti-Semites for Obama

2008-11-01T18:32:00.002-05:00

From the chairman of the American Nazi Party on Obama:
"White people are faced with either a negro or a total nutter who happens to have a pale face. Personally I'd prefer the negro."
But there's more....

A Scary Halooween with Sarah Palin

2008-11-01T18:29:00.001-05:00

In central Pennsylvania, the Republican base is afraid of Obama, and lost in fever dreams of a neo-Soviet nightmare. But it's all in God's hands.

One of the many things that had 84-year-old World War II veteran John H. Gay on edge was worry for Sarah Palin's safety. "She's a brave woman, an old-fashioned American woman who's not afraid to have kids," said Gay. "She's one of the bravest women around, and someone might just assassinate her." But he was tormented by images of a fantastical Stalinoid world to come. According to Gay, Obama believes the communist "mantra" "from each according to his abilities, and to each according to his needs"; that "if we go the socialist way, you young people will lose all your freedoms -- mentally, physically and religiously."
As he envisioned a possible future under Obama, he spoke of scarce hot water and hulking Soviet-era high-rises of the sort that ring Moscow.

Obama's Record-Breaking Fundraising Effort Bankrupting NPR, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU

2008-11-01T10:35:00.000-05:00

An Examination of Obama’s Use of Hidden Hypnosis Techniques in His Speeches.

2008-10-31T14:44:00.001-05:00

Yes, Weezy, apparently there is a 67 page paper on this with 192 footnotes.

Obama draws crowd of 25,000 in Des Moines today

2008-10-31T13:46:00.009-05:00

"On the day of the Iowa caucuses, my faith in the American people was vindicated and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation," Obama told a crowd his campaign said totaled about 25,000 in a downtown park under a warm fall sun.

"A couple of elections ago, there was a presidential candidate who decried this kind of politics and condemned these kinds of tactics. And I admired him for it. He said, 'I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.' Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain," he said. "But the high road didn't lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route."

Obama also criticized a new McCain ad that shows the Democratic nominee in the past praising McCain and Sen. Joseph Lieberman for their work on global warming.

"As if there's something wrong with acknowledging when an opponent has said or done something that makes sense," Obama said. "I do that all the time....I think we need more of that attitude in Washington. We need more civility in Washington. I don't disagree with Senator McCain on everything. I respect his occasional displays of independence."

Left two photos: Linda Turner, Right photo: Don Abbott

Roundup: Voter Suppression by State

2008-10-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

Apparently McCain "funds radicals" too.

2008-10-29T17:19:00.003-05:00

When McCain served as Chairman of the Board of the International Republican Institute, distributed several grants to KHALIDI'S ORGANIZATION, in 1998 one grant alone was nearly half a million dollars.

Rob Hubler, the Democratic challenger to Steve King, Iowa's Finest

2008-10-29T15:15:00.001-05:00

Not a lot of time left; but surely enough time to help this guy defeat Iowa's version of Michelle Bachmann, Ms. Pro-America.

What McCain Defectors See in Obama

2008-10-29T15:11:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Don Abbott for bringing this to my attention; a fantastic summary of what led to the GOP defections.

DPA Ban may be adding to Financial Crisis

2008-10-29T13:31:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long post; but this is something near and dear to me and my business. The largest company participating in "DPA", or Down-payment assistance, was Nehemiah. How it worked: FHA requires a 3% downpayment. The seller was able to, at closing, "donate" 3% of their sale proceeds to the non-profit (i.e., Nehemiah). Upon signing an agreement, the non-profit would gift the 3% downpayment to the buyer. The seller then had agreed to donate that same amount, plus a fee, to the entity at the time of closing. Because the seller has to take less for the house to be able to do it, and the listing price of the property is not to be raised to cover it; it was a way for sellers to accommodate a buyer and sell a property that may have otherwise taken longer to sell.

DPA Ban May Be Adding to Crisis

By Amilda Dymi, National Mortgage News

WASHINGTON-A bigger financial crisis has overshadowed the underlying risk and long-term implications of thinning affordable housing options due to limited credit and higher downpayment requirements.

Meanwhile, a controversial ban on seller-funded downpayment assistance took effect on Oct. 1, adding to the overall crisis.

It may seem fair Congress did not spare time to review the FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6694), which would restore DPA indefinitely.

The ban is based on HUD claims that DPA programs contribute to higher default rates and could potentially result in having to offset the risk by tapping into its reserves, a claim long disputed by DPA providers and industry members. Not only six hours after the ban took effect, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report that says seller-financed DPA loans insured by the FHA generate homeownership at no cost to the U.S. government for at least the next five years thanks to its self-funding mechanism.

"All of this substantive opposition to DPA has been taken off the table," said Scott Syphax, president and CEO of Nehemiah Corp. of America, the country's largest DPA provider.

Bipartisan bill H.R. 6694 introduced by Reps. Al Green, D-Texas, Gary Miller, D-Calif., Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in July was based on DPA industry data and independent report findings.

As the ban took effect on Oct. 1, Rep. Green stressed that as DPA is eliminated to comply with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Congress needs to recognize it helped transform lives without spending a single taxpayer dollar.

In addition, "the Congressional Budget Office estimates that seller-financed DPA will generate $65 million over the next five years and save taxpayers $13 million next year." H.R. 6694 will create a new DPA "under new standards that will effectively balance the risk of potential foreclosures with the goal of increasing homeownership," he said.

Moreover, the bailout bill (H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) designed to aid Wall Street avert a serious recession does not offer a direct solution to a potentially more severe crisis within the affordable housing market.

Commenting on H.R. 3997, Mr. Syphax said a provision within the bailout to reinstate DPA "could help ensure continued liquidity in the stagnating housing market by providing aid to an estimated 600,000 working-class people for home purchases next year, generating $150 billion in home sales."

Red Sex, Blue Sex Why do so many evangelical teen-agers become pregnant?

2008-10-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

LET'S PUT SOCIALISM TO REST

2008-10-28T22:33:00.004-05:00

"Like, Socialism": Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker

During the 2000 campaign, on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” a young woman asked him why her father, a doctor, should be “penalized” by being “in a huge tax bracket.” McCain replied that “wealthy people can afford more” and that “the very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don’t pay nearly as much as you think they do.” The exchange continued:

YOUNG WOMAN: Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?. . .
MCCAIN: Here’s what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.

For her part, Sarah Palin, who has lately taken to calling Obama “Barack the Wealth Spreader,” seems to be something of a suspect character herself. She is, at the very least, a fellow-traveller of what might be called socialism with an Alaskan face. The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state. One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist. ♦

Click title for full article; and note: emphasis, mine. (The argument that Obama is giving money TO PEOPLE THAT DO NOT PAY TAXES AT ALL, is not true, as it implies people that do not work at all are receiving benefits. Only workers that pay payroll taxes would receive the credit, as it is an income tax credit, not a direct handout. In Alaska, every man, woman and child received $3,269 this year; EVEN those that don't work at all. What exactly is that?

This is just fun: www.palinaspresident.us

2008-10-28T19:35:00.003-05:00

Looks as though it's been updated; Colin Powell's picture's in the shredder, and just noticed a few new changes.. check it out. (and turn your sound on)

Newest Florida Mailing

2008-10-28T19:13:00.003-05:00

Would someone please send me things like this that have been sent out by the DNC? We have the "Obsession" video, the Virginia Democrats-vote-on-November-5th, the Florida fake voter registration cards, the ObamaBucks, the Virginia GOP mailing on terrorism with a picture of a person looking a lot like Obama, the Curious George Obama-monkey, the kids with red x'd out t shirts of Obama's face, Bobby May, treasurer of the Buchanan Co. Virginia Republicans, with the most racist, unbelievable thing I've seen this entire campaign (are we seeing a TREND with Virginia? Obviously)..... Seriously, I'd really like to see where the Democrats are sending this out.

Think Michelle Bachmann was Bad? Iowa's Own Bachmann: STEVE KING

2008-10-28T12:08:00.002-05:00

Please pass this along to as many people as you can.

Voter Suppression in Virginia

2008-10-27T20:56:00.004-05:00

Voters are getting calls that threaten criminal charges if they show up to vote, and in Hampton Roads a phony flier tells Democrats and Independents voting for Democrats that an emergency legislative session has split election day into two; and they are to vote November 5th.

Infighting, Jumping Ship, and Dead Horses

2008-10-27T16:49:00.006-05:00

I'm beating a dead horse here, (Ross Douthat uses the same phrase in a link I just found as I returned to this to edit before posting), but I'm at a loss for why party loyalty trumps reason. I have no problem admitting that Joe Biden does no one any favors a good 10% of the time he opens his mouth (o.k., 50% of the time). But the fact remains that he is a good man, who made a commitment to his boys and stuck to it, through their entire childhood. He and John McCain have been very close friends for years, and he has tremendous respect for his foreign policy knowledge and experience. It is utterly disturbing the vitreous hate that is coming from the hangers on to the McCain/Palin campaign.

Everyone has a right to their beliefs; but to say that questioning your candidate is blasphemy is the makings of a fine dictatorship. While Andrew Sullivan is whole-heartedly behind Senator Obama, (I encourage you to read the linked piece of his) Daniel Larison, at American Conservative Magazine, is most definitely NOT. But he, in my opinion, is correct in pointing out that the GOP is not what it once was; fiscal conservancy, reduced government, strong military. It has become the captive of the "neocons', the far Christian right. But the current party has strayed from that; but better to hear that from a committed conservative:
Daniel Larison:
Having defended and enabled Mr. Bush for years, many of the recent ship-jumpers and critics of Palin finally declared that enough was enough, while some conservatives who have had more problems with the administration have decided that what is needed is more party loyalty and sycophancy focused now on Palin instead of Bush. When it is pointed out that this is self-defeating and actually makes more “purist” conservative arguments more politically irrelevant than ever, there is a flood of anathemas. (click here for full article)

I came back to this after reading a post from Ross Douthat. He does not think that conservatives/Republicans should vote for Barack Obama our of a jumping on the bandwagon mentality, but rather, decries the infighting that is going on, which IS MY POINT.
Ross Douthat: (click here for full post)
The bigger point (and I know I'm a broken record here) is this. Whatever direction you think conservatism should be going in from here on out, the absolute worst thing the members of a losing political movement can do - if they ever want to win again, at least - is attempt to pre-emptively close off debate about the movement's future. Conservatives need to have arguments, not promise excommunications, or else pretty soon there won't be very much worth arguing over.

The Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote For Obama

2008-10-27T14:54:00.003-05:00

No, Andrew Sullivan is not paying me under the table for linking to him. But in my opinion he consistently offers the most reasoned, non-inflammatory coherent point of view. He is committed to holding the next President accountable for his actions and promises; and while there are many things we may disagree on, my respect for him is profound.

10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.

9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.

8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush's first term and George W.'s.

7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.

6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially cmopared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.

5. Faith. Obama's fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.
CLICK HERE FOR THE REST:

Chuck Hagel (R-NE): Sarah Palin is the "Thinnest-Resume Candidate for Vice-President in the History of America"

2008-10-27T10:47:00.003-05:00

Drudge Report: Wrong about Obama "Redistribution of Wealth" from 2001

2008-10-27T10:26:00.005-05:00

Read Andrew Sullivan's post on this, it's about the civil rights movement, not socialism.

UPDATE:

FACTCHECKER JUST DEALT WITH THIS (QUICKLY, AS THE 2001 SUPREME COURT ISSUE JUST STARTED MAKING THE ROUNDS TODAY: THEIR CONCLUSION:
The Pinocchio Test

With very few exceptions, all American politicians, including both presidential candidates, are in favor of a progressive income tax system and welfare policies (such as Medicare and Social Security) that "redistribute wealth." Barack Obama is more enthusiastic about "spreading the wealth around" than his Republican rival. But that does not make him a "Socialist." The McCain camp is wrong to suggest that the Illinois senator advocated an "wealth redistribution" role for the Supreme Court in his 2001 interview.

TWO PINOCCHIOS

Amazon Had Obama Mask Listed As A "Terrorist Costume"

2008-10-27T10:20:00.006-05:00

This was reported in the LA Times on Sunday; and Think Progress shows Top of the Ticket caught the image via screenshot.

Economy Down, Gun Sales Up.

2008-10-27T09:51:00.004-05:00

From Washington Post's article today:
Americans have cut back on buying cars, furniture and clothes in a tough economy, but there's one consumer item that's still enjoying healthy sales: guns. Purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year, according to state and federal data.

"I think right now people are scared Obama is going to take their rights away," said Margaret Marcus, who was carrying a Glock 19 9mm semiautomatic pistol under a blue jean jacket embroidered with "Winnie the Pooh" characters. "He's definitely anti-gun, despite what you see in the mainstream media."

YouTube Video: Red, White and MILF

2008-10-26T16:07:00.001-05:00

As an earlier post said; that about sums it up.

Obama's Inaugural Speech Is Not Already Written

2008-10-26T14:16:00.004-05:00

CBS News reported, a story that Barack Obama's inaugural speech has already been written.

CBS is now reporting that the Obama campaign says the charge is completely false. As Matthew Yglesias says, it's also true that the charge is completely false. Anyone who has heard Senator Obama speak in the last 2 weeks knows; he's not taking anything for granted.

2008-10-26T11:55:00.003-05:00

ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS ENDORSES OBAMA
Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, by which he seems to mean that he spent 25 years trying unsuccessfully to persuade his own party to follow his bipartisan, centrist lead. Sadly, maverick John McCain didn't show up for the campaign. Instead we have candidate McCain, who embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years.

Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.
Click here for full article.

Political Ad Parodies

2008-10-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

Reason Magazine: great stuff.

One of the four:

Cindy McCain Claims She’s ‘Just Like Any Other Female Human’

2008-10-26T10:33:00.001-05:00

Cindy McCain Claims Sheâ��s â��Just Like Any Other Female Humanâ��

How Do You Feel About This?

2008-10-26T10:07:00.003-05:00

Taken from: www.fivethirtyeight.com On The Road: Big Stone Gap, Virginia

Last week, Julie Hensley made one of her thousands of phone calls on behalf of Barack Obama. A woman answered. As Hensley ran through her short script, the husband impatiently broke in.

"Ma'am, we're voting for the n***er." And hung up.

Hensley wasn't having it. "I went and made a couple other calls but chafed over this absurdity," she told us, "so I called them back, as I still had a couple questions for the wife." This time the man answered, asked pointedly who she was, and when she replied he hung up again.

As for Hensley, her story ended with a twist. A couple hours later during a pause in her dials, her phone rang. She recognized the number. "This is going to be good," she remembers thinking, getting ready to scrap.

It was the husband. He was calling for the woman on whom he'd hung up. She then got something she didn't expect -- an apology. Calmly, Hensley told the man she'd accept his apology on one condition -- he had to tell her who he was voting for.

"Oh, I don't normally talk about it but I feel like I owe you," the man said. "I am voting for Senator Obama." He asked if Hensley would like to speak to his wife, as he'd interrupted the original call. Hensley mentioned that she had been surprised when he'd called to apologize. Apparently the husband and wife had been talking the entire couple hours since the original call. "Did she get upset with you?" Hensley asked.

"What do you think?" the man replied.

Eleven days.

Coates: Confusing that beauty for some sort of political qualification

2008-10-26T09:59:00.001-05:00

Why Do People Like This Still Have Jobs?

2008-10-25T23:04:00.001-05:00

James Dobson. Perhaps his worst move yet.

McCain Today.

2008-10-25T16:58:00.005-05:00

He's not going to be the test-ee, he's going to be the test-or. And that's better how...?

And so much for regulation:
McCain calls for "less government regulation" of small businesses.

Wow.

2008-10-25T16:47:00.003-05:00

Right now, Obama is solid blue in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia. (Iowa, per fivethirtyeight.com, is 100% Obama 0% chance for McCain).

If McCain wins ALL of these: FLORIDA, OHIO, INDIANA, PENNSYLVANIA, MISSOURI and NORTH CAROLINA; it's 270 Obama to 268 McCain. www.270towin.com has Obama at 277 now, giving him Pennsylvania, not even calling that a swing state. So to flip that to McCain, and give him FL, OH, IN, MO and NC still isn't enough, he'd need Nevada also. Wow.

An Appaling Comparison

2008-10-25T16:31:00.004-05:00

Daniel Larison:

One response to the ridiculous cover of the latest issue of The Weekly Standard should be digust for the shameless adaptation of an iconic image from the Tiananmen Square massacre for the purposes of shilling for an awful candidate in a democratic election, but it seems to me that this might take TWS‘ democracy-promoting ideology and its alleged support for democratic dissidents far more seriously than they deserve. Of course it should go without saying that it is ludicrous and obnoxious to portray the frontrunner in a reasonably free and open election in the role of the Chinese military squashing the democracy activists of 1989, but then I expect that there is a nontrivial percentage of McCain supporters who think that the comparison is quite apt.

McCain is not standing alone in the path of a tank; he is not a valiant martyr to the rights of conscience and political expression. He is likely to be the runner-up in a large-scale contest for supreme power, and he will lose because most people in this country do not trust him or any other member of his party with that kind of power any longer. The perversity of comparing a man of his wealth and power, who seeks even more power, to a lone dissident engaged in futile resistance against overwhelming force is amazing. This certainly says something about that magazine’s respect for real dissidents in systems where contested and competitive elections essentially free of political violence are not possible. An example of real political dissent and courage is appropriated here for McCain to provide some lustre to the fading reputation of a dangerous and misguided politician.

More Palin

2008-10-25T15:51:00.006-05:00

Seriously. HOW can anyone allow this woman to be voted in to office. Vice Presidents rarely have much control (the last 8 years excluded). In less than two months, she is already looking out for herself (why is she in Iowa this weekend? We are a BLUE blue state, and she's appearing multiple times. This is a crucial weekend; and she is "wasting" it on Iowa's 7 electoral votes?

This should scare most of you:
Religious leaders in Alaska, including Mr. Donelson, (a pastor and Palin appointee, who helped found the "spiritual warfare" ministry) declined interviews, with several saying they had been told by the McCain-Palin campaign not to talk to members of the news media.

What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare. ”Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians.

Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action, a Web site that tracks religious groups, said: “One of the imperatives of the movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control. Then you can more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is to purify the earth.”
The full New York Times story.

Here is a link to "Spiritual Warfare & Deliverance Ministries".

And, so much for getting all "mavericky" on "reform".

McCain Adviser on Palin: She's "Going Rogue"

2008-10-25T15:43:00.002-05:00

They say she is looking out more for herself than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Click here for full story.

Interactive Map Of Newspaper Endorsements US Map

2008-10-25T11:07:00.001-05:00

Thanks, Andrew Sullivan.

The Other McCains

2008-10-25T11:05:00.000-05:00

Is It the Speechwriters? The Science Experts? Are there experts?

2008-10-24T22:51:00.004-05:00

Sarah Palin, in her first policy speech, disparaged the fruit fly research in "Paris, France", saying, "I kid you not." Unfortunately, fruit fly research has discovered data about nerve connections which may lead to advances in understanding autism, a disorder which her nephew suffers from. While the fruit fly "earmark" Palin referred to was likely one on olive fruit flies which seems more geared to controlling population, discounting, as she did today, "money for fruit flies" is sadly close-minded.

2008-10-24T22:09:00.003-05:00

"Thank God she's not going to have to be president from Day One. McCain's going to be alive and well."

10/24/08: Joe Lieberman, answering Connecticut reporters as to whether Sarah Palin is ready to be president right when elected.

OBAMA IS NOT A SOCIALIST (From a conservative. really).

2008-10-24T17:45:00.004-05:00

I posted this the other day but apparently did not have a strong enough title. I have more points on this; votes McCain has made, actual video and audio of him saying, basically, "spread the wealth" as in, that's the right thing to do. Send me an email or comment if you want me to post them, but check this out by Daniel Larison; (a conservative) who parses the issue for us.

A Wonderful Collection of Campaign Photos

2008-10-23T23:21:00.004-05:00

Make sure click "Show More Images" at the bottom of each page. One from Des Moines, one from Burlington IA!

This Is A Post From Ta-Nehisi Coates Today: What $150k Could Have Purchased

2008-10-23T23:18:00.002-05:00

Coates: You know what, this isn't about the wardrobe. It's about incompetence. It's about a poorly executed campaign. McCain's response to all this? She needed clothes. I bullshit you not.

What if the Tables Were Turned???

2008-10-23T15:41:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Bev Vrooman for this insightful email. Click my comment, below, for full text.

Those MYSTERIOUS Obama Contributions......................

2008-10-22T16:34:00.001-05:00

How to put an end to that issue.

Alamo chairwoman writes letter stating Obama is a Muslim socialist

2008-10-22T15:03:00.002-05:00

Yeah, the Democrats are doing the same thing. Like calling John McCain a fascist, homophobic dictator. Really???????????????????????????? No wait.....THEY'RE NOT.