Selected News For Week Oct 11 - Oct 17

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

61 Responses to “Selected News For Week Oct 11 - Oct 17”

1. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 12:21 am

   Is there any doubt whatsoever the panel would have found anything else?

   From a jubilant AP:

   Legislative panel: Palin abused authority

   ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain’s Republican ticket.

   Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.

   The inquiry looked into her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor’s sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

   Monegan’s firing was lawful, the report found, but Palin let the family grudge influence her decision-making — even if it was not the sole reason Monegan was dismissed.

   “I feel vindicated,” Monegan said. “It sounds like they’ve validated my belief and opinions. And that tells me I’m not totally out in left field.”

   Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Lawmakers don’t have the authority to sanction her for such a violation, and they gave no indication they would take any action against her.

   Under Alaska law, it is up to the state’s Personnel Board — which is conducting its own investigation into the matter — to decide whether Palin violated state law and, if so, must refer it to the Senate president for disciplinary action. Violations also carry a possible fine of up to $5,000.

   Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein disagreed with Branchflower’s conclusions. “In order to violate the ethics law, there has to be some personal gain, usually financial. Mr. Branchflower has failed to identify any financial gain,” he said.

   Palin and McCain’s supporters had hoped the inquiry’s finding would be delayed until after the presidential election to spare her any embarrassment and to put aside an enduring distraction as she campaigns as McCain’s running mate in an uphill contest against Democrat Barack Obama.

   After a court fight to block the report failed, the panel of lawmakers voted to release it — though not without dissension. The panel did not vote on whether to endorse its findings.

   “I think there are some problems in this report,” said Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens, a member of the panel. “I would encourage people to be very cautious, to look at this with a jaundiced eye.” …

   http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....cs-report/

   Not like it makes a difference given the rate at which McCain/Palin’s poll numbers are dropping.

   The Legislature could vote next year to censure Palin, but committee members appeared divided over the report and Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, the committee’s chairman, gave no indication that would happen.

   Stapleton also dismissed the report as “a partisan-led inquiry run by Obama supporters.” The inquiry has been dogged by such criticism since Democrat Hollis French, who oversaw the investigation, predicted an “October surprise” for the McCain campaign.

   Elton rejected the accusation of partisanship.

   “When we began investigating this, we had no idea that Sarah Palin would be a part of the national ticket,” said Elton, an Obama supporter.

   So of course there was no reason for Elton to recuse himself once Palin was named to the ticket given his support. No, not at all.

   There was no reason to delay the report. No, not at all.

2. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 2:30 am

   Watch for the MSM to have fun with alleged right-wing threats, like this one, from the blog LA Observed:

   Obama threat, white powder sent to LAT

   By Kevin Roderick

   I’m told the Los Angeles Times mailroom opened a hand-scrawled letter today that read “death to Obama” and contained a white powder that triggered a call to the FBI and a city hazardous materials team. No one was injured and the powder proved to be harmless. My sources say the letter was addressed to staff writers Richard Serrano and Ralph Vartabedian and included a demand for a retraction to their story this week that detailed flying mishaps early in John McCain’s Navy flying career. The nut mail was said to carry an upside-down stamp and language about saving babies in addition to the Barack Obama threat.

   http://www.laobserved.com/arch.....powder.php

   I’m sure this will be covered with commentary noting that clearly the right-wing nut jobs are losing it, and reminding us that McVeigh was right-wing (not actually, he was anti-government) and mentioning abortion clinic bombings as the way “those pro-life activists” usually work…

3. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 4:01 am

   From a very irritated Los Angeles Times:

   Fox News’ faux documentary sets new low

   Sean Hannity’s Sunday report, ‘Obama and Friends: The History of Radicalism,’ relied on innuendo and guilt by association to label the Illinois senator a dupe of the shadowy forces of the left.

   By James Rainey

   Now and then, Fox News makes a stab at living up to its “fair and balanced” tag line.

   At other times, the cable network’s operatives throw off all pretense, let their neatly trimmed hair down and do what they seem to love best — blame all of the world’s evils on those pointy-headed, America-hating liberals. Like, say, Barack Obama!

   Fox host Sean Hannity and his producers served up a heaping portion of just such red meat Sunday night on “Hannity’s America.” And they’ve since been making lame defenses of the faux documentary, which bore the subtle title: “Obama and Friends: The History of Radicalism.”

   Fox’s hourlong screed is just the kind of media coverage that has contributed to the increasingly angry and irrational tone on the campaign trail. Even by the low standards of this election’s advocacy journalism, the program plumbed new depths — relying on innuendo and guilt by association to paint the Illinois senator as a dupe of the shadowy forces of the left.

   Much of Hannity’s report was based on interviews with half a dozen partisan commentators, whose main qualification seems to have been a previously expressed disdain for Obama.

   Near the top of the program, the host introduced one of them, Andy Martin, as an “author and journalist.” But reporters in his Chicago hometown know Martin better as a perennial political candidate and serial litigant.

   The Chicago Tribune has spent some time examining Martin’s past. He was refused entry to the Illinois bar in the 1970s, in part because his Selective Service records showed his thoughts exhibited “a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.”

   In a 1983 personal bankruptcy case, he referred to a judge as a “crooked, slimy Jew.” And a federal judge noted his history of “vexatious, frivolous and scandalous” lawsuits.

   When he ran for Illinois governor two years ago, Martin quoted a nearly 30-year-old Tribune editorial that called him “an absolutely brilliant campaigner” when he was running for a Senate seat. He didn’t mention that the same editorial said he “has no more business in the U.S. Senate than an elk has in a phone booth.”

   The producer of the Hannity program declined to be interviewed, so it’s impossible to determine whether Fox didn’t know about Martin’s history or just didn’t care. …

   http://www.latimes.com:/news/p.....3115.story

   Of course all of Michael Moore’s movies, not to mention other left-friendly documentaries, are inscrutably documented with no innuendo or guilt by association at all (Bush, Cheney, Haliburton…)

   I really don’t get the media’s increasing desperation if the poll numbers showing McCain’s support crashing like the market are true.

   Makes you think, doesn’t it - why expound this kind of energy propping up a candidate whose election is theoretically already assured?

4. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 4:07 am

   The Nanny State gets more overt.

   From the San Francisco Chronicle:

   Bridge directors vote for net to deter suicides

   By Michael Cabanatuan

   Golden Gate Bridge directors voted decisively Friday to try to stop people from jumping to their deaths from the landmark bridge by hanging nets along the sides of the span.

   The Board of Directors voted 14-to-1 to install the stainless-steel net system, which would be placed 20 feet below the deck, and would collapse around anyone who jumped into it, making it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to leap to their death. The lone “no” vote came from Director James Eddie of Mendocino County, who said his constituents did not consider a barrier necessary.

   An audience of about 50 people, including psychiatrists, suicide prevention experts and family members of people who had jumped to their deaths from the bridge, applauded the decision. Some had fought for decades for a suicide barrier.

   “This is a red-letter day,” said Dr. Mel Blaustein, director of psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. “There’s been a real change in attitude on this board, and I’m thrilled. It’s just marvelous.”

   The net, which is expected to cost $40 million to $50 million, has the lowest projected annual maintenance and operation cost of five proposed suicide barriers and is considered the safest for bridge workers. The other four designs were 10-to-12-foot vertical or horizontal barriers that would sit atop the existing 4-foot railings.

   But it probably will be years before the 3.4 miles of netting are installed, said Mary Currie, bridge district spokeswoman. Before it can start construction, the bridge district must complete more studies, including one on the effects of the net on birds, and come up with a funding plan. Then it would need to complete engineering and design work, and hire a contractor.

   “Our next big challenge is to come up with the money,” she said.

   Friday’s vote came as a surprise. Bridge directors weren’t scheduled to vote on the barrier for another two weeks, and Friday’s meeting was supposed to be a chance to review public comments on the proposed barriers and consider the preliminary environmental studies. Nearly 3,500 people and organizations submitted about 5,900 comments on the barrier. And more than 4,000 voted in an online poll with a nearly even split between those backing a barrier and those who wanted the bridge left alone.

   But after listening to a parade of speakers talk for an hour and a half about the high human toll of suicide and the need for a barrier, Tom Ammiano, director and San Francisco supervisor, pressed Friday for the board to vote on the barrier.

   “I want the kind of testimony we heard today to stop,” he said. “I don’t want to hear it again, and I don’t want future boards to have to hear it. It’s time to make a decision.” …

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....13F0MH.DTL

   You know, if it were any other work of art being defaced to “protect the public” the left would be rioting in the streets.

   But altering the aesthetics of arguably the world’s most beautiful and beloved bridge to deter those who choose to take their own lives by jumping from it? Not a peep.

5. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 4:13 am

   Once again, the left is trying to be “helpful” by telling us what “we’re doing wrong.”

   From the San Francisco Chronicle:

   McCain-Palin’s hot rhetoric risks GOP backlash

   By Carla Marinucci

   Republican Sen. John McCain had long promised American voters that he would be the ultimate maverick presidential candidate and run “a respectful campaign.”

   Americans “don’t want us to finger-point and question each other’s character and integrity,” he told Ohio voters just five months ago.

   But that was then - before the economy was in free fall and before his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, had gained ground in key swing states.

   And this is now - the Arizona senator’s campaign is pounding the drum to raise doubts about Obama’s patriotism and what it calls his questionable background, particularly his past relationship with former ’60s radical Bill Ayers.

   With just three weeks to go until Election Day, McCain’s campaign has ramped up expressions of raw Republican anger and frustration as the candidate has battled for traction. Recent rallies starring McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, have aired openly hostile and anti-Obama rhetoric - even cries of “terrorist,” “liar,” “off with his head” and “kill them,” which have gone unchallenged from the stage.

   On Friday, McCain found himself in a tricky balancing act - booed by supporters at a Minnesota rally when he urged them to “be respectful” of the Illinois senator, even challenging one woman who said she didn’t trust Obama because “he’s an Arab.”

   “No, ma’am,” McCain responded. “He’s a decent family man, citizen; I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues.”

   The senator’s attempt to contain his supporters’ passion at a rally was his first in recent weeks, and comes at a time when political observers have targeted Team McCain’s aggressive and increasingly personal attacks on Obama. They say the campaign has walked the line of being risky - and even irresponsible - in aiming to fire up the GOP base by stoking fear and anger.

   “Those rallies are becoming potentially dangerous,” said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who warned that it is high time for the McCain campaign to “tamp down” the anger for safety’s sake.

   “I think they are bordering, frankly, on creating a level of anger when McCain loses, there may be the kind of demonstrations we’ve seen in San Francisco” when emotions and politics mix violently, Brown said. He was referring to the “White Night” riot that followed Dan White’s voluntary manslaughter conviction in 1979 for the killings of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

   He added that as he watches voters express rage at Obama directly in front of the GOP candidates, “you can imagine the kinds of things going on in the McCain campaign that could whip up something similar if their guy doesn’t do well.”

   William Milliken, a former Republican governor of Michigan and a McCain supporter, also said this week that he is deeply disappointed in the tenor and personal attacks of the current campaign, and the GOP candidate is “not the McCain I endorsed.”

   “He keeps saying, ‘Who is Barack Obama?’ I would ask the question, ‘Who is John McCain?’ ” Milliken told the Swamp Politics blog. “Because his campaign has become rather disappointing to me. … He ought to be talking about the issues.” …

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....13EVIL.DTL

   Of course the author fails to note that unlike the loons in San Francisco, conservatives don’t riot if they don’t get their way.

   Will we be upset? Of course.

   Disappointed with the American public? Already there, have been for months now.

   Unhappy with the party? Been there, done that, can’t believe McCain won the primaries (was ACORN registering “Republican” voters for those, too?)

   But riot?

   No, but Obama’s supporters have already suggested that there may be riots if he loses,

   As for William Milliken - his best Republican counterparts would be Hagel and Snowe.

6. BillK
   October 11th, 2008 at 4:31 am

   Here’s the AP on McCain being booed for, let’s face it, conceding the election early.

   McCain booed after trying to calm anti-Obama crowd

   By Philip Elliott and Beth Fouhy

   The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama’s character, he described the Democrat as a “decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”

   A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events this week as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Obama. Some in the audience are making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of “traitor,”"terrorist,”"treason,”"liar,” and even “off with his head” have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.

   McCain changed his tone Friday when supporters at a town hall pressed him to be rougher on Obama. A voter said, “The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight.” Another said Obama would lead the U.S. into socialism. Another said he did not want his unborn child raised in a country led by Obama.

   “If you want a fight, we will fight,” McCain said. “But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.” When people booed, he cut them off.

   “I don’t mean that has to reduce your ferocity,” he said. “I just mean to say you have to be respectful.”

   Presidential candidates are accustomed to raucous rallies this close to Election Day and welcome the enthusiasm. But they are also traditionally monitors of sorts from the stage. Part of their job is to leaven proceedings if tempers run ragged and to rein in an out-of-bounds comment from the crowd.

   Not so much this week, at GOP rallies in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and other states.

   When a visibly angry McCain supporter in Waukesha, Wis., on Thursday told the candidate “I’m really mad” because of “socialists taking over the country,” McCain stoked the sentiment. “I think I got the message,” he said. “The gentleman is right.” He went on to talk about Democrats in control of Congress. …

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....833D43.DTL

   Apparenly McCain “got the message” and promptly lost it again.

   We don’t have to be afraid of Obama as President.

   No, really, it’s never been more clear that McCain doesn’t care about being President.

   How did we get to the point where our candidate effectively endorsed Obama and the so-called “barracuda” goes meekly along with it?

   I love my country, it’s being destroyed, and I have no candidate in this race.

   Palin, at a fundraiser in Ohio on Friday, told supporters “it’s not negative and it’s not mean-spirited” to scrutinize Obama’s iffy associations.

   But Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania an author of 15 books on politics, says the vitriol has been encouraged by inflammatory words from the stage.

   “Red-meat rhetoric elicits emotional responses in those already disposed by ads using words such as ‘dangerous”dishonorable’ and ‘risky’ to believe that the country would be endangered by election of the opposing candidate,” she said.

   You know, like what the Obama campaign, or more importantly, the Hollywood celebrities on his side say will happen if McCain is elected, not to mention what will happen should McCain die in office and Palin becomes President.

7. Morning in America
   October 11th, 2008 at 5:04 am

   Does anyone wonder if George Soros is shorting the U.S. stock market like he did the English Pound several years ago? There has strangely been very little news about Soros and his hedge funds lately.

8. Eilsel
   October 11th, 2008 at 11:44 am

   From the Associated Press:
   

   As governor, Palin at times bonds church and state

   By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer

   The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God’s will from the governor’s office.

   What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

   An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

   Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

   Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism.

   Since she was named as John McCain’s running mate, Palin’s deep faith and support for traditional moral values have rallied conservative voters who initially appeared reluctant to back his campaign.

   On a weekend trip from the capital in June, a minister from the Wasilla Assembly of God blessed Palin and Lt. Gov Sean Parnell before a crowd gathered for the "One Lord Sunday" event at the town’s hockey rink. Later in the day, she addressed the budding missionaries at her former church.

   "As I’m doing my job, let’s strike this deal. Your job is going be to be out there, reaching the people — (the) hurting people — throughout Alaska," she told students graduating from the church’s Masters Commission program. "We can work together to make sure God’s will be done here."

   Here they finally mention she was speaking at the graduation ceremonies and not merely at Sunday services.

   How is this different than speaking at other graduations from other school?

   A spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, Maria Comella, said the state paid for Palin’s travel and meals on that trip, and for other meetings with Christian groups, because she and her family were invited in their official capacity as Alaska’s first family. Parnell did not charge the state a per diem or ask to be reimbursed for travel expenses that day.

   "I understand the per diem policy is, I can claim it if I am away from my residence for 12 hours or more. And Anchorage is where my residence is and I’m based from. And this trip took about four hours of driving time and time at the event, so I did not claim per diem for this one," Parnell told the AP.

   Palin and her family billed the state $3,022 for the cost of attending Christian gatherings exclusively, including visits to the Assembly of God here and to the congregation they attend in Juneau, according to expense reports reviewed by the AP.

   Experts say those trips fall into an ethically gray area, since Democrats and Republicans alike often visit religious venues for personal and official reasons.

   J. Brent Walker, who runs a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for church-state separation, said based on a reporter’s account, Palin’s June excursion raised questions.

   "Politicians are entitled to freely exercise their religion while in office, but ethically if not legally that part of her trip ought to not be charged to taxpayers," said Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. "It’s still fundamentally a religious and spiritual experience she is having."

   The Palins billed the state an additional $10,094 in expenses for other multi-day trips that included worship services or religiously themed events, but also involved substantial state business, including the governor’s inaugural ball and an oil and gas conference in New Orleans.

   Palin also submitted $998 in expenses for a June trip to Anchorage that included a bill signing at Congregation Beth Shalom synagogue, the only non-Christian house of worship she has visited since taking office, according to the McCain campaign.

   In response to an AP request, Comella provided a list showing that since January 2007 the governor had attended 25 "faith-based events," including funerals and community meetings held at churches. Many did not appear on the governor’s schedule or her travel records.

   Palin has said publicly her personal opinions don’t "bleed on over into policies."

   Still, after the AP reported the governor had accepted tainted donations during her 2006 campaign, she announced she would donate the $2,100 to three charities, including an Anchorage nonprofit aimed at "sharing God’s love" to dissuade young women from having abortions.

   [An AP review of her time as mayor, from late 1996 to 2002, also reveals a commingling of church and state.

   Records of her mayoral correspondence show that Palin worked arduously to organize a day of prayer at city hall. She said that with local ministers’ help, Wasilla — a city of 7,000 an hour’s drive north of Anchorage — could become "a light, or a refuge for others in Alaska and America."

   "What a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders, even though I know it’s all through the grace of God," she wrote in March 2000 to her former pastor. She thanked him for the loan of a video featuring a Kenyan preacher who later would pray for her protection from witchcraft as she sought higher office.

   In that same period, she also joined a grass-roots, faith-based movement to stop the local hospital from performing abortions, a fight that ultimately lost before the Alaska Supreme Court.

   Pro-life people are typically Christain, but it’s not a must. I really like this logic jump here.

   Palin’s former church and other evangelical denominations were instrumental in ousting members of Valley Hospital’s board who supported abortion rights — including the governor’s mother-in-law, Faye Palin.

   Alaska Right to Life Director Karen Lewis, who led the campaign, said Palin wasn’t a leader in the movement initially. But by 1997, after she had been elected mayor, Palin joined a hospital board to make sure the abortion ban held while the courts considered whether the ban was legal, Lewis said.

   "We kept pro-life people like Sarah on the association board to ensure children of the womb would be protected," Lewis said. "She’s made up of this great fiber of high morals and godly character, and yet she’s fearless. She’s someone you can depend on to carry the water."

   In November 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that because the hospital received more than $10 million in public funds it was "quasi-public" and couldn’t forbid legal abortions.

   Comella said Palin joined the hospital’s broader association in the mid-1990s. Records show she was elected to the nonprofit’s board in 2000.

   Ties among those active at the time still run deep: In November, Palin was a keynote speaker at Lewis’ "Proudly Pro-Life Dinner" in Anchorage, and the governor billed taxpayers a $60 per diem fee for her work that day.

   Palin also is one of just two governors who channeled federal money to support religious groups through a state agency, Alaska’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Palin has made it a priority to unite faith communities, local nonprofits and government to serve the needy, bringing her high marks — and $500,000 — from the Bush administration.

   In fiscal year 2008, Alaska was one of only four states to receive $500,000 in federal grant money from the national initiative.

   "The governor has a healthy appreciation for faith-based groups that serve Alaskans in need," said Jay Hein, who until recently directed national faith-based initiatives at the White House. "The grant speaks to their organizational strength, and the dynamism of Alaska’s operation."

   Several Catholic and Christian charities received funding, including $20,000 for a Fairbanks homeless shelter that views itself as a "stable door of evangelism and Christian service" and $36,000 for a drop-in center at an Anchorage mall that seeks to demonstrate "the unconditional love of Jesus to teenagers."

   The state ensures all faith-based groups keep a strict separation between their work in the community and their prayer services to ensure recipients don’t feel coerced, said Tara Horton, a special assistant to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Though staffers reached out to nonprofits and religious groups of many faiths, mostly Christian organizations applied for funding, she said.

   In June, when Alaska legislators decided to cut $712,000 in state support for the office, Parnell sent lawmakers an urgent letter asking them to put it back in the budget. A small portion of state funding was later restored.

   "Gov. Palin is motivated by the needs out there, and faith-based and community initiatives are a great way to do that," Parnell said. "It matters not to state government what religion people belong to, so long as they are serving the public and the money they receive is used appropriately."

   Still, a state worker who directs an Anchorage-based group that advocates for church-state separation, Lloyd Eggan, said Palin’s administration hasn’t done enough to assure voters that government money doesn’t support ministry.

   "That sort of thing is exactly what courts have said is barred by the First Amendment," Eggan said.

   http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....BYaUqs0NUE

   I would like to quote President Washington here from his Farewell address:

   Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

   So, is Palin actually combining church and state, or is she following the admonition of our first President?

   (I’m sorry I don’t know how to put the groovy, blue quote lines on the side of the article)

9. SG
   October 11th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

   “I’m sorry I don’t know how to put the groovy, blue quote lines on the side of the article”

   There is a link at the top of the thread to formatting instructions.

   But quotes are done via < blockquote > — with no spaces.

10. 1sttofight
    October 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    It is only a blur between church and state if a Republican does it. A Democrat can go to a black church(seems to be the only kind they go to) and give a political speech(which is against the law) on the taxpayer dime and no one in the msm utters a peep about it.

11. 1sttofight
    October 11th, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    They sure sound confident that ACORN will succeed with the theft of the election.

    WASHINGTON (AP) - After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.

    The bill’s total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.

    The officials stressed that no final decisions have been made. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a formal announcement. House Democrats have announced plans for an economic forum on Monday “to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

    Democrats said Obama’s campaign has been involved in discussions on a possible stimulus package. The party’s presidential candidate, running ahead in the polls, has outlined his own proposals for stimulating the economy.

    http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....F83O0.html

12. Zilla
    October 11th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    Didn’t know where to put this SG.
    A candidate I support.
    http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php.....&altl=

13. DW
    October 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    For Mark Steyn fans -from the Canadian Press:

    Muslim complaint over Maclean’s rejected

    By THE CANADIAN PRESS
    VANCOUVER - The B.C. Human Rights Commission has rejected a human rights complaint against Maclean’s magazine that claimed an article about Islam violated anti-hate laws.

    In a ruling released Friday, the commission found the article by Mark Steyn did not violate anti-hate laws or raise hatred against Muslims.

    It’s the third time the complaint by members of the Canadian Islamic Congress has been dismissed by a human rights commission in Canada.

    The October 2006 article, called “The Future Belongs to Islam,” discusses the global ambitions of young Muslims and suggests the West doesn’t have the will to withstand the challenge.

    In the B.C. complaint, the Islamic Congress claimed the writing suggests Muslims pose a threat to Western society, to democracy and human rights - a violation of the B.C. Human Rights Code.

    In a ruling released Friday, the provincial human rights panel dismissed the claim.

    Full article:
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Me.....71-cp.html

    At one time, not so long ago, it was a given that you’d be found guilty if a special interest group complained about you to a HR commission. Thanks to a very few stalwarts like Ezra Levant -who have stood up to these Stalinists and dragged them into the light, for all to see- that is changing.

    Note though:

    It’s the third time the complaint by members of the Canadian Islamic Congress has been dismissed by a human rights commission in Canada.

    Each identical complaint paid for by the taxpayers. Attempt #4 will no doubt be happening soon.

14. DEZ
    October 11th, 2008 at 10:04 pm

    “Attempt #4 will no doubt be happening soon.”

    I am sure, and they will dragged kicking and screaming to the light again!
    Well I can hope, right?

15. DW
    October 11th, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    Actually DEZ, I was referring to the HRC’s being dragged into the light. It’s positively chilling how closely their proceedings resemble the old Soviet “show trials”.
    It’s actually worth looking into, because if the anointed one gets in power down there, they may well become part of your future.
    If you’re interested, I’d suggest spending some time at Ezra Levant’s site:
    http://ezralevant.com/

    (if nothing else, I suspect the folks at Lee, RCBS, CCI, Dupont, etal, would appreciate you reading Levant’s site…)

16. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 4:38 am

    Oooh, big shock - now that the politically motivated Palin report is out, the AP is politically motivated to suggest it might hurt Palin.

    Alaska inquiry’s findings may bite Palin at polls

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day.

    A legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.

    The next move may be at the ballot box. The legislative committee that released the report Friday recommends no criminal investigation and has no authority to sanction the governor, the Republican vice presidential nominee.

    “It is out of the Legislative Council’s hands. It goes to anyone’s hands who got a copy or clicks the link on the Web,” said Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, the chairman of the committee that released the report. “I can’t tell you how the process ends.”

    If voters believe the report’s finding and it tarnishes Palin’s reputation as a reformer and a champion for good government, that could hurt Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the final weeks of the race.

    The McCain campaign quickly rejected that notion.

    “I think the American people can tell the difference between the results of a politically motivated investigation and a legitimate finding of fact,” campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said.

    The inquiry looked into Palin’s dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor’s sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

    Stephen Branchflower, a retired prosecutor hired to conduct the investigation, said Monegan’s firing was lawful. But the pressure Palin and her husband put on him, he said, was not.

    Under Alaska law, it is up to the state’s Personnel Board, not the Legislature, to decide whether Palin violated the ethics laws. If so, it must refer the matter to the Senate president for disciplinary action. Violations also carry a possible fine of up to $5,000.

    By the time that investigation is over, however, the election will be over. If Palin is the vice president-elect, the results will hardly matter. If she loses, she’ll have to address the board’s findings at home. The national media will be long gone. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/308987

    Of course, the findings also might not “bite Palin at polls” - but that headline isn’t nearly as much fun, or as damaging.

17. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 4:52 am

    Madison, WI “Cafeteria Catholics” are unhappy.

    From the Wisconsin State Journal:

    Madison-area Catholics decry Morlino’s leadership in open letter

    By Doug Erickson

    A group of Madison-area Catholics says in an open letter to Bishop Robert Morlino that he is ignoring the input of clergy and lay people, causing some parishioners to stop attending Mass and hurting the morale of priests.

    The letter writers point to priests banding together for fear of retribution if they dissent, pursuit of a new cathedral despite opposition, the firing of an openly gay music director, the hiring of priests who ban female altar servers and the alleged alienation of Catholics who disagree with church doctrine as examples of problems in the diocese.

    “We need more compassion not dismissal,” the letter says.

    The letter, which appears as a paid advertisement in the Business section of today’s Wisconsin State Journal, is the latest flare-up in an increasingly vigorous debate over Morlino’s leadership of 270,000 Catholics in the 11-county Madison diocese.

    In a statement, the diocese said Morlino is sorry that “certain groups, who claim to be Catholic, would assume postures which clearly are not in accord with the teachings of the church.”

    James Green of Madison, one of the organizers of the effort, said the advertisement cost about $3,500 and was paid for by more than 40 people, 36 of whom are listed by name. Seven others are remaining anonymous because they work for the church, Green said.

    Many of the contributors are members of the Madison branch of Call to Action (CTA), a national organization of Catholics whose positions on issues such as women’s ordination and priest celibacy are at odds with church hierarchy. The Catholic Media Coalition, a group loyal to church teachings, describes CTA as the leading organization of liberal, dissenting Catholics.

    Brent King, spokesman for the Madison Catholic Diocese, said CTA members gave Morlino a copy of the letter Friday.

    The diocese statement said Morlino hopes and prays that members of the group “return to full acceptance of the faith” that comes from the apostles.

    “It also very much saddens the bishop when groups, such as Call to Action, resort to the use of the mass media to address internal family problems within the church,” the statement said. …

    http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/309098

    It’s amazing how these people can call themselves Catholics, when to be Catholic means that you accept doctrine handed down by the leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope and that is followed through by actions of your local archdiocese.

    Being Catholic does not mean “petitioning” your grievances. It does not mean going against the teachings of your church.

    (It also surely does not mean that “Catholics” like Pelosi and Kennedy should be allowed to receive communion without a full confession of their sins - backing abortion being a real biggie - but I digress.)

18. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 5:17 am

    The Democrats talk about GOP giveaways, but of course Dems’ giveaways are the biggest of all.

    From the “What’s wrong with that?” AP:

    Democrats’ possible aid plan could include tax rebate, food stamps funds, jobless benefits

    By David Espo

    WASHINGTON (AP) — After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.

    The bill’s total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.

    The officials stressed that no final decisions have been made. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a formal announcement. House Democrats have announced plans for an economic forum on Monday “to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

    Democrats said Obama’s campaign has been involved in discussions on a possible stimulus package. The party’s presidential candidate, running ahead in the polls, has outlined his own proposals for stimulating the economy.

    Democrats are increasingly confident of capturing the White House and increasing their majorities in the House and Senate on Nov. 4.

    If they are successful, a lame-duck session of Congress two weeks later would allow them to start work on a response to the credit crunch that has sent stock prices plummeting and also threatens to trigger a deep recession. It often takes two or three months for a new Congress to begin turning out legislation, particularly when a new president is settling into the White House.

    On the other hand, by attempting to pass legislation next month, Democrats would have to negotiate with President Bush, whose term runs until Jan. 20, 2009. Additionally, Senate Republicans, with 49 seats, could block any measure they opposed.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters in Denver last Wednesday a $150 billion stimulus package is necessary and she may call the House back into session after the election. Her spokesman, Brendan Daly, added, “Congress just worked in a bipartisan way with the Administration to pass an economic rescue plan to help stabilize our financial markets, and we must now work together to pass a jobs creation and economic recovery stimulus package.”

    In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has announced a post-election session beginning Nov. 17 to consider public lands legislation. His spokesman, Jim Manley, issued a written statement that said “recent developments only reinforce the need for additional action to reinvigorate the economy.” He added, “no decisions have yet been made on how to proceed.”

    An Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, said the campaign is monitoring the situation.

    The candidate has said previously he favors $25 billion to help states meet their own needs, another $25 billion for roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and $65 billion for tax rebates paid for by a windfall profits tax on oil. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....D_STIMULUS

    I wonder what the Democrats will consider “windfall profits” in the face of oil selling for almost half the price it was selling for earlier this year.

    I suppose any profit made by an oil company is considered a “windfall” to the left.

    Meanwhile, can one, just one Democrat explain how the usual giveaways will create any jobs?

    Oh yeah, that’s right - they’ll need to add more government employees to process the new food stamp applications.

    Silly me.

19. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 7:06 am

    Time to admit capitalism has failed.

    From the Los Angeles Times:

    Bank rescue plan to test capitalism

    The government’s plan to take stakes in financial institutions could backfire, some analysts say. Proponents say it’s an efficient solution.

    By Michael A. Hiltzik and Ken Bensinger

    Are we witnessing the erosion of capitalism, or its salvation?

    That question is swirling around the federal government’s latest proposed intervention in the private financial markets since Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson announced Friday a plan to take equity stakes in banks as a quick and efficient way to pump them with new capital.

    Combined with the government’s takeover last month of the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and its huge ownership stake in the crippled insurance company American International Group, the bank plan represents perhaps the largest federal intervention in private enterprise since President Truman’s attempt to nationalize the steel industry to avert a strike in 1952 — a move blocked by the Supreme Court.

    The idea of taking direct stakes in financial institutions was adopted last week by Britain, which will in effect partly nationalize banks with as much as $87 billion in capital infusions and an additional $350 billion available for short-term loans. Some of the country’s biggest banks have signed up, including Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

    The Italian government has also authorized a recapitalization package to be enacted if the need arises. Germany, with Europe’s biggest economy, has resisted such plans, but there were reports Saturday that Chancellor Angela Merkel might unveil a recapitalization plan as early as today.

    A consensus seemed to be emerging among leaders of the world’s top economies meeting Saturday in Washington that whatever economic or political differences existed among them, all countries must act aggressively and in concert in guaranteeing deposits in their banks and pumping government capital into faltering institutions to help ease the global crisis.

    A stubborn seize-up of bank lending to businesses, individuals and each other has sharply heightened the prospects of a deep and lengthy recession in the U.S. and abroad.

    The fact that devoted supporters of laissez-faire economics are falling in line to bless the aggressive foray into free enterprise by the U.S. government is a sign of the seriousness of the crisis.

    “I’m against the government owning anything . . . ,” Stanford University finance professor Jonathan Berk said. “That said, buying an equity stake may be the cheapest way” to achieve a banking recovery.

    But others believe that scrapping free-market principles in a crisis atmosphere may doom the banking industry to a future of inefficiency.

    “It’s a move in the wrong direction, both economically and ideologically,” said Casey B. Mulligan, a conservative economist at the University of Chicago who believes that predictions of an economic meltdown are overblown. “Government enterprises don’t do well, because public management doesn’t pay attention to the bottom line.” …

    http://www.latimes.com/busines.....2445.story

    Do yourself a favor and count the ever-increasing number of “capitalism is dead” articles now appearing in papers near you.

    Remember, only Government control can save us.

    From the actions of Government.

20. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 7:10 am

    Gitmo is unfair!

    From the Los Angeles Times:

    Guantanamo prosecutor who quit had ‘grave misgivings’ about fairness

    Convinced that key evidence was being withheld from the defense, Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld went from being a ‘true believer to someone who felt truly deceived’ by the tribunals.

    By Josh Meyer

    WASHINGTON — Darrel J. Vandeveld was in despair. The hard-nosed lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, a self-described conformist praised by his superiors for his bravery in Iraq, had lost faith in the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunals in which he was a prosecutor.

    His work was top secret, making it impossible to talk to family or friends. So the devout Catholic — working away from home — contacted a priest online.

    Even if he had no doubt about the guilt of the accused, he wrote in an August e-mail, “I am beginning to have grave misgivings about what I am doing, and what we are doing as a country. . . .

    “I no longer want to participate in the system, but I lack the courage to quit. I am married, with children, and not only will they suffer, I’ll lose a lot of friends.”

    Two days later, he took the unusual step of reaching out for advice from his opposing counsel, a military defense lawyer.

    “How do I get myself out of this office?” Vandeveld asked Major David J.R. Frakt of the Air Force Reserve, who represented the young Afghan Vandeveld was prosecuting for an attack on U.S. soldiers — despite Vandeveld’s doubts about whether Mohammed Jawad would get a fair trial. Vandeveld said he was seeking a “practical way of extricating myself from this mess.”

    Last month, Vandeveld did just that, resigning from the Jawad case, the military commissions overall and, ultimately, active military duty. In doing so, he has become even more of a central figure in the “mess” he considers Guantanamo to be.

    Vandeveld is at least the fourth prosecutor to resign under protest. Questions about the fairness of the tribunals have been raised by the very people charged with conducting them, according to legal experts, human rights observers and current and former military officials.

    Vandeveld’s claims are particularly explosive.

    In a declaration and subsequent testimony, he said the U.S. government was not providing defense lawyers with the evidence it had against their clients, including exculpatory information — material considered helpful to the defense.

    Saying that the accused enemy combatants were more likely to be wrongly convicted without that evidence, Vandeveld testified that he went from being a “true believer to someone who felt truly deceived” by the tribunals. The system in place at the U.S. military facility in Cuba, he wrote in his declaration, was so dysfunctional that it deprived “the accused of basic due process and subject[ed] the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct.”

    Army Col. Lawrence J. Morris, the chief prosecutor and Vandeveld’s boss, said the Office of Military Commissions provides “every scrap of paper and information” to the defense. Morris said that Vandeveld was disgruntled because his commanding officers disagreed with some of his legal tactics and that he “never once” raised substantive concerns. …

    http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....2481.story

    Yes, why complain to your superiors, it’s so much easier to complain that you “lack the will to quit” and to go running to the Press because even if you have no dobut about the guilt of those being tried, you’re just so upset at “the system.”

    Uh yeah, right.

    Naturally the left is absolutely thrilled:

    Some tribunal defense lawyers are preparing to call Vandeveld as a witness, saying that his claims of systemic problems at Guantanamo, if true, could alter the outcome of every pending case there — and force the turnover of long-sought information on coercive interrogation tactics and other controversial measures used against their clients in the war on terrorism.

    Remember, terrorists are innocent until they kill liberal lives.

21. BillK
    October 12th, 2008 at 7:18 am

    Can you believe it? The Los Angeles Times has found another “staunch Republican” that has “concerns” about McCain!

    Shocking, I know:

    Obama rides a wave of bad economic news

    Surveys indicate the financial crisis has drowned out other concerns, pulling even longtime Republican voters away from John McCain.

    By Peter Wallsten, David Zucchino and Bob Drogin

    WASHINGTON — For months, Mark Wagner stuck by John McCain, even as the economy stalled and other Americans came to blame Republican leadership. Then, about three weeks ago, the deepening economic downturn pushed him to reconsider.

    Now, the Florida salesman and staunch Republican has abandoned the GOP ticket. Sarah Palin, he thinks, looks under-equipped to be vice president. And McCain, he says, displayed an unsteady response to what may be a global economic depression.

    The financial crisis has turned the last three weeks into a crucial and possibly decisive period in the presidential contest — a time when many Americans have taken a new look at each candidate and then moved toward Democrat Barack Obama.

    Like a wave, the crisis has washed over other factors in a contest that had seemed to be a dead heat, moving enough voters to give the senator from Illinois a consistent lead in polls nationwide and in key battleground states, including Florida, Virginia and Ohio, where President Bush secured his reelection four years ago.

    Republican officials in several states say they fear voters have judged McCain and Palin harshly in how they reacted to the financial downturn. Obama, meanwhile, now looks like an acceptable alternative to many voters who had been hesitant to pull the lever for him because of concerns about his untraditional background and relatively recent appearance in national affairs.

    “If you looked at some of the decisions that Obama’s made, and the consistency and levelness that he’s had in these trying times over the past few weeks, in my opinion he’s blown McCain away,” said Wagner, 47, of suburban Tampa.

    In addition, Wagner disapproves of Palin’s refusal to cooperate with a state legislative investigation that found she had abused her power as Alaska governor, and he calls McCain’s recent attacks on Obama’s character and past associations “disgusting.”

    “McCain was supposed to be the steady hand with experience,” he said.

    Some Republicans report hearing of similar conversions in Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina, and they fear that the change is irreversible. Voters who have been blaming Bush and Republicans in general for the financial crisis now seem to be tying it around McCain’s neck as well.

    Rep. Mark Souder, an Indiana Republican, said he was looking at an “Obama tide” in his district and wondering about his own reelection: “Can I withstand a firestorm?”

    “The impression of McCain on the economy is that he wanted more deregulation than Bush” at a time that voters are demanding more help from the government, he said. “I’m not sure right now that McCain can carry seven states,” added Souder, whose home state has not picked a Democrat for president since 1964. “In the end I think McCain will carry Indiana. But if you are fighting for Indiana, you are in trouble.” …

    http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....5073.story

    Yet another in the “see, all is lost, don’t even bother going to the polls, Republicans” series.

    However, that doesn’t mean they’re wrong, either.

    From those I’ve talked to, it doesn’t look good.

    As I’ve said before, the pull of the “go ahead, control everything, just take care of me” attitude is just too strong.

    And it’s not as if McCain and Palin are actively working to even refute the charges Obama and company are levying…

22. Diane
    October 12th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    Isn’t it curious that one never sees stories about Democrats with doubts about Obama? I guess there aren’t any. Amazing how all of those Hillary supporters just sort of dried up and blew away, isn’t it?

23. 1sttofight
    October 12th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    Powerful anti-abortion speech by Gov. Sarah Palin. This Lady is for real.

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITI.....nnSTCVideo

24. BillK
    October 13th, 2008 at 5:05 am

    Today’s anti-McCain story from the Los Angeles Times stars the US Military!

    Pentagon divided over John McCain

    His military experience, while seen as an asset, makes him a less likely pushover for top brass, and he has long been a critic of Defense spending. But some welcome the prospect of sweeping reforms.

    By Julian E. Barnes

    WASHINGTON — For decades, the nation’s military officer corps has identified steadfastly with the priorities and values of the Republican Party. So the brass should be reveling in the presidential campaign of John McCain.

    Yet, in a culture that typically prefers one of its own, many are wary of the Vietnam War hero.

    McCain, a former Navy officer and prisoner of war, would arrive in the White House with more military experience than any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. But he also would bring a long congressional career as an outspoken critic of the Pentagon — prone to harsh assessments of its spending practices, weapons programs and military leaders.

    As a result, defenders of some of the Pentagon’s biggest weapons systems are worried that if McCain is elected, he will order sweeping changes, killing a number of big-ticket programs. Perhaps unlike other civilian leaders, McCain would be able to draw on his experience and knowledge of the military to reject the advice of generals and admirals.

    “He is more feared in the Pentagon because he is impervious to the usual methods the military uses to roll the civilian leadership,” a senior Defense official said.

    Past presidential hopefuls have pledged to reorder military spending and alter war preparations. But McCain “knows where the bodies are buried,” the senior official said, referring to the Republican nominee’s understanding of weapons programs.

    The range of views within the Pentagon about the GOP candidate is surprising and shows a complex culture struggling with the effects of waging two protracted wars while grappling with rivalries among the military branches.

    Some top officers are disillusioned over how President Bush has used the military, and they cheer the prospect of the sweeping reforms McCain might bring. Others are skeptical, believing that the former Navy fighter pilot would show a bias against the Air Force. They wonder whether Democrat Barack Obama would be a safer choice.

    “People are weighing who would be the lesser of two evils,” one military officer said.

    Most of the personnel interviewed for this article spoke on the condition that their names not be used, citing the advice of senior military officials who cautioned against appearing to take sides in the political campaign.

    But for all the admonitions about remaining apolitical, the presidential race is a topic of daily conversation at lunch tables around the Pentagon.

    Some officials privately express a degree of enthusiasm for Obama, hoping for better relations with allies and an improved U.S. image in the Muslim world. Toward that end, they said, the Democrat is more likely to appoint Pentagon leaders who would actively engage potential adversaries, as well as allies.

    “We need some folks in here who are not responsible for getting us where we are today,” a senior Army official said. …

    http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....5331.story

    Won’t the above quoted “officials” be surprised when Obama capitulates fully and they find themselves out of jobs - well at least out of the jobs they’re trained for and instead working as Police officials in places like Darfur.

    But I get the biggest kick out of Pentagon officials worrying that McCain will “he will order sweeping changes, killing a number of big-ticket programs.”

    What, I wonder, do they think Obama will do?

    Do they honestly believe he will leave the Pentagon to proceed with currently funded programs and not zero them out?

    Leave it to the L.A. Times to position the fact that McCain knows how the military works, can’t be “rolled” easily and that he may cancel existing programs as bad things.

25. wardmama4
    October 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    I can not decide if the arrogance or utter desire to destroy America scares me more about this - oh heck, it’s both. Just vote in every single office you have a chance to vote - Republican (not that I’m really that keen on the GOP’s chosen leader, and have already told my one Republican Senator I’m not voting for him (I just hope that some other party will run to give me someone to vote for)) to make sure that this does not happen:

    
    Tax rebate, food stamp money possible in aid plan
    Oct 11, 5:24 PM (ET)

    By DAVID ESPO

    WASHINGTON (AP) - After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.

    The bill’s total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.

    The officials stressed that no final decisions have been made. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a formal announcement. House Democrats have announced plans for an economic forum on Monday “to help Congress develop an economic recovery plan that focuses on creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

    Democrats said Obama’s campaign has been involved in discussions on a possible stimulus package. The party’s presidential candidate, running ahead in the polls, has outlined his own proposals for stimulating the economy.

    Democrats are increasingly confident of capturing the White House and increasing their majorities in the House and Senate on Nov. 4.

    http://tinyurl.com/3k95vy

26. BillK
    October 13th, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    wardmama4,

    Covered that story a few stories higher up in the list.

27. BillK
    October 14th, 2008 at 1:30 am

    Today’s “the election is lost” article from the Los Angeles Times:

    For John McCain, another day, another strategy

    He’s fighting for one last comeback, but his campaign and other Republicans can’t agree on the best tactics to use against Barack Obama.

    By Mark Z. Barabak and Maeve Reston

    VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — John McCain unveiled a feisty new campaign speech Monday, but the talk of change and promise of a fist-shaking fight to November failed to allay Republican concerns that the presidential race may be slipping beyond his grasp.

    With 21 days to the election, there was widespread agreement that Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate would be a crucial opportunity — and perhaps the last one — for the Arizona senator to change the course of a race that appears to be moving strongly in Democrat Barack Obama’s direction.

    But the consensus ended there. For just about every Republican urging McCain to focus relentlessly on the economy, there was another who said McCain should continue questioning Obama’s character by citing his association with William Ayers, a Vietnam-era radical. Some said the GOP nominee needed to do both, and also bring up the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Obama’s controversial former pastor; others called that a mistake and said that a mix of messages was part of McCain’s problem.

    “This has been a very tactically oriented campaign that responds to the previous night’s evening news,” said David Winston, a Republican pollster who advises the GOP leadership in the House and Senate. “As a result, they’ve gone tactical decision to tactical decision without any strategy to tie that together.”

    Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, head of the party’s senatorial campaign committee, said that McCain had to “start getting a very clear, simple message on the economy. Their team has not put that together so far.”

    Neither Ensign nor Winston ruled out a McCain victory. But their unusually open criticism reflected a nervousness that is growing within party ranks as McCain seemingly shifts strategies on almost a daily basis.

    He spent several days last week criticizing Obama’s relationship with Ayers (though he never brought up the matter in last Tuesday night’s debate). McCain then abruptly halted the criticism and even defended his Democratic rival when some of his own supporters responded with slurs.

    Campaigning Monday in Virginia and North Carolina, states Republicans once took for granted, McCain made no mention of Ayers at his rallies and largely avoided the character questions he had raised previously. Instead, he returned to the promise of change — a major theme of last month’s successful GOP convention — and distanced himself not so subtly from the Bush administration.

    “We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight,” McCain told a boisterous crowd of about 12,000 supporters in Virginia Beach. “The hour is late. Our troubles are getting worse. Our enemies watch. We have to act immediately. We have to change direction now.”

    McCain acknowledged his difficult position. Surveys show Obama holding a solid lead in national polls and ahead in enough states to easily capture the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, assuming nothing changes before Nov. 4. McCain, who has staged repeated comebacks in the presidential race, embraced the familiar role of underdog, saying he came from a long line of scrappers.

    “Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes and planning with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Sen. [Harry] Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections and concede defeat in Iraq,” McCain said, offering his slant on the Illinois senator’s positions. “But you know what they forgot? They forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.”

    Many Republicans, however, seem less sanguine. “I don’t want to be the first Republican out there to say it’s a disaster, but it’s a . . . disaster,” said a GOP strategist in a key state both sides are targeting. He did not want to be identified criticizing the party’s nominee. “I don’t see the issue that’s going to turn this race around, unless there’s a scandal, a terrorist act — almost an act of God.” …

    http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....4967.story

    Of course McCain is shifting strategy - he’s losing.

    I’m sure if Obama were behind it would be played as how wonderful it is that he can adapt to a “shifting” electorate and can “run with change.”

    I also don’t see where it’s bad to point out that many, many Republicans are completely frustrated by the complete inadequacy of his campaign and hope that he hammers a message - any message - for once, and that it has become too late for them to unmuzzle Palin and let her speak her mind.

    No, McCain is throwing away the election, and the fact that Republicans realize it doesn’t mean all is lost, it means he must actually do something.

    I hate to be negative, but I too wonder if it isn’t too late; we shall see.

28. BillK
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:22 am

    What a shock! An extremely far-left socialist wins the Nobel Prize for Economics!

    Better yet, he’s a columnist for the New York Times!

    From a thrilled AP:

    Paul Krugman wins Nobel economics prize

    The Princeton scholar and New York Times columnist is honored for formulating a new theory to answer questions about free trade.

    STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel economic prize Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.

    Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in The New York Times, where he writes a regular column and has a blog called “Conscience of a Liberal.”

    He has come out forcefully against John McCain during the economic meltdown, saying the Republican candidate is “more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago” and earlier that the GOP has become “the party of stupid.”

    The 55-year-old American economist was the lone winner of the 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) award and the latest in a string of American researchers to be honored. It was only the second time since 2000 that a single laureate won the prize, which is typically shared by two or three researchers.

    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised Krugman for formulating a new theory to answer questions about free trade.

    “What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions,” the academy said in its citation.

    “He has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography,” it said.

    The award, known as the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, is the last of the six Nobel prizes announced this year and is not one of the original Nobels. It was created in 1968 by the Swedish central bank in Alfred Nobel’s memory.

    Besides his work as an economist at Princeton University in New Jersey, where he has been since 2000, Krugman also writes about politics and inequality in the U.S. and other topics for The New York Times. He has also written for Foreign Affairs, the Harvard Business Review and Scientific American.

    Commenting on the global economic meltdown, Krugman told a news conference in Stockholm by telephone from the United States that some of his research was linked to currency crises and related issues.

    “This is terrifying,” he said, comparing it to the financial crisis that gripped Asia in the 1990s.

    He said winning the Nobel award won’t change his approach to research and writing.

    “The prize will enhance visibility,” he said, “but I hope it does not lead me into going to a lot of purely celebratory events, aside from the Nobel presentation itself.”

    Krugman’s work on new trade theory garnered him the John Bates Clark medal from the American Economic Association in 1991. That prize is given every two years to an economist under the age of 40.

    The citation said Krugman’s approach is based on the premise that many goods and services can be produced at less cost in long series, a concept known as economies of scale. His research showed the effects of that on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity.

    In contrast to his treatment of U.S. financial officials, Krugman has praised leaders in Britain for their response to the global financial crisis.

    In an Oct. 12 article on the New York Times’ Web site, Krugman wrote about the global financial meltdown and its reach into Europe, saying that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling “defined the character of the worldwide rescue effort, with other wealthy nations playing catch-up.”

    Whereas U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson rejected a “sort of temporary part-nationalization” involving governments giving financial institutions more money in return for a share of ownership, the British government “went straight to the heart of the problem … with stunning speed.” …

    http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....7677.story

    So Krugman’s plan is 100% nationalization of banks and businesses.

    Remind me again why Chavez’ Venezuela isn’t paradise on Earth?

    Needless to say this once again proves why the Nobel Prize is completely representative of most things in the world today - a complete joke given import by the left and the MSM.

29. BillK
    October 14th, 2008 at 5:18 am

    If you’ve ever expressed shock that Dennis Hopper of all people is (theoretically) a Republican and was in An American Carol, this should set your mind at ease as to his true colors:

    From WENN:

    Hopper ‘Prays’ for President Obama

    Actor Dennis Hopper is seeking divine intervention to influence the forthcoming U.S. presidential elections - insisting he prays for Barack Obama to be voted in as America’s next President.

    The Easy Rider star is rooting for the Democratic leader to win the race to the White House in November, and admits he “prays” the politician is victorious.

    And Hopper admits it wasn’t an obvious choice to back Obama - because he has supported the Republican party all his voting life.

    He says, “I pray God, Barack Obama is elected.

    “I voted for Bush, father and son, but this time I’ll vote for Obama. I was the first person in my family to have been Republican. For most of my life I wasn’t on the left.”

    According to reports, Hopper donated $2,000 (GBP1,800) to the Republican National Committee in 2004 and 2005.

    http://us.imdb.com/news/ni0583323/

    Guess his family genes kicked in, or his sixties pharmaceuticals finally did.

30. BillK
    October 14th, 2008 at 6:50 am

    I don’t care what has to be done to guarantee McCain/Palin a victory, we have to, if only to make “I hate Sarah Palin but yet I’ll still play her on TV as long as I can” Tina Fey eat her words.

    From TV Guide:

    Tina Fey On Sarah Palin: “If She Wins…I’m Leaving Earth”

    Tina Fey told TVGuide she’ll be “done” if John McCain and Sarah Palin win the election next month.

    The “SNL” veteran who has come back to play the Republican Vice Presidential candidate (and whose own show, “30 Rock,” is still nowhere to be seen), said, “We’re gonna take it week by week. If she wins, I’m done. I can’t do that for four years. And by ‘I’m done,’ I mean I’m leaving Earth.”

    Fey also said it’s a busy but exciting time for “SNL.”

    “Election time is always good for [SNL] and this is a bonkers election,” she said. “And that lady is a media star. She is a fascinating person, she’s very likeable. She’s fun to play, and the two bits with Amy [Poehler], that was super fun,” Fey says. …

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....34188.html

    Note also the nice relationship between TV Guide and HuffPo in posting this.

31. wardmama4
    October 14th, 2008 at 7:02 am

    BillK and others here - RE: Ms Fey - Doesn’t someone who 1) makes such an outragious - ‘I’m leaving earth’ statement and 2) spitting on the very character that has upped her own public standing, not to mention reviving a show that has been running simply on empty for a long time - indicate a real mental illness - or at the very least serious symptoms of mental illness. Or perhaps just utter base stupidity?

32. wardmama4
    October 14th, 2008 at 7:55 am

    I guess it is a comment on the US msm that this is being reported in the UK, not here that I’ve heard, Sen. Joe ‘gaffe-a-minute’ Biden is at it again:

    Joe Biden hails new “Biden administration”
    Toby Harnden
    US Editor
    Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph’s US Editor, based in Washington DC

    Joe Biden is enjoying himself so much on the campaign trail that occasionally he gets to thinking he’s about to become president. “In a Biden…an Obama-Biden administration,” he said during an event at an American Legion hall here in Rochester, New Hampshire this morning, catching himself just in time.

    “We know, we know,” he responded jovially as the crowd realised what he’d said. “It’s hard to get used to. We got his thing the right way.”

    http://tinyurl.com/3j9weo

33. learner
    October 14th, 2008 at 11:51 am

    Here is a story of censorship that has hit the world of Blog Talk Radio. Yesterday No Compromise was to interview the lawyer Phil Berg who is prosecuting Obama on his proof of a real birth certificate. About 8 minutes into the show blog talk radio pulled the plug and then canceled No Compromises terms of service and cleansed all her archived material. According to BTR No Compromise was “racially or ethnically offensive, defamatory, unreasonably violent, threatening, intimidating or harassing; 2. contains falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage BlogTalkRadio or any other person;. All this for having Phil Berg on her show who is trying to get at the heart of Obamas birth certificate. As No Compromise put it”So I am officially off the air until further notice thanks to the Obamunists and Islamists who support him!” here is her web site if you would care to offer her words of support and you can read her story:http://gto7.wordpress.com/
    There is an another story at World Net Daily that fits nicely along with this one about the woman who was turned in by an Obama volunteer accusing her of threatening “The Ones” life.
    After World War II, trying to explain how good Germans allowed the monstrous evil of the Nazi regime, a pastor recalled that the Nazis came for the communists, and he did nothing; then for the trade unionists, then for the gypsies and Jews; then for the Catholics – and each time he did nothing. When they came for him, none were left to defend him.
    http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PA.....geId=77825

34. SG
    October 14th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    That is troubling, Learner.

    But Phil Berg is a kook. (He is a “truther.” He is suing Bush for being behind 9/11, etc.)

35. 1sttofight
    October 14th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    Apparently questioning The One has now gone from being labeled a Racist to being accused of attempted murder.

36. GuppyNblue
    October 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    learner
    I’ve heard that story about Jessica and it’s very disturbing. But we have to ask ourselves, where do we think this is all going to end up? Nothing good can come of a corrupt government and propaganda media. We have one party that’s gone off the edge of sanity and another of cowards afraid to confront them. The gradual slide to the left has become an outright free fall.

37. BannedbytheTaliban
    October 14th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    It appears Obama’s voter fraud wing, aka ACORN, is going to hit all 50 states:

    From WRAL:

    State election officials probe voter forms

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina State Board of Elections is investigating voter registration forms submitted by community organizers whose efforts have led to similar probes in other states.

    The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now works to register low-income people as voters. ACORN claims to have registered 1.3 million people nationwide since 2007, including nearly 28,000 in North Carolina.

    The group pays its field workers to sign up registered voters, and some forms may have used fake or duplicated information.

    Durham County’s elections office last month gave about 120 suspect forms to the state for investigation. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wake County’s elections office sent in about 30 suspicious forms last week.

    http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3733722/

    1.3 million illegal votes. Just image if McCain gave $800,000 to ACORN to register voters. Maybe they should change their name to ACON.

38. sheehanjihad
    October 14th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    http://www.comcast.net/article.....=itn_voter

    Apparently The 6th circuit court of appeals overruled their three judge decision last week allowing Jennifer Brunner to stuff the ballot box with obama votes purchased by acorn et al…..

    She has been ordered to verify all of them. Seems someone around HERE kind of made a stink about things, and the ass covering has begun!! Brunner is studying the underside of a bus right now….

39. Liberals Make Great Speedbumps
    October 15th, 2008 at 3:05 am

    Hi SJ,

    Yeah, the case of Brunner vs. The Citizens of Ohio continues. She is still fighting tooth and nail to do all she can to throw this state to Barry but I think that she might be out of tricks up her sleeve. Hopefully she hasn’t been able to delay verification long enough to make it impossible to do thoroughly by Nov. 4. I personally feel that was her game plan all along.

40. BillK
    October 15th, 2008 at 4:14 am

    What does the ultra-liberal Madison, WI Capital Times say McCain must do now to “restore his reputation”?

    What McCain must do to restore his reputation

    Poor John McCain.

    He let the Bush/Cheney operatives who took over his Republican presidential campaign late in the summer talk him into running a scorched-earth campaign attacking Barack Obama.

    But now that the campaign is fully operational, McCain is shocked and unsettled by what he is hearing from his own supporters.

    “I don’t trust Obama,” a woman at a town hall meeting in Minnesota told McCain last week. “I have read about him. He’s an Arab.”

    McCain silenced her and said, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues …”

    The crowd booed the Arizona senator’s attempt to quiet the hate speech that has become such a major feature of events at which he and his over-the-top running mate, ethically challenged Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, have appeared in recent days.

    When a man in the crowd suggested that he was scared about raising his child in an America led by a President Barack Obama, McCain countered him.

    Speaking of Obama, the Republican presidential nominee said: “I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”

    That may seem rich coming from the man who has “approved this message” of smearing Obama at every turn.

    It certainly did not go over well with his backers.

    McCain’s description of Obama as “decent” drew loud booing from the crowd that had come to hear trash talking — not the truth.

    “If you want a fight, we will fight,” McCain continued, trying to calm his feverish backers. “But we will be respectful. I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments.”

    At that, the mob booed even more loudly.

    And it became clear that John McCain had failed to calm the beast he had created.

    McCain played with fire.

    Now he is getting burned.

    To undo the damage done by his campaign — to the electoral process and to his own reputation — the Republican nominee must take a series of affirmative steps to distance himself from the politics of personal destruction that his campaign has practiced in recent weeks:

    1. Stop authorizing deceptive television and radio commercials.

    2. Stop making absurd claims about Obama’s background.

    3. Dismiss all aides and employees who have engaged in deceitful messaging about Obama.

    4. Distance himself from organizations — including state Republican parties — that have sought to stir racial and ethnic division.

    5. Start talking about issues. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/opinion/309364

    If you don’t recall, those “state Republican parties” have “sought to stir racial and ethnic division” by verifying voter rolls. If you dare check if a voter legally has the right to vote, it is of course racial and ethnic intimidation.

    Not enforcing the law.

41. BillK
    October 15th, 2008 at 4:19 am

    Meanwhile, why would Wisconsin’s Attorney General dare to go forward in his racist, pro-McCain campaign of enforcing voter eligibility rules?

    Oh, I don’t know…

    From the AP:

    3rd person charged with election fraud in Wis.

    By Todd Richmond

    MADISON — A third person in Milwaukee faces charges of election fraud after prosecutors say he turned in 54 fake registrations, including one for a man who died 16 years ago.

    Frank Walton, 29, submitted the inaccurate voter forms to the city Election Commission, according to a criminal complaint, with errors that also included fake driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers.

    Walton faces one count of falsely procuring voter registration and faces up to 3 years in prison and $10,000 in fines if he’s convicted.
    Attempts to reach Walton through his grandmother in Kenosha and his last residency in Oak Creek were unsuccessful. It’s not known if Walton has an attorney yet.

    According to court records, Walton was evicted from his Oak Creek apartment in 2005 and has since lived with his grandmother and friends in Milwaukee, maintaining only a post office box.

    Walton becomes the third worker at Community Voters Project charged with election fraud in Wisconsin.

    Adam Mucklin, 22, of Milwaukee was charged on Oct. 7 with registering to vote and then trying to register others even though he is a convicted felon. Endalyn Adams, 21, also of Milwaukee, was charged Sept. 29 with submitting dozens of fake registrations.

    The Community Voters Project is run by the Boston-based Fund for the Public Interest, a nonprofit organization that works to increase the political power of environmental and progress groups, according to its Web site.

    CVP Director Ayodele Carroo said the organization works hard to detect suspicious forms and the disputed voters make up a small percentage of the 25,000 people CVP workers have registered in Milwaukee since May.

    “Unfortunately, there are always a few who will fake their work, and we’ve invested a great deal of resources in catching suspicious forms before they reach the registrar,” Carroo said in a statement.

    The complaint said Walton collected 70 voter registrations for CVP between June 4 and June 17. He was fired him after the Milwaukee City Election Commission notified the CVP that Walton had registered a dead man. Investigators determined only 16 of the 70 registration forms Walton turned in were accurate.

    Driver’s license information on 17 of 23 forms were incorrect and 40 of 45 forms that used Social Security numbers didn’t match the voter. Some of the registrations also included addresses that didn’t exist or led back to businesses or vacant buildings.

    Walton told investigators he was expected to obtain at least 15 registrations per day for CVP. Walton also said he remembered interviewing the dead man, Joseph Scroggins, on Milwaukee’s south side — even though Scroggins’ widow said the man died in 1992.

    Walton also told authorities he had been doing door-to-door voter surveys for The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, since he left CVP. ACORN’s voter registration efforts also have been the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least five other states. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/309510

    No, Wisconsin’s AG must instead be stopped now, as fraudulent voting is so rare as to be of no concern.

    So say “non partisan” groups that work “to increase the political power of environmental and progress groups.”

42. BillK
    October 15th, 2008 at 4:24 am

    Watch AP continue there “you must intervene” mantra and call for a recession, while it becomes clearer and clearer to anyone with two eyes that the market stalls or falls on new news of Federal meddling in markets, and rises when they do nothing.

    From AP:

    Asian markets stall as investors take profits after 2-day rally; Hong Kong sinks 5 pct

    By Jeremiah Marquez

    HONG KONG (AP) — Most Asian stock markets declined Wednesday after a two-day rally, tracking Wall Street lower amid concerns that worldwide efforts to revive the financial system won’t be enough to stave off a global recession.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 843 points, or 5 percent, to 15,990 after rising more than 13 percent the previous two days. Markets in Australia, South Korea, China and Singapore were also lower.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 index bucked the trend, however, paring its losses to end up 1.1 percent at 9,547.47. The benchmark had surged 14 percent in the previous session - its biggest single-day gain ever.

    The regional pull back followed U.S. markets, where key benchmarks fell after President George W. Bush announced the government would use part of the $700 billion financial bailout to pump capital into major banks and help get lending flowing again. European governments are investing about $2 trillion in their own ailing banks.

    Despite the measures, concerns about the global economy and company profits were still weighing heavily on markets, analysts said. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....LD_MARKETS

    Nope, the MSM will continue their clarion call for intervention right up to election day.

    No shock there.

43. BillK