Hello, everyone. This is my first diary here on DailyKos, although I've been a reader for quite some time.
Today I would like to write about a line that Democrats, including Senator Obama, have been using for a long time now:
"I honor John McCain's service, but..."
Sure, these Democrats have good intentions. But they are only fueling the fire of a great problem that our party faces in this election. We cannot win this election by honoring John McCain's service. It only makes him look better than he deserves.
Aged liberal luminary Nat Hentoff describes Obama as the flimflam man and compares him to Boston's Mayor Curley (who was reelected by the people once while he was in prison) and not the heroic FDR whom Hentoff and his mother adored. SacBee Article Hentoff focusses on Obama's rejection of public financing, his support for delivering social services through religious institutions and his decision to support FISA with the retroactive immunity provision still in. Hentoff is overwrought and his piece is Exhibit 1 of the danger of purists when it comes to political change and leadership. Nat Hentoff would do well to study the 1932 election when FDR ran to the right of Hoover in some ways to get elected. In 1932 he was not the liberal savior on a horse but a competent alternative to the failed Republicans who had lost public support. The New Deal came later.
John McCain is either stupid, senile, or just doesn't care about how he gets the money, just as long as he can swindle people into it. Witness his latest hire in Ohio of none other than disgraced Ohio Treasurer of State Joe Deters, who resigned in disgrace in 2005, to head his campaign efforts in Southwest Ohio. Will the press give it notice? Judging by there "attack Obama, give OLD John a pass" type of reporting, it is for we, the grassroots voter to continue to publicize the truly shady cast of characters that litter the McCain Campaign "twisted talk express".
Listening to a John McCain speech is like finding an old Cold War era globe or map. From yesterday:
For the second time in two days, John McCain has referred to current events in "Czechoslovakia" – a country that officially ceased to exist in January of 1993.
"And I regret some of the recent behavior Russia that has exhibited, and I’ll be glad to talk about that later on including reduction in oil supplies to Czechoslovakia after they agreed with us on a missile defense system, etcetera," said the presumptive Republican nominee at a New Mexico town hall Tuesday.
Here's a history lesson for John McCain. On the left is a map of the military alliances in Cold War Europe; on the right is modern Europe. Click to enlarge.
Also, click here for a fancy animated lesson on Europe's changing borders. There's more information on the Czech Republic here.
What's next? Will McCain start worrying about the extensive Soviet presence in Afghanistan? Will he roll back the years and rant about "that Soviet guy who bangs his shoe on stuff"? Or, as diarist Orange County Liberalsuggested, will McCain express worries about the Austro-Hungarian Empire's influence in the Balkans?
Here's video of McCain's speech. Add your speculation: what will he say next?
I know I’ve said it before, but I just can’t resist it: These people are scared S**tless. What people, you might ask? Well, the GOP, of course. And why are they scared? Because they lose on every issue that is important to Americans today.
It’s unfortunate that the GOP is so scared of true debate. Why must they always ignore the facts, spin the truth, and point fingers at their opponents? It’s tiring, and more importantly, it’s hurting America. The GOP’s smoke and mirrors act is hindering effective debate on important issues and keeps America from making true progress for all.
Join the Colorado Independent on Wednesday, July 16 at 10:00 a.m. MDT (Noon EDT) for a live 30-minute Q&A with Ray Rivera, Colorado director for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
Rivera will field your questions on Colorado's growing importance in this year's presidential election and the campaign's strategy for winning the West.
Register a user name and add your questions to the conversation in a new thread that will post on the front page at 10 a.m. sharp.
The list of what isn't wrong with this country is much shorter than the list of what is; we're all fighting battles against insurance companies, corruption, bad policies and rising prices.
Corruption in our current government is extensive. In collusion, the media does its part because it is corporate owned; they will determine what others see (Comcast) and hear (Clear Channel). And while the web is good, as many as 1/3 do not have access to the Internet.
It's hard to have hope when you can't see it, hear it or if your routes to it are countered by corporate masters who feel they know what's better for you than you do.
1 in 15. That's how many jobs still depend upon the American auto industry. (And no, that doesn't include transplants in the misnamed, Southern, "right to work" states.)
Today, General Motors announced (yet another) restructuring program. And Kossacks don't flinch, because their Civics run just fine, thank you. But at the same time, they pretend to give a shit about the American working class. (Note: I and millions of Michiganders see through it.)
Hello All,
I am going to be in Denver the weekend before the Democratic National Convention. I am going back home on Monday night. I would LOVE to participate in something convention related while there. My problem is, I cannot find any schedule of events for the convention. Yes, I have been to the website. (http://demconvention.com/events/) Can someone help me out?
Just a few minutes of time on Apple's Final Cut video editing program, and I put together this :34 video of Mark Sanford, South Carolina Governor and surrogate for John McCain. Hopefully, the Obama campaign takes this idea and runs with it for the campaign.
I just wanted to say, DailyKos is fantastic. I love all of you. Sharing ideas is so important to our society, and I am so glad there is a community I can come to to do so. Although things can get heated at times - to say the least - here on Dk, I always appreciate it. To me, it just shows that people are passionate and reminds me that we are all human (fallible). Anywho, aside from political science class, I could never find a place to go. Oh, not that I didn't try, but I'm from Kansas, so you can imagine how well that went...
Formal and informal church functions (the ubiquitous social gatherings in the Sunflower State) turned out not to be the proper venue. Conversations would always devolve into basic epistemological discussions - you know, how beliefs should be based on empirical evidence. As you can imagine, that didn't go well with the Evangelical crowd. Bars could be too loud or people were too interested in "the game" or making crude comments about every girl in the room. During family gatherings it just became a pissing contest. And there was always that person, no matter where you went, who would pipe up with the "no politics" comment. WTF?
At 10:45 AM ET, Senator Obama is set to deliver what his campaign is billing as a major speech on Iraq. You will be able to watch the speech at www.cnn.com/live. TPM has a preview of the speech up, and from what the campaign has released already, Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Republicans and their inability to either recognize and/or tell the truth.
(this picture has nothing to do with a speech, but seeing a smiling Senator Obama in the morning is never a bad thing )
See what was released over the bump.
Phil Gramm recently said, "We have become a nation of whiners." And that this is a "mental" recession. You also have Rush Limbaugh spouting off that 5% of the U.S. carries the other 95%. The Republican party is out-of-touch. The amazing thing, about these statements, is that the GOP is finally being honest about who they are and who they represent. They don’t support the average person. Their base is, as George W. Bush said, "the haves and the have mores."
Today on {Meet the Press http://www.msnbc.msn.com/... featured "McCain vs. Obama on the economy, taxes, gas prices & more with RNC Victory Chair and former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina for the McCain campaign and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), national co-chair of the Obama campaign." Overall, Ms. Fiorina had trouble maintaining her credibility, and by extension, McCain's credibility.
I should not even have to write this diary. However, I'm a little concerned that with the FISA issue and the appearance of Obama moving to the middle that this would encourage some to look at the Green Party Candidate (who was just officially nominated). In fact, I read a diary over at Talking Points where a couple of thoughts were put together in a bizarre way to support McKinney. Do not get swayed by anything McKinney says.
I don't think anyone would vote for her outside of the West Coast. But they may not know about her history as much as those in the South or the East Coast. Hopefully if you are reading this you are still supporting Barack, but this is just another reason to throw him a few more dollars.
I'm mostly supporting Senate and House candidates, but still keep in mind that we need to give directly to Barack as well.
Yesterday, I posted a diary asking whether we should mourn Tony Snow. The post received a fair amount of response -- about half agreed that perhaps we should not blindly revere a man who quit a good job to help a bad administration do bad things, and half who agreed with the sentiment but figured Tony Snow was either too warm for criticism, or too insignificant to merit attention. My response to this latter argument was that we would soon see an attempt at apotheosizing Snow -- one we shouldn't permit because the last thing the right needs is good martyrs to bond around. Some doubted that would happen.
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.
