The latest edition of the Artvoice, the local Buffalo alternative newspaper had a interesting article by Michael I. Niman which I like to share and think is worth reading. The scenario outlined in the piece may be considered somewhat conspiratorial but you be the judge…
The scariest costume worn to my door this past Halloween was a tiny Sarah Palin outfit. This was a week after the real Palin went on record in an NBC interview arguing that those who would bomb healthcare facilities that provided abortions weren’t necessarily “terrorists.” No tykes ever showed up at our doors pining for Hershey bars dressed as “pro-life” doctor killer James Kopp. That would be in bad taste, even on Halloween. But Palin? Sure. Why not? Most folks were just not aware that the woman soon to be considered for the position of stand-in for the oldest incoming president in history had just went on record legitimizing the bullet or the bomb as a legit alternative to the democratic process. Or maybe she was just too much of a moron to know what she was saying. Either way, the real specter of a McCain/Palin administration made this the scariest Halloween of my life. As a nation, we were about to possibly fall, or get pushed, into an abyss.
A few days later, on Election Day, I finished teaching class, like I always do on Tuesdays, by bidding my students farewell and telling them I’d see them on Thursday. But as the words rolled off my tongue, I hesitated. I didn’t really know if indeed I would see them on Thursday, or if the nation would be locked down under martial law by then. It was a crap shoot. Would Election Day bring a sigh of relief or a curfew?
The article really caught my eye because when I seen the news video of all the people who gathered for Obama in Chicago and celebrated in the streets around the country wondered what would have happened if the election was close and they said Obama lost? There would have been riots in the streets and I would have been part of them. I do think the Bush Administration would have liked that since would have given him the excuse to label protesters as terrorists.
I was a little worried just before the election with all the media talk of the race tighten and even one poll showing McCain up sightly. Sounded almost like a setup since I knew six months ago the election would not be close. Obama was breaking records over money raised, attracting new voters, and active volunteers over a Presidential opponent (not to mention the Bush albatross hanging over McCain) so never understood why people were saying it would be close. Good thing you can only fix close elections and nothing happened but what was supposed to on Election Day.
Last week we had some drama over John McCain showing up for his debate with Barack Obama. I said before always figured it would be Sarah Palin who would not show up for her debate with Joe Biden. I have a hard time believing that Sarah Palin who couldn’t handle softball interviews without getting confused will be able to handle a seasoned politician in a debate. Maybe the McCain campagin will do with Ms. Palin what they did with George Bush in his first debate with John Kerry by doping him up and have him repeat one of three phases no matter what the question is since didn’t hurt him come election time.
This post will be open to comments for a limited time but hope to see my readers thoughts on the debate no matter who you are rooting to win. Look to my Meebo chat box (located on the right hand column and half way down) during the debate hours if like to chat with me about it in real time.
When John McCain picked Sarah Palin for his VP running mate it seemed out of nowhere (Alaska to be exact) she became an overnight sensation and even wowed the far right faithful at the RNC. I admit was a little nervous with the choice and not because she was qualified or the best choice but that she added freshness and some life to McCain’s campaign.
Then her first interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC News came and we found out she didn’t know anything about foreign policy. It was crazy for her not to know what the Bush doctrine was but yet agree with it, right? She had the nerve to say Georgia did absolutely nothing to provoke Russia or actually say perhaps we would need to go to war with Russia (Hint – short of a direct attack you avoid war between two nuclear powers at all costs).
I then started to tell friends and comment on blogs that there would be nothing to worry about… Let Sarah Palin have her 15 minutes of fame because as she is exposed more to the people they will get to know her and realize she is totally unqualified and nothing but George Bush in a skirt. In my post - My initial thoughts on Obama picking Joe Biden for VP – I said…
I do have some advice for John McCain on who he should be looking at for his VP if he wants to have any chance of winning. He should not be listening to the social conservative Christian block and just pick someone to appease them
John McCain, of course caved into the far right social conservative Christian block of his party and he ended up with checklist candidate who was the wrong choice and is now dragging down his campaign as shown in the polls. Sarah Palin is not even polling well with woman except with non-college educated woman. The not so bright VP candidate is polling well with the uneducated people in general…shocker! Sarah Palin and George Bush both have been said to appeal to the common person which is just another way to say the uninformed and uneducated.
I said once the hype dies down with Sarah Palin she will be nothing but the punch line for jokes in which I turned out to be a prophet. The SNL skit with Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin was a new classic for the show.
The McCain campaign decided needed to step back and drop down to a even more softball interviewer so they choose Katie Couric of CBS News (ironically she was also not the most qualified woman available for her position either) for a couple of interviews. What a disaster as Sarah Palin seemed to be confused even by the simplest of questions. SNL and Tina Fey did another skit mocking the first interview where they had to make few changes from Sarah’s Palin’s actual real answers for the laughs.
This all leads up to yesterday with Keith Olbermann’s Countdown video of the greatest hits from all the Sarah Palin interviews. This is very enlightening and shows with out doubt she is unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. The media is now getting the Sarah Palin joke. Enjoy the video before you watch the VP debate tonight where we are sure to get more Sarah Palin (low)highlight moments.
President George Bush last night in a televised plea to the American people reinforced Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s stance that Congress needs to pass the 700 billion government bailout proposal right now. No need to worry about oversight, the CEO golden parachutes from the companies who receive the government money, or even the details of the plan itself. The word is give us the money first and worry about all that later (maybe). Yes, the situation is real but I keep hearing that if we don’t act right this second we will lose jobs, slip into a recession, and have general market chaos. Hello!? – This has been happening for a while now!
The political cartoonists know we are in a mess and that the government will rob us to bailout the greedy bastards who caused this problem. I posted couple of the better comics on the subject so check them out and then vote in my government bailout poll in the upper left corner of this page.
If any readers know any other good political cartoons about the bailout please pass them along with a link.
First, Keith Tucker of What Now?!! Cartoons weights in with a comic and animated cartoon video…
It has been one year since University of Florida student Andrew Meyer is tasered and arrested after causing a disturbance at a town hall forum, which featured Senator John Kerry, at the UF Auditorium on Sept. 17, 2007. It’s always been my take the police were heavy handed in dealing with the student but he was so damn annoying that when you watch the video you just want him to get it.
The “Don’t taser me, Bro!” tag line became a short lived cultural icon and later a Colorado State student newspaper used the line to show their disgust with President Bush which I posted about and titled - Taser this: Fuck Bush – Yeah I just said that…
Below is the full video of the incident but you can fast forward to the good part…
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the tragedy on Sept. 9th 2001 when cowardly acts were carried out by foreign terrorists on our soil. Hopefully every American will at least take a moment to reflect on all who lost their lives that day – police, fire, first aid responders, citizens, and foreigners.
I would like people to also remember some events that have happened politically directly and indirectly because of 9/11. George Bush took full advantage of the climate of fear following the attack to push policies that have not been for our benefit which our next President will hopefully address.
-mostly unneeded USA PATRIOT Act and new FISA law which serves more to erode our civil liabilities then catch terrorists
-the increasing ineffective war in Afghanistan (terrorists wave at us from Pakistan)
-unneeded and illegal war in Iraq which was somehow linked to 9/11 so our President could justify it
-unlawful use of torture
-illegal wiretapping (hint – terrorists are not using phones that can be tapped)
Thinking rationally is better then acting out of fear in regards to terrorism so the next time it strikes (and it will) we can react smarter. We must not allow one certain political party to pretend they are the best one to fight the war on terror since then we will all lose.
I will end this to remind you while you wonder what’s taking so long to finish the 9/11 memorial that the mastermind behind the attack - Osama bin Laden still has not been bought to justice. I am sure George is working hard on this in his last days or not…
“…again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”
