Debate Point

As I watched the debate and McCain/Obama facing off and spewing historical and present day information about hot spots around the globe, I kept thinking how well Joe Biden
could contribute to the debate.

Could Sarah Palin have held her own and contributed? Nope.

Palin - Opens Mouth, Speaks, Says Nothing

In only the few weeks since being nominated to be just one heart beat away from leading the world's superpower, Sarah Failin' Palin has equaled George W. Bush in something coined as Palin-Speak.

Yes, she's already proven to be a pro at the Republican practice of lying, saying one thing and then doing another. After all, she has been interning under the table while being hidden from public scrutiny and, just today, learned that lesson once again as McCain reentered the debate. After insisting that he would not participate in tonight's debate unless there was agreement on the bailout bill, old droopy eye is now doing the opposite and appearing for the debate.

Sarah was recently interviewed by Katie Couric. Here are some of Palin's non-answer answers. Frighteningly, she is has been a quick study in opening her mouth, talking, and saying nothing.

Couric found Palin to be rambling, marginally responsive and even more adrift than during her debut interview last week with ABC’s Charlie Gibson. On "The Early Show" Couric reflected on the interview and said charitably that Palin is "not always responsive when asked questions, and sometimes does slip back to her talking points."

It's downright scary that Palin thinks she is unblinkingly ready to lead America.
You can tell by her answers that she is obviously ready for prime time on the national and world stage.

Palin started her incoherent ramblings with,

"That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in . . ."

before continuing further incomprehensible mutterings,

" . . . where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Um, helping, oh -- it's got to be all about job creation too. Shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions, and tax relief for Americans, and trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, um, scary thing, but 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We've got to look at that as more opportunity. All of those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that."

In Palin speaking about Alaska's proximity to Russian and how that boosts her foreign policy qualifications, she told Couric,

"Well, it certainly does," Palin replied. "Our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of."

"We have trade missions back and forth," Palin told Couric. "We, we do, it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to, to our state."

James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times observed about her comment,
"Certainly, Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has demonstrated his willingness to invade its small neighbors. But have I missed news of recent provocations by Russian bombers over Kiwalik or Aleknagik? And if Palin has been intensely interested in her neighbor across the Bering Strait, that also has escaped the reporters who follow her most closely.

In fact, a veteran reporter from her home state, Hal Bernton, reported in the Seattle Times this month how Russian politicians had sought more contact with Palin, but in vain. The governor cut funding and her office's participation, it seems, in the Northern Forum, which promotes relations between regional governments in the Northern Hemisphere."

Couric asked Palin to explain what measures McCain had pushed in the past to prevent the economic breakdown since McCain is trying to portray himself as Mighty Mouse, flying in to Washington to save the day.

Palin mentioned McCain's support of Fannie and Freddie but then spout forth when Couric asked for more examples given that McCain has been in Congress for almost 30 years. Palin went blank and then sounding as if she had just stepped out of the movie, Fargo, said in a faux folksy drawl,

"I'll try to find some and bring them to ya" while beaming her unblinkingly assured grin at Couric.

Stay tuned for more Palin-speak.

Joe Biden's List Of World Leaders He's Met

[From the Washington Post, 9.24.08]

Meetings with Foreign Leaders? Biden's Been There, Done That

By Glenn Kessler
Maybe it's just a coincidence, but after two weeks of requests for a list of the world leaders that Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden, Jr., has met with, his office released one -- on the very day GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin met with her first world leaders.

Judging from the eight-page document -- which Biden's office said was only a "partial list" -- Biden has quite a headstart on Palin.

As of September 23, his office says, he has met with the leaders of nearly 60 countries, territories and international organizations (such as the United Nations and NATO.) The list of names runs to about 150 people -- including nine Israeli prime ministers (ten if you including prime minister designate Tzipi Livni), four Soviet leaders and two Russian presidents, a few kings and a queen (of England), Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama, and even a few tough guys like Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and Serbian president Sloban Milosevic.

The complete list provided by Biden's Senate office is below:

As of September 23, 2008

Senator Biden/Meetings with World Leaders

This is a partial list of world leaders that Senator Biden has met with at least once over his nearly 36 year career as a United States Senator. As mentioned, this list is not exhaustive. As chairman of the subcommittees on Europe and Africa earlier in his career, the list is certainly much longer. ****The dates listed indicate when the foreign leader was in office.

Iraq
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi (May 2004 - April 2005)
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari (April 2005 - May 2006)
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (April 2006 - Present)
President Jalal Talabani (June 2005 - Present)
Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani (June 2005 - Present)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (March 2006 - Present)

Israel
Prime Minister Golda Meir (March 1969 - June 1974)
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (July 1992 - November 1995)
Prime Minister Shimon Peres (November 1995 - June 1996)
Prime Minister Menachem Begin (June 1977 - October 1983)
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir (October 1986 - July 1992)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (June 1996 - July 1999)
Prime Minister Ehud Barak (June 1996 - July 1999)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (March 2001 - April 2006)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (April 2006 - Present)
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (January 2006 - present)

Palestinian Territories
Chairman Yasser Arafat (September 1993 - November 2004)
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (November 2004 - Present)
Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad (June 2007 - Present)
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (October 2003 - March 2006)

Jordan
King Hussein (August 1952 - February 1999)
King Abdullah (August 2005-Present)

Egypt
President Hosni Mubarak (October 1981 - Present)
President Anwar Sadat (October1970 - October 1981)

Libya
Prime Minister Col. Muammar Qaddafi (March 1977 - March 1979)

Lebanon
Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (October 1992 - December 1998)
Prime Minister Najib Mikati (April 2005 - July 2005)

Bahrain
Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (March 1999 - Present)

Syria
President Bashar al-Assad (July 2000 - Present)

Turkey
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (March 2003 - Present)
President Ahmet Sezer (May 2000 - August 2007)
Prime Minister/President* Abdullah Gul (November 2002 - March 2003, Current President)
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit (January 1999 - May 1999)
Prime Minister Demirel (November 1991 - June 1993)

Greece
President Kostis Stephanopoulos (March 1995 - March 2005)
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis (March 2004 - Present)
Prime Minister Kostantinos Mitsotakis (April 1990 - October 1993)
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou (October 1981 - July 1989)
(October 1993 - January 1996)

Cyprus
President George Vassiliou (February 1988 - February 1993)
President Glafcos Clerides (February 1993 - February 2003)

Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai (December 2001 - Present)

Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari (September 2008 - Present)*
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani (March 2008 - Present)
President Pervez Musharraf (June 2001 - August 2008)
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (December 1988 - August 1990, October 1993 - November 1996)
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (November 1990 - July 1993, February 1997 - October 1999)

India
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (May 2004 - Present)
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (May 1996 - June 1996)
(March 1998 - May 2004)

Sri Lanka
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe (May 1993 - August 1994)
(December 2001 - April 2004)

Russia
President Vladimir Putin (May 2000 - May 2008; current Prime Minister)
President Boris Yeltsin (July 1991 - December 1999)
Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev (March 1990 - December 1991)
Soviet Union President Andrei Gromyko (July 1985 - October 1988)
Premier of the Soviet Union Alexey Kosygin (October 1964 - October 1980)
Premier of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev (May 1960 - July 1964)

France
President Jacques Chirac (May 1995 - May 2007)
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (May 2005 - May 2007)
President Francois Mitterrand (May 1981 - May 1995)

U.K.
Queen Elizabeth (February 1952 - Present)
Prime Minister Tony Blair (May 1997 - June 2007)
Prime Minister John Major (November 1990 - May 1997)
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (May 1979 - November 1990)

Ireland
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (June 1997 - Present)
Prime Minister John Bruton (December 1994 - June 1997)
Prime Minister Albert Reynolds (February 1992 - December 1994)
Prime Minister Charles Haughey (December 1979 - June 1981)
(March 1982 - December 1982)
(March 1987 - February 1992)

Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel (November 2005 - Present)
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (October 1998 - November 2005)
Chancellor Helmut Kohl (October 1982 - October 1998)
Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (May 1974 - October 1982)

Italy
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (June 2001 - May 2006)
(May 2008 - Present)
Prime Minister Romano Prodi (May 2006 - May 2008)
Prime Minister Cossiga (July 1989 - April 1992)

Serbia
President of Serbia Boris Tadic (July 2004 - Present)
Prime Minister of Serbia Vojislav Kostunica (March 2004 - Present)
Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Djindjic (January 2001 - March 2003)
President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic (May 1989 - July 1997)

Yugoslavia
Premier of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito (January 1953 - May 1980)

Croatia
President of Croatia Franjo Tudjman (May 1990 - December 1999)

Slovenia
Prime Minister of Slovenia Janez Drnovsek (December 2002 - Present)
President of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova (March 2002 - January 2006)
President of Slovenia Milan Kucan (October 1991 - December 2002)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
President of Bosnia Haris Silajdzic (November 2006 - Present)
President of Bosnia Sulejman Tihić (October 2002 - November 2006)
President of Bosnia Alija Izetbegovic (March 1992 - October 2000)

Kosovo (as an independent nation)
President Fatmir Sejdiu (January 2008 - Present)
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (January 2008 - Present)

Poland
President Lech Walesa (December 1990 - December 1995)
Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz (October 1993 - March 1995)

Czech Republic
President Vaclav Havel (February 1993 - February 2003)

Hungary
Prime Minister Gyula Horn (July 1994 - July 1998)
President Arpad Goncz (August 1990 - August 2000)
Prime Minister Viktor Orban (July 1998 - May 2002)

Finland
Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen (April 1995 - April 2003)

Romania
President Ion Iliescu (December 1989 - November 1996)

Georgia
President Mikheil Saakashvili (January 2004 - Present)
President Eduard Shevardnadze (October 1995 - November 2003)

Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev (December 1991 - Present)

Ukraine
President Viktor Yushchenko (January 2005 - Present)

Canada
Prime Minister Paul Martin (December 2003 - February 2006)
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (September 1984 - June 1993)

NATO
Secretary General Lord George Robertson (October 1999 - January 2004)
Secretary General Javier Solana (December 1995 - October 1999)
Secretary General Manfred Woerner (July 1988 - August 1994)
Secretary General Lord Peter Carrington (June 1984 - July 1988)

China
President Jiang Zemin (March 1993 - March 2003)
Premier Zhu Rongji (March 1998 - March 2003)

Hong Kong
Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa (July 1997 - March 2005)

Taiwan
President Chen Shui-Bian (May 2000 - Present)

Korea
President Kim Dae Jung (February 1998 - February 2003)

Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (June 1959 - November 1990)
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (November 1990 - August 2004)
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (August 2004 - Present)

Indonesia
President Megawati Sukarnoputri (July 2001 - October 2004)
President Bambang Yudhoyono (October 2004 - Present)

Australia
Prime Minister John Howard (March 1996 - December 2007)
Prime Minister Paul Keating (December 1991 - March 1996)

Philippines
President Gloria Arroyo (January 2001 - Present)
President Fidel Ramos (June 1992 - June 1998)

Vietnam
Prime Minister Phan Van Kai (September 1997 - June 2006)

East Timor
President Ramos Horta (May 2007 - Present)

Tibet
The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (1950 - Present)

Colombia
President Alvaro Uribe (August 2002 - Present)
President Andres Pastrana (August 1998 - August 2002)
President Cesar Gaviria (August 1990 - August 1994)

Mexico
President Vincente Fox (December 2000 - December 2006)
President Ernesto Zedillo (December 1994 - November 2000)

Bolivia
President Jaime Paz Zamora (August 1989 - August 1993)

South Africa
President Thabo Mbeki (June 1999 - September 2008)
President Nelson Mandela (April 1994 - June 1999)

Liberia
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (January 2006 - Present)

Lesotho
Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan (July 1965 - January 1986)

United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (January 2007 - Present)
Secretary General Kofi Annan (January 1997 - January 2007)
Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali (January 1992 - January 1997)

Vatican City
Pope John Paul II (October 1978 - April 2005)

Slovakia
President Rudolf Schuster (June 1999 - June 2004)

Turkmenistan
President Saparmurat Niyazov (October 1990 - December 2006)

*Senator Biden met with leader before he or she became head of state.

What Was Sarah Doing In 3rd (and 2nd, and 4th, and 5th and...) Grade?

When I was teaching third grade, I provided my students (and often the school) with an extensive library of over 3,000 volumes. Despite offering this remarkable resource in my room, I also took my kids to outstanding public, private and university libraries all over Southern California.

I tried to impress upon my students the value of reading well not only in third grade but that reading would be important throughout their lives. The children learned that reading comprehension at their young age poured a foundation of future literacy, success and fulfillment. They learned that reading, understanding language, and a well-rounded vocabulary were crucial building blocks to not only lifelong literacy, but also their self-esteem and gaining respect by writing and speaking well.

Sarah Palin speaking about the economic meltdown:

“Well, you know, first Fannie and Freddie, different because quasi-government agencies there where government had to step in because the adverse impact all across our nation, especially with homeowners, is just too impacting.”

I wonder what Sarah was doing in third grade that prevented her from building her foundation?

I’ve listened to her interviews before and after her selection as McCain's VP nominee, and none gave me the impression that she was skating on anything but a very, very thin layer of ice on understanding the issues facing the country she unblinkingly insists she is prepared to lead.

Consider this exchange in the recent Hannity Palinmercial:

Hannity: What is our role as a country as it relates to national security?

Palin: "Yes. That's a great question, and being an optimist I see our role in the world as one of being a force for good, and one of being the leader of the world when it comes to the values that -- it seems that just human kind embraces the values that -- encompass life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that's just -- not just in America, that is in our world.

And America is in a position because we care for so many people to be able to lead and to be able to have a strong diplomacy and a strong military also at the same time to defend not only our freedoms, but to help these rising smaller democratic countries that are just -- you know, they're putting themselves on the map right now, and they're going to be looking to America as that leader.

We being used as a force for good is how I see our country."

Instead of Palin power dating at the United Nations and flashing her smile and eyes and legs at guys from countries outside of Mexico and Canada, she would benefit everyone...her family, Alaska and the United States by returning to third grade and building a better foundation.

Palin Attempts Blow Job On America

Gibson was the professor and in her ineptitude, Palin was the student offering (America) a blow job to get a passing grade. Disappointingly, Palin's lip service demonstrated her lack of knowledge and inexperience, was downright scary and painful, and so, class, she earned an F.

In this interview segment with Charlie Gibson, Palin flounders when trying to provide knowledgeable, informed answers to direct questions about the Bush Doctrine, Israel, Pakistan and more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75QSExE0jU&feature=related

Charlie Gibson, civil and professional in his conduct of the interview, finally imposed the mercy rule for Palin after she fumbled and mumbled and danced and dodged when not having a clue about the critical Bush Doctrine...a philosophical and very real and dangerous policy practice.

During the entire interview (not just this segment), Gibson provided repeated opportunities for Palin to demonstrate her command of issues facing the United States and world. Far too frequently she dodged and hemmed and hawed...like a student when called on by the teacher after not doing her homework or, being all that good of a student in the first place.

McCain/Palin Hide And Seek

That's right, the McCain machine are dodgers with a small d.

In hiding Palin from media and public scrutiny on the issues, McCain is showing a total disregard for the Constitution, the will of the people and a right for us to learn more about Palin's qualifications to be VP and perhaps, President.

If Palin and McCain are reformers...mavericks as they say, why hide the person up for the #2 most powerful slot in the nation?

It simply is NOT ok that the American people be made to wait to hear from a nominee for VP who claims she is qualified to lead the country. One interview in a structured setting is not enough; it is the manipulation of the press, of the American people and subverts the purpose of election process timeline.

Disappointingly, McCain is counting down the days to the election not only so he can get elected, but so he can hide Palin once and for all from the public's eye by sliding her into the VP's office hidden well away from the White House.

If McCain was truly about putting "country first" as he preaches...
If McCain was truly a man of honor and service as he preaches...
If McCain was truly experienced as he preaches...
If McCain was truly a supporter of the Constitution as he preaches...
If McCain was truly a man who respects the American people's right to know...

...he would stop hiding behind the (off limits to factual parsing) skirt of his lipsticked, bitch, attack dog and put her into public (and media) view without controls or restrictions.

But he'll never do that.

McCain/Palin - Using The Same (Bush) People

It is well documented that McCain is really no maverick and no different than Bush or any other Republican. Despite his lips saying he's not at all like Bush, McCain is tightly intertwined with George Bush.

According to several news reports, McCain has hired several veterans from President Bush’s campaigns, making them part of a team dedicated to defending Ms. Palin from Internet reports, Democratic attacks and potentially damaging news reports about her record produced by the investigative journalists now in Alaska.

McCain’s campaign has dispatched another team to Alaska to respond more rapidly to such reports. It is headed by Taylor Griffin, who had worked for President Bush’s 2004 campaign. Another former Bush campaign aide, Tracey Schmitt, is now Ms. Palin’s traveling press secretary.

Tucker Eskew, a veteran of Mr. Bush’s primary season campaign against Mr. McCain, has been advising Ms. Palin this week while reading briefing materials or receiving tutorials from policy advisers.

On Wednesday night, three of them were on the plane to Alaska with Palin: Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain’s economic adviser; Steve Biegun, a former staff member of Mr. Bush’s National Security Council who has taken leave from his Ford Motors job to advise Palin; and Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser.

Also accompanying Palin to Alaska as she prepared for her interview was Nicolle Wallace, a communications director for Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign and, later, his White House. Ms. Wallace’s husband, Mark Wallace, Mr. Bush’s deputy campaign manager in 2004, is helping prepare Palin for the debates.

McCain advisors have developed a set of presumed questions and answers that they are walking Palin through. Aides traveling with Palin have said she is a fast study — asking few questions of her policy briefers but quickly regurgitating their main points.

A former aide in Alaska who had helped prepare Palin for her campaign debates in Alaska said she had a talent for distilling information into digestible sound bites.

Just what America needs most!

Dear Santa, Please Help, A Lipsticked, Bitch, Pit Bull Has Attacked America

A week has passed since right-wing America's favorite poster dog was let loose to bite and attack at will. Here is my greatest wish:

Dear Santa,

Can you please issue an immediate recall on the two top dog, intellectually defective McCain/Palin robots your wonderful elves built and delivered recently? The recall should also include their millions of believers across America.

Independent testing has documented that excessive lead has poisoned their brains and paralyzed their critical thinking and truth telling skills. Their Republican brains have lost the last of the little common sense they had. Santa, it seems like the elves accidentally inserted air-filled, puffy white marshmallows into their little craniums. to match their lily white bodies.

Santa, I've always believed in you. I still remember when you gave me the first gift of Christmas so many years ago. I know, I lost the bell on the train, but you gave me a second chance when you returned it to me on Christmas morning.

The big robots and all their little robot clones can't hear the tinkle of the bell anymore. That's why I'm hoping you can fix them in your recall. It's too late for John McCain and seems to be too late for the bitch pitbull with lipstick, but the little robots need to try real hard to understand that America needs a VP who has been thoroughly vetted over a period of time greater than that measured in hours?

Santa, if the recall doesn't happen soon, then you will likely be forced to retire and believers especially children all over the world will lose all hope in a better world.

I know the recall might take a while, Santa, so in the mean time, could you do a few more favors for all the true believers before America becomes even more of an embarrassment around the world especially if McCain/Palin continue to be so mean and deceitful?

Could you please start by vaporizing the tight choke collar and leash McCain and his Republican handlers have around Sarah Palin's neck? After all, what kind of highly qualified VP nominee like Sarah Palin allows herself to be muzzled? If she is as fantastic as all the robots say, she would be highly capable of speaking for herself without scripted speeches written by Republican/Bush loyalists.

And maybe, just maybe, Sarah Palin would be able to answer questions from all over America and the world so we can get to know each other better before we're forced into a shotgun wedding.

Santa, Santa, are you there?

"Duck, Duck, Palin" - McCain/Palin Update #2

While the McCain (now McCain/Palin) campaign continues to reel after the numerous and previously undisclosed revelations about McCain's choice for VP, Sarah Palin, here are a few ramblings.

McCain's new "country first" theme was rolled out at the convention. Putting country first is a concept the Republicans have seemingly declared exclusive to them.

If McCain truly wanted to put country first before personal political convenience, he would stand together with Palin on stage at the RNC tonight and deliver a speech withdrawing Palin as a candidate for the VP job.

For me, it's not really about Palin and her unsettling history and do as I say not as I do ways. Nor is it about the continuing revelations of family turmoil, her past abuses of power or hiring lobbyists to generate earmarks she took, or the pending investigation (s?) against her, and all the other matters that have thusfar been so widely written about and those yet to be uncovered.

(5) It has to do with qualifications and trust. Who is most trustworthy in decision-making? Who has the most thorough experience, knowledge, intelligence and reasoning ability, education, maturity, stable under fire, and the mental and emotional stability to assume the Presidency? Who is secure enough to surround himself or herself with smart, wise, experienced people who are encouraged to be forthright even blunt in advising the President?

The Presidency and VP positions are not positions to be learned on the fly or from campaign aides on the McCain's private jet or in Palin's hotel room or campaign bus.

Look at what we got with George. With the most recent exception of Bill Clinton, Americans, generally, demonstrate uninformed judgments about candidates' qualifications for elected office. A frightening and growing majority of voters are increasingly issue (and just plain) illiterate usually putting convenient sound bites above substance. The MTV generation of empty non-thinkers.

Bush has destroyed so much that once made me proud. I am still proud of America and can cry at the playing of our national anthem and be as patriotic as anyone. I still support our presidency and system of governance and all Americans working hard to better our country here and abroad.

Bush is leaving office with our country saddled with deficits in the trillions. His lies, power players, and self-deceit have cost America dearly. Thousands of our soldier's killed and maimed, thousands of their family members devastated by their deaths and mutilation in wars we have not and will not win.

Despite the mightiest and most technologically superior military in the world and fighting against third world enemies, The United States people have not been relieved of our suffering caused by the stupidity of an intellectually/judgment compromised President, his "yes" men and other guilty players in his administration.

Bush leaves record unemployment with millions of jobs sent oversees. He leaves record profits for his oil friends while the American public suffocates under record high gas prices. He leaves a record high number of Americans without decent health coverage. He leaves a record number of ERs shuttered and our health care costs soaring while insurers reap record profits.

He leaves a destroyed New Orleans because he convinced himself FEMA and our American government were doing a great job in response to Katrina while he celebrated with his friend John McCain at his birthday party in Arizona.

He leaves America's worldwide reputation for trustworthiness, compassion, morality, and economic strength won with our blood, sweat and tears, in a shambles.

Bill Clinton, despite inheriting record deficits from the previous Republican administration, concluded his term with record surpluses. He strengthened America's standing with our ally nations around the world. He revitalized the hopes of our citizens. Blowjobs in the Oval Office? Doggy-style over the bidet? I'm ok with that if it strengthens our domestic economy and enhances America's standing in the world.

Palin...no substantial, relevant knowledge/experience on nationwide domestic issues nor dealing with them on a national level, nor any relevant knowledge/experience in international relations and global issues.

McCain...a maverick, loose cannon who usally fires from his emotional hip. A consumate politician and manipulator. Why else would an Arizona senator go to the gulf coast during a storm other than to showboat? He has some of the qualifications but he always seems to arrive at the wrong answer on so many issues. And, when is he ever going to stop playing the
40+ year old Vietnam War POW card? Some, think it was his "maverick" actions on that mission that got him shot down. He suffered tremendously. Sure, but it has little to do with being President in a 21st century America and world.

Biden...he has all the qualifications in abundance.

Obama...see paragraph (5).

Expectant Mothers - McCain/Palin Update #1

"Expectant Mothers" - The very latest shocking revelation about Sarah Palin/John McCain?

In yet another clear abuse of power, Palin has ordered the parking lots outside the Alaska governor's mansion and captitol building provide reserved spaces for her expectant 17 year old, unmarried daughter, Bristol. Citing the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) and using funds earmarked from Washington, Palin indicates Bristol will use the spaces now, soon to be followed by Sarah (as she and DUI hubby want to have a healthy kid they can name POW Duhbya Palin to honor her nomination), to be followed soon by Willow (14) and then Piper (7).

Ok, so one of Sarah Palin's kids got herself knocked up at age 16. Really, it happens to the very best of Republican families. Especially those who preach that Republican social conservatism.

How about this for logic in the McCain campaign's decision-making camp...Bristol Palin (the pregnant one) has decided to keep the baby. According to her very proud parents, it was "Bristol's decision" to do so. McCain's campaign aides unequivocably agree with that statement in declaring that Bristol made the decision to keep the baby on her own . Her decision seems to imply that no political pressure was applied by her mom, the VP nominee nor the McCain campaign, who vetted (yup, they claim they knew all about Palin) Palin and her family thoroughly.

Wait a minute!!! I am so confused because neither McCain nor Palin believe that the law should allow Bristol Palin that choice at all...being pro-life and all! You know, that part about not giving the pregant woman any choice in matters of her pregnancy, not even if, in this case, Bristol, had been raped or had screwed with her dad or brother or cousin or...John McCain himself.

These compassionate, conservative Republicans can be so confusing some times.