To Junious and the cast of regular rightees here wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:51 AM:IT DON'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!

California is going for Obama, so make all the noise you want, you aren't going to change the outcome.

The only impact you could possibly have in mitigating an Obama win, was if you were voting in a state where the polls are so tight that your vote might actually make a difrerence.

And, the numbers of those states are dwindling everyday, in fact there may be none left come that first Tuesday following the first Monday in November!

So Junious, Ron, Chuck, and you only guys just need to get over it.

jvc wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:45 AM:About the LA homeless man, John Robert
McGraham, who was killed when someone
doused gasoline on him and burned to death...we are all responsible for his death by failing to help him from the dangerous streets! Where is the bailout for all of the homeless
McGraham's of our country? How does a professed Christian country not have a heart? A Christian nation,indeed!

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 5:26 AM:WE heard ya...
"The Wizzer" {Oct 12} @10:16 AM,
and NOT changing the subject, clairifying the issue, and defining your approach, using YOUR OWN WORDS.

I know this to be true, because I've had this particular discussion with you on many different occassions.
Clearly YOU said: "...income & assets."
And you want to know what their total assets are, in oder to properly assertain their tax liability.

So, it is not me, nor anyone else attempting to change the subject, it is YOU. You have exposed your radical tendency, your radical approach.

And let me expand on this just a bit, because his radicalism does not stop there. We've also had the discussion about taxing unearned income the same as earned income. This thought is sooo
radical, none of your liberal hero's ever... EVER broached this subject.
Placing unearned income inside of taxable brackets is an invention of the New Left, this same shadow party NObama is related to, in all of it's redistributionist thinking.
So, that's another exposure of your extremist positions.

But, finally, let me put the capped on this. His constant, but subtle insistance that oil companies pay for "the true costs of damage to the environment."
This statement is akin to this radical, kooky so-called scientist James Hansen, who has called for prosecution of oil company CEO's for "crimes against humanity."

So, that's three different occassions you've exposed your radical agenda to me. Again, simply defining your positions, no name calling involved.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 5:46 AM:I just want to make an observation here, based upoon a statement made yesterday by "NObama NOBiden"
{Oct 12} @11:26 AM:

"The middle-class is shrinking."

Now, this statement appeals to many on the emotional level. But, is it the reality? Does the middle-class grow & shrink as does any other thing inside our growing & shrinking economy?
Yes, it does.

One of the main, and flawed tenets of Liberalism is this insane belief in a Status Quo. No Changes.

If you believe the economy is a living breathing organism, as I do. Then naturally there are times when economic groups, and classes grow and shrink.
This is not abnormal, it is simply the ebb and flow of a market economy.
But, from the perspective of a command & control, central planning point of view of a liberal, this is abnormal and needs to be adjusted by wealth redistributionism.
Of course, all this does is move income around temporarily. Notice, I did not say wealth. Income and wealth are two different things, income is the short term, wealth being the long term.
And as all the liberals do is advocate this so-called "bubble-up" theory, they are very, very short-sighted.
The aquisitition of wealth requires education, and a smart long term plan, not a short term gain stimulous check, and not redistribution.
Given the fact that liberals control all of public education, you'd think they'd get smart, and begin teaching economic education.
But, then again. What would be the point of that, when people finally figuire out they don't need you to make it financially, then your no longer needed. And those type of educated folks, don't make good welfare recipients. So what liberal really wants that?

Skip wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:02 AM:I am voting for Sarah Palin, and that old guy.

From what I see there are plenty more people who feel just as I do.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:11 AM:Hey! It's my good buddy the land reformer! "gracchus" {Oct 12} @11:27 AM!

Hey, a little history...
Do you know who else in history was considered a "land reformer" by the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Walter Duranty? And he won this prize while covering up one of the greatest famines to ever hit the Ukraine.
But, I digress...

I don't doubt that I confuse you. When you subscribe to the mythology, the facts that I unload on you, will do that to a person who lives inside the echo chamber.

As to your question, i.e. $3.4 million earmarks from NObama to NObiden's son Hunter.. Washington Post, August 27, 2008. You can start there, plenty of other places you can research.

And a very interesting answer there from you about Reagan's role in the defeat of the evil Soviet Empire. Actually, I agree, Reagan was the final straw that broke the camel's back. After years of fighting off the more liberal elements in their party, the Cold Warrior's Truman, JFK, LBJ, etc..
Reagan followed in these great men's footsteps, and finished the task.
I can't help but think of all the money spent by each of these men, precisely to defeat this evil empire. Of course, they ALL should receive praise, unlike those within the most far left liberal end of the party, nuclear freeze advocates, and the like.

And the Soviet's may very well have fallen due, in part, by it's own corruption and incompetence. Similarities to today? Don't ya think?
I have my own ideas about the similiarites to the Soviet's and our own flirtations with socialism. Given the timeline of the fall, some 70 years after formation, to our 70 years since FDR. I see the paralells. Don't you?

We will, however, choose to disagree with one another on the military build up of Ronald Reagan. I might add, he did it with.. WITH the aid of a totally dominate Democrat Congress. So, just like Bush didn't go into Iraq without Democrats, neither did Reagan build, borrow, and spend money for the military build up of the 80's without an aiding and abetting Democrat Congress. Now, did he? President proposes, the CONGRESS disposes.
I would fundamentally agree with you, that building infrastructure is better than building military, but.. That's not really a luxury, now it is?
And the proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:12 AM:The letter from Grant Kuhns suggests that Palin, should she become president, would or could not muck up this country, that she is "harmless".
The questions that any sane person should ask are these -
Has GWB, as president, mucked up our country?
Has GWB, as president, invaded a sovereign nation, Iraq, and then occupied it for over 5 years at a cost of over 4,100 lives of American Troops AND about $700 BILLION dollars?
Has GWB, as president, created extra-Constitutional powers for the executive branch?
Has GWB, as president, authorized or allowed the torture of "enemy combatants", a term made up specifically to evade and avoid violating the Geneva Conventions which, once we became signatories, became part of American Law?
Has GWB, as president, threatened to veto any bill brought before him that he does not like, KNOWING FULL WELL that Democrats in Congress do not have the power to over-ride his veto and that Republicans would most likely vote along party lines?
Has GWB, as president, been "harmless"?
Is the United States in better shape militarily and financially than we were in January of 2001 or January of 2003?
Are you in better financial shape than you were in January of 2001 or January of 2003?
Can you imagine Palin, as president, in control of the powers that the Constitution gives her
AND the extra-Constitutional powers that GWB has amassed
AND
NOT
CRINGE?
I can't.
Regards, Alf.

He Said wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:18 AM:It may be worth some education on the Obama "tax cut". Search Obama's 95% Illusion. I'm sure Ron and DD can clear up any questions about the program.

OBAMACAN wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:21 AM:Junious Montgomery's letter reveals him to be nothing more than a propagandist partisan hack, passing along innuendo and distortions taken out of context.
He gives Sarah Palin's pastor problem a free pass. Hello, the guy persecuted African women as witches - the ultimate in literal WITCH HUNTS - and you can see the video of him laying on of hands to "drive out all manner of WITCHCRAFT" as he gives her a blessing for success in her POLITICAL goals.
Similarly, Montgomery doesn't mention the hatemongering pastors that McCain sought out, not for religious guidance, but for POLITICAL support only!
(Hagee, Parsley, Robertson, Falwell.)
Double standard yet again?

But he does cite the words from Wright. Wright is not running for president. Wright was not involved in Obama's political life; he was a spiritual advisor only. Rev. Wright had a distinguished career as a military medic where he was entrusted to work on surgery for President LBJ. While his dramatic style sometimes went over the top, it was more mainstream than Montgomery and the partisan propagandists want you to believe.
God Damn America? Oh, but Junious, you didn't listen to the rest of the sermon, did you? It was yet again one of Wright's sermons on redemption and repentance. He was talking about the fate of those who refuse to turn from policies of hate and division, BUT - here comes the audacity of hope, and Wright could certainly be audacious - if we turn to God, accept His gift of redemption, and change our lives, we will not be damned but blessed. The sermon is a message of redemption, repentance, salvaton and HOPE.
Republican partisan propagandists had to comb through more than 20 years of Wright sermons to find four snippets that they could cut and paste out of context to make him look like some kind of extremist, while we don't see tapes of McCain's POLITICAL supporters looped endlessly repeating their anti-American hate speech.
Could he have been a little less flamboyant?
Sure.
But he was a spiritual advisor, not a political one.
Jeremiah Wright was no terrorist.
Unlike - say - Marilyn Shannon who gave a speech in Oregon WHILE McCAIN WAS PRESENT (8-30-93), praising Rachelle Shannon who had shot and killed an abortion doctor for performing a LEGAL abortion. McCain sat silently and expressed no objection whatsoever. He did not even try to take away her mike and correct her. Caught by surprise? Only if he was blind - he had been warned not to attend in advance by fellow Republican Senator Mark Hatfield, then senator from that state (Oregon), and had to pass through more than 30 vocal protestors, so he had to know something was amiss. The judge who sentenced Rachelle Shannon to jail (yes, she was convicted, not just alleged) called her a "domestic terrorist." Marilyn Shannon was a Bush delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention and a McCain delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:58 AM:The letter from Jim West has it backward.
The free market and capitalism died from its own unimpeded gluttany, its own avarice and greed.
Unrestrained, even encouraged in its deadly habits, it gorged itself to death.
Regards, Alf.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:11 AM:It's all been coming into view, if you have eyes to see it.

Going back into the Clinton adminstration, and the beneficiary of a Tech Bubble. Franklin Raines began as Clinton's OMB director to create the same fraud at OMB, that he, Jim Johnson, and Jamie Gorelick had created over at Fannie Mae.
Basing your out lying years upon a Bubble, is something most Californians are aquainted with, we've done the very same thing, lined the out year budgets with Peak Revenues, growing the State goverment some 40% in less than 5 years.

So the smoke & mirror surpluses created by the fraud accountant Franklin Raines, was duplicated at OMB by the same criminals who have sunk the mortgage industry.
I had always questioned why the Robert Rubin numbers over at Treasury were going up, each & every year, while Raines fraudulent numbers showed a balanced, and a surplus budget.
Now I know why.

On top of the Tech Bubble, was another bubble, the housing bubble, already in the works under a Clinton adminstration.

So, you got a "surplus budget" based upon a speculative Tech Bubble, followed quickly by a fraud housing bubble.
Bush run's for President, buys all of the OMB numbers, as most people did.
Begins advocating tax cuts based on phoney'd up numbers, based on the criminal fraud of Frank Raines.

Bush gets in, 9/11 happens, after the Tech bubble collaspes, pushed the Housing scheme as set-up by, and protected by the Democrats.

But, as early as 2001, something is wrong, and the Bush adminstration begins to push strongly for reform of Fannie, and the moderization of all our financial markets.
The Democrats resist, because their campaign piggy bank is in the financial markets, including Fannie & Freddie.
It is a key mispreception to believe that Wall Street is the heart and soul of the Republican party. Many, many more Democrats rely heavily upon the contributions of banking institutions, than do Republicans.
Many, many more Hedge Funds are run by Democrats, or left-leaning democrat leadership. Does the name Al Gore ring a bell? Or even John Edwards?

So, quickly, the phoney'd up numbers by this government lead entirely into thsi morass, aided and abetted by Democrats wanting to cover up their real intentions. Loans based upon affirmative action, rather than sound fiscal policy and practises.
And all of it, lead by a phoney surplus budget, as created by ...Franklin Delano Raines, or who I like to call FDR II.

Power Plant wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:22 AM:Hope Wrisley, please be honest and say why you're really against NRG: You don't want a power plant in your wonderful city. Both of Carlsbad's proposed sites are on the eastern city border and effectively pass any effluent to other cities: Oceanside, Vista, and San Marcos. Those cities have residential areas (as opposed to I-5 and commercial areas in Carlsbad) that border your preferred sites. Well, I guess those people don't matter as they are not from Carlsbad...

Roger wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:35 AM:Junious Montgomery is still beating that old dead horse, Reverend Wright said negative things about race relations in the U.S.A....

Despite which, or perhaps because of which, Obama continues to widen his lead in the polls. Is this the best you folks can do?

May as well just give it up.

Foccal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:35 AM:Skip[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:02 AM:
Those that do will also be installing a shadow first Dude, Todd Palin. Palin has major influence over his wife. More importantly, Todd is or was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party which is dedicated to the secession of Alaska from the United States. But, Skip, you are right about plenty of people who feel the way you do. Thank God, that there are millions more that do not.

DD Wiz wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:35 AM:Converted Conservative
The published letter from Chris Pulse does indeed bring back fond memories of the Vista recall election.
At that time I was living along that eastern corridor or Oceanside that is in the Vista school district, with a daughter who was a varsity cheerleader at Vista High.
Not only did I support the recall, but I was one of the ten initial signatories to the original filing, and I was the one who designed the layout for the petitions that would actually be circulated (and had the format and layout approved on first submission to the Registrar). I always got a kick out of seeing local news reports (both local and network) of people circulating petitions and having them hold up a document that came off my computer.
And yet, I did write letters to the editor and they were, at that time on opposite sides of then-conservative Pulse.

I also can appreciate one's political conversion, since I was raised in a family that was politically conservative, and I had been active in Young Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, and had the thrill of meeting Ronald Reagan while, as a teenager, was working set-up for a 1964 rally where he spoke on behalf of Barry Goldwater. In college, majoring in political science, I began to have reservations about the simplistic inaccuracies of conservative political and economic theory, and gradually transformed during my college years into a liberal supporter of civil rights and opponent of the Vietnam War. By the time I was old enough to vote (21 in those days) I shocked everyone in my family by registering as a Democrat.
So I consider myself both a converted conservative AND, because I have never actually been registered as anything other than a Democrat, also a lifelong Democrat :-)

Ron again changes the subject and misrepresents my post
And true to form, the post from "Ron" (5:26am) demonstrates the dishonesty I fled from in abandoning conservatism.
He quotes me exactly "income and assets" but then adds a complete fabrication of his own dishonest invention, saying I "want to know what their total assets are, in oder to properly assertain their tax liability" when I made no mention at all of any such desire to tax assets, nor did I say I even wanted the information!
I said that earlier posts by "Ron" criticizing the "unfairness" of taxes paid by the rich by citing a breakdown of what percentages were paid meant nothing without the corresponding ratios of INCOME AND ASSETS.
I did not say I wanted it; I wasn't the one whining.
If "Ron" now says the information can't be determined, it shows how hollow his original whining really was. So yes, "Ron," you CHANGED THE SUBJECT from your original point of tax fairness to a FALSE, made-up allegation about something I didn't even say.
Peace (and sunshine) to all, DD Wiz

Excuses wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:46 AM:La, la, la, Ron at 7:11 a.m., I can't hear you.
More of your hollow, mindless blathering ranting and rambling saying NOTHING except your desperate excuses trying to explain why those gosh-darn LUCKY Democrats always catch all the breaks and have thriving economies while those boo-hoo Republicans walk under that dark cloud of greed, I mean fate.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.
From Hoover, to Reagan, to Keating, to Bush and now McCain (self-described economic know-nothing) whose economic platform was written by Phil "nation of whiners" Gramm (who also authored the deregulation of banking as well as deregulation of oil speculators).
Those Democrats are just so gosh-darn lucky.
You betcha.

Now gimmee another six pack - I gott drive the kids to hockey.

Ayers Prosecutor wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:58 AM:News flash!
The Los Angeles Times reports this morning (p.A-13) that William C. Ibershof, the prosecutor who UNSUCCESSFULLY tried the case against William Ayers for domestic terrorism, held a news conference (following publication of a 10-10-08 letter to the editor of the New York Times) in which he criticized efforts to link Ayers to Obama as being completely unjustified.

Ibershof said, "I seemed manifestly unfair to tar him [Obama] with this association ... during a period [mid-1990s] he [Ayers] was named Citizen of the Year in Chicago." Ibershof noted that Obama was only 8 when the ALLEGED acts, for which Ayers was never convicted, occurred.

Ibershof has endorsed Obama and donated $200 to Obama's campaign.

Wanda wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:03 AM:Skip is right, there will be plenty of people voting for the vapid McCain / Palin ticket. Suspect they'll do really well in trailer parks throughout the bible belt. May even get a majority in a few Midwestern states.

Polls show them doing poorly, and sinking fast, in the important demographic: voters with over room temperature I.Q.

Give it up, Skip.

Gotta Wonder wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:09 AM:Skip[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:02 AM:
Were you in a movie last year?

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:12 AM:It seems that "Skip" at 6:02AM wants to continue the "great successes" that GWB has made over the last 8 years.
That is his choice.
It's past time for his 5150.
Regards, Alf.

She Said wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:12 AM:to Obamacan @ 6:21 AM: Rachelle (Shelly) Shannon was not convicted of murder. He was convicted of attempted murder (shot the doctor in both arms, lived) and got a whopping 11 year sentence. She received another 20 years for some arson things and that's when the judge pronounced her a domestic terrorist. Additionally, you know the "it runs in the family" saying, her daughter is also serving time for anti abortion activities. Just thought I'd let you know of your error before some cons started the lies, lies, lies, accusations.

Bob wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:16 AM:Chill out alf (6:12 AM), it's not as if these losers are going to get elected, thanks in no small part to Sarah Palin.

Golly.

Too Old Too Rich wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:23 AM:McCain just said this economic situation hurt us a little bit. What? Guess when you married a billionaire (whom you committed adultery with) then this economic situation only hurt you a little bit. It hurt me lots and I know plenty of people who it hurt even more. Get a clue McCain. Drop out of the race now. You are too old and too rich and too clueless.

Wake Up wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:27 AM:The old man McCain still can't get it right. He suspends his campaign, no wait it is on again, I won't attend debate, wait I will. Now he said he had an 'new' economic plan but wait I don't. Clueless and so is his running mate the Ever Clueless Palin. By the way Palin you are guilty in Troopergate no matter what you think (or do you?).

OBSERVATION wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:27 AM:University Professor Paul Krugman, known as much for his criticism of George W. Bush's policies as for his academic work, won the Nobel Prize in economics for his theories on world trade.

Hacks wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:31 AM:Hannity and O'reilly !

Domestic terrorists wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:38 AM:Domestic terrorists are not liberals. You have to go back to the 70s to find examples of left-wing domestic terrorists.

Today's domestic terrorists are ALL right-wing nutjobs:

Timothy McVeigh - OKC bombing

Jim David Adkisson - shot up a church in Knoxville this year under the influence of Michael Savage.

Eric Robert Rudolph - Rudolph declared that his bombings were part of a guerrilla campaign against abortion and what he describes as "the homosexual agenda." He spent years as the FBI's most wanted criminal fugitive.

David McMenemy - attempted a suicide bombing of a women's clinic in Davenport, Iowa after scouting targets throughout the Midwest. It was later revealed that the targeted clinic did not perform or make referrals for abortions.

Theodore John Kaczynski - Rails against "leftists" in his Unibomber Manifesto.

Now do you understand who the real domestic terrorists are?

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:48 AM:Can someone explain to me why gasoline prices jumped in almost perfect sync with the jumps in crude oil prices,
YET as the price of oil plummetted the price of gasoline crept down slowly?
It couldn't be price gouging, could it?
Regards, Alf.

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:56 AM:Well, "Domestic terrorists" at 8:38AM,
there is a two word reason for the "domestic terrorists" in the 1960s and early 1970s -
Vietnam War.
Comprehending the reason and agreeing with it are two entirely separate things.
Regards, Alf.

Let the Games begin wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:03 AM:Former Obama fundraiser Rezko, convicted of fraud, spills beans
Recommend (21) Comments

October 11, 2008

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jailed political fundraiser Antoin ''Tony'' Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and the political fallout could be explosive.

Rezko Prosecution wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:13 AM:Ooops, "Let the Games Begin" at 9:03 a.m. drools over the juicy revelations of Rezko spilling the beans.
But, in what I'm sure is an, uhm, innocent omission, he/she "forgot" to finish the rest of the story.
Governor Rod Blagojevich has been implicated, and some other lesser political and non-political figures are being implicated.

NOTHING regarding any wrongdoing involving Obama has come out nor is anticipated.

Again, I'm sure this omission was an innocent oversight.

CANOBAMA wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:15 AM:How many of you would choose to associate with a domestic terrorist, past or present, particularly one who never repented for his actions? How many of you would attend a college course taught by such a person, or send your son or daughter to do the same? It shows you how whacked Chicago is for its leaders and power elite to welcome Ayers into its inner circle and dignify him with a "Citizen of the Year" award. We would expect the same nonsense from Berkeley or San Francisco too.

Wanda wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:16 AM:The 9:03 AM post brings to mind my favorite definition of innuendo: Italian suppository.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:18 AM:NO, "Wizzer" @ 7:35 AM

It has been YOU who has continually pushed this line of income plus assets.


And by wanting that particular cite, showing how much they own in totality, is where YOU will begin to address "fairness."

YOu said it, I just exposed it.

Just as I exposed this other radical tenet you've obviously picked up from the New Left Party, same as NObama.
This taxation of unearned income, on the same scale as earned income.
Something.. NO OTHER LIBERAL IN HISTORY remotely stated as a valid revenue position. But YOU do. This is a total radical departure, I'm more than happy to point out, again.

And here's just how "successful" this legacy of Liberalism as defined, and inside the box of FDR Liberalism.

Since 1935 til today, there have been 19 tax increases on your social security.
19....
It never has saved the program, never has balanced the program, these tax increases have only delayed the fundamental flaw in Social Security which is the theft by which each Congress since, has stolen from it.
It is the same as using your retirment money in your 401K to fund today's expenses. How do you think they were going to fund the SCHIP program, half by cigarette tax increase, the other comes right out of Social Security.
But, this is how they "do" accounting in the government. Anayways...

So, they've raised your taxes on your retirement 19 times, all the while telling you, with each new increwase, that THIS TIME.. it will save the program. It was this time, then the next time, then the time after that time, and so on, and so on, and so on, it goes.

Now, what do they want? They want it ALL!
They want to lift the caps on Social Security, so that now there will unlimited funds to steal from.

PLUS, now Wizzer wants unearned income taxed at the same rates as earned income. Something no other person, not even FDR talked about. This is just how radical these folks are.
They see the Government, as the end all, and be all. And they have been very, very consistant about blaming their socialist failures, like this affirmative action housing fraud, as captialism gone bad.
So, Wiz... go tell your story to someone else who hasn't figuired you out.

Richard wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:21 AM:And don't forget Ivens (and/or others near him) who mailed ultra-pure deadly anthrax to Democratic Senators Daschle and Leahy after they refused to agree with the Patriot Act unConstitutional provisions.

And don't forget that Bush's manifesto of attacking countries that 'intelligence' suggested harbor terorrists, rather than cold hard facts first, was supposed to transform the Middle East. Although it is likely that many there learned of Christianity after Hussein was deposed, unfortunately the news yesterday reminds us that of the 2 million refugees from Iraq after our invasion, thousands of Christians have been murdered or evacuated regions where they'd lived for nearly 2,000 years. Just like the Jewish communities that live in Iraq, they knew how to exist under Hussein because they knew where he was all the time. Now, there is no way to know which hate-filled goon is after you since 'liberation.'
Instead of drill baby drill, why not sun people sun? And instead of chanting "USA, USA first", meaning that we're better than all other nations on earth and need to police them, why can't it mean that we uphold and defend our Constitution? It provides no provision for building foreign armies or selling them weapons or even raising our own for defense for over 2 years.
We've under Bush become like a second world country being a debtor nation owing billions to those paying for the Iraq invasion, and have become like a thrid world country by denouncing Geneva and legalizing torture and rejecting habeous corpus that has existed in Western civilization since King John's magna carta. This guy has been allowed to do virtually most everything he's wanted since 9/11.

Bottom Line wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:23 AM:So, Ron, Games and Canobama - is that it? That all you have?
Name calling? Guilt by association (when your candidates have far worse)?

Checked the polls lately?
How's that workin' out for ya?

Oh Canobama wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:32 AM:Don't be ridiculous. Your desperation to make this an issue is palpable. Ayers, first of all, was not convicted of any crime. This is the same thing you say when people point the Keating Five finger at McCain. Second, I am sure that what Ayers is "unrepentant" about is his opposition to American imperialistic terrorism in Vietnam at that time, and millions of people feel the same way. Many of us consider that strength of right convictions. Third, my guess is that you, me, and many other people have associated with people, have taken classes taught by people, and done many other things with people whose behavior 30 years ago might appall us now. Stop this purely bogus nonsense already. Stop erecting this perfect person that you think you are so that you can insist Obama fails to be. It's boring. It's dumb. It's false. It's a load.

Roger wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:33 AM:The 9:15 AM poster just can't stop beating this old dead horse. Is this all you've got?

Give it up.

Rezko Prosecution again wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:42 AM:Rezko Prosecution
[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:13 AM:
Ooops, "Let the Games Begin" at 9:03 a.m. drools over the juicy revelations of Rezko spilling the beans.

Obviously you did not go and read the full article in the Chicago Sun Times. Drool indeed.

Amazing wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:50 AM:Amazing how Chris Pulse added to his letter concerning conservatives, "now trashed the economy", however, he forgets to add in the Dodd, Franks and others involved in the Mae and Mac saga that all is well and no reason to oversite them. Oh, and now if the liberals take the Whitehouse and both parties in full, Reid and gang will roll back the latest off-shore drilling bill and put us more in a headlock with OPEC. And also Nancy Pelosi will put the house right to work after the election. How come she let them all go during the gas crises? Could it be to control everything?

CANPALIN wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:52 AM:How many of you would choose to abuse the power of your political office to pursue a vendetta against your sister's ex-husband? How many of you would allow your husband to do the same? It shows you how whacked Alaska is for its leaders and power elite to intentionally violate the law. But if you are a Republican, it looks like ethics laws are just for everybody else.

something to ponder wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:53 AM:2 things brought down the Roman Empire. Divorce, and homosexuality. Now our empire is declining, at the same time divorce and homosexuality are rampant.

He Said wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:55 AM:Alf @ 8:48. The gas price situation is quite simple. Last April 30th at least two major oil companies, for example, raised my stock dividends by over 12% and 14% respectively. After a few years of stock holders complaining about the dividend to profits structure the two companies need to maintain those dividends for awhile even though sales revenues are down. So please keep filling up at the higher prices. You need to make up for DD who, quite frankly, isn't helping much with his Prius.

Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:09 AM:CANOBAMA[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:15 AM:
I am getting fed up with Ayers and this terrorist thing. Firstly, Ayers was never convicted of terrorism. Secondly, it seems that Ayers has led an exemplify life since the Vietnam era. Lastly, there were a few million people during the Vietnam War era that would not have shed a tear over the pentagon getting bombed. jading today with yesterday is like comparing apples to oranges. Just is not the same. Thousands of students have taken classes from Ayers. Not one of them has committed a terrorist crime.
Ayers is a noted positive force in Chicago. He and they working together for the betterment of the city is not a crime.

To J Montgomery wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:28 AM:If the rhetoric exposes the inept decisions on Obamas choice of acquaintances then he needs to address those points. Wasn’t he the one claming he could multitask?
If you’re opting for the easy choices then I guess “Present” as a response is ok but not very constructive or were you multitasking other important issues.
By the way multitasking is not always wise, that is why cell phones cause accidents on the highway. So let’s see you multitask issues on your involvement in Acorn and their fraudulent voter registration and strong arm tactic used to intimidate banks into giving mortgages to people unable to make a house payment. And lets hear more from you on your unconscionable involvement with a church that damns the US and befriending known bombers of government offices. Not paying attention and multitasking did get you in trouble with the above didn’t it! Sounds like someone with ADD.

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:35 AM:Just wanted to thank everybody who responded to my 6:02 AM post.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Yes you are Domestic terrorists wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:49 AM:Who are the real domestic terrorists, you ask?

All of those people you mentioned have been denounced and imprisoned. One has been put to death for his actions.

Your Domestic terrorist, Ayers, has been embraced and pardoned by you, the lefties.

I would suggest you go to a site called Zombietime. The photographer takes pictures of the protests on the San Fran/Berkley area. Home to Nancy Pelosi. Those are your people, supporting Hamas, ect., and openly advocating for the downfall of America.

I always hear the "righties" exclaim that they love America. I never hear it from a "leftie."

Bad news for yahoos wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:54 AM:I just saw that Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize in Economics. This must make you yahoos nuts! LOL Of course you'll rant about how bogus the prize is, blah blah blah, but deep down, you know perfectly well that the prize is held in the highest esteem by most people in the world. So you can have your little tantrum insisting they are all wrong (you'll use the word Arafat a lot as you do this), but you know that's all it is. Do you notice how far you go to avoid having to admit that maybe Krugman is right about some things? Like, VERY right? Does it make you think at all, that you feel the need to go this far? LOL

Floyd wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:14 AM:Since you're convinced Obama is going to win, there's no reason to worry about what the conservatives will say or do, right? Which means there is no need for you to admonish them to be quiet when they raise a variety of issues.

John wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:35 AM:Get used to it folks. Obama will be president for the next 8 years. Quit complaining and pickin at old scabs. No whining about Bill Ayers, terrorist connections, middle names, Clinton or Resko. If you all start that nonsense we got 8 years of Bush crow for you to eat. Time to heal yourselves and get behind the next great American leader. President Obama will need our help to fix the mess left by the republican politicians on their way out. I guess if you don't like it you can move to Iraq.

Skip wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:40 AM:I also listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio, and am about to retire with 23 years in the military.

I am still voting against the Democrats.

Looking Glass wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:46 AM:Reardon made a good point a few days ago that should be repeated -
1)Both canidates have questionable friends [Keating, Ayres, etc]
2)Both have taken money from lobbyists
3)Both will use government to fix the nation's economic problems, when history has proven that answer WRONG
4)Both men have questionable VP Canidates [Biden's 15 lies, Palin's misteps]

Why can't we start this election over again? Find someone who is more qualified then these 2 morons? And why can't the campaigns be shortened so that the media can report on worthile news?

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:47 AM:I'll give you the simple & quick answer.. "He Said" @6:18 AM.

It won't happen.
This 95% tax cut is baloney, it has been from the gate. And the reason I know this is a couple of things.
A) NObama don't know what the heck he's talking about. The guy is ALL over the place.
B) Old Bull Democrats in the House, been waiting longer than NObama to make THEIR mark on history, and seal their mark, and legacy. All tax increases or decreases begin in the House.
C) With all the other tax increases, that measely thousand bucks he's waving... won't mean squat, cause they will then turn around and take out of something else.
D) Clinton is the predictor on this, said tax cuts across the board for the middle-class, then NADA.
NObama has moved more times than I know how to count, on so many issues.
This one ain't sacred.
Or do we really need to go through the list?

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:49 AM:Are you going to believe that 7:58 AM post? Sarah Palin told me Obama pals around with Bill Ayers and they're both terrorists. That's good enough for me.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Focal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:56 AM:Palin makes lefties go nuts: Palin causes the centrists and independents and even consecrative columnists concern.

Rev Wright is not a candidate for President. Obama is the candidate and he has never damned America. Montgomery like other foolish ideologues attempts to find guilt in association. It just don't work anymore. There will be a changing of the guard. California will go Obama. Even this solid Republican San Diego County may go Democratic this election.

More domestic terrorists wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:55 PM:A partial list of attacks claimed by the Earth Liberation Front.

Nov. 1997 - ELF torches Bureau of Land Management corrals in Oregon to protest roundup of wild horses for slaughter.

Oct. 1998 - Seven structures and four ski lifts worth $12 million burned by ELF in Vail, Colo., protesting ski resort's expansion.

Dec. 1998 - Arson of U.S. Forest Industries corporate headquarters in Medford, Ore., causing $500,000 in damage.

Dec. 1999 - Arson of Michigan State University lab dedicated to genetically engineered foods.

Jan. 2000 - Arson destroys a house in Bloomington, Ind., protesting its proximity to local watershed.

Feb. 2000 - ELF destroys a University of Minnesota Lab studying genetically altered oats.

July 2000 - A cornfield at Cold Spring Harbor Labs is uprooted, beginning a spree of more than 10 attacks in the Long Island area, mostly against newly built homes.

Dec. 2000 - Four houses under construction in Island Estates in Mount Sinai, Long Island, were damaged by fire or smoke.

Mar. 2008 - Arson destroys four new houses in Snohomish County, WA.


Right-wing nutjobs or liberal community activists?

Golden State is now Plastic and Burnt Timber wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:16 PM:Obama will be Californias final straw!!!
nuff said.

Oh Skip wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:29 PM:We know, we know. I wonder, though, how you can honestly vote that way in the belief that Sarah Palin could be President. That completely baffles me. I don't mean in some mud-slinging contest of who has more experience or any of the rest of that nonsense. I mean in a very simple way: you read about her life and career, you see her in action, you hear what she has to say. Then ask yourself: do I want this person to be (possibly) President of the United States of America?

Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:36 PM:Skip[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:40 AM:
Listening to Limbaugh explains quite a bit about you. So what to your politics and your vote.

DD Wiz wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:36 PM:Misrepresentations
The post from "Ron" (9:18am) is utterly pathetic. He continues to misstate my previous posts (but can't find the exact words where I suggested anything remotely similar to what he imagines), put words into my mouth, and go off on entirely unrelated tangents.

Sorry, "Ron," you are wasting my time and, frankly, you are not worth it.
You are the only one living in your fantasy world and I don't even want to stop by for a visit.

I know these are tough times for the McCain people but, "Ron," it's really getting to you.
Peace (and sunshine) to all, DD Wiz

To The Left wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:44 PM:Tell us what Obama has done FOR his country so we can get our minds off of the crooks and radicals with whom he has associated. What IS his record? We're looking for something tangible in lieu of talk of hope and change in the future. How is this country better off because of his past?

Thank You Sarah Palin wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:45 PM:Submitted 9:37 a.m. and skipped

Thank You Sarah Palin, and thank you John McCain for nominating her!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Before Sarah, you used to talk about "experience" - no more!
Before Sarah, you used to talk about crazy pastors* (no matter how much you had to take words out of context) - thanks to WITCH HUNTER Thomas Muthee, that now rings hollow!
Before Sarah, you used to talk about ties to terrorists** (no matter how much you had to stretch to fabricate an imaginary link) - thanks to direct involvement with anti-American secessionists, no big deal!

*Well, OK, McCain already had his own crazy pastors - Hagee, Parsley, Robertson, Falwell
**Well, OK, McCain already had his own ties to terrorists - abortion terrorists Marilyn and Rachelle Shannon, and economic terrorist Charles Keating

Theres a reason wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:47 PM:There's a reason the republicans are gonna take a lickin this November. They failed and will be swept out with the cob webs. They may be back in 4 or 5 decades. Until then the bloggers against Obama in this forum are like old Japanese soldiers on an island who never heard the war ended and they lost. Sigh-o-nara.

OBAMACAN wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:50 PM:Resubmission of skipped post

She Said at 8:12 a.m. presumes to correct my statements about domestic terrorists Rachelle Shannon (who was praised in a speech by Marilyn Shannon attended with silent assent by McCain, for whom she was a Republican delegate to the 2008 convention).
I have found citations to the actual cases on Findlaw, which I can't cite because they are not ".gov" or "nctimes.com" sites (but are easily found) and She Said is absolutely correct.
I erred in stating that a doctor who had performed a legal abortion was shot and killed.
The doctor was "only" wounded.
The conviction in that case was for attempted murder.
I stand corrected.

im sending in my vote tomorrow wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:52 PM:This Michigan blue state voter is voting for McCain/Palin

to Looking Glass wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:54 PM:1) all questionable frinds are not equal; the Obama-Ayers association seems perfectly honorable; Ayers is now, and has been for a long time, a much-admired person in his community, admired by republicans and democrats alike. This is nothing like McCain's actual involvement in the Keating scandal.

2) both HAVE taken money from lobbyists. McCain has more that 100 former lobbyists on his campaign team, including more than 80 from the financial interests that have us in this mess right now. I don't think that Obama can compete with this level of lobbyist pandering.

3) you speak as if the absence of government in the economy has a great historical record. that's more or less completely false. (Ask the parents of the children in China who died from that milk.) You laissez-faire people make an absurd argument. You say that the market left to its own devices and forces always turns out best. But you define "best" as whatever happens when the market is left alone. It's logically empty. I would suggest you read Voltaire's great work, Candide. He too has a buffoon of a philosopher who says all is for the best, one Pangloss, now coopted by the free market capitalists, but no less a buffoon.

4) you cannot really compare Biden's 35+ years' of Senatorial service to Palin's near-complete ignorance of the world, can you? You seem to be saying that since both Biden and Palin are imperfect, they are equal. Um, no.

I see that all your points tilt towards making the Republicans seem better than they are. But they aren't.

Ms M wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:57 PM:Hey you cons - we libs have been trying to tell you that McPalin ain't got it. The following is an article from the net - read it and weep:

With 22 days left before the voters hit the polls, conservative pundits and media commentators are scratching their heads over the lack of direction - indeed, the near schizophrenic judgment - of the McCain campaign.

Appearing at the Time Warner Summit conference on the 2008 election, a host of prominent electoral observers were all bearish on the Arizona Republican's presidential ambitions. Not one panelist took the chance to defend the Senator's choice of Sarah Palin as vice president. Others simply saw death by electoral numbers.

"Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada," declared Byron York of the National Review. "Bush won everyone of those states except Pennsylvania. McCain has to do it all. And it is hard to do that by going on Letterman."

The reference was to the Arizona Republican's upcoming appearance on the Late Night Show this Thursday. For the panelists it symbolized yet another instance of what Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan described as "herky-jerky" behavior coming from the Republican ticket.

"Obama seems older in a way," said the former Ronald Reagan speechwriter. "McCain has seemed herky-jerky. Obama has seemed like the older, steadier fellow since the economic crisis began."

It was a sentiment echoed by most everyone else. Josh Marshall, the publisher of Talking Points Memo, made the case, as he has done many times before, that the senator by and large has dug his own grave.

"By the way he has conducted his campaign, McCain has got himself in a hole," he said. "That dramatic gesture [that he might turn to]... even if, on its own terms, it might be good for him, he has so effectively created this view as erratic it might not work."

The main object of ridicule and criticism, however, was Sarah Palin. York called her interviews with CBS's Katie Couric "very bad" and immune to political spin.

"She may be a very effective governor of Alaska who wasn't able to pick up on what you need to be an effective vice presidential candidate," said the National Review scribe.

Added Noonan: "Her performance from day one mattered. What the American people saw over the period of five or six weeks, it has been very up and down. From an unveiling that gave rise to questions to a very strong convention speech, to interviews that were disastrous, to a debate in which she came back very strong, to now, ten days on the campaign trail, where I think it is fair to say: that didn't work."

It was a fairly brutal affair, remarkable for its intense, sometimes overbearing, bipartisan focus on the ailments of the Republican ticket. Thirty-five minutes into the discussion, Jeffrey Toobin actually had to remind his fellow panelist that there was another candidate in the race.

"We haven't commented yet," said the CNN analyst, "on what a sensational campaign Obama has run." - Wow - How sweet it is!

hardtack wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:00 PM:Herbert Pairitz says: “This $700 billion bailout for the greedy loan companies will go down in history as the final crowning success of the Bush administration term.”

He may be right about that – but I have this uneasy feeling that the severely partisan Pairitz is unaware that both California, democrat Senators voted FOR the bailout. Moreover, nearly twice as many Senate Republicans voted AGAINST the bill as Democrats. Same thing in the House. Of those voting FOR the bailout, 35% were Republicans, 65% were Democrats.

This may not occur to Mr. Pairitz, but, perhaps more Democrats were beholden to “the greedy loan companies” than Republicans.

Incidently, both Bilbray and Issa voted AGAINST the bailout.

hardtack wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:14 PM:Alf, Bottom line: the Executive doesn’t, shouldn’t, can’t legislate – according to the Constitution you and I love.
Please see my reply to Herbert Pairitz.

Divorce and homosexuality wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:18 PM:led to decline of the Roman Empire. will ours dothe same?

Wanda wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:21 PM:Actually, Floyd (11:14 AM), while you are correct about the widening gap in the polls, nobody should "...admonish them to be quiet when they raise a variety of issues."

Quiet is the last thing we want. Every time "they raise a variety if issues" (which, apparently, means another nonsensical ad hominem attack) the gap widens further.

How's that working out for ya?

But Skip wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:23 PM:You can vote against the Democrats without voting for Republicans.
Vote for Ron Paul!

Bill One wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:23 PM:I remember the last time the dems were totally in charge, the Carter presidency. We got 20+% mortgates. The economy was dead.

nate wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:25 PM:to michigan blue state voter:

i am sending in my ballot tommorrow as well. Your vote might have meant something in michigan. here it will be cancelled out by mine and millions of other people that can see through this Gop brand of smear politics. when you have a campaign leader say we will not win on issues, that says it all right there. Mccain or Obama character will not help my wallet. I am not making over 250k so might vote goes to Obama.

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:32 PM:I clearly stated in my 11:40 AM post that I:

a.)Listen to Rush Limbaugh.

b.)Am about to retire with 23 years in the military.

None the less, the post at 1:29 PM requires me to answer questions which would require me to think for myself.

Get real!

FOUR MORE YEARS!

gracchus wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:35 PM:i want to thank ron for his communique of 6:11 a.m. i actually read that article from the august 27, 2008 issue of THE WASHINGTON POST. the information that it offers about barak obama and hunter biden, son of joe, truly shocked me.

senator obama apparently requested that $1.4 million of taxpayers' money be given to st. xavier university in orland park, illinois. the university would spend $500,000 on a sills laboratory for its nursing school. the remaining $900,000 would fund ab early childhood teacher training program.

much to my incredulity, i learned that the sisters of mercy administer st. xavier's, a roman catholic university. how could obama send funds to the sisters so that they can train teachers to indoctrinate the youth of chicago?

an even more disturbing indication of senator obama's financial priorties was his request of $2 million for chicago's thorek memorial hospital. but thorek didn't receive the money which mit intended to spend on cancer research.

and who represented these institutions to congress? hunter biden, son of joe. biden's lobbying firm received $120,000 for representing thorek, although it didn't succeed in getting the grant for cancer research.

thank you so much, ron, for pointing out how obama obtained earmarks for his constituency and hunter biden's participation in the effort. imagine! obama wants to allocate funds for the training of nurses and teachers! he actually tried to spend taxpayers' dollars on cancer research!

and my word, obama and biden openly associate with the sisters of mercy unabashedly seeking to finance their nursing and teaching programs. i truly tremble when i contemplate a future in the united states of america, if obama and biden win the election in november.

Roger wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:45 PM:You're right, Skippy, don't even try think for yourself. You're obviously not equiped for it.

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:46 PM:Well, "hardtack" at 2:14PM,
either I'm blind or your comment got posted and then pulled or you used a different "handle" or your comment on the letter from Herbert Pairitz is somehow going to show up later.
The problem is that GWB has given himself extra-Constitutional powers, some with the aid of Congress and some all by his little lonesome and
Pelosi declared Impeachment to be off the table.
Regards, Alf.

Reardon wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:47 PM:PART ONE

Discussions of Prop 8 have centered around the question of its potential passage being appealed to the Supreme Court as an “equal protection” issue.

As I have demonstrated in previous posts “equal protection” is a mercurial issue – even in federal buildings it is not “interpreted” to mean unisex bathrooms, and is completely ignored in a progressive income tax where the “rich” certainly are not as “equally protected” as the poor.

In short, the Fourteenth Amendment is selectively enforced, even the way it is interpreted..

And why is that true? It is because the Fourteenth Amendment is used as a social engineering tool where it can be elasticized to meet, as Chief Justice Earl Warren said (Trop v Wallace, 1958), “ the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”

Law schools do not usually study the debates and records of the time in which the Constitution was written. Rather they study “case law” wherein they rely on what some judge or series of judges have said the plain English of the Constitution means, or should mean in light of ‘the progress of a maturing society.”

The Fourteenth Amendment was passed, at least according to the Supreme Court in Strauder v West Virginia, 1879, (100 U.S. 303, 306 -07). to “(secure) to a race recently emancipated, a race that through many generations had been held in slavery, all the civil rights that the superior race enjoy.” (The Court then ruled a West Virginia jury pool of only white jurors, unconstitutional.)

Note that the Supreme Court nearest the time of the Fourteenth Amendment said it WAS about emancipated slaves, NOT sex or gender in any way, shape, manner, fashion of form – and not about illegal aliens rights, or taxation (equal or otherwise), or bathrooms (unisex or not).

And that is the problem with “interpreting” a “living Constitution” – there is no limit to the elasticity. White can be interpreted to be black, or green, or mauve.

TO BE CONTINUED

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:49 PM:It's easy, "Divorce and homosexuality" at 2:18PM,
one is a choice and one is not,
outlaw divorce.
Q.E.D.
Regards, Alf.

president doesnt affect economy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:50 PM:Congress does. McCain will be better at foreign policy and will not wave a white flag in Iraq like Obama would. Gun owners, the military, conservatives, and small business owners support McCain.

Apollo wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:52 PM:Re: Divorce and homosexuality (2:18 p.m.)
Regarding the reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire - you don't think the Goths and Vandals had anything to do with it?
Converting to Christianity?

Re: To The Left (1:44 p.m.)
Lists of Obama's specific contributions in the Senate and before have been posted several times. There is a lot, such as his bipartisan ethics reforms to post all earmarks on the Internet (with conservative Republican Tom Coburn) or his work with moderate Republican Richard Lugar to clean up loose nukes in the former Soviet Union.
You must be new here or not very attentive.
My suggestion is to go to the Obama website which is probably the most comprehensive listing all in one convenient location.
If you can't figure out how to find this, you need to stop getting your Internet instruction from John McCain.

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:54 PM:Thanks, Roger.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Ms M wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:58 PM:Bill One
[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:23 PM:...well why don't you tell us what has happened with the cons in charge......

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:03 PM:I think the "Wizzer" @ anytime...
has now been exposed, so now...
He wants to call it quits?
Not so friendly.. outside the echo chamber, is it?

The bottom line question here is, why?

Why do you need to know both?
AGI & Assets? Why?
The government asks for AGI, that's how they figuire your tax liability.
So, it really perks up my ears, when I read the combination, income & assets.
The only... the ONLY reason you would ask to see what they hold as assets, instead of reported AGI, is to see what the totality of their wealth is.
That's the ONLY reason for asking to see that kind of information.
And given your rather Leftist bent...
I can put 2 & 2 together, just as Reardon did.
We were born at night, but not last night. You know what I'm saying?

Looking Glass wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:05 PM:1)My point on lobbyists wasn't on who took more from them, it was that they BOTH did. Senators and Representives should work for the will of the people and NOT to whoever gives them money!
2)ALL politicians surround themselves with scumbags. Karl Rove is one, as well as Tony Resko, Jeramiah Wright, Charles Keating, etc etc. If I was a politician, I would make darn sure that my friends are people of good standard who give me good advice.
3)Explain to me all the mistakes made by Biden in the VP debate. Explain how he misquotes history. Explain why he was one of 5 senators who voted against an important pipeline that now supplies BILLIONS of oil to our country in Alaska (the other 95 voted for it). The man is a MORON cause he follows party lines like all politicans and doesn't solve problems.
4)I don't support McCain in any way, I am leaning towards Ron Paul, because I want REAL SOLUTIONS instead of party hacks to blather about while everyday Americans are suffering.

Bill One wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:05 PM:To Ms M, The cons aren't in charge. I don't think the current bunch of republicans are conservatives. Most of them are more liberal, check out how they voted. And GWB has spent more on scocial programs than most libs. But one thing, we don't have the 20+% mortgage rates. With the current problems, lets hope we don't end up with that again.

Ms M wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:05 PM:president doesnt affect economy
[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:50 PM: ...the military...oops sorry but you missed on this one - the military gave McBomb a "D" and Obama and Biden a "B". We know the cons support McBush, shucks he's the cons candidate - however there's quite a few conservative Americans who are crossing over to vote for a better America! Also not ALL gun owners or small busiss folks support McCain. You just don't have enough folks who want another 4 more years of the same - Look at the numbers!

Bill One wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:09 PM:To Ms M, i would offer you the same challenge, exlain the Carter years with high inflation, no un-employment, hi interest rate. I couldn't get a job then, afford a house or car, those were some bad years.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:13 PM:Ya really gotta love this by...
"NOBAMACAN't" @6:21 AM. I mean..

This thing just keeps reminding me of the absolute mind shelving that is being done here by these nobama-ites.
He then rattles on, and on.. about "hatemongering pastors."
Well, since HE brought it up, let's refresh our memories, shall we?

Quotes from the enlightening, and soulful preaching of the wrong Rev. Wright, QUOTE:

“We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye.”

“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”

“The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”

“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns.”

“Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!…We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God.”

“Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary would never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a n@#&*r. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”

“Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”

“The Israelis have illegally occupied Palestinian territories for over 40 years now. Divestment has now hit the table again as a strategy to wake the business community and wake up Americans concerning the injustice and the racism under which the Palestinians have lived because of Zionism.” END Quote

I found that very enlightening, didn't you? And NObama never.. NEVER heard a word of it, after 20 years of sittin in this man's church. Not one word.
Just words...

Day old bread wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:21 PM:Sorry McPosters - I'm not buying all the excuses to vote against Obama. No point in continuing to preach McCain-Stalin as the answer. It's all over. He will not be president. Oh sure we gotta vote... and we will and Obama will win by a landslide. He will have the mother of all mandates to turn the page on the tortured, WMDless, neo-conservative, Bushonomic doctorin' Amen

president does affect economy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:28 PM:I beg to differ. Last time I checked, Congress has the right to pass bills to be submitted to the President to sign into law. Since the President can veto any bill that comes from Congress, unless the Congress has the votes to override the veto, the President completely controls what becomes law.

DD Wiz wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:31 PM:Carter and Interest Rates
The post from "Bill One" (2:23pmpm) indicates a problem understanding both history and how our economy works.
Question on economics for Bill: who do you think has more direct influence over interest rates --
a) the President
b) the Federal Reserve chair

Now, look at history.
Who was the Federal Reserve chair until Carter's last year in office?
Arthur Burns.
Who appointed Burns?
Richard Nixon.
In his last year as President, when Carter finally got to appoint the Fed Chair, who did he appoint?
Paul Volcker, who served through Reagan's first term.
And what happened during Reagan's first term, while Carter's Fed Chair was in office?
Despite many other aspects of Reagan fiscal irresponsibility that would come back to bite us in the behind later, interest rates came back down.
And of course the Republicans tried to give all the credit to Carter.
Peace (and sunshine) to all, DD Wiz

ToMore domestic terrorists wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:39 PM:You forgot the Hummers set fire in the car dealers lots.

Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:40 PM:Bill One: The ecconomy is dead. a 20% mortgage is better than no mortgage at all.

Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:42 PM:More domestic terrorists[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:55 PM: ELF members are not liberals. You are challenged to prove that they are liberals. Name one of their members who identified himself as a liberal? You conservatives are free with your allegations. You accuse every deed done and every idea thought in contradiction to conservative opinion and philosophy as being liberal. That is outright stupidity.

EconoMeister wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:44 PM:Great day at the dow. Wall Street is adapting nicely to socialism. Beats the heck out of anti-socialism.

Roman decline wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:58 PM:Causes include growth of government spending and taxation beyond people's ability to pay for it, decadent lifestyles, multiculturalism and unprecedented levels of immigration. No parallels to the modern day United States whatsoever.

jvc wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:01 PM:One of the great factors at play with this presidential election is that the Republican Party is perceived to be the party of Euro-Americans! So, how is the Euro-Americans to vote even with failed
policies of the Republicans? Yes, this race is about race but not the black race!

we need a REp cONGRESS wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:04 PM:the economy was good until 2007. Same year Dems took power.

DD Wiz wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:12 PM:Ron Evades, Avoids and Gives Up
The post from "Ron" (3:03pm) continues to evade, avoid and change the subject.
He is the one who has given up, because he cannot produce the information that he needs to make his point, so like good little conservatives everywhere who can't take responsibility, he wants to pass the buck.
If you have a point, "Ron," then make it.
Obviously you can't.
Peace (and sunshine) to all, DD Wiz

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:12 PM:I see my good friend finally found some time, and read MOST of the article I pointed him to. But, sadly...
He left out all the "good & juicy" parts of that story.
The Daddy got me a good job story...

QUOTE: "In addition to his work for universities, Hunter Biden has done consulting work for MBNA, the largest employer in Delaware.

From 2001 to 2005, Hunter was paid an undisclosed amount {Hmmm, undisclosed?}by the credit card giant, which has since been purchased by Bank of America. It has been widely reported that he received $100,000 a year.

At the time, Sen. Biden led {notice, it does not say: signed on to, it says He lead} a successful, high-profile battle in the Senate for a bankruptcy bill that ultimately benefited credit card companies. The law makes it more difficult for {sick} people to file for personal bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7.

"He was a crucial supporter of the law in that he paved the way for other Democrats to support it," said Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Foundation of America, a consumer group that opposed the bill. "Senator Biden provided a lot of political cover for the credit card industry because they wanted to show that the proposal had bipartisan support. He aggressively undermined the opposition to the bill."

Over the past two decades, MBNA employees have given more than $200,000 to Biden's Senate campaigns, more than workers from any other company.

Wade said Hunter Biden was hired by MBNA after working as a Commerce Department lawyer on Internet privacy and online commerce issues. "Hunter consulted for five years as an expert on these very same issues at a time of enormous expansion in online banking," Wade said. "He was never a lobbyist for MBNA, and his work had absolutely nothing to do with the bankruptcy bill. Zero. Nothing." END Quote

Oh, NO.. of course not!

Can you just imagine the conversations over the dinner table about how they were going to close the Loop-Hole's on all those sick people, who were scr*wing the big credit card companies.

Need more help doing "your" research...
or do I gotta hand em over to ya, one by one? Let me know..

to Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:14 PM:As a ELF member, how would you describe yourself and your fellow members? If you are not an ELF member how can you assert with certainty that ELF members are not liberals? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Apollo wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:17 PM:Re: We Need a Rep Congress (4:04 p.m.)
Another conservative living in denial.
No, the Democrats did not "take over" in 2007.
They have a simple majority in the House of Representatives, but not enough to override a veto from the Republican president.
In the Senate, it is a 49-49-2 tie (with two independents). One of the Democrats, Tom Johnson of South Dakota, is out on a long term illness, giving the Republicans a voting majority on most issues.
The Republicans control the presidency and Supreme Court.
This is just another Republican trying blame someone else for his own party's failures.

DD Wiz wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:29 PM:Helping Ron Out
The post from "Ron" (3:03pm) shows he is floundering so badly that he needs some help so, being the compassionate guy that I am, I'm gonna help him out.

OK, I'm going to summarize the dialogue.
YOU whined about tax rates being UNFAIR to all the poor "nation of elitist whiners" because they pay a disproportionate percentage of the taxes.
But "disproportionate" means nothing if you show only how much they pay, without putting it in context of the other side of the balance sheet, which would include both ASSETS and INCOME>
Note, that this includes NOTHING about assessments or additional taxes.

Note, that my position is that "Ron's" original whiny complain has no validity.
But if he claims otherwise, he needs to show the other side of the balance sheet to put it in context.

So if "Ron" cannot do this, he is basically conceding my original point.
All the other mumbo-jumbo and tangents had nothing to do with this original point.
So, "Ron," does that clarify things a bit?
A ray of SUNSHINE maybe?
Peace (and sunshine) to all, DD Wiz

Alf wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:35 PM:Well, "we need a REp cONGRESS" at 4:04PM,
the economy, as you choose to see it, may have been doing well.
UNLESS
you consider about $700 BILLION in debt racked up for GWB's insanity in Iraq.
It's easy to overlook that little thing,
just like it's easy to forget that you owe $20,000 on a credit card when you make only $500 a month or less minimum payments.
Right now AND in 2005, the U.S. was not even paying the INTEREST on the debt for Iraq or our previous National Debt let alone making ANY PAYMENT TOWARD THE PRINCIPAL of our DEBT.
The "rescue" money of over $700 BILLION comes from where?
Tax revenues must increase AND spending by government must decrease in order to be able to balance the budget and even begin to pay back our DEBT.
"Trickle-down" (tax cuts for "the rich") does not work in any long-run scenario, so how do you propose to increase revenue without increasing taxes somewhere?
Regards, Alf.

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:35 PM:FOUR MORE YEARS!

Tax Cutter wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:46 PM:Just getting around to reading the Parade Sunday Mag that came with yesterday's NCT.
Great article (p.6) comparing the respective tax savings under the Obama and McCain tax proposals.
If you earn less than $112,000 you save under Obama.
If you earn MORE than $112,000, you save under McCain.
If you earn less than $20,000 the savings under Obama is 25 TIMES more.
If you earn $3 million (top one tenth of 1% of incomes), the difference is a quarter MILLION dollars (McCain saves you $290K; Obama increases your taxes $542K).

No wonder McCain refuses to say the words "middle class."

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 13, 2008 5:45 PM:STAY THE COURSE!

Wasilla Lies wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:00 PM:Ah more lies from the folks from Wasilla. The Ice Rink built in Wasilla was being done at the same time Palin's house was being built by Todd. The same contractors "friends" worked on both. No permits were necessary because the mayor made sure they didn't need any. Guess who was the mayor? Do I hear corruption? Did they take a page from Stevens?

Tax Cutter - correction wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:35 PM:Ooops, actually on my 4:46 p.m. blog, for incomes of $3Million the tax differential between McCain's enormous tax cut for the richest and Obama's tax increase for the rich, you need to add the cut to the increase - the difference is THREE QUARTERS of a million, not one quarter. My goof.

No wonder McCain refuses to say the words "middle class."

Oh Please wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:55 PM:to Oh Please[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:14 PM: I am not ELF member. I made no allegation whether ELF are of any political persuasan. I made the challenge of the alletgation thea Elf are liberals.
The person making the allegation without any documentation needs to prove his statement. I do not need to prove the a request or demand for proof. Hope that light bulb in your head turns on someday.

No on 8 wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:06 PM:Interesting to discuss with those of you stating protect marriage and vote yes on 8 and then find out you are voting for McCain. McCain doesn't hold the sanctity of marriage because he committed adultery when he was married to his first wife. Great role model. Not. I'd rather have a gay couple that doesn't commit adultery and are married than someone like McCain who is screwing around on his wife.

Focal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:07 PM:Roman decline[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:58 PM: Payment of mercenaries to join the Roman Army and fight for Rome.

Short Bus Driver wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:09 PM:The children on my "short" bus have more common sense than an of those people attending a Palin/McCain rally.

Compassionate wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:12 PM:Junious Montgomery writes in his letter: "Quote from Wright, "Not God bless America, God damn America"! ...


Lest not forget: "Joe Vogler, founder of this secessionist party, once said: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government, and I won't be buried under their damn flag."

Which one of these statements sound harsher? Who's more closesly connected to Joe Vogler?

BINGO! The Palins.....ding, ding, ding. 'nuff said!

Focal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:25 PM:To J Montgomery[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:28 AM: What a lode. Obama has publicly answered in speeches and on news programs and his own web sites all the concerns that you demand that be addressed. Now his answers just might not be the answers that you desire. But, then again, Obama is not in the rightest conservative pleasing business.

Focal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:31 PM:John McCain: Didn't John McCain just say that Obama is a good and decent man. Further, McCain, no one had to fear Obama as President. The conservative rightest running McCain campaign and handling him just do not get it. The majority of the American people are done with swift boating, lies, misrepresentation and scurrilous slander. Its the economy, stupid.

Reardon wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:34 PM:The Fourteenth Amendment begins the second sentence with with “No State shall…” and so it was obviously IN ITS WORDING aimed at governmental and not private action.

So, how did we get to where we are? Well, in 1883, Justice Harlan wrote in a DISSENTING opinion (Civil Rights Cases of 1883 re Civil Rights Act of 1875) that since public facilities were generally regulated, they were in effect, “instrumentalities of the State.” (Hence PRIVATE CC&Rs cannot have race-related covenants.)

Bet you didn’t know that since your home is covered by zoning laws that your home is an “instrumentality of the State!

That MINORITY opinion, written near the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, has somehow overcome through elasticity, not just the majority of the Court of that time, but the plainly written English words.

Supporters of illegal aliens can claim that illegal aliens have the same rights as do American citizens under the 14th Amendment, and No on 8 supporters can claim that homosexuals have the same rights under the 14th Amendment as straights, while clearly the 14th Amendment was written to provide only STATE equality for only emancipated slaves.

That elasticity does not extend to a flat tax which would treat rich and poor alike. (Nor should it, as it should not to illegal aliens or sexual preferences.)

Selectivity, and pure social engineering in practice.

Amend it, do not interpret it!

Reardon wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:41 PM:Continued:

In short the 14th ammendment was intended for slaves so all other interpretations need to be eliminated. How else can I spread and enforce my bigotry and hatred.

Ron wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:48 PM:I think you are using the wrong word.. "Bottom Line" @9:23 AM.

You see, the word you should use, is the word: Ally, not association.
That's the word I would use to describe these relationships of NObama's over these long years.

Ally: to unite or form a connection or relation between, or: to form or enter into an alliance.
NObama has Allies, not associates.
These alliances helped him get work, fed & clothed him and his family, and through their alliances with other's inside the Leftist Chicago network, they helped to propel him into politics.

Focal Point wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:49 PM:Divorce and homosexuality: Read history. Divorce and homosexuality were present even during the time of the Roman Republic as well as the Roman Empire and it is still alive and well in Rome today.

Now pay attention, I am educating you. All great nations and civilizations go through cycles of first the rise and then the fall. the fall comes from being conquered from without or deterioration from within or a combination of the two. If you think that the Untied States as a country or even its Republican form of government is going to last a thousand years, please apply again at the pearly gates for a brain.

gracchus wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:04 PM:ron's communique at 4:12 p.m. seeks to offer additional information about hunter biden's lobbying activities. too bad ron didn't also mention that biden had signed a letter of resignation to his lobbying firm on august 25, to avoid any conflict of interest with the obama-biden campaign. of course, ron, you might argue that it is a belated resignation after the damage has already been done.

but if you want, ron, to bring up shady lobbyists in this presidential campaign, why don't we look at john mccain's associates? take a look at a september 24 article that appeared in THE NEW YORK TIMES. i'm sure that you will leap immediate to the end of the article which shows that obama received $126,000 from freddiemac since 2004, while mccain received a mere $22,000 over a 10 year period.

but i think that you were concerned about lobyist influence on the presidential campaign. i'm sure that rick davis, mccain's campaign manager, had nothing but honorable intentions while he was receiving money from freddie mac until just last month.

and surely we shouldn't question the integrity of william timmons, sr. of the lobbying firm timmons & co. he will head mccain's white house transition team if mccain wins. he merely took just under $3 million from freddie mac between 2000 and 2008.

and finally, who could condem,n mark buse, mccain's chief of staff in his senate office? buse's association with ml strategies earned him $60,000 between 2003 and 2004.

so, ron, does obama have some political dirt? sure. does mccain have political dirt? definitely. you can sling mud at my man, and i can sling mud at yours, but the dirt does nothing to clarify their positions on how they will lead the country.

that's why your communiques are so silly, ron: they insult without enlightening. worse, they are deceptive or downright false. argue the issues, ron, without being scurrilous, and you might just earn our respect, even if we disagree with you.

Apollo wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:07 PM:Re: Reardon (7:34 and 7:41 p.m.)
Reardon continues to complain against "interpreting" the Constitution, while he himself not only interprets it, but completely re-writes it in unique and bizarre ways!
We can agree that addressing the consequences of ending the evil of slavery was what motivated the 14th Amendment. (Remember, that the evil of slavery itself had already been taken care of by the 13th Amendment.)
But the 14th Amendment did not restrict itself to the subject of slaves and, while the originalist Republicans were in a good ol' liberal liberating frame of mind, they were quite big hearted about the subject.
The primary result of the 14th Amendment was, as Reardon almost hints at, to apply the "rights of the U.S. Citizens" - i.e., Federal rights -- to a requirement that States also comply with them.
Thus, what heretofore had been limitations on Federal authority alone, such as "CONGRESS [not the states] shall make no law..." now also applied to states as well.
While atoning for slavery may have been the inspiration, the Amendment does not all limit itself to that subject.

Reardon wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:08 PM:The "Reardon" at 7:41 is the twit, again.

If the twit thinks that the 14th does cover "other" matters, perhaps the twit will explain the wording of the first Court to look at that Amendment:

Strauder v West Virginia, 1879, (100 U.S. 303, 306 -07). to “(secure) to a race recently emancipated, a race that through many generations had been held in slavery, all the civil rights that the superior race enjoy.”

I suspect the twit using the names of others and also posts usually under some other name. I hope that he or she provides some citations for their work under their own name -- but he(she) gets some sort of perverse pleasure from muddying the water instead of contributing.

Surfer wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:11 PM:Reardon[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:41 PM
Oh Dude! The only persons who will discuss the 14 th Amendment with you would be Nick or sdRaoul. See Ua.

Say Wha wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:15 PM:On tonight's Rachel Maddow show she had David Frum, former Bush speechwriter as her guest. He has previously proclaimed support for McCain. On this evening's show he said (and I quote) that McCain's campaign is engaging in a "politics of cultural resentment." Yes, really. And this is someone the conservatives want to bring our nation together? To restore our nation's dignity? Mind you, this was said by a former BUSH speechwriter about MCCAIN'S campaign. W-O-W if it's bad even for the Bushies, then it must REALLY be awful.

Obama/Biden '08
Real Change We Can Believe In.

thabnk God McCain will be President in 3 months wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:24 PM:California will vote Obama but the rest of the usa has sense. President McCain I look forward to your inauguration.

Another Boogie Woogie Whipeout wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:02 PM:Surfer
[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:11 PM:
Reardon[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:41 PM
Oh Dude! The only persons who will discuss the 14 th Amendment with you would be Nick or sdRaoul. See Ua.

What did you add to the discussion Surfer Dude? Right, just like this post, NOTHING!! See Ua.

Dream on wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:03 PM:Thank you (thabnk God McCain will be President in 3 months) Mr. Diebold, for the heads up.

Chris to Floyd wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:10 PM:Conservatives don't raise issues. They just attack and criticize others.

Reardon wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:28 PM:Apollo writes, and thereby defines exactly the problem: “While atoning for slavery may have been the inspiration, the Amendment does not all limit itself to that subject.”

Take a declarative sentence. Money shall be green.

That would seem to be clear – it is to me, but not to Apollo or the interpreters.

They would say:” Well, green comes in many shades and is indeed made of several – even many – other colors. It must contain blue, and yellow for certain, so money may be either of those colors in any of their many shades (privacy), or any of the colors that comprise any shade of blue or yellow (abortion).

There are 16 million colors that could be used for money, I suppose (at least that is what my monitor can theoretically display), because the Founding Fathers did not add “GREEN – THE SHADE THAT COMES FROM 50% PURE BLUE AND 50% PURE YELLOW, AND IT IS LIMITED TO THAT, AND ONLY THAT COLOR.

Somehow, my reading says our Founding Fathers trusted us to understand the plain English in which they wrote the Constitution, and that is why the Constitution is short, and not written in legalese.

But obviously, I am out of step.

former con wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:51 PM:Regarding the VUSD recall, I was also involved with the recall. At the time I was a long time Sunday School teacher and Republican. I was put in the awkward position of choosing between my church and my profession.

I became convinced as time went on that the "christian" “conservatives on” the VUSD board had neither my religious or political views. I was very disillusioned on their stance on reality based science and their particular religious views concerning the first chapter of Genesis.

After some soul searching I joined the recall and gathered many, many signatures.

I am now a former con because in my position as a public school teacher and as a Sunday school teacher I got to see both of the political sides up close. One side used innuendos, half truths, and emotional appeals that had nothing to do with the facts on the ground. Sadly for my personal belief systems that side was not the side of the teachers and citizens who organized the recall. It was the side that called itself "christian" and conservative.

Today that same group of people, who mostly attend one megachurch in our town, are again on the verge of gaining a board majority again. I predict lots of headlines from VUSD if they are successful.

For those of you who would like to read what the two sides are saying, google a website called vistaschoolboard for the “conservative” side and go to blogspot and look for "vistaschools" for the other side.

Floyd Imposter to Chris wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:56 PM:Chris to Floyd
[-] wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:10 PM:Conservatives don't raise issues. They just attack and criticize others.

Kinda like you just did Chris!?!?!?!?

SATIRE wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:18 PM:I do understand that it can sometimes be a close call trying to determine whether something is SATIRE or DELUSION, but I'm betting that "Thank God McCain Will Be President" at 8:24 p.m. is satire.
If I'm wrong? Well, like I said....

Obamanation wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:39 PM:I cant vote Obama because of what he represents: The most inexperienced Presidential candidate in fifty years at least and he is on the wrong side of most issues and uses fakery to fool the masses into thinking he is for good "change" that will help them. I can't vote for McCain either. He is too character flawed. A plus for his military service but two huge minus' for his Keating involvement and the terrible way he treated his first wife and then road the financial coatails of the second to rise to power. It stinks to be a Republican with no candidate. Ron Paul? He is simply a lunatic.

Local wrote on Oct 14, 2008 4:00 AM:I feel your pain, Obamanation. We're basically screwed either way. I will have to keep a barf bag handy when I vote. It is truly tragic that this is the best that we can come up with.

Wanda wrote on Oct 14, 2008 6:44 AM:Where are today's letters to the editor?

Missing Letters wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:18 AM:Hey Wanda at 6:44 a.m. - Here's what's gonna happen:
the blogeditor, after having an easy morning with no North County letters (c'mon, the election will be over in three weeks and you can go on vacation), will stop processing web comments about 9:00 or 9:30.
Then they'll post today's letters around 10:00 or 11:00 and start putting through the blogs for today's letters some time in the early afternoon.

The blog editors don't care that online interactivity is the future of the newspaper, and that this is the single most interactive page in the paper.

In the meantime, some comments for today's regulars are already appearing in the Riverside County letters, which I guess will have to be a "make do" until the blog editors finally decide it is time to go to work today. Today's Riverside letters are at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/10/14/opinion/letters/z2649b25c6f7888c6882574e1000ca7c1.txt

Roger wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:19 AM:Well, Wanda, perhaps the moderators tired of the tedium of reading the same old .... everyday and just decided to leave yesterdays board (had they changed the date, it might have worked).

Surfer wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:35 AM:Another Boogie Woogie Whipeout Oh Dude, there is no requirement to contribute to anything or anybody on this blog. Rear don was not discussing but pontificating. The only two who would seriously challenge him or discuss the subject with him would be sdraoul and Nick. It is an accurate observation. Now go home and play in your sand box. See Ya.

Alf wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:58 AM:Well, "Reardon" at 9:28PM,
although Strauder v West Virginia, 1879, (100 U.S. 303, 306 -07), as you noted in your 8:08PM post, may have cleared up the question of original INTENT,
the actual wording and the above-mentioned case did not in any way LIMIT the 14th Amendment to apply ONLY to slaves (blacks).
Further actions have both refined and expanded the "equal protection" clause definition, as you well know.
Regards, Alf.

Vista Granny wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:08 AM:Thank you, Ron, for printing the full text of Rev. Wright's "damn America" sermon. I guess I would have to say that Rev. Wright was mostly correct in what he said. We did all those things. And, if I were black and looked down on (as many are) I wouldn't like the USA so much either. What Ron refuses to see is that the USA is NOT perfect, we have discriminated against blacks and STILL do in some instances. We have made our prisons black holes, and refuse to forgive crimes involving drugs -- We have wasted billions fighting marijuana and succeeded in making it stronger and more dangerous and no longer the "weed" you grew in your backyard, we fought Cocaine until someone figured out how to make a worse drug in their kitchen. Our drug war has been a complete failure and has been espcially harsh on blacks. We are the country that burned people to a crisp with atomic bombs, we have supported Isreal's unjust treatment of Palestinians -- all in the name of what?

She Said wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:08 AM:To Missing letters @ 7:18 AM I've always known there were people who post here that are riddled with a misplaced perverted level of self importance. Your statement "online interactivity is the future of the newspaper" certainly is a bit overly exaggerated for this forum. LMAO.

Wanda wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:20 AM:Well, Surfer, I'm not sure your posts contribute any less to discussions on this board than the blow hards'.

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:41 AM:Yea, Surfer, you certainly don't contribute any less than I do :)

OBAMA PALS AROUND WITH TERRORISTS!

YES I KNOW!

RUSH LIMBAUGH TELLS ME SO!

Another Boogie Woogie Whipeout wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:49 AM:Surfer
[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:35 AM: Cause you say so dude, no way!

Alf wrote on Oct 14, 2008 9:00 AM:Well, "Vista Granny" at 8:08AM,
Thanks.
The "Ron"s of the world look at the U.S. as a "can do no wrong" nation and see only the beauty, ignoring the flaws even when they would be dead if the flaws were rattlesnakes.
Some people see only the flaws, refusing to see the beauty.
There are many of us who see the beauty and the flaws and
try to fix those flaws.
The horror of what we did in Hiroshima and have done in Iraq must never be repeated
and the beauty of Zion and Bryce must be seen either in photographs or right up close and personal.
Regards, Alf.

OBAMACAN wrote on Oct 14, 2008 9:11 AM:To Vista Granny at 8:08 a.m. - Ron at 3:13 p.m. posted more of Wright's sermon than most people do, but it was not the whole sermon. He stops short, before it gets to the part where he talks about repentance and REDEMPTION, a message of HOPE, that American does not need to be damned, but can turn itself around and earn that oft-invoked blessing.
The complete text is easy to find online.
Read the entire sermon before you believe the LIES of the right-wing crazies who cannot find ANYTHING good to say about their own candidate, or even anything legitimately bad to say about their opponent, so all they can do is LIE.

Reminiscent of a YouTube clip that purports to show the "entire" full-length sermon and the clip is only 17 seconds long, of the few most incendiary words they could find.

And Ronnie Boy's rant expresses incredulity that Obama sat in the church for "20 years" and never heard this stuff. Because "this stuff" is taken out of context and "this stuff" is not what was preached.
And following earlier right-wing LIES that Obama had been present that day (after he said he had not heard it), the Obama people provided travel records showing Obama was in a different state that day.
The right-wing hate radio is filled with LIES, LIES and MORE LIES because that is ALL THEY HAVE.
What is sad is that so many of the LIES are perpetuated in these blogs.

Bob wrote on Oct 14, 2008 9:29 AM:Perhaps Surfer needs to add half a page of bogus statistics to his posts to help "contribute to the disscusion"?

Short Bus Skippy wrote on Oct 14, 2008 9:41 AM:Alf at 9:00 AM is just another example of those "BLAME AMERICA FIRST" pantywaste liberals that Rush Limbaugh warned us about!

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Alf wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:08 AM:Thanks, "Short Bus Skippy" at 9:41AM,
I must correct you on two things -
I am a Libertarian, not a "pantywaste liberal".
I blame those in our government who act against the best interest of the United States, against the United States Constitution and against the American People.
GWB is a prime example of all of the above.
McGWB/Palin, ditto.
Vote Ron Paul.
Regards, Alf.

Alf wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:10 AM:Well, "Bob" at 9:29AM,
"Surfer" is not "Ron", nor is he trying to be.
Regards, Alf.

Geezers wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:39 AM:Alf
[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:10 AM:Well, "Bob" at 9:29AM,
"Surfer" is not "Ron", nor is he trying to be.
Regards, Alf.

There goes the Alfinator, defending the "Old" Surfer dude again. Geezers the both of ya.

Bob wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:40 AM:Actually, Alf (at 10:10) sdraoul throws in more bogus statistics than Ron, but then it's a close call.

Short Bus Skippy misspelled "pantywaist", but then he said nothing in much fewer words than Ron.

Well Head School Master Bob wrote on Oct 14, 2008 11:07 AM:Bob
[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:40 AM: Short Bus Skippy misspelled "pantywaist".

Well Head School Master Bob, It seems apparent that waste/garbage was the intent. Look who it was aimed at.

Wanda wrote on Oct 14, 2008 11:17 AM:Speaking of pompous blowhards, where has sdraoul been the last day or two?

grj wrote on Oct 14, 2008 11:30 AM:Well if ayers bombed pentagon, what @ Kent state the murdering of innocent peace protesters against the vietnam war. this country was out of control with violence and power then and under bush it is worse, anyone voting republican must be asleep(LOL) or just violence supporters

Surfer wrote on Oct 14, 2008 12:52 PM:Geezers[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:39 AM:
Oh Dude. Thank you for the complement. Geezer." I am sure that Alf is laughing out loud as well. Yeah. I am a Geezer and or old fella or senior. I see that your geezer Dad forgot his duty to educate in at least basic common manners. Puerility, however, to me is jocular. Thanks for the entertainment.LOL See Ya.

Surfer wrote on Oct 14, 2008 2:03 PM:Short Bus Skippy[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 8:41 AM: Oh Dude, I know what you mean. Omnipotent Rush is everywhere. See ya!

Geezers wrote on Oct 14, 2008 2:55 PM:Surfer
[-] wrote on Oct 14, 2008 12:52 PM: Guess you showed me, Old Dude!! I got no manners, I'm a Liberal, Also got no Dad, never did. See Ya at the Geezers home on Sunday Dude!

Adam wrote on Oct 14, 2008 4:10 PM:Hilarious or pathetic?

I saw something this morning that is either hilarious or pathetic, depending on your point of view. It's fairly common knowledge that the triumvirate on the Escondido City Council has been trying for years through any means (some of which actually are legal) to rid Escondido of every Spanish-speaking person residing within the city limits. This has provoked much anti-City Council sentiment, and Escondido now has a reputation of being unfriendly, if not hostile, to this group. We have a nationwide reputation now of being an anti-immigrant city, although it seems that I remember reading that this is more than 40 percent of our population.

Imagine my surprise, then, when, as I was passing the temporary Republican Party headquarters on Quince Street this morning, I saw signs on their door, directly above the "Re-Elect Sam" and "Re-Elect Ed" signs, saying, in Spanish, that people should register Republican, and vote Republican! I would suggest not putting the "Re-Elect Sam" and "Re-Elect Ed" signs on the same door as the signs encouraging Spanish-speaking voters to register and vote Republican (guilt by association, you know). ...

Earl Brown

Escondido

Thanks Earl, that nees to be said again, pathetic!

Brinda wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:24 PM:Way to beat down the kid Surfer, It sounds to me like he or she is just a lonely kid 13 to 18 give or take. I always thought of you as better and smarter then that.

Geezers to Brinda wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:13 PM:No one asked for your help lady, but your right Old Surfer dudes been headboarded one time to many. needs to chill in the kiddy pool for a time out.