intriguing view of one possible future -- cho

Bye Bye Barry

Joel S. Hirschhorn

The final results are in on this historic November day. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars he raised, Barack Obama has lost the 2008 presidential election. American voters have boldly spoken truth to arrogance. Turned out that all those pre-election opinion polls that showed Obama’s inability to get over 50 percent support were prescient. Much of the public was never comfortable with Obama, though he clearly was so comfortable acting like he already was president.

Bumped. Originally posted 2008-08-16 18:34:54 -0500.

I am going to give this pastor the benefit of the doubt on all of this before tonight's debate between Obama and McCain since his background seems to show a little more enlightenment than most of the religious types we have seen spoon-fed to the masses on TV news in the last couple of decades:

"As a pastor, I believe in the separation of church and state, but I don't believe we can separate religion from politics, because one's faith determines one's worldview, which informs one's decisions and determines how one would lead," Warren said.

His views on many of the political problems we face appear to be more encompassing - to include all of the very real problems of AIDS, poverty, the environment - as well as the other issues we usually hear about from the one-trick pony that Dobson's Focus on the Freepers has become. There are too many important issues that Dobsonites have purposefully and completely ignored and, even, fought hard to suppress in the religious discussions of politics.

But I do have a problem with some of the McClatchy story on the debate:

It appears that Connecticut's junior Senator, Joe neocon Lieberman, can and will continue to try and set the bar lower:

"In my opinion, the choice could not be more clear: between one candidate, John McCain, who’s had experience, been tested in war and tried in peace, another candidate who has not," Mr. Lieberman said. "Between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not. Between one candidate who’s a talker, and the other candidate who’s the leader America needs as our next candidate."

Just because Obama hasn't joined the neoconga line with you on the failed side of American party politics does not give you the right to question his patriotism.

Though I must admit that the pitiful desperation in your message suits you, Joe.

Posted with Permission by Nicholas Benton owner/editor of the Falls Church News Press,

Sen. John McCain has once against thrust the burden for solving the energy crisis on individual families in the U.S. "It has to start at home," he said yesterday, ignoring the overwhelming evidence that it is deep ideological opposition to any regulation of speculative investment by leaders in his party which has led not only to the explosive rise in food, oil and gas prices, but to the housing mortgage crisis, as well.

obama in cedar rapids, ia

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Contrary to Joe neocon Lieberman's statements and John McBush McSame McCain's claims of the surge succeeding... Violence in Iraq may be getting ready to explode AGAIN, and this will likely happen regardless of whether or not we follow last week's John McCain idea of "100 years in Iraq" or this week's John McCain flip-flopping to follow Obama's 16 month schedule for withdrawal which was recently endorsed by Maliki. A position that Maliki has been pretty consistent on even before he met with Obama. This is not to say that there will not be violence in Iraq when we pull out. The violence will be horrific. But delaying the day of withdrawal only continues the slow bleed of ethnic cleansing and infighting among power hungry Iraqis until further on up the road and until the shit really hits the fan.

Representative government fails when corrupt politicians mostly serve corporate and other special interests. Then it is crucial for citizens to have direct democracy opportunities. This means having the right to place initiatives or referenda on ballots that can make new laws, amend constitutions, recall elected officials, or control taxes and government spending.

event horizon: the boundary of a black hole beyond which nothing can escape from within it

-- Merriam-Webster Online

After five years and change of turned corners and dead enders and last throes, is it possible that we're approaching an event horizon in our Middle East miasma? Stuff seems to happen faster than anyone can deny it occurred these days, and from the sound of things, it won't be too long before we're committed to getting out of Iraq in smart fashion or sucked into staying there until kingdom come.

Too Old and Brain-dead

Joel S. Hirschhorn

In the over half a century that I have been politically engaged I have never seen such an unqualified presidential candidate as John McCain. There are tens of millions of Americans in their seventies and beyond that have been smart enough to become technology literate, but not McCain, who is unable to even use the Internet. The man has a medical history that makes Dick Cheney look like the picture of great health.

Crossposted to ePluribus Media, DailyKos, Docudharma and Below Boston

Maybe I missed something -- that can happen. In real life, things can sometimes occur that are unexpected. But this seems almost surreal:

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Obama website's opposition to successful surge gets deleted

A funny thing happened over on the Barack Obama campaign website in the last few days.

The parts that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared. John McCain and Obama have been going at it heavily in recent days over the benefits of the surge.

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