A few words before we press the button/lever/chad

As we approach this historic vote, I figured I would chime in on a few key issues (since I helped stir up the hornets' nest among friends in the first place). My goal is not necessarily to critique McCain or Obama, but to instead comment on where we are and where we need to go:

Please forgive me in advance for jumping around - it's getting late.

We should never have gone to Iraq. It is now all too clear that the Bush/Cheney administration took advantage of that fact that Saddam was a well known, evil prick, and many Americans can't identify most Middle Eastern countries on a map, let alone understand the religion & ethnicity of the people who live in them. Saddam was no fan of Al Qaeda or ANY force that might cut in on his action. Dictators historically aren't real fans of competition. He also promoted a secular society, which, you know, kind of clashes with Al Qaeda, who are Islamic extremists. That's like Ralph Nader marrying an executive of Exxon/Mobil - it's not going to happen.

We need to shift our focus off of Iran and Iraq, and move it to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yes, I said Pakistan, since that is most likely where Bin Laden and most of Al Qaeda are right now. Judging by the growing political instability of the country, it's also evident that Al Qaeda's intention is to cause as much trouble for American troops in Afghanistan as possible. . . .while they take over the Pakistani government next door. Quick reminder - Pakistan has WORKING NUKES. They aren't desperately looking for yellow cake uranium, aluminum tubes, or reprocessing facilities. They ALREADY HAVE THEM.

While I agree that we need to intervene in a few countries right now, how are we going to pay for it? As a citizen, I have not been asked to sacrifice anything, except my person freedoms. Maybe I'm slow, but I am uncertain on how that sacrifice helps finance a 1.8 billion dollar/week expenditure. In fact, I've even received money back from the government since 2001 through tax credits, rebates, stipends, etc. encouraging me to SPEND SPEND SPEND. So . . . my purchases of some caulk at Lowes and an iPhone from Apple help pay for this war? Obviously not, but I guess we won't explore how to pay for such things - let's just put them on the credit card. What could possibly go wrong?!

I think Obama will stand up to the war profiteers (the only business that seems to be thriving in this economy), and at the very least fight the RIGHT battles. Who knows, he may even be able to generate some support from long lost friends in the world so that it's just not our soldiers getting killed over there. McCain over the past 8 years has lost his way while trying to obtain support from the magical Neo-con Republican "base"; that misguided, fascist, psychotic sect of our country that represents less than 10% of our population, yet controls most of the current administration's policies. I am not trying to portray Republicans as evil, rather I am trying to remind you that the party has been taken over by extremists. In my opinion, extremists of ANY sort are bad, regardless of religion or political disposition. Extremism means that you do not tolerate anyone whose opinions differ from yours. In a Democracy, that's bad. Hopefully, the Republican party will undergo a revolution soon, so that the moderate voices of competent government servants such as Christine Todd Whitman and Tom Davis can be heard again. I haven't agreed with all of their policies in the past either, but at least they have brought forth sound [and inventive] ideas that have helped this country prosper, and in a responsible fashion. Needless to say, I am not a fan of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid either. As leaders, they are as inspiring as Abe Vigoda on Thorazine (and just as competent). To me, Obama represents the much needed generational change Powell discussed a few weeks ago (but I guess he's only supporting Obama because he's black, like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh claim).

So let's shift a little more focus on the economy. . . McCain's top adviser on the economy was (and to an extent, still is, as they remain close friends) Phil Gramm. Phil Gramm was a co-author of the Gramm-Leach-Biley act passed in September of 1999. This act effectively repealed the Glass-Steagal act, which was passed during the depression. Oh, excuse me, let me be specific.. . . . the depression of the 1930s, as opposed to the depression we are now facing. Shame on these three senators who erased important financial institution reforms, and shame on Bill Clinton who signed it into law. Again, let me restate this a little more clearly:
1) We encountered a depression during the 1930s, in part due to Harding/Coolidge and Hoover administration policies which reduced taxes and eliminated regulations during the 20s.
2) America spends more than a decade getting back on it's feet.
3) Starting in the late 90s, we eliminated the regulations passed in the 30s and lowered taxes.
4) We now act all frigin surprised that a depression/panic has begun, and may be suffering the fate of Japan circa 1982.

While I appreciate (and have agreed with) many Republican efforts to reduce bureaucracy, this is different. Regulation does NOT equal bureaucracy. I am simply talking about simple, basic RULES to defend ourselves against greed, a trait which is inherent in ALL human beings (some more so than others). Capitalism and democracy actually need these rules, otherwise, the system simply implodes due to an enormous disparity and/or by some other significant sociological event (i.e. revolution). I don't think we need a new agency manned with 16,000+ government employees, rather, we just need some rules here and there. Even Greenspan finally conceded last month that "hey, maybe assuming that the institutions would police themselves on how they handled derivatives was a bad idea."
Speaking of derivatives, please keep in mind that THIS is the real cause of the current crisis. It isn't due to ACORN (who McCain has supported in the past - plenty of you-tube videos out there), or forcing the government to give home loans to people who deserved them, etc. Some brilliant minds from our top educational institutions formed a new financial instrument. This instrument repackages risk and basically turns it into it's own commodity of sorts. However, without any regulations, this multi trillion dollar market spun out of control so bad, financial institutions didn't have an accurate account of what they own. Think about that for a second - the Citibanks, the Lehman Brothers with their tens of millions of dollars of computers, analysts, etc. didn't really have an idea of WHAT THE F they owned, much less the risk it represented!
The downturn of the housing market is the catalyst to this mess, but it was bound to happen anyway, thanks to lack of regulations and the insane, idiotic notion that bankers would not succumb to greed. We have experienced a real estate correction of some sort every 10-15 years, and it was never this bad. The bullshit "transfer of risk" dream in the residential mortgage market accomplished nothing except to crash the system. Both democrats and republicans did nothing while large groups of people were given access to credit they didn't deserve, or even ask for on many occasions (I think everyone on this thread has had plenty of experiences where credit just seemed too easily accessible). Shame on them.

By the way, Obama wants to roll back the clock on the tax system to the early 90s for families making more than 250k/year. We could get into a semantic argument about raising taxes vs. rolling back tax cuts, but . . . . hmm. . . .I think we all did pretty damn well during the 90s, and I know of many people who made more than 250k who also fared well and were not taxed to death. While this change in taxation may not directly create jobs, I don't think it will remove any either. Taxes on small business will be lowered under the Obama plan (including capital gains, allowing you to buy other businesses without the feds imposing prohibitive taxes). I agree with eventually moving more money to the states and local municipalities, but since we are in a war, I prefer we deal with that now, rather than dumping this on future generations. My kid(s) can help rearrange federal vs. state vs. local tax allocations some other day. Also, given that during the peak of the financial crisis, McCain changed his stance EVERY DAY FOR A WEEK, I don't really consider him competent to handle this type of problem moving forward. He clearly doesn't have a grasp of what is going on, and what we're in for.

Some unions (and this is based on my personal experience) have pushed things too far, and used their power unfairly to create gridlock amongst manufacturers who simply want to create a quality product or service at a reasonable price. However, jobs aren't leaving America in droves because of unions. For instance, on last check, there is no national union of software developers/engineers I am aware of, so who's responsible for those jobs going to India and other pan-asian countries? It's simple, the rate being charged is ridiculously less on the other side of the world (and there is a larger pool of educated engineers, but it's getting late, so I am not bringing education into the mix today). Union labor may have pumped up wages 20-30%, but wages in India & China are more then FIVE TIMES less. You will never compete with that. . . unless you actually reform tariffs, which everyone is afraid of doing for fear of overprotecting American-made goods (which could do more harm than good if not imposed properly). However, that doesn't mean you avoid the subject, which is what the Executive & Legislative branches of government have been doing for the past 10+ years. Shame on them for allowing companies like WalMart to move not just jobs, but operations from entire companies/suppliers overseas while giving the same companies TAX INCENTIVES. Yes, thank you for giving me the gun to shoot myself with.

There are small pockets of the rust belt that are starting to come back to life by retooling their operations so that instead of making washing machines (a losing battle), they are making things like large scale wind turbines (which come with tax incentives and are cheaper to produce domestically due to shipping costs). We have an enormous opportunity right now to change the world through green energy. "Drill baby drill" sounds like a great chant, but it doesn't mean much when we continue to use 25% of the world's oil supply, yet only produce around 4% of it. Even if drilling in ANWAR and offshore increases domestic production by 50%, that still leaves us with a 19% shortfall. On top of that, it will take another decade before we even see this increased production. By then, global demand will most likely have increased another 75% and our existing wells will have dried up some more. We need to start harnessing more readily-available sources of energy for conversion into electricity in my opinion. Wind and solar come to mind. Not only do you avoid paying people who pretty much hate us, but you avoid paying ANYONE on a recurring basis. Stick a wind turbine or a new thin-film solar cell array on your roof and generate your own power. Charge your own damn car. By getting rid of such a heavy dependence on oil, foreign or domestic, we may very well avoid another world war and finally propel ourselves into the future (no pun intended). THAT to me is freedom. I think Obama gets it, and McCain is still stuck on a 70s mentality where we can negotiate our way out of this somehow and just buy smaller cars for the time being.

Net neutrality is also another area where McCain (who admittedly does not know how to get online and rarely uses the Internet) is misguided. Thanks to all of the major telecoms in his pockets, he supports it. The main reason why the Internet has had such a significant impact on our lives in the past 15 years is in part due to net neutrality. Companies like Google would never have thrived without it. If you go to a pay per use model (like electricity), the tech industry will implode. Given that this has an impact on my own personal bottom line, I'll end my rant by using Sarah Palin's quotes (one of about a dozen phrases she is only able to speak I guess): Thanks, but no thanks.

Many thanks to my friends out there who contributed to a great dialogue. This has been an enjoyable thread to read and ponder over. As Justice Brandeis said, "In the frank expression of conflicting opinions lies the greatest promise of wisdom in government action".

Good night, and remember to VOTE!!!
---Peter

McCain's YouTube problem just became a nightmare

Is it bad if the cops are allowed to abandon the station?

Ok, so let me get this straight. Cox and Paulson caused this mess . . .and they are allowed to stick around and help create a solution? Sorry, screwing up our financial system (i.e. allowing all of our major investment banks to disintegrate, plunging us into a massive credit crisis not seen in more than 75 years) disqualifies you from leading the charge to fix it.

Biden 80 interviews, Palin just 2 since being named VP

A CBS reporter following Biden around estimated Biden has done 80 interviews since he was named vice president, compared to two by Palin.

read more | digg story

Matt Dayyyymon

Yeah, because when I ponder how we will deal with the military industrial complex, global terror, religious extremism, free trade and our shift to a service based economy, I wonder "Hey, what does Matt fucking Damon think of this?!"

McCain: Palin a "soulmate"

Lookout Cindy, he found someone younger (again)....

read more | digg story

Cheney's Link to Sen. Ted Stevens Corruption Trial

One could only hope that this leads to Cheney experiencing a "series of tubes" in a federal pen courtesy of guys like bubba and tiny.

read more | digg story

Obama Nation Author To Appear On White Supremacist Radio

On Sunday, author and Swiftboater Jerome Corsi is set to make an appearance on "The Political Cesspool" - which, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is "an overtly racist, anti-Semitic radio show hosted by self-avowed white nationalist James Edwards." The show has previously welcomes such guests as Mark Weber and David Duke.

read more | digg story

Church Signs That Won’t Make You Go To Church [PICS]

Driving across the rural parts of America you’ll undoubtedly notice the large number of churches that use their signs to try and draw people into their church. You either get the world’s crappiest puns or some sort of evil, hate filled message that’s supposed to scare you into attending, or a totally awesome unintentional double entendre.

read more | digg story

Jesse Helms Dead at 86

Should have had a V8.

I know it's bad to trample on one's grave, especially since this racist, homophobic, hateful prick's body isn't even cold yet, but. . . . I guess I'm happy that there's one less racist, homophobic, hateful prick in the world.
Remember folks, this is a guy who was against equality of any sort (unless you define equal as a white Christian hetero capitalist male), and supported such wonderful role models in our time as Pinochet and D'Aubuisson (Salvadoran death squad leader). So I guess you would consider him a staunch anti-communist. In his world, it was perfectly alright to murder civilians en masse, but you had better not be holding Das Kapital while doing it.

What The F is Social Media?!

Well, if you weren't aware of what "social media" really is, here is a slideshow from Marta Kagan who is an Internet marketing specialist.

| View | Upload your own

Tech support at it's finest

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George Carlin dead at 71 - revisited

To say I am devastated is an understatement.
http://www.mahalo.com/George_Carlin_Dead

I have spent a good portion of the day looking at various YouTube clips reminiscing and marveling on how good he was at pointing out both how similar we all are and how our government & big business fuck us on a daily basis.

Some of my favorite Carlin quotes:

"Do you know why they call it a blow JOB? It implies there's a work ethic attached. . . makes you feel like you did something good for the economy."

"I don't understand it. . .selling is legal. . . .fucking is legal. . . . .why isn't selling fucking legal. Why should it be illegal to sell something that is perfectly legal to give away?"

"Did you ever notice how your "shit" is "stuff" and their "stuff" is "shit"?"


Also, given that I just spent 5 hours on a flight that should have been 2 1/2, I figured that I would include one of my favorite Carlin sketches on flying:

Bush's Resume

This individual seeks an executive position. He will be available January 2009, and is willing to relocate.
RESUME
GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington , DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Law Enforcement

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

Military

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

College

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
- I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
- I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
- I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
- With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT
- I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
- I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
- I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
- I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
- I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
- I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
- I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
- I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
- I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
- I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
- My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
- My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
- I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to
intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
- I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
- I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
- I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
- I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
- I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
- I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
- I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
- I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
- I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
- I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
- I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
- I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
- I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.
- In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
- I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
- I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.
- I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
RECORDS AND REFERENCES
-All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
- All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
- All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

Someone please explain this to me

Harvey Korman. . . . Dead
Bo Diddley . . . . Dead
Tim Russert . . . . Dead
Stan Winston . . . . Dead
Paris Hilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .Injured

Bill O vs. Bill M

Porter Barry from the O'Reilly Factor attempts to ambush Bill Moyers. However, after Moyers defends himself quite well, Mr. Barry gets a taste of his own medicine as the other reporters in the area stomp on him like Philly cops on a car full of black guys (for those of you not quite in tune with the reference, read this).

The Newest Club Drug: Preparation H

Ok, it's meant to be put ON your asshole, not on your whole body if you ARE one (sorry, too easy).

ABC News: Newest Club Drug: Preparation H

Oops

Listen to the crowd . . .

Who let this dumbass become a teacher?!

Oh wait, it's Florida. I think you only need to demonstrate you have thumbs (officially classifying you as a minority).
http://mahalo.com/Alex_Barton

FOX Pundit Wishes for Obama Assassination, Laughs

Jeffrey Feldman: FOX Pundit Wishes for Obama Assassination, Laughs - Media on The Huffington Post

Yes, Liz Trotta from Fox News actually said she supported the assasination of Obama. The video is embedded in Feldman's excellent post so I will not go too far in depth, except that I will remind everyone how to convey your outrage and disgust over this monster's comments:

U.S. Secret Service
Office of Government and Public Affairs
245 Murray Drive,
Building 410,
Washington, DC 20223
202-406-5708
Email: http://www.secretservice.gov/contact_usss.shtml

------------------------

FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE FCC

http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

---------------------------------------

LIZ A TROTTA
(212) 734-7543
340 E. 66th St
New York, NY 10065

---------------------

Verizon (commercial aired after her comments)
Eric Rabe
Vice President, Media Relations
(908) 559-3500
eric.rabe@verizon.com

All subjects

Bill Kula, APR
Director, Media Relations
(972) 718-6924
william.kula@verizon.com

Telephone products & services, brand & reputation, customer service/experience

A wonderful "Special Comment" from Olbermann

Office Worker Field Guide

Courtesy of a friend of mine:

Tom Cruise tells Oprah he wants more challenges - Yahoo! News

I've got a challenge for you, Tom . . .convince me you're not gay.

Tom Cruise tells Oprah he wants more challenges - Yahoo! News

I heard he asked for it in small bills too. . . .

Man accused of trying to cash check for $360,000,000,000 | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News

Thank You Gary Shandling

From the latest Real Time with Bill Maher:

"It does seem that Hillary Clinton is putting an awful lot of importance on the experience that she gained from being in the White House. To me, using that logic, Monica Lewinsky could be Secretary of Defense. On the 3AM phone call, if you had to make a bet, which of those women was most likely there when the phone rang?"

I sense a new category in ebay is being created as I write this. . .

Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital | U.S. | Reuters

 

Polygamy doesn't seem to be all it's cracked up to be

Ok, so I am watching TV as usual after a long day at work, and I see headline "Polygamist cult raided". Ok, let's take a look. . . . .multiple wives . . . compound in Texas . . . sounds very Waco-like.

As a hard-working American male, my next question is, of course . . . any of them hot?
Let's take a look . . . . hmmm. . .Fox News tends to have a higher ratio of titty to facts. . . let's see. . .and. . .




OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OHHH THE HUMANITY! OHHH THE HUMANITY!!!

Jeez a loo, what IS this, a fucking ricketts telethon? I'm trying. . . trying hard here. . .let's look at a few more pages. . . oh no, it's getting worse. . . . but I can't stop. . . it's like driving by a wreck off to the shoulder. . . I need to slow down a see the carnage. . . . ok, wait, maybe if she had better clothes, a trip to Sephora, better haircut. . .nope, nope, still fucking hideous.

Koresh did a far better job with choosing a genetic starter pack in the quest to build a better society.

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

I am convinced that Charles Gibson's next gig will be on Fox News a la Brit Hume.....