Unhinged

On a regular day, commenting on this kind of insane idiocy wouldn't be worth much time or effort. We all know a handful of rightwingnutjobs in our lives, and usually they're harmless other than being weirdly obsessed with their paranoid delusions of black helicopters and the like.

The insane factor is rising at the McCalin events, though:





Far too many of these people own guns.

Crushed

McLame needed a gamechanger.

He got donut.

McShame couldn't even hang around to shake hands and take pictures after the "debate" ended. That croaking sound you hear may be the fat lady warming up her vocal chords.

Counting one's chickens is not generally advisable, but seriously, after the lameness of the McSame performance and the outright racism and violence-peddling of Caribou Barbie® earlier in the day, should we maybe start getting used to President Obama? Think about it: the stock market circles the drain even more, McLame proposes a mortgage bailout only a guy like Kucinich could love, his running mate seems to go off the reservation completely (and it is a BIG reservation out there, you betcha') by reveling in her crowds' cries to "kill" Obama, and then the douche-nozzle can't even hang out for five minutes to shake hands with the very people whose questions he allegedly was answering for the last hour and a half?

Seriously?

Electoral blowout in the making.

Keep the faith people, let's win.

Letterman skewers Palin.

Too funny (ouch, my ribs hurt).

John McShame's "experience"

…so I was thinking about experience and how it relates to the leaders Americans pick for President…

Does experience trump common sense and leadership? For someone who touts his military experience and world knowledge so much, John McShame’s experience didn’t do a damn thing to help him (and all of us) out when it really mattered; when the time came to make the right decision with regards to the biggest military and policy decision of this decade, he made an absolutely terrible one.

And the guy who has nowhere near the breadth, depth or type of experience that John McShame has, actually made an infinitely-better and smarter decision, when he decided it’s better for America and for all Americans to NOT start a war with Iraq (and whoever else came along for the ride).

Yes, his name is Barack Obama.

See, If Barack Obama were President, there would not have been a war in Iraq. Read that again. If Barack Obama were President, there would not have been an Iraq war.

For those of you who don’t know, Barack Obama, without all the “experience” John McShame has, voted AGAINST the Iraq war. It turns out Barack Obama didn’t – and doesn’t – need “experience” to make the correct and far better decision(s) for America. He’s got something BETTER than all of John McShame’s experience: common sense, better vision, and complete and thorough leadership.

Ahh, what might have been; what should have been….
a) John McShame’s experience, if President, would have led us to the same exact result that President Bush’s decision led us to: by taking our focus, military/intelligence might, and our resources off of the real enemy - the actual enemy who really did attack us - the Taliban and Al Qadea are currently at the same strength they were on 9/11 (based on the latest Pentagon assessment from earlier this year, as well as the latest national intelligence estimate, and also independent studies done by independent organizations). This would not be the case If Barack Obama was President.
b) Al Qadea and all the other factions we’re currently fighting in Iraq would not be there for the next several decades (Hussein kept them all under control) if Barack Obama was President.
c) Our military would not be decimated if Barack Obama was President. 33% of all military forces deployed currently are from the National Guard and Reserves; tens of thousands of troops are on their 3rd, 4th, and 5th tours; thousands upon thousands of troops are being involuntarily extended. This is a very dangerous military precedent, and amounts to a decimated and broken military that can only be repaired by a full-fledged draft.
d) If Barack Obama was President, we wouldn’t have had almost 4500 troops die largely in vain in Iraq, and approximately 200,000 maimed for life. This is to say nothing of all the broken families and Iraq Vets our kids will grow up seeing homeless on the steets, much the same way I grew up seeing Vietnam Vets homeless, uncared for and forgotten about.

It goes on…

John McShame STILL thinks it was the right decision to “fight them there so we didn’t have to fight them here!” He thought – as President Bush did - we were going to “spread democracy throughout the Middle East!” He thought – as President Bush did - we were “protecting ourselves from WMD’s!” Wow. So much for “experience!”

Obama knew better. MUCH better. He knew better than John McShame did with lots less experience. And he made a far better decision. How? Why? Because it’s not about experience, it’s about leadership and common sense.

Why do I refer to John McCain as John McShame? Here’s why…

For someone like John McShame who cares and values our troops so much, he’s sure got a dysfunctional way of showing it: If ANYONE should know an unnecessary when they see one; if ANYONE should know what troops dying in vain looks like, it’s John Sidney McCain the Third, who served in the greatest unnecessary war American troops have ever fought in (Vietnam). And he doesn’t seem to know this. Of if he does know it, he doesn’t care. Either way, his EXPERIENCE has failed him; it’s failed us. It’s failed our troops, it’s failed our national heroes (which John himself once was). Sending troops off to fight a war that is completely and wholly unnecessary is not what people do who value troops, and the ultimate price they too often pay. This is shameful. That’s why I call him as John McShame.

Plain and simple: experience is overrated as a requirement for the office of the President of the United States. George W. Bush had it. Look where we are. Heck, y’all lived it the last eight years! He is far and away considered the worst U.S. President of all time by an overwhelming amount of independent scholars, Presidential historians, professors, authors, and others. How about Sarah Palin, aka “Caribou Barbie?” John McShame picked her for a lot of reasons; experience wasn’t in the top 20.

It’s about leadership and common sense. Barack Obama has it by the boatload. John McShame apparently possesses neither.

Sarah Palin's church hopes to 'pray away the gay' and convert homosexuals to heterosexuals

September 7, 2008
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FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

''You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality,'' according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years.

Palin's conservative Christian views have energized that part of the GOP electorate, which was lukewarm to John McCain's candidacy before he named her as his vice presidential choice. She is staunchly anti-abortion, opposing exceptions for rape and incest, and opposes gay marriage and spousal rights for gay couples.

Focus on the Family, a national Christian fundamentalist organization, is conducting the ''Love Won Out'' Conference in Anchorage, about 30 miles from Wasilla.

Palin, campaigning with McCain in the Midwest on Friday, has not publicly expressed a view on the so-called ''pray away the gay'' movement. Larry Kroon, senior pastor at Palin's church, was not available to discuss the matter Friday, said a church worker who declined to give her name.

Gay activists in Alaska said Palin has not worked actively against their interests, but early in her administration she supported a bill to overrule a court decision to block state benefits for gay partners of public employees.

At the time, less than one-half of 1 percent of state employees had applied for the benefits, which were ordered by a 2005 ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Palin reversed her position and vetoed the bill after the state attorney general said it was unconstitutional. But her reluctant support didn't win fans among Alaska's gay population, said Scott Turner, a gay activist in Anchorage.

''Less than 1 percent of state employees would even apply for benefits, so why make a big deal out of such a small number?'' he said.

''I think gay Republicans are going to run away'' if Palin supports efforts like the prayers to convert gays, said Wayne Besen, founder of the New York-based Truth Wins Out, a gay rights advocacy group. Besen called on Palin to publicly express her views now that she's a vice presidential nominee.

''People are looking at Sarah Palin as someone who might feasibly be in the White House,'' he said.

What we've all been waiting for:

Thank you, beer gods.

A debate reflection

I thought McLame was actually carrying the day at first, but as I reflected on what he actually said and how he spoke, I realized that at worst this was a draw for Obama (which is a win, really). McShame told stories. He didn't directly answer most of the questions, instead trying to go with a personal narrative every time he had his 2 minutes from Lehrer. Obama answered more of the questions directly, and he stayed calm and didn't rise to the taunting McSame threw at him. In contrast, McShrub came off as combative and petulant, like a six year-old who's up past his bedtime. This was supposed to be his moment to shine, but apparently someone forgot the polishing rags.

Best moment for me was the bracelet story. Yeah, Senator McCain, we've heard that story hundreds of times, because you've shamelessly pandered that woman's grief hundreds of times. Hey, Senator Obama has a bracelet, too. And that woman's grief is just as significant. No soldier's sacrifice is ever in vain, pal. Never. To suggest that anyone would think otherwise is asinine.

No knockout, no TKO, but Obama wins on points.

McCain's Lies Go Viral

Take yer religion and....

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Let's get something perfectly clear here. Mitt Romney has every right to believe or not believe in whatever version of a higher power he wants. So does Mike Huckabee. So does George W. Shrub. So do I.

The fact that any one of them (or me for that matter) would feel it necessary to publicly declare my faith in anything other than that which is measurable and observable in order to be elected to public office, is utter rubbish, crap, horseshit and offensive. For a reference, see above (Yeah, The First Amendment to the US Constitution. You can't conveniently forget it exists just to pander to wingnuts to get votes).

Folks, religion was always intended to be a private matter between one and whatever one deemed as one's god. Wingnuts and others who claim that this was always a Christian nation are peddling fake history and are conveniently ignoring the flippin' Constitution!

For good ol' empty hat Mitt (heh), or the Huckster to proclaim loudly that his faith and others' faiths should be guiding principles for their governance ought to disqualify him (or them) from seeking said office. It also ought to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

The federal government is secular. Say it with me: secular. No religion. At. All.

Mitt sez:

Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone

The US Constitution, Article VI, sez:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Meanwhile, Huckster (discussing his "surprising" rise in the polls) sez:

There is only one explanation for it, and it is not a human one

Puh-frickin'-leez! Get over it, people. If you want to talk to some invisible being in the sky, have at it. But don't expect the rest of us to think anything other than that you belong in an asylum.

We know they're a bunch of liars, but c'mon.

"President Bush got the world's attention this fall when he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran might lead to World War III. But his stark warning came at least a month or two after he had first been told about fresh indications that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program."

They halted the program in 2003.

2008 was shaping up to be the all-Iran-all-the-time show for the GOP, with the Rethug field falling all over themselves to be tough on Iran, and no doubt with Cheney in the background muttering about "mushroom clouds."

This isn't so good for Hillary, also talkin' tough on Iran so as not to give ground on foreign policy to her GOP rival in the future (count chickens much, Hillz?). Her reaction? Criticize Obama for missing the Kyl-Lieberman vote!