August HART - beats

* It is my opinion that the only rational reason for any Clinton supporter to offer their vote to McCain is because they, Clinton and McCain, both support an aggressive "Endless War - Hawkish" foreign policy... It can't be because of similarities in their health care access, reproductive rights, tax, or energy plans... So if not because of foreign policy ... why else support a conservative now spouting neo-con views... I'm just asking.

* I think John McCain was once ready to lead... I think it was 1973... and in some other country.

* We may agree with most of his premise, the need for alternative energies and to decrease our dependence on oil, but aren't you a little leery of this T.Boone Pickens guy? "I'm an oil man..trust me"... Sure

* From the Miller Analogies --- McCain is to Maverick as Bush is to genius

* Did you know that Senator Obama's tax proposals would cut middle class taxes 8 to 10 times more than the Bush tax cuts?... And his proposal would return the corporate tax rate to Clinton era levels?...The most prosperous period for business in the past half century... Sounds reasonable to me.

* The Wall Street Journal last week characterized tax cuts for the poor and middle class as nothing more than "welfare" ... Does this give you some clue as to the level of disdain "they" hold for us...Me and You!

* McCain claims to be a Maverick...I see him more as an Edsel (Ford Joke...Not Gerald)

* I just watched Chris Matthews interview one of these PUMA types (Party Unity My Ass) standing on line at the Democratic convention... Her reason for not supporting Obama..."He went to a Muslim school in Indonesia"... When asked about her source for this info she became belligerent... When pressed further she waffled from "it's a secret"...to " its from a congressional report"...to "its from a former congressional staffer". If true I am wondering on whose staff the author of this report might have worked on? Tom Delay? By the way, are these folks just paranoid about Muslims? How does one even approach this? Do they think he is in a terrorist sleeper cell? FDR was right. Fear is the ultimate threat. Try a little Haldol lady.

* Who will benefit from off shore drilling? I guess you follow the money. Rumor has it our local Republican congressman, a big supporter for drilling off of South Carolina's coast, owns quite a bit of land right where a proposed support/refinery site for this drilling initiative would be placed. Coincidence I suppose.

* Finally I have to say, sadly ... The New York Yankees are ruining my Summer!!!

Presidential RACE

Yesterday Obama beat the "CONS" to the punch. He did it when he referenced race in a very matter of fact, almost humorous way. "I don't look like all the other presidents (on those bills)". He offered this comment in the context of what "they" will say to make us afraid of an Obama Presidency - And he was right! (Or, if you prefer - Correct) . Admit it, haven't you heard the uneasy comments in your circle of "friends". Either someone you know or someone they "know"is not certain they can vote for a Black Man. These sentiments are real; they are out there and yesterday Obama named them and the CONS have gone absolutely nuts. "There is no place for this in the campaign" McCaine blustered... No place for what - the TRUTH? Well we already know that! In the world of presidential politics, truth always takes a back seat to innuendo and distortion because truth is not easy. The lazy electorate doesn't have time for truth. They do not have time to review voting records or time to read position papers or even time to listen to speeches. They wait for the next attack add on TV, or the next rumor on the Internet and proceed to remove themselves even further from reality, until they are so confused that even if they do decide to vote, the only real "input" they can use to make a decision with are media generated impressions and perhaps fear That's right, in the so called "Post 911" world, FEAR has become the mother of all "F" words. Yesterday that is exactly what presidential candidate Obama was warning us against.

I think Obama's message was a call to voters to be a little more alert and savvy than we have been in the past. He's trying to give us a more credit than we perhaps deserve. The notion that we might be ready and able to recognize when we are being CONned and perhaps, that we not get "fooled again"...

When you get right down to it the fake outrage coming form the McCaine camp is really a transparent attempt to reach out to those who feel "uncomfortable" about a "Black President" and to give them a way to feel good about their concerns. They, the CONS, are doing this by painting Obama as someone who is mean or libelous towards Johnny, our POW hero. In this way voters can be OK with their Obama discomfort, not because of his race, but because he is talking about race when it is "not really an issue". "See,... he's playing the race card! ... He's a typical politician...How unfair!!!"

I think what they are really "feeling" is... "how dare he speak the truth about race in the good ol' USA." That is perhaps what they are afraid of.

I do not agree with all of Obama's positions and I also am certain that an Obama presidency will have frequent growing pains and more than it's share of mistakes but what I am learning about the candidate during this campaign is that he is not afraid to call the question. Even if it means we all feel a little less comfortable in the process..Think about it. Isn't that how we always feel... just before we change? Maybe this is our moment.

HART - beats

* Free World Trade can be summarized as follows: We set up factories in China to manufacture goods with cheap labor... We send tons of scrap metal, let's just call it "junk", to China via ship... They use the "junk" to make consumer goods "more junk" and we have it shipped back to us so we can buy the re-cycled "junk". In the process we eliminate 1000's of US factory jobs, help Wal-Mart put 100's of local retail companies out of business and burn 1000's of gallons of fuel in the process...Oh yes, we also borrow the money from China to finance it all. Sounds like Win Win to me! I guess that's why CEOs and politicians go off on "junkets" to the Far East.

* If Obama now supports federal funding for faith based initiatives does he also support these groups in their practices of denying jobs to those who do not accept their religious views? Federally funded discrimination based on faith? (or lack there of?)

* Haven't the oil companies always really wanted $170.00 a barrel oil? Aren't the boys at the top of our government former oil men? I guess it's a coincidence.

* NAFTA pretty much works like this: We export corn to Mexico and put their farm workers out of a job... Those workers now "migrate" to the US to put a new roof on my house.... In the process we have less grain to feed livestock here and food prices go up... Of course the up side is that Canada sends us plenty of MOLSON's XXX!

* When does a surge stop being a surge? When is it just the number of troops now needed to keep Iraq just a really violent place to be vs. a non stop psychotic night mare?

* This is how health care breakthroughs work: Taxpayers fund research with grants for basic science which lead to incredible new medications and technology... We then fund the FDA to the tune of millions of dollars to monitor and approve their use.... Then we pay inflated prices for years and years for super hyped-medications... Hey! Aren't we the original investors? Where are my dividends?!!!!!

* Why is it that any oil in the ground that is owned by the public is the property of oil companies? I got chased out of a park by a cop once for stealing a "rose" from the "peoples" garden. (My Mom cried when I gave her the rose).

* Bill Maher had a very funny line.... "People want to get rid of the penny...No way!...Let's keep it and re-name it the dollar."

Deja Vu all over again!

I drifted off to a restless sleep last night listening to reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee has (reluctantly) released its findings, stating what many were certain of for some time; that the current administration lied to us about the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq. Ho Hum. But then to my utter dismay I also hear a report, quoting the the Washington Post, that the Vice President, in concert with Israel's Prime Minister, are pressuring the president to join with Israel in an attack on Iran! My first reaction was "preposterous". With the current climate and political mood they would never pull such a stunt. Then I heard the rest of the story and the panic started.

Last year our own country's intelligence estimates dismissed the notion that Iran was working to develop a nuclear bomb. At least 8 separate US agencies concurred on this estimate so I was feeling somewhat confident that they would not have an opportunity to exploit any data. However, evidently the Israeli intelligence group has a different set of data they are pushing upon Cheney who is in turn pushing it upon Bush. Uh oh...Given what we know about Iraq, the Downing St Memo, Joe Wilson and a do nothing democratic party and a sycophantic press, I am very concerned that before the summer is over we will have attacked Iran. What do they (the neo-cons) have to lose? Pelosi has taken impeachment off of the table, Bush is "protected" and the rest of the White House bunch are clearly a group of sociopaths. So just about the time you get your rebate check you can go out and buy a brand new plasma TV, 'cause soon you will be watching MSNBC around the clock. Get ready for the start of the next chapter of the new Hundred Years War: "Iran - what took us so long?"... And you thought the Obama - Clinton struggles were lively!