Politics

She invoked Hillary before Biden! Interesting!

Talk about photogenic! Good GAWD she is a TV star! And, this being America 2008, that will help.

So far this does sort of remind me of American idol.

I can't say that realistically that is a bad thing,given that they want regular folks to get engaged in the "show".

You are so right! It is not bad to have that kind of star quality in this day and age.

You know, if he wins, they could do a Bill and Hillary where she runs for president after he leaves office, only she would totally win! A black woman president. How freakin AWESOME would that be?

Michelle as president would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cool. Especially if she has some good issue positions! But even without that, just being a woman, a black woman, a smart black woman, a dazzlingly gorgeous smart black woman..all that sure kicks the shit out of the old shriveled rich white guy boy's clubs!

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Michelle as president would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cool. Especially if she has some good issue positions! But even without that, just being a woman, a black woman, a smart black woman, a dazzlingly gorgeous smart black woman..all that sure kicks the shit out of the old shriveled rich white guy boy's clubs!

Fuck yeah! That was so well-put, I could not add a thing.

Night 2: revving up for Hillary's speach.

Bill Clinton just came into the hall and the crowd went nuts.

Chealea will introduce Hillary.

I am almost giddy with anticipation...will she undermine Obama or really use all her powers to rally support for him? We shall see.

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WHEW! She did it! Good for her, and good for Obama!

Did anybody else watch the Convention tonight?

If so...what did you think?

I do think that Obama might have a slightly higher chance than I thought before Hillary spoke.

If Bill can come through in genuine support of Obama, that will also help.

What I keep learning, though, is that the fact that Obama does not speak nearly enough of things he intends to DO and HOW... the problem people really have with Obama is that he is black, though it is often couched in comments about his possible Muslim childhood.

As has even been said here, obama scares the hell out of a lot of people.

Why?

Why is he scary?

Are the people who find him scary beliveing lies?

Or is that he is, well, black?

I really do not know why anybody would find him scary otherwise.

McCain has KNOWN scary things about him...a raging temper, PStD tendencies, a willingness to out and out lie about himself, his accomplishments, as well as lie about historical facts. Simply having been in combat, he has either killed people or felt right trying. He is in favor of war, all war, all the time. The guy is only at home in war, that is why he has no clue how many houses he has.

I have fear of him as a person, due to those things.

Obama is just not scary, at all, to me. i sure do with he had some spelled-out action plans to accomplish things, and clearer positions about pretty much everything that is specific, but he is just not even remotely scary to me.

Damn. I believe, quite fervently, that Obama has finally surrendered (though some of his supporters think that means he has sold out) to the notion that he really IS inexperienced, and really DOES need all tjhe mainstream old-school Democratic help he can get. He only beat Clinton by a nose.

His inching toward Republicanism (FISA, Religion, weakening a women's right to choose) won't get him any new votes. Republicans, conservatives and anti-abortionists will not vote for him, ever. If those are his true beliefs, then he should run as a Republican.

His taking advantage of the strengths that really do exist in the Democratic foundation (Biden, really trying to woo the Clintons and their supporters) is the only way he will get elected, and the only way he will be able to anything even remotely liberal if he gets elected.

McCain (whom I have come to loathe as much as GW Bush, if not even MORE for his unabashed anti- women stuff)... is a goofy white guy who plays the pity card as well as any American idol weeper.

America likes those weepie "heroes" even when reality is the guy sold out his fellow POWS repeatedly.

I hope the Democrats win. Period.

Well, I was out tonight, so I'm just watching Hillary's speech and DAMN the sisters are just doin' it for themselves, aren't they? So many little girls must be so proud to be female right now. Between Michelle and Hillary, it's just awesome.

Hillary didn't namby pamby it and we really needed that. You're right. Obama needs to learn from Kerry and not try to make everyone happy and thus make nobody happy. To not have an opinion on anything thinking you won't alienate anyone, is the wrong way to go.

So, Hillary's speech, I think, is a good start. Let's hope he rides this wave.

I do NOT want George Bush 2.0.

Oh, I meant to mention something else. I was flipping channels and most news stations had both sides on to talk about Hillary's speech.

Who did "fair and balanced" Fox News have on? Both sides? A democratic strategist? No! John McCain's Advisor who, I know you won't believe this, didn't think Hillary's speech was very effective!

Freakin' Greta!

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FOX News filters Democratic Convention for viewers
Reported by Chrish - August 27, 2008 - 106 comments

FOX news likes to tout that they are the number one network for election news, etc. etc. But during the Democratic convention, theya re foregoing coverage of speakers for interviews, commentary, and pre-recorded segments. Bill O'Reilly's program, for example, while broadcasting from prime real estate at the Convention Center, is rehashing speeches from the previous night and hosting right-wingers like Laura Ingraham and Karl Rove to analyze, ignoring the live speeches behind him. Last night, Media Matters notes, FOX News aired just two minutes of Mark Warner's keynote address and instead did a segment discussing the ad they said they wouldn't air (but did, twice) trying to link Barack Obama to Bill Ayers. On FOX, the Democratic convention is heavily censored and filtered.

I just caught a clip of Melissa Etheridge at the convention singing an only-Melissa-style version of God Bless America. I out and out burst into tears. Such a long time since anybody who is a lefty has been able to take back a piece of American Pride and make it seem so good and so not what the ones who use patriotism as a threat mean by it.

There will be clips later, and I will post links (seems many people reacted as strongly as I did. All the links are currently saying they aren't working yet.

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Saw about half of Bill Clinton's speech. My goodness, I am so glad, so happy, so delighted and so moved that Obama and Hill and Bill figured out a way to get together. The fact that Obama got over his pissed offedness and allowed the Clintons to shine a little for themselves at this convention is what made it possible for them to shine FOR OBAMA. That is so rare among politians to begin with, but especially Democrats.

I was pretty sure the Clintons would really try to get themselves to push for Obama, precisely because they are old-school politicians, even if they were gonna grit their teeth. I was not so sure Obama (and especially his team and his supporters) would let that happen, wanting to hold to a "higher" moral ground, distancing themselves from the polluted Clintons, much as Al Gore did. That they all have come together makes me feel...dare I say it, PROUD!!! I never feel proud. But I do. They all came through wonderfully. No gritting teeth or condescension from the Clintons, no passive aggressive bullshit from Obama giving the Clintons the finger while pretending to scratch his nose..none of the bullshit, from either side.

Michelle Obama helped immeasurably in that. Her enthusiasm was so real, and so not bullshit.

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Biden is on now, live.

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YES! Biden came through beautifully, too! He does do some stumbling over words... but boy is he clear, anyway. He absolutely makes up for the unspecificness of obama, which leaves Obama free to do what he does spectacularly, which is be the inpirational being. He bopped on the stage after Biden, thanked Biden, the Clintons, his wife...and did it with the healing spirit of a great host.

That may well be why he will be a great president. he is turning out to be smart enough to surround himself with people who do specific things brilliantly, and doesn't try to compete there. he really is the great unifying host, which is a good a thing as I can think of for a president as any other concievable role.

I have always believed that Obama will help as much as American can be helped to get less hated by the rest of the world.

What I didn't know, since I was so angst-ridden about his lack of specificity about policies, was that he would get a VP who is more specific than anybody who ever ran for anything ever. And I had no idea he would be smart enough to embrace the Clintons, who clearly were responsible for humiliating him in the primaries. But he won, and so not holding on to that is just plain..yep..inspiring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now officially gung ho Obama.

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Philip Sayce performing with Melissa Etheridge at the Democratic National Convention 8-27-08
Performing God Bless America, The Times They Are A-Changin', Give Peace A Chance and Born In The USA, God Bless America

It was the last 15 seconds I saw first that moved me profoundly, but now, seeing the whole clip, I have to say I do love this performance. It didn't have quite the shock value of having just the reprise of God Bless America on its own after much news and talk, but love it.

I also love it that her accompanying guitarist is who posed the full clip.

I actually like it when supporting players make sure they get their time in the spotlight.

The link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYtcd7aAOQU

The Joe Biden speech line that emobies everything to do do with why this election is so important:

"I've never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up."

In my lifetime, this is absolutely true.

So many people who have done enough according to the pretty conservative rules (not so much me..I have onky done it half according to those rules) are really in bad shape regarding housing, transportation, taxes, tuitions and almost EVERYBODY i knw is up shits creek regarding pensions and retirement fund which they paid into at rates that took quite a chunk but will not pay out at much more than pre-inflation rates.

I do not know people persoanally who worked for Enron or other companies that criminally ripped off the employees...just people who worked at garden variety companies who are not going to pay out what they previously promised as returns on the employees cash investments. meanwhile the top 2% of even those companies are making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Downgrading pay grades is happening all over the place, too.

I do not currently know anybody personally who is not suffering to a scary degree financially who does not have money from previous generations (or who happens to have gotten a long running TV show).

p.s. PC or not PC, I think this is colossally cool:

A BLACK MAN IS ONE OF THE TWO MAJOR PARTY NOMINEES FOR PRESIDENT IN THE USA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

I am glad he and his advisors are not playing that up, but WOW am I impressed that it is happening!!!

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And Bill Clinton said this:
“I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world,” Mr. Clinton said. “Barack Obama is ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.”

I do not care what is in his heart that might contradict that. I care that he felt clear enough that he could join in, and was allowed to join in, so that he could say that convincingly enough.

All fo them expanded their hearts to join togetherr.

And all of them, whatever their sometimes dark motives, do want regular people to be able to surive better in America.

That is what is missing from Regan to the future for the Republican Party for me. They really do not give a fuck what happens to regular people.

I will watch the Republican Convention next week in hopes of seeing at least a few speakers that care about something other than just making the rich richer.

We had terrible storms here so my cable is out so I did not get to see Bill's speech. I was a little worried he may be pissy. You know how he is. So I am glad he was not.
I DID get to see Hillary's speech and thought it was stellar. I really like Joe Biden and I think he has a lot of foreign policy experience. However I di think maybe Obama should have chosen someone from the south. He HAS to win Texas and Fla. to win. So I am afraid he may not be the right choice. Even Kennedy chose Johnson to help him carry Texas.

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Who did "fair and balanced" Fox News have on? Both sides? A democratic strategist? No! John McCain's Advisor who, I know you won't believe this, didn't think Hillary's speech was very effective!

OH please , they are about as fair and balanced as the pope is not catholic.

Oh yeah guess where one of my best friends is next week? The RNC.

I would love to know what middle of the road and undecided women think about McCain's VP choice.

I believe McCain was hoping to get the Hillary diehards. Heee.




Shows you what a dunce he is.

I'll respond further when I can stop sputtering, Frazzle. Nothing quite like wooing the supporters of an experienced, mature real candidate like Hillary by saying "Hey, check out my running mate! She's a girl! Isn't she a hot tamale???!!!"

And having it be a woman who has absolutely nothing in common with Hilary is even worse.

The good news is that McCain already has the men who would want to bang her, so he won't be gaining any new votes that I can think of.

I actually had the first thought that McCain's soul is shrivelling so much from how he is running his campaign that he himself is trying to sabotage his run, as some sort of atonement.

Nah. But I often have as a first response an attempt to see how the person might be justified in doing something insane.

I was surprised at his pick. If he thinks she will get the Hilary vote he will be sadly disappointed. However if he thinks she will get the right wing evangenglical vote he would be right.

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However if he thinks she will get the right wing evangenglical vote he would be right.

Damn! Obama had all those folks in his POCKET before Sarah joined the ticket. LOL

Way to reach out to... the people who were already voting for you, McCain. I just hope people don't vote for her ONLY because she'd be the first woman vice president. This is not the person I want to see be the groundbreaker in that regard.

I was watching her interviewed on another station. Her head filled the screen. She had on garish make-up - pink lipstick from the 80's. Some kind of hairdo with that tube thing or whatever in the back and I watched for like a minute before I was bored with her. I probably only stopped to watch because of the stuff going on with her face.

Goodness. What outright pandering. What a shmuck.

Gulp. I had to know...so I did some major poking around the web to find forums where middle of the road and independent women voters post.

They are mostly rooting for Palin, being far more pissed off at sexism in general (after pretending it didn't piss them off for the past couple of decades) than the political issues or even type of woman.

I think the sickeningly sexist stuff that went on against Clinton (not to be confused with bashing her issues or her Obama undermining) will make the worst offenders, like MSNBC bend over backwards NOT to trash Palin.

Plus, Chris Matthews thinks she's hot, unlike hillary, so he likes her.

I was afraid of that. However, let's wait for two things:

1. Hilary's reaction: Wait, a minute, you all are so angry that I didn't get the nomination that you want to vote for WHAT???!!!!

2. Sarah Palin to debate Joe Biden. Bring popcorn.

You know, I really don't like to watch underqualified women get jobs that are not suited for. The assumption becomes sexist rather than personal.

I fear that Biden, being personally old school that way, will not fight Palin with anywhere near the vigor he would bring to fighting a guy (or a more androgynous woman).

And what a quandary for Hillary....she wrapped it up so well at the convention. To now have to take on Palin might just undermine her forever.

Everyone I talk to thinks he's pandering and that she's unqualified and just chose her becase she's a woman and can't believe he would think that Hillary supporters would support this extreme right-winger just because she happens to be a woman.

I would hope Biden would get over himself and look at her as a politician first and a woman second. We shall see.

It gets worse and worse.

- She has a resume so thin it makes Obama look like an elder statesman.
- There are topless pictures running around -my husband found them yesterday.
- She's being investigated for corruption.
- She may have faked a pregnancy to protect her daughter.
- She agrees with Hillary on absolutely nothing whatsoever at all.
- She is opposed, not only to abortion, but to birth control of any kind.
- McCain is 72 and has recurring skin cancer.

But you know, we all gotta get behind her and support her because she doesn't have balls. No. This is not the way to put a woman in the executive branch. No. No. No. No.

Why on earth didn't he tap Kay Bailey Hutchinson instead? Is he TRYING to lose?