This really is McCain’s biggest weakness, and Obama’s best weapon. It’s something that he needs to keep hammering on throughout the campaign: there is no difference policy-wise between McCain and Bush.
Y’know, I don’t know why I like this story as much as I do. I’m not really much of a history buff, and I am definitely not a Civil War afficianado. But I think there is something very cool about finding an historic document that’s been completely ignored. It’s like the ultimate “treasure in the trash” scenario:
Officials at a small Civil War museum made an intriguing discovery while sifting through storage: A document long treated as a photo reproduction of the terms of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender appears, upon closer inspection, to contain actual signatures and date to 1865.
Museum officials believe they have one of the three original documents signed by representatives of the Union and Confederacy in Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 10, 1865, a day after Lee’s surrender. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Even if this turns out to be a souvenir copy, the fact that it was signed by the key participants, including General Lee, makes this a relic from our country’s history. I think it has to be amazing to be able to hold a piece of history in one’s hands like this. I’d love to be able to touch it, or at least to see it in person.
Leave it to that dastardly Dick Cheney to leave out facts because they don’t jive with the admnistration’s policies:
Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday.
The official, Jason K. Burnett, said the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. (via Yahoo News)
Yeah, who cares about the truth, anyway! Ignore whatever doesn’t work for us!
Barack Obama is already showing that he is not going to ignore unfounded attacks. Apparently he learned well from John Kerry’s mistakes in 2004. So when the rabid right wingers took one of Obama’s comments and twisted it to say that Obama wanted to force Americans to learn Spanish, Obama fired right back:
This is an example of some of the problems we get into when somebody attacks you for saying the truth, which is: We should want our children with more knowledge. We should want our children to have more skills. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. I know, because I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing. (via Yahoo News)
Bravo for Mr. Obama! Everything in his campaign is going right. There’s absolutely no reason to lay down and take these attacks. And Barack obviously understands that.
Whether Carol Kreck was meeting a very strict definition of trespassing or not, this didn’t need to get to the point it did. Why not let her carry her sign? Where was the harm in it? This was a bizarre occurrence. Simply bizarre.
One thing that libertarians, moderates, liberals and progressives seem to agree about is that the current administration has made a mess of things. The nation is much worse off now than it was eight years ago. Aside from the 25% or so of staunch neo-conservatives/Bush devotees, everyone is happy that the Bush years are coming to an end. I think that, no matter which way the election goes, things are going to get better starting in January.
Of course, as one of our groups two progressives, I have to say that I am looking forward to an Obama presidency. Obama is poised to do for the country what Bill Ritter is doing for the state of Colorado: break us out of the rut that politics has been stalled in for decades, and move us onto a better, brighter future. We are seeing this in Colorado, as renewable energy corporations are starting to invest heavily in our state under Ritter’s natural energy initiatives. Obama’s policies are on a much larger scale, and the impact will be that much larger.
Of course, I am making the assumption that Obama will be the winner in November. Based on the current economy, the momentum that Obama is building, and the general feeling that the American people are sick of Republican leadership, I am pretty positive about that assumption. Add to this the fact that John McCain’s main strength is national defense, which is not going to be a factor in the upcoming election (unless there is a major economic recovery in the next six months), and I become even more positive about my assumption. It’ll be Obama in ‘08. And 2012, for that matter. 
I have been more and more bemused by how rabid TalkLeft has become in their support of Hillary Clinton. They are to the point where any credibility they had built is now completely and totally gone. TalkLeft has become nothing but a Hillary Clinton propoganda machine. Anyone who dares question anything about Hillary clinton are immediately labelled as haters or Hillary bashers. This brings to mind the 2004 Carl Rove tactic of labelling anyone who disagreed with the Iraq war as unpatriotic.
To TalkLeft, anyone who points out that Hillary made a mistake is actually slandering Clinton. For example, Jeralyn had this to say about the reaction to Clinton’s reference to Robert Kennedy’s assassination:
The leap that is required to think that her reference to the RFK assassination was in any way a statement or subliminal wish that it might happen to Obama is mind-boggling.
Jeralyn is stating that anyone who views Clinton’s remarks as offensive and reports that are assassinating Clinton’s character. As opposed to simply stating their displeasure with those remarks. This is totally and completely baffling to me. And apparently TalkLeft is no longer willing to engage in any type of conversation on the issue. From Jeralyn:
So, to sum up TalkLeft’s new philosophy: If you are anything less than a rabid Hillary supporter, you are not welcome at TalkLeft, and don’t you even think about posting anything in their comments. Interesting to find out that the Republicans don’t have a monopoly on trying to silence dissention within their ranks.
When now-Governor Bill Ritter was running for office, he promised to make a number of changes in Colorado, centering around education, health care and renewable fuels. We’re about four months into Ritter’s first term, and we are already seeing a couple of major initiatives on Ritter’s part, including:
College scholarships funded by the oil and gas industry: This is a very interesting initiative: basically this would recoup the tax credits given to oil and gas companies, and use that money for a few specific purposes. 60% of this money (or around $120 million a year) would be used to fund scholarships. This has to be approved by voters, but it sounds damned good to me.
The state budget for 2008-2009: Ritter’s first budget has some very interesting and promising allocations. The most encouraging of which is an increase of alomst 10% for higher education, increases in both the Chidlren’s Health Plan (enough to cover an extra 11,000 children) and programs for the developmentally challenged.
All in all, I am loving the way that Ritter is already trying to implement his campaign promises here in Colorado. Things are going to be very different - and a whole lot better - in just a few years.
“We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change…
“We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come…
“Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can seize our future….
“And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.”
The following is an article I posted to the co.general newsgroup on Usenet, in response to a couple of posters complaining that providing universal health care would unfairly force people who didn’t want to to pay for health care for those who can’t afford it:
Try to follow the bouncing ball here: A poor person has a heart attack and
is taken to an emergency room. He gets treatment, but can’t pay. The
hospital loses money, and to recoup that it raises its rates. Insurance
companies have to pay more money to the hospital, so they raise their
premiums for members.Now theoretically, people who can’t afford medical care only go to the
emergency room, and theoretically only when they are having major medical
problems. So theoretically, the costs that they are passing on are quite
large.Instead of doing this, if we had a health care system that would provide
options for those who can’t afford private insurance, they could get
treatment and preventive care that would keep them from having to go to the
ER. The total cost would be less than what we are seeing now.You seem to believe that society in general isn’t already footing the costs
for providing health care to those who can’t afford it. We are. If you have
health insurance, just look at how much your premiums, copays, and
out-of-pocket expenses have gone up over the last decade.
