Thirty-five days to E-Day... Sandbox politics.

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Interesting day. Palin in seclusion preparing for the debate Thursday (yay)
Stock market actually went up with no Wall Street Bailout.
Bush spoke again urging a bipartisan buy/bail out package to save the economy.
Democrats blamed the republicans for the bail out failure while the republicans blamed the democrats.
McCain directly blamed Obama and for the life of me I don't get the possibility of that no matter how it's explained.
I know both these men want the presidency but it's starting to seem like McCain wants it so bad he'll say anything.

I can see why there isn't a consensus on the bailout as it stands but still no real great answers or fantastic alternatives.
Ain't politics grand?
Philosophy: ignore things and they will go away. Voting against stuff makes it go away.
You know things like global warming, alternative energy, economic meltdowns...

Not a call to arms but to negotiation.

I’m going to go a bit off track for a bit here. The problem here isn't why or how we got into this economic mess it’s how we can get out of it and change the rules for the future issues. This really isn’t about who caused it either. I’m a democrat so I could spend endless (and fruitless) hours blaming this whole crisis on the republicans pointing back to Reagan and to both Bushes. And then the republicans can point and howl that it’s the democrats because of Carter or Clinton or… and on and on into eternity we shall all go. We’re so busy blaming each other for the mess we don’t ever get that fact that both parties have their fingers in the pie.

It’s so sad to think that we could unite and work together but we choose to finger point and name call. No one explains to the public the truth… because neither side lives by it.

I’ve mentioned it before this childlike version of politics is asinine.
The “We must win/You must totally lose” version of negotiation is not negotiation at all. You can see it often in the “I’m right therefore whatever you say to the contrary makes you totally wrong on everything else you might have an opinion on too” debate strategies.

No one is totally right or totally wrong and if we don’t start working together towards understanding and addressing differences in opinion while looking at the facts we’re going to blow the whole thing eventually. It seems winning is more important than the facts. We don’t serve the truth, we serve up sound bites taken out of context to illustrate our side and if that doesn’t work well… we outright lie. “Say it enough times and it must be true.” This is delusional. Everyone says dumb things on occasion, everyone makes gaffes, everyone makes mistakes; it doesn’t make everything they say or do bad. It’s the volume of inconsistencies we make that tells whether or not we might be trustworthy. Everyone will be inconsistent on something. The important factor is how we react to being caught in that moment because that shows our real merit and mettle. If we deny responsibility having been caught red or empty handed, lie through our teeth to defend our position, always blame someone else, then we should not be surprised when we find no one trusts anyone anymore.

I haven’t yet found a politician I felt comfortable would really represent my best interests or truly put the country first at all times. All we get is just a lot of lip service to get elected... then business as usual. Remember Bush 1 “Read my lips: no new taxes?” All we get are useless platitudes and slogans: “No child left behind, Say no to drugs, Abstinence only, we won’t police the world, the war on terror, the candidates of change,” and my favorite one: “I'm a uniter not a divider.” It’s like they’re advertisers selling us some product we don’t need because they'd never make a profit on the real thing.

Someone recently told me that they didn’t care about the “wall street thing” or the economy. The only thing they cared about was their personal situation and how it all might effect them. While this is true for all of us on the gut level, it’s also what’s wrong with the system. Those at the top only cared about their gains, homes, golden parachutes, and their job security, not anyone else’s. Get what you can get for as long as you can and then run like hell out the door taking with you as much as you can manage theory of capitalism. Doesn’t work for the middle or lower class though does it?

Perhaps there is a way to blame anyone we don’t like for anything in Washington. We could play some crazed political game of seven steps to a republican/democrat involved in some scandal (along the lines of the Kevin Bacon game.) Though I think you’d only need 1 or 2 steps for the most part in DC because this is a relatively small group and they all seem to be dysfunctional members of the same tainted family tree no matter which “side” they’re on.

This constant barrage of nonsensical political posturing all around of course negates the value of any honest politicians that actually do go into the field to actually work to help this country and represent its citizens fairly. There must be a few truth telling representatives though I’m cynical enough to believe that they would have enormous difficulty getting to Washington in the first place unless they towed party lines and then once there would not last too long if they went against party lines very often.

We keep hearing about “bipartisan” bullshit. It’s so phony yet it’s served up over and over again when obviously they’re promoting agendas above true bipartisanship. This ignores the possibility that people can work out compromises on issues if they put aside their differences instead of blaming each other for everything under the sun.
It’s when differences are exploited, that a wedge issue becomes a defining point that nothing else gets resolved, everything comes to a grinding halt and nothing gets done in good faith. Throw in quite a bit of corruption, lying, and a desire to have more money/stuff than anyone else and you get our current economic/political stew. Yummy.

Who would want to be president walking into this god awful mess?

G'night.

Laura

Rest in peace Paul Newman.
If everyone gave back to the world as he did, the world would be a much better place.


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Thirty (gasp) six days to E-Day, Couric, SNL and buy (uh, bail) out.

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Bail, bail, bail, bail out bank man... (sung to tune of Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys)

First off, yes I missed a day. Well I didn't actually miss it, it was like any other day but I didn't get to post here.
Countdown day Thirty-seven was spent watching, reading, and talking about the news, barbecuing steak and visiting mom.

***Addendum to Tuesday Sept. 29, 2008: No bail out. Falling stocks. Everybody blaming the other guy (a national passtime.)
Post too long (as usual) I'll think more about this and post tomorrow. As I've said before, shit shifts like the sand... something like that anyway. Nothing much making sense at this point for very long.****

Caught SNL's Tina Fey and Amy Poehler spoof of the Katie Couric interview.
Best line: "Katie I'd like to use one of my lifelines."
Second best: "...or Bono the king of Ireland."

So the thing is that the SNL skit was amusing and mocking (which they do well when they actually get it right)
but the real Couric-Palin interview wasn't nearly so funny because it was real.

Waiting for that Biden/Palin debate, should be interesting if nothing else.
Joe, just answer the questions succinctly, and let her talk herself into a hole.
Don't waste your time getting angry, stick to the facts and keep it short... none of those verbose, run on, more info than you need answers... you won't need them here.
Follow Courics lead. "Say why do you feel that is true..." Practice not looking like you're astonished or think she's a complete dimwit in front of the mirror. Get botox if that's what it takes but seriously Joe, talk to her don't mock her, let her try to explain what the hell she means. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves.
But do make her answer the questions not just say repetitively John McCain is right and Obama is the antichrist....

I'm happy to see that even some (though not as many as you would hope) of the republicans are questioning Palin finally.
Nothing hurt my opinion of the foremost republican figures who are well educated and experienced more than their going around touting the qualifications of Sarah Palin on foreign or economic policy. Perhaps many of them were simply stunned and had no choice but to get on board.

Still struck by the fact that McCain chose Palin in the first place. How well did he even know her?
Because if he chose her without "vetting" her adequately it says something about his rashness of decisions...
What did he then choose her on? Her cuteness, her voice, her overall wealth and depth of knowledge? Honesty?

On the other hand, if he chose her because he really did research, know her and thought she'd be make the best damn VP he could find...
What does that say? That's even more disturbing to me. If he really DID believe she was the best choice then I can't follow his logic at all. I suspect it was a bit more cynical... Obama picked a man, I'm going to pick a woman, BUT tell me seriously that there wasn't any more knowledgeable, prepared republican woman out there in the pool to pick from.

I would think most of the professional working women out there (especially on capitol hill) cringed at the end of the first part of the Couric interview. She asked Sarah "I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point, for specific examples in his (McCain) 26 years of pushing for more regulations"
Answer: "I'll try to find ya some and I'll bring em to ya."
I twitched at that point as I have so many times during this election.

I didn't know whether to laugh out loud or throw things at the tv. How could this be possible?
Not only haven't I ever seen anything like this cardboard cut out of a woman but Bush might actually be smarter than her
and that's scary by itself. We've seen what danger there is to having someone in the office that doesn't understand the finer details needed to run the government produces.

But as I said my respect for party line republicans has gone down. This shouldn't have happened.

Still not terribly excited about either of the candidates, but won't vote for McCain and Palin is out of the question.

http://www.boingboing.net/images/x_2008/putinrearshishead.jpg

The other side of the news: The economic bail out will it happen? There's a plan: Dems and Repubs might pass it in the house... maybe.
I think this whole thing stinks. I don't know enough about all the different degrees or dynamics of economics, but I'm trying to figure it out to best of my ability. Small background in Economic anthropology, Marxist anthropology and Comparison of ancient economic theories. But that was a while ago and some of my hardest classes.

I'm not convinced this is going to work. I think if the problem was caught earlier we could have gotten together an econmic think tank, brain storming summit and really figured out a workable far more comprehensive plan to address this problem.
It's a bit late now. Maybe we can avert total meltdown but that doesn't mean this will be at all pleasant.
In fairness there were people screaming about this quite some time ago but they were ignored.
This country isn't run on industry as much as magic money. Yes, credit is necessary but not like this.
Everybody seems to think the government is bad and that regulation is equally bad but... you simply can't expect any company to regulate itself if the goal of the system is ultimately pure capitalism.
Extreme capitalism without restraint creates abuse of power, people and money.
It does need some regulation especially when it's success or failure can change the future of the very country it exists in.
Capitalism, market economy, and democracy are three different things.

At the risk of sounding naggy... Americans need to stop buying into the bastardized version of the American Dream.
My parents philosophy was simple: if you didn't really need it you didn't buy it. If you didn't have the money for it you definitely didn't buy it. The only thing you could borrow money for was a home or a car, maybe college but you were expected to work. You avoided overextending yourself and here's the missing part: the banks didn't approve of giving out risky loans.

We've done it too. We owe too much money. Wish we didn't but we're working on it.

George Carlin might have said it the best:

"They call it the American Dream for a reason...
You have to be asleep to believe it."

Everyone buys so much stuff they don't need. Computers, ipods, clothes, cars, jewelry... tvs, expensive cable, cell phone plans... on and on. It's to the point that whole industries depend on our need to have all this junk so if we were to stop buying it there's a huge problem. But a lot of these items aren't even made in this country anymore. the profit is made by a company who produces something overseas, imports it here and then makes a profit selling it to Americans.

The whole system is bad and we've been running on borrowed time for quite a while now.
Still trying to decide if this bail out is a good idea or not. I wish it wasn't let go until it was a real impending disaster.

All right, I'm going to go for now.

Have a lot to do today.

Later,

Laura


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Thirty-eight days to E-Day...

Going to the movies.

Pure escapism.
I'm entitled to distraction once in a while.
Or maybe you don't think so, doesn't matter going anyway.

Eagle Eye
Probably a horrible last movie to see before Economic Armageddon

But I like fantasy action adventures...

Later.

Thirty-nine days to E-day... the not so great debate.

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I'm sorry but you know I watched the presidential debate because I couldn't have missed it barring family emergency.

Gut reaction here after watching the whole thing and nursing my third Long Island Iced Tea in the safety of my home.

It was as bad as I expected it to be in the sense that I don't like either of them.

I would say to Senator Obama something that bothers me about most liberals... stop trying to seem the most reasonable all the time... stop being so politically correct when someone is unduly criticizing you. You get no gold stars for not adequately defending your own abilities.
What is wrong with you that you let someone continually say unchecked that you "don't understand" something that you clearly do understand.

I only have a Master's degree from NYU and if anyone kept saying I "didn't understand" or that I "was naive" and didn't know what I was talking about I would have taken them to task for it directly. Politely perhaps but in no uncertain terms. I believe Hillary would have done this hands down. Even if my own husband argued with me stating I had no idea what I was talking about because I was naive and didn't understand the issue... (implying that I btw was either stupid or uninformed) I would have stated calmly and very clearly why I was more than qualified (or depending on the issue at hand maybe even more qualified to hold my opinion and explain why my belief was valid.)

Here's what I think Obama should have said:

Excuse me John but you keep saying that I'm naive and don't understand the issues we are discussing. Perhaps you feel I'm elitist or stupid but I'm neither and I want you to stop saying something that is blatantly untrue. I have experience in the senate, as a "community organizer" I have degrees from both Columbia university and Harvard Law School. I struggled as you have against difficult odds and through hard work attained the place I am today. I'm here for the common man. The working class that is trying to make the American Dream work for them and is having a really tough time of it. I do understand John, I really truly do. Don't insult where I have come from and the American dream that I have tried to attain in this country by attacking my ability. I assure you bitch (okay so maybe I would have left bitch out but...) I do understand the issues as well or better than you do sir. Let's stick to the issues and let the American public judge their value. I personally may think that you're not in touch with the everyday lives of the American people and I may not believe your answers are adequate or show the depth that you should show for all your experience in government but I'm not repetitively calling you inadequate so you should show me the same respect Senator McCain you know better.

Now having said all this. Let me state what I really think about this whole thing, this whole sham of an election.

I've stated before that I supported Hillary. I would even vote for Bill Clinton again if it was possible, hell, at this point I'd probably even vote for Roger... (remember the brother?) well maybe I wouldn't, but you catch my drift.
So I can't vote for any Clinton's so here's how I really feel.

I don't really like Obama but I could live with him as president if I needed to... Biden eh, he has the experience and if something happened to Obama I'm fairly sure he could step in.
BUT I really don't like McCain. He's out of touch, he thinks we are winning in the middle east, he's a hawk, he lies through his teeth. He was part of the Keating Five and he's even further right and more conservative than Bush.
Thanks but no thanks. I have three sons and I don't want to see them fighting in any wars fueled by oil.

Now I'm not a drinker and maybe it's my LI Iced Tea talking and I'll like as not get into trouble here but:

What the fuck? And yes, I do swear sometimes, so shoot me (read as: deal with it damn it.)

Neither was great, neither was particularly presidential although compared to Bush a ten year old would be better.

For me it comes down to the crazy VP Palin.
I wouldn't vote for her if she was the very last woman on the earth.
I don't want her anywhere near the presidency of the United States.

So folks, that decides the whole thing for me:
Old man not in good health with a right leaning wing nut for VP that could get in.

No way
No how
No McCain
No Palin.

Amen yup.

One more LI iced tea , a short debate with family
and then off to bed

Will worry more tomorrow.
Done for tonight.

G'night

Laura


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Forty days to E-day...

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I have to stop in this morning to say that I saw two things all ready that got my attention...

1) Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin. Sorry but I really have tried to give Palin at least a thoughtful listen, tried to reserve judgement on her at least personally. Kept it on a political/experience/platform level but she just doesn't inspire any confidence in her potential to be presidential. Isn't this election done for yet? Seriously? She hems & haws, struggles for answers and pulls out parts of information that they've been cramming into her for weeks now. This is what you would expect when you pick someone totally untested and throw them to the wolves of Washington. What was McCain thinking? I guess we'll never know. Even McCain is sounding less presidential these days. She looks like a deer with lipstick in the headlights (or perhaps a moose). Maverick pitbull indeed.

2) McCain said loudly that he would have a suspension of his campaign and not run attack ads. I woke up this morning and turned on the tv to find a nasty attack ad against Obama first thing... and of course it was approved by John McCain. I have no way to know if it went out nationally or not but it was definitely aired in Connecticut. I suppose if criticized for this new twist on honesty he'll say they ran it without his permission. So I guess his own campaign people don't watch the newscasts, read the newspapers or get phone calls or memos from McCain. Nope they didn't get that e-mail did they?
This election is a mean spirited sham.

McCain is not going to agree to the debate, there's no doubt about it.
Will they completely cancel it, or offer up the Palin/Biden debate in it's place?
This financial bailout crisis is going to be used to avoid anything but photo ops for McCain/Palin.
Straight talk express indeed. I suppose if asked about the debate McCain would answer "You know when I was a prisoner in Vietnam I couldn't have any presidential debates." Seems to be his answer for lots of things why not that?

I've never seen anything quite like this in an election before in my life, nasty ads and bullshit, yea we've seen definitely seen that before but the overall calculating cynical "say and do whatever you want to, truth be damned attitude" of this election
The past two elections were bad but Bush was never painted a hero. We cannot as a country afford another 4 years of these republicans. Perhaps they could soul search and come up with a reasonable and fair candidate and stop making their prime directive polarizing the American public.

This financial crisis is going to get worse no matter what they do at this point. Will a bail out avert a full blown recession or depression?
Well that's the trillion dollar question isn't it?

Let the stress begin,
Coffee time for now.
Back later.

What's in store for us today?

I don't have a problem with people's sexual preferences but seriously could Clay Aiken go back in the closet and stay there?
I had to say that I'm sorry. I guess society hasn't accepted homosexuality (or bisexuality) yet or it wouldn't matter if you were in the closet or not. No one would need to be "outed." And they could get married and then divorced just like everyone else.
At the risk of being called a bleeding heart liberal yet again (and I'm not by the way. I lean both conservative and liberal depending on the issue) institutionalized prejudice is not a desired position for a democracy in the land of the free. Hate crimes are called hate crimes for a very good reason.

Back again at 11:10pm:

What a three ring circus this election is:

Biden thinks the fireside chats were on everyone's TV and forgets Herbert Hoover.
Palin answers four questions (well sortof) from reporters... does this count as a first press conference?
Obama Bitches out McCain
McCain bitches out Obama
McCain blows off Letterman for Couric, forgets suspension of campaign and runs anti-Obama ad
Palin gains expertise in foreign affairs via osmosis,
The financial bail out: yes-no-yes-maybe-no... not today...
Presidential debate yes-no-yes-maybe-no-?
Vice Presidential debate Yes-no-yes-no-maybe-?
Palin says everyone's waiting for McCain to give opinion on the bail out, wait, what?
The republicans should adopt Lieberman and the dems should disown the impossible child.
Bush imperative: Bail out Wall Street right now, right away, we need to save the economy from the evil doers, or just save the evil doers... heh, heh.
Lies, lies and more lies.
Have the damn debates, all of them. All Obama & McCain get to do is vote on the bail out. Presidential indeed.
Political posturing is starting to look like a fight in the kindergarden sandbox over who kicked sand at who.

And to think I tried to teach my children as they grew up to stand by their beliefs, be fair, learn from your mistakes and tell the truth. Because telling the truth was more important than being right or wrong. The truth was the truth, a lie was a lie.
What a complete ass I must have been to teach nonsense like that. What the hell was I thinking?

The American public deserves more than this. Probably not going to get anything better just more of the same.

Good Night,

Laura


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Every day I think it's going to settle down but it doesn't... or forty-one days to E-Day

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Today was a busy day in politics no doubt about it.
Just keeps getting more and more unreal this reality we seem to be in.
Welcome to the twilight zone.

FBI is investigating the companies (AIG, Fannie Mae , Freddic Mac, etc.) for possible illegal activity. Ongoing.

McCain announces he's suspending his campaign to go to Washington to deal with the bailout and wants Obama to do the same. What? Wait, how do you cancel your campaign? Isn't that what your VP candidate and other key figures carry on for you when you can't be there or do you suppose he's shutting down the whole campaign machine completely?

Then I hear the bombshell that McCain also wants to cancel the presidential debate on Friday.
(Like I'm supposed to believe that congress will be there until 9pm Friday night.)
No, no, no.

My guess that the goal would be to permanently cancel the debate which would only leave two presidential debates for the people. You know how hard it would be to reschedule a silly old debate in such a short time.
Now if they could only figure out a way to wriggle out of the Palin/Biden debates, wait... they might be able to come up with something. I'm so sick of this whole thing. Palin is either in hiding or in exile I'm not sure which.
Photo ops that's all we get.

So of course given all the drama McCain cancelled Letterman tonight which I thought was fine and wasn't surprised.
Until I turned Letterman on and found that he was really pissed at McCain.
I wondered why since they got along fine in the past on the show.
Seems he personally called Letterman today and told him he was canceling because he had fly back to Washington to work on the mortgage crisis so he wouldn't be able to make it on the show.
Except for the fact that he was over doing an interview with Katie Couric instead. Really classy John...

Seems the straight talk express is on the wrong track and Running on Empty. lol
McCain campaign has gotten cease and desist using our music from Heart, Orleans, Van Halen and Jackson Browne. Way to go McCain, why bother with a silly little thing like permission to use someone's music

Apparently Lieberman has been taken to task by some of the Democratic State officials from Connecticut that want him to resign from the democratic party.
Damn apparently I'm overly harsh because I thought he should be tarred, feathered and exiled from Washington.
This issue won't come up again until after the election if it does at all. Yes, Joe's entitled to his opinions on the election, it's a free country but does that extend to being a member of one party and getting to speak at the other party's convention while criticizing his own party's candidates? I think not.
And how did Lieberman respond to this? He said "I thought that was something that only happened in Russia." What?
You don't get censured for being a traitor to your own party? No one wants to send him to a gulag in outer Mongolia. Lieberman just can't seem to make his mind up who he is these days.
Sounded like a republican to me... fit right in with the others at the convention.

Would it be too much to ask to have someone make sense during this election?
Sorry if you disagree but Obama is still the candidate that sounds the most reasonable and rational to me.

Bush himself gave a short speech tonight without any questions after it, obviously read from a teleprompter.
He wants immediate action from congress, right now! Hurry up! Quickly get on board! We don't have time to debate!
Hmm, where in the world have I heard this frantic urgency from this administration before???
The bail out in first form is somewhat unconstitutional if I'm reading it right...
I'm very distrustful of bailing out the people that caused the mess in the first place.
Great opportunity for the Keating Five Senator McCain. No conflict there.
Funny how Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared but reprimanded for using "poor judgement."
That investigation bothered me quite a bit. But who knows right?

Watched Bill Clinton on a number of shows (Letterman, Stewart) and he's sounding like his old self again (welcome back).
I would vote in a New York minute for Bill Clinton again. He still can explain his beliefs and plans for action better than Bush, Cheney, McCain and Palin combined into one person. Bill Clinton has a functioning brain (although other parts of Clinton’s body apparently functioned well too and caused him a little bit of trouble, I’m not concerned with those parts.) This ability to hold intelligent conversation has been missing from the last 8 years of Republican reign and from their current candidates. You may not like everything Clinton did, neither did I, but he faces the future more than these jokers. At least Bill Clinton can speak and carry a conversation and work with others… and does get the economy.
Glad to see the old Bill Clinton back on track.

McCain puts me to sleep lately and Palin just annoys me, she says nothing really new, if she speaks at all.

I'm pretty sure I forgot many things on my mind or in the news today and it's quite possible that I'll reread this post tomorrow and find it fraught with typos and mildly wandering because I'm really exhausted and could use some of that ellusive thing called sleep.

So with that thought in my mind
G'night,

Laura


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Forty-two days till E-day

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So the opinions on the economic bailout are all over the place...
Obama and McCain are both flexing and jockeying for power...
Bitching each other out.

Congress is flittering all about.
Stock market is bumpy to say the least.

Should we bail them out, shouldn't we bail them out?
And what of the AIG bailout? Done the deed, so now what's up?

Palin visits the United Nations, does photo op for a few seconds.
Tries to ban anything but camera without sound or producer, then changes her pretty mind under mild threat from press.
Is it Palin that's handing out the kid gloves or the press coming in wearing them?
And we get to see glossies of the pitbull wearing lipstick (her words not mine) sitting across from a foreign leader like
it means something in the real world. (Is the whole world snickering at us yet?)

Palin meets a few foreign leaders she never thought about before and gains foreign policy and diplomacy experience.
If only I knew that this concept of "absorbing" knowledge through osmosis had legitimacy...
I could have saved myself so much time, effort and borrowed money spent on actually working hard on my Master's Degree.

I would have simply "met" a few professors at NYU and hung out with some MSW's at lunch time, thus allowing me to claim I had experience because "met people" and I could see the social work building at NYU from Washington Square.
I could call myself a social worker apparently and... Poof! I'm now an expert ready for anything... any problem at all.
Forget that naggy old specialty training.

Oh yea, I'm also a published writer since I have a blog...

Have to go tonight,
Very tired, busy tomorrow and I do have a family that occasionally actually needs me.
Imagine that.

G'night,

Laura

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Bailouts... going once, twice, three times... and sold to the American tax payers. (or forty-three days to E-day )

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Still debates all around on the wall street bailout.
Details aren't as of yet nailed down.
Let's hope for some real restraints on lending and how it's handled.
I'm not convinced that this rescue is going to work.
Some economists say it will others qualify with words like "if it works the way it should" then they
point to the fact that nothing like this has happened since the depression.
Which doesn't make me feel that much better because our country and the world was very different in 1929.
Do we really know what's in store for us?
Dow still a mess...
I guess tomorrow we're supposed to hear more.

I think both Obama and McCain need to check their statements about the other.
I'm so sick of the attack ads and all the nonsense.
Lets hope the presidential (and VP) debates have more control and ask the difficult questions we need to have answered
by them all.
And let's hope they both answer honestly instead of criticizing each other and trying to mislead us.
Tell us what you're about. Tell us who you are and what you want to do and why.

Well, one way or the other, in forty-three days this whole thing will be decided for us all.
On the other hand if the last two elections are any example... it'll be very close once again.
It could be contested or lead to the divisiveness we have seen yet once again.

There really aren't red vs blue states... this is simply untrue. It's a made up map that leads to more divisiveness.
The races are fairly close in every state no matter where they are.
Will we ever work together as a whole nation united again being willing to accept the differences of opinion between us all and working towards compromises the work for most people instead of only one group?
We win/You totally lose... great model for diplomacy.

I wonder who'll win the popular vote? Hmm...
I'm surprised we haven't changed to the popular vote in this country since it is really a popularity contest.
Sometimes it seems like the real important issues take a back seat to the hype.

And speaking of bailouts. How about the car industry?
It's also limping along. Why?
Mostly because we didn't retool our factories and make smaller more gas efficient cars.
Also because of the bigger is better mentality.
Did we ever REALLY need SUV's, Hummers and pickup trucks that come in sizes: Large, Huge and What the Hell is that?

If you don't tow boats, haul horses, and depend on your truck for your livelihood then-
you really don't need one.

And what is the alternative to following politics right now?
Mediocre TV premiers and the Emmy's. Where people who act for a living (a truly hard grueling lifestyle) give themselves awards.
And I'm supposed to care I guess. One of a series of award shows that reward "acting like people other than yourself."
Sweet. Lots of people I know act every day. They have to act like their everyday life isn't a struggle to make ends meet.

I wonder if I'll sleep better after the election...

G'night,

Laura

PS: A fond NY farewell to Yankee Stadium!
A lot of people will miss you.
A lot of baseball history happened on that field of dreams.

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Economic bailout... forty-four days to E-day!

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It's very odd that with all that's going on in the economy and the world at this time and
given that the republicans have had such a horrible eight year span of control of the presidency with such poor ratings that
the democrats are having so much trouble burying them in the polls... I really don't understand it.
I have a lot of theories about that but none of them are more than cynical.

Right now the economy is (or should be) a primary concern for all Americans especially the middle class.
Since they will bear most of the burden for the bailout if it doesn't go well.

A few thoughts since I'm still trying to learn as much as I can about the situation as it stands:

1) I'm fairly smart and I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out all the implications of this mess. Economists have no real clue.
2) I've been saying that this economy is based on "magic money" for years. This can't go on forever. (And lo and behold it
really can't)
3) I don't understand why we should give money to the very same people that happily created this mess in the first place.
It's like you wiped out my mortgage, car loan and student loans and said "hey um, whatever you do don't screw up again"
wink, wink.
4) Why aren't the heads of these corporations and the boards being FIRED and replaced? Why are they being rewarded for their
excesses?
5) What's up with the angry lack of compassion for those who are losing their houses? The average person can't understand
the contracts they sign when they get a mortgage, they look to the bank and lawyers to advise them. The bank tells them
they're approved and everything is fine. Bottom line: these people were screwed. Unless you want to ignore that fact.
So while it's true that no one forced them to take out a loan they ultimately couldn't afford: they were NOT advised against
it. If anything they were advised to go ahead with itand not worry their little heads about it.

I recently called the bank about our mortgage to see if we could change a portion of it that was adjustable to a fixed rate.
And I was told by three (yes, three) mortgage representatives that I should borrow even more money in home equity while I was at it and to not go with a fixed rate because adjustable mortgages were cheaper, perfectly sound and they wouldn't go up much at all, regardless of what I heard. One, oh so helpful, person even added that they themselves had an adjustable mortgage and I shouldn't worry at all about it. Needless to say I left the small adjustable loan we have left on the house alone. I actually knew better, how many do? How many did understand when they were throwing loans at people? WHO approved these loans, that's the question isn't it?

It's not only mortgages btw, that is oversimplification. Credit card debt and student loans are problems too. They were throwing money around it seems and taking huge bonuses. Yay, rah, unfettered, deregulated, extreme capitalism... bailed out by socialistic capitalism. Wow. And they'll have fun, fun, fun till daddy takes the money away... but he really wouldn't, would he?

I suppose the republicans are going to keep defending McCain and his choice of Palin for VP in light of this economic disaster. She is definitely up for these challenges eh? I think not. She hasn't got enough experience, education, intelligence or ability to be the most powerful person in the country. But hey, she's a regular person right? That's all you need to run this country.
It's all so discouraging, frustrating and incredible... Hard to believe, but there it is.

This may be a very long few years, and I won't feel any satisfaction being right in my concerns.
Soon we'll be feeling the winter oil bills again. Last year was rough and here we go again.

I'm very disappointed in Rudy Gulliani, he sold the majority of New Yorkers out, and I'm not even surprised anymore.

There must be accountability and oversight. I have no faith in giving the same people that created and contributed to this mess money to "clean up the mess." It's like leaving the cat in charge of the canary AFTER it has tried to eat the canary numerous times before. These CEO's and Boards should be forced out without bonuses and contract bullshit.

Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I understand what a mess we're in. And I understand we need new leadership to get us pointed in the right direction. That direction isn't backwards or more of the same. We are not alone in the world and our "stick" isn't as big or scary as it was when there were only a couple if big powers in the world.

Back tomorrow.

Get sleep while you can still manage it.

G'night

Laura


*

Presidential Election denial for a day...or, Forty-five days to E-day!

*

I have to admit today I've been a bit overwhelmed and underwhelmed by the presidential race.
Normally the news draws me to it regardless of how hard I try to not pay attention.
But I was very adept for once in managing to distract myself from the election details and the economy.
It's quite possible that my avoidance was out of self-preservation
since I felt that my head was going to explode if I listened to any more commentary.

Not much got through my wall of silence today.
I took any quiet moments during the day to digest and try to make sense of the colossal overload of information from the past three weeks or so.
Being a news junkie isn't always desirable, people around you don't really understand.
Sometimes their eyes glaze over and you can almost hear them thinking
"Can't you talk about your last operation, the weather, your neighbors or good god even your children?"

So here it is folks:
My last operation was the removal of my gall bladder... I slept through it and recuperated fast. I don't even miss it one bit.
The weather... Today was a nice early fall day, quite typical of this time of year. Do I seriously have to mention the weather every day?
My Neighbors... Do I have neighbors? I should probably investigate that, I'll look over when I drive by tomorrow.
My children... I have four children, I love them. I even like them usually. They're all doing their own thing and just fine.

Now as for the political scene:
I quit for today but I'll be back tomorrow.
I won't be able to help myself.

G'night

Laura


*

Forty-six days to E-day... or, "Oh my god it is the economy isn't it?"

*

I'm starting to think we're all going to collapse from political exhaustion before we ever get to vote.
The climate in the USA is so confusing at this point.

Some interesting things going on in the country now.
A Federal plan to rescue the banks by purchasing their bad debt.
Bush made a speech which talked about putting taxpayers money at risk to do this.
I think that's a curious statement because last I knew we didn't have any money. We're borrowing at this point.
(Maybe he means our grandchildren's tax money?)
Financial Crisis = Financial Bailout
Hmm... hundreds of billions, not ruling out trillions, of dollars.

I feel like we're all playing Deal or No Deal and no matter what we do we'll
go home with nothing in our suitcase.
So yay, congress is now working on a bill to pass (bipartisan of course) that might be done by the end of next week.
Too bad they didn't see this coming... oh, actually they did have a clue but no one did anything.
Congress, president, CEOs, accountants, investment banks, markets and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) etc., There are many feet to lay blame before, certainly not just one person. There were rumblings but... $$ssshhhh!!!
McCain as a matter of fact was talking about being a deregulator... you know the concept "let them police themselves."
This is going to be very interesting into this New Year, and could get rather scary.
Of course there's an up and downside to this economic bailout "theory." Uh, that would be it might or might not work.
Won't slow the pols down... mudslinging will like as not continue.

The only thing I'm pretty sure this bail out would seem to do reliably is this:
The wealthy, upper crust of these corporations (CEO's Pres. Boards) will save their own home (or homes as the McCase may be)
and retain job security for even longer. Even though it was their mismanagement that got us here in the first place.
The bail out won't help anyone who lost (or will lose) their homes all ready.
Homeless middle-classers? Sucks for you man... shoulda known better. eh?

Technically bailing out "free-market" enterprise isn't a free market, is it?
Socialized Capitalism... I still say. But, of course it's only a "loan" all that money'll be paid back eventually right? Um, right?

Please give me some debates that actually answer important questions and make them stay until they do.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike in Texas one week later and still a mess.
Not quite a Katrina like mess but not exactly what it should be either.
Why is relief for such hard hit places so inefficient? Don't we have emergency contingency plans ready to implement in crisis?

I wish McCain would pay attention to his message and address why we should vote for him as a republican instead of
taking every opportunity to squawk about Obama...
And Obama needs to talk about why we should choose him.
I think Palinmania is finally dropping off. Good! Now maybe she could answer some questions too, without bashing Obama, saying they're ready and not answering the questions. Some "straight talk express." Puhleeze.

Both sides are full of untruths... I still strongly prefer Obama/Biden.
They are far less rigid, less conservative and I see absolutely no reason to reward the Current republican administration with another republican one. McCain didn't run as an independent, he is lock, stock and barrel a republican.
McCain is more of the same.
He'll come in under the "Trojan horse of change" and after elected open the belly and let back out the same old republican he's been all along.

And how about the news item that John McCain wants to take Sarah Palin to the United Nations next week?
So she can (I would guess) claim new foreign experience via osmosis from "meeting" some world leaders?
Isn't it enough that her state is next to Russia? Damn, what more do you people want?

This election is absolutely ridiculous. I don't get it at all. It would be funny if it wasn't REALLY happening.

I continue to support Obama because I could not in good conscience ever vote for McCain.
I've thought it through and can't support such a conservative platform with an agenda like this republican team.
And Palin just isn't presidential material. Maybe someday, (I think not, but...) sure as heck not now.
She tows the party line, says John McCain is wonderful and brings nothing to the ticket other than being a woman.
None of them are Mavericks. Sorry.
McCain may have been one once upon a time (and some would question that) but not now, not at all.


Going to go catch up on the news. I taped some things that I had to miss today.

I fear that if we do this debt producing bail out we will have repercussions that no matter who gets in the white house...
Nothing will be changing for quite some time... though they still could go after Roe vs Wade.

It will produce a longer recession, still will be home foreclosures (this doesn't fix that problem), and a level of financial uncertainty.
I also don't think this is going to be an easy vote for congress, there will be some major disagreement on points.
We shall see.

Unbelievable times these are... We need actual leadership. Keep listening to it all and thinking it all through.

G'night

Laura


*

It seems that each new day brings new political intrigue...

*

I figure that no matter whether you think along the lines of the spectrum
"It's the economy stupid." or "It's the economy elitist."
Most everyone will agree today that "It definitely is the economy."

So there's going to be an $85 billion dollar bail out of AIG, right on the heels of the bankruptcy declaration of Lehman Brothers and the government take ove of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.
Interesting how we're so against socialised medicine but Corporate Socialism jus' ain't a problemo.

So it's been yet another politically charged day, who would expect anything less?

How about the very wealthy prior Hillary supporter Lynn Forester de Rothschild switching her support over to McCain. Interesting... she stated it was because she "loved her country." What?
Okay this election is just getting too weird and unbelieveable.
The issues that belonged to Hillary (healthcare, working class issues, prochoice, etc.) do not belong to the McCain/Palin docket at all.
And on the other side of the stage (because we must maintain the tit for tat nature of this thing) is what Carly Fiorina, the woman dismissed by the board of Hewlett-Packard who stumps for McCain, said when asked about Palin said she felt Palin wouldn't be able to run a company like Hewlett-Packard. She qualified this with adding that neither could McCain, Obama or Biden but I imagine she'll be delegated to the background of this campaign. Didn't run the party line. Palin is superwoman afterall.

The economy is more than just "troublesome" to me. We are in serious debt and denial is not going to keep us going... the national debt is staggering and continues to increase at an alarming rate.
Why we're considering the republicans for a third and even more conservative term I just don't know. Deregulation of many industries has caused a weakness in our economy that we're starting to see the effects of now. McCain still talks as if we take care of the top corporate levels the bottom will follow. Trickle down...
Obviously while McCain sympathizes with the middle class, he wouldn't any longer know what it was like unless he found himself back in it (and that isn't happening.) Forget the lower class, and for those who are out of jobs, he offers conservatism and more Horatio Alger bullshit. Doesn't work for most people who are so busy trying to pay their bills and on such a tight budget they can't afford getting sick or these job losses.
Is McCain going to stop the bleeding of jobs from this country over seas?
Does anyone care?

Well, the housing market is in horrible shape. Construction down, foreclosures, and the bailout (sorry I guess it's a takeover which is a spin word for sure) of the mortgage lenders.
Heard on the news the other day that there was one good thing in all the bad housing market news.
My ears perked up. The commentator stated that "There are now many good buys out there to be had if you're looking for property." Yea. This is true I suppose, but again it's rather cynical.

"Gee honey," Ann said as she and her teenager (from her first marriage) helped ready her 3 children for school. "Listen to that on the tv, we could get a good deal on a home if only we had some credit, extra money and weren't two months behind on the rent and heating bills."
David sighed and stood up. "Yea, that's like saying that the bright side of our situation is that at least we won't go bankrupt since we don't own this house in the first place. Homeless perhaps but..." Everyone piled out the door leaving everything quiet. It was that night that their 16 year old daughter told them she was pregnant. All ready six people in three tiny bedrooms, this will go well. Yea, I feel your pain common man, you have my best wishes and we know you'll do what's right. Somehow we'll help you out, vote for us (and I have some land I'd like to sell you in the Florida swamplands.)

I have a problem with Palin. If she were to become president unexpectedly, she would have to rely on others to help her out with the many things she'd have to be up to speed on. Do you realistically think McCain is going to surround himself with bunches of mavericks?

Today I woke up to Good Morning America with Robin & Diane's sisterhood of the traveling rail reporters.
I had no idea really about this multi-state trek but honestly I can't read, watch and know everything can I?
So, McCain was interviewed and he did say he would like to repeal Roe VS Wade.
He states he's Prolife and feels that "We need to ask young American women who are faced with this terrible decision that we will help them have the courage to bring a baby into this world and we'll have the compassion & help them in every way that they can address it... So look, this is an issue that we have to change the culture of America those of us who respect the rights of the unborn that's the thrust of our effort and I'm happy to note that we are adoptive parents and it's enriched our lives and we hope that that will encourage others to do the same."

Might it be too much for you to elaborate what that idea of "we have to change the culture of America" is all about. Change it to what exactly? What culture pray tell? I thought we were the melting pot country.

Maybe installing lifetime conservative judges to the Supreme Court of the USA with an agenda to overturn Roe VS Wade doesn't bother people but I resent the implication that I don't respect life by believing that the government should not legislate my personal choices on reproductive rights as a female. This upsets me so very much. I don't like abortion as a means of birth control BUT there are instances where a woman might need to make a very heavy and difficult decision to terminate an early pregnancy. Don't assume that it's only "young women" in trouble that might seek an abortion, there are many other scenarios. The government should not be in the business of forcing... yes, forcing... women to have children.
It's far too complicated an issue to belittle others decisions without knowing their circumstances.
Abstinence only didn't work in the 20's, 40's, 60's, 80's or today.

Well let's see what tomorrow brings.

48 days to E-day and counting...

G'night
Get some sleep if you can.

Laura


***

Forty-seven days to E-day and counting... Election overload.

***

I'll take this opportunity to apologize for the number of posts here in "one day."
I actually cut and pasted my blog from elsewhere that I started a few days ago.
I prefer the format here, so here I am.
After today I'll be back on schedule for my daily posts.
Also sorry they're so long. I don't seem capable of making a short post, too much on my mind I guess...
I don't believe out shouting, name calling, personal attacks, or constant interrupting are legitimate tactics in debate.
Actually I think they're a sign of fear, anger, disrespect and distraction from having a true discussion on a topic.

I thought this was worth listening to in light of the Dems that went over to the McCain side yesterday:

She sounds so knowledgeable... Hmm...
Still a lot of things going on in politics.

How about that Sarah Palin challenging a "Stump the Candidate" session at the town hall with McCain?
Too bad that WAS her answer to the question asked (being her qualifications/knowledge in foreign policy).
After saying that she took the mic down and turned while McCain took over by talking about her knowledge of energy policy...
Which is only nominally better than her nonexistent Foreign policy knowledge.

Stock market up a bit again today... Still don't feel better... regular see-saw effect it seems these days.
Or is it a roller-coaster? Where it stops (up or down) no body knows.
Who's lending us all this money to take over or bail out these companies?
Last I knew we didn't have any money and owe a ridiculous amount to China et al.


On Tuesday morning, McCain said the U.S. economy is "fundamentally sound." McCain later in the day sought to clarify the remark, saying that it was the American worker who was "fundamentally sound."

I guess by calling the American worker "fundamentally sound" it means he thinks we're not totally crazy???
I'm beginning to wonder...
And Obama/Biden make more and more sense to me.


Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow...

Laura

Palin certainly is polarizing. Is this really a good thing?

I can't help wondering if Obama would have done better with Hillary Clinton on the ticket...
Put an end to this nonsense. Now I guess we'll never know.
Though I have a renewed respect for her fortitude and her campaigning for Barack.
As a politician and as a woman she is light years in front of Palin.
Not to mention that she's a Yale Law School graduate.

So today instead of focusing on the candidates we focused on some of the countries serious issues.
The Stock Market and AIG's distresses following on the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

This economic disaster was a (unpleasant) break from the so-called Palinmania we hear about every damn day.
I wish we could stay focused on the issues not the he said- she said drama.

And stop criticizing Tina Fey, she was fantastic as Palin.
It's satire, it's supposed to be a characterization of the real person.
They do it to Bush, and all past presidents.
It's not like Hillary's depiction was all that flattering either.
But I'm not screeching about it.
Oooo unfair, Oooo awful, Oooo how ever will they survive such parody.
Honey if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. That's political satire get used to it.

Oh and I love the idea that Palin doesn't have to answer the tough questions either simply because she's a woman or
is it simply because the media doesn't always like her (or anyone else it seems all that much).
Oh let's cry about it little girl... let the good old boys protect your lil self.
You call yourself Sarah Barracuda and compare yourself to a pitbull with lipstick and still hide behind the men's shirts.
Give me a break. Give us a real look at who you really are Sarah Pale-in-comparison to Hillary.
Set strong women that can take care of themselves back into the fifties why don't you?

Even Obama has gone on O'Reilly, I suppose you think that was a cake walk, eh?
McCain is a war hero as he takes every moment to tell us again and again...
How exactly will he change the mess his own party has made of things?
And REALLY tell us how he's different cause his answers go so far off track sometimes Bush seems to make sense.

The platform seems to be: Vote for me I'm a POW and the other guy will be bad for you all, besides we got the woman!
This isn't an actual platform.

Somebody start asking the hard questions please.  The republicans seem to believe it doesn't matter and that the
questions are unfair to ask the candidates for the highest elected offices in the country. Good God, really?
The presidency of the USA isn't an entitlement program and the republicans deserve the added scrutiny!
Wake up.

Let's see some debates and hope the answers are forced out of them if need be.
There's nothing at stake but our future as a nation and the direction we may go in...
Doesn't sound trivial to me.

This isn't only all about Roe VS Wade, gay rights, racism, sexism or conservative VS liberals. Those are red flag issues designed to distract us from the things that could in theory put our country and it's world position in jeopardy.
It's about everyone's rights, future military policy, education, competitiveness in a global market, dependence on oil, creating green technology, the sinking middle class, mortgage crisis, job losses, inadequate health care, declining cutting edge technology, and the economy. ie: the future.

We deserve better than this nonsense.
A democracy means WE the PEOPLE have the RIGHT to ask questions and to have them answered honestly.
Not with sarcasm, untruths, diversion, avoidance and distraction.

Both sides need to start straight talking, one side has done more than the other so far anyway.
Who's tossing around words like: arrogance and elitism?
And would someone explain to me what exactly "small town values" are?
I imagine it depends where you live but I thought it meant coming to each others aid with a supportive and caring community. Reaching out to those in need and attempting to understand and value differences as well as similarities.
Was I wrong?

G'night

49 nights till E-day
Get some sleep you might need it

We need far more straight talk and less spin then we're getting.

I have many unanswered questions for the candidates.
I'm hoping they will get around to them very soon.

I'm going to attempt here to explain how incredibly discouraging I find the current election.
Actually I've been unhappy with the last 20 years or so with our political system.

I've been reading and listening to both sides of the spectrum and those in between for quite a while now.
If you want to get a clearer idea of the political machine as it is in the USA you have to understand the issues.
Listening to Republican, independent and Democratic concepts and policy beliefs is essential.
Everyone can stay one sided and stick with one parties rhetoric and block out the others.
No party or person is ever completely right.

I listen regularly to BBC, FOX, CNN and PBS news as well as read newspapers and magazines.
My regulars run the gamut from Bill O'Reilly to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Chris Matthews and Brokaw to Limbaugh, Hannity and I've even listened to Coulter ("If I must" of course.)

Honestly I'm a Democrat because I want to vote in the primaries.
I was a strong Hillary Clinton supporter and moved to Obama because of the extreme conservatism of the
McCain/Palin ticket. As a country I believe we must not cross the lines of separation of church and state.
I do not see Sarah Palin as a qualified presidential candidate.
I was a stay at home mother of four and this was very difficult at times for us, I also managed recently to go back to school at NYU and get my master's degree in Social Work... (would you like to make fun of or belittle my life experiences here?) The kids went almost everywhere I did before they went to school. I do not get a gold star because I had four children.

I don't find abortion a pleasant thing but I do not believe I have the right to force someone to have a baby they
can't support or want. I resent the part of the religious right that feels they have the right to control others beliefs on this subject. Forcing a woman or young girl to have a baby that is the result of incest, rape or is severely disabled without compassion for the unique situation of each mother... does not belong in our laws. There are certain situations that even I would consider an abortion... would it be in my family's interest (remember family values) to risk my life if having a baby would threaten my life and take away their mother?

Sex education and availability of birth control would be preventative for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Seems to me that many conservatives point to birth control as causing promiscuity when in reality unplanned pregnancies are common without birth control being available. Also the divorce rate isn't any better across the board.

If abortion is outlawed and considered a crime then what's next?
Will you arrest a woman that drinks while pregnant, jail one that is a drug addict?
Charge a woman with murder if she miscarries because of one of these issues?
The wealthy will always have options (even illegal ones) that the more "common folk" won't.

If you believe in creationism, I don't have a problem with you at all. I do not believe the same things.
And that's okay. But creationism doesn't belong in the public school system.

I'm a supporter of our troops wherever they are. They're engaging in an amazing service for their country.
This does not mean I'm unpatriotic if I do not and have not from the start been in favor of invading Iraq.
This country was founded on freedom of speech and freedom to disagree.
I'm proud that John McCain had such a service record in Vietnam and am sorry that he had to endure such pain as a POW. There are unfortunately many that were permanently disabled, severely injured or captured during that same war. Many others gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country when they were killed in the line of duty.
Again I respect and admire Senator McCain for this service and all he went through on his journey back to home,
but I do not respect the policies he offers to fix our national debt or improve our general condition (when we can get details of exactly what it is he stands for besides just saying Obama would be bad for the country.)

I'm truly hoping some of the debates have some hardball questions for the candidates.
I beg the reporters to take off their gloves and ask the questions that matter to our existance as a world power in the future. Screeching distractions about sexism, ageism, racism is just a detraction from the important issues.
We should ask them hard questions and demand adequate answers not just the same old rehashed beans.
And they should continue debating until all the questions listed are answered completely.
No interrupting each other and no long drawn out nonsense... if they're off track bring them back to the question at hand. No more circular reasoning, back to the beginning and nothing is really said.
The answer to these most serious problems in this country is NOT that the other guy will be a bad choice.

I don't care if Palin is a woman or not, hey, try treating her the way Hillary was treated often enough.
Take off the gloves and demand that these candidates tell us how they are TRULY different from each other and this current debacle of an administration. Demand sensible answers and solutions. Details, it's in the details NOT the hype. The negativity is just bullshit all around.

I don't care that McCain is a war vet or that Biden has been a career politician or that Obama is more liberal or black.
I care about who will bring our country into the inevitable global future. Who will deal with our economic issues, the energy crisis, the slipping of jobs overseas, loss of jobs here at home and inadequate healthcare coverage of our people. The rising cost of educating our children, going to college. Getting us out of the middle east and keeping us safer at home. We must fix our educational system all around, before our intelligence and technical ability is eclipsed by other countries who are becoming more educated and innovative every year. What the hell are we waiting for?

We cannot afford financially the war in Iraq or the loss of more military personnel (even if we had a draft) to fight every perceived threat in this world. We are not an isolated country nor are we guaranteed a place in global economy simply because we are from the United States. The internet doesn't allow for us treading water forever.

I got very upset when the choice of Sarah Palin was made primarily because she was a woman and only because the Democrats didn't choose Hillary. How cynical. Yes, she's a woman, so am I, so what?
And for a political party that howled that about Barack Obama's celebrity, the ones that launched the negative ad juxtaposing his image with Paris Hilton and Britany Spears (could they really believe he's anything like those vapid examples of women?) It doesn't seem to bother them now that McCain is taking a back seat to Palin signing posters and getting the attention. They affectionately call it Palinmania. Are they running McCain or Palin?

The hypocrisy in this presidential election runs deep. It's discouraging to see this country deliberately torn apart gleefully for political gain.
And speaking of hypocrisy... Joe Lieberman should be run out of Washington and please take Rudy Gulliani with you Joe...
I'm from NY and I once liked Rudy, but seriously. Could he possibly be more obnoxious by ridiculing "cosmopolitan" and "community organizers" in the same breath? How dare you, I found that both hypocritical and elitist at the same time if were going to name call. Thanks Rudy, I'm so proud of that speech. If that didn't offend every social worker out there in the trenches trying to make a difference across this country, then I'm not sure what would. Give me a break.

I completely resent the implication of being called elitist? Why would I be seen as elitist? Because I'm educated and a social worker, or because I live in a very small town of around 1000 people or simply because I live in New York State where 9-11 hit so very hard?

I can't imagine any leader from the mayor (or governer) of NYC up to the president of the country not stepping up to his job in light of the attacks of 9-ll. Everyone stepped up to the plate and was supportive and helped out including our leaders. Would we expect anything less? Now we're throwing all goodwill to the side in this election?

Listen to all the candidates carefully. To what they say they believe and what they plan to do, then make a considered and informed decision on which candidate for president will make the best choices on the future of our country. Consider the issues that are vital to the country not just the standard camouflaging of them with hot button/red flag issues. There are no red or blue states, just majority leanings. It's a close race in most of the states and every state is made up of people neither red or blue just Americans. It's a deliberate polarization of the people yet again.

The issues have nothing to do with whether there is a woman, war veteran, black man or white man running for office.

It disturbed me that McCain pandered to the NASCAR crowds in New Hampshire today saying " “Thank you NASCAR for your support of the men and women who are serving our nation in uniform around the world.” Okay.
The other thing he recently said: "You know that there's been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall St. And it is -- people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times." Fundamentals?
I find this an understatement given the mortgage crisis, failure of banks and todays failure of Lehman Brothers.
Seriously John, that's it? Barack you want to add some more to this?

I'm remembering our $800 a month almost unaffordable oil bills last winter and here we go again...
Is the answer drilling for more oil and building more nuclear power plants that won't help us realistically for many, many years? Or are we going to seriously work on renewable and green energy to free us?
I picture JFK rolling in his grave with all this bull... with his leadership we went to the moon and suddenly now
we can't do anything more remarkable than "drill baby drill." How sad for us.

This country is great because of it's democracy not necessarily because of unbridled greed of extreme capitalism.

I invite discourse here. I'll try to post every day until our election of a new president in November.
Do not waste anyone's time by name calling or belittling anyones beliefs.
No one will reunite our country by denying we're all different and all our opinions valuable.

I'm sorry that this post was so very long. But I have a lot to say.
There's so much going on in this election it's amazing. I wish more of it was in a good spirit.

G'night everyone

Laura