Saintless

Here’s Barack Obama’s message to Americans:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONM7148cTyc]

Here’s his plan, as mentioned in the video. It’s hard to get much in a commercial, even when it’s a 2-minute commercial. The starts off by presenting the problem:

The Problem

Wages are Stagnant as Prices Rise: While wages remain flat, the costs of basic necessities are increasing. The cost of in-state college tuition has grown 35 percent over the past five years. Health care costs have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years. And the personal savings rate is now the lowest it’s been since the Great Depression.

Tax Cuts for Wealthy Instead of Middle Class: The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. At the same time, this administration has refused to tackle health care, education and housing in a manner that benefits the middle class.

And the topics that the plan covers:

• Jumpstart the Economy
• Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
• Trade
• Job Creation
• Support Small Business
• Labor
• Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
• Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
• Reform Bankruptcy Laws
• Work/Family Balance

Given that I work in the tech industry, and I’m very focused on the environment personally, I really appreciate that Obama wants to create green jobs. I’ve said this a lot lately, but if we (America) don’t take the lead and become innovators when it comes to alternative energy and green jobs in general, someone else will. We will have lost the opportunity to continue the tradition of making America great, and being leaders for the rest of the world. We have to do it at some point. Our environment will not sustain our current course of action. Our gas prices will not sustain our current course of action. We have to. And I believe Obama gets that, and realizes there are mutiple reasons for us to head this direction.

There’s a reason why…

Over the weekend Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman, told Bloomberg News that he was “not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money” and that the United States could not afford big tax cuts such as those proposed by Republican John McCain. Alan Greenspan went on to say that the current economic crisis, that began with the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market last year, is so bad that he called it “a once in a century” crisis and will lead to the failure of more firms.

And don’t forget, while the economy is in it’s downward spiral right now, that McCain himself gave the reason why Obama’s plan is better than McCain’s.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_APdK9fgDM]

Olbermann’s special comment tonight was regarding tomorrow’s sad anniversary of 9/11/2001.

First he went into the GOP “9/11™ Tribute” at their convention, and how horrifying it was. The video was not a tribute to the victims of 9/11, their families, or even Americans in general. It was a tribute to the horrific deeds done that day, an attempt to make Americans remember the fear, and their hope was that Americans would then look to Republicans to save them from it happening again.

Doesn’t that make them the Terrorists, because they are attempting to inspire terror in the hearts of Americans, to further their own agenda?

Then he went into how McCain is blackmailing the US electorate with his claim that he can, will and knows how to capture Osama bin Laden. If he knows, what is he holding out for?

Wow, Keith really outdid himself tonight. Way to go!

There’s still a chance to catch the comment again during the 9:00 PM (MDT) hour, or over at MSNBC.

John Amateo, of Crooks and Liars (one of my favorite blogs), wrote a piece on the media’s concept that we’re voting for personalities, rather than policies. It’s a very informative read, most certainly. He ends with this:

This election is about restoring some order to our country. Here’s a memo to the media: Do some segments about POLICY! It matters when we’re actually trying to get jobs, pay bills and feed our families. I can’t make it any clearer than that.

A vote for McCain equals more War.

A vote for McCain equals No universal health care.

A vote for McCain equals a continued collapsing economy.

A vote for McCain equals higher gas prices.

A vote for McCain equals no help for the housing market.

A vote for McCain equals a further erosion of woman’s rights.

A vote for McCain equals ideologue judges being placed throughout the country.

As I put in the comments on the C&L blog, I take exception to the concept that McCain equals higher gas prices.

Ok, it’s true that McCain will bring higher gas prices, but the actual problem is higher energy prices. McCain will not put an emphasis on alternative energy, other than a token nod to it. He is not concerned with environmental impacts of oil drilling, or auto emissions. He is not concerned with how our energy needs have driven foreign policy. He is not concerned with the jobs that alternative energy technology will bring. He just wants to drill, and pretend that will solve all of our problems. In the end, it won’t be just higher gas prices, it will be higher energy prices, all around. And the US will not end up being a leader in current and upcoming technology, as we have in the past. We’ll have missed the boat, and put jobs, national security, and the economy at risk.

At least, according to Paul Begala.

“He says it’s a long-term strategy,” said Paul Begala, the longtime Clinton aide and Democratic strategist. “What he has spent it on, apparently, is just hiring a bunch of staff people to wander around Utah and Mississippi and pick their nose.”

You know, seeing Obama staffers here in Utah, and sometimes staying pretty late, after they’d finished making calls and wrapping up paper work, you’d think that if they were wandering around picking their noses, that I would have seen it. Oddly enough, I guess I missed that part. Or maybe that was just the 2004 election.

What I did see was them reaching to every corner of the state, organizing voter registration, calling campaigns and lots of good that was done both for the Obama campaign and for the Utah Democratic Party. They built on what we had started, and left us with organizing abilities that we did not previously have.

I believe that Utah has lots of potential for the Democratic Party, and that many Utahns, even those who may not vote for Senator Obama, appreciated that we were not ignored. Utah has far more unaffiliated voters than it does for both major parties combined. And though some may have short memories, it’s not been all that long since Utah was considered a Democratic state.

On top of which, the attention given to Utah from the Obama campaign in the primary election greatly helped the chances of Democrats running for state and local offices. People are more involved, and they are willing to work to achieve their goals. Hope, being the tagline of the Obama campaign, is really what we were given. Hope that we could make a difference in our own lives, instead of assuming that wealthy Republicans were going to win anyway, so why bother? Without that type of hope, they will win. But, with it, we are spurred to action, and we will be much better off for it.

And if staffers are brought back to Utah, I’ll buy the Kleenex, just in case.

I just took The Bush-McCain Challenge - an online quiz to see if you can tell the difference between George W. Bush and John McCain. Check it out, and see if you can do any better than I did!

Don’t forget to check out the bonus carrot round!

From ThinkProgress:

The Dallas News reports that already, polling places are experiencing a “crush” of voters for today’s primary elections. The Texas Secretary of State office said that “early voters last week had already surpassed the total early-voting numbers for both the 1996 and 2000 elections,” and that interest is expected to continue today. GOP polling sites, however, “were not as busy.”

I think maybe no one wants to be seen voting for a Republican, even in red states. Thanks to Mark for the witty reply that I turned into the title.

I’ve said over and over since this started that record turnout was the only prediction I would make. And it seems that record turnout on the Democratic side has been the theme through every state so far, and again in Texas. This is bad news for Hillary, I think.

I’m hosting a Watch Party tonight at Mo Diggity’s, and plan to live blog from the party (my first attempt at such a thing). Let me know what you think as the results come in, and I’ll share with the crowd.

And if you want first-hand information on what it’s been like in Texas, read this entry by a guy who’s been in my hometown of Sugarland, TX (aka Houston).

Apparently, taking phone calls while speaking at events are a norm for the GOP, and not just Rudy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yj_okz7ZwI&rel=1&border=0]

As a Christian, I take offense at this. I believe Mike Huckabee is making a mockery of my faith, and my belief in prayer. This video took place at the Republican Governors Association Dinner in 2004. ThinkProgress has the transcript. Talk about mixing politics and religion!

It turns my stomach to think that people believe men like this should run our great country.

Tags: Governor Mike Huckabee

And now for our weekly Republican Coming Out story, we turn to The Columbian:

State Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, admitted to having sex with a man he met at an adult video store in Spokane last week, according to a police report released Tuesday afternoon.

Curtis, 48, is married and has two daughters. The two-term legislator and retired fire department captain was in Spokane last week for a retreat with other Republican lawmakers in preparation for the 2008 Legislature.

During a brief phone interview with Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio on Monday afternoon, Curtis said he did not have sex with the man and is not gay.

Or, maybe I should have titled it “This week’s Republican who doesn’t think sneaking around and having gay sex makes him gay”? Oh, but I like DownWithTyranny’s better “Republican sex mania Richard Curtis can’t quite get the toothpaste back into the tube”.

Madsen, in his report, said Castagna told him that Curtis wouldn’t say what he did for a living.

“I work to help people out,” Curtis reportedly said, before adding, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Doh!

But, hey, it’s ok with his wife…

Castagna said Curtis told him that “his wife knew he liked men when they got married, but she was not into that, so he only did that when he was out of town,” the detective wrote in his report.

I wonder if she knew about “the bag with the nylon rope and toy stethoscope in it”?

(h/t Crooks and Liars)

Tags: Cody "Stallion" Castagna, hypocrites, Richard Curtis

I ran across a diary posted to Daily Kos today about SCHIP, where it talks about the “GOP war against children“.

I posted this comment:

GOP War Against Children?
Ummm, I totally agree with SCHIP, and I think Bush is an ass for vetoing it. Every Republican that voted against it joins Bush in being asses. But I REALLY hate the phrase “war against children”, it’s right up there with the “war on Christmas”. Using that phrase plays right into their hands. Now it’s not an issue of children’s health care, it’s politics. And that phrase is what Faux News would have called it, if the tables were turned.

If Democrats in general choose to play politics in this manner, they’re no better than the Republicans. We have to be the party that’s right, not the party that manages to demonize the other, or we’ll accomplish nothing, and we won’t remain in the majority for long.

Here are the two replies I received:

Baloney–it IS war, stop sugar coating everything
Like it or not, no matter how they cry and scream and howl, the Republicans have declared war on anyone and everyone they’ve declared to be irrelevant to society (which pretty much means everyone but themselves and the deep pockets that are funding them).

Sorry, lying down on the floor acting like a doormat while the Republicans kick our asses isn’t going to cut it for those impressionable votes that we’re after.

Unfortunately
the GOP understands only the language of attacks, character assassination, smear, fear and demonization.
Though I agree we should never stoop to their lowly loser level, we do have to be tough, relentless and unforgiving where the GOP, its ideologies and policies are concerned.

I’m just dumbfounded that these same people who, a year ago, were crying in their beer that the Republicans were playing dirty politics think it’s ok to turn around and do the same thing. I have to say, not all Democrats are doing this, but those that are just piss me off. And beyond that, they won’t accomplish a damn thing with it. In fact, they’ll probably hinder the efforts of the rest of us. No wonder people get burnt out about politics. This is why it took me about 10 years of being an adult to get involved.

And while I’m ranting, this is exactly why I don’t trust Hillary in the White House. To me, she feels like one of “those” sorts of Democrats, and I want someone in there that I can trust to take the high road, and be about more than winning.

Tags: SCHIP, stupid games