Palin For VP- Sexist, Hypocrtical, and Wrong

Republicans have been attacking Barack Obama for being inexperienced. They have stated that Obama has not had the experienced needed to be president. That is why they argue that McCain is the far better choice. He has been in politics for a long time.

But he picks Sarah Palin today for Vice-President.

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

Sarah Palin who has virtually no political experience.

She served on city council for two terms in Wasilla and she was later mayor. The town's population, depending on what news service you prefer places the population between 5,000 and 9,000 people.

This guy I know, who has been a Republican for a long time and who has been utterly and soundly convinced that Barack Obama cannot win told me this yesterday upon the announcement.

"You just won this election," he said. He was extremely angry at McCain and disappointed. Later that night as we talked politics he was doing his best to accept Sarah Palin as VP.

Sarah Palin who, if elected alongside John McCain, would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

McCain has been attacking Obama on Iraq endlessly. McCain has been championing himself as the politician who knows what is right for the conflict. Yet he picks a Vice-President who a year ago had this to say about Iraq.

"I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq," she said.

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin is clearly sexist and politically transparent. He only selected her to appeal to women. Mainly to appeal to the PUMA's (Who I contend are not real Democrats anyway, they are put sore losers and they act like pathetic children) and disgruntled Hillary supporters. Anyone who supported Hillary who votes for McCain because of Palin is directly insulting Hillary Clinton and feminism. Sarah Palin is a great candidate for McCain based on conservative issues. She is a creationist and is strongly opposed to abortion. Hillary would shudder if this woman was a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The selection is sexist because John McCain is using Sarah Palin's being a woman to get votes. He is using her gender for a political purpose. If that is not sexist then I don't know what is. He is clearly exploiting her for political gain.

Palin is also facing an ethics investigation.

It is a scandal..."involving the firing of a state police chief and his reluctance to fire an Alaska state trooper, Palin's former brother-in-law who has been involved in a bitter custody fight with her younger sister."

Let's just look at it one last time. The GOP cannot attack Obama for being inexperienced anymore. Obama has served longer in government on a statewide and national scale than Palin. She is also younger than Obama by 3 years. There goes the age argument as well. And if need be Obama's Vice-President nom Joe Biden would be able to lead us if something happens to Obama. I highly doubt that Palin has the ability to lead the country. I have confidence that Biden can take over the office and execute it well.

I do not see this helping McCain in the long run. He already had the PUMA's and the so-called Democrats who would back a warmonger, an anti-feminist, anti-gay, anti-working class candidate such as John McCain. He already had these people.

That's how I see it.

One of the Best Speeches From Last Night

I may be a little biased with this, but I felt Rep. Dennis Kucinich gave one of the best speeches last night at the DNC. Enjoy. He probably had all this energy built up for the past few months!

Joe Biden Confirmed?

All major news media is reporting now at 12:47 AM that Joe Biden has been asked by Sen. Obama to be his running mate and has accepted.

The official announcement is expected to come via text message around 7 am or 8 am in the morning.

Obama and the vice-president nominee will be at a rally tomorrow in Chicago, Illinois where Obama kicked off his presidential campaign.

Obama/Biden?

We shall see tomorrow morning.

But for right now, it seems Biden is the pick.

How Many Houses Do YOU Own?

John McCain has made his latest gaffe.

He was unsure of how many homes he had. How many homes do YOU own?


"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

According to his staff the McCains owns at least four homes. They are located in Arizona, California, and Virginia.

Truth is that he actually owns seven.

Who is the real elitist now? Both Obama and McCain are far wealthy than you or I.

But one of them can't keep track of how many homes he owns.

And that's John McCain. The real elitist.

McCain tried to save himself from the comment he made about people who make $5 million a year as rich.

McCain had this to say.

“I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionaires.”

So what are you going to do John? Send out the Hallmark Team to judge each family and how "rich" they are in their lives? I'm sure that is going to save Middle America the money they need in tax dollars.

That's how I see it.

Times Leader Voter Panel

In the Sunday paper the Times Leader had a piece about local people becoming a part of the Time Leader's Voter Panel. The Panel would discuss issues important during the election and the election itself. I applied and I'm a part of that panel.

So I'll be in the Times Leader along with about ten other individuals I believe as their Voter Panel.

How Rich is Rich for John McCain?

How about 5 million dollars?

During the forum at Saddleback Church, McCain was asked, "Where do you move from middle class to rich?"

McCain quipped "If you're just talking about income, how about five million?"

The DNC has jumped on this line and issued a great ad attacking him for being out of touch with the average American.

"The video points out that only 1 in 1,000 Americans make $5 million or more a year. Democrats say that McCain's plan to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent would give his own family a tax cut of $370,000, while giving the average middle class family only $319 in savings."

How many multi-millionaires do you know? McCain favoring the rich is no surprise here. So who is the elite one now? I seem to think that the man who favors such large tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the one who doesn't sympathize with middle and lower America as the out of touch elitist.

And that man is John McCain.

A Blog From the Convention

Rita Boyle, the sole Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention, has set up a blog to keep us all informed of her time in Denver.

It was back in January that I met Rita and the other early Obama volunteers. It has been quite an experience for us all being involved in the political process like we were.

I encourage everyone to take a look at Rita's blog. It will be great to have someone locally connected providing us with insight straight from the Democratic National Convention.

Good luck Rita!

Rita's Blog

Will McCain Pick a Pro-Choice VP?

Also would he select a socially liberal VP?

Two men that are speculated to be on his shortlist are former PA Governor Tom Ridge and Senator Joe Lieberman.

They are both pro-choice candidates. Joe Lieberman has scored high on ratings by pro-choice groups.

In 2006 he voted 100% with the interest Planned Parenthood. In 2005 he supported the interests of NARAL Pro-Choice America 75% of the time.

There is no doubt that a pro-choice VP will cause a rift with the more conservative base of the GOP.

However Tom Ridge doesn't agree with that.

“I think that would be up to, first of all, to John to decide whether he wants a pro-choice running mate; then we would have to see how the Republican Party would rally around it,” Ridge said. “At the end of the day, I think the Republican Party will be comfortable with whatever choice John makes.”

McCain now says he is against abortion rights. He didn't take the hardline stance he has now back in the 2000 primaries.

On one hand a pro-choice VP would attract centrist voters. Perhaps even a candidate who has socially liberal positions on certain issues like Sen. Lieberman would attract some liberals.

On LGBT issues Lieberman tends to take a liberal approach.

In 2004 he scored 88/100 by the Human Rights Campaign who are one of the largest LGBT civil rights groups in the country.

He also voted no on the constitutional amendment to ban marriage.

In 2004 Lieberman had this to say

"Although I am opposed to gay marriage, I have also long believed that states have the right to adopt for themselves laws that allow same-sex unions," his statement read. "I will oppose any attempts by the right wing to change the Constitution in response to today's ruling, which would be unnecessary and divisive."

On the issues of guns he received an F from Gun Owners of America in 2007. In 2006 based off of lifetime ratings the NRA gave him an F too.

How would the conservative base of the party feel about someone who has voted on hot button issues liberally?

I don't believe that many conservatives would be okay with Lieberman. I believe he would be a good choice for McCain, but it would infuriate the hard conservative base to know someone who has voted liberally on gay, gun, and abortion hearts is a heartbeat away from the presidency.

In my research for my blog I could not find where Tom Ridge stood on such issues.

A pro-choice candidate alone would be unacceptable for many Republicans. Especially for the evangelical and deeply religious voters that vote Republican.

Who will John McCain select as his VP? I will have a poll posted with the most likely candidates.

Back Home

I'm back home from vacation. I hope everyone had fun back in the Valley. I know I had fun on vacation. Here's to the rest of the weekend!

I Should Be Back Sometime Today

Hopefully...

Enjoy Damien Rice with his song "Woman Like A Man"

Some profanity in the song.

A Triple Dose of Tom Waits

For all you Tom Waits fanatics out there. One of the best song-writers of all time.

I Don't Want to Grow Up



Downtown Train



Waltzing Matilda

The Great Bruce Springsteen

Here is my favorite Springsteen song. Jungleland.

For Real- Okkervil River

One of the best bands around. Here is some Okkervil River.

Daft Punk From Alive 2007

Who can resist the urge to dance?

Freedom- Richie Havens

Enjoy Freedom by Rich Havens. Performed at Woodstock.

As I Sat Sadly By Her Side- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Day two of vacation.

Enjoy As I Sat Sadly By Her Side by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song- The Flaming Lips

First day of vacation. Here is the music video for The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song by The Flaming Lips.

Vacation

Tonight I'm leaving for South Carolina. I'll be gone until the 16th. I scheduled some cool music videos to be posted while I'm away. I hope that everyone has a safe week. Take care everybody!

Me and Sen. Bob Casey

There I am with Sen. Bob Casey. He was a very friend guy. He spent about 20 minutes shaking hands and talking to people after his speech. I was nervous so I just introduced myself and asked for a picture.

Later in the night my closest friend stopped by and I told her that I got to meet Sen. Casey. She said to me "You probably gave him about 30 policy ideas he should consider". I laughed. Now I wish I wasn't so nervous. I would've loved to have chatted with Sen. Casey for a minute or two.

Pictures from the Opening

Senator Casey takes the small raised platform.


Maryanne Petrilla and Eddie Day Pashinksi


Eddie Day Pashinski and Bob Casey






Sen. Bob Casey arrives (Above).




Eddie Day Pashinski is the gentleman in the suit (Above)

Maryanne Petrilla is on the right (Above)

Opening of the Wilkes-Barre Campaign Office

I went tonight. I showed up around 6:45 and the office was already packed. It only grew as the time went past 7 PM. Many local politicians showed up. I recognized most, but there were some that I did not.

Rep. Eddie Day Pashinksi
County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla

There was also a representative from Paul Kanjorski and a representative for Mayor Tom Leighton.

Senator Bob Casey showed up and he gave a speech. The enthusiasm for Sen. Casey for encompassing and fantastic, but the mention of Sen. Obama's name drew thunderous applause and cheering.

The passion and the enthusiasm in the crowd was immense. With people inside the office and people outside chatting there must have been anywhere from 50-80 people at the peak of the event.

The diverse crowd's passion and integrity is a clear indication that Pennsylvania will be a hard fought campaign. We will do our best to succeed in our home state. I am confident we will see Pennsylvania go blue again.

This has been a historical year for America. We had a Mexican-American, a woman, and a black American amongst the candidates for president. For the first time in our history it became clear that one of the nominees for a major party in the USA was going to be a woman or a black America.

Those of us involved in the campaigns of Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have been part of a major moment in history. Those of us involved in the campaign of Barack Obama are playing our part in a historic moment. Nobody will remember us in the history books. Maybe we will forget each other years from now. But we will never forget that moment when we made history.

And we cannot wait to say "President Obama".

We have 88 days to go until Election Day. Let's get to work.

Yes we can and yes we will.

Musharraf faces impeachment

Pakistan's ruling coalition today formally announced moves to begin impeachment proceedings against the country's president, Pervez Musharraf.

I say good riddance to him. I hope they dispose of this man. Most likely he was involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Factions within the Pakistan intelligence service might have been behind the assassination of the country's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, sources within MI5 told Scotland on Sunday last night.

Of course he and his government have done little to stop Al-Qaida.

The US last month complained that "rotten" elements in the Pakistani intelligence service were aiding the Taliban. While the new civilian government tried to comply with US demands by bringing the intelligence service under its remit, the military and Musharraf blocked this.

Musharraf's advisers said he was prepared to "use his constitutional powers" to stop impeachment. Under powers he gave himself, Musharraf can dismiss the parliament - which should, in theory, be followed by fresh elections.

However impeachment is still uncertain.

The coalition may have the numbers required for impeachment, but it is tight. It would need a two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of both houses of parliament. The upper house, the senate, still has Musharraf supporters making up half its numbers. In the lower house, the coalition easily prevails.

Too bad that we won't see Bush and Cheney impeached.

Grand Opening of Obama Headquarters

This is the Grand Opening of the Wilkes-Barre Obama Headquarters. Come meet the fantastic organizers, men and woman, locals and from across the country, who will be the driving force behind the election here in North Eastern Pennsylvania. These are people you want to meet. We have an awesome office with plenty of room to work out of and volunteer in. There will be a volunteer meeting on Tuesday, August 5th at 7:00 p.m. and the office will be open from 9:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. from then on. Please stop by and show your support and meet the folks that are working for a better America.

Time and Info:
Date:
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Time:
7PM-10PM
Street:
238 Kidder Street
City:
Wilkes-Barre

And We Still Don't Have It Here

Unions in Wal-Mart that is. However they have them now in China.

The first Wal-Mart trade union in China was formed after the company bowed to government demands for organized labor in its stores, The New York Times reported Friday.

There are unions of some form at Wal-Marts in other nations. The clear exception is the United States.

It is widely reported that Wal-Mart mistreats their employees.

As I reported a few days ago Wal-Mart came under fire for warning employees of an Obama victory. Wal-Mart is afraid of the Employee Free Choice Act being passed. It may allow unionization in American Wal-Marts.

As soon as Wal-Mart managers see a potential union, they are supposed to call a hotline, prompting a visit from a special team from Wal-Mart headquarters, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Here is a video clip from the documentary "Wal-Mart :The High Cost of Low Prices"

Another Bankrupt Business

Reading-based department store chain Boscov's Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning and put itself up for sale, Reuters news agency is reporting.

The Daily Show- Obama's Quest

Very funny video about Obama's quest as well as McCain's. There is a funny joke about Wilkes-Barre in the video too.

Wal-Mart Getting Too Political?

That is what the Wall Street Journal is reporting. Wal-Mart seems to be crossing a legal line in an apparent attempt to tell employees how to vote.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.

At the meeting department supervisors and store managers were warning employees of a Democratic victory in November. Especially if Barack Obama became president.

The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in, according to Wal-Mart employees who attended gatherings in Maryland, Missouri and other states.

Wal-Mart denies telling employees how to vote, but some of the people who attended the meetings see otherwise.

"The meeting leader said, 'I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union,'" said a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri. "I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," she said.

Wal-Mart is afraid of the Employee Free Choice Act getting passed and becoming law.

The Free Choice, or "card check," legislation would let unions form if more than 50% of workers simply sign a card saying they want to join. It is far easier for unions to get workers to sign cards because the organizers can approach workers repeatedly, over a period of weeks or months, until the union garners enough support.

And of course what Wal-Mart is doing may be illegal.

Federal election rules permit companies to advocate for specific political candidates to its executives, stockholders and salaried managers, but not to hourly employees. While store managers are on salary, department supervisors are hourly workers.

What Wal-Mart is doing is wrong. It is clear that they are encouraging their employees to vote for Republican candidates in November. They do not want their stores to unionize so easily and thus they are trying to scare employees to vote against candidates who supporting legislatoion such as the Free Choice Act.

Chalk up another reason not to like Wal-Mart.