VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE......... Please.

VOTE

Colin Powell's Elegant Pronouncement

MC Yogi gives props to Barack

I also posted this on sponsible. It's just really great:

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

Get Positive

Ask Senator McCain to keep it above the belt by signing the petition drafted by our sister site, sponsible.org. Then pass it on, please...

Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

This is Horrendous

I'm... speechless...

Here we go again...

Foreign markets tumbling tonight. Brace yourself for tomorrow...

FREEFALL

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

CanIVote.org

Subtlety isn't my strong suit... ;)

CAN YOU VOTE?!

The Republicans know they can't win this thing... fairly. That's why we are now seeing "tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states," removed from the rolls or blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

This is no joke, people. This is as serious as Sarah Palin's nomination was farcical. 

What you need to do right now is something I just did myself: Make sure you are registered to vote. This bears repeating:

***MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE – NOW!!!!***

To find out if you are, or if you've been purged (Orwellian-sounding, isn't it?) go to CanIVote.org. There you'll find links to your local registrar's office a phone call or email can be all it takes to discover whether or not your constitutional freedom to vote is still intact. 

Do it today, for yourself, for your kids' future, and so we may never have to be referred to as "my friends" as a nation ever again.

Here's the link to that NY Times article I reference: VOTERS BLOCKED

"THAT ONE"

Gwen Ifill, we feel your pain

Listen to Gwen talk with Tom Brokaw about how Palin "blew her off" as moderator of the VP debate:

Despicable

This is the kind of horrendous fervor those who deal solely in negativity engender. Listen after McCain asks his rabid audience who is the "real" Barack Obama. Did I hear someone shout "terrorist?" Please tell me we haven't come to this.

For the good of the country, Senator McCain, if for no other reason, please stop the madness now. Stop the anger, the vitriol, the lies, the attacks. Stop your bullying, your hounding, your scurrilous behavior. Reign in your new pet pit bull Palin and try, please try, to give us some hope that the future you propose is one filled with hope and potential rather than bitterness and frustration. 

If you can, that is.

Why the Anger, John?

In today's "THE CAUCUS" blog at NYTimes.com, Michael Cooper tells of a McCain rally today in which he yet again tried to cast doubt on Barack Obama's character. As per usual with the Arizona Senator, dwelling on negatives and raking muck is his forte. I wonder how that will play out with tomorrow night's town hall meeting?

October 6, 2008, 3:57 PM

McCain: ‘Who Is the Real Barack Obama?’

By MICHAEL COOPER

ALBUQUERQUE – Senator John McCain pressed his strategy of trying to sow doubts about Senator Barack Obama during the closing month of the campaign by asking a crowd at a rowdy rally here Monday: “Who is the real Barack Obama?’’

That question came in a sharply-worded speech in which Mr. McCain dismissed Mr. Obama as “a Chicago politician,’’ said that the Obama campaign had had to return “$33,000 in illegal foreign funds from Palestinian donors,’’ and sought to raise questions and doubts about Mr. Obama’s background. The speech came as the McCain campaign has opened a series of verbal assaults on Mr. Obama as it tries to turn the page on the financial crisis, which many analysts believe has rallied support to the Democrats. But even as Mr. McCain gave the sharper-edged speech, the stock market was plunging.

In the speech, Mr. McCain repeatedly tried to paint Mr. Obama as a largely unknown, risky choice. “I didn’t just show up out of nowhere,’’ Mr. McCain said to cheers, seeking to draw a contrast with Mr. Obama. He said that “even at this late hour in the campaign, there are essential things we don’t know about Senator Obama or the record that he brings to this campaign.’’

Mr. McCain decried what he called Mr. Obama’s “touchiness every time he is questioned about his record.’’

“For a guy who’s already authored two memoirs, he’s not exactly an open book,’’ Mr. McCain said. “It’s as if somehow the usual rules don’t apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that. Whatever the question, whatever the issue, there’s always a back story with Senator Obama. All people want to know is: What has this man ever actually accomplished in government? What does he plan for America? In short: Who is the real Barack Obama? But, my friends, you ask such questions and all you get in response is another angry barrage of angry insults.’’

Mr. McCain complained that “whenever I have questioned his policies or his record, he has called me a liar,’’ even as he accused Mr. Obama of lying about his record.

“Senator Obama has accused me of opposing regulation to avert this crisis,’’ he said. “I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed. But the truth is I was the one who called at the time for tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have helped prevent this crisis from happening in the first place.’’

Mr. McCain’s return to Washington during negotiations of the financial bail-out bill was criticized by some participants for complicating its passage by injecting presidential politics in the mix, and the bill’s initial demise was widely attributed to the failure of House Republicans to support it. But Mr. McCain faulted Mr. Obama and the Democrats for going slow on the bailout package.

“Today the Dow has fallen below 10,000,’’ he said. “And yet, members of his own party said they felt no pressure to vote for the bill. Why didn’t Senator Obama work to pass this bill from the start? Why did he let it fail and drag out this crisis for a full week before doing a thing to help pass it?’’

The crowd booed mentions of Mr. Obama repeatedly, and several men called out again and again that Mr. Obama was a “liar,’’ and yelled “send him home!”

The Obama campaign responded that Mr. McCain was “angry.”

“On a day when the markets are plunging and the credit crisis is putting millions of jobs at risk, the one truly angry candidate in this race kept up his strategy of ‘turning the page’ on the economy by unleashing another frustrated tirade against Barack Obama,’’ Tommy Vietor, an Obama campaign spokesman, said in a statement.

Fun Fact

Under the Bush regime, the top earning 400 Americans have seen their wealth increase by $670 billion dollars. That's not a joke.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is proposing a "five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers," which he says he would "yield more than $300 billion in revenue."

That's nearly half the bailout right there. I'm hoping Barack lets Senator Sanders pitch him this idea once he's in office.

Here We Go Again...

Oh boy. I just took a peak at the Asian markets. Not good. I'm predicting at least a 300 point drop of the Dow today – probably more. Then I'm waiting to hear McCain and Palin drop the blame at the feet of Barack. Let's see how this day plays out. I'll either be a psychic friend or... a psychic friend when the day's through...

Markets »

Japan
Nikkei
10,473.09
–465.05
–4.25%

HangSeng

16,902.36

–780.04

–4.41%

China
Shanghai

2,177.18

–116.61

–5.08%

Why I oughta...

Now I'm pissed, "my friends." That homophobic, Joe six-pack, know-nothing wolf hunter Sarah Palin, at a total loss when it comes to presenting anything resembling facts, policies or a working knowledge of government, has now joined her party in resorting to spurious attacks against Barack Obama, this time for his "ties" to a guy named William Ayers.

Ayers was a founder of the radical Weather Underground, which was involved in several bombings in the early 1970s, including the Pentagon and the Capitol. Ayers also happens to hail from the same Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago as Senator Obama, although Ayers is 26 years older. The two men have met on several occasions since Obama first ran for the Senate back in 1995.

In speaking engagements in Colorado and California today, Palin attacked Obama for associating "with terrorists who targeted their own country," citing an article in Saturday's New York Times about Obama's relationship with Ayers, now 63. That article concluded, however, that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' "

Today Bill Ayers is an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, teaches at Northwestern University. Riot and bomb conspiracy charges against Ayers were dropped in 1974.

No links greater than that of passing acquaintance can be made between Obama and Ayers, and yet Palin chose to spend a day trying to make a mountain of a molehill rather than for once speaking of her plans (assuming she has any) for our nation, should she (gasp) be elected.

More incredulous than Palin's witless diatribe is that of John McCain when, in a televised interview last spring, asked “How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?” Irony of ironies; McCain was shot down over North Vietnam while on a bombing run in heavily forested territory.

This "swiftboating" of Obama is beyond pathetic: It's sad, disturbing and shockingly unpatriotic. To expose your oppnents flaws in an attempt to win an election is serving the country's best interests. To mislead the public in an attempt to divert their attention from truths (We have no economic solution. The economy is not fundamentally sound.) is doing a disservice to the democratic process. If you believe you are truly the better option, prove it. Casting false aspersions as a means of obfuscation simply proves that you are not.

You can read the CNN story on this matter here.

Freakin' Brilliant!

This flow chart explaining Sarah Palin's debate process comes from the amazing (conservative) blogger Andrew Sullivan, who displays more loathing for Palin than anyone I've seen.

The Definition of "Hubris"

I hadn't planned to address Sarah Palin much in this blog for the simple fact that there isn't much worth addressing. As clearly the most irresponsible and ill-founded VP pick in the history of the presidency, she's not worth the time it takes to write an entire post.

However, in the spirit of W.A.C? I found her casual attack of Barack Obama in last night's debate to be beyond even her usual level of idiocy, and actually quite offensive.

Here was a one-term governor of a state with a population smaller than dozens of cities around the country, who's lack of foreign and domestic policy experience is already legend, and she had the absolute gall to call out Senator Obama as being unqualified for the presidency. Even she, in her limited cognition, must at some point have been aware of the hypocrisy.

Here, from CNN.com, is a detailed account of her comment and Senator Obama's original statement that prompted it. As you read it try to keep the head shaking to a minimum – you could end up with a throbbing headache.

October 3, 2008

Palin calls Obama comment 'reckless,' criticizes Couric

Posted: 04:34 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney (CNN) 

Palin says an Obama comment was reckless.

Sarah Palin said Friday several of Barack Obama's comments about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been "reckless" and disqualify the Illinois senator for consideration as the next commander-in-chief.

The comments are among the Alaska governor's most pointed to date regarding the Democratic presidential candidate's readiness to serve and come one day after she aggressively jousted with Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden.

"Some of his comments that he has made about the war…I think, in my world, disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander-in-chief," Palin told Fox News Friday. "Some of the comments he's made about Afghanistan, what we are doing there, supposedly just air-raiding villages and killing civilians — that's reckless."

Palin was referring to an answer Barack Obama gave at a August 2007 town hall meeting with New Hampshire voters, during which the Illinois senator was asked whether he had plans to shift U.S. troops out of Iraq to other terrorist hotspots like Afghanistan.

"We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there," Obama said of the U.S.'s mission in Afghanistan.

Those comments were immediately seized by GOP critics. The Republican National Committee sent out a press release shortly after calling them "offensive," and demanding he apologize. The McCain campaign has also highlighted the comments several times this campaign season. An AP Fact Check later reported Western forces had been killing civilians at a higher rate than insurgents.

Homer for Obama!

It's official folks, the world's foremost political tastemaker, Homer Simpson, will be voting for Barack Obama (or at least trying to) on The Simpson's November 2nd "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween special. Of course Diebold would rather play tricks than let the country have its treats this upcoming election.

McCain loses his cool... just a bit

In a recent interview with the editorial staff of the Des Moines Register Senator John McCain showed a hint of the personality that's long been rumored in Washington to be that of the real John McCain, as opposed to the softer version we're being fed on the campaign trail.

As he's confronted by one reporter who asserts that even conservatives are concerned with VP nominee Sarah Palin's lack of experience McCain cuts her off with a facetious, "Really?! I hadn't detected that!" Lots of lip pursing and teeth clenching bookends this particular exchange.

As with the rest of the thrust of WhatAboutCarly.com, the focus of this post is deceit. John McCain posits himself as a calm, benevolent "friend" in his campaigning – a beloved uncle figure. However, even as he restrains himself when under fire, as he certainly is here, a far different man is revealed. What you see is not what you get, apparently.

Contrast this with a Joe Biden, who publicly loses his cool without putting on the brakes. Maybe it's not the best strategy for a politician, but it's better than pulling a fast one for the sake of votes.

Simple Math

In what appears to be a glaring lack of understanding of simple arithmetic, John McCain has lashed out at both Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress for today's defeat of the bailout bill.

The vote against the measure was 228 to 205, with 133 Republicans joining 95 Democrats in opposition. The bill was backed by 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans. That means that the majority of dissenters to the largely Democrat-backed bill were Republicans. And yet, according to McCain, it's the Dems who are to blame for the bill's demise. In fact, today he told voters that his rival isn't being honest about his tax votes and is "always cheering for higher taxes," this, according to CNN.com.

In contrast, Barack Obama told at a campaign event in Denver, Colorado, that it's important to "stay calm, because things are never smooth in Congress."

On a day in which the Dow Jones had it's largest numerical drop in history – nearly 778 points – soothing assurances and measured responses are what's needed from a potential president, not partisan rhetoric and pointed attacks.

VOTE!

I just moved, and so I needed to register to vote in my new district. A Google search proved annoyingly futile as I searched for a simple site where I could get myself up-to-date in time for November 4th.

Then came an email with an invaluable link, from the Obama campaign. It's as straightforward a way to find whether or not you're registered to vote and where, and if you're not how you can be.

So without further explanation, the link: http://www.voteforchange.com/

Keeping It Real...

While I am clear in my preference for Barack Obama over John McCain in the upcoming presidential election, I have not put blinders on to missteps by my candidate. My first three posts concern John McCain misrepresenting the truth. My fourth aims a critical eye at Barack Obama.

Today's NY Times – the newspaper McCain said was "150% in the tank" for Barack Obama – features an article that calls out Mr. Obama for several conflations and fabrications in recent TV and radio ads.

For example, they cite a radio advertisement running in Wisconsin and other contested states that misleadingly reports McCain as having “stood in the way of” federal financing for stem cell research." They then explain that while he once opposed it, he has supported it since 2001.

One could argue that with the slanderous attacks the McCain campaign has made against Obama, the Illinois Senator is in his right to fire back with skewed metrics. But Barack promised to take the high road, and this strategy is not. I, for one, hope Obama will continue to hit hard, but fairly. No low blows, just clean body shots.

I suspect that my candidates true colors will shine through live, during the debate, whether Mr. McCain is there or not.

>READ THE NY TIMES STORY HERE<

Don't Dis' Dave!

In yet another major faux pas (they're coming several a day now from Camp McCain), John McCain bailed out of an appearance on this evening's "Late Night With David Letterman" show – part of his emergency "drop everything" act in the face of a national crisis.

Commentary on the very unpresidential act of dropping out of an historic campaign to handle an historic economic downturn is already feeling passe´. If McCain can't multitask no, or employ his Veep to act as his proxy on one or the other, then he's not made of the stuff required to run the most powerful nation the world has ever seen, no?

However, what could turn into an even bigger gaffe, at least in terms of media exposure, was blowing off Dave tonight, although it's not so much blowing him off as how he did it – with yet another lie.

Let Dave himself explain...

And now... This

Let me preface this particular "outing" of the truth on behalf of a man who seems to be having increasingly difficulty in doing so himself – John McCain – by explaining some ground rules for this site.

While I realize that "What About Carly?" is by its nature a negative kind of blog, it's also about getting to the truth which is an especially significant thing in politics. Moreover, I have chosen not to commit first strikes (the kind our Commander -in- Chief authorized in Iraq). Rather, I will counterstrike. When John McCain attacks his presidential opponent I'll lob one back.

Sure, Barack is big enough to handle his own battles. He doesn't need little ol' me to help him battle a 72-year-old man with questionable health. However, this opponent often doesn't fight fair, inserting horseshoes in the shape of big, fat lies into his gloves (awkward metaphor, no?) Plus, Obama is my peeps. I always stand up for my peeps.

So, with that caveat out of the way, let me get to the gist of this post. As just reported in the NY Times, Freddie Mac gave $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, from the end of 2005 through last month . That's FREDDIE MAC.

According to the Times report, two insiders "said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House."

That's CLOSE TIES.

To read the article in its entirety go to McCain Aide's FirmWas Paid by Freddie Mac

This, on the same day McCain launched a vicious attack ad in Illinois in which, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, he "accuses Sen. Barack Obama of being a product of the Chicago political machine."

Mayor Daley was none too pleased with McCain's latest bit of vitriole and warned the formerly respectable senator that he, too, can play rough, reminding in a press conference of McCain's membership in the Keating Five.

He who throws stones at glass houses, Mr. McCain... and right about now your seven/nine/umpteen homes are looking pretty damn fragile.

So, what about her?

So, who is Carly Fiorina and why would anyone start a blog asking about her? Glad you asked.

I started this site out of a combination of outrage, frustration, and ultimately a desire to channel unproductive feelings into a productive form of communication.

While listening to Thom Hartmann's excellent morning broadcast here on L.A.'s KTLA 1150AM I heard Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders comment how our current fiscal crisis could end up being the "October surprise" we've come to expect from the Karl Rove machine each election cycle. The scenario he laid out should be frightening to anyone who desires change and a degree of sanity restored to the executive branch of our government.

The scenario is this: Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid cave in to pressure from the White House (wouldn't be the first time) and stand arm-in-arm with Bush (if only figuratively) as they announce the $700 million (or more) bailout of the corrupt financial institutions run by the fat cats who profited off the middle class' misery. In other words, the Democratic party signs off on a policy plan urged by the least respected president in U.S. history.

John McCain, the self-professed "maverick" (despite having voted with Bush more than 90% of the time the past eight years and having been one of the "Keating Five") can then stand apart from both the Republican proxy (Bush) and all the Democrats, as represented by the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader. Of course, by default, Barack Obama would be lumped in with the dirty lot.

If the Repubs haven't proved themselves to be so adept at "gotcha" politics and had the Rovian strategy of telling lies often enough until the masses believe them, the hairs on the back of my neck wouldn't have stood on end. But this was the perfect ploy, just waiting to be played out. This may well be Halloween come early for Barack Obama.

So, after feeling my blood pressure rise a few millimeters I asked myself what I could do to help, or at least feel as though I'm not merely sitting back fuming, or at best calling a like minded friend with whom to vent. Hence, WhatAboutCarly.com.

For those not in the know, Carly Fiorina is John McCain's chief financial surrogate and was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard... until she was fired after presiding over a 50% drop in shareholders' value and the loss of twenty thousand jobs. So, after nearly sinking the boat and drowning half its passengers what did Ms. Fiorina get? A kick in the pants? A dagger up the step? No, she received a $42 million buyout. For real. No joke. Can anyone say "GOLDEN PARACHUTE?"

Now, in spite of all this – in spite of what should be called a platinum parachute and her being McCain's financial strategist, here's an excerpt from McCain from a speech he made yesterday in Scranton, PA:

"We cannot have taxpayers footing the bill for bloated golden parachutes like we see in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, where the top executives are asking for $2.5 billion in bonuses after they ran the company into the ground. The senior executives of any firm that is bailed out by treasury should not be making more than the highest paid government official."

Incredible, no? Yes! The, this past weekend, McCain defended her severance package from Hewlett Packard:

"I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects," McCain told "The Today Show's" Meredith Vieira when she pressed him on the matter.

"I know that she was a very successful businesswoman. Started out as a part-time secretary and made her way to the top of the corporate ladder as one of the biggest CEOs in the United States of America."

McCain admitted, however, that he was not familiar with the details of Fiorina's payout:

McCAIN: I don't think so. ... Because I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects. I don't know the details of her compensation package. But she's one of many advisers that I have.

VIERA: But she did get a $45 million dollar golden parachute after being fired while 20,000 of her employees were laid off.

McCAIN: I have many of the people, but I do not know the details of what happened.

After which he went back on the stump and once again tried to blame Barack Obama for the faltering economy.

So, the guy has one of the very people who is at the root of our current economic woes as his economic advisor, claims she did a good job (at getting 20,000 people laid off) and doesn't know the details of her firing before hiring her. And then, it was back on the stump for him, blaming Obama for our economic downturn yet again.

And now he's trying to sweep Carly Fiorina under the carpet, as if the economic adviser to the man who has admitted publicly more than 20 times that economics aren't his strong point.

And that's why I had to start this blog. It won't only be about Carly Fiorina, but it will most certainly work to expose lies and reveal truths as they pertain to this presidential campaign. As you guessed, I'm a strong Obama supporter, and have decided that I will do all that I can, this blog being one means, to help set records straight and get this country back on the straight and narrow in the process.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Shawn Perine
9/23/08