Election Day Nov 4th 2008....President Barack Obama

So, today’s the day, and as expected there are numerous reports of shenanigans going on, aimed at stopping the American people from having their say.

From notices sent to students and Hispanic voters informing them that the election has been delayed by a day, to African Americans in Virginia being intimidated by uniformed police who have been menacingly circling their polling stations…nice. To all kinds of problems with the machines, not enough of them, not arriving on time, and/or not working, and/or working but switching a vote for BO to McCain. To robo-calls informing voters to go to the wrong polling station, to polling stations being handed the wrong county’s voter information. Dripping wet ballots no fitting into the machines, to the GOP trying to get a ten day extension for voters that will preference McCain, whilst GOP governors and election officials refuse to allow the polls to stay open for an extra couple of hours in order to deal with the massive demand.

The disenfranchisement of American citizens’ votes is widespread and systematic.

Of course the mainstream media have been all over it, salivating at the latest inferred intimidation, but not one network daring to ask the obvious question; why are these problems effecting a disproportionate number of African Americans, Hispanics and young people? I mean it doesn’t take a political science professor to work out that these are demographics favorable to Barack Obama.

Why is it that Republican pundits can sit on television and jovially tell us that they’d prefer a low turnout? Surely, if a democracy is to truly reflect the wishes of the people, then the people need to have their voices heard, not muffled or silenced. But, the sad truth is that Republicans know they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting elected if the American electorate actually voted.

Which is why, during all the wall to wall election coverage on TV today, you’ll not hear that question asked. Republicans have deceived the American people into believing this is a democratic system, when in reality it’s a hotchpotch of undemocratic processes aimed at disenfranchising great tracts of the electorate, and keeping a select few in government. Now, that’s what I call un-American!

If there’s one thing that comes out of this election, other than electing the first intelligent president for a generation, is that we desperately need to create a political system that promotes democracy not runs and hides from it.

I remember watching that idiot ‘W’ after his re-election in 04 he was surrounded by a group of very smug looking Republican officials, as he gave a very different speech to the one 4 years earlier. This time they knew they‘d just scraped through, and Bush wanted to make it clear that he didn‘t give a flying f**k about the opinions of the 49% who’d had the audacity to attempt to dethrone him. He told us that he couldn’t have been given a stronger mandate from the American people, and that now he could really get down to work. You know, dividing the country along ethnic, regional, political and religious lines, getting more Americans killed and maimed, getting more of our allies killed and maimed, losing old peoples’ pensions and destroying their hard-earned retirements, and shitting on the hopes and dreams of America’s youth.

It was horrible to watch, but, it’s over now, and tonight the Democrats led by their true and just President Barack Obama, will be given the greatest mandate for change received by a government in a generation. But, with great mandates come great expectations, and the Obama administration have an opportunity to deliver something fundamental to our future progress - a functioning democracy.

With that mandate they must change the political/electoral system. It has to become inclusive, and involve all Americans. Much to the chagrin of America’s elite, I believe they should even consider compulsory voting. America should be the world’s #1 democracy, but the current non-system is beyond a joke.

Being president of the United States is still the single most powerful position on the planet, so it’s no surprise that US presidential elections galvanize such interest around the world. Decisions made here effect everyone, believe me it’s not only Americans who feel cheated when your elections are stolen.

For Americans not to operate a democracy that involves all Americans is bordering on the criminal. 95% of the world’s population are not Americans, which means that somewhere in the region of 1% of the world’s population actually voted for the person who‘s decisions effect the other 99%. Registered voters in the US are in a uniquely privileged position, and you have a responsibility to all the world’s people to use that privilege.

It is in BO’s power to kick open the doors of democracy, and in doing so allow the American people to speak, and finally put an end to the self-serving, morally and ethically corrupt Republican party.

Apart from the 'Vote' button, the images were all found on republican/christian blogs, I skipped the 'a vote for Obama is a vote for terrorism' sign. But, reading the blogs it dawned on me just how nice these christians are, they're all so tolerant, just like Jesus, and not at all ignorant, you betchya!

Barack Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has died RIP

Barack Obama‘s grandmother Madelyn Dunham died today, a day before she could see her grandson elected as the most powerful person on earth the President of the United States of America. What a job she did, my thoughts are with BO and his family, let her rest in peace.

Here's a picture of her taken during one of her happiest days, with husband Stanley and daughter Anne (BO's ma).

Just in case you missed it....

Cock The Vote...

According to most sources the latest polls show the race tightening a little. Sure, I know that BO moving from a 12 pt lead to a 9 pt lead in PA isn‘t gonna make a toss of difference, but still, have I missed something? I mean wtf has McGrumpy done over the past week to make anyone more likely to vote for him? He’s been the same stumbling, bumbling old double-talker, and his nudge, nudge, wink, wink running mate has only been slipping in the polls I've been reading, so what‘s with the tightening? Or, is the republican influenced mainstream media blatantly attempting to lower people’s expectations of a BO victory, so it won’t seem like such a shock when the Republicans steal it, again.

Just in case you thought that the world's greatest democracy actually operated as a democracy, it’s worth checking out Muckraker’s list on TPM, which highlights the magnitude of the GOP’s efforts to suppress votes across the country. As you'll see, so far generally they've been failing, but not from lack of trying, they figure if you throw enough shit at a blanket eventually some may stick.

On the one hand you have a massive effort being made by the Obama campaign to get people inspired and involved in their democracy, and on the other you have an equally Herculean effort being expended by McGrumps and the GOP in shadowy court rooms across the country aimed at suppressing those same people. Disenfranchising voters has been the single biggest focus of republican campaigns for the last decade, and in the past it’s worked, so they‘re not gonna be stopping anytime soon. Still, as you can see in Muckraker's TPM piece, this time Democrats have been prepared for the inevitable Republican assault on our democracy, and have been fighting fire with fire. Which, is bad news for the GOP as the last thing republicans want is a functioning democracy, it would mean they‘d have to start adopting policies that actually appeal to people.

All being well, the Democrats should win control of all three branches of government this election, and in the process they'll have fired up millions of new voters, who’ll probably want to vote again in the future. Now, that's just rubbing salt into the GOP’s open wounds.

McCuster's Last Stand - Communist tax plans, a Filibuster proof senate and Joe 'The' Biden

OK, so we enter the last 7 days of campaigning and Pants have started 'McCuster's Last Stand', each day we'll feature a couple of Colonel McCuster's choice attacks, and trust they are as hopeless as the original.

So, what’s first in the 7 day series?

- Well since yesterday’s news that the morally and ethically corrupt Ted ‘bridge to nowhere’ Stevens is now officially legally corrupt too, the Get Off (my lawn) Party has been running around telling anyone that’ll listen there's a distinct possibility Democrats could win enough new Senate seats to achieve a ‘filibuster proof’ Senate. Which is a Senate comprising sixty (of the one hundred) senators who belong to, or are prepared to vote for the same party, thus securing said party with a large enough majority to avoid a ‘filibuster’.

Personally, I’ve never thought of a filibuster as being very democratic. Just because a president can disenfranchise the majority of the popular vote, I don’t see why one senator should be able to s*%t on the wishes of 59 others, but for the GOP, that’s not the point. The GOP see the potential loss of this glitch in our democracy as something Americans should fear, they’re basically saying...

look, we know that when we had power we f^%$#d everything up, and we know that we’ve been totally useless at coming up with any new ideas to fix the problems we've created, but now we’ve become so disliked that there’s a real chance you’re going to elect enough Democrats that they’ll have the power to actually do the things they’ve said they’re going to do.....Please don't.

Call me old fashioned, but an appealling argument it is not. Isn’t this exactly what people are voting for? I mean they’re voting for Democrats because they want them to make changes, they want them to do all the stuff they said would.

If the Republicans think this is their best shot of holding onto power, they're even more deluded than we thought, bring on the filibuster proof senate!

BTW here's that picture of happy old Ted (Stevens) for anyone that missed it yesterday....enjoy!

- Colonel McCuster’s other ’last stand’ is based on his sudden discovery that BO is actually a communist, as according to McCuster he wants to ‘spread the wealth’ by taxing people. The votemaster crew have their take on it today...

...Is McCain going to repeal the federal income tax? If so, how does he plan to finance the government? Or does he mean that the difference between the top rate of 39.6% under Bill Clinton and the top rate of 36% under George Bush is the difference between communism and capitalism?

It’s a good point, BO has all these communist/socialist ideas about taxing people, but McCuster hasn‘t come up with an alternative of his own. Perhaps McCuster sees all those previous presidents; George Bush, Reagan and Nixon as communists too, I mean they all taxed people, and as the votemaster folks explain…

...The purpose of the progressive federal income tax is to spread the wealth...

You know, spreading the wealth into maintaining bridges and roads, and buying new fire engines and police cars, and paying their wages, and keeping our over-used volunteer army equipped with bullets and stuff.

...That Democrats have supported a progressive income tax for decades is hardly news. Does McCain want to keep the tax….It seems this is just another desperate attempt to attack Obama rather than being a serious policy proposal for tax reform...

Senator McCuster it’s all well and good to go about calling people names like communists and socialists, but I’d suggest next time you actually get yourself a plan together, which shows how you’re going to be different.

I mean if you are going to abolish tax that’s great, you may even gain a few thousand libertarian votes too, but people are bound to ask how you intend paying for everything without any tax income. However, if you intend keeping the tax system, then by your book, doesn’t that make you a communist wealth distributor too?

Now, I know BO is taking the easy option and sticking with the tax system, and just aiming to reduce the burden of tax on the middle class, only increasing it on the top 1% of earners, and major corporations, but that doesn‘t really make him a communist/socialist now does it McCuster?

- Finally, I was told that McCuster referred to his old middle-class buddy senator Joe Biden as Joe ‘the’ Biden yesterday, Freudian slip there Senator.

Oldest man on earth found guilty of corruption, plus Palin is 'Diva'

- Finally, the oldest crook on earth, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has been found guilty of corruption, it had seemed for a while that Stevens was gonna avoid a verdict before the election, as one his jurors had been given leave to return home for a family problem. However, the judge drafted in a reserve juror, and had the final deliberations repeated, and then it was curtains for Ted.

In the weeks running up to the verdict, Stevens had managed to BS the good people of Alaska into believing that he may be innocent after all, and his performance in the opinion polls reflected that growing belief, that was until a couple of hours ago when the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all charges.

All of this means that Mark Begich Stevens' Democratic opponent in the race for his Senate seat will be sending him some flowers for his new deck, and a very thankful thank you card.

- There are growing reports of a split between the McGrumpy camp and Blunderwoman's handlers, with McGrumpy staffers referring to Blunderwoman as a ‘Diva’, and as having ‘gone rogue’. It's funny all this has happened within a couple of days of McGrumpy coming out and telling the world she’d be giving back all those clothes at the end of the election, maybe she was left wondering what she was gonna wear if they won!

George Wallace, Georgia, the new caring sharing Sarah Palin, and the repugnant Brad Blakeman

Another great day for electoral votes, shame you can’t keep them as you go along and the candidate with the most electoral votes over the term of the campaign wins!

As a reminder of how cool it is to smoke, here's a pic of Cool Hand Barack!

I especially like Georgia, I mean it’s becoming a close fight, today BO trails by five points. This year happens to be the 40th anniversary of segregationist George Wallace’s run in that nasty three way Presidential election of ‘68. In that year Georgia along with a handful of southern neighbors voted for Wallace, and the continued segregation of races, you know, like black people at the back of the bus, different water fountains, different schools and a different justice system.

Anyway imagine, the historic synergy of a man called Barack Obama winning Georgia on his way to winning the general election. The USA would have their first African American president and Georgia would‘ve sent the loudest message possible that certain things were not just changing, but had changed.

- I ask, is there no end to the humanity of the wonderfully caring running mate of McRubbish? she’s already sacrificed so much for the sake of this great nation, we know she’s responsible for pulling so many people of opposing views together, selflessly working for us. But, today, Sarah Palin takes her nationwide campaign of inclusion to a new level.

We’re told that Sarah (I hope you don’t mind ma’am) is going to be given an auto-prompter to read that’s all about special needs children, and let’s face it Sarah should know best, because she has one all of her own.

We’ve heard from those people who just don’t want to be included in her campaign of inclusion, moaning about things like her past record of cutting funding from programs for little special ones in Alaska. But, these moaners don’t have special children of their own, so how would they know what’s best? Sarah does, which puts her in a unique position to talk about it.

- Meanwhile McNasty is continuing on his bus tour of PA looking to strike a book deal for Joe the plumber. We’ll let you know how he gets on.

- Of course as we know BO’s in Hawaii checking in on his gravely ill grandmother, doctor’s have told him there is a very strong possibility that she won’t make it to election day, and he wanted to spend as much time as he could afford with the woman who brought him up.

As it’s just a few days until the election, and as BO has a huge secret service detail, and needs to ensure he is in full contact, he decided to take his office plane with him. But, as McNasty is never one to miss an opportunity to badly misread a situation, in grand mavericky style he swam against the massive tide of sympathy for BO, and had Brad Blakeman (a surrogate) go on MSNBC and paint the trip as an indulgent holiday ‘to visit grandma’, and wasteful spending on a level of Sarah Palin‘s clothes budget.

Unfortunately for McGrumpy, most people understand that when you’re a week away from election day, and you are one of the two primary candidates, you’ll need to be in constant contact with your nationwide campaign, and to do so you’d probably not want to have to rely on the public library opening times for internet access.

Brad Blakeman epitomizes a lot of what is, and has been wrong with the modern Republican party. They're detatched from the real world, incapable of showing empathy, and right now, as everything seems to be going wrong for them, there's a lot of bitterness, and finger pointing. Perhaps Brad was pushing for a slot on the Palin 2012 campaign, but I wouldn't bank on it Brad, the Republican party's days are numbered and it'll take a long time for this country to forgive what they've done.

Senator McGoo, Ted Stevens, baby killers and mangled messages

So, according to McDesperate on the stump this morning, we now know the truth about BO, and his evil ‘wealth re-distribution plan’, apparently he wants to create a massive welfare system, but where did Johnny McCrappy get this piece of red hot info? Well, it came from BO himself. Whilst explaining how a tax cut worked, BO pointed out that it meant working people would just pay less tax, so they would save money, therefore the middle class would directly benefit from it.

To highlight his point, he went on to say that it wasn't as if he was taking money from working people and giving it to say, a massive welfare system....you see what happened there? BO said the words ‘welfare system’, and with an opponent as quick witted as old McGrumps you just can't go taking risks like speaking words. As quick as a whistle McGrumpy cleverly changed it around, and told everyone that BO was creating a giant welfare system for all of his African American friends, which would be really, really scary.....Brilliant John, just brilliant!

- I don’t like the Ted Steven’s court case one bit. First off, I don’t like that the story’s disappeared from the front pages, and secondly when a jury asks to break for the night during deliberations, because they’re feeling ’too stressed’, it's a bad sign, if they all agreed on a verdict they’d be back out there in a flash with their black caps on.

Then again this is an Alaskan jury, and you know they're gonna be split along partisan lines, which in Alaska means 70% self-serving, corrupt repugnants, to 30% angelic democrats. Their instinct would be to aquit the oldest man on earth, so in those circumstances perhaps a long debate is a good thing. Anyway, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, and keep everything crossed for Mark Begich.

-The latest repugnant 527 TV commercial in Califronia accuses that evil black man running for president of hating babies. They refer to a speech he gave on teen pregnancy in which he talked about the desperate need for all new babies to be born into a loving environment, they needed to be wanted, and how teen pregnancies often left the mother feeling ‘punished’ by the arrival of a baby.

The ad - shows the clip of his speech where he talks of teen mothers feeling ‘punished with a baby’ then the clip abruptly stops, and cuts to a late twenties/early thirties(?) mother who repeats punished with a baby! punished senator? Then the ad wraps up warning us not to trust a president who doesn't care about the sanctity of life etc.

So there you have it, according to McNasty, a vote for BO is a vote for baby killing.

Of course it all sounds quite unbelievable, but as I dug a little deeper I came across the picture above, which seems to show Senator Obama trying to eat a baby. Of course, on seeing it I was as confused as you, I searched for some explanation, but came up with nothing. Finally, I realized it takes two to tango, and my dance partner was the devil on this one, I decided to go straight to the horses mouth, and contact the Obama campaign. I called and pushed for a response, maybe I pushed a little too hard, here’s what they told me…‘Sir, as I explained we’re extremely busy at the moment, no one by that name works here….sir, you’re being ridiculous, if you don’t have a name of someone you would like to speak with, I’ll be forced to hang up….no, he‘s traveling at the moment, please sir, unless you give me a real name I’m going to hang up…..OK, then I’m hanging up…’ and, they hung up.

Now, don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just putting it out there, make of it what you will.

A tax dodging liar, and a chicken McNegative flier....

So, by now we all know that Joe, the plumber who told BO he earned $250K/Year, and wanted to buy his boss's business, but was worried by the level of tax he’d have to pay under an Obama presidency, isn’t called Joe at all, he’s called Sam, and he doesn’t earn $250K/Year, but $60K, and he isn’t a plumber (licensed anyway), and apparently never planned on buying his bosses business. Hell! It even turns out he’d pay less taxes under BO’s plan, but the bloke’s not bothered by that because he doesn’t even pay the fucking taxes he’s supposed to, the dick owes back taxes!

Sadly, I can’t say that I was particularly surprised by any of the revelations. I mean they didn’t vet their vice presidential pick, so why bother checking out some unlicensed tax dodger in the woods of Ohio? Anyway, a trifling insignificance such as the truth isn’t gonna get in the way of McGrumpy telling what he thinks is a great story.

The exposure of Joe-Sam’s potpourri of falsehoods hasn’t dulled McGrumps enthusiasm for claiming Joe-Sam speaks for all real Americans. He mentions the bloke more often than Giuliani mentions 911, and is even running a series of TV commercials telling us how great Joe/Sam is, and how all real Americans are like him.

Maybe his point is that real Americans dislike taxes so much, they just don’t pay them! Instead, they leave it up to fake Americans to pick up the bill for all the schools, hospitals, fire trucks and the fucking bridges they drive over on the way to their unlicensed work.

But, does McCain really believe that real Americans are like Joe-Sams? We‘ve long known that truth is a cheap commodity for the McCain campaign, and maybe I’m just being politically naive, but surely they could’ve come up with a better roll model? Perhaps coined a story that was at least loosely based on the truth.

Still, I guess I should be happy that the McCain campaign is about the most dis-organized in history, lurching from one confusing non-message to the next. This week, they have a lying tax-dodger as their Ohio pin-up, and the chicken McNegatives flier campaign going on in Arizona. Bring it on!

ding ding all change here please!

Here’s something interesting I noticed on electoral-vote.com, who are the shit btw. They’ve listed all the tight House scraps according to how the corresponding district voted in the past, i.e. if in the previous election the district elected a republican by a margin of 54% - 48% it’s considered as an R+6 district. R being republican and +6 representing the margin the republican won by, if a democrat won a district 52% - 45% it would be D+7, get the drift?

Anyway, their list starts with the strongest republican districts down to the strongest democratic districts. The idea being that at the top of the list, if all was equal, you should find republicans winning in the strong republican districts, and as you go down the list to the strong democratic districts you should find democrats winning. But, as everyone keeps telling us, it’s not a good time to be a republican, so all’s not equal, which is why it’s not surprising to see a few democratic challengers performing well in what were strong republican districts. OK, but what is surprising, is there are almost as many republican challengers doing well in the strong democratic districts, and that shouldn’t be happening.

In this environment a democrat running in a strong democratic district should be whooping their republican challenger's bottom, so why aren't they? Well, it's clear that the vast majority of the electorate want change, but could it be that they’re so desperate for change they want fresh faces regardless of party affiliation?

I've no doubt it's a bad time to be a republican, but perhaps it's an even worse time to be an incumbent, just saying...

You can check the list here, go to previous reports find Oct 21st and scroll about halfway down the page.

Blah, blah, socialist, blah, Joe/Sam the plumber/tax dodger

Looks like it's back to business as usual for the Plain/McRubbish campaign with more nasty lies and false accusations, the latest being that BO's a French socialist.

Now, I'm not quite sure what's so bad about French socialists, except for being French of course ;) but, what does amaze me is that we're supposed to accept that they've only just realized. I mean they've been at this campaigning malarky for a year or so, yet McGrumpa's gang reckon they only just noticed that BO's a communist, and let's face it, that's where they're going with this. Perhaps they just caught him with a copy of Das Kapital, or getting the familly fitted out for Chairman Mao suits, but I doubt it, my money's on Johnny telling fibs again, you see he just can't help himself.

Despite the latest revelations it seems events over the weekend cost McGrumpa a few more million votes. Secretary of State Colin Powell's considered endorsement of BO will have had an impact on some voters, but there's no doubt that the greatest damage suffered by McRubbish this weekend was caused by his little Alaskan helper's uncomfortable SNL appearance, how satirical did she look?

Robo-lies cost McNasty his New Hampshire vote!

So the McCrappy campaign's robo-calling is already backfiring, their lies already turning off voters.

Today, a 92 yr old swing voter, and quite possibly McCrap's only potential New Hampshire vote, announced that after hearing the scurrilous robo-lies he's decided against voting for 'the special interests one'.

Talk about a schizophrenic campaign! On the one hand you have McCain claiming during the 3rd presidential debate that he has and would continue to call out any republican who dares to make contentious claims about his opponent, then the very next day the RNC set about spending their last pennies smearing his opponent....perhaps McGrumpa doesn't see the RNC as being republican.

Could it be that the McCain campaign is as disorganized as it is dishonest?

P.S. The photograph is not one of John McCain's tele-robots, it features a perfectly innocent child who has absolutely nothing to do with the desperate presidential candidate.

McCain's Blunders, Stumbles and Bumbles Pt 1

Look, I know this is a few days old, but it's soooo precious I just HAD to have it on the blog.

One of the reasons this is a particular favorite of mine, is because it was recorded in Magoo’s media 'safe' zone. You know, that place at the back of the Suck Ass Express, where attendees 'earn' their seats by reporting pro Magoo propaganda.

You’d have thought such a ‘straight talking’ mavericky presidential candidate would be able to answer a question as simple as ‘where do you stand on (insert issue here)?’, right? apparently not! Now, just in case you’re thinking it could be one of those really sticky issues, excuse the pun, it ain’t. The question, asked by Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times, was as innocuous as it was relevant, and had been generated by MaGoo's surrogate (and possible VP pick) Carly Fiorina’s latest push to attract all those fresh femme votes to old grumpa Magoo.

The un-edited clip (embedded below) comes courtesy of MSNBC’s Countdown. There’s also a minute or so of Rachel Maddow’s pre and post clip commentary and some discussion with a cat from The Nation, it’s all bearable.

I mention that the clip is un-edited, because just about every other reference to the bumble on MSM has been heavily edited. Still, I guess no amount of snipping could disguise the silence as MaGoo's brain whirs and clicks but fails to engage.

Anyway, without further ado here's MaGoo doing it LIVE! without a script, I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let's do this....

WE'LL DO IT LIVE!



So, MaGoo voted against women being able to receive contraception through their health insurance, instead preferring that they continue to pay for it, whilst their partners get loaded up on Viagra?!?

It all sounds a little upside down to me, it couldn’t be that we’ve inadvertently stumbled on a much more sinister plot? If Magoo makes contraception prohibitively expensive, then simply introduces a few mandatory drinking laws, say a quart vodka/day, he’d have created the perfect environment for producing an entire generation of unwanted angry babies, ready to go fight WWIV!

McCain his 'service', General Clarke and those nasty Republicans

OK, so I guess you probably already know that one of the presidential candidates served in the Navy, yeah well, it's been blasted from just about every fucking roof top in the country.

But, I thought you might also want to know that:

• His father Admiral John S. "Junior" McCain was commander of the American Forces in Vietnam, whilst John McCain was held as a POW
• John McCain crashed five planes, but only one of them was actually shot down
• John McCain served on 23 missions
• His 23 missions only took a total of just 20 hours to complete
• He received 28 medals, averaging a medal and a half for every hour he served in Vietnam
• John McCain was a shit pilot, better than me, but shit all the same

Most of that data, well all of it except the premise I made about him being shit at flying, comes courtesy of Veterans Against McCain. If you'd like to read more specifics of McCain's service have a look at this. It provides a basic summary of his actions in Vietnam and perhaps makes sense of why the Republicans are so fucking tetchy about his service record.

As the entire world knows by now, he got caught and kept as a POW, but when he was offered the chance to go home, he heroically refused, choosing to stay until his comrades were released. Because of that decision a plethora of conspiracy theories sprouted as to why, some of them are fairly compelling, but I think the answer is far simpler - I don't see he had a choice. I mean, how would it have looked if he'd taken them up on their offer?

The Vietnamese only made the offer in the first place because of who his dad was, so you can imagine the reception the US press and his old man would've given him - son of commander of US forces in Vietnam completely fucks up, then gets out early - the press would've had a field day with him and his dad.

But, that's not what's on my mind today. I'm truly pissed but not remotely surprised by the reaction to Wesley Clarke questioning of McCain's qualifications to be commander in chief.

McCain and the rest of the Republican party seem to think that, the fact he crashed one of his planes in Vietnam and got caught, somehow uniquely qualifies him to be commander in chief of the world's most powerful army. But, when this ridiculous assumption is challenged it's as if they were attacking McCain's fucking military record.

The Republicans have the American public bewitched when it comes to the flag and who loves their country the most. It doesn't seem to matter that around half of the soldiers killed in action have been Democrats, it doesn't seem to figure either that around half of the entire public service sector is staffed by Democrats, including the police and the fire services. Still, only Republicans can possibly be patriotic, they're patriotically destroying the constitution and patriotically starting bullshit wars that result in the deaths of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

They've got the Democrats tied up in knots on the issue, all the Republicans have to do is feign outrage, shout patriotism and before they know it they've got the media and the DNC jumping around like a Jewish mum at their son's bar mitzvah.

Neither Wesley Clarke, nor Obama, nor a single surrogate or any organization supporting the Democratic party, have attacked McCain's military service. His service has only ever been mentioned, by the Democrats, in the most reverential of tones, they're not that stupid.

But, somehow, to the Repugs, questioning the relevance of McCain's military service as it pertains to experience for a commander in chief, is the same as attacking his service record or dare I say - patriotism (OMG that word!), then out come their star spangled banners and chants of Islamic fundamentalism or any other ism that scares the American public.

What galls me the most, is that the bloke who dared to ask is a fucking general himself, regardless, the Repugs immediately default to their 'he's attacking McCain's patriotism!' and everyone starts panicking, even Obama makes some ridiculous statement about how fantastic McCain is and went onto remind us all of just how fucking heroic the man is/was/will be. The entire Democratic party was stunned into silence, only another decorated General (Gard) was decent enough to come to Wesley Clarke's defense.

This shit is getting embarrassing.

I've no idea what John Kerry must be making of all this, when he ran he had his own heroic service record constantly challenged/questioned. The Republicans and the public at large sat back as the worst of the Republican supporters attempted to devalue his service, it was an outrage. This time around no one has come close to questioning McCain's service, but please let people question the relevance of it.I mean we all have family who served. I have an uncle who's a vet, he served with distinction but believe me, you would not want him running this country!

Senator McCain, your service, although appreciated is irrelevant, please SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT!

John McCain vs John McCain

Below are a bunch of links to articles covering John McCain's positions on a variety of issues that are key to the American public.

I've included this list for you, so you can be part of a larger netroots plan aimed at ensuring John McCain doesn't get away with his constant flip-flopping. Every article is from a reputable source; CNN, AP, BBC etc. in addition they feature John McCain explaining John McCain's positions, what could be fairer than that?

If we bloggers hyperlink one of the nine articles below everytime we refer to John McCain, then in a fairly short period of time these nine articles will start to find themselves in the top ten searches on John McCain.

And the point of all this?

Well the point is, the majority of the American electorate are not like you and me, they're not totally consumed by the election and familiar with every nuance. The vast majority of the American electorate are known as 'low information voters' and in that is the beauty of this plan.

The electorate being made up of low info voters is good and bad. Bad, because they miss out on all the outrageous shit that happens on a daily basis during this campaign, but really good because if we're coordinated about this, we have an opportunity to jig the system to our advantage.

Apparently low info voters access most of the information they use to make a decision in the weeks and days before they place their vote. It's also been found that they're less inclined to trust regular media sources such as Fox and NBC to gather information (I wonder why!), they're more likely to research the candidates online to look up where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on the issues.

So, by inserting one of the nine hyperlinks below, everytime we mention John McCain, the articles will eventually begin appearing at the top of searches for his name and John McCain will not be able to hide from his OWN words.

But remember to stick to the nine links below, even if you have an amazing new story to link, of course go ahead, but please also remember to link one of the nine, that's the only way we'll ensure that they get into the top ten search results. You can bet your ass that John McCain's crew will be throwing up their own versions at every opportunity and trying to paint Barack Obama in the worse light possible.

Remember these are John McCain's words, nothing has been changed, so stick to the links and good luck!

Here's the list,

Minimum wage -
John McCain

Housing -
John McCain

Social Security -
John McCain

NAFTA -
John McCain

Troops for 100 years -
John McCain

Kids Health Insurance -
John McCain

VETs and The GI Bill -
John McCain

Abortion -
John McCain

Defending Bush’s Iraq Strategy -
John McCain

Appalachia not a lost cause

I watched the excellent David Novack documentary ‘Burning the Future’ recently. The film focuses on the horrendous effects those dirty, dirty coal industry practices have on the communities of West Virginia.

Below is a 2 minute preview of the movie, but there's an extended version on Coalmine’s youtube page here and loads more information at http://www.burningthefuture.com/ and the Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now - CLEAN.



The film is an all too (depressingly) common story about dirty business as usual, outrageous corporate abuses protected by outrageous political abuses.
Coal, or rather the hideous corporations that exploit its energy, control the state and people of West Virginia, those poor sods are literally trapped by the stuff.

A little while ago there was an excellent DailyKos diary by dawnt it gave a great insight into the minds and attitudes of the Appalachian people. He made some great points in his piece, but I fancy he could be wrong with one assumption:

I know that we cannot win West Virginia on Tuesday. We cannot win Kentucky next week. We cannot win Appalachia in November.

Obama picked up more votes than McCain in WV (91,747 - 89,782), when you throw on Clinton's votes the Democrats outperformed Repulseviks by a margin of over 3-1 and regardless of any 'chaotic' attempts to stop an African American president, it's still a hell of a lot of people crossing a box on a Democratic ballot.

Dawnt's scenario seems most likely and was backed up by Kos with some recent polling...

Nor should West Virginia be competitive, but McCain is showing some surprising early weakness. West Virginia Rasmussen. 6/2. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No trend lines) McCain (R) 45 Obama (D) 37 The crosstabs: Total Men Wom GOP Dem Other McCain 45 41 50 78 32 36 Obama 37 40 34 13 48 39 Kerry only won Democrats in West Virginia by a 69-30 margin in 2004, so they are already not a bunch inclined to vote en masse for their presidential candidate. And it would take an epic McCain collapse for Obama to match those numbers, much less improve on them.

True something epic is needed and although an epic collapse would be nice, what about an epic effort?

That 37% looks like progress to me, remember only 26% of brave West Virginian Democrats (props to them) came out for Obama in the primary.

Kos added...

It appears that McCain's weakness with Republicans and independents is making this race artificially close. But when Republicans come home, and the Appalachian Democrats don't, this state will likely go Red. This is certainly one of those few states in which Hillary would've done better.

For sure Hillary would've done better, or rather would've had it a lot easier, but for McCain to win he still needs to do some work of his own. McBombit needs to attract a large chunk of those registered Democrats and as Kos points out he also needs those Refux to 'come home', but I don't believe that's a forgone either.

McCain's not Hillary and in terms of any Demoprats that may be tempted remember he's carrying the baggage of a pretty unpopular party and then there's the issue of whether he can galvanize those deeply conservative elements of his party. One thing's for sure, he can't be allowed to rest on his laurels, if he's gonna win it, he must be made to fight to win it.

I'm not sure the fight for Appalachia is a forgone conclusion and believe that 37% Obama's already attracting can be built on.

If you want a reason why all those 'hard working white' Democrats could back Obama in Nov then watch the film, there's a whole heap of discontent to be tapped into. The documentary featured some very white, extremely blue collar folks who in all likelihood voted GW in the last two elections and in spite of Hillary's coal corp connections voted overwhelmingly for her in their recent primary.

A couple of well thought out policy commitments and these 'clingy' white people could be among the first to feel the benefits of an Obama presidency.

It could be a perfectly placed state to lead the development of new non fossil fuels, employing all those workers laid off by the coal industry using taxes levied on that industry for investment into new fuel concepts and I'm NOT talking about that horror of an oxymoron 'clean coal'!

Mathew Bachand from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute sums up 'clean coal' best in his Energy Generating a Culture: Early American Coal Miners and Coal Mining Culture

...in an effort to return the party to the White House, (John Kerry) made clean coal technology a key point in his plan for energy independence...'clean coal' in the modern era of global warming is a phrase roughly the equivalent of 'safe sex'; in the era of HIV/AIDS...

For fuck sake there has to be some alternative to churning up the rest of WV in an attempt to build a 'New Kuwait' and lay our hands on those '70 Billion Barrels' of Fischer-Tropsch synthetic oil, it's the mining process that's killing the people of WV.

Appalachia is not a lost cause, we will need to put in an epic effort and take on board dawnt's suggestions...

...that does not mean we should give up on them or work less hard for them...It means we should work even harder. Call it bridging the ignorance gap, if you will. Progress is not something that you just order on the Internet and pickup at Sears in twenty minutes -- we have to work for it in every corner of America...

Of course, there are going to be people who'll vote on skin shades, but unlike states with large African American populations there are no community battles going on in WV. Instead their fear is based in the unknown, the unfamiliar, but that can be addressed by 'bridging the ignorance gap', building familiarity, camping out in Appalachia and making our arguments. Then just maybe, sufficient numbers could come out for Obama.

Obama being Obama he's already a step ahead, kicking off his general campaign in...Appalachia, arm in arm with Webbo, that blue collar vet with a conservative background, spot on!

These poor Appalachian's are literally fighting for their lives and one thing's for sure, the last thing WV and its neighbor states need is more of the same.

Why I voted for Ken Livingstone and what I see in Barack Obama

I'm not at all proud of it but, I've only voted once before in my life, that was in 2000 for the now ex-mayor of London Ken Livingstone, so I don't have a history of dropping my knickers for just any political johnny-come-lately. For me to get as caught up as I am in this race is rare.

Ken was an old school socialist and this would be the first time in London’s history that Londoners could elect a mayor. Although Ken had long been affiliated to the Labour Party, he had a problem. Tony Blair the newly crowned King of Labour disliked Ken with some intensity, Livingstone represented all that the shiny new centrist Blair considered wrong and unelectable within the Labour party, you see Ken was one of those terribly dangerous socialists, he believed in crazy shit like social justice, equality, equal opportunity, public health, public schools, an effective social welfare system, political accountability and improving public services.

I've embedded a video below, which I think shows Ken Livingstone for what he is -- one of the most genuine politicians on earth. At 10 minutes it's probably a little long, he can be a bit monotone at times, but it's worth watching through. Ken’s addressing a gathered group of dignitaries in City Hall and apologizing for Britain's participation in the slave trade, watch as his raw emotions nearly take over.



Blair was so fearful of a Livingstone mayoralty that, incredibly, in order for Ken’s name to even appear on the primary ballot, Livingstone had to promise that if (read - when) he lost the nomination he wouldn’t run as an Independent. So, Ken’s name wouldn’t be on the ballot and he’d get chucked out of his party before he’d done anything wrong, before he had even contemplated whether he would run as an independent.

You have to know that Ken had given his life to this party, he’d been a member since school, he’d rallied and knocked on doors in unpopular elections, he’d fought on the streets in bloody battles with the police defending miners rights against the Thatcher regime, he worked internationally with likeminded politicians (picture right) as a vehement critic of apartheid at a time when the Thatcher/Reagan axis of evil opposed any economic sanctions against the regime in South Africa.

Meanwhile Blair and his lawyer buddies were in Oxford, picnicking on the Isis and looking really cool (picture left).

Basically, Blair wanted him out of the Labour party.
Having a good feel for the rank and file of the party and without much choice in the matter, in good faith Ken agreed. He was right to have faith in the rank and file, accordingly, during the nomination process, party activists voted overwhelmingly in favor of his candidacy.

But, Blair had no intention of allowing this ‘loose wire’ anywhere near the mayoralty, famously claiming that a Livingstone win ‘would be an absolute disaster for Londoners’, so he turned his attentions to people he could bully -- the sitting MPs and MEPs who would have the final say.

The votes of the 2-300 sitting MPs and MEPs (European Parliament Members) were weighted in such a way that they could ’overrule’ the 70,000 odd Labour Party activists and union members who’d voted for Ken. It was a dirty move and Ken lost the nomination.

This had never happened before, previously the will of the activists would be reflected by their parliamentary representatives (MPs and MEPs). The situation caused outrage and was seen as the first genuine stain Blair‘s previously pristine record. Something he’d also hold Livingstone accountable for.

Because of the manner in which Ken had been deprived there soon developed a burgeoning ground floor movement aimed at convincing Ken to run anyway. After some pushing he reluctantly resigned from the Labour Party and announced he was to run as an independent. His decision was not about ego, it was about a genuine concern for London and its residents, it was about as far from the Leiberman situation as you could get.

Ken had next to no money, anyone seen to be assisting his campaign fell foul of the Blair machine, he was outspent and out muscled by them, and although Blair and his centrist cronies screamed from the roof tops that Ken was breaking his pledge, he still managed to beat off the official Conservative, Liberal and Labour Party candidates to become the first elected mayor of London.

In victory he showed grace, stating he was confident that he’d be campaigning for re-election as a member of the Labour party.

In 2002 his application to have his membership reinstated was refused, only when Blair saw 2003 polling indicating that the unpopular Labour party’s official candidate could end up finishing a humiliating fourth, did they agree to Livingstone being reinstated to the party. They needed Ken a LOT more than he needed them. In 2004, he was re-elected Mayor as the official Labour Party candidate fulfilling his prophecy.

By 2008 Blair’s Labour party had become so unpopular that had he cut them adrift and ran as an independent, he would’ve almost certainly been re-elected, but instead he chose to stay loyal to his party and run as the official Labour candidate carrying all Blair’s political baggage, the very crap he’d so vociferously railed against throughout the 80s and 90s…he lost.

and so ends today’s tedious British political history lesson.

My point is, that was the first time I’d been inspired to vote, I believed in Ken Livingstone, here was a true political maverick, not a fair-weather politician, he showed humility and strength of conviction. I also knew that he needed every vote and that he was relying on disaffected people like me to get him elected, without us he’d have failed. Londoners and the city prospered under his guidance, but all that was a dozen years ago and I’ve not been as enthused about a political candidate since, until Barack Obama crashed into my life late last year.

I see a lot of Livingstone in Obama, not his politics so much as his character and it really appeals to me. Not only that but where Ken could only affect a city, Obama would have real power as leader of the western world.

There are a few obvious benefits of being English; I'm not obese, I don't wear plaid and I can read, but there's one other less obvious one and that is I'm unable to vote this time around. The fact that I am denied the vote has inspired me to look at other ways I can have an impact and has meant I've become far more proactive than I would’ve been. I’m committed to doing all I can to persuade others to help ensure Barack Obama is elected President of the US.

There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the ability to become one of the greatest presidents in US history, but more than this, I believe he will be a president for all communities on our planet, at a time when the planet desperately needs a leader. Conversely, I believe that should he fail to win in November and another Republican administration is installed, it could spell the end of the US as you and your forefathers knew it. This election is that important.

That your beautiful constitution, a document I’ve grown to appreciate more and more since arriving here, is in such peril, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

That young Americans, Iraqis and Englishmen are dying in their thousands every year in a pointless war of attrition that should never have been waged in the first place, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

That we carry the shame of millions of children in this country have to go to school with tooth ache because they cannot afford a visit to the dentist, that their mothers and fathers have to work with headaches, back pains and sprains because they too cannot afford a doctor’s visit, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

That futures traders and oil companies can report record profits while gasoline hits record prices at the pump, and low income workers lose jobs because they can no longer afford the commute, damning their families to a life of subsistence in a crippled social welfare system, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

That communities ripped apart by flooding and tornadoes are left to fend for themselves by an uninterested ruling-class who refuse to invest in the country's infrastructure to protect against such tragedies, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

That filthy corporations controlled by the same ruling-class are given a free reign to tear our planet apart at the seams, in a rabid pursuit of profit, while refusing to provide the most basic, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.

But for me, it’s the rotting image I can see of the world that my son will become a man in and the absolute horror of the world that could await his children, if something radical doesn't happen very soon.

This is the reason I demand change and have committed to do all I can to ensure it.

But Obama has a LOT to live up to, here’s Ken earlier this year:-

I don't need to tell the people here today that George Bush and those he represents did not go to war for humanitarian motives. He went to war to try and secure control of the resources of the people of the Middle East for the United States. He helped send the price of oil to some of the highest levels in history and brought the US down in a bloody quagmire which has discredited his regime not only in the Middle East, but through out the world.

Bush has tried to justify the war by demonising its opponents especially the Muslim communities in every part of the world. That is why it has been so heartening to see the Muslim community standing together with the peace movement in the forefront of this great anti-war movement. This movement represents the real views of the great majority of Londoners and indeed of the entire worlds population.

Like others I’ve also had to question whether some of Obama's stances are driven by political motivation and whether there’s a politician under all that sugary goodness, but of course there is. There's no way that man could've come out of 20 years of south side Chicago politics and in his first term win the Democratic Party's nomination for president if he wasn't one of the smartest politicians to grace the capitol.

So I've decided to at least allow him the benefit of doubt. I believe in Barack Obama but I’m not doing this for Barack Obama, I’m doing it for my son and your children.