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March 21, 2008 at 6:53 pm #618497
WSMomParticipantI love irony and I sure appreciate reading your POV JoB!
After the dust clears from around this fuss & bluster, we need to do what is best for our government and the American people…elect democrats into the oval office and congress. Starting a 3rd war in the Middle East is lunacy. Our country cannot morally or financially afford another preemptive war courtesy of McBush.
March 21, 2008 at 6:56 pm #618498
beachdrivegirlParticipantThanks for the clip. I am going to watch it now.
March 21, 2008 at 6:56 pm #618499
JoBParticipantwalfredo…
of course our media lies… or more accurately distorts the truth…
They have been editing to tell America not only what happens but how to think and feel about it for a long time now.. long before i was born.
They are more insidious these days because our news media have been infiltrated by the techniques of marketing.
it isn’t news.. it’s infomercials.
Go listen to Democracy Now.. Amy Goodman is unapologetically on the other side of that fence and is a good antidote to the nightly news.
Rent the film… i can’t remember the title.. so please someone help me here… it has Orwell in the title… and i referred to it in one of these threads…
i am sorry. i am having a less than steller day…
While i may not agree with what you are saying right now in reference to the Obama/Clinton contest… I am very glad to see young people looking critically at things and thinking.
who knows what that could lead to ;->
March 21, 2008 at 7:01 pm #618500
JoBParticipantWalfredo…
one more thing.. perhaps you should go back and learn more about that ticket.
Talk about a brave and idealistic man…
It’s too bad Mondale is remembered by so many as a loser.. because he was a giant of a man.
And our party’s idealists owe a lot to him.
March 21, 2008 at 7:22 pm #618501
JoBParticipantWalfredo.. again i apologize…
i didn’t mean to imply that Walter Mondale was dead…
and after some fact checking.. i find that Geraldine did make her race comment about Jesse Jackson in 1984.
one remark in 1984.. and other in 2008…
hmmm.. i can see why that makes her a racist and bigot.
Both remarks in context.. not so racist either.
Perhaps you are beginning to understand context after listening to reverend wright’s sermon?
I think it just makes her incautious… There was a real backlash last time…
Then… like now … blatant sexism is acceptable.. the appearance of racism is not.
BTW… Jesse Jackson’s team created that fuss over her remarks to deflect the attention his own were getting.. and they were clearly anti-semitic.
A young Jesse Jackson (who did learn to edit his speech) and Lous Farrakon (who didn’t)are the symolic angry black men that FOX news is trying to remind America of with their edited version of Reverend Wright’s speech.
March 21, 2008 at 8:37 pm #618502
JoBParticipantMy last post today…
i rested so i could do this…
I am incredibly saddened about the furor being made over the Reverend Wright and Barak Obama…
but if there is one good thing that might come out of this… it is the lesson that what you see may not be all there was to see.
What you see may even be a carefully edited misrepresentation of the truth.
That lesson of context is important.. because without it there is not much understanding.
None of us use words the same way… personal definitions and context matter.
few of us use the same lingo in all our differing social situations. Wazzup may be an appropriate greeting for some of our friends.. but inappropriate elsewhere.
We don’t speak the same in public as we do in private. We all say things in the privacy of our living rooms.. or among friends.. or in our churches… anywhere we speak candidly.. that might not sound so great when quoted out of context.
And somewhere.. everyone has at least a few embarrassing minutes that they are lucky no one taped for posterity.
In our culture, intent matters. And the only person who can accurately assess the intent of any statement is the person who made it.
This is why it is a good idea to give everyone the benefit of the doubt… and to dig a little deeper than the news story to find the truth.
Genuine disagreement based on actual data is one of the healthiest forms of communication.
Parroting second hand gossip.. and as you can see too much of our nightly news is little more than gossip… only breeds more gossip.. not communication… and it certainly doesn’t lead to understanding.
This video might after all end up being the uniting force in the democratic party.
If it causes both sides to stop and think long enough to realize that some rhetoric might be just that.. rhetoric… and actually wonder about the truth behind it… Mr Obama will have done a great service to his party and to his nation.
March 22, 2008 at 2:21 am #618503
JanSParticipantI’m enjoying reading Media Matters for America more and more…here’s an interesting post on there…speaking of the media, distortions, McCain, etc….
March 25, 2008 at 7:01 pm #618504
charlabobParticipantAnother reason to start campaigning against McCain today (and why Obama is the best candidate to do it.)
This one makes me very sad and very scared but it’s full of unfortunate facts that can’t be dismissed easily.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-saunders/metanarratives-and-hillar_b_93193.html
I don’t believe polls comparing candidates have any use at this point in a campaign, but the polls on “issues and traits” are more likely be accurate and to stick.
The poll in this article, comparing “Honesty and Trustworthiness” is absolutely terrifying. To me, it means that no matter who the dems nominate, we have to begin now to debunk the idea that McCain is honest and trustworthy. And we should start today.
I WILL WORK MY A** OFF FOR ANY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE, THE DAY AFTER (S)HE IS NOMINATED.
Slight change in mantra wording, because I’ve begun to harbor hope that Edwards or even Gore might ride in on a white (Hybrid) steed and save us all.
March 25, 2008 at 7:06 pm #618505
charlabobParticipantAnother link…this time about relative “misstatements” by the Democratic candidates.
Posted in the McCain forum to motivate my fellow Dems to start campaigning AGAINST McCain even before we know who to campaign FOR.
This one makes me very sad and scared but it’s full of unfortunate facts that can’t be dismissed easily.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-saunders/metanarratives-and-hillar_b_93193.html
I don’t believe polls comparing candidates mean anything at this point in a campaign, but the polls on “issues and traits” are more likely to stick. The poll in this article, comparing “Honesty and Trustworthyness” is absolutely terrifying. To me, it means that no matter who we nominate, the dems have to begin now to debunk the idea that McCain is honest and trustworthy. And we should start now.
I WILL WORK MY A** OFF FOR ANY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE, THE DAY AFTER (S)HE IS NOMINATED.
Slight change in wording of my mantra, because I’ve begun to harbor hope that Edwards or even Gore might ride in on a white (Hybrid) Steed and save us.
March 25, 2008 at 7:41 pm #618506
beachdrivegirlParticipantInteresting reading. Thanks Charlabob.
March 25, 2008 at 8:57 pm #618507
charlabobParticipantNot interesting enough to post twice :-( Sometimes when I “edit” I wind up with two instead of one. Yikes…that gives you a window into the way my mind works…I’m in big trouble.
My abject apologies….
March 25, 2008 at 9:00 pm #618508
beachdrivegirlParticipantHey it happens to all of us. I think we all get a little passionate sometimes so we get a bit excited with our “send post” button!
March 28, 2008 at 2:52 am #618509
JanSParticipantlet’s pick on this guy….here’s a start…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/27/johnmccain.uselections2008
March 28, 2008 at 3:27 am #618510
c@lbobMemberJanS
That article brings up another area where the love affair the media has with John McCain lets him get away with saying he’s one kind of politicial and being another.
He’s spent twenty-five years throwing barbeques for the media, inviting them onto his bus, BSing with them for hours over gallons of booze, and it has paid off, among the national media, at least.
Arizona reporters are so blinded, and they don’t get the face time with McCain as a result.
He’s also gotten a reputation as tough on Pentagon spending, but what it really amounts to is he has pet projects that he is willing to browbeat the brass over with tough talk, and relent once he gets them, like the AirBus tanker deal.
Mr. Environment gets a zero, good to know.
March 28, 2008 at 4:17 am #618511
JanSParticipanthey, bob…here’s another…I’ve seen parts of this on the tube…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/opinion/27thu1.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
March 31, 2008 at 3:36 pm #618512
JoBParticipantfrom our good friends at moveon.org
another reason we don’t want John McCain.. he doesn’t seem to care if something is illegal.. he just cares whether he can get away with it.. and it seems right now he can.
Here’s the basic issue: Last summer, when McCain’s campaign was seemingly on its last legs, he sent the FEC notice that he would abide by campaign finance spending limits in exchange for federal matching funds.
He used the government’s promise of those funds to secure a bank loan that kept his campaign alive.
Now that he’s got the nomination and has more money, he’s trying to withdraw from the public finance spending limits.
But that’s plainly illegal. A past FEC ruling clearly said that candidates can withdraw from public financing “provided that the certification of funds has not been pledged as security for private funding.”
That’s what McCain did.
The American Prospect points out:
Consider what would have happened if McCain had lost New Hampshire and sunk under the waves: he would have accepted the public money and he would have used it to pay off the $3 million loan….And thus McCain is tricking the system exactly as the exception foresees…
McCain has now raised and spent more than the $56,757,500 that was allowed under the rules he agreed to!5 That means every penny McCain raises and spends before the Republican National Convention is illegal—and he knows it.
Oh, and there’s one more wrinkle. The FEC currently lacks enough commissioners to hold a vote against McCain!
That’s because Republican Senators want to appoint a dirty trickster to the FEC and won’t let three good appointees through until that happens.
if you want to sign their petition tod draw attention to this and to make sure they have something to vote on when they finally convene …
you will find the petition at moveon.org
i followed through because i think it is criminal that we don’t currently have an election commission during a presidential election….
i see one more way to get a president seated who gets elected illegally.
March 31, 2008 at 11:32 pm #618513
JanSParticipantApril 3, 2008 at 11:47 pm #618514
JanSParticipantMyth #4
4. John McCain is a reformer.
When reporters think “political reform,” there’s one name that comes to mind: John McCain. But is his image as a reformer all it’s cracked up to be?
In 1989, John McCain was embroiled in one of the biggest financial scandals in American history: the Keating Five. Yet far from ending his career, the scandal has since been spun as a defining moment for the senator, the event that set him straight and inspired his transformation into a reformer. The media have eagerly bought this line, and mentions of McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five, already few, are usually framed in redemptive terms. But if you look closely at McCain’s life, one can see the hallmarks of the typical politician — the reliance on powerful lobbyists, the close ties with industries in his regulatory purview, the specter of conflict of interest. Indeed, McCain has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of campaign contributions from the telecom, transportation, and media industries. What do all these companies have in common? They all have interests before the Senate Commerce Committee, which McCain chaired. Their support paid off. Corporations such as EchoStar, BellSouth, Ameritech, and — as The New York Times recently reported — Paxson Communications, among others, benefited from McCain’s actions on their behalf (Free Ride, Page 109).
Then there is McCain’s advocacy of campaign finance reform, which more than anything has made him the premier reformer in the eyes of the media. Five years later, it would be difficult for anyone to argue that McCain-Feingold actually cleaned up the campaign finance system. Rather than diminishing, the amount of money spent on political campaigns has exploded. The legislation also had the effect of boosting the Republican Party at the expense of the Democratic Party. At the time, the Democrats relied much more heavily on soft money donations, particularly from labor unions, than did Republicans. And McCain knew that as well as anyone. When Americans for Tax Reform aired an ad in New Hampshire in 1999 accusing him of helping Democrats by working to ban soft money, McCain’s spokesman protested to the Associated Press, “In fact banning soft money will help the Republican Party because it will stop the flow of cash which runs around the clock from the big labor unions straight into the Democratic Party’s coffers”
April 4, 2008 at 6:47 pm #618515
JoBParticipantvery well spoken jan.. and entirely true.
i think in some ways the republican non-campaign for it’s primary has done us a favor.
After all.. what is newsworthy about McCain right now? That he is continuing to try to reinforce his image as a good guy?
he doesn’t look so impressive bumbling around the middle east and europe with the “good news” of the current escalation in Iraq as his backdrop…
heck.. they aren’t event talking about his bowling skills.. or lack thereof.. these days.
democrats are the news.. and even if the news about them isn’t portrayed in a positive way .. they are newsmakers … while John McCain is just the forgotten man.
Isn’t it funny that they are reinforcing the idea that the only significant race here is who is the democratic nominee?
sometimes life just makes me chuckle
April 5, 2008 at 3:51 am #618516
JanSParticipantJoB…plagiarism all the way – lol..I couldn’t establish a link, so copied it to here. There are 8 more myths out there…it from http://mediamattersaction.org/freeride/myths/…
now, here is another link.. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804040009?f=h_top
just fodder for thought…and for after the convention :)
April 5, 2008 at 4:00 am #618517
JanSParticipantanother interesting link… I especially like the side links about Limbaugh, et.al. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804040002
April 6, 2008 at 12:44 am #618518
JanSParticipantmore things about McCain…yes, a simplification…and from Moveon.org…an organizatioin hated by the likes of Rush L., and Bill O’Reilly..
10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don’t):
1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3
4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”4
5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.5
6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.6
7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10
John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be…
April 6, 2008 at 12:45 am #618519
JanSParticipantoh, and, yes, I have sources…just ask, and I’ll provide…just didn’t want to take up a lot of space here :)
April 6, 2008 at 3:24 am #618520
JoBParticipantagain.. well done.
April 7, 2008 at 6:04 am #618521
charlabobParticipantcondi rice on the mccain short (20!) veep list? Yes/no/maybe? Maybe it ain’t all gonna be so smooth between the right wing of the right wing party and the geriatric flip flopper :-)
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