American Taliban

Buried underneath all the financial bad news of the past week is a story in the Washington Post about 33 pastors who have decided to defy the governmental edict by mixing politics with religion from the pulpit.

One of them, the Reverend Ron Johnson, jr. told his congregation that a vote for Barack Obama represents a moral schizophrenia and was in violation of the Bible. Johnson stopped short of endorsing John McCain, but not by much.

The 33 ministers are part of a group that is attempting to generate a court battle that will ultimately overturn the 54 year old ban on telling their congregations how to vote. They say they have a constitutional right to tell their people who to vote for. They say the law violates their rights to religious expression.

The law, which is part of the national tax code says churches or any entity with a tax exempt status are barred from participating in, or of intervening in any political campaign on behalf of any person or public office. The law was enacted to prevent the joining of church and state government. There is no such ban on pastors who talk issues from the pulpit.

The IRS has taken no action...it says it is monitoring the situation.

For me, the solution is simple...if you want to talk politics from the pulpit...give up your tax exempt status. Pay taxes like the rest of us and you can say anything you want.

These blatant attempts to circumvent one of the basic tenants under lying the founding of this country has always scared the hell out of me. The people who came to these shores, and founded our country, and authored the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, were escaping from religious persecution, not running toward it with the goal of setting up their own system of preferential abuse.

If these American Taliban are ever successful at infusing our government with religion, me and people like me, will be in big trouble. There are things about me that I can’t change...the very things that make me, me, are the things that these fanatics, and they are fanatic, want to control...lock away...kill...

I’m a woman....they want to take away my control of the only thing I really own....my body..
I’m black....their religious book says I should be a slave....
I’m lesbian.....they say I can’t love the one I choose...or that I should be killed for having such thoughts...
I’m left handed......at one point in our history...left handed babies were put to death because it was said that left handed children were sired by the devil....

Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, in 1956....My first grade teacher tried to make me right handed because she said it wasn’t correct to use your left hand.. I told my Mom...she put a stop to it...That teacher should have lost her job, because who knows how many other little kids she messed up because they didn’t tell their mom, or their mom chose not to intervene in the abuse.

Civil rights for Blacks and the LGBT community continues.....look at the vicious racial attacks on Obama in this campaign...I’ve had my fair share of personal brushes with racism, some of it based in the old testament, my phone chats with the late Bill Wilkinson, grand wizard of the KKK, for instance. I was okay with him until I told him I was black, this coming six weeks into our weekly phone conversations....He couldn’t tell I was black by hearing me talk....When I started in broadcasting...I had a news director tell me that I was too light to be black on television...I’m high yellow in complexion, as we say in the ghetto...I can’t help that...My complexion is testimony to the race mixing of America...been going on for ages...yet this white man chose to judge me for color...never mind that I had a track record of running rings around every other reporter he had on staff.....I won that battle....I worked in darker makeup for about six months..until he stopped paying attention...It didn’t end there...but it’s over...I don’t choose to look back....unless provoked.

The specter of the repeal of Roe v. Wade looms large these days...It’s not just about abortion..It’s about returning women to second class citizenship or the days of barefoot and pregnant. There is actually a legal group who is studying whether or not women can be limited in their travel or crossing of state lines, if they seem to be with child..or someone thinks they may be traveling in order to get an abortion...no proof necessary...just the suspicion would be enough...

Anyone who is sitting on the fence need only look to the middle east to see religion taking over government....dissenters silenced in the name of religion...women killed in the name of religion.

Don’t think it can happen here? Listen to the pseudo Christians of the conservative right. Listen to the Governor of that great state of Alaska. The concentration camps have already been built with our taxpayer money by KBR, the Bush/Cheney favored corporation. Bush, as I said has done away with some basic civil rights protections that would make it easy to co-opt the government if the religious right in this country makes it to the White House. Don’t believe me, then go read The Patriot Act. We basically have no rights. The trouble is most of us won’t know, until the government starts to use our laws against us.

Back to the topic at hand....In an open letter from the Rev. Eric Williams, of the United Church of Christ...he warned that many members of the clergy are "exchanging their historic religious authority for a fleeting promise of political power," to the detriment of their churches.

"The role of the church -- of congregation, synagogue, temple and mosque -- and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power," Williams wrote, "and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our 'first liberty.' "

I just hope that more people are listening to Rev Williams than Rev Johnson.

OOPS!

Since I live in that great swing state of Ohio, I get more than my fair share of campaign this and that, on television during the day. I usually have the telly on while doing housework. Not watching, just halfway listening for anything important.

Well, there it was, BREAKING NEWS, John McCain and Sarah Palin are live, in Columbus, and John is addressing the rather rowdy crowd.

Papa Smurf began by saying wonderful things about his running mate and promising that she was going to win Thursday's debate against Joe Biden. Then he launched into a self congratulatory back pat about the bailout. Thanks to him, the economy was saved. And he did it without any help from Barack Obama and those damned Democrats;

I put my campaign on hold for a couple days last week to fight for a rescue plan that put you and your economic security first. I fought for a plan that protected taxpayers, homeowners, consumers and small business owners.

I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and in Washington.

Some people have criticized my decision, but I will never, ever be a president who sits on the sidelines when this country faces a crisis. Some of you may have noticed, but it's not my style to simply "phone it in."

I am a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. I believe our leaders belong "in the Arena" when our country faces a challenge. I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now.

Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he was "monitoring the situation." That's not leadership, that's watching from the
sidelines.

He got lots and lots of applause while flashing that creepy smile of his. Then, apparently the bottom fell out.

Because, less than an hour later, the bailout failed, by 12 votes.....12 republican votes.

The Democrats had promised 140 votes and they delivered...The GOP, led by John McCain if you believe the words coming out of his mouth, promised 60...But they didn’t get ‘em....hmmmmmmmm

So what does great leader do? Gets back on his straight talk express and sulks, until his minions craft together a statement, and lets them read it to reporters rather than deliver it himself.....and you guessed it.....blaming Obama for the bailout defeat...

"From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others," Holtz-Eakin said. "Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also got some blame for the defeat, after chastising President Bush's free market economic policies, for pushing Republicans away from the bill.

"Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill," Holtz-Eakin said. "Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome. This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."

The entire Arizona and Alaska House delegations voted against the bailout bill.

That’s some leadership, John....getting one upped by that uppity elitist junior senator from Illinois and you the 26 year maverick senior senator from Arizona...

While we’re at it...I may as well spread some blame around, too. Back in 1999, McCain voted for a bill that was authored by his old buddy Phil Gramm...you remember him...the guy who said all this financial meltdown was a figment of our imagination and that Americans were whiners...

That 1999 deregulation bill was the Commodity Futures Modernization Act - 265 pages of voodoo economics that accelerated this crisis on Wall Street..The crisis began with the election of Ronald Reagan, but we'll save that history lesson for another day.

This bill also included the Enron Loophole....Remember that one?

Gramm, by the way is McCain’s choice for Sec. of the Treasury, if he makes it to the White House.

As late as last week, McCain said the economy was sound and that deregulation was a good thing.

In Threes...

In less than a week, three people, important to me, died. I have already eulogized two of them...Harold Johnson jr., my friend.... and actor Paul Newman, one of my favorite thespians.

Late last night, I lost my oldest living relative....the youngest child of my great grandmother and father....My great aunt Ret, passed. She was in hospice, so we knew her passing was imminent. She died in her sleep, quietly, just before midnight.

She was born in 1915. She was a classically trained pianist selling her piano only after rheumatoid arthritis in her hands robbed her of playing in her late 70's. She also played violin and mandolin.

Barely five feet tall, she did a lot of living in her time. I can’t personally testify to it because I never really got to know her until after she retired from working in city government. Her life is documented in hundreds and hundreds of photos dating back to when her parents were children. Indeed, she didn’t stop driving until age 91. She voluntarily gave up her license after causing an accident. She said it was time.

I always wanted to be like her when I was younger. She was academically gifted, well educated and very well read, well spoken and loved writing letters. I think I envied her importance because she was the boss where she worked. She always told people that I was going to be mayor of our city one day. I always laughed at that...I love politics...just never had the desire to actually be a politician. I tend to speak what’s on my mind....politicians can’t do that.

While my much younger parents were shunning the computer, saying they were too old to learn, my aunt decided to take classes in order to learn how to work one when she was 92. She got pretty good at it too.

In fairness to my father, my dad, at the age of 80 now has a computer. He’s mastered solitaire, plays movies via his DVD player and even has an email address. His seven year old grandson is schooling him daily. But at least he’s trying.

Toward the end, I think she was just ready to let go. She stopped reading because she needed new glasses, but her optometrist had died. I offered mine, but she said maybe sometime later. He’d been her doctor for as long as I have been alive. She didn’t want to break in another one. I can understand that. Once you get comfortable it’s time to change. Maybe death comes when you no longer want to change.

I know she’s okay now, back with her family, mother, father and six brothers and sisters. The last one...

Paul Newman 1925-2008

“What we have here, is failure to communicate”

Those words were uttered by actor Strother Martin, but he said it in one of my favorite Paul Newman movies, Cool Hand Luke. The year was 1967. George Kennedy went on to win the Oscar for best supporting actor. Newman was nominated for best actor, but he didn’t win until years later for Color of Money as the pool player Fast Eddie Felson, a role he actually played twice in two different movies.

Newman died late Friday, while the rest of us were paying attention to the presidential debates. Since he was in a public battle with cancer, his death was expected. He was one of those guys you hoped could live forever. He was one of the truly good guys.

Newman was one of the actors who could get me to watch simply upon reading that he was in it. His movies weren’t super big blockbusters by today’s standards. But his acting kept your attention. It didn’t hurt that he was absolutely gorgeous.

I especially liked when he worked with his wife, Joanne Woodward as in The Long Hot Summer, based on the story by William Faulkner, or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, my favorite playwright. In the later he worked with Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives as Big Daddy. I’ve seen both those movies so many times that I can almost quote the dialogue word for word. Ben Quick...Brick Politt....

I remember him in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Robert Redford. They also teamed up again in The Sting. His filmography reads like the list of my favorite movies. I’ve seen them all and can watch them over and over again.

In that respect, he will live on...

Debates-First Impressions

Presidential debates are not really about issues. Debates are about the way the candidates look, act and make you feel toward them. In other words, can either one of the guys in front of you represent you and the people of the United States.

Since John McCain was heavy on history and looking backward tonight, I will start with a little history of my own. I was ten when Kennedy and Nixon hooked up on television. It was my first really good look at the senator from Massachusetts. Nixon was already vice president and there was some of the McCarthy hearings in my memory. Not much, but enough to have an impression of Richard Nixon.

I remember thinking how beautiful Kennedy was...how calm....how easy going....He looked like my ideal of a president. Nixon had already acquired the nickname tricky dick and that’s the way I thought of him. This was before watergate and the tapes, so we didn’t know how racist, vindictive, or dirty mouthed he was. The consensus at the time was that Nixon lost the debate. He paled next to Kennedy physically and while he went on to take the popular vote, Nixon lost the electoral college and therefore the election to John Kennedy. One thing I remember was that Nixon hadn’t figured out at the time, that you have to look into the camera or at your opponent. Not doing that makes you look shifty, like you’re not telling the truth. It is also a sign of disrespect.

Which brings me back to tonight. In my mind Obama needed to hold his own against the assumed superiority of McCain’s foreign policy credentials. I thought he acquitted himself. But I think Obama was still too deferential to McCain. I thought Obama should have ripped into the condescending old coot a little harder.

McCain reminded me of Nixon tonight...shifty....not really telling us the truth about what he plans to do if elected. He didn't look into the camera either. Honestly, I don’t think he has a clue about what he intends to do, if elected.

Obama was right about what Kissinger said about face to face diplomacy. It was one of those sticking points that Katie Couric had with Sarah Palin, during the interview the other night. Palin was so totally confused that Couric called Kissinger to clarify his position. As I said, Obama stated it correctly. Palin was wrong a few days ago... And McCain apparently isn’t listening to his advisors, either.

McCain, in an attempt to seem not so warlike...said he voted against sending the marines into Beirut. McCain wasn’t even in congress when that vote was taken. 50 some odd marines had already been killed by 1982. McCain was elected in 1983.

Since I’m talking history, I think McCain exaggerated, when he said the Invasion of Normandy was the greatest invasion in history. But I think that record is actually held by the Nazi’s invasion of the Soviet Union at the end of WWII. If I remember correctly, Hitler sent something like five million soldiers against the Russian front. There were only 300-thousand troops who took part in D-Day.

But I’m nitpicking. As I said at the top, debates are about feel. I don’t feel McCain. I feel Obama.I don’t feel comfortable with McCain. I trust Obama, as much as I am able to trust any politician. Whichever one wins is in deep doodoo. So I don’t envy them.

And, I’m looking forward to next week’s vice presidential debate.

By the way......where was Sarah, tonight? Saw Joe B on CBS...looking good...sounding good....Where was Lady Sarah....ten paces back and quiet as usual?

Hmmmm..........

Queen Johnny

To quote the late actor Robert Preston in the film Victor/Victoria, “there’s nothing sadder than an old queen with a head cold..”

Johnny Mac doesn’t have a cold, but he does seem to be channeling his inner drag queen this week(who else would pay $5500 for makeup), preferring to stir up chaos and a lot of drama, rather than campaigning like an honorable politician seeking the highest office in the land.

Actually, honorable in context with the word politician or in any sentence that contains John McCain’s name is an oxymoron. McCain’s campaign has been totally dishonorable. I didn’t think it could sink any lower, but apparently he prefers swimming in muddy waters.

A couple of days ago, McCain held his first news conference in a hundred years to tell everyone that he was suspending his campaign in order to run back to Washington and hammer out a bailout for Wall Street. Queen Johnny likes playing president. Remember when Russia jumped all over Georgia. John John took to the airwaves to tell everyone what he would do...not that we asked. He jumped so fast, you would’ve thought that Shrub had already retired.

Her majesty said no ads, no campaigning, no political work of any kind while he was being presidential....McCain even wanted to cancel tonight’s debate, because he said he had too much stuff on his plate to do something so trivial as to talk to the American people about foreign policy, which is his strong suit, by the way. Well, that stuff may work with reporters...he hasn’t talked to reporters since he started using Sarah Palin as a shield...but it doesn’t work with we, the people. And his campaign during this suspension has been business as usual, complete with the underhanded, lying attacks on Obama.

All that came out the oval office yesterday was this photo of McCain sitting at the end of the table staring out into space. So what happened? Did the big deal maker have an old timer’s moment and forget where he was? Reports from inside the room said McCain barely said a word nor did he really push for anything substantial.

So.....what was the point of all this nonsense except to say...”look at me, world...I’m John McCain...vote for me because I said so...” Drag Queen drama!

But he still has the spotlight....the question today is will the debate happen tonight....My guess is that it will....but Queen Johnny will arrive fashionably late in order to make an entrance...

And So it Begins....

Folks, we’ve been back doored, bamboozled, misled, screwed with...insert your own adjective. The financial crisis is a smoke screen for some other stuff going on.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a column about some new laws that went into effect doing away with some vital protections within our democracy. You can read the column here.

The laws passed in October, 2006, made it easier for the president to declare martial law. The new rules also suspended Posse Comitatus of 1878, which prevented the deployment of army troops on American soil for use against American citizens... Well....

As of October first, of this year, according to The Army Times, the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry will be assigned to day to day duty under the direction of Homeland Security for one year.

"They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack. . . .” according to the article.

You can read the more detailed version, here.

I’m not saying that anyone is mounting a coup of America...yet...It’s just that all of the pieces are falling into place and if I can put them together...then so can anyone else...

Combine the military deployment with Patriot Act ramifications and what you could have is a quiet, bloodless revolution. The Patriot Act, among other things, did away with Habeas Corpus...That is your right to know why you’ve been arrested and thrown in jail....That right no longer exists in America thanks to Bush and his neocons...

And if you think this financial bailout is going to help us...you got another think coming....Bush is selling this bailout the same way he sold the Iraq invasion...Through fear and intimidation..

If someone doesn’t stop this travesty....then once again, we’ve been had without benefit of Vaseline...

John McCain

Suspending campaign...

Cancelling the debate.....

Invented the blackberry.......yet....

Can’t multi task...

Not ready to lead........................

Udder Nonsense

I’m all for allowing people to live their lives in any way they choose, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else while doing it. We’re all different. We have different buttons that trip at different times in different situations.

I’m okay with that...You stay in your yard...I’ll stay in mine....We’ll all be happy..

I only have a problem when folks try to inflict their beliefs or silliness upon me...Take PETA, for instance. PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Now let me say, I’m an animal owner...three dogs, who pretty much lead a spoiled existence. They were all adopted from the street. I don’t force them to be groomed...They’re pretty much still the hairy little monsters that I brought in off the street. I just work overtime at keeping my house fur free..which means I vacuum everyday...sometimes twice a day....no doggie smell in this house...I have had to back off house training for one....he is fourteen and now that he is older, sometimes has trouble making it through the night...he knows it and if he does have to go...he goes into the bathroom and uses the area in front of the commode...He’s too small to get up onto the commode....I just have to remember to wear shoes in the morning..in case....

Now from what I’ve told you, you would think that I would be a card carrying member of PETA..Well, you would be wrong, because these folks are just flat out bat shit crazy...

In addition to wanting all of us to forego wearing furs and leather..(that’s a culture thing with blacks)....or not eating meat...becoming vegetarian....I’m a partial veggie...I still eat fish..

PETA has asked Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream to get rid of cow’s milk and to use human breast milk instead. Check out the letter.

PETA says the switch will be better for cows and humans.....HOW! Go from misusing cattle to making slaves out of women? That’s a good idea?

I mean, how else do you do this? Sure women will be paid...but it’s just another abusive industry that will continue to guarantee women are treated as second class citizens.

I’m all for not mistreating animals. But PETA people...I like my women running free..and I like my ice cream the way it is...

Seriously...ya’ll need to get a life...

For the Living

"I'm not here to talk about Harold jr.....We know he is in a better place. I’m here to talk to Harold Sr. because funerals are for the family”-Pastor Grant, Rockdale Baptist Church

Pastor Grant looked, talked and walked like a man with one foot on top of his own grave. He told us who had gathered for young Harold’s funeral, that he and Harold’s mother were “mature.”..older than the senior choir at Rockdale Baptist. Pastor Grant never cracked a smile in his allotted two minutes of remarks, but he made all of us smile, bringing laughter through the tears shed for Harold Johnson jr.

Harold passed away nearly a week ago. Unexpectedly for friends and family and for me, as well. He was one of the people, I expected to be holding the door open for, when they crossed over, because I was so sure I would go first. I never expected him to beat me off this plane of existence, apparently killed by the same thing that is slowly killing me. His great big heart gave out during a bout with a cold.

We worked together, side by side, for seven years, sharing life, observations, politics, history, and tips on the stock market. We agreed on many things, disagreed on other things. We shared a love of history and books. Any book. Didn’t matter. We both were inveterate readers of everything. I never had to worry about my vocabulary around Harold, because his understanding and love of words was as great as mine. Harold was a stress free friend....even at work....we never talked about work...but we always talked....everyday....When something happened in the world, I couldn't wait to talk to him and Clarence, and Mike....

Until today, I’d never met his family, but I knew them through him. His brother Michael gave the eulogy and surprised me, because I already knew most of the anecdotes that Michael shared about Harold. I learned today just how much Harold had shared with me. About the only thing I learned new was Harold’s age...He never shared that....his one mark of vanity.

It was difficult to hear and to watch Michael talk from the podium. He struggled with his composure as he remembered his only brother...who was older... I couldn't have stood there...I'm fighting tears now while writing this......but Rev. Rousseau was right.....Michael and Harold could’ve been twins, they looked so much alike. ....Rev also said death may be unexpected for the living....but it is never unexpected in the greater scheme of life...and he was so right..

Harold was laid to rest in Walnut Hills Cemetery near my Aunt Peggie.....family forever....I now have two reasons to salute that grassy knoll on my way to where ever, as I continue to wander this plane...seeking...

R.I.P. my friend

W.T.F.?!

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.-maya angelou

I’ve just been listening to our sitting President, the short timer, talk about the current economic crisis. This is the second straight day that he has come out of the White House to talk to the people about the stuff going on, on Wall Street.

He spoke less than five minutes and took no questions yesterday. Bush was so brief that Charlie Gibson was left without words and nothing to say. Gibson’s shock was visible. The MSM had obviously expected more.

Today, Shrub spoke for about five minutes longer. He took no responsibility for what is going on, preferring to dump the problem onto Congress with a kind of “okay, now do something” attitude.

Again, he took no questions and simply walked off leaving Treasury Secretary Paulson flapping in the wind.

I think we are inching closer to the kind of national commission that was put into place during the savings and loan crisis several years ago. Those who don’t remember that scandal should crack open a history book or two. Or google it, you can find the information readily enough.

While you’re at it, look up the Keating Five Scandal, because it ties into not only the savings and loan mess, but also today’s presidential campaign.

Since we’re looking back, I found an interesting article on the Warren Harding and Teapot Dome...What? You say....check it out...it weighs heavily on what’s happening today.....


And let’s call these bailouts what they are.....Socialism at work.....We are seeing, I believe the death of American Capitalism...But I’ll save that thought for another day...I’m still mulling that one over....

S.O.S.D.D....

Things You Need to Know....

1...Remember: 91 and 134...

91-the number of times that John McCain has voted with George Bush
134-the number of lobbyists currently employed by the McCain campaign-those numbers courtesy of Paul Begala

2...Sarah Palin attributes her success to a an African witch doctor


3...It’s not just the Supreme Court that we have to worry about....The GOP has literally gutted the ranks of the federal courts from where Supco judges are chosen...

4...Talk about total irrelevance...

Donald Trump has endorsed John McCain for president on the Larry King show....SO! Trump continues to be one of the biggest jokes on the planet.....

well maybe one of them......there is that woman named de Rothechild who thinks that she matters to the rest of us....she used to raise money for Hillary...now she is a McCain supporter because,

“Frankly, I don’t like him.” She said, referring to Obama...Oh, and she also called him an elitist...she is smart enough not to use the N-word outright....but she used the word that means the N-word in today’s parlance.....pictures show that she suffers from terminal blondeness of the bottle variety...

5...Troopergate is unraveling

Looks like all those attorneys that the McCain campaign has been throwing at the problem are working....Troopergate is either going to die or be delayed until after the election..

6....Let’s all cheer!

Hit him again, hit him again...harder...harder!

Obama used Rush Limbaugh to slam McCain on immigration and Limbaugh is whining ,alleging racism on the part of Obama...

The pill poppin’, bigot can’t take a dose of his own medicine....sissy! No offense meant to my sissy friends..

Johnny Mac’s Health Care Plans

Women aren’t the only ones who will be screwed if John McCain is allowed to implement his health care plans. You can read the plan in its entirety right here. The plan was studied by the independent public policy journal Health Affairs, which released its analysis this week.

Among other things the journal, Health Affairs, concludes that an additional 20 million people will end up without health insurance. And anyone with a pre existing condition will have to come out of pocket with about 25% more than now...

McCain was already taking heat for the past couple of months because John Goodman, one of his health care advisors, in an interview, made the claim that nobody was uninsured in America, as long as any of us could go to an emergency room for treatment...including illegal aliens....

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American -- even illegal aliens -- as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

McCain disavowed the guy after people started complaining, much like he did when his economic advisor, Phil Gramm made his utterly ridiculous statements that the bad economy was a figment of our collective imagination.

I wish I could come up with something witty to say, but this guy is really getting under my skin. It’s not funny. John McCain is a dangerous man....no laughing matter..

Gee, Toto, We’re Not in Kansas, Anymore...

Man, you know you’re in the twilight zone when the current master of sleazy politics sounds like the voice of reason in the current campaign for president. Karl Rove says John McCain’s ads attacking Obama, have gone too far.

"McCain has gone in his ads one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test," said Rove. "Both campaigns ought to be careful about... there ought to be an adult who says: 'Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don't we make our point and get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don't include that one little last tweak in the ad?'"

Rove is now a talking head for Fox News. He made the comment on Fox News Sunday...

-0-

O. J. Simpson is on trial again. Big Whoop!. He and his lawyers are whining because the Simpson jury, this time out, is an all white jury and therefore he can’t get a fair trial because he is not being tried by his peers...

Bullcrap....The only time Simpson remembers that he is black is when his ass in trouble, then he high tails it back to us. He lives white, sleeps white, plays white ever since he won notoriety as a football player. Simpson obviously doesn’t live as if blacks are his peers, so why should we sit on his jury?

He is being tried by his peers. Karma, baby...it is definitely a bitch!

-0-

I slept through a hurricane today as the high winds of Hurricane Ike rushed through the Midwest on Sunday. My upside down day ended at six thirty am and after a little writing time, I laid down and went to sleep only to be awakened by the stirring of my dogs who were upset at noises outside our windows. Seems the winds were kicking up at about 70 mph and had flung my storage shed into the back of my house. Coming fully awake, I had no power, but neither did anyone else on my block. Everyone was out on their front porches, just watching the weather pass by. We were lucky, there was no water with this storm, just wind. But reports said 850,000 people, or 90% of Duke energy customers lost power in one fell swoop.

I have two porches, one up and one down. I was initially on the upper one, but decided to retreat to the lower one after watching the power lines strain against the winds. I could picture them snapping and me getting trapped or worse on my balcony.

So I went downstairs and outside. My neighbors and I watched and waited, helplessly. We watched trees fall across the street....I live in the second oldest neighborhood in Cincinnati, where the trees have been towering since the early 1800's....My house is more than a hundred years old...so you can understand why the trees fall here....makes you nervous.....saw dirt devils filled with debris dance down the hill in front of us...little swirling tornadoes, that we were checking to see if some of the stuff caught up, belonged to us...

The kids down the street recovered my dogs’ wading pool. The dogs like water and playing in water. I drain it periodically to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs and hatching. So the pool was empty when the winds scooped it up from my backyard.

In between the wind gusts, it was actually a pretty nice day going......no rain...just wind and stuff flying through the air. I could tell that some of my neighbors to the west of me, lost their roofs. I also saw several gasoline cans and a couple of old blankets....some garbage cans, plastic grocery bags and lawn furniture...... kind of a flea market put on by mother nature parading past my house..

Power outages always make me feel helpless. My first reaction upon waking up is usually hunger and I have an electric stove, which means I can’t cook....no charcoal, so no grilling, even if I wanted to....so I did the next best thing...went back to bed to wait for the power to come back on...

It did....about 12 hours later...I have to wait until daylight to see if I’ve sustained anymore damage then my storage shed....the winds are gone...crickets are back.....replaced by 50 degree temps....great for sleeping...except now I’m awake.....

The Politics of Mendacity

Lies- “The refuse of fools and cowards.” -Lord Chesterfield

An apt description of the current events in this political campaign for president. I’m tired of this “he said/she said bullshit...” The circus has become maddeningly dangerous in its trivialization of probably the most important election of our lifetime.

There were actually a bunch of Lord Chesterfields. The Earldom was created for the Stanhope family back in 1628. The Lord who is so oft quoted by writers and scholars appears to be Phillip, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield. He was a man of letters, that’s a writer in today’s parlance, and very popular with the royals.

Judging from his background, Stanhope would not have hesitated to call a pig in a poke..a pig in a poke. Euphemisms were not his style. So in keeping with his spirit, writers, journalists, bloggers, columnists and others, should just say what they mean.

John McCain is lying, period.....with the release of every political ad, he gets dirtier, nastier and more dishonorable. I personally have bottomed out with this latest on sex education.

To paraphrase Fannie Lou Hamer....I’m sick and tired of being nice and respectful...

How much shit can one person throw and expect to remain untouched or clean? The GOP has long practiced the fine art of prevarication...repeating the lie over and over...making it seem like fact...because if one hears it over and over...maybe it’s true.....more often than not...it’s not...

How many good men and women have to be debased by the crap hurled by this bigoted, racialistic, elitist group whose arrogance and collective ego astounds me. Just when I think I’ve seen and heard it all, they top themselves, again and again.

It’s time to call John McCain, what he is......a lying adulterer...who voted against the MLK holiday...who, in 2000, supported the flying of confederate flags above state houses...He later apologized for both of these deeds.....But it’s obvious from his actions...he didn’t mean it and he didn’t learn..

Now he has embraced the practices of Karl Rove, hiring his acolytes, in a blatant attempt to steal another election for the republican party.

Make no mistake about it, Sarah Palin is a pawn, a smoke screen...someone trotted out simply to divert attention away from the man himself. He can’t compete on the issues, on stature, in thought and creativity. He is not smart enough to be president. The line from his first wife to Sarah Palin is a clear indication of how he feels about women...use ‘em and lose ‘em...and on to the next beauty queen.

The road to the future is not a loop back through the jungles of a prisoner war camp. The days of General Eisenhower and Captain John F Kennedy died in the swift boat attacks on John Kerry in 2004. War heroes are celebrated, but no longer considered the ultimate leaders in times of peace.

Vision and creativity are needed to get our collective asses out of the bonfire that George II threw us into eight years ago. It’s got to start now...

We may not get another chance..

Small Town Pep Rally

A touch of autumn was in the air today, as the Straight Talk Express rolled into Lebanon, Ohio. A sizeable and very homogenous crowd had been waiting patiently since early morning on Main Street USA, dodging the left over raindrops from the night before. Sarah Palin, sporting a cross on her breast where her flag pin should have been, emerged looking fresh, but then she’d arrived the previous day by airplane.

Listening to the Sarah Palin/John McCain stump speech, one would think that Democrats were in control of the government, and had been for the past several years. Both candidates addressed the partisan crowd for roughly 15 minutes each.

Governor Palin opened the pep rally with props for papa John, who stood lovingly mute to her right, and her husband, Todd, who was a little back and to the left, but well within reach, and smiling. She stuck to script repeating McCain’s history, repeating her version of her record in Alaska and promising to reform the liberal government in Washington.

There was never any mention of the fact that the government has been Republican, or that the president is a guy named Bush even though Lebanon was overwhelmingly supportive of Bush in the last election. Obama was painted as a Washington insider, despite his short tenure on Capital Hill, slamming him for asking for more than one billion dollars in earmarks for the state of Illinois.

She promised to shake up the old boy network in Washington, just like she did in Alaska, all the while smiling at the old boy who stood beside her glowing at her feistiness.

The crowd broke into chants of John McCain and Sarah and then USA when McCain took the mike to talk about veterans and the wars and his now familiar POW story. Sporting a baseball cap with Navy emblazoned on it and a blue dress shirt with no tie and the sleeves rolled up to make the black bracelet for Mathew visible, McCain looked as if he was even trying to steal Obama’s look on the campaign trail, by imitating his dress, as well as his call for change.

Neither candidate talked about the GOP social agenda or women’s rights, or specifics about the economy, preferring to stick to the applause lines of more oil, more power and tax cuts. The rally was long on talk, but once again, very short on actual facts or figures or plans.

Monday Morning Apology

I’m sorry that I called Sarah Palin just an “old white guy republican in a dress.” That was an insult to old white guy republicans. I’ve known a few in my life and other than their political leanings, they are actually good people. Some of them anyway.

The more I see and read about Sarah Palin, the more convinced I am that she is closer to a Taliban...you know those guys we’re fighting in Afghanistan....The ones who want to impose their world on that country as well as the rest of us.

Question: What is the difference between right wing Christian conservatives and Osama bin Laden muslim extremists? Somebody answer that for me, please...because I don’t see a difference in their world views...

In fact, I wonder when or if anyone in the mainstream media is going to question her about her religious beliefs the way they vetted Obama about his. Palin’s church is hosting a conference that claims, among other things, that it can “pray away the gay in you.” Changing gays into straights...hmmmmmmmmm..are the Log Cabin Republicans invited to this event. ..The national pentecostal ruling body, since 1949, has repeatedly condemned Palin’s view of Christianity as being to “out there” for them, too...Why is she getting pass?....When is the MSM going to put Palin’s pastor on the revolving sound loop?

John McCain went on Ellen Degeneris’ show last season.....Is Sarah going to make an appearance, too? Can’t wait for that conversation, if it happens.

I can’t wait for her first interview, period. For someone who allegedly wants the right to govern all of the people, she sure is shy about putting herself out in front of her would be constituents. My honest feeling is that she is a loose cannon and all the right reporter has to do is to give her enough rope and she will hang herself. Her arrogance matches her running mate’s ego...dangerous...

STUPID....a word that keeps cropping up in conversation, lately...as in “How STUPID is it that the GOP is claiming to be the party of change, when they’ve been the party in power for the past 8 years and most of the last 20....The really STUPID part is that they think we’re STUPID enough to buy that bullshit again........Well, are we?

UPPITY....Some political fool named Westmoreland used that word in direct reference to the Obama’s. And although he claims not to know the racial tinge to that word, despite the fact that he is a southerner older than me, he used it correctly...

Personally, I prefer dealing with bigots like Westmoreland, because I know where they’re coming from, they’re happy to tell me...no guessing needed....It’s the closet cases who bother me...you know the ones who stand before the American flag claiming to be my friend, while voting against any and every issue that would help me and those like me.....Anybody come to mind?

ELITIST...same as UPPITY...no other explanation necessary..Why not just drop all the subterfuge and use the word you really want to use....N******! Go ahead, put it out there...that’s the one you really, really want! You ain’t foolin’ nobody...

LIES....as in I’ve been in washington for 26 years and I’m still a maverick...ha! Or, I favor women’s rights and support family values....Okay....Here’s one from me.....”I’m gonna vote for McCain/ Palin” in November...

WHEN PIGS FLY! WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER! WHEN I TURN WHITE AND STRAIGHT, GET A SEX CHANGE AND GROW SIX INCHES!

Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Straight Talkin' Drive-by

John McCain and Sarah Palin will campaign in Ohio this week. On Tuesday they will hold a rally in Warren County, specifically in Lebanon at the Golden Lamb. The Golden Lamb is a restaurant that has been open since 1803 and has hosted 12 presidents. I guess John is expecting to add his name to that list of illustrious guests. The city of Lebanon is not exactly known for its diversity. It’s still pretty iffy for minorities in that area. In fact, the population resembles all those folks who attended the GOP convention last week, without the 36 black delegates who speckled the floor like flies in buttermilk.

Why does the straight talker go to Lebanon to, in effect, to preach to the choir.....why not come to Cincinnati, just a few miles south? Cincinnati is hosting the National Baptist Convention this week. The NBC is seven million strong. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend. The topic this week is The Heavenly vision and Morals. Topics that should sit well with the ultra religious Sarah Palin and the newly religious John McCain. If I were in McCain’s shoes, I would jump at the chance to make converts to my cause. After all, the conventioneers come from all over the country. Impress them and they may take the message home to others parts of the country. Sounds logical, right? But no, he has chosen to speak further up the interstate.

Makes you wonder...has the GOP once again written off the black vote? Obviously the answer is yes. I have yet to see the GOP ticket land in an urban/city area. McCain did speak at the NAACP convention that was held in Cincinnati a couple of months ago. But nothing even remotely colored has appeared on his schedule of photo ops lately.

McCain was invited to speak, according to Baptist officials. He declined citing other engagements....that pep rally in Lebanon, but offered to send a representative...not Sarah...The Baptist said thanks, but no thanks. Cincinnati and Lebanon are way close enough to make both. He’s on a bus...bus goes up I-71 or 75....30 minutes, tops..unless there is road work going on...then it is a little longer. It’s not like the distance between say, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Those are opposite ends of the state. Lebanon is pretty much a suburb of Cincinnati.

Maybe McCain feels that he already has Hamilton County, Ohio locked up and doesn’t need to focus on his supporters, here. Maybe he feels his supporters are going to overwhelm those who support Obama in Cincinnati. Maybe he knows the fix is in to steal the election in Ohio. Maybe he thinks the black vote is monolithic and having addressed the NAACP, he would be talking to the same people and therefore there is no need to address the Baptists...We look alike, we pray alike, we think alike, we vote alike.....I’m just guessing...at this point.

Every black person I know says they are going to vote for Obama, and I know some black republicans, but none the less, they watched the GOP convention, especially the nights that McCain and Palin spoke. My friends and acquaintances also express the same feelings that I have, namely we want to be fair and give McCain the respect and chances that he is not willing to give to us. So Obama wins, sometimes by default.

The GOP should stop pretending to be the party of Lincoln and go ahead and rename itself the GWP.

By the way, Michelle Obama is speaking at the Baptist Convention on Wednesday of this week. Time yet to be determined.

Day of the Negro

I know everyone was waiting with baited breath for Sarah Palin’s coming out speech. But while I was waiting for that, I counted heads....black heads inside the convention, who weren’t obviously reporters, photographers, or producers for the news media. Found a few, very few, very far and in between the sea of white people. I was hoping to trip over some Hispanics, too. But other than the guy who spoke last night, there weren’t too many of them present, either. The current governing party has absolutely no resemblance to America.

Well, the stats show there were 36 black delegates to this year’s grand old party. That’s down from a whopping 167 back in 2004. Gee, wonder what happened to all that 2004 happy talk about the GOP taking 25% of the African American vote by 2020? Looks like the party is sliding backward.

Not that there is much to slide back from...

The two Negroes who showed themselves were Michael Steele...this era’s Clarence Thomas and some Texas state bureaucrat named Michael Williams. They followed the party script of gleefully attacking Obama, personally, while staying away from the issues.

John McCain has already publicly dismissed the black vote, conceding it to Obama. McCain feels if he can grab everyone else, the black vote won’t matter, once again. That’s old school GOP strategy..nothing new...business as usual....no politics of change here...

Other than stating that her husband was half-something other than white, Palin paid no attention or lip service to the diverse nature of the USA either.

I’ve found much of what I’ve seen out of the GOP to be offensive, starting with those “prosperity” signs the delegates were waving at every opportunity...Whose prosperity...certainly not mine...or people like me. The GOP continues to operate as if the election is a conversation among white people...the rest of us should just shut up, listen and wait for the crumbs to trickle down...

Palin’s speech was good on delivery and presentation, but very short on facts. It was vicious, condescending and very, very mean spirited. She fell in line with the clueless Mitt and the useless Giuliani in ridiculing Obama, never bothering to address the issues. Even Huckabuck was nasty, not in keeping with a so called preacher...politics before religion, I guess.

I am bothered by all the reporters who are going out of their way to apologize for doing their jobs..They should not be apologizing for asking questions. Disneyland is an amusement park...OZ is a fairytale....Politics is real, not a myth....politicians and their stories should be questioned...and rewarded if they speak truth....but slapped down if they constantly spin lies to garner power.

There was no high road taken, last night.

Sarah Palin reminded me of one of my favorite literary characters....Madame DeFarge from the Dickens novel...A Tale of Two Cities...Madame DeFarge would quietly knit while sitting at the guillotine watching the aristocracy get their heads cut off. Madame DeFarge looked like this kindly old woman, but housed a vicious streak, a mile long.

I would recommend that Palin read the book except for the fact that she is reportedly in favor of banning books, and reportedly tried to do so in her home town, when she was mayor. I’m sure Dickerns is on her list of stuff that should be relegated to the bonfire.

The stuff that she didn’t talk about last night bothers me more than the attacks....like her relationship to the Alaska Independence Party. Both Palin and Todd, the first Dude wore Alaska lapel pins instead of American flag pins....I thought the flag pin was the ultimate testament to patriotism....Conservatives have been stinking up the place for months about those damn flag pins...and the newly anointed GOP savior of American womanhood steps to the podium in her finest hour without one on her lapel?

So who comes first?..............Country....or Alaska....

The AIP, for those of you don’t know...wants Alaska to secede from the union and become it’s own country.....We, as a country went through this once before....back in the 1860's....it was called the Civil War...

I’d like to see somebody question her form of Pentecostal Christianity. From what I’ve read it’s just as bad as what Reverend Wright is alleged to have preached, according to pseudo Christian conservatives.

And there is still Troopergate or the alleged abuse of gubernatorial power against her ex brother in law....still under investigation...Palin has hired an attorney..which means there will probably be a delay in reporting the findings of the investigation until after the November election...

Who’s hiding?...she behind her attorney.....McCain behind her...

Wake up America...We can screw it up...worse then it is already!

Boobs and a Working V-Jay-Jay

I don’t care how you dress it up.... a pig with lipstick and makeup...is still just a pig. Governor Sarah Palin is nothing more than an old white guy republican in a dress. She’s got boobs and obviously her plumbing is functioning...but it still won’t make me vote for her. GOP feminist is still an oxymoron.

She and McCain are running on a platform that codifies bigotry and discrimination with promises to make it part of the Constitution. They could draft the late great Barbara Jordan as McCain’s running mate and I still wouldn’t support this party or this platform.

The issues haven’t changed....it’s still the economy....job loss...inflation...lack of health care...the rape of social security....immigration.....our conflicted educational system.....equal pay and real childcare for working mothers....it’s about choice for women....it’s about the on going second class citizenship of lesbians, gays and transgendered people. Sarah Palin is not addressing the issues...none of the speakers are addressing the issues...just mounting attack after attack after attack...Peripheral bullshit...tossed by the ton....cover up...ignore and maybe win an election because people aren’t paying attention.

I don’t care if her daughter is pregnant...I do care about her refusal to recognize that young people need sex education. And I know that when the kids are black or minority or poor, the conversation coming from her party about unwanted pregnancies takes an ugly turn. The family privacy that she demands is nonexistent if you’re not a card carrying member of the right winged conservative GOP.
The only time this party becomes compassionately conservative is during election years, like now.

The real deal is that the party in power is hers...the 80% increase in spending over just the past four years...the multi trillion dollar deficit...the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...the assault on the constitution and our civil rights via the Patriot Act....the lack of oversight of companies like KBR and Blackwater....the refusal to do anything about the energy crisis until now.....all of this is in Governor Palin’s lap and no amount of bamboozlement is going to change that.

Mitt “max headroom” Romney blamed the liberal government for all the current problems that the GOP is attempting to run away from. Well, it’s like Pogo said....”we has seen the enemy and it is us.” The government is republican...If the GOP can’t be straight about that...how can we believe they are going to change, ever. Judging from how many times I’ve heard the word “change” over the past couple of days, If I didn’t know better, I would say that McCain and company came up with it instead of Obama.

John McCain was an attractive candidate when he was a centrist in his party. His desperate thirst for power has pushed him farther and farther to the right, to the point that I doubt anyone outside of the 28% who think Bush is doing a good job will support him.

He chose a woman for his ticket for the basest of reasons...to deflect attention away from him and his right turn to mediocrity....As I said before, a pig in a poke....is just a pig in a poke.. Sarah Palin is a sharped tongued hockey mom who likens herself to a pit bull...Okay, I’ll buy that....But I don’t think the country is going to buy her act....her past politics of secessionism...her off the wall interpretation of religion...her desire to supplant science in favor of creationism...

She is being used by the boys....they want to keep power and they are willing to sacrifice her to do it...

She may pick up a few confused white women but I don’t think sistas want to hear it...statistics have shown in the past couple of elections...it's not just women in general...it's black women who more than likely, make the difference..

We shall see..Can’t wait for her first news conference...

The 28%

I’ve been wallowing in GOP land all day and thought I’d better write it all down before I take my shower. You know, hot water has a way of dispelling all dirty unpleasantness, so I better write first and then I’ll get clean.

I don’t like trashing sistas.....I’m totally surprised at beginning here with Sherri Shepard of The View, since the only black person I figured to talk about in the same paragraph with the GOP this week was Condoleeeeeeeeeza.

But I tuned into The View today, and once again Ms Shepard got on my last nerve. This sista thinks the earth is flat....she’s never voted...had several abortions according to her....and she thinks that raising five kids qualifies Sarah Palin to be vice president of the United States....please!

She has every right to her various opinions, statements and admissions, and I have a right to mine....here’s one.....Sherri Shepard is dumber than a box of rocks and I’m sorry for insulting the rocks..

I've got to mention those nelly Log Cabin Republicans...those are the rich white gay men who usually end up being screwed, literally, by the closeted Congressmen, when they're not chasing interns....the LCR endorsed McCain today despite his homophobic stances and policies. The GOP platform is as homophobic as it is anti woman, anti black and anti poor..yet these fools year after year...happily drop their drawers, bend over and don’t even ask for vaseline..There can’t be that much money in the world to spend your life denying reality...

On to the convention...

The McCain’s adopted daughter showed up next to adopted momma today. The girl looked like she was scared to move. You can always tell when kids are living with a Mommy Dearest...just watch the body language...After the video tribute to Cindy, Brigid was relegated to the row behind Cindy along with the other three kids, who showed similar body language and confusion....Meghan actually had to tell her brothers and sister to stand up when the time came...this after Cindy turned around and told them first to smile, wave and then stand up...all on camera..

I’ll skip over that Bachmann woman and Laura...I won’t talk about Dubya...He wasn’t there in person, anyway.

Is it just me...or did the spray on tanned Fred Thompson drink his dinner before taking the podium. It was a forceful speech...more forceful than any he delivered for himself when he was running...But it felt rushed, not well thought out...He talked about McCain’s alleged character rather than issues..

But then Karl Rove said today this campaign is not about issues...that’s where Democrats keep messing up...he said...

Joe Lieberman ended the night with an appeal to Democrats who may have been watching...He wants us to vote for John McCain...surprise! Sounds funny...a guy calling for bipartisanship before the very folks who trashed his bid to be the GOP VP nominee...

Bottom line....the speakers tonight tried to walk a fine line...all talk was against the status quo without saying it was against the status quo....How do you run a campaign against yourself? They called for change...they called for a shake up on capital hill...but unless I’ve been asleep for the past eight years...these guys were the ones in charge...

Yet Another Karma Smackdown

Okay, so I take the day off to visit my parents and to teach my Dad how to use his computer. It’s his first ‘puter, and he is 80 years old and has decided to master this thing.

In between bookmarking sites and showing him how to do email, we’re watching US Open Tennis...

Nadal finally beats the new American Kid named Sam in four sets and then there is Venus playing a 19 year old girl from Poland who is ranked ninth in the World. She’s pretty good, too.

Well, when I finally get back to the news, my blogger buddy, Deblite tells me about Bristol Palin....

Okay....the 17 year old is preggers and about to marry her boyfriend, according to her mom’s news release...

Johnny Mac is said to have known this before he selected Sarah as his running mate...yeah right!

I have written repeatedly about right wing conservatives and their various hypocritical stances. They want us to leave the Palin kid alone...or they want us to leave Cheney’s lesbian daughter and her partner and their kid alone....or they want us to leave Phyllis Schafly’s gay son out of the conversation....while excoriating us...all of us others....

Sarah has also reportedly lawyered up on Troopergate, too....I guess I need to leave that alone, too..

Question, if I may.....Since Trig really is her kid...why not just produce the birth record..why out your 17 year old daughter to kill the rumor about you.....

Okay...I will leave everyone alone.....But this circus is marching and I’m just gonna sit back and watch it go by....

I’ve said it before....karma rules this universe.....

Ready to pick a new VP, John?