Eric Holder's Got His Priorities Mixed-up

Hello Papamoka Readers! After we learned that Attorney General Eric Holder believes in the Justice system so much that he threw out a case against ex-Senator Ted Stevens over the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, then why don't we see him doing the same thing in the case against ex-Alabama Governor Don Siegelman?

The AG dismissed Ted Stevens' corruption conviction with no effort at all, so what's the hold up for our own Democrat who suffered under the prosecutorial misconduct of Bush, Rove and Gonzales? Most observers would agree that Bush-era wrongdoing is far worse than anything suffered by Ted Stevens. Holder needs to act faster, because Governor Siegelman has suffered far longer than the angry little Stevens.

"There seems to be substantial evidence of prosecutorial and other misconduct in my case, that would dwarf the allegations in the Stevens case," the governor recently said to Mukraker. It's obvious to most observers that he's correct. So, WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP HOLDER?

I'm not going to write about Governor Siegelman's case here, since you could easily Google it and learn all you need to know. I encourage you to do the research. It's a disgusting tale of corruption and cover-up led by Karl Rove. If it's proved to be true, it's enough to make your blood boil.

I just want to say that Eric Holder is being completely insensitive to those of us who fought so hard to get President Obama elected. We have been waiting for some action against the despicable crimes of the Bush years. Nothing ever happens. At the very least, and I mean the very least, Governor Siegelman should have been vindicated and cleared LONG BEFORE TED STEVENS.

Stop ignoring the hard-working, donation-giving, rank and file. We're not asking for any favors, just for simple consideration and a focus on real justice. Review the most abusive cases first, and help them the way you so easily helped that nasty old fart Stevens. MOVE IT HOLDER!

Michael Boh

Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor

from Our Rants & Raves Blog

The Far Right is Choosing Lies Over Unity

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - The far right has grown even more vocal than usual over the past two months. I realize they're sore losers, but they seem to be accusing Obama and the Democrats of whatever pops into their minds. They're even more illogical and tiresome than usual.

My theory is they smell blood. What blood? A weakness in voter logic. The Clinton and McCain campaign's limited success at harming Obama by linking him to perceived radicals has obviously tweaked their interest. Guilt by association resonates with voters! They see it as a new way to harm Democrats.

In the same way Karl Rove and George Bush drove their fanatics over the past eight years using wedge issues like gay rights and stem cell research, younger Republican strategists are using innuendo to drive scandals using that great American icon - the ROLODEX.

They're using random relationships and speculation as chum to brew new scandals daily. Facts are irrelevant. Since the election they have "chummed-up" the "OBAMA RECESSION," "ELECTION FRAUD" in Minnesota, and numerous other "OBAMA SCANDALS" involving people like Blagojevich and Richardson. Again, facts be damned. It's insanity, but then again it is the far right.

Oh well, I thought they might learn from their defeat, but if the past two months are any indication of their intentions, it appears there will be no coming together as a nation. They will probably continue to use the strategy, and the media will continue to feed from the Republican trough, for as long as it gets them attention.

It's incredible! The election is over, they were beaten very badly, but they still keep fighting. They're like junkyard dogs! Not the funny kind, but the sad kind.

They have decided not to cooperate. Instead, they are determined to paint Obama and his team as corrupt. The corporate media is cooperating by giving their wild speculation air time. The heresay and speculation has grown beyond FOX. The far right is determined to deny the Democrats any respite. They are determined to play dirty to the end.

Republicans get away with war crimes while Democrats are criticized because they associate with one another. The media ignores real scandal while responding to the smallest perception of scandal encouraged by Republicans who seek to prey on weak-minded voters. Unless things improve, the world today seems ass-backward, illogical and dark.

No matter how low they go, it doesn't change the fact that the country voted for Barack Obama to fix the problems caused by the Republicans. That is undeniable. The people want CHANGE! The rantings and the lies of the far right will not change that fact. However, it DISTRACTS from the mission. It HARMS Obama's ability to get things done. It can slow or prevent progress.

I continue to support Obama's desire to unite us, but I bet against it. They are a dishonest and dishonorable opposition. They want us to fail. They are biding their time, hoping to once again lie their way back into power. I grow tired of their deceit, and will not fall for it again.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Siegelman Gets New Hearing, Congress Still Does Nothing

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - Local Montgomery (AL) news (WSFA) is reporting that former Alabama governor Don Siegelman - who wrongly went to prison due to Karl Rove and the Republicans - and former Health South CEO Richard Scrushy will have another day in court. Hopefully the hearing will clear their name and this nightmare will end.

Oral arguments will be heard in an Atlanta courtroom before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, December 9th. The two men claim the judge didn't give proper instructions to the jury and there was no proof of a "quid-pro-quo" which led to their 2006 convictions. The court could throw out the convictions, let them stand or order a new trial. Siegelman is expected to appear, but Scrushy remains in a Texas prison.

If you want to learn more about the injustices suffered by Governor Siegelman and Scrushy, visit here.

So, that is very good news. It is true that Rove continues to defy a congressional subpoena to learn more about the Siegelman affair, and the Democratic House continues to be pathetic about enforcing that subpoena, but I'm still happy that the Governor and Scrushy will get a new and better day in court. If they go to trial, hopefully they will drag Karl Rove into the courtroom and force him to testify. That would be fun to watch.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Rove Calls it Dirty Politics on McCain?

For Karl Rove, the number one former GOP campaign operative of the Bush White House, to call John McCain on the carpet for dirty politics in his political ad’s against Barack Obama as going to far it wreaks of a rat. That would be like the Devil telling people that Hitler has gone too far? It just does not make sense from a die hard operative for the Republican Party.

Video Link



Even as a commentator on political events for CNN I just don’t believe these words came out of his mouth. The McCain campaign has gone so negative since the RNC Convention that it isn’t even funny and most of the negativity has been debunked on every political website out there. Is Karl Rove ahead of the curve in seeing that the strategy is not working? He has something he isn’t telling the media other than this little tid bit from his appearance on CNN…

updated 4:39 p.m. EDT, Sun September 14, 2008
Rove: McCain went 'too far' in ads

(CNN) -- Former Bush adviser Karl Rove said Sunday that Sen. John McCain had gone "one step too far" in some of his recent ads attacking Sen. Barack Obama.

Rove has leveled similar criticism against Obama.

"McCain has gone in some of his ads -- similarly gone one step too far," he told Fox News, "and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the '100 percent truth' test."

The Obama campaign immediately leaped on the quote.

"In case anyone was still wondering whether John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest campaign in history, today Karl Rove -- the man who held the previous record -- said McCain's ads have gone too far," said campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor, in a statement sent to reporters minutes after Rove's on-air comments. Rove masterminded both of President Bush's successful White House bids.

Rove said both candidates need to "be careful" about their attacks on each other.
"They ought to -- 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 won't we 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?' " he said.

Obama on Saturday accused McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of avoiding the issues to "distort" his record. - CNN

Karl Rove is the new Teflon Don of politics and nothing sticks to him. I give him credit for a well timed comment on the facts that negative advertisements from both campaigns is not the way to go. I just wonder where the hell he and the divide and conquer politics of the GOP are going next. One fact is certain, they are not going to be talking about the issues. That is a path they can not win on and the Obama campaign would be wise to point that fact out.

Granted Rove is also calling on the Obama camp on the carpet for doing the same thing but his opinion in Democrat circles isn’t valued much when his boy is tossing tons of mud at the wall and hoping that just a few pounds stick to it. McCain tosses it, Obama has to scrape it off the wall as just mud. In the meantime, the McCain campaign is not forced to talk about the issues facing America and that is the intended goal. More of saying nothing and doing nothing that effects the common voter.

Papamoka

Karl Rove, President and King Maker

You know how you hate dirty political politics such as George Bush campaign declaring that John McCain had a black child in the South Carolina primary contest a few years ago that derailed the McCain campaign. It was nasty, it was a vicious lie and it worked for Bush. It’s back! Even though Karl Rove is a political commentator for Fox News, he is contributing strategy to the McCain campaign and it shows in the misdirection that the McCain campaign is selling. Don’t talk about the issues, attack the person, attack the speeches and by all means, never discuss the issues. What does it say about McCain when he follows the steps of George Bush and Karl Rove?

Over at MSNBC Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow have this to say on it…

Video Link



I’ll be the first one to say that Karl Rove is a man that can win elections and is a President maker. He fights campaigns as dirty and nasty as he has to and he gets people like George Bush elected not once but twice. McCain would be a fool not to take his advice but there is one flaw with that thought. Bush pretty much screwed up everything he touched the last eight years. Do you as an American want more of the same or change?

While the right side of the aisle is quick to attack Obama for guilt by association with Reverend Wright, and Ayers, they have no problem with the association of Karl Rove, the master of deception that played a large role in the corruption riddled White House of George W. Bush. From outing a CIA agent to making up the plans for invading Iraq based on WMD’s or as I call them Weapons of Mass Distraction. Not to mention the Jack Abramoff scandal with high powered lobbyist entrenched even today in the McCain campaign.

If John McCain wants to lie down with the likes of Karl Rove then that is a bed that he better be comfortable with. John McCain, the Maverick, sleeping with the wolves that are synonymous with deception. Not a far reach these days.

Senator McCain was once a Maverick, something to be proud of that actually had many Democrats enthused about his fight for what was right in the Senate. He has lost the Maverick title and is now just a sheep in the flock of George Bush. Karl Rove politics and the McCain camp accepting his advice proves that out. It doesn’t matter if you lie as long as you repeat it often enough. Ergo, Americans are just stupid!

Papamoka

Election 2008: Will The Center Hold?

"This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that
this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to
so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between
the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election
on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards."
----Abraham Lincoln, prior to the election of 1864.

The above quote is apt at present, for while there is not a raging Civil War as in Mr. Lincoln's time, we are a house divided.

Even worse, we are not two sections of one nation at war, but rather hundreds, if not thousands, of factions fighting for the absolute in a world gone immeasurably gray. On the one hand, the Left finally gained some say-so at the 1968 Democratic Convention. This was the blossoming of political correctness; the era of identity politics whereby one's skin color, religion, or sexual orientation DID matter more than one's citizenship.

Coincidentally, Richard Nixon used his "Southern Strategy" that year. It was a veiled appeal to the racism being fanned by federal court orders and forced school busing. Over the years such things have not, to say the least, appealed to the better angels of our nature.

No, the lowest common denominator is the highest form of "discourse." For discourse it is not. It is McCarthyite warfare with no prisoners taken. It is a constant barrage of sound bites and perfumed insults. It has begged the question in my mind as to what the end result of all this is going to be? Other than scalping all my enemies, what am I voting towards? Not for, but towards. There is a future in there somewhere; a goal that is better than our present and also better than ourselves.

To secure that future, two questions must be addressed: Are we going to continue on the path towards a land where a few live splendidly while the vast majority accept squalor, albeit with TV and sports? The other is: will the future executive recognize the Constitution as something worth following, no matter how inconvenient to any particular agenda?

Using the past and present as a guide, I can't say I'm too optimistic about either of those questions. The reference to our country being polarized is highly inaccurate. We have become more like the U.S. of the 1850's. Those in favor of eliminating slavery and those opposing said elimination, found plenty of fire to toss at each other. There were other issues involved in our Civil War, but too-simply put, a lot of blood was spilled in order to resolve what kind of nation it was going to be.

However, even that period falls short of the present when it comes to invective. What is happening now is beyond insults. It is a divide and conquer mentality that not only questions opposing viewpoints (which is fair enough), but the patriotism, the American-ness of those who are not with the program. I have listened to "talk radio" in my area, which is 100% "conservative," when in fact it's not. It's reactionary. There is nothing accomplished for the nation to use the airwaves to claim one needs a bath by being around Democrats. Or that Democrats (who somehow are all part of a liberal monolith) are simply not "real" Americans.

What is most disheartening is that John McCain has co-oped (or been co-opted by) the Rovian Right of politics. With a minimum of thought one should see that there is a huge gap between successful campaigning and successful government. Senator McCain cannot win this election through the technique of destruction and then come along post-election and talk about "uniting" the nation. We've all been there, done that, and bought the T-shirts this decade.

At the moment, there is still enough of the America others in the past have built to salvage. One more term; one more exercise in bringing the campaign drones into government is going to ensure a wasteland.

And Senator McCain, whatever honorable motives he has, will not be of any use in the wasteland he is helping to create.

Duke of Madness

Posted Originally at Duke of Madness

Sarah Palin & The 80%

Why would someone write about Sarah Palin but place an image of Marie Antoinette in the article?

Because Marie Antoinette was the quintessential "compassionate conservative." When informed that the people of Paris had no bread to eat, the empress is reported to have replied, "Then let them eat cake." The phrase has lingered in our language for several centuries now. And why? Because it's a perfect example of someone being completely out of touch.

Not out of touch with those within her "world," but those outside of her economic and social orbit. For someone enjoying the fruits of a fuedal-style form of life (at least on the rich side of it), keeping one's bearings is dependent soley upon checking the references of all those who live in nearby castles. The empress, if anything, understood her base.

The United States has had presidents who, although born into and raised with great wealth, fashioned a credible and sincere form of sympathy for the masses. Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy are two who come to mind. However, America has swung mightily towards the worship of wealth to the exclusion of government. The masses (as Coke Roberts likes to refer to us) don't exist. Oh, wait. Yes, at election time. But not at governing time.

Currently there is great swirl about Gov. Palin. The public conversation revolves around her inexperience, behavior as governor of Alaska, her NRA membership, her views on abortion, her physical appearance, et cetera......

What I haven't heard is that little "governing bit," which the Republicans still can't get the hang of in this century. It's not "the economy, stupid," but "economics, stupid." You don't have to have a professorship in the subject, just a decent grasp on reality. One needs to ask two important (actually critical) questions:

1: Who writes the rules for how we live in this nation?
2: Who enforces those rules?

Answer: The Congress. They write them....or their lobbyists do. And whatever president in power at the time enforces them. According the Constitution. If you believe in it.....ha ha ha. (hat tip to George W.)

Those said rules have changed...slowly but perceptively towards an America that is rich in both riches and poverty. At the current rate, each generation is going to have to accept lowered expectations than the generation before. That is, for the bottom 80%; those who don't really "count" to those accustomed to a plutacracy. A Kingdom of the wealthy unbeholden to anyone who is not.

During the Saddleback rodeo, John McCain jokingly answered a question as to what his definition of rich is by saying that anyone making $5 million a year or more. It is revealing...that sarcastic dismissal of what to me was the most important question asked.

John McCain has a similar approach to the healthcare of veterans. His plan is simple (as all "great" ones are): when you leave the service, find somebody really rich and marry them. By turning his back on his "comrades" McCain has proven in vote after vote that they were never comrades at all.

It is the votes that count. And how Gov. Palin approaches the subject of the general welfare is more important than any other topic that will be covered. Sadly, promoting the general wefare was a phrase used several centuries ago...and nowadays will be twisted by the Republicans (again) into a clarion alarm for getting deadbeats off the government teat.

Unless you're on acid and working at The Weekly Standard, you might figure out that the general welfare of the republic invovles everyone, not the top 20%.

There has not been enough sunshine in America for years. This election is either going to open the door to a new sunrise, or lead us into the shadows of twilight. Again.

Onto the stage of Karl Rove's Thousand Year Reich comes Sarah Palin. While charming, she does not appear to be deflected from the same banana republic agenda of the status quo. And if we should (God forbid) enter that economic darkness; should a President Palin ever be told that Americans don't have any bread, expect the predictable:

"Let them eat moose."

*****Reuters has picked up this entire post... Thank You!

McCain Balanced Budget… Bull Expletive!

John McCain is going around the nation telling people that he will balance the federal budget by 2013 but there seems to be a little problem with his calculator. I’m thinking that Senator McCain has been drinking to much of the Bush BS juice and probably should cut back on the 80 proof that keeps falling into his coffee cup. Maybe he borrowed the shiny object from the Karl Rove playbook and thinks it will distract the nation while he keeps the nation building plan of W going in the Middle East?

Over at Politico they have this observation and I happen to think they are right…

“The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.”

The pledge is a return to an earlier position he'd later backed away from. On April 15, McCain backed off a February pledge to balance the budget in his first term when asked about it by Michael Cooper of The New York Times, who reported that McCain said “at a news conference … that ‘economic conditions are reversed’ and that he would have a balanced budget within eight years.”

McCain advisers admit that the document is a repackaging of previous policies, without dramatic new initiatives. Some Democratic officials had thought McCain might try to make a splash by proposing a bold middle-class tax cut.

Jason Furman, Obama's economic policy director, called McCain's pledge “preposterous." Furman pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office now estimates a 2013 deficit of $443 billion, assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended. And he estimated that McCain would have to cut discretionary spending—including defense—by roughly one-third to bring the budget into the black by then.

"McCain would have to pay for all of his new tax cuts and other proposals and then, on top of that, cut an additional $443 billion from the budget—which is 81 percent of Medicare spending or 78 percent of all discretionary spending outside of defense," Furman said. - Politico

By all of the savings in the Iraq/Afghanistan war does McCain mean to pay off the debt with the $100’s of billions per quarter he is also going to spend on keeping our military in the region for the next one hundred years? Maybe he has an in at KBR for services rendered in the region, or over at Bush and company a connection to a buy one get one free coupon? Then again, Bush and company is not giving up its secret recipe for denial to protect themselves from all those subpoenas building up on the front lawn of the White House as if they are on vacation from the real America.

Will McCain cut Social Security? He would have to actually gut Social Security to the bone if his plan to balance the budget could even remotely come close to reality. How about Medicaid? Same scenario just a different hunting knife. Then again cutting all them pesky programs that clutter the government might be a good thing if you just say to hell with the National Institute for Health, Center for Disease Control, and of course the Veterans Administration and all them wasteful military hospitals they run. Mind you, he wants to keep our troops in harms way for one hundred years, he just doesn’t want to pay for the wounded.

Maybe we should all just listen to Senator McCain when he says he knows nothing about economics. I sure as hell would not want him balancing my household checking account with all the made up numbers he has in his head when it comes to the federal governments budget. He’s spending dollars that his mouth can not pay for but then again this is politics where dollars grow on trees or should I say the backs of the middle and lower classes. Something John and Cindy McCain have no experience with.

If you follow the Maverick’s vote in the Senate then there has never been a spending bill for the VA that he has ever liked and yet he claims to be a hero for Veterans in the Senate. Feel free to research his votes and every single time a VA funding plan or expanse of funding came up, John McCain voted against the majority of them. Just more bull from the Maverick and with that being said, I need to borrow a shovel to clean up all the McCain bovine by product this post has left on this site.

Papamoka

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Obama‘s Fear of Muslims

With the right wing conspiracy rampant on the fear and labeling of Barack Obama as a Muslim it was not inconceivable for his political campaign staff to ask two Muslim women to take another seat. Seats not in view of the camera while he spoke. It’s politics and you don’t hand your opponent a weapon that they have already chosen!

Feeding right into this controversy is the main stream media with their own version of political correctness. Excuse me while I just label this story as ignorant of politics and how the game is played. Look for the latest flier from the McCain camp running this issue up the flag pole while beating the we are family drum of his newly revamped definition of American values. Then watch for the Cheney and Bush ventriloquist show on McCain who used to have a voice on his own prior to the Bush endorsement. You might have noticed the President choking back on a little bit of bile during that speech. AKA a little bit of vomit in the back of his throat.

This little two bit story feeds to the ignorance in knowing who the candidates are and only proves out that Karl Rove is alive and well and working for John McCain.

Obama apologizes to Muslim women barred from seats
Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:36pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama apologized on Thursday to two Muslim women who were barred from sitting behind the podium where Obama was speaking because they were wearing Islamic headscarves.

At a campaign rally in Detroit on Monday, Shimaa Abdelfadeel and Hebba Aref were prevented by volunteers from taking seats behind Obama that would have been in view of television cameras, apparently because of their headscarves.

"I reached out to Ms. Aref and Ms. Abdelfadeel this afternoon," Obama said in a statement. "I spoke with Ms. Abdelfadeel, and expressed my deepest apologies for the incident that occurred with volunteers at the event in Detroit."

Obama said the volunteers' actions were "unacceptable and in no way reflect any policy of my campaign." - Reuters

President Bush has had a history of public speaking engagements where it was and is by invitation only. It makes for good publicity and news broadcasts when you hide the fact that most Americans hate him and his policies concerning our nation. You can Google search that fact. Senator Obama is only guilty of having a political campaign staff trying to stem the ignorance that he is not a Muslim.

If you think I’m kidding about the Obama ignorance factor when it comes to his religion then just ask someone at random. When you hear the replies then by all means quote facts and not innuendo or some commercial put out by a group that is motivated just to end the possibility of change in America. Change in the American way of life comes with a price and that price is education and the truth that bares no obligations to any political party.

What I find ironic about all of this issue is the fact that we are looking at a shiney object over here and forgetting the fact that this nation is in a world of trouble. Our country is broken and the answers to the problems is not in what you see but in the thoughts to make it better and not worse. While John McCain is telling you what to fear, being Bush 3.0, Barack Obama is telling you what you need to hear. That is the difference between the two of them running for President of these here United States of America. Obama is telling the truth while McCain hopes you believe the spin.

Papamoka

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McCain Respectful Politics, Wink, Wink

Democrat’s should all be thankful to Senator McCain for wanting to run a clean Republican campaign without all the negativity and nastiness aimed at Senator’s Obama and Clinton. Not that Senator Obama does not have a few skeletons in his closet but it will be nice to see a Presidential campaign based on the issues instead of accusation of who stuck a wad of gum under which lunch table in high school.

Now that the North Carolina campaign is in full swing the television ads from all camps will be flying on the airwaves and we all know about those pesky privately funded advertisements. We all know that the candidates technically can not be held responsible for the actions of any politically active groups supporting their election bid for the White House. Wink, wink, wink!

We can’t hold John McCain liable for below the fray politics if it didn’t come from his campaign war chest or even his lips. Wink, wink, wink! Over at CNN they have this piece on John McCain and his very respectful campaign strategy and we should be truly thankful for his personal integrity on running an issue based election…

After McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination, he called on his party to run a respectful, above-the-fray campaign.

But the ad, conceived by North Carolina Republicans, appears to defy that call.
"For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor," the TV ad says.

The ad then airs comments from Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who says: "And then wants us to sing 'God Bless America?' No, no, no. Not 'God Bless America,' God [expletive] America."

McCain's campaign released an e-mail he sent North Carolina GOP Chairwoman Linda Daves that asked her not to run the ad.

"In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement," he wrote. "This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign."
North Carolina Republicans refused to pull the ad.

"I can't dictate to them. But I want to be the candidate of everybody. I want to be the candidate of Republicans and Democrats and independents," he said Wednesday.

During one New Orleans appearance, an audience member questioned McCain about an endorsement he received from controversial Pastor John Hagee, who once said on a radio show that "what happened in New Orleans looks like the curse of God."

"When someone endorses me, [it] does not mean I embrace their views," he responded. Later on his bus, McCain elaborated, "I didn't attend pastor Hagee's church for 20 years." -CNN

Wink, wink, wink. Key phase from McCain himself is; "I didn't attend pastor Hagee's church for 20 years."

Maybe the press should ask Senator McCain what the definition of the phase “Above the fray” means in relation to respectful campaigning? Get the old Maverick in the hot seat like they had Bill Clinton when he had to define the word “It” during one of his “Personal” indiscretions.

One can picture John McCain reviewing the television advertisement being very disgruntled about the negative content and yet nodding his head and winking in full approval while Karl Rove okayed the ads to run all over North Carolina. Technically, McCain did not approve it but maybe his consultant did? This is of course all speculation but the only speculation that makes sense for McCain to utter the phrase in defense of his association and endorsement with and by Reverend John Hagee.

I think if I had the lesser of two evils and associations that I would prefer Reverend Wright’s every single time. McCain with this remark has proven the fact that he has no intention to run a clean fight against Obama for the White House.

Papamoka

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McCain or Obama Independents?

It was reported recently that Senator Hillary Clinton would have to win 57% of the remaining delegates to unseat Senator Barack Obama from the Democrat nomination for President. For argument sake let us all pretend Obama is the candidate against the Maverick John McCain. This will be the Presidential election of the century.

In the race of 2000 John McCain was the Maverick against George Bush and that John McCain could have been President if it were not for dirty politics. The evil scientist Karl Rove worked that election as if they were taking over the world and low and behold he actually did achieve his goal. With eight years of George Bush in the Presidency we have seen our nation go to war, mega profits snickered at and justified because of the war, and a nation of separated people. Those with the big bucks, and those of us emotionally and financially exuberant to find a dollar in an old pair of jeans.

John McCain morphed into a George Bush Junior after the election in 2000 for one purpose and that was to be his political parties’ nominee in this election. What was once a Maverick is now a yes man for W even to the point of changing his mind on torture. Just a few weeks ago he admonished Mitt Romney for dancing around the issue of torture and rightfully so. As the only Republican candidate that was ever tortured he can speak from experience. What changed John McCain’s mind between that debate and this past week? Could it possibly be the deliverance of not one but two Bush President’s to his campaign?

Independent voters are not the Ross Perot nut jobs of yesteryear like one might think. They are people stuck in the middle that can’t stand the extreme liberalism and big government on the left. They are people stuck in the middle that can’t stand the extreme hands off ideology that if it is good for big business the consequences to America do not matter of the right. Independent voters are the key to this next election and they vote! How you get them to vote for you is the task at hand.

In McCain’s case it is a toss up. You could vote for the John McCain that used to be an independent Republican mind in the Senate or you could vote for the new and improved John me too W McCain. McCain is guilty of not being the real John McCain with every speech he makes. Rather than standing up for his own convictions he has subjugated himself to more of George Bush theology in government just for the chance to sit in the Oval Office in 2009. If he or his campaign staff looked at the current President’s approval ratings for the last four years he might want to reinvent himself back into the old McCain. Independent voters are not idiots and they don’t buy sound bites that sound like Bush all over again.

As for Senator Obama, his invention of himself is just what you see. With an oratory expertise he can make you believe that change is possible and that hope is alive. Obama’s message may not be full of details but the man has the facts and plans figured out. He isn’t slamming his opponents because he does not have to! When the message is right and the people want to hear more of what he has to say then that is the ball game for many Independent voters as well. Republican crossover voters and Independent voters will put Barack Obama in the White House in 2009. Personally, I would give more credit to the Independent voters. That is the key to this election.

Come the general election, John McCain will run for the center with all he has to give. Once more he will be changing who he really is as a candidate for President. In doing so, he will morph into not the die hard conservative and become a moderate candidate that gives a lousy speech from cue cards and teleprompters.

Barack Obama will pull all his abilities together to speak without any assistance and what you will hear will be from his heart and soul simply because he believes whole heartily in the words he speaks. President Obama will bring America back to where she should be and that is right in the middle but with a concentration of helping American’s first and foremost.

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

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McCain Rove Connection

With all the hype about McCain being the only qualified GOP candidate you don’t hear much about former Governor Huckabee who is still in the race. That is till he starts winning states over McCain.

Over at GOP central they possibly manipulated this election with the Romney drop out but they never considered the Huckabee chip in this election. In the game of political chess the GOP was praying that Huckabee would follow Romney’s lead and just drop out of the process thus ensuring a unified GOP political machine. This is how the big boys play chess and sometimes the moves you make are missed when the player your are protecting is way over on the other side of the chess board.

Over at the Washington Post they have this on the current political state of the GOP. Somebody is moving the pieces on the board over at the GOP and it isn’t just John McCain…

Karl Rove, President Bush's former senior political adviser, did his best to shoot down Huckabee's chances. Rove said on CBS that it is far-fetched to presume that McCain will say or do something to doom his candidacy.

Huckabee "said he could win, provided that there were mistakes made by his opponent, and that some of these bound or pledged delegates would change their mind. Well, even if they change their mind, they're bound or pledged to vote for the candidate who won their primary," Rove said. "I find it very unlikely, completely implausible, that Governor Huckabee could win 83 percent of the delegates."

As Bush's adviser, Rove ran a brutal campaign against McCain as Bush and the senator dueled for the GOP nomination in 2000. But this week, Rove donated money to the McCain campaign. - Washington Post

Karl Rove should have been put in jail with the CIA identity agent leak scandal but that is another story for another day. If he is the background of the GOP then that is the type of folks they want in the White House once more. Make no mistake about it Karl Rove has his hand in this election process and the tactics he will use against any opponent will be far worse than you have ever seen.

Not to detract from the political record of John McCain, I’m wondering if he sent Karl Roves check back? Common sense would dictate that you do not want anything to do with the Bush crew of more lies, more deception, more smoke and mirrors and more screwing over of America. That isn’t the Straight Talk Express of McCain but I’m betting the farm that the check cleared and McCain is dirty with it.

Is it just me or is it just politics where a man could stab you in the back eight years ago but then he believes in your message today? Push poll and call you a coward and having a child unrecognized by the father eight years ago but he’s your guy for President in 2008? It’s up to the Huckabee Campaign to pick up on this and run with it but then again he’s running on a shoe string budget.

Any connection to any campaign by Karl Rove is a death sentence simply because everyone running for President is running against what Bush and Karl Rove did to America. Common sense dictates that you don’t touch the same burner on the stove once you have burned your fingers. You just don’t do it ever again.

That all being said, Obama or Clinton have an EZ Pass to the White House. Save this post, this was the undoing of John McCain in this Presidential election. That makes this Democrat happy.

Papamoka

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Rove Finally Leaves in Disgrace

Picture courtesy of the White House

While some people on the right side of the political spectrum will call Karl Rove a saint for his party he is in fact a political disgrace to his President and the Republican Party. Karl Rove was nothing but a bully on the political radar and if you got in his way, either being wrong or right, he would plow through you like a farmer turns the soil every spring. His message was the President’s message and screw you if you thought otherwise.

While he served this President he screwed over his political party for a generation or more because of the isolationist ideology attitude he convinced the President to follow. “You are either with us or against us.” That statement is not by any means the way America was meant to be. That is not by any means the way the founding fathers or past President’s ruled the nation by. Could you picture Jefferson or either Roosevelt’s stating that as a fact to the world? Could you picture Lincoln saying that while he struggled to save the Union and died believing that it could still be saved.

Karl Rove’s only contribution to this country is that he dissolved a once great nation of proud Americans into a nation of “With us or against us” mentality. That is all he did. Sorry to say but he was very successful in doing just that. In his accomplishment he brought the President of the United States down with him. Truman would have been cheered knowing his approval rating was that high in comparison to President Bush.

Division in politics will always be a fact of life in America but Karl Rove raised it to a level that no other President has accepted as a rule to govern by. Karl Rove was this President’s political strategist and with that comes the blame for two separate America’s. That fact is all over the politics of the coming election for President in 2008.

Papamoka

Cross posted at the Gun Toting Liberal

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Bush adds Rove to Untouchables List

Picture courtesy of the White House

Well it looks like lady justice took her blinder off and wiped her back side with it. At least that is the way President Bush interprets executive privilege. Ummm, Houston we have a serious problem here.

Karl Rove has a note from his mom… I mean the President to not appear before the Congressional investigation of the dirty dealings and firing of the nine U.S. Attorneys.

Karl Rove's Immunity

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, August 2, 2007; 1:24 PM

The presidential aide who acts with such impunity now has the ultimate protection: absolute immunity from congressional oversight, at least in the judgment of White House Counsel Fred Fielding.

White House political mastermind Karl Rove had been subpoenaed to testify this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the investigation into last year's still-unexplained firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

No one actually expected Rove to show up. But Fielding's assertion of executive privilege yesterday to block his testimony was nevertheless surprising in its breadth.

From Fielding's letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy: "Based upon the advice of the Department of Justice, the President . . . has requested that I advise and inform you that Mr. Rove, as an immediate presidential advisor, is immune from compelled congressional testimony about matters that arose during his tenure and that relate to his official duties in that capacity. Accordingly, Mr. Rove is not required to appear in response to the Judiciary Committee subpoena to testify about such matters, and he has been directed not to appear." - Washington Post

I’m guessing that Karl Rove could steal candy from a baby and the President would insert executive privilege to save his sorry ass. This is just so wrong it simply is not even funny… unless you are Karl Rove. Bush is tossing executive privilege around like snow flakes in a blizzard. For the record, the postal worker delivering mail to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is now covered in executive privilege stamps. Just in case good old Karl happened to have his unmentionable magazine subscriptions mailed to his place of work.

Just an after thought to all of these proceedings is that the Congress is doing nothing to stop the President from tossing the very simplistic vagueness of executive privilege around like a tennis ball at the US Open. I know Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have the (politically correct terminology for male reproductive genitals) to take on President Bush but Harry Reid damn well does! What are they waiting for? Is the President supposed to tell them its okay to insert the powers of the other two houses of our government?

Something is not right with this big picture and if the Democrats are not willing to go after the President and his Soprano crew then maybe the true Republicans have too. What does it take to make the government work as it was designed to do so when situations like the alleged criminal actions of this administration happen. Didn’t they all swear to defend the Constitution or was that just a common oath or phrase like “pass the salt”? So much for upholding the Constitution. Maybe one of them huge paper companies could recycle it so the President could use it in his executive privilege bathroom.

One thing is sure in all of this is that President Bush has set a very dangerous precedent. Future Presidents will look back to these days and think they are Kings or Queens. As we all know now, the crowns court is without guilt even if you had a video tape showing that the law was clearly broken. Our King and his court do not live by the laws they sign for the rest of us. It is what it is.

So how many book deals do you think Karl Rove will get out of this Presidency? Just something to make you go Hmmm?

Papamoka

Is Bush Taking on Iran Too?

Picture courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense


In my own mind I can picture the President setting up his game board of the Middle East with his tin soldiers with the full intent of stamping the entire region as “Property of BIG U.S. OIL”. You can literally see the President staging the props for his next conquest and that target is Iran. Piece by piece he is building the set. Iran is building “Nuc’lar” weapons, Iran is funding the terrorists, Iran is going to wipe Israel off the map and as the President builds the set and arranges the lighting the stage and reasoning for his last “Preemptive War” is set.

It should be interesting to see him try and pull this one off now that the entire press of the United States and the world knows that his sources for information are not credible or reliable. His own personal reputation and his word is no longer acceptable as “Good enough for me too” amongst even our staunchest allies anymore.

Over at the Washington Post they have just a sound bite on yet another part to the Bush reasoning to attack Iran. I found it interesting that this information was released in Paris of all places…

U.S. Envoy Says Iran Is Arming Taliban
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 12, 2007; 1:10 PM

PARIS -- A senior U.S. diplomat accused Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, where NATO forces are deployed to bring stability to the country.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan. - Washington Post

All of this preparation for the President to pull the trigger on Iran will give him the reasons he needs to tell the people why our sons and daughters will be fighting and loosing their lives on yet another front. I’m beginning to think this President hates all nations that start with a vowel!

Tell me that I am wrong but wasn’t this the same information we started to hear about Iraq before he gave the go ahead to invade. Was Iraq not lead by a leader that despised the United States so much that supposedly he too was building weapons of mass destruction. The list of accusations went on and on and most of them turned out to be false. Other than Saddam Hussein being a bastard to his own people there was no reason for our troops to invade Iraq.

With all of the suggested possibilities for reasons to attack any sovereign nation given by the Bush administration, I’m keeping a real close eye on them Canadians. They have to be plotting against us during them long cold winters. They might not have yellow cake but I’m pretty sure there just might be some biscuits hidden in a bread drawer somewhere up there.

Mexico is okay because nobody really lives there anymore but that is another discussion for another day.

Papamoka

Cross Posted at Bring It ON!

Ante up and Count Your Cards…

Picture courtesy of Poker.com

This is a second installment for Papamoka Straight Talk of what folks I enjoy reading are saying around the web. Some of them link here and some may not. Let's just deal out the cards that are politics and see what everyone has to offer this week? Each one a very well written piece from the authors perspective…

As you may or may not know the White House under the direction of Karl Rove decided to use a secret e-mail account (gwb42.com) in order to get around various laws such as the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act. – Specious Reasoning

Regarding Imus:

My biggest complaint is, what the hell ever happened to free speech? I know what he said was stupid, I'm not that bad. If I had a daughter and someone referred to her as a "Nappy headed hoe", I'd be a little tweaked. But isn't Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Michelle Malkin, Neil Boortz, just as bad? My Buddy Eric over at Bushflash.com feels about the same way I do. His write up about it was absolutely hilarious!

I dunno, I just feel the air of free speech in America is being sucked out of the atmosphere and I c-c-c-can't b-b-b-breathe! (turning blue) – The Populist

Our Culture Of Pre-Packaged Apologies – Gun Toting Liberal

I’m really kind of sick of hearing about this jerk. – The Moderate Voice

On Barack Obama:

How can you tell the Republican Party is terrified of Barack Obama's rise to prominence? Following his appearance on Letterman last night, they put together a Top 10 list of his worst "fabrications." If this is his "top" 10, I must say he's in pretty good shape. Look at the pathetic smear attempts:

Crooks and Liars

On the War in Iraq:

This from a British woman whose son died in Iraq: "I'm very proud of my son. I'm ashamed of my government for sending him to this war. Also, in my opinion, they keep going on about democracy, surely we need it here. Because our own government don't listen to what we want."

Certainly, a plurality of Americans want the U.S. out of Iraq, and as of last year, most of the troops thought we should leave. The Senate Republicans are starting to crack. But Bush and his Boltonettes will have to be dragged out kicking and screaming, whether by congressional insistence or by the final term limit on his presidency. – Pacific Views


Papamoka

Thanks to the Gun Toting Liberal for linking to this post

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