Census Shift in Political Power

Some of the folks on the right side of the political aisle might be chuckling over the political shift of lost seats from the Northeast to the south and west of the nation but it is actually a double edged sword. Census results for 2010 have turned what was up and what was down upside down. Ergo the house of representatives is all in a tizzy over lost or won seats in red and blue states.

WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau rearranged the country’s political map on Tuesday, giving more Congressional seats to the South and the West, and taking away from the Northeast and the Midwest, in largely anticipated changes that will have far reaching implications for political life cycles over the next decade. – New York Times

Speaking as someone from the left side of the political spectrum, I look at this whole situation as a win for new political blood in states where there was nothing but desert before. It is all just a matter of perspective as to how the nation is just a bunch of migrant Americans that just happen to love warmer weather. Most of the movers are retired voting Democratic voters moving into warmer climates where they will vote. DNC operatives know this and now it is clear that some of those red states in the warm climates have an influx of blue state voters that just might want to be heard.

Time for the people that know how to actually run a political campaign and influence voters to start spending some time in states they thought were a “gimmee” to Republicans. There be Democats’ in them there states now!

Look at little old me for instance, once a New England die hard liberal now living in the land of the “Show Me” state of Missouri. Am I going to vote Republican just because my MA turned into MO on my return address labels? Hell no!

Papamoka

GOP Cancer Grows but Detected

Gallup has an interesting poll that shows the GOP is unable to attract or even keep its political party members. The political party of with us or against us has found themselves in the position of a sinking ship so to speak. Is the GOP dead? Have they gone to far right wing? According to Gallup and the poll, they have…

GOP Losses Span Nearly All Demographic Groups
Only frequent churchgoers show no decline in support since 2001
by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- The decline in Republican Party affiliation among Americans in recent years is well documented, but a Gallup analysis now shows that this movement away from the GOP has occurred among nearly every major demographic subgroup. Since the first year of George W. Bush's presidency in 2001, the Republican Party has maintained its support only among frequent churchgoers, with conservatives and senior citizens showing minimal decline. - Gallup

What brings on this sudden demise of the Republican Party? Could it be the fault of former President Bush? Could it be the torture issue authorized under President Bush and Vice President Cheney? Maybe it was Denny Hastert and his cover up of a known pedophile in his Congress? Could it be the Jack Abramoff scandal where the Republican lead Congress was up for sale for the price of a golf trip to Scotland? Could it be the war in Iraq that was based on one lie after another that never panned out? Could it be the wounded Veterans coming home lucky enough to be alive from Iraq or Afghanistan based on those lies? Maybe it’s the 4300 plus military members that have lost their lives based on lies? Who knows, it could be the outing of Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA agent by Cheney and Scooter Libby? I don’t even think I need to mention Tom Delay and his escapades trying to fix the voting in Texas but it has its merits in the discussion. The simple truth is that so much was piled up by the sitting members of the GOP in Congress and the White House that nobody will ever really know. Not in our lifetimes anyway. That is why America and her voters cast the GOP out of power. America did not forget what our nation was all about, the GOP did!

One thing is certain, the GOP has been compromised and if Rush Limbaugh, Ann Culter, Bohner, Bill O’Reilly, and Fox News is the spokesperson for the GOP then they deserve the medicine they have dished out to themselves. It is a formula for political suicide. When you have Rush Limbaugh demand Colin Powell be deported from his political party then, can I say out loud with a NASA quote, “Houston, we have a problem!”.

If you have ever read President Lincoln’s address and speech at Gettysburg, or read the book by Gary Wills, you just might understand what a true political party is all about. President Lincoln summed up in less than three minutes the sacrifices the men that died on that field. Lincoln wasn’t just talking about Union soldiers that died on the fields of Gettysburg. In that respect, it isn’t about you the individual, its about America. It’s about all Americans. That was the political party of Lincoln in his day. That is what the GOP just doesn’t get anymore. The GOP just isn't in touch with the average person in America and that might just be simply because they can't afford the $1000 per plate political fund raising dinners.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy that they can not get their political act together!

Papamoka

*****Gun Toting Liberal has linked in and has a very interesting opinion on this same issue

Limbaugh Listeners Revolt

The ditto heads of Limbaugh’s EIB network are fed up and Rush pretty much insists that you are ignorant if you as a Republican believe that torture is okay. Even if you are a former soldier, marine, or past member of any part of the military. According to Rush, people that think that torture is wrong have no place in “His” Republican Party. And in Rush’s mind, people in the middle of the political stratosphere that do not follow the Rush Almighty Republican philosophy are to blame for President Obama being elected.

Let me just say this, I think I know now what the Democrats are doing with the money they had previously appropriated for liberal blogger advertising, they gave it all to Rush Limbaugh. I’m loving this!!! Over at Countdown with Keith Olbermann they have this great piece…

Video Link

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How classic is this for Democrats? The global warming “Phenomenon” has finally reached the EIB and the meltdown of Rush has begun. Here is Rush Limbaugh being called out by a former Marine radio broadcast listener and blamed for the downfall of the Republican Party. What I find truly funny is that all that the esteemed brain on lone from God shock jock could do was to attack the listener rather than offer a clear well thought out rebuttal. Then again isn’t that typical of the Ditto Heads, if you don’t agree with them, then you are Un-American and unclean.

Getting back to the caller and the torture issue, the caller holds the higher ground as far as being against torture and let me tell you why. The caller, a former US Marine and Army service member put his life in danger and the possibility of being tortured actually existed if he was captured in a hostile situation. Rush Limbaugh’s only chance of that happening is if he spills his coffee at the drive up because he never served in the military.

I’m loving it, the more Rush talks, the better it is for those of us with left leaning political thoughts. Some of which just happen to be fed up life long Republicans. Come on over to the left folks, take your shoes off and relax. We are not the big scary monsters that Rush told you we were. Group hug!

Papamoka

McCain Rips RNC Over Attack on Obama

Video Link From ABC

I’ve never been a huge fan of John McCain but I do respect his “No Bull” attitude when it comes to government. I think that it is pretty much common knowledge that President Elect Obama was aware of the Governor of Illinois and his hard lined political philosophy and unaware of his depth of corruption. Some call it pay as you go and others just call it corruption. I find myself with the firm opinion that this is a problem for the people of Illinois to deal with and that should be the end of it. Police thy self Illinois and then let us all get back to the issues facing America and her people. John McCain has the same thought process and Politico has this on it…

McCain scolds GOP for whacking Obama
By MIKE ALLEN 12/14/08 10:05 AM EST

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with this.

"He's had a statement every single day, saying that the Obama team should reveal all contacts they've had with Governor [Rod] Blagojevich. He says that Obama's promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested. Do you agree with that?”

McCain replied: “I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.” - Politico

This whole incident with the Governor of Illinois is incredible news but it is fanning the fires that suspend progress on the greater issues in America. Why don’t we let the FBI and the State of Illinois take care of the corrupt Governor and let Obama and his team concentrate on laying the ground work to fix the RNC mantra mistakes under George W. Bush that has our nation facing the next depression.

Who the hell is the RNC to talk anyway? Were they not the ones that shelled out over $150,000 in clothes and cosmetics to Sarah Palin? Don’t they have enough problems dealing with rebuilding their own infrastructure rather than assuming that Governor Blagojevich is from Illinois, Barack Obama is from Illinois, they were both in state government so they both must be guilty. Isn’t that more or less similar in logic to blaming your local bank teller for the collapse of the entire banking industry?

John McCain knows how the RNC works, matter of fact he probably lost the election because of the RNC and how they work. John McCain is done being the best friend of the RNC and he is back to the old John McCain we all know and love. John McCain the fighter, the defender of the truth, and a man that knows bull when he sees it. Good for him. John McCain has always served best in the Senate when he was serving from his own gut. At least McCain wants to work with the President Elect to get America moving forward again. You can not say the same for the RNC or many of their other political leaders in government.

Papamoka

Thoughts Post Election

It is nice to see all the press focused on what is next on the political horizon with President Elect Barack Obama but he is still in mourning for his Grandmother who passed away one day before his election as President. I hope that the press will respect his privacy at this time to let him pay his last respects and lay her to rest as she deserved.

In other news, Sarah Palin is being bashed all over the news and she does not deserve that. Neither did Joe the Plumber or anyone else the McCain campaign brought into the spot light. Governor Palin will be fine, matter of fact I predict that she will be the runoff candidate for the U.S. Senate seat abdicated not by choice by Ted Stevens of Alaska due to his criminal convictions and sad to say election victory in Alaska. Sarah Palin will win the Senate seat by over 80% in that election run off. From there she can jump in at Barack Obama in 2012 with plenty of experience and nobody holding her back except Neiman Marcus.

This just in from Fox News on the infighting of the McCain - Palin campaign. Apparently, it was pretty nasty towards the end. According to this news video, Governor Palin thought Africa was a country and not a continent and she didn’t know which countries signed up for NAFTA…

Video Link



Things that make you go hmmm? Or what the hell was John McCain thinking?

Papamoka

Palin $150K Wardrobe Expense?

I could not believe my eyes when I first saw this story over at Politico. The RNC has shelled out $150,000 to dress Sarah Palin since September. Granted she has to look good for the cameras, all the reporters and the in depth interviews but isn’t this a little bit over the top? Excuse me for saying this but there is not one person I know that has ever even come close to this kind of shopping trip and McCain and Palin dares to call we Liberals elitists?

Trust me on this one, Sarah Palin was not buying off the rack items at Walmart to run up this kind of bill. And I don’t think you can run up that kind of expense by buying items from the clearance section as most of us Liberal Communists and Socialists have to do when we shop for clothes.

Check out what Jeanne Cummings has to say over at Politico…

RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion
By JEANNE CUMMINGS 10/22/08 6:50 AM EDT

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use. - Politico

When the press went nuts over John Edwards $400 haircut I was right there with them on that issue. Like most of us “Communists and Socialist“, we pay a local barber or hairstylist $12 bucks and throw a buck or two in for a tip. Apparently, Governor Palin needs more hair products and makeup than all the Miss America pageants have ever used to date. Sarah Palin‘s $4,716 worth of hair and makeup is ten times the insult of John Edwards hair care needs. Maybe Governor Palin forgot her coupon at home? She could have probably cut the expense by a dollar or two.

I can’t wait to see how the McCain - Palin team is going to spin this so it’s justifiable. If this is what they call being Conservative then I honestly don’t think we want them in charge of our federal budget.

Papamoka

*****Reuters has picked up this post... Thank you!

Palin Targeted by Bloggers and the Media

Even John McCain is crying that the press and those of us in the bloggosphere are not being fair to Governor Sarah Palin. He is absolutely right! If he had picked someone with some real life experience in government other than twenty plus months as a Governor then we just might have “vetted” her less. No, John McCain picked an unknown Governor from Alaska that the MSM and left and right wing bloggers know nothing about. I for one think that it is pretty important to know who is only a heartbeat away from the most powerful political office in the world!

This nation is fighting a war on two fronts and John McCain has a problem with people asking questions about someone he wants as his immediate replacement if God chooses that he has to come home? Well the main stream media is going to pound his pick for Vice President into the ground till they know who the hell she is and where she stands on all of the issues and this is supposed to be a race for President based on issues. Politics at this level is not a gentleman’s game, not by far, this is where you better be able to step up fast and fight back fast. There is no topic off the table regardless of kind requests to do so by your political opponent.

There is only one person to blame for the rash of harsh reality based reporting of facts that comes with a presidential race when you pick an unknown person. That would lay fully on the shoulders of John McCain. The press and bloggers are not to blame for the million and one questions that needed to be answered on Sarah Palin. John McCain’s life is an open book, hell, he even has a couple of books you can buy to find out more about him. John McCain is the known person in this discussion and this election, Sarah Palin is not!

The treatment of Sarah Palin would be the same for any Obama candidate for Vice President but Barack Obama was wise and chose a well known and experienced person in the U.S. Senate as his Vice President. Someone with thirty five years worth of public experience that is all well known in the press. Someone like Joe Biden that actually knows how to move change through the congress and get the job done. That is what a Vice President is supposed to do if you were wondering. The Vice President takes the President’s legislation and lobbies it through the Senate and the House. Al Gore did it, George H. W. Bush did it, and so did Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman. I gave those for former Vice President’s as a reference because in each White House they served under our nation came through great crisis and landed on our feet.

So when people tell you (John McCain) that the job of the Vice President is to inquire to the health of the President each day, it is a gross negligence of thought on how the office of Vice President actually is supposed to work. Furthermore, if that is how he thinks, then Governor Palin is just a pin up girl that looks great on television and not worth her salt at all. His definition of Vice President, not mine.

While John McCain is dead set on the Vice President office being a heart monitor to the President, the current office holder has chosen to use the Vice President’s office as a bully pulpit where not only is the Congress not seeing his service to America but his delegation to others outside of government is extremely evident. Black Water, Haliburton, and skirting the blame for outing of a CIA agent to his staff.

As for Senator McCain claiming that the press is unfair to Governor Palin, did he not read any of the press or blogs while Hillary Clinton was running for President? Hillary was torn apart on each of her positions and she stuck to her guns and her gut feeling on what was best for America. I’m proud to say that Hillary Clinton made it possible for John McCain to pick a woman as Vice President but the same questions given to Hillary Clinton are fair game for Governor Sarah Palin. Hillary Clinton won 18 million votes as a tough candidate that could handle the heat and answer the questions put to her in one of the toughest primary campaigns in history. Something that is expected when you are going to be responsible for almost 400 million American’s future.

Nobody gets a pass when the people want to know who the hell is Sarah Palin and why did John McCain pick her as his Vice President candidate? This isn’t just politics for bloggers. It’s about our wondering who the hell Sarah Palin is! Behind every blog is somebody with a vote. Some of us just happen to have a louder voice than others.

Papamoka

Related Posts…
Sarah Palin & the 80%
Palin Inexperience Called on by Conservatives
Bridge to Nowhere for Governor Palin

Check back often for more Straight Talk from Papamoka!

Screaming at the Moon

Not for nothing, I’m pissed off and sick and tired of the bull that all of the politicians are tossing at us all. While they are all flinging mud at one another America is in a world of hurt if you live below the $200,000 income range. The only place the mud they are all flinging will stick is in the news and hype over the elections. What does that mean to you and I as the people facing this recession full on? Nothing!

If you want to know what Americans really care about then forget about what the other candidate is saying and talk to US! We don’t care what your pastor said, we don’t care what your husband said. Talk to us and tell us what you will do for us!

This election has turned into an old bitty over the fence argument over rose bushes creeping into a neighbors property when the real problem is that the roots of that same rose bush are ripping the septic tank apart. The end result is you have a beautiful flower but it will be dead in a couple of days. What do you have left after that?

Cut the political crap and just face the facts. It would take an act of God for Hillary Clinton to win the White House just by the current delegate count to the PRIVATE Democrat convention. That is if you count John McCain as the very best and last built stage coach of the Republican Party. Even Mitt Romney as his Vice President candidate he could not pull off this election cycle and he can thank George Bush for that unwelcome endorsement.

John McCain lost many conservative and moderate voters when he accepted President Bush endorsement just for the simple reason that he did not say “Thank you but no thank you.”.

John McCain lost many voters in the bible belt simply because he refused to deny the endorsement of Reverend John Hagee. Not to mention the right leaning Catholics that Hagee dictates as going to hell simply because we too believe in Jesus Christ. That is an oxymoron that I would like explained to me. We just don’t see Jesus Christ buying a Cadillac and mansion for his own gain to profess his faith and doctrine. John McCain spit in the face of every Catholic with that lack of denial of that endorsement. Is that no different than spitting in the face of veterans coming home from Vietnam? Faith is a funny business and calling the Catholic church a whore is not something you want your name associated with but McCain accepted the endorsement? All you Catholic’s grab a rock and crawl under it, you are not worthy of John McCain!

Hillary and Barack need to find out that this election is not just about them. It is about America! It is about the American people that are tired of being railroaded with every step they take. Bush is gone come January and one of you need to step up to the plate and take charge. The numbers going to the convention do not lie so Hillary needs to play nice and stop the divide and conquer politics that is dividing the party. Barack needs to suck it up and deal with the fact that Hillary Clinton has a platform that is not that much different from his. Unite, unify, consolidate, join together and push the madness that is our current form of government out.

Together Obama AND Clinton can not be defeated, divided they are a house of cards one breath away from falling.

Otherwise, keep feeding the RNC all the ammo they need to put Bush Junior that used to be Senator John McCain in the White House. Ya, that would be change?

Papamoka

Cross Posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

Feel Free to link to this post or borrow it...

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

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…

Technorati Tags:
Huckabee, McCain, Washington Post, Zachary A Goldfarb, Karl Rove, Republican, GOP, DNC, RNC, Obama, Clinton, President 2008, Huckabee delegates, McCain delegates, Independents for McCain, Independent Voter, Vote, White House, President, Bush, Rove, Cheney, Valerie Plame, Corruption in Government, Trust in government, American Politics, Chess and Politics, Democrat, Republican, CNN politics, ABC politics, MSNBC Politics, CBS politics, CBS politics

A Shameful Reality - Is this the key to Republican victory in 2008?

*** This post was contributed by Lefty from A View from Battleship Cove...

Republicans face a huge challenge to keep the White House in 2008. The President has stood firm in his convictions, despite public opinion and the consequences to his legacy. After 8 years of George W. Bush, the nation is not only ready for a new president but for a new ideology.

It seems that Senator John McCain will be the eventual Republican candidate. As a moderate Republican McCain is the probably the candidate that offers the G.O.P. the best shot at winning come November. McCain probably has the best chance of appealing to independent voters and conservative Democrats.

This is a reality of Presidential politics. In order to win a candidate needs to keep the core support of the party, while appealing to independents and the 'swing' voters of the other major party.

This year the Democratic party has the instant appeal of a historic candidacy. If Senator Clinton is the nominee then America will have the chance to elect the first woman president. If Senator Obama is the nominee America will have the chance to elect the first African American president. There are Democrats who are offended at the notion that a win in November would come in part because of people simply voting for history. Despite this, the fact is there are people who will support a candidate of historic precedent. There are women who will vote for the first woman and African Americans who will vote for the first African American president. The fact that Clinton and Obama are both formidable candidates only makes supporting them easier.

In the face of this, in order to win in November the Republicans need to offer up a candidate who will appeal to those voters not inclined to vote for Clinton or Obama. They need to offer up someone moderate enough to appeal to Democrats and independent voters but there is a shameful reality. If the Republicans do win in the 2008 it will not only be because the candidate appealed to independents and conservative Democrats it will be because of what the candidate was not. Just as there are voters who will vote for the historic precedent of the Democratic ticket there will be voters who will vote for the Republican because it means not voting for a woman or an African American.

It's sad to think that there is an element of our society who can't or won't see past skin color or gender. It's tragic that this element will now lend its support to the Republican party and have their prejudices misrepresented as conservative values.

With a moderate candidate as the Republican nominee here is the opportunity for the party to reposition toward the center and to reconnect with the American people. Here is the chance for the Republican party to once again champion progressive ideals.

However, it is a shameful reality that a Republican victory would come in part due the prejudices of the American voter.

Lefty

Originally posted at A View from Battleship Cove

*****Washington Post has linked to this post - Sphere Related Blogs

Technorati Tags:
McCain, Huckabee, Romney, GOP, Democrats, Republican, Elections 08, Political Gender, Race in politics, Hillary, Barack, Obama, Voting for a Woman, Voting for a Black, Vote, View from Battleship Cove

What do the Democrats for President Offer?

Picture courtesy of the White House... panoramic view


Somewhere in the process of finding out what a Presidential candidate is saying and what the sound bite is, you can sometimes see where the candidates true stance is on any issue. Political writers make a fortune for writing good copy that is read or recited ten thousand times over and over by the same person in just one campaign swing. Being human, even our best political practitioners do not buy the mush that is supposed to come out of the money making end of a politician.

Right now the fifty or so contenders for the Democrats nomination for President are talking to anyone that will listen. I don’t buy the two minute blurb on the news from any candidate because you know it was a practiced response. Give me the drive by microphone as the relaxed candidates are leaving an event and I’ll believe those unprepared captured comments any single day of the week.

The Democrats running for President have had yet another venue to put their latest points of view on multiple issues facing America and Slate has this great little factoid finding piece on the before and after positions. No drive by microphone quotes but I’m dumpster diving the internet looking…

The Great Presidential Mashup
What the Democrats have to say about health care, Iraq, and more.

On Sept. 12, Slate co-sponsored the first-ever online-only presidential mashup with Yahoo! and the Huffington Post. Armed with your questions, Charlie Rose asked the top Democratic presidential candidates about their views on health care, Iraq, education, and other issues. Their video responses, posted on Yahoo! and linked to below, are coded and at your disposal—allowing you to create your own custom candidate forum.

Also below, you'll find John Dickerson's commentary on the event, as well as transcripts of how the candidates responded to the questions. We've also provided you with links to statements the candidates have previously made on these issues. - Slate

Real life comments from the Presidential candidates that I would love to hear played over and over on CNN, MSNBC or any news broadcast.

Note: This is all imagined and made up. No facts other than this writers personal delusion are to blame.

Hillary Clinton Democrat in the limo after the You Tube Debate… “There is more than one village missing it’s idiot so shut the F**k up Bill!”

Denis Kucinich Democrat after any media coverage dialing his cell phone … “Mommie, did ya see me on the television! I was on television Mommie!”

Joe Biden Democrat on a post media blitz in Wyoming… “I’m going to need the heavy oxygen if I’m going to make these next 2,346,972 stump speeches. So as I was saying War and Peace starts off with…

Fred Thompson Republican before announcing his candidacy on Jay Leno… “Hail Mary full of gravy and fruit of the loom. Our Father Art Buchwald, hallowed be Notre Dame.”

Barack Obama Democrat post any political debate… “Did you see what that bitch did to me? Damn!”

Mitt Romney Republican after visiting the windy city of Chicago… “Get Walter Mondale on the damn phone! Find out what he uses for hair care products in Chicago. My hair is all messed up and I’m having a frigging conniption here people! Work with me people, work with me?”

Rudi Giuliani Republican after any debate… “Call the f*&%ing Don, I want a hit on that son of a bitch! What do you mean I put the Don in jail?”

John Edwards Democrat after a Two Americas speech… “Get Mitt on the phone and see if we are still on for the manicure and pedicure debate tonight and move my 9:15, 9:45 and 10:25 hairstylists appointments out by five minutes each.”

Chris Dodd Democrat after a speech on parenting in America… “Damn it I have to stop and pick up diapers and pull ups for the kids. Stop the car over at Wal-mart, I have a coupon for fifty cents off. (Cell phone rings) Oh crap, Imus is calling again. I’m not answering that call!”

Papamoka

Other folks talking about this issue...

Vim and Vinegar

Technorati Tags:
Bush, McCain, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, Biden, Kuchinich, Giuliani, Bloomberg, John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Democrats for President, Slate Magazine, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Freddie, Republicans, Talking Points, CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Talk Radio, Talking Heads, Obama, Richardson, Ron Paul, Politics, Bush

Media Hype or Bush being Chicken Little?

I’m not sure if I should wear my bullet proof vest to work tomorrow or just wear a polo shirt? I tend to watch the news and actually READ many different points of view from many different avenues of news information. Which makes me wonder now why I do not trust any information from the main stream media?

If I take them literally I’m going to die tomorrow in a hail of bullets from someone from Iraq or Iran or someone from Al-Kill-You-All. I’m thinking about looking at what Al-Jazeer has to say more than what NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN has to say anymore.

With all the latest hype over attack on our nation any moment I tend to be worried and scared for my five daughters but then again we could all be hit by a meteor that will obliterate our entire species world wide according to some folks in NASA as well. Death, destruction, and absolute fear seems to be what the RNC is selling. Anyone want to buy that and if you do, if you have a coupon will they honor it?

CNN is pushing the Republican message of being very afraid…

By Ed Henry
CNN White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- So let's cut to the chase on the new National Intelligence Estimate: Does it show America is safer today than it was on September 10, 2001 -- or not?

President Bush's top aide on terrorism, Fran Townsend, briefed the press on the NIE Tuesday.

Getting a straight answer is not easy, especially with so many acronyms flying around -- this is an NIE from the DNI (director of national intelligence) that took into account intelligence analysis from the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and ... well, you get the idea.

Then there's the reaction from the White House, which is downright confusing. On the one hand, the White House does not dispute the findings of the report, which declares: "The United States currently is in a heightened threat environment," especially from al Qaeda.

But on the other hand, White House Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend asserts President Bush's claim that al Qaeda "is on the run" is still applicable.

On one hand, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says just days before this report he has a "gut feeling" there could be a summer terrorist attack in America. But on the other hand, Townsend reiterates Chertoff's claim that there's "no specific, credible threat" against the United States right now.

Adding further confusion, this report re-ignites the ferocious debate over whether the war in Iraq took the president's eye off the broader war on terror, a point I pressed hard today in an on-camera White House briefing with Townsend.

(She and I have previously joked good-naturally off-camera about another back-and-forth we had in December 2006, when I asked her to admit that not catching Osama bin Laden is a major failure and she countered that capturing him is merely a "success that hasn't happened yet." Jon Stewart on "Comedy Central" had a field day with that exchange that even White House officials found amusing). - CNN

I’m grabbing the kids and heading to the bunkers. Just like the Vice President we have them all over Worcester. The government built them just after 9/11 to protect all of our citizens in America. I’m sure that you must have them in your town as well or you must not have voted Republican in the last election. Al Qaeda, Ali Baba, and his brother Al Pay ya Back are going to kill us all. President Bush says so and that is good enough for me.

Bullshit!

Even the Iraqi President, Premier, head honcho does not want America in his country anymore. Get our troops home and let the Iraqi people deal with their own family dysfunctions. Let us take our God home and let them define their own religious belief amongst themselves. How they do it should not be up to any American President or political party. It is their damned country and I do mean damned.

Papamoka

Feel free to steal this post! I give you full permission!

Dude’s I did it Man! Whoohooo!

Picture courtesy of the Houston Chronicle

In the gentleman’s club that is our nations capitol there appears to be a little towel snapping and high fives going on over the latest Republican Senator’s sexual adventures outside of marriage. Much like the High School locker rooms where the guys root and cheer when one of the jocks scores with a girl, apparently, they do the same thing in the Senate.

Locker room high school behavior is somewhat a right of passage to adulthood and something to be expected but in a GOP Senatorial meeting? Applauding a Senator that slept around on his wife with a prostitute is not what I would call family values. Maybe they were cheering his creating another family values?

Over at the Houston Chronicle they have this to say about the sexual exploits of Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana.

July 17, 2007, 12:58PM
Senator returns, dodges sex scandal questions

By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter returned to the Capitol today, apologizing privately to GOP colleagues but refusing to take reporters' questions about a sex scandal that sent him into seclusion for a week.

The first-term Republican said he wanted to resume his normal Senate schedule, but that proved difficult as news crews camped outside his office and chased him down hallways.

In a private weekly luncheon for Republican senators in the Capitol, Vitter briefly spoke and received a round of applause audible outside the room. Vitter told his colleagues he was sorry for the trouble he had caused them, and thanked them for their messages of support, said a senator who heard the speech and described it on background because of the private nature of the luncheons. - Houston Chronicle

Now that the righteous dude Senator has apologized to his wife and the nation does that mean he is good to go and we can trust him with his message on family values? I honestly think we can. He was caught, he fessed up to his bad behavior and his wife forgives him.

Yup, works for me because I am not critical of people in public service that claim the highest pulpit in the church and the government. I think people are too critical because after all it was just hypothetical supposed high school type sex between a Senator and a lady of age, of the night. (Whoooohoooo!) I have to remember to delete that (Whoooohoooo!) before I post this piece.

Ummm, could he have been experimenting on the behalf of the American people with multiple partners to verify that sleeping around can cause and spread sexually transmitted disease? Maybe he was trying to prove that prostitution does exist in America and now he has video to prove it?

Maybe he was counseling the girls in the service to the DC Madame on the ills of the services they provide and that the private sector is the way to really go to make the big bucks? He could have been providing guidance to K Street agencies that could show them the light… or the green?

Then again he could have been testing the latest military night vision weapon systems on unsuspecting woman of the night. That could be why he isn’t talking to the press. Those sort of things are especially TOP SECRET ya know!

Papamoka

Is Giuliani G. W. Bush Version 2.0?

Picture courtesy of the Boston Globe

What is the former Mayor of New York City thinking when he continually plays the 9/11 card? America gets it that you were the super hero of New York City and did all the right things post 9/11. You attended many of the funerals for the fallen Fire Fighters, the Police, and any media event you could tack onto your political resume. We get that!

When did he become George Bush version 2.0? What is more important to ask is if he comes with a Dick Cheney version 2.0?

We get that part but Ruddy, you are not the savior for America because you manipulated your way into many families grieving process and ceremonies. I fully apologize to all the families that lost a loved one on that tragic day but this man is abusing the memories of all Americans when he says that he can lead the people with the same message as our current President. Our current President is not leading anything other than his personal agenda of a shiney object over here while he and his friends do as they please over there.

Giuliani is playing the fear card and that is the same set of cards the current President is playing. Unlike the former Mayor of New York City the current President can select the audiences he wants to talk to and have them screened as always supportive to the message. Any dissenting thoughts are not allowed in his holiness presence at the King of the United States appearances.

Over at the Boston Globe they have this to say about the former Mayor and his message of fear…

Giuliani watchers wonder if he will overplay 9/11 card
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff
July 5, 2007

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Rudy Giuliani was just six seconds into his speech when he played his campaign trump card: the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I'll tell you the reason I wear this flag," the former New York City mayor told supporters at a recent rally here, pointing to the American flag pin on his lapel. "Before September 11, I only wore this flag rarely. But I started wearing it right after September 11. I wear it every day now. Each time I wear it, it reminds me of September 11."

For Giuliani, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and his response to them have become his strongest campaign pitch, as the GOP presidential candidate reminds voters again and again of the role he played when terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center towers, killing nearly 3,000 people.

It is a message that appears to be resonating among Republicans. They have put the blunt-speaking former mayor at the top of a crowded GOP field in most polls, and his campaign said Tuesday that he raised more money in the second quarter than any other Republican candidate.
Political analysts say Giuliani's pitch is a powerful message to an electorate worried about another assault on US soil, especially after the recent attacks in Britain.

At the same time, many of these analysts question whether Giuliani can ride the anti terror train all the way to the White House. They say Giuliani risks being tagged as a single-issue candidate for his Sept. 11 performance just when his handling of the attack and its aftermath is drawing increasing criticism from his home city of New York. – Boston Globe

If the former Mayor is privy to any information regarding any future attacks on America then why is he not just saying such? Selling fear is what Bush does best, Giuliani is not convincing me one bit. I’m gambling but the next President of the United States will not be a Republican. George Bush burned the office and the trust of the American people. He will continue to do so as long as he is the emperor without a conscience in the Congress.

We can live in fear or we can live free? You decide? There has not been any diplomacy from this nation since W took office and there will be no diplomacy if G takes the highest office in the land.

Fear sells headlines but diplomacy is difficult and takes deep thought. Long term thought for the betterment of many people. Not just on shores here at home but for people in lands most of us will never have to be in unless we are lied to into the situation.

I don’t think that America needs a George W. Bush version 2.0 so the former Mayor can sell his fear somewhere else. What do you think?

Papamoka

Recommend this post to a friend...
Link to this post and we shall reciprocate...

Political Promises

I received this one in an email and just had to share...

Papamoka