I happened to be enjoying a cup of joe at a local cafe when Bush held a news conference this morning. The stock markets of the world are all down substantially and he was trying to reassure us (and the world???) that all will be well if we have patience. I quote Bush..."Fellow citizens, we can solve this crisis...and we will." Really???? I just read that Bush's approval rating is at 25%. No one listens to him anymore....did anyone watch Saturday Night Live last week? How long will it be before the Dow Jones Average falls below 8,000? I am spending as much time as I can getting people registered to vote and talking to people about Barack Obama. I have noticed that a lot main stream Republicans here in MA who had planned to vote for McCain are now shifting to Obama....McCain's choice of Sarah Palin and her subsequent performance have convinced them that "they can not vote for a dose of the same"!!!! I read that in a history text written in 1933. The author pointed out that in 1932, although 54 million voted for FDR....27 million voted for a dose of the same. I just hope that we get a more honest vote than the last two presidential elections.

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself.-Harry Truman(1948 Presidential race)

" The future ain't what it used to be "-Yogi Berra

" It's deja vu all over again"-Yogi Berra

I loved the opening of SNL's show on Saturday Night...My boss (an old fashioned conservative) saw it and liked it. She is now going to vote for Obama, in large part because of McCain's VP pick... here is the video...I can't get enough of it!

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/vp-debate-open-palin-biden/727421/

Gosh darn it...Doggone it Joe!...I betcha...Joe-6-pack...Isn't Mrs. Palin folksy? Please..PLEASE...PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! She even managed to mangle the word 'nuclear' numerous times. She thinks the power that Dick Cheney has used as VP are in the constitution...and she can deliver rehearsed lines and strategies well. That woman a heartbeat away from the Presidency really and truly SCARES ME!!!!   Read More »

Tonight's vice-presidential debate will be most educational...I hope that Biden does not make major gaffes and well,...Sarah Palin....I imagine she is well coached. I am going to watch SNL this week and see what the kids come up with!!!

I am so painfully aware that we will experience another Great Depression if Congress does not come up with and pass a bail out package. I,also, am glad that this one did not pass. Main St. was compromised out of it. I want to see Main St. included and more real oversight also. As a person who did not over spend and live very low on the hog, I was wondering how all the folks who were borrowing to keep up a prosperous lifestyle and Wall St. fat cats who were making $$$$ on the folks who were overspending(and actively critizing me for not doing so...) could go on. So, if we must bail out Wall St., then we should at least help some of the folks who were bamboozled by Wall St.-Lee   Read More »

I watched the debate last night and was impressed with the way it was handled. First of all, I am glad that Barack stuck to his guns and insisted that the debate go on. Second, it was a civil debate on the issues which Jim Lehrer made sure were discussed. Finally, it showed the differences between the Republican ideologue and the Democratic progressive and how they would handle the various issues and crises now facing us. I hope that enough of the American voting public will see how important it is that we have a real change in the way that the government operates. Lee

Politics is...who gets what...and how much? - Anon

The more I see, read and hear about the Bush Administration's efforts to bail out their friends on Wall Street, the more I get angry and frustrated. The administration wants a $700 Billion bailout package passed NOW!!!...with no controls or strings attached. Also, the Bush administration will not accept the addition of help for the little mortgage holders in this bail out.

It seems that Sen. McCain, the deregulation guy, is wrong...and presidential candidate McCain wants to reregulate the financial markets...after the bailout is approved, of course! I also find it very interesting that candidate McCain has a plan when he is president to fix this mess...and accuses Obama of not stepping up with a plan. Barack Obama realizes that he does not know enough about the details to come up with an effective plan and the plan has to be put in place NOW!

On CNN, Lou Dobbs pointed out last night that SENATORS McCAIN AND OBAMA should be in the Capital helping work out the plan needed now. Politikking should be put aside for the moment and action is needed now.

The economic future...and the future of our planet...of the world is at stake here. The Chinese have a curse..."May you live in interesting times." Well we are living in interesting times and it scares me and my friends. I hope that a majority of voters in this country vote on the issues and see what is at stake here.   Read More »

Last night, I was watching the local news on TV and a new political ad for McCain came on...pathetic I was thinking....his concern (new found??? given statements made only a couple of days ago...???)for the economy and the mess on Wall St. and how he will "protect us". How will he? Not all that long ago, he said the "fundamentals of the economy are strong". Next day, AIG was on the brink of bankruptcy and Lehman Brothers was no more, not to mention the fire sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America and...the shock waves through global financial markets. There is a good rebuttal ad for Obama here and videos spoofs...and I would think...SNL will come up with something.

Did any one else see this ad? What do you have to say about it? I look forward to reading your comments.-Lee

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself.-Harry Truman(1948 Presidential race)

I am having a problem posting consistently to this blog. I cannot post to my blog from my page since the page was "updated" in look. It does not function as well as before. Anyone else finding they have this problem??? -Lee

I couldn't have said it better myself...

September 8, 2008
Letters
The G.O.P.’s New (Old) Sales Tactics
To the Editor:

Re “The Resentment Strategy,” by Paul Krugman (column, Sept. 5):

I agree that the G.O.P. is trying to sell the politics of resentment. But I think the problem goes much further.

One thing President Bush has done well has been to get so many people, often at an unconscious level, feeling that smart or educated or intellectual equals liberal equals un-American.

The result has been that the less educated you sound, the more of a patriotic American you are perceived to be.

In this way, Mr. Bush and other wealthy elites have been able to install policies that hurt poor, working- and middle-class Americans, while casting as snobbish elites those who think in nuanced ways about how to solve the real problems of ordinary Americans.

We live in a world of staggering complexity. As the last eight years have shown, we ignore that at our own peril.

Kathy Roberson
Middlesex, N.J., Sept. 5, 2008

I just found a very useful link to a site called PolitiFact.com. It is operated by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly.   Read More »

I was just reading my email and got to an email from a member of Women for Obama. The article I am posting came out of my email...sorry, I don't know the link...Lee

Psychopathology of The Republican
By Richard Greene


Fear, Domination, The Reptilian Brain and The Non-Goodness of Man

Republicans are different. We must understand them in order to reason with them.

As proud Republicans begin their convention in earnest in Minnesota today it might be a good time to reflect on why a dedicated, patriotic, intelligent adult would choose to be a Republican.

It was a question that always haunted me - until Dennis Prager, super dedicated, super patriotic and unbelievably intelligent Republican - answered it, ironically at the Democratic Convention last week in Denver.

Thank you, Dennis

The answer came at the beginning of a debate I moderated at the Seachange Ideas Forum at The Starz Green Room, a refreshingly deep and cordial debate between Dennis, famed right wing talk show host and Thom Hartmann, my colleague on Air America, one of the most brilliant Progressive minds in the country.

What I learned helps me understand why Republicans are hawks, why they still give George W. Bush a 67% approval rating compared to 29% from the public at large (USA Today/Gallup Poll, August 23, 2008) and why FEAR plays such a vast role in the lives of Republicans. Here is a summary and some analysis.

Basic Belief About Mankind

Underlying everything, Dennis Prager made this bold statement:

"I don't think we're basically good, as it happens/ And that is at least a theoretical political divide . . . It is so obvious to me that people are not basically good that I stand in awe of those who think that people are basically good. You have no evidence for it. . ... . Babies are not good . . . What is so good about a baby . . . This notion that we are born good is nonsense . . . We don't start off good. This is fantasy . . . We aren't basically good. People stink as a rule. . . ."

Forever On Guard Against Evil

If Dennis Prager speaks for most or all Republicans and Conservatives, there are huge practical consequences to this life philosophy. As a result of this core, existential belief, Republicans/Conservatives must, above all, always be on guard against evil. Saddam Hussein, Hitler and others. then, are overwhelming evidence that, if not vigilant and fearful, the inherent non-goodness of mankind could erupt, like a bad case of herpes, the virus lying dormant, for ever, in the collective nervous system of mankind.

Dominate (Before You Are Dominated)

Having to be on guard, leads to another core belief, according to famed author Rianne Eisler. She writes, in "The Power of Partnership" that fear leads to a life philosophy and political philosophy of "Domination" rather than the less fear based and more evolved "Partnership" model. Dominate before you are dominated. Fear partnership because, as Dennis explained, individuals are NOT good and, u