8th Degree

Infomercial something to Sell But Not Pay For

2008-10-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

There have been many suspicions about Joe the Plumber, and why he became the chosen one of the Republican Party.

There were rumors circulating that he may have ties to the Keating 5, which has yet to be proven. Well today Sarah confirmed that she does have ties to Joe the Plumber. Sarah called Joe the Plumber, "a fellow Alaskan".

"He’s a fellow Alaskan, and he’s a fellow military man who served our country proudly," Ms. Palin said. "I’d like you to meet him! Please welcome Joe the Plumber!"

I find it rather interesting that she questions if Sen.Obama going to change the Constitution to bring about change when is apart of an group that wants to see Alaska to seperate from our nation. And was it not Huckabee who said he would change the Constitution if needed ?

Mr. Wurzelbacher, dressed in a checked shirt and jeans, made no comments during the rally, and simply stood, with his hands clasped, at Ms. Palin’s side.

But Mr. Della Croce said he can easily envision Mr. Wurzelbacher giving inspirational speeches, appearing on television, profiting from licensed merchandise that uses his name or image and endorsing products.

McCain has called Sen. Obama Broadcast infomercial with something to sell when he’s selling Joe the Plumber. Would not have been surprised to see Joe the Plumber the next G.I Joe and Palin the next Barbee doll.

Add this to the fact that McCain’s about to do the same thing. 'Buyer Beware,' Says McCain Campaign.

But even before it aired, Obama's advertisement had been widely panned by the Republican ticket.

Today, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized the infomercial to reporters calling it a "gauzy, feel-good commercial."

He then added that the commercial was "paid for with broken promises," referring to a pledge Obama made to accept public financing for his campaign.
In contrast remember McCain's commercial was not paid for at all.

The only Difference Sen. Obama paid for his time to inform the people. And McCain’s whole Campaign has been the way to solve the issues is from an “Psychological Impact”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/29/223629/29/453/646361

CNN gives McCain a *free* hour to respond to Obama's paid ad

That's right: Not only is CNN giving McCain an hour for free tonight, on its most-watched program, but CNN refused to air Obama's half-hour ad even though Obama is paying for it

The issue here is CNN is a public news media whos job it it to put out the news with out bias.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/29/13594/484/984/645838

This brings up other issues that should be explored as others promoted things as fact that where not true that lead us into a war. Should they not be held accountable as well.
Who's in bed with the media ?

Is This McCain's Oct. Surprise ???

2008-10-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

McCain has tried to put out we just don't know enough about Sen. Obama couple this with the lack of venting on Sara Palin.

Add to the fact that The campaign sent out its media itinerary for yesterday's bus tour through the Sunshine State and three times it referred to its "Joe the Plummer" tour.
When hes not a licened Plummer owes & back taxes .

Joe the Plumber’ may consider running for Congress in 2010.
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher told Laura Ingraham, in an appearance on her show Friday, he’d consider it.

Wurzelbacher would be challenging longtime Rep. Marcy Kaptur

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/25/joe-plumber-considers-run-congress/

Joe the Plumber was once Joe the Alaskan (are you surprised?)

Questions began flying about a a possible Doug-and-Joe connection and whether Joe, who confronted Obama in front of television cameras in Ohio, was a plant.

Now we have a Republican operative, apparently an up-and-comer in the GOP ranks, who calls in a false report about a black man mugging and then carving a backwards "b" in her face with a knife.

A McCain-Palin campaign volunteer who claimed she was robbed and cut by a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama confessed Friday to making up the story, Pittsburgh police said.
Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, is charged with filing a false police report. She told investigators she has had psychological issues in the past, according to Assistant Chief Maurita Bryant. Police said she was taken to an undisclosed hospital for a psychological evaluation

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_595166.html

McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known

John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

The KDKA reporter had called McCain's campaign office for details after seeing the story -- sans details -- teased on Drudge.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

The claims to KDKA from the McCain campaign were included in an early story that ran late yesterday on KDKA's Web site. The paragraphs containing these assertions were quickly removed from the story after the Obama campaign privately complained that KDKA was letting the McCain campaign spin a racially-charged version of the story before the facts had been established, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

The story with the removed grafs is still right here. We preserved the three missing grafs from yesterday:
A source familiar with what happened yesterday confirmed that the unnamed spokesperson was communications director Peter Feldman.

Feldman was also quoted yesterday making virtually identical assertions on the Web site of another local TV station, WPXI. But those quotes, which we also preserved here, are also no longer available on WPXI's site, for reasons that are unclear.

This is problematic because the McCain campaign doesn't want to have been perceived as pushing an incendiary story that not only turned out to be a hoax but which police officials said today risked blowing up into a "national incident" and has local police preparing to file charges against the hoaxster.

There's no evidence that anyone from McCain national headquarters put out a version of events like this.

After the story appeared on KDKA's site and this and other pieces in the local press started flying around the political world, an Obama spokesperson in the state angrily insisted to KDKA that it was irresponsible for the station to air the McCain spokesperson's incendiary version of events before the facts were fully known, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

After that, KDKA went back to McCain's Pennsylvania spokesperson, Feldman, and asked if he stood by the story as he'd earlier told it, but he started backing off the story, a source familiar with the talks says. That prompted KDKA to remove the grafs.

Feldman couldn't immediately be reached, and a McCain HQ spokesperson declined to comment.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_aide_gave_reporters_inc.php

Police: McCain volunteer made up ATM robbery story

Why McCain will have to wear Ashley Todd’s scarlet letter

Here’s the question of the day: How did the entire blogosphere and twitterverse know intuitively that Ashley Todd was some imbalanced attention-seeker almost immediately after the story broke but John McCain, Sara Palin and their top staff did not?

Predictably, the liberal bloggers and tweeters were calling bullshit as soon as they heard Todd’s tale of getting mugged and having a backwards “B” carved scratched into her cheek while she was somewhere on the “wrong side” of Pittsburgh.
The B, presumably, was for “Barack.” The mugger, a tallish, thinnish black man (apparently dyslexic) became enraged after he noticed that Todd, a McCain campaign worker, had a McCain bumper sticker on her car.
Of course, everyone knew it was a lie just by looking at the picture of her “disfigured” face posted at Smoking Gun.
Why would the mugger carve a backwards B? And why did he take extra care not to break her skin with his knife after violently punching, kicking and throwing her to the ground?
I mean even conservative blogger Michelle Malkin called Todd out with a blog post that thought the story too odd to believe. However, many of Malkin’s conservative cohorts couldn’t resist fanning the flames of racial hysteria.
Jay Bookman with the AJC has a roundup of the dimwits hollering about the “thuggery” of Obama’s campaign.
They weren’t alone. Some mainstream media outlets were running with the story, despite the fact that the story couldn’t pass the smell test of any first-year journalism student.
Despite the doubts that were burning up the Internet, McCain and Palin both reportedly called Todd and her family to offer their support and sympathy. And lower down on the totem pole, McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director Peter Feldman apparently did his best to make sure the story got mainstream media attention.
TPM describes Feldman’s role in pushing the story:
John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
One presumes that the decision for the candidates to call Todd was made at the highest levels of the campaign, though at this point, that might be giving the dysfunctional McCain camp too much credit.
You almost can’t blame McCain or Palin for making the call.
They have extreme demands on their time and they certainly don’t have time to be surfing the web and reading all the back and forth discussion that was taking place about this story.
I’m assuming that they wouldn’t call Todd without first getting briefed by chief strategist Steve Schmidt or campaign manager Rick Davis, or at the very least, one of their top lieutenants.
This is a situation where you trust that your staff has vetted Todd’s story and realizes the potential blowback if it turns out she’s a psychologically-troubled young lady with a history of making things up.
Once again, team McCain failed. Perhaps not an Epic Fail (Fox News Executive VP John Moody, in an otherwise ridiculous attempt to link Obama politically to the alleged incident, went so far to say if the incident was a hoax, it was game over for McCain) but an embarrassing moment, nonetheless, which adds just another unwanted distraction to an already chaotic campaign.
Here’s what some other bloggers are saying:
Kos @ The Daily Kos:
The story was instantly suspect, as the pictures of her supposed beating, her Twitter account, and her timelines all patently contradicted themselves. But the wingnutosphere, with the healthy assist from Fox News, piled on anyway, letting their ideological blinders get in the way of reality. As usual.
And now they look like idiots. As usual.
As for Ms. Ashley Todd, being a liar and race-baiter is par for the course for College Republicans.
Clinical psychologist Alan J. Lipman @ Head of State:
Anyone who understands the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder is well aware of what happened here. Extreme needs for attention combine with physically destructive behavior–most often seen in cutting one’s own skin–in an act meant to bring outer love and attention as it attacks inner self-hatred.
Shawn Williams @ Dallas South:
Introduce a black man to the story and you automatically get sympathy. That’s what happened to Ashley Todd as she was contacted by McCain, Palin, and apparently the Obama staff.
This is the race baiting that McCain has chosen to align himself. Race voting and fear mongering are his only chances for the White House.
B-Serious @ Jack and Jill Politics:

Thankfully, her lies didn’t work. But if they had . . . if she never confessed to the hoax . . . Pennsylvania voters would surely have been inundated with questions and imagery that stir some of the deepest and darkest emotions this country has ever known regarding race.
I doubt it would have been enough to flip the state. But it could have made things a lot closer.
I understand that she may have acted completely on her own. But I’m sure I’m not the only one with a few questions
Brian Williams: McCain Campaign Spread 'B' Hoax To Reporters

On Thursday, FOX News Executive VP John Moody wrote:
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

The tone of FOX's coverage over the next 10 days will tell us whether or not Mr. Moody actually meant what he said.

But no matter what he or his network ends up doing, the words he spoke were the truth.

Up Date

Confirmed: Ashley Todd a paid CRNC organizer UPDATED X2
by dworth

Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 11:31:56 AM PDT

There still seems to be questions among even Kossacks as to whether is no longer any question that Ashley Todd was a paid organizer or not.

This has probably been covered, but since there's still confusion, I think we need to make sure this information is better distributed.
Today it was confirmed by Ethan Eioln of the CRNC (College Republican National Committee) that she was contracted to be paid $3,600 for her August to election day work.

So, case closed. Let's get this story back in the news cycle. The traditional media has now buried it, after only 3 days of coverage. We all know what would have happened if she were a liberal.

The CRNC is a 527 group with very close ties to the RNC.
The CRNC is clearly a major player for the Republican National Committee, receiving $25,000 from the RNC in 2002. The Center for Public Integrity also notes that most of the money raised by the group is spent on direct mail efforts and paying field representatives such as Todd.

So, this organizer was contracted for $3,600 (or $1,200 a month) for 3 months work as a College Republican organizer.
This should be on every news show in America tonight, on the cover of every single newspaper tomorrow.

You Mean to Tell Me She Don't Know

2008-10-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Fla. Sheriff Plays The “Hussein” Card At Palin Event; Campaign ...
Oct 6, 2008 ... Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott took the stage moments ago as one of the introductory speakers at a rally here for Sarah Palin.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/06/politics/fromtheroad/entry4504484.shtml

Lee sheriff under federal investigation for stumping in uniform ...
Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott’s now infamous appearance at Republican vice ... rally (one that was televised locally at that), in uniform, taking the stage ...

Feds to look into Lee County Sheriff Scott's 'Hussein' Obama comment at Palin rally

A federal investigation is being opened into the actions and comments of Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott at a rally for Gov. Sarah Palin in Estero on Monday.

Erica S. Hamrick, senior attorney at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, said her office will be investigating under the Hatch Act, which governs political activities of certain elected officials.

The complainant stated the sheriff violated that act because the sheriff’s office receives federal money, engaged in political activity while on duty, engaged in political activity while in uniform, wore political buttons while on duty and used political influence or authority to interfere with an election. The U.S.

Office of Special Counsel addresses the Hatch Act as it pertains to local officials on their Web site, which states the following:“The Hatch Act applies to executive branch state and local employees who are principally employed in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency.

Employees who work for educational or research institutions which are supported in whole or in part by a State or political subdivision of the State are not covered by the provisions of the Hatch Act.

“Employees of private nonprofit organizations are covered by the Hatch Act only if the statute through which the organization receives its federal funds contains language which states that the organization shall be considered to be a state or local agency for purposes of the Hatch Act, e.g., Headstart and Community Service Block Grant statutes.

“An employee’s conduct is also subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency. Additionally, employees should be aware that the prohibitions of the Hatch Act are not affected by state or local laws.”

Maybe this might help explain things.

Gothard cult's infiltration of law enforcement, part 1: An expose of Ray Nash

Gothard cult's infiltration of law enforcement, part 2: PDI Unmasked

Gothard cult's infiltration of law enforcement, part 3: A backdoor for dominionists

Uncommon Friends Foundation
We recognize and support the need to teach and model positive character traits ..... Mike Scott – Lee County Sheriff Elinor Scricca, Ph.D. – Board Member

http://www.uncommonfriends.org/news.html

Arnold Pastor indicted, charged with embezzling from Dorchester County jail

A followup article on the audit showed that quite a lot of the money embezzled by Nash ended up going straight to Gothard's coffers.

It seems that, again, the Charleston Post & Courier reveals that the end result of the audit shows that Nash himself engaged in more than a bit of nepotism and embezzlement:

Notice if you will.

CHARACTER EDUCATION We recognize and support the need to teach and model positive character traits to all children. Character Education is an product of Bill Gothard.

You might want to glance at the Board members and staff.

Liberty Youth Ranch
LEE COUNTY SHERIFF MIKE SCOTT JOINS LIBERTY YOUTH RANCH, BOARD OF ADVISORS ... - -Secretary Jerry Regier, Florida Department of Children and Families ...

TALLAHASSEE — Children and Families director Jerry Regier is using his fundamental Oklahoma roots to make employees of Florida’s embattled agency participate in mandatory character-training sessions.

Regier has contracted with Oklahoma City-based Character Training Institute. The nonprofit company, with direct ties to evangelist Bill Gothard, is providing the curriculum for some 1,750 agency workers in the Orlando region, which also includes Brevard County.

Regier made the material available to former Oklahoma deputy and current Orlando chief David Dennis.

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/00003980

George W. Bush and Ken Blackwell Gothard cult members, too

Education Reform or This is Their Education

This brings up the questions of how the mavericks plan on reforming the do nothing big spending Bush administration while keeping attachments to programs designed by those that would seem less than desired . Taking his money collected by his administration as well.

Both McCain & Palin talk of not knowing Obama trying to spread fear and distrust .

This is real very real. Review the other links here.

"Seven Mountains" and the "Joel's Army" plan for takeover

Sarah Palin, who has attacked Alaska Native Languages and Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, gave a speech at the Master's Commission on September 2nd, 2008,

Read dogemperor's "Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches"

It has only one mission, to throw defeat in the face of the Devil and see God's people freed.
and the Master's Commission has a branch that Christianizes Alaskan Natives. Source

It has only one mission, to throw defeat in the face of the Devil and see God's people freed.
and the Master's Commission has a branch that Christianizes Alaskan Natives.

Although the Native Reservations of the lower 48 states may be off the beaten path, these tribes are easily accessible compared to the Native tribes of bush Alaska. Forgotten? Not by God! But the reality is reaching the indigenous people of this state is very difficult and very expensive!
Let's look at the speech and how she's attacked Alaska Native Languages and Alaska Tribal Sovereignty after briefly looking at the history of Missionary work in Alaska. Then, we'll look at "Palin's Pipeline"the TransCanada gas pipeline. The Master's Commission that Palin spoke to is continuing the old practice of Christianizing Indigenous People, and more than one denomination has proselytized Alaskan Natives since 1867. Source

Russian missionaries remained most successful among he Aleuts, although with the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867, the status of the church suddenly changed. Its missionaries continued to work among the Native people of Alaska even after it became a foreign land, but their influence declined in the late nineteenth century, as other denominations began proselytizing. http://books.google.com/books?...

Intellectual snobbery has a price attached to it, and what it may cost with the Military Commissions Act as law and a Dominionist Vice President, are the peaceful yet firm measures needed to prevent that rise to power.

Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she (Palin) exhorted the congregants

Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview

But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God. And that's going to be your job. As I'm doing my job, let's strike this deal, your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God's will be done here.
- snip -
So all you Master's Commission students and all of your supporters...and thank you so much for dedicating your lives to Jesus Christ! Thank you!

Text Transcript of Sarah Palin's Speech of June 8, 2008 at Master's Commission of Wasilla, Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 22 (Reuters) - Alaska's House of Representatives voted late on Tuesday to allow TransCanada Corp.(TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to build a massive pipeline to tap the vast natural gas resources of the state's North Slope region.
The chamber voted 24-16 in the state capital of Juneau for a bill backed by Governor Sarah Palin that would grant TransCanada a state license for a 1,700-mile (2,700 km) pipeline to bring the gas to North American markets.
- snip -
Palin, a Republican, has endorsed TransCanada's plan to build the pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to an existing hub on the Alberta-British Columbia border, shipping 4 billion cubic feet a day. She argues the company, as an independent pipeline operator, would free the state and the North Slope from the dominance of the major oil producers there -- BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Why doesn't she mention it's the TransCanada Pipeline?

Alaska House approves TransCanada gas pipeline

Alaska Natives have lost all fishing rights and all hunting rights, "Alaska Native peoples are among the only Indigenous peoples in all of North America whose Indigenous Hunting and Fishing Rights have been extinguished by federal legislation." Remember, "But the reality is reaching the indigenous people of this state is very difficult and very expensive!" Expensive to who?

Attorneys: Gov. Palin's record on Alaska Natives

Palin opposed subsistence preference.
"When asked about hunting and fishing rights, Palin said she did not want to amend the state constitution to allow preferences for certain Alaskans. 'I'm pro subsistence for all Alaskans,' she said, adding that she would seek to manage resources to provide 'abundance.'" Source

Palin has refused to accord proper respect to Alaska Native languages and voters by refusing to provide language assistance to Yup'ik speaking Alaska Native voters.

As a result, Palin was just ordered by a special three-judge panel of federal judges to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup'ik voters residing in southwest Alaska. Nick v. Bethel, No. 3:07-cv-0098-TMB (D. Ak.) (Order entered July 30, 2008).

Citing years of State neglect, Palin was ordered to provide trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup'ik; sample ballots in written Yup'ik; a written Yup'ik glossary of election terms; consultation with local Tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup'ik translations; a Yup'ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-election reports to the court to track the State's efforts.

Palin said, "your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God's will be done here." Are we to take that to mean that Christianizing Native Alaskans, that attacking Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting, that attacking Alaska Native Languages, that attacking Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, and that attacking Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing is to have an international gas pipeline and to drill for oil? She needs to be asked who the "hurting people throughout Alaska" are that she was referring to.

If it was the following, the question would be answered in the affirmative.

Headlined on 9/11/08: An Alaska Native speaks out on Palin, Oil, and Alaska

I am writing this letter to raise awareness about the ongoing colonization and violation of human rights being carried out against Alaska Native peoples in the name of unsustainable progress, with a particular emphasis on the role of Sarah Palin and the Republican leadership. My hope is that it helps to elevate truth about the nature of Alaskan politics in relation to Alaska Native peoples and that it lays a framework for our path to justice.

Ever since the Russian claim to Alaska and the subsequent sale to the United States through the Treaty of Cession in 1867, the attitude and treatment towards Alaska Native peoples has been fairly consistent. We were initially referred to as less than human "uncivilized tribes", so we were excluded from any dialogues and decisions regarding our lands, lives, and status.

The dominating attitude within the Unites States at the time was called Manifest Destiny; that God had given Americans this great land to take from the Indians because they were non-Christian and incapable of self-government.

Over the years since that time, this framework for relating to Alaska Native peoples has become entrenched in the United States legislative and legal systems in an ongoing direct violation of our human rights.

Let me get specific about what is at stake and how this relates to Palin and the Republican leadership in Alaska and across this country.

To this day, Alaska Native peoples are among the only Indigenous peoples in all of North America whose Indigenous Hunting and Fishing Rights have been extinguished by federal legislation and yet we are the most dependent people on this way of life.

Seems to me I've read some where on a important Document we have rights to the pursuit of happiness.

"Most of our villages have no roads that connect them to cities" many live with poverty level incomes, and all rely to varying degrees on traditional hunting, fishing, and harvesting for survival.

One might ask where the bridge to no where was going when most other villages have no roads to connect them to cities?

This has become known as the debate on Alaska Native Subsistence.
"Hurting people throughout Alaska" is an all inclusive statement, and it's nothing new

Capitalism, Calvinism and Chauvinism

It's no coincidence that capitalism and Protestantism ascended simultaneously. Jean Calvin theologically discredited the feudal system in 1541, paving the way for an upwardly mobile merchant class to replace the landed aristocracy.

The genius of Calvin, observed sociologist Max Weber in 1904, was the creation of a new concept of God. Prior to this crucial paradigm shift, surplus wealth--i.e., capital--was expected to be donated to the Church.

Essentially, Calvinism was a variation of the chosen-race myth. Its key element was a spiritual "elect" whose elevated position is preordained. The only way one can know if he or she is among the Elect is by his or her level of worldly success[8]-- in other words, if you're rich, it's because God loves you.

The Puritans of Plymouth Bay were staunch Calvinists and their legacy remains powerful. "American culture, in particular, is thoroughly Calvinist...At the heart of the way Americans think and act, you'll find this fierce and imposing reformer. Source

Is this to be the type of reforming Palin's after?

At the same time, Christianity was forced on the Native Peoples by the missionaries. Indeed, it took a special act of Congress, the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), to affirm religious freedom for the Native nations. The law...

Palin said in her speech to the Master's Commission, whose goal is "to throw defeat in the face of the Devil and see God's people freed," "your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God's will be done here."

This seems to be the stance she has taken during her campaging .

In addition, she has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting, attacked Alaska Native Languages, attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, and attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing while saying an international pipeline is God's will.

Consequently, that pipeline will run through sites that are sacred, but then again it's "God's will." The Master's Commission has a specific branch that Christianizes Alaskan Natives; we can safely assume that is also under her umbrella of "God's will."

To summarize, christianizing Indigenous People destroys the identity of that people so that their land can be stolen; and, that's easier on the consciences of the predators

PERMANENT FORUM SPEAKERS SAY VIOLATION OF LANGUAGE RIGHTS 'CULTURAL GENOCIDE', CALL FOR CONCRETE PUBLIC POLICY TO PROTECT INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Missionary Conquest By George E. Tinker

Our understanding is certainly deficient if we overlook the relationship between missions and the Euroamerican economic interests. It was the interest of the fur trading companies, for example, to support the missionary enterprise, since the missionaries contributed to the pacification of Indian Nations, thereby aiding and abetting the companies exploitation of Indians, Indian lands, and Indian resources. Sarah Palin: Alaskan Pipeline is "God's Will"

http://cj.ttsns.com/cj1/index.php/article/stock/2008-10-10/5944.html

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing.

By MATT APUZZO (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated PressOctober 09, 2008 11:40 PM EDT

Palin pre-empts state report, clears self in probe Note the dte and time.

This comes into play promoting issues as fact before the real facts our released.Much like Bush did as weapons of weapons of mass destruction to involve us in a war.

President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat
President Bush Monday provided a comprehensive assessment of the threat ... Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are controlled by a murderous tyrant who has ...

Bush Vindicated: Weapons of Mass Reduction and Grass Destruction ...
Bush Vindicated: Weapons of Mass Reduction Found in Iraq! ... Though not formally classified as weapons of mass "destruction," Defense Secretary Donald

The real report due out today. Link will be posted here.

Sensitive Palin ethics report kept secret, for now

Update:

Latest Insanity: Palin Complains That She Wasn't Interviewed In Troopergate Investigation

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=4717

Palin Guilty - Troopergate Witnesses & McCain Campaign Obstructed Justice

A bombshell is coming out of the Alaska investigation into Troopergate, the scandal where Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is alleged to have committed abuses of power by using her office to try to fire her sister’s ex husband, an Alaska State Trooper.
The New York Times reports here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/us/10trooper.html that the Alaska State Legislature’s bipartisan investigation is unearthing evidence that Sarah Palin and her aides pressed then Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Trooper Wooten repeatedly and when he refused, he was fired. According to the Times:

an examination of the case, based on interviews with Mr. Monegan and several top aides, indicates that, to a far greater degree than was previously known, the governor, her husband and her administration pressed the commissioner and his staff to get Mr. Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it.
In all, the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Mr. Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show.
“To all of us, it was a campaign to get rid of him as a trooper and, at the very least, to smear the guy and give him a desk job somewhere,” said Kim Peterson, Mr. Monegan’s special assistant, who like several other aides spoke publicly about the matter for the first time.
Ms. Peterson, a 31-year veteran of state government who retired 10 days before Mr. Monegan’s firing, said she received about a dozen calls herself.

“It was very clear that someone from the governor’s office wanted him watched,” she said.

The Times goes on to talk about how Monegan’s successors were also pressured to take action against Wooten.
Yesterday, according to this AP article in Yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate , Palin and the McCain campaign desperately tried to get around the upcoming findings of the investigation by, amazingly, issuing its own report on what happened without performing any real investigation.

So, who needs official investigations and criminal trials? Just issue a report declaring yourself innocent!
When viewed against the McCain campaign’s efforts to attack and derail the investigation into Troopergate, the new revelations raised by witnesses are dynamite and raise additional questions.

Did McCain and his campaign obstruct justice, or conspire to obstruct justice because they knew that Palin was guilty of these abuses of power?
Here is what we know about the McCain campaign’s role in the investigation. According to this article http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9840_palin_troopergate_mccain_green_ocallaghan_lyda-green.html :

Alaska Republican State Senator Lyda Green … believes the McCain-Palin campaign has undermined the rule of law in the Last Frontier.

She says she has watched with outrage as McCain-Palin operatives have flown into her state and interfered with the so-called Troopergate investigation--the official, approved-by-the-legislature inquiry into whether Palin dismissed her public safety commissioner because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper who went through a messy divorce with Palin's sister.

Calling herself a "raging Republican," Green says, she is "absolutely disgusted, embarrassed, and ashamed" by the McCain-Palin campaign's intervention in the Troopergate probe.

Over a week ago, McCain campaign aides began handling the investigation for Palin.

The campaign dispatched Edward O'Callaghan, who recently had been a terrorism prosecutor in the Justice Department, to Alaska to oversee Palin's legal strategy.

O'Callaghan then declared she would not cooperate with the inquiry.

(Before becoming the GOP vice presidential nominee, Palin had repeatedly vowed to cooperate. At one point, she said, "I'm happy to comply, to cooperate. I have absolutely nothing to hide.") And last Thursday, O'Callaghan announced that Palin's husband, Todd, would not heed a subpoena to appear before a state legislative committee to testify about his role in Troopergate....Ever since the McCain operatives became involved, the pushback against the investigation has been fierce.

Five Republican legislators filed a lawsuit to stop the investigation, which had been unanimously endorsed by a bipartisan council of the state House and Senate. They claimed the probe was "a 'McCarthyistic' investigation" and was compromised because Democrats who supported the investigation were Obama backers.

A Texas-based conservative legal outfit called the Liberty Legal Institute has been representing these lawmakers. Six Alaskan residents filed a similar but separate lawsuit.

And the Republican Speaker of the House, John Harris, stepped back from his previous endorsement of the investigation.

If you examine the laws concerning obstruction of justice and witness tampering, it looks like the McCain campaign and the operatives it sent to Alaska may very well be guilty of these felonies. They did everything they could to impede the Alaska state legislature from performing its duties in investigating possible wrongdoing by Governor Palin.

What is coming to light in the Troopergate investigation may also explain why McCain and Palin are throwing so much mud at this stage of the campaign. They are hoping that attacking Obama will blunt the impact of the Troopergate findings.

There are many sins the American people will forgive, but abusing the power of your office to carry out personal vendettas is not one of them.

Obstructing justice in these investigations is also not something the people are likely to forgive.

An independent Federal Counsel should be named to investigate the actions by the McCain campaign in the Troopergate scandal, people should take a close look at these actions by the McCain campaign, and decide if actions like these undertaken by Palin and McCain and the rest of the campaign show the character worthy of the highest offices in the land.

If the video embed doesnt work, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFMSCvBuFJ4

LATESTED UPDATE:

Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority

Page 2

Public Report

The facts a bit different than that put out by McCain/Palin's campaign.

'Palling Around with terrorists'

2008-10-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of 'palling around with terrorists'
I can not help but wonder what she would call these connections?

Palin, Gothard, and dog-whistles to dominionists
Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches
Palin's Christianity
Cult of Character

WHY would Palin refuse to fund rape kits? and her connection to Bill Gothard?

I would like her to come out and address the connection to a group that would like to see Alaska not be part of the U.S.

The Alaska Independence Party, which sees as its ultimate goal seceding from the union. Todd [Palin, Sarah's husband] was a member, with a brief exception, from 1995 until 2002, according to the Division of Elections in Alaska.
And though Sarah Palin herself was apparently not a member of this group, there’s no doubt that she repeatedly courted this secessionist organization over the years. In 1994, Palin attended the group’s annual convention, according to witnesses who spoke to ABC News’ Jake Tapper. The McCain campaign has confirmed she visited the group’s 2000 convention, and she addressed its convention this year, as an incumbent governor whose oath of office includes upholding the Constitution of the United States.

Palin herself has a very personal association with the America-hating Alaska Secessionist Party (AIP)…a group whose founder damned America and cursed the flag, and was later murdered in a “plastic explosives sale gone bad.

In thinking about this development McCain himself having a whole rogue's gallery of crooks that he's associated with here in Fl. alone. Not to mention the questions with like money bundlers.

Guilt by Association Game

The whole attack line seems to be more of an effort to distract voters from the financial crisis and the Republican's support for President George W. Bush's economic policies.

And the lack of explanation of how one can fight the good old boy big spending do nothing Bush administration while taking money raised from it for his campaign.

The Cookie Jar Donation

The GOP plans to file a fund-raising complaint against Barack Obama, as the Democratic White House contender’s campaign branded rival John McCain “erratic” in a new TV ad.The Republican National Committee yesterday said it would file the complaint against Obama’s presidential campaign today, alleging it has accepted donations that exceed federal limits as well as illegal contributions from foreigners. While they are doing that maybe they would like to take a look at McCain's money bundlers .

While they our at it investigate McCain's from foreigner money bundlers.

FEC Examines McCain’s Excessive Donors

Why McCain's Time With Council Of World Freedom Matters

Red Flag Surrender of Our Economy

Democrats: Call off Feeney fundraiser

Here are some of the most prominent ones. Not to mention the out come of the investigation on Saraha Palin has yet to come out yet and his connections to groups like those above.

Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonano:In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, who had retired to Arizona. Another politician to send regrets was Governor Fife Symington, who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.

Donald R. Diamond:

McCain has done political favors for real estate developer Donald R. Diamond. McCain stepped in to use his official clout to facilitate a sale of land that Diamond had wanted to obtain. Diamond got help through red tape in dealing with the Department of the Army because Mr. Diamond “had been very active with Senator McCain,” a partner said in a deposition.

For McCain, who has staked two presidential campaigns on pledges to avoid even the appearance of corruption, this is another instance, like the Keating 5 Scandal in which McCain dispensed official favors for Mr. Diamond, a longtime political campaign donor of McCain’s and one of an elite group of donors called “Innovators,” because he raised more than $250,000 for McCain’s campaign. Mr. Diamond invites public officials aboard his flotilla of yachts and specializes in deals with the members of government in exchange for campaign donations.

His wife, Cindy McCain, along with her father who made a $359,000 investment in retail property owned by Charles Keating in 1986, a year before John McCain first met with federal regulators on behalf of Keating. Keating was later convicted on 73 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and other crimes. Years later, Cindy McCain sold her investment for $15,000,000also shows a connection.

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona, according to the Associated Press. Renzi and two former business partners were accused of conspiring to promote the sale of land that buyers could swap for property owned by the federal government.”

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) was co-chair of McCain’s Arizona campaign (i.e., a member of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) “National Leadership Team” and a co-chair of his Arizona Leadership Team). Renzi has been in the past a "good friend" of John McCain and they were seen together often.

Charles Keating. Then there is the Keating 5 Scandal and Charles Keating’s notorious friendship and association with John McCain back in the 1980’s. During the Keating Five affair Keating had made contributions of about $1.3 million to various U.S. Senators involved, including John McCain, and Keating had called on those Senators to help him resist regulators in exchange for the money. McCain and the other Senators got the regulators to back off, to later trigger the Savings and Loan Scandal which cost the taxpayer BILLIONS. Cindy’s dad the Budweiser Brewery kingpin also has special dealings with Keating.

Lobbyists on his campaign staff. By one count, McCain has at least 159 lobbyists, on leave from their firms, running his campaign operation. It’s why McCain has defended lobbyists and the lobbying industry over and over again.

Vicki Iseman and her association with Paxon Telecom. McCain denied that he'd ever had an affair, much less a meeting with comely lobbyist Vicki Iseman and her client Lowell Paxon, even though he had been warned by his staff to back off for the sake of his risking public exposure of his being seen too often with Ms. Iseman. McCain denied he had any frequent association with Ms Iseman, even though he had admitted it in a legal deposition.

Richard Quinn. In the 2000 presidential primary, all the time he was blasting George W. Bush for campaigning at Bob Jones University, McCain himself was paying $20,000 a month to South Carolina political consultant Richard Quinn, a neo-Confederate revanchist who was one of the leaders of the state's pro-flag faction.

Quinn was editor in chief of Southern Partisan, a magazine that published apologias for slavery and sold paraphernalia celebrating the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Quinn himself once advocated voting for David Duke.

The day after the South Carolina 2000 primary, McCain didn't distance himself from Quinn. Instead, he professed ignorance about Quinn's writings, just as Bush did about Bob Jones' policies, and argued, as Bush also did about Bob Jones, that Ronald Reagan had done the same thing he was doing.

But where Bush later criticized Bob Jones in stringent terms after the fact, McCain continued to describe Quinn as "a man of integrity" who wasn't responsible for what appeared in his own magazine.

Though McCain's Richard Quinn connection was worse than Bush's Bob Jones faux pas, it never turned into a big deal for one simple reason:

The press let McCain get away with it, even as it held Bush's feet to the fire about Bob Jones anti-Catholic stance..

McCain Didn't Think Osama Bin Laden Was A BAD Guy in 1998!!!

Charles Black Jr.: Senior McCain campaign adviser Charlie Black has friends in low places. Black served as chair of BKSH & Associates, a lobbying firm associated with Burson-Marsteller. He had ties to the tobacco industry as well. In March 2008, Black left his BKSH position to work full time for the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. When Senator McCain's relationship with telecom lobbyist Vicki Iseman was questioned in early 2008, Black "made the rounds of television networks to defend McCain.Black's lobbying clients at one time included

General Motors, United Technologies, JPMorgan and AT&T.
Black's relationship with McCain goes back more than twenty years, from the time McCain first came to Washington.

They got to know each other well during (former Senator Phil) Gramm's 1996 presidential run. Gramm, the architect of deregulation which led to Enron and the subprime mortgage meltdown in later years, and now an investment banker, who has lately stepped down as official adviser to McCain because under fire in the press, but Mr. Gramm continues on in an unofficial capacity as a supporter of the Bush presidential campaign..

Black drew fire recently when he suggested that a terror attack would help John McCain, but maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. Black’s past is littered with questionable associations with comrades from a 1970s young-conservatives group that has chalked up quite a questionable record in the years since.

Black went on to co-found the National Conservative Political Action Committee, the group that put slime-slinging “independent” groups on the map. His lobbying firm became embroiled in scandal, accused of using political favors to waste taxpayer money. What binds Black’s motley array of pals is a persistent derision for the notion that government might someday be conducted on the level.

McCain has officially distanced himself from Hagee, but only after he was severely criticized for his association and had pointed a finger at Barack Obama over Obama’s association with “Pastor” Jeremiah Wright.

Jack Abramoff:Since August 2008, John McCain has stayed busy trying to escape his ties to criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his shady lobbyist colleagues, including Randy Scheunemann and Ralph Reed. formerly of the Christian Coalition and involved with Karl Rove and Grover Norquist in shady influence peddling schemes to shake down clients to donate money to government officials...

The McCain campaign has been trying to gloss over the details of Scheunemann's swings between lobbying and advising McCain, often on issues of interest to recent clients, and attempting to excuse McCain's enlistment of Abramoff crony Reed to raise money. But the McCain campaign can't spin away Scheunemann's shady ties, or his influence on McCain, and they're not having any more success trying to escape the fallout over McCain's refusal to cancel his Monday fundraiser with Reed.
http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/01/on_jack_abramof.php

Randy Scheunemann served as McCain's campaign foreign policy advisor in 2000 and is back in 2008, despite lobbying in the interim. Until May, Scheunemann was lobbying for the Republic of Georgia - earning more than $800,000 in the process - yet now in August, he's advising McCain on the conflict between Georgia and Russia.

Scheunemann's other notable lobbying stints include putting his McCain ties to use in 2006 advising Greenberg Traurig, Jack Abramoff's former firm, as McCain served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, charged with investigating Abramoff.

Ralph Reed: McCain has also enlisted Abramoff crony Ralph Reed to raise money for his campaign. Abramoff directed at least $4.2 million to Reed as he defrauded his clients, yet as chair, McCain never called Reed to testify before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during the Abramoff investigation. Lately,Reed's helping McCain fundraise, sending emails with the subject line "special invitation from Ralph Reed" to recruit donors to join him at McCain's fundraiser in Atlanta - and McCain is ignoring calls from nonpartisan watchdog groups to cancel the fundraiser.

Scheunemann and Reed are only two of the cast of McCain advisors and fundraisers who prove how deeply McCain embedded is in the Republican culture of corruption - and just how clear it is that McCain means more of the same old politics.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080815/pl_usnw/dnc__mccain_watch__scheunemann__abramoff__and_reed
John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign has paid over 180,000 dollars to a political consulting firm called "Richard Quinn and Associates."They are a firm located in South Carolina. The firm is named after Richard Quinn, who in 2000 was all over the news for sunning the racist tinged "Southern Partisan" magazine.Although McCain's 2008 FEC reports only indcate he paid the firm around $52,000, he also disbursed at least $90,000 to Mail Marketing Strategies, a firm run by Quinn's son. Who Is Richard Quinn?

The New York Times, Newsday, and The New Republic have raised serious questions about deeply disturbing views expressed by Mr. Quinn and others in the Southern Partisan, a magazine over which Mr. Quinn has presided as Executive Editor or Editor-in-Chief since 1981.The material we found in the past 48 hours is, if anything, even more appalling than that reported by the news media.

Mr. Quinn used his editorial platform at the Southern Partisan to personally espouse views that place him far outside the political mainstream. He has repeatedly used his column to attack heroes of the struggle for equality including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. At the same time, he has discounted the evils of slavery by suggesting that it was not as bad as it has been portrayed and that slaves were better off in slavery than out of it.

(Copies of all articles referenced in this letter and other similar ones are attached.)As recently as 1996, a Southern Partisan reviewer wrote of a book on slavery, "The greatest contribution of this work is that it exonerates slave owners by stating that they did not have a practice of breaking up slave families. If anything, they encouraged strong slave families to further the slaves' peace and happiness in order to promote efficient work."

In 1983, in a column arguing against the recognition of Martin Luther King Day, Mr. Quinn wrote:"King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane."More Information: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/15/85831/2516/354/457290 Carl Linder .

Carl H Linder Jr., the co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for Sen. McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The Cincinnati billionaire businessman, was CEO of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company’s board of directors until May 2002.

Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University’s National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country’s most notorious civilian massacres."

More Information: http://www.thelangreport.com/featured/carl-linder-funds-terrorist-group-and-john-mccain/ George Wallace Jr.

McCain Campaigns for George Wallace Jr.Birmingham - U.S. Sen. John McCain promised Monday to continue to push for passage of an anti-torture amendment during a visit to Alabama to campaign for Public Service Commissioner George Wallace Jr., a candidate for lieutenant governor."

The image of the United States is suffering terribly throughout the world, terribly," the Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war said during a reception he attended on behalf of Wallace. "And if you don't believe me, ask any person in any foreign country."

McCain also made appearances Monday for Wallace in Mobile and Huntsville.

The $250-per person Birmingham reception was at The Club, where people could pay an additional $1,000 to have themselves photographed with McCain, Wallace and Wallace's wife, Elizabeth.More Information: http://www.truthout.org/article/mccain-campaigns-george-wallace-jr

George Wallace Jr. Gives Major Speech to Hate GroupMONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Public Service Commissioner George C. Wallace Jr., whose father famously vowed to defend racial segregation "forever" in a 1963 speech from the steps of the state Capitol, gave the welcoming speech to the national delegates of a white supremacist hate group meeting here on Friday.

The younger Wallace, whose résumé boasts of an NAACP Freedom Award, opened up the first day of the annual national convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group whose website has referred to blacks as "a retrograde species of humanity."

More Information:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=109

Rick Davis

McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie MacWASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the two people said.
More Information: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/24davis.html

In 1981 John McCain sat on the board of the US Council for World Freedom, an ultra right wing group founded by Arizona Congressman and Iran Contra figure Maj. General John K. Singlaub...
Begala: It was affiliated with the World Anti-Communist league, the parent organization, which ADL [Anti-Defamation League] said has increasingly become a gathering place, the forum, the point of contact for extremist racists and anti-Semites.

John McCain was raised in an atmosphere of privilege, of wealth and of power and influence. This ultra-right wing group, IMO, is just the kind of organization his jokes would play over well with.

From The Coors Connection by Russ Bellant:When the Reagan Administration began organizing the Nicaraguan Contras in 1981, allied bu nominally private groups were formed to build support for the Contra plans.One of those groups, formed shortly after the frst Reagan inauguration, was the US Council for World Freedom, headed by Mjor General John Singlaub.

The USCWF quickly became the US branch of the World Anti-Communist League. The USCWF began building support for the Reagan policy of aiding not only the Ncaraguan Contras but RENAMO and UNITA in southern Africa and rightist Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan.

Singlaub informed CIA director William Casey and NSC staff of his actions and operated with ther consent if not under their direct influence.

One of the early USCWF financial backers was Joe Coors, according to two former USCWF treasurers. Coors shared Reagan's enthusiasm for the Contras despite early indications of the unsavory background of certain COntra leaders and reliable reports of COntra acts of brutality.

The Contras were originally known as the 15th of September Legion. Their earliest training came fmor Argentinian military intelligence, which ran death squads in that country and sponsored a Latin American conference of death squad leaders in 1980.

That death squad network was also the Latin American branch on WACL. In 1982, Argentinian intelligence worked with Moon's Unification Church and fugitive Nazi Klaus Barbie to establish a Nazi-style state in Bolivia.

“Pastor” John Hagee: John McCain has accepted the blessing of “Pastor” John Hagee, who believes the Pope is the Anti-Christ, who believes Jews are responsible for their own suffering in history due to their failure to believe correctly, and who advocates starting a war with Iran in the Middle East to ‘hasten Armageddon’; and who calls Washington “the City of Satan”. Hagee also has said “God may already have sent hurricane Katrina to punish the U.S. for its role in helping Israel remove Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip” I guess it is acceptable to advocate mass murder and be a religious bigot.

Sen. John McCain picked up the support of Texas pastor John Hagee, an evangelical Christian who has made support for the state of Israel a centerpiece of his ministry.Hagee endorsed McCain today, saying he did so because McCain is a pro-life, pro-Israel politician who has pledged to secure the country's borders.

"John McCain is a man of principle," Hagee, a televangelist and the pastor of Cornerstone Church, told reporters. "He does not stand boldly on both sides of any issue."

Hagee on Hurricane Katrina"All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on Islamic BeliefsFresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on African-AmericansThe San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday."

The Express-News reported:"
Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.' "The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.

" [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]Hagee on Catholicism"Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews." [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]

Hagee on Women"Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick.

Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist."

[God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]"[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family." ["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]Hagee on LGBT Americans"

The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment."

[NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on Iran"The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty," Hagee wrote [in 2006] in the Pentecostal magazine Charisma. "Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide." [The Nation, 8/8/2006,

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/new_christian_zionism]

Now of course the right wingers will have some excuse for the ties but these are only a few that I thought I would mention. There are many many more that have not listed, be educated do your research. McCain has just as many questionable ties as Obama does.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. -Martin Luther King, Jr."I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy." -Sen. John McCain 09/22/2008

G. Gordon Liddy
In 1971, after serving in several positions in the Nixon administration, Liddy was moved to Nixon's 1972 campaign, the Committee to Re-elect the President (officially known as "CRP" but to opponents known as CREEP), in order to extend the scope and reach of the White House "Plumbers" unit, which had been created in response to various damaging leaks of information to the press.

For his role in Watergate, which he coordinated with Hunt, Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and illegal wiretapping, and received a 20-year sentence. He served a total of five and half years in prison, including over 100 days in solitary confinement, before his sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter and he was released on September 7, 1977.

Liddy was made to salute the Stars and Stripes Nazi-style by the nuns at his school; even now, he admits, "at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm." His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had -- through sheer will-power -- "dragged Germany from weakness to strength."

When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

The smear associating Barack to Ayers is phony, tenuous, and exaggerated, if not outright false. Here’s what’s really scary:

Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis.Liddy has donated $5,000 to McCain's campaigns since 1998, including $1,000 in February 2008.

In addition, McCain has appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign, including as recently as May. An online video labeled "John McCain On

The G. Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07" includes a discussion between Liddy and McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend."

During the segment, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program."
Google Liddy and take a look at the Watergate scandal. This is one of McCain's friends?

Red Flag Surrender of Our Economy

2008-09-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I wonder if this is part of what Palin was talking about as to an surrender?

Palin talked about talking to one in a store. She should have stayed in Fl. for more than just one town hall meeting besides that of a none GOP strong location. I'am sure there are others who would like more direct answer to their questions .

It just seems strange to me there are so many un answered connections. With all these questions a governor of the state of Fl. showing support and helping to raise funds for those with these in question.

Along with the fact the state of Fl. over budget and how one who can not control an state would be ably to control our nation. Not that it could get much worse.

Maybe why McCain did not pick Gov. Charlie Crist for VP which might have brought up to many questions.

Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer are hosting a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo next week to infuse his campaign with cash.

The fundraising dinner will be at Greer’s Oviedo home .

Feeney’s race against well-funded Democrat Suzanne Kosmas is considered one of the closest toss-up congressional contests in the country, prompting Feeney to start airing a public apology last month for his ties to convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“People make mistakes. He said he made a mistake, and I think voters like to have someone who’s honest,” Greer said. “It was a unique ad in the political world.”

Governor Crist to attend Feeney event

Some interesting connections The Cookie Jar Donation

Some interesting facts.

Feeney Has Not Returned All of Abramoff's MoneyIn 2006, the Associated Press reported that Feeney accepted $4,000 from Abramoff, the Indian tribes that hired him or SunCruz Casinos, which Abramoff purchased with a partner, and Feeney's campaign kept the $3,000 received from Indian tribes represented by Abramoff. [Associated Press State & Local Wire, 1/04/06; Orlando Sentinel, 1/08/06]

McCain gave some of his money back do to questions that Governor Christ don't seem to have an issue with.

Feeney Repeatedly Voted to Stop Ethics Committee Investigation into AbramoffIn 2006, Feeney voted in favor of two motions to kill a proposal that forced the House Ethics committee to immediately begin an investigation into members of the House embroiled in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. [HRS762, Vote #87, 4/05/06; HRS 746, Vote #76, 3/30/06]

Feeney has spent $147,223.71 since last Election Day on Legal FeesFeeney's total legal bills for this election cycle come to over $147,000, with more than $90,000 of those payments being made from Feeney's campaign account. Feeney even paid $15,000 in legal fees in July alone. [fec.gov; Legislative Resource Center]

The event is planned for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday in Oviedo.Feeney is running for re-election in the U.S. House District 24 campaign against Democrat Suzanne Kosmas, of New Smyrna Beach, and Guarav Bhola, an independent from Orlando.

The Feeney event is a fund-raiser. Co-chairs are asked to raise $5,000, hosts $1,000 and all who would like to attend are expected to bring a $250 contribution

December 6, 2004—The manipulation of computer voting machines in the recent presidential election and the funding of programmers who were involved in the operation are tied to an intricate web of shady off-shore financial trusts and companies, shady espionage operatives, Republican Party politicians close to the Bush family, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract vehicles.

An exhaustive investigation has turned up a link between current Florida Republican Representative Tom Feeney, a customized Windows-based program to suppress Democratic votes on touch screen voting machines, a Florida computer services company with whom Feeney worked as a general counsel and registered lobbyist while he was Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and top level officials of the Bush administration.

According to a notarized affidavit signed by Clint Curtis, while he was employed by the NASA Kennedy Space Center contractor, Yang Enterprises, Inc., during 2000, Feeney solicited him to write a program to "control the vote." At the time, Curtis was of the opinion that the program was to be used for preventing fraud in the in the 2002 election in Palm Beach County, Florida. His mind was changed, however, when the true intentions of Feeney became clear: the computer program was going to be used to suppress the Democratic vote in counties with large Democratic registrations.

According to Curtis, Feeney and other top brass at Yang Enterprises, a company located in a three-story building in Oviedo, Florida, wanted the prototype written in Visual Basic 5 (VB.5) in Microsoft Windows and the end-product designed to be portable across different Unix-based vote tabulation systems and to be "undetectable" to voters and election supervisors.

Yang, an engineering and computer services company subcontracted to NASA prime contractors like Lockheed Martin, was founded in 1986 by Dr. Tyng-Lin (Tim) Yang. Granted minority-owned "Section 8A" and woman-owned preferential status by the U.S. government, Yang's clients also include the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). Yang's President, Li-Woan (Lee) Yang, is Tim Yang's wife.

Feeney was the registered agent for another Yang company, Y & H Greens, Inc., a company that was dissolved in 1988 and operated from the Yangs' residence on Merritt Island. The Yangs also serve as co-trustees for an entity called Yang of Merritt Island, Ltd., founded on January 31, 2000, and also run from their residence.

In the autumn of 1999, Curtis, who served as a sort of technology adviser for Yang, first became aware of Feeney's interest in election rigging. Curtis said at one meeting, Feeney "bragged that he could reduce the minority vote and deliver the election to 'George.'"

At the same meeting, according to Curtis, Feeney said he had "implemented a list that would eliminate thousands of voters that would vote for Democratic candidates" and that "a proper placement of police patrols could further reduce the black vote by as much as 25 percent."
Feeney's desire to manipulate the vote would be manifested in his home base of Volusia County in the 2000 presidential election. According to The Washington Post, at 10 p.m. on election night, Al Gore was leading Bush in Volusia County by 83,000 to 62,000 votes.

One-half hour later, Gore's vote total had been reduced by 16,000 to 67,000 and an obscure Socialist candidate saw a sudden surge to 10,000 votes in a precinct with only 600 voters. The information on the Volusia optical scanner voting anomalies came from a leaked internal Diebold memorandum. In the end, Bush won Florida and the White House by a mere 537 votes in the most controversial U.S. presidential election in history.

Feeney had long been a voice in Florida GOP politics. He was gubernatorial candidate Jeb Bush's running mate in 1994, a race in which Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles defeated Bush. Chiles once referred to Feeney as "the David Duke of Florida politics."

In 2002, Feeney asked Curtis if he could develop a touch screen voting machine "flip flop" program. According to Curtis, Feeney asked him, "Can you write a program to flip votes around on touch screen machines?"

Curtis said Feeney wanted the program to merely reduce votes in heavily Democratic areas and flip Republican votes to 51 percent and keep Democrat votes to 49 percent. Curtis added that Feeney "did not want to win by a lot." In return, Curtis said Feeney offered him "big jobs." Curtis's main tasks at Yang were to develop the Florida DOT's Electronic Document Management System. He also worked on the Project Pipeline Information System at another one of Yang's major clients, Exxon Mobil's Coral Gables facility.

Curtis said he developed the voting program and eventually handed off his prototype to Feeney. The program was also reviewed by Curtis's senior coder, Hai Lin (Henry) Nee, who according to Florida Department of Transportation sources, was an illegal alien working in the United States.

According Curtis, not only did Nee review the vote switching program code but he constantly downloaded sensitive data to his computer from NASA's computers. Nee, according to Curtis, moonlighted at an Orlando company called Azure Systems, described by The Orlando Sentinel as a "three person engineering firm" and one of a number of companies linked to Ting Ih-Hsu, a former Lockheed Martin employee.

At the same time Nee was reviewing Yang's vote switching program, he was also being investigated by U.S. federal investigators for illegally shipping Hellfire missile parts to China. Oddly, although U.S. law enforcement agents had put Nee and his associates under surveillance for illegal exports of technology to China in 1999, he and his colleagues were not arrested until March of this year.

Curtis claimed that Yang's corporate bosses stressed that the company had "unlimited" sources of money that came "mostly" from China. According to Florida DOT employees, House Speaker Feeney pressured their agency to give money to Yang for nonexistent software. The sources also revealed that Feeney was aware that Yang was employing a number of illegal aliens on State of Florida and federal contracts.

Feeney's ties to Yang paralleled similar close ties to NASA. Feeney's wife Ellen has worked as an engineer for NASA's Kennedy Space Center since 1985. Jeb Bush ensured that Florida's 24th Congressional District was redrawn so that Feeney would have an easy time in his 2002 race against Democratic opponent Harry Jacobs.

According to Florida state officials, who spoke on the condition anonymity, 500 Yang employees at the Kennedy Space Center were paid for their time when they agreed to picket against Jacobs. In addition, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, according to the same sources, lobbied extensively for Feeney within NASA. In addition, O'Keefe and his close friend and former Pentagon boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, made campaign appearances for Feeney at the Kennedy Space Center.

Feeney's close ties to Jeb Bush and Cheney paid off. In 2002, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a race that also saw the re-election of Jeb Bush. Early in "vote switch's" development stages, Feeney had told Curtis that he wanted the program "made to control Palm Beach" in 2002.

Palm Beach County's Election Supervisor was still the controversial Theresa LePore, nicknamed "Madam Butterfly," who designed the infamous "butterfly ballots" in the 2000 election. LePore had once been an employee of Saudi multi-billionaire Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi link that is tied to a huge multi-billion tranche of money distributed throughout off-shore trusts, accounts, and corporations with interlocking directorships that are controlled by Bush interests in Houston.

It was this Bush-controlled money cache, originating in the East, and known in Houston by the name "Five Star" and other cryptonyms that was, according to U.S. intelligence insiders, used to fund the rigging of the 2004 election.

When he arrived in Congress, Feeney was given a seat on the House Science and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA's operations. Feeney was also appointed to the important House Finance and Judiciary Committees.

He was also given a clean bill of ethical health by Florida's Ethics Commission, a panel that has a Republican majority.

After Feeney's ascension to Congress, Yang's questionable billing activities with its Florida DOT contract came to the attention of Ray C. Lemme, a seasoned senior investigator with the Florida DOT Inspector General's Office and a combat veteran of the Vietnam War.

Lemme had a lot of evidence to suspect that Yang was overbilling the DOT for "millions." After discovering Yang's dirty laundry, Curtis went to work for the DOT. Mavis Georgalis, the DOT's contracting officer for the Yang contract, was also aware of improprieties with the contract. As a result of pressure from the Florida State House, both Curtis and Georgalis were eventually fired by the DOT because of their complaints about the Yang contract. Someone was obviously trying to send Curtis a message when, on August 14, 2002, he discovered that someone poisoned his pet Pomeranian dog, Emily. Lemme was forced to stop his official investigation of Yang for similar reasons. However, he decided to continue an "unofficial" investigation of Yang and its practices on the side.

It was a fateful decision.
According to DOT employees familiar with the Yang case, Lemme was aware that it was Jeb Bush who personally shut down his investigation of Yang.

Lemme also leaked details concerning his investigation to the Daytona Beach News Journal. The investigator had previously requested a full audit of the Yang contract with the DOT, a request that was denied. Lemme also became aware of something else outside the framework of the DOT contract—that Yang had been involved in producing a prototype vote switching program for use with touch screen voting machines and that Tom Feeney was in on the scam.

The last time Clint Curtis spoke to Lemme, he remembers the silver haired investigator excited about where his case was leading. Lemme told Curtis that the cover up of Yang was coming from "as high up as I could imagine" and that he had "proof" that was "shocking."

On Sunday, June 29, 2003, evidence indicates that Lemme drove from Tallahassee to Valdosta, Georgia, the home of Moody Air Force Base.

A motel receipt indicated that Lemme checked in at the Knight's Inn off Interstate 75 at 6:49 p.m. Lemme's wife said that her husband left home for work on Monday, June 30, at 5:15 a.m., an hour earlier than usual. According to a Leon County Sheriff's report, Lemme's wife said she received a voice message after she returned home at 6:45 p.m. on Monday.

The message was from her husband's supervisor, Bob Clift, who informed her that earlier in the day, at 6:15 a.m., Lemme called into work, left a message, and said he would not be coming to work that day. Clift said he was checking up on Ray Lemme. Mrs. Lemme called Clift and told him that her husband was not at home.

Mrs. Lemme told police that her husband was working on a "big case." Mrs. Lemme filed a missing person report with the Leon County, Sheriff's Office. Clift later determined that Ray Lemme made his earlier call to work at 6:15 a.m., one hour after he supposedly left his home for work, from a pay phone at the junction of Interstate 10 and Highway 1 in Jefferson County, Florida. Shortly after 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 1, the maid assigned to clean Lemme's room—132—received no answer when she knocked.

The door was locked. There was no response when the maid called the room's telephone. The hotel manager then called the police.

The following is from the Valdosta Police Detective Report filed by Detective Craig Spencer and dated July 1, 2003: "On July 1, 2003 at approximately 1330 hours, I received a page advising me to be en route to Knights Inn at 2110 West Hill Avenue in reference to an unattended death." When Spencer and other police officers and detectives arrived at the motel, the manager told them that the occupant of Room 132, Ray Lemme, was to have checked out by 11a.m. The officers yelled through the slightly ajar door but received no answer and they discovered the upper swing latch was locked.

The officers used a special tool provided by the motel to open the swing latch lock. Spencer said that one of the officers entered the room and found a suicide note and then proceeded to the bathroom where Lemme was found dead in the bathtub.

Police also discovered that the inside of Lemmes's left elbow—the cubital tunnel—was slashed. There were spurts of blood on the wall but no blood found on the floor. A belt possibly used as a tourniquet and a double- edged straight razor blade were found on the side of the tub. A bath towel was unfolded and neatly placed on the floor next to the tub.

Later on July 1, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Moultrie informed the Valdosta Police that based on the "suicide" details, no autopsy would be performed on Lemme. Unlike Florida, Georgia does not perform mandatory autopsies.

A doctor, with 25 years' clinical experience, who was interviewed for this story claimed that the circumstances of Lemme's death appeared to him to be a classic "mob hit." If the Leon County Sheriff missing person report is to be believed, it is clear that someone other than Lemme checked into the Valdosta motel on Sunday evening using his name.

Clearly, the Leon County Sheriff's report contains a number of details that directly conflict with facts found in the Valdosta Police report. In addition, the Lowndes County, Georgia, Coroner's report fails to indicate an estimated time of death based on a full medical examination—it surmised that the time of death was the same time as indicated on the suicide note: 8:10 a.m. on July 1.

An empty manila folder and a blank legal pad notebook were found on the hotel room's desk along with an undated and unsigned suicide note written on lined paper, which lacked any identifiable fingerprints, from Lemme's day planner.

The note merely contained the time 8:10 a.m. with the following notation: "I love my family (family underlined once) with all my heart. I am sorry.

I am depressed and in pain. Mary Ann (Lemme's wife), I love you." ("I love you" underlined twice). It was certainly not indicative of a person who was ecstatic that he was finally going to nail a long investigation that involved vote rigging, overbilling, and fraud abetted by the very top political leadership in Tallahassee. Interestingly, the last number on Lemme's pager (an 850 960-XXXX) ended with the number "911."

It is also interesting that Lemme's watch, when discovered by the police, was stopped at 12:34 p.m. on June 30–a possible indication that Lemme was trying to convey the time of a possible in extremis situation. Also, Lemme's Florida driver's license was in his room while his wallet was in the glove box of his car, which was parked in front of the room.

Two motel receipts were found in Lemme's room by the police. One was a check-in receipt dated June 29 and timed at 6:44 p.m. The other was a receipt, without a notation of check-in or check-out, dated June 30 and timed at 6:54 a.m. A witness told police that Lemme's car was parked in front of his room on the afternoon of June 30.

Sergeant Eugene Bell of the Valdosta Police Department interviewed a 39-year old female guest who was staying in Room 236 over the weekend. She and her daughter noticed three men standing in the parking lot across from Lemme's room at 8 a.m. on the morning of July 1.

The behavior of the men made the guest suspicious enough that the woman initially believed the men were engaged in a drug deal. According to the police report, the camera used to photograph the crime scene was later discovered to have a defect in the flash memory card.

The defect resulted in no usable photographs being submitted with the official police report.
Lemme was no stranger to Florida politics.

His wife, Mary Ann, worked as a secretary for Martha Walters Barnett, a partner with the politically-connected Holland & Knight law firm in Tallahassee, where she specializes in campaign finance and election law and government contracts. Another Holland & Knight partner, Ginny Myrick, was appointed by Jeb Bush as the vice chair of the Florida Community Trust, a state land acquisition and grant program. Although officially a bipartisan law firm, even Democrats working for Holland & Knight largely support Jeb Bush.

In addition, Bill McBride, Bush's Democratic opponent in the 2002 gubernatorial race and a Holland & Knight partner who had defeated former Attorney General Janet Reno in the Democratic primary amid reports of voting irregularities from around the state, commented that his race against Bush "may be the Democrats' race to lose."

The NASA connection to the money trail that is linked to the development of the vote switching program is of particular note. When the first sketchy details of the vote switching operation emerged, a Houston-controlled money tranche associated with an offshore entity called Five Star Trust, registered in the Isle of Man, was reported by high-level intelligence sources familiar with past Bush-related covert activities to be behind the operation.

Five Star has been connected by these informed sources to have originated in 1983, when deposed Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi, and then-Vice President George H. W. Bush were allegedly looking for a repository for an estimated $3 billion in looted Philippine gold and gems.

Since that time, Five Star's accounts are said to funnel more funds from Saudi Arabia as well as cash reserves hidden away in offshore artificial shells by Enron before it collapsed. What is not yet certain is whether Sean O'Keefe, the NASA administrator and close Cheney friend who supported Feeney's and Yang's activities in Florida, facilitated the transfer of Five Star funds from Houston to Cape Canaveral using contract vehicles of both the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers to disburse the funds to the principal players.

A NASA insider in Texas said he has long suspected large amounts of money have been moved into the United States and that these transfers involved NASA and Saudi and Chinese money sources.

There is additional information that the election rigging principals connected to the State of Florida and Jeb Bush may have also tried to use contractors tied closely to state contracts to parlay the touch screen software into Maine, which has proportional distribution of its electoral votes by congressional district, and Ohio, the key state in 2004.

The information was provided by insiders in Tallahassee who are close to offices involved in procurement by the state government.

Sources close to U.S. intelligence pointed to a $29.6 million check supposedly issued on October 22, 2004, by Laurentian Bank in Montreal, Canada, that was rumored by intelligence circles to have been used to pay for the technicians who developed the software to rig the election.

The computer voting machine technicians and maintenance personnel involved with the rigging were reported to have included Russians, Mexicans, and Brazilians.

According to Laurentian Bank, the check, a U.S. dollar "money order," is a bogus instrument tied to Nigerian scamming activities. Laurentian Bank said that a U.S. dollar money order would never be for amounts over $1,000 and any higher amount would be in the form of a bank draft that would require the signature of two senior bank officers.

In addition, the bank would never use a cell phone number (514-588-5569) on their checks. The payer on the "check," Equity Financial Trust of Toronto, is said by the Canadian Fraud Office to be involved with Nigerian scammers.

In fact, the Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions reports that Equity Financial Trust, Toronto, Ontario "may be violating provisions of the Bank Act (Canada) or other Canadian financial institution regulations" and "may also be conducting unauthorized banking transactions in the United States."

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Police are investigating a possible double murder and suicide in an Orlando, Florida, residence owned by the former Executive Director of the Georgia Republican Party.

The Orange County Sheriff was called to 2420 Hickory Oak Blvd. in Orlando early Thursday. There they found three dead white men and two live dogs. The men may have been dead since Tuesday.

The home where they were found dead was owned by a political consultant/strategist of Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), the one who worked on the Congressman's smear campaign against vote-rigging whistleblower Clint Curtis last year. More details on that campaign below.

Feeney describes Gonzalez as "a born political consultant." On commenting on the news, Feeney said of Gonzalez, "He was an adviser and strategist for me and became a very good friend."
Detectives haven't revealed exactly how the three were killed, save that it was through foul play.

At least two of the men lived at the residence. Investigators told local media that they found firearms and signs of a struggle inside the home.

Detectives also indicated that they felt they might be looking at a murder-suicide.
The address where this crime took place was also the Florida address for The Strategum Group, a political consulting outfit run by Ralph Gonzalez. A portion of Gonzalez's bio from The Strategum Group's website:

Prior to founding the Strategum Group, Ralph served at the Republican Party of Florida’s House Campaign Division, as Executive Director of the Georgia Republican Party, and is a veteran of dozens of campaigns across Florida, from Mayoral Races to Congressional.

He also has international political experience, helping to manage a campaign on the Island of St. Maarten.

Ralph Gonzalez's national and international political experience, his experience and understanding of the political and legislative process, in conjunction with his unique political instincts, has made him a first class asset to political candidates and organizations.
Ralph was born in Miami, speaks fluent Spanish, and currently resides in Orlando.
Records filed with the Florida Division of Corporations indicated that Gonzalez founded Strategum in 2003 as a domestic profit corporation.

Gonzalez maintained Georgia ties. Republican Congressman Tom Price from Roswell, GA, was one of several politicos who gave testimonials for Strategum published on the Group's website.
Another testimonial for Strategum was given by controversial Florida Republican Tom Feeney, who represents Florida House District 24. Feeney's quote on the Group's site read:

Ralph Gonzalez was a key part of my team at House Campaigns when I was Florida Speaker of the House as well as my congressional race.

The team at Strategum Group have been valued advisors on key issues in my district. They are a huge asset to any candidate or organization.

There simply is no one better at strategy and analysis. I am proud to work with Ralph and the Strategum Group!

Feeney's bio on Wikipedia points out that he was once called one of the "20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Brad Friedman has doggedly tracked many of the alleged instances of corruption connected with Feeney.

The Orlando Sentinel indicated that Feeney was not Strategum's only controversial client:
Last year, Gonzales worked on the campaign of then-state representative Sheri McInvale, who was indicted last week after prosecutors say she fraudulently sought taxpayer reimbursement for a newsletter.

Whatever they did for their clients, Strategum was expensive. The Sentinel reported in July of 2005 that one failed candidate for Orlando mayor had paid the consultants $115,000 for "three weeks of work."

Ralph Gonzalez's career seems to have always put him one degree of separation away from infamous former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

When Ralph Reed was elected chairman of the Georgia Republican Party in 2001 [link], two of the party's executive directors were Todd Schnick and Ralph Gonzalez. When Gonzalez filed an annual report for Strategum with the State of Florida Division of Corporations in January, 2007, Schnick was listed as one of his business partners.

(Note: Todd Schnick is a name that you might remember if you believe the 2000 presidential election was stolen, and that said theft occurred in Florida.)

Ralph Reed has been associated with Abramoff since at least 1981.
Tom Feeney's connections with Abramoff have been well-documented by Brad Friedman. This link goes to just one example.

The Orlando Sentinel has confirmed that one of the men found dead in the home in Orlando was indeed the former Executive Director of the Georgia Republican Party, Ralph Gonzalez.

If you recall the incredibly contentious campaign between Clint Curtis and Tom Feeney, you may recall this smear website launched by Team Feeney: CrazyClintCurtis.com.

The amateurish site was expressly designed to make Curtis look like a tinfoil-hat wearing loon. The assumption at the time was that Feeney's consultants were behind it. It should be no surprise then that they probably were (following info found via the fantastic robtex.com):
strategumusa.com (site for Ralph Gonzalez's Strategum Group)
domains sharing mailservers ,accudatatech.com,aerobatic.ws,alitel.net,aznedge.netbegovich.com,bioquem.com,brightwaterstech.com,bryantech.net,cougarcorp.netcraftylounge.com,crazyclintcurtis.com
Plenty of unrelated websites share mailservers. These particular URLs sharing the exact same first 10 URLs just seems a bit too telling.

The Orlando Sentinel has reported the names of the other two men found dead in the home at 2420 Hickory Oak Blvd.: Gonzalez's roommate David Abrami and a friend named Robert Drake.
Central Florida News 13 suggested in this article that Drake may have murdered Abrami and Gonzalez before committing suicide.

Abrami, in 1992, was vice president of the Central Florida Young Republican Club. That group made the news in November that year because they'd planned a weekend turkey shoot [link --- you'll need to scroll down to the middle of the page.

In and of itself this wasn't news. The fact that they wanted to use enlarged photos of then incoming president Bill Clinton as targets was news. The Secret Service, naturally, vetoed the idea.

Abrami also had a MySpace page he'd been maintaining since 2006. His last login was two weeks ago. There wasn't much there, and only one friend. Had he taken the page down? Does it matter? For all we know, it might.

Another interesting note about David Abrami: according to this article published 10 years ago in the Orlando Business Journal, Abrami at one time was an employee of another Orlando-area politcal consultant/publicist, Doug Guetzloe.

Things must have changed quite a bit in the decade since. Guetzloe made comments here about Strategum and Gonzalez (if they were indeed made by him) in 2006. His attitude seemed to indicate he was no fan of Ralph Gonzalez or The Strategum Group.

Florida Today published an article this morning titled, "Lovers' fight may have sparked 3 deaths."
Who the "lovers" were is not clear.

A Republican Party consultant is one of three men found dead in a Central Florida home Thursday in an apparent double murder-suicide possibly sparked by a lovers' quarrel, according to detectives.

If said lovers were among the three dead men, no one will miss the irony of Abrami and Gonzalez having ties to conservative Republican campaigns for the last 15 years or more.

Towleroad is now reporting that "All language about a 'lovers' fight' has since mysteriously disappeared from the report." at Florida Today.

They have grabbed a screen shot of the original headline and story, however.

Gonzalez' Strategum Group was apparently behind all of Feeney's 2006 mailings as part of his smear campaign against Clint Curtis. One such mailing which included doctored photos of Curtis and referenced an article I had written for Hustler concerning the still-unexplained mysterious death --- in Georgia --- of Ray Lemme of the Florida Inspector General's office. Lemme had been investigating Curtis' complaints about Feeney and Yang Enterprises Inc. where both men worked in 2000, and where Feeney alleged asked Curtis to create vote rigging software.

Local residents complained to the media about receiving "pornography" in their mailbox from the Feeney campaign, as reported by local TV outlets at the time. We originally reported on the matter here, including a link to the video report.

A portion of that mailing is seen at right.
Feeney is quoted discussing his friend in an AP report today .

Clint Curtis Investigation Suicide Case

Raymond Lemme Crime Scene Photos Said Not to Exist are Published on Net!
Photos, Evidence and FDOT Involvement with Valdosta, GA Police Raise New Questions in Mysterious Death!

WARNING:THIS PAGE CONTAINS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHS!

Texas to Florida: White House-linked clandestine operation paid for "vote switching" software

What Part of McCain’s Campaign Was Suspended ?.

2008-09-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

John McCain shocked everyone with his announcement that he was “suspending” his campaign to deal with the financial crisis and he suggested there was simply no time for a debate with Obama.

But, what - exactly - did he “suspend”? His surrogates are all over television, attacking Obama. His campaign ads are still running and his Internet fundraising is still operational.

McCain’s press crew is fully operational. He spent the day with Rick Davis, his lobbyist campaign manager. And all of his campaign offices are still open and fully operational.

And now comes word via Jonathan Martin at The Politico that McCain will spend the evening doing interviews on ABC, NBC, and CBS.

He spent the day with Rick Davis, his lobbyist campaign manager. And all of his campaign offices are still open and fully operational.

Sounds like the only thing John McCain wants to put on hold is the debate with Barack Obama. And who could blame him? He’s got a lot of explaining to do to the American people about how the GOP and their cronies got us into this mess.

What Part of McCain’s Campaign Has Been Suspended - John Mccain?

With the bail out in the front of all issues one could not help but ask the question of if McCain had other reason's than ducking the debate between Obama and himself.

Such as derailing the bail out talks or trying to block or suspend the Palin & Biden debate.

All the reports out of yesterday's White House summit is that John McCain basically cratered the bailout deal, then sat silently at the table while Barack Obama (with little help from President Bush) tried in vain to broker a compromise.

From the NY Times:
[McCain] sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, said people in the meeting....it was Mr. Obama presenting himself as the old hand at consensus building, and as the real face of bipartisan politics.

From CNN via Daily Kos:
After the cameras left, Boehner started ranting about the right wing "plan" (deregulation, capital gains tax cuts, and an insurance plan that Paulson said won't work).

Bush was silent, and McCain said nothing. It seems as though Obama was the only one who tried to lead the meeting to some productive conclusion. CNN said that Obama first tried to reason with Boehner, and ask him to detail what his plan was.

After he did this, Obama calmly asked Paulson if it would work, and Paulson said that it definitely would not work (which was why house republicans didn't ask him about this at the meeting yesterday). Obama continued with his attempts to salvage the mess that McCain created and refused to correct, but was unable.

From Ben Smith at Politico:
McCain’s high-wire intervention in the financial crisis is his latest showstopper move – and his riskiest. He might succeed, but the candidate’s penchant for the dramatic has also raised anew potentially damaging questions of his age, executive abilities and, most of all, his temperament."

He has been pretty erratic – there's no other way to describe what we've seen out of this guy in the last week," an Obama aide said of McCain's conduct during the financial crisis.Another Democratic official cited McCain's "erratic, all over the map response to the economic crisis."Andrew Sullivan nails it in his analysis of yesterday's White House meeting:
[O]ne of them (Obama) is deliberative and sane; the other one (McCain) is impulsive and, in the evidence of the last month, borderline. My worry about Obama is that he may be too cautious. But then I look at his campaign and see one of the most daring, yet unfailingly professional and careful operations. And I feel reassured.

After seeing Palin's performance with Katie Couric, McCain should be in a panic.

Or maybe fearing these questions from reporters toward her on these issues :

Todd Palin's Secretive Political Work

"Dairygate".

Palin, TrooperGate, RapeKitGate...and Joel'sArmyGate

I'll Try to Find You Some and I'll Bring Them to You.

Palin Answering Couric

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.
Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

That should read any.

And kind of explains the reason why controlled media inter-action in Fl. & New York and maybe why the push for McCain's debate with Obama to be reset for the date of the Palin's debate.

Conservatives Begin Questioning Palin’s Heft

It would now appear the GOP it's self now asking the same question.

/div>

http://www.northcoastblog.com/

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/16/palin.solo/index.html

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijGq94pVTj9FGiR-c5EdA3iSm2owD93CGVI01

John McCain's campaign now wants to suspend the VP debate?

CNN's Dana Bash reports that McCain officials are "trying to negotiate with the Obama campaign and the presidential debate commission" to change next Thursday's planned vice presidential debate into a McCain-Obama affair.

The VP debate would be postponed to another date.
"That is what they are proposing," Bash reported. "[McCain officials] understand very well that both the Obama campaign and the debate commission have no intention of delaying Friday's debate, but...if there is no bailout deal by Friday, McCain has no plan to go to debate."

Update: ABC News confirms the plan.

Relations between John McCain and the press corps that was once described as his "base" have fully deteriorated.

After an appearance in Strongsville, Ohio, on Tuesday, the Senator blissfully ignored questions about the bailout plan from nearby reporters, prompting one journalist to scream out: "Has your bus become the No Talk Express?"

McCain offered a smirk at the line but kept on walking. "Ok, pool, back to the vans!" said an aide. "That was fun."

The outburst came as the press pool accompanying vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin nearly revolted on Tuesday, after the campaign banned reporters from covering her first meetings with world leaders, in favor of photographers and a singular television news crew.

Reporters have also sharply criticized the GOP ticket for avoiding questions from the Fourth Estate.

It's been 40 days since the Senator has taken a question from a national reporter, though word leaked out today that McCain is planning his first press conference since August 13. Gov.

Sarah Palin, meanwhile, has yet to host a press availability.
"The woman seeking to be to a heartbeat away from the presidency without ever holding a press conference remains on the same relatively unaccountable path," ABC's Jake Tapper wrote on his blog. "

McCain-Palin campaign officials apparently feel the American people should trust her with the button and the world's financial markets without ever taking questions from reporters."

Sarah Palin’s “press availability” near the sight of the 9/11/01 attacks in lower Manhattan

She doesn’t support the bailout until “the provisions that John McCain has offered” are incorporated into the bill??? What provisions?

It was BHO that offered the four points; McCain would only agree to the generic preamble.

Indeed, as noted here yesterday, Barack Obama tried to negotiate a joint statement on the financial crisis with John McCain.

McCain left the Obama folks hanging all day while he hobnobbed with a wealthy benefactor and crafted a plan (and talking points) to pretend suspend his campaign.

Late in the day, after all of McCain’s histrionics, McCain and Obama jointly released the most generic of statements:

The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore confidence in our economy.

The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American people are at stake.

Now is a time to come together – Democrats and Republicans – in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail.

This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

There are no proposals in that statement—not in the “joint” part, anyway. Obama went on to add a five-point amendment to the statement when it was posted on his campaign’s website.

McCain, too busy not appearing on David Letterman, issued no additional points, recommendations, guidelines, or proposals.

And it doesn’t seem he privately phoned in any suggestions, either. Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd, appearing late last night on The Rachel Maddow Show, said that he had “never heard from McCain on the issue” of the economic crisis.

Ranking Republicans involved in the negotiations also stated that they had not spoken with McCain.

Thursday. After spending the previous night in New York City and making a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in the morning, McCain finally got on his plane and flew down to DC, arriving after Congressional negotiators had already announced a deal in principle.
McCain went to the planned afternoon meeting at the White House that included Congressional leaders, President Bush, and Hank Paulson, and, according to reports, then started pitching a new plan:

During the White House meeting, it appears that Sen. John McCain had an agenda He brought up alternative proposals, surprising and angering Democrats.

He did not, according to someone briefed on the meeting, provide specifics.
One the proposals — favored by House Republicans — would relax regulation and temporarily get rid of certain taxes in order to lure private industry into the market for these distressed assets.

That approach has been rejected by Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans and, to this point, the White House. During the meeting, according to someone briefed on it, Sec. Henry Paulson told those assembled that the approach was not workable.

Members of the House Republican caucus, never happy with the prospect of large-scale government intervention in the markets, sided with McCain, and the deal unraveled. Negotiations broke down, and the air of bipartisanship that seemed to pervade Washington talk most of the week has dissipated.

Democratic leaders are clearly angered. Chairman Dodd, appearing on CNN, said that if Republicans had an alternative plan, they should have offered it at the beginning of the week, at the beginning of negotiations, not at the White House photo op organized to announce a deal.

“Instead of being a rescue plan for the economy,” decried an exasperated Dodd, “it became a rescue plan for John McCain. . . . I didn’t quite understand what was going on down there [at the White House] except political theater.”

Now, we can clearly see that this McCain campaign bailout plan was premeditated.

We suspected this before, and now, thanks to Sarah Palin’s loose lips, we have proof. Palin’s mention of not supporting a compromise bailout plan until it included McCain’s proposals—hours before McCain had actually made any proposals—revealed the McCain camp’s politics first, country second strategy.

As Barack Obama stated after talks broke up, “What I found and I think was confirmed today when you inject presidential politics into delicate negotiations it is not necessarily as helpful as it could be.”

That all depends on who you were planning to help, Senator, the American people, or John McCain.

Having come up with technology so advanced McCain can win the debate before he even announced whether he'd show up for the debate.

This ad aired before it was decided before McCain decided if he where to take part

McCain Wins Debate

Promoting the conclusion that has been seen before jumping to the answer to the issue before all the facts are in and proved to be the truth.

Now the debate has taken place and the public having viewed the debate not just being feed the facts those feel that whining public have the need to know.

The true facts are a bit different.

Obama vs. McCain: Early Results

By the numbers: Obama wins first debate

Obama the victor, poll says

Boston Globe - United States In an instant poll released early today, most Americans believed that Barack Obama won Friday night's debate over John McCain. The survey by CNN/Opinion

I add this link for one reason alone some thing that another picked up on as well.

Politics, life, and other things that matter

And it was in watching the replay that I picked up my absolute favorite unsung moment of the debate.
It came when Senator McCain was stumbling with Ahmadinejad’s name.

He was stumbling hard, almost unable to get the name or any semblance of it pronounced. Very quietly, but audibly Senator Obama can be heard saying something.

In the first viewing, I knew he had said something there, but was unable to decipher exactly what he had said.

In listening to the replay it’s easy to hear his comment.
He quietly acknowledged to Senator McCain “That’s a tough one.” When I heard his remark, his gracious nod to the Senator’s struggle to pronounce a very difficult name, his compassion for the man, I choked up.
It humbled me. It made me briefly look inward, and feel lesser for originally maybe hoping that it was some cutting barb. And it showed him as a man greater than politics, greater for inspiring empathy and compassion for a fellow man.
Senator McCain’s demeaning, belittling style in the debate has drawn criticism.

Rightly so in my opinion. Some has been said of Senator Obama’s gracious and respectful style, some even criticizing his style for not being more vicious, more attacking.

But to me, the real measure of the man, not his “style”, but who he is, came in that comment.
It was a very quiet statement. But what it said about Barack Obama is loud and clear.
This man is not only a great leader, he is a very good man.

Insulating Sarah Palin

2008-09-20T00:54:00.000-07:00

EXCERPTS: Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin
Republican VP Candidate Speaks with ABC News' Charlie Gibson in Exclusive Interview
Sept. 11, 2008—

The following excerpts are from the ABC News exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in Fairbanks, Alaska, conducted by "World News" anchor Charlie Gibson on September 11, 2008

Sarah Palin on Experience:

GIBSON: Governor, let me start by asking you a question that I asked John McCain about you, and it is really the central question. Can you look the country in the eye and say "I have the experience and I have the ability to be not just vice president, but perhaps president of the United States of America?"

PALIN: I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country, will be ready. I'm ready.

GIBSON: And you didn't say to yourself, "Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I -- will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?"

PALIN: I didn't hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn't that take some hubris?

PALIN: I -- I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.
So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

GIBSON: But this is not just reforming a government. This is also running a government on the huge international stage in a very dangerous world. When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact that you have commanded the Alaskan National Guard and that Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials?

PALIN: But it is about reform of government and it's about putting government back on the side of the people, and that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States.

Note: she did not answer the question but puts out what she does bring to the table and these facts not true. This researched by fact check.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/13/184854/038

This issue related but you will notice the fact check was used in a different way.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookman/entries/2008/09/13/obama_wants_to_tax_water.html

As to what she brings to the table.

From a early interview the issue of ear marks where brought forward not only on the issue of the bridge to no where ,but the high level of other earmarks in Alaska.

Ms. Palin made the comment several earmarks went through enviromental channels.

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-earmarksbox13-2008sep13,0,1896129.story

GIBSON: I know. I'm just saying that national security is a whole lot more than energy.

PALIN: It is, but I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security. It's that important. It's that significant.

GIBSON: Did you ever travel outside the country prior to your trip to Kuwait and Germany last year?

PALIN: Canada, Mexico, and then, yes, that trip, that was the trip of a lifetime to visit our troops in Kuwait and stop and visit our injured soldiers in Germany. That was the trip of a lifetime and it changed my life.

Palin's travel reimbursements

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I'm talking about somebody who's a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we've got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody's big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they've had opportunities to meet heads of state ... these last couple of weeks ... it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

Going back in history on this it's not true.

Sarah Palin on God:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

Same kind of stand McCain makes as to not remembering his position he took on the issue . Again there is a youtube.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is, and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words.

For someone who never presume to know God’s will she seems to mention his intentions.
The Alaska pipe line God’s will too.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side.

That's what that comment was all about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It's an unfortunate thing, because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our country, for democracy, for our freedoms.

Read Here for some info

But we now know the war is not that about democracy or freedoms.

Charlie, those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we do see victory in sight in Iraq.

GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln's words, but you went on and said, "There is a plan and it is God's plan."

PALIN: I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This being the fact their dying. which to my understanding is life .The same stand they are saying thats its important being Pro -life for us to provide these rights and liberty.

That, in my world view, is a grand -- the grand plan.

Palin, Gothard, and dog-whistles to dominionists

Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches

Palin's Christianity

Cult of Character

GIBSON: But then are you sending your son on a task that is from God?

PALIN: I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie.

That's not what Palin has said about several events and issues.

What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer.

Waiting on the out come of the investigation on her from Alaska which I think will provide more light on this issue.

Palin's hubby won't testify Undeclared

Palin’s husband won’t testify in ‘Troopergate’ probe .It would seem that the voters are again not to be given all facts again until after the fact.Lawmaker says investigation may be sidetracked till after Election Day

Sarah Palin on National Security:

GIBSON: Let me ask you about some specific national security situations.

PALIN: Sure.

GIBSON: Let's start, because we are near Russia, let's start with Russia and Georgia.
The administration has said we've got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

All You Need To Know About Foreign Policy, GOP-Style

PALIN: First off, we're going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain's running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep...

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there. I think it was unfortunate. That manifestation that we saw with that invasion of Georgia shows us some steps backwards that Russia has recently taken away from the race toward a more democratic nation with democratic ideals.That's why we have to keep an eye on Russia.
And, Charlie, you're in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They're very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they're doing in Georgia?

PALIN: Well, I'm giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia. We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

Again not answering the question referring that the distance between Alaska & Russia gives her better insight. The question"What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?"

Sarah Palin on Russia:

We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We've learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.
We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.
Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but...

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.
But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.
We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.
And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that's a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Sarah Palin on Iran and Israel:

GIBSON: Let me turn to Iran. Do you consider a nuclear Iran to be an existential threat to Israel?

PALIN: I believe that under the leadership of Ahmadinejad, nuclear weapons in the hands of his government are extremely dangerous to everyone on this globe, yes.

GIBSON: So what should we do about a nuclear Iran? John McCain said the only thing worse than a war with Iran would be a nuclear Iran. John Abizaid said we may have to live with a nuclear Iran. Who's right?

PALIN: No, no. I agree with John McCain that nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would seek to destroy our allies, in this case, we're talking about Israel, we're talking about Ahmadinejad's comment about Israel being the "stinking corpse, should be wiped off the face of the earth," that's atrocious. That's unacceptable.

GIBSON: So what do you do about a nuclear Iran?

PALIN: We have got to make sure that these weapons of mass destruction, that nuclear weapons are not given to those hands of Ahmadinejad, not that he would use them, but that he would allow terrorists to be able to use them. So we have got to put the pressure on Iran and we have got to count on our allies to help us, diplomatic pressure.

GIBSON: But, Governor, we've threatened greater sanctions against Iran for a long time. It hasn't done any good. It hasn't stemmed their nuclear program.

PALIN: We need to pursue those and we need to implement those. We cannot back off. We cannot just concede that, oh, gee, maybe they're going to have nuclear weapons, what can we do about it. No way, not Americans. We do not have to stand for that.

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

I don't think we can guess based on not all the true facts either but whats happened with the war and the information on her .We are being told to trust McCain our nation trusted Bush.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.
Sarah Palin on 'the Bush Doctrine':

GIBSON: We talk on the anniversary of 9/11. Why do you think those hijackers attacked? Why did they want to hurt us?

PALIN: You know, there is a very small percentage of Islamic believers who are extreme and they are violent and they do not believe in American ideals, and they attacked us and now we are at a point here seven years later, on the anniversary, in this post-9/11 world, where we're able to commit to never again.

They see that the only option for them is to become a suicide bomber, to get caught up in this evil, in this terror. They need to be provided the hope that all Americans have instilled in us, because we're a democratic, we are a free, and we are a free-thinking society.

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

She did not seem to no but the public under the Current Bush administration does.

GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view.

GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president's job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

Their top priority does not seem to be defend the American people.

WHY would Palin refuse to fund rape kits?

GIBSON: Do we have a right to anticipatory self-defense? Do we have a right to make a preemptive strike again another country if we feel that country might strike us?

PALIN: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

Legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. The president also has the obligation, the duty to make sure that intelligence is legitimate.The people of our nation have that right.

GIBSON: Do we have the right to be making cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan, with or without the approval of the Pakistani government?

PALIN: Now, as for our right to invade, we're going to work with these countries, building new relationships, working with existing allies, but forging new, also, in order to, Charlie, get to a point in this world where war is not going to be a first option. In fact, war has got to be, a military strike, a last option.

Working with existing allies and crossing their boarders with out their ok ???

Yet, McCain in 2004 at the Council on Foreign Relations said that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to go. No matter what.

GIBSON: But, Governor, I'm asking you: We have the right, in your mind, to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government.

PALIN: In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to go after terrorists who are in the Waziristan area?

PALIN: I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table.

In the much-discussed series of interviews Sarah Palin had as Republican vice presidential nominee, Palin was asked by ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson if Democratic nominee Barack Obama should have selected Hillary Clinton as his running mate as opposed to Joe Biden.

“I think he’s regrettin’ not picking her now, I do,” Palin answered as a train whistle sounded in the Alaskan outdoors. “What, what determination and grit and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way — she handled those well.”

Her view a bit different before her VP selection.

Palin: Hillary Clinton is a whiner

Another member of McCain's staff was fired for calling the public whinners.

Both maverick's well maybe of a different kind.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/11/104916/855/125/594838

Well..well..well…McCain’s Choice and Family warned about ...Americablog. From Newsweek:. An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop “disparaging” the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was ...

Sarah Palin - Sharpy News

The report in TrooperGate will be out Oct. 10 as scheduled.

Up dated news.
“Drill, Baby, Drill” or “Lie, Baby, Lie”? Sarah Palin Continues to ...By santitafarella Salon.com reports that, in a Republican rally on Saturday in Nevada, Sarah Palin continues to make reference to things that, elsewhere, have been debunked as falsehoods:. In her 20-minute stump speech, Palin reprised the greatest hits ...

That 80% Alaskan approval rating is looking as suspect as everything else that has come out of McCain's camp the last few weeks.

Anti-Palin Rally in Alaska

Daily Kos: State of the Nation, and the first thing that I noticed that I liked was the reference to the "faith-based calculator" that must have been used to determine that Sarah Palin has an 80% popularity ...

Putting New image on Same Old Face of Politics

2008-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Creating change in the numbers May make a new image and “Psychological Impact” It is not the change I think the voters are looking for.

Like the past bridge to no where. Will lead down the same path our nation is currently in.
You might google the road that goes no where as well and just what money paided for it?

Asking voters to trust his judgement kind of hard when he didn't.

McCain Once Blamed the collapse of the infamous August 2007 I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota on Palin's hunger for federal pork barrel spending.

McCain shows lead in their registered voter numbers .

One would have to be not looking to hard to see the reason for this.

Many have lauded Democratic Nominee, Barack Obama’s, massive voter registration drive.

Biling off of historic turnout in this year’s Democratic Primary, Obama’s registration drive could swing more than just a few Republican-leaning states to the Democratic column by election day.
Some thing that has not gone unnoticed by McCain and the Republican Party.

Poll Madness: McCain Takes Lead Even As Democrats Out-Register Republicans?Gallup's tracking poll, USA Today and CBS News all show the Republicans with some kind of lead over the Democratic ticket. But, interestingly, all three polls were also conducted using a higher sampling of Republican voters than in July, raising a question of methodology

Republican Lawyers Prepare to Purge New Voters.

Voter caging is illegal. The Republican party was just hoping we wouldn't notice.

MS-SEN: Even More Ballot Shenanigans

Top pollsters caught fudging with Presidential Race numbersBy Albert Howard(Albert Howard) CBS, Gallup, and USA Today were caught tinkering with the outcomes of their early September polls. They've been over sampling the number of Republican respondents at the expense of Democrats and Independents. The media is trying to make ...ABC News confirms our website... - http://albertbenjaminhoward.blogspot.com/

Out of ControlBy paradox The mind reels, the normally unflappable Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly wrote last week, this time over sickening Republican voter suppression tactics with a cruel twist: if you’ve lost your house to foreclosure your address ...The Left Coaster - http://www.theleftcoaster.com/

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-on-mccain-absentee-ballot.html

With these types of events going on it shows Americans like Veterans to be yesterday's trash by those G.O.P after the election. This further shows McCain's not only following major number of Bush's policy's but tactics as well.

I know the reply will be their just stopping voter fraud right .Well if this was the only event but its not. The fact these events happen in battle ground states as well as the timing.

If this was of great concern you would have thought it would have been addressed well before the election cycle.

"Drill (Me), Baby, Drill (Me)" Sex, Drugs, Big Oil Scandal
Americans, perhaps, learned yesterday why the Republican National Convention was so aroused when the audience chanted "Drill, baby, drill."

The over all point here as well is the reason their homes foreclosed is they have lost their jobs due to things like out sourcing . No new jobs, the price of gas ,food and utilities on the rise

You no "the do nothing big spending Bush administration".

Would be nice to see at McCain addressing at least one of these issues.

McCain's more worried about a comment lip stick on a pig which he himself used .

I guess McCain’s forgotten inappropriate remark he made about Chelsea Clinton. As McCain explains why candidate’s children should be off limits when it comes to campaigning.

Several Other items of note might be looked at.

1. McCain’s lying to the veterans about backing the new G.I bill.

2. McCain's Plan to Privatize Veterans' Health Care

No one's asked the question just how the VA.Hospitals declined ?

Just where that money went? Just a guess here was cut back to fund the war based on lies causing the troops who now need the Va Hospitals.

3. Why Won't McCain Sign the GI Bill? Presenting the most blatant hypocrisy of the McCain campaign?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK_9sI7hzAc

4. With the purge of voters more than just a few happen to be veterans. It’s alright to send them in harms way to protect the rights and freedoms even if the war was based on a lie. But not all right to exercise that right to vote. As to all Americans. Who just happen to be in the other party?

This seems to be setting the stage to other misleading events.

New Jersey Mistakenly Tells Voters They Aren't RegisteredThe state department mailed out about 300,000 letters to residents in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Camden and Essex counties telling them they were not eligible to vote. The letters prompted the recipients, majority of whom were registered to vote and did not need to re-register - to deluge election and elected officials with phone calls Monday.

Busted!: Gallup, CBS, USA.Today, etc. Tinkers With Party ID Again

By Albert Howard(Albert Howard) CBS, Gallup, and USA Today were caught tinkering with the outcomes of their early September polls. They've been over sampling the number of Republican respondents at the expense of Democrats and Independents. The media is trying to make ...ABC News confirms our website... - http://albertbenjaminhoward.blogspot.com/

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/9/10/152425/515/365#c365

The GOP is planning to use foreclosure lists to prevent people from voting in Michigan. I am afraid more states will follow.

So people who have lost their home because of the Bush Big spending do nothing administration are not going to be ably to vote. The only way they will be standing up to fight will be up under an under pass with their right to vote removed and their voice not to be heard. And McCain has made no comment on this issue.

Nor has anyone bothered to confront him on just how bad his gas Holiday would have effected things.

McCain's "Gas Tax Holiday" Bad Idea As Highway Fund Nears Bankruptcy
Sep 7, 2008 ... The Federal Highway Fund is nearly broke, and this goes to show how foolish those who asked for a "Gas Tax Holiday," including John McCain,

Cheap Drills - Drilling for Oil - Deception to Triumph?"The American News Project has put together a great video highlighting how little drilling would do to lower gas prices, as well as the amount of money the oil industry has given to Republican candidates. It features regular Grist ...
Image has played a big part in McCain’s campaign only allowing the facts McCain feels the public that just being us the voters have the need to know. This played out in past events.
And even with McCain’s effort in distancing him self from Bush.
Several things link them together.

1. Being McCain’s voted for almost all of his policies & adopted his tactics.

2. Bush also maintained the belief the public did not need to know all the facts about the current war. In much the same fashion as Sarah Palin's past experience.
In which is yet another example of using image to distract from not addressing all the issues.

Please read this up date:

Palin to Law: Drop Dead
Posted on September 11th, 2008

The legislature’s report on the conduct of Republican vice presidential nominee Palin may be released next month, just weeks before the presidential election.

3. And one of the biggest areas is shaking his fist at Bush for the same do nothing politics big spending while with the other hand holding it out palm up for the money his bundlers have collected.

To back this up these tactics have been used before.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2008/3201

Other events have played a part in this big shake up in Washington as well in the past.

Which just by chance Fox news put out info that was not true.FOXNews.com - Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq - U.S. SenateJun 22, 2006 ... "We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. ... Offering the official administration response to FOX News, www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html This time they got caught.Fox News airs altered photos

FOX News Poll: McCain Leads Obama 45% to 42%FOX News - USAby FOXNews.com By Dana Blanton A substantial shift in the vote preference among independents has given John McCain a slim lead over Barack Obam

In an up date you might take note of this item.

Are they Pro Life ?

2008-09-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Having watched the G.O.P. convention there was the trend of trying to re-direct the focus away from the main issues. By focusing on one issue or not addressing them. No explanation as to how they intend fixing the our current state of our nation and economy.

Important read
Illegal voter purges
Up date of Note while McCain's putting out poll lead this is taking place Link
John McCain has moved into a 4-point lead in their registered voter numbers humm do you think there might be a reason for this?

Second Update:

The fundamentalist Alliance Defense Fund is organising a mass project for explicitly religious endorsements (presumably of the McCain/Palin ticket) from the pulpit, in direct confrontation to the law forbidding tax-exempt organisations - or more specifically, tax-exempt churches - from issuing political endorsements. They want the Supreme Court to rule that churches can keep their tax-exempt status while engaging in partisan political activity. (Currently, all tax-exempt organisations are prohibited from partisan political activity.

This is much the same issue between Kuckabee and Kenneth Copeland in whick Copeland now Currently under investigation.

Health Care/Insurance /Social Security
Reform as to our seniors facing choice between Medicines that need and the food they have to have. Not much of a choice between death now or later. McCain devoted an entire sentence to his health care plan ("My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance." Ok But what is it?

Immigration issues
The out sourcing of American jobs/ The high home foreclosures rates
Cutting the business tax rate: McCain devotes one sentence to this: "Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas." Giving tax breaks to big company's that is part of the problem of out sourcing jobs don,t match.In his avoiding & explaining this issue not brought up. and any data to support his plan which is not very clear.
Info on proposed Tax Holiday

McCain's role in helping "foreign-owned DHL buy a U.S. company and gain control over the jobs that are now on the chopping block in Ohio.

Joblessness grew by an additional 84,000 in August 2008, bumping the national unemployment rate up to 6.1 percent. This is the highest level in five years and the eighth straight month of job losses. The economy has lost more than 600,000 over that time period .

Police Work/Crime/Illegal Drugs
Saying "we believe in...The rule of law" But the party’s courting lobbyist still is going on.
The issues and questions of money bundles still have not been addressed. I thought know one was above the law.

Same-Sex issues (marriage, benefits, etc.)

The War in Afghanistan, Pakistan (or the Taliban)McCain blindly supported Musharraf for seven years while Pakistan's army and intelligence service continued to finance, equip, cover, and provide sanctuary for Taliban while they killed Afghans and NATO soldiers.
Counter insurgency doctrine.

More American soldiers are dying per month in Afghanistan (where we have about 30,000 troops deployed) than in Iraq (where we have over150,000 troops deployed). But John McCain is fine with "just muddling through" in Afghanistan.

Osama bin Laden
John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell -- but he won't even go to the cave where he lives."
McCain doesn't want to remind anyone that Public Enemy #1 is still on the loose. Maybe that silence is part of McCain's secret plan to catch Osama, you know, the one McCain cannot share with President Bush right now. Which in my view is not putting the importance of the people and the Vets. over that of getting elected.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/04/politics/animal/main4416697.shtml

Torture: Not a word about America's use of torture to combat terrorism.
But quick to mention his scars in his speech using his time as P.O.W as a main point as why he has the experience to run our nation. One he said he was not going to talk about.
Does that mean the he knows about the vast groups of veterans coming home with not only scars but missing limbs and brain injuries and there was no mention of how the VA. hospitals are going to be fixed.

What was not brought up was the crowd of veterans out side the convention.
The link of interest is in the early phase of the speech was interrupted by two separate protesters, one holding a banner saying ‘McCain Votes Against Vets’ interrupted the early part of his speech, as the crowd drowned them out with several chants of ‘USA! USA!’. Mr McCain told his audience:

‘Please don’t be distracted by the ground noise and the static.’

Not that I believe it is right to not allowing anyone to voice their opinion or hear them out but this after saying ,
"That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. The ground noise and static he was referring to are some of the veterans that where sent into harms way based on lies. Only the facts the G.O.P wanted to be given to the public.

Protester Who Interrupted McCain's Speech Is An Iraq War Veteran

Little did they know or John McCain know that this protester actually served over in Iraq and according to Iraq Veterans Against the War, his name is, Adam Kokesh who is an IVAW board member. He held up a sign stating, "McCain Votes Against Vets." Surge nothing, this patriotic American actually put on the uniform, served his country deserved some respect coming from McCain and those Republicans gathered at the convention.

This provides an interesting link to that of Ms. Palin not given reviews to the media The only info provided is that of which the G.O.P thinks they need to no. Some how think the public and Veterans have been down this path before.

This also creates conflicting information has to the press when the issue of Fox news has had issues .Read here from a previous post. This being the same network in which Huckabee now employed .

Selecting a VP there are several questions on that still need to be answered.
Proclaiming an attack on family and I agree whole heartily that this being a player or issue that should not be used. In older post I apologized for her getting in the path of cannon fire.
The public smelled something not right and went after the truth which after 8 years of other than true facts ( you know lies) coming out you can’t blame them.

This in no way isolates the need for answers from Sarah Palin to the other issues in question.
As to her relationship to a group wanting Alaska not to be part of the nation she’s suppose to be uniting. Which it indeed seems to be the plan.

McCain Camp Says Palin Won't Talk To Media During Campaign

Associated linked event

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/no_questions_please_were.html

One thing that jumps out here is the push to drill in Alaska which was suppose to help the U.S reduce are dependence of foreign oil years ago but where is most of the oil going ?
The other question is if Alaska were to separate from the U.S there would no loner be controls for drilling there, nor controls where that oil could be sold?

The out come of the current investigation to should be known before the election.
If any or all our true than this country has had enough of abuse of power in the last eight years.

Is McCain Campaign Interfering In Alaska Troopergate Investigation Of Palin?

It looks like supporters of John McCain are taking aggressive actions to kill an investigation of his running mate Sarah Palin, to prevent an October Surprise-- adverse findings that would cast a negative light on her character and leadership.

Update Here: From reports I've seen the report that was due to be released on Oct. 31 now to be released Oct. 10

Things with in her speech are far from providing all the facts.

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

Well, it's certainly true that she put it on Ebay. She just left out the part where it failed to sell there."After going unsold for months, the jet was put into the hands of Turbo North Aviation, an Anchorage aircraft broker, which put an asking price of $2.45 million on the nearly $2.7 million jet.

It quickly sold to Alaska businessman Larry Reynolds for $2.1 million ($31,000 of which went to Turbo Aviation). Today the Westwind II jet spends its days ushering wealthy hunters around Alaska and Russia."

The previous governor bought it for over $2.6 million. It sold for $2.1. And yet McCain later said: "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay -- made a profit"So a loss of $500,000 is a "profit" now? Or is McCain having yet another of his "senior moments" (as Brit Hume called it when McCain confused the Sunni and Shiite Muslim sects).

Sarah Palin linked to Jack Abramoff’s group

Something that should be of concern are these issues.
The same players are popping up. Some of the same ones McCain back pedaled away from.
While screaming separation of church in one breath but pushing realign in politics in another as well as schools.

1-2-3-4, Let’s all have a Culture War
http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/09/03/1-2-3-4-lets-all-have-a-culture-war//

Backed by comment from Sarah Palin as to the current war being God’s will.

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515511.html

Ads from sources like this more than just an little off the marks as to what one would prey for.

I might add no matter in which way you view God or your beliefs that you wish to follow. Regardless of your skin color and gender or where your standing.

Pray for rain The political action group of Focus on the Family, Citizen Link put out this video with a man standing in front of Invesco field shortly before Obama's speech, and asked for rain just before his speech? Being McCain's focus on family's and values calling his wife the C word don't balance. Not to mention other events at biker ralley. Which also conflicts with family values.

Sarah Palin: Alaskan Pipeline is "God's Will"

It would seem Sarah Palin shares a direct hot line to God with others that we as mere voters do not. Here is part of her speech whats kind of interesting is to compare her lines of her speech to the current events playing out.

But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan?

Indeed the roar of the crowd faded ...the stage lights where put out ...and her platform from which she spoke has been hauled back to some stuido lot....The only thing that passed was her out of sight and away from the press and out of touch from the very people she was there to indroduce her self to. And knowone's heard exactly their plan on any issue but one.
Life the same that McCain Labled Ground noise and static.

Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches

This brings up some things I think the voters should research for them selves.
Besides the economy there are other reasons McCain wants to distance him self from Bush while at the same time taking money from him for his campaign. Link
The no student left behind act.

Research Bill Gothard and Bush and a little program called character first that is with in our school system now. If you will notice their slogan. Than take the time to look into some of the bills that have been passed to get it into our school system.

Than take the time to research the character city program.
Than just for grins research Kenneth Copeland And Huckabee.
Kenneth Copeland now under investigation with the I.R.S and Sen.
Charles Grassley who has been quietly set aside during the G.O.P convention.

But to bring the focus on what they want the convention to stand on one issue pro life OK I’m game lets play the game.

The meaning of life is the philosophic concept about the purpose and significance of human existence.

Taking a Pro life stand with this as fact would include all life regardless of race greed color or belief. Fighting over how we got here much like to fleas fighting over how they got on the same dog. They share the same dog .More attention should be on where that dog’s going if to a lake for a swim may drown so would our economy and us with it.

Life is life every where there can be an understanding ones places on their views based on where they are standing.

Point in case say if your are environmentalist you would worry about protecting say an alligator. That view would change if under flood waters and looking at one close up.
There has to be respect for another’s point of view.

McCain’s comments such as I hate gooks can be understood from the experiences he’s had. But the world has changed and so have people.
Comments like war is the only thing they understand coupled with now knowing the facts of this nation going into war would still take the same path. That’s not change and not putting the value on life.

"And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming." The big spending I would fully agree as to the do nothing they donated to his campaign link

Having retired from the service my self there is and always has been teasing between service's names like jar heads grunts air heads swab's and several more but there has always been respect with in the ranks.

Having been on the ground was very glad to have the Jar heads grunts and swabs around.
Have now and always had greet respect for them though I would not have told them while in and if asked by them never said that. Only kidding.

I wonder with McCain following Bush’s polices will follow his example but not being around when the body’s of our fallen troops coming home.

This to most service members both active and retired show’s lack of respect. The head stones that are there to honor those who gave their life’s in safe guarding freedoms turn in the slabs of stone when not only given the lack of respect but having died for a war based on other than the true facts. Have provided some current numbers to look at among them 22 friends who have lost their life in the current war.

I have very thick skin replies like I should go play in traffic wing nut ,Obama bot among others just are not very important .

There’s nothing that can prepare you for being around when the mother of a fallen vet. Has to try to explain to their 5 year old their daddy’s not coming home to play with them. And that question will be repeated over and over and as a 5 years way of trying to understand some think that’s beyond their age.

As the years go by this issue will get no better with the understanding what started the war and the lack of respect shown by those that sent them into harms way and I by no mean the public.
This issue just geared to the fallen ones.
The issue of the VA. Hospitals of the injured a whole other matter.

There is no winner in a war no matter which side you are on at the end of the conflict.
The death and destruction and if you review your history no war we won have we ever not helped rebuild. And if the cost of providing them freedom is death would mean little.

With the new aspects of the way wars are fought the victims are place in front as a shield. There fore new views have to be developed as ways to solve the issues.

The comment made by McCain that we would not even come to the table to talk unless they agree to all our terms. What would they have to gain?
This goes back to early point that your view of things can be different from where you’re standing.

To my friends no longer here your voice's do not go unheard .

Though I only knew 22 of them personal as friends all teasing aside. We where family as well as brothers in arms a fact McCain seems to have missed in what he claims in stand of Pro life and family values.

President vows to make sure American lives not ‘lost in vain’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23771735/
Casualties in Iraq The Human Cost of Occupation Edited by Margaret Griffis :: Contact
American Military Casualties in Iraq
Date Total In Combat American Deaths

Since war began (3/19/03):
4152
3374
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) (the list)
4013
3266
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03):
3691
3068
Since Handover (6/29/04):
3293
2741
Since Election (1/31/05):
2715
2478
American Wounded Official
Estimated
Total Wounded:
30568
Over 100000
Latest Fatality Sept. 2, 2008
Page last updated 09/2/08 12:11 pm EDT

List of U.S. Servicemembers killed since 5/1/03
Put a Casualty Counter on Your Website

U.S. Wounded
Daily DoD Casualty Release
320,000 Vets Have Brain Injuries
War Veterans’ Concussions Are Often Overlooked
How Many Servicemembers Were Wounded?
18 Vet Suicides Per Day?

Iraqi Casualties
Other Coalition Troops - Iraq 314
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan 582
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan 369
Contractor Deaths - Iraq 444
Sources: DoD, MNF, and iCasualties.org

The Faces ,The List ,American Casualties 'Iraqi Casualties

U.S. lacks mechanism to accurately track troops wounded in Iraq
Also see The Missing Wounded.
American Count Dates and sources of Americans killed in Iraq since 5/1/03 are documented in this file. Admittedly the file is incomplete, for the Department of Defense does not maintain old records. All data was compiled from http://www.defenselink.mil/

Iraqi Civilian Count :We maintain a daily count based on news reports. It is not intended to be complete. There is no agency that keeps track of accurate numbers of Iraqis killed. JustForeignPolicy maintains a running estimate based on the Lancet study with the rate of increase derived from the Iraq Body Count.
Comparing Civilian Casualty Studies

Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy explains the similarities between the Lancet and the the Orb estimates. Numbers from the Iraq Body Count site and the study published in the Lancet are compared at OpenDemocracy.net. The BBC published an article, which includes a response from IBC, that criticizes the large Lancet figures. Middle East expert Juan Cole also gives his opinion on the Lancet study here.

Journalist Deaths in Iraq ,Cost of War

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

There are many different points of view towards the war in Iraq. However, no matter your political philosophy or personal opinion towards the war when someone you know dies it makes you realize how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away.

Securing precious resources and political allegiances take a backseat to understanding one man’s fight for what he believes in. But do not let this or any other death be based on lies but the whole truth.

If we as an race have evolved no matter who you think this came about have not gained the understanding the way to solve issues is to communicate the stand in which you view can differ from where you stand is proof that pro life includes all.

That reaching out with one hand with an club in the other gains nothing. I remember reading in war there are always those that survive and from where they stand all they will see is the lose of those close to them and the horrors that is associated.

In war this cycle is not broken all we as an nation have done is to spread hate . Under the hope of spreading freedoms and to up hold the rights of all .

A hero is not just those who survive an experience but learns from it and brings back a message (a lesson, a gift, an idea) to share.

But that’s not the only kind An hero can be defined as a person who acts in a way that benefits the greater good of their society.

I’ve tried my best at expression for those of not just of my friends but all whole have fallen. To have been to write this post as I know of at least one who would be the first to tell you I’m not the best at talking about feelings from that point I might have failed.

My closing note at the top of my post altered a picture for which I may have caused pain to a fallen ones family that was not my wish. And I know not who they are but I think they would have understood .

Just the Important Events Please

2008-09-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

McCain has said the convention was to be scaled back except the most important events .

The main convention has been indeed scaled back But not the parties for courting Lobbyist has not .

Money Trail: What Hurricane?

Party On, GOP

Lobbyists, GOP Party On

Lobbyist parties for lawmakers bend rules Conventions will feature hundreds of lobbyist parties

What a Tangled Web We Weave: Everything You Need to Know About John McCain and Matching Funds

I only caught part of it on the news McCain was asked about this .His reply was so.

Its been put forth that blogging asking questions about red flags to come up in events as politic as usually . The courting parties is just that.

The other note is the Politics as usually to which they refer has been that of the Bush administration.

These issue comes down to this with McCain just having another birthday and even though I don't agree with his policy's or path he See's for our nation I do not hate him or wish any thing bad.

McCain's comment" I hate gooks and always will"
The fact each of us as human have set time that starts at birth and runs down.

That being said the chance she may have to answer that 3 am phone much talked about in ads. So as much as I'm sure there will be those who wish to in close the answers to these questions being family and private or smear it's not and my post never has been.

Other Questions still open are
What exactly is Sarah Palin's relationship to the Alaska Independence Party -- a political party that wants Alaska to secede from the union, and who claims Sarah Palin as one of their own?

Is Sarah Palin's motto 'Alaska First' (as the A.I.P. has on their website), or is it John McCain's 'country first'?"If Sarah Palin is such a 'maverick' and takes on her own party, then why was she on the board of a 527 group called 'Ted Stevens Excellence In Public Service, Inc.'?

What exactly did she do for Stevens while leading this group? How much money was raised, and from whom exactly? Sounds like until Stevens' scandals broke into the news, they seem to have been pals."

New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin

McCain trying to come off as if in defense of Sarah Palin's family issues just not matching.

I hated to see her daughter get in the line of fire and still do.

One thing I not on interview with Sarah Palin she wanted thinked the other women who paved the way for her to be in this position. One of them Hillay just a little while back made comment she could not support her being a whinner.

But as to McCain calling his wife the C word comments such as this.

Flashback: McCain joked about how much women love to be raped

The blog Rum, Romanism and Rebellion pulls out a 1986 Tucson Citizen article recounting a joke about rape told by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Speaking to the National League of Cities and Towns in Washington, DC, McCain allegedly said:

Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, “Where is that marvelous ape?”

McCain was swiftly criticized by women’s groups. A spokeswoman for NOW in Arizona said the organization’s members were “incensed by his cruel and sexist remark.” McCain said he did not “recall” telling the joke. More recently, the McCain campaign scheduled a fundraiser with a Texas oilman who compared rape to the weather while running for governor. “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it,” said Clayton Williams in 1990.

After public out cry, the event was “postponed.”

I guess wanting the truth from those that are asking for your vote along of being an nation of whiners and not working hard enough is politics as normally too.

Or I might add going to far.

McCain Throws Tantrum Over CNN Interview

I wonder if these questions will be raised and answered.

Oh Crap - Now I am really worried.

New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin

Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God' Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God' --

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

Bush Has send our troops into a war based on lies. Called Mission complete again trying to wrap it in our flag or God's plan will not change the facts.

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said. Maybe should prey for help on how we are going to bring our troops home.

A video of the speech was posted at the Wasilla Assembly of God's Web site before finding its way on to other sites on the Internet.

I find it kind of strange that for a person linked to a group wanting Alaska to seperate from the U.S is being promoted to unifying our country.

Maybe those who would like to refreash some of the names that pop out

Rather extensive dominionist bona-fides dominionist leaders--one being Kenneth Blackwell, who was the "dream candidate" of neopente dominionists in his home state (fortunately, he lost the gubernatorial election).

The Huffington Post had published a recording of Hagee saying that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God's will by hastening the desire of Jews to return to Israel in accordance with biblical prophecy.

Later, around 10PM ET, McCain rejected the endorsement of another right-wing religious figure, Pastor Rod Parsley, "an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent."

Something I noted The speech was not written by her by speech writters.

To the fact voters to be introduce to her to get an insight into her. It should have been her words and feelings.

The Pawn By Any Other Name

2008-08-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

Palin will be the first female vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party when she is formally nominated at the party's Sept. 1-4 convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Palin, now in her first term as governor, is the first woman and the youngest person to hold the state's top political job.
I guess McCain’s points As to Sen. Obama being too young and en experienced goes out the door here.

She married her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988,
“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment," Schlickeisen continued. "In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife

Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming.

Up date:

Todd Palin, Shadow Governor of Alaska

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/155145/681/530/579154

Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science.

As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration."

As governor, Palin also opposed designating polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, fearing that step would get in the way of a proposed natural gas pipeline tapping the North Slope's vast reserves.

Palin is considered to have similar policy positions to John McCain in most respects. One exception is drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Palin strongly supports and McCain has opposed.[65] She has supported aspects of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's energy pla

Alaska's Governor now facing ethics-related probe
You may recall that all three members of Alaska's Congressional Delegation, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, made CREW's list of the most corrupt members of Congress, Beyond DeLay.

Now, the relatively new Governor, Sarah Palin, is in hot water and may be facing a legislative in Alaska Senate leaders want an investigation of whether Gov. Sarah Palin pressured and then fired the public safety commissioner because he wouldn't get rid of a state trooper who had gone through a bitter divorce with Palin's sister.

"I'm fairly confident at this point that what we're going to see is the appointment of an independent investigator," said Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French, chairman of the judiciary committee.

Palin denied any wrongdoing Monday and said she welcomed an investigation.
"I've said all along, hold me accountable," Palin told reporters in Juneau. "And I'm telling the truth when I say that there was never pressure put on Commissioner Monegan."

The governor said she didn't think any conversations she, her husband, Todd, or members of her administration had with the commissioner about Mike Wooten should have been taken as pressure to get rid of the trooper.

From the comment here she’s putting the needs of Alaska ahead of the nation.

The other point is her question about what an VP does.

The ongoing ethics investigation seems to be cool with her.

Via the ever informative Anchorage Daily News:
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/33465

Seizing on themes Obama has made trademarks of his candidacy, she added, "If you want change in Washington, if you hope for a better America, we're asking for your vote."

For Palin, her landslide re-election in 1999 answered the critics.

It was the one election where her slogan changed from "new ideas" to "stay the course."

Sound like something you heard from another?

On other fronts Palin has a strong anti-abortion record, which aligns with McCain’s last position on the issue even if he don’t remember

Palin is pro-life and a prominent member of Feminists for Life.[35][36][37] A 2006 article in the Anchorage Daily News refers to her as "pro-contraception," but does not go into detail on the subject. McCain doesn't like to talk about that issue either.

But if you break down statements and actions from McCain himself. you need to ask your self some questions.

1. Shes young and not a lot of experience on forign policy the main line of attack on Sen. Obama.

2. McCain has an issue of respect toward women some examples is that of his first wife if this was the only source would not in its self would be an factor .

But there is another more telling example during a biker convention. McCain tried to talk his wife to flash her wares in front of a crowd of bikers. this coupled with the event of calling his wife the C word.

McCain said the reason for his choice "I have found the right partner to help me stand up to those who value their privileges over their responsibilities, who put power over principle, and put their interests before your needs,"

Note he did not say to help lead our nation but who would help in his beliefs "who value their privileges" does that mean those in power or who have money?

If not because of age or experience and that of repect than the issue of chooice than comes down to that of using her as a pawn to advance his postion in the what has been a game to lead our counrty at the cost of human life as well as the hardships of the middle class and elderly of our nation.
Surely he's shown he's not past this

McCain's anti-choice, anti-science, anti-environment, anti-gay right wing extremist pick for vice president -- particularly important in view of Sen. McCain's advanced years and failing health -- reveals the depth of his cynicism and condescension towards American voters, women in particular.

But maybe there is another underlaying reason.
As you remember the big issue of Huckabee not being in the running was the question of his relationship to Bill Gothard and Kennth Copeland.
Bill Gothard was the one behind character first in our schools .I would suggest you goggle him and Bush relationship as to others. And the connection of the no child left behind act.
But was also behind the character city program. a program where autority is never to be questioned.
Kennth Copeland The one who set up the questionable Donation drive for Huckabee.
Currently under investigation

While running for Governor of Alaska, Palin advocated the teaching of both creationism and evolution in public schools;But the next day, she said, "Creationism doesn't have to be part of the curriculum" and that she would not use "religion as a litmus test, or anybody's personal opinion on evolution or creationism" as criteria for selection to the school board.
On Sarah Palin's ties, but not the politician herself.

The community dark_christian, which keeps tabs on some of the darker elements of Christianity (in North America and abroad), has recently taken an interest in McCain's VP pick, Sarah Palin because of some information linked to on her

Wikipedia page (i.e. something from a citation, not just assertion, though the interpretation of the citation may be a little inaccurate: is her denomination Assemblies of God--i.e. bad--or Lutheran--i.e. indeterminate bad or good) as well as a statement she made about Creationism (i.e. people are jumping on any chance to analyze this relative newcomer).

One of the members more experienced and knowledgeable in the ways of certain strains of Christianity, and a more prolific blogger, dogemperor, on the scent of some links in the first post, has sniffed around at the ties Palin has, since she was recently largely unknown to the U.S. at large, unlike Biden, who was at least marginally visible so far.

The links below (from this thread) are on Palin's TIES, not the politician herself, so you should not look at this as reflecting on her character, because I seriously doubt that that's why the post(s) were written. These are in part to look at some reasons McCain might have chosen her.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213 http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/8/29/182057/888
http://dogemperor.newsvine.com/_news/2008/08/29/1803647-sarah-palin-dominionist-stalking-horse

Under Much Grace Blog

Southern Seminary Guilty by Association or a Case of the Emperor's New Clothes?

Sarah Palin was known as"Sarah Barracuda," for her style of play being hard driving. Staying true to their core, certain bedrock, unflinching principles.

Sarah Palin demonstrated one of her allegedly bedrock, unflinching principles a long, long time ago - well, um, almost seven months ago - when
she refused to endorse Arizona's senior Senator for President:

An issue here is the news of her having nude pictures on the web of her.

To be clear here the act its self after having been passed these pictures to view is this.

If the pictures are on the up and up the fact that one does things when they are younger and regreats doing them come to mind.

Example tatoos body percings in places just about every where you could think of ,Hair cuts ect.

After seeing pictures in question they are not taken in context of porn being taken for fashion would be a bit much but more of art.

The act its self I don't deem as being related to her job performance. But where I do take a stand is that of he image she would produce in talks across a table where being female to 3rd world nations all ready view women in different light would put her behind the curb. I don't thank the image would help here.

This is no different than the issue I take on McCain suggesting his wife flash her wares at an biker convention the chances of someone getting picture with camera phone is just about a given and would have been on the net in less than an hour world wide.

McCain on the other hand known As Mc Nasty being known for temper and being abusiveand an unwillingness to come to the table and talk unless they agree to all our terms. One one hand putting forth he was an P.O.W and tortured on the other saying water boarding not an torture and disregurding the rights of those captured by doing it. Our brand of torture ok. The thought of McCain's well known temper comes to mind if someone at talks flashs a picture of his wife if it had happed.

On another note here he hates them Gooks always will. Which in my view says alot about one asking others to believe in really change but refuse's to understand things change and the need to change this path. not stay the course.

Some Alaska Republicans are conflicted over McCain, including Gov. Sarah Palin. They like his maverick reputation and military background but not his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"She said she'd like to support McCain but felt she couldn't at this particular time because of his stand on ANWR," said the governor's spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow.

What is McCain's stand on ANWR? A very different sounding postion now dril at all cost no mater how long before it benifits or effects the current issue.
As recently as less than seven months ago, Sarah Palin refused to even endorse McCain because of a position of McCain's that, in a relatively rare occurrence, has not changed. That's how strongly principled she was (note the past tense) in support of drilling in ANWR.

Palin has signed on to the Bush administration's economic policies, opposes increasing the minimum wage, and opposes equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
And this is McCain's way of reaching out to women and the working class?

McCain passed over many other better qualified prospects in his search for a vice presidential nominee, simply because in his insulting attempt to pander to the female vote

The fact that he picked the distinctly under-qualified -- but very photogenic -- Palin and passed over Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas senator who is very knowledgeable about the military, but is, unlike Palin, not a former beauty queen. (Palin was a runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant.)

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience .

Both being labeled "maverick" one willing to buck the system to change it.
This begging the question as to if that image being thrown to the wind getting on board for the same good old boy system she use to fight.
Or unknowingly or willing being the pawn in whats now a game where only the ones not playing pay the fines .

The other willing to do any thing to maintain it and stay the course to lead us being the counrty who don,t work hard enough and nation of whinners .

It was not hard to follow the path of attack to try to create rif between Sen. Clinton And Sen.Obama At a time that we should be trying to unite this nation proclaiming we are not working hard enough being an nation of whinners is an insult.

The people of this nation are tired of being used and lied to in the name of protecting us.

In thinking of past events is not but one step short of us going to war to protect those in another nation to protect their rights even if we end up killing them to do it.

On this note something I've been fighting with to post or not is this question.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/121350/137/486/580223
http://thail.blogspot.com/2008/08/oh-crap-now-i-am-really-worried.html

I tossed back and forth in postings this .
But my view is this if true on several different levels effect an greater number of people in our nation.
The biggest point is being miss leading with information. I think this nation has been lead down the garden path enough. As to the current war we are in trying to promote it now with the flag and we are protecting peoples rights. And the loss of life of our vets as well as the great cost to our country.
This does not excuse the fact it was started based on lies. Nor the fact that the people that we are protecting their rights and saving them from abuse are being killed to do it.

She is going for a high office to represent the people she would take a pledge to up hold our laws of our nation. Correct me if wrong here but I believe faking or falsifying records is against the law.
This issue would also conflict with her stands on some other issues she is backing.

Sarah Palin belongs to a group called Feminists For Life.

August 29, 2008 - FFL Member Nominated for Vice President of the United States

Also the fact if this true she would have had to offer something for those to go along with this. That is I believe called Bribery .

The most hurtful issue if true would be to her family believe that is not my attempt here.
but if true the issue of her Daughter not being Legal age of constant if one or both parties under age thats viewed as rape. Which is another issue of her not up holding the laws.

In the interest of truth I think these records should be reviewed
To save the stess on the fingers of those who want to make comments such as moonbat or left winnger or tell me to go play in traffic save your time.
My purpuse here is to bring out the truth now instead of finding out later.

Wanting to protect her family shows she cares and strength of character but if running for office is bad judgment because of the needs of the many more than out way the needs of the few.

In Ohio Friday, McCain and Palin both noted that he was choosing her as his vice presidential running mate the week of the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage.

It's interesting the comments made by her in this same week the anniversary of women's suffrage.

Palin: Hillary Clinton is a whiner

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/144749/984/664/579036

Seems I remember another getting fired by McCain for a like comment but than again Hillary is only one vote not the public of our nation.

More information filtering in.

http://www.democraticdiva.com/

http://lippard.blogspot.com/2008/08/left-wing-conspiracy-theories.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/17933/7330/417/579267

UpDate:

Picture have surfaced .

Showing her with child but as with the nude pictures which I viewed as art not porn abut more of art does not effect her job ability except in image if true.

There are still questions here

First the other pictures removed from her site .
Location of where these picture found and timing.

http://www.flickr.com/...

This picture includes "Press Secretary McAllister," yet he was not appointed until last month; therefore the picture in the diary was taken in August, after she had given birth.

The picture taken during interview of local news team but Ive not found the clip of the interview as to what it was for.

She gets on two planes, flies over eight hours, after her water breaks, to have a down syndrome baby in a third-rate rural hospital with a doctor with whom she had a well-established history of mutual political back-scratching. Does nothing to help this issue.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/things-that-mak.html

This time would like to see the truth confrimed before a war and 22 friends not coming home.

Have seen no up dates on other investigation to date if any please post.

Some photos to compare from another birth of hers at same time period.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/31/145838/319/386/581332

http://leftcoastlibrul.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/the-newest-palin-rumor/

News flash Here:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/01/1318541.aspx

I kind of wish the truth to have come out another way.

But I believe it had to come out .

Being govener of the state and the laws covering under age Sex with child even if both agree is an issue that I think would have been better served with all the facts.

To her daughter I my self sorry if she became cannon fire I in now way wish il on your or yours .

But the fact that are nation has been lied to and no longer willing to take things at face value take an stand. The fact that your mom wanted to protect shows a lot of love and I would think that issue would be understood . The problem comes with being VP holds her to higher level of truth no mater what the reason. The stand that she has taken on other issues than to take another is question as to you can't ask the public to do some thing she would not do.

As harsh as this sounds the reality of being near when an mother of afriend has to tell them their dad is not coming home or will get to take them to the park . Theres just nothing to prepare you to see the pain and hurt that brings to a child of 5 who dosen't understand.

If reading this you are not the first one to have to go this path and not the last you will have chooices through out your life some you choose right some wrong . That's life and you will have to grow up faster but as one to bring in life to this world you will understand why there are those who don't mind to fight for freedom but not waste that life no matter what color age shape gender or beliefs that includes parties GOP or Dems

Nothing perfect mainly my typing and not always the best at putting feelings to paper.

But if we don't make the right decsion now your furtue and that of the generations behind us will be harder and after the last eight years things already hard enough.

Again I wish you and yours well and Ask please forgive any pain I cause you was not my intent

An old retired Gulf War vet

Deception & Fraud to the Gates of Hell

2008-08-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

This just another example of McCains distorted view of truth and reality that he has aligned himself as to being so far out of touch on the economy of our nation.

McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac

McCain's Lie gets worse

McCain No Friend to Florida or Senior CitizensSeptember 18, 2008 at 08:23:46 by E. NelsonBack in November of 2007 Republican John McCain said to the Wall Street Journal, "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues.I still need to be educated."

McCain went on to point out that he was accompanied by his close adviser and former Senate colleague Phil Gramm who was an expert in economic matters.

Phil Gramm would later become McCain's top economic advisor and only a few months ago said that Americans were suffering from a "mental recession" and that all the economic doom and gloom was really just in our heads and that we had become a nation of whiners.

My comment:
Now that McCain has defined just what aspects of our economy are strong being the people that where just suffering from a mental recession and whining about it.The Reality can no longer be covered or being promoted as just needing psychological fix.

McCain acknowledged as much in late June when, after saying that drilling would have a positive effect on prices in the short term, he backtracked and said he believed it would have a beneficial "psychological impact."

Despite this obvious gaffe, Phil Gramm has been instrumental in helping McCain craft his economic policy which most outside economists say is nothing more than a continuation of the current Bush policies.Unfortunately our senior citizens in Florida and throughout the country for that matter are dependent on a president who can change the current course that we are on before we plunge our economy off a cliff.Sadly many of these senior citizens lived through the "Great Depression" of the late 1920's as children and probably thought they would never have to live through something like that again.

By continuing the devastating economic policies of the Bush administration McCain's lack of understanding of the basic "fundamental" problems with the current economy will continue to strip seniors of their precious retirement savings.

Couple this with the continued deregulation and privatization of our healthcare system that is also in crisis and the growing population of senior citizens in Florida will be faced with the catastrophic combination of skyrocketing health care costs and an ever shrinking wallet and retirement account.In just the first three days of this week the Dow Jones component of the stock market has compiled a cumulative loss of 812 points and an evaporation of $1.12 trillion in shareholder wealth and retirement savings.

This month when the stock market plunged 504 points, the largest loss since the 9/11 attacks, McCain said in a stump speech in Jacksonville, Florida that the economy was "fundamentally strong".

Even Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, said this past weekend that the United States economy is in no condition to finance McCain's tax cut plan with borrowed money.Alan Greenspan went on to say that the current economic crisis is a "once in a century" event requiring the utmost care and attention to reverse the current course.

It's no secret that McCain's economic advisor Phil Gramm is a strong advocate for deregulation of the financial industry.As a senator Phil Gramm was the chief architect of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed much of the Glass - Steagall act of 1933.

The Glass - Steagall act was put into place after the "Great Depression" to establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and to provide regulations designed to control dangerous speculation within the banking industry.

Most everyone is familiar with the FDIC which is a federal guarantee program that insures deposits up to $100,000 per account if a bank fails.Thankfully the FDIC was not also repealed. However, with the current U.S. deficit now over $9.6 trillion, if a nationwide failure of banks occurred there is some doubt as to whether the federal government would have the collateral to uphold all the FDIC guarantees.

As Senator Harry Reid said yesterday no one really knows for sure what will happen and "we are in new territory, this is a different game".Sadly, McCain is no stranger to financial scandals.

Back in the late 1980's Senator McCain received 10's of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a man named Charles Keating.McCain and his family vacationed in the Bahamas with Mr. Keating and his family throughout the mid 1980's.

In 1984 Mr. Keating's company American Continental Corporation purchased a bank called Lincoln Savings and Loan. Lincoln Savings and Loan was a type of financial company that had been deregulated in the early 1980s, allowing them to make highly risky investments with their depositors' money.Not so different from what has been happening recently.

When American Continental Corporation went bankrupt because some of the high-risk junk bonds that Lincoln had invested in became worthless, the U.S. government had to seize Lincoln and bail it out with taxpayer dollars totaling $2.8 billion.

This started a domino effect and many other thrifts collapsed, with taxpayers footing nearly $124 billion of the $152.9 billion bailout cost, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Many of the 21,000 investors in Lincoln were elderly customers and lost their entire life savings because they did not realize their investments were not federally insured.

Many were left destitute while Keating was bailed out and maintained a lavish lifestyle. Mary MacElveen of OpEdNews just wrote an interesting piece on the McCain - Keating debacle and quipped, "I wonder what has happened to those elderly citizens that lost everything after the collapse of Mr. Keatings Lincoln Savings and Loan."

Republican John McCain along with five other U.S. senators were investigated for their involvment with Keating and the scandal became know as the Keating Five.All of these events call into serious question, McCain's judgement on economic matters.

The vast majority of Americans can convincingly say they are NOT better off now than they were 8 years ago. And to the 95% of Americans that did not reap the benefits from the Bush tax cuts and who have had to live through 300% increases in gas, 50% increases in milk, 42 - 70% increases in prescription drugs, and 74% increases in healthcare premiums [reference], allMcCain can say is stay the course. AARP recently stated that the two biggest concerns for its members and retirees in the coming years are "access to affordable quality health care and lifetime economic security".

By John Conyers
Note To McCain: You Don't Have To Own A House (or Eight) To Vote

Michigan Republicans have indicated that they plan to challenge Michigan voters at the polls using lists of homes that are in foreclosure. While we should not be surprised at any tactic after Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, this is a singular example of how low they will go.It is done in the name of electing John McCain and John McCain should answer for it.

Today, I am calling on McCain to immediately denounce this...Governor Crist defends controversial "No Match, No Vote " law

By WMNF Governor Charlie Crist is defending Florida’s controversial “No Match, no vote” law. Speaking to reporters yesterday (Friday) in Orlando, Crist said “You have to be who you are, in order to vote. It makes sense to me. ...McCain enemy is Crist BFF

By Adam Smith ... supported Pat Buchanan, calling Buchanan a Nazi sympathizer. It was only the latest attack on Wexler by the McCain camp. So it was striking to see Gov. Charlie Crist on Today this morning, once again heaping praise on his buddy, Wexler.John McCain: Straight Talk on Taxes?John McCain: Liiiiiiiiiiaaaaaar (Again) McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac

National Security Archive Stunner
Michael CollinsWashington, DC
The National Security Archive released a report Friday Aug. 22, 2008 that sheds even more light on the premeditated lying and deception that took the United States to war in Iraq.

The findings are based on new evidence compiled by Dr. John Prados and published by the National Security Archive. See "White Paper" Drafted before NIE even Requested , "Scoop" Independent News, Aug. 24, 2008.

Most notably, Prados shows the depth of the deception perpetrated against citizens and Congress regarding the alleged threat to U.S. security posed by Iraq. It had appeared that the White House rewrote the Oct. 1, 2002 National Intelligence Estimate and then issued that doctored report to Congress on Oct. 4, 2002.

Prados reveals convincing evidence that the Oct. 4 White Paper had already been written by July 2002. He shows that it was only slightly altered after the final NIE arrived. This White Paper served as the basis for the war.

The unavoidable conclusion is that the Bush-Cheney White paper "justifying" the invasion was developed a full three months in advance of the intelligence data and analysis that should have served as the basis for that justification.

The National Security Archive summed it up succinctly:
"The U.S. intelligence community buckled sooner in 2002 than previously reported to Bush administration pressure for data justifying an invasion of Iraq,
"The documents suggest that the public relations push for war came before the intelligence analysis, which then conformed to public positions taken by Pentagon and White House officials. For example, a July 2002 draft of the "White Paper" ultimately issued by the CIA in October 2002 actually pre-dated the National Intelligence Estimate that the paper purportedly summarized, but which Congress did not insist on until September 2002."

National Security Archive in "Scoop' Independent News, August 24, 2008.

The seemingly endless war in Iraq has become a total disaster on multiple levels for all involved. The awful toll in human deaths and casualties is largely ignored but real nevertheless. Over 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been lost in battle and tens of thousands injured. In excess of one million Iraqi civilians are dead due to civil strife unleashed by the invasion.

The U.S. Treasury is drained and the steep decline in respect for the United States around the world is just beginning to manifest.
The United States political establishment responds with collective denial on a scale that's incomprehensible.

In the presidential campaign, the only sustained public commentary on the war comes from the Republican presidential candidate John McCain who makes the bizarre claim that U.S. is "surrendering" with victory in clear sight.

McCain touts the surge without noting that 4.0 million Iraqis are "displaced from their homes." Nearly ten percent of Iraq's population is either dead or injured and there are 5.0 million Iraqi orphans.

This pathological view of victory claims the "surge' is a success in the context of a devastated population in an obliterated nation lacking in the most essential supplies and services; a nation where death continues on a shopping spree

My Comment here.
The force of evil in which they speak of was not defeated they just moved back to their base of operation which was and still is the problem.

The report by Dr. Prados makes it clear that the executive branch was responsible for creating whatever information they found necessary to justify war and they did it by posing security threats from Iraq and demanding that intelligence briefers fill in the details
Summary of Findings by Prados, National Security Archive
"A recently declassified draft of the CIA's October 2002 white paper on Iraqi WMD programs demonstrates that that (the White) paper long pre-dated the compilation of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraqi capabilities.

"Bush administration and the Tony Blair government began acting in concert to build support for an invasion of Iraq two to three months earlier than previously understood.

A comparison of the CIA draft white paper with its publicly released edition shows that all the changes made were in the nature of strengthening its charges against Iraq by inserting additional alarming claims, in the manner of an advocacy, or public relations document.
"The draft and final papers show no evidence of intelligence analysis applied to the information contained." August 22, 2004

One Final Hope to Avoid a Tragic War
Ultimately, the White House had what it wanted by July 2002. When the National Intelligence Estimate arrived from an intimidated intelligence community, there was still one hope of a rational outcome on the rush to war.

The NIE delivered to the White House on Oct. 1, 2002 noted that the one scenario in which Iraq would attack the United States involved a U.S. attack on Iraq that threatened Saddam Hussein's survival.

The following is brutally simple. The one way to cause the hypothesized (and erroneous) claims of Hussein's intent to attack the United States is to go to war and threaten his regime.

Therefore, refraining from war was the best way to protect the United States.
"Baghdad for now appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or CBW against the United States, fearing that exposure of Iraqi involvement would provide Washington a stronger cause for making war.

"Iraq probably would attempt clandestine attacks against the U.S. Homeland if Baghdad feared an attack that threatened the survival of the regime were imminent or unavoidable, or possibly for revenge." Key Judgments, National Intelligence Estimate, Oct. 2002

That was deleted entirely. The July White Paper was "complete" and sent to Congress as the evidence justifying the invasion of Iraq.
In the most supreme of ironies, many members of Congress failed to even review the distorted White Paper before voting overwhelmingly to approve the invasion.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/White-Paper-Justifying-Ira-by-Michael-Collins-080825-667.html

My comment here:

The very fact they he's claiming that we saved them from evil by defending their rights even if it kills them is beyond any understanding .

To go one step further is the comment by McCain knowing what he knows now he would have still gone to war. Than in thinking about it Bush did.

Only now calling out he if I’m President of the United States, my friends, if I have to follow him to the gates of Hell, I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

I wonder if this would apply to those who brought an nation into war if that seem sense of Justice McCain's putting out would carry as much force protecting us the nation of whiners toward convicting Bush on war crimes . Even after accepting donations raised by Bush.
And only giving plan to bring Bin Laden to justice only if elected.

Is what McCain promoting any less of a deception to the public this pathological view of victory claims the "surge' is a success .

The bizarre claim that U.S. is "surrendering" with victory in clear sight.
How can you win a war that was not declared? And sense undeclared the price of gas could not be controlled.

Nothing from the very start of this war has been in clear sight especially the truth.One thing that we Americans have to do is quit saying that we are in Iraq to defend America. It has nothing to do with patriotism, and it is not unpatriotic to state the obvious truth.

Some intersting links

Fake people for McCain

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/09/fake-people-for-mccain.html

Thousands of nursing home residents rebel against perceived institutional bias
More than 8,000 nursing home residents have filed a federal, class-action lawsuit in Florida, claiming they are being forced to live in facilities against their wishes. Plaintiffs accuse the nursing-home lobby of pressuring state lawmakers to make it harder for individuals to receive Medicaid-covered home- and community-based care.

...........................................................................................................................................................

Colorado Water Rustlers

2008-08-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Colorado-New Mexico water blunder. The formula for sharing water in seven western states (Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico) was decided in 1922.

Now John McCain wants to throw out that agreement and renegotiate it.

McCain wants Arizona, Nevada, and California to get more water and Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico to get less.

This is going to cost McCain bigtime. Two of the states John McCain wants to steal water from are also key swing states: Colorado and New Mexico.

Coloradans in particular are reacting angrily to McCain's proposal to take their water. Here's the Denver Post:

Memo to: John McCain.From: Five million thirst-crazed Coloradans.Subject:

Forget about winning our nine electoral votes next November. We don't vote for water rustlers in this state; we tar and feather them! Yes, fellow citizens of the state whose official motto is "Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting,

" John McCain has thunk the unthinkable — and proposed renegotiating the 1922 Colorado River Compact.

[1]And then to drive the point home:

As a senator, McCain has long represented a state, Arizona, that would love to steal Colorado's water. But now, he wants our votes. Apparently, nobody bothered to brief the candidate who Paris Hilton called "that wrinkly, white-haired guy" that stealing Colorado's water to benefit Arizona, California and Nevada isn't as popular an idea in Colorado as it is in Arizona, California and Nevada.

[2]Oh, that's gonna leave a mark, especially the Paris Hilton bit.

Want to know who's really ticked off?

The Republican candidate for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, Bob Schaffer:
"Over my cold, dead, political carcass,"

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer said."The compact is the only protection Colorado has from several more politically powerful downstream states,"

Schaffer added. "Opening it for renegotiation would be the equivalent of a lamb discussing with a pack of wolves what should be on the dinner menu."

[3]That's what the Republican said; you can imagine what the Democrats are saying. Before McCain opened his mouth, Colorado was looking like a swing state.

Now, after John McCain revealed his plan to steal Colorado's water a redistribute it, it's very doubtful he can carry the state. New Mexico previously had a Democratic tilt to it, and McCain's water grab plan will probably solidify Obama hold over this state.

McCain can't afford to give up swing states, but with his water grab plan he threw away two of them in one fell swoop.So to sum up, not only did John McCain not "win the week," as some paid pundits have said, this week actually saw McCain's campaign spring a number of leaks that will sink it by November.

Add this to lighting up NV. And keeping Ohio in the dark.

Up Date:

Romney: McCain Doesn’t Speak For McCain When He Suggests Renegotiating The Colorado River Compact

Last week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) walked into a bipartisan wave of condemnation in Colorado when he told the Pueblo Chieftain that the 1922 Colorado River compact, which governs the allocation of the river’s water among seven states, “needs to be renegotiated over time”:

“I don’t think there’s any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties,” McCain said while on his way to the Aspen Institute.

“I think that there’s a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource.”

Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) called the compact “sacrosanct,” adding that opening it up “would only happen over my dead body.” Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-CO) agreed, telling the Grand Junction Sentinel, “Over my cold, dead, political carcass.”

The Denver Post editorialized that McCain “displayed a disturbing ignorance of the realities of the West’s scarce water resources.”

Now, one of McCain’s top surrogates, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is claiming that McCain didn’t mean what he said.

Romney told 9News that McCain “has no interest in reopening the compact“:
“Senator McCain has no interest in reopening the compact,” Romney said. “Senator McCain believes as I do that a compact that’s been worked out between the governors and between the states is the right way to go.

States are the ones who build these kinds of understandings. The federal government shouldn’t meddle in that compact.

Salazar’s Press Secretary Matt Lee-Ashley responded to Romney’s comments: “Either Senator McCain is so out of touch with Western water issues that he needs the former Massachusetts governor to defend him, or he really has some interest in overhauling the law of the river that has been in place since 1922.

Both scenarios are troubling.”

Progress NowAction has a petition telling McCain to keep his hands off Colorado’s water.

History Repeats but some things don't change.

2008-08-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Florida's budget shortfall may hit $1.2B
With Florida's economy worsening, economists are likely Friday to forecast a $1.2 billion loss in projected tax revenues, which could lead Gov. Charlie Crist to dip into reserves or propose more budget cuts.

SHORTFALLS CITED
On his state Senate campaign website Wednesday, Gelber noted the monthly tax-collection shortfalls as well as the following statistics that indicate Florida is in for a tough ride:
• 78,000 people lost work from June 2007 to June 2008, making the state first in job loss.
• 40,000 Florida homes were foreclosed in June, the second-highest number in the nation.
• 300,000 homes are unsold, meaning there's a year's worth of inventory sitting empty.
• Existing state properties lost $153 billion in property values, thereby reducing the borrowing power that helped fuel Floridians' spending habits.
''Florida's troubled times aren't going to go away soon or without pain,'' Gelber said. ``And the pain is in the housing market and gas pumps.''

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080814/BLOG01/807073166/-1/newssitemap

Sounds like Crist and McCain are a lot alike.

Small crowds.

Same donation bundler .

Both against off shore drilling before they where for it.

Both do not see a problem.
Crist Fl. has always had an flooding problem.
I was raised here feel free to research flooding in Fl. I admit never on this scale being all at once. But the point being he's never tried to fix it. Come to think of it neither did Jeb Bush.
Crist repeatedly urged Floridians not to take Fay lightly he took Fl's flooding problem lightly.

McCain does not see a problem with the economy and doesn't see a need to fix it.
McCain's taking Our Nation's economy problems lightly.

The marked differences.
Gov. Charlie Crist wants to dip into reserves or propose more budget cuts.

McCain don,t want to dip into our oil reserves in case of the next war, I mean Emergency .

McCain can't seem to hear or understand the questions from the crowd. With Crist they can't hear him.

Out come nothing will change.

.Crist a no show for Buchanan rally

For most of the about 300-person crowd, whatever the governor said was inaudible as Robinson struggled to position the phone at the microphone so everyone could hear the governor.

I tried to get as close as I could to the stage where the raised cell phone became the focus of the crowd, but I only made out something about supporting presidential hopeful John McCain.
After about 2 minutes of the cell phone being held to the microphone, Buchanan realized most of the crowd still wasn’t hearing the speech.

With people heading of the exits, Buchanan stepped in and pushed the phone aside while it sounded like Crist was still trying to say something.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/641294.html

Fla. GOP, Gov. Crist to back Rooney for Congress

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state GOP chairman and Gov. Charlie Crist plan to endorse Tom Rooney in the primary that will decide who faces U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney in November.

Rooney, a former Army officer, is in a three-way race with state Rep. Gayle Harrell and wealthy investor Hal Valeche.

Mahoney's seat is the GOP's top Florida target this year. The Democrat won office after Republican congressman Mark Foley resigned in disgrace over improper electronic messages he sent to pages.

While party Chairman Jim Greer wouldn't discuss specifics about Friday's event, he said in select cases he will inject himself into a primary to avoid a bloodbath that will hurt the Republican nominee's chances in a general election.
The primary will be held Aug. 26

http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/081408/D92ICJF85.shtml

Tom Rooney recently received the endorsement of Florida Governor Charlie Crist in the hotly contested Republican Primary in Florida’s 16th Congressional District, despite the fact that Harrell has been leading in the polls, has the longest and most conservative record, and is most likely to win in November.

So why did Crist suddenly back Rooney? Well, Crist and Huckabee aren’t exactly the best of friends and to have the former Arkansas Governor stomping in his backyard probably irked Crist a bit and this may be his attempt at intimidating Mike Huckabee.

More likely, however, it has something to do with dead presidents, or at least the currency they are printed on.
Take a look at the money triangle for yourself.

http://ktracy.com/?p=1850

You shouldn’t be surprised, this is how Rooney and his liberal family operate. They figure that men in politics can be bought off for a price, and sadly, in the case of Florida’s Governor, Rooney is exactly right: "You CAN buy Republican support".

Many of you have fought with me to support Governor Huckabee in the face of a corrupt party establishment that operates exactly like this. As a result, we have Republicans occupying all levels of government because they are wealthy and not because of their commitment to conservative values and the issues we on the grassroots level fight tooth and nail for every day.

Tom Rooney is the kind of Republican we need to kick OUT of Washington, not send there!
That’s why the Republican Party, or at least those truly representing the grassroots of the Republican Party need to come out and support Gayle Harrell.

That means, we need to get HuckPAC to endorse Gayle Harrell! But just as important as Governor Huckabee are we, the grassroots bloggers. No individual among us represents the entire conservative movement, but there’s absolutely no doubt that, together, we sum up the voice of the conservative movement really darn well.

Crist appoints a McCain supporter and a South Floridian

Gov. Charlie Crist announced today that he appointed one of John McCain's top Florida donors to the board of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's largest property insurer.
McCain is expected to make a choice of his own in the next few weeks: picking his vice-president -- and Crist is still a contender.

-Corry Capital Advisors partner and Vero Beach-resident William P. Corry, 45, will replace Richard DeChene on the board. Corry gave Crist $1,000 for his 2006 gubernatorial campaign and is among the top 20 donors to committees that have supported McCain's presidential campaign, according to Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group.

My Comment Here:

"CAN buy Republican support" keeps ringing in my ears

-Crist also picked TECO Energy CEO and Coral Gables resident Sherill W. Hudson, 65, to replace Bruce Douglas, who stepped down last month as board chairman. More than half of Citizens' 1.2 million policyholders live in South Florida and Hudson will be the only South Floridian on the board.
Citizens board members are not paid, except for travel expenses and other costs associated with their duties on the board.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2008/08/crist_appoints_a_mccain_suppor.html
Public Service Commission's targets for renewable energy far below Crist's
A year ago, Gov. Charlie Crist made headlines by announcing ambitious goals to move Florida toward greater use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. But the state's Public Service Commission, which regulates power companies, appears to have other plans.

A draft proposal unveiled this week is so timid, critics say, that it would do little to nothing to stimulate the development of alternative energy.

Under the PSC's plan, the state's investor-owned utilities would be required to produce 2 percent of power from renewable energy sources by 2010, increasing to 3.75 percent by 2017, 6 percent by 2025 and 20 percent by 2050.

Compare that to Crist's goal of 20 percent by 2020.
"The (PSC) targets aren't ambitious enough to drive any kind of investment in renewable energy technology in Florida," said George Cavros with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The targets were "the weakest in the nation. Dead last," he added. "Gov. Crist would be 94 before his proposed 20 percent target is realized."

Among the new draft provisions: Any new renewable energy projects must not exceed a 1 percent increase in cost to consumers. Renewable energy advocates accused the PSC staff of adopting a double standard, pointing out recent requests by utilities to increase consumer charges by more than 20 percent for construction of new nuclear plants.

My comment here.
It's strange McCain's for more nuclear plants based on his extensive knowlege as a pilot whoe served on board a nuclear carrier.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/article781623.ece

You, too, can join 'The One's' fan club in America."

2008-08-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Will you stop complaining it's only an ace bandage and

now you don,t have to shake hands with them.

It was the only thing I could think of to keep us in the spot light.

In case you have not noticed we don't have a fan club.

Yet another ad to come out of the McCain campaign if you could call it that is called the one.

The ad begins with an excited narrator saying: "You've seen him in London, Paris and Berlin. Now you, too, can join 'The One's' fan club in America."

Apparently its having an effect and more are joining. He indeed is the one people will vote for.
Former Republican congressman endorses Obama's bidThe Associated Press - DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A leading Republican moderate with a foreign policy background endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday as the ...

Republicans endorse ObamaBy vbdietz Fairbanks Alaska Republican Mayor Jim Whitaker endorses Obama as does former Republican Sen. Jim Leach of Iowa who is heading up Republicans for Obama. "My goal is to let Republicans have a clear understanding that their right to vote

This poll should have Obama booking a flight to Alaska as soon as is practical:
Obama 45McCain 40
This survey was fielded August 6th-7th, 2008 by Hays Research Group. 400 completed respondents were interviewed The margin of error for the data collected is +/- 4.9 % for a 400 response survey for the data analyzed in its entirety with a 95% confidence level; meaning that we can be 95% sure that if every resident of the State (pop. 670,000) with working telephone numbers who have at least one member who has voted in at least two of the last four local or state elections was actually surveyed, the results would vary by no more than 4.9% in either direction.

Former GOP Rep. Leach of Iowa endorses ObamaThe Associated Press - Jim Leach, a leading Republican moderate with a foreign policy background, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president. The former Iowa congressman's ...

Top GOP moderate endorses ObamaBoston Globe - United StatesBarack Obama walked down Kailua Beach in Hawaii yesterday with daughters Sasha (left) and Malia during their vacation. (Marco Garcia/associated press) ...See all stories on this topic

Republican Forms Obama Support GroupFOXNews - USAHEATHER NAUERT, HOST: Fresh from formally endorsing Barack Obama, we are going to talk to one of those Obama-cans. With me now, a former Republican ...

A first for McCain campaign?Seattle Times - United StatesDES MOINES, Iowa — A leading Republican moderate with a foreign-policy background endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday as the Democrat ...

Republicans For ObamaCBS News - New York,NY,USAThe Republican Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska also endorsed Barack Obama today. (There's an already existing Republicans for Obama website founded by John ...

McCain surrogates will light-heartedly defend the ad as simply another effort to inject humor into the serious business of running for the White House..

Others will wonder how much more demeaning the McCain camp can get .

I think McCain's just mad because they took away his cell phone.

John McCain's Cell Phone Privileges Have Been CurtailedBy John(John) He wants to be leader of the Free World. But he is not even allowed to use his own cell-phone whenever he wants to. Which BTW is Gold Colored. We are not talking about some delusional teenager, living in his mom's basement. ...Political News - http://finepolitics.blogspot.com/
Or maybe just not getting enough sleep.

John McCain Says He Needs More SleepBy John(John) I almost (but not quite) feel sorry for McCain's campaign staff. How can they possibly spin this as a positive? (Emphasis added.) McCain said he would concentrate on getting more sleep when he can. "If I put in three or four 18-hour, ...Political News - http://finepolitics.blogspot.com/

Or even he could not find his reading Glass’s to read his foreign policies that are based on Wikipedia!!

It is becoming obvious that McCain is so weak that he cannot run on the issues and is left with trying to engage in Psychobabble manipulation of the American People.

What's next, Viagra commericals? Ops forgot can't talk about that issue.

Up Date : This just in .

ATTN: Keith Olbermann! Just this past March, Jerome Corsi linked McCain to Al Qaeda!!

http://wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57678

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/16/18750/5187/543/568995

Lighting Up Nevada & keeping Ohio in the Dark

2008-08-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

LOOK ALL I KNOW IS THAT COP SAID WE HAD TO TAKE THE BYPASS

McCain said the country should use its expertise to develop and improve alternative energy technologies, from hydrogen-powered vehicles to solar-powered electric plants. But in the short term, the country needs to use all of its energy resources, from coal and offshore oil, to move toward energy independence as quickly as possible, he said.

You notice nothing was said about using our oil reserves If he believes off shore drilling will impact gas prices now which he stated before it would not because it would take 5 to 7 years to get a producing well.

But for the point of this question it. Why not tap our oil reserves? Would that not have a faster impact?

Still another question if the price of gas hangs in the balance of drilling new wells off shore than why is gas going down in price with not a signal new well drilled off shore?
Are not our oil reserves not a resource?

But because of global warming concerns, the country should invest $2 billion a year in research and development in clean coal technology.

"We are sending $700 million dollars a year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain said of the nation's oil purchases. "Some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. America cannot do this."

I wonder if this is the money McCain’s referring to?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/14/203232/585/547/551678

The Democratic National Committee criticized McCain's comments on alternative energy, saying he has "consistently voted with (President) Bush and Big Oil and against renewable energy and new energy jobs." McCain has voted against the kind of tax incentives that would promote investments in renewable energy and create new energy jobs consistently, the committee said in a release.

The party also criticized McCain's support of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository. McCain’s about-face on Yucca “I would seek to establish an international repository for spent nuclear fuel that could collect and safely store materials overseas that might otherwise be reprocessed to acquire bomb-grade materials.

It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.” John McCain, 5/27/08 McCain made his comments in Denver as part of a larger speech on nuclear power the day before he is scheduled to be in Northern Nevada, which is either one of the largest coincidences in the history of politics or a calculated strategy to help him win a pivotal swing state. (Not that he needs to be right on Yucca Mountain, which will probably factor into few Nevadans’ decisions in November, if history is any guide. Just ask the president.)

McCain’s proposal would seem more sincere if only he hadn’t been so sincerely committed to the dump — and been so unabashed and frank about his support.

But on the eve of his trip to Reno and on the eve of a general election in which Nevada could well be critical, the Straight Talk Express took a detour from its planned stop at Yucca Mountain.

McCain is an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear power and a fervent backer of Yucca Mountain as a suitable storage site. The evidence is plentiful: • In 2002, when final approval was assured after 20 years of debate, McCain told his home-state newspaper, The Arizona Republic, that the Nevada dump site would help the federal government resolve “one of the most important environmental, health and public safety issues for the American people.”And creating another:

• Just over a year ago, he was described as adopting a mocking tone when he told the Deseret News in Utah: “Oh, you have to travel through states ... I am for Yucca Mountain. I’m for storage facilities.

“It’s a lot better than sitting outside power plants all over America.”

• Less than three weeks ago, Reuters ran a piece that said McCain “supports the Yucca Mountain storage facility and believes opposition to it is harmful to U.S. interests.” And the piece quoted one of his advisers as saying,
“The political opposition to the Yucca Mountain storage facility is harmful to the U.S. interest and the facility should be completed, opened and utilized.”

So in the past few weeks, McCain has experienced an epiphany and decided there should be some sort of international repository for the fuel that he had so long wanted to come here? This is believable?

http://storybones.blogspot.com/2008/08/mccain-to-nevada-yeah-i-lied.html

Again not all the facts put out to the public.

The ad cites Senator John McCain’s support for storing nuclear waste in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, then shows an interview clip of Mr. McCain saying he would not be comfortable with nuclear waste traveling through Arizona, and specifically Phoenix, on the way to the storage site.

McCain proposes a plan to build 45 new nuclear plants before the year 2030.

"My experience with nuclear power goes back many years to being stationed on the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier
[the USS Enterprise],"

McCain said. "I knew it was safe then and I know it's safe now."

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in 1979, the last serious accident at a U.S. facility, occurred after McCain was no longer stationed on the Enterprise. . "I knew it was safe then and I know it's safe now."

Far be it from me to question his vast experience that only comes with age.

But a few points here.

1.He was a pilot not a maintainer . I retired 20 years in the A.F as aircraft Crew chief and never heard of a nuclear powered aircraft.

2. Nor was he the captain of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier
[the USS Enterprise] but with his ads he might fit into the TV. version

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED6143FF937A15751C1A964958260

McCain Wants To Send Nuclear Waste through Ohio, But Not AZ

John McCain wants to nearly double the number of nuclear power plans in the nation
They estimate that McCain's plan would require about 6,612 casks, each carrying anywhere from 2-15 tons of high-level radioactive waste, being transported through Ohio.
But they point out that McCain opposes the idea of transporting waste through his home state of Arizona.

Why does John McCain think its ok for hundreds of tons of dangerous nuclear waste to go through Ohio but yet too dangerous to go through his own state?

John McCain simply can’t have it both ways when it comes to the nuclear waste issue.
Right now he supports running hundreds of shipments of dangerous nuclear waste through Ohio and sticking Nevadans with 77,000 tons of it forever, while at the same time saying he’s uncomfortable with it going through his own backyard for even a day.”

McCain"s stand on this issue much like helping an elderly person across the street to mug and steal their money out of site of the public.

Did McCain say Waste Repository or suppository for Nevadans ?

Other events of interest which seem to relate to current events.

Does McCain have anyone that isn't involved in world catastrophes?

McCain's top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was until March a registered lobbyist for the Republic of Georgia.

His firm continues to work on behalf of Georgia and other countries in the region.

In 2006, lobbyist Scheunemann accompanied McCain on a trip to Georgia. And since Friday, McCain and Scheunemann have been issuing bellicose pronouncements on behalf of Georgia in its conflict with Russia over the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia.

However neither of them mentioned that Scheunemann was a Georgian lobbyist.

The conflict in Georgia also brought attention to another complicating feature of McCain’s campaign: His ties to Republican operatives with extensive lobbying practices. Scheunemann was, until earlier this year, registered to lobby for the government of Georgia.

A public relations firm working for the Russian Federation pointed out Scheunemann’s lobbying past to reporters — a sign that McCain’s stance is not, for better or worse, being welcomed in Moscow — as did Obama’s campaign.

“John McCain’s top foreign policy adviser lobbied for, and has a vested interest in, the Republic of Georgia and McCain has mirrored the position advocated by the government,” said Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan, noting that the “appearance of a conflict of interest” was a consequence of McCain’s too-close ties to lobbyists.

The conflict in South Ossetia is complex and nearly every observer of the situation blames both Georgia and Russia for escalating the long-simmering tensions there.

As Ben Smith notes, Barack Obama issued a statement condeming the violence and urging both Georgia and Russia to end the conflict and avoid further escalation.

It was similar to the line taken by the Bush administration and virtually all other western nations, all of whom recognize that there's plenty of blame to spread around and little advantage to wade in immediately scoring points against one of the parties to the war.

Not John McCain, however. His statement was frankly confrontational toward Russia, which he blames exclusively for the fighting. McCain also calls for NATO to be inserted into the conflict, though Georgia is not a NATO member.

McCain also dusted off his bizarre call for Russia to be kicked out of The G-8. And Randy Scheunemann immediately tried to politicize the conflict - without however mentioning that he was a lobbyist for Georgia.

"Sen. McCain is clearly willing to note who he thinks is the aggressor here,” he said, dismissing the notion that Georgia’s move into its renegade province had precipitated the crisis.

"I don't think you can excuse, defend, explain or make allowance for Russian behavior because of what is going on in Georgia.”

He also criticized Obama for calling on both sides to show “restraint,” and suggested the Democrat was putting too much blame on the conflict’s clear victim.
“That's kind of like saying after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, that Kuwait and Iraq need to show restraint, or like saying in 1968 [when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia] ... that the Czechoslovaks should show restraint,” he said.

As shown by the contrast between the reactions to the fighting in Georgia from Obama and McCain, the US cannot afford a president who is instinctively and immediately belligerent in every international crisis. Further, McCain is ensnared irretrievably by the lobbyists he's surrounded himself with. Americans can't be sure of knowing what kinds of conflicts of interest lie behind John McCain's pronouncements on both foreign and domestic issues.

The parallel to McCain's problems this week with voters in Wilmington, OH is striking. In his latest visit there, McCain tried to downplay the role that his campaign manager, Rick Davis, had in lobbying for the DHL deal that now threatens to leave tens of thousands unemployed in southern Ohio. Indeed, McCain personally had intervened in the Senate to push the DHL deal through.

Yet as Obama manager David Plouffe pointed out, until the Cleveland Plain Dealer this week uncovered Davis' role as a lobbyist for DHL, McCain had tried to keep concerned Ohio voters in the dark about that most basic of facts:

Thourgh a strange twist in current events McCain Wants To Send Nuclear Waste through Ohio, But Not AZ .

Hummm I guess this McCain's way of bringing them out of the dark.

"[John McCain] was there a month ago in this community and was asked a question about this DHL issue and did not say one word about his role in this or the role of his campaign manager.

That is the furthest thing from straight talk that I can imagine."
McCain's lobbyist entanglements will keep getting worse as this campaign progresses. I hope this will to keep him out of the White House, where his lobbyist buddies don't belong.

http://freedemocracy.blogspot.com/2008/08/does-mccain-have-anyone-that-isnt.html

The Cookie Jar Donation

2008-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Ah was not really going to take. Just wanted to see who's picture was on it

Still wondering when McCain going to talk about the issues instead of relating to Sen.Obama as the Moses or the chosen one. If he can't speak on the issues than I think he will have lots of time to discuss who the chosen one was after the election and it will not be him.

Right on the heels of Monday's revelations from TPM about maxed-out, five-digit donations to John McCain from low-level energy company employees, comes news this morning of another nest of suspiciously generous working class donors, this one in Southern California, according to the Washington Post:

The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton....

Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant's network live in modest homes in Southern California's Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates. Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March.....

Donors reached by phone or interviewed in person declined to explain who asked them to make the contributions.

Ibrahim Marabeh, who is listed in public records as a Rite Aid manager, at first denied that he wrote any political checks. He then said he was asked by "a local person. But I would like not to talk about it anymore." Neither he nor his wife is registered to vote, but the two donated $4,600 to Clinton and $4,600 to Giuliani in December.

Funny how McCain's donors seem as confused about their campaign contributions as their candidate is on ... well, just about everything else. This is going to be fun to watch unfold

**********************************************************************************
Who Are These Maxed-Out McCain Donors, Exactly?

Matthew Mosk has a real eyebrow-raising article in the Washington Post today, looking into the activities of Harry Sargeant III, a Florida businessman whose oil-trading firm is being investigated for allegedly overcharging the U.S. military for fuel deliveries to Iraq--a contract that it somehow managed to obtain despite not having submitted the lowest bid for it. Sargeant also happens to be a McCain bundler who seems to have a knack for soliciting a whole bunch of $2,300 campaign contributions from random people who apparently have no knowledge of, or interest in, politics. The article makes no mention of any evidence of actual wrongdoing on the campaign-finance front--it would be illegal if the donors were reimbursed or compensated for their contributions--but there are some really strange and implausible-sounding explanations for how the money was raised:

Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant's network live in modest homes in Southern California's Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates. Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March.

Both Sargeant and the donors were vague when asked to explain how Sargeant persuaded them to give away so much money.

"I have a lot of Arab business partners. I do a lot of business in the Middle East. I've got a lot of friends," Sargeant said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I ask my friends to support candidates that I think are worthy of supporting. They usually come through for me." ...

Ibrahim Marabeh, who is listed in public records as a Rite Aid manager, at first denied that he wrote any political checks. He then said he was asked by "a local person. But I would like not to talk about it anymore." Neither he nor his wife is registered to vote, but the two donated $4,600 to Clinton and $4,600 to Giuliani in December.

At the Twilight Hookah Lounge, owned by Nadia and Shawn Abdalla, patrons smoke tobacco flavored with honey and fruit from a menu that includes the strawberry-flavored Sex on the Beach and the strong, orange-flavored Fuzzy Navel.

The Abdallas, who are not registered to vote, said in an interview that they recalled writing a check to an organization in Miami, because a person with that organization was a friend of their mother's. They said they could not remember his name. ...

Abdullah Abdullah, a supervisor at several Taco Bell restaurants in the Riverside area, and his wife have donated $9,200 to McCain.

Reached at work, Abdullah said he knows little about the campaign. "I have no idea. I'll be honest with you," he said. "I'm involved in the restaurant business. My brother Faisal recommended John McCain. Whenever he makes a recommendation, we do it."

Faisal Abdullah, 49, said he helped organize all of the contributions from members of his family. When he was asked who solicited the contributions from him, he said: "Why does it matter who? I'm telling you we made the contribution. We funneled it through the channel in Florida because that's the contact we had. I was responsible for collecting it."

For all I know this sort of thing is relatively common in the world of bundling, but it sure sounds weird to me. These people all happened to have several thousand dollars of disposable income lying around to give to candidates they could care less about, because a friend asked them to as a favor?

************************************************************************************* Correction to This Article
The first name of McCain donor Faisal Abdullah was misspelled in some versions of this story, including in the print edition of The Washington Post. Also, the article incorrectly identified a Rite Aide manager and two Twilight Hookah Lounge owners as being among the donors Sargeant solicited on behalf of McCain. Those donors - Rite Aid manager Ibrahim Marabeh, and the lounge owners, Nadia and Shawn Abdalla - wrote checks to Giuliani and Clinton, not McCain.
Bundler Collects From Unlikely Donors

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 6, 2008; A01

The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton.

But the man who gathered checks from them is no stranger to McCain -- he shuttled the Republican on his private plane and held a fundraising event for the candidate at his house in Delray Beach, Fla.

Harry Sargeant III, a former naval officer and the owner of an oil-trading company that recently inked defense contracts potentially worth more than $1 billion, is the archetype of a modern presidential money man.

The law forbids high-level supporters from writing huge checks, but with help from friends in the Middle East and the former chief of the CIA's bin Laden unit -- who now serves as a consultant to his company -

- Sargeant has raised more than $100,000 for three presidential candidates from a collection of ordinary people, several of whom professed little interest in the outcome of the election.

After initially helping to raise money for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton,

Sargeant, 50, has emerged as a major player in Florida fundraising for McCain.

He has also become a conduit between McCain and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who was Sargeant's college fraternity brother and remains a close friend.

Crist, a beneficiary of Sargeant's fundraising network, said he saw nothing unusual in its breadth. "I was not surprised, but I certainly was grateful for his and his family's efforts," he said, adding that he anticipates Sargeant assisting McCain not only with fundraising but also with advice on military affairs and the economy. "He's been enormously helpful . . . already," Crist said.

The 2008 presidential campaign, which could see each side spend close to $500 million, has heightened the importance of "bundlers" such as Sargeant, who not only write checks themselves but also recruit scores of other donors to give the legal limit of $2,300. Questions about such donor networks have repeatedly emerged as points of stress for the campaigns.

In January, Norman Hsu, a top Clinton bundler, was indicted in part on charges of circumventing legal giving limits by routing contributions though "straw donors."

Earlier this week, McCain drew questions about more than $60,000 in donations that were made this year to the Republican National Committee and his campaign by an office manager with the Hess oil company and her husband, an Amtrak track foreman. In that case, the couple said they used their own money.

Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant's network live in modest homes in Southern California's Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates.

Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March.

Both Sargeant and the donors were vague when asked to explain how Sargeant persuaded them to give away so much money.

"I have a lot of Arab business partners. I do a lot of business in the Middle East. I've got a lot of friends," Sargeant said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I ask my friends to support candidates that I think are worthy of supporting. They usually come through for me."

My comment Here:

Now one would have to ask yourself why Arab business partners would care in the first place or why worthy of supporting unless there was something to be gained

Maybe this might explain.

Sargeant's business relationships, and the work they perform together, occur away from the public eye. His firm, International Oil Trading Co. (IOTC), holds several lucrative contracts with the Defense Department to carry fuel to the U.S. military in Iraq.

You might remember this issue was in question in the news of late as to why they recieved the contract with the defense department to carry fuel to the U.S military in Iraq.

"It is very difficult and is a very logistically intensive business that we have been able to specialize in," Sargeant said. "We do difficult logistical things that don't necessarily suit a major oil company. It's a niche we've been able to occupy."

The work has not been without controversy. Last month, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) initiated a review of IOTC's contract to determine whether it was overcharging the military for jet fuel, and to learn how the company, which did not submit the lowest bid, landed the contract to supply the fuel. The Pentagon has said that IOTC won the contract because it was the only company with a "letter of authorization" from the Jordanian government to move the fuel across its territory to Iraq.

Sargeant said he has met with Waxman. "We plan to cooperate fully," he said. "Everything we have done on this contract has been in the best interest of the military and the U.S. taxpayers."

Sargeant said the same people who have helped him build relationships around the world also helped him create a vast network. In recruiting some donors, he confirmed he had help from a business associate who formerly was a top counterterrorism official in the CIA.

A review of state and federal campaign finance records found that this collection of donors has been activated four times. Their names -- confirmed by Sargeant -- first appeared in finance records on June 19, 2006, when about 50 of them each donated $500 to Crist's gubernatorial campaign. Sargeant helped lead fundraising for Crist that year.

Thirteen of the donors resurfaced on Dec. 13, 2007, sending a combined $29,200 to Giuliani's campaign at a time when Sargeant was heading up fundraising efforts in Florida for the former mayor. Seventeen of them sent the maximum allowed, $2,300, to Clinton's presidential campaign on Dec. 24. And a dozen of them returned in March to write checks to McCain totaling $50,600.

Brian Rogers, a McCain campaign spokesman, said: "We strictly follow campaign finance law, and where flags are raised, we'll certainly look into it."

Donors reached by phone or interviewed in person declined to explain who asked them to make the contributions.

Ibrahim Marabeh, who is listed in public records as a Rite Aid manager, at first denied that he wrote any political checks. He then said he was asked by "a local person. But I would like not to talk about it anymore." Neither he nor his wife is registered to vote, but the two donated $4,600 to Clinton and $4,600 to Giuliani in December.

At the Twilight Hookah Lounge, owned by Nadia and Shawn Abdalla, patrons smoke tobacco flavored with honey and fruit from a menu that includes the strawberry-flavored Sex on the Beach and the strong, orange-flavored Fuzzy Navel.

The Abdallas, who are not registered to vote, said in an interview that they recalled writing a check to an organization in Miami, because a person with that organization was a friend of their mother's. They said they could not remember his name.

Nader, 39, and Sahar Alhawash, 28, of Colton, Calif, who at one point ran the Avon Village Liquor store, donated a total of $18,400 to Giuliani, Clinton and McCain between December and March. About 80 people in the country made such large contributions to all three, and most were wealthy business executives, such as Donald Trump. The Alhawashes declined to comment about the donations. Abdullah Abdullah, a supervisor at several Taco Bell restaurants in the Riverside area, and his wife have donated $9,200 to McCain.

Reached at work, Abdullah said he knows little about the campaign. "I have no idea. I'll be honest with you," he said. "I'm involved in the restaurant business. My brother Faisal recommended John McCain. Whenever he makes a recommendation, we do it."

Faisal Abdullah, 49, said he helped organize all of the contributions from members of his family. When he was asked who solicited the contributions from him, he said: "Why does it matter who? I'm telling you we made the contribution. We funneled it through the channel in Florida because that's the contact we had. I was responsible for collecting it."

McCain to return (some) donations

WASHINGTON — John McCain's campaign said Thursday it is returning $50,000 in contributions solicited by a foreign citizen. The move follows the disclosure that the money was being raised by a Jordanian man who is a business partner of prominent Florida Republican Harry Sargeant III, who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for McCain.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Sargeant allowed a longtime business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba'a, to bring in some $50,000 in donations in March from members of a single extended family in California, the Abdullahs, along with several of their friends.

The Abdullahs and other Arab-Americans in California also contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republicans Rudolph Giuliani and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a longtime friend of Sargeant.

According to the Times, Abu Naba'a is a dual citizen of Jordan and the Dominican Republic.
It is illegal for foreigners to contribute their own money to U.S. political campaigns, and McCain's campaign said Abu Naba'a did not do so.

But McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said some of the people solicited by Abu Naba'a had no intention of supporting McCain for president.

Rogers said "that just didn't sound right to us" so the money is being returned. He estimated the total at less than $50,000, saying "we think we have a pretty good estimate of how much Abu Naba'a solicited."

At the same time, the campaign sent a letter to everyone whose donations went through Sargeant, reminding them that federal law bars campaigns from accepting contributions from foreign nationals and that all donations must come from their own funds, without reimbursement.

Eight months ago, a top fundraiser for Clinton, Norman Hsu, was indicted for making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others.

Arizona Sen. McCain is co-sponsor of the campaign finance reform law that bears his name and the move is an effort to resolve any questions involving Sargeant before it turns into a major political problem for the candidate.

Sargeant, who does extensive business with the federal government, is facing problems on Capitol Hill.

A House committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is looking into Sargeant's defense work shipping fuel to U.S. bases in Iraq as part of a probe into whether contractors are overcharging the Pentagon.

Sargeant and Abu Naba'a are being sued in Florida by a former partner, the husband of a half-sister of the King of Jordan. The lawsuit alleges that Sargeant and Abu Naba'a swindled the business partner out of his share of the profits from valuable contracts with the U.S. government.

The plaintiff, Mohammad Anwar Farid Al-Saleh, says he obtained authorization from Jordan to permit Sargeant's company to ship oil across Jordanian territory to U.S. bases in Iraq.

A 2004 advisory opinion by the Federal Election Commission says a foreign national may lawfully solicit political contributions, but the issue is more complicated than that.

Federal election law does not address whether it is legal for foreigners to solicit donations. At the same time, federal regulations say a foreign national may not participate in a person's decision-making regarding contributions.

One might see where the contributors did not want to say any thing.

"Donors reached by phone or interviewed in person declined to explain who asked them to make the contributions"

"The 2004 opinion is very clear, but throwing the regulation into the mix muddies the water. The FEC could revisit the issue," said Paul S. Ryan, an attorney at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group.

**********************************************************************************

The political interests of the Floridian McCain fundraiser who bundled money from a strange cast of characters extends far deeper into the federal government than previously known.
Harry Sargeant, who has raised more than $500,000 for the McCain from a host of unlikely donors, owns a refinery and fuel supply company that has spent large sums of money lobbying the government since 2000.

Moreover, in 2006 the company, Trigeant Petroleum, brought on board a lobbyist with strong connections to McCain in an effort to win congressional support in its fight over a terminated contract with the Department of Defense.

It could not be immediately determined whether McCain or any other member of Congress intervened on Trigeant's behalf. The Arizona Republican's office did not return request for comment. The company ultimately succeeded in settling its suit with DoD for several million dollars.

But the widening extent of Sargeant's business interests adds another layer of intrigue to concerns that he was bundling cash for the presumptive Republican nominee in hopes of future political favors.

"This bundler certainly is someone who wants to have a president on his side," said David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch. "He has a significant contract with the Department of Defense and the Pentagon and needs elected officials to listen to him. That's why he hires lobbyists and raises money for politicians like John McCain."

Started by Sargeant in 1985, Trigeant Petroleum quickly became a player in the energy supply industry. In April 2004, the company was contracted by the Department of Defense to provide diesel and motor fuel to the Iraqi populace after a Jordanian company failed in the task. The deal was worth $76,956,988 over the course of a year. Several months into the contract, however, the Iraqi government asked for the arrangement to be terminated.

"The war was over and it was time for Iraq to start running its own business," said Ron Uscher, who represented Trigeant for the firm Peckar & Abramson. "They said we don't need the aid. And so the decision came that the Iraqis were now going to assume sovereignty and this contract was no longer needed."

When the Department of Defense acquiesced to the Iraqi government's wishes, Trigeant was left with fuel literally in transit. Not willing to simply take the hit, the company filed a suit saying that as part of their contract, the U.S. government had to cover the costs of the material they had already lifted.

In 2006, Trigeant hired Otto Reich Associates at $60,000-a-year to build congressional support for the firm's claim that it should be compensated for losses. The choice of lobbyists seemed logical. The firm touts its capacity to deal with international economics:
"Often, a company has all the elements required to succeed in a foreign market but lacks the ability to open the political doors to make its case, or the institutional knowledge to close the deal. We provide that missing element to our clients."

But Reich Associates also advertised another asset: proximity to power. On the firm's website, in the "About Us" section, is a picture of the founder Ambassador Otto J. Reich shaking hands with none other than John McCain. Below is a quote from the Senator praising the lobbyist:

Ambassador Reich has served America with distinction by representing our fundamental values of freedom and democracy around the world, and I am grateful for his support."

In addition to exchanging rhetorical pleasantries, Reich has been a prominent endorser of the presumptive Republican nominee, is reportedly advising McCain on Latin American affairs, and has donated $30,000 to committees supporting the Senator.

According to forms filed with Congress, Reich wrote that he was paid to "inform members of Congress and other senior government officials of the existence of Trigeant, Ltd.'s claim against the Defense Industry Support Center of the Defense Logistics Agency, of the Department of Defense, and to seek their support for a favorable resolution of the dispute."

Which members Reich met with and what type of advocacy he did on behalf of Trigeant is difficult to quantify. The lobbying firm did not return requests for comment.
But around that time, Trigeant's suit with the Department of Defense was finally settled, with the company awarded $3.25 million for the costs it incurred at the end of its contract.

McCain's Senate office did not return a request for comment as to whether or not he was contacted about the case. Uscher, while respecting the need to ask the question, said it was insulting to suggest that Congress could, or would be persuaded to, influence a process that was steeped in contractual law, procurement offices and legal processes.
"[Sargeant] had nothing to do with John McCain until he started making these campaign contributions," he said. "I'm not sure [he] even knew who John McCain was at the time."

Indeed, a review of campaign contribution records shows that Sargeant's support of McCain did indeed start only during this election cycle. Prior to bundling for the Arizona Republican, he raised cash on behalf of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as well as Hillary Clinton.

Once the primary ended, Sargeant came fully on board. Moreover his brother Dan, who serves as vice president of Trigeant, also raised cash on behalf of the presumptive Republican nominee, donating $4,600 in late January. On March 5, 2008, both Sargeants served as an "Event Chairman" for a "Floridians For McCain reception," an event that raised an estimated $400,000 plus for McCain. McCain is now reviewingdonations brought in by Sargeant.

Up Date:

McCain’s Shady Bundler Helps Out VP Hopeful Crist
Posted on 11 August 2008 by kos

More mysterious donations are being uncovered from John McCain's big-time bundler Harry Sergeant, this time for Charlie Crist in Florida:

Jihan Nassar, a homemaker in Corona, Calif., is listed as a $500 donor to the campaign of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. But she insists she never gave a dime.

''I can't make any donations, financially,'' Nassar said Friday. "We never made any donations, sir. I have no idea what you are talking about.''

Nassar and her husband, Waleed, are among more than three dozen California donors listed as giving to Crist's campaign on June 19, 2006 -- donations bundled by a controversial Delray Beach defense contractor now under scrutiny for contributions to GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

On Thursday, the McCain campaign said it would return $50,000 in donations tied to businessman Harry Sargeant III, finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a college buddy of Crist's. Sargeant has said the California donors were solicited by a business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba'a, a Jordanian with an apartment in Miami-Dade, records show.

Last week, if you recall, TPM got hot on the trail of Sergeant hustling up contributions for McCain in the same Inland Empire region in California.
Funny how Crist and McCain are being talked up as a ticket, and they share the same shady bundler. And let us not waste an opportunity to re-remind the media to answer the very interesting question Marc Ambinder posed last week:

If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah that were funneled through a guy in Jordan who is a Jordanian national who is under investigation for war profiteering and it were Barack Obama instead of John McCain would this be a bigger deal?

More mysterious donations are being uncovered from John McCain's big-time bundler Harry Sergeant, this time for Charlie Crist in Florida:

Jihan Nassar, a homemaker in Corona, Calif., is listed as a $500 donor to the campaign of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

But she insists she never gave a dime.
''I can't make any donations, financially,'' Nassar said Friday. "We never made any donations, sir. I have no idea what you are talking about.''

Last week, if you recall, TPM got hot on the trail of Sergeant hustling up contributions for McCain in the same Inland Empire region in California.

Funny how Crist and McCain are being talked up as a ticket, and they share the same shady bundler.

I've not heard of Crist returning his Donations he recevied .

''I can't make any donations, financially,'' Nassar said Friday. "We never made any donations, sir. I have no idea what you are talking about.''

Funny that just don't sound right to any one else either. As to the comment we think we have a pretty good estimate of how much was solicited I don't think so.

And let us not waste an opportunity to re-remind the media to answer the very interesting question Marc Ambinder posed last week:

http://www.bloggersforchange.com/?p=5023

In a related event:

Nervous Job Interviews-for Fla. High Court

Crist will appoint two justices in the coming months from up to 12 candidates selected by the commission. Two more justices are expected to retire next year, giving Crist an unprecedented opportunity to appoint a majority of the seven-member high court.

In seeing relationships of events this is interesting.

Abramoff scandal figure raises McCain money

Wed., Aug. 13, 2008
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WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. - A political strategist tied to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal is helping raise money for John McCain, urging his fellow Georgia Republicans to attend a fundraiser for the presidential candidate in Atlanta.

Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition, touted himself as a member of McCain's "Victory 2008 Team" in an e-mail that solicited donations on McCain's behalf.

The Republican National Committee is hosting the fundraiser set for an Atlanta hotel on Aug. 18.
A House investigative committee in 2006 found that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to help some of Abramoff's clients.

Reed's public relations firm also received $4.2 million from Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters to fight the opening of casinos that could compete with Abramoff's Indian tribe clients.

Reed later said he regretted the actions, which contributed to his 2006 Republican primary loss in a bid to be Georgia's lieutenant governor.

Abramoff went to prison for conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion.

McCain led a Senate investigation into Abramoff's dealings with Indian tribes, which included information about his ties to Reed.

"I led in the Abramoff hearings in the, in the obscure Indian Affairs Committee, for which people are still testifying and going to jail."

On Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean criticized what he called "McCain's decision to cozy up to one of the central figures in the Republican culture of corruption."

Up Date:

Donations for McCain and Crist bundled far from Florida

Ibrahim A. Marabeh has never been to Florida and has "absolutely" no interest in Florida politics.

But the district manager for Rite Aid in the Temecula area of California was among three dozen in a California Muslim community who contributed $500 each to Gov. Charlie Crist's 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Marabeh's contribution was among some $20,000 raised on June 19, 2006, by a business relation of Harry Sargeant III, an oil company executive, a formal naval officer and longtime friend and fundraiser for Crist.

Some of these same donors were at the heart of questions raised earlier this month about Sargeant's bundling work for GOP presidential candidate John McCain. No one alleges the donors were reimbursed, which would be illegal, but some wondered why a group of modest-income Californians who aren't avid voters would contribute the maximum to McCain's campaign.

That question becomes even sharper when you consider that those same people contributed to Crist in his 2006 campaign for governor of Florida.

"A friend of ours came to us and suggested we make a contribution and we did," Marabeh said. "We're trying to be political contributors."

The Sargeant example demonstrates the power and perils of fundraiser bundling, where a single person exhausts his or her network of friends and business associates to arrange a multitude of donations.

On the one hand, big money is raised in a hurry; on the other, the campaign is getting money second-, third- or fourth-hand. They don't know the contributors, and the contributors may not know them.

Crist sidestepped questions about the contributions bundled by Sargeant but said, generally, he's grateful when anyone contributes to his campaign, "whether it's a check or a vote."

"People give because they want to give, or they like the person who maybe asked them to," Crist said. "It's up to their heart and mind to make that decision as an individual."

Bundling has always been a mainstay of Florida political campaigns, veteran fundraisers say.
"The challenge is: How do you find millions of millions of dollars?

How do you find the resources to compete?" asked Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard, who raised money and advised Crist during the election.

"You've got to find more and more people to get involved in the process and aggressively seek out new givers. It's no fun for anybody."

Bundled money helped Crist raise a record-breaking $19-million in direct contributions. Among the others:

• At least 30 companies owned by Ken Underwood of Ponte Vedra Beach gave the maximum $500 to Crist, for a total of $15,000, and half of the checks were written within days of the firms' creation. Underwood holds a state contract to publish driver safety handbooks.

•Crist received some $6,500 from Miami companies owned by Sergio Pino, a prominent builder and developer and supporter of Republican candidates

. Pino was the subject of a federal public corruption investigation along with Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz.

Massie Ritsch of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group that monitors campaign contributions, said candidates can't raise "astronomical sums" without bundlers.

Often the public learns very little about bundlers, he added.

"We know much more about people who donate $250 than we do about those who raise $250,000," Ritsch said.

Coincidentally, over two days that overlapped with Sargeant's bundling, Crist's campaign also received $4,000 from companies and executives who worked for what was then the nation's largest subprime lender, Ameriquest Mortgage Co.

In 2006, Ameriquest contributed to a number of different state elections with an eye toward changing state lending laws. The company had also just settled a multistate lawsuit, agreeing to pay $325-million after complaints the company cheated customers by inflating appraisals, falsifying income statements and charging unjustified fees.

As Florida's attorney general, Crist had trumpeted the "landmark agreement." Ameriquest no longer lends money and has since been purchased by Citigroup.

"Gov. Crist received support from individuals who worked for national corporations with operations in many states, including Florida, and from others because he was seen as a leader in national policy and an up-and-coming political figure," said Sacramento, Calif., lobbyist Jeff Miller, a former Ameriquest lobbyist who collected such checks.

Tallahassee consultant George LeMieux, Crist's former chief of staff and campaign manager, said there's nothing wrong with bundling contributions, even when it sweeps in donations from troubled businesses or the money of out-of-staters with no apparent interest in the election.

He sees no problems with either the Ameriquest contributions or the ones collected by Sargeant's business associate Jordanian Mustafa Abu Naba.

Both LeMieux and Ballard suggested that had the Sargeant-related contributions come from people with names like "Smith" or "Jones," rather than through a Sargeant associate named Mustafa Abu Naba the media wouldn't be as interested.

Crist said he didn't know about Sargeant's associate. When asked about Naba's connection to his 2006 campaign, Crist said: "Whatever it was, I don't know."
Times researcher Connie Humburg contributed to this report.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article778639.ece

The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/reconstruct/2006/0905profiteers.htm

McCain's Come Fly With Me

2008-08-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

Another item I've noted is McCain yelling he gets no press Humm.
I wonder if this may play a part in this issue?

John McCain Has Pulled the First Class Curtains on the Media

Back during the Republican primary race, John McCain’s Straight Talk Express was a mobile campaign vehicle sporting a horeshoe shaped couch in the rear that let reporters hobnob with McCain in a friendly, informal environment.

Now that McCain has ditched the bus for a plane of his own, he’s subjected to silly FAA laws that prohibit that sort of seating arrangement, less the aircraft suffer turbulence and send a Washington Post reporter flying.

One might think that McCain’s camp, then, would do anything they can to make the press feel as comfortable as possible aboard Straight Talk Air. Perhaps that was the plan — there is a custom-made couch in the press section of the cabin.

But it goes unused, as does most of the flying time where reporters could be peppering the candidate with questions.

In fact, the idea that McCain is enjoying an open relationship with reporters like he once did couldn’t be further from the truth.

Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum
Was aboard Straight Talk Air, and reports on the set up:

I’ve spent three days on the road with McCain this week, and except for a couple of public town-hall meetings, where flashes of his old wit and friskiness shone through, I’ve barely clapped eyes on him.

The forward compartments of his charter 737—his personal seating area in the front, and the “Straight Talk” suite in the middle—are blocked off from the press section in the rear by dark brown curtains. And as soon after takeoff as F.A.A. rules allow, McCain aides pull the drapes tight, so tight that his press secretary, Brooke Buchanan, spent several frustrated minutes this week fiddling in vain with one that drooped ever so slightly off its last hook, leaving a risky sliver of daylight between McCain’s compartment and the cage of the media beast he once not only fed, but tamed.

This is no way to treat his “base,” of course.To be fair, it’s not like Obama has been relaxing in pajamas when dealing with the press. But McCain’s media advantage was that reporters felt comfortable with his open access policy; they became friendly.

Now, while Obama is back on U.S. soil following his mega-covered overseas tour, McCain is once again relegated to the press’ back seat.

Shouldn’t McCain be flying the plane of the political news cycle, not figuratively sitting in coach?
Another event that tends to back up McCains causing his own effect while trying to control it is this event.

Sole Black Reporter Booted from McCain Event
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/2/141655/8118/37/561349

I don't think this was issue of color but just a case he was not part of the group of reporters that McCain felt don.t ask the wrong questions and any one standing up for him was put out to.In all this McCain's draws attention away from his dealing with the really issues.

But in all fairness the Bush is doing ok bing a celebrity this is his second book to come out over the last several months.According to Ron Suskind's new book, the White House is directly implicated in the plot to forge a document, with the intention to lie us into war with Iraq.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12308.html

In a new ad to come out McCain puts out Life in the spotlight must be grand, but for the rest of us, times are tough.

Is he really trying to promote he's in the same boat as the rest of the public. If so he's not looked out his income lately.

Nor has he had to pump his own gas. The closest he's come on that issue is the gas he puts out that he expects us to believe. Which you have different brands of gas depending on what group your in that he wants your vote.

Surly he does not have to make a choice between medicines seniors need to live and food that have to have or a roof over their head. Or the families of every day working people fighting to pay for the gas just to get to work to earn a living . McCains not discussing these issues .

But I guess he can't try to align with the publics view of a family man unless he could pull off asking his wife to lets say flash her wares at several of the religious conventions to win Mis. values award.

Update:

John McCain & Press AccessBy Joel Housman Article courtesy of DailyKOS. There’s just 84 days until the election, but more and more, John McCain’s campaign is doing everything they can to shield their candidate from the press. Apparently fed up with foreign policy blunder, ...

9 Things Can't Bring Up in McCain's Town Meetings

2008-07-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Economics ,Viagra ,Birth Control, Aids ,The New G.I Bill, His stand of Past Issues or Postion he took ,Pledges to run a civil campaign on the Real Issues, Why did he say Obama played the race card,What is his day job.

"The beauty of his words have attracted many people, especially among the young to his campaign," McCain told workers at Wagner Equipment, which rents and sells heavy farm machinery. "My concern with Sen. Obama is with issues big and small. What he says and what he does are often two different things"

What's attracted young people to his words is there not changing with who hes talking to.

McCain seems to be putting out that new young voters as well as the elderly and working people are not ably to see past pl0ys of ads that he has put out such as one of the current ones Bashes Obama for Not Visiting Troops Using Footage of Obama Visiting Troops among others. .

McCain's advisers said they do not intend to back down from the charge, believing it an effective way to create a "narrative" about what they say is Obama's indifference toward the military.

If theres any indifference to be pointed out its the fact that McCains not caring weather his ads our based on fact not .

Even though McCain Seems to think they are as out of touch with the current Technology as he is .

Their not .They are very much in step to the current events around them. They know about subjects like viagra birth control and even if they talked about it would remember their postion they took.

What may surprice McCain most of all is they know what youtube is.

Signing of the GI Bill: Now enthusiastically for it... after it passed. Previously attacked the Webb Bill. Didn't even bother to vote on it. http://bravenewfilms.org/...

Campaign reform: On political reform, McCain last January opposed a grassroots lobbying bill he once supported. In 2006, the "New York Sun" reported that his presidential ambitions led McCain to reverse his support of a campaign financial bill called McCain/Feingold. http://www.nysun.com/

Alien Minors Act/Immigration: Last October he said he would vote against the development, relief and education for Alien Miners Act that he co-sponsored, and then said he would vote against an immigration bill that he introduced. http://www.youtube.com/...

Gay Marriage: In 2006, he said on "HARDBALL," quote, I think that gay marriage should be allowed. Then after the commercial break he added, I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal. http://www.youtube.com/...

Abortion: On abortion, 1999, publicly supporting Roe v. Wade, privately opposing it in a letter to the National Right to Life Committee. In the 2000 debates, he would change the GOP platform to permit exceptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother. May 2007, "flipped", ABCNews.com reported. http://abcnews.go.com/...

Nuclear Waste: No Storing Nuclear waste at Yucca mountain earlier..now flipped http://www.lasvegassun.com/...

Negotiating with Kim Jong-Il: Negotiating with Kim Jong-Il not acceptable until President Bush did it last week. http://bondibox.newsvine.com/...

Negotiating with Cuba/Castro: With Fidel Castro acceptable in 2000, not 2008. http://vids.myspace.com/...

Negotiating with Hamas/Terrorists: ...with terrorists appropriate when Colin Powell went to Syria and in 2006 when McCain said sooner or later we‘ll talk to Hamas, but not appropriate now re: Obama's willingness to use diplomacy. http://bondibox.newsvine.com/...

Pakistan: Unilateral action against suspected terrorists in Pakistan; "Confused leadership" when Obama suggested it, not when Bush did it. http://www.crooksandliars.com/

My Comment: Is this not the same as wanting to open talks?

Warrantless Wire-taps: Six months ago, presidents had to obey the law, not anymore. http://www.nytimes.com/

My comment: One thing comes to mind here Water Gate.

Torture: Torture detainees, no way, except for the CIA. Hold them indefinitely, wrong in 2003, the right move in 2008. http://www.youtube.com/...

Iraq War: The Iraq war, the right course 2004, stay the course 2005. Today, McCain has always been a Rumsfeld critic. http://thinkprogress.org/...

My statement: The troop surge did not work all it did was move the issue from Iraq back to where it was to begain with Afgan. Where the threat was to start with.
This not saying the people of Iraq not being miss treated but if you looked at the numbers of people killed sense they called mission complete. The cure was woorse than the desease.

And it would seem from these current reports that didn't last long.

Baghdad Reporter Posts Youtube Video-Updated w/New

"I came to investigate the American military's report that violence is falling in Baghdad. That life in the city is improving. That the US surge has transformed the city...What I found contradicts all the official reports. Baghdad is a city where one street is at war with the next; where the people are more desparate than I've ever seen them."

Tax Cuts: In 2001, he could not in good conscious support them. Now he can. http://www.youtube.com/...

My comment: I guess he has no good conscious.

Estate Tax: 2006, "I agree with President Roosevelt who created it". In 2008, "most unfair". http://www.crooksandliars.com/...

Privatizing Social Security: This month not for privatizing Social Security, never has been. In 2004, he "didn‘t see how benefits will last without it". http://www.youtube.com/...

Balanced Budget: In February, promised a balanced budget in four years by April, make that eight years. http://www.perrspectives.com/...

Windfall Profits Tax: In May, glad to look at the windfall profits tax. By June, that was Jimmy Carter's big idea. http://flipfloptracker.blogspot.com/...

Offshore Drilling: In 2000, no new off shore drilling. Last month, it would take years to develop. This month, very helpful in the short term. http://thinkprogress.org/...

My comment: If one taking this stance that even a new well that would not be producing for several years would help in the short term. McCain must have ment “Psychological Impact” than taping our stores would make more sense.
Unless there where those who saw a need to save our stores in time of war.
Which brings two statements to mind from McCain "Knowing what we know today still would have gone to war" & "Those dam Gooks will always hate them"

Coyotes..Bush Big Time Fund Raisers: The Bush fund-raisers McCain called coyotes breaking the law in 2000. By 2006, they were co-chairing McCain fund-raisers. http://abcnews.go.com/...

"Agents of Intolerance": Buddy Jerry Falwell...an "agent of intolerance in 2000". Kissed Falwell's ass in 2007... The Reverend Hagee and Parsley in, then out this year alone. http://www.youtube.com/...

Martin Luther King Holiday: In 1983, opposed Martin Luther King Day. Today, all for it. http://www.boston.com/...
This was a current town hall meeting in Panama Fl. Aug. )1,2008

Confederate Flag: In 2000, defended South Carolina's confederate flag as a symbol of heritage. Two years later, McCain calling it, quote, an act of political cowardice not to say the flag should come down. Quote, "everybody said, look out. You can't win in South Carolina if you say that." http://www.youtube.com/...

Evolution in Public Schools: In 2005, McCain said alternatives to evolution should be taught in school. "Evolving" the opposite position he had taken in 2000. http://thinkprogress.org/...
Restoring the Everglades: On June 5, John McCain traveled to the Everglades to win over Floridians and environmentally-minded voters. There he proclaimed, "I am in favor of doing whatever’s necessary to save the Everglades." Sadly, as ThinkProgress documented, McCain not only opposed $2 billion in funding for the restoration of the Everglades national park, he backed President Bush’s veto of the legislation in 2007. "I believe," he said, "that we should be passing a bill that will authorize legitimate, needed projects without sacrificing fiscal responsibility." http://www.crooksandliars.com/...

Swiftboating: McCain's sudden embrace of Swiftboating --- which today is synonymous with a concerted effort to lie about an opponent's history --- is all the more deplorable because he has hired retired Col. George "Bud" Day, a proud member of the group that Swiftboated Kerry --- and someone McCain once described as having "tunnel vision" --- to lead what McCain is calling his "Truth Squad." http://digg.com/...

GITMO/Habeus Corpus:Despite John McCain's outrage last week that the Supreme Court ordered Gitmo detainees know why they were being held, or released -- Political Base has stumbled upon a McCain appearance on Meet the Press in 2005 where he argued they deserved trials, going so far as to say "if it means releasing some of them, you'll have to release them." Shameless. http://www.politicalbase.com/...

Divestment from South Africa: During his June 2 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), John McCain called for the international community to target Iran for the kind of worldwide sanctions regime applied to apartheid-era South Africa. Unfortunately, McCain’s lobbyist-advisers Charlie Black and Rick Davis each represented firms doing business with Tehran. Even more unfortunate, John McCain was frequently not among those offering "moral clarity and conviction" in backing "a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid." http://thinkprogress.org/...

Opposing Hurricane Katrina Investigations: During a June 4th town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, John McCain answered a reporter’s question regarding Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the New Orleans levees by announcing:
"I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground."
As it turns out, not so much. McCain’s revisionist history neglects to mention that in 2005 and 2006 he twice voted against a commission to study the government’s response to Katrina.

But I guess when you have the administraion raising campaign money for you. You would not want to point out their lack of leadership and orgainizational skills on Bush's part.

He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of five months of Medicaid benefits. And as ThinkProgress pointed out, "until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005." http://thinkprogress.org/...

My Comment: The same thing McCain Accused Sen.Obama for not going to see any changes. Or what they being having issues with, Just small things like a roof ,food and water.

McCain On His Economic Abilities: "I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not." "I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military and others. I am very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent."
-- Sen. John McCain, in an interview on ABC News, when asked why he "admitted that you're not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy."
However, NBC News compiles past McCain quotes in which he said "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" or "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/...

On Criticizing Obama While "Overseas": Traveling in Colombia, he told reporters that he wouldn't criticize Obama while he was overseas, but on the plane, he blasted Obama’s opposition to the proposed Colombia free trade... http://blogs.abcnews.com/...

My comment: I guess until his feet hit the ground on the other end to McCain he was fair game??

UPDATES from KOSsacks:
Temperment and Temper: "My temper has often been both a matter of public speculation and personal concern," he wrote in a 2002 memoir. "I have a temper, to state the obvious, which I have tried to control with varying degrees of success because it does not always serve my interest or the public's." Not true and not under control, according to many of those on the "W"rong side of McCain's famous temper. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Drilling For Oil and Automobile Efficiency: "Last week, Senator McCain reversed himself and said we need to drill more.

Today, he has reversed years of failing to support more efficient cars, new energy technologies and green jobs. http://www.speaker.gov/...
Offshore Drilling: Two weeks ago, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered "a bit of a capitulation to the oil companies" by announcing that he would end the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. Not only is McCain’s move a break with environmental activist, but it is also "a reversal of the position he took in his 2000 presidential campaign. http://thinkprogress.org/...

My Comment: That same temperant shows up in other issues.

Kind of like Sen. John McCain insisted that every candidate’s wife “should be treated with respect, and if there’s any disrespectful conduct on the part of anyone, those people should be rejected.
But his comments are more readily applied to his own marriage. You know, what with his vows to wife Cindy and all, one might think he always treats her with respect, and without any disrespectful conduct. If somebody could tell him where, exactly, on the Venn Diagram Of Respect that calling your wife a cunt falls

Payroll Taxes: "When he was asked in 2005 whether he could see himself lifting the cap on the payroll tax, (McCain) said, 'I could.' Two years later, during a May 13, 2007, appearance on "Meet the Press," Russert asked McCain if he was still open to lifting the Social Security tax cap as part of a compromise. "Am I opposed to tax increases?" said McCain.
"Yes. But we've got to sit down together and figure out what our options are, and tough decisions have to be made, Republicans and Democrats. And I know how to do that." Asked about the 2005 remark, a McCain spokesman acknowledged the tension with his current position while arguing that the Arizona senator's criticism of his Democratic rival is still valid because McCain has spoken out against higher Social Security taxes as a 2008 White House hopeful. http://blogs.abcnews.com/...

Ethics Reform and Abramoff: On the stump, Sen. John McCain often cites his work tackling the excesses of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff as evidence of his sturdy ethical compass. A little-known document, however, shows that McCain may have taken steps to protect his Republican colleagues from the scope of his investigation. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Here's a comment after some of the latested ads to appear in McCains campaign from some of his own peers . Joe Klein: I Said McCain Was "Honorable," But "I Was Wrong"
For McCain several aspects could be added to this what he says is not the same to all groups and the truth. "He backs the troops by promoting new G.I bill "

McCain leaves audiences thinking he won't raise taxes no matter what .
"I will not raise your taxes nor support a tax increase. ""I will not do it," at a fund-raiser in Kansas City, Mo., Sen. McCain said "options are on the table" he matter has to be worked out with both parties. Among these options are raising taxes.

McCain says same-sex marriage should be allowed. In the next breath , he says it should be illegal.

McCain's repeated pledges to run a civil campaign on the issues.
In an interview with Chris Matthews, John McCain promised to run a 'clean campaign', and not repeat the nasty Reublican smears of 2004.

Well thats out the window unless you missed the latested atack ad.

John McCain says Barack Obama is like Britney, Paris

Madonna's Song Like a virgin
I think would be more inline with McCain with a few changes.

Like a Like a politician caught in yet another lie .
Like a politician with his you tube so close to mine.

But the biggest point is the ad saying Sen. Obama ignoring the troops is the fact up date: McCain camp admits ad was false they are spending Donated money for campaign ads they know are not true.

After being in several town hall meetings where McCain seemed to spend most of his time avoiding questions the thought that kept coming back to me was his comunication skills coupled to his stance that he would not met with any one unless they agree to all his terms.

Kind of a strange way to go into Foreign affairs issues. Where the word compromise might come up in solving any issue. Opening lines of communication , Conducting himself as he's representing a nation compared to showing anger placing names on them such as Gooks or Cunts.
Saying they have an Mose's complex.

If McCain thinks little of spending money on lies one would have to wonder if he would have just as little thought about how our tax money is spent. Than again we could always just go to war against them.

If you happen to be one of those elusive and much courted evangelical voters, it appears McCain is making fun of their religious beliefs and getting it wrong to boot.
Saying Obama has a Mose's complex. Was he not a leader?

An update for those who see McCain with Family values.

Ah yes his family values, McCain Divorced His Wife for a Rich Hottie McCain,”. Don’t Wear So Much Make-up You C %$%

Presumptive GOP Presidential nominee John McCain's "do anything for a vote" strategy takes him today to the anything-goes town of Sturgis, South Dakota, where the candidate will court the biker vote amid naked beauty pageants, nude mud wrestling events, public nudity and drunken fights.
McCain will speak at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a gathering of 400,000 or more motorcycle riders, hangers on and party girls. McCain's speech is sandwiched in between the "Ringing Wet & Wild" women's mud wrestling event and the Miss Buffalo Chip contest.
McCain but a candidate who also tries to cater to the self-righteous right-wing of the Republican Party may be courting disaster by mixing politics with naked women, drunken brawls and public debauchery.

You missed a lot of news Including the very unpresidential act commited by John McCain at the 68th annual Sturgis Rally at Buffalo Chip campground, when he exploited his wife, Cindy McCain in front of a ”tens of thousands” of cheering bikers:

The Buffalo Chip beauty contest, that McCain was referring to is an “infamously debauched event that’s been known to feature topless women.”
“I encouraged Cindy to compete,” McCain said to cheers. “I told her with a little luck she could be the only woman ever to serve as first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip