STOP the WAR!

Sandy and Denise, thanks for the compliment last thread, and I return it to both of you.

My husband was saying that you can suspend judgment to a point, but then consider the action. What are the consequences and what does the candidate do about them?  For instance, the old definition of insanity: to keep doing the same things and expect different results.  That's certainly been true of the Bush Administration with respect to the war in Iraq, our foreign policy, etc. When Obama makes a decision, that's just part of the process.

The issue of FISA is important, but as I've said before, it's unlikely we're going to tie up the telecoms in court.  Moreover, it's one thing to violate the Constitution on your own and another when your government insists you give it information.  The telecoms are run and owned by right wing republicans; the government controls the granting of licenses; there was an attack on this  country on 9/11 and fear and patriotism were part of the mix. 

The bigger problem is the Unitary Executive and the collusion and corruption by the Justice Dept.  The right to privacy must be re-instated whether or not the telecoms are punished.  It's not an easy or satisfying decision, but it's real, and to ignore reality is what the Bush Administration has done repeatedly, and we are distrustful, cynical, heartbroken.  It will take a master politician to begin the repair and it will take maybe decades.

Obama is a gifted politcian and I believe a good person with a passion to make this a better country.  He is a teacher and we need a teacher; he is eloquent and inspiring for most of us, and we need that after the ugliness, the ineptness, the banality (after 9/11 "Go shopping; go to Disnyeland" by Bush) of this administration.

I don't see a need or maybe the better thought is, it seems unnecessary to insult people on this blog, eg. true beliervers, ga ga over Obama, etc.  It comes off as mean and sour grapes, polluting the discussion.  Why? 

And so, off for a while.  Best wishes for everyone here in this time of turmoil.  We went camping for a few days, and it's wonderful not to be connected 24/7, needed.  It helps put things into a better balance.

I tried to do a main post about this here, but I can't seem to get any pictures to load (I get a pop-up screen that disappears within a couple seconds).

Anyway, pictures of me and family in Unity, NH today posted at HEP:

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/

John McCain has an unusual endorsement — from the Vietnamese jailer who says he held him captive for about five years as a POW and now considers him a friend.

"If I were an American voter, I would vote for Mr. John McCain," Tran Trong Duyet said Friday, sitting in his living room in the northern city of Haiphong, surrounded by black-and-white photos of a much younger version of himself and former Vietnam War prisoners.

At the same time, he denies prisoners of war were tortured. Despite detailed POW accounts and physical wounds, Duyet claims the presumed Republican presidential nominee made up beatings and solitary confinement in an attempt to win votes.

His statements seem to echo the communist leadership's overall line on America: It insists the torture claims are fabricated, but that Vietnam now considers the U.S. a friend and wants to lay the past to rest. Duyet said one of the reasons he likes McCain for president is the candidate's willingness to forgive and look to the future.

Duyet, 75, grew testy during the interview when repeatedly questioned about torture and why so many other former POWs say they too were mistreated. He preferred to talk about McCain as an old buddy.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/27/international/i123707D48.DTL&tsp=1

FOX's smears against Obama are out of control--have you heard about them? I just signed a petition telling FOX that their use of racism and prejudice is not okay. Would be great if you signed too.

First, a paid FOX commentator accidentally confused "Obama" with "Osama" and then joked on the air about killing Obama. Next, a FOX anchor said a playful fist pound by Barack and Michelle Obama could be a "terrorist fist jab." (Seriously!) And then, FOX called Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama"--slang used to describe the unmarried mother of a man's child.

Nearly 100,000 folks have signed a petition that will be delivered to FOX. Can you sign too? The more names, the bigger the impact. Here's the link.

http://pol.moveon.org/stopthesmears/?r_by=13009-5171107-cv9L5Hx&rc=comment_paste

Al Gore called for a non-smear campaign  (my words)

So if posting an article about McC's alleged lies about torture, which may or may not be true, I guess I will go ahead and post this....to be fair to both candidates, neither of which I trust.  This article does NOT reflect my views.  I have no idea what's true or not true anymore, except when someone actually takes action (or not) and makes statements.  Looking at voting records certainly helps.  Whether this story has any legs or not, the question is this:  Why is this man in jail?  Why are people being silenced when they say something s/o doesn't like?  Why are members of this blog criticized for exercising free speech?  Why does not liking or trusting BO translate into hate for him?  Indies look at the issues and watch if words match actions.

***************************

By Webster G. Tarpley

Washington DC, June 21 — Tonight political prisoner Larry Sinclair is spending his fourth night in the DC Jail, the victim of a Gestapo-style enemies’ list operation carried out just three blocks from the White House last Wednesday afternoon.

Sinclair had come to the National Press Club to detail his charges that the self-proclaimed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama had indulged in two homosexual encounters complete with crack cocaine in early November 1999, that Obama was complicit in the December 2007 assassination of Donald Young, the gay choirmaster of Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ, and that’s Obama’s resident perception monger, David Axelrod, had paid the pornographic website Whitehouse.com $750,000 to organize a campaign of character assassination against Sinclair, culminating in a faked polygraph test. At the close of the press conference, Sinclair was arrested inside the press club by US Marshals and DC police, apparently based on an old Delaware warrant.

GESTAPO TACTICS IN THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, THE TEMPLE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT?

Where are the civil libertarians? Where are the paladins of the ACLU? Where is the outcry and the indignation? Is no one concerned about threats to lynch a gay man for political reasons in the heart of the nation’s capital? Where are the left liberals who have been ostensibly so concerned about civil rights and civil liberties from Nixon to Bush-Cheney? Perhaps they are sleeping, or perhaps they have drunk the Obama Kool-Aid and have become morally insane.

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/22/free-larry-sinclair-obama%E2%80%99s-political-prisoner/

Sorry, this PC doesn't link well or maybe it's Firefox.  I'll check.

Again, THE ABOVE ARTICLE DOES NOT REFLECT ANY TRUTH TO MY KNOWLEDGE.  I'M TRYING TO MAKE A POINT ABOUT SLURS. Anyone can write slurs and lies - McC's and BO's statements and actions and votes are telling me who they are.

OK, I switched from Firefox to IE.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/22/free-larry-sinclair-obama%E2%80%99s-political-prisoner/

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/22/free-larry-sinclair-obama%E2%80%99s-political-prisoner/

thanks for your thoughtful posts - you often write almost exactly what I'm thinking needs to be said, but I simply can't find the words to say it as well as you do. but I'll throw in my ten cents anyway!

I think it sucks when folks are insulted simply because they're showing their support for Obama - I don't see any koolaid drinkers here. some will call them names, insult them, try to make them feel small - and simply because they are expressing some hope in this man and this country and perhaps even themselves and damn it that's where every good thing is born - in hope. make fun of it if you want, but hope is a thing of the soul.

I'm not saying give Obama a free ride and I'm not saying don't post your views, whatever they may. I'm just suggesting that you can do it with a little respect for those who don't agree with you. and perhaps give Obama a little benefit of the doubt. no one can predict the future, so claiming what he would do as President is a self-limiting little game - much like the insults, it may make you feel better, but it doesn't do anything to make one single thing in this world better.

Interesting.  I can link on IE but not on Firefox unless it's already highlighted.  Goodness, that might cut into my D&G.  LOL

In January 2005, at the National Press Club Sen. Ted Kennedy called Obama Osama. In January 2007, CNN apologized after confusing Sen. Obama with terrorist Osama bin Laden in an onscreen graphics reading "Where's Obama" Billy Shaheen, former Clinton Co-Chairman raised the issue of Obama's youthful drug use saying he sold cocaine and marijuana. Former Sen. Bob Kerrey issued an apology to Obama after raising the issue of Obama's Muslim background. And after Hillary Clinton accused Obama of dirty politics by issuing campaign literature distorting her stance on universal heathcare and NAFTA a photo of Obama in Somalian garb including a white turban was posted on some Internet websites.

Your words make 'cents' to me.

There's no way Barack can please every one of his constituents. He's not expected to. Some of his stances I don't agree with and would welcome debate. But to come here day after day after day and rant on and on about every knit pickin' thing, is tiring. What is hoped to be accomplished by the ranter? Do they feel better because they came here to bitch slap us? It's a redundant waste of time.

http://democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/25725-a-tribute-to-a-veteran#comments

I watched Keith tonight and he replayed snippets from the Obama/Clinton Unity gathering.  I thought Hillary's body language was less than enthusiastic.