I haven't heard a demographic analysis from anyone else during this recent crisis. This gives some food for thought. Be safe and be well! Love, Mike
Friday, October 31, 2008
What they were saying 2 years ago
Art Laffer and Peter Schiff go at it about the prospects for the economy in Oct. 2006
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Novena for Faithful Citizenship [election prayer]
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
help us to conquer the menace of evil,
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of
the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national
and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin:
individual sin and the “sin of the world,”
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
ALL: Amen.
Text of Novena | Prayer
http://www. faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts
Included in the above link are:
Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts
Catholic social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents, and the depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents.
In our Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts , Paulist Father Larry Rice reflects briefly on the major themes of Catholic social teaching, and how they should shape our lives as citizens of the world and as people of God....
Topics:
Option for the Poor
Peace and Disarmament
Political Participation
Role of Government
Social Justice
Stewardship of Creation
Common Good
Dignity of the Human Person
Economic Justice
Global Solidarity
Individual's Rights
help us to conquer the menace of evil,
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of
the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national
and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin:
individual sin and the “sin of the world,”
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
ALL: Amen.
Text of Novena | Prayer
http://www. faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts
Included in the above link are:
Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts
Catholic social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents, and the depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents.
In our Catholic Social Teaching Principles Podcasts , Paulist Father Larry Rice reflects briefly on the major themes of Catholic social teaching, and how they should shape our lives as citizens of the world and as people of God....
Topics:
Option for the Poor
Peace and Disarmament
Political Participation
Role of Government
Social Justice
Stewardship of Creation
Common Good
Dignity of the Human Person
Economic Justice
Global Solidarity
Individual's Rights
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
And I thought he lacked talent
I always thought a real sense of humor was an indispensible quality in a leader. I may have mis-understimated McCain, in W' Bush lingo. McCain still has it! at least a bit of wit. Maybe he has more redeeming qualities than I had suspected. Love, Mike
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sarah Palin, Freed?
By Perry Bacon Jr.
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- After delivering scripted speeches for much of her candidacy and avoiding contact with reporters, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent about a dozen minutes chatting with the press on her campaign plane tonight -- the first time she has done so as a vice presidential candidate.
It may not quite be letting Sarah be Sarah, as some of her supporters have urged, but it was the most open that she has been on the campaign trail so far.
And, as she traveled through Florida the past couple of days, Palin also spoke to two local television stations. The other three candidates running for national office do this nearly every day, but not Palin -- until this week.
On her campaign plane, she took repeated questions about her emphasis the last few days on William Ayers, the 1960s radical who hosted an event for Barack Obama in 1995 but is not a close adviser to the Democratic nominee. As in her debate performance, she had a turn of phrase she kept repeating, arguing Obama's association with Ayers raised questions about his "judgment" and "forthrightness."
Asked if she was saying Obama was "dishonest," she returned to her theme.
"I'm not saying that he's dishonest," Palin said on the flight from Pensacola, Fla., to Greenville, "but in terms of judgment and in terms of being able to answer questions forthrightly, it has two different parts to this, that judgment and that truthfulness and just being able to answer very candidly a simple question about when did you know him, how did you know him, has been there been an association continued since '02 or '05. We've heard a couple of different stories. I think it's relevant."
She batted back questions about whether Americans were tired of divisive politics and wanted to hear more about the economy by saying Obama's comments about Ayers were related to those issues.
"It makes you wonder about the forthrightedness, the truthfulness of the plans that he is telling America in regards to the economic recovery because that is first and foremost on American's minds," she said.
In her conversation with reporters, Palin also explained her husband Todd's decision to testify in the investigation into her firing of the Alaska director of public safety, who had refused to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
"Nobody has anything to hide," she said. "Nobody's done anything wrong."
The governor referred to the incident as "Tasergate," referring to allegations that her former brother-in-law used a taser on his 11-year-old stepson, instead of what her critics call "Troopergate."
Asked if she would appear on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey, who even Obama has noted shares a strong resemblance to the Palin, the Alaska governor smiled.
"She's a hoot and she's so talented and it would be fun to either imitate her or keep on giving her more material and keep her in business," Palin said....
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/08/sarah_palin_freed.html
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- After delivering scripted speeches for much of her candidacy and avoiding contact with reporters, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent about a dozen minutes chatting with the press on her campaign plane tonight -- the first time she has done so as a vice presidential candidate.
It may not quite be letting Sarah be Sarah, as some of her supporters have urged, but it was the most open that she has been on the campaign trail so far.
And, as she traveled through Florida the past couple of days, Palin also spoke to two local television stations. The other three candidates running for national office do this nearly every day, but not Palin -- until this week.
On her campaign plane, she took repeated questions about her emphasis the last few days on William Ayers, the 1960s radical who hosted an event for Barack Obama in 1995 but is not a close adviser to the Democratic nominee. As in her debate performance, she had a turn of phrase she kept repeating, arguing Obama's association with Ayers raised questions about his "judgment" and "forthrightness."
Asked if she was saying Obama was "dishonest," she returned to her theme.
"I'm not saying that he's dishonest," Palin said on the flight from Pensacola, Fla., to Greenville, "but in terms of judgment and in terms of being able to answer questions forthrightly, it has two different parts to this, that judgment and that truthfulness and just being able to answer very candidly a simple question about when did you know him, how did you know him, has been there been an association continued since '02 or '05. We've heard a couple of different stories. I think it's relevant."
She batted back questions about whether Americans were tired of divisive politics and wanted to hear more about the economy by saying Obama's comments about Ayers were related to those issues.
"It makes you wonder about the forthrightedness, the truthfulness of the plans that he is telling America in regards to the economic recovery because that is first and foremost on American's minds," she said.
In her conversation with reporters, Palin also explained her husband Todd's decision to testify in the investigation into her firing of the Alaska director of public safety, who had refused to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
"Nobody has anything to hide," she said. "Nobody's done anything wrong."
The governor referred to the incident as "Tasergate," referring to allegations that her former brother-in-law used a taser on his 11-year-old stepson, instead of what her critics call "Troopergate."
Asked if she would appear on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey, who even Obama has noted shares a strong resemblance to the Palin, the Alaska governor smiled.
"She's a hoot and she's so talented and it would be fun to either imitate her or keep on giving her more material and keep her in business," Palin said....
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/08/sarah_palin_freed.html
"Who Is The Real Barack Obama?"
Obama repeatedly promised “fundamental change” in the second debate, but otherwise portrayed himself as the embodiment of moderation, nay, even a kind of conservatism. In his own telling, he wants to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, reduce spending, preserve but improve the current health-care system and win the war in Afghanistan while prudently drawing down troops in Iraq.
In the first debate, he said John McCain was “absolutely right” about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq and the danger of a nuclear Iran. At times, he seemed determined to be the first presidential candidate to win a debate on the basis of sheer agreeability.
The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory. If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history. FDR and LBJ had raging Democratic majorities in Congress early in their presidencies, with which they forged massive increases in the size of government. But that was before the post-Vietnam culture revolution in the Democratic Party that produced a leftward lurch on social issues and a reflexive hostility to American power. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also had Democratic majorities, but they both consistently ran as, and had records as, Southern moderates.
But no one can know whether Obama is the leftist his associations suggest, or the irenic uniter of his iconic 2004 convention speech; whether he’s the down-the-line liberal who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as enthralled liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever - Bill Ayers or the swing voter in Ohio - can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.
When McCain asks, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it is taken as a desperate smear. But it’s a question even Democrats don’t know how to answer. We’ll find out with more certainty only if Obama is elected and has to make tough governing choices. Until then - no sudden moves.
By Rich Lowry, National Review
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/10/opinion/main4513379.shtml
In the first debate, he said John McCain was “absolutely right” about the need for more government accountability, for fewer earmarks and for spending cuts, and about the success of the surge in reducing violence in Iraq and the danger of a nuclear Iran. At times, he seemed determined to be the first presidential candidate to win a debate on the basis of sheer agreeability.
The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory. If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history. FDR and LBJ had raging Democratic majorities in Congress early in their presidencies, with which they forged massive increases in the size of government. But that was before the post-Vietnam culture revolution in the Democratic Party that produced a leftward lurch on social issues and a reflexive hostility to American power. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also had Democratic majorities, but they both consistently ran as, and had records as, Southern moderates.
But no one can know whether Obama is the leftist his associations suggest, or the irenic uniter of his iconic 2004 convention speech; whether he’s the down-the-line liberal who kowtowed to the base of his own party in the Democratic primaries, or the pragmatist who readjusted to the center as soon as enthralled liberals handed him the nomination. The consistent line running through his career is opportunism, a willingness to accommodate whoever - Bill Ayers or the swing voter in Ohio - can help him up the next rung in his ladder of ambition at any juncture.
When McCain asks, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it is taken as a desperate smear. But it’s a question even Democrats don’t know how to answer. We’ll find out with more certainty only if Obama is elected and has to make tough governing choices. Until then - no sudden moves.
By Rich Lowry, National Review
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/10/opinion/main4513379.shtml
"Ayers Controversy First Smoldered, Now Flares Bright"
... The Ayers-Obama story has taken many twists as it moved from a topic in right-leaning media circles earlier this year to its recent prominence in the Republican ticket’s campaign.
As late as February, discussion seemed limited to the political blogosphere. Conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh also began giving attention to the Ayers-Obama ties, and momentum picked up.
The story jumped prominently into the media mainstream when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Sen. Obama about it during an April 16 Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Sen. Obama, in the nationally broadcast debate, downplayed their connection, referring to Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” and “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” He would later more explicitly condemn Mr. Ayers’ past actions.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s last remaining rival for the party’s presidential nomination, said that the question was legitimate, and she predicted: “I think that this is an issue that, certainly, the Republicans will be raising.”
In fact, four days later, Sen. McCain appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and said Sen. Obama’s connection to Mr. Ayers was “open to question.”
Hitting a Plateau
At that point, the flap over the Obama-Ayers connection appeared to plateau....
“If Hillary brought it up, it gives McCain more justification,” Mr. Edsall said, “that ‘we’re just raising a point a Democrat raised.’ ”
To be sure, the issue never really disappeared.
During the summer, two critics of Sen. Obama published books about him, devoting some of their pages to the Ayers-Obama issue—and ending up on the New York Times bestseller list.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/15/08ayers_ep.h28.html
Related: "When It Comes to Ayers, It is Participation that Matters"
As late as February, discussion seemed limited to the political blogosphere. Conservative talk-show hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh also began giving attention to the Ayers-Obama ties, and momentum picked up.
The story jumped prominently into the media mainstream when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Sen. Obama about it during an April 16 Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Sen. Obama, in the nationally broadcast debate, downplayed their connection, referring to Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” and “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” He would later more explicitly condemn Mr. Ayers’ past actions.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s last remaining rival for the party’s presidential nomination, said that the question was legitimate, and she predicted: “I think that this is an issue that, certainly, the Republicans will be raising.”
In fact, four days later, Sen. McCain appeared on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and said Sen. Obama’s connection to Mr. Ayers was “open to question.”
Hitting a Plateau
At that point, the flap over the Obama-Ayers connection appeared to plateau....
“If Hillary brought it up, it gives McCain more justification,” Mr. Edsall said, “that ‘we’re just raising a point a Democrat raised.’ ”
To be sure, the issue never really disappeared.
During the summer, two critics of Sen. Obama published books about him, devoting some of their pages to the Ayers-Obama issue—and ending up on the New York Times bestseller list.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/15/08ayers_ep.h28.html
Related: "When It Comes to Ayers, It is Participation that Matters"
Thursday, October 9, 2008
McCain campaign outlines mortgage-rescue plan
Carolyn Said, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sen. John McCain's plan to help people avoid foreclosure drew praise from liberals for tackling the problem's source, while conservatives called it a government subsidy of irresponsible lenders and borrowers.
During Tuesday's presidential debate, McCain, the Republican nominee, said he would order the Treasury secretary "to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate (them) at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes."
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior domestic policy adviser, said on Wednesday that McCain's plan calls for the government to pay full face value for troubled mortgages on properties that are now worth less than the loans. That's a big distinction from a congressional plan that took effect on Oct. 1 and requires lenders to take a significant loss, reducing the loan values to 90 percent of the homes' current appraised values. Another key difference: Congress' plan requires homeowners who receive a refinanced loan to share any future appreciation in home value with the government; McCain's plan does not.
Holtz-Eakin said that under McCain's plan, homeowners would get new fixed-rate mortgages based on the homes' current value with an interest rate of about 5 percent, a percentage point less than the average current rate. The government would pay the difference between the original mortgage amount and what the homes are now worth.
Avoiding foreclosure
Holtz-Eakin said the goal is to directly help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures and their damaging effects on neighborhoods, as well as to stabilize the values of homes and mortgage-backed securities....
The McCain campaign said the plan's $300 billion cost would come out of existing appropriations - the $700 bailout bill and the $300 billion Congress allocated this summer for a plan called Help for Homeowners, to be run by the Federal Housing Administration.
"Is it expensive?" McCain said during the debate. "Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy, and we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America."...
McCain's plan
-- The government would purchase mortgages at their full face value.
-- Borrowers would refinance mortgages with fixed-rate loans for the homes' current market value at interest rates about 5 percent.
-- Eligible borrowers must live in the home, have made a down payment and not have falsified information to get the original loan.
-- $300 billion cost would come from the $700 billion bailout plan and the $300 billion Help for Homeowners FHA refinance program.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/09/BU9B13DNI7.DTL
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sen. John McCain's plan to help people avoid foreclosure drew praise from liberals for tackling the problem's source, while conservatives called it a government subsidy of irresponsible lenders and borrowers.
During Tuesday's presidential debate, McCain, the Republican nominee, said he would order the Treasury secretary "to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate (them) at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes."
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior domestic policy adviser, said on Wednesday that McCain's plan calls for the government to pay full face value for troubled mortgages on properties that are now worth less than the loans. That's a big distinction from a congressional plan that took effect on Oct. 1 and requires lenders to take a significant loss, reducing the loan values to 90 percent of the homes' current appraised values. Another key difference: Congress' plan requires homeowners who receive a refinanced loan to share any future appreciation in home value with the government; McCain's plan does not.
Holtz-Eakin said that under McCain's plan, homeowners would get new fixed-rate mortgages based on the homes' current value with an interest rate of about 5 percent, a percentage point less than the average current rate. The government would pay the difference between the original mortgage amount and what the homes are now worth.
Avoiding foreclosure
Holtz-Eakin said the goal is to directly help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures and their damaging effects on neighborhoods, as well as to stabilize the values of homes and mortgage-backed securities....
The McCain campaign said the plan's $300 billion cost would come out of existing appropriations - the $700 bailout bill and the $300 billion Congress allocated this summer for a plan called Help for Homeowners, to be run by the Federal Housing Administration.
"Is it expensive?" McCain said during the debate. "Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy, and we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America."...
McCain's plan
-- The government would purchase mortgages at their full face value.
-- Borrowers would refinance mortgages with fixed-rate loans for the homes' current market value at interest rates about 5 percent.
-- Eligible borrowers must live in the home, have made a down payment and not have falsified information to get the original loan.
-- $300 billion cost would come from the $700 billion bailout plan and the $300 billion Help for Homeowners FHA refinance program.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/09/BU9B13DNI7.DTL
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Palin's "Nobody's Dummy"
Liberals underestimate Sarah Palin's vitality and -- yes -- smarts at their own peril. ...
By Camille Paglia
... Yes, both Todd and Sarah Palin, whom most people in the U.S. and abroad had never even heard of until six weeks ago, have emerged as powerful new symbols of a revived contemporary feminism. That the macho Todd, with his champion athleticism and working-class cred, can so amiably cradle babies and care for children is a huge step forward in American sexual symbolism.
Although nothing will sway my vote for Obama, I continue to enjoy Sarah Palin's performance on the national stage. During her vice-presidential debate last week with Joe Biden (whose conspiratorial smiles with moderator Gwen Ifill were outrageous and condescending toward his opponent), I laughed heartily at Palin's digs and slams and marveled at the way she slowly took over the entire event. I was sorry when it ended! But Biden wasn't -- judging by his Gore-like sighs and his slow sinking like a punctured blimp. Of course Biden won on points, but TV (a visual medium) never cares about that.
The mountain of rubbish poured out about Palin over the past month would rival Everest. What a disgrace for our jabbering army of liberal journalists and commentators, too many of whom behaved like snippy jackasses. The bourgeois conventionalism and rank snobbery of these alleged humanitarians stank up the place. As for Palin's brutally edited interviews with Charlie Gibson and that viper, Katie Couric, don't we all know that the best bits ended up on the cutting-room floor? Something has gone seriously wrong with Democratic ideology, which seems to have become a candied set of holier-than-thou bromides attached like tutti-frutti to a quivering green Jell-O mold of adolescent sentimentality.
And where is all that lurid sexual fantasy coming from? When I watch Sarah Palin, I don't think sex -- I think Amazon warrior! I admire her competitive spirit and her exuberant vitality, which borders on the supernormal. The question that keeps popping up for me is whether Palin, who was born in Idaho, could possibly be part Native American (as we know her husband is), which sometimes seems suggested by her strong facial contours. I have felt that same extraordinary energy and hyper-alertness billowing out from other women with Native American ancestry -- including two overpowering celebrity icons with whom I have worked.
One of the most idiotic allegations batting around out there among urban media insiders is that Palin is "dumb." Are they kidding? What level of stupidity is now par for the course in those musty circles? (The value of Ivy League degrees, like sub-prime mortgages, has certainly been plummeting. As a Yale Ph.D., I have a perfect right to my scorn.) People who can't see how smart Palin is are trapped in their own narrow parochialism -- the tedious, hackneyed forms of their upper-middle-class syntax and vocabulary.
As someone whose first seven years were spent among Italian-American immigrants (I never met an elderly person who spoke English until we moved from Endicott to rural Oxford, New York, when I was in first grade), I am very used to understanding meaning through what might seem to others to be outlandish or fractured variations on standard English. Furthermore, I have spent virtually my entire teaching career (nearly four decades) in arts colleges, where the expressiveness of highly talented students in dance, music and the visual arts takes a hundred different forms. Finally, as a lover of poetry (my last book was about that), I savor every kind of experimentation with standard English -- beginning with Shakespeare, who was the greatest improviser of them all at a time when there were no grammar rules.
Many others listening to Sarah Palin at her debate went into conniptions about what they assailed as her incoherence or incompetence. But I was never in doubt about what she intended at any given moment. On the contrary, I was admiring not only her always shapely and syncopated syllables but the innate structures of her discourse -- which did seem to fly by in fragments at times but are plainly ready to be filled with deeper policy knowledge, as she gains it (hopefully over the next eight years of the Obama presidencies). This is a tremendously talented politician whose moment has not yet come. That she holds views completely opposed to mine is irrelevant.
Even if she disappears from the scene forever after a McCain defeat, Palin will still have made an enormous and lasting contribution to feminism. As I said in my last column, Palin has made the biggest step forward in reshaping the persona of female authority since Madonna danced her dominatrix way through the shattered puritan barricades of the feminist establishment....
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/10/08/palin/index1.html
By Camille Paglia
... Yes, both Todd and Sarah Palin, whom most people in the U.S. and abroad had never even heard of until six weeks ago, have emerged as powerful new symbols of a revived contemporary feminism. That the macho Todd, with his champion athleticism and working-class cred, can so amiably cradle babies and care for children is a huge step forward in American sexual symbolism.
Although nothing will sway my vote for Obama, I continue to enjoy Sarah Palin's performance on the national stage. During her vice-presidential debate last week with Joe Biden (whose conspiratorial smiles with moderator Gwen Ifill were outrageous and condescending toward his opponent), I laughed heartily at Palin's digs and slams and marveled at the way she slowly took over the entire event. I was sorry when it ended! But Biden wasn't -- judging by his Gore-like sighs and his slow sinking like a punctured blimp. Of course Biden won on points, but TV (a visual medium) never cares about that.
The mountain of rubbish poured out about Palin over the past month would rival Everest. What a disgrace for our jabbering army of liberal journalists and commentators, too many of whom behaved like snippy jackasses. The bourgeois conventionalism and rank snobbery of these alleged humanitarians stank up the place. As for Palin's brutally edited interviews with Charlie Gibson and that viper, Katie Couric, don't we all know that the best bits ended up on the cutting-room floor? Something has gone seriously wrong with Democratic ideology, which seems to have become a candied set of holier-than-thou bromides attached like tutti-frutti to a quivering green Jell-O mold of adolescent sentimentality.
And where is all that lurid sexual fantasy coming from? When I watch Sarah Palin, I don't think sex -- I think Amazon warrior! I admire her competitive spirit and her exuberant vitality, which borders on the supernormal. The question that keeps popping up for me is whether Palin, who was born in Idaho, could possibly be part Native American (as we know her husband is), which sometimes seems suggested by her strong facial contours. I have felt that same extraordinary energy and hyper-alertness billowing out from other women with Native American ancestry -- including two overpowering celebrity icons with whom I have worked.
One of the most idiotic allegations batting around out there among urban media insiders is that Palin is "dumb." Are they kidding? What level of stupidity is now par for the course in those musty circles? (The value of Ivy League degrees, like sub-prime mortgages, has certainly been plummeting. As a Yale Ph.D., I have a perfect right to my scorn.) People who can't see how smart Palin is are trapped in their own narrow parochialism -- the tedious, hackneyed forms of their upper-middle-class syntax and vocabulary.
As someone whose first seven years were spent among Italian-American immigrants (I never met an elderly person who spoke English until we moved from Endicott to rural Oxford, New York, when I was in first grade), I am very used to understanding meaning through what might seem to others to be outlandish or fractured variations on standard English. Furthermore, I have spent virtually my entire teaching career (nearly four decades) in arts colleges, where the expressiveness of highly talented students in dance, music and the visual arts takes a hundred different forms. Finally, as a lover of poetry (my last book was about that), I savor every kind of experimentation with standard English -- beginning with Shakespeare, who was the greatest improviser of them all at a time when there were no grammar rules.
Many others listening to Sarah Palin at her debate went into conniptions about what they assailed as her incoherence or incompetence. But I was never in doubt about what she intended at any given moment. On the contrary, I was admiring not only her always shapely and syncopated syllables but the innate structures of her discourse -- which did seem to fly by in fragments at times but are plainly ready to be filled with deeper policy knowledge, as she gains it (hopefully over the next eight years of the Obama presidencies). This is a tremendously talented politician whose moment has not yet come. That she holds views completely opposed to mine is irrelevant.
Even if she disappears from the scene forever after a McCain defeat, Palin will still have made an enormous and lasting contribution to feminism. As I said in my last column, Palin has made the biggest step forward in reshaping the persona of female authority since Madonna danced her dominatrix way through the shattered puritan barricades of the feminist establishment....
The next phase of feminism must circle back and reappropriate the ancient persona of the mother — without losing career ambition or power of assertion. Betty Friedan, who had first attacked the cult of postwar domesticity, had long warned second-wave feminists such as Gloria Steinem about the damaging exclusion of homemakers from their value system. The animus of liberal feminists toward religion must also end (I am speaking as an atheist). Feminism must reexamine all of its assumptions, including its death grip on abortion, if it wishes to survive.
The hysterical emotionalism and eruptions of amoral malice at the arrival of Sarah Palin exposed the weaknesses and limitations of current feminism. But I am convinced that Palin’s bracing mix of male and female voices, as well as her grounding in frontier grit and audacity, will prove to be a galvanizing influence on aspiring Democratic women politicians too, from the municipal level on up. Palin has shown a brand-new way of defining female ambition — without losing femininity, spontaneity or humor. She’s no pre-programmed wonk of the backstage Hillary Clinton school; she’s pugnacious and self-created, the product of no educational or political elite — which is why her outsider style has been so hard for media lemmings to comprehend. And by the way, I think Tina Fey’s witty impersonations of Palin have been fabulous. But while Fey has nailed Palin’s cadences and charm, she can’t capture the energy, which is a force of nature....
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/10/08/palin/index1.html
Shelly Mandell, president of LA NOW endorses Palin
Palin was introduced by Shelly Mandell, president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Organization for Women, who described herself as a lifelong Democrat.
In rarity for a Republican event, Mandell bragged about her efforts campaigning for the failed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and her support for Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984.
"I know Sarah Palin cares about women's rights," Mandell said. "As vice president, she will fight for you. She cares about our children and she cares about women's lives."
(Fox news LA)
CARSON, Calif., 4 October 2008 -- This is not typical Republican territory, but Sarah Palin temporarily changed the demographics Saturday by filling the Home Depot Center with more than 13,000 enthusiastic supporters. The unusual location was matched with a surprise introduction by Shelly Mandell, president of the National Association of Women (NOW) Los Angeles chapter. "I'm proud to support Sarah Palin...a woman who will fight for woman's rights, a woman who will fight for the middle class" she said. "Sarah Palin has what it takes to lead [the] charge...This is what a feminist looks like"
Ms. Mandell made it clear she was speaking as an individual and not as a representative of NOW, which has officially endorsed Barack Obama for president. Palin took the stage with a less rigid interpretation, however, as she thanked Mandell for both the "introduction" and "endorsement" from the self-proclaimed life-long Democrat.
(Huffington Post)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
"Is Palin Ready to be Vice President (President)"
Video poster included this commentary:
Is Palin ready to lead?
John McCain's surprise selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate raises two obvious questions: What does she do for McCain's chances of winning? And, more important, what would she do for America if elected?
As for the first question, most of the instant analysis focused on Palin's potential to attract votes from Hillary Clinton's disaffected core. But Palin's staunchly conservative views on abortion, gun control and teaching creationism in schools make her an unlikely fit for those voters.
More plausibly, McCain saw Palin as a way to energize evangelical Christians in the Republican base while appealing to white female independents, a key voting bloc that makes up about 14% of the electorate and has been evenly divided in polls between McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. As a fresh face from outside Washington with a reputation as a reformer, Palin helps burnish McCain's credentials as a maverick in a year when voters want change.
As for the second question, which goes to the heart of whether Palin is qualified to take over the presidency, the available evidence gives us significant pause.
McCain and his supporters point to Palin's "executive experience" as a small-city mayor and, for the past two years, governor of Alaska. But the type of experience that matters most in the White House is the deep knowledge that can inform key decisions and responses to crises.
Here, Palin faces a steep learning curve. As governor, she has had little reason to involve herself with many domestic policy issues apart from energy. She has had no reason to become versed in foreign policy and national security issues. She will have to take a crash course in these subjects while enduring the baptism by fire that a condensed presidential election season will present. Monday's disclosure that her unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant is an example of the intense scrutiny the process generates.
The argument that Palin's résumé is as strong as, if not stronger than, Obama's is not particularly reassuring. The two are different shades of green.
Obama served eight years in the Illinois Senate and has been in the U.S. Senate for less than four. Unlike Palin, though, he spent the past year and a half answering the question about his fitness by immersing himself in issues and winning a grueling series of primary contests that involved dozens of debates, months of negative campaigning and numerous controversies about his background and associations.
Palin might still be able to establish her big-league credentials, but the window of opportunity is small and closing fast. The election is just nine weeks from today. In that time, she will have to introduce herself to the voters — and to McCain, whom she met only twice before Friday's announcement.
Given that McCain has described his Democratic opponent as unready to lead and called the fight against Islamic extremism as "the transcendent challenge of our time," his choice of Palin is puzzling.
At this week's GOP convention and in the weeks that follow, Palin will face a barrage of additional questions about her ability to grasp the issues and perform under trying circumstances. How she answers them will help determine whether her selection was a stroke of brilliance or a reckless gamble.
Posted at 12:21 AM/ET, September 02, 2008 in Election 2008 - Editorial, People - Editorial, USA TODAY
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/09/is-palin-ready.html
Monday, October 6, 2008
"Sarah Palin visits the Bay Area"
(video here)
BURLINGAME, CA (KGO) -- A large crowd of supporters and protestors of Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin turned out on the Peninsula for the Republican vice presidential candidate's only Bay Area appearance.
Just before arriving at a Bay Area fundraiser, Palin defended her comments made on Saturday when she accused Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of consorting with a terrorist.
"I think it's fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career in this guy's living room. And he, of course, being associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group," Palin said Palin was referring to Obama's ties with Bill Ayers. Ayers was a founder of the Weather Underground, a radical group during the Vietnam War era. Obama was eight years old during that time. The senator and Ayers now live near each other in Chicago and both worked together at the same Chicago charity in the mid 1990s.
Sunday morning, Palin arrived for a fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. The streets were lined with a few hundred equally divided and vocal Obama and McCain supporters. Obama supporters thought that Palin's attack Saturday was a sign of McCain's failing campaign.
"I think it's a desperation attack on Obama," said Kathy Lanahan, an Obama supporter.
"It's not an attack. It's an expression of 'we gotta know who we're supporting,'" said McCain supporter Leo Locayo who believes Palin was correct in her criticism of Obama's associations.
Sunday's event was attended by some 600 to 800 people. Locayo says this event will line the Republican coffers for the few weeks left of the race.
"I won't give you a figure, but it's in the millions and it's necessary to take the message to the people and that's what it's all about," said Locayo ...
From a commentor on the article:
... It might be responsible to mention that Obama and Ayres worked together for several years in Chicago at the Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in the 1990's. Ayres, unrepentant, re-asserted his terrorist leanings in 2001, on Sep 11 after the WTC bombings where he stated that he regretted not having done enough (bombings). Quite an omission.
BURLINGAME, CA (KGO) -- A large crowd of supporters and protestors of Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin turned out on the Peninsula for the Republican vice presidential candidate's only Bay Area appearance.
Just before arriving at a Bay Area fundraiser, Palin defended her comments made on Saturday when she accused Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of consorting with a terrorist.
"I think it's fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career in this guy's living room. And he, of course, being associated with that group, a known domestic terrorist group," Palin said Palin was referring to Obama's ties with Bill Ayers. Ayers was a founder of the Weather Underground, a radical group during the Vietnam War era. Obama was eight years old during that time. The senator and Ayers now live near each other in Chicago and both worked together at the same Chicago charity in the mid 1990s.
Sunday morning, Palin arrived for a fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. The streets were lined with a few hundred equally divided and vocal Obama and McCain supporters. Obama supporters thought that Palin's attack Saturday was a sign of McCain's failing campaign.
"I think it's a desperation attack on Obama," said Kathy Lanahan, an Obama supporter.
"It's not an attack. It's an expression of 'we gotta know who we're supporting,'" said McCain supporter Leo Locayo who believes Palin was correct in her criticism of Obama's associations.
Sunday's event was attended by some 600 to 800 people. Locayo says this event will line the Republican coffers for the few weeks left of the race.
"I won't give you a figure, but it's in the millions and it's necessary to take the message to the people and that's what it's all about," said Locayo ...
From a commentor on the article:
... It might be responsible to mention that Obama and Ayres worked together for several years in Chicago at the Woods Fund and the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in the 1990's. Ayres, unrepentant, re-asserted his terrorist leanings in 2001, on Sep 11 after the WTC bombings where he stated that he regretted not having done enough (bombings). Quite an omission.
"Palin's Presence Shatters Fund-Raising Record in California"
Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin touched down in San Francisco on Sunday and arrived at a record-shattering fund-raiser at the Hyatt Hotel near the airport.
She was greeted by several dozen protestors, or as I can them “Palin Pouters.”
It was the usual suspects, Code Pinkos, MoveOn.org types as well as a few dopes just out to get their mugs on TV.
On the other side of the street, McCain/Palin supporters turned out. And they outnumbered the “Palin Pouters” 5 to 1. Maybe more.
They were happy warriors for the GOP. They laughed, smiled, and chanted USA USA USA and switched over to SARAH SARAH SARAH.
Inside the hotel, 1500 well-heeled Republican donors had brunch, and waited for Sarah. And waited. Finally, she took the stage.
The McCain campaign raised big $$$ at this fund-raiser, some say it totaled more than two million bucks, which broke the record for a GOP fund-raiser in California. Sarah Palin can pack them in!
The funniest line of the day came when Governor Palin confided to the crowd that a lot of people asked her why she did “so lousy with Katie Couric?”
She replied “it was job security for Tina Fey.” That brought a huge laugh.
Palin had the crowd eating out of her hand. She was given standing o’s several times. Everyone was happy to see her, and she was happy to see us. We watched a supremely confident woman, dressed in a dark quasi military sheath, decorated by a rhinestone ARMY insignia to honor her son Track, who is now in Iraq.
Here is a picture of Elizabeth Myers, of San Jose. She invited me to be her guest, alongwith Brian Sussman of KSFO, and Catherine Moy, Executive Director of Move America Forward. I am very grateful she did. Elizabeth is a gracious and warm woman.
(click for photos)
Melanie Morgan, SF radio and TV
She was greeted by several dozen protestors, or as I can them “Palin Pouters.”
It was the usual suspects, Code Pinkos, MoveOn.org types as well as a few dopes just out to get their mugs on TV.
On the other side of the street, McCain/Palin supporters turned out. And they outnumbered the “Palin Pouters” 5 to 1. Maybe more.
They were happy warriors for the GOP. They laughed, smiled, and chanted USA USA USA and switched over to SARAH SARAH SARAH.
Inside the hotel, 1500 well-heeled Republican donors had brunch, and waited for Sarah. And waited. Finally, she took the stage.
The McCain campaign raised big $$$ at this fund-raiser, some say it totaled more than two million bucks, which broke the record for a GOP fund-raiser in California. Sarah Palin can pack them in!
The funniest line of the day came when Governor Palin confided to the crowd that a lot of people asked her why she did “so lousy with Katie Couric?”
She replied “it was job security for Tina Fey.” That brought a huge laugh.
Palin had the crowd eating out of her hand. She was given standing o’s several times. Everyone was happy to see her, and she was happy to see us. We watched a supremely confident woman, dressed in a dark quasi military sheath, decorated by a rhinestone ARMY insignia to honor her son Track, who is now in Iraq.
Here is a picture of Elizabeth Myers, of San Jose. She invited me to be her guest, alongwith Brian Sussman of KSFO, and Catherine Moy, Executive Director of Move America Forward. I am very grateful she did. Elizabeth is a gracious and warm woman.
(click for photos)
Melanie Morgan, SF radio and TV
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Freedom of Choice Act [tramples states' rights]
"The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do."
-- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007
(from National Right to Life website)
"Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
Following the Supreme Court's closely divided and bitter decision upholding the Federal Abortion Ban, it is clear that the right to choose is facing a new level of assault. That's why the pro-choice community is working to guarantee the right to choose through the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) – a measure that will codify Roe v. Wade and guarantee the right to choose for future generations of women."
(from NARAL Pro-Choice America website)
If FOCA was passed it would automatically overturn:
-- State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
-- Forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement
-- Forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions
-- Forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
-- Twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions
-- Thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortions
-- Thirty-three states' laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
-- Sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
("Freedom of Choice Act Would Remove All Limitations on Abortions")
Text of HR 1964 (Freedom of Choice Act)
All Cosponsors from All States
Bill Name: "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA)
Bill Number: H.R.1964
(here are the 105(1 R, 104 D) Co-sponsors of the bill)
[You can send a message to them at link above]
Summary:
Sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA), the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA) would invalidate any federal, state, or local government law, regulation, policy, or action that would "deny or interfere with" a woman's access to abortion prior to "viability," or which would "discriminate against the exercise of" this right in the regulation or provision of any "benefits, facilities, services, or information."
This ban would apply absolutely prior to fetal "viability," and also apply after "viability" to any abortion sought on grounds of "health," which is not defined in the bill and which therefore would include any physical or emotional factor whatsoever.
Although sometimes referred to as a bill to "codify Roe v. Wade," this is misleading, because -- the sponsors of the bill have acknowledged that it would invalidate many laws that have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court under Roe v. Wade, including laws restricting government funding of abortion, limits on abortion in public or military faclities, full-disclosure counseling requirements, and bans on partial-birth abortion.
It would also invalidate all laws requiring parental or judicial notification or consent for abortions performed on minors, laws that permit health care providers to opt out of participation in abortion on conscience grounds, laws prohibiting non-physicians from performing abortions, and waiting periods.
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=9653451&size=full
The Senate has introduced a version too:
Senate bill #S. 1173:
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=9668701&size=full
(Senate bill text)
Excerpt from "Freedom of Choice Act Would Remove All Limitations on Abortions":
When a candidate pledges to ... "sign immediately upon taking office" - the Freedom of Choice Act, Catholics and all people of good will have cause to question the sincerity of the candidate's determination to reduce abortions, when these already existing limits have caused a decrease of more than 100,000 abortions each year....
If FOCA was passed it would automatically overturn:
-- State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
-- Forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement
-- Forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions
-- Forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
-- Twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions
-- Thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortions
-- Thirty-three states' laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
-- Sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
There is evidence of a very significant reduction of reported abortions, particularly among teens, through the passage of parental involvement laws and the use of ultrasounds. The August, 2008, report of the Alan Guttmacher Institute notes the greatest decline in abortions over the last 30 years is among teens, attributable in large part to the above restrictions, as well as a later initiation of sexual activity....
-- Bishop Robert W. Finn
Kansas City-St. Joseph
-- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007
(from National Right to Life website)
"Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)
Following the Supreme Court's closely divided and bitter decision upholding the Federal Abortion Ban, it is clear that the right to choose is facing a new level of assault. That's why the pro-choice community is working to guarantee the right to choose through the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) – a measure that will codify Roe v. Wade and guarantee the right to choose for future generations of women."
(from NARAL Pro-Choice America website)
If FOCA was passed it would automatically overturn:
-- State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
-- Forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement
-- Forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions
-- Forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
-- Twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions
-- Thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortions
-- Thirty-three states' laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
-- Sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
("Freedom of Choice Act Would Remove All Limitations on Abortions")
Text of HR 1964 (Freedom of Choice Act)
All Cosponsors from All States
Bill Name: "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA)
Bill Number: H.R.1964
(here are the 105
[You can send a message to them at link above]
Summary:
Sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA), the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA) would invalidate any federal, state, or local government law, regulation, policy, or action that would "deny or interfere with" a woman's access to abortion prior to "viability," or which would "discriminate against the exercise of" this right in the regulation or provision of any "benefits, facilities, services, or information."
This ban would apply absolutely prior to fetal "viability," and also apply after "viability" to any abortion sought on grounds of "health," which is not defined in the bill and which therefore would include any physical or emotional factor whatsoever.
Although sometimes referred to as a bill to "codify Roe v. Wade," this is misleading, because -- the sponsors of the bill have acknowledged that it would invalidate many laws that have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court under Roe v. Wade, including laws restricting government funding of abortion, limits on abortion in public or military faclities, full-disclosure counseling requirements, and bans on partial-birth abortion.
It would also invalidate all laws requiring parental or judicial notification or consent for abortions performed on minors, laws that permit health care providers to opt out of participation in abortion on conscience grounds, laws prohibiting non-physicians from performing abortions, and waiting periods.
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=9653451&size=full
The Senate has introduced a version too:
Senate bill #S. 1173:
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/bills/?bill=9668701&size=full
(Senate bill text)
Excerpt from "Freedom of Choice Act Would Remove All Limitations on Abortions":
When a candidate pledges to ... "sign immediately upon taking office" - the Freedom of Choice Act, Catholics and all people of good will have cause to question the sincerity of the candidate's determination to reduce abortions, when these already existing limits have caused a decrease of more than 100,000 abortions each year....
If FOCA was passed it would automatically overturn:
-- State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
-- Forty-four states' laws concerning parental involvement
-- Forty states' laws on restricting later-term abortions
-- Forty-six states' conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
-- Twenty-seven states' conscience protection laws for institutions
-- Thirty-eight states' bans on partial-birth abortions
-- Thirty-three states' laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
-- Sixteen states' laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
There is evidence of a very significant reduction of reported abortions, particularly among teens, through the passage of parental involvement laws and the use of ultrasounds. The August, 2008, report of the Alan Guttmacher Institute notes the greatest decline in abortions over the last 30 years is among teens, attributable in large part to the above restrictions, as well as a later initiation of sexual activity....
-- Bishop Robert W. Finn
Kansas City-St. Joseph
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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