Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin ridiculed Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama and community organizers in her speech Wednesday evening.
Reacting to legitimate questions that her political experience as the part-time Mayor in a town of only 5700 people had not equipped her to be a heart-beat away from the Presidency, she said: " I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."
The response, which brought down the Republican house, is instructive.
First, contrary to McCain's repeated assertions last night that he would "end partisan rancor," Palin's response was a highly personal and partisan attack on Barack Obama and his experience as a community organizer.
It doesn't take a great memory to recall that George W. Bush also ran as a "uniter, not a divider. But once elected he became one of the most divisive and partisan Presidents in U.S. history.
The country is more polarized politically today than at any time in recent memory. Economic inequality, the divide between the very richest and the bottom 95 or even 99% is greater, wider, than at any time since immediately before the Great Depression.
The Republican Party and its current candidates may talk bipartisanship, but they do not walk the walk!
Sarah "Barracuda" Palin ridiculed community organizers.
Has she forgotten the contributions of Tom Paine, the Knights of Labor, the abolitionists and suffragettes, the Congress for Industrial Organization (CIO) labor organizers, the the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the United Farm Workers and more?
These organizations and the social movements they gave leadership to were not led by small town mayors, who more often than not opposed them, but by organizers like Tom Paine, Daniel Shay, A. Phillip Randolph, Nathaniel Bacon, Martin Luther King Jr. (the "non-partisan" John McCain opposed making his birthday a national holiday), Cesar Chavez, Saul Alinsky, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Paul Robeson, Father Groppi, Mother Jones, Sojourner Truth, David Walker, Jane Adams, Big Bill Haywood, and John L. Lewis.
Organizers and the social movements they led are responsible for expanding the democratic rights of citizenship from a small, elite group of wealthy white male property owners to almost all of Americans. They are responsible for winning the right to vote, regardless of race or gender, the elimination of slavery and child labor, Social Security and Medicare (opposed by the Republican Party of McCain and Palin), the Occupational Health and Safety Act, unemployment compensation, workers compensation, environmental protection, unions, and much, much more.
These social movements not only created this country, but have ensured that it live up to its promise that "all men (and women) are created equal and are endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
McCain and Palin, whose party has been in power for the last eight years and most of the last forty, have tried to position themselves as agents of change. But in attacking the real agents of change and progress, they have tipped their hand. They will do anything to protect the power of the status quo.
McCain, Palin and their party have adopted the rhetoric of change and reform because they know the American people are dissatisfied with the state of the country after eight years of Republican Party leadership.
Don't be fooled by their rhetoric. Change is nothing more than a marketing tool to McCain and Palin.
If you liked the last eight years, you will love a McCain, Palin administration!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Palin selection raises serious questions about McCain's qualifications!
Today's New York Times editorial concludes that: " Choosing Ms. Palin raises serious questions about Mr. McCain’s qualifications."
It's linked here and worth the read.
It's linked here and worth the read.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Governor Sarah Palin: Iraq Invasion decreed by God
The Huffington Post reports that on June 8, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) addressed the graduating class of commission students at the Wasilla Assembly of God church. During that address, Palin portrayed the U.S. invasion of Iraq as a quest decreed by God, and said that U.S. soldiers were carrying out “God’s plan”:
" 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. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan."
During that speech, Palin also promoted a $30-billion natural gas pipeline project, stating, “God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built.”
" 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. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan."
During that speech, Palin also promoted a $30-billion natural gas pipeline project, stating, “God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built.”
Republican try to hide their Hurricane Katrina failures!
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that Republican spokesman are criticizing Barack Obama for continuing to campaign while New Orleans was threatened by Hurricane Gustav.
Do these guys think the American people are that gullible?
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf three years ago, Republican President George W. Bush and his appointees ignored the unfolding tragedy while hundreds died on their rooftops and thousands were turned into domestic refugees.
Do the Republican PR flaks really think that by attacking Barack Obama they will make people forget that their presumptive Presidential nominee, John McCain, was safely celebrating his birthday in Arizona with none other than "You're doing a hell of a job Brownie" President George W. Bush while hundreds were dying and 30,000 occupied the Superdome?
Or that the President's mother, Barbara Bush actually declared the Katrina was beneficial when she declared: " What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
McCain and his handlers are feigning sensitivity and compassion for the folks in the Gulf Coast because when Katrina hit they exhibited neither.
While some Republican simply ignored the plight of the mainly black and poor victims of Katrina, others, like 10-term Republican Rep. Richard H. Baker from Baton Rouge, celebrated the devastation when he told to a room of lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."
Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who cynically attempted to use the tragedy to privatize the National Weather Service, went so far as to suggest punishing people who had ignored pre-storm evacuation orders.
The Republican Party's criticism of Barack Obama is a none to transparent attempt to bury their failure to humanely respond when Katrina devastated the people and the Gulf Coast region.
Have they no shame?
Do these guys think the American people are that gullible?
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf three years ago, Republican President George W. Bush and his appointees ignored the unfolding tragedy while hundreds died on their rooftops and thousands were turned into domestic refugees.
Do the Republican PR flaks really think that by attacking Barack Obama they will make people forget that their presumptive Presidential nominee, John McCain, was safely celebrating his birthday in Arizona with none other than "You're doing a hell of a job Brownie" President George W. Bush while hundreds were dying and 30,000 occupied the Superdome?
Or that the President's mother, Barbara Bush actually declared the Katrina was beneficial when she declared: " What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
McCain and his handlers are feigning sensitivity and compassion for the folks in the Gulf Coast because when Katrina hit they exhibited neither.
While some Republican simply ignored the plight of the mainly black and poor victims of Katrina, others, like 10-term Republican Rep. Richard H. Baker from Baton Rouge, celebrated the devastation when he told to a room of lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."
Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who cynically attempted to use the tragedy to privatize the National Weather Service, went so far as to suggest punishing people who had ignored pre-storm evacuation orders.
The Republican Party's criticism of Barack Obama is a none to transparent attempt to bury their failure to humanely respond when Katrina devastated the people and the Gulf Coast region.
Have they no shame?
McCain VP pick-"worst vetting ever!"
The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen writes that Republican Presidential nominee John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was the "WORST VETTING EVER."
He writes: "
The Washington Post had an item yesterday quoting multiple McCain campaign aides who insisted that thorough vetting had been done on Sarah Palin. "Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages, and John had access to all that information and made the decision," Rick Davis said.
If that's true, John McCain is overseeing the most incompetent political operation in recent memory. These guys had very little idea who Sarah Palin was before putting her on the national Republican ticket.
They've bragged that Palin opposed the famous "Bridge to Nowhere," only to learn that Palin supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan that they weren't "nowhere" to her.... Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor of Wassila, she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax cutter. [...]
McCain's campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls profits tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human contributions to global warming than McCain is.
They did not know that she took trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks.
They did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does.
That last one was just a couple of months old. A 30-second search on Lexis-Nexis would have turned it up.
To reiterate a point from the weekend, the fact that Sarah Palin shouldn't be one heartbeat from leading the free world is obvious, but beside the point. The problem here is that John McCain's judgment is so comically flawed, the prospect of his presidency is starting to become quite literally frightening.
Even cursory vetting would have turned up some of these basic details of Palin's record. Indeed, her career in public office is so brief, this should have been extremely easy for even incompetent researchers. McCain, one assumes, would have demanded extensive background information before making a decision of this magnitude. Except, he didn't.
So, what are we left with here? John McCain met Sarah Palin in person once, for 15 minutes. Months later, he then talked to her on the phone for five minutes. Four days later, without a thorough background check, he invited her to be vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
Sensible people of sound mind and character simply don't do things like this. Leaders don't do things like this. Those fundamentally unsuited for the presidency do things like this.
He writes: "
The Washington Post had an item yesterday quoting multiple McCain campaign aides who insisted that thorough vetting had been done on Sarah Palin. "Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages, and John had access to all that information and made the decision," Rick Davis said.
If that's true, John McCain is overseeing the most incompetent political operation in recent memory. These guys had very little idea who Sarah Palin was before putting her on the national Republican ticket.
They've bragged that Palin opposed the famous "Bridge to Nowhere," only to learn that Palin supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan that they weren't "nowhere" to her.... Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor of Wassila, she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax cutter. [...]
McCain's campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls profits tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human contributions to global warming than McCain is.
They did not know that she took trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks.
They did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does.
That last one was just a couple of months old. A 30-second search on Lexis-Nexis would have turned it up.
To reiterate a point from the weekend, the fact that Sarah Palin shouldn't be one heartbeat from leading the free world is obvious, but beside the point. The problem here is that John McCain's judgment is so comically flawed, the prospect of his presidency is starting to become quite literally frightening.
Even cursory vetting would have turned up some of these basic details of Palin's record. Indeed, her career in public office is so brief, this should have been extremely easy for even incompetent researchers. McCain, one assumes, would have demanded extensive background information before making a decision of this magnitude. Except, he didn't.
So, what are we left with here? John McCain met Sarah Palin in person once, for 15 minutes. Months later, he then talked to her on the phone for five minutes. Four days later, without a thorough background check, he invited her to be vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
Sensible people of sound mind and character simply don't do things like this. Leaders don't do things like this. Those fundamentally unsuited for the presidency do things like this.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
MMAC designed the Neighborhood Schools Initiative
Two weeks ago the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) exposed the Neighborhood Schools Initiative (NSI) as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars. A few days alter the Milwaukee Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (MMAC) and selected voucher advocates met behind closed doors to discuss how to reform the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and Mayor Barrett called for an audit of MPS's finances declaring every option should be explored.
But as Joel McNally and Barbara Miner point out it in two separate articles, the MMAC and MPS voucher advocates, including former Mayor John Norquist, designed and promoted, with the support of the MJS, the NSI, not the current MPS board's leadership.
The MPS Board members who supported the NSI were the very same folks, John Gardner, Bruce Thompson and Jeff Spence, who sold voucher schools as the market solution to the failures of Milwaukee's Public Schools in the early 1990's.
They have now admitted that voucher schools are not the panacea they originally claimed. The Journal ran a series on this a few years ago. But rather than dismantle this multi-million dollar, failed experiment and focus the state's scare educational resources on improving MPS, they now argue Milwaukee has a system of schools which face the common challenge of educating Milwaukee's largely poor and minority children.
In recent articles, the MJS has failed to acknowledge that current the current MPS Board leadership, including its President Peter Blewett, newly elected MPS Finance Chair Michael Bonds and Jennifer Morales were opponents of the NSI and vouchers.
A review of the record suggests that it is politically more palatable to Milwaukee's elites to beat up on this struggling urban school district, scapegoat teachers, their unions, and the elected MPS board of directors, and promote changes in governance than it is to provide MPS with the resources it needs to serve the children who depend on it.
Read Joel McNally and Barbara Miner's columns before you drink the MMAC's latest Kool Aid.
But as Joel McNally and Barbara Miner point out it in two separate articles, the MMAC and MPS voucher advocates, including former Mayor John Norquist, designed and promoted, with the support of the MJS, the NSI, not the current MPS board's leadership.
The MPS Board members who supported the NSI were the very same folks, John Gardner, Bruce Thompson and Jeff Spence, who sold voucher schools as the market solution to the failures of Milwaukee's Public Schools in the early 1990's.
They have now admitted that voucher schools are not the panacea they originally claimed. The Journal ran a series on this a few years ago. But rather than dismantle this multi-million dollar, failed experiment and focus the state's scare educational resources on improving MPS, they now argue Milwaukee has a system of schools which face the common challenge of educating Milwaukee's largely poor and minority children.
In recent articles, the MJS has failed to acknowledge that current the current MPS Board leadership, including its President Peter Blewett, newly elected MPS Finance Chair Michael Bonds and Jennifer Morales were opponents of the NSI and vouchers.
A review of the record suggests that it is politically more palatable to Milwaukee's elites to beat up on this struggling urban school district, scapegoat teachers, their unions, and the elected MPS board of directors, and promote changes in governance than it is to provide MPS with the resources it needs to serve the children who depend on it.
Read Joel McNally and Barbara Miner's columns before you drink the MMAC's latest Kool Aid.
Friday, August 22, 2008
How many McMansions does John McCain own?
When John McCain was recently asked how many homes he owned, he said he did not know and would check with his staff.
Millions of Americans are losing their homes. McCain, who owns between 4 and 7 homes depending on whom you believe, has opposed Congressional action designed to help struggling home owners.
McCain's response is not surprising since he denies the economy is in trouble and thinks the country's problems are mainly psychological.
Millions of Americans are losing their homes. McCain, who owns between 4 and 7 homes depending on whom you believe, has opposed Congressional action designed to help struggling home owners.
McCain's response is not surprising since he denies the economy is in trouble and thinks the country's problems are mainly psychological.
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