The Next President?

[Shapley]

We have laws against electioneering at the polling place, as well. They are enforced on election day, but I suppose they aren't during absentee voting. I haven't voted absentee since I was in the Navy.

They draw a chalk line the 100' or 200' (or whatever it is the law requires) from the door of the polling place. The political signs and literature-hawkers remain outside the line for the most part, though they periodically stray into the boundary. They supposedly don't allow you to park within the boundary if you have a polcital bumper sticker, but I've seen that overlooked. They rarely have enough judges to work inside the building, let alone have someone standing outside all day watching for bumper stickers.

[Serenity]

Obama win causes obsessive supporters to realize how empty their lives are.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/o ... _obsessive

[Shapley]

William Ayers Accuses Detractors Of Using 'Politics Of Fear'

According to Ayers, Republicans were suggesting there was something 'deeper and darker' in his relationship with Sen. Obama. I don't recall that. I seem to recall that it was pointed out that they Sen. Obama's relationship with Ayers was more than his being "some guy who lives on my street". That much is true. They cite Gov. Palin's remarks that Sen. Obama was 'palling around with terrorists'. Also true.

It's not that There was a suggestion that there was anything darker than their actual relationship, it's just that Sen. Obama refused to acknowledge the actual extent of that relationship, until forced to do so.

[barfle]

I heard rumors that if you were wearing a T-shirt from one of the campaigns, you wouldn't be allowed in the polling place. Makes me wish I had dug up that Perot button I know I have stashed somewhere.

[Haggis@wk]

Barack Obama's name implies an "exotic" faith, and there are sadly many people in the US who feel he is a Muslim (sadly only because it's so easy to know the truth). I believe his faith is a minor issue, since he's made it known he's not a Muslim.

All of a sudden Obama discovers his Muslim roots

ABC News' Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller report: The other day we heard a comment from a White House aide that never would have been uttered during the primaries or general election campaign.

During a conference call in preparation for President Obama's trip to Cairo, Egypt, where he will address the Muslim world, deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Denis McDonough said "the President himself experienced Islam on three continents before he was able to -- or before he's been able to visit, really, the heart of the Islamic world -- you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father -- obviously Muslim Americans (are) a key part of Illinois and Chicago."

Given widespread unease and prejudice against Muslims among Americans, especially in the wake of 9/11, the Obama campaign was perhaps understandably very sensitive during the primaries and general election to downplay the candidate's Muslim roots.

The candidate was even offended when referred to by his initials "BHO," because he considered the use of his middle name, "Hussein," an attempt to frighten voters.

With insane rumors suggesting he was some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his campaign did everything they could to emphasize his Christianity and de-emphasize the fact that his father, Barack Obama Sr., was born Muslim.

During the campaign he stressed that his father was agnostic/atheist. Now we also learn he’s proud of Father’s Muslim roots. You really can’t make this stuff up.

[jamiebk]

When in Rome........

[Haggis@wk]

When in Rome........

People lost their jobs for just uttering his middle name in public.

Ya think we'rre gonna hear about this in the run up to 2012?? I'm guessing not.

[piqaboo]

I seem to remember that at some point in the campaign, Mr Obama said he wanted to learn and apply the lessons of his father's muslim faith.
If I heard of it, it was well publicized.

He still seems drunk on the perq's of the job, to me.

[Shapley]

Gov. Palin To Resign From Office

[Trumpetmaster]

I think she should have stayed in office until the end of her term.
Makes it look like she can't stand the heat... and I believe this will hinder her political future.
IMHO...

[Shapley]

I'm inclined to agree, unless she has some bold step in mind that I cannot forsee. She's being mum about here next step.

Given my position on the importance of commitment, her move strikes me as very counterproductive. I can't say I speak for conservatives everywhere, but her abandonment of her commitment to the State, with scant explanation, does not speak well of her credentials.

[jamiebk]

Her resignation confirms my belief that she was unfit as VP and certainly not fit for the Presidency. She claims a "higher calling" led to her decision. Seems like she let a lot of people in her state down and a lot of the party as well. Would she have resigned the VP spot as well??? We'll never know. Unless she has something waiting for her in the wings, I believe that she just committed polical suicide.

[analog]

Powers that be are terrified because somebody honest has dared enter political scene. To rectify that intolerable situation they sent hordes of slimeball operatives to Alaska to "dig up dirt".

Ptooey.

I see it as a " I'm going fishing and y'all can just slither back under your rocks now" gesture, probably with one finger raised toward Washington DC which is a sentiment I share.

She has kids to raise. Politics is no longer a place for decent people. Good For You, Sara !!!!!!

a.

[Shapley]

She pointed out yesterday that, since her nomination to the Vice Presidency, she has faced 15 ethics complaints, 13 of which have already been dismissed, but at a cost of over $2m to the State of Alaska, and untold damage to her personnally. She has become a lightening rod for those who wish to discredit her in order to prevent her from rising politically, and is hurtful to her family and to the State of Alaska.

Analog has a point: the 'politics of personal destruction' has reached new heights. Good and honourable persons find themselves dragged through the muck and mud. The dishonesty of the muckrackers, when exposed, results in little damage to the muckrakers, who were 'just doing their job'. Dan 'fake but accurate' Rather is still around, despite his participation in a fraud that should have shamed him out of sight. So it is with so many others.

Nor is it for the purpose of 'cleaning up government', since actual violators of the law still hold power (Barney Frank, Timothy Geithner, and now, Al Franken come readily to mind). It's more about tearing down honest people than it is about weeding out the dishonest ones. Honest people will step down in shame, whereas the dishonest wear their dishonesty like a badge of honour, and we reward them for this by re-electing them.

[Trumpetmaster]

Honest people will step down in shame, whereas the dishonest wear their dishonesty like a badge of honour, and we reward them for this by re-electing them.

So...Ultimately...
We all contribute to this......

[Shapley]

So...Ultimately...
We all contribute to this......

Absolutely. We've created a climate which favours the shameless, those who shrug their shoulders when confronted with their sins. President Bush, for his part, withstood the slings and arrows in silence, stood firm against the dishonest charges leveled against him. But President Bush record, and his conscience, were clean as far as can be seen. Despite an army of muckrakers trying their darndest to drag him down, he walked out of office unscathed. CBS News tried to tarnish him with fabricated evidence, and failed. Despite charges that he 'stole the election' in 2000, he won every recount. No evidence was presented that the election was 'stolen'. The final effort, which failed, was an effort to prove that Democrats were too stupid to vote properly, and had to have their votes interpreted by experts. We've been told for years that "Bush lied" and yet no evidence has been presented that this is the case.

President Bush was and is an honest man. Yet the attacks against him were relentless. He has earned my respect, even if I didn't always agree with his policy ideas.

[OperaTenor]

Palin: In Playboy on a newsstand near you soon!

Remember, you heard it here first.

She's enough of an opportunist, and there's enough of a second-string beauty queen left in her that I don't put it past her.

[Shapley]

So...Ultimately...
We all contribute to this......

Witness the current adulation being heaped on the dead pedophile. There was a time when the exposure of that, err, peculiarity of his would have been enough to relegate him to the trash heap. Not so, today. Our culture feigns outrage at such things, but they only really matter to the small minority who still retain a sense of shame. To the rest it's all entertainment.

[Shapley]

She's enough of an opportunist, and there's enough of a second-string beauty queen left in her that I don't put it past her.

And what, of her actions, leads you to believe such a thing about her? You've become quite the cynic of late.

[piqaboo]

Interesting. She's a bit babyfaced in the younger photo, and I think she's more beautiful now that she's got a more mature face. Not that it matters but do you suppose that's all her hair or does she use a fall?