What Did You Expect...

We are thirty-four days into the Presidency of Barack Obama. The President is moving to accomplish campaign promises, chief among them – transparency, and yet; the Media has asked the questions that one would only have expected from an administration that had been in office for a year or more. Will the President nationalize the banking system; how are you going to manage the Guantanamo ‘mess’; will the Stimulus work; the rantings of one uninformed Rick Santelli… and more? Despite the hand that he has been dealt, the President is doing remarkably well in making the adjustments and decisions necessary to bring good government to the American people.

Even more surprising is the stout wall that the Republican Party has set for the President to vault in attempting to extend the right hand of partisanship. We all know that Madam Pelosi is not prone to following the lead of anyone, hence the degree of difficulty for the President in achieving this noble goal. But, Pelosi notwithstanding, the Republican Party has done its best to thwart the efforts of the President in realizing this goal. If there is ever to be some semblance of bipartisanship, the Republican Party is going to have to realize that they are not in the best of positions to dictate policy given the last eight years under Bush with six of those years in total control of the Congress by the Republican Party.

The responsibility for bringing America through this crisis rests with Congress in supporting the direction of the President. Robust debate with the intent of reaching this lofty goal is expected of the Congress. We saw just the opposite from Congress in passing the Stimulus package. The galvanization demonstrated by the refusal to include the Republicans in the initial phase of the Stimulus package was followed by the refusal to support any part of the Stimulus package by the Republicans. The debacle reminds us that bipartisanship is not the primary goal of this Congress. The President has said that it is incumbent on the majority to include the minority, and the minority should come to the table with constructive ideas.

The attempts to discredit the President have continued to be a source of embarrassment for the Republican Party. Witness the conversation of McCain and the President on the fleet of helicopters that President Bush ordered; a situation that President Obama had already discussed with Secretary Gates. McCain knew that Obama and Gates had already talked about the helicopters, but he attempted to use the helicopters and their cost to discredit the President; it backfired.

The Republican Party has tried unsuccessfully to question the authenticity of the President to serve…

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Senator Shelby, (R) Alabama spoke with connotations of himself being the ultimate authority as to the right of the President to be the leader of the United States simply because he had not seen the President’s birth certificate, therefore; the President had not been shown to be legitimately eligible to hold the office of President. These tactics have continued to explode in the faces of those attempting to use whatever means to discredit the President.

At some point in time the Republican Party will come to the realization that Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America, and that he is also a cunning adversary that will take them to the hoop on any subject! The Republican Party will be forced to reconcile themselves with the responsibility of working with this President for the good of America because 2010 is right around the corner!

Making Race a Factor

I am totally upset at the methods being employed by the Republican Party to garner a win in this General Election. I am going to attempt to convey my thoughts without inciting a riot, a point that I believe is being represented in the latest antics from the McCain campaign.

I frequently ask those tending to demonstrate racial bigotry by their actions this question… why do you have to resort to that mentality to convey your thoughts? The racial bigotry in America is based entirely on fear and hate! I can even venture to say that racial bigotry from Whites is fear driven while racial bigotry from Blacks is hate driven. Why do we do it? Is it necessary? How can we get around it? These are questions that I have asked myself for all of my life; from the time that I realized that others were upset that I was different from them, and at sixty-four years of age I still don’t have the answers. I know that I want it to stop in my lifetime. I hope that I am not alone.

Humans can be so nasty when it comes to respecting the feeling of others. Inflicting pain on someone that you fear or hate is the first line of attack, not defense. Usually this type of pain is introduced by the use of derogatory words. I refuse to use any of them here, but I can convey my thoughts by asking you one question. I want you to grab a pencil and a sheet of paper and take a test – be honest, don’t cheat! You must write, in five minutes, all of the racial words and slurs that you can recall. It does not matter whether you habitually used these words, or not! What matters is whether you have ever heard, or been in a situation where you were exposed to these words. The more derogatory words that you can write, the more exposure you have had to these words. Be honest!

What I have found out about this test is that Whites are capable of writing down more derogatory words than any of the other racial groups. More derogatory words can be traced to origins within the White race. I then asked myself why?

Until most recently, generationally speaking, all of the actors in the movies and on television were White. The hero wore a White hat. The maiden in distress was White. Curly, Larry and Moe were – you guessed it, White! If Blacks appeared in any movie, or television they were depicted as ‘Ya sir boss’ folks with little, or no mental faculties. They did dumb stuff and their eyes bugged out when something startled them, or they said silly things like ‘feet don’t fail me now’! These were depictions of Blacks in the worst light. Who made the movies and television programs – yeah… the same guys!

All of the advertisements in newspapers and in magazines were made by Whites for whites with little regard for the perceptions that would be drawn from these depictions by the viewers of this product. The people used in these advertisements were tall, pleasing to look at, and seem to not have a care in the world. Psychologically, America built on its history of having never before treated others with respect. Even within the Caucasian race there were instances of racial bigotry – the Italians took the weight in those instances. We know what happened to the Japanese to end World War II. Why didn’t we ‘nuke’ Germany?

It would only seem natural that since Blacks were never respected – slaves, and what have you, the only conclusion one can draw from any association with Blacks was that they are shiftless, no-good, dumb guys that have no redeeming values, hence the promulgation of derogatory words was made justifiable. When you consider that Blacks are responsible for the following: air conditioning, the traffic light, blood transfusions, rotary engine, cotton gin, and more; how is it possible for anyone to have less than a total admiration for Blacks? The answer is simple, White America has never read about the accomplishments of Blacks and they never will if those in a position to facilitate the enlightenment of America refuse to give credence to Black inventors - Black people!

Is Senator McCain a personification of racial bigotry in America? I hope not, but he has habitually made racial comments in every venue that presented an opportunity for him to do so with impunity. He has admitted his propensity to degrade all peoples; he has even degraded his wife, let alone other women and people with different ideas about sexuality. The contradiction is noticed in his willingness to embrace those that kept him in captivity for the better part of six years, in fact; he has defended and spoke fondly of his captors. Yet, he has been known to call Asians ‘gooks’. It brings to immediate attention a person that is at odds with himself regarding his respect for others. Are we looking at a person that is a clinical example of multiple personality disorder?

McCain has said that he would go to any length to defeat his opponent in the political arena. Does that mean that it is alright to put forth lies that only misinform, as well as, incite the behavior of his followers to shout words that bring terror to most Blacks, words that conjure memories of a period in American history that is indeed most shameful and extremely painful to recall. It is unconscionable that Senator McCain or anyone else should freely and without forethought create and promote this type of atmosphere in America today.

If America is ever going to survive the real issues that face ‘us’ we cannot allow this type of behavior to permeate the election of a candidate to the highest office of the land. We cannot allow the leader of the most powerful government in the free world to be represented in the person of John Sidney McCain. Would you want a person that has disgraced, through verbal indiscretions, a significant majority of the populace of the United States – of the free world?

Of course there will be those that see nothing wrong with this type of behavior, and to these people, I direct this opinion in hopes that you will look deeply into the mirror and reassess your values of humanity – please do this?

William Ayers and Obama - McCain and the Keating Five

Senator McCain and Governor Palin have gone on record in their speeches to the public that Senator Obama’s character is in question because of his association with Mr. Ayers whose was a member of the Weatherman, a group of individuals that committed crimes against the government from 1970 through 1974. Mr. Ayers was accused of these crimes during the time that Senator Obama was a child in grade school. Mr. Ayers was never convicted of any crimes and now serves on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Mr. Ayers and Senator Obama live within a few blocks of each other and served on the board of a charity organization - Woods Fund of Chicago between 1999 and 2002. Mr. Ayers, in addition to donating two hundred dollars to Senator Obama’s campaign during Barack Obama’s days as a State Senator, did hold a fund-raiser of sorts at his house for Senator Obama.

If there is a connection to corruption, or some other dastardly deed in the association between Senator Obama and Mr. Ayers, I don’t see it. It seems to me that a valiant attempt to smear Senator Obama is being attempted under that flimsiest of circumstances by the Republican presidential candidate when he himself is far more closely associated with a man that was convicted of crimes that did far more horrendous damage to the country than anything William Ayers is purported to have done.

The fact of the matter is Senator McCain did go to the offices of the regulators for the Savings and Loans financial industry and had conversations with those individuals regarding Keating and others. There is no question that he attended meetings that were focused on requesting changes to the regulations that governed the Savings and Loans. Senator McCain was cleared of any direct wrongdoing in the Keating Affair, but remanded for exercising poor judgment.

The Senate Ethics Committee exonerated John Senator McCain in 1991 from any wrongdoing in the Keating affair; however, he was found to have practiced questionable judgment. Did John Senator McCain learn a lesson from his involvement in the Savings and Loan debacle to become the anti-corruption stalwart that his campaign portrays him to be? Or does John Senator McCain still practice questionable judgment when it comes to his campaign contributors, and, if so, what could this mean for the U.S. economy?

The Savings and Loan debacle of the 1980s was one of the worst economic crises in the country's history; it caused the recession of the early -90s, an enormous deficit in the federal budget, and cost taxpayers an estimated $300 billion. The deregulation of the banking industry in the early 1980s allowed financial institutions to use federally insured deposits for previously prohibited high-risk investments. Loopholes created by deregulation were manipulated by loosely knit networks of industry high-flyers who used their savings and loans as personal piggy banks, and left taxpayers responsible for paying back the depositors. Bank regulators found that the majority of thrift failures in the Savings and Loan debacle, over 1,000 institutions, were the direct result of management misconduct, insider abuse, and outright fraud.

A key factor that contributed to the Savings and Loan debacle was political interference with bank regulators whose recommended actions against troubled institutions were consistently ignored. Corrupt Savings and Loan executives were frequent contributors to political campaigns, and used their political influence to stall the efforts of regulators, and continue their operations despite insolvency, which dramatically increased the cost of the eventual bailout. Charles Keating was a prominent figure in the S and L debacle. His CA based Lincoln Savings and Loan utilized banking techniques that were common throughout thrifts involved in the Savings and Loan debacle. The scandal that was coined the Keating 5 was emblematic of the political pressure that prevented bank examiners from doing their job, and exacerbated the crisis to monumental proportions.

Charles Keating was the founder of the Cincinnati, OH law firm Keating, Muething and Klekamp, which handled security work for Marvin Warner, and Home State Savings, responsible for another costly securities fraud case in the Savings and Loan debacle. In 1972, he left law to work for Carl Linder's conglomerate, American Financial Corporation, and, in 1976, moved to Phoenix, AZ, and bought the homebuilding division of Linder's empire, which he renamed American Continental Corporation. In 1984, he bought the CA based Lincoln Savings and Loan, and within 3 years involved the thrift with large investments in junk bonds, real estate projects, and other high risk ventures that benefited the American Continental Corporation. In 1986, San Francisco bank examiners noticed serious discrepancies in the financial records of Lincoln Savings and Loan. The political strings Charles Keating pulled in an effort to prevent a serious investigation resulted in the Keating 5 scandal.

Charles Keating was a large donor to political campaigns, and supported over 36 state and national candidates in their run for public office. He frequently used his political connections to influence legislation, and to prevent the Bank Board from adopting regulations that would harm his assets. In March 1987, Senators John Senator McCain (R-AZ), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), Alan Cranston (D-CA), and John Glenn (D-OH), all benefactors of Keating's campaign contributions, held a highly unusual meeting in DeConcini's office with the Chairman of the Bank Board, Edwin Gray, to inquire about the bank examination of Lincoln Savings and Loan.

There is a difference between Senator Obama and Ayers and Senator McCain and Keating... people lost everything as a result of the Lincoln Savings and Loan crash. The Lincoln Savings and Loan debacle is a precursor to the current bailout/buyout of the Real Estate industry fiasco. Is it possible that Senator McCain’s assertion that deregulation is the answer to saving our jobs and fixing the economy more of the same that we experienced in 1989?

Did Senator McCain learn anything from his previous position to deregulate financial institutions – it sure does not look that way?

McCain was forced to distance himself from his former campaign co-chairman, and chief economic advisor, former Senator Phil Gramm, due to his calloused remarks about the sub-prime mortgage crisis that many claim he had a direct role in creating. The sub-prime market crisis has been linked to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, legislation sponsored by Gramm, which repealed provisions in the Glass-Steagall Act, enacted in the midst of the Great Depression, that paved the way for the formation of major financial conglomerates of banks, security firms, and insurance companies. Phil Gramm was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs until he left the Senate in 2002. He has gone on to serve as the Vice Chairman of the Swiss investment bank, UBS, and in 2008 disclosed that he worked as a lobbyist for UBS, and attempted to influence legislation related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis while he simultaneously worked on McCain's campaign.

Gramm formerly resigned from the campaign in July, 2 months after the McCain campaign's public purge of staff with conflicts of interest, however, his economic advice remains influential. In a Sept. 14 Washington Post article with the headline "A Nation of Exaggerators"-, one of McCain's current economic advisers, Donald Luskin, stated that he agreed with Gramm's "mental recession"- comment, and felt that the gloomy outlook even McCain has adopted is uncalled for. Despite McCain's staff shake-up in May, his campaign is still riddled with staff who have lobbied on behalf of financial institutions connected to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, responsible for drafting the campaign's conflict of interest policy, made headlines in mid Sept. for the continued monthly fee of $15,000 mortgage giant Freddie Mac paid to his lobbying firm Davis Manafort Inc.Newsweek reported that Davis had personally approached Freddie Mac in 2006 to arrange for a new consulting agreement that would allow payments to his firm to continue. Deputy Campaign Manager, Christian Ferry, is, also, a consultant for Davis Manafort.

In looking at the relationship between Mr. Ayers and Senator Obama, it seems to me that there is nothing that even remotely compares, in terms of criminality, to the association that Senator McCain had with Mr. Keating. Senator McCain seems to surround himself with questionable individuals who have been and still are key factors in the decision-making processes of Senator McCain.You be the judge, is Senator McCain barking up the wrong tree in a vain attempt to distract the voters from the real issues?

The Republicans are playing the 'B' Card

So, Bailout 1 never got a chance and I am so glad for that. The Republicans are playing the 'Blame' card. Why should you or I have to pay for what some bozos on Wall Street and the man down there at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are responsible for having put in play? I am not interested in helping anybody that did not have my best interest at heart from the beginning. Show me where Wall Street ever did anything for the man on the street. Show me where all of the middle class jobs went and I will show you where ‘they’ need to go to get the help that ‘they’ need. I am using the word ‘‘they’’ liberally because it is a way of expressing just how far away these people are from me and reality. This situation is 'their' reality check. You can't scare me anymore because I don't believe you anymore.

Here is the cool skinner on how the Bailout went south in the Devil’s hand basket. Bear in mind that the Republican Party in the guise of Phil Graham set all of this up when ‘they’ changed the Commodity Futures Market Act in 2000. That set in motion all of the speculation that sent Enron, WorldCom, and the Electrical Utilities market in a tailspin. The futures market was manipulated and it was apparent to the people on Wall Street and ‘they’ took advantage of it. Everybody made money, bought fancy cars, and big houses in gated communities.

In addition, big business saw that ‘they’ could out-source jobs to wherever. We noticed it as a person that spoke English with a serious accent reading from a script answering the phone and fielding our questions with no idea as to what we wanted. Advanced technology took more people off of the assembly line, further reducing the middle class. With a fine chisel and a never tiring hand big business advanced its assault on our Unions, reducing them to ineffective street crowds. We loss every job that had a value-added tag and Wall Street smiled and said… “This is good”.

Wall Street and Big Business did everything ‘they’ could to strip every dollar from the hands of the very people that were needed to support the American economy. Without money in savings accounts, without people spending money, buying stuff and using stuff, cash flow ceases to exist. What did ‘they’ expect? Didn’t anybody think that this would happen? Drunk with the unbelievable influx of cash, Wall Street and Big Business could care less.

The next area of attack was the housing market. ‘‘they’’ applied the same philosophy to the housing market, giving over-appraised houses to people that wanted to live the American dream, but had no real money to buy into the dream. Mortgage lenders followed the game plan that Wall Street had polished into a money-maker and the boom was on. Everybody that could drag himself into the door was given a fat boy loan.

I say no to the bailout. Let all of those that raked in the big bucks return the favor. Give the money back. Straighten out those loans that you fraudulently put together. Stop the felonious practices that took all of our jobs and sent them overseas.

In response to those that blamed the Democratic Party for the failure of the Bailout to be a reality, let me tell you exactly what happened. The Democrats have enough votes in both the House and Senate to have passed this bill with no problem. The Democrats, and I, believe that since the Republicans are responsible for this mess, ‘they’ should share in whatever method of recovery that was devised. The Republicans would love to see the measure pass, but want no part of the blame if the measure should fail. So, the Democrats had a plan, we will allow so many of our votes to be recorded, but if the Republicans don’t match the vote count, thus insuring bi-partisan support, than we will instruct the rest of the Democratic vote to record a negative vote.

I don’t blame Pelosi for doing what she did. She is nobody’s fool. The Republicans and the ‘lame duck’ down the street had better come up with a plan for saving the economy, or history will not be too kind to ‘them’. The President should stop begging and demand a positive response from his Party!

When It Comes to Our Veterans - McCain Doesn't Get It!

Less there be some mistake as to whether Senator McCain told the truth when it came to our Veterans and his promise to “take care of them’ as he stated during the debates last night, here is his record. Senator McCain has a tendency to lie when it comes to his support of our servicemen. In fact, most of the lawmakers in Congress wearing the Republican Party badge have a shaky record when it comes to the welfare of our troops. Make no mistake, the Republicans don’t mind sending our relatives off to war, in some cases their own relatives, but when it comes to protecting them and providing for them – the answer is a resounding ‘NO’.

Most recently, May 22, 2008, Senator McCain had an opportunity to vote in support of legislation to appropriate funds for the war in Iraq and McCain did not vote. In that bill was an amendment that provided for the education of our veterans – McCain took care of our Veterans; the good Senator voted 'NO'. Senator Obama voted ‘Yes’ for HR 2642.

That entry in the Congressional record is available for you here:

HR 2642 GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions
Sub Amend S Amendment 4803: GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions
Issues: Budget, Spending and Taxes, Education, Foreign Aid and Policy Issues, Senior and Social Security Issues, Veterans Issues, Welfare and Poverty
Date: 05/22/2008
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry (D-NV)

In January of 2008 HR 4986, a bill that provides the following for veterans was on the floor for a vote. These provisions in that bill would affect veterans:

-Increases the basic monthly pay for members of the uniformed services by 3.5 percent starting January 1, 2008 (Sec. 601).

-Permits veterans who are 100 percent disabled to receive all of both their retirement pay and their disability pay (Sec. 642).

Senator McCain did not vote for this bill, nor did Senator Obama.

HR 4986:
Issues: Budget, Spending and Taxes, Defense, Foreign Aid and Policy Issues, Veterans Issues
Date: 01/22/2008
Sponsor: Rep. Skelton, Ike (D-MO)

The vote was taken for S 2020 the 17th of November, 2005. The bill, “To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder”, was not supported by Senator McCain. Senator McCain voted ‘no’. Senator Obama voted ‘yes’.

Bill Number: S 2020
Issue: Veterans Issues
Date: 11/17/2005
Sponsor: Amendment: Sen. Boxer, Barbara [CA]; Original Bill: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [IA]

S Amendment 1937 to HR 2863, a bill that provided for the future funding of health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation was introduced on November 5th of 2005. Senator McCain voted ‘no’. Senator Obama voted ‘yes’.

Health Care for Veterans Amendment
Bill Number: HR 2863
Date: 2005-10-05
Sponsor: Amendment: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [MI]; Original Bill: Rep Young, C. W. Bill [FL-10]

Senator McCain has consistently voted against, or ignored bills that had reference to our Armed Services. When the Senator from Arizona stands before the cameras and tells you that he will take care of our veterans, I am not sure that he will take care of them in a good way – do you?

Another disturbing trend in the vote for our servicemen is the tendency of Republicans to vote along party lines in non-support of Veterans Affairs and benefits.

Project Smart Vote, an independent organization that tracks the voting records of all of our Congressmen, has compiled a non-bias data base that reflects the tendencies of all elected officials in Washington. Familiarize yourself with this site!

McCain - McBush 4 more

Recenty, I listened to a speech by Senator McCain and came away thinking that the real issues that confront America were not addressed in the Senator’s speech.

He, by omission, has indicated that he intends to grant a free pass to big oil and big business with no relief for the little man. He maintains that he will keep in place the initiatives of the Bush Administration, initiatives that got us in the predicament that we currently are experiencing. If America was being interviewed by a ‘credit doctor’ to repair its credit, Senator McCain’s policies would be placed in the ‘round file’ so swiftly that they would catch on fire from the friction of air against the surface of the paper.

My Father told me that power, in the hands of an ignorant man, is the most dangerous thing in the world. This is not to say that the Senator is ignorant, but the adage does apply in this case. In applying that adage to the McCain way of thinking it simply means that we will painfully endure four more years of failed policies.

Like the man he intends to replace, he is exceedingly stubborn when forced to adjust to the changing political arena on the world playing field. We don’t want another war; we can’t afford another war. His posturing during the confrontation with Russia over Russia’s invasion of Georgia proves that he can’t present the united front that America will need in the future to prevent aggression with diplomacy first! He says that he hates war, but he has yet to demonstrate that position when it comes to interfacing with other world powers.

Senator McCain says he will fight for justice and equality for all, but is it all of big business, or will it be all of the people of America? We don't know. The McCain campaign continues to put forward lies and innuendos against their opponents instead of delivering a message that will give us some indication of the path in which his administration will take the country. When asked direct questions about his policies, he seems to wander off blabbering in a strange language things that we can't comprehend. The person that he has selected for his vice-president does the same thing... reference her responses to Katie Couric.

I wonder, personally, how long we will be reminded that the good Senator was a prisoner of war for five and a half years. Does he want us to apply to him the same advantage that is given veterans when they apply for governmental jobs? Or, does he want us to consider his military service as a pre-requisite for anyone seeking the office of President of the United States. If we are to judge McCain by the legacy of previous presidents that did not have any military service, his military service does not have validity in the selection of a president.

In the minds of those of us that are not easily fooled about the war in Iraq, the 'surge' was supposed to give the Iraqi Parliament the time to form a coalition that would support good government between the different sects. To say that the reduced violence in Iraq is a sign that the 'surge' is the reason that we are 'winning' in Iraq is pure unadulterated BS. The war is won when you can leave the occupied country (reference Japan) with a solid government in place that will endure – something the surge was suppose to facilitate. As we all know, there is no consummate government in place in Iraq that is governing for all of the people.

Inquiring minds want to know what you; Mr. McCain, will do about the economy, about getting us out of Iraq, and about health care...

Who is the Republican Presidential Nominee...

Who is the Republican nominee for President anyway? It is apparent that Sarah Palin has made ‘celebrity status’ with her nomination to the Republican Party ticket as their Vice-Presidential selection. That is all good, but she is not the one that will be leading this country in the unlikely event that the Republicans win the White House for a third time, or will she?

I think that it is perfectly within the rights of the media to investigate Sarah Palin; after all, she is an unknown and will be sitting in the co-pilot’s seat next in line to be the President should McCain win. The first order of business of the next President is to attempt to bring this nation back from the brink of the abyss. To say that we are in deep trouble economically is an understatement. We have lost credibility world-wide with the Bush Doctrine. Given the present state of our Armed Services, we probably are closer to being vulnerable to attack by another country now more than ever before. Our troops are battle tested, but fatigue has begun to set in within the ranks and with the equipment that they are using in a state of disrepair.

Banking institution after banking institution is failing causing intelligent individuals to wonder if we have not reached a situation similar to the one that preceded the crash of the Stock Market and Financial foundations that have been directly influenced by the Bush-McCain economics. The Bush Domestic Doctrine has been a totally failure and rivals his ‘Bush Doctrine’ for interfacing with the rest of the world for worst thought processes ever to be put forward by the President of the United States.

Who, in their right mind, would want to grant the Republican Party yet another opportunity to correct what is wrong with the country by applying the same thought processes for four more years. What is wrong with this picture is what most of America should be asking itself. The good people of Ohio, bless their hearts, are having a hard time trying to figure out whether they should vote against a Party that took their jobs and sent them overseas. I don’t believe that anybody is that insensitive as to what is an obvious truth – Ohioans, you have no jobs and the present administration has no answer as to how you will ever get jobs in the near future. If you, Ohioans, can’t think with your heads; think with your stomachs – no jobs, no food, no McCain is your mantra.

I urge the media to continue doing exactly what you are doing – bring light to a dark and scary situation – Sarah Palin, President of the United States as a result of the unthinkable happening to Senator McCain were he to become President of these United States. I beg of the Obama campaign to remain focused on what the true goal of this campaign is – educating the voters about the Democratic nominee’s solutions to the problems that confront the next President of these United States.

The Mantra Effect...

As in the two general elections previous to this one, the Republicans have reduced themselves to criminalistic activities to win this election at all cost. Telling a lie when you know that it is not the truth is criminal in every aspect of human behavior. Senator McCain has adopted methods we know are commonly used by Carl Rove, and to our chagrin, we have discovered that Carl is indeed being used by McCain in a last ditch attempt to gain the presidency.

I have to say that the choice of Governor Palin appears to have been the sweetest thing that could have ever happened to the elder statesman from Arizona. He has somehow resurrected his mediocre campaign from the depths of defeat once again. How he does it must be directly related to how he survived five and a half years in captivity after the crashing of his fighter plane during the Viet Nam war – amazing story. That ability to survive no matter the circumstance is what frightens me even though I believe that Obama will win this election. It is like Obama needs to be continuously looking over his shoulder because McCain won’t go away!

Governor Palin has told so many untruths of late, tha itt is hard to decipher when she is telling the truth. As expected, and thankfully so, the news media has done an excellent job of weeding out the lies and reporting it dutifully to the general public, but is that enough these days? I ask that question because of a little known factor with which the Republicans have become very proficient – ‘the mantra effect’. Never heard of it you say, well I am here to bring you up-to-date with this phenomenon.

Here is how it works… if a certain thing is said enough times, the listener will began to believe because they have first been pre-conditioned to believe. Normally, it is a chant the listener is exposed to repetitiously so that the desired results become apparent. In the case of the Republicans, believers one and all, we see the ‘mantra effect’ practiced with perfection. The continuous lies are incorporated into every speech until the zombie-like constituents began to cheer when nothing of value is being said to them at their rallies.

This is the only explanation that I can offer that has some possibility of being the reason why Republicans will continue to support a party that has stripped them of their savings, houses, and jobs. Believing that small business would support the policies of out-sourcing most of the jobs that pay in the fifty to sixty thousand dollar range, the Republicans seem willing to deliver four more years of bad judgment along with ‘don’t tax and spend anyway’ tactics to bear on the American people yet again.

Even a dummy can figure out that if you fool me once, you can errr fool me once again? Not!!