This was posted over at Leisha's Random Thoughts, thank you for the story and translation.
Mary lacked money to fly home to Norway – he saved her love
ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.
Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988.
At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had traveled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.
Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
-I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.
Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.
The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.
-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard University.
In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes**:
‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States senator’.
The parents sent the letter on to Mary.
This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
-It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next US president, says Mary delightedly.
She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections.
-I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change, says Mary.
*Not at all sure about this part of the translation. The Norwegian word used is 'miljøarbeider', I don't know what the exact English word for that is or even if there is one, and I don't know enough about Obama to say what job of his they're talking about.
**This is my translation of the reporter's translation of the letter. From English to Norwegian and back to English. So obviously it is not correct word for word.
And here she is with her husband and the letter.
31 October 2008
Music Friday
In honour of the upcoming election, two videos come to mind.
Enjoy. Now get out and V*O*T*E
Enjoy. Now get out and V*O*T*E
29 October 2008
28 October 2008
As McCain Cancels, Obama Rallies
Never let it be said that I have failed to give an unbiased presentation of the various news articles that capture my attention. For here is an official FOXNews aka "FauxNews" piece that I thought I'd share.
As McCain Cancels, Obama Rallies
by Bonney Kapp
CHESTER, PA - Dressed in blue jeans and a black jacket, Barack Obama braved the cold rain falling in Pennsylvania, and held his scheduled rally - outdoors. “A little bit of rain never hurt anybody,” he quipped to the 9,000 who showed up in ponchos and futilely holding umbrellas.
Just an hour away in Quakertown, the rival ticket cancelled their own outdoor rally due to inclement weather. Unfazed, Obama incorporated the conditions into his speech.
“I just want all of you to know if we see this kind of dedication on election day – there is no way that we’re not going to bring change to America,” he said as the soggy crowd cheered.
Obama delivered his “closing argument” speech in full - even though his teleprompter seemed to give out midway due to the rain. Glancing down at a hard copy of the speech on the podium, he accused John McCain of embracing George Bush’s policies. “John McCain has ridden shotgun as George Bush has driven our economy towards a cliff, and now he wants to take the wheel and step on the gas. And when it comes to the issue of taxes, saying that John McCain is running for a third Bush term isn’t being fair to George Bush,” he said, arguing that not even the unpopular president would support even more tax cuts for the wealthy that McCain is touting.
In what is likely to be his final campaign event in the Keystone State, Obama urged his supporters to be as resolute in the coming days as they were today, braving the elements.
"Pennsylvania, that’s what hope is about – the belief deep down inside of us that we can do better than we’re doing right now, that there're better days ahead, if we’re willing to work for it. If we’re willing to shed our fears and our doubts, if we’re willing to reach down deep inside us, when times are tough, when it’s cold, when it’s rainy, when it’s hard - that’s when we stand up, that’s when we reach for a better future. And if all of you are willing to be just as determined as you are today, if all of you go out on election day, if all of you get your friends and your neighbors, your co-workers, if you are determined to bring about a better America, then I promise you this, we will not just win Pennsylvania, we will win this general election and you and I together, we’re gonna change this country and change this world."
**************************
It makes me just want to say one more thing...RAI AI AI AI aiaiaiannnnnn....I don't mind.
24 October 2008
Barack Obama for President
Ok, if you're one of those who believe the New York Times is just another liberal media elitist, then you've probabaly already made up your mind about who you're going to vote for. But just in case you're one of those as yet, heretofore "undecideds" this editorial offers one of the most concise and comprehensive arguments for who should become the next President of the United States. Read on.
New York Times
October 24, 2008
Editorial
Barack Obama for President
Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance.
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.
As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.
•
Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.
In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.
Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.
Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities.
In his convention speech in Denver, Mr. Obama said, “Government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.”
Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
The Economy
The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain — a self-proclaimed “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution” — is still a believer.
Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business.
Mr. McCain talks about reform a lot, but his vision is pinched. His answer to any economic question is to eliminate pork-barrel spending — about $18 billion in a $3 trillion budget — cut taxes and wait for unfettered markets to solve the problem.
Mr. Obama is clear that the nation’s tax structure must be changed to make it fairer. That means the well-off Americans who have benefited disproportionately from Mr. Bush’s tax cuts will have to pay some more. Working Americans, who have seen their standard of living fall and their children’s options narrow, will benefit. Mr. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, restore a climate in which workers are able to organize unions if they wish and expand educational opportunities.
Mr. McCain, who once opposed President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy as fiscally irresponsible, now wants to make them permanent. And while he talks about keeping taxes low for everyone, his proposed cuts would overwhelmingly benefit the top 1 percent of Americans while digging the country into a deeper fiscal hole.
National Security
The American military — its people and equipment — is dangerously overstretched. Mr. Bush has neglected the necessary war in Afghanistan, which now threatens to spiral into defeat. The unnecessary and staggeringly costly war in Iraq must be ended as quickly and responsibly as possible.
While Iraq’s leaders insist on a swift drawdown of American troops and a deadline for the end of the occupation, Mr. McCain is still talking about some ill-defined “victory.” As a result, he has offered no real plan for extracting American troops and limiting any further damage to Iraq and its neighbors.
Mr. Obama was an early and thoughtful opponent of the war in Iraq, and he has presented a military and diplomatic plan for withdrawing American forces. Mr. Obama also has correctly warned that until the Pentagon starts pulling troops out of Iraq, there will not be enough troops to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, has only belatedly focused on Afghanistan’s dangerous unraveling and the threat that neighboring Pakistan may quickly follow.
Mr. Obama would have a learning curve on foreign affairs, but he has already showed sounder judgment than his opponent on these critical issues. His choice of Senator Joseph Biden — who has deep foreign-policy expertise — as his running mate is another sign of that sound judgment. Mr. McCain’s long interest in foreign policy and the many dangers this country now faces make his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska more irresponsible.
Both presidential candidates talk about strengthening alliances in Europe and Asia, including NATO, and strongly support Israel. Both candidates talk about repairing America’s image in the world. But it seems clear to us that Mr. Obama is far more likely to do that — and not just because the first black president would present a new American face to the world.
Mr. Obama wants to reform the United Nations, while Mr. McCain wants to create a new entity, the League of Democracies — a move that would incite even fiercer anti-American furies around the world.
Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, sees the world as divided into friends (like Georgia) and adversaries (like Russia). He proposed kicking Russia out of the Group of 8 industrialized nations even before the invasion of Georgia. We have no sympathy for Moscow’s bullying, but we also have no desire to replay the cold war. The United States must find a way to constrain the Russians’ worst impulses, while preserving the ability to work with them on arms control and other vital initiatives.
Both candidates talk tough on terrorism, and neither has ruled out military action to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But Mr. Obama has called for a serious effort to try to wean Tehran from its nuclear ambitions with more credible diplomatic overtures and tougher sanctions. Mr. McCain’s willingness to joke about bombing Iran was frightening.
The Constitution and the Rule of Law
Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law.
Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of “black” programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated.
Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush’s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject.
Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops.
The next president will have the chance to appoint one or more justices to a Supreme Court that is on the brink of being dominated by a radical right wing. Mr. Obama may appoint less liberal judges than some of his followers might like, but Mr. McCain is certain to pick rigid ideologues. He has said he would never appoint a judge who believes in women’s reproductive rights.
The Candidates
It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.
Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.
He surrendered his standing as an independent thinker in his rush to embrace Mr. Bush’s misbegotten tax policies and to abandon his leadership position on climate change and immigration reform.
Mr. McCain could have seized the high ground on energy and the environment. Earlier in his career, he offered the first plausible bill to control America’s emissions of greenhouse gases. Now his positions are a caricature of that record: think Ms. Palin leading chants of “drill, baby, drill.”
Mr. Obama has endorsed some offshore drilling, but as part of a comprehensive strategy including big investments in new, clean technologies.
•
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
New York Times
October 24, 2008
Editorial
Barack Obama for President
Hyperbole is the currency of presidential campaigns, but this year the nation’s future truly hangs in the balance.
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.
As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.
•
Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.
In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.
Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.
Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities.
In his convention speech in Denver, Mr. Obama said, “Government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.”
Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse.
The Economy
The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain — a self-proclaimed “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution” — is still a believer.
Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business.
Mr. McCain talks about reform a lot, but his vision is pinched. His answer to any economic question is to eliminate pork-barrel spending — about $18 billion in a $3 trillion budget — cut taxes and wait for unfettered markets to solve the problem.
Mr. Obama is clear that the nation’s tax structure must be changed to make it fairer. That means the well-off Americans who have benefited disproportionately from Mr. Bush’s tax cuts will have to pay some more. Working Americans, who have seen their standard of living fall and their children’s options narrow, will benefit. Mr. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, restore a climate in which workers are able to organize unions if they wish and expand educational opportunities.
Mr. McCain, who once opposed President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy as fiscally irresponsible, now wants to make them permanent. And while he talks about keeping taxes low for everyone, his proposed cuts would overwhelmingly benefit the top 1 percent of Americans while digging the country into a deeper fiscal hole.
National Security
The American military — its people and equipment — is dangerously overstretched. Mr. Bush has neglected the necessary war in Afghanistan, which now threatens to spiral into defeat. The unnecessary and staggeringly costly war in Iraq must be ended as quickly and responsibly as possible.
While Iraq’s leaders insist on a swift drawdown of American troops and a deadline for the end of the occupation, Mr. McCain is still talking about some ill-defined “victory.” As a result, he has offered no real plan for extracting American troops and limiting any further damage to Iraq and its neighbors.
Mr. Obama was an early and thoughtful opponent of the war in Iraq, and he has presented a military and diplomatic plan for withdrawing American forces. Mr. Obama also has correctly warned that until the Pentagon starts pulling troops out of Iraq, there will not be enough troops to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, has only belatedly focused on Afghanistan’s dangerous unraveling and the threat that neighboring Pakistan may quickly follow.
Mr. Obama would have a learning curve on foreign affairs, but he has already showed sounder judgment than his opponent on these critical issues. His choice of Senator Joseph Biden — who has deep foreign-policy expertise — as his running mate is another sign of that sound judgment. Mr. McCain’s long interest in foreign policy and the many dangers this country now faces make his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska more irresponsible.
Both presidential candidates talk about strengthening alliances in Europe and Asia, including NATO, and strongly support Israel. Both candidates talk about repairing America’s image in the world. But it seems clear to us that Mr. Obama is far more likely to do that — and not just because the first black president would present a new American face to the world.
Mr. Obama wants to reform the United Nations, while Mr. McCain wants to create a new entity, the League of Democracies — a move that would incite even fiercer anti-American furies around the world.
Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, like Mr. Bush, sees the world as divided into friends (like Georgia) and adversaries (like Russia). He proposed kicking Russia out of the Group of 8 industrialized nations even before the invasion of Georgia. We have no sympathy for Moscow’s bullying, but we also have no desire to replay the cold war. The United States must find a way to constrain the Russians’ worst impulses, while preserving the ability to work with them on arms control and other vital initiatives.
Both candidates talk tough on terrorism, and neither has ruled out military action to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But Mr. Obama has called for a serious effort to try to wean Tehran from its nuclear ambitions with more credible diplomatic overtures and tougher sanctions. Mr. McCain’s willingness to joke about bombing Iran was frightening.
The Constitution and the Rule of Law
Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law.
Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of “black” programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated.
Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush’s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject.
Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops.
The next president will have the chance to appoint one or more justices to a Supreme Court that is on the brink of being dominated by a radical right wing. Mr. Obama may appoint less liberal judges than some of his followers might like, but Mr. McCain is certain to pick rigid ideologues. He has said he would never appoint a judge who believes in women’s reproductive rights.
The Candidates
It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.
Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.
He surrendered his standing as an independent thinker in his rush to embrace Mr. Bush’s misbegotten tax policies and to abandon his leadership position on climate change and immigration reform.
Mr. McCain could have seized the high ground on energy and the environment. Earlier in his career, he offered the first plausible bill to control America’s emissions of greenhouse gases. Now his positions are a caricature of that record: think Ms. Palin leading chants of “drill, baby, drill.”
Mr. Obama has endorsed some offshore drilling, but as part of a comprehensive strategy including big investments in new, clean technologies.
•
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
23 October 2008
Imaginary conversation over a breakfast table in Alaska
"Mommy, do I have to give back the clothes and shoes I got for you being President, uh, I mean Vice-President?"
"Well, yes you might dear, because the socialist, liberal, media elite says you can’t have them."
"But why Mommy? I really like these new clothes. They’re so much nicer than the flannel-lined Wranglers you make me wear at home. And I hate wearing Willow’s hand-me-downs."
"Well, darling there’s nothing wrong with hand-me-downs, you’re lucky to have a big sister to share clothes with."
"Do Willow and Bristol and Trig also have to give back their new clothes?"
"Yes, I suppose they will Sweetheart. You see the nice Republican Party gave you the clothes but the mean ol’ nasty Democrats, who aren’t real Americans anyway are making you give them back. It’s how they spread the wealth around."
Willow has now joined the conversation.
"But Mom, we learned in school that socialism is when the government provides all of your needs. Isn’t that what the Republicans did when they bought us all these nice clothes?"
"No darling, that was an “economic stimulus package” in which we supported the economy by buying stuff far beyond our own means."
"Oh."
"Mommy can I have some moose bacon for breakfast?"
"Well, yes you might dear, because the socialist, liberal, media elite says you can’t have them."
"But why Mommy? I really like these new clothes. They’re so much nicer than the flannel-lined Wranglers you make me wear at home. And I hate wearing Willow’s hand-me-downs."
"Well, darling there’s nothing wrong with hand-me-downs, you’re lucky to have a big sister to share clothes with."
"Do Willow and Bristol and Trig also have to give back their new clothes?"
"Yes, I suppose they will Sweetheart. You see the nice Republican Party gave you the clothes but the mean ol’ nasty Democrats, who aren’t real Americans anyway are making you give them back. It’s how they spread the wealth around."
Willow has now joined the conversation.
"But Mom, we learned in school that socialism is when the government provides all of your needs. Isn’t that what the Republicans did when they bought us all these nice clothes?"
"No darling, that was an “economic stimulus package” in which we supported the economy by buying stuff far beyond our own means."
"Oh."
"Mommy can I have some moose bacon for breakfast?"
22 October 2008
Police Sniper Tower in NYC
Erected in expectation of impending post-election riots.
The writing is on the wall people, dare I say anything else?
Arrest Rove
Thanks to Wonkette for bringing this to my attention:
"This is a truly great clip, my friends, truly great, because it involves Karl Rove behaving foolishly. He was holding some sort of discussion panel thing this morning with former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell — in the communist port town of San Francisco. “Oh boy!” is right. First some crazy drunk lady walks on stage and tries to handcuff Rove, and as soon as she makes her move, he SWATS her hands away like a baby while staring straight ahead. And then another hippie goes nuts in the audience. Finally, Rove says some whiny thing, pretending to be offended, and literally everyone laughs at him and Mitchell is like, “shutup, fraud.” All in all a fine session of political discourse."
Loose Lips Sink Ships Mr. Rove. You should be hanged for treason, sir.
"This is a truly great clip, my friends, truly great, because it involves Karl Rove behaving foolishly. He was holding some sort of discussion panel thing this morning with former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell — in the communist port town of San Francisco. “Oh boy!” is right. First some crazy drunk lady walks on stage and tries to handcuff Rove, and as soon as she makes her move, he SWATS her hands away like a baby while staring straight ahead. And then another hippie goes nuts in the audience. Finally, Rove says some whiny thing, pretending to be offended, and literally everyone laughs at him and Mitchell is like, “shutup, fraud.” All in all a fine session of political discourse."
Loose Lips Sink Ships Mr. Rove. You should be hanged for treason, sir.
13 October 2008
Put Away Falsehood
"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are all of the same body."
Ephesians 4:25
Put Away Falsehood
Ephesians 4:25
Put Away Falsehood
11 October 2008
Frank Schaeffer: McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred
McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred
By Frank Schaeffer
October 10, 2008
John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.
At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.
Shame!
John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.
You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.
John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.
Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.
John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.
John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.
Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.
We will hold you responsible.
Frank Schaeffer is the author of "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." His e-mail is frankaschaeffer@aol.com.
By Frank Schaeffer
October 10, 2008
John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.
At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.
Shame!
John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.
You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.
John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.
Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.
John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.
John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.
Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.
We will hold you responsible.
Frank Schaeffer is the author of "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." His e-mail is frankaschaeffer@aol.com.
Just the facts...
In Letter to 'NYT,' Man Who Prosecuted Weather Underground Hits Linking Ayers to Obama
By Greg Mitchell
Published: October 10, 2008 9:00 AM ET
NEW YORK In a surprising a letter to the editor published in The New York Times today, the chief prosecutor of the Weather Underground in the 1970s expressed outrage over the linking of Barack Obama to Bill Ayers by the McCain campaign, adding, "Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen."
William C. Ibershof also corrects a charge in the Times: "I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of 'prosecutorial misconduct.' It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director."
Felt, of course (you may have already forgotten), was also known as a guy called "Deep Throat."
The full letter follows. For constant coverage of the media and the campaign go to our new blog at:
The E&P Pub
*
As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.
Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.
Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.
I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director.
William C. Ibershof
Mill Valley, Calif., Oct. 8, 2008
By Greg Mitchell
Published: October 10, 2008 9:00 AM ET
NEW YORK In a surprising a letter to the editor published in The New York Times today, the chief prosecutor of the Weather Underground in the 1970s expressed outrage over the linking of Barack Obama to Bill Ayers by the McCain campaign, adding, "Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen."
William C. Ibershof also corrects a charge in the Times: "I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of 'prosecutorial misconduct.' It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director."
Felt, of course (you may have already forgotten), was also known as a guy called "Deep Throat."
The full letter follows. For constant coverage of the media and the campaign go to our new blog at:
The E&P Pub
*
As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.
Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.
Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.
I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director.
William C. Ibershof
Mill Valley, Calif., Oct. 8, 2008
10 October 2008
Trying to turn it around
Ok. I am making an effort to turn the thrust of my blog posts back around to the positive. The vitriol of the past week has made me ill.
I only have one small disagreement with Barack Obama. And that is that I think it CAN get any worse. I think McCain/Palin could be the worst thing to ever happen to this country.
Barack Obama 2008
I only have one small disagreement with Barack Obama. And that is that I think it CAN get any worse. I think McCain/Palin could be the worst thing to ever happen to this country.
Barack Obama 2008
Shift Happens
Did you feel it? Did you feel the world shift ever so slightly yet tremendously, significantly? It happened yesterday afternoon at exactly 3:48 PM PST. Yes indeed, it truly did. No I'm not talking about another California earthquake, I'm referring to a comment I overheard, made by my staunch Republican boss to someone on the phone. He was discussing the economic state we're in and he said "If Obama wins, I will be personally better off financially." Oh, sure he still touts the Republicans and had earlier in the day tried to (unsuccessfully) convince me that McCain's health care plan would give me $5000 (despite his taxing of the health care benefits my boss does provide which far exceeds that $5000). Still, he said it. I'll repeat, "If Obama wins, I will be personally better off financially." This is a multiple business owner, Wharton School graduate, who eats, sleeps and walks, bottom line. He reads the WSJ, both print and online versions daily, owns several properties, is invested in the stock market. He checks his company's P&L daily. While I disagree with his personal politics, I respect his financial acumen.
Now, I've heard talk about a so-called "Bradley Effect" where polls didn't match election results because some people who claimed to have voted for Tom Bradley for California Governor, in the privacy of the voting booth actually voted for someone else. Well, maybe that might happen for Obama. But I think that the exact opposite is likely to happen far more. Forget about the Republican base who have shown themselves to be a bunch of hateful, fearful, neocon, backward cretins. Nothing short of Armagedon is ever going to change them. But some fiscal conservatives, who vote more than their faith and fear are going to quietly pull the lever for Barack Obama. And then go back to their daily lives of watching market indices and scooping up foreclosed properties to add to their portfolios, and bulking up their bottom line. At least that is what I am praying for.
Now, I've heard talk about a so-called "Bradley Effect" where polls didn't match election results because some people who claimed to have voted for Tom Bradley for California Governor, in the privacy of the voting booth actually voted for someone else. Well, maybe that might happen for Obama. But I think that the exact opposite is likely to happen far more. Forget about the Republican base who have shown themselves to be a bunch of hateful, fearful, neocon, backward cretins. Nothing short of Armagedon is ever going to change them. But some fiscal conservatives, who vote more than their faith and fear are going to quietly pull the lever for Barack Obama. And then go back to their daily lives of watching market indices and scooping up foreclosed properties to add to their portfolios, and bulking up their bottom line. At least that is what I am praying for.
09 October 2008
08 October 2008
Open Letter to John McCain
Dear Senator,
As a United States citizen (10th generation) I am asking you to stop anyone in your campaign as well as yourself from calling (by outright statement or insinuation or by association) Senator Obama a terrorist. This can set a very ugly precedence when our elected officials are being called terrorists by other elected officials as well as their supporters. I would hope for greater decorum from elected officials and presidential candidates. I deem such behaviour to be nothing less than 21st century McCarthyism. I ask you to stand up to, and cease such blatant smears against Senator Obama.
As a United States citizen (10th generation) I am asking you to stop anyone in your campaign as well as yourself from calling (by outright statement or insinuation or by association) Senator Obama a terrorist. This can set a very ugly precedence when our elected officials are being called terrorists by other elected officials as well as their supporters. I would hope for greater decorum from elected officials and presidential candidates. I deem such behaviour to be nothing less than 21st century McCarthyism. I ask you to stand up to, and cease such blatant smears against Senator Obama.
Watch out America - We're on a very dangerous and slippery slope
I sounded the alarm earlier, and it does not appear to be going away. America is dangerously close to a military take down. Our rights will be trampled if we fail to act. If we tolerate slurs of "terrorist" from the right wing machinery, they will continue to whip this thing up. They will not only take over this election, but toss all of our civil rights right out the window.
This is a threat to each and every one of us from the current administration. What do we do in the face of a threat? Run away? I think not. Dangerous times indeed.
02 October 2008
Just Another Tricky Day
I received this from a friend on the internet. Her niece went up to New Hampshire to volunteer for Obama. She wrote this yesterday:
"One of the most remarkable moments of my day, however, was witnessing a 20 something year old veteran who just returned from Iraq transform from the McCain 'New Hampshire for Victory' Veteran Coordinator to an Obama volunteer. It sounds unreal, but all happened between 10 am and 6 pm today. The first time he stopped in the office, Corey, the Veteran, was taking a break from his work at the McCain office to talk to his girlfriend, who happened to be volunteering for the Obama office. As he was clearly an atypical character, we began asking Corey what sort of work he was doing for McCain. He expressed dissatisfaction with his work there because his boss was trying to pressure him to write an op-ed piece on McCain's 'victory' in the debate and in support of Palin as the VP, two positions that he was uncomfortable in taking. Abby, one of the field coordinators offered to give him information, specifically about veteran affairs, the issue that he was clearly most interested in. He looked over Obama's policy and began talking about how his superiors were telling him he had to vote for McCain saying that they would lose their benefits under Obama. He confessed he really didn't have confidence that McCain would protect them because in his experience as a New Hampshire militia in Iraq he was rarely given sufficient protective gear, and the gear he was given was leftover from Vietnam War because NH has no supplemental funds from taxes to pay for new equipment. As he was perusing the information about Obama he made a number of jokes about how he was such a rebel because Republicans are not allowed to do research. He also expressed frustration at not being able to find a job solely because employers were not interested in investing in him given that he could be shipped off to war at any point. He did eventually left our office to 'go back to the darkside' but later in the evening, when I was in the middle of my list of calls, I turned around and saw that Corey was being trained by the field coordinator for Obama phone banking. Apparently he had gone to a veterans for McCain phone banking, was the only person there until his supervisor showed up 40 minutes late. He asked her a couple questions about McCain's Veteran policies, to which she gave him some half-truthful answers and he quit on the spot. Needless to say, he had the best line for calling the NH Republicans on his phone list -- 'I'm a Republican veteran calling in support of Obama ... ' Quite remarkable." Today she reported that the vet had come back to continue volunteering for Obama.
I have tried to verify this via Google but could find no link to ascertain its veracity. Still, I have no reason to doubt this story. It's just a word of mouth kinda thing. Take from it what you will.
One note I wish to make is that this is not the first I've heard of "ghost-writers" being recruited by the McCain campaign to fabricate letters using pre-established code-words and catch-phrases to be sent to Op/Ed newspapers in every major American city.
And finally, one last thing. I drove by my bank yesterday, you know the one with the wild west stage coach as their logo, and I saw three people standing in line for the ATM machine and I immediately got a clammy feeling and flashed on that scene in It's A Wonderful Life of the run on the bank. I can report happily that apparently, at least for the moment, my meager savings account appears to be safe. For the moment.
"One of the most remarkable moments of my day, however, was witnessing a 20 something year old veteran who just returned from Iraq transform from the McCain 'New Hampshire for Victory' Veteran Coordinator to an Obama volunteer. It sounds unreal, but all happened between 10 am and 6 pm today. The first time he stopped in the office, Corey, the Veteran, was taking a break from his work at the McCain office to talk to his girlfriend, who happened to be volunteering for the Obama office. As he was clearly an atypical character, we began asking Corey what sort of work he was doing for McCain. He expressed dissatisfaction with his work there because his boss was trying to pressure him to write an op-ed piece on McCain's 'victory' in the debate and in support of Palin as the VP, two positions that he was uncomfortable in taking. Abby, one of the field coordinators offered to give him information, specifically about veteran affairs, the issue that he was clearly most interested in. He looked over Obama's policy and began talking about how his superiors were telling him he had to vote for McCain saying that they would lose their benefits under Obama. He confessed he really didn't have confidence that McCain would protect them because in his experience as a New Hampshire militia in Iraq he was rarely given sufficient protective gear, and the gear he was given was leftover from Vietnam War because NH has no supplemental funds from taxes to pay for new equipment. As he was perusing the information about Obama he made a number of jokes about how he was such a rebel because Republicans are not allowed to do research. He also expressed frustration at not being able to find a job solely because employers were not interested in investing in him given that he could be shipped off to war at any point. He did eventually left our office to 'go back to the darkside' but later in the evening, when I was in the middle of my list of calls, I turned around and saw that Corey was being trained by the field coordinator for Obama phone banking. Apparently he had gone to a veterans for McCain phone banking, was the only person there until his supervisor showed up 40 minutes late. He asked her a couple questions about McCain's Veteran policies, to which she gave him some half-truthful answers and he quit on the spot. Needless to say, he had the best line for calling the NH Republicans on his phone list -- 'I'm a Republican veteran calling in support of Obama ... ' Quite remarkable." Today she reported that the vet had come back to continue volunteering for Obama.
I have tried to verify this via Google but could find no link to ascertain its veracity. Still, I have no reason to doubt this story. It's just a word of mouth kinda thing. Take from it what you will.
One note I wish to make is that this is not the first I've heard of "ghost-writers" being recruited by the McCain campaign to fabricate letters using pre-established code-words and catch-phrases to be sent to Op/Ed newspapers in every major American city.
And finally, one last thing. I drove by my bank yesterday, you know the one with the wild west stage coach as their logo, and I saw three people standing in line for the ATM machine and I immediately got a clammy feeling and flashed on that scene in It's A Wonderful Life of the run on the bank. I can report happily that apparently, at least for the moment, my meager savings account appears to be safe. For the moment.
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