Barack Obama for President

The first thing I need to say is this. To all those that interrupted Senator McCain while he spoke… you are not helping. McCain’s own words will be enough to prove why he should not be our next president. You don’t need to interrupt him, to do that is just rude, and it makes the rest of us who oppose his candidacy look bad. The political process needs more maturity, not idiots acting like children.   

McCain quoted our founding fathers by saying that all men are created equal. However, he did not say that all people deserve equal rights. Under a John McCain presidency we will see activist conservative judges who will move our country and civil rights back to the 1950s or maybe before.

McCain said that he fought for the strategy of more troops. However, Obama fought against going into Iraq in the first place. It seems that Barack Obama was correct when it counted the most. And because we followed Bush’s failed policies, we took our eye off the ball with Al Queda and it is now reached pre-9/11 strengths. And McCain wants to continue the President’s failed policy? That doesn’t make any sense.

Honoring the troops and keeping us safe from enemies requires that we train and equip Iraq to defend itself, it requires that we have a responsible withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, and it requires that we go after the enemies who actually attacked us and make them our priority. The only candidate in the election that I see proposing this is Barack Obama and not John McCain.

McCain believes in open markets, but free trade with countries that don’t share our labor laws provides unfair competition to the American worker.

McCain believes in people keeping the fruits of their labor? I bet you he won’t be pushing for the American worker to get increased pay that is a fair compensation for that labor.

McCain brought up the old line that judges should not legislate from the bench. Every single one of those people applauding tonight would love the court to legislate from the bench on the issues of gay marriage and abortion.

Mccain says government doesn’t work for you but makes sure that you have more choices to make for yourself. B.S. McCain is leading the morality police that wants to legislate against choice, be it on abortion, or gay marriage, or activities that hurt nobody yet for some reason Republicans insist on legislating against them.

McCain says that Obama would raise taxes. Yet a recent study showed that the income of the average American will increase more because of Obama’s plan than it would with McCain’s plan.

McCain rejects Obama’s plan for a government run healthcare system. That is a lie, Obama doesn’t want government run healthcare. He wants people to keep their own healthcare plans and make health plans easier to purchase for those 40+ million who cannot afford it for themselves.

McCain says that Education is THE civil rights issue of the century. Education is A civil rights issue, but there are many more. However, on education, McCain wants to add competition to fix failed schools. Why not just fix the schools! We should yearn to make all public schools top notch! We should not “cut and run” on our youth.

McCain wants to stop sending money to oil producing countries who don’t like us. Well guess what, Obama wants to do that as well. Obama just sells his plan with his long term goals, while McCain sells his plan with his short term goals. I like the long term approach personally.

John McCain is a patriot. John McCain is a hero. John McCain deserves all the respect that we can give him for his service to our country. This is something that is said a lot, but it is something that cannot be said enough.

But let me get back to where John McCain started. John McCain and the Republican Party rejects the idea of equal rights for all (be it equal pay for equal work, gay marriage rights, or any other civil rights issue the Democrats support but Republicans oppose). How can a person expect to lead a nation if he doesn’t support equal rights for every person in that nation? As long as John McCain refuses to fight for every single American as president, John McCain proves that he is not qualified to BE our next president. Period.

He just said that Iraq has become a place where Al Queda is rejected.

Al Queda had no presence in Iraq until after we invaded.

Although Osama bin Laden briefly explored the idea of forging ties with Iraq in the mid-1990s, the terrorist leader was hostile to Hussein’s secular government, and Iraq never responded to requests for help in providing training camps or weapons, the panel found in the first of two reports issued today.

But again, Republicans try and connect Iraq to 9-11, even though it has been conclusively shown that there was no link.

Sarah Palin thinks McCain will help defend America as President. Well, how do we do that when McCain wants to continue Bush’s flawed policies? You know the ones where we took our eye off the ball with Al Queda and allowed them to get back to pre-911 levels?

Sarah Palin worries about her son having a good President. Don’t worry about that, under Barack Obama, your son will have a chief executive who will make sure to lead with diplomacy and use your son as a last resort. Unlike Bush, he wont be looking to start a fight with countries that didn’t even attack us. President Obama wont take his eye of the ball when it comes to Al Queda and has committed to going after Al Queda and the Taliban when elected President.

Palin says that every woman can walk through every door in America. Well, only recently did this new conservative court slam the door in the faces of women seeking to fight discrimination charges by ruling that the 180 days that you have to file a discrimination lawsuit is not based on the date the person finds out they are discriminated against, but the date that the discrimination started. So if a person has been discriminated against for 181 days, the company can keep discriminating and the person has no more legal recourse. This is the kind of rulings we will continue to have if John McCain is elected and nominates more activist right wing Supreme Court justices. With these right winged justices, doors will keep getting slammed right back in the faces of hard working women who only want equal pay for equal work. I guess Palin would just consider this “whining”.

Sarah Palin spoke of spending 40 billion dollars to build a pipeline. Wait a second, a Republican is supporting the Government spending money to do something? Shouldn’t that sort of thing be left to the private sector? Where is the outrage of the fiscal conservatives earlier in the convention who said that government is not the answer? Yes, the Republican audience applauded both in a supreme display of hypocrisy.

Sarah Palin thinks we need to produce more oil and gas. She claims that Alaska has a lot of energy. Of course, she failed to mention that the energy currently drilled for in Alaska is shipped to Asia. So if more energy is drilled, and that energy is sent to Asia as well, how does that reduce our reliance on foreign oil exactly? That’s right! IT DOESN’T!

Sarah Palin lied when she claimed that Obama would reduce our security, but he will go after Al Queda.

Sarah Palin lied when she claimed that Obama doesn’t want us to produce energy. Obama just wants to produce alternate energy.

Sarah Palin lied when she claimed Obama wants to raise taxes. He would reduce taxes for 95% of the people. Perhaps he would increase the tax burden on the top 5% (who are currently benefiting from the irresponsible Bush tax cuts).

Sarah Palin claims that McCain doesn’t run with the Washington Herd. How can that be true with the line of bull he keeps giving us?

And one thing Sarah Palin didn’t do… she didn’t explain why we should be secure with the idea that she will be one heartbeat away from the Presidency.

Mitt Romney shows exactly why he couldn’t win the Presidential nomination in his speech today. He doesn’t even know the Constitution (or the realities of his own Government)! He claimed that the ruling that allowed Guantanamo prisoners to question their imprisonment as both “liberal” and “granting them rights”.

A) A Conservative court made that ruling.

B) The Constitution states:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

It doesn’t say citizen, it says person. All people get the right to due process under the law. This is not something belonging to only citizens. The ignorance of Romney (and all those who cheered in the croud at his statement to that effect) shines through with their lack of knowledge of our Constitution. These people are supposed to be their party leaders and they don’t even know the Constitution? How pathetic!

Meg Whitman, the former CEO of Ebay, spoke at the Republican convention tonight. Before reading this, I suggest you read about all the fraud at Ebay during her watch. I would also urge you to remember the words of Rob Chestnut who tells us that fraud on ebay is “under-counted” and “over-counted”.

Meg Whitman said she is a Republican because of “character”? Well, it does take a character to seriously believe the b.s. she gave out on fighting fraud as CEO of ebay. Read the story in the Mike Brunker Ebay section that discusses the shill bidder who got away with fraud and was only given a verbal warning.

Meg Whitman says that Republicans are proud to be the party of Lincoln. Well sorry Meg, but if Lincoln was alive today I doubt he would be a Republican (considering Democrats are the party that now fights for civil rights).

I am glad Meg spoke tonight. She did contradict Fred Thompson when he said the economy was great. She said the economy was bad. For a convention so scripted, I would think they would get their message straight. What is it Republicans? Do we have a good economy or a bad one?

Meg says that Republicans  will lower taxes. Yes, I am sure that under a Republican administration that Meg Whitman would see many tax breaks. But the other 95% of us will be getting tax breaks under Barack Obama.

Meg speaks of individual freedoms. Yeah, as long as you are rich, white, and heterosexual you have all the freedom you want in America.

Meg says that McCain supports more self government. But the morality police that is the Republican Party is the one who needs to “protect marriage” from homosexuals. I would suggest they seek to protect marriage from David Vitter and Larry Craig before worrying about what homosexuals will do to their marriages. Guess what Republicans, my marriage to my wife is special to me no matter how many prostitutes David Vitter “sins” with. Your marriage will be just as special as it is today if gay people are allowed to marry the people they love.

But let’s go back to the statement of Rob Chestnut (the one about fraud and how it is over-counted and under-counted). Rob was brought in by Meg to Ebay. Rob and Meg embraced that kind of double speak while defending their inaction when it came to fraud in ebay. How can you take people who believe that double speak seriously?

McCain does though. At the Saddleback forums McCain said he would seek the council of Meg Whitman because of her wisdom. So much for the “straight talk express”.

Fred Thompson

He seems to think our economy is great. He criticized Democrats for thinking the Economy is not good. Well, is it? I guess it is for people who don’t know how many houses they own. Get back to us when you have a candidate who understands what life is like for the rest of us.

He says Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air? No, she is just your regular run of the mill extremist conservative who would ban abortions for rape victims and hates gay people. But hey, that should work to get the other extremists out for McCain.  

Thompson refers to Palin’s executive experience, limited as it is, as a plus. What executive experience does McCain have exactly?

Thompson criticized Obama indirectly for giving teleprompter speeches to appeal to our critics abroad. He is flat out wrong. Obama gives speeches that appeal to those in America that the Republicans in charge have ignored for far too long.  

Thompson falsely criticizes the Democrats for having the least popular Congress. Did it ever occur to him that the reason Democrats were elected in 2006 was because voters wanted us to change our course and that the reason that Congress is not popular is not because of the Democratic majority, but because of the Republican obstructionists.

Thompson claims that Obama would support protectionism. Well I want someone to protect American labor against unfair trade agreements.

Thompson claims that Obama is going to raise taxes on businesses, when in fact Obama is going to give tax cuts to businesses that keep jobs here and raise taxes on businesses that ship American jobs overseas.

Joe Lieberman

I thought I would have more to say about Joe Lieberman. However, what I saw was just simple and vague rhetoric with no substance. At least Thompson listed the problems he saw. Thompson lied, but at least he was specific.

Lieberman tried to say that McCain has been the same man he always has been. Well, the John McCain of 2000 is far from the John McCain of 2008.

Lieberman did speak of the dangerous enemies abroad. Obama wants to go after those who attacked us. McCain wants to continue the failed Iraq policies.

Lieberman also has drunk the Kool Aid by calling bills like H.R. 1591 “retreat”. He claimed that Obama supporting cutting off funds for the troops. Obama, and other Democrats, supported bills like HR 1591 that fully funded and equipped our troops. It would have fully funded and equipped the training of the Iraqi military. But no, Republicans reject such notions as retreat. Well, I’m sorry but setting up Iraq to defend itself is reaching for victory. And McCain, Lieberman, and others are just flat out wrong on this issue.

And Senator, I have voted for Republicans in the past. I will not be voting for this Republican. Nor will I follow your misguided support.

The person I believe that is the best for our country is Barack Obama.

* Ok, so I found some more things to say about Lieberman and his vague rhetoric.

I don’t want to get into all the tabloid type speculation about whether Sarah Palin or Bristol Palin is the mother of Trig Palin. Nor do I want to go into the just announced fact that Bristol Palin is currently pregnant. I will leave that to the others and I will take the stance that unless a blood test is given that we will just go with the name that is on the birth certificate (which I assume is Sarah Palin).

What I do want to go into is the decisions that Sarah Palin made as a pregnant woman. See, my wife is pregnant at the moment as well (it’s a boy) so I have become familiar with what you can or cant do in pregnancy.

Here is the initial article that describes what went on with that trip.

So lets go through the time line (and opinion of a doctor) of what Sarah Palin did while pregnant.

She claims she flew from Texas to Anchorage after she was having contractions and leaking amniotic fluid.  This simply doesn’t make sense.

I am a physician and I deliver babies (my last delivery was about 36 hours ago).

…

There is very little chance that a 44 year old woman who was pregnant with her fifth child would last 8 hours with ruptured membranes and contractions.  Especially when the baby was approximately 4 weeks early; She would have delivered this baby on the plane.

…

Playing the back seat doctor here, my advice would have been get in the car and go to the nearest hospital with a maternity ward.  This is called Premature Preterm Rupture of Membranes (PPROM) and it is dangerous.

…

10:30pm - Palin arrives in Anchorage (approximately 22 hours after membranes ruptured, you start to get worried at 12 hours).

11:30pm - Palin checks into Mat-Su regional in Wasilla, Alaska.  (It seems kind of strange that she wouldn’t have gone to Providence in Anchorage which has the highest level maternity care in the state.  You would want a child with genetic defects to be delivered in a bigger place with more services available.)

…

If she knew her child had this disorder and got on a plane with leaking amniotic fluid, then she shows incredibly poor judgment.

First and foremost, my wife was told to not travel in the 3rd trimester. No air travel. What was Palin doing traveling to Texas on a plane in the first place?

Next, if my wife was having issues with her pregnancy, we would have never gotten on a plane. We would have went directly to the nearest hospital to make sure that she was OK. Ambulance to the nearest hospital: Good Decision. Airplane to hospital in Alaska: Bad Decision.

And that is the the bottom line here. We have a woman with several children already who, if we assume that her explanation of the facts is true, she made extremely bad (and risky) decisions about her pregnancy. These correct decisions would have been common sense but apparently she lacks the common sense to go to a hospital if something strange is happening with her pregnancy. Apparently she lacks the common sense to get a second opinion of another doctor if questionable advice is given. Apparently she lacks the common sense that would keep her from traveling long distances while pregnant.

So why should we believe that she has the common sense required to be our Vice President and be one heartbeat away from the Presidency?

And if McCain lacks the judgment to pick someone with common sense as VP, then why should we assume that he has the common sense required to be President?

Just sayin…

John McCain has picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. This is good news for the Obama campain. Why? As V-P, the experienced Palin would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. McCain will no longer be able to attack Obama for “lack of experience” because look at who he picked!

I have a feeling that while McCain is looking to Palin to solidify the conservative vote, he may also be trying to get the disgruntled Hillary voters who wanted a woman President. I doubt it will work. Palin is far too conservative (being pro-life and anti-gay) to attract Hillary supporters.

The Republican Convention is coming up and Rudy is the keynote speaker. Let’s all put a wager on how many times he uses the words “global terrorism” in his speech. I put dibs on 14. (If he says “global terror” I will count that as well).

If I am wrong, and you are the first to guess the correct number exactly (put it as an answer in the thread)  I will send you a “No Way! No How! No McCain!” T-shirt. If we have to evacuate from the storm, we will work out a way for you to get it.

This is what Barack Obama said about the policies of the last 8 years. As I said he would, he knocked the ball out of the park. More great lines from the speech.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this

Yes we are!

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

That is one thing I have argued for years.

In fact, I found him saying many of the same things I have said that either describe what is wrong with our country, or describe what is right with it. That is why Obama will be getting my vote. He gets it, McCain for all his service to our country, does not.

And that is one other thing that needs to be brought up. Obama, Biden, the Clintons, and many other speakers made it a point to applaud McCain for his brave service to our country. Each and every time they did that, the crowd applauded as well. This speaks VOLUMES about the Democratic Party.

Who does McCain find solice in? Rove.  Will McCain and other speakers find something to applaud Obama for? Will the audience applaud? We shall see.