DNC Convention: The Finale, The Nomination Acceptance, The Democratic Platform

The Democratic Party convention has come to a close, and though I tired of it last night, I couldn’t help but be amazed and inspired by it tonight. I need not give a detailed analysis of it, line by line from the speeches, as I sometimes like to do. The convention has spoken for itself.

Tonight’s ceremony heightened the pomp and circumstance of the previous convention days. The speeches were great, the presentation of ordinary American folks and retired generals was excellent, and I loved seeing Stevie Wonder performing with the singing group Take 6. Stevie is a brilliant musician with a joyous voice, and I came to know the beautiful harmonizing of Take 6 over a decade ago on a Quincy Jones album.

The one incredibly important thing that the convention accomplished was the presentation of the Democratic Party platform. What a beautiful platform it is. A platform of economic and educational opportunities for everybody. A platform that addresses an energy policy in terms of national security and how it will affect our pockets. A platform that returns our foreign policy to one of diplomacy and alliances in the international community.

A platform that is built around what is the best in us and the best of American ideals.

Obama’s speech was amazing. If you saw it, then I don’t need to tell you that. In one speech, he managed to present his platform and policies to an incredibly large audience (I wonder how many TV viewers this thing had), paint himself for who he really is, and paint McCain and the current Republican leadership for who they really are.

Of all the damning things that he has said about the Bush administration in the past, the most damning thing was, for the first time, mentioning its awful, negligent response to Hurricane Katrina as one of its failures.

I sincerely believe that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party don’t just have a platform for an election cycle. I believe that this is a movement. A movement to take back our democracy, our country, our prosperity, and our respect in the world. Obama is channeling the spirit of the electorate and is using tried and true techniques that have made democracy work in the past.

Not only should we take our country back. We should also learn a lesson from the past eight years and not fall asleep at the wheel again while our civil liberties are stripped away one by one, our world standing is tarnished and our security is compromised, and our economy is crushed by irresponsible spending and legislation written by the wealthy benefactors of a corporatocracy. We were not allowed a clear view of the politicizing of the Department of Justice soon enough due to the eradication of investigative reporting and the thriving journalism of a healthy democracy due to corporate consolidation of media outlets.

Not to mention the Bush administration-led media that would not show you the dead Iraqi civilians and dead American soldiers. We could not see what was really going in a war waged for a vendetta aimed at finishing a job that Daddy Bush didn’t and an excellent opportunity to try and take control of Iraq’s oil fields and make money for Cheney’s defense contractor buddies.

This is what happens when we fall asleep at the wheel. This is what happens when we take our prosperity for granted. This is what happens when we are more entertained than we are informed. Unfortunately, being overfed and overindulged is a great American weakness which leads to the complacency that allows things like the last eight years to happen. If ever again there comes a time where we fear our government instead of our government fearing us, this is what will happen.

To the Republicans who may be reading this blog entry, and I’m speaking to those who believe in true conservative values such as limited government and fiscal responsibility….I am sorry that your party has been hijacked by the neoconservative agenda. I am sorry that your leadership of the past eight years has been comprised of sociopath degenerates who only care about their money and power and that of their buddies and who get a hard-on every time they think of which country we can drop bombs on next.

I am sorry that certain conservative values have been taken to an extreme level and that ideology over common sense has become part of legislation. We have feared Islamic extremism when the real threat to our country has been neocon extremism this entire time.

I am truly sorry that your candidate, John McCain, has had his campaign, stances on the issues, and integrity hijacked by the Republican party as it is today.

In the end, new voter registration is what is going to win this election (aside from winning my home state of Pennsylvania, of course). Redrawing the electoral map will bring us victory. Bringing millions of new young voters with idealism in their hearts will get us over the top. Involving millions of people who have never been catered to and intentionally disenfranchised, this means minorities of all colors and ethnicities, will win this thing in November.

On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, we also remember the words of his last speech the day before he was assassinated: “I have been to the mountaintop” and “I have seen the promised land.” Obama’s candidacy as the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party is one mountaintop we have seen. His election to the presidency will be a higher mountaintop. The work that he, Joe Biden, our Congress, our Supreme Court, and the American people put in could potentially….and I know I’m aiming awfully high….could potentially lay the foundation to put a dent in the institutionalized racism that African-Americans face from potential employers. A foundation that could put a dent in their disproportionate numbers in the prison system. A foundation that could reduce, or even eliminate, the overall present-day impact of the African-American slavery of our past.

If Obama can climb to the mountaintop of the presidency, and the realization of the aforementioned foundation comes to pass, then that would be the promised land.

I will now stop typing and filling this blog entry with lofty rhetoric. I apologize for none of it. I have simply been inspired to dream big by my candidate, Barack Obama.

DNC Convention Day 3

Once again, this is Andy Stitt, blogging to you LIVE….I can hear you saying “Andy, don’t tell another stupid joke about blogging from your living room,” so I’ll just go ahead and get right to it.

I’m tiring a little bit of watching all the convention speeches and will be glad to watch Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco Field tomorrow night and have it be over.  I don’t feel like offering much of an analysis of the speeches since they all have the same overarching theme (elect Obama for president) and subjects that are touched on.  I will say that Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Joe Biden all knocked it out of the park.

One thing I have noticed on the third day is the rising level of symbolism in this grand production called the DNC Convention.  During the roll call vote, the great state of Illinois yielded to the great state of New York.  As part of the New York delegation, Hillary called for a suspension of the rest of the vote and to nominate Barack Obama as the party’s nominee by acclimation.  Imagine that, the candidates’ home states in the Senate working together to get Obama nominated and Hillary doing the honors.  Is this great political theatre or what?

Other symbolic acts included President Clinton passing the torch to Obama and John Kerry helping Obama in the fight for the White House against the swiftboaters that took him down.

Joe Biden gave a great speech that, to me, showed the fact that he truly cares about the middle class American majority since he was raised by them and is a part of them.  The presence of Jill Biden, his children, and his mother was a great introduction to the Biden family for those who didn’t know.  Even though I saw it as merely political theatre, I couldn’t help but be touched by it just a bit.

Obama’s surprise appearance at the end of Joe Biden’s speech was nice icing on the cake and a great anticipation-builder for his acceptance speech tomorrow.

I can see this convention accomplishing its goal of energizing the base and motivating them to get out and work hard to get Obama elected in November.  With any luck, it’ll sway some swing voters as well.

It was a pretty amazing sight to see Obama at the end and realize that this convention is rallying around his movement for change, a movement which I find to be sincere and powerful.  It’s surprising to me that I’m taken by this whole thing since I’ve grown to be pretty jaded about politics having spent only two years of my adult life during the Clinton administration and the rest under Bush Jr.  I ignored it feeling like I couldn’t do anything about it.

I’m glad I have something to hope for again.  Apparently, my idealism never left.

Day Number Two of the DNC Convention

Once again, this is Andy Stitt blogging LIVE….from my living room….but this time, to spice my reporting up a bit, I’m sitting on a different couch cushion than I did last night! I can just see those press credentials rolling in as I continue to tout my armchair journalist credentials. Then again, I would never falsely pass my writings for journalism, as they are filled with my opinions. Perhaps I should call myself an armchair op-ed writer?

In any case, I continued to watch the convention speeches that I wanted to see and tuned out those that I wasn’t particularly interested in. All of the speeches had the same messages and themes anyway; why bother watching all that repetition?

Before I get to my favorites, I’d like to point out a moment that made me laugh and shake my head: a speech from an auto worker from Detroit. His job will be shipped to Mexico in two weeks, he’s losing his health insurance shortly, and he was recently diagnosed with diabetes.

Andrew Stitt (I can hear my mother’s stern voice saying that to me), how can you be so callous and laugh and shake your head at this poor man?

Listen, I know that this guy is one of the people that Obama and the Democratic party are fighting for. I know stories like his are absolutely real. Since the whole DNC Convention is a PR production to begin with, he just looked so much like a campaign prop that I couldn’t take it seriously. The guy’s story and presentation sounded like a mix between a country music song stereotype (my wife left me, my dog died, and my car broke down) and a commercial for “save the children.”

I noticed a few other ordinary Americans that the Democrats will fight for, including a Hispanic immigrant displaced by the floods in Iowa. One appearance from an ordinary American that had a heavier impact was Lilly Ledbetter. Anyone who knows about her fight with Goodyear Tire Company over gender-based pay discrimination knows that featuring her at this convention really does get a strong message across about the ideals the party represents.

Ok, now on to my favorites:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich made an incredibly rousing speech, in which he repeatedly belted “Wake up, America!” Essentially, the Obama campaign is about an American awakening. I have been one of many who was largely asleep as our country has gone down a dark road. I would adopt this as part of my campaign slogan if I were running for the presidency or any elected office for that matter.

Keynote speaker Mark Warner had a passionate and inspired speech as well. He spoke of the ideals that Obama stands for and emphasized a choice between the future and the past that this election brings. Overall, well done, sir.

Now for the speech that everyone was looking forward to….Hillary Clinton. The questions that were being asked before the speech: would she support Obama? Would she make it all about her and act selfishly? Would she go after McCain or praise him? Are there any other questions that can be asked for the sake of increasing drama?????

Folks, let’s put the drama to rest. Hillary came through BIG TIME. On point, on message, supportive of Obama, and emphasizing the urgent need to put a Democrat in the White House for the sake of our future. The speech and preceding video tribute properly recognized her historic candidacy, and her supporters in the audience got to see her in all her glory making a passionate and classy speech.

Even though I doubt I will see a reduction in Huffington Post reader comments from Obama supporters vs. Hillary supporters bickering back and forth, I would like for us to put this whole thing behind us. Hillary had a great moment and did what everyone expected her to do at this convention. I think this downplays the whole suspense of what her husband will do with his speech tomorrow. I expect it to be no less than what she did. He looked like he was about to cry tears of joy the whole time she spoke, and much of it came during her calls for party unity and touting Democratic ideals.

I’m willing to bet that Bitter Billy is getting caught up in the spirit of the convention and will come through like a champ tomorrow. Besides, if he doesn’t, his legacy isn’t the only one that he’ll tarnish. Hillary’s future in politics could be largely dependent on how he acts tomorrow. Any sign of counterproductive behavior means that he will be sleeping on the couch for quite some time. If that happens, perhaps he still has Monica’s number???

In short: Hillary did great, Bill will do great, and we need to take the responsibility of a victory on election day off of them and take it into our own hands and win this thing ourselves.

Stay tuned for more blogging tomorrow as we go into day number three of the convention. This one will be a nail-biter with speeches from Billy the Clinton and Joey the Biden as well as the famous roll-call vote. Oooohhh, you can cut the tension with a knife….even though it’s highly doubtful that there will be any once the well-scripted PR presentation on Wednesday will be over.

Thoughts about the first night of the Democrat Convention

This is citizen journalist Andy Stitt, blogging LIVE…..from my living room…..half an hour after the first night of the convention has ended. Yes, I’m trying to build a case to get press credentials at future political events. How am I doing so far???

In any case, I was impressed with the first night of the convention. I really only watched it for the Ted Kennedy montage and speeches from him and Caroline as well as Michelle Obama’s time in the spotlight. I’m not much for watching an event consisting of a series of speeches in its entirety, so I did my share of filtering.

I started off by watching the least-nauseating talking heads I could find: the ones on MSNBC. I listened to commentary from Rachel Maddow (extremely intelligent and insightful), Keith Olbermann (I love his passion and constant smashing of the Bush/neocon alliance), Chris Matthews (not repulsive and generally likable), and Pat Buchanan (not nauseating and respectful with his commentary despite being a bit off his rocker) among others.

I was not surprised but still very put off by Ann Curry’s post-speech interview of Nancy Pelosi, which consisted entirely of badgering her about disgruntled Hillary supporters. Pelosi rose above it and continued her party unity message, which is really what this whole thing is all about.

Speaking of disgruntled Hillary supporters…..I will eat my words if I’m wrong about this, but I get the feeling that this anti-Obama movement is far smaller and more insignificant than the mainstream media and the McCain campaign would like you to believe. McCain and the GOP need it as part of a divide and conquer strategy, and the media needs it to drive up ratings (and the right-wing section of the media also likes the divide and conquer aspect of it).

I can understand the disappointment and raw emotions of Hillary supporters. She’s getting her proper recognition at this convention, which I am glad to see happening. I admit my emotions were fueled during the primaries by some of her actions which I disagreed with as well as the PUMA movement which left me scratching my head and kicking walls.

My emotions are out of my system, and now I will concentrate on Obama’s change movement while not believing the irrelevant hype.

Ok, so back to the convention….the video tribute to Ted Kennedy was a very moving one, and his speech was inspirational. His presence was necessary to build up the momentum for party unity. He seemed visibly weakened at some points during the speech, which could clearly be attributed to his illness, but his words still rang loud and clear.

The video tribute to Michelle Obama, narrated by her mother, was extremely well done. Michelle absolutely nailed her speech, and I mean NAILED it. She seemed a bit nervous at first, but after a while, her conversational tone and passion really carried her words. It was the perfect introduction of Michelle to the nation. As Keith Olbermann said following her speech: “case closed.”

If you want to watch a convention unfiltered by media talking heads, watch it on C-SPAN. I highly recommend it.

I look forward to the speeches from the Clintons and the roll-call vote. I imagine they all will be anti-climatic and will go forth as planned without disruption and to great reception from the audience. I expect Obama’s speech at Invesco Field to be as inspiring as it can get. What more can I ask for from this convention?

Move over Brangelina and Tomkat – O’Biden is here!

The practice of combining the names of celebrity couples, such as Brangelina Jolie Pitt and Tomkat Cruise Holmes, can now be applied to American politics with the recent announcement of Jarack O’Biden (the apostrophe is to emphasize the Irish injection into Obama’s ticket…and it looks better than Obiden). Pretty cool, huh?

All joking aside, I think Senator Biden is a great choice even though he wasn’t my first one. I was rooting for Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius. She has a reputation for being able to effectively govern, is a Beltway outsider, and took on the insurance companies as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner. I thought she would have fit in perfectly with Obama’s campaign for change, and she has been a vocal surrogate since early on in the Democratic primaries.

My support of Sebelius has shown that I am probably not a good political strategist since I didn’t carefully consider the political forces at work. Obama has inroads to make with white working class voters who may know Biden better than Sebelius. A VP candidate is needed to fight back against the incredibly dirty politics fueled by plenty of spending cash by the right-wing, and Biden would be much more vocal and blunt with his criticism of the opposition. He could also help Obama win Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes as opposed to Kansas’ six.

The recent Russia-Georgia conflict underscores the need for voters’ comfort with someone with foreign policy experience. Though Obama certainly has the right instincts and an excellent knowledge of foreign affairs, Biden closes the gap with relevant experience.

When you look closely at Biden’s record and viewpoints, you will find that he and Obama share the same vision of America even if it isn’t immediately apparent.

I was very inspired by both speeches yesterday in Springfield, IL. Check them out, and see if you agree that Biden will effectively carry Obama’s message to the masses and add his own value to it:

Fellow Obama supporters, let’s get that much more jazzed up about Obama’s candidacy and get to work to get him and Biden elected. Let’s hope that his verbosity can be used to our advantage and his past plagiarism scandal will be quickly squashed as simply a mistake he made and not an indication of his character.

Undecided voters….feel free to leave a comment, and I’ll be happy to make the case to you as to why Obama should be our next Commander in Chief.

Lions and Tigers and 527’s….Oh My!

After the Republican and Democratic conventions, the 2008 U.S. presidential election season is going to get much more interesting while still maintaining its usual predictability.

Barack Obama already called it shortly after the primary season ended and has been calling it ever since….the right-wing attack machine is going to try to make we the voters scared of him. As John McCain continues to run ads that claim that Obama will raise taxes on the middle class, the poor, the homeless, and the downtrodden, he continues to prove Obama’s prediction to be correct (though who didn’t see that coming anyway?).

The post-convention predictability will commence when the 527 groups start pouring millions of soft-money dollars into ads that will attempt to rip Obama a new one using 99% lies and 1% fabrications.

Seth Colter Walls of the Huffington Post reported about an Obama ‘infanticide’ smear being planned for launch, and Pat Buchanan confirmed this recently: “And I do know Republicans are planning, or rather 527s are planning attack ads on this….”

So, if you see anything brought to you by a group of anti-abortion activists called The Real Truth About Obama Inc., keep in mind the credibility that it doesn’t have and disregard it. It always warms my heart to see a group of people who would rather demonize a private, life-changing procedure that’s a woman’s business ONLY than work to find solutions on how to reduce unwanted pregnancies in the first place. Yes, I am a heathen, immoral proponent of sex education among other things.

Attack machine mouthpiece Jerome Corsi will hopefully not realize his intended impact. His book, All the Lies I Can Possibly Muster About a Democrat, has had its “facts” debunked by the Obama campaign. The number of book sales can be largely attributed to bulk purchases from conservative groups. I can see his fame being put to rest very quickly, so other brilliant literary figures and negative ad-peddlers will have to step up to keep the momentum going.

To the 527 groups, the McCain campaign, and the GOP as well, I have some ideas you can use for your future ads:

• Obama is over six-feet tall, therefore is not average height, and therefore is not an average American. He isn’t like WE are, with his elite tallness that towers over those who are 5′8″ and shorter.
• Obama is very thoughtful in his decision-making process. In dangerous times like these when terrorists can kill your families and Iran can blow up the world with the push of a button, we need a leader who knows how to go with his gut and make sudden decisions without thinking terribly hard about every single detail.
• Obama received $3 billion in contributions from the Islamic Extremist Suicide Bomber Foundation. He held several town hall meetings at Al-Qaida training camps.
• Obama was wrong about the Bush tax-cuts. Clearly they are working for all Americans.
• Obama voted with Bush on his tax-cuts. Clearly they are not working for all Americans.
• Obama may be ready to lead….but is he ready to lead?????

All of you no good idea-having advocates of “do and say anything to get re-elected” politics can thank me later for the bright ideas.

I encourage you the reader to not just sit back and watch the predictable idiocy unfold. This idiocy is a dangerous one which has proven to be effective in the past. Check out the Obama Campaign’s Fight the Smears website as well as John Kerry’s new website Truth Fights Back. This contribution is appropriate coming from Kerry, especially after his experience with the Swift Boat Liars for Inaccurate Picture-Painting. I am proud of him for stepping up on Obama’s behalf.

You have been warned about the post-convention attacks from 527 groups. You already knew they were coming anyway. Now fight back against them by spreading the word amongst friends, family, and anyone who will listen that they AREN’T TRUE!

The Russia-Georgia War, the Useless States of America, and a New Foreign Policy

As the Russia-Georgia war continues, I cannot muster any sympathy whatsoever for Georgia. Even as they continue to get annihilated by the Russian army, I cannot sympathize with any country that kills 2,000 civilians. Any military who runs over civilians with tanks and throws hand grenades into basements to kill those hiding from the bombs doesn’t deserve a damn bit of sympathy from anybody. Georgia made an enormous miscalculation and are enjoying the fruits that come with biting off more than one can chew.

I cannot speculate on how the conflict will end or if Russia is fighting to protect the South Ossetians or plans on ousting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and bringing Georgia back into the fold. With the historical complexities of this conflict and both sides fighting to win the propaganda war, we all will simply have to see how this plays out.

However, this conflict does make one fact incredibly clear: the Useless States of America has officially lost the moral ground and military capability to be effective in any capacity in this situation.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s warning to America to stay out of this conflict is the same advice I’d give our leaders. President Bush’s condemnation of Russia invading the sovereign nation of Georgia holds no weight as the US occupation of Iraq continues. Military aggression is out of the question since our hands are tied in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whatever Putin’s intentions are and regardless of what his next moves may be, his words and actions have given a resounding “f**k you” to the US. He knows that we have been reduced to a tough-talking country with zero influence on the world’s stage. If it comes to light that the US gave encouragement or tacit approval of Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia (especially with the military training given to them by the US in the weeks before)….well, then I’ll be the first to bury my head in the sand.

Now that the consequences of America’s longtime questionable foreign policy practices have come to light for all to see since 9/11, I recommend a change in foreign policy. I mean a serious change, one that is applied to the core of our actions.

My foreign policy proposal is grounded in standing for principles over allies. These principles include peacekeeping efforts, economic engagement, and overall good neighbor practices in the international community. This should trump the concept of a staunch ally. If Country X is showing behavior towards Country Y that contradicts these principles, then there should be no unconditional allegiance and economic and military aid to Country X (Israel, I’m talking to you!). There is much less room for US hypocrisy and much more room for being taken seriously by other countries if we actually mean what we say.

The eradication of the “staunch ally” concept also gets rid of our age-old modus operandi: your friends are my friends, and your enemies are my enemies. No more installing Saddam Hussein in Iraq to get rid of the Iranians. No more arming Osama bin Laden with weapons and money to get rid of the Russians. We see how well those two turned out. This mode of operation encourages war and cements America’s reputation as one of the world’s top purveyors of violence.

Oh, and one more thing: no more alliances based on control of oil. Don’t think for a minute that our alliance with Georgia has nothing to do with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (30% owned by oil company BP). Energy independence using renewable resources could conceivably put an end to the resource-grabbing games that only serve to complicate international relations.

As far as this conflict is concerned, I say we sit this one out and only engage in diplomatic efforts led by the UN and other participating groups. The biggest favor we can do right now is to help solidify the UN as a legitimate organization with actual influence. It’s the least we can do after our handling of Iraq helped relegate the UN to merely a building in New York full of ambassadors and writers of resolutions that are not respected or enforced.

Let’s take care of our business at home and show the world that we care about our citizens. Perhaps that will spread the message that we care about the citizens of other countries as well.

Team USA Basketball – Congrats on the first victory!

I watched a great game this morning as the NBA superstar-filled USA men’s basketball team beat China 101-70. I was incredibly impressed with Team USA’s roster when I first checked it out. This team is truly comprised of the NBA’s best and brightest and reminds of the caliber of talent on the original Dream Team that won the gold in Barcelona in 1992. I know it’s hard to compare any team to one that had Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, AND Larry Bird among others on it, but Lebron James, Chris Paul, and Kobe Bryant are part of that next generation of all-time greats.

Based on the roster, I expected this game to be a blow-out, though I was aware that we hadn’t won a gold medal since 2000 despite our all-star rosters. China came out swinging in the beginning, hitting three’s from all angles and getting shots from inside as well. Yao Ming hit the first shot of the game, which was a three-pointer (from a guy who’s 7′6????). His teammates put up an excellent fight during the first and fourth quarters. However, they were worn down by Team USA enough during the second and third that the lead was insurmountable by the time their fourth quarter run rolled around.

Team USA threw some awful passes during the first quarter and started finally getting it together in the second. Lebron James blocked shots (snatching one from mid-air with both hands) like nobody’s business. Dwyane Wade had flashes of his pre-injuries, NBA Finals MVP days. Kobe and Chris Paul played with their usual excellence. Dwight Howard was a significant presence down low and had some great dunks. Everyone else did their thing and did it well.

I saw Yao Ming’s toughness shine through during this game. He had been rehabbing a foot injury which took him out for the entire second half of the NBA regular season. There were questions about whether or not he’d be able to play, and the announcers said that his foot was about 70% healed when he came out on the court. He hurt his ankle in the latter half of the game but kept on playing until he was pulled for good with about six minutes left in the fourth.

He wanted to play for his country so badly, especially on his home turf, and it showed.

My money is on Team USA to win the gold, even if I haven’t seen any of the other teams play yet. If my guys can bring their “A” game to every single game, keep up the pressure defense that won them this game, and not underestimate their competition, then the gold shall be ours.

Surging our way through policy-naming

Dear friends who like surging your way through economic policy as well as foreign policy,

John “Surge” McCain recently proposed his “Economic Surge” for America. If you read through the excerpt from his speech in that article, you will notice a few rhetoric points scored, a bit of misinformation, an echoing of a couple of Obama’s ideas with no explanation of how to accomplish these missions, outright lies, and very little in terms of overall substance.

Before I dissect a few points from the speech, I must point out that the transition of the word “surge” from his foreign policy to his economic policy points to a militaristic style of leadership, reminiscent of the wars on drugs, terror, poverty, and every other conceivable ill of the world you can find. Let me remind you that the Nancy Reagan-led “War on Drugs” did nothing to quell the crack epidemic that devastated families (overwhelmingly minorities in our inner cities) during the 1980’s. The “War on Terror” has been equally ineffective and has actually bolstered recruits of terrorist organizations who wish to get rid of those Western infidel occupiers of a sovereign nation in the Middle East.

Now, for a few points from McCain’s speech:

“Now is the time for action. We need an “all of the above” plan to address our energy crisis with alternative energy, drilling and nuclear power.”

Alternative energy is a great idea, much like what Obama is touting along with a detailed plan for its use over the long-term. How do you plan to use it, Mr. McCain?

I don’t even want to hear drilling come out of your mouth when you are advocating for off-shore drilling, which is a term that translates to, in reality terms: a land-grab for oil companies so that they can have even more leased land that they may or may not use whether or not they feel like it, AND has been proven a thousand times already to not be effective in the short or long-term. If you’re talking about drilling in the 68 million acres of land that the oil companies already have leased, that the oil companies have NOT been using this entire time, then you probably won’t push for it too much since it will piss off the Big Oil money that you have in your pockets.

As far as nuclear energy is concerned, there has been too much debate about this resource’s renewability and evidence points toward the fact that it will run out over time just like fossil fuels will (more on that here). Advocating long-term solutions to our energy problems does not include the use of nuclear power, though it could be part of a short-term solution with the proper safeguards for storage of nuclear waste.

Second point:

“We need to crack down on those who have abused our credit market and caused this housing decline. And we need to take action to support American businesses so that we stop jobs from going overseas and create more jobs here at home.”

How???

Third point:

“America has the second highest business tax rate in the entire world. It is any wonder that jobs are moving overseas when we are taxing them out of the country?”

I thought cheaper labor was what attracted employers to ship jobs overseas. The notion that we are taxing them out of the country stays true to the conservative belief of lower taxation but uses it to encourage a stupid notion.

And the fourth:

Unfortunately Senator Obama’s plans would raise taxes on businesses even more. He has promised tax increases on income, tax increases on investment, tax increases on small businesses.

There’s the outright lying in action. If you would like to learn more about the tax relief Obama promises to small businesses, as well as all the other tax credits he promises, including those to middle-class families who are the backbone of the American economy, click here.

“What we need today is an Economic Surge to keep jobs here at home and create new ones. We need to reduce the tax burden on businesses that choose to make their home in the U.S. We need to open new markets to U.S. products. We need to reduce the cost of healthcare. And we need to end the out of control spending in Washington that is putting our debt on the backs of our children.”

Tax breaks to businesses that create jobs here in the U.S. is a great idea that I’ve heard from Obama several times ever since way back when.

What U.S. products are there that we can open new markets to since our manufacturing jobs are practically gone? I would encourage China and India to use this as part of their economic plans, but it doesn’t seem like much of an idea for ours.

Reducing the cost of healthcare is a great idea, but how?????

Does this out of control, pork-barrel spending in Washington include cutting spending that helps our troops and veterans (for more on that, click here for his abysmal voting record)? I wonder if that attitude would carry over to social programs that help disadvantaged Americans.

In conclusion, the McCain economic plan is high on rhetoric, low on ideas, filled with misinformation and a bit of lying, and overall made totally irrelevant by Big Oil and other industries that finance his campaign that he must answer to.

If you think his militaristic style of economic leadership is rich, wait until you hear about his idea of making our urban neighborhoods safe, courtesy of this article from Think Progress:

“And some of those tactics — you mention the war in Iraq — are like that we use in the military. You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control. And you provide them with a stable environment and then they cooperate with law enforcement, etc, etc.”

Isn’t it exciting that inner cities get to look forward to the equivalent of a police state??? Three cheers for martial law!

Don’t believe the hype. Vote Obama ‘08.

Best regards,
Andy

Amazing tidbits

Dear friends who are in the mood for some inspiration,

I found two excellent articles that are worth a read:

Frank Schaeffer: The Case For The Obama Presidency – Mr. Schaeffer in his Huffington Post blog talks about his new book How Free People Move Mountains, co-authored by Kathy Roth Douquet, and how it offers ideas on how people from all different walks of life and conflicting viewpoints can come together for a higher purpose.

Kathy and I have written a book making the case for the Obama presidency. Our book lays out the case for everything Obama stands for. We never mention him by name because we are talking about root ideas, not one man. But it happens that one man — Obama — embodies our ideas.

The subtitle of the book indicates how the ideas are being put to work even with the authoring of the book: A Male Christian Conservative and A Female Jewish Liberal On A Quest For Common Purpose and Meaning.

‘Major discovery’ from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution – In my best attempt to summarize an article filled with scientific language in layman’s terms (being a layman myself), this article describes how MIT researchers have found a way to store solar energy and make use of it even when the sun isn’t shining. Now that we seemed to have overcome the extreme obstacle of “night-time,” with further research and tinkering we are on our way to making solar energy a “mainstream energy source” according to the article.

I’m extremely excited by that prospect. This could turn into my generation’s “man on the moon” scientific accomplishment. Three cheers for innovation!

Enjoy the articles, folks. I may return you to your regularly scheduled ranting soon, but I figured I’d take the time out to focus on the positives in life. That’s what we all need to do now more than ever.

Best regards,
Andy