Categories
Open Thread

Is Obama wasting time and money?

This article, http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/08/obamas_big_7.html, caught my attention. While I realise that Obama and the Democrats have money to burn at this point, all the evidence to date indicates that this is going to be a much tighter election than many previously believed. On current polling, if McCain can hold Virginia then he needs Michigan and one other state (Indiana the likely one) in order to pull of a surprise victory.

As such, Obama spending money in North Dakota, North Carolina, Montana, Georgia, and Alaska seems a little bit of a waste. After all, even if we assume that he wins in North Dakota and Montana say, those six electoral votes will not get him the presidency. North Carolina is obviously a better place to attack, given its 15 electoral votes. But it would be a big ask for Obama to win North Carolina.

Instead, it would be far more useful to simply concentrate on Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. (I discount Florida, as the polls are going back to McCain there – I even tend to discount Indiana, but given that the polls tell us that it is close, and I go by the polls).  It is in those states that this election will be won or lost. The others are effectively irrelevant.

As such, I think that Obama is wasting time and money in those states. There are 90 days to go in this election campaign and at this point in time the momentum – according to the polls – is with McCain. Time to get back to political reality. A fifty-state strategy might be a nice little dream, but that is all it ever was. A five-state strategy is what is needed to win this thing.

651 replies on “Is Obama wasting time and money?”

This would be a victory if it came off. I wonder if Condoleezza Rice will come out?

Sources say former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol told FOX News exclusively on Thursday.

“He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama,” Kristol said, citing inside sources.

http://www.time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/

“I must say this over and over to anyone with a microphone:

…in the 21st century nations don’t invade other nations.”

(..from the biography of Generalissimo Maccaca, who in 2008 invaded his own country with an army of genetically modified jellyfish with a few ‘journalist’ genes inserted, but otherwise, indistinguishable from real journalists).

It is believed that the Generalissimo actually got to his quota before his jellyfish putsch.

Now Is the Key Moment for Energy in the Presidential Race.

Republicans have had their fun with tire gauges, and as John McCain relentlessly hammered home his support for offshore drilling (which he used to oppose), he narrowed Barack Obama’s lead in national polls. But now a group of five Democratic and five Republican senators is pushing compromise legislation that could blunt the GOP attacks. Last week, the “Gang of 10” announced a plan to expand drilling off the Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic states, keep the ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and along the West Coast, extend tax credits and incentives for fuel-efficient purchases, put $20 billion into developing alternative fuels, and pay for the whole $84 billion package by repealing tax breaks on oil and gas companies and hiking their licensing fees.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/08/now_is_the_key_moment_for_ener.html

A witness at the shooting in Arkansas has said that the gunman said, “he lost his job”.

402 Catrina Thanks Catrina. Disappointing though, it would be handy.

Hidey-Hoedey Every Boedey,

Wed Aug 13: http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/jeffdanziger;_ylt=AgHGRwI9gBXMqBJ.45zqVbtX_b4F

Wed Aug 13:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/patoliphant;_ylt=Ah3ZHOsr8Yhb3Zpo4sSlyuHd.sgF

Wed Aug 13: Man, master of all creatures great and small, demonstrates his superiority over animals once again. (Inexplicably, cats continue to resist.)
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/mikeluckovich;_ylt=AtZnx300ckI4B6Kx_d3a6H5Q_b4F

Good Grief! The SoS who shopped for new shoes while Katrina ravaged N’Orleans, and who was on special vacation assignment at Crawford Ranch while Georgia was invaded, has finally unleashed herself from relaxation duties to inform the world that she is very cross about the whole hullabaloo disrupting her down-time. Very cross indeed!
http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/

Chris B.

Here is a good take on why i said don’t get too far up the gum tree.

I sure hope Obi has got sumtin in place to counter it.

Apparently if the vote percentage for McStupid is in the “Diebold Zone” i.e. 45% then with the large number of states being voted on these machines then McStupid will remarkably snatch victory from the jaws of honest defeat.

Better get used to the idea: John McCain will probably be the next President of the United States.

The fix is in, as it has been in every election since 2000.

This follows from two overarching facts that the corporate media will not report, and the Democrats choose to ignore:

1. The ruling oligarchy can not allow a reformist Democrat to occupy the White House.

2. They have the means to prevent it, as they did in 2000, in 2004, and as they might do again in 2008.

All other aspects of this “election” – issues, personalities, media blitzes – are secondary and perhaps even irrelevant.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/CrisisPapers/189

Aren’t we blessed with one of the best open honest systems of voting and having the votes counted. I have worked at a polling booth for two elections and it would be foolish of anyone to try to get away with rigging the end results.

The votes are counted, double checked and counted to make sure they match the number of ballot papers handed out and there are at least one scrutineer from each party watching over the process like hawks.

The only argument ever had is whether a vote is invalid or not and that decision will normally be made up the line, especially if the count is close.

The poor old Seppos are now blessed with a new machine in NY that eliminates the diebold counting fraud and has been replaced with a machine that makes it real easy to “vote stuffing”. :

Certified for use in New York, Sequoia/Dominion’s ImageCast ballot marking device (BMD) was designed to allow voters with special needs to create their own paper ballots unassisted. But a series of problems continue to plague the BMD and its scanner’s certification. The system comes equipped with a convenient slotted hole that allows anyone to stuff ballots directly into the locked ballot box.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Ballot-Stuffing-Holes-Ill-by-Rady-Ananda-080812-253.html

I am not particularly impressed by conspiracy theories, and certainly not Diebold conspiracy theories – especially if they mention the phrase ‘ruling oligarchy’. If the Republicans did rig the last two elections, how come they got done over in the Congressionals? And the big one is: how come the Democrats didn’t say boo about it? What was in it for Gore and Kerry and the DNC to just sit quiet on it? Or are they so much dumber than the other side?

People who think that Bush had to rig elections to win underestimate the conservative nature of the US electorate. It has been historically very difficult for any Democrat to win. Kennedy just scraped in. Johnson – a known vote rigger himself, by the way – won handily. But apart from that, we have Carter and Clinton, and Clinton was helped to victory by Perot.

In short, Bush scraped to victory twice, using the rules (which are a little screwed up in the US, but hey – both sides play by them).

“Lamus-Duckus LOL!”

Oui Gaffy, Pat Oliphant is one of the best that’s ever been.

So, Hooksie, which Sates do you reckon are most vulnerable to Diebold/Sequoia and their ilk?

From Cat’s link:

Iraq minister: US troops will pull out in three years under deal……….provided the violence remains low under the terms of a draft agreement with the Iraqi Government.

One has to respect a proposition that is tighter than a flying-fish’s arsehole.
(air bubbles are bad for their digestion)

“In short, Bush scraped to victory twice, using the rules (which are a little screwed up in the US, but hey – both sides play by them).”

David, good afternoon. Are you suggesting, cetibus paribus, that equal opportunity corruption is endemic in 21st Century American Democracy?

Enemy Combatant,

It is, but that is not what I was getting at. Bush lost the vote, but won the EC count in 2000, through the Supreme Court making a ruling on Florida. Everything was within the law of the land there.

In 2008, Bush scraped through in Ohio, again winning by only one state but still getting it done legally.

If the Dems had a problem with this and there was any real evidence of vote rigging, then the only reason I can think that they did not act is because they do it, too, and thus are not in a position to throw stones, and thus prefer to keep mum.

If it is happening and the Dems do not know about it, then they are so dumb it’s scary.

In short, the best explanation for the facts is that there was no significant vote-rigging.

416
EC

So, Hooksie, which Sates do you reckon are most vulnerable to Diebold/Sequoia and their ilk?

Do not have an answer to that on a state by state basis EC.
I read the information available from what one should be able to say are reasonably reputable sourses.
However one coud say that lots of Seppo sources could be better described as “reptile”.

About 80 percent of Americans use systems where votes are cast or tabulated by computer including 38 percent who used so-called direct recording electronic voting machines (DRE), according to a study by John McCormally of the University of Iowa.

http://verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6582

419
DG

And the best explanation of the facts is that Mugarbage of Zimbabwe is still the “boss” as there was no significant vote-rigging there either.

I am not convinced that it is a conspiracy theory, more i am convinced it is a real conspiracy.
It is very difficult to produce evidence in court if you do not have access to their proprietary codes etc but there is enough evidence been put through these blog sites with references to uni boffins on video showing how easy it is to rig these machines when you have the knowledge to write the scripts.

David, here are a few thoughts on electoral fraud posted here a month ago. Some of the comments, as well as the thread-head links are well worth a squiz. Give you a bigger picture on some of the evidence that indicates vote tally shennanigans.
http://pollbludger.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/electoral-fraud-can-diebold-do-it-again/
——————————–

Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election?

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080812_georgia_war_a_neocon_election_ploy/

Senator, have you no sense of irony?

McCain: “In The 21st Century Nations Don’t Invade Other Nations”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

jen,

Which means that the Democrats are dumb, dumb, dumb.

Personally, I would rather clever crooks in charge than complete and utter simpletons.

And there has been enough evidence on blog sites to show that Bush and co planned 9/11 and that NASA faked the moonlandings.

Basically, the fact that the Democrats have said and done nothing about this fraud – apart from a rant by Kennedy three years after the event – is pretty conclusive evidence that no fraud took place.

Unless, as I stated above, the Democrats have an average IQ lower than half of Bush’s.

“such cynicism!”

Yeah, jen, probably means I’m a conspiracy theorist too. Gulag fodder.

This is the maxim I live by:

“When something can be explained by either stupidity or conspiracy, pick stupidity every single time.”

Besides- don’t you also think that with the type of abuse power and the level of corruption we have seen under the Neocons, both in the US and right here, that it has nothing to do with the opposition being dumb, but rather the government having undue influence on the legal system, the media and all other agents of accountablilty that are meant to prevent this to prevent this happening in a democracy. But as we know, can be totally castrated – thank heavens for the blogosphere!

jen at 432,

nope

The Democrats, even when out of power at the presidential level, have massive power and influence in the US. This is the big difference between here and the US. With 50 states and the power of states so great, it is pretty much impossible to get a lock on things.

Further, with current Democrat control of Congress, why haven’t they acted? They have had that power for 18 months now. Yet: nothing. Why?

Either the Democrats are complicit or the Republicans did nothing out of the ordinary.

415 DG “how come they got done over in the Congressionals?” Good point, so now it looks good for the 2008 elections. Still keep the lawyers out anyway.

Regarding post 422, I think it’s a load of rubbish – IMHO, you would have to be a pot-smoking loon to believe that the Republican party managed to ask (and CONVINCE) the Georgian president to risk the territorial integrity of his own country (as well as his reputation and the lives of thousands of his citizens) to invade South Ossetia that would trigger an aggressive Russian response ALL with the aim of questioning Obama’s foreign policy credentials…

And as to the voter machine stuff, I have one simple message – get over it, already!!! The loss in 2004 was fair and square – Kerry was trailing by about 2% in the polls immediately before the election and he ended up losing by about 2%. The fact that the result didn’t correlate with the exit polls says more about the crapness of exit polls rather than the security integrity of voting machines. As DG has said, if the Democrats had suspected anything, they would have come out and said something by now.

As for 2000, well – that was more due to poor ballot design than the fault of electronic voting machines. The ironic thing is that if electronic voting machines were in place in FL in 2000, Al Gore probably would have won the state…

437 Swing Lowe “As for 2000, well – that was more due to poor ballot design than the fault of electronic voting machines.” See #435

OK, everyone knows that the 2000 result in FL was “questionable”.

But to argue that the result in 2004 was similarly tainted is a bridge too far. Bush won Ohio by a clear majority and he won the national popular vote by a margin larger than what Gore won in 2000.

DG at 343:

Further, with current Democrat control of Congress, why haven’t they acted? They have had that power for 18 months now. Yet: nothing. Why?

Because Pelosi’s Congressional Dems are cowards, David. Many of them have been intimidated by Beltway uber-lobbyists and scum like Tom DeLay. “Rock the boat, and your seat will be targeted with mega-funds for your opponent”. Members are up for re-election every two years. After a couple of cushy terms Congressionals grow accustomed to thinking that they are VIPs. They rather look forward to the perks and the side action. So the chickenshit bastards do what they are told.

Obama is a threat to way business gets done in D.C. because he’s an “outsider” and will therefore be more difficult to control. On environmental issues, for example. No dirty trick will be left untried in an effort to stop him becoming POTUS. That’s one of the many reasons his victory will be so sweet.

“As seen in the AP photos below, he has spent time with daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, picnicked with family and friends, gone golfing and played some basketball at a local school.”

All together now,

Aaaaaahhhh.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/13/obamas-hawaiian-vacation_n_118677.html

Most Congressional Dems have nothing to fear from the GOP – something like 85% of congressional rates are non-competitive at every election, whilst that figure is even higher when incumbents are standing.

In short, it takes one of three things to dislodge an incumbent:

1. They’re in a seat that naturally favours the other side (e.g, a Democrat in a R+7 district)

2. They have committed a personal ethical violation (e.g, under indictment for corruption, etc)

3. There is a “wave” towards the other side. Hence, the reason why the GOP lost NH-1 to the Dems in 2006…

Waves only occur once every 6 years or so (the previous ones have been in 1974, 1980, 1986, 1994 and 2006). So, ordinarily, congressional Dems have very little to fear from GOP challengers…

437 Swing Lowe”

Regarding post 422, I think it’s a load of rubbish – IMHO, you would have to be a pot-smoking loon to believe that the Republican party managed to ask (and CONVINCE) the Georgian president to risk the territorial integrity of his own country (as well as his reputation and the lives of thousands of his citizens) to invade South Ossetia that would trigger an aggressive Russian response ALL with the aim of questioning Obama’s foreign policy credentials…

Thanks for setting me straight on that one, Swingers. Should have realised all along that as a matter of Project for a New American Century policy, they always insist that the United States never, under any circumstances, interfere with the soverignty of a foreign nation.

SL: “Waves only occur once every 6 years or so (the previous ones have been in 1974, 1980, 1986, 1994 and 2006). So, ordinarily, congressional Dems have very little to fear from GOP challengers…”

And what evidence is there to suggest, Swingers, that the Dem-Wave06 has yet to achieve maximum amplitude given the uncertain periodicty of the the previous surges?

I’m not saying that the Dem-Wave06 has hit its maximum amplitude – in fact, its quite plausible that the Dems will gain more seats this time around.

For example, in 1976 (after the ’74 wave), the Dems picked up a handful of seats in both the House and Senate.

In 1996, the GOP picked up a couple of Senate seats after the wave of 1994.

What I am saying, however, is that the Dems aren’t cowards because they’re afraid of the GOP running cashed-up challengers against them – they’re just people versed in the ways of “realpolitik”, Washington-style. An example of this is the fact that the Dems have more or less given up trying to strengthen federal gun control laws, because every time they tried to do this, the NRA would run ads and wedge the Dems badly.

The fact that they’ve done this isn’t a bad thing – in fact, it’s exactly the right thing to do, if the Dems wanted to stop losing elections over issues like gun control and the death penalty. It’s pragmatism – which isn’t a character fault for a prospective legislator…

439 Swing Lowe Guess what? Ohio, was a Republican state in 2002. And guess what?

Thomas W. Noe (July 1954–) is an Ohio Republican party fundraiser and activist, guilty of money laundering for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and of theft and corruption in the “Coingate” scandal.

Is that just a coincidence? The Repugs were beaten in 2006 in Ohio. The main issue corruption. Do you think there might be a common theme here? That issue is still running strong in 2008 in Ohio.

For more corruption on Noe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Noe

Swing Lowe I know that doesn’t prove that something happened, but it’s a good reason to be suspicious. After all it happened in Florida.

I believe that in 2006 there was about 20 Republicans indited throughout the USA and 2 or 3 Democrats. Now that there is more Democrats than Republicans, has it changed? No. See for yourself.

http://senate2008guru.blogspot.com/2007/08/republican-culture-of-corruption-2007.html

If corruption is not the second major issue. Then there is something totally rotten in the USA.

Catrina you may want to put a link up for that site.

And this law suite from one of the Republicans own party members.

‘How can anyone justify an ‘election’ in which the names of the ‘voters’ are being concealed or a convention in which the names of members of convention committees are secret? If this is not a blatant attempt to rig the vote and elect Combine Candidate Ray LaHood I don’t know what it is.

We have to face the reality that the Republican Party is being mismanaged into the ground.’

Martin is the reform Republican candidate for National Committeeman.

Martin will be seeking an emergency court hearing.

Note the electoral fraud bit.

http://www.pr-inside.com/andy-martin-files-lawsuit-to-block-r592314.htm

Swing Lowe at 445, no probs with the gist of what you are saying. Yep, the Congressional Dems are hip to realpolitik and pragmatism, however, they are cowards not only because those with their snouts in the federal trough who felt their interests threatened by a sudden collapse of their revenue stream “would run ads and wedge the Dems badly”, but also because in many cases they have betrayed the people who they lied to to get elected. Theoretically at least, while the charade of democracy remains, they are accountable.

In a democracy, I don’t go along with the neoconservative, Leo Straussian line that’s it’s ok to bullshit the people just because the representatives of those people think they know better. Believe that this is one of the contributing factors why current polling shows congressional(where Dems have a clear majority) approval figures, are in the toilet.
—————————–
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57574

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57562

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57538

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57543

Good old straight shooting Macca. Don’t you love the way he vets his staff, weeds out the lobbyists that may just have a slight conflict of interest.

Well, does everyone remember what Randy Scheunemann did for the four years before he joined Macca earlier in 2008?

Ever had the idea that Macca’s not above helping along a little war to promote a political campaign?

Well:

“Before you dismiss that possibility, consider the role of one Randy Scheunemann, for four years a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government, ending his official lobbying connection only in March, months after he became Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser.”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/scheer2

Just this time I’d go with the conspiracy theory, because this smells of that particular odour of the innards of real politiks.

Stay tuned…

Evenin’, Squire.

“‘I think the State Department was assiduous in urging restraint, and Saakashvili’s buddies in the White House and Office of the Vice President kept egging him on,’ Phillips said.”
Indeed, Barnes and Spiegel write: “[T]here are increasing signs that administration hard-liners are using the crisis to reassert their view that Moscow should be isolated.
“Vice President Dick Cheney’s declaration Saturday that ‘Russian aggression must not go unanswered’ was seen by some experts as the first salvo of what could be a new battle over administration policy.

(page 3. Dan the Man’s column, below)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57595

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57602

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/57601

Thurs Aug 14:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tonyauth;_ylt=AqXO26Z0UVlaBHnmiJ4Pldze.sgF

http://caglepost.com/cartoon/John+Cole/54178/Bush+lectures+Putin+COLOR.html

http://caglepost.com/cartoon/RJ+Matson/54172/.html

Ecky, if you follow Sarkozhy’s timeline and diplomatic shuttlecock over the last few days it becomes apparent that the TsarCozy was getting very chummy and tres helpful with Vlad’s lot whenever the coffee was too weak or the buns not fresh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/world/europe/14document.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

…so who put the little Frog with the Crown into the little pond called Georgia? OK, it’s his turn on the EU potty, but it smacks of, dare one utter the word, “appeasement” to me?

No wonder Saakashvili was getting toey, as he’d expected the getaway car to be fueled and warmed up, and instead some Frog git plonked in his pond and started handing out tourist guide books to the Russian troops!

“See all of Georgia you can invade in a day!” Hang on, what about the capital? Hey, would you like to take some of it home with you?

So it looks like Macca’s man was assuring the hot-headed Saakashvili that Macca and George would make bellicose noises and stare down the bear, while the EU was handing out free tickets to the place courtesy of the the Frog Prince.

Oooops….wires crossed.

Of course the Europeans aren’t keen to have their arses frozen off at Putin’s whim any time this winter, and maybe that’s got something to do with it.

“Tsarkozy”, that’s very good.
Georgia’s Saakashvili has been played for a sucker, alright.

Vlad gains most out of this for now. He’s got the turf, the military, the gas and the bragging rights. But things could get out of hand when the US flys in “humanitarian aid”, oh, and didn’t they mention it, a handful of “advisors”. The volatile situation could play right into the hands of the militarily inclined.

Polls say Seps have had a gutful of war, but jingoism has been olympic-primed and could be re-ignited with a MSM shilled Cold War redux peppered with the occasional full-contact skirmish. Bomb-Bomb, Cheney, Kristol and the PNAC neocons would love it. Team Obama would have to be on their game to get their message out with the beat-up threat of a nu-ku-lar exchange on high rotation with BillO and Limbaugh and Co.

And yes, a lot of Europeans might find it a bit nippy this autumn.

460 Enemy Combatant

It’s a hair-trigger unit Ecky, that’s for sure. And with the Neocon’s getting a rush of testosterone to the gonads, it’s hard to see them restraining themselves from taunting the old Evil Empire when an opportunity presents itself in the lap… ah, as it were.

Bomb-bomb’s probably happy to move his target range a few degrees, but a word or four of warning to the Georgians: Shiites/Kurds/Marsh Arabs.

If they don’t get in the first couple of seconds, I suggest they google them, along with “US allies”.

Seven new polls on votemaster. This is a very interesting story considering what we have been discussing today.

In 2004, George Bush won Ohio by 118,000 vote in an election supervised by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Republican Gov. Bob Taft. There were many (unproven) allegations of people being denied the right to vote, insufficient voting machines in Democratic areas, fraudulent voting machine software, and other issues. This year is likely to be different because Gov. Ted Strickland and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner are both Democrats and both are determined to make sure every eligible Ohio voter can cast a ballot and that the election is completely transparent. A new Ohio law allows any eligible voter to vote by mail with no questions asked. In addition, there is a window of a week in early October when a voter can register and then vote immediately. These changes make it much easier to vote.

http://www.electoral-vote.com

Hi Kirri,

The house guests left last night and am enjoying a bit of peace and quiet,and best time for a walk.

Et vous?

467 megan

Oh, you know, nothing unusual, just ‘morping’ and pumping some food (ah, rephrase that: nutrition! LOL) into my tube. I gave up eating in the traditional way over a week ago.

OK, I’ll spare all the details, it’s just so much fun…believe me! LOL

Oh yeah, and listening to the Goons, and then the morning news (hard to tell the difference if I’m over-medicated! LOL)

Today is my LAST (whohoooooooo!)day of treatment folks! Seven weeks that start off OK but by week 3-4 the cumulative effects really start to hit you. By now it’s so intolerable you really need to be ‘morphed’, and know about it the moment you’re not.

Kirri,

That’s great news!!
You’ve been amazing ,in such good spirits despite all the crapola! Not to mention the extra-mural you could have done without.
Weird world,the land of tubes,etc,isn’t it? Surreal ,though there is a lot to be said for having enough ‘morph’ in your situ -nothing worse than not enough!

Your writing has been as on the ball as ever…sheer joy.

Megan, I liked this bit from the article you cited:

As for Washington, it continues to pursue more material interests (especially the multi-billion dollar oil and natural gas pipelines that use Georgia to bypass both Russia and nearby Iran), while American hotheads like John McCain continue to give Saakashvili the impression we will back him even as he baits the Russian bear. The Pentagon supplies and trains the Georgian military, which sent 2,000 troops to fight in Iraq until Washington flew them home after the recent hostilities began. And, now, the Georgians are begging Washington to include them in the new anti-missile system the Bush administration is building in Poland and Czechoslovakia, a supposedly defensive system that could give the Pentagon a first-strike nuclear capability against Russia.

469 megan

My concern however is that when I’m finally ‘off my meds’ I’ll realise I’ve been talking about wool storage without knowing it!

LOL…gotta laugh!

431
DG

This is the maxim I live by:

“When something can be explained by either stupidity or conspiracy, pick stupidity every single time.”

I have thought about your maxim and have decided to adopt it myself.

Having read the following article i decided that it was definitely stupidity on the part of Spoonamore to make the allegations that he has and therefore i will go with it.

Spoonamore’s point is the exact opposite of the Dispatch’s. As long as all the Ohio election results are compiled at county central tabulators and fed officially to sites in Ohio and Tennessee, overseen partisan IT companies using proprietary secret software, then our elections are vulnerable to manipulation. All the well-intentioned “bipartisan” grandmothers, grandfathers and political operatives working the polling places and boards of elections watching the flashy touchscreens and shiny county central tabulators have no idea what’s really going on inside the black box and what happens when the digital vote count heads off into cyberspace.

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2008/1670

These are the things that are coming to light now DG.
I will go with the guy with 38 years of stupidity.

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/Video/SpoonPC-2.wmv

It is all starting to come out in the wash as it slowly unfolds.

In an interview from October, 2006, that has only now seen the light of day, Stephen Spoonamore, one of the world’s leading experts in cyber crime and a self-described “life-long Republican” destroys Diebold’s already non-existent credibility.

More here as the “stupidity” gathers momentum.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080812-ohio-sues-e-voting-company-cant-ditch-faulty-machines.html

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080812/0206421955.shtml

Your maxim is fine DG.

The stupidity of these persons following this line of investigations and allegations is overwhelming and i will go with it.

“War is just god’s way of teaching Americans geography”

…Ecky, judging from the results, it’s a pretty crap method! LOL

Top of the morning to ya, El Bludger.

Latest news from Georgia …

On August 14, 2008, the Russians occupied Poti. Russian troops attempted to hand Gori back to Georgian authorities, but efforts failed; an attempt to institute joint patrols of Georgian and Russian police in Gori broke down due to apparent discord among personnel. “We had to go or there would have been shooting,” said a Georgian officer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/world/europe/15georgia.html

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GEORGIA_RUSSIA?SITE=VASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Well, there goes another base of McCains. After loosing his Christian base earlier this week, now it appears that his support amongst the troops is disappearing. Along with the foot soldiers the command has signed up for the Democrats in a big way. I only needs Colin Powells endorsement, for the tri fector.

Obama Tops in Donations from Troops.

An analysis of political contributions from soldiers on the battlefield has produced some unexpected results.

The Center for Responsive Politics has found that the presidential candidate with a record as a bona fide war hero is garnering far less financial support from the troops than the Harvard-trained lawyer.

“Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain’s haul,” the report said.

Registration required for the Washington Post political section.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/14/obama_tops_in_donations_from_t.html

The overwhelming evidence is that Obama is going to do very well in this campaign, it appears that Obama is running a very slick campaign. There is so far very little evidence the other way. Saying that, there is still a long way to go. We have the known, knowns, it’s the unknown, knowns that we have to worry about. Ah, bugger, let Donald Rumsfeld explain it, he’s a lot better.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol4qL3HgM4w&feature=related

Anyone else like to suggest comments we can use to start a viral ad? Viral advertising costs nothing. If its good send it on to your friends in an email. If they like it, they will pass it on.

More trouble for the Repugs.

Jackson Browne is suing John McCain for using the song “Running on Empty” in a campaign ad — and the veteran rocker is also calling the candidate a great pretender when it comes to standing up for constitutional rights.

Browne, one of rock music’s most famous activists for liberal causes, is “incensed” that the presumptive Republican candidate for president has been using Browne’s signature 1977 song “Running on Empty” in campaign commercials, according to the singer-songwriter’s attorney. Browne filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against both McCain and the Republican National Committee on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of the forlorn arena anthem or any other Browne compositions, as well as damages.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/jackson-browne.html

Chris,

Good to scan your posts and appreciate the time you invest.
Nice to flit in,have a quick read and off again in this crazy game called life 🙂

U.S. Ties With Russia Being Reassessed, Bush Aides Say

WASHINGTON — Russia’s military offensive into Georgia has jolted the Bush administration’s relationship with Moscow, senior officials said Thursday, forcing a wholesale reassessment of American dealings with Russia and jeopardizing talks on everything from halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions to reducing strategic arsenals to cooperation on missiles defenses.

Problem is that George only has 80 days left. His opinions no longer matter. What is more important is the opinions of the upcoming candidates. John McCain is the loose cannon while Obama is the one that is positioning on disarmament policies that require engagement with Russia.

Obamas answer to the celebrity ad.

WHEN then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton made his storied appearance with saxophone in hand on “The Arsenio Hall Show” 16 years ago, he changed presidential politics — turning pop culture’s hippest TV shows into the contemporary equivalent of campaign whistle-stops.

more of the article.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-et-cause15-2008aug15,0,4423106.story

The video doesn’t work in the L.A Times

So click here, for the You Tube video.

486 megan Thanks megan, good to get feedback. The only person who hasn’t thanked me is Greensborough Growler. You think he would have the decency to thank me. 😈

Chris B at 492

It’s not just GG, he’s been too busy licking Ron’s arse. In the meantime Elizabeth St. John is claiming we are dead. But what would the fat ladies know – they are too busy watching Fox news.

Politically, the joint appearance is good news for both candidates–but better news for Obama. Politicians rarely lose votes by appearing in church. But since the Republicans have had something of a lock on the votes of white evangelicals, McCain’s appearance at Saddleback is not big news. That Rick Warren has invited Obama, and for the second time no less, is. Warren is America’s anti-Falwell. If he has little interest in removing evangelicals from politics, he has taken the lead in removing them from automatic identification with Republicans. Equal time in a megachurch is a decided advantage for any Democrat, especially one like Obama, who has been polling relatively well among religious voters. In fact, according to the Barna Group, which routinely surveys Christians, Obama leads McCain among every group except those who call themselves evangelical; even those who prefer the term “born-again” give the edge to Obama.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/08/14/weekend-preview-obama-and-mccain-at-saddleback-church.aspx

Cat there is a message in volunteer section.

This is a very good article, particularly like this quote:

Starting with the Reagan years, they increasingly reversed their priorities. Jesus no longer saved; Ronald Reagan and George Bush did. Our sins were no longer a matter between us and our God, but involved us and our State. Transgression was criminalized. Courts and politicians judged us, not a Supreme Being.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/08/14/weekend-preview-obama-and-mccain-at-saddleback-church.aspx

“During the last week I’ve been working on a migration strategy for this site.”

Well it’s one for the money,
Two for the show
Three to get ready,
Now go Cat, go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ond-OwgU8

So while Cat’s busy with spanners and screwgies, can anyone pitch in with a post?
EC.

If this had ended in disaster, conspiracy would have been the only theory. Very scary.

The pilot of Barack Obama’s chartered campaign plane declared an emergency and requested crash equipment at the site of an unscheduled landing last month.
Control tower tapes reveal that the July 7 incident, which ended safely, was more serious than previously thought.

The Democratic White House hopeful and 50 others including campaign staff and journalists were aboard the twin-engined Midwest Airlines MD-81 when its pilot detected problems with pitch controls, which keep the aircraft level in flight.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24185039-2703,00.html

Comments are closed.