Pajamas Media

82 Comments

1. ic:

October Surprise: “Independent” counsel found Palin guilty in Troopergate on Oct.31. His supporting evidence and case will collapse on Nov.5.

Annerberg Challenge documents will be delivered to a Chicago reporter who will claim there is nothing incriminating against Obama. (A claim reminiscent of the Boston reporter clearing Kerry’s Vietnam records without disputing any charges.)

Sep 20, 2008 - 12:43 am 2. J.J. Sefton:

OR….

Revernd Wright opens his mouth one more time… SURPRISE!

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:13 am 3. David Thomson:

“….and that the voters, not the MSM, will decide the race.”

I must disagree. Can John McCain and Sarah Palin overcome the deceitful behavior of the MSM which is solidly on the side the Democrats? This remains the number one question of the campaign. The MSM may very well determine the election—and significantly help Barack Obama win the White House.

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:16 am 4. Andrew Ian Dodge:

Yes, I think the MSM’s blind shilling for Obama will adversely affect him. Think the Guardian’s campaign against President Bush writ large.

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:44 am 5. Francis W. Porretto:

This race is likely to be decided by errors. At this point, the errors are heavily in the GOP’s favor: the Democrats have made far more of them, and each has been of telling effect. Three months ago, one could have said, with justice, that the White House was Obama’s to lose; today, he’s running second and will need both luck and skill to prevail.

I don’t think the Democrats have the necessary skills. Their deep involvement with the “netroots,” especially the sort found at Dail Kos and Huffington Post, has caused them to forget what ordinary Americans will and won’t tolerate during a campaign. The attacks on Sarah Palin have been beyond the pale; likewise, Obama’s habit of repeatedly harping on race — as a tool the Republicans are supposedly exploiting to set voters against him! Couple this to Obama’s dubious associations, his thuggish commands to his loyalists to shout down contrary voices, his love of earmarks, his waffling on major issues, and other contemporaneous scandals involving Democrats in office, and the Obama for President campaign looks as if it’s rolling on four flat tires.

By contrast, the McCain campaign has made virtually no major mistakes, and has made several politically excellent moves in recent weeks. Obama could learn from McCain…if he possessed enough humility to accept that he has something to learn. Happily for America, that appears not to be the case.

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:49 am 6. Frank Logan:

The saying, “you can’t see the forest for the trees” applies here. This race has been over since early June, when Obama secured the nomination from Hillary. +/-20% of Hillary’s supporters are voting for McCain, and another +/- 20% are skipping the presidential race altogether. During the primaries, Hillary exposed the real Obama. Many of her supporters clearly see Obama’s inexperience as well as his 20 year associations with the racist Rev. Wright, the terrorist, William Ayers, and the crook, Tony Rezko. They are very angry about the way Obama’s supporters manipulated the caucuses during the primaries. PUMA(Party Unity My A$$) and their slogan “Country before Party) represent 3 to 5 million voters. Anyone who says they’ll change their mind before the election is ignorant of how deep the anger runs. A house divided cannot stand.

Sep 20, 2008 - 6:37 am 7. jeff:

It goes without saying it will be close. However, I have to agree. Gaffes may turn the election. Biden can make a gaffe. No one else cannot.

Recall President Ford’s gaffe in the debates with Jimmy Carter-it turned the election. Reagan calling out Mondale in the debates-it turned the election.
President Bush I checking his watch at a debate with Clinton, and not knowing the price of groceries-turned the election.

I don’t recall any gaffes in the debates with Bush-Gore, or Bush-Kerry.

Everyone is waiting for the debates. This election will turn on them. Barack has been noticeably uncomfortable without a teleprompter. One more performance like Saddleback and he is toast. Palin must be credible in debates. She cannot stumble.

The debates generally become sound bites- the trick is to counter punch correctly and put the candidate off kilter. Will have to see if Obama gets any questions first!

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:12 am 8. C. Benson:

I’m very frustrated.
The Democrats OWN THIS FINANCIAL MELTDOWN. If the political pressure from Dems hadn’t prevailed these loans would not have happened. Three Democrats ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and all of them took away millions. Three top Democrats, Dode, Obama and Kerry recieved hundreds of thousands of dollars from both. Two Dems involved with FM and FM worked for Obama’s campaign.McCain alluded to this in one of his stump speeches but didn’t give numbers it was very unimpressive and certainly didn’t do much to imform people. Where are all those top notch AD gurus when you need them. I talked to a friend the other day a (Dem) she didn’t even know about Obama’s ties to Ayers.
All McCain has to do is get out the truth about Obama and let people decide. He could win in a landslide.
CB

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:17 am 9. trangbang68:

We live in a deeply divided country. 2000 and 2004 were decided by ground games in a few places. I think the battleground states in the rust belt decide it. It’s not hard seeing them swing to McCain as Obama got trounced by Hillary
there.

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:44 am 10. CHERYL IN FLORIDA:

Oh yes lets blame it on the democrats!
I do not even read blogs that start out that way, because they are written by republicans who have nothing positive to say about their party, so it is all lies and redneck banter!
The republicans have had 8 years to do something positive for this country.
It has not happened!
People are realizing that Sarah Palin has nothing new to say same old same old!
This is why I will be voting for Obama/Biden!

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:44 am 11. The Wizard:

Here’s the latest “October Surprise” supposedly from the Dems, it is going around the internet. While I believe it would be the dumbest thing in the history of Presidential elections, Obama is really just stupid and naive enought to do try and pull this off!!!!!

Subject: Fw: Action Alert from DNC MOST DISTURBING!!!

I don’t know if this is true or not. It came from the former Co-chairman of the Texas Republican Party, Jocelyn Straus and her son, Texas Congressman Joe Straus III.

Subject: FW: ACTION ALERT: info from DNC

Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 4:23 PM
Subject: Re: ACTION ALERT: info from DNC

This is all America needs. Please warn your friends.

hi all
let me share some info with you that i have gotten from excellent sources within the DNC:

On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2.

there have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info. generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it out there to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible. i have already seen a few short blurbs about this – the “health problem”
cited in those articles was aneurysm. probably many of you have heard the same rumblings. however, at this point, with this inside info from the DNC, it looks like this obama strategy will be a go. therefore, it seems that the best strategy is to get out in front of this obama maneuv er, spell it out in detail, and thereby expose it for the grand manipulation that it is.

so, let’s start mixing this one up and cut the obamaites off at the pass – send this info out to as many people as you can – post about it on websites and blogs – etc etc

if you have any thoughts or questions about this, please be in touch.

lastly, i have put an excerpt from Rudy’s speech at the RNC below – it seems to address this
very issue!!

yours in the fight,

excerpt from R.Giuliani’s speech at the 2008 RNC:
“Obama — Obama promised to take public financing for his campaign, until he broke his promise.
Obama — Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it.
When speaking to a pro-Israeli group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem, like I favor and like John McCain favored. Well, he favored an undivided Jerusalem — don’t get too excited — for one day, until he changed his mind.
Well, I’ll tell you, if I were Joe Biden, I’d want to get that V.P. thing in writing.”

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:49 am 12. William of Orange:

Frank Logan writes:

“This race has been over since early June, when Obama secured [stole?] the nomination from Hillary. +/-20% of Hillary’s supporters are voting for McCain, and another +/- 20% are skipping the presidential race altogether. During the primaries, Hillary exposed the real Obama.”

..and, of course, the inference is that Obama will lose. Meant politely: I do not see any of your suppositions reflected in the polls nor do I see any good links for the so-called underpolling of Obama’s prime constituency — the “Yutes” and blacks — that should occur come November. (All contributions gratefully accepted.)

But I do read that there is a 2-3 point Democrat bias built in to some of these numbers.

All in all, I’d rather go into the final weeks trailing inside the MOE than leading. It motivates people me/us to work hard for McCain and Palin and keep that charlatan, Obama, out of office.

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:50 am 13. Jim:

C. Benson: Frustrated? Remember, it’s only September 20th. The points you raise will surely be raised and well publicized, but it’s far better to make those points again within a few weeks of the election, rather than 6-7 weeks prior- in this world of soundbites and instant news, timing is more critical than ever. In the end, this is an election between inexperience and experience, and all the “inspirational” rhetoric in the world can’t replace inexperience.

Sep 20, 2008 - 8:21 am 14. sean:

CHERYL IN FLORIDA:

How come I’ve seen that exact comment about 75 times in the last week or so? I’m surprised that you didn’t mention that you are a Christian. Who do you think you’re fooling?

Sep 20, 2008 - 8:30 am 15. Janelle in Nevada:

I’d like to comment on the statement: (McCain’s) war injuries actually prevent him from using a keyboard but he is among the most computer-knowledgeable campaigners).

1. McCain mentioned in a speech this week that he got an e-mail from a drunk who did not want to be compared to Democrats. That’s actually a very old joke told lots of different ways, but McCain did mention he got an e-mail.
2. McCain supposedly has been fiddling around with reporters’ Blackberries.
3. McCain admitted that he was computer illiterate. He did not indicate he was illiterate because of war injuries.
4. McCain’s campaign staff since reported that McCain had been practicing and had learned how to get on the Internet himself!

None of this sounds like a man who is suffering from war injuries and that is the reason why he is computer illiterate.

Finally, what does “among the most computer-knowledgeable campaigners” mean? Is this a reference to Obama, Biden, and Palin, as the other campaigners. If this is the case, then clearly this is really stretching the truth. Could you prove the truth of that statement?

Sep 20, 2008 - 8:53 am 16. david levavi:

Jennifer Rubin’s opening paragraph laying out the current political scenario overlooks the elephant in the living room of this campaign. We are in the middle of a conflict that will continue for many years to come.

Anyone looking at recent military successes in Iraq and imagining this war is over is deluded. Islamism is Nazism and will not be appeased. It source is our State Department coddled ally, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Wahabism created Osama bin Laden. Saudi funded madrassas and mosques around the world continue to spread their poison. Wahabism is a rapidly metastasizing cancer that must be utterly expunged. The disease is widespread and sunk to the Muslim marrow. McCain was right when he said this war would occupy us for many years to come.

At home his election season has exposed the depth to which leftist rot has penetrated American society. Our elites and our most important and influential institutions are profoundly degenerate. Hostility to the military–arguably our most merit-based, racially blind institution –is reflexive. Patriotism is the object of sneering contempt. A strong and robust America is anathema.

We have reached a stage where honest discussion of critical issues is no longer possible. Issues are secondary to political fashion AKA identity politics. The press, always tendentious, has dropped all pretense of impartiality and is openly left-partisan. The public square is captive to left wing ideologues.

Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, projects her own tepid enthusiasm for McCain and consoles herself that given the limitations of executive authority neither candidate can do the nation very much damage. The notion that all three branches in the hands of the same party with an inexperienced leftist radical at the helm isn’t dangerous is bizarre. Yet here is Peggy Noonan throwing in the towel.

We are at war. Ignoring our enemies will not make them go away. Negotiating with them is a dangerous waste of time. An Obama presidency and a Democrat Party monopoly of all three branches of government must be prevented.

Sep 20, 2008 - 8:53 am 17. david levavi:

Mea culpa. I meant the executive branch and both houses not the three branches of government. My point stands, however. It is urgent that Obama and the Democrats lose this election.

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:16 am 18. Believer:

Ever since I did my homework on Obama, and once he won the nomination, I’ve felt it was the Republican candidate’s race to lose.

And McCain is about the perfect candidate to be running against him. Not to mention his running mate…

Americans are not stupid and they’re not radical. They just need to be informed. The debates will be important. McCain has to take more control of them. We know they won’t be fair to him.

McCain should run ads (this week) in the run-up to the debates that’re provocative and controversial. They should reveal ’secrets’ Obama has tried to hide from the broader public. That way, during the debates, the MSMcreeps/biased folks who pose questions won’t be able to avoid bringing up the things that make BO squirm. So it’s important those ads make alot of noise in the days before. You know BO’ll get favored treatment otherwise. (I’ve only heard PBS’ Gwen Ifil(sp?) as one moderator, and she can barely contain her contempt for Repubs)

McCain should be able to destroy BO on the economy. Remember it was Gibson(?) who had to ‘teach’ BO during one debate that cutting taxes brings in more revenue than the reverse, which is the history of his party and has been his promise.

Blast BO with the truth. It’ll kill him.

And always remember, it’s the Patriot vs. the Pretender. In a time of war. No contest.

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:29 am 19. Neocon Hippie:

Jeff:

While perhaps not an outright gaffe, the case can be made that Kerry’s “global test” comment in the debates helped to sink him.

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:34 am 20. Believer:

Also, why can’t our Maverick take over and put questions to the debate questioners if he doesn’t like the way the debates are going? Turn things back on them. Show he’s a leader who won’t take cr@p. Expose them for who they are.

I would think it would make for great television and the public might be with him since MSM bias is so obvious now and it’s pi$$ing people off.

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:35 am 21. Anonymous:

Ms. Rubin, you should really learn how to read the sources you so blithely cite. Some of us are intelligent and responsible enough to track back, read them, and point out that you are making a fool of yourself. Here is what you had to say:

“The great wild cards are voter identification (which appears to be moving dramatically in the Republicans’ favor)”

Here is what your source had to say:

“For polling data released during the week of September 14-20, 2008, the new targets are 38.7% Democratic, 33.6% Republican, and 27.7% unaffiliated. For the first thirteen days of September, the targets were 39.7% Democrat, 32.1% Republican, and 28.2% unaffiliated. It should be noted that these figures indicate an improvement for Democrats since the beginning of the year.” [emphasis mine]

Bi-weekly “movements” within the margin of error are hardly “dramatic”, and Rasmussen is sensible enough not to label them so.

It would also be of some help if you spent more time investigating the political facts of life on the ground and less time reading and listening to “pundits” who also don’t do that:

“…and turnout (which was thought to be a huge Democratic advantage…”

Those of us with political experience in those “key” states of 2004 know perfectly well that the major advantage Republicans had there was their capacity to identify their core constituency and turn them out. It was this that delivered the incredibly small margin of 60,000 votes that put Ohio’s 20 electoral votes in the Republican column and gave George W. Bush the Presidency.

Have we improved? Over in the Obama Ohio campaign we hope so. But hope does not a majority make, and the same Republican turnout machine we faced in 2004 is still here. You should go get acquainted with it in your state.

“If the Democrats expected they would win this in a cakewalk or that defeat was out of the realm of possibility, they have gotten a disturbing wake-up call.”

People over here actually track the two daily tracking polls. We know perfectly well that Rasmussen reports leads [mostly Obama's] of only +1-2% throughout the last 2 months among likely voters, and Gallup shows slightly wider +3-4% Obama leads in the same direction among registered voters. There has never been any reason to think this will be a walkaway for either candidate.

From our vantage point the most positive indications are that when circumstances put our candidate in the most favorable light [such as his trip abroad or the DNC] Obama’s lead swells to between +5-6% among likely voters. McCain’s largest lead among them has occurred during the now fading RNC/Palin hoopla, and it was a mere +3%.

This lead lasted 6 days and it has been McCain’s only lead since June, except for a single day in late August, and two days in early August.

Also, it was not based on much more than a fresh, new political face and a surge of sympathy for McCain’s POW experience. Faces become old very quickly and “what can you do for me now” takes over during the debates.

But much more importantly, neither candidate has fallen below 45% among likely voters, and, when they are tied, they now even out at 48% each.

The vast majority of likely voters made up their minds months ago. There are only about 4-6% who are truly undecided.

This has been, over the long term, one of the tightest races in decades, and we are perfectly aware of it. We think that when the campaign turns to real issues, as opposed to moose hunting, oil-drilling fluff, we have a small edge, but no more, and certainly not enough to get complacent in any way.

I personally think McCain and Palin will have a much tougher time with issues from now on. McCain has a bit of a foot-in-mouth problem and is too inclined to shoot from the hip and get silly. ["Fire the SEC chairman!" "Get the Fed out of bailouts!" "We're all Georgians now!"].

And Palin is simply uninformed about a whole range of issues beyond oil-drilling [think "nuclear proliferation", a "separate Palestinian state", or "the global economy"].

Obama is both informed and careful. He is at his best in a formal setting where he has had time to prepare and consider. And, if you listen to his major speeches with an objective ear, his best is very good, indeed.

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:44 am 22. Ann:

It’s not essentially tied. Obama is essentially ahead. And your girl Palin is exposed as a nitwit.

Sep 20, 2008 - 10:01 am 23. Bill Bradley:

Jennifer.

The race is not “tied.”

Obama is ahead.

Sep 20, 2008 - 10:04 am 24. Joseph Marshall:

Oops! The anonymous post above slipped off my keyboard before I was finished and had identified myself.

So I’ll add that, particularly on domestic and financial issues, McCain is somewhat trapped by his past political proposals.

Plans to further reduce regulation, bailouts, and to privatize Social Security into stock portfolios don’t look like very good ideas at the moment.

They really aren’t very good ideas, actually, and this current crisis makes it clear why.

Unregulated or poorly regulated markets and industries create substantially higher investment risk levels for all investors; people below an income level of about $75,000 dollars generally cannot hold on through bear markets and they get burned by them; and even the supposedly safe money market funds are not impregnable.

It was the start of insolvency in those funds that forced the feds to act. There are no truly safe investment havens for Social Security, which is the retirement and disability income of last resort.

So McCain/Palin pretensions to being “agents of change” to the status quo are just that, mere pretensions without a scrap of real substance to back them up.

Sep 20, 2008 - 10:29 am 25. Believer:

While some fuss over whether or not one man can manipulate keys on a computer keyboard,

Others consider whether or not another man has manipulated his supporters – and worse – betrayed the patriots who are giving life and limb for his right to tell his lies.

Sep 20, 2008 - 11:03 am 26. Pee Wee Herman, Community Organizer:

The smell of denial in the morning…. It smells like…. desperation.

Sep 20, 2008 - 11:04 am 27. Therese:

I agree with you that the race is close, but I do believe that as long as we continue to help get the truth out about Obama and the Democrats, McCain/Palin will prevail. Why?

1. If the truth about Obama and the Democrats fingerprints being all over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comes out, people will take it out on them in their votes. Obama was #2 in contributions from the company. His VP team was led by Jim Johnson, former President of the company. Even though he tries to distance himself, Franklin Raines (another company executive), is tied to Obama’s campaign.

Why is Obama taking his time to respond to this crisis? Because he and his people are trying to figure out a way to point the trouble somewhere else. The problem is too big, though, and the more that the real truth comes out, the worse it will be for him and the rest of the party.

2. John McCain continues to show leadership. He put forth legislation over two years ago warning about this Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problem and nothing was done. Democrats and Obama need to answer for this. Also, John McCain was right about the Russians incursion into Georgia. He had warned people about Putin before Putin made his military move. Furthermore, John McCain was given a lot of political heat for the surge. The surge worked.

Every time there is a crisis or problem, John McCain has predicted the problem and tried to bring people’s attention to it before it happened. And John McCain was always willing to put up with the heat for what turned out to be the right decisions.

3. The dirty, shameful political tactics being used by Obama and his subversives will hurt him. Obama and the MSM have tried to destroy Sarah Palin and it has backfired. More people are aware of the media’s liberal bias, so the mainstream media doesn’t have real credibility. Remember? Obama was supposed to be the new-style politician who could rise above partisanship. He isn’t. It was all talk.

When the truth comes out, it resonates with people because in their guts they know that Obama and the liberal Democrats are not the solution that this country needs.

The more the truth comes out, the more that people will run to the polls to vote for McCain/Palin.

Sep 20, 2008 - 11:22 am 28. CodeSensible:

Yes, well Palin is an example of why we have to get those Republicans out of there. Their judgment is very flawed. Who is she? Why is she here? And send her back to Alaska!

Sep 20, 2008 - 12:38 pm 29. CodeSensible:

To Believer: Obama is smarter with a younger, more lucid mind and while he had trouble debating Hillary because I think he considered her a friend who probably reminded him of his mother, there is no love lost between him and McCain.

With the dirty tricks you Republican Caucasian people pull, I only hope McCain is not handed the questions beforehand like he was at Saddleback! Scrutinize this situation very closely, my Democratic friends!

Sep 20, 2008 - 12:47 pm 30. Judy, NYC:

jeepers, “cheryl from Florida”, aren’t you lucky your messiah, chicago pol BO is allowing you to vote. maybe, BO will decide once again that your vote, however, does not count, you poor deluded schmuck.

Sep 20, 2008 - 12:52 pm 31. kit:

McCain look beat up

Sep 20, 2008 - 12:57 pm 32. D. Grant Chee----:

Quoting now, from BELIEVER:

“For Obama to win he must lie about McCain but for McCain to win he only need tell the truth about Obama.”—-Believer!

I’m a believer as well. Obama is a greenhorn lightweight; in the ring with Mr. substance, MAC, or big John McCain, who will trounce the phony Obama. Obama has as many negatives as Silly Hilly who was promoted as the can not lose fem. America is tired of fems and their whining “I am a victim” lies. Obama’s vote on BAIPA and his red flag friends should doom his chances.

Sep 20, 2008 - 1:19 pm 33. D. Grant Chee----:

To some citizens, volunteering for Annapolis means zero, completing flight school, zero, flying missions against sophficated surface to air missiles, zero, 5.5 years as a POW, zero and honorable service to nation as a U.S. senator, zero. Instead, this group of citizens prefers Barack Hussein Obama, a ZERO. Millions, however, like myself, will be voting for John Sydney McCain, an American leader.

Sep 20, 2008 - 1:26 pm 34. proud elitist:

Financially speaking, our financial crisis came from the culture of deregulation. This culture was the meme of the Republicans as well as McCain (S&L, Keating), contributer Phil Gramm, his own sponsored bill and the 2000 bill he consponsored, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

Ed Wallis will post an astuteblogger link to a 2003 NYT article. Ed was too lazy in his linking as the full 2003 NYT article tells you that Frannie/Freddie supported the proposed Bush legislation.

There will also be clamoring to show that in 2005, McCain warned against the market and wanted to support a bill that took oversight of the industry FROM Congress and TO independent regulation w/o Congressional oversight.

McCain cannot claim to be a champion regulation reformer. For over 80% of his time in Congress he was anti-regulation.

And look where we are now…

Sep 20, 2008 - 1:28 pm 35. misanthropicus:

Re: CodeSensible: To Believer:
1) “Obama is smarter with a younger, more lucid mind and while he had trouble debating Hillary because I think he considered her a friend who probably reminded him of his mother [...]‘
2) “With the dirty tricks you Republican Caucasian people pull, I only hope McCain is not handed the questions beforehand like he was at Saddleback! Scrutinize this situation very closely, my Democratic friends!”

My astute CodeSensible:
1) now we have a new one amongst Glibama’s many other burdens: his Oedipian complexes that hamper his debating performance! So, now apply your Freudian skills and enlighten us regarding this: Glibama is uniformly doing poorly when he’s got no teleprompter around – tell us what childhood psychological scar causes that, will you? (Also, you may want to discuss a bit here Glibama’s overall elusiveness in all matters – no legal comments in his two years of Harvard Law, no legal comment or opinion in his six years at Chicago Law, his outstanding record of “present” while in the Illinois Legislature, and so on and so forth… oh, by the way, his pathetic standing in the Georgia affair and his latest, his being so generous and “giving the Feds the authority to deal with the Wall Street crash… more of these sure to come. (I give you a hint for your answer: check in a dictionary the Greek term for “EEL”)

2) as far as the paygrade assessment, we really don’t need conspiracies to show what an airbag Glibama is, frankly.

Bonus news for you, CodeSensible: Woody Allen just endorsed Glibama – now you have a pedophile too, to add to reverend Wright, Bill Ayres, Pflegger, Ludacris, Larry Sinclair, Rangel, Raines, Antonin Rezko and other edifying characters who make for mister Soetoro’s gallery.
Wow – congratulations.

Sep 20, 2008 - 1:31 pm 36. D. Grant Chee----:

CodeSensible
Us Caucasians and a lot of blacks will be voting for McCain, because big MAC is by far the only candidate left. Who is Obama, where did he come from why is he here? USA voters will not vote for a pol with Obama’s red flags. William Ayers (TERRORIST), Wright—
(ANTI AMERICAN WHITE hater), Pfleger, (???), FairyCON(NATION OF ISLAM), Soros (BILLIONAIRE SOCIALIST), his BAIPA vote and his arrogance. It
will be McCain in November by 10-points+…..

Sep 20, 2008 - 1:41 pm 37. Zim:

Joseph Marshall

Even though I’m on the other side and would never vote for your guy, I do appreciate your rational post. It’s a breath of fresh air in such a hyperventilating time.

I think you underestimate the danger the debates pose for Obama. People won’t hear his content so much as his tendancy to UMMMM his way to the answer. Could start people to thinking he’s unsure of himslef, but maybe not.

It will be close. My guess is McCain wins the EV (Losing NM and IA but barely holding onto CO and VA) and loses the pop. vote.

Just my guess.

Sep 20, 2008 - 2:01 pm 38. Daniel:

My grudge is this:
Biden has been out there stumping for Obama doing interviews, speeches, etc. Yes, he’s gaffing here and there – but at least he’s out there talking with the American people!!!
Palin is in hiding because Mccain knows she will gaffe. Also, she is not out there doing solitary speeches on behalf of Mccain like Biden is doing for Obama. She is scared because she will not have Mccain by her side. If Mccain would stop being so damn sexist and treat Palin as an equal, and not so incompetent, then he should let her go out there and stump for him. He thinks the American people are not watching this fundamental issue, and it is rediculous that he is keeping her on a leash! If she is ready to lead, she needs to do this at least once. ONCE!!
By the way, just because Palin is meeting with Karzai in NY will not make her a good foreign relations expert.

Sep 20, 2008 - 2:22 pm 39. Evil Pundit:

Biden is out there making a fool of himself. Palin is out there drawing record crowds and getting out the Republican base.

Sep 20, 2008 - 2:46 pm 40. Believer:

Gee, I don’t think we have to worry about Sarah not speaking out. She lets you know what she thinks.

And she’s not afraid of standing alone.

Just ask the corrupt politicians in Alaska.

She’s been out there on the stump on her own — bringing in crowds that are huge and enthusiastic. They love to hear her tell them of the CHANGE she’s made in one state and the CHANGE she’ll bring to our nation.

You see, HERS is the kind of change Americans can believe in — the kind we’ve been waiting for.

And they know she’s genuine – the real deal – not at all like a charlatan who only has empty words to his credit. This woman has nothing to hide. They like that.

And she’s done the interviews, in cased you missed them. We’ve seen more than a few days of them. Turn on the TV. Sit back and relax. You’ll like what you see.

That is, if you like character and integrity.

Sep 20, 2008 - 2:49 pm 41. RICHARD P. JAGIELSKI:

Jennifer WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS? Your article sounds like a McCain campaign release. If your going to leave the FACTS at home when you write, why don’t you just stay home.People who are incapable of telling the truth don’t belong telling the rest of us what we should do.

Sep 20, 2008 - 2:49 pm 42. Joseph Marshall:

Thanks, Zim. It’s always nice to be appreciated. The state races are still pretty fluid and one of the serious problems is that the pollsters simply do not poll enough there, so any given poll gets far too much weight.

In Ohio, up to now, the deciding region has almost always been the poor and rural Southeast, and, as was demonstrated in the primary, Obama is weaker there than we would like. But the urban African-American turnout has not really been all that great in Ohio in the past.

The Republicans here thought they would inhibit it by passing a voter ID law, but I strongly expect this to have the opposite effect. Ohio cities have always had a large and growing component of relatively affluent–and very Christian–African-Americans, and it is precisely this population segment that has consistently under voted.

With all the polling place shenanigans of the past eight years, savvy Ohioans have moved more and more toward absentee voting. Somehow [in the dance of things] these shenanigans–such as too few voting machines–always seem to happen more frequently in wards with either large African-American populations or low per capita income. And among the many middle class Blacks that I speak with regularly, the absentee voting option has become well known.

We have a Democratic Secretary of State now, too, so some of these inexplicable polling problems may just vanish, as well. Will it be enough to deliver the State? I don’t know, but I do know that Al Gore lost it 8 years ago only because he didn’t try to win it.

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:14 pm 43. Zim:

It doesn’t appear, at least for now, that Ohio will be as in play for Obama as it was for Kerry. But like you said, it’s very fluid. I agree, I hope that no fraud happens Nov. 4th in Ohio, Wisconsin or St. Louis.

Best of luck.

Sep 20, 2008 - 5:06 pm 44. 888:

Cheryl in Florida, if you don’t see anything “positive” about America, then you and Obama and Obama’s wife, and for that matter, his reverend and terrorist friend Ayers — (who’ve all got one thing in common — you’re all angry) — you all need to move to another country (perhaps, Russia, China or somewhere in Africa) so maybe you can remember that America is not such a bad place after all.

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:16 pm 45. 888:

I like the optimism in Palin when she said to Hannity in a TV interview that she sees the good in America and wants that goodness to be used abroad to help the little countries who need our assistance. Palin, like Mrs. McCain, are unsung heroes whose good intentions, principles and sincere compassion are overlooked in this campaign.

Cindy McCain has been a true humanitarian for the past 30 years and has given her time, effort and dollars to numerous charities and organizations to help the poor and disadvantaged the world over, especially those in third world countries. Mrs. McCain has volunteered her time in places like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Darfur without any fanfare — just straight from the goodness of her heart. She’s the good in America that no one talks about — that Democrats don’t want to talk about. Recently. she was in Cambodia, and her itinerary there included a garbage dump “where children scavenge for their livelihood”, as profiled by the 22 September issue of People’s Magazine. Now, tell me this: when have you last seen Hillary, Pelosi, Obama or Michelle Obama working onsite in a third-world country (or any country) to bring exposure to people having to go to garbage dumps for their food? Can you even picture any of those ‘good Democrats’ in a garbage dump? No way, Jose. They’re all too elitist to get down and dirty with real people. Mrs. McCain, like her husband and the Palins, are the real deal — no phoniness there. Look, Obama hasn’t even helped his own brother in Kenya who is still living in poverty, or his home of record, Chicago’s southside community who is still languishing in crime and poverty. Do you honestly think he will help the rest of America, let alone the world who is currently in love with him? Fat chance.

Sep 20, 2008 - 7:41 pm 46. Dave II:

This race may be close NOW, but it won’t be come November. Here’s why:

1. The Backlash – The more Obamabots and the media attack Palin, and the more she continues to do well in interviews and on the campaign trail…the more she continues to gain supporters and those who identitfy with her, and ALSO feel she has been treated unfairly. Recipe for a HUGE backlash.

2. The Bradley Effect – Obama has already experienced it in the primaries with Hillary…the polls put him ahead by 5-10% and he LOSES by 5-10%… and it will be the same in the general election. The current polls will NOT reflect the outcome, probably not even the exit polling either. Late into the night on November 4th the talking heads will be trying to explain WHY the polls were SO wrong…and hardly anyone will bring up the Bradley Effect.

3. The Debates – First the VP debates…Palin will drink Biden’s milkshake and he will have 2-3 moments of egregarious and foolish foot-in-mouth disease or condesending sexism! He just will not be able to control himself…it’s inevitable! On the President side…McCain will come across as PRESIDENTIAL and a LEADER, while Obama, sans teleprompter, will “uh” and “ah” us to death…and look generally wimpy next to McCain…just like the freshman senator he is. It will be a study in contrasts that won’t escape the VAST majority of voters.

4. The RNC’s “October Surprise” – Yes, the DO have one or TWO! And it will make Palin’s “Troopergate” report due in October “pale” in comparison. I don’t know exactly what it may be but I can make a few educated, if not unrealistic guesses… Michelle’s “whitey” tape??? Proof that Obama went to Pakistan as an adult on an Indonesian passport? Proof Obama’s birth certificate IS NOT legit or he was NOT born where he said he was? Proof of more ties to Rezko or Ayers than originally reported that are more damning? Oh…and yes, we haven’t heard the last of jeremiah Wright, either.

5. The Electoral College Vote – Particularly in formerly BLUE state or so-called purple states. Yes, Obama is close NATIONALLY…but the fact MCCAIN is SO CLOSE in so many formerly BLUE states (MN, PA, NY, NJ, WA) is the story…not the fact it is “tied” or close nationally. If McCain keeps all the states Bush won (and yes, polls are close there too…but see above reasons why Obama won’t win them) and takes ANY of these close Blue states…McCain will cruise to an easy victory. Obama supporters may cling to the hope that exactly the OPPOSITE is true…that close states McCain currently leads in that Bush won (FL, CO, NV, OH) will somehow “flip” for Obama on election night are just dreaming. The choice of Palin has virtually locked up those states…and again, the above 4 reasons will prevail in the end.

Oh…and I didn’t even have to bring up the PUMA voters and ex-Hillary supporters who are now for McCain. It’s a hurdle Obama will NOT be able to get over.

If you can’t even unite your own party…you deserve to lose!

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:19 pm 47. Ex-fetus:

For the Clueless; Tied means within the margin of Error (hereafter MoE). So if Obama leads 46.3 to 44.7 and the MoE is 4.5, they are tied. Second clue. You CANNOT average polls. Pundits do it to fool the ignorant but that does not make it mathematically accurate. Polls depend on the queston and how they are worded. If you had ALL the polls ask the same questions with the same wording, then you would have a larger poll, NOT an average. All it would do is change the MoE slightly.
The Debates will decide this election. There is a small core of undecided voters, less then 10%. Everybody else has made up their mind and isn’t going to change it. Those undecideds will not decide until the last week or the last day. Any that do decide before that will do so because of the Debates.

“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”
Ronald Reagan
40th president of US (1911 – 2004)

Sep 20, 2008 - 9:23 pm 48. V.O. Key:

Thank you for explaining stats and trends to the namecallers who should keep to their own thread and echo chamber.

Sep 20, 2008 - 10:03 pm 49. Cindy:

Joseph Marshall -
Thank you for presenting your points in such a logical, non-emotional fashion. While I don’t agree with your candidate’s positions, it’s refreshing to actually hear your points put forth so well.
It’s so hard to get the opposing POV without hysterics and animosity that it’s really refreshing to hear a reasonable person’s position, and many of your points have merit.
I’m so curious as to how people arrive at their positions, but when I try to dialogue with my acquaintances, no matter how respectful I try to be, they get defensive and angry and refuse to engage. I respect you for putting your ideas forth in such a polite and reasoned manner.

Sep 20, 2008 - 10:40 pm 50. Blogs For Victory » The State of the Campaign:

[...] 21st, 2008 at 02:58am Mark Noonan Jennifer Rubin over at Pajamas Media has an excellent run-down on how things are going – pointing out that in spite of conventional wisdom to the contrary, McCain [...]

Sep 20, 2008 - 11:58 pm 51. 888:

The former Republican Secretary of State of Ohio didn’t have anything to do with “these inexplicable polling problems.” Everytime a state goes to the Republicans, the opponents blame it on something mechanical, hanging chads, some weird conspiracy theory and so forth. But when the truth came out and there were thousands of Democrat dead people voting, duplicate votes, convict votes and the military vote from overseas never were counted, you didn’t hear a word from the Democrats or the liberal press. Those are the real inexplicable polling problems — not made up ones because they’re sore losers.

Sep 21, 2008 - 5:32 am 52. Anonymous:

SSS:

“thousands of Democratic dead people voting, duplicate votes…ect. ect.”

You are seeing programs that aren’t in the TV Guide.

I’ve worked the polls here in Ohio and I can tell you that they are far too small and too well run for a significant number of the dead to vote, or for people to vote multiple times, without anybody noticing.

First of all, poll workers here must be registered to vote as either Republicans or Democrats themselves, and must not be on the same voting roll as where they are working. And they are given precinct assignments mere days before the election.

Second, all precincts must have an equal number of poll workers from each party, and any poll worker has a right to unilaterally challenge any voter to force them to vote provisionally until the validity of their registration can be individually checked. Moreover, every clerical step of the voting process must take place in the presence of one member of each party.

Precinct voting rolls are no larger than a few hundred voters, all with names and addresses, in alphabetical name order, already on the voting rolls, that are clearly part of the precinct. These addresses all have residents in them, and anybody showing up as a different name from a current resident registered to vote would stand out like a Tarantula on a slice of wedding cake.

If any apparent anomalies on the rolls show up, that voter must vote provisionally, as well.

The voting rolls have xerox copies of the signatures on the voter registration cards–and nobody but nobody gets into a regular voting machine who can’t put a matching signature beside them. Nor is it possible for any more than one new signature to be attached to a single name on the voting rolls.

At the close of the polls, the number of voters recorded on the voting machines is cross checked against the number of new signatures on the rolls to ensure that the numbers match, and every poll worker must be present and sign those records.

All of these precautions have been in Ohio’s laws for decades. And now, beyond this, voters must show valid personal identification.

Further, voting fraud is a felony, with stiff penalties, in this state. The notion that thousands of people would get together and conspire to risk felony strength fines and prison terms to vote illegally, without even any guarantee that their candidate would win, and then actually be able to do so given the way the polls are run, has about as much reality as the characters in Grand Theft Auto.

I seriously doubt that the election laws and procedures where you live are that much different. So I would encourage you to take on the civic duty of volunteering to work the polls where you live and get acquainted with the facts rather than mindlessly repeating such dopey fantasies.

Sep 21, 2008 - 1:14 pm 53. Believer:

If “Anonymous” isn’t Bill Bradley, he’s gotta be his clone…

Same tone, condescension, phrases like this: “Those of us with political experience…”

Anybody want to disagree?

Sep 21, 2008 - 10:23 pm 54. Believer:

Riehl World has link to extensive report by Rusty S. at MyPetJawa on a Palin smear campaign that seems to be tied to BO’s campaign:

mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194057.php

Sep 22, 2008 - 12:30 am 55. 888:

Anonymous, I wasn’t talking about Ohio. It was Joseph Marshall up above who said, “We have a Democratic Secretary of State now, too, so some of these inexplicable polling problems may just vanish, as well. Will it be enough to deliver the State?” Marshall was referring to Ohio, and my response to him was about polling problems in places other than Ohio, such as the South and also overseas (where I am) with the military votes, which were not counted. In fact, some of the votes from overseas were found later — not even opened. I was criticizing Joseph Marshall because he was alluding to the fact that since the previous Ohio Secretary of State was a Republican, that because of that, there were polling problems in that state.

You need to read the other threads before you make assumptions.

Sep 22, 2008 - 2:58 am 56. 888:

Anonymous, here’s an article on dead people’s and other fraudulent votes, in case you’re still unbelieving:

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/12/24/104421.shtml

Sep 22, 2008 - 3:11 am 57. Ed Wallis:

“Believer”, Though I am *NO* fan of referenced B. Bwadley, I don’t think he wrote “anon.”

The grammar of Anon’s article exudes a slightly more elevated glow than Bwill’s.

The condesending nature of Anon’s article is smoother, more subtle than Bwill’s.

The unbridled ego which is typical of the latter’s articles is – if not absent – somewhat subdued here.

I suggest that, while it is clearly NOT an Ohio poll worker, it is more likely some Alexrod Astroturfer pushing the “everything’s juuuuuuuuusssssssst fiiiiiiine, don’t worry your pretty little head about it, sweetie” line.

Clearly there is TOO MUCH happening “behind the scenes” (under the radar, if you prefer) for ANYONE to pretend that the election systems are not vulnerable.

SEE:

The Jawa Report, September 22, 2008
“Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them”
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194057.php

OTHER: http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2008/09/did-obama-fund.html

Sep 22, 2008 - 4:05 am 58. Ed Wallis:

On the “substance” of Obama, as the author references it:

http://globallabor.blogspot.com/2008/04/who-sent-obama.html

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/259051

Sep 22, 2008 - 5:57 am 59. Joseph Marshall:

Actually Anonymous was me in a fit of absence of mind, and thank you for the complement on my grammar.

Now. SSS–the mere fact that elections are run badly down in Florida doesn’t mean that they can’t be run well. We do it in Ohio in exactly the way I described, and those incidents would never have happened in any Ohio precinct where I was poll working, and probably not in any others, at least in my county.

There was no good reason why a bogus signature had to be accepted, there was no good reason why that dead man was still on the rolls, there was no good reason why poll workers let the other voters vote, there is no good reason why Florida [apparently] doesn’t mandate that Republican poll workers be present in Democratic wards as a check on fraud, and there was no good reason why the Miami Herald reporter didn’t ask someone at the Miami/Dade Board of Elections why this slipshod stuff was going on, and when they were going to fix it.

Somebody is responsible for running elections right down there, and if the slipshod management was part of a Democratic administration, there is no good reason why local Republican citizens and candidates can’t raise merry hell about it until it gets fixed. Democrats do that up here all the time. No reason, that is, except for the attitude that it’s someone else’s problem.

No election system will work if committed citizens don’t get involved to make it work. And making it work requires a little more persistence and common sense that the Miami Herald appears to have exercised, particularly since they went to the trouble of paying for professional help to write the story.

There’s a lot more to real citizen paticipation in politics than merely gassing off on comment pages like this one. Do you even know whether your home state or your home county runs elections well or badly? Do you have relatives who could check with the local League of Women Voters to see if there was a problem with counting veteran’s votes in your county, and what someone was doing about it if there was? If not, did you write them yourself?

If I get testy with folks here, its because I actually do these things to responsibly participate in the great freedom we have in this country. There is no such freedom in many other places, as you should know if you are stationed abroad, and paying attention.

I really care about our freedom and that means I care about your freedom as well as mine, even though I happen to think your political views are wrong.

I do more than just read little like minded screeds about “suspicions” that campaigns or politically hostile bloggers are responsible for “smears” of my candidate of choice and then sit and cultivate my paranoia about it.

In fact, I’m much more likely to be reading and commenting on PJM than on Daily Kos, where you can find equivalent like-minded and paranoid musings about my candidate of choice. Why? Because over on Kos they get it.

The diarists over there actually participate in politics rather than just sit and contemplate the dastardly bias of the MSM, the mutton-headedness and “arrogance” of people like me of the opposite political persuasion, and the supreme and self-evident rightness of my candidate or my favorite political columnist.

I’m a very poor and sick man on Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, and Food Assistance–and I visit my local food pantry when soaring gasoline prices create soaring food prices, like right now. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t forgo a treat once a month to send $5 to the Obama campaign, just like all those other $5 contributions you read about in the news. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t volunteer and get involved.

I truly wonder how many of the people who write for PJM or write on its comment pages do even as much as I do. I wonder how many people over here truly get it.

Sep 22, 2008 - 6:13 am 60. Ed Wallis:

Mr. Marshall,

It’s less the numerous “$5 contributions” to the Zerobama campaign which raise eyebrows than those for $3.27, $6.82…(even-amount foreign currency sums converted to US Dollars…I think you see my point).

Sep 22, 2008 - 9:52 am 61. Believer:

I see, Mr. Marshall, and I’m sorry I confused you with someone else. My apologies.

It’s clear now why you support the candidate you do. Your trust is in Government. Your life is almost completely dependent on it. I hope that trust is not one day betrayed.

In the event that should happen, know that there is One who’s always been there for you – and all of us – to provide what we need.

As crazy as it sounds, the hardest of times can become our greatest blessing. There’s no reason to fear if our trust isn’t misplaced. There’s always hope if we know its true source.

All the best to you.

Sep 22, 2008 - 12:53 pm 62. Ex-fetus:

Anonymous:

“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.”
Tom Stoppard, Jumpers (1972) act 1
British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 – )

An election that can’t be rigged ranks up there with ships that can’t sink and ‘one size fits all’. There are other cliches that fit, but I’ll not go there. I expect Ohhhhh…..BAMA to do somewhere between McGovern and Dukakis.
Closer to McGovern. 354-184 McCain.

Sep 22, 2008 - 3:52 pm 63. Joseph Marshall:

Well, Believer, thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. I deeply appreciate them.

My personal religious choice is Buddhist, but if I were to translate the concepts I’ve been taught back into Christian terms it would go something like this: If God is infinite and omnipresent, then God’s love must penetrate every atom of the universe. And since the Past is gone, the Future does not yet exist, and the Present is ungraspable, we are actually already in Eternity even though we appear to be in Time.

My faith in these things is very great and the joy of them shines through any temporary discomfort like sunlight through a translucent curtain. I hope and pray your faith does, too.

It is certainly the case that my support by the Federal government is a little more up close and personal than most, but people do not realize or truly understand the dense cocoon of safety the Federal government places around us all.

Consider the Federal Aviation Administration: a couple of weeks back some of their radar computers went down and the traffic controllers had to halt most takeoffs, put everybody up in the air on a holding pattern, and bring those planes down a little at a time. There were hundreds of them up there, slowly losing fuel, circling around or backing down their airspeed to slow their arrival. A map of the United States on the television news that displayed this looked like the inside of a beehive at swarm. Thousands of people were at risk, but all of them got down without a single casualty.

That was The Government at work, and doing it’s work so well that the incident is all but forgotten. Whether we realize it or not, every aspect of our lives–from the multi-lane expressways we drive on, the prescription drugs we take, and the National Forests we camp in–is penetrated through and through by The Government, working quietly and well, doing things for us as well as to us, paying off on those splendid promises in the Preamble of our Constitution, and virtually unnoticed by all its citizens.

Long, long ago I was part of it, and I was proud to be so. I still am.

Sep 22, 2008 - 6:15 pm 64. Chuck:

The polls fluctuate, but the prediction markets (IEM and Intrade) are pretty consistent in calling it for Obama. That is not my own preference, but it is the way it is.

Sep 22, 2008 - 9:19 pm 65. Believer:

Thank you, Joseph, for sharing more about yourself. I’m glad to know you better.

As I look right now out the back windows of my cottage – and across the stone bridge – I can see the grand old home that once housed a number of Buddhists. The home is empty now, but while they occupied it, they were lovely people and neighbors. I’m glad to know your faith has given you joy.

I remember the day the radar computers were down. We can be thankful for the skill of those who successfully got us through that near catastrophy. Our nation is undergoing tremendous challenges now – in a number of areas – all at once. I don’t remember a time with this many uncertainties.

I lived in Washington,D.C. for a few years and have known many who’ve worked for the government. For those who seek employment there – and especially for those who remain in its employ – it seems to me security has been a priority for them. Too often governmental agencies become bloated and full of unproductive types. The private sector can’t survive with such waste. I recall one employee saying, “You know the eagle’s going to cr@p every two weeks.” That seemed to be the main concern.

That’s why Sarah Palin appeals so much to me: that pioneer spirit. She has that self-sufficient, independent spirit. She’ll take care of herself, thank you very much. I admire that. The mind is creative and active – solving problems in a practical way. Accepting what life brings – with joy – and being honest and fair with her fellow man.

Government is fine and serves a purpose. I’d prefer it to be as small as possible. I’m hoping the McCain/Palin team takes care of that over the next four years and saves us taxpayers a ton of money.

Sep 22, 2008 - 10:26 pm 66. Joseph Marshall:

Certainly government employees are constantly stressed by contradictory demands in house, particularly when at least the nominal philosophy of the party in power is that most of them shouldn’t be there at all. And, as taxpayers, we all have a right to question how well the money is being spent.

But trying to apply the standards of the private sector to them is an unreasonable exercise of that right. Government is not there to make a profit for owners or shareholders, it is there to serve citizens and serve them reliably. A certain anount of redundancy, which looks like “waste” from the outside has to be built in to do that.

For one hundred and seventy five years every citizen and every administration understood that reliable and safe mail delivery was a primary public responsibility, whatever private enterprise there was in the shipping business. So much so that the Postmaster General was actually a Cabinet Office. And the reliability and safety of our mail system across huge continental distances was legend. Only Britain and its Dominions rivaled us with worldwide safe mail.

Then, suddenly, somebody sold us the idea that the business of the Post Office was to compete with UPS and Federal Express, and now electronic carriers. What has it gotten us? A worse mail system for over ten times the citizen cost per letter and package since 1950. I remember the big deal when the 3 cent Liberty stamp–an American icon–was replaced by the 4 cent Lincoln stamp.

And it is now an operation that is legend for its employer/employee conflicts and its morale problems–unlike UPS, Fex Ex, and now DHL, whose only serious problem is profits what with rising fuel costs.

The model was simply wrong in the first place. Wholly public postal employees took immense pride in their public service, which was looked up to and respected, rather than reviled. I know. I remember them well from when I was sending for First Day Covers for my stamp collection when a boy.

That is what Government is really all about. There are things it maybe shouldn’t be doing. But it ought to be doing what it does do that well and reliably. And we ought to understand that such a level of services requires both our tax money and our moral committment and support. We demand the serivices without the taxes. What do we get? Strained employees and a ballooning deficit.

Is that really a good deal?

If you actually read the history of that “pioneer” spirit, you find that it had immense Government support at every turn, from the Northwest Ordinance, the Louisiana Purchase, the canal subsidies, the Homestead Act, the Pony Express, the huge land grants to railroads, the Interstate Highway System, and the subsidies to build and modify airports to land Boeing 707s, which didn’t have reversing turbine engines and required much longer runways than today to land safely.

I wish more people understood that.

Sep 23, 2008 - 7:26 am 67. Believer:

Joseph, I’m not surprised you make the case for government with religious zeal. That is where you’ve chosen to put your faith and trust. I don’t fault you for it, I merely disagree.

I’ll return then to what I first said to you — and if truth be told — less to you and more to that one soul who might be reading our words and not commenting. One who might at this moment be fearful or perhaps at some point in the future.

Our world is being shaken and some things of this earth may disappear — things (even people) we’ve depended on, including those we’ve taken for granted. But I hope there will be many who’ll find a source of strength and hope in the midst of whatever ’shaking’ they experience. It is then that what we might consider an evil can be turned to our greatest good.

There is One who is above all. He is constant, everlasting. When we find ourselves completely alone, without hope, He will be there waiting for us to embrace Him. Be joyful that hour has finally arrived.

Sep 23, 2008 - 3:10 pm 68. Ed Wallis:

OK, Mr. Marshall, answer this one please.

The following is from a post from someone (to remain nameless here) elsewhere in PJM.

“Those of us who want CHANGE do not want somebody with experience, depth of character and understanding, hard-gained wisdom, or hard-nosed realism. The whole idea of CHANGE is antithetical to the “experience” motif. The CHANGE we demand necessitates electing a novice who is big on myriad, enormous ideas while short on even the most minimal ability to carry through with them, for the idea tends to get lost in the “carrying through” part, and the CHANGE comes up short every time. We want complete CHANGE, not cheap nickle and diming it with pragmatic micro-adjustments and adaptations.

Like Barry said, “Words have meanings.” And we intend to CHANGE the world, not with reliance any supposed “tried and true” method or truth, but with ideas and people, along with many, many words, that are entirely and completely alien from anything that resembles such stuff.”

A QUESTION: Now, to YOU, “government” is that nice, big, respected and respectable thing. TO THE ABOVE WRITER, it sounds TO ME more like the way some Germans felt in 1931-1932 about the leader who inspired them. NOT WHAT I WISH FOR AMERICA…and I think you do not either. Yet, the above poster is, I believe, more typical of the Obama supporter than you.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? Thanks.

Sep 23, 2008 - 3:49 pm 69. Farewell!:

Don’t believe he is Anon. — although Ann may sound like a conceit — if not, hope that nitwit is content with BHO occupying 1600 Penn. Ave. in the coming End Times…

Sep 23, 2008 - 6:14 pm 70. Joseph Marshall:

I think that there are a couple of things to be said,

First of all, it seems to me that who we should be reading and listening to are the candidates themselves, with the assumption [until unequivocally demonstrated otherwise] that they know what they are talking about, they mean what they say, and they believe in what they are telling us.

We don’t have to agree with it, but we can always put our disagreement on the shelf for a minute [No one will steal it and it won't spoil.] while we try to examine what the person who wants our vote actually has to say.

Incoherent and overemotive followers can be found hanging around any candidate. They are not the ones who will be sitting in the big chair with the flags behind them.

Beyond this, even if we are expecting to be adversarial to the opposing candidate, we don’t want to start with any spur of the moment remark to a reporter’s question, or any situation where the candidate is being asked for an immediate and comprehensive solution for the world shaking problem that first showed up last week.

Nobody could possibly be at their best under those conditions, and we want to hear the best the candidate has to offer. So what we need is what he or she has to say, in a venue where they are comfortable, when they’ve had time to think about what they want to say, and when they’ve had time to work on the way they want to say it.

There are two cases where I think you can find Obama at his best: the speech he gave at the Tiergarten in Berlin, and the speech he gave at the DNC.

So the best way to approach them is to get hold of a transcript of each of these speeches and read them. That way we don’t have to contend with either a polished, or a rough speaking style, either of which might distract or obscure the meaning and the content.

When we have our text, we need to bring to it a basic question: What does this person actually want to accomplish? Not how, but what. No matter what “how” anyone proposes, the next President is not going to quite be able to do it that way–the Separation of Powers and the twists and turns of fate simply will not permit it.

Now, if you do that, you can take Obama and pick an issue, say, policy in the Middle East. And when you read those speeches, you can clearly see at least three specific things Obama wants to do: withdraw from Iraq, step up operations in Afghanistan by all the countries of NATO, and to absolutely and unequivocally prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

In both those speeches, you can find other specific things that, unequivocally, Obama wants to do, at home or abroad, whether we think they are good ideas or not.

When we are sure of this, we can bring our disagreement back to the table and ask, “Are any or all of these what I want to see done?”

The answer doesn’t have to be yes, It doesn’t even have to be a polite no. It can perfectly well be: only over my dead body!

The only thing it needs to be is about something real, not some nebulous notion like “change”, “experience”, “flip-flopping”, or being a “maverick”–but about something real: I want to do this, I want to stop doing that, I want to make sure this other thing never happens. All that other stuff is simply contentless political blather.

Bill Clinton’s remark is the most apt: Nobody starts with enough experience for the job of President.

He should know.

I’m not naive enough to think that this is going to convince anyone here at PJM to vote for Obama. But it just might get somebody to decide not to vote for him for real reasons–i.e. what he might actually try to do if he is sitting in the big chair in front of those flags.

Anybody who rejects him for that, I can’t quarrel with.

Unfortunately, I remain massively annoyed with the McCain Campaign–not with the candidates, with the campaign.

I don’t think the campaign has let me see either McCain or Palin at their best, and allowed me to put that clear question of What do they want to accomplish? to them when they are at their best.

I don’t think I’d agree with it, but I’d like to have my disagreement be about something real.

I don’t really care if Palin is a “hockey mom”, or McCain is a “maverick”. I’ve watched every President since Eisenhower and I think Bill Clinton is right, so I’m not that interested in anybody’s claims to “experience” either.

I want them to be able to tell me what they want to do in that Big Chair, in a venue where they are comfortable, and when they’ve had time to give it some real thought.

The way Sarah Palin was picked, I’m never going to see her at her best. I’ve seen enough of her to know that there is no real reason for her not to be a serious candidate in a national election. But the way she’s been picked [basically on three days notice] and the way she’s been presented and marketed, has simply made it impossible for her to make a major speech in a comfortable venue where she’s had time to think.

All I’m going to get for the next six weeks is the continuation of the People Magazine hullabaloo. And that really frosts me off–not at Palin, but at her handlers.

I also think I didn’t get John McCain at his best at the RNC,[which was my best chance] because the whole darn event [when it was not about bashing Obama] was about what happened to John McCain in Hanoi. And by encouraging him to focus on that in his own speech, I think his own handlers sold him at a massive discount.

I actually think he is much better than I will get to see in the next six weeks. And that also frosts me off, not at McCain, but at his campaign. I wouldn’t expect to agree with him, or to vote for him, but as of now, I don’t have anything real to disagree with him about.

And that’s a sin and a shame. We all deserve better.

Sep 23, 2008 - 9:16 pm 71. Ed Wallis:

Sorry, Mr. M (9:16pm),

I’m not persuaded by your relativist “everybody does it” argument. Please show me one single equally crazed writer from the “right” here at PJM talking about McCain like this fool I cited. I’ll gladly show you – just off the top of my head – three others in addition.

And YES, this “excess” IS indeed a part – and a desired, planned part – of the Zerobama campaign: among others, the salute (the cupped hands over the head, forming an “O”…not that they’re recommending saying “Sieg!” in conjunction…), song (”Yes We Can Yada Yada” by Will.I.Am). Such idolatry does NOT become an American candidate, in my opinion.

I find your writing “making excuses” for this horrendously mistaken candidate.

Obama “at his best” in Berlin?! NONSENSE. What on earth was this child doing in Berlin in the first place, anyway?! He spouted GIBBERISH there, so please don’t try to convince anyone that the pseudo-speech (accompanying the free music and drinks there…how the Berliners just LOVE to party on someone else’s dime…) was anything more than a two-dimensional photo-op.

Maybe YOU’RE persuaded by Zerobama’s empty rhetoric; I’M NOT.

So, you’re bothered “how” Palin was selected. TWO THINGS HERE: 1) YOU DO NOT KNOW; you are assuming, 2) You’ve got some pretty messed up priorities for selecting a president in 2008, if this one’s truly a bee in your bonnet.

As to your “three specific things Obama wants to do: withdraw from Iraq, step up operations in Afghanistan by all the countries of NATO, and to absolutely and unequivocally prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” Well, GEE, actually I don’t know of anyone other than Quakers who disagreee with that: GW Bush ALSO wants to withdraw from Iraq, now that we have taken the time to bring sufficient stability to the country. GW Bush ALSO wants to step up operations in Afghanistan and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

ONLY DIFFERENCE, I trust Bush. I DON’T trust Zerobama.

Maybe you do. Maybe you just have to. But the rest of America deserves better than Obama.

*** VOTE McCAIN/PALIN ‘08! ***

Sep 24, 2008 - 1:13 am 72. Believer:

Joseph, what you don’t factor into the matter is character and integrity.

BO has neither.

In your 9th paragraph you finally get to the first of three things you say BO tells us he wants to do: “…withdraw from Iraq.”

The man’s word is worthless.

On his highly-touted “world tour,” he went to Iraq and wasted no time trying to make the case for DELAYING removal of troops until after our elections. He betrayed BOTH those foolish enough to trust him and vote for him — and, far more importantly, the men and women who’ve been risking life and limb — the very heroes he audaciously thinks he’s fit to lead.

If you haven’t awakened to this man’s repeated duplicity, then I pity your blindness. Only a fool would trust him.

I’m sorry I couldn’t read beyond that 9th paragraph.

Sep 24, 2008 - 1:33 am 73. Ed Wallis:

Another thought on your writing, Mr. M,

You reasonably mention some differences between the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch (your words, the “what” and “how”…I’m paraphrasing).

All well and good. HOWEVER…

…the “how” DOES matter GREATLY (also as related to “Believer’s” 1:33am comment).
PLEASE SEE at least the first video here:

http://mkfreeberg.webloggin.com/individualism-and-collectivism/

regarding “Individualism versus Collectivism.” BOTH sides want “peace” or “fairness” or “justice,” but the HOW of it all MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE between FREEDOM and TYRANNY.

With Zerobama, the “what” changes with the direction of the wind; that is not populism, that is cowardice and inexperience. A mature, responsible person can say, “I made an error and I’m doing it differently now.” This is in no way a description of Zerobama.

The “how” of Zerobama is AT BEST CHICAGO MACHINE THUGGERY. Directly attributable examples: the organized (ha!) blocking of callers to two radio shows featuring conservative guests, the mass mailing of letters threatening being investigated by the IRS (similar vis a vis Palin not speaking at the Jewish group’s A’jad protest). Relalted examples: ACORN voting fraud, fake grassroots support (whether Axelrod Astroturfers or not) in newspapers and YouTube.

Not a criticism, Mr. M, but moreso a question: Perhaps you are rationalizing/justifying/making excuses – maybe out of fear? – the reasons as to “why” at this stage in your life you desire/need the helping hand as “promised” (echo: HA!) by Zerobama more than that provided through either genuine charity or brotherhood in your community. What Zerobama offers is an ersatz “warm and fuzzy blanket” covering a straightjacket. In reality, his offers none of the genuine comfort you seem to seek.

Sep 24, 2008 - 4:02 am 74. Joseph Marshall:

“A mature, responsible person can say, “I made an error and I’m doing it differently now.” This is in no way a description of Zerobama.”

Let’s take this little fragment and use it as a starting point for the issue of character. One of the constant drumbeats over here is about the success of the “surge” in Iraq. Obama thought it wouldn’t work, I thought it wouldn’t work. We both were wrong.

I just admitted it. So chalk one up for me and my character. So did Obama. But he didn’t do just that. He chose to be interviewed first by Bill O’Reily on Fox News to do it. I can’t think of a more politically hostile interviewer he could have chosen for this admission, can you?

This got lost in the shuffle because it occurred in the midst of the RNC, and people also really don’t realize what an extraordinary thing it was. It would be exactly like George W. Bush choosing to be interviewed first by Keith Oberman about the failure to find WMD’s in Iraq.

I’m not sure I could have done it. Casting my mind back over nearly 50 years of watching politicians on television, there are virtually none I can remember, Democrat or Republican, who would have done it. The only possible exception I can think of would be Barry Goldwater. He might have done it, if there had been any instance where he thought himself proved wrong.

Also, as an aside, Believer, “delaying” something is not the same as not wanting to do it. Lots of times I have to delay taking a leak until I can find a Men’s Room, but that doesn’t impact my desire to do it in the least.

I don’t think Obama has been inconsistent about what he wants to accomplish: take the troops from Iraq, put them in Afganistan, and stop Iran from going nuclear. That is not a commitment to do all of this absolutely no later than 3 weeks into an Obama Administration. This is exactly what I meant by responding to the twists and turns of fate.

Now I also use another test to evaluate a person’s character: how they treat their opponents. I have never seen Obama say anything bad about John McCain except that his views are wrong or that his understanding of an issue is inadequate. Not once.

This character test is called the Golden Rule. I think he passes.

One thing that amazes me about American politics is about how nobody who is a Democratic candidate for office ever seems to have “character”. Indeed, nobody who votes regularly for them seems to have “character” either. Forty-nine percent of the country are brainless, spineless louts, baby killers, sinister charlatans, and religious hypocrites in the bargain.

No wonder the good old US of A is so bad off!

Now I wouldn’t even bring this up, Ed, except for the fact that you have suggested that my current political views stem from personal cowardice. But, on the matter of incoherence and overemotivity of political followers, it seems to me that your coherence could use a little tuning up and your emotivity could use a little toning down.

I have voted largely Democratic since being first able to vote in the early 1970’s. My belief in the general point of view of the Democratic Party began as early as John Kennedy’s inauguration speech–which I actually saw live on television–in the same year that my parents gave me the great gift of an Encyclopedia Britanica and started a life long love affair with learning. The learning has fleshed out and tempered my belief, but it never substantially altered them.

The fact that in the 21st century I have succumbed to a bipolar psychosis that has turned me into a semi-recluse in need of a certain amount of care, medication, and help, has not altered my political views or my reasons for them in the least. Any more than it has altered my religion or my faith in it.

It has also given me a certain amount of personal expertese [from my bad days] with incoherence and overemotivity.

But bipolarity is a mood disorder, not a brains disorder or a guts disorder.

My brains and my guts are doing just fine, thank you.

And I sincerely wish and hope that no one else who writes here is ever put through the gut check of being an undiagnosed, unhelped, or unmedicated bipolar. I have been all three.

I had to fight four years for a diagnosis, help, and medication in a life that was like trying to manage a small sailboat in a hurricane. I lost a career, an automobile, a house, an inheritance, and my credit rating in the bargain.

And all that kept me from suicide through those four years were my brains and my guts. I still have to fight, and am still fighting, for some of it, on at least a monthly basis.

But I am medicated, diagnosed, and helped. So my guts and my brains are not in constant use in a fight for survival.

I can still get to both of them if, and when, I need them, however.

Sep 24, 2008 - 9:59 am 75. Ed Wallis:

HEY JOE:

You misread. In the context of I was clearly referring to Obama – NOT you. So your “coherence” insult was unwarranted.

Sep 24, 2008 - 1:12 pm 76. Believer:

Joseph, I’m truly sorry to hear you’ve been so debilitated over the years. Your struggle has been significant.

I’m sorry, too, if my words have been hurtful. I hope only the best for you in the future.

We can agree that we both want what’s best for our country. It’s just too bad we view our choices – and the history of each – so differently.

Sep 24, 2008 - 3:28 pm 77. Marc Malone:

Mr. Mrshall, I am like you. I am mostly blind. I see a bit out of one eye, like through a knothoel in a fence. I’m diabetic. I have neuropathy, retinopathy, arthritis, high blood pressure, allergies, etc…. I, too, rely on disability. I was a bookworm as a kid. Despite all this similarity, I’ve come to an exact opposite stance from you regarding politics.

I do not have any use for Sen. Obama. I believe him to be an enemy of my country. He means us naught but ill. Everything in his background points to this. He’s narcissistic and Marxist. Yes, it is a good thing to take the High Road when your opponent is basically an honorable man. I can disagree with a man and not hate him, but a snake has to be crushed mercilessly.

As to the Dems and their policies, I can tolerate some things. I may only disagree on the how. O’Reilly had a guy on, Dr. Frank Luntz, who polls people with a machine. When the pollees watch an ad, they move a dial in accordance with their response. It was interesting to watch one particular demonstration. The ad being watched got into promises of government goodies. The Dems’ responses went way up, and the Repubs’ responses went way down.

If you think about it, it’s amazing. The goodies were offered, and the Dems got excited. They were ready to take the cash. The Repubs were exactly opposite. They were not interested in the siren song of the free lunch! Every election seems to be the same theme. The Dems promise a chicken in every pot, and the Repubs try to talk sense to people. The elections get tighter every year, because the demographics are changing, with more minorities, who generally vote Dem, looking for the free lunch. (McCain may have done more than he knows with the pick of Palin, as getting the women over to the Repub side may be the only thing that can right the longer-term balance.)

I don’t think of the Dems as my enemy, just lacking common sense, that is, lacking the wisdom and character to turn down the free lunch. But I honestly believe that some of them on the far-left are simply in it for the money and power. Some, indeed, are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Others are just plain evil. They actively work against America. Their activities reveal them. Examples are: the covert smear campaigns; Hacking Palin’s e-mail; Intimidating the protest groups at the UN; Flooding the talk show call-in lines to suppress opposition; The most vile rumors; Just any underhanded trick in the Saul Alinsky book; Hate America messages; Damning our activities, while lauding those of our enemies; Undermining our education system and our media; and the list goes on.

So, you’re well read. I ask you, how can you countenance all this and support Obama? You don’t really require no specifics plans of action, just ideas, do you? How can right and wrong not play into your decision? Does a man’s character mean nothing? Does yours?

Sep 25, 2008 - 2:58 am 78. Joseph Marshall:

“I believe him to be an enemy of my country. He means us naught but ill.”

None knows for sure what is in any man’s heart. We make our guesses, shrewd or not, based on what they say or do.

Or at least we should, if it is a matter of our country’s future. All I have asked it that we make these judgments based on what is definite and real, what the candidates say when they speak for themselves, just like you or I would want to be judged on what we say or do, rather than on second hand opinion.

Obama has said clearly what he wants to do. It is quite clear that he wants us to know where he would try to lead us, given the chance, and that he is confident in being judged by it. It may be bad or good, he may have trouble doing it or not, he may not quite be able to tell us how he would get it done, but it’s real, its definite, we can both read it and agree on what he said and what might happen if he did it, even if we don’t agree whether Obama should be President or not.

John McCain has said little to nothing about what he wants to do. Sarah Palin has said absolutely nothing about what she wants to do. And it is clear that the managers of these candidates really don’t want them to.

Every effort is being made to keep Palin from saying anything at all and to keep McCain from saying anything of substance.

They want us to judge these people on second hand sources only, on spin, on hype, on rumor, on official announcements by the campaign spokesperson, on everything that you read, over and over, in the same stale language in virtually every writer on PJM–none of it definite, none of it real, all of it pure projective fantasy: “experience!” “leadership!” “values!” “character!” “small-town virtues!” “hockey mom good sense!” “mavericks!” “crusaders!”–pure contentless abstractions, a set of fill-in-the-blanks by whatever emotions make us feel warm and secure and safe. Even if you have something to put in the blanks with no relation at all to what I would put there.

On anything and everything but what they actually want to do once elected to office.

Why doesn’t anybody want us to know what they want to do?

Why doesn’t anybody here at PJM want to know it?

It seems a simple question to me. It seems a genuine question to me. And it’s certainly an important question to me.

Why? Why won’t they tell us? Why won’t they speak to us?

My candidate of chioce will.

Sep 25, 2008 - 5:54 am 79. Believer:

Joseph, I don’t know why I’m bothering, because I decided earlier I’ll never convince you to think more clearly. But I’d like to point your inconsistency. You say we should judge the candidates on what they say and do.

And yet after stating that, you only concern yourself with what your candidate has said. Or worry yourself about what the other candidate hasn’t said. Consider their actions — what they’ve done. And the character and judgment they might reveal about the man. For me, it’s no contest.

I had hoped that I’d pointed out to you how a man’s word – especially your candidate’s – can’t be trusted. (BTW, consider the MOTIVATION behind what a man says and does – especially if it conflicts with earlier words or actions. For BO, it’s almost without exception, a narcissistic self-interest. NOT a good thing for a parent, much less the leader of the free world!

Regarding his attempt to delay troop withdrawal, consider this: if they’re withdrawn during this administration, he can’t later claim credit for bringing them out – and he’s additionally denied a point to pursue with his antiwar base. Moreover, his interference some pointed out would have ultimately delayed their withdrawal by many months – how incredibly selfish and irresponsible is that!)

Instead, the past ACTIONS of the man should be considered. Candidates can SAY anything in order to be elected – and most usually do.

How you can consider your candidate anything but unfit to lead America considering his associates and his ‘achievements’ while working in concert with them, is beyond me. I think you choose to close your eyes to the truth. (Much as you have about the truth of the world beyond this one, I might add. It’s seemed to me, usually one deception is in concert with the other.)

What has he accomplished in Chicago over the past two decades? See any improvement there? If you’re honest, not a thing. He’s partnered with radicals and crooks and left his victims worse off than before. This is why he fights – using intimidation tactics when he has to – to keep the public from learning the full truth. I don’t see you commenting on other articles – like Clarice Feldman’s – that expose BO for who he is.

You might not be a Christian, but I am. And the vilest thing he has done is bring his Alinsky methodology into the church. He sat in the pews of TUCC — bringing his own young children to have those teachings inflicted on them too — for two decades and allowed a pastor to spew hate-filled lies to a vulnerable congregation.

He’s devisive. Duplicitous. Manipulative. And if you can’t see that everything he’s touched — from his political party to the streets of his Chicago — has been poisoned by his failure to recognize evil, or reject it, then you are in worse shape than you can imagine.

I don’t want the miserable state Chicago’s in to be replicated around the rest of the country. All we have to do is open our eyes to what he’s done there to see he’s not good for America.

Sep 25, 2008 - 3:06 pm 80. Anonymous:

Believer, I’m past talking about Obama at the moment. If it is your decision to vote against Obama for what seem to you good reasons, or to think him immoral or lacking in character, for what seem to you good reasons, I have no ultimate quarrel with it. For I am certain that all such judgments we make on each other are educated guesswork, at best. This means mine as well as yours.

If you look at the matter from my religious standpoint the longest term and ultimate result of all Obama’s actions, good or ill, will be his to manage on his own. We call that karma, cause, and effect.

If you look at it from your standpoint, God will judge his heart as he will ours, and we personally will neither gain nor lose for exercising our judgment honestly, since in the face of God’s judgments, our own are trivial.

And if you must vote against Obama, you must perforce vote for McCain, as I voted for John Kerry despite having no better opinion of his brains than of his opponent’s. Though since I judged Bush on what I thought [and still think] to be the soundness of his words and the true effect of his deeds, rather than trying to judge the good or evil in his heart, I have no regret about that vote. His words and deeds will last. He will be taking his heart back to Crawford, Texas.

But it repels me that your candidates of choice either cannot or will not openly put into words that all can understand what they want for this country.

More importantly, it saddens me that no one who writes articles here, or who shares the politics of those who write articles here, thinks it worth demanding from their own candidates.

And because of this I think Conservatism is bankrupt. In my youth, most thought Barry Goldwater dangerous for saying “extremism in defence of liberty is no vice”, but no one disrespected him for it, or thought the less of him as a man. I still think the stand of Ronald Reagan against the Soviet Union was admirable, though I still believe he bought it at too high a price for the well being of our own citizens.

But what have I to respect about Sarah Palin and John McCain? More importantly, what do you have to respect about them? More importantly than that, why doesn’t that question seem to bother anyone here?

Sep 25, 2008 - 9:26 pm 81. Joseph Marshall:

Oops! Once again too late of hours prevented me from saying the last under my own name. Sigh.

Sep 25, 2008 - 9:28 pm 82. Believer:

Joseph, when God opens our eyes to our own evil, we are then able to judge good and bad. The veil has been lifted. We are no longer sheep going to slaughter.

Scripture says “Judge not…” but it also says, “You will judge…”

I hope you’ll ask God to show you that evil. I have an idea, if your prayer is answered, you won’t need medication any more.

May God bless and keep you.

Sep 26, 2008 - 11:59 am

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