black…MYstory

CBS has provided a widget with election results.  Here they are so far:

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Well, the day we have been anxiously waiting arrived and, in some states, voting will be wrapping up soon.

I sit here hoping and believing that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.

I plan on being up late tonight so, I’ll be posting from time to time as I hear updates.  I expect this to be quite a rollercoaster ride.

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Ronald Reagan used to speak of an 11th commandment: “Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican”.

This election season, this commandment is being violated all over the place (the circular firing squad is in full effect).  But, even the last media bastion of Republican refuge, Fox News, is showing signs of disgust with McCain and crew.  On his show, Neil Cavuto blasts McCain for have no consistent or understandable position on the economy.  For a minute, this sounded like a “special comment” a la Keith Olbermann.

Cavuto argues that, while he does not like Obama, he can respect his consistency but, to McCain, he says “on economic matters, you have no convictions.”

Needless to say, I have my bowl of popcorn out as I watch the Republicans battle it out.

Video below:

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Even Fox’s Shepherd Smith thinks “Joe the Plumber” is full of it.  Somehow, they let the fool discuss foreign policy and it quickly became apparent that he doesn’t have a clue.  Be sure to check out the very end of this video to see Smith’s reaction.

Well, I suspect that “Joe” is on his 14th minute of his 15 minutes of fame.

Video below:

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In this country, we give a pay a lot of lip service to the notion of doing the right thing and standing on principle.  However, where the rubber meets the meets the road or, more appropriately, when our financial interests a jeopardized, we back down.

So, I have to give it up to some 40 employees of Americall, a telemarketing center in Hobart, Indiana.  These call center agents are most certainly people who could use the money but weren’t willing to sell their souls in the process.

Their assignment was to make anti-Obama calls, calling him “dangerously weak on crime” and claiming he voted against “protecting children from danger.”

However, rather than make these calls, the employees flatly refused and, instead, sacrificed a day’s pay and walked out.

So, respect due to these employees.  What they did showed a lot of character.

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…her state’s biggest newspaper endorses Obama?

It seems that the Anchorage Daily News further confirms what many of us know, Sarah Palin’s not helping John McCain.  Also, any charm she has is not distracting away from a critical analysis of McCain’s policy proposals.

Yesterday, that paper officially endorsed Barack Obama for President.

Here’s some of what they had to say about Obama:

“Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.”

In regards to McCain, they offered the following:

“Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, by which he seems to mean that he spent 25 years trying unsuccessfully to persuade his own party to follow his bipartisan, centrist lead. Sadly, maverick John McCain didn’t show up for the campaign. Instead we have candidate McCain, who embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years.”

And, on Palin, they stated the following:

“Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.”

So, even the biggest paper in the Governor’s home state is saying look to the other guy.  I think the choice is clear.

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The picture you see here is of Ashley Todd being “perp-walked” out in front of the media after confessing that she made up a story about being robbed at an ATM by a “six-foot-four black man” who she said also beat, fondled and carved a backwards “B” in her face after he robbed her because he saw a McCain campaign sticker on her car.

Today, we know that this was all a lie but one that many right-wing bloggers and Fox News were all too willing to hype up.

However, in this, there is potential blowback for McCain.  According to TPM Election Central, a local reporter caught the attack story on the Drudge Report and called the campaign for comment and the Pennsylvania communications director for the McCain campaign was all too ready to play politics with the story.  The communications director went on to push a story out there that seemed to be even more wild than what Ashley Todd had been saying.  For example, this spokesperson allegedly told the reporter that the attacker said to Ashley Todd, “You’re with the McCain campaign? I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

Furthermore, it was allegedly this communications director that put out the story that the “B” on her face stood for Barack.

So, now that it’s been proven to be a hoax, the McCain spokesperson is now backpeddling, saying that the reporters got it wrong.  But, if you listen to a couple of clips, one from NBC news and another from Countdown with Keith Olbermann, you’ll hear that it was the campaign pushing out aspects of the story that the police had clearly stated were unconfirmed.

So, it looks like some in the McCain camp are willing to resurrect the ghost of Willie Horton to try to win an election.

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Could Ashley Todd’s story be true?  Of course — but it’s kind of suspect.  Ms. Todd, a Texas college student, was working for the McCain campaign in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  According to Ms. Todd, this past Wednesday, she went to an ATM machine to withdraw some money.  She said that, while there, she was robbed by a black man at knifepoint.  She further stated that the assailant backed off but, upon seeing a John McCain sticker on her car, became enraged, punched and kicked her and then sat on her shoulders, facing her, and carved a “B” on her cheek (for “Barack”, I presume?)

Of course, the police are investigating this as a robbery and assault but, they are expressing skepticism about her account of the attack.  There are just some glaring concerns with/inconsistencies in her behaviors and statements that inspire doubt.  For example,  she refused medical treatment.  But, to be fair, if she were a victim of a violent crime, she could have been so shaken up that she chose not to go to the hospital.  However, there are other things that have me scratching my head on this one.  First of all, the “B” carved in her face is backwards. Did someone sit on her shoulders and carve a backward “B” or could this be done by someone doing this to herself while looking in a mirror?  Then, there is the problem that the bank surveillance footage doesn’t show her being at the ATM where she said she was attacked.  Finally, she has now, also, changed her story.

Ms. Todd now says she was unconscious and doesn’t remember being cut.  She says that she discovered the knife wound later.

Though the authorities are treating this a credible case, Ms. Todd is being subjected to a lie detector test.

Right-wing blogs across the internet have been on fire regarding this attack on a Republican by a “crazed Obama supporter”.  I wonder what they will say if it proves untrue.

UPDATE:

Well, never mind, it appears that she was lying.  Pittsburgh police are now saying that Ashley Todd made up the entire story.  She will be charged with making a false report to police.

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I actually felt kind of bad for McCain-Palin spokesperson Nancy Pfotenhauer.  She’s in the unenviable position of having to defend Governor Palin’s total lack of understanding of the role of the vice-president.

In a recent interview, Sarah Palin stated that the role of the vice-president was to be “in charge of the Senate” and craft policy with the Senate.  In actuality, a vice-president on presides over the Senate to cast the deciding vote in case of a tie.  However, because of the separation of powers, the vice-president is a part of the executive branch, not the legislative branch so, it is not within the normal duties of a vice-president to help craft legislation.

Since the Palin interview aired, the McCain camp and surrogates have tried to spin this but, it is clear — Sarah Palin has no idea what the job she is campaigning for actually involves.  I guess she was too busy shopping at Nieman-Marcus to actually take time out to read the part of the Constitution that describes her potential role.

Video below:

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As you, no doubt, know by now, Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama for President.  I caught his appearance on Meet The Press and Powell gave a thoughtful and insightful explanation of not only why he was endorsing Obama but, also, why he was not endorsing McCain.

The video is below.

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