CrackerDog

The entire article is great but I thought I'd share just this one part. I recommend checking it out completely by clicking this link. Keillor is a brilliant man who speaks from the heart but with such clarity...

In summary... Obama McCain Research 2000: 52 41 Obama +11 Reuters/Zogby: 48 44 Obama +4 Battleground: 53 40 Obama +13 Rasmussen: 50 45 Obama +5 Diageo/Hotline: 48 42 Obama +6 Gallup: 51 42 Obama +9 IBD/TIPP: 45 42 Obama +3 CBS/NY Times: 53 39 Obama +14 LAT/Bloomberg: 50 41 Obama +9 Ipsos/McClatchy: 51 42 Obama +9 Average: Obama +8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbjg9Hh17lI Operation landslide, now in progress.

From MSNBC: From CNN: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAm-Nvk3FAw Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2AiQ5ShYSU If McCain can't even vet his own VP choice, what does this mean for the country? We've had enough loose cannon's in the Whitehouse. Sorry I don't have some source like RabidDogRepublican.com or something to quote. The mainstream media will have to do.

Congrats!

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/m...a_n_134595.html I can't wait to hear them explain this one! Here they're making such a big deal out of Obama's middle name when all this time, right there on the Straight Talk Express... A Saddam Hussein sympathizer! Here's the story:

One last point... I don't know how many people I'm reaching, nor do you. What I do know is I'm talking to BEARS FANS here and they're a straight shooting, tell it like it is bunch. They aren't whiney bitches who need to be held because the big scary terrorists are coming to get us. I'm not worried about hurting anyone's feelings here. And maybe, just maybe, by being this way instead of being the pussy most Conservatives think Liberals are, by showing that it's OK to be a blue collar guy and still vote for the African American... It might change a few minds. It might bring a few people around. It might cause someone to think, to put the country first over their historical preference for Republicans. And it might give some a little ammo when they're talking to someone else who gets their talking points from Fox News and mocks liberals because that's what they're programmed to do. I don't apologize, not one bit.

It's close because Obama is black and this country is still somewhat racist. Seriously man, I'm a white guy and I see it very clearly. This "arab" stuff, this "palling around with terrorists" stuff, this using his middle name stuff... Let's call it what it is, race baiting. But if Hillary had won they'd be going after her for being a woman so it's just about race because the opponent is black. I'm not saying all Republicans are racists. But they're pulling those puppet strings for sure. They'll DO ANYTHING to stay in power. They know what the costs will be of having all of the crap that's happened over the last 8 years come to light. I'd like to see Cheney's energy policy, written by Exxon and Enron, wouldn't you? So, they say anything, put complete fabrications on the air in commercials, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they elevated the terror warning again in the next few days to scare people. Just like 2004. But I believe it would actually work against them this time. There may be a lot of racists out there and ignorant folks, some of whom post here I've found, but the country in general isn't stupid. Nobody would/should be buying this crap anymore. Seriously... Would Obama put himself through this process if he weren't a bigger PATRIOT than any of the folks posting here? Are you KIDDING me?!?! He clearly loves this country and he's clearly a good man. Those rooting against him need to look at their own souls. They need to watch the videos of people at McCain rallies bringing monkey stuffed animals with Obama's name on them to understand the deeper darker disgusting reasons why Obama isn't acceptable to many. And hey, he's black, he can't change that and he wouldn't want to. If you can't support him for that reason, just admit it and revel in your stupidity. But don't hide behind this "he's unworthy" bullshit. Please.... You're not fooling anyone. PS. If you've been under a rock for the last 10 days, you need to see this to know what I'm talking about.

I thought I made myself clear, I don't respect anyone who voted for Bush twice. Period. If you don't agree with that statement I don't care. And then for those folks to preach to me about how I need to give McCain a chance and how I should trust them again with our nation's future, well, sorry man. When I quote sources here I use credible ones. I use language you may not care for but I'm tired of being the party of nice guys who lose. I'm telling it like it is, your party and your candidates put us where we are today. This shit heap is your fault (assuming you're one of the Republicans you now defend.) And I've always been a moderate to left leaning person. I couldn't care less if you believe that or not. But it's clear to me and MANY true fiscal conservatives (check all of the links I've provided) that this Republican Party has strayed FAR FAR away from it's base in the 1970's. This nation needs a correction to the LEFT in my opinion and I'm not running from the word "liberal" you folks have demonized. I prefer Progressive but call me whatever you like. Your President f*cked up and got us into a war we didn't need to fight, he further screwed up EVERY day since with poorly executing his mistaken war. He's screwed up our economy, buried us in debt and put cronies into every level of government, to the detriment of New Orleans, as just one example. Meanwhile he's spied on everyone and taken so many shits on the US Constitution you can't read the rag anymore. Your god damn right I'm pissed off about that. And my anger is justified and directed at exactly the proper people. If the truth bothers you, don't read posts titled "This Republican Economy is KILLING me."

16 months after it was originally introduced and only a few days after the stories about problems at Freddie and Fanny started to make it into the press. Real leadership there. PS. The bill never made it out of committee. A committee controlled by, at the time, Repugs. So, facts, once again, ain't the friend of the Right Wing whackos. PSS. Dude, when you quote sites, try to use at least something that doesn't sound completely idiotic. Barking Mad something or other? Did Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity send you to that site? LOL!

http://www.mdc.edu/Home/Press/rally.htm LOL! This tells you all you need to know about this ACORN flap. It's pure political scapegoating. Boogyman stuff! And on the Ayers deal... The Chicago Tribune, a conservative newspaper... More bullshit from the McCain camp. They can't argue about the economy they and the Republicans BROKE so... may as well go 100% sleaze, all the time. Even Christopher Hitchens, a ultra-conservative, Clinton hater of the highest order, today endorsed.... WAIT FOR IT..... Obama! LOL! You Republicans have a lot to apologize to the nation for. Your day came and went and we now know what giving you control leads us to. Crisis after crisis. Collapse after collapse. Incompetence at EVERY level of government. Sorry, but Johnny just isn't acceptable as a President and Sarah isn't qualified to be the mayor of my suburb. You're all going to have to sit by and watch as the most progressive President in the history of this country brings us back from the brink of disaster. We don't need Johnny Square-Jaw attacking Iran to make us feel all patriotic again. It's time our patriotism was directed internally. A little introspection after years of "The Cowboy" is in order, I think. Time for intelligence. A steady hand...

A very good analysis of this is found here. In addition to this Vanity Fair article, it should be noted that Paul Krugman, an economist who just won the Nobel Prize and someone not allowed to speak on Fox News, someone the Right Wing refers to as "shrill" was warning of this collapse for 5 years. He's on MSNBC all the time. No, this isn't an issue one can easily pin on one party or the other but THE BUCK STOPS HERE needs to be invoked every once in a while. The Republicans whistled past the graveyard while the entire government, Congress and the White House were in their control. If things were wrong with the way Clinton left them, why no changes? They weren't shy about anything else the rammed down our throats over those 6 years. I'll tell you why, because the crisis we face now is essentially due to Republican policies which began during the Reagan administration and live on today. There have been some benefits as well to deregulation but the collapse is squarely on them and their failures for those years. And the crowd who gave us 8 years of the worst President ever now shamelessly squawk like they have anything we'd care to hear. Well, you don't. You've been discredited. And if I had my way, I'd ban you all from ever voting again. You're too freakin stupid to be allowed to vote.

I like the squib and endorse it as the best answer. BUT you've got to kick that ball deeper even as a squib. And then you've got to play your safties toward the sidelines more so they have a better play on the ball than they did. Brown was right there but had he gotten there 1/2 second sooner the ball is knocked away. You KNEW they were going to have to play to the sidelines. But, you know what, it was a fantastic finish and you have to give them some credit there. It was a perfectly thrown ball and he was under pressure. I can't really "blame" anyone as you sometimes lose games like this. The unfortunate thing is we seem to have found some pretty creative ways to drop 3 games we otherwise should've won. It hurts. We're still hanging in there though. Neither the Packers or the Vikings scare me. We'll just have to keep working hard and get it done. And Orton is really a surprise to the upside for me. I knew he had potential but this game proved he has more ability I'd previously given him credit for. It takes a real leader to get your team down there and hit a tough pass like that to take the lead with seconds left. Kudos to Kyle!

Wow, I never expected some of my posts would expose so many idiots. I hate to think of my fellow Bears fans in such a negative way. But wow, just wow. First of all, he needs to read a little history to understand why New Orleans exists in the location it does. This may come as a surprise to him but it wasn't built in the last decade by a Democratic mayor. Sheesh. The whole idea that those folks "deserved it" is pure Republican filth. They'd rather blame the victims than look at their own culpability and try to address their own failings. The reasons New Orleans flooded are many and the blame extends to both Dems and Repugs. But the response to the crisis was on the President. He was the guy who picked an incompetent crony to run FEMA and on his watch, a terrible disaster was compounded by failure after failure to respond properly. Say what you want about Clinton's penis, the man had intelligent people running FEMA and his entire cabinet would've had a war room setup to respond in the most direct and helpful manner possible. The hurricane would've still hit but the response (not to mention the preparation) would've been significantly different. And that's obviously what I was talking about in my original post.

Wow... 8 years ago my Republican friends said "Don't worry man, trust us, things are going to be OK." They said the economy would be strong and they'd bring back ethics in government. George W. Bush was on record as opposing "Nation Building" and as being a guy who supported the troops. We already had a surplus and the cold war was over... Everyone was talking about how to spend the "Peace Dividend". Hard to believe that was only 8 years ago. About 9 months into George W. Bush's term we were hit by the worst terrorist attack in our history. The country rallied behind him. The Republicans used the surge in fear and support to strengthen their control of Congress. They used their 100% control over our Government to cut taxes... Not much else. They were unwavering in their support for this President and his war. On their watch nobody put on the brakes until we had a crisis. We lost an American city to a storm for the first time in our history. Incompetence of the highest order was on display and the American People reacted. It was a wake-up call. We'd made a huge mistake in choosing our leader. Most Republicans don't even support W. these days. His approval ratings are in the toilet and it looks like he's led his party from what they once claimed would be a "permanent majority" to being an irrelevant minority of mid-1970's proportions in only the last few years. And now they come to us with their hats in their hand, begging us for another chance. Saying Obama is risky and they know how to solve the problems we face. We'd be wise to laugh in their faces and send the lot of them packing. And it looks like that might just be what occurs. Not only is Obama positioned to win the Whitehouse but congress may go so far into Dem control they may have a Filibuster-proof 60+ voting block in the Senate. Folks, if there's anything we have George W. Bush to thank for, this may be it. For decades, since I was a young man listening to Jimmy Carter talk about it, we've not been able to accomplish two things... Alternative Fuels and National Health Care. With a bullet-proof congress, who knows? We could accomplish both! This could be the real impact of the Supreme Court giving George W. Bush the Presidency 8 years ago. Who knew then that I'd be thanking them in less than 10 years? But this can only happen if you make it happen. It can only be that way if you want it to be. If you work hard, give money to your favorite candidates and call your friends and family in swings states. Talk to them in straight forward ways about the last 8 years. Use Reagan's famous "Are you better off" lines and don't dig into the details that might cause them to get angry. Nobody I know who's been a Republican all their lives want to vote for a Democrat. None of them. But several have confided to me recently that they will this once. They don't like the party they have now. Many don't recognize it at all. Now is not the time to gloat. Get out there and get it done!

I like how he called McCain out for this just like I did! Although, with a bit more class... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/o...a_n_133132.html 26 days of this BS left.

Oddly, I wasn't disappointed in his performance at all.

Second verse... same as the first! A little bit louder and a little bit worse! (for McCain) I thought McCain would be a man and have the balls to bring up some of the shit he's been saying about Obama on the trail. Face to face. But no, instead Gramps stuck with his whole "tax and spend" talk while hiding behind Sarah's skirts. Pathetic. Apparently the American People felt the same way.

I believe this is the best strategy as well. If McCain goes "Rev. Wright" on Obama, Obama's response should be "John, have you taken a look at the DOW recently? It's down 20% in the last 30 days. Oh, and nearly a million people have lost their jobs in 2008. We're here with a real opportunity to discuss the issues that matter to people and you want to talk about things that were vetted during the primary process. I've had enough with the kitchen sink, let's talk kitchen table." And then he should discuss things that matter. Basically leaving McCain looking like an embarrassed, shallow, angry old man.

While true, it's fair play, I think it's counterproductive. Obama needs to run a campaign that fosters his ability to lead and bring the country together when it's all done. So, I think it's fair to bring up Keating since the financial markets are in turmoil but I don't think dirty pool about his military record is OK. My point in my initial post here was to show how ugly this could get if we go down that path. McCain got this treatment from Bush and Rove in 2000. The roadmap is already out there and thus far Obama and his team have stayed off that road. I hope it stays that way. But really, McCain and his camp, and his followers like Ashkum, hold the keys to how deep into the shitter this goes. With McCain desperate at this point, I understand the whole "kitchen sink" attack. I really do. But I also hope his position in the polls continues to sink as he goes this route. It'll show him that the best plan was his original, which was to continue to run an honorable campaign. I could provide links to him saying just that on video. I could show you video of him saying Rev. Wright was off limits and that Obama didn't ascribe to his crazier side. That stuff exists and that McCain was a man I respected. I think a lot of moderates and independents will run away from him as he keeps up this BS. But I've been wrong before.

Maybe his immature antics costs the US Navy over 100 lives on that fateful day? Do I believe it? I don't know... But it's a question I want answered. Right Ashkum? "I want the truth!" "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!" Lot's of things out there to wonder about with these candidates. Seems bringing up the whole "Obama is a Muslim" thing at this point might open a can of worms for McCain. If they can ask questions, is it OK for us to do the same? Can we ask about the Forrestal? The Keating 5? His graduating at the bottom of his class at Annapolis? His being shot down while flying below his ordered altitude? His crashing of 3 other jets but still being a pilot afterwards while his dad was an Admiral? Does it sound like a cover-up or special treatment? I hate all of this crap. I'd like to believe the best about John McCain and Barack Obama and I'd like to vote for them based on the merits of what they propose for our country. In the future! I post this thread in response to Ashkum to provide an example of how this crap gets thrown out there on the internet all the time. People choose to believe the ones that justify their decisions and ignore others. I have no clue if McCain was what some of the conspiracy theorists out there claim. I choose to ignore it all but for this little experiment. I hope the point has been made.

Amen to that, Connor. By the way, I won't bother responding to the long baseless Ashkum response above. When someone says "here's the proof whether it's true or not" I don't see a need to continue to try to convince them of anything. It's important to note, however, that Obama's position on partial birth abortion is significantly different than was suggested by Ashkum. Quoting World Net Daily... LOL! What a country.

Yes!

I couldn't disagree more. First, the actual facts: (11:34) (Shotgun) 18-K.Orton pass incomplete deep left to 86-M.Booker. PENALTY on DET-21-T.Fisher, Defensive Pass Interference, 24 yards, enforced at DET 31. Chicago challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. (Shotgun) 18-K.Orton pass deep left to 86-M.Booker to DET 1 for 30 yards (21-T.Fisher). Penalty on DET-21-T.Fisher, Defensive Pass Interference, declined. OK, so here we have it. The play in question was originally a 24 yard penalty and the play after reversal was a 30 yard gain. This means the difference was 6 yards. The corrected play puts the Bears at the ONE yard line rather than the SEVEN. In my mind, there's a HUGE difference in those two locations on the field. And we've been struggling to close out games! Also, why save the challenge? We're already in the second half, leading. Even at 50/50 as you say above (which I don't concede) I'd say the play should've been reviewed. But that wasn't really my point. My point was how idiotic the announcers sounded continually getting the facts wrong about the reasons for the challenge. They kept saying Lovie was "standing by his guys" and "trying to pad their stats" when the real reason was clearly field position. Your odds of getting in from the 1 and the 7 are significantly different. A professional like Lovie knows that. The knuckleheads in the booth should've at least acknowledged the facts I just stated above even if they disagreed with the decision. And one last thing... As to their being "experts" on this site: I don't think there are either. Everyone here is just stating their opinion. But there are a few who have claimed they could be better than JA at GM. That means they're claiming to be experts. I've always call bullshit on that and I'm glad you agree.

"Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago?" If so, congrats. If, however, you're in the 99.999% who aren't... Join the club!