It's not
about being liberal or conservative anymore y'all. That is a hype offered by the fascist whores who want to confuse the people with lies while they turn this country into an aristocratic police state. Some people will say anything to attain power and money. There is no such thing as the Liberal Media, but the Corporate media is very real.
Peggy Noonan is Ronald Reagan's ex-speech writer. She has since that time become a "political consultant" for big East
Coast
Newspapers : like the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.
Mind you that I am no fan of Peggy Noonan. She is a snake with a forked tongue, but like every snake, she will occasionally use a
little truth to sweeten the other 60% of the time she slants it.
The myth that is Sarah Palin in the minds of the true believers will come crashing down because actual conservatives are
stepping away from the pack of mindless wolves that have stolen the Republican party.
...we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the
equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person
of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for? For seven
weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite—a spender, to speak briefly, whose political
decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a
conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called
romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move
within an awareness and appreciation of reality.
But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud. She just . . . says things.
Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery: Maybe she's not a big "egghead" but she has brilliant instincts and inner
toughness. But what instincts? "I'm Joe Six-Pack"? She does not speak seriously but attempts to excite sensation—"palling around
with terrorists." If the Ayers case is a serious issue, treat it seriously. She is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber,
who in an extended cable interview Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the Republican ticket has made. In
the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader,
this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she
cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the
implications of her own thoughts.
No news conferences? Interviews now only with friendly journalists? You can't be president or vice president and govern in that
style, as a sequestered figure. This has been Mr. Bush's style the past few years, and see where it got us. You must address
America in its entirety, not as a sliver or a series of slivers but as a full and whole entity, a great nation trying to hold together.
When you don't, when you play only to your little piece, you contribute to its fracturing.
In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for
conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.
I gather this week from conservative publications that those whose thoughts lead them to criticism in this area are to be
shunned, and accused of the lowest motives. In one now-famous case, Christopher Buckley was shooed from the great magazine
his father invented. In all this, the conservative intelligentsia are doing what they have done for five years. They bitterly attacked
those who came to stand against the Bush administration. This was destructive. If they had stood for conservative principle and
the full expression of views, instead of attempting to silence those who opposed mere party, their movement, and the party,
would be in a better, and healthier, position
[SOURCE:Peggy
Noonan | Wall Street Journal | 17 October 2008]
David Iglesias says he's shocked by the news, leaked today to the Associated Press, that the FBI is pursuing a voter-fraud
investigation into ACORN just weeks before the election.
"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006,
it's a scare tactic." In 2006, Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney thanks partly to his reluctance to pursue voter-fraud cases as
aggressively as DOJ wanted -- one of several U.S. attorneys fired for inappropriate political reasons, according to a recently
released report by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General.
Iglesias, who has been the most outspoken of the fired U.S. attorneys, went on to say that the FBI's investigation seemed
designed to inappropriately create a "boogeyman" out of voter fraud.
And he added that it "stands to reason" that the investigation was launched in response to GOP complaints. In recent weeks,
national Republican figures -- including John McCain at last night's debate -- have sought to make an issue out of ACORN's
voter-registration activities.
This is from Republican David Iglesias, because some persons know the difference between their country and a political party.
This is what the Attorney General firings 2 years ago was really all about. All of the Federal district attorneys were expected to
comply with Karl Rove's desire to use politically motivated Department of Justice Investigations in order to take down the
opposition. Two years ago, Rove fired 7 Federal attorneys because they refused to proceed with the politically motivated
elections.
The entire history of what Rove was doing between 2004 and 2007 has yet to be dismantled and written, but history
will eventually expose the plethora of illegal abuses in the DOJ. A number of old employees were resigning, or were reassigned,
or chose early retirement, because rather than pursuing criminals and nefarious individuals the Department was being
transformed into pursuit of politically driven investigations -- some of which have no merit or legal basis other than partisan
prejudice.
Any honest discussion of voter fraud will say that there are maybe 6 to 20 cases in the entire USA AT MOST in any given year,
because it is extremely
difficult to actually pull-off. Registering false voters will not result in a person who fraudulently voted. A person named "Popeye
The Sailor" can only vote if he proves himself at some point during the first vote. If he shows up to the polling booth, the poll
worker will be astounded that the name "Popeye the Sailor" is on the registration list. Do you really think that poll worker isn't
going to ask for identification? States have laws that require some form of identification for first-time registrations. If Sam Davis
living at 304 Sycamore St. Apt. 8 shows up with a utility bill in that name, or a state I.D. with that name and address, Sam Davis
living at 304 Sycamore St. Apt. 8 gets to sign his name in the registration book and vote.
Absentee Ballots work the same way. Civil servants do make mistakes, like even some human being will do 3 or 4 times out of
100,000
repetitions, but states that have absentee ballots also have drivers license data linked to the voter registration data. Do you really
think a registration from a duplicate drivers' license (or state I.D.) will exist in a state computer system? Young pre-21 year olds
might have "fake ID's" but these are only cosmetic -- a look alike older sister or brother, or black market issue. They only see
bar door bouncers, and are never in the state driver's license computer.
Anyone who actually votes -- like myself -- will know this. I vote every single election. There is no excuse for anyone to be
denied the vote. There is also no excuse for anyone not to vote.
How can anyone really be free who does not at least
momentarily partake in the decision making of the nation by pulling a lever for one public policy, official, or another?
If you
resign your small slice of the heritage that is a government of, by, and for the people, you allow the government to be occupied
by public relations managed hyenas who are really only after the power and financial gain.
Friday, 17 October 2008 at 1h 24m 8s
My precious, my precious
It wants-eth to be da big leedah, mon. It stands-eth before the people and looks foolish.
Him's a real leader, him that points the finger and tellsith not the truth. He haseth principolls and really, really cares.
True believers everywhere unite behind the reincarnation of Jim Jones, and drink the Kool-aid.
Here's the caption Reuters provided to accompany the above picture.
US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after
shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the conclusion of the final presidential
debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, October 15, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008
[SOURCE:Reuters's news service | Yahoo news | 16
October 2008]
Friday, 17 October 2008 at 1h 5m 3s
Down for the Final count
Thank you John Aravosis who deserves all
the credit for collecting the 20 or so editorials from various national news papers across the United States. Note: the
New York Post and the Detroit Free Post usually have conservative, libertarian bent.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FL – St. Petersburg Times (Editorial) "McCain's last offensive:" On the same day a new poll showed that voters'
confidence in the federal government has reached an all-time low, Obama spoke with a reassuring confidence…But when the
questioning turned to campaign attacks by both sides, McCain could not contain his anger and lost much of his momentum. He
again floated some dark connection between Obama and 1960s-era antigovernment radical Bill Ayers. When that punch failed to
ruffle Obama, McCain ramped up his intensity. The split television screen displayed a candidate who gradually appeared more
frustrated, condescending and dismissive of one who would not take the bait. Those facial expressions will not play well in the
coming days.
WI – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Editorial) "The attack debate:" John McCain went into the final presidential debate on
Wednesday looking for a game-changer, the need to reverse plummeting fortunes as measured by polls and likely fueled by
national economic difficulties that do not favor members of the party now possessing the White House. Time - and an election -
will tell, but our guess is that McCain missed the mark if that was his goal.
MO – Kansas City Star (Editorial) "Attacks can't shake Obama in debate:" Over the three presidential debates, Democrat
Barack Obama has largely answered doubts about his readiness to be president of the United States. His unflappable
temperament, thoughtful demeanor and rhetorical abilities were impressive. Republican John McCain's performances were more
uneven, becoming increasingly aggressive.
MI - Detroit Free Press (Stephen Henderson) "Striving to get back in the game, McCain looks more desperate": It was
probably unrealistic for anyone to believe that Republican presidential candidate John McCain could right the sinking ship of his
campaign with a debate performance, but Wednesday night's encounter with Democrat Barack Obama only seemed to reinforce
the idea that McCain is badly behind, and desperate. Here was McCain, answering a question about the negative tone of his
campaign — and the very frightening tenor of recent rallies for McCain — by talking about the negativity of Obama's campaign,
saying Obama's failure to agree to more than 10 town hall meetings was the reason things turned so negative. But overall, it was
hard not to think of this campaign as largely over while watching the debate. Of course, anything can happen in the next few
weeks, and history says the race will almost certainly tighten. John McCain, though, looked like a guy about to lose and fully
aware of the desperation of his circumstances.
Des Moines Register (David Yepsen) "Obama Bests McCain In Final Debate" John McCain lost the final debate of the
2008 presidential campaign Wednesday night…McCain simply needed a breakout performance and he failed to provide one. He
went into the forum trailing Obama in polls of the contest and he came out of in the same position. By doing so, McCain missed
his biggest remaining opportunity to change the direction of the presidential contest.
MN – Duluth News Tribune (Staff Written) "Local and national online polls give nod to Obama:" News Tribune readers
who answered an unscientific online poll Wednesday said Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate over
Sen. John McCain. Of 112 readers who voted between 9:30 and 11 p.m., 59 percent said Obama won while 41 percent said
McCain won. [According to one reader] "I felt that the cool, calm, collected nature of Barack Obama was welcomed and needed in
these already stressful and uncertain times of crisis. To me the long-standing reputation of John McCain as a maverick and a
reformer was overpowered by his cynicism, sarcasm and smugness." [said] Adam White of Duluth.
OH – Columbus Dispatch (Darrel Rowland) "Undecided's dial it up for Obama:" Fifty women gathered in a Columbus
hotel's conference room and got to do what millions of Americans probably wanted to do last night: Tell the presidential
candidates exactly what they thought of them….This group of undecided voters' opinions were recorded every second of the 90-
minute debate. The result? A major win for Democrat Barack Obama. Seventy-one percent of these undecided voters thought
Obama did better in addressing the issues important to them, while only 9 percent felt that way about Republican John McCain.
The group slightly favored Obama coming into the debate, but afterward he won support by about a 2-to-1 ratio.
PA – The Philadelphia Inquirer (Larry Eichel) "Some jabs, but there was no knockout:" Republican John McCain,
desperately trying to launch a comeback with less than three weeks to go, was on the offensive all night, intense and focused. But
Democrat Barack Obama had the same calm and steady presence he'd shown in their two previous encounters, answering some
of McCain's attacks and shrugging off others, saying that the voters want to hear about their own problems instead. When it was
all over, even though the debate was somewhat more contentious than the previous two, the likelihood was that nothing much
had changed in the shape of the campaign. The first round of post-debate polls had Obama the overwhelming winner, as was the
case in the previous two.
PA – Philadelphia Daily News (John Baer) It was an often angry, sometimes manic McCain trying to knock Obama off his
cool at a time when voters are telling pollsters that they want a calm and steady hand steering the nation out of its economic
crisis. Obama was his usual reserved self, often smiling and shaking his head instead of counterpunching. He patiently, even
indulgently, explained and defended his programs and his campaign.
New York Post (Kirsten Powers) "Bam Gets Job Done" Even when McCain was substantively on point, his body language
and tone were a distraction. McCain's facial expressions were akin to Al Gore's sighs in the 2000 debates with George W. Bush. At
times McCain was downright nasty, speaking in sarcastic and condescending tones. Toward the end of the debate when they
discussed education, McCain spoke to Obama with something bordering on disgust. Considering polls show that voters already
view the McCain campaign as overly negative, this behavior couldn't have won over many people.
Boston Globe (Editorial) "Scattershot McCain" John McCain's fiery performance in the final presidential debate last night
may have given a lift to some despondent supporters who have watched the election getting away from them. But it is less clear
that McCain's buckshot approach hit its target…The stock market is in freefall. Basic needs are more expensive than ever. The
very planet is in peril. These are serious concerns that face America's future. Yet, in a debate that McCain needed to win, he
seemed fixated on some deluded throwback from the Vietnam era.
Los Angeles Times (Editorial) "McCain's debatable strategy" Throughout, Obama adopted a look of incredulity, but even
his reserve was cracked by McCain's pivot out of the politics of personal attack. Immediately after demanding that Obama provide
a full accounting of his relationships with ACORN and Ayers, McCain asserted: "My campaign is about getting this economy back
on track, about creating jobs, about a brighter future for America." That disjointed segue was too much for Obama, who laughed.
Boston Globe (Scot Lehigh) "It's not even close": John McCain came into the final presidential debate needing a game-
changer, a Ronald Reagan moment, a Jerry Ford-like blunder by Barack Obama, something - anything - that would reverse the
strengthening tide now running hard against him. He didn't get it. Not even close.
Boston Globe (Joan Vennochi) "That's it for McCain": Its Over. John McCain still hasn't told the country why he should be
president. He has talking points. He is against taxes, earmarks, and pork. But he can't knit what he opposes into a coherent
economic philosophy that would inspire voters to get behind him in the final days of this presidential campaign. He has an
inspirational life story. But in this campaign, he never connected his biography to his presidential ambition, and he never told
voters how it would shape a McCain administration and make him a better president than his opponent.
New York Daily News (Thomas M. DeFrank) "Feisty John McCain works hard, can't score" It was John McCain's last big
chance to tame the massive headwinds buffeting his fading campaign…Barack Obama came into the Hofstra debate handily
ahead. Nothing Wednesday night altered that stark reality for McCain and his dispirited partisans.
New York Post (Carl Campanile) "Barack Rocks With Post Panel" The results are in and the winner is . . . Barack Obama…
McCain's decision to attack Obama for his associations with 1960s Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and the group
ACORN backfired with The Post's panel of voters. Upper West resident Anne Maxfield said, "Ayers was a terrorist 40 years ago. We
have serious economic problems in this country."
Los Angeles Times (Cathleen Decker) John McCain came into the third and final presidential debate needing to
somehow wrestle the campaign out of Barack Obama's arms. He did not do it. There was no single moment that was likely to
reverberate in the minds of American voters and change the course of an election that has moved dramatically toward Obama in
the last several weeks. But the 90-minute debate was a perfect distillation of McCain's general election campaign, with all of its
inconsistent messages.
TIME (David Von Drehle) "McCain Threw the Sink — and Plumber — But Obama Doesn't Falter" The problem for McCain
is that no matter how hard or how crisply he punched, it could not last. In the end, the gravity of the debate returned to Barack
Obama. The turning point was when McCain finally brought up the issue of Obama's ties to former the anti-Vietnam War terrorist
William Ayers. All he accomplished was to swing the spotlight from himself back to the engaging newcomer. Predictably, Obama
had a mild answer ready-as straightforward and uncontroversial as it was soothing… Mostly he tried to say that Obama-change
is dangerous. Across the table, there sat Obama, looking not very dangerous.
Washington Post (Dana Milbank) Schieffer moved on to another question -- and Ayers and ACORN, after a five-minute
cameo, were gone. In those five minutes, the Republican nominee became the man America had seen in his ads, whose slashing
personal attacks on his opponent's character have, by most measures, done him more harm than good. Perhaps mindful of that,
or perhaps set back by Obama's mild responses to his attacks, McCain, though delivering sharper jabs than he had in the earlier
debates, was unwilling, or unable, to mount a sustained effort to undermine Obama's personal standing.
New York Times (Patrick Healy) "Pressing All the Buttons, McCain Attacks, but Obama Stays Steady": But then Mr.
McCain began to undercut his own effort to paint Mr. Obama as just another negative politician. Mr. McCain grew angry as he
attacked Mr. Obama over his ties to William Ayers, the Chicago professor who helped found the Weather Underground terrorism
group. Suddenly, Mr. McCain was no longer gaining ground by showing command on the top issue for voters, the economy; he
was turning tetchy over a 1960s radical…It seemed as if Mr. McCain was veering from one hot button to another, pressing them
all, hoping to goad Mr. Obama into an outburst or a mistake that would alter the shape of the race in its last three weeks.
Newsweek (Richard Wolffe) "Mad Man" McCain didn't just need a game-changing moment at the debate; the Arizona
senator, known in Washington for his sharp temper, needed a character-changing moment… Whatever happens in the next two
weeks, the McCain campaign should be happy there are no more presidential debates.
Boston Globe (Todd Domke) "Good, but not good enough": John McCain needed to turn this third debate into a second
chance. He needed to persuade undecided voters to look at him in a new, positive way and to look at Barack Obama in a new,
negative way. He needed to change the dynamic of the contest because, ever since the economic crisis struck, Obama has had
the advantages in message, momentum, money, and media…But it wasn't the dramatic breakthrough he needed, so, in effect, he
lost.
The Hill (Sam Youngman) "Debate sees an aggressive McCain and a cool Obama:" With less than three weeks before
Election Day, Sen. McCain (Ariz.) had promised to go after Obama more forcefully in their last meeting, and he did just that,
accusing the Illinois senator of lying, wanting to raise taxes and associating with unscrupulous people and organizations. The
Democrat, however, knowing that McCain needed a knockout blow, seemed to take McCain's best punches, explaining himself
when warranted and focusing on the ongoing financial crisis and domestic policy at other times.
Politico (John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei) "Debate III: Edgy McCain sheds no new light": John McCain's challenge at the
final debate was to present his case for the presidency in a new light. But over 90 minutes of intense exchanges with Barack
Obama—sometimes compelling, often awkward—-there was very little new light, and no obvious reason for McCain to be
optimistic that he has turned his troubled campaign in a new direction. To the contrary, what McCain offered at Hofstra University
was simply a more intense, more glaring version of his campaign in familiar light —- an edgy, even angry performance that in
many ways seemed like a metaphor for his unfocused, wildly improvisational campaign.
Politico (Roger Simon) "McCain fails, Obama is not rattled" John McCain needed a miracle in his final debate with Barack Obama on
Wednesday night, a miracle that would wipe away McCain's deficit in the polls and re-energize his flagging campaign. He did not
get one.
Friday, 17 October 2008 at 0h 37m 17s
The truth about Voter Registration
The media conglomerates want to confuse, not inform, you.
From October 6 through October 15, CNN aired at least 54 segments mentioning allegations that ACORN submitted allegedly false
or duplicate voter registration applications this year in a number of states. However, only one of those segments mentioned both of
the following two relevant points: 1) that the statutes of most of those states require third parties registering prospective voters to
submit all registration forms they receive; and 2) that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are
extremely rare. Of the 54 CNN segments addressing the allegations against ACORN, two mentioned only the former of those two
points, while one mentioned just the latter.
[SOURCE:Eric Boehlert & Jamison
Foser | Media Matters |16 October 2008 ]
Friday, 17 October 2008 at 0h 16m 50s
Joe the Plummer and the Keating Family ties
That Joe the plumber guy whom McCain referred to as a real, down home guy.
Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert
Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent
company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican
causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
Click here
for a video feed in which Mike Papantonio reveals the truth about Mr. Joe the Plumber.
That's all the Republicans can do: plant fake people who pose as real people.
Dan Balz, putative journalist of the Washington Post.
My comments will be italicized and contained within brackets [ ... ].
By Dan Balz
For the past two weeks, the focus of the presidential campaign has been on John McCain.
[really now, by what measurable
metric do you use to cast this assertion? The focus from WHOM?]
Given the state of the race, it may well stay there for a
while. [Are you serious? It might stay where you presumed without proof to be located? Indeedy.]What can
McCain do?
Should he attack more? Should he go all positive? Can he come back?
[Yes lets think like we are on McCain's team. Should he ATTACK what? And going all positive means ... he was going all
negative? Negative? Postitive? WTF are you talking about? ... You mean: Should he tell the truth? Should he lie about Obama's
past and mis-characterize his policy statements?
With 22 days left in the race, that's understandable. McCain is the focus because what was thought to be a close race doesn't
look like one at this moment. [Oh that makes sense ... because people thought something was going to happen, they
now
have to explain why they were complete morons by focusing on the wrong topics at the wrong time.]Which is all the
more
reason that the real focus now ought to be on Barack Obama.
The Illinois senator has been the political beneficiary of one of the worst months of economic news in the country's history. Since
the fall of Lehman Brothers, Obama has expanded his lead and solidified his position in the presidential race.
He leads nationally in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll by 53 percent to 43 percent. He leads, too, by a wide margin in
estimates of the Electoral College. Virtually all of the closest states left at this point voted for President Bush four years ago.
The presidential race is not over, but at this point, Obama has a better chance of becoming president than McCain, and as a
result, the questions ought to be going toward him as much or more than McCain -- questions not of tactics but of substance.
[Questions of substance? Oh my, yes let's ask those substantial questions much much more, why don't we. Might what
these questions be?]
Obama has dealt deftly with the economic crisis -- at least in a political sense. Unlike McCain, he was fairly calm during the first
days after Lehman's collapse and the government bailout of AIG.
He stayed in close contact with Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke and with Democratic congressional leaders. He both embraced
the sense of urgency to act on the $700 billion bailout package and offered criticisms of the administration's initially sketchy
plan. His criticisms were in line with changes that Congress made before eventually approving the package.
But it's not clear that he has had any better ideas -- or put them forward more aggressively -- than Paulson and Bernanke when
it comes to dealing with the crisis in the credit markets. It's not clear that he has pushed ideas that would have dealt with the
crisis more effectively. At every turn, he has voiced support for the general course the administration has outlined, but he's not
been far out ahead.
[Are those questions of substance coming anytime soon? And Wait, did I catch that ... Are you really implying Paulson
and Bernanke had better ideas? What ideas would those be? And are you calling Paulson's blatantly vague
lack of oversight an aggressive pursuit of ideas, without mentioning that Paulson worked for Goldman Sachs up until 2 years ago
and was instrumental in laying the foundation for this economic mess? You say that Obama voiced support but hasn't been far
out ahead? Ahead of what, and of whom? Two scared idiots who dress up in suits and make bad decisions?
Do you mean media outlets
haven't played Obama's spoken words more than they have rushed to make the administration look like wise old sages who are
aggressive and
have better ideas. What a waste of a paragraph. Are you going to state what Obama has said, or just make this blanket
ambiguous insinuations you call questions?
Nor is it evident that he has dealt realistically with the impact the economic crisis may have on the next president. He has not
backed away from ambitious plans for a second stimulus package, for dramatically expanding health care, for reducing
dependence on foreign oil or for other spending plans that long have been part of his campaign agenda.
[That's what a thought, you will make blanket statements of ambiguous insinuation. Are we asking those questions of
substance yet?
He's backed away from saying what he
has already stated publicly according to what reference frame. Faux journalists refuse to remember -- because frankly it gets in
the way of your real
intentions. Or you are just too lazy to do the homework, and would rather pontificate your biases underneath a ruse of
questions.
Changing circumstances have not changed his view of what can or should be done if he becomes president. It would be helpful
to voters to know now, rather than after the election, whether he will take a zero-based look at everything and rearrange
priorities.
[Yes it would be helpful Mr. Balz if you could provide that education, rather than wobbling left and right while you make
ambiguous insinuations of empty details. I thought you were gonna ask questions of substance.]
It is hard to think of a new president who inherited such a rapidly altered landscape. Franklin Roosevelt inherited a country in
crisis, but the crash on Wall Street began years before he was elected in 1932. The 44th president's world has been turned upside
down in a matter of months, and literally on the eve of the election.
How adaptable is Obama to all of this? How willing is he to address these questions in real time, as opposed to later? How much
time has he given recently to rethinking the scope and ambition of a possible Obama administration? Would he come to office
with a determination to be bold or to be cautious? Is he the pragmatist that allies have suggested -- or committed to a more
ideologically oriented agenda, as his critics say?
[Again, nothing here educates the reader about the issues you stated to be important for voters to know. Would he do
this?
Would he do that? What does your speculations about the future have to do with elucidation of factual information? That's what
journalists do. Mr. Balz however decides to speculate.]
Other questions that ought to be raised include what his commitment to bipartisanship amounts to at this point. He has talked
about turning the page on old politics throughout his campaign. What does that mean?
[Really, what does that history of bipartisanship that Mr. Balz won't detail amount to? What does it mean when Mr. Balz
prefers to insinuate and write empty speculation rather than inform his readers of silly historical details?]
All hard-fought campaigns become more partisan toward the end, but how much would that color Obama's approach, should he
end up in the Oval Office? Will he hew closely to the wishes of Democratic congressional leaders or will he demonstrate some
independence from them in an effort show the country what he might to do create a broader coalition as president? Will he do
anything before the election to signal what he thinks?
[So has Obama not signaled what he thinks already, over the last 19 months? Is that one of your substantial questions?
By implication, Mr. Balz is planting the notion
that Obama has not signaled what he thinks, even while he hasn't offered any proof that this question has any merit. Will he do
some signaling? Why is that important? You could provide the details of what Obama has said he would do in the past, and then
speculate on these prior statements. But no, doing that kinda research is too much for an overpaid moron who can type.
Speculation without providing the reader something with which to speculate from is called circuitous emptiness.]
McCain has begun this week with a fresh stump speech, a "fighting McCain" persona and the determination of an underdog,
which is always where he is most comfortable. Speaking in Virginia Beach on Monday morning, he said with a smile:
[Hey now, he's a fighter with a smile, watch out. He's determined. Unlike Obama, McCain doesn't have to signal. He's
got a fresh stump speech even.]
"We have 22 days to go. We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and
planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in
labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want
them."
His criticisms of Obama were not personal, as they've sometimes been in the past week, but substantive. He hopes to claw his
way back into the race and he hopes that the polls could tighten as Election Day nears, and that, if that happens, the voters will
take yet another look at their choices.
[You hear that. Mr. Balz won't quantify McCain's criticisms of Obama more than half of a sentence in a complete 2
sentence quote. He won't even provide an unbiased veracity of the claims. But rest assured that Mr. Balz finds them substantive
not personal. And
that's a really big deal. Because that's how we get the polls to tighten, eh Mr. Balz. We squeeze the discussion of policy positions
into 2
words and leave out all historical details in order to throw out conjectures and questions.
Accordingly, these substantive issues are : "to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in
labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq." Are you kidding me? Those are the big 4 issues of substance?]
McCain has been criticized for raising questions about Obama that were seen as questioning his patriotism or his commitment to
the values the country holds dear. But there ought not to be any moratorium on asking hard questions of both candidates right
now, and especially of the Democratic nominee who sits in the pole position heading into the final three weeks.
[Is that all McCain has been criticized for? Not acting like a fool when he first suspended then unsuspended his
campaign.
Not accepting lobbyists into his campaign like whores trawling the Las Vegas clientele. Not his flagrant flip-flopping on almost
every issue he's ever taken up over the last 20 plus years as a public official.
We should ask hard questions of both candidates, right Mr. Balz? Questions like : how many lobbyists does MrCain have
on his staff? And why was he the only Senator of the Keating 5 who had financial relations with Keating and flew free on
Keating's jets? After all, didn't you say you wanted to ask questions of substance?]
[SOURCE:Dan Balz | Washington Post | 13 October
2008]
The article is called "Questioning Obama". It Should be called, "Empty questions and an Attempt to blow life into the McCain
plane wreck".
Mr. Balz is a pathetic journalist. He could have spent the entire scope of this article educating the public about the difference
between 3 or 4 various policy choices. Instead he develops a narrative about Obama benefiting from the drama of the economic
meltdown and casts various speculations about the thought process of Obama and what he might do or not do in the future. He
puts a false assertion that Obama hasn't signaled what he thinks yet. Then he transitions how the McCain camp is on the
rebound, fending of those who said he shouldn't have questioned Obama's patriotism or his committment to American values.
Not one quote from Obama. Not once was a policy position from Obama ever stated, and the only reference to a policy position
by McCain was in the two sentence quote Mr. Balz chose to use towards the end of his article. Mr. Balz cries much about voters
needing to know things, and how hard questions should be asked, and then Mr. Balz promptly refuses to give the voters what
they need know while asking silly questions.
Mr. Balz is not a journalist. He's a framer of events who is hired to craft conjectures of events without providing any knowledge.
He puts questions into the air, without bothering to evince an answer because the questions are really insinuations. They are frail
incorrigible distractions from the details of history that Mr. Balz can't be bothered to research or read. Instead he blows air
bubbles of speculation, all of which pop moments latter, leaving a residue of bias. The entire structure of the article is meant to
leave a negative opinion of Obama. It's a sordid opinion piece without any substance, that plants slander like little innocent
seeds by asking suggestive questions like a little brat who refuses to answer the first question before bombarding his
adversaries with 20 more.