Barack Obama Elected President!

[George008]

IA. Which is why I feel that Bush should not be the sole blame for the current economy.

I know. It just made me think of the current housing crisis.

The relaxed guidelines have in turn caused the crisis. The saturated market (caused by the mortgage crisis) is the main cause of declining home values currently.

You have a very conservative outlook on this issue. I could not agree more.

The country entered into a recession in 2001. I will admit I am not studious on the economic situations in CA

I happen to agree that the occupation is a good idea. I feel that it has made our country safer, and I am greatful for that. I feel that fighting Al Quida in Iraq (and Afghanistan) has kept them from plotting over here. Which I hate to bring up Clinton again, but he did allow them to go unpunished.

I know it is not true in most cases, but it comes off that many who are against the war take our safety for granted.

John McCain's plans to balance the budget

[George008]

Frankly, to answer your question honestly, I am losing track on what is offensive and what is not offensive. I am at the point now in giving up. I think we have made it too far in this country to dwell on the "racial context" of every word.

But, no, I probably will not use the word any more.

[operagirl1]

She is a racist.

http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/09/05/al...-mean%E2%80%9D/

She's not fit to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

[Wales2004]

I don't know if it's that I'm not paying proper attention but it seems that you find a way to twist what I say about both parties into something favorable for Republicans. Are you extending the same courtesy to Clinton as well or is he actually solely to blame? I'm just asking out of curiosity. Are there any Democrats in leadership that you think are effective?

I just wanted to be sure.

I have a conservative outlook on a great many things. I try to respect the fact that my outlook may be more of the exception than the norm and make it work.

As long as a lesson has been learned from the mortgage crisis then great. Things won't be what some may have wanted them to be but things will work out.

I didn't notice in 2001. It became an issue when gas prices skyrocketed. I'm used to the fact that property will go up an down in value and I'm not one of those people that places a high premium on money anyway.

[marceline]

I'm glad to hear that. Not because of the "racial" aspect but because I want to believe that most decent people won't knowingly hurt others if they have the information.

For years I worked for a white man who was everything I was supposed to dislike. We were/are complete opposites "demographically" if you know what I mean. There were plenty of times I let him in on the "ingroup" stuff but I also had to tell him "Just because you say this stuff to me doesn't mean you are ever allowed to say it stuff to another black person." I told him that because I respected him.

I guess what I'm saying is that I know it's hard to "keep track" especially when the discourse gets so...extreme. But I hope you'll keep trying. This country needs people who will err on the side of civility. And to that end, I hope you know that even though I addressed you specifically, I didn't mean this as a personal attack. I f it did...

I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way.

[Adam]

No probably not, but thats irrelevant... she's used the same talking points in every one of her campaign stops. Now McCain is jumping up and down over this whole overly exaggerated e-bay story. Republican strategists are now saying the media is treating her so unfairly by going after her on her record time and time again.... that's because they know her record is nothing to be taken seriously. The media and the public have every right to know any politicians skeletons when it relates to the campaign. If you can't take the heat Republicans, get out of Sarah's kitchen....., chef-less as she has pointed out about 5 times as well.

[wiccachick_1]

Of course you don't so your post that stated

in your response to my admission that I did not know that the word "uppity" was a racial term made an implication that I was sheltered and isolated from other races since I did not learn the etymology of the term during my lifetime here in the South. Not using the term "you" does not eliminate the implication when responding directly to me and making a statement in judgment in direct response to my experience.

[George008]

Oh sure. I have given Clinton his due several times. Check back.

It would be unapprised to say that the president is to blame for all negatives or to give credit for all positives. I think you know by now that I am not dim-witted.

I think Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman have been effective!

[Wales2004]

I disagree with you in that he did not make a mistake. He said he intended the word to be used as defined and he meant that the Obamas are snobs. The problem I found with what he said was that he didn't simply say that they are uppity. He said they think that they are uppity and if you exchange that for snob then he would have said they think that they are snobs. It was a stupid statement no matter what the intent since he was expressing their thoughts instead of owning them as his own.

He has no idea what they think of themselves and I highly doubt that they see themselves as either uppity or snobs. He turned down a huge salary to work with disadvantaged people so I don't even get where the snobbery comes in and that's what makes it questionable. The standard in using a word like that really has to do with whether a person applies it across the board.

I can understand where people get to a point of confusion as to what some people consider offensive and somethimes the people who are supposed to be offended by a word might not even know.

I had an English friend of mine tell me she was told not to use the word oriental in reference to people because it was offensive and Asian shoould be used instead. She found this confusing since she had Asian friends who referred to themselves as oriental.

But you're right. If someone says they are offended then I think it's fair to acknowledge it and be mindful.

[Wales2004]

So then you only have one now since Lieberman is no longer a Democrat if I'm keeping track correctly. I haven't heard of Zell Miller.

[Adam]

Zell Miller is a "Democrat" from Georgia, but according to his entry on wikipedia he backed GWB in 2004 instead of John Kerry.

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

[wiccachick_1]

Zell Miller is a democrat and was once the governor of Georgia and after the death of Georgia's Senior Senator Paul Coverdell he assumed Coverdell's U.S. Senate seat until the end of Coverdell's term.

[Tishy]

I serve with Palin, and she's not ready to be vice president

Jury still out on her Alaska performance

I found this an interesting read, not sure if it was already posted

Source: Washington Post

By MIKE DOOGAN The Washington Post

September 04, 2008 - 9:02 am

Most Alaskans like Sarah Palin. I know I do. Both as a politician and a person, there's a lot to like.

Despite the fact that we're from different parties, for the 20 months that we've both been in office we've been allies on oil and gas issues, which are important in a state where 85 percent of the government's general revenue comes from oil production. I've appreciated the way she has not knuckled under to the oil companies as governors before her have.

And when I turned 60 a couple of months ago, Palin served cupcakes at a gathering at the governor's mansion. Nearly flambeed herself holding a big tray of the things so I could blow out the candles. Who wouldn't like that?

But that doesn't mean I think John McCain made a good decision when he picked Palin to be his running mate. I don't. Sarah Palin is simply not qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, especially when that heart beats in the chest of a man who would be the oldest president ever elected to a first term.

If you held Palin's political resume up to the light, you could see right through it. Mayor of a small town, followed by less than two years as governor of a state with the third-smallest population in the country. That's the person who is qualified to take over if the Norns snip McCain's thread? The woman prepared to be commander in chief?

I know, I know. Somewhere a thousand spin doctors are trying to inflate Palin's accomplishments, to make McCain's decision look less like the Hail Mary it so clearly is. (We've already heard them at work.) But before they make her sound like the second coming of Otto von Bismarck, only in high heels, here's an assessment that's a little closer to the truth:

Palin's time as governor has been a mixed bag. She deserves high marks for moving the possibility of a gas pipeline forward. But most of the work on oil taxes was done by the legislature. Ditto with ethics reform. And her role in killing the ballyhooed "Bridge to Nowhere"? Turns out that she was for it before she was against it, and that, well, she kept the money anyway.

Add to this a growing sense that the state government isn't running all that well: commissioners and key staffers jumping or being pushed. The operating budget growing 10 percent a year. Policy problems such as high energy costs being papered over with cash giveaways. The governor and her aides being investigated by the legislature.

You can see why it's not clear she's a competent governor of Alaska, let alone qualified to take over the reins of the national government.

Don't get me wrong. Palin brings some pluses to the campaign. She's a woman. She's young. She's from outside the Beltway. The Christian right likes her. She's comfortable on TV - she has a degree in journalism - and is adept at connecting with people on a personal level. And she is very, very competitive.

When I criticized her plan to hand out free money to Alaskans - spin that, conservative pundits - the next time we met she lit into me like I was a pork chop and she was a starving wolf.

Unlike the shrill pundits on cable news, I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know if Palin will turn out to be an asset to the McCain campaign or a liability or, like so many vice presidential candidates before her, a non-factor.

I don't know what kind of leader she might be. But I do know that, on all these fronts, she is a big, big risk if her ticket wins and something bad happens to John McCain. And that the risk isn't just McCain's. Or the Republican Party's. It's all of ours now.

And that tells me all I need to know about John McCain's judgment.

(Mike Doogan is a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives. A former columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, he writes mystery novels.)

[wiccachick_1]

He supported the position of supporting the troups in Iraq in 2004 parting with the Democratic Party platform however he did not renounce his party.

[George008]

Didn't seem to bother you when I was offended by Jess and her "joking" about Republicans being Nazis..