Sunday, August 31, 2008

Michael Moore says Gustav is from God to disrupt the GOP

Michael Moore says that Gustav's arrrival, and the resulting GOP convention turmoil, proves "there is a GOD."
GOD, in all his/her visibility, is likely apolitical. I can't imagine GOD being a neo-con or New Deal liberal. Perhaps a libertarian, but not a card carrying party member.
To understand the coming of Gustav, I would want to check the Bible's Revelations and Nostrodomus. There you will find earthquakes and hurricanes tearing up the Earth, and leading to the end times.
Gustav also proves there is an Al Gore and climate warming. The warming of the oceans, and the Gulf waters, are producing more severe storms. Gustav is ,as this is typed, perhaps the mother of all storms.
Gustav and climate warming are a national security issue. The Pentagon has published its' analysis of the national security danger with warming and costal storms forcing millions of evacutees moving to higher ground.
Gustav is a Scandinivian name meaning "god's staff". Perhaps Moore is right that Gustav is a part of God's army come to slay the GOP neo-cons.
Now Sarah Palin cannot stop Gustav, even being a member of the NRA and an expert moose hunter.

Gustav, New Orleans, and the GOP

Gustav, New Orleans, and the GOP-----------------------------------------------I was once an intern with NY State. I was enticed to accept a position as Adm. Asst. to a Commissioner. The carrot held out to me to accept the post was the promise of a trip to The Big Easy. I accepted the post. The Commissioner lied about everything, except the trip.
I spent 3 glorious days in New Orleans, visiting Tulane U. and the French Quarter.
The Big Easy is worth preserving. Lots of history with the Big History. Even though the serious plotting of the JFK murder took place in New Orleans, the city is still worth preserving.
As I post this, the city may not survive. Gustav may throw history to the winds.
Bush may go to the Gulf Coast, as a symbolic gesture. McCain may also go, again as a symbolic move.
NO Mayor Nagin continues to appear as a mindless soul. Gov. Bobby Jindal appears with it.
The Katrina New Orleans planning is a good example of the neo-con. adversion to effective government. The neo-cons. want to control Wash,, but they don't want it to be effective. Someone suggested that if you had a choice of a competent, experienced neo-con administrator and an incompetent neo-con ideologue, the neo-cons have to appoint the incompetent neo-con. It would show people that government doesn't work, as Brownie and FEMAproved.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Obama's acceptance speech

It was a lollapollaza,spectateur extravanganza. What an awesome sight when the camera's scanned the entire Invesco stadium. 80k people, waving the American flag. They were fired up, and they are ready to go. Sheryl Crowe and Stevie Wonder were fantastic.The ending fireworks were a colorful climax.
Barack's speech was strong. It was great poliical rhetoric. It took the offensive to McCain, and summarized Barack's modest reform agenda.The stress on national security was also a good offense against McCain.
I personally would have liked to have heard stronger populist language. Barack could have done a political riff based on the man from Indiana, Barney Smith, who wanted Wash. to pay more attention to him, Barney Smith, rather than Smith Barney
I would like to have heard more speech repetitive attack, similar to Hubert Humphrey when he asked who supported all the postive programs of the last 30 years (in 1968), and ended each sentence with "..not the Republicans."
George McGovern had one of the best nomination speeches of the 20th century in 1972, but nobody saw it live at 3 am. The 1972 Dem. convention was revolutionary, but the democratic thrust was untidy and excessive.In that speech McGovern called on our better instincts, and called for us to "come home":
".....Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward.
Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world, and let us be joyful in that homecoming, for this “is your land, this land is my land -- from California to New York island, from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters -- this land was made for you and me.”
National security includes schools for our children as well as silos for our missiles.
It includes the health of our families as much as the size of our bombs, the safety of our streets, and the condition of our cities, and not just the engines of war.
If we some day choke on the pollution of our own air, there will be little consolation in leaving behind a dying continent ringed with steel.
So while protecting ourselves abroad, let us form a more perfect union here at home. And this is the time for that task...."
Barack/Biden have gotten a bounce, and by later today, the total gain will be over 10 points.
Bring on the GOP. McCain will likely choose Romney this am...a good choice. McCain cannot match Barack's rhetoric. The GOP would like to hold the final day of the convention in a football stadium, but may have to settle for the 18th hole at a country club.
Posted by gecannon on August 29, 2008 9:42 AM

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hillary, Biden and the vp

Yes, Hillary should have been the choice for Obama. But, again, why would she want vp? She had more clout during Bill's Presidency than vp under Obama would give her.
The Clinton's will play nice this week, thru November. But their history is to do what serves the interests of the Clintons.
Hillary will survive an Obama loss, and will at least plan for 2012. But no human in recent history has wanted to go thru the primary/caucus torcher a second time. And the Dem. base always rejects any politico that tries a second time. Hillary may be different.
The Politico writes that McCain is seriously (?) looking at Colin Powell for vp. Don't believe that will happen. First, he is pro-choice on abortion. I hate the terms pro-choice and pro-life. As Sojorner founder James Wallis suggests, let's move beyond these awful terms. Nobody favors abortion. It should be be rare, safe, but legal under very limited conditions.
McCain will announce his vp in Dayton Ohio on Friday....at one of his 20 houses. Bill Kristol suggests that Biden's pick increases Romney's chances slightly. McCain needs a vp with gravatis and debating experience.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12753.html

I happen to believe that being here in Saratoga Springs on this bright , sunny Summer Sunday is better than being in Denver. As I play with the tube remote, I appears everyone is in Denver. There are more horses,more walking possibilites (with the stroll down Broadway), and less smog in Saratoga. And Mary Lou Whitney is here, not in Denver. And what has happened to her face? Did she have the same plastic surgeon as Kenny Rogers?
I also believe the "deep political system" is far more important than the party conventions. The political class is important, but they are water carriers for the power brokers operating within our deep political system.
It is the corporate state that is far more important. What's the name of the Dem. convention location, the Pepsi Arena? Pepsi needs more attention than Joe Biden.
Rudy Guiliani says that Obama NOT picking Hillary is a sign of weakness and fear. After all, Hillary got 18 million+ votes, half the total in the primaries/caucuses. Hillary would have been the logical choice, if she wanted it. Perhaps the Clintons told Obama there would be no interest.In addition, Michelle Obama was opposed to Hillary, and Obama's wife is a player with clout.
Posted by gecannon on August 24, 2008 2:14 PM

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Britney,Paris, and McCain's ad

What a beautiful Summer morning in Saratoga Springs. The crowds are filling the Broadway walks. The horses are ready. When I waited for several horses to cross to the racetrack, they turned to me and laughed as they made me wait in my box of iron car.
I caught some of the morning pol. jabbering. Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Senator Tom Daschel went at it on Fox . As Graham went on to attack Obama, Daschel said he was nuts. Graham did look like he was foaming at the mouth. Lindsey is irritiating.
Graham and the McCain Rovian farm team are arguing that the Iraq surge has worked, and Obama would have defeated our troops. It is a silly argument. Our Iraq invasion was unnecessary. It will ultimately cost trillions. It has cost over 4K American soldiers lives, and thousands of wounded. It has enbolded Iran in the Middle East. It has diverted attention and resources from Afghan. It has, in the short term, made Israel less secure. It has led to a hugh spike in oil prices. It has created budget deficits and lowered the dollar on the international markets.
On Sunday Morning with George Step., George Will has returned to wearing a bowtie. Not a good omen. On the show, the McCain ad with Britney,Paris, and Obama was discussed. Analyst Jake Tapper talked about the subliminal racism within this ad...the Harold Ford attacks in the Tenn. race in 06. The elephant in the room is racism. The ad can subliminally suggest the highest fear of white Americans...the canard that black males want to capture our young blond females..
I posted on this on Friday, and will paste the quote of another analyst on this:
"What's with the McCain ad comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. One take on this is subliminal racism.
Mark Karlin has a good explanation on this:
"Now, McCain is unleashing what has become known as the Harold Ford "Black Man is Keen on White Women Primal Racism Fear" ad. Why toss tabloid fodder like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in with Obama? Yes, perhaps to claim that he is all celebrity and no substance, but it was also to subliminally bring the "Harold Ford" factor into play: you can't trust a black man with white women"http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorblog/105
Posted by gecannon on August 1, 2008 3:32 PM -------------------------------Let's use this blog as a focus group on this ad. Watch it on YouTube and post your reactions. Is it subliminal racism being used by the MacCain Rovian farm team?
Posted by gecannon on August 3, 2008 12:29 PM

Friday, August 1, 2008

The tracking polls, Obama, and Hillary

The tracking poll data (summarized below from RealClearPoltics) is not good for Obama. True, polls now are of little import. True, it does not breakdown by electoral college votes. But the problem is that the Dem., Obama, should be leading McCain by 10-15 points. All the consellation of issues and voter dissatification with the direction of the country should have Obama leading by a large margin.
He should be looking to Hillary for VP. It could not hurt him.
Poll Date Sample Obama (D) McCain (R) SpreadRCP Average 07/18 - 07/31 — 46.6 43.9 Obama +2.7Gallup Tracking 07/28 - 07/30 2679 RV 45 44 Obama +1.0Rasmussen Tracking 07/29 - 07/31 3000 LV 47 46 Obama +1.0CNN 07/27 - 07/29 914 RV 51 44 Obama +7.0USA Today/Gallup 07/25 - 07/27 791 LV 45 49 McCain +4.0Pew Research 07/23 - 07/27 1241 RV 47 42 Obama +5.0Democracy Corps (D) 07/21 - 07/24 1004 LV 50 45 Obama +5.0FOX News 07/22 - 07/23 900 RV 41 40 Obama +1.0NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 07/18 - 07/21 1003 RV 47 41 Obama +6.0
See All General Election: McCain vs. Obama Polling Data

The Terminator,Paterson, and the Shock Doctrine

Gov. Schwarzenegger is threatening to cut thousands of state jobs and move thousands to the minimum wage. While it is a bargaining chip with the GOP legislature to move them to pass a budget, this draconian approach is another example of Noami Klein’s Shock Doctrine. The doctrine says that Milton Friedman radicals will use political or natural crises to impose radical economic policies.
Gov. Paterson is using the same shock doctrine. He is ignoring the better approach to taxes and spending during a recession. It is better to stimulate consumer spending by using the state to promote economic activity. Cutting programs, employees and expenses is the wrong way to go. He is ignoring the good advice of Nobel prize economist Joesph Stiglitz. See his letter to Paterson (linked below).http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/StiglitzLetter_TaxesVsCuts_March2008.pdf
The conservative forces, like the Empire Center, are using the current economic crisis to reduce government services. The Center’s policy director E.J.McMahon suggests state spending will increase 11% next year. That is an increase that most analysts disagree with.
These same shock doctrine troops want a property tax cap. This is a bad idea, and could have serious consequences. A circuit breaker is a better way.———————-If the polls continue to show a tight race, Obama should go with Hillary for vp.

Digital tranistion

Environmental greens are saying it could be 30 million or more. That's the number of analog tvs that may end up in the landfills in Feb. next year when the digital replaces analog.
For those of us that still have analogs, and have a sinking feeling commercial TV is dumbing us down and numbing our brain cells, we may take our analogs and antennas to the back yard and hammer them into oblivion.
The feds are giving away $40 converter boxes, but to date, less than 30% of analog qualifiers have applied for them. There can be millions of analog households that line up at a Best Buy on Feb. 17 to buy a digital tv.
That's probably what the Bushies want. It will stimulate the economy.
Who really benefits from the digital transition. I understand that there will be over 5,000 new digital channels created. But they are all "stolen" already. The FCC and Congress stipulated that Big Media could get 3 additional channels for each license they already hold. The 5,000 new channels are all taken. Big Media got an estimated $85 billion present, for free.