Huffington Post -- "6 Things Palin Pick Says About McCain"

Insightful article by Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris about the implications -- for both sides -- of McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

MoveOn.Org Fact Sheets On McCain and Palin

Be sure to check out MoveOn.org's invaluable info sheets on John McCain and their new one on his VP selection Sarah Palin. They are a handy amalgamation of pertinent facts that will help counter the mainstream media's lack of substantive coverage on the real issues behind the Republican ticket. You can also sign up for updates at the MoveOn website and they are highly recommended as this election season heats up. A great resource!

Another Great AlterNet Article on McCain's VP Choice

Check out this blog by Jonathan Holland on AlterNet -- it links to several online publications with info and opinions on Ms. Palin. It's all relevant and we need to know everything in order to intelligently argue with folks who are going to praise this dangerous ticket. Go! Read! Get informed!

Obama at the Convention -- His Whole Speech

Listen and remember why you are voting for this exceptional man!

McCain's Choice for VP -- You Must Take It Seriously

Fascinating, chilling and somewhat depressing article on Alternet today written by Heather Gehlert -- "An Ex-Beauty Queen for VP: Political Risk or Political Genius?". Be sure you read it, and then please pick up the phone or drop by an Obama office and volunteer to work on the campaign. The Republicans are serious about this election, and we will have to do everything in our power -- every one of us -- to make sure that they don't take it. Go! Read! Volunteer!

Our Attack Dog

I was looking at some pre-Vice Prez bid footage of Joe Biden and came across the exact clip that illustrates why Obama wisely chose him as a running mate this week. The following piece was posted on YouTube on March 14, 2007. Senator Biden is responding to Senator John McCain, who has most likely just gotten done with pushing the military surge in Iraq farther, the way his puppetmaster neocons want him to go. In his 6-minute response, Biden is positively frothing at the mouth in saying what all of us against the war would want to say had we the pulpit and the wherewithal. Well, here we see a Joe Biden that has both, and he is a formidable opponent when it comes to straight, forceful talking; it is a magnificent political moment, and it's on the record! You could feel the shame in the room, emanating from those who promote this war for personal or political gain. Go, Joe!

Interesting Detective Work Exposing Republican Tactics

The fascinating site Pandagon.net has a good article about the supposed multitudes of Clinton supporters -- members of PUMA -- who are threatening to turn their backs on Obama and vote for McCain. The situation may not be what it claims -- looks like it's a set-up by the Republicans. Thanks to Under the LobsterScope for this tip to a great article!

Hillary Clinton's Speech Tuesday Night at the Convention!

Michelle Obama's Terrific Speech Monday Night in Denver!

Michelle Obama In Denver!

We'll put her whole speech up when it's available, but here's a little preview video of her preparations for Monday night's speech which ended just about a half hour ago. In case you haven't heard, she was brilliant! What a wonderful speaker!

Obama in 30 Seconds: Light From a Single Candle

A lovely entrant in MoveOn.org's Obama in 30 Seconds contest --



Produced by Eugenia La Fontaine, Charley Devany and Gregg Moore.

Obama and Biden in Springfield, Illinois!

Welcome Senator Joe Biden to the Ticket!

I'm Voting Republican Because...

And if the nuclear war threat doesn't scare you, maybe this searing political satire will. An excellent short film that says it all brilliantly!

Please, please vote for Obama. Our lives depend on it.

Are You Ready for Nuclear War?

If you really want to be scared at the prospect of a McCain Presidency, read this chilling article by Paul Craig Roberts titled Are You Ready for Nuclear War? Our link is to The Populist Party's website, but this essay is spreading around as people read and are shocked into sharing it. In case you're wondering about Paul Craig Roberts' credentials:

Paul Craig Roberts wrote the Kemp-Roth bill and was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is author or coauthor of eight books, including The Supply-Side Revolution (Harvard University Press). He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has contributed to numerous scholarly journals and testified before Congress on 30 occasions. He has been awarded the U.S. Treasury's Meritorious Service Award and the French Legion of Honor.

Needless to say, his essay is essential reading. Go! Read! Now!

Hillary Supporters Who Won't Vote for Obama?

What?! Are they nuts?! I've read/seen that some say they're so disgruntled they'll vote for McCain?? Huh?!? They'd throw their Democratic ideals out the window and support the other side, just because they're disgruntled in some way?

That's supporting your party, all right. You don't get everything you want, and so you try to get back by going to the other side? Sorry, that's insane and if you're doing that, you're a disgrace. If you are so perturbed that Hillary didn't get the nom, and you think it's because she's a woman -- you'd go and vote for the guy who's staunchly anti-choice?? Ladies, get a grip.

Every time I hear about this I go nuts. If you're bugged because you can't tell your daughter that she can be President unless Hillary is, get over it. If you have been waiting forever for a woman to be President, get over it. It'll happen eventually. Chill out for now, and for pete's sake, put on your Obama gear and get out there to campaign. There are so many more things at stake in this election -- and all of them are more important -- than some sense of female solidarity. Sheesh....

Have You Seen "The Young Turks" Videos?

This is just a sample of their incredible tell-it-like-it-is style. They've got a terrific website, and a YouTube Channel where you can check out all their hard-hitting and entertaining reports, and they also have a show on Air America Radio.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

Much-lauded liberal commentator (Air America) Rachel Maddow will be getting a regular slot on MSNBC beginning September 8th, with many appearances until then, including covering the conventions. This is a great move; Maddow is smart, concise and will make MSNBC an even better alternative to Fox News' right-wing slant. Her slot will follow Countdown with Keith Olbermann in primetime. (Many years ago when I worked in TV in Los Angeles Keith was the sports guy for our station; have you read The New Yorker's article on him?)

5 Things You Should Know

A new video from MoveOn.org on the current state of the race --

"We Want Barack Obama Now"

Available on YouTube and go there to comment on it!

McCain's Time as POW = Presidency?

I'm linking to a good post on Bill Tchakirides' terrific blog Under The LobsterScope about the POW aspect in John McCain's campaign. It was brought up again and again at the Rick Warren event, shoehorned in whenever he wanted to make an easy and sentimental point with the audience, and though there isn't anybody out there who would disrespect McCain's service, is his time as a POW now supposed to be the reason we hand him the Presidency? As payback? I don't think you will think so after reading this post.

Obama in 30 Seconds: "They Said He Was Unprepared"

Another great entry in the Obama in 30 Seconds contest from MoveOn.org, winner of the "People's Choice" Award.



By Josh Garrett, North Hollywood, Ca.

McCain's Mansions

Another amazing film by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films.

When It Comes To Obama, The Fox is Wrong!

A film by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films.

An Open Letter to Right-Wingers

This will be my final word on the legacy of the outgoing "president" you shunted into office, a short-sighted, mean-spirited act for which we are all paying the literal price. After this, my gun-like words will be pointed solely at John McCain.

I cannot tell you how politically disconnected I’ve felt from all Republican loyalists, especially during the Bush Jr. years.

I am now going to try to put into script everything that I have felt but could not say from 2000 to 2008, for lack of being truly heard or for fear of starting some political discussion that elevates into a fiery conflagration no amount of water could douse. For those who are not right-wingers, I'll be saying nothing you don't already know:

President George W. Bush has been the worst thing that has ever happened to America.

He has degraded our standing as the moral compass for the world.

He has downsized our personal freedoms, a wallop in the face of everything that Thomas Jefferson and our Constitution once laid down for us...in the face of everything that everybody from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam conflict has died for.

He and his cohorts have murdered our stance as the world's holders of truth and justice.

He and his administration have flummoxed our society as no one in American history has done before. I stand with many other American in this opinion.


We who opposed the policies of this world-ruining administration have stood, incredulous, as all of you have supported this godawful personality who's somehow been handed the Oval Office, wondering when this mettle test was going to end. I'm telling ya, it's been the longest eight years of my life, and it's STILL not over (wonder what W has in store for his horrible final act)? I have been rendered mute as this asshole has said the stupidest things since Dan Quayle, and you all somehow smiled and laughed and took it for the beer-drinker's gospel. “I’m the decider?” "The internets?" Wow. Remember when presidents were supposed to be wise and educated? I could have sworn most of them, a long time ago, used to be at least a little intelligent...

Look, I understand what happened, fundamentally. You were hoodwinked. You followed what you were told, and questioned nothing, and now you have no jobs, higher gas prices, an endless war, and a denegrated American society. I understand. I have little sympathy, but I understand. TV is a powerful medium, and if all you watch is FOX TV, then you've surely been brainwashed. I also understand the 90-hour-per-week/ no benefits/ scare-around-every-corner life Bush and his predecessors have made for all of us is sometimes too tiring for you to check all--hell, ANY--of the facts. After all, if the TV said whatever you already thought was so, then it was so.

I wonder, though, how you have felt as thousands of our soldiers have been killed, for no apparent reason, in Iraq. How have you felt hearing that they have been often ill-equipped to fight, with some parents having to send Kevlar overseas to their sons and daughters, because the military complex has been too busy pocketing all our money to show any concern ("Whaaaa? $100 million has disappeared from the Pentagon budget? WE don't know what happpened to it," said the general with the Armani battle bars.) And then, when the wounded have returned, how have you felt as they have been treated with indifference as they struggled to survive stateside without the necessary means to heal?

What about the financially depleted families of those who continue to serve, time after time again, long after they expected to be let go, simply because this administration deemed their loved ones as pawns in a massive game of risk?

I have idled silent as I've received taunting misinformation from all sides, as I have been gently denigrated for my stances on things by the goddamn Bushies (including by some members of my own family). And for what? Simply so that we can lay here with a monkey-boy president and a snarling vice president that, I swear, is the God's honest personification of Satan. They have left our populace on a deserted island with no leadership to trust or follow. And they are sailing away now, cash falling willy-nilly out of their pockets and into the ocean, laughing and cavorting like the robber-barons they are. "We got ours -- now fuck you," they say, even to the people who supported them--the blue-collar workers, for instance, about whom they never gave two shits, who are now out of work and out of hope. Boy, I bet those voters are surprised...or maybe they're not, since they seem to be all too ready to vote for John McCain, who defines rich as having $5,000,000. Which means that you who make $15,000 can pay more, dammit, because OBVIOUSLY the five-millionaires are better people and DESERVE their cash. We'll slit your goddamn throat if you try and take so much as a nickel of what we stole.

You must have thought all this time, after the "follies" of the Clinton administration, that all who think like me are complete morons who are "gay," the favorite term to besmirch people who care about whether we live or die on Earth.

Listen: you know what's gay? Sticking your yogurt slinger in a guy's caboose. If that's your thing, fine. But let's retire the use of the word "gay" to describe anything else other than homosexual sex.

During the Clintons, if you can remember, we were in boom times, peace times and surplus times. It's all gone now, though. And the only thing I can say is that it is you, and has always been you Republicans, that are the freakin' misguided ones. It's all I can do to control my words and swallow the insults I harbor. I'm surprised I have any willpower anymore to do so.

So, fuck all that stuff about President Clinton. Believe me, his dumb shenanigans in the Oval Office hold no candle to the copious blood that has been shed, Iraqi and American alike, since the start of this unneeded war.

And where is this Osama Bin Laden? I would like to know that. Where is this criminal—this criminal that used to be the friend of the Bush administration? Is he dead? Is he alive? Does the Administration even care any more? Was it all about cutting off the tired old head of Saddam Hussein, who spit in Bush Sr.'s eye and had the nerve to get away with it? Yes, he was a madman, but he now seems like a pathetic small fry compared to the other criminals we have failed to go after.

And here we are, years after Saddam's hanging, and we still have massive bloodshed, all over the world, really. Why is this? Where has this gotten us? And you really can sit there and say you want ten, twenty, a hundred, a thousand years more of this nonsense?

And all of you who drive cars, spending $4+ a gallon as we go forward on this campaign---how do you feel? Remember when President Carter got his balls handed to him come 1980's election time because people were mad about spending a dollar a gallon for gas? When do we get to castrate W? Answer: never. He will escape justice for sure. We'll have to depend on a higher power of some sort to mete it out. But face it: Nothing is getting better. Everything is getting worse. The cost of food is up, the cost of surviving is up, jobs are scarce, the country's infrastructure is falling apart and we are the victims. All because silver-spoon-fed baby George W. Bush wanted wevenge on the wittle head of his father.

And the torture we have approved on the innocent and guilty alike? What do you think that’s going to bring us in the end? Believe me, when the bomb drops on one of our cities, you will all rue the day that Bush was ever illegally crowned. Because each and every one of us--rich and poor alike--will be marched out of our own homes, carted into a concentration camp, locked down under martial law, and denied all of our inalienable rights. Check your facts. It’s going to happen. Me, I'll long be on my way to Costa Rica, cats in tow. You know, CR has no army at all, and they do just fine! Quite peaceful there, and plentiful, too. I hope all will have the smarts to join me in escape, to wherever it may be.



And I'm not even going to go off on Katrina, a national disgrace and another failure of the administration, except to say: Look at that once beautiful city of New Orleans, now most of it still a desolate wasteland, and tell me what you see.

I am happy to say that our next president looks like it's going to be Barack Obama. He will inevitably be our most important leader since Abraham Lincoln. Barack is a complete gentleman, well-spoken, diplomatic, concerned, informed, even-keeled, fair-minded, and a likable presense to boot. For all who don’t believe in him and his vision for America (and that’s all of you, I’m sure) I say only that I feel sorry for you. How knotted up inside you must be. Believe me, I know the feeling.

Honestly, whether or not you believe in the power of one person, one political force, to change anything at any time, whether or not you believe that a politician can by necessity be nothing more than a hypocrite and a deal-maker...if you can still find your way to believing in hope, Barack is the only holder of that emotion that our country has in pulling out of this incredible mess Bush has gleefully left us to mop.

In 1999, when the 2000 election was upon us, I openly wished that the Republicans would finally gain control of the presidency, the house AND the senate, so we could see what they truly had in store for the country--what they were truly made of, what they would do if they had their way with us. I knew it would be painful, like a prison butt-pounding, but I knew it had to be done.

Back then, gas was an easy 1.30 a gallon and we had no dead in our military.

Today, thing are much, much different, obviously. And now we can only hope that the Republicans will finally shut up, sit back, and let someone else do the talking for once.

I've stood silent as I and my cohorts have been berated for being godamned liberals.

Well, no more of this, thank you very much.

It is the blind Rebublican allegiance to this asshole in office right now that has helped cause our downfall worldwide. You may say “Well, fuck the world. We’re right!” But that rings pretty fucking hollow when you look at the facts. Just read the McClellan book if you wanna know said facts. Oh, right. He's "disgruntled." Just like Powell and all the others who've fled the bloodstained acts of this administration. But what do these people have to be disgruntled about? They weren't fired, they quit. When you quit jobs you hate, do you consider yourself a disgruntled employee? I didn't think so.

If any of you out there vote for Ultimate Flip-Flopper John McCain, I'll be dumbstruck at your gullibility. (Gosh, remember when "flip-flopping" killed Kerry's chances? Why is it okay for this guy? Oh, I get it...because he's on your "team." How the rules can change in this game so quickly! Oh, wait...there are no rules.) McCain has no morals, no scruples and is just as evil as his Devil Master--dark-souled enough to sell you, your children and your children's children out to his fellow money-grubbers who can't stop killing America, because they get their only hard-ons over it all...if you vote for this elderly madman, well, then I have nothing to say to you.

And that is how I truly feel. Geez, after eight years of Abu Gharib-style mental torture, I can finally say it.

And
it
is
a
relief.

Your friend,

Joseph Dean Treadway

"Hope Changes Everything"

Hope Changes Everything

Writer/Director: Eric Hirshberg Producer: Tom Dunlap

http://www.obamavideo08.com/

Kick it up a notch, 'Bam!

I wanted to have my first post on this wonderful new blog be something positive and funny. After all, those are two areas in which the Democrats cannot be rivaled. So I'm starting off with my favorite of the campaign songs composed by his supporters, all of whom are fine and creative patriots. But The Du-Tels--Gods and Monsters frontman Gary Lucas (formerly of Captain Beefheart) and Holy Modal Rounder Peter Stampfel--are pretty hard to beat, given their legendary pedigrees. Their simple song is catchy, perfect for thousands of vocalists to sing in unison, and it's got a hilarious video. Their song, "Obama," was recorded in New Orleans for The Du-Tel's upcoming album produced by Mark Bingham. Filmed on 8/9/08 in Greenwich Village NYC, the video is strikingly directed by Jill A. Black and edited by Mario Gonzalez. You can download the song for free at www.garylucas.com Have a good time, but think while you're doing it. And get motivated to go out and vote come November. Every vote--EVERY VOTE--will count!! For those who don't already believe, please take this as a fun but serious warning to start waking up!!!

Obama in 30 Seconds

One of the terrific entries in the Obama in 30 Seconds campaign from earlier this year. We will be featuring these inspiring and creative entries on this site. This is one is from Eric, animavisual on YouTube, and it's called Washing the Years Away.

We Can't Stand It Anymore

The lies, the patronizing rhetoric, the war-mongering bullshit...John McCain simply cannot be President. Did you see him at the Rick Warren event? McCain pandered to the audience at every opportunity.

Does America need a President who jokes about being a multi-millionaire when the country is deep in a worsening financial crisis, thanks in part to Bush's tax plan which favors the rich?

Does America need a President who mocks a scientific study on bears when his Party has led us into a false war costing billions upon billions of dollars, and the lives of loyal Americans?

Does America need a President who's so far in the pocket of Big Oil, just like the current Prez, that all he couldn't wait to advocate for offshore drilling to make his contributors happy and even more rich?

Does America need a President who says he supports faith-based services, such as those offering aid in the aftermath of Katrina, forgetting that it was the current Republican administration who callously and murderously bungled the relief effort because of their incompetence and corruption?

It's shocking that this man is still as popular as he is. Does America never learn?