Stefan’s Stuff

Someday, I hope the Democratic leadership will actually develop a backbone. They reward Sen. Lieberman’s behavior by removing him from an Insignificant sub committee? What is the Democratic leadership afraid of?
Unbelievable.

Mark the date, after forgoing ANY oversight of the Bush administration, Sen. Lieberman will now do “Oversight” of the incoming administration. That means continuing to be a Right Wing tool for the GOP.

Keep in mind, this is NOT about payback, this is about NOT rewarding bad behavior. Sen. Lieberman campaigned FOR Sen. McCain and repeated out right falsehoods put out by the GOP. As Sen. Lieberman has demonstrated, he can’t be trusted to be in the Democratic Caucus.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Dumb” by “Garbage” from the “Version 2.0” Album.

After 8 years of Reporters having to submit questions in advance, It was refreshing to hav a news conference that wasn’t staged, asked real questions and got straight answers. Comparing President Elect Obama’s Press conference to President GW Bush is like night and day. As a nation, we have major challenges ahead of us. I’m hoping that as President, he’ll continue the dialog with the public via the White House Press Corp.

I’m also hoping that the GOP will be able to work with the President, but it seems that they just intend to fight him about everything. Example, Rep. Boehner is already setting the tone and continuing to be completely partisan as possible. IMO, some members of the GOP just don’t get it. The American public is tired of “You’re with us or you’re against us!” politics. The President Elect represents just the opposite.

Sen. Obama didn’t win by being a “Left wing Liberal” he won because he’s a Centrist and Sen. John McCain represented the far right during most of the election. I thought Sen. McCain’s campaign was Odd on account that he was the GOP moderate who won the Primaries. Most of the other candidates were far more to the Right than Sen. McCain. Despite this, he selected a Evangelical VP Candidate, only attacked and did not speak about the issues.

Sen. Obama DID speak about the issues, offers plans to help resolve things . If Sen. McCain did offer solutions, it was lost in the din of his negative attacks.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment, I’m sick and watching “How it’s Made” on the Science Channel.

As I write this,  Sen. Barack Obama is starting his speech in Chicago. This is a historic occasion that I’m proud to have witnessed. Now is the time for our country to come together and undo the damage done over the last eight years. Now that the election is done, I feel as if a weight of uncertainty has been lifted and hope that things will get better over the next four years. I think Sen. Obama will be a centrist and be able to work with both parties.

Of course, at this time CNN projects that the Democratic party now has at least 56 seats in the Senate. That helps.

Every time I hear him give a speech, I can’t help but think that President elect Obama is a great speaker. I don’t know if he writes his own speeches, but there good. His acceptance speech is very inspiring and the right thing to say to the public. He’s NOT the “Socialist” the McCain campaign painted him out to be and he’s addressing the public to thank his supporters and assure his detractors.

After the last two presidential elections, I wondered if the nation would ever change direction. This election, with such a clear victory, give me renewed hope.

Say that reminds me, Will Stephen Baldwin leave America? I hope not, but will wave Bye-Bye if he does.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Been a little busy with Work and other stuff but I saw this on Huffington Post. It’s very clever advertising and makes a very good point.

Besides, who doesn’t want a free cup of coffee for doing the right thing?

It’s been really busy at work doing upgrades and helping to roll new projects out. To make life fun, My 3rd Gen Ipod would not hold a charge for longer than a day. So, I ordered a new one and, like clockwork, the old one completely fails.

The timing makes me wonder if Apple somehow communicated to my old 15gb ipod that I ordered a new 120 GB ipod classic. Maybe the Old Ipod knew it was on the way out and just self destructed.

In any case, I’ll continue to try to get the old one working before throwing it into the recycle bin, but the new one is working nicely.

Besides the Ipod classic, I also got a remote to listen to radio when I’m on the buss.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Shocking, I know.  I saw this on Firedoglake and was pleasantly surprised to see Chris Wallace ask lobbyist and McCain spokesman, Rick Davis about the hateful rhetoric at McCain/Palin Rallies by some of McCain supporters.

What does Rick Davis do? Pretend that he question was about comments made by Georgia congressman John Lewis *And* throw in that Sen. John McCain was a POW too…

Huh?!?!  As much as I hate to Link to Faux News, See the transcript yourself.

Ok, It’s no secret that the “Straight Talk Express” has been run off the road, but to be asked direct question and respond like that is, IMO,  completely insane.

Must be a lobbyist spin thing. The truth is that the McCain campaign is running a deceitful negative campaign that IS inciting people to violence. That was exactly what Rep. John Lewis’s point.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Came home a little late. So far no out right Gaffes, but Gov. Palin is acting a little snarky and seems to be smiling or giggling every time Sen. Biden speaks.

Amusingly, she’s attempting to lecture Sen. Biden and to tell him What his positions are. More than a little Odd, but I’m betting the GOP Spins it as just being “Tough”. IMO, She’s simply using all the talking points but not really answering questions. She’s also speaking way too fast.

Sen. Biden is answering questions, keeping focused and getting better responses from the crowd according to CNN’s instant graph.

Thinkprogress is keeping track of the debate.

Update: According to CNN’s “Analyst Scorecard” Sen. Biden is winning.

Update II: That Odd. I’m betting the pundits won’t call it for Biden till morning.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Despite no Bailout (and his commitment to skip the debate if no agreement was reached), Sen. McCain is on his way to Mississippi for the Debate. My guess is that he realized no one was going to let him attempt to get credit for any agreement that was reached. From the sound of it, he didn’t contribute much to the dialog.

I have to say, the McCain campaign is beginning to look like one hell of a train wreck.
His declaration that he would “Suspend” his campaign  (he didn’t) and get involved in the negotiations is looking like a calculated and cheap Photo Op. Even the GOP is saying “WTF?” about that move.

To make life more entertaining, Gov. Palin’s interview with Katie Couric WAS a Train Wreck. Don’t take my word for it, look at the video. What’s next, Substituting Gov. Palin with Sen. Lieberman? The campaign is seriously in the Twilight Zone.

The best part: His Website is already declaring that he won the debate…

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

I really have to start getting his show on our DVR. His monologue Wednesday night really nails Sen. McCain for “suspending” his campaign. In any case, the Debate will happen with or without Sen. McCain. On both sides of the aisle, they don’t want Sen. McCain interfering with negotiations so he might as well go.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Ok, this is different. The headlines makes for amusing reading:

• Analysis: McCain’s debate ploy a sign of weakness
• McCain blinks
• Stunt Man
• Obama says debate still on, McCain tries to lower expectations

In Sen. McCain’s statement:

“We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis… Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now.“

Nice how he worked 9/11 into it. Former Mayor Giuliani must be proud…
This is hardly a surprise Terrorist Attack; people with eyes saw the Economy tanking for months. Is it really appropriate for a Presidential Candidate to interfere with such Negotiations in the 11th hour? I think not, especially in light that the Election has not run it’s course.

In his statement, Sen. Obama said:

“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when people need to hear from the person who in 140 days will be responsible for handling the economy.”

“It will be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

“It’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people.”

I think that says it best.

Suspending the campaign until the economic crisis is fixed? I really find it amusing considering that Sen. McCain’s Attendance Record is pretty bad this year. Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign wants to delay the VP Debate too. Now that is hardly a surprise since the  McCain campaign doesn’t trust Gov. Palin to spend any time taking questions.

This isn’t the actions of a responsible leader, it’s the panicked show boating of a politician. If Sen. McCain can’t handle Sen. Obama in a debate, How will he run the country as President?

Music I’m listening to know:
Nothing at the moment.

Anyone really surprised? From the NY Times:

MEDIA, Pa. — Senator John McCain intensified his political attacks against Senator Barack Obama late today as he charged that his Democratic rival was frozen in the face of the financial turmoil gripping the country.

“The truth is, we don’t have time to wait for Senator Obama to recover from his paralysis in the face of this crisis,’’ Mr. McCain told a roaring crowd at a rally outside the flag-draped Delaware County Courthouse here. Mr. McCain added, shouting, that “one week after this crisis began, Senator Obama has still not offered a plan of any kind’’ and that “Senator Obama has been M.I.A., my friends. That means missing in action.’’

Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, was reacting to what had been billed as a major speech by Mr. Obama on Monday afternoon in Green Bay, Wisc. Mr. Obama, who has said that he does not want his specific preferences to politicize the ongoing Congressional and White House negotiations over a bailout for the financial markets, did not offer any significant new proposals for the plan, although he urged both parties to reach an agreement quickly.

I Highlighted that particular text. Follow that carefully: Sen. Obama said that he does not want his specific preferences to politicize the ongoing Congressional and White House negotiations over a bailout for the financial markets.

So basically, of the two presidential candidates, Sen. McCain wants to politicize any solution to his advantage rather than put “Country First”. Did I mention Sen. McCain seems to be willing to say anything to get elected? I seem to recall Sen. McCain’s solution involving a “9/11 Type Commision”. I suppose that’s his idea “offering a plan”.

Of Course, IMO, he’s just offering 4 more Years of GOP/GW Bush style politics. I think the Nation has had more than enough of that.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.