Stefan’s Stuff

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.

Saw this on Huffington Post. I’ve always thought Rep. Michelle Bachmann was little Nuts, but she’s really drank the Kool Aid this time around.  As the article points out, Chris Matthews tried to get her to explain exactly what she was talking about (at one point Rep. Bachmann seemed to imply that liberalism was anti-Americanism), the congresswoman waded deeper into the mud.

How Sen. McCarthy of her! Calling for a “Expose”?  WOW.

People like her are proxies for the McCain campaign and this is just another example of the Dirty Politics the McCain campaign is resorting to. I expect that it will only get worse as the election nears.

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.

Well, the “Bailout” vote failed and what do the GOP say? It’s Speaker Pelosi’s fault over a SPEECH she made.

Cry me a river! Is anyone really that dumb to believe it? I thought Rep. Frank statement said it best:

Here’s the story. There’s a terrible crisis affecting the American economy. We have come together on a bill to alleviate the crisis. And because somebody hurt their feelings, they decide to punish the country. I mean, I would not have imputed that degree of pettiness and hypersensitivity.

We also have — as the leader will tell you, who’s been working with them — don’t believe they had the votes, and I believe they’re covering up the embarrassment of not having the votes. But think about this. Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country. That’s hardly plausible. And there are 12 Republican members who were ready to stand up for the economic interest of America, but not if anybody insulted them.

I’ll make an offer. Give me those 12 people’s names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them and tell them what wonderful people they are and maybe they’ll now think about the country.

Like I said: Cry me a river. I honestly don’t know if this plan was good or not, but I do know that the Democratic and GOP leadership agreed to it and they could not get their act together.

I wonder: will Sen. McCain suspend his campaign again? With stocks finishing down 777 points, I’d imagine it has his attention. As Politico pointed out, Sen. McCain took credit before it failed. That’s pretty embarrassing and is a great example of how it isn’t over till it’s over. It’s like when the McCain campaign declared “Victory” in the debate HOURS before the debate.

Slight Update: OK…. Sen. McCain has once again jumped in (No, No “suspension”) and blamed Sen. Obama. What a shock, Sen. McCain is peddling the GOP lie that the Democratic Party played “Politics” when the fact is that the GOP “leadership” is incompetent (GW Bush?) and Sen. McCain can’t lead his own party. Read more at Politico.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Chasing Cars” by “Snow Patrol” from the “Eyes Open” Album. You can see the video on VH1.

I’m watching the First Presidential Debate right now. I have to say, Sen. McCain is hitting his talking points. Barely 15 minutes in, a couple of time’s he looked like he was getting P/O’ed.

So far the major difference seems to be that Sen. McCain spends more time attacking Sen. Obama rather than answering the question.

Among Sen. McCain’s talking points:

• Sen. McCain is worried about the “Business Tax”? Is he kidding?
• Sen. Obama is the Most “Liberal” member of the Senate? Um, no…
• “Hand over health care to the Federal Gov’t”? But no one is suggesting that.
• And he hitting the “Winning In Iraq” too. Bet he never mentions Afghanistan.

Ugh, listening to Sen. McCain’s BullS__t is tough. ThinkProgress.org has a live Blogging of the debate.

He’s hitting his GOP talking points right on que. CNN has a score card on either side of the screen and apparently, at this time, Sen. Obama is leading. Sen. Obama is getting a lot of good points in, answering the question and rebutting Sen. McCain.

Well, it’s over and I think Sen. Obama will continue his lead. Wonder if Sen. McCain will run that “Sen. McCain Wins the Dabate” Ad?

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

Hmmm, As the debate has NOT happened yet, it seems a bit premature.
But it IS a Great photo…

Music I’m listening to now:
“So What” by Pink. You can see the video on VH1.

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.