How Long Is "Long Term?"

"Forging and maintaining a sustainable society is The Challenge for this and all generations to come. At this point in history, no nation has managed to evolve into a sustainable society. We are all pursuing a self-destructive course of fueling our economies by drawing down our natural capital -- that is to say, by degrading and depleting our resource base -- and counting it on the income side of the ledger. This obviously is not a sustainable situation over the long term.”

Senator Gaylord Nelson
Earth Day 2000

Is "Media Bias" A Conservative Smear Campaign

"The perception of liberal bias is a problem by itself for the news media. It's not OK to dismiss it. Conservatives who think the press is deliberately trying to help Democrats are wrong. But conservatives are right that journalism has too many liberals and not enough conservatives. It's inconceivable that that is irrelevant."
Tom Rosenstiel
Project for Excellence in Journalism


Read the opinion piece Newsrooms Need Conservatives by Deborah Howell of the Washington Post

Eric Boehlert asks Howell a few important questions: Is anyone stopping conservatives from being hired, and also, are they trying to get jobs in newsrooms and can't? Of course, Howell doesn't ask this, but only assumes they are being excluded because she -- and other Post staffers, according to her -- voted for Obama. Now I've talked to a few dozen Post reporters and editors over the years, and I've never once discussed who they voted for or what party they belong to. In covering an institution, it's usually better to find evidence of people being excluded before making such assumptions.

Voter Choice v. High School Graduates

Electoral map link


High School graduate map link

In a comment on a post below, Roadkill pointed out the 90 percent of journalists say they are Democrats. I was searching for some demographic information to verify RK's statement and ran across a couple of interesting maps. If you click on the map links, you get a better view of the maps and information. However, it is pretty interesting to note that the heart of Republican country corresponds with the lost graduation percentages.

People with lower education levels tend to read less and the higher the education level, the more people read. Concerning radio listenership, the graph below shows the comparisons between education levels and listening to commercial news/talk radio verses public news/talk radio.

Now I don't know if a higher education level means that a person thinks more and more complexly, but I would say that the higher the level of education you experience, the more challenging and varied the content of the material you will be presented.

That said, since almost all practicing journalists have a college education, they would tend to identify themselves as Democrats and a majority of high school dropouts would identify themselves as Republicans.



Radio listenership link

Looking Back...

“Our goal is not to forget about the worst environments in America – in the ghettos, in Appalachia and elsewhere. Our goal is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all human beings and all other living creatures – an environment without ugliness, without ghettos, without poverty, without discrimination, without hunger and without war. Our goal is a decent environment in its deepest and broadest sense.

The battle to restore a proper relationship between man and his environment, between man and other living creatures, will require a long, sustained, political, moral, ethical and financial commitment far beyond any commitment ever made by any society in the history of man. Are we able? Yes. Are we willing? That’s the unanswered question.”

Senator Gaylord Nelson
Earth Day Eve, April 21, 1970

Racism Goes Coastal: Standish, Maine

Here's an interesting story about anti-Obama racism in the northeast corner of the United States. Standish, Maine is in Clumberland County. The county has a population of approximately 275,000. Approximately 4,765 Black people live in the county. Doesn't exactly sound like Sweet Home Alabama...



At Standish, Maine, a sign inside the Oak Hill General Store read: "Osama Obama Shotgun Pool." Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. "Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count," the sign said. At the bottom of the marker board was written "Let's hope someone wins."

A reporter for the Associated Press said he saw a sign at the Oak Hill General Store for the Osama Obama Shotgun Pool, soliciting bets about when President-elect Barack Obama would be assassinated.

The sign is no longer on display and the owner of the store denied any knowledge of it. However Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion confirmed that he received a complaint about the sign and passed along the information to the Secret Service.



Of course, those of you who vote in North Hudson, Wisconsin might have notice the black manikin hanging from the back of the house facing the polling place. There was a toilet bowl in the yard with a note with and arrow pointing into the toilet bowl with the words "Vote Obama."

America's Smearing Pot

"But I will not accept the superior claim to patriotism of some other state or some self-righteous organization or some neighborhood bully. My loyalty is to the nation and to the principle for which it stands, and I will not sacrifice those principles under a threat of having my reputation smeared."

Senator Gaylord Nelson
on why he wouldn't sign a loyalty oath

Primary Reflections

"Our primary task now is to increase our understanding of the natural environment to the point where we can enjoy it without defacing it, use its bounty without permanently detracting from its value and above all maintain a living, evolving balance between man's actions and nature's reactions."

JFK

A 3/4 Nelson

"I have always voted independently. I believe that my party is the best party, but it isn't perfect. I have voted with the administration about seventy-five percent of the time, which is about five percent more agreement than I have with my wife."

Senator Gaylord Nelson

For The Love Of Money...

Glittering Generalities

"Which shall rule -- wealth or man; which shall lead -- money of intellect; who shall fill public stations -- educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?"

Edward G. Ryan
Wisconsin Chief Justice (1873)

Red State Update Move to Great White North

Small Talk

"Anonymity is the enemy of civility, and produces insensitivity and callousness. The nice thing about small towns is everybody has to be civil to each other. You can't live that close without being civil. Nobody in our hometown suppressed arguing something on the merits, but it was done in a civil fashion. I think there actually tends to be more independent thinking in small towns. It helps develop individuality to be in smaller communities."

Gaylord Nelson
former US Senator
Clear Lake, Wisconsin

What Nitwits Say About Obama Victory

Check out more at Nitwit Central... Ontheborderline.net

Joe the Plumber Plunges Into Action

Hidden security cameras capture Joe the Plumber attempting to suck the hope out of one Hudson voter. When confronted about his actions Joe said:
" Go hug a tree moonbat! This is America, I can suck if I want to, it says so in the Constitution".

Diebold Accidently Releases '08 Election Results Early

Seattle Times Endorses Obama

"Sen. John McCain is a decent man, a solid senator. He is not the right person to change Washington, D.C. He is too much of Washington. His behavior, as evidenced by his absurd choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, is too erratic."

The Seattle Times Editorial Board

Palin Phone Pranked By Canadians

Catholics For Obama

Someone asked me today.. "Why vote For Obama". For me, I thought the answer was so obvious that I didn't have a ready reply.
Here are some people who do.



























Here a message from Martin Sheen Here:
Read more here: Catholics For Obama

Why Bother? -It Doesn't Matter- Don't Vote

McCain's Special Interests

Hannity Ayers His Views

LA Time Endorses Obama

"Palin is the most unqualified vice presidential nominee of a major party in living memory. The decision calls into question just what kind of thinking - if that's the appropriate word - would drive the White House in a McCain presidency."

LA Time Endorsement of Obama

Nader Schools Palin

Cartoons In Real Life

Rush Limbaugh's "PreButtle" To Obama

Listen here (if you have the stomach for it )

Palin the Socialist: Alaskans ‘Collectively … Share the Wealth’ from Oil Revenue

New Yorker
"For her part, Sarah Palin, who has lately taken to calling Obama “Barack the Wealth Spreader,” seems to be something of a suspect character herself. She is, at the very least, a fellow-traveller of what might be called socialism with an Alaskan face. The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state. One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist."

How Far Have We Traveled?

The man who drives me into Indiana is a construction worker in a shiny new Dodge pickup. A sling holds his right arm, so he steers and lights cigarettes with his left one. He’s heading for a car wash in Terre Haute. He lives outside of town.

“There’s my house, right up there,” he says, pointing with his good arm to a cabin on a wooded hill. “Yeah, it’s nice out here. No niggers out here. Them niggers ruin everything. Run the value of your house down, everything.”

When he drops me at the car wash, I see an African-American pulling out in a Porsche. I take a few steps before realizing he’s the first black person I’ve seen since leaving California.

I have a good friend who is black. He’s often told me that there are entire regions of the country he’d rather see from an airplane. I always thought it was hyperbole. Until now. How sad it is that you can travel through ten states and encounter only white Americans along the way.

Three-quarters of the people who give me rides say they never pick up hitchhikers. An equal number tell me I’m “clean-cut.” I knew appearances would count for a lot on this trip. But every time I shave and shower and put on a fresh shirt, I never think about the one aspect of my appearance I can’t change: the color of my skin.

If a clean-cut black man set out from San Francisco on a penniless journey and followed my exact route, how far would he get? I’d like to think he’d be standing here with me, in Terre Haute, Indiana, but I fear that may not be the right answer.

Mike McIntyre
The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America

Bear Market For Conservatives

"Conservatism, an ideology once driven by principle, has shrunk until its purview can be, and often is, delineated in three syllables: God, guns, gays. Worse, it has embraced a win-at-all-costs ethos and intellectual dishonesty that are, even by the seamy standards of modern politics, astonishing...."


"...You cannot, if you've got half a brain, define that as anything but hypocrisy. And if true conservatives hate seeing that kind of duplicity associated with conservatism, I understand. But I have a question for them: Where have you been the last 15 years? Where were you when conservatism was untethered from principle, unhooked from reality? Where were you when it became smug and self-righteous, when it traded its integrity for situational outrage, its credibility for angry certitude, its honor for ballot box success? Where were you when it sold out to evangelicals and anti-intellectuals? Where were you when it got hijacked?..."

Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Wolves, Sheep, Bears & Bull

"The $700 billion bailout for Wall Street is driven by fear, not fact. This is too much money in too a short a time going to too few people while too many questions remain unanswered. Why aren't we having hearings on the plan we have just received? Why aren't we questioning the underlying premise of the need for a bailout with taxpayers' money? Why have we not considered any alternatives other than to give $70billion to Wall Street? Why aren't we asking Wall Street to clean up its own mess? Why aren't we passing new laws to stop the speculation, which triggered this? Why aren't we putting up new regulatory structures to protect investors? How do we even value the $700 billion in toxic assets?"

Dennis Kucinich
US Congressman

Yo Sarah! Is It Individuals or Country First?

I'm confused here. Palin says she wants to put "country first." Isn't that what the so-called "communists" do? Isn't she supposed to be putting the individual first?

Since taxes have long be levied since ancient times, I'm unclear as to how taxes have suddenly become singularly tied to socialism. I believe Obama is talking about restoring the tax code so it would be similar to what was in place during the Clinton administration. You remember the booming 1990s? Call it what you will, but I call it a "progressive tax code."

If you are wondering what the future of the Republican Party looks like, think Palin and Michelle Bachmann. I seeing a battle coming in the GOP between the base supporting the guns, God and gays platform of Palin and the intellectual, ideological conservative minority.

Look for Palin to be a force in the scream, shout and hate branch of the Republican Party that man the rhetorical pitches in the mob mentality that fights to put "country first" when they actually mean "individuals first."

Grilled Greenspan

On March 3, 2005, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid attacked Greenspan as one of the biggest political hacks we have here in Washington and criticized him for supporting Bush's 2001 tax cut plan. Greenspan has also received criticism from Democratic Congressman Barney Frank and others for his support of Bush's plan to phase out Social Security in favor of private accounts. Greenspan had said Bush's model has "the seeds of developing full funding by its very nature. As I've said before, I've always supported moves to full funding in the context of a private account."

2008 Noble Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, a frequent Greenspan critic, wrote in the New York Times that Greenspan was a three-card maestro with a lack of sincerity who, by repeatedly shilling for whatever the Bush administration wants, has betrayed the trust placed in the Fed chairman. Charges that Greenspan was veering beyond the Fed's purview of monetary policy into fiscal and political matters traditionally left to lawmakers became more prevalent, coming for example from sources such as Republican Senator Jim Bunning who voted against reconfirming him.

Then-Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stated in 2005 there were serious questions about the Fed's independence as a result of Greenspan's public statements. But others like Republican Senator Mitch McConnell disagreed, stating that Greenspan has been an independent player at the Fed for a long time under both parties and made an enormous positive contribution. Furthermore, Greenspan had used his position as Fed Chairman to comment upon fiscal policy as early as 1993, when he supported President Clinton's deficit reduction plan, which included tax hikes and budget cuts.

The Pro-American State Team

"Someone called me a redneck woman once, And I said, 'Why thank you.'"

Sarah Palin

The Sound Of Eating Crow

"Improvements in lending practices driven by information technology have enabled lenders to reach out to households with previously unrecognized borrowing capacities."

Alan Greenspan
Former US Federal Reserve chairman
October 2004


"Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders' equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief."

Alan Greenspan
On the global financial meltdown


"The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake."

Alan Greenspan

Joe The "Hot Head"

Meet Joe the Hot Head
Joe McCain said Friday he'll withdraw from campaign activities for his brother, GOP presidential nominee John McCain, after calling 911 to angrily complain about traffic. Joe McCain has apologized for making the call.

The candidate's younger brother, who lives in Alexandria, Va., told Washington radio station WTOP he was returning from a campaign event in Philadelphia around 2 a.m. on Oct. 18 when he got stuck in traffic on Interstate 495 at the Wilson Bridge. Police say the call was made about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21.

Frustrated because of the traffic, Joe McCain called 911 to find out what was going on. The operator asked him to "state your emergency."

"Well, it's not an emergency, but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95 traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?" Joe McCain said.

The operator asked him if he was calling 911 to complain about traffic. McCain then uttered an expletive and hung up the phone.

Greed By George!

"We probably had too good of an opinon of human nature in forming our confederation....We must take human nature as we find it. Perfection falls not to the share of mortals."

George Washington

Another Ayn Rand Cult Member Recants

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Financial regulators made "fateful mistakes" that helped drive the global financial system to the brink, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in congressional testimony Thursday. Cox said he and other regulators have learned many lessons, chiefly that "voluntary regulation does not work."
OH REALLY????????????









"Where Have You Been All These Years?" Rep. Cummings


Cox's Nomination In Review

"Cox, nominated on Thursday, has a long record of promoting the agenda of business interests that are a cornerstone of the Republican Party's political and financial support.

A major recipient of contributions from business groups, the accounting profession and Silicon Valley, he has fought against accounting rules that would give less favorable treatment to corporate mergers and executive stock options. Cox - a devoted student of Ayn Rand, the high priestess of unfettered capitalism - opposes taxes on dividends and capital gains."

Cox Last Week ( Now he tells us ) NY Time Opinion by Christopher Cox

THE historic volatility in the financial markets has raised important questions about the lack of meaningful regulation of financial instruments known as credit-default swaps. The $85 billion government rescue last month of the insurance conglomerate American International Group, for example, was needed in large part to protect those who held A.I.G.’s credit-default swaps and risked crushing losses if those instruments weren’t honored.

A.I.G. had issued $440 billion in credit-default swaps — which are like insurance contracts on bonds and other assets that are meant to pay off if those assets default. But as markdowns on A.I.G.’s investments in subprime mortgages led to downgrades in its credit ratings, the holders of the credit-default swaps demanded more collateral, which A.I.G. could not provide.

As large as A.I.G.’s swaps exposure was, it represented only 0.8 percent of the $55 trillion in credit-default swaps outstanding — this total market is more than the gross domestic product of all nations on earth combined.

Yet despite its enormous size, the credit-default swaps market has operated in the shadows. There is no public disclosure nor any legal requirement for these contracts to be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other agency. So government regulators have had no way to assess how much risk is in the system, whether credit-default swaps have been accurately valued or honestly traded, and when people issuing and trading them have taken on risk that threatens others.

Rush To Think In Black Or White

ATBL was RIGHT all along!

Alan Greenspan acknowledged that his "Free Market" thinking was "F'd up". Why won't the POS Dr.s at OTBL????

Just a reminder. This blog has been saying what Greenspan now admits since it was founded. So,Take THAT OTBL!

"The financial crisis even prompted the Republican Greenspan, a staunch believer in free markets, to propose that government consider tougher regulations, including requiring financial firms that package mortgages into securities to keep a portion as a check on quality.

WASHINGTON - Badgered by lawmakers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan denied the nation’s economic crisis was his fault on Thursday but conceded the meltdown had revealed a flaw in a lifetime of economic thinking and left him in a “state of shocked disbelief.”"

From The Wall St. Journal

The 82-year-old Mr. Greenspan said he made "a mistake" in his hands-off regulatory philosophy, which many now blame in part for sparking the global economic troubles. He quoted something he had written in March: "Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity (myself especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief."

He conceded that he has "found a flaw" in his ideology and said he was "distressed by that." Yet Mr. Greenspan maintained that no regulator was smart enough to foresee the "once-in-a-century credit tsunami."


Amid the barrage of questions, Mr. Greenspan dodged and weaved. He would begin meandering responses in the elaborate phraseology that once served him so well, only to be cut off as lawmakers sought to use their brief question time for sharper attacks.

They Smiled While The Nation Whined

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

John McCain
September 15, 2008

"Losing a job is painful, and I know Americans are concerned about our economy; so am I. It's clear our economy has slowed, but the good news is, we anticipated this and took decisive action to bolster the economy, by passing a growth package that will put money into the hands of American workers and businesses."

President Bush
March 7 on news that the economy lost 63,000 payroll jobs in February


"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession. We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about loss of competitiveness, 'American in decline'...We've never been more dominant; we've never had more natural advantages than we have today."

Phil Gramm
McCain Economic Adviser

New McCain Logo

The Core Message

The Road To The White House

What Would Joe The Plumber Wear

Republicans had to spend $150,000 updating Sarah Palin's wardrobe. Blaze orange and snowmobile suits saying "Artic Cat" just don't cut it in the Anti-American swing states.

Palin Before VP Selection


Broken by the Politico: According to financial disclosure forms, the Republican National Committee has spent a staggering $150,000 for wardrobe, and accessories for the Palin family since her selection as John McCain’s running mate. The costs include bills from Saks Fifth Avenue for almost $50,000, $75,000 at Neiman Marcus, and about $5,000 in hair and makeup.

Palin After $150,000 Makeover

RedStateUpdate Colin Powell Endorses Obama

Red State Update With Joe The Plumber

Protesters Picket Palin House

Republicans Reflect On "Joe"

Joe Six Pack, Joe The Plumber, Joe Stalin, Joe McCarthy...



Last Friday, we had an extraordinary claim made here on Hardball. U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said this about the Democratic nominee for president:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: So this is a character issue. You believe that Barack Obama may -- you're suspicious because of this relationship -- may have anti-American views. Otherwise, it's probably irrelevant to this discussion.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: Absolutely. I absolutely...

MATTHEWS: Do you believe that... Barack Obama may have anti-American views?

BACHMANN: Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti- American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are. That's why Joe the plumber has figured so highly in had the last few days...

MATTHEWS: OK. I just want to get off this...

BACHMANN: What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.

Read more by Chris Matthews.

Michelle (McCarthy) Bachmann on Anti-Americanism

The Right Bares Arms

Next Year's "Dancing with the Stars"

Advice We Didn't Heed

Colin Powell Endorses Senator Obama

Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.) endorses Sen. Barack Obama, D-Il. " Powell, who had been courted by both Obama and John McCain, breaks his recent silence and shares his reasons for crossing party lines to endorse Sen. Obama.

Timely Stock Buying Tip

Normally I avoid discussing any advice regarding buying or selling of stocks, but I felt this is important enough to share and warn you since this explosive situation might prove to be yet another ENRON. Please review any holdings you might have in the following stocks: American Can, Interstate Water, National Gas Company, Northern Tissue Company.

Due to uncertain market conditions, I advise you to sit tight on your American Can, hold your Water, and let go of your Gas. You may be interested to know that Northern Tissue touched a new bottom today, and millions were wiped clean.