Whoa whoa whoa, stop right there. 'Rasslin ain't fake!

I have seen more Obama commercials on tv than I have that Douchebag. Like this morning I was watching the weather forecast then 3 Obama commercials right in a row.

BTW I'm already tired of hearing I approved this message.

Who is that Douchebag?

I am Longneck and I approved this message.

I will interpret the open-ended commment to be a reference to John McCain.

That's a good possibility but it could also mean a Clinton or even Obama.

I am Longneck and I approved this message.

I said that tongue-in-cheek, Longneck. I knew who Mignon meant, but she didn't say Hillary by name.

Ah, that's what was confusing, because douchebag in my mind usually refers to a man. Which I guess makes sense to call Hilary one now that I think about it

I think she'd have a better shot if she looked like McCain's wife....

McCain's wife is the only thing that appeals to me about his candidacy. She is waaaaaay to good looking for him.

Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe Miggie was referring to our resident self-glossed "Douche," none other than Don Sicilia. If that is the case, please quit calling Miggie!

Senators and Presidents DON'T have men killed..right, Kay Adams?

What if McCain is a mole?

Think about it. It was the Soviet Union that backed the North Vietnamese during the war. What if the Soviets brainwashed McCain (Manchurian Candidate) then allowed the Union to collapse with the intention of pushing the button on McCain when the time was right?

Is Obama black or white?

Good question. The media (without exception) refers to him as black. But his mother is white. Why isn't he white?

I've wondered this myself. Why does he need to be either one or the other?

Longneck, I totally agree.

Because, at least in this country, with a majority of people being of the "white persuasion" anyone who deviates in clearly visible ways must be non-white. Obama looks black, he's black, and analysis never goes further than that.

And virtually all African Americans are multiracial to at least some extent, thanks to centuries of rape.

Maybe he can be a Swirl.

"Barnstorming Obama plans to pick Republicans for cabinet"

by Sarah Baxter

As he jets across two key states whipping up the support that could finish off Hillary Clinton this week, the Democratic frontrunner is already mapping out a government of all the talents. Our writer joins him aboard Obama One

Little more than a year ago the Illiniois senator, 46, used to laugh that he was called Alabama or Yo! Mama, because so few people knew his name. If he can win one or both of the Texas or Ohio primaries on Tuesday, he is expected to wrap up the Democratic nomination – and begin the next phase of the battle for the presidency against McCain.

The Sunday Times was aboard Obama One, his private campaign jet, as he crisscrossed the two key primary states. It was an exhilarating ride with a candidate on the cusp of making history and robbing Clinton, who aimed to be America’s first woman president, of a distinction she thought was hers for the taking.

Obama is cutting a dash through Texas, addressing up to 20,000 people a day, and has overtaken Clinton by two points in the polls, according to Real-ClearPolitics. In blue-collar, recession-struck Ohio, he has narrowed the gap to within five points of his rival.

From snowbound Cleveland, where the ice was scraped off the wings of the jet before it could take off, to balmy Texas, where spring has arrived, the journey took Obama from one rally to the next where huge, multiracial crowds cheered wildly and stomped to cries of: “Yes, we can.”

On the plane Obama walked the aisle, chatting to journalists with a confidence that came from knowing his mighty opponent might be on her way out of the race in 48 hours and a slight edge of nervousness that the nomination is now his to lose.

Narrow wins for Clinton in both Texas and Ohio might encourage her to fight on, although Obama’s team believes she needs a lead of more than 5% to justify continuing her campaign.

Obama is taking nothing for granted in his quest to become America’s first black president. “Remember New Hampshire!” he said, recalling the primary upset that restored Clinton’s status as the frontrunner after her initial shock defeat in Iowa.

Earlier Obama had told the audience at a suburban high school rally in Dallas, Texas, that he intended to follow the example of his hero, President Abraham Lincoln, and appoint a cabinet of the talents, irrespective of party labels.

“I think America deserves the best person for every job and so we are going to be canvassing far and wide if I am fortunate enough to be elected,” he said.

Richard Reardon, 64, a security officer and veteran, said: “I’ll be honest. Maybe 20 years ago, I’d never have voted for a black man, but after the Bushes and the Clintons, give the man a chance.”

After overtaking Clinton in the national polls, as well as the popular vote and delegate count in the Democratic primary contest, Obama is now sizing up McCain with the same cool eye for signs of weakness.

They are evenly matched in the polls, an enviable position compared with the 20-point lead Clinton held over Obama for the best part of last year. He believes he will be able to make deep inroads into the conservative vote that put George W Bush into the White House twice but might not transfer its loyalty to his successor. McCain blurted out that he was a “conservative liberal Republican” last week, a slip of the tongue that confirmed the fears of die-hard Republicans that he is not one of them.

But the Arizona senator, 71, has an advantage over Obama, a foreign policy novice, on defence and national security. Republicans intend to draw a sharp contrast between McCain, who was imprisoned in the “Hanoi Hilton” by the North Vietnamese, and Obama, who was a schoolboy on the same continent in Indonesia at the time.

Obama got a taste of McCain’s withering scorn last week when he was ridiculed for appearing to suggest in a televised debate with Clinton that Al-Qaeda was not in Iraq. “I have news for you,” McCain chided him. The terrorist group was already there and was called “Al-Qaeda in Iraq". Round one, by general consent, went to McCain.

Obama believes he will be able to neutralise McCain by drawing on the expertise of independent Republicans such as Hagel and Lugar, who is regarded by Obama as a potential secretary of state.

Larry Korb, a defence official under President Ronald Reagan who is backing Obama, said: “By putting a Republican in the Pentagon and the State Department you send a signal to Congress and the American people that issues of national security are above politics.”

Korb recalled that President John F Kennedy appointed Robert McNamara, a Republican, as defence secretary in 1961. “Hagel is not only a Republican but a military veteran who would reassure the troops that there was somebody in the Pentagon who understood their hopes, concerns and fears,” he said.

Obama intends to pour more troops and resources into defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He told The Sunday Times he would expect European allies to contribute more to the fight. “You can’t have a situation where the United States and Britain are called on to do the dirty work and nobody else wants to engage in actual fire-fights with the Taliban.”

He praised Prince Harry’s “commendable” service - “I’m sure the British people are very proud of him” - and said America would have a “special, special relationship” with Britain should he win the White House. “That’s inviolable,” he said.

Europe, he added, would get something in return for an extra push in Afghanistan. “It’s important for us to send a signal that we’re going to be listening to them when it comes to policies they find objectionable, Iraq being top of the list.”

As the plane flew on to Beaumont, Texas, a southeastern town near the Louisiana border, Obama let rip about parents’ responsibility for their children, a theme that appeals to conservative voters as much as the predominantly black audience in the theatre.

He drew the noisiest whoops and cheers of the day when he admonished parents for their failings. “Turn off the TV set, put the video game away. Buy a little desk or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don’t know how to do it, give them help. If you don’t know how to do it, call the teacher. Make them go to bed at a reasonable time. Keep them off the streets. Give them some breakfast. Come on! And since I’m on a roll, if you’re child misbehaves in school, don’t cuss out the teacher! Do something with your child!”

He then went on to attack childhood obesity. “We can’t keep feeding our children junk all day long, giving them no exercise. They’re overweight by the time they are four or five years old and then we’re surprised when they get sick ... I know some of you that get cold Popeyes [chicken] out for breakfast! I know! That’s why you are all laughing! I caught you out!”

It is impossible to imagine either Clinton or McCain addressing a crowd in this manner without sounding bossy and patronising. Obama pulled it off with humour.

Cornel West, a professor of African American studies at Princeton University, believes Obama has found the language to address problems in the black community. “You have to respect black people enough to say that sometimes we make bad choices. You have to talk about personal responsibility as well as social conditions.”

Obama was equally at home the next day at a gathering of evangelical ministers in Brownsville, southern Texas, where he talked about his introduction to Christianity as an organiser in Chicago. He opened the meeting by referring to the prophet Jermiah, who told people “in a time of uncertainty and despair” that God had plans to “prosper” them and give them “hope”.

“The calling to apply the values of faith to our society is one that has been heard throughout the ages,” he said. “I think about the evangelicals I know who may not agree with me on every issue” - he was thinking of abortion - “but know that poverty has no place in a land of plenty.”

On the economy, the closely fought battle for Ohio has led Clinton and Obama to adopt populist, protectionist policies that have alarmed America’s main trading partners, including Britain. Even so, he takes time in his speeches to praise capitalism and entrepreneurship. Peter Wehner, a former White House adviser to George W Bush, believes Obama is a “completely orthodox liberal” whom McCain will be able to defeat on the issues. However, he could pivot to the right once he is the Democratic nominee. “He should take two or three issues, such as merit pay for teachers or school choice for low-income kids,” Wehner said.

If education is to be Obama’s signature issue, he might consider appointing Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, as his czar. The billionaire media magnate last week ruled out running for president as an independent and said he would offer his support to whichever candidate took the most nonpartisan approach to America’s problems. The subtext was clear: “Hire me.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle3466823.ece

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Bi-Partisan" Cabinets aren't anything new. Hell, Dubya had a Democrat in Norman Mineta as his Secretary of Transportation.

Anyway, I think this is smart on the Obama campaign's part. Whatever or not Lugar/Hagel/Bloomberg actually end up in his cabinet, is irrelevant.

Probably the smartest thing a presidential candidate has said so far.

"According to the Library of Congress, whereas Mrs Clinton has authored 20 pieces of legislation in her time in the Senate, Mr Obama, in his first year alone, authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. Research shows that since entering the United States Senate, he has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1 096. Impressive numbers indeed!"

http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/308922464559390.php

spammer

"Stumping for Clinton, Steinem Says McCain's P.O.W. Cred Is Overrated"

by Niall Stanage

AUSTIN, Texas—Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clinton’s behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation.

From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance of John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an interview with the Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack Obama benefits—and Clinton suffers—because Americans view racism more seriously than sexism.

Steinem also told the crowd that one reason to back Clinton was because “she actually enjoys conflict.”

And she claimed that if Clinton’s experience as First Lady were taken seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might “finally admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your boss’s job and take it over.”

Steinem raised McCain’s Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton.

“Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.

McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”

Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.

“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”

To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”

Other Clinton proxies, notably Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson and a New Hampshire campaign chair, Billy Shaheen, have generated controversies with their criticisms of Obama. By contrast, Steinem told me the Illinois senator was “an intelligent, well-intentioned person.” She added: “I would like very much to see him be president for eight years after Hillary has been president for eight years.”

But she also opined that “a majority of Americans want redemption for racism, for our terrible destructive racist past and so see a vote for Obama as redemptive.” Then, using a term for the mass killing of women, she added, “I don’t think as many want redemption for the gynocide.”

“They acknowledge racism—not enough, but somewhat,” Steinem continued. “They would probably be less likely to acknowledge that the most likely way a pregnant woman is to die is murder from her male partner. There are six million female lives lost in the world every year simply because they are female.”

Steinem has been a Clinton supporter for several years—even though, as she reminded me, she protested against Bill Clinton’s welfare reforms outside the White House. Her support for the former First Lady has become more high-profile of late. She penned a January op-ed for the New York Times backing Clinton and asserting that “gender is probably the most restricting force in American life.” She was also one of the women’s rights activists who signed a February 15 letter published on the Huffington Post that insisted, “It’s time for feminists to say that Senator Obama has no monopoly on inspiration.”

Yesterday’s event, billed by the Clinton campaign as “One Million for Hillary with Gloria Steinem,” was one of several appearances scheduled for the veteran feminist across Texas as Tuesday’s primary looms. It was held in a downtown music venue and was attended by around 200 people, the vast majority of whom were women. Before Steinem spoke, two Clinton campaign ads focusing on female support were shown, to applause.

In her speech, Steinem argued that there was a major sexist component to the murmurs from some quarters suggesting Clinton should abandon her presidential quest.

There is, she said, “a great deal of pressure at play for her to act like her gender and give in.” Several shouts of “No!” came from the crowd. Steinem went on: “It’s a way of reinforcing the gender roles, right? Men are loved if they win and Hillary is loved if she loses…But maybe we shouldn’t be so afraid of an open convention that actually decides something. After all, it was an open convention in New York City that gave us Abraham Lincoln.”

Steinem’s speech offered, Letterman-style, ten reasons why she was supporting Hillary. Most were serious, though one of the more flippant was “We get Bill Clinton as Eleanor Roosevelt.”

Steinem, like any good politician, also made sure to praise her surroundings. True to her own spirit, though, she did so in less decorous terms than any candidate for office would dare.

Other than Austin, she said, “there is no community in the whole world that understands how to include everybody, how to be serious and have a good time at the same time, how to be fan-fucking-tastic” quite so well.

UPDATE: The Clinton campaign sends over the following statement from Howard Wolfson: "Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."

http://www.observer.com/2008/stumping-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-p-o-w-cred-overrated

Thank God for caller ID. I just got my second phone call from Hillary. Why is she bugging me?? Call my Father-in-law he likes you.

I've gotten a call from a Tony Dungy recording about giving blood before.

She must really want my vote cuz I got another call this evening.

Mig, are you registered Democrat???? Usually if you register to vote, you'll get info/calls from the party you are registered with. A phone call to confirm your party might end the calls. Just a thought. Of course if you're registered Independent, you may get calls from both parties.



TIS

That's a funny thing about it TIS, I'm a registered Republican.

Any registered Democrats in the household? If not, some states allow voters to choose in what party's primarythey want to vote. I don't think Ohio permits that. My guess is that it was just as easy to blanket the entire voting population as it was to program the automated calls for just the registered Democrats. Maybe because it's do or die time, the thought is to circulate her name as widely and deeply as possible.

Anyway, it will all stop after today. Be sure to vote today.

First thing on my to do list.

Well I voted today. On the way I seen 3 men holding Obama posters standing out in the freezing rain.

BTW 4 calls today from Hillary so far.

A few months ago I was getting several calls a day from Mitt Romney....not THATS creepy!