Robin on a horse

Robin on a horse.
Click on the photo to enlarge. This is a scanned photo, so the quality is poor.

Obama sings "I've got a golden ticket!"

Obama is getting a pass that no other candidate has ever received.

Suppose that John McCain had belonged to a church for 20 years that advocated white supremacy. The pastor of the church preached racist propaganda using a twisted interpretation of the Bible. These sermons were then made public by video. What would the media do?

Suppose McCain's acquaintances included people guilty of bombing abortion clinics and police stations. How would the media handle that?

Suppose McCain had associated with a professor (*1) with ties to neo-Nazi groups in Berlin. Where would the media be on that important fact?

Suppose McCain taught workshops in radical revolutionary methods (*2). Would we care?

(*1) Rashid Khalidi today is a professor at Columbia University and is a close associate of Obama
(*2) Obama taught workshops in the Alinksky method, which argues that the most effective means are whatever will achieve the desired ends.

Accusations of racism: the last resort of a liberal

One of the tactics of Democrats/liberals/progressives that infuriates me to no end is the resort to accusations of racism. The AP reports the following:
(AP) - Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated.

"They get to take things out on poor people," Frank said at a mortgage foreclosure symposium in Boston. "Let's be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn't hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people."

This is the very tactic that Democrats threatened banks with if they didn't grant loans to people who had no way of paying them back.

Barney Frank was one of the major players in the recent fiasco, and now he calls Republicans racist for trying to solve the problem? This is beyond pathetic. It is one of the reasons why I can never consider voting for a Democrat, ever.

Prayers for Jeanne

Jeanne was admitted to the hospital late last night with a severe case of kidney stones. She was there most of the night and a few brothren from our ward went and gave her a blessing. She is home now...still with the stones but medicated. Any prayers for her comfort would be appreciated while she gets through this painful time.

How Can That Be?

Okay,

Explain this to me....BYU is rated 7th and 8th in USA and AP Polls respectively last week. This week we win as does USC and Texas Tech, all decisively against nonrated teams and yet BYU is the only one of the three to slip in the polls. You can't tell me it is because of the schedules because they all played nonrated teams this past week and trounsed them. So how does BYU get pushed down if we are 5-0 and USC (3-1) gets promoted above us in the AP Poll!

OK, Bill Ayers, so what?

Bill Ayers was one of the founders of the radical Weather Underground Organization that claimed responsibility for about 12 bombing in the early 70's.  The terrorist group was socialist/communist in nature.  There were deaths associated  with the denotation of these bombs.  Two deaths were Ayers's girl friend and another 'Weatherman'.  They died while trying to build a bomb that blew up in their faces.  Ayers eventually turned himself in.  He was never convicted of any crime.  The prosecution screwed it up.  He admitted that he set the bombs.  He has said that he didn't regret setting the bombs and that he still feels that he didn't do enough.

Bill Ayers is now a professor of Education at the University of Illinois, an author of 15 books, and an advocate for educational reform.

The problem here is that Obama knows Bill Ayers.  The acquaintance of the two is currently being touted by the McCain campaign as evidence that Barack Obama, at best, shows bad judgment in his choice of acquaintances and at worst,  he sympathizes with terrorists and is not the type of American the rest of us are (Sarah Palin yesterday).   Barack for his party has attempted to minimize the acquaintance by stating that Bill Ayers was "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" and "somebody who worked on education that I know."   Republicans are currently claiming that Ayers was (is) Obama's mentor, that Obama consorted with Ayers.

These words are carefully chosen to establish and maximize guilt.  

Here are some facts:

Obama was eight years old when Ayers set the bombs.

Obama met him for the first time 26 years later at a luncheon meeting about school reform.

Obama became chairman of a board that oversaw the distribution of educational funds coming from the Anneberg school initiatives.  Bill Ayers happened to be on that board.   

Obama was a guest in Ayers home.  The occasion was a fund-raiser for Barack Obama for his first run to the Illinois Senate in 2001.  The retiring senator whom Obama was to replace introduced Obama to donors.    Ayers contributed $200 to the Obama campaign.  Similar coffee table fund-raisers were held in the neighborhood.  

Obama later also served on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago charity for two years only. Bills Ayers was on that board as well and continues to serve on it to this day. 

The notion of Obama being 'mentored' by Ayers is a right wing distortion of the acquaintance these two men share.  The use by Bill Krystal FOX News contributor of the word 'consort' is an semantical effort to smear.  

Since 2002, there is little evidence of their relationship.  No board members on either board the two men worked on together will back up the idea that they were close, that there was a relationship of the magnitude that right wingers would like to have us believe.  They did work on projects together.  

A quote from Bradford Berenson who worked on the Harvard Law Review with Obama and served as associated White House counsel for President Bush:  "I saw no evidence of a radical streak, either overt or covert, when we were together at Harvard Law School."  And "{Obama was} a pragmatic liberal whose moderation frustrated others at the law review whose views were much further to the left."  

Judge for yourselves.  Do some research if you want.  But I believe that this is a ploy by a desperate campaign and uncontrolled bloggers trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. 

There just isn't enough there to warrant the charges.  Anyone who serves on boards, and I have served on a bunch, you can't avoid working with people that are very different from you.   And many of them were on the board when you were elected to it.  And yet, you have to work with them on committees.

Conference Notes

I am sure that many of you are watching the conference.

Some notable notes:
President Monson announced new temples to be built in Calgary, Canada; Cordoba, Argentina; the greater Kansas City area; Philadelphia; and Rome, Italy.

The Rome, Italy announcement was especially interesting.
President Monson paused a moment and the congregation rustled with mild surprise. Some oohed and some chuckled.

Also, there was a between-session one-hour documentary on President Monson's life, which was especially good. In fact, the between-session documentary that KSL runs are always very good, and I look forward to watching them.

Primary children sang during the second Saturday session.
I was very touched, and President Monson's eyes were red from crying.

The five new temples will bring the worldwide total to 145.

I'm Joe Biden and I approved this gaffe.

All politicians trip up from time to time. It is embarrassing, and sometimes quite forgivable (not that it is forgiven by the media). However, Joe Biden is a veritable gaffe machine, bearing out my earlier prediction when Obama picked him. Here is a non-exhaustive list.

1. In Columbia, Mo., Biden shouted to state Sen. Chuck Graham, "Chuck, stand up. Let the people see you." He then realized that Graham uses a wheelchair.

2. Biden told Katie Couric, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened.' "FDR was not president when the stock market crashed in 1929, and televisions were still being developed.

3. Biden says of Mr. Obama "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

4. Biden noted that a person needed a slight Indian accent to walk into a Dunkin’ Donuts or 7-Eleven in Delaware, his home state.

5. Biden said "My state is anything from a northeast liberal state."

6. Biden commented that "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me."

7. At his first campaign rally with Barack Obama, Biden referred to his running mate as "Barack America."

8. When asked about an Obama campaign ad mocking John McCain as computer illiterate, Biden said, "I thought it was terrible...if I had anything to do with it, we'd have never done it." Later, he admitted he had never seen the ad.

9. In the debate Biden stated "Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that." Two not so small details: Article II defines the VP role, and it is defined that the VP is the President of the Senate, which is in the legislative branch.

10. In the debate Biden stated "Drill we must,” but Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.” The list goes on, but I think you get the idea that it is Biden who not quite ready for prime time.

A look at the polls

I have been looking at the internals of some of the polls to get a general idea of what McCain's problem is. I won't bore you with the numbers, but it surprisingly appears that women voters are not on board with McCain. McCain was doing very well with women voters after the convention, but that was a momentary spike which has faded. Other groups have not changed much, so Obama has surged ahead based on the female vote.
Male voters overall prefer McCain. This has never changed since before the convention.
Pure independents prefer McCain. This is not surprising. McCain is a center right candidate, while Obama is fall-off-the-map far left. Independents are one of McCain's main hopes.
McCains needs to do better with women voters, and to that end, he should unshackle Palin, whom his campaign has kept sequestered out of fear that she would trip up. Things are looking a bit bleak for his team, so he really has nothing to lose by sending her out and letting her kick up the dust and just accept the results, good or bad. She is his only hope to recapture the female vote and eek out a win.

Karl Rove

At some point in I accused Karl Rove of impugning the characters of others as a political tactic in order to win.  I promised Alan that I would verify.  I couldn't find the posting where he and I had this exchange so I will write my own posting.

Karl Rove is smart and covers his tracks extremely well.  He has not been nailed down on anything but seems to be accused of everything.  He has often been exonerated.  

 

I can only suggest a thorough reading of Wikipedia's entry on him.  The long list of shenanigans of which he has been accused might be considered an indictment of sorts in and of itself.  The best I can do to defend my assertion is to refer to a proverb, 'Where there is smoke, there is fire.'  This may seem spurious to many of you.  Fair enough.  But I stand by it, the list is too long and the accusations too possible.  He is a second-hand player, no reason to go after him if there are not elements of truth. 

If you read the Wikipedia entry, you will see that Rove also has Republican enemies.  This is an indication that Rove's tactics are designed to gain power within as well as  without the party.  

I stand by what I wrote, but can't give Alan the specifics that he wants.    That said, I am also aware the Wikipedia has its critics for good reason, but the list of corroborating reports on other sites satisfies me. 

Bill Maher - Silly Man

Bill Maher's movie Religulous will be showing theaters soon. It is a frivolous anti-religion movie.
Asked about the reason for making the movie, he states "Religion is a dangerous sham "selling an invisible product" and is a danger to our continued existence on Earth." Silly, silly man. Religion has been around since Adam (or since man began walking upright, if that is your view), and mankind is still around. I have no intention of watching the movie, but I can safely guess that the movie is a straw man argument against religion, i.e., mischaracterize religion and then point a finger and say how silly it is.

McCain's Immoral Past

This blog entry will not please most of you.  You may well figure that I am just flinging mud.  I have done my best to state facts or at least what John McCain himself has admitted to.  I certainly interject my feeling about what I write.   I hope you will investigate my statements yourself.

Here goes.  It is common enough for young men and women to not obey the laws of chastity propagated by most religions.  Outside of religions and inside of of some religions, it is even deemed quite normal for young people to experiment with sex.  But most of the religiously inclined who support the Republican Party and its candidates do not think like this.   They have very dour judgments of those who step outside of the moral strictures that are an integral part of their religious values.

It is for this reason that I think that it is important to talk about John McCain and his sexual choices in his life.  His life does not portray the moral life that many God-fearing voters believe to be of capital importance.

First of all, as a young man fully aware of what society approves of, McCain engaged in many sexual encounters while in the military and before marrying his first wife, Carol.  He was known as a real party goes and has admitted as much.  He partied and drank and had sex with the best of them.  During this time all-nighters and loose morals established his womanizing reputation.  During this time, he was smitten by and slept with a stripper known as the 'Flame of Florida".  His affair included a model from Brazil that he has proudly spoken of since.  What is important to note is that McCain has not repented of this kind of activity.  To his real credit, he has spoken and written about it openly.  He has done so with near pride, certainly  no remorse.  

He married when he was 28.  Her name was Carol and she had two kids from a previous marriage.  She had been a model, was tall and slender.  Thereafter he was sent to Vietnam.  She was the woman of whom he had dreamed while a prisoner of war in Hanoi.  When he came back, he discovered something awful:  Carol had nearly been killed in a terrible auto accident.  She had been thrown from the car and was found in the snow nearly dead.  She underwent multiple surgeries, time in a wheelchair and with a catheter.   When McCain returned, she was no longer the physical beauty that he had married and of whom he had dreamed.  McCain has admitted to having had extra-marital affairs during the time he was married to Carol and after his return from war.  Many years later, while still married to Carol, McCain began pursuing Cindy. There are various accounts about what went on, but the facts are clear:  he was pursuing Cindy actively while still married to Carol,  I will spare you the details that you can find for yourselves.  But the divorce record (from Carol) and marriage license (to Cindy) show a five week difference.  He actually acquired the marriage license for his marriage to Cindy while still married to Carol.  Cindy too is slender and beautiful.  The pattern held.

This does not speak well of Cindy either if you cling to certain morals.  Is it not fair to ask what kind of woman maintains an affair with a married man?  Cindy's addiction to drugs and some theft of the drugs she was addicted to (à la Rush Limbaugh) cast a further shadow on our possible First Lady.

So here is man for whom many of you intend to vote for our president.  A man with a long sexual history, who cheated extensively on his wife, a wife who was no longer physically attractive due to a terrible accident.  A woman who had taken care of his children and remained faithful to him during his emprisonment in Vietnam.  To top it all off, to replace Carol, he just happened to choose a woman who has money, a great deal of money.  How very convenient for him.  John McCain is a man who has gone after what he wants regardless of morals that constrain others.  The irony of all this is that this man is the presidential candidate for the Republican Party.  The Republican Party that so proudly brandishes family values, calls itself the party of 'values voters', that eschews sex before marriage, that holds marriage so sacred that it can't allow gays to have access to the institution even only civil, that viciously went after Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, and numerous other Democrats whose sexual escapades seemed to shock the RP faithful, that distinguishes itself from Democrats by its claim to a higher morality.

And the Republican Party chose this man, unrepentant in many respects, as its candidate?

The hypocrisy is thick.

That McCain is who he is, that he has the past that he has, is of no consequence to me personally.  I do not even reproach him his sexual dalliances.  I do not judge his young sexual life negatively at all.  I think it is quite normal.  For the most part, I'll bet, most men even admire him for it.  What I cannot accept however is the hypocrisy of the Republican Party that strives so ardently to separate itself from Democrats based the very principles that John McCain has so brazenly flaunted a good part of his life.   Any excuses for this?

Vote for him if you will, but if you do, don't bring up 'family values' or 'values' as a reason to vote for him like some of you have done.   

To my knowledge, Obama has been faithful to his wife and she to him.  He experimented as a young man too, but the difference between them on these counts is indisputable.

In full disclosure, if you go to the following sites, you will find that Carol, his first wife, endorses John and doesn't seem to harbor ill will.  You will recall that McCain has said that the failure of his first marriage is his fault and his greatest moral failure.  

Fine.  But you can't  put lipstick on this pig and pretend it isn't a pig.

And oh yea, Sarah Palin is distinctly attractive, I am sure that Mr. McCain did not fail to notice. 

I recommend  snopes.com , factcheck.com or Wickpedia search Carol McCain, or any other search you may like.  There are also books by John McCain himself that corroborate what I have written.  

Not wavering...just disappointed

I am disappointed with John McCain a bit as of late. It has come to my attention that this "Rescue/Bailout Bill" has had over $101,000,000,000.00 (that's 101 Billion) in pork added to this bill that has nothing to do with the credit banks!

I believe it was John McCain who said if any bill crossed his desk as president with pork attached to it he would veto the bill. He would "make those responsible famous, and you will know their names." yet he voted for this bailout bill with 1/7 of it being pork to get those additional 12-13 votes!

I know the bill is not crossing "his desk as president" since he hasn't been elected but this is a bad omen.

I also understand no politician can or will keep all their campaign promises but this is just too fresh in my mind.

Any explainations?

New poll

A new poll is up. Please vote!
If you have ideas for a poll, please let me know.

VP Debate

Although I support the Republican ticket, I must say that I am somewhat leary of the debate tomorrow. After having seen how Palin floundered in the Couric interview I have reservations about how she will do. I think if they just allow her to be herself and not be restrained by the party line of what the campaign wants her to say she will do better. I think if they will just let her be herself she can handle the opponent and the moderator (dispite the newly revealed bias of the moderator).

It will be interesting. I hope that she pulls this out and does well but I do have reservations. I think her problem is just the opposite of Obama's. Obama does well from a script but not ad-libing and she does better off the cuff than by reading from a prepared script. Of course she is not debating Obama though.

Let's just wait and see how this goes. I think it could be a defining moment. I feel Obama is on the cusp of pulling this election out. Just a feeling.