Election 2008

  • 5/13 10:09am   We were forwraded an article from the NY Times about Barney Frank, who is apparently bridging the left-right divide in Congress [NY Times: A Liberal Wit Builds Bridges to the G.O.P.]. He has been working on gathering support for helping homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
    With relations between the White House and the Democratic Congress growing more acidic as the presidential election approaches, Mr. Frank, 68 and in his 14th term, has emerged as a key deal-maker, an unlikely bridge between his partys left-wing base and the free-market conservatives in the administration, particularly Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.

    In the process, Mr. Frank has won praise, even from some Republican colleagues in the House who generally disagree with his politics but say he has treated them with a fair hand and an eye toward compromise.

    Within the administration, where some high-level officials privately refer to him as scary smart, no one is underestimating him. After the House approved his bill on Thursday, though without enough votes to override a veto, Mr. Frank quickly went on the offensive, seeking to undercut the administrations argument that homeowners in trouble should have known better.

    No dumb people got America into this problem, he snapped. You had to be really smart to understand collateralized debt obligation derivatives.

    Mr. Frank, who holds degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law School, understands collateralized debt obligations.

    - Wm.

  • 5/12 10:37pm   The 'sheriff' is going to be busy in the North End while the Cheeseman is 'tied up' for awhile. Somebody's gotta make these beefs go away.
    - PA

  • 5/12 9:26pm   PA, if by "fairness" you mean that the sheriff is going to divert time away from his official duties to pursue more well publicized personal vendettas against local business owners then, bravo, we need more fair-minded people like the sheriff!"
    - ART

  • 5/12 6:08pm   PA - Now I understand. So that's why he had to leave the Board of Health?
    - DL

  • 5/12 2:22pm   TP - re 5/12 12:20pm Does anyone have a recommendation for an honest and reputable house cleaner. The first one which comes to mind is Rob Garrity
    - PC

  • 5/11 2:11pm   Two interesting tidbits which suggest that former candidate and superdelegate John Edwards (D-NC) is endorsing Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for President:
    First, as noticed in the LA Times, he may have made a slip in an MSNBC interview by referring to whom he voted for in the state primary as a "him"
    "I just voted, I just voted for him on Tuesday," he said. ...

    Ah, but we've all come to recognize Edwards' Southern accent lo these many months of debates and sound bites. It could have been: "I just voted for 'em on Tuesday."
    [LA Times]

    But he was also quoted on AP has having said on CBS's Face the Nation, talking about Hillary Clinton's new tack of suggesting that Obama is losing the White vote:
    "But I think the one thing that she has to be careful about ... going forward, is that, if she makes the case for herself, which she's completely entitled to do, she has to be really careful that she's not damaging our prospects, the Democratic Party, and our cause, for the fall"
    [AP News]
    This is a more subtle comment, but Edwards' caution clearly implies that Clinton's approach to building up support for her candidacy can hurt the Democrats' chances in November. That can happen either by turning voters away from Obama, or turning voters away from herself, or both. Now, Clinton and her advisers must weigh in advance the potential impact of her words -- she would not say something self-defeating that hurt her chances more than it hurt Obama's, or if it impacted her overall electability.
    Senator Edwards must know this -- thus we can infer from his comment that he believes the impact would be on Obama's support, and as saying that weakening Obama would weaken the Democratic Party's prospects in the general election. This would only be the case if Obama were the Democratic Party's chosen Presidential nominee. By voicing a caution Edwards is implying not only that he believes this to be so, but that interfering with it is undesirable: an endorsement.
    - AR

  • 5/7 11:06am   As far as a recount of the election results, if we go forth with that, Norfolk will soon be labeled as a town with electile dysfunction.
    - PA

  • 4/19 7:44pm   Re Election Page Post - TC, well said. I wonder if the Lone Ranger knows what we are paying for gasoline and home heaing oil, these days. One of his cowhands should give him daily updates.
    - LAW

  • 4/19 3:37pm   Bitter, anyone? A bad mood around tax time for those of us who have to write a check is not a surprise. But somehow the juxtaposition of writing a large check to the Feds while "bittergate" is playing out in the press has been particularly irritating. I am not philosophically opposed to taxes, and believe in civil society we all contribute to the greater good; paying taxes is the most obvious way. However, what I find much more shocking than Obama's poorly chosen words to make a valid point is the fact that it's taken almost 8 years for people to become "bitter," or angry. Talk about asleep at the wheel!
    The policies of this administration have created the greatest income gap in decades, the largest national debt, the greatest depreciation of home values in more than 40 years, and much more economic uncertainty. (I won't even start about the war.) At the same time, the average person's energy bills have tripled (gas, oil, electricity), the cost of food has skyrocketed, as has the cost of health care and essentially every other necessity of life, putting the average middle- and upper-class people in a total bind, while the richest 1 percent of of our population has seen the largest increase in personal wealth in our nation's history. (And no, middle class doesn't refer to those making $200k per year, as last Wednesday's debate moderators mistakenly said; talk about out of touch!)
    Add to the fact that the tax burden has fallen essentially on the middle class, services they they/we depend on most have been reduced or cut. Right here in Norfolk, public education funding continues to shrink, so the children are suffering; property taxes are skyrocketing to make up the difference; and those same middle-class taxpayers who are shouldering an disproportionate amount of the cost of the war and enriching the country's wealthiest people, are scraping together an extra few hundred dollars here and there to support the public school system, allegedly one of the foundations of democracy and a truly free, capitalist economy. Things have never been more upside down. Ironically, pundits predicted this very scenario in 1999, when the oil men threw their cowboy hats in the ring for the presidency.
    So, while I am not clinging to religion, or loading up a shotgun, I am bitter! Not un-American, unpatriotic, or anti-religion. It's just time someone said what is true: The average American has been royally fleeced these past 8 years. Nothing good happens from complacency. It's about time people got angry, or bitter. Please, don't vote for the person you'd most like to have a beer with. Vote for the person who is most likely to serve the interests of ALL the people of this country, not just a few. Have a beer with your real friends!
    - TC

  • 4/8 10:22am   US forces to Darfur? I thought the national policy was to send US forces to Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq and Iran, but to only bomb Sudan -- especially if they operate pharmaceutical factories.
    Foreign aid is a meritorious subject, one much neglected in this country, but with the disasters that he will have to attend to first, Obama will not have the time or opportunity to make any meaningful changes. I'm much more interested in how the US Presidential candidates would deal with the important issues that impact life in *our* country: pointless unending war, looming economic cataclysm, trampling of the Constitution, looting of the national wealth, destruction of the civil service -- these are my important considerations, not foreign aid.
    - AR

  • 4/7 4:50pm   If the phone at Town Hall is ringing at 3a.m., Rob Garrity is the guy I want answering it.
    - PA

  • 4/3 6:22pm   Okay, back to the future: Where will Obama's foreign policy lead us? What will his policy on Israel be? Will he stop financial and military aid to the country? Will he allow the Arabs to destroy the Jews and the State of Israel? What will his policy on Africa be... will he send US forces to Darfur?
    During his post-Wright speech, he stated that he can not disown Wright any more that he could disown the black community - a few days ago on The View television program, he stated that he would have disowned Wright had he not resigned from the racist church where Obama attended for 20 years.
    - JPB

  • 4/1 12:20am   Today, the first of April, was enacted National ________________ Party Day in Congress. In a landmark example of bipartisan collaboration, both ends of the political spectrum set aside their differences and signed legislation nominating one day of the year on which to honor the accomplishments of the political parties. In an effort to be inclusive, it was agreed that the party name itself be left blank -- both to be politically sensitive to those belonging to more obscure parties, and to demonstrate flexibility and forward thinking on the part of lawmakers, allowing any party name to be filled in the blank space.
    The President has signaled that he is unhappy with the bill, being reluctant to sign any "blank check" legislation. Our sources within the White House tell us that the final decision has not been made yet, but the President is displeased that an unruly Congress has seen fit to pass such undisciplined legislation. The Commander in Chief's gut feeling is that it is the majority party's natural prerogative to lend its name to such high-profile national recognition. There is a real possibility that the seemingly benign legislation will be vetoed to send a sharp message to an unruly Congress. Meetings are scheduled, however, with the Vice President and the Texas lobbying and market research firm of Apreil and Feule LLC to decide on the prudent way forward.
    - AR

  • 3/28 8:26pm   I guess we all have our concerns for our country. One can worry about the White House guest list and a retired Black minister who gave fiery speeches; one can worry about the abuse of our Constitution and the rule of law. As voters, we find unity in our concern for the nation's welfare.
    Come November we can vote for more of same, or we can vote for the other guy. After eight years, we know all too well what more of same is like. Personally, I'm ready for something different.
    - AR

  • 3/27 9:40pm   I too know little of being black in America. But I am a subject-matter expert on being white in America; and Obama and his network of racists are not who America needs in the White House in the 21 Century.
    Obama is articulate and talks a good game, but his only track record is his association with Wright, his racist church and connections with the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan. Obama meant what he said during one of the early debates when he slipped and stated that he would invite our adversaries (Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah?) to the White House for talks - even though he later spun it. Wright is not a hero! He is a racist pig who Obama has supported financially and otherwise for 20 years and refuses to disown. He is Obama's mentor - not my words but Obama's.
    Obama is also likely to abandon Israel - after all that's the anti-semitic trash that he has been listening to at church for 20 years and refuses to renounce.
    - JPB

  • 3/27 10:45am   No JPB, the issue at hand is not Obama (and certainly not Rev Wright). The issue at hand is the future of our country, and the critical need to recover from the disaster that Bush/Cheney have perpetrated on the nation. Budget. Economy. Debt. Trade deficit. Government institutions. Military readiness. International standing. Natural resources. Consumer protection.
    Since I know nothing about being Black in America, I wouldn't presume to be able to meaningfully instruct Obama in counseling Blacks regarding proper attitude. Also, mandatory reconciliation is an odd notion, not likely to be taken seriously.
    Out of the remaining candidates, one aims to continue the policies of Bush/Cheney, another has steered a politically expedient course and went along with Bush/Cheney. My top candidates did not make it to the final cull, but nevertheless I don't see the remaining contenders as interchangeable.
    And that is the issue at hand.
    - AR

  • 3/26 6:24pm   Timothy McVeigh served in the military also. I suspect Wright's hate inspired statements began toward the end of his service or after because such racists are not permitted to linger on the vine in the US military - they, unlike Obama, understand the importance of getting past race for the benefit of the nation.
    - JPB

  • 3/25 7:46pm   While the photo below of the anti-white and anti-Jewish reverend Wright's (Obama's pastor for 20 years) visit to the White House at the invitation of Bill Clinton is interesting, it more importantly offers insight into Clintons' list of misjudgments in that Wright later would say that he, Clinton, has done nothing for black folks; and say that Clinton was riding-dirty - that Clinton did black folks like he did Monica. At any rate most voters are already aware of the poor judgment of Bill Clinton: his actions with Monica in the Oval Office (while his wife was in the building and Arafat was waiting on the other side of the door); later perjuring himself about it under oath; and pointing his finger at us and lying about having sexual relations with Monica.
    The issue at hand, however, is Obama - not Clinton, Cheney or Bush. While we will live with their legacy for a long time to come; they will soon be history.
    The conversation on race that Obama and his racist allies wish to have consists of blacks talking about past atrocities and how that gives them the right to make hate-riddled racist statements while others must site quietly and take the abuse. No, no, no - if Obama truly wishes to move our country beyond race he must acknowledge not only that these criminal acts happened against blacks and the offenders were white, but he must likewise insist that for the good of our country; blacks move beyond the legitimate anger and hate that these acts caused. He has thus demonstrated no desire to do that - which is further proof of his bad judgment.
    - JPB

  • 3/24 11:29am   Regarding an important quote from our Vice President, I saw the interview on TV and was shocked by the man's arrogant disregard for the opinions and thoughts of the American people, some of whom voted for him. A search for the interview found the exchange below. Please, readers, keep the following quote in mind when reading the exchange, and whenever thinking about politics and politicians:
    A quote from the first Baron Acton (1834-1902).
    The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:
    "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
    An example of that was seen in the news recently, when an ABC News reporter interviewed Vice President Cheney, who is said to be very arrogant for an elected representative of the people:
    RADDATZ: "Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives."

    THE VICE PRESIDENT: "So? "

    RADDATZ: "So -- you don't care what the American people think? "

    THE VICE PRESIDENT: "No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls."

    More...
    - RH

  • 3/24 10:51am   While I have always beieved in Teddy Roosevelt's maxim of "Walk softly and carry a big stick", I am dead set against the pro-war machinations of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld, plus Rice. I don't want to see my kids or grandchildren, or anyone else's, go off to fight terrorists where they are blown up by Improvised Explosive Devices, etc.
    For information, American casualties as of 3/21, 10 AM EDT were:
    Operation Iraqi Freedom: Total Deaths: 3891. Wounded in Action, returned to duty: 16,281. WIA, not RTD: 13,170.
    Operation Enduring Freedom: (Afghanistan): Total Deaths: 483. WIA, RTD: 742. WIA, not RTD: 1156. (Ref URL [defenselink.mil pdf])
    The war in Iraq has cost $505,103,680,000. to date, (3/23, 10 PM), money which should be spent here at home on schools and all of the other things which are being shortchanged. The cost is $341 Million per day. (Ref URL [link]) All of these figures are simply a snapshot in time, as the casualties continue every day, and the monetary costs continue every day.
    I've still got a closet full of Army uniforms, everything from fatigues to dress blues, even though I'll never wear them again. I hate to see what Bush and Cheney are doing to the services, especially to the Army that I served in.
    - RH

  • 3/23 7:09pm   More on whether Obama will bring Rev Wright into the White House: oops, too late, he was beaten to it by Bill Clinton. Clinton hosted Reverend Jeremiah Wright at the White house back in 1998. [found here]
    Also, something I hadn't come across before: Wright served six years in the military, both the Marines and the Navy. A hero of our nation, no less!
    - AR

  • 3/23 11:32am   Re: It will be interesting to see who Obama has as guests in the White House if he is elected
    Indeed it will, but then we may never again find such things out. If the new administration follows existing precedent, the vice president will issue the invitations and will absolutely refuse under executive privilege to release the guest list.
    However, civic figures and African heads of state don't rank very high in US politics. Given the current geopolitics, it will most likely once again be oil industry lobbyists, fine-tuning the country's energy policy.
    - AR

  • 3/22 6:44pm   Where do I send my check for slavery reparations (aka payment for "the sins of my fathers")? Or will that be part of a new "sin tax" levied by the federal government under President Obama? Talk about audacity...
    - DA

  • 3/22 4:47pm   Obama's judgment:
    (1) Remain for 20 years in an anti-white, racist church that plans to bestow a lifetime achievement award on Louis Farrakhan, the anti-white and Jewish leader, of the Nation of Islam.
    (2) Use the title of a sermon from his racist pastor, Jeremiah Wright, as the title of his book.
    (3) Use the words "typical white person" disparagingly in referring to his grandmother, who raised him and ensured he got a great education.
    (3) Pull US troops out of Iraq as fast as possible so the price of oil doubles - then send them back in after al-Qaeda regains a strongholds (Mistakes made by the Bush administration aside and stipulated).
    It will be interesting to see who Obama has as guests in the White House if he is elected: Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, Muammar Gaddafi? After all, Wright did go with Farrakhan to Libya to meet with Gaddafi (or perhaps they will just continue the good guy - bad guy routine).
    It seems that Obama's associations indicate that he is a typical black nationalist in sheep's clothes; which means redistribution of wealth and accepting black racists' comments and hostilities against whites as simply the truth and acceptable because of past pain inflicted on blacks historically. Obama will surely look after the needs of blacks - but thus far has demonstrated little sensitivity to the feelings of whites who are offended by the statements of his mentors.
    [related National Review article]
    - JPB

    [Update 9:10pm: Obama's name was inadvertently mis-spelled, corrected - Wm.]

  • 3/19 2:58pm   Bush, speaking to U.S. military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan:
    "I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

    "It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
    [Reuters]

    - RH

    [It seems his own efforts at helping a democracy when he himself was younger left a lasting, if remarkable, impression... :-) - Wm.]

  • 3/19 10:50am   Happy Cakewalk Day! March 19 makes five years that the US has been in Iraq on a brief, almost trivial mission described as "cakewalk" and "costing at most $60 billion;" a short, Bush/Cheney style "Three Hour Tour." A million dead, 4.5 million refugees, 1/4 million veterans applying for disability benefits and $3 trillion in costs later, the end is still nowhere in sight.
    The "surge," primarily an arming and paying the Sunni insurgents so they won't shoot at US troops, is keeping the carnage at bay for the moment, but none of the underlying political dynamics have changed. The US is still the only authority in Iraq that matters, and all the Iraqis know this. The various groups are biding their time, waiting for the US to leave to fight for their place in the power hierarchy.
    Of course, "Iraq posed an imminent, urgent, and immediate threat to the United States, its people, allies, and interests."
    Oh, and I lucked into a terrific investment bargain! I just put down a deposit on a primary thoroughfare spanning a river in a major East Coast metropolis.
    - AR

  • 3/15 7:15pm   Now we know where Michelle LaVaughn Obama, Harvard Law School graduate and $250K/year attorney; the wife of Barack Hussein Obama, learned her distasteful vocabulary as regards America. The country that is approximately 70 % white and 14 % black; which has given rise by voting and massive support to the 1st person of color (a minority), to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
    Ms. Obama recently stated that she is proud of her country for the 1st time in her life (now that her husband has been anointed by the masses). Obama spinsters later interpreted what she meant - even though her statement is on video and the meaning clear. The Obamas' Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright; is clearly an anti-white racist who call's for God to Damn America. The Obamas attended his church, Trinity United Church of Christ; on Chicago's south side for almost 20 years and Barack has called Wright his spiritual mentor.
    Three observations: (1) One does not sit in the midst of any gathering for 20 years and not internalize such racial hatred. (2) One can not distance oneself from this sort of racist after having a 20 year relationship with the institution and the man. (3) Wright appears to be another Louis Farrakhan but uses Jesus instead of Mohamed as a cover to spew his hatred.
    Questions: (1) Is Obama a wolf in sheep's clothing? (2) Could you vote for someone who financially supported a racist for 20 years; and as a public figure would not condemn the racist for his hate inspired words? (3) Was Obama in church during these speeches... similar speeches?
    Recommend: Google the man (Wright), his church and watch/listen to the videos - recorded by his church members - watch the joy throughout the congregation as he spews his racial hatred against whites. Notice how he slams the Clinton's - even after all the tireless work they have done for minorities over the years - Bill even apologized on behalf of America for slavery while he was president. Link: [abc news story]
    PS: The tax exempt status of his church should be revoked as it has crossed the line from a religious organization to a political one and all such video and audio tapes should be confiscated now as evidence to support same.
    Please pass on this very important information.
    Happy St Patrick's Day!
    - JPB

  • 3/14 11:28am   A recap, perhaps?
    - BH

  • 3/13 9:39am   For those interested, there will be a going away party at Scores in NYC for Eliot Spitzer on Friday night.
    - PA

  • 3/12 12:52pm   So Admiral William Fallon, head of Central Command in charge of the East Africa/Middle East/Indian Ocean military theater, has "resigned."
    Fallon gained notoriety by strongly opposing a military buildup in the Persian Gulf for the purpose of threatening Iran, and by conducting his own independent fact-finding mission in Iraq concluding that a sharp draw-down of troops was warranted. He also caused a stir with his deep-seated and vocal dislike of General Petraeus, in part for the latter's insistence on focusing troops in Iraq when they were more urgently needed in Afghanistan and on the Pakistan border. Fallon was known to be against any further military adventures while the armed forces are so severely strained by the two on-going wars, and has been quoted as saying that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch." [read more]
    Well, his watch is over, time for the show. It may have been the public policy dispute on Iraq, of course. Or perhaps a nice little election-year extravaganza, complete with fireworks, smoke and mirrors -- a rerun, but a popular one. Stay tuned.
    - AR

  • 3/11 11:24am   Memo to PA: Actually, it did not work for Slick Willie. Ultimately, it was a major contributing factor in his party's loss of the White House and a brutally cruel and unusual eight-year punishment we are all paying for in countless, unfathomable ways (as well as wasting trillions of dollars). And there's still 314 more days of it to go! And, by the way, the last time I looked sex between two consenting adults is legal; sex with a prostitute is not.
    - TEM

  • 3/10 7:09pm   Memo to NY Governor Eliot Spitzer: Get on live TV as fast as you can, look into the camera, wave your finger at the public, and declare: "I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
    It worked for Slick Willie, it can work for you.
    - PA

  • 2/21 1:53pm   A lunar eclipse - that explains the Moonbat mantra of "Yes We Can" chanted in unison by the Druids of Obama. The initial symptom of succumbing to this infectious siren song is a tingling sensation running down your leg. (Just ask Chris Matthews!)
    - DA

  • 2/10 6:10pm   I read some of the Hillary excerpts - if they are true it only underscores the venom that inspires her run for the White House.
    However, I find the high road discourse of Obama equally troubling. His platitudes are a type of Orwellian Newspeak meant to obscure a very liberal agenda. At least locally, Deval's "Together We Can" has run into a legislature grounded in fiscal discipline. I'm not so sure that will be the case at the federal level with a Democrat in the White House. At least in McCain, there is a long standing record of his disdain for pork barrel spending. Do you want to keep some change in your pocket or vote for "Change" only to fund the next round of Democrat Dreams the scope of which has not been seen since the Johnson Administration?
    - DA

  • 2/10 2:24pm   I was under the impression that NBC is hosting Keith Olberman because their ratings were sagging. Media stars who rant political hot air draw big audiences, and the conservative angles were already all taken. I've only read one piece by him, but I found it okay -- somewhat over the top, but funny, and factually sound.
    Odd, all this political correctness in pushing for "balance" in the news. Call me a contrarian, but I want my news to be accurate and complete, not "balanced." I will temper the facts with my own judgement, thank you.
    And Rush... ahh, Rush. I listened to Rush a bit back in 94, until one day I found him bravely spouting forth on something he clearly didn't understand. He apologized the next day. Well, apologized for not knowing what he was talking about, but not taking the next logical step and admitting he was wrong... ``My mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts.''
    Rush is an icon; icons aren't wrong if they don't care to be. I expect Rush has never been wrong afterward, either, and I'm confident that he has successfully evaded confusion as well :-)
    - AR

  • 2/10 2:17pm   This is going around the internet and is backedup by Snopes. [...] Everyone should be entitled to know who they are voting for. The Snopes site is included so everyone can check it out for themselves.
    The language that Hillary uses is terrible in this e-mail but everyone should read what the real Hillary is all about. I am just passing it on.

    Subject: PLEASE BEWARE OF THIS POLITICIAN WHAT A LADY !

    [Snopes: "Hil Da Beast" ill-tempered and profane quotes attributed to Hillary Clinton]

    - MG

  • 2/5 5:08pm   To RH, Have you ever watched FOX News. Have you ever listened to Bill O'Reilly. When he speaks, he uses facts not personal beliefs.
    Keith Oberman is the biggest fib teller I have ever listened to. MSNBC is the lowest rated network on cable for a reason. I can't speak for Rush, because I don't listen to him. It is proven by 2 separate non-profit organizations that FOX is the most balanced news outlet today. And the Factor is the highest rated show on cable for years. I know many of independents and conservative democrats that watch him on a regular basis. He truthful and he tell's it like it is, no spin. He is a true traditionalist and I admire him.
    Then again, I am not for socialized healthcare and cradle to grave government.
    - PJT

  • 2/4 11:56pm   TC:
    1/24 10:14am Don't know the first one; the second would be... umm, this week? Ever since the US presence in Iraq collapsed the Iraqi government and enabled terrorists to enter and find haven in the country, the US has been under fairly steady attack from terrorists.
    Now, here's another little question: when will the US elect the first president who's a former cocaine user? Only two guesses -- the first one and the correct one.
    - AR
    - JPB

  • 2/1 1:59pm   Speaking of Exxon, $10 out of every $45 fillup (or $120 on every heating oil delivery) is a war tax, courtesy of Mr. Bush's adventures overseas.
    Oil industry analysts estimate that the tensions in the Middle East have added $20 to the price of a barrel of crude oil, which results in higher heating oil prices, higher gasoline prices ...and higher oil industry profits.
    A former oil industry executive, driving up oil industry profits. What an amazing coincidence.
    - AR

  • 2/1 1:57pm   Re ``September 11, 2001'' Interesting. So the weaponized anthrax attacks or the Muhammad and Malvo rampage don't count either? Or were you asking specifically "how many 9/11 terrorist attacks have occurred since 9/11/2001?"
    - AR

  • 2/1 1:53pm   TC, DV, AR: Is there any chance of drafting you folks to run for some public position? If not in a national election, how about a state election or a Norfolk election? You have very good comments and ideas about various issues, and good people are difficut to find. It would be interesting to get your ideas together in position papers on various subjects and see how government could be improved locally, statewide, or nationally.
    There are so many kooks in the media spewing their ideas that some folks actually believe the wild ideas of people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Bill Krystal. Fox News, or Fox Noise as some call it, is the outlet favored by the Bush administration, and as such has become neoconservative and untrustworthy.
    An opposing outlet, MSNBC, has commentators like Keith Olbermann, who tend to support the Democratic party and a more realistic way of examining the issues. The ploy of "signing statements", appended by the administration's lawyers to bills passed by the Congress and waiting signature by the president, are often unconstitutional because the administration notes that the proposed laws will not be enforced. The reason given often is that the "powers of the executive" are being encroached upon by the proposed law. Thus the president picks and chooses what he will enforce. These instances and many other will have to be reversed by the Congress and a Democratic president.
    - RH

  • 2/1 11:31am   MG: I am guessing that those who complained vocally that Dr. Scott's compensation package is excessive would argue she is not at all a socialist, but rather a self-serving capitalist (not my opinion, mind you, just venturing a guess.) Many disagree with her handling of Mr. Matez, myself among them, but that hasn't anything to do with Canada's universal health care. Your evidence of what makes one a socialist evades me. Again, no offense, but if youur world view is being shaped by Fox News, you might want to tune in to another news source occasionally, just to hear some different perspectives. Fox is notorious for oversimplifying complex issues and dumbing them down into incendiary sound bites that bear little resemblance to the truth. That style of reporting (and I use the word loosely) is an insult to all of us. As for Hillary's "radical" attempt to socialize medicine in the U.S.," may I offer that even the insurance companies and the AMA, who historically opposed anything resembling a single-payer or government-subsidized system, are now advocating additional government involvement in the delivery of health care. Even they see that the system is broken, wasteful, and morally wrong.
    I, too, disagree with the economic stimulus package (approved with bipartisan support in the House, mind you) but for opposite reasons. It is patronizing to hand people a few hundred dollars so they can buy a DVD player made in China, or pay their oil bill and ensure Exxon continues to make "corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007 (see [CNN article])! Putting two- or three- weeks worth of grocery money into one pocket while the cost of health care, oil, groceries, property taxes, and everything else is hemorrhaging money out of their other pocket is a total scam. (Also, the non-taxpayers are people who make too little to pay taxes, not tax-evaders.) It's insulting, and it's anything but socialist.
    - TC

  • 2/1 11:27am   JPB: Re: Clinton and Obama experimenting with drugs. What's your point? George W. Bush discussed openly the other day his battle with alcohol, and it is widely known he had a problem with cocaine as well. A friend who attended Yale with him says Bush's substance abuse and lackluster academic performance was legendary among their Skull & Bones buds. "Alcohol was beginning to compete for my affections," was how he described it to a fellow addicts at a home for people in recovery. Like many who battle addiction, he turned to a "higher power;" and good for him for taking on that battle. (Too bad the higher power that got him sober also told him to launch an unnecessary war, creating a culture of death instead of the "culture of life" he claims to promote.) Lots of middle-aged baby-boomers experimented with drugs, most without becoming addicts. Please don't be pious about drug experimentation. Using that as a litmus test for political office is meaningless, not to mention hypocritical.
    - TC

  • 1/31 9:31pm   To TC, I didn't mean to imply that socialists have taken over this country. There are socialists who are involved, and Hillary Clinton is one. She tried to put through socialized health care. Listen to Fox News where they talk about the government people who are socialist. We have the head superintendent of our Norfolk schools who is here on a green card who comes from Canada where socialism if a fact of life. The superintendent fired a good teacher because he was teaching the three R's and the kids loved him. Where was the power of the people to save his job. I also have friends who left the school system because the right way of teaching was no longer allowed. The proposed Democratic tax plan for refunding $600.00 to everyone, which includes those who don't pay taxes, is a form of socialism. Taxpayers like you and I, who are paying taxes, are giving a free gift to non-taxpayers.
    - MG

  • 1/31 5:46pm   President Clinton and Sen. Obama have both admitted to experimenting with drugs as well.
    How horrifying!
    - TEM

  • 1/30 11:09pm   Answers:
    1) John F. Kennedy in 1960 (47 years ago) He is the only practicing Roman Catholic to be elected President. Events during his administration include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and early events of the Vietnam War.
    2) September 11, 2001
    PS: President Clinton and Sen. Obama have both admitted to experimenting with drugs as well.
    - JPB

  • 1/29 10:04pm   AR - Obama is so clean because of his dearth of experience. (How ironic that Joe Biden, arguably the most experienced of the original Dem. pack, was roundly chastised for saying that Obama came across as a "clean" candidate). The JFK comparisons are dead-on for his charisma, articulate speech, and promise for the future; however, JFK served as a Congressman and Senator for 14 years before he ran for the country's highest office. Obama's is in his first term, winning his seat largely because his competition imploded in scandal. JFK's worldview was tempered by his service in the WWII and his government service in the Cold War. His experience served the country well in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obama is a Johnny-come-lately to the war on terror, who can conveniently disconnect himself from the morass that is Iraq. Can we afford a "Together We Can" style presidency - full of platitudes but short on substance?
    - DA

  • 1/28 6:51pm   Although I'm an independent, unattached voter, I will be voting in the Democratic Presidential Primary next week. At this point, I remain undecided (regarding the three candidates), but found the Caroline Kennedy op-ed piece in the New York Times [link] of considerable interest and am passing it along for those voters who may not have read it. A number of political scribes, uncertain of the effect of the Ted Kennedy endorsement nationwide, are still maintaining that it will probably make the Clinton-Obama race much closer in the Commonwealth.
    - TEM

    [Update 1/29 10:16am: The link works from a Google search page, but not when clicked here; I've made a local copy until I can locate a working version - Wm.]

  • 1/25 11:36pm   Pretty sad state of affairs, I agree. Then again, the reason is easy to see -- Hillary has always kept a careful eye on the long view, which is 43% - 25% - 15% right now, and that's not her at the front.
    I find it ironic that Obama is so clean they've resorted to making stuff up. Couldn't they dig up something worse than calling his cricism of her vote on the Iraq war ("poor judgement") a personal attack? $1 trillion in cost, nothing to show for it -- what else is that but poor judgement.
    - AR

  • 1/24 10:17am   AR - The Clintons appear to be taking a page from the Lee Atwater playbook by double teaming Obama. Bill isn't just carrying his wife's carpetbag, he's pummeling Obama with it. Might be a sage strategy for the primaries, but it sounds like a recipe for a general election implosion if you ask me.
    - DA

  • 1/24 10:14am   Don't know the first one; the second would be... umm, this week? Ever since the US presence in Iraq collapsed the Iraqi government and enabled terrorists to enter and find haven in the country, the US has been under fairly steady attack from terrorists.
    Now, here's another little question: when will the US elect the first president who's a former cocaine user? Only two guesses -- the first one and the correct one.
    - AR

  • 1/22 10:24pm   I have two questions:
    1) When was the last time a U.S. Senator was elected president without having first been vice-president?
    2) When was the last time the United States was successfully attacked by terrorists?
    - JPB

  • 1/22 9:27pm   DA, I hear where you're coming from regarding my poking the Republican establishment. But you've got to admit, their behavior of late has been pretty outrageous.
    I'm glad you don't dispute the essence of my remarks: that the institutional changes the Bush administration is making to our government's structure are fundamentally un-American, and that the systematic dismantling of checks-and-balances and undoing legal protections undoes what made our nation historically unique.
    As to your specific points --
    There is a difference between government harassment being illegal and just not wide-spread. I agree it's not wide-spread, but surveillance and detentions have been made subjective, secret, and not subject to legal oversight. Without a rigid legal framework, the only protections left are old-guard bureaucrats nearing retirement who still hold principle above political expediency.
    It wasn't Rove's philosophy, but his tactics and end-goals that were questioned. Democracy is not a slogan, but a way of life. From all indications, Rove is not a believer in democracy, but in single-party rule.
    And finally, opportunistic corruption, even if endemic, is not equivalent to systematic limits on access.
    - AR

  • 1/18 10:12pm   K street is a two way street - both major parties are in bed with the lobbyists. On a separate note, I hear Dick Cheney plans to write a tell-all book about his days in the Bush White House that reads like a modern day version of Arthur Koestler's Darkness At Noon...
    - DA

  • 1/18 7:26pm   I had grown accustomed to Bush being equated with Hitler, but now Karl Rove has become an acolyte of Karl Marx?! The line between liberty and tyranny may be a thin one, but the line between the Democratic Party's ideology (as appropriated by moveon.org types) and the lunatic fringe appears to be blurred... (insert Howard Dean screech here).
    - DA

  • 1/18 7:22pm   AR - those "radical instruments of control and oppression" that the jackbooted thugs in the White House have instituted have really cramped my style. Their long reach has really impacted life in Norfolk. Those armed checkpoints at the roundabouts are a real drag, not to mention the machine gun nest in gazebo on the town hill. I hear that in the woods between MCI Norfolk and Walpole, there's a secret detention facility for the those who are against the Patriot Act. The CIA has been using the old municipal airport to fly offenders in at night for transfer to this clandestine camp...
    - DA

  • 1/18 12:34am   I was discussing politics the other day, and the notion of "freedom" came up. This started me thinking about the difference between "free" and "non-free" societies.
    Communism as practiced in Eastern Europe, with which I have more than a passing familiarity, was a system with a unitary executive, and the ruling party enjoying a permanent majority in the legislature. The courts were staffed by hand-picked loyal party members, and access to the system was controlled by powerful quid-pro-quo network not unlike the K Street Project. Domestic surveillance was wide-spread, national identity papers were mandatory, and police checkpoints were commonplace. All to better protect the citizenry from the nation's enemies, of course.
    Thinking back over the headlines of the past eight years, it's startling how ordinary, even sought-after, these abhorrent anti-freedom concepts have become. One might have thought that all American organizations would struggle against the very concept. It is sad irony that it was the supposedly freedom-loving conservative political party that re-discovered and is instituting these radical instruments of control and oppression.
    Then again, maybe Karl Rove wouldn't have found Communism all that bad. Very effective at what it did -- making the ruling elite richer.
    The new Red party -- not your father's riff-raff. Come election time, be careful what you wish for, you might get it. The line between liberty and tyranny is a subtle one.
    - AR

  • 1/13 11:06pm   AL - Don't worry, Governor Patrick pledged property tax relief for towns and cities. Ooops, I forgot - he's currently too busy to address that campaign pledge because he's trying to circumvent the legislature and the will of the people by investigating ways to offer a tuition break at state colleges for illegal (I'm sorry - the euphemism is "undocumented") immigrants.
    - DA

  • 1/10 11:52pm     Today's Boston Herald includes a story on Gov. Patrick investigating a way of unilaterally instituting (aka circumventing the will of the the people and our elected representatives) a tuition break for illegal immigrants attending state colleges. Is anyone else outraged at this?? How about a state tax break for my 529 Plan contributions earmarkded for my daughters' future college costs?
    - DA

  • 1/8 6:33pm     I feel a profound sense of deja vu with the meteoric rise of Obama. It's playing out like Deval's "Together We Can" campaign - lots of nebulous rhetoric with little substance (What has the gov. accomplished to date? Has anyone received that promised property tax relief?) Obama is certainly an affable, positive candidate, but like the old Wendy's commercial - "Where's the beef?" I fear it's in the form of a whopper (I know I'm mixing fast food metaphors here!) tax increase to "feed the beast" of his liberal agenda. I'm still befuddled by the rejection of the most experienced Democratic candidates - especially Joe Biden. On that note, Hillary's experience pales in comparison even to Bill Richardson's. Her dreams of being the next Evita Peron seem to be fading fast... "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"!
    - DA

  • 1/8 2:28pm     I'd like to know if BO and JE have made a deal... I'm loving their strategy - beheading the Queen (at least she thinks she is) ...thoughts anyone?
    - PC

  • 1/7 9:07pm   HRB - You raise some good points. I think we're going to learn over the next day or so that Giuliani was briefly married to himself in 2005.
    - PA

  • 1/7 7:56pm   To PA: Please don't tell my wife that the object of the game is to "control (your) husband" ! Certainly the Clinton's have at least a tiny edge on some GOP candidates in that they have each been married once (to each other). That gives pause (or should) to McCain's tawdry divorce. And Fred Thompson's and Rudy Giuliani's marital histories--how can we even mention them? And I know enough about the Book of Mormon to know that Mitt Romney's wife doesn't "control" him. So where does that leave us? Janet Huckabee doesn't "control" Mike. Not Biblical. Ron Paul, maybe? Who knows? I'm not supporting Hillary, but your post suggests that marriage counseling might be a helpful option.
    - HRB

  • 1/7 7:53pm   PA: Is one really meant to "control" one's spouse? How frightening!
    - TC

  • 1/6 10:35pm   Two random thoughts.
    #1 - I can't believe for a second that Roger Clemens had no knowledge his close friend (and former team-mate) Andy Pettitte was using HGH.
    #2 - How can we expect Hillary to run our country when she can hardly control her spouse?
    - PA

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