Spin Spin Spin!

I admit it, and I always have. McCain has more experience than Obama. In this argument McCain wins.

So why would his running mate Palin bash Obama's running mate Biden for his experience? So to McCain experience is a good thing, but for Palin it is not?

McCain and Palin CANNOT be serious, can they? Do they not realize that they are contradicting each other, and in effect belittling their own arguments?

This has just gotten ridiculous.

The First Debate

In case you haven't seen it. I suggest watching it on Hulu, which is an excellent and free website.
The Vice Presidential debate will be on Thursday.

McCain Suspends Campaign

McCain yesterday suspended his campaign, supposedly canceling TV ads, and asking for a rescheduling of the debate on Friday, in order to go to Washington and get his hands in on the bailout bill action. He called for Obama to do the same, and Obama replied that he would do anything asked of him to help push a bill, but he did not see a reason to suspend his campaign. Regarding the possible cancellation of the debate, Obama said that at times like this it is even MORE important to listen to the candidates.

Later in the day yesterday, Bush invited both of the candidates to come to Washington to speak with him. It looked like a political move to reinforce McCain's decision, but as I type this Obama, McCain, Bush, and congressmen are meeting and drafting a new bailout bill.

Last night McCain was supposed to appear on the Late Show, but he called and canceled at the last minute, saying it was urgent that he fly to Washington immediately. David Letterman, while still taping his show (without McCain), soon found out that McCain was not flying to Washington, but at that moment was preparing for an appearance on CBS. Here is the humorous antics from last night's Late Show.

Palin's Pastor

I am not one to discriminate against someone due to religion, and it is definitely not something I base my vote on.

However Obama had a lot of negative coverage because of his pastor, but what is not getting very much media coverage at all is Palin's pastor, a man who got where he is today by chasing a woman out of a town in Africa and accusing her of witchcraft.

Why two different standards? Good question. But here is my attempt to expose the pastor that isn't getting anywhere near as much coverage as Obama's was.

Olbermann, one of the few who is actually covering this story.


Actual footage of Palin being blessed.

Sarah Palin CBS Interview

Just uh....judge for yourself.

Campbell Brown on Sexism, Again

Campbell Brown is kind of contradicting herself from her previous shrill comment, but she went the right direction in my opinion.



Palin didn't really talk much substance with the foreign leaders. The bigger news of the day was President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking in front of the UN, taking questions from press, and undergoing an interview with Larry King. More on that later.

Sometimes It Takes A Tragedy

It is sad but true. Pakistan learned the hard way when a car bomb killed 53 and wounded 266. They are now vowing to take action against militants.

Hopefully they will do what I have hoped they would for so long, and share intelligence in order to take out the threat once and for all.

The United States cannot win the "War on Terror" (whatever that may actually be, but that's for another day) alone.

Article at BBC News: Pakistan to target rebel hotspots

Biden's Speech in Wooster, Ohio

I didn't know Biden could spin a good yarn nearly as well as Obama.

Of course this speech doesn't have much specifics, but these days in politics, if it isn't an attack on the opponent, it is worth listening to.

There is a debate on CNN this coming Friday. It's the first real debate between Obama and McCain. Hopefully we can get specifics from both sides then.

What is a Lie?

When I began to really pay attention to politics, I was surprised by how much lying was going back and forth. Or at least they appeared to be lies in my eyes.

However, apparently lies are assessed and treated differently in politics. Is "stretching the truth" a lie? Seemingly not so in politics, such as when Sarah Palin claims she sold a jet on Ebay. It actually never sold while it was on Ebay. Is quoting something out of context a lie? Apparently not.

This isn't even the biggest problem. There are also real, indisputable classic lies out there too. For example, the spam e-mails about Obama being a muslim. This is an absolute lie, yet many people in America still believe it. McCain claims Obama will raise taxes for everybody, and he will reduce them for everybody. These are both lies. Obama "plans" to drop taxes for the middle class, and only raise them among the rich. McCain "plans" to renew and possibly extend the "Bush tax cuts" which only apply to the wealthy.

But how do we respond to these lies? Dedicated sources will often dig up the truth for us, but must we rely on this? And what about those of us who don't research enough to be able to filter through the lies?

It seems in politics, you can lie about nearly anything you want. There are apparently almost no negative reprocussions. While a dedicated news network may debunk your lie, others may support it. If you say the lie in a highly televised way (like a debate or a campaign ad) the odds are good that the lie will reach so many people that there is a very low probability that all of those people will learn that the statement was a lie.

For example if I said that Obama was actually Indian, not African American during a campaign commercial, I may get 10 million viewers who see that. Now lets assume half of them are already dedicated Obama supporters and know better, but I still told a lie that 5 million people had no reason to doubt. The next day the ad is a main topic on CNN and MSNBC, and they both debunk the lie. However, not everyone in the US who watches primetime standard channels (where an ad is likely) also watch 24 hour news networks. Lets be generous and say 3 million people who would have believed the lie see it debunked. That still leaves 2 million people who believe a lie.

But what can we do about it? I think alot of people just check it off as one of those annoying things about politics, and if both sides do it then who really cares? The reason it is important is because we tend to hold our elected officials up to a higher moral standard than usual. Just ask Bill Clinton about that. If we allow them to use dirty and immoral tricks to get elected, and just pass that off as a "political standard," what does that say about us?

If we truely believed that lies were a regular part of politics, why would we ever believe anything that came out of a candidate's mouth? That is why it is so important that candidates are truthful, but just as important that we research for ourselves everything they say.

Nukes Part 8

The UN nuclear watchdog has said that there are "no credible assurances" that Iran is only using it's nuclear program for civilian purposes.

I have in the past been reluctant to criticize Iran. In my eyes they simply wanted civilian nuclear power like the rest of us, and from my experience treating someone like an enemy can do nothing but create that enemy. However as I have said before, I don't think Iran would be hurting itself at all by allowing full disclosure, especially if this is indeed just a civilian operation.

The US is considering tightening sanctions.

UN nuclear agency criticizes Iran