If you look back on the last eight years of American government and its effect on not on the U.S. populace, but the world in general it is really easy to put the blame all on the shoulders of George W. Bush. But that would be an overly simplistic view of the situations that the Village Idiot has created.

The truth, as I see it, is that the true blame falls at the feet of a group of people that should have kept themselves clear of being involved at all.....

The United States Supreme Court!

When SCOTUS got involved in the Florida recount situation, instead of staying out of it and allowing the state to take care of its own problems, they did no one any favors except George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The world is in arrears in so many ways and it is all because the Supreme Court, for the first time in American history......CHOSE the winner of a presidential election, and crowned Bush and Cheney "Dictators-in-Chief".

If you look back on the last eight years of American government and its effect on not on the U.S. populace, but the world in general it is really easy to put the blame all on the shoulders of George W. Bush. But that would be an overly simplistic view of the situations that the Village Idiot has created.

The truth, as I see it, is that the true blame falls at the feet of a group of people that should have kept themselves clear of being involved at all.....

The United States Supreme Court!

When SCOTUS got involved in the Florida recount situation, instead of staying out of it and allowing the state to take care of its own problems, they did no one any favors except George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The world is in arrears in so many ways and it is all because the Supreme Court, for the first time in American history......CHOSE the winner of a presidential election, and crowned Bush and Cheney "Dictators-in-Chief".

We donâ��t need politicians with ideas imported that are more pertinent else where, nor the self-serving blue dogs nor red dogs dogmas though there is need for proactive Democratic Party presence. A proactive Democratic Party presence that is not confined but is regional and permanent in nature which will not be achieved with any short term approach.   Read More »

Dean on What's the Matter With Oklahoma, Post-Bush Truth and Reconciliation
by Glenna Goldis
The New York Observer
November 12, 2008
1 hour, 37 minutes ago
[Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:55 pm EST]
http://www.observer.com/2008/dean-whats-matter-oklahoma-post-bush-truth-and-reconciliation
or
http://tinyurl.com/DeanOnOklahoma

“What are we going to do about Oklahoma?" an audience member asked Howard Dean last night at the 92nd Street Y on the Upper East Side.

Actually, Dean explained, Oklahoma is a lot like New York. "But New Yorkers are quicker on their feet about cognitive dissonance."

Everyone picks a candidate according to his or her instincts but coastal types rationalize it better than others. "We're all values voters,” he said. Also, though, "I don't know when we're going to win Oklahoma."

The former Vermont governor, who recently announced he would stepping down as chair of the Democratic National Committee after a second successful election cycle, gave a brief speech and then fielded audience questions read by a moderator.

Most of his remarks addressed strategy, for example advising Democrats to declare their anti-poverty, pro-fairness values proudly. On matters of policy, he did what chairmen do, relentlessly plugging President-elect Barack Obama's plans.

---
complete copyrighted story at link above

This old Texas Clinton Democrat is on top of the world right now!

The emotions that started on election night when I was listening to President-elect Barack Obama give his victory speech, has turned into nothing short of complete euphoria! I walk with a little more pep in my step. I smile more than I have in....well.....EIGHT YEARS. I even have learned to be a little more tolerant of Republicans....at least for the moment.

To realize that I am 'mature' enough to have been able to experience in my lifetime John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama winning the White House is a very satisfying feeling.

And even though the original meaning of it really had nothing to do with race......to have been born and raised in a community that used to have a 'Welcome' sign at the train station that said "Welcome to Greenville, The Blackest Land and the Whitest People", this is such an exciting, important and historic moment. Not to mention being old enough to have experienced separate water fountains, restrooms, and entrances to doctor's offices (assuming that the white doctor even treated blacks).

I have never been prouder of my country or my party!!! We made history! Not simply because we finally elected an African-American president. But more because Barack Obama IS what this country and the entire world, for that matter, need at this time in history.

With the mess that George W. Bush has left every aspect of life here and around the world in, the need for the most powerful leadership position in the history of the planet to be filled by an inclusive, intelligent, compassionate and focused individual is more imperative than it has ever been or most likely will be in the forseeable future.

The American people, by way of the Democratic Party, have delivered the right man at the right time.

God Bless America!

Not too long ago, for the first time I stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and looked out over the reflecting pool, thinking of what Dr. Martin Luther King must have been thinking as he told hundreds of thousands of Americans about his 'dream' for our country. I stood there completely engrossed in my thoughts, as I remembered listening to him and how inspiring he was. And there was never more of a 'son-of-the-Confereracy' than me. I am very proud of my ancestors sacrifices not only during The Civil War, but also during The American Revolution and The Texas Revolution.

But I have never been MORE proud than I am tonight. A little more than 140 years after the end of the Civil War, I watched an African-American become the 44th President of The United States of America. When I was growing up in the 1960's, nothing of this sort was even dared to be dreamed of.

But truly, it has been proven tonight that ANYONE REALLY CAN BECOME PRESIDENT. The election of Barack Obama to the presidency is not only an achievement for the African-American youth of this country....but for ALL of America's youth!

I was so wishing that Daddy had lived to see this. I have been sad when he wasn't around to see the Berlin Wall felled and the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union. But THIS? The man who made me into the Democrat AND the American that I am, would have loved to have seen this moment. But I also believe that he, Dr. King, LBJ, JFK and RFK, along with so many that have gone before, are looking down and smiling right now.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

And GOD BLESS BARACK OBAMA, 44th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!

As I was watching President Clinton campaigning in Florida for Barack Obama, I was seriously awe struck.

Two of the greatest political minds and two of the greatest political orators in a generation...speaking intelligently about, not only the plight of America, but also in the future of our country and the world. And what it would take to pull America back up within the world community as THE leader for democracy and freedom. The shining beacon of hope for the downtrodden within not only our society, but worldwide.

And then I got to thinking about the last eight years. A president of shallow character, even shallower thinking and with absolutely no ability to see the American people as the backbone of everything that makes The United States of America great! A 'leader' who never lead....only followed. A president who put us in the international 'backseat' of concern for others. A commander-in-chief who became the biggest terrorist, torturer and mass murderer since the fall of 'Iron Curtain' in Europe. A man who indiscremently ordered the killing of thousands of innocent Iraqis under the guise of 'freeing' them.

After which I realized just how great this country is, and how resilient The Founding Fathers so aptly created this experiment, that we could come thru such horrible times as "The W Years", and still be able to find public servants like Barack Obama that has the brains and compassion and GUTS to take on such a mess, and to do it with such calming and precise reasoning and thinking.

God Bless America..............

For the moment, lets go past the fact that John McCain's $5000 tax credit to 'offset' health insurance costs and get to what I consider the REAL meat of the problem.

If you cannot, right now, afford health insurance then how does this help, even if it WAS enough to get the job done?

WHERE ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET THE $5000 FOR HEALTH INSURANCE IN THE FIRST PLACE???

Much less wait until the next year's tax refund to get it back!!!

Tax credits are delayed reimbursement for money these people who do not have the means to pay for it anyway!!

Just wondering........

I believe that the ultimate showing of how much the country's mood has changed, would be to place within the concerts at Barack's inaugural......The Dixie Chicks!

But, that's just me...........

It would seem to me that the Bush Administration would want to actually do something RIGHT before they actually are FINALLY put out to pasture. But here we go again...give big money MORE big money while at the same time, members of their own party are calling the American people...."whiners"!

If this bailout really is the only way out of this mess, I just believe that a couple of ground rules should be required. Starting with the help that the Democrats are trying to get for the actual homeowners. But I also think that some kind of repayment should be required from the CEO's and the boards of directors at these institutions that caused and profited from this mess.

First, the government should move, maybe under the RICO laws (I obviously am not a lawyer, but I have seen Law & Order), to take possession of all assets built up by these people during the time in question.....meaning the last 6 years or so.

Second, I believe that in addition to 'bailing them out', the government should move to take control of every one of these companies until, if ever, they reach the point of complete solvancy. And in doing so, fire the boards and all corporate officers.....the same ones they have just been required to make repayment by the claiming all of their assets.

This would probably bring most, if not everyone of them, into the midst of us in the MIDDLE CLASS!

And then maybe....just maybe.....they might see the evil of their ways, and start voting DEMOCRATIC when they realize that the only American political party that gives two hoots about them NOW....is the DEMOCRATIC PARTY!

Finally, the media, the American people in general and most American women specifically have finally figured out what most of us have known all along......the 'bounce' for the other ticket went up....and is now on its way down.

Most Americans have known all along that John McCain is such a bad idea and not just because of the 'new' positions he discovered right after George W. Bush pulled an early version of 'swiftboating' of him in 2000. They also are showing some concerns about his age and health. And what is making them start to have concerns about these issues? His ignorant, political choice of Sarah Palin as his VP running-mate.

They looked pretty good together, but then they started to be seen apart. She is a speaker....and he isn't. And it just MAGNIFIES HIS WEAKNESS in this area. She is fairly young.....and he isn't. And it just MAGNIFIES HIS WEAKNESS in THIS area, also.

And THEN, they realize just how empty-headed Palin is.....and how frail John McCain may really get after he takes the most pressure-filled job in the history of the world.....and how if he DIDN'T survive his first term, the most powerful person in the world would all of a sudden be....RUNNER-UP TO MISS ALASKA 1982!!!

Plus, the more we hear from her, the more she sounds like her biggest experience in life WAS her years as a beauty contest participant.

But I feel the best about this. Barack Obama has decided to handle her properly.....IGNOR HER!! Sarah Palin is a major LIGHTWEIGHT!! Why raise her up to YOUR level by acknowledging ANYTHING that she has to say?

And what is the result of this shift in campaign actions and thinking?

A TURN AROUND IN THE POLLS!! Granted, I STILL believe that the polls are fatally flawed this time due to the large number of new, young Obama voters being ignored because they have cell phones and not land lines....AND because their 'models' are flawed because they can't take into account the extremely high numbers of new DEMOCRATIC voters this year.

I always felt the American public, in general anyway, was not going to continue to fall behind McCain/Bush/Cheney/Palin...and would wake up and 'pay attention to the men (and woman) behind the curtain.


But then again....what the hell do I know?????

There you go. Now, those who have never voted before, as well as those who shifted to the right as independents the last two presidential elections, and Democrats who haven't been going to the polls because they live in a 'red' state, "so what's the use?".....now you can see the kind of results you allow when you decide not to get involved, or you believe that a president that you'd "like to have a beer with" is the best way to choose your government officials. We have had 8 years of deception, incompetence, bowing to the oil companies and a pretense that The Constitution of the United States of America is just one of those pieces of paper that means absolutely nothing....even if you swore on a Bible to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God".

Now we see the financial markets collapsing like most of us have never seen in our lives. And Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, is using the exact same words that Republican President Herbert Hoover used at the beginning of the Great Depression, "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." You want to talk about infamous last words?

We have watched the oil companies thrive with record profits, at the expense of the American consumer at all levels. Not just the gas pumps, but in food, produce, beef, school supplies, energy costs (such as electricity) and the overall cost of living. This while the real income of American families has dropped significantly since the beginning of the Republican takeover of the government back in 2001. And what has our Republican Congressman Ralph Hall been doing about it. Throwing rose pedals at the feet of big oil with quotes like, "I can't understand the pure venom felt against the oil and gas industry". This after voting against bills that allowed tax-credits for solar energy and a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for electricity production. And he was one of only 26 Republicans to vote against them. He also told the Dallas Morning News that he had to run against to protect the causes of the "fossil fuel industry?. Also, our Texas Republican Senators have been doing their part to prop up all of George W. Bush's special interests.

The Treasury Department reported earlier this month that the first 11 months of this budget year, that the defict was $483.4 billion, which was an increase of 76.2% over the same period a year ago. And remember, the Iraq War is 'off-budget', meaning it isn't even included in the deficit. And the Congressional Budget Office says, that depending on troop levels and the length of time we stay there, the overall cost, and remember it's 'off-budget', will be $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the long run. And with Republican accounting, this hocus pocus is supposed to just be invisible to the American public, in hopes that if you don't understand the truth, you won't bother to throw the bums out of office, as they so richly deserve.

And where do the 'hawkish' neo-con Republicans get all of this money? Communist China!!! Yep...Red China. The very people that the Republican Party wanted to make sure that we knew were so scary, that their hero Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy went on a witch hunt, in the 1950's to find them in the U.S.! And because the communists have the money we need, because we can't afford a war that we actually started, while ignoring the Afghanistan War which was supposed to be the way to completely irradicate The Taliban, Osama bin Laden and his band of merry men who actually attacked us on 9/11.

So, independents and past non-voters and anyone else who continued to trust the Republican government who made the Congress nearly irrelevant while attempting to scare the public into submission (a tactic that worked to the detriment of a country in Europe in the 1930's and 40's), if you really think that this is what America is supposed to be about, continue just as they hope you do.

Otherwise, why not join The Hunt County Democratic Party, as well as the Texas Democratic Party, and work on cleaning house of these self-absorbed, in the pocket of Big Oil, surrogates for Saudi Arabia and the other OPEC countries, who have proven over and over that they believe they can do anything they want, because the American people are too busy to really pay any attention.

Too busy, maybe, until recently.

I guess that the reason that I have always been a Democrat is that I have never made enough money to be able to afford to vote Republican. Plus, I don't even drink, so having a beer with George W. Bush never appealed to me.........

Check out www.democrats.org, or www.barackobama.com or www.txdemocrats.org and read our answers to the issues. Check out the voting records of our candidates, and see if they don't relate to your life situation, than the alternatives.

But more than anything, I want to urge everyone to get involved. Democrat, Republican, Independent, it doesn't matter. American's need to be involved and quit letting such small groups of people choose what your life is going to be like over the next 4 years. At the very least....vote!! A democracy only works correctly when the citizenry demands it work. And that starts at the voting booth. If more get involved, the government becomes more representative of those that are being represented. Otherwise, a very small minority controls the lives of the majority......and that is exactly what that small minority is always betting on.

Sincerely,
Cato Meador

Thanks for all of the prayers and messages of support for my family during and after Hurricane Ike. Friends on PB are always caring and concerned.....thanks.

Up here, we just got raked a little in North Texas......50 mi NE of Dallas.

My son escaped Corpus Christi.....which was missed.....and got to his in-laws in East Texas...only to have to deal with some flooding and power outages. He and his wife arrived safely back in Corpus early Sunday evening.

My big brother and his wife (from Galveston) and their two daughters and their families (from Port Arthur) seem to be stuck up here with my younger brother for an undetermined amount of time. His house, on Galveston Island, was checked by someone who stayed behind (and survived, obviously) and appears to be fine. Water got very close to his front door but not in. There is a chance, though, that some may have come in the back door, but no one thinks it will be too bad.

Not sure about my nieces places yet, and my friend in Houston made it through, about 40 mi north of the city, but still doesn't have power, and can't get back to her own house yet.

Thanks for caring, and now it's time to go kick some McCain/Palin BUTT!!!

Cato

Sometimes, things come along in life that make you really understand what is important. Watching the southern part of my native Texas getting ravaged by Hurricane Ike is one of those times.

My son lives in Corpus Christi....he made it up to East Texas where his inlaws are. My big brother lives on Galveston Island and he and his wife came up here to NE Texas to safety. And their two daughters who live in Port Arthur are also safely up here.

One of my dearest friends, her name is Karen, lives south of Houston and went north to her son's home, but they are STILL only 40 miles north of the city. For her, I am very concerned. We have passed a couple of emails, and so far she is fine (they bought a generator). But that hasn't eased my concerns very much. I am praying that God watches over her and keeps her safe, so that I can pick at her about her political leanings for years to come.

But, what will be left of my brother's 60 year old colonial style home after the water recedes? It IS just stuff...but it is 40 years of a life left behind.

On top of that, it is expected that by the time Ike reaches here, northeast of Dallas, it will STILL be at least a tropical storm. Talk about something we are not used to around HERE.......

Pray for all on the coast, especially for the 90,000 that chose, for whatever silly reason, to remain on Galveston Island, and cannot be rescued.....several calls have been coming into authorities to come and help them....but for now that is impossible.

By the way, check out my play site.... www.myspace.com/texian1

You might get a smile out of it......

Watching this air-head try to go one-on-one with Charlie Gibson, who showed no quarter with the former runner-up to Miss Alaska 1982, just fortifies my opinion that this woman has NO business being in the position that John McCain has put her in.

She couldn't, not wouldn't...couldn't, give straight answers to Gibson's questions because she hasn't got a CLUE as to what the job of Vice President entails! How could someone who has ALWAYS been such a patriot and national hero, risk putting the country he has always loved, to a Sarah Palin catastrophe of Biblical proportions?

She actually is less informed than George W. Bush was (and still is) about world problems and the complexities of international relations involving the United States! WHAT WAS HE THINKING???

The only thing scarier than that to me, is the group of independents that like to call themselves 'Hillary supporters', willing to vote for McCain/Palin, against the will of Bill and Hillary Clinton.....whom I have always supported, and did so in the primary. When THEY tell me that Obama/Biden is the ONLY option for America at this time in history.....I FALL IN LINE BEHIND THEM, as I have always done. WHY? Because I trust them to not lead me down a path of destruction.......and thus is the reasoning behind the thoughts of this Clintonian Democrat.

Charlie Gibson exposed Princess Palin for what she really is.....an empty skirt of a small town mayor. And thus exposing John McCain as what he has become since 2000.....a man who is willing to throw away every patriotic principle he has ever had, to win an election.

Can you imagine what the Republican women (and men) would be saying about any Democratic woman who had Palin's experience, knowledge and opinions? But there she is......the centerfold for "Republican Women's Monthly", who can do no wrong.....walk on water.....and is supposed to be treated, by her opponents, like the lady that Republican's refused to treat Hillary Clinton for years!

The Republican Party has NEVER been as hypocritical as they are RIGHT NOW!!!

And THAT is saying something.........

Barack Obama is making a huge mistake by trying to take on Princess Sarah Palin, and getting off the message that has carried him this far. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton found out that you could get into his head and flumux him. Palin is following the same recipe.

The difference is....HILLARY WAS HIS EQUAL ON THE BALLOT!! Palin is a VP candidate who has been mayor of a town smaller than Quinlan, Texas....just trust me on this one. Governor of a state, for less than two years, with a population smaller than the population of the City of Austin, Texas. And being so religiously and culturally conservative as to make George W. Bush look nearly moderate. She was the runner-up to Miss Alaska 1982!

SHE DOES NOT DESERVE to be raised UP to Obama's level by his own acts. He HAS to get back on message, and just pound away at John McCain. If he would do so, he will FORCE McCain to come out from behind Palin's apron strings, and answer for his OWN actions.

Barack, QUIT letting McCain off the hook by getting into media spats with the Ice Queen! Let Joe Biden prove her lack of qualification to be Vice President, both in the media and at the debate.......he is more than capable of putting this low ball, nobody of a politician in her place!

If he does not do this......he will be doing what I have been afraid of all the way through this cycle...before we knew who our nominee would be!

HE WILL BE BEATING HIMSELF!! McCain can't do it...and neither can Palin or any other Republican.

Self-destruction is so easy to do when you act like you have thin skin.

If you notice, every woman at the GOP convention that is singing the praises of Sarah Palin......of what I have seen EVERY ONE OF THEM......is MANY MORE TIMES MORE QUALIFIED THAN THE WOMAN THEY ARE TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN AMERICA'S THROAT!!

And yet....THEY were looked over for the runner-up Miss Alaska 1982!!

This goes so far beyond bizarre.............

It would seem to me, that John McCain couldn't have found a running mate better suited for a GOP ticket, than Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
First, if it turns out that her youngest child is actually her daughter's.....then she is a LIAR.

Second, as someone who is an advocate for 'abstainence only' sex education and still believes that it works after her own daughter has been pregnant out of wedlock at LEAST once, if not twice....then she is a HYPOCRITE.

Third, being the type of VP nominee that scares the beejeesus out of people who contemplate her one heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on Earth.....following the likes of Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle and Spiro Agnew....she MEASURES UP.

And fourth, being a Republican politician who is under investigation for ABUSE OF POWER.....hell, she is just another "The Constitution and the laws don't apply to me" REPUBLICAN!!

Short of Ann Coulter......SHE IS THE PERFECT FIT!!

It would seem, as I have written earlier, that the polls are incorrect due to under-polling of the new voting blocks that Barack Obama has brought to the table.

It would also seem that the Republicans are doing their best to continue George W. Bush's direction...for their party......straight off the cliff!

We have seen that McCain having ONE meeting and ONE phone call with the runner-up for Miss Alaska 1982 wasn't anymore telling than Bush's first meeting with Putin when he "looked into eyes and saw deep into his soul" and KNEW that he could trust him!!

A new out-of-wedlock pregnancy in this right-wing Christian, let-US-tell-you-how-to-live-your-life Republican family, along with a good chance it wasn't the first one, since evidence points to the youngest Palin child, may have been the daughter's anyway might be helping them completely devolve into the chaos that Bush/Cheney pictured for the GOP nearly 8 years ago. Throw in the investigation of Ms. Palin in Alaska, and the word now that her husband had a DUI arrest several years ago, and you would think that we could just WALTZ Barack and Michelle right into the front door of the White House.

But, fellow Democrats, as I have been saying for MONTHS now....the ONLY way we can lose this election is to BEAT OURSELVES!!! And we MUST NOT sit on our laurels and allow the next Bush presidency to become reality and completely destroy what is left of our Constitution!!

We cannot drop our guard, and get soft on the issues, the phone calls, the door knocking or the donations. And for SURE we cannot let up on the blogging, because sometimes it is the only place where one can ever find the complete truth!!

Barack and Joe NEED OUR HELP, no matter HOW much the GOP'ers want to rock us to sleep by completely self-destructing.

I want this country back on the right track, and it can only happen if WE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

How does that sound??