Furthermore, I believe that Justice Sotomayor was relating to the process she uses to evolve her decisions as appropriately as conceivably possible to the needs of the society in which she represents. Her life history will allow her to think of other criteria in which a white male may not consider when assessing the facts of a legal case.
Justice Sotomayor is absolutely correct in relating to her individual history in assisting her dissemination of facts related to her decision making process.
I believe that this is the message that needs to come out of the White House regarding their excellent choice for the Supreme court.
Jack's Back Read More »
Our first choice is obvious. Fox News wins the first 2008 villain slot for their disinformation campaign against ACORN. The efforts of Fox News to provide political cover for Republican efforts at voter suppression during the 2008 elections were, in the opinion of Democratic Talk Radio, the lowest thing ever done by Fox News.
The second winner for 2008 political villain is George McGovern. Fans of Democratic Talk Radio may be surprised by this choice. Frankly, we never expected to be giving a former Democratic Presidential candidate a villain of the year award. However, McGovern has lent his name to the Right-Wing, corporate effort to undermine workers’ right to unionize. George McGovern has allied himself with the anti-worker efforts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. His TV commercials are frankly an open act on working Americans. McGovern has disgraced himself by joining with the most anti-working class political forces in America and misleading the American public on the nature of the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Senate Republicans out to destroy the American auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are our third villainous winners. Senator Corker of Tennessee, Senator Shelby of Alabama, Senator McConnell of Kentucky, Senator Vitter of Louisiana and their fellow Senate Republicans put the interests of foreign corporations over the interests of the American economy. Since all were opposed by the United Auto Workers in previous elections because of their militantly anti-worker voting records, their efforts are obviously motivated by personal political considerations that directly undermine the national interest. These Senate Republicans have sided with foreign companies to drive down the wages and healthcare benefits of American workers.
The hero of the year selected by Democratic Talk Radio is Al Franken. The American nation should be delighted at his political courage and determination. By insisting that all the votes be counted in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, Franken has set a good example for all candidates running for office and for American voters. American Democracy has been strengthened by his resolve.
Al Franken will be a great asset should he eventually prevail when all the votes are finally counted. Norm Coleman has been very aggressive in his attempts to undermine a free and fair counting of the ballots.
For more information, contact Stephen Crockett at 443-907-2367.
Video: White House Mum Following US Raid Into Syria
What? why is this not being talk about by obama
Obama Votes Present on US Attack on al Qaeda in Syria
Do I really have to vote for this guy. Can I just have Biden.
Fair TaxThe complexity and distortions of the federal tax code produces distributions of tax incidence and payroll tax burdens that are skewed in favor of the wealthy and the corporations further garnished by tax shelters, insufficient enforcement and other avoidances. Continue reading ... 
Federal BudgetThe United States needs a redirected federal budget that adequately funds crucial priorities like infrastructure, transit and other public works, schools, clinics, libraries, forests, parks, sustainable energy and pollution controls. Continue reading ... 
Jail Time Not Bail Time - Stop the BailoutIn late September, Senator Obama said to the Democrats – vote for the bailout. Senator McCain said to the Republicans – vote for the bailout. President Bush said to the Congress – vote for the bailout. But the American people were fed up. They told their members of Congress – if you vote for the bailout, we will vote against you. Continue reading ... 
JobsSince January 2001, 2.7 million jobs have been lost and more than 75% of those jobs have been high wage, high productivity, manufacturing jobs. Overall 5.6% of Americans are unemployed while 10.5% of African Americans are unemployed. Unemployment among Latinos is nearly 30 per cent higher than January 20, 2001. Continue reading ... 
PovertyAs the wealthiest country in the world, with high productivity per capita, a country that produces an abundance of capital, credit, technology and food, we can end poverty. Yet, according to the Bureau of the Census, poverty and hunger for children and adults is increasing rather than decreasing -- 34.6 million Americans lived in deep poverty, 12.1% of the U.S. population. Continue reading ... 
Worker's RightsThe rights of workers have been on the decline. It is time to reverse that trend and begin to give workers, the backbone of the US economy, the rights they deserve. Workers need a living wage not a minimum wage; access to health care and no unilateral reductions in medical benefits and pensions for current employees and retirees. Employers should not be able to avoid these benefits by hiring temporary workers or independent contractors. Continue reading ... 
Electoral ReformOur democracy is in a descending crisis. Voter turnout is among the lowest in the western world, and America ranks in the bottom three of countries that hold free elections. The reasons for this democracy crisis are many: Redistricting ensures very few incumbents are at risk in one-party districts, and paperless voting machines call into question whether every vote is being counted. Barriers to full participation of candidates proliferate, making it very obstructive for third party and Independent candidates to run. These problems silence alternative viewpoints and decrease voter confidence. Continue reading ... 
Media BiasThe mass media in the United States is extremely concentrated, and the messages that they send are too broadly uniform. Six global corporations control more than half of all mass media in our country: newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television. Our democracy is being swamped by the confluence of money, politics and concentrated media. Continue reading ... 
Shift the PowerThe three documents below provide the "tools of democracy" that shift the power so people can regain control of their government, empower themselves as consumers, and strengthen themselves as workers. Without the facilities making it easy for Americans to band together to develop organizations with staff and budget to protect their interests, workers, consumers, and voters have few ways to challenge those organized for other purposes - for example, corporations organized with contrary policies and demands. Continue reading ... Read More »I immediately called the wife of James Yetman, the union construction worker whose family was facing the loss of their home, at their house. She explained that James was already on the job. She gave me his cell phone number. As I fired up my coffee pot and started dialing James Yetman, I looked at my clock. It was 6:45am. I thought to myself, “How can a working man already on the job at this hour be facing foreclosure?”
I already knew the answer. James had a wife who was unable to work because of a uncurable serious chronic health condition and because she was nearly 8 months pregnant. She had 5 children from a previous marriage when she married James. They had 3 more together (not counting the one on the way at that time). James had been out of work for an extended length of time during the winter. Fuel, food, medical, insurance and heating expenses had exploded during the past year. They were being squeezed from every direction.
They had been victims of a mortgage that I had viewed as predatory when I examined it. It was certainly more than they could afford on their income. They had not had many options other than agreeing to the lenders terms since it is almost impossible to find landlords willing to rent to such a large family. Section 8 housing had been severely underfunded by the Bush White House and their Republican allies in Congress. They were going to get no help from the Bush Administration. Maybe, just maybe, Biden might be able to help.
I managed to get James on the phone as I sipped on my first cup of coffee. I had great difficulty getting him to agree to meet Senator Biden. James did not want to miss the hours of work. He needed the money. This was before Senator Biden had been selected as the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. James finally relented when I told him that Biden was on a banking committee in the US Senate and was his best chance of keeping his home.
James checked with his boss and called me back after getting approval to leave for the meeting with Biden. I picked him up from his job site in Newark, Delaware. We drove to Wilmington, Delaware to meet Biden at Angelo’s Luncheonette. We arrived a little early.
Angelo’s is a really small, working class neighborhood establishment with excellent and inexpensive food. I was surprised that the Senator would pick a place like this to meet. It had no reporters hanging around nor the usual political crowd that frequent the kind of public places where I had normally met other political figures in the past. I liked it immediately.
I had ordered lunch for James and myself when three of the leaders of Laborers Local 199 walked in the door. They were Business Manager William Carter, Vice President James Maravelias and Business Agent Toby Lamb. They explained that they were there to show their support for the union member facing foreclosure.
They were very concerned about the plight of the family. I understood their position. Non-union members often do not understand that members of the union movement really do consider each other as members of the same union “family.” We call each other brothers and sisters. The really active members and the leaders really mean it!
We were all finishing our lunch together when Biden arrived. He had his sister Valerie with him and several staff members. I was really surprised that no press were in attendance although one of the staffers had a camera. We persuaded the staffer to take some photos. I am really glad they did since many friends of the Yetman family refused to believe the story about the meeting without the photos.
There were maybe another ten customers and workers in Angelo’s Luncheonette besides the five of us from labor. Biden gave everyone considerable personal time and attention before talking to us.
Everyone wanted their photo taken with Biden. Most had personal stories to share or previous personal meetings to discuss with the Senator. It was easy to see that Biden was at home in this middle class and working class neighborhood. He was one of them who had made good and not forgotten them.
Eventually, Biden made it to the back of the establishment where we were sitting. He remembered the local union leaders and talked with them briefly. They introduced James Yetman to Senator Biden. James was visibly nervious at first but the Senator quickly put him at ease. Soon they were deeply involved in conversation. Read More »
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden joins actor Colin Farrell on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, this Thursday, October 16.
Tune in!!!
At the convention, Michelle related the story about how Barack gripped the steering wheel of his car and he drove tentatively down the street, protecting his new little newborn daughter. He checked the review mirror frequently to catch a peek just to make sure things were fine.
I trust that Obama checked more than his review mirror on this economy strife and has checked the mirror frequently on other issues as well. I TRUST him fully. He did contact Bill Clinton and others in making his decisions, he keeps informed, and he maintains communication with who he needs to.
Barack gets my vote, for being a: slow, steady, reasonable, intelligent man that is successful at rallying America for CHANGE. He's a uniter, and a man that appears, and acts and WILL emerge as most presidential.
Congratulations to Barack and his family for all the hard work in gaining the electorates needed. We're SIX away. SIX! It touched my heart, when he made a pledge to give his daughters what he had, he's done a great job in moving that direction, not only for his daughters and family, but the human family. He really cares and is concerned. Can you imagine how happy and proud his daughters will be when their daddy becomes the president? Over joyed, so will I. It's going to be a huge relief actually, I'll breath again. He's already completed a mission to lead a beautiful path for his daughters by working so diligently on this campaign.
All Aboard! Calm and Steady as he goes! He's the beacon of light shining through this fog.
Ben Stevens Fined $150 & $150: APOC Blind to Corruption
http://alaskareport.com/stephen-taufen30004.htm
Alaska Senate president Ben Stevens has accepted bribes from seafood processors, according to Ray Metcalfe
http://alaskareport.com/benstevens10044.htm
Judge rules "Corrupt Bastards" be tried separately
http://alaskareport.com/news907/z46636_corrupt_bastard_trial.htm
Ted Stevens under criminal investigation for corruption
http://alaskareport.com/z46129_ted_stevens_corruption.htm
Ted Stevens & Corruption: Move Over Duke Cunningham
http://alaskareport.com/stephen-taufen30009.htm
Ted Stevens and Don Young Fail to Provide 'Honest Services'
http://alaskareport.com/stephen-taufen30012.htm
FBI in Alaska closing in on Ted Stevens' son Ben
http://alaskareport.com/z45886.htm
Legislators still stumping for VECO - By Ray Metcalfe
http://alaskareport.com/z45863.htm Read More »
Gov. Palin commented about Sen. Obama and William Ayers at a rally in Carson, California Saturday. 
The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is "someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
Get the facts!
The Facts: In making the charge at a fund-raising event in Englewood, Colorado, and a rally in Carson, California, Palin was referring at least in part to William Ayers, a 1960s radical. In both appearances, Palin cited a front-page article in Saturday's New York Times detailing the working relationship between Obama and Ayers.
In the 1960s, Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group that carried out a string of bombings of federal buildings, including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest against the Vietnam War. The now-defunct group was labeled a "domestic terrorist group" by the FBI, and Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn — also a Weather Underground member — spent 10 years as fugitives in the 1970s. Federal charges against them were dropped due to FBI misconduct in gathering evidence against them, and they resurfaced in 1980. Both Ayers and Dohrn ultimately became university professors in Chicago, with Ayers, 63, now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Obama's Chicago home is in the same neighborhood where Ayers and Dohrn live. Beginning in 1995, Ayers and Obama worked with the non-profit Chicago Annenberg Challenge on a huge school improvement project. The Annenberg Challenge was for cities to compete for $50 million grants to improve public education. Ayers fought to bring the grant to Chicago, and Obama was recruited onto the board. Also from 1999 through 2001 both were board members on the Woods Fund, a charitable foundation that gave money to various causes, including the Trinity United Church that Obama attended and Northwestern University Law Schools' Children and Family Justice Center, where Dohrn worked.
CNN's review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the volunteer projects in which the two men were involved.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told CNN that after meeting Obama through the Annenberg project, Ayers hosted a campaign event for him that same year when then-Illinois state Sen. Alice Palmer, who planned to run for Congress, introduced the young community organizer as her chosen successor. LaBolt also said the two have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they encountered each other on the street in their Hyde Park neighborhood.
The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense."
The New York Times article cited by Palin concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers." Other publications, including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic, have said that their reporting doesn't support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship.
The McCain campaign did not respond Saturday to a request for elaboration on Palin's use of the plural "terrorists."
Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.
Filed under: Barack Obama • Fact Check • Sarah Palin
I new article posted to cnn.com entitled, "Bailout talks implode, economy's fate in peril", is suggestive of the talks imploding. However, it is conceivable to me that it is not the talks that are imploding, but rather the Republican Party that is imploding before our very eyes.
They can see that everything they have run on since President Reagan, less government; de-regulation; supply-side economics; and last but not least the trickle down theory, is the root cause of our current economic mess. The question for them is not how they save our economy, but how do they save their Party?
Popular opinion is solidly behind the Democratic Congress with demanding that the bail-out of our financial market meet the conditions of regulation and oversight; mortgage assistance for people whose mortgages are in trouble; scrutiny over the amount of the bail-out; and language to stop any "golden parachute" payments going to the CEO's of the organizations involved within the bail-out.
Now what has made the news is that the ranking Republican member of the House Banking Committee, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), has conceded that he does not have authorization to speak for his colleagues. This is a very troubling assertion, but it also shines a bright light into the vast darkness that is the current Republican Party.
It appears that committee appointments mean nothing to the House Republican Leadership, and that every issue must be approved by leadership, albeit minority leadership, in order to be recognized by all Republicans in the House. This is the House Republican modus operandi that equals their Senate counterpart's use of the filibuster.
What happens now? It is really quite obvious. We've seen it before. After the media gets hold of this and projects a picture of a static Democratic Congress, then, the House Republicans will reach consensus. We then will be told, lead by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), how they stood together for the American people and solved this economic crisis.
This cheap political grandstanding by the Republican Party is hope only of stopping the implosion of their political affiliation. Call your Congress person, call the media, tell them that this political nonsense must end. It is time to put all Americans first, and end politics as usual.
Intimate Lunch with Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez
San Francisco, CA
Contribution: $200
RSVP (202) 471-5833 or events@votenader.org Read More »
________________________ are either____________________or_______________________with_______________. Continue_________________________.
Add your own words. Any words, random words, good words, funny words.
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________________________ are either____________________or_______________________with_______________. Continue_________________________.
Add your own words. Any words, random words, good words, funny words.
This is the problem with Palin. We know the GOP cannot talk about the issues because they have no answers, nothing but more of the same.
As long as we keep the chatter alive about Palin we don't discuss the issues.
No more Palin chatter. Let's discuss issues and mcCain. On those topics we win.
Let's talk about the topics that weren't even mentioned at the GOP Convention...the middle class, health care...ending the war, housing foreclosures, energy independence, the environment.........
The first campaign event will be in St. Clair Shores, at 11:00 a.m. at South Lake High School, 21900 Nine Mile Road. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and tickets are required. Tickets are available beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday at Communication Workers of America Local 4008, 145 Colonial Court in Mount Clemens. Their phone number is (586) 463-4008.
A second rally begins at 5 p.m. at Flat Rock Community High School, 25600 Seneca Road in Flat Rock. Doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets are not required.
By SUZANNE GAMBOA â�" 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) â�" Republican Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas lawmaker who attracted a devoted following in the GOP primaries, said Wednesday he rejected an appeal to endorse John McCain's presidential bid.
Paul said the request came from Phil Gramm, the former McCain adviser and ex-senator whom the campaign jettisoned after he said the country was a "nation of whiners" about the economy. Gramm defeated Paul in the Republican primary for the Senate in 1984.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Paul said Gramm called him this week and told him, "You need to endorse McCain." The Texas congressman said he refused.
"The idea was that he would do less harm than the other candidate," Paul said.
Paul won no primaries in the Republican nomination contest but developed a strong following on the Internet.
He appeared at a news conference with three third-party candidates: independent Ralph Nader; former Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate; and Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, was invited but said at his own news conference later that he declined because Paul didn't endorse one candidate.
"We need today, now, 55 days before this election, bold, focused, specific leadership and that is not the amorphous kind that says any of the above or none of the above," Barr said.
Barr said he had asked Paul to join him as his running mate on the Libertarian Party ticket while his current running mate, Wayne Root would step aside. "We don't anticopate that he will," Barr said.
Earlier, Paul called the presidential elections a charade and said voters are faced with the "lesser of two evils."
The majority of Americans, about 60 percent, are unhappy with their choices in the race, Paul said. He urged the three third-party candidates to bring all their supporters together to vote against the "establishment candidates."
Paul, 73, a former doctor, ran for president as the Libertarian candidate in 1988. He is unopposed in the November race for his congressional seat.
Nader derided media focus on what he called "lipstickgate," referring to the bickering between the McCain and Barack Obama campaigns over whether a phrase used by Obama was a sexist comment against Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
Nader, a consumer protection advocate, acknowledged differences among the third-party candidates such as government regulation of health and safety standards. But he added that he shares Paul's support for more opportunity in the political process for third-party candidates. Read More »
We can now see the meaning to McCain's madness of picking Sarah Palin for his VP. There have been numerous pundits, the latest being Ed Rollins with this beauty click here, in which attempt to keep the Democrats appearing as they are not united by keeping the Hillary Clintonnon-issue an issue.
The republicans, or the MSM for that matter, did not get the the upheaval in which they desired from the democratic convention. Therefore, McCain, in all his ineptitude, decides to try to reignite the flames of despair for the Democratic party with his selection of a female VP with seemingly less (that's debatable) experience than O8ama, and of course the media will assist with this contemptible attempt at fanning this conflgration because it sells air time and news print.
As I've said so many times on this blog. BEWARE THE MEDIA! They care more for their own balance sheet than for our country,or any that live in it.
Organize your neighborhood. If you don't know how...we'll help you. You can do it on your own or we'll do our best to hook you up with Democrats in your area that could use your help.
We have less then 60 days left and need your ideas and help.
http://www.democrats.org/page/group/PartyBuilderVolunteerActionGroup
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