StephieL

Somehow, quaffing a glass of beer followed by a chaser of whiskey in a bar as the TV cameras hum, so HRC can prove that she's "one of us", doesn't seem like "testicular fortitude". posted 05/01/2008 at 22:12:23

Brilliant observations, Mr. Weber. Once again, you're spot-on!

During the last thirty years, the American Presidency has become a grotesque "puppet show", and Hillary has squandered what could have been a golden opportunity to present a different, more humanitarian face to the Presidency and free it from the manipulations of the powerful and wealthy and transformed it into a circus sideshow. I want to believe that Obama will be the kind of humanitarian President which we -- and the world -- so desparately need, but he's a blank slate who has too many questions hanging over him, and John McCain is a warmonger who's ready to blow Iran off the map on the flimsiest of provocations (if Hillary doesn't do it first).

I also find it highly ironic that Richard Mellon Scaife, the man whom Hillary Clinton accused of orchestrating a "vast right-wing conspiracy" against her and her White House spouse, is now one of her best buddies. We live in some very strange days, indeed. posted 04/23/2008 at 22:31:13

I'm so glad to read that you're supporting Sen. Obama, Mr. Baldwin!

In the last six weeks, I've noticed that during his campaign speeches, and especially during last week's disgraceful "debate", Obama's sounding less like a populist and more like a genuine humanitarian, while Hillary's speeches are more shrill, strident and she's blatantly pandering to the warmongers.
The Bush/Clinton Presidential puppet show has had a mind-numbing, soul-draining twenty-year run, and it'll run for another four years if Hillary or McCain becomes President, and it's time for this show to be canceled. The best way to cancel it and give ourselves and the rest of the world a fresh start is by electing a humanitarian, not a warmonger, as our President, and so far, Obama seems to be the most humanitarian Presidential candidate we've seen in a while. posted 04/21/2008 at 23:08:03

Strange that we go through this same vicious circle of demanding bigger and bigger promises from a particular candidate, and just when we think we're going to get the promise which we've been teased with for so long, it's taken away from us. We then go through a time of discouragement and demoralization which destroys those who are in certain sections of the voting population, while those who've gone through this before develop another layer of cynicism, and when the next election cycle comes up, we once again set ourselves up to go running on this same treadmill over and over again.

I really think that the politics of "virtuous victimization" has been so deeply embedded within the American psyche during the last thirty-odd years, and it's not the actual American voter who participates in the election, it's the "virtuous victim" who participates in the election process; the one who demands "change", but who fully expects to be demoralized, discouraged, disappointed and destroyed, and engages in the kinds of political behavior which will guarantee that the "victim's" overblown and unrealistic expectations of their chosen "Messiah" won't really happen becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. posted 04/19/2008 at 22:43:04

The lousy service which many of us are getting from Comcast (or "Crapcast" as it's called at my house), is an obvious example of how deregulation of the media has failed, and failed us miserably... and wasn't it a certain President named Bill who told us how wonderful things were going to be when the media's been deregulated?
I'm ticked with Comcast because they chopped over a dozen channels off of their programming line-up (mostly West Coast feeds of various premium channels), and jacked-up the rates yet again. This is enough to make me seriously consider cutting the cable and getting "The Dish" instead. posted 04/21/2008 at 22:52:53

Yes, we got the debate we deserved, loaded with the kind of baseless schoolyard gossip, ruthless innuendo and lurid insinuations about Barack Obama which sell papers and generate TV ad revenues, because Americans seem to take great pleasure in watching the game of "kick 'em when they're up, kick 'em when they're down" as it was so expertly "played" by Gibson and Stephanopolis.

At one time, the media was both the people's advocate and the people's watchdog; now, the media has degenerated to becoming gossip peddlers and sensationlists if it will put a few more dollars into the corporate coffers. posted 04/17/2008 at 23:09:45

After watching last night's dreadful "debate", which was the political equivalent of watching a train-wreck in slow motion, is it little wonder that the rest of the world perceives Americans as a shallow-minded, frivolous people who are addicted to gossip, insinuation, and innuendo?
Perhaps this is why so many nations -- such as Russia, India and China -- are banding together to plan a future in which America is conspicious by its absence from the world scene. In their minds, America has become irrelevant, impotent, foolish, and utterly useless, and unfortunately, last night's "debate" managed to reinforce that image of America in the minds of many around the world. posted 04/17/2008 at 22:51:53

What's with O'Reilly's obsession with taking down Sen. Obama's candidacy?

George Soros, whom he has incessantly linked with Obama, has also been rather buddy-buddy with Bill and Hillary Clinton, including making generous donations to Bill's two Presidential candidacies, as well as Hillary's run for the Senate, and her current run for the Presidency, yet this bit of information has convienently slipped past O'Reilly's steel-trap mind. When George Soros associates with Obama, that's "bad", but if Soros associates himself with Bill and Hillary, that's somehow "good", according to O'Reilly's twisted sense of logic.

It makes me wonder if O'Reilly is actively sanctioning the idea of a "dynastic Presidency" (which is what we'll have should Hillary win the general election); an idea which would have made our Founders shudder with horror and fill them with righteous indignation. But, I expect nothing less from a "news" network which has devoted itself to incessantly listing the alleged "international organized criminal ties" of Sen. Obama (and offering no proof to back up their claims), while ignoring or glossing over the "international organized criminal ties" of one Hillary Clinton. posted 04/15/2008 at 20:44:21

When I've spoken with people who live near the Canadian border, they tell me that a governmental system similar to Canada's, including establishment of a Parliament and a four party political system, would be the best thing for America, because our current "two-party" political system is a joke, and getting rid of incompetent government officials often appears to be an exercise in futility.
Still, a parliamentary system of government doesn't sound all bad, especially when you consider that if America had a Parliament, the bastards who got us into an illegal, unjust, unnecessary war would have been ousted from office a long time ago, and 4,000+ American soldiers and over a million Iraqi men, women and children would still be alive, and the nation wouldn't have a $300 trillion dollar debt because of this foolish 21st Century Peloponnesian War. posted 04/15/2008 at 23:34:02

Well, this is a heartening thing to hear, and if Sen. Obama plans to carry out this wholesale investigation and prosecution of this current criminal "rogue Presidency" when he becomes President, this action could very well give the people of the world hope and also provide them with a reason not to throw in the towel on America just yet..
So, this could be a very good reason to back Sen. Obama's candidacy. posted 04/15/2008 at 20:27:49

Isn't it strange that we've heard nothing from the national and international medical community concerning high food prices? Perhaps they're not commenting about the spike in food prices because if they speak out about people not getting enough to eat, it would contradict their constant complaining that obesity is a "public health crisis", and directly contradict the Malthusian line which states that if people eat less, they'll lose weight, and high food prices would somehow be offset by greatly lowered health care costs , especially for degenerative diseases (such as the Big Three of degenerative diseases -- cancer, diabetes and heart disease), which are linked to obesity, and a supposed overall improvement in the public health.

And perhaps those among the medical community would also be the biggest advocates of pedaling the bicycle generator for electricity, too. posted 04/15/2008 at 00:09:45

The Presidential election season is becoming a neverending circus, where most of the Presidential candidates act like clowns in order to get the attention of a bored, apathetic and oblivious electorate which can easily get excited over who to vote for on "American Idol" or "Dancing With The Stars", but who don't seem to care much about the future of the nation or of mankind, while those few Presidential candidates who want to discuss ideas are shut out, marginalized and ignored by the corporate-controlled media. The Clintons aren't going to "go away", primarily because of the tantalizing prospect of officially instituting a "dynastic Presidency", and they're not about to squander that particular opportunity in the name of "party unity". They're going to fight it out until the bitter end, and that "bitter end" will be in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. posted 03/30/2008 at 23:01:38

Bloomberg is a big supporter of the PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) which would, for all intents and purposes, "outsource" construction of basic infrastructure projects from the Federal government to private contractors. The private contractor would build the project, but the public would be paying for these infrastructure projects twice; through increased taxes and so-called "user's fees" which can be raised frequently, at the company's whim. You can see this clearly on the "Greenway", the private toll road which links Washington with parts of Northern Virginia. The tolls which are charged by the private company which "owns" the Greenway are three to five times higher than the tolls charged by state governments on their toll roads. Also, Bloomberg is a big supporter of the "congestion tax", which would make people who drove into Manhattan pay for the privilege of driving into the city on public streets.

If Sen. Obama were to have Michael Bloomberg as a running mate, it would be the "kiss of death" for his campaign, and once Michael Bloomberg's "fascist" agenda for the nation is revealed, it may cause those voters who are anti-war and anti-fascism to vote for Ralph Nader, while John McCain starts writing his inaugural speech. Personally, I'd rather see a running mate who is anti-war, yet brings serious military credibility, such as Gen. Wesley Clark.

Michael Bloomberg + Vice Presidency = BAD IDEA. posted 03/27/2008 at 21:19:13

The true meaning of "Christianity" is following the principles which Jesus taught, and there were many instances -- for example, when He took a cat o'nine tails and chased the moneychangers and merchants from the Temple -- when He was anything BUT "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild". Jesus openly challenged and questioned the religious "fundamentalists" of His time, and those who follow in His footsteps must be willing to openly challenge and question those in the seats of power (as well as ourselves) who refuse to adopt a sense of responsibility for their fellow human beings.

Excellent article, Mr. Schaeffer. So heartening to read an honest and truthful examination of faith and politics. posted 03/27/2008 at 21:45:44

I found this quote from Mr. Collis's blog quite interesting. He wrote, "Clinton feels that all their years of being Atwatered and Starred and Roved meant that she HAD to play the game at sewer level just to survive. In fact, she was JUSTIFIED to play that way, because of what had been done to her and to Bill."

This quote sums up the politics of "virtuous victimization" which has been inflicted on us for the last five Presidencies, if not longer. Hillary attempts to portray herself and Bill as the "poor, virtuous little victims'' of the Big Bad Guys (Rove, Starr and Atwater), and because they were 'victimized', they are completely justified to engage in the same brand of vicious political games as their 'victimizers'. This type of political behavior is destructive to the Democratic Party and to the nation. What makes this even more tragic is that while Clinton continues to take sniping pot-shots at Obama while he struggles to raise the level of political discourse to a higher level, John McCain starts to look more appealing to a lot of people. posted 03/25/2008 at 23:47:45