This video from the USA is called Sarah Palin’s $150K Wardrobe.
From the AFL-CIO blog in the USA:
Sarah Palin’s Neiman Marxist Wardrobe
by Mike Hall, Oct 29, 2008
Unless you run in the same circles as Cindy McCain—who was decked out in more than $300,000 worth of designer clothes and jewelry at the Republican National Convention—the $150,000 Sarah Palin wardrobe makeover had to seem more than a tad excessive, especially for a self-described “hockey mom.”
A playful new website from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) shows just how extravagant the Republican National Committee (RNC)-funded $150,000 Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue shopping spree was.
DressLikePalin.com allows you to click on the top-of-the-line Valentino jacket and discover its price tag equals a month’s salary for the typical teacher. Or how about that exclusive Louis Vuitton handbag, the price tag of which equals the cost of uniforms for 32 auto mechanics or 33 painters—some of whom may be named Joe.
The $22,800 the RNC spent on Palin’s makeup, for example, would pay for 224 mammograms, 651 flu shots, or provide a supply of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor for one person for nearly 14 years.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Posted by: “toraginus” toraginus@yahoo.com toraginus
Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:04 am (PDT)
McCain: Patriot; War Hero; Foreign Policy Expert
What exactly is the advantage of having a person with a military background as President?
Better disciplined? Loves America better? We have a volunteer army. Most of the volunteers are young men from small towns in rural America that are dying out. The other greatest number are from the slums of our big cities. I don’t think they are joining primarily because they love America, but because they are desperately looking for some way out of a dead end future. Most of them would prefer NOT to be stuck in a chaotic war, esepcially one that was pointless to begin with and is still lumbering on.
What is a war hero? A hero is defined by one dictionary as one who exhibits courage, is idealized because he/she exhibits courage in past situations, is admired because of outstanding achievements, or who seems to possess noble qualities. When most people think “war hero” their image is of a person who exhibits extraordinary valor in combat. Of course, one can argue that every soldier who jumps aboard an unarmored Humvee often without proper body armor is a hero. Most people, though, think a war hero is a person who moves outside the requirement of duty and puts his life in jeopardy to ensure the mission is a success, to save the lives of his fellow soldiers — over and beyond the call of duty.
John McCain was one of many bomber pilots in the Vietnamese War, dropping bombs usually from high altitudes, out of the range of anti-aircraft guns. He was shot down. He was a POW for five and half years. Some were there longer; some shorter. There were close to 800 POW’s in Vietnam. If McCain is a war hero because of his hardships as a POW, there were 700+ other war heroes. I am not going to get into whether McCain had it worse or easier than most POW’s. There seems to be some question on this point.
If a person were a genuine war hero, is this a qualification for President? What does it bring to the office? Will a former war hero be a more courageous President? Will he be one that loves his country more as President? Should we have more of a reason to think we and the nation are more secure with him/her as President? Will being a “war hero” really enable him to be an effective and constructive U.S. President?
John McCain is a Patriot. This is another theme that the GOP and McCain himself frequently emphasize. Are they implying that Obama is less of a Patriot because he was not in the Navy, not shot down over Vietnam and not in a Vietnamese Prison for five+ years? Do any of the things that Mc Cain did which provide him the opportunity to call himself a Patriot — also cause him to be able to do a better job as President?
Are teachers, doctors, bricklayers, bus drivers patriots? I suppose it depends on how you define patriot. I think we need to start becoming patriots of the world. We have to make a start sometime.
I looked up six or seven definitions of the word patriot. Here is one that is fairly representative: One who loves his country, and zealously supports its authority and interests. I also looked up synonyms for the word patriot: nationalist, loyalist, chauvinist, jingoist, flag-waver.
We must be careful in today’s world not to be too nationalistic. Nationalism is becoming a dying concept as we realize that the world does not end at the borders of our country. We are citizens of the world — or should be. My country right or wrong is not patriotism and is more properly called jingoism — or just plain — stupid. Act local. Think Global.
Does being in the military, claiming to be a war hero, and taking pride in being a patriot — make a Presidential candidate the ideal person for directing military strategy? Does having been a regular soldier, a regular sailor, or a regular pilot — give a person expertise as a military tactician? I don’t think so. If the former military man was an officer in charge of planning tactics, e.g. Eisenhower, Colin Powell — yes. Although Eisenhower knew quite a bit about military planning he had generals who worked these matters out when needed. However, having been a general, admittedly, would give him a better frame of reference in these matters.
Will having been a bomber pilot give McCain talent in defending the security of the United States? Should we feel safer having a war hero and a a former bomber pilot as our national leader?
It has been said that McCain is expert in foreign policy. So far in the campaign he has not said anything that I have heard to demonstrate expertise in this field. In fact, he tends to act, at times, before thinking. Not a good trait in international relations. I sought in his career in Congress evidence that he took an interest in foreign affairs, that he was on the foreign relations committees of Congress, that he initiated major foreign policy initiatives — I could not find anything significant. Several times in the campaign he has made mistakes in knowing the facts about national boundaries, matters of foreign policy, and displayed a tendency to utilize our military power first, rather than diplomacy first. There are other nations and other peoples with needs, concerns and interests. We must make a start in seeing ourselves as a participant, a player in world events — rather than the one in charge, the kingpin. the “main man”.
We are all in it together. Think global. Act local.
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Posted by: “Black” mrblackhawk09@yahoo.com mrblackhawk09
Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:32 pm (PDT)
Protect This Election
By Andrew Gumbel
This article appeared in the November 10, 2008 edition of The Nation.
October 22, 2008
CHRISTOPHER SERRA
Not so long ago, when Karl Rove was still dreaming of a permanent Republican majority based on his “50 percent plus one” model for fighting and winning elections, 2008 was shaping up as possibly the dirtiest election season yet.
The plan was straightforward: to use every legislative and executive lever available to the GOP to suppress the votes of minorities, students, the poor, the transient and the elderly; and to denounce any attempt by the other side to level the playing field as a monstrous exercise in systemic voter fraud.
A lot of pieces of that plan are still in place and could still pose a threat to the integrity of the November 4 elections if any one of them–a crucial Senate race, say, if not also the race for the presidency– turns out to be remotely close.
Voter ID laws passed by GOP-majority legislatures in Georgia, Indiana and elsewhere serve as thinly veiled mechanisms for suppressing opposition voters, because those without driver’s licenses or other forms of government-issued identity cards are more likely to be Democrats.
In several states, the Republican Party has made plans to challenge the legitimacy of thousands of voters, in some cases using a notorious, legally dubious technique known as “caging,” whereby the party sends out nonforwardable mail to low-income or minority households (the people likely to move frequently or to be victims of subprime mortgage foreclosures) and uses returned envelopes to question the eligibility of the addressees.
Some Republican-run states, most notably Florida, have introduced absurdly strict standards for the admission of new voters to the rolls, making it likely that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of them will have to go to extraordinary lengths on election day to prove that they have the right to cast a ballot. History suggests many of these new voters will either give up when challenged or fail to show up at all.
Most serious, the Republicans have sought to use the Justice Department to legitimize these efforts and, in some cases, to extend them–by paying close attention to the (mostly nonexistent) problem of individual ballot fraud while showing little or no interest in protecting the rights of minority voters, as the Voting Rights Act mandates that the department do.
The GOP has been laying this groundwork over the past several election cycles–using each technique either as a means to squeak ahead in tight races or as a pretext for challenging results in the event of a narrow loss. We know, for example, that in 2004 the party investigated the eligibility of more than half a million voters across the country, challenged 74,000 of them directly on election day and had a plan in place to challenge tens of thousands more in such swing states as Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Pennsylvania in the event that John Kerry came out ahead of George W. Bush in the race for the White House. (An e-mail trail setting out these plans was uncovered after the election by the PBS program Now.)
In 2008 the techniques for challenging voters this way–or for deterring or disenfranchising them in the first place–have become more widespread and sophisticated. Just look at the way the Republicans have demonized ACORN, the low-income advocacy group that works to register new minority voters.
In every election cycle since 2004, ACORN has been put through the wringer for supposedly aiding and abetting voter fraud–usually in ways designed to sway the public against the Democrats in the days before a key state vote. While ACORN has had well-advertised problems getting its low-wage workforce to produce reliable voter registration lists, those lists have not been shown to result in a single fraudulently cast ballot.
This year, that demonization has taken on vast new proportions, presumably connected to ACORN’s claim to have registered 1.3 million new voters. The FBI has launched an investigation that smells, once again, of political interference in the electoral process by the Justice Department. Republican operatives have accused ACORN, absurdly, of perpetrating the subprime mortgage lending crisis [see Peter Dreier and John Atlas, “The GOP’s Blame-ACORN Game,” page 20] and of being a “quasi-criminal organization”–hinting darkly that ACORN-registered voters may not be eligible. One think tank that sees its mission as bashing ACORN on behalf of its big-business backers, the Employment Policies Institute, even calls it “a multi-million- dollar, multinational conglomerate.”
The strange thing about this and the rest of the GOP attack machine is that somewhere along the way, the wheels started coming off. This is partly a result of straightforward political warfare: the groundwork laid by GOP operatives may be more extensive than in the past, but so are the campaigns to denounce their efforts, from the likes of Common Cause, the Century Foundation, the Brennan Center for Justice and other organizations that have issued report after report exposing the dirt and incompetence in the electoral system and calling the Republicans’ bluff on the supposed scourge of individual voter fraud. It certainly helps that the denunciations are now coming from well-known groups with serious academic credentials and a commitment to accurate research–a welcome change from the days when hardworking but underqualified Internet campaigners were breathlessly denouncing nonexistent political plots cooked up by the Republicans and the makers of touch-screen voting machines.
The change of mood is also a reflection of broader political realities. Barack Obama is ahead in the polls, the public is of a mind to view Republican maneuvering of all kinds in a less than favorable light and attempts to deter or suppress Democratic voters are up against the remarkable surge in enthusiasm and voter registration behind the Obama ticket. The Republicans were reported to be thinking about mounting a vote-caging operation against the former owners of foreclosed homes in one Michigan county, only to deny any such intent when the plan became public. In Montana, an attempt to disenfranchise 6,000 people in Democratic-leaning districts has sparked similar outrage. Dirty electioneering, in other words, may boost a party headed toward a narrow victory, as it did for the Republicans in 2004, but it can sink a floundering party like a stone. Voters can smell the desperation, and they don’t like it.
The Republicans also made the mistake, as they have in so many policy areas, of overreaching and alienating even their own supporters. The US Attorneys scandal was probably the starkest example, especially since at least two if not more of the fired federal prosecutors were given the boot for their failure to pursue individual voter fraud. David Iglesias, the New Mexico prosecutor at the eye of the storm, described in his memoir In Justice earlier this year how the White House first went after Todd Graves in Missouri, to see if there would be a backlash, and became emboldened when they didn’t detect much of a reaction. Another eight fired Attorneys later, the new Democratic majority in Congress was alarmed enough to start investigating- -and expose the Bush administration’s gross political manipulations. Iglesias, interestingly, was a staunch Republican but refused to file unsubstantiated voter fraud charges when he knew any half-serious judge would throw them straight out.
More Republicans standing on principle have surfaced in the heat of the McCain-Obama battle. In October, Montana Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger declared publicly he was “appalled at the leadership of my political party” for vote suppression activities that have “no place in a democracy.”
It would be a mistake, though, to count on other John Bohlingers coming forward to denounce every piece of skulduggery. In fact, for those with a mind to be alarmed, 2008 is already sounding several warning bells. Republicans in at least three states–Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin–have sued the electoral authorities to try to expand their power to challenge voters. (The Supreme Court thwarted those efforts in Ohio, but the other cases are still open.) In plenty of others they have telegraphed their intention to go after voter eligibility among certain choice demographic groups–students in Virginia, for example. Several swing states have tried to pass laws specifically outlawing caging and other vote-challenging techniques, but none, in the past couple of years, have successfully pushed them through their state legislatures and onto the desks of their governors.
Usually, vote suppression efforts come to light only in the last couple of weeks before election day. This time, though, the reports of foul play, or attempted foul play, started to pour in unnervingly early. “It’s exhausting from this end,” says one of the country’s leading voter protection activists, Jonah Goldman of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Every day we get another three or four things we need to investigate. From a political perspective, the campaigns understand the mechanisms of elections a lot better than they ever did before. At the same time, we have by far the most robust and sophisticated voter protection program we’ve ever had. We’ve matured very far, on both sides of the issue.”
Goldman is no apologist for the Democrats. On the contrary, he sees plenty of flaws to go around in the two-party system and in this country’s massively devolved, loophole-ridden electoral system. The only reason the Democrats aren’t causing more trouble of their own this season, he feels, is that they aren’t as scared of losing. That said, voter suppression is typically a Republican tactic, going back decades. (Democrats, when they cheat, prefer to pad the rolls with supporters rather than purge them of their adversaries. )
Some of the possible vote suppression stems as much from organizational chaos as from ill will. This year, several states have struggled with a federal mandate to streamline their voter databases, leading to wide concern that eligible voters are being purged. The New York Times has found that tens of thousands of names were being struck from lists or blocked from registering in six swing states–Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina–in apparent violation of federal law. In three states–Louisiana, Michigan and Colorado–the number of people who have died or moved out of state is far exceeded by the number of names taken off the voting rolls.
In a report on voter purges published earlier this year, the Brennan Center denounced a process it said was often “shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation.” Sometimes a highly technocratic point, like Florida’s insistence that every voter registration form should provide an exact match of the name on existing state records, can have profound political ramifications. If a lot of people are going to get disqualified, it is probably the wealthier, more comfortable voters who will have time to present the proper paperwork and get themselves reinstated on election day. More transient voters, or voters with inflexible low-wage jobs, are likelier to give up once they have been told they can vote by provisional ballot only.
We can expect similar chaos with the allocation of voting machines, especially in new battleground states like Virginia and North Carolina, where the turnout for the presidential election is likely to break records. The voter registration problem and the machine allocation problem can be related, since new registrations are often a guide to likely turnout on election day. Since Virginia has a backlog on processing its registration forms, its chances of finding enough machines to satisfy demand look even dimmer. “Virginia is not preparing well,” Goldman said.
To the extent that the problems affect minority voters, one might expect some sort of oversight or intervention by the Justice Department. Under the Bush administration, of course, the department has taken the opposite tack–rushing to find individual voter fraud where it doesn’t exist but filing no voter intimidation suits under Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, except for one case in Mississippi where the aggrieved minority just happened to be whites. There’s still a chance the department will clean up its act–for example, it could choose to deploy teams of lawyers to problem areas in the South, as opposed to sending staffers, as it did in 2004, to keep an eye on crucial battleground states like Ohio. Typically, the Justice Department doesn’t announce its observation plans until two or three days before the election. “We’ll have to wait and see whether there has been an improvement or not,” says a cautious Kristen Clarke of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We probably shouldn’t hold our breath.
In the end, even the most insidious vote suppression technique makes just a marginal difference– one half-percentage point here, another there–and comes seriously into play only in a close race. Such tactics can’t prevent an Obama landslide, if that is what we are about to see, or overturn a two- to three-point victory in any given state. Anyone who cares about fair elections, though, should be looking beyond just this presidential election. The Republicans who have dreamed up these techniques are thinking long-term strategy over many cycles, not just short-term advantage. The day may also come when Democrats are tempted to play dirty in their own ways–although they have never attempted anything on a national scale as Republicans have. It will take many years of work to repair America’s tattered voting system. Keeping a close eye and exposing as much of the dirt as possible in this election, though, is a good place to start.
Dr. King was a Community Organizer, George Wallace was a Governor.
The Keyboard Is Mightier
Than The Sword.
If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy
James Madison
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Posted by: “Zoltan Abraham” zsazle@yahoo.com
Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:13 am (PDT)
Video Roundup – Wednesday, October 29:
Not for Naught, Saith Queen Sarah
(For the online version of my daily video roundup, please visit my website at http://www.zoltanic.com.)
Watch Obama’s 28-minute closing argument ad. Excellent work:
Finally, proof positive that the skinny comrade is really a Communist:
Excellent Obama ad:
Rachel Maddow discusses Obama’s closing argument:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27445522#27445522
Obama on the Daily Show – in which Jon Stewart explores how the Bradley Effect might cause Obama to vote against himself:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=189761&title=barack-obama
Biden fires up the crowds again:
Incredible ad from ACORN:
Here, again, is ACORN’s introductory video:
Here is conservative activist Paul Weyrich articulating the Republican attitude toward voting:
The two pillars of Republican election strategy are 1) lying about Democrats, and 2) trying to keep Democrats from voting. (But you can’t blame them, because if they told the truth, their campaigns would sound like this: “We will take all your money, and leave you to rot!” which doesn’t resonate well with focus groups.)
Talking Points Memo has compiled a guide to Republican voter suppression efforts:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/republican_voter_suppression_a.php
(Not a video.)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist was once favored as the VP pick for the GOP. But then came Sarah…. Crist just hasn’t had the same love for John McCain since being pushed aside for the Godzilla from Wasilla. He skipped a McCain rally to go to Disney World. Now he is extending early voting hours in Florida, which, Republicans admit, favors Democrats. (High voter turnout, in general, favors Democrats, which is why Republicans are so eager to keep people away from the polls.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27445758#27445758
Josh Marshal of Talking Points Memo does the House races:
The truth about Joe the Plumber, taxes, and all that stuff:
Conservative Ed Rollins has officially left Pundit Life (the pundit version of Second Life), and is now in the reality based community. He is resigned to President Obama:
Great anti-Chambliss video for the Georgia Senate race:
Hilarious video of Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker singing “You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two.” Unfortunately, this race seems to have slipped away from us, with Wicker heading for reelection.
Elizabeth Dole has unleashed some truly horrid stuff:
Even CNN recoils from the venom:
Ed Rollins the Resigned One also condemns this ad:
A 60 seat, filibuster-proof majority is possible this year. Let’s make sure it happens!
Chris Matthews takes on Tom Delay:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27442598#27442598
Remember the guy who stole two elections and still has almost three months in the White House? He is getting ready to have himself pardoned for any war crimes he might have committed (and a few do come to mind):
Jon Stewart tells us all about Going Rogue:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=189759&title=goin-rogue
I hate the “Sarah going rogue” meme. Why? Because I don’t want the word “rogue” to become associated with her. Rogue is my favorite character from the X-Men, and Palin can’t have that word!
Olbermann discusses Sarah Palin’s 2012 aspirations:
Chris Matthews discusses Sarah Palin’s 2012 aspirations:
Sarah Palin discusses her 2012 aspirations:
Not so long ago, Palin was mocking Obama for apparently assuming the outcome of the election. Gee, Sarah, are you not doing the same, just a little bit? I would not have expected that kind of inconsistency from you! (I expected much worse, actually…)
Let’s end with some levity.
Look who’s voting and why. Are you voting? Shouldn’t you? You be the judge:
If you’re feeling complacent just about now – don’t be! Check this out:
McCain – Palin
Unstable – Unable
Unfit to lead!
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Why Are YOU Voting for Obama?
I am voting for Barack Obama because we share a common faith in peace, justice, humanity, and social change.
Our faith was profoundly tested during 12 years of Reagan-Bush and 8 more of Bush-Cheney. America has fallen from the leader among nations to the pariah. Our economy is collapsing, our savings are vanishing, and our planet is in peril. Yet the powerful people and institutions who created this disaster continue to rule us – and rob us blind.
Barack Obama is an extraordinary gift to America and the world. Through compassion, intelligence, and hard work, he has overcome the enormous obstacles of race and lack of wealth. He is an inspiration to us all.
In just two years, he has built a movement unlike any in history. Thanks to his own family history, he has been able to bridge the divides of race and class to build the most diverse coalition in history. But we are not just temporary political allies – we are becoming one enormous family. And by focusing on the enormous problems we face as a people, he has given us Hope.
I am inspired by Obama’s gifts of intelligence, compassion, optimism, and courage. I love his beautiful family, and the extended family he has helped us create. I want him to win, and much more importantly, for all of us to succeed. And I know it will be a struggle, every hour of every day.
We are in the fight of our lives, and of our childrens’ lives. My vote is just the start of my commitment to that fight.
Why are you voting for Obama? Share your thoughts here:
http://www.democrats.com/my-vote-for-obama-is-just-the-start
Better yet, create your own thread here:
http://www.democrats.com/obama-2008
Click “Post new forum topic” and for topic choose “My Vote for Obama.” In the “Body” section, explain why you’re voting for Obama. After you save it, use the “Send to friend” link below your post to email it to your family and friends, and encourage them to share their thoughts in the comments below yours.
Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik
_______________
Election Links
Where and What – Just the Facts
Find Your Precinct – What You Need to Bring – Vote Early if Possible
http://govote.org/
http://www.voteforchange.com/
Ballot Measures in 36 States, Courtesy of PBS
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/443/ballot-measures-map.html
Progressive Voter Guides for Local Races:
http://theballot.org
GOTV!
Knock On Doors:
http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php
Make Calls:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/makecalls
Election Inspiration
Local Voices for Obama – Great for Undecided Voters
http://truthandhope.org/localvoices/
Joe the Plumber, Meet Obama’s Tax Calculator
How Much Will YOU Save from Obama’s Tax Cut?
http://taxcut.barackobama.com/
Yes, We Can! – Si, Se Puede! Song and video by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.
Pledge to Vote and get Free MP3 Downloads
http://rockthevote.com/pledge/
Election Protection
866-Our-Vote – Program Your Cellphone, Call on Election Day if Needed
http://www.866ourvote.org/
Bring Your Video Camera to Document Voting Problems
http://videothevote.org
Voter Suppression and Machine Problems: Don’t Let Republicans Steal the Election!
http://bradblog.com
http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/
http://epwiki.org
http://www.votersuppression.net/
Top 8 Voting Myths Dispelled
http://www.wiretapmag.org/elections2008/43820
Report and track robocalls here:
http://thinkdodone.typepad.com/ccd/2008/10/robo-call-tracking-map.html
Post-Election Links
2010 Primaries: Nominate Progressive Challengers
http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/2010primaries
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