People In The Middle For Obama

People in the Middle for Obama is a series of video statements by a variety of regular people - young, old, Republican, Democrat, Independents, Christian evangelicals - created by the documentary filmmaker Errol Morris who writes about the project in his New York Times blog,

"If you’re not going to put words in people’s mouths, if you’re really listening to what they have to say, you’re going to learn something. Admittedly, the evidence is anecdotal. I haven’t selected these people through some kind of statistical sampling. These people are self-selected. They wrote in and said that they were registered Republicans, Independents or switch-voters who were planning to vote for Obama. People in the middle. And I was interested in talking to them on film about why they were making the switch from voting for a Republican to voting for a Democrat. Was it linked with policy? With the personality of the candidate?"

Links to A Couple of Campaign Videos I Like

Fish Throwers for Obama and Make History Vote.

Fox News - Mike Huckabee Show

Fox News justifiably gets a lot of criticism for not being fair or balanced but to their credit they have given Mike Huckabee a show where guests have a chance to have a conversation.

For example he had Bill Maher on his show and provided a counterpoint to Bill's belief that all people of faith are delusional.

He also did an interview with Richard Dreyfuss, who in response to a comment by Mike that Richard's views were "complex" - said, "sound bites are the enemy of thought".

That's a dangerous proposition to make on a network or cable news show of course but somewhat ironically they couldn't delve into a discussion because time was up.

If Fox News wants to appeal to a broader section of people, a more middle of road compassionate point of view such as Mike Huckabee presents, might be a place to start.

Fox News - Cross Between Infomercial and The X Files

Bill Burton, an Obama campaign spokesperson, does a great job of making those poor Fox News talking heads look silly. At one point in the interview he says, "Fox News is a cross between an infomercial and the X files."

The first video is interesting in it's attempt to not so subliminally influence what people are thinking by putting up wanted posters and scary pictures on the split screen while Bill Burton calmly and logically explains what's going on - you almost can't hear what he's saying because the graphics are so intense.

One of the anchors says Fox News keeps echoing things that don't matter because "that's what the viewers want." I suppose some segment of the population wants fake news from Fox just like readers of the Weekly World News want to read about the manigator that upset a McCain rally recently or a 9 foot tall cyclops who joined the NBA.

In the second video the anchor says there was a Rasmussen poll that shows Americans' think Fox News is the least biased network. That doesn't sound right to me.

I can't find that poll on the internet, but there is a Rasmussen report that says 87% of Fox Viewers said they are likely to vote for John McCain. Maybe she was talking about a poll of Fox News viewers who agree with each other that Fox News is the only news source they can trust.

Every other news source is reporting real news about the economy, unemployment, and other things that actually impact people's lives - which isn't nearly as much fun as an endless loop of attacks, conspiracies and interviews with a plumber expounding on economics, tax policy, and now foreign affairs.

Fox News Worried Its Viewers Might Confuse a Cartoon With Actual News

Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons," tells John Stewart Fox News Worried Its Viewers Might Confuse a Cartoon with Actual News.

The clip of the Krusty the Clown campaign spot is pretty funny - be sure and read the scrolling text on the bottom of the screen...very Fox-like.

We Need a Two Party System

I've always seen the Republican party as the party for rich people. Being a poor person, or a working class person, it never appealed to me. However - I can see a need for opposing points of view - someone has to stand up for the rich, because some rich people use their money to employ the poor.

From an article in The New Republic -

"For years, many of the elite conservatives were happy to harvest the votes of devout Christians and gun owners by waging a phony class war against 'liberal elitists' and 'leftist intellectuals.' Suddenly, the conservative writers are discovering that the very anti-intellectualism their side courted and encouraged has begun to consume their movement.

The cause of Edmund Burke, Leo Strauss, Robert Nisbet and William F. Buckley Jr. is now in the hands of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity--and Sarah Palin. Reason has been overwhelmed by propaganda, ideas by slogans, learned manifestoes by direct-mail hit pieces."

Rush, Sean and Sarah are not going to build a coherent political party platform - they are good at energizing the base/mob, attacking people and providing sound-bites, but not at all good at articulating alternative ideas. In this sense they are conservative, i.e. they want to maintain a status quo - some fuzzy vision of what things are like or were like.

The Republican party rode the "polarize the country" and "fool poor people into thinking we are looking out for them" for a few decades - and it was a good ride from a power point of view - not so good for the average citizen.

It's time for some new ideas.

One thing liberals are good at is coming up with new ideas, believing in unlimited possibilities of the individual, nothing is impossible.

"As has often been acknowledged by conservative writers, one of the fundamental traits of the conservative attitude is a fear of change, a timid distrust of the new as such, while the liberal position is based on courage and confidence, on a preparedness to let change run its course even if we cannot predict where it will lead."

Source - Institut HAYEK - Why I Am Not a Conservative

Liberals need conservative thinkers to debate and moderate their ideas. We need a strong thoughtful conservatism - not fear tactics, dopey name-calling, labels and yelling - aimed at stopping thoughtful consideration of ideas.

A party willing to give up individual liberty for a government defined and mandated morality was never a good idea - and has gradually led to an erosion of individual liberties that makes this such a great country to live in.

If the Republican party wants to rebuild itself as the party of fiscal conservatism that might work...but the fact of the matter is a strictly conservative point of view will never be sufficient for good government - we need a second party that offers viable alternatives.

What's the Real Federal Deficit? And How Do We Pay it Off?

According to this USA TODAY article written in August of 2006 -

"The federal government keeps two sets of books.

The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005.

The set the government doesn't talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government's accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included — as the board that sets accounting rules is considering — the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion.

The official number is based on "cash accounting," similar to the way you track what comes into your checking account and what goes out. That works fine for paying today's bills, but it's a poor way to measure a financial condition that could include credit card debt, car loans, a mortgage and an overdue electric bill.

The audited number is based on accrual accounting. This method doesn't care about your checking account. It measures income and expenses when they occur, or accrue. If you buy a velvet Elvis painting online, the cost goes on the books immediately, regardless of when the check clears or your eBay purchase arrives."

The answer of how to work our way out of this is simple -

We need to create good paying jobs that will increase tax revenue and we need to reduce spending.

It helps to have fiscally conservative members of Congress like the Blue Dog Democrats but we also need to reduce military spending for weaponry, and maintaining a large overseas military presence.

We spend almost as much money as the rest of the world combined on the military and military-related activities.

The government says defense spending is 20% of the federal pie chart, but other estimates say defense-related spending takes up 54% of our tax dollars.

Our current model is based on the cold war of the 1950's and a WWII model - where powerful nations were at odds. If we transition to an international police-based model where we treat terrorists as criminals we would be better able to deal with the guerilla-style terrorist threats to national security of the 21st century and reduce our military-related spending considerably.

Barack Obama TV Special - 8 PM Wednesday Oct 29

Barack Obama has a half hour spot this Wednesday at 8 pm on NBC, CBS and Fox

Choose Joy

People say we are what we eat, but I'm pretty sure we are what we think.

What we read, listen to and think about shapes the way we view the world. If we can find simple things to be thankful for everyday we find happiness.

It's paradoxical, but we do not find happiness by trying to make ourselves happy - but rather by thinking less about ourselves and more about people less fortunate, we find peace, satisfaction and more joy. Doing something good for another person often has more benefit for the doer than the receiver.

I think it's a good idea to become involved in volunteer activities, or take individual acts, that help other people - for a very selfish reason - it makes us happier. There's really nothing wrong with being selfish if it leads to you being happy and has an added benefit of aiding others.

I also think it's a good idea to become involved with some sort of spiritual activity - whether it be a church or just finding devotionals or thought of day material that have positive messages.

We start by looking inward and as we grow we become more outward focused and realize that doing simple things to take care of ourselves allows us to do more for others. Taking a news-break, reading and listening to positive messages, buying fresh flowers, eating healthy foods, exercise, breathing and meditation - can all help us, so we can help others.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

-Philippians 4:4-9 (NRSV)

Believing in Vote Fraud May be Dangerous to a Democracy's Health

From an article in Slate Magazine By Dahlia Lithwick -

"Large-scale, coordinated vote stealing doesn't happen. The incentives—unlike the incentives for registration fraud—just aren't there. In an interview this week with Salon, Lorraine Minnite of Barnard College, who has studied vote fraud systematically, noted that "between 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty others were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five were guilty of voting more than once. That's 26 criminal voters." Twenty-six criminal voters despite the fact that U.S. attorneys, like David Iglesias in New Mexico, were fired for searching high and low for vote-fraud cases to prosecute and coming up empty."

It will be interesting to see what efforts are made to skew the vote this time around. There have already been some number of voter purges in Montana where an Army Reservist and one of the most highly decorated veterans of World War II were taken off the registration list by Republican zealots.

PBS and YouTube have teamed up to encourage people to send in videos of their election day experience to Vote 2008 Election Connection.

Michael Waldman from the Brennan Center for Justice talks about voter purging in this CBS News video -

Watch CBS Videos Online

Joe Comes to Tacoma

No it wasn't Joe the Plumber or Joe Six-Pack - but Joe Biden came to Cheney Stadium (temporarily named Obama Biden Stadium) yesterday. He gave a very inspiring speech and it was very cool to see Governor Christine Gregoire, and U.S. Senator's Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray on the stage with him. I watched on CSpan, but R&B got to see it in person.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president this morning on Meet The Press.

Colin Powell says of John McCain and Barack Obama that, "Both of them are distinguished Americans who are patriotic and devoted to the welfare of our country."

He also stated that he was "concerned with the selection of Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential candidate" saying he, "does not believe she is ready to be president" and that her selection, along with John McCain's changing position on issues during the economic turmoil, raises questions about John McCain's judgement.

He says that Barack Obama has a steadiness, intellectual curiousity, depth of knowledge, and a definitive way of doing business that will serve us well.

He says the Republican party's approach over the last seven weeks has become narrower and narrower, while the Democrat's have a more inclusive approach that crosses ethnic, racial and generational lines - and recognizes all villages and towns have value - not just small villages and towns.

Colin Powell is troubled that some Republican's are narrowing the party's appeal and polarizing people by trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist sympathizer by using robo calls and statements by Sarah Palin - and with the misguided attempts by some who say Barack Obama is a Muslim. Colin Powell points out that Barack Obama is a Christian, and that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim in this country. He says how wrong it is that in America the land of opportunity - that people who are saying these things might make a seven year old kid, who is a Muslim, think he or she could not grow up to be president.

Who is the president we need now?

Colin Powell says - Barack Obama's ability to inspire, the inclusive nature of his campaign, his rhetorical abilities, his style and substance shows he has met the standard and has the potential to be an exceptional president. He is a transformational figure, a new generation coming onto the world and America's stage. For these reasons he will be voting for Barack Obama.

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As a Republican Colin Powell is disappointed with the debasement of the Republican ideals that has come about by following a Fox-Newslike campaign strategy of no substance and all sensationalism. It is unfortunate that instead of letting John McCain be himself and provide a valid counterpoint as he did in this November 2006 speech to the Federalist Society we are left with a campaign that is racing to the lowest common denominator.

I have a great deal of respect for Colin Powell. If you want to learn more about Colin Powell, his book My American Journey, published in 2003, is very interesting and inspiring. This is a quote from that book -

"To sum up my political philosophy, I am a fiscal conservative with a social conscience. Neither of the two major parties, however, fits me comfortably in its present state. Granted, politics is the art of compromise, but for now I prefer not to compromise just so that I can say I belong to this or that party. I am troubled by the political passion of those on the extreme right who seem to claim divine wisdom on political as well as spiritual matters. God provides us with guidance and inspiration, not a legislative agenda. I am disturbed by the class and racial undertones beneath the surface of their rhetoric. On the other side of the spectrum, I am put off by patronizing liberals who claim to know what is best for society but devote little thought to who will eventually pay the bills. I question the priorities of those liberals who lavish so much attention on individual license and entitlements that little concern is left for the good of the community at large. I distrust rigid ideology from any direction, and I am discovering that many Americans feel just as I do."

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Speaking of endorsements, Editor & Publisher shows Barack Obama leads John McCain 76-18 in newspaper endorsements as of Saturday October 18th. Some of these newspapers typically support the Republican candidate. The Houston Chronicle and Austin American-Statesman who strongly supported George Bush in 2004, and one - The Chicago Tribune has never endorsed a Democrat for president.

Obama Leading in 7-11 Coffee Cup Poll

You can participate in the 7-11 Election 2008 by buying a cup of coffee in a McCain or Obama coffee cup. It's interesting that around 60% elect to purchase the Obama cup. The poll has a bias of course but it seems like it would be biased towards people with lower incomes and the working class - the real Joe The Plumber/Joe Six Pack types.

Safe, Prosperous and Free

It's interesting that some candidates spend so much money on negative TV ads while a young independent artist comes up with his own video with a positive message. I'm not sure how a traditional political campaign could ever compete with this kind of grassroots effort.

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

The Amateur Gourmet

The blog The Amateur Gourmet looks pretty interesting to me. I especially like the graphics at the top of the home page.

I ran across that blog while looking for information on the impact adrenaline in animal meat may have on the people who consume that meat. I didn't find anything on that topic but I did find Food and Drugs: Two Questions which was good for a smile.

The Good News - There Will Be Snacks

Tables And Chairs by Andrew Bird

"I know we're gonna meet someday in the crumbled financial institutions of this land
there will be tables and chairs
pony rides and dancing bears
there'll even be a band
'cause listen after the fall there'll be no more countries
no currencies at all
we're gonna live on our wits
throw away survival kits
trade butterfly knives for adderal
and that's not all
woah!
there will be snacks, there will
there will be snacks!"

Lyrics - Tables And Chairs by Andrew Bird

Listen to the song at Andrew Bird - live concert video on Fabchannel.com

Sarah Palin Tellin a Whopper? - You Betcha

From the report to the Alaska Legislative Council released Friday October 10, 2008 by a 12-0 vote of the Alaska Legislative Council, with eight Republicans and four Democrats voting -

Finding Number One

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust"

Sarah Palin tells Alaska reporters in a phone interview on October 11, 2008 -

"I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

The Fact Checkers at the Washington Post gave Sarah "Four Pinocchios" for this whopper.

Jiminy Cricket must be quite disappointed.

Who's Terrorizing Who?

The Truth will set you free.

Fight The Smears cites articles from FactCheck.org, The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN, The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, and The Chicago Sun Times that explain how ridiculous the claim is that Barack Obama being on a board, and at a political fundraiser, that included William Ayers, has anything to do with Barack Obama's character or political views.

Part of what makes this baseless attack on Barack Obama scary is the implication that there is no free press - we can't trust anyone.

That should strike terror in the hearts of everyone who believes a functioning democracy depends on an informed citizenry.

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Another talking point that's being repeated is that Barack Obama praised a book written by William Ayers. The next time some drone says or writes that Barack Obama said something good about one of William Ayer's books, ask them if they are talking about 1. To Become a Teacher: Making a Difference in Children's Lives or 2. A Kind and Just Parent or 3. The Good Preschool Teacher or one of the other 13 books William Ayer's has written.

The correct answer is number 2. If they get that right you can ask them if they would like to burn that book, or make sure more people read it since it's been praised by the Library Review, Kirkus Reviews, Amazon.com Review - among others - for describing how the the juvenile justice system can eliminate a child's chance for redemption, and for providing hope that the system can be changed to give children a chance.

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A whisper campaign of guilt by association - based on someone being at a fundraiser, serving on a board, and saying someone wrote something useful for people who want to help children - but not listening when Barack Obama says William Ayer's acts as a Weatherman 40 years ago were "detestable", or reading numerous reputable newspapers that say the connection is absurd - is intended to appeal to a person's gut, not their head. It's a perfect example of what Stephen Colbert so aptly defined as Truthiness.

If we wanted to talk about guilt by association there are much closer ties between John McCain and G. Gordon Liddy that bear some consideration when deciding on who to vote for as the next president.

Pick Your President

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The Tribe has Spoken

Maybe it's the campaign season, or I've been watching to much cable news, but America seems to be moving away from a democratic civilized society where rational discourse is used to examine and critique a variety of ideas - and becoming a nation of tribes.

We have divided ourselves into tribes, by using labels that we often don't understand - "Republicans", "Democrats", "Liberals", "Conservatives", "Radicals".

Once I've labeled you I can discount "you" since you are not a member of my tribe. It becomes a quick leap from rational thought to emotionally charged feelings - you are bad, you are scary, you are not like me. I want what's good - you for some reason want what's bad. It's all silly nonsense of course - because the definition of the tribe is sometimes based on no more than sound bites heard on MSNBC or Fox News or whatever TV/radio show, internet site, we think best represents our tribe.

Political affiliation, similar to religious affiliation, is often an accident of birth and many people don't bother to examine the underlying philosophies of either the political or religious tribe they claim membership in. Never having developed their own religious or political beliefs they are left open to following whatever mystical or irrational ideas are promoted by the leader(s) of the tribe.

As an antidote to the cheering (or booing) mobs I see on TV I'm reading Karl Popper's book written in 1944 - the Open Society and Its Enemies (Volume 1).

After I've finished those I think I'll re-read the San Francisco longshoreman/philosopher Eric Hoffer's book The True Believer.

I'm afraid if all I do is watch TV, listen to the radio and visit my favorite websites I'll be tempted to join in the emotion - stop thinking rationally, and thereby give up my individual liberty to say and think what I want. If the tribe has spoken and they do my thinking and talking for me - then I can stop thinking....and cease to exist as an individual.

What a waste that would be - we live in a free country - we are all wonders of God's creation - we should take advantage of that fact to come up with new, better and more peaceful ways of thinking and doing things.

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