BEWARE OF THOSE REPUBLICAN SOCIALISTS

It takes a desperate man to sing a desperate song and in the last days of this campaign we find the socialist tune that the McCain bunch is singing about Barack Obama is hard on the ears as well as the mind. We are told and retold that Mr. McCain has a deep admiration for Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and that they are in fact his personal role models. We would hope then that at some point Mr. McCain learns their actual views. That's because T.R. was one of the first passionate advocates of the progressive income tax (wealth redistribution) and R.R. originated the earned income tax credit (tax welfare?) to people making low incomes. Were these men socialists? According to McCain and Palin the answer would be yes if it serves them politically and if you take a fair and balanced look, ideologically Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan are socialists or maybe even Marxists compared to the current Republican ticket.

MAVERICK UPDATED

Circa 1960 there was a TV western show named “Maverick” about a gambler in the old west starring the gifted actor James Garner. There was poker, lovely ladies, gunfire and some fun plots, and our hero Brett Maverick of course survived it all. But most of all, the Maverick then had a warm heart and was never, ever mean. Times have changed.
MAVERICK
Who is the tall, dark stranger there? Maverick is the name. Ridin' the trail to who knows where, Luck is his companion, Gamblin' is his game. Smooth as the handle on a gun. Maverick is the name. Wild as the wind in Oregon, Blowin' up a canyon, Easier to tame. Riverboat, ring your bell, Fare thee well, Annabel. Luck is the lady that he loves the best. Natchez to New Orleans Livin on jacks and queens Maverick is a legend of the west. Riverboat, ring your bell, Fare thee well, Annabel. Luck is the lady that he loves the best. Natchez to New Orleans Livin on jacks and queens Maverick is a legend of the west. Maverick is a legend of the west.

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FROM THE DIARY OF KARL ROVE-EARLY SEPTEMBER 2008 I never liked this guy, I mean really he was against our tax cuts, said the war in Iraq would be difficult if it worked at all, never wanted to drill and even said (in his 2000 life) that if we repealed Roe vs. Wade many American teenagers would face unsafe abortions. Well, he has changed, but I just don't know. He's saying (not doing of course) all the right things, that he's against lobbyists (only 49 are on his campaign staff), and if he doesn't get self serve cred with Carly Fiorina, when does he? Oh, she was actually fired by Hewlett-Packard as chief executive but the stock was only down 50% from when she started; haven't these shareholders ever heard of the glass (ceiling?) half full? Anyway, Ms. Fiorina got a $42 million severance for herself-so she understands Republican business principles. So I guess that rebel bit of his will work, remember if you fool some of the people all of the time (sorry Lincoln you never were our type of Republican), -- oh my gosh he's just appointed Sarah Palin as his VP. Let me check, yes she's more religious and less scientific that Dub, this might just work with the voters and fool enough women too. Maybe he can really pull off that "Maverick" thing, if we just say it long enough and loud enough, yawn and...a channel with old westerns starring James Garner begins to play as Karl drifts off into wish and song...

Who is the false talk changer there
Maverick is his claim
Rewritin' himself to who knows where
A faith based veep companion
Earmarks are her game

Ruthless on how the truth is spun
Maverick is his claim
To bend to the base that must be won
Fear’s our best companion
Mock O’s middle name

Stock exchange ring your bell
The fundamentals all are well
With luck we can either bribe or dupe the rest
Mac blew off New Orleans
While living on Cindy's means
So Maverick as a legend serves him best
Yes Maverick as a legend serves him best

Stock exchange ring your bell
Having 8 digs is swell
Tough luck to those who have one home at best
Straight talk's a long lost dream
with Palin his "no thanks" queen
So maverick as a legend serves him best
Yes maverick as a legend serves him best

FRIDAY FAUXLOSOPHY

There may be few more important decisions for an individual than weighing relief of the moment versus satisfaction over time.

FOR THE "RIGHT" TO WIN, STOP THE RIGHT TO VOTE

They are at it again in Ohio among other places, they being the "patriotic" Republican party which loves America so much that it just doesn't want too many of us to vote. It's no secret that in the last few decades, if not longer, the Republicans have wished (some say prayed) for bad weather and bad voter turnout, while the Democrats have hoped for just the opposite. But since controlling the weather prayer wise or otherwise, the G.O.P. has tried to do it court wise, or in our point of view court-wise guy. Who can forget the "felonless" of Florida in 2000 which may have helped change the history of this country? More recently they tried and failed in a split the electoral vote scam in California, so now (some of) their current focus is on suppressing voters in Ohio and Michigan. In Ohio, their first attempt which the Supreme Court denied focused on "inconsistencies" in voter roles including such threats to Democracy as typo's and hyphens involving just a few individuals so they, the Republicans, naturally sought to challenge the right to vote of many thousands of citizens. This of course was done in Democratic districts. In Michigan they really put the compassionate conservatism (they don't really try and sell that crap anymore, huh) by arguing that those who had had their homes foreclosed shouldn't be allowed to vote since they no longer had an official address.
We are sure in other states, and in other ways right up until the polls close on November 4th and maybe after in recounts, the righteous right that so loves America will continue to mess with the right of Americans to vote.
Still there is the chance that Mr. Obama might just win, and maybe this one time Republican die hearts should think beyond the moment and put their country and their own posterity first. That noted, we say to the voter suppression, regression, and aggression bunch, please for the sake of your party and your legacy take something into account. Take into account that while you are perceived by so much of America to have (inadvertently?) grabbed the 2000 election, and may well have (accidentally?) benefited from the Diebold machined on Ohio in the 2004 election you would have to outright heist this one in 2008. You wouldn't then have a very supportive America or for that matter a very proud posterity. So look one time in the mirror as you reflect on history.

FOR THE DEMOCRATIC STRATEGISTS; PLEASE STEAL THESE IDEAS

1. Straight ticket express vote Democrats only, its our only chance...
2. Register, register, register...remember they won't let you win a close one
3. Palin/Buchanan, tomorrow belongs to them?
4. To Palin; do you believe in science of evolution and immunology, and the vaccines that results from that belief? And are your children vaccinated?
5. If we think that the media is hard on McCain for his age or Palin for her gender, what makes us think that global challenges can be graded on a curve?
6. They can grouse about our media but I doubt genocidal maniacs of Darfur, the psychotic Vladimir Putin, or the murderous Osama Bin Laden will ease up accordingly.

ON THIS LAWN, (TWO) SIGNS OF THE TIMES

I just drove past a "For Sale" sign in front of a home, with another sign, should we say of our times (and mindset for that matter.) A call to the realtor confirmed it's been listed since this past summer and has some very unique conveniences even considering the affluent community in which it's located. Not that we are into real estate, but they are now selling (they hope) at a price of at least 20% less than listed and this is now being available in less than three months of a listing. It's an unfortunate but hardly atypical American story and so is the political dynamic at work within that property owners heart and mind. I'll explain; in many a poli-sci class (at least that's where I heard it) they tell a story of a farmer in 1936 who was being asked about the upcoming election, with FDR running for his second term. This man of the land was decisive, pointing out that in 1932, the time of the last election he was virtually busted and local services, power etc. in the Great Depression were barely functional. By 1936 of course the New Deal TVA et al had primed the pump and the greatest economic recovery this country has ever achieved, or had to achieve was well underway and the man from Tennessee recognized it, in a unique (for some) plain folk American way. He said in 1932 he'd voted Republican and things had gotten so much better that he had to vote Republican again. Back to the lawn of the house desperate to be sold, next to the realtors sign is a McCain/Palin poster. I hope the reason for that sign of the times isn't that in the last election they voted Democratic and property values plummeted since, so they won't do that again.

FRIDAY FAUXLOSOPHY

If George Bush then and Sarah Palin now have shown us anything, its that of these three seemingly annoying traits; cutesiness, smugness, and folksiness, only the first two are really annoying. The third is downright dangerous.

In Character Assassination by Assignation One Size Fits All

Good news America, your greatest concerns should not be about the economy and a melting down Wall Street. Nor should they be about the growing influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan or Iraq. Don’t worry a hoot about foreclosures or runs on banks or even global warming for that matter (especially the causes of it, how important could these be), or even if you’ll be able to afford health care, especially if Mr. McCain is elected. No, the most important thing in the last month of this more than important election is a referendum on Mr. Obama’s character. In other words an all out character attack, one promise for change we expect Mr. McCain to keep.

Really, isn’t this where the focus should lie, on radicals from the sixties with whom Mr. Obama has been seen now and then (the last time being five years ago at a charity fund raiser), or a much too mouthy preacher. So then, after failing to sell the country on the importance of their stories, Mr. McCain and Governor Palin still fail to grasp it’s about your stories (and struggles) out there across America. Thus, they’ve decided to focus the election campaign on Mr. Obama’s story, their version.
So we can rest easy that the big issues are all under control as John McCain (like recently about Wall Street) goes out of control, and to support all this is a documentary by Sean Hannity. A documentary by Sean Hannity; that’s like a benign aneurysm, friendly fire or an amicable divorce, but this past Sunday on Fox News (another oxymoron) he did it again.

In a program devoted to character assassination by association (even they at Fox can’t come up with Mr. Obama’s deeds to match their accusations), they said he’d been “training for a radical over throw of the government” as a community organizer. No proof of that of course, but we’d certainly support anyone who will work for the overthrow of Fox News. But back to the program, Mr. Hannity’s figure of authority is a man named Andy Martin, a conservative writer who is generally given “credit” for having begun the campaign that Barack OBama is a Muslim, this after their complaints about the character of his protestant minister, hmmm. But in the words of journalist Jim Ruttenberg, “Mr. Martin was careful not to present his theories about Mr. Obama as proven fact”. Great, reminds you fauxvians we hope of one of our sayings that “knowledge is good and facts are okay too”. A final bit about Mr. Martin; in 1996 he proved too right wing extreme for even the Republican Party in Florida (this is possible?). Why, because they received actual documents from his attempt to gain a congressional seat in Connecticut (he’s one of ours, ouch) and personally gave as the purpose of one of his political committees as “to eliminate Jew power in America and impeach the judges of the US Court Appeals in New York City.” Mr. Martin denies he has anti-Semitic feelings, just like were sure he doesn’t have any anti-Muslim feelings; great plan Sean, if you folks couldn’t get the Jews, get the Muslims, even if you have to make them up.

TO THE "STIMULATED" JOHN MCCAIN; LEARN FROM BOTH ROOSEVELTS

On "This Week With..." John McCain decries the system of earmarks but says he probably would have voted for them after being against them. He wouldn't approve the stimulus package until he read it, oh...but when he was given the preliminary plan last Monday (it was a whole three pages) by Tuesday evening he “hadn't had a chance” to read it. He alleges one of the crucial ongoing problems is the decline of home prices, and he may just face nine times the problem with that many homes.

Now by the way he's a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" who will do "what little I can," and he "won't claim a bit of credit." A number of Congressional insiders from both parties agree that would be an accurate assessment of his actual contributions. The fact is that this crisis is what Warren Buffett has called "a financial Pearl Harbor," but what's really killing the high-rolling, all the time lower tax, Bush-booster bunch are several things. First, it's obvious there will need to be more regulation of financial institutions in the foreseeable future. Second, the system of giving CEOs excessive bonuses and stock rewards for what is essentially failure in performance is essentially a failure itself. And third, regarding many more decisions with which they will have to live, the conservative theorists will have to admit in private what they are simply not honest enough to do publicly. And that is that on so many levels FDR was so much more evolved on such crises (pardon the reference to evolution) than all those who’ve spent their intellectual careers trying to undo and discredit his legacy.

FRIDAY FAUXLOSOPHY

When trying to restore frayed relationships (particularly in the family), take a breath, have a plan and work out a script. And trust your plan as opposed to your instinct which is probably what caused many of the problems in the first place.

MAVERICK

Who is the tall, dark stranger there? Maverick is the name. Ridin' the trail to who knows where, Luck is his companion, Gamblin' is his game. Smooth as the handle on a gun. Maverick is the name. Wild as the wind in Oregon, Blowin' up a canyon, Easier to tame. Riverboat, ring your bell, Fare thee well, Annabel. Luck is the lady that he loves the best. Natchez to New Orleans Livin on jacks and queens Maverick is a legend of the west. Riverboat, ring your bell, Fare thee well, Annabel. Luck is the lady that he loves the best. Natchez to New Orleans Livin on jacks and queens Maverick is a legend of the west. Maverick is a legend of the west.

------------------------------------

FROM THE DIARY OF KARL ROVE-EARLY SEPTEMBER 2008 I never liked this guy, I mean really he was against our tax cuts, said the war in Iraq would be difficult if it worked at all, never wanted to drill and even said (in his 2000 life) that if we repealed Roe vs. Wade many American teenagers would face unsafe abortions. Well, he has changed, but I just don't know. He's saying (not doing of course) all the right things, that he's against lobbyists (only 49 are on his campaign staff), and if he doesn't get self serve cred with Carly Fiorina, when does he? Oh, she was actually fired by Hewlett-Packard as chief executive but the stock was only down 50% from when she started; haven't these shareholders ever heard of the glass (ceiling?) half full? Anyway, Ms. Fiorina got a $42 million severance for herself-so she understands Republican business principles. So I guess that rebel bit of his will work, remember if you fool some of the people all of the time (sorry Lincoln you never were our type of Republican), -- oh my gosh he's just appointed Sarah Palin as his VP. Let me check, yes she's more religious and less scientific that Dub, this might just work with the voters and fool enough women too. Maybe he can really pull off that "Maverick" thing, if we just say it long enough and loud enough, yawn and...a channel with old westerns starring James Garner begins to play as Karl drifts off into wish and song...

Who is the false talk changer there
Maverick is his claim
Rewritin' himself to who knows where
A faith based veep companion
Earmarks are her game

Truth's he can't handle must be spun
Maverick is his claim
To bend to the base that must be won
Fear’s our best companion
Use O’s “Muslim” name

SEC ring your bell
The fundamentals all are well
With luck we can either bribe or dupe the rest
Mac blew off New Orleans
While living on Cindy's means
So Maverick as a legend serves him best
Yes Maverick as a legend serves him best

SEC ring your bell
Having 8 digs is swell
Tough luck to those who have one home at best
Straight talk's a long lost dream
with Palin his "no thanks" queen
So maverick as a legend serves him best
Yes maverick as a legend serves him best