Drawing Even

Neocon:
Obama, I shall argue, does not control the distribution of senatorial staff pay. In other words, he is not in control of the budget for all U.S. Senators. The president is responsible for budgeting. Like Hillary, he supports equal pay for women, but the GOP's nominee opposed federal legislation for equal pay
NEW ORLEANS ??? Republican Sen.
John McCain
, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes
a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/23/mccain-opposes-equal-pay-_n_98342.html-------
Does McCain care more about corproations facing lawsuits for discriminating women on equal pay or does he care more about women's rights?

By Lynette Long
September 14, 2008

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.palin14sep14,0,4638337.story
After the Democratic primaries, I and a small group of Hillary Clinton supporters met with Sen. John McCain. I explained to him that women comprise more than half of the population, yet are underrepresented in every branch of government. I asked him to choose a woman for the vice presidential slot and to increase the number of women in the Cabinet and on the Supreme Court. Mr. McCain listened respectfully to my request.

After the Democratic Primary, I was contacted by a member of Sen. Barack Obama's Finance Committee, and we had numerous contentious conversations. I finally told him I would be happy to vote for Mr. Obama and rally other Hillary Clinton supporters, but in return I wanted Mr. Obama to pledge gender parity in the Cabinet.

"What if there aren't qualified women - you still expect us to appoint half women to the Cabinet?" he replied. "There are 300 million people in this country; you're telling me you can't find 10 qualified women?" I said.

He responded, "You can't have that." We had no further conversations.

Yes, policy is important, but who decides and delivers that policy is even more important. Children incorporate many of their perceptions about gender by age 5. Little girls won't understand if Sarah Palin is pro-life or pro-choice, believes in gun control or is a member of the NRA, but they will know the vice president of the United States is a girl - and that alone will alter their perceptions of themselves.

I have given my loyalty to the Democratic Party for decades. My party, which is comprised primarily of women, has not put a woman on a presidential ticket for 24 years. My party stood silently by as Hillary Clinton was eviscerated by the mainstream media.I can vote for my party and its candidates, which have demonstrated a blatant disrespect for women and a fundamental lack of integrity. Or I can vote for the Republican ticket, which has heard our concerns and put a woman on the ticket, but with which I fundamentally don't agree on most issues.

Right now, for me, gender trumps everything else. If Democratic women wait for the perfect woman to come along, we will never elect a woman. I will vote for McCain-Palin. I urge other women to do the same. I promise to be the first person knocking on her door if Roe v. Wade or any other legislation that goes against the rights of women is threatened. But in Governor Palin, I find a woman of integrity, who not only talks the talk but walks the walk. I can work with that. I will work with that.

Lynette Long is a psychologist in Bethesda

and the author of 20 books. Her e-mail is

drlynettelong@aol.com.

I have been accused by neocon that I site unreliable sources in my posts in reference to McCain's interview regarding Spain. So how about CNN and Time I sincerely hope that they are considered reliable sources by neocon because it is sooooooooooooooooooooooo very important to me what this particular anonymous individual thinks LOL!

The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly on McCain
By Lisa Abend Thursday, Sep. 18, 2008

You gotta feel for José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Here the Spanish prime minister is only four months from an end to his government's strained relations with that of President George W. Bush and blam! ??? along comes John McCain to suggest the next four years might not be any better. During an interview in Miami earlier this week with Spanish-language station Union Radio, a reporter asked McCain whether, if elected, he would receive Zapatero in the White House. McCain answered, "Honestly, I have to analyze our relationships, situations, and priorities, but I can assure you that I will establish closer relationships with our friends, and I will stand up to those who want to harm the United States

Ouch. The question about Zapatero came after a series of questions on how McCain sees relations with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba. He said he would not speak to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez "without any sort of preconditions, as Sen. Obama has said he would," and said Chavez was "depriving his people of their democratic rights." He judged Bolivia's Evo Morales as "very similar" and similarly condemned Cuba's Raul Castro. When the questioner said, "Now let's talk of Spain" and asked whether he'd invite Zapatero, McCain responded with a vague statement that he would meet "with those leaders who are our friends" and then cited Mexican president Felipe Calderon as an example. The questioner tried several more times to steer the Senator back to a clear answer on Spain, but he never directly addressed it, saying: "What I would say is that my record is that of someone who has worked in a friendly atmosphere with those who are our friends and faced up to those who aren't."

link to entire article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842156,00.html?cnn=yes

Hagee was, if you'll remember, the guy who said that Hurricaine Katrina was God's revenge for a gay pride parade. Is he ranting about Ike? He thinks war with Iran is essential so as to bring about Armageddon (when you can say bye-bye to the Jews). But he's a white Christian evangelical bigot, and therefore entitled to respect from the pundit class:

[W]hite evangelical Ministers are free to advocate American wars based on Biblical mandates, rant hatefully against Islam, and argue that natural disasters occur because God hates gay people. They are still fit for good company, an important and cherished part of our mainstream American political system. The entire GOP establishment is permitted actively to lavish them with praise and court their support without the slightest backlash or controversy. Both George Bush and the once Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent formal greetings to the 2006 gathering of Hagee's group.

By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black Christian ministers like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep suspicion, even contempt. McCain is free to hug and praise the Rev. Hagees of the world, but Obama is required to prove over and over and over and over that he does not share the more extreme views of black Ministers.

Fumbling, again, some of his economic messaging, McCain confused the Federal Election Commission for the Securities and Exchange Commission during his speech on the housing and financial crises Friday morning.

Calling for SEC Chairman Chris Cox to step down, McCain declared: "I believe the chairman of the FEC should resign and leave office immediately."

If someone???s strong bias, prejudice or emotional attachment just makes it impossible for them to vote for Obama-Biden, then that is a real shame but maybe it just can???t be overcome. Even recognizing that John McCain is really out of touch with the people and with the problems and literally, like George W Bush, is focused on Special Interests and continuing policies that have and are failing all Americans; even recognizing that Sarah Palin could become president, if McCain-Palin were elected, and seeing that she is self-focused, extreme, bazaar, arrogant, aggressive and incapable; and even noting that they both are literally dishonest saying anything and everything they think will get them what they want, even to often copying whatever Obama says; even if someone???s conscience identifies all of those things and yet they still need to rationalize that Obama and Biden have faults too and they then try to build that into something more meaningful; then maybe the only rational and conscience driven thing for them to do is just not vote. The Bush-Cheney administration has left America with a whole lot that we desperately need to recover from and it actually has become more and more obvious that a McCain-Palin administration would very possibly be even worse. We, America, just can???t take that! If anyone does recognize the truth but still can???t overcome their resistance, for whatever reason, and just can???t vote for Obama-Biden, then they should follow their conscience and just not vote. That would be more responsible.

Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats' strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

When asked during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, whether he would "pursue the violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration", Biden answered in the affirmative.

"We will not be stopped from pursuing any criminal offence that's occurred," he continued, going on to praise congressional committees for the deliberate pace of their inquiries into alleged Bush administration misdeeds.

Members of Congress are "doing the right thing, they're not making false accusations about anything ??? they're collecting data, subpoenaing records, they're building a file", Biden said.

"If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued --not out of vengeance, not out of retribution, out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president -- no one is above the law."

Obama sounded a similar note in April, vowing that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to initiate a prompt review of Bush-era actions to distinguish between possible "genuine crimes" and "really bad policies".

"[I]f crimes have been committed, they should be investigated," Obama told the Philadelphia Daily News. "You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt, because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve."

"What is true is the United States Congress is trying to preserve records on questions that relate to whether or not the law has been violated by anyone," Biden said, adding: "But, you know, there's been an awful lot of unsavoury stuff that's gone on. And the mere fact ??? that it occurred in a previous administration doesn't mean [a subsequent] Justice Department, if, in fact, there's evidence, shouldn't pursue them. "But I have no evidence of any of that. No one's talking about pursuing President Bush criminally."

Congressional Democrats have issued a flurry of subpoenas this year to senior Bush administration aides as part of a broad inquiry into the authorisation of torturous interrogation tactics used at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Three Bush White House veterans have been held in criminal contempt of congressional committees for refusing to respond to subpoenas in an inquiry on the firing of federal prosecutors: former counsel Harriet Miers, former political adviser Karl Rove, and current chief of staff Josh Bolten. The battle over Miers's and Bolten's testimony is currently before a federal court.

Mr. McCain, who has been on a steady search for support among conservative and evangelical leaders who have long distrusted him, said he was "very honored'" by Mr. Hagee's endorsement. Asked about Mr. Hagee's extensive writings on Armageddon and about what one questioner said was Mr. Hagee's belief that the anti-Christ will be the head of the European Union, Mr. McCain responded that "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support.'"

Notice the "been on a steady search" part. If Obama had actively sought Farrakhan's endorsement, his campaign would be over.

Hey, HolyRoller...

Have you actually sat down and pondered precisely how awful John McCain would be for America right now? Haven't we alienated the world enough? Haven't we killed enough Iraqi children? Haven't we wasted enough time NOT doing anything solid to push back global warming? Haven't we gotten tired yet of our pathetic dependence on fossilized and liquified dinosaur crap? Are we collectively really that dim-witted that we don't see what the rest of the Western World sees about us?


GOBAMA!!

Obama looks forward to naming FBI director that will protect the rights of criminals. "For too long we have been too preocuppied with the rights of victims" said the candidate.