The final nail in the coffin.

[maddog]

Colin Powell explains the problems of McCain's campaign and the Republican Party in a very eloquent manner.

Enough said. I wish I could have explained it like that. Thank you Colin.

--Ray.

[thomasjordan]

Since Colin Powell was not a Republican, what would he know and why would his recommendation for a Democrate matter?

And according to all my retired general friends, he wasn't even a very good general.  He made Lieutenant Colonel on his own merits.  After that, it was all affirmative action.

Then again, since John McCain isn't a Republican either, perhaps it does matter.

Anybody know the English words to the national anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics?  I think we're all going to be expected to know them in a few months.

[maddog]

Since Colin Powell was not a Republican, what would he know and why would his recommendation for a Democrate matter?

He's a Republican and was President Bush's first Secretary of State so I'd say that is why it matters.

--Ray.

[thomasjordan]

He has consistently refused to commit himself as to which party he belonged to.  If he was ever a Republican, he kept it in the closest.  If he did announce it today, then ok, I'll take your word for it.  I've still got too much homework do before midnight to waste time looking up if he came out of the closet.

Bush certainly would not be the first president to have a non-partisan in his cabinet.  Abe Lincoln had a Democrate as his vice-president, who became president in 1865.

As I said in my first post, none of the retired generals I know thought much of the guy when he was in the service, and some knew him when he was a junior lieutenant.  I don't know anybody who thought he was an effective secretary of state.

[Gwizz]

I think Powell gave himself away as being Liberal when he said he would be concerned if McCain appointed two more Conservative judges.

The Court is already heavy with Liberal judges.  I believe McCain is more a middle of the road Liberal than he is Conservative and I'm concerned he might appoint more Liberal judges.  I know Obama will.

[Gwizz]

It is interesting that general Powell's son is supporting McCain and is actively campaigning for McCain.

McCain did support both Powells in their different appointments.  General Powell has received all his advancements and appointments from Republicans except one from Clinton where McCain lobbied for Powell.  Powell would never say whether he was a liberal or a conservative.  Yet he believes in abortion and affirmative action for blacks. (to gave special benefits to blacks and against whites)  Bush dumped him.

Obama said he will give General Powell a place on his staff.

Tell me General Powell's support of Obama is not racial.  It is.

[maddog]

The Court is already heavy with Liberal judges.

There aren't liberal or conservative judges (or activist judges either) however, there are constructionist and interpretive judges. This is just another example of the way that the Republicans have mislead America. They've turned two different but equal ways of reading law into polar opposites for political gain. Divide and conquer. Demonization of SCOTUS. If there is any place in our system of government that should be above politics, it's the courts. We need them that way.

--Ray.

[maddog]

Yet he believes in abortion and affirmative action for blacks. (to gave special benefits to blacks and against whites)

AA actually works both ways and is "supposed" to only come into play when there are two equal candidates for a single position. Unfortunately, most companies do not understand this and it seems to work to the advantage of minorities. I wish I didn't have to keep paying for the sins of my fathers. :(

Bush dumped him.

Wasn't it the other way around? I thought Powell told the President that he would only be his Secretary of State for the first term and I thought he retired from the military during the Clinton administration.

Obama said he will give General Powell a place on his staff.

Tell me General Powell's support of Obama is not racial.  It is.

Ok, I'll tell you that. :) It was in the interview but not in the video above. IIRC he stated that having a candidate that is African-American shows that the country has changed and grown. I'll look for a video or transcript of it.

--Ray.

[maddog]

This is the best I can find. The audio doesn't match up. I think he talked more about it in the third segment but I can't find a video of it. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbuECbvSSUM

--Ray.

[Gwizz]

George Bush has been in office for 7 - 3/4 years.  The first six the economy was fine.

A little over one & 1/2 years ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;

2) Regular gasoline sold for a little over $2.00 gallon;

3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 +

5) American's were buying new cars, taking cruises, vacations overseas, living large!...

But American's wanted 'CHANGE'!  So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and yes--we got 'CHANGE' all right! In the PAST YEAR & 1/2:

1) Consumer confidence has plummeted ;

2) Gasoline went to over $4 a gallon & now with the bad econmy it is dropping!;

3) Unemployment is up to over 5.5% (a 10% increase);

4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices are still dropping;

5) 2% of American homes are in foreclosure.

6) THE DOW is down and now bouncing all over the place.

7) 2.5 trillion dollars has evaporated from stocks, bonds & mutual funds in investment portfolios!

YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE...AND WE SURE GOT IT!  ....

REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS.  AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!!

JUST HOW MUCH MORE 'CHANGE' DO YOU THINK WE CAN STAND?

[maddog]

YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE...AND WE SURE GOT IT!  ....

REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS.  AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Er... Is that capslock stuck again? :)  No, we really didn't. There are enough Republicans in Congress to keep things from being changed. Unfortuantely, we'd go into "What if" territory if we asked about a Congress controlled by the Democrats.

NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!!

JUST HOW MUCH MORE 'CHANGE' DO YOU THINK WE CAN STAND?

I can only hope for a Democrat majority in Congress. The Republicans had control for a long time. They didn't help me any. I just had to pay a "rich tax" as gas prices went up and they did nothing to lower taxes like they always say. Remember that gas prices started to go up just before Hurricane Katrina but really went out-of-control in the last two or three years. The last tax break I have had was before 911.

--Ray.

[Hawk]

Don't look for any tax breaks any time soon, no matter who wins this election.  ;)

As a matter of fact, you can guarantee they'll go up. How else are either one of the crooks going to pay for all the crap they want to spend tax dollars on.

[Gwizz]

Comments from Seattle's local Radio:

The Seattle area is having a rash of political vandalism.  McCain signs are being destroyed.  Cars have been vandalized that had McCain stickers on them.  One man lost so many McCain signs out of his front yard that he put the signs on his roof.  He came home to find people on his roof tearing up his signs.  I observed a jogger picking up Republican signs and re planting them.  At least they were only kicked over and could be salvaged. 

Of course, very little of this will make the news in our Liberal newspapers or on our Liberal Television.  Only our radio stations are reporting this.  One station said this is happening all over the US. One man called a show stating he was an Obama supporter and said he had been vandalized.  But he was unsure how.  He just knew that it was the Republican party that was vandalizing him.

I'm sure someplace a Democratic sign has suffered an attack.

When I was an active Democrat and attending their meetings and carried their signs, I remember a group of the members laughing about having an un-signing party. I don't know if they really did destroy signs.  I vocally rejected that idea and I was not made a part of their parties.  Many stopped talking to me.  But it wasn't very long until the lies and rogue activities drove me out of that group and toward the Republican party.  But the republicans, I felt, were mostly talkers, who did nothing.  Of course they were alway out numbered by Democrats in our state Congress. So maybe I should not have been so hard on them. I quit supporting the party an became an independent member of no party.  I will support Democrats or Republicans when I feel they are honest people and really intend to do good for the common folks.  There are still some good people in both parties.  They are just harder to find as the very rich support the Democrats and not so rich business people support the Republicans.  This makes it hard for any politician to be a good and honest politician for the common folks. 

McCain will owe payback to most of the business lobby.

Obama will owe the very wealthy Lobby, who's main occupation is building up their wealth at tax payer expense and it now seems he will owe the middle east who wants to sway Obama in their way of thinking.

The common folks who think there is a candidate that will change and improve their life, will instead only find a more difficult struggle ahead of them as promises turn into cold air lies for the common folks.     

Another comment today:

One of our Democratic candidates for congress lied on her resume stating that she had graduated from Harvard with an Economics degree.  At least she owned up to the lie when confronted.  Her political race was close.  I doubt it is as close now.  But then some people don't seem to care if their leaders are liars or not. 

We turned in our ballets today.  The parking lot was still full of cars since poll-workers were still being trained.

But, with the registration to vote now closed, there were no people in shabby clothes waiting around for buses to take them back to wherever.

I heard a prediction that polling groups that tabulate which candidate was ahead will now start fixing how they arrive at their figures for each race.  These groups want to boost their credibility for the next election.  It will be nice to have honest polling again, if that does happen.

One polling group surveyed a third more Democrats that it did Republicans.  Well I'll be, Obama came out ahead between 7 & 8%.