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A Turkey By Any Other Description—
Is Still the Governor of Alaska
by Walter Brasch

President Bush, as has every president since his father began the practice in 1989, annually pardons a Thanksgiving turkey.

Amid hundreds of spectators, most of them members of the media, the president makes a few cute comments, issues a pardon for the turkey and a "runner-up" (in case the Main Bird can't fulfill all the duties), and then sends the turkeys off to a petting zoo or ranch, where they live about a year. Why they live only a year is because domestic turkeys are bred to become so pleasingly plump so quickly that disease takes over their bodies if not slaughtered. A domestic turkey has a 26 week life span; wild turkeys, if not killed by natural predators, have a 12 year life span.

Why domestic turkeys have to be "pardoned" is another matter. The birds did nothing wrong, nothing illegal. All they did was to be born and be turkeys. But, the entire ceremony is a good PhotoOp for the president, while encouraging the sale of turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner. Americans will eat about 46 million turkeys this Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Read more...

Making an Invisible Minority Less Invisible
by Walter Brasch

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was called mentally unstable; his supporters were called unpatriotic. At Sarah Palin rallies, in newspaper letters-to-the-editor, on conservative radio and TV talk shows, supporters spewed hatreds, resorting to the Bush tactics of fear mongering to support their own candidate.

At many rallies, the word "kill" was often shouted. The ultra right wing, which infiltrated the McCain campaign, told us Obama is a (gasp!) Muslim, not understanding that not only isn't Obama a Muslim, but that the Constitution prohibits religion as a test for federal office. Falsely linking Muslim to terrorist, these ultra-patriots said that Obama pals around with terrorists. They said Obama is a thief, a liar, and a scoundrel.

Not so subtly disguised beneath a lot of the hatred is the reality that Obama is multiracial, and that means he isn't White. Some of the racism isn't even covert. In comments to newspapers and on radio, Obama was called "Monkey ears" and other terms that would denigrate every person of color. At one rally, a McCain–Palin supporter waved around a stuffed monkey with a blue-and-white headband with one word: Obama. It didn't even take an investigative journalist to find supporters who brazenly claimed they just couldn't vote for anyone who's "colored"; many even used even more derogatory terms. Read more...

The news that the Republican National Committee had spent $150,000 to clothe Sarah Palin for three months left us scratching our heads.  Clearly, the lady doesn't shop the outlets.  Is this the Party of Joe the Plumber?  And, they justify it by saying the clothes will be donated to charity? 

Well, if the GOP has that much extra money to throw around, we have some suggestions as to how they could spend it on average working Americans. 

For $150,000 one can:

• fill the gas tanks of 2,174 pick up trucks with 25 gallon gas tanks, even at today's prices

• feed 439 families of four for one week

• send 41 students to a community college for one year (including books and supplies)

• provide health care for 16 people (we know that's not very many but we trust Barack Obama to enlarge the group)

• provide quality day care for 600 children for one week

• pay for the classes, exams and licensing fees for 294 Joe the Plumbers (after that the renewal fee is $60 per year)

• pay for 130 weeks, with expenses and health care, for ADA organizing on working families issues (Click here to donate)

Sort of puts it in perspective doesn't it?  We're sure this comes in the category of "redistributing wealth" but we really don't mind. 

How would you spend Sarah Palin's $150,000 clothing allowance?  Click here and leave your ideas in the comments.

Going Negative Not a Positive Way to Get Votes
by Walter Brasch

During the final debate last week, Barack Obama called John McCain on the negative ads, saying that 100 percent of his radio and TV ads were negative. Not true, replied McCain. True, according to the Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin. Almost every ad in a one-week period before the debate was negative.

The nonpartisan analysts determined that between June 4 and October 4, "47 percent of the McCain spots were negative (completely focused on Obama), 26 percent were positive (completely focusing on his own personal story or on his issues or proposals) and 27 percent were contrast ads (a mix of positive and negative messages)."  The Project also noted that only about 35 percent of Obama’s ads are negative, about 39 percent are positive, and about 25 percent are contrast ads. Read more...

The Fates Have Hit McCain Hard
Charles M. Melchior, Kennett Square

That is the headline the Philadelphia Inquirer put on your column it published Friday October 17. Americans should rejoice, if it were true, that lady luck helped ensure his not becoming our next President. After all, who in one's right mind would wish to elect to the first and foremost responsible position of authority in our country an individual whose combination of talent, intelligence and intellectual accomplishment, together with his conduct landed him the rank of 894th in a graduating class of 899 at Annapolis? Especially when that individual is known to have a hot temper and would become the oldest President on assuming office with a vice-President waiting in the wings, who has perhaps the least prior experience of any prospective President to assume the awesome responsibilities of that office, including access to the nuclear button.

Read more...

Biden Helping A Working Family: An Untold Story
by Stephen Crockett, co-host of Democratic Talk Radio

Very early on the morning that Senator Biden flew to the nation of Georgia as the Russian-Georgian war was cooling down, I received a phone call from a labor activist friend of mine from the Eastern Region of the Laborers (LIUNA) union. The caller was Brian McGlinchey. He asked me if I could get in touch with a certain Laborers Local 199 member who was facing foreclosure and was trying to support a family of ten (now eleven as a new son was born two weeks ago). McGlinchey explained that the Senator Biden personally wanted to discuss the difficulty facing this working family to see if he could be of assistance.

I immediately called the wife of James Yetman, the union construction worker whose family was facing the loss of their home, at their house. She explained that James was already on the job. She gave me his cell phone number. As I fired up my coffee pot and started dialing James Yetman, I looked at my clock. It was 6:45am. I thought to myself, “How can a working man already on the job at this hour be facing foreclosure?”  Read more...

Lack of Integrity in Our Voting Process
by David Miron, Manheim Township, Lancaster County

Our national security is in grave danger. Not from terrorists. Not from Wall Street greed. Not from the sub-prime lending fiasco. Our security is threatened by the lack of integrity in our voting process. There is nothing more sacred in a democracy than each person's vote. During the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections thousands, if not millions, of American citizens had their sacred trust destroyed. Some faced obstructions to voting and so did not vote; for others, their votes were either not counted or miscounted.

This is not a partisan issue. The democracy we cherish, for all Americans: Republicans, Democrats (and everyone else), is at stake. The evidence of trouble is well documented (see http://www.uncountedthemovie.com/ for the documentary "Uncounted", among others).

Now is the time--if it is not too late--to rise up as one people and demand an election process that has integrity. Write AND call your US Senator and Representative and demand that actions be taken immediately to make sure that every American voter's vote is counted and counted as it was intended by the voter.

If we as a people are united, we will get the election process we need in order to continue to be a democracy.

One person cannot do this alone. It will take all of us. Will you join me in contacting your representatives in the US Senate and House? The following web site will help you get the contact information you need: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.

Here is a sample message you can send:

Dear Congressman,

I am concerned about threats to our democratic government and society. Our voting process has been violated and our democratic way of life is in jeopardy. Evidence of uncounted or miscounted votes and obstruction of voters, resulting in persons not voting in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 is well documented.

I am writing to demand that you take action, along with your fellow Senators and Representatives, to insure that every American who wants to vote can and that every vote is counted and counted as the voter intended it to be.

Please act now, before the November election, to ensure that enough voting machines are available at every polling place to allow timely access to voting equipment, that proper counting of absentee and provisional ballots is done, and to address issues of the accuracy and integrity of voting equipment, and any other areas necessary to insure the integrity of our voting process.

This also may be the time to consider making Election Day a national holiday, which would make access to the polls more convenient for working people.

Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know what steps you are taking to address the integrity of our voting process and to protect our democracy.

Conservative Group Is Right: Free Speech Is Not a Political Issue
by Walter Brasch

The Sunbird Conservatives, a student group, put out some pro-McCain literature at a recruiting table at Fresno Pacific University a week ago.

Seemed innocent enough. The conservatives weren't harassing anyone, nor were they blocking any sidewalks.  

But, administrators at this Christian-based college didn't like it. A dean told the students to either remove the McCain literature or to agree to what he said was university policy to present both sides. The dean correctly noted that the First Amendment applies only to government intrusion. A private university, unlike a public university, may curtail any free speech it wants.

The students still argued "free speech rights." Enter the provost, head of all academic affairs at the university. She reaffirmed the dean's demands. One of the members shouted: "free speech" at her. They challenged her, arguing that for a political organization to present both views would defy common sense. The provost's response, according to the conservative Leadership Institute, was "Shut-up! I'm the provost. That is disrespectful."

The students were warned if they didn't comply with the administrators' demands, they would be restricted in future activities on campus.

The Founding Fathers wanted all views to be heard. Channeling the revolutionary political philosophy of poet John Milton and judge Lord Blackstone, they believed that mankind is rational, and if all the facts were available, mankind would find the truth. That became the basis of the First Amendment.

Now, the twist is that the Fresno Pacific administrators were wrong. Their own university actually believes that all views should be allowed, as long as there is the opportunity for opposing views. It does not require one organization to put out all views.

But, the Fresno Pacific administrators are also right. A private university can do what it wants to do. It can encourage or restrict free speech. Except in California.

California is the only state that extends the First Amendment to private colleges, which as a matter of educational philosophy should encourage, not restrict, freedom of expression.

This means that the wishes of the Founding Fathers have been extended into California, which many believe is a hellhole of liberalism. Disregard the fact that some rabid conservatives actively try to restrict free speech rights of others. Disregard the reality that conservatives who want to keep government out of our lives used both the constitution and state law to underscore their right to distribute political literature.

It's time for all states, especially Pennsylvania where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written, to enact legislation to assure that the principles of the nation, and especially the rights of free expression, are extended to all sectors, both public AND private.

Sarah Palin Wins Debate—by Darn
by Walter Brasch

The Republican leaders of the House of Representatives grabbed a half dozen bags of sincerity, looked directly into every TV camera they could find, and lied.

The vice-presidential debates proved one thing. At the very least, Sarah Palin can be trained.

For several days, she had camped out in one of John McCain's Arizona houses, where she underwent Debate Boot camp conducted by drill instructors who make Marine DIs appear to be slaggers.

With a few "darns," "betchas," and "ya"s, Palin managed to get all her talking points into the debate, even if she constantly changed the question to suit her note cards.

Read more...

Statement on Congressional Approval of Bailout
By Dean Baker

This is the first time in the history of the United States that the president has sought to provoke a financial panic to get legislation through Congress. While this has proven to be a successful political strategy, it marks yet another low point in American politics.

It was incredibly irresponsible for President Bush to tell the American people on national television that the country could be facing another Great Depression. By contrast, when we actually were in the Great Depression, President Roosevelt said that, "we have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

It was even more irresponsible for him to seize on the decline in the stock market five days later as evidence that his bailout was needed for the economy. President Bush must surely understand, as all economists know, that the daily swings in the stock market are driven by mass psychology and have almost nothing to do with the underlying strength in the economy. Read more...

The Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment (which supports the School District of Lancaster) and Good Schools Pennsylvania will be hosting a Candidates' Forum on Education on Tuesday, October 14th - 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Recital Hall, J.P. McCaskey High School, 445 N. Reservoir Street, Lancaster, PA  17602.

The Education Forum will include the the three candidates for the 13th PA Senatorial District - Democratic candidate Jose Urdaneta, independent Bill Neff and Republican Lloyd Smucker.

The forum will be moderated.  It is NOT a debate, and there will not be questions from the audience. We want the candidates' thoughtful answers to education issues. Citizens in all school districts that have at least a neighborhood in the 13th will be invited (10 districts in York and Lancaster Counties - Penn Manor, Eastern York, Lancaster, Central York, Manheim Township, Solanco, Lampeter Strasburg, and parts of Hempfield, York Suburban, and Red Lion School Districts). Read flyer...

For more information, please email or call (717-371-1556).

Stampeded by Fear, Scammed by Lies: Why the Bailout Failed
by Walter Brasch

The Republican leaders of the House of Representatives grabbed a half dozen bags of sincerity, looked directly into every TV camera they could find, and lied.

The House had just defeated, 228–205, a bipartisan $700 billion bailout bill. But it was the Democrats who were the subject of vicious rhetoric.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "poisoned our conference," screeched Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Republican minority leader. He said the House would have voted for the bill "had it not been for the partisan speech the Speaker gave on the floor of the House." Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) specifically said that Pelosi's speech changed the minds of about a dozen Republicans who voted against the bill. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), waving a copy of Pelosi's speech, screamed out, "Here is the reason I believe why this vote failed!" The speech, he said, "frankly struck the tone of partisanship that frankly was inappropriate in this discussion." Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior advisor to Sen. John McCain, was equally blunt—and equally wrong. The bailout failed, he said, because "Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."

But it wasn't the Democrats who brought about the bill's defeat. The Democrats voted 140–95 for the bill; the Republicans voted 133–65 against the bill. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain reluctantly supported the bill. Nevertheless, the viciously partisan Republican leadership, eager to paint anything Democratic as vicious partisanship, couldn't even get a majority of their own members to agree to the bailout, one that now had added protections for the taxpayer. Read more...

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