Nation-Building

Steven Waldman looks at World Net Daily today and lists the top headlines: Now terrorists swoon over Biden (Yes, Biden!) Obama funded foreign thug who promised Islamic state Agreement with Muslims pledged to protect terrorists, throttle Christians, impose Shariah How Obama friend tried to give nation to Muslim minority Read 3-page agreement that promised to Islamize Kenya, protect terrorists Gadhafi: Obama a Muslim, studied in Islamic schools Says Arab world campaign contributions 'may enable him to win U.S. presidency' Test shows Ayers penned Obama's 'Dreams' Exclusive: Jack Cashill offers more proof radical wrote memoir News agency seeks outlet for Michelle Obama tapes Promises to show campaign is covering up her rant calling Corsi 'evil'

It is a bait-and-switch scheme familiar to election experts. The firm hired by the California Republican Party -- a small company called Young Political Majors, or YPM, which operates in several states -- has been accused of using the tactic across the country. Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Ventura counties say they are investigating complaints about the company. The firm, which a Republican Party spokesman said is paid $7 to $12 for each registration it secures, has denied any wrongdoing and says it has never been charged with a crime. The 70,000 voters YPM has registered for the Republican Party this year will help combat the public perception that it is struggling amid Democratic gains nationally, give a boost to fundraising efforts and bolster member support for party leaders, p

The muslim smear continues in visual form. Note the convergence of racial and religious stereotype. Obama Waffles : The ODS billboard : and of course, from my previous post :

Given the remarkable assertion that the Left is insane, offensive, and totally without moral restraint, whereas the Right is beyond compare as scions of civil discourse, and any evidence to the contrary of either is utterly non-representative, let me offer some counter-examples culled from sources that I believe we can indeed reach consensus on as representing the "mainstream" right. Obama had a gay love affair (front page post by RedState.com Editor) Obama's memoir was written by William Ayers ( recommended diary at Redstate.com, post at The Corner @ National Review) Obama's got something to hide regarding his birth certificate (user diary at RedState.com, promoted to front page by Editors) Obama's got "ties" to Osama bin Laden - Virginia GOP Chairman Rick Frederick Obama guilt by association with Marxists , Communists and Terrorists , Islamic Radicals . Obama was a drug dealer (Dan Riehl) Obama desecrated the memory of the victims of 9-11 becau

I have laid out the case for why I am voting for Barack Obama in as much detail as I could muster. I think there's a lot of room for disagreement and healthy discussion on the issues, and wanted to be specific as to what my support for Obama is based on (not just the "D" after his name alone). I freely confess that I am biased towards Democrats in general, but that bias is effect, not cause, of my principles and beliefs and positions on the issues, and they form the basis of my judgement here. I do hope someone else makes a similar detailedcase for support of McCain in response because I think these are useful. It's not directly relevant, but I think this earlier essay of mine , reflecting on what 9-11 and the 2000 election portended for America from a civic perspective, is useful in providing some context to my worldview. If you agree with me that Barack Obama is the change we need, then please join me in making a small contribution to his campaign:

Dave Schuler has a great post on fiscal policy that summarizes the economic picture for the United States and raises some questions about what priorities need to be. I noticed that one of the graphs makes an important point that many people do not seem to appreciate - Social Security is just fine. Look at the flatness of the Social Security line: Overall, I agree that earmarks and other discretionary spending are simply not a significant problem, and Joe's formulation of these representing an operating expense of government is a good one. Likewise, McCain's call for a spending freeze might do more harm than good. Looking at the big picture, it seems clear that the one area that we really do need to control is medicare/medicaid, whose growth will spiral out of control. That in itself is probably the best argument for single-payer healthcare. Actually, I think the best model for healthcare is likely the VA, which may surprise some people, but it's true - the VA system

I think the best question of last night's debate was about personal sacrifice. Obama's answer was actually very conservative, in all the right ways.

At RedState, a rare call for civility: In fact the more vilified people are for breaking ranks the greater the backlash against the incivility. We have to keep the discourse respectful. Because the more we look intolerant, the more independents move away from our thoughts and our views. It doesn't do the Country any good to attack someone as being dishonorable, unpatriotic, or somehow Treasonous for not checking the person with the (R) by their name. The response in the comments is instructive. In November, watch the whining begin. The true conservatives are girding for a long winter, while the zealous Republicanists are in total denial. Country second, party first, indeed.

This report from the Chicago Tribune details the conclusion of the editors and journalists at the Chicago Tribune after sitting down with barack Obama and asking him detailed questions about his ties to convicted land mogul Tony Rezko. The original article at the Chicago Tribune's website is off-line, so I am reproducing it here in full below the fold for reference.   March 16, 2008 U.S. Sen. Barack Obama waited 16 months to attempt the exorcism. But when he finally sat down with the Tribune editorial board Friday, Obama offered a lengthy and, to us, plausible explanation for the presence of now-indicted businessman Tony Rezko in his personal and political lives. The most remarkable facet of Obama's 92-minute discussion was that, at the outset, he pledged to answer every question the three dozen Tribune journalists crammed into the room would put to him. And he did. Along the way he confronted the starkest innuendo that has dogged him and his campaign for the presidency: the

At City of Brass, I've posted my debate analysis . Long story short: Palin did not lose, but Biden did not win.

Senator Joe Biden's remarks: Governor Sarah Palin's remarks:

Governor Palin's comments from the debate, extracted from the CNN transcript. below the fold...   Thank you, Gwen. And I thank the commission, also. I appreciate this privilege of being able to be here and speak with Americans. You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America's economy, is go to a kid's soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, "How are you feeling about the economy?" And I'll bet you, you're going to hear some fear in that parent's voice, fear regarding the few investments that some of us have in the stock market. Did we just take a major hit with those investments? Fear about, how are we going to afford to send our kids to college? A fear, as small-business owners, perhaps, how we're going to borrow any money to increase inventory or hire more people. The barometer there, I think, is going to be resounding that

I have manually extracted only Senator Biden's words from the debate transcript at CNN. Below the fold... Let me begin by thanking you, Gwen, for hosting this. And, Governor, it's a pleasure to meet you, and it's a pleasure to be with you. I think it's neither the best or worst of Washington, but it's evidence of the fact that the economic policies of the last eight years have been the worst economic policies we've ever had. As a consequence, you've seen what's happened on Wall Street. If you need any more proof positive of how bad the economic theories have been, this excessive deregulation, the failure to oversee what was going on, letting Wall Street run wild, I don't think you needed any more evidence than what you see now. So the Congress has been put -- Democrats and Republicans have been put in a very difficult spot. But Barack Obama laid out four basic criteria for any kind of rescue plan here. He, first of all, said there has to be oversigh