The politics of mass hysteria

Israel

Concidering the fact that we have already had a McCain supporter and young republican file a false police report claiming an attack by a black man, vile racist threatening posts on rightwing websites and Obama supporters surrounded and harrassed at a McCain/Palin rally as well as plots to assassinate Barack Obama i'm pretty concerned what will happen if Obama WINS next Tuesday. Maybe you could write about that?

J McDermott

Hitchens is a walking version of the memory-hole, where every past event or re-calibrated to ensure that whatever opinion he happened to hold at that particular time was absolutely correct. He even now claims (in a viddyblog with Eric Alterman) to have forecast the 9/11 attacks. He long ago ceased to be coherent about anything and one can only assume that he supports Obama because he has chosen to believe Obama's triangulation statements about attacking Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iran. He is simply tedious, the "brazilian" episode representing an unbeatable nadir.

Water

As well as mass idiocy.

Conservative Cabbie

If Obama should lose on Tuesday, it's not going to be about racism, it's going to be about the Democrats choosing a poor candidate.

Obama is holplessly inexperienced, is tainted by scandal, made a terrible choice for VP. People credit how well he has campaigned. Hang on, there can be no better circumstance for a Democrat to run for office. An incredibly unpopular incumbent, more money to spend than any candidate in history and an economic collapse of historical proportions weeks out from the election.

He may still win in a landslide but I doubt it.

Conservative Cabbie

Israel

Being as selective as ever. No mention of cries of stone her at Sarah Palin rallies, no mention of Sarah Palin is a **** t-shirts being popularised on Obamas own website, no mention of Palin being hung in effigy, no mention of McCain yard signs being systematically stolen, no mention of McCain offices being vandalised etc.

The point is, there are idiots on both sides who both act reprehensibly, try not to become one of them.

Verity

It was obvious from Day One that the only reason the highly unqualified Obama was selected to be the Dem candidate is that he is black and therefore impervious to legitimate criticism. He's got a suit of armour. Anything negative one says about Obama - and there is oh, so much to say - can be immediately dismissed (as in, not having to be answered) because the speaker is a "racist". Obama's race is an integral part of the plot. It is absolutely perfect. Brilliant, even, given that they have carried it forward so far with no loss of momentum.

Consider, there are vast tranches of his life that are murky, shadowy, unexplained - as opposed to every other candidate for office in the United States whose life is, perforce, an open book.

He has spent his entire adult life mixing around with disreputable people one would not dine with. Gangsters, thugs, terrorists, mobsters.

Consider, he spent 12 years in the Illinois Senate and during those 12 years on the taxpayer payroll, he never proposed a single piece of legislation and never participated in the writing of a piece of legislation with another senator. (In other instances, I might applaud a legislator who was not obsessed with thinking up new laws and regulations, but this is fishy.) During that 12 years on the taxpayer payroll, he voted, other than his trademark "Present" precisely twice. In 12 years. Both votes on the same issue - whether to render aid for babies born live of botched abortions. He voted "No".

He has no issues he had championed. He appears not to have done much to serve his constituents - unless they were, you know, "friends".
I'm not saying he wasn't very busy, in secret meetings, plans and schemes and deals done in back alleys, but official business? A total washout.

The minute he became a national senator, he abandoned all pretences of being a repesentative of the people and began running for president. A totally, totally inexperienced politician was egotistical enough to believe he was he next saviour of the free world. And how very interesting that there were people right there, on the spot, who unhesitatingly threw their weight - albeit it in dark corners and behind locked doors - behind this bizarre bid.

And anyone who tries to draw attention to his unsavoury, to put it gently, mixing around with terrorists and murderers and fixers, is branded "racist". Anyone who draws attention to the eerie gaps in his cv is branded "racist".

Frankly, even the money he has raised $750m is very, very suspicious. And then, as Melanie mentioned, there are these phantom million voters. And I read the other day that the Obama campaign HQ has disabled the credit card facility that demands the name of the card owner to be matched up with the number for phone transactions. They are now operating by asking for just the card number. So tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of people can give repeat donations - more than is allowed by law - in the security of knowing that their names won't appear on any donors list.

To say we're witnessing mass hysteria is too mild a claim.

Even

It's perfectly legitimate to criticise earmarking but to say "fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not!" is to play up to the populist impression that all such research is a waste of time. Horrowitz assures us Palin would have learned all about the importance of fruit fly research in high school but the laughter of the audience (who surely couldn't of been aware of the corruption involved in this particular off-the-cuff reference) suggest that they, at least, were not.

David

I see that bastion of communism, The Economist, has backed Obama.

Canon Alberic

Im sorry Melanie you're frighteningly irrational on this issue.
Why not put it straight: your belief is that Obama is disguisng from an incredulous public, that which a compliant or suborned or seduced media sometimes knows, being that he is at heart likely to remain affiliated to the revolutionary marxism of his youthful associates and that similarly poor judgment will lead him to appease nuclear armed islamist theocracy at a crucial moment for civilisation; and that Sarah Palin is a clear headed far-sighted new cold-warrior a la Thatcher in almost every way a better choice? Really?
How could anyone, let alone someone with an intellect as searching as yours, believe in such nonsense?

Paul Hill

Calm down ,Dear ...it's only an election

It's called "Democracy"

It may yield a President who pursues more even-handed policies in the Middle East and you may have to deal with that (preferably without medication)

Far from hysteria the American public seem to be thinking carefully about the candidates and issues.

Whether Obama lives to serve a full term is another matter.....but if he has the courage to attempt it very many Americans will have the courage to follow him

Sherry Gerald

Israel, haven't you heard about the millions of Democrat voters registered illegally by ACORN? Have you not heard about the illegal use of government computers to dig up dirt on the citizen Republican merely asking a question known as 'Joe the Plumber'? Have you not read about the many Sarah Palin effigies who were allowed to hang, while ONE hanging effigy of 'The One' resulted in an arrest? Have you not heard about the BO supporting sheriffs and other law enforcement officials giving notice that they were going to be watching for anyone spreading lies about BO - no mention of the mountain of lies spread about Republicans, of course. Have you not read that all the dissenting newspaper writers, plus one who is favorable but testy, have been told to leave BO's plane and not return?
This is just a small sample of the coming thugocracy. Melanie Phillips is the only UK writer in a sea of sneering liberals who writes favorably about conservatives - totalitarianism isn't very pretty!

derek

I think you must be oblivious to the intricacies of American culture and politics. I don't think anyone has claimed every non-Obama supporter is a racist. There is no doubt that racism is playing a part in the anti-Obama case though by calling him Muslim/Arab/radical/terrorist/etc (tell me this name calling calling would have any traction if Barack Obama was indeed a white man named John Smith).

And you are repeating the McCarthy-ist call of any thing dissenting America is meant to undermine America. Grow up. Should we still be living in a America where women and people of color have less standing in society? No, we shouldn't, but had there been no dissent, we would still be.

Why is there a portion of the population that feels the only way it can survive is by striking fear into people? That is what leads to police/fascist states. And I know, now is no time to be naive about the world, but for the sake of liberty and freedom, we must foster a world of trust and partnership. This does require dealing with terrorist and enemies, but we must approach these terrorist and enemies as fellow humans, not as others. It is when these enemies feel like others through western aggression that they feel backed into a corner and act on their own fear. Fear fosters violence.

Can you please stop writing articles that are meant to foster blind fear? FOR THE SAKE OF OUR FREEDOM? PLEASE!?!?

bobby

MELANIE,

is it true that barrak obamu is a marxiest? cuz i realli don't want a marxiest as the prime minister of r country, my parents ern looooads of money and if he takes all it away from us ill be so mad

deAne

Bravo, Melanie! The media will be directly responsible for anything that happens after the election, should McCain win. Ordinary Americans have been stalwart and we will fight to the end. Americans for Obama has quite literally lost their minds! Ignoring the corruption of OBama's campaign donations, foreign money, registration fraud, radical background, etc, etc. As you know these are not "innuendos" but real facts! I pray we wake up Wednesday to a McCain/Palin win! Israel, commenting below me, is reading the leftist blogs. None of what he says is true. This morning we found out that Obama kicked three major newspapers off his plane because they endorsed McCain! This is a taste of the massive media blackout that will occur if Obama wins. Anyone that disagrees with him will be shut out. Our free speech will suffer. Thanks for your article, Melanie. You are right on!

John Birch

Melanie: Why don't you just keep repeating the same anti-Obama attacks over and over again to save you, a member of the "Western resistance" from having to keep retyping them?

Conservative Cabbie: Where is your evidence that Obama is a weak candidate? If you consider his lack of profile two years ago, his ethnic background, the fact that he is a liberal, the fact that he is a liberal from a northern state (one of those hasn't won in 48 years), and that he had to defeat Hillary Clinton, considered an absolute certainty to be the Democratic nominee a year ago, then he is a rather remarkable candidate. Where is your evidence that the selection of Biden is a mistake? On the other hand, there is evidence from the polling data that the choice of Palin, someone he didn't want in the first place, has hurt his campaign outside of the base.

Can I add that Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, predicted yesterday that if Obama wins he will be a "conventional president."

Verity

John Birch writes: "Conservative Cabbie: Where is your evidence that Obama is a weak candidate?"

Look who he picked for his running mate. A plagiarising, Botoxed, hair-plugged, touchy jerk.

Daibhidh MacAdhaimh

Mass hysteria, in this instance, stems in large measure from mass ignorance that has been copiously fertilised by the dung of liberal media deceit.
Listen to this link and discover just how ignorant and politically disconnected some Obama supporters are. It's shocking. For the sake of democracy's integrity, I only hope that this ignorance is converted into apathy that is too idle to vote come election day:
http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3

Incidentally, the link can be found at J.T.Harris's talk show. He is the show's black conservative host.

John M

The Obama phenomenon in America seems to be a form of mass hypnosis, much like what Germany experienced in the early thirties. His followers hang on his every word as if he were some kind of messiah, women regularly faint when he speaks, yet like Hitler he never seem to say anything memorable or quoteable. It's all raw emotion, similar to Hitler's "think with your blood" admonition. The propaganda effort has been highly orchestrated and incredibly well funded, half the money coming from untraceable overseas sources, possibly much of it from the Middle East. It is difficult for one to rationally explain how this glib, far left huckster with such a shady background could ever have gotten so far. By the way if you weren't already aware, the Obama campaign pays an army of bloggers to write comments to all US election-related articles like this one in an attempt to further demoralize and confuse.

Alex Bensky

Whoever is elected,this election will settle two questions.

First, the mainstream media in the US can no longer even claim that they are fair, let alone objective. Emblematic of this is the Los Angeles Times' withholding a video on clearly spurious grounds that shows Obama at a Palestinian love-fest. There is no shortage of other examples.

The second now settled point is that establishment feminism is not concerned with the advancement of women generally, only with the advancement of women who think appropriate thoughts. One professor at an eastern school said that Sarah Palin is "not a real woman." I checked the professor's web site. It has her picture and if I were not the easygoing chap I am I would have e-mailed her and said I'd seen pictures of Professor Wendy Doninger and Sarah Palin and based on the photos alone, which is not a real woman...well, as I say, that would have been snide and cruel.

derek

Ignoring the corruption of OBama's campaign donations, foreign money, registration fraud, radical background, etc, etc. As you know these are not "innuendos" but real facts!

deAne,
Please give me these "real" facts.

Adam B.

Derek, there are also some people voting for Obama simply because he is black. Isn't that racist too?

Adam B.

derek, sometimes it is right to be fearful.

David

"Look who he picked for his running mate. A plagiarising, Botoxed, hair-plugged, touchy jerk."

McCain on the other hand picked a paleolithic, backwards thinking, beehived clotheshorse woman who considers winking and saying "gosh Darn it" is a substitute for reasoned debate.

We can all play this game, can't we....

Lucy

From an Obama staffer:

Don’t believe these polls for a second. I just went over our numbers and found that we have next to no chance in the following states: Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire and Nevada. Ohio leans heavily to McCain, but is too close to call it for him. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa are the true “toss up states”. The only two of these the campaign feels “confident” in are Iowa and New Mexico. The reason for such polling discrepancy is the Bradley Effect, and this is a subject of much discussion in the campaign. In general, we tend to take a -10 point percentage in allowing for this, and are not comfortable until the polls give us a spread well over this mark. This is why we are still campaigning in Virginia and Pennsylvania! This is why Ohio is such a desperate hope for us! What truly bothers this campaign is the fact that some pollsters get up to an 80% “refuse to respond” result. You can’t possibly include these into the polls. The truth is, people are afraid to let people know who they are voting for. The vast majority of these respondents are McCain supporters. Obama is the “hip” choice, and we all know it.

derek

Adam B,
Of course sometimes its right to fearful, and its human nature to be fearful. But what kind of society do we live in when we use distorted facts and lies to instill fear?

And use the term racist as you like. By people voting for someone because of they are of similar skin color does show an ignorance. But it is of my opinion, that that ignorance exemplifies the fact that black Americans are still not equal in modern America. And that type of racism is far less debilitating on society than the type of racism which is used to portray someone in a lesser manner. To shorten my point, blacks voting for Obama is a "racism" which is a product of being a lesser person; whites using slurs is a "racism" which aims to make those persons appear to be lesser

Jen

What's really sad about Palin and the fruit fly is that she was absolutely right. Check out the earmark in question--made famous by Citizens Against Governmnet Waste. Thompson has granted millions of tax payer dollars in this way. Besides, Olive growers already have organic methods to control the pest anyway--the UDSA and the State of California have spent millions on their industry.

If you explore the web--Hitchens lifted his info straight from a crackpot pro Obama "science" blogger who just assumed Palin ment the famous DROSOPHILA. The whole non-scandal has been astro-turfed all over the web with utter disinformation. Bactrocera Oleae--the olive fruit fly--isn't even in the same family! Hitchens is the one who didn't know his fruit flies--not Palin.

Horowitz is right. This is about corruption. Hitchens just read into one sentence what he wanted to see without doing what a journalist is suppose to do--checking it out.

derek

Obama's Brain Trust vs McCain's Brain Trust

Obama's Brain Trust
NPR.org, October 31, 2008 • For his circle of counselors, Barack Obama is likely to look to colleagues in the Senate — even to some Republicans such as Richard Lugar of Indiana — as well as to old friends from Chicago and new friends who have only recently endorsed him.

Warren Buffett is a legendary billionaire tycoon known for wise investing and savvy economic understanding. Buffett endorsed Obama in May, and throughout the campaign Obama has referred to the so-called Oracle of Omaha as someone he would turn to for advice when dealing with the scary economic landscape.

William Daley is the former secretary of commerce under Bill Clinton and chairman of Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. He is the son of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and younger brother of Richard M. Daley, the city's current mayor.

Tom Daschle is a former U.S. Senate majority leader from South Dakota and national co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign. Some political watchers think Daschle, who works for a Washington law firm, will be in an Obama White House. And so would Pete Rouse, who was Daschle's chief of staff before taking on that job for Obama.

Valerie Jarrett is CEO of a real estate company and a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago. One of Obama's closest friends, she also served in the Chicago mayor's office.

Gen. James L. Jones formerly served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; he is now chairman of the Atlantic Council of the United States, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to building relationships between North America and Europe. During one of the debates, Obama said he would turn to Jones to help "in figuring out my foreign policy."

Retired Gen. Colin Powell served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush and as secretary of state during President George W. Bush's first term. A Republican and longtime friend of John McCain, Powell pulled an October Surprise by announcing his support for Obama.

Paul Volcker is a former chairman of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He has run a New York investment banking firm and undertaken several international assignments from the United Nations. "On economic policy," Obama said during the second presidential debate, "I associate with Warren Buffett and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker."

Obama will also continue to turn to his campaign lieutenants, such as David Axelrod and David Plouffe.

McCain's Brain Trust

NPR.org, October 31, 2008 • If John McCain wins the election, he will most likely surround himself with familiar faces, most of whom are from the Republican side of the aisle. And he will continue to lean on loyal staffers who have been with him a long time. In alphabetical order, here are some of McCain's most trusted advisers:

Rick Davis is a Washington lobbyist — on leave from his firm Davis Manafort — and campaign manager for McCain's 2008 presidential bid. His company has lobbied on behalf of several clients, including Freddie Mac, that have proved controversial during the campaign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is a former Republican representative and current U.S. senator from South Carolina. One of McCain's closest friends in the Senate, Graham supported McCain for president back in 2000 and is co-chair of McCain's 2008 campaign. He is a member of the Armed Services and Judiciary committees.

Phil Gramm is a former Democratic and Republican representative and Republican senator from Texas. Until July 2008, Gramm co-chaired McCain's campaign and served as his senior economic adviser. When Gramm insisted that the U.S. economy was not in recession and referred to the country as a "nation of whiners," there was an uproar and he resigned. Even though Gramm left the campaign, there is reason to believe that his influence continues.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin is former director of the Congressional Budget Office and chief economic policy guru. McCain relies on him for questions about taxes and technology. During an interview with CBS News, McCain referred to Holtz-Eakin as one of the "smart people" in his inner circle.

Joe Lieberman, an independent U.S. senator from Connecticut, was on McCain's short list of possible running mates. Lieberman, who has served in the Senate since 1988, was once a full-fledged Democrat and was Al Gore's running mate in 2000, and he still caucuses with his former party. But Lieberman has actively campaigned for McCain, which has cast doubt on his future in the Democratic caucus.

Gen. David Petraeus is the former commanding general of the Multi-National Force – Iraq and now commander, U.S. Central Command. Though McCain is known as a warrior, observers say he will most likely enlist the help of Petraeus to help him think through an international defense and anti-terrorism strategy.

Meg Whitman was president and CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008 and a speaker at the Republican National Convention. When minister and author Rick Warren asked McCain in August which wise people he would turn to in his administration, McCain named Whitman. And during one of the debates, McCain said, "I like Meg Whitman. She knows what it's like to be out there in the marketplace."

And an assortment of campaign people, such as Charlie Black, Mark Salter, Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace, will be buzzing around in some sort of advisory capacity.

EWWWW! Obama looks so scary!

Ronnie

Adam B, all we see on these blogs is fear. It drips from the screen and you can smell it.

Fear of anything that comes from more than five yards away, has an unusual name, looks different and suggests ideas beyond the spectacularly failed status quo.

Fear based on a distrust of learning and new experiences, wrapping itself in a blanket of cosy ignorance. Fear that turns its face away from common sense and the simplest rational analysis. Fear that leads to panic and violence in massive proportions.

The fear that obliges self-proclaimed Christians to justify the murder of children amongst other, un-American and un-Christian activities.

No Adam B, I think we've seen more than enough fear on these threads.

Ronnie

Alex Bensky, do you really think that feminism requires that women should vote exclusively for women regardless of what those female candidates think, say and do?

Fortunately the world is not as simple-minded as you either think or would like.

Conservative Cabbie

This linked to article is a message from a disaffected Hillary supporter working in the Obama campaign, or at least is supposed to be. I can't make up my mind. If it's true though, it's a really interesting insight into the Obama campaign and the polls.

http://tinyurl.com/66cx6v

Ben-Tsiyon (ha rishon)

I think I can guess at which "more even-handed policies in the Middle-East" Paul Hill has in mind - like pressurizing Israel into making 'concessions' that will undermine its security and endanger its existence !

Terry

'Where is your evidence that the selection of Biden is a mistake? On the other hand, there is evidence from the polling data that the choice of Palin, someone he didn't want in the first place, has hurt his campaign outside of the base.'

Biden makes that mistake clear almost every time he opens his mouth. It's incredibly biased of the press to ignore his extremely stupid and ignorant remarks, while attacking Palin on many inconsequential topics.

'Can I add that Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, predicted yesterday that if Obama wins he will be a "conventional president."'

You may, but I'll tell you that I'm not willing to be the future of MY country on Bill Kristol's intellect, knowledge, and judgement.

McCain/Palin '08!

Big Vinny

Verity,

You are talking nonsense when you say that Obama did nothing in the Illinois senate.

The New York Times says “In Senator Barack Obama’s eight years in the Illinois Senate, he built a legislative record that helped him win election to the United States Senate in 2004”. And they go on to mention some of the more than 800 bills he sponsored:

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html

Here is more detail on some recent Bills that he sponsored:

http://www.ilga.gov/senate/SenatorBills.asp?MemberID=747&GA=93

In regard to many of these bills he was a primary sponsor. Why are you saying things like “during those 12 years on the taxpayer payroll, he never proposed a single piece of legislation and never participated in the writing of a piece of legislation with another senator”?

Do you just say whatever comes into your head?

David

"First, the mainstream media in the US can no longer even claim that they are fair, let alone objective"

Are you telling me that Fox isn't fair and balanced?!

Conservative Cabbie

David

Yes we can. How about: David - arrogant, uninformed, unwilling to debate sensibly, unintelligent, irrational, immature.

As you can tell, you're response to me on the Americano blog didn't go down well.

David Lindsay

Obama is home and dry. Deal with it.

Why do you Bush supporters want McCain anyway? Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Bush voted for Obama, who, after all, has never done anything to him, unlike McCain.

Meanwhile, his real continuity candidate (just as he himself was her husband's) will be voting for her old friend John McCain rather than her new archenemy, Barack Obama.

Maybe that is why you are so pro-McCain?

Pete

I find all these histrionic insights from the sewer of Republican/Christianist politics increasingly reassuring. The sheer level of delusion here - and the obsessive dedication to pursuing that delusion deep into the electoral wilderness - indicates that any remaining Republicans have become completely estranged from the decent American mainstream and even reality itself. A sustained period of babbling and drooling in the darkness is all that you have to look forward to - while the rest of us enjoy the triumph of integrity, dignity and decency over deceit, bigotry and moral squalor.

And we won't have to worry about taking Phillips seriously on any issue ever again. She is the Yasmin Alhibai-Brown of the far right.

Bye bye.

p.s. Palin's designer clothing (from all your favourite elitist New York stores) will be up on eBay by the end of next week, Verity - so for you at least it's not all bad news.

Maurice Smith

Adam B.

And all the neo-cons are voting for McCain ... now that IS a reason to be fearful.

cccc

Excuse me, Isreal that person who filed that false report wasn't really a McCain supporter but a "paulite" who had just started to volunteer at the McCain HQ. So you are wrong about where he support lies. What about the threats McCain supporters get on a daily basis from the Obots? Let's talk about those.

I do not beleive Obm will win. In fact I know that there is a campaign going on with indenpendatnts and republicans to lie to pollsters on purpose to make it a bigger fall when Obama loses. We learned early on that if you told the people calling that you supported McCain that you would then be harrassed by the Obots. You will see on election day just how many lied to them. I know everyne I know here in Ohio has lied to them. I know lifelong union dems that will crawl through broken glass to see that the Marxist Obama is defeated.

John Birch

Verity: Where is the evidence that his selection of Obama has cost him any votes?

John M: To compare Obama's election to Hitler's in Germany in the 1930s is an excellent example of the hysteria stirred up on this blog.

David

"As you can tell, you're response to me on the Americano blog didn't go down well."

Oh bless, he's got a dossier.

Jill Puffer

I wish the journalists in the US were as gutsy and HONEST as Melanie Phillips!!

derek

Jill, was that sarcasm?

ahad ha'amoratsim

Not everyone who opposes Obama is necessarily racist. Some opponents may simply be stupid or unfit for their position. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperors_New_Clothes Either way, of course, it justifies disregarding any criticism of the One, since by offering criticism, you brand yourself as an not just unrelialbe, but as an inherently unreliable source.

I quoted verbatim from Obama's nomination acceptance speech the other day. One of his supporters offered the brilliant refutation "Been listening to Rush Limbaugh again?"

Frank P

Ahhhh! David.

Bruno from Brussels? You just gave the game away. Mourning the loss of the company of Mandy, I suppose?

Stephen Fowler

The Fox News Radio is always interesting as they expose the mainstream media bias, and the presenters are very professional. Listen on the internet in the UK using the link:
http://www.foxnews.com/radio/
Recently they were talking about a video of Obama which a newspaper will not release because they do not want to harm his image, and how Obama is outspending McCain in some areas of campaigning by 5 to 1.

LEO TROY

CONGRATULATIONS ON A REASONED AND WELL DOCUMENTED ARTICLE. LEO TROY

David

"Bruno from Brussels? You just gave the game away. Mourning the loss of the company of Mandy, I suppose?"

Um, what?

Frank P

Just been watching the Baaa-Baaa-mas hyperventilating on't Telly. God what a bunch of ovine 'useful idiots'. Thank God at least half the electorate in America hasn't lost its marbles. Somebody will have to sort things out when the realisation dawns what they are heading for after the psychedelic trip. What a sad, crazy, backward step America seems about to make. It's not too late folks. John McCain may be getting on in years, but its America he wants to lead, not a New World Order of creeping totalitarianism and socialist levelling down. Followed by increasing surrender to Islamic jihad - the smiling assassins. Go! patriotic America. Get your asses into the polling booths and spit in the eye of Ayers and his counter-culture mechanics and their front man, who has also accepted an offer he can't refuse from his Chicago Outfit associates.

Can you imagine the hangover in Peking, Moscau, Tehran, Londonistan and all the other nests of vipers, if you
reverse this trend, transmogrify into attack dogs rather than sheep being herded into the pens for dipping and dyeing with the Red Star Corrall's brand. It's never too late to change your mind. Slicko Bammy is not for real - he's a construct.

Conservative Cabbie

Ronnie

Do you really think that people are opposed to Obama because they are fearful of that person with the funny sounding name?

Do you not think it possible that some of us may oppose him on idealogical grounds, or because we have genuine reason to believe he is circumventing democracy?

Maybe in the world of Ronnie, we should all think the same but in my world, to be a conservative and to oppose a liberal is not fear, it's logic.

As for your comments on feminism, Alex had a good point. Sarah Palin, whatever you think about her, should be a feminist icon. She succeeded in a mans world purely on merit, she's given encouragement to many women and yet feminists moan about her because of her views on abortion. I thought feminism was about the advancement of women and their role in society, not the single issue of abortion.

Of course, no woman should vote for her because she's a woman and yet so many are opposed to her for precisely that reason.

Dave

The Politics of Mass Hysteria?
Sorry are we still talking about the BBC and The Mail

Conservative Cabbie

David

No, no dossier, I just recognised your dimwitted tone.

Here's a thought, for once, why don't you try to make a substantive contribution, perhaps it's beyond you, but why not give it a try.

Here's how it's done.

You called Palin paleolithic. I'm assuming that's a reference to her belief in creationism. Millions of christians around the world believe in it too. Are they all paleolithic? How about the millions of Jews and muslims? How about people who celebrate Easter and Christmas? Are they paleolithic or do you place more validity in immaculate conception and rising from the dead than creationism?

Perhaps it's because you believe that she wants to teach creationism in science class. Well that can't be right, she's stated quite categorically that creationism has no place as part of the science curriculum. Perhaps you're just poorly read, incapable of critical thinking or just not very smart.

Beehived - ??????????

Clothes Horse - You may be unaware, but senators earn a lot more money than Governors. When thrust into the political limelight, particularly as a woman, it's necessary unfortunately to look the part, hence the need for a new wardrobe. Interesting that you target that, perhaps you're just ignorant, but if 150,000 on clothes shocks you, how about Obama spending 800,000 on holidays to Hawaii or 5,000,000 on his monument to himself, the Barackopolis. I'm sure you're just as shocked by those extravagances because if not, that makes you a sexist.

Also interestingly, despite Joe Biden earning three times as much as Palin, she gives three times more to charity. I know who I think is the better person.

You see how easy it is to make a substantive contribution. Trouble is, you're prejudiced, a sexist and dimwitted, so it's probably beyond you.

Mike

To Israel:
"Concidering the fact that we have already had a McCain supporter and young republican file a false police report"
If you bothered to read more than the Dem talking points, you would have read that this person was a Ron Paul supporter earlier. Which indicates she was a few cards shy of a full deck to begin with. She would have fared better claiming she was an OBAMA acorn nut.

Ronnie

Conservative Cabbie, from what I have read on these threads there are contributers who are afraid of the people across the street, never mind someone with a strange name.

Do you deny that it has been a tactic of some in the McCain campaign to accentuate Obama's middle name precisely because they know that sensitive, non-passport holding voters are afraid of it?

You can talk to me about circumventing democracy when Karl Rove runs another Republican campaign. Until then I'm quite content with your perfectly normal ideological opposition to Obama, that's what its all about. Its the rabid fear and the consequent stupidity I can't stomach.

As for Governor Palin's status as an icon. That is only true if you actually think her bizarre intervention has been a success. If you do, then you can see her as an icon if you like.

If, on the other hand, you think her selection as VP candidate was a mistake for which the Republican party may pay for many years, then no.

She is a divisive figure who has de-stabilised McCain's campaign and may have lost him many votes from the centre in this election.

In the eyes of many people she is a self-serving fool who should never be allowed anywhere near the nuclear launch codes. In these circumstances, her being a woman is irrelevant.

Byron in Wahroonga

Obama quoted the Bible (at the Saddleback Church debate) saying 'whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me.'

The least of his brothers lives on $5 a month, in the Nairobi slums. His aunt struggles in utter penury, in the Boston projects. They don't come more selfish than Barack Obama.

logdon

David Lindsay
October 31st, 2008 4:46pm
Obama is home and dry. Deal with it.

So when he loses which is a possibility will you throw the toys out of the pram as is being predicted? In other words we have been told there may be riots if this occurs. If on the other hand McCain loses will the 'burnin' and looting' rip the US apart? The inference is there for all to see.

hadrian

I think John M's observation that there's a parallel with the mass hysteria that Hilter stirred up with his manic but magniloquent speeches is not so far of the mark. We have in both instances a very jittery electorate facing economic disasters day after day in the face and this hugely self confident demigogue commanding their awed attention! Initially I thought Obama looked a decent chap but very quickly the aura palls- and the ringing, hollow platitudes.
As for his possibly creating a more 'even handed' policy in the Middle East, one wonders exactly what that will entail? Israel may have many faults but the pure, intransigent, religiously bigoted, murderous hatred of her neighbours who want nothing less than their genocide kind of puts their own implacable hardness in context. Given the threats and atrocities it's amazing they have acceded even the little they have. Of course we want to see justice for both sides but lack of sensible restraint and irrational ferocity make it nigh impossible to deal with. Koranic views of Jews do not help.

Byron in Wahroonga

***I see that bastion of communism, The Economist, has backed Obama***

And were you surprised, David? The Economists' editors envy at America's pre-eminence in size and power is not exactly a revelation.

hadrian

...but worst of all, the Telegraph informs us that old roue, Bill Clinton is boasting that Obama already looks to me for advice.' Not another dodgy association- in fact, the very worst of them! The one I'd most want to bury and keep quiet about! God help us all, then, not just America!

Frank P

derek

You note: "William Daley is the former secretary of commerce under Bill Clinton and chairman of Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. He is the son of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and younger brother of Richard M. Daley, the city's current mayor."

Yes, I saw that pedigree myself. The irony is wonderful! You'll be telling us next that he's got the grandson of that other Chicago icon, Al Capone lined up for a job in the Chicago Gaming Commission; perhaps he has Antoinette Giancana standing by as the White House cook? See: http://www.pastaprincess.com/

Awesome satire, Derek! And there was me thinking you were an Obama supporter.

sbnative

Sign seen at LA TIMES Release-the-Rashid-Khalidi-Tape protest: I ESCAPED SOCIALIST TOTALITARIAN IRAN UNDER RADICAL ISLAM. ASK ME WHY I HATE OBAMA.

More signs list OBAMA’S SINS OF OMISSION: missing thesis papers, transcripts, medical records, questionable birth certificate, etc. WHO IS OBAMA? Another sign proclaims JOURNALISM R.I.P. 2008.

The women sign holders emigrated to the U.S. after the Shah of Iran was overthrown. “Jimmy Carter let those terrorists in our country,” one said. "I don’t understand why Americans can’t see this.”

“It takes immigrants to remind us why America is great,” another said. “For now.”

MEDIA BIAS = VOTER SUPRESSION -- RELEASE THE TAPE!!!

Frank P

John M & hadrian (10.23/10.31)

Three posts which cut right to the chase. Excellent.

There will be blood.

Verity

Conservative Cabbie - "I thought feminism was about the advancement of women and their role in society, not the single issue of abortion."

No. It's about the single issue of abortion - and "women's rights over their own bodies". Oh, and the putting down of men. The feminist agenda is anti-family and anti-men. Sarah Palin will never be their poster girl.

Sarah Palin's hair is not "beehived". That is Amy Winehouse of The Thousand Tattoos.

Ronnie, whose posts I don't usually read all the way through, even when they're only one sentence, I'm going to trespass on a comment addressed to Conservative Cabbie.

"to accentuate Obama's middle name precisely because they know that sensitive, non-passport holding voters are afraid of it?"

Wha'? Passport-holding voters don't "fear" the name Hussein, but those jerks and haven't even figured out how to walk upright yet and don't even have a passport do? Explain? There are millions of rational voters, with or without passports, who find Obama's Muslim background disconcerting.

"Its the rabid fear and the consequent stupidity I can't stomach." Oooooh, you're so worldly! So incredibly cosmopolitan! I am so impressed. What "rabid fear" by the way? Where did you see it?

No. I will state unequivocally that you cannot, because Americans are accustomed to unusual names and just aren't bothered. When the Jews first came landing on Ellis Island, there were many, many names that people had never encountered before, but they didn't turn a hair. They just said, "Oh" and incorporated that name into their thinking. That you are an uppity provincial has been evident since you first started posting here.

Byron in Wahroonga: Yes, the aunt and uncle on their walkers in the Boston projects ("social housing")aren't that great an ad for Obama's mahatamesque world vision.

Hadrian - Where Bill Clinton schmoozes, he leaves a snail trail. But this is interesting that he has offered a helping hand ("Run away! Run away!") to Obama. I can't quite read it. But it means something.

David

"You called Palin paleolithic. I'm assuming that's a reference to her belief in creationism. Millions of christians around the world believe in it too. Are they all paleolithic? How about the millions of Jews and muslims?"

Yep. In the 13th century, Maimonidies stated that the account of Bereshit (Genesis) should not be granted a higher status than the facts discovered by science. He used the example of the Platonic belief of an eternal Earth (although he wasn't personally convinced by the logic involved), stating that if it was proved that there was an eternal Earth, clearly in contradiction to that expressed in Bereshit, then he would have no problems in viewing the account of creation as a story designed to be illustrative.

Now, this is a man in the 13th century, a man who wrote the Guide for the Perplexed expounding the principles of Judaism, and thus a man of great religious faith and knowledge, and he was able to understand and accept the fact that the creation account was not literal. This was the 13th century. And now, in the 21st century, with all the knowledge we have been able to acquire, we have a bunch of people unable to grasp what anyone of moderate intelligence should be able to. Millions of Christians, Jews and Muslims, not to say Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, have no problem with evolution. And no truck with creationism.

"Beehived - ??????????"

Her hair. As Verity mentioned Biden's hair implants, I thought hair was all the rage.

"Interesting that you target that,"

Not really. Since we were taking cheap shots at VP candidates, it was an obvious thing to do.

Personally, I've no problem with how she spends her money, nor Obama. Although I believe some people on this particular blog have been going on about how Obama's campaign could have built hospitals. But I agree with you, in the US, electoral politics unfortunately means a large amount of money. Interesting though you've not jumped to make this point with regards to Obama.

"the Barackopolis."

Now you see, if you were really on the ball, the criticism here would be the hubristic attempt to use the neo-classical architecture that is the basis for all US government buildings in DC, and particularly the White House, that has rather typified the Obama campaign and which he has been slow to deal with. It's a style over substance issue however.

"Also interestingly, despite Joe Biden earning three times as much as Palin, she gives three times more to charity."

I'm sure she does. However, that's not really a qualification to be VP. Which she lacks. In spades.

Personally, I like McCain. I was impressed by the McCain-Finegold bill as a serious attempt to try and reduce electoral costs where the First Amendment has been interpreted as no restrictions on money spent endorsing political candidates or messages, and where you have PACs and magic word rulings.

However, that was the McCain of 2000. The 2008 vintage appears trapped by a party that is profligate, simple and regressive. That's a damn shame for a man like him. He's got to be hurting.

An American

Bill Crystal of the Standard is a coward...unfortunately, his many years in Wash. DC have turned him into a beltway insider who is worried he won't be invited to anymore of those 'nifty' DC coctail parties with all the 'in' people...or maybe he's afraid that if Obama wins the election, he'll destroy the Standard. We stopped our subscription to the Standard this month as I'm sure a lot of conservatives have...
Thank you Melanie...it helps to know that there is someone out there that understands how worried we all are for the US.

fellow traveller

"The Politics of Mass Hysteria" might describe the assertion that a vote for Obama would plunge the US into a civil war which would destroy it due to the infiltration of the US government by a secret network of jihadists.

But that was anti-Obama, so it's apparently a "must read".

I asked at the time whether anyone could provide any evidence of this secret network.. The closest we got was the claim that information about jihadists was being kept from us by a cabal including the Daily Telegraph and Cherie Blair.

That, I would suggest, might qualify as political hysteria.

Catherine

The tide is turned.

Joe the Plumber, an ordinary American, took down the Goliath that is The Barack Obama Chicago Political Machine, like David and Goliath.

We ground troops can smell victory.

John McCain is going to win the White House.

Conservative Cabbie

So, my question is, is the Obama campaign either hitting the panic button or throwing this election away?

1.On the last day of polling in their latest tracking, Zogby has McCain leading 48-47. The first lead in any national poll since God knows when.

2. An exit poll of American voters living in Israel and most likely Jewish shows McCain beating Obama with 76% of the vote. That figure is startling enough bearing in mind that Jewish voters are supposed to be leaning to Obama, but what is even more remarkable, is that of those 76% who voted for McCain, 48% are registered Democrats.

3. Judging by early voting, it is looking increasingly likely (although not certain), that McCain will win Florida and Nevada. Although early voting is going well for Obama in N. Carolina, it doesn't look like it's going well enough for Obama to win the state.

4. Things are very tight in Iowa, it seems Obama has about a 2 point lead in early voting (he leads by more than 10 in the polls). If Iowa is in play for McCain, then states like Wisconsin, Colorado, Virginia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire etc are also likely in play.

5. Having said that, it seems New Mexico and Colorado are going Obama's way, he's doing extremely well in early voting in those states.

6. Where are the kids? The supposed mass turnout of the youth vote for Obama hasn't materialised yet, they're probably at home on their Wii's, devoted Obama cultists that they are.

7. Obama and his campaign can't get their story straight about this pesky tax thing. Is it $250,000, $200,000, $150,000 as that gift that keeps on giving Joe Biden said or is it as Bill Richardson said yesterday $120,000. So the much vaunted middle class tax cut that Obama has been trumpeting all election cycle has halved in the space of a week. Yet more Obama lies or just Obama incompetence.

This campaign is trending seriously to McCain right now. The Messiah's infomercial appears to have been a flop, the polls are tightening and the early voting is not the resounding Obama endorsement his cultists were anticipating. This is going to be tight and I just want to draw everyones attention to the fact that yesterday I predicted a McCain win with 273 or 274 ev's. If I'm right, I expect mucho kudos.

Israel

From the political newspaper The Hill:

"The Dallas Morning News is disputing a claim that the newspaper lost a seat on Barack Obama's campaign plane Friday because it's editorial board endorsed John McCain.

In an online story posted Friday, the paper noted it was previously alerted that it would lose the seat due to spacial constraints.

"Obama aides told the DMN last Saturday that the paper would lose its seat on the plane on Wednesday," wrote Ryan J. Rusak, the News's government editor. Though the deadline for the paper's last day had been delayed, Rusak said the paper would leave after Saturday.

"But we don't have evidence that the newspaper's endorsement of Sen. McCain had any bearing on the campaign's decision to boot us from the plane," Rusak added, noting their news reporters had no knowledge of the paper's McCain endorsement. "We think the Obama campaign's decision is to some degree more a function of limited seats, and while we're a large regional newspaper, we're not national and we're not in a swing state."

Rusak noted that while the News continues to protest the decision, THE PAPER HAS ENCOUNTERED SIMILAR ISSUES PERIODICALLY WHILE TRAVELING WITH THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN.

Well, well. Once again a hyped up story by drudge turns out to be false. The once mighty right wing blogesphere is being diminished day by day and all it's rantings seem to fall on more and more dea ears. Maybe they should remember this isn't 2003.

Geoff M

The electorate for the Democrats is scarily similar to the electorate for Labour.

Hedonistic media types, "alternative" lifestyle folk like gays, lesbians and feminsists, student mentality marxists, benefit junkies, ethnic minorities and, worst of all, the stupid people who vote Labour/Democrat beacause they "always have/always will" or "my father/grandfather voted that way and so will I".

If that latter category just woke up and opened their eyes and minds we would bury the lefties once and for all when they realised what a destructive mess they are hell bent on making of our respective societies.

fellow traveller

Cabbie

You need to read fivethirtyeight, not Drudge. Nate Silver gets kudos if his analysis is correct, no matter who wins, and he's very, very detailed in his breakdown of where that latest poll result came from.

I admire your perkiness! I will give you total kudos in the event of a McCain win, and a job as a pollster guru surely awaits.

John Birch

Conservative Cabbie: Where's McCain's momentum? Obama gained in most of the national tracker polls that came out yesterday. While one poll had McCain only down by 5 in Pennsylvania, another had him down by 10. McCain is having to play defense in traditional Republican states like Georgia, Montana, and his home state of Arizona where polls yesterday had his lead ranging from 1 to 4 points. I wouldn't bet the farm on a Zogby poll--he had John Kerry winning in 2004. You can still get 5 to 1 odds on McCain winning so even the bookies aren't seeing the momentum you are.

EC

Verity: "It was obvious from Day One that the only reason the highly unqualified Obama was selected to be the Dem candidate is that he is black and therefore impervious to legitimate criticism."

Well that's a good argument as things stand today, but nearly 50% of Dems didn't vote for BO in the primaries. It would be interesting to know how many negative votes BO received. Without the millstone of BJ's legacy of sleaze round her neck Hillary might have won the nomination. The prospect of BJ once again stalking the corridors and lurking in the shady nooks of the White House must have proved too much to contemplate for many.

Israel

Catherine:

"Joe the Plumber, an ordinary American, took down the Goliath that is The Barack Obama Chicago Political Machine, like David and Goliath."

Huh?

Apart from being criticized by Fox News, failing to turn up at a McCain event and making the old campaigner look like a bit of an idiot what exactly has Samuel J Wurzelbacher the non plumber who isn't buying his own business done to take down "The Barack Obama Chicago Political Machine"? Give the guy a chance!! His publicist hasn't got him to sign his book or recording deals yet!!!

Barackobama

With reference to Joe the Plumber, argument about the right economic policy for the US is taking place in an intellectual vacuum.
Economic literature since Adam Smith shows there are only two ways economic value can be measured and no consensus about how economic value (or wealth) is created.
The valuation methods are value-added accounting or supply-demand pricing. Neither method is flawless, but there is a clear choice.
But when it comes to how wealth is created, the economic literature is either confusing of silent. No economist has yet managed to prove how wealth is made. If they could, there would be as much debate about economic policy as there is about cooking eggs or switching on the lights.
Experience is no guide either. It can be argued that America has the world’s largest economy because of the free market. It can also be argued that the most important factor was its abundance of free land and unexploited minerals (or the high capital-labour ratio). Some say that the role of government was decisive: the British colonies and the political system that replaced rule by the crown used force to take the land permanently from the original inhabitants and allowed slavery before the civil war, and banned it after, to make rapid economic growth possible. The railways, vital to US economic growth, were public-private partnerships. America’s industrial revolution was nurtured within a system of tariffs on imported manufactured goods.
Economic theory and practice, however, is much clearer when it comes to understanding how wealth is distributed. Free markets invariably make the rich richer and income differentials wider because the wealthy are better able to make markets work for them, regardless of the degree of market failure. Government economic control also leads to changes in income distribution, but not always in favour of the poor. The evidence of both processes is overwhelming.
So on economic growth policy, economists are obliged to say that Joe the Plumber might be right. But so could Warren Buffett. They could both be right. Or they could both be wrong.
But on income distribution, the choice is clearer. By favouring freer markets, the Republicans can be said to favour the haves. But the Democrats aren’t going to hurt the haves much either. There is not a lot of difference.
The economic debate is, nevertheless, shrill. Economic theory and evidence has very little to do with it.

fellow traveller

For all of you who enjoy the Onion (probably not many of my fellow posters here, to be honest), it's good to see that America's finest news organ was first to get the Joe the P story:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/48940

Uncanny.

Bob R.

For what it is worth, I have a friend who is involved with Democratic politics in Illinois and has met Obama on a couple of occasions. He describes him as an arrogant machine politician. emphasis on machine. My friend has contempt for both machine and man. He is of the opinion that he will be a one term president. Once he will get in people will see him as he is and that will finish him.

phil

Roll on the result -please may we then be rested from the idiots ,bigots and out and out racists who have befouled these threads for far too long -America says Obama and these threads say 90 percent McCain ,don't any of you see anything strange here ? from the cabbie who speaks eloquently and whose views I respect even if I do not agree ,
to the ridiculous verity who quotes from any right wing nonsense she can find ,commenting on the shades of Obamas face ,
openly insulting everyone who hasn't read her pathetic cut outs ,we have had a series of accusations against one man regardless of the suitability of the other ticket. Contributors like Ronnie and Fellow Traveller are routinely put down and those from the other side incessantly massaged -Do any of these people realise how hard we all have fought for democracy and the right to express our opinions -the cabbie says his thoughts and we debate ,verity justs boosts her own obvious low morale by denying she reads others and then insults every word that they have said .two opposite ends of the spectrum -but so are Ross and Humphries and I know who I prefer .
I will say for the umpteenth time ,if I had the choice of a suitable candidate I would have leaned towards Republican ,as I am no left winger ,but I didn't ,so there is only one left .!!
Melanie may well be right in her opinions of Obama but so far we have not been told where all the information is derived from ,even though I accept she has more scources than me .What I find it hard to accept is that the majority of Americans think otherwise ,and they live there .

Allan Draycott

To test whether the Ayers association is a valid argument or not all you have to do is invert it. uppose McCain had served on a board which had given out money to the National Rifle Association, pro-life groups and other favoured conservative causes with a man who had admitted to bombing black churches in the 1960s and who had given an interview 7 years ago in which he had been completely unrepentant and had had said that his only regret was that "we didn't bomb enough". Also suppose McCain had said, when questioned about this association, that he had been unaware of the man's past and, anyway, at the time of the bombings he had been in a North Vietnamese prison camp. What would the media have made of that? In my view, it is doubtful whether his candidacy would have lasted beyond the Iowa caucuses, if indeed his name would have been on the ballot there.

Verity

Has anyone else noticed that Mark Thompson of the BBC bears a striking resemblance to Alaska's First Dude?

Have they ever been seen on the same snowmobile together?

Verity

But enough of Mark Thompson and the tyranny of the "liberal" left! Here's the real deal. Fred Thompson giving the most wonderful chat for the cause of conservatism in America. Watching this makes one inevitably wonder why on earth he did not get the nomination. He is simply outstanding.
http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=e46UkUDkDk

derek

Allan Draycott,

Such a person exists for McCain and his name is G. Gordon Liddy and McCain is still running for president. Who has been made more of an issue in this election - Obama and his connection to William Ayers, or McCain and G. Gordon Liddy?

Ronnie

Verity, thanks for proving pretty much everything I said in your endearing suburban way.

I know you won't read this.

derek

Frank P,
Nice try. If you want to bring family ties into this, don't forget to note Ron Reagan endorsing Obama. Peace.

Mehran

Am I the only one who sees the whole Obamamania phenomenon and the madness of the crowd, as being right out of Monty Python's Life of Brian?

'He's not the Messiah; he's a very naughty boy'.

An American

Conservative cabbie...I hope you're right on the outcome of the election...I really enjoy your thought-provoking comments.
Barackobama...you're just another liberal....you go on and on without saying anything or coming to any conclusion.

Ronnie

OK everyone, I know this is way off topic (or maybe not so much...) but I've just read it and I do think that all our UK readers should put pen to paper immediately and tell their MPs that this is wrong. Better yet, go to your MPs surgery and take your friends.

This is what Frank P. is justifiably on about it is something he can do something about.

What does the Specie think?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/multifaith-prayers-to-be-considered-for-parliament-981745.html

Ronnie

Fred Thompson, an actor pretending to be President. You can see Martin Sheen doing that on DVD whenever you want. Maybe the Democrats should have nominated him?

Conservative Cabbie

fellow traveller

I get my headlines from Drudge, the detail from NRO. And before you say, they're bias, so is Nate Silver.

I admire him a lot, as a baseball fan, I admire what he's done in dispelling a lot of the baseball myths using statistics. However, sometimes, a faith in statistics can blind someone to other variables. Iy's an interesting sight, I wish I'd paid more attention.

To believe in the polls right now, is to believe that party I.D. between Dems and GOP matches that of the post-Watergate era (Ie Pew). I just don't believe that to be the case, I may look damn stupid on wednesday but then I'm not a pollster, just a cabbie.

If you want to believe the whole maps going blue as the polls seem to be saying (Arizona, S Dakota, N carolina etc), you go right ahead, I just don't think it will, the race will come down to one or two states. I do believe, as demonstrated in the primaries, that Obama can overpoll and in a 2 state race, I really can see McCain pull it off.

Sergey

Derek, do you grasp how insane your words are? "we must approach these terrorist and enemies as fellow humans" Fat chance! Would you share your home with scorpions and poison snakes? Terrorists are not my fellows and not humans in any meaningful sense, except purely zoological one. There is not enough place on this planet for them and us. Exterminate them - by hundreds, by thousands, by millions if needed - there is no way around this.

David

"Watching this makes one inevitably wonder why on earth he did not get the nomination."

His campaign was poor and muddled, and he surprised everyone by simply not performing at speeches.Given the folksy, yet pinpoint sharp tongue was the thing that got everyone talking about him in the first place, the failure to perform was fatal in a way it may not have been to other candidates. Indeed, McCain is not a brilliant speaker outside of the small townhall style audience.

Barackobama

To An American.
I'm not a liberal. And on most issues, I'm a conservative.
I shall be concise. There's not much difference between McCain and Obama on economics, including on tax policy.
On foreign policy, there's not much difference between them, though in Middle East affairs McCain's leanings seem more attractive to Arab leaders than Obama who declared Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel (something President Bush has never said).
But they do look and sound different though, which seems the most important thing to some people.

Zordana

I cannot understand where this hyteria is coming from, it hasn't reached me and nor did it with Blair, i see through the pair of them.
No one knows Obama or what he is capable of and being a rabid left wing liberal should give everyone a clue. What i also don't understand is, if there are questions about his birth certificate, (some people alleging that it is a fake) then he shouldn't even be in the running.
If these allegations were made about anyone else there would be the highest investigation and an outcry, why is nothing being done, only by a few? If it is indeed false, then this is a moumental cock up on behalf of those paying to put him in the White House. (Is it the NWO?)
We had an unlected PM foisted on us, are the Americans about to get an illegal one as their President, i thought they were smarter than that?
He is not what he seems...don't ask me how i know, i just do.

Wetherby Pond

"and being a rabid left wing liberal should give everyone a clue."

It doesn't give me a clue, because I've yet to see any clinching proof that Obama is anywhere close to what I'd recognise as "a rabid left wing liberal". In fact, his policies and positions are pretty mainstream centre-right, and barely distinguishable from those the vast majority of British Conservative politicians (both now and in the past).

Which is presumably why The Economist endorsed him - and why no-one should have been surprised.

And it's also why all this frothing hysteria about the US becoming a totalitarian Marxist state as of Wednesday morning is more likely to generate support for Obama than anything else - not because that prediction is accurate but because it so clearly isn't, and reveals far more about the mindset of his accusers than anything else.

Dave

@Conservative Cabbie: We may not agree but I don't think your points are clear, detailed and interesting.
In fact at this rate the Spectator should give you your own blog
But for the sake of the English language please don't use the word "trending" ever again!

Verity

You and me both, Zordana. I had been out of the country, and when I got back, Blair, who I had never heard of, was being touted around.

I took one look at his face on TV and it was like a map. I saw what he would wreak on the country if he got in. I saw the whole destructive spirit that he is, in his face. Indeed, it was so obvious to me that I couldn't understand why it wasn't apparent to everyone.

Kennybhoy

conservative cabbie wrote,

"..yesterday I predicted a McCain win with 273 or 274 ev's"

I seriously doubt that it will be that close.

"If I'm right, I expect mucho kudos."

Ahem...?

Kenny

PS Have you entered Mark Steyn's
contest?

Conservative Cabbie

David

Thankyou for your intelligent cogent response. Whilst I disagree with you, I found it much more stimulating than accusing me of being the "rump" of the GOP and dismissing me by saying "see James".

Whislt I have strong views, I'm not so arrogant that I believe myself to always be right, I enjoy discourse because debating with intelligent people helps develop my own views.

You made a great point about the Barackopolis, I'll prefer to go with the Greek Tragedy theme though, it suitms my prejudices more.

Can you explain this point though - "Interesting though you've not jumped to make this point with regards to Obama."
I think I know where you're going with it.

Conservative Cabbie

Wetherby Pond

Whilst I agree with you that we're not likely to see a marxist state anytime soon, how can you compare Obama to British Conservatives.

Whilst I do think that British Conservatism is too liberal, I doubt any British Conservative would campaign on raising taxes on business during a recession. I doubt a British Conservative would ever say that "spreading the wealth" should be done because it is "fair". I doubt a BC would favour eliminating secret ballots for Unions or unilaterally reducing Britain's nuclear deterrent. I doubt a BC would accuse British soldiers of bombing villages and killing civilians or believe in a complete liberalisation of abortion laws.

Barack Obama isn't a marxist, he's a liberal, very very liberal. Unfortunately for America and the world, I think that's worse. Marxists know they are divisive, they plan to be, liberals are just as divisive, the trouble is that they don't or won't recognise it.

John

Barackobama, There was an economist called Jane Jacobs who added that wealth is created by a process of 'new work', exports, import-replacement and local spending, plus Smith's division of labour. This can only be done in the long term by markets and businesses. People set up businesses in the expectation of making money and building wealth. Taxing profits and investments removes some of the incentive.

Exports and imports represent trade. Trade depends on trust. If one party puts up tariffs, trust suffers.

Import replacement can only occur if businesses are set up to take advantage of niches.

Local spending can only occur if people are earning enough.

So wealth creation builds on itself. It can just as easily go into reverse, as say in Zimbabe, or the Soviet Union or Cuba. It can also stagnate in social democratic societies like France and Germany.

THe biggest difference between Obama and McCain is on taxes and therefore wealth creation. This is not inconsequential.

Constitutional Wreckage?

Of course despite The Times being the medium which it seems has uncovered the story about the illegal immigrant of 4/5/8 years who happens to be Obama's aunt - and who has just donated to his campaign (itself an illegal act, it would seem) - the ObamaManiacs are ignoring this as inconsequential.

Not quite as unimportant as electing someone for other even more questionable reasons, I'd have thought. But then what do I know? I didn't even vote for Tony Blair in his glorious Messiah days, and now I think he's the bees knees! I also know whose side he's on in this precarious world.

Obama? His foreign policy is MY concern. But it seems that he might, and others, have already started to alter the American constitution somewhat by laying a false trail (or bill) under the pretext of ensuring that McCain was a legally entitled presidential candidate.

What!? Make it up? I couldn't. Do a search.

Tracey

Heard the one about Barack Obama's policy announcement?

Neither have I.

Fifth Column Resistance

And in other news today, Senator Obama's campaign team have reacted angrily to criticisms that he would raise taxes too high.

They say it's not his fault that Tony Rezko's bail is so high.

Frank P

Verity

You better see this link, gal. Jeff is playing hardball:

http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=13576

It's too late now, but what fun it may be after the election. The Big Media and Academia clampdown on checking the cv has been the most peculiar journalistic phenomenon I can remember in my lifetime - well, since Adolph Schickelgruber anyway! Certain resonance there, don't you think?

Campaign trail correspondent

Elsewhere, sources to the Obama campaign have revealed why they've had so many balloons at his rallies.

"Let's face it," said an Obama spokesman, "we're not short of hot air to fill them with."

anglicus

Courtesy hotgrinds com.
In the case of Berg vs. Obama, Civ.Action No. 2.08-cv-04083-RBS, it is alleged that Senator Obama is not a natural born United States citizen, and his right to legally run for President of The United States is being challenged.

Currently, Obama’s legal team is attempting to block discovery so he won't have to turn over any documentation. Though, the block is supposed to be pending the motion to dismiss being answered by the court, it would seem that simply producing a birth certificate would make all his accusers have egg in their faces. Yet, he will not produce one, and would rather go through an expensive legal process to keep from having to turn over documentation.

It would also seem that a candidate running for President would want "we the people" to trust him/her and would gladly produce proof of citizenship, without the need for a lawsuit.
So what is he hiding?

Frank P

Verity

An addendum to my last comment:-

Following a trail of sub-links in that link, I came across this delicious reply in commentary from Moncius Moldberg on Unqualified Reservations blog:

>"What do you know about Barack Obama? Who is this person? What has he done?

His entire political career consists of reading scripts written by David Axelrod and the like. Trying to know who Barack Obama, the person, is, or what he thinks about anything, by listening to "his" speeches or reading "his" positions is not unlike trying to learn who Daniel Craig is by watching James Bond films.

Behind this, though, we have an actual individual who is about to be appointed to a position of generally overstated, but not insignificant, importance.

And we know nothing at all about him. The last point at which we can reasonably say we know the real Barack Obama is as a party animal at Occidental College.

Beyond that, all we have is a resume. It's not a bad resume, even if it does include a lot of promotions based on skin color. But is the resume accurate? Don't you even think it's worth wondering?"<

Could have been written by you, Verity. Wonderful! And so true.

sbnative

I was at the protest outside the LA TIMES where a group gathered to chant RELEASE THE TAPE (the Rashid Khalidi tape.) The most telling sign was held up by an Iranian woman (who emigrated after the fall of the Shah.) I ESCAPED SOCIALIST TOTALITARIAN IRAN UNDER RADICAL ISLAM - ASK ME WHY I HATE OBAMA. Alas, our mainstream media have shown INCREDIBLE bias for Obama. Another sign listed Obama's SINS OF OMISSION - missing thesis papers, transcripts, medical records, never mind a TOTAL lack of track record. We have been safe from terror attacks since 9/11 here in the U.S. And we won't have Bush to thank for that much longer. But you know all about terror attacks in Britain... and how PC officials & media ALLOW the evil cancer to grow. JOURNALISM R.I.P. 2008.

christina

thank you for writing this. As an American, i love my country and i cannot figure out why the Barry supporters cant wake up. I am terrified for my country.

Maureen

"Mass hysteria"?
I think it's called "democracy", or "marketing" - take your pick - but your snobby distain for mass culture is a bit passé at this historical moment - given that it exists and is a force to be reckoned with, whether you agree to its right to exist, or not. Obama is popular. Does this make people stupid, or himself suspect? This is politics in the age of mechanical reproduction - which is a product of capitalism, and hardly a socialist plot to take over the world - so get with the goddamn program and find something relevant to say about it.

The Misanthropist

Peter Hitchens has it right:

'I suspect that this time the polls are right. If they are, I think it will be mainly because so many Americans are aching to feel good about themselves after years of being despised for the Iraq War and the Bush follies.

They have seen in Obama's sonorous but deeply phoney rhetoric a snake-oil cure for their sickness of heart. Against all evidence and experience, they want this cure to work. So they are passionately uninterested in - and often hostile to - anyone who delves into Obama's real past.

On Tuesday we shall see a festival of self-deception, which will last for as long as it takes for this curious mass delusion to come into cold contact with the real world.

Then there will be disappointment as vast as the hope that bred it, and yet another great bruising blow to the whole idea of government for, of and by the people...'

- As I said before, sadly, this particular battle is now over; however, the next big one, post the socialist triumph on Tuesday, is already looming. - Aux armes, mes amis!

Irvine

Why is Barack Obama so coy about showing us his full birth certificate?

Has he gone and written his policies on the back of it?

Stephen Wells

You claim that the Obama campaign deliberately submitted fraudulent voter registration forms. Presumably you're talking about ACORN, which is not "the Obama campaign." Presumably you're unaware that ACORN is legally obliged to pass on all voter registration forms to the state, regardless of whether they are valid or not.
If you're this ignorant of a topic, you don't get to have an opinion. Sorry.

David

The Zogby poll that you were getting excited about with a McCain +1 lead today has Obama +10.

Verity

Maureen, thanks so much for your post because it gives me easy pickings for a Sunday morning when I'm only on my first cup of tea.

Your self-righteousness is semi- entertaining - although a trifle trite by now, as we've been reading this script for three months now, day in and day out, always with the same poor grammar, always expressing the same uppity self-righteousness, always displaying the same lack of the ability to reason.

But you should stick to the script! You failed to mention that those of us who not only fail to detect any charm or very much brainpower in Obama, but think, on the evidence, that he's a thug and a product of the Chicago mob, are "racist". Criticism and scorn for the right during this election is a now well-established minuet and you shouldn't leave any steps out. Calling us racist is as essential as the curtsey and the bow during the dance!

All the people who want a larger government and more free handouts on the backs of people who get up and go to a job will vote for this charlatan. It depends how many of them there are as to whether he slithers up the steps to the White House or not. I saw a video yesterday of a woman praising Obama because if he gets in, she won't have to make any more payments on her mortgage.

Quality.

Verity

I wonder how much these individuals who have made a sudden appearance on this and dozens of other blogs get paid for writing their streams of defensive drivel. I read that there is actually a budget for paying these people.

The money is wasted over here. First, we can't vote in your elections. Second, we have already experienced Tony Blair and are wise to calculating Messiahs.

John Birch

Conservative Cabbie: Republican pollster Frank Luntz said the other day: "I cannot foresee a scenario that John McCain is elected the President of the United States."

Israel

Verity:

"I wonder how much these individuals who have made a sudden appearance on this and dozens of other blogs get paid for writing their streams of defensive drivel. I read that there is actually a budget for paying these people.

The money is wasted over here. First, we can't vote in your elections. Second, we have already experienced Tony Blair and are wise to calculating Messiahs."

On your first point there is a campaign paying for blog posts:

From John McCain's campaign website:
http://www.johnmccain.com/ActionCenter/BlogInteract/BlogInteract.aspx

"Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain’s policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign. You know why John McCain should be the next President of the United States and we need you to tell others why.
Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known. Once you’ve commented on a post, video or news story, report the details of your comment by clicking the button below. After your comments are verified, you will be awarded points through the McCain Online Action Center."

Wow. McCain paying for Astroturfing!! Who would have thought that "Mr Straight Talk" would have to pay people to talk nice about him?

On your second one:

YOU are a BRIT?!?!?!?!?!?

With all the smearing, sneering, sniping and insulting you do of posters here who hold a different view than you on Obama, with all your references to the likes of Mark Steyn you are actually a BRIT?!?!?!?!? You bemoan Americans and say they could be voting for, what is in your feeble, ignorant bigoted mind, a man that you concider a danger IN AN ELECTION YOU CANNOT VOTE IN?!?!?!? I really did think with all the heat you put into your vitriolic attacks of others that disagree with you that you were actually an AMERICAN!!! I knew there was a pathetic ability for rightwingers on both sides of the pond to try to project their own prejudices, failings, and character defects onto their opponents as well as dumbing down arguements, and before l probably would have got angry at the tactic, right now l can hardly type for laughing. Nowadays l just see it as a diminishing tactic that fails to work like it used to, just like drudge in the States or the likes of Littlejohn or Gaunt over here, and it's most amusing to see the biggest exponent of self-righteous hubris on this site finally revealed to be what she truly is, the small irritating buzzing noise you get if you forget to switch off a set of speakers.

An American

Barackobama...sorry for the insult..but I couldn't disagree with you more. You infer that these two candidates are the same except that Obama is a brillant speaker and has a cute smile. Obama is a socialist that doesn't believe in our constitution and is going to use the courts to undermine it. The taxes ARE different...just look at the data that is available..and wait until Obama is in office and then see what he really has planned. He has said several times that he wants a big strong national army...what's up with that? He wants complete control of the American people just like Hitler's brown shirts. He wants a children's Obama brigade just like Hitler's Youth. He absolutely can't stand anyone disagreeing with him and will close down the press and radio stations with the Fairness Doctrine that disagree with him and will slowly strangle the rest...he's already doing that. He has no plans on energy...is talking about closing down coal plants, doesn't like nuclear, and when in office will make it impossible to drill off shore. I could go on and on...but suffice it to say there is a world of difference between Obama and McCain. Frankly, I'm beginning to feel like the European jews felt in the mid 1930's. Obama will be the ruin of the US and perhaps the world...History is repeating itself. God help us.

Freddie

I had to stop reading when you asserted the polls show McCain closing Obama's lead. I have no idea where you got this information, but it's incorrect. Also, the idea that the Democrats are stealing the vote with "millions" of fraudulent voter registrations is laughable. Multiple voter registrations are NOT a problem unless people actually try to use those false registrations to cast an actual vote. There is NO evidence this is actually occurring. However, this IS tremendous evidence that the Republicans are trying to suppress the vote and disenfranchise thousands of voters who, coincidentally, happen to live in Democratic districts. Is this the best reporting your paper can do? I'm disappointed.

RMT, London

You seem to be completely believing of the smear campaign that thr republicans have mounted against Obama, what a shame you haven't been able to read more critically yourself.

If Obama loses it will be because SOME people were unable to look past his race. Other reasons would be because they didn't see him as ready for the job, another, that people were not ready for CHANGE.

There has been hysteria and personal attacks mounted from both sides, unfortunately that is the nature of the game. Obama did not invent that game, it's played everytime the US presidential elections come around.

I think it's a shame you could not have been a bit more even handed in your article. Because you haven't you are guilty of engaging in the ugly game yourself.

An American

Barackobama, I forgot to mention in my previous comment that Hitler wanted to destroy and conquer his neighbors...Look at how Hitler came into power...a bad recession, huge worshipping crowds, etc.. Obama is just intent on destroying and 'changing' America. He and his liberal/black liberation friends truly hate everything that our great country stands for as does his wife...where is she hiding anyway...Michelle. Obama has had to hide her because she's not as good at hiding her hatred of America and Americans as he is.
I for one don't plan to go softly into the night. I love this country too much. I believe we may be looking at an another American civil war if Obama wins the presidency and is sucessful with his plans to try to destroy us.

Frank P

Israel, Israel .... calm down guter fraynd!

If you had not already worked out that Verity is a Brit during the inordinate period that you have been wasting your time here propagandising on behalf the Obamessiah (where you stand as much chance of success as a dewdrops chance in Hades) then you must be as thick as two short planks. Moreover that is confirmed by your tendency to shout through the use of UPPER CASE! Bwaaa - hahahahahaha.

derek

Sergey, your willful ignorance in recognizing that terrorists are based from the molecules as you are, and act on their fears in the same way you do really exemplifies the basic nature of the global terrorist issue.

suppose you lived in a world where a large muslim society had gigantic influence on the world. the largest and most influential countries were largely muslim and they put many of their army in your homeland. on top of that, say the entire world ran on resources that were most prevalent in your smaller non-influential christian country, so everybody in the world had interest in your land. your land was being overrun by people of a different religion and a different kind of culture who were only there to take your resources. your government had no army to compete with the the countries that were in your country. don't you think it is quite humanistic to feel the need to defend your livelihood?

the primary problem that perpetuates global terrorism is misunderstanding and a need to impose on both sides.

peace in the middle east.

Frank P

Freddie

Mac, I presume? How's Fanny Mae?

Augustus

@ Israel

Consider (note spelling) - Consider that Obama has amassed a fortune in campaign money from right round the world, even from countries whose populations hate America and all that it stands for. Consider that!

logdon

BBC News now reports Obama supporters are concerned that 'at the eleventh hour race may affect the vote.' Eleventh hour? Ninety percent of black voters supporting Obama is NOT 'race affecting the vote'? The double standards are quite unbelievable.

Conservative Cabbie

John Birch

Frank Luntz - Published pollster with a deep insight into the American psyche and the voting intentions of the American public.

Me - Cabbie who's read a bit.

My answer - He's wrong and I'm right.

What do i get to lose if I'm wrong? More to the point, if I'm so wrong, whay are you trying to convince me I'm wrong? Not a little nervous by any chance?

Frank P

RMT

Myopia and deafness is no excuse for ignorance, laziness and partiality. Have someone read Obama's book to you, have someone describe some of the videos where he has admitted the dodgy associations. Get someone to (slowly) read some of the files that delineate his shady antecedents and refusal to produce evidence of what he claims. Just ask yourself - is he part of Mafia ridden Chicago politics? Look up the pedigree of some of his Palestinian parasitical pals. It's nothing to do with a Republican plot to smear him, it's about discovery of the truth, which he has hindered, but Melanie has disclosed, despite the attempts of his team to obfuscate the light of day. He is a shill, a sham, a construct and a Trojan horse, just as Blair was when elected.

Remember Brown hid in Blair's belly pulling the purse strings and extracting the wherewithal from the taxpayer to f**k up the British economy and feather his own ambitions. He is now let loose among us as an unelected 'leader', but still with his hand on the purse strings albeit through a puppet with funny eyebrows and scary specs.

Just wait for the predators to spill from Obama's guts and start working the levers of socialism and One World politics. Watch America's reputation for strength in foreign policy deteriorate as every two-bit banana republic wields its muscle through strengthened UN scam machinery; watch Armydinnerjacket swagger and strut his nuclear stuff. Watch the enemies of Israel make their moves. Watch the friends of the US in the Near East boil with resentment as once again the West abandons it to Leftist and/or Islamic extremism. Then come back and criticise Melanie and her supporters if you dare. Or don't bother; because no one will be listening to you as they bathe in the cold water of reality. Bah! Humbug!

Conservative Cabbie

An excellent piece on the practicality of Obama's redistribution of wealth;
On my way to lunch recently, I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama; I need the money." I laughed. In a restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie. Again I laughed. Just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Barack-Obama-redistribution-of-wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need—the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

—A. Hart, Forest Park

(From Townhall.com)

Continuum

Melanie's comment brightened up my day. Her humor would only be matched by the humor created if by some twist of fate Sarah Palin became President. Imagine the riotous laughter in the House of Commons and 10 Downing Street when she breezed into London on her first trip abroad.

You betcha! Darn tootin'.

Her grasp of foreign affairs and world wide economics would be astounding. The European press wouldn't need to parody the ignorant, self absored, egotistical American. Sarah Palin would do that job all by her lonesome.

Once again, congrats to Melanie for her humorous column of the day.

Barackobama

To An American. Thank you for the apology. Not sure about the comment.
To John. I had never heard of Jane Jacobs and she doesn't figure strongly in economic literature but I will check. But you will notice I talk about value creation (though I use the word wealth for simplicity) rather than money creation. There are lots of ways of making money (selling, buying, investing, trading, saving, trading, manufacturing, stealing, confiscating, taxing, counterfeiting), but no economist has yet conclusively shown how you create value. If one had, there would be no debate about the right economic growth policy. Certain types of economic policies can be coincident with high growth rates. But no economist has proved that any particular set of policies, or even one, lead to more value being created than any other set. So Joe the Plumber and Warren Buffett are really talking about something else, not economic growth policies. Both Obama and McCain's tax policies will amount to a couple of hundred of dollars one way or the other for most people. They don't seem to be a good reason for anybody to get that excited, surely?

Verity

Derek - That is possibly the most stupid and criminally ill-informed comment I have ever read on a blog.

Read your Q'ran, pal, then come back and tell me terrorism is based on "misunderstanding". Hint: "Jihad" means holy war, meaning the conversion of the entire world to the worship of their allah, by persuasion if possible, or, failing that, at the point of a sword. The point of a sword, of course, these days, being bombs wherever there are large numbers of people.

They're not killing people in a snit. They're killing people for their god.

I'm not going to labour the point because you have clearly had a million chances to inform silly self and have chosen instead to labour under a delusion that you are somehow a great spirit because you "understand", but let me tell you that the Q'ran instructs the followers of allah that the entire world must become Dar Es-Salaam - the House of Islam; and Dar al-Harb - the House of War - in other words, everybody else - must submit or be destroyed.

You think terrorists took over the US Embassy in Iran and held it for over a year because, silly boys! - they felt misunderstood? You think cowardly and sickening islamic bombers bombed the US Marine barracks in Lebanon, in the dead of night, while over 200 Marines were sleeping, did so because they felt the West just didn't understand them?

And bombing the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, another misunderstanding? And the bombing in Bali, another misunderstanding? (Those ones are going to be hanged within a couple of days, by the way. The Indonesian government has already isolated them from other prisoners and made plans to helicopter their bodies back to the hellholes they came from.) And the first attempt on the WTC? Another "misunderstanding"? WTF?

And the railway station in Madrid? And London Transport?

And the final attempt on the WTC, the one that worked and killed over 3,000 souls for allah? And the plans to blow up 10 transatlantic airliners over major American cities?

And the recent spate of outrages in India?

Oh, and Glasgow Airport with the excellent John Smeaton who punched one of the blazing terrorists in the face?

Now, not every strand of islam is so bonkers. There are Muslims who feel the Q'ran needs its own Reformation. But the people doing the bombing are indeed that bonkers. They are not misunderstood teenagers. They are arrogant, aggressive nut jobs who are trying to force their god down the throats of free people.

Grow up, you moron. Do you think because you "understand" them, that you will be spared?

Paul L

Palin the clown may have been campaigning against earmarks in her fruit fly research but the fact that she used this example to make her case is further proof of her stupidity. This is the woman who insisted on national TV McCain is a regulator and has been for the last 27 years..then could not give one example telling Katie Couric "Ill get back to you!"
I used to think all the clowns were over here.Then I read you column. Thanks for showing me GB has its clowns too.

nota bene

Earmarks account for, as you noted, $18B/year. In a federal budget of roughly $3T/year. 18B divided by 3T = %.006.

Roughly 70% or so of the budget is defense, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and interest on the national debt. Discretionary spending is roughly a half trillion per year. Earmarks are a subset of that half trillion.

People that babble about earmarks are either misinformed or lying.

The bit about all Obama voters think McCain voters are racist is a flat out lie. You can beat that straw man into the ground all you like, but it doesn't accurately represent any actual Obama supporter's views.

There are plenty of honest McCain voters. But they, I'm sure, would have the good sense to be embarassed by the nonstop McCarthyite attacks on Obama and his family.

nb, Missouri

nota bene

For more evidence that Obama will win this election, look no further than the Hitler comparisons on this very thread. Good job, y'all--keep it up!

Every idiot incoherently ranting about socialism, Bill Ayers, Hitler, Stalin, birth certificates, and other substance-free garbage drives another moderate into the Big Tent.

You silly people refuse to recognize that your champions are the ones who ran America for the last eight years, and did such a disastrous job on all fronts that Obama looks to be the first Democrat elected with >50% of the popular vote since LBJ in 1964.

You can't spin that away, you can't pretend that W didn't double the national debt, that there aren't still 16 acres of nothing where the WTC stood and yet OBL remains free, Iraq and Afghanistan aren't political vacuums and Afghanistan isn't destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan, and the Dow hasn't dropped 40% in the space of a year, ad nauseum....

And yet, for all that, somehow allegations about Obama's associations are Topic A for the nuthouse. Heckuva job!

israel

Frank P:

I don't spend a lot of time here, frankly most of the dumb views voiced here make my eyes bleed so why take the trouble, eh.

Augustus:

Thank you for the help with the spelling, l hope my dyslexia (l HOPE i've spelt it right!!) didn't throw you off too much.

Jack

I guess if I bought into your argument I'd have to think that the Obama true believers are responsible for the landslide of seats the Republicans are going to lose in Congress. I tend to think the voters rejection of Republican's is due to the utter and complete failure of Reagonomics as defined by G.W. Bush and which God forbid, John McCain and his economic advisor Phil Graham would continue. For you conservative I'd like to recommend F.A. Hayek's excellent book "The Road To Serfdom".

F.A. Hayek wrote in his essay "Why I am Not a Conservative" -

"As has often been acknowledged by conservative writers, one of the fundamental traits of the conservative attitude is a fear of change, a timid distrust of the new as such, while the liberal position is based on courage and confidence, on a preparedness to let change run its course even if we cannot predict where it will lead."

John Birch

Augustus: Where's your evidence for your claim that Obama has "amassed a fortune in campaign from right around the world"?

Hayward Maberley

Verity
“I wonder how much these individuals who have made a sudden appearance on this and dozens of other blogs get paid for writing their streams of defensive drivel. “
Personally speaking, none. I do it for three reasons. First to counter the Neo/Theocon Crew, second to put up some rational arguments, third to be amused at some of the posts from way out on the Right, almost off the planet it could be said.
As Israel noted in his post the same might also apply to you.
So Verity , in truth how much are you paid for writing in your offensive fashion.
The Poodle, another Messiah in your lexicon, was an avid supporter of President Bush, he even made up some stories of his own to justify an illegal invasion and occupation. And just like President Bush he also consulted the Lord prior to unleashing shock and awe on the Land of Iraq.

Hayward Maberley

An American
“I for one don't plan to go softly into the night”
Presumably you are attempting a quote from the Dylan Thomas poem that starts:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

This was a poem written by Thomas about the dying and death of his father.

Or maybe the paraphrase of the first line of the poem, from the film Independence Day

“We will not go quietly into the night!”

It was only a movie!

David Brooks

How dare you call me a racist for wanting to vote for the more competent candidate. How dare you!

Verity

Nota Bene, Continuum and other strangers in these parts - we haven't heard from any of you on any other issues. Odd, that.

What do you think of the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand incident? Are you with them, or Andrew Sachs? Most people seem to be with Sachs, wouldn't you agree? Or perhaps you're not British and know nothing of Britain, which would make your eagerness to comment on a British publication a bit well, odd, really.

Strange that you only jump in, like fleas, when your sleazy hero is being discussed. Why do you care so much what we think when we can't vote? Who is paying you to churn out your reams and reams of boring drivel that doesn't mean a thing to us? And why do you all write in identical terms? Are you people issued with a guidance sheet containing key words and phrases, and issues that should be touched on?

Like we give a crap whether you like Sarah Palin. Of course you don't like her! You're all Marxists and she's a free marketeer. Like Ronald Reagan.

I don't read any of your pre-scripted comments. As soon as I see an unfamiliar name and read the first predictable sentence, I scroll down.

An American

nota bene
You liberals always seem to forget that the Democratic Congress has been in complete power for the past two years and have done nothing but try to undermine the Iraq war, which they failed at. They've done nothing on the energy front while our gas prices soared. They brought about the economic crisis because socialist members of congress insisted that every american deserved a home and would fine lending agencies if they didn't give loans to unqualified applicants...even if they couldn't make their first house payment. Now they expect working taxpayers to bail these losers out. US citizens have given the Democratic Congress a 9% rating of approval for over a year now...who are you kidding? Continue on into your dream world...Obama, The Messiah is going to save the world...for you fools.

John Montgomery

Hi Barackobama, Jane Jacobs wrote a book called 'The Economy of Cities' in 1969, published I think by Vintage. Michael Porter said she should have had the Nobel Prize. she was a degree-qualified economist (or econometrician) but then neither was Smith. She sees trade as being a natural part of the human condition.

I think it is pretty clear that value creation comes from a process of trade, innovation, adding new work and investment, tapping new markets and so on. I honestly do not know of any example where high business taxes cause rapid wealth creation, rather the reverse. Places with low taxes attract money like flies, cf Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Ireland. Places with high taxes and nationalised industries attract little overseas investment.

I think we have a pretty good idea how wealth is generated, and it never happens under under high taxes on businesses.

John Montgomery

Yes Jack, but by 'liberal' Hayek meant classical liberal in the sense of Adam Smith and free trade, and not the 'liberal' of the USA which means leftwing. Think Mrs Thatcher or Ronald Reagan, not Tony Benn or Teddy Kennedy

yoyo

gee but the fact Mccain is a good friend on unrepentant fellon and terrorist GGordon Liddy doesnt mean anything to Ms Phillips?

Verity

Attention all! A Philip Sherwell, who I hadn't heard of previously but who has a blog on The Telegraph, has done a very funny piece on Erica Jong's ("Fear of Flying") sickening worry about civil war breaking out in the US unless Obama wins. Apparently Jane Fonda has back cramps from the worry and is on mega valium. She can't sleep. Ken Follet can barely talk.

For an absolutely funny piece (and funny comments from commenters)http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/philip_sherwell/blog/2008/11/01/erica_jong_second_civil_war_blood_in_streets_if_obama_loses

israel

An American:

Yes, your right. Congress has stalled. But that is mainly due to the republican filibuster. Amazing how demanding a simple up or down vote on issues has been forgotten now that the republicans are in the minority. Still, it's not so bad as it was otherwise the Bush rubber stamp would still be in effect.

Hayward Maberley:

Remember, DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!

Hayward Maberley

An American,
Godwin's Law, first formulated in 1990 by Mike Godwin, states;
"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
Dodds Corollary to this states;
"When debating a particular subject, if a comparison or implied connection is drawn between the opponent's argument and Hitler and the Nazi Party, the maker of that statement is automatically discredited and the debate is automatically lost by the person or group who referenced the connection to Hitler or the Nazis."
Congratulations & commiserations

Verity

Fellow (regular) commenters who are literate, please, please go to the link I recommended. Did you know there is a 'Bush-Cheyney junta' in the US?

Did you know the riot police in Britain have had their leave secretly cancelled (Who's the London police chief du jour, anyway?) in case Obama loses because there will be rioting in the streets of Britain!

If you are on your first cup of tea and your egg and toast or your toast and marmalade ... laughter is the best digestive ...

Hayward Maberley

Israel,
Interesting, exactly what one of my sons, from the WWWW generation said. He did this after backtracking after reading one my posts on one of the blogs here.
His words were along the lines of the Three Billy Goats Gruff story,"Beware the Troll", then gave a quick explanation. Quite amazing and interesting.
Regards

derek

verity,
i'll trust your judgement of what drives muslim culture once you have lived in a muslim country. until then, your stead fast self-righteousness exemplifies what perpetuates the problem.

EC

israel: "Hayward Maberley: Remember, DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!"

Ah, the long march thru the message boards .....

Dave

Verity: I'm with Andrew Sachs, who has clearly said he accepts the apologies of Ross and Brand and that they were performers like himself who just went to far in this case.
I'm certainly against Mel and The Mail whos Witch Hunt has been oppresive and hypocritical. If The Mail cares so much about Mr Sachs finer feelings why throw him to the paparazzi (remember how The Mail promised to stop buying their photos after Diana died? That didn't happen) and then keep the youtube video of the offending episode up on it's website as the BBC pulled it off theirs.
It's certainly a choice, but the Mail and Mel are on one side and the rest of us including Mr Sachs are on the other.
You as ever are probably on a another planet.

Jenny

Says 'derek', terrorists "act on their fears in the same way you do".

No, they don't.

That's because I don't believe in: "Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate."

Conservative Cabbie

So we've been visited by more Obama cultists overnight - I wonder what they make of the latest story breaking on Sunday.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in Jan 2008 (make note of that, it was this year while running his campaign), B.O. stated that if anyone was to build a new coal powered plant, he, with his cap and trade policies would "bankrupt them". It's an interesting comment bearing in mind that four of the biggest coal producing states are Ohio, Pennsylvania, W Virginia and Virginia. I think we can all agree that three of those states are rather important and The Messiah wants to bankrupt the businesses that their chief product is sold to. Interesting!

But he doesn't stop there. He also stated that his policies would cause energy prices to "skyrocket". Please note the quotes, yes, he actually used the word skyrocket. I wonder how that will affect the same middle classes he has desperately been trying to court. Tax relief on the one hand but skyrocketing energy prices on the other.

So two questions. Am I alone in finding this incredible? Why has it only been revealed the Sunday before the election?

Conservative Cabbie

So here goes, probably my last attempt to lift the spirits poll wise for all you wingnuts.

IBD/TIPP has McCain down by only 2 points with 9% undecided. Obama is on 46.7%, well under the 50% needed to be totally confident. Yes Gallup and Rasmussen have bigger leads for Obama, but for some reason, TIPP have become my favourite pollsters. Can't put my finger on why.

State polls now, we've had some from the highly regarded Mason-Dixon.

Colorado: Obama 49, McCain 44, Undecided 4
Florida: Obama 47, McCain 45, Undecided 7
Nevada: Obama 47, McCain 43, Undecided 8
Pennsylvania: 47, McCain 43, Undecided 9
Virginia: Obama 47, McCain 44, Undecided 9
Ohio: McCain 47, Obama 45, Undecided 6
Missouri: McCain 47, Obama 46, Undecided 5
North Carolina: McCain 49, Obama 46, Undecided 5

Note Obama is not above 50% on any of them, also note the relatively large number of undecideds which the pollsters stressed were mainly white voters. Of course these polls still have Obama in the lead in most but pay attention to Pennsylvania and Virginia. There is serious closing there and still plenty of undecideds to swing the election. It's getting interesting!

Conservative Cabbie

Israel and Hayward Maberley - The Self-Righteous Brothers perhaps.

fellow traveller

Verity: "I wonder how much these individuals who have made a sudden appearance on this and dozens of other blogs get paid for writing their streams of defensive drivel."

From my point of view, it's its own reward Verity. Just like putting the case for the other guy is for you.

Frank P

Verity

Thanks for the link - I hadn't opened the Telegraph when I read your post and you are right, it started my day with several good belly laughs. But be fair, Verity! If you were Erica Jong and had to look at that face in the mirror every morning before donning the Dolly Parton Irish jig, wouldn't you hit the hard stuff? Holy cow! Or perhaps I should say Unholy cow!

Robbit

Apropo of this Obamamania and hysteria there was an unforgetable moment on the Tv news last night. To the front of the Saint Obama supporters mob were several young females with tear stained eyes and exactly the same expressions on their faces as one has seen a hundred times before on those old films of Beatle Mania teenyboppers - utter and complete panty-wetting devotion and adulation - and what was the leader of the little mob screaming? Yes, she was wailing "Obama! I belive in you! I believe in you! I believe in you!" .... "believe" mind you.
Talk about Omamessiah! Rather give me red-neck Chritian fundamentalists any day - they at least do not belive in and expend their religious fervour on a tin-pot demagogue. My God, when last in Western politics did we have politicians eliciting this kind of devotion? Nuremberg rallies opperhaps?

kiwi

dereck wrote: "verity,
i'll trust your judgement of what drives muslim culture once you have lived in a muslim country. until then, your stead fast self-righteousness exemplifies what perpetuates the problem"
Dereck, I've lived in a number of moslem countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, for over fifteen years. I'm also married to an ex-Moslem. I'm with Verity.

Israel

Conservative Cabbie:

"Israel and Hayward Maberley - The Self-Righteous Brothers perhaps."

Aww Cabbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't tell me you've lost that lovin' feeling? Maybe if you searched thruogh rivers deep and mountians high you will find the gypsies, tramps and thieves who would do their best to walk with you under the moon of love and sing an unchained melody to you proclaiming that you could be my baby. I'm sure you would find that to be Instant Karma.

Conservative Cabbie

Israel

You're knowledge of their back catalogue is a damn sight better than mine. 70's and 80's rock and metal for me.

BFree

In this country we are free to comment to websites if we choose to, and can dip in and out dropping off comments where ever we like if a topic attracts our attention, and we don’t even have to ask V’s permission to do so. Too annoying eh?

Fortunately more than the usual subjects do that, despite the spite and venom that emanates from V, who has a ferocious condescending turn of phrase in her/his attempts to see off commentators who don’t agree with him/her, as a look around the sites will demonstrate.

Currently adding to the silly pomposity s/he now purports to be some sort of prophet as in:
“ I took one look at his face on TV and it was like a map. I saw what he would wreak on the country if he got in. I saw the whole destructive spirit that he is, in his face. Indeed, it was so obvious to me that I couldn't understand why it wasn't apparent to everyone.”

Spooky! So it’s a bit of a mystery that V doesn’t have his/her own blog, where like minded people can vent their ugly prejudices to each other. Maybe she ‘sees’ the future, and it doesn’t have a ‘V’ in it. BooHoo.

And Israel, the fact that she’s a Brit is a bit of an embarrassment we have to live with, rather like an old farting relative, who nevertheless adds to the gaiety of the nation and is guaranteed to keep us guffawing behind our hands. ;0)

Israel

Conservative Cabbie:

You've gotta luv ya some Phil Spector!!

Along with Stevie Wonder and James Brown they have influenced musicians for nearly half a century. Brian Wilson may have driven himself insane writing "Pet Sounds" to go up against The Beatles but his best song is "Good Vibrations" which is a total geneflunct to Spector.

derek

Jenny,
that's because you have a powerful government and army to do it for you.

kiwi,
what parts of iran and saudia arabia have you lived in and when? and somehow i don't believe you because if you have lived there in any peace-keeping sense, you wouldn't be using the term "moslem"

Sergey

Where from all this nonsense about Gordon Liddy came? Liddy never was a terrorist, even a felon. He never made bombs or attempted to kill anybody. The worst of his crime was unwarranted break-in to spy some supposed criminal activity - not a big story for me.

Verity

Derek - aka Self-Righteous Provincial Small-Minded Moron -"verity,
i'll trust your judgement of what drives muslim culture once you have lived in a muslim country".

I've lived in two.

And you know what? You still won't believe me because stupid people cling to their self-elevating treasured beliefs no matter what the evidence. This is what we call Darwin's Law.

BFree (funny how all the little rigid leftwing dictators give themselves names that point to a devotion to liberty and self-reliance) - quotes me: " I took one look at his face on TV and it was like a map. I saw what he would wreak on the country if he got in..." and sneers. You are new around here and I would say to British blogs in general, for I have read almost identical comments often. Often enough to feel heartened that at least the entire British population hadn't sleepwalked into Tony Blair's programme. Many, many Brits have commented on his abnormal, evil face and a feeling of foreboding when he won the election.

Kiwi - many thanks. Derek's already a Dhimmi and he hasn't even experienced any real oppression yet, except what the British government accords him when elevating the rights of this primitive belief system over the indigenes. I am guessing that Derek honestly thinks that women who wear burqas and niqabs out on the streets of Britain (or NZ) are expressing a nun-like modesty and devotion to their diety rather than raw aggression. Derek, anything a muslim tells you is true. Don't trust your own civilsation. Trust the muslims. They never lie.

Frank P - Yes, Erica Jong's wig alarmed me too. It looked as though it had a life of its own and she was holding it still. I hope others went to that link. The comments were terribly funny.

Verity

Yay! As I predicted (and so quickly!) Derek refuses to have his mind changed by facts! The messenger is lying!!

He responds huffily to Kiwi: "kiwi,
what parts of iran and saudia arabia have you lived in and when? and somehow i don't believe you" - well of course you don't, sweetie. You only believe what you want to believe - "because if you have lived there in any peace-keeping sense, you wouldn't be using the term "moslem"."

Hello?

They have "peace keepers" in Iran and SAudi Arabia? Iran allows "peacekeepers" in? News to me. And Saudi Arabia can't enforce its own laws, and the Saudi citizens are running riot, and needs "peacekeepers"?

And Kiwi wouldn't use the word "muslim"????? To describe "Muslims"; in the Muslim countries he lived in? What would he have called them? "members of the religion that came after Christianity but before Scientology"?

Verity

Kiwi - after about 30 seconds' deep thought, I think I've solved the mystery as to why Derek thinks that if you'd really lived in Saudi and Iran, you wouldn't have used the word "Muslim".

Pretty baffling, what?

He knows, in the murky shadows of his mind somewhere, that there's a way of describing Islam that causes mild irritation to the Muslims. And he thought that word was - uh - "Muslim". Similarly, he will believe that using the word "Islam" is also offensive.

Kiwi's probably figured it out for himself after a similar 30 seconds' consideration, but poor little Derek is getting "Muslim" mixed up with "Muhammadan", which Muslims indeed don't really care for. They don't really like "Muhammadanism" either, because it leads outsiders to believe that they worship their prophet instead of their god.

At ease, Derek! You're one confused little puppy.

dave bones

Ayers stopped being a terrorist because he realised that he could more effectively undermine America through radicalising the young through education

what is wrong with that?

Verity

Here is what one of the best columnists in the United States, Thomas Sowell, wrote a couple of days ago. Sowell is a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institute as well as being an absolutely ace columnist whose writing just crackles with killer phrases. http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/10/31/ego_and_mouth

Dr Sowell is black, so cannot be accused of "prejudice". Read this piece linked to for a lucid assessment of Barak Obama.

BFree

V, you just never disappoint with your absurdity.

"As soon as I see an unfamiliar name and read the first predictable sentence, I scroll down"
Hmmm?

“ little rigid leftwing dictators” ….
Little.

” You are new around here and I would say to British blogs in general”
Nah!

“many Brits have commented on his abnormal, evil face”
Names?

Just tooo silly and sooo wrong, guess the spooky intuition's off beam again, huh?

Verity

BFree - or my I call you Thought Fascist? - You're new around here. Many people have noted on this blog alone, never mind other conservative blogs and in newspapers, that in Tony Blair's face lay a roadmap for the destructiveness he was going to wreak.

I don't pay any attention to blog names unless the writer writes something gripping or is a regular contributor. I did not take careful note of all the people who have written in the past that Tony Blair's face has a weird malevolence about it so am unable to oblige you with the list of names you are too lazy to have gathered yourself.

Victoria Williams

Whenever I read that one of Melanie's favoured sources has 'essential facts', in this case Daniel Pipes, I know what I am about to read are 'selected facts' of dubious provenance. There is a nasty smell of bias and re-writing of the record, or at worst pure fabrication. It is a bit rich to condemn someone for 'stopping being a terrorist' - would you prefer William Ayres had persisted?

derek

On a spectacular September morning more than seven years ago, our world changed. I remain one of those who believe that that day remains indelible, and its lesson unforgettable. The civilized democratic world came under attack from a small but lethal band of religious fanatics bent on destroying free societies, and, more terrifyingly, eager to get their hands on weapons of mass destruction that could make 9/11 look like a dry run.
We are still under attack.
This confluence of fundamentalism and lethal technology is the greatest danger of our time. And in the last seven years, the threat has not abated. Al Qaeda remains at large, and the very top leadership that planned and executed 9/11 is alive. They have reconstituted a base of sorts in Pakistan. They have scored several major propaganda victories - from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay to trapping most of the US military in an unending counter-insurgency in one country where al Qaeda was weak before 2002, Iraq. Islamist factions in Pakistan's government are horrifyingly close to nuclear technology. Iran has gained in power and influence in the Middle East and its ability to launch and use nuclear weapons is much greater than it was on 9/11. At its best, the Iraq war will lead to a fractured petro-state, closely allied with Iran, beset by constant infighting and terrorism. At its worst, Iraq will keep over 100,000 young Americans trapped there for the rest of our lives. The war in Afghanistan against the Taliban is at a seven year nadir.
Now the really bad news: the view of co-presidents Bush and Cheney is that this is a war that can and should be controlled by only one branch of government and a war in which the job of the citizenry is to shop. It is a global war where force of arms remains too often a first resort and in which talking to our enemies is regarded as "the white flag of surrender," instead of another tool at our disposal. It is a war where the American government has alienated - in some cases deeply - democratic allies whose police work and intelligence we desperately need. I do not doubt that military force is part of the mix to defeat this threat. (Like everyone else, I'm heartened that general Petraeus has introduced some minimal intelligence into the occupation of Iraq, although I fear it has merely made our presence more protracted and our withdrawal more difficult.) But the crudeness with which military force has been deployed, the absence of strategy or even due diligence in the execution of the long war, and the massive public relations blunders which have led the United States to lose a propaganda war against a bunch of murderous, medieval loons are unforgivable.
These mistakes were compounded - and in large part created - by what I believe will one day be seen as the core event of the last eight years: the collapse of constitutional order and the rule of law fomented in a mixture of hubris and laziness by the president himself. It is now indisputable that the president and vice-president of the United States engineered a de facto coup against the constitution after 9/11, declaring themselves above any law, any treaty, and any basic moral norm in their misguided mission to rid the world of evil. This blog has watched this process with increasing dismay - and watched several attempts to bring the US back to sanity foiled by a relentless and unhinged vice-president's office.
Cheney and Bush, unlike any presidency in American history, have dangerously pushed constitutional government to the brink of collapse. They did not merely assert a unified executive in which actions and regulations reserved to the executive branch were kept free from Congressional and judicial tampering. That is a perfectly defensible position, especially in wartime. They did not merely act in the immediate wake of an emergency to protect American citizens swiftly - again a perfectly legitimate use of executive power, unhampered by Congress or courts. They declared such power to be unlimited; they asserted also that it was as permanent as the emergency they declared; they claimed their dictatorial powers were inherent in the presidency itself, and above any legal constraints; they ordered their own lawyers to provide retroactive and laughable legal immunity for their crimes; they by-passed all the usual and necessary checks within the executive branch to ensure prudence and legality and self-doubt in the conduct of a war; they asserted that emergency war powers applied to the territory of the United States itself; they claimed the right to seize anyone - anyone, citizen or not - they deemed an "enemy combatant," to hold them indefinitely with no due process and to torture them until they became incoherent, broken, brutalized shells of human beings, if they survived at all. They did this to the guilty and they did this to the innocent. But they also had no way of reliably knowing which was which and who was who. Never before in wartime has the precious, sacred inheritance of free people been treated with such contempt by the leaders of the democratic West.
They seized countless individuals with no trials and no hearings. They tortured dozens to death. They subjected many more to some of the worst psychological torture techniques devised by Communist totalitarians and the worst physical suffering devised by the Gestapo. They crossed lines no American president had ever crossed before. They withdrew the US from the Geneva Conventions - and did so secretly. They tapped American's phones without warrants, and forced many of their randomly grabbed prisoners into the black hole of insanity. They set up secret sites in former Soviet gulags to torture their victims. They single-handedly devastated America's reputation for human rights and the rule of law in the minds of the vast majority of people in other Western democracies, let alone the developing world, let alone the millions of Muslims across the Middle East who now suspect that America is not really better than their own thugocracies, that America also tortures when it wants to, that the shining city on a hill is actually a place where men above the law can do anything they want to other human beings in their custody.
No economic mismanagement can compare with this attack on the basic institutions of our democracy and the constitution. No incompetence in conducting an occupation can be deemed comparable with this level of criminality and indecency. No reaction to a natural disaster, however hapless and negligent, is as grave as this crime. No financial crisis eclipses it in gravity. The president's oath is to protect the constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. Instead, the president himself became an enemy to the constitution he swore to uphold.
This is the depth of the predicament the United States is in. The Islamist threat remains; but the Constitution is in deep disrepair, the military stretched to breaking point, the national debt doubled, and America's reputation in terrible shape. More important, the president and vice-president deeply damaged the reliability and integrity of America's intelligence services, creating a self-perpetuating loop of phony intelligence procured by torture which then justified more torture which led to worse intelligence. It will be decades before we learn the full extent of the damage Bush and Cheney have done to the country's ability to find out what the enemy is really up to, how much risk these sadists and goons have subjected us to, how much damage to this country they may have facilitated by filling intelligence with the garbage always created by torture. We do know that their policy has led to just one successful prosecution - and that many guilty figures will escape justice because torture has tainted the legal process beyond repair.
My great fear since 2004 is that this could have gotten even worse. Another attack and the abuse of power could have become much worse. A Romney or a Giuliani, empowered by religious fanaticism and a worship of state power, could have taken us down a path much darker than even the Cheney-Addington-Yoo cul-de-sac. Ron Paul emerged as the one Republican prepared to defend the rule of law, the Constitution and habeas corpus in the primaries. But, in the end, McCain emerged by default, a torture victim himself, and a critic of some aspects of the conduct of the war. But we saw in 2006 that, when push came to shove, even McCain acquiesced to the legalization of America's use of the very same torture techniques once used against him. And in this campaign, we have seen how no Republican candidate can escape the logic of bigotry, fanaticism and xenophobia that now grips and motivates the Republican party base. We have also learned, much more importantly, that McCain would appoint Justices to the Supreme Court who would acquiesce to and constitutionally entrench the dictatorial presidency that Bush-Cheney believe in as loyally as Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia. That means we are one vote away from the court ever restraining this unchecked executive. It doesn't matter who that executive is and what party he or she belongs to. What matters is that the controls upon it - controls critical to the endurance of constitutional balance and individual freedom in America - have been frayed to the breaking point. There is no greater cause right now than repairing that.
If I were to give one reason why I believe electing Barack Obama is essential tomorrow, it would be an end to this dark, lawless period in American constitutional government. The domestic cultural and political reasons for an Obama presidency remain as strong as they were when I wrote "Goodbye To All That" over a year ago. His ability to get us past the culture war has been proven in this campaign, in the generation now coming of age that will elect him if they turn out, in Obama's staggering ability not to take the bait. His fiscal policies are too liberal for me - I don't believe in raising taxes, I believe in cutting entitlements for the middle classes as the way to fiscal balance. I don't believe in "progressive taxation", I support a flat tax. I don't want to give unions any more power. I'm sure there will be moments when a Democratic Congress will make me wince. But I also understand that money has to come from somewhere, and it will not come in any meaningful measure from freezing pork or the other transparent gimmicks advertized in advance by McCain. McCain is not serious on spending. But he is deadly serious in not touching taxes. So, on the core question of debt, on bringing America back to fiscal reason, Obama is still better than McCain. If I have to take an ideological hit to head toward fiscal solvency, I'll put country before ideology.
But none of this compares to the task of restoring the rule of law and Constitutional balance. Unlike McCain, Obama has never wavered on torture or habeas corpus or on keeping the executive branch under the law. His deep understanding and awareness of the Constitution eclipses McCain's. Coming from the opposing party, he will also be able to restore confidence that what lies within America's secret government - the one constructed by Bush and Cheney beyond any accountability, law or morality - will be ended or cleaned up. He can restore critically needed trust again - and force the Democratic party to take responsibility for a war which we all need to own, and take responsibility for, again.
We cannot win this war without regaining our democratic soul, ending torture, and returning to lawful governance. But these things won't win the war either. On that, we have a perilous task ahead. I don't know how Obama will be able to get out of Iraq in his first term. I fear that Bush and Cheney have made withdrawal deliberately difficult if not impossible. I fear the same in Afghanistan. I don't know how Obama will handle Iran, given the power that Bush and Cheney have ceded to the Islamist regime there, and the danger of a pre-emptive strike before Obama even gets inaugurated. But I do know that he will handle these wars with reason, with prudence and with care. Those are three qualities absent from the White House for eight years. And I do know that Obama's very person, and what he symbolizes, will do more to restore America's image and repair our global public relations than any single measure any new administration will be able to accomplish.
The truth is: we are in a war for the future of human civilization. We are fighting for a world in which destructive technology need not collide with fierce religious fundamentalism to annihilate us all; for a world in which dialogue across cultures and religions and regions (even within America) is essential if we are to survive. We need to win the argument in the developing world; we need to reach out and persuade the Muslim middle - especially the next generation in Iran and Iraq and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Western Europe - about the virtues of democracy and constitutionalism. We cannot do that if we trash our own values ourselves. It is self-defeating. We cannot be a beacon to the world until we have reformed ourselves. In this war, we are also fighting for an America that does not lose its soul in fighting our enemy. Just because we are fighting evil does not mean we cannot ourselves succumb to it. That is what my Christian faith teaches me - that no nation has a monopoly on virtue, and that every generation has to earn its own integrity. I fear and believe we have given away far too much - and that, while this loss is permanent, it can nonetheless be mitigated by a new start, a new direction, a new statement that the America the world once knew and loved is back.
It will not be easy. The world will soon remember why it resents America as well as loves it. But until this unlikely fellow with the funny ears and strange name and exotic biography emerged on the scene, I had begun to wonder if it was possible at all. I had almost given up hope, and he helped restore it. That is what is stirring out there; and although you are welcome to mock me for it, I remain unashamed. As someone once said, in the unlikely story of America, there is never anything false about hope. Obama, moreover, seems to bring out the best in people, and the calmest, and the sanest. He seems to me to have a blend of Midwestern good sense, an intuitive understanding of the developing world that is as much our future now as theirs', an analyst's mind and a poet's tongue. He is human. He is flawed. He will make mistakes. His passivity and ambiguity are sometimes weaknesses as well as strengths.
But there is something about his rise that is also supremely American, a reminder of why so many of us love this country so passionately and are filled with such grief at what has been done to it and in its name. I endorse Barack Obama because I will not give up on America, because I believe in America, and in her constitution and decency and character and strength.
And the world needs that America now as much as it ever has. Can we start that healing, that rebirth, tomorrow?
Yes. We. Can.

BFree

V old bean, you can call me whatever you like: Thought Fascist/Left wing dictator?? doesn’t bother me one jot.

TB’s face, let’s look at that, so to speak.
Your pretentious self, this blog and Tory papers ‘saw’ the weird malevolence and a roadmap to destruction (in his face), but sadly for you all, it was somehow, shockingly, missed by the millions who elected him - three times?
OMG.
Life is sooo unfair.

And to add insult to injury I suspect you’re in for even more disappointment in the next couple of days eh? but what can you do V? Looks like all your very best efforts have been in vain. He'll be elected and you're rejected. Again!

If only people would listen - to you.

Still, you gave it your best shot eh?

derek

BFree, no need to worry yourself with Verity. His/her righteousness is laughable as he unknowingly contradicts himself/herself.

kiwi

derek wrote: "what parts of iran and saudia arabia have you lived in and when? and somehow i don't believe you because if you have lived there in any peace-keeping sense, you wouldn't be using the term 'moslem'"
derek, is that really you? The last time I saw you, you were buying whole bottles of local Smirnoff for the Korean hosties at the Shekoufeh Now nightclub downtown South Tehran. That's before the mad mullahs' had it burnt down! Or maybe it was you I saw cavorting on the beach at Half Moon Bay, Al Khobar, or perhaps it was the old wooden beach huts at the Jeddah Creek. I really am getting muddled, must be from drinking all that Siddiqui. Must go, time for a lie down.
PS dereck, excuse spelling

Matt Cleere

Rant.

phil

Derek its pretty obvious from what you have written that you are far to intelligent for the likes of V THE FRAGRANT ONE -she continues to grease up and down this thread and others like a lump of lard spewing nonsense as fast as she can ,but of course she has the odd acolyte,sad people who probably have achieved very little -well tomorrow she will be shown that she and her friends are in a minority and also when America regains its energy and sense of purpose she may well feel ashamed of the nastiness she has indulged herself these past months -I can write this freely as she claims never to read those she doesn't approve of and I do hope I am one of them

Personally I wish sen McCain had been up to scratch as I believe in a low tax environment and also a society where the most able rise to the top but with a sense of responsibility to those less fortunate - I suppose that's called heaven .

phil

Verity you set the tone of this thread very early with
"It was obvious from Day One that the only reason the highly unqualified Obama was selected to be the Dem candidate is that he is black and therefore impervious to legitimate criticism. He's got a suit of armour. Anything negative one says about Obama - and there is oh, so much to say - can be immediately dismissed (as in, not having to be answered) because the speaker is a "racist". Obama's race is an integral part of the plot. It is absolutely perfect. Brilliant, even, given that they have carried it forward so far with no loss of momentum"

WELL I WILL TELL YOU ,MOST PEOPLE WHO ARE REFERRED TO AS RACIST HAVE GIVEN JUST CAUSE .

I would prefer to judge the candidate on his policies and demeanour rather than whether you think he has "blacked up "for the occasion -I hope, no doubt in vain ,that one day when you grow up you will feel ashamed of what you have written here .Discerning posters will decide for themselves what weight to give to your arguments ,regardless of their choice of candidate .I have contributed very little to this thread because frankly your words have sickened me .

APG Pandya

Be wary of the President who wants 'peace':

Now, finally, Islamic fundamentalism has the President of its choice. Obama believes in peace and that's such a great thing isn't it? Suspicions and raised eyebrows should start there. Obama campaigned on removing US troops from Iraq, content in leaving the Iraqi people; with a half-finished, half-baked job; at the hands of militants. The threat of Islamic terrorism is as great now as ever, yet Obama the pacifist, will defeat them all with a sigh of peace. He thinks the fanatics will suddenly decide to stop waging the war because he wishes to remove and reduce US presence in both theatres. He is too naïve to realise that they hate for the sake of hating, that the US was just as much a risk from them the day before 9/11 as the day after. He doesn't quite grasp the geopolitics of territorial presence and influence. If the West is going to fight Islamic fascism, then a territorial foothold in the Middle East and Afghanistan has to be maintained for security and protection. The possibility to influence a move towards modern democratic governments in other states in the Middle East should not be lost. The Iranians are no doubt amused, that the voice of peace may finally give their nuclear programme the implicit consent it needs to carry on, whilst they live in a dictatorial regime that curtails fundamental freedoms with state sponsored censorship and does little to protect the rights of women. I still remember Obama’s keenness, early in the election, of wanting to get into bed with Ahmejinedad. This instinctive palm-greasing is a dangerous sign. It is the mark of a man who is willing to be a philanderer with integrity in order to gain on a desire to be liked. The possibility of Obama using US influence to change the world for the better, such as a voice for freedom, remains extremely dubious.

The election itself was a disgrace. I have never seen human beings pander in such a vile way to the lowest common denominator of race in an electoral process. Voting for someone because they are black, is as vile as voting for them because they are white, or pink or brown. If one looks beyond the man’s complexion there is very little in Obama’s empty rhetoric- How exactly is going to change the gulf between the rich and the poor that was made obvious by the faces suffering from Hurricane Katrina? He has never outlined any clear method of doing so, the electorate falling for nothing more than flamboyant vacuosity. McCain ran a terrible campaign, by god it was awful. Whilst going on about his war wounds, he never bothered to explain in full why they made him a better candidate. He had no clear game plan for a recession and did not seem wary of it. But then neither did Obama. What exactly is the President’s plan barring an increase of taxes? And is that even the right solution? When people are asked why they voted for him, it’s because of ‘change’. It is difficult to find a more empty and shallow proposition wanting of consideration than that. What and how are not questioned, spoken of, or asked about, hence their delivery becomes near impossible to assess. I am glad to have an ‘African-American’ one said. As if one was trying to bury an old hatchet in some way, it is childish and unedifying to formulate one’s opinions in this way. I would have been embarrassed. Does the choice of Obama for the reason of race mark the dawn of a new era, or reaffirm the existence of an age old apartheid? Obama's victory is a telling sign that many Americans could not see beyond the race issue, and failed to distinguish McCain, a radical in the Republican camp, from the President that was Bush. But the Republicans had fought a war and won, and only the most complacent of Americans have forgotten how important that was to corroborating US Security post 9/11. Once Obama pursues his campaign of peace fully, it is the Islamic fundamentalists that would have been the real victors of last night. They know that peace and toothlessness are one and the same.

APG Pandya.

Frank P

APG Pandya

A powerful post indeed.

Verity

AGP Panda - I, too, enjoyed your post. However, although I realise it was only a tangential comment, the reference to Hurricane Katrina perpetuates the myth.

Katrina did not touch down New Orleans or anywhere in Louisiana. Read that sentence again. It landed in the state of Mississippi. What New Orleans got was the outer fringes of very, very heavy rain.

I have lived through a hurricane and I have also had the experience of living through the attendant storms the fringes bring with it and believe me, there is absolutely no comparison.

New Orleans suffered as it did through sheer maladministration. Governor Blanco is from an old corrupt Louisiana family. The heavy rains breached the levvies of Lake Ponchartrain - 40 miles long and 25 miles wide, so a very heavy body of water. Those levvies had been built with cheap materials and bad engineering by contractors who were friends of the Governor. It wasn't Katrina, which didn't even touch down in the state, which wrecked New Orleans and caused so much misery, but utter corruption.

British people should stop referring so knowledgeably to Hurricane Katrina because they are basing their opinions on the posts of petty BBC motor mouth Matt Frei.

Ronnie

Thanks Verity, now we know as much as you do about Hurricane Katrina...Actually, it turns out that I knew more about it before.

Funny how that always happens after I read your posts.

Of course I shall, as requested, tell all my compatriots to stop watching/listening/reading only the BBC for their news. How these other news outlets here haven't gone bust just amazes me.