Letter for Rob Hubler

...The current financial crisis our country is facing has also caused many voters to contemplate how fortunate we are that Congress rejected the call by George Bush, and supported by Steve King, to privatize our Social Security system. Imagine the billions of dollars that would have evaporated if they had succeeded in turning our trust funds over to the Wall Street speculators. I will make sure voters know that I will fight to make sure their Social Security funds will be there for them.

As word spreads about the Republican Party turning their backs on ethanol production, and their opposition to the farm bill, many loyal GOP supporters have told me that they will be voting for me this time around. Our rural communities have a huge stake in the continued production of ethanol and wind energy to create good jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. On this issue, as with so many others, voters have a clear choice between Steve King and myself.

I have accepted an invitation to participate in a candidate forum to be broadcast statewide by Iowa Public Radio on Oct. 30th. Thus far, Steve King has refused to defend his record in Congress and it will be interesting to see if he dodges this event. Regardless, I intend to continue letting voters know of the stark differences in our two approaches to representing the people of the 5th district...

Peace and justice,
Rob L. Hubler

Visit Hubler for Congress

Letterman on McCain

New Cartoons

For a while now I've been thinking that I should create a venue for religious commentary. My column says it's about "sex, politics, and religion," but it never deals with sex and only rarely deals with religion. I do have a religious blog, http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com that ends up dealing with politics a lot. But not in cartoon form. So, here's an attempt. Look for "Sheep in Wolves's Clothing" on Mondays on my cartoon bloc, http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

These first two are pretty political in fact, being a donkey and an elephant. I'm afraid that you'll also find "h in wolves's Clothing" a little esoteric, that's because I want to encourage readers to think- and in the case of these first two, to look up a verse in Scripture. Because the best thing that any teacher or minister can say to you is "don't take my word for it, look it up!"

Here, I'll help you out THIS time- Ecc. 5: 10-15 is a great admonition for shallow, materialistic, upwardly mobile, day traders with a penchant for mortgage backed securities!

Whereas Ecc. 6:11 is something someone on the Straight Talk Express might say to someone more nuanced to let them know that they're not someone they'd like to have a beer with while watching hockey or NAASCAR.

Speculation with other people's money; 1929 and 2008

The Michael Douglas/Charlie Sheen movie "Wall Street" explains that the markets have only two emotions, greed and fear, basically the greed ran things for too long, so now fear is running rampant.

The problem really started with a thing called “the global pool of money.” And if the name “pool” makes you think of gambling, as in “an office football pool,” you’re not too far off. Much of Wall Street’s woes have to do with speculating, risk taking, in other words, gambling.

Families can’t afford to save much anymore, but companies and countries are always saving (sort of). Insurance companies save for a catastrophe, pension funds are supposed to save money for your retirement, etc. etc. All the world’s savings amounts to around 70 trillion dollars. Generally, you want your savings to grow, right? Throughout history, countries and major corporations made really safe boring investments- treasury bonds and municipal bonds.

Part of our problem is prosperity. Thanks to technology and globalization, lots of countries that didn’t used to have much money to save, started to. China, India, Saudi Arabia… whether they made their money selling us TVs or oil, they started doing as well as the US, Japan and Western Europe.

In fact, the global pool of money had doubled since 2000. In 2000 this was about 36 trillion dollars. It took hundreds of years for the world to get to 36 trillion. Then, in six years, to get another 36 trillion So there was twice as much money to invest- the world wasn’t ready for it. Twice as much money to invest, but there definitely not twice as many good investments.

For almost two decades, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan kept the prime interest rate at insanely low levels, as low as one percent. In some ways that was good, it staved off inflation and it meant that people could afford cars, computers, college and houses because the rates we’d have to pay on credit, financing and loans was low.

However, that’s also part of why our personal savings rate is so low- because it’s almost not worth saving money because it doesn’t earn much interest.

This meant that investors and fund managers weren’t going to make any money at all on US treasury bonds. So, they started looking around for some low-risk, high-return investment.

Homeowners were paying 5, 7, 9 percent to borrow money from banks.

Wall Street, already famous for “leveraging” and “short-selling” found a way. Leveraging means borrowing money to lend to someone else who’s a bad risk and short-selling is borrowing stocks so you can sell them now because you expect to be able to buy them back later at a lower price and return it to the real owner and pocket the difference between the two prices.
These money changers in the temple figured out how to get the global pool of money involved in high risk mortgages.

Brokers sell mortgages to small banks. Small banks sells them to big investment firms. The market firm takes thousands of mortgages and puts them together. They had thousands of mortgage checks coming in monthly. They counted on that river coming in for at least thirty years. These were called “mortgage backed securities.”

The problem is, this greedy monster demanded TONS of mortgages, so they started buying up mortgages. Banks couldn’t keep up, so they started lowering their standards. They loaned tons of people mortgages without checking their backgrounds. Many even offered “No Income, No Asset” (NINA) loans.

Bottom line, too many people were too anxious to make too much money too quickly.

Boils down to this, too much laisser-faire (hands off) policy for too long has turned capitalism (ordinarily a good thing) into a cancer. For almost thirty years now, we’ve been following a philosophy of giving tax breaks and unsupervised freedom to big corporations, financial institutions and the super-wealthy in hope that prosperity would “trickle-down.”

But what we see again and again is that rather than re-investing in the American economy and providing jobs- what they do with their profits is to gamble with it in hope of getting even richer, or moving their operations overseas. What makes it worse, is that they don’t just use their profits and their tax cuts- time and time again, they’re using our homes and our retirement funds.

Isn’t it time to return to a philosophy of “we’re all in this together,” “I AM my brother’s keeper,” and of noblesse oblige- “to whom much is given, much is expected.”

Maybe you prefer Reagan to Roosevelt, but I gotta tell you, I think that right about now Wall Street and Washington both need to hear two important quotes from FDR's first inaugural address-

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself" and

"in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency."

Both McCain and Obama would do well to bone up on economics and read Roosevelt's speech. We certainly can’t afford to stay the course on this one. Let's all pray that we come through this storm safe, sound, and SOON!

Baron Von Moneypants

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s proposed bailout carries a price tag of $700 billion, a staggering figure that CNN has helpfully translated into terms that every American can understand by consulting the McDonald’s (apple) pie chart.

Americana

All American

Dug out some pictures from back in 06 and had some fun in Photoshop with them. I think I've managed to capture some of the Western Modern aesthetic of my native Phoenix in the 60's and early 70's with the kitsch color combination of turquoise and rust. Artists like Paul Coze’ and magazines like Arizona Highways really established a palette that penetrated the psyches of anyone who grew up in the Southwest when I did.

Obama the Conservative Choice

Other conservatives have observed that Obama might also seriously address the hemorrhaging of America's manufacturing base that has taken place under the auspices of President George W. Bush, a trend that would undoubtedly continue under either McCain or Clinton, both of whom are either ambivalent about or committed to globalism and free trade. America must put its own house in order first and it is time to challenge many of the economic and social assumptions that have driven policy over the past 15 years.

In short, Obama for president is beginning to look pretty good to many conservatives and that means that a Barack Obama administration might actually bridge the gap between right and left, finally bringing together American citizens who are intent on righting the foundering ship of state rather than preserving the status quo. Clinton and McCain represent little more than two nightmarish visions of an out-of-touch political reality that has manifestly failed and should be rejected.

Read the whole article on Huffington Post

Sen. Hagel doubts Palin's ready

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is the nation's most prominent Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said Wednesday in an interview. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

Read the whole story in the Omaha World Herald

Open letter to readers

Apparently I seemed to have touched a nerve with that column. Did you see JoAnn Seufert's letter in the PRESS yesterday? Politics is always messy and emotional.

Let me be clear, I'm sure that Sarah Palin is a good person in many respects and a devout Christian as well. I think John McCain is a good person at heart in many respects as well. I just don't think either of them are right for our country at this time.

As a cartoonist and a political humor columnist, I use exaggeration and sarcasm. I know that isn't gentle as a lamb, but it's normal to be provocative and occasionally abrasive.

I apologize when that winds up being offensive to any other readers. I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions, hope to help inform those opinions, trigger both research and discussion, and encourage people to write to the paper with their opinions. Thank the Lord that we live in a nation where we the right to have and express differing opinions (for now).

Confessions of a Political Junkie

WEB EXCLUSIVE! What follows is unabridged and unedited. I'll have to cut it by almost half before I can submit it to the Mapleton PRESS.

Doc, I don’t know what to do, I went from 6 or 8 cups of regular a day to just two cups of decaf, Cut out beer, pizza and cookies. All I ever eat is salad and raw cucumbers and I’m walking everyday and I still can’t seem to get my blood pressure down.

Have you been practicing those relaxation techniques we talked about?

Yeah, even though they make me feel like some kind of New Age hippy weirdo.

Hmmm. Well, I hate to have to tell you this, but I think the only way to really get this under control is for you to bite the bullet and go cold turkey.

No, you don’t mean…

Yep, I’m afraid you’re going to have to give up politics.

But, but, there’s barely two months left and this is one of the most historically important elections in, in… well, in history!

I know, but you want to get your blood pressure down into a reasonable range so you don’t have an aneurysm one of these days. Listen, it’s time you faced the fact that you have a problem.

I don’t have a problem.

CNN, NPR, newspapers, internet… talk radio.

I, I can stop anytime I want to.

Listen, there are simple steps to recovery. Here, take a look at this pamphlet,

“Elections Anonymous”

Step 1 - Admit we were powerless over the election, we did our part, we caucused, we can vote on November 4th – but the rest of our lives had become unmanageable

Step 2 - Come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

What power?

Well, it’s not my place to tell you that. For some it’s their idea of God, for some it’s whomever they receive their voting guide from, AARP, Focus on the Family. For some it’s Oprah, while others put their trust in Bill O’Rielly or Rush Limbaugh.

What? I can’t do that. I, I have to get input from a wide variety of sources and then determine for myself what seems the most reasonable to-

Tsk tsk tsk, do you want to get better or not?

Step 3 - Decide to turn our will and our lives over to the care of that higher power as we understand Him.

Sigh, okay, but do some people really listen to Limbaugh like he’s God?

Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

Oh yeah, why doesn’t Sarah Palin do that? If she would maybe she’s see that no matter how noble the end is, like setting up a fundamentalist Pentecostal theocracy or starting WWIII with Russia, it still doesn’t justify the means, like lying over and over about stopping the bridge to nowhere when she actively lobbied for it and… and…

Whoa, calm down, take a deep breath, find your “happy place”

Pant, pant, but, but, isn’t lying just as much of a sin as being an illegal immigrant?

Isn’t judging others a sin? What about anger?

Sigh. You’re right, Doc. You’re right. Go on.

Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs

You’re right. If this election hasn’t turned me into an “elitist,” it’s at least coming between me and other people. Otherwise why would my wife have to pinch my arm or kick me under the table so often?

Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character

But, but, there’s only like 7 months left! This is like asking somebody to give up football just before the Super bowl, or NASCAR just before Daytona, or or candy at Halloween!

Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings

God, I know that even though I may be right all the time, I shouldn’t act like it. I know that everyone who thinks that they’re right and I’m wrong are just ignorant or deluded or misled or ill informed. I understand that they’re not all a bunch of fascists and that they love this country just as much as I do. Help me to not act like they’re evil, even though I know many of them worry that I’m some how under the control of the Devil and probably going to hell, help me to rise above the bitterness and division.

Sigh, I’m not sure you’re quite ready for Step 7 yet, but I suppose that’s a start. Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Even that wing-nut who forwarded the viral email full of all the lies that have already been debunked back in February, so instead of just deleting it, I lectured them on propaganda and how to use FactCheck.org and then hit “reply all” so that everyone he sent it to could read it too?

Yes, ESPECIALLY that guy.

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others

Oh, if I’m supposed to avoid talking politics between now and November, I’d better not try that one. I’d rather become a monk or a hermit or something.

Well, no one said you had to fulfill all 12 steps at once. It’s an ongoing process. Step 10 - Continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it

What is so wrong about wanting what’s best for your country? Is it wrong to want what’s best for your children or your family?

Step 11 – Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out

So while I’m reading the Bible, what about the guy who’s “higher power” is FOX NEWS?!

This isn’t about them. It’s not about anyone else, but you. You have to want to get better for this to work. You don’t want to have an aneurysm do you? Look, what happens if, and I’m just saying this theoretically- what if the race is so tight that we have another one like 2000, hanging chads and a problem with the electoral college that the Supreme Court has to decide. If you give up politics now, you’ll be better able to cope with any possible outcomes.

Yeah, I guess I’d hate to be too strung out on November 5^th to even be able to go to work.

You family needs you, you can do this. There are meetings, we can find someone who’s been through what you’re going through who can help.

Okay, okay, I’ll, I’ll try.

Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, try to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Admitting you have a problem is half the battle.

Foggy Bottom

The global pool of money

Guys, this is the best explanation I've heard of why we're in the mess we're in. The shortest summary would be; the Michael Douglas/Charlie Sheen movie "Wall Street" explains that the markets have only two emotions, greed and fear, basically the greed ran things for too long, so now fear is running rampant.

This investigative story, first broadcast back in May is certainly a lot more detailed, but does an amazing job of making things clear to non money nerds and mathematically-impaired people like me. Granted, it's NPR not Bloomberg, but I think they try to be pretty unbiased too.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=355

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90327686

Boils down to this, too much laisser-faire for too long has turned capitalism (ordinarily a good thing) into a cancer. Maybe you prefer Reagan to FDR, but I gotta tell you, I think that right about now Wall Street and Washington both need to hear two important quotes from FDR's first inaugural address-

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself" and

"in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency."

Both McCain and Obama would do well to listen to this radio story and read Roosevelt's speech. Let's all pray that we come through this storm safe, sound, and SOON!

Wise words for times like our current crisis

"...the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now..."

"in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency."

~From Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address , Saturday, March 4, 1933

Republican dictionary

September 16, 2008

Today's Inbox: The Republican dictionary

A reader's view

Do you speak Palinese?

Black teen pregnancies? A “crisis” in black America. White teen pregnancies? A “blessed event.”

If you grow up in Hawaii you’re “exotic.” Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you’re the quintessential “American story.”

Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you’re “unpatriotic.” Name your kid Trig, you’re “colorful.”

If you’re a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you’re “reckless.” A Republican who doesn’t fully vet is a “maverick.”

If you spend three years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of one to 13, and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a constitutional law professor, then spend nearly eight more years as a state senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly four years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you are “inexperienced.”

If you spend four years on the city council and six years as the mayor of a town with fewer than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you’ve got the most “executive experience” of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an “arrogant celebrity.” If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are “energizing the base.”

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are “an elitist,” out of touch with the real America. If you are a legacy graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a “hero.”

If you go to a south-side Chicago church, your beliefs are “extremist.”
If you believe in creationism and don’t believe global warming is ma made, you are “strongly principled.”

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a “Christian.” If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years, you’re “risky.”

If you’re a black single mother of four who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you’re “irresponsible,” endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you’re a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you’re “spunky.”

If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents. If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

— Rev. Robert Price, Prairie City

Cactus Flower

Cactus Flower

Too true

"Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers."
- Jimmy Breslin

Patriots Day/United Nations International Day Of Peace

8:46:26 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 impacts the north side of the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) of the WTC between the 94th and 98th floors. American Airlines Flight 11 was flying at a speed of 490 miles per hour (MPH).

When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, "it set up vibrations which were transmitted through the building, through its foundation, and into the ground," says Lerner-Lam. Those vibrations, as indicated by seismographs at Lamont-Doherty and other locations, were the equivalent of a magnitude 0.9 earthquake, one too small to be felt.

Where were you by Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Speak with some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

The speech he SHOULD'VE made

My friends, my speech writers prepared a script for me which my advisors and party big wigs vetted and convention officials have posted on these handy teleprompters. But my friends, this is not a time for safe, party-approved rhetoric, this is a time for straight talk.

“You all know, I’ve been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum,” but let’s face it, I’ve agreed with President Bush far more than I’ve disagreed.

If I truly put country before party, I’d have asked someone like my fellow Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska. Chuck and I disagree on Iraq and on torture, and he’d genuinely be willing to tell me the what he thinks and stand up to our party and special interests. But I’m more interested in my own personal legacy than in actually advancing real reforms.

I really wanted to pick my friend Joe Lieberman, the Independent Senator from Connecticut. I like him, we agree on things and get along well, so I know he’d be a good working partner. But after all, he used to be a member of the Democrat party, among other things.

I thought for sure that Governor Frist of Florida or Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania. Both could garner a few more electoral votes than Nebraska, Alaska or Connecticut. But lets face it, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, GOPAC and Republican strategists decided to stick me with this former local TV Anchorwoman and beauty pageant runner up.

You gotta admit, it was a stroke of genius. Should Liberals attack her, we'll get to cry "sexist" and make them look like a bunch of hypocrites. Even though we’ve opposed equal rights for women and equal pay for equal work, if we win, we’ll get to lay claim to breaking that glass ceiling for women, not those pesky Democrats.

Sure, for years, Republicans have argued that women should stay home with their kids instead of pursuing a high profile career, but it’s the Democrats who’ll look sexist or even “elitist” if they question her for putting her five kids through a national campaign.

It’s a win-win. She advocated abstinence-only sex education and cut funding for programs offering shelter to homeless unwed mothers, but she and her pregnant 17 year old daughter are heroes for not having abortions.

Sure, she may have improperly pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law, an Alaskan state trooper, who had been in the middle of a custody dispute with her sister- but that just shows that she can stand up to men and she gets things done. It doesn’t mean she won’t help me fight corruption and reform government. Maybe I’ll put her in charge of hiring and firing U.S. Attorneys, so that the Attorney General won’t have to be bothered.

Let me be straight with you my friends, if elected I probably wouldn’t be so bad. I’d probably be much less of an extremist than George Bush. My advisors are just trying to activate our party’s base of extreme right wingers so that they’ll get out the vote. Once I’m elected, I’ll probably be more like an H.W. Bush or maybe even a lovable dottering grandpa type like Reagan- everyone loves Reagan.

So you won’t even have to worry about “Caribou Barbie” unless I die or am incapacitated somehow while in office.

My friends, what we really need to worry about is insuring the old Reagan ideals of trickle-down economics, less regulation of corporations and massive tax cuts for the extremely rich. We can’t let these dreams die.

Sure, more Americans are out of work than have been at any time in the last five years, but remember, a rising tide lifts all boats. If the levy breaks, then it raised cars and houses too. I want to protect middle-class Americans like my wife Cindy and myself. If the Democrats win, people like us may have to cut back to only four or five houses instead of seven or eight!

And let’s not be confused: These are perilous times, not just for America, but for freedom itself. Freedom to own and carry your own 39mm Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle. Freedom for importers, and food and drug producers from burdensome government oversight. Freedom for hedge fund managers, banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and financial speculators from oppressive government regulations.

Most of all it’s going to take someone of unusual strength and character, to continue to wage the world wide war on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

My friends, only I have the experience it will take to keep on torturing people, to racially profile and to harass elderly women at airport security checks.

The only way you can be safe is if you continue to let this government have the freedom to spy on it’s own citizens, and investigate and compile private data on them. If you don’t vote for Sarah Palin and me this November, the enemies of these freedoms will win.

And that’s not just empty rhetoric, that’s change you CAN believe in.

Lies to Nowhere

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.
--Adolf Hitler

Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
--Josph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister

Lies to Nowhere
By David Plouffe, Obama Campaign

The McCain campaign has finally admitted that this election is about change.

Their new ad uses what news organizations are calling "naked lies" to reinvent two politicians whose records embody the same culture of corruption and far-right policies we've seen from the Bush administration.

The biggest whopper in the ad (that's still being repeated day after day by McCain and Palin on the campaign trail) is that Governor Palin stopped the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- in fact, she supported it, and even hired a lobbyist in Washington to get more pork-barrel projects like it.

Sarah Palin was a vocal supporter of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" -- the symbol of the Republican culture of corruption -- turning her back on it only after the project's bloated pork-barrel waste was exposed.

Their ad also claims John McCain has "reformed" Washington -- which would undoubtedly come as a surprise to the Washington lobbyists who are running his campaign and the special interests who have been funding it.

The most "maverick" thing about these two politicians right now is that they continue to support George Bush's disastrous policies long after we have all seen the damage they are doing to our country.

Letter from an Alaskan

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008
22:11:19 -0700

Hi Friends,

My brother sent this note regarding his impressions about Sarah Palin (McCain's baffling VP choice). I thought it was interesting coming from his inside-Alaska perspective, and worth passing along. For those who don't know my brother, he is a principal of a school up in Alaska, where he and his wife also teach. THey've been Alaskan transplants for about 10 years.

Alice

Begin forwarded message: From: Peter & Bonnie Hauschka
Date: August 29, 2008
11:58:15 PM PDT
To:

Good evening,

lots o f friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.

Here it goes: This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her, I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful; athletic, and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a 'real life' and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dip-nettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad. As governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is unable to grasp the demands of leadership. She is very prone to cronyism of the worst kind. Every cabinet level political appointment she has made she has over-ridden suggestions of our state advisory boards, and instead promoted those who had granted her direct political favors. Not that other politicians don't do this, they do, but most of them are able to balance their appointments to ensure that at least a few people with real skill and experience are running big state agencies.

She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan constituency. Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's and been asked to comment publicly on education policy. All the previous gov's have always acknowledged that contribution, criticism or comment; sometimes by direct reply, o r at least by that of a staff member. Palin's office has been a zone of silence. Not I, nor one person I know commenting has ever gotten any sort of reply.

Her claim of running an open or transparent government is totally false; the public simply has no role in her administration.

Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town about 40 minutes from Anchorage of about 15,000 people. Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages. Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public vision. Gov't agencies and services are completely overrun in this town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population or build schools in the right place, because most parts of the town don't require building permits, so the only clue about where people are settling are utility receipts. Imagine trying to be an emergency responder in this kind of place: Houses don't just catch on fire in Wasilla, they burn to the ground, because by the time the fire department has figured out which road to take (no signs) or whose house it is (no directory), the place is done for. Palin was mayor this town for at least 2 terms before being elected gov. a year and a half ago.

Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive. She is the sort of person who is used to using their 'faith' to divide and isolate minority groups of human beings instead of uniting them. To her credit as Gov. she has kept out of this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable company (i.e the Matanuska Valley Republican Women's Club), she lets her moral cat out of the bag.

I will do what I can to ensure her defeat and that of her running mate as well. Please share this information with those who can u se it well.

Cheers, Pete Hauschka

Palin's past pastor: Bush-foes Hell-bound: The Swamp

Palin's past pastor: Bush-foes Hell-bound: The Swamp

"in a Palin videotape that the HuffPost is showcasing, Palin, who had been mayor of Wasilla when the pastor first met her and returned as governor of Alaska to address the church in June, calls the war in Iraq "a task that is from God'' and asks congregants to pray for a new oil pipeline - "I think God's will has to be done."

Ted's Take: Scary stuff. How come the media harped on Jeremiah Wright for so long, but these Alaskan Fundamentalists seem to be getting a bye?

For the record...

And by the way, Alaska is only the biggest state in terms of land mass- it's 47th by population!
Don't be afraid of people from cities or people of other races- they're Americans too.

About Sarah Palin: A Letter From Anne Kilkenny

Read this entire letter from one of Palin's colleagues and neighbors in Alaska
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•"Green”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

It's a 'Dog-Eat-Dog' World

Not long before she succumbed to cancer, political humorist Molly Ivins wrote a book called “Who let the Dogs In?” Her preface was that our country is pretty much overrun by a pack of political animals.

Watching the political conventions this week and last, I had a hard time not imagining what breed some of the major players would be if they were of the canine species. As a disclaimer, I should point out that I in no way mean to offend any particular breed of dog, or their owners.

The “old guard” definitely runs in a pack. I think about old Warner Brother’s cartoons where bugs bunny is avoiding Mafia hood. The gangsters are always dogs in Brooklyn.

Dick Cheney is the big round English Bulldog, brooding and serious. He doesn’t say much but what he says goes. At his side is, Republican strategist, Karl Rove. He’s a French Bulldog, a little smaller than the English Bulldog, with pointy bat-like ears that stand up. I imagine him with a pen and clipboard.

Bouncing around the two bulldogs is George W Bush, a Rat Terrier- a happy-go-lucky little dog who’s a little hyper active, constantly asking the bulldogs what they want him to do, repeating what they say to others, but easily distracted.

Not as tight with the pack, but following alongside is former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. I see him as a Pomeranian. Cocky, commanding, and self-important, but his bark is much worse than his bite.

Waiting to take over the neighborhood is another bulldog, only John McCain is a Miniature Bull Terrier. The American Kennel Association (AKA) calls this breed “full of fire.” They say that Mini-Bulls” have a sense of humor and natural ebullience and is known for his clownish antics.” Sure, he’s survived plenty of fights, and his temper is as volatile as a Pit Bull Terrier, but he just doesn’t quite have the power that the old English Bulldog has or the cunning that the French Bulldog has.

Mitt Romney is like a Pharaoh Hound. The AKA describes Pharaohs as having a “noble bearing with hard clean-cut lines-graceful, very fast with free easy movement…” All show and no real substance, changing positions on a dime.

I know that I’m biased, but I see Obama as a pointer, what the Kennel Association considers to have “agile grace; the head noble, proudly carried; the expression intelligent and alert…even temperament and alert good sense make him a congenial companion both in the field and in the home. He should be dignified and should never show timidity.”

McCain may accuse him of having nothing but rhetoric, but great speeches have changed the tides of history. Examples; Gettysburg Address, FDR and JFK’s inaugural addresses, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell addresses, and of course Martin Luther King’s dream speech.

I sort of think of Hillary Clinton as kind of a sheltie. She’s more of a ''watch'' dog, than a guard dog. Shelties bark at intruders, but after giving warning (usually at 3 o’clock in the morning) they pretty much look out for themselves first and leave the homeowners to fend for themselves.

Bill Clinton of course is a loveable, lumpy Saint Bernard. He the sheltie is his pack, but she’s the alpha-dog. He sticks by her wherever she goes, but has been known to stray, giving other females a sniff now and then. He can save you in the Alps with a barrel of brandy, but he doesn’t always understand his own potential. Of course, Steven King’s “Cujo” was a Saint Bernard too.

In some ways Joe Biden is a bit of a mutt, but mostly, I see him as a boxer. The AKA tells us that the Boxer was “developed to serve as guard, working and companion dog… The Boxer is an alert, self-assured, and fearless dog. The Boxer is a playful and fun-loving dog who is often called the ‘Peter Pan’ of the dog world as they seem to maintain that youthful exuberance..”

Working class Joe, positive and upbeat, but good in a fight… why do you think Obama chose him?

Of course regardless of their party affiliation, when it comes to politicians it’s important to remember this Portuguese proverb; “The dog wags his tail, not for you, but for your bread.”

Photoshop Phlower

This is a byproduct of working on a company logo design for a psychology practice in Colorado. I love how it turned out so well, I had to share it with a broader audience.

mal•toons: First rejection notice

mal•toons: First rejection notice

You can follow my feeble attempts to take cartooning from pretty much a hobby, to a full blown career- PLUS see all of my cartoons in living color by checking out tedstoons.blogspot.com!