BJean

You both know why I used the word "expert" in that context. You know Republicans, especially John McCain, would like for the rest of us to believe that Sarah Palin is an expert - on something. That's why McCain has mentioned her knowledge and relationship to the problem of autism over and over. Saying that Palin is an expert on autism and therefore that qualifies her to be Vice President is like saying that McCain's torture at the hands of his captors qualifies him to be president. Neither statement is correct, but it doesn't stop Republicans from hoping that the general population will believe them to be true. **I would like to suggest to anyone reading this, please check with your election board and find out if you can participate in early voting. Most election boards are anticipating an enormous turn out this year and the long, long lines may be daunting.**

Carrie- don't let the wing nuts get you down. They may innundate you with their propaganda and profession of right-ness, but they are wrong and most Americans know that. Thank the good Lord.

You're underscoring my belief that abortion is not always a good answer to a very difficult problem. As for the Constitution, I find it amusing that you have decided to interpret it and some of the Amendments to the Constitution for all of us. If you don't trust the Supreme Court to rule on Constitutional issues, that pretty much tells us that you have appointed yourself and your demonstrating buddies, as the supreme deciders for women in this country. A proposition I find particularly abhorrent. MissFFs: I was not trying to insult you at all. I was very distressed that you might have come to a conclusion, as do many people in certain areas of this country, that someone's skin color has anything at all to do with their behavior toward their children. It made me very uncomfortable for something tpo be posted here at LBT, that could be possibly interpreted that way. I am happy to drop the issue after having read your most recent post.

Are you being intentionally obtuse? I asked if you know what it does say in the Constitution. I'm not the one who suggested that the word "abortion" is or is not addressed in the Constitution. Do you understand your Constitutional rights? Why do you want to take away every woman's Constitutional rights? I have no quarrel with your abhorence of abortion. That's your right. Fortunately for you, I'm not trying to make a law that requires you to have one. There is nothing that requires you to have one. You're picketing abortion clinics. The Constitution gives you that right. You can say whatever you want. You can even lie. In fact, your presidential and vice presidential candidates can lie - in public - and do on a regular basis, and do it on the record. Their people can actually call Obama a Marxist and not get carted off to jail. Guess I can call anyone who wants to take my rights away, a communist. Now you go girl. Rant on. Right now I'm heading home (with visions of Colin Powell's statements that the right wing that has taken over the Republican party, dancing in my head.)

My twin grandsons' doctor in the Los Angeles area, explained the risks to us. He made us think about whether these little preemie boys should take the chance of going without some of the vaccinations that are usually given to small children, or take the chance of becoming autistic. So although the pharmacutical companies have an incredible lobby in Congress and an incredible amount of power to hide things from the public, there are some doctors who are willing to inform their patients where there are questionable meds and treatments lurking. Public awareness is always a problem. Keep up the good fight. I hope that research and proof will happen in record time to answer the question beyond a reasonable doubt.

Those of you who justify your position on taking away women's right to choose, please tell me exactly what the Constitution of the United States does promise us, if it does not "mention" abortion as you have stated? And for the person who asked why we're discussing this because we already legally have the right to choose, I am here to tell you why. It is not because it is a very volatile issue and one that is spoken of nearly every Sunday in many of our churches. It is because Sarah Palin and John McCain and the right wing faction that has taken over the Republican party are pushing with all of their might to overturn Roe v. Wade - the very case that was upheld again not too long ago by the Supreme Court - which ruled that to take away a woman's right to choose is to take away a woman's Constitutional Rights. As women, we should be very afraid of people who want to take away our rights. We have to fear them just as much as we would fear any communist; Hitler, Stalin, or Chairman Mao for instance, who has decided that it should be within their power to tell every woman what she must do in this extremely personal medical issue.

MissFFs: I am seriously wanting to take issue with your claim that there is some relationship between abusive parents and people of color. I lived in Florida for 16 years (one of your "sources" of experience that provided your claim). My sister worked in state-run drug program. Most of the people she helped into the program (both live-in treatment and out-patient treatment) were black. If she were a single minded, biased person, she would have claimed that most drug abusers are people of color. But whoa...she didn't believe that for one minute because she understood that she was working in an area of town that was accessible to black people more readily than to white people, and the people they treated had fewer options for treatment than more financially well-off white people. So just because she saw more black people with drug problems in her treatment center, that had absolutely nothing to do with the statistic of which race has more drug problems. By the same token, during the 16 years I lived in Florida, the number of cases across Florida of child abuse, child endangerment (people leaving their babies in hot cars) and the outright torture and murder of children was alarming! And the majority of those cases were not black people abusing their children - they were nearly all white people abusing and killing their children. So I take exception to your claim that child abuse is probably more prevelant in black families and I would suggest that you cite serious references to back up your suggestion.

The thing I find most objectionable is that Sarah Palin, the woman on the plane who keeps shooting her mouth off in such obnoxious ways, is that she is a Vice Presidental nominee for the United States of America. But to clairfy, I am not bothered by her obnoxious mouth. I am bothered by her obnoxious political beliefs. That and the fact that she's very clever, but not very smart and I find that very threatening to my Constitutional rights and the democratic ideals of our forefathers.

Steve, I have a lot of respect for you - my fellow Methodist. I grew up in the Methodist church and love the fact that they care so much about social problems and about the human condition. What are your thoughts on the cause of autism? I know many extremists believe that people are misdiagnosing autism and that there are no more people with autism now than there have ever been. Sarah Palin has a sister (or sister-in-law or whatever) who has a child with autism. It makes her an expert on autism, just like having Russia close in proximity to Alaska makes her an expert on foreign policy.

I am happy to see that Colin Powell has the good sense to support Senator Obama. And the really nice thing was to hear someone with his background and his ability to express his beliefs so succinctly, speak this morning to the question of which is the better presidential nominee. I missed the first part of Meet the Press, but in the part I did see, I was relieved to be listening to a man like Colin Powell instead of the political pundits and biased news commentators for a change. I know that you Republicans have expressed your respect and love of Colin Powell in the past. I hope you won't now start calling him names and accusing him of being a socialist, a terrorist, or Muslim who is not patriotic because he doesn't wear some silly pin. But after reading some of the posts here, I am sure you're silently (or loudly) cursing him. And it shouldn't take you long to come up with something to try to sully his good name.

So plain, you're fine with the wealthy getting all the write offs and breaks that they've been enjoying? Just so's they'd be doing their share - no more, mind you, just their part?

P.S. The real issue about Joe the Plumber? I have to giggle again. Please don't tell me that McCain isn't terribly embarrassed about the whole fiasco. If he isn't, aren't you a little worried? Ciao for real.

Heh, heh, heh. I shouldn't use any "Democratic rehtoric"? Read your sister's last post. Now tell me how she has no credibility and her views have no validity. I have to check out. This has been fun. Not productive, really, but fun. Ciao. Hope you all have a good weekend, whatever your politics!

I never said McCain is another George W. Bush. But you can't argue with the fact that McCain is a Republican, like George Bush is a Republican. There are certain Republican ideology that don't change with the man - only with the party. You want more of what we've had, vote for McCain. The two men's political affiliations and goals are rigidly the same in the big picture. That's why Obama keeps mentioning that McCain voted for Bush's policies 90% of the time and that he endorsed Bush's budgets four times. It is definitely something we should consider when we vote.

I have no doubt that both McCain's and Obama's little speeches last night were written by others. But McCain and Obama are the only ones who are responsible for their content. Am I the only one who is beginning to wonder if McCain doesn't have a bad apple in his campaign? (I mean other than Karl Rove) I mean I am amazed and mystified at some of the subversive and contradictory things that McCain has said and done lately. I mean have you all heard about Joe the Plumber's background on all things political? He's been a very vocal participant on a conservative radio talk show. Why didn't McCain's people figure that out before John McCain used him during something as important as the national debate? I'm actually beginning to feel sorry for McCain.

We had a Democratically dominated Congress for the past 2 years only. And that was with a Republican President in the mix. The previous Republican controlled congress for 6 years (+ more from the previous administration) will be difficult to fix. But I'll admit, they're trying. You can't blame the growth of the government during the majority of Bush's tenure on Democrats. You can't blame the war on them either. Even the ones from both parties who voted for the war. Bush misled Congress about his motives and about the intelligence that was used for committing us to that war. So if you're basing your vote on anything that Bush has promised or that the Republicans say they are for - like no taxes, etc., I feel sorry for you because you must feel very conflicted right now what with their record staring us squarely in the face. MissyG: McCain is hilarious! I'm surprised you didn't know that. To criticize Obama's jokes about housing and financial topics is laughable for sure. Where were you when McCain was downright hateful with his humor? Or did you just forget to mention your distain for that? Or maybe once again, we'll have to admit that all have our own ways of looking at and interpreting things.

John McCain was abolutely hilarious at the dinner. And crass and tasteless. Senator Obama was very funny too. But as usual, did not stoop to McCain's level. He was intelligent in his wit and gave a meaningful little tribute to the occasion. I'd trust international negotiations being led by a man like Obama. Hmmm, McCain? Not so much. He reminds me more of George W. Bush. Wonder if he'll use the "S" word when talking with his mouth full.

Guess we see what we want to see - and that is what makes our eyes become "lyin' eyes" Luckyami.

I certainly never said that any one person could solve all of the problems that you and others want to go away and seem to want to take no responsibility for (tax wise). I would suggest that some dents could be made if we throw the current bums out. With the Republicans calling the shots there's no chance whatsoever. This is not something I'm making up. This is something they have proven. If we impeach for misrepresentation, why are we so behind on getting the job done on George W. Bush? Can we do post-term impeachments? That way we could get Dubya's father, Bill Clinton (who promised work on our medical insurance problems), Ronald Reagan for hundreds of silly things he misrepresented, and oh gosh, where would it end? *blink, blink*

You're the one who doesn't know the facts. Check a little further about what Barney Franks tried to do and eventually was able to do. Senator Obama tried to ring the alarm long ago. Some Democrats have been very vocal in trying to cut out all the deregulation. You are only seeing what the Republicans are wanting you to see. When you say that there's enough blame to go around, tell me in what ways you believe that the Republicans share the blame. I don't care for kool-aid. I drink organically grown fruit juices when I'm not drinking water from our purified public water supply.

It is very easy to say that we work for our money and nobody should have the right to take it from us. It is easy to say that we shouldn't have to kick in any of our income for the things needed to run America. It is easy to say that everybody is on the dole and that you should not have to put food on anybody else's table unless you choose to. It is easy to say that government is run by incompetents. It is easy to say that the government doesn't employ anything but incompetents. It is easy to say that there are some really lousy govenment programs and therefore all government programs are lousy. It is easy to disagree with how our public education system is run, and how our public utilities, our roads, our medical, our military and every other system in our fabulous country is run. All of that is easy to say and very difficult to disprove because there is an element of truth in each and every statement. But it is not the whole truth and it doesn't solve a damn thing to state those things loudly with our hands on our hips, acting all wounded and feeling taken advantage of. Spouting those partial truths only serve to criticize. It only serves to instill fear. It only serves to make us all feel cheated by our government and to disrespect the very things that make this country strong. It does absolutely nothing to solve the real problems in our government. What have you done to change the things that you believe are weak and unjust in our country? Do you think that by electing another Republican there is a snow ball's chance in hell of making things better than they are? Where've you been for the past 8 years? (For Jack, what I mean is where have you been looking with your lying eyes?) Is your life better than it was, has it improved that much? In what ways has your life improved during the past 8 years that relate to any of those things you're complaining about? Has our economy improved? Has our government become smaller? Have you been given any kind of significant tax relief? Have there been more jobs created? Have there been lots of poorly run government programs abolished? Has the educational system improved? Has our environment improved? Has the government purged itself of incompetent employees? Has our infrastructure that is falling apart improved? Have we begun to provide more benefits for our military returning from Iraq? Have we begun to invent ways of becoming independent on Middle Eastern Oil? Have our gas prices gone down or even stayed the same? Having a hard time thinking of the government, our Repunlican political leaders, in the same context as improving all those things? Well, that's what I mean by your lying eyes. It's all right in front of us and yet we deny it. We continue to repeat all the politically driven claims that have an element of truth, but which are in the big picture, nothing but lies and ways to manipulate the voters. The Republican rehtoric stinks to high heaven. This has been a very, very open campaign and I believe it has served us all well. We know for sure who these candidates are and we know for sure what they plan to do. I believe that the Sarah and Todd Palin approach to government, the extreme right wing approach to government, is a threat to our Constitutional rights and our beloved American way of life. We've had quite enough of it from the current Republican administration and let's hope that the door is closing on that horrible, horrible chapter in our American History book.

I find it a little amusing and even more irritating that the Republicans have the gall to make such offensive remarks about our "Democratic controlled" congress. You do understand that most of what has caused our current situation has been created during a significant period of Republican controlled Congress AND White House! For years they had carte blanche - and now for the past 2 years where there has been a shift in congress, we still have had a Republican president with his trusty veto stamp. I cannot believe that people have the nerve to make the disengenous claims suggesting that the Democrats are the people who are wholly responsible for this mess. What are you smoking?

You all seem to be buying into the "trickle down" theory of economics. Keep the rich wealthy and provide as many ways as possible for them to expand their bank accounts. Of course the "trickle down" theory (the Republican proponents of it) doesn't say exactly that. What they say it represents is that the wealthy folks will allow their huge profits trickle down to us little guys. They say it will provide more jobs and more opportunities across the board for people to also become better off financially. That's their reasoning behind why the rich folks and corporations should not have to pay their fair share in taxes. We all know that if you are wealthy or even upper middle class, there's a very good chance that you are taking advantage of many ways to avoid paying your "fair share." Trust me, everyone I know who has money (if you'll pardon the expression) does not pay a whole lot of what they earn in income taxes. Everyone has shelters and we use them. On the other hand, we all use our roads, we enjoy having an election board that takes care of the elections, we reap the rewards of a public education school system (except those of us who home school or send our kids to private school). We want a government run military, fire prevention and police system. We want decent roads. We want a competent penal system and a honest and competent court system. We want public utilities (in some cases) and we want some oversight into things like our telephone companies and other necessary but privately owned companies. The list could go on and on. We not only want all these things, we demand them. It is what makes us such a strong and wonderful nation. How do you expect to pay for everything that the government provides, donations? What we need is a congress with a backbone and a president to ride rough shod over them. What we've had for 12 of the past 14 years is a Republican congress and a Republican president for 8 of those years who believes in rewarding big business; banks, the stock market and wealthy individuals. THAT is what is not fair. Paying taxes is a necessity. Being someone who is middle class in America means that you have been bogged down with a huge burden (the amazing deficit) that your president, G.W. Bush, has given you and who has done a really stupid thing by fooling you into thinking he was doing you a service by giving you a tax cut, what? a check for $600? Think what he's done with the rest of the money you sent in. He is costing us billions - BILLIONS - every week with the war in Iraq. He's put the oil companies in the position of being so greedy that we can hardly afford to drive to work. He's supported sticking it to 95% of Americans while being more than generous to the fat cats and making them nearly invisible and mostly unaccountable to us. Now it is time for the very wealthy to pay their fair share. They've gotten away with murder for the past 8 or so years and now it has come home to roost right on their doorsteps. If you are a middle class individual and you think what you've been getting from your government in the past 8 years has been fair to you, I don't think you understand the big picture. Don't listen to the Republicans mantra of "no more taxes" because it is complete and utter B.S. They will raise your taxes and they will continue to fight for the greedy folks who know how to avoid taxes and they will continue to tell you that it is because these businesses are keeping Americans employed. Yeah, sure. That's why they have sent jobs overseas and why they've cut jobs in America to such a point that many people are doing the work of 2 or 3 people. Not to cut the price of their commodity or to pay their workers more - nope it is to make the individuals at the very top of the heap bigger salaries, more bonuses (obscene bonuses) and better returns on wall street. Wake up folks. Stop believing what the Republicans have sold you to scare you into thinking you're going to be financially hurt by a Democratic president. Our very intelligent Democratic presidential candidate gives us some hope that we can get back to having some kind of fairness in government. What we've had with the Republicans is obscene and in many practical ways, dishonest. And if you don't believe me, geez, believe your lying eyes.

Hey what if you went to Harlem (or anywhere) and did the same thing only using Obama policies with McCain supporters. Do you really think that there would be any obvious differences in them? Ever watched "Jay Walking" on the Tonight Show? Anyway, you certainly have no right dissing me for what I posted.

To set the record straight, I did not author that post. It was something that a friend from another country sent me. I thought people might find it entertaining. Obviously some did and some didn't. I certainly did. And on the up side for you Howluck..., it gave you a perfect opportunity to vent your spleen. Now don't you feel better? I guess I don't have to ask which channel you'll watch the debates on tonight.