Obama, Blagojevich, and the RNC

Yesterday, electoral college electors from across the nation made history as they convened to officially name Barack Obama winner of the November 4th election, and declare him the next president of the United States. This morning, President-Elect Obama, who appears determined to hit the ground running on January 20th in the midst of the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, announced yet another appointment to his cabinet.

Meanwhile, Republican National Committee leadership seem to have forgotten the 2008 presidential election is over. The RNC is running a misleading anti-Obama attack ad that clearly attempts to implicate Obama in the Blagojevich pay-to-play senate appointment scandal.

And top Republican party officials haven't stopped there.

The official GOP.com blog posted a piece yesterday attempting to link Obama to Blagojevich, saying "Over the weekend, and indeed today, political news across the nation has continued to center on the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and contact that President-elect Barack Obama's team may or may not have had with him."

The Legacy of McCain-Palin: Hate

The postmortem has begun as the GOP regroups and the new President-Elect gets to work. As we move forward, I can't help but remain upset at what the 'honorable' POW and his mavericky running mate wrought upon this country.

Hate.

And not the kind of hate we bloggers spew from time to time when venting, and not the kind of hate you may feel for higher taxes or broccoli.

No, these two 'honorable' mavericks ended their campaign by rallying the fringe portion of their party that lives on death, destruction, and imposing their way on the world at all cost. Force. War.

We learn today that the US Secret Service, the agency in charge of protecting our President-elect and his family, dealt with an increase in death threats against Barack Obama coinciding with Sarah Palin's 'attacks' on his patriotism.

McCain Oopsapalooza Tour 14: 80% Off, Everything Must Go, Night of the Long Knives Edition

(Previous Oopsapaloozas here.)

The unvetted centerpiece of a McCain stump speech, "Joe the Plumber" was nowhere to be found when McCain referenced him.

Instead, 4,000 schoolchildren bused in to bring the 2,000-person crowd up to 6,000 people got to pretend they too were unlicensed, tax-owing plumbers incapable of buying $250,000 plumbing businesses.

Quite possibly JTP at that moment was lining up a record deal and a special "America's crack problem" jeans line that reveals butt cleavage.

Still undecided? A vote for John McCain is a vote against women. Let us count the ways.

The MOMocrats along with Feminists for Obama want to make sure everyone has the facts before they vote. If you know someone who is still undecided or are undecided yourself, we ask you to consider how the two candidates will address women's issues. John McCain doesn't even have a women and families section on his website. Why? Perhaps it's because the facts show that John McCain has consistently failed to protect women in myriad ways.

For example, McCain voted against funding breast cancer research if it meant taking away from military funds.  Breast cancer affects all women, even the 370,000 women currently serving in the US Armed Forces.  Since breast cancer attacks 1 in 8 women, that means 46,250 members of the US military will deal with breast cancer. And John McCain voted NO.  It is not a niche issue, it’s America’s issue.

If McCain and Palin win, Women Lose. 

Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority, says, “Obama/Biden are running on the strongest platform for women’s rights of any major party in U.S. history”. 

That’s why Feminist Majority launched www.FeministsForObama.org, a side-by-side comparison of the Democratic and Republican nominees on four major women’s issues: Violence Against Women, Abortion and Contraception, Women and Work, and Breast Cancer and Health Care.

That's why, as soon as McCain announced Sarah Palin as his VP pick, we examined her stance on women's issues and found that like her runningmate, Palin--a woman--has not been a strong advocate for women.

To reach as many people as possible, Feminist Majority created three striking PSAs that illuminate some of the grave truths about the McCain/Palin record on women’s issues. If you have a moment, these are worth watching and sharing. 

One in Six
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fChyeoMJc3U
“John McCain voted against funding to fight violence against women.”

Unholy Trinity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RFrEzQAOvM
“McCain voted against a program funding breast cancer research.”

Violation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w7ZZ5huKMk
“John McCain and Sarah Palin are running on a platform that seeks to outlaw a woman's right to an abortion even in cases of rape and incest.”

McCain on Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  You deserve to know where the candidates stand: http://www.feministsforobama.org/Issues_breastcancer.htm

McCain voted against funding breast cancer research if it meant taking away from military funds.  Breast cancer affects all women, even the 370,000 women currently serving in the US Armed Forces.  Since breast cancer attacks 1 in 8 women, that means 46,250 members of the US military will deal with breast cancer.  And John McCain voted NO.  It is not a niche issue, it’s America’s issue. 

He voted against a bill that changed the course of breast cancer research. 

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RFrEzQAOvM

Governor Sarah Palin Could Make Herself Senator Sarah Palin

Shortly after the jury in the corruption trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens found him guilty, John McCain called on Stevens to step down from the Senate seat he's held for decades.  Then, Sarah Palin did the same thing.  And I wondered why they'd even be concerning themselves, since they've got some other things to think about right now.

After all, since Stevens is up for re-election next Tuesday, the odds are probably pretty good that Alaska voters would decide not to vote for a convicted criminal and might vote for his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

For better or worse, I've always been someone who tries to figure out why people do what they do -- what motivates them, what's the flip side of the coin they're showing?

In this case, it didn't take me long to come up with this possible scenario -- Palin and the GOP see the writing on the wall for the McCain/Palin ticket, so what if they could get Palin into the Senate with her maverick-y pal, McCain?

Palin, Pallin' Around With Convicted Felon Stevens

Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted of all 7 counts of making false statements in connection with, and failing to report, political gifts valued at $250,000.

Here's Stevens with his longtime friend, Governor Sarah Palin. The same governor who earlier this month was herself under investigation for abusing her office in the attempted firing of a relative, i.e., "Troopergate."

That's a lot of misuse of office and corruptions charges for a state with a population of 700,000.

Somebody's "pallin' around" with convicted felons, and it's not Obama.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

McCain Oopsapalooza Tour 13: Obama Train Leaving the Station Edition

Scarlet B Replaced By Scarlet L, Doesn't Reflect Well

John McCain's campaign representative in Pennsylvania, communications director Peter Feldman, overtly race-baited late Thursday when he pushed a false and incendiary hoax about a McCain volunteer supposedly being victimized by an Obama supporter. Instead, nothing of the kind happened. The mentally unstable woman in question claimed she was beaten and had a backwards "B" carved onto her face, most likely by herself or an accomplice. No Obama supporter was ever involved.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

Like much of the worst of the McCain-Palin campaign, the wounds were self-inflicted. The campaign's attempt to capitalize on the woman's plight was a disgraceful attempt to make a mentally unstable person a martyr for the campaign--yet blame always landed elsewhere.  Definitely some pants on fire here.

OOOPS.

H/T to Debbie for the TPM story.

General Powell's Gift - by J.N.

Earlier this week, Stefania wrote about Colin Powell's mention of a photograph of a mother at the grave of her soldier son's grave during his endorsement of Obama for President.

While I was thinking about her words, a veteran sent me and other military family members something he'd written about the same topic:

In General Powell 's endorsement of Senator Obama, he mentioned Cpl. Khan, a Muslim American that was killed in Iraq. Khan was a member of my unit in Iraq. He along with 4 other members of that squad were killed when they entered a house rigged with bombs.    The blast was of such force and power that it made brittle of the armor and weapons.  It was the most horrific day for our company in Iraq, all the sadder as we only had 21 days until end of mission. So close to going home, and never getting there.

I knew Khan during our time in Iraq, and never thought him as different from us because of his faith, he was one of us, an American soldier. Some republicans and partisans are spreading evil insinuations about Muslim Americans, rather shamelessly associating them with terrorism. 

There are many Muslim-Americans that  are valiantly serving this Nation in uniform. When we returned from Iraq last year, the Khan family bravely came to our homecoming. I can't imagine their pain knowing that their son should have also been on that plane. That is the kind of decency and honor of  the Khan family, that on a day of mourning for them, they come to celebrate with us and our families.  How many of us would have such strength?

Open Letter to Republican'ts: More Than Ever, We Need You to Become Obamicans

Dear Present and Former Republicans,

Daily, the little apostasies by former Republican Party faithfuls continue to mount. "Republican'ts" become "Obamicans." (There's an Honor Roll at the bottom of this post.) Will you be one of them? Will you cross the line to vote for Obama-Biden?

And as Senator Obama makes more gains in the polls and inspires more people to vote, the intensity, frequency, and ugliness of the hatred aimed at him by McCain-Palin supporters continues to grow in proportion. The waffles. The shouts for violence against Obama serious enough to invite Secret Service investigation. A hanging in effigy. A schoolteacher using the 'N' word to describe Obama's candidacy. It's even extended to a McCain-Palin supporter kicking a reporter to his knees as he legitimately covered a story of Obama supporters protesting the McCain-Palin rally.

BREAKING NEWS: Colin Powell Endorses Obama

CNN is reporting that, as many suspected, former Secretary of State Colin Powell will be endorsing Barack Obama on Meet the Press this morning.

Powell admires Obama's "intellectual vigor," and he is very concerned about John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin to be his running mate, because she is not ready to be president.

Powell says Obama "brings a fresh set of eyes and while McCain is talented, we need a generational change and has captured the feelings of the young people of America."

UPDATE: After CNN announcement, NBC released this video of Powell on Meet the Press: