if barack obama never saw that his affiliation of 20 yrs with reverend wright and his church could possibly be a problem...then i don't think i want the fate of america and it's problems..on his shoulders...he will never..ever beat john mccain
Posted by dennis at March 19, 2008 03:35 AMAny Democrat will beat John McCain, Dennis. Even the overwhelming complicity of the Corporate media can NOT put enough lipstick and perfume on that pig. Relax! Unless you prefer Mr. McSame?
Posted by DemnNewJ at March 19, 2008 04:39 AMWith Delta laying off 9000-10,000 people claiming it is due to "oil prices", I thought it might be useful to ask about how gas pricing is affecting you locally. In my community, the School Board is laying off people because of the price of busing (oil costs). I think this is precisely the kind of thing that gets missed in stories about the costs of recession, the fear of inflation, the exclusion of oil and food prices from key economic measures of the economy and, of course, the serious examination of unemployment.
We will lose not only custodial staff and cafeteria workers, but special ed teachers, art and music personnel and a few folks in the central office. And I am sure "early retirements" are on the rise too.
What do you see?
Posted by gtash at March 19, 2008 04:45 AMI do work where I get paid by the "each" (courthouse record searches) and work has been waaaaayyyy down, they say because of the housing crisis. In addition, with gas prices so steep, it doesn't pay for me to go to the courthouse for just a few searches, so I'm barely making any money at all right now. That's how it's affecting me personally.
Overall, I expect to see the price of my kids' field trips go way up (my 4th grader will go on a boat trip on the bay and I think that cost will go way up) or be canceled.
Posted by CG at March 19, 2008 04:48 AMOne of our clients has put their apartment on the market as a direct result of the Bear Stearns debacle.
Posted by snark at March 19, 2008 05:50 AMNo Osama, no Mullah, no Anthrax Killer, GI's still getting killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush is the least liked president in history. Today we mark the fifth year of Bush’s Iraq War. A war we now know was not only started for false reasons, but for known false reasons. We are now approaching 4000 GI deaths and untold Iraqi deaths at a multi-billion dollar a week cost. Bush has become the most unpopular president in American history, with an approval rating in the thirties for several years now. Further, neither Bush nor his would-be successor have any intention of stopping the American Occupation of Iraq. And we have this:
"The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities. Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home," Bush said.
The above quote from George Bush wasn’t spoken five years ago as we went to war, or three years ago when it became obvious that US forces were in a quagmire, or a year ago when death and destruction had spun out of control….no, that quote was from yesterday. The exact same mindset now as five years ago, the exact same propaganda that was used to trick many in this country and many in our government into war continues to this day. Despite all we have seen, despite all the death, despite all the deception, despite all we have learned, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans have rejected the war. The only word I can offer is…Astonishing.
Posted by T2 at March 19, 2008 06:19 AMRIP Arthur C. Clarke.
Posted by Seven of Six at March 19, 2008 07:03 AMwhat was that flat rock thing the monkey's were looking at?
Posted by T2 at March 19, 2008 07:15 AMRIP Arthur C. Clarke.
Seconded. I've read a lot of his books and loved the little "true mystery" type shows he did when I was younger.
Posted by iamcoyote at March 19, 2008 07:19 AMBush has nothing to offer but lies and death (and war profits to his millionaire buddies).
Posted by Gay Veteran at March 19, 2008 07:35 AMGood work on the big picture, T2. More of the same, a quagmire, and the "authors" don't even need to change their story from Day One! It's like the comic novel Orwell would have written next.
Most interesting to me is that Bush has been able to continue his policy of waste and destruction, despite dismal "approval" ratings and an opposition Congress. This would indicate that our system of government is deeply flawed, can no longer function and cannot reform itself or catastrophic policies.
Our constitution did not envision our evolution into an aggressive militarist empire, thus the "war powers" mechanisms are hopelessly flawed and not up to the task of dealing with a dictatorial "commander in chief".
We now know that our "democracy" depends completely upon the attitude of the executive toward it, and possibly a majority of the country desires a Saddam-like "strongman", not a system of equal branches that must work with each other to share power.
This is reinforced by watching as unelected Economic Dictator Bernake make massive, irreversible decisions which will affect everyone very substantially, all without a peep being uttered as to who exactly is this guy who gets to decide that he will debase the currency, destroy the dollar, bail out favored private businesses, bring on substantial inflation in food and energy, impoverish fixed-income seniors and others, and destroy the value of everyone's savings so that the wealthy of America have the best chance of saving their riches?
What will "President" Bernanke do next? A nation of timorous subjects watches its unelected leader with desperate eyes......
Posted by euzoius at March 19, 2008 08:04 AMfrom the Great Orange Satan (kos) regarding Obama: "Rebuild our military capability by increasing the number of soldiers, marines, and special forces troops, and insist on adequate training and time off between deployments"
NO! We do not need a larger military, we need to get out of Iraq and close many of our over 700 military bases around the world. The sad, sad truth is that the Democrats are just as committed to empire as the ReThugs.
Posted by Gay Veteran at March 19, 2008 09:55 AMoh my, more bad news for Dear Leader and McBush:
Americans in sour mood over economy: Reuters poll
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are in a sour mood over the sagging U.S. economy, worried about their jobs and overwhelmingly of the opinion the country is on the wrong track, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday...
Concerns about jobs, personal finances, safety from attack and the direction of the country were on the increase after easing slightly last month, proof that Americans were in foul spirits.
Only 19 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction. And only 40 percent felt very secure about their jobs, down from 50 percent last month.
Pollster John Zogby said it was the first time all 10 of the measures used in the poll to take the temperature of the country were down. "The index is not simply down, it's down dramatically," he said. "It's the largest move we've seen since we inaugurated this."
...A separate Reuters/Zogby poll found that nearly three in four Americans thought the U.S. economy was in a recession, and saw little hope for a swift improvement in the housing market....
Posted by Gay Veteran at March 19, 2008 12:06 PM