Opps; didn't mean it quite like that.

"I don't like to be pushin' athwart me betters."--Long John Silver

I have been hearing, as we all have, about how Sarah Palin is the average "joe six pack" hockey mom. I couldn't agree more. Question is..when did "average" become the gold standard for the United States of America? The average middle class person can not understand the terms of a mortgage he or she signs? The average corporate executive is oblivious to the fact that his company is going belly up? The average politician in Washington is not capable of understanding you can't spend money you don't have? We have seen what "average" can do for the last eight years. Average is not acceptable for the United States of America.

I have been embarrassed to watch George W. Bush every time he spoke and I felt he was an embarrassment to our country. Do we want to have another person who is an embarrassment? After having eight years of someone who has alienated us from our allies and the rest of the world, do we really want to have someone in the White House who cannot look someone who he dislikes in the eye like he did with Obama in the first debate? There will be many heads of state who he would not like personally, and it is not in our best interest to have our president acting cold and angry. A president needs to be strong, calm, cool and collected and not offend them with his behavior. Also, we have put up with a president for eight years who was stubborn and once he made a decision was not open to change - McCain would be the same way. He has a reputation of having a bad temper and his behavior in his speeches, he comes across that way - a deep anger below the surface. To be honest, I actually liked McCain the last time he ran and would have voted for him - but this time around he is a totally different person and has changed radically. I think it would actually be dangerous to have that type of personality in our White House. He doesn't seem like he would be open to allies opinions or even those advisors around him. I think he is set in his ways and an angry, old man. It is possible that his captivity in Vietnam made him angry deep down, and who could blame him for turning out that way? I am shocked that he feels comfortable running such a nasty campaign. We need to re-establish our image in the world and I think that he would just make it worse.

Our country is technologically advanced, and it is hard to imagine having a president who doesn't even work on a computer or the latest technology. Was he not willing to learn or too set in his ways? Would he be able to identify with the majority of our population and be progressive?

I think Obama has more of a presidential presence and temperament. I think he would be more open and honest with the public - and I don't get that opinion from McCain at all due to his behavior and the lies and twisted truth he tells. I think Obama would be able to repair relationships with our allies and the rest of the world compared to McCain acting cold, angry and rude (no eye contact if he didn't like the person).

As far as the consorting with terrorists - how many people check out the background of those they serve with on a board? Are you not going to lend your support to an organization until you vet all those involved just to make sure that dirty trick politics can't throw stones at you as you progress in your political career? There were tons of baby boomers who were involved in anti-Vietnam activities in their college days, and now they are leading upstanding lives. I doubt if many of them continued in similar activities as they got older. I can't imagine that Obama would have knowingly been in a relationship with someone who might hurt his career through association. He is more intelligent than that.

Why aren't the media digging into the "troopergate" situation and the associations that Palin had in Alaska that were inappropriate. Also, why not hit harder on the Keating Savings and Loan scandal? If they are going to try and derail the Obama campaign and keep him from being elected by using dirty tricks and digging up dirt - why not give it back equally?

I am sooo tired of people like Harwood, Alter, Barnicle, Gergen et al, who acknowledge the nastiness of McCain's campaign and his ads, and then try to say that "McCain's an honorable man and that this nastiness isn't his doing." Barnicle even tried to say he was just being badly advised. Rrrright.

HEY!!! This guy is running for President!!! If he isn't the one making the decisions in his campaign he DEFINITELY doesn't belong in the White House. If he is not choosing the road they are taking, if he is just a puppet who is having words put in his mouth by his big bad campaign advisors, the public deserves to know.

Is he not the one making the stump speeches after all? If this is a stand-in, or a robot controlled by Schmidt then I think they owe us the truth. Ayers, shmayers, is McCain a robot or not?

Can you interview Mort Sahl about how important it is to have smart people, not just famous people, sitting on any investigative commissions? This economically disastrous yet genocidal administration is going to require a lot of investigating, and we want to do it right this time. No confusion.

Wait--Rachel is broadcasting from Seattle tonight? Why am I sitting in my home office working?

At least we're having a gorgeous sunset. Must have been another volcanic eruption in Alaska.

she did violate the ethics act. huh?

911 might have been an inside job.

Austria's long had some dirty little (nazi) secrets, and in their recent election the right wing (nazi) parties got an unholy percentage of the vote, about 30%. Well, the most famous of their charismatic leaders, Jörg Haider, just died in a car accident. These sure are interesting times.

From an online article summarizing the results of the recent Austrian election on Sept. 28:

"Far-right parties took advantage of the squabbling, with the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) of Heinz-Christian Strache becoming the third political force in the country, progressing from 11 to 18% in the new Parliament that will come out of the election. The Alliance for Austria's Future (BZÖ), a party formed by populist leader Jörg Haider after he broke away from the Freedom Party, jumped from four to 11.5%.

With 29.5% of the vote, the two far-right parties hold a virtual majority in the new parliament, putting them on an equal footing with the Social Democrats. Both parties have campaigned on anti-foreign sentiment, with Strache waging a campaign against Muslims and promising to pull Austria of the EU if he becomes chancellor.

Haider appeared on Austrian television on Sunday calling for a coalition of far-right parties. "Voters now expect us to do something for Austria. They do not want us steeped in animosity and fighting each other," he said, quoted in The Independent."

There's a photo of Haider in this article announcing the accident:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,583501,00.html
As you can see, part of his charisma was that he did not look 58.

but not some other law.

There seems to be a total lack of awareness of TV principles known since the Reagan era on the part of producers. For half of the show, the excellent and well-produced commentary is run with a continuous loop of flattering imagery produced by the Republican campaign! Is this because of Rachel's radio background or a more sinister sabotaging of the show by NBC producers? The result is the same: free positive publicity for Republicans in direct contradiction to the verbal reporting. I thought this was TV 101, or neuroscience 101.

More about "Operation Highlander," details from our illegal wiretapping programs:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/kinne.html

This is interesting: "Under USSID 18, the names of members of the U.S. legislative branch cannot appear in intelligence reports without special authorization." Why is that? Is there a good reason, or is it the kind of special privilege that allows members of Congress to telemarket me with robocalls at dinnertime, even after that's been made illegal for everyone else?

About our military's ongoing translator shortage: the Pentagon is working madly on translation software. Their solutions may render me obsolete, but in about fifty years rather than five due to the complexity of language and their poor leadership.

Watching Sara speak today..my wife smiled as i quoted her verbatim..before she spoke. Reform, maverick, shake things up etc. I am amazed at the talking heads and republicans who praise her debating and speaking skills. These are people with college educations and even law degrees. Any well prepared high school student would annihilate her in a debate. In fact, Ms. Palin, I am a truck driver from Illinois who hasn't given a public speech in twenty years and I don't think i would have a problem. That is, until you winked at me. My wife would make your slaughter of wolves for sport look like a "day at the park". Down here in the lower 48 women don't need moose rifles to get their point across.

According to Spiegel-Online, Palin was booed for 1.5 minutes in Philadelphia's (taxpayer-supported) hockey stadium when she was throwing up the first puck or whatever.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,583681,00.html

Spiegel cites CNN as their source.

"John McCain: a pitbull with a combover?"

"Once upon a time, when hair was big, clothes were an embarrassment and rock music largely sucked, a starry-eyed Congressman named John McCain met a crook named Charles Keating." (At least boys wore eyeliner!)

I think Rachel should highlight the Wasilla Project
http://www.wasillaproject.com/

These folks (from Wasilla Alaska) are getting the facts out about Sarah Palin - which is all any one can ask for. No need to personally attack or insult any one. Just the facts.

...Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman:

www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLD31939920081013

Congratulations, Professor Krugman!

Hello, you Fascist disgusting Racist Homophobic basement-dwelling loser excuse for a human being!

I guess Mommy somehow dug up the money after all your whining to get the Internet turned back on, eh?