YES [HE] CAN!!!

Hannity needs to vet his guests more because it seems that time and time again he has people on his show that seem like they are about to support his view of an Obama loss to McCain. Shelby Steele, Author of a A Bound Man, is now second guessing his subtitle "Why He Can't Win". Shelby now believes, like millions of other Americans, that Obama [can] win. Watch this snippet and have yourself a chuckle!

-KTJCM

Who Doesn't love America?

Nice.... McCain needs to answer to this like he has made Michelle answer to her, taken out of context, Gaffe.

Country I love

Opting Out (Public Financing)

I would like to take this moment to congratulate Sen. Barack Obama on his ability and decision to opt out of the public financing system. It goes to show that when you have enough people supporting you then anything can be accomplished. Obama is the first presidential candidate in modern day history that will run a race solely on private funding. Private funding from citizens of this country who directly support a man they believe to be [the] answer to change in Washington.

There are people who will bash him and say that he's just another politician who will do whatever, even if it means going back on his word. Barack never committed to accepting public funding, he simply agreed to sit down and discus the option with his opponent, whomever that happened to be; in this case, it's Sen. John McCain.

In my opinion it would be a crime, not to accept the funding he has fought so hard for. I, as well as 1.5 million Americans, told him, with our contributions, that we will be there for him, now and throughout his entire campaign. Based on this decision I will donate again. He is true to his word about changing the way Washington does business, so I implore everyone to donate today. Even if it's just $5, it will send another strong message to Barack and the nation… We support this decision!

www.BarackObama.com

Time to win the Whitehouse!!!

KTJCM

Love w/ Disagreement (Oil Drilling)

I want to start with a disclaimer; I am a huge Barack Obama Fan, DID I SAY HUGE!!! As a matter of fact, I intend on going to the inauguration January 29^th, 2009. As much as I respect and love to see him in the White House I also have to disagree with his stance on drilling for our own oil.

I think American's tend to look at things short term rather than long term, example… the war in Iraq. Americans, that supported the war in 2003, did not look at the long term affects. They were sold the idea that we must act quickly to restore our safety, so most thought with their emotions and not with their minds.

I know what most of you are thinking… that's not the same thing! No it isn't, but we must think with our minds and not with the emotions of saving bears in Alaska.

Now, I'm not saying that Barack is thinking of the bears but I am saying he's not thinking long term. If you look at countries that drill their own oil and sell it to the rest of the world, USA, you will see a pattern; they subsidize fuel cost to their citizens. Consequently, many of them have done so at a huge cost, such as Venezuela, but America and Americans are smarter than that. We can find ways to subsidize oil at the same time allowing major companies like ExxonMobile to earn a profit. They should be allowed to earn a profit because that's what American was built on, Capitalism.

He has brought up the notion of alternative fuels such as Wind Turbines but that's just a start, more need s to be done. We need to supply ourselves we natural resources we already own.

I don't believe we can spend billions on unproven technologies, such as Ethanol, and not spend some money drilling for our own oil in Alaska and or the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling for our own oil like we use to do in West Texas will not have negative consequences; it will help our curb dependency from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or even little ole Libya [Link]. Why import Oil from a country that we consider an enemy, a country that exports 85 thousand barrels a day. Compare that to Canada's export to the USA of 1.9 million a day and it seems pointless.

Barack is by far the most qualified to run our country and I will vote for him but, I will not agree that it's ok to continue to import a commodity that we certainly can get on our own.

Just my thoughts,

KTJCM

Obama addresses fathers

This Sunday, Senator Obama gave an address on fathers, their importance to the family - and the responsibility they have to their children. From the speech:

Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more afterschool programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities.

But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child - it's the courage to raise one.
Source: The Huffington Post

Elegy for Tim Russert

It is little more than 5 minutes since I found out that Tim Russert has passed and I have not allowed enough time to process his loss, discover what he meant, or form a cogent thought about it. I imagine no time will ever be sufficient.

But Mr. Russert seemed like my friend, or more truthfully, like my dad. I looked forward to Sundays intensely. Meet The Press made politics relevant for me; I rarely legitimized any political story until Mr. Russert covered it. As a student of politics and of journalism, I saw no greater steward of those traditions than Tim Russert. No politician earned his or her mettle unless he or she sat down for an hour with Tim. I will miss him and journalism has lost its best today.

Quite often, Tim Russert reminded me of my own father; they share the same best qualities--sharp, tirelessly hardworking, quick-witted, yet even-tempered, breathtakingly smart, warm, calm. Indeed, once, while watching Meet The Press with my dad several years ago, he let on about his own admiration of Mr. Russert. "That Tim," my dad said, grinning, "he doesn't let you get away with much, does he?"

He had a keen ear, the best memory of anyone I have ever seen, and cared deeply for what he did and for the subjects on which he reported. He was the best there was.

Tim Russert had a profound effect on me. On Sundays, he was my teacher. I learned, though him, to analyze all facts, sift through all the information to get to that nugget of truth, and to ask questions clearly and poignantly. I became a better thinker, a better writer, and better citizen because of it. And I won't forget it.

He passed today doing what he loved and I am sure he regrets not living to see the conclusion of the best political season in decades.

The news today has me thinking of Edward R. Murrow--the only other journalist who meant as much to his profession as Tim--and his words ring in my ears: “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.”

So who pays more in taxes?

One of Senator McCain's favorite things to accuse Senator Obama on is that he's a "tax and spend liberal." This is usually followed by a hearty call of "OMG if you vote for Obama *everyone's* taxes will go up and we'll DIE!"

OK - maybe not that dour. But the basic accusation is there: vote for Obama, and "your taxes go up".

Only problem? For the majority of people, it's not true.

The Daily Kos put together some numbers from the Tax Policy Center that show the average taxpayer making less than $112,000 a year pays *less* taxes under Senator Obama's tax plan. That's right - more money to the middle class and poor that actually need it, instead of tax breaks that the wealthiest 1% never asked for (well, unless you're friends of President Bush and Senator McCain).

Fight the Smears!

Sadly, some people just can't debate the issues - they have to go into the same silly politics we see all the time. So what do you do when someone says "I heard Barack wasn't born in America!" Or "Is it true that Barack one bench pressed 500 pounds then dropped the weights on top of a bus full of nuns?"

The answer to both questions are, of course, no. But there will be idiots and inflamers who try to spread such innuendo and rumor as fact. So how do you fight back? FighttheSmears.com leads right to an official Obama web site. Get the Rapid Response by signing up for the email group.

Don't let a lie stand alone - hit it back with the truth.

Obama's Address on the Economy

Next week Senator Obama will go into even more detail - but for the outline of how he wants to bring the United States out of our current economic woes and chart a better future, you'll have to read his speech. My personal favorite part?

I understand that the challenges facing our economy didn't start the day George Bush took office and they won't end the day he leaves. Some are partly the result of forces that have globalized our economy over the last several decades – revolutions in communication and technology have sent jobs wherever there's an internet connection; that have forced children in Raleigh and Boston to compete for those jobs with children in Bangalore and Beijing. We live in a more competitive world, and that is a fact that cannot be reversed.

But I also know that this nation has faced such fundamental change before, and each time we've kept our economy strong and competitive by making the decision to expand opportunity outward; to grow our middle-class; to invest in innovation, and most importantly, to invest in the education and well-being of our workers.

Source: The Daily Kos

Yes, there are problems, and yes, they will require hard work to fix - not just wishing that magic tax cuts will be a cure for everything.

The Obama Media Diet

The Root passed along a wonderful idea - an Obama Media Diet, which features such healthy new inputs as:

Look for organic and locally-grown politics. I am purging my political cupboards of the packaged and preservative-laden political approaches that parties have been feeding us for decades. I am especially vigilant to throw out anything that expired in 2000. In its place I am going to support political efforts that have emerged from local communities. Ordinary citizens are doing significant work in neighborhoods and cities to fight global warming, improve education, battle HIV-AIDS, increase racial tolerance, develop economic opportunities, stop genocide in Darfur, address malaria in Africa and end the war in Iraq. I am filling up my political plate with their fresh ideas and organic approaches.

Source: The Root