Well, I got up bright and early on Thursday and was out in Waukesha by about 8:20 for the McCain & Palin Town Hall meeting. The morning was sunny and the crowd excited. (I should have been there earlier.)

About 55 protesters for Obama were standing nearby. We exchanged chants. They yelled, 4 more years, Stop the war, Obama, etc. We retorted chants of, ACORN, Get a job, Pay your mortgage, John McCain, Palin, Stop Voter Fraud.

About 90 minutes later we were going through security. At first it looked like we were going to be stuck behind the press bleachers again, but after a bit, they allowed us in the bleacher section behind McCain and Palin.

There were the usual warm up "acts." Congressman Paul Ryan was the M.C. The crowd loved him. He asked, Who is ready to lead this land? Who do you trust to lead? Who has been tested? America doesn't need a show horse, America needs a work horse! 

Scott Walker was next. He joked, I like Sarah because finally I can go hunting with the Vice President! He then talked about Wisconsin's tax burden...We have one of the latest tax freedom days in our nation, April 24th instead of April 15th.

A Native American was next, Jennifer Youngblood. She works in Alaska and told us how 80 Alaskan residents began work on the natural gas pipeline this summer. Jennifer believes Native Americans could turn this vote since Arizona has so much tribal land and Illinois does not. [Sarah Palin is married to a Native American.]

Former Governor Tommy Thompson was fired up. I can't understand why the press is so afraid to pull back the covers on Barack Obama. He talked about Obama's record of voting "Present" and how you can't do that on a nuclear Iran or drilling. Tommy wrapped it up with, Democrats told Freddie to give out the money [even if the applicant couldn't pay it back]... You are just as guilty driving the getaway car as robbing the bank!

After a prayer, pledge of allegiance, and national anthem, finally McCain and Palin arrived.

We were sitting a few rows up in back of them. It is true the camera adds 10 pounds; Sarah is very trim! She commented later how she enjoyed running along our lake front this morning. John McCain looks much younger and trimmer in person too.

The usual opening remarks were made. Big cheers went up for McCain's spending freeze.

I think 12 questions were taken in all. The best of the bunch were Questions 6, "I'm mad" and 9 from J T Harris, "I've taken a ...whipping." 7 was pretty good too, about Obama's associations. I am listing 6 and 9 first, then the remaining ones after. Subjects will be in bold so you can look for the ones that interest you.

The 6th question was a biggie. "Thanks for coming. I'm mad! I'm really mad! (YouTube link) And what's gonna surprise you is it's not the economy--it's the socialists taking over our country!" (This one brought down the house--standing ovation.) When you have Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of the Hooligans represent our country... It's time you represent us. GO GET 'EM!!!" More applause and chant, USA, USA, USA!!!

McCain quipped back, I think I got the message. The gentleman is right. Democrats have been in control. Have you noticed any improvement? About ACORN. There are serious allegations about voting. They should be investigated immediately before Nov. 4th, so Americans won't be denied their precious right to vote.

Question 9 brought down the house! J. T. Harris, an African American, the man to Palin and McCain's right, stood up and said,

"God bless you Governor Palin, you are a barracuda, we need that...God bless you Senator for your service to your country, for your leadership. At the convention, you asked us to fight for you...I have to tell you, I doubt there is anyone in this room who has taken the [backside]whipping I have taken for supporting you and your policy!" BIG, BIG, BIG STANDING OVATION.

"Sir, I believe in the next debate, it is absolutely vital that you take it to Obama, that you hit him where it hits as a softball, Sir ACORN is out there, we have the good Rev Wright, Flagler , we have all these shady characters that have surrounded him. We have corruption in Wisconsin and across the nation. I am begging you sir, to take it to him [Obama in the next debate.]"  (Photo was taken after his statement.)

McCain, "Thank you for your courage... I believe your reward will be in heaven not here on earth... Yes, I will do that." But I want to address the greatest financial challenge of our lifetime with a positive plan of action... we will do both.

The other questions in order: 

First question was on health insurance: She wanted to be able to pool with other company's groups. McCain agreed. You should be able to go anywhere for your insurance--why be restricted?

Question 2 from a Realtor--Freddie/Fannie. Will you take immediate actions to investigate, prosecute and name names [on Freddie Fannie scandal]?  McCain said, I will. BIG CHEER

3rd question was on abortion. The moderator clearly did not bring the subject up. With 3rd debate, will you find a way to bring it up? I think McCain agreed and said life begins at conception. Some of the greatest words ever written, "...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty..." He then added, We need to change the culture in America and show compassion and courage to support young women in this situation and improve adoption.

4th question--oil and exportation of Alaskan oil to China. Sarah Palin answered, We need to drill more. No, it is not a huge proportion that is exported.  

Question 5 was on Hate Crimes legislature trying to stop free speech. McCain answered,  I don't think I can divine the intent of a crime...we just need to prosecute [the actions].

7th question asked, How is it Obama got where he is? We are all a product of our associations. Is there any way to get around this media? [who won't look into Obama and Ayers, Wright, ACORN, etc.] McCain answered, We need to know the full extend of the relationships. Then he brought up character, how Obama said he would take the public money if I did and said that he negotiated with me about it. He did not. [Obama opted to be privately funded.]

Q. 8 was just about the cost of gas.  Palin talked about drilling and "all of the above"

Question 11 was about one of Obama's "tiny" countries: Venezuela. What would you do if Chavez shows aggression to other S. American countries? McCain replied that Hugo Chavez is a great reason for energy independence! Strengthening relations with the President of Columbia was part of his solution.

Question 12 was from a Vet. He took issue with Obama's statement of our troops in Afghanistan [bombing villages etc.] He introduced his adopted son, a former Iraqi citizen, now an American. I appreciate your support of war Vets, but when I talk to soldiers, what we want more than anything is to win the war against terrorism. Lots of applause for him and his son.

That was it for the questions. Handshakes and autographs followed for quite some time. I was glad I went.

Once outside, we still were not allowed to leave until the Straight Talk Express bus with McCain and Palin in it left. The crowd was pumped but very discouraged about the prospect of voter fraud.

I have attempted to give you a flavor of the meeting. If you want to hear the exact question and answer, check the Video feed of Town Hall & Audio of Town Hall Thanks, Cindy, at Fairly Conservative

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On the news yesterday, I heard that John McCain and Sarah Palin will go to La Crosse Friday after their stop in Waukesha on Thursday. I think that is a good move. McCain will also be in Mosinee, WI, and Palin in Wilmington, OH later on Thursday.

Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin said she wanted to go back to Michigan--she wasn't giving up on that state. That is good news for Michigan since The GOP in Michigan is still trying to "boost efforts" in the state.

I just heard about this PAC group, Our Country Deserves Better. They aren't willing to give up Michigan either. In fact, they are holding a 2 day web-a-thon to raise $500,000 by Thursday morning. In their first day, they raised a little over half of it according to their CONTRIBUTE NOW page.

Their logic is that if McCain just gives Michigan up, Obama won't need to spend any time or money there.

The 17 electoral votes will be lost to Obama/Biden.  Down-ballot races of candidates sympathetic to McCain will lose.  And Obama will be able to take money he had intended for Michigan and put it into other swing states such as Nevada, Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Missouri.

We might be focusing on the presidential race, but the president isn't the only candidate on the ballot. The entire House is on the Nov. 4th ballot, and 36 Senators are up for election too.

The thought of an unbridled Democrat majority House and Democrat majority Senate with a Democrat President is enough motivation for citizens to shell out $254,000 (so far) to help Michigan. 

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That's right.  ACORN Vegas Office Raided in Voter Fraud Investigation this morning: (My emphasis)

Bob Walsh, spokesman for the Nevada secretary of state's office, told FOXNews.com the raid was prompted by ongoing complaints about "erroneous" registration information being submitted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also called ACORN. 

The group was submitting the information through a voter sign-up drive known as Project Vote. 

"Some of them used nonexistent names, some of them used false addresses and some of them were duplicates of previously filed applications," Walsh said, describing the complaints, which largely came from the registrar in Clark County, Nev. 

Sound familiar? How about this? 

Secretary of State Ross Miller [a Democrat] said the fraudulent registrations included forms for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

...

But it's not the first time ACORN's been under investigation for registration irregularities. The raid is the latest of at least nine investigations into possible fraudulent voter registration forms submitted by ACORN -- the probes have involved ACORN workers in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Indiana and other states. 

In 2006, ACORN also committed what Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed called the "worse case of election fraud" in the state's history. 

In the case, ACORN submitted just over 1,800 new voter registration forms, and all but six of the 1,800 names were fake.

Can you imagine? A whopping 1,774 names were phony out of 1,800 in that 2006 case? 

How many Ohio registrations are fake? How about Wisconsin?

Until we get a nationwide voter ID law, we will never know.

Question of the night: Will John McCain bring up the other branch of the ACORN family and Barack Obama's involvement in it tonight at the debate? Or how about Obama's working relationship with Bill Ayers, the self admitted bomber of the US Capitol, police headquarters and Pentagon?

Obama, "I've chaired major philanthropic efforts in the city, like the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that gave $50 million to prop school reform efforts throughout the city."

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge, or CAC, was founded in part by Ayers, who was also co-chairman of the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, one of the two operational arms of the CAC. Obama served as CAC chairman.

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Between the voter fraud issue and yesterday's stock market, sometimes a body needs a little comic relief!

Here it is: How well do you know your Presidential Candidate? Match-o-Matic II

It's a quiz from ABC News. The graphics are cute, but there is something to think about too. If you click on the above link, you see a cartoon of the White House and Obama and McCain on a teeter totter.

The object of the quiz is to pick between 2 statements, made by the candidates on various issues, that you most agree with. It then matches the quote with the candidate. At the end, it shows which candidate's philosophy you agree with most. (No big surprise here on my quiz, McCain bounced Obama off the teeter totter. I missed 1 out of 13.)

Have fun!

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Boy, that bailout bill really helped, didn't it? The Dow is now below 10,000 at the time of this writing. The rest of the world isn't faring much better.

But don't they say that every cloud has a silver lining, or it is an ill wind that blows no good?

Well, falling oil prices would be the little ray of sunshine in our black cloud of falling stocks.

Oil prices fall below $90 amid financial crisis worries: 

Oil prices briefly fell to an eight-month low below $90 a barrel Monday on speculation that the spreading financial crisis will exacerbate a global economic slowdown and cut demand for crude oil.

Significant gains by the U.S. dollar against the euro also contributed to slumping oil prices.

By midafternoon in Europe, light, sweet crude for November delivery was down $2.68 to $91.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the price fell as low as $88.89 a barrel.

Oil prices have tumbled nearly 40% since peaking in July. The Nymex front-month contract last traded this low in early February.

At least lower oil prices will help Americans with heating costs* and filling their gas tanks. That is the only good thing I can say about the falling markets right now.

But, since we are so dependent on middle east oil, don't expect this downward trend to continue back to "good ole days" prices. After all, they do control the supply side of supply and demand. More from USAToday,

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossien Nozari said Saturday that it would be "unsuitable" for both producers and consumers for oil to dip below $100 a barrel. He called on fellow OPEC members not to pump too much oil and avoid a drop in prices.

"OPEC has signaled it may defend $80," Shum said. "There's uncertainty over what OPEC may do."

Need another reason to drill domestically and adopt an "All of the Above"** energy policy? Our economy would not be in the mess it is right now if we had adopted it years ago.

*Most will not benefit this winter from falling oil prices when it comes to heating. JSOnline: Government warns of sharp increase in winter heating costs, especially for homes using oil 

**I do not favor all of the All of the Above. So far, solar, wind, and ethanol are just too expensive and inefficient to be practical. 

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I always find it interesting to see how much politicians give to charity. Senator Joe Biden gave a paltry $995 last year, yet he made $2,450,042! And his $995 to nonprofits was over twice his normal yearly giving for the past 9 out of 10 years. Why do I say paltry? Because many teens I know give more money from their part time job income than he gave in his past average donations.  Biden made almost $2.5 million but gave such a little amount... amazing.

Actually, I am surprised at his Scrooge-ishness, because Biden says he is a Catholic. I would have thought he would have given his church more. (David Wade, a spokesperson, said the Bidens did give to their church, “The charitable contributions claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity.” That could be the case. But why they wouldn't record these donations and put them on their tax return is beyond me, since that is such a standard practice. It raises the question, if you aren't claiming the entire amount, then why list any at all?)

I was thinking about stinginess vs. generosity again today when I looked at our church bulletin. I usually check the offering report for the previous week and often am pleasantly surprised at the dollar amounts listed. Our congregation almost always gives above the amount needed to stay on budget, and they do this without coercion.

The associate pastor does remind us from time to time that all we have is from God and that He allows us to keep around 90%. But there is no heavy handed tithe requirement or even a hint that giving more makes God love you more. The love is supposed to be coming from us to God in the giving, and it is evident in our church. Often people give more than the usual 10%. Many of these families are not wealthy and some are large, having 4 or more children.

Given that Al Gore and his wife gave a pittance, coupled with Biden's ridiculous amount, and the Obamas only recently gave above their 1% average, to me shows a selfishness. God instructs us to give Him the first of our fruits, not the left-overs. We are to trust Him to take care of us. (In fact, that was the subject of our sermon today, from a series on The Sermon on the Mount, Oct. 5, 2008)*

It's no wonder these politicians think people must be compelled by the government to give to social programs through taxes. They know they would not give voluntarily. From National Revue:

It has become a common practice, when a presidential candidate releases his or her tax returns, for reporters and pundits to examine how much the candidate gave to charity. In September 1992, for example, when the Washington Post reported that Al Gore, then the Democratic candidate for vice president, had released his tax returns, the second paragraph in the story noted that out of income of $183,558, Gore “donated $1,727 — less than 1 percent — to charity.

But thankfully, plenty of Americans do give voluntarily, and they give a lot!

When the government taxes me more, it reduces my ability to give to the good works I think are worthy. Taxes also compel me to support programs I don't agree with or think are immoral, such as Planned Parenthood or ACORN. My "donation" in the form of taxes gets less bang for my buck because it must first travel through the maze of wasteful government bureaucracy.

If politicians like Biden, Obama, and Gore would give more to charity, maybe they would be less eager to increase taxes to pay for government social programs. Maybe then they would be more understanding of how higher taxes impacts voluntary giving. Obviously they have not tried it.

In case you were interested, McCain's giving, Palin's income and giving. 

*When my husband was laid off in 1982, we were concerned that we would not be able to meet our charitable donation commitments. Thankfully, we got through it.  

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There is lots of chatter today about how Sen. John McCain squashed the soon-to-pass bail out plan. (So much for the Dems. calling him Bush 3)**

Hmm, the Democrats are in the majority, why don't they just pass it on their own?*

Because they don't have the votes in their own party.

Truth is, the bail out bill the media said was near passing, was NOT anywhere near approval. House Republicans were not consulted on the Paulson bail out bill.

In addition, Senator Lindsey Graham was on Fox last night and explained that part of the bail out money would go to ACORN! From Hot Air:

House Republicans refused to support the Henry Paulson/Chris Dodd compromise bailout plan yesterday afternoon, even after the New York Times reported that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got down on one knee to beg Nancy Pelosi to compromise.  One of the sticking points, as Senator Lindsey Graham explained later, wasn’t a lack of begging but a poison pill that would push 20% of all profits from the bailout into the Housing Trust Fund — a boondoggle that Democrats in Congress has used to fund political-action groups like ACORN and the National Council of La Raza

Would you want that to pass? 

Most Americans are not in favor of a bail out. Most Republicans do not favor a bail out. Newt Gingrich has not favored a bail out to save our economy. (Emphasis mine) 

Newt Gingrich:  Well, the last time we were promised they were going to save us, it was $300 billion; it was a housing bill.  And what liberal Democrats in Congress did, for example, was add $500 million a year for a left-wing activist group called Acorn.  Now, I can’t imagine why we’d want the taxpayer to give $500 million a year to a left-wing activist group, but it’s in the bill which the Bush administration signed and that was only back in July and that was going to solve everything.  That was $300 billion ago.

Now we have a brand-new, liberal Democrats, many of whom, for example, Chris Dodd, was the largest single recipient of money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and he is the chairman of the Banking Committee.  So the guy who got the most money is now going to write a bill to give taxpayers money to the people who gave him money.  Somehow, I am not reassured.

The House GOP (Republicans) have presented a plan of their own. It is more of a Work Out than Bail Out. Gingrich also favors a Work Out that would include borrowing at 2% not bailing.

I may just be a Home Economist, but I know we need to do something. If the average American was in better financial shape, not carrying around $8,000 debt on their credit card and not one paycheck away from financial disaster, I might be inclined to just tough it out.  

Gingrich recommended that Republican leaders like Boehner, DeMint, Shelby, and McCain meet to put together a proposal Americans will support. Then the people will put the pressure on the Democrats in Congress to pass it, much like public pressured Congress to drill for domestic oil. But since Harry Reid just stuck a ban on domestic oil shale drilling onto an appropriations bill, while this crisis is going on, so much for listening to the will of the people and doing what this country needs.

Heaven help us. I mean that literally.

Read more: Market Rescue Dos and Don'ts  from the Heritage Foundation

*Observation courtesy of Nick Reed interjecting on the Jay Weber show this morning. 

**Observation by a caller on Rush's show today. (The car radio does make running errands more tolerable!) 

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The question of the day is, will Sen. John McCain go to the debate tonight? (UPDATE: Yes)

If he does not go, here are 2 possibilities:

1. Send Governor Palin. She seems to have done well impressing the various leaders at the UN meetings:

The presidents of Iraq and Georgia gushed over Palin as they met with her yesterday. And Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai told an audience Tuesday night after meeting Palin earlier that day that she asked all the right questions.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari expressed great joy in meeting her during the short photo session at the start of their meeting that was viewed by reporters and cameras.

"You are even more gorgeous than you are on the [inaudible]," Zardari said.

"You are so nice. Thank you," Palin said.

"Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you," Zardari said, as his handler told them to shake hands for the cameras.

2. Last night Ann Coulter quipped, Barack Obama could debate Joe Biden!  ;-)

I will be watching tonight to see what develops. Even if John McCain shows up, it will be disappointing to me. For some reason, I thought teleprompters were not allowed at the debates, I now know differently. (No wonder only the Town Hall meeting invitations were declined.) 

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Yup, it is true. Former President Bill Clinton appeared on Good Morning America this morning and defended John McCain. (Politics makes strange bedfellows!)

ABC News' Nitya Venkataraman Reports: Former President Bill Clinton defended Sen. John McCain's request to delay the first presidential debate, saying McCain did it in "good faith" and pushed organizers to reserve time for economy talk during the debate if the Friday plans move forward.

... 

"We know he didn't do it because he's afraid because Sen. McCain wanted more debates," Clinton said, adding that he was "encouraged" by the joint statement from McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.

Clinton also commented on the Democrat's accusation that this problem came out of nowhere--we had nothing to do with this. He admitted some responsibility in this mess lies with the Democrats in Congress. (About half way through the clip)

Well... ...the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put in some standards and tighten up a little with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [He also blamed the Up Tick rule.]

I really hope the Congress acts in good faith and not in their typical political way, as in the NO Drill Bill. When Sen. Obama originally stated that he would not come, that "If you need me, call me." if he was needed, I wondered how that would have gone over with the Democrats if Pres. Bush had done that with Hurricane Katrina.

GOPUSA's piece, Bailing out the Bailout, talks about Sen. Reid's flip flop on McCain's presence and what some conservatives hope McCain can do, 

...Until McCain's announcement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid seemed inclined to support the $700 billion bailout bill -- provided Democrats could lard it with their own goodies -- but only if McCain (and other Republicans) would support the package and provide the Dems with political cover.

"I got some good news in the last hour or so ... it appears that Sen. McCain is going to come out for this," Reid announced Tuesday evening.

...

Reid's office promptly released a statement that said, "We need leadership; not a campaign photo-op." So the bailout is worth spending $700 billion of other people's money -- but not worth McCain flying to Washington to broker a doable deal? Get the feeling Reid is completely out of touch?

Now, what if McCain could reduce the size of the bailout? (That is a tall order, but hope springs eternal with me.)

If, however, McCain can broker a more fiscally responsible plan -- read one with a price tag about half of the original's size or less, and with a cap on executive pay -- he just might be able to broker a deal that can pass muster.

McCain is taking a huge chance here. Even just going to Washington to vote on this measure is a risk. One has to wonder if Obama hoped he could duck the whole thing by not going to the Senate to vote at all--a variation on voting, "Present."

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In the land of double standard politics, here is another story.

AP Whines Palin 'Banned' Them From Chat with Foreign Leaders, No Such Concern When Obama Did:

Palin is in New York City for the open of the United Nations General Assembly. A review of media coverage from Obama's behind-closed-doors chats with European heads of state, however, shows no such complaint by the media about a lack of access.

As you know, Sarah Palin was originally invited to speak on Monday at the anti-Iran rally organized by a Jewish group in New York. But then the Dems Threaten Anti-Iran Rally Organizers With IRS Attack if they Let Palin Speak. She was dis-invited:

News has emerged that the organizers of that anti-Iran rally that famously got snarled up in Senator Hillary Clinton's ire at Governor Sarah Palin last week were threatened by New York Democrats with IRS action against their tax-exempt status if they allowed Palin to speak.

...The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation." Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

Her speech lists sanctions and measures the US and world must enforce but also of McCain's promise to "Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us."

Governor Palin went to New York anyway and "also asked former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for insights on Georgia, Russia, China and Iran, and she'll see more leaders Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings." Palin meets her first world leaders in New York:

Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversations were private, the pictures public, meant to build her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world affairs.

"I found her quite a capable woman," Karzai said later. "She asked the right questions on Afghanistan."

Today more meetings are planned,

...McCain and Palin are expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Palin is then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The AP, as cited above, isn't happy about their denial of access to these meetings, but it was OK that Obama denied access to his meetings with leaders on his European tour?

Yet when Sen. Barack Obama went to Europe this summer and met with past and present foreign leaders, print media were similarly on the outside looking in. Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former and current British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (respectively), and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

No doubt about it, this is Governor Sarah Palin's chance to meet with these world leaders--she is new on the world leader scene.

Senator Obama is hardly a heavyweight in foreign policy either, "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny, compared to the Soviet Union, they don't pose a serious threat to us...If Iran would ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they would not stand a chance." (Um, Obama, remember Japan and Pearl Harbor and Germany and WW2?)  As for Biden, well, he is Biden.

Is it more important for a VP candidate to have years of experience, chronologically speaking, yet shoot their mouth off misspeaking all over the place: no clean coal in the US, stand up Chuck, Hillary Clinton would be better than me, a divided Jerusalem is the solution, Roosevelt went on TV, and the like, or is the ability to make good decisions more important than years of experience?

PS  In response to Contrarian's comment that Palin avoids the media and voter questions, this is not true. I forgot about this until Rush Limbaugh mentioned it today. She will be interviewed by Katie Couric tonight and does take questions after town hall meetings. I had even seen a clip of a town hall meeting on a news show--sorry, I don't remember which one--and it was laughable. McCain would call on an audience member for a question, but question after question was for Palin. He took his rejection in a good hearted way, but it was clear that they all wanted to speak with her and she answered easily. She may have no use for the mainstream media, but she is talking to the people.

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm City Clerk Kris Schmidt will be in attendance to answer questions or concerns regarding recent news about the Van Hollen lawsuit against the state elections authority.

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What if I had a cure for Parkinson's, leukemia, diabetes, or paralysis caused by spinal cord injury? All you would have to do is take an infant, remove all of its stem cells (sorry, the infant dies), tweak the cells, and transfer them to the ill patient.

Would you do it?

Most people wouldn't and would consider that murderous act barbaric. Yet those who favor embryonic stem cell research are in effect doing just that in the eyes of those who are pro-life.

If you believe that life begins at conception, then even using an embryo for research purposes is an act of murder.

President Bush has been adamantly opposed to federal funding for embryonic stem cell research for that very reason. (The Bush stance only opposes federal funding--not outlawing private research.)

McCain has voted for existing embryonic stem cell research in the past, but those measures failed. John McCain is opposed to embryonic stem cell research that would encourage growing embryos for the purpose. The Republican platform is against any federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, but THEY ALL, BUSH, McCAIN, and PALIN FAVOR FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH! 

The outrageous Obama radio ad that distorts McCain's position includes a woman talking about her diabetic daughter. She says that John McCain is opposed to stem cell research. It goes on to say that medical research, benefiting millions, shouldn't be held hostage by a few.

So why do the Democrats constantly tell people that McCain and Bush are against stem cell research?

Two reasons: One, they want to portray the Republicans as heartless cretins, too stuck on religious principal to care about the ill. Two, if the Democrats can get people to buy into the necessity for embryonic stem cell research, it will dilute the anti-abortion/sanctity of life position of conservatives.

The issue should become moot in time, according to CNS, which is consistent with what I have seen reported*,

Stem cells obtained from adult humans have been widely acclaimed for their ability to promote human health and stave off dreaded illnesses. Stem cells obtained from human embryos, however, have not been successful in yielding results in scientific research thus far.

It will be wonderful to cure some of these diseases in the near future. McCain and Palin are in favor of curing these diseases too, just not at the expense of another individual! Remember that next time you hear an Obama ad saying they aren't.

PS Nick Reed (substitute for Vicki McKenna) called the mother, Jody Montgomery, from the ad to ask if she knew she was telling a complete lie. Turns out, this is the same woman who used the same type ad against Mark Green 2 years ago. Listen to the podcast from the 10am hour on Sept. 24th to hear more.

*Nick Reed just name some of the 73 benefits to human patients obtained from ADULT stem cell research on the same radio program. He continued the stem cell discussion into the 11am hour. He mentioned the 73 benefits at about 11:20am if you were listening to the podcast. See Stemcellresearch.org 

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm City Clerk Kris Schmidt will be in attendance to answer questions or concerns regarding recent news about the Van Hollen lawsuit against the state elections authority.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

I constantly hear the Palin affect if over and done with--mostly from liberals. How then do we explain that Barack Obama drew a crowd of 6,000 in Green Bay and Sarah Palin drew about 60,000 in Florida? Granted, she was in very friendly territory, but people still waited for hours in the hot sun to see her.

A 60,000 person draw is pretty good for a woman who was called "disabled" by Democrat Charles Rangel.

What happened to Obama up in Packer country? The Chicago Sun Times reported, Uncharacteristically low turnout for Barack Obama rally in Green Bay, Wis., McCain/Palin drew 4,000 more supporters at same venue a week ago.

Just a week ago, John McCain and his vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin — who can bring out crowds the way Obama can — appeared in this same stadium, Resch Center, to a crowd of 10,000 fans. There were an uncharacteristic amount of empty orange seats for Obama’s rally.

In their defense, Obama's backers note their rally was held on Monday at noon, compared to a Thursday night rally for McCain and Palin.

Time will tell of course which way Wisconsin goes come Nov. 4th. I think we will need a large margin of Republican votes to counter the voter fraud in this state. But as the Obama campaign shadows the McCain campaign in battleground states and venues, I will be watching to see how the attendance numbers compare.

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm City Clerk Kris Schmidt will be in attendance to answer questions or concerns regarding recent news about the Van Hollen lawsuit against the state elections authority.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

I would like to formally retract a comment I made on Cindy Kilkenny's Fairly Conservative blog. It was regarding Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live (Sept. 13th.) I said,

I did not see the program but heard about it today and read the script. Unbelievable. There is NOTHING funny about incest and certainly nothing funny about hinting at it going on in the Palin household. NBC's Saturday Night Live might think they can pass this sketch off as a slam on the New York Times, but I think it is just a disgusting attempt to further smear the Republican's VP pick.

Speaking of slamming the New York Times, today, McCain strategist Steve Schmidt called the New York Times a "Pro-Obama Advocacy Organization,"

Let's be clear and be honest with each other. Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization.

"It is a pro-Obama advocacy organization that every day, attacks the McCain campaign, attacks Gov. Palin and excuses Sen. Obama."

"There is no level of public vetting. There is no level of outrage ... let's not be dishonest and call it something other than what it is. Everything that is in the New York Times that attacks this campaign should be evaluated from that perspective."

Don't forget, MS-NBC is "in the tank" for Obama too. 

No other candidate has been treated like Sarah Palin has--ever. To have the lefty media attack her and her family like this is truly vile.

If the liberal media keeps this up, soon they will have no independent minded or conservative viewers left. This election is certainly showing the media's true blue state colors.

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm City Clerk Kris Schmidt will be in attendance to answer questions or concerns regarding recent news about the Van Hollen lawsuit against the state elections authority.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Barack Obama has an ad running about lobbyists advising the McCain campaign. In light of the Freddie and Fannie mess, and that Obama was the #2 recipient ($152,698) of Freddie/Fannie donations, if I were Obama, I don't think I would even bring this up. (McCain "has taken $16,400 from Freddie and Fannie employees since 2005.")

John McCain is fighting back against Obama's accusations with this new ad, "Advice"

"Obama has no background in economics.

Who advises him?

The Post says it's Franklin Raines, for "advice on mortgage and housing policy."

Shocking.

Under Raines, Fannie Mae committed "extensive financial fraud." ....

The McCain ad goes on to cite various news articles and some disturbing facts about Johnson and Raines. If you care to look at the news items the ad was based on, here they are:

"The Obama Campaign Has Solicited Franklin Raines, Who "Stepped Down As Fannie Mae's Chief Executive Under The Shadow Of A $6.3 Billion Accounting Scandal," For "Advice On Mortgage And Housing Policy." "In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae's chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case's D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."

"...In October 2003, even as Raines was invited to the Bush White House to receive a leadership award on behalf of Fannie Mae, investigators were about to look into the company's accounting books. A year later, Congress held a hearing on accounting irregularities at the company. By the end of 2004, Raines was forced out by the board, accused by regulators of overseeing accounting manipulations to bolster his compensation. Both from On the Outside Now, Watching Fannie Falter

 

"The Washington Post: "Two Members Of Mr. Obama's Political Circle, James A. Johnson And Franklin D. Raines, Are Former Chief Executives Of Fannie Mae." From Tough Decision Coming

 

Under Franklin Raines' Leadership, Fannie Mae Committed "Extensive Financial Fraud" And Was Forced To Pay A $400 Million Civil Penalty. "In a May report, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight found that Fannie Mae under Raines perpetrated 'extensive financial fraud' so that executives could collect big bonuses. There have been no criminal charges, but the conduct of Raines and other senior Fannie executives 'was inconsistent with the values of responsibility, accountability, and integrity,' the agencies said. Fannie paid a $400 million civil penalty this year to the SEC and OFHEO." From Raines Claiming Accountability Isn't Enough,

Franklin Raines Received $114,000 Monthly Pension Benefit. "While disclosing the number and current value of stock options Raines was allowed to keep when he retired, as well as his $114,000 monthly pension benefit, Fannie Mae did not disclose any estimates of how much these benefits would ultimately cost shareholders."

Franklin Raines' Retirement Package From Fannie Mae Was Estimated To Be Worth As Much As $25 Million. "Raines was 55 when he retired, and the authors estimated that his retirement package could be worth as much as $25 million to him and his wife." Both from Study of Fannie Mae Cites 'Perverse" Executive-pay Policy

FYI,  "Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, took just one donation, for $500, from one Freddie employee. McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, is Fannie- and Freddie-free, having never run for federal office."

I am sure we will hear more back and forth on this subject. One thing is for sure, the lead time on new ad creation has certainly been reduced!

Brookfield District 7 Info meeting, Wed., Sept. 24, 2-3pm or 6:30-7:30pm

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,  Vicki Mckenna

The public and the press are often fickle. One day they praise you, the next they ridicule. That seems to be the case with VP pick Sen. Joe Biden. At first he was praised for adding experience to the Obama ticket, but now he is fast becoming Joe Biden: The incredible shrinking candidate.

Someone should break the bad news to Sen. Joe Biden: As a vice presidential candidate he's doing far worse than Dan Quayle.

In 1988 Quayle became a national laughingstock to the liberal American mainstream media. But he did succeed in helping rally an even-then somewhat dubious Reaganite-conservative GOP base behind Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush, who coasted to an easy victory over Democratic nominee Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

It is far better for vice presidential candidates to be lightning rods who are despised by the national media but who are good at rallying the grassroots of the party.

Even Biden expressed his wonderment over Obama picking him for VP when he said, "She's [Hillary] easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and, quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me, but she is first-rate."

If Obama should win the White House, one has to wonder just what role Biden would play. Would Joe Biden even be trusted to fulfill the standard VP role of attending funerals? Can you imagine "Stand up, Chuck" at a state funeral?

But for now, Sen. Joe Biden, who had his own presidential aspirations, is fulfilling his V.P. candidate role.

He works hard, he churns out the speeches, he castigates Republican nominee McCain of Arizona as the fearless "attack dog" he was supposed to be. Yet after he does everything he was supposed to do, even the media who sang hosannas over his selection just report it all glumly and then shrug it off. And no one else cares.

...So far, Attack Dog Biden hasn't managed to land even a friendly lick on John McCain's face. While Palin flourishes amid the media's most frenzied efforts to smear and destroy her, Biden shrivels under that far crueler death blow to any politician's ego--amiable and polite forgetfulness. He is too ineffectual and peripheral to even warrant contempt.

Ouch. But that is the way of roses. They bud, bloom and look beautiful, then they wilt and are cast into the trash--only the thorns remain.

Speaking of roses and funerals...The bloom is off the Obama rose for some African Americans, he was heckled at a recent speech (protest signs are OK, but I do not approve of their vocal beha