tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23506219516486484142011-04-21T23:10:11.947+02:00An expat's ramblings on the 2008 US Presidential Election and other political issues.Jennnoreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-72657580835077968142008-12-02T15:23:00.012+01:002008-12-03T21:01:22.328+01:00

On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, so named because it is the day retailers typically turn to profit for the year, Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death by a bargain-crazy mob that broke through the doors of a Wal-Mart store on Long Island minutes before the 5 a.m. opening."By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-61941795420091228782008-12-01T15:49:00.020+01:002008-12-02T17:24:54.071+01:00

My dear friend Emily thought I went a little off the rails with my last post. Fair enough and she has a pretty wide perspective in this area having grown up under martial law in the Philippines and living in the States since her teens. But really, who could possibly trust this administration after the horrors of the last 8 years? Thankfully, few did. My concern lessened as each major broadcaster

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-7434396481799901782008-10-24T18:54:00.004+02:002009-02-09T12:47:44.316+01:00

I don't mean to sound alarmist, but there is a lot going on in the U.S. right now that is being woefully under reported. And a lot of it could impact the upcoming election. As Republicans turn on each other in the final days and Democrats start calling the race over, the rest of us need to think about what it all really comes down to: voting. Here are a few things that may prevent us from doing

Jennnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-35867330271874259562008-10-22T12:10:00.009+02:002008-10-22T15:17:18.388+02:00

When referring to Obama's tax policy, Sarah Palin said in an interview with CNN:"I'm not going to call him a socialist, but as 'Joe the Plumber' has said, it looks like socialism to him," she said of Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher. The GOP ticket and their supporters have invoked Joe the Plumber numerous times ever since the Ohio man confronted Obama about his tax policy in an impromptu campaign

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-27986356785604084722008-10-21T19:15:00.007+02:002008-10-21T20:45:31.853+02:00

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-13847427428112106422008-10-17T22:37:00.002+02:002008-10-17T22:41:56.369+02:00

To the (New York Times) Editor:Fair taxation isn’t about “redistributing the wealth” — it’s about giving back to the great country that gave you the opportunity to benefit so greatly. It’s not about taking money from “Joe the Plumber.” It’s about making sure that “Joe’s Mega-Plumbing Incorporated” gives back to the country and the people who gave him:• Roads and bridges for his trucks to roll on.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-43765664489946101792008-10-16T23:22:00.011+02:002008-11-14T03:10:39.032+01:00

John McCain and Sarah Palin desperately want us to see the danger in electing a risky, liberal, unknown Democrat as our next President. Someone who doesn't see the world as they see it. Someone who is so different from "us" that he can't be trusted. McCain went off the rails last night with his divisive politics in the last (thank God) presidential debate by trying to link Obama to Acorn,

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-48382751541957366712008-10-16T21:26:00.012+02:002008-10-17T22:52:12.272+02:00

Conservatives are abandoning the increasingly reckless McCain/Palin ticket with, well, reckless abandon. George Will, David Brooks, Kathleen Parker, David Frum, Christopher Buckley (son of conservative icon William F. Buckley), among others, have all come out in recent weeks to denounce the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate and/or the recent ugly attacks on Senator Obama. A

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-66689718384224336712008-10-15T14:31:00.004+02:002008-10-15T14:45:38.409+02:00

This is a very interesting article to re-read in light of recent events: Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina , by Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times, Octboer 19, 2007In that fateful primary election, Senator McCain decided to go negative against then Governor Bush in response to the gutter level attacks he was under. The strategy backfired, as it has this time. But interestingly, this

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-10263481157859462612008-10-14T11:42:00.001+02:002008-10-14T11:43:42.557+02:00

Which political party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Here’s an experiment.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-26799571664156343252008-10-13T14:42:00.011+02:002008-10-13T19:28:24.788+02:00

John McCain wants you to be afraid of Barack Obama, but McCain's the one who's scaring me these days by scapegoating two advocacy organizations - the Annenberg Foundation and ACORN - to score cheap political points. Okay, ACORN has raised the ire of conservatives as many organizations seeking to politically empower the poor do. Read here to understand why the McCain campaign is attacking them (

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-86097440095377268892008-10-13T11:31:00.004+02:002008-10-13T12:47:48.539+02:00

"After I whip his you-know-what in this debate..." - John McCain, October 12, 2008More scary stuff here.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-3851912080551148472008-10-11T16:57:00.009+02:002008-10-13T10:53:22.641+02:00

A woman stood up at a McCain town hall meeting, held at Lakeville South High School in a far suburb of Minneapolis, and told Mr. McCain that she could not trust Mr. Obama because he was an “Arab.”Mr. McCain replied: “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.” At that, the crowd

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-77697460312041687092008-10-09T09:30:00.000+02:002008-10-09T09:31:09.654+02:00

Love this. From The NY Times today.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-17814097347853867392008-10-08T12:10:00.013+02:002008-11-14T03:31:50.751+01:00

Just a few quick notes and links here related to last night's debate and the recent, ugly turn the McCain/Palin campaign has taken.In the debate, once again, Senator McCain called for a spending freeze to deal with our current economic crisis. Let me be clear - the worst thing the government can do right now is to freeze spending. When no one is spending - government, individual citizens and

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-5281627122716431962008-10-06T16:09:00.012+02:002008-11-14T03:35:57.591+01:00

As a photography student at New York University, I learned of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and its cousin under FDR's New Deal, the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FSA is famous for its small but highly influential photography program that ran from 1935-44 and realistically portrayed the challenges of rural poverty. It garnered support not only for its own projects but no

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-9254801246293810992008-10-04T17:24:00.013+02:002008-10-06T20:13:39.961+02:00

The problem with politicians who believe that government can't possibly work for the people is that when they take office they do everything they can to fulfill that prophecy. Just think Katrina.So when Sarah Palin said on Thursday evening in her debate with Senator Biden, "Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you're not always the solution. In fact, too often you're the problem," it sent

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-2230895436260773182008-10-01T12:15:00.024+02:002008-10-04T22:55:44.305+02:00

Marriner S. Eccles, who served as Franklin D. Roosevelt's Chairman of the Federal Reserve from November 1934 to February 1948, detailed what he believed caused the Depression in his memoirs, Beckoning Frontiers:As mass production has to be accompanied by mass consumption, mass consumption, in turn, implies a distribution of wealth to provide men with buying power equal to the amount of goods and

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-15901203069420924692008-09-30T12:38:00.011+02:002008-10-04T22:59:09.969+02:00

Like most people, I am trying to get my head around this economic crisis. I get the credit squeeze and its potential effect on ordinary Americans. I get the partisan politics in Washington. I don't like it but I get it. There's a lot on the line with an election 35 days away and there's a lot of contention and frustration about how we got into this mess in the first place and, therefore, how to

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-43349024287852339532008-09-29T23:43:00.002+02:002008-09-30T00:06:44.217+02:00

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-68190583122557730522008-09-28T13:42:00.006+02:002008-09-28T16:58:06.593+02:00

Saturday morning, Maureen Dowd lamented, "(Obama) willfully refuses to accept what debates are about. It’s not a lecture hall; it’s a joust." John Dickerson of Slate opined, "I can imagine Obama fans were frustrated their man didn't throw a few big punches." The sports analogies continued, "There were no knockout blows in the first presidential debate" bemoaned David Broder at the Washington

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-46140339892433801822008-09-13T18:00:00.014+02:002008-09-15T16:40:43.548+02:00

My transition to supporting Senator Obama has happened in three stages:Stage One: a reluctant attempt to fulfill a promise I made to myself and my Obama-supporting friends. This stage was accompanied by much sighing and thoughts of, "Okay, at least he's not McCain."Stage Two: a cathartic re-mourning for my candidate after her speech and floor actions at the DNC, followed by an emotional release.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-26122049213343043752008-09-13T17:35:00.002+02:002008-09-13T22:53:57.299+02:00

Don't share this with your red state friends (it could sink Obama), but the rest of the world is really counting on us to elect Obama. The funny thing about how many Americans view France (as a bunch of wine-sipping, intellectual elitists; actually they are not really off about that and most French would agree) is that the French are actually too conservative to elect a bi-racial president.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-28693115556743441932008-09-13T15:00:00.001+02:002008-09-22T23:46:03.536+02:00

Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic Primary. Like many of her supporters, I hoped until the last vote was counted that she would somehow prevail. I even hoped for some juicy bit of information to come out about Obama that would take his campaign down. Sorry, but if we're going to move forward together, I feel the need to be honest.But now I'm over it, and she helped me get there. Senator

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-7293112226101896402008-04-26T07:44:00.001+02:002008-04-26T07:47:09.529+02:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/opinion/26collins.html?ref=opinion

Jennnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-87953913907370836252008-04-23T17:48:00.005+02:002008-09-13T22:44:43.751+02:00

There was a disturbing question at last weekend’s “Compassion Forum” on CNN, a program during which reporters asked Senators Clinton and Obama questions related to their faith. The question was asked by Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention of Senator Obama.PAGE: Thank you, Senator Obama. Thank you for being here at Messiah College for the Compassion Forum. Southern

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-21155395059849370302008-04-12T14:40:00.008+02:002008-04-12T18:23:13.522+02:00

December 13, 2000, the day before my 35th birthday, was a dark day. After five long weeks, Vice President Al Gore conceded the presidential race to George W. Bush following a Supreme Court ruling that stopped the vote count in Florida, and effectively handed Bush the presidency.I was inconsolable, deflated, angry. Angry at the Supreme Court, angry at Bush and his cronies, and angry at Floridians.

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-80541343217530462802008-04-10T08:21:00.007+02:002008-04-12T15:15:03.096+02:00

The way I see it, the government has driven up our national debt to nearly $10 trillion, financed a war on borrowed money, failed to provide basic services and protections to Americans, and yet somehow sees fit to send us (many of us who do not need it) a check for $600. Most Americans will either spend the money on personal items (what the government is hoping for) or put it toward debt relief (

Jennnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-75318101575247019182008-04-09T16:30:00.008+02:002008-04-12T15:14:33.667+02:00

In August 2006, at the same time I was flying from Jakarta to Makassar in Indonesia, my mother was undergoing surgery for Stage 1 breast cancer in France, where she lives. On the news that morning were stories of rioting in Makassar, a city for which I received danger pay when traveling there. Gangs of young men were "sweeping" hotels, which means they were threatening to burn down the hotels if

Jennnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-18865452550910515962008-04-03T05:09:00.001+02:002008-04-13T05:33:44.330+02:00

John McCain on the mortgage crisis:“51 million homeowners are doing what is necessary — working a second job, skipping a vacation and managing their budgets to make their payments on time,” he said. “That leaves us with a puzzling situation: how could 4 million mortgages cause this much trouble for us all?”McCain and his wife are estimated to be worth $100 million and own eight houses. I'm

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350621951648648414.post-51934612325850616982008-03-07T13:56:00.004+01:002008-04-12T18:22:22.282+02:00

The discrepancy between the Texas Primary and the Texas Caucus has me wondering: why (with results still unconfirmed) is Senator Obama significantly outperforming Senator Clinton in the caucus yet he failed to win the primary? And what are the possible implications in the general election? This oddity and its implications should not go unnoticed by superdelegates. Here is what we know so far

Jennnoreply@blogger.com0