November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 Sarah Palin's Messy Turkey Pardon Interview November 26, 2008 The Georgia race will be very close and will be decided by who turns out the larger share of their base. We are heartened by the fear we see in the Chambliss campaign and the depression of their base and persistent questions about Chambliss. Chambliss won the seat six years ago by running an extremely dirty campaign against then incumbent, Max Cleland. Cleland a real war hero - left two legs and an arm in Vietnam. Never mind that Chambliss like Dick Cheney took five deferments to avoid going to Vietnam, the week before the election, six years ago, Chambliss relentlessly ran a TV ad against Max morphing his face into an image of Osama Bin Laden. At the time, John McCain said it was reprehensible. Jim Martin, on the other hand, did his service in Vietnam. Then he came home to continue to serve his country as a legal aid attorney, a long time progressive state legislator from Atlanta, an attorney, Democratic Party activist, and Commissioner of Human Resources. The Road to 60...Runs Through Georgia In 2002, Republican Chambliss attacked Democratic senator Max Cleland, who left three limbs on the battlefield in Vietnam, for lacking "the courage to lead" against the likes of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, whose images play John the Baptist in the ad to a series of photos of Senator Cleland, carefully cropped to hide his heroic injuries. Because of that spot, most of us view the hungover Georgia election on Dec. 2 through a lens of justice and revenge, just as Bill Clinton did Wednesday, at an Atlanta rally for Jim Martin, Cleland's would-be vindicator. That post-9/11 spot was so incendiary among Vietnam vets that even the pre-Bush-hug John McCain denounced it, as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee gleefully reminds us in a Web spot that went up just before McCain campaigned for Chambliss in Georgia last week. GOP Plays a Mean Saxby Jim served in Vietnam, and would be a strong advocate for America’s veterans in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, his opponent obtained six deferments to avoid military service, and in 2002 had the gall to run the now infamous television ad using Osama Bin Laden’s image to question the patriotism of former Senator Max Cleland — a triple amputee and decorated Vietnam veteran. Max is a true American hero, and those ads against him were disgusting. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel called them “beyond offensive,” and John McCain said they were “reprehensible.” But they worked, helping elect Chambliss to the Senate in 2002. Now Chambliss is at it again, with all too familiar attacks on Jim Martin that exploit the memory of September 11. Only we’re not going to let him get away with it this time. Udall plea: ‘Beat back the shameful attacks’ in Georgia Senate runoff November 26, 2008 In June, the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate to quell speculative charges that he might not be a natural-born citizen. But the image prompted more blog-based skepticism about the document's authenticity. And recently, author Jerome Corsi, whose book attacks Obama, said in a TV interview that the birth certificate the campaign has is "fake." We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said. Update, Nov. 1: The director of Hawaii’s Department of Health confirmed Oct. 31 that Obama was born in Honolulu. The truth about Obama's birth certificate November 26, 2008 This is a dangerous interregnum for the American people. We’re trying to come to grips with a once-a-century economic crisis while led by a lame duck president whose mistakes have stripped him of credibility, influence and apparently confidence. Meanwhile, a new president waits in the wings, still almost two months from taking power. The United States is almost alone among major countries in its extended transition. In Britain, the change is made literally overnight, with the exiting prime minister leaving 10 Downing Street as soon as the results are in. In France, Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy took office 10 days after winning election. Both timetables might be too abrupt for the U.S. system, but in the modern, fast-moving world, a transition period of more than 10 weeks is agonizingly and dangerously long. Presidential transition takes too long A new grassroots effort is aimed at keeping an eye on President Bush's lame duck administration during its final weeks. Recently, The Huffington Post, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Nation magazine, and others have discussed the potential dangers of the lame duck Bush administration quietly initiating highly politicized policies before Barack Obama's inauguration as President on January 20th. 'Finding Our Voices' Documentary Producers Urge Monitoring of Lame Duck Bush Presidency November 11, 2008 November 11, 2008 On Veterans Day, remember the soldiers America sent to war -- what's been asked of them, and what they need from us. November 11, 2008 I proposed that the citizens of the U.S. have to have patience, because Obama is not going to be able to make changes immediately. Fixing the economic crisis -- which seems to be the issue on everyone's mind -- is not something that will happen overnight, so we cannot expect the Dow to bounce back on January 21st. This being said, Obama is coming through big time. Today, Obama visited George W. Bush in the white house in order to push measures for dealing with the economic crisis. In a lame-duck period, there's a lot that needs to be dealt with, but not much motivation for the man who has already proved inept. Obama pushed three main issues: 1. Bush needs to push for a new economic stimulus package; 2. Help Detroit by speeding up the distribution of the $25 million dollar aid package for the auto industry; 3. With the impending rise of mortgage rates, homeowners should recieve aid in order to prevent further defaults. Barack Obama Pushes Bush So, we have awakened from not one, but two long nightmares. That was clear during Obama's gracious, moving and eloquent victory speech which in minutes snapped us out of the false and abominable construct of our racism, but also from the psychosis that has held us in its sway for so long. Of course, the psychosis was 9/11 and his speech, to me, heralded the end of the 9/11 era, one that turned so rapidly from unity to division to a form of mass hysteria over the past seven years. Finally, though, fear lost. Hope won. Restoring the American dream November 11, 2008 Meanwhile the rest of the country puzzled over a state that would knowingly re-elect a senator, Republican Ted Stevens, fresh from a conviction on seven counts of corruption. After all, it wasn't Alaskans who decided that Palin was prepared to be vice president of the United States. It was John McCain. But then there's Ted Stevens. Alaskans have to own up to this: They went to the polls and, on their own free will, apparently re-elected an elderly and arrogant convicted felon to the United States Senate. They had a good alternative choice, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Yet voters re-elected Stevens, fresh from claiming, under oath and with a straight face, that tens of thousands of dollars in furniture and other unreported gift were simply loaned to him, even some that he'd been using for as long as seven years. What's the matter with Alaska? This just in from Alaska, where thousands of new ballots continue to be found each day, since it was first reported that turnout in 2008 was 11% lower than in 2004. Thousands of ballots, nearly a third of them, remain uncounted nearly a week after the election. Their numbers could explain the strange results so far in races --- such as those of the felonious Sen. Ted Stevens (R) and the under-investigation Rep. Don Young (R) --- for which pollsters had predicted decisive losses for the Republicans. Alaska Update: Thousands of Ballots 'Found', One-Third Remain Uncounted in the State's Still-Fishy '08 Election November 11, 2008 Palin and John McCain's campaign faced a storm of criticism over the tens of thousands of dollars spent at such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus to dress the nominee. Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest. Palin sorts clothes to see what belongs to the RNC Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent part of the weekend going through her clothing to determine what belongs to the Republican Party after it spent $150,000-plus on a wardrobe for the vice presidential nominee, according to Palin's father. ... Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest. Palin's father, Chuck Heath, said his daughter spent the day Saturday trying to figure out what belongs to the RNC. "She was just frantically ... trying to sort stuff out," Heath said. "That's the problem, you know, the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for." So we now have it confirmed that there was an audit, that Palin was involved with it, and that some of the purchases were for underwear for the kids. What does she not lie about? The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XXIII: "The Clothes' Audit" November 5, 2008 November 5, 2008 So, we have awakened from not one, but two long nightmares. That was clear during Obama's gracious, moving and eloquent victory speech which in minutes snapped us out of the false and abominable construct of our racism, but also from the psychosis that has held us in its sway for so long. Of course, the psychosis was 9/11 and his speech, to me, heralded the end of the 9/11 era, one that turned so rapidly from unity to division to a form of mass hysteria over the past seven years. Finally, though, fear lost. Hope won. Election 08: Good Morning America, The Nightmares Are Almost Over Barack Obama's Victory Speech November 5, 2008 You could pinch the American dream on Election Day and hear a shout go up throughout the land ... "Obama, Obama, Obama." They are real, those ethereal ideals on which the country was founded. This is the dream of Thomas Jefferson, that all people are created equal. And it is the dream of Martin Luther King, who believed in a day when men would not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. This was not Barack Obama's victory, but a victory for all of those who believed in the dream when the reality seemed more like a nightmare. For those who cannot revel in this moment because they voted for another candidate or cling to hate like a life preserver in an angry sea, you are missing out on a historic celebration of freedoms hard won by your ancestors. An election win for the American dream November 4, 2008 November 4, 2008 On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be elected president and vice president of the United States. On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, Senator Obama will become the nation's 44th president. The victory of Senators Obama and Biden will also see the Democratic Party win decisive margins in both the House and Senate. On Election Day, therefore, we have a chance to set a new course for America, to reclaim our greatness, and to once more win the admiration of people the wide world over -- and that's why November 4 a majority of voters will elect Barack Obama our 44th president. President Obama previous Republican Elephant entries | next Republican Elephant entries > Republican Elephant home