The Hypocrisy of Hasselbeck at Palin Rally

I cringed when I first heard a few days ago that Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View would be speaking at a Palin rally this week. While Elizabeth was fighting for her own opinions when Rosie O’Donnell was moderator of The View, I defended Elizabeth’s right to have her own opinions many times. I still agree she is entitled to her own opinions.

But now, not only do I not have the desire to defend her opinions any more; I actually become sickened every time she opens her mouth. Elizabeth now has the nerve to accuse Palin opponents of being "fixated on her wardrobe" and "deliberately sexist."

I do not agree with Elizabeth, in fact, I think her comments show the hypocrisy in the republican campaign. The true sexism here was when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate to begin with. My opinion is that the McCain campaign so wanted to capitalize on the fact there were eligible voters out there who may have been disappointed that Hillary didn’t win her party’s nomination, that they were willing to select ANY woman as a running mate. It seemed that McCain believed that disillusioned female voters would be dumb enough to vote for any woman at all, regardless of qualifications, just because she was a woman.

That is sexism. And the McCain campaign only has themselves to blame by selecting someone with such thin credentials as Palin, which only has invited scrutiny on every level possible. By the way, if I recall correctly, it was the republicans that released the information on the wardrobe to begin with.

According to CNN, Palin stated at that same rally:

"This whole thing with the wardrobe, you know I have tried to just ignore it because it is so ridiculous, but I am glad now that Elisabeth brought it up, cause it gives me an opportunity without the filter of the media to get to tell you the whole clothes thing," she said.

"Those clothes, they are not my property. Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased, I'm not taking them with me. I am back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska. You'd think — not that I would even have to address the issue because, as Elisabeth is suggesting, the double standard here it's — gosh, we don't even want to waste our time."

Personally I do not have a problem with the campaign footing the bill for some clothing for her. But, I do have issue with the overall price tag. She did not need designer clothes. I’ve bought dress suits off the rack for years that look great and don’t cost a lot. Same for my dress shoes – I have 5-6 pair of dress pumps that look stylish and were priced reasonably. I probably could have done very well with less than one tenth of that $150K for my wardrobe for a political campaign. But, then again, I’m not one of those “elite” people that have to wear something with a designer label. So here’s one woman who isn’t being sexist when I say that Palin would have scored more points with voters - and women - had she resisted the urge to buy the expensive stuff. And frankly, if this is Palin’s biggest worry that she has to make it part of her campaign speeches, she’s not ready for the office of Vice President.

And Elizabeth, it’s time to put a zipper on it.

Clip of Elizabeth at Tampa, Florida Palin Rally


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McCain and Palin: Honeymoon Over?

Apparently, there is trouble in the McCain/Palin campaign. CNN is reporting that advisors and sources close to the campaign say that Palin seems to be “going rogue” and has been going off message. In all honesty, in the recent interview that McCain and Palin had with NBC’s Brian Williams, I swear that McCain seemed a little uncomfortable every time Palin opened her mouth and added something to comments he had made.

It seems that the trouble between the presidential candidate and his running mate are getting harder to hide. One aid reported to CNN:

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

They also report that "A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign. "


While I am sure that all presidential campaigns have some friction between running mates, it seems clear that it this case, the nature of the problems seem to validate the fact that Palin isn’t ready for the big leagues, and McCain should have chosen someone else as his running mate.

You can read the entire article on the CNN web site, here. The interviews with Brian Williams are also below.

The NBC Nightly News Interviews with Brian Williams
Part 1


Part 2


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Who Regulates the Regulators?

With hearings going on right now by the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee to review the recent financial crisis, something is becoming very clear to me.

The regulators haven’t been regulating. And it seems like none of them – Alan Greenspan and his successors, the banks and financial institutions, etc. – didn’t see the financial collapse coming. Some financial people and regulators made comments before the implosion that things were going to go bad, but they did nothing to alert the right people or to take corrective action. A perfect example of the attitude could be found at Standard & Poors, as evidenced by an email from 2006 (yes, 2006) that stated “Let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters.” So, even in 2006, some knew that the country’s financial framework was shaky at best.

It seems that the regulators have been derelict in their own duties. Was it their own greed? Was it that they were just terrified what would happen if they blew the whistle? Was it incompetence? Laziness? Indifference? Fear?

The more the hearings continue, the more I realize that there isn’t anyone minding the store. Sure, we have regulators, but it appears that their role was nothing more than to be window dressing.

The first thing that comes to mind is that we may need some “grand, all-knowing, all seeing overseer” who is in charge of all these financial processes and will take care to make sure they all are doing their jobs. But wait, what happens if the “grand, all-knowing, all seeing overseer” doesn’t do their job? And why must we add more government and more bureaucracy just because some people aren’t doing the jobs they are supposed to be doing?

We need to first look at those government agencies that are in charge right now and assess the level of competence of the people at the top, and clean house and bring in new blood, starting with the Fed and the Treasury. While the SEC is not the apparent cause of the stock market’s recent collapse – the collapse being an after-effect of the financial crisis – it does seem that some trading methods and practices need to be reviewed and possibly eliminated or re-tooled. Tight controls need to be put in place for hedge funds, which operate as if this is the Wild West. And companies like Standard & Poors or Moody’s that evaluate and rate stocks need to be audited themselves and if evidence that they ignored signs of trouble in the housing market and/or with financial companies and they did not reflect it in their ratings, they should be charged with fraud and face stiff fines. And, since it appears that these places profited from the housing market as long as they continued to rate companies favorably I think there was definitely too many conflicts of interest that go unchecked in the financial markets.

I admit, I don’t know the answer to the problem. I suppose that a “grand, all-knowing, all seeing overseer” would help, but I would prefer that these agencies just do the job they are paid to do. Is that too much to ask? But where does it end? The buck must stop someplace. Whatever the government decides to do, the American people should ask for complete transparency in everything these people are doing, and even the smallest tidbit of information on what these people do should be made public. I am sure there are millions and millions of Americans who would be more than happy to help keep an eye on the country’s financial health and would be quick to blow the whistle if anything improper is discovered. Count me in!




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The Frequent Critic Endorses Barack Obama for President

AP Photo Obama in St. Louis Oct 18

The big endorsements for the presidential elections are starting. We recently had the Washington Post , The LA Times, and the Chicago Tribune endorse Senator Barack Obama for President. My local metro area newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer also endorsed Obama, along with several other Ohio newspapers. And today, on NBC’s Meet The Press, Former Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell gave Obama his seal of approval.

So, now is a good time as any to throw in my 2 cents. I know I am just a tiny speck compared to these large national newspapers, but I felt it important that I make it official that “The Frequent Critic” also endorses Barack Obama for President. This should be of no surprise to any regular readers of my blog.

I admit that I can’t add much to all the wonderful things that the other “endorsers” have had to say about Barack Obama. But I do feel the need to add something. He’s the first politician in a long time that I truly believe that I can trust to do the right thing for the country and for its people. He is intelligent and is able to convey his thoughts and ideas in a calm, rational, and respectful manner, and this talent can help him to restore world respectability to the United States of America. I actually donated money to his political campaign. Not very much, mind you, but it was more a symbolic gesture for me. I have never felt the need to add to a politician’s campaign fund until Obama became the Democratic nominee, and my desire to see him succeed made me actually open my wallet and put my money where my mouth is. To say it plainly – I like him, and that's something that I have been unable to say about any political candidate since I started voting in 1973.

If you haven’t had a chance to read all the other endorsements, which are much more thoughtful than mine, I have some of the excerpts below.

And most importantly, whomever you want to win on Election Day, just be sure to actually VOTE. That’s the only way to make sure that your candidate of choice is represented.



Excerpts from Endorsements:

Colin Powell: "I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama,"

Washington Post : Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

The LA Times.: Our nation has never before had a candidate like Obama, a man born in the 1960s, of black African and white heritage, raised and educated abroad as well as in the United States, and bringing with him a personal narrative that encompasses much of the American story but that, until now, has been reflected in little of its elected leadership. The excitement of Obama's early campaign was amplified by that newness. But as the presidential race draws to its conclusion, it is Obama's character and temperament that come to the fore. It is his steadiness. His maturity.


Chicago Tribune : We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready…This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Cleveland Plain Dealer : He is young and obviously cannot match the government experience of his Republican opponent, John McCain. But from the moment he electrified the 2004 Democratic Convention by declaring that America's shared values must trump its racial, religious and ideological divisions, Obama has demonstrated uncommon grace, confidence and intelligence.

Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope, to be realistic in the face of great problems and to trust in one another. To minorities and other Americans on the margins, he offers living proof that this nation can fulfill its ideals. To the world, he offers quite literally a different face, one that embodies America's diversity and boundless opportunity.

That is a recipe for the fresh leadership this nation desperately needs. And it is why we urge his election as the 44th president of the United States.





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Enough of “Joe The Plumber” Already!

First and foremost, last night’s debate was very good, and Bob Schieffer was an excellent moderator, probably the best of the bunch this election season. And I liked the format better than all the other debates because it actually made it seem like a debate.

The person who got the most media coverage from last night’s presidential debate wasn’t one of the candidates. No – it was Joe the Plumber.

The fact that McCain brought up Joe the Plumber – his real name is Joe Wurzelbacher – makes me think that Joe was a republican plant in the crowd when Barack made his appearance.

But, now there are allegations that Joe isn’t even a registered voter. Hopefully, there is someone out there in the national media that can verify this and determine if this allegation is true. If it is, this could make McCain look bad for not completely vetting Joe out before he used him as an example in the debate.

But registered voter or not, I think that for McCain to focus on one person’s plight so heavily in the debate tells me that he’s out of touch. Sure, the American Dream is to earn lots of money and have lots of nice things. But the problem is that most Americans can still only dream of buying a company as Joe the Plumber said he was going to be doing. There are many people out there who are having trouble just putting food on their tables, gas in their cars, and paying their utility bills. While I can understand Joe feeling squeezed because he may have to pay a little more in taxes, I think that there are many Americans who would be happy to pay a little more in takes if they made even half or less of what Joe dreams to make.

So Joe, don’t expect many Americans to have a pity party for you. There are many people out there who wish they had your problem of having too much money.

By the way, check out the pictures after the video.

Here’s the debate excerpt




Here’s the encounter in question:





PS: Here are two pictures of the same scene taken from last night’s debate. They look like they couldn’t possibly be real, but I assure you they are not doctored in any way. What kind of a face is that on McCain? One of the pictures, from Reuters, was captioned with this:

US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, October 15, 2008. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008)

(Reuters - above)

You can write your own captions too. It could be fun!


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Voter Fraud, Voter Registration Fraud, or Red Herring?

There has been a lot of coverage in the news about the group ACORN and allegations of fraud. Many people are calling it voter fraud, but since there seems to be safeguards in place to make sure that voter registrations are validated, I don’t think any voter fraud has yet been committed .

Republicans are having a fit over ACORN and their registration practices. Let me go on record here that I think that ACORN’s methods in some cases are questionable and deserve scrutiny. It is possible that their method of compensating their workers is partly to blame for so many multiple registrations for one person. And ACORN says that they validate the registrations and flag any that are questionable. But, I put even more blame in the hands of people who are dumb enough to register more than once.

There is no reason to believe that various election boards don’t already have solid processes in place to catch multiple registrations. Since in many states some form of ID with the voter’s address must be presented at voting, it’s another way to prevent multiple votes for the same voter. I can’t se ACORN being a part of a larger operation to fake the registrations AND the identifications.

Here is an article from The Guardian, a UK publication. It has an interesting report on this situation, and since it’s a UK paper, many American may not have even see it. Here’s is an except, you can read the full story here.

…Despite the screaming wall-to-wall coverage of "Democratic voter fraud in 11 swing states" as seen on Fox News and even the once-respectable CNN, none of it's true. None of it.

In just the last week, we've had a phoney stunt raid in swing state Nevada (where Acorn had been cooperating with officials for months, concerning problem canvassers they'd long ago fired); a Republican election official in swing state Missouri tell Fox News that she's being beseiged with fraudulent registration forms from Acorn (in a county where they've not done any registration work since August); a Republican sheriff in swing state Ohio, who, the very next day, suddenly requested the names and addresses of hundreds of early voters (with evidence of exactly zero wrong doing, but lots of Democratic-leaning college student in the particular county, and John McCain's state campaign chair as a partner in the investigation); and a screaming front page headline in Rupert Murdoch's New York Post about a guy who claims he was somehow tricked by Acorn into registering 72 times (but read the article closely to note he says he registered at the same address each time, which, even if true, would allow him - you guessed it - precisely one legal vote.)

It's an old Republican scam, but it's never been carried out with more zeal than this year. The Republicans have been putting so much time, money and resources into the propaganda leading up to this over the last four years, we should have expected no less.

All this said, I think ACORN does deserve some scrutiny for their registration practices. In fact, I don’t know why it has to be so hard to register to vote that we even need an organization like ACORN. The whole process needs to be reviewed.

But voter fraud – not quite.

PS: Here's something that I just got in my email after I made this blog entry. It looks like the RNC is using this ACORN issue now as an excuse to ask for more money. The XXXs are where they inserted my name. (By the way, I get RNC & McCain emails just so I can see what they are saying.)

Dear XXX,

Every election, it's the same old song and dance from the Democrats and their liberal allies when it comes to donor and vote fraud.

This year, the Obama-Biden campaign broke their pledge to accept public financing during the general election. Now it turns out they padded their coffers with contributions from "mystery" donors that don't exist (as reported by Newsweek).

They will soon be trying to pad their totals at ballot boxes across the country with votes from voters that do not exist. From Ohio and Florida to Wisconsin and Nevada, there are reports of fraudulent voter registration forms being submitted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a liberal group that is dedicating its resources to electing the Obama-Biden Democrats.

What's worse is the Obama-Biden campaign has funneled more than $800,000 to ACORN for work on get-out-the-vote activities conducted by the left-leaning organization.

XXX, we must fight back against attempts by Democrats at vote fraud and ensure the integrity of our democracy. Please join our effort to keep our elections clean and fair by making a secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or $35 to RNC Victory 2008 today.

The Democrats have proven they will do and say whatever it takes to win this election. This isn't the first time they've tried to inflate voter rolls with false names and take money from questionable sources -- and it won't be the last.

But this time we are ready for the liberals' deceitful tactics. We will not stand for the stealing of elections -- the tainting of our democracy -- by those who wish to subvert the rule of law.

Your secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or $35 to RNC Victory 2008 will support Republicans committed to building a safer, more prosperous America and help hold the Democrats and their left-wing allies accountable for their actions.

XXX, voting is one of our nation's most sacred rights. Do your part to protect the integrity of our elections -- support RNC Victory 2008 today. Thank you.

Best Wishes,
Robert M. "Mike" Duncan
Chairman, Republican National Committee

P.S. XXX, the outcome of the 2008 election is too important to the future of our country to be conducted unfairly. Please help us fight back against vote fraud and elect Republicans committed to the rule of law by making a secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50 or $35 to RNC Victory 2008 today. Thank you.


Unbelievable!


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The McCain Town Hall Wander

John McCain’s performance in last week’s “town hall” debate caught the eye of the late night talk show hosts and comedians. It seems that John just couldn’t manage to remain seated while Barack Obama spoke, and seemed to wander about the stage. I was also interested in the weird gestures and facial expressions he sometimes made while Barack was speaking. Not only did the wandering show disrespect to his political opponent, but so did the gestures and facial expressions. Was John trying to show how comfortable he is in “town hall” sessions? If that was the case, it didn’t work for me. He seemed a little too much like a caged animal who couldn't wait to get out.

So you also can enjoy McCain’s wanderings, here is a video of a group of clips from the late night and comedic talk show hosts.


The McCain Wander




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