It's all a part of getting Americans to lower their expectations.

[Ilsa]

McCain could have asked another man or woman with much more education, experience, exposure to national and international issues to be his veep. But he wants us to believe that she is the tough mommy figure that will nurture and protect us. We are not supposed to expect our leaders to have exceptional qualifications, just his idea of "common sense". I believe more than common sense and a year of executive experience in Alaska is needed. It's more of the dumbing down of our country and encouraging us to have Low Expectations.

Frankly, my suspicion is that Rove et al told McCain to pick her and they would rig a victory for him. Then they would find a way to "retire" McCain unwillingly. Then, the neocons move in and run her as their puppet.

Frankly, I'm scared for our country.

[cliffordu]

1. I am too, and I do believe they could actually steal another one.

[snagglepuss]

2. I agree completely. I think McCain is out, he is a liabiltiy

and somehow or other he isnt going to be around much longer. Much of America, and definitely the Repuke base, is primed for a Forrest Gump type candidate and Palin fits that bill. My first reaction was they havent a chance with Palin but after some thought I too share your concern.

[cottonseed]

3. Another President to drink a beer with.

Or as Andrea Mitchell can't stop repeating, to eat moose burgers with. Our press is killing us.

[Ilsa]

4. They seem to like her. I guess having that degree

in common with her makes them feel special. They are unashamably contributing to pumping her up. The GOP and MSM want us to have low expectations for our leaders and for our personal lives.

[Peace Patriot]

5. I agree that psyops are being run on us. I have thought it was more to insult us

than to lower our expectations--although the two are closely related, of course.

Bush/Cheney was an insult. McBush/Palin is even more of an insult.

If you are a far rightwing billionaire, like Howard Ahmanson, who wants the death penalty for homosexuals (gave one million dollars to a far rightwing religious group which does), and also the major financier of ES&S (brethren to Diebold--the two biggest election theft corporations), what better way to inflict your monstrous mind on the American people, than to rig the election for a moron, thus to spit on two hundred years of social progress, and everything we hold dear?

These fuckwads have the capability to do it. The EASY capability. (And our Democrats have been so lacking in vigilance over the voting system as to arouse strong suspicions that they are in on it). Our voting system is now entirely non-transparent, and in private, corporate, far rightwing control (via the 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY code in all the voting systems, with virtually no audit/recount controls).

So they CAN do it. Whether they will or not is kind of a crap shoot. I think it's possible they will let Obama win (with a fraudulently shaved mandate), and then really crash the economy, blame everything on him, and install Hitler II in 2012. Or some other scenario that involves continued massive looting of our federal and state treasuries, corporate resource wars, and further savaging of the Constitution and the rule of law.

They have the power. Why wouldn't they use it? But they might use it more subtly than in 2004--something more along the lines of 2006 (fool the people into believing that they are voting for a Congress that will end the war and hold the Bush-Cheney criminals accountable).

As long as the vote counting continues to take place out of the PUBLIC venue, we can't know-- we can only guess--how they are using their 'TRADE SECRET' code power.

We must change this. We must. It is our last chance at democracy, here. And it can be done. It is still possible at the state/local level, where power over the voting systems still resides, and where ordinary people still have some influence. But it will take a big, multi-front citizens movement. That could be another motive for the Corpos letting us win this one time--to prevent the massive dumping of these goddamn voting machines into 'Boston Harbor' (so to speak). Obama wins, the election reform activists get marginalized by the Corpo media even more than they are now (and the Democratic leadership puts an "Iron Curtain" over the subject, as they did in 2004), BOOM! Great Depression II! Or some other kind of BOOM. And our democracy is over, forever.

The key to restoring our democracy is not Obama's (s)election, but getting rid of the voting machines. As long as these fascist Corpos have the power to overturn our elections, we don't really have a democracy--whether they permit Obama to win, or not.

Rightwing fuckwad power over the vote count is paralleled by, and supported by, their control over the Corpo media, which pre-writes the narratives for the stolen elections (or just simply broadcasts and prints Rove's faxes and emails, verbatim). These 'narratives' are immensely insulting--not to mention de-moralizing. Just one example: In 2004, the grass roots Democrats blew the Bushites away in new voter registration, nearly 60/40. Then, after that (s)election, Rove (or maybe Cheney) was asked, what accounted for their win?, and he replied, "Our get out the vote campaign in the churches." There is no evidence for a successful Bushite GOTV "in the churches"--none! And the Corpo media didn't ask for any--and furthermore ignored all evidence to the contrary. Cuz that was the pre-written narrative. Facts don't matter.

We can't do anything about restoring PUBLIC control over our airwaves, or busting Corpo 'news' monopolies, until we have restored vote counting to the PUBLIC venue, and can begin electing real representatives of the people. No one--NO ONE!--neither Democrat nor Republican--currently holding public office can prove that he or she was actually elected. No one!

What I think happened, with the Obama campaign, is that they got an early edge against the Corpos' choice (Hillary) in the caucus states--which are NOT counted by Diebold & brethren, with the big support of anti-war volunteers (representing the SEVENTY PERCENT anti-Iraq War MAJORITY in the country); he then got vetted and approved by the Corpos, as a candidate (not yet as president), and they permitted him to win in some of the 'Diebold' primaries; he beat Clinton, moved to the right on nearly everything, got vetted again, and whether they permit him to win in November will depend on that final vetting (based on the Corpo/fascist long term plan, whatever it is).

Our votes, our volunteer energy and our donations can keep Obama viable, but we cannot put him in the White House without the Corpos' (rightwing fuckwads', war profiteers', global corporate predators') approval. No, I won't say "can't." There is an outside chance that we could outvote the machines, with a big enough turnout, and a lot of vigilance over the voting systems and the voting (--a deterrent). But understand that they did, in truth, steal a Democratic landslide in 2004 (combo of the 'TRADE SECRET' code and massive suppression of black and other Democratic votes), and they can do it again, easily. The risk of civil unrest is greater this time. And for that, they have the "Patriot Act," and all the police state fire power they've accumulated over the last eight years. They may want civil unrest. We don't know.

And this, my friends, is not democracy. We have remnants of democracy--the non-Diebold caucus voting, some freedom of speech (but not the right to be heard) (--and we should ask the gagged Librarians about the status of our freedom of speech!), some freedom of movement (and talk to those on the "no fly" list), some quite limited freedom of assembly, and so forth. And our right to transparent vote counting has been entirely lost. So, how much of a democracy is it? Damn little. And that isn't going to change until we restore transparent vote counting. It is the essential, bottom-line requirement of democracy.

Don't be scared, Ilsa! It's wasted energy. And don't be fooled that an Obama win is the be-all and end-all of restoring our democracy. It is not. It may help us, if we take advantage of the respite from outright fascism and massive looting, to restore transparent vote counting and strengthen other democratic institutions. But we can, and we must, do that, whoever the Corpos decide to (s)elect in November. If they steal it, don't riot--march down to your local registrar, with all your neighbors marching with you, and DEMAND transparent vote counting! If we do this in every county in the country, they don't have the troops to rescue all the corrupt registrars from a determined, outraged public. A focused but multi-front revolt. Peaceful, but very determined.

And if they don't steal it from him, we may actually have a more difficult problem: the citizenry going dormant again, trusting that Obama will fix everything. He can't. And, on private, rightwing Corpo SECRET vote counting, he hasn't said anything (that I know of) to indicate that he will even try. It's up to us.

[mnhtnbb]

6. Obama not only can't fix everything, he can't fix anything without Congressional support.

It is imperative that not only Obama be elected, but he needs a big Dem majority in Congress. I don't care how much he believes he's going to work with Republicans; they aren't going to go along. Look what
we've had since 2006!

[Peace Patriot]

8. Yeah, well, I think that, along with a fraudulently shaved mandate, they will give

Obama another Congress like this one--full of 'Blue Dog' Democrats, who want to cut everything in the budget except war spending. And they won't have any problem "working with Republicans" to maintain protection of the oil contracts in Iraq, promoting other Corpo/war profiteer projects, and preventing reform. They, of the single digit approval rating!

Diebold and brethren control ALL of our election results--our Democratic primaries (except for the caucus states), Republican primaries, and general elections, including the elections of every public office in the country from dogcatcher to president.

They can do pretty much whatever they want. You wonder WHY a 'Democratic' Congress, supposedly elected by the people specifically to end the war on Iraq, has a single digit approval rating? This is why. The people intended one thing; Diebold & brethren intended another.

Of course, they have to contend with various forces within the Corpo establishment--some for torture, some not; some for gas gouging, others not (airline corpos, global market-dependent corpos); some for destroying the American middle class, others for milking it a bit longer; some realizing that, after a certain point, war is bad for business, others now utterly dependent on the fed/war milktrain; and some realizing that we need to put on nicer face to South America, for instance, cuz the new leftist governments that cover almost the whole continent are swiftly moving toward a South American "Common Market," not including the U.S-- and others who would (and have plans to) use force to try to prevent it.

But what is appallingly clear is that the American people (north American) are NOT among the forces that Diebold & brethren have to contend with--except in the improbable case of our outvoting their election theft machines. Not impossible, but quite difficult. And against that possibility, they have other voter purge and vote suppression techniques available (including high tech ones), as well as the Corpo 'news' media and their non-stop, 24/7 fascist propaganda (inducing demoralization and despair).

"We need"--as you say--a Democratic sweep in the House and Senate races--just to have a bit of a respite from the blood-drenched fascist Corpos, and, although I'm all for citizens yelling loud and clear, and often, at these fuckwads in Congress, about what we want, I think we should be prepared for VERY LIMITED and also TEMPORARY change...IF the Corpos PERMIT Obama to win.

And this situation--the exclusion of the people from OUR government, and the defiance of our will on most of the important issues--is going to continue until we get rid of private, corporate, SECRET vote counting.

Obama cannot fix this--neither the privatized voting system, nor the ravages of the fascist coup that it produced. They will kill him, if he tries to--either directly, by assassination, or indirectly by Diebold (in '10 and '12), or by character assassination in the Corpo media. WE have to fix it. It's our country. It's our voting system. It's our democracy that is at grave risk. We have a window of opportunity, while voting systems are still locally controlled. The window will be in constant peril of being closed by Congressional action. We need to get on this during the voting in November--close monitoring, improved analysis, gathering info--and we really need to get on it afterward, and not give up until it's done.

What the hell are we doing letting private, rightwing Corpos 'count' all our votes with SECRET code?! We cannot let this stand. We MUST change this while we still have the chance--or the Obama respite (if that's what the Corpos are going to permit) will be short-lived, and, by the end of the next decade, the U.S. of A. will be the biggest "banana republic" the world has ever seen. Ironic, isn't it? While South America is getting its act together, we continue to be mercilessly looted and our democracy, and our Constitution, torn asunder.

[Ilsa]

7. Absolutely fantastic post! You are correct.

Okay, I'll agree not to be scared, but vigilant. And we have to make voting systems a major priority or it is over (the 200 year democratic experience).

[Peace Patriot]

9. There are some who say it's over already. I do not agree!

In fact, I think we have the opportunity, and a good chance, at creating the most profound revolution that has ever occurred here--beyond anything dreamt of, or achieved, in the past--a revolution comparable to the 18th century "Enlightenment" and the end of the tyranny of the Medieval Catholic Church, whose pervasive, international, land-grabbing and soul-caging power had dominated Europe for more than a thousand years. Our Corporate Rulers are hauntingly similar to the Medieval Church--in their intense, monopolistic propaganda machine, their cross-border power, their dictation to national leaders, their creation of their own laws and demands for special exemptions from local laws, their top-down organization, their monopoly power over books, language and literacy, and their pervasive influence--so pervasive that the subjects of it could not even see it. It was the air they breathed.

Sound familiar? Imagine a world in which we strip the Corpos--these international gangsters--of their power. Imagine a democracy in which we are able to pull their corporate charters, dismantle them when they get too big, and seize their assets for the common good. We have that right. We are the sovereign people of this land. WE say who does business here, and on what terms.

And the reason I have hope that this can happen here is that it is happening in South America--in a really quite amazing, peaceful, democratic, leftist revolution, led by the Bolivarian countries (Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador), in close alliance with the other leftist leaders--and is starting to happen in Central America, as well. Honduras--Honduras, of all places--just the other day joined the Bolivarian trade group, ALBA. Nicaragua recently elected a leftist government (close ally of the Bolivarians). Guatemala just elected its first social democrat government, ever. El Salvador's leftist is leading in the polls (election next year). And Mexico almost elected a leftist two years ago, and will next time.

Here is the list of leftist or way leftist governments in South America: Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and now Paraguay--of all places--this year just elected a leftist president and ally of the Bolivarians.

The goals of this movement are, first of all, restoration of the SOVEREIGNTY of Latin American countries (sovereignty over their land and resources, control of their own economies--as opposed to U.S./Corpo control); second, social justice; third, cooperation with each other to achieve these goals. It is a very practical, very democratic, very peaceful revolution--and a very determined one. And one of the keys to it, I have noticed in studying it, as it has unfolded, is TRANSPARENT VOTE COUNTING--honest, verifiable elections.

If the South Americans can do it, so can we.

Imagine a powerhouse of democratic countries, covering the length and breadth of the western hemisphere--South America, Central America, the U.S. and Canada--working cooperatively to evict or dismantle the bad actors in our business scene--the Exxon Mobil's and the Halliburton's and the Diebold's and the Bechtel's, and all the war profiteers and credit card usurers and gas gougers and insurance and pharmaceutical and agricultural monsters, and together creating a thriving, social justice, fair trade economy.

Our Corpos are the ones who are afraid, believe me. They fear this like the devil. And they have poured enormous energy into non-stop propaganda about the South American left. Ask almost anybody here, and they will tell you that Hugo Chavez is a "dictator." Ask them why they think that, and they cannot tell you. It is a psyops campaign, which turns off the rational brain and fills it with vague impressions and whispers. Chavez = dictator. Chavez = dictator. Chavez = dictator. You are falling into a deep sleep. Chavez = dictator....

It is an absurd charge--and one with absolutely no foundation in facts and evidence. Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, recently said, of Chavez: "You can criticize Chavez on a lot of things, but not on democracy."

The South Americans know this. Our people don't. And this is my point: To reverse the truth--to tell a bald-faced lie like this, and make it stick--requires a lot of motivation. The Corpos are terrified that Chavez's very sensible ideas about the use of resources (to bootstrap the poor), democracy (maximum citizen participation), and the proper place of corporate entities within a democracy (they must play by the rules set by the sovereign people of the country), will leak north and infect us with notions of good government and our own latent power as a people. And the thing they really fear is not Chavez--who is just one leader of this remarkable revolution--but the people, there and here, and our collective democratic power.

[Undercurrent]

10. I'm scared for our country too.

I'd been wondering for some time just what kind of trick the neocons would pull on us.