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Turmoil in the markets combined with the Bush Administration's panicked request for $700 Billion -- more than the war in Iraq has cost to date, is having an effect on voter opinion. Our lead story in our "changing every day" news service sheds the spotlight on The Washington Post's 9/24 story "Economic Fears Give Obama Clear Lead Over McCain in Poll."
We recommend additional reading:
When you look at "Alternative Solutions ... ", pay close attention to whether home owners are going to get assistance ... or whether the big bucks will only go to the big gambling mortage investment companies, and also ask yourself whether tax papers need to guarantee the golden parachutes of failing company executives. In some cases, those parachutes are worth as much as $2.5 billion ... which seems quite a bit to us ... especially when in the words of Steve Pearlstein, none of these high rollers have let the words "I'm sorry" cross their lips.
The real Sarah Palin is unveiled in the 9/13/08 issue of the New York Times. Written by Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman and Michael Powell, we challenge you to read this story.
If in fact, you read only one thing today, read this one.
"Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Fired Foes"
Notice how she embraces secrecy.
Didn't eight years of secrecy from W and Cheney do enough damage?
Weren't Cheney's secret "oil & gas" meetings? ... and the selling of the Iraq war (when they knew their were NO weapons of mass distruction? ... and the politization of the Justice Department? ... and _________(fill in the blanks) enough?
Lots of people have great expectations for this election, but one central question that is most difficult for the pundants to predict is, "Could Obama's inability to pull away from John McCain really come down to his skin color?"
For the record ... here at My Rural America, we believe rural citizens should make their decisions on facts that benefit rural America and ALL of America's economy, national security and individual freedoms. Oh yes!! ... and add health care and educational opportunity to that list, too.
But the question that is asked in, "What Small Town America is Saying About Obama" is whether this election is only going to be about race. The story, written by Dan Hoyle for Salon.com, is a complicated one and we urge you to read it. Overall, the way Hoyle describes the dilemna is, "Beyond Obama's race, what I found was a more complicated set of concerns -- whether accurately informed or not -- about his religious faith, values and cultural and educational background. That is, many of these white rural voters expressed a discomfort that may have more to do with unfamiliarity about the type of person Barack Obama is, rather than with direct concerns about his race." Read more here.
Jim Hightower, former Texas Rail Commissioner, prolific author and consistent radio commentator writes,
"Living in a small town and being able to field dress a moose does not make Palin a populist, no matter how much pundits want to pretend it does."
Read more of Hightower's wisdom on Alternet at "Sarah Palin's Faux Populism."
It's a fact that faux populism is certainly Sarah's signature identity. What also a fact is how Sarah's been talking down to those of us who live, treasure or work for rural America. It's also outrageous -- What's turned out to be her assumption that we'll just all sit back and believe her no matter what she says. Does she think rural Americans can't read? or just that we're really, really gullible?
Over time, we'll share more examples of her less than factual nonsense, but for today, we're limiting ourselves to just one example, i.e., she started bragging in St.Paul and has not quit that she was "against that bridge to nowhere" when the reality is she was for the "bridge to nowhere" before she was against it.
Months ago in Iowa, it was John McCain who said NO to the Farm Bill, adding his voice to Bush's Farm Bill VETO. Their's was a big NO to the hope that our country could become energy independent.
Now the Republican Platform has confirmed McCain's big NO to ethanol. This platform rejection is a really BIG NO since once again it confirms McCain's opposition to our country's hopes of becoming energy independent.
Then, to add insult to injury, McCain anointed Sarah Palin, new Governor of Alaska, as his VP choice, and Sarah immediately proclaimed herself expert on energy policy, but this self-proclaimed expertise can only be considered true if "energy" is defined as "oil and gas" ... and even then, there's little evidence that her expertise is actually backed by legitimate science. Forget ethanol. Forget solar. Forget wind. Forget polar bears. Forget global warming. Just plain forget, since essentially everything we know must be forgotten except for VP Dick Cheney's early-in-the-Bush-Administration secret meeting with the oil industry. I'm not sure we know yet the names of all the oil and gas industry folks who planned and plotted, but we certainly know the results, i.e., oil industry profits were the name of the game, with the result that every time we fill up our car's gas tank or get the bill for home heating, we pay more ... and more ... and more.
Of course, Sarah has proclaimed herself a budget expert, too ... since Alaska is about the only state whose budget has gotten stronger in these days of escalating energy prices.
Jerry Hagstrom, DTN's political correspondent has written a very thoughtful piece about how even the most dedicated farm leaders who have been traditionally Republican are taking the news that once again, the conservative back door has slammed shut on the hopes of Americans who previously were still loyal to the conservatives. See Hagstrom's story at "Leaders Weigh Changes in Republican Ethanol Platform".
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