Make it stop.  I really don't know if it is me or has the news no longer become the news?  I am finding that John McCain and his extended group of supporters are blatantly lying.  What astonishes me is that as the days go by the lying gets bolder and bolder.  Then it gets worse, the traditional media repeats and repeats the lie - no challenging of it, just repeating for what reason I just don't know.  It was very bad what the swiftboats did to Kerry - but it was sneaky and poor Bush had no control over them.  And the swiftboats had very little money BUT not to worry the traditional media picked up the tab.  But John McCain is proudly putting his name to the lies, be it taxes, energy, the military action in Iraq or the price of cheese in Pennsylvania...    

Having trouble remembering how many houses you have, John?

K, well...

I have to say that when I hear statements like "stupid fucking Americans" or "you Americans are so stupid" or "how stupid can Americans be" or any other similar statement it really bugs me.  Why does it bug me?  I guess that is because I am an American and I don't consider myself to be stupid but  I work internationally and unfortunately I hear things like this with some frequency and it got me thinking as to why people think Americans are stupid.

I believe that Americans are perceived as being stupid for more reasons than I can address, but what I can do is offer up my observations as to why we as Americans can come off as being stupid.  My only hope is that I can communicate what's in my head in a manner that doesn't come off as being...dumb:)  

I live in an apartment complex -- usually it is pretty peaceful. Today, we had a disturbance.

I walked outside because I was about to run an errand, and there was an egregious fight going on between a man and woman inside their apartment next door. It was extreme enough that people were standing outside and watching in horror, and several squad cars responded to a police call.

I could write about a lot of stuff tonight.

For almost a decade I have been tracking Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Corruption and since I became uid 9214, I’ve written about that work here on Daily Kos. For years, I have been writing about the many ways that John McCain covered-up the Abramoff Scandal.

I could write about how the Obama campaign is taking that fight to Curveball John:

There is more to that story and more reasons why McCain should worry about Jack, but I doubt it would break through the waves of panic shaking the netroots.

Yikes! The polls have tightened. Well, what did you expect?

Take a deep breath. Get a backbone. FOCUS.

It’s time to call out the summer supporters and sunshine campaigners.

To the jump...

Fuck the polls.

That’s my new slogan.

Warning: This is a rant. More Strong language below the fold

I waited till midnight to push the button to publish this.  I'm up past my bedtime - and I'm still angry enough to take the plunge.  I'll go back to writing saner diaries another day, or maybe writing no diaries at all, but I would be dishonest if I just sat on my hands and didn't share how I'm feelin' right about now.  So here it goes.

I'm still going to school and I live at home with my parents. I always thought I lived in a pretty nice neighborhood. I mean nice not as in well off, but one where the neighbors generally get along and you see lots of little kids playing outside. But after tonight I'm really wondering what happened to it. More after the flip.

Well, too bad about the whole Obama thing, huh?

Apparently the 2008 election for President ended today when the always reliable Zogby announced that John McCain will be elected over two months from now by 5%.

This is a HUGE relief for me because I was worried I might have to spend the fall making phone calls for Barack Obama and giving money to Barack Obama and maybe even flying somewhere on election day to go door to door for Barack Obama, but now that the election is over my family and I are freed up to go on our semi-annual, cross-country, tour of cities that claim to be the "Cheese Capitol" of America.

I'm lucky.  

That's what I've been told, anyway.  I'm lucky to have such great health insurance coverage.  The pharmacists marvel at my excellent coverage.  They've never seen such great coverage.

I'm so very lucky.

I know I'm not a famous blogger here at Daily Kos and my comments tend to garner only a smattering of recommends.  This diary is probably going to come across as whiney and I know that many readers DO give money to progressive candidates so I am not intentionally criticizing those people nor do I mean to criticize those who don't have money to spare but who dedicate themselves to electing Democrats thru activism.

I have been reading and posting here since about 2005.  I am not a wealthy person & the past year has been difficult for me.  but when the Front pagers & other posters here at Kos put out a call for contributions to their candidates, I try to help out.  Sometimes the amounts are small, but I do what I can because we need more progressives in Congress.

Yesterday, I decided to put out my own request for contributions for a progressive US Senate candidate, Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen), in what is considered one of the top Senate races in the country.  I offered & am offering to match contributions totalling up to $1,000 to people who contribute thru my Actblue page:  http://www.actblue.com/... .  Guess how many people stepped up to the plate?

Remember Georgia? no, not THAT Georgia, I mean the one OVER THERE, you know, next to Russia.

They just had a nifty little war (Nifty except for the death and destruction, of course, but hey, what's a little of that compared with the olympics?)

Of course, the pipeline is undamaged, thank goodness, otherwise somebody might lose money.

and who's making money off this little debacle?

Note: I posted this late yesterday, but I felt the need to post it again because this is that serious to me and hopefully to you. Thank you for any rec's and reading, and have a good day.

"The Best Political Team on Television", huh?

"The Most Trusted Name in News", huh?

"CNN= Politics", huh?

"More News than Other News in the Morning", huh?

Having a show that is "smart and independent", huh?

And finally, the kicker of all kickers: "We’re Keeping Them Honest," HUH?!

Cable News Network, correction, the neo-Cable News Network,  instead of saying you’re keeping someone else honest, I have a simple request for you:

Why DON’T YOU KEEP YOUR DAMN SELF HONEST!

"We cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves, from ourselves."
-Fictional Maverick John McCain

Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore.
-Fictional Character William Adama, Battlestar Galctica

I'm through with it.  I'm sick of listening to, as one diarist referred to it, The Legend of John McCain.  And because I am sick of it, because forcing myself to watch his zombie base mindlessly applaud his pandering, talking points performance at Rick Warren's bloated, ego driven Christianity for Happy and Bigoted Capitalists Forum unsettled me for the last three days, I am going to rant and attack.

I'm surprised to see this hasn't been diaried since the story broke last night. Or at least I haven't been able to find another diary (sorry if I missed it.)

Anyway, something like two weeks ago we talked a lot about the cops who smashed into some family's house (on a marijuana bust, no less!) and proceeded to terrorize the people... including murdering their two dogs.

Well, it's happened again...

Why not? Why doesn’t he choose somebody that we all disagree with? It will make it easier if he doesn't choose your guy.  You people in this community talk about that this person is bad that person is bad. Come people do you really support Barack Obama? I mean here's a guy who won the primaries by given you all a vision for America. But all I hear (or read) is that every person that is mention as a VP is bad. More after the fold.

[ The following is a thought stream that I wanted to get off my mind.  If you're looking for an informative read that's well researched on more productive subjects, I recommend this diary, or this one.  ]

I appreciate Andrea Mitchell having the courage to try to be a somewhat truthful reporter even under the circumstances she finds herself in*.  In what seemed to be her effort to try to maintain (at least to some degree) the respect of the American people and her viewers, she mentioned a reasonable question that some Obama supporters were expressing about the events of the faith forum, or whatever that thing was that Reverend Warren conducted.  It is a shame she is getting in trouble for it.  But really, are we surprised?

So it's my turn for a VP rant.  If you've read any of my posts you know I'm still gunning for Wesley Clark even though I've been told over and over about his son saying he's not the one and will be out of the country during the convention.  Blah, blah, blah.

Ok, here's the rules.  There are no sure things until Obama sends that first text message (although I wouldn't blame him if he sent out a premature joke one to screw with all the people sitting on the edge of their seats).

John McCain and Barack Obama testified before a large audience of Southern Baptists at the Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. They also used up a large chunk of prime time television.

It's not the debate that irks me a little; it's the idea that somebody's religious views are pertinent to the kind of leadership the country needs to get over the unholy mess created by our born-again President.

How about settling first on what's important in making a person "religious?" In the same way wearing a flag pin doesn't make someone patriotic, believing abortion is a sin doesn't make somebody Christian. After all, the views of fundamental Muslims and fundamental Christians regarding drinking are identical, as are the prohibitions on pork by Muslims and Jews.

I propose leaving religious debates to religious leaders and their followers and allowing the TV producers and their anchors to concentrate on the truly important rapes, murders and sporting events by which they uplift and enlighten our lives.