I’d like to address the people who engineered the failed McCain campaign. And I’d like to go beyond McCain’s obvious inattention to the Wright/ Resco/ Farrikhan/Ayers associations of his opponent until too late in the campaign, his obvious inarticulation of core Conservative values (underscored by the fact that he’s only posing as a Conservative), and his inability to distance himself from the extreme inarticulation of another Conservative poser, President Bush)…I would like to take a moment to reduce your failure to two, simple words. Hear me now, and believe me later: Teeth whitener!

For months we have been viewing the candidates faces, placed side-by-side in the news, both Senators smiling big toothy grins. Barack Obama with that dazzling set of pearly whites…juxtaposed with John McCain, and those awful, yellowed teeth. Ya know…you can bookend yourself with hot babes all you want, (his hot wife, his hot Veep candidate)…and it doesn’t remove the ‘Eeeuw!’ factor from those old-man, yellow teeth.
Now, I wouldn’t go for the Halogen-glare of Joe ‘Caps-n-Plugs’ Biden…but come on! Put those trays in, John! Forty-five minutes, Cindy will remind you. You’re a war hero, God bless you, but even war heroes can have whiter teeth. Just a word of advice to future campaign strategists – while you’re out there on the stump raising millions, don’t forget a simple $300 treatment for teeth whitening. That could be the best money you spend.

Now on to our national preoccupation of Race! I just witnessed on the news, Condoleeza Rice announce her congrats to Prez-elect Obama, and mentioning a particular ‘pride as an African-American on this historic occasion’.

I guess I’m just naive. I thought the race ceiling was gone, I thought we were beyond that years ago. Past the scenes of Blacks dancing in the streets because O.J. Simpson was released, (even though everyone knew he did it), past racial epithets, Black Panther intimidation, White Power, Black Power, back-of-the-bus racist crap that’s mired our society in division and hatred for centuries. I thought we had grown past all that.
I thought we were all enlightened to the color-blind society Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of so eloquently years ago. Apparently not. Apparently it’s a big deal a Black man gets elected President of the United States, remarkable solely for the color of his skin. Okay, then…I am sufficiently chastened. Consider me clued in.

And yet, something about the comment from the Madame Secretary of State struck me as odd, as plain flat-out weird. I know her to be a Conservative. And yet she announces her pirde that an avowed Liberal, sorry, ‘Progressive’ (some say Socialist) just won the highest office in the land. I’m a white dude…and yet I can’t recall ever citing even an inkling of pride for past presidents, also white guys, pride for a Caucasian being elected. Why should anyone be ‘particularly proud’ that a Black dude got elected President? Guess Dr. King’s vision of a ‘color-blind society’ will have to wait.

But hang on a second! Barack Obama’s father is Black. But his mother is White. Doesn’t that make him also, half Caucasian? Half-White, half-Black? No? So, okay…I’m slow, bear with me, I’m just trying to get the rules right here. Walk me through this, tell me where I’m wrong. If a guy is half-Black or half-White…he’s still called a Black man. Sorry, African-American. (Nevermind that your humble correspondent has, I’ll wager you, spent more actual boots-on-the-ground experience on the continent of Africa than Obama has…) I’m a Scots-Irish-American and though I’ve never been to Ireland or Scotland, I’ll thank you to address me that way from now on. So that’s the rule – if you’re half-Black, you’re Black. And if you’re half-White, you’re still Black. Okay…got it.

But wait just one more freakin’ second. I thought Barak Obama was not the first Black President. (It’s hard to keep up.) Back in the ‘90’s, wasn’t it Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison who called Bill Clinton “the first Black president”? A moniker that was surprisingly picked up and bandied about by the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, and nearly every prominent Black leader in the country? Bill Clinton, a White man – being called the first Back President! Man…I’ve heard of ‘passin’ but that’s nuts.

Okay, so they get a Do-Over. Cool with that. No biggie.

But when, exactly, will we be able to call ourselves a ‘color-blind society’? And do we even want to? Apparently not. A man was just elected President based mostly on Liberal White Guilt, Black Pride, and youthful reverence for style and polish. Joe Biden, V.P.-elect, called Obama “young, good-looking, articulate, and clean”. (John McCain has yellow teeth. Big, ivory smile good — yellow teeth bad.) Oh yeah, that, plus Obama’s gift of sloganeering and an amazingly, almost prodigious talent for speaking in florid, redolent generalities; it all nearly completely masked his message of collectivism dominating over individual liberty.

But – the returns are in, the Dems won big, and the new New Deal is born. The individual will decline and the State will grow. But we’ll feel better about ourselves because we are ‘our brother’s keeper’. Paying higher taxes is ‘patriotic’. ‘Spreading the wealth’ is our moral duty. People are dancing in the streets, proclaiming their unfettered joy that they now “won’t have to worry about paying the mortgage, or putting gas in their car” as one African-America woman was quoted as gushing. The government will take care of them. Feel good about it, citizens! Maybe that feeling will take some of the sting out of your next tax bill.

I will say this about my political opponents. You guys were smart. I genuflect to a brilliantly-run campaign. Simple, chantable slogans that everyone can remember (and can mean pretty much anything… (“Hope”…”Change We Need”… “Yes We Can”)…slick, statesmanlike posturing any Hollywood leading man would envy ( the Chutzpah-Is-Gravitas world tour posing as a world leader was absolutely inspired)…and a spin-savvy disinformation campaign that would make Joseph Goebbels stand up and salute. (too many examples the 20-month campaign produced to site here)

But the centerpiece was pure magic. The timing of the sub-prime mortgage collapse was genius, as engineered by the Bank Oversight committee. Freddie…Fanny…well done, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, excellent work. And Schumer, Reid, and especially Nancy Pelosi for the Plausible Deniability and Reassignment of Republican Blame Campaign…flawlessly executed. Sadly, there are many who are suggesting the demise of Mr. Obama’s grandmother was too coincidentally timely to be of natural causes, that it must have been ‘facilitated’ to evoke an outpouring of sympathy only a day before the election, but I’m here to say that suggestion is reprehensible, however effective it may have been to that end. Yes, the grieving Obama looked transcendent in that close-up in the BBC news, in reverent repose, tears streaking down his chiseled, brave face. But I can only believe that the timing of the sad event was purely coincidental, in no way meant to influence the vote. Only a monster would do something like that. “Uh…Gran…I know you’re on your way out, and I hate to see you suffer…and it would really help my chances in the general election if you could sort of…speed things along? There ya go, that’s a good sport…” Absolutely not. Not buying it. Not even a Democrat would do something like that, and it’s sick to even imagine it. God rest her soul.

But at last the long, way too long campaign is over. And now I take my perch up in my tree of knowledge, philosophic arrows and bow poised and ready to nail the no-doubt countless idiotic acts of government to enter within my radar range.

Somehow… I think I won’t have long to wait.

I have absolutely no problem with the fact that we just elected a Black man as President of the United States. But I don’t celebrate it. I don’t care what color his skin is, and I’m hoping someday soon all of you won’t care about things like that either. And if I thought that this man was elected because he was a Black man…oh, I’d have a huge problem with that.

Tell me where I’m wrong. Am I a racist and don’t know it? Or…are you?

–GG

Enough of the nicety. Enough of the compliments. Enough of the giving in to our ideals to pretend the other side has values worthy of mention. Enough friendly conversation! That has been used against us.

Conservatives better start standing up and shout from the rooftops profanities, accusations, and all manner of vile words. If not, we will remain isolated and lose the control we have. McCain lost because he wanted to appear gracious. Instead, he appeard weak and unprepared. Time for Conservatives to stop bowing and start pounding.

The liberals gained ground historically by shouting, protesting, provoking violence, and even bombing like some of Obama’s friends. Meanwhile, conservatives stand like deer in headlights. They hold their ground, but eventually get slaughtered. Conservatives must become the proverbial bull in the china shop.

I for one will be a Republican who will root for given em’ what they gave. I will not be nice. I will praise those Republicans who draw political blood. My problem with McCain is that he was too nice and didn’t say what needed to be said. He didn’t fight hard enough, but tried to be civil instead of calling out the Obamanation.

I pray that Conservatives will NOT be “nice” and then they end up dinosaurs. Please Conservatives let the gloves off! The opposition certainly hasn’t worn any.

I will not go silently into the night!

Micky, succinct and salient. And sad.

Jafman….”For now, wouldn’t it be nice for everyone to stand back and give the president-elect time to get his team together and give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Well, without a doubt, reality reveals the president-elect HAS the time to get his team together. And whether we want to think so or not, we are standing back. It is just that, for many of us, this has been one of the most frustrating elections for the very reasons you succinctly stated. And thankfully, Eric has provided a place to vent those frustrations. Thanks Eric. You have great patience.

Reality here gives the P-E the benefit of the doubt. He was elected. End of story. He now has a chance to show us he is not what he appears to be to those of us who know the value of the freedom America represents, and have been watching it be eroded by power mongering politicians, and an emotionally swayed electorate for years. There is not a ONE of us that hopes he fails…because if he fails, the country fails. We fear, though, based on what he has said, that he fundamentally does not understand - or support, let’s say - the wisdom of the constitution and the founding fathers of America. These are not baseless fears, and are not right wing loony. ALL of us would be extremely happy to be proved wrong. In fact, I would be totally relieved. THEN my faith in the current system could be restored. And it is that, not the fact of the P-E with which I struggle most.

And yet they were never really clued in as to what that change would be except for what averages out to 1.40 in change a day if your single.

Most people voted simply on distaste for the right that was futher enhanced by Obamas consistent Bush bashing.
Obama minimized the present administration while doing little of anything to elevate himself.
The people voted out rejection, not acceptance.
You made the example yourself.

This election was simple. Between the lousy economy, disapproval ratings of George Bush (lower than Nixon when he resigned), an altered electoral map due partly to changing demographics (i.e Nevada), and 8-years of same party rule in the White House, this was an uphill battle for the Republicans from the start.

Matters were made far worse when the capable McCain allowed his campaign team to call all the shots and made terrible mistakes with big gambles that didn’t pay off (Sarah Palin???- WTF!!!!).

The energy was high for change and in the end, more people saw Obama as capable of producing that change than McCain.

I’m glad you are able to put a lid on the hate that so many of your right-wing loonies get such a charge from. For now, wouldn’t it be nice for everyone to stand back and give the president-elect time to get his team together and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Bla bla bla , thats all you ever have

If you continue to lie and misrepresent the truth I will simply not comment here any more.
Its insulting that you expect people to just take your woed for things as fact, and when we dont we are called lunatics, stupid etc..
But when we show you facts , all of a sudden you fall back on saying you dont care about the issue.

If you want to get technical about it the facts aay that the 40% we are talking about pay VIRTUALLY NO INCOME TAX !!

Heres the facts.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/incometaxandtheirs/a/whopaysmost.htm

In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual income taxes in 2002. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group’s tax share has grown faster than their income share.

==============================================
Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes.
===============================================

In all years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 94 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid over 96 percent of the total.
===============================================
Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush’s tax cuts with shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers. In 2005, says the Treasury, when most of the tax cut provisions are fully in effect (e.g., lower tax rates, the $1,000 child credit, marriage penalty relief), the projected tax share for lower-income taxpayers will fall, while the tax share for higher-income taxpayers will rise.
————————————————————————————-

Obama backed out of deal and went against his own words which I have quoted for you.
Its called lying.
Just like the lie you propel by insisting that facts are irrelevant.

You and the left are all talking about coming tegether and all this kumbaya crap as long as its on your terms and you can still make up the rules as you go along by denying the obvious and resorting to the most retarded display of ignorance I have ever seen.

I have done more than my part with facts and documents to prove my claims.
If you cannot do the same you will simply look like the loser you stand to be if you dont do so.

Now cough it up, and I want more than your opinon or insistance that we are all nuts because we just dont fall in line.

Obama DID win fair and square. Lies and deception are part of the political system and occur on both sides of the aisle. Fact he got significantly more electoral votes than John McCain. I do not believe that was because of gross irregularities in the voting system. I would not lower myself to the level of the Democrats in 2000 who refused to recognize the results of the election and try to tear apart the integrity of the system which gives our government its legitimacy.

I can’t say exactly when the acrimony started but is has definitely was around during the Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings. but Jersey “Bush didn’t deserve the acrimony his own administration cultivated” is a load of crap. Before he ever took office Democrats would not accept that he had won the election even though after 3 official recounts and countless unofficial recounts there was NEVER a recount which showed Gore won Florida. Furthermore his earliest acts as president were to invite the Kennedy’s to the White House and to work with Ted Kennedy on getting “No Child Left Behind” passed. Although the left trashed him and the bill immediately after it passed. I am not saying there is not too much acrimony on both sides, which there is, but laying it at George Bush’s feet it truly unfair. He has constantly tried to work with the other side whether on immigration reform, medicare prescription drugs or education often to get pilloried mercifully. The one area where he did not compromise was on the issue of national security. That is because he felt passionately on the subject not because of partisanship. Whether you agree with his position or not, any fair reading of his decisions has to admit that they were consistent and based on cre principals he believed in.

The Democrat Party brought us the KKK. Look it up.

Yeah, J. You work hard to calm people down. I should so study your diplomatic example.

Not.

Okay, I’ll say what I should have said. Why is it, J, that instead of addressing the point of what I wrote, you chose to misrepresent what I wrote. Did you think that would calm me down? J, don’t try to BS me! I would have MUCH more respect for you, and your views, if you treated others views with more respect. And that was the point of everything I’ve said….just in cased you missed it again.

Oh, wait. NO. I was challenging your idea that now there might be an end to ‘us vs. them’ now that Hussein has been elected. Sorry…I don’t see that. And maybe, if you had addressed that, it would have ‘calmed me down’. Please don’t patronize me. Yes, I am intense. Yes, I am passionate. And yes, I have had it UP to here with the b.*. that passes as wisdom in the political realm. I am also sick of being told to calm down, after being excoriated - unfairly - by the unhinged “tolerant ” left since I can remember….as if I had no REASON to be offended!!! And yes, I’m letting it out now, because despite reality, despite the MYRIAD things that should have caused many to pause and reconsider their support of Hussein, the rhetoric, the style, the opium to the masses won the day….and all the valid concerns were still left hanging… and that was the straw…

And maybe, J…just maybe….if Hussein had actually addressed the validity of the concerns, instead of belittling them….maybe he WOULD have won by a landslide! But no. There is not enough respect for the ‘diversity’ of views by the left to treat true concerns with EVEN, “I see why you would think that. Let me address that….”. McCain, for all his faults understood that. When he was in the process of being skinned alive on that intellectual show, The View, Whoopi Goldberg said something completely out of line, implying that if he were president, should she be worried about being a slave again. Instead of belittling her, which that question certainly deserved, he said ‘I see your concern.’
And she was happy. See how that works? Probably why he was at all successful in crossing the aisle.

Hey. Why don’t YOU try it? You might find more friends here, you might learn something, and we might all be enriched by listening to you. How about a few sample phrases. “Really? Why do you feel that way?”, or, “Hm…I can see why that might bother you. Let me tell you why it doesn’t bother me”, or even….hard as it is to say sometimes…’Hm. I never thought of it that way’. Then there’s the ever popular ‘I don’t agree….” followed by respectful discourse on the issue.

Glad you are happy with things. I will be VERY happy if Hussein does not screw up the presidency and the nation, as his stated previously-failed-many-times socialist policies indicate. And in the interest of ‘Let there be peace on earth, and let it being with me’….if I have misjudged you, my sincerest apologies. Carry on.

Note; The left called George W. Bush ‘W’ all the time, when they weren’t anointing him with other pet names like ‘moron’. I merely return the favor when I call Hussein by his middle name. It is his name, and to me it is more respectful than what I really think at this moment.

And if you cons keep lying about income taxes, you’re going to be in the minority for a long, long time. Everybody pays income taxes, even if they get most or all of it back the next year. They still pay, and the money they get back is usually worth less than it was when they paid it. They also pay all the other taxes everyone else pays one way or another. SO please stop lying about this. It makes you, and conservatives, look bad.

JMJ

Obama: I strongly support public financing…

Obama: We’ve made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the General Election…

(And then)
Obama: What I’d like to see is a system of public financing of campaigns…

Obama;
“I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

He made that agreement with McCain Jersey and he freaking broke it.
You’re just playing dumb again, or are you ?
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=5201819&page=1

He broke his pledge.
Thats as good as lying when you cant be held to your word.

OK.
Lets try it this way.
He’s hasnt even been in office yet and he’s already breaking pledges.
So What ?
Are going to deny that also when he pledged in his own words ?
Knock of your lying crap.
The facts are in front of , all your doing is being a little cyber punk.

You are saying we are lying about the 40%

WE are not lying. They do not pay the same taxes and you know it.
They pay the least amount of anyone and they are only payroll taxes. Taxes which employers are required to withhold from employees such as FICA, SS, Medicaid and thats it !!! Not the fed and not the state.
These people get this back later anyway.
Ontop of that Obama wants to give them an additional check that is paid for out of mine and not anything they have contributed to.
This is common knowledge everywhere, confirmed by many financial analysts fro the WSJ all the way to any half brained pundit.
They pay no I N C O M E T A X !!!! Wise up !!!

These are the 40% that will get back from the system what they never put into it.