If you receive this and you hate it and you don’t want to ever read it no matter what...that is fine; email me back and you will be deleted from my list (which is almost at the maximum anyway).

In your acceptance speech, you twice mentioned debating McCain, but you have dodged him all summer when he challenged you to town hall meeting debates. Are you willing to take questions with McCain directly from the public before November?

Charles Krauthammer: “Senator Obama had one full hour to talk about his faith, morality and his relationship to God, when being questioned by Rick Warren, and not once did he mention Jeremiah Wright, the pastor who led him to Christ, married him and Michelle Obama, baptized their two girls; nor does he mention the church where he spent over 20 years attending, a church that he gave over $40,000 to.” (This quote is close, but not exact).

I had been saying, McCain by 5 points; now it will be McCain and Palin by 10 points, and Palin will convince McCain that we ought to drill in ANWR, and we will start that in 2009.

Palin will receive scrutiny unlike any other candidate in history, more so even than McCain, and every single gaff she makes will be on every network and in nearly every newspaper.

Also, after McCain, Palin will be our next president followed by Bobby Jindal. This is going to rock the world of the Democratic party.

[A disclaimer: I do not have the gift of prophecy—no one does at this time—but these are reasonable predictions based upon the political climate and being able to read the historical trends of the day]

Let me remind you, I have been giving about a third chance to a woman, Pawlenty or Romney on the Republican ticket. Although I liked Mary Matalin a lot, I did not expect her to get the call.

Politics is filled with judgment calls. Obama made another bad judgment when he chose Joe Biden as his running mate. Hillary has 18 million people who voted for her (more than voted for Obama), and yet, Obama, did not even vet her, despite saying, “She would be on anyone’s short list.” Politically, it was a stupid decision.

Obama does not know or understand conservatives, even though he resides in the same country with them. Most of his advisors do not understand conservatives. He tries to convince us that he is willing and able to initiate tough diplomacy with our craziest enemies, but is unable to look one move ahead on the domestic political chessboard. It is simple: one of the mainstays of the Democratic party is women, and women, percentage-wise, always vote for Democrats. Democrats have always taken their votes for granted, as they take the Black vote for granted. Obama and his advisors had to know that, not choosing Hillary would piss a lot of women off (not all of them or not even a majority of Democratic women, but a significant number). There were several conservative women out there for McCain to choose from; however, the mistake of Obama and his handlers was to think, this is the white male Republican party—they will never choose a woman or a minority candidate. That was bad judgment, and Obama, who makes bad judgment call after bad judgment call, made the call which will cost him the election.

In the coming week, Obama’s campaign is going to examine every aspect of Palin’s life and they will either put it out there or submit it to the press. Our press corps is going to do investigative reporting like you have never seen before. You are going to know every misstep that Palin makes, every wrong thing she says. If she says there are 57 states and she has to go to one more state, you will hear about it on every network. If she tells you the Kentucky is closer to Arkansas than it is to Illinois, you will know about it, and there will be maps to show how mixed up she is. If she confuses a brigade with a battalion, her foreign policy knowledge will be thoroughly trashed. If she confuses Veterans Day with Memorial Day, and sees dead people while giving a rousing speech, you will know about it; the late night talk shows will be making fun of her. When she gets the date wrong on an historical event in her own personal life, she will be called into question. If she makes a mistake on what modern computer technology can do, she will be portrayed as backward and confused. If she makes a mistake about knowing how many national guard troops are actually available, her inexperience with the armed forces will be front page news. These, of course, are all mistakes which either Obama or Biden have made, many of which you probably have not heard about.

However, I am not complaining. Don’t misunderstand me. Thorough examination by the 5^th estate is a good thing. Our press should be out there trying to dig up every mistake, example of poor judgment, gaff, or contradiction known about a candidate. Before this week is out, you will know a little something about the great controversy in Palin’s life in Alaska...not much, but you will know something. Right before the election, you are going to hear about McCain and the Keating 5.

This is good. This is why conservative Republicans have to run good candidates—they will get eaten alive if they do not. This is also why the Democrats can run anyone who makes a good speech, even if he is the least qualified person in US history to run for the office of president. The press never vetted Obama, and this hurts the Democratic party. The stuff we are just beginning to find out, should have been known months and months ago, before the primary was half over.

If the press did its job, rather than acting as cheerleaders for their favorite candidate, Hillary would be the Democratic candidate and she would have probably won this election. If she put Obama as the #2 guy, she would have clinched this election.

As you probably know, a Republican group (American Issues Project) ran an ad which closely associated Barrack Obama with the former terrorist turned teacher William Ayers, and Obama’s campaign has tried to shut this ad down.

Obama, who has already run many misleading and dishonest ads about John McCain (saying that McCain wants to have combat troops in Iraq for another 100 years and that he is so old and doddering that he cannot recall the number of homes which he owns), did not answer this ad with a different ad. They did not ignore it. They have threatened radio and tv stations with legal ramifications and have filed a complaint with the Justice Department. You may think, so what? I guarantee you, if Obama is elected, this group will be pursued by our government and people will go to jail. Furthermore, some of the radio and television stations who ran this ad will lose their licenses. So, up until the election, these people have little to be worried about (apart from any lawsuits which might be filed as well).

Why not ignore these ads? Why not run counter ads? Obama does not want you to know two things (1) how close he has worked with Ayers over the period of about a decade and (2) Ayers was instrumental in starting the Annenberg Challenge, securing a $50 million grant to reform the Chicago Public Schools, part of a national initiative funded by Ambassador Walter Annenberg, who died in 2002. Obama was given the Annenberg board chairmanship only months before his first run for office. That is a lot of money and it is possible that Ayers and Obama either misused these funds to initiate some far-left wing agenda in Chicago schools, or, they pissed away the money (or both). This association could destroy Obama politically forever. So he needs to legally suppress all information related to this, and every public ad which speaks of any of this is going to be attacked by lawyers, and not by counter ads.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on our public airwaves.” Kurtz is the man who is guilty of character assassination. Look back at the video again, and note carefully what the video states.

When I saw Michelle’s Obama’s speech, the first thing I thought of was The Stepford Wives, the original version. About 3/4^ths of her speech could have been delivered at the Republican Convention. What she spoke of was her family, how her courageous and hard-working father wanted everything for the children that he loved, and, as a result of his hard work and the inculcation of the value of hard work, his son and daughter ended up being very successful in life. This is the American dream, and millions of families have experienced this dream. This man is a hero—Michelle’s father—is an American hero, and a man to be emulated. How do we reconcile this with the idea that, life in American is too hard and unfair and some people can’t get anywhere in this rigged system. Both Obama’s are far more successful than I am, and they achieved their success through education and hard work. The contribution of federal government to their lives (apart from being in politics) is negligible. If Barrack and Michelle made their lives as they did, with 2 beautiful children, and great financial success, why do we need more government programs? Their success was achieved under mostly Republican administrations, and with few governmental gimmes.

Apart from Michelle from Stepford, the rest of Day 1 bored me, including the Kennedy thing.

Hillary hits a home run, and this is what she wanted to do. The idea is, “You could have had this” but you chose Obama instead (well, to be fair, a majority of the American people did vote for Hillary). Her words were what they needed to be, but she needed to deliver a knock-out speech, and she did. Now, don’t be confused: I have not been Hillary-ized; I am just able to recognize when a good speech is given relative to the audience.

I caught Kucinich on the rebound, hearing most or all of his speech and seeing some of it. He has always been one of the more entertaining members of the Democratic party, and he did not disappoint. What I have always appreciated about Dennis is, even though his point-of-view sounds other-worldly, I believe that he believes, and, if he had the power, I am sure he would attempt to implement everything that he talks about. This is very different from most Democrats, who tend to do everything possible to obfuscate their positions (also known as giving a nuanced position).

My thinking is, Kucinich tried to pull a Hillary, “This is what you could have chosen, Democrats, as your candidate.” However, he could have just been quite enthusiastic. If you want to see what the left faction of the Democrats believe (which includes Obama and Biden), find his speech on YouTube and enjoy.

President Clinton’s speech was good and it did what it was supposed to do—support the Democratic nominee. I heard a comment on the radio about something that I did not catch in his speech: “Obama is the best man for the job.” When on script, Clinton does not make a mistake and he chooses his words carefully. He had to be thinking, “I am so damned clever.”

Biden, like Michelle Obama, had a terrific back story; and, like many Americans, made his life in this system within which we live. Like Michelle, much of Biden’s speech could have been said during the Republican convention. This is a wonderful story, and it makes me wonder, with these backgrounds, how can these people think government needs to do this stuff for us?

Obama gave a good and rousing speech. Even many of the media members were clearly caught up in the excitement of it all.

McCain choosing Palin eclipsed Obama to a degree that I did not even expect. Obama should have gotten 3–4 days of the news cycle with reporters gushing over how great his speech was and how this is what America needs. McCain stole his thunder.

I was luckily able to catch Palin’s speech as she gave it, and I watched it when it was rerun. There was no teleprompter, but she did have note cares, which she referred to every 2–5 sentences. It was a great and inspiring speech, the text of which is below.

"And I thank you, Senator McCain and Mrs. McCain, for the confidence that you have placed in me. Senator, I am honored to be chosen as your running mate. I will be honored to serve next to the next president of the United States.

"I know that when Senator McCain gave me this opportunity, he had a short list of highly qualified men and women, and to have made that list at all -- it was a privilege. And to have been chosen brings a great challenge. I know that it will demand the best that I have to give, and I promise nothing less.

"First, there are a few people whom I would like you to meet. I want to start with my husband, Todd. And Todd and I are actually celebrating our 20th anniversary today, and I promised him a little surprise for the anniversary present, and hopefully he knows that I did deliver.

"And then we have as -- after my husband, who is a lifelong commercial fisherman, lifetime Alaskan -- he's a production operator. Todd is a production operator in the oil fields up on Alaska's North Slope, and he's a proud member of the United Steelworkers Union, and he's a world champion snow machine racer. Todd and I met way back in high school, and I can tell you that he is still the man that I admire most in this world.

"Along the way, Todd and I have shared many blessings, and four out of five of them are here with us today. Our oldest son, Track, though, he'll be following the presidential campaign from afar. On September 11th of last year, our son enlisted in the United States Army. Track now serves in an infantry brigade. And on September 11th, Track will deploy to Iraq in the service of his country. And Todd and I are so proud of him and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform.

"Next to Todd is our daughter Bristol; another daughter, Willow; our youngest daughter, Piper; and over in their arms is our son Trig, a beautiful baby boy. He was born just in April. His name is Trig Paxson Van Palin.

"Some of life's greatest opportunities come unexpectedly, and this is certainly the case today. I never really set out to be involved in public affairs, much less to run for this office. My mom and dad both worked at the local elementary school. And my husband and I, we both grew up working with our hands.

"I was just your average 'hockey mom' in Alaska. We were busy raising our kids. I was serving as the team mom and coaching some basketball on the side. I got involved in the PTA and then was elected to the city council and then elected mayor of my hometown, where my agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes and put the people first.

"I was then appointed ethics commissioner and chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and when I found corruption there, I fought it hard and I held the offenders to account. Along with fellow reformers in the great state of Alaska, as governor, I've stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the Big Oil companies and the 'good old boy' network.

"When oil and gas prices went up so dramatically and the state revenues followed with that increase, I sent a large share of that revenue directly back to the people of Alaska -- and we are now -- we're now embarking on a $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.

"I signed major ethics reforms, and I appointed both Democrats and independents to serve in my administration. And I've championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress thanks, but no thanks, on that "Bridge to Nowhere." If our state wanted a bridge, I said, we'd build it ourselves.

"Well, it's always, though, safer in politics to avoid risk, to just kind of go along with the status quo. But I didn't get into government to do the safe and easy things. A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built. Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties. The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reasons. And the right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good.

"Now, no one expects us to agree on everything, whether in Juneau or in Washington. But we are expected to govern with integrity and good will and clear convictions and a servant's heart.

"Now, no leader in America has shown these qualities so clearly or presents so clear a threat to business as usual in Washington as Senator John S. McCain. This -- this is a moment when principles and political independence matter a lot more than just the party line. And this is a man who has always been there to serve his country, not just his party.

"And this is a moment that requires resolve and toughness and strength of heart in the American president. And my running mate is a man who has shown those qualities in the darkest of places and in the service of his country. A colleague once said about Senator McCain: That man did things for this country that few people could go through; never forget that. And that speaker was former Senator John Glenn of Ohio. And John Glenn knows something about heroism.

"And I'm going to make sure nobody does forget that in his campaign. There is only one candidate who has truly fought for America, and that man is John McCain.

"This is a moment -- this is a moment when great causes can be won and great threats overcome, depending on the judgment of our next president. In a dangerous world, it is John McCain who will lead America's friends and allies in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"It was John McCain who cautioned long ago about the harm that Russian aggression could do to Georgia and to other small Democratic neighbors and to the world oil markets.

"It was Senator McCain who refused to hedge his support for our troops in Iraq, regardless of the political costs. And you know what? As the mother of one of those troops and as the commander of Alaska's National Guard, that's the kind of man I want as our commander in chief.

"Profiles in courage, they can be hard to come by these days. You know, so often we just find them in books. But next week when we nominate John McCain for president, we're putting one on the ballot!

"To serve as vice president beside such a man would be the privilege of a lifetime, and it's fitting that this trust has been given to me 88 years almost to the day after the women of America first gained the right to vote.

"I think as well today of two other women who came before me in national elections. I can't begin this great effort without honoring the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and, of course, Senator Hillary Clinton, who showed such determination and grace in her presidential campaign.

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.

"So for my part, the mission is clear. The next 67 days I'm going to take our campaign to every part of our country and our message of reform to every voter of every background, in every political party, or no party at all. If you want change in Washington, if you hope for a better America, then we're asking for your vote on the 4th of November.

"My fellow Americans, come join our cause. Join our cause and help our country to elect a great man the next president of the United States. And I thank you, and I -- God bless you, I say, and God bless America. Thank you."

I was just listening to a little bit of Mike Gallagher will taking a break from writing (I spend most of my time writing about the Bible; I do this little ezeen to blow off steam). He arrives at the airport and there were to be some students waiting for him, holding a big sign saying, “Fox News.” So, he arrives, and there are these 2 timid students there, holding this big sign, and everywhere, all around them, there are people yelling, “F__ Fox News” and the less confrontational “Faux News.” Gallagher told these kids to keep their heads up and to walk tall.

I know some liberal Democrats personally, and I have been told by more than one of them that Fox News just spews hatred and political division and that they are so negative. On the other hand, I actually watch FoxNews and I don’t ever see this. Now, that Sean Hannity can rub some liberals the wrong way—I can accept that. I like him, but that is mostly because we agree. On the other hand, I can also see why his 300 word questions, designed to trap an interviewee can be seen as less than journalistically sound. However, he is appearing on an opinion show, balanced by Alan Colmes, so he can be given some slack for that.

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Surprisingly enough, there are actually 3 AP stories out there which were critical of Obama’s speech:

This second link is an exceptional point-by-point examination of Obama’s proposals coming from an AP guy! It is like walking into a parallel universe or Bizarre world, where everything is exactly the opposite. Outstanding article, by the way.

By the way, what does it mean to encourage, but not mandate, universal pre-kindergarten? I should point out that we have a boatload of studies which indicate that taking younger and younger children into public indoctrination education does not work. Many of the industrialized nations who do far better than we do in education start their children later in life than we do now.

Where were these close examinations of Obama when he first began to lead the pack?

As a conservative Republican, I have a sense of humor, whether it comes from the left or the right. The little I have seen of this game, I must admit, a laughed a little.

On the front of the box, we have the infamous George W. Quote: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." I suspect that this game might be just a little partisan.

This is quite the interesting development, found at http://blackrepublicans08.com/, and they have released their first ad this past Monday. It hits Obama on 3 issues: middle class tax increases, meeting with foreign rogue leaders, and infanticide (covered in the last issue).

To be more effective, this group needs to target school choice, which McCain supports, a majority of Black people support, and Obama, to keep the school employees unions on his side, opposes. We are pouring unprecedented amounts of money into our schools today with progressively worse results. Our public schools have become breeding grounds for social experiments and government doctrine.

All Americans should be able to choose which school their child goes to, within some reason. There should be a fixed amount of money which travels with each student (say, about $3000 less/year than is now allotted in the public school system). These parents should be able to take this money and use it toward whatever school that they want (a Catholic school, a school which emphasizes sports, a school emphasizing the arts and music, a basic school, a college prep school, a vocational prep school), and the government, instead of sending this money to the public school system, will send it to the private school selected. Furthermore, graduation requirements needed to be loosened up and possibly more than one high school degree ought to be offered. The present system in most states might be seen as a College Prep Degree. Another school my issue a high school arts degree; another may issue a vocational trades degree (with possible specializations). Our children are not round pegs who need to be pushed into the same square holes.

Of equal importance is the level of discipline which each school has. If a school wants to have whipping, fine...so long as the parents sign a waver. If the school does not want to even allow a teacher to speak harshly to their little Johnny, fine; sign a waver. The schools will set their own level of discipline and the schools will have the right to expel students for any reason they deem necessary (drugs, violating the dress code, fighting, persistent problems, not doing homework, not showing up for athletic practice). The school sets the standards, the parents agree to the standards, and, if a student is removed, there should be some sort of financial penalty. That is, the parent should not get all of the money back in order to re-enroll the kid elsewhere.

I am not against public schools; I was a public school teacher for 29 years, and 23 years at one of the best schools in Texas (for most of those years). However, I have seen the state government become more and more involved in the education process, with the result that discipline has become more lax and education standards do not even appear to exist anymore.

My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign, Illinois. I'm 46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don't considerable myself to be either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican or Democrat I don't believe there are "two Americas" - but that every person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if they'll just work to get there - and nowhere else on earth can they find such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of America first.

The purpose of this message is that I'm concerned about the future of this great nation. I'm worried that the silent majority of honest, hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too long. Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics. They go about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and doing what they can to maintain the good life. They vote and consider doing so to be a sacred trust. They shake their heads at the political pundits and so-called "news", thinking that what they hear is always spun by whomever is reporting it. They can't understand how elected officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork barrel spending. They don't want government handouts. They want the government to protect them, not raise their taxes for more government programs.

We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders. It's a privilege to do so. I've never found a candidate in any election with whom I agreed on everything. I'll wager that most of us don't even agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time. So when I step into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast my vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I've hired a lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that's what an election is - a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for me? Whom can I trust to do the job right?

I'm concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply don't get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can't explain, and calling it "change."

Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we're voting for Obama, they state.

So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education, raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news and win his party's nomination for the White House - that system's all wrong?

And so it goes. "Change we can believe in." Quite frankly, I don't believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me. In recent months, I've been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they're voting. I live in Illinois, so most folks tell me they're voting for Barack Obama. But no one can really tell me why - only that he's going to change a lot of stuff. Change, change, change. I have yet to find one single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation on earth - other than the fact that he claims he's going to implement a lot of change.

We've all seen the emails about Obama's genealogy, his upbringing, his Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let's ignore this for a moment.

Put it all aside. Then ask yourself, what qualifies this man to be my president? That he's a brilliant orator and talks about change?

Friends, I'll be forthright with you - I believe the American voters who are supporting Barack Obama don't have a clue what they're doing, as evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them I've spoken to can spell out his qualifications. Not even the most liberal media can explain why he should be elected.

Political experience? Negligible. Foreign relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one.

Someone who wants to unite the country? If you haven't read his wife's thesis from Princeton, look it up on the web. This is who's lining up to be our next First Lady? The only thing I can glean from Obama's constant harping about change is that we're in for a lot of new taxes.

For me, the choice is clear. I've looked carefully at the two leading applicants for the job, and I've made my choice.

Here's a question - where were you five and a half years ago? Around Christmas, 2002. You've had five or six birthdays in that time. My son has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep. 6, 000 meals, give or take.

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held longer than he should be released first. Did you get that part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow man? I submit that's a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A graduate of Annapolis, during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq. Barack Obama is fond of saying "We honor John McCain's service...BUT...", which to me is condescending and offensive - because what I hear is, "Let's forget this man's sacrifice for his country and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some more about change."

I don't agree with John McCain on everything - but I am utterly convinced that he is qualified to be our next President, and I trust him to do what's right. I know in my heart that he has the best interests of our country in mind. He doesn't simply want to be President - he wants to lead America, and there's a huge difference.

Factually, there is simply no comparison between the two candidates. A man of questionable background and motives who prattles on about change can't hold a candle to a man who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from the Navy in 1981 and elected to the Senate in 1982.

Perhaps Obama's supporters are taking a stance between old and new. Maybe they don't care about McCain's service or his strength of character, or his unblemished qualifications to be President. Maybe "likeability" is a higher priority for them than "trust". Being a prisoner of war is not what qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America - but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.

Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking Americans to say, "Enough." It is time for people of all parties to stop following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep America first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a dialogue with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they're voting for, and why.

There's a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to all of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a man who knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want a man who puts my family's interests before any foreign country.

I want a President who's qualified to lead. I want my country back, and I'm voting for John McCain.

The Presidency of George Bush is soon to end, and it behooves us to review why this man is SOOOOOO evil.

President Bush reduced taxes across the board, and thus he accomplished all that a governing body is able to do in managing an economy. He is evil because he cut corporate taxes, a skewed motive that holds business is the source of prosperity, and therefore should be unshackled to do what it does best, generate wealth. Bush's evil mind believes that when business prospers

that profits flow back into the economy, creates more jobs, and trickles down to the average American in a plethora of ways.

President Bush is evil because he is in denial. He refuses to admit that Iraq was a mistake, even though that admission, from the mouth of a Commander In Chief, would destroy the morale of our troops, and undermine our efforts in the

Bush is evil because he is ruthless in his pursuit of our enemies, and unwilling to negotiate with nations and factions that support our enemies. He is willing to commit our military, and spend American lives, in order to defeat our enemies on foreign shores, rather than fight them on our streets, in our cities.

He is evil because he runs a tight ship, and a guarded administration that is reluctant to cooperate with the liberal establishment, and a predatory press that is out for his blood. His obstinance is a reaction to Democrats in government who use every trivial excuse to bring pressure to bear on his Presidency, such as the ongoing flap over firing a bunch of liberal judges,

even though this prerogative is clearly relegated to executive fiat in our Constitution.

Bush is evil because foreign governments chastise us for every fart, even though America is first on the scene when disaster lays a region low, and relief is badly needed to save lives. He is evil for taking on the threat of terrorism, and KILLING the bloodthirsty bastards who slaughter innocent people indisciminately. For this he is labeled the world's biggest terrorist.

Because Bush takes action based upon principles of virtue and justice, and these actions offend the namby pamby, ultra-liberal leaders and peoples

Bush is evil because he refused to submit to the Kyoto Treaty, even though that document calls for restraints that would cost America a trillion dollars and over a million jobs. He further refuses to jump on the Gore bandwagon (not to mention Michael Moore), and impose tyrany on our People in order to cure global warming.

9.00 pm MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SADDAM AND HIS SONS - Cindy Sheehan and Susan Sarandon

The PUMA Party is “Party Unity My Ass” un-Party; it is a pro-Hillary and anti-Obama group.

Unfortunately, the audio clip for this is for members only, but Bo goes after Michelle for becoming a Stepford wife.

SNERDLEY: This is Bo Snerdley, Official Barack Criticizer for the EIB Network, certified black enough to criticize with a blend of imported and domestic 100% fortified slave blood. I have a statement. Mr. Obama -- well, actually, Mrs. Obama. Although your husband issued an edict prohibiting criticism of you during this campaign, I have to comment on your performance last night. It was evident, my dear, that you have been handled. We did not see the real Michelle, the one that could define or give context to all the things we've heard from you during the campaign. That image you would have us buy last night didn't explain away how come, as an adult, you were only proud for the first time to be an American, or why this is a mean country. The "I love this country" line, it was a little trite. It was a must-read, a must-say. And that line about Mrs. Clinton, we all know she tried to knife your husband in the back all during the campaign. Look, black women have a different perception of America. You could have explained why you think what you think, without hurting yourself or your husband. You could have cleared things up for everybody. But instead, you papered things over with a nondescript presentation that could have come from Martha Stewart's America.

I could go on, but instead, how about a detailed analysis for EIB brothers and sisters in the 'hood. Yo, Shell, let me give you your props first, yo. You was looking lace last night, yo, girl, you got it like that, no doubt. I almost could hope the brother could win so I could scope you out for the next four years, you know, but it ain't that kind of party here. Check it out, Shelly. What was up with you last night, girl? The big lights all up on you and you come out frontin' instead of breaking it down, yo? Ever since you broke about being proud for the first time, you've been taking heat. Last night was your chance, yo. You said America was mean, everybody went off on you. Last night you coulda explain it, okay, you could explain also why they hid you out for so long. You get all the face time; what do we get? Instead of you breaking it off to everybody, you coulda told 'em like, yo, listen, yeah sometimes I'm mad, check it out, if you came from where I came from you be mad, too, okay? Schools all messed up, brothers can't get no jobs, yo. I got out, I got to Princeton, my honey, yo, he went to Harvard. We kind of broke but everybody else they ain't living large, okay, yeah, I'm mad. You all be mad, too, if this was going on in your neighborhood, okay, criminals running all up and down the street, come on, yo, it ain't like that up in white land where Hillary live, okay? But no, what did you do? Man, look, you coulda even said you know what? The hospitals, yo, they even like, you know, throwing old black people out on the streets -- oh, wait I'm sorry, yo, you couldn't go there, right? But, look, you are a strong black sister, yo, come from our culture, you were out there fronting like you Michelle Partridge, hee-hee, everything is cute, okay, come on, you coulda told them, for instance, Fourth of July, yo man, we ain't down with that, June 15th is when we're free, but that don't mean we don't love America, everybody is down with this, you know? Okay, look, Michelle, you Obama's shorty, you got the slave blood, he don't. You supposed to understand what it is, and you are supposed to break it down for us. What did you do? You were fronting, girl. Fake. Okay? But like I said, sister, you was looking laced and, you know, that counts for something. That concludes this statement.

RUSH: Jimmy Carter, ladies and gentlemen, last night on PBS special coverage. The anchor Jim Lehrer said, "And do you think that if it happens that Obama is elected, or even just being nominated, will send positive ripple effects throughout the country on the race issue?"

CARTER: It already has sent a wave of approbation and admiration in many countries around the world just knowing that this black boy who grew up with just a loving mother and -- and grandparents and that was about all he had to start with, has now had a chance to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for president. We've seen a disillusionment about our country in the last eight years with a lot of things happening like torturing of prisoners and that sort of thing. If Obama is elected, which I think he is gonna be, then I think that will be the transforming grace for the end of racism and prejudice and hatred between races in this country.

RUSH: He's another fool. Jimmy Carter is another one of the fools in the top of the feed chain here at the Democrat Party. The black civil rights leadership has said, "Jimmy, it's not going to end the race business." Nothing is going to end the race business. They're not going to go out of business. They're saying he doesn't have any slave blood, Jimmy. He doesn't come from the struggle. His election doesn't do anything, it doesn't change anything, Jimmy. I wonder how long it would take me referring to Obama as that little black boy, I mean how many times before there was an outrage from the Drive-By Media. I ought to give this a test run. Every time I intend to say Obama, I say black boy and just see how long it takes 'em. No, even cluing the audience in, folks, we're going to play a little game here, I'm going to do a Jimmy Carter impersonation, I'm going to see how long it takes people to excoriate me for doing this. The staff is advising me not to make this move, ladies and gentlemen, not to take this step. I just want you to know, I, of course, listen to the staff, but I take my own counsel.

RUSH: Switching gears, let's go to the convention. You know, next week the Republican convention kicks off on Monday and out there is Hurricane Gustav, also known as Katrina 2. Now, I'm watching it last night, told you, I'm a student of these things, those of us who live in south Florida are. Snerdley hasn't gotten into it 'cause he knows that he can rely on me to tell him everything so he doesn't have to waste his time on the computer. But I watched it last night, maybe late yesterday afternoon, I forget which. I multitask. I can listen to Democrats lie through their teeth, get frustrated as hell about it, and still track hurricanes. I'm watching it, the hurricane center says it's still moving west-northwest, five miles per hour, I'm saying, "Speed up, baby, speed up, go somewhere besides here. Sorry, New Orleans. Sorry, Texas. Speed up so it goes somewhere." It didn't speed up, but, lo and behold, looked like it fell apart. And I got a note from the official climatologist, Roy Spencer, "Gustav is just falling apart out there." He said, "You need the heat from thunderstorms to give these things their energy, and it is falling apart." And it was weakening, but it wasn't in fact falling apart. It took a jog due south that only one of the 14 models predicted. It took a jog due south.

It was supposed to go between Cuba, Club Gitmo, and Jamaica. It's creaming Jamaica right now. So because of that due-south jog now moving west, they've moved the forecast track from New Orleans west closer to the Louisiana-Texas border. They still don't know. I mean it all depends on so many variables. One model saw that southern jog last night, and they didn't have it in the official forecast track. Now, the Drive-Bys are hoping for New Orleans. The Drive-Bys have been hoping for New Orleans since Katrina. They want to blame it on Republicans. If the Republican convention, when it kicks off on Monday, the forecast now and this is way out, we're talking next Tuesday, sometime in the day on Tuesday, it is supposed to hit its target, landfall, United States, Louisiana somewhere. And the Drive-Bys are just hoping it's New Orleans because they want to totally decamp St. Paul.

The Drive-Bys don't want to go to the Republican convention anyway. The Drive-Bys don't like Republicans. They don't think the Republicans have good enough parties. They don't have decent enough celebrities. The Republicans are just a bunch of dryball bores. They really don't want to be there other than for the opportunity to trash them and rip 'em and lie about Republicans. But if Hurricane Katrina 2 hits anywhere near New Orleans, they're going to get outta there en masse, there's not going to be any coverage of the Republican convention. There will be limited coverage, nothing like this orgy of a love fest that we have had to frustratingly sit through for the past seems like a week. I always say this is the five-day fastest week in media. This is the slowest three days of my life, these past three days, the slowest, I'm not kidding. I keep looking at the clock chug on, chug on. At any rate, I want you to listen to a montage of the Drive-Bys so excited, rooting for a hurricane.

BLITZER: Hurricane Gustav moving towards that coast. Anderson heading there on Friday.

MADDOW: When Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, where was John McCain? He was standing with President Bush. Now we've got Hurricane Gustav--

ROBINSON: It's a storm that could have political impact. I mean, look, no one can root for Gustav.

RUSH: Eugene Robinson was the last speaker. Nobody can root for Gustav. You all are rooting for Gustav! You think it's going to destroy the Republican Party again. It's the perfect storm brewing, said Norah O'Donnell. And where was McCain when Katrina made landfall? Why, he was standing with President Bush. Let me tell you, you Democrats, you Drive-Bys, you better be very careful here because we have a very competent governor now who can tell that loco weed mayor in New Orleans how to do this right. His name is Bobby Jindal. And Bobby Jindal is not going to leave and go to the convention. Bobby Jindal is going to stay there. We're going to have a competent politician this time getting ready for this thing if it hits there. I know, they activated the National Guard, 300 troops so far, more to come, Chertoff, Homeland Security going down there. It ain't going to happen, Drive-Bys, like it happened last night. You're going to be the ones left out this time. A Republican governor is going to show the way in the middle of a natural disaster, just like Haley Barbour did in Mississippi and just like Jeb Bush always did here in Florida. New Orleans and Louisiana, were the messes they were because of two incompetent liberals that were running the show at the same time with nothing but liberals running the show in the whole state for years before that.

RUSH: Let me give you the speech that Clinton really wanted to give, folks. You know I'm right. This is not what he wanted to say. Here's what he wanted to do. This is what he wanted to go out and say: (doing Clinton impression) "My fellow Democrats, I have never been so ticked off in my life as I am tonight addressing you. Look at what's happening out there, gas prices are through the roof, food prices are through the roof. We have successfully demonized a war in Iraq. We successfully demonized Katrina and Cheney and Bush, and the Republicans still running their old man, half Democrat half the time, and you nominate this Obama dweeb with all we got going for us? This guy could not win the general if you spotted him five points and 25 electoral votes. I know, I have been there. And don't you dare, when it's all over and you know I'm right, don't you dare blame me.

I set Hillary up on the ten yard line, goal to goal, more money than even I ever had and my legacy to run on, and she couldn't close the deal against a freshman running on 'hope' and 'change'? Hell, she only had to remind everybody, I am the man from Hope, not this little dweeb. I'm the one that changed the world. I beat the Republicans at every turn, every damn time, I beat the Republicans and you nominate this guy? He couldn't carry Hillary Clinton's bra. Now look at me. I have to sit here, mouthing 'I love you' while my wife brags about her historic run. I had to eat this sandwich every damn day during the campaign. There ain't no history worth having, folks, in losing. And that's what she did. What history? Nobody would even know her name if it weren't for me. I mean hell, what did you all think with Operation Chaos? For crying out loud, Limbaugh even tried to pull it out for her. If I'd have had Limbaugh behind me, I'd have gotten over 50% in both elections in the nineties. She had it all. She had me. She had my legacy, and she even had Limbaugh, and she's up against an inexperienced dweeb.

"They played the race card on me, I'm the first black president, and you bought it. Why am I even here gracing your presence? This is pathetic. She can't even say in her speech that she is a proud wife. All my black friends, they want nothing to do with me now, they're gone. After all I have done for you black people. I lied about all your church fires that Republicans set. I did everything you asked me to do and you have abandoned me for a guy that runs around with terrorists in Chicago and has that wacko nut preacher. I wouldn't even go to that church, and he went there for 20 years and you nominate this clown? Don't blame me when this ends up bad, this is all over. You'll be back to me looking for advice. Next time I'm charging full price. I will never, ever forget this, and you have been warned. It ain't going to be pretty when this is over."

RUSH: I want to describe for you exactly how it is that the Obama campaign operates behind the scenes, the brutal ruthlessness, the smear tactics of this campaign. This situation I'm going to tell you about, something the Drive-Bys will not tell you about, and it is an insight, it is a clear insight into how Obama would govern.

Before I get to the big story, you probably heard about the ABC reporter on their investigative unit that was arrested on a public sidewalk in Denver taking pictures of Democrat senators going into an exclusive posh hotel for a meeting with high-roll donors, the special interests that Obama says are not going to be part of any massive change that he brings to the party. Put the lie to that. Tonight an Invesco Field, they have club seats in that stadium. Charles Krauthammer had a great description of this. Charles Krauthammer said this is the Super Bowl halftime show without the game. They had these club suites, and guess who's going to be in 'em, for millions of dollars of donations? The big, fat cats, the special interests, the corporate interests that the Democrats profess to hate so that they can protect you from these evil, mean profiteers, and they're going to be in those club boxes and Obama is going to pal around with them afterwards, you know, hobnob with them up there, just like they were in the hotel.

"Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel. ... A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker's neck, then twisted the producer's arm behind him to put on handcuffs. A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel. ... Eslocker and his ABC News colleagues are spending the week investigating the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the convention for a series of Money Trail reports on ABC's 'World News with Charles Gibson.'" They're going to do this in Minnesota, too. But this is the Democrat Party in conjunction with this hotel wanting to keep all of this private, and so a reporter is arrested and carted off. This is the change. This is the Barack Obama of Chicago, as Bill Clinton called him, a typical Chicago thug. They don't play on a level playing field; you clear it, you clear the playing field.

Now they're trying to destroy Stanley Kurtz of National Review magazine because Stanley Kurtz has been researching the papers in the Richard J. Daley library in Chicago that detail the business dealings of Obama and William Ayers. The attempt to destroy not just the career and the reputation of Stanley Kurtz occurred on radio last night, a local Chicago host who himself I'm told is a pretty nonpartisan guy, was stunned at the effort made by the Obama campaign to clog up the phone lines and thousands of people just calling to complain about Stanley Kurtz, mass e-mails, not saying one thing specifically in defense of Obama but rather trashing Kurtz for engaging in this kind of politics. It's right out of the Saul Alinsky book. It's right out of this book for radicals, and this is Obama. He doesn't want whatever is known about Ayers to become widely known. There's something there, there has to be, for this campaign to be ginned up this way.

Now, imagine if they had the Fairness Doctrine. If they had the Fairness Doctrine they wouldn't have to mass e-mail, they wouldn't have to clog up phone lines. All they'd have to do is call the general manager of the radio station and complain and demand equal time and do this 20 times a day in response to programming at every radio station, and guess what, the programming's gone because the stations can't put up with that kind of hassle. They can't document it to the government in order to prove they've been fair and so forth. This is the Obama that nobody knows. This is the Obama that the Drive-Bys will not tell you about. This is the Obama who wants to clear the playing field. His accomplishments were not on display last night. Nobody at that convention could describe his accomplishments because there aren't any that they can talk about. His real accomplishment is learning the art of Chicago thug politics. Bill Clinton is exactly right, and that's what you need to be concerned about, in addition to what we know as his radical leftist policies would be, that's what you need to know about Obama.

RUSH: I'll tell you about what's going on in Chicago. Bill Ayers, Weather Underground terrorist and now an "educator" at the University of Chicago or somewhere, is a longtime friend of Obama.

Obama has described him as just somebody that lives in the neighborhood. It's a lie. I know it's a harsh word to use, but they're close friends. They are associates. Obama's career was launched in this guy's house! This guy was one of Obama's mentors, taught him the ins and outs of radicalism as authored by Saul Alinsky. "[T]he relationship between Ayers and Obama is much deeper and longer than Obama admits. They ... were partners in various entities and regularly exchanged ideas, including," according to Investor's Business Daily, "how to turn Chicago schools into re-education camps to create a generation of social revolutionaries." That's who Bill Ayers is, and he is unrepentant. And this is who Obama worked with on education.

"One of Ayer's descriptions for a course" that he and Obama designed and worked on is "called 'Improving Learning Environments'," and here's the description: "[P]rospective K-12 teachers need to 'be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and ... be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, teaching for social justice and liberation.'" You think you know enough to elect Barack Obama? You think you know enough about what he really believes? You think you know enough about what has really happened in his life in order to form a judgment? Now, Stanley Kurtz writes for National Review Online. He's a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is a Harvard-educated social anthropologist who frequently does contribute to National Review and some other publications. He is widely respected.

His research is meticulous, and he has been doing for months (as many of us do) the job the mainstream media refuses to do, and that is examine the background and the public records of Obama to try to find out what's there. He specifically is looking into his relationship with Bill Ayers -- and he has found some documents in Chicago that give some details that shine the light on the lie that Obama barely knows Ayers. "He's just a guy in my neighborhood." It's clear that Obama does not want people to know how close he is to Bill Ayers. So, the Saul Alinsky-inspired Obama campaign has engaged in a brutal sleaze and smear tactic. The Obama machine is now going after Stanley Kurtz, who is just looking into this. He was Chicago radio station WGN last night, and the phone lines were flooded and the e-mails came in, and call after call after call came in denouncing Kurtz.

"Kurtz needs to stop this. We just want this to stop." The callers were robots. They were reading an e-mail that the Obama campaign had sent out and those that got through were just reading e-mails. We just want it to stop. The host said, "What has Mr. Kurtz said that's not true here tonight?" and they would not respond 'cause they couldn't respond. They just said, "We want it to stop. The criticism of Obama is just not what we want to hear as Americans," and these people were racing through their script, and they echoed the campaign insistence that it was Rosenberg, the host, who was lowering the standards of political discourse by having Stanley Kurtz on rather than the campaign by shouting him down. This is who they are. There is no opposition permitted. They are to be gotten off the field. The field is to be cleared.

"You are not going to be allowed to criticize our candidate. I don't care whether the criticism is true or not. We are going to stop you. We are gonna stop it. We're going to destroy you. We're going to destroy your reputation. We're going to harass these media people and give you any opportunity whatsoever. We're going to intimidate them. We're going to make them afraid to have any guest on their show that will criticize. When asked, "What's wrong?" when asked, "What's inaccurate?" when asked, "Well, what's Mr. Kurtz saying here that's incorrect?" they don't answer it. They read from the script: "We just want this to stop." This is Barack Obama. This is who Barack Obama is. This is William Ayers and who he is. This is Jeremiah Wright and who he is. This is everybody who has ever poisoned the mind of Barack Obama. I'm sure at some point in his young life he was like every other normal little kid with four half-brothers and a father with four wives. But somewhere, somehow, somebody got hold of him -- or he chose it.

Maybe he wanted to go to Chicago and get involved in politics there and he knew what he had to do to do it; and he has absorbed this poison from radical, radical leftists who do not like this country. He has learned their techniques. The techniques of radical leftists do not involve engaging in debate. They do not involve trying to persuade people to agree with your point of view. The Obama, Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Harvard professors, whoever it is who taught this guy, the technique is: You get rid of the opposition, and it doesn't matter how. You get rid of them by destroying their credibility. You intimidate them. You intimidate people who would give the media opportunities. This is a window, my friends, into how Barack Obama would govern -- and don't forget this little episode with the ABC News producer and his camera crew outside the hotel in Denver. Don't forget that. This is who Barack Obama is.

RUSH: Steve Gilbert, Sweetness & Light blog, points out the dedication by Saul Alinsky in his own book, Rules for Radicals. Now, we've discussed Saul Alinsky a lot over the recent past. He was one of Hillary Clinton's idols. She, too, by the way, from Chicago. But Alinsky's tactics have spread. I mean, Vladimir Putin uses Saul Alinsky's tactics. The difference between Vladimir Putin and Saul Alinsky is too small to be measured. And I know you're not going to believe this. You're not gonna believe that a woman who almost became the presidential nominee of the Democrat Party holds Saul Alinsky as one of her idols, one of her role models. You're not going to believe this when you hear me read to you his dedication to the book. You are not going to believe that Obama has signed onto this hook, line, and sinker. Rules for Radicals is the title of the book, A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, by Saul Alinsky. He's no longer alive, but his work lives on.

Here is Saul Alinsky's dedication to his own book: "Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer." Saul Alinsky dedicated the book that Barack Obama has learned from to the devil, to Satan. It's right here. We have screen shots. We will link to Steve Gilbert's website, Sweetness & Light blog, sweetness-light.com. You want me to read it to you again? Snerdley can't believe what he just heard because he's out there screening calls. Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky, Hillary Clinton's idol, Barack Obama, total believer. Saul Alinsky from Chicago, dedicated his own book with this: "Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer."

There are two other dedications on this page, one from Thomas Paine, the other from Rabbi Hillel, but it's Saul Alinsky who is the author of the book. I know you don't believe this. But folks, the evidence for the belief that Obama buys what's in this book is on display against Stanley Kurtz of National Review, all because he's trying to find out what the relationship was between Bill Ayers and Barack Obama. And that's not going to be found. If it is found, the guy who finds it and tells everybody is going to be so discredited and so destroyed, nobody is going to believe it. And anybody else who tries to give Stanley Kurtz an opportunity to be on the air, they're going to be likewise intimidated. This is on local Chicago radio last night, but it has spread throughout the proper channels, ladies and gentlemen. It will never find its way to the Drive-By Media.

CALLER. I've been listening to you forever, but it's the first time I've called. I was just wondering when you were talking about that poor talk show host and what happened to him, do you have any concerns that this could possibly happen on your show? I can't imagine, I would think they would just love to do something like that to you.

RUSH: Oh, they try it here, but we don't have guests. They flood our phone lines, we get seminar callers here. What happened to that guy doesn't so much concern me, even if I had Stanley Kurtz on the air, you know, let 'em, we got ways around these people. That's not the concern. The concern is the effort, the effort that was the Obama campaign to silence speech. It was the Obama campaign intimidating and threatening a radio talk show host and trying to also threaten and intimidate a journalist and a man who works at a think tank named Stanley Kurtz. They do not have the power of government behind them yet to do it, but if they ever get in power and redo the Fairness Doctrine, they won't have to threaten or intimidate. They'll just have to lodge complaint after complaint after complaint on station after station after station, and finally local management will say, "I can't put up with this," and the end of all controversial programming will take place.

RUSH: Oh, yeah, Nancy Pelosi is all for this. A number of Democrats said they can't wait. Some have even advanced legislation to make it happen now. Who was it, Maurice Hinchey in New York, I think, was the author of a piece of legislation. No, we're looking at this. We're keeping a sharp eye.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Mega dittos. I'm a first-time caller and a Rush Baby, very proud of that. I've been looking at everything the Democrats are doing between the arrest of the ABC reporter, Nancy Pelosi wanting to drill into people's brains, and Obama's camp between Stanley Kurtz and the commercial, they're looking more and more like communist China. Next thing you know they're going to want to censor radio and TV, and then I thought and then I remembered the Fairness Doctrine. They're already trying to do that.

RUSH: It sounds unbelievable in 2008 America, but we have to take it seriously based on who Obama is and how he's acting now. So while it sounds unbelievable, Orwellian, it couldn't happen, we know damn well that there are people within the Obama campaign who would do just that, who would silence the opposition with a snap of their fingers if they could. It's not just China. I think this is very Putinesque.

CALLER: I served four years in the military to try to fight for all our freedoms, and that's not American at all, what they're doing, so it's just downright scary.

[The left has made Vice President Cheney out to be someone that he is clearly not. Putin has picked up on this, and now blames Cheney for the Georgian conflict]:

RUSH: If this wasn't so dangerous it would be funny. It wasn't long ago, ladies and gentlemen, shortly after the Russians moved into Georgia, the American left -- and I can't recall who it was, it might have just been some wacko bloggers -- blamed America's neocons, blamed Dick Cheney for provoking Russia to invade Georgia as the political campaign season got into full swing. The idea was to enhance and improve Republican electoral chances in November. I am holding here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers, a story from the UK Telegraph: "'Vladimir Putin Accuses US of Provoking Georgia War.' -- Putin accused the United States of provoking a war in Georgia to improve Republican prospects in November's presidential election. In comments designed to inflame tensions between the two countries, Mr Putin told CNN: 'The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president.'"

So, once again we have the American left, people close to the Obama campaign mouthing the identical thoughts of a communist member of the KGB, Vladimir Putin. Whether they are echoing the lines of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or whether they are repeating the philosophies and threats of Ayman al-Zawahiri or Osama Bin Laden, the American left cannot avoid being placed on the same side as America's enemies, over and over again. Never are they held to account for it. Now, we know how much the left in this country envy's Russia. They always have. For some reason they've loved it. Last thing they wanted was for the Soviet Union to ever be defeated and disbanded. So it will be fascinating to see how long it takes for somebody in the Obama campaign to pick this and up quote Putin as a source on the Republican Party and on Bush. I think it's going to happen before the week is out. Somebody in the Obama camp, it will happen on television, it will happen in a newspaper somewhere. Maybe not a direct association, but, you know, "Could this all have happened to help McCain? Putin may have a point." 'Cause, remember, Obama's initial reaction was to blame both Russia and Georgia, a moral equivalence. Rather than to take a stand with a Democratic ally of ours, he sought to blame them.

Okay, we found some instances, ladies and gentlemen, of Democrats and Drive-By Media types blaming Cheney and Bush for Russia's invasion of Georgia. One was in the LA Times blog by James Gerstenzang, and then outside the Beltway blog, a couple of bloggers: "Did US Provoke Georgia-Russia Conflict?" Quote, "Cheney went over to the Georgian embassy about a week before." And then George Stephanopoulos on August 17th on ABC News speculated that this might have been started by the Georgians, provoked by us. So here comes Pootie-Poot agreeing with the American Drive-By Media and fringe left bloggers.

RUSH: I heard Barack Obama gave a speech last night, a rumor. He did give a speech last night? I can't find much about Obama's speech today. I've been looking at all the TV -- I can't -- sounds like just a rumor that he'd make a speech last night.

We are waiting for Senator McCain to show up with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is his vice presidential pick. We are going to join the ceremony announcing her choice when it begins. We will JIP it, join it in progress, and we'll stick with it as long as we can. It's an inspired choice. They kept this secret. They totaled befuddled the Obama campaign. The Obama campaign is now busy doing their opposition research, and the one thing that just blows me away that just makes me laugh, and I haven't been laughing much this week, is that they're talking about how this is a bad pick because she doesn't have any experience. She's got more experience than Obama does! She has more experience running things. She's got a bigger story to tell than Obama has, and she's got plenty of people who will tell that great story of hers. Obama has nobody he wants us to hear tell his story. He has to tell his story himself. I think they've been rope-a-doped here. I think McCain has made a brilliant move. Folks, look what we got here.

We do have a woman on the ticket, but she is a Republican woman! It's not Hillary, and Sarah Palin doesn't have to wear pantsuits, ladies and gentlemen, and her husband is not a crook. This woman's nickname is Barracuda, from her high school basketball days. She takes no prisoners. She's a government ethical reformer. She's been opposing Ted Stevens, who's got problems. Her husband works in the oil business. He helps to create the fuel that Obama uses to fly all over the country. The fuel that Obama says he wants to get rid of in ten years. This is tremendous, and everybody saying, "Well, how is she going to stack up against Biden?" It's not how she stacks up against Biden. It's how she stacks up against Obama. McCain has the experience-vs.-Obama thing wrapped up. "Well, what about foreign policy? She doesn't have any foreign policy." Neither does Obama! Our vice presidential choice is more qualified to be president of the United States than Barack Obama, the Democrat choice. Democrats today are not happy. The Drive-By Media is not happy. They're not crazy about the speech last night in the civil rights community. I can't tell you how much Drive-By Media criticism there is of this speech, from the AP and Reuters and so forth, and there's Tom Brokaw: Democrats, don't be fooled by this raucous crowd, these big crowds at these things don't mean anything, it's going to be forgotten. It already is forgotten, folks. We've got audio sound bites of this that we're going to get to in due course.

I gave up on it with 20, 25 minutes left. I started getting mad, started getting angry, starting shouting about things, and it's the same old thing, I'd heard it all before, and I just gave up. And, you know, watching the crowd and so forth, this is a laundry list of socialist ideas. It's the same stuff we've gotten from Democrats for my entire life. There wasn't any outreach. This is a guy, big unifier, big this, big that, he didn't reach out to people who don't agree with him. This was a campaign rally. Talk about preaching to the choir, what was that last night? There was no outreach from The Messiah to people who might disagree with him. I was watching Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington, this morning, and she was talking to some little Obama advisor. And, by the way, did you see they put all the black people up there in the upper deck? There weren't any in the lower deck. He didn't talk about the Martin Luther King anniversary or any of that. Civil rights community is upset about this. But Andrea Mitchell, she got back to her hotel room at two o'clock this morning, and you can tell, her voice is extremely weak.

She got back to her hotel room two o'clock in the morning and ordered some tea, and the room service woman who brought the tea up, Andrea said, (paraphrasing) "What did you think of this speech?" "I didn't think it was nice the way he attacked Senator McCain. I didn't think that's what Obama was about. I thought he was just way too mean." So Andrea Mitchell says, "You guys in the Obama campaign, do you understand how average people might have seen that?" And this guy in the Obama campaign, "Oh, yeah, we're going to track that woman down, we'll track her down and explain how she misunderstood it and so forth. We'll find her," meaning that they're going to go out and try to find this one woman that works in a hotel because they're paranoid that this one woman got the wrong idea. The image that Obama wants to portray, The Messiah, unifier, his presence can bring all people together, he made no effort to bring anybody together last night, just a sad, straight laundry list. Drive-By Media all upset. Audio sound bite number one here, Mike. Drive-By Media all upset when they heard today about Sarah Palin. This is CNN, Ed Henry saying this about Governor Sarah Palin.

HENRY: If John McCain really was a maverick, he would have gone with someone like Joe Lieberman, they had floated that trial balloon of Joe Lieberman, an independent Democrat, maybe Tom Ridge, a moderate Republican, but as we all know, Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives warned that that would lead to the destruction of the Republican Party, would split the party at the Republican convention next week. But in the end, John McCain went with a conservative. So you're going to hear the Democrats try to say, well, this is not really being a maverick, that he, in their words, buckled to the right wing of his party.

RUSH: Ed, you don't get it. John McCain gets it. She is a maverick pick! She is a total maverick pick. We're the ones that have the babe on the ticket, Ed! We have a conservative, real woman. This woman hunts moose. This woman fishes. This woman is an athlete! This is an inspired choice. This is absolutely fabulous. And she is conservative. She's pro-life. Five kids. She had a Down syndrome baby months ago, rather than abort it. I mean, here the Democrats are all upset, the Clinton women are all upset because Obama dissed them and here's the party of advanced causes for women, the Democrat Party, doing all of these exciting things that they can to try to show that they are the place for women who want to advance, and where does it happen? It happens in the Republican Party. I knew that it would be the Republican Party that first had a woman who works at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Now, let's see if the Drive-Bys contrast McCain's choice of a woman to Obama's choice of a blowhard insider. Alaska is about as far away from Washington as you can get. Obama didn't have the guts to choose Hillary or any other woman for that matter 'cause he didn't think it would sell politically. So now they're out attacking Sarah Palin's experience. They're attacking women. What's going to happen here is, ladies and gentlemen, the Democrat Party and their accomplices in the Drive-By Media are going to attack women when they start attacking Sarah Palin. There is no question the Obama campaign is hurting from this, and it's going to be interesting to see how easily we can predict what they will say about her.

RUSH: Can you imagine how Mrs. Clinton has to feel today: dissed by her own party on the 88th anniversary of women getting the right to vote to create the American welfare state. Guess where Obama and Biden started their campaign today? Beaver, Pennsylvania. They started their campaign today in Beaver, Pennsylvania, and they put out this statement. "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil, and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies. That's not the change we need. It's just more of the same," said Adrianne Marsh, Obama campaign spokeswoman.

They are floundering out there. We may have wrested the women's vote away from the Democrats with this choice. She is the governor of a state that has just 100,000 fewer citizens than the state of Delaware. Delaware has 700-some-odd thousand citizens and Alaska around 638,000. She is an executive. She has a story. Foreign policy? No foreign policy experience? You know, really. I said this last hour, I think, folks, this is almost a rope-a-dope, because in Barack Obama... Charles Krauthammer had a great piece yesterday. I'm just going to summarize it and put it in my own words. He had a great piece yesterday on the fact that Barack Obama cannot tell his story. He hasn't told his story, other than the story of his family.

His Michelle Obama and two kids family, but he doesn't tell anything of his achievements. There aren't any. He has nobody else speak of his achievements. There aren't any. All people do is speak of his qualifications, and his number one qualification as offered in his speech last night was that he's from the party of FDR and JFK; and that alone is supposed to be solve everybody's problem with his lack of qualifications. Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, is more qualified to be president than Barack Obama! Barack Obama doesn't have foreign policy experience, either. Somebody tell me what it is. He has worked in the United States Senate for 143 days. He has gone from community agitator to state senator to US senator with no foreign policy experience, and McCain will trump Biden when it comes to foreign policy experience.

McCain is going to trump Obama in all kinds of experience. McCain has a story of heroism, integrity, and honor to tell. He has countless, thousands of people to vouch for him on it. Sarah Palin has a great personal story, a tremendous American story. You heard it in her acceptance speech this morning, or this afternoon in Dayton, Ohio. We're cutting it up now. We'll have some audio sound bites of that as well. Not only does she have a great American story, a great American family, she has a lot of people to vouch for that story, a lot of people to tell us who she is; about her character, about her dignity. None of these things can be said about Obama. There are no people who vouch for Barack Obama! I haven't even heard any of his Harvard Law School buddies come out and say good things about Obama.

The only people that can vouch for Barack Obama are people he doesn't want us to know that he knows very well and he doesn't want us to hear from: William Ayers;, Jeremiah Wright; that fruitcake priest, Pfleger; and who else? Some of these other guys that got him involved with these cronies in the Chicago world of thug politics. I mean you talking about an empty suit and an empty resume? You know, I got here today, started doing show prep and I turned on the TV, and there was no reporting on this big, bang-up speech last night. I couldn't find it. It was almost as though the speech were just a rumor, and then I started reading some of the Drive-By Media rumor reports on Obama's speech, and blacks are criticizing him, the civil rights coalition is criticizing him. Tom Brokaw is warning these Democrats: "Don't get caught up in that crowd size last night. It's not going to mean anything."

We put together a summary. The speech went 44 minutes, and I don't want to play all those sound bites. I'm not going to play all those sound bites. I'm feeling happy today. I'm not gonna revisit it. We put together a highlight summary of Barack Obama's speech last night.

OBAMA: I accept your nomination. I thank you. I am grateful... I love you. I am so proud... I stood before... That's why I stand here......... Tonight I say... I don't know about you... I'm not ready... I quote... Americans I know... I don't believe... I just think... I am standing here... I see... I think... I listen... I remember... I stood... I hear... I think... I could... I know... I don't know... I intend to... I am... I will stop... I will... I will... I will... I will... As president I will... I'll help... I'll make... I'll invest... Michelle and I... I'll recruit... I will... I want... I have laid out... I'll pay... I will... I'm ready... I stood up... I argued... I will never hesitate... I will only... I will end... I will rebuild... I will... I will... I will... I will... I will... I look forward... I will not... I love... I know... But I don't know... I know... I get it... I realize that I... I -- I -- I -- I believe... I've seen it... I've lived it... I've seen it... I've seen it... I've seen it... I make... I got news for you... This election has never been about me. It's about you!

RUSH: He actually said in his speech last night -- the audience sort of looked a little stunned. He said, "I am my brother's keeper." He actually said it. His brother lives in a hut! On twelve dollars a year! His brother lives in a hut, a shack, a six-by-nine-foot hut outside Nairobi. He is his brother's keeper? He hasn't even sent his brother a "Hut, Sweet Hut" sign to put up inside the hut. If he sent his brother 20 bucks, he's come close to doubling his annual income. He is his "brother's keeper." About all they have to say is, "I'm troubled by her lack of experience." This is going to come back to bite them, and I'll tell you something else. The Democrats are going to send out their liberal women. They're going to send out the Madeleine Albrights. (I welcome that, by the way.) They're going to send out their Jane Fondas. They're going to send out all of their women. I'll bet you we don't hear much from Hillary, and I'll bet you we don't hear much from Bill -- except he's probably trying to get her number right now.

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, the Drive-By Media is very unhappy with this choice. I want to replay for you audio sound bite number one from CNN this morning, Ed Henry.

RUSH: Not a maverick? This is a purely maverick pick, Ed. Who's got the woman on the ticket, Ed? Your party or McCain's party? And Ed, you are a Democrat. You guys need to stop hiding this stuff. You're doing a better job keeping it under wraps than they are at DNCTV, but we all know. They're mad at me or mad because they think I forced McCain into a conservative pick. They wanted a pro-choicer on this ticket so that they could cream McCain.

RUSH: I want to go over this experience business another way. The libs are saying that Sarah Palin doesn't have any experience. Neither does Obama. I want to illustrate that. Let's say that Obama and Sarah Palin got together. What are some of the questions that Sarah Palin would have for Senator Obama? I can't think of anything he could teach her. What, however, could she teach him? So, Senator Obama's first question would be: Can you show me the proper and safe way to handle and fire a gun? And are all NRA members as pretty as you are? Second question, Obama to Sarah Palin: Is hunting scary? And when you go fishing, do you bait your own hooks? I mean you could cut your finger doing that. Do you do it yourself? Next question, Obama to Sarah Palin: When you found out your baby would be born with Down syndrome, did you consider killing it before or after the due date? You mean you had the baby? You really had the baby? Question number four: What's it like to be a governor, Mrs. Palin? Do you worry that you're going to be held responsible for your decisions?

Question number five, Obama to Sarah Palin: Did you believe all that garbage that we've said about women at the Democrat convention? Are you worried that breaking the glass ceiling will just make a big mess? Question number six, from Obama to Sarah Palin: Is it fun or scary to ride a snowmobile? Don't you get cold? Question number seven, Obama to Sarah Palin: Is it scary to live so close to the Russians? Question number eight, Obama to Sarah Palin: Your son's in the army. Did you teach him how to shoot guns? Question number nine, Obama to Sarah Palin: Since you're a former sports broadcaster, if I bet on a football game, can I call you for advice? Question number ten, Obama to Sarah Palin: Come on, tell me the truth: Can we really drill for oil and not destroy the planet? Algore says we're destroying the planet, but your husband works in that business. Can we really drill for oil and not destroy the planet? Well, I don't know what Sarah Palin would ask Obama. She wouldn't want a sweetheart mortgage. That's the thing. Mr. Obama, could you tell me how to get a sweetheart mortgage or maybe get some crook friend to sell me, you know, a little strip of his land below market value? She wouldn't ask that question. Obama did. She might reference it in a debate if it comes up.

Biden praises Obama for 3 specific accomplishments; here is a closer look at those accomplishments:

Many times, I have told you how Congressional mandates are in part to blame for our present housing crisis (which, by the way, is not a crisis for people who are buying homes right now). Biden sponsored a bill which compounded this problem (can Obama, with a straight face, present Biden as a great VP choice and then start complaining about our housing crisis in the next breath?):

At this point in time, we have a lot of alternative media out there to present Obama as he really is and to present his past as it really is. When Obama speaks of his personal history, notice that he will live out large time chunks and personal achievements. This is because there are periods of time in his life, he does not want us to know anything about. This is because he has no real political achievements. For those who are getting to the bottom of this, Obama tactics are quite scary:

Kurtz doing the Milt Rosenberg Show in Denver (these are scary times for those of us who believe in freedom of speech).

While McCain picks a woman as his running mate, Obama and Biden go to Beaver, PA to campaign. The material just writes itself.

Conservative Review
Issue #40	Kukis Digests and Opines on this Week’s News and Views	August 31, 2008