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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (92266)	12/14/2006 2:54:43 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361717

LOL...!!

To: geode00 who wrote (92266)	12/14/2006 5:40:55 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361717

NEEDED: LARGE POWERFUL FAN to blow the DIRT back at ROVIANS opednews.com By Vince Williams December 14, 2006 Is there any doubt that the Swift Boater types will use every dirty campaign trick they know to try to plant fear, suspicion and hateful opposition in the minds of the electorate with respect to Barak Obama? You know what happened to Ford; they'll try to work that one with Barak too. Barak's middle name is Hussein and there's absolutely no question that we'll see every smear and jeer trick they can think of if/when Obama announces to run. If you've read any portion of "The Audicity of Hope", though, you see what mega-intelligence and what a vast fund of historical, economic and political information Obama has. When we think of the midget mind of our current "office-holder", we are brought to the undeniable realization that George W. wouldn't be able to write HALF the quality of Obama's book even WITH a ghost writer ... and without one, the book would be extremely sophomoric. And "sales" would be laughable. When I heard W. say he'd read the Iraq Special Committee's Report, I had to laugh. What he meant (and should have said, if he wanted to be honest) was he had his staff read it and "fill him in". And will he read Obama's book? You know the answer. So, what kinds of tactics can we expect to see, and what might be used to counter the SWIFT-BOATERS? 1. First, they need to be shamed for using divisive, dirty campaign attacks. And each one of them should be identified as a RACIST for the ones they use. They must be shown to be of the George W. Bush alienation philosophy ... endorsing corruption and willing to lie and cheat to win. 2. They must be identified with the Iraq fiasco. 3. They need a label, so "BOOGIE MEN" is as good as any. Trying to scare the public from voting for the best man. 4. The qualifications and lack thereof need to be high-lighted for each member of the SWIFTIES. 5. Their past record for ugly campaign tricks ought to be brought "front and center". They must not be allowed to hide behind anonymity. Call them a the GANG THAT BROUGHT US THE FAILURES WE'VE HAD TO PUT UP WITH IN BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION. His policies have been to alienate and make enemies. Underscore Obama's intellect and foreign policy moxy. Point out that here we have nation-healing opportunities seldom seen and what we've HAD is a CONSERVATIVE AMOUNT OF ABILITY IN George W. The NATIONAL DEBT IS AT A RECORD HIGH AND ZOOMING UPWARDS. All too much emphasis has been placed on WIDENING THE GAP between WEALTHY and BEGGAR. More and more middle-class people are finding themselves reduced to LOWER-CLASS economic status; and this is a formula for REBELLION and civil strife. A VOTE for the SWIFT BOATERS IS A VOTE FOR A SINKING PHILOSOPHY. In short, let's get ourselves set NOW for the dirt that's going to fly. Much of it is predictable.

To: geode00 who wrote (92266)	12/15/2006 12:46:31 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361717

This do-nothing Congress did all the wrong things By Daniel Schorr csmonitor.com Is flag burning more vital than ethics reform? WASHINGTON - At 4:35 a.m. last Saturday, Sen. Bill Frist performed his last act as majority leader. To the handful of members still there, he announced the adjournment of the 109th Congress "sine die" - that is, forever - leaving behind the most unproductive session in recent history. Congress has been in session only 103 days this year, compared with 110 for President Truman's "do-nothing Congress." It did not perform its most basic constitutional duty - to vote the appropriations necessary to run the government. Of 11 departmental appropriations, it had managed to pass only two - defense and homeland security. The rest of the government was left to limp along on a stopgap resolution that was constantly in danger of expiring - the next deadline is Feb. 15. In its last throes, the 109th did manage to pass legislation establishing permanent trade relations with Vietnam and a nuclear trade pact with India. And, yes, it renewed a cluster of expiring tax breaks. The Democrats, flexing their pending muscle, secured a bill blocking an automatic pay raise for Congress until next year, until after a vote to increase the minimum wage. What this Congress did not do is more striking than what this Congress did. It took no action on real immigration reform. It did not enact a budget. It produced no basic reform in Social Security or Medicare. It did, however, have spirited debates on matters such as flag burning, gay marriage, and Terry Shiavo's feeding tube, an issue that seemed to absorb Senator Frist. What Congress also left undone was any serious effort at ethics reform. What we got instead was retiring speaker Dennis Hastert's swan song, saying, "We promised to protect this nation from further attack and, by grace of God and with the leadership of President Bush, we have been successful." This could also be called the Mark Foley Congress - a leadership that for years did nothing about a Congressman who made e-mail advances to adolescent pages. Mr. Foley resigned. The House ethics committee said members of Congress were negligent about protecting the pages. But it said no rules had been violated. It may be that Congress has become, like the title of a recent book by scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, "The Broken Branch." • Daniel Schorr is a senior news analyst at National Public Radio.