One other thing that made my stop and take a second look to what is it about your posting (and this goes for you, JKTT) that reeks of Obamanite strategy, is this passage, ~“My friends working for McCain tell me that they are embarassed by her as they know her true history and have seen the proof.”~

First: “proof” of what?

Second: who knows such “higher ups” (able to be privy to whom any other individual happens to be) and, most particularly, privy to what ought to be confidential info. Indeed, who’s privy to that kind of personal information such as being knowledgeable of even the name of other supporters, let alone to the point of not only knowing “her true history” but also of being “embarrassed of her” and, to make things worse, then have the gumption of spreading such gossip?

Third: who bothers to lend ears to “friends” whom, conveniently—though also highly suspect—happen to be holding some sort of “higher up” status in an organization that, more likely than not, has nothing to do with your political inclinations? Have you planted a “mole” in the McCain offices?

Although it bothers me a lot, these question came to mind almost instantly not because I give a flying rat’s behind about how one’s “friend” manages to gain access to such, what ought to be, well guarded personal info on others, but because of something that directly involves me. Yeah, I happen to also be a supporter and contributor of a candidate and am aware that the run of the mill contributor or supporter has no means—or the desire—to know anything else that goes on inside the entrails of the organization of any particular candidate, with the exception that her/his political career is going as AOK as wished.

Can assure you that I don’t know Paulie at all—just as I don’t know you—and what I (and, I assume, rest of folks) get by reading these mailings are her explanations of facts on family issues (or squabbles) that she only knows and, as far as you are concerned, the same thing applies. Which pretty much has to mean that it is left up to us individuals to believe (or not) whomever we chose. Which brings me to this next point.

As many souls the world over have been made painfully aware off (the Clintons anyone?), character assassination and/or getting rid of the opposition by any means possible seems to be a trademark of the Obama campaign and, apparently, going all the way to Chicago (Alice Palmer {et al} anyone?). Therefore, please excuse me if I don’t fall over my head to believe anything that comes from the mouth of, what appears to me, are his followers.

So, to iterate the main point, here the discussion is NOT about who an individual is or what makes them tic, but about the right that one has to follow to the hilt the political tendencies that they see fit. Yet, I haven’t seen anything in your mailings showing that this very issue of freedom of expression (one that affects EVERYONE, not just those who feel that they may have been disrespected due to their ethnic background, sex, creed, or any combination of these and/or other equally nasty human failures) is what has prompted you to write.

At any rate, I’ve had the patience to read all the entries in order to see if by any chance any of you had actually weighed on the central point of this thread—that of vicious harassment for following one’s political tendencies—and must say that the answer is no. Pity, for the omission does shed some light into what the real purpose of your mailings might actually be—character assassination, plain and simple.

Go PUMAS!

Sorry for the bad rap. At times like this one wonders if any of those “kindly” souls ever stop to think how they would react if, much like yourself, they were made to feel the unthinkable. Yeah, that their lives (and those of their loved ones) may be put by few idiots in some sort of unimaginable danger simply because they opt to exercise their right to speak up for their beloved BO (or lean towards… or campaign for… or actually prefer because… or, whatever…)

Obviously some have no desire to put themselves on other’s shoes—a simple exercise in humility that can garner quite the vision into one’s own soul. But, then again, speaking of vision, as it applies to some of the tactics used by a number of Obamanots, needs to have recipients with the least of smarts and, as many of us have been forced to bear witness to, this is not precisely a strong suit when applied to the blind followers of an empty suit…

As a fellow Marylander, well aware that we have bigots of every imaginable skin color of the rainbow lurking somewhere in the shadows of this beautiful State of ours, the stark fact that someone is so horribly victimized for exercising the right of freely thinking (and/or acting) is bothersome as hell, but the saddest thing of all is that I’m not terribly surprised.

Keep well, keep safe, and keepaware that there are many others who feel exactly as you do, politically speaking. And as a matter of fact, if things don’t get better I humbly suggest that you force the gurus in charge of the BO camp to give you not just pretty words but also their utter reassurance that your safety (and that of your loved ones) rests on their shoulders and nothing, but absolutely nothing nasty will happen because you opt to exercise your right to do with your vote (and your time) as you please.

PUMA reigns!

I cannot imagine what universe Paulie Ableles lives in. The webmaster for the family chatroom Paulie mentions did himself hold “opposing” views…that is, he held doubts that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings’ children. It was sometime later, after listening and learning and doing research on his own, that he came to the conclusion that Jefferson did indeed father Ms. Hemings’ children. So to say that the site barred people with opposing views is ludicrous, given that the site was founded by someone who entertained those “opposing views.” Moreover, no one on the site ever used or uses a pseudonym, and in fact, being upfront about one’s identity and family connection is a condition of participation. It never occurred to us that anyone would lie about their identity. Ms. Abeles abused our trust when she fabricated her identity in order to spy.

As a participant of the Monticello family group, I know of no one from the site who used Ms. Abeles’ tactics to gain admission to any sites from “the other side,” to use her words. I know of no one who would be in the least interested in such sites. If indeed someone did submit false credentials to sites she frequented, perhaps she can tell us who they were.

he is on the obama for president in o8 website.

enter the weblog name in “www.whois.net

You need to take a step back and read your own comment. We are Democrats (or were)and we joined the Party because we believe in it’s platform and the principles it represents( or did until recently ).

The Democratic Party is being torn apart by charges of racism and it’s a mindless reaction to anyone who disagrees. This is a quote from Rep. John Lewis in Jan. of this year on News Hour. Please take the time to read it.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), Georgia: Judy, I knew Martin Luther King, Jr. I marched with him. I worked with him. He played a major role in inspiring people, giving people hope.

I also knew Lyndon Johnson. I was there with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on March 15, 1965, when we watched Lyndon Johnson deliver his speech in response to what was happening in Selma, when he said, “And we shall overcome.”

I looked at Dr. King. He looked at me, and tears came down his eyes. And he said, “We will get the civil rights bill, the voting rights bill passed. We will march from Selma to Montgomery.”

I think there’s been a deliberate, systematic attempt on the part of some people in the Obama camp to really fan the flame of race and really try to distort what Senator Clinton said. I understand and I think most right-thinking people understood what she said.REP. JOHN LEWIS: Let me say, Judy, President Clinton and Senator Clinton have a long record of working to bring people together. Long before President Clinton ever dreamed of running for president, long before Senator Clinton ever dreamed of running for president, they have a history, a very, very long history.

And no right-thinking, informed American would ever believe that President Clinton or Mrs. Clinton would do anything to use the race card
Martin Luther King, Jr., created the climate, created the environment, but it took a Lyndon Johnson to get the legislation through the Congress.

Most who were interested in this story before understand there were differences and animosity between these families. The DNA evidence was inconclusive in one case and, from your post, it seems there was blame on both sides for the confrontation. Two hundred years have passed and an affair between Jefferson and Hemmings is accepted by most historians and if the deception occurred as claimed in the article, it is deplorable, but you need to be clear about what you are saying.

Are you saying the phone calls didn’t happen? Are you making a charge of racism because Paula is not a fan of Obama? Excuse me if I’m wrong, but I had the impression from an earlier comment you were part of a movement(?) which you really didn’t define.

I sincerely ask your pardon if you are offended by my question, but are you guilty of subterfuge? I ask only because it isn’t clear to me exactly what you are trying to say.

I’m not sure whether to flip a coin or throw a dart blindfolded.

She offered an explanation I am willing to accept until I am able to look at the information available before the campaign started and I am satisfied this is not another smear.

I believe she has contacted the police and it is not difficult to get phone records. She claims to have received between forty and fifty calls over the period of one week and, if it is true, would be very frightening.

I can’t decide whether you’re politically naive, politically suicidal or just politically idealistic to a fault – maybe you’re all three.

You wish for a political world that only a Barack Obama can sell – and we see how that’s turning out already.

It would be great if Mr. and Mary Poppins were running for the big one in 2008 but that’s not what’s on our plate.

You and I are obviously engaged in politics and pay attention to what’s going on. But the great silent majority out there – the voters who will really decide this election – are not even paying attention. They decide on headlines, sound bytes, personal bias, etc.

That sad ignorance of anything other than the shallowest knowledge of what makes up a candidate’s character and policies is what makes political game-playing the necessary evil that it is.

Now we can sit around pining about what could be – and lose our butts, or we can get in there and fight the good fight to get the best possible candidate in office.

The time to work for changing the system is when a President is in place and governing can begin.

When that time comes, I’m with you all the way on fixing the mess that we call elections and governance.

But right now, we have a dirty election to win.