Comments on: A Perfect Storm [Open Thread]

By: Blue Orchid

Blue Orchid — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:51:31 +0000

To elect an inexperienced candidate with little substance at a grave time like this is frankly exceedingly reckless and unconscienable.

By: Linda Mac

Linda Mac — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:53:51 +0000

Excellent cartoon. This primary season in the Democratic party has been a nightmare and our country will suffer from the insanity of it for years to come. Today, Mac and I voted early and we both voted for McCain/Palin. I, a devoted Democrat who would have voted for a Yellow Dog before I voted against a Democrat was left without a Democratic Party and no real Democrat to vote for in this election. It breaks my heart but I do believe that Obama is more dangerous to our country than McCain or Palin either would be. A very sad day for Mac and me.

Thank you for the cartoon that so accurately expresses my feelings right now.

By: JTomorrow

JTomorrow — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:15:08 +0000

A perfect cartoon!

By: Pat Racimora

Pat Racimora — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:54:11 +0000

Agreed Don S. If enough people watch carefully and stay involved no matter who wins, we may have a chance to straighten out our ship.

Some of us, though, worry that an Obama administration will actively seek to stifle any opposition.

A hard knock on the door in the middle of the night is a frightening though….

By: Pat Racimora

Pat Racimora — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:46:33 +0000

Wow–what an FASCINATING post VinceP…
One needs to read it twice to get the full impact.

By: Don S

Don S — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:46:26 +0000

A great depiction of impending doom to our democracy, Pat. We will feel the impact for many years of the failed policies of the Bush administration that have almost capsized our ship. Now we face the uncertainties of what lies ahead from the next administration. Will it be more of the same with McCain or something much different, but probably not better with Obama? Seems the media and the polls and Wall Street have pretty much conceded it will be an Obama world. It is much more clear what we could expect from McCain/Palin. No matter how hard he tries in these last days to distance himself from Bush, the fact is he has supported Bush policies most of the time. How Obama will operate as President is much less clear. To some people he is the new hope for major change. To others, he is a scary figure because of the kinds of people he has associated himself with as a budding politician. Many people are suspicious that underneath the flowery rhetoric lies a hidden agenda that, if implemented, will further threaten to sink our shaky democracy. Perhaps the major bright spot for the future of our democracy is that many more people have gotten involved in understanding what are the crucial issues at stake in the election. There will be many more people voting this year and feeling they have a stake in the future of our country. It may require dedicated efforts from all of us to bail out a sinking ship.

By: Pat Racimora

Pat Racimora — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:42:31 +0000

Thanks for those outstanding quotes–they say it all!

By: Pat Racimora

Pat Racimora — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:40:00 +0000

I’m with you CB! “Decline to state” as soon as I can get to the registrar’s office after the election.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:33:47 +0000

Great cartoon! If we ever needed someone with experience to help us, it is now!!!!!

Rich

By: Sam Copeland

Sam Copeland — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:29:55 +0000

Perfect storm indeed.

This election raises some important questions about the state of our democracy:

1. For two major elections in a row (2000 & 2008), we are electing a President based on marketing and branding (Brand Bush and Brand Obama) as opposed to leadership and ability? Why is it that few Americans — especially on the left — are paying attention to the candidate’s stand(s) on issues? What can be done about this?

2. Why can’t we get candidates to address the issues? Both Obama and McCain propose tax cuts. Yet, our nation under Bush passed the largest tax increase in history (Iraq and bail-out expenses) and then put it on the Visa card. The bill is now coming due. Neither candidate will address this issue. The idea of tax cuts in the face of a looming national credit card bill is absurd. The same can be said for what we will do in Iraq and Afghanistan.

3. Why did the media chose in 2000 not to question Bush’s record (cocaine use, failed military service, lack of experience) and then again in 2008 fail to question Obama’s record (changing positions, Rezko and Chicago corruption, lack of experience)? In contrast, the media chose to smear Hilary Clinton with all sorts of false and exaggerated stories (as they did Kerry in 2004). What is determining how the media selects its “chosen one” and why do we go along?

By: JohnnyB

JohnnyB — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:11:18 +0000

Another great cartoon, Pat:

Ob (or the Democratic Nominee) should be ahead by 20 points or so, not by 2 points (today’s Gallop Poll).

It’s because the Congress has a 13% approval rate.
Taking Impeachment OFF THE TABLE was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not having a “pull-out” date for our troops in Iraq was the second straw.

We’re in deep trouble. No way out.

By: sassy

sassy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:57:42 +0000

Pat, I agree with you!
During this election, I have felt intense distrust of the major players!
I’m usually fairly straight-forward, so I don’t think I’m ready for a “rubber room”!
Although I was hesitant to bring it up before, some of the spokes-people at a funeral, for instance, were advancing the agenda of putting a “black” in the White House…not just a democrat…there is a difference in the two objectives!
Will America wise up and save it’s precious heritage?

By: Queenie

Queenie — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:18:51 +0000

Patrick..i just had an email yesterday or day before..calling on NJ dems to go to Pa to work for Obama..so the internals must be very tight..so do not stop working over there in Pa land..and screw what the media says..keep up the good work..volunteer to drive the elderly to the polls..volunteer to go pick up absentee ballots from the elderly..i assure you Acorn is doing just that..with many going missing!!..go work the phones..it is always better to get a call from a local than someone out of state..
Do not ever give up..

From someone who has seen this crap over and over..from a Fla registered voter/and former elected delegate for Fla.. who also has a home in NJ!!

By: AnninCA

AnninCA — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:53:34 +0000

I still don’t watch Fox except on excerpts on v-tube.

I simply don’t like that style.

I don’t like it on the major networks, either. I don’t watch any of those.

Personally, I get all my news from print media.

I turn the tube off when it comes to national news.

I watch it only for my local news.

By: JozefAL

JozefAL — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:49:49 +0000

No, I think that, for most Democrats, Fox News is a breath of progressivism/liberalism when compared to World Net Daily.
In fact, had CNN and MSNBC not become enablers of the Obama campaign (in much the same way they helped Team Bush in the 2000 election–especially after the election when they, just like Fox, would describe Bush as “President-Elect” days before the Supreme Court “voted” for Bush* while referring to Gore as “Vice-President” or even “Mr Gore”–or how they helped enable Dubya’s war plans) and pissed off Hillary’s supporters, Fox News wouldn’t have gotten the time of day from Democrats of any persuasion.
Most Democratic Hillary supporters remained very wary of Fox all through the primary season, largely believing that Fox would pull a “gotcha” on Hillary if/when she became the Democratic nominee and restart the old (and FoxNews-enabled) anti-Clinton campaigns of the 1990s. Democrats who didn’t support Hillary viewed Fox’s “balanced” view of Hillary with equal wariness, fearing that Fox was trying to swing the Democratic primaries in her favor only to pull that “gotcha” moment as well. (I know a lot of Democrats, including progressives/liberals, who rooted for Hillary to run in 2004 and were disappointed at her not doing so then, only to turn on her this year–in part because of her “no in 2004″ but also because of the slickness of the DNC’s own little schemes. So many Dems this year were among the first to bring up the very things they’d railed AGAINST during the 1990s and even Hillary’s first Senate run–that Hillary was “too divisive a figure”, that she’d “bring out the rabid conservative base against her”.)