Wake Up!

Note to all Republicans -

Labeling Barack Obama as a terrorist because he had coffee at a college professor's house is about as logical as the left stating that the Republican Party is a terrorist organization due to its support of the failed policies of George W. Bush and other key "leaders."

After all, can't we label George W. Bush as a terrorist because he's caused more damage to this country than the terrorists did on 9/11?

Wake Up!

Is it painful enough for you yet?

The stock market lost another boatload of money again today.

While it's not good to overreact to short term market changes, today's drop continues a negative trend. The wealthy are doing fine. But, average citizens are rightfully terrified as they watch their retirement dreams wither away.

Home prices continue to decline. Grocery costs continue to rise. The economy's in a mess. If you're still employed, you have to wonder if you will be at the end of the month.

Is it painful enough for you yet?

As the dreams of retirees and the middle class continue to shatter, the political attack ads keep spewing out their unique brand of sewage.

The Republicans, and their Big Business supporters, continue to run their smear ads against the Democrats. I guess they have to, as Republicans don't have a very positive record to advertise.

I wonder what it says about our country when John McCain, a once honorable war hero, stoops to trying to smear his rival, Barack Obama, by claiming that he's "a pal" of a 1960's anti-war protester who may have done some bad things back when Senator Obama was just four or five years old.

The partisan Republican crowds listening to the McCain-Palin stump speech smears seem to eat up the message. What does this say about them?

A case could be made for labeling John McCain, and other Republicans, as "domestic terrorists" due to their unwavering support of the failed policies of the Bush Administration. After all, the Republicans, and the greed of their Big Business supporters, have done more harm to this country than the terrorists did on 9-11. All the terrorists did was to bring down a couple of buildings. Republican policies appear to have caused trillions of dollars in long term damage to our country.

While it's easy to blame George W. Bush and his Administration, all Republicans deserve the blame. For far too long, the Republican Party has only represented Big Business and the wealthy. Sure, they've used the religious right to deliver the votes by exploiting hatred and divisive wedge issues. But, in the end, they've only really represented Big Business and the wealthy.

The middle class and the poor have lost ground while awaiting to see any benefit from Republican "trickle down economics."

It's time for the incompetence to end.

Republican Party candidates deserve to be defeated this November. We need politicians who will represent all citizens. We need politicians who will put "Country First," not just as a campaign slogan, but in reality.

Only then will we have a prayer of rebuilding the country.

Norm Coleman - Hypocrite

Normally, Norm Coleman, and his fellow Republicans, are loathe to criticize small businesses and free-market enterprise. At every opportunity, they tout small business as the reason to give massive tax breaks to the wealthy (while failing to mention that the vast majority of small business owners are not wealthy).

However, in a bizarre press release from the Coleman for Senate campaign, Norm Coleman appears to have gone on record criticizing a small businessman who sold his services to some of the Wall Street firms involved in the credit crunch affecting our failing economy.

It seems that the small businessman had listed his speaking fees ($50,000 to $75,000) on a web site, along with a partial list of clients (which included some of the Wall Street firms). Apparently, someone on the Coleman campaign staff used the web site to determine that over the years the businessman had given 30 speeches to Wall Street firms. At his published speaker's fee, it was estimated that the businessman collected between $1.5 Million and $2.25 Million for his work.

Why does Norm Coleman criticize one businessman who dared to conduct legal free-market business with now troubled Wall Street firms and ignore all other businesses which did the same?

Norm Coleman has labeled the private businessman as a hypocrite for collecting fees for his services, because the businessman has criticized lawmaker Norm Coleman for taking fees (or contributions - supposedly not for services rendered) from the same Wall Street firms.

Talk about hypocritical.

Norm, there's a big difference between a private businessman collecting a fee for a legal service, and a politician collecting a "fee" from the same business which is now seeking a share of a $700 Billion public bailout.

To be fair, the small businessman in this case is Al Franken. Al Franken, a businessman turned politician. Al's looking to change careers and take Norm's job.

Let's hope he succeeds.

Businessman Al Franken earned his Wall Street fees honestly.

Unlike some politicians, it's expected that Senator Al Franken will be more likely to represent the people who elected him rather than only representing Special Interests.

Norm Coleman - Only Non-partisan Reviews?

In between his attack ads, Norm Coleman occasionally stops to try to defend his record.

In one of his recent ads, he touts the fact that he "Supported 100 non-partisan Iraq Reviews."


I found this troubling on a number of levels.

What does it mean to "support" a review? It certainly doesn't sound like rigorous investigation. Why was he supporting only "non-partisan" reviews? And, just because a complaint comes from the loyal opposition, is it fair to label it "partisan" and refuse to investigate?

Norm's blind indifference is the kind of attitude which leads to allegations of conspiracy and massive cover-ups. Such lack of oversight may just have led to a collapsing economy, requiring trillions of dollars to correct.

If we can't count on the watchdogs to maintain watch, who can we count on? Certainly, not Norm.

Clearly, Norm's been out of control. He's been blinded by his unwavering support of George W. Bush and Special Interests. He hasn't been able to get the job done for Minnesotans.


Norm Coleman. Getting Things Done?

For who? And, at what cost to our nation?