American 2008 Election

[toxicpiano 125]

take a look at his it's about voting fraud:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7658182.stm

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Duke87 1,070]

Further visual amusement:

[IDS2 3,369]

Well yeah, he's gotta power up for the election, it's just weeks away... Gallup has him at 11 points ahead today. Today I met a McCain supporter!

[confused04 14]

Palin is guilty! The report says she did indeed abuse her power as governor in firing the safety commissioner!

From Anchorage Daily News

Edit: To clarify....

She's NOT guilty of the firing per se.... she is guilty of putting undue pressure on state employees and failing to prevent her husband Todd from using her position in contacting and pressuring state employees.

Additionally.... a small minority of supporters are becoming rather enraged to the point of interrupting their candidate, McCain at his own rallies. These rather disturbing and fiery comments have tarnished legitimate and fair supporters of McCain. Many of screamed "Terrorist", "arab", "traitor", and "off with his head" which was largely left unchecked for about a week (to everyone's dismay, particularly at Palin exclusive rallies). The McCain campaign audaciously blamed Obama's campaign for "attacking" their supporters leading them to such wild (and may I say racist) comments. Yes... McCain's spokesman BLAMED the Obama camp for THEIR supporters fiery negativity... Why can't they just say "we dont' have control of everyone." That would have been 1239840218940 easier to accept. But no... its Obama's fault that he's being called an Arab and a terrorist...

McCain in his ....8 millionth (alright, probably his fifth visit...or is it sixth...) to Minnesota FINALLY said that these comments were inappropriate and wrong and that people should respect Obama and not "fear" an Obama presidency. The response... (again, to my dismay that we have such idiots here).... "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" They booed McCain for asking them to respect Obama and to end the far out there lies. Its these type of people that really give legitimate conservatives a black eye. Clips from numerous (albeit liberal) blogs have shown people saying "Look at his name, its in his blood, he's a terrorist". I'm deeply saddened that when these inappropriate comments overtook the McCain and Palin rallies, they were not stopped until tonight in Lakeville, Minnesota and even then, the crowd disapproved. Isolated comments from people attending these rallies said that some conservatives are thinking of not voting because of how these rallies were handled and how uncomfortable it was being around people who used racist language when referring to Obama.

[Odainsaker 2,135]

In another corner of the circus, with all the dark-terrorist talk, some absentee ballots in New York state have been issued with "Obama" misspelled as "Osama."  Let's all vote for the Osama 'n Biden ticket!

Big ballot boo-boo:  Osama for president?
From the Times Union of Albany, NY

We knew it was coming, and now the bad joke has become official.  "Obama," "Ohama," "Oyama"...no no, they "mistakenly" hit the wrong key and put "Osama!"  In the midst of all this sillyness coupled with very real anti-Arab and anti-Muslim paranoia, should Americans see through these smokescreens and actually prove able to elect Obama, I will have to give my fellow voters a bit more credit than I might have in the past acknowledged.  Of course, having already seeded the misperceptions, and with the fears and desperation of a failed economy and misbegotten wars sure to continue into the coming term, we would then get to spend the next four years hoping against some modern day Lee Harvey Oswald.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: confused04

 The response... (again, to my dismay that we have such idiots here).... "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" They booed McCain for asking them to respect Obama and to end the far out there lies. Its these type of people that really give legitimate conservatives a black eye. quote>

I was reading that article you linked to.   One quote struck me as odd:

"And we're all wondering why that Obama is where he's at, how he got here. I mean, everybody in this room is stunned that we're in this position," another man said at Thursday's rally.quote>

Is this really such a surprise?  Is there anyone who thinks the last 8 years have been going well?  (Other than those guys who are taking millions of dollars out of the economy and moving them to the Cayman Islands.) 

Or, as Christopher Buckley (son of William Buckley) puts it:

" . . . John McCain has changed,” Buckley writes. “This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget ‘by the end of my first term.’ Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?”quote>

Getting back to the article confused linked us to, it's title is "Rage rising on the McCain campaign trail".    Groups of people exhibiting rage, under any circumstances, concerns me.  I just hope people manage to behave calmly when they go to the polls.  

I am a poll worker; one of those little old ladies who sits behind a table and checks in voters.   The people in charge of foot traffic are, for the most part, also little old ladies.  Usually, there is a police officer who strolls through every now and then but I'm beginning to see why election day is an "all hands on deck" day for them.

I'm probably worrying needlessly.  I can't recall a time when polling places got violent and I live in a pretty laid back neighborhood.  But it sounds like I should re-read the part in the manual about unruly voters.

edit:

Originally posted by: Odainsaker

. . . . we would then get to spend the next four years hoping against some modern day Lee Harvey Oswald.

quote>

I know some who say that whoever is elected President isn't going to last long.  Either Obama will get assassinated or McCain will drop dead from a heart attack so you better like whoever the Vice President is.

[threeswept 12]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: confused04

 The response... (again, to my dismay that we have such idiots here).... "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" They booed McCain for asking them to respect Obama and to end the far out there lies. Its these type of people that really give legitimate conservatives a black eye. quote>

I was reading that article you linked to.   One quote struck me as odd:

"And we're all wondering why that Obama is where he's at, how he got here. I mean, everybody in this room is stunned that we're in this position," another man said at Thursday's rally.quote>

Is this really such a surprise?  Is there anyone who thinks the last 8 years have been going well?  (Other than those guys who are taking millions of dollars out of the economy and moving them to the Cayman Islands.) 

Getting back to the article confused linked us to, it's title is "Rage rising on the McCain campaign trail".    Groups of people exhibiting rage, under any circumstances, concerns me.  I just hope people manage to behave calmly when they go to the polls.   quote>

American politics is very interesting, to say the least. Americans usually profess to want the best and equality for everyone. But, in reality, that isn't the case. It's almost like religion where a few want to dictate what's 'right' for everyone. Puritan conservatives absolutely want divisiveness, exclusionism, inequality and hierarchy - it's a control thing for them. Forget the "your country is only as good as your weakest link". It's "survival of the fittest - unless, I have stock in your company". That's a whole other story - and, a $700 billion dollar taxpayer bailout will help with that.

Seeing these angry people at McCain's campaign events doesn't surprise me and frankly, I'm happy it's coming out just weeks before the election. It shows the ugliness of McCain's campaign and the raging anger that Palin helps incite. They have a herd mentality of 'our team' against 'your team' and our team will do and say anything to win. I also figure that a huge majority of them DO NOT want a black man in control - bigotry is rampant in the States. So, it makes it doubly important that the red, conservative team prevails.

Fortunately, this incredible debacle with the economy is causing a lot of those less Puritan conservatives to take a look at their own situations and wake up and realise that their team hasn't been delivering the fruits of what their team professes to be. Especially interesting to me are those in the South that are more inclined to vote for Obama for their own good - versus voting for their team because that's just the way it's always been. You'll notice that the red States are mostly white, less-cultured and less-educated and that's exactly how Conservatives like it. Again, I feel it's like religion and control.

I recently watched a programme on PBS that had interviewed many life-long Republicans from Florida who feel betrayed by their 'team'. Some were actually complaining about how their jobs had been out-sourced and they were actually losing jobs to immigrants, they lost their insurance and now their homes. They are left to fend for themselves - exactly as Republicans want it to be - and, they are failing their families and communities. Has anyone else ever realised that the South has the poorest and least educated people in the States - on par with some 3rd world countries? They almost exclusively and overwhelmingly vote conservative in every election. I've always found it interesting that people actually vote to be kept down...no matter what. And, for what? So, it will be interesting to see how many people actually change their 'team' vote this year.

[simzebu 19]

So I pick up the paper this morning, and see this:

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...storyID=728326

TROY — It could have been Ovama or Ofama. Or even Olama.

But with one "s" the Rensselaer County Board of Elections turned a single wrong letter into a national embarrassment Friday.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's last name is spelled "Osama" on some 300 absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County hilltowns.

Is it a Freudian slip, intentional gaffe or a mistake? Voters are sure to have opinions, and one politician pointed out that the letters "s" and "b" are not exactly keyboard neighbors.

"Of all the letters to hit by mistake," County Democratic Chairman Tom Wade said. "Unfortunately it is a mistake which negatively impacts our Democratic candidate for president."

The typo was first reported Friday on timesunion.com, and quickly grabbed national attention.

"It was crazy, everybody across the country called," said Edward McDonough, the county's Democratic elections commissioner. He said calls came in from The New York Times, the New York Post, Daily News, Wall Street Journal and Court TV.

McDonough said he was one of the people who received a misspelled absentee ballot at home, and he didn't even notice it.

Elections officials on both sides of the aisle insist a simple typographical error caused the national embarrassment. "It was a mistake innocently done," McDonough said. "We catch almost everything."

Republican officials were apologetic. "We have three different staff members who proof these things and somehow the typo got by us," said Republican Commissioner Larry Bugbee. "We really apologize."

On Row 1A, Barack Obama's name is spelled Barack Osama — a name bearing an unfortunate resemblance to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden - but further down on the Working Families line it is spelled correctly.

The Obama camp took the controversy in stride.

"We're glad officials are working to correct this error and we assume it won't happen again," Obama spokesman Blake Zeff said.

McDonough said the absentee ballots with the error went out to voters in Brunswick, Nassau, Sand Lake, Schaghticoke and Schodack. Three voters called to report the error.

By day's end, officials decided to issue new ballots to all 300 voters. They realized some people might cross out the misspelling and write in the correct spelling.

"Election law is quite clear that any corrections done on a ballot will nullify the vote, so to be safe, we re-issued them," McDonough said.

One Sand Lake resident who caught the misspelling, and who asked to be anonymous, was skeptical. "It's a little suspicious and at least grossly incompetent," the voter said.

District Attorney Richard McNally said the incident is unlikely to produce a criminal investigation.

"Both sides are saying this is an honest mistake, so unless we find out otherwise, I don't see it going that way," McNally said.

Rensselaer County is the only county in the state that prints ballots in-house.

"It saves the taxpayers a lot of money," McDonough said.

Wade said it might be time to rethink that practice.quote>

Leave it to Rensselaer County to ***** up so royally. A little context: Rensselaer County is right across the river from Albany, NY, the state capitol. It tends to swing to the right most of the time. Also, I'm experienced in its politics because I can see it from my house.

If it were something like putting John MacCain, or Barak Obama, or Jo Biden, or Sara Palin, it would be fine. But no, they had to go with the Fox News misspelling.

Three proofreaders? How did three proofreaders miss this? This is just plain embarrassing for the whole area.

And then to add on top of that the letter to the editor also published today:

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...storyID=728536

Regarding the commentary by Rod Drehner published on Sept. 26, Mr. Dehner compares the emotional appeal of both Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Sarah Palin. He goes to great lengths to "neither extol nor diminish either candidate." However, the highlighted quote that appeared with the article misspells Gov. Palin's name as "Pain." Enough subliminal editorializing! quote>

Y KENT ENY1 IN DIS PLAYS SPEL!!1!!

So what do you think? Freudian slip, intentional, or accidental?

[Boggy1 45]

This would probably be more suited here: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=138&threadid=96107&enterthread=y

and we've also got a discussion going on about it already.

[your_adress_here 11]

Originally posted by: Boggy1 This would probably be more suited here: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=138&threadid=96107&enterthread=y

and we've also got a discussion going on about it already.quote>

I like having this article as a stand-alone. I don't follow the American elections thread, but I do find this news interesting. I would have never known about it if it had only been in the elections thread.

[Yoman3 5]

Well actually, until a few months ago, Microsoft word tried to spell check Obama to Osama

[toxicpiano 125]

THIS IS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL NEW WORLD ORDER CONSPIRACY ALONG WITH 9/11, THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION AND THE AMERO!!!!!!!!!

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: your_adress_here

Originally posted by: Boggy1 This would probably be more suited here: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=138&threadid=96107&enterthread=y

and we've also got a discussion going on about it already.quote>

I like having this article as a stand-alone. I don't follow the American elections thread, but I do find this news interesting. I would have never known about it if it had only been in the elections thread. quote>

Sorry, y_a_h, it's still about the election.

The last few posts were moved here from a stand-alone thread.

[JanYpe 17]

Originally posted by: toxicpiano THIS IS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL NEW WORLD ORDER CONSPIRACY ALONG WITH 9/11, THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION AND THE AMERO!!!!!!!!!quote>

Excellent.

[Duke87 1,070]

There is no way you're convincing me that Obama→Osama was an honest typo. S and B are nowhere near each other on a Qwerty keyboard. Spell checker gone awry? Maybe. Freudian slip? Maybe. But I think the most likely explanation is simply a mental mixup of having 9/11, Al Qaeda, or something like that on your mind while you're typing and thus typing "Osama" without realizing it.

I know that sometimes when I'm typing if my mind wanders onto something else all of a sudden I'll start typing what I'm thinking rather than what I meant to type. But I'll catch it and backspace it out shortly. It doesn't get through.

Still, that's a full shift of topic midsentence we're talking about. A single altered word with a spelling only one letter away from the intended word is pretty easy to miss.

[Odainsaker 2,135]

I think it is a mental mixup unintended by the typist or typesetter as well. However, it is the kind of mixup deliberately intended by the created political atmosphere. After whispered false claims of Obama being Muslim, Obama rejecting the Pledge of Allegiance, Obama being sworn in on a Koran, Obama refusing to wear U.S. Flag lapel pins, Obama being unpatriotic, Michelle Obama being unpatriotic, Obama being un-American, Obama surrendering to terrorists, Obama patronized by and cavorting with terrorists, Obama being treasonous, etc., making the foreign name connection of Obama = Osama is just the logical step in the world of Swift Boat politics. It is hoped that voters will make the same mixup, even if only subconsciously. Meanwhile, I already listened to one kooky Evangelical caller on Fox News Radio equate the current world financial crisis to the End Times and Obama with the smooth-talking socialist Anti-Christ foretold to rise to international prominence and power and lead us via the U.N. to Armaggeddon in the Middle East. Rumors run amok as weapons of mass distraction indeed!

I almost wish one of our candidates was an actual Muslim with diacritical marks throughout their transliterated name and who proudly wears traditional Kenyan garb while still also proudly embracing the U.S. Flag, just so that we can force the national introspective response.

[Shingure 56]

I know that the 'Osama' typo isn't a typo.

People aren't stupid. This was done on purpose!

Obama is NOT muslim

He is patriotic because if he isn't then he wouldn't be running for president

Obama never conspired to be a part of a terrorist act and mind you that the allegations are coming from 35 years ago and that connection to him being a terrorist is a lie because the guy who allegdly was a terrorist was NOT GUILTY when trialed by a grand jury. As far Iam concern this shows that the U.S is not ready, It is still racist , and People are going to try anything to not let a person of color into the White House. It's not just a black and white issue. It's across the board. The McCain ticket is getting nastier simply because they are running out of crap to smear on Obama.

I would also be ashamed of the US if those people who saw that ballot voted for McCain because this intentional travesty of changning the name for Osama rather than his real name Obama. And as Duke said. 'B' and 'S' are no not even near each other on QWERTY keyboard. So this is not a typo. It was an intentional error made to make the voters upset. Iam glad that this has been pointed out and I say , Rock on Obama Supporters , Rock on!.

However if it was a typo that was unintended because of the typist mind being on Al Qaeda that just shows how afraid people are. I wish the people in the US would just stop being so fearful. It's okay to be alittle afriad but being boxed up and reserved doesnt get much done either...

(If it sounded like I was ranting Iam so sorry , I just got alittle upset. )

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: Shingure

He is patriotic because if he isn't then he wouldn't be running for presidentquote>

The fact that an individual is running for President does not indicate that the candidate is patriotic.  In fact, the campaign trail often shows that most candidates are in it for nothing more than personal gain.  That's not patriotism; that's one of the highest forms of egotism an individual can exhibit.

[Shingure 56]

Based off the same thing you're saying McCain is also exhibiting egotism with nasty initials behind it.

[hym 358]

I never said he wasn't.

[Shingure 56]

Okay , That's something we can agree on. If one is exhibiting egotism , then the other is because they are participating in the same action.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Odainsaker I think it is a mental mixup unintended by the typist or typesetter as well. However, it is the kind of mixup deliberately intended by the created political atmosphere. quote>

Or, as they'd say on Yes, Prime Minister, it was done "accidentally on purpose".

[Shingure 56]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: Odainsaker I think it is a mental mixup unintended by the typist or typesetter as well. However, it is the kind of mixup deliberately intended by the created political atmosphere. quote>

Or, as they'd say on Yes, Prime Minister, it was done "accidentally on purpose".quote>

 

Agreed.

[Micah 16]

Originally posted by: hym

Originally posted by: Shingure

He is patriotic because if he isn't then he wouldn't be running for presidentquote>

quote>

 

Like John Edwards? Yeah, good thing we didn't elect him in.

Is this really such a surprise?quote>

It was a shock to many. Many, I included, thought Hillary was going to get the nomination over Obama.

[Meh1234 1]

I live in the Netherlands, and I really don't care about who's going to win. A right-wing athe

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Micah

Is this really such a surprise?quote>

It was a shock to many. Many, I included, thought Hillary was going to get the nomination over Obama.quote>

Yes, that was a shock to many.  But it happened a while ago.   Why are people "stunned" now?

Originally posted by: Thijs-Voets-Il

I live in the Netherlands, and I really don't care about who's going to win. A right-wing atheïst has no party in the US.quote>

 

I imagine we have some right-wing atheists somewhere but you have a point; there aren't a lot of them.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Micah

Is this really such a surprise?quote>

It was a shock to many. Many, I included, thought Hillary was going to get the nomination over Obama.quote>

Yes, that was a shock to many.  But it happened a while ago.   Why are people "stunned" now?

Originally posted by: Thijs-Voets-Il

I live in the Netherlands, and I really don't care about who's going to win. A right-wing atheïst has no party in the US.quote>

 

I imagine we have some right-wing atheists somewhere but you have a point; there aren't a lot of them.quote>

 

Hillary geting the nomination would have been very bad.

She is hoping and praying obama loses so she can have a chance to run again in 2012.

And her Campaign will start Nov 5th if he loses.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Thijs-Voets-Il I live in the Netherlands, and I really don't care about who's going to win. A right-wing atheïst has no party in the US.quote>

Why the dieresis on the i in "atheist"?

And how right are we talking about here and by what standards? If you think you're right wing by European standards, I've got news for you: you're probably at least centrist and perhaps even liberal by American standards.

Originally posted by: SkiGeek I imagine we have some right-wing atheists somewhere but you have a point; there aren't a lot of them.quote>

Problem is that being conservative and being religious seem to go hand in hand. The secular-thinking ones tend to swing left. At the same time, being devoutly religious but being liberal seems contradictory.

Of course, there's always that other axis. I love saying I'm a bottom-winger just to confuse the hell out of people.

(the bottom wing is libertarian while the top wing is socialist/statist, at least by my sign convention)

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Duke87

And how right are we talking about here and by what standards? If you think you're right wing by European standards, I've got news for you: you're probably at least centrist and perhaps even liberal by American standards. quote>

Very true.  The political spectrum in Europe doesn't seem to go as far right as it does in the USA.

Originally posted by: SkiGeek I imagine we have some right-wing atheists somewhere but you have a point; there aren't a lot of them.quote>

Problem is that being conservative and being religious seem to go hand in hand. The secular-thinking ones tend to swing left. At the same time, being devoutly religious but being liberal seems contradictory. quote>

It depends on the religion.  But, you have a point; that is the way it usually works.

I suspect it has to do with the need for order.     Some people need to have a high degree of order to feel comfortable.  Others do not.    Like most things, order comes in a continuum.   At one end, there  is a totalitarian society; at the other end, there is chaos.   As with most things, I'm in favor of a balanced midpoint since neither extreme is a good place to be, imho.