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It is with great sadness that I report that Madelyn Dunham, Obama's Grandmother passed away.  Please keep Barack Obama and his families in your thoughts and prayers.

McCain envy is the term used to describe a candidate's negative reactions towards another candidates success in fund raising activities.  While this type of envy is nothing new it definitely has reached levels never before seen and therefore this term was coined in response to the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.  During the race Mr. McCain consistently failed to realize that the success of his opponent, Barack Obama, was a result of Obama's ability to reach out to the people.  McCain could not comprehend how his own misguided Republican philosophies had proven to be dangerous and how they had nearly bankrupted the United States.  Being unable to recognize these facts and being incredibly jealous of Obama, he began to imagine sinister alternatives which included Obama accepting funds from foreign entities and illegal donations, exceeding the federally mandated maximums, from the super wealthy.  It was impossible for McCain to accept that millions of people from across the country all made relatively small contributions which gave Obama an unprecedented financial advantage.

Today, Sarah Palin and John McCain started ranting about a connection between Rashid Khalidi and Barack Obama.  The dual are claiming that Khalidi and Obama were “friends” and that this is disturbing since Khalidi is a PLO spokesman.  First of all ties between Khalidi and the PLO have not been proven, they are just allegations.  However, most importantly, there is no proof that Obama and Khalidi are friends.  The connection between the two is because they both worked together at the University of Chicago and the event that Palin and McCain are alluding to in their propaganda was a going away party for Khalidi.

I myself have been present at many going away parties and at them I have always spoken favorably of the person.  It is considered the professional thing to do, even if I was overjoyed by the fact that the person was leaving the organization.  I myself have had many friends who have held beliefs which I find bothersome and have worked with people who's political views were definitely opposed to my own.  I believe that this is true of most people in the world considering the numerous people I have met  and interacted with during my college and working years.

The danger of people like McCain-Plain is that they try to draw conclusions for the most tenuous of relationships.  We should not only be appalled but also realize the danger of having elected officials which hold these views.  Based on their rhetoric most of us should be investigated and have our views and patriotism questioned simply because we may have talked to someone who held extreme fringe views.  I would ask everyone who is currently supporting McCain to think seriously about whether or not this country can survive another four years of this hateful rhetoric.  I would ask you to support Barack Obama but if you can not then please vote for a third party candidate or write someone in.

While nothing is certain when it comes to the presidential race it does look like Obama will be our next president – as long as we all do show up on November 4th and cast our ballots! Consequently many of us are celebrating that Sarah Palin will go back to Alaska and hopefully never be heard from before. However, the conviction of Senator Ted Steven may change all of that. Sarah has asked that he resign should he win so that there could be a special election. There is a very real possibility that Sarah could use this as a chance to run for the open senate seat. By working together we can act today and block her for even having this opportunity and save ourselves from even having to fight that battle! Please join me in supporting Mark Begich by making a donation at http://action.begich.com/page/outreach/view/blazers/saveourcountry

After listening to John McCain and his Republican allies one would think that the organization, ACORN, set out to systematically perpetuate voter fraud on a grand scale.  Firstly, no one questions the fact, even ACORN, that there were hundreds of voter registration forms that were turned in with false names.  Some of these names were obvious, like Mickey Mouse, others were not since they were of people who recently departed this plane of existence.  Obviously this is a problem and there does need to be an investigation of how it occurred and those found responsible must be held accountable.  The problem is that McCain and his allies are making it sound as if someone is trying to “steal” this election and generate votes for Obama, since ACORN is a left leaning organization.

However, McCain, in a truly Republican tradition, is only telling you part of the story and exaggerating the potential impact of these “false” voter registrations.  ACORN hires people to participate in its voter registration drives and these people, in an attempt to fulfill their quota's and keep their jobs, created false registrations.  ACORN not only acknowledges this occurred but also flagged registrations it believed to be problematic and agreed, up front, to work with officials in vetting them.  ACORN did not want to simply throw these registrations away as this would be illegal.  Simply put, how would you feel if you filled out a voter registration card and an organization threw it away.  If it turned out a Republican's voter registration card was thrown away I guarantee you McCain and his allies would be making a fuss about that.

It is truly unfortunate that these events occurred and it is going to require government resources to deal with these false registrations.  However, a false registration does not equate to a fraudulent vote.  First of all there is no risk that Mickey Mouse will be leaving his imaginary land to come and cast a vote for either McCain or Obama.  Second, even for the names of the deceased, it would be required that someone to actually know that the deceased is on the voter rolls and then be able to obtain false identification to cast the vote.  The penalties for casting a fraudulent vote are steep, ten years in prison, it would be irrational for someone to go through the expense, trouble, and risk to simply add a single vote in an election where tens of millions will participate.  Finally, there is not a single documented incidence where a false registration led to a fraudulent vote.  This is just another example of where the Republican's are wrong on the issues and knowing this are trying to fabricate a scandal.

There is an old adage about how “bad times” bring out the “worst” in people or rather it will highlight there worst traits.  This fact can be clearly seen within the McCain-Palin campaign and the reports of how Sarah Palin is behaving.  First of all there are the attacks on Katie Coric, that somehow Katie is solely responsible for Sarah's inability to answer questions pertaining to national security or the economy.  This is now followed by Sarah and her cohorts now blaming her handlers, those from John McCain's campaign, for how poorly the public perceives her.  Most alarming are the statements referring to her as a “diva” and that as a diva she refuses to take advice from anyone.

These traits are those of a poor leader, pure and simple.  Without doubt Sarah does not have much in the way for foreign relations experience nor does she have much experience with addressing national level issues.  As a governor her duties would not have exposed her to these types of issues and we know, from past presidents, that it is possible for a governor to become an effective president.  However, the only way this transition can be made is if that person is willing to listen to others and to take advise.  To do this a person most be able to admit when they are wrong and admit when they are “out of their league”.  A good leader has the capacity to realize their short comings and then are capable of selecting advisors who can worth with them in overcoming their short comings.  No leader, no matter how long they have been around, will have all the experience necessary to run this country.  We must, as citizens of this great country, have a leader who is capable of relying on others for assistance.

For the last eight years this country has been run by a man who has been arrogant and who has led this country into the predicament it is in today.  We can ill afford to end up with another who is like him.  While John McCain is the name, on the ballot, as president we must face the stark reality that there is a high risk he will not be able to complete his term.  However, what is more important than this, is the fact that he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  A good leader must be capable of choosing advisors who will be capable of assisting him in times of turmoil.  A good leader must be able to depend on his/her advisors in times of turmoil and not be concerned with having them going behind his/her back.  Given that John McCain failed to properly vet and choose a running mate who he could depend on gives us very little confidence that he will be able to choose the remainder of his cabinet in a manner which will be beneficial to this country.

Alaska's largest newspaper endorses Obama - The Anchorage Daily News, Alaska's largest newspaper, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president.

[USA Today News]

As a life long resident of Minnesota I must admit that I am deeply embarrassed by Michelle Bachman's recent remarks calling liberals "un-American".  It is time we, as Americans, must stand up and face down this type of senseless rhetoric.  The "American Democracy" exists because our country was built on the foundation of free speech and the open exchange of ideas.  The idea of calling someone un-American because they disagree with you just a method of suppressing free speech and this open exchange of ideas.  Furthermore, promoting the investigation of anyone with these different ideas is an even strong method in achieving this.  The problems faced by this country exist because not enough people spoke up loud enough when they began and a big reason for that was fear.  Fear of being fired, fear of being called un-American, and fear of having your patriotism questioned.

We need members of the US Congress who will stand up for the basic rights laid out by our founders and for which many have died to protect.  Please join me in supporting Al Tinklenberg for US Congress in the MN's sixth district.  He is the candidate who is best suited to represent the needs of all of the districts residents and we know that he will not call you “un-American” for disagreeing with him!

Al's website is located at: http://www.tinklenberg08.com

While it may seem like good news if they are it is more likely just a ploy.  The Republican party is saying this as a method to encourage independents and undecideds to vote for Republican senators and house candidates.  Sending the idea that one party control is a bad thing since it was when the Republicans had full control.  The other reason why they are using this ploy is that they are hoping that Obama supporters will decided to not vote.  There are many who may think, “why bother voting, Obama has it in the bag.”  However, this is by far the most dangerous line of thinking one can take, the only way Obama can win is if we all get out there and vote!

Also, Obama still needs donations to combat the lies that the RNC and McCain are pushing with their robocalls!  

Today John McCain made the claim that if he had been president that the mortgage crisis which ultimately is responsible for dragging the whole economy down, would have been avoided if he had been president. Here is the problem, John McCain has been an active supporter of the deregulation that led to this mess. The reversal of regulations that were put in place after the great depression that would prevent banks from over investing the money of others in risky areas. Based on his long history of deregulation it is impossible to believe that he would have acted any differently than if he had run against Bush and won.  It is clear that John does not understand how we got in this mess and that his policies were a direct cause!