Barack's Big Baristaville Bash

Table for 5, please?

Yes, who's organizing the McCain-Palin fundraiser?

"Governor Corzine, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Newark Mayor Corey Booker and Mark Alexander will be on hand for the event (Senator Lautenberg can't make it), which is hosted by David Genova, Steven Plofker, Bobbi Bown and Anthony Gray."

This actually sounds like a modern version of Dante's Inferno.

I hear the McCain event will be sponsored by a local fireman at Tierney's.

Rich folks LOVE Barack.

Will Bruce or Bon Jovi perform acoustic hits?

And perhaps they shouldn't advertise the "VIP" treatment...

I can see Pascrell now, "I thought it was just a massage!!!!"

Yeesh.

For $100, they better have a dunking tank with all of the "special guests" and preferably most of the organizers taking turns in the dunk tank.

UNITY: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1801254871

Rich folk LOVE McCain. The man who tried to do away with the minimum wage.

Prof, as you know, a lot of less well off people LOVE Barack as well.

This is beginning to sound suspicious.... VIP room, "powdering" your nose, "touching" up your lipstick, a dunking tank, Corzine....

NOT ready to Lead!

I'm sure there were a lot of less well off people at the $28,500 a person reception (followed by the $2,500 a ticket show with Streisand) in Hollywood.

For someone who is working so hard to work against his elitist charge, you must admit, things like this don't help.

Open till 2am? Where's the after party?

McCain goes for the elitist moolah as well.

"By contrast, in a September 17 Wall Street Journal article, Brody Mullins and Glenn R. Simpson reported: "Many of the fund-raising events that Republican rival Sen. McCain attends, including one in Miami on Monday, begin with a private cocktail hour with the Arizona senator for contributors donating about $25,000 each. Some events that Sen. McCain held this summer for his campaign and the Republican National Committee offered special treatment for couples who wrote checks of up to $100,000."

LINK

What would a Baristaville McCain-Palin fundraiser look like?

Pity party, with lots of whine.

Bush, ready to Leave!

prof says that "richfolk LOVE Obama".
Those must be the people making 5 mil or more a year. Those are the people that McCain says are "rich", after all. Four and half mil makes you middle class.

But we already know McCain and the evil Repubs are FOR the rich, so big deal McCain had a fundraiser....

It's just odd that someone who is working so hard to get "working class" folks to vote for him (See: the kid from Scranton, Sen. Biden), that he would do the Streisand event in this way.

Can't you see, Prof? They all talk the talk really well.

Give me a break. Do you really think the economic policy of the Republican party is going to help the middle class? It hasn't for last 8 years and longer. It's mind boggling how middle class republicans sell out their own interests.

and here I thought "dissent" was patriotic

Now THAT is Washington experience.

If that isn't socialism, I don't know what is. very scary.

i am voting for barack obama because i have read his positions on the issues and i support them. he has a solid tax plan which manages to be both reasonable and realistic.
barbra streisand, pro or con, does not influence my decision, nor should it.

ROC, Biden was addressing those who make more than $250K per year. How slimy of you.

Thankfully, Mikey, neither party has much effect on the generally upward trend in American prosperity.

No, socialism is bailing out 4 financial firms. That's scary. A Progressive tax is a fair tax.

Oh, Spot. I am sure we'll all be called upon to similarly demonstrate our patriotism.

Just folks earning more that 200K will pay more taxes. The tax cuts will be for the middle and working class.

I can't think of one candidate from either party in the last 70 years who has NOT had some wealthy supporters.
Where exactly is the meat on this bone?

Uh, I hate to break your bubble, Laserlagniappe, but $250,000 for a family living in Baristaville is par for the course. That really doesn't take you that far today.

Look, if you make 250k live around here, have some kids, work in the city take a look at your take-home compared to someone making significantly less in a low tax state.

The raw number of $250k is unfair because it does not take into account regional differences in taxes, cost of living, etc.

But then again, Barack with his Harvard Education didn't seem to understand that lowering the cap gains tax results in HIGHER gov revenue.

Obama's "Tax break" is in the form of a one time check. It's not a tax break.

But at least Biden is honest. He said on ABC:

"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people."

"The aggregate income distribution is highly concentrated towards the top, with the top 6.37% earning roughly one third of all income, and those with upper-middle incomes control a large, though declining, share of the total earned income."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

Montclair:
The median income for a household in the township was $74,894, and the median income for a family was $96,252

Bloomfield:
The median income for a household in the township was $53,289, and the median income for a family was $64,945

Glen Ridge:
The median income for a household in the borough was $105,638, and the median income for a family was $120,650

A Progressive tax is a fair tax.

Look on the bright side - after this week on Wall Street, a lot of people who might have gotten taxed under Obama's plan now will get more money instead - since their incomes probably fell to the right amount!

Seriously, I do think one has to take into account the area of the country and index it. To Mrs. Martta's point, $250k here is nowhere near as rich as it would be in, say, Indiana. But I think Obama's thoughts are in the right place here. McCain's aren't. Unfortunately McCain would be more of the same kinds of policies we've had for the last 8 years that got us into this mess we find ourselves in this week.

I used to like the guy but he has now reversed practically every position he used to take that I agreed with him on, and is parroting the right-wing neocons for all he's worth. And don't get me started on Palin.

I think Obama-Biden is the only viable ticket. If they lose we are in really big trouble.

"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people."

Take, from where? Who? Let's be honest here.

""Tax break" is in the form of a one time check. "

Hmmm, I got one of those this year in the form of a $600 check.

People in glass white houses shouldn't throw birdshot.

The problem is that "fairness" seems to depend on merely where the dividing line is between "rich" and "middle class" . Which is why everyone is up in arms about the AMT.

Just so long as it is some other guy that is considered rich (so as Biden says we can take his money) then it's "fair".

Tells you what you need to know about a liberals conception of fairness.

"Hmmm, I got one of those this year in the form of a $600 check."

Precisely. Were your taxes "cut" or your vote "bought". You hit the nail on the head. It's called a gimmick.

Raising the capitol gains tax rate is no gimmick.

"liberals conception of fairness."

Because it is is fair when a family of 4 making 40k gets taxed at 29% while a corporation making billions gets taxed at 12% ?

... They're gonna take it from the Rich!! You know those FAT CATS waiting for the bus to NYC at 6am, who don't get home till 7pm, who are slammed with a property tax burden that is laughable.

Baristaville is filled with these FAT CATS.

THEY MUST PAY!!!

"Seriously, I do think one has to take into account the area of the country and index it."

The next logical step in liberal thinking on tax? Why stop there. Perhaps it should be "indexed" based on your job (why should artists be "hurt" by high taxes or perhaps "community organizers") Perhaps taxes should be "indexed" based on IQ. Do stupid people have as much "opportunity" as others?

You see - that's the problem. Once we start saying some are more "equal" than others (or should have to pay more than others) where does it stop?

The only truly fair treatment is the SAME treatment. The same deductions, the same percentage of income.

Anything else is some kind of robbery.

"The aggregate income distribution is highly concentrated towards the top, with the top 6.37% earning roughly one third of all income, and those with upper-middle incomes control a large, though declining, share of the total earned income."

"A Progressive tax is a fair tax."

Ok, so the top 6% earn about a third of all income.

But, the top 5% of earners pay 60% of all income taxes, and this burden has been increasing. The systems is already progressive. The question is, how disproportionate should it be.

"Because it is is fair when a family of 4 making 40k gets taxed at 29% "

Oops. Check again. $40,000 puts you in the 15% tax bracket. I'm not surprised you are ill-informed.

MAKE THE POOR PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!!!!

(McCain should go for broke and use this as his campaign slogan.;0)

Data from the Nation Tax Payers Union. Go screw.

Data from the National Tax Payers Union. Go screw.

The NTU, founded by Grover Norquest, is a propaganda tank.

I thought it was a dunking tank, actually. Tanks for clearing that up.

By the way, Your Royal Uninformed Highness,

Check this out.

Put in 40,000, two dependents, no income tax witheld and NO deductions and what do you get?

a REFUND of $427.

So a family of four actually "pays" NEGATIVE 1% income tax.

Care to try again?

Actually I like Rep. Charles Rangel's Tax Plan; just don't pay and feign ignorance!

I did check ROC, and my numbers are good. But thanks for your concern.

where hrh?

You don't like the summary info? Here is the IRS source data, douchebag.

"just don't pay and feign ignorance!"

No comprende Espanol

by the way "refund" is a misnomer. A family of 4 making $40,000. Gets a "taxpayer subsidy" of $427.

The "Reality based" community indeed.

(Ugh, can't we discuss without the use of vulgarities directed at one another? It's one thing to attack a position, or even poking fun at folks, but c'mon Spicoli, no need for such language. Perhaps you can use cathar's cashmere glove that he uses on folks, rather than the baseball bat... And so I'm sure you'll now direct this towards me.... But the point is made.)

And further info hrh.

If you even consider the tax that family pays (without the "child" credit) its $1500 on $40,000 AFTER deductions which is 4%. The corporate 12% you site is most likely also AFTER deductions.

So you need to compare 4% to 12%.

Progressive tax rates (taxing higher levels of income at higher rates) is not socialism. Not by a long shot.

For the folks who argue that the problem is "big government" why don't you actually look for ways to make the government smaller?

Running deficits of hundreds of billions year after year isn't going to work.

Liberals want to do to our taxes what they've done to NewYork City's Rental Market.

"Progressive tax rates (taxing higher levels of income at higher rates) is not socialism. Not by a long shot."

When the tax code forces differential redistribution of wealth to those who "need it" it is the very organizing principal of socialism - complete with class warfare.

p.s. so just call a spade a spade - its some form of socialism.

Please show me examples where progressive taxation has worked, has gotten a nation out of debt? Who really benefits from such a scheme?

It was just a matter of time before the RACE CARD was pulled....

"Data from the National Tax Payers Union. Go screw."

Lasermike, with language like that, no wonder the phd mathematician/economist wouldn't get any closer to you than 5 feet.

Not buying it ROC. The organizing principal of socialism is redistribution of wealth through centralized control of production and property. Utilizing a progressive tax system in a highly capitalist system does not begin to equate with socialism.

I like that we have folks saying it's tough to get by these days on under $250K (pre tax) but then are outraged that if you earn just 14% of that amount (with two dependents) you are getting a refund.

Let's see, that refund would be about $8 dollars a week.

I consider my money to be property.

NJ Guy.

I'm not outraged at a family of four getting a $427 refund.

I think hrh's 29% tax on such a family (and whatever Obamaphile propaganda site she got that figure from) to be outrageous.

roc - my numbers didn't come from a google search but real baristville residents and their last few fiscal years.

p.s.

spicoli, I'm not sure we can use the phrase "highly capitalist system" in the US this week.

"roc - my numbers didn't come from a google search but real baristville residents and their last few fiscal years."

Well, hrh if these "real" baristaville residents with families of 4 are paying 29% income tax, they need a better accountant.

I'd recommend the HR Block free website. (which calculated -1%)

Look at me! I just saved them $12,070!

(they can thank me later).

(I like it when many make bad life decisions and wonder why things are so bad for them. Drop-out rate, teen pregnancy, criminal records.... But I guess it's easier to blame society for these things... And yes. I understand that many live in circumstances not of their making, but is it wrong to discuss and criticize a culture that values b-ball and rapping over paying attention in school without Jesse hoping to castrate you?)

I fear the answer is yes.

Notice Obama hasn't mention a word about black folks, inner city, etc. Mums the word for him!

TAX THE RICH!!!!

p.p.s. - true, with all the activities of the last few days the Republicans have been spearheading the move towards US socialism. In comparison, fiddling with marginal tax rates seems rather quaint.

Then Warren Buffett must be the biggest socialist of them all, because he has long been in favor of highly taxing inherited wealth, on the premise that it does not oil the wheels of capitalism to have high concentrations of wealth handed from one generation to another.

I never would have figured good ol' Warren to be a commie pinko!

prof - wasn't Jesse upset that Obama was speaking about the same issues that you say Obama was justified in speaking about?

Why is it you use Jesse to criticize Obama, when it is Jesse you disagree with?

If Buffett thinks taking a chunk of that inherited money and handing it to the government is going to "oil the wheels of capitalism" he may not be a pinko - but he's an idiot.

Former, sorry if my point wasn't clear.

I applaud Obama for talking about issues that hit many in the black community.

That he now is unable to address a single one, is because he is scared of the blacklash from Jesse and others.

Understand, I could support Obama if he supported school vouchers and spoke of responsibility in the black community.

Unfortunately, he does not and is silent on the latter.

Therefore, I can't support him-- even if he's black.

"Uh, I hate to break your bubble, Laserlagniappe, but $250,000 for a family living in Baristaville is par for the course. That really doesn't take you that far today."

Miss Martta,
Statements like this really disgust me. $250K doesn't take you very far today? Who is the elitest here? God forbid, you can't own the McMansion in Montclair, you will be looked down on. All the material things that $250K won't get you, are luxuries, not needs.

Warren Buffett may be many things ("self-made billionaire", "richest man in the world" come immediately to mind), but "idiot" is a term that I'm sure has rarely been used to describe him.

That is the type of knee-jerk, reactionary non-sequiter of which certain other posters are so often accused of spewing.

I think that Buffet is thankful for the opportunities he's had and is happy to return the funds to the public coffers - to use for the "public good".

I think he also holds that the national systems we have established (the Federal Reserve Bank, etc) helped him become wealthy.

Where did you get that quote, that it would "oil the wheels of capitalism"?

I haven't read that. It may be his opinion, but I haven't seen it put that way.

to each his own Pork. I think the notion that giving money to the government will benefit capitalism to be an idiotic one - no matter who says it.

prof says, " I like it when many make bad life decisions and wonder why things are so bad for them.
Drop out rate... teen pregnancy... criminal records..."

Why is the prof dragging the poor Palin family into this contretemps?

Gigi,

That anyone can "survive" with less, is not the issue.

The point is that by simply saying 250k without acknowledging tax and cost of living in an area, is wrong.

And if, like Obama, I decide to send my kids to a private school, maybe hire a nanny/babysitter because of my work schedule, perhaps have a cleaning person because both parents work too hard to clean... You get the point, around here, that 250k can go quick.

(LIkewise, imagine if your boiler brakes....)

So around here, many may earn near 250K, but looking at their lives, you might not consider them "rich." Well, off, perhaps.

But if you are in a low tax state, making 250k, you might really be and feel rich.

It is obvious that taxes will have to go up in order to pay for the war, the bailouts and debt service regardless of who wins the election. So would is it preferable to keep the current tax breaks on the top earners and raise everyone else's taxes? For the record I'm one of the over $250,000 household income people out here and get no deductions for children or mortgages.

Yes, $250,000 is a great salary in Oshkosh. It's a decent salary in B-ville but it will not get you as far. That's just common sense. Of course, salaries are higher in the NY metro area, DC, Los Angeles, etc., than other parts of the country but so are expenses like housing, food, clothing and other basics.

ANYONE want to see PALINS EMAILS????

http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails

Prof,

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25678384/

Obama has spoken about responsibility in the black community.

how does taking money from the 'rich'...in other words creating a disincentive to succeed...help the economy grow? By reducing the capital gains tax (which puts money for the govt)and encouraging people to open and expand business we create jobs and new industry. But under the new socialism of Barack and Biden they deem if fair to punish the successful people. The Dems keep lowering the bar in schools, social institutions and the business world to bring everyone down to equality instead of aiding people to rise up.

That is why I don't see Nobamam having a chance. Biden today said that it was patriotic to approve of higher taxes...sounds like socialism to me.

Jimmytown: How would you like it it someone did that with your emails?

"The Dems keep lowering the bar in schools, social institutions and the business world to bring everyone down to equality instead of aiding people to rise up."

AMEN!

The comments regarding socialism and commie pinkos are just stupid. Considering that it is the Repbublican administration that has made the government the proud owner of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG. More of YOUR tax dollars.

Mrs. Martta-

I use my company emails for company use. We have two firewalls and its very hard to breach. If you hacked into my google account, you will find emails to friends and family, but nothing that would hurt the security of Baristaville. She used these Yahoo accounts to stay off the record. Had she used her Govt issued email this would not have happened. She has made the political system vulnerable.
She wants the AP to cooperate with their investigation. They refused, saying that she should cooperate in her OWN INVESTIGATION!!!! hahaha, and Obama is up 4pts this week.

I'd be happy with 150K a year, you could live just fine around here, defending 250K as going quick is pretty shallow.

IHaving a cleaning person and sending your children to private school are luxuries. I am not saying $250K makes you rich in Montclair, but you are no way near poor and acting as if you have a hard life making ONLY $250K is sad.

prof - thanks for the reply.

I support vouchers, and, even more so, charter schools.

I don't think we should abandon public schools but giving families more choice and more "ownership" is very positive.

Having committed students and committed families self-selecting schools can create a phenomenally better environment for learning.

"Oil the wheels of capitalism" were my own words. What I actually wrote was that it "does not oil the wheels of capitalism", in the sense that it does not benefit capitalism to have capital locked up in the hands of an increasingly wealthier oligarchy.

Warren Buffett has opposed the repeal of the estate tax because he does not believe that a healthy and competitive capitalist society can sustain itself when greater and greater concentrations of wealth are passed by inheritance from one generation to another. Rather, he believes (as I understand it) that a sustainable capitalist society is one in which each generation must themselves create value and hence wealth.

Nowhere did I write that Buffett thinks that channeling the money to the government per se benefits capitalism. To leap to that conclusion is to read my statement thru the lens of your own preconceived notions. I don't presume to know his opinion on that.

The point here is that (as Spicoli argued) it's silly to brand any effort at progressive taxation or even (gasp!) redistribution of wealth - in this case, unearned wealth - as socialism. It is not.

That said, one can conceive of some benefits to capitalism that would indeed accrue from transferring large sums of inherited wealth to the government, such as to cover the billions if not trillions of dollars to bail out Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, AIG, etc. etc. It is certainly beneficial to capitalism for the federal government to exist as the lender, and now insurer, of last resort.

I would abandon the public school if they can't teach a kid at 20k a year.

You would keep it?

Likewise, I've been waiting my whole life for the inner-city schools to, you know teach kids.

Still waiting.

I'd rather have a family chose to send their kids to another school that works- public, private or religious.

But Obama and the Teacher's Union (of which I belong) seem to want to wait for another lost generation until we can "build up" inner city schools.

At what cost? 25k? 30k?

Nice: you give us (only) one line after the jump.

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic,
different.'
?Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

?If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
?Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

?Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
?Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

?If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as
a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the
state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the
United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while
sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't
have any real leadership experience.

?If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people,
20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then
you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive..

?If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2
beautiful daughters, all within protestant churches, you're not a real
Christian.

?If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

?If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the
proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

?If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no
other option in sex education in your state's school system while your
unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

?If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a
prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city
community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values
don't represent America's.

?If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI
conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until
age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession
of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now

Jimmytown: It was still wrong for someone to hack into her private emails. it would be wrong if it was you or me as well. And why drag her kids into this? They don't deserve that.

That being said, yes, perhaps being a government official, she should have had better sense about putting things in emails that she didn't want to see the light of day. Most people in high places know that emails are not 100% secure. Tony Soprano didn't use email. :-)

I don't care how many filters and firewalls you have--someone can always hack in.

Obviously, the neocons are thoroughly out of touch with the real world if a salary of $250K forces them to whine about how poor they are. Repulsive.

I picture Comrade laserlumpenprole outside the party, pressing his nose against the window to spot a glimpse of Baristaville's monied, and saying to himself "It doesn't matter, he's still my andidate, it doesn't matter, he's still..."

I'm also fairly sure that others who actually post here will be at this very bash (though never acknowledging the raggedy, shopworn angel-like presence of laserboy at the servants' entrance). Et tu, jerseygurl? Dannyboor? $100 a pop really isn't that much, it's like one ticket to see Steely Dan at the Wellmont, after all.

The idea of sucking up to the likes of Corzine (whose supposed financial acumen was going to usher in a new day for NJ!) and that hack of hacks Pascrell is, however, the farthest thing from, as in those Amex ads, "priceless."

250K plus barely stretches these days. Want to talk about sad? My BMW is SIX YEARS OLD! The leather seats are slightly faded, it lost that new car smell, and my GPS map data is out of date by at least 2 years!

"You know it's hard out here for da affluent (you ain't knowin)
When you tryin to get the money for the rent (you ain't knowin)
For the Benz's and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)
Because a whole lot of Baristas talkin sh*t (you ain't knowin)"

Palin is an idiot for using a web based mail server for those emails.

I think $250,000 buys you an azwful lot of Kibbles 'n' Bits, Spots. Does your Democratic master whine about the relative paucity of such a sum?

Mrs Martta-

Yes, it is wrong. but there was no outrage when Linda Tripp wiretapped Bill Clinton illegally to try and bring down the white house. I have to look the other way on this, because Sarah doesnt cooperate, and yet she wants others to cooperate on an investigation.
i am confident with our firewall. Our clients are the top 1% of the world's net worth. Im sure we have hackers lurking every day and so far we've been unscathed. With that said, of course it is possible.
Politics is ugly, and politicians knowingly bring their children into it. fair or not. Kids are a great distraction for the next 7 weeks

Doesn't a high inheritance tax increase philanthropy and keep the gubment out of supporting the arts and the truly disadvantaged? It seems it provides a windfall for the non-profit sector, the 40K family of 4 and the inheritors that already have many advantages the money supplied as they were growing up and being educated + extra cash in their pockets in the end.
I think Buffet's screws are torqued just right.

Palin is suspected of using her private Yahoo! email account to circumvent the accountability and scrutiny attendant to official government email (i.e., open public records type of thing), fueling fears and speculation that she has a similarly insular and secretive management style as her would-be predecessor.

One would hope that those who believe that Jon Corzine should release all his private email conversations with Carla Katz regarding state business on the basis that such conversations should be conducted only in official channels of which the public has a right to know would equally believe that Palin is wrong to engage in similar behavior herself.

But yes, you shouldn't be using Yahoo! mail for confidential government communications. And baby pictures. Wait till People gets a hold of them!

This Republican Administration is bailing out huge banks and insurance companies and, somehow, the Republicans claim to be the "small government" "no regulations" "free market" party?

Khan Noonien Singh,

Good job on the cut and paste.

And no wonder, you like Obama/Biden, because like Biden, you pasted that without attribution and stuck you name to it.

Care to amend? Or should I think that you came up with that all by yourself?

(Perhaps you should have first did a find/replace so those annoying question marks don't show up at the start of each sentence.)

"Palin is suspected of using her private Yahoo! email account to circumvent the accountability and scrutiny attendant to official government email"

What is the suspicion based on?

PR, why don't you dump your email correspondence with your girlfriend on the internet.

the Teacher's Union (of which I belong)

That scares me more than the prospect of a global financial meltdown!

ROC-

Its not a suspicion, its fact. Gawker has some of them, and another website (who took them down) had some others. They are screen shots so you have to have a big monitor, or good eyes to read it

I would guess that if any government business discussions were contained in the emails, it would be illegal. If she just discusses her private thoughts on being a Governor or VP candidate, nobodies business but her own.
I would hope for a private judge?s review before she's hung out to dry on this one.

ROC,

"Alaskans question Palin's e-mail secrecy - Governor routinely uses private account for state business"

"They are screen shots so you have to have a big monitor, or good eyes to read it"

Yeah, and jimmytown is the proud owner of Santa's secret eye.

@prof-

The copy and paste that you see came from a email chain, there is no author noted. You're ADD has zoned into the MLA format, instead of looking at the content.
Actually, I think that was wrong. I believe that you read it in full, found nothing else to argue, so you grabbed your teacher issued red pencil and do what you do best: Distract

link to nowhere Pork.

pokey, try this one: http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/091608/sta_333013278.shtml Or google it, there are 17,200 other sites with a similar story

100 or so posts, for what? Obama will clearly win the electoral votes of NJ as the Dem, what I need the Gov (who likes to Parade in towns that like him I guess)is to get on with cutting Spending at the State level (since he failed to sign a bill that would have saved us taxpayers $300M or so), and Booker, well simply work in Newark 18 hrs a day to right that financial drain on the State and me. If 18 hrs doesn't get it done, work longer. This is a Corzine pre-running party, nothing more. Hope he gets a ticket for running a crosswalk; we could use the income.Maybe I'll pay ans send Carl B as a stand-in. Certainly would help the Star Ledger revenues!

testing the embedding problem http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/091608/sta_333013278.shtml

It's all suspicion on the part of political foes. None of the emails "revealed" showed any state business.

She's allowed to have private correspondence and perhaps even a yahoo account.

PR,

You scare easy, huh?

jimmy,

Should I comment on the important "First Dude" section of the chain email?

I'd rather just ask the same question I've been asking: What has Obama done?

Right, Harvard....

And if we can have a substantive argument over who has more relevant experience the guy at the top of a ticket or a gal in the #2 spot, we really have a problem.

And so, running a state qualifies her less than being the first Black Editor of the Harvard Review?

(Moreover, scratch below any of Obama's listed "experiences" and you'll find he did not do much. Now if I can only find that email rebuttal, I'd post it with my name on it. That'll show you!)

link to nowhere Pork.

How apropos for a link regarding Palin, someone whose political fate seems so intertwined with the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" (you know, the one she was for before she was against it, but kept the money anyway).

ROC, you're just doing some chain yanking right? Are you really asking what qualifies Sarah Palin less than Barack Obama? Do you really believe that being able to "wave" at Russia qualifies her for any foreign policy discussions?
Who would you send to meet with Middle Eastern leaders if it were up to you and those two were your only choices?

Jersey,

Does Obama really think running his campaign (which he does not) qualifies as "executive" experience?

Really. He said it does. Silly candidate.

So if you allow a wave, I'll allow a campaign (that he doesn't run).

I can see Newark from my house.

"Are you really asking what qualifies Sarah Palin less than Barack Obama?"

Uh...nope... not me.

p.s.

My positions is and will be: They are both equally qualified to be VP.

One of the best quotes I've heard on that front is "I can see the moon from my window but that doesn't make me a f**kin' astronaut."

Well, I could housing project dwellers "organize" getting their toilets fixed too....

The troubling thing is when Obama looks out across the see and sees Iran he sees an opportunity for afternoon tea.

Well, I could help housing project dwellers "organize" getting their toilets fixed too....

Sorry ROC - confused you with Prof. And the tea comment is beneath you, although having someone with Barack's background and face could certainly be seen as a plus on the diplomacy front.

Oh, they'll see his bi-racial face and decide, we don't hate America.

That's diplomacy you can count on!!

prof-
The reason we compare Obama to Palin is because if you look at the actuaries, there is a 1 in 3 chance that McCain will be dead in his first term, making Sarah Palin our new president.

If the RNC was held before the DNC, you and I both know that McCain wouldnt have picked Palin.

I'm enjoying the mental picture of ROC helping project dwellers fix their toilets.
That sounds like some sort of Dantesque circle of Republican hell.

Prof, also he spent four years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His background could not hurt in giving us more credibilty with Egypt, the Emirates, Turkey and Pakistan and the rest of the world would be reminded that it's possible for us to have a leader that is not a rich, white yahoo who can't string together a sentence.

"Dantesque circle of Republican hell."

This reminds me of a joke:

I was talking to this little girl Catherine, the daughter of some friends, and she said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine - ?If you were President what would be the first thing you would do??

Catherine replied - ?I would give money for food to all the homeless people.?

?Wow - what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.? I said, ?You don?t have to wait until you?re President to do that, you can come over to my house and clean up all the dog poop in the back yard and get paid $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for food.?

Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second, while her mom looked at me seething, and Catherine replied, ?Why doesn?t the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars??

And I said, ?Welcome to the Republican Party?.

As the last piece of Republican Vice Presidential fluff said so eloquently:

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."

James Danforth Quayle

Wow, ROC. That joke captures the heartlessness of the Republican philosophy more succinctly than I could ever have hoped to have done myself.

If you are poor, it's because you aren't working hard enough.

ROC - we had that same joke posted here a short while back.

It was pretty much cut to shreds.

I guess the corollary is that Republicans blame the "disadvantaged" for the obstacles they face in life, a it's their own fault for being born into the wrong family.

(ha ha)

Better wording, perhaps -

"Did you hear that Republicans say the disadvantaged have only themselves to blame for the obstacles they face in life - they should have chosen to be born into a different family."

(ha ha)

John McCain walks by a little boy on the sidewalk standing in front of a box of puppies.
"Hey mister", says the boy, "Do you want to buy a puppy? They're Republicans!"

"I don't need any goddamn puppies, kid", snarls the Senator. "Get the hell off the sidewalk".

Two days later Barack Obama passes the same boy.
"Hey mister", says the youngster, "Do you want to buy a puppy? They're Democrats!"

"Wait a minute", says Obama, "I heard about you. Two days ago you were selling puppies and saying they were Republicans> Now you say they're Democrats. What gives?"

"Well", says the boy, "now they have their eyes open."

and then Grabowsky kicked them off the sidewalk!

A local United Way office realised that it had never received a donation from the town's richest man & leading republican. The contributions manager cornered him after a Sunday service. "Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $50,000,000, you give not a penny to charity Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"
The republican mulled this over for a moment & replied, "First, did your research also show that my mom is dying after a long illness, & had medical bills that are several times her annual income?
Embarrased, the United Way rep mumbled "Um...no."
"Or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind & confined to a wheelchair? Or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident, leaving her peniless with 3 kids?
The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea..."
On a roll, the republican cut him off, "...So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?!!!"

BACK

Dang, I actually have to do some work for a few hours, and look what I missed!

"I can see Newark from my house."

Our dear Mrs. M. gets the prize, though I know all of you were so desperately vying for the Laugh of the Day Award.

(Mrs. M., you're a peach!)

Back atcha, Kay...hope to meet you one day at a Baristagig.

Hey, I thought this post was funnier -

"The Dems keep lowering the bar in schools, social institutions and the business world to bring everyone down to equality instead of aiding people to rise up."

AMEN!

Posted by Mrs. Martta | September 18, 2008 12:24 PM

*****

But seriously (and not to be mean to Mrs. M., whose posts I often like), can't we get away from "Dems = Bad" vs. "Repubs = Bad" ?

Doesn't matter to me as long as "joke=funny" all the other posturing is just boring.

Didn't some African president recently say (I'm not making this up) when asked why he wanted to visit America:

"I want to see a place where poor people are fat."

ROC, you equate girth with wealth? You must be living in the pre-depression 1920s. Poor people eat cheap, processed food with loads of calories and no nutritional value. They can't afford to go to a gym or play tennis/squash to reduce like the rich and thin.

ROC's "joke" reminds me of these guys who stand in NYC streets with the big plastic jugs asking for donations for the homeless. I've often wondered why they don't go and get jobs, then give that money to the homeless. Do they collect more than minimum wage, I wonder?

"ROC, you equate girth with wealth?"

No but I equate a lack of humor with gormlessness.

Hmmm.

Prof doesn't find Stephen Colbert funny, but I do.

I guess I am less gormless than prof.

I haven't seen anyone selling "Street News" recently, but then I don't take the NYC subway anymore.

I felt sorry for these folks. They seemed to be trying to do something to earn a little dough but I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually buy one of these.

On the other hand, the guys that regaled the subway car with a long winded tale of woe - and I believed some of what I heard - did much better for themselves, sometimes collecting several dollars from a single car.

I think it's the duty of a civilized nation to help the less fortunate. I'm amazed that so many find that such a bitter pill to swallow.

I am amazed at the amateur demagoguery - but I shouldn't be.

Tis funny, ROC, that you find yourself so risible yet when others point out that you are not you call us dolts. Very childish.

If you weren't so gormful, you wouldn't be amazed.

I'm also amazed by the number of ROC posts!

I think we all want to help the less fortunate. Is it the government's duty to do so? Maybe not primarily, but it certainly behooves a society to do so, for if it eschews this duty it can hardly call itself that.

Walleroo, have you ever read the Sherlock Holmes story "The Man with the Twisted Lip"?
Age old question on a beggar's take.

Are you happy about all amateur demagoguery your gormless comment has summoned ROC?

...for if it eschews this duty it can hardly call itself that...

Dogs sometimes eschew duty. Or roll in it.

They also like to eschew shoes.

ESCHEW!
Gesundheit!

And I said, ?Welcome to the Republican Party?

The great thing about this joke is that it assumes that homeless people would rather be homeless than work. Which is totally true! Because that's the way it happens in my head.

Is Obama a liar or the Washington Post?

Please. Smear smear smear. Wish I had a bagel. If you scroll down through the comments there's a little more perspective.

Thus has Baristanet's own incarnation of William F. Buckley written over the space of a day:

" ... too obliquely for many of the historical illiterates who gather here"

" ... teach you how to, say, slobber more effectively ..."

" ... he is solipsistic in the extreme, and profoundly stupid about it as well ..."

Hmmm. Someone's cranky this morning! Or forgot to take their Thorzine.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/p/tdvideo/ali09142008
Looks like the middle east is leaning towards Obama. NoCain.