You can purchase an autographed copy of Anything But Straight by sending a $35 check or money order to:
-------------------------
Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
These goebelesque Big Lies are always the only things the republicans have to run on, and the sad fact is, is that low information, easily duped Americans seem to fall for it everytime; and they probably will again.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/12/2008 5:47 PM
Got this from a random guy on facebook, thought it was pretty good:
(Forwarded from a friend)
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....(hope I'm not offending anyone)
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different." * If you grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim. * If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable. * If you 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.
Eshto, well said! In addition, Palin may have served only 20 months as governor, but in her state, they are only in session for 60 days in any year, so in fact, she's only served for 120 days in total.
Since McCain is prolife he now tell us that if elected, he will appoint another judge to the Supreme Court who will interpret laws according to the constitution. Its a veiled reference to overturning Roe v. Wade which was legislated from the bench, not the states where he wants all social policies legislated. If he wins and implements that change, then he's going to have to dismantle the civil rights bill, also legislated from the Supreme Court bench. Lets see him and Palin try.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/13/2008 9:54 AM
Eshto,
Your posting is brilliant! Thank you. I am planning on using it, often. Whoever the original author was on Facebook needs to be commended. Richard Schillen
posted by Anonymous, at
9/13/2008 10:02 AM
Robert, an overturning of Roe v. Wade would send the abortion issue back to the states, where the issue was prior to Roe v. Wade.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/13/2008 12:36 PM
These ads are not right and they should be pulled, with the McCain Campaign issuing a public statement and apology.
The Obama Campaign should then follow suit. Senator Obama has an ad in which he uses dated and out of context quotes in order to portray Senator McCain as clueless on the economy. The ad completely distorts McCain's assessment of the economy.
Furthermore, an Obama ad running in Michigan claims McCain didn't support loan guarantees for the auto industry. In fact, he does support them.
These ads by both campaigns have gotten completely out of control. It's wrong. And supporters of both candidates need to write to the campaigns and demand an end to them.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/13/2008 2:54 PM
It always amazes. The neocons are all about fiscal conservatism, lower taxes, yet whenever one of their own is in power, once they leave office they leave the nation with a huge deficit, passed along to the tax payers. Call that fiscal conservatism? I don't.
John McCain doesn't believe in government sponsored universal health care, but he does believe people should be covered? Do you know how? I do. He'll tax the already insured, use the revenues to cover the uninsured but in the final analysis, it won't be enough. His only alternative is to increase taxes to offset the shortfall. Maybe if he and all the other wealthy, fiscally conservative anti government sponsored social program haters passed along their social security checks to help pay for the difference, then maybe that might lend some credibility to just how much they really care about ordinary people, we'd be a lot better off. While they're at it, why don't they also opt out of medicare and reject the free health care pacakge they receive once they retire, paid for by you and I? They really don't need it, now do they? Heaven forbid they lose their wealth, homes, possessions, assets, what would they do to get access to health care?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/14/2008 8:12 AM
70% of the total national debt of 9 Trill has been accumulated under three republican presidents-- the last three. Can you name them?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/14/2008 11:29 AM
The hypocrisy and doublestandard of the GOP. Read on.
If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire." If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America. White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic." Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic." Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless." A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity". If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base".
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous". If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America. if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit". If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive".
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist". If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled".
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 have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky".
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child. But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog." If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter. If you have an abortion you're not a Christian, you're a murderer ( forget about if it happened while being date raped.)
If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents. If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election. If you're a Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife who has terminal cancer is to blame.
And finally:
Quiz question for the RNC, specifically those on the Religious Right.
Who is one of the most revered, and famous community organizers in history?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/14/2008 12:03 PM
Op-ed piece on Sarah Palin:
The Republicans' "Pro-Woman" Tactics is an Insult to Women
The other day I heard two Democrats agreeing that regardless of this year's election's outcome, barriers would be broken: America would either elect the first African-American president or the first female vice president. The statement did not sit well with me. Barack Obama is not the Democratic nominee because of his race. He is the nominee because he was the best candidate to serve the party. The choice of Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is an insult to women.
After watching the Republicans' tactics, I have no reason to believe they chose Palin as the best candidate for the job. I believe they chose her for a single qualification: the possession of 2 X chromosomes and the resulting anatomy. I take no pride or pleasure in watching my gender being used, nor do I enjoy the many cries of "sexism" now coming from the Republican party, a party that has worked against the advancement of women throughout my lifetime. Take, for example, the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. When it was advantageous for the Republicans to trash Anita Hill, were they feminists? No. They called her a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty. They ridiculed her, and did so only for political gain. David Brock, a former conservative author, obtained proof that Anita Hill told the truth, but the man who harassed her now sits on the Supreme Court.
Yet now, any time the media dares to ask Palin a legitimate question about her past, the Republicans call "sexism." I believe it would be sexist for the media to treat her differently because she is a woman. If the media adhered to the Republicans' idea that you can't hit a girl, THAT would be sexist. But the Republicans find it politically expedient to avoid questioning by false charges of sexism towards their candidate. Observing their clever maneuvering to shield Palin from questioning makes me doubt Palin would have been the VP pick if she were a man.
Palin herself is not someone I see as pro-woman either. If I were raped and I became pregnant, a Barack Obama administration would allow me the right to choose to have an abortion. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, would do everything in her power to take that right from me. Forcing rape victims to carry their rapists' babies to term is one of the most anti-woman positions I can imagine.
But aside from abortion and a handful of other "women-only" issues, women's issues are largely human issues. When mothers mourn their children's deaths in Iraq, fathers mourn too. When a failed economy brings low wages and increased unemployment, women and men suffer together. When our government claims the right to wiretap its citizens without a warrant, all Americans - women and men - lose their fourth amendment rights. On each of these issues and many others, Democrats will bring reform and a McCain-Palin administration will deliver more of the same.
I don't think the election of Sarah Palin as America's first female vice president will represent a step forward for women and feminism at all. As a Republican more extreme than George W. Bush, she will continue to make America worse for women. And the choice of her as a VP candidate by the Republicans purely for their own political posturing is a slap in the face to American women.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/14/2008 12:07 PM
Robert, you're wasting your time with these pesky facts. The voting electorate just doesn't get it. McCain openly admits that he votes with The Moron over 90% of the time, but now they see him as the agent of change because he chose a running mate who boasts of shotting wolves form a helicopter.
After 8 years of incompetence, it's startling that McCain would be vaulted into the lead after naming someone who is clearly incompetent and in way over her head. It's time to buy your, "Don't blame me, I voted for Barack" bumper sticker.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/14/2008 12:29 PM
"These ads by both campaigns have gotten completely out of control."
Freddie - please don't compare the campaigns. McCain has run a disgusting campaign that is beneath contempt. His latest saying that Obama's only accomplishment is a bill that will teach sex ed to kindergartners is stomach turning. So much so that it makes McCain morally unfit to be president. He ought to pull the plug on his race while he has one shred of dignity.
Just watch both conventions. One side had class. The other wanted to distract America from its failures through culture war rhetoric.
Win or lose, McCain is a loser for the way he conducted himself. Shame on him.
posted by Wayne Besen, at
9/15/2008 4:19 AM
Wayne, exactly. If McCain were the maverick the GOP claims he is, why during the eight years of the Bush chaos did he not oppose him? The simple fact is, he didn't, he conformed and voted more than 90% of the time in support of Bush's failed policies. Mavericks don't conform last time I checked. Why anyone would think he's for change has to be extremely gullible? Just what change is he talking about and for whom?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 8:35 AM
Amen! Really, you cannot compare the two campaigns. The "Sex education for kindergartners" ad is a disgrace, a flat out lie. Obama's negative commercials have been on facts, the issues, while the GOP continues to engage in character assassination and smear in order to get elected. It's exactly what they did to John Kerry...a war hero who was slimed by the party that supposedly supports the military.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 10:38 AM
I would like a McCain supporter to name one ad that Obama has done which is a lie like McCain's kindergartner ad.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 10:45 AM
No, both the McCain Campaign and the Obama Campaign are at fault for the increasingly negative tone of their advertising. Both campaigns are making a mistake, and that is they are taking whatever their attacks are and going one step too far. And it's gone way too far. And it's wrong.
There is one solution that could alleviate the need for this type of campaign. Why doesn't Senator Obama take Senator McCain up on his invitation to engage more openly in weekly town hall meetings across the country? If the two of them are out there answering questions, a lot of these ads are going to get go away real quick. The candidates are going to be able to confront each other with these issues in public.
And if Obama is such a great speaker, is so thoughtful, is so in command of the issues, then why wouldn't he take this chance to appear with the completely out-of-touch McCain in weekly town hall meetings?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 11:29 AM
If I were Obama debating McCain, among other very important issues, I would ask him just how inclusive the GOP is. I would also ask him where he and his party stand on LGBT issues and if it is for our rights, then why were we not mentioned during the convention?
Regarding his pro-life stand, I'd ask him, would he be ok if his daughter Meagan were, heaven forbid, raped or was a victim of incest and became pregnant by such a horrendous act, would he be ok if she brought the baby to term? In addition, if her life were threatened by giving birth, would he be ok letting her die to save the baby? We need more clarification on that so that the women of America can judge for themselves if this is the candidate they really want in the White House.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 11:41 AM
Freddie, obviously you cannot name on offensive ad. If anything, Obama is too reserved and doesn't fight hard enough. To say that "both campaigns" went negative is a lie.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 12:30 PM
In all my years doing this, I have never seen a liar like the Christian fundamentalist. I just have to tell y'all, it is truly amazing.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 1:10 PM
I think a mischaracterization is a mischaracterization, and the Obama campaign has engaged in its fair share of those. The McCain ad is wrong. Period. It should be pulled and there should be a public apology. As should the most recent Obama ad.
Now, as an Obama supporter, why do you think he refuses to meet with McCain weekly at town hall meetings?
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 2:25 PM
Obama would be a FOOL to do weekly town hall meetings with McCain. Town halls are McCain's strong suit, and Obama should rely upon the three presidential debates alone. And, of course, NOT agreeing to do the townhall meetings does in no way give McCain the right to run sleazy commercials. What kind of reasoning is that?? "Because Obama wouldn't do town halls with us, we're forced to run ads full of lies"? The GOP cannot run on the issues and can only win when they exacerbate cultural issues. They only win when they divide the citizenry.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 2:39 PM
Chris, last time I heard, McCain's campaign manager said that this election wasn't about the issues, but about personalities. Now with the recent Lehman Bros. fiasco, all part of the de-regulation of the financial services industry orchestrated by Bush and his cronies and McCain is among them, the chickens are now coming home to roost and I shudder to think if AIG goes belly up. Alan Greenspan only yesterday said that this is probably the worst financial catastrophe he has ever seen in his lifetime. McCain's weakness is the economy, while its one of Obama's strongest. He'll cream McCain during the debates and this Lehman Bros. scandal will add more fuel to the fire in Obama's favor. These past 8 years have been a period of the worst corruption, cronyism, wheeling and dealing, the worst this country has seen and all under Bush's watch. I can't wait for the debates to start.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 3:29 PM
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Senator Obama's refusal to engage in town hall meetings gives Senator McCain the right to run ads that mischaracterize Obama's past voting record. It doesn't. Again, that McCain ad should be pulled.
I do find it troubling that Senator Obama refuses to accept McCain's invitation for an unscripted, free-flowing dialogue. Obama talks a big game at speeches and rallies, in a very general sense. But how about some specifics? That's why town hall meetings are better than long speeches. Let's get the teleprompter out of the way and have the two candidates answer the voter's questions.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/15/2008 3:36 PM
Well, strategically speaking, Obama was right to refuse McCain's idea of town meetings. It is an old ruse...the supposed weaker candidate offers to do "ten debates" or "twenty debates" or more in order to change the dynamics of the race. The stronger candidate would be a fool to fall into the trap, since he would be offering himself up to be filleted. Like everyone here, I am very excited about these upcoming debates!
posted by Anonymous, at
9/16/2008 11:23 AM
Chris, Obama will gut McCain, especially on the economy of which McCain admits he has no experience or much knowledge. How can anyone running for the highest office in the land not have a clue about the economy? Well, Bush didn't and look what happened, 8 years of corruption, deregulation, tax breaks for the very wealthy, no oversight whatsoever on financial institutions, 7% unemployment rate, the highest in many years. This is what has brought us to where we are today, the same party that gave us the depression in 1929 using the same policies. If the dumb electorate doesn't get that and vote for McCain/Palin, then they're dumber than I thought they were. Back in March, Obama called for a commission on financial regulation but it was shot down by the neocons of course. The chickens have truly come home to roost.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/16/2008 12:55 PM
Chris, your claim is that Senator McCain is the "weaker candidate"? By what objective standard? Hasn't McCain been ahead in the polls the last couple weeks, and today's Gallup Poll still has him 1 point up. I'll grant you that it's very, very close, but McCain is still up and still has the momentum.
I disagree that Senator McCain's offer is a "ruse," however. He simply wants to do a weekly townhall-style meeting. It's truly baffling at how Senator Obama and his supporters spin Obam's refusal as anything other than Obama not wanting to answer direct questions and provide some specifics to his very general plans.
The Saddleback Civil Forum, which would be somewhat similar to the meetings McCain is proposing, demonstrated that Obama is not good at answering direct, simple (not simplistic) questions in a direct, simple fashion. Americans saw that. They didn't like it. And Obama needs to redeem himself in this area.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/16/2008 4:59 PM
McCain is a skank that keeps repeating these lies even after the word is out that his statements have been proven false. He is a disgusting human being droning over and over in hopes the stupid masses will vote for him because of the latest barbie doll on his arm. Those debate facilitators better take this nonsense on and expose him on camera while demanding an answer.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/16/2008 5:07 PM
Barack Obama is lying about who he is, and he has been lying about who he is from the very beginning, even in his own autobiography:
The man is obnoxious, a near-complete fraud, and many Americans sense that and dislike him. He can tell the absolute truth for the rest of the campaign and it will make no difference at all. The fact that his campaign is run by strategists who think they're still running in a Democratic primary hasn't helped him.
Does this mean the electorate is stupid? Of course it does, most people are idiots. I mean, those who are still in denial about Liberal Media Bias may as well sign up for the Flat Earth Society and the Holocaust Deniers League while they're at it.
I understand why Democrats are furious to the point of hysteria. They absolutely should win this election in a landslide and if they had nominated Hillary Clinton, they would have. But they didn't. Instead they unwisely nominated a smooth self-promoter who is so hopelessly amateurish that he can't even attack a Republican president presiding over the worst financial meltdown in the country's history.
Obama fans had better get used to the notion that he's going to lose, since he's probably going to lose worse than people thought McCain would a month ago. Remember, those who say he's still a winner are the same folks who said Palin was a terrible choice by McCain that would blow up in Republican faces (it's done completely the opposite).
My hope is that the economic meltdown continues, the Republicans bear the blame, and Senator Clinton wins in 2012, just in time to reap the rewards of a economic bounce-back. Obama's a lightweight politican and a fraud, and he should never have gotten this far.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/16/2008 5:19 PM
Check out the Huffington Post article on how we arrived at this financial debacle. The best I've read so far.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/a-nation-of-village-idiot_b_127340.html
posted by Anonymous, at
9/18/2008 1:36 PM
