Behind the scenes at the US elections

Newsweek has a fascinating series of in-depth pieces on life in the McCain, Clinton and Obama camps, written by reporters who promised not to publish until after the election. It starts here.

Freedom US 08

Dear American readers, If you are lucky enough to have a vote in the US elections, please use it. Even though the lines may be long, the system chaotic, the weather bad, your feet sore, the pollsters telling you that you don't need to, he'll win anyway...please vote. Thank you. Really, thank you. And I hope that you have a great day.

More than a righteous wind

Some speeches electrify their listeners, others only gas them.
- Anon

It was February 2007 when I first blogged about Senator Barack Obama, the young politician who had electrified the crowds at the 2004 Democratic convention with his surging, hopeful rhetoric. The speech he gave on that cold February day in Springfield got this UK blogger energised and optimistic about politics again, about writing again, even though I only read a transcript of his words and didn't see him deliver the speech in full until later. Since last winter, his speeches have got better and better; for example, his response to the attacks about his firebrand pastor, Jeremiah Wright was the stunning A More Perfect Union, which will surely stand as one of the best political speeches of a decade, whatever the outcome of this election.

Over the last two years of exhausting campaigning, barrowloads of muck have been thrown at the 'skinny guy with the funny name' - but nothing has stuck. He has seen off the formidable Clintons and the might of the GOP smear machine, plus hoards of investigative journalists and bloggers who have scoured his life looking for faults and failings. As things got harder, angrier, more frightening, Obama has grown in stature, in preternatural calmness, and his speeches have both soared and reassured. More than just words; they have inspired millions to care, to hope, to campaign, to donate, to pound their streets and their keyboards, to make calls and print leaflets, to lend cars and sofas to those getting out the vote, to bring food and drinks to local campaign offices and those waiting in lines to vote early. Such is the power of an idea lifted up and brought to passionate life by golden, shining words. Great speeches are not hot air; they can be a righteous wind, blowing vessels on a new course. Words have power to change lives.

Obama has written two books, which are thoughtful, and honest, and beautifully written. He once toyed with the idea of being a writer, and it shows. But he is not some high-minded academic. He has been CEO of the most awesomely disciplined, innovative, successful political campaign in American history; raising staggering millions, registering millions of first-time voters, he now has a tireless army of volunteers who are driving his message home, even deep into conservative states that are now shading purple. It scares some people, I can see that. It is not how things have always been done, and the idea of 'change' - any change - usually causes almost as many to fear, as to hope.

Obama has had the more positive message, and he has carefully stuck to it, demonstrating by his serene actions and measured choices, how his opponent, the volatile old high-rolling bomb-dropping Admiral's son, the ex-playboy-turned prisoner of war has betrayed his former 'maverick' label to align himself with those who use fear as a social control mechanism. The extreme religious right, those who cannot bring themselves to call abortion-clinic bombers 'terrorists', but who use 'Muslim' as a term of abuse. Those who chant 'drill!' and 'kill!' at rallies. Those whose raging resentment the religious extremist Sarah Palin wilfully courts. Those whose hatred of the Other seems pathological - I am thinking especially of Ashley Todd, the paid McCain volunteer who scratched her own face and claimed to have been assaulted by a black Obama-supporting male, a tactic that even ten years ago could have led to riots. Never has a base seemed so...base. What American wants to think of him or herself as one of their angry number? Meanwhile, Obama rallies attracted hundreds of thousands, singing of hope and freedom, shouting 'Yes, we can!' - a familiar American dream.

Obama has been lucky, as well as gifted. The 1980's-2006 Republican party's crazy beliefs about unfettered freemarket economics operating as some kind of magical perpetual-motion wealth machine have been exploded as the lunatic lies that they always were. The economic Armageddon headlines made the stories about lipstick on pigs and sixties radicals look threadbare and irrelevant. And Obama has waded into the toxic aftermath of the worst President in history, the man with lower approval ratings than Nixon on the day he left office. The Republican brand is now associated with torture, war-crimes, the basest kind of fear-mongering, constitution-shredding deceit, with the squandering of such riches - the wealth of our earth's resources and the goodwill of nations, and Clinton's surplus millions - into multi-trillion dollar debt and bloody shameful international catastrophe. If Obama can't win votes and hearts and minds after that, then America is running mad.

And yet, it is still far too easy to worry on the eve of this election. About dirty tricks, about last-minute hitches. 80,000 people have already reported problems with voting. The lines are already 5 hours long in some states. It is almost certain that there will be complete and utter chaos tomorrow as unprecedented numbers turn out to vote. Bush has US soldiers on standby, serving a tour of duty on US soil. Police leave is cancelled in some cities. Obama is over 50% in the polls, but surely he should be higher, given the dreadful McCain campaign? I am one of hundreds of thousands of quivering liberals today, biting my cheek and fretting.

But the bookies have Obama to win solidly, and it is them, not the polls that I trust. Unlike the pollsters, they go bust if they get it wrong. They have got it right for the last 8 elections.

I will be up all night tomorrow, watching and waiting. Hoping that the clean breeze I felt blowing two years ago out of Springfield gathers force and power until it is more than a righteous wind, but a mighty gale sailing this man, and the millions of ordinary men and women whom he has inspired to hope for change, to a safer shore, where the hard, slow work of rebuilding the dream of America can begin.

Blairwatch Exclusive: Why the Economist backed Barack

Quarsan has the Economist's David Rennie on MP3 explaining the Economist's endoresemt of Obama, followed by Gerald Loftus, Democrat Abroad with campaign insights and what Obama will do in office, if elected.

Well, here it is: the Obama 30 min ad

I'll review it, and update response to it when I've watched it.

update: rippling corn, long roads, anxious yet smiling faces in crowds, flags waving, kids, parents...woman who can't afford healthcare...and the ad keeps stopping. Argh.

Obama in suit, making speech at DNC, talking about waitresses dependent on tips who need to take day off to care for sick child... cut to him in West Wing-looking study.

'Country in trouble, one month ago bottom fell out, worst economic crisis since Depression, final verdict on 8 years of failed policies...the financial rescue plan was 'a step in right direction' and as President I'll ensure you, the tax payers are paid back first...but we need a rescue plan for middle class families..right now...cut taxes for every working family earning less than $200k a year ( so we've dropped $50k and now it's families, not individuals - RN)

...businesses get tax credits for new employees taken on right here in the US...drop tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas...freezing foreclosures for home owners making 'good faith' efforts for 90 days ( this is all very politician-ish/lawyerly, I can sniff the loop holes now but fair enough as January 20th is a while away and God knows what'll happen in the next few months...planning the budget right now is impossible - RN)...low cost loans for small businesses...( 'just like after 9/11') keeps economy going..restores fairness...fulfils commitment to US people.

Pensioner, in an audience of seniors, says to Obama 'Help me'. Explains he is getting $379 a month, his pension should be $1500 a month. 'You earned your pension...that wasn't a gift. You gave up money from your wages, to set aside for your retirement' says Obama. He says 'time and time again we see companies who owe their workers...shedding those obligations, and when you make a commitment, to workers...those aren't idle promises...those are promises that should have the force of law.'

'Thank you' says the pensioner, with dignity. It's poignant.

Obama to camera. Americans don't expect Government to solve problems. Not looking for a handout. ( See! Not a socialist indulging parasitical layabouts with your hard-earned cash, voters! - RN). He shakes hands with workers in hard hats, says they should be able to retire with some dignity and respect.

Ted Strickland, Ohio Gov. says Obama is going to be 'a Democrat in the Presidency who actually cuts taxes' for those who need it, struggling families. Reiterates point about 'holding accountable' companies who 'take advantage of tax breaks' by sending jobs offshore. Governor of Kansas talks about 'common-sense, mid-western way' of getting things done and talks of Obama's Kansas roots. (Boy, are they ever pressing every button - this is extremely well done - RN). Massachusetts Governor talks about 'big challenges...we need big thinking' as Obama walks down a corridor, into an outdoor rally'. 'A problem solver who thinks big, a once in a generation kind of leadership' explains the Gov. Blimey.

It keeps crashing, so I'm giving up, will try again tomorrow.

This Obama 30 min primetime informercial....

...is really worrying me. ( See HuffPo for latest details, or ABC Newsblog)It's total overkill. For starters, it's delaying ball game coverage for half an hour, which is going to really irritate sports fans on principle, Obama fans or not. I can just see it playing in sports bars, and fans jeeringly chucking peanuts at the screen ( and Fox gleefully filming it all). It cost millions, when money is tight for everyone and the economy is in freefall. It feeds into Obama's opponent's mocking narrative of 'The One', the vainglorious, spooky cult leader, who has the media in the palm of his hand. It looks grandiose, and however marvellous the content, it is hard to override the negative message that the audacious act of taking over most of the major channels simultaneously sends out.

When you have closed the deal and are in the lead, you shut up and stop selling.

I remember how this used to happen with brand managers when I worked on ad campaigns; they would get overexcited and make the mistake of thinking everyone is as into their product as they were and wanted endless nth degree detail, but the truth is, the consumer isn't, and only gets suspicious and irritated if you over-evangelise.

The converted don't need this, the curious already know how to find out about Obama, the racists and wingnuts who think he's the antichrist will only hate him even more, the committed GOP-pers will vote GOP as they always do, and the rest, the floaters, the independents, rightist by inclination but currently furious with Bush and anxious about their jobs and futures, just need to sidle towards the normally-riskier but just-now seemingly safer bet, lips tightened, fingers crossed - without fanfare and drama.

They are not going to vote joyfully, feeling part of a Change revolution. They are making what used to be called a 'distress purchase', considering the 'least worst option'. Of all the voters, these are the ones who are likely to be most sensitive to anxieties about Obama's Otherness - and any character flaws like perceived arrogance or elitism. They want to be reassured, vote and get it over with, hoping for some better news as a reward for what they still think of as a scary jump into the unknown.

I can understand what may have been the original thinking behind the media purchase of 30 minutes multi-network prime time; give these people 30 minutes cosy TV time with Obama and they will see that he's normal, understands them, has a good economic plan, reaches out to People Like Them...

But this staggering ad buy is just too much. It's far too easy to stoke unease by portraying Obama as some arrogant show-off who's already measuring the Oval Offfice drapes, who is hubristically fascinated by his own message and assumes everyone else is too. This is unfair, as Obama is the least narcissistic politician I have seen in years, but that won't stop the chronically narcissistic McCain and Palin, who can't understand him as he is so unlike them, throwing all their jealous, angry scorn at him. Projection, the GOP's story of this election.

Primetime TV is a 'push' medium: the consumer sits on his sofa and passively recieves it, expecting to be entertained. The internet is a 'pull' medium: people choose to log on and actively search out stuff, pulling information towards themselves. Party political broadcasts are always a turn off, however slick, however sympathetic, however much they flatter and cajole their intended audiences.

Nobody likes to be pushed too hard: half an hour of some politician guy advertising himself - in person or via testimonials from celebs, worthies and ordinary Joes - is not what people really tend to tune in for on a Wednesday night - and I think this is going to backfire badly.

Gah. I hope I'm wrong and this isn't the worst own goal ever.

If I were President...

The American Civil Liberties Union has released a document today called Actions For Restoring America. It is a set of detailed recommendations on steps that the new president should take to 'clean house,' renew freedom, and restore the nation's reputation, actions that the executive branch could take on its own.

''On Day One, the next president should, by executive order, direct all agencies to prohibit the use of torture and abuse; direct the new Attorney General to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate, and, if warranted, prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws; close down Guantánamo and either charge and try detainees in criminal or traditional military courts or transfer them to countries where they won't be tortured; and end the practice of extraordinary rendition.
"In his first 100 days, the president should take actions, as detailed in the ACLU document, to end illegal spying and surveillance, to protect Americans from privacy violations and discrimination, to end the federal death penalty, and to increase government transparency."

Inspiring stuff, and as far as I could see, actually do-able.

I would limit all campaign donations to $10,000 and reform the lobbyist system; whilst reforming it I would make those funded by lobbyists wear boiler suits with the brand names of their sponsors sewn on as patches like F1 drivers.

I'd repeal Bush's tax cuts, and repeal immunity for US oil companies in Iraq. Throw myself into providing universal healthcare and call an urgent environmental summit, whilst signing Kyoto as a first step. Tax breaks for car-sharing, invest in public transport, allow stem cell research and sign up to the International Criminal Court.

And take Bush and Cheney's passports away whilst a criminal investigation was launched.

I'm still learning about the finer points of US politics. There's lots I don't know enough about it but I've loved learning as much as I can during this long election process.

What would you do if you were President?

McCain vs. Obama - DANCE OFF

Reasons why McCain should have picked Paris Hilton

She's smarter.
She's prettier.
She's a highly-effective businesswoman.
She already has clothes.

Guest conspiracy theory of the month, Admiral Mullen's busy diary and whither the 'October Surprise'?

And that's my longest blog post header ever. Pre-election jitters, October surprises, it's speculation time so here is my guest conspiracy theory, the third in an occasional series. Props to me if I'm right but I'd much, much rather not be.

I note that, over the weekend, Admiral Mike Mullen - Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff - had a secretive meeting in Lake Placid with Europe's military top brass. Attendees were: Sir Graham Stirrup of Britain’s Royal Air Force, German Army Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, French Army Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin and Italian Air Force Gen. Vincenzo Camporini.

I can find only 2 media mentions of this, both in very obscure publications. The Plattsburgh Press Republican writes' The day after the planes had left, Capt. John Kirby, a special assistant to Mullen, confirmed that the top military leaders from five countries met in Lake Placid to discuss mutual security issues, including Afghanistan.
“I’m not at liberty to go into the details that was discussed, but they went through a wide range of security issues that are common to all five nations,” Kirby said.
“They discussed, in broad terms, progress in Afghanistan and where we’re heading with regard to Afghanistan, particularly the NATO mission there. And they discussed other mutual issues of security concerns.”

On Monday 20th October, Admiral Mullen met Serbian president Boris Tadic, and the Serbian Chief of Defence in Belgrade, and discussed ways the two countries' militaries could work together, two weeks after the US Defence Secretary had flown to Kosovo to voice US support for its territorial integrity. Which is pretty extraordinary.

On Tuesday 21st October, Admiral Mullen met with his Russian counterpart, at the Russians' request, apparently, in Helsinki. The first meeting since Russia invaded Georgia. This has been much more widely reported. NYT writes 'The admiral said he and General Makarov had discussed American disquiet over the war in Georgia — Russia’s first post-Soviet offensive outside its soil — as well as Russian unhappiness with the arrival of American warships in the Black Sea with humanitarian aid for Georgia. Other topics included NATO’s relations with Russia and how to improve cooperation on countering terrorism, halting the proliferation of unconventional weapons and stemming narcotics trafficking'.

Also on Tuesday, Mullen was in Riga, Latvia warning Iraq that 'time was running out' for Iraq to approve a bilateral agreement with the US to extend US military operations after December 31st, the expiration date of the UN Security Council agreement for the US military to be in Iraq. Mullen also made some strongly-worded references to Iran 'meddling'.

Ho hum. Busy, busy, busy.

Now for all I know, Admiral Mullen has these sorts of high-level, high-security international top brass meetings all the time, and his recent round of meetings in such quick succession is nothing special. I am merely flagging this up because I think it is interesting timing, less than 2 weeks before an election and with no 'October Surprise' having *cough* hoved into the erm, airspace yet.

It is no secret that the imploding economy is proving catastrophic for the Republicans' election campaign, and they are desperate to change the channel to foreign policy/war on terror stuff where they percieve their Presidential candidate to have an advantage.

So if an international incident suddenly pops up... an 'October surprise' which proves an election game-changer...it is worth remembering Admiral Mullen's busy 4 days meeting key defence chiefs from Europe, Russia and the Balkans from 18th- 22nd October.

Random speculation time: Barry Cooper, a Professor of political science, writes about a possible Russian October surprise in the Calgary Herald. Russia stirring up trouble in America's back yard? Cooking up a storm in Nicaragua, Cuba, or Venuzuela, retaliation for NATO's approaches up to its borders? So I say, hmmm, what about Venuzuela's planned naval base in the Caribbean, from whence their Russian friends can gaze beadily at the US? Ostensibly the base is to help fight narcotics trafficking. Narcotics trafficking being something Mullen and the Russians discussed on Tuesday, as you'll recall.

A spot of arms-dealing, some circling warships...a Cuban Missile Crisis part 2? A civilian airliner or military aircraft shot down by rocket launchers? God knows, and we certainly could drive ourselves all wild by guessing.

Joe Biden certainly seems to think something is afoot, in the next six months, mentioning Russia and the Middle East, telling people to 'gird their loins' and making Kennedy comparisons. Biden said, somewhat unguardedly, at a fund raiser

'It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

War is of course what saved the US economy in the early days of Bush's administration, following the Enron scandal. I really hope they don't intend a war with Iran. We've had enough energy-related military interventions for a while, don't you think?

That last sentence of Biden's, by the way, was really asking for it. Conspiracy theorists will have an absolute field day when whatever it is happens, saying it was 'generated'. And something will happen, because it always does - that's the nature of international politics, and testing times during new administrations.

Just look at what's going on in Pakistan under its new cash-strapped government, as the country faces economic collapse and the loss of its western regions to militant extremists, criminals and tribal warlords. It's close to chaos, and America roaming about in the militant strongholds and tribal badlands bombing villages, ostensibly in search of Bin Laden, isn't helping. It's also making a vengeful terrorist strike on UK or US soil more likely as well. As the Americans (and everyone else) damn well knows.

You have to wonder if they'd be that cynical as to practically provoke one for election-winning reasons...but....no, I'm not going there. Pakistan, meanwhile is awash with conspiracy theories of its own.

I'm not surprised, they bloom like mould during tense times like these. They don't help, they just make people freaked out and fearful, and that is why I don't give them airtime very often. I have a temperature and am feeling pretty ill today, which probably explains why I've started rummaging through international geo-economic-politics and spooking myself out.

Re-reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, which isn't very soothing either. It remains essential reading though, now more than ever.

Thank God there's less than 2 weeks til the US elections, though I suppose all the legal wrangling will delay the result, unless there's a landslide. These bastards really, really don't want their party to end, nor judgment day to ever come.

ACORN - the truth

Much huffing and puffing about 'voter fraud' as McCain's campaign falls over. For those interested....

Now watch this. Republicans are demonising ACORN - but the real vote suppression culprits are not ACORN at all.


Steal Back Your Vote! from Greg Palast on Vimeo.

Newsweek has an analysis from factcheck.org

'The McCain-Palin campaign accuses ACORN, a community activist group that operates nationwide, of perpetrating "massive voter fraud." It says Obama has "long and deep" ties to the group. We find both claims to be exaggerated. But we also find Obama has understated the extent of his work with the group.
Neither ACORN nor its employees have been found guilty of, or even charged with, casting fraudulent votes. What a McCain-Palin Web ad calls "voter fraud" is actually voter registration fraud. Several ACORN canvassers have been found guilty of faking registration forms and others are being investigated. But the evidence that has surfaced so far shows they faked forms to get paid for work they didn't do, not to stuff ballot boxes'.

In other words, ACORN has been defrauded, by a few of its employees, who've been paid after they filled in voter registration forms with the names of Dallas Cowboys stars and Disney characters, rather than bother to go out and register real people. Filling in forms falsely is not the same as fraudulent voting. It would only be fraudulent voting if Micky Mouse and the Dallas Cowboys turned up and repeatedly voted.

This diary from Daily Kos shows how those most likely to vote Democrat - young people, students, first time voters, poor people, ethnic minorities - are being systematically disenfranchised, especially in swing states, as part of a Republican strategy to remain in power.

When people make outrageous accusations - it's quite often the case that they are guilty themselves of what they accuse you of. The person calling 'fraud! liar! bully!' may well turn out to be the fraud, liar and bully themselves for example. So we see the Republicans cry 'vote fraud!' and 'foul', or complain that the Democrats are running a negative campaign, or whatever, it is enlightening to see what they are up to. Projection, projection. Normal people are most likely to use projection when feeling threatened; the narccisistic or sociopathic personality type employs it most of the time.

I can see why the Republicans feel threatened; they have been outgunned by a passionate army of networked enthusiasts, who have raised far more money and registered far more voters. And they are also at the mercy of financial world events. All they have left is fear-mongering and muck-chucking. I want them to implode spectacularly. Because of their relentless lies, their sociopathic disregard for anything other than profit, and their relentless human rights abuses including the widespread use of torture. There needs to be a landslide, big enough to smash through the attempts at vote fraud, an avalanche of votes and voices to sweep away the stench of blood and oil and corruption and to send a message out: no more, this is not America, you are not us. And then maybe conservative Americans can rebuild their party, shorn of free-market extremists and theocratic fascists

Meanwhile, thankfully, someone has been arrested for real, proper voter fraud. A Republican. Will this shut up the ACORN nonsense McCain's campaign is spewing ? No, of course not. But the message is getting out; CNN showed voting machines that switched to 'McCain' when you pressed 'Obama' last night. Armies of lawyers are assembling. This time, the vote will not be stolen, and the people will speak and be heard.

The US elections in pictures, and words, an occasional series

PICTURE FROM OHIO REPUBLICAN RALLY OCTOBER 2008

Excerpt follows from Colin Powell interview transcript, October 19, 2008

'Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration. I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.'

ARLINGTON MILITARY CEMETERY

'I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

ARLINGTON MILITARY CEMETERY GRAVE OF U.S SOLDIER

'So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.'

Told ya

said so on Wednesday

nearly right eh? 4 days out. Powell 4 Obama/Biden O8

100,000 strong - Obama breaks records in St Louis

Native son Chuck Berry seems appropriate: you can't catch me.I will write a post soon on why this election is so god damn personal, why I dream about this election most nights, why I have never been so obsessed with an election in my god damn life.

But for now. Cheers. And God bless St Louis. ( 'world turned upsidedown' - NYT)

The US elections in pictures, an occasional series

Pictures from last minute of the final Presidential debate ( different angles, same moment)

And check out this amazing clip which shows exactly where McCain campaign insiders have been getting all their tactics and strategies from. Spooky!

Over to the Guardian for Presidenty-live-bloggy-fun....

Thank God this is the last one. My nerves are shredded.
Here we are, liveblogging and commenting. Go Oliver Burkeman! Hi Creekwhore!
As we're on the final furlong, it's going to have to be the posh red wine.

SHOWTIME!

A prediction

Colin Powell will endorse Obama tomorrow, after the third and final Presidential debate.
And Obama will ask him to serve in his cabinet.

Anyone else want to talk crystal balls in the comments?

Cool picture from the Guardian

Are we all suspected terrorists now?

This week we learned that if you've ever had professional contact with someone who had a radical past - such as a direct-action anti-Vietnam-war protester who used explosives to attack government buildings in the 1960s - then you can be called a 'terrorist' yourself and an angry mob can call for you to be beheaded, blown up or otherwise killed, whilst someone who is running for the position of US President or Vice President smiles and says little, or nothing at all.

Even if, when the explosives were set off, you were eight years old, and the guy they're talking about as a 'terrorist' is now a middle-aged professor who used to sit on an education board with you at the start of your career. Yes, this week we learned that to large swathes of people, Senator Barack Obama, the likely next President of the US, is a suspected terrorist.

(Hmmmm, angry mobs, right-wing 'country first' political rallies, economic downturns, hateful and false propaganda - should we be concerned? Any historians in the house fancy a crack at that one?)

So, Senator McCain and lying religious extremist Governor Palin have been inciting hate and violence this week against someone whose politics they don't agree with. (Which, ironically enough in this country would make them suspected terrorists.) Meanwhile, the UK Government has been invoking anti-terrorist legislation against an Icelandic bank whose (admittedly awful) fiscal behaviour they don't agree with.

Seems like the unlikeliest people can be painted as terrorists ,and terrorism laws can be used against the wierdest targets these days. And every week that goes by, the meaning of suspected terrorist seems to get a little stretchier.

Hmmm, you think. Well, I'm solvent, and I'm not running for US President. I should be ok. I'm just an ordinary British person, with a normal everyday life.

But terrrism laws are already being used to spy on ordinary people.

Such as people with barking dogs and noisy children. People who drop burger wrappers and don't scoop up their dog's poo.

Well, you might say to yourself, I'm not antisocial. In fact, if there was a neighbourhood demonstration against tearaway youths and litterbugs and dog poo, I might very well pop along. The local park is becoming a right mess. In fact, I support several environmental campaign groups which are against dumping waste - on a small or industrial scale.

Careful. If you've ever wished you could 'seriously alter a country's political, economic or social structures', as an individual or a group - or thought about attaching a protest sign - or even yourself - to the park railings - you'd better have a read of the new EU law on terrorism before you consider any protest or dissent to that effect.

What about if you were quite happy with the UK's political, economic and social structures - but your friend sent you something suspect by email? Like an Al Qaeda training manual, that he was looking at as part of his studies for his politics PhD, and wanted you to print out for him?
A manual that is available as a free download from a US government website, by the way.
A document you didn't even know he'd emailed to you.

Well, you might find yourself being arrested, repeatedly interrogated and detained in solitary confinement without knowing why, whilst your home is raided and your friends and colleagues questioned about every aspect of your professional and personal life and your parents become frantic with anxiety.

It's distressing, scary, and unfair to be labelled a suspected terrorist when you are a completely innocent person. But at least, in this country, at the moment, under the current government, the police let you out eventually, if they can't find something to charge you with. They have to, after four weeks. You might have lost your job, your relationship, your reputation, your solvency and your sanity, but at least you'll still be alive to pick up the pieces and start again.

As you probably remember, the UK government wanted the power to hold people without charge for 3 whole months, but they weren't able to get enough votes in the Commons. They're currently trying again, this time for 6 week detention period. They did manage to get just enough Commons votes this time, but the House of Lords is fighting the bill on Monday. (The noble Lords had better be careful that they're not all labelled 'suspected terrorists' in a few years' time. After all, no-one elected them and they're arguably being very disruptive at the moment.)

Of course, if the Bush administration thinks you are a suspected terrorist, and manages to catch hold of you, you can be locked up without charge and tortured - even into madness - with no legal protection at all, for as long as the US government want to keep you locked up.

Over here in the UK, if the latest anti-terror laws go through, it will be the case that if you die at the hands of the State - by accident or design - the inquest into your death can be held without a jury, without a coroner, presided over by someone appointed by the government, and closed to the public and the media. Secret inquests. That's a complete violation of open justice, but with so many other basic rights being shredded, without much public reaction, who cares anymore?

Yes, its starting to look as if almost anyone could be a suspected terrorist these days.
It's almost as if being a suspected terrorist is starting to mean 'someone we in power don't like the look of', doing something we don't approve of.'

Like owning a naughty or incontinent dog. Or having the wrong kind of political acquaintances. Or looking like you might win a popular election on a more liberal ticket by a landslide.

Or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Being annoyed about the terrorism laws being misapplied and protesting about it might, one day, make you a suspected terrorist. At this rate, who knows where that will end?

Fortunately, there's still time to do something about all this lunacy.

If you have a seat in the House of Lords, you can vote against the latest anti-terror bill.
If you live in the UK, you can talk to your friends and family, write to your MP, sign and pass on the petition and generally exercise your right to protest about it.

If you're Barack Obama, you can ignore it and carry on campaigning to get yourself elected.

I can only wish everyone the very best of luck in their endeavours.

Inside Palin's Church

I wrote about the hate-mongering liar, religious extremist Governor Sarah Palin last week. The 'spiritual warfare' against 'demons', 'evil spirits' and 'witches'. The charging for rape kits to victims, the ban on abortion and the morning after pill even for victims of rape and incest, and all the rest of it. Think it all sounds too unbelievable to be true?
Here is a video, shot in Alaska, at her church and with people who know her, confirming it all.



The polls show that McCain and Palin are behind Obama - but this article about criminal election fraud should halt any premature celebrations. Hat-tip - Gridlock.
We'll see if the people of America choose hate or hope come November. I hope they remember they're supposed to be the land of the free and home of the brave.
Final thought: Jesus was a community organiser. Pilate was a Governor.

UPDATE: BBC Palin guilty of abuse of State power.
Ha ha ha ha ha. Give a medal to Mudflats, the small Alaskan political blog that became a national sensation, doing the vetting on Palin that McCain didn't - and thus helping to save America and the world.

Presidential debate drinking game

All the way from London! It's the Obama-McCain debate drinking game! A drinking game for the Presidential debate! Can't vote, can drink!

The voter questions, 'town hall' format makes it hard for the two candidates to get snarky and dish zingers. Voters, we hear, don't like it when candidates indulge in ad hominem attacks and get angry.

So despite the recent fetid tsunami of lies, smears, insinuations, half-truths, racism, and more lies as the audacity of hope battles the mendacity of fear, we probably won't see any bloody noses tonight.The strategy will be to connect, empathise, feel voter's pain, understand, care and if either of them can summon up a tear, or a chokey voice, even better.

But really, all voters want to hear about is the economy. In six months time, will they still have jobs? Pensions? Houses? It will go down to who sounds like he can deliver a plan to stop everyone having to eat roadkill and live in cardboard boxes. That's it. The rest is just bollocks.
Time for a drinking game.Drink when you hear

'Maverick'
'My friends'
'Wall Street/Main Street'
'middle class'
'bail-out'
'surge'
'Just doesn't get it'
'experience'
'change'
'reform'
'reach across the aisle'
'Washington'
'uh-uh-look'
'this great nation'
'difficult times'
'challenges'
'affordable healthcare'
'eco-narmic 9/11'
'REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION FAILURE'
'Fannie and Freddie'
'crisis'
'together we can do it'
'faith in our country and each other'
'with all due respect'
'you lying bastard'
'your mom'

If they hug at the end, drink everything in sight