POLITICO REPORTS: CIVIL RIGHTS ICON, JOHN LEWIS, SAYS McCAIN/PALIN STIR HATE

Civil rights icon says McCain stirs hate

By: Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin October 11, 2008 04:21 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14488.html

Civil rights icon John Lewis compared Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to George Wallace in a posting to Politico's forum "The Arena," accusing McCain of fostering “an atmosphere of hate” and “hostility” like the one that led to white supremacists’ 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala. Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia who has endorsed Obama, pointed in his posting to “the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign,” and said the senator and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, “are sowing the seeds of hatred and division.”

McCain, in a book he wrote with aide Mark Salter called “Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life,” had lauded the leadership of Lewis in the non-violent civil-rights movement. McCain called the accusation “shocking and beyond the pale” and called on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to repudiate it."

Brad Woodhouse of the Democratic National Committee said on Fox News: "I don't think Senator Obama would agree with that. ... I don’t think we would agree with those comments."Lewis didn't accuse McCain of imitating Wallace, but suggested there were similarities. His sharp words may be dismissed as those of a partisan Democrat in a campaign season. But the former head of SNCC and hero of Selma is somebody who McCain has lavished praise upon over the years, including in his book on courage and bravery and repeatedly invoking Lewis's name in public appearances. Appearing with Obama at a forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in August, McCain included Lewis as one of "three wise men" he would consult as president. "He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest," McCain said of Lewis. Now, Lewis is castigating McCain in the harshest of terms. "George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted.

"He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama." McCain quickly fired back hard, calling the comments “a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.” “The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama's record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign,” McCain said in the statement.

“I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track. McCain also put the onus on Obama to distance himself from the remarks: "I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.” The full Lewis posting, sent to Politico's Fred Barbash, referee of "The Arena," with the heading “Rep. John Lewis On Hostility of McCain-Palin Campaign": “As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. “During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”

Politico has asked the Obama campaign for comment.

VIDEO: MSNBC'S RACHEL MADDOW TALKS ABOUT SARAH PALIN'S SECESSIONIST TIES

Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," dissects Sarah Palin's ties to secessionists in Alaska who want to set up Alaska as their own country.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR3ZRUTgcCI&feature=email

FUNNY VIDEO: HEY SARAH PALIN (WITH LYRICS AND SUB-TITLES)

Everyone is getting into the act of mocking Sarah Palin and this video is no exception. It is hilarious and the lyrics are priceless.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIc8jdra0o&feature=email

SICKENING VIDEO: THE McCAIN/PALIN MOB

This is another video which shows all the hate-speech by Sarah Palin and John McCain have fired up the McCain/Palin base who are capable of committing the most despicable of all acts on Barack Obama.

WATCH THIS SICKENING VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/KjxzmaXAg9E&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

FRIGHTENING VIDEO OF McCAIN/PALIN SUPPORTERS SPOUTING OFF

This video of McCain/Palin supporters clearly indicates the inflammatory language both candidates have been saying about Barack Obama has hit home with the unhinged people who support McCain and Palin.

This street walk video was made in Bethlehem, Pa. and you get to see and hear McCain and Palin supporters in what can be best described as a parade of nutcases who have been fired up by McCain and Palin and are capable of doing anything.

WATCH THIS FRIGHTENING VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/itEucdhf4Us&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE THIS VIDEO

WASHINGTON POST: McCAIN IS WRONG ABOUT IRAQ: 24 KILLED AND 45 INJURED IN NEW WAVE OF VIOLENCE ACROSS IRAQ

John McCain keeps telling people at his campaign stops that we are "winning the war" in Iraq, but McCain ignores the rising tide of violence in Iraq.

24 Killed, 45 Injured in Bombings and Shootings Across Iraq

By Mary Beth Sheridan and Qais MizherWashington Post Staff WritersSaturday, October 11, 2008; A17

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002896.html

BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 -- A car bomb exploded in a market in southern Baghdad late Friday afternoon, killing at least 14 people and prompting an outburst of sectarian rioting, according to police and witnesses.

The attack was one of numerous bombings and shootings around the country in which 24 people were killed and 45 injured. They illustrated the tenuousness of the security situation in Iraq, where violence has fallen to four-year lows in recent months but political and sectarian divisions can quickly lead to bloodshed.

The bomb in a red Daewoo sedan blew up in the Abu Dsheer neighborhood, a Shiite enclave in the largely Sunni area of Dora, according to Iraqi security officials. The district had been a hotbed of insurgency before U.S. troops engaged in major combat there last year during the buildup of forces.

The U.S. military now considers parts of Dora safe enough to begin removing the giant blast barriers installed around the city as part of its counterinsurgency strategy to control the population and forestall attacks.

But the melee that broke out Friday afternoon showed how easily ethnic tensions can flare.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002896.html

BUSH USES US SOLDIERS IN IRAQ AS PAWNS TO HELP McCAIN

President Bush has been using U.S. soldiers deployed to Iraq like pawns in a chess game in an effort to help John McCain in his bid for President of the United States.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki had announced in July he wanted U.S. troops out of Iraq, but Bush declined the request because he felt keeping U.S. troops in Iraq would help John McCain.

EXCLUSIVE: Maliki Suggests Bush Pushed To Extend U.S. Presence In Iraq To Help McCain»

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/23/maliki-bush-mccain-iraq/

Last July, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said U.S. troops should be out of Iraq “as soon as possible” and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) withdrawal plan. Obama “talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” Maliki told Der Spiegel magazine.

Days later, as Obama wrapped up meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh reiterated his government’s stance, saying “the end of 2010 is the appropriate time for the withdrawal.”

Negotiating the post-UN mandate security agreement with Iraq, Bush argued for more time and both sides ultimately agreed that all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, not 2010, even though Bush has said previously that “if they were to say, leave, we would leave.”

Why did Bush go back on his word? A source tells ThinkProgress that White House communications staff were concerned that Maliki’s endorsement of the 2010 time line would damage Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign. Indeed, during an interview with Iraqi television last week (according to an Open Source Center translation), Maliki suggested that the U.S. presidential elections played a role:

Actually, the final date was really the end of 2010 and the period between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011 was for withdrawing the remaining troops from all of Iraq, but they asked for a change [in date] due to political circumstances related to the [U.S] domestic situation so it will not be said to the end of 2010 followed by one year for withdrawal but the end of 2011 as a final date.

In fact, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that as part of the security agreement, Bush wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq even longer. “It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011,” Talabani said.

But by endorsing Obama’s time line, Maliki indirectly slighted McCain, who has consistently and strenuously argued against setting a withdrawal date and has even said he wouldn’t mind having U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years. But Maliki’s new position has left McCain scrambling, first saying its “a pretty good timetable,” but then denying he used “the word timetable” and later settling on “anything is good.”

Despite Bush’s constant refrain that commanders, not politics, will decide the course in Iraq, it seems that trying to help his party retain the White House is more important.

SOLDIERS SERVING OVERSEAS FIND IT INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO VOTE

Some overseas soldiers' voting hampered

Deborah Hastings - The Associated Press

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/284094/36/

American soldiers can hump 60-pound packs through the broiling desert, kill for their country and die for it, but they can't always vote for their commander in chief.

A solution has long been proposed: Just get rid of the Byzantine process which forces those in far-flung battle zones to vote by mail that must be delivered to thousands of local election districts across the United States.

But the Pentagon has found that bringing military voting into the 21st century is not so simple.

The number of absentee military ballots applied for that ultimately get counted is consistently low.

In the last federal election, only about 30 percent of overseas military ballots were tallied, according to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission, which monitors election problems, and the Pew Center on the States.

Change won't come in time for the November presidential election, when record numbers of voters are expected to decide between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

For soldiers, the stakes couldn't be higher.

The winner may well decide how long they stay in battle, and how soon they come home.

No one knows why some 70 percent of overseas military ballots weren't recorded in 2006.

No one keeps centralized records on military ballots or voter turnout. But anecdotal evidence collected from local voting districts, which number more than 7,000, points to ballots that arrived late, ballots not properly filled out and ballots mailed to the wrong location -- most of which get discarded.

Then there are the ballots of troops who never mailed them back at all.

Contributing to the confusion are states and local election districts with competing and sometimes confounding rules governing overseas ballots. And the mail-in process can take up to 60 days from start to finish, even though many absentee ballots weren't available until this month.

Continue reading here http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/284094/36/