Can't get on to LYAN right now...

... and I've had a couple of very deep political things turning over in my mind for near two months now, which is why LYAN hasn't had my attention until now.

In brief: I believe that both VPs- Biden and Palin- were very, very BAD ideas, in that each one utterly destroyed the single best argument the presidential candidates had against the other. Biden has backfired worse- in that he is much less charismatic than Palin. McCain picked a VP who is at least his equal in charisma, maybe even his superior. If Biden had had any charisma in the first place, he wouldn't have polled 1% in New Hampshire...

Both McCain and Palin are broad-faced liars, and in general the media is not calling them on it. To make things even better, the Republican base turns a deaf ear to anyone who points out McCain's and Palin's lies, even with proof: to them it is a given that the media always lies, and if the media has proof that McCain is lying, that means that what McCain is saying is the gospel truth. Obama is flailing- and failing- in his responses.

FEMA is doing a little better this go-round than during Rita, but I find it interesting how often Secretary Chertoff points out that so many things, like actually distributing emergency supplies, getting into devastated areas, etc. "aren't FEMA's job- they're the responsibility of local officials." In other words, getting things done is less important than making sure you don't get the blame for NOT getting things done. You're doing a great job, Chertie...

And finally, the thing that caused me to get political- besides, that is, taking advantage of plentiful gas and the promise of power up in the next day or two to run the generator a bit more- is this chart:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/graphing-taxes.html

Translated: if you make under $18,000, Obama's plan would essentially take you off the income tax rolls entirely. McCain would do nothing for you- and practically nothing for anyone who makes under $66,000. $66,000 would save less than $500 on their annual income taxes under McCain; three times as much under Obama. The bulk of McCain's tax cuts kick in only for those who make over $100,000 per year, with the highest cut going to the wealthiest bracket.

Obama's proposal only raises taxes for those who make over half a million bucks per year. Those making from $250K to $600K would see no tax change under Obama's plan. Yet McCain repeatedly says Obama will raise taxes on the working class- not even the middle class, the working class- because Obama always voted against tax cuts and in favor of tax hikes*, and therefore he'll do the same thing as President. (Of course, the reasons for Obama's votes- mainly to pay for things like federal debt service, expanded medical programs, and veteran services that McCain opposed- are irrelevant.)

* Allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, for McCain's purposes, counts as a tax hike.

I'd say that McCain has brass balls... except that his recent tendency to hide from the media, and to isolate Palin from the media, and most notoriously to threaten to boycott the NBC-aired presidential debate unless Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were demoted for their bias... all of this shows that John McCain is a coward, hiding behind lies and personal attacks on Obama, too afraid to let people see the truth or to run on actual issues.

A coward, I say, and Palin with him- cowards and bullies both.

I'm not at all happy with Obama and his position of amnesty and oblivion to Bush and all his cronies, but at least he shows a little bit of courage in his campaign.

* * * *

Finally, in local news, Livingston is getting power restored, and out here in the woods some houses four miles from me have had power restored. Some haven't. Still, the odds aren't bad that in the next day or two the power lines will be patched out here, after which it'll only be a question of the co-op having enough juice to spare some for us out here...

Can't get on to LYAN right now...

... and I've had a couple of very deep political things turning over in my mind for near two months now, which is why LYAN hasn't had my attention until now.

In brief: I believe that both VPs- Biden and Palin- were very, very BAD ideas, in that each one utterly destroyed the single best argument the presidential candidates had against the other. Biden has backfired worse- in that he is much less charismatic than Palin. McCain picked a VP who is at least his equal in charisma, maybe even his superior. If Biden had had any charisma in the first place, he wouldn't have polled 1% in New Hampshire...

Both McCain and Palin are broad-faced liars, and in general the media is not calling them on it. To make things even better, the Republican base turns a deaf ear to anyone who points out McCain's and Palin's lies, even with proof: to them it is a given that the media always lies, and if the media has proof that McCain is lying, that means that what McCain is saying is the gospel truth. Obama is flailing- and failing- in his responses.

FEMA is doing a little better this go-round than during Rita, but I find it interesting how often Secretary Chertoff points out that so many things, like actually distributing emergency supplies, getting into devastated areas, etc. "aren't FEMA's job- they're the responsibility of local officials." In other words, getting things done is less important than making sure you don't get the blame for NOT getting things done. You're doing a great job, Chertie...

And finally, the thing that caused me to get political- besides, that is, taking advantage of plentiful gas and the promise of power up in the next day or two to run the generator a bit more- is this chart:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/graphing-taxes.html

Translated: if you make under $18,000, Obama's plan would essentially take you off the income tax rolls entirely. McCain would do nothing for you- and practically nothing for anyone who makes under $66,000. $66,000 would save less than $500 on their annual income taxes under McCain; three times as much under Obama. The bulk of McCain's tax cuts kick in only for those who make over $100,000 per year, with the highest cut going to the wealthiest bracket.

Obama's proposal only raises taxes for those who make over half a million bucks per year. Those making from $250K to $600K would see no tax change under Obama's plan. Yet McCain repeatedly says Obama will raise taxes on the working class- not even the middle class, the working class- because Obama always voted against tax cuts and in favor of tax hikes*, and therefore he'll do the same thing as President. (Of course, the reasons for Obama's votes- mainly to pay for things like federal debt service, expanded medical programs, and veteran services that McCain opposed- are irrelevant.)

* Allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, for McCain's purposes, counts as a tax hike.

I'd say that McCain has brass balls... except that his recent tendency to hide from the media, and to isolate Palin from the media, and most notoriously to threaten to boycott the NBC-aired presidential debate unless Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were demoted for their bias... all of this shows that John McCain is a coward, hiding behind lies and personal attacks on Obama, too afraid to let people see the truth or to run on actual issues.

A coward, I say, and Palin with him- cowards and bullies both.

I'm not at all happy with Obama and his position of amnesty and oblivion to Bush and all his cronies, but at least he shows a little bit of courage in his campaign.

* * * *

Finally, in local news, Livingston is getting power restored, and out here in the woods some houses four miles from me have had power restored. Some haven't. Still, the odds aren't bad that in the next day or two the power lines will be patched out here, after which it'll only be a question of the co-op having enough juice to spare some for us out here...