Month: September 2008

Joe Biden speaks his mind, says McCain attack "terrible"

Stock market crash. Franklin Roosevelt. Television. Ok, I understand the point he was trying to make…

Watch CBS Videos Online
It was a little strange to hear him say, “if Barack had…” in relation to the ad. So did Obama approve the ad or not?
I admire Biden for saying the McCain attack was terrible and I agree with him that it is wrong for either camp to knowingly distort the other candidate’s positions. The differences between candidates is great enough without embellishing.

Who is behind the Sarah Palin rumors?

Conservative blogs are ablaze with a story which may or may not make the MSM.
See the National Review Online for a summary.
Here is the blog that seems to have started the story.
Bottom line, the fingers are pointing in the direction of David Axelrod, head of the Obama campaign for spreading some of the more outrageous Palin rumors. Nothing is proven and evidence is circumstance, I should hasten to add.
If you like intrigue and a political mystery, then there may be some interest here for you. I will post more on this as I get time…
UPDATE: Ethan Winner has admitted making the videos in question.

Bullycide in America: New resource available

Some have asked me why I initiated and supported the Golden Rule Pledge Initiative along with the Day of Silence. Watch this video and I hope you can feel a little of the anguish that is the daily life of a child who is the target of bullying.

The song is a way of introducing the new e-book Bullycide in America: Moms speak out about the bullying’suicide connection. Full disclosure: I have some articles in this book and have done some volunteering for this group. These stories and those of kids I know have touched me in profound ways and I hope will go a long way toward creating change. There are multiple factors which inform an understanding of bullying and I hope these cases and articles will help raise awareness.
Bullycide

If Olbermann gives a charity $100 for a lie, how much will he give for bad reporting?

Newsday points out that Keith Olbermann of MSNBC said on September 10 that he would give a charity $100 for every lie told by Sarah Palin.

After showing a clip of Sarah Palin supporting the Alaska Bridge, which she now says she opposed, this is what Olbermann said:
“By the way, as of tomorrow, every time Senator [sic] Palin repeats one of her standard lies about the Bridge to Nowhere or the plane she sold on eBay that she didn’t sell on eBay, or the fired chef she didn’t fire, I will donate $100 to charity. It will be $300 if she somehow says she sold the chef on eBay.”

Then on September 17, he said he had decided what charity would get his money.

Twice now in two days – in Colorado, then today at Vienna, Ohio – Governor Palin has again invoked – that is the polite term – her status as the mother of a special needs child and the role of advocate she wants to play for special needs kids. Yesterday, she said, “Ever since I took the chief executive’s job up north, I’ve pushed for more funding for students with special needs.” Today the quote was, “I sought more funds for students with special needs.”
Problem: As the chief executive up north, she vetoed $275,000, crossed it out, of the state funding of the Special Olympics. She cut the Special Olympics budget in half and is campaigning as an advocate for special needs kids. That’s pretty sick. Well, at least we do know which charity I should donate that hundred bucks to every time she lies about her record: the Alaska Special Olympics.

Here and at Newsbusters, the claim that Palin cut the Special Olympics budget has been debunked. She signed a budget which gave them a 10% raise.
Olbermann apparently takes his reporting from blogs without fact checking. In fact, the ThinkProgress blog has attempted a correction but could not get that right either.
And so, if a charity gets $100 for what he perceives to be a lie, what will the charity get when he spreads false witness via his reporting? I think he should double his contribution, do you?