U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) is not alone!

You remember Ms. Bachmann; she's the 6th District Representative from Minnesota who went over the top talking to Chris Matthews of Hardball, calling for a return to McCarthyism. She went so far in her demagoguery that General Colin Powell singled her out in his remarks after his Meet the Press endorsement of Senator Obama's candidacy, as has been widely documented.

Her remarks were so out of step with even her gerrymandered district that not only is her her Democratic challenger (Tinklenberg) suddenly awash in donations, her former Republican opponent during the primary said Bachmann had dishonored her office and reentered the race as a write-in candidate. Republicans, Democrats, journalists, people from all walks of life and every political stripe have rejected her smear-mongering.

But she's still got one supporter.

During a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters that aired state-wide, the Democratic challenger in MN CD #2, Sgt. Steve Sarvi, asked incumbent Rep. John Kline if he would denounce Ms. Bachmann’s outrageous comments; does Kline agree that some Democratic members of Congress are “anti-American” and should be investigated? Does he believe the millions of people who have voted for these public servants also are “anti-American”?

We don’t know because Kline wouldn’t answer the question. Instead, Representative Kline dodged like an old-school politician who expects few are paying attention; he tried to change the subject. He doesn't want to go on the record as disapproving of smears and innuendos. In my book that's tacit approval. Edmund Burke noted centuries ago, that, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." This is not the time for watching quietly, or doing nothing.

It wouldn't have required much bravery for John Kline to agree with the Colin Powell (among other life-long Republicans) to say Bachmann's remarks have gone too far, but he couldn't even pick a side in the situation. He couldn't give Sarvi, or the voters of Minnesota, a straight answer.

As Republican Representatives from Minnesota, Kline and Michelle Bachmann have nearly identical voting records. Some even regard Kline as her obvious mentor. I regard Kline's unwillingness to either condemn her outrageous remarks or take the side of one of his closest allies as a sign it's time for fresh leadership in the 2nd Congressional District of MN, not just Bachmann's 6th. I urge you to contact your friends and family in Minnesota, to make sure they realize how these two view patriotism, and to help sweep new energy into the legislature on November 4th by donating to their campaigns today.

"We have got to stop this kind of nonsense, pull ourselves together, and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. "

~General Colin Powell (Ret.)

Here are the two links: to help Sgt. Steve Sarvi unseat John Kline, and
to help Elwyn "El" Tinklenberg unseat Michelle Bachmann.

Media pundits echo McCain misinformation. Is it deliberate?

John McCain and Karl Rove’s experience suggests lies are effective campaign tools. It’s no wonder they and the pundits say Obama lacks experience. They think telling the truth is the modern political equivalent of Don Quixote tilting at windmills...

This week John McCain's campaign hit new lows with their attacks and distortions. McCain and his party attacked Senator Obama by, among other things, ridiculing the idea that keeping your car tires inflated is an effective way to insure fuel efficiency... Over the road truck drivers know this basic truth. In fact, everyone from AAA to NASCAR agreed with Obama. McCain has, of course, reversed his position. But not until the broadcast pundits had a good laugh repeating McCain's misinformation and influencing voters, while taking the GOP money for ads, of course.

Too often the theoretically objective "referees" in the commercial media are spending a lot of time repeating his false attacks and very little time holding him accountable. Of course, they're glad McCain's found a way to raise money so they can sell ads to his campaign, and so it's something of a conflict of interest for them -- do they tell the truth, or do they help keep it looking like a close contest to boost their ratings and ad revenues?

Here's more from McCain disinformation machine, echoed uncritically in the commercial media:

• Earlier this week, the McCain campaign put out an ad saying that Washington is broken. It's gotten a lot of press so far, but it didn't mention that John McCain spent the last 26 years in Washington --
  failing to fix this broken system. He portrays himself as a so-called "maverick" but doesn't want people to know that he has vo ted 95% of the time in support of George Bush's policies.


• Another ad uses scare tactics to claim Barack's tax policy will hurt middle class Americans. Press coverage of the ad repeated McCain's smears, but omitted the fact that Barack's economic plan will cut taxes for 95% of American families. Not to mention that McCain's upper class tax cut plan leaves out more than 100 million middle class families.

The commercial media may not be informing the public very well, but you don't have to sit back and wait for them to start telling the truth about John McCain. This is the era when Snopes and PolitiFact are checking the stories, and Google can steer you to sources other than the broadcast pundits with their vested interest in keeping you watching because they sell ads to the GOP.

John McCain and Karl Rove's experience suggests lies are effective campaign tools. It's no wonder they and the pundits say Obama lacks experience. They think his truth- and reality-based campaign is the modern political equivalent of Don Quixote tilting his lance at windmills.

Watch the video of Barack responding and join thousands of fellow supporters via BarackObama.com to counter the influence of John McCain's deceptive, old-school mud-slinging campaign.

The Obama campaign's new "Action Wire" and the long-standing "Obama Rapid Response" teams are among the grassroots tools for hope-mongers dedicated to pushing back against yellow journalism and other disinformation. They serve as clearinghouses for volunteers who fight smears, spread the truth, push back on misleading media, and take positive action.

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Is John McCain too experienced to win in 2008?

In politics, old hands use mud-slinging & smear-mongering knowing an apology later doesn't erase the first impression about taxes, or whatever... Is Senator McCain's low-information, "talking points, not details" campaign style evidence that he's been in DC too long - fighting the prior war?

By avoiding details there's only so much anybody can say about his plans with regard to taxes. He's avoiding talking about Social Security, for instance, because politicizing it with details is bad for campaigning. McCain's answers are from the classic Rove textbook that got George Bush elected - when asked a question, repeat the closest talking point you have. That way there are only a handful of things to quote you on, but nobody can say you didn't reply even if the reply seems as though you may have missed the question.

Senator McCain's not too old to serve; he proved he's not to old to amuse bikers in Sturgis by suggesting his wife enter a topless pageant, either. But is he too experienced to win a campaign in the era when pundits no longer dominate access to information?

Is "experience" actually McCain's achilles heel?

Obama's been so up front with his answers that it's shocked people. Pundits assert he's too nuanced, and there's no question that his opposition can grab sound-bites out of context and run with them. But this is the era of Snopes, and Google, whether McCain knows it or not. Facts may be hard to come by, but they're out there - and so if voters want the information, it's there to be found.

It's an election cycle full of irony - Many of the charges the McCain camp has leveled at Obama turn out to be indicative of areas they fear they'll be attacked. Have Snopes & Google given the U.S. voters facts to debunk spin?

So the 3 questions are:

• Is this the year that voters fight back against old-school political tactics?
• Is John McCain's campaign style evidence that he's been in DC too long?
• Is the infornation superhighway sufficiently integrated into the lives of U.S. voters that we finally face an election where facts matter more than spin and perception?

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Bitter and Angry in Rural Pennsylvania

"Yes, people ARE angry, and bitter, but Obama never said that they aren't resilient, opitmistic or hard-working. Those are Hillary and McCain's twisted words, and for them to stand up and suggest that rural Pennsylvanians aren't fed up with the way things are, only reveals how out of touch they really are with at least this part of the country." This is a great article from a woman who lives in Rural PA. Take a moment. Bittergate, people, isn't about Obama being out of touch (how dare McCain think he could make that stick?) it's about Obama's opponents so desperate to find another smear that they played the out-of-context card again -- only this time, it's working in his favor, because he's "forced" to talk about... you guessed it... HOPE.

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