Got that right.

Thanks, Senator Kennedy, for starting the official dissection of John McCain and the Bush Republican Party of greed, divisiveness, and attack politics.

Clearly (the media is too blind to see), the opening day of the Democratic convention was meant to be mostly void of the kind of in your eye mudslinging that the Republicans have already shown is all they've got this time around.

What few primetime hours of attacking John McCain they lost tonight, the Democrats established that this is a campaign about issues, serious issues that face every American whether they care or don't, whether they vote or not, whatever race, religion, or gender, straight or gay.

The politics of the last 8 years, the Congressional failure since '94 to solve real problems instead of creating new ones, the entire disaster overseas and at home written, produced and directed by George Bush, Inc. has been financed by the American public, and it is a dismal failure. The cost in human tragedy is inexcusable. Military deaths and wounded alone is staggering enough, add to it the failure of the Veterans Administration to deal with the tidal wave of casualties, the governments ignoring the Katrina victims, the out of control health care challenges, the mismanaged energy crisis, and the continued tax breaks for wealthy companies offshoring American jobs ... it's hard to believe two terms of a Republican President with Congress at his disposal and even since '06 the power of the veto could tear apart what took 232 years to build up...but America has what it takes to put things right. It may take a while, but it may not take as long as you think.

The world awaits the changes in America, too.

The country needs new leadership. Not just an old war hero figurehead and the same operatives behind the scenes planning to continue this ongoing theater of absurdity. New leadership doesn't just mean a different party in power. Lord knows, we need to lance the boil of evil those currently in power have abscessed through their obsession with greed and power. The corrupt must be driven out of politics.

The choice is clear.

Andy- what a clear, consise read of the world today here in america. Ronald Ragen would be spinning in his grave, if he saw the mess little george has made of things.

I shed tears watching the Kennedy speech last night. It could very will be his last convention.

Andy, I could not agree with you more.

Last night had some very good moments, but Teddy and Michelle were the all-stars.

Some of the other highlights for me included the remarks from Rep. Grace Napolitano, NOLA jazz musician Margie Perez, and Maya Soetoro-Ng, who is the half-sister of Barack Obama.

I also really liked Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. She is one of the few truly fresh voices in Washington. Amy tells it like it is and yesterday was no exception. Every time I see or hear her speak, I find myself wishing we had someone like her to represent Oregon. Maybe we ought to start our own DFL.

It would be easy, but inaccurate to say that Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is a chip off the old block. While he certainly has the family traits of leadership and oratory skill, there is something very unique about him. He has found his own strengths and his own voice.

Ted was a brave stubborn trooper to defy doctor's orders and come to Denver. "I shed tears watching the Kennedy speech last night." Vitalogy, I suspect you weren't alone. Caroline Kennedy was the one that got to my spigots first. Of all of them, she has endured the triumph and tragedy in a way that only her Uncle could understand.

Senator Kennedy was every bit as vital and powerful as he was in decades past. He showed once again that he was the kind of patriot that is not kidding when he says he will fight until his dying breath. I found no reason to doubt him when he said he would be in the Senate in January. His speech included flashbacks to his own pledges to the American people. Few politicians can quote themselves without looking foolish. He reminded us of the triumphs and just how long some of these battles have lasted.

I was very happy to see both Teddy Kennedy and Jimmy Carter given some love. The contentious convention of 1980 has been a warning down through history. Their legacies now far outshine those days and provide an important lesson for both the Clinton and Obama camps.

Coach Craig Robinson made a fantastic introduction of his family to the nation. It didn't hurt that he slipped a hearty "Go Beavers" into the mix.

Michelle was brilliant and sincere. After seeing her so many times, I have grown to expect that from her. She is the real deal. Barack is a very lucky fellow. It is a rare opportunity in America to vote for a candidate who has a wife who is not merely ornamental, or passive, or instrumental financially to the political success of their spouse. If her husband is elected, Michelle could do for community service and motherhood what Jackie did for pillbox hats and interior design.

The gavel to gavel coverage on C-Span has been superior in many ways to the networks. I found that the complete lack of commercials, hyperbole, punditry and thick-headed opinion was refreshing. Even if you do not have cable or satellite, the whole convention can be streamed live from their website.

OPB in Oregon is running almost the entire convention...DELAYED by three hours! I saw Michelle Obama's speech at 10:30 pacific time last night. On the radio, NPR does seem to be running it live, however.

Andrew

The corrupt must be driven out of politics.

It's a great thought although it will NEVER happen unless you get rid of EVERY politician and start over. Even then there will corruption.

As long as corporations are allowed to contribute to political campaigns there will always be graft and corruption.

There should be a $100 limit for ALL donations to political campaigns.

They are all crooks.

True they are all crooks but a least the worst of the worst are leaving the white house this coming January!!!

The country needs new leadership.
I agree... however, I don't think Democrats are the answer. Neither are a different slate of Republicans.

True they are all crooks...
And a lesser crook is still a crook.

Ok then.

The idea of "kick them all out and start over" is great, but will never, ever happen.

So:

1. Bow out, marginalizing what little power you have?

2. Get involved in party politics?

Number one might feel good, but that's about all it will do. The way the system works is enough for those continuing to be involved to make their voices heard. You make THEM more powerful and that's not really in your best interests.

With parties it is possible to change them and that's exactly what is happening with the Democratic party right now. Lots of people are involved in electing both more and BETTER Democrats.

This same sort of incremental change is exactly why so many Republicans are pissed off right now too. The party was redefined over the course of many years, leading to the current corrupt administration.

Doing nothing, as a Conservative or Liberal, or American, will only insure that it stays that way. Pissed Conservative? Good. Go support some solid people and start taking your party back. The rest of us will thank you for it.

Primary Politics are one way to accomplish this. If a given party member is a crook, then it's ON US to post up somebody we think isn't. If we don't do that, we end up stolen from, and IT'S OK BECAUSE WE DIDN'T SAY IT WASN'T.

A no vote, or ignoring the whole thing "because they all suck", only does all of us harm.

Everybody has their problems. EVERYBODY. However, it is highly likely that some of us have lesser problems than others and those are the ones to support. You do that by giving dollars, attending party functions, consuming news and opinion that favors these people, and by donating some of your time.

Knock on doors, pass out flyers, phone bank, etc...

If you do NOTHING, you will get NOTHING.

Frankly, I see the right reinforcing this "they are all crooks" bit, not because they are stupid, but because they are smart!

The lower the vote, the easier they win and with that win comes power and with that power comes profit from corruption.

Think about that. This is exactly what we have been living these last 7+ years.

Doing nothing makes that more possible.

The real answer, Newflyer, is NEW BLOOD. That's only gonna happen if people get involved at local levels, supporting new local people.

If you can deal with Democrats, then the current MORE and BETTER movement toward Progressive Democrats is a good thing. If you can't deal there, then perhaps MORE and BETTER Republicans is a better move.

That followed by other parties, who need support also.

Do what you will with that, but do also know that the "I only have two shitty choices" line is just a bunch of whiny crap that does nobody any good.

The real answer, Newflyer, is NEW BLOOD

EXACTLY. That is why I'm a very strong proponent for term limits.

2 four year terms and out you go. Back to public life.

I know it will never happen. The politicians (pronounced "Crooks") will never vote or allow it. It would be like cutting your own throat.

When you have a job where you can vote yourself a raise, get money from corporations by promising them favors and can pretty much do whatever they want, why would anybody in their right mind vote to change it?

In addition, the salary for a political position should be no higher than it is for a similar job in the public sector. They should only be able to draw a salary when they are in session too.

I don't think term limits are the right solution. Could be, but let's just say I'm not sold.

Would much rather see the corporate money out of the system first. This makes challenges easier to mount and with that comes the check and balance needed to make things work better for us.

If we've got a good politician (and there are some), term limits hurt us there. Would much rather keep the good, and put solid incentives in place to put serious pressure on the bad.

There is no easy, "let's change the law to fix it" solution to this.

Any static action of that kind can be gamed. We've seen that in action way too many times. Competition is good for us, we know that, we've seen it work.

That means empowering people to get involved and do stuff and not have that marginalized by big money, IMHO.

Term limits already exist. We call them elections.

They limit the President to two 4 year terms.

All political offices should have the same limit.

Maybe run it on an alternate year cycle so everybody does not change at the same time.

And again, we lose the good ones. That's bad.

Much better to improve our ability to deal with the bad ones. Remember, there is no simple make a rule fix. Either people give a rip, or they don't. It's really just that simple.

That's making the assumption that the ones in there are the only good ones.

If there are some good ones that get "limited" out, then just elect new good ones.

No problem.

Not really.

It's putting the burden on us to sort them out. It's a different thing.

I'm also thinking we get a few good ones each cycle, along with more bad ones. Keeping the good, building on that means overcoming those bad ones, IMHO.

Skybill, The problem is not politicans. Clearly the voters prefer idiots. Are you suggesting we ignore the will of the voters?

Is having term limits on the President ignoring the will of the voter?

Sorry to answer a question with a question, but what is the difference?

Say we got a President that 90% of the country loved and he got the unemployment rate to less that 1%, inflation was nill, gas was back a $1 a gallon and everything else was just about a utopian as you could get.

He got 90% of the popular vote both elections and 100% of the electorial vote.

8 years and he's out. Done, finished, no option for a 3rd, 4th or 5th term.

What's the difference if the rest of the offices had the same limit?

Inability to build and establish and maintain strong parties to support strong Presidents.

That's the difference.

Skybill sez: "I'm in favor of a salary bump to 1) attract better candidates, and 2) lessen the tempt to use power for personal gain."


Skybill, no term limits work in your favor. You have a multi-term Senator with a 3-decade track record of standing behind gun rights, while on the other hand, the Democrats are running a one-term Senator without a lengthly track record on anything he stands for. Will he flip-flop on gun rights? We don't know.

Again, in our country we've too many fools who vote for fools. The re-election of George W. Bush on 2004 confirms this. Changing things will not rid our country of fools voting for fools.

King George is the first two term president, who was not elected. because of voteing michine fraud. IMO.

I agree.

Selected, not elected the first time. That was the SCOTUS failure to recognize the Florida Supreme Court decision as a state right to decide how it makes it's decision final.

(that's in the opinion too, which just floors me)

The second time was clearly machine manipulation in Ohio and other places. There are court cases right now dealing with that, but it's slow and the voting machine manufacturers are claiming all sorts of IP secrets in an attempt to keep those from seeing resolution.

Machines have been banned in a number of states, and that movement continues.

@Skep: That's a great point! If we've got a good person in office, we need to support them to keep them there. That's the part of the dynamic that works well for us.

"Again, in our country we've too many fools who vote for fools. The re-election of George W. Bush on 2004 confirms this. Changing things will not rid our country of fools voting for fools."

This is not only true but also a reflection of Republican leadership in Congress. Education, at all levels, has been starved of funding it needs to build a competitive workforce. It stifled the Clinton administration from doing all that was needed and under Bush it has been essentially cut off. Without funding for education, we get more uninformed, less than fully aware voters whom form their opinions without the benefit of a decent education.

Yep, and that's a body politic ripe for exploitation -->just the way they like it.