Wow. Tim Pawlenty's speech at the RNC tonight was something. If he'd shown that kind of fire in the primaries, he'd probably have the nomination right now.
I was coming back from an office party and listening to NPR in the car so I caught the RNC. I wasn't in the mood for music and there's really not much to listen to other than NPR. And it's certainly better than Air America Radio.
And they've been offering coverage -- live from the RNC and on their programs -- about the convention. Ann Romney, for example, her speech was discussed on a program I caught today. The parts I heard were strong. I know she and I differ on abortion rights (I support them) but setting that aside, the parts I heard of her speech were really strong, I thought.
I read a column on it that I'm not going to link to because it was all about her looks. And her age. Her looks, her age. And I thought, "Come on." Seriously, there was so much in that speech to applaud or disagree with and we instead have to endure this babble about her looks?
She's an attractive woman. I felt the columnist (a woman) was belittling Ann Romney by doing nothing but focusing on Romney's looks.
I just read a bit of nonsense that Tim Pawlenty gave a bad speech. No.
Here is his speech in full:
Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening everyone, and welcome to Barack Obama’s retirement party!
Four years ago, we came together for this convention back in my home state of Minnesota, and a lot’s happened since then.
We’ve had four years of Barack Obama in the White House.Ah, the Obama White House, one bad decision follows another. Hard to say exactly just what his worst mistake has been. There’s so many to choose from: The stimulus. His energy policy. Obamacare. Taxes. Joe Biden.
I hear Joe’s particularly interested in tonight’s proceedings. He even thought about coming here to Tampa. And he’s taking notes because when Paul Ryan speaks, Joe will finally get to hear what a real vice president sounds like!
But you know, President Obama isn’t as bad as people say, he’s actually worse.
The president takes more vacations than that guy on the Bizarre Foods show.
And I’ll give Barack Obama credit for creating jobs these last four years for golf caddies.
Actually, Barack Obama is the first president to create more excuses than jobs! In his view, it’s George’s fault. It’s the bank’s fault. It’s Europe’s fault. It’s the weather’s fault. It’s Congress’ fault. Mr. President, if you want to find fault, I suggest you look in the mirror!
I’ve come to realize that Barack Obama is the tattoo president. Like a big tattoo, it seemed cool when you were young.
But later on, that decision doesn’t look so good, and you wonder: what was I thinking?
But the worst part is you’re still going to have to explain it to your kids.
Next week, Barack Obama will plead with America to give his failed ideas another chance. He’s asking Americans to give him more time and more money.
Well sorry, Mr. President, but you’re out of time, and we’re out of money.
Barack Obama’s failed us. But look, it’s understandable. A lot of people fail at their first job.
Now, our opponents claim to be the party of the middle class. But Democrats don’t understand this fundamental point: it’s really hard for people to be part of the middle class if they don’t have a job!
I know a bit about these things. I grew up in a meatpacking town.
For much of his life, my dad was a truck driver. My mom was a homemaker. She died when I was 16, and my dad lost his job not long after that. And I was the only one of the five kids in our family who had a chance to go to college.
When I traveled the country these past few years, I met Americans from all different walks of life.
If you ask middle-class Americans about their hopes and dreams, they’ll share their heart, but also their concerns.
Can they pay the mortgage? Will they have enough money to buy groceries, or gas for the car? Will they be able to get their kids into college or pay the tuition?
But jobs don’t come from politicians. They come from entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators and risk-takers.
America’s entrepreneurs know taxes are too high, and regulations are too costly and complex. Obamacare frightens them. And they want more American energy.
And they’re collectively making one common plea. They’re saying: I want to grow my business and employ people, but they’re also saying this: Just get the government off my back!
We need to let them know help’s on the way, and help’s name is Mitt Romney.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have the best candidate. This isn’t his first job, or the first time he’s been a leader who has produced results.
He made a success of failing companies. He made a success of the Olympics. He even made government in Massachusetts more effective and efficient.
And now he’s ready to help get America back on track and Americans back to work. He has a plan to strengthen and grow America’s middle class with lower taxes; a government that works for the American people instead of dashing their hopes and dreams; lower energy prices; and greater access to a quality education for all.
There’s one other thing I want to leave you with tonight. It’s important for America to know that Mitt Romney is not only a great leader, he’s also a remarkable person. He’s smart, gracious and wise. And he has this infectious good cheer about him – something I appreciate and something America needs.
Mitt Romney never quits moving. When he sees a problem, he goes after it and finds the solution.
It’s that can-do spirit, combined with a lifetime of service and success that convinced me to support him. And it’s that can-do spirit that we need in the White House, leading America now.
As a former governor, I know that leadership takes optimism, but not blind optimism.
We need a leader who understands the depth of our challenges, but who also doesn’t shy away from them.
Mitt Romney knows what our problems are, and he has the tools, the experience, the energy and the right polices to fix them.
After four years of this president, we need Mitt Romney now, more than ever.
I’m proud to be supporting him for president of the United States, and I know you are too.
And with any luck, in a few months, Barack Obama will at last get some experience in the private sector.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Quoting
AFP news agency, it observed that attacks took place on at least 27 of
the 31 days in July, leaving at least 325 people dead adding that in
May, 20 Christian families living in Mosul received threatening letters.
As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Independent High Electoral Commission Chair Faraj al-Haidari and Commission members Karim al-Tamimi and Osama al-Ani "were found guilty of graft" and received a "suspended one-year prison" term. Prashant Rao (AFP) obeserved, "There is bad blood between Haidari, a Shiite Kurd, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law list over the aftermath of 2010 parliamentary elections, in which the premier's list came in second to the mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya list of Iyad Allawi." Alsumaria recaps the long campaign State of Law has waged against the commission since April. They leave out the fact that a new election law was supposed to have been approved by now for the Electoral Commission and that provincial elections are supposed to take place early next year. Among the disputes is how many commissioners should be on the board. All Iraq News reports that Iraqiya declared today that they do not support increasing the number of commissioners and believe it should be left at its present number of 15. July 19th, Martin Kobler, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, appeared before the UN Security Council and stated: As we speak, my political deputy, Mr. [Gyorgy Busztin], is engaged in facilitation efforts to bring about the formation of a new, Independent High Election Commission which is representative of the main components of Iraq -- including women and children and minorities. The urgent selection of the commissioners is essential for ensuring that the provincial council elections due to take place in March 2013 can be conducted on time. I'm concerned that the ongoing political stalemate is hindering the process however. In recent days, I have discussed with political leaders -- including Prime Minister al-Maliki -- the need for a swfit conclusion of this political process and the need for an adequate representation of women and minorities in the commission. Today, I would like to re-iterate my appeal to all political blocs to expedite the selection of professional commissioners. UNAMI stands here ready to actively assist. Earlier this month came news that Parliament thought they'd arrived at a stop-gap measure: they'd tack on 35 days to the current Electoral Commission. AK News quoted the Chair of the Electoral Commission Faraj al-Haidari stating, "A new board of commissioners was supposed to be formed because the delay creates confusion. The required period to complete the commission's procedures after the ratification of the election law and the budget according to international standards is six months." Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports a new problem today: Test on applicants for the next commission find them confused as to whether Iraq is a royal monarchy or a republic. Prashant Rao (AFP) speaks to a variety of MPs who see the future commission as neither fair nor independent and an unnamed "Western diplomat" states, "This is no longer about an independependent electoral commission. You cannot look at the IHEC issue in isolation . . . The consequences could be bigger."
Turning to veterans issues, Sherry Mitchell (Hendersonville Star News) reports
that Henderson, TN is holding a bass fishing tournament on September
15th and "[a]ll the proceeds from the tournament will be used to support
veterans, returning military and their families." Vietnam Veterans for
America has (PDF format warning) the rules and entry form here. Sabrina Wu (Patch) reports on the Walk All Our Soldiers Home parade planned for September 22nd in Darien, Illinois. The Darien Chamber of Commerce notes
that the "parade will honor our local military heroes. Community
involvement will be the cornerstrone of the event and we have invited
all Darien families to participate in supporting the event by gathering
pledges for marching in the parade. A post parade fun celebration will
be held at Darien Community Park." Meanwhile antiMusic notes country music artist "Tim McGraw
just wrapped his HomeFront program this past weekend in Boston, capping
off a summer long campaign to award mortgage-free homes to veterans in
need at each stop of his summer tour." At the start of his tour last
spring, Tim McGraw announced he'd present a veteran with mortgage-free
home on each of his tour's 25 stops. ABC News Radio reports
he kept that promise and states, "Each family had touching stories and
made an indelible mark on me. From the Delucia family's amazing story
of recovery and strength through physical injuries the first night in
Tampa to the Connor family, who we suprised this past weekend at their
new home with a puppy for their daughter Molly. . . I will never foget
any of them." The Call notes
the homes were "part of a three-way partnership to recognize the
sacrifices of military veterans involving McGraw, Chase Bank and San
Antonio, Texas-based Operation Homefront, a non-profit program that
provides mortgage-free homes to wounded soldiers. " Country music
artist Faith Hill joins her husband Tim from December through April when the two of them headline at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead notes Suicide Prevention Month is next month and among the events in North Dakota:
Resource fair, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Sept. 10. Programs will include caregiver support, health care for homeless veterans, female veterans, health promotion, disease prevention, minority veterans, suicide prevention and more.• Sept. 9, First Link Walk of Hope for Suicide Awareness and Remembrance, Fargo Civic Center courtyard, 207 4th St. N. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call (701) 293-6462 or email info@myfirstlink.org. • Sept. 23, Out of the Darkness Fargo-Moorhead Community Walk, Lindenwood Park, Fargo. Registration begins at 1 p.m. and the walk begins at 2 p.m. To register or for more information, visit www.outofthedarkness.org. And Out of the Darkness notes: In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes, claiming more than 36,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute, with close to one million people attempting suicide annually. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. among adults 18-65, the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults, and individuals ages 65 and older account for 16 percent of all suicide deaths. This is a public health issue that does not discriminate by age, gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. Walk to save lives, find an event near you and register today! Lonny Shavelson (Center for Investigave Reporting -- link is text and video) speaks to Iraq War veteran, Marine Cpl David Smith: Smith: When I got out of the Marine Corps, I chalked everything that I was feeling up to just being normal. And I met a friend, and he happened to be a Marine. And we just kind of started talking about Iraq and stuff like that, and he could tell that I had some things that I was dealing with. [On-screen text: That friend was Clay Hunt.] [He also was waiting for disability benefits.] Smith: He was the first person who I'd ever really talked to about Iraq, about, you know, some of the more tragic events or some of the more frightening things that happened. The only way that it was going to happen is if another veteran came and got me and said, "Hey, I've been there, too, and I know what you're going through." Clay was just an amazing dude, but definitely had some other issues that he was dealing with. We became extremely good friends. We'd literally go mountain biking, like, every single weekend – I guess try and clear our heads a little bit. In March, 31st, I was asleep and my girlfriend came in, and she said, "Clay killed himself." Clay? My Clay? It's just kind of wild. Clay was also working on getting a claim through the VA. It's kind of ironic – I think it was a week or two after he passed that, you know, his approved disability rating showed up at his house. From the time that I applied for disability to the time that my disability was finalized, it was 414 days. Access to medical care -- and timely medical care -- is an important issue for veterans. Karen Jeffrey (Cape Cod Online) reports:
Veterans on Martha's Vineyard are one step closer to having local
medical services restored -- services that will enable them to get
treated on the island rather than having to travel to the Providence VA
Medical Center in Rhode Island.
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., announced this week that a
contract for veterans services on Martha's Vineyard has cleared one
major hurdle: approval by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The
contract must now be approved by the Providence VA Medical Center and
Martha's Vineyard Hospital, where many of the services would be
provided.
Over the weekend, Iraq War veteran Joshua Casteel passed away and IVAW's Jose Vasquez noted, "Joshua believed his illness was a result of his service in Iraq where he was exposed to the toxic fumes from burn pits and had submitted a compensation claim with the Veterans Administration." Across the country, hundreds of thousands of veterans -- nearly one million per the numbers the VA provided to Congress in July -- are waiting for their claims adjudicated. Aaron Glantz (Center for Investigative Reporting via the San Diego Union-Tribune) reports:
California veterans who file with the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs for a war-related disability claim are waiting more than nine
months on average for a decision, according to a review of VA data.
The review by the Center for Investigative Reporting found that San
Diego performs better than the state's other two regional offices in
terms of pending claims that have languished longer than the agency goal
of 125 days.
In San Diego, the rate of such delayed cases is 66 percent, compared
to 94 percent in Oakland and 96 percent in Los Angeles. San Diego
claimants are waiting 291 days on average, compared to 363 days in Los
Angeles and 346 in Oakland.
In the US, the presidential election is underway. Tom Brokaw offered (link goes to video at Huffington Post)
that last night at the Republican convention, neither Iraq nor
Afghanistan was mentioned despite the fact that both wars were "started
by the Republican party and promoted by them in the early stages, with
the assent of the Democratic Congress and Democratic Senate." This
morning, Kasie Hunt (AP) reported
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will speak to the American
Legion in Indianapolis today, face-to-face, while appearing at the
Republican National Convention in Tampa via satellite to take part in a
discussion of veterans' issues with Senator John McCain. Sarah Huisenga (CBS News) reports,
"Romney reiterated his desire to modify the post-9/11 GI bill so that
veterans are eligible for in-state college tuition regardless of
residency. He also promised to make reforming the Department of
Veterans' Affairs 'a personal priority,' citing the 'reproachable
failures' in swiftly processing claims, and vowed not to raise rates for
Tricare, the military's health care program." The in-state residency
for veterans is a smart idea and something all the candidates for
president should support. It's so obvious now that Romney's suggested
it that you wonder why it wasn't part of the original bill. Huisenga
and Hunt are two women covering the campaigns and women reporters are in
the minority this election cycle. Rachel Larris (Women's Medica Center) reported yesterday:
On Monday the Women's Media Center released the shocking statistic, calculated by The 4th Estate Project, that from the presidential primary period (January 1 to April 15) to the general election (April 15 to August 25), 72 to 76 percent of newspaper stories covering the 2012 presidential election were written by men.
The numbers come from a selection of 35 influential newspapers from
across the country. Today we wanted to share some of the byline
breakdowns for individual newspapers. The numbers reflect only news
reports and excludes blogs and opinion columns. For any article with two
bylines, the gender of the first name was coded for the entire article.
Though women appear to be fewer in the presidential election press corps, as candidates, they're making real strides. For example, the vice presidential candidate for the Socialist Equality Party is Phyllis Scherrer (Jerry White is the presidential candidate) and this election year there are two presidential campaigns made up of four women. The four: Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. Click here to sign a petition calling on Ms. magazine and Women's Media Center to cover her campaign and the other female candidate for president Roseanne Barr's campaign. Over 250 people have signed onto the petition so far. Some sign and leave comments and we noted some of the comments in Sunday's "Women Win When Women Run: The conversation Roseanne and Jill are inspiring" at Third -- and "women win when women run" is a theme that repeats in the comments with several people signing noting that theme or expanding on it. OBAMA On Medical Marijuana [Footage of Barack speaking at a Minnesota Town Hall in August 2011, via CSPAN] Barack Obama: You know a lot of states are making decisions about medical marijuana, uh, [long pause] as a controlled substance. The issue then is is it being prescribed by a doctor as opposed to, uh, [pause] you know, well -- I'll - I'll - I'll leave it at that. ROMNEY On Medical Marijuana [Romney speaking to a man at a campaign event] Mitt Romney: And you have syntheic marijuana that is available. Man: Makes me sick. I have tried it and it makes me throw up. I have tried all the medications there are and all the forms that come in [inaudible] stimulators or steroids. I have muscular dystrophy, that's completely against my DNA Mitt Romney: I'm sorry to hear that. Man: My question for you is would you arrest me and my doctors if I get medical marijuana? Mitt Romney: I'm not -- I'm not in favor of medical marijuana being legal. Man: So would you have me arrested? Mitt Romney: I'm sorry -- ROSEANNE On Medical Marijuana Roseanne Barr: Dave, you know one thing I want to say is Obama is trying to take our medical marijuana over there in California and trying to send in federal troops to get our medical marijuana and I'll tell you this, Obama, you'll get my joint when you pry it ouf of my cold, dead fingers. That's when. And I know -- I don't want to get Obama's kill list. You know, I got to look out for drones on my way home now I know. ROSEANNE BARR Supports your right to medical marijuana ROSEANNE BARR
The only serious comedian running for President.
Show your support
SEPT 27th, 2012
Oakland, Ca.
Montclair Womens Cultural Arts Club
1650 Mountain Blvd
Oakland, CA 94611-2258 US
6-30 - 8:30 pm
Thursday, 27 September
Roseanne Barr: I'm Roseanne Barr and I approved this message. Barr/Sheehan 2012 Announcer: Paid for by Rosanne for President 2012 Register Peace and Freedom Party
Vote Roseanne Barr for President
Attend the 27 September event in Oakland
Meanwhile, Jill Stein's campaign has released the following:
On Labor Day, this coming Monday, September 3rd, we recognize the past sacrifices of working people in their struggles for emancipation, and rededicate ourselves to the movement for workers power in the year ahead. Please join Jill Stein, Cheri Honkala, and the rest of the campaign team in marking this holiday by taking part in your local Labor Day events.
We know that many of you already have Labor Day plans for tabling, marching, and flyering. Check out our revised our flyer (CLICK HERE), and also have a special Labor Day editorial (CLICK HERE) by Jill Stein which you can print out and distribute.
Please be sure to contact HQ@JillStein.org to let us know how much you spent on copies.
If you have not already made plans, and don't know where to start, here are three easy steps:
Let's get the word out that while the bosses may own two political
parties, working people finally have at least one: The Greens.
Another place women are visible in the presidential election this year is in the protest segment. CODEPINK is currently protesting at the RNC. Hopefully, they'll have the guts and courage to do as they did in 2004 and protest at the DNC as well. Jean MacKenzie (Global Post) reports on last night, inside the convention hall: But as Santorum wound down his speech, a commotion could be heard in the upper reaches of the cavernous hall. A young woman was screaming at the top of her lungs, although her words were indistinguishable to many down below.
It was Alli McCracken, coordinator for the Washington, D.C. office of
CODEPINK, a women's organization dedicated to "working to end the war
in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care,
education and other life-affirming activities."
McCracken, just 23, created quite a commotion.
"I got to speak for three or four minutes before they escorted me out," she said.
Her message was simple: If you claim to be pro-life, then do things
that strengthen life. Stop the wars, help women get access to quality
health care. Make education affordable.
"I don't think Rick Santorum is any worse than the rest of them,"
said McCracken. "They are all egregiously offensive in their own way."
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Hayder al-Khoei 
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