I'm sure many of you have witnessed a sporting event, where people are excitedly rooting and cheering for the home team. What enables this is the human instinct of tribalism. In this instance, as long as it doesn't lead to violence,it is harmless. In politics, it can be dangerous, because instead of objectively looking at both the problems facing our society and the remedies for fixing them, Tribalism makes us tend to look first at who we want to blame.
What I see in a lot of the Republican base is tribalism. This is constantly stoked by entities such as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and others. The followers are constantly being coaxed to fear and hate the people who are different from them, or are not part of their group. This constant vitriol that is needed to hook the people can lead to violence. The fact that many people have become hooked on this, has proven beneficial to the corporatists who are using them.
Because this is a human instinct, I have come to believe that some people are genetically vulnerable to it. If we can make the general public aware of tribalism in politics, then maybe we can minimize it's affect, but the media pays no attention to it.

The anti health care protesters show up at the town hall meetings. They are misinformed. They believe there are death panels. They believe this government run health care. They don't know that Medicare is a government program. They believe all of the myths that are thrown out there. They act like jackasses. All the circumstantial evidence tells me, these are just people who are hysterical with the fact that a black man is president. The media treats them as though they are logical angry people.

Being loud to make a point is one thing, but impeding the flow of information, which is what the tea baggers are trying to do at the town hall meetings, is undemocratic and dangerous. It seems that what the organizers are trying to do is disrupt the meetings to a point that information concerning the health care legislation does not get out. I think that this is an important aspect that the Democratic leaders and the media is missing.

If the health care bill that comes out of congress does not have at least a good public option, the President should veto the bill and announce that he is proposing a windfall profit tax on the health insurance industry until one is passed. The money collected could go directly to medicare. He should be sure to explain the effect of all the money and lobbying from the insurance companies is having on the process. This Will put the squeeze directly on the real problem.

The natural tendency in any capitalist society is that the rich will get richer and everybody else will get poorer. The only thing that can stop this is government regulation. The fact that the elite are at the top of the economic chain, gives them the power to continuously grab more wealth, and they will do this as long as no one stops them. The culture in the corporate world right now is that everybody expects bonuses; So they get one. even if the company is losing money. The government needs to regulate corporate executive pay including bonuses. Bonuses should be given out only when extraordinary accomplishments are made.

Most of the Republicans in congress do not form their views from a well thought out rational philosophy. Their views are formed from a cultural and reactionary view of society. They pretend that these ideas are based on logic and facts but they are not.

YOU CANNOT HAVE A LOGICAL DEBATE WITH THESE PEOPLE.

I have come to the conclusion that the selection of Palin is about racial identity politics more than anything else. They want the young attractive white woman contrasted with the black man. The more that Palin is attacked, the more people will be affected by racial identity. This pick doesn't change the fact that John McCain voted 90% with George Bush, and that his election will continue his polices. Don't attack Palin, attack McCain!

Recently John McCain made a statement to the effect that, he was the underdog. but that he would rise to win the election in the last 48 hours. This makes me think that the GOP is going to tear into Obama at the last minute with vicious and racially tinged messages, using the airwaves and the internet. The reasons that they will do this is that Obama will have plenty of cash and has shown the ability to respond effectively to such attacks when given the time and, although the media may not come right out and condemn the messages, they will at least question them. The responses would effect the rational swing voters who would slide to Obama. By coming out with the attacks at the last minute, they would diminish the time for response from Obama and the press. The trick would be to come out in time for the message to sink in, but not allow enough time for effective response. If Obama can get his lead Up to or close to ten points, I don't think it will work.

Evidentially, McCain had a relationship with Cindy before he divorced his first wife, Carol. She was almost killed but disfigured in a car accident while he was a p.o.w. in Vietnam. If this becomes common knowledge, it could become a big drag on his campaign. Some people will not want her to be First Lady.
Fihttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927...

The "whitey" rumors concerning Michelle are obviously smears to offset the bad image of Cindy. When the rumor firs came out I wondered why this would be directed at Michelle and not Barack. Now it makes sense.

It is amazing that early in the primary that so much info came out about Rudy and his wife, but nothing came out about John and Cindy.

The Clintons have been running an old fashion kingpin, bandwagon campaign, where the candidate runs down the middle, everyone jumps on and any supposed opposition is drowned out with lack of support and resources. The problem. That doesn't work anymore. Activists like us are able to communicate through the internet with one another and come to the conclusion that she is not the one who best represents us. The opposition is able to tap into this and obtain resources which are used to reach the Democratic base primary voters, who then come to the same conclusion. Fifteen years ago, Hillary would be running away with this. If she had been running with the base all along instead of triangulating, she would be running away with it. As smart as the Clintons are, I am surprised they never saw it coming.

First, let me say this, George W. Bush deserves to be impeached. He mislead the country into the unnecessary war, violated the geneva conventions, subverted the law by spying on people. The list is endless.

I don't see impeachment as an ends to itself. The objective of the Democrats should be to affect change in the policies of our government. The best way to do that is exactly the tact that they are taking: holding the administration accountable by conducting investigations, holding hearings, subpoenaing individuals and information when necessary. This puts the misdeeds of the administration in front of the American people. In the end, it is the people who will decide whether **** and Cheney will be impeached and removed from office, or the Democrats will win a big victory in 08.
The Democratic congress could go headlong into impeachment. After months of hearings, assembling the articles of impeachment and then voting in the house, they would probably get the votes in the house, but then have it die in the Senate not getting any Republican votes for conviction. Americans would see this as mostly just a political act. That is because the overwhelming majority of the people don't want impeachment; they want accountability. In order for removal to happen the force from the populace would have to be so strong that Republicans would vote to evict their own president.

I think a good analogy for this is that **** is on trial. The Democrats are the prosecutors, The Republicans the defenders and the jury is the American people. The one who needs to be convinced is the jury. The prosecutors are already on our side.

So the answer here is to take to the people: write letters to the editor, Call in to radio an tv programs, put up banners(the people in the San Francisco ball park having the right idea), talk to anyone whom would listen.

By commuting Libby's sentence, **** is putting a stain on VP Cheney and the whole administration. It is clear from the trial that Libby was lying to protect himself and Dick Cheney. He was operating on the orders of the VP. By commuting his sentence and not pardoning him, he is implicating the guilt of Libby and Cheney while discrediting his own office.

After **** vetoes the Iraq supplement bill, what the Democrats in congress can do is to provide everything that the generals need to conduct the war for six months. Then they could force him to veto a timed withdrawal again in six months. The added political pressure on the Republicans could eventually result in a enough votes to override a veto or force **** to sign it. They could still provide funds for a whole year for armour and medical attention for troops and vets.

Today in his opening statement, Libby's lawyer accused the *administration, or at least Rove, of setting him up to take the fall for the Plame outing. but unless they are going to accuse people of having various reporters lie and others forging evidence, it doesn't really make sense. What does it have to do with lying to a grand jury.
Here is what I think this all about: Libby is telling **** "give me a pardon, or I'm spilling all the beans".

In the budget for the war, the Democrats in congress should start mandating cuts in the number of troops deployed and also call for the establishment of a special diplomatic team to bring together the Countries of the Middle East and the major political factions in Iraq to convene a peace conference on the violence torn country. Members of the delegation should be selected by both the Democratic leaders in congress and the *administration.
Sending the team could eventually lead to a peaceful and independent Iraq in charge of its own resources. It would also reduce the likelihood of the civil war expanding into a regional conflict or wider.
This is the kind of thing the American people are expecting from the Democrats,and if they held to their guns, *Bush would give in because the people would support it.