I have had a dream every night this week relating to the election. I forgot to vote, i won't be able to vote... I imagine i will NOT be sleeping on Monday night.
Last night i was analyzing an electoral map. I proclaimed that Arizona is now "pink" - Missouri was "grey" and as i was staring at it further i said "i have to stop" and promptly shut my laptop. Jenn, my roommate simply said "yeah."
It is consuming me. One moment I am filled with doubt. The next, confidence. Then i read another smear against Obama and I think "oh god, what about the people who BELIEVE this!?"
I just heard on the radio that most people who are still undecided today will likely not be voting come Tuesday. Ok. Fine. So what does that MEAN!?
Voter fraud scares me too. Maybe millions more people will vote than have before, but what if their votes aren't counted?? can the republicans get away with that AGAIN this year!?!? oh god. I cant even think about it. I CANT. I CANT think about the look on Sarah Palin's face if they do indeed win.
Maybe it is because I grew up in Massachusetts, watching the Red Sox lose year after year after year. They finally started winning again, but even now, I doubt they will every year. I am not sure I will EVER have confidence in them. Maybe it all DOES stem from 2000. The abuse I endured that year is just forever ingrained in my blood.
Or maybe it is because it IS still anyone's game.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
the most exciting moment of the campaign...
Well last night I tuned into the half hour Barack Obama ad, which was clearly geared toward middle class undecideds in swing states. So, obviously not to me. However, there was one moment during the ad where I felt that Michele Obama was trying to secure my vote. It was when she was talking about Barack's relationship with his girls. And she said that he tries to have special things he does with each of them separately.. and for their oldest daughter... it was READING ALL OF THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, as if he hadn't been a complete lock before, he is even MORE of a lock for me now. I wish he would make a Harry Potter reference in a speech... like "I am Harry Potter coming to take over Voldemort who has ruled for 8 years..." I think now, besides "McCain being just too old" my nephew will have other reasons to hope Obama wins.
This morning, CNN has Missouri as too close to call!!!!!!!!!! it was "leaning McCain" before.
5 days..
So, as if he hadn't been a complete lock before, he is even MORE of a lock for me now. I wish he would make a Harry Potter reference in a speech... like "I am Harry Potter coming to take over Voldemort who has ruled for 8 years..." I think now, besides "McCain being just too old" my nephew will have other reasons to hope Obama wins.
This morning, CNN has Missouri as too close to call!!!!!!!!!! it was "leaning McCain" before.
5 days..
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
ONE WEEK
One week from today is the BIG DAY. Today as i was sitting on the train, I looked around at everyone, on a normal day, and I wondered what they will be like in a week. Will we all look at each other with knowing glances? Will we judge each other on whether or not we think the other voted? I do not know. BUt I do know that in a week I will be in high gear.
until then, I will suffer from Election Anxiety Disorder - this from The Huffington Post:
CHICAGO — Victoria St. Gelais is panicky. Tami Brewster-Barnes feels the nerves in the pit of her stomach. Steven Valentine is losing sleep as his mood rises and falls with John McCain's poll numbers.
Voters around the country, whether they support McCain or Barack Obama, say they are experiencing nail-biting, ulcer-inducing anxiety ahead of next week's election and all that's riding on it.
"I have kind of a general feeling of near panic on occasion," says St. Gelais, a 48-year-old McCain supporter in Ormond Beach, Fla. "The thought of Obama winning right now is scaring me to death. ... I'm just anxious and even a little depressed."
St. Gelais, like many, says she's not sleeping well, is watching Fox News nearly all day, and "lives on her computer," following all of the polls and the latest news. If Obama wins, she'll be devastated.
"I would equate it to a death," she says.
Although polls favor Obama a week before the election, it's not just Republicans getting the jitters. Democrats are on high alert after losing two close elections to President Bush in the last eight years.
Democratic blogger Cynthia Liu has dubbed it "Post-Traumatic Election Anxiety Disorder," with hallmarks including restless Web surfing for election information, sleeplessness and making desperate calls to undecided voters.
"It's a very high-stakes election," says Liu, a writer in Los Angeles.
Story continues below
Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., says this is the most anxious she has seen her patients in 20 years of practice.
"Human beings, generally we do better in periods of calm, stability and certainty," Molitor says.
And right now _ with war, a historic election and a looming financial crisis _ is most certainly not a time of calm. People are reporting trouble sleeping, edginess, irritability, and increased absences and distractions at work, Molitor says.
Add to that 24-hour cable news shows and near nonstop reporting, blogging and commenting online, and you've got a virtual stressfest for political junkies.
Elections generate so much stress because people vote out of a "very, very core place in their personalities," says Lisa Miller, an associate professor of psychology and education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.
"It has to do with their existential view of how the world works," Miller says. "The fear is that a candidate who shares a different fundamental view of human nature is rattling."
Plus, we project all of our hopes and fears onto a candidate to protect us and keep us safe, she says _ so much so that the president becomes a "father figure."
"It certainly makes sense that the uncertainty of a parental figure could be evocative," she says.
Brewster-Barnes, a 40-year-old health-insurance company employee in Vancouver, Wash., wants to be able to tell her grandchildren that she voted for the first black president. But she also worries that Obama's racial background might turn off other voters.
So she's done all she could, including making phone calls on behalf of the campaign and donating to the cause even though money is tight.
"It was something I had to do," she says.
The election is even affecting the timing of Ray Brun's move. Currently, Brun and his family live in the swing state of New Hampshire, but they're packed up and ready to move to Kentucky _ after casting their votes for McCain, he says.
"I think our votes up here will be a little more influential," says Brun, 29.
Voting early, talking to friends or donating money are all healthy, pro-active responses, says Gretchen Rubin, a New York-based writer whose book, "The Happiness Project," comes out next year. Rubin spent a year testing every theory, study and self-help axiom on happiness that she could find.
"One thing I've learned from my study of happiness that is crazily effective is that you should act the way you want to feel," Rubin says. "We really feel because of the way we act."
When all else fails, she says, remember this: "No one's trying to ruin the country. Everybody's going to try to do their best."
Kellie Brown knows that. But the 32-year-old mom and technical recruiter in Evergreen, Colo., desperately wants Obama to be the next president. Even the polls showing him in the lead are no solace.
"I hate hearing those polls because I feel like it gives people the false thought that they can just relax and maybe not go to vote," Brown says.
What will happen when America wakes up on Nov. 5 and the results are in?
Valentine, a 19-year-old sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says he doesn't know what he'll do if McCain loses.
"The College Republicans have given up countless hours of our time," Valentine says. "I haven't really prepared myself for (a McCain loss). I don't know what I'm going to do when the election is over."
As the race wraps up, Molitor is concerned about those who have the most emotional investment in the election.
"Some people are going to have to mourn this," she says. "This is going to be like a loss. It's going to be like a death. Some have been very passionate. It's become their life. It's become an obsession. And those people I'm worried about."
until then, I will suffer from Election Anxiety Disorder - this from The Huffington Post:
CHICAGO — Victoria St. Gelais is panicky. Tami Brewster-Barnes feels the nerves in the pit of her stomach. Steven Valentine is losing sleep as his mood rises and falls with John McCain's poll numbers.
Voters around the country, whether they support McCain or Barack Obama, say they are experiencing nail-biting, ulcer-inducing anxiety ahead of next week's election and all that's riding on it.
"I have kind of a general feeling of near panic on occasion," says St. Gelais, a 48-year-old McCain supporter in Ormond Beach, Fla. "The thought of Obama winning right now is scaring me to death. ... I'm just anxious and even a little depressed."
St. Gelais, like many, says she's not sleeping well, is watching Fox News nearly all day, and "lives on her computer," following all of the polls and the latest news. If Obama wins, she'll be devastated.
"I would equate it to a death," she says.
Although polls favor Obama a week before the election, it's not just Republicans getting the jitters. Democrats are on high alert after losing two close elections to President Bush in the last eight years.
Democratic blogger Cynthia Liu has dubbed it "Post-Traumatic Election Anxiety Disorder," with hallmarks including restless Web surfing for election information, sleeplessness and making desperate calls to undecided voters.
"It's a very high-stakes election," says Liu, a writer in Los Angeles.
Story continues below
Nancy Molitor, a psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., says this is the most anxious she has seen her patients in 20 years of practice.
"Human beings, generally we do better in periods of calm, stability and certainty," Molitor says.
And right now _ with war, a historic election and a looming financial crisis _ is most certainly not a time of calm. People are reporting trouble sleeping, edginess, irritability, and increased absences and distractions at work, Molitor says.
Add to that 24-hour cable news shows and near nonstop reporting, blogging and commenting online, and you've got a virtual stressfest for political junkies.
Elections generate so much stress because people vote out of a "very, very core place in their personalities," says Lisa Miller, an associate professor of psychology and education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York.
"It has to do with their existential view of how the world works," Miller says. "The fear is that a candidate who shares a different fundamental view of human nature is rattling."
Plus, we project all of our hopes and fears onto a candidate to protect us and keep us safe, she says _ so much so that the president becomes a "father figure."
"It certainly makes sense that the uncertainty of a parental figure could be evocative," she says.
Brewster-Barnes, a 40-year-old health-insurance company employee in Vancouver, Wash., wants to be able to tell her grandchildren that she voted for the first black president. But she also worries that Obama's racial background might turn off other voters.
So she's done all she could, including making phone calls on behalf of the campaign and donating to the cause even though money is tight.
"It was something I had to do," she says.
The election is even affecting the timing of Ray Brun's move. Currently, Brun and his family live in the swing state of New Hampshire, but they're packed up and ready to move to Kentucky _ after casting their votes for McCain, he says.
"I think our votes up here will be a little more influential," says Brun, 29.
Voting early, talking to friends or donating money are all healthy, pro-active responses, says Gretchen Rubin, a New York-based writer whose book, "The Happiness Project," comes out next year. Rubin spent a year testing every theory, study and self-help axiom on happiness that she could find.
"One thing I've learned from my study of happiness that is crazily effective is that you should act the way you want to feel," Rubin says. "We really feel because of the way we act."
When all else fails, she says, remember this: "No one's trying to ruin the country. Everybody's going to try to do their best."
Kellie Brown knows that. But the 32-year-old mom and technical recruiter in Evergreen, Colo., desperately wants Obama to be the next president. Even the polls showing him in the lead are no solace.
"I hate hearing those polls because I feel like it gives people the false thought that they can just relax and maybe not go to vote," Brown says.
What will happen when America wakes up on Nov. 5 and the results are in?
Valentine, a 19-year-old sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says he doesn't know what he'll do if McCain loses.
"The College Republicans have given up countless hours of our time," Valentine says. "I haven't really prepared myself for (a McCain loss). I don't know what I'm going to do when the election is over."
As the race wraps up, Molitor is concerned about those who have the most emotional investment in the election.
"Some people are going to have to mourn this," she says. "This is going to be like a loss. It's going to be like a death. Some have been very passionate. It's become their life. It's become an obsession. And those people I'm worried about."
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Single digits...
yes, we are down to single digits in the countdown to election day.
THis morning, McCain was on Meet the Press. Oh my GOD is he losing it. Is it the strain of the campaign? Is it because 40 years ago today he was captured in Vietnam? Is it because he thinks his old man antics will get him the sympathy vote? I dont know WHAT it is. But this morning on Meet the Press I was reminded of the conversations I had with my grandfather not long before he died and was on all sorts of medications that made him confused.
Tom Brokaw opened by asking him if he felt like Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams or George Clooney in the Perfect Storm. IT was obvious that McCain had not seen either of those movies, or if he had, could not remember the outcome or plot of either.
When asked about COlin Powell, and how he felt about the endorsment he gave Barack Obama, McCain skirted the answer by saying "I have the endorsment of several former secretaries of state" and started naming all of them. Tom Brokaw then went on to the next question, but was interrupted by John McCain naming another secretary of state! Tom (who is friends with McCain) did NOT seem happy by this, ignored it and finished his question.
McCain was constantly not finishing sentences - mid sentence he would stop and start saying something else. Like if I were writing this and you know it goes to show that we really need to what the real problem is..." and he would NEVER finish.
Now, the media is supposed to be fare and balanced. Does that mean that Barack Obama will be on next week? Just 2 days before the election? Or does Colin Powell's endorsment count as one for Barack?
I don't mean to be negative - but like Stephanie Miller always says "it is Barack Obama's job to take the high road, it is our job to take the low road."
We have 9 days to wake up america.
THis morning, McCain was on Meet the Press. Oh my GOD is he losing it. Is it the strain of the campaign? Is it because 40 years ago today he was captured in Vietnam? Is it because he thinks his old man antics will get him the sympathy vote? I dont know WHAT it is. But this morning on Meet the Press I was reminded of the conversations I had with my grandfather not long before he died and was on all sorts of medications that made him confused.
Tom Brokaw opened by asking him if he felt like Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams or George Clooney in the Perfect Storm. IT was obvious that McCain had not seen either of those movies, or if he had, could not remember the outcome or plot of either.
When asked about COlin Powell, and how he felt about the endorsment he gave Barack Obama, McCain skirted the answer by saying "I have the endorsment of several former secretaries of state" and started naming all of them. Tom Brokaw then went on to the next question, but was interrupted by John McCain naming another secretary of state! Tom (who is friends with McCain) did NOT seem happy by this, ignored it and finished his question.
McCain was constantly not finishing sentences - mid sentence he would stop and start saying something else. Like if I were writing this and you know it goes to show that we really need to what the real problem is..." and he would NEVER finish.
Now, the media is supposed to be fare and balanced. Does that mean that Barack Obama will be on next week? Just 2 days before the election? Or does Colin Powell's endorsment count as one for Barack?
I don't mean to be negative - but like Stephanie Miller always says "it is Barack Obama's job to take the high road, it is our job to take the low road."
We have 9 days to wake up america.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Why I Love Joe Biden...
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Friday that Republican John McCain would need a Halloween costume to convince voters that he would depart from the policies and divisive politics of President Bush. "I know Halloween is coming, but John McCain as the candidate of change? Whoa, come on," Biden said during an outdoor rally in the capital city's downtown. "John McCain and change? He needs a costume for that. Folks, the American people aren't going to buy this.
- from the Huffington Post
- from the Huffington Post
Friday, October 24, 2008
this. is. SICK.
From Mediamatters.org, this is an article about how a lot of the RIght Wingers are saying Barack Obama is in Hawaii to pick up a FAKE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, and NOT to visit his sick grandmother! THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!!!!!!
here is the article:
Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother
Summary: Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerome Corsi suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, in addition to FactCheck.org and a Hawaiian Health Department official, even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, has reportedly determined that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is authentic.
Conservative radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who appeared as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show -- suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, as Media Matters for America has documented, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its "Fight the Smears" website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." A Hawaiian Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that Obama's birth certificate is valid, and even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."
On the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh said:
Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so.
Limbaugh later added:
When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet. And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place.
During an appearance on the October 22 broadcast of Liddy's radio show, Corsi said:
I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate.
Corsi later added:
I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
As Media Matters has noted, Corsi has previously claimed that the Obama campaign "refuses to release the original birth certificate," even though WorldNetDaily -- where Corsi works as a staff writer -- has debunked the claim.
On the October 22 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage stated that "[t]here are people arguing that Obama is headed back to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative, but to fudge the birth certificate in question" and said moments later, "There is intense national interest on the Internet about his citizenship, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii?" Savage subsequently became more definitive, stating:
Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate.
He later added: "And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you."
Savage also directed people to his website to "look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake." Savage's website currently has a copy of the birth certificate Obama has posted on its "Fight the Smears" website along with a headline stating "Could this be the REAL reason Obama is heading to Hawaii?" The headline links to a post by Andy Martin on Martin's Contrarian Commentary website. Martin stated in an October 20 press release: "Monday (today) we petitioned the Hawai'i Supreme Court to order Obama's secret birth records released. How did Obama respond? He suddenly discovered that his grandmother, who had supposedly been released from her hospital a week ago, when he showed no interest in her, needed his immediate attention. Cool, calm, collected Obama suddenly suspended his campaign and headed for Hawai'i."
From Savage's website:
From the October 23 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: By the way, I'd like to be a little inquisitive than the average reporter out there and observe that we have not -- we've been hearing and reading for at least three days now that Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, and that he's going out to rush to her side in Hawaii. Now, if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? If she's deathly ill, this is the -- I'm just -- I'm pretending to be a reporter here. You know they'd ask McCain these questions. If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago, and he's only going now or tomorrow or whenever it is? Now, I understand, folks, Snerdley's got-- he's buried his head in his hands -- I understand this, my friends -- anything said about Obama is gonna be turned into an unfair, racist attack on the man, but I -- am I not asking the obvious questions? Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later?
See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so. And I'm just -- you know, you've got a deathly ill grandmother, you are going to rush to her side a few days from now. When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet.
And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this. I don't know. Let's say, for example, that somebody does come up with proof that Obama -- something's screwy with his birth certificate, and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's gonna happen this late in the campaign? Do you think, if it's proven, that they're gonna dump him? That's not gonna happen. But there's still -- these are just questions that I have. I mean, look at, I -- both of my parents have died, and when I was told that the end was near, bam, I got there fast as I could, and I didn't announce to the audience, "I just got word my father's soon to be passing away, in four or five days I'm gonna go to Missouri. In the meantime I will not leave you here on this radio program." These are just natural questions. I think any inquisitive reporter -- I know the risk I'm running here by raising all of this, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that.
From the October 22 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: We're gonna raise the question of why Obama is headed to Hawaii. He certainly wouldn't take the time out to visit an ailing grandmother all of a sudden -- it is for other reasons, it is being speculated across the Internet that he was born in Kenya and he is not a U.S. citizen. Now, this originated with a Democrat who filed a lawsuit, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and a big donor to the Democrat [sic] Party -- filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya and that he is not a U.S. citizen and not qualified to run for the presidency. There are people arguing that Obama is headed to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative but to fudge the birth certificate in question.
[...]
SAVAGE: There's an October surprise that could brew, and that's built around Obama's secretive trip to Hawaii coming up momentarily. There's intense national interest on the Internet as to whether or not he's an American citizen, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii, and it was started by a Democrat who filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya. And you gotta read -- you gotta look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake.
[...]
SAVAGE: Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate. That's correct. That is correct. 1-800-449 -- but please go to MichaelSavage.com and look at the alleged birth certificate. Look at it very carefully.
[...]
SAVAGE: And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you. Something's wrong with this picture, and we're gonna talk about it in the next hour. Carla in New York, if you make it fast, fire away on The Savage Nation.
CALLER: OK, first of all, as far as the trip to Hawaii, the reason he needs to go there is he's lost the lawsuit by not -- by having no one show. He needs to get to that house, the grandma's house. Those documents, the Kenyan documents are in that house. The other thing is that he has had four identities.
From the October 22 edition of Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show:
LIDDY: Bring us up to date on the latest findings.
CORSI: Well, Mr. Liddy, I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate. I'll be in Honolulu for the next few days. I don't expect to be detained in Honolulu the way I was in Kenya.
[...]
CORSI: I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
— H.D., G.L., & N.T.
Posted to the web on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:13 PM ET
here is the article:
Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother
Summary: Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerome Corsi suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, in addition to FactCheck.org and a Hawaiian Health Department official, even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, has reportedly determined that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is authentic.
Conservative radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who appeared as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show -- suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, as Media Matters for America has documented, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its "Fight the Smears" website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." A Hawaiian Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that Obama's birth certificate is valid, and even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."
On the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, Limbaugh said:
Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so.
Limbaugh later added:
When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet. And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place.
During an appearance on the October 22 broadcast of Liddy's radio show, Corsi said:
I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate.
Corsi later added:
I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
As Media Matters has noted, Corsi has previously claimed that the Obama campaign "refuses to release the original birth certificate," even though WorldNetDaily -- where Corsi works as a staff writer -- has debunked the claim.
On the October 22 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage stated that "[t]here are people arguing that Obama is headed back to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative, but to fudge the birth certificate in question" and said moments later, "There is intense national interest on the Internet about his citizenship, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii?" Savage subsequently became more definitive, stating:
Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate.
He later added: "And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you."
Savage also directed people to his website to "look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake." Savage's website currently has a copy of the birth certificate Obama has posted on its "Fight the Smears" website along with a headline stating "Could this be the REAL reason Obama is heading to Hawaii?" The headline links to a post by Andy Martin on Martin's Contrarian Commentary website. Martin stated in an October 20 press release: "Monday (today) we petitioned the Hawai'i Supreme Court to order Obama's secret birth records released. How did Obama respond? He suddenly discovered that his grandmother, who had supposedly been released from her hospital a week ago, when he showed no interest in her, needed his immediate attention. Cool, calm, collected Obama suddenly suspended his campaign and headed for Hawai'i."
From Savage's website:
From the October 23 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: By the way, I'd like to be a little inquisitive than the average reporter out there and observe that we have not -- we've been hearing and reading for at least three days now that Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, and that he's going out to rush to her side in Hawaii. Now, if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? If she's deathly ill, this is the -- I'm just -- I'm pretending to be a reporter here. You know they'd ask McCain these questions. If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago, and he's only going now or tomorrow or whenever it is? Now, I understand, folks, Snerdley's got-- he's buried his head in his hands -- I understand this, my friends -- anything said about Obama is gonna be turned into an unfair, racist attack on the man, but I -- am I not asking the obvious questions? Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later?
See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? And I've been laying low on this because it just -- it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program. But this birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn't replied, he hasn't done so. And I'm just -- you know, you've got a deathly ill grandmother, you are going to rush to her side a few days from now. When you first announced this, you're gonna rush, you're gonna hurry, you're gonna make tracks, you're gonna get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet.
And this birth certificate business -- I'm just wondering if something's up. I have no clue, and I -- folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's now popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this. I don't know. Let's say, for example, that somebody does come up with proof that Obama -- something's screwy with his birth certificate, and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's gonna happen this late in the campaign? Do you think, if it's proven, that they're gonna dump him? That's not gonna happen. But there's still -- these are just questions that I have. I mean, look at, I -- both of my parents have died, and when I was told that the end was near, bam, I got there fast as I could, and I didn't announce to the audience, "I just got word my father's soon to be passing away, in four or five days I'm gonna go to Missouri. In the meantime I will not leave you here on this radio program." These are just natural questions. I think any inquisitive reporter -- I know the risk I'm running here by raising all of this, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't do that.
From the October 22 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: We're gonna raise the question of why Obama is headed to Hawaii. He certainly wouldn't take the time out to visit an ailing grandmother all of a sudden -- it is for other reasons, it is being speculated across the Internet that he was born in Kenya and he is not a U.S. citizen. Now, this originated with a Democrat who filed a lawsuit, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and a big donor to the Democrat [sic] Party -- filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya and that he is not a U.S. citizen and not qualified to run for the presidency. There are people arguing that Obama is headed to Hawaii not so much to visit an ailing relative but to fudge the birth certificate in question.
[...]
SAVAGE: There's an October surprise that could brew, and that's built around Obama's secretive trip to Hawaii coming up momentarily. There's intense national interest on the Internet as to whether or not he's an American citizen, and the question is being asked, could this be the real reason he is headed to Hawaii, and it was started by a Democrat who filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya. And you gotta read -- you gotta look at the birth certificate and judge for yourself on MichaelSavage.com. We actually have the birth certificate submitted by the Obama camp, and it looks like it's fake.
[...]
SAVAGE: Do you actually believe he's going to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother with 10 days to go until an election? Do you actually believe that? Do you actually believe he'd be going to Hawaii at this time with 10 days to go? You actually believe that? No, no, no -- no, no, no, no, no. No. There's some other reason that he's leaving the mainland of the United States in the midst of this toe-to-toe struggle right now, and it's got to do with his birth certificate. That's correct. That is correct. 1-800-449 -- but please go to MichaelSavage.com and look at the alleged birth certificate. Look at it very carefully.
[...]
SAVAGE: And Obama's leaving for Hawaii -- why? Why? What's he doing there? Why's he going there, huh? What's he going there for, huh? Why's he gonna -- the last phase of a race, he's getting off the track just to visit his grandmother? Don't be stupid. It's the birth certificate issue, you fools, you. Something's wrong with this picture, and we're gonna talk about it in the next hour. Carla in New York, if you make it fast, fire away on The Savage Nation.
CALLER: OK, first of all, as far as the trip to Hawaii, the reason he needs to go there is he's lost the lawsuit by not -- by having no one show. He needs to get to that house, the grandma's house. Those documents, the Kenyan documents are in that house. The other thing is that he has had four identities.
From the October 22 edition of Radio America's The G. Gordon Liddy Show:
LIDDY: Bring us up to date on the latest findings.
CORSI: Well, Mr. Liddy, I'm headed out to Honolulu. I am not convinced that Barack Obama is going because his grandmother is sick. I appreciate that his grandmother is sick and he wants to be with her. I do recall that Barack Obama's mother died of cancer, and he didn't go to be by her side when she died. He relates that in his autobiography, Dreams From My Father. And I'm going out to do what digging I can on the birth certificate. I'll be in Honolulu for the next few days. I don't expect to be detained in Honolulu the way I was in Kenya.
[...]
CORSI: I think I'll accomplish something in Hawaii, too. Obama's headed out there, and I believe there's a court challenge that if Obama does not dodge, he's gonna be forced to produce a birth certificate, and there's gonna be something damaging on that birth certificate, because even at the eleventh hour, Obama refuses to show us the hospital-generated birth certificate when he was born.
— H.D., G.L., & N.T.
Posted to the web on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:13 PM ET
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