Sarah Palin blamed by the US Secret Service for provoking death threats against Barack Obama

[Alex+R 0]

If there was some Kool-Aid my friends, family and I were supposed to drink, we must have missed out. Just because someone is an inspiring orator doesn't mean that's the only thing they are. They can also be a skilled leader, a rational, thoughtful decision-maker and a person with good ideas. You don't have to be brainwashed to think that.

I, for one, do not agree with Obama on everything. I disagree on health care (I want it more Euro-style) and several other issues. I support him because, among other things, he brings reasoning and prudence back to politics.

I don't expect him to make choices I agree with, and I fully expect him to surprise me with some decisions I never would have thought he would have made -- those decisions might upset me. Still, I expect him to make those decisions thoughtfully, and to keep justice in mind throughout.

[rocks 494]

Do you think Ayers and Bin Laden are comparable?

i'm tired of people complaining about ayers! he's a reputable professor and in the senior staff at a university. also, did he threaten the world?

That's the point though, the VW's of this world seem to be able to paint Ayers with the same kind of brush that they use for Bin Laden et al, when clearly, had he been even half as bad as they would like to paint him he would have been locked away and the key thrown away. The fact is this guy made some bad decisions when he was in his early 20's. Since then he has made seemingly excellent choices and proceeded to make a decent life not only for himself, but for his wife and family. For 30 years he has had no terrorist ambitions, not even some politicaly dubious ones and yet, somehow he's persona non grata and a freaky 'skeleton' in the Obama closet.

he is not comparable to the terror put upon the whole world by bin laden and al-qaeda, it's not even remotely close.

"The group is notable for a campaign from 1969 through the middle 1970s of bombings, riots, and a jailbreak."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherman_(organization)

did they kill thousands of people? no.

[rebeccajo 14]

My two cents on the article re: Ayers.

I don't see the contents of that article painting him as a present and persistent threat.

Rather I see it as just a story about - well - an old hippie.

And for the record, it was Obama's 'association' with Ayers that gave me some pause about my own support. I did research it and came to my own conclusions.

I suppose one can accuse the population at large of drinking kool-aid at the trough of the media. But during the campaign I met an awfully lot of people who researched Obama and his life before deciding which way to vote. Our electoral voices weren't heard in West Virginia, but we choose to use the resources available to us.

Not everyone who supported Obama is empty headed. Nor McCain for that matter.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Somehow Madem Cleo isn't my wife. But, I can't say that because my wife will definitely chop me up and bury me in the front yard.

[rebeccajo 14]

I'd like to go back to this video because it's really been bothering me all day. (Hey I know it's just the internet but hopefully when I explain you'll understand).

I referred to Ayers (in my post above) as 'an old hippie'. It would have been more appropriate to have added 'with bombs'. He was an activisit and a home grown terrorist.

So was Timothy McVeigh.

Anybody throwing a bomb with intent to kill can be regarded as a terrorist. To me that's patently clear. I come to that opinion based upon the experieces of my husband during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Would he sit at a table with a former IRA bomber? I doubt it.

So you see why I say I struggled with Ayers' past in regards to Obama. At the end of the day, I can't say I decided that it doesn't matter to me. But politics makes strange bedfellows.

At least I can recognize that Ayers was a terrorist. Why Palin cannot distinguish that a clinic bomber is not - I have no idea.

[S and S 12]

I have missed it because I don't see what you see. Where you see a mass of kool aid drinkers, I see a lot of people thinking critically about the direction they would like the US to go over the next four years.

I don't feel better or worse for using the word absurd. It's simply appropriate to the idea that people are walking around in some cloud cuckoo land of 'hope'. It's great for the media, but it doesn't sit with real people in the real world.

I don't even know what that kool aid thing is about and have never mentioned it. I don't even see anything wrong with drinking kool aid, I know I did when I was young. If someone tells me they did a lot of research on Obama and found him to still be the candidate they prefer then there is no problem I can see with that. My problem is that I have actually met Obama supporters who told me they know nothing about him except that he is black and that is why they are voting for him. I swear their exact words were "I am voting for Obama only because he is black". This was at work, I haven't seen anyone say that anywhere else. All I wanted was to hear some real opinions on him and why anyone prefers him so much. I've never once heard an Obama supporter say one bad thing about him so I thought to ask. Sorry my simple question offended you so much. All you had to do was answer it. You don't know my experiences or what I have seen and heard. Don't assume because I ask a question that you must go on the defensive. I'm not going to call you names your question your intelligence. I just wanted an honest answer.

If there was some Kool-Aid my friends, family and I were supposed to drink, we must have missed out. Just because someone is an inspiring orator doesn't mean that's the only thing they are. They can also be a skilled leader, a rational, thoughtful decision-maker and a person with good ideas. You don't have to be brainwashed to think that.

I, for one, do not agree with Obama on everything. I disagree on health care (I want it more Euro-style) and several other issues. I support him because, among other things, he brings reasoning and prudence back to politics.

I don't expect him to make choices I agree with, and I fully expect him to surprise me with some decisions I never would have thought he would have made -- those decisions might upset me. Still, I expect him to make those decisions thoughtfully, and to keep justice in mind throughout.

Thankyou so much for your answer. That was what I was looking for, just pure honesty on why you like Obama and if you really think he is perfect or not. I appreciate the fact you didn't feel the need to get defensive and just answered me instead.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Rebbecajo,

I remembered that. Very interesting.

S and S

I too follow Alex+R rational. There are parts of Obama that I don't like, and there are parts that I like. However, regarding the policies, Obama hits those points.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Niels Bohr

[Peikko 1,575]

Sorry, I made an assuption based on your post regarding Obama and his odourless poop. If you really have no idea why people voted for Obama other than because he's black, I suggest you read his manifesto. I did not vote for him - although the chances are I would have had I been enfranchised. I would also have done an even more rigourous research on him than I did, which included reading his autobiography which I personally found disappointing.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Madame Cleo,

I'm just curious why his autobiography was disappointing? Just want to know your views.

[IAMX 3,055]

Hell, if the guy wanting to prosecute Ayers (I don't recall seeing him directly kill anybody, himself, and even he confesses his intent was never to kill people) can understand the political motivation behind connecting Ayers to Obama, who better than the guy who was trying to prosecute Ayers merely for being associated in the group?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/opinion/...amp;oref=slogin

Re “Politics of Attack” (editorial, Oct. 8) and “Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths” (front page, Oct. 4):

As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.

I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director.

William C. Ibershof

[Niels Bohr 72]

Madame Cleo,

I'm just curious why his autobiography was disappointing? Just want to know your views.

[S and S 12]

Sorry, I made an assuption based on your post regarding Obama and his odourless poop. If you really have no idea why people voted for Obama other than because he's black, I suggest you read his manifesto. I did not vote for him - although the chances are I would have had I been enfranchised. I would also have done an even more rigourous research on him than I did, which included reading his autobiography which I personally found disappointing.

I made that remark based on the article posted. That person who wrote it obviously thought Obama was perfect and that made the humorous part of my brain want to give a ridiculous response. It was in no way meant to deter someone from giving a response to my question.

[Peikko 1,575]

I was disappointed because it was obvious to me that the 'truth' was allowed to take second place to 'dramatic expediency' at times, in a rather obvious way. Or so it seemed to me.

I also didn't think that his life was all that interesting or special - I am probably being somewhat pedantic about that but for me it just wasn't that interesting.

[Peikko 1,575]

Sorry, I made an assuption based on your post regarding Obama and his odourless poop. If you really have no idea why people voted for Obama other than because he's black, I suggest you read his manifesto. I did not vote for him - although the chances are I would have had I been enfranchised. I would also have done an even more rigourous research on him than I did, which included reading his autobiography which I personally found disappointing.

I made that remark based on the article posted. That person who wrote it obviously thought Obama was perfect and that made the humorous part of my brain want to give a ridiculous response. It was in no way meant to deter someone from giving a response to my question.

I would try again with that assuption. The article was satirical in nature - the person writing was somewhat intrigued by the campaign, particularly as they viewed it from a small provincial enclave.

[S and S 12]

Sorry, I made an assuption based on your post regarding Obama and his odourless poop. If you really have no idea why people voted for Obama other than because he's black, I suggest you read his manifesto. I did not vote for him - although the chances are I would have had I been enfranchised. I would also have done an even more rigourous research on him than I did, which included reading his autobiography which I personally found disappointing.

I made that remark based on the article posted. That person who wrote it obviously thought Obama was perfect and that made the humorous part of my brain want to give a ridiculous response. It was in no way meant to deter someone from giving a response to my question.

I would try again with that assuption. The article was satirical in nature - the person writing was somewhat intrigued by the campaign, particularly as they viewed it from a small provincial enclave.

Excuse me then, I will try to avoid humor when you are around from now on if it offends you.