Keeping Lobbyists at bay

Change we need, reported by the BBC:

At a briefing in Washington, Mr Podesta told reporters: "President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists."

Under the new measures, Mr Obama will not allow lobbyists who petition the federal government to do any such work while working with the transition, said Mr Podesta.

The guidelines will also prevent anyone who has acted as a lobbyist over the last 12 months from working on any policy area in the transition in which they had been active.

He added that anyone who works on the transition and then becomes a lobbyist will be barred from approaching the administration for 12 months in the area in which they worked.

To the person who defaced signs...

That is, who defaced McCain and Palin signs around Oakwood.

I probably agree with you politically. I (obviously) don't support McCain or Palin. I think they're horrible choices for a lot of reasons. I don't "like her" either.

But defacing their supporter's signs?

Nope. That is a no-go at this station. That's not what we're standing for. Please own up and apologize - in writing if you'd rather not do it in person - to the folks whose signs you defaced.

It isn't cool when it happens to us - it's even worse when it is one of us.

Whassup.

Truthifying Robocalls

I've already gotten a robocall or three, so it's well worth noting that there's an official site debunking the craptastic tactics being deployed by the McCain Campaign.

Under the Radar

The McCain Campaign and its allies have begun an unprecedented nationwide negative campaign that uses robocalls, direct mail, and other techniques to quietly poison voters' information with lies and fear tactics. This map is an effort to track some of the most toxic attacks — all of which are approved by the McCain campaign or its Republican partners.

Will the GOP denounce extremists?

[crossposted from my personal blog.]

Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin:

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We can agree on this, right?

I understand that your campaign and its proxies have made a big deal of a few of Sen. Obama's associates. The concept of being held accountable for every word of a pastor or the prior actions of a neighbor bother me. I know that pastors of mine have said things I disagreed strongly with; I have no idea what some of my neighbors did ten years ago, let alone twenty.

This is all beside the point.

In case you forgot, Sen. Obama has denounced both the incendiary words of Rev. Wright and the acts of Will Ayers.

Yet your supporters are becoming extremely angry, seemingly racist and violent before and during your rallies. These are not just second hand reports, but video caught by citizen journalists in several places throughout the country. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin, these people take your words in your interviews and speeches as approval.

I hope that you find these acts as detestable as Sen. Obama found the words of Rev. Wright and the acts of Will Ayers.

Surely, then, you can avoid inflammatory words and acknowledge denouncements in your stump speeches, and make open denouncements of racism, extremists and violence.

Right?

I will be waiting for the change in your behavior.

You will denounce them? Won't you?

It would be only fair.

A call to the GOP

I spend a lot of time telling conservative friends and acquaintances that we liberals should be policing our own wacky elements. They point out that the truly loony left needs to be kept in check, and I agree.

The Democratic candidate *IS* doing that.

Conservatives, it's your turn.

This story provides the main background...

and then watch this video.


The fact that an American - in the 21st century - would use "He's got the bloodlines" (at 1:09) as a justification for anything...

And that it would happen here, in Ohio, is even sadder.

Accountability

From the DDN: Foreclosure on its own isn't enough to challenge right to vote

News reports in other states have said that Republicans would be using foreclosure lists to challenge voters' right to vote in the Nov. 4 election because their registered addresses may not be up to date. Brunner issued an advisory to election administrators this week, telling them that a foreclosure action on its own isn't sufficient to challenge a voter's right to vote. They'll have to consider other information, such as whether the voter still lives at the house being foreclosed.

Of course, we've seen voter challenges used in 2000 and 2004 to try to disenfranchise voters. So when the Ohio GOP was asked....

The New York Times published a story Thursday, Sept. 25, in which Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Bennett, when asked whether his party would use foreclosure lists, declined to publicly discuss campaign strategy. That prompted blistering criticism from Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern who said, "Ohio Republican Party leaders are apparently harboring plans to benefit from the foreclosure crisis by disenfranchising vulnerable voters who are losing their homes or struggling to keep them." Bennett responded: "No such plan exists. It's a complete fabrication by desperate Democrats trying to use anger as a motivational tactic. Let me be very clear on this. We absolutely condemn any effort to challenge the eligibility of voters based on home foreclosure."

Doesn't that give you the sense that it might have been a plan - until called on it? I can't know for certain, but why else would the Ohio GOP refuse to discuss the topic plainly until called on it? This is the kind of vigilance needed at all times, by all people. Make each other - and your politicians - commit publicly to doing the right thing. And then remember that in November.