What does a socialist sound like?

Sarah Palin, Joe the "Plumber" and GOP loyalists have been accusing Obama of espousing socialism when he says we should spread wealth around through tax cuts for 95% of tax payers and an increase on those earning over $250,000.
Obama isn't a socialist, but check out the Op-Ed by America's only socialist congressman Senator Bernie Sanders. Here's an excerpt:


The current financial crisis facing our country has been caused by the extreme right-wing economic policies pursued by the Bush administration. These policies, which include huge tax breaks for the rich, unfettered free trade and the wholesale deregulation of commerce, have resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy
...Since President Bush has been in office, nearly 6 million Americans have slipped into poverty, median family income for working Americans has declined by more than $2,000, more than 7 million Americans have lost their health insurance, over 4 million have lost their pensions, foreclosures are at an all time high, total consumer debt has more than doubled, and we have a national debt of over $9.7 trillion dollars.While the middle class collapses, the richest people in this country have made out like bandits and have not had it so good since the 1920s. The top 0.1 percent now earn more money than the bottom 50 percent of Americans, and the top 1 percent own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. The wealthiest 400 people in our country saw their wealth increase by $670 billion while Bush has been president. In the midst of all of this, Bush lowered taxes on the very rich so that they are paying lower income tax rates than teachers, police officers or nurses...This is the most extreme example that I can recall of socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.

If Jesus Ran For President...

"Jesus was a radical left wing Jew"

Get Everclear's free mp3 Jesus was a Democrat here.

Sins of the world

Homosexuality and aids. Abortion, birth control, and sex education. Feminism. Pornography.

 For years the religious right has been obsessed with the naughtiness of sin, concentrating on pelvic issues: the sins of the flesh. Meanwhile, sins of the world run rampant -greed, corruption, abuse of power and all the death, wars, sickness and suffering that result.  Conservatives mock Obama as "The One," a politician who is pompous and self-important, and whose followers are gullible zealots. Such criticisms remind me of President Bush, the former darling of the Religious Right.  Back in May 2003, an evangelist co-worker gushed about this godly man, and how inspiring he was when he descended onto a battleship to declare major combat operations are over in Iraq. What followed afterwards was not so inspiring. While conservatives worry that the sins of the flesh will be tolerated or even promoted by a government with a Democratic president, the moderate voters seem to be bothered by the consequences of the Bush administration's embrace of the sins of the world. 

Slimed!

Today was my first day with my new students with severe disabilities. Later at home I had to try and unclog the sink, which resulted in a lot of stagnant water on the floor and myself. Still, it wasn't as bad as the muck Sarah Palin and John McCain sent Barack Obama's way.
It was Senator McCain who said last January that the "lesson of this election in Iowa is that, one, you can't buy an election in Iowa, and, two, negative campaigns don't work. They don't work there, and they don't work here in New Hampshire." Apparently Senator McCain's campaign thinks negative campaigns will work in the remaining 48 states.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/dishonorable.html

Last Stay At Home Days

Since Friday, June 13th I've been staying at home and getting on my wife's nerves. Tomorrow I go back to being a special education teacher. I'll be working an hour and a half longer each day, pay more for health insurance, commute twice as long and get paid $1,000 less than my previous librarian job, but I will have health insurance starting next month.
I visited my new class of 9 African American teenagers with autism a couple days ago. One young man had to be removed from the room because he was inappropriately touching a female staff member. Another rolled around on the floor for half an hour, and another couldn't tolerate wearing his shirt for about 15 minutes. All this on the day "former Playboy playmate" Jenny McCarthy and actress Amanda Peet' feud over vaccinations suspected role in causing autism made the news.