So Trump is forwarding a conspiracy claim again. Let’s dig in.
The story is covered below so I am not going get into the details. But, I have some questions.
1. What is the methodology for the “study.”
2. Can we examine the data?
3. Can we look at the apps and the source code?
4. Who built these apps?
5. How are they secured?
He needs to get out of Washington and let those people ASSIGNED to the task to work on it. His lycra superhero outfit looks good – but is not helping the situation. It also doesn’t help that his superhero costume has chicken feathers. After Palin massive flops this week it looks like the McCain campaigns terror and avoidance of Friday’s Presidential Debate – may in fact be, just the means to eliminate the Vice Presidents Debate.
Don’t miss the debate on Friday.Obama should put a card board cut out of “Multitasker McCain” at the podium next to his.
Sunk in 24 hours. Are you a Maverick if you turn on a dime to oppose your own life’s work?
A good place to start is this primer on Republican McCain’s role in the Keating 5 ethics scandal.
Update: By the 20th of September, 2008 – All I could think of was the SNL Dan Ackroyd Julia Child skit where he’s losing blood everywhere and saying “Save the chicken livers!!!!”….It makes no sense, except in my mind really….It’s the flailing and the near faint Ackroyd is in towards the end of the skit. That’s what McCain looked like today.
Of pending legislation, McCain is not a sponsor of the “Connect the Nation Act” – though Senator Obama is. McCain is not a sponsor of Senator Rockefeller’s call for a universal next generation broadband by 2015 – though Senator Obama is. And of course, McCain isn’t a sponsor of the “Internet Freedom Act” that would ensure net neutrality – though Senator Obama is.
McCain looks to Phil Gramm: Enron director, lobbyist, self confessed rabid ideologue who called Americans whiners, believes the recession is imaginary, and almost single handedly brought about the deregulation that is responsible for the collapse of our financial markets.
Obama looks to Warren Buffett: brilliant, self made investor who had the foresight in 2002 to warn his investors that derivaties were “financial weapons of mass destruction” and “toxic” and that the way the whole house of cards was linked that it could all come tumbling down.
Who do you want to trust with YOUR economy?
That about sums up the situation right there.
Official Obama Statement
This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street.
The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.
The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.
Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.
This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy. For years, I have consistently called for modernizing the rules of the road to suit a 21st century market – rules that would protect American investors and consumers. And I’ve called for policies that grow our economy and our middle-class together. That is the change I am calling for in this campaign, and that is the change I will bring as President.
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.
So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy…Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans.
What women working on domestic violence in Alaska have to say about Sarah Palin.
And women organizing, Alaska – Women Against Palin are getting threats for their views and for their efforts. One lady is clearly terrified to be on camera. A right wing radio host named Burke incited this behavior.
The latest boatload of insulting baloney coming out of the McCain campaign, attacking Obama for making issue of McCain’s lack of comprehension of the Internet Age, plays the disability/POW card, badly.
All over the net ditto heads, idiots and the likes of Jonah Goldberg are suggesting that Obama is insensitive to the fact that McCain has trouble lifting his arms due to the injuries he sustained from torture, which by the way he no longer opposes, and from the plane crash that left him in the hands of his enemy.
This is the Obama Campaign ad in question:
Here’s Mr. Goldberg finger wagging at the Obama campaign:
Does anyone know why McCain doesn’t use a computer or email? As a couple readers suggested to me, it might be because his injuries prevent it. I mean he can’t lift his arms much higher than his chest and it looks like he has all sorts of other mobility problems with them. Maybe he can’t type or use something like a blackberry. I don’t know. But I hope the Obama campaign found out before they played the granpa Simpson card on McCain. I’d hate for Obama to be mocking a veteran’s disability to score cheap points.
As a person who worked for four years in a lab focused on training adults with disabilities to use adaptive technologies, I assure you Mr. Goldberg, neither his injury, the state of the technology nor the cost were a barrier to his adoption of their use in 1990, nor in 2008.
And to the people passing this off as some explanation for why Mr. McCain is not involved in the most transformative aspect of world culture – is an insult to every one with a disability more or less affecting than Mr. McCain’s.
If Mr. McCain is like his predecessor simply incurious and uninterested in all that computers and the net offer, I wish he would just say so. I understand that he has been on committees, but I am pretty sure he slept through them, as every time he opens his mouth on the subject it is clear he has no enthusiasm or real involvement with the topic. Plenty of people, of all ages are, just not interested. However there are also octogenarians who run around the net like their grand kids. Age is not an excuse.
It is unclear to me if Mr. McCain would approve of making the sort of issue of his disability that his surrogates and supporters are. I find it entirely believable that he does not know this is happening, as he is not online, and would at the same time dissapprove of them using his disability as an excuse. Though he has used his POW history many times to misdirect the citizenry away from pertinent policy questions, questions of character, and questions about the Rove tactics of his campaign, so maybe he did approve the message that disabilities prevent you from using or understanding the interwebs.
As Mr. McCain has no coherent policy regarding people with disabilities, civil rights, health coverage, transportation and the very long list of other issues of central concern to people living with disabilities, I surmise that this is just another example of him being out of touch.
Mr. Stephen Hawking has a few words directly for Mr. McCain, his campaign and his supporters. [OK this is not actually Mr. Hawking or a clever youtuber having some fun – either way the points are dead on.]
Here are a few other people who have made use of technology to bridge the gap between themselves, their aspirations and the people around them. And a few more folks who have used technology to communicate past barriers that the non-disabled so consistently put before them.
silentmiaow a very interesting woman on youtube, who has autism. She vlogs about her life. She advocates forcefully for herself and everyone else with a cognitive difference. She uses video and computers to do so. Please watch this one to the end. It won’t make much sense to you otherwise.
Clearly, having a disability does not make McCain a competent advocate for adults with disabilities nor does it mean he respects the demands of the community of persons with disabilities.
Take a look how he responds to demands from a true advocate for the Community Choice Act.
Marly Matlin talks about the work lives of adults with disabilities and the prejudice they face.
This gentleman advocates for accessible subway systems in New York City. He uses video and is computer to do so. It looks to me like he has much less mobility than Mr. McCain, but manages to get his point across using technology.
Getting around in New York City can be daunting for someone using a motorized wheelchair or for someone with any disability. Sharing with you an experience of mine and hoping to create a discussion about accessibility. For more stuff by myself, and my two accomplices, visit the site — www.chooseability.org
So before you think you should start covering for McCain on this claim that his disability prevents him from using the intertweba, think hard about what you are saying about people with impairments. My guess is, anyone that tries to make this claim, is not disabled – and sure as hell shouldn’t pretend (suddenly) to be an advocate for the disabled. I am not insisting that there are no people out there who are barred from using the net or a computer because of a cognitive or physical disability, I just don’t think McCain has any barrier that could not be fixed with the application of technology and money. Technology is just not his thing, like a lot of people – it has nothing to do with his disability. He’s just not into it. That’s fine, but I don’t think he should be on any committee involving technology policy.
As I mentioned in another post, after Governor Palin made the extraordinary claim that because she’s a new parent of a kid with Down’s Syndrome, people with disabilities will “have and advocate in the White House.” I went off to check the McCain/Palin website to see what their policy positions were, after hearing her speech. That was about a week ago. Checked back just now (September, 13th 2008, 8:26PM EST) and there are still only two crappy paragraphs, focused only on autism. He clearly has not been listening to adult self advocates with a spectrum disorder or any other kind of disability.
Barack Obama has nine pages and has clearly been listening to adult self advocates. He clearly cares enough and has enough respect for the people and the issues that he can confidently address the topic.
“We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination …. policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities.”
— Barack Obama
Obama on disabled vets and what we owe to the men and women that gave all.
And on McCain’s status as a vet with disabilities, though he continues to collect disability, in spite of being married to a woman wealthier than 99.98% of vets, he advocates the ‘rationing’ of health care and treatment for veterans to only those injuries sustained while in battle. It is a disgusting policy suggestion, from a man who wants for nothing precisely because he dumped his disabled wife for a wealthy much younger blond heiress.
Our veteran heroes need your support! Over 37,000 men and women have been injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many face serious injuries, endure extensive recoveries and are not receiving the treatment and care they have earned and deserve.
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is the leader in providing direct one-on-one assistance to veterans. With trained personnel on military bases worldwide and thousands of volunteers, DAV ensures veterans receive adequate medical treatment, provides transportation to/from hospitals for treatments, delivers relief from disasters, and educates the public about disabled veteran’s issues.
As for where technology is taking us – take a look at this bit of advanced tech. McCain is hopelessly out of touch on technology AND on disability. And he will only become more so, not because of his age, but because he is clearly disinterested in anything but war. He is a man out of step with the amazing times we live in.
In Japan they have developed technology that allows this guy to control a robotic arm and a computer with his brain, that is by simply thinking about what he wants to happen.
In what scenario can you imagine that a victim of a crime would be charged for the investigation materials and procedures needed to solve the crime? A robbery? Let’s think this through…you are walking down the street. You get mugged and in the process of that mugging you are shot in the leg.
The mugger gets away and you are lying there bleeding to death, fighting for your life. Would the state ever try to charge a man for the forensics on the bullet? Or for testing the DNA of the hairs that landed on your tweed coat as you were getting the bejesus beat out of you? On what planet can you imagine being charged for the investigation into the incident which left you near death?
On planet McCain/Palin rape victims are charged for the ‘rape kits’ used to gather evidence. Both McCain and Palin support this position. What do you think women of America? Is that the world you want your daughters to live in? How about you Dad? Can you live with this?
I don’t care what party you support. You need to admit that this is unconscionable.
I am trying hard not to believe what I am hearing. I need to ask those of you that are – apparently – swinging wildly to the right…to in fact the FAR FAR looney right, WTF are you thinking?
I hope that it is just a weird media blip and you as a group haven’t completely LOST YOUR S….T, but in case that is the situation… please comment and tell me what in the world are you thinking?????
Here’s Katha Pollitt’s take on all the claims of “sexism.”
If there were an Olympics for hypocrisy, the Republican Party would have more gold medals than Michael Phelps. And Palin would be wearing quite a few of them.
Cityzen Jane - wherein our heroine pokes (and taps) things with a...hammer. 
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