shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

I wonder if thoes AIG fat cats enjoyed their very expensive off-site party on the backs of the hard-working, taxpaying public. Both parents have to work in order to support these bunch of money hungry slobs. We gave them 700B and off they go to celebrate, while mom and day are out working, sometimes two jobs. I know, we have no choice in the matter - the (get rich quick) politicians do not listen to us. Why should they, we are only the working class and the poor retirees and what we say doesn't matter anyway. It is a sad state of affairs to see America today. I'm 74 and I have seen a lot in my time and I am sorry to say, this is the worst. These politicians, CEO, bankers, lobbist and all money grabbing top dogs, couldn't care less for us. It is time to make them pay back what they did to us. Jail time and payback, nothing less.
I called the broker to take my money out of my 401K and he told me that I would have to pay the government $25,000 if I take out my life savings of $150,000. I wonder if the Government will bail me out. This money is just a sneeze to them. It's my whole life.
It's too bad that when you get old in this country, you can't enjoy the twilight of you life. You have to worry about the high cost of doctors,medical bills and pills. You have to use all of your SS check to pay for just one oil delivery. You do not go anywhere anymore because you can's affort the high cost of gas. You're lucky if you can buy a bag of food for the month not to mention all the world wide troubles we live under. I say the politicians should live on what the average worker makes and everything else is on a budget sheet and accounted for. They shouldn't be voted in to become rich. And as for the CEO, Bankers, Lobbist, etc. they should only be allowed to get a bonus and/or stock options, if they make a profit and get a little above the average worker of the company, not the pigist, unthinkable, discusting amounts they have been getting. I could go on and on about the pension plans, but everyone knows this is ludicrous. Forget the golden years, they are tarnished and black. We need a miracle.

When will the thieves be brought to justice???????????????????????

Grace is correct. Add one more insult to injury is that I am fast approaching 67 and had planned to retire at 70, thereby maxing out my SS. But due to the current economic mess, created by politicans and the greedy bunch, while no one was watching or tending the store, I have put retirement entirely on hold. As long as I can hold on to my current job (in govt)I will have to continue to work. I have worked all my life since age 14, stopped working to raise 2 children, went back to work to help support my husband create a business. After 30+ years, he bailed taking all that I helped him create and I had to start over. How many times can someone pull themselves up due to others greed and ego. Golden years, I resent that there will be little if any.

Fox network and the Republican party have nothing but nasty comments.

If you guys elect Obamma, you will see a problem of the magnitude that you could not imagine. He is pushing for a re-distribution of wealth(kind of sounds like a communism thing doesnt it?). What is going on with the free enterprise system? can it be fixed? Niether of the candidates are directly addressing this issue. Bush almost gave our free enterprise up with this bail out thing. The French and the English do not care about democracy.

I believe that AIG and the banks should have been allowed to fall and let the cards fall where they may. Barney Frank and the overseers should have to answer for Freddie Mac and Co.

Now this bail out deal will make the federal government owners of major banks. (That sounds like nationalization doesnt it?) Who will speak for the governments shares? Will the president? the treasury secretary? Will this inhibit the free enterprise system?

I believe that this government is to large, and is out of control. We pay higher healthcare because it is reguated by the feds and the insurance industry. Law suits and regulations are what cause high health care.

Wake up America, before its too late.

Joan says,
For many years I was Medical Director for a major TPA corporation. Our biggest job was fighting fraud, overcharges and begging the insurance companies to pay claims. We had the advantage of medical knowledge to persuade reluctant insurors that their client had a justified reason for treatment. Unfortunately, we were replaced by managed care and many patients suffered. This is definitely an area where corporations should be purged of their political affiliation.

Another area - FOX news - which only reports right wing opinions. Very scary. Deregulation gave them the right to report biased news. Personally, I'd like to go back to the time when news was news, not a plug for one of Rupert Murdock's pals.

Please refrain from plugging FOX NEWS (aka FOX NOISE) whenever possible. There is no need to legitimize the undisputed propaganda network of the GOP.

"Forget the golden years, they are tarnished and black. We need a miracle."

VOTE OBAMA!

The miracle we need is Barak Obama and the people he will surround himself with. We need another FDR. We need someone who will help bring jobs back to this country and favor UNIONS. UNIONS bring pensions and healthcare with them.

Grace,

To quote a former 'get rich politician' (your term - not mine) " I feel your pain". The fees for withdrawl were disclosed as part of your original agreement. Did you read them when you signed up?

Brokers love people that buy high and sell low.

You only get hurt worse in the market when you listen to the sensational gloom and doom media. Don't panic! Stay the course and the market will recover.

I'm just another retiree, but I'm not buyng the gloom and doom BS that is being spread like fertilizer on our land.

You are right Grace, these years are tarnished thanks to congress and their pals, we should throw the whole damn bunch out. Wharever happened to the promises made by the 2006 new empowered congress? They were like jackals at a dead carcus, and they smell even worse, they never lost anything from their retirement it is vested by us the taxpayers. There's plenty of finger pointing going on but Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac were being watched over by Barney( I have a lover) Frank, Chris (I have my hand out)Dodd, Congressman (give me some money too!)Cox, should all be brought up on charges, and what about Congressman Rangel as a slum lord and failing to file his income made from those properties he has owned for over a decade...and this guy is in charge of the most powerful committe in in congress the ways and means committe. What the H... are we going to do? We need some DIVINE intervention and soon. Good luck to all those folks hit by this intolerable mess, made by our own government.

This whole mess and a few other messes created by the very people we pay, congress, to be the caretakers is easily fixed. If every American would just let their personal politics slide for just one day we could provide the cure. Forget whether you are a Democrat or Republican on November 4 and do not cast even one vote for any incumbent. Only vote for the new person. Your vote for president can be either person because it will not make a lot of difference if you follow through with the senators and representatives as described above. This is called voter induced term limits. If we do this the new congress will get the message. No more crazy spending. No more catering to Wall Street fat cats. No more catering to businesses that intend to take our jobs overseas. Congress will know we are serious and if they wwant to get re-elected to another term the votes will be based on job performance and not who they got to know over the 4 years and contributions based on selling out the Americans.

I am 68 yrs old and can identify with Grace. I am waiting on one presidential candidate to suggest a capital loss tax relief instead of increasing a higher tax on capital gains. My expertise is not in finance, so I turned to professionals for this service. My 401k reached a high in the year 2000 of $985,000. Since then it has been in steady decline to its present value of less than $200,000. I have made very modest withdrawals from this account and even refinanced my home for cash, in order to leave as much money in this account hoping for a turn around, and as Grace stated the goverment would take a sizable chunk if I took this money out. I call this a no win situation. I am fairly convinced that this current financial crisis was contrived over the last years to produce its effect of wealth distribution where the populace will be dependent on a larger more socialistic goverment. Intitlements, welfare, education, housing, medical, foreign aid, and the list continues, are in my opinion proof positive of this goverment effort. The middle class is being effectively dealt with, and now we are hearing ways to deal with the more affluent through a lot higher tax burden imposed on them. The real scary thing is that nothing short of a revolution can change this trend our goverment has taken. The vote hasn't worked. We now await the messiah to lead us further into this dismal abyss.

MARILYN WENZ....We see the people that Barack Obama has surrounded himself with. If that doesn't give you cause to be afraid of him, then you are truly turning a blind eye. I worked so hard until I couldn't. I don't want him spreading the wealth to those who haven't made that effort. Maybe I should have just stayed on the welfare rolls and let the achievers provide for me.

I am not a member of a political party (Independant). I have registered this way so I can stay true to my feelings about the party in power must be voted out of office at least every 8 years, as they become totally corrupt in that time. This time it happened sooner. This Republican bunch has failed completely and must be voted out to save the Republic. I will be voting mostly Democrat this time.

Fox news is the only place you get the truth. That is why Pelosi wants them off the air. The people praising Obama have surely not done their homework. Did you see the congregation patting Wright on the back while he spewed hate for whites and America. Do you think Obama and his wife sat in that church for 20 yrs not agreeing with Wright and his congregation. There is a clip of Farakhan with thousands of his people kneeling in Muslim prayer and Farakhan is announcing that Obama is the Messiah.
Obama said he never heard those kind of speeches from Wright. He lied and then had to admit it. He said Ayres was a guy in his neighborhood. He lied. In his own words in the books he wrote he tells of his hatred for whites. He lied about how deeply he was involved with ACORN.His mentor in Hawaii was a noted communist under constant surviellance by te FBI.
ACORN bullied bankers/lenders into giving loans to people on welfare and illegals. They are 43% of these bad loans.
What will they bully us into when Obama is in power.Do you want to be his slave? Do your homework instead of believing the left wing media who are in the tank for Obama. All of this is proven. Why aren't you listening? Your childrens futures are at stake. Look up the truth about this man. The first step should be reading his own words. And just recently he said he wants to pass the wealth around. That is socialism and has been tried before and never worked.
For God's sake look it up. America is at stake.
If Obama tried for any other job in government he would not pass the FBI security check. He could not even be one of his own bodyguards.

The Marxist march
The federal government's bailout of AIG has pushed us for acceptance of Marxist philosophies.

Government believes everyone should own a home, including people who are deadbeats. Everyone's in favor of capitalism until it doesn't work to their advantage, and then they are in favor of socialism. And that's where we are right now.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are both speaking like socialists. Remember Big Brother giveth and Big Brother taketh away — $900 billion in bailouts and the sleeping politicians are not finished yet.

Both sides of the aisle are to blame. So go and vote in the incumbents so they can keep wasting our money. They are spending $1.20 for every dime they the collect. You do the math.

We're all communists now. God help us all.

Let me start by acknowledging that I don't believe that either candidate can or will be able to do all or even most of what they are now promising. Therefore, I can't base my decision solely on those promises. I am retired with a pension and health care benefits. I can't afford to pay taxes on my benefits so for my pocketbook issues, McCain has one strike against him. More importantly, in these uncertain times, I want the smartest minds possible working on the economic problems facing our country. This year, the Obama team is, in my opinion, the best and brightest available. I have to base my vote primarily on who is best able to lead this country out of a global recession. To do that successfully, the leader must work with other world leaders and again, I believe that Obama will be the better person to accomplish this task. Even though I am fiscally conservative, this year my vote goes in the democrat column.

To Frank, Linda, and others who think the Republicans have the "answers" and the Dems are "communist": first, dig out those dusty college texts of yours (or even a Merriam-Webster's) and refresh your minds about what "communist" means. Pssh.
Now, look at how successful the Republicans' unregulated supply-side free-market economics has been over the last, oh, eighty-some years--like, since 1925. The worst economic crises of the century--who was in office? Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Daddy Bush, and Baby Bush. Hmm. All Republicans. (And yes, I will acknowledge the mess under Carter too.)
And as to "burdening the wealthy" and "spreading the wealth to those who haven't made an effort": have you spoken to your Senator or Representative and asked them--in light of the housing/banking debacle--to give up their comfy pensions, FREE and universal (socialized?) health care, and even their dang free haircuts--all of which WE pay for w/our taxes? These are the same folks who voted to NOT raise the minimum wage. (YOU try feeding your family on 7 bucks an hour!)
To blame a "Democratic congress" is a little misplaced, John, since the Dems were only a sliver-thin plurality, not a majority, and so both Republicans and Dems have to share the blame. Right now on the radio, GWBush is bemoaning the state of our retirement funds and 401Ks. But it was largely his and Cheney's 'hands-off-the-market" philosophy that has led to off-shore tax shelters, outsourcing, and obscene golden parachutes. Of course, the neo-cons LOVE to blame Bill "Budget-Surplus" Clinton for all their problems, from the economy to 9-11, but it just doesn't stick. I mean, really: for a party who lectures the poor about "personal responsibility", the Republicans sure do spend a lot of time trying to blame other people for their own messes.
BTW, I am a registered Independent, who will be voting for Obama this election (could you tell? :-))

Marilyn, no one, including Barack Obama is planning, much less talking about "spreading the wealth to those who haven't made that effort." That is crappy propaganda to discredit the candidate. It has no basis in reality. People say things like that, and other people believe it without question, and then spread the rumor some more. In addition, all of us know someone who knows someone who is a felon or committed some crime. If who we are associated with at any time in our lives determines who we are today, then we're all in trouble. Donald Rumsfeld shook Saddam Hussein's hand many times; brokered deals to give him money and weapons - does that mean, by your logic, that Donald Rumsfeld should be imprisoned and hung for associating with a dictator? He did mismanage the war, instead of letting the competent military people run things, but he is not Saddam Hussein, anymore than Barack Obama is some kind of terrorist, for having known one.

Obama's college records have been sealed, including his thesis. He won't produce a birth certificate. His medical records have been sealed. I read Michelles thesis before they pulled it. She proved her hate for whites, that is why they pulled it. He lies and he keeps lying. And his cabinet will be full of people who feel the same as Farakhan, Wright,Ayres, Frank Davis,his deceased mentor in Hawaii who was a noted communist and pornographer. He will appoint the people who fled ACORN with millions of dollars and ran straight for Obama's camp and now work as his advisors. He lied about how deeply he was involved in ACORN.
He has just announced he will redistribute wealth. That is socialism and has been tried before and always failed. He wants to take working peoples money and give it to people who don't work. He does not want to govern, he wants to rule.
He will tell you anything you want to hear about solving our problems. But as many times as he has lied about his allies such as the above mentioned , how can you possible believe anything he says.
He is a danger to our country. He thought noone would bring up his past or question him because they would be accused of racism.That is how he beat Hillary. And now because McCain has had the nerve to question him and he has no answers he is screaming racism. He will do a lot of harm by doing this and he doesn't care.
Now he has black Ministers comparing John McCain to people who blew up a black church and killed 3 little girls. All because McCain dared ask him about Ayres. They are building up hatred for McCain and Palin because of their asking him the questions that Americans deserve to know. This is cruel and low down. Do we no have the right to know about his past without being accused of racism?
Is he the Messiah that Farakhan claims him to be? NO NO NO
Obama's money Czar who owns the Hyatt Hotels just hosted a big party for Ahmendenajad. She said "are we not all created by the same God" My God does not tell me to behead the people who don't agree with me. I don't belong to any group like Farakhans that promote hatred toward blacks. Farakhan teaches hate against whites and Obama has honored him and called him a great man. Where are your brains. Can't you see he is not what he represents himself to be? Read the books he wrote. In his own words you will see he hates whites. All that I have written here is provable and documented. But the mainstream press will not tell you this. And if it were not for the Internet and Fox news and radio talk shows we would know none of this.
Research this man before you vote for him. Don't just listen to what he is telling you. Do you want a man to be President who wouldn't be able to pass a government secutity test to be his own bodyguard?

I have had my retirement funds stolen twice before: Hospital takeover and Hospital failure. I've learned in my 43 years of being gainfully employed to NOT put all of your eggs in one basket. The days of "the company taking care of you" are over people! You have to take care of yourself! I have invested in my home which is now upside down, my vehicle is free and clear, I have minimal credit card debt, I invest up to the max my employer will match and I cover my financial solvency with the insurance I CAN AFFORD! I've been told by very wealthy people in health care that I will live a miserable existance in retirement. But, I'm not getting an ulcer now with the roller coaster on Wall Street!!!!!!!!

All the mainstream media is in the tank for Obama. The only place you get the real news is from Fox. That is why Obama and Pelosi want to get rid of it. So you will only hear what they want you to hear. And yes please let me be surrounded by Obama's allies. Farakhan, Hamas, Wright, Ayres. The two honchos from ACORN. The Catholic Priest that did that disgusting bit on Hillary. Sick man. Too bad Frank Davis,Obama's mentor in Hawaii, the noted communist and pornographer that Obama praises in his book. You should start thinking what your role will be in this crowd. But I suppose you will go on believing Obamas lies when they are staring you in the face.

FOURGIVE ME FOR THE CAPS, I AM A 100% DISABLED V/NAM VET WHO CAN USE ONLY ONE FINGER TO TYPE WITH WHILE I AM LAYING IN MY HOSPITAL BED WITH JUST 4 OR 5 MONTHS TO LIVE. THIS IS MY 1ST TIME ON THIS SITE AND I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN BELIVE THE THINGS YOU ARE SAYING.
I USE TO WATCH ALL OF THE NEWS PROGRAMS BUT STOPPED AFTER THE MAIN NETWORKS TOLD YOU WHAT TO THINK AND BELIVE.
YES, I WATCH FOX NEWS AND I WATCH BILL O'REILLY EVERY DAY AND NIGHT.
WITH FOX I GET BOTH SIDES OF A ISSURE WITHOUT THE LIES THAT I HEAR COMMING OUT OF MOST OF THE DEMS. PEOPLE.
YOU THINK THAT EVERY THING HAS TURN TO HELL WITH PRESIDENT BRUSH NOW, THEN VOTE FOR OBAMA AND YOU WILL SEE AND KNOW WHAT HELL IS.
EVERYONE SEEMS TO FORGET THAT ONE OF OUR GREATEST PRESIDENTS WAS A REPUBLICAN AND THE 1ST REPUBLICAN TO BECOME PRESIDENT. WE WOULD NOT HAVE 50 STATES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN IF IT WAS NOT THE STRONG HAND OF A OUTSTANDING LEADER AS PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS. WE NEED A STRONG PERSON TO LEAD OUR NATION OUT OF THIS WAR NOT ONLY IN IRAQ AND THE OTHER NATIONS THAT HATE US, BUT TO LEAD US OUT OF THE WAR IN WALL STREET. JOHN MCCAIN IS THE STRONG PERSON WHO WE NOW NEED DURING THESE HARD TIMES WE FIND OUR SELVES IN. HE HAS PROVED HIM SELF SO MANY TIMES THAT THE USA COMES 1ST AND WITH FAMILY AND GOD RIGHT ALONG SIDE OF AMERICAN. BECAUSE AMERICAN IS OUR FAMILY, YOURS, MIND AND ALL OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF THIS LAND.
THE ONLY THING OBMA HAS PROVED IS HE HAS BAD JUDGEMENT AND NO MANAGER SKILLS. ONE OF THE MAIL THINGS THAT OBMA HAS PROVED OVER AND OVER IS THAT AMERICAN IS NOT 1ST OR EVEN 3RD. ON HIS LIST TO DEFEND. ANY BODY CAN TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR TO GET YOUR VOTE, JUST LIKE CLINTON DID WHEN HE PROMISE TO CUT YOUR TAXES IF YOU MADE HIM PRESIDENT. WHAT DID HE DO, HE RAISED THEM TO THE HIGHEST THEY HAD EVER BEEN. THATS ONE REASON OUR JOBS ARE GOING OVERSEAS AND NOT STAYING AT HOME IN THE USA. THE COMPANIES CAN GET BUY WITH PAYING HIGHER WAGES IN THE USA, BUT THEY CAN NOT PAY HIGHER WAGES AND TAXWS AND STILL STAY OPEN FOR YOUR BUSINESS. SO THEY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE THE JOBS.
I CAN TELL YOU IT IS NOT MY PAIN MEDS TALKING, BUT A PERSON WHO WOULD AND IS LAYING HIS LIFE DOWN FOR THE COUNTRY HE LOVES.
I PRAY THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE THRU THE DARKNESS AND INTO THE LIGHT BEFORE IT IS TO LATE AND VOTE FOR JOHN MCCAIN WHILE WE ARE STILL ALLOWED TO VOTE. REMEMBER YOU ONLY GET ONE VOTE!! IF JOHN MCCAIN IS NOT OUR NEXT PRESIDENT, THEN I PRAY TO GOD TO TAKE ME HOME.

Retirement? What's that??? I simply plan on starving to death under a bridge somewhere...the icebergs I had counted on floating off on surely will have been melted by then!

Neither party has adequate nominees. None of those running have said HOW they plan to create more jobs. I'd work 'til I die IF I could find a job. Age discrimination is alive and well. But I digress. Bringing the "outsourced" jobs back home would help. But HOW!!!!!!

Does taxing the disappearing middle class make sense to anyone? It doesn't to me. I had to give up my health insurance 5 years ago, couldn't afford it. I have no job and haven't for 5 years. My support payments will stop in two years. I've looked for 5 years for a job here in rural No. CA and can't find a job, even one I'm overqualified for and willing to work at minimum wage to get (1/2 what the normal salary would be at least). If I had a job, I could buy my own health insurance again, as I have done for the past 10 years. If I had a job, I could maybe even afford to move to a location where there are more jobs (might get shot in a drive-by, but those're the breaks). If I had a job, I could pay down my debt, sleep at night, buy a house, buy a car...

I guess I've said enough. I may make it for another two years if food prices don't push top ramen up over $2.00 a package...

Cheerio!

Very short and sweet. This guy is an idiot!

If you want to know about who Obama associates with just look at William Ayres, a man who has no regrets about bombing America. Then there is the ACORN group who are falsifying voter registrations in order to steal an election. Unfortunately for Obama, if he wins I will always say it was because ACORN got it for him by fabricating voting records.

If you want to know about who Obama associates with just look at William Ayres, a man who has no regrets about bombing America. Then there is the ACORN group who are falsifying voter registrations in order to steal an election. Unfortunately for Obama, if he wins I will always say it was because ACORN got it for him by fabricating voting records.

TO ...LIBERALS OR CONSERVATIVES.......

FYI only.

George Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years. The first six the economy was fine.

A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;

2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;

3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 +

5) American's were buying new cars, taking cruises, vacations overseas, living large!...

But American's wanted 'CHANGE'! So, in 2006

they voted in a Democratic Congress

and yes--we got 'CHANGE' all right.

In the PAST YEAR:

1) Consumer confidence has plummeted
2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon & climbing!;
3) Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase);
4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices still dropping;
5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
6) as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~
$2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS, BONDS & MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!
YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE...AND WE SURE GOT IT! ....

REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS. WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

AND

NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!!

JUST HOW MUCH MORE 'CHANGE' DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND?

Now isn't this something to think about!

If Barack Obama would apply for a job with the FBI or with
the Secret Service, he would be disqualified because of his
past association with William Ayers, a known terrorist.

If he is elected President he would not qualify to be his own body guard!

Everybody listening???????

Can you hear me now?

I cannot vote for a man who would try to trash the second amendment, the admendment that keeps the others in the bill of rights in effect. To all you who don't agree, I feel sorry for you. You put way too much faith in your government. The best kind of government is the one who governs as little as possible. Flame away, I know I am right. Thank god for the Bill of Rights and the soldiers and vets, of which I am one, who have and WILL defend it.

I see many comments complaining about Fox. MSNBC is at least equally biased in the other direction. I watch both, but when the particularly offensive pundits shows begin (O'Rielly, Matthews, Olberman, Hannity) I just switch to another channel.

Other than for entertainment purposes, I don't have much use for either of them.

Myke, where do you GET this stuff??? Oh, I forgot--Faux News.

The "thesis is sealed" rumor is just that: a rumor. Check snopes dot com /politics/obama/thesis.asp
Besides, that myth is about MICHELLE, not Barack. (And I might add: unlike Palin and McCain, the Obamas and Sen. Biden actually *wrote* theses!)
Most of the other smears against Obama are nothing but figments.
His birth certificate? Read factcheck dot org /elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
College records "sealed"? So are McCain's military records. And FYI, so are *your* and *my* college records.
Bill Ayers? Even the Republicans on that committee called those charges "ridiculous". Again, look through factcheck and snopes.
Hates America, and writes about "hatred of whites"? I received the same deranged emails in my inbox. False, out of context, distortions. Snopes dot com has an entire SECTION addressing the rumors and lies about Barack Obama.
Your comments about Frank Davis (surely there is someone more quote-worthy than Sean Hannity?) are nothing but red-baiting. I thought that tactic went out with HUAC and Joe McCarthy.
Penny Pritzker did not "host a big party" for Ahmedinejad. She owns the hotel, yes. But the World Council of Churches, the Quakers, and the Mennonites jointly held a convention at the hotel; that is the group that, wisely or not, invited Ahmedinejad to attend--not Pritzker. She had nothing to do with it.

Regarding Obama's church: maybe, before throwing stones, you could do a little research into Palin's church associations. Like the witch-doctor (see YouTube), and the pastor who said that anyone who disagrees w/Bush has come from Hell (Wasilla Daily News). Then there is the "First Dude" who loves America so much that he has belonged to a secessionist group that was welcomed to Wasilla by none other than Gov. Sarah Palin.

Whether you like Obama or not, at least do some homework before you repeat these fabrications. Agree or disagree with his policies. But remember, a real democracy depends on the truth, not hysteria.

I quit watching the drive by media ( local news channels) and started watching Fox News( cable and dish networks) when my son volunteered to proudly serving his country in Iraq. I needed to hear the truth about what was really going on over there. God Bless Shawn Hannity and all the staff at Fox News station.

Now, this election we will be fighting for our freedom too. The choice is obvious. Why is Obama's past such a secret and what gives him the right to keep it hidden from the citizens of the United States? If you run for President, your life should be an open book. The choices one makes in life defines your moral character. He CHOSE to associate with such evil men like Bill Ayres, a known US Terrorist bomber, and made deals with dangerous people to further his career. Have you noticed how the Arabs, Spain, and France are all about Obama? A vote for McCain, is a vote for OUR FREEDOM and a vote for Obama is for Socialism and the beginning of the end of our freedom. Wake up America! May God have mercy on your souls!

I am shocked at what I am reading. I cannot believe the ignorance and hatred.
In order for you to get , if not the truth, at least part of it you must watch television news programs that present both sides of an argument. I also read a lot.
I am disgusted with John McCain for severl reasons. The selection of a person who is not qualified to step into the oval office if necessary. Her selection is an insult at all women. His negative campaign has done nothing but distribute half truths and suggestions that are just not true. Wm. Ayers is someone that Senator Obama served on a couple of Boards with and lived in his neighborhood. They are not hanging around at th local bar together.
The McCain campaign, because they have nothing new to offer, have resorted to encouraging hatred and uncivilized hatered. I thought all of theis was behind us.
Senator Obama is as qualified as Senator McCain to be President. Your choice is simple. If you like the way things are vote for McCain, if you want change vote for Senator Obama.
By the way, the last time I checked, whether you are Christian, Hebrew, Buddist or whatever, we all worship the same God. We just use different paths to get there. I would suggest that you read about other religions. NONE of them are perfect and none of them are wrong.

Christy, Barack Obama's past IS an open book--TWO open books, as a matter of fact.

Did you watch the PBS profile piece last night, on Frontline? It covered both Obama and McCain. A documentary about their backgrounds and formative years. Very good, non-partisan, factual and dispassionate. Gave some good insights into both candidates without a political or ideological filter. It will probably be broadcast a second time before the election, so keep an eye open for it.

My main concerns, about Obamba, is not liking our Flag, or our National antham. What is this all about?? And is it a true fact about this, or just people throwing this out there as a scare tactic?
Please, someone write explaining this to me. I don't know which way to vote, both men scare me. We should have had Hillary. She, was my gal. I think no matter who takes over, will lead us into more trouble, then we are already having. We needed another Clinton, in office to get this country back on the right track.

Ms. Pat,
Your instincts are correct: the flag thing and the national anthem thing are both internet rumors and scare tactics. If you hear something that seems to be too shocking to be true, it probably is :-) There are two websites that are good to check with in order to determine the truth about something like this: snopes.com and factcheck.org Both are non-partisan.