My (soon-to-be) Wife sent me this video originally with my name in it as a joke. You can put in any first and last name, and it will incorporate them into the video. I found many humorous combinations of first and last names, but this one I thought seemed most appropriate considering recent media coverage of McCain's VP Pick:

John McBush / Sarah Palin '08

With so much at stake, there is one candidate that may be able to make the difference. Sarah Palin has surprised both Democrats and Republicans with a grass roots effort. This candidate has made many wonder: Who is John McBush / Sarah Palin?
See the Video!

Link...

Because of the wide variety of headline-grabbing topics in the news this week, today's TennViews weekly roundup of liberal Tennessee bloggers is divided into three sections: the first on the Democratic Convention, the second on McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, and the third on other subjects.

We have some great content this week, so sit back, grab a beverage, and spend some time reading what Tennessee's progressive blogosphere has been saying.

A Women's Caucus held Tuesday was an inspiring event. Many women volunteered their time to speak on the possibilities of success, the need for equality, and to encourage women to speak up, vote, and run for office. There appeared to be about 500 women in attendance.

When I arrived Sheila Johnson was concluding her presentation. She is co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and the first black woman to own three professional sports teams.

Cecile Richards, daughter of Ann Richards, was exceptional, as was Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War Veteran. Please excuse the video, a lot was going on in the room.

Cecile Richards was inspiring as was her mother. Excerpts from Cecile Richards speech:

"If you liked George Bush, you're going to love John McCain. He has voted against women's healthcare 125 times... John McCain has vowed to appoint Supreme Court justices that will overturn Roe v Wade... Five men in black robes don't know better than women what's better for their healthcare... Women voting for John McCain is like chickens voting for Col. Sanders."

According to a source close to the McCain Campaign John McCain will announce that Knox County Tennessee Republican Mayor Mike Ragsdale will join him on the national GOP ticket for November. The anonymous source claims McCain feels Ragsdale shares his values and will offer a true representation of the kind of leadership McCain wants to bring to the White House.

Many of McCain's top aides were unhappy with the choice do to Ragsdale's scandal filled tenure as Knox Co. Mayor. Despite their misgivings McCain was adamant and reportedly shouted down all objections at top-level campaign meeting about the vice-presidential choice held at his newest mansion in Arizona. In fact McCain was so upset he climbed the oil rig in the back yard and refused to come down, shouting at the worried campaign aides gathered below, "You kids get off my lawn!" Ragsdale was unavailable for comment, but a spokesman for the Mayor released the following statement on the Mayor's recent travel schedule:

"Mayor Ragsdale will be campaigning in Dayton, Ohio with Senator McCain on Friday, but it is most definatly not to avoid prosecution in Knoxville."

Congratulations to Sen. Obama!

Get ready. The job has just begun.

How's the crowd, Randy?

Who does Mr Owens think he is ? He can just pick a law firm to handle the legal needs of county commission? Could it be Mr Owens is getting a little kick back from this law firm ? I thought that any purchases made by the county be it products or services went out to bid .

Sounds like Mr Owens thinks hes above the normal process and he can just do as he wants. And to think certain county commissioners want him to be a session court judge. Doesnt this sound like MORE back room deals are being made ? Shame on those county commissioners that are involved in this, maybe they need to look up the word ETHICS and think about BLACK WED.

This week's Sunday roundup of Tennessee liberal bloggers is devoted to the selection of Joe Biden as Obama's VP candidate. Reactions run the gamut, and they're collected here.

Saw it on the CNN crawl.

The O-Mail arrived at 4:45 AM. A Huffington Post item with an AP release arrived at 1:45 AM.

I can't believe the weak response John McCain is getting as he addresses the National Convention of Veterans of Foriegn Wars today. Either there are only about ten people in the audience or they simply lack interest in John McCain's talking-point lecture today. It's pathetic really. He keeps flashing the obligatory sh**t-eating grin after every line he thinks will get a great reponse--but nothing happens. I wonder if these orchestrated pauses and grins are scripted into the notes he is reading? The part of his speech that tried to create a spike of fear about Russia equal to the Cold War went over like a gas bubble in a space suit. I have heard more of the military is going to vote for Obama, but I never realized how tepid McCain's support was in that area. I can't help but think his brilliant idea to use the Russian incursion into Georgia to boost his ratings as a die-hard war hawk is backfiring. This speech anyway sounded and looked like a huge bust.

The Sunday roundup of Tennessee liberal bloggers is here. Go check out what everyone's been saying this week.

John McCain recently released an ad that admitted America was worse of today than it was four years ago. What it fails to show is that if John McCain is elected America faces "Four More Years."

This video gives the McCain ad a more accurate finish with Bush's and McCain's own words.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." - W

The TennViews Sunday roundup of progressive bloggers is here.

I'll be doing the roundup for the remainder of August, so if I've left anyone off the list, please let me know.

Why are we so often reacting instead of planning?

A Gang of 10 Senators, five Republicans and five Democrats, are proposing a new energy plan.

A bipartisan group of 10 senators offered an energy plan Friday aimed at producing more domestic oil via offshore drilling, reducing energy prices, and aiding the troubled economy.

The Gang of 10 include Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Saxby Chambliss, a R-Ga.; John Thune, R-S.D.; Ben Nelson, D-Neb.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

Drilling bans along the Pacific coast and the Northeast would remain in place under this compromise.

Only in the Southeast? Alrighty then.

Obama is willing to support the effort. Earlier in the day he was proposing $1,000 "emergency" rebate checks. Guess that wasn't enough.

Can we hope Congress will hold off on any decisions until after the Presidential election? Then we might have a new President with four years to actual devise a thoughtful solution without oil companies influence. Nah.

Good news! "The city [Denver] also announced today that none of the equipment purchases include nonlethal weapons that discharge "slime" or "goo" to immobilize persons or vehicles or that use microwaves or sonic waves to induce pain or discomfort in targets.

Not that I'll be protesting. I just don't want to accidentally get slimed while strolling through Denver. Of course, I don't want to get hit with a billystick or rubber bullet either.

Want to attend the festivies on the last night of the convention? You must be serious.

"Every single person is going to be a level of seriousness," Hildebrand said. "You know, 'Tell us how you're going to get there from Maine. Tell us how you're going to get there from Florida. Give us a sense of whether or not you're really serious about this. If you're not, we're going to provide someone else with this.' "

You'll probably be more likely to get a ticket if you sign on to perform volunteer activities for the campaign. Contact your local Democratic Party office.

"I think it's fair to say that we don't have any specific credible threat information with regard to the convention, you know, from a terrorist standpoint."

Let's see, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, he got to watch Saddam Hussein get arrested, he has a degree in accounting, and he worked undercover in Chicago. Oh, and he was a "legal" attache in Baghdad.

Let's hope all of the additional security personnel in Denver do get to go there, see the Rocky Mountains, and go home.

Heckuva job, Jimmie!

McCain, Obama first joint appearance in a church?

From TalkLeft,

We should keep religion and morality out of politics. It's a private matter that should stay private. What's next, debates at churches? Televising prayer breakfasts instead of congressional hearings? This is a slippery slope.

Sheesh.

H/T egalia.

The Orlando Sentinel posts an article on "Winning Strategies for Obama, McCain in Florida".

Florida generally tends to lean Republican. "Republicans carried Florida in eight of the past 11 presidential elections..." Nothing unique here, Republicans carried most of the states in the past 11 presidential elections.

The writer's tip for Obama, Maximize turnout.

However, it appears the one time Florida did not follow the Republican trend was Bill Clinton's second term, 1996. The 1996 election had the lowest voter turnout of the past 12 presidential elections and Florida went for Clinton. Could it really have been a great economy that won Clinton the election in Florida? I guess the writer's tip may be good after all since Obama will not win based on a good economy this year.

While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do, a poll by The Associated Press and Yahoo News showed Friday.

They needed a poll to figure this out?

John McCain is a lucky recipient of Social Security benefits.

Last week, McCain said the system for funding Social Security is "a disgrace" because it forces young workers to pay into a program that is unlikely to benefit them in its current form.

Can you turn down SS benefits? If so, shouldn't he? I mean, he's very wealthy, isn't he? I'm sure there are a lot of us who could use those benefits when the time comes.

I don't suppose this is the first time The New Yorker magazine has caused controversy. Here's a little background on New Yorker politically incorrect covers.

Good satire or too much?

Reactions around the liberal blogosphere, TalkLeft, Politico, The Huffington Post.

Americans believe they have one of the best, if not the best, standard of living in the world. Indeed, some Americans have a fantastic standard of living, while millions of others live in near third world conditions. Many people who are poor, infirm, elderly or sick will turn to their family or community for aid and support in times of need. When that is not available they will turn to the government for help. The public welfare tradition of government support is a relatively new tradition, started in full force during the great depression of the 1930's through the recognition of government as a positive force for social change. Since that time, there has been a continuous dialectic between supporters of government as a basic safety net and detractors of government who feel that family is the basic social unit of society, and that government interference weakens the family and diminishes America.

Congrats to our team for turning in such a stupendous performance yesterday at the East Tennessee Epilepsy Foundation's Mud Volleyball Tournament! Out of 10 matches, we won 3 (the other teams didn't show up, so we won by default). However, we did lose the other 7 with a great deal of style!*

The players on our team:
Randy Tyree, candidate for Sheriff and former Knoxville Mayor
Mark Harmon, Knox County Commissioner
Bob Becker, Knoxville City Councilman
Andrew Graybeal, Candidate for Property Assessor
Kevin Spooner
Olivia and Phoebe Spooner
Megan and Scott Lappas
Dan Schuh
Amy Broyles, Candidate for County Commissioner

*Expect us to score more wins in the election next month!

Netroots Nation is holding their annual meeting next week, August 17th through the 20th, in Austin, TX.

It appears this will be a busy, busy conference. There are approximately 120 items on the agenda, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi taking questions Saturday morning. "Harold Ford Jr. and Markos Moulitsas will participate in a Friday keynote discussion on party infrastructure." There will be a 26,000 sq ft exhibition hall with lots of vendors, such as ActBLue, AlterNet, American Rights at Work, Bullitics.com, Change Congress, and the Chicago Theological Seminary.

It'll be a hot time in Austin, in more ways than one.

Every aspect analyzed. Boxers or briefs?

Yikes! Did you know the Obama family doesn't have a pet at home?

The American Kennel Club wants to help. You can vote for the breed of dog is best for the Obama family.

Of course, I'm a little (a lot) partial to the Miniature Schnauzer.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be in the South this week. He is scheduled to be in Charlotte, NC, today and "is scheduled to make stops this week in Virginia, Georgia and Ohio..."

Anyone heard of a visit to Tennessee in the works?

Sen. McCaskill, MO, is quoted as saying Obama's economic plan:

"calls for cutting income taxes and providing a stimulus for small business growth. McCaskill said Obama will provide up to $1,000 in income tax credits for families and will eliminate income taxes for seniors making $50,000 or less a year."

Years ago there was "income averaging", where your federal taxes were based on your average income over 3-4 years (can't remember exactly). That was a pretty good boost for young people just starting out. They weren't slammed with higher taxes the first year or two their incomes started to rise.

Obama launches a web site to "debunk rumors about his campaign".

Fight the Smears

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In her morning briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president congratulates Obama.
...
Perino said she does not anticipate Bush will call Obama. She said President Clinton did not call Bush when he clinched the Republican nomination in 2000.

The Democratic Party is happy now. The President has acknowledged the contender.

McCain's lobbyist connections have been discussed a bit in the media lately, with little fuss. But this one may bite him in the backside.

All Democrats should be nice to West Virginia.

The two current US Senators from West Virginia are Democrats.
Two of the three current US House of Representatives from West Virginia are Democrats
The current West Virginia Governor is a Democrat.
68% of the current WV State Senators are Democrats.
75% of the current WV State House of Representatives are Democrats.

Is it to soon to resume speculating who Obama's running mate will be? Though I'm not much of a Carville fan these days, I see the Ragin' Cajun mentions one of my favs, Gen. Wesley Clark. Bill Richardson of course would still be a great choice too.

I'm not crazy about Hillary as a pick, mostly because I don't think that would be the best strategy to win required non-Dems, though it would help bridge the two Dem camps back together. Carville also mentioned two others that I would call strategic choices in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Michael Bloomberg.

A win would be good.