Way More Than Just Words – Campaign Stops – 2008 Elections – Opinion – New York Times Blog

In his brief political career, Barack Obama has gained renown as possibly the greatest and most eloquent political orator of his generation — a master of metaphor, a repository of rhetorical flourishes and a spellbinding speaker. But last night in Denver, Mr. Obama showed the political world another side to his speech-making skills: that he can do more than campaign in verse, he can campaign in prose as well.

A must-read.

Source: Time.com
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Yet another bad McCain moment:

What do you want voters to know coming out of the Republican Convention — about you, about your candidacy?
I’m prepared to be President of the United States, and I’ll put my country first.

There’s a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?
Read it in my books.

I’ve read your books.
No, I’m not going to define it.

But honor in politics?
I defined it in five books. Read my books.

That and more in the article. Check it out.

In response to the Russia-Georgia conflict, President Bush said “Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.” (Source: USA Today)

John McCain said, “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” (Sources: Huffington Post)

The hypocrisy of it all is so brilliant it speaks for itself.

Source: Boston.com, by Matt Viser
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From the Globe:

Governor Deval Patrick last week quietly vetoed a pension increase for retired teachers and state workers that would have boosted benefits by $120 per year, a major stand for a governor to take against unions that helped elect him.

Deval Patrick defends his decision by stating:

I recognize that people across the Commonwealth, particularly retirees on a fixed income, are facing difficult economic times. However, I returned an earlier version of this legislation, expressing concern about adding significant costs to the Commonwealth’s already large unfunded retirement liability.

While Patrick supported the pension boosts, he did not want to commit to too much and put the state’s treasury in a hole. He preferred that the pension boosts be limited to workers who had pension amounts of $40,000 or less so that the state would save money and pension boosts would still go to those who need it. The legislature did not modify the bill and the end result is a veto. As much as I’d prefer these pension benefits, since I will be a teacher eventually, I do feel like we shouldn’t take up money from the state if it’s going to put them in a financial situation that would lead them to take that money back from us in another way, such as higher taxes.