ENDORSEMENTS -- YOU DECIDE! INCLUDE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD, THE BOSS, MAYOR OF MARGARITAVILLE

Last night "The Boss" performed at a rally in Cleveland for Orack Obama, singing "This Land Is Your Land" for one -- meanwhile, Governor Palin was introduced to the strains of "Red Neck Girl".

Here then, are some endorsements for candidates to help you decide whom you would vote for tomorrow:

ORACK OBAMA:

WARREN BUFFETT
COLIN POWELL
HILLARY CLINTON
BILL CLINTON
JIMMY BUFFETT
SENATOR FEINGOLD, WISCONSIN
SENATOR KOHL, WISCONSIN
SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (RETIRED)

Military
John Adams, Brigadier General US Army (Ret), Former Deputy US Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee
Clifford Alexander, Jr., former Secretary of the Army
Susan Ahn Cuddy, first female gunner officer in the U.S. Navy and daughter of Korean Independence fighter Ahn Chang-ho[262]
Wesley Clark, former General, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, 2004 presidential candidate]
Tom Daniels, Texas Air National Guard
Richard Danzig, former Secretary of the Navy]
Larry Gillespie, Brigadier General (Ret), Assistant Deputy Commanding General, (ARNG) Army Material Command]
Scott Gration Major General (USAF-Ret), former Director of Strategy, Policy, and Assessments of the United States European Command in Germany
Donald Joseph Guter, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy, current Dean, Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh
Richard D. Hearney, former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps]
John Hutson, former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy]
Jeh Johnson, former General Counsel of the U.S. Air Force]
Lester Lyles, former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
David 'Dave' McGinnis, Brigadier General (Ret), former Chief of Staff of the National Guard Association of the U.S.]
Merrill A. McPeak, four star General (Ret), former Secretary of the United States Air Force during Operation Desert Storm,
John B. Nathman (Ret), former Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Vice Chief of Naval Operations
F. Whitten Peters, former Secretary of the Air Force[
Hugh Robinson, Major General (Ret), Commander of the Southwestern Division]
James Smith, Brigadier General (USAF-Ret), former Commander, Joint Warfighting Center, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Joint Training Analysis and Simulation Center
Robert 'Willie' Williamson Rear Admiral (USN-Ret), served as military Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition and Director, Office of Program Appraisal.
Ralph Wooten Major General (Ret), former Commanding General of the Army’s Chemical Arsenal, currently the Executive Vice President of Management Systems, Inc.
Colin Powell, General (Ret), former General in the United States Army, National Security Advisor (1987–1989) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ]

BUSINESS:

Elisabeth Murdoch - )daughter of FOX magnate Rupert Murdoch

Family members of major political figures
Jack Carter, Nevada politician, son of Jimmy Carter
Jill Docking, Kansas politician, daughter-in-law of Robert Docking, former Governor of Kansas
Kitty Dukakis, wife of 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis,
Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of Richard Nixon and wife of grandson of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower
CC Goldwater, granddaughter of former Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater
Kathleen Hensley Portalski, half-sister of John McCain's wife, Cindy Hensley McCain
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy
Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy
Joe Kennedy, son of Joseph Patrick Kennedy II and grandson of Robert F. Kennedy
Max Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy
Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, documentary filmmaker
Ann McGovern, daughter of fmr. Sen. George McGovern (D-SD)
Stephanie Miller, host of The Stephanie Miller Show and the daughter of former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate William E. Miller[870]
Elizabeth Moynihan, widow of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Christine Pelosi, a member of DNC (superdelegate) and the daughter of the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Dorothy Peterson, wife of Former New Hampshire Governor and Republican Walter Peterson
Nathan Portalski, nephew of John McCain's wife, Cindy Hensley McCain
Alma Rangel, wife of Rep. Charles B. Rangel
Ron Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan
Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Maria Shriver, journalist, niece of John F. Kennedy, First Lady of California and wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rabbi Ethan Tucker, stepson of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT
Lilibet Hagel- wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)

THESE ARE BUT A FEW! check out the entire list at your leisure. I particularly like the endorsement of Rupert Murdoch's daughter!!!


JOHN MCCAIN:

GEORGE H. W. BUSH
GEORGE W. BUSH
DICK CHENEY
DAN QUAYLE
FRED THOMPSON
MICHELLE BACHMANN
JOE THE PLUMBER (SCAB)
TITO THE BUILDER
SARAH THE PALIN
KARL ROVE

(THERE ARE MANY, MANY MORE, IF YOU CARE TO CHECK THEM OUT -- BUT THOSE LISTED ABOVE ARE ENOUGH SAID AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED.)

STORE TO DO LAND OFFICE BUSINESS IF REPUBLICANS WIN!

Pictured is a little "mom and pop" store in Alaska poised to turn a huge profit and rebuild as a Gander Mountain if "Fibber McPain and Mooselini" should happen to win tomorrow's election.

When contacted by local media, owner "Clyde the Paddle Salesman" said: "I'm certainly not counting my chickens before my ship comes in, but I know that I stand to make a shitload of cash if things go my way on November 4th!"

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OFFICE WOOD DELIVERED -- BUT TO WRONG ADDRESS!!

This past week I gave Jeff Smith (not the politician), my "wood guy", a call to set up my delivery of stove wood for the office only to find that he is already completely depleted of dry, seasoned oak! Not only that, he informed me that if I wanted to get "green" (which was $45 a face cord last year) it would cost me $72.00 a face cord, delivered!

So I started looking for alternatives. I called my friend Judy Willink of Augusta, Wisconsin, who I knew had several dead and downed oak on her property. Judy suggested I call Millard Martin, her very kind and helpful neighbor just down the road . Millard's sons come over to Judy's property every year, cut up, split, and stack her stove wood, asking in return that they be allowed some of the wood for their use.

I called Millard and he told me he could deliver my usual 6 face cord, dry, split, and delivered for $50 a face cord so of course I jumped at the opportunity to have him take care of it. I also gave him my cell phone number so that he could call me the saturday of delivery so that I might show him exactly where I wanted it unloaded.

Yesterday was the target saturday. Not hearing from Millard by mid-morning, I attempted to reach him but got no answer on his home phone and he hadn't given me his cell phone number.

Figuring either that I had misunderstood and that delivery was next saturday or that Millard would call my cell when he was ready to drive the load up from Augusta, i left home and spent the day with my friend Doug Cox as he is leaving for San Francisco on monday and I wanted to have some time with him.

Late in the afternoon, I returned home and went directly here to the office. when I came in, I saw the message light blinking. It was Millard. He had misplaced my cell phone number, he said, and he and his sons had delivered the firewood earlier in the day.

I panicked as I knew there was no stack of wood outside my office door! I raced over to the house and, as pictured, they had dropped the fire wood at the wrong address!

AAAAARRGGHHH!!!!

I gave Millard a call, he explained the above and I think we have it ironed out. They will be returning sometime this week and will have to reload the wood and bring it over here.

I feel really awful about it, but there it is!

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JOE THE PLUMBER -- AKA SAM THE WIFE BEATER?

The cast of characters in the John McCain camp gets "curiouser and curiouser"! In additiion to Sarah Palin's repeated shows of ignorance after being set up with "gotcha" questions like "what newspapers do you read regularly?" now we have Tito the Builder -- and the man who recently hired his own agent and has expressed an interest in running for a governmental seat in 2010 -- "Joe the Plumber" who it turns out hasn't paid his taxes and isn't really a licensed plumber (Joe the Scab?).

The latest rumor is that Sam Wurzelbacher is a woman abuser -- and not an amateur folks! No -- this man has had lots and lots of practice!

Take a look at records:

Plumber Joe - is now a public person - He has record of Domestic Violence - Ex- wife Jennifer P. divorce 1997 Docket # DR19970476- case Domestic violence in front of children - battered women shelter -Docket # DV0400222 3/1/04 11/04 Judgment. Ex-wife Kimberley divorce 2007 Docket # DM20065458 - She was @ battered womens shelter. Also provided court documents of @ least 12 former girlfriends , of Joe the plumber , filing complaints of violence by Joe the plumber. he also has 2 Annullments -reason Unmitigated physical violence.

"curiouser and curiouser!"

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Michael Moore, one of the most hated , high school educated men in America made an appearance on the show of another guy that "good faith-based Christians" love to hate, Bill Maher's Real Time this weekend and towards the end of the interview, he made these suggestions for improving elections in these United States that I thought are great common sense:

MAKE VOTING BY PAPER BALLOT AND NUMBER TWO LEAD PENCIL ONLY! This is the method used in Canada, the world's 2nd largest land mass where results of elections are known an hour after polls close.

VOTING SHOULD BE MOVED FROM A TUESDAY TO A SATURDAY OR SUNDAY WHEN PEOPLE ARE OFF WORK AND HAVE THE TIME TO VOTE -- OR PERHAPS, AS IN SOME COUNTRIES, ELECTION DAY SHOULD BE MADE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.

SHORTEN THE CAMPAIGN SEASON.

THERE SHOULD BE REGIONAL PRIMARIES ONLY.

CAMPAIGN MONEY SHOULD BE PUBLICLY FUNDED ONLY.

______________________AMEN TO THAT! ____________________

YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE FRIENDS

Earler this week I took time to drive up to Superior, Wisconsin, to spend a little time with my friend Tom Johnson, who with the help of mutual friend Scott Sutherland, is repainting his folks homestead. The three of us, after a breakfast at Perkins overlooking the bay, drove out to the cemetery to visit the remains of our good friend, Gerald Fitzgerald, a man who touched all three of our lives very deeply during his brief stay of 49 years on this earth. I hadn't been up to Superior in sometime and to stand over Gerald's foot stone with his two best friends was very moving and emotional. I can say without a doubt that Gerald was also my very best friend of a life time and as I stood there on the wind swept hill, my head was filled with a rush of all the incredible memories that Gerald and I shared.

We had fished and camped together many many times, cross country skiied, hung out at The Anchor and drank ourselves silly on Leinenkugel beer, cooked together, played catch together, and spent countless hours on the long distance telephone, laughing until we wet our pants!

"Scooter" was, like Mr. Tom Johnson, an excellent writer, and when I produced my first album, I was honored when he wrote the liner notes for the record.
I enjoyed just being around both Scott and Tom as they are both very intelligent , insightful men. Scott, like me, spent years in the "trenches" teaching public school, and finally could take it no more -- hmmmmmm -- sounds familiar, doesn't it?

I'm proud to say that we put away the entire 16 inch pie and there was much discussion about how I hould open a pizza parlour of my own and that I could make millions. I thought about it for about as long as it took to type this sentence.
It was with a very grateful heart that I started for home on Highway 53 South after rolling out a sausage, jalepeno-stuffed green olive, home made Italian sausage pizza, on a bed of wonderfully pungent provolone cheese, which I made especially for Tom and Scott, "the working boys" who had toiled all day, patching trim and painting ceilings.

Also, as I drove home, I thought about how very lucky I am to hve two more really good friends waiting for me at this end of the road.

First, there is the irascible Mr. Douglas Scott Cox, here pictured stuffed into my take on a New York Giants helmet. Talk about a big head! The helmet is an XL and he still had a hell of a time removing it from his dome!

I love Dougie like a brother as we have done too many shows on the Kjer stage to remember and I have talked about him on this blog many times before.

Sadly, as he has a house in San Francisco as well as Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he will have "flew the coop" as we say here in 'Sconsin, back to the cold and damp of a somewhat warmer clime for the duration of winter. I am heartened only in knowing that when the wether warms, he will return!

And finally, as I drove, my thoughts turned to my life mate and companion, Kim, without whom I wouldn't even be on the face of the earth, I am certain.

She loves me so much that last night she agreed to go all the way to the Durand Rod and Gun Club for the last of the Jack Harmon Chicken Dinners for the season -- allowing me to keep a perfect attendance record.

The cool part is that we got there at 6:45 and they were seating #302. We had 462 and 463. then suddenly, the man in charge slipped up next to us and asked if we would like to be seated early as he had two seats he needed to fill! If we had had to wait our turn we probably wouldn't have gotten home in time to see The Daily Show!

I love Kim Wilson!

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TOP TEN REASONS CONSERVATIVES SHOULD VOTE FOR OBAMA

10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.
9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.
8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush's first term and George W.'s.
7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.
6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially compared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.
5. Faith. Obama's fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.
4. A truce in the culture war. Obama takes us past the debilitating boomer warfare that has raged since the 1960s. Nothing has distorted our politics so gravely; nothing has made a rational politics more elusive.
3. Two words: President Palin.
2. Conservative reform. Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again. The survival of conservatism requires a temporary eclipse of today's Republicanism. Losing would be the best thing to happen to conservatism since 1964. Back then, conservatives lost in a landslide for the right reasons. Now, Republicans are losing in a landslide for the wrong reasons.
1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excresence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.
Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.

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"Palin Problem" by Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.

To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.


Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman.

Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged.

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)

And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively).

Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.

Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it.

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

It has been a good weekend workwise! Friday night the band sallied forth to Sammy's Pizza, London Road, Eau Claire, with a much better crowd than we were able to draw last September 19. We did a lot more of the comedy which I think helped hold the crowd longer as well.

Saturday night, I traveled over to Norma's Place, east of Cornell, Wisconsin, on the way to Gilman. We celebrated owner Sue's 40th birthday as well as a Halloween costume party. Pictured in the pirate costume is co-owner Jeff, Sue's husband.

Again, I drew a pretty heft crowd, especially for first time in. I was glad that Kim came along as we shared dinner and she helped keep me awake on the drive home.

Today, sunday, I volunteered to do some work at the Eau Claire Democratic Party HQ in downtown Eau Claire, where I spent several hours stuffing envelopes and hand writing some cards urging voters to get out and vote for Obama.

Pictured are a couple of friends of mine that I bumped into while working today,. Peg Enders, who has been avery good friend and fan of mine since my "Howard Johnson" years and Jo Burke, an outstanding teacher and president of the teachers union wee both on hand today, working and sharing stories.

The highlight of the afternoon was the visit of a farm couple from down Osseo way, wearing their John Deere caps. (I should have gotten a picture of them). they came in to paick up some large Obama signs to put up on their farm property to (as they put it) "balance out all the McCain signs near them").

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I came up against some grim reality this past week when I went to order my winter's stove wood from my usual source and found that he was already sold out -- at $70 a face cord!!!

I did some looking around, made a few calls, and luckily found a source that would sell me six face cords at $50 a face cord. I will have to wait a week or two for delivery, but I have enough scrap around here to keep the home fires burning until then.

My thanks to Judy Willink for helping me find my way through that problem!

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