I have been hearing, as we all have, about how Sarah Palin is the average "joe six pack" hockey mom. I couldn't agree more. Question is..when did "average" become the gold standard for the United States of America? The average middle class person can not understand the terms of a mortgage he or she signs? The average corporate executive is oblivious to the fact that his company is going belly up? The average politician in Washington is not capable of understanding you can't spend money you don't have? We have seen what "average" can do for the last eight years. Average is not acceptable for the United States of America.

I have been embarrassed to watch George W. Bush every time he spoke and I felt he was an embarrassment to our country. Do we want to have another person who is an embarrassment? After having eight years of someone who has alienated us from our allies and the rest of the world, do we really want to have someone in the White House who cannot look someone who he dislikes in the eye like he did with Obama in the first debate? There will be many heads of state who he would not like personally, and it is not in our best interest to have our president acting cold and angry. A president needs to be strong, calm, cool and collected and not offend them with his behavior. Also, we have put up with a president for eight years who was stubborn and once he made a decision was not open to change - McCain would be the same way. He has a reputation of having a bad temper and his behavior in his speeches, he comes across that way - a deep anger below the surface. To be honest, I actually liked McCain the last time he ran and would have voted for him - but this time around he is a totally different person and has changed radically. I think it would actually be dangerous to have that type of personality in our White House. He doesn't seem like he would be open to allies opinions or even those advisors around him. I think he is set in his ways and an angry, old man. It is possible that his captivity in Vietnam made him angry deep down, and who could blame him for turning out that way? I am shocked that he feels comfortable running such a nasty campaign. We need to re-establish our image in the world and I think that he would just make it worse.

Our country is technologically advanced, and it is hard to imagine having a president who doesn't even work on a computer or the latest technology. Was he not willing to learn or too set in his ways? Would he be able to identify with the majority of our population and be progressive?

I think Obama has more of a presidential presence and temperament. I think he would be more open and honest with the public - and I don't get that opinion from McCain at all due to his behavior and the lies and twisted truth he tells. I think Obama would be able to repair relationships with our allies and the rest of the world compared to McCain acting cold, angry and rude (no eye contact if he didn't like the person).

As far as the consorting with terrorists - how many people check out the background of those they serve with on a board? Are you not going to lend your support to an organization until you vet all those involved just to make sure that dirty trick politics can't throw stones at you as you progress in your political career? There were tons of baby boomers who were involved in anti-Vietnam activities in their college days, and now they are leading upstanding lives. I doubt if many of them continued in similar activities as they got older. I can't imagine that Obama would have knowingly been in a relationship with someone who might hurt his career through association. He is more intelligent than that.

Why aren't the media digging into the "troopergate" situation and the associations that Palin had in Alaska that were inappropriate. Also, why not hit harder on the Keating Savings and Loan scandal? If they are going to try and derail the Obama campaign and keep him from being elected by using dirty tricks and digging up dirt - why not give it back equally?

I am sooo tired of people like Harwood, Alter, Barnicle, Gergen et al, who acknowledge the nastiness of McCain's campaign and his ads, and then try to say that "McCain's an honorable man and that this nastiness isn't his doing." Barnicle even tried to say he was just being badly advised. Rrrright.

HEY!!! This guy is running for President!!! If he isn't the one making the decisions in his campaign he DEFINITELY doesn't belong in the White House. If he is not choosing the road they are taking, if he is just a puppet who is having words put in his mouth by his big bad campaign advisors, the public deserves to know.

Is he not the one making the stump speeches after all? If this is a stand-in, or a robot controlled by Schmidt then I think they owe us the truth. Ayers, shmayers, is McCain a robot or not?

Can you interview Mort Sahl about how important it is to have smart people, not just famous people, sitting on any investigative commissions? This economically disastrous yet genocidal administration is going to require a lot of investigating, and we want to do it right this time. No confusion.

Wait--Rachel is broadcasting from Seattle tonight? Why am I sitting in my home office working?

At least we're having a gorgeous sunset. Must have been another volcanic eruption in Alaska.

she did violate the ethics act. huh?

911 might have been an inside job.

but she didn't break the law...

4 dems. how is that partisan?

As you know, I've been wondering for some time about the involvement of T-Mobile (the mobile phone segment of Deutsche Telekom) in W's illegal wiretapping. Looks like they have been having some problems with data leaks:

http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,583569,00.html

"Account data of millions of T-Mobile customers were manipulatable"

Telekom has been rocked by a new gigantic data scandal: According to Spiegel research, sensitive data from over 30 million mobile phone customers, including bank data, was relatively easy to access and manipulate. Around the world. The leak has now been closed."

To whom it may concern,

I thank out. It is not outrageous that you compared McCain campaign rhetoric to the words of George Wallace. I saw the rally’s and heard the people calling out and it was scary.
Why doesn't John McCain acknowledge what the people said at the Paline rally when they said "Bomb Obama" or "Kill the Terrorist"
Why doesn't John McCain acknowledge that Paline did not stop and tell them to stop that kind of language.
Perhaps John McCain finally did said something to his followers because John Lewis spoke up. After weeks of MCain ads stoking the fire when the ads insinuated that we didn't know who Obama was and tying him to a Terrorist.
We have a chance of finally electing a wonderful, qualified man to the office of President, and you know that we lost wonderful, qualified leaders in the past because of the atmosphere of hate. I fear for Obama and also hold him in high esteem because he is ready to lay down his life for our country just because he is running for office. I am grateful to their courage and grateful for John Lewis for speaking out to stop the Mob hysteria before it does get out of control.

Cheryl Long

I should be working, but:

While listening to the podcast of Ron guest hosting Rachel's show, I had to laugh over the "ignorance and arrogance" comment. The Germans actually have a phrase for that. In ascending order, from bad to worse:

1. "Dumm" (= dumb)

2. "Dumm und dreist" (= dumb and arrogant)

3. "Dumm und dreist vom Dorf" (= dumb and arrogant and from a small village)

"Dumm und dreist und vom Dorf" tends to describe the twenty-something men who die in single-car fatalities every spring on the Autobahn, for example.