Until the election gets closer, these will be my final remarks and thoughts concerning politics.  I'm disgusted and angry with the lies and attacks put forth at the Republican Convention.  I'm disappointed that the American people could buy into such rubbish......again.  And frankly, I'm beyond weary and baffled at how the Republicans can skirt the issues.....issues that affect each and every one of us......and focus instead on the mud-slinging attacks they do so well.  But even worse, voters buy it.

Palin's speech Wednesday night.....I guess I'm in the minority. (not a surprise, as I find the older I get the more I find myself there)  Personally, I thought it was so weak and flimsy, based on what's going on in this country and the world, that most people would see it as such.  Well, the pundits certainly did not.  I was astonished to hear adjectives like "appealing"  "dazzling" and "electrifying" following her attack.  And that's what it was.....an attack.  Certainly NOT a speech telling America what their platform was. (because they have none)  Nothing telling Americans what change THEY will be making for the middle class, healthcare, education, the war in Iraq.  Nope......Palin did what it's obvious she does best.  Attacked like that pit pull she compared herself to. 

So yeah, I'm disgusted.  However, never being a quitter, although I won't be using this venue right now to voice my thoughts and feelings, I will continue to do my part in moving toward the change I know will benefit our country the most.  I donated once again the other day to Obama's campaign, I will continue to make my phone calls to registered Democrats as a volunteer on Obama's campaign, I will wear my Obama tee shirt and button proudly. 

And for this entry I will share with you something that I feel is crucial for everyone to read and be aware of.  The article came from Truthout.  Associated Press writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to the report.

  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

    Some examples:

    PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

    THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

    PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."

    THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

    PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

    THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

    Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

    He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

    MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

    THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state - by population.

    MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

    THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

    FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

    THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

They can spin all the hypocrisy and lies they want..........but facts are facts.  And hopefully THIS time the American people will wake up and smell the coffee.

Okay......what's the cute little cottage above got to do with any of this?  Well, the cottage is located in the south of France and is for sale.  I've already contacted a Realtor in that area and when we're there next month, yes, we will be looking at some property.  In all honesty, if McCain becomes our President for the next four years I'm not sure I want to continue living in this country.  Hey, Ray's retired, I can write in France as well as here, Duncan, Brie and the cats will be happy anywhere as long as they're with us...........and I can be very content living as an ex-pat as SO many others have done.  So who knows.  We have options and I like that.  Options that could very well be robbed from us should we have to endure another four years like the previous eight.  And those are my final remarks for now.

See you here next time when I have another book review for you of a very delightful read.