Video: George Takei Urges Asian Americans to get "actively involved in the electoral process" (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 19:45:05 PM EDT ( - promoted by lowkell) Discuss :: (0 Comments) Virginia News Headlines: Saturday Morning (+) by: lowkell Sat Oct 06, 2012 at 07:09:43 AM EDT Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 6. Also check out President Obama's weekly address, in which he argues that "Congress should act to keep our nation moving forward by keeping taxes low for 98 percent of Americans, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at lower rates, and creating a veterans jobs corps to help our returning heroes find work." *Jobless rate nears 4-year low (No thanks whatsoever to Republican obstructionists!) *Jobless number costs Romney a key argument *In Virginia stops, Obama and Romney differ on jobs report (What's really misleading is that Romney overlooks the fact that his own party was in power when the recession began, and his own party has done everything in its power to prevent action on the situation since President Obama took office.) *An economy on the move ("Jobs report gives Mr. Obama reason to crow.") *The unemployment truthers are not helping Romney *Jobs News Makes Obama's Case Easier *Santorum endorses Allen, environmentalists back Kaine *Rasmussen: Virginia senate race now leans Democrat *Eric Cantor: 7.8 percent 'simply isn't good enough' (He's right that it isn't good enough, so why won't his party pass a jobs bill that independent analysts say would significantly lower the unemployment rate?!?) *Energized Obama touts new jobs report in Virginia, Ohio *Cuccinelli says VPA should steer port bids *A last hurrah for the last residents of a 100-year-old Va. Beach community *Metro ordered to display pro-Israel ads that it worried might incite violence *D.C. area forecast: Strong cold front to end mild streak; cold and wet Sunday *Amid controversy, Cardinals advance to face Nats Discuss :: (0 Comments) Subliminal Messages in the First Presidential Debate (+) by: Teddy Goodson Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 20:37:40 PM EDT Prior to the first debate, many Democrats were metaphorically high-fiving each other, doing a pre-victory dance in the end-zone. After the debate, the revived Republicans powered up their CEO smirk- machine, crowing that their man's aggressive performance buried an obviously weak President, revealing him as an amateur in over his head. The next day came one analysis after another from upset liberals, disappointed supporters, and know-it-all pundits, some piling on with criticism of President Obama's "passive" or "listless" performance, some rationalizing that "the President just had a bad day," some pointing out that Obama plays a masterful "long game," and was giving Romney rope enough to hang himself (witness the new attack ads based on Romney's lie-a-minute self-contradictory statements), and all of them taking note of Romney's rudeness, his bullying behavior, and his refusal to play by the rules. All have agreed that Obama does not debate well, and never has; all have agreed that Romney was hyper-aggressive, domineering, and, some hinted, may have illegally used hidden notes which he smuggled on to his podium (an as-yet-unconfirmed accusation). Upon reflection, I believe the debate offers two very interesting subliminal narratives, one for each side. They are not mutually exclusive; one, both, or neither may have been deliberately employed, and each delivers a powerful psychological punch, if, as I believe, politics is power, and is a form of warfare. There's More... :: (3 Comments, 3 new, 1830 words in story) More Pathological Ideas from Paul Ryan (+) by: KathyinBlacksburg Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 19:32:18 PM EDT Paul Ryan has admitted they (he, Mitt and the GOP) are waging class warfare. But he blames it on the Dems. "We should not shy away from class warfare" he said. He blames President Obama and the Democrats for it. Instead of working to help the poor and Middle Class better their lives, Ryan thinks he should obliterate all the programs that helped to build the Middle Class. Then he accuses them of class envy. He falsely accuses Democrats of thinking one's class is fixed, while at the same time working to assure that that is exactly what happens and will continue to happen. After all the Koch's and the Waltons aren't rich enough. But Ryan wants to throw more tax breaks from them and make the rest of us pay for them. But that is class envy? In fact, the Koch's, Walton's and the rest of the 1% are so contemptuous of the Middle lass and the poor that they have hired the entire GOP goon squad to make sure the Middle Class disappears. Thirty-plus years have shown the abject failure of trickle down voodoo "economics." Who is waging class warfare again? It doesn't trickle down. Never has and never will. Here's the full quote. Notice the utter fabrication of a justification for his own contempt and class warfare. "We should not shy away from class warfare," Ryan said. "We should take this head on, which is, the president is preying on the emotions of fear, envy and resentment, and he's speaking to people in America as if they're fixed in some class. That's the European model. That's the model our ancestors left to come create an opportunity society, equality of opportunity, equal protection of the law -- not equality of outcome. Government's role is not to equalize the results of our lives. And we should take that on in a moral way and defend the system of upward mobility." Insulting and hypocritical: Ryan has made both terms an art form. There's More... :: (1 Comments, 1 new, 62 words in story) Video: "Mitt Romney's Disdain For The Middle Class. He Said It, He Meant It" (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 17:32:33 PM EDT Willard can try to run and "Etch-a-Sketch," but ultimately he can't hide...from his own words, and for his own contempt for America's middle class. #FAIL Discuss :: (0 Comments) Crazy Extremist Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum Endorses George Allen (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 14:34:17 PM EDT Patriot Voices PAC Makes Major Endorsements in U.S. Senate Races Verona, PA - Former Republican Presidential Candidate and Chairman of Patriot Voices Rick Santorum announced today that Patriot Voices PAC has made endorsements in several U.S. Senate races. The endorsements are: George Allen in Virginia, Wendy Long in New York, Josh Mandel in Ohio and Tom Smith in Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum said, "These individuals are incredibly committed conservatives who will be tremendous assets in the United States Senate. Each of them shares a commitment to lowering taxes, protecting life at every stage, promoting the traditional family and a belief that the individual should have the power -- not the government. Patriot Voices PAC is pleased to make these endorsements today and we look forward to helping their candidacies between now and November." Rick Santorum, Chairman of Patriot Voices PAC, issued the following statements about each candidate: George Allen "I have known George Allen for years and have enormous respect for his committed conservative values. When we served together in the Senate, I watched George fight with great tenacity to stop wasteful spending, protect the sanctity of life, preserve the family, and support tax cuts that spurred job creation in 2001 and 2003." So, just to remind everyone who Rick Santorum is and what he's all about, here are 10 of the crazy things (out of many, many more) Santorum's said over the years, starting with his comparison of homosexuality to "man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be." Santorum's also said: There's More... :: (0 Comments, 239 words in story) Video: President Obama Campaigns at GMU in Fairfax, VA (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 10:57:23 AM EDT Here's some the full video from today's Obama rally at George Mason University in Fairfax. I'll post more video as it becomes available. Also, see the pool reports in the comments section. There's More... :: (9 Comments, 5 words in story) BREAKING: Unemployment Rate FALLS to 7.8%; Employment #s for July, August Revised UP Sharply

BREAKING: Excellent news on the employment front!  *"Unemployment rate way down to 7.8%" *"Big revisions. Combined +86k for July Aug." *"Huge gain in employment per household survey." *"Household survey really just crushes it. +873k employed, +418k on labor force, MINUS 456k on unemployed." *"This makes me think that the improvement in the consumer confidence surveys in recent was picking up something real." *"With revisions, summer lull in job growth wasn't much of a lull at all." Also note that four years ago at this time, the economy was hemmorhaging jobs, with 159,000 jobs LOST in September 2008, the 9th straight month of job LOSSES that year. Are we better than we were four years ago? YES, and by a long, long ways! Thank you, President Obama! (The Washington Post notes that "There are now 325,000 more than when Obama took office." If you think about that for a few minutes, consider the absolute free fall/disaster Obama walked into, that's nothing short of incredible, astounding, impressive, whatever word you want to use. Wow.) P.S. There goes the Romney campaign's moronic line that "unemployment's been above 8% for xx months." That was always absurd, as it ignored a million things (e.g., when the recession began and WHY it began, the fact that unemployment's been coming down steadily the past 3+ years, the fact that this progress has occurred in SPITE of Republican obstructionism and their monomaniacal focus on causing President Obama - and along with it the US economy - to "fail"). Can we say "FOUR MORE YEARS?" :) UPDATE: Here's the BLS report, which has more good news such as...  *"In September, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs decreased by  468,000" *"Total employment rose by 873,000 in September" *"The employment-population ratio increased by 0.4 percentage point to 58.7 percent" *"The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from +141,000 to +181,000, and the change for August was revised from +96,000 to +142,000"  UPDATE #2: Oh, and for all the crazy Republican conspiracy theorists out there, claiming that these numbers were made up to help Obama before the election, consider this: TrimTabs (private firm) estimated even BETTER numbers (+210k jobs in 9/12), as did private firm ADP (+162k jobs in 9/12). Big conspiracy, I guess! LOL