The Fireside Post

Obama 30 Minute Video

McCain has a Plumber; Obama has an Army

Or, rather, an Air Force pilot: The convention in Denver was Mr. Finan’s introduction to big-time politics, and he quickly found himself doing broadcast interviews for the first time. Between events he and about 25 other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans became like a small platoon. They slept on supporters’ floors. They hung out. And they […]

The Blurry View Of Barack Obama’s Religion

Barack Obama has said, many times and in no uncertain terms, “I am a Christian.”  He has been on the cover of Sojourner’d magazine, a Christian publication.  His former pastor, The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was in the spotlight for some unseemly comments about patriotism (among other things), but Reverend Wright was clearly a Christian preacher.  […]

Obama’s Best Chance – Palin’s Example

The opportunity for the White House increased dramatically with the McCain choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Initially Palin energized what the Republicans call their base.  She did and she does energize those people and that is exactly what is wrong with the Republican Party. Check out the latest Obama advertisement: Plain represents […]

New Obama Ad Hits McCain’s Choice of Palin

By Kate Phillips The Obama-Biden campaign has directly singled out Senator John McCain’s choice of a running mate — using footage of Gov. Sarah Palin as she winks — in a new commercial that questions the Republican ticket’s preparedness on economic issues. Called “His Choice,” the ad plays music as comments by Mr. McCain on […]

RNC Borrows $5 Million For Senate Races

The Republican National Committee has taken out a $5 million line of credit to help fund last minute efforts to keep Senate Democrats from winning a filibuster-proof 60 seat majority, according to an official with the committee. Of the $5 million, $2 million is being directly transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee while $3 […]

McCain’s Spiritual Guide – Inciting Hatred

John McCain’s Republican Party is attacking Barack Obama this week with advertisements highlighting the loony Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  McCain has said that he would not go there – and now claims he can’t control independent groups. We are talking about the Republican National Committee.  John McCain is the standard bearer of his party.  John McCain […]

Looking Ahead to Harry Potter

Truly, Harry Potter is one of the great stories of our generation.  In a culture that is disconnected with a sense of a meta-narrative, Harry Potter gives us a glimpse into what it means to be shaped by the power of story.  What is it about this story specifically that has captured our cultured and […]

Evangelicals on Nov. 4: Four Predictions

One week until Election Day. Time to start making predictions on the basis of the Faith and Values story lines we have been pursuing since the Summer of 2007. Today, the Evangelicals (tomorrow Jews): A higher percentage of Evangelicals will vote for Obama than voted for Kerry: I would mortgage the house on this one […]

The Pollster WaPo-ABC Track: Early Birds for Obama

By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta More than twelve million voters have already cast ballots in the presidential contest, according to one estimate, and new data from the Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll shows these voters breaking Democratic by a wide margin. Among those who said they have already voted at an early voting location […]

Thrift Stores-Savings and Charity

Over the course of this year we have seen everything go up in price. Gas has hit over four dollars per gallon and the price milk is up 30%. With rising energy costs, living expenses and the high rate of unemployment, we are all searching for ways to cut costs. Thrift stores can be a […]

Updated Fix Electoral Map Picks: An Obama Landslide

<p><strong>><a href=’http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/’>2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President</a></strong> – Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election.</p> Barack Obama stands on the cusp of an electoral vote blowout over John McCain with just eight days left in the 2008 general election. On our latest Fix electoral map, we have Obama at 349 electoral votes — his […]

Missourians For Obama

Is it Missourians or Missourites?  We never know.  We live in Punkin Center, Missouri, and we are voting for that Chicago politician, Barack Obama.  Generally we don’t take much to Chicago politicians, but this fella seems different.  Down the road in St. Joe the Newspaper just came out for that McCain boy.  We figured they […]

McCain Cites ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ (He’d Be Truman)

By Larry Rohter Dewey Defeats Truman(Photo: Byron Rollis/Associated Press, 1948) MESILLA, N.M. — There have been moments in this hard-fought presidential campaign when Senator John McCain has seemed to find his much younger Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, rather presumptuous and cocksure. That was the impression he left at some of the debates, and on […]

Thoughts On Original Sin

Some Jungian analysts suggest that original sin relates to family of origin.The idea is in order to be ‘saved’ from the original sin one must escape the dysfunction of one’s family of origin. Original ‘sin,’ as defined by theologians, takes many different forms.  We are born with the sin of Adam, for instance.  Or we […]

Parsing the (Tracking) Poll: Feeling Voters’ Pain

One of the essential character traits in any successful politician is an ability — whether real or feigned — to connect with the hopes and fears of the average voter. Voters tend to like to vote for politicians that they believe are extraordinary (whether that means in terms of charisma, brain power of some other […]

Lincoln’s Rhetorical Flourishes, Shame on McCain/Palin

The idea of responding to Sarh Palin is contemptible.   Responding to McCain is bad enough.  But McCain has put the country in this position – and respond we must.  The latest attack by Palin is to suggest in a demeaning manner that Barack Obama “… knows something about rhetorical flourishes.” Be whatever you want, Sarah […]

The Root of Obama’s Calm is Humility

Why is Barack Obama so calm.  People have been throwing rocks at him for two years that we know about – and he smiles and nods his head, he remains calm.   The world of finance collapses and Obama remains calm.  John McCain calls him a Muslim terrorist and he remains calm.  What is going on […]

The Day The Earth Stood Still

November 4, 2008, the earth will stand still.  There are moments in human history when all people of all nations stop – they pause their lives – they watch.  Sometimes we are captivated in hopeful anticipation, other times frozen in fear and awe. September 11, 2001 was a day of fear and awe.  July 20, […]

Mr. Greenspan Goes to Washington, Shock and Disbelief

Alan Greenspan goes to Washington.  And this time he sounds more like Jimmy Stewart as the naive Boy Scout leader who is appointed to the Senate in the movie “Mr.  Smith Goes to Washington.”  The Jimmy Stewart character is a Boy Scout, full of innocence, always hopeful, and believing in the honesty of others.  He […]

Opie and Fonzie for Obama

Opie, Fonzie, and Andy support Obama. Who would have thought? This video is pretty well done – as it should be. It is just done by one of the most accomplished directors in Hollywood. See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Election Anxiety

Only the fools are not nervous about this election.  Too much is at stake.  By every measurement this country is worse off than it was eight years ago – and the decline continues.  Every news cycle brings new anxiety – new fears for our future.  And there remains uncertainty in the election outcome. The Bush […]

The Need for Healthy Children to Fight Our Wars

The marvel of conservative inconsistency continues hacking away at the forest of civilization. The forest has become so important that they have forgotten that it is comprised of individual trees. IN this case the individual trees are our children – our future soldiers. Stop abortion, but don’t offer the newborn health care. Protect the lives […]

McCain’s Camp Shaves Its Ad Targets

Democrats who monitor advertising spending now put at five the number of states where Senator John McCain is reducing his advertising – New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota. In essence, Mr. McCain’s campaign has decided to spread the advertising time he bought for the upcoming week in those states over the next two final […]

The Prophecy of Barack Obama

Two years ago Barack Obama decided to run for President of the United States.  There were others.  Seasoned politicians.  Politicians who have been representing people in an official capacity for years.  Each of the candidates spoke to the people.  Each presented their case.  Obama said, “This is about change.” We the people cheered. Think of […]