Salvadoran ex-rebels win presidency for first time

By ALEXANDRA OLSON
Associated Press Writer

A leftist television journalist has won El Salvador's presidential election, bringing a party of former guerrillas to power for the first time since a bloody civil war and ending two decades of conservative rule.

Mauricio Funes, a moderate plucked from outside the ranks of the rebel-group-turned-political-party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, became the latest leftist to rise to power in Latin America at a time of uncertainty over how President Barack Obama will approach the region.

With 90 percent of the vote counted late Sunday, Funes had 51 percent compared to 49 percent for Rodrigo Avila of the ruling conservative Arena party, said Walter Araujo, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Avila, accompanied by current President Tony Saca, conceded defeat and wished Funes luck.

Funes reported on the 12-year war that ended 17 years ago with 75,000 people dead, and he later hosted a popular interview show. He promised to unite the country after one of the most polarizing campaigns since the conflict.

"This is the happiest night of my life, and I want it to be the night of El Salvador's greatest hope," Funes said. "I want to thank all the people who voted for me and chose that path of hope and change."

Jubilant, red-clad Funes supporters poured into the streets of San Salvador, whooping, clapping, blowing whistles and waving large party flags. Colorful fireworks shot up into the night sky.

Funes, 49, rode a wave of discontent with two decades of Arena party rule that have brought economic growth but done little to redress social inequalities. Fuel and food prices have soared, while powerful gangs extort businesses and fight for drug-dealing turf, resulting in one of Latin America's highest homicides rates.

Funes promised to crack down on big businesses which he says exploit government complacency to evade taxes.

"The time has come for the excluded, the opportunity has arrived for genuine democrats, for men and women who believe in social justice and solidarity," he told a rally of roaring supporters early Monday.

Avila, 44, a former police chief, had warned that an FMLN victory would send El Salvador down a communist path and threaten the country's warm relations with the United States. He vowed Sunday to lead "a vigilant opposition that would ensure that the country does not lose its liberties."

Close U.S. ties saw El Salvador keep troops in Iraq longer than any other Latin American country and become a hub of regional cooperation with Washington against drug trafficking. The country's economy depends on billions of dollars sent home by 2.5 million Salvadorans who live in the U.S.

The Obama government has assured Salvadorans it would work with any leader elected — a marked departure from the Bush administration, which in 2004 suggested that an FMLN victory would hurt ties.

But U.S relations with some leftist leaders remain tense, including Venezuela's fiery Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who lashed out last week at the United States for holding back aid over an election dispute.

Funes hopes to start off relations fresh with the Obama administration and promises to respect a free trade agreement with the United States and keep the dollar as El Salvador's currency.

"Integration with Central America and strengthening relations with the United States will be the priority of our foreign policy," Funes said.

During the campaign, television broadcasts were flooded with campaign ads warning that a Funes victory would turn El Salvador into a Venezuelan satellite and emphasizing long-standing ties between the FMLN and Chavez. That stoked fears among many Salvadorans with bitter memories of the 1980-1992 leftist insurgency.

"We don't want communists in this country," said Jose Daniel Avila, a 65-year-old retired pilot of no relation to the candidate. "Look what has happened in Nicaragua and Venezuela. Those are not examples to follow."

Chavez said earlier Sunday that his government was not taking sides in the election, adding that Venezuela wants to broaden its relations with whoever won.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Congratulations FMLN!

The Die is Cast

Well, the election is, for all intents and purposes, over, and Barrack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States of America. This is going to be hard, so bear with me...

As I walked into my polling station this afternoon, my stomach was tied in knots. Even as I made my way to my booth with a ballot in hand, I still wasn't entirely sure how I would cast my vote. Still suffering from an ideological crisis of conscience, I just couldn't bring myself to commit one way or the other before I had that pen in my hand, and had to choose one way or the other.

I love John McCain. I admire him very much. I admire his service and the sacrifices he made for our country, both as a naval aviator, and a public servant. He is a man of conscience and honor, who was never afraid to work with Democrats across the isle, or commit to a course of action when he believed it to be right, regardless of whether it adhered to the party line. I appreciate that kind of courage and candor. I wanted very much to vote for McCain, but I could not bear the thought of my vote being misconstrued as support for the Republican party.

I did my part to give the GOP eight years in the White House, and the return on my investment was a poor one indeed. What we have today is a country deeply divided at home, and openly reviled abroad in nations that are, on paper, our allies. I am not sorry for giving Bush the opportunity to lead, nor the opportunity to correct his administration's mistakes. But today, my begrudging patience has worn thin.

This time around, for the first time in my life, I've voted for a Democratic presidential nominee. Make no mistake, I generally despise the Democratic party and the people who lead it. But Obama stands above the crowd of slime balls and ridiculous asshattery as a charismatic, honorable man who is intelligent, thoughtful, and genuine in his intent; and I find his running mate equally conscionable. I do find Obama to be an inspiring figure, and I don't recall ever once wincing in embarrassment at anything he's ever said in public. (yeah, that last bit sets the bar pretty low... But the last eight years have really lowered my expectations)

I just finished watching McCain's concession speech a little while ago. It was very gracious, and very classy. (I wish his campaign, his followers, and the Republican party in general had been equally so over the past few weeks. Personally, I found his best moments he spent correcting idiots that were attending his rallies)

I was already having a hard time keeping it together, but when he spoke the words "the failure is mine, not yours," I choked up, and my heart literally hurt. I wanted to say, "No, John, it really wasn't. It *was* ours. We deserved to lose this time, and that isn't your fault."

Today, I voted against some of my most fundamental core values, the values of my parents, my grandparents, and those that have been shaped by my life experiences since childhood, to uphold others that I felt needed saving. And to do it, I had to vote against a man that I admire and respect very much. It felt like a betrayal, and it tears me up inside.

I honestly feel that as a Republican administration, there is little McCain could really do to mend our relations with the international community, restore our image abroad, or repair the bitter divisions present here in our own country. There's just too much baggage that comes with that (R) beside his name right now. Obama, on the other hand, will have the opportunity to change the nature of the game from the ground up, and I've cast a ballot of faith in his name hoping he'll do just that.

So in the end, it comes down to this: I wanted John McCain, the man, not the Republican, to be my president. But at this point in our history, my gut told me that, right now, my country needs Obama, and I voted accordingly.

Some voters 'purged' from voter rolls

From CNN Politics:

"College senior Kyla Berry was looking forward to voting in her first presidential election, even carrying her voter registration card in her wallet.

But about two weeks ago, Berry got disturbing news from local election officials.

"This office has received notification from the state of Georgia indicating that you are not a citizen of the United States and therefore, not eligible to vote," a letter from the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections said.

But Berry is a U.S. citizen, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She has a passport and a birth certificate to prove it.

The letter, which was dated October 2, gave her a week from the time it was dated to prove her citizenship. There was a problem, though -- the letter was postmarked October 9.

"It was the most bizarre thing. I immediately called my mother and asked her to send me my birth certificate, and then I was like, 'It's too late, apparently,' " Berry said.

Berry is one of more than 50,000 registered Georgia voters who have been "flagged" because of a computer mismatch in their personal identification information. At least 4,500 of those people are having their citizenship questioned and the burden is on them to prove eligibility to vote.
Experts say lists of people with mismatches are often systematically cut, or "purged," from voter rolls.

It's a scenario that's being repeated all across the country, with cases like Berry's raising fears of potential vote suppression in crucial swing states.

"What most people don't know is that every year, elections officials strike millions of names from the voter rolls using processes that are secret, prone to error and vulnerable to manipulation," said Wendy Weiser, an elections expert with New York University's Brennan Center for Justice.

"That means that lots and lots of eligible voters could get knocked off the voter rolls without any notice and, in many cases, without any opportunity to correct it before Election Day."

Weiser acknowledged that "purging done well and with proper accountability" is necessary to remove people who have died or moved out of state.

.
.
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So someone like Kyla Berry will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot when she votes, but it's up to county election officials whether those ballots would actually count.

Berry says she will try to vote, but she's not confident it will count.

"I know this happens, but I cannot believe it's happening to me," she said. "If I weren't allowed to vote, I would just feel like that would be ... like the worst thing ever -- a travesty.""

(Full Story at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html)

I wish everyone spent as much time trying to run the country in the best way possible, as they seem to spend trying to "work the system" to win elections, pass legislation, etc. Often times simply winning becomes the important issue, instead of the reasons to want to win in the first place.

Please wait, your request is processed... Jon Stewart Hits Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Dick Morris On Sarah Palin Hypocrisy

Wednesday night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart hit Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly with damning evidence of their hypocrisy regarding Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

While Rove recently praised Palin's experience as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Stewart showed video of Rove trashing Virginia Governor — and former Richmond Mayor — Tim Kaine's executive experience, listing all the cities that are bigger than Richmond and calling such a pick "political."

Then, after recent video of O'Reilly describing Bristol Palin's pregnancy as a family issue, Stewart showed a clip of the Fox News host blaming Jamie Lynn Spears' parents for her teenage pregnancy.

Finally, after showing video of Dick Morris complaining about the rampant sexism in the media coverage of Sarah Palin, Stewart unveiled a clip of Morris saying that Hillary hides behind the sexism defense, and that anytime "the big boys" pick on Hillary, "she retreats behind the apron strings."

"In Dick Morris' defense," Stewart said, "he is a lying sack of sh*t."

Watch:

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/jon-stewart-hits-karl-rov_n_123852.html

I wonder if Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, and Dick Morris see any hypocrisy in their conflicting statements? I would bet not since all too often they act as thought the ends justify the means.

Palin comes out throwing punches

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduced herself to the world Wednesday by calling herself a "hockey mom" and then asking what the difference was between a hockey mom and a pit bull.

"Lipstick," the Republican vice-presidential nominee said.

She promptly went on to prove the point, tearing into Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as two-faced, inexperienced and intoxicated by the sound of his own voice.

"This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word 'victory' except when he's talking about his own campaign," she said.

She slammed Obama for "saying one thing in Scranton and another in San Francisco," argued that he had written two memoirs but never authored a major piece of legislation and asked what he would do "when those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot," a reference to the stage where Obama gave his acceptance speech last week. Watch Palin attack Obama »

Thousands of delegates at the party conference roared their approval at Palin's speech, bursting into chants of "Sarah! Sarah!" and "Zero! Zero," the amount of executive experience Republicans say Obama has accumulated.

"I think Sarah Palin can do a one-two punch better than Muhammad Ali," Kansas state senator Karin Brownlee said after the speech. "And I think she delivered it just square on the opponents' face. I think she has energized the Republican Party like we haven't seen in a long time." Report card: Rate Palin's speech »

Jose Rodriquez-Suarez, a delegate from Puerto Rico, said simply, "It's about the best speech I have heard at any convention." See photos of Palin take the stage »

Conventioneers waved banners reading "Palin Power" and "Hockey moms for Palin." Delegates from her home state of Alaska were spotted wearing buttons calling her "the hottest VP from the coolest state."

"I love those hockey moms," she said.

Palin began with a lengthy, minutes-long standing ovation as she accepted the Republican Party's nomination for vice president. It marked the first time in history that a woman has taken the stage as the GOP vice president pick.

"I accept the challenge of a tough fight," said the woman nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda."

The Obama campaign dismissed Palin's speech as "well-delivered" but said it was "written by George Bush's speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we've heard from George Bush for the last eight years." iReport.com: Share your reaction to the convention speeches

Bush aide Matthew Scully was largely responsible for the speech.

Palin, whose son is to deploy to Iraq soon, praised her running mate John McCain as a man who has met grave challenges and "knows how tough fights are won." She criticized Obama's stance on Iraq, saying he "wants to forfeit" while victory is "finally in sight." Watch Palin say McCain has fought for change his entire life »

"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," she said.

She praised McCain, a decorated war hero, as a "true profile in courage."

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change," she said.

Throughout the speech, it was clear the first-term governor of Alaska had won over the hearts of the crowd.

"What exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make the government bigger and take more of your money."

Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, contrasted her résumé as a former mayor of a small town with that of Obama. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Palin presented herself as both a mother and as an outside-the-Beltway reformer in the McCain mold, saying she "took on the old politics as usual in Juneau" and "stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good ol' boys network."

She tied oil, a major industry in her home state of Alaska, to foreign policy and national security on a night when convention delegates repeatedly burst into chants of "Drill now, baby, drill now!"

She insisted that the United States seek "energy independence," including through more drilling, in the face of threats as diverse as hurricanes in the Gulf and Russian military power in the Caucasus.

And Palin dismissed criticism about her that have appeared in the press. "Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country." CNN's political team analyzes Palin's speech »

Palin, whose youngest child has Down syndrome, also promised that families of special needs children will have "a friend and advocate in the White House."

At the end of the speech, McCain came on stage amid raucous cheers and said, "Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States?" Watch McCain take stage, get crowd fired up »

Just before Palin took center stage, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani warmed up the crowd by continuing the barrage on Obama, calling him a "celebrity senator" with no leadership experience.

"He's never had to lead people in crisis," Giuliani said. "This is not a personal attack; it's a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything. Nothing. Nada."

"The choice in this election comes down to substance over style. John McCain has been tested. Barack Obama has not. Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on-the-job training."

His speech was the third of the evening by former GOP presidential candidates who pumped up the Republican faithful ahead of Palin.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee got the crowd cheering when he ripped Obama for looking to Europe for ways to change America.

"Barack Obama's excellent adventure to Europe took his campaign for change to hundreds of thousands of people who don't even vote or pay taxes here," he said.

"The fact is, most Americans don't want more government; they want a lot less."

Huckabee said McCain represents small government and has ideas for change that will make the nation's economy better. He added that McCain is "a man with the character and stubborn kind of integrity that I want in a president."

Huckabee took a jab at the "elite media" for "unifying the Republican Party and all of America" in support of McCain and Palin, a first-term governor of Alaska.

"The reporting of the past few days has proven tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert," Huckabee said.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney blasted "liberal Washington," saying McCain is a "prescription for every American who wants change in Washington."

He added that it's time to take a "Weedwacker" to excessive regulation and to impose lower taxes and to stop big-government spending.

"Throw out the big-government liberals and elect John McCain," Romney said. "We need change, all right: change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington."

He also threw his support behind Palin, saying the McCain-Palin ticket "will keep America as it has always been: the hope of the world."

"We will never allow America to retreat in the face of evil extremism," Romney said.

The Republican Party officially nominated McCain for president at the convention Wednesday. McCain will give a speech accepting the nomination on Thursday night.

Police said two protesters were removed during Palin's speech. They said they were members of the anti-war group Code Pink. A spokesperson for the Joint Information Center said the two women were escorted by law enforcement officers from the Xcel Center for heckling.

They stood and yelled off to the side of the podium during Palin's speech. They were not charged and have been "sent on their way," this spokesperson said.

From CNN.com.

With the selection of Sarah Palin McCain's campaign has fully adopted the Karl Rove play book. If you listen to her rhetoric it is straight out of the speeches of Bush. If you examine the McCain campaign's image shift over the last 4 to 6 months it moves from the maverick, conservative- independent, reformer to showcasing social conservative, religious evangelical, fear mongering.

I was supportive of Obama, of course, but was considering a third party (as usual) since I believe the Dems and Reps are more often than not opposite sides of the same coin. But Palin makes me think that I might volunteer for the Obama campaign. I might even spend a week campaigning in VA since it is one state that Obama might win. I just can in no way tolerate the idea of another radical conservative sitting in office, even as VP (and her selection certainly shows McCain's willingness to bend to the radical right). She supports prayer in school and creationism as a topic for discussion in science class; she attempted to ban books from a public library because the were "morally offensive"; she wants to remove polar bears from the endangered species list so that it is easier for oil companies to drill in certain areas of Alaska, and she does not believe that climate change is related to human actions (the jury is still out?).

This is good strategy for McCain because he can only win if he rallies the base. But he has given up all of his maverick status by lying down with the religious radical in the GOP. Maverick my ass. I liked him better when he referred to the religious radicals as agents of intolerance rather than getting in bed with them.

On Iran, top military officer sounds like Obama

Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen urges diplomacy, not use of force

By Tom Curry

National affairs writer

updated 5:05 p.m. ET July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON - It could turn out to be one of the most significant comments of the 2008 campaign — but coming just ahead of a holiday weekend, it isn’t getting much notice.

Upon his return from a visit to Israel and Europe, the nation’s highest ranking military officer warned Wednesday that a military strike on Iran would be a very bad idea.

“This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don't need it to be more unstable,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen.

He added pointedly, “we haven't had much of a dialogue with the Iranians for a long time,” seeming to imply that the Bush administration should be talking to the Iranian government.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has said that if elected, he would begin talks with Iran, without any precondition.

The Bush administration has insisted that before talks can begin, Iran must cease its nuclear enrichment — a step toward building nuclear weapons.

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has said that his rival's willingness to hold direct talks, without preconditions, reveals "the depth of Sen. Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment.”

Adm. Mullen, much like Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, is one of those powerful unelected officials whose words could, at times, have as much effect on the campaign as Obama and McCain themselves.

It’s unusual for a military officer, especially the nation’s highest ranking one, to warn in such explicit terms of potential military action and to so emphatically call for diplomacy.

“What struck me about the comments was that he called for dialogue with Iran in his preliminary statement, even before he was responding to (reporters’) questions,” said Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Alterman pointed to Mullen’s opening statement in which he said, “I'm convinced a solution still lies in using other elements of national power to change Iranian behavior, including diplomatic, financial and international pressure. There is a need for better clarity, even dialogue at some level.”

Not ruling out use of military force
President Bush, McCain, and Obama, all say they would not rule out the use of military force to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

But Mullen appeared to be edging toward saying that military action, either by Israel or the United States, or both, would be catastrophic.

He also warned that the United States would be hard pressed to conduct operations against Iran, given the commitment of tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“From the United States' perspective, the United States' military perspective, in particular, opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful on us,” Mullen told reporters. “That doesn't mean we don't have capacity or reserve, but that would really be very challenging.”

And, he added, “The consequences of that (military action) sometimes are very difficult to predict.”

Mullen explained, “Just about every move in that part of the world is a high-risk move. And that's why I think it's so important that the international piece, the financial piece, the diplomatic piece, the economic piece be brought to bear with a level of intensity that resolves this.”

The Israeli air force staged a large-scale drill last month that some observers saw as a warning of a possible Israeli attack on Iran.

But Mullen assured reporters Wednesday that “the Israeli press reported fairly widely that…those exercises were planned and routine.”

In 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq. The Israeli government believed Saddam Hussein's regime was planning to use the plant to make nuclear weapons in order to destroy Israel.

An attack on Iranian nuclear sites could cause the Iranian regime to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s total daily oil demand is carried.

Oil prices hit a record high of nearly $146 a barrel on Thursday. As Americans drive during this July 4 vacation, one reason they're paying more than $4.50 a gallon in some parts of the country is the growing tension over Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday that the United States and Israel would not risk such an attack.

“The Israeli government is facing a political breakdown within itself and within the region, so we do not foresee such a possibility for that regime to resort to such craziness," Mottaki said. “The United States, too, is not in a position where it can engage in, take another risk in the region.”

In Congress, some members have expressed their fear that the Bush administration might launch a unilateral attack on Iran.

But last year the House rejected, by a vote of 288 to 136, an amendment offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D- Ore., that would have prohibited funds being used to take military action against Iran without specific authorization from Congress — unless Iran had first attacked the United States.

Good for the military. I am glad they have decided that diplomacy is equally as valuable as violence. I am not sure if their opinion would be the same if they weren't bogged down, discredited, injured, and under-resourced by wars in two Southwest Asian countries (not that I am blaming the military itself for that). But it is refreshing to see the institution warn publicly against aggression. It almost sounds like a plea to the current (and future) administration: "Please God don't commit us to another war. You're killing us here George!"