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So what happened yesterday? I’ve been out of the loop.
A very sharp guy, like his father. Not snotty like his father. He still views himself as a conservative, but is endorsing Obama basically because he’s smart.
Addendum: Chris O’Donnell says that Gen. Colin Powell will endorse Obama after the debate tonight.
Second addendum: Some of the words expressed at the rallies may be converted into actions. This incident at a Philadelphia Obama campaign HQ is scary.
….
Bill Ayers has been a big topic in the media of late, and in McCain’s ads, but it didn’t come up in last week’s debate. Obama came out a day or two later and accused McCain of being afraid to bring it up to his face. McCain said yesterday that Obama’s comment “probably assured that it’s going to come up this time.”
Is Obama baiting McCain? I think so, and McCain probably knows it. McCain also knows that his internal polling has indicated that the attack has not impressed voters. But he also can’t let a challenge like that go unanswered. With bases loaded in the 9th inning and three balls he just has to pitch down the middle and hope for the best.
….
Meanwhile, early voting is going Obama’s way and he’s rolling in cash.
Third addendum: Indications are that McCain just pulled out of Wisconsin.
Also, probably in response to accusations of wimpiness from the blogosphere, one MSM outlet is finally poking its head out of the sand and moving Virginia into blue country thus pushing their projections over the threshold for an Obama victory. It’s a small step as even Republican sites like Real Clear Politics are projecting big electoral college wins for Obama. And note that Pennsylvania is still light blue even though McCain hasn’t come within single digits in a poll in weeks.
Notice that CNN doesn’t provide the criteria for its categorizations. But in all of the yellow “toss up” states on the CNN map, Obama is ahead in the polls, sometimes by “statistically significant margins.” Every single one. Larger margins in some of them than McCain’s leads in Indiana, West Virginia, and Georgia – all designated “lean McCain” by CNN and the other wimp media organizations.
So says Kos. Apparently Sarah Palin did not send a video address to the AIP convention? More later.
I’m still working on my posting in opposition to 4, but this piece is even better. Maya Richardson is a nurse who lives in Occidental to our south, and is, for all practical purposes, a cousin of mine.
A few(!) of my thoughts regarding why everyone should vote NO on Prop 4 (shamelessly cut and pasted from a paper I wrote in 2006 for nursing school) (sorry so wordy, worked 7 of the last 8 nights, no longer able to be concise):
First, I would like to remind everyone that this initiative has already been addressed by the voter’s of California . In 2005 and 2006, there were ballot initiatives regarding parental notification in minors’ abortions. It is reported that approximately 61% of teenagers already involve parents or other adults in their choices regarding abortions. It is the minority who do not. Adolescents are a vulnerable population who must be treated with confidentiality, autonomy within limits, and respect.
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not support parental notification laws noting that, “Legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication, but it does increase the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate medical care”. According to one study referenced here approximately 2/3 of teenagers already involve their families in their choices regarding abortion and the other 1/3 who choose not to include their parents in the decision have experienced family violence. Families with dysfunctional communication patterns and/or abusive patterns are not going to be fixed by passage of laws mandating notification. Parents are often encouraged to support these laws through ads stating that their child cannot even receive an aspirin from the school nurse without parental consent, why should they be able to have surgery (abortion). I wish these ads would also point out that for a teenager, there is higher mortality associated with a pregnancy brought to term vs 1st trimester abortion (!).
In this country we have some crazy ideas about minor’s rights about their own bodies based on our country’s privacy and property rights. In fact, it is clear as mud as to when minors can consent to healthcare choices! Note the following:
-Minors are considered to be incompetent to give voluntary consent to what is done to their bodies by way of medical procedures. However, the US Supreme Court has extended the constitutional right to privacy to include the right of minors to obtain contraception without parental consent (but not abortion).
-In some states, a pregnant minor may consent to give her child up for adoption yet need parental consent to obtain an abortion (huh?)
-An adolescent can consent for their own medical treatment if they are emancipated: generally of a state-defined age, live apart from her parents and be economically self-sufficient and/or married, pregnant (and consent granted during pregnancy is self-limited to pregnancy if not legally emancipated) or a parent, or serving in the military (minors can serve in the military, but shouldn’t be able to choose to have an abortion on their own?)
-In 1987 the United Nations passed the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC). All member states of the UN have ratified this convention except Somalia (apparently no organized government at time of signing) and the United States (yowzah!). The primary reason cited by the US government is “the unwillingness of the federal government to interfere with the discretion and power of individual states’ power to create, amend and adjudicate their own laws regarding children.” (And, oh yeah, we don’t let no UN tell us what to do!) As a result (of not ratifying the CRC), children in the US occupy an undefined position somewhere between constitutionally protected citizens and property.
Hope everyone is well! Maya
If you still haven’t read enough (!!!!) below are references used for original paper:
References
The Allen Guttmacher Institute. Parental Involvement in Minors’ Abortion. September 2006. Retrieved from http://www.guttmacher. org, September 22, 2006.
American Nurses Association. 2001. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Silver Spring , MD.
American Nurses Association. 1980. Nursing: A Social Policy Statement. Kansas City , MO.
Board of Registered Nursing (1993). Statement on Delivery of Health Care. Retrieved from http://www.rn. ca.gov/practice/ pdf/npr-b-17. pdf September 25, 2006.
Felice, M. E., & Boulter, S. (1996). The Adolescent’s Right to Confidential Care When Considering Abortion. Pediatrics, 97(5), 746-752.
Mohr, W. K., & Kenedy, S. S. (2001). The Conundrum of Children in the US Health Care System. Nursing Ethics, 8(3), 196-210.
Tillet, J. (2005). Adolescents and Informed Consent, Ethical and Legal Issues. Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing, 19(2), 112-121.
Voter Information Guide (2006). California Secretary of State, 145-146.
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