Barack Obama, by his own book, plus the testimony of relatives and friends, was raised in quite a family. While in high school, his mother developed an affinity with a Marxist teacher and became an agnostic or atheist. She met Barack Obama Sr. in a college Russian language class. Yes, a Russian language class, circa 1960.

With no father in his home in Hawaii, he was mentored throughout his teens by Frank Marshall Davis, a man famous in communist circles, with numerous FBI files. Davis also wrote an autobiography, "Sex Rebel," which demonstrates numerous of his perversions, including pedophilia. Nothing new there, "sexual revolution" was a part of the Russia's Marxist revolution: sex is divorced from reproduction, marriage, and child rearing; abortion becomes sublime. Sexual involvement is "liberated" into mutual use.
According to a former intelligence officer who had read the FBI files, Davis laid out a generic communist plan “to take over America from within, by installing educators at all levels of our educational system, gaining control of the media, getting Liberal judges appointed, recruiting, training and backing people to be elected to public office.”

There is probably no one in the world that I respect more than Ralph Nader. No one I trust more. But I’m telling every Ohio voter, don’t vote for Ralph Nader.

The reason is simple. We cannot afford to have President John McCain.

Nader speaks the brutal truth to power. But much more than that he knows and articulates exactly what is wrong with our government and its policies. His assessments are so right.

It’s hard to imagine any candidate in our political duopoly with ability to discuss critically as well as Nader does what is wrong with our government. Nader also has had the ability to forge institutions that try – often successfully – to correct our ills.

However, Nader himself warned, I believe before the 2004 election, in an appearance at John Carroll University that if you thought the election in Ohio was so close that a vote for him would elect the Republican, do what your conscience tells you to do. The question came from Janice Cogger who was conflicted because she found Nader’s policy critique so compelling but feared the re-election of George Bush. The implication of Nader’s answer was to vote for the Democrat if the election in Ohio were close. It was and it is.

Just as Barack Obama has his "Obamabots", rival John McCain has his own special group of supporters that can only be described as "McManiacs." How can you spot one in a crowd, or determine whether you're a McManiac yourself? Consult this list for the top signs that you might be a McCain maniac:

10 - You love the smell of napalm in the morning.

9- 72-year-old men turn you on, or alternatively, you fantasize about Sarah Palin with her gun.

8 - You're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

7 - You're bitter and cling to guns and religion.

6 - You think we should have 9-11 memorials 365 days a year.

5 - You think George W. Bush is a better president than Washington, FDR, and Bill Clinton combined.

4 - You don't know how many houses you own because you can't count to infinity.

Senator Hillary Clinton is headed back to Ohio this weekend, where she will campaign for the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Ohio is a key battleground state in the upcoming general elections, where Clinton easily defeated Obama in the primaries.

In recent weeks Clinton has spent a good deal of time campaigning for Obama in Florida, but as a victory there looks less and less likely, she's moving out and re-focusing on Ohio. On Sunday Clinton will be back in the Buckeye State where she has planned rallies in Akron and Lorain.

In focusing on areas that are already heavily Democratic, one can't help but wonder if Clinton is copping out, feigning support for Obama while plotting her own run at the White House again in 2012. It seems to be a pretty plausible scenario, especially with Clinton shying away from directly attacking Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate.

There are Barack Obama supporters, and then there Obamabots, a special breed of voters who have earned their nickname for their uninformed and unwavering support of the 2008 Democratic candidate for president. If you are worried that your loved ones may be Obamabots, these are the tell-tale signs to look out for:

10 - You don't think Obama has a chance of losing. The possibility hasn't even crossed your mind.

9 - You have a photo of Barack Obama as your computer's desktop wallpaper.

8 - You're still waiting on the text message.

7 - You used to like Jesse Jackson, until you heard him say that he wanted to cut Obama's nuts off.

6 - The sight of Hillary Clinton makes you feel threatened.

In the aftermath of Senator John McCain's announcement of choosing Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, there is one argument as to why Palin was a poor choice that really sticks out for me. That argument is that she does not support women's so-called "right to choose" and therefore she will not appeal to women voters, and especially not Democratic female voters.

That argument is flawed. Surely if Palin is against abortion she's not the only woman in the country to have that belief. There are many other women in this country that are very strongly pro-life. Furthermore, the insinuation that all women who identify with the Democratic party are automatically pro-choice is also a dangerous assumption to make. Have we forgotten about the Catholic vote, or even though those who believe that it is up to God to choose who lives or dies? As much as the GOP likes to portray them at times, all Democrats, liberals, and progressives are not godless heathens. Just as all religious people are not Republicans.

Somewhere out there in the political world Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has an enormous headache. After putting so many obstacles for Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic Presidential nomination recently, her campaign looks stronger than it has been in weeks as money has come pouring in after her huge 10 point win Pennsylvania. So how much money is a 10 point win worth in a swing state? $10 Million dollars which equates to $1 million for each point she won by in her crucial victory in the keystone state. The victory has propelled her back into the race despite big media's attempt to marginalize her every chance they can. If money talks, shouldn't Dean and Company start scrambling around to allow Michigan and Florida the chance to select a nominee for the party? Maybe that is just too democratic for the party.

In the wake of the Barack Obama-Rev. Jeremiah Wright scandal, it is time to ask superdelegates to withdrawal support of Barack Obama and, in essence, appoint Hillary Clinton the Democratic Presidential nominee. There is simply no way that Obama will be able to win a Presidential election when his father figure is clearly a racist who used hate as a tool on his pulpit. If Obama felt differently, he would have left the Trinity United Church long ago and not have heralded the man in public forums as he has done for decades.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, an Obama Superdelegates and former Presidential Candidate, disagrees with my assertion. He told FOX News over the weekend:

“The fact of the matter is people would like to move on to other things."

While the religious factor typically tends to work in a candidate's favor, in the case of Barack Obama, it may now be working against him. Not only has he had to deflect allegations that he is actually a Muslim, and not the Christian he claims to be, but now a series of questionable statements and sermons by Obama's pastor that have come to light have cast a new series of doubts on the Democratic presidential candidate and his own beliefs.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, the church which Barack Obama and his family attend, has not only brought up the race issue, which has been carefully skirted around on all sides, but has also made some decidedly anti-American statements. Rev. Wright accuses rival Hillary Clinton of having an easier time because she is white, and in a sermon suggested that the U.S. had brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself.

It’s all too reminiscent. The stink, I mean.

County Commissioner Tim Hagan moans that the promoters of the Medical Mart – who owe their position here to Hagan – aren’t putting their money on the table.

Who woulda thought?

Why did Hagan put some $40 million a year in tax money on the table BEFORE the developer made a single penny of financial commitment? How typical.

The developer is Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., (MMPI) of Chicago. Christopher Kennedy (yeah, of that Kennedy family), is MMPI president. Hagan loves to rub shoulders with the Kennedys. (Refer to... Should Hagan Recuse Himself, August 8, '07; and Suckered Before, Aug. 1, '07.)

“Their offer to us was unacceptable. They have to say, ‘We’re going to sign a contact and spend X amount,” Hagan moaned to the Pee Dee.

A little late, isn’t it Tim?

Hagan is repeating the disaster of how he handled the Gunds on the arena deal at Gateway.

Hagan (and friends) put hundreds of millions of dollars on the line before obtaining a lease from the Gund brothers – Gordon and George.