Two Montreal-based radio hosts pulled a prank so obvious on Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin that I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

The Masked Avengers, comprising comedians Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel convinced the gullible governor that she was being graced by a personal call from the French premier Nicolas Sarkozy. Not several seconds until after they revealed their prank openly to her did she realize what had happened.

The fake French accent didn’t give it away. Neither …

A nice piece of reporting in USA Today exposes yet another aspect of Republican hypocrisy: with all of McCain’s talk of “reigning in spending,” “cutting taxes,” and “eliminating pork barrel legislation,” it appears as though his running mate has done exactly the opposite during her tenures as mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska.

Apparently John McCain lied about Palin not seeking earmarks as governor. In fact Palin “asked Washington for $197 million in earmarks this …

Someone needs to remind Sarah Palin that chief on the Republican talking points memo are the words: “reigning in spending.” By now everyone who pays any attention to the news has heard of Palin’s outrageous $150,000 fashion tab at the RNC’s expense (read the sickening breakdown of expenses here). It seems as though her smugness at recent campaign rallies may be tempered with a serious dose of reality: most Americans are not so …

Barack Obama has a cult of celebrity but Sarah Palin’s popularity is legitimate because she’s just “one of us.”

Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists, but John McCain, who has links to a group that supported terrorist death squads in Central America, is above board.

Barack Obama is a “Chicago politician,” with implied ties to the mob, while Sarah Palin’s questionable conduct as Governor, under an ethics investigation for improper abuse of authority, is not …

I had the pleasure this morning of interviewing Stefan Forbes on my radio program, Uprising, about his new documentary, Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story. I had only heard vague mentions of the name Lee Atwater but really had no idea how influential to American political campaigning he was, until I watched the film. This young Republican upstart from South Carolina, wrote the script-book for today’s GOP election tactics. Not surprisingly he …

I recently returned from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota where I was part of a Pacifica Radio nightly live broadcast. While there it hit me time and again, that I felt completely out of touch with the type of Americans that identify as Republicans. Waiting in line to get into the convention hall, I was surrounded by perfectly coiffured white women in shades of pink, white, and powder blue, …

Published on Friday, February 29, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

by Sonali Kolhatkar

Lately, in spite of my better judgment, I’ve found myself inflicted with a major case of “Obamania.” I cannot help but be excited at the prospect of a brilliant, younger-than-average, black president who could unite this polarized country against the failed policies of George W Bush. But each time I get optimistic that we are finally on the verge of entering a saner era, Obama makes a terribly foolish statement …

Due to illness, Sonali was unable to attend a panel discussion on the US Presidential elections held in the Inland Empire, and asked that this message be read out on her behalf.

I would like to profusely thank Theresa Hernandez for organizing this event and deeply apologize to her and all of you for not being present today.

This year’s presidential election is not going to change everything. If John Kerry wins, it doesn’t mean that the US and the …

In the first minute of his July 29 Democratic National Convention (DNC) acceptance speech, John Kerry told us that the Democratic party has “one simple purpose: to make America stronger at home and respected in the world.” The Republicans have set the standard by which a US President will be judged, and listening to peace and social justice activists is not one of the desired qualities. Regardless of who gets elected, the two parties tell us, the next president will …

Published on Counterpunch.org on 05/04/04

With the launching of the new fiercely partisan and influential liberal radio network nationwide, Air America, John Kerry seems poised to whisk the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party and could even win simply because he is not Bush.

According to an unnamed former Bush official, “Kerry might wage a more effective war on terror than Bush because he was likely to take a more complex approach, looking at broader threats while coupling military force with “soft …