I'm In Palinville And Andrew Sullivan Is The Mayor

Breaking news: Palin not fat enough before Trig's birth. And in our next segment, Barack Obama born in Saudi Arabia?

Andrew Sullivan continues his unhealthy fixation on the "truth" of Trig Palin's birth, now with new photographic evidence showing Sarah Palin three weeks before the alleged delivery. Sullivan marginalizes all the good work logged during the 2008 campaign, ever-vigilant in exposing Sarah's myriad lies and hypocrisies, with this descent into political paranoia. He can't help himself. He's addicted to this Republican heroine.

And it is a sad, sad day when this author begrudgingly makes a strange bedfellow in Michelle Malkin, forming a coalition of the sane against The Daily Dish.

The brazen demands for more proof of Trig's maternity arrive from the same baneful impetus fueling questions about Obama's "vault" birth certificate, notwithstanding that an official birth certificate has been provided.

Gather yourself, Andrew. Take a moment. I was about to purchase The Conservative Soul, but you're pushing me towards In Defense of Internment.

We're all going through the dead air doldrums of the post-election, pre-inauguration season. The blogosphere is decidedly not buzzing. But that's no warrant to light fires just to report on them.

November Surprise!

Courtesy of Matt Drudge. He broke the case! Can I change my vote (sent by absentee ballot already)?



This is his leading story. Has the coverage of this campaign brought an end to Drudge? Not that he was ever a respected reporter, but at least he tried to be credible. This is just silly. Someone freeze-frame a wave into a Nazi salute, before it's too late!

BREAKING: Exotic Jungle Muslim to Steal From Rich

A lot of ink (sidebar: what do you call "ink" in the internets?) has been spilled over the radical plan of the thieving Arab and his nefarious scheme to bring an exotic jungle muslimness to his communist financial policies lately, most of it focusing on his tax proposal to steal bread right out of the mouths of underrepresented wealthy white people and "spread it around" (sounds a lot like "palling around, no?") to the unwashed huddled masses, who will only use it to smoke crack and avoid working. Barack Obama's plan, McShame would have you think, is not only to create Marxist/Leninist Communist society, but also to rape your mother. At least, that's what it sounds like he's saying based on the derision in his creepy voice.

Well, being only one or two IQ points above full-retard, I was convinced. Obama is a socialist, wanted to give all my hard-earned blogger money to poor people (each and every one of whom I find appalling in their own, poor, way) and his tax plan was basically to kill America. Hey Obama, love it or leave it! USA USA USA! And then I read this article in the Daily Worker, and the independent analysis done really explained the differences in Obama's and McShame's tax plans. And let me just say, I find it surprising. The most interesting point to me, and only because of fear being generated over Obama's "socialist" plan to redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor, is the following:

For married couples with incomes of $500,000 with two children and both parents working, the Tax Policy Center found that Mr. Obama would raise income taxes by $3,363, from $110,955 now, while Mr. McCain's plans would leave taxes unchanged. Deloitte found that a $500,000-a-year couple would pay $3,100 more under Mr. Obama, with no change under Mr. McCain.

In other words, a family earning $500,000 under McCain pays $110,955 in taxes and has $389,045 left after taxes, while under Obama the same family pays $114,318 in taxes and has $385,582 left after taxes. You can draw your own conclusions from this, but it doesn't sound like wealth redistribution to me.

Jack Knowledge's independent analysis? Anyone making $500,000 who, by definition, isn't as good looking as I am can go suck it.

Jungle. Muslim. Breast.

I'll admit, a week or two ago I would have seen this mock McCain advertisement (pronounced "ad-VERT-issmint," because I'm a fancy English gentleman) and laughed and laughed and laughed. Today, I watch it and the only thing that shocks me is that it isn't a real McCain ad. Yet.

We're beyond the bottom of the barrel at this point. With only 5 days left, McShame is standing in a hole he dug through the bottom of the barrel, 60 feet below sea level. And he's still digging. Some of McCain's smears in the homestretch have made the ones in my underwear pale in comparison, and believe me, that's saying something.

My sources in Vegas tell me the odds on McCain referencing Obama's exotic jungle muslimness in the next 4 days just went to 3:2

"I'm John McCain and I call a stereo system a Victrola."

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

McCain, Obama, Palin: You Got Served!

Courtesy of a good friend. The Potatoe thanks you:

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

THE NEXT AMERICAN PRESIDENT: SOUP TO NUTS

February 10, 2007: Barack Obama announces his candidacy for President of the United States:



April 25, 2007: John McCain announces his candidacy for President of the United States:



Simpler times. Prominence just a glint in their eyes.

Finish honorably, gentlemen.

Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr Predicts Deep South Win For Obama

ATLANTA, GA – "Senator John McCain will not win Georgia," predicts Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for president. "His shrinking poll numbers are an indication that McCain is losing touch with the American public as we get closer to November 4th."

"Sen. McCain never connected with the fiscal conservatives in Georgia," says Barr. "His lack of a principled stand on issues such as reducing the size of government and cutting spending bothers Georgia voters. Sen. McCain can't say with a straight face he will not raise taxes or increase government spending, given his support for such extremely expensive federal government programs like the recent massive bailouts for Wall Street. Clearly, McCain has failed to attract the hearts and support of Georgia voters."

"Sen. Obama will not so much win Georgia, as Sen. McCain will lose the state," Barr adds.

Right . . . and John McCain will carry California, New York and France.

Wazzzzzzzzzzup?

Everyone remember those Budweiser "wazzzzup" ads that were pretty hilarious at first, then you and your friends said "wazzzzzzup" like 62,000 times, then you said "wasssssssabi" maybe 26,000 times, then everyone you knew, including that toolbag down the hall who you absolutely could not effing stand said "wasssssssup" eleventy skabillion times, but that prick couldn't even do the voice right? Then anytime anyone even hinted that they might lay down a "wazzzzup" you shot them a look that said "IF you say that stupid word, I WILL punch you in the throat?" Yeah, you remember.

Anyhoo, those guys put together a new ad, and it is nothing short of genius.

Does Obama Even Have a Grandmother?

Rush must have upped his dosage.

Hoo boy. Strait out of crazytown, USA, Rush Limbaugh calls Obama's trip to visit his ailing grandmother a hoax. You idiot voters have been bamboozled! In Rush's own words, here is the real reason for Obama's recent trip to Hawaii:

Who announces days in advance they're rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill but keeps campaigning in a race that's said to be over, only to go to the loved one's side days later? See, I think this is about something else. You know what's really percolating out there? I've been laying low on this because it hasn't met the threshold to pass the smell test on this program.

This birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Philip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate and he still hasn't replied. You've got a deathly ill grandmother, you are going to rush to her side a few days from now, when you first announced this, you're going to rush, you're going to hurry, you're going to make tracks, you're going to get over there because you don't want your grandmother to die before you got there like your mother did, but somehow you keep campaigning, you take three days to get over there, if he's left yet, and this birth certificate business, I'm just wondering if something's up.

I have no clue, and folks, I'm telling you, this has not reached the threshold until now, and it's popping up all over the place. There are a lot of people now that are starting to speculate and be curious about this.

I don't know, let's say for example that somebody does come up with proof that something's screwy with his birth certificate and something's screwy about the fact that he's allegedly a natural citizen, American citizen, but may not be, dual citizenship, born in Kenya, who knows, there's all kinds of stuff out -- so what? What's going to happen this late in the campaign? Do you think if it's proven that they're going to dump him? That's not going to happen. But still, these are just questions that I have.

Sorry about the bold. Maybe I put the emPHAsis on the wrong syLAble.

But he is right. It is pure speculation and he has no clue. Kudos, Rush, you miserable low-life. It didn't meet the threshold (what could that threshold possibly be? I love these slime-merchants who state that they have these undeclared standards to bolster the credibility of their nonsense), but now it does. What changed, other than McCain's sinking poll numbers?

Opie, Andy, Richie and the Fonz

What do Opie Taylor, Sheriff Andy Taylor, Richie Cunningham and Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli have in common? No one under 35 has any idea who any of them are! Zing!!!No, I kid. Actually, no one under 35 does know who they are, but that isn't the right answer. You can stop guessing now, because I'm going to tell you: they are all voting for Barack Obama because they love America.

Director of totally awesome movies like Backdraft and Apollo 13, and former child star of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, Ron Howard, has teamed up with his former co-stars, Andy "Matlock" Griffith and Henry "The Fonz" Winkler to bring you this PSA.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

I Learned A New Word Today: "Outlier"

An "outlier" denotes an empirical result on the margins that most statisticians discard as unreliable or anomalous.

With a cascade of polls showing Barack Obama separating from John McCain, scratching if not realizing a double-digit lead, I was intrigued by the AP-GFK poll released this week showing a virtual dead heat: Obama - 44%, McCain - 43%.

Pollster John Zogby (fingering Obama's lead at 10 points) decries the new poll as a sloppy "outlier," deficient in accounting for a massive surge in college-age voters flocking to the polls this election season.

But for you cocksure Democrats out there, already putting the champagne on ice for your Obama victory celebration, Zogby concedes things remain fluid and forewarns: "anything can happen."

The Potatoe's Missing Links For October 22, 2008

Rick Reilly and Barack Obama pick a NFL fantasy for week six games.

Barack Obama now boasts a 93.5% chance of victory.

John McCain left on the Straight Talk Express, overnight, alone, scared (hehehehe).

Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review shocked that blacks are voting for Barack Obama.

Drudge, almost out of spin, tries reverse psychology: it's such a done deal, why vote?

The only poll that matters comes out on November 5.

Alaska Independence Party and the Palins: A Simmering Controversy

Against the better wishes of my fellow contributors, Warm Apple Pie will continue to push this fact-driven story: The Palins' ties to the Alaska Independence Party ("AIP") and the unwillingness of the mainstream media to explore the history of the relationship. There is a ton of unfinished meat on the bone.

Some say this is "out there" already and yesterday's news cycle. But I believe it is ripe for media plucking considering McCain-Palin's incessant push to link Obama to William Ayers.

And others are starting to agree (Colmes to the rescue? Colmes? Say it ain't so, Joe!):



From last evening's Hannity and Colmes. Around minute three, Colmes raises the parallel between the Ayers-Obama attack and the Palins' unchallenged AIP involvement. He notes how Democrats have decided not to play in this pigpen (lipsticked pigpen that is). Former Deputy Governor of Maryland, Republican Michael Steele, after two minutes of usual, overwrought shredding of Obama on his dubious connections (with the help of the always-willing Hannity), suddenly becomes very terse when confronted with AIP allegations, dismissing them as merely "irrelevant."

A simmering controversy, not a stale one. And it is starting to creep out of the blogosphere to the print media.

"Country First" Or "Alaska First," Sarah? Just Who Is Sarah Palin?

Where is Michelle Bachmann when you need her. There is anti-Americanism afoot!

It seems Sarah and Todd Palin were members of the Alaska Independence Party ("AIP"). Its slogan: "Alaska First. Alaska Always." Its platform: Secede from the United States of America and become a sovereign nation at all costs. In the words of its pioneering member, Joe Vogler: "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

More startling, the AIP and Bill Ayers have much in common when it comes to approved tactics. From Talking Points Memo:

The AIP has been described as an extreme-right, anti-government organization comparable to militia movements such as that which carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City attack. The group's aims are voiced no more forcefully than by its founder, Joe Vogler, as CNN observes in direct quotations: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government...," Vogler states in one quotation, "...And I won't be buried under their damn flag." In another quotation, Vogler says: "My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand." As though to leave no doubt in our minds regarding his willingness to use violence to achieve his secessionist aims, Vogler says in one final quote: "I hope we don't have to take human life, but if they go on trampling our property rights, look out, we're ready to die."

Sarah Palin sent the AIP a video greeting welcoming the party delegates to their 2008 convention in Fairbanks, Alaska. There's another clip floating around where the AIP Vice Chairman, sporting a burly, anti-establishment ZZ Top beard, refers to Sarah Palin as a former member of the AIP before she was mayor of Wasilla and is still "sympathetic to her former membership" (after minute six of the attached video). Reportedly, the Palins attended the 1994 AIP Convention in Wasilla, Alaska.

Now, I'm going to need some fact-checking from my fellow contributors, but if this is a verified news story, why doesn't this line of attack effectively end Palin's bid for Vice President and seal McCain's fate? And where is the mainstream media on this?

Not only did she "pal around with secessionist(s)" - here the plural form is warranted - but she married one? Is this not the epitome of Bachmann's Anti-Americanism or the GOP pundit class's "guilt by association?" Let's get some perspective using the besieged Barack Obama - if there was a clip of Senator Obama welcoming the Chicago chapter of Communist Party USA to the United Center on Madison Street, praising the importance of their movement, with the party's chairman affectionately referring to Obama as a former member, how fast would his double-digit cushion evaporate? Bill Ayers set off pipe bombs in government buildings. The AIP wants to lay claim to an entire state and sever it from the Union by any means necessary?

With each passing day, Sarah Palin's hoked-up rhetoric gets more and more deliciously hypocritical and proof-positive of her political meretriciousness.

Is It Time For The Nuclear Option: Reverend Wright

The game is getting away from John McCain as Obama opens up a double-digit margin in some polls. Ayers, Joe the Plumber, Muslim, Socialism, pallin' around with Ayers, wealth redistribution, worked closely with Ayers, ACORN, Barack Hussein Obama, "Arab fear," anti-American, inexperience, some more Ayers, texts with Scarlett Johansson - nothing sticks to the Teflon Democrat, or everything sticks, but the folks are too busy licking their personal financial wounds to give a rat's ass.

13 days until the election, not to mention early voting has begun in many states (with a reportedly strong turnout by the Democrats).

What's an old Navy man to do in desperate times with bilge water rising?

Desperate measures.

"My friends . . . LOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!! BEHOLD!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS LUNATIC!!!!!! LOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!:




Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. JESUS CHRIST!!!!! Can I get that ballot back!?!?! Yes, yes, YES - I WANT TO CHANGE MY F**KING VOTE!!!!! YOU HEARD ME - GIMME THE DAMN BALLOT BACK!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH, PLEASE LET ME VOTE FOR MCCAIN!!!!! PLEASE!!!! I WANT MCCAIN!!! OH CHRIST, PLEASE GIVE ME THE BALLOT BACK YOU BASTARD!!!!! And, er, um . . . well . . . Palin . . . I have to vote for Palin too? . . . can't just have McCain . . . really . . . did . . . not . . . know that . . . ummmm . . . aaaaaaaah, oooh boy . . . let me see that clip again . . . hmmmmm . . . this is hard . . . okay, her too. Yes, McCain and Palin. Vote for both. Anyone who doesn't pal around with this nutcup.

Man, Reverend Wright should be an army chaplain on the Event Horizon. Liberate tutame, voters!

McCain seizes on Biden's "test his mettle" gaffe

The McCain camp has been jumping all over Sen. Joe Biden's remarks that if elected, Sen. Obama will be tested by a major international crisis within the first six months of his presidency. As reported by Sidecar, Biden, speaking at a campaign function in Seattle, prognosticated that the world is watching Sen. Obama and will seek to "test his mettle" in the first six months because of his perceived lack of experience.

Of course, based on historical analysis, almost EVERY president is tested in their first six months by an international crisis. For Kennedy, the example cited by Biden, it was the Bay of Pigs, a plan devised by the CIA under Eisenhower (not the Cuban Missile Crisis, which didn't occur until mid-1962). For Reagan it was Lebanon and Grenada, for Bush I it was the First Gulf War, for Clinton it was the bombing of the World Trade Center in '93, and for Bush II it was 9/11.

Both McCain and Palin have used the comment today in their campaign appearances. And I must say, McCain's approach today was the first time I've read his comments lately and thought, "wow, that's actually a great argument." Color me impressed. Of course, reminding voters concerned about your age may not be the greatest idea in the world, but I like the line:

“Sen. Biden referred to how Jack Kennedy was tested in the Cuban
missile crisis. My friends, I have a little personal experience in that. I was on board the USS Enterprise. I sat in the cockpit of the flight deck off of Cuba. I had a target. My friends, you know how close we came to a nuclear war. America will not have a president who needs to be tested. I've been tested, my friends.”

Courtesy of Politico.

The Augural Youth Of Barack Obama: Biden Foresees International Crisis, Obama Cries For Assistance

Joe Biden is gaffe-tastic! At a fundraiser in Seattle, the "Thanks-But-No-Thanks-On-That-Help-To-Nowhere" Senator from Delaware complimented Obama's intellect through the implication that he is politically green, holds accurate, yet arcane positions with respect to foreign matters and will need big time help in the first six months of his presidency:

It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Watch, we're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy and he's going to need help . . . to stand with him. Because it's not going to be apparent initially; it's not going to be apparent that we're right.

Way to emphasize Obama's truncated record as a first-term junior senator with no executive experience. And as expected, McCain-Palin pounce on Biden's mastication of a simple message - that Obama is smart and right.

It's never a good moment for the campaign when your stump drivel permits your opponents, champing at the bit, to take back the news cycle and prompt a newspaper to entitle an article: "McCain cites Biden to slam Obama").

God love yah, Joe, but do you mind stepping out back for a two-week-long smoke? Don't worry - we'll take it from here. Why don't you grab a bite with Joey Danko at Katie's Restaurant (closed for over a decade).

(Not At All) Breaking News: Obama not Muslim; doesn't particularly like them in his backdrops

This is apparently old news but it is news to me, and since I write for myself ever since I got Hooked on Phonics, that's all that matters:

Asma Hasan echoed Rehab's frustration about the occasional fumbles of the candidates toward the Muslim community. She pointed to a June incident at an Obama rally.

Two women were told not to sit behind Obama because they were wearing head scarves. Campaign volunteers thought it would would look bad if the women were seen behind the candidate in a photo or on television.

The Obama campaign quickly apologized, and a campaign spokeswoman said that the incident was not reflective of Obama's message, according to the New York Times.

Who shot who in the what now? Wait, two Muslim women were yanked from behind Obama because they were wearing head scarves? Wow. I don't care that this happened in June. I'm just hearing about it now. I don't care that there was an apology - Obama quietly condoned it by allowing it and then apologizing later. The same article talks about how neither candidate in courting the American religious vote has visited a mosque. Apparently the 2.3 million Muslims in America are invisible. Or don't count as good, religious Americans. Dude, they pray five times a day - you really could have stopped in at least ONCE, guys. And I am talking to both of you.

Listen, I've had it with all of this Muslim talk. Had it with any religious talk of any kind. Had it with crap like McCain's backhanded slap in the mouth when he said that Obama wasn't an Arab or a Muslim but was rather "a good man; a family man." Had it with Obama defending his Christian faith and denying being a Muslim - as if that were a pejorative statement about him.

We talk about how far we've come because the front-runner is a (semi) black guy. We've come nowhere. Our hatred of the "other" has not been smoothed, buffed and polished away; it's been shifted. It's shifted so radically and so quickly that we pat ourselves on the backs, conveniently ignoring that the key issue is now not whether a candidate is black but whether a black candidate is also a black MUSLIM candidate.

In short, I've had it with the Republican attacks against Muslims, and against Obama for being a "secret" Muslim - and I've had it just as much with Obama and his camp swinging at a pitch in the dirt by playing up his lifelong Christianity. Dude, in my eyes you're just praying to a different invisible guy. As Pacino said playing the Big Guy's charming nemesis "Oh, I have so many names." Frankly, I hope you're lying and you believe in nothing but fundamental goodness towards your fellow man - and not because a book tells you to or the Man Behind the Curtain commands it. But because it's just the right way to live. But apparently that isn't how you get elected in this great nation of ours.

The point is, circling back, that someone would care about a woman in a headscarf in the background of an Obama photo-op. Apparently enough people would care that they had to be yanked from the scene. America, pat yourself on your back in two weeks if you vote in a minority candidate. But don't pat too hard... you're still living in ethical squalor.

McCain-Palin Remains In The Crack Of America's Ass

I received the following email this morning from McCain-Palin (apparently there are traitors among us, anti-American elements in our midst, signing me up on Republican mailing lists. I'm suspending my campaign to hunt down these cyber terrorists. GOP succubus Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann is a person of interest):

I'm Joe the Plumber
Monday, October 20, 2008 12:08 PM
From:
"McCain-Palin Team" Add sender to Contacts
To: dqpotatoe@hotmail.com

How are you "Joe the Plumber"?Tell us in 30 seconds...

We want you to tell us how you are "Joe the Plumber" and why you're supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin in thirty seconds. You could even see your video as an official McCain TV ad. By now, "Joe the Plumber" is a household name and has become a symbol of Barack Obama's plan to "spread the wealth around." During a recent campaign event in Toledo, Ohio, "Joe the Plumber" asked a simple question and got a surprising answer from the Democratic nominee.

When he asked why Barack Obama's tax plan was going to punish him for working hard and living the American Dream, Barack Obama responded, "When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

In that brief exchange, the American people got to see what this campaign is all about ... a choice between honoring the hard work of everyday Americans like "Joe the Plumber" and increasing taxes to "spread the wealth."

In these tough economic times, there is no doubt that John McCain and Sarah Palin stand firmly on the side of hardworking "everyday Joes" who understand the value of honest work and the American Dream. That's why we want to hear from you and share your story with the American public. It's simple ... make an ad telling us why you are "Joe the Plumber" in 30 seconds and we'll put the best ad on the air as a TV ad. Share your story of living the American Dream, working hard, or owning a small business to tell America why you're standing with John McCain and Sarah Palin. Click here today to learn more and submit your video before Friday, October 24th. Then help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity - tell your friends to visit JohnMcCain.com/Joe to submit their own video and share their story.

Please visit this page if you want to remove yourself from the email list.
Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008

*******

How am I "Joe the Plumber?????" Well, let's see - neither of us are licensed to work as a plumber. Neither of us are about to buy a plumbing business worth $250,000 or more. And neither of us like paying taxes (though there's a stark difference between us: I actually pay my taxes, whereas Joe faces a $1000 plus lien for back taxes. What a patriot! Criminal disobedience!).

How am I not like "Joe the Plumber?????" I have hair. I resist transforming into a glam-whore at the first sniff of media attention. Oh, and I go by my real first name.

So "Sam" the Plumber asked Barack Obama a "simple question and got a suprising answer": "When you spread the wealth around, it is good for everybody."

Does anyone honestly disagree with any part of this statement, even those of the uncompromising free market ilk? We are all capitalists (no matter what McCain-Palin would have you believe). We all respect ownership, free alienation of land, the opportunity of investment, competition and growth. And, sorry to break it to you, we are all socialists to a certain extent, accepting the benefits of social security, welfare, medicare, airline bailouts, financial sector bailouts, public transportation, human services, emergency services, etc. We grouse about higher taxes, but have no problem reaping the daily harvest.

Despite the rah-rah speeches on the stump, our current economy and the markets that drive it are hybrid forms that seek a seamless synergy of both the capitalist and socialist model. Don't worry, Republicans: it's not European socialism. Don't worry, Democrats: it's not the economic lotusland told around the Republican campfire either.

A suprising answer proffered by Obama? "Spread the wealth around?" As opposed to hoarding all of the wealth in the grubby hands of a few monocled fat cats - you know, Johnny Eight-Houses or Cindy My-Earrings-Could-Feed-Your-Family-For-A-Year - which has been a super sweet boon for our country's economic stability as recent events have shown.

Don't worry, Joe the taxpayer - AIG knows what to do with your money. Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!

Trickle-Down Economics doesn't work if you bury almost everyone below the basin, then let them die of thirst:

In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 51%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 84%, leaving only 16% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).

And if McCain-Palin had a longer attention span than the average eight-year-old and provided a modicum of context instead of one strategic sentence out of one hundred sentences, they would realize that Barack Obama makes sense, Barack Obama is not going to steal your money to finance his "anti-American" agenda and that pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is impossible if you don't have bootstraps. You would realize that Obama' entire response to plumbers across America was unmitigated brilliance and one of his finest moments of the campaign:

Because my attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. If you've got a plumbing business, you're gonna be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you. And right now, everybody's so pinched that business is bad for everybody. And I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody. But, listen, I respect what you do and I respect your question. And even if I don't get your vote, I'm still gonna be working hard on your behalf 'cause I want to make sure … small businesses are what creates jobs in this country and I want to encourage it. All right. (applause) One other thing I didn't mention. For small-business people, I'm gonna eliminate the capital gains tax, so what it means is if your business succeeds and let's say you take it from a $250,000 business to a $500,000 business, that capital gains that you get, we're not gonna tax you on it 'cause I want you to grow more so you're actually going … you may end up … I'd have to look at your particular business but you might end up paying lower taxes under my plan and my approach than under John McCain's plan. I can't guarantee that 'cause I'd have to take a look at your business.

No one gives a damn about Joe/Sam the Plumber, Bill Ayers, Charles Keating, Reverend Wright, Reverend Hagee or G. Gordon Liddy. They care about keeping their jobs, providing for their families, receiving affordable and quality healthcare and working towards their retirement.

Powell the Racist

So says Rush Limbaugh:

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race," Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail. "OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

How quickly the right wing slime merchants like Limbaugh and Hannity turn on real conservatives when those conservatives think for themselves instead of basking in the celebrated ignorance and fear-mongering of today's Republican party.

Lets hope people like Powell, Ross Douthat, David Frum and others like them get the Republican party back on course.