Normally I resist posting campaign ads produced by either ticket, but this one put a charge in me. Very simple. Very topical. Very true:
I've exceeded my video quota for the day, but reserve the right to post a clip of McCain and Palin's faces superimposed on Bill Allen and Lori Loughlin bike-dancing to "Send Me An Angel" by Australian band Real Life in the seminal eighties film Rad.*
*Shout out to Defective Pants for daring to dream.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
"Hey Maverick! I'm A Maverick! You're A Maverick! We're The Maverick Team!"
As requested by reader Damn Sam, at a rally this morning in Florida, Joe Biden has a bit of fun with the McCain-Palin "couple of mavericks" persona:
God love yah, Joe Biden. Finally somebody said it!
God love yah, Joe Biden. Finally somebody said it!
The Dr. McCain Chronicles, Part 1
There has been much speculation concerning how John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Speculate no more. In a Potatoe exclusive, we have come into possession of the super-secret audio tape of the top-level meeting that finalized this decision. Without further delay, the transcript:
Dr. McCain: You know, I have one simple request for my Vice President. And that is to have a shark with frickin' laser beam attached to its head! Now evidently my myopic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Steve Schmidt: A barracuda.
Dr. McCain: [pause] Right.
Steve Schmidt: Sarah Barracuda.
Dr. McCain: Is she ill tempered?
Steve Schmidt: Absolutely. Like a pit bull with lipstick.
Dr. McCain: Oh well, that's a start.
Riveting stuff. But it didn’t end there. What was their first meeting like?
Dr. McCain: Hello Sarah.
Sarah Palin: Hi.
Dr. McCain: I'm your running mate. Dr. McCain.
Sarah Palin: I've met you once my whole life and now you just show up and *expect* a relationship? I hate you. What?
Dr. McCain: Can I have a hug?
Sarah Palin: No.
Dr. McCain: Give me a hug.
Sarah Palin: No way.
Dr. McCain: Come on. Let's go. Pronto.
Sarah Palin: What are you doing?
Dr. McCain: I'm with it. I'm hip. Tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, uh. Well, don't look at me like I'm friggin' Frankenstein! Come here and give your running mate a hug.
Sarah Palin: Get away from me, you puff-faced psycho!
[Dr. McCain runs after Sarah with his arms out]
Dr. McCain: Hug, hug, hug.
At first, they got along, but when McCain’s poll numbers started to decline, tension between the two mavericks began to build.
Dr. McCain: Sarah, I want you to meet my nemesis, Barack Obama
Sarah Palin: What? Are you going to just let him campaign like that? Why don't you just bring up Reverend Wright?
Dr. McCain: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable moral quandary involving an exaggerated relationship with Bill Ayers.
Dr. McCain: All right Steve, begin the unnecessarily boring robocalls.
Sarah Palin: Wait, aren't you even going to mention Wright? Obama can address the Ayers issue!
Dr. McCain: No no no, I'm going to leave Wright alone and not actually read the polls about whether the Ayers attacks are effective, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
Sarah Palin: I have a tape of Wright, in my room, you give me five seconds, I'll get it, I'll come back down here, BOOM, it'll blow their campaign out!
Dr. McCain: Sarah, you just don't get it, do ya? You don't.
How did it all turn out? Tune in next time . . .
Palin's Future
CNN has already begun girding its loins for a Republican loss, running an extensive article (following on the more bitchy previous columns in many outlets about Palin "going rogue" and "off message") about what Sarah Palin's political future is, should the GOP lose on Tuesday.
The end result comes, again, back to a possible major schism in the party. She's a flashpoint at a moment in the history of our country where the potential rise of a three party system (assuming the Dems win on Tuesday) is really closer than I ever believed possible.
On the one hand, there are the "thinking" Republicans. Your George Will. Your Victoria Jackson. (wait, scratch that) Your Peggy Noonan. Your David Frum. These people are smart. They're not walking, talking You Betcha catchphrases. They are measured and considerate people who happen to slant conservative in their bent. And they have made it clear that should Sarah Palin become the standard-bearer, they cannot bear that standard. (see what I did there)
These people will need candidates and a party in 2012 and even as soon as 2010 conceivably. If Sarah Palin becomes the face of the New Republicanism, these people will see themselves as ballast, no longer required on a foundering ship. People like David Brooks recently took Palin and many of those that find her to be a wonderful breath of fresh air to the party to task, saying that they now supported a "counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices...."
People like this do not want to support a party that paints anyone with an education or who lives in a city or has a job that requires functional brain activity as being an elitist. Mostly because, if so, all these people - staunch, unwavering conservatives with brains - are suddenly elitist and generally unwelcome under the New Republican tent. If this is truly the direction the party is taken, I believe these people will strike out and seek new ground. Libertarians? Maybe. Or maybe they will try to bring disenchanted conservative Democrats into the fold and become a true Centrist party. Either way, I think it would be wonderful for America. But what of the New Republicans then?
Well, there is an entirely different group that think Palin should carry forth her folksy, Wasilla Main Street message, win or lose, and be the shining light that will lead true Republicans out of the post-Reagan era wilderness they current find themselves lost within.
"Palin, as best I can describe it, exudes a kind of middle-class magnetism. It's subdued but nonetheless very powerful," Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes recently wrote. "Whether they know it or not, Republicans have a huge stake in Palin. If, after the election, they let her slip into political obscurity, they'll be making a tragic mistake."
Personally, I cannot imagine a party with Sarah Palin as its standard-bearer. What would be the tenants? What would such a party stand for? The thought to me is equal parts terrifying, head-scratching and laughable. But others clearly are very taken with her outsider, maverick message, whether or not it is true or genuine. However, there seems to me to be a fundamental flaw with the idea of THAT Sarah Palin becoming the figurehead of the New Republicans, and it is this:
But one thing is clear: If Palin wants to mount a serious bid for her party's nomination in 2012, she has a lot of groundwork to do.
She has yet to form relationships with many key conservative groups at the local level, whose support would be instrumental in ultimately capturing the Republican presidential nomination. She knows few party chairman in the key early primary states where the race will likely be decided.
"She needs to get out there and get to know conservative leaders at the national, state, and local level," Viguerie said. "She needs to introduce herself in a way she hasn't had the opportunity to do so far."
Essentially, even Palin's strongest and staunchest supporters concede that in order to mount a serious challenge in 2012, or even to continue to be a national player of significance, Sarah Palin is going to have to meet the people and learn the game. Everyone agrees that she cannot simply go back to Anchorage, hole up and wait for primary season in 2011. She has to meet people, gladhand financial backers, get schooled in media diplomacy and all the trappings of being a successful political candidate.
And therein lies the dichotomy I cannot wrap my head around and that confuses me about considering her to be "the future" of anything. Sarah Palin's primary appeal at this point has been her maverick, outside-the-establishment vibe. She is small town straight-talk. But in order to become a viable candidate, she has to shed that skin and grow a new, slicker one. She has to become an insider when her greatest appeal has been that she is an outsider. And that is what nobody has yet adequately explained to me about the future of Sarah Palin: how do you stay relevant in politics when your relevance is dependent upon you not being part of politics-as-usual?
Good luck, New Republicans.
The end result comes, again, back to a possible major schism in the party. She's a flashpoint at a moment in the history of our country where the potential rise of a three party system (assuming the Dems win on Tuesday) is really closer than I ever believed possible.
On the one hand, there are the "thinking" Republicans. Your George Will. Your Victoria Jackson. (wait, scratch that) Your Peggy Noonan. Your David Frum. These people are smart. They're not walking, talking You Betcha catchphrases. They are measured and considerate people who happen to slant conservative in their bent. And they have made it clear that should Sarah Palin become the standard-bearer, they cannot bear that standard. (see what I did there)
These people will need candidates and a party in 2012 and even as soon as 2010 conceivably. If Sarah Palin becomes the face of the New Republicanism, these people will see themselves as ballast, no longer required on a foundering ship. People like David Brooks recently took Palin and many of those that find her to be a wonderful breath of fresh air to the party to task, saying that they now supported a "counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices...."
People like this do not want to support a party that paints anyone with an education or who lives in a city or has a job that requires functional brain activity as being an elitist. Mostly because, if so, all these people - staunch, unwavering conservatives with brains - are suddenly elitist and generally unwelcome under the New Republican tent. If this is truly the direction the party is taken, I believe these people will strike out and seek new ground. Libertarians? Maybe. Or maybe they will try to bring disenchanted conservative Democrats into the fold and become a true Centrist party. Either way, I think it would be wonderful for America. But what of the New Republicans then?
Well, there is an entirely different group that think Palin should carry forth her folksy, Wasilla Main Street message, win or lose, and be the shining light that will lead true Republicans out of the post-Reagan era wilderness they current find themselves lost within.
"Palin, as best I can describe it, exudes a kind of middle-class magnetism. It's subdued but nonetheless very powerful," Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes recently wrote. "Whether they know it or not, Republicans have a huge stake in Palin. If, after the election, they let her slip into political obscurity, they'll be making a tragic mistake."
Personally, I cannot imagine a party with Sarah Palin as its standard-bearer. What would be the tenants? What would such a party stand for? The thought to me is equal parts terrifying, head-scratching and laughable. But others clearly are very taken with her outsider, maverick message, whether or not it is true or genuine. However, there seems to me to be a fundamental flaw with the idea of THAT Sarah Palin becoming the figurehead of the New Republicans, and it is this:
But one thing is clear: If Palin wants to mount a serious bid for her party's nomination in 2012, she has a lot of groundwork to do.
She has yet to form relationships with many key conservative groups at the local level, whose support would be instrumental in ultimately capturing the Republican presidential nomination. She knows few party chairman in the key early primary states where the race will likely be decided.
"She needs to get out there and get to know conservative leaders at the national, state, and local level," Viguerie said. "She needs to introduce herself in a way she hasn't had the opportunity to do so far."
Essentially, even Palin's strongest and staunchest supporters concede that in order to mount a serious challenge in 2012, or even to continue to be a national player of significance, Sarah Palin is going to have to meet the people and learn the game. Everyone agrees that she cannot simply go back to Anchorage, hole up and wait for primary season in 2011. She has to meet people, gladhand financial backers, get schooled in media diplomacy and all the trappings of being a successful political candidate.
And therein lies the dichotomy I cannot wrap my head around and that confuses me about considering her to be "the future" of anything. Sarah Palin's primary appeal at this point has been her maverick, outside-the-establishment vibe. She is small town straight-talk. But in order to become a viable candidate, she has to shed that skin and grow a new, slicker one. She has to become an insider when her greatest appeal has been that she is an outsider. And that is what nobody has yet adequately explained to me about the future of Sarah Palin: how do you stay relevant in politics when your relevance is dependent upon you not being part of politics-as-usual?
Good luck, New Republicans.
The Potatoe Poll: Obama Out To A "Slight" Early Lead
Barack Obama: 14. John McCain: 0.When did we become MSNBC? That's what I get for working with the Castro brothers and Che Guevara. Dan Quayle's Pink Potatoe. Barbara West just asked me if I recognize "religion is the opiate of the masses."
I feel sheepish like Fox News on debate night - even Hannity semi-cringed when he chimed "fair and balanced," then accounted for the "who won the debate" poll standing at McCain 89%, Obama 7% (4% undecided - yes, 4% of our brain-damaged brethren couldn't even form a ridiculous opinion on something they just witnessed).
C'mon, we have some neocon readers, right?
Where are the hawks, the jingoists, the firebrand zealots, the monocled fat cats, the log cabin GOPers, the Rovian ideologues, the average "Joes" - six-packing Joe, plumbing Joe, say it ain't so Joe, Joe Lieberman - the gun-clingers, the religion-clingers, the "Obama is an anti-American-Kenyan-Muslim-terrorist" propagandists, the Wasillians, Greta Van Susteren, Caylee Anthony, Victoria Jackson, the entire staff of Town Hall, the cynical air-quoters ("dick fingers" as John Stewart referenced them last evening), the grizzled folks wearing mesh trucker hats without a trucker's license and bleating about "dat der negra" running for president as a hot fug of Skoal and fear wafts from out behind corn kernel teeth? Anyone? Hello? Long live Barry Goldwater?
Warm Apple Pie is not a registered Democrat. I'm giddy over Obama, but I vote the man, not the party. I'm not a big fan of the Reid-Pelosi-Frank troika in the Congress to be sure. They are vindictive, spiteful knaves (Pelosi has impudent man servant traits) and are GOP blood-thirsty after eight years of incarceration (last two on work furlough). Obama shouldn't entertain their prate.
Give me one vote for McCain. Come on, my friends - endorsed by five former secretaries of state and he can name four of them.
I feel sheepish like Fox News on debate night - even Hannity semi-cringed when he chimed "fair and balanced," then accounted for the "who won the debate" poll standing at McCain 89%, Obama 7% (4% undecided - yes, 4% of our brain-damaged brethren couldn't even form a ridiculous opinion on something they just witnessed).
C'mon, we have some neocon readers, right?
Where are the hawks, the jingoists, the firebrand zealots, the monocled fat cats, the log cabin GOPers, the Rovian ideologues, the average "Joes" - six-packing Joe, plumbing Joe, say it ain't so Joe, Joe Lieberman - the gun-clingers, the religion-clingers, the "Obama is an anti-American-Kenyan-Muslim-terrorist" propagandists, the Wasillians, Greta Van Susteren, Caylee Anthony, Victoria Jackson, the entire staff of Town Hall, the cynical air-quoters ("dick fingers" as John Stewart referenced them last evening), the grizzled folks wearing mesh trucker hats without a trucker's license and bleating about "dat der negra" running for president as a hot fug of Skoal and fear wafts from out behind corn kernel teeth? Anyone? Hello? Long live Barry Goldwater?
Warm Apple Pie is not a registered Democrat. I'm giddy over Obama, but I vote the man, not the party. I'm not a big fan of the Reid-Pelosi-Frank troika in the Congress to be sure. They are vindictive, spiteful knaves (Pelosi has impudent man servant traits) and are GOP blood-thirsty after eight years of incarceration (last two on work furlough). Obama shouldn't entertain their prate.
Give me one vote for McCain. Come on, my friends - endorsed by five former secretaries of state and he can name four of them.
Joe the Secretary of State: "A Vote For Obama Is A Vote For The Death Of Israel"
No longer content merely to serve as the McCain campaign's chief economic advisor, Samuel Wurzelbacher a/k/a "Joe the (unlicensed, non-union) Plumber" has decided to take on the additional role of McCain's chief foreign policy advisor, based on his extensive experience in the field of unclogging toilets without a license.
Speaking at a McCain rally in Columbus "real America" Ohio yesterday, Joe the Foreign Policy Expert responded to a statement from a McCain supporter in the crowd. The McCain supporter, according to Joe, is "Middle America."
McCain Supporter: "A vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel! I'll guarantee you that!"
Joe the Foreign Policy Expert: "Actually, uh, I'll go ahead and agree with you on that. You know, well, I agree with you. I really think that would be a problem."
Apparently, this was the final straw for Fox News' Shepard Smith, who not only repeatedly questioned Joe's totally baseless and ignorant opinion, but was moved to issue a disclaimer following his interview with Wurzelbacher.
The full interview is worth a watch, if you want to experience stunned disbelief that a guy who literally would not be allowed by law to snake your sink in most states is now acting as McCain's chief economic and foreign policy messenger, and also if you are at all interested in your head literally exploding. Watch the interview here.
Speaking at a McCain rally in Columbus "real America" Ohio yesterday, Joe the Foreign Policy Expert responded to a statement from a McCain supporter in the crowd. The McCain supporter, according to Joe, is "Middle America."
McCain Supporter: "A vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel! I'll guarantee you that!"
Joe the Foreign Policy Expert: "Actually, uh, I'll go ahead and agree with you on that. You know, well, I agree with you. I really think that would be a problem."
Apparently, this was the final straw for Fox News' Shepard Smith, who not only repeatedly questioned Joe's totally baseless and ignorant opinion, but was moved to issue a disclaimer following his interview with Wurzelbacher.
"I just want to make this 100 percent perfectly clear -- Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend of the United States, no matter what happens once he becomes President of the United States. His words. The rest of it -- man...some things -- it just gets frightening sometimes. We'll be right back."
The full interview is worth a watch, if you want to experience stunned disbelief that a guy who literally would not be allowed by law to snake your sink in most states is now acting as McCain's chief economic and foreign policy messenger, and also if you are at all interested in your head literally exploding. Watch the interview here.
When Dems Win on Taxes, Dems Win, Period
Despite the spectre of Joe the Plumber, Betty the Baker, Tony the Taxidermist, Peter the Pederast or any of the other Chaucer-like descriptions used by the McCain/Palin campaign to describe the working-class people that allegedly support their tax plan, it turns out that most Americans (or most Americans who participate in telephone polls, that is) are favoring the Obama plan.
Turns out that appealing to 95% of Americans by saying you'll lower their taxes, and saying that over and over again, while your opponent instead tries to explain how lowering taxes for 95% of people is a bad thing, garners you pretty solid public support with that 95% you are talking about helping.
McCain's "Joe the Plumber" argument is probably giving him some headway but interestingly, Obama still maintains a ten-point lead over McCain -- 51 to 41 percent -- on who voters trust more to handle the issue of taxes, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll.
The last Democrat to hold that sort of an advantage over his GOP opponent on economic issues going into an election: William Jefferson Clinton. And we see what a disaster for the economy that administration turned out to be. Let's just hope Obama doesn't leave us with a trillion dollar surplus or something absurd like that. We'll just spend it on booze.
Turns out that appealing to 95% of Americans by saying you'll lower their taxes, and saying that over and over again, while your opponent instead tries to explain how lowering taxes for 95% of people is a bad thing, garners you pretty solid public support with that 95% you are talking about helping.
McCain's "Joe the Plumber" argument is probably giving him some headway but interestingly, Obama still maintains a ten-point lead over McCain -- 51 to 41 percent -- on who voters trust more to handle the issue of taxes, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll.
The last Democrat to hold that sort of an advantage over his GOP opponent on economic issues going into an election: William Jefferson Clinton. And we see what a disaster for the economy that administration turned out to be. Let's just hope Obama doesn't leave us with a trillion dollar surplus or something absurd like that. We'll just spend it on booze.
Way Of The Master? No Kissy-Wissy On The Side
Kirk Cameron, always filled with the Holy Spirit these (end of) days, proving God's truth through a f**king banana, lives under a self-imposed ban from kissing non-wife co-stars while on film (apparently Kirk can still be found on film somewhere).But what if you're cast in a "steamy, non-sinful . . . faith-based action spectacular" Christian romance flick called Fireproof? Tag line: Never leave your partner behind (translation: The Bible says divorce is a sin!).
So pop quiz, secular hotshots - you're the lead in a biblical romance, but cannot kiss the broad starring opposite you because of a "personal commitment" to your off-camera partner-in-piety? What do you do? What do you do about that cinematic, er, "Growing Pain" in your pants (did you really think I could resist)? What do you do about those thespian blue balls? What do you do?:
Christian actor Kirk Cameron forced movie bosses to cast his wife Chelsea as a smooching stand-in for his new film Fireproof, because he refused to kiss his onscreen wife.
In the movie, Cameron plays a firefighter battling to save his marriage to his wife, played by Erin Bethea. However the 37 year old had made a vow to Chelsea - his wife of 17 years and the mother of his six children - that he would never kiss another woman on or off-screen, so she was brought onto the set for a romantic scene.
Cameron, a partner in evangelical Christian ministry The Way of the Master, explains, "In Fireproof, there is a romantic and touching scene where he (character) kisses his wife. Because I have a commitment not to kiss any other woman, my wife Chelsea came in to the set and wore the dress my character's wife wore. We shot the scene in silhouette, so when I kiss my wife, I'm actually kissing my wife and honoring our marriage."
Here's the trailer for Fireproof. Can I see it yesterday please! Firefighters and sanctimony! I see dollar signs. Look out Dark Knight!:
You're almost teased into believing this is a bona fide movie, until the last 20 seconds when they drag the big, old crucifix out of the prop trailer and a sobbing Kirk falls to his knees in expected prostration before the Lord.
Jesus Christ, Kirk - kiss the bitch.
Oh, also couldn't resist embedding plantain-proof of God courtesy of Cameron and Way of the Master inculcator Ray Comfort. Somehow the fact that I can facilely peel and guide a banana into my mouth, without smashing it into my eye socket like a blooming retard, is axiomatic truth of a divine maker.
I believe in God on my own terms. I can eat a piece of fruit and not make a big thing out of it.
A little detour. Back to politics, faithful readers. We're within a week. It ain't going to be pretty.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Joe The Plumber, Allow Me To Introduce You To . . .
Mark the Patriot!Also, how about "Sarah the Liar." Speaking this afternoon in a surprising exclusive with Fox News' Sean Hannity (finally! He got her! You couldn't run forever, Palin!), Railin' Palin' hooted about Senator Obama's economic proposals:
So, what we have to do is go back to his record and see where he has come from so that we can then understand where he wants to lead America. He voted 94 times for higher taxes. He had all those opportunities to be on our side, the people's side. Instead, he was for bigger government.
And now his proposal to increase spending, nearly $1 trillion more, the only way he's going to be able to pay for those proposals, increase taxes. He voted, of course, for higher taxes on those middle-class, hard working Americans, making $42,000 a year. That's his record.
Barack Obama voted to tax Americans making $42,000 a year? Say it ain't so, Joe!
Okay - it ain't so. Verdict on CNN's fact checker? Misleading.
BREAKING NEWS: McCain Says Something; I Agree With Him
Campaigning in vain in Pennsylvania, John McCain lambasted Barack Obama - and I agree with him. The issue:
Obama's thirty minute infomercial, where he explains his tax plan, his foreign policy stance and also how the Flowbie haircutting system can save you hundreds of dollars simply by using your existing vacuum cleaner to cut your family's hair beautifully and simply, is supposed to be aired on essentially every network in the country tomorrow night.
McCain excoriated Obama over the program, saying that it was absolutely inexcusable that the airing of the taped message would conceivably delay the start/resumption of the World Series.
McCain left few openings untouched, even bashing Obama for airing a 30-minute commercial Wednesday night that will delay the opening of a World Series baseball game if the series goes to six games.
"No one will delay a World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," said McCain.
Now THAT is a message I can get behind, John. Do NOT mess with the World Series, Barack. You're treading on thin ice there, pal.
Unfortunately for John, Sarah "Human Cringe-Machine" Palin was there to sound off the full-retard gong again.
"You are such a welcoming and patriotic state," Palin said. "I know we have many patriots in the crowd today."
Phew! Thank Jebus you guys are in Pennsylvania - one of those "patriotic" states. Must have sucked to spend time campaigning recently in those totally un-patriotic states like... wait, now which ones were the un-American states, Governor?
I mean, have we not yet learned our lessons? Now you're by implication suggesting that some states are less or not patriotic? Please enlighten us, Governor... which states are those?
Your reign of stupidity lasts seven more days.
Obama's thirty minute infomercial, where he explains his tax plan, his foreign policy stance and also how the Flowbie haircutting system can save you hundreds of dollars simply by using your existing vacuum cleaner to cut your family's hair beautifully and simply, is supposed to be aired on essentially every network in the country tomorrow night.
McCain excoriated Obama over the program, saying that it was absolutely inexcusable that the airing of the taped message would conceivably delay the start/resumption of the World Series.
McCain left few openings untouched, even bashing Obama for airing a 30-minute commercial Wednesday night that will delay the opening of a World Series baseball game if the series goes to six games.
"No one will delay a World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," said McCain.
Now THAT is a message I can get behind, John. Do NOT mess with the World Series, Barack. You're treading on thin ice there, pal.
Unfortunately for John, Sarah "Human Cringe-Machine" Palin was there to sound off the full-retard gong again.
"You are such a welcoming and patriotic state," Palin said. "I know we have many patriots in the crowd today."
Phew! Thank Jebus you guys are in Pennsylvania - one of those "patriotic" states. Must have sucked to spend time campaigning recently in those totally un-patriotic states like... wait, now which ones were the un-American states, Governor?
I mean, have we not yet learned our lessons? Now you're by implication suggesting that some states are less or not patriotic? Please enlighten us, Governor... which states are those?
Your reign of stupidity lasts seven more days.
Cast Out Into The Wilderness: Libertarians
Libertarian Duality Symbol
This is where my heart lies and hopefully the nascency of the next great political movement: fiscal conservatism, social liberalism (roughly 10% to 15% of the American public).
Obama leads 60% - 39% in Early Voting, McCain Scoffs
According to a Washington Post/ABC News tracking poll, early voting yields a big lead for Barack Obama. Ballots have been casted by an estimated 9% of the electorate with a projected 34% committed to getting out the vote before November 4.
When asked to respond to this latest setback, John McCain snorted, "look, I don't believe in polls or voting statistics or election results. I'm going to be President of the United States. I'm listening to my lawyers now. I'm not saying anything more. Come on, campaign staff! Back to the plane!"
An awkward moment ensued as McCain looked around and saw no staffers by his side. A reporter than asked, "Senator McCain, are you aware of the ABC News article describing the state of your campaign as 'demoralizing' and noting many of your staffers are already circulating their resumes looking for new work?"
McCain issued an ineffable grunting noise and then bursted, "F**K YOU PALIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to rip off your head and piss down your dead skull, reporter. You f**ked with the wrong marine!!!!!" After being restrained by secret service and placated, McCain slogged across the tarmac towards his aircraft grumbling under his breath, "ACORN, Ayers, Wright, Socialists, Marxists, Rezko, spread wealth, black, Arab, Muslim, radical, risky, abortionist, sex ed to kindergartners, f**k you Obama."
I'm just a humble professional chess player from Appleton, Wisconsin, but my simple antenna picks up bad, foreboding news for John McCain.
When asked to respond to this latest setback, John McCain snorted, "look, I don't believe in polls or voting statistics or election results. I'm going to be President of the United States. I'm listening to my lawyers now. I'm not saying anything more. Come on, campaign staff! Back to the plane!"
An awkward moment ensued as McCain looked around and saw no staffers by his side. A reporter than asked, "Senator McCain, are you aware of the ABC News article describing the state of your campaign as 'demoralizing' and noting many of your staffers are already circulating their resumes looking for new work?"
McCain issued an ineffable grunting noise and then bursted, "F**K YOU PALIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to rip off your head and piss down your dead skull, reporter. You f**ked with the wrong marine!!!!!" After being restrained by secret service and placated, McCain slogged across the tarmac towards his aircraft grumbling under his breath, "ACORN, Ayers, Wright, Socialists, Marxists, Rezko, spread wealth, black, Arab, Muslim, radical, risky, abortionist, sex ed to kindergartners, f**k you Obama."
I'm just a humble professional chess player from Appleton, Wisconsin, but my simple antenna picks up bad, foreboding news for John McCain.
Change I Can Believe In. Finally.
Okay, so this not national news - it's personal news - but since it is election related, I will share it with this forum.
This morning, I arose early to a stormy day here in Boise. After doing my morning chores on the organic farm, I decided to get a workout in at the local high school gym. On the television in the background was Senator Obama's speech from yesterday in Pittsburgh. It was closed captioned (as the GNR was blasting for the high school kids getting pumped for Friday night's homecoming football game) so I could watch and listen to my Ipod at the same time.
And, early this morning, it happened. A switch was flipped. I started to believe.
Pat Bateman is a liberal, but he is not someone who often believes in people. Ideas are dandy, and I'll vote generally for the person who supports as many of my ideas as possible. Usually that's a Democrat, but not always. But mostly. Still, generally I cast a vote for that person but keep a skeptical eye. After all, it is politics. I vote ideas and rarely candidates. The more invested you become in a person rather than an idea, the more you are let down when you learn that person whom you have placed on a pedestal has feet of clay.
That is why it's been almost staggering to watch, largely from the sidelines, the mania that has followed Senator Obama's campaign. It has been like a old time Southern church revival service. People swoon over him. People believe in him like a messiah come to deliver us. And that part I couldn't figure out, because that's simply not how I am generally constructed as a person. Ideas, flawless; people, generally not. I believe in ideas. Rarely in people.
I have supported Senator Obama from the moment he became the presumptive Democratic nominee. I liked his gravitas. I liked most of his ideas. I especially liked that it looked like he could win. But until this morning, I didn't "believe."
But this morning, for some reason, my Ipod kept coming back to inspirational tunes and I kept turning back to the gym television to watch him. I read his words (I had already seen the speech, but reading the words and seeing his poise again, maybe everything just clicked). And, suddenly, despite the lingering clouds and rain outside - both literally and metaphorically - my disposition started to get sunnier. What was this thing happening to my face? Was this a... smile?
I'm a cynic at heart and a skeptic by nature. Life will teach you this lesson if your eyes are remotely open. But suddenly, as if my Ipod was programmed to dovetail with his speech, "Going the Distance" from the original Rocky came on as he reached a crescendo. And, in that moment, it happened. I could feel the change. I became a believer. I went from an ideological supporter (and intense hater of what the GOP has become) to someone emotionally invested in THIS person, not just the defeat of the policies of the last eight years.
And suddenly, as if I suddenly understood something I already knew factually, it also became crystal clear why John McCain cannot, and will not, win this election. Because his supporters don't believe. The base of the Republican party turned out to support George Bush, believing it a "moral imperative" to do so. But even with You Betcha! on the ticket, they still just can't rally that same hysteria this time around.
But Obama's supporters can. There is a religious fervor to their support that is simply indefatigable. No matter what is thrown at him, both he and they brush it off. He has deflected any slings and whatever arrows the GOP has mustered and come through it. As the Democrats found out in 2004, you cannot genetically engineer enthusiasm. The Republicans are now learning this lesson when their own strategy of using enthusiasm and energy as a voting tool is turned against them.
The amazing thing about this is that it is the "elitist Ivory tower" set that is dancing in the aisles for Obama. The Godless sodomites. The shiftless union laborers. The abortionists. Everyone, essentially, who mocks Conservatives, especially Evangelicals, for "faith based" voting. It is these folks who now are voting their hearts and see this election as a "calling" - perhaps not from God, but certainly from something collectively bigger than any of us individually.
Well, I was on the outside looking in until this morning. A supporter, without question. But not invested. Count this Elitist as having the ice melted on his cold, black heart. I'm invested now. Change is coming... and I finally, truly, believe it.
This morning, I arose early to a stormy day here in Boise. After doing my morning chores on the organic farm, I decided to get a workout in at the local high school gym. On the television in the background was Senator Obama's speech from yesterday in Pittsburgh. It was closed captioned (as the GNR was blasting for the high school kids getting pumped for Friday night's homecoming football game) so I could watch and listen to my Ipod at the same time.
And, early this morning, it happened. A switch was flipped. I started to believe.
Pat Bateman is a liberal, but he is not someone who often believes in people. Ideas are dandy, and I'll vote generally for the person who supports as many of my ideas as possible. Usually that's a Democrat, but not always. But mostly. Still, generally I cast a vote for that person but keep a skeptical eye. After all, it is politics. I vote ideas and rarely candidates. The more invested you become in a person rather than an idea, the more you are let down when you learn that person whom you have placed on a pedestal has feet of clay.
That is why it's been almost staggering to watch, largely from the sidelines, the mania that has followed Senator Obama's campaign. It has been like a old time Southern church revival service. People swoon over him. People believe in him like a messiah come to deliver us. And that part I couldn't figure out, because that's simply not how I am generally constructed as a person. Ideas, flawless; people, generally not. I believe in ideas. Rarely in people.
I have supported Senator Obama from the moment he became the presumptive Democratic nominee. I liked his gravitas. I liked most of his ideas. I especially liked that it looked like he could win. But until this morning, I didn't "believe."
But this morning, for some reason, my Ipod kept coming back to inspirational tunes and I kept turning back to the gym television to watch him. I read his words (I had already seen the speech, but reading the words and seeing his poise again, maybe everything just clicked). And, suddenly, despite the lingering clouds and rain outside - both literally and metaphorically - my disposition started to get sunnier. What was this thing happening to my face? Was this a... smile?
I'm a cynic at heart and a skeptic by nature. Life will teach you this lesson if your eyes are remotely open. But suddenly, as if my Ipod was programmed to dovetail with his speech, "Going the Distance" from the original Rocky came on as he reached a crescendo. And, in that moment, it happened. I could feel the change. I became a believer. I went from an ideological supporter (and intense hater of what the GOP has become) to someone emotionally invested in THIS person, not just the defeat of the policies of the last eight years.
And suddenly, as if I suddenly understood something I already knew factually, it also became crystal clear why John McCain cannot, and will not, win this election. Because his supporters don't believe. The base of the Republican party turned out to support George Bush, believing it a "moral imperative" to do so. But even with You Betcha! on the ticket, they still just can't rally that same hysteria this time around.
But Obama's supporters can. There is a religious fervor to their support that is simply indefatigable. No matter what is thrown at him, both he and they brush it off. He has deflected any slings and whatever arrows the GOP has mustered and come through it. As the Democrats found out in 2004, you cannot genetically engineer enthusiasm. The Republicans are now learning this lesson when their own strategy of using enthusiasm and energy as a voting tool is turned against them.
The amazing thing about this is that it is the "elitist Ivory tower" set that is dancing in the aisles for Obama. The Godless sodomites. The shiftless union laborers. The abortionists. Everyone, essentially, who mocks Conservatives, especially Evangelicals, for "faith based" voting. It is these folks who now are voting their hearts and see this election as a "calling" - perhaps not from God, but certainly from something collectively bigger than any of us individually.
Well, I was on the outside looking in until this morning. A supporter, without question. But not invested. Count this Elitist as having the ice melted on his cold, black heart. I'm invested now. Change is coming... and I finally, truly, believe it.
Governor Palin Says Everything But The Right Thing In Response To Senator Stevens's Conviction
Bill Dyer, guest posting on Hugh Hewitt's blog, offers dizzying circumlocution in justifying Governor Palin's hesitancy to demand Alaska Senator Ted Stevens immediate withdrawal of his reelection bid after conviction on seven counts of making false statements on ethical disclosure forms.I mean Dyer's post is unabashed partisan junk: he even provides a transcript of Govern Palin's imaginary comments to Stevens in private:
Here's my guess as to what Gov. Palin saying privately, because it's what I would say to him if I were in her position:
"Ted, for now, I'm going to continue to be restrained and appropriate in what I say in public. But you owe it to your party, and to the people who've voted for you in years past, not to take everything down with you in flames.
"Accordingly, now — before Election Day — you need to hand to me, as the Governor of Alaska, a formal, irrevocable letter of resignation which is automatically effective as of the instant that your post-verdict (pre-appellate) motion for new trial in the federal district court is denied (even though you may still have appellate avenues open at that point to challenge that judgment).
"Having made that commitment and signed that binding letter, Ted, then you can again ask the voters of Alaska to give you their votes — and they, in turn, can vote for you secure in the knowledge that one of either two things will happen: (a) The jury's verdict will be overturned, your presumption of innocence will be restored, and you'll have another day in court. Or else: (b) As Governor of Alaska, either I or perhaps Sean Parnell (as my successor) will appoint a qualified, honest Republican who will carry forward the Republican Party's best policies and ideals in the U.S. Senate seat you have occupied for so long."
No, I figure Palin said something more like: "also it's gotta be about recusing yourself, Ted. You betcha I'm going to make the case, whaddaya expect - a couple of mavericks, ruffling feathers, shaking things up, say it ain't so, Joe. Thanks, but no thanks on that conviction to nowhere."
It's going to be a sour last week.
It's going to be a sour last week.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Inspiration: Barack Obama "Fired Up"
His critics pick away with substantive epithets like "seductive," "stylized" and "alluring." The word "eloquent" becomes a pejorative knock. They say "hope" is hollow. They perceive "change" to be illusory.
After eight dispiriting years - no style, no substance, no nothing - I can use a bit of inspiration, some soaring quixotic appeals, on the off-chance he can back them up. Obama peddles these lofty wares and I'm buying. Let's pray the goods are not second-rate.
Supporting A Left Turn For The Right
Right-thinker Andrew Sullivan offers ten reasons permitting conservatives to vote for Obama:10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.
9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.
8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush's first term and George W.'s.
7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.
6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially compared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.
5. Faith. Obama's fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.
4. A truce in the culture war. Obama takes us past the debilitating boomer warfare that has raged since the 1960s. Nothing has distorted our politics so gravely; nothing has made a rational politics more elusive.
3. Two words: President Palin.
2. Conservative reform. Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again. The survival of conservatism requires a temporary eclipse of today's Republicanism. Losing would be the best thing to happen to conservatism since 1964. Back then, conservatives lost in a landslide for the right reasons. Now, Republicans are losing in a landslide for the wrong reasons.
1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excresence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.
Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.
Nothing left to say. Sullivan and his contemplative band of brothers and sisters, stalwart and steadfast against the ambling rank and file of the Grand Old Party, rests its case.
"Are You Joking? Is this a Joke?"
Joe Biden shows us how to handle stupid questions.
Expect Fox News to give Barbara West her own show. Stupid liberal media.
UPDATE - Maybe Fox News hasn't given her her own show yet, but she will be a guest on O'Reilly's propaganda machine tonight, as reported by Think Progress. I can only imagine the leading questions about her leading questions - "Do you think that Biden was being sexist or just hates women reporters in general?" "Do you think liberals are attacking you because Obama is a Marxist, a socialist, or because liberals just hate America?"
Also reported by think progress, her husband is a GOP media consultant. Nice. I wonder if that will make it into the interview?
Also reported - they'll do it live!
Expect Fox News to give Barbara West her own show. Stupid liberal media.
UPDATE - Maybe Fox News hasn't given her her own show yet, but she will be a guest on O'Reilly's propaganda machine tonight, as reported by Think Progress. I can only imagine the leading questions about her leading questions - "Do you think that Biden was being sexist or just hates women reporters in general?" "Do you think liberals are attacking you because Obama is a Marxist, a socialist, or because liberals just hate America?"
Also reported by think progress, her husband is a GOP media consultant. Nice. I wonder if that will make it into the interview?
Also reported - they'll do it live!
I'm Michael Jackson, Senator McCain... you're Tito.
Sarah Palin, perhaps sensing that she has taken the reigns as the 'one to watch' on her ticket despite being the VP rather than the presidential nominee, acted the part of Michael on a Jackson 5 tour. That is, forcing Tito to introduce her at a campaign stop in Virginia:
Palin was introduced to the crowd by Tito Munoz, a small business owner from neighboring Prince William County, whom Palin referred to as "Tito the Builder." He wore a yellow hard hat and drew chants of "Tito, Tito."
"Not since the Jackson Five has the name 'Tito' been used so often," Palin said.
Tito the Builder. You betcha. Per "people only identified by first name and profession" so far, his real name is probably Frank, he has never built anything and likely owes upwards of $5,000 in back taxes. He's also mulling a run for Congress in 2010. Vote for Pedro - er, Tito!
Palin was introduced to the crowd by Tito Munoz, a small business owner from neighboring Prince William County, whom Palin referred to as "Tito the Builder." He wore a yellow hard hat and drew chants of "Tito, Tito."
"Not since the Jackson Five has the name 'Tito' been used so often," Palin said.
Tito the Builder. You betcha. Per "people only identified by first name and profession" so far, his real name is probably Frank, he has never built anything and likely owes upwards of $5,000 in back taxes. He's also mulling a run for Congress in 2010. Vote for Pedro - er, Tito!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
