Friday, October 31, 2008

Goin' Rogue!


Trying to remember to laugh lately, and The Daily Show helps out a lot!

Ich Bein Ein Joe der Plummer für Halloween feiern


Palin als Gruselkostüm ist Renner in den USA


Ricky's makes the German Reuters feed!

by the time he gets to phoenix

John McCain is campaigning in Arizona on Monday. Good news.

Vote

Wake up from your nightmare, Sarah!

Scott Horton of Harper's Bizarre on Gov. Palin's nightmare "that an Obama presidency would present the specter of a socialist state in which fundamental American freedoms are undermined." She's been asleep for the last 8 years of a state
* That snatches its victims off the street, denies them all form of legal process and whisks them away to secret “blacksites” where they can be tortured using all the techniques described in Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon?

* That believes it can detain and hold its enemies forever without any charges or any evidence against them, denying them access to courts to prove their innocence?

* That constantly manipulates the population’s fear whenever its public popularity slips and elections begin to approach?

* That systematically spies on millions of its citizens in direct violation of a criminal statute which forbids such surveillance?

* That lies to its people about threats from abroad in an effort to build popular support for a series of wars and then cites the existence of those wars as a reason to suppress dissent?

* That nationalizes the debt of predatory capitalists so they suffer no punishment for their misconduct and then nationalizes major financial institutions, converting the nation’s free market system into a socialism in which crony capitalists are a privileged elite?
Of course, this blog would make us all enemies of that state.

Palinspeak

Xeni Jardin posted on Boing Boing a great piece by Anil Dash, who blogs "about how culture is made" and is interested specifically about the use of language in culture. Dash looks at Gov. Palin's dangerous assertions about Sen. Obama's 'terrorist ties'.
Sarah Palin has been unsurprising in her criticisms of Barack Obama's credentials and policies, fulfilling the traditional role of the vice presidential candidate being the most aggressive and pointed rhetorical attacker in a campaign. But a closer look at her deliberate use of vernacular and language reveals that she has gone far beyond any other candidate in vice presidential history in the dangerous and irresponsible implications of her attacks. She has phrased her attacks on Obama in a way that avoids accountability to the press while specifically addressing the subset of her audience who are most likely to advocate extreme actions against Obama.

I don't usually write about politics here; I leave the ugliness to those who seem to revel in it. But I think a lot about language, usually in a more lighthearted context like talking about yo mama jokes or lolcats. What's striking to me this election season, though, is that Sarah Palin has chosen to abuse her command of language so obviously without suffering any serious criticism for it thus far.

The crux of the issue is simple:
(1) Sarah Palin has unequivocally associated Barack Obama with the idea of terrorism and specifically with "terrorists".

(2) Republican President George Bush has defined in our National Security Strategy, and the Republican Party's platform affirms, that we may identify and strike at terrorists before they have committed any defined acts of aggression against American citizens.

(3) George Bush has made clear, by stating before a joint session of Congress that "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

(4) Palin has used deliberate choice of language to avoid these connections being highlighted by the media, while increasing the likelihood that the target audience for her message will be incited by her statements.

Through these arguments, it becomes clear that Sarah Palin's assertions are designed not to prove that Obama is unqualified for the office of the Presidency of the United States. Rather, she appears to be attempting to convince a substantial portion of her supporters that Obama supports terrorism against the United States and thus should be, at the very least, incarcerated as an enemy combatant (which we are doing to American citizens already) or at worst, assassinated for supporting terror. She has done this knowing full well that she can retain plausible deniability thanks to the ambiguity of her statements as they'll be interpreted by the media, by her detractors, and by her more reasonable supporters.
It really is shameful that the media doesn't do more to question her abuse of the language. Of course, we've all seen what happens when the media even hints at questioning her: 'sexism', 'elitism', 'unfair'. Isn't it just a bit moronic that the media can't even question a Vice Presidential candidate's statements or hold them accountable - no matter what sex, race, or creed - without having it turned back into a dog and pony show about how the media attacked her because they're sexist? How can her base defend her as a leader when she apparently can't be held up to the same scrutiny as her opponents or even her running mate? It's as hypocritical as the McCain Campaign now complaining that she's gone rogue! WTF?! But didn't they want 'a maverick'?

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Obamanos Socialistas! Or: don't throw stones at glass white houses

After recently watching our Comrade Finn's movie, La Trinchera Luminosa del Presidente Gonzalo, I asked people if they felt Sen. Obama was even remotely socialist compared to the preachings of the Maoist prisoners quoting Marx. The answer was pretty apparent. He's about as socialist as W. is conservative. Now comes this little tidbit about Gov. Palin, from Hendrik Hertzberg's New Yorker commentary about McCain and Palin's failed attempt to convince people that Obama is a socialist (via Mark F. of Boing Boing):
The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state. One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist.
What's next up: "Joe the Arseclown Plumber turns out to trade plumbing skills for goods?

mcnasty is at it again

Rashid Khalidi is cool. I used to listen to him on WBEZ when he was a guest on Jerome McDonald's WorldView show.

1993 the onion

Thanks to Wonkette for this:

the rear view mirror ad

CNN: Palin Talks 2012, McCain Aide "Speechless"

Update: Here is Michael Tomasky from the Guardian on this point. It has been suggested after this video aired that the quote was taken out of context.

Dancing with our Politics



This is the best You Tube video I've seen, well no wonder it was made by some energy activists.

A must watch You Tube video.

found by Zulma Aguiar on You Tube

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Youth Vote


Everybody In

Only Bob Barr Can Stop Obama

From Bob Barr's website:

Now that it’s guaranteed that John McCain can’t win the elections, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr has emerged as America’s last hope to prevent Barack Obama from becoming the next President of the United States of America.

If you love freedom and care about the future of our great nation, don’t waste your vote on a lost cause like John McCain! Help Bob Barr defeat Barack Obama and send a powerful message to the establishment that socialism stops here.


http://www.bobbarr.com/2008/10/22/only-bob-barr-can-stop-obama/


Cindy McCain Claims She's "Just Like Any Other Female Human"

creepy mccain rally in the sunshine state

Five Thirty Eight reports on another kooky McCain rally:
The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.

"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."

Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy..."

quoting fascists and whatnot

Todd Palmer sent me this about Palin's habit of quoting weird and sometimes fictitious stuff:
...It works both ways, though—be careful of context, and of who you accidentally let slip that you’ve been reading. When Palin, referring to the value of “small towns” in her nomination speech, quoted Westbrook Pegler, the nearly forgotten American nativist and pseudo-fascist, some of his “glory” rubbed off on her as well.

Palin also made up a quote to help along her bungled answer to Katie Couric about the separation of church and state: “Thomas Jefferson also said ‘never underestimate the wisdom of the people.’” Super. Except as far as anyone can tell, Jefferson never said that. And even very wise people had trouble understanding what that piece of invented Jeffersonian wisdom has to do with the First Amendment...

Real People Spots


Errol Morris, director of the Thin Blue Line, the Fog of War, and other excellent movies, as well as a prolific creator of advertisements for Miller High Life, Levis, and recent Democratic politicians has an article on the New York Times web site with analysis of "real people" advertisements for Presidential candidates going back to 1952.

The post includes links to each ad featured on the Museum of the Moving Image web site. This is phenomenally interesting. Read: People in the Middle

Getting Through the Week


From 23/6.

Cling, Baby, Cling

don't blow it

president palin

conservative panic response meeting week after election

From Politico's Jonathan Martin:
Two days after next week's election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement's most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.

The meeting will include a "who's who of conservative leaders -- economic, national security and social," said one attendee, who shared initial word of the secret session only on the basis of anonymity and with some details about the host and location redacted.

The decision to waste no time in plotting their moves in the post-Bush era reflects the widely-held view among many on the right, and elsewhere, that the GOP is heading toward major losses next week.

One of the topics of discussion will be how to fashion a "national grassroots political and policy coalition similar to the out Reagan years," said the attendee, a reference to the development of the so-called New Right apparatus following Jimmy Carter's 1976 victory and Reagan's election four years later...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

sheppard smith on fox: "man... it just gets frightening sometimes"

Joe the social-security-outlawing plumber's helper agrees that Obama will be the "death of Israel." Watch Sheppard Smith on Fox call this guy out. The end is amazing:

palin-lovers eating their babies

From Ana Marie Cox's interview with the McCain aide:

There's obviously an organized campaign to lay blame for things at my feet and I’m not going to engage before the campaign ends. I have a very long relationship with Fox News and the notion that someone would call me a coward on the air and accuse me of putting $150,000 on my credit card without a single person calling and checking with me suggests that something is going on.

I think the networks have re-emerged as the arbiters of what story gets through. Of late, we’ve paid so much attention to the impact of blogs and the democratization of media—everyone can be a blogger and you can sit in your home.

It’s almost as the cycle got to such a proliferation of information that I think people returned to the morning paper, the evening news as the arbiter of what is the important story. So while I think there’s more information out there, I think that it’s almost overwhelming for, you know like my mom and dad. They know what’s on the news at the end of the day. Newscasts and the compilation of a front page, has re-emerged as a place for information to be organized and consumed...

cleveland early voting

mccain is home alone

The GOP forgot to mention old sparky on their website ONE WEEK BEFORE THE ELECTION. They must be mad that they are getting the blame for the $150,000 clothes. Let the dangerous threesome begin between the RNC, McCain and Palin.

"Real Virginia"



Catching up with Virginia-related gaffes. From FiveThirtyEight: "Suppose that instead of a relatively decisive win by Barack Obama on Election Day, we instead have a very close election. Which state might the McCain campaign really, really wish that they hadn't insulted? I'll give you a hint. It's not technically a state, but rather, a commonwealth."

the dangerous threesome

McCain called Pelosi, Reid and Obama a "dangerous threesome." What a creep.

the smear illuminati

Thanks to the Daily Kos:

Hurts So Good


A friend said to me recently that when she looked at the McCain-Palin signs "all I can see is 'pain.'"

totalitarian fist bump

obama now to install a totalitarian dictatorship

From Think Progress:
...[Rep. Steve King (R-IA)], known for provocative, partisan remarks, suggested Obama actually could be classified as even more extreme than a socialist. King also said his party is the only one with a legitimate claim on representing freedom as Americans know it. “When you take a lurch to the left you end up in a totalitarian dictatorship,” King said. “There is no freedom to the left. It’s always to our side of the aisle.”

mccain hanging on to his dignity

This and his decision not to run on the Rev. Wright stuff are proof that that the dude has not sold out completely to his Party's whackjobs. From The Hill:
GOP presidential candidate John McCain, already fighting a political environment hostile to Republicans, said Tuesday morning that Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) should resign from the Senate.

Stevens was convicted on seven felony counts of failing to disclose gifts, leading McCain to say in a statement that the longest-serving Senate Republican has “broken his trust” with his constituents and that he should step down.

“It is a sign of the health of our democracy that the people continue to hold their representatives to account for improper or illegal conduct, but this verdict is also a sign of the corruption and insider-dealing that has become so pervasive in our nation’s capital,” McCain said. “It is clear that Sen. Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all...”

catholic girls start much too late virginia

This is a federal crime. Wonder if anyone will follow up on it:

palin a "whackjob"

A McCain staffer one-ups the diva quote by calling Palin a "whack job". Here's a couple other to keep her company including the diva herself along with M. Bachmann, L. Craig and T. DeLay.


party in the jeep

From Wonkette:

Obama’s Closing Argument In Canton Ohio

Monday, October 27, 2008

Call Center Workers walk out, protesting McCain script attacking Obama

From Talking Points Memo Election Central:
Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.
...
"We were asked to read something saying [Obama and Democrats] were against protecting children from danger," this worker said. "I wouldn't do it. A lot of people left. They thought it was disgusting."

This worker, too, confirmed sacrificing pay to walk out, saying her supervisor told her: "If you don't wanna phone it you can just go home for the day."

The article says that between 30 to 40 people walked out rather than read the script. It's refreshing to hear that people are standing up the thuggish McCain/Palin campaign.

pittsburghin'

From chums Astria and Brett listening to Obama at the Pittsburgh rally tonight: "That's how we've always grown the American economy – from the bottom-up. John McCain calls this socialism. I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that.."

the n-word at a palin rally

Even though she paused and clearly heard something... she went right on with her speech.


She did hear when someone called her hot. Even though she wasn't speaking, this is just too convenient to never hear anything negative:
Wondering how long it will take Sir Douchus, our prez, to pardon Ted Stevens. November 10th? December 24th?

rockin' the mccain rally

ha ha ha ha

Wonkette quores the American Specatator reporting that a lot of the Palin prodding within the McCain campaign is coming from the former Romney aides trying to position their man to be the "leader" of the Republicans. Good luck mitty.

The Hartford Courant endorses Senator Obama

My local "conservative" paper, The Hartford Courant, has endorsed Senator Obama for President. This is noteworthy as it is the oldest continuously published paper in the US and, as they stated, in it's "244-year history, The Courant has endorsed only one Democratic candidate for president, Bill Clinton. Today we endorse a second Democrat, Sen. Barack Obama, with the hope that if elected, he governs from the middle as Mr. Clinton did. Mr. Obama must resist serving only his party's interests and instead serve the greater interests of a worried nation." The paper has had a severely checkered period over the last few decades, including being purchased and tortured by the Tribune Company. Recently it went through a god-awful redesign that has turned customers off. But at least this endorsement shows that even they know when change can be truly positive. So, yet another conservative paper endorses Obama. How many for McCain? Does it even matter?

Wassup? Change


I got this off the El Pais Home page.
This is a video that a lot of Spaniards saw today.
How embarrassing.
I really do hope Obama wins.

oh and the Airforce said at the beggining of the month that Palin has never monitored Norad and therefore zero AF experience.

AF Says Palin Has No Air Defense Role
October 02, 2008
United Press International

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force says Sarah Palin and past Alaska governors have never had any direct authority over NORAD, the radar system that watches for air attacks.

The Air Force's statement came in response to a New York Daily News inquiry following a television interview with CBS in which Palin said that Alaska was a hot spot for the monitoring of nearby Russia. The paper reported that Palin said Alaska's proximity to Russia was part of her foreign-policy portfolio.

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia, as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America -- where do they go? It's Alaska," Palin told CBS.

"It is from Alaska that we send those (patrols) out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation," she added.

Maj. Allen Herritage, a spokesman for the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command, said: "The authority to launch and respond to a Russian incursion lies with the Alaska NORAD Region commander."

The Air Force also noted that Alaska Air National Guard patrol flights along the frontier are under Air Force command.
© Copyright 2008 United Press International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

weather undergroud planted those neiman marcus clothes

Ben Smith from Politico was talking to David Schuster this morning on MSNBC saying that the Palin people blamed the McCain people for her bad handling out of the gate (i thought she was a pitbull not a greyhound). Then McCain people called her a diva. So now she is saying that she's wearing her own jacket from Alaska. No apology, no awkwardness. She has no idea where that $150,000 of clothes came from. Not from her though. She is absolutely innocent.


Or maybe it was the sexist elite:
...“Instead of the issues, they are focused, fixated on her wardrobe,” Ms. Hasselbeck said of the news media, drawing loud cheers from the crowd. “Now, with everything going on in the world, seems a bit odd. But let me tell you, this is deliberately sexist. I know you know that.”

After taking the microphone, Ms. Palin hinted that she agreed with Ms. Hasselbeck. “The double standard here,” she said. “Gosh, we don’t even want to waste our time.”

sorry guys

Sunday, October 26, 2008

McCain v. Palin

Tension between Palin's handlers in the McCain campaign and advisers loyal to her is so heated it's boiling over into the public sphere. Read about it on the Politico.

guess this sums it up

Corn-God Obama lording over bitter whitey McCain (from the LA Times):

Word Art


Ran into this bit of public art yesterday which appears in the windows of the CUNY Graduate Center at 35th and 5th in Manhattan. I assume it's meant to be topical?

performance artist or nutjob?

Who is the Sarah Palin imitator who acknowledges cheers for Palin? They are replacing freaky pentecostal racists with freaky nutters:

Fun with McCain

It's time for some serious political analysis
http://www.funwithmccain.com/

Spiritual Warfare: sounds like a sci-fi plot

Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish links to a recent NYTimes article about Sarah Palin's scary spiritual beliefs,
Critics say the goal of the spiritual warfare movement is to create a theocracy. Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action, a Web site that tracks religious groups, said: “One of the imperatives of the movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control. Then you can more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is to purify the earth.”

...

Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.” Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians...
Mr. Sullivan makes the point that after all the Reverend Wright shenanigans over the summer, it's mind-boggling that the press is barely picking up on this and analyzing what it means to have a potential Vice-President with her finger near the button, who believes in needing to 'purify the earth'. Let's get Christopher Walken to shake her hand and find out what the future holds for her!

Joe Stands Up to Tough Questioning

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bryan Boyce: McCain / Palin Ad #3 (Branded Maverick)

Upper Virginia is Communist, Says Joe McCain




So if Obama is the Democratic Reagan then is Joe McCain the Republican Billy Carter? I'm just asking, because these metaphors are important.

Say It Ain't So, 'Doh


Ian Bogost made this nifty Plah-Doh Palin.

Uh, that's all, really.

really creepy las vegas rally

trouble in paradise

From CNN:
...Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom..."

last chance

From Progressive Alaska:

McCain Campaign in Florida 'hires volunteers' and threatens indie press


Apparently, it's not just the McCain/Palin that avoid the press, anyone that works for them must also avoid them.

If there's one thing both the McCain and Obama campaigns agree on it's that the election will be close in Florida. The McCain campaign says it has more volunteers than the Democrats and that ultimately gives them the edge. McCain's Central Florida Campaign Manger says ACORN and the Democrats have to rely on paid workers.

However, the McCain campaign is hiring paid workers who sometimes also call themselves volunteers. The UpTake's Sam Mayfield talked to a few of them... and that's when one McCain campaign worker decided you shouldn't see what is going on and threatened to have her arrested.
More at www.theuptake.org

The Vet Who Did Not Vet


Combine Dr. Seuss with Schoolhouse Rocks and you get something smarter than the McCain/Palin Campaign. (via The Daily Dish)

John Hodgman on Senator Obama

From The Onion's A/V Club, via Andrew Sullivan's Quote of the Day:
"Do I like Obama, personally? I do. Do I think he's got good policies? Look, I'm like everyone else, I hope so. They sound good. They sound like something I believe in, so I think based on his performance and the way that he has run his campaign, I feel that it is reasonable to feel confident that he is going to take the same discipline and smarts and lack of drama and apply them to the very serious issues today and I think that makes him a good choice for President. Do I think that his candidacy is historic? Sure, that's exciting too, but what I think it's really amazing that he exists in the same world that I also inhabit and no other political candidate lives in that world right now. They live in a made-up world that is not reality. I think that that's why you see Obama surging right now. It's that the people like the fact that Obama lives in the world that they live in," - John Hodgman.

Wassup 2008

If the world could vote


http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/results

"Whirl of Change" defeats "Straight Talk Crunch"!



Get some delicious, peanutty HOPE at a Baskin Robbins near you.

(Personally, I think I'd prefer "Straight Talk Crunch" with its "candy red states and crunchy mixed nuts." I'm surprised the McCain campaign hasn't complained about the unfairness of "mixed nuts" being a key component of their ice cream flavor.)

Both flavors are available for a limited time...

Thirsty and fatigued? Wash down your ice cream with some coffee at 7-Election 2008 headquarters, where Obama leads by 20%. Every cup counts!

Friday, October 24, 2008

more of the same (of creepy rallies)

harry potter obama

LIEberman: "Obama prepared to be president"

Which way is the Bingo Hall, Joe?

The douche Senator from my fair state of Connecticut finally praises Senator Obama... sort of. From Capitol Watch, Mark Pazniokas writes:
"I'm saying he is less prepared than McCain," Lieberman said.

But what about Sarah Palin? Is she ready to be president on day one?

"She's not going to have to be president from day one, because McCain is going to be alive and well. I've been talking to actuaries and doctors," Lieberman said. "He can be expected to live to his mid-80s and probably longer."

When pressed about when she would be ready, Lieberman replied, "Well, let's hope she never has to be ready."

He laughed, apparently realizing how that might be interpreted. He quickly clarified, "Because we hope McCain is elected and lives out his term."

creepy bachman non-apology ad for her crazy anti-americans rant

Palin Shopping Spree Illegal under McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Law!

SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.
(a) PERMITTED USES...
(b) PROHIBITED USE-
(1) IN GENERAL- A contribution or donation described in subsection (a) shall not be converted by any person to personal use.

(2) CONVERSION- For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including--

(A) a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment;
(B) a clothing purchase;
(C) a noncampaign-related automobile expense;
(D) a country club membership;
(E) a vacation or other noncampaign-related trip;
(F) a household food item;
(G) a tuition payment;
(H) admission to a sporting event, concert, theater, or other form of entertainment not associated with an election campaign; and
(I) dues, fees, and other payments to a health club or recreational facility.'

"Attacked" McCain volunteer faces charges for Hoax


Put this in the "Gee, didn't see that one coming" category:
At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Todd's injuries were self-inflicted.

Police investigating the report said Todd's story began to unravel early on and they administered a polygraph test.

Investigators asked Todd to return to the police station today for more questioning and to help them release a composite sketch of the suspect.

When she did, police say she admitted that she made the whole thing up and that it snowballed out of control.

Todd told investigators today that she "just wanted to tell the truth" – adding that she was neither robbed, nor attacked.

"She indicated that she has prior mental problems and that she does not remember how the backward letter B got on her face," Richard told reporters today.

Todd told police that while she did not remember how the backward "B" got on her face, she may have done it herself since she was the only one in the car.
Money quote from the press conference: "She doesn't know why the media blew this out of proportion," police spokesperson. Shouldn't the conservative media hacks be screaming about this to the MSM as they like to say and tell them, "See, you turn everything into politics!" Oh, wait, this was 'broken by Drudge'. Digg readers had some interesting comments. I don't buy that she didn't know what she was doing, as illustrated by her twitter feed of that night. She was clearly out to make a statement.

Iraq Vet Crushed by Police Horse at Presidential Debate


Just Dugg this over at Digg. This is outrageous! Posted by user BaneMaler,
Shocking video shows former Army Sergeant Nick Morgan at the moment his head is crushed to the sidewalk under the hooves of a police horse. Morgan lost consciousness immediately as bones shattered in his face. Visibly bleeding, he was tugged, dragged, arrested, and thrown in a police van, where other arrested veterans say he was denied medic...
Both campaigns should be ashamed and immediately release some sort of statement against this type of policestate action. This should be up on all Main Stream Media channels instead of looking at ridiculous polls and what they don't mean. This is what the politricksters think of their military toy soldiers: send off to war, ignore them when they return, and then crush them when they speak out for an end to war. McCain above all should be ashamed; but his long checkered history in the Senate has proven he doesn't give a damn about Veterans... other than himself.

the base, energized

Imagine if the Democratic Party had been taken over by 9/11 truthers.

Gaffe-In


From The Daily Show, October 23, 2008. Money Quote is at about 7:30 in.

Makeup > Policy

From the NYT, seems that Palin's Emmy-nominated makeup stylist has the highest salary in the entire McCain camp.

Song for Sarah


Since Hart won't allow the use of Barricuda, perhaps the campaign can use this endorsement which would help justify her claim that she can see Russia from Alaska, as these guys can see her house from Moscow.

are abortion clinic bombers terrorists?

youtube comments on the "attacked" lady

Bush endorses McCain/Palin


The second best result from the McCain/Palin Campaign (first being Obama/Biden victory), was more work for Tina Fey!!! (and in this clip, more leg from Tina Fey!)

obama lottery in colombia

In Colombia last week, they sold 4000 more lottery tickets because old you know who was put on the ticket.

More on that McCain campaigner allegedly attacked by political mugger

Andrew Sullivan posted a few links on The Daily Dish that continue to ferret out the story regarding this supposedly political mugging. Yes, I'm being just as bad as Drudge and diluting it to it's basic formula: this white woman was assaulted by a black Obama supporter. Just like the Palin Rallies, it is doing it's best to spark the "us vs. them" paranoid mentality of the McCain base. However, there seems to be a lot of questions to this. Not the least of which is why she would refuse treatment... Even readers are wondering,
If you were being mugged and attacked by a big old angry man, would you be still enough for him to neatly scratch a "B" into the center of your cheek? Also, the "B" is backwards. It would look correct in the mirror if you were to scratch it into your own face. This is a sad story.
(from The Daily Dish)

Of course, over at The Drudge Report, are they wondering or just blaming, as is clearly the intent of this piece and Drudge's reporting? Of course, the girl is only 20, so she may have never seen the whole Morton Downey Jr episode.

Opie & Cunningham for Obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

With all the other celebrity endorsements, what's a few more?

Thursday, October 23, 2008

pretty good spanish..."if you get sick, you can get health insurance..."

carved backwards "b" bullshit?


This McCain volunteer claims to have been mugged by a black man and then, when he realized she had a McCain sticker, he carved a "B" (backwards) into her face. Bill O'Reilly wannabe Michelle Malkin says it stinks (though she helpfully reminds her readers that most of these types of hoaxes are perpetrated by liberals). Drudge still has it as his lead. Wonkette has the twitters that make it look fishy.

he'll be napping

From the AP:
John McCain's election night watch party might be missing John McCain. Instead of appearing before a throng of supporters at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix on the evening of Nov. 4, the Republican presidential nominee plans to deliver postelection remarks to a small group of reporters and guests on the hotel's lawn.

Aides said Thursday that the arrangement was due to space limitations and that McCain might drop by the election watch party at some other point...

this would be a stinkin' dream

palin as president

My favorite is the dinosaur.

One thing we can all agree on: Western Pennsylvanians

I want a Biden model


Good Lord. Even I'm almost offended by this.

• Sarah Palin makes sexism sexy
• Cross party lines with your own inflatable running mate
• Three ways to do this doll: mouth, p**** or a**
• Give her a mouthful
• Blow her up and show her how you’re going to vote
• Let her pound your gavel over and over
• Bypass the Bush and have some MILF
• It’s time some male interns caused a scandal in the Capitol
• She’s the hottest thing to come out of Alaska in years

I don't think I can bring myself to actually order one, but I would gladly accept one as a gift (hint, hint)

Order your own from Topco Sales.

Pray for us!


Scary lady prays for her husband to have faith in the lord and not vote for a President named Obama...
Her arrogant conviction that only her faith is right, brings to mind the quote from the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, "If God were alive today, he would be an atheist."

jon stewart calls the palins 'grifters'

poor widdah baybay

Here's ole Peggy touching the master:
Old "thousand points of light" hack poet Peggy Noonan was on Morning Joe this morning talking about young voters. Complaining really. When I was 18... i was all mixed up or some crap. But they have the same vote as a 70-year-old business leader. She basically recommends not voting if you are young unless you have read massive amounts of something (maybe her columns?). She also bitched about the teacher's union (very Bob Dolian of her). Boo Peggy. Just because you don't like Sarah Palin, doesn't mean you're not as asshole.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

mccain's 2000 campaign advisor mike murphy on the $150,000

I saw the RNC statement on Gov. Palin’s $150,000 clothing bender on the RNC's tab. This caper is gonna make for a long day at the office for the good folks at the RNC/McCain press operation. Thought I’d offer a little help in a humorous vein; some other possible spin lines for the RNC.

1.) What you sneering critics in the liberal MSM fail to see here is… a Jobs Program! Saks floorwalkers, cashiers, a team of sweating porters to haul the merchandise from the store to the motorcade… chiropractors to treat those porters. Sarah Palin knows how to create jobs!

2.) What’s the difference between a Pit Bull and a Hockey Mom? You can feed a pit-bull for 483 years with 150 grand.

3.) Still cheaper than Mitt Romney’s hair products. We’re saving money here…

4.) William Ayres is a terrorist!

5.) New ad slogan: “Clothes for Gov. Palin? $150,000. Time machine to go back two months to late August and ask what the Hell were Schmidt and Davis thinking when they cooked up this idea and sold it to McCain? Priceless.”

larry david on the election

From the Huffington Post:
I can't take much more of this. Two weeks to go, and I'm at the end of my rope. I can't work. I can eat, but mostly standing up. I'm anxious all the time and taking it out on my ex-wife, which, ironically, I'm finding enjoyable. This is like waiting for the results of a biopsy. Actually, it's worse. Biopsies only take a few days, maybe a week at the most, and if the biopsy comes back positive, there's still a potential cure. With this, there's no cure. The result is final. Like death...

chuck todd tellin' it like it is...

U.S. Nuremberg Trials Prosecutor Would Have Proudly Prosecuted McCain as a War Criminal

Gen. Telford Taylor, a chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials is reported as having said that he would be proud to lead the prosecution of U.S. pilots captured in Vietnam.

Robert Richter, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, and political director for CBS News from 1965 to 1968 recently wrote in Bomber Pilot McCain: War Heroism or War Crimes? published by Institute for Public Accuracy, October 15, 2008, writes,

I will never forget how stunned I was when Gen. Telford Taylor, a chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials after World War Two, told me that he strongly supported the idea of trying …

Weary Progressives for Obama

I awoke this morning to exciting news. Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Yippie! The blogosphere is all atwitter. Our guy has worked hard, taken solid positions on all the most important progressive issues and managed to convince the exalted Mr. Powell to throw his support our way. Celebrations are in order. We’re one step closer to the Oval Office thanks to this latest breaking development. Oh, and for those of you who may have forgotten who Colin Powell is (history is so boring, isn’t it?) let’s take a moment to highlight some of his stellar qualifications as a supporter of the Left...
(Full article …)

tires slashed at north carolina obama rally

From the Fayetteville Observer:
Someone slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside the Crown Coliseum on Sunday during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating. The tires were cut while people were inside the Crown Coliseum listening to speeches, said Maj. E. Wright of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Many of the damaged vehicles were parked on Wilkes Road. Representatives from Obama and Sen. John McCain’s campaigns said they were unaware of the acts.

Susan Lagana, the North Carolina communications director for Obama, said it was extremely disappointing and unfortunate that “people would have to experience something like that...”

Early Voting Gives Obama Edge


Via Political Wire: "'Democrats are voting early in greater numbers than their Republican counterparts in several closely contested states, reversing a pattern that favored the GOP in past elections,' according to USA Today.

'The trend is evident in Ohio, North Carolina and Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico, state and county figures show. In Georgia, blacks are voting in greater numbers than they did in 2004.'

'The early voting trend is about even in Colorado. Republicans claim the edge among absentee voters in Florida, but Democrats are voting in far greater numbers at early voting polling places where voters lined up this week.'

Said Paul Gronke of the Early Voting Information Center: 'This cannot be good news for John McCain. It's the 100-yard dash, and Obama is already 20 yards ahead.'"

family guy pisses off the conservatives

it's not colin powell, but it's pretty big

From TPM:
Al-Qaida supporters suggested in a Web site message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the U.S. as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.

The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaida will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush..."

what $150,000 in clothing expenditures will get you

To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.

Funny Not Funny

New campaign featuring awesome oldsters:


Ain't Funny - Our Grandchildren. Vote for Obama-Biden from Alma Har'el on Vimeo.

Compare to this lame-o ad from Jackie Mason, who has never been funny. Yeah, Carl Reiner kicks this guy's ass.

"I'm the candidate!"

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

palin vs. polar bears

80's chicago torture cop burge is under arrest

This news is making the Bushies very nervous. This is a 20-year-old torture case that was pushed hard in Chicago by groups like the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee in the early 90's. The city tried to whitewash it for a long time and then slap him on the wrist. This is great news.

From the Chicago Tribune:
Retired Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge was arrested at his home near Tampa, Fla., today on charges of lying in a civil case about whether he and other officers under his command tortured and physically abused suspects in police custody dating back to the 1980s, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Burge was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury in a three-count indictment unsealed today following his arrest.

The indictment alleges that Burge lied and impeded court proceedings in November 2003 when he provided false written answers to questions in a civil lawsuit alleging that he and others engaged in torture and abuse of suspects.

At a news conference in Chicago this morning, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said the charges show that Burge "broke the law when he was supposed to uphold it," and warned that others who lied about torture could eventually be charged.

The case marks the beginning of the Burge prosecution, he said, but "it is not the end of the investigation of torture and abuse."

Fitzgerald said federal prosecutors have reason to believe that others also lied during the course of civil proceedings, and said that the possibility of witnesses lying to a grand jury is still under investigation. Anyone who is not honest with investigators should now understand they are lying at their own risk, he said, and no one in the case should hang on some unwritten police code of silence to protect themselves...

he denied it, but there's audio...

Warming up a crowd in North Carolina on Saturday, Republican Rep. Robin Hayes offered the diagnosis that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”

His remarks came shortly after he had said he would “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.”

Hayes had followed Rep. Patrick McHenry, also a North Carolina Republican, who laid out the choice between McCain and Obama.

“It’s like black and white,” yelled someone from the crowd...

sarah palin, dictator of the u.s. senate

Another gotcha from the media elite:

Obama is Beautiful World

why the rallies are so creepy and hateful


From Fight the Smears:
Apparently publishing the slimiest attack book of the year against Barack Obama wasn’t enough for the man behind the Swift Boating of John Kerry, Jerome Corsi... He recently took a trip to Kenya to publicize some of the more bizarre and easily disproven lies in his book, but he got himself in some trouble with the local authorities and was deported. As soon as he got back, he was out peddling a completely fake, manufactured email allegedly from Barack to Raila Odinga. The email is so obviously made up, it’s been openly mocked.

There’s more to the smears behind Corsi’s latest stunt. He apparently started with an email attack that earned a “pants on fire” rating from PolitiFact for truthfulness. The email claimed familial, financial, and political ties between Barack Obama and Kenyan politician, Raila Odinga, so all Corsi had to do when he “wrote” his book was commit it to paper. Everything in the email was debunked months before the book came out, but Corsi went with his illegitimate smears anyway...

yes there still are mccain-voting muslims, for now

Strategery?

From Electoral-vote.com

McCain Concedes Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico

CNN is reporting that McCain is making those tough decisions that politicians love to talk about. According to CNN, McCain is abandoning Colorado (9 EVs), Iowa (7 EVs) and New Mexico (5 Evs). If Obama wins these three he gets 21 EVs. Add these to the 252 EVs Kerry won and he has 273 and becomes President. McCain's strategy at this point is to win Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, and--get this--Pennsylvania. The first six are arguably swing states, but our three-poll average puts Obama 12 points ahead in Pennsylvania. McCain is effectively betting the farm on a state which looks like an Obama landslide. It is a strange choice. Colorado looks a lot easier than Pennsylvania. James Carville once famously said that Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama sandwiched in between. Maybe McCain is going to go all out to win the white working class men in the Alabama section of Pennsylvania. McCain can't possibly do it on the economy. What's left? Maybe run against the Wright/Ayers ticket? Any way you look at it, this has to be a desperation move.

michele bachman is her opponent's best fundraiser

You know, old El Tinklenberg, the world famous Democratic challenger to right-wing Minnesota fanatic Michele Bachman. After she appeared on Chris Matthews calling for a "penetrating exposé" of congressional liberals anti-americanism. MSNBC's David Schuster just reporter that he has raised $800,000 since Friday, which is as much as he raised the entire year before that.

still creepy

obama canvasser assaulted in wisconsin

Video from Wisconsin TV:
Nancy Takehara, the Chicagoan who was assaulted while canvassing for Obama in Caledonia, Wisconsin, was contacted by the candidate himself on the day of the incident. By the time Takehara had returned home, there was an answering machine message from the campaign. She called the number and Obama spoke to her personally with words of moral support. Takehara said this morning, "All I have to say is Mr. Obama is a wonderful man" who was very supportive.

On Saturday, Takehara was going door to door in Caledonia with another canvasser when she was verbally assaulted and then grabbed by the hair on the back of her neck and reportedly pounded on the head...

Monday, October 20, 2008

let the blame game begin

From Paul Begala and James Carville in the Huffington Post:
... The smartest people in the conservative movement are already pointing like a bird dog on a South Georgia quail hunt. David Brooks and Bill Kristol are leading the way. Mr. Brooks, representing the intellectual wing of the conservative movement, called Ms. Palin, "a fatal cancer to the Republican Party." Attaboy, Brooksie. Score one for the brainiacs.

Mr. Kristol, on the other hand, blames neither Ms. Palin nor Sen. John McCain, but rather McCain's campaign advisers, writing of the campaign: "Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic." See? That's how you do it. Kristol can't say McCain's problem is that he supported the Iraq war, (which Kristol advocated) or that he chose Sarah Palin (whom Kristol praised). So rather than play defense, Bill went on offense, blaming McCain's Steve Schmidt-led campaign. But we have a feeling this fight will only begin when the Schmidt hits the fan.

But where are the other voices? We need to hear, for example, from Karl Rove. Whom will he blame? We stipulate that Karl is a genius -- albeit a genius whose advice took Pres. Bush from a 91 percent approval rating down to 26. With the House of Bush ablaze, Karl is going to have to do some quick finger-pointing before they change they change his nickname from The Architect to The Arsonist.

How about Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other radio personalities? They never liked McCain much -- but his campaign cratered only when he embraced their wild attacks on Sen. Obama. It was only after Mr. McCain borrowed the Limbaugh-Hannity line on Bill Ayers, only after Gov. Palin accused Mr. Obama of "pallin' around with terrorists," that the bottom fell out for Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin. We're betting the hot air boys will blame the intellectuals. After all, if you want to make an omelet, you've got to break a few eggheads...

Olbermann's Special Comment on irresponsible G.O.P messages

Racist, xenophobic, irresponsible G.O.P messages; America is Pro-America; Congressperson Bachmann kept movie Aladdin from being shown because she thought it promoted paganism & witchcraft; Character assassination of Colin Powell by Limbaugh (reactionary non-thought, blind allegiance); Powell reaching across the aisle, putting Country First...