Wonky Muse

Jacked Up On The Positive Sauce

2009-10-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

Dubya sure got Stephen Colbert motivated:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

George W. Bush's Motivational Speech

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Grow Up Girlie Man

2009-10-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

After Ahnold the Guhvahnator send his sophomoric message on the margin to the California Assembly, the San Francisco Chronicle sends him one.

Honoring Our War Dead

2009-10-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

A scene we haven't witnessed for the last eight years: the Commander In Chief paying his respects as the bodies of American soldiers killed in war return home:

It was the president’s first trip to the Delaware air base, the main point of entry for the nation’s war dead to return home. The trip was a symbolic one for Mr. Obama — intended to convey the gravity of his decision as he moves closer to announcing whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan.

The overnight trip was not announced in advance. The president, wearing a dark suit and long overcoat, left the White House at 11:44 p.m. A small contingent of reporters and photographers accompanied Mr. Obama to Dover, where he arrived at 12:34 a.m. aboard Marine One. He returned to the South Lawn of the White House at 4:45 a.m. [...]

As the Commander-in-chief stood on the darkened tarmac and saluted, the flag-draped case was unloaded from the cargo plane in what the military calls a “dignified transfer,” as six soldiers in white gloves and camouflage fatigues carried the remains in precision. Mr. Obama and uniformed officers stood at attention as the case was placed in a white mortuary van parked nearby.

The transfer of the bodies — a solemn, 15-minute proceeding — took place after Mr. Obama spent nearly two hours meeting privately with several family members in the chapel of the Air Force base.

Obama's shrill critics will predictably scream "photo op!", and to them I say it maybe a good idea to pause the histrionics and note that this was all conducted at dawn, with very little advanced notice to the media which was allowed to capture only the last 15 minutes of an event that lasted more than two hours.

Besides, we need to be reminded of the consequences of a war that has dragged on for so long. As Obama comes closer to a decision on Afghanistan, it's important for him and for us to be reminded often that there is a real human toll behind troop surges and military occupation.

I'm glad he's thinking carefully and deliberately about his next step, in stark contrast to Bush/Cheney whose decisions were a foregone conclusion (i.e. more war). As George Will said, "[a] bit of dithering might have been in order before we went into Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction... We have much more to fear in this town from hasty than from slow government action."

Senator Aetna

2009-10-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

"It's journalistic shorthand to note a politician's party identification and state after his or her name. For example: Jane Doe (D-NY). And so Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is identified as (I-CT). But the “I” does not stand for "Independent." It stands for "Insurance Industry."

-- Paul Begala regarding Joe Lieberman, who threatens to filibuster the health care reform bill even though he proposed government-run health care as late as 2004.

Technorati Tags: democrats, health care reform, joe lieberman, paul begala, public option

Public Option: Still On The Table

2009-10-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Reports of the public option's demise may be exaggerated:

Democratic sources tell me that Reid – after a series of meetings with Democratic moderates – has concluded he can pass a bill with a public option.

[...] Reid is now convinced that Democratic critics of the public option will support him when it counts – on the procedural motion, which requires 60 votes, to defeat a certain GOP-led filibuster of the bill. Once the filibuster is beaten, it only takes 51 votes to pass the bill [...]

Another important point: Reid’s version of the public option is different from the more liberal version advocated by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in two key ways: 1) Reid’s version would allow individual states to opt-out of the program, giving public option critics the chance to say that their states retain the right to scrap the idea; and, 2) Under Reid’s plan, the new government insurance program would have to negotiate payment rates with health care providers. Under Pelosi’s, payment rates would be tied to the lower rates paid by Medicare.

Even though an aide later denied that Reid concluded he has the votes, he confirms that talks are definitely in the direction of including a public option in the final bill.

Meanwhile, ABC's report adds that Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) was apopleptic about this because he courted Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) for months, to the extent of including her lame ideas to weaken the bill. He even tried to rally the Blue Dogs against it.

As if on cue, Sen. Snowe threatens to withdraw her support and possibly filibuster any bill that contains an immediate public option. She also added that Congress shouldn't rush this, that "Christmas might be too soon" and "we should give it the time it deserves". Funny, considering she never demanded more time when voting yes for the Wall Street bailout, the Patriot Act and the Iraq War.

We all know that the Democrats don't need Snowe's vote to pass this bill. It's just "bipartisan" cover so the Blue Dogs like Nelson, Lincoln and Landrieu can vote for the bill as well without upsetting the conservatives in their districts too much. The reality is, no matter how much they strip the bill bare, conservatives won't like it, and conservatives won't like them.

Hopefully, this sudden surge of courage on Sen. Reid's (D-NV) part means he realizes this, and that pressure from the grassroots convinced him it's more important to please the public -- which is overwhelmingly for the public option, despite what the nutty, screaming fringe in town hall meetings claim -- than Sen. Snowe and AHIP.

Technorati Tags: baucus, blue dogs, democrats, health care reform, public option, reid, republicans, snowe, news

Competition: As American As Apple Pie

2009-10-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Who knew the public option is so agile and hot?

Hmm, I wonder whom the GOP would pick to portray the death panel. Ben Stein? Fred Thompson?

Technorati Tags: health care, health care reform, insurance companies, public option, moveon.org, video, youtube

Scavenger

2009-10-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

A slimy oil tycoon says Iraq owes us:

T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are "entitled" to some of Iraq's crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.

Boone, speaking to the newly formed Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, complained that the Iraqi government has awarded contracts to foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, to develop Iraq's vast reserves while American companies have mostly been shut out.

"They're opening them (oil fields) up to other companies all over the world ... We're entitled to it," Pickens said of Iraq's oil. "Heck, we even lost 5,000 of our people, 65,000 injured and a trillion, five hundred billion dollars."

Entitled? U.S. energy companies are entitled?

So Pickens thinks that our young men and women spilled blood in an unjustified war that devastated a country and killed hundreds of thousands more of its people so vultures like him can pick on the remains.

To say that's disgusting isn't disgusting enough.

Technorati Tags: congress, iraq, iraqi oil, natural gas caucus, news, oil, t. boone pickens

Iran Ready to Deal?

2009-10-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Could it be?

The head of the world's atomic energy watchdog said Iran and world powers have until Friday to approve a proposed deal to transfer most of Iran's nuclear material abroad to be reformatted for medical purposes.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei disclosed no details about the draft deal, hammered out over 2 1/2 days of talks between Iranian, American, French and Russian diplomats in Vienna.

But he said that it reflected a "balanced approach" that would help Iran fuel a medical research reactor for diagnosing and treating cancer while building confidence to resolve long-standing suspicions about the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions [...]

Iran said it would take the proposal back to Tehran for consideration.

You mean negotiation and diplomacy can triumph over militarism and threats? Well, waddaya know.

Michael Adler at the Daily Beast has more on what went down.

As Dylan Matthews at Tapped pointed out, it's not as comprehensive a deal as the one hammered with North Korea and details like who will cover the shipment expenses can be tricky.

However, I agree with Laura Rozen:

If implemented, such a plan would conceivably put several months back on the clock to try to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The deal seemingly offers Iran the appearance of de facto international recognition of its enrichment program, if not acceptance. It also gives Iran and world powers a chance to see if the other comes through on their side of the deal.

Technorati Tags: elbaradei, diplomacy, iaea, iran, obama, uranium

Full Circle

2009-10-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Remember that Bush shoe thrower?

The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush leaned back in his chair and soaked in the round of applause.

This was not Baghdad or Damascus or Beirut. This was Geneva, where Muntadhar al-Zeidi was given a hero's welcome Monday far warmer than the subdued reception in his own homeland.

"I am one of the victims of the occupation," al-Zeidi said at a press conference alongside two local politicians, repeating his allegations that he was severely tortured, including with electric shocks, during his nine months of Iraqi detention.

I don't approve of what he did but I sure understand. If some uninvited foreign leader thrashed your country and turned it into one big catastrofrak you'd be hella mad, too.

Al-Zeidi clarified that it was Iraqis, not Americans, who tortured him in detention. He also declined gifts from wealthy Arabs until he's set up a foundation to help his people.

Meanwhile, what's the "throwee" been up to?

Former President George W. Bush has got a whole new gang. Goodbye, Condi, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Hello, Terry Bradshaw, Zig Ziglar and Rudy Giuliani.

Bradshaw, Ziglar and Giuliani are among the other featured speakers at an Oct. 26 "Get Motivated!" business seminar in Fort Worth, TX, where the former president will be the "special guest speaker." That won't be Bush's only Get Motivated appearance. See the full image promoting his Dec. 2 seminar here.

The all-day event next week will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. Tickets are apparently $19. That's not per person -- that's per office.

So the former leader of the free world now shills for motivational mega shows. And they're charging $19?! They should pay for wasting people's time. I mean, exactly how is Bush going to motivate people? By talking about how he successfully saddled the country with two wars and a collapsing economy?

Add to that how distasteful it is that the first thing this man did after leaving office was to lend his name and the stature of his position not to any humanitarian or philanthropic cause but to making some easy cash. Wingnuts didn't waste much time criticizing Obama for using his clout in bidding for the Olympics, so what do they have to say about this?

Rachel Maddow is on the case:

Stay the class act that you are, Dubya.

Technorati Tags: al-zeidi, bush, bush shoe thrower, iraq, news

Toolbag of the Day

2009-10-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dubya's former Press Secretary Dana Perino, who again proves IOKIYAR.

Technorati Tags: dana perino, fox news, GOP, republicans

Today's GOP: We've Got a Rep For That

2009-10-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Time to clear the cobwebs around here.

Technorati Tags: GOP, republican party, republicans, video, youtube

"The Bush Diplomatic Hall of Glory"

2009-01-31T01:57:00.000-08:00

What "diplomatic glory"?

The smell of fresh paint wafting last week through the hall heading to the State Department cafeteria signaled the demise of the Bush Diplomatic Hall of Glory -- that series of lovely photographs that touted the 43rd president's world leadership and diplomatic victories.

Loop Fans will recall that the exhibit of about 20 large color photos caused a bit of a stir back in 2003 when it replaced the long-standing array of black-and-white shots of historic moments. That included an original political cartoon from the Jefferson era and Woodrow Wilson at Versailles and Roosevelt and Churchill signing the Atlantic Charter and so forth.

The George W. Bush exhibit, the old-timers complained, was hardly more than a family travel album, showing him and Laura Bush traveling about the world, hanging out with foreigners, not exactly making history. There were also a few pics of the secretary of state, first Colin L. Powell and then Condoleezza Rice, usually with the president in the picture.

Word.

But wait a minute, does the photo exhibit include this leadership victory in China?

How about this diplomatic victory in Iraq?

It wasn't a complete "hall of glory" without these moments of victory, no?

Photos: The Sydney Morning Herald, Washington Times

Republican Gregg for Commerce?

2009-01-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

The White House remains mum, but if Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) accepts the nomination for Commerce Secretary, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch could give the Democrats a 60 seat-strong majority in the Senate by appointing a fellow Democrat to replace Gregg.

Gregg will be under pressure from the GOP to say no, although given his age, 16 years in the Senate and a possible tough fight for re-election in 2010, he might say yes. The possibility becomes more likely if we consider that Gregg praised Obama publicly and that among Republicans he was second only to Olympia Snowe in voting with the Obama Administration.

Politico reports the GOP may demand that Governor Lynch appoint another Republican to replace Gregg before they agree to let him go, but that's not their call now, is it? If Gregg thinks his re-election prospects in 2010 are dim or if he's just more interested in serving in Obama's cabinet rather than retaining his Senate seat, then the Democrats don't have to concede a thing to get both him and their filibuster-proof majority.

Obama Signs Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act

2009-01-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

[Transcript of the President's remarks here.]

For his first piece of major legislation, President Obama signs into law an Act that corrects a gross miscarriage of justice:

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision that denied Ledbetter an opportunity for redress.

Ledbetter, 70, has said she did not learn about the sizable discrepancy in pay between her and her male co-workers until near the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued, but the high court said in a 5-4 decision that she missed her chance to bring the action.

The court said a person must file a discrimination claim within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than another doing the same job.

Under the new law, each new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for an additional 180 days. That was the interpretation before the Supreme Court was asked to step in.

Since her case can't be retried, Lilly Ledbetter will not receive a single cent more because of this new law, but thanks to her and all the other women before her who fought for what's right, those of us who come after won't have to suffer the indignity and gross unfairness of less pay for being a woman.

Incidentally, the Bush White House and the Republicans blocked this bill in the last session of Congress. True to form, they were against what is essentially a law for equality and fairness because all lawsuits by employees against employers is baaad, didn't ya know. Lest we forget, McCain and Palin also campaigned against it, being the true party ~~mavericks~~ sidekicks that they are. This time, only five Republicans, including the only four female Republican Senators, voted for this bill. Color me not surprised.

Next stop: the much broader Paycheck Fairness Act. Perhaps the current Grand Obstructionist Party will surprise me this time? Not freakin' likely.

Blagojevich Out

2009-01-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

Impeached and barred from political office in Illinois:

The vote, 59 to 0, ended nearly two months of political spectacle in which Mr. Blagojevich, a second-term Democrat who rose from the ranks of Chicago ward politics on the strength of his charisma and the connections of his wife’s family, sought to salvage his career and reputation.

The conviction followed a four-day trial, Mr. Blagojevich’s dramatic address of some 45 minutes to the senators Thursday in which he declared his innocence, and then about two hours of deliberation.

After the first vote, the Senate held a second, deciding again by 59 to 0 to bar Mr. Blagojevich from ever holding public office again in Illinois.

Lt. Governor Pat Quinn was sworn in as the new Governor an hour later.

I caught Blagojevich on Rachel Maddow's show, part of the media blitz he chose to do instead of attending his three-day impeachment trial, and the arrogant defiance was cringe-worthy. He insisted that everything he did, he did out of love for the people of Illinois. He also insisted the hearings were rigged because he can't call in witnesses to prove he didn't do anything illegal, even though an impeachment hearing isn't like a criminal trial and the State Legislature only need prove his actions were unethical.

The same arrogant defiance showed up in his 45-minute final plea to the State Senate (transcript) when he insisted he did "a lot of things that were mostly right" and that he did it all for the children. And the vulnerable senior citizens. Ugh.

It shouldn't have taken the Illinois Senate two months to get this joker impeached, but I'm glad it's over; President Obama feels the same way, it looks like.

Of course, there's still his possible criminal prosecution, but at least Blagojevich can no longer use the bully pulpit of his governorship to save his hide.

Final Sendoff

2009-01-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

Bush booed at the Inaugural:

The commentators loudly tsk tsked, though only a decided minority of the nearly 2 million-strong crowd expressed their understandable displeasure and disapproval. Well, at least no one threw shoes.

I'm just as disgusted with what this man did to our country and our Constitution, but I wouldn't have bothered. This day is not about him. There's a time for accountability, but today is ours.

Meanwhile, the foreign press took their final swipe at Dubya:

"A weak leader, Bush was just overwhelmed in the job," said Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung under a headline: "The Failure." "He confused stubbornness with principles. America has become intolerant and it will take a long time to repair that damage..."

"Goodbye to the worst president ever," [Canada's Toronto Star] declared. "Bush was an unmitigated disaster, failing on the big issues from the invasion of Iraq to global warming, Hurricane Katrina and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression..."

The Scottish Daily Record observed: "America is now hated in many parts of the world. Bush leaves a legacy of wars and the world economy in meltdown. He has been dismissed as a buffoon and a war-monger, a man who made the world a more dangerous place while sending it to the brink of economic collapse..."

The British Daily Mail and French Le Monde gave him credit for no terrorist attacks since 9/11, but that's like crediting the crowing of the rooster for the sun rising at dawn. Besides, how about the anthrax attacks? Hello? Yet Bush defenders and apologists will always insist on this fantasy, because in their own make believe world he never fails, even when he does.

A Truth Self-Evident

2009-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Cartoon by Tom Toles via the Washington Post.

It's Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T03:30:00.000-08:00

You can watch MSNBC's live streaming coverage here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

MSNBC is also hosting live screenings at select movie theatres and Starbucks locations across the country.

Of course, all the major networks and news channels will carry live coverage during the day. Online livestreams will also be available at C-Span, Hulu, Current TV (which will also Twitterstream its coverage), Ustream.tv (with live chat) and Joost.

The Huffington Post will liveblog the event, and Twitter (just click on search word "Inauguration") is a great source of real time reax from people who are experiencing the historic occasion in person. Other great sources are the NPR Inauguration Report which will collect dispatches from several platforms (Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and text messages) and CNN/Microsoft Photosynth which will transform spectators' uploaded photos into 3D images.

Here's the official schedule of events (via ABC News):

8:45 a.m. ET: Obamas attend a private service at St. John's Episcopal Church.
10:00 a.m. ET: Obama meets with President Bush at the White House for coffee, together they travel to the Capitol for inauguration ceremony.
11:30 a.m. ET: Official inaugural ceremony begins.
12:00 p.m. ET: Obama is sworn in as president and delivers inaugural address.
1:00 p.m. ET: President Obama and Vice President Biden attend luncheon at the Capitol.
1:30 p.m. ET: President Bush Depart Washington DC.
2:30 p.m. ET: Inaugural parade begins, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama join inaugural motorcade.
8:00 p.m. ET: Neighborhood Ball at the Convention Center (first of ten official balls), featuring the POTUS and First Lady's first dance of the evening and the POTUS' first inaugural ball speech (will be covered exclusively by ABC News).

More information are available at the Joint Congressional Committees on Inaugural Ceremonies as well as at the Presidential Inaugural Committee web sites.

The theme of the Inauguration is "A New Birth of Freedom" in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. This theme is incorporated into the Inaugural Program, Luncheon menu (pdf) and decor. Of course Obama will carry this one step further by being sworn in on Lincoln's Bible.

Lastly, here's a fun video showing 23 facts about the Inauguration:

Let the celebrations begin!

Pre-Inaugural Concert At Lincoln Memorial

2009-01-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

Highlights of the We Are One Concert that kicked off this historic Inauguration Week:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The near-freezing temperature didn't stop the enthusiastic crowd estimated at 400,000 which stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.

Big names from the worlds of music and movies performed: Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington just to name a few.

It was a rockin' good time; the crowd jumped and did the wave to Garth Brooks singing Shout while the Obamas were on their feet singing along with Stevie Wonder, Usher and Shakira to Higher Ground. All the performances were great, but I especially liked Renee Fleming's rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone with the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club and for sheer significance, Bruce Springsteen singing Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land with folk legend Pete Seeger. Yes wingnuts, we're taking our country back. Get used to it.

At the same time, there was the pomp and circumstance of flags and military colors and choirs and the grandeur of the setting itself: the imposing statue of the sitting Lincoln in the background, the same setting in which Martin Luther King, Jr., whose memory we are honoring today, gave his "I Have A Dream" speech.

As usual, the Obamas and Bidens looked great and were positively beaming. I thought Michelle Obama's black and tan suit and coat ensemble looked elegant and becoming.

The full concert was covered on HBO -- which authorized its service providers to show it to their viewers for free -- and will probably be replayed the rest of the week. You can also watch the entire event online for free here. USA Today also liveblogged the event here.

He Had A Dream

2009-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

Our work is not done, but tomorrow's historic Inauguration is an important milestone, and shows the whole world why we are the United States of America.

I'd like to think the MLK, Jr. will be looking on, smiling and bursting with pride.

Worst. President. Ever.

2008-11-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

The people have spoken:

Only 16 percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday say things are going well in the country today. That's an all-time low. Eighty-three percent say things are going badly, which is an all-time high...

The all-time low on the public's mood may have something to do with the poll's finding that President Bush is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago. Seventy-six percent of those questioned in the poll disapprove of how he is handling his job.

That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.

"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," Holland said. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."

Meanwhile, the same poll shows Obama has majority support of the electorate:

So far, Obama seems to be meeting the public's high expectations. Two-thirds of all Americans have a positive view of what he has done since he was elected president, and three-quarters think he will do a good job as president.

"Obama has the support of virtually every African-American in the poll, but he also gets high marks from a solid majority of whites," Holland said.

Gallup shows he has a 68% approval rating, which interestingly is the mirror opposite of Bush's disapproval ratings.

I'm with David Letterman on this:

"I think I speak for most Americans when I say, anybody mind if he [Obama] starts a little early? Would that be a problem?"

Howard Dean Steps Down As DNC Chair

2008-11-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

The Huffington Post reports:

After four years at the helm of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean is preparing to relinquish his chairmanship.

Dean, who has been serving in the post since 2005, has said in the past that he would serve only one term, though his successful work with the Obama campaign had led some Democrats to wonder whether he would stay on into the next administration. This won't be the case, officials at the DNC confirm. He will serve as chair until his term ends in January. The party will settle on a new head when it hosts a meeting during the week of Obama's inauguration.

Howard Dean was a netroots candidate and favorite in 2004, and his 50-state strategy deserves major credit for the party's congressional wins in 2006 and last week's presidential landslide win in which red states like Indiana, North Carolina, Indiana and the seat of the confederacy itself, Virginia, turned Democratic Blue.

Does Dean's departure signal the end of the 50-state strategy? Chris Bowers thinks so, given that the paid, locally-based organizers who formed its core have been fired.

I tend to disagree, simply because there's no reason to abandon it. The strategy was a resounding success and in perfect sync with Obama's own campaign strategy of going on the offensive instead of accepting the traditional delineation of "red states" and "blue states". Besides, why stop now? The Dems came close to turning even more states like Georgia, Nebraska, Montana and Arizona blue; with the changing demographics that increasingly favor the party, they could turn in a few more election cycles. Heck, even Texas is ripe for the picking.

Also, I see the firings as pro forma, the same way that a previous president's administration all have to tender their resignation when a new president assumes office. There's nothing to stop Obama and his aides to re-hire the same people or at the very least, deploy the same strategy and continue finetuning it.

As for Dean's replacement, Senator Clair McCaskill (D-MO) and Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand's names come up as co-chairs of the DNC going forward.

No word yet on Dean's future plans. One thing is sure, though: because of the groundwork he laid, the Democratic Party is strong and its future bright.

New World Order

2008-11-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Yes, he's gonna come and swoop down from a big, black helicopter to get you, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA):

"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism." ...

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."

Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado about building a new civil service corps. Among other things, he called for expanding the nation's foreign service and doubling the size of the Peace Corps "to renew our diplomacy."

2008-11-05T00:09:00.001-08:00

PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!

* All the networks just called it for Barack Hussein Obama, the next President of the United States.

* Fox News showed Jesse Jackson quietly crying.

* Electoral vote totals so far: Obama 334, McCain 144, with 54 electoral votes still too close to call, including Arizona and North Carolina.

* McCain just conceded, very graciously. Too bad the crowd couldn't be as gracious, but the campaign he and Palin ran had a lot to do with that.

* On to Grant Park, waiting for our President-Elect to make his speech, woohoo!

Update: 11-05-08 12:27 a.m. EST

* Obama speaks. It's a bittersweet moment, Toot not being here to witness this.

* Obama: WE ARE AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

* Now the work of rebuilding our nation begins.

McCain's Celebrity Political Fluffer

2008-10-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

Shorter Ahnold speech: McCain is a POW POW POW!

The McCain crowd, desperate for red meat, any red meat in their increasingly depressing and desperate remaining hours, ate up his schtick.

The Ohio crowd, that is, because even Ahnold can't powerlift McCain's prospects in his home state of California.

Yes We Carve

2008-10-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

More Glowbama here. Happy Halloween!

Sarah Palin's Horrible Day

2008-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

Talk about the unkindest cut of all:

Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an "adequate" commander in chief.

"And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested," he added for good measure -- referring both to Palin's policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office. (Listen to audio below.)

The remarks took place during an interview on National Public Radio that was, ironically, billed as "making the case" for a McCain presidency. Asked by the host whether Palin could step in during a time of crisis, Eagleburger reverted to sarcasm before leveling the harsh blow.

"It is a very good question," he said, pausing a few seconds, then adding with a chuckle: "I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not."

Oof, that's gotta hurt.

Eagleburger made the remarks on the NPR show Talk of the Nation, which can be heard in its entirety here. HuffPost also has the relevant excerpts here.

Take note that Eagleburger is one of the five former secretaries of state that Johnah McPalin proudly boasted to be supporters of their ticket, after the scathing critique they received from Colin Powell when the latter endorsed Obama for President.

Ironically, Eagleburger was invited to the program for a segment called "Make The Case" to articulate, based on foreign and domestic policy credentials, why McCain is the right choice. He made the case alright, on why NO one in his right mind should vote for McCain.

Expect Eagleburger to be "Carly Fiorina-ed" in 3, 2, 1...

It was really a dies horribilis for Palin. First, the New York Times reported this:

All told, 59 percent of voters surveyed said Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up nine percentage points since the beginning of the month. Nearly a third of voters polled said the vice-presidential selection would be a major factor influencing their vote for president, and those voters broadly favor Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee.

And in a possible indication that the choice of Ms. Palin has hurt Mr. McCain’s image, voters said they had much more confidence in Mr. Obama to pick qualified people for his administration than they did in Mr. McCain.

In addition the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Obama might win in a record-breaking landslide in California, my home state, in large part because of Palin:

The choice of Palin as McCain's vice president has been viewed through an "extremely partisan" lens, said DiCamillo.

While Republicans view Palin positively by 74-19 percent, Democrats and nonpartisans have a very negative image of her; Democrats hold a 75-15 percent unfavorable-favorable rating of Palin, and nonpartisans also have a 65-20 percent negative assessment of her, the poll showed.

The Palin pick "really did nothing to broaden the McCain support levels among his own base," said DiCamillo, who said that Democratic and independent voters tended to see it as a choice that "reflected poorly on his judgment."

No question, Palin is now officially a drag on the GOP ticket.

Of course, McCain's ambition and total disregard for the country that he hypocritically vowed to put first is responsible for this catastrofrak of a pick. It doesn't matter that his operatives Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis pushed him to choose Palin at the urging of hacks like Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, who reacted to Palin like squealing fanboys after they met her on one of those conservative cruises to Alaska. It was McCain's decision to make and what a farce of a decision it was.

I almost felt sorry for Palin until I remembered that she is equally to blame for this. She could have said no. She's profoundly out of her depth and she knows it, but like her running mate, ambition and arrogance took precedence over what's best for the country.

I would love for us to have more than two parties to choose from every four years, but the reality is we only have two viable ones. That Johnah McPalin ended up being one of them is an obscenity for which the GOP deserves our eternal scorn and our total repudiation on Tuesday.

He Shared His Peanut Butter Sandwich

2008-10-30T03:29:00.000-07:00

The outrageous lies are now approaching the ridiculous, and what better way to respond than with good natured mockery. Barack Obama shows us how it's done (is there anything at all that throws off this guy?):

"Because he knows his economic theories don't work, he's been spending these last few days calling me every name in the book," Obama said. "Lately, he's called me a 'socialist' for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. I don't know what's next. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

The McCain-Khalidi Connection

2008-10-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

The Khalidi tape that Johnah McPalin and most of wingnuttia are frothing at the mouth about is such utter nonsense I didn't want to blog about it, but Ben Smith e-mailing Rashid Khalidi about "McCain's suggestion that going to his going-away party was like attending a neo-Nazi event" got my attention. I was curious about the man's reaction to all the insanity being spewed against him and Barack Obama.

Khalidi, an American academic and scholar who specializes in Middle Eastern studies, replied that he isn't talking to the press, but pointed to Scott Horton's article at Harper's magazine -- aptly entitled The New McCarthyism -- which rebutted "a few of the stupider and more outrageous things" being said about him.

Bottom line: Khalidi is not a scary radical, unless you believe that advocating human rights and nonviolence in the Middle East are radical. Yet the National Review guys like Andrew McCarthy, whose rantings McCain/Palin parrot for some reason, practically call the guy a terrorist even though there's this:

Of course, Khalidi has been involved in Palestinian causes. McCarthy ought to ask John McCain about that, because McCain and Khalidi appear to have some joint interests, and that fact speaks very well of both of them. Indeed, the McCain–Khalidi connections are more substantial than the phony Obama–Khalidi connections McCarthy gussies up for his article. The Republican party’s congressionally funded international-networking organization, the International Republican Institute–long and ably chaired by John McCain and headed by McCain’s close friend, the capable Lorne Craner–has taken an interest in West Bank matters. IRI funded an ambitious project, called the Palestine Center, that Khalidi helped to support. Khalidi served on the Center’s board of directors. The goal of that project, shared by Khalidi and McCain, was the promotion of civic consciousness and engagement and the development of democratic values in the West Bank. Of course, McCarthy is not interested in looking too closely into the facts, because they would not serve his shrill partisan objectives.

Newsweek's Andrew Romano adds:

So to claim Khalidi somehow taints Obama without tainting McCain is disingenuous. The truth is, he taints neither of them.

Strip away all the baseless innuendo--the PLO stuff, the "Neo-Nazism," etc.--and you're left with a pretty unremarkable kernal of information: Obama once enjoyed discussing Middle Eastern issues with a professor whose pro-Palestine perspective often clashed with his more pro-Israel worldview. (As Obama told a Boca synagogue in May, "one of the raps on me when I first ran for Congress in [Chicago's] African American community was that 'he was too close to the Jewish community.'")

As for who actually had a strong influence on Obama's views, Scott Horton clued in the rabid horde on where to look:

I have a suggestion for Andy McCarthy and his Hyde Park project. If he really digs down deep enough, he will come up with a Hyde Park figure who stood in constant close contact with Barack Obama and who, unlike Ayers and Khalidi, really did influence Obama’s thinking about law, government, and policy. He is to my way of thinking a genuine radical. His name is Richard Posner, and he appears to be the most frequently and positively cited judge and legal academic in… National Review.

Elizabeth Dole "Crossed the Line, Should Be Ashamed"

2008-10-29T19:38:00.001-07:00

It's official: the GOP is now the party of despicable fearmongering crazymakers. Following the examples of McCain/Palin, Michele Bachmann and Robin Hayes, Elizabeth Dole sheds all decency and wallows in slimy stench, claiming that her opponent Kay Hagan is literally a godless heathen.

Take note that Hagan is a Sunday school teacher and elder in the church that the Hagan family has attended for 100 years.

Even former Republican operatives Alex Castellanos and Ed Rollins were appalled, calling the ad "crossing the line" and "so despicable... Dole should be ashamed of herself".

Watch:

Hagan has issued a formal statement demanding a retraction and plans to file charges in court.

She also put out this ad:

Elizabeth Dole is an embarrassment to the senatorial position she holds and to the state of North Carolina, where she is now trailing Hagan by almost five points. It's time the people of her state throw this shameless, do-nothing career politician out of office.

More at Memeorandum.

More Republicans Throw McCain Under The Bus

2008-10-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT):

Republican unity behind presidential nominee John McCain is fracturing and the infighting likely presages a battle for the GOP's soul should he lose the general election next week.

"He has lost his brand as a maverick," Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican and co-chairman of the McCain campaign in that state, told the Yale Daily News in the latest criticism. "He did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign."

One might argue that Shays was motivated by being in a tight re-election race himself, but the guy is McCain's campaign co-chair in Connecticut, for pete's sake. If someone like him is breaking message discipline, then things must really look bad, for Shays, McCain and for the GOP.

Shays joins the likes of beleaguered Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who called an Obama win "a real possibility" and Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) who said Obama "has a pretty good advantage" in his state.

This comes at the heels of an exodus of GOP bigwigs deserting McCain's Low Road Express: from Colin Powell to William Weld to Charles Mathias and a host of other disgusted and disillusioned conservatives.

Obama: We Are One Nation

2008-10-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Obama coming full circle in his closing argument speech in Canton, Ohio yesterday:

An excerpt:

But I also knew this. I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics. I believed that Democrats and Republicans and Americans of every political stripe were hungry for new ideas, new leadership, and a new kind of politics – one that favors common sense over ideology; one that focuses on those values and ideals we hold in common as Americans...

Look – we've tried it John McCain's way. We've tried it George Bush's way. Deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that "if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose." That's why he's spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book. Because that's how you play the game in Washington. If you can't beat your opponent's ideas, you distort those ideas and maybe make some up. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from. You make a big election about small things.

Ohio, we are here to say "Not this time. Not this year. Not when so much is at stake." Senator McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I'm worried about Americans who are losing their homes, and their jobs, and their life savings. I can take one more week of John McCain's attacks, but this country can't take four more years of the same old politics and the same failed policies. It's time for something new.

The question in this election is not "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" We know the answer to that. The real question is, "Will this country be better off four years from now?"

Full transcript here.

McCain Losing Ground... In Arizona?!

2008-10-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Now y'all are just teasing me:

A new survey of Arizona likely voters suggests that Senator Barrack Obama (D) is edging closer to Senator John McCain (R) as their presidential campaigns draw to a close. The survey, conducted by Marketing Intelligence and Zimmerman & Associates, shows McCain with the support of 43.5% of voters, while Obama draws a preference from 41.5%.

Two recent statewide surveys, one by Rasmussen Reports and the other by Arizona State University, were in agreement about Obama's portion of the vote, but varied considerably on McCain's strength. Rasmussen said McCain enjoyed a commanding 59% to 38% advantage, while ASU said McCain's lead was only 45% to 38%.

Jonathan Singer has been writing about McCain's weak support in his home state that could create difficulties for him in this election. The way things are looking right now, Obama doesn't need to win Arizona, but as Singer also pointed out, winning there would confirm his mandate like no other state would. Besides, Obama taking Arizona is really just rubbing the GOP's face in it, which I wouldn't mind one bit.

In the end McCain would likely carry his home state, but as the New York Times pointed out, Arizona is trending blue regardless, which bodes well for the Democrats winning the majority of the state's congressional seats. I wouldn't mind that, either.

Everyday Patriots

2008-10-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, John McCain, there are Americans who refuse to work when it's at the expense of their own decency and self respect:

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.

Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN.

"They walked out," Williams says of her daughter and her co-workers, adding that they weren't fired but willingly sacrificed pay rather than read the lines. "They were told [by supervisors], `If you all leave, you're not gonna get paid for the rest of the day."

Breaking: Feds Foil Obama Assassination Plot

2008-10-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

ABC News reporting:

The ATF has arrested two reputed neo-Nazi skinheads for an alleged plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

The alleged plotters were also planning to kill 88 individuals by gunfire and 14 African-Americans by decapitation, federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News...

According to law enforcement sources, the suspected plotters admitted to investigators that they were planning to rob a gun shop to steal weapons for their killing spree. Their final act was to be a plan to kill Obama.

This is one of my biggest worries. With him being most likely the first African American President of the United States coupled with the toxic political environment being fomented by the GOP to delegitimize his win even before it happens, how many crazed racists like this will come out of the woodwork?

I almost wish Obama would ride a bulletproof popemobile every time he appears in public.

UPDATE:

George Stephanopoulos also reports that according to a Senior Obama aide, they weren't given a heads up by the ATF on the assassination plot.

Why not?! Aren't they supposed to take all threats seriously?

I don't like this. It seems there's a tendency for the authorities to dismiss these threats to Obama's life simply because the plotters look like amateur wackos.

A similar dismissive attitude was on display with the last reported assassination plot against Obama, when Colorado's U.S. Attorney Troy Eid, a Rove appointee, declined to press conspiracy charges against the plotters, dismissing their plan as more "aspirational" than "operational", even though to their credit, the FBI wanted charges filed. In contrast, Eid pressed charges against a black man in prison who sent a threatening letter to John McCain.

Not. good.

Technorati Tags: obama assassination news breaking news election politics skinheads

Breaking: GOP Senator Ted Stevens Guilty On All Counts

2008-10-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Guilty on all counts, each carrying a maximum five years in prison and/or $150,000 fine.

So the 84-year old Stevens will now have to drop out of the race for the senate seat he's held for 40 years or continue to run as a felon.

Either way, good news for his opponent Mark Begich who will likely win this senate seat for the Democrats.

Update:

The Hill notes that Ted "Intertubes" Stevens is the longest serving Republican Senator in history. The GOP Senate mascot, if you will.

He's currently in a virtual tie with Democrat Mark Begich for his senate seat in blood red Alaska. Guess it won't be much of a tie now. Kiss this senate seat goodbye, GOP.

Oh, and here's Stevens with a special BFF:

and this:

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: ted stevens sarah palin alaska corruption senate gop republicans elections mark begich democrats video youtube

How the World Will Vote

2008-10-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

if it could.

Argh, my native country the Philippines is second only to Georgia in the pro-McCain camp, although "Don't Know/Refused" was technically the winner at 52%.

Not surprisingly Kenya is tops in the pro-Obama column.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain elections world philippines georgia kenya politics

McCain Concedes Already?

2008-10-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Weird:

Republican John McCain is not going to make his election night remarks in the traditional style — at a podium standing in front of a sea of campaign workers jammed into a hotel ballroom. Oh, the throng of supporters will hold the usual election night party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix on the evening of Nov. 4.

But the Republican presidential nominee plans to address another group of supporters and a small group of reporters on the hotel lawn; his remarks will be simultaneously piped electronically to the party inside and other reporters in a media filing center, aides said.

So, while Obama tries to book Grant Park to be with as many of his supporters as he can on election night, McCain snubs his?

Gotta agree with Markos on this; McCain has probably come to grips with the looming possibility of losing and losing big, but this is just crazy and kinda rude.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain election politics election night

The New York Times: Barack Obama For President

2008-10-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

The paper of record makes its endorsement [emphasis mine]:

Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.

In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress...

Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities...

Since the financial crisis, he has correctly identified the abject failure of government regulation that has brought the markets to the brink of collapse...

This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.

Technorati Tags: new york times newspaper endorsement obama mccain election politics

Conservatives For Change

2008-10-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Obamacans in their own words. More here.

Technorati Tags: obama obamacans conservatives for change election politics video youtube

"She Began Weeping..."

2008-10-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Politico relays this poignant story from Indiana:

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn't in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president. Anyone who doesn't think that African-American turnout will absolutely SHATTER every existing record is in for a very rude surprise.

Not to detract from the immense significance of this moment in our history and in how the world perceives us, but Obama was my choice from early on because he is truly one of our best and brightest. He is that rare man of substance who possessess, to paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes, both a first rate intelligence and a first rate temperament.

I don't see him as an extraordinary black man running for president, but as an extraordinary man running for president who happens to be black. That he is the first black man to become the President of the United States only makes me prouder of the choice and even prouder to be an American.

Technorati Tags: obama indiana elections president history elections

GOP Abandons Michele Bachman

2008-10-23T01:25:00.001-07:00

Remember this atrocity?

"Most Americans are wild about America and they are very concerned to have a president who doesn't share those values...

"What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America..."

After Bachmann's McCarthy-esque rant caused widespread outrage, she tried to recant by essentially claiming Chris Matthews ate her brain:

I just didn’t recognize — I never watched the Chris Matthews show before. I should have before I went on. I didn’t recognize that he would lay a trap the way that he did.

Too late, Michele.

To date:

• Colin Powell publicly and prominently called her remarks nonsense.

• An online petition with 55,000+ signatures demands she be censured by Congress.

• Her congressional opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg, has been deluged with food, volunteers and more than $1.3 million in donations on top of another $1 million in ad support from the DCCC.

• And lastly, the most gratifying cut of all:

Two sources aware of ad buys in Minnesota say that the National Republican Congressional Committee is pulling its media purchases from Bachmann's race. If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district.

Uh huh, payback's a mean bish, and Bachman earned every inch of it.

More at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: michele bachmann minnesota rncc republicans tinklenberg dccc hardball chris matthews mn 6th congress elections video youtube

Bill The Pie Maker

2008-10-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Move over, Joe the Plumber. Meet Bill:

As Obama tells the story — which he does at every available opportunity — Seip's employees fingered the boss as "a die-hard Republican." When Seip showed up with pieces of pie for his VIP customers, Obama challenged him about his political views.

"How's business?" the Illinois senator says he asked. After the restaurateur complained about it, Obama says he shot back, "Tell me, who has been running the economy the past eight years?" The crowds at rallies love it when he says Seip "should think about voting Democrat."

The butt of Obama's campaign trail joke is laughing all the way to the bank. Seip says his business, off 40% this summer, has taken a sudden upswing since the Democratic presidential hopeful showed up and started telling audiences all across the country that he picked the Fireside because it was supposed to have "the best pies in town."

As for Joe the Plumber, you know, the typical low information voter who'd rather vote against Obama's tax cuts for him because he's worried about the taxes on the money he hasn't even made yet, Thomas Frank said:

The "perception of reality," on the other hand, is an amazing political tonic, and with it conservatives have cemented a factproof worldview of lasting power. It is simply this: Conservatives are authentic and liberals are not. The country is divided into a land of the soulful, hard-working producers and a land of the paper-pushing parasites; a plain-spoken heartland and the sinister big cities, where they breed tricky characters like Barack Obama, all "eloquence," as John McCain sneered in last week's presidential debate, but hard to pin down...

Joe's town may be circling the drain, but Joe's real concern, as the world knows, is that he might have to pay more taxes when his ship finally comes in. For good measure, Joe also declares Social Security "a joke": "I've never believed in it," he told reporters last week. Maybe that's because this realest of men knows that Social Security is just a hippie dream, despite the Census's insistence that 28% of his city's households received income from that source in 2003. Maybe all those people would be better off if we had invested Social Security's trust fund in WaMu and Wachovia -- you know, the real deal.

Technorati Tags: joe the plumber bill the pie maker obama pie elections economy tax cuts news

It's Called Progressive Taxation

2008-10-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Not socialism, stupid. Even McCain said so in 2000, before he sold his soul [don't miss the last part, when McCain emphasizes it's the working class, not the rich who deserves tax cuts the most]:

McClatchy explains the basics:

Favoring higher tax rates for the wealthy than for the less fortunate isn't socialism, and if it is, then the U.S. has been a socialist country for nearly a century, under both Democrats and Republicans.

"The answer is clearly no, Senator Obama is not a socialist," said Paul Beck, a professor of political science at The Ohio State University. "We've had a progressive tax system for some time, and both Republicans and Democrats have bought into it."

Socialism involves state ownership of the means of economic production and state-directed sharing of the wealth. America's democratic capitalist system is neither socialist nor pure free market; rather, it mixes the two, and it has at least since the progressive income tax was introduced 95 years ago. Under it, the wealthy pay higher income tax rates than those who are less fortunate do. It's a form of sharing the wealth.

Government intervenes in U.S. "free markets" all the time. The deduction that homeowners get for mortgage interest is one form, for it subsidizes housing. The Pentagon procurement that sustains U.S. defense contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics is another.

What McCain/Palin never mentions, because it doesn't fit their narrative, is that Obama isn't really raising taxes; he's only reversing the Bush tax cuts -- which McCain opposed before he started running for president -- to bring tax rates back to Reagan era levels.

Incidentally, Ronald Reagan -- whom the right considers a saint -- raised taxes four times in 1982-1984 alone; I don't recall anyone mistaking him for a "socialist".

Yet "socialist" has become the Republican faithful's battlecry against Obama, because low information voters equate it with "communist" even though that's laughable in its face.

McCain/Palin continues to exploit this, because preying on people's fears is the only card they have left to play. So much so that a woman in a North Carolina restaurant started shouting "socialist" at Obama and refused to shake his hand.

Divide and conquer, that's the McCain/Palin way. It's shameful and pathetic.

Technorati Tags: obama mc cain socialism socialist progressive taxation tax cuts reagan video you tube election politics

Sarah Palin's $150,000 Wardrobe

2008-10-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Rupert Murdoch's tabloid the New York Post -- the same rag that trumpeted Dick Gephardt as Kerry's veep choice in 2004 -- had to eat its words regarding the false story about Michelle Obama's lobster dinner at the Waldorf Astoria. The bogus story was immediately repeated by hacks like Limbaugh and Hannity who still haven't issued a retraction.

Meanwhile, we now discover who's the real big spender:

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

A McCain campaign spokeswoman later claimed the clothes will go to charity after the campaign, but even Republicans off the record were disgusted by the extravagant spending:

There is already an attempt to blame the media -- as in, the liberal media would have looked askance at Palin if she wasn't clad in Neiman Marcus, but this won't wash...

This sort of spending is without precedent -- the closest approximation for any campaign I've ever covered is make-up expenses for television interviews and commercial shoots...

The Democrats are going to have a lot more fun with this than is prudent, but the heat for this story will come from Republicans who cannot understand how their party would do something this stupid ... particularly (and, it must be said, viewed etroactively) during the collapse of the financial system and the probable beginning of a recession.

When you spend $150,000 of donors' money on clothes in just one month while presenting her as your "average hockey mom" and "maverick reformer" who will clean up wasteful spending in Washington, when you do this during real economic hardship for most Americans, and when you do this while your minions bash your opponent's wife for a lobster dinner she didn't even have, then stupidity, insensitivity and hypocrisy is more like it.

More at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: palin palin clothes palin wardrobe rnc politics election news

The Feel of Concrete Setting

2008-10-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a slate of new polls delivered devastating news for McCain.

The Pew Research Center poll shows Obama leading 52%-38%, as doubts grow over McCain's judgment, age, campaign conduct and Sarah Palin.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Obama leading 52%-42%, as voters grow more confident in his ability to be president and commander in chief while McCain is plagued with voter concerns about Palin's qualifications to be president.

Even the less reliable Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby poll shows Obama leading 50.3%-42.4%.

All these polls seems to confirm the opinion of highly respected election analyst/forecaster Charlie Cook:

The metrics of this election argue strongly that this campaign is over... First, no candidate behind this far in the national polls, this late in the campaign has come back to win. Sure, we have seen come-from-behind victories, but they didn't come back this far this late.

Second, early voting has made comebacks harder and would tend to diminish the impact of the kind of late-breaking development that might save McCain's candidacy...

Third, ...the switch from parity between the parties to a 10-point Democratic advantage would seem to almost seal this outcome irrespective of the candidates fielded on each side. The unprecedented surges seen in Democratic party registrations in those states that require party affiliations confirm that.

Fourth, just look at the money and spending. With Obama now outspending McCain routinely by margins of 3- and 4-to-1 in advertising in so many states, it's hard to see how the Arizonan's campaign can drive a message...

Fifth, while many are talking about the so-called "Bradley effect," ...it hasn't been seen in at least 15 years and the likely surge in turnout among African-American and young people seems sufficient to offset it anyway.

Finally there are the states. Obama is now leading in every state that Al Gore and John Kerry both won... He is also ahead in Florida, Colorado and Virginia. If that weren't enough (and it is), he's running basically even in Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio, and even threatening in Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.

Hmm, perhaps this is why McCain is cutting back ads in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota?

Poor McCain. Not only is he running out of runway, his fly zone is getting smaller and smaller.

Cook further predicts:

As things are going now, this election would appear to be on a track to match Bill Clinton's 1992 5.6 percent margin over President George H.W. Bush, the question is whether it gets to Bush's 1988 7.7 percent win over Michael Dukakis or Clinton's 8.5 percent win over Robert Dole in 1996.

Maybe some cataclysmic event occurs in the next two weeks that changes the trajectory of this election, but to override these factors, it would have to be very, very big.

Twelve days to go.

More from Memeorandum here and here.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain polls election politics charlie cook news

Protester Tries to Arrest Karl Rove

2008-10-22T06:18:00.001-07:00

A citizen attempts what Congress didn't have the guts to do:

A protestor tried to arrest Rove for treason Tuesday morning while he was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association Convention, continuing in San Francisco...

[The] protestor tried to smack handcuffs on Karl Rove, but Rove slapped back, and the woman was taken off stage.

Later, when Rove complained of negative tactics by Democrats, Democratic Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell shot back:

"I have to say I feel like Dorothy in the land of Oz - hearing you lecture about negative campaigning"

I think Rove was speechless for a minute. Anyway, still a toolbag.

OBAMA ON THE OFFENSIVE: Assembles Thousands of Lawyers to Monitor the Election

2008-10-20T02:15:00.001-07:00

Obama assembles the largest "law firm" in the country:

In Florida, Democratic lawyer Charles H. Lichtman has assembled almost 5,000 lawyers to monitor precincts, assist voters turned away at the polls and litigate any disputes that can't be resolved out of court.

"On Election Day, I will be managing the largest law firm in the country, albeit for one day," said Lichtman, 53, a Fort Lauderdale corporate lawyer and veteran of the five-week recount after the 2000 election when Florida eventually delivered the presidency to George W. Bush...

We all know that as the desperate GOP contends with the very real possibility of losing this election and losing it big, the dirtier and sleazier they will play.

They will commit voter fraud. They will disenfranchise voters. They will create a bogeyman to incite anger in their wingnut lynch mob.

Which is why in addition to playing defense, Obama is playing offense:

With the election just over two weeks away, Bob Bauer, Obama's chief lawyer, said in a conference call with reporters this afternoon that he is asking U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to hand over to special prosecutor Nora Dannehy any probe into what Bauer called "bogus claims of vote fraud" that mirror concerns raised by Republicans two years ago.

According to a recent Justice Department report, those issues played a role in the controversy over the forced resignations of nine former federal prosecutors.

That report - performed by the inspector general overseeing the Justice Department and others - found that David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney in New Mexico, "was removed because of complaints to the Department of Justice and the White House Ö about Iglesias' handling of voter fraud" cases. He had been pushed to bring a case against ACORN - the Association of Community Activists for Reform Now, the group at the center of the current controversy.

"Are we seeing a repeat now?" said Bauer. "It would seem that we are."

His team and the DNC have also filed a lawsuit in Michigan against a particularly repugnant form of caging which is due to be heard by a judge later today.

The intent here is clear: Obama is warning the GOP, we know what you're up to and you're not getting away with it.

The best way to foil the GOP is for us to vote in such massive numbers all across the country, resulting in an overwhelming sweep for Obama that renders their dirty tactics obsolete.

For the meantime, the GOP will continue their unprecedented efforts to steal this election. Obama knows this and he's ready for it:

In a conference call with reporters, Bauer vowed to mount "ferocious response" to any effort to purge voter rolls...

Technorati Tags: obama elections voter fraud voter suppression voter caging michigan ohio GOP politics news

Oh Noes! Obama Cavorts With Terriers!

2008-10-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

Technorati Tags: obama mccain politics election news video youtube humor snl saturday night live news update

Margaret and Helen

2008-10-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Helen is an 82-year old lady from Texas who discovered blogging. Initially, she used it to get in touch with Margaret, her best friend of 60 years. And then she got her fierce on:

John McCain thinks Americans are angry? Really? I think he needs to look beyond his rallies. Americans are not angry. Republicans are angry. Bush screwed ‘em over and now McCain is rubbing salt in the wound. It looks to me like The Straight Talk Express is stuck in traffic and its driver is experiencing a little road rage. The rest of us are hopeful and anxious, but certainly not angry. We want change and it is so close we can almost taste it. The next three weeks will be the longest of my 82 years.

Folks, I’m tired and I don’t have another fight in me. It’s now or never. So to all of you I say this: Give your money. Give your time. Give your voice. Get up. Get out and do something. Anything. If America takes a chance on Maverick the Clown and his side kick, Clarabell, we will find ourselves so far down the crapper even Joe the Plumber can’t reach us. Get out there and vote!

Thank you for stopping by. I mean it. Really.

You go, Ms. Helen!

Via.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain blog politics election news

Newspaper Endorsements Pour In For Obama

2008-10-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

Editor and Publisher:

The Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for newspaper endorsements, picking up 17 more papers in the past day, including the giant Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on Friday afternoon (see separate story), and the Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Salt Lake Tribune, Kansas City Star, Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and Chicago Sun-Times tonight.

This brings his lead over McCain-Palin by this measure to well over 3-1, at 58-16, including most of the major papers that have decided so far. In contrast, John Kerry barely edged George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004, by about 220 to 205.

The readership of the 53 newspapers backing Obama now stands at well over 7 million. He gained two biggies yesterday in The Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, and today picked up the Modesto Bee in addition to the larger papers.

The Columbian in Washington was an unexpected win for Obama, since the newspaper endorsed President Bush in the 2004 election. The Salt Lake Tribune also backed Bush. Obama has now picked up at least 10 "flip-flops" of this type, McCain none.

The endorsement from Obama's hometown newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, is worth noting because it's followed him closely through the years and because it has never endorsed a Democrat before. Its words are quite the boost for Obama's supporters and would-be supporters [emphasis mine]:

On Nov. 4 we're going to elect a president to lead us through a perilous time and restore in us a common sense of national purpose.

The strongest candidate to do that is Sen. Barack Obama. The Tribune is proud to endorse him today for president of the United States.

Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's pretty new to them.

We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama since he entered politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him, worked with him, argued with him as he rose from an effective state senator to an inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.

At the same time, it was devastating for John McCain [again, emphasis mine]:

It is, though, hard to figure John McCain these days. He argued that President Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible, but he now supports them. He promises a balanced budget by the end of his first term, but his tax cut plan would add an estimated $4.2 trillion in debt over 10 years. He has responded to the economic crisis with an angry, populist message and a misguided, $300 billion proposal to buy up bad mortgages.

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain endorsements election politics news

Palin's Epic Failin'

2008-10-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

So Sarah Palin is supposedly making an appearance on Saturday Night Live tomorrow night. Wonder if Tina Fey is there. As Eric Kleefeld mused, can the viewers tell the difference considering how the caricature is so eerily and uncomfortably true to the real thing?

I don't know what she/her handlers were thinking when they decided to do this. Candidates appear on SNL or Dave Letterman or Jay Leno so the public can see their unserious side. But Palin is already viewed as nothing but unserious. We don't want to laugh at her jokes, she already is a joke.

Since all she's done up to this point are canned speeches and tightly controlled interviews, what she really should do are live press conferences and the Sunday Talk Shows -- never thought I'd say this but man, I wish Tim Russert was still around -- if she wants to convince more than the wingnut base to vote for her. As Andy Sullivan pointed out, even Joe the Plumber has done more press conferences than Palin.

Of course the chances of that happening are practically nil at this point. Which says a lot about what a lightweight this woman is and what a truly dishonorable stunt it was for McCain to pick her.

For once, Peggy Noonan's got it right:

But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office.

Simply put, there's simply no body of knowledge underneath that empty suit. An appearance on SNL only reinforces that.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: mccain palin snl saturday night live

Who Is This Obama, Uh, Batman?!

2008-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hmm, this sounds eerily familiar...

Says the Penguin:

Will you think about that a moment, my friends? Whenever you've seen Batman, who is he with? Criminals, that's who! You look in the old newspapers, every picture of Batman shows him with thugs... hubnubbing with crooks. Whereas my pictures show me always surrounded by whom? By the police! I'm an associate of the law...

And remember this! No mudslinging in this campaign!

Via.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections hofstra youtube video polls humor

Snap Polls: Obama Trounces McCain, 3-0

2008-10-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

Remember in previous elections when the "spin room" reigned supreme? It was a room where all the talking heads and advocates for either candidate gathered, spinning the debate like crazy to spread the meme that their candidate won. Well, it looks like focus groups and snap polls have killed the spin room, and to that I say good riddance.

It's great to hear from the voting public given that it's their opinion that matters, anyway. It's also great to see what they think before they're exposed to the opinion of partisan pundits who, in this instance, will madly try to spin this debate as a win for McCain (I'm looking at you, Bill Bennett and Pat Buchanan).

The funny thing too, was that the reverse seemed to have happened: the snap polls appeared to have tempered the reaction of the talking pundits who desperately want to make this a horse race than it really is, lest they appear to have totally read the debate wrong and fall flat on their face.

It was also irritating to see the likes of CNN's John King pooh pooh the poll results, saying that they were unfairly eschewed towards Dems (they're not) and that results were tainted because respondents are too emotional after the debate. Well too bad for you, John King, the people have spoken. They don't give a crap what you think and they certainly don't like you telling them what to think, thank you very much.

First off, both CNN and CBS's snap polls show Obama pwned John McCain in the last debate:

The results over at CBS show Obama to have scored the biggest victory to date: "Fifty-three percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed identified Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the winner of tonight's debate. Twenty-two percent said Republican rival John McCain won. Twenty-four percent saw the debate as a draw."

It is, the site writes, "a clean sweep" for the Illinois Democrat.

Over at CNN, a separate poll of several hundred debate watchers again favored the Democrat by large margins: 58 percent for Obama to McCain's 31 percent. Perhaps more importantly, McCain's favorable rating dropped 51 to 49 while his unfavorable rating increased from 45 percent to 49 percent. Obama ended up with 66 percent favorable rating.

Digging into the details the news is even worse for the Arizona Republican.

Asked who "expressed his views more clearly" 66 percent said Obama, 25 percent said McCain. "Who spent their time attacking his opponent:" 80 percent said McCain, seven percent said Obama. "Who seemed to be the stronger leader:" 56 percent for Obama, 39 percent for McCain. And who was "more likeable:" 70 percent for Obama to McCain's 22 percent.

There was also Stan Greenberg's focus group:

In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg’s focus group were “audibly snickering” at John McCain’s grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to “Joe the Plumber.”

The group of 50 uncommitted voters should have at least been receptive to McCain—Republicans and Independents outnumbered Democrats in the group by almost 4 to 1, and they started the evening with much warmer responses to McCain than to his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama. But by the time it was all over, so few of them had declared their support for McCain that there weren’t enough for Greenberg to separate them into a post-debate focus group. Meanwhile, the Obama supporters had to assemble in two different rooms to keep their discussion groups manageable.

Ouch.

In addition, focus groups from CBS, CNN and even Faux News confirmed the same thing:

Meanwhile, virtually the entire Frank Luntz focus group on Fox News, which was staged tonight in Miami, said that Barack Obama won the debate. Luntz termed it a "clear majority," but not one person raised their hand when asked if they thought McCain won.

Said Luntz: "None had made a decision to support Sen. Obama before the debate, but more than half supported him after the debate. It was a good night for Barack Obama."

Here is a compilation video showing snippets from all three:

These are of course, devastating results for John McCain, considering that several polls showed him trailing Obama by double digits right before the debates. A tie wasn't enough; he needed to win this and convince independents and undecideds to vote for him. Instead, he lost the debate and lost it big.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections hofstra youtube video polls

2008 Presidential Debates: Videos and Transcripts

2008-10-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here is last night's final presidential debate in its entirety:

Full transcript is here.

I've watched all three debates and I have to say this was much better than the other two.

Obama played it safe, and in keeping with the seriousness of the economic crisis, tried time and again to steer the conversation back to the issues instead of making cheap shots. That's not to say he didn't return fire when called for.

When McCain kept harping about Rep. John Lewis hurting his feelings, Obama said "the American people are less interested in our hurt feelings ...than addressing the issues that matter to them". When the subject of Ayers came up, Obama said the fact that Ayers is now the centerpiece of McCain's campaign says more about McCain than about him.

Meanwhile, McCain was the total opposite; coupled with his combativeness and arrogant rudeness, it was McCain at his worst. He looked ready to pounce on Obama any minute; an "exercise in anger management" was how David Gergen put it. McCain's rabid base might have liked it, but it doesn't take much to get them all pumped up (mention abortion and gay marriage and they're ready to bring out the pitchforks). Considering that voters by a margin of 2 to 1 think he's running the more negative campaign, he didn't help himself with his dismal, unpresidential performance last night.

That's my take. What did you think?

For comparison purposes, here is the video of the second debate:

Full transcript here.

Lastly, here is the video of the first debate:

Full transcript here.
Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections hofstra youtube video

Obama's Cesar Millan Effect

2008-10-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

The photo which best sums up tonight's debate:

OBAMA vs. McCAIN

Andrew Sullivan said it best (emphasis mine):

At no point have we seen a grace note from McCain. When dealing with the negativism of the campaign, it would not have killed him to seem genuinely horrified at calls for violence rather than offended that anyone dare criticize him or some of his supporters. Or to wish Obama well. It's this lack of generosity of spirit that he lacks and that people want in a president. Obama still manages to say when he agrees with or admires McCain. In this whole dynamic, Obama seems more secure, more self-controlled, more mature. He is the Alpha Male on this stage, and McCain the bristling teen - aged 72. No wonder women seem to be so disproportionately pro-Obama.

As much difference as his formidable ground game and record-breaking donations are making in this election, it's Obama himself who is our biggest asset.

His steady, commanding demeanor compels people to listen, believe and trust in his judgment and leadership. He looks, thinks and acts like a guy who knows what he's doing.

My boyfriend calls this Obama's "Cesar Millan" effect. In this tumultuous times, people are scared for their jobs, savings, homes and health care. Their very lives, as they know it, are on the line. They're not in the mood for games (which is why McCain's negative attacks are an epic FAIL). They're looking for a pack leader who provides calm and assertive leadership, not a yapping, jumpy chihuahua who just gets everybody agitated and nothing more.

Obama is that pack leader. That is why nothing McCain tried to tarnish him with ever worked.

I didn't think it was possible, but McCain never looked more like a petty, arrogant little pr*ck than he did tonight. He was dripping with venom and contempt. The exasperated glares, the audible exhalations, the condescending putdowns [e.g. "maybe you ought to travel down there"?! WTF? His handpick for a veep just got her passport last year!)

If McCain thought he would win the election with his performance tonight, good luck with that.

Considering that opinions are starting to solidify, is there anything McCain can do to turn the tide? I'm with David Gergen on this: beats the hell out of me.

As for Obama, I'm not popping the champagne yet, but let's just say I've got it ready and chilling in the fridge.

[NOTE: By the way, the photo above is of the world's tallest dog and the world's tiniest dog. The big fella's name is Gibson and the tiny toy chihuahua's name is Boo Boo.

Forgive me for comparing you to McCain, Boo Boo, but I'm trying to make a point here.

Lastly, I love that quizzical, amused look Gibson gave Boo Boo in that photo, which I think captured Obama's demeanor towards McCain tonight.]

Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections hofstra

McCain's Rage

2008-10-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

uncontrollable... doesn't think before he acts... penchant for erupting unpredictably... the dark side of John McCain... deep anger, hostility... knee jerk response... bellicose, redfaced angry guy who constantly explodes...

These were the words used by some of the over thirty government officials, military officers, journalists and ordinary citizens who attest to John McCain's volatile temper.

One of the most disturbing incidents that proves this is narrated in this video at the 2:58 mark, when the relative of a missing Vietnam POW/MIA described how McCain backhanded a young woman named Jeanette Jenkins, causing her to hit the wall so loud it resonated in the hallway.

There was also this incident in 2005 at a casino in Puerto Rico (McCain is a known gambler) as described by Michael Kinsley:

McCain’s game is craps. So is Jeff Dearth’s. Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone’s hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain—“very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening,” Jeff says charitably—apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a “regular,” reached out and pulled McCain’s arm away. I’ll let Jeff take over the story:

“McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain...McCain interrupted her: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?’ McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the ‘bring it on’ position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. ‘Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,’ the pit boss said to McCain. “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM.”

This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury—“DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”—and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.

Arrogant hothead seems an apt description of the guy. A seeming inability to keep his anger under control, coupled with his erratic behavior during the presidential campaign, shows McCain isn't the kind of man we can trust with dealing with our enemies, much less the nuclear button.

It's a question of temperament and character. In the second debate, McCain himself said the country needs a "cool hand at the tiller". It's becoming increasingly evident that that is not John McCain.

Technorati Tags: mccain character temper youtube video

An Ode To Sean Hannity

2008-10-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

Sean Hannity, a big pusher of the Ayers filth, was smacked down by Obama's communications director Robert Gibbs. Glenn Greenwald explains it all here. I agree with Glenn; if Democrats must appear on Faux News, this is how it's done.

Ever the town fool, Hannity never figured out that the louder he protested, the more he confirmed what b.s. the whole Ayers guilt-by-association nonsense is.

In honor of this astounding display of stupidity, John Cleese of Monty Python fame sent in a poem that Keith Olbermann reads at the 1:55 mark:

Ode to Sean Hannity

Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity!

So apropos.

Technorati Tags: sean hannity robert gibbs keith olbermann john cleese rachel maddow youtube humor ayers andy martin

SMOKING GUN: Keating Wrote McCain, "Til Death Do Us Part"

2008-10-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

The Keating Scandal in 97 seconds:

Oh. my. gahd.

In 1986 John McCain wrote a political note — on official House of Representatives stationary — apologizing to Charles H. Keating Jr. for his campaign having listed his good friend and supporter as part of McCain's Senate campaign finance committee.

Keating responded with a handwritten note — addressed to "senator," seven months before McCain won his Senate seat — telling him not to sweat it, "I'm yours till death do us part."

Here's the proof, in Charles Keating's own handwriting:

Here's the full transcript of McCain's letter:

March 5, 1986

Mr. Charles H. Keating, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
American Continental Corporation
2735 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85016

Dear Charlie,

I was just informed that you received a letter listing you as a member of my Finance Committee and requesting that you solicit funds for my campaign.

I want to assure you that this letter was sent to you in error, and I had previously told my finance people that any dealings concerning the campaign would be conducted by me.

As you know, I am deeply appreciative of your friendship and support over the years, and I would not want to do anything which would offend you. Please accept my apology, and be assured that there will be no future repetition of this kind.

I will look forward to seeing you very soon.

Sincerely,

(signature)

John McCain
Member of Congress

And here was Keating's response:

(Margin message -- handwritten)

file (Stamp: March 11)

~~John~~ Senator

Don't be silly. You

can call me

anything write

anything or do anything

I'm yours till death

do us part

Charlie

Jeebus.

Talk about a smoking gun.

Perhaps this is the reason why John McCain, in spite of wallowing in the Ayers nonsense and racist filth to incite hatred in the right wing lynch mob, can't say it to Barack's face.

Go ahead and bring it up now, John. Bring it on.

KeatingEconomics.com

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: mccain keating obama breaking news news politics elections

BREAKING: Obama Buys Full Half Hour of Network Primetime

2008-10-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Obama goes for the jugular:

Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of airtime on CBS, sources confirm.

The Obama campaign will air a half-hour primetime special on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m.

Sources say the Obama camp is also in talks with NBC and Fox. NBC is said to be very near a deal. With Fox, the matter is likely to remain uncertain as the time period could conflict with Game 6 of the World Series.

The last one to do this was Ross Perot in 1992. Recall how much of an impact Perot made with that.

Now Obama is doing it, barely a week before the election. He is bringing his case directly to the electorate. Focusing on the issues that matter to all of us. Just Obama. Unfiltered. For a full half hour.

Imagine for a minute what the impact of that will be in today's climate, with people scared and angry about the potential loss of their jobs, their savings, their homes and health care.

Right now, millions of households across America are receiving their end-of-quarter pension and investment statements, with their share in the $2 trillion loss in the stock market staring them in the face.

And the bloodbath isn't over yet, as the markets goes into freefall:

Stocks plunged in the final hour of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to its lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent.

The declines came on the anniversary of the closing highs of the Dow and the S&P. The Dow has lost 5,585 points, or 39 percent, since closing at 14,198 a year ago. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is off 655 points, or 42 percent, since recording its high of 1,565.15.

Meanwhile, McCain/Palin continues their descent into filth, inciting hatred and irrational fear among the right wing lynch mob with their disgusting Ayers nonsense.

The right choice in November gets no clearer than this.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain palin ayers economy breaking news politics primetime elections

"That One"?!

2008-10-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Regarding the question on a Manhattan like project to promote energy independence, McCain referred to Obama as "that one".

Beyond rude.

McCain can't even hold his contempt long enough to be civil for 90 minutes. He reminded me of the time back in the 1992 elections when then President George H.W. Bush, once he started trailing in the polls, called Clinton and Gore "bozos".

So unpresidential.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections politics news

Painting That Electoral Map Blue

2008-10-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here's the 2004 electoral college map:

Here it is now:

Yahoo News breaks it down:

The latest NBC/WSJ poll has Obama up six points with registered voters, 49%-43%. Just two weeks ago, that lead was within the margin of error at 2 points.

A CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll has Obama even higher, with an 8-point lead (53%-45%). That's double the 4-point lead Obama held in their poll taken last month.

And, in today's Gallup Daily Tracking poll, registered voters prefer Obama 51% to McCain's 42%. Gallup points out the importance of this:

The nine-percentage point lead in Oct. 4-6 tracking matches Obama's highest to date for the campaign, and the highest for either candidate.

The polls show a clear trend towards Obama. With limited funding and increasingly shorter runway, McCain is reduced to playing defense in several battleground states. Coupled with a scared and angry electorate not in the mood for games, McCain is in his last throes.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain electoral map battleground states elections politics

Axelrod: Obama Prepared To Counterpunch In Tonight's Debate

2008-10-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

McCain claimed that the "gloves will come off" in tonight's debate.

He might come to regret it:

Senator Barack Obama is prepared to hit back, including with Keating Five scandal if necessary, if Senator John McCain uses tonight’s presidential debate to attack him over his associations with controversial figures like former William C. Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist said this afternoon.

For those fretting that Obama is taking in stride the recent spate of McCain/Palin attacks formulated to incite the rabid right wing lynch mob, Axelrod adds:

“If that comes up, he’ll be ready to discuss that, but one hopes that the focus of the debate will be the issues that affect the American people,” Mr. Axelrod told reporters in mid-flight from Mr. Obama’s debate camp, in Asheville, N.C., to Nashville, where the debate will take place at 9 p.m., Eastern.

Asked if Mr. Obama would respond to any discussion of Mr. Ayers by touching upon Mr. McCain’s role in the 1980s savings-and-loan scandal involving a political patron, Charles Keating, Mr. Axelrod was circumspect.

“I’m not going to predict whether he will or he won’t,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll shy away from the discussion if it comes up.”

Continued...

With many people losing their jobs, their health care and their homes, what do you think would resonate with them more: McCain's six degrees of separation Ayers nonsense or his certified involvement in the Keating financial scandal which cost taxpayers billions of dollars and for which he was officially censured by the Senate? It's a no brainer.

Last but not least, Axelrod said this:

“They’re being offensive, but they’re not playing offense,” he said. “We’re competitive in many, many states that George Bush won in 2004 and they’re having to defend those states. I think they’re sending her to Red states because they’ve got problems in red states.”

Seeking to set some expectations and the mood for tonight’s debate, Mr. Axelrod said Mr. Obama was steeled about the negative tone that the campaign had taken, and was not bothered by it.

“He’s running for president of the United States — it’s a rough, tough pursuit, there are a lot of challenges associated with them, this is one of them,” Mr. Axelrod said.

Obama knows what's at stake and he knows what he has to do to bring us home to victory in November. He hasn't let us down yet.

As he's said time and again,

"we don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last".
Trust The Obama.

Technorati Tags: obama mccain debate elections politics

What To Expect From Sarah Palin In Tonight's Debate

2008-10-02T18:00:00.001-07:00

As stupefyingly vacuous and cringe inducing her answers were in the Gibson and Couric interviews (the Hannity infomercial doesn't count), it's a mistake to underestimate Sarah Palin. Just two years ago, she performed relatively well in the Alaskan gubernatorial debates:

Of course, those debates were all about Alaska, which she's very comfortable discussing, albeit heavy on gibberish posturing and light on substance. Although I'm guessing she will still break out the gibberish here and there, I'm not expecting a complete meltdown.

Then again, tonight's debate is on a much bigger arena. She may not be a total disaster, but she can't possibly be a total game changer for McCain. No amount of filibustering will be enough to cover up a glaring lack of knowledge and competence for a full 90 minutes.

How should Biden handle the debate? Paul Abrams has some good suggestions. Personally, I would suggest Biden treat her with the deference due a governor; no more, no less. No patronizing, no snarkiness, but no letting her get away with nonsense, either. She's in the big leagues now, Palin should be able to handle it.

McCain Running Out of Runway

2008-10-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

With the national economic crisis and the continued collapse of the auto industry, speeches like this from Obama resonates soundly in Michigan:

"Nine straight months of job loss. Yet just two weeks ago, John McCain said the fundamentals of the economy were strong. I don't know what yardstick Senator McCain uses, but where I come from, there's nothing more fundamental than a job."

Maybe this explains why barely a month before the elections, McCain pulls out of Michigan:

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

Continued...

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush...

McCain will now turn his attention to bolstering his defenses in Ohio and Florida while putting more resources into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the second congressional district of Maine, where there is a sole electoral vote available.

This indicates McCain has switched from playing offense to defense. Marc Ambinder adds:

The move away from Michigan reflects the abandonment of any pretense that McCain can spend freely to expand the map for Republicans this year, and it's a sign that the campaign recognizes how the past two weeks have erased nearly all of McCain's gains since August. Instead, McCain's playing defense in states like Florida, Virginia and North Carolina, although his advisers do not consider the latter state as close as public polling suggests.

Though First Read sources characterize it more as a "pull back" than a "pull out" given that the Republican National Committee will still be running ads there, the fact remains that McCain decided his limited public funding resources are better shifted elsewhere.

Chris Cillizza reports on their revised strategy:

Their map: Win six toss up states -- Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana and Ohio -- that have traditionally favored Republicans and hold the solidly GOP states to get to 260 electoral votes. Then find 10 more electoral votes in some combination of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

"To say we are on defense is not true," insisted Strimple. "We are aggressively using our resources in states where we have to win."

Maybe. But the problem with that logic is it assumes McCain can hold those six red state tossups, which, in the case of Ohio, Colorado and Virginia (at least) looks to be a dicey proposition.

Did they say Virginia?

Roughly 30,000 of the 106,000 new voters registered in September reside in just six pro-Kerry cities and counties, with many more living in other jurisdictions that voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. More than 11,000 new voters signed up in Fairfax County, more than 5,000 signed up in Richmond, more than 4,500 signed up in Arlington, more than 3,500 in both Norfolk and Newport News, and nearly 2,500 in Alexandria.

The Obama campaign has been estimating that 80 percent of the new voters are Obama supporters, and that they'll turn out at a rate of about 75 percent, which the campaign predicts could mean about a 1.75 percent boost on Election Day.

Chuck Todd adds:

“All the trend lines are pointing in Obama’s direction …. [Pointing to a series of battleground-state polls] This should really scare the McCain campaign. This thing -- it’s at a tipping point. And this debate, frankly, is coming at GOOD time for McCain because he needs something – anything – to stop this Obama momentum. … The pressure is all on Sarah Palin, not just for her own persona, but to SAVE THE McCAIN CAMPAIGN. … I think Virginia, frankly, is a trailing indicator of the national numbers. … John McCain is campaigning in Missouri later this week. That’s not a good sign. You shouldn’t have to be worrying about Missouri at this point.”

With most battleground state polls trending strongly Obama, this is the last thing Mccain wants to hear.

Perhaps Palin will throw him a lifeline in tonight's debate. Uh, good luck with that.

Technorati Tags: mccain obama michigan virginia elections

Obama: "The American People Aren't Stupid"

2008-09-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

Though McCain/Palin seem to think so, considering how they just flat out lie. At the very least they think their base is stupid, which is kinda hard to argue against, considering it cheers instead of jeers at them for lying.

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Meet Sarah Palin: George W. Bush In A Skirt

2008-09-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well, short of visibly freezing or throwing up, Sarah Palin was expected to and did receive much fawning and acclaim for reading the teleprompter and delivering a speech that was written before she was even chosen by John McCain.

I've gotta hand it to her, she sure did a good job of mouthing the words she was told to say. And she definitely burnished her reputation tonight as a culture warmonger: her mocking, condescending, patronizing tone was straight out of the ugly, opportunistic, divisive politics perfected by that one-trick pony Karl Rove. It was what John McCain wanted and what John McCain got.

Palin was good theater. All bluster, no substance. All posturing, no vision. All packaging, no gravitas.

In short, Sarah Palin was George W. Bush in a skirt.

And the predictably out of touch Republican crowd on the convention floor loved it. It was a bit sad to watch the sea of mostly white, aging faces partying like the last eight years never happened, hooting and hollering as they gobbled up the red meat from speech after speech that were designed especially for the conservative base and the base alone, to get them all psyched up in a culture war of their own making.

True to her party's tradition, Palin seeks to win office by standing over a divided electorate; in that respect, Giuliani, Huckabee and Romney were appropriate fluffers for her speech, as they huffed and puffed with relish to bring the house down. All of them the perfect picture of loyal apparatchiks oblivious to their own party's failure.

It is for this reason John McCain chose Palin, given that he has nothing else to run on. It was all about the same old polarizing culture war; pitting Americans against fellow Americans. Personality over issues. It was all about them, instead of about all of us. Politics as usual, and John McCain is truly convinced we will fall for it again.

The Republican Party, to paraphrase Obama, has truly become the party of big conventions about small things.

More at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: sarah palin mccain huckabee romney giuliani gop karl rove republican national convention republicans obama democrats politics

Caught on Live Mic: GOP's Noonan Say's "It's Over"

2008-09-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

In her WSJ journal today, Peggy Noonan says Sarah Palin is "a danger to the American Left".

But on MSNBC today, Noonan and GOP operative Mike Murphy tells us what they really think:

The interesting bits:

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

Peggy Noonan: It's over...

Mike Murphy: They're all bummed out.

Chuck Todd: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Peggy Noonan: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

Chuck Todd: Yeah they went to a narrative.

Chuck Todd: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

Mike Murphy: Yeah.

Apparently, not all conservatives got the memo. Then again, even McCain's campaign manager admitted that to them, this election is about personalities, not issues. Identity politics as usual for the GOP.

Only proving what Obama said, the GOP is all about big elections about small things.

TPM has the rest of the transcript. More at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: palin mccain GOP GOP convention elections obama

Sarah Palin's Advise to Hillary Clinton

2008-08-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Stop whining and suck it up.

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DNC '08: Senator John Kerry

2008-08-28T02:15:00.001-07:00

Talk about fire in the belly:

There were many oustanding speeches last night, but none moved me and got me on my feet more than this speech. Like Josh Marshall, all I can say is WOW.

This man who honorably served his country was unjustly raked through the mud by the slimy Jerome Corsi and his Swift Boat posse. I know that this speech was John retroactively standing up for himself in the most forceful, emphatic way he knew how. It was also the fulfillment of a personal pledge that he will never, ever let it happen again, especially not this time with Barack Obama.

Instead of an excerpt, I am providing the whole transcript of the speech here, because every single word deserves to be read [emphasis mine].

Continued...

Thank you so much. Four years ago, you gave me the honor of fighting our fight. I was proud to stand with you then, and I am proud to stand with you now, to help elect Barack Obama as President of the United States.

In 2004, we came so close to victory. We are even closer now, and let me tell you, this time we’re going to win. Today, the call for change is more powerful than ever, and with more seats in Congress, with more people with more passion engaged in our politics, and with a President Obama, we stand on the brink of the greatest opportunity of our generation to move this country forward.

The stakes could not be higher, because we do know what a McCain administration would look like: just like the past, just like George Bush. And this country can’t afford a third Bush term. Just think: John McCain voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Ninety percent of George Bush is just more than we can take.

Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly. Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology. Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values. Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America’s bipartisan foreign policy.

George Bush, with John McCain at his side, promised to spread freedom but delivered the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. They misread the threat and misled the country. Instead of freedom, it’s Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere that are on the march. North Korea has more bombs, and Iran is defiantly chasing one.

Our mission is to restore America’s influence and position in the world. We must use all the weapons in our arsenal, above all, our values. President Obama and Vice President Biden will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States of America does not torture, not now, not ever.

We must listen and lead by example because even a nation as powerful as the United States needs some friends in this world. We need a leader who understands all our security challenges, not just bombs and guns, but global warming, global terror and global AIDS. And Barack Obama understands there is no way for America to be secure until we create clean energy here at home, not with a little more oil in five, 10 or 20 years, but with an energy revolution starting right now.

I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let’s compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.

Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain’s own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you’re against it.

Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what’s more, Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same “Rove” tactics and the same “Rove” staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove-McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008.

So remember, when we choose a commander-in-chief this November, we are electing judgment and character, not years in the Senate or years on this earth. Time and again, Barack Obama has seen farther, thought harder, and listened better. And time and again, Barack Obama has been proven right.

When John McCain stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier just three months after 9/11 and proclaimed, “Next up, Baghdad!”, Barack Obama saw, even then, “an occupation of “undetermined length, undetermined cost, undetermined consequences” that would “only fan the flames of the Middle East.” Well, guess what? Mission accomplished.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When Barack Obama promised to honor the best traditions of both parties and talk to our enemies, John McCain scoffed. George Bush called it “the soft comfort of appeasement.” But today, Bush’s diplomats are doing exactly what Obama said: talking with Iran.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When democracy rolled out of Russia, and the tanks rolled into Georgia, we saw John McCain respond immediately with the outdated thinking of the Cold War. Barack Obama responded like a statesman of the 21st century.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When we called for a timetable to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, John McCain called it “cut and run.” But today, even President Bush has seen the light. He and Prime Minister Maliki agree on – guess what? – a timetable.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? The McCain-Bush Republicans have been wrong again and again and again. And they know they will lose on the issues. So, the candidate who once promised a “contest of ideas,” now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn’t put America first.

No one can question Barack Obama’s patriotism. Like all of us, he was taught what it means to be an American by his family: his grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line in World War II, his grandfather who marched in Patton’s army, and his great uncle who enlisted in the army right out of high school at the height of the war. And on a spring day in 1945, he helped liberate one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.

Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama’s uncle is here with us tonight. Please join me in saluting this American hero, Charlie Payne. Charlie, your nephew, Barack Obama, will end this politics of distortion and division. He will be a president who seeks not to perfect the lies of Swift boating, but to end them once and for all.

This election is a chance for America to tell the merchants of fear and division: you don’t decide who loves this country; you don’t decide who is a patriot; you don’t decide whose service counts and whose doesn’t.

Four years ago I said, and I say it again tonight, that the flag doesn’t belong to any ideology. It doesn’t belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the American people. After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.

Years ago when we protested a war, people would weigh in against us saying, “My country right or wrong.” Our answer? Absolutely, my country right or wrong. When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right. Sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power.

This is one of those times, and Barack Obama is telling those truths.

In closing, let me say, I will always remember how we stood together in 2004, not just in a campaign, but for a cause. Now again we stand together in the ranks, ready to fight. The choice is clear; our cause is just; and now is our time to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Thank you.

Via.

More reactions at Memeorandum here and here.

Technorati Tags: john kerry dnc democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

Obama's Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

2008-08-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

Because they have nothing of substance to talk about, McCain and his wing nut horde are once again engaging in the idle sport of mocking Obama, this time for the set of his acceptance speech at Invesco Field:

Pictures and an aerial film footage of the set being constructed for the speech show a curved backdrop with creamy, gray column-like structures, which could suggest Washington architecture, or a classical structure, like a Greek or Roman temple.

Republicans sent out an edition of their "Audacity Watch" email newsletter which they use to point out perceived examples of hubris by the Obama campaign, titled "The Temple of Obama."

McCain also featured the structure on a blog on his website.

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

Here's a clue for the insensitive or the oblivious: today is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. Here is a photo of MLK giving his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Continued...

Notice anything? You know, those big Roman, temple-like columns in the back?

As Josh Marshall points out:

I don't want to get in the way of reporter colleagues who can't help getting spun by their Republican sources. But we do all know that virtually every American civic building is based on Greek Revival architecture, right? And that the Obama backdrop actually looks like -- whether intended or not, I don't know -- the Lincoln Memorial. (Remember, they're both Illinoisians.) Perhaps because Obama's speech is on the 45th anniversary of King's 'I Have A Dream' speech.

Josh may not be sure but I think it's pretty obvious.

Today is an historic day. From our painful history of slavery, lynchings and segregation to the triumph of the Civil Rights movement, we as a nation have gone through so much and sacrificed even more to get to this day, when the first African American is nominated for President of the United States.

I don't care about your ideology, today is a great day to be an American. I wish Martin Luther King, Jr. was alive to see this day; there is no better tribute to his legacy.

Yet McCain is only too willing to mock it. It's an amazingly insensitive and tone deaf thing to do, considering he once voted against MLK, Jr. day.

Meanwhile, here's a photo of Bush's 2004 temple. What is his excuse?

More reactions on Memeorandum.

photo: americaslibrary.com

Technorati Tags: bush temple mccain obama democratic national convention martin luther king jr i have a dream democrats republicans politics video you tube

DNC '08: Barack Obama's Nomination

2008-08-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

Those salivating for a rumble on the convention floor got sorely disappointed tonight.

The state of Illinois yielded to the State of New York, and Hillary Clinton, side by side with the other Democratic leaders of her state, moved to suspend the rules and nominate Obama by acclamation.

I think it was totally magnanimous of Hillary, who earlier also released her delegates, to do the honors.

Many were in tears. The first female candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States officially nominating the first African American for President of the United States. It was, without question, an historic, bittersweet moment.

Technorati Tags: hillary clinton barack obama nomination democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

DNC '08: Senator Hillary Clinton

2008-08-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

First off, credit where credit is due: I think this is the best speech Hillary has ever given. This is as good as she gets.

Like Neil, I initially found the speech wanting. I thought, was her speech about Obama or about her? Then I realized that was the point: by emphasizing what she stood for and that Obama stands for the same priorites, she's telling her followers "take it from me, Obama is okay. We can trust this guy; you can support him for the same reasons that you supported me."

As John Dickerson points out:

Tuesday night, the Democrats celebrated Ted Kennedy. He was in Clinton's shoes in 1980, after his hard-fought battle with Jimmy Carter. When he gave his convention speech, he mentioned Jimmy Carter once, congratulating him only in passing. Ronald Reagan never mentioned Gerald Ford in 1976. Hillary Clinton named Barack Obama more than a dozen times. Kennedy's famous speech declared that the dream will never die. Clinton's pitch was that the dream cannot live without electing Barack Obama.

Considering her criticisms of him during the primary, it was a tough balancing act for Hillary throwing her support for Obama without sounding hypocritical, but I think she pulled it off.

Besides, her speech was only the beginning. She'll be campaigning on the stump for him and she'll have plenty of chances to address those criticisms. I'm hoping she'd say something like, "experience without judgment isn't worth much. John McCain proves that with his unwavering support for the policies of George Bush". Or how about "Bill Clinton was the new kid on the block when he ran for president. But with his priorities in order, he set the nation back on the right track. So will Barack Obama".

Lastly, Hillary's speech was brimming with great sound bites that led to generally positive reactions all around. That alone was a big plus for Obama.

Here again are those quotable sound bites:

No way. No how. No McCain...

Tonight we need to remember what a Presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you -- the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures...

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

...we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last...

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart...

And the very powerful:

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Full transcript here.

More reactions on Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: bill clinton democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

DNC '08: Governor Brian Schweitzer

2008-08-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Update: Schweitzer was definitely the breakout star last night (sorry Mark Warner). Even though he was sandwiched between keynote speaker Warner and headline speaker Hillary Clinton, many took notice of his rousing and crowd-pleasing speech which the L.A. Times called "purely partisan red meat on a pocketbook issue".

I don't know much about Schweitzer except for an appearance (video) on Bill Maher and an article written by political author/journalist and strategist David Sirota, who's known him since 2000, when he worked for Schweitzer's first run for political office.

Sirota was impressed enough with Schweitzer that he devoted a full chapter of his book on populist politics to the charismatic new governor of Montana, whose appeal kind of reminds me of Mike Huckabee, except with a master's degree in soil science.

Additional trivia via Andrew Romano: Schweitzer wrote his script at the last minute. As Romano and many others suggest, the Democrats should give him the keynote address next time.

More reactions at Memeorandum here and here.

*****

Of all the speakers tonight, the current governor of Montana looked like he really enjoyed his time up there, talking about alternative sources of energy to replace our dependence on foreign oil.

The full transcript is incomplete, but at the end of the speech, he had everyone standing and clapping, even Bill Clinton.

Excerpt:

Four billion in tax breaks for big oil?

That’s a lot of change, but it’s not the change we need...

Even leaders in the oil industry know that Senator McCain has it wrong. We simply can’t drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain’s backyards, including the ones he can’t even remember.

That single-answer proposition is a dry well, and here’s why. America consumes 25 percent of the world’s oil, but has less than 3 percent of the reserves. You don’t need a $2 calculator to figure that one out. There just isn’t enough oil in America, on land or offshore, to meet America’s full energy needs.

Barack Obama understands the most important barrel of oil is the one you don’t use. Barack Obama’s energy strategy taps all sources and all possibilities.

Full transcript here.

Technorati Tags: brian schweitzer democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

DNC '08: Congressman Dennis Kucinich

2008-08-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Good 'ol Dennis brought down da house!

Excerpt:

If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four-year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children’s inheritance and hollow out our economy...

They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.

Wake up, America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.

Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.

Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.

Full transcript here.

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DNC '08: Michelle Obama

2008-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

It was an amazing speech. The full transcript is here, though a mere reading won't do it justice. You have to watch and listen to Michelle deliver the speech and make it come to life.

I hate using this word because it's so hackneyed, but she was very authentic. Listening to her speak, you get the feeling that this is who Michelle is. The more I know her, the more I am impressed with this woman. Strong, compassionate, smart. She would make a wonderful 21st century First Lady.

Joining her after the speech to talk with Barack via sattelite were her young daughters Malia and Sasha who promptly upstaged their parents. The four of them looked the perfect picture of a young, dynamic and vibrant First Family.

It's laughable how anyone can believe that the Obamas are arrogant elitists. They both had a normal, working class American upbringing. Unlike the Bushes or the McCains, nothing was handed to them; they weren't born with silver spoons. These are decent, hardworking people who value serving the common good.

Even more ridiculous are those who are "scared" of the Obamas, when every dirty innuendo and smear campaign directed at them were character assassinations and fearmongering with no basis in fact.

Of course the Republicans and their wingnut horde are good at this, exploiting fear. Exploiting how the Obamas are "different" (code word for black). How Barack Obama has a strange sounding name and how he doesn't have "uniquely American values".

Nonsense.

If you're scared of Barack Obama, then you're scared of America, because diversity is quintessentially American. We've never been a homogeneous nation like China, for instance. You take a cross sample of this country and you see faces that are as unique for their features as they are for their origin. Our willingness to embrace diversity is what defines us and makes this nation great.

It's beyond exasperating and stupid that this has to be pointed out, because you know what's really scary? Four more years of the lies, the malfeasance, the incompetence, the failures, the torture and the abuse of power of the Bush years that will continue if McCain becomes president.

Now that is scary.

Technorati Tags: michelle obama democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

DNC '08: Senator Edward Kennedy

2008-08-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Video above shows Caroline Kennedy's introduction, a tribute video and Ted Kennedy's speech.

First was Caroline Kennedy's poignant introduction. An excerpt:

I am here tonight to pay tribute to two men who have changed my life, and the life of this country - Barack Obama, and Edward M. Kennedy. Their stories are very different, but they share a commitment to the timeless American ideals of justice and fairness, service and sacrifice, faith and family. Leaders like them come along rarely. But once or twice in a lifetime, they come along just when we need them the most.

"I have never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them - but I do now. And I know someone else who's been inspired all over again by Senator Obama.

"In our family, he'll always be known as Uncle Teddy. More than any senator of his generation, or perhaps any generation, Teddy has made life better for people in this country and around the world. For 46 years, he has been so much more than just a Senator for the people of Massachusetts, he's been a Senator for all who believe in a dream that's never died."

The video tribute followed, a moving remembrance not just of Ted but of his legendary brothers Jack and Bobby. Being reminded of them made me and D. think, how did we get from their age of idealism and optimism to the ugly, divisive and disastrous Bush legacy of the last eight years?

Finally, Ted Kennedy's speech. The Pepsi Stadium erupted in cheers and thunderous applause when he appeared; many were not expecting him to show up, knowing his battle with brain tumor. Though brief, the Liberal Lion of the Senate gave a fiery, impassioned speech.. My favorite part:

Yes, we are all Americans. This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it. And we can do it again.

There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination -- not merely victory for our Party, but renewal for our nation.

And this November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.

It was the most touching highlight of the evening, to see the patriarch of the legendary Kennedy dynasty ceremoniously pass the torch to the next generation of Democratic leadership. Thunderous applause and not a dry eye in the house, considering this convention might well be his last.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

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Breaking: Reported Plot to Assassinate Obama

2008-08-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

CBS4Denver reports that four people have been arrested in a possible plot to assassinate Obama at his acceptance speech:

Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."

The story began emerging Sunday morning when Aurora police arrested 28-year-old Tharin Gartrell. He was driving a rented pickup truck in an erratic manner according to sources.

Sources told CBS4 police found two high-powered, scoped rifles in the car along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, wigs, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and 44 grams of methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas...

Subsequently authorities went to the Cherry Creek Hotel to contact an associate of Gartrell's. But that man, identified as Shawn Robert Adolph, 33, who was wanted on numerous warrants, jumped out of a sixth floor hotel window. Law enforcement sources say Adolph broke an ankle in the fall and was captured moments later. Sources say he had a handcuff ring and was wearing a swastika, and is thought to have ties to white supremacist organizations.

A third man -- an associate of Gartrell and Adolph, Nathan Johnson, 32, was also arrested. He told authorities that the two men "planned to kill Barack Obama at his acceptance speech."

Johnson, along with his girlfriend, Natasha Gromek, are also under arrest on drug charges.

Georgia10 from the DailyKos was at the same hotel, across the hall from the bust.

Ed O'Keefe from The Trail blog was right next door. Yikes.

Another article from The Rocky Mountain News reports that the Colorado U.S. Attorney is downplaying the threat:

"We're aware of the matter discussed tonight by the Aurora Police Department," said Colorado U.S. Attorney Troy Eid in a statement late Monday night. "Federal law enforcement is working hand-in-glove with the Aurora Police Department. Because this matter is currently under investigation, there is little we can say right now.

"We can say this: We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado."

Sounds more like a bunch of wasted, racist wackos than an organized assasination attempt, but still alarming. A press conference is scheduled by law enforcement tomorrow.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: obama assassination attempt democratic national convention democrats denver breaking news

DNC '08: Jim Leach, Republican for Obama

2008-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

One of the speeches that wasn't widely covered in the news networks was the speech from former Republican Representative from Iowa Jim Leach. Excerpt:

In troubled times, it was understood that country comes before party, that in perilous moments mutual concern for the national interest must be the only factor in political judgments. This does not mean that debate within and between the political parties should not be vibrant. Yet what frustrates so many citizens is the lack of bipartisanship in Washington and the way today’s Republican Party has broken with its conservative heritage.

The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth.

The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts.

America has seldom faced more critical choices: whether we should maintain an occupational force for decades in a country and region that resents western intervention or elect a leader who, in a carefully structured way, will bring our troops home from Iraq as the heroes they are. Whether it is wise to continue to project power largely alone with flickering support around the world or elect a leader who will follow the model of General Eisenhower and this president’s father and lead in concert with allies.

Whether it is prudent to borrow from future generations to pay for today’s reckless fiscal policies or elect a leader who will shore up our budgets and return to a strong dollar. Whether it is preferable to continue the policies that have weakened our position in the world, deepened our debt and widened social divisions or elect a leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of realism and idealism abroad.

The portfolio of challenges passed on to the next president will be as daunting as any since the Great Depression and World War II. This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians. Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same. America needs new ideas, new energy and a new generation of leadership.

Full transcript here.

Technorati Tags: jim leach republican democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

DNC '08: Speaker Nancy Pelosi

2008-08-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Excerpt:

Republicans say John McCain has experience. We say John McCain has the experience of being wrong. On the failed Bush policies that have weakened our economy and taken us from the Clinton surplus to reckless Bush deficits and on raising the minimum wage for millions of American workers, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. On health care for 10 million American children and on protecting Medicare—a bill so crucial that Senator Ted Kennedy left his own medical treatment to cast the decisive vote—Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. On a future of American energy independence, investment in renewable clean energy, and millions of good-paying green jobs here at home, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong.

And on the most important foreign policy decision of our time, the war in Iraq—a catastrophic mistake that has cost thousands of lives of our men and women in uniform and trillions of dollars, as well as has weakened our standing in the world and our capability to protect the American people, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. Very, very wrong.

America needs a president who knows that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that quality education is the key to our future. America needs a president who knows our democracy depends on a strong middle class and who will create millions of good-paying jobs right here at home. America needs a president who will once and for all end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and invest in renewable, clean energy.

To make America stronger, America needs a president who will honor our troops and responsibly end the war in Iraq. For our children and grandchildren, America needs President Barack Obama.

Full transcript here.

Technorati Tags: nancy pelosi democratic national convention democrats denver colorado politics video you tube

Toolbag Comment of the Day

2008-08-25T02:59:00.000-07:00

Mark Halperin, hand puppet:

My hunch is this is going to end up being one of the worst moments in the entire campaign for one of the candidates but it’s Barack Obama. […] I believe that this opened the door to not just Tony Rezko in that ad, but to bring up Reverend Wright, to bring up his relationship with Bill Ayers.

A script straight from the McCain campaign. Jeeze, these guys don't even attempt to hide it, even when they're blatantly sycophantic and make no earthly sense.

For starters, it's not like McCain needed provocation to engage in gutter politics, as he's gotten his hands dirty already, with the Britney/Paris celebrity ad which his own mother called "stupid" and "The One" ad which portrays Obama as some sort of Anti-Christ.

Matthew Yglesias agrees:

They just weren’t doing it because they didn’t think it was the correct time, strategically, to raise those issues. But you’d have to be extraordinarily naive to believe that the McCain campaign was genuinely just not going to mention any of this stuff until Mean Ol’ Barack came along to make fun of the idea of being so rich that you can’t keep track of your mansions. And whatever you may say about Halperin, he’s not a naive guy.

Even the others at the roundtable were incredulous at Halperin's brand of logic:

Stephanopoulos: Don't you think that was going to come up anyway?

Halperin: I think it would have been hard for John McCain, given the way he says he's going to run his campaign, to do all this stuff without the door being opened.

Oh, the toolbaggery. It burrns.

As Kevin Drum points out, McCain hired Karl Rove's protege Steve Schmidt. Did Halperin really believe that Schmidt wouldn't follow the steps of the smearmaster?

The ugly fact is, McCain now embraces the tactics of those who, back in 2000, spread the vicious rumor that he "fathered an illegitimate black child. In his desperate quest for the presidency, he has become like the very kind of people who slandered his family and who according to him, have "a special place in hell". McCain has sold his soul. Toolbags like Halperin may refuse to see it, but that's the glaring reality.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: mccain mark halperin obama video you tube sunday talk shows

Democratic National Convention Schedule

2008-08-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

The convention in Denver, Colorado runs August 25-28, 2008.

Theme: Americans Gathering to Change the Course of a Nation.

Full schedule is here. Highlights:

Monday

Theme: One Nation
Headline Speaker: Michelle Obama

Tuesday

Theme: Renewing America's Promise
Headline Speaker: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Keynote address: Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner

Wednesday

Theme: Securing America's Future
Headline Speaker: Senator Joe Biden
Featured speaker: President Bill Clinton

Thursday

Theme: Change We Can Believe In
Keynote address: Senator Barack Obama accepts 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Technorati Tags: obama democratic convention democrats democratic party denver convention politics

Dateline Iraq: Deadly Homecoming Blast Kills 25

2008-08-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Baghdad:

A suicide bomber killed at least 25 people celebrating the return of an Iraqi detainee from U.S. custody, Iraqi officials said Sunday night.

The blast at a tribal feast in suburban Baghdad's Abu Ghraib area was one of the deadliest attacks in recent months. It served as a grisly reminder of the carnage that insurgents can still inflict in Iraq even as violence reaches its lowest level since the war began...

The men were celebrating the release of a son of Adnan Hanoush, head of the Awakening Movement in the city, witnesses said. They said the son, Sami Hanoush, was freed from Camp Bucca, a U.S.-run detention facility, three days ago...

Instead, the man detonated a vest full of explosives, injuring at least 29 people, according to Col. Dawood al-Dulaimi, a police spokesman. He said the dead included both Sami and Adnan Hanoush and four of Sami's brothers.

Technorati Tags: iraq war sunni world news awakening movement

It's Official: Obama/Biden '08

2008-08-23T03:19:00.001-07:00

News outlets have been reporting it for a while, but I was waiting for confirmation from the campaign, which it now has. Text messages have been rolling out since 3:00 A.M. EST.

I don't like all of Biden's positions -- just as I don't like all of Obama's -- but overall he's a good choice compared to the others (Bayh, Kaine, Sebelius). He brings a lot to the ticket: foreign policy experience, working class creds, gravitas and last but not least, the ability and willingness to come out swinging.

A.P. Bureau chief and McCain surrogate wannabe Ron Fournier says it shows Obama's "lack of confidence". Wrong. It shows Obama is confident and smart enough to pick a running mate who fills in his perceived weaknesses and balances him out, making for a more formidable ticket.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Also: Joe Biden: Six Key Moments.

Technorati Tags: biden obama president elections politics breaking news

Cartoon of the Day: McCain Texts

2008-08-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Technorati Tags: mccain politics elections humor cartoon satire

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Biden

2008-08-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Bayh, Kaine have reportedly been told they're out of the running for veep.

So, apparently, has Hillary Clinton.

Now it's being reported that the Secret Service has been sent to Joe Biden's house.

Also, Marc Ambinder points to this:

22 Aug 2008 05:44 pm
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/EJA863

A flight from Midway to New Castle, DE... to pick someone up? Who knows? No other flights from anywhere in and around Chicago to anywhere in and around Delaware... or vice versa. Just this charter.

And CNN has this:

After hours staking out Joe Biden's Delaware home with no sign of the prospective VP candidate, reporters are now witnessing a flurry of activity.

Cars have recently pulled into the driveway — including a police car — and Biden's daughter, son, and wife are now believed to be inside.

Obama's campaign is still officially mum, of course, except to say the formal announcement via e-mail will start rolling out Saturday morning.

Obama has definitely run a tight, disciplined ship of a campaign so far. This late a date and no one still has a definitive clue. If he runs the country the way he runs his campaign, color me impressed.

More reactions at Memeorandum here and here.

Technorati Tags: biden vice-president obama president democrats politics breaking news news

McCain's Fabulous Life

2008-08-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

John McCain: if he doesn't understand our problems, how will he solve them?

Via.

Technorati Tags: mccain clueless video you tube elections republican

Toolbag Comment of the Day

2008-08-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

John "Hindrocket" Hinderaker, on McCain losing count of his McMansions:

I can relate, though. For example, if a reporter asked me how many ties I own, there’s no way I could answer. Just like McCain, I’d tell him he has to ask my wife. Likewise if someone wants to know how many Wii games my kids have...

Uhm yeah, because we all collect houses like we collect ties and video games, and if we lose them we can just go to our local K-Mart and get new ones on the cheap!

There's also this:

The truth is that McCain isn’t out of touch with “ordinary people” because he’s rich, he’s out of touch with his own domestic arrangements because he cares little about material things, and for many years has devoted his extraordinary energies not to enjoying his wife’s money, but to serving the American people. Given the number of nights he’s spent in hotels or on military bases over the last few years, it’s no wonder he hasn’t seen much of his wife’s condos.

Even parody can't top that.

Then again, this is the Hindrocket who previously wrote the most. toolbaggery. comment. ever:

It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.

Oh, the toolbaggery. It burrrns.

Technorati Tags: mccain bush hinderaker hindrocket

McCain: Uhh, I Dunno How Many Houses I Own

2008-08-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Do you know how many houses you own? Ask that of John McCain and he'll say uhh, I dunno:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

While the little people experience pain at the pump, struggle to pay their medical bills and pray they won't lose their homes, McCain can't even keep track of how many McMansions he and his wife own. Either he's got so many he lost count or he's such a doddering old crank he can't even remember.

Hey John, you own seven houses. Oh, eight even. Excuuuse me. That many and you want the White House, too? Just how much is too much, John?

Remember that he also doesn't know the price of gas, insists no American would be willing to pick lettuce for $50 an hour and thinks that any income below $5 million a year is not rich. Which kinda makes sense if you're John McCain. To a tenured D.C. politician like him who can afford to throw thousands of dollars at the craps table, whose wife is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and spends $273,000 on household help alone, not to mention charging as much as $500,000 to her Amex card in one month, why surely $5 million a year sounds positively puny.

Tsk tsk, sooo out of touch. No wonder he thinks the economy is "fundamentally strong" and the financial hardships we are all experiencing is purely "psychological". Let them eat cake, says John McCain, er, Marie Antoinette.

Here's an apt slogan I saw online somewhere:

John McCain. Reckless abroad. Clueless at home.

I wish I came up with that because boy, it sure fits.

Technorati Tags: mccain houses rich video you tube obama campaign ad elections economy president

Bush "Cuts and Runs": U.S., Iraq Set Timetable

2008-08-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

So Bush, using wingnuttia's own screed, is about to "cut and run":

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators reached agreement on a security deal that calls for American military forces to leave Iraq's cities by next summer as a prelude to a full withdrawal from the country, according to senior American officials.

The draft agreement sets 2011 as the date by which all remaining U.S. troops will leave Iraq...

Teams of American and Iraqi negotiators spent months haggling over the deal, which represents a remarkable turnaround from just a few months ago, when talk of timetables and deadlines was routinely dismissed by the Bush administration and other Republicans in Washington...

President George W. Bush is almost certain to accept the agreement, according to U.S. officials. The administration believes that the deal doesn't require congressional approval and won't present it to U.S. lawmakers.

Take note that all these timetable negotiations were going on in spite of a serious problem threatening to get out of hand:

American officials have credited the militias, known as the Sons of Iraq or Awakening councils, with undercutting support for the group al Qaida in Iraq and bringing peace to large swaths of the country, including Anbar province and parts of Baghdad. Under the program, the United States pays each militia member a stipend of about $300 a month and promised that they'd get jobs with the Iraqi government.

But the Iraqi government, which is led by Shiite Muslims, has brought only a relative handful of the more than 100,000 militia members into the security forces. Now officials are making it clear that they don't intend to include most of the rest...

Some militia members say that such a move would force them into open warfare with the government again...

American military officials here have always said that the creation of the Sunni militias was at least as important to the precipitous drop in violence as the presence of 30,000 more U.S. troops, and that incorporating them into the security forces would go a long way toward bringing about the sort of reconciliation needed for long-term stability.

Gasp, how can Bush negotiate a timetable during a time like this? Shouldn't McCain question Bush's patriotism, now that Bush "doesn't think it matters whether America wins or loses"?

Of course it's foolish to believe anything the Bush Administration says; even if the agreement is finalized and signed, who'll stop Bush -- or McCain if he wins -- from reneging and weaseling out of the deal later on? Yet it doesn't mean they won't milk it.

For all we know, it's a Rovian headfake designed to accomplish two things: shut up the annoying Iraqis who keep demanding a timetable while allowing Bush/McSame to declare victory in time for the November elections, even though General Petraeus himself said, "[t]here is a measure of hope in Iraq that was not present 18 months ago... just a measure of hope. It's not a celebration."

If that is the case, doesn't that mean that it is Bush/McCain who'd rather lose a war than lose an election?

Technorati Tags: bush mccain obama iraq timetable troops troop withdrawal war election patriotism cut and run world news politics

It's the Economy (Again), Stupid

2008-08-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times/CBS news poll, voters rate the economy their top priority and trust Obama to deal with it more than McCain:

Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, was trusted more by voters to handle their top concern, the economy. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they were confident that Mr. Obama would make the right decisions on the economy, compared with 54 percent who expressed confidence that Mr. McCain would.

More trust McCain as commander in chief but only 15% rate the war in Iraq a priority as opposed to 40% who rate the economy as their main concern.

On top of that, more voters are pessimistic with the economy than at any time since 1992 when Bill Clinton was voted into office. This is bad, bad news for McCain because the poll also indicates that voters closely associate him with the deeply unpopular Bush, with half expecting him to continue Bush's policies if he is elected president.

The bad news doesn't end there for John McSame. There is an enthusiasm gap, with twice as many Obama supporters describing themselves as enthusiastic compared to McCain supporters.

Those negative attacks portraying Obama as elitist and a Paris Hilton-type celebrity also backfired: voters now see McCain as a negative campaigner who spends more time attacking Obama than explaining why he should be president. Most devastating of all:

Voters were somewhat more likely to say that Mr. Obama cares about the needs and problems of people like them than Mr. McCain does. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said that Mr. Obama was someone they could relate to, while only 41 percent described Mr. McCain that way. And 63 percent said that Mr. Obama shares the values most Americans live by — the same number who said that Mr. McCain does.

In spite of current polls trumpeting a virtual tie, Obama still has an edge, though arguably slight.

The way to widen the gap is clear: emphasize that McCain is a trigger-happy and out of touch Bush clone so bankrupt of ideas he has nothing to offer except attacks on Obama.

Technorati Tags: obama mc cain bush economy poll politics

Stephanie Tubbs Jones in Critical Condition (Updated)

2008-08-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Update. It's confirmed: Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) has passed away. This is the official statement:

Tubbs Jones Family, Huron Hospital and Cleveland Clinic

August 20, 2008 - 6:40 p.m.

"Throughout the course of the day and into this evening, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones' medical condition declined. Medical doctors and neurosurgeons from Huron Hospital and Cleveland Clinic sadly report that at 6:12 p.m. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones died.

She dedicated her life in public service to helping others and will continue to do so through organ donations.

Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time."

RIP.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

*****

Contrary to earlier reports, she's still alive but in critical condition:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, had a brain hemorrhage and was in critical condition with limited brain function, a doctor said Wednesday.

Tubbs Jones, 58, suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in Cleveland Heights on Tuesday, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital in East Cleveland. The congresswoman had been driving erratically and her vehicle crossed lanes of traffic before coming to a stop, police said.

She's a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton for president, and of John Kerry four years before.

Her Wiki page reminded me of this:

On January 6, 2005, she joined U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in objecting to the certification of the 2004 U.S. presidential election results for Ohio.

As the sponsor, she was one of the 31 who voted in the House to not count the electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 election.

What a courageous, traiblazing woman. Though her prospects look dire, here's hoping for her full recovery.

More on her here and here.

Technorati Tags: stephanie tubbs jones ohio congress clinton kerry democrat news

Rachel Maddow Gets Own Show, Replaces Abrams

2008-08-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's about time:

Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the long-time host –- and one-time general manager of the network — Dan Abrams from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has emerged as a favored political commentator for the all-news cable channel.

The moves, which were confirmed by MSNBC executives Tuesday, are expected to be finalized by Wednesday, with Mr. Abrams’s last program on Thursday. After MSNBC’s extensive coverage of the two political conventions during the next two weeks, Ms. Maddow will begin her program on Sept. 8.

Abrams will stay on as general manager, daytime anchor and MSNBC correspondent.

Rachel on her new gig:

“This is great; getting a regular cable show is something I’ve wanted,” Ms. Maddow said. She acknowledged that the intensity of the presidential race meant that will remain the focus through the election and probably for the first 100 days of a new administration.

But she said she would likely reshape the show as more of a general news program after “this political Christmas” has come to an end. That is the kind of show she does on Air America, and she will continue that show after she joins MSNBC, she said.

A month ago, the New York Times dubbed Maddow the "host apparent". Rebecca Traister's article for The Nation two weeks later also explained why so many are gaga about Rachel:

Her specialty was making Tucker Carlson's head explode, or getting under Buchanan's skin until all he could do was gibber at her about socialism...

Unlike her beautiful, bilious conservative female counterparts or the cocksure boys-on-the-bus analysts, however, Maddow didn't get here by bluster and bravado but with a combination of crisp thinking and galumphing good cheer. Remarkably, this season's discovery isn't a glossy matinee idol or a smooth-talking partisan hack but a PhD Rhodes scholar lesbian policy wonk who started as a prison AIDS activist.

Wow, an actual liberal with her own tv show, imagine that. Congrats, Rachel!

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: rachel maddow msnbc

The Public vs. McCain

2008-08-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is a powerful netroots-created video. Short of it going on air, the next best thing is for it to go viral. Pass it on.

TRANSCRIPT:

He's the worst president in history and an international embarrassment.

It took years for George Bush to squander the faith of this country.

We wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But as Americans learn more, his approval ratings slide lower and lower.

Yet, there is one man whose support of Bush just keeps growing.

They campaigned together as our soldiers died.

They ate cake together as New Orleans fell.

And each year, he votes with Bush by ever increasing percentages.

77% of the time in 2005. 86% in 2006. 95% in 2007 and 100% in 2008.

As time finally runs out on this presidency, ask yourself this:

"Do you support Bush today more than you did four years ago?"

The American public doesn't. Why does McCain?

More reactions at BlogRevolution.

Technorati Tags: john mccain bush video you tube

McCain The Usurper

2008-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

McCain wants the presidency so bad he forgets his place:

Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

Asked about his tough rhetoric on the ongoing conflict in Georgia, McCain began: "If I may be so bold, there was another president . . ."

He caught himself and started again: "At one time, there was a president named Ronald Reagan who spoke very strongly about America's advocacy for democracy and freedom."

Let's review: McCain was trash talking Russia even before Bush, and also spoke for us all by declaring "we are all Georgians" now. He talks daily to President Saakashvili, an access likely facilitated by McCain's foreign policy adviser Randy Scheuneman whose firm lobbied for Georgia (which makes you wonder, if McCain is truly for campaign and lobbying reform, why he surrounds himself with lobbyists). He also sent his two handmaidens, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, to Georgia to act as his own emissaries.

Hmm, presumptuous much?

Just imagine the howls all over wingnuttia and the so-called liberal media if Obama said and did these. Yet they applaud this man who's exploiting a volatile international crisis to score cheap political points, interfering in a situation he doesn't seem to know much about:

We, we will decide in subsequent days as whether degree of provocation and whe-- who was right and who was wrong.

Even his friend "Misha" Saakashvili seems to know that McCain is all about empty gestures:

“Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say, ‘We are all Georgians now,’” Saakashvili said on CNN’s American Morning. “Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds.”

Perhaps someone should remind McCain that he isn't the heir apparent yet. Just a pretender to the throne.

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: john mccain barack obama georgia russia politics caucasus media video you tube

Deployed Troops Show Obama Love

2008-08-15T00:17:00.000-07:00

With hard cash, by a ratio of 6 to 1 over McCain:

According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

Despite McCain's status as a decorated veteran and a historically Republican bent among the military, members of the armed services overall -- whether stationed overseas or at home -- are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin.

Quite a departure from 2000, when Bush outraised Gore among the military by 2 to 1. This time, only the Marines contribute more to McCain. All the other branches: Army, Air Force and even McCain's own branch, the Navy, gave more to Obama.

I wonder if wingnuttia will now call these troops surrender monkeys. Or dirty effin' hippies. Then again, 59% of them -- except for the Coast Guard who favor Democrats more across the board -- still contribute more to the Republicans in Congressional races than to Democrats. Which means they still lean conservative with their donations. They just don't like handing their money over to McCain.

Some might argue that the sampling is too small (292 donations at $200 or more) to mean anything, but the bigger sampling of contributions from all military personnel (859) shows the same trend.

Donations can be prompted by a lot of things, and as Atrios notes, it's hard to read what our military thinks overall, but when people shell out money to a candidate, they are showing their commitment. They have a vested interest in that candidate winning, and it's not a stretch to predict that these donors are voting with their wallets.

Take it from Army specialist Jay Navas, who contributed $250 while deployed in Iraq:

"He [Obama] was right on Iraq long when others were jumping into the sea like lemmings, and that's hard to do. We're soldiers and we respect courage." ...

"Most of my friends are conservative Republicans and they say, 'I'm voting for Barack.' McCain does not have a lock on the military vote, that's for sure," he said. "We'll complete our duty -- I'm deploying next year -- because it's a commitment I made to the nation, not to a president. But we all know that Iraq was a big mistake."

Firedoglake additionally explains why this is happening:

Could it be that the troops don't want to stay in Iraq for the next 100 years or more? Or that they don't feel comfortable with a Commander-In-Chief who doesn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia? Perhaps they don't appreciate his opposition to Webb's amendment to give them longer rotations home, or to Webb's update to the GI Bill?

It'll be interesting to hear from McCain himself what he thinks of this. Paging the so-called liberal media...

More reactions at Memeorandum.

Charts: Opensecrets.org.
Technorati Tags: barack obama john mccain troops contributions donations military

Baracky II

2008-08-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

Via.

Technorati Tags: humor barack obama john mccain elections democrats republicans convention video you tube

Dateline Iraq: 19 Dead in Pilgrims Attack

2008-08-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Reuters:

A female suicide bomber killed 19 people, mostly women, and wounded 75 on Thursday when she detonated an explosive vest in a crowd of pilgrims being escorted by police to a shrine south of Baghdad, police said.

The bomber struck around dusk near the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital, an area where Shi'ite pilgrims have to walk through Sunni Arab towns and villages to reach the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala.

At least one policeman was killed and three were wounded in the attack in a volatile, religiously mixed area once known to U.S. troops as the "triangle of death". More than half of those killed were women, police said.

Technorati Tags: iraq war news world news

The "Oh, Snap!" Comment of the Day

2008-08-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

“The Greek tragedy aspect of this election could turn out to be, George Bush defeats John McCain twice.” --John Weaver, former McCain strategist.

Via.

Technorati Tags: john mc cain john weaver republicans elections

Breaking News: Bill Gwatney Killed, Shooting Suspect Dead

2008-08-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Arkansas Times reports Gwatney has died:

Arkansas State Democratic Party Chair Bill Gwatney was fatally wounded at State Democratic Party Headquarters on Capitol Avenue about 11:50 a.m. today, witnesses at the scene said.

The suspected shooter was also fatally wounded in a shootout with police after a 30-mile chase into adjoining Grant County, a Little Rock police spokesman said...

Gwatney was taken from the scene in an ambulance and a witness said the wound was serious. Police spokesman Terry Hastings (shown at crime scene briefing shortly after the shooting) said later that he'd been shot three times in the upper body and was in critical condition...

His death was officially announced at a 4 p.m. police news conference.

Arkansas Business reports that contrary to rumors, police say the shooter was NOT a former employee of Gwatney's. They've declined to identify him , but confirmed the alleged shooter was from Arkansas. They've also declined to comment on possible motives.

Gwatney was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. More on his life in politics and business here.

The AFP reports on reactions from prominent Democratic Party leaders.

Update: More reactions at Memeorandum. One of the links is to a post by prominent wingnuttia crazymaker Michelle Malkin, whining about an e-mail blaming her blog rantings for the shooting. Once again, in the middle of a tragedy, she manages to make it all about herself. Real classy.

Memo to Malkin et al: many prominent bloggers get all sorts of wacky comments/e-mails; you're not special in this regard. This isn't about you.

Photo: Reuters

Technorati Tags: bill gwatney arkansas democrats democratic party obama clinton breaking news video