Obamamercial for those who missed it

Here it is in its (near) entirety.

I heart YouTube.

Obamamercial live blogging

8:30 PM - And it's done. It kicked ass. It was tasteful and elegant and just freaking great. He wasn't scary. That's all he needed. Can't wait to see how many viewers they got. This might have locked this thing down for him.

8:29 PM - The cheering crowd was louder than he was. There's a metaphor there somewhere, I think.

8:27 PM - Speechless.

8:23 PM - A programming note: Davis Guggenheim, the director of the piece, is Charles Guggenheim's son. Charles Guggenheim, in addition to being one of the great documentary filmmakers ever, was the RFK campaign's filmmaker, crafting commercials, short films and, sadly, the eulogy film at the convention. His Son's work tonight is every bit as good.

8:19 PM - Michelle! Harry Potter's been name-dropped before John McCain.

8:18 PM - Health care is a winning issue for him, and he's showing us why. His mother's story is incredible and very clearly painful and real for him.

8:16 PM - I think they're making a mistake by showing clips from his convention speech. A lot of people were turned off by how big it was (a well-liked candidate speaking live to as many people as possible - get outta town!). When they stick to him in a room, they make him more personable.

8:13 PM - Gotta love all the Red State governors singing Obama's praises.

8:10 PM - Notice how we're 1/3 the way through and McCain hasn't been mentioned once? This is real meat and potatoes stuff artfully cut up with touching stories. This is very smart so far.

8:05 PM - I think it started somewhat awkwardly (we didn't really need a choir there, Davis), but it's moving along at a nice pace. I love the intercut stories of regular joe plumber folks.

This is not an infomercial for people like me, people who've had their minds made up for some time. This is for that remaining 6% of undecideds and the 5 or 10 % that could change their minds.

Is it Christmas yet?

I haven't posted in a couple of days. It isn't for lack of news, really, Palin has seemingly "gone rogue" and GOP Mascot Ted Stevens was found guilty on not one, not two, three or even four, but on SEVEN counts. Corruption in politics? You don't say!

No, my aversion to posting can best be summed up with a single word:

Fatigue.

I am, finally, after two years of following the crazy that has been the 2008 Presidential Election, completely and utterly spent.

I just want it to be over. I want Obama to be the President-elect. I want McCain and Palin off my TV set. I want 60 seats in the the Senate.

McCain has got nothing better than "I'm Joe the Plummer and I don't want to be taxed by the Negro" and Obama is playing it safe.

I'm having dreams nightly about Virginia showing up blue on the big map Election Night. I'm having visions of toasting Obama's victory before they even start counting votes west of the Mississippi. I want nothing more than to pour a glass of good scotch at 10:30 PM EST on election night and toast the fact that America has finally gotten some sense.

I'm canvasing in Virginia this weekend. I'm going to be helping out in the Commonwealth on election day and I'm going to be eating baked Alaska with a bunch of elite east coast liberals next Tuesday and when (not if) Obama wins, I am going to wake up from this Republican Fever Dream of Shit that has been the last eight years in America.

So, like a kid taunted by presents under the tree, I need to take a couple days to stop shaking them. I need to just put on the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and chill out.

Seven more days to Christmas.

Palin as Prez

A nominee for my favorite site of the moment. It's nice to kick back and have fun with as much of this craziness as we can.

Click HERE for amusing wonderment.





(be sure to click on the various objects once you've redirected and pay special attention to the computer monitor)

Team MSNBC calls it like they see it

Couple of issues (shocking, I know).

One, when pressed with defining what a "precondition" is, Sarah Palin is pretty vague and defines it as having a diplomatic strategy. To suggest that Obama, if elected, would just go into negotiations without diplomatic strategy is to suggest he's George Bush, which he isn't. Also, when she calls out Achmedinajad, she mislabels him as a "Dictator", which is nonsense. He's not even in charge of the Government. His role has more in common with the Queen of England than it does the almighty Vice Presidential Supreme Ruler of the US Senate.

Serious, the right-wing talking points are tired. You know what? Your xenophobia and second grade (we've already established Palin is not quite on the level of a third grader) understanding of the world has not resulted in any demonstrable good so let's try something else like, I don't know, meeting with people who don't really like us and find out what we can do to coexist peacefully. Crazy Utopian dreaming here, but let's give it a shot.

I totally agree with Chuck Todd, who should get some kind of award for truly being the smartest and most balanced political analyst on TV. The man is just plain SMART and calls it how it is. There is no chemistry there. McCain picked her out of political expedience and is likely starting to blame her for his misfortune. Maybe that's a bit too much pop-psychology, but it sounds and looks right so I'm inclined to believe it.

He's tired, and I get that...

But, still...



I feel pretty bad for him after the third time he messes it up. Poor Cindy McCain is just praying and hoping she gets off of that stage without a black eye or being called a c*nt

Temper, temper, John! (part Deux)

I only assassinate character when they do it first and it's true.

Do we see a trend here yet?

Bernanke all but endorses Obama for President

Maybe he isn't the best person to have endorse you, but it can't hurt.

What we're seeing is a definite trend toward Obama in endorsements and support from influentials and the cognoscenti. Coupled with a cresting wave of middle class support, this is going to win the election for the Democrats.

(sorry, Joe Sixpack)

Not to count my chickens before they hatch, but I can't help but be downright gleeful that we are likely less than two weeks away from a brilliant, articulate Democratic President-elect and a 60 seat majority in the Senate ruled Palin-Style by Joe Biden.

A ringing endorsement

I'm not going to, am I? I mean, it's just mean, right?

Oh what the heck.

AL QAEDA ENDORSES MCCAIN

Are we starting to see a pattern? Maybe electing the guy who will keep the world hating America isn't the way to go.

I propose a Constitutional Amendment to make Sarah Palin read

I missed this last night and honestly hadn't realized that she had kept going with this after that horrible answer during the debate.

I know this is my east-coast elitism talking, but the Constitution is kind of a big deal. I have a copy. I won't pretend that I read it everyday but I have read it and I do occasionally flip through it. The fact that I am apparently exceptional in that regard when compared to the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Republican Party is astounding.

She could be President. She needs to know the Constitution. Backward and forward. I'm confident Joe Biden and Barack Obama do (the latter being, you know, a Constitutional Law Professor), and I'll even concede that John McCain knows his Constitution. Sarah Palin, clearly, does not. That is not a Muslim-sleeper talking point. That is not an uppity elitist anti-American Negro talking point. That is a plain, old-fashioned, TRUTH.

This is what this election is about

This election, whether John McCain planned it or not, has become a referendum on the tolerance and fundamental intelligence of the American people. If you are a McCain supporter because you truly support his positions, you should not be lumped in with these poor souls and I feel for you. The images of the (help us) American people below are jaw dropping. Rep. Bachman and Sarah Palin talk about Pro-America and Anti-America.

I have news for you.

This is anti-America:



Wake up, America. This is what the Islamic world (and by the way, there are more of them than there are Christians), see of us. They hear the disgust in the voices of the voters who think a Muslim is trying to hijack our Government and turn us into communist pigs. They see and hear the pathetic, xenophobic paranoia that is spreading across this country like a plague. This is not just what they think McCain supporters look like, it's what they think AMERICANS look like.

For the sake of America, especially if you are not an Obama supporter, all of us need to be vocal and make it clear that this hate and intolerance is inexcusable. That it is not consistent with the best of America and that these people do not speak for us. We need to be an America on the morning of November 5th, 2008 that is once again a shining example for all other countries. This is the wrong path, and I implore you, regardless of who you support, to correct the record. Make it clear to your neighbor that this is not America as you see it and not as it should be seen around the world.

In Lieu of Substantial Posts...

Watch the whole thing. Trust me, you haven't seen this before.

Powell'n around with Obama

The short version:

Florida, North Carolina, Virginia.

All states with large military populations. States crucial for Barack Obama in this election.

The slightly longer version:

Colin Powell, a man of principal with one of the strongest, pro-military resumes imaginable has come decided that Barack Obama is the best choice for our troubled nation.

When you set aside whatever personal feelings you may have for the man and simply take his endorsement as one of an intimidatingly intelligent and experienced Republican, the strength of it becomes apparent. The Republican party of Bush and (circa 2006-2008) John McCain is not the Republican party that so many Americans identify with. That a lifelong Republican with a military career and strong national security credentials (not exactly a swing voter) has gotten behind Barack Obama is an incredible statement regardless of whether or not there's a "General" or "Private" before his name.

Military. Republican. Obama Supporter.

Colin Powell knows that when all you have to talk about is thinly veiled innuendo and accusations about Barack Obama's heritage and allegiance to this country you are simply out of ideas. He knows when your senior adviser says - on record - that you need to change the subject from the economy or else you will lose the election that you are not putting Country First. You are out of steam and you are disconnected from what this election is about and what matters to this Country.

This is a well-regarded and respected Republican who knows firsthand the damage done by the politics of 51%. He is saying that what is important is not who is Red or Blue, Black or White, Young or Old. What is important are ideas and ideas are what Barack Obama - and the best of America - has always been about.

I'll let the General speak for himself

Big News

The Ohio Supreme Court decision to strike down a lower court's ruling that would effectively disenfranchise low-income Democratic voters is a big victory not just for Obama but democracy. Keep your eyes on this - it may be the story of the election one way or the other.

Anti-American?

Anti-American? Anti-American? ANTI-AMERICAN?!



I won't draw the comparison that most are drawing, that being McCarthy and witch hunts and ripping America apart with paranoia. I simply will not go there, you know why?

Because Barack Obama is going to win this election.

Because on November 4th, Americans are going to prove to rest of the world that we are fully aware that Rep. Bachman is an idiot.

The politics of fear and 51% are nearly at an end.

Personality Wars

Barack Obama and John McCain took turns roasting each other last night in New York at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner. The video is proof that John McCain not only has a heart but is really funny. I am not a fan of the man's politics and I think it takes a certain lack of integrity to sell ones soul, as he has, to the Christian right, but he's definitely a guy I'd love to sit down and shoot the shite with. For that matter, and I'll admit it, so too are George Bush, Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin. Just because I think they've got bad ideas doesn't mean I think they're bad people*. I just don't want them anywhere near my government. It also doesn't mean I'd much prefer to sit down and talk with President Barack Obama.

With that, here's the "tape":

McCain:



Obama:





The final analysis? McCain was funnier, but seemed to be conceding a whole lot of ground, there. The black man invited to the white house bit was ill-conceived. Obama was much flatter overall, but I think had the best line in, "clearly I got my middle name from someone who never thought I'd run for President."

*don't hold me to that

A picture worth a thousand words

That pretty much says it, folks. Obama won the debate, McCain lost. I happened to think McCain was killing for the first thirty minutes, Obama was playing it safe and all was lost. Then it became apparent over the next hour who was calm, who was Presidential and who was ready for the challenge at hand. It was not John McCain, who thinks Women's health is a loophole for "pro-abortion" activists. It was not John McCain, who apparently thinks Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Joe Biden. It was not John McCain, who in the areas of temperament and judgment time and again has proven that he should not and can not become our next President.

Be afraid!

Just a reminder to be afraid, be very afraid of the scaaaary black man who voted twice for non-binding budget resolutions rolling back the Bush tax cuts. Don't worry about pesky details like context or facts. Just look at the scary picture, be afraid he's going to raise your taxes and vote out of nothing but stupefying, paralyzing fear.

Paid for by McSame/Failin

Linkage

Long day, so I'm going to overwhelm this post with lazy linkage.

McCain campaign palling around with dictators? You don't say!

Obama is trying to steal the election!

...but then why did McCain attend meetings with this very same group?

Keep on slinging that mud, Senator McSame

Finally, tonight's edition of McCain in the Membrane and Keith's special comment:



Well said, Sir.

There's just not a single particle of my being that gets the hate, the lies and the bizarre choices (HERE and HERE) of the most moronic members of this society - and that must be why I'm not voting for John McCain. There are lots of reasons to be FOR Obama, but I am finding, sadly, the closer we get to the election there are just so many more reasons to vote AGAINST McCain.

New Yorker Endorsement

Here's an endorsement from one of those nasty left wing east coast elitist news magazines.

I read it today and it fleshes out the case for Obama in a really articulate and persuasive fashion. Check it out.

Campaigning is not Governing and Governing is not Campaigning, BUT...

Barack Obama was called out in September when he was asked what kind of executive leadership qualities he possessed. This was, you'll remember, during the first weeks of Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice President and double capital E Executive Experience was a big topic. Never mind the fact that Senator John McCain himself has all of exactly zero hours of such experience. He answered that he had experience running his campaign. The right wing erupted in laughter.

How's that silly answer looking now?

This is not a victory dance - that's far too premature and even though the voting machine says "Premiere", I know it's still a Diebold. But let's take a calm, objective look at how the campaigns have been run and see if there's any kind of takeaway there in regards to the potential leadership abilities of Senators McCain and Obama.

Let's start with the obvious and most reliable indication of what kind of White House these two men would run.

Organization.
From the get-go, Obama has been exponentially better organized than McCain. His ground game has been exceptional and was one of the key factors in his victory over Clinton, who had been the presumed winner since Kerry called Ohio. From top-to-bottom, the Obama campaign has been the model of how to run a modern Presidential campaign. They expanded on Howard Dean's internet game and built a network of donors and workers that rival any major corporation and some small Government. They reached out to bloggers and influential members of the new media base months before Clinton even *thought* to try. McCain has evolved gradually to embrace similar tactics, but make no mistake: he cribbed from Obama's playbook all the way. The reason McCain wanted to go the public financing route (beside those convenient loopholes for his lobbyist friends) was that he was not sure it was possible to out-raise Obama. Not because he's more likable, but because he was better ORGANIZED.

Discipline.
The Obama campaign has been the absolute model of message discipline. You almost never hear two surrogates contradict one another (let alone the Presidential and Vice Presidential Nominees). You can watch CNN, MSNBC and (heaven help us) even Fox News, watch three different surrogates who all know their stuff and stay on point. That level of consistency simply doesn't exist in the McCain campaign. To be sure and fair, the Obama campaign has had a slip-up or two (John Lewis, anyone?), but it's nothing on the level of the McCain campaign. The candidate himself can't decide whether or not the economy is in trouble, for goodness sake! He wants to rip Obama apart on Monday, ignore it on Tuesday, and is defending him to an angry mob on Friday. This comes from the top. When you're a surrogate and your candidate is a cool cucumber, it's a lot easier to stay on message in a calm and effective manner (watch Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz - formally of camp Clinton - sometime, she is a reflection of the top of the ticket). When the ticket is erratic you get Rick Davis.

Pudding, meet Proof.
Barack Obama hasn't even finished his first term as a US Senator. He's African-American. His name is Barack Hussein Obama. He should never have made it out of the primaries, and yet here he is, 10 points up in the national polls, up in almost every key battleground state and 22 days away from becoming the President Elect of the greatest nation on Earth. If the philosophical case is as clear cut as the Republicans want to believe. If Democrats really are wrong on every major and substantive issue of our time then please tell me how Barack Obama, with all of the electoral handicaps described above, is beating a Maverick cum War Hero seemingly tailor-fit for the Presidency?

It is because he is an enthusiastic manager who has been given the same test as McCain - a national Presidential election - and is BETTER at it. That is indisputable.

And yet, somehow, I am meant to believe the right wing of this Nation when they say McCain would make a better President? That he would be better organized and more disciplined in office than he has been at the helm of this ramshackle campaign?

I'm not falling for it. And I think if voters really consider the situation, they won't either.

George Bush is _______________

A) Awesome
B) Unbelievably Delusional
C) Autistic
D) Bi-Curious

While I think there's a case for three of the four, the answer this morning is:

B) Unbelievably Delusional

Evidence:
"IT'S A GOOD THING I'M IN CHARGE"?!

This is the guy who has turned everything he's touched to absolute hell and he's thinks it's a good thing he's in charge. We should be not only comforted but enthusiastic that the same people who brought us Iraq War 2, Mission Accomplished, Endless Iraq Occupation 1, Hurricane Katrina and two Red Sox World Series victories are dealing with this Economic Collapse? George Bush. I think you're probably a likeable enough guy on your own terms, but this whole "being President" thing really wasn't for you and I think it'd be better for America if you just came out in your final months in office and admitted as much.

And started campaigning heavily for John McCain in swing states.

*My evidence for choice D:

Abuse of power! (Surprising, I know)

The report is out and Sarah Palin's hands are (shockingly) not clean after all.

Read about it here from these fine news sources:

FOX NEWS: 180 words, ends with ""I think there are some problems in this report," Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens. "I would encourage people to be very cautious, to look at this with a jaundiced eye.""

MSNBC: 621 words, ends with "The McCain campaign says the investigation has become "muddied with innuendo, rumor and partisan politics.""

CNN: 633 words, ends with "Palin's office in September released documents it said supported its position. The documents were part of a filing to the state Personnel Board, which Palin's office has asked to conduct a separate investigation. The governor and her allies say the board is the proper legal forum for any complaint, and Palin's lawyer says she and her husband will cooperate with that inquiry."

(Liberal media my arse)

Frank Rich gets it right*

Entitled "Truthiness stages a comeback", this article succinctly and articulately makes the case as to why McCain really isn't the right person to lead our country right now in the face of a mounting economic crisis.

*not that it should come as a surprise to anyone

fauxrage

I caught this on Fox News yesterday morning as I was getting ready to go to work (nothing gets me out the door faster than the idiot talking heads on Fox).

The outrage! The betrayal of the American Prisoners by having the audacity to print a picture of Sarah Palin that's been untouched! Oh my heavens! It's all bull, of course and what they're really mad about is that a national publication would print unkind words about the lipstick pitbull disasta from Alaska. But when you've got conservative mouthpieces like David Brooks calling Palin a cancer to her party, an unretouched photo is kinda small potatoes, don't you think?

Troopergate Watchergate

Just a programming reminder that the Alaskan State Investigation into Troopergate (you know, the investigation Sarah Palin was for before she was against), is scheduled to release their findings today.

You'd be forgiven for thinking they already had if you'd seen that Palin actually released her own report and doggonnit wouldn't you believe she's totally innocent?!

I'm reminded of a few years ago when the movie studios were busted writing reviews of their own movies so they could have posters that said things like:

"Gigli is the epitome of American Exceptionalism!"
-Nicole Wallace, Movie Reviews Star Ledger

Sarah Palin has basically released her own review and slapped this on the poster:

"What wrongdoing?! Sarah Palin is the Queen of the Universe in a role for the ages!"
-Tucker Bounds, Idiot

Will people please start seeing this for what it is? If Obama was under investigation you bet your life the Republicans would be piling on, would take something like this fake report and run through the streets screaming "Terrorist! Terrorist!" until their heads exploded.

We'll see what happens later today.

There's no business like show business

You might have heard that the Obama campaign is loaded. And to prove it, they're buying half an hour of national primetime airtime.

I love the audacity of this move. This could be a classic moment in not just Presidential politics but TV. The important thing is that his message has to be good. It's gotta be Presidential. I also hope that the campaign hires a brilliant TV producer that can craft a SHOW and not just give America a half-hour long speech. It would be great to hear from the Clintons, Biden, Michelle Obama and others followed by a fifteen minute speech from Obama himself that appeals directly to the American prisoners er citizen's hopes for the future of this Nation. Simply put, they can't put up politics, they have to entertain, they have to put on a SHOW.

Come to think of it, Tina Fey is proving to be pretty adept at the half-hour format, maybe she can take a week or two off and pitch in?

Politics aren't the only thing that's disturbing

Perhaps a glimpse inside Clan Palin?:

All McCain'd out

I've been trying to think of something insightful to say about the state of the election, but I don't think there's anything to add. At this point, you the viewer either have a brain and know what McCain is doing or you don't. You either get that the master plan for his campaign is nothing more than "be afraid of the black man - be very afraid" or you don't and there is absolutely nothing I or anyone else can say to change your mind.

Back tomorrow when I've got something other than outrage and disgust.

My fellow prisoners

John. either you're crazy and somehow your brain made the connection between "my fellow Americans" and "my fellow prisoners" or you meant to say the word prisoners in some nutty attempt to remind people that you were a POW. In either event, you've lost it.

Lying his Fannie off...

During the debate McCain made some crazy eyed accusation about Obama being in Fannie and Freddie's pocket. He said that Obama received the second-highest campaign contributions from the companies of any US Senator, essentially saying Obama was bought. In the back of my head I thought, for just a second, "If that's true, I bet McCain is #1"

GUESS WHAT?

Post-Debate, Pre-Bedtime

Overall, it looks pretty bleak for John McSame and pretty great for "that one". Even the idiots at redstate.com (why do I keep giving them hits?) are saying 'McCain didn't really win because the debate was boring and the media's in the tank for Obama and did you hear he said we should have intervened in the Holocaust - we did, LOL, it was WW2!'* Point being, when even the conservatives are spinning themselves into a pretzel trying to call this anything but a McCain defeat, you know Obama scored and scored BIG.


What would Debate night be without some snap poling?

CNN

Who did the best job in the debate?

McCain (R) 30
Obama (D) 54

Opinion of Barack Obama (before debate)

Favorable: 64 (60)
Unfavorable: 34 (38)

Opinion of John McCain (before debate)

Favorable: 51 (51)
Unfavorable: 46 (46)

This number didn't change and Obama's went up. Uh Oh.

CBS

Who won?

McCain (R) 27
Obama (D) 39
Draw 35

Will Obama will make the right decisions on the economy?

Before debate: 54
After debate: 68

Will McCain will make the right decisions on the economy?

Before debate: 41
After debate: 49

A fourteen point jump for Obama versus an eight point jump for McCain.

Not the Game-Ender I was hoping for, but far far away from the Game-Changer McCain needed. I hope he gets nastier and nastier with his attacks and turns off those independents and riles up the Democratic base. I can't wait to celebrate on November 4th.

*Çoncerning WW2...we were isolationists for the first couple years of that Holocaust and only intervened when our interests - namely naval control of the Atlantic and Pacific - were challenged. Thank God we intervened and remember that we owe our entire civilization to the men and women who fought the Axis in WW2, but our motives were not strictly to stop the Holocaust and anyone who says differently simply does not know their history. I like that Obama is going to be the kind of President who says a Holocaust is more than enough reason to use US Military force. That's a doctrine I can fully support.

"That one"

McCain is a racist asshole.

(replace "that one" with "that uppity field negro" and you'll hear what I think everyone watching this embarrassment heard in the moment this was said)

My Friends...

John McCain is an absolute caricature of himself at this point. Watching this debate, it's clear that one of these men is absolutely obsessed with becoming President at any cost and the other genuinely wants to put Country first and put America back on the right path.

While I'm on the subject...

It is not unpatriotic to suggest that America can be better - can be something more than what it is now. I have no doubt that America has been and likely still is the greatest country on Earth. But, the fact that that is even in question should give every man, woman and child living under our flag a tremendous moment of pause. We should want to evolve. We should demand evolution of our leaders. The sad, objective, truth of the matter is that we haven't. We're terrified of change, terrified that we maybe don't have all of the answers so we just pretend that we're perfect. The conservative buzzword now is "exceptionalism".

Living in the past crippled by fear is not exceptional. Being willfully blind to the change that has to take root in America is not exceptional. John McCain, with his nasty, venomous and blatantly false attacks against Obama and the middle class is not an exceptional candidate. The man who asks for our best, asks that we turn our back on the last eight years and blaze a trail into the future IS an exceptional candidate and worthy of not only our admiration but our vote.

Hypocrite

n.

A person given to hypocrisy.

Or, as summed up well by this video from Talking Points Memo, John McCain:

Debate Prep

My predictions for this, eh hem, debate that is now just hours away...

McCain won't be nearly as aggressive as people think he's going to be - at least at the beginning. He'll antagonize in response to Obama but I *think* his handlers are smart enough to keep him from calling Obama a terrorist-loving radical field negro to his face (or, if the last debate is an indication, in his general direction).

Again, I *think* they're smart enough to keep from playing that hand.

Obama should do fine, although I expect his performance to be somewhat lackluster. He does not want to fuel the picture of him as an emotional, volcanic radical and I would expect and hope he goes after McCain on the substance and is smart enough to calmly assert that, no, he is not a terrorist.

What I WANT is for McCain to have a meltdown and for Obama to dismantle him melanoma by melanoma.

There - I just saved you from having to watch three hours of pre-game punditry.

Say WHAT?!

Forwarded to me earlier today via DEMOCRACY NOW

"In a barely noticed development, a US Army unit is now training for domestic operations under the control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. An initial news report in the Army Times newspaper last month noted that in addition to emergency response the force “may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.” The military has since claimed the force will not be used for civil unrest, but questions remain. We speak to Army Col. Michael Boatner, future operations division chief of USNORTHCOM, and Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine."

Say, the kind of Civil Unrest that would result in Obama losing the election? The kind of Civil Unrest that would result in him being assassinated and John McCain being elected. God, I hope not and that's all the conspiracy theorizing I'll do today.

The Smarter-Than-Palin Club

Joining the nearly 6.95 billion members of the Smarter-Than-Palin Club is Joe Klein of Time Magazine, who has this really insightful piece about the embarrassing mess that is McSame 2K8.

The InSane Campaign strategery is clear: you'll get clobbered by the economy so just don't talk about it!

Finally, another member of the Smarter-Than-Palin Club: Keith Olbermann. His Special Comment this evening on Sarah Palin was perhaps a little too sarcastic (simply pointing out the facts without imitating her insufferable delivery would have likely sufficed), but still very smart and very cutting and very right:

They're not kidding around!

Howabout a documentary about Chuckie Keating, John McCain and the rest of their crooked friends?

http://www.barackobama.com/images/keating/keatingeconomics.mov

I'm eagerly awaiting the Ayers/Wright/Bin Laden documentary from Team McSame...

Obama Actually GETS IT

In the wake of the "Obama is friends with terrorists - ergo he is a terrorist" attacks outta Sarah Palin's* worthless mouth this weekend, I was wondering what team Obama would do.

Here's the answer:

http://www.keatingeconomics.com/



FINALLY, an all-out assault on John McCain for the scandal which, if there were any fairness in this world at all, should have tanked his entire political career.

Every single time you hear the name "Ayers" or "Jeremiah Wright", just answer with "Charles Keating" and see how quickly the right wing blowhards shut their mouths.

Finally, throwing some dirt around with the pig-shit-covered Repugnantcans. Seriously about time!

*Hey let's hear it some more for Sarah, way to walk upright on Thursday. Presidential material if ever I saw it.

NOT what we deserve

Any portrayal by the media that Palin held her own tonight is plain and simple misdirection. She did not. I did not for a moment believe that of these two people, Sarah Palin had as great a command of the issues at hand as an infant has of shitting it's pants.

She wasn't a disaster.

Congratulations!

But, as I've said before, that is a terrible bar to set. She is running for Vice President of the United States of America! I expect - DEMAND - that a candidate for such an office be able to articulate foreign policy, economic policy and a path for the future. She was not and did not. In fact, she did not answer half the questions posed to her! On multiple occasions, she went on bizarre tangents when pressed for concrete specifics.

Joe Biden was clear and concise and reiterated his credentials for this office. He was understated but forceful, always pointing out that the reason we need to remember the abomination that is the last eight years because the next eight years under McCain/Palin will look exactly the same.

It is simply not acceptable that "not awful" is "good enough". McCain/Palin does not deserve anyone's vote.

Trouble no matter the outcome

Here's the fundamental problem with Sarah Palin and the buzz surrounding tonight's debate.

It is the consensus opinion of the punditocracy that the test for Sarah Palin tonight is to prove that she is not a complete idiot.

That is a sad commentary on our choices in this race. The fact that a person of whom intelligence is even a question would be on a ticket for city counsel let alone VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - one sunburn away from becoming President - is SHOCKING and should make us all stand up and throw vegetables at our TV's tonight.

Tonight, no matter the outcome of the debate, we need to realize just how dire this situation is. We have a candidate with absolutely no understanding of the history of the Supreme Court. We have a candidate who can't name a single newspaper when questioned. We have a candidate who cannot identify or define the most important foreign policy doctrine of the past fifty years!*

Whatever your politics and personal opinion of these candidates are, you can surely agree that a candidate with the above qualities is completely unacceptable.


*You might say, oh these are just problems she's got in interviews. It doesn't really say much about how she'd govern. Perhaps you're right, but let me counter with this: "What happens when the President of Pakistan (what's his name again?) interviews her? What happens when the President of Iran asks her a tough question?" Oh, that's right, she'll do what she's done with the Media - ignore them.

Crazy pastor *against* Obama

This video has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but it is amusing nonetheless.

(Warning: contains a wee bit of language, a whole lot of crazy and is most certainly not safe for work)

"Emissary of the Devil!":

Food for thought

How come the free market economy needs the government to fix it? Can it not fix itself? And if it cannot, is it really a free market?

Senate vote on Bailout er Rescue Plan Tonight

Let's see how it shakes out. I'm eager to see the bill that comes up for a vote. Evidently it's been much revised...

UPDATE: Looks like the revisions were a lot of earmarks - Puerto Rico and Virgin Island Rum producers get $200 million? McCain's making the rounds this morning doing his victory lap and talking about how much he loooathes pork barrel spending (then how come you voted for it, Senator?).

Supreme Guh?

I disagree with Bush v. Gore, in case you were wonderin'!