Saturday, October 11, 2008
Welcome to the Big Leagues, Sarah Palin
Hockey fans aren't big on poseurs. A big BOOOOOOOO from the fans.
Scott Gomez of the Rangers is from Alaska, so he is very nice to her. (First Alaskan to have his name on the Stanley Cup -- when he was a New Jersey Devil. Other trivia about Gomez, he's also the first Latino ever drafted by the NHL and the first to play.)
What kind of hockey mom doesn't know how to drop the puck? Has she ever actually watched one of those hockey games, or was she on her cell phone all the time plotting her takeover of the world with the rest of her prayer circle?
BOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Another view:
Now I Hate Comcast Even More
Comcast GM Bill Bridgen.
I bet he's not from around heah.
Boston Globe: Cousy fired from Celtics broadcasts
Comcast GM prefers two-man booth setup
How could they? Do they have no decency? Celtics legend Bob Cousy gets the ax from his lousy 10-game a year stint (pocket change to Comcast), and with a phone call from some low-level manager? THIS IS BOB COUSY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE. Cousy is The Cooz, the guy who dazzled in the 50s, coached in Kansas City in the 60s, and has been the voice of the Celtics here in New England for decades. I learned everything I know about point guards and fast breaks from listening to the Celtics during the Larry Bird glory years. He has that hysterical Frenchman's lisp that caused him to utter such gems as "Wick Wobey with the webound" and "Wobewt Pawwish with the wainbow jumper" and now "Way Allen fwom twenty" which you just have to love. He's the Cooz! He's not just some old broadcaster you put out to pasture.
Brief break for a funny story: My friend L went to a Celtics game in the mid-80s with our friend G, an athlete but not a sports fan. L saw Cousy in the hallways of the Garden after the game and asked him for his autograph. She was thrilled! Her friend G asked, why are you getting all excited over getting some TV announcer's autograph? L hunted down a payphone on the street outside the Garden, car horns and drunks blaring in the background, to call me just so someone would understand that SHE GOT BOB COUSY'S AUTOGRAPH! And to tell the story of how our friend did not know that Bob Cousy was BOB COUSY, THE Bob Cousy, the man, the Cooz, the ballhandler extraordinaire, the man who was on a first name basis with Arnold and Russell, the pride of Holy Cross, the Houdini of the Hardwood, Mr. Basketball, Mr. Celtic!
Fire Bob Cousy? What, they couldn't find a puppy to kick?
This may be business to Comcast, but it's war to me. Like Bob Cousy, I have The Killer Instinct, so watch out Comcast GM Bill Bridgen, we're after you. (Killer instinct, of course, does not refer to actual killing, just to beating an opponent. Got to keep Homeland Security from investigating me.)
Two videos of Cooz in his prime:
McCain-Palin Rallies: Document the Atrocities
Watch CBS Videos Online
cbsnews.com: "A man brought a stuffed monkey doll wearing an Obama sticker to a Palin campaign event in Johnstown, Ohio. Realizing he was caught on camera, he passed it off to a child he didn't know."
More of The Strongsville, Ohio McCain-Palin Rally
Part 2 of McCain-Palin supporters at a rally in Strongsville, Ohio. Includes a woman whose child says of Barack Obama "you need gloves to touch him".
McCain Tangled In His Own Web
John McCain (and his running mate) spent the last week stirring up the crowds into a frenzy of anger and hate against Barack Obama. McCain stood silent as crowds cried out "terrorist" and "traitor" while he was speaking. He is running nothing but negative ads claiming that Obama associates with terrorists.
But then prominent Republicans began to criticize McCain, and Palin, and in a feeble attempt to save his reputation he told some poor woman that Obama is not an Arab. (See the video below for the media interview with the poor dotty woman, who is convinced that Obama is a dangerous Arab -- because she read it at the library.) And now the media is acting as though something has changed, as though McCain has repented. The negative ads are still on the air. His contemptible running mate is still whipping up the hate.
John McCain has fallen, and he can't get up.
Boston Globe: Supporters jeer as McCain calls Obama 'a decent person'
Promises civility after days of harsh attacks on rival
But then prominent Republicans began to criticize McCain, and Palin, and in a feeble attempt to save his reputation he told some poor woman that Obama is not an Arab. (See the video below for the media interview with the poor dotty woman, who is convinced that Obama is a dangerous Arab -- because she read it at the library.) And now the media is acting as though something has changed, as though McCain has repented. The negative ads are still on the air. His contemptible running mate is still whipping up the hate.
John McCain has fallen, and he can't get up.
Boston Globe: Supporters jeer as McCain calls Obama 'a decent person'
Promises civility after days of harsh attacks on rival
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!
Sarah Palin abused her power when she fired the state's public safety commissioner, because he wouldn't fire her former brother-in-law. That's not mavericky. That's unprincipled hackery. Heckuva job Sarah!
NYTimes: Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers
Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, an investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded.
(PDF file) Stephen Branchflower Report to the Legislative Council
1. For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violated Alaska Statue 39/52/110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides
The legislature reaffirms that every public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.
2. I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooter was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.
3. Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten's workers' compensation claim properly and in the normal course of business like any other claim process by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, Trooper Wooten received all the workers' compensation benefits to which he was entitled.
4. The Attorney General's office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of emails.
To understand the finding of guilt, you have to know what she was charged with. From emptywheel at firedoglake:
The meat of the abuse charge, from page 66:
Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired. She had the authority and power to require Mr. Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act.
Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of such displeasure. This was one of the very reasons the Ethics Act was promulgated by the Legislature.
Jon Stewart Mocks Fox
Poor, pitiful Fox Noise. Their permanent Republican majority is evaporating along with their investments. Republicans can't talk about the economy because they own it, they caused it, they screwed all of us. So instead of covering the economy, they're covering anything else. Suck a lemon, Roger Ailes.
New Obama Ad: "Lose"
Great takeaway line: "With no plan to fix our economy, smears are all McCain has left."
Friday, October 10, 2008
Obama Knew It Was Coming All Along
Watch Barack Obama -- in July -- predict to a T how the Republicans will campaign against him:
Take the Pledge
This pledge to protect Social Security is being circulated by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. I pledge to oppose privatization of Social Security.
The Golden Pledge
Some People Get a Golden Parachute...
For Everyone Else,
There's the Golden Promise: Social Security
Americans have lost nearly $2 trillion from their retirement accounts in the last 15 months* while Wall Street's financial elites are making away with billions.
Social Security is a golden promise guaranteeing Americans that if we work hard and play by the rules, we will earn the right to retire with dignity. We must not gamble this promise away on risky privatization schemes that guarantee only massive benefits cuts and turn our life's work into a chip for Wall Street’s elites to bet.
Therefore, I pledge to oppose privatization of Social Security -- the diversion of payroll taxes into private accounts -- by any name.
I Voted
I handed in my absentee ballot at City Hall today. Voted in two contested races -- Obama and Kerry -- but nobody but Democrats in the other five races on the ballot.
I was amazed to see eight McCain-Palin lawn signs as I drove to my hairdresser's today. Surely the McCain campaign is not so foolish as to waste money in this state, where the Republican Party is virtually moribund? Or maybe they are that foolish.
On the three ballot questions, I voted against eliminating the state income tax, in favor of changing the marijuana laws to a system of civil penalties, and in favor of eliminating dog racing.
It always feels good to vote.
The Great Schlep
Sarah Silverman wants Jews to gets their butts down to Florida for the Great Schlep.
I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: October 10, 2008
The man who prosecuted William Ayers 40 years ago writes to the New York Times decrying any effort to link Ayers to Obama, and pointing out that the case against Ayers was dismissed because Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell broke the law investigating the case.
Who's the real radical extremist? Sarah Palin and her whackadoodle Alaskan Independence Party pals. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls AIP "The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel." And she's an ignoramous who doesn't know anything about anything, even energy; yesterday she couldn't answer a basic question about Alaskan oil.. And doesn't that make John McCain look even more out-of-touch and foolish for saying she's the nation's top energy expert? Maybe if she were competing against kindergartners.
From the hubris file: McCain/Palin campaign issue a report declaring that Sarah Palin is innocent of the Troopergate charges. Well, all righty then!
Washington Post documents more angry crowd behavior at McCain/Palin events.
Freaking out about the economy? My third favorite economist (sorry Bonddad, Atrios and Krugman have you beat) sez We WILL GET THROUGH This Financial Crisis. If we have the right leadership (cough, Obama, cough). George W. Bush's economic policies have led to the worst year in the stock market since 1932. Heckuva job, Buckfush!
Our next President bought 30 minutes of prime time for Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. Major economic address, I'd imagine.
Ode to Sean Hannity
By John Cleese, the Minister of Silly Walks:
Ode to Sean Hannity
by John Cleese
Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Racist McCain Backer Is Out
On Sunday we wrote about a racist newspaper column by McCain County Chair Bobby May of Buchanan County, Virginia. We predicted he's be out of the campaign by Monday night; it took a little longer than that, but he's been dropped like a hot potato.
LATimes: John McCain backer dropped from Virginia campaign team due to racially tinged column
McCain would prefer to attack Obama indirectly; "Who is Barack Obama" is coded racism.
LATimes: John McCain backer dropped from Virginia campaign team due to racially tinged column
John McCain's campaign has denounced and rejected a racially charged, anti-Barack Obama newspaper column written by one of the Republican campaign's organizers in Virginia,and has removed the author-activist from his post as a member of the candidate's statewide leadership team.
The column by Bobby May appeared in a southwestern Virginia newspaper,The Voice, and drew attention after it was cited in a Sunday Los Angeles Times report about how voters in that mostly white region were reacting to potentially electing the country's first black president.
May, who in July was named his county's Republican representative on the McCain statewide campaign team, offered a spoof of Obama's platform and plans in his recent column.
[]
McCain spokeswoman Gail Gitcho, in a written statement announcing that May was being dropped from the campaign team, said the attempts at humor "are offensive, insulting and have no place in political discourse. Mr. May's comments in no way reflect the views or opinions held by John McCain or his campaign. The McCain campaign wholeheartedly disavows Mr. May's column."
McCain would prefer to attack Obama indirectly; "Who is Barack Obama" is coded racism.
Obama: McCain is "Erratic and Uncertain"
It's the economy, stupid, and the fundamentals of our economy are not strong.
Another McCain-:Palin Crowd Video
These videos are really stunning. I forget how narrow-minded many people are until I seem them all gathered together. My favorite epithet hurled at Obama: "European socialist!" Take that!
Bethlehem, PA, October 8, 2008:
Bethlehem, PA, October 8, 2008:
Temper, Temper
And read this story about John McCain blowing his top at the gambling table when someone other gambler dares to ask him to take his hands off the edge of the table. "Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?"
Michael Kinsley, The Daily Beast: At the Craps Tables With John McCain
How the Senator Lost it at a Puerto Rican Casino
New Obama Ad: "Tested"
McCain's mortgage plan would force us the taxpayers to buy bad bank loans at full value -- no matter what the value of the property is. So if a bank loaned a homeowner $300,000 to buy a house that's now worth $200,000, we the taxpayers would pay $300,000 to the bank for a $200,000 house. Net profit to the crooked bank: $100,000; same net loss to us. A terrible plan. I don't think this ad explains it very well.
Election Protection News, October 9, 2008
The New York Times reports today on vast purges of eligible voters from the voting rolls. Although the Times concludes that the purging does not appear to be coordinated by one party, since Republicans are always the party in favor of vote suppression, I doubt that this is just a coincidence. The Democrats have registered millions of new voters, and Republicans are carrying out a sustained campaign to disenfranchise as many as possible.
NYTimes: States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal
Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.
[]
States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.
The six swing states seem to be in violation of federal law in two ways. Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.
Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters.
In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action.
Under federal law, election officials are supposed to use the Social Security database to check a registration application only as a last resort, if no record of the applicant is found on state databases, like those for driver’s licenses or identification cards.
The requirement exists because using the federal database is less reliable than the state lists, and is more likely to incorrectly flag applications as invalid. Many state officials seem to be using the Social Security lists first.
In the year ending Sept. 30, election officials in Nevada, for example, used the Social Security database more than 740,000 times to check voter files or registration applications and found more than 715,000 nonmatches, federal records show. Election officials in Georgia ran more than 1.9 million checks on voter files or voter registration applications and found more than 260,000 nonmatches.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Ignorance Is Bliss, and Filled with Hate
Pretty amazing video of people attending a McCain-Palin rally in Strongsville, Ohio with much ignorance and hatred on display. Several people call Obama a terrorist, and one man even calls him a one-man terror cell. I wouldn't watch more than once; it makes me feel dirty.
These are people at a McCain-Palin rally; that's not what everyone in Ohio thinks. Evidence here:
"My Fellow Prisoners"
McCain is really losing it. Someone in my clay class today suggested that when McCain called Obama "That one" last night, it was because he forgot his name.
Set the Record Straight
From the Obama campaign:
JOHN MCCAIN’S 17 LIES TONIGHT
1. MCCAIN PROPOSING NEW HOUSING PLAN. McCain today said he had a new plan to allow the Treasury to purchase and restructure mortgages. The truth is that this is not a new proposal and is already part of the rescue plan that was signed into law. It was Obama, not McCain who called for this move two weeks ago.
2. MCCAIN TAX PLAN IS BETTER. McCain said, “It is my proposal not Senator Obama’s” that will “take care of working families.” The reality is that even the Heritage Foundation agrees Obama will provide a middle class tax cut that studies have found is three times larger than under McCain’s plan. In contrast, the McCain plan’s benefits would overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest Americans and would leave out 101 million middle class households.
3. MCCAIN’S PLAN FOR HOUSING CRISIS. McCain said, “We have got to give some trust and confidence back to America” to solve the housing crisis. But Politifact agrees that McCain was taken by surprise by the mortgage crisis and was “a latecomer” to the debate. He even said “I don’t claim to be smart enough” to solve the housing crisis and newspapers have found that McCain “overstates” his past actions on housing regulation.
4. TIES TO FANNIE/FREDDIE. McCain talked about “Senator Obama and his cronies and friends in Washington” and blamed them for Fannie and Freddie, while news accounts have pointed out his “deeper” ties to the companies. His campaign manager Rick Davis fought against greater regulation for years, and then his firm was revealed to be taking $15,000 a month until this summer from Freddie Mac, after denying any recent ties.
5. MCCAIN WILL MAKE HEALTH CARE AFFORDABLE AND AVAILABLE. McCain said “We can do them all at once,” talking about affordability and availability of health care, but he failed to mention that experts say his plan may require some to pay more or get less coverage, that millions would lose their employer-based coverage, and that even he has admitted that his plan will raise taxes on some.
6. SMALL BUSINESS TAXES. McCain said Obama’s plan “will increase taxes on 50% of small business revenue,” when the Washington Post found similar attacks “untrue,” and studies show 97% of small business owners wouldn’t see higher taxes under Obama’s plan. Factcheck.org said the attack used “a false and preposterously inflated figure.”
7. TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY. McCain said “I am not in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy.” While he once said that the Bush tax cuts were “too tilted to the wealthy,” now he wants to make them permanent.
8. 2005 ENERGY BILL. McCain attacked Obama for his vote for the 2005 energy bill, saying it had “billions for oil companies.” The truth is that FactCheck.org called this “an old canard” and a “false attack.” The non-partisan Congressional Research Service said the bill actually raised taxes on the oil and gas industry.
9. 94 VOTES FOR HIGHER TAXES…AGAIN. McCain once again repeated the attack that Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes, calling it “his record.” This attack has been debunked by the Associated Press, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, CNN, the New York Times and FactCheck.org, among others.
10. OBAMA RECORD ON NUCLEAR POWER. McCain said, “Obama is opposed to that,” when the reality is that this attack is “false” according to FactCheck.org. Obama supports nuclear as long as it’s “clean and safe.”
11. HEALTH COVERAGE FOR PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. McCain said his health care plan would let people cross state lines to get plans, suggesting it would improve care and not telling Americans that it would weaken patient protections and does nothing to require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. McCain’s plan would create a situation the GOP chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said would cause a “race to the bottom.”
12. HIGHER HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. McCain attacked Obama’s health care plan, suggesting that Obama will fine small businesses and make health care more expensive for them. ABC pointed out that he was “omitting key details about Obama’s plan to mitigate costs” for health care for small businesses. McCain also omitted his record of voting repeatedly against tax credits for small businesses to help with health care costs and that the majority of members of the National Federation of Independent Businesses oppose his plan.
13. JUDGMENT ON IRAQ. McCain said that he had “the judgment” to make national security decisions, ignoring his record of misguided statements during the course of the Iraq war. In 2005 he said the war would be over within 18 months. In 2003 he said “we will be welcomed as liberators,” and that “we will win it easily.”
14. RUSSIA AND GEORGIA. McCain said Obama “was wrong about Russia when they committed aggression against Georgia” when Obama had condemned Russia’s actions and called for an immediate ceasefire.
15. SURGE IN IRAQ. McCain again attacked Obama on the surge, when news accounts show that Obama “said at the time” that the increase “could improve security in certain neighborhoods but that it would not solve the long-term political strife.” Meanwhile McCain said only 10,000 troops would do the job.
16. NEGOTIATIONS. McCain attacked Obama on diplomatic engagement, but the Washington Post has said McCain is “distorting history when he suggests that Barack Obama is bucking American presidential tradition in expressing a willingness to meet with the leaders of countries hostile to the United States” and that McCain is “incorrect.”
17. SOMALIA. McCain held up Somalia as an example of failed American foreign policy, saying “we ended up having to withdraw in humiliation.” McCain ignored the amendment he introduced in 1993 to cut off funding for troops in Somalia.
Obama Defeats McCain
Down goes McCain! Down goes McCain! Down goes McCain!
Awesome photo diary on the debate:
dailykos: ------ LANDSLIDE !!! ----- Barack CRUSHES McSame --- By 2 to 1 Margin --- (UPDATED w Mega Eye Candy)
New Slogan
I'm with that one.
hat tip to Andrew Sullivan, who I still haven't forgiven for saying of me and other liberals "The decadent left in its enclaves on the coasts...may well mount...a fifth column." after 9/11. Dumb fuck.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Contempt
McCain calls Obama "That one"
McCain refuses to shake Obama's hand:
McCain's treating Obama with contempt makes me feel contempt for McCain.
McCain refuses to shake Obama's hand:
McCain's treating Obama with contempt makes me feel contempt for McCain.
John McCain Wrote Letter Supporting State Trooper Who Murdered Civil Rights Protestor
Anniston (AL) Star: McCain wrote on behalf of ex-trooper now awaiting trial in civil rights slaying
pdf: McCain's letter to State Department
The murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson inspired the Selma March in 1965.
Jimmie Lee Jackson was part of a march protesting against restrictions to voting, and the jailing of a civil rights worker. He was shot at such close range that there were powder burns on his abdomen.
An all-white jury declined to indict state trooper James B. Fowler in 1965.
Fowler admitted in an 2005 interview that he shot Jackson, but claimed self-defense.
Fowler's trial was scheduled to start this month, but was delayed by the judge.
McCain wrote a letter to the State Department in 1991 supporting Fowler, who at the time was in prison in Thailand awaiting trial on heroin distribution charges.
Being a black Republican is like being a Log Cabin Republican or a pro-choice Republican. There is no place for you in the party of hate.
pdf: McCain's letter to State Department
The murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson inspired the Selma March in 1965.
Jimmie Lee Jackson was part of a march protesting against restrictions to voting, and the jailing of a civil rights worker. He was shot at such close range that there were powder burns on his abdomen.
An all-white jury declined to indict state trooper James B. Fowler in 1965.
Fowler admitted in an 2005 interview that he shot Jackson, but claimed self-defense.
Fowler's trial was scheduled to start this month, but was delayed by the judge.
McCain wrote a letter to the State Department in 1991 supporting Fowler, who at the time was in prison in Thailand awaiting trial on heroin distribution charges.
Being a black Republican is like being a Log Cabin Republican or a pro-choice Republican. There is no place for you in the party of hate.
Election Protection News
A coalition of civil rights and voting rights groups has filed a motion to intervene in the Wisconsin Attorney General's suit against Wisconsin election officials. AG Van Hollen sued to force election officials to purge voter rolls if the election list does not match exactly with other databases, like those for driver's licenses and social security numbers.
The AG's suit would force election officials to remove someone from the list for typographical errors or minor differences like middle initials or titles.
For extra credit, guess the political party of Wisconsin Attorney General van Hollen? (First two guesses don't count; of course, he is a Republican!)
Alternet: Wisconsin Attorney General Sued To Stop Voter Purge
PDF: Amicus Brief, Van Hollen v. Government Accountability Board, et al., Case No. 08-CV-4085
The Campaign Legal Center
Call the Wahhhmbulance for the Angels
Joy of Sox: Schadenfreude 64 (A Continuing Series)
Special Los Angeles Angels Edition!
Read the whole post at Joy of Sox, it's hilarious.
The Angels feel they should have won the series. That would have required better fielding, pitching and hitting. And less whining.
There's no crying in baseball.
See you next year, weenies.
I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: October 7, 2008
Angry/Hater '08 are whipping their crowds and their supporters into a hate-filled, racist frenzy. John McCain asked the crowd in Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday "Who is the real Barack Obama?" and a man shouted "terrorist". Watch the video above; McCain clearly heard the man yell terrorist, his facial expression changes to one of "whoops", but he does not denounce the statement. Just like when a supporter asked him "How do we beat the bitch" about Hillary Clinton in the primaries, and he didn't denounce that, either. He laughed it off, just like he did yesterday.
At Sarah Palin's rally in Florida, she claimed that Obama "palled around" with terrorists, and said nothing as one of her supporters yelled "Kill him!". At the same rally, Palin complained about the mainstream media at a campaign event, and her supporters:
...hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."
The head of the Pennsylvania Republican Party called Barack Obama "a terrorist's best friend".
Associations, associations, does the McCain camp really want to play that game? Palin held a fundraiser yesterday at the home of a corrupt Wall Street investment company exec, whose company paid a $72 million dollar fine in 2005. She and her husband belonged to a secessionist political party. She was blessed in church by a witch-fighting pastor who prayed to protect her from the "spirit of witchcraft" in 2005 (not 1605). She sat and listened in church while the founder of Jews for Jesus lambasted "Israelites".
McCain has his own set of unsavory affiliations. For one, G. Gordon Liddy, the convicted Watergate burglar, is an old friend of McCain's, and McCain appeared on his radio show in November of 2007. Liddy is a convicted felon who spent 4 1/2 years in jail for Watergate, and who has admitted plotting to kill, firebomb, and kidnap American citizens who disagreed with his radical conservative views. In addition, during the 1980s, McCain "served on the board of a far-right conservative organization that had supplied arms and funds to paramilitary organizations in Latin America", the U.S. Council for World Freedom, an organization with ties to Nazi sympathizers.
The debate tonight will be interesting to say the least. If I were Obama, I would be tempted to put McCain on the spot and ask him, "Do you think I am a terrorist?" Because McCain is a coward. He says these things behind Obama's back, but never has said them to his face. Even if he says yes, McCain won't dare look at Obama, and we will see who the real Alpha Dog in the race is. The fear of looking his opponent in the face betrays McCain's weakness.
Will McCain continue his angry rants in front of a group of undecided voters? I doubt it, but my record as a prognosticator isn't very good. We'll see tonight.
Sleeping With The Enemy
Sarah Palin accuses Obama of "palling around" with terrorists, but her husband was a member of the secessionist Alaska Independence Party for a decade; she's their candidate; and she addressed their convention just last year. Watch the video for a short but hardhitting expose of AIP.
As Jed asks, if Sarah Palin wasn't a secessionist, why was she palling around with them? (And I ask, sleeping with them?)
So here's the question: when will Sarah Palin ever explain what she was doing palling around with the Alaskan Independence Party secessionists? When will she explain why Todd Palin -- who plays a huge role in her administration -- was a member of the party for so long?
Does she oppose secession now, if so, when did she change her mind?
On to Tampa Bay
Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Game 4
Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Celebration: Red Sox Advance to ALCS
LATimes Photo Gallery - ALDS Game 4
The Real John McCain is Anti-Choice
73% of female pro-choice McCain supporters in battleground states do not know McCain's position on abortion. 1 in 4 believe he is pro-choice.
In the Senate, John McCain has cast 119 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. 115 of the votes were anti-choice.
Why the Rich Love McCain's Tax Plan
In a nutshell, because under George Bush, 31% of the tax cuts were given to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Under McCain's plan, 58% of tax cuts will go to the wealthiest 1%.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Endorsements for Obama
Senator Hagel's wife Lilibet Hagel has scheduled a news conference for 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to announce her support for Barack Obama (she will be accompanied by Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Eisenhower).
In the Charlotte Observer, Hugh McColl Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America endorses Obama.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Anti-abortion scholar Nicholas P. Cafardi, a law professor and the former dean of the Duquesne University Law School.
The Alien endorses Obama in the Weekly World News. Victory is ours! The Alien has correctly backed the winner in the last four Presidential elections.
McCain is pissed.
In the Charlotte Observer, Hugh McColl Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America endorses Obama.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Anti-abortion scholar Nicholas P. Cafardi, a law professor and the former dean of the Duquesne University Law School.
The Alien endorses Obama in the Weekly World News. Victory is ours! The Alien has correctly backed the winner in the last four Presidential elections.
John McCain's Losing Pisses Me Off Express
Angry, angry, angry:
McCain laughably claims that Obama gets touchy or angry when his credentials or policies are questioned, but of course the person who really does that is Ragin' John McCain. Just read this editorial by one of the editors of the Des Moines Register, who sat in on John McCain's clenched-jaw performance last week:
Basu: Is McCain too thin-skinned for presidency?
McCain laughably claims that Obama gets touchy or angry when his credentials or policies are questioned, but of course the person who really does that is Ragin' John McCain. Just read this editorial by one of the editors of the Des Moines Register, who sat in on John McCain's clenched-jaw performance last week:
Basu: Is McCain too thin-skinned for presidency?
John McCain is angry.
You can feel it in the clenched muscles in his throat, the narrowing of his eyes, the controlled tone with which he handles a question he doesn't like, as if struggling to contain something that might spill out. We've seen that body language on TV. But around a Des Moines Register table Tuesday, the anger and tension were palpable. And unsettling.
McCain's volatility has been written and whispered about by staff and Senate colleagues: the mercurial temper, the quixotic outbursts of reproach, then jocularity. But those alleged episodes were behind the scenes. The combative, prickly McCain we saw was seeking the Register's endorsement. He already got it in the caucuses.
He took frequent offense at questions, characterizing them as personal viewpoints of the questioners rather than legitimate topics. True, he was asked some tough, pointed questions about his running mate and his honesty. But America is having those discussions, and you'd expect he'd be ready, not defensive. It takes a thick skin to be president.
McCain says he is angry because "people are angry." But his behavior suggests it's more than that. Maybe it's because his poll numbers are falling, his running mate is being ridiculed and his attempt to play fixer on the bailout failed to launch. Or maybe, a more worrisome prospect, this is the real McCain - who can't deal with stressful situations without feeling attacked, who lashes out when he feels threatened.
McCain Will Slash Medicare and Medicaid
How does John McCain plan to pay for his horrible, no good health care plan? By making huge cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, according to this article in today's Wall Street Journal.
In other words, John McCain, wealthy beyond belief, plans to balance the budget by slashing medical care for elderly, poor and disabled Americans.
Millionaire guts medical care for peopole who can afford it the least. Who in their right mind would vote for this guy?
John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.
[]
...Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.
In other words, John McCain, wealthy beyond belief, plans to balance the budget by slashing medical care for elderly, poor and disabled Americans.
Millionaire guts medical care for peopole who can afford it the least. Who in their right mind would vote for this guy?
Tax Cheat/Tax Cheat '08: That's McCain/Palin All Right
McCain is cheating on his taxes by not reporting his gambling income, or losses. Doesn't matter which, by law he has to report it.
Palin is cheating on her taxes by not reporting her per diem income. When you charge your state's taxpayers to live in your own home, that's taxable income to you. Dope.
Somehow I don't think George W. Bush's IRS is going to go after them, but they should. Cheating is cheating, no matter how rich or powerful you are. They're cheating the rest of us who play by the rules and pay our taxes.
I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: October 6, 2008
(USA)
In a stampede to come clean, seven state employees who failed to appear for testimony after being subpoenaed in the Troopergate investigation in Alaska had a change of heart after a judge rejected their challenge to the subpoena. Now they've agreed to testify in the investigation into Sarah Palin's firing of the state's popular Public Safety Commissioner.
You want to talk about associations? 20 years ago while John McCain was palling around with his soon-to-be-a-felon BFF Charles Keating, Barack Obama was in an airport giving a complete stranger enough money to be able to take all her bags to Norway. A leader's character is revealed in everyday situations.
Speaking of character-revealing actions, read the 5-page article in today's Washington Post about the marriage of John McCain and his first wife Carol, which ends with these devastating concluding grafs:
At the Republican National Convention this summer, the family came together to celebrate McCain's triumphant moment. "Everyone," says McCain's old friend and lawyer Bud Day, "was there and jovial."The LATimes gets in on the McCain-revealing action with this article: Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator. The subhead for the article is:
Everyone except Carol. She declined to join her children and her ex-husband.
It was probably just as well. The buildup to McCain's acceptance speech included an eight-minute video that celebrated his life, work and family. At its conclusion, delegates in the convention hall erupted in applause.
Carol McCain, the woman who stood beside McCain through triumph and tragedy, was never mentioned.
Three crashes early in his career led Navy officials to question or fault his judgment. A Times review of his record suggests he was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits.Ouch!
More good news for Barack Obama: Bluegrass legend, 81-year-old Ralph Stanley has cut a radio ad [listen to the ad here] for Obama in Virginia. Ralph Stanley is the guy who sang "Oh Death" on the Oh Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
The Stanley Brothers in their heyday; Pete Seeger is the guy sitting, listening:
"[T]he McCain plan would do for health care what deregulation has done for banking."
And Paul Krugman is terrified:
Paul Krugman, NYTimes: Health Care Destruction
Paul Krugman, NYTimes: Health Care Destruction
Mr. McCain [] wants to blow up the current system, by eliminating the tax break for employer-provided insurance. And he doesn’t offer a workable alternative.
Without the tax break, many employers would drop their current health plans. Several recent nonpartisan studies estimate that under the McCain plan around 20 million Americans currently covered by their employers would lose their health insurance.
As compensation, the McCain plan would give people a tax credit — $2,500 for an individual, $5,000 for a family — that could be used to buy health insurance in the individual market. At the same time, Mr. McCain would deregulate insurance, leaving insurance companies free to deny coverage to those with health problems — and his proposal for a “high-risk pool” for hard cases would provide little help.
So what would happen?
The good news, such as it is, is that more people would buy individual insurance. Indeed, the total number of uninsured Americans might decline marginally under the McCain plan — although many more Americans would be without insurance than under the Obama plan.
But the people gaining insurance would be those who need it least: relatively healthy Americans with high incomes. Why? Because insurance companies want to cover only healthy people, and even among the healthy only those able to pay a lot in addition to their tax credit would be able to afford coverage (remember, it’s a $5,000 credit, but the average family policy actually costs more than $12,000).
Meanwhile, the people losing insurance would be those who need it most: lower-income workers who wouldn’t be able to afford individual insurance even with the tax credit, and Americans with health problems whom insurance companies won’t cover.
And in the process of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, the McCain plan would also lead to a huge, expensive increase in bureaucracy: insurers selling individual health plans spend 29 percent of the premiums they receive on administration, largely because they employ so many people to screen applicants. This compares with costs of 12 percent for group plans and just 3 percent for Medicare.
In short, the McCain plan makes no sense at all....the McCain plan would do for health care what deregulation has done for banking. And I’m terrified.
It's The Economy, Stupid
Charles Keating III and McCain, than a member of the U.S. House, celebrate their August birthdays [McCain's 51st] at the Keatings' beachside estate at
Cat Cay in the Bahamas [1987 photo]
Obama takes the gloves off and launches a new website: KeatingEconomics.com: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis. The website will have a 13-minute documentary on McCain and the Keating Five, available at noon tomorrow. Can't wait.
McCain is trying to smear Obama with guilt by association.
McCain and Charles Keating is guilt by guilt. Charles Keating gave John McCain over $100,000 in campaign contributions between 1982 and 1988, went into business with Cindy McCain, wined and dined the McCains in the Bahamas: and John McCain tried to keep his friend and benefector from being stopped by federal regulators. American taxpayers ultimately lost at least $130 billion in the 1980s S&L scandal.
And John McCain has heedlessly championed deregulation ever since. This time it's going to cost taxpayers a trillion dollars.
Here's a preview:
Sunday, October 05, 2008
New DNC Ad: "Negative Attack Ads"
Great usage of McCain himself decrying negative attack ads during the 2000 Republican primary. He also looks much younger and healthier in the 2000 clip.
Racist Moron Reveals Self In Print
Bobby May, your white sheet is showing.
The chair of the McCain campaign in Buchanan County, Virginia has written a racist, reprehensible column in the Buchanan County Voice claiming that these are the "positions" of Barack Obama:
REPARATIONS TO BLACK COMMUNITY: Opposes before Election Day and supports after Election Day.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION: Mandatory Black Liberation Theology classes taught in all churches - raise taxes to pay for this mandate. Put Rev. Jeremiah Wright in charge. Condemnation of homosexuality from the pulpit will become a Class 1 Felony.
HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE: Raise taxes. And coddle sexual perverts. Give tax breaks for NAMBLA membership fees.
DRUG CRISIS: Raise taxes to pay for free drugs for Obama’s inner-city political base.
ABORTION: Anywhere, anytime, for anyone for any reason up to 9 months and send taxpayers the bill. Encourage Partial Birth Abortion.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Keep buying foreign oil and sending billions to Muslim countries that hate us and want to destroy us. [Wait, isn't that the Republican platform?]
2ND AMENDMENT: Under Obama will only apply to gang-bangers, illegal aliens, Islamo-Fascist terrorists, and Senator Jim Webb’s aide.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Hire rapper Ludacris to “paint it black.” Taxes to be increased to buy enough paint for the job plus spray-paint for graffiti.
THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES: Raise taxes to send $845 billion, most of it to Africa so the Obama family there can skim off enough for them to free their goats and live the American Dream.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Change to the “Black National Anthem” by James Weldon Johnson. And raise taxes.
U.S. FLAG: Replace 50 stars with a star and crescent logo; red stripes changed to green to represent Obama’s tree-hugging radical environmentalism and his lack of experience. Flag lapel pins, having become a substitute for “real patriotism,” will henceforth be banned. And raise taxes.
U.S. MILITARY: Confiscate all weapons, substitute water pistols, pea shooters and bows with suction cup arrows. Replace U.S. flags on uniforms with peace symbols changing uniform color from green to pink and abolishing the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, replacing it with “A queer in every foxhole and a camouflage sex toy in every backpack” requirement. Condoms will be issues instead of bullets and brotherly love will be encouraged. Barney Frank will be the new Secretary of Defense (renamed Secretary of Peace and Love) and Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres, Lindsay Lohan, and Rick Boucher will all be made 5-star generals. And raise taxes.
He claims in the LATimes that this is not racist. Claiming Obama will paint the White House black is not racist? He thinks we're stupid. But we're not, and we see Bobby May's KKKolumn for what it is.
Bobby May will be out of the campaign by tomorrow night, but this is a window into the racism that permeates opposition to Obama. They don't see Obama. They see the scary black man.
Bobby May, Buchanan Courier: The (clarified) platform of Barack Hussein Obama (pdf)
LATimes: Frank talk of Obama and race in Virginia
dailykos: McCain Spokesman Writes Racist Column
firedoglake: Macaca Squared
New Obama Ad: "This Year"
I would have called this ad "Erratic".
Offense wins headlines, but defense wins championships. While defensive, this ad also aggressively paints McCain as erratic and out-of-touch. Two thumbs up from me.
I love the shots of McCain coming down the walkway of his private plane, or riding in the golf cart with George H.W. Bush.
Offense wins headlines, but defense wins championships. While defensive, this ad also aggressively paints McCain as erratic and out-of-touch. Two thumbs up from me.
I love the shots of McCain coming down the walkway of his private plane, or riding in the golf cart with George H.W. Bush.
Vice Presidential Debate on Saturday Night Live
Tina Fey once again skewers Sarah Palin on last night's Saturday Night Live. Bonus appearance by Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill.
Q: How would you solve the financial crisis, being a maverick?
A: You know we're gonna take every aspect of the crisis and look at it, and then we're gonna ask ourselves, what would a maverick do in this situation? And then you know, we'll do that.
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