Now It Can Be Told

You know me, I am a concern troll. Can't help it, I love to give the GOP advice. But this time I don't need to, except RUN WITH THIS ONE, BOYS!

You know, I totally wouldn't have voted for Obama in 2008 if I had known that he attended services presided over by Jeremiah A. Wright. This fact was brutally suppressed by John McCain, who's far-left hatred of the whites is also well-documented.

This document will defeat... wait a minute, I just noticed something on Page 6.

"It's hard to blame voters for being swept off their feet by Barack Obama in 2008: he was a handsome, charismatic figure with sweeping oratory...As a final stroke of inevitability, the bottom fell out of the financial world a month before the election..." (Italics mine)

I'm sorry, abort! Abort! The Super Pac is claiming that Obama didn't cause the recession! They're in the tank for him too! My God, his sinister terrorist infiltrators are in everything!

Quote of the Day - Fully Precedented Edition

Hey WAMK: You voted for him!

"What the Supreme Court did is a combination of arrogance, naivete and stupidity the likes of which I have never seen. ...I promise you, there will be huge scandals because there's too much money washing around, too much of it we don't know who's behind it and too much corruption associated with that kind of money."

John McCain, discussing the potential upcoming Supreme Court case revisiting Citizens United. Will this upset the balance of power? Should people in office refrain from discussing Supreme Court business? Inviting your comments.

John McCain Lays the Groundwork

The administration said Wednesday they will not release a photo. McCain told reporters he did not think the photograph needed to be released. “My initial opinion is that it’s not necessary to do so. I think there’s ample proof that this was Osama bin Laden,” said McCain, a Vietnam War veteran.

Via Politico, emphasis mine.

See? McCain is smartening up finally. When he flip flops on this one, he warned you first!

Easy Pickin's

John McCain could be the Senate’s new Ted Kennedy

Despised by the Republican base? Mission accomplished long ago, Cynthia!

And Now, I'll Go Negative

John McCain, interviewed yesterday on the CBS affiliate in Washington: You’ll have to tell me what’s changed. I love it when they say, “Oh McCain has changed.” And I say, “What have I changed on?” They can’t name a single issue or they’ll name an issue and its false. I’m the same guy. I’m proud of our campaign.

Think Progress cites 44 issues. But here's the thing - they cite these issues, but they don't NAME them. They don't give the issues names, like "The Gun Control Pivot" or "The Ethanol U-Turn". So McCain wins on that one! Suck it up, libruls!

Well, That's Better

Good on ya, Walnuts:

After days of watching in silence, McCain calms the crowd at his Minnesota town meeting.

“I want everyone to be respectful. And let’s make sure we are, because that’s the way politics is done in America.”

Tells one supporter who says he’s scared of an Obama presidency: “I have to tell you, he is a decent person, a person that you do not have to be scared [of] as president of the United States.”

After a woman calls Obama an Arab, McCain interrupts to say: “No m’am, He is a decent family man, citizen.”

(h/t The Page at Time.com)

And while we're at it: I finally found the thing McCain suggested this morning, the sensible proposal that he made while taking time off from bashing his opponent. Justin Fox isn't so sure it's a good idea, and I'm going to let him tell it.

John McCain is suggesting on the campaign trail today that the IRS rules that require owners of retirement accounts (IRA, 401ks, etc.) to withdraw a certain amount (there's a formula) from those accounts every year after they turn 70 1/2 ought to be suspended because of the market crash.

Sayeth the Senator from Arizona: To spare investors from being forced to sell their stocks at just the time when the market is hurting the most, those rules should be suspended.

It doesn't seem like a bad idea at first glance. If there are any tax lawyers or others out there who think it is, please let me know. But it also seems pretty trivial. First of all, the only people the suspension would help are those who don't need the money right now. And for the bulk of retirees (that is, people in their 70s) the required annual withdrawal amount is 5% or less of the total in the account. Still, this could be a big deal for 100-year-olds, who must withdraw as much as 16% a year. They should definitely vote for McCain.

I wasn't aware of the fractional amounts involved when I heard the proposal, but that doesn't alter the fact that it makes sense to suspend the rule, so I have two good things to laud Mac for today. And frankly, I'd be happier if there were more. Hate isn't doing the country any good right now.

Enough Substance - Now Style!

Among the other hilarious things about last night debate:

Republicans consider planetariums to be the worst pork of all. They hate 'em! We can add planetariums to the list that also includes community organizers, grieving widows, people who gave George Bush good advice, Kathleen Lopez, Spain, France, and John McCain.

In the post-debate period, Barack and Michelle Obama hung around for about forty minutes and worked the room. John and Cindy McCain left after ten minutes. Because they hate Americans.

Post debate polling of undecided voters indicated increased positives for both candidates, but Obama's were more increased. But you know, the undecideds are in the tank for him.

Some say referring to Obama as "that one" was disrespectful. Me, I found it a little charming.

What was up with everybody wanting to break the debate rules? And would it have killed Brokaw to just say "No, shut up, we're moving on." Instead, as paraphrased on Wonkette:

9:46 — Someone finishes answering a question, meaning Tom Brokaw has to yell at them both again. How do you teach those who don’t want to learn? Answer: catty sarcasm. Brokaw basically asks them if they’ve heard of clocks, which can be very useful — they tell the “time” — and especially useful during, say, TOM BROKAW’S LAST DEBATE BEFORE HE DIES. John McCain says “no”, he doesn’t know about these new Apple time gadgets or whatever, and thens asks Tom to act like a crazy retard with hands flailing to tell him the time instead.

Oh how I love Wonkette.

I wonder if Republicans are still going to demand that Obama should do another 9 Townhall-style debates? There's probably time if they both can squeeze 'em in, and I bet McCain would crack by number 3, tops. He seemed a barely tamped down caldron of rage already last night. And yet, the promised "gloves" didn't "come off." My guess - he realized he wouldn't be able to put them back on once he got started.

100 Percent Absolute Truth

In another clip, when McCain is asked how he can restore trust in American government if some of his campaign charges are not completely true, he doesn't hide his displeasure with the question.

"Because I have always had 100 percent, absolute truth and that's been my life of putting my country first," McCain replied. "And i'll match that record against anyone's. And I'm proud of it. And an assertion that I've ever done otherwise, I take strong exception to."

Johnathan Martin in Politico

It's hard not to read a statement like that as "help! I'm drowning!" He also said this morning on NPR that he's asked Sarah Palin for foreign policy advice "many times in the past." The past going all the way back to late August? Does he know so little about foreign policy that he is turning to Sarah Palin for advice? Questions, questions.

My favorite questions concerning the first interview, with editors of the Des Moines Register, come from Mike Murphy at Swampland. A former campaign strategist for the GOP, he asked:

What the Hell was McCain even doing there in the first place?

1.) Obama is going to win Iowa.

2.) Editorial board meetings are usually pure trouble to begin with and result only in newspaper endorsements that persuade very few voters beyond the immediate family members of the editorial board.

3.) Within the rarified category of newspaper editorial boards, the Des Moines Register is one of the most liberal in the country. I'm rather surprised that halfway through the McCain interview they failed to switch over to Esperanto, the peace-loving language of all nations.

You know, William Shatner starred in the only movie made entirely in Esperanto. It's off the subject but fascinating.

***Update*** See comments for more about the Language of peace and brotherhood, including an important correction.

Alternative Scenario Playhouse

Just think - if Bush (and McCain) had succeeded in privatizing Social Security in 2004, we'd be buying it back today!

It Don't Get More Mavericky Than This

Today both candidates did a little speechifyin' about the troubles and vexation on Wall Street. Let me stipulate here that I don't think Presidents really influence the economy that much. Believe me, I wish they did because I could blame the crash on Bush and credit the boom to Clinton. Now and then I'll even argue those points, but caveat emptor: I don't really believe them. I'm just trying to throw you off guard.

So considering how little influence an ELECTED official has, you gotta figure that these speeches this morning are pretty useless. But there is something to be gleaned from them. H/T to Anna Marie Cox at Swampland - Obama this morning:

I have asked my economic team to refrain from presenting a more detailed blue-print of how an immediate plan might be structured until the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have had an opportunity to present their proposal.

Okay, nothing new there. McCain:

I will lead in the creation of the Mortgage and Financial Institutions trust -- the MFI. The underlying principle of the MFI or any approach considered by Congress should be to keep people in their homes and safe guard the life savings of all Americans by protecting our financial system and capital markets. This trust will work with the private sector and regulators to identify institutions that are weak and fix them before they become insolvent.

See the difference? McCain wants to fix the problem by creating another government bureaucracy, while Obama favors using the ones we already have in place. Interesting. Regardless of how empty the campaign promises are, it suggests that a vote for McCain is a vote for bigger government.

Palin's Convention Speech Zinger Re-Written

"What's the difference between a soccer mom and a delicate french poodle with anemia and a rare condition that makes her skin sensitive to sunlight? Lipstick."

Honestly you Republican guys, I cannot imagine Obama running an ad where the theme is that people are being DISRESPECTFUL to Obama. For that matter, disrespectful to McCain. For all their claims of gender-blindness, the Republicans are treating Sarah Palin like she is prone to fainting spells, like she can't do interviews because she's locked in her room, crying her eyes out at the mean treatment she's getting.

Tell you what. I'm going to lay off Palin. She's a sideshow anyway. As much as you'd like her to be the next president, that's not what the ballots say. So this way I can avoid treading on her delicate manicured toes and you will be able to devote your attention to John McCain, the maverick who will change everything.

There, That's Better

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

Make Lemonade

Check out this l'il piece at REDSTATE.com. Quoting:

On the Obama website, there is the Obama Blog, Barack TV, Obama News, Obama Events, Obama Maps, the Obama Store, and even Obama Everywhere, like he really is the messiah. The Obama Store's front page has zero Joe Biden stuff for sale. In fact, the Obama sign for sale on the front page is the old Obama '08 sign.

Nice framing, boys!

In response, because a picture is worth a thousand words, I give you this cartoon, triumphantly run by the Right-Wing WHERE ARE MY KEYS the week of the Republican National Convention. The WAMK caption?

THE ELEPHANT IS PLEASED.

The Desperation Is Back! ***UPDATED***

Convention bounce, Obama is up 8 points. Second convention bounce, McCain is up 9 points. So before the end of August they were close to dead even and now, after the conventions, we're back where we started. Some Democrats are worried because the White Women Demographic has swung toward McCain in a big way, 50% to 42%. But since the general number is back where it was, doesn't that mean Obama gained in all other categories to compensate?

Still, at least for today McCain is up a point. So why, today, did I see two of the most desperate talking points ever from Republicans?

Item number one: Hugh Hewitt et al accuses Obama of dissing Sarah Palin in a speech! The line "lipstick on a pig" according to them, obviously refers to Palin. Here's the clip that WHERE ARE MY KEYS put up to prove it:

A fasciating insult, lacking as it does ANY CONTEXT AT ALL IN THE SPEECH. Interestingly, McCain used the same expression last year, talking about Hillary Clinton's health care plan. So there is a little tempest raging over this, and the Obama people issued a statement that amounts to "Oh, come ON."

Enough is enough. The McCain campaign’s attack tonight is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy – the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run.

I gotta say also, Obama is savvy enough to know that crudely insulting your popular opponents femininity probably wouldn't win him back those white women. So I'm going to file this one under "implausible outrage."

Meanwhile my other favorite source of Conservative Outrage, Warner Todd Huston, offers this:

OBAMA LIES ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR THE DRAFT!!!!! ZOMG!!! (Okay, everything after the word "draft" was my addition.) Here's the talking point. On Sunday Obama talked to GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS and said this:

You know, I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii, and I had friend whose parents were in the military, there were a lot of Army, military bases there. And I always actually thought of the military as some ennobling and honorable option. But keep in mind: I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. So it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.

Huston, letting Newsbusters do his thinking for him, calls this a "lie" because: there was no selective service requirement in 1979! He's lying, don't you see!

I commented on the entry and asked Huston to explain what Obama hoped to gain by lying like that. After all, if he had failed to sign up and there HAD been a requirement, that would certainly be a scandal but this, this is nothing. Huston insists that Obama forgot when he signed up, and that's LYING. OMG!!!!

What I'm taking away from these two attempts to spin a scandal outta nothin' is that these guys are running scared. Not these two guys. The whole blogosphere. And that, more than anything else, makes me think that the Democrats got nothing to worry about. I mean, I suppose we shouldn't stop mentioning that Sarah Palin actually supported, and got money for, the Bridge to Nowhere (she just didn't spend it on the bridge) and that John McCain, well, we can just run his old quotes to bring him down. And that if the surge worked, why can't we send the troops home? But we have the luxury of not having to resort to character attacks. Especially weird ones.

***Upadate*** Anna Marie Cox, at Swampland: I don't think Obama meant anything crude with the phrase. And I didn't think the McCain campaign meant to portray Obama as the anti-Christ, either. Neither of these campaigns are quite as together as critics would like to believe. Amen, sistah, especially to that last part.

No Speech! No Speech!

I didn't watch Sara Palin's speech last night. In fact, I haven't watched more than five minutes of the whole Republican convention, and I certainly am not going to waste time on McCain's speech tonight. Yes, I must hate all Republicans.

Then again, I watched even less of the Democratic Convention last week, so I must hate them too. Or perhaps it's this: I don't like to watch politicians making speeches.

This aversion developed in the mid-nineties when I watched one of Clinton's State of the Union addresses. I couldn't get through it without thinking, "you're not addressing the question! You're glossing over the subject!" And I liked Clinton. Once Bush took office, of course it was even worse: all the evasion and trickery, accompanied by a lack of ability to actually speak in public.

A character in Lawrence of Arabia tells Omar Sharif: "You answered without saying anything. That's politics." That's also convention speeches, only without the question first.

So given that you won't get any actual information from these spectacles, you're left with judging politicians by their charisma. Or in other words, you can try to determine whether the rubes will vote for this person because they don't know any better. I'm tired of playing that game. The rubes will vote for who they like. I'm trying to determine who I will vote for. I'd suggest you do the same.

Palin By Comparison

Just a few minutes ago I read a post on Where Are My Keys that started "here's the reason why the left is terrified of Sarah Palin...". I gotta tell you, I was a lot more terrified on Saturday than I am now.

As much as I'd like the national discussion to not be about Palin's personal life, that's just not the way the game is played nowadays. So predictably the press is focusing on stuff that has nothing do with her ability to fulfill the role of Vice President, which by the way is cheifly agreeing with the President and showing up at funerals for other country's Vice Presidents. In fact, we've just recently learned that the office isn't even part of the executive branch!

She seems likable enough.

So who's terrifed? John McCain cancelled an interview with Larry King because:

Campbell Brown had been caught in the commission of journalism on CNN the night before, asking McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what decisions Sarah Palin had made as commander-in-chief of the Alaska national guard.

As Joe Klein points out, there was actually a pretty good answer (she deployed them to fight fires) but the McCain camp are furious that someone would dare ask the question! In fact, with the exception of the bloggers and worse, the people who comment on the blogs, the treatment of Sarah Palin has been pretty weak sauce. Nobody is demonizing Sarah Palin, just asking tough questions. I've yet to see someone suggest Sarah Palin is the anti-christ. She lived closer to Russia than most of us, but I haven't seen anyone insist she must be a communist.

Over at Where Are My Keys there have been eleven posts since Aug 31st defending Sarah Palin. It's growing exponentially as the days go on. I'd say the problem isn't Sarah Palin OR the press. The problem is the Republicans always are ready to bring a machine gun to a knife fight. It's worked for them in the past, but America is tired of listening to machine gun fire. I listen to the commentary now and it sounds like backfiring and ricochets to me.

His Terrible Swift Sword

Last night's Republican National Convention, they say, was classy. It's an extrordinary thing to set aside an entire quarter of your infomercial and devote it to non-partisan efforts. I'm not going to watch this one much either, but the talk in the streets is the RNC got it right. And since Gustav has apparently shed much of its strength and fury, it is safe to return to a more conventional Convention.

I'm just wondering though, for consistancy's sake, about the role of God in all this.

The evangelical community was quite fond of pointing out that Katrina was God's way of punishing New Orleans for its sinful ways. So presumably the storm this time around is God's way of saying, "You're cleaning up there, New Orleans. Good on ya." However, Gustav forced Republicans into giving up all that free TV time - isn't that God's way of saying that they're on notice?

And though some were saying that the party dodged a bullet in that they were able to credibly cancel the President's and Vice President's appearance on Monday. But Bush will speak, via satellite, tonight. So his appearance is separated from Palin's speech and McCain's (he's also running) speech by one less day. Surely, if God uses storms as a way of administering justice and engineering the big picture, this demonstrates that he wants the Republicans to lose, right?

As a matter of fact, there was a movement several weeks ago. A pastor implored people to pray for rain during Obama's stadium speech. And the Democrats were spared rain while Republicans were flooded out of an entire convention night. I don't claim to speak for Mr. Big there, but there's no mistaking which team he's rooting for right now.

Addendum: Here's the class keepin' on goin' - President Bush this morning.

President Bush said Tuesday that while it’s too early to assess Hurricane Gustav’s damage to U.S. oil infrastructure off the Gulf Coast, the storm should prompt Congress to OK more domestic oil production.

“One thing is for certain, when Congress comes back, they’ve got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less,” Bush said in the Roosevelt Room. “One place to find it is offshore America lands that have been taken off the books, so to speak, by congressional law and now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and gas here at home.”

It takes a guy who doesn't do nuance to use a massive gulf storm to argue that offshore drilling is a great idea.

McCain Wants Out

How do I know? I've looked into his eyes and seen his soul. You might want more proof than that. So I'll give you some.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that the big rally McCain is holding on Friday in a 10,000 seat stadium is still not sold out, and helpfully gives the phone numbers of a few places where you can get free tickets. They add:

There has been speculation that McCain would use the Dayton visit to announce his running mate but McCain said he's not reached a decision yet, so he's not sure if there will be an announcement here.

Seeing as the 75000 seat auditorium that Obama is accepting the nomination at tonight has been "sold out" for weeks (not literally - despite some blog reports, he didn't charge a thousand a ticket; most of the seats are free) perhaps McCain could knuckle down and choose that running mate today, just to get a few more people to come to the rally. Free publicity tip, Johnnie!

(How popular are those Obama tickets anyway? This popular.)

The clearest indication that McCain is close to doing a Thompson here is from this Time Magazine interview.

There's a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?

Read it in my books.

I've read your books.

No, I'm not going to define it.

But honor in politics?

I defined it in five books. Read my books.

...In 2000, after the primaries, you went back to South Carolina to talk about what you felt was a mistake you had made on the Confederate flag. Is there anything so far about this campaign that you wish you could take back or you might revisit when it's over?

[Does not answer.]

Do I know you? [Says with a laugh.]

[Long pause.] I'm very happy with the way our campaign has been conducted, and I am very pleased and humbled to have the nomination of the Republican Party.

You do acknowledge there was a change in the campaign, in the way you had run the campaign?

[Shakes his head.]

...A lot of people know about your service from your books, but most people don't know that you have two sons currently in the military. Can you describe what it means to have Jack and Jimmy in uniform?

We don't discuss our sons.

Is it my imagination, or is McCain refusing to even answer the softballs here? I suppose they might have caught him on a bad day, and it's not like he didn't answer ANY questions, but geez!

By the way, please please please let it be Leiberman. He's an independant! Everybody LOVES Joe Lieberman! Pleeeeeeeeeease!

The Pro-Monopoly Candidate

Hat tip Bedazzled.

Sure, Make It Easy For Me

The Democratic Convention has been on for three days now... and I haven't watched a SINGLE MINUTE OF IT!

That's a lie. I actually saw most of Ted Kennedy's speech but I didn't hear it. I was reading the CC titles while on a treadmill at the gym. It looked effective enough. But I'm getting all my info about the infomercial from blogs and news. It's quicker, more efficient and even more entertaining.

So far the convention has been kind of a disappointment - to Republicans. Sure Fox News was able to whip this up:

They'll say it proves that liberals are all angry and hate America, but if you listen closely they're not chanting "Fuck America!" Earlier this week ace cub reporter Griff Jenkins met with this chant while asking the protestors to explain themselves, and was reduced to shouting "Why do you hate free speech!" Apparently the Fox definition of the term is "talking to Fox News." It doesn't occur to them that not talking to Fox is a freedom all its own.

Then there are the PUMAs. Republicans were so looking forward to the Party Unity My Ass people disrupting the flow of the convention by refusing to accept Obama as the nominee and demanding Hillary instead. Unfortunately, Hillary put the Kibosh on that last night with her speech, and Bill Clinton didn't do the PUMAs any favors tonight. And it's becoming increasingly obvious that while there may have been some disenfranchised Democrat members, the organization is run by Republicans.

So tomorrow Obama will accept the nomination that was entered a few hours ago, and he'll make a speech that Republicans will insist proves that he hates America, and the Democratic National Convention will be over.

And then, the real fun begins.

The Republican National Convention starts Labor day. You want proof that Karl Rove isn't running things nowadays? They're starting on a holiday that was sponsored by UNIONS. Further proof? It's a few hours after the end of the Muscular Dystrophy telethon, another informercial, associated with a disease that causes gradual and irreversible weakness.

I'm not done. Opening night speakers include the President and Vice President. This isn't so bad, I mean, they had to put them somewhere and why not the furthest point from the night that McCain is speaking? But it also happens to be the anniversary of the President's biggest Achilles' heel, the LANDFALL OF HURRICANE KATRINA. They scheduled the Convention to run at exactly the time of year that we remember the worst footage of the disaster from.

Perhaps it's a strategy, distract people on the anniversary with an event. Oh yeah, they're holding the whole party in New Orleans. * If these parallels don't get play from the press every single night of the convention, I think we can finally write off the myth of a liberal media.

And weirdly, they could have held it a week later and had McCain accept the nomination on 9/11.

What the hell has happened to these people?

* I misread something. The whole party is in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Who can turn the world on with a smile? John McCain!

Addendum: From Wonkette:

Talking about the possibility of Hurricane Gustav making landfall during the Republican convention, Karl Rove tells Fox News, “The Republicans can’t seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather.” Right in the middle of the president’s vacation, frequently! Stupid asshole weather, poor Republicans.