10.25.2008

The closing argument

Waaaaaaasup! for Obama

Most of the actors in the original Budweiser Waaaaaaasup! ads have reprised their roles in a new Waaaaaaasup! ad - depicting how bad things have gotten.

Very funny.

Faux News: the staged assault and the fallout

CNN's Rick Sanchez calls out the media outlets - Fox News, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (owned by Republican billionaire cheerleader Richard Mellon Scaife), Newsday, right-wing scumbag talk show host Hugh Hewitt - that ran with this story - in some cases hysterically.



TPM's Greg Sargent reports:
John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson.

NBC's Brian Williams reports:


As does Keith Olbermann:

10.24.2008

Obama up in PA, OH, FL

Quinnipiac Univerity (Scranton Times)
With less than two weeks to Election Day, Democratic nominee Barack Obama held substantial leads in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, where his lead stood at 13 percentage points, according to the poll.Mr. Obama led Mr. McCain 53 percent to 40 percent in the Keystone State. That’s narrower than his 54 percent to 39 percent edge in a late-September Quinnipiac poll, but still large by historical state standards.

In Ohio, Mr. Obama was up 52 percent to 38 percent. In late September, it was 50 percent to 42 percent.

In Florida, Mr. Obama’s edge was 49 percent to 44 percent, smaller than the 51-43 margin last month.

McCain campign involved in staging assault, race-baiting

Anatomy of a disgusting smear:

1) The "Victim" - um... that "B" looks like it was done in a mirror

2) The questions

3) The Outrage: Drudge screams MULTILATION!

4) The Oh-no, what if.... Indictment: John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News, has now commented on his blog that..."If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."

5) Confirmation: it was a hoax.

How utterly desperate. How Al Sharpton. How Morton Downey Jr.

It must be because they're black

A list of Republicans who are endorsing Barack Obama. According to Rush, it must be because they're black.

Which will come as a surprise to most of them.
Colin Powell
Scott McLellan
William Weld
Christopher Buckley
Ken Adelman
Michael Smerconish
Charles Fried
Arne Carlson
CC Goldwater
Doug Kmiec
Wick Allison
Susan Eisenhower


(from Bob Cesca)
I wonder when if ever Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, Michelle Malkin and George Will are going to own up to, you know, being insanely wrong when they said that Colin Powell endorsed Senator Obama just because Powell happens to be black

10.23.2008

Ron Howard dresses up as Opie and Richie to support Obama

This is pretty cool. Ron Howard tosses away 25 years of credibility to get together with Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler to reprise their old roles.

Cool video from Funny Or Die

Former McCain chief Mike Murphy on Palin's clothing budget

Mike Murphy, who has been ostracized by McCain, offered this advice to McCain's campaign for dealing with the Palin wardrobe question.

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

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

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

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

4.) William Ayres is a terrorist!

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

Minnesota pwned

Norm Coleman, incumbent Republican senator from Minnesota is sliding behind in his race with SNL alum Al Franken. A good potion of it is Franken's response ad below.

Coleman had run an ad saying Franken was "angry" and unfit for office. The visuals showed an apparently angry Franken gesticulating.

The problem being that Coleman's people took the video from a story Franken told about Paul Wellstone and his son David. Wellstone was the Minnesota senator who was killed in a plane crash with most of his family, and whose seat Coleman now holds. the other problem was that Franken told the story with Daivd Wellstone sitting next to him.

Watch. Pwned.

10.22.2008

Pfotenhauer Pfail

Talk about pitbull. Chris Matthews, rightfully and fairly, but tenaciously, goes after Nancy Pfotenhauer about Sarah Palin's claim that as vice-president, she'd "be in charge" of the Senate.

Nancy tries to change the subject, chris brings her back. Chris asks her about the Constitution, Nancy doesn't know, Chris hits her. Nancy tries to change the subject again, Chris isn't having it. Nancy tries to parse words and Chris plays her the clip of Palin speaking - twice! Nancy claims Palin was explaining to kids, Chris corrects her that it was a reporter.

In the end, Nancy is sighing like a leaky radiator. I almost felt bad, then I remembered she's a lying sack of shit.

Palin does not understand the Constitution

Nope. Totally wrong. Just like her answer in the debate, as well as this nonsensical gibberish.

The U.S. Constitution says, "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." In other words, the vice president does not write, vote upon or sponsor legislation. And this is the flippin' job she's running for. Just staggering.

(Bob Cesca)

McTongue-tied: McCain drops the "C" bomb and agrees western PA is racist

The "C" Bomb, though not at Cindy this time


"You know, I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama's supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately," McCain told the audience in the town of Moon Township. "And you know, I couldn't agree with them more."

Then watch the attempt at recovery.

Pat Buchanan's politics of race and hate

Just like 1968 again.

Obama flip-flops; pals around with Phanatics

10.21.2008

99 Problems (107 actually)

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: Democratic sources say the McCain camp may be giving up on New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

Obama is leading McCain by 12 percentage points in Wisconsin and by 7 percentage points in New Hampshire, according to the latest polls.
(ABC News)

While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak.

The McCain strategy depends on holding a handful of Bush '04 states that are now rated tossups by CNN: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Nevada. It also depends on keeping Virginia, which CNN now considers leaning Democratic, in the GOP column.

But even if McCain won all six of those states, in addition to those in which he is already favored, he would still be shy of the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the presidency.

Which is where Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes come into play. Most polls show McCain trailing by 10 points or more in the state, but one top adviser told CNN on Monday, "The election hinges on Pennsylvania. We'll win Virginia and Nevada in the end, but lose without Pennsylvania."
(CNN)

All of this means that McCain has to win the 7 states in grey, some of which he's losing (VA, IA, NM, CO) AND pry PA away from Obama despite a 10 point or better advantage for the Democrat.


Map generated at 270towin.com

10.20.2008

MY COMMENT: The vulgarity of Republican politics

History will remember this election for the coarsening of American politics and the sheer vulgarity displayed by the McCain campaign in pitting Americans against one another.

The notion has been introduced that there are real Americans, those that are not. The idea that those with whom you do not agree are unpatriotic.

In comments by Senator McCain and surrogates, Americans have been told that ideas with which they disagree are “un-American”; that those with whom they disagree are terrorists; that blue areas of America are not “pro-America”.

Hatred, bias and outright racism have been repackaged as patriotism; threats and hate speech are tolerated as political discourse.

This deepening of the divide bodes ill for America’s future. Senator McCain’s campaign is playing with fire and opening up a divide we haven’t seen since the communist witch-hunts of the 1950’s. This type of rhetoric opens up the potential for post-electoral violence for which Senator McCain will be responsible.

America is an idea, an idea where those with differing ideas can gather around the table of a common devotion to freedom and democracy and debate the merits of those ideas. It is not about demeaning those who hold diverging ideas as somehow less deserving of respect. It is not about questioning the patriotism of those who hold differing thought.

The McCain campaign is focused on winning by any means necessary, regardless of the damage done to the nation.

In the climate McCain has fostered, how can any leader hope to govern effectively? McCain portrays himself as a servant of America. He needs to step forward and prove it. He must discuss the issues without hate and division and direct his surrogates to discuss policy without questioning patriotism.

In doing so, he may just resurrect the last shreds of his tattered honor in the process.

Christopher Wade

The way it should be: McCain people drive exremists away

At a John McCain rally in Woodbridge, Virginia, three people handed out "Obama for Change" bumper stickers with the Communist sickle and hammer and the Islamic crescent, saying Obama was a socialist with ties to radical Islam. Several moderate McCain supporters, Muslim and Christian alike, struck back - relentlessly bombarding the group distributing the flyers until they left the premises. (Huff Post)

How do you want to be remembered?



54 years later, who turned out to be the hero in this chapter? Murrow or McCarthy?

McCain, Palin and especially Michelle Bachmann need to take a cold hard look at history and determine how they'd like to be remembered.
(Bob Cesca)

From Good Night and Good Luck

McCain supporters heckle early voters in W. Va., calls them "cheaters"



Average American Joe the Plumber doesn't believe in Social Security


And this is the guy McCain wants to center his campaign around?

To summarize the weekend: Joe the Plumber doesn't believe in Social Security (like evolution?) and McCain calls a middle class tax cut "welfare". Who's side exactly are they on?

Oh right. Theirs. Country McCain First.

McCain defends RoboCalls


Summary: It's different because it's me doing it. I'd never do anything dirty. Just mavericky.

10.19.2008

Fatass drug addict says what?

Some fatass drug addict named after a rockin' Canadian band and a bastardized form of the name of a stinky cheese says that Colin Powell endorsed Obama based solely on race.

Rush Limbaugh emailed Politico with the following:

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race... OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

Using that logic, Limbaugh is endorsing McCain, a figure with whom he has famously quarreled**, and whom he said he'd never back, solely on the basis of race.

Nice move bigot.

Oh - and did Lieberman split with the Democratic caucus because of race? And GOP Senator Chuck Hagel supports Obama. Last time I checked, Chuck wasn't black. Maybe it's just his black, black heart.

** Here ya go, for starters

McCain Agrees Obama a "Hooligan"


So we're "Americans first" but McCain lets his comment about Obama as a hooligan stand?

Country first my ass.

McCain first.

American Heroes for Obama

McHate



A New Mexico gun shop owner says that he is "proud to offend" supporters of Barack Obama with its sign outside the store which reads "Pre-Osama bin Biden sale! Today, 7 PM - MIDNITE."

And even while the sale is over, the sign remains.

"If this sign offended people, I am damn proud of it," said shop owner Cope Reynolds in an interview with The Daily Times. Reynolds explained that "a lot of it is because of his Muslim upbringing."


(Raw Story)

McDivision

This is disturbing. This must surely be the first time any campaign has ever referred to a tax cut for the working class as "welfare".

Along with Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) calling for the return of McCarthyism and HUAC, there proves to be ever more divisiveness coming out of McCain's campaigns. It's going to be a bad 15 days.

(CNN) – McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer made a splash Saturday by drawing a line between northern Virginia and “real Virginia,” which she said is the “part of the state that is more Southern in nature,” a comment that may not sit well with the many residents of the commonwealth residing north of Frederickburg.

(CNN) - Sen. John McCain stepped up his rhetoric against his Democratic rival on taxes in his weekly radio address Saturday, comparing his plan to "socialist" programs.

The remarks were part of a theme McCain has used since the final presidential debate, but his most recent comments were the first time he used the word to describe Sen. Barack Obama.

In the radio address, McCain didn't directly call Obama a socialist, but he let the now-famous Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher nearly do it for him.

"You see, [Obama] believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism," McCain said Saturday.

In an interview with ABC last week, Wurzelbacher said Obama's proposal to raise taxes by 3 percent on those making $250,000 and over is a "very socialist view."

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has used the word in speeches the past two days as well.

McCain also said in his radio address, "At least in Europe, the socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are up front about their objectives. They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."


Of course, on the bright side, there's this:
100,000 for Obama under the St. Louis arch

Palin SNL