My Policy on Obama

It's amazing. I became a political drop out as soon as Obama was elected. I have had ZERO interest in following any of it beyond the cabinet picks of the first week or two. I have had no interest in what the blogosphere has been saying, any griping about these individuals. Or Caroline Kennedy. And pretty much no interest in the Blago scandal, except I felt chagrined that the media tried to implicate Obama in it. But I totally -- TOTALLY -- tuned out on watching the news shows on this stuff, so I really missed it.

I can see Bush is definitely leaving Obama a mess to deal with. So completely radical things have to be coming down the pike to get it cleaned up. At this point, what Obama does is OK with me. It just seems so frustrating that there has to be this enormous gap between election day and inauguration day. One, Bush is still in there like a drunken sailor. Two, Obama has to take heat from the media when he really has no power to do anything.

Any other controversies -- Obama with no shirt on, whatever -- I haven't been following. It's all been a zone-out time. We made it to the election, we won, that's it.

A Concert I Went To

I thought the internet was a respository of all information, but I can't find any remembrance or mention of a concert I went to in (I think it was) 1971. In Des Moines. It might have been 1972.

Featured at this concert, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds were Leon Russell, Albert King, and J.J. Cale. Does anyone out there remember this concert or tour?

I remember J.J. Cale had a really weird looking guitar, like it was a technological marvel, holes, wires, gadgets. I got one or two Albert King LPs after that at some point. And we loved Leon at the time. Haven't heard much about him lately.

The PC Cupholder

I was absentminded in the car. My cup holder was out. It looks kind of like an open disc drive on a computer. I pushed it gently, actually expecting it to go in. It didn't, then I was reminded, it's not a disc drive but a cup holder.

"You Might Be A Redneck" Video

But He's A, He's A ... An ARAB

Good riddance to one of the most memorable lines of the campaign. The problem, of course, is that there's still all these people out there who believe everything they read in anonymous emails. How to get them weaned off the falsehoods might be the next task.

Or maybe it'd be good to let them believe it. After all, the normal mainstream American doesn't want to hear a lot of false stuff, a lot of looney bit propaganda. So the more the Republicans spout it, the less credibility they have. The next Democratic victories -- 2010 -- start with loudmouth Republican ignorance today.

Maybe we need to pay Joe the Plumber to be out there spouting it for the next couple years.

Joe the Plumber Not There

Stick A Fork In Joe McCain

Joe McCain is out of the campaign. Calling northern Virginia communist country wasn't good. But then cussing out the 911 operator finished him off.

I don't watch King of the Hill very often, but I believe I saw him on an episode or two!

McCain Campaign Exploits Hoax Story For Political Gain

Disgusting but true. As the executive VP from Fox News, John Moody, said, now McCain's despicable campaign will forever be known for race-baiting.

“Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.”

Talking Points Memo has the details. The McCain campaign was out in front of the police on this story, supplying details of their own so that the story would be spun against Obama.

Confesses

It appears that Ashley Todd has confessed that the supposed attack was a hoax, false.

Many props to those on the Left AND the Right (Michelle Malkin, others) who showed restraint on this or suspicion.

Ron Howard - An Amazing Video!

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Oh, This Is Lovely

Link: "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."

McCain The "Peacenik"

McCain can flash the peace sign all he wants. I'm not forgetting he's one of this country's biggest warmongers. Who's he think he's fooling?

McCain: "To Russia, With Love"

John McCain solicited funds for his campaign from the Russians. True story.

Comrade McCain recently suggested, without proof, that perhaps some of Obama's support was coming from foreign countries. But now we see which side is really going global.

When McCain looks into Putin's eyes, what letters does he see now? Or are there just dollar signs?

The First Dude

That's First Dude, Todd Palin. Great sign, huh? And Norm Coleman over there, applauding. These guys are a class act!

Which Of These Men Looks Credible As President?

As far as I know this photo has not been altered by Photoshop. I saw McCain make this weird face and gesture just after the debate.

Is this a good presidential look?

Airheadless

One of the consequences of McCain's seeming inevitable defeat, which is of incalculable worth, is that we will be spared having an airhead as vice president, then potentially president.

Send her back to the tundra, and let her family get on with the rest of their lives.

Voting For McCain Is Wrong

And how does Sarah Palin expect her kids to tell the truth? What lesson are they getting? She's an enormous liar.

Ringo

There was a report that Ringo Starr won't be answering any more fan mail or signing pictures to send them out. Good for him. What's a guy like him doing worrying about answering mail and signing pictures? He's surely got more important things to do, like living his life.

Let everyone get a life. Sending letters to celebrities, expecting them to answer. That's ridiculous. Ringo's a legend and he deserves his privacy, whatever he wants to do.

Go Ringo!

Channeling George Wallace

Since McCain has been channeling George Wallace lately, one way to show up Obama at the debate is to stand in the doorway so Obama can't get to the stage. But he'll have to be on his guard that Forrest Gump isn't there somewhere to mess things up.

The Last Debate

I read somewhere the last debate is a sit-down debate. This should be bad news for McCain, who said today he was going to "whip" Obama's "you-know-what." Of course physically it will be harder to get to his you-know-what if he's sitting on it.

But his bigger problem is the whole dynamic of sit-down debates. Going by debates past -- Lieberman/Cheney and Edwards/Cheney come to mind -- they tend to be gentlemanly affairs. If McCain tries to get too nasty it'll come across as nothing but nasty.

Bleak For Republicans

Stu Rothenberg: "Republicans appear to be heading into a disastrous election that will usher in a very bleak period for the party."

Hallelujah! Welcome to the wilderness. Please enjoy your stay.

No One's Happy With McCain

NY Times:

Tommy Thompson, a Republican who is a former governor of Wisconsin, said it would be difficult for Mr. McCain to win in his state but not impossible, particularly if he campaigned in conservative Democratic parts of the state. Asked if he was happy with Mr. McCain’s campaign, Mr. Thompson replied, “No,” and he added, “I don’t know who is.”

"I don't know who is." Ha ha. Actually, now that I think of it I guess I'm fairly happy with McCain's campaign, as disgusting as it is. It's always best to see Republican ineptitude before they're elected!

McCain: The Incredible Shrinking Man

An endorsement for Barack Obama by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In their editorial, the newspaper says Obama is the best candidate because he's presidential, intelligent, has good advisers, good temperament, and impressive equanimity under pressure.

John McCain, on the other hand:

Meanwhile, Mr. McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, became the incredible shrinking man. He shrank from his principled stands in favor of a humane immigration policy. He shrank from his universal condemnation of torture and his condemnation of the politics of smear.

No Props For McCain

McCain is running a despicable campaign, and he's a despicable candidate.

But we pulled into a rest stop yesterday, so McCain could tell the booing mob that Obama was "decent" and not someone for them to be "scared of" as president. But, you know how rest stops go, you're in, you're out. And now the Republicans are back at it.

I saw a few comments, at Daily Kos and other places, giving props to McCain for being a decent guy after all. I thought it was all quite a bit, enormously premature. And that turns out to be the case. Now we have John Lewis criticizing McCain. John Lewis! One of McCain's own three wisest people he knows! And what does McCain do -- repent in sackcloth and ashes? No! -- he comes out with how it saddens him that John Lewis had made "a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale." Beyond the pale?

If McCain can't take the word of John Lewis -- one of the three wisest people he knows -- then what would it take to pierce through that dense, confused noggan of his? If you're inciting a mob toward violence, do you not realize you should stop it?

There was an amusing side to the whole thing, watching the little old clueless lady stumble over her words and finally blurt out that Obama was "an Arab." The amusing part was that momentary look of horror on McCain's face, as in "What hath I wrought?" "These are my supporters?" He tried to step them back a couple paces, but it's not enough. No props for McCain!

Two steps back, five steps forward. McCain is out and out despicable. May he lose. And may his campaign always be viewed as a disgrace.

Cindy

After McCain loses there will probably be no reason for Cindy to ever come out in public again, will there?

I really hate seeing her. She seems so empty, vacuous. But it's just a few weeks. McCain loses, then whatever reason Cindy would ever have for appearing goes away.

The best of both worlds.

How Do You Like That?

The people at McCain's rallies, what can you say about them? Somehow they are able to get out of their house, travel to where the rally is being held, go through the process of getting in, then further work through the process of getting a seat, then manage (who knows how?) to get in position to be chosen to ask a question, then they ask it, and it's like, "Duh. Me brain hurt."

Ha ha, how did these goofballs, dingbats, morons, and losers manage all that other stuff? Were they kidnapped off their couch and hauled there unaware? They probably do know how to sit on a couch somewhere, I don't know, it's feasible they do. They appear to be politically aware enough to know that there's an election coming up, and in general who the candidates are. The one lady thought Obama was an Arab, which would be kind of a long commute for him.

I saw a couple clips, Arab lady, and the guy whose wife is going to have a baby on April 2, and he's not sure he wants to bring a child into the world in a country that has Barack Obama as president. But he insisted he would allow the birth to take place, and that it would take place here in the United States regardless of his political qualms. McCain's got that look on his face that says, this question is going to be a bomb.

Is it that guy who thinks Obama is a terrorist or has terrorist associations? I don't know. I've seen a couple other videos, I guess, people in line. One of some really disgusting women, who take over the show, and the other of just quick clips of GOP losers calling Obama a terrorist. The thread that runs through the whole thing is, These people are flaky.

So McCain, who's shown himself on occasion to be a coward, managed to screw up his courage enough to assure the folks that Obama is actually another human being, that he's not an Arab, that he's not scary. So settle down and shut up.

Being the true believers in the GOP cause -- i.e., deadenders in the last throes -- they booed their nominee.

Obama's Not An Arab

Hmm, it turns out (hold on to your seat for this one) that Barack Obama ... is not an Arab. Let me repeat that, not an Arab. How do I know? John McCain says so, although we're still waiting for Mr. Obama's denial and whatever explanation he might want to make to let us know where we got that impression.

Here I was, believing that somehow the Constitution had been changed, allowing non-Americans to run for president. I guess I'm kind of dumb.

Tao Te Ching 68

I know it says in the Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell version) 68, "The best athlete wants his opponent at his best." And that's probably right. But I've loving it that the McCain campaign is basically in shambles.

Palin a lawbreaker, violating an ethics law, a violation of the public trust; McCain having to beg his hayseed, troglodyte audience not to kill Obama; McCain with a different cockeyed economic plan everyday; suspending his campaign apparently by the random advice of a Magic Eight Ball; the rabid conservatives basically hating him; the moderate conservatives basically hating him; the butt of incessant jokes. What's there not to like?

Plus, seriously, I hate nailbiters. Unless it's a football or basketball game where I don't really care who wins, which is practically every one. I don't like anything like 2000, certainly, or 2004, where it came down to one state, then a stolen election. Give me a good old fashioned blowout, take away the suspense, and I'm happy as a clam.

"I Approved This Message"

I don't think the tag line "I approved this message" is all that helpful. It's like we need more of an explanation of why, because with John McCain's heinous ads, I'm saying, "Really? Are you really that bad of a guy?"

Is there any slime that this snake won't slither in?

McCain "So Small"

Great comment:

"Every time Obama is on the same stage with McCain he looks a little more presidential, a little more prepared for the job," one Republican said. "McCain's attack strategy made him look so small at a time when the issues are so big."

By the time the election gets here we'll need an electron microscope just to watch McCain's concession speech.

Bunker Mentality

Here's the perfect image to describe McCain's futile, insane behavior, fighting madly to the end. Bunker mentality.

Does his campaign have their cyanide pills ready?

The Flow of the Conversation

McCain tells Charles Gibson the reason he didn't confront Obama to his face about Ayers is that "It didn't come up in the flow of the conversation."

Give me a break! Either Obama has dangerous terrorist connections or he doesn't. If he does -- and McCain found a place to bring up something as trivial as hair transplants, which if memory serves also had nothing to do with the conversation -- then he has done his country a serious disservice. It looks like McCain seriously could be a coward in the face of terrorism. How else can you spin it? He has shrunk in the face of terrorism while trying to shift the conversation to hair transplants.

And if Obama is the terrible terrorist threat to this country that McCain is claiming, why be out there "pallin' around with him," shaking his hand, patting his arm?

So McCain, you coward, either say it to his face or shut up.

Coward McCain Claims "Courage"

You got to love it, John McCain is being exposed as a complete coward.

Charlie Gibson asked him why he didn't make his scurrilous charges to Obama's face, and McCain laughed, saying no one's ever accused him of lacking courage. Well, I'm accusing! McCain is running a courage deficit. No balls. Palin has all the testosterone, McCain's checking Cindy's secret stash of drugs for a quick dose.

Here's a great quote from James G. Gilmore:

John McCain is a coward. If he had even an ounce of courage, he'd have confronted Obama about the association to his face on Tuesday rather than slinking around like a toad and releasing a web ad on Thursday. But of course, that would have given Obama a chance to respond with the truth in front of a huge audience - and the truth, apparently, is anathema to Chickens**t McCain.

I love that "slinking around like a toad" phrase!

This is the shriveled up, old, wasted, gutless loser the GOP went with! I haven't kept up on the latest styles in adult diapers. Do Depends come in pink?

Unhinged, Erratic

We're getting more and more reports on the dishonorable McCain campaign. That's disturbing in itself, but worse is the effect that McCain's desperation is having on his hopeless, increasingly crazed supporters. It's too bad McCain can't rein in some of this. Since he's on a trajectory toward defeat, why not pull back and try to salvage some last shred of honor? Seeing the effect all this is having on his supporters, why not console them a bit rather than whip them up? He always puts "Country First," you know.

One thing is good about it. I remember a few years ago how none of them could understand how we found Bush extremely distasteful. They were taunting everyone with that "Bush hatred" line. They didn't know how it felt to mourn for our country under the leadership of a total bonehead. That was our point of view. Well, maybe the sense of losing will wake them up to a little more understanding attitude. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

But even so, they're doing crazy things as a response. I definitely don't recall Kerry/Edwards rallies where nutcases were shouting out "Kill him!," "Terrorist!," and "Off with his head!" The Democrats were a lot more law-abiding and levelheaded. The McCain/Palin people have gone off the deep end. And they have an unhinged, erratic candidate to lead them. And don't let us forget his airhead running mate. Of course she's simply doing what they tell her to do, not having an original thought in her head.

Purple Gremlin

From Achenblog: "Was that a purple Gremlin that just rolled by?"

I always seriously wanted a purple Gremlin, but could never quite get one. I saw a Gremlin on a commercial the other day, one of those commercials that recreates the past to try to sell kids from that era something. But it wasn't purple.

Cowardly Lyin' John McCain

Here's a good link, talking about what a coward John McCain is.

McCain knows this Ayers stuff is empty. (I wish the media would simply say it's BS and move on to something else, but that's another story.) He knows it's empty and that he's got nothing. So the more he lets everyone else bring it up, asking him about it, talking in whispers and all the rest, maybe he can get some mileage from it. But ask him to just put it out there in a debate and say it to Barack Obama's face -- McCain's a wimp. Obama would beat him down in about 10 seconds, there'd be a look of emptiness on McCain's face, and we'd all move on.

So, come on you big chicken. You got something to say, say it like a man. Get Obama on the stage and take him on. Gutless wonder.

I loved the joke Jon Stewart had on McCain, when he played the clip of McCain saying he would "take the gloves off" Tuesday night, the night of the debate. Stewart's joke was that under McCain's gloves were just "softer gloves." He comes out looking physically weak, mentally unstable, wandering the stage like he was lost, blurting out embarrassing jokes, insulting the audience, forgetting names, writing down the three priorities Brokaw mentioned, because he couldn't remember three simple things... McCain was pathetic.

Then there's Obama, that look of confidence, following McCain with his eyes, a smile on his face. And one thing you did not see was McCain bring up this crock about Ayers! The coward. Anything McCain had to say would have been immediately smacked down and he knew it.

So, come on, you big chicken. We have Wednesday night's debate. Bring your game, and I don't mean shuffleboard.

Say It To His Face, Ya Big Coward

You know what they say about bullies. They're insecure and really more scared than you. If only I would've known that as a kid!

My Fellow Prisoners

What did he mean to say anyway? I don't know. Are we all his fellow prisoners? This is an odd one. Grandpa's going dingy.

McCain's Notes

I thought it was interesting that McCain started scribbling notes as soon as he was on stage. Was that sort of like taking a test in school, when we'd memorized a mnemonic and needed to get it down before we forgot it?

Then he was scribbling away, as though he has no memory.

The worst was when Brokaw had his prioritizing question, and McCain heard the question, then needed to have the three items repeated so he could get them jotted down before forgetting them. What? He can't wing it with a list of three issues?

No Matter What

John McCain has made himself famous for saying he would not take out bin Laden if he had the chance. Let me amend that: If bin Laden is in his sights, he'll get ahold of Pakistan and if they say it's OK, he'll check back to see if bin Laden is still in his sights.

Obama has the more common sense approach. If Pakistan won't or can't be of assistance in the process, then we'll do it ourselves. McCain is critical, insisting that "That One" has touched the third rail of the Marquess of Queensberry rules of such things.

But then McCain said: "I'll get him. I know how to get him, and I'll get him no matter what."

What's that last phrase? "I'll get him no matter what." No matter what entails a lot, including exactly what Obama has said all along.

Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw -- he's a TV veteran, right? Well, he was terrible. Mr. Hall Monitor, a prim and proper old school marm, nag nag nag, flipping through his rulebook looking for infractions.

Did the precious rules say anything about Brokaw wasting everyone's time being a scold? Good grief, he needed to get it out of his head that we tuned in to hear HIM blather on about lights and hand signals. We didn't.

Whatever the candidates negotiated BEFORE can obviously be overriden by the candidates NOW. It's a little thing called real life.

What moderators should do, if they can't be helpful to the process, is simply shut up. It'd be better not to be noticed than to be noticed for all the wrong reasons. Or, to put it in School Marmese, which he would probably understand, Moderators are meant to be seen, not heard (so much).

"That One" (Again)

I see the phrase "That One" is being claimed for Obama. McCain's sneering disdain is being turned on him. It's turning as in the phrase, "I'm voting for That One."

McCain is such a loser. But it's always good to take someone's garbage and recycle it.

A Great Sign!

McCain's "Disdain" For Obama

Here we have Wolf Blitzer calling it, that McCain has "disdain" for Obama. McCain is utterly unlikable. He likes to joke that they never voted him "Miss Congeniality." He's definitely living up to that non-vote, being a complete social waste.

"That One"

Angry old man John McCain didn't have the decency to relate to Obama as a respected fellow senator and candidate for president. He dismissed him as "That one," like someone deserving only of his contempt.

I don't think the American people want their presidential candidates to be sneering and disrespectful. But McCain doesn't seem to be able to help himself. He was insulting also to Tom Brokaw and to the guy who asked a question about the economy, paraphrasing here, "You probably never heard of Fannie Mae till this crisis." I was like, "What???" You can be that condescending to a guy asking you a question in front of 50 million people???

The worst of it, though, has to be his angry, disrespectful attitude against Obama. McCain has zero class.

Bizarre! Palins' Anti-American Ties - Real

This is real, not just a scandal someone cooked up. The Palins are (or were) associated with actual anti-American interests in Alaska.

Their leader said, "My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."

McCain: Changing The Subject

"Terrorist!" "Kill Him!"

Do you think JOHN McCAIN will be proud of this after he goes down to a well-deserved defeat? Wasn't McCain the guy who said he was going to run a "respectful" campaign?

McCain's Adultery Revisited

In case everyone missed the news, Mr. Family Values John McCain ain't. He has no morality.

The Washington Post has the fresh lowdown on some of McCain's lowest doings, going back to the time of his adultery with Cindy while still married to the first Mrs. McC.

The guy had no regard for his marriage vows. I wonder what regard he'd have for his vow to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." Probably about the same.

I don't like snakes normally. Even worse is when one stands up and runs for president.

AP Sees Palin's Attacks As "Racially Tinged"

Palin is worthless, what can we say?

McCain's Keating 5 Role

John McCain is a crook.



From an important new website: http://keatingeconomics.com/

The current economic crisis demands that we understand John McCain's attitudes about economic oversight and corporate influence in federal regulation. Nothing illustrates the danger of his approach more clearly than his central role in the savings and loan scandal of the late '80s and early '90s.

John McCain was accused of improperly aiding his political patron, Charles Keating, chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. The bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee launched investigations and formally reprimanded Senator McCain for his role in the scandal -- the first such Senator to receive a major party nomination for president.

At the heart of the scandal was Keating's Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which took advantage of deregulation in the 1980s to make risky investments with its depositors' money. McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating with federal regulators tasked with preventing banking fraud, and championed legislation to delay regulation of the savings and loan industry -- actions that allowed Keating to continue his fraud at an incredible cost to taxpayers.

When the savings and loan industry collapsed, Keating's failed company put taxpayers on the hook for $3.4 billion and more than 20,000 Americans lost their savings. John McCain was reprimanded by the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, but the ultimate cost of the crisis to American taxpayers reached more than $120 billion.

The Keating scandal is eerily similar to today's credit crisis, where a lack of regulation and cozy relationships between the financial industry and Congress has allowed banks to make risky loans and profit by bending the rules. And in both cases, John McCain's judgment and values have placed him on the wrong side of history.

Why, oh, why would we ever vote for a crook like McCain?

Isn't Palin's Kid A Sweetie!

McCain Calls Virginians "Communists"

That would be JOE McCain, the brother of John McCain, a guy probably hoping to launch "Joe Beer" if his brother is elected. Well, this Joe McCain made a major boo-boo, calling Northern Virginia "communist country," according this site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," he said.

McCain On Rolling Stone

McCain is like Dr. Hook, he got his picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone! And his dear mother is still alive, so maybe he'll buy her five copies.

I saw the newest issue and got it, and had an interesting conversation with the checkout lady. She was looking it over before putting it in my bag, and struck up a conversation. She said she was from Arizona and that she's known McCain was a liar and a crook from yeaaaarrrrrs ago.

I'm of course all like, "Do tell."

Her biggest beef against McCain was the way he cheated on his first wife and was dallying around with Cindy. She was also against the age difference between them at the time, etc. I asked her if she was planning to vote, she said she was, so I gave her the thumbs up.

McCain Is Sleazy

The sleaze is running a sleazy campaign, having failed on the issues. The tide is against McCain, this is his last chance to be president, he's a cornered dog. Everything's got to go!

The absolute stupidest thing, in my opinion, is this business about Ayers. He was doing something in the '60s, Obama was 8-years-old, big deal. I frankly don't see the connection, except for some random crossing of paths. This is sleazy stuff, and clueless Palin is out there running with whatever idiotic lines they've fed her.

I'm glad to see Obama in the driver's seat on this campaign. Now we hear the green light's on to bring up some of the actual scandals of McCain's miserable life, including the Keating 5 scandal. You would think this would be enough to disqualify the guy, not just now but in 2000, but somehow it drifted away. But he's the same dishonest guy now as he was then.

McCain isn't fit to be president, that's for sure. The guy's garbage pure and simple.

Highly Unusual Disappearing Act

What is John McCain up to?

And with more bad news on the economic front, McCain was to retreat to his Arizona ranch for the weekend, in a highly unusual disappearing act at the height of the campaign.

Maybe he suspended his campaign again and forgot to tell us.

How About Sarah Palin, HHEHHH?!?!

The spelling of HHEHHH is from Huffington Post, noted because I think it could be spelled other ways and still be correct. But really, any combination of E's and H's would get the job done.

Good comment

"I'm sure McCain will say Obama's surge is not working. "
I'm sure McCain will say Obama's surge is not working.
Collapse comment

by mounthood October 04, 9:43 AM

a comment at boston.com, article, "Obama gaining crucial ground."

Fershure, You Betcha

This paragraph from the NY Times sums it up, as far as John McCain and his ridiculous choice to be VP:

In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin’s candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.

I wish for John McCain many more years of life, with one big reason so he can think seriously about this election and what a terrible, shameful job he did with it. It'd be hard to be proud of it.

Lieberman

Of all the spin a guy could make on the Palin debate performance, this one has to be the most blatantly false:

Joe Lieberman, on Fox News:

She hit it out of the ballpark. She proved that she is ready to be John McCain's Vice President. She was strong, she was competent, she was informed, she was very genuine. She was humorous.

She wasn't strong, she wasn't competent, she wasn't informed, she wasn't genuine. Maybe she was humorous, in a forced, practiced, pathetic way.

But the idea that Lieberman, our own vice presidential candidate once upon a time, would come out like this as such a scuzzy liar actually really hurts. To think he ever had our trust.

McCain May Re-Suspend Campaign

Link. My big question is why? Can't the guy have a campaign going on while also doing his job as senator?

Let's say he wanted to go back to Congress and twist a few arms. Then just do it. The campaign doesn't need to be suspended. If he wants to take a few days off and do something, he could just do it.

When they take a vacation the campaign is still going on. There's no difference.

Suspending a campaign is just a stunt.

Palin Sees Russia

We've really reached a new level of stupidity when it's seriously asserted that being able to see another country constitutes foreign policy experience.

When I first heard it I was sure it would be quickly dismissed, that is, if it wasn't acknowledged as a joke from the first. But they've repeated it a few times, that Palin can look out her window and actually see the Putins hanging laundry on their clothesline.

I believe she also said Putin makes regular flyovers -- he likes to buzz Alaska's capitol building -- and drops propaganda leaflets, so maybe there is something to it.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! John McCain Wants The Credit!

Do you get the impression that John McCain is trying to get the credit for anything good that happens in Washington? The whole thing about this bail-out ... He swoops into Washington to save the day, promptly destroys the whole thing and slinks back out.

Then he swoops in again. And it looks like the bill is going to pass, giving the McCain camp just enough time to rush out a spokesman -- Mitt Romney -- to give McCain the credit for it. Then it fails again.

Here's part of a story from Yahoo:

CHICAGO (AFP) - John McCain's presidential campaign claimed credit as Congress readied Monday to vote on an emergency economic package, but Democrats said the Republican's last-ditch intervention had been no help.

Mitt Romney, McCain's erstwhile rival for the Republican nomination, said the deal on a Wall Street bailout worth up to 700 billion dollars would never have happened without the Arizona senator.

Speaking on NBC television, the former Massachusetts governor said "this bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain."

It's almost worth it to have it fail just to see the egg on his face. Ooops!

Of course when Congress does eventually get around to passing something we won't have to look any farther than JOHN McCAIN to know who to give the credit to!

Palin: Well-Informed Second Grader

Sarah Palin on the upcoming debate with Joe Biden:

“I’m looking forward to meeting him, too,’’ she said. “I’ve never met him before, but I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.’’

She's definitely got me beat. When I was in second grade I was barely aware that politics -- the Senate, the House, all that -- even existed. Of course I must have known there was a president, and I know who the president was at the time, by hindsight, but that's about it.

The fact that Palin was hearing about Biden's Senate speeches that early in life is very impressive.

A Flaky Old Man

It looks like the American people are getting the message loud and clear, that McCain is just a flaky old man who doesn't have a clue.

He hasn't offered one single plan or program that would give us any progress or sense of hope. Everything he wants to do is either ideologically based or something that's already been tried and failed.

Watching him in the debates was an exercise in futility. I know if I were a Republican I would wonder if this was really the best we could do.

McCain Wouldn't Take Out Bin Laden

I don't see the payoff for McCain on this Pakistan border argument.

Without me looking up the precise language, Obama's idea is basically this: that if we had actionable intelligence of bin Laden's whereabouts we would take him out. Sarah Palin, even with her ignorance, said the same thing. But McCain retracted her statement for her!

So, he's telling us that if he had bin Laden in his sights he wouldn't pull the trigger. There's bin Laden, let's say literally one inch over the border and McCain has some scruple about getting him.

On Condition of Anonymity

There's something funny about this line. The article concerns a growing sense among Republicans that Sarah Palin is a disaster. But then there's this strange line:

Asked about Palin's performance in the CBS interview, a McCain official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said: "She did fine. She's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate."

A McCain official needs to have the condition of anonymity to say Palin did fine, that she's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate? Wouldn't that basically be their constant claim? Something they could say quite openly?

McCain Was Lovable?

I've been reading the opinions that various people have offered about the debate. Everyone's doing his or her best to describe what they saw. Most of these opinions I'm filtering like other partisans do, finding intelligence in the pro-Obama ones and ignorance or a lying spirit in the pro-McCain ones. Then some just make me laugh. Or to say, "You got to be kidding!"

Here's one in its entirety from pawprints18, who definitely sees things differently from me:

I thought Obama came off as the grumpy, inpatient, smug one. McCain always referred to Obama respectfully as "Senator Obama" - while Obama sought to elevate himself and lower McCain but referring to McCain as "John" rather than Senator. Obama kept looking off to his left with hateful, inpatient glares on his face, and hand signaling while McCains was speaking. I though McCain was sharp and on point. He saw right thru Obama's smoke screen of using many words to try to conceal the fact he hasn't the slightest idea how to handle security issues. Obama, when he spoke second on issues, HAD to state, "I agree with John." First he was trying to sound congenial, but primarily it saved him from tryhing to articulate on areas in which he is clueless. McCain kept his cool, smiled a lot and was lovable. Obama looked pouty and glared. Not attractive at all. Obama lost.

Posted by: pawprints18 | September 27, 2008 1:02 AM

Let me say, at the risk of becoming a Republican ad (Republicans, who praise "reaching across the aisle" yet eschew any sign of civility), pawprints18 offers some fair points. And a few points not so true. There's no way that Obama was "hateful," "impatient," "hasn't the slightest idea," or "clueless." He wasn't glaring. He was hand signaling to Jim Lehrer trying to get in a word edgewise during some of McCain's filibustering; there's very few points awarded for being walked on.

As for McCain, here is where pawprints18 gets amusing. "McCain ... smiled a lot and was lovable." Yes, nothing says lovability like the crouch and fangbearing of a cornered animal. As for Obama looking "pouty," it just didn't happen. He looks serious when it's time to be serious, and has a very refreshing smile and demeanor when the time for that is right. There were a few times when Obama could've gone right ahead and got in another good point and even zapped McCain but he gave it over to the moderator when enough was enough.

Sarah Palin - A Complete, Total Ditz

This has got to be one of the stupidest people I've ever seen!

John of the Jungle

John McCain thinks he needs to swing in and save the day, which had a way of being saved by others without his interference.

So he gets there -- Watch Out For That Tree -- and Splat! The crisis is already solved!

Now we need to get John of the Jungle scraped off the tree and get him down to Mississippi for the debate.

How anyone sees this flighty gambler as a stable leader is beyond my ability to discern. Let's just get to the election, let him be defeated, and he can go back to whatever craps table he left behind.

We Want Our Presidents To Be In Good Health

You Can't Count On John McCain

Here's what McCain is saying by suspending his campaign and canceling the debates: You can't count on John McCain.

If there's an issue, a crisis, he's completely hotheaded, thrown for a loop, consumed by it. You have plans, you're looking for stability, John McCain can't provide it.

McCain is carried along by events, he's not in control of events. He's adrift, swept along, swept off his feet.

Of course the nation is looking for better leadership than that. But whatever happens, McCain loses it. You simply can't count on him. Nothing's guaranteed, nothing's predictable. Everyday you'd be left wondering, what banana has he slipped on today?

If Obama can simply show a persona of stability, I think he ought to win.

McCain Suspends Campaign, Won't Debate

Please, suspend your campaign till election day, loser.

Is McCain a moron or what? He can't do two things at once, be a senator and a candidate for president. Never mind the fact that he hasn't been doing his senator job since APRIL of this year. That's the last time he was in the Senate.

But now with the economy having some sort of crisis, he feels there's nothing else he can do but go back to Washington and grandstand a while. Thinking he's going to impress someone and get votes through the back door.

Obama is looking at this in the best way. You're a senator, you're a candidate, you can walk and chew gum at the same time.

God forbid that we ever elect McCain. It's a matter of lurching from one crisis to the next with this guy. And pulling stunts like this, it would be a long four years!

McCain Flip Flopping on Social Security

Where does McCain stand on the issues? The answer is: What do you want to hear this week?

Where does he stand on Social Security in particular? The answer is: What position might do him the most good today?

He's been laboring like Hercules for years for the privatization of Social Security, even calling Social Security a disgrace. He supported Bush right down the line, in lockstep, for accounts tied to the stock market. But now, you guessed it, the stock market's in the toilet, there's no political gain in his actual position, so he's pretending that he's no longer for privatization.

Here's a little straight talk, John: If you're everywhere on every issue you're really nowhere. No one should believe you about anything.

What I want is someone who will be honest. Social Security is important. And I don't want anyone to take it away, which is what McCain and Bush literally tried to do. If we let the fox in the chicken house, don't be surprised when we wake up to no more chickens.

Special Debate Rules for Sarah

The Palin/McCain campaign renegotiated the rules for the vice presidential debate, to make it easier for Sarah, to take some of the pressure off her as to ... knowing things. Biden is pretty scary to her, it seems, and she couldn't handle him with the rules as originally set.

No word yet from Putin, Ahmadinejad, and Kim Jong Il if they'll allow special rules and go easier on our (very qualified) President Palin if that time should come.

Can Your Family Really Trust John McCain?

The answer turns out to be no.

"My Friends," In Writing

The current article on healthcare written by McCain that everyone's talking about ... I wonder if that was a speech he gave somewhere or something he wrote out for publication.

Because it's weird that his little tic, saying "My friends" all the time, would be in there if he wrote it out. Yet there it is, a couple times:

Toward the beginning:

The problem, my friends, with the U.S. health care system is not that Americans don’t have fine doctors, medical technology, and treatments.

Toward the end:

The "solution," my friends, isn’t a one-size-fits-all big-government takeover of health care.

Link. (PDF)

Jim Croce -- 35 Years Later

Tomorrow, Sept. 20, marks 35 years since Jim Croce died in a plane crash.

I was accidentally an early Jim Croce fan before I even had any idea who he was or what he might accomplish. We used to stop at the grocery store on the way home from church and I always looked through the cut-out closeout bin of records, which were 44 cents. And one of the albums I got there was the "Croce" album by Jim and Ingrid.

I really bought it because of the instruments listed on the back. I haven't got it anymore, but at Wikipedia it says 12 string guitar, mandolin, and banjo. I thought it sounded like it might be good. I remember we were talking about it on the way home, kind of laughing really, of artists we'd never heard of. At that time we pronounced Croce as though it rhymed with "close."

Anyway, I played the LP many many times and basically had it memorized. It was great.

Later, it must have been 1972, I was on a trip to the Ozarks and heard "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" on the radio. The voice was familiar. And the announcer said it was Jim CROW-chee, the same guy!

I was planning to go to Jim's concert in Iowa City whenever it was to be, within a week of when he died.

The Law Doesn't Apply To Them

It seems to me that even Republicans should be troubled by the activities we're hearing about of John McCain's campaign and Sarah Palin and husband in Alaska.

She was going to cooperate in the Troopergate investigation, which involves subpoenas, the whole process of getting to the facts and making a determination what happened. But in recent days it's gotten all mucked up with legal wrangling and stonewalling, as the campaign apparently tries to tie it up till after the election.

Palin's husband was subpoenaed, but refuses to testify because he doesn't believe in the legitimacy of the probe. That's incredible. These people aren't even elected yet and already they're acting like Bush and Cheney and the whole corrupt Bush administration!

It's troubling. There was a time when the Republican party styled themselves the party of law and order. But not in the last eight years, that's for sure. They've been crooked to the core. The idea that people could refuse to testify when subpoenaed because they don't "believe" in the legitimacy of the case, etc., is mindboggling.

The average Republican surely doesn't think this is the way to run a country based on the rule of law. It's scary what all they might do if we made the foolish mistake of actually electing them! No retraint now, what would it be then?

In Which I Revise and Extend the President of Ghana's Remarks

President Bush received the president of Ghana as a guest at the White House, whose name, as we all know, is John Kufuor.

When a "ferener" gets up to make remarks it can make for some interesting phrases, no doubt meant well but coming out somewhat botched.

Here's a snippet from President Kufuor's remarks toward Bush:

“Your tenure has been full of events and challenges, some very mind-boggling and hair-raising,” Mr. Kufuor told Mr. Bush, raising more than a few eyebrows. “You are a survivor,” the Ghanaian leader told the American president. “And my hope is that history would prove kinder to you.”

I like that description, "raising more than a few eyebrows." But as far as I'm concerned he could have gone on and on.

Such as, "The world has looked to you for leadership, and we are still looking. We share many disappointments with you, but we always hope for the best. You have had a hand in many disasters, trying your best to clean them up afterwards. We will be glad to see you go, and offer you many congratulations for your service. You have bravely stood up to evildoers, being a match for them in every way."

Walking Out On McCain

There have been reports that Sarah has all the sizzle on the Republican side, and McCain is ... borrrring. It could be that they might need to corral the people in, have John go first, then have Sarah top off the meeting, because they're actually walking out as he speaks.

NYT: There may be a price for all this. After Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, his running mate, riveted the overflow crowd at an airplane hangar here for 16 minutes, it was Mr. McCain’s turn, and people in his audience began murmuring and drifting away midway through a 14-minute speech that was flat and cheerless.

I'm not seeing many McCain rallies where I live, so I can't go to one just to walk out. But I think it'd be cool, you know, to vote with your feet. The emcee is going nuts, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, here he is, the man of the hour, the man of the people, the next President of the United States, John McCain!" (Pausing for brief meditation on the zen koan, "One Hand Clapping.")

Heard in the crowd, "I don't know about you, Maude, but this chair's getting harder all the time. You know, come to think of it, I think I forgot to give the chickens fresh water today. Let's go."

Folks are streaming for the exits. John McCain drones on.

You Can't Eat Lipstick

Actually, I remember an episode of the Three Stooges in which Curly was eating lipstick. If memory serves! But I don't remember it being a particularly enjoyable meal.

In other words, if the election is on the issues, John McCain loses. If it's on lipstick and ephemera, the old bird has a shot. The problem, of course, with dwelling on lipstick and ephemera is that if we get stuck with that, that's hard to eat for the next four years. At that time we would find out what such ignorance hath wrought.

We need a president who's going to be serious about the issues, not just ideology, not just being sidetracked by crap that doesn't make any difference. John McCain is not -- let us repeat this word of negativity once again in an emphasized way lest any fail to get it -- is NOT the man we need for the job. He's nothing but ego and deception. He wants to be president because he wants to be president. What he would actually accomplish there, zip, nada. He hasn't said. He does say anything he needs to say along the way, trying to get elected. He's flipped around so many times in the last few days he's a weather vane. Those are his "principles;" that is his deception.

We need a president like Barack Obama, who is a serious person, who will bring some intelligence to the table, to help solve tough problems in a reasonable way. No one can say that we haven't given stupidity a fair shot. Eight years, and we see what happened. As in other areas of life, stupidity doesn't usually mean success. You want to eat, right? You want to have a home? You want your children to have decent schools? You want to retire someday? Get smart.

John McCain is economic, national suicide ... more of the same.

John McCain Declares War on Spain

You've heard of the Spanish-American war? It's back!

John McCain, asked about Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, suggested he might not be willing to meet with him because he is a world leader who wants to harm America.

TPM. My second paragraph is a paraphrase of something from TPM. But it's not plagarism if you admit it right up front, AND you happen to be too tired to write your own generic piece, is it?

My own riff on this is John McCain remembers the Spanish-American war very well. I think he spent a couple months of 1898 as a POW in Santiago. And the man knows how to hold a grudge.

John McCain's Email Hacked

Unfortunately, there wasn't much there...

[Click graphic to see full size.]

Cantor Shows How Worthless Republicans Are

I can't even remember where this hack, Congressman Cantor, is from. And I'm not going to look it up, because who cares? All he's good for is ... nothin'. A sack of garbage has more redeeming qualities.

I love the way Chris Matthews takes the worthless guy to the woodshed and tans his hide good. The Republicans really really think they're fooling us, that they're not really Republicans, and, anyway, just because they've been in charge doesn't mean they're responsible for anything.

I remember when they held up Bush as the guy who could do no wrong. Now that even they discover he can do no right they run so far from him he's persona non grata, to his own party! And yet the hack, this idiot Cantor, keeps spinning toward the future -- "no finger pointing and blame, please" -- because John McCain now is the Republican guy who can do no wrong. Anything to cling to power. Of course they have no idea whatsoever how to govern, but they're happy to sit there and muck things up for the rest of us.

When I see a true scuzball like Congressman Cantor babbling on, I see clearly what's at stake. The same gang of crooks ... or a new start, a government we can be proud of again. Even he's not proud of Bush, but all he wants to do is change the subject.

Worthless.

Carly Fiorina Disappears

Top McCain official Carly Fiorina made the serious mistake of telling the truth when she was talking about John McCain and Sarah Palin. She said neither one was qualified to run a major corporation. Somehow they're qualified to run the entire United States of America, but a single company, no!

Now CNN quotes a source with the McCain campaign, who said, "Carly will now disappear ... Senator McCain was furious." CNN says she was booked for several TV interviews in the next few days, but now those interviews have been canceled.

It definitely sounds like McCain's legendary bad temper is taking over: "Senator McCain was furious."

McCain Fiddles While Rome Burns

McCain's the big expert on the economy, right? I know he said he didn't know anything about it, but then later his always-truthful advisers said he did. So naturally I had to go with their opinion since I figured he was probably just being modest.

Well, maybe he is actually dumb as a post on the economy, just like he said. Here's a great quote, that McCain wants to study, to investigate what the problem might be. But Barack Obama knows what the problem is and promises to fix it.

WSJ: Obama rejected McCain’s call this morning for a national commission modeled after the bipartisan panel that investigated the 9/11 attacks as a desperate ploy, labeling it “the oldest Washington stunt in the book.”

“You pass the buck to a commission to study this problem,” Obama said, rejecting the measure as unnecessary. “We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that get us out. I’ll provide it. John McCain won’t.”

So McCain wants to fiddle about, kick the can down the road, submit himself to the rigors of on-the-job training. But Obama's ready to work, day one.

John Alva McCain -- Inventor

John McCain now is claiming that he's the inventor of the Blackberry.

Pretty good work for a guy who said he's unfamiliar with computers. Or can't use them.

Running a Corporation or Country

So what would be hardest, most demanding -- to run the entire country of the United States of America or a single corporation?

Carly Fiorina, a top McCain adviser, said McCain and Palin both would be unqualified to run her old corporation, Hewlett-Packard. And yet she thinks they're qualified enough to be president of the United States!

The Responsibility Party

I distinctly recall over the years the term "the responsibility party" being applied to the GOP. It returns to my thoughts whenever I hear them blaming someone else for their failures. Which, in recent years, actually leaves me very little time to think of anything else.

They certainly positioned themselves as the responsibility party in terms of personal morality. But we've seen what a sham it is in this, that personal morality is trivial if it doesn't apply beyond the individual level. If you have government running amok in corruption, and business screwing over the country economically, exploiting everyone, and lack of regulation that allows other outrages, that's a sham. The GOP has careened out of control. But now they're back for another four years!

In my opinion, you either have to be seriously not paying attention if you vote Republican, or maybe there's just something else wrong.

As for being the reponsibility party, as far as they're concerned it's still Clinton's fault. Who know if and when they'll ever claim the Bush years as their own. But it's got REPUBLICAN stamped all over it.

A Fine Line

One of Bill in Portland Maine's witty remarks caught my eye today, as being "so true."

Democrats always have to "walk a fine line." Republicans never do.

So true! Any little burp or tweet from the Democrats and the media's on them like stink, with an able assist from the ultra right squawk machine. But the Republicans can lumber about, stagger about, tipping things over, mauling, running riot, and barely a peep.

At the present time, the Republicans stand for insanity and the Democrats for sanity. But so often it's the insanity that gets the attention and is presented as something right down the average American's alley. Sure, it's completely against your self-interest and the interest of your country, but watch us wave the flag. Sure, we'll take away Social Security but we'll call it Strengthening America's Future. Nuts.

The Democrats are getting the idea. Especially as we get closer to the election. We don't want a respectable double. We need to knock this thing out of the park.

It's great news that the media is picking up on John McCain's lies and his very poor judgment. It really might be the country's saving grace that he turned out to be such a dishonorable man.

Thanks, But No Thanks -- Forever!

At some point doesn't it get ridiculous to keep repeating this line? Even if it were a true statement, wouldn't she have anything else to say? The fact that it's a lie makes it even more egregious. It's one thing to say it a couple times. Then you get caught and you quit. It's pathological to have this one line, to grind it in the ground, to be caught lying, and to keep grinding it. Crazy talk!

Congress -- Please take our money. We want you to have it.
Palin -- No, listen, really, we don't want it.
Congress -- But we want you to build that bridge.
Palin -- We don't want to build a bridge, you ninnies.
Congress -- But think what a cool bridge it might be. Please reconsider.
Palin -- No, how can I make this clear? We would rather not have the bridge or your money.
Congress -- We really have to insist you take it. Come on, you know you want to.
Palin -- I'm trying to be nice about this. So listen to me one more time: Thanks, but no thanks. If we wanted to build a bridge, we would build it ourselves.
Congress -- So, what are you saying? It's over?
Palin -- I'm afraid so.
Congress -- How about we just leave the money behind in case you change your mind?
Palin -- Thanks, but no thanks. I won't. Take the money with you.
Congress -- We'll just set this briefcase over by that tree.

Deception is All McCain Has Left

Is McCain Too Old?

Is John McCain too old for the job? With cancer and all that? Claire McCaskill says yes.

In response, key McCain supporter Carly Fiorina accused McCaskill of “ageism.”

“I frankly find this disrespectful in the extreme,” she said. “I think this continued resort to ‘he's too old’ is desperation, frankly -- not to mention disrespectful to a very capable commander in chief.”

Oh, so that's what you "frankly find?" Disrespectful, huh? Well, who cares what you think? This guy is running for president of all of us and he's clearly over the hill. Why should we all have to suffer just for John McCain's ego?

Here Is One Lying Sleazeball!

Crazy McCain Ad

"They" dismissed Sarah Palin as "good-looking." OK, who doesn't want to be good looking? Ha ha. If that's the way McCain wants it, I for one don't find her all that good looking. There. I don't like the facial tics, the hair. But personally I would be looking for the full package, inner beauty and integrity. If those are left out, no matter what she looks like out here she's not going to be "good looking" to me. So have it your own way, McCain!

"They" said she "does what she's told." What is this? That she has campaign handlers, direction from the campaign, direction from the head of the ticket? That seems about normal for a VP candidate, doesn't it? Would they prefer she didn't do what she was told? A loose cannon on deck? But really, I haven't seen any evidence that Palin is being purposefully off message as far as the campaign's going. She not only should not be showing independence, she is not. But we all know what the ad's sneer is about, the old sexist thing, that the McCain wants to pretend like she's an equal partner and making her own decisions. That's ridiculous for someone in the VP slot.

"They" call her "a liar. How disrespectful." Truth hurts, I know. She is a liar. And way to put it in your own ad! I love it. Every news outlet in the world except maybe Fox and a few other halfwits have been pointing out the definite fact that McCain and Palin are both liars. Maybe they don't like the word. It's tough to be caught, but maybe don't be so brazen about it. Is it "disrespectful" to say their claims don't match the facts? To me, that's Obama's responsibility.

By the way, how do you like the assassination of Barack Obama in this ad? A blinding flash right below the throat and a boom. Isn't that about where the bullet came out of JFK? I don't like that part of the ad at all. Talk about disrespectful.

A Liars Anthology

Here's a good collection of some recent media observations that John McCain and Sarah Palin are liars:

It's an article by Keith Pickering at Daily Kos with a limited title, "LIAR!" Krugman blasts McCain with the truth." Keith actually goes beyond Krugman's column to give several other examples of the media calling out McCain and Palin.

To me, it's regrettable that McCain and Palin are putting themselves forth as so dishonorable and such liars. It really is. Since they're potentially our next president and vice president, I'd love them to be brim-full of honor and truthfulness. But if they're not, the next best thing is for the media to realize it and for the rest of the country to pay good attention.

It Bothers Me That McCain Is Such a Liar

I have absolutely no problem with calling lies lies. And liars liars. We had it all through the Bush years and you thought it couldn't be any worse than that. But, I regret to say, it could be.

My own way of thinking is this, that We The People love our country and want the best for it. But if we get bad leadership -- the kind of craven, evil leadership we've had with Bush and his gang of crooks -- it depresses everything, and where prosperity and peace would have, could have, should have reigned, the deceit and criminality tips the balance the other way. It's like something in the nature of things, that lying has consequences. It's like something in myths, the land wasting away.

The rather odd thing is that it takes people quite a while to see it. Or we see it and we distribute the blame, since there are so many sectors. And we're not given to this notion first that the kind of people we are and the kind of leadership we have has actual consequences. Because we start with a self-image that's already on the 70 yard line. The old proverb that you reap what you sow isn't instantly believed. So even now we have around 28% of the population essentially deadenders who see George Bush as still having credibility. That's scary, but like I said, so many sectors. And other factors, family, political ties, ignorance.

What I want is government, a president, who is more or less someone you can be proud of and someone who more or less merits our pride. Someone who has some civic virtue, who wants the best for the country, someone you don't suspect (or know) is cavorting with criminal types, liars, behind the scenes to undercut the rest of us.

So, because of all this, it ticks me off that McCain and Palin have to be such liars. Because they stand a realistic chance of being elected. That's scary. If they're elected -- God forbid -- it could be that they would moderate things a bit. Maybe whatever civic goodness McCain's had, if any, would reemerge and we would be more or less happy under him. It sounds bad at this point. He's not inspirational in the least. He doesn't inspire trust and confidence in me, I know. He looks like more of the same, actually, and maybe worse. If he's surrounded by the same time of weasels that Bush was, and Bush took us so far down, and if we're crazy enough to elect the same bunch, what new depths might they plumb? Really, what would restrain them?

That Old Moose in the Headlights Look

Or maybe it's a pitbull taking a pit stop.

Something About the McCain Campaign Disgusts Me

I just can't put my finger on what it is exactly.

Ya Know What's Sexist?

Here's what's sexist, John McCain treating his running mate the way he is. She's no doubt amenable and complicit in all this, being power-hungry. But John McCain isn't doing her any favors with all this sexism stuff.

It's sickening to have them sniffing around for every imagined slight, then shouting it from the rooftops. Is she a serious candidate for vice president? Is she a serious president on day one? Then treat her like one.

As for John McCain himself, how disgusting that a tough guy like him is hiding behind Palin's skirts. If he's really afraid of Obama, admit it. If he's simply using her as a tool, that's quite sexist. That's what I think it is.

Dishonorable Discharge

I got the title and idea for this post from "marcim" at Daily Kos.

It's a great title. We like to think of John McCain as a man of honor. But it was very telling recently when he couldn't (or wouldn't) give a definition of honor in a Time interview.

As it turns out he may very well have been at a loss for words. Because the words coming out of his mouth (and his campaign) lately are far from honorable. He may have gotten an honorable discharge from the military, but what's coming from him himself is a "dishonorable discharge."

Marcim says:

Obama sees Rove's lips moving and is calling it out. And it's beginning to resonate. Even Drudge is noticing it. How many baldfaced lies can Rove have his dummies say before someone says, "Hey, this is dishonorable." Unbecoming behavior of an officer and a gentleman. Dishonorable discharge.

So true, so true.

Don't Apologize -- Double Down

All this "lipstick on a pig" and "rotting fish" language. Do Not Apologize For It. Double Down.

Everyone knows the umbrage is phony BS. This is simple stuff, exactly what we need. Make a mockery of McCain, that he's empty and any sort of agenda he has is rotten to the core.

McCain Stands Up for Sexual Predators

Link.

Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed! John McCain in bed with sexual predators! We've all seen the "To Catch a Predator" shows, but now guess who's sticking up for the perps? John McCain and the Republicans. As it turns out they don't mind our children being the victims of inappropriate touching, fondling, groping, and who knows what else.

To pedophiles, McCain says, Walk free. To children, McCain says, You're On Your Own.

That's the message he's sending loud and clear when he sleazes Barack Obama, who simply thinks like any normal person, that it's common sense to teach our children the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. What's wrong with that? Nothing! We teach them to run the other way when there's trouble. We teach them to call 911 when there's an emergency. We teach them not to take candy from a stranger. It's incredible, but John McCain sees a problem with this! He would have parents let down their guard.

The Republicans need to check themselves here. McCain's not being pro-family, he's more interested in the rights of pedophiles than our children, which is sick.

How Stupid Is Former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift?

Just stupid or very stupid?

She's never heard the expression "lipstick on a pig"? The old phrase that is like this ... "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig!" Meaning you have bad ideas, and no matter how much you try to disguise them they're still bad ideas.

No, in this silly season of sometimes intentional stupidity, former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, thinks when Barack Obama uses this old chestnut he's calling Pinocchio Palin a pig! Really, how likely is that?

Surely that's a stretch even for the stupidest of Republican morons, right? Apparently not. Memo to McCain, you need to vet your people to make sure they have basic intelligence. Heckuva job, Swifty!

Hey, ever heard of that teaching of Jesus? "Don't cast your pearls before swine." Say that to someone and if they're opposed to you their response will invariably be, "Oh, so you're calling me a pig!" No, I'm just using a phrase from the wisdom teachings that means don't waste your time on those who won't "get it." Of course, if you think you're a pig, oink oink, I won't try to talk you out of it.

How Odd: "Thanks, But No Thanks"

It's very odd that Sarah Palin keeps repeating the same old speech, especially the "Thanks, but no thanks" line concerning the famous Bridge To Nowhere. Is there someone just pulling a string to get one of the 10 different phrases she knows?

It would be odd even if the claim were true. But it's especially odd when it's been pointed out repeatedly that she never said any such thing. (And now we know, if she had ever said it, she would have said it a dozen times, so there'd be plenty of recorded instances.)

If something is out and out false, and you keep repeating it, that says some things about you: 1) You're oblivious to the truth; 2) You haven't got much else to say.

And yet, here she is still today:

"You're gonna hear a lot about the abusive practice of earmarks in Congress from our good senator here. We championed in Alaska reform of the old earmark process. I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks' for that Bridge To Nowhere up in Alaska. If our state wanted a bridge, we were gonna build it ourselves."

Is this someone who's thinking for herself? It's time for a total script makeover!

When it comes to Sarah Palin, I hope the voters say, "Thanks, but no thanks."

The Assembly of God

I definitely agree with Pat Buchanan that it is a REAL MISTAKE for the liberals and liberal shows, like Keith and Rachel, to go after the Assembly of God church. I couldn't believe that I heard that on two MSNBC shows right in a row.

I mean, please! That they speak in tongues, that they believe in the Rapture, that they think God hears and answers prayers. Believe it or not, these are not far-out looney ideas. I don't know precisely what circles Keith and Rachel travel in, but these are actually very mainstream, ordinary ideas. Especially that God hears and answers prayers. For pipelines, for whatever.

It seems to me that Keith and Rachel don't know this, and would probably lump the Assembly of God together with snake-handlers and people who let their children die instead of getting a doctor, those kinds of things that actually are extreme. It's nothing like that. We need people on our side (liberals) who know the difference between the various religious groups, and aren't making the mistake of ridiculing the religion of average Americans.

Rachel Maddow

It's great to see Rachel have her own show. I watched a large chunk of it, and I'm not big on sitting there just watching show after show.

I like the colors and the graphics. Overall it doesn't feel like the show has a thread, a gimmick like Countdown, but it's new, it can evolve, I hope.

One major gripe: Must we have the omnipresent Pat Buchanan thrust before us? Good grief, is there no escape from this man? Actually I have had many good things to say about Pat over the years. He's like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad, he's horrid.

Here's something you can count on with Pat Buchanan. In the midst of an election year, he is horrid. Especially when one of the candidates -- Sarah Palin -- was a Buchanan supporter. All the tripe coming out of Pat's mouth, we've heard before. It's time to put him out to pasture. On the other hand, every show needs an occasional devil, so I suppose he's good for something.

McCain and Palin: Lying Liars

It's nice to hear rumblings and more than rumblings that Sarah Palin and John McCain are liars.

See, that wasn't so hard. It's not that they're spinning, that they're slightly misleading, that they're mistaken, that they're not telling the truth. THEY ARE LIARS.

Liars in this sense: fully intentional liars, liars without shame, liars who believe they can get away with it, despicable liars.

Let the famous Bridge to Nowhere represent this: John McCain and Sarah Palin and the Republicans are lying about it. On earmarks, they're lying about that. On lobbyists, they're lying about that. On being agents of change, they're lying about that. On Obama going to raise everyone's taxes, they're lying about that. On being "mavericks," they're lying about that. They are nothing but the same old politics as usual, in McCain's case voting with Bush over 90% of the time and Palin has to be worse.

If we fall for their lies, of course we will unfortunately get what we deserve, a government that will lie its way through at least four more years of corruption, cronyism, and deceit. We will set ourselves back in terms of global responsibility and leadership in ways that are incalculable. We will have the same old partisan divide, the same old politics of personal destruction, the same old same old. Miserable stuff.

Bottom line. Make absolutely no mistake about it, JOHN McCAIN AND SARAH PALIN ARE LIARS.

Too Early to Get Nervous

We all woke up to the Gallup/USA Today poll, with McCain 10 points over Obama. You see the numbers, however we might parse them in terms of convention bounces, etc., and it makes you jittery.

On the other hand, if it were exactly reversed, which it practically was the other day, but at 8 points, it wouldn't give me any great sense of security. And that's why we shouldn't be overly nervous now. Things are bound to fluctuate, depending on who the pollsters are calling, who answers, all that.

One that is very hard for me to actually believe, that people are changing their minds that often. We've been hearing it ever since the 2000 election what a divided nation we are. Assuming that's true, people are more or less set in their ways. There may be that group of independents in the middle, but I can't believe they're simply changing their minds every couple days. Some of this has to be like what McCain said at the convention, ground noise and static.

The other reason it's too early to be overly nervous is we still have a long ways to go, two months, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in advertisements and four debates. I know we've been disappointed before, with the phoniness of the expectations game and all that, but I believe we'll see a more intelligent debater in Obama. And not just intelligence in terms of being able to run circles around McCain, but intelligence in how to handle himself. That means, no big sighs and no brahmin like qualities ganging up on the average guy.

Some of McCain's bounce is no doubt due to this she-devil, Sarah Palin. That seems like it would be short-lived because of her rather obvious downside: 1) ultra right-wing ideology; 2) obvious lying about her record and past. The "Bridge to Nowhere" might be her ticket back to oblivion, if people (and the media) would focus more on the truth of the matter and less on her claims.

One thing is for sure: this country needs change and deliverance from the Bush years. To say we could get very nervous is the plain truth, because we do not want another four years of corruption, misgovernment, and lost opportunities. But right now, we're still far enough out, there's time for everything to turn around and for Obama to win handily.

This Is Not A Diary -- Please Delete

I'm going to Daily Kos to see if how long it takes me, with the current diary list, starting at the top of the recent diaries and going down, to find one with a variation of the statement, "This is not a diary -- please delete."

OK, it is 2:23 p.m. Eastern time... here I go.

Well, it's a minute later, and at this diary, Sarah Palin...Just how are the people responding? I found this comment at the top, "This is outdated stuff. Try again. n/t."

So I'm going back in for something more definite:

OK, it is 2:28 p.m., and the dishonor goes to a diary by chowbellachow, called, "McCain supporter STEALS U.S. flags from DNC convention." The comment is by the omnipresent DemocraticLuntz, who says, "Not a diary. Please delete and never do this."

So that's kind of like five minutes. It could have been better. But remember, between 2:23 and 2:28 I also got the information on that Sarah Palin one, had to cut and paste a few things here, then go back. That meant opening several diaries that had zero comments, and yet there may have been comments since the time my browser said zero. Then of course there were some actual diaries of sufficient length and appearance to wade through to make sure they weren't troll diaries (they weren't).

I actually figured the diary by chowbellachow was going to be a good diary, because of the provocative title. If true, there'd be nothing trollish about that. But I didn't stay to investigate because I needed to get back here in record time, you see.