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.