The Friday Political Thread: Pigs on a Wing

Unconvincing Quote of the Week
"I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win pretty handily."
- First Gentleman wannabe Bill Clinton

The Week in Brief
- Ron Paul told his supporters to vote for a third party candidate, and told the big two parties to open the debates.
- Paul belatedly asked for Montana supporters to take him off the presidential ballot.
- Bob Barr went elsewhere.
- Sarah Palin (finally) met the press.
- The nightmare of election day started to take hideous form.
- This happened.

Below the Fold
- Hendrik Hertzberg gets a few last licks into Mitt Romney's risible convention speech.
- John Dickerson dismisses the McCain anti-earmark campaign.
- Roger Ebert hops on the anti-Palin bus.
- Jake Tapper offers a challenge.
- Phil Klein reminds Republicans of when they didn't like frothy celebrity.
- Richard Spencer sighs at Ron Paul's decision.

The return of Politics and Prog should be self-explanatory.

Comments

[stephen the goldberger]

also there was a killer onion article

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/national_endowment_for_the_arts

[Jay]

More evidence that suggests price ceilings cause shortages.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/07/news/gouging_reactions/index.htm

[ed]

Roger Ebert hops on the anti-Palin bus. "I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate."

Nice try, Roger. Keep telling yourself you're still relevant. I know, I know, getting old and infirm sucks. Most of us will get there, eventually. Please stick to movie reviews that few read or care about. Existence is cruel, but it beats the alternative. Unless you're a Democrat. Maybe you should just end it. Not that there's anything right or wrong with that.

"I trust the American people will see through Palin, and save the Republic in November."

Because only Democrats can "save" the republic.

I retire to bedlam.

[The Angry Optimist]

Blech. One of the more overrated bands ever.

"DUDE!! I'm telling you...hit play on the second lion's roar!"

Blech.

[Elemenope]

If Palin is qualified to be Vice-President, then Ebert is qualified to comment on politics.

I mean, come on, she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine is. The single biggest change in American Foreign Policy in a half-fucking century.

If Palin were to go back to moose-tending, then I'd be all about telling Ebert to go fuck himself. Somehow, though, I think that's kind of his point in the first place.

[ed]

Bush isn't qualified to have his own doctrine.

[ktc2]

Floyd is AWESOME!

[joe]

It's interesting to watch empty Republican media gambits fail for a change.

First, "tire gauge" completely and utterly failed to become a punch line.

Then, nobody really cared that there were greek column at Barack Obama's speech.

And now we see the same people who started the freakout over Lipstick-gate say "I really think the media need to move on to more important things."

There was a time, just a few years ago, when the Republicans said jump and the media said how high? Oh my God, John Kerry got the good cheese! Dixie Chicks, we hate the Dixie Chicks, right everybody?

What happened?

[BDB]

"What happened?"

Media elites and panicked sexism. That's what!

[Travis]

"Floyd is AWESOME!"

I agree.

TAO,

You can go blech yourself.

[Gorgeous Gus the Wonder Dog]

"Sarah Palin (finally) met the press."

Wow it took her eight whole days! She's such a cowering slacker!

Who writes this shit? Oh yeah.

[Gene Siskel]

"Roger Ebert hops on the anti-Palin bus. "I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate.""

Fatty and Skinny went to bed,
Fatty let a fart and Skinny was dead.
Fatty called the doctor and the doctor said,
"If you let another fart, then we'll all be dead!"

With props to my fifth grade friend Mark Willman back in 1967.

[stephen the goldberger]

It's interesting to watch empty Republican media gambits fail for a change.

The republicans have been throwing everything they can at Obama, hoping for another Dukakis in a tank/Swift Boat type story to gain traction. You may be laughing about it now, lets see if you're still laughing in a few months, if some inane Obama story ends up derailing his campaign after Republicans blow it out of proportion.

[sage as shorter dems]

Sarah Palin (finally) met the press.

Bitch go home and wash out your beaver.

[joe]

Media elites and panicked sexism. That's what!

I'll tell you what, BDB - I think they were caught flat-footed.

Just a bunch of flat-footed, panicked sexists.

stephen,

Why haven't they worked yet? I mean, Reverend Wright blew over. "Bitter" blew over. Mike Dukakis's "arugala" was Belgian endive - do you remember that? Everything stuck to him. Is Obama another teflon candidate, or is something different?

[ktc2]

David Gilmore is the world's greatest living guitar player!

[BDB]

BUT in a way (at least so far) Palin is teflon, too.

It's like she's some mirror-universe Hillary Clinton.

[joe]

The world is divided into Fudds and wabbits.

What's up, doc?

[BDB]

You can't call Palin a liar when she lies, that's "disrespectful".

You can't say she's unprepared, that's "sexist".

You can't say she s good looking, that's an "attack".

What CAN you say?

If she murdered someone, could you call her a murderer?

[joe]

BUT in a way (at least so far) Palin is teflon, too.

9.12.08: the Great Metal Spatula.

[BDB]

So the media is calling her out on lying.

But what if they just say "of course the evil media is attacking me! They hate me!"

[Asharak]

I'm kind of psyched about a McCain/Palin administration, actually, and it's only because it'll be fun to watch the suckers who helped them get elected (especially the Hilltards) get the shaft. If you're going to be so shallow and stupid as to vote for politicians for no other real reason than how they look, then you deserve everything that's coming to you. H.L. Mencken was right.

Palin is the perfect leader for this rotting republic.

[Asharak]

BUT in a way (at least so far) Palin is teflon, too.

It's like she's some mirror-universe Hillary Clinton.

The Palins remind me of the Clintons, too. It's no wonder the Hilltards are going gaga for Sarah.

[joe]

BDB,

John McCain's entire public life is based around the media propping him up. If he loses that, where does he go?

[BDB]

The Palins are the mirror-universe Clintons.

Like them in every way, but opposite.

[BDB]

"
John McCain's entire public life is based around the media propping him up. If he loses that, where does he go?"

Playing devil's advocate here, the media will say "oh, he really doesn't believe the stuff he's saying, it's just his evil advisers, he's still an honorable man".

[Elemenope]

John McCain's entire public life is based around the media propping him up. If he loses that, where does he go?

Home.

[Neu Mejican]

TAO,

A list for you...you'll like number 14.

http://www.blender.com/articles/default.aspx?key=40543&pg=0

[Justin Slotman]

He's got a whole right-wing media waiting to take care of him now, joe. Who needs the librul em ess em?

[SIV]

You socialist Yankees sure are fixated on the future Vice President.

[Neu Mejican]

David Gilmore is the world's greatest living guitar player!

Hmmm...

I mainly give him props for promoting the career of Kate Bush...

[BDB]

"You socialist Yankees sure are fixated on the future Vice President."

I'm directly descended from Confederate veterans. Speak for yourself.

[Neu Mejican]

At work today, the ladies (I work in a field where I am always the only man in the room) were soooooo angry about Sarah Palin. They were insulted by her ignorance, insulted by the idea that she might become the first female president.

Demographic: Female, white, mothers, education ranging from BA to PHD.

[Sambo]

"Demographic: Female, white, mothers, education ranging from BA to PHD."

Wow another minority constituency!

[MLK]

"David Gilmore is the world's greatest living guitar player!"

Longevity has its place.

[Kolohe]

From the Ebert article:
Five different schools in six years. What was that about?

This is my least favorite attack on Palin.

People who know exactly what they want when their 18 or 19 are boring or scary or both. And, they usually then wind up having their flaky momement or momements once they hit their late thirties or early forties, especially if their dreams didn't quite work out. And, of course, by then a 40 +/- 5 year old normally has real responsibilities.

And the obligatory tu quoque:

"Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark,[11] where by his own later description he was a lazy student.[12] He graduated with a double major in history and political science in 1965,[3] ranked 506th of 688 in his class.[13] He went on to receive his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968,[11] where by his own description he again underperformed and ranked 76th of 85 students.[12][14]

From the time Obama graduated high school in '79 until he joined the state legislature, he never attended the same university nor worked at the same place for more than three years.

Of course, McCain famously underperformed at the Naval Academy, and at pretty much everything else he did until landing in a lake in SE Asia.

[BakedPenguin]

The Onion weighs in on Ron Paul's meeting with the non Republican / Democrat candidates.

[joe]

You socialist Yankees sure are fixated on the future Vice President.

Funny, coming from the guy who needs to keep using Clorox wipes on his picture of her.

[Kolohe]

It's like she's some mirror-universe Hillary Clinton.

I wonder who's the bearded Spock?

Richardson? Gore? Todd Palin?

[ktc2]

Seriously though that guy can put more feeling into a guitar solo than anybody I've ever heard and I play guitar and studied it for years.

Heavy Metal it's Tony Iommi. Everything else Gilmore is the best.

[Asharak]

I'm directly descended from Confederate veterans. Speak for yourself.

And I live in Florida. I'm descended from Yankees, though.

[joe]

I thought the guitar heroes were a thing of the past, but Jack White is right up there.

Who's another great Alternative Rock guitarist? Johnny Marr?

[Brandybuck]

I mean, come on, she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine is.

I didn't even know that his silly policy even had a name until today, and I try to keep up with politics. Judging politicians by how well they know the names given to various sentences in presidential speeches is a bit strict. Hell, it's not even a "doctrine", it's stupid excuse invented to justify invasion. "They have terroristas we must attaaaack!"

Is there nothing of substance lmnop can criticize her on? This is the equivalent of bitching at Quayle because he can't spell poetaytoe. Sheesh.

[joe]

The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, issued in September 2002, was not a sentence in a speech.

[joe]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/national/nss-020920.htm

[Granger]

"http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/national/nss-020920.htm"

Find the term "Bush Doctrine" in that text and I'll publicly suck your dick, if that's your real gender.

[Brandybuck]

Does it have the name "The Bush Doctrine"? Not that I can see. It previously WAS a sentence in a speech. If you insist I can try to find the quote for you.

It's still a stupid name to expect a VP candidate to know. Asking "do you believe in the Bush doctrine" is certainly fair game, but not knowing the specific reference is a complete nothingburger. Not knowing it may piss off the elite policy wonks inside the beltway, but it doesn't bother me the least bit.

[Granger]

"Then, nobody (sic) really cared that there were greek (sic) column (sic) at Barack Obama's speech."

Apparently Obama did. Or maybe he's just that dense.

[joe]

Granger,

Find the term "Monroe Doctrine" in any statement put out by James Monroe, and I'll stop considering you a pathetic hack in over his head.

Does it have the name "The Bush Doctrine"? He came out and told her that it was issued in September 2002, and that it refers to the right to anticipatory self defense, and she still didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

Sarah Palin could have taken a dump on the chair and made chimp noises, and it wouldn't have bothered you in the least.

[joe]

Apparently Obama did.

Uh, yeah. Set design is generally the first item presidential candidates discuss in the Monday morning strategy sessions.

[Bingo]

Balls.

[Granger]

Confused nobody with no one. Oops!

[Bingo]

Or bollocks for you English fucks.

[Voice Over]

"Uh, yeah. Set design is generally the first item presidential candidates discuss in the Monday morning strategy sessions."

Barack Obama. Unaware.

[joe]

Sounds desperate.

[joe]

Panicked, even. As if someone has been caught flat-footed.

[Granger]

"chimp noises"

Chimp noises? I'm curious -- which is pretty bold for a self-professed dullard -- but did joe start posting here when the yahoo! boards shut down?

[joe]

Ohnoes! Teh Yahoo Card!

[Granger]

"Ohnoes! Teh (sic) Yahoo (sic) Card!"

huh?

[Bingo]

Fuck politics and prog.

[John]

Prediction,

No one will remember anything about this week beyond that Hurricane Ike hit Houston. 40% of the population of Galvaston didn't evacuate. This is going to be really bad.

[Bingo]

John, I don't remember anything of Sept 11th-week 2007, who cares.

[Granger]

"Sounds desperate."

Project much?

[SIV]

Good song Bingo.

Rock and Roll

[OMFUG]

"Bingo | September 12, 2008, 11:00pm | #

Fuck politics and prog."

35 years later and still every wannabe piece of shit band wants to recreate CBGB.

[OMFUG]

"Rock and Roll"

Thanks for the underscore.

[Bingo]

Yeah 35 years ago was totally the peak of rock music. Sorry for rocking your nostalgia boat, it's all downhill from here until you're dead. Enjoy your social security, you twat.

[SIV]

Heartbreakers are more Max's Kansas City than CBGBs.

I'm not really familiar with DPT but if a band makes me immediately think of Johnny Thunders
they are good.

[OMFUG]

"Enjoy your social security, you twat."

Ages away. Will never see it.

Nevertheless, all neo-masturbatory-faux punk is stillborn. My parents listened to it endlessly, so perhaps I harbor an inherent bias.

[TallDave]

Gotta love the new Obama ad making fun of McCain for not being able to use a computer... as it's been public knowledge since 2000 that McCain has trouble typing because of his war injuries.

That's Barack's new kind of politics: mocking disabled veterans!

Hard to see how can get any lower. Maybe next week he'll punch Palin's pregnant daughter.

[Lefiti]

Four equally irrelevant pieces of information"

-Ron Paul told his supporters to vote for a third party candidate, and told the big two parties to open the debates.
- Paul belatedly asked for Montana supporters to take him off the presidential ballot.
- Bob Barr went elsewhere.
- George Snodly took a shit.

[Sambo]

"Hard to see how can get any lower. Maybe next week he'll punch Palin's pregnant daughter."

He already has.

[prolefeed]

Unconvincing Quote of the Week
"I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win pretty handily."
- First Gentleman wannabe Bill Clinton

For anyone who thinks this election will be a cakewalk for Obama, comparing pollster.com from a month ago, when Obama had a seemingly huge lead in both the national polls and in the electoral college count, to pollster.com now should be a reality check. McCain is now ahead in the national polls, and virtually tied in the electoral college count.

McCain got a huge bounce from Palin. Dunno what kind of president she'd make, but from a purely political standpoint that was the smartest thing McCain's done all election season. I've been saying for a while that it is liable to be yet another excruciatingly close election, and the Palin bounce seems to indicate that is happening.

[Lefiti]

Palin-Shmalin, Americans aren't going to elect a black man named Barack. He's never had a realistic chance. Get used to President McCain.
He has quite a big mess to clean up. Hope his heart can take the stress.

[Minnesota Nice]

Vote for me, Al Franken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJUxtfSdaX0

[Sambo]

"Palin-Shmalin, Americans aren't going to elect a black man named Barack"

As someone who lived Jim Crow, I sense that too.

Aside: I met a white man of sixty or so who told me that when he was a kid in the Carolinas, what he wanted more that anything was to sit in the back of the bus because that's where the really, really big seat was. But of course he couldn't.

[capelza]

Silly people...Cheney used the exact phrase "bush Doctrine" in speeches for years. If you missed that...then no use whining now. Really, none of you had clue what it was? Now that's just silly.

And Tall Dave, McCain uses a fucking blackberry, so don't go with the POW/disabled route. Reall, this is ridiculous. Steven Hawking uses a computer for fucks sake! So cut the crap. Some old farts just don't get don't get computers. My husband is one of them. Have a great night.

[Orange Line Special Welcome We]

See the sites that helped the Washington Post spread a smear.

BHO's chief strategist owns an "astroturfing" company.

CharlieGibson and others misquoted Palin.

If only Ron Paul supporters had a brain.

Sully sent me a note: http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007996.html (joke)

Jerry takes a fall: youtube.com/watch?v=9qHnYPdp4sU

Friends, Romans, PUMAs, here's this week's anti-prog.

[Bingo]

Jesus shitting christ, lonewacko, please warn us the next time you post some limp mid-90s girl music. I soiled my eardrums listening to the first 10 seconds.

[Bootstrap]

"Jerry takes a fall: youtube.com/watch?v=9qHnYPdp4sU"

Takes a kicking and keeps on licking.

[dpsc:]

I have almost never been wrong in predicting the outcome of an election, even though I've predicted some surprises. This is largely because I don't make predictions about things I'm not sure about.

I am not ready to predict the outcome of this election. If I had to give odds I would be tempted to say 12-7 in Obama's favor, but I would still rather not bet at those odds, even though I set them. I just can't remember an election like this. For the first time in US history a black Negro is running against a Woman. It will be historic in any event.

[Mike Laursen]

Cheney used the exact phrase "bush Doctrine" in speeches for years.

Why would one ever voluntarily subject oneself to listening to a Cheney speech?

[Sparky]

So do we know why LoneDipShit switched his webpage? Was his old site overwhelmed by dipshititude? Was it invaded by SwarthyMexicanMasses? WTF?

PS - Lonewacko, you're still, and will always be, a UselessHalfwitCrapSack. Have a SuperWeekend!!

[dpsc:]

Mike Laursen: Why would one ever voluntarily subject oneself to listening to a Cheney speech?

In order to get at his sexy body? Just sayin'.

[GG]

SwarthyMexicanMasses

I hope they kick his ass and upload it to youtube!

[l. ron hoover]

I liked Roger Ebert's column. That's the first Palin criticism I've heard that's not partisan hackery or vicious jerkery or both.

[wilson fargason]

In keeping with the Pink Flody Theme, please
people vote the "Dogs of War" out of Washington. Maybe McCain could use that song
"Dogs of War" by Pink Floyd on the campaign
trail!

[l. ron hoover]

Oh yeah, the Floyd is awesome!

[prolefeed]

I mean, come on, she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine is.

Which Bush Doctrine?

The one where he runs on a humble foreign policy and then does something completely different?

Or where he calls himself a conservative and then massively increases the federal budget, allows the fucking TSA to exist, pushes through Medicare Part D, and oversees a federal takeover of the mortgage lending industry?

I hadn't heard anyone describe any part of the cluster of policy fuckups flying in close formation that is his legacy described as a Doctrine before, and I follow politics far more closely than most of the electorate.

So I wouldn't fault Palin on this particular item. She has lots of objectionable things that should bug any libertarian, but not crediting Bush with a Doctrine is a feature, not a bug.

[prolefeed]

Silly people...Cheney used the exact phrase "bush Doctrine" in speeches for years. If you missed that...then no use whining now. Really, none of you had clue what it was? Now that's just silly.

I don't know that I'd say I "missed that" -- certain politicians (OK, most of them) prompt eye rollage and a frantic scramble to change the station whenever I hear them, and Cheney is prominently featured in that list.

I mean, that's like faulting me for not noticing something that Orange Line Special has repeatedly said in his posts that I missed because I don't read his fucking posts.

[dpsc:]

Actually I have to agree with this- I've been keeping a few captives in an underground holding facility, and even they know that the Bush doctrine is basically "Bomb first. Ask questions later. Then bomb the little bitches again."

Are you really as unaware as my captives? No offense if you are, just curious. You might want to provide your address if you're really clueless. And hot. Clueless and ugly is not exceptional.

Anyway, I can think of a few countries that deserve a good nuking.

[a little sense]

This thread seems to be obsessed with bodily emissions and the processes that cause them. If I see one more jerk off or poop reference.....

But in the spirit of the thread...I think Bill Clinton invented the bush doctrine...because that is where he spent a lot of his time.....(in the bush...get it? rimshot)

[joe]

"I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself," McCain told the New York Times in an interview that appeared Sunday. "I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need."

Even so, McCain bluntly admits, "I don't e-mail. I've never felt the particular need to e-mail."

...

Q: What websites if any do you look at regularly?
Mr. McCain: Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously, everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics, sometimes.

(Mrs. McCain and Ms. Buchanan both interject: "Meagan's blog!")

Mr. McCain: Excuse me, Meagan's blog. And we also look at the blogs from Michael and from you that may not be in the newspaper, that are just part of your blog.

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need - including going to my daughter's blog first, before anything else.

So the guy talks about using a computer, with somebody showing him how to do it, he talks about which sites he visits, he talks about having sent and received email, but we're supposed to believe that he is physically incapable of doing so?

Really, ToolDave, you've been in love with victimology for years, but try not to lie in a manner that makes him look pathetic, mm-kay?

[Govenor Sarah Palin (R-AK)]

Well, JOE, someone can type for him JOE, but he can't type himself JOE because he has some injuries JOE, so really JOE, it's disrespectful JOE to make fun of a POW JOE, for five and a half years he didn't have a computer JOE because he was a POW JOE!

Oh look! MOOSEBURGERS!

[Art-P.O.G]

It's odd, because flying a jet is way more complicated than using the internets (yes, I'm aware Sen. McCain is from a different generation, but still...). Anyway, we all know you can use the internet with only one good arm. I've seen it, man.

[BDB]

Dave, he was flying jets after his rehab finished when he came home from the war. If he can fly a jet, he is physically able to type.

[bendover]

Front page Washington Post:

Many Versions of 'Bush Doctrine'
Palin's Confusion in Interview Understandable, Experts Say

[J sub D]

I'm directly descended from Confederate veterans. Speak for yourself.

Don't it suck having loser ancestors? 😉

[BDB]

Told you guys nothing is going to stick on her.

[Rupie Jones]

LOL, better than in a pig in a poke I guess.

Jiff
http://www.anonymize.us.tc

[Happy Jack]

If he can fly a jet, he is physically able to type.

McCain spent five years as a POW tapping on walls to communicate. Has it ever occurred to you that he has a mental block to typing? Learning to tap on the tubes is hard!

[Nietzsche]

Ron Paul is dead.

[J sub D]

If you didn't already think Palinmania was friggin' ridiculous, from todays Detroit Free Press

Interest in the rimless frames is so intense that the Japanese company that makes them has added extra shifts to meet the demand. Production at the plant is taking place 24 hours a day, VanderVelde says.

Where to get Sarah Palin's specs

? Shades Optical, 193 W. Maple, Birmingham. 248-645-0075 or http://www.shadesoptical.com
? Steven Franklin Optics, 6891 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield. 248-855-5813

I've been around the world three times, seen a monkey fuck a football, but I ain't seen no shit like this.

[stephen the goldberger]

FROM WAYYYY BACK

Why haven't they worked yet? I mean, Reverend Wright blew over. "Bitter" blew over. Mike Dukakis's "arugala" was Belgian endive - do you remember that? Everything stuck to him. Is Obama another teflon candidate, or is something different?

You say this as the race is now a statistical tie w/ McCain having a slight advantage nationally. I don't think Wright blew over, I think it hurt Obama significantly but I do think that's the only thing that really has hurt him dramatically. He might not be as awful as Dukakis at running a campaign and deflecting attacks but it seems like every attack has been somewhat successful in putting a chink in Obama's armor.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

None of the attacks from McCain have seemed to backfire and hurt him. If every time McCain attacks the net advantage goes to McCain, even if its a minor one, its still a win for McCain, and he's going to keep doing it from now until November. Its WAYY too early to claim Obama is teflon and will be able to ride this out to a victory.

[BDB]

J sub, that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever read.

[Ironic]

stephen the goldberger, I remember when McCain got the nod one of the fears among partisan Republicans was that McCain would be too much of a "gentleman" to hit Obama hard. It seems pershaps they had no reason to fear.

[J sub D]

J sub, that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever read.

What can I say? I didn't write the damned article. The buzz this woman (Palin) has generated is like nothing I've ever seen in politics. I will never underestimate the intellectual vapidity of the American public again. Reasonoids, can you name anything in politics since 1950 remotely like this? It's bizarre. When will the bloom come of the rose? The Dems are hoping soon and the GOP are hoping the schtick runs through Nov. 4.

Conventional wisdom is VP matters only in the VP nominees home state. Sometimes conventional wisdom is wrong.

[An Observer of Chicks]

That article about Palin's glasses is really disconcerting, because I really don't think much of her "look".

She looks like a realtor who has been completely used up and fucked out.

[Naga Sadow]

How bad is my attention span when all it took for me to forget J sub D's article was his comment that he saw a monkey screwing a football?

[ekster bokso]

seen a monkey fuck a football,

Tame.

[Mad Max]

"I've . . . seen a monkey fuck a football . . ."

Yeah, I also saw [name of football team] play in [year when football team didn't do very well].

If some football expert can fill in those blanks, then - behold! The perfect joke.

[cunnivore]

Maybe the Lions should draft that monkey next year. They would still, suck, but the end zone celebrations would be something to behold.

How many yards do you get penalized for fucking the football, though?

[GG]

Dave, he was flying jets after his rehab finished when he came home from the war. If he can fly a jet, he is physically able to type...

even though it's painful for him to do so.

But of course BDB's right. McCain's nothing but a big whiny baby faker trying to hide his computer illiteracy behind his so-called "crippling injuries." Because, as any PT can tell you, the normal aging process has no exacerbating effects whatsoever on injuries sustained 35 years ago. (I don't want to defend the cocksucker, but I have to. /Al)

Democratic Party War Room -- "Adorable children ... vixen huntress ... PWND by a mother of five from Alaska!"

If you didn't already think Palinmania was friggin' ridiculous, from todays Detroit Free Press

And from the WSJ.

While I love her choice of footwear and her upsweep, her glasses? Not so much. I am wholly unimpressed by her in her interviews with Gibson. North to Alaska, baby! See you in '12.

[John-David]

Funny, until right now I never realized how much "Mother" sounds like "Pigs on the Wing".

[Govenor Sarah Palin (R-AK)]

I told my daughter if her boyfriend asked if he could know her in a Biblical sense to say "thanks, but no thanks" but I guess it didn't take.

[BDB]

I guess voice activation software doesn't exist in his world.

[Sambo]

"Reasonoids, can you name anything in politics since 1950 remotely like this? It's bizarre."

Camelot. Jackie was a fashion trendsetter and Caroline Kennedy had a song on the radio (though I think some other little kid sang it):

My daddy is president, what does your daddy do?
I live in a big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue!
I always hide behind the desk in Daddy's den
When I play hide & seek with Secret Service men.

At Daddy's first press conference I made news
Wearing Mommy's high-heeled shoes
And every time I'm able
I'm under the conference table

My daddy is president, I had a busy day
I'm learning the alphabet: ABCD - JFK!
I don't play house, I play the game of government,
'Cause my daddy is the president!

[joe]

If he's physically incapable of using a computer, why does he talk about learning to use the internet and reading blogs?

You kids get off my lawn! I was in Nam, dammit!

[prolefeed]

BDB | September 13, 2008, 12:03pm | #
J sub, that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever read.

In J sub D's defense, he's said WAAAY dumber shit than that before.

(I keed, I keed!)

[prolefeed]

The buzz this woman (Palin) has generated is like nothing I've ever seen in politics.

I beg to differ. Remember four years ago, when some unknown kid with a light resume, but young and handsome and a hell of a speaker, grabbed everyone's attention at the Democratic convention?

Maybe the degree of media feeding frenzy is higher this time, but Palin is the Republican's Obama, and after getting beat down so badly in 2006 and having their name brand trashed by Bush, conservative Republicans finally have something to get excited about.

True story: my mother-in-law is a Democratic state senator in Washington, and she was blasting Palin while my brother-in-law, this loud redneck Limbaugh dittohead, listened. Finally he said, "Jesus Christ, Marilyn, Sarah Palin is a gun-toting, pro-life, rural, feisty politician who doesn't take crap off anyone. And you're not voting for her? She's fucking YOU with an 'R' after her name."

If McCain wins, it's because Palin pulls in swing voters like my in-laws in all the rural areas of the country.

[J sub D]

In J sub D's defense, he's said WAAAY dumber shit than that before.

For example, I've agreed with prolefeed.
Live and learn. 😉

[joe]

stephen the goldberger,

I disagree with your implication that the reason McCain is keeping up with Obama is McCain's negative campaigning. For one thing, Obama still has a huge favorability rating. For another, so are McCain's. McCain's running a strong race because a lot people like John McCain.

This reminds me of the primary, when everyone asked why people keep voting against Obama. Um, maybe because they like Hillary and the Clintons in general?

Art P.O.G., it's not a matter of how complicated the tasks are, but of "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." John McCain was in his twenties when he learned to fly jets. When the internet became widespread, he was about 60.

[prolefeed]

Oh, and if Democrats want to quit narrowly losing presidential elections and instead win by huge margins, they would be well advised to nominate a more articulate and photogenic version my mother-in-law -- a Democratic version of Palin from the sticks, instead of, say, doublespeaking liberals from big cities on the East Coast.

[prolefeed]

J sub D -- snappy comeback @ 3:13. Well said, sir! :o)

[prolefeed]

Art P.O.G., it's not a matter of how complicated the tasks are, but of "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Actually, you can teach 'em new tricks. I sent my first text message less than a week ago.

[Naga Sadow]

prolefeed,

Did you spell the words correctly or did u shorten em?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

prol-Chicago is on the East Coast now? Man, that Global Warming is a bitch.

[BDB]

MNG--

"Coastal" means blue state whether or not it is actually near an ocean.

Witness the efforts to define Alaska as "the heartland".

[joe]

Actually, you can teach 'em new tricks. I sent my first text message less than a week ago.

That's true, it's not impossible, just more difficult.

Oh, and if Democrats want to quit narrowly losing presidential elections and instead win by huge margins

There are no huge margins anymore. It's still 50/50 nation, subject only to temporary swings produced by specific events. The Republicans thought they had a realignment in 2002, and the Democrats thought they had one in 2006, but the country reverted back to about even by the next election. It's unusual for this situation to last this long (about a decade and a half now). I wonder how much longer politics will be like that.

[Episiarch]

I wonder how much longer politics will be like that.

Until the boomers croak, I'd say. So it's going to be a while. They're locked into their KULTUR WAR and now they're old, too, meaning they are even more likely to vote. Yay.

[BDB]

The closest analogy for this election is 1960.

[BDB]

Hmm, on second thought 2000 was more like 1960.

[Dan]

OMG I nearly vomited laughing when I saw this --- parody poster of Andrew Sullivan foaming at the mouth:

http://www.conservativesforum.com/cgi-bin/conservatives-forum/YaBB.pl?num=1187127821/473#473

[Spread The Word!]

McCain +5 in PA! Zogby Interactive!

[J sub D]

Until the boomers croak, I'd say. So it's going to be a while. They're locked into their KULTUR WAR and now they're old, too, meaning they are even more likely to vote. Yay.

As part of that demographic pig going through a snake, I figger all of the bithching about boomers is kinda like Canadians bitching about the states. Boomers are too big to ignore, their foibles and follies have had a disproportianate effect on society for 50+ years now.

Don't fret, in ten more years the first of us will start dying in significant numbers and, LOL, y'all are gonna have to bury us too.

We boomers distort everything.

[BDB]

The most famous politicians boomers have given us:

*Dan Quayle
*Bill Clinton
*Hillary Clinton
*Newt Gingrich
*George W. Bush
*Tom DeLay

So, yeah. You can see where the bitching comes from.

[Matilda]

"prol-Chicago is on the East Coast now? Man, that Global Warming is a bitch."

North Coast.

[BDB]

Will Colorado be a coast too if it votes for Obama? What about Iowa and New Mexico?

[stephen the goldberger]

I disagree with your implication that the reason McCain is keeping up with Obama is McCain's negative campaigning.

Perhaps you are right, I could be letting my prejudice cloud my assessment (because I find it difficult to understand why anyone would like McCain), we'll have to see when its all said and done who wins and what gets the credit as kingmaker.

And I do think the main reason for McCain recently jumping Obama is Support for Palin, which has nothing to do with Obama attacks, and is only a reflection of the perceived strength of the McCain ticket.

[cunnivore]

The Republicans thought they had a realignment in 2002, and the Democrats thought they had one in 2006, but the country reverted back to about even by the next election.

We know the reason the country fled the GOP during 2002-2006 (and that's four years, not two -- Bush beat Kerry by a healthy margin, and the GOP was still in the black in Congress after 2004).

So why have the Dems lost their huge advantage -- much bigger than the GOP's 2002 boost -- in less than two years? The blues should've been running away with this thing.

[Pepe]

"Nice try, Roger. Keep telling yourself you're still relevant. I know, I know, getting old and infirm sucks. Most of us will get there, eventually. Please stick to movie reviews that few read or care about"

Um..say what you want about the validity of his political opinions but Ebert has got to be the most well known, widely read and highly regarded film critics in the US. He pretty much moved in to the top spot after Pauline Kael died.

[GG]

I guess voice activation software doesn't exist in his world.

Did you not read the Forbes article, BDB? The "cunt" is his speech recognition software (who, when not doped up on pills, probably has a much lower WER than some newfangled, fancy schmancy, ?bersensitive speech-to-text program).

If he's physically incapable of using a computer, why does he talk about learning to use the internet and reading blogs?

I really don't know, joe. Maybe you could attend one of the crusty old fart's town halls and ask him! Then, you can go all Lonewacko on his ass, upload his answer to youtube and PWN the out-of-touch, wrinkly white-haired guy but good. SRSLY, Obama's "Still" ad is brilliant. Almost as brilliant as using the (always hysterical) "lipstick on a pig" metaphor after Palin became famous for her "lipstick" joke! Genius, I tell ya!

[BDB]

Because Democrats suck at campaigning.

The "still" ad was stupid, but if I hear "I can't do X because I was a POW, how outrageous!" one more time I'll scream.

[BDB]

GG sounds a bit old and angry.

[Neu Mejican]

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20080913/cx_db_uc/db20080913

[OO===D]

"GG"

You seem to be one G short.

[William Ayers]

"http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20080913/cx_db_uc/db20080913"

Boomer humor is so passe'.

[Matilda]

"Boomer humor is so passe'.

More like spreading edge.

[Neu Mejican]

Matilda,

How apt.

http://the-spreading-edge.com/index.html

[Matilda]

"http://the-spreading-edge.com/index.html"

Awestruck!

[JMR]

I'm waiting for the first confrontation between Black Panthers & Blackwater...

[Ugly Desperation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--bj01CYR8&eurl=http://www.powerlineblog.com/

[Sambo]

"I'm waiting for the first confrontation between Black Panthers & Blackwater..."

Huh?

[GG]

BDB: GG sounds a bit old and angry.

Not at all! Well, maybe a little old (Obama has a few years on me).

OO===D: You seem to be one G short.

And you seem to have an undescended testicle! (It's 8===D, not OO===D, Dick. HTH!)

But enough about me, assorted bollocks, and petty ass political ads.

How about the DOJ?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled proposed new rules on Friday for FBI investigations, changes a civil liberties group criticized for giving agents powers to investigate Americans without proper suspicion.

[joe]

McCain +5 in PA! What? Zogby Interactive! Ah. Ha ha, you got me. Good one.

We know the reason the country fled the GOP during 2002-2006 (and that's four years, not two -- Bush beat Kerry by a healthy margin, First, did you mean "fled TO the GOP?" What you wrote doesn't make sense otherwise. Also, Bush didn't win by a healthy margin. He was an incumbent wartime president, and won by 2.5%. That is the smallest victory by a sitting president during wartime in American history. Either this was evidence of incredible Republican weakness (unlikely, given that they stood pat in Congress), or of a very closely divided country.

and the GOP was still in the black in Congress after 2004). Meaning, there was virtually no change at all. Record close presidential election, no movement in Congress. 50/50 nation.

So why have the Dems lost their huge advantage -- much bigger than the GOP's 2002 boost -- in less than two years? Reversion to the mean, just like 2002-2004.

The blues should've been running away with this thing. Well, they're still on course to pick up 4-6 Senate seats and 10-20 House seats.

But if you mean the presidential election:

1. 50/50 Nation. Already shown above.

2. Non-incumbent election. Since World War 2, elections that didn't have a sitting president have been decided by an average of 3.8 points. Two of them (1960 and 2000) were virtual ties.

People who talk about historical patterns during bad economies favoring the challenger, and interpreting this as applying to Obama, are confusing incumbent and non-incumbent elections. Swing voters in the middle, who decide elections, are by definition people who vote for "the man not the party." Hence, while they'll punish Jimmy Carter for the crappy economy of the Jimmy Carter years, they won't punish John McCain for the crappy economy of the George Bush years.

SRSLY, Obama's "Still" ad is brilliant. Yes, it is, sadly. It's exactly the kind of stupid, personal, paper-thin-on policy, gimmicky nonsense attack ad that works. Ask Harold Ford. Ask John Kerry.

[BDB]

The same Zogby Interactive LOL Poll also had Obama +1 in NC.

[joe]

It's interesting to see Republican shills declare that Obama's adoption of the campaign tactics that defined John McCain's and George Bush's campaigns are desperate.

BDB, the ad is indeed stupid. It's an insult to the intelligence of anyone with an IQ over room temperature - which is to say, everyone except people who can't figure out at this late date whether they prefer John McCain or Barack Obama. It's not targeted to us, any more than the Harold Ford bimbo ad, the John Kerry windsurfing ad, or the Paris Hilton celebrity ad was targeted at us.

It certainly has scared the hell out of the Republicans. Good Lord, Obama is putting winning ahead of Goo-goo campaigning just like a Republican!

[BDB]

I guess Teddy Kennedy could have actually had a shot at beating Reagan in 1980, then.

[joe]

I like it.

"Obama +2: NBC/WSJ"

"McCain +1: Newsweek/Gallup"

"Even: Rasmussen"

"McCain +5: Zogby LOL"

[BDB]

More fun results from the series of Zogby LOL Polls released today, aside from the two referenced above:

NH McCain +6.1
FL McCain +10
ME Obama +2 (!)
VA McCain +6.5

[joe]

I guess Teddy Kennedy could have actually had a shot at beating Reagan in 1980, then.

I don't know. There is zero data on sitting presidents who lose a primary.

[BDB]

CNN is not being very flattering to Palin ("Palin Revealed"*) in what was a soft-ball bio piece on Obama Revealed and McCain Revealed.

[OO===D]

"It's 8===D, not OO===D, Dick. HTH!"

You're the expert.

[joe]

Oh, Weigel's gonna love this.

http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2008/09/was-communist-frank-marshall-davis.html

No doubt, this is why they forged the birth certificate.

[Sambo]

http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2008/09/was-communist-frank-marshall-davis.html

They all look the same to me.

[joe]

Lol! Good answer!

[Mr. Nice Guy]

"So why have the Dems lost their huge advantage"

It will be very interesting. The Dems are going to pick up seats in the Senate and the House while their Presidential pick will lose. If that is not an indicator of a bad nominee (both Obama and Biden [I mean Biden, WTF?!?) I don't know what is.

If the Dems chose a less open to attack candidate at the beginning and THEN named Obama as VP they would have walked away with this (and ironically done more to ensure the well past due election of a minority to national office and eventually the Presidency). Even if they would have made a VP pick with at least SOME potential to generate excitement for the ticket they would still have been in good shape.

Biden 08 makes John Edwards in 04 look like a guy who can generate incredible support.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

You have to give it to McCain as a candidate, whether you like his stances or not. If you had a video game in which you could create a Presidential candidate and equip him with various characteristics you would create John McCain.

War hero, yeah I want that. POW? That's great. Reputation as maverick? Yes. Record of reform, shit can I have that as well?

And I can name a woman who doesn't threaten the "heartland" (read: dumbasses) as VP?

Holy shit that is like the code in Contra that gave you endless lives. His surging campaign does not amaze me, only the fact that the people who make up the GOP primary electorate (avg. IQ=83, shirts=plaid, hat=John Deere and/or WWJD) had the good sense to pick him...

[BDB]

I'd create Bill Clinton.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

"Even if they would have made a VP pick with at least SOME potential to generate excitement for the ticket they would still have been in good shape."

I should have added OR someone who could have carried their own state, said state being one that would otherwise likely have gone the other way without said pick. You do win this thing by winning a majority (electoral college majority of course) of those.

Joe Biden? Delaware? WTF?!!!?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

BDB
I'd choose Clinton's speaking ability and political sense, but are you saying you'd pick the "drug using", "60's hippie" and "fidelity problems" characteristics for your ultimate candidate? I think he did well despite that (and Ross Perot (92) and Newt Gingrich (96) helped).

Does anyone else think it is ironic that Newt Gingrich was probably the smartest high profile Republican in the past 20 years and also the most hated by the public? They had one that had read something other than Sunday School lesson books and the public hated his guts...

[BDB]

No, the fact that he has those problems and beats his opponents anyway is cool. It drives them nuts.

He had sex in the oval office, lied about it under oath, and got away with it. That means he cannot be destroyed politically.

[BDB]

I also really think he sunk Hillary in the primaries on purpose.

[joe]

So, you've got to give it to McCain as a candidate, but the only explanation for why this is a close race is that Barack Obama is uniquely open to attack?

So, the last Democrat to win the White house was a "drug using", "60's hippie" and "fidelity problems", but the only way to win is a to pick a candidate that doesn't leave openings to attacks, even if this means passing on a someone of exceptional political skill and charisma?

He only hits me because I'm stupid and lazy. If I just make sure dinner's on the table, he won't hit me. I've just got to not give him a reason.

[joe]

Sure, Kerry's not so charismatic or politically skilled, but they can't very well question HIS patriotism.

[TallDave]

"Oops, Obama ad mocks McCain's inability to send e-mail. Trouble is, he can't due to tortured fingers"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/obama-ad-email.html

McCain's difficulty typing is public knowledge. It was in the Boston Globe:

http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/McCain_character_loyal_to_a_fault+.shtml

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes.

It was also in Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/0529/053_print.html

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits.

So apparently the Obama campaign can't use Google, which is amusingly ironic, or is so tone-deaf they're mocking McCain for a problem caused in part by his war injuries.

Of course, given that this is the team that thought using "lipstick on a pig" would be a great idea following Palin's famous use of the word lipstick in a joke about herself, I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

We'll see if the press can still pull this out for Obama.

[TallDave]

Because, as any PT can tell you, the normal aging process has no exacerbating effects whatsoever on injuries sustained 35 years ago. (I don't want to defend the cocksucker, but I have to. /Al)

It's so funny, the Dems think by making attacks like this they're being "tough like Republicans." It's the caricature of the "mean Republican" that they've concocted for themselves now dictates their strategy.

They still don't understand that Kerry lost because he campaigned as a war hero but in reality had gotten into combat accidentally, come back early on a technicality, and disparaged the troops, not because Republicans are a bunch of jerks who "questioned his patriotism," which Dems apparently see as a catchall for anything bad they've ever done and then been called on.

It's especially ironic given that in 2004, Dems crudely forged National Guard memos regarding Bush's service and got a sympathetic Dan Rather to commit career suicide over them, and in 2000 leaked a decades-old Bush DUI 48 hours before the election. They've hardly been playing nicey-nice.

[Neu Mejican]

TallDave,

You work for the McCain campaign?

That's the dumbest shit I've ever seen.

Weak.

And for some reason it is showing up on all the threads you post on.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/14/obama_ad_takes_heat_for_mccain_cyber_shot/

[Neu Mejican]

John McCain on his computer skills.

Earlier, in a March 2006 interview with Fortune magazine, McCain said his work style didn't require computer usage. But he did not cite his injuries.

"I read my e-mails, but I don't write any," McCain said. "I'm a Neanderthal - I don't even type. I do have rudimentary capabilities to call up some websites, like the New York Times online, that sort of stuff. No laptop. No PalmPilot. I prefer my schedule on notecards, which I keep in my jacket pocket."

[Mr. Nice Guy]

"Sure, Kerry's not so charismatic or politically skilled, but they can't very well question HIS patriotism."

This is a good example of what I mean. Only a pie in the sky Democratic primary voter could have thought Kerry's war record made him not an easy target for "Swift Boating." Average Americans couldn't dig his later hippie protesting.

[joe]

TallDave tells us John McCain can't use a computer because of his war injuries.

John McCain tells us he can't use a computer because he never learned how.

"I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself," McCain told the New York Times in an interview that appeared Sunday. "I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need."

Even so, McCain bluntly admits, "I don't e-mail. I've never felt the particular need to e-mail."

You really shouldn't condescend to disabled people by using their disabilities to explain everything about them.

[joe]

It's also not a good idea to give disabled people a pass on unrelated shortcomings out of pity.

It dehumanizes them. Oh, we can't expect a guy with bad shoulders to know what a web address is. Here, let me blow on your tea.

[J sub D]

Biden 08 makes John Edwards in 04 look like a guy who can generate incredible support.

Oh c'mon. I've heard reliable campaign analysis that asserts Biden coul add as many as 25 votes to the ticket in Pennsyvania alone.

[J sub D]

From earlier this year (February).
Rape Victims Can Be Hurt Financially, Too

Turns out experts on sexual assault are all too familiar with the issue. "It's been a problem for a long time," says Ilse Knecht, deputy director of public policy at the National Center for Victims of Crime. "We've heard so many stories of victims paying for their exams, or not being able to and then creditors coming after them." In order to qualify for federal grants under the Violence Against Women Act, states have to assume the full out-of-pocket costs for forensic medical exams, as the rape kits are called. But according to a 2004 bulletin published by the NCVC, "[F]eedback from the field indicates that sexual assault victims are still being billed." Knecht says she's recently heard from caseworkers in Illinois, Georgia, and Arkansas reporting that rape victims continue to be charged for their forensic exams.

This is an outrage no doubt. Sadly, Wasilla was obviously not unique in this shameful practice that will hopefully be ended nationwide soon.

[Kolohe]

The closest analogy for this election is 1960.

Hmm, on second thought 2000 was more like 1960.

I agree. I'm thinking the closest analogy for this election is 1876.

[ktc2]

So what's the deal with us now paying the "insurgents" in Iraq $800,000 a day not to attack US troops?

And if true will it stop the day after the election?

[Kant feel Pietzsche, my Balzac]

HOLY SHIT! Get off the "McCain can't even use a computer" soundtrack! Who cares?

I can just see any CEO, much less the POTUS (regardless who he/she is)sitting around with a Mountain Dew and a bag of Cheetos just blogging their ass off. Like they might not have a few more pressing responsibilities?

You suppose that there are people on staff who can Google or e-mail for them?

[Kant feel Pietzsche, my Balzac]

This is like the "Bush (elder) doesn't even know what a gallon of milk costs" or the Obama arugula screeds. OF COURSE they are out of touch with middle America. Anyone who makes it into this kind of rarified air lives in a bubble.

[joe]

HOLY SHIT! Get off the "McCain can't even use a computer" soundtrack! Who cares?

That's how I felt four years ago, when Bush said "I know there's a lot of rumors on the internets..." Ha ha, the old guy can't get his VCR to stop blinking 12:00 lawlz!

But things have changed, and as seems to be the new reality, they changed really, really fast. It isn't a matter of the President needing to google facts. The internet is a crucial element of modern society, and a working knowledge of what it is and how it operates and what's going on with touches on all sorts of issue the president is going to have to deal with.

Electronic wiretapping based on packet routing numbers.

What about "X was stored on his hard drive" as a evidence of a crime - all sorts of popups get stored on your hard drive, somewhere.