Friday, October 31, 2008

You Want Me To Do What?

Jong For Blood

Author Erica Jong is apparently saying, "Let There Be Blood" in this rather, uh, er, "inciteful" quotatation:

Fear of Losing « Not Your Sweetie: "...Of course, the craziest of all, Erica bought hook line and sinker the Donna Brazile/Obama campaign fear mongering:

“If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me. And it’s not a coincidence that President Bush recalled soldiers from Iraq for Dick Cheney to lead against American citizens in the streets.”


What can I say, Erica? Had you paid closer attention, beyond your little group of friends you could have been a PUMA."

Media Misses Pumas

American Thinker: Signs Pointing To A McCain Victory: "...Well, there is another story out there that the MSM refuses to address. A huge story. One that could, and I think will, significantly affect the outcome of this race. I'm referring to the widespread phenomenon of registered Democrats openly supporting John McCain. There are numerous 'Democrats for McCain' type organizations. There are numerous websites and blogs written by Democrats touting McCain's candidacy. There are pro-McCain grassroots efforts being led by Democrats. And we all know friends or relatives who are Democrats, who voted for John Kerry in 2004, and who are no fans of President Bush - but who are going to vote for John McCain this year.

Yet, surprise surprise, the mainstream media is not talking about these voters, not talking about the real rift that is occurring within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Needless to say, if a similar rift were occurring in the Republican Party, it would be treated as the major story that it is. (Indeed, as such stories about the political fault lines in the Republican Party have been treated in the recent past.)

Who are these pro-McCain Democratic voters? They overwhelmingly tend to be former Hillary supporters. Perhaps the most well-known of these voters are the "PUMAs" - which stands for Party Unity My Ass. These are Hillary supporters who are adamantly opposed to Obama. Let's not forget that during the Democratic primaries - real elections, not polls - Hillary crushed Obama among white working-class and middle-class voters in such key states as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. If a meaningful number of these voters end up voting for McCain, as I predict they will, then Obama's smooth road to the White House is going to run smack into a brick wall..."

Baking The BloggerBoyz

Anglachel's Journal: Losers

"...As I said before, it is a politics of catering to the winners rather than defending the losers. What offends the Drums and Marshalls and other "pro-war before we were anti-war" suck-ups on the Left most about Somerby is that he keeps defending a "loser." Al may have won back some of these guys with the environmentalism and Nobel prize, but fundamentally they all still despise Gore as a loser, and they thought of him this way before the debacle of 2000.

They want their own Reagan, someone who will make them stop feeling like losers, even if it means losing touch with the principles they claim to hold."

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Amazing Poll

The Dole Barometer « The Confluence

NewsLadder Spam Alert

I am getting a flood of spam with titles like "Gettin' Ugly and Other Top Stories About John McCain" from an outfit called the "John McCain NewsLadder," apparently put out by the "Media Consortium-- The Best of Independent Journalism."

Uh, yeah. Right. I unsubscribed but you know how that goes-- I've just confirmed I exist. One spam a day from one group is barely tolerable-- a spam an hour is way too much.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Puma Protest

Charlotte Front and Center: Charlotte PUMAS Pounce A.C.O.R.N. Office: "PUMAS, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all joined forces to express their outrage against voter registration fraud, and the blatant lack of responsibility and accountability from A.C.O.R.N. to tax-paying American citizens.

On 10-29-08 at 2:00 p.m., twenty members of these groups gathered in unison on a cool Wednesday afternoon in front of the A.C.O.R.N. Office in Charlotte, N.C..."

Socialism and Native Americans

Since I'm much more a Classic (or Antique) Democrat, I have few problems with Obama's alleged socialist agenda. (Frankly, Obama's actions to me mean he is more of a closet neocon than any other political persuasion.) However, as I've said before, a little socialism goes a long ways-- but a whole bunch of laissez-faire capitalism certainly hasn't left the country in good shape either. Somewhere, there is a balance between rampaging greed and stampeding freebies. I like the point this video makes-- socialism has not worked well for Native Americans overall. My neighbors in Cherokee are doing quite well with capitalism (tourism and a casino) but those tribes that are far off the beaten probably have less opportunity to attract the necessary capital to fully engage in the free market system. I don't know the answer and I suspect no one else really does either. I do know that the view express in the (very well-done) video is one that should be considered by all.


Striking Another Blow For Feminism

FOXNews.com - FBI: Photos Show Massachusetts Lawmaker Stuffing Bribes in Bra - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum: "BOSTON — Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who cuts a glittering, energetic figure around the Massachusetts Statehouse, stood alone and soberly attired in federal court Tuesday after being charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes — including $10,000 to fund her write-in campaign next week.

The Democrat was freed on a $50,000 unsecured bond. FBI agents arrested her at her Boston home earlier in the day on charges of attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator..."

There's a picture of the "bra stuffing" at the link.

An Unfortunate Truth

It's about style, not substance. So Long, Democrats - The Daily Beast
"...Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people don’t have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problems—big government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companies—is just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?

That’s not exactly the philosophy of a Democrat. Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton “dishonest.” They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over “Bros before Hoes” or “Iron My Shirt.” Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. She’s human.

But here we are about a week out and it’s déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palin’s wardrobe? Where’s the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt?..."

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Morning Commute


Coweee Gap, NC. October 28, 2008.

Raging Sexism v. America

Excellent post. Following is an excerpt but you should read the entire post at the link.

Tuesday: “An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere” « The Confluence

"Martin Luther King Jr. said that. Liberal Democratic women do not seem to understand this statement. Basically it means that discrimination, disrespect, misogyny directed towards Sarah Palin is really discrimination, disrespect, misogyny on all women. It’s just delivered by proxy.

It shouldn’t matter what political party the woman belongs to. You have every right to disagree wih her politics. But it is morally wrong to cheer on the abuse that has been hurled at her, and let us be clear about this, the abuse has been specifically gender related.

She has been assumed to be dumb because she is pretty. The media has screamed and thrown a fit to get access to her for interviews and then proceeded to edit, chop and take her words out of context to reinforce their predetermined narrative. I’ve watched exactly one interview and have focussed afterwards on Sarah’s live and debate performances. Peeps, Sarah is not dumb. She’s got incredible political intuition and she’s a quick study. After 4 years as VP, she would be a formidable opponent to Hillary Clinton. If liberal women were outraged by the media’s treatment of Hillary, they are being hypocritical in turning against Sarah. The injustice is just as bad or even worse...."

Just as I loathed the treatment Sen.Clinton received from nearly everyone, I loathe the treatment Gov. Palin has received. Frankly, I think some of the activity directed at her should fall under hate speech guidelines and at the very least should receive widespread condemnation. But that will not happen because somehow my Democratic Party, the Party of good guys, fair play, and equality has become the thing it purported to hate-- a Party of hate where any slander is okay as long as it is directed at the opposition. Just as I refused to support the GOP for decades because of its policies and behavior, I can refuse to support this new Democratic Party. My support will go to those politicians who act responsibly and have policies I can at least tolerate. My support will be based on their actions, not their promises.

And I vote will my ballot and with my bucks.

Stevens Joins O.J. Club

Stevens to Alaska voters: 'Stand with me' - CNN.com: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Proclaiming his innocence, convicted Republican Sen. Ted Stevens asked Alaskans to 'stand with me' as he pledged to defend the Senate seat he has held since 1968.
Sen. Ted Stevens leaves the federal courthouse in Washington after being convicted Monday.

Sen. Ted Stevens leaves the federal courthouse in Washington after being convicted Monday.

'I ask that Alaskans and my Senate colleagues stand with me as I pursue my rights,' Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, said in a statement Monday. ' I remain a candidate for the United States Senate...'"

Good luck with that, Senator

And in celebration of Stevens' clarity, I give you today's Cold Mountain (yes, that Cold Mountain) air quality picture.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Palin Lynched

"Obama mob lynches 'Sarah Palin' -- 10.27.08"
Some rather unusual stuff embedded in this video.

Lest We Forget: Primary Edition

Make Your Voices Heard — Help Run Powerful Ads : NO QUARTER: "At the end of the Democratic Primary season, this was the situation:

Popular Vote
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: 17,857,446, (48.04%)
Senator Barack Obama: 17,584,649 (47.31%)

Pledged delegates

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,730.5 (39.17%)
Senator Barack Obama: 1,747.5 (39.55%)..."

No Birth Certificate

Obama's birth certificate sealed by Hawaii governor

"HONOLULU, Hawaii – Although the legitimacy of Sen. Barack Obama's birth certificate has become a focus of intense speculation – and even several lawsuits – WND has learned that Hawaii's Gov. Linda Lingle has placed the candidate's birth certificate under seal, and instructed the state's Department of Health to make sure no one in the press obtains access to the original document under any circumstances.

The governor's office officially declined a request made in writing by WND in Hawaii to obtain a copy of the hospital-generated original birth certificate of Barack Obama..."

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Money Grab Planned?

The “S” Word And Your Savings : NO QUARTER: "Someone gave me a link yesterday that discussed how Democratic Congress members were considering seizing 401(k)s and putting them in a government account that would yield…….are you ready? Three percent. Forever.

I was horrified. Here we are in a shakey stock market and our dumb shit congress is actually considering seizing what’s left of your money so that you can never recover in the long term, much less ever get those nifty dividends some companies pay quarterly..."

More Hoax Humor

At least I hope this site is a hoax. It's get harder and harder to tell. Cannon also linked this one and has a post about it. TRUTH FIRST: White deception, White lies, White tricks

Feminism Today

Charlotte Front and Center--"Palin Good Example Of Feminism"

"This past Tuesday, Sarah Palin made the most explicitly feminist political speech by ANYONE running for national office in the last 20 years. She said,

"Women of my generation were allowed finally to make more of our own choices with education, with career, and I have never forgotten that we owe that opportunity to women, to feminists who came before us," Palin said. "The belief in equal opportunity is not just the cause of feminists, it's the creed of our country — equal opportunity."

Many people are trying to marginalize this lady, and discredit her accomplishments. She has worked harder than Obama & Biden combined. She has more executive experience, marked record of achievement and increased responsibility.

When was the last time you heard a MAN having a ethics violation for having his staff or security detail run women for him?..."

Friday, October 24, 2008

On The Hoax Mugging

Cannon has an informative post on the issue, which concludes with this addendum, also thought provoking.

Cannonfire:

"...Added note: Most people are presuming that Ashley Todd has mental health issues. That presumption may be true, although only a professional psychiatrist or psychologist can make the diagnosis. But should we not make the same presumption of mental illness in the case of Dana Milbank, who invented the story that McCain supporters shouted "Kill him" when Sarah Palin mentioned the name of Barack Obama? The Secret Service determined the story to be false, yet the progs continue to treat it as gospel. Yet Milbank continues to earn money, while Ashley has earned only ignominy. Double standard!"

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Another Ugly Incident

Young female McCain Volunteer branded with B and Brutalized « The Confluence: "...A 20 year old volunteer for the McCain-Palin campaign was mugged after using an ATM. The mugger took $60 from the volunteer who was from Texas and had gone to PA to help with phone banks. After the mugging, the man that robbed this young woman noticed a McCain bumper sticker on her car. He then marked her with a B on her face, yelled obscenities and anti-McCain rhetoric at her, and assaulted her..."

Party's Past

Scans and all. Interesting. New Zeal: Obama File 41 Obama Was a New Party Member-Documentary Evidence

Tightening Polls

AP presidential poll: All even in the homestretch: "WASHINGTON (AP) - The presidential race tightened after the final debate, with John McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that shows McCain and Barack Obama essentially running even among likely voters in the election homestretch.

The poll, which found Obama at 44 percent and McCain at 43 percent, supports what some Republicans and Democrats privately have said in recent days: that the race narrowed after the third debate as GOP-leaning voters drifted home to their party and McCain's 'Joe the plumber' analogy struck a chord..."

Adrift In A Sea Of Indifference

Thursday: Resistance- no longer useless « The Confluence: "...We keep coming back to the fact that the media and the DNC would like to put the older, uneducated, working class, women and eventually, African Americans, on an ice floe and let them fend for themselves. It appears that the Democratic party no longer intends to represent those groups. “Those people” represent a vast majority of people in the United States. The recent brouhaha over Joe the Plumber demonstrates that voters in both parties have woken up to the new reality that they simply do not count anymore and they’re angry. If this is America, they should still be able to vote in confidence that their wishes are respected and counted and this is no longer necessarily the case.

We are resisting the chopping away at the ice that the priveleged part of the tribe is doing to disconnect us from them. That is what is fueling the resistence. And what is happening on Wall Street right now is a bellwhether for what is to come if Obama wins by discounting and suppressing the vote. It isn’t right to take the taxes of the hardest working Americans and give it to the well connected on Wall Street without those taxpayers having a say in how the money is used. TThat is the way the government will operate in the future if the DNC, Obama, Pelosi et al get their way. For once and all, they won’t have to reach out the Bubbas, as they call us. They will treat us like non-voting partners in whatever business plan they intend to carry out..."

At some point the middle will realize that neither party represents us, though both want our votes. The GOP uses faith and patriotism as a wedge to pick the pockets of the middle class and the poor and redistribute the wealth to their elites. The Dems use ethnicity and victimization to pick the pockets of the poor, the middle, and the wealthy and then figure ways to redistribute the money to their elite. The bottom line is the same: the rich get richer and the rest get screwed. Neither Obama nor McCain will change this system since they represent both self and other interests that benefit from the system. The only way to "get 'er done" is a complete upheaval in the legislative branch with extremists from both sides being replaced by people who actually work for the people, as opposed to those who talk but do not do.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Surprise!

The Gibson Question

I've been bitching about Charlie Gibson's two alleged interviews since I saw (the edited) version of the Palin interview. I was just astonished at how he treated Palin, when compared to the goo-balls he tossed to O'Precious. Following is a comment containing the two sets of questions.

From News that may surprise you : NO QUARTER

"OBAMA interview with Charlie Gibson, June 2008

How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?
How does it feel to “win”?
How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling?
Who will be your VP?
Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?
Will you accept public finance?
What issues is your campaign about?
Will you visit Iraq?
Will you debate McCain at a town hall?
What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech?
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5000184

PALIN interview with Charlie Gibson, Sept. 2008
Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?
Aren’t you conceited to be seeking this high level job?
Questions about foreign policy
-territorial integrity of Georgia
-allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO
-NATO treaty
-Iranian nuclear threat
-what to do if Israel attacks Iran
-Al Qaeda motivations
-the Bush Doctrine
-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan
Is America fighting a holy war? [misquoted Palin]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-00000295035"

On The Village People

No, not that wonderful band, but the pack of hyenas howling outside the gated communities in the suburbs of Main Stream Metropolis. The pitiful pack wants nothing more than to be invited to pundicate on Sunday mornings in order to puff up their already incredibly inflated egos, so any sacrifice of person or principle is just a fine stepping stone to commentariat glory. It's worth remembering that most, if not all, "A-List" bloggers got their start as GOP operatives who saw the light. Ahem. Right. They managed to build high traffic sites for many reasons, not the least of which is having the operating capital to survive while paying for high-cost, high bandwidth servers. Of course, they all got that operating capital from washing dishes at Denney's, not a bank loan or a rich uncle or a corporate sugar daddy. Anyway, I digress.

Anglachel's post (excerpt below) quotes the Daily Howler quite extensively (a good thing) and adds a further fork or two in the steaming corpse of a once semi-respectable blogger. As always, there is certainly more than one good candidate for thievery in her posts but I picked the following, which is slightly off topic, but this is one of those cases in which the horse cannot be whipped too much:

...To me, as I have been writing for months, the key lies with the psychosis of the Stevensonian crowd, who hate all things white and southern and who have seized the presence of racism (real and imagined) as the source of evil in the body politic. No lie is too much, no threat of violence too far, no manipulation of the process too crude in the Battle Against the Bubbas.


This is why we have the weird opposition to McCain and Palin, almost identical to the trashing of Hillary, focusing on racism and social status to the exclusion of substance. It can work if you have already decided that the poor and working class as such are not worthy of political representation. Exactly in the way that the Republicans have tried to make urban black populations stand in for everyone below upper middle class, trying to sully programs for lower classes by forcing programs benefitting those classes into grotesque blackface, now the Democrats are coming at this group from the other side, whitewashing their own class bigotry with the specter of the KKK...



Click on the following link for the rest: Anglachel's Journal: "Sullied". No, not the verb, the proper noun. Read the post for an explanation.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

More Polling

Obama Internal Polling Shows Two-Point Obama Lead in Pennsylvania? « The Confluence
"Today Steve Corbett of WILK radio in Scranton received an internal e-mail from someone named Grant Olin in the Obama Campaign in Pennsylvania. The e-mail warned supporters not to be complacent, because internal campaign polling showed that Obama is leading in Pennsylvania by only two points..."

Poll News

Charlotte Front and Center: McCain Pulls Ahead With Rasmussen Poll: "FOX News/Rasmussen Reports state polling this week shows a slightly improved situation for John McCain compared to a week ago -- though the underlying dynamic of the election still favors Barack Obama.

The biggest change is found in Florida where the race is now essentially even with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 48 percent. A week ago, Obama was up by five percentage points and the week before he held a seven-point lead. The current polling shows McCain's support at its highest level since mid-September..."

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Good Old Days

Who we are is who we were « The Confluence: "...Having an African-American president has been one of my biggest dreams just like having a female president serve in my lifetime. But I don’t want that president to come to office if he/she had to steal votes to get there. I would not feel a sense of pride in their presidency, in fact I’d feel the same way I feel about George W. Bush, that he/she was selected not elected and was illegitimately holding an office that was not chosen by the voting majority. Current Democrats are acting as if the only way of becoming a millionaire is to rob a bank. Of course this is not the only way to become a millionaire, but many in the Democratic Party have been infected with this ”ends justify the means” haka that desecrates our American ideals of respecting the sanctity of “one person = one vote.”

Not too long ago (but what seems an eternity) what filled me with pride as a Democrat was that we were on the “good guys” side. We defended civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, voter rights, housing rights, etc. As a liberal, I want everybody to have a good paying job , a decent place to live, a good public school to send your kids, have a good doctor, participate in the American dream of buying your own home and for everyone to live a prosperous happy life living under a government that is for the people, by the people. While knowing that certain candidates did not have a full grasp to the needs of middle to lower income Americans, nor have the fighting spirit to defend them, I stood by my party for decades as they rolled out candidate after candidate who I voted for because I was a Democrat. I stood by them because they earned the majority of our party’s votes and because they had Democratic principles (despite that some of them were a bit “right-of-center” to my more liberal views.) I don’t feel that sense of pride anymore, I don’t feel that the Democrats are the “good guys” because the current Democratic Party morphed into the “enemy” and it’s eating its own just to win. It’s become the blue-tinged version of the Neo-Con Republican Party with an “O” instead of a “W.” ..."

Another Reminder

Taliban say they killed aid worker for spreading Christianity - International Herald Tribune: "KABUL: A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the death of a Christian aid worker in Kabul on Monday, and the militant group said it had attacked the woman because she was spreading her religion.

The woman, a British citizen, worked with handicapped Afghans and was killed in the western part of Kabul as she was walking to work around 8 a.m., the police said. Najib Samsoor, a district police chief, originally said the woman was from South Africa, but the British government later said she was British..."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

An Ungentle Reminder

Taliban seizes bus, executes 2 dozen passengers, Afghan officials say - Los Angeles Times: "KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban militants seized a bus in volatile southern Afghanistan and executed at least two dozen passengers, beheading some of them, officials said Sunday.

The attack took place in Kandahar province, which was the home base of the fundamentalist Islamic movement before it was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001. The incident illustrated the extreme danger of travel in the Afghan countryside, even along main roads such as the one where the bus was commandeered. Many of the passengers were women and children..."

Vote Winning Threats?

There Will Be Riots In The Streets! : NO QUARTER

"That’s the big “hint” to what James Carville says will happen if Obama doesn’t “win” the election. Nothing like a little threat of violence to try to skew , are I say, dictate, things to go a certain way.

This was a topic of conversation last night on the excellent “Patsy and Sugar” show on No Quarter Radio (Thursday nights at 9:00 pm). We have heard this before - that’s what was going to happen at the DNC Convention, too, had they not broken all of their roll-call rules.

Please, will you remind me again how this is Democratic?? Because, frankly, I resent being threatened with violence if I do not vote for a particular candidate, ANY candidate. And what does it say about Obama and his minions that this is an ACCEPTABLE tactic?? Like so many other of Obama’s tactics, this is despicable..."

Guys, com'on. Do you really think that tactic will work? Do you think you can scare a bunch of bitter, Bible clinging low-information low-class trash (like me) into voting for the One? Or, do you think that perhaps the same people who fight this country's wars, repair its machinery, and build its citadels might somehow drum up the nerve to face thugs with pop guns and bottles of gasoline? We endured a Civil War that killed hundreds of thousands and devastated an entire region of the country. Sorry, but riots are not much of a worry.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Comment Of The Day

Likely Voters Vs. Registered Voters–Or What’s REALLY Going On in the Polls : NO QUARTER: "...Here’s a question - ‘Where were you five and a half years ago? Around Christmas, 2002. You’ve had five or six birthdays in that time. My son has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep. 6, 000 meals, give or take.’

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held longer than he should be released first Did you get that part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow man? I submit that’s a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man..."

The Other Bob Rants

Re: Joe The Plumber

Thanks to Diamond Tiger for the tip on this video. This is a classic. Ms. Tiger has more posted at Logistics Monster.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Joe D'Plummere'

About Those Terrorist Facts

Cannonfire--" TPM's Greg Sargent lies through his teeth":

"... TPM also scores a McCain robocall which ties Obama to terrorist Bill Ayers.
And now we have a third one that says Obama "worked closely" with a "domestic terrorist" who bombed the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon and killed Americans. Needless to say, a major campaign is underway.
He did indeed work closely with Ayers. The fact has been established beyond challenge.

Oddly, Sargent does not attempt to present a counter-argument; he is content to pretend that the charge is absurd on its face. In this, he reminds me of the New Republic's Jonathan Chait, who pretended that his publication had investigated the Ayers/Obama link extensively, even though the New Republic has never published a story mentioning Ayers, Obama and the Annenberg Challenge. (Fire up Google and see for yourself.) ..."

The GOP and Custer

Chris Matthews Other Leg: The GOP - On The Road To The Little Big Horn: "There is a rotting corpse in the Republican well. It's juices are leeching into the water this election year and poisoning the party's candidates all over the country even in the conservative heartlands. The decomposing carcass is the political remains of George W. Bush, titular leader of the Republican Party and Dead President Walking of the United States.

If the polls and the results of special Congressional elections are anything to go by the Republican Party are the Seventh Cavalry all saddled up and about to head out for the Little Big Horn of the November ballot. The electorate are the Lakota, Oglala and Hunkpappa Sioux now gathered about their campfires swapping tales of how they'll trap and overwhelm the Longknives and slay their intrepid leader, the impulsive egotistical Yellow Hair..."

Inappropriate

Maybe I am a loon but this whole idea of the two opposing camps getting together and yukking it up really undermines the supposed seriousness of this election. "The most important election of our lifetime" both the Democrats and the Republicans scream. Really? If it's all that serious then why are you even breathing the same air as your enemy? And, yes, "enemy" is the right word, given all the vitriol spewing in every direction for the past two years. Or, is it, wink,wink,nod, grin, just a game played by the wealthy for the benefit of plebeians everywhere? Because, no matter who wins, the pundits will still have their leg-tingling million dollar contracts, our elected officials will continue to live large, the same celebrities will be celebrating, the same rockers will be rocking-- the only thing that changes is amount of cash sheared from the sheeple and which group of filthy rich will get the most benefit from it, so I guess this election only really, truly, seriously matters to those who will suffer from its effects-- like the average G.I. over there or the average student trapped in a crumbling school. Or. Or. Well, maybe you get it. It is certainly not the kind of change I want to live with.

For a report of jolly festivities, look here: Obama, McCain share laughs at dinner: The Swamp.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Other (Not Plumb) Joe

Senator Joe Biden (MBNA-DE) « The Confluence

"...Senator Obama evidently has forgotten about two things for which we can thank Joe Biden. The first is the current bankruptcy bill which makes it difficult for folks who get into financial trouble for things like unemployment and overwhelming health catastrophy costs to ever recover financially and lead normal lives again. The second is that he’s never met a credit card company supported bill he doesn’t like.

Here’s what one liberal blogger said about that bill while Biden was still running for President. Notice that it also references another ‘progressive’ blog.

The bankruptcy bill is such a cruel piece of legislation, especially to single mothers and people without health insurance, that K** crossed Biden right off his list of potential candidates. I’m unaware of any major or medium size blogger that supports Biden’s campaign…and it really all comes back to the bankruptcy bill..."

Congress Gets Award


True... it's the Alfred E. Neuman "What Me Worry" Award.

OpenSecrets | As Economic Storm Brewed, Congressional Wealth Grew 11% Last Year - Capital Eye: "WASHINGTON -- An economic recession is looking increasingly likely, but the personal finances of members of Congress suggest they will be able to withstand the slowdown far better than most Americans, according to a new analysis of lawmakers' latest personal financial reports by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics..."

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Daily Uh-Oh, Dictator Edition

Follow The Money of Obama and Odinga | Logistics Monster

"Jerome Corsi is breaking a news story with World Net Daily about Barack Obama contributing $1 Million to his cousin’s campaign in Kenya..."

Canada Chooses Harper (Not So Much)

And from the Counting Chickens and Eggs Department--

Update:

"OTTAWA: Prime Minister Stephen Harper's gamble that forcing the country into its third election in four years would give him firm control over Parliament failed. While his Conservative Party improved its results over the last election, it still fell short of a majority in the House of Commons, according to unofficial tallies..."

Original post follows:

Canada votes, poised to reelect Conservatives | Markets | Bonds News | Reuters: "OTTAWA, Oct 14 - Canadians voted on Tuesday in an election that was likely to produce the third minority government in four years and give Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper a renewed mandate.

The 37-day campaign focus on who would be the best manager in troubled economic times intensified with the global turmoil, and polls showed voters sticking with Harper though his support came off the highs it reached a few weeks ago..."

Another Affair Affair

From the "Here We Go Again" Department:

The Associated Press: Fla. Congressman said to be involved in 2nd affair: "WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Hours after a married congressman addressed a report that he had an affair with a former aide and paid her to keep quiet about it, details of a purported tryst with a second woman surfaced.

Though Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney did not directly mention allegations first reported by ABC News that he had been involved with the former aide, he issued a statement apologizing to his family but denying he'd done anything illegal.

Later Tuesday, a person close to his campaign told The Associated Press that Mahoney also was having an affair with a second woman around the same time..."

Monday, October 13, 2008

Title This Post

"Harlem voters"

I am confounded.

A Word For The Unconverted

To Masslib: We do not bow to peer pressure « The Confluence: "...Now, masslib and people who gave in to peer pressure can say that Obama is going to win but I have enough emails from the party that suggest that plans to launch a full out attack to pressure us into voting for Obama. If he were doing that well, the upcoming psychological warfare would be unneccesary. So, please stop the annoying pro-Obama blather. We aren’t buying it and we don’t care.

We’re not trying to be mean. We are just being firm."

Sunday, October 12, 2008

From The Beating Dead Horses Department

All I need to know is Tasered. 12 Year Old.

Palin Talks to Alaska Reporters about Troopergate | The Trail | washingtonpost.com: "Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin this weekend disregarded an ethics investigator's finding that she had abused her executive power as Alaska's governor and instead embraced a second finding in the report to say that she had been cleared of wrongfully firing her state public safety commissioner..."

RICO Monsters At Logistics Monster's

Most informative. Must Read For All Americans and Monster Readers | Logistics Monster

Saturday, October 11, 2008

From The Whistling In The Graveyard Department

Econ humor over at Anglachel's Journal. Sample: "...uncertainty has now hit Japan. In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up..."

The Vote Hustle(rs)

Charlotte Front and Center--'Acorn...Cheating Like A Third World Country': "Yes, Obama was a lawyer and trainer for Acorn in Chicago. Everything in the ad is true and much more.
My personal knowledge is from Acorn in Chicago, and they were/are aggressive, physically [pushing, and clearly want 'theirs' at any cost to others. The vote fraud finally making the news about Acorn is LONG overdue.Acorn

From the day the Obama Illinois buses rolled into Iowa to VOTE in the Iowa caucus the Obama campaign has been a path of vote fraud. Some of us can testify to what we saw at the DNC 'rules' meeting on May 31, 2008. Texas vote fraud also huge. At the caucuses someone would take home the signed sheets to type them, and they would be returned with far more names of people never there..."

Hence, my O'Problem.

Friday, October 10, 2008

SS Thuggery?

"Secret Service Intimidates Private Citizen for Obama "...The fact that the volunteer lied, the fact that the Secret Service came to my house to question me about my thoughts and feelings and threaten to embarrass me to my neighbors and go to court if I didn’t cooperate is not really the tragedy here. Because that girl on the phone doesn’t have the pull to send the Secret Service to my home. Someone high in the ranks of a campaign working for a man who may be the next President of the United States of America felt comfortable bringing the force of the Federal Government to bear on a private citizen on nothing but the word of a partisan volunteer.

I want to file a counter complaint that false charges were made, that a false report was given to a peace officer. The Secret Service told me I cannot because they will protect the identity of the complainant. I also want the file they have on me destroyed and I want to know that my phone isn't tapped et cetera. I am hearing a lot of 'Out of our Jurisdiction'.

Do I also hear jackboots?"

A Fighter Passes On

ABC 13 - Top Stories: "An elderly woman who went missing in Haywood County has been found dead.

83 year old Willa Mae Trull was last seen Tuesday around 3:00 p.m. outside her home in the Saunook community..."

Willa Mae was a relation and one of the leaders in the fight to get the Road To Nowhere Built. She, and other members of her organization, published a newsletter and led the fight to get the road built, and from her I learned just how low on the totem pole "hillbillies" actually are. Someone in her group had retrieved several documents from Washington under the Freedom of Information Act that stated, in essence, that the residents of Appalachia were "marginal people" and no one in the "real United States" cared what happened to them so the Federals could come in and play the patriot card and confiscate their land for a pittance of what it was actually worth. And they did, with the promise they would build a road which would bring an economic boom to the area. They built enough of the road to finish Fontana Dam and the land acquisition, then quit.

Of course, we hillbillies have no reason to question people from Washington (or Raleigh) when they arrive and say "We're here to help."

Spying On Us (U.S.)

ABC News: NSA Eavesdropping 'Outrageous' and 'Disturbing,' Critics Say: "A Senate panel is probing claims top secret government workers eavesdropped on communications from American servicemembers, journalists and aid workers overseas.

Hundreds of US citizens overseas, including US troops in Iraq, have been eavesdropped on, according to two former military and NSA intercept operators, despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials.
(ABC News )

Announcing the probe, Senate intelligence committee chair Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) called the allegations, made on ABC News, 'extremely disturbing...'"

Everyone in favor of the latest FISA vote raise your hand.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Left Imitates Right

The Daily Howler: 'Handshake Wars' --- "...To state the obvious, none of this was worth discussing—especially after a ninety-minute debate about foreign wars and financial disaster. But increasingly, the liberal web feeds on the culture of childish grievance, just as conservative talk has always done. And so, people like Marshall were quickly involved in bugling up the handshake wars. As hacks like Sean Hannity have always done, Josh 1) seized on a matter of total trivia; 2) got his basic facts crashingly wrong; then 3) continued to claim of grievance even after it was clear that he had been crashingly wrong. In Josh’s suburb of Hannity World, McCain had still “snubbed him [Obama] and then r[u]n off in a huff”—even after it was clear that this hadn’t, in fact, really happened.

In part, we’re in the messes we’re in today because of the intellectual bankruptcy of mainstream journalistic elites (examples below). All through the nineties, they played the fool, serving the capital’s growing Republican dominance; at the end of the decade, they invented a pleasing fairy tale about McCain, and vicious demon tales about Gore. Back then—indeed, for several years after—Josh played along with all that crap, as toilet-trained “liberals” seemed to know they must do. Today, he behaves much like our own Hannity, driving democracy down..."

Voter Issues

NUTS! - New York Post: "CLEVELAND - Two Ohio voters, including Domino's pizza worker Christopher Barkley , claimed yesterday that they were hounded by the community-activist group ACORN to register to vote several times, even though they made it clear they'd already signed up..."

NoBama Parking Lot

ABC News: Parking Lot Politics: North Carolina Lot Says No Parking for Obama Supporters: "A North Carolina parking lot owner says supporters of the Democratic presidential candidate are no longer welcome to park their cars..."

From the post comment thread: "Just an example of a right-wing extremist at work ... the kind that normal people of reason think of when someone mentions ignorant hillbilly.
annaloh 5:27 PM."

Well, it is his property, but I get the outrage; my complaint is that the town, Gibsonville, is neither in the mountains nor the hills, so the man can't be an "ignorant hillbilly." Quite tarring me with your racist brush! Not all hillbillies are ignorant and if you call somebody one and you ain't one, you're a racist. (New Rule, circa 2007).

Bring Out Your Dead

YouTube - MSU SDS Reunion: Bernardine Dohrn speaks (1)

Racism vs. Sexism

The Confluence has two highly informative posts on the subject: here and here.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

No Help For The Little Guy

Obama, the “Democrat” Opposes Homeowners Rescue Plan « The Confluence
"According to the AP piece, Obama camp says McCain Mortgage Plan unworkable, Obama is suddenly concerned that the taxpayer would be unduly burdened:..."

No One's Your Sweetie

In ‘Sweetie’ and ‘Dear,’ a Hurt for the Elderly | BlueRidgeNow.com | Times-News Online | Hendersonville, NC: "Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear...”"

Media Swill Continues

This time it is Newsweek. Gosh, golly, gee-whiz guys, why didn't you just run that phony photo of Palin in a bikini on your cover? This is beyond noxious. The comment is from the thread at No Quarter. The link follows.
"Comment by BernieO | 2008-10-08 07:17:58

Well Meacham has a point. Unlike Obama, Palin has never stood up to the corrupt bosses in her own party and won, taken on big oil companies and made them submit to outside inspectors on their sites, taxed windfall oil profits, got an agreement with another country to build a massive natural gas pipeline that others have been unsuccessfully trying to do for years.
Oh wait! She has!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile Obama was sucking up to political bosses and fixers, ignoring the fact that his own constituents were languishing in slums that his main benefactor owned, attending a radical, anti-white church for 20 years without noticing anything untowards, and hanging out with a guy that to this day says his terrorist acts did not go far enough..."


Gosh Golly Gee. She’s got wrinkles too : NO QUARTER

Monday, October 06, 2008

Rant Of The Day

ChristmasGhost

"... After all, the worst case scenario for a political bully like Obama is for citizens to start comparing notes.
And I have been not only surprised, but heartened, to find out that most people aren’t nearly as stupid as the Obama camp and Mr. Astro Turf David Axelrod want you to think.
For instance it has escaped no one that there is a racist running for the white house …..and it isn’t John McCain.
People are tired, and I mean really, really tired of feeling as if they have to be ashamed of being conservative, financially solvent, and white. You are now guilty by the color of your skin. It has not escaped anyone I have talked to that they are about to be pilloried for something that their ancestors may or may not have done….simply because of the color of their skin. If this is post racial I would really like to see Obama explain how.
And all this brought to us all by the same phony that says his recent and very personal associations with domestic terrorists, Muslim extremists, and outright racists do not count. Yup…we aren’t allowed to look closely at Barack’s friends and allies in the present tense because that would make us racists…."

Sexism In Other Places

I don't normally troll through celebrity gossip stuff since I'm anti-celebrity of any kind, but the first sentence perked my gender-bias detector. If you want to explore the entire post, be forewarned that it may give feminists a headache, though Obots should enjoy it.

Angelina Jolie Gets Covered In Tattoos For Her Twins | Hecklerspray: "Angelina Jolie has physically changed since the birth of her twins, and not just because now you could easily drive a tractor up her birth canal..."

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Another Take On The Economy

ruby ruby ruby: 'The Bailout' "...i think one of major problems with the economy that the politicians refuse to address is that there are too many passengers on the bus. i'm not talking about corporate thieves. i'm talking about people that contribute nothing. they pay no taxes and never will. these passengers not only contribute nothing to the bus, they sit in their free seats and complain ad-infinitum that their seats aren't good enough. do the politicians ever point fingers at the passengers? shit no, telling the truth is political suicide in the 21st century.

the politicians don't go after the passengers, they go after the mexicans who are pushing the bus that has run out of gas..."

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Women Hating On Women

Excellent post and really good comment thread: Women offended by women having it all « Not Your Sweetie

Losing The Gloves

McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama - washingtonpost.com
" Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said..."

Friday, October 03, 2008

The Emotional Question

Remember all the ridiculous hoopla over Sen. Clinton having an emotional moment? That nonsense went on for weeks with the Three Tenors and others complaining mightly over her "fake tears"? I wonder what would be happening today if Palin had gotten emotional, say, over her children? Would blogposts be screaming "Palin Cries: Unfit For President"? I betcha the blogoswamp would be infested with little blood suckers repeating that refrain. Don't read me wrong here. Biden had a darn good reason to become emotional; under similar circumstances so would I. What I am talking about is not Biden but the nonresponse to Biden.

Frankly, I think it matters not, but for historical purposes if for no other reason-- here is the tidbit--

Tom Shales - Palin Takes On A New Foe: Her Image - washingtonpost.com: "...Virtually the only emotionally affecting moment in the debate came when Biden was talking about knowing the challenges of being a single parent. He choked up and briefly lost his voice when he spoke of not knowing if a child 'is going to make it.' In 1972, Biden's wife and daughter died in a car crash and his two sons were so badly injured that it was feared they would not survive, but they did..."

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Palin Wins Debate

Since she did not burst into flames at the mere sight of the Sun-God Ra-JoeBiden, she must be declared the winner, and since she was able to find the stage without assistance, she must be intelligent and she therefore must be issued an Ivy League degree post-haste.

Not A Lawyer

Logistics Monster: "...What I do think is this. For the first time in a very long time, we have two candidates on a Presidential Ticket that ARE NOT LAWYERS; therefore, she may not be as polished as the Democratic Party Ticket, but she speaks the truth and follows her principles; something that most lawyers cover their asses on….yes? Do not be looking a gift horse in the mouth. For once, we have a smart, motivated, articulate person who actually lives her beliefs running for office. Let the MSM and The Borg Collective say what they want; you make up your own minds and make that decision on November 4th..."

Of course, that flies in the face of most conventional wisdom, i.e. that you have to have a law degree before you can understand government, the economy, politics, energy issues, or nuclear physics, and you if you don't have one, well, you're just a groundling, little people, not worthy of having an informed opinion. (With apologies to all my lawyer friends, but hey, a couple of you expressed the same idea.)

Clash In Catland

The Pumasphere [ insert trademark symbol, insert copyright symbol, insert patent notice, insert exponent superscript for emphasis {its mine!mine!mine! givemecredit or illwhimperallnight}] has erupted in an exchange of racism and densism charges. Here and here.

Note: my apology for this post in the comments.

Liberals Escaping!

At the risk of turning this blog into a daily email sampler, I offer the following (I thought it was funny no matter which side of the fence you are on-- truly a good trick):

'From the MANITOBA HERALD, Canada

A flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration.

The possibility of a McCain/Palin election is prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Bill O'Reilly.

Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal rights activists, and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota.

The producer was cold, exhausted, and hungry. "He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken.

When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn't give milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border, and leave them to fend for themselves. "A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. "They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the McCain administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to shoot wolves from airplanes, deny evolution, and act out drills preparing them for the Rapture.

In recent days, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers on Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney hits to prove they were alive in the '50s.

"If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.

"I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history and English majors does one country need?" '

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Veep Questions

Not Your Sweetie has the Veep Debate Questions!

Bottom-Line Kucinich

Cannonfire: "...The globalization of the debt puts the United States in the position that in order to repay the money that we borrow from the banks (for the banks) we could be forced to accept International Monetary Fund dictates which involve cutting health, social security benefits and all other social spending in addition to reducing wages and exploiting our natural resources. This inevitably leads to a loss of economic, social and political freedom.

Under the failed $700 billion bailout plan, Wall Street's profits are Wall Street's profits and Wall Street's losses are the taxpayers' losses. Profits are capitalized. Losses are socialized.

We are at a teachable moment on matters of money and finance. In the coming days and weeks, I will share with you thoughts about what can be done to take us not just in a new direction, but in a new direction which is just."

It's About Trust

Heidi Li's Potpourri:'When Trust Melts Down'-- "In conversation with a friend yesterday, he asked me why the government needed to play any role in the current economic situation. My reply: in our economy the federal government plays a vital role in creating trust among citizens, and modern capitalist economies rely heavily upon trust..."

Read the entire post and heed its wisdom.

A Vet Speaks

"Dear Mr. Obama"

What She Said: The Bailout

"Sounds Like Insider Trading To Me! Rep Kaptur"

About That AIG Bailout

I received the following in one of those long email forward chains:

"The point of this exercise is:
A. How much would each person get at $200 billiion?
B. Since it is our money they are giving away do we have to pay it back?
C. Since we will have to pay it back should we do it in the 1st place?

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a 'We Deserve It Dividend'.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 Legal U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adult1s 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a 'We Deserve It Dividend'.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,50000 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage, housing crisis solved. Repay college loans, what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college, it'll be there Save in a bank, create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car, create jobs Invest in the market , capital drives growth Pay for your parent's medical insurance, health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean, or else.

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it..instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 (vote buy) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can never work. Maybe???

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion 'We Deserve It Dividend' more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam..."