User's Blog

Sarah Palin speaks on the First Amendment
(updated below - Update II - Update III)

Somehow, in Sarah Palin's brain, it's a threat to the First Amendment when newspapers criticize her negative attacks on Barack Obama. This is actually so dumb that it hurts:

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Maureen Dowd recently made an equally stupid comment when she complained that her First Amendment rights were being violated by the McCain campaign's refusal to allow her on their campaign plane.

The First Amendment is actually not that complicated. It can be read from start to finish in about 10 seconds. It bars the Government from abridging free speech rights. It doesn't have anything to do with whether you're free to say things without being criticized, or whether you can comment on blogs without being edited, or whether people can bar you from their private planes because they don't like what you've said.

If anything, Palin has this exactly backwards, since one thing that the First Amendment does actually guarantee is a free press. Thus, when the press criticizes a political candidate and a Governor such as Palin, that is a classic example of First Amendment rights being exercised, not abridged.

This isn't only about profound ignorance regarding our basic liberties, though it is obviously that. Palin here is also giving voice to the standard right-wing grievance instinct: that it's inherently unfair when they're criticized. And now, apparently, it's even unconstitutional.

More
I would be embarassed to open my mouth in public if I were as stupid as this narcissistic bitch.

This is great. Limbutt has taken leave of what little sense he may have had. What a clown.

From Digby:

Their Story

by digby

Just so you know:

RUSH: We either are what we are or not. The dirty little secret is, the vast majority of the people in this country live their lives as conservatives; and given conservative leadership, they respond to it in droves. Landslide droves.

Read more! »

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2008/10/29/ AR2008102904533_pf.html

It would seem that if you're going to skawk out a bullshit attack , you should at least flesh it out enough so that your follow up answer is better than "I think we all know who we're talking about" , after the interviewer has just asked you who in the fuck you are talking about.
No wonder the Repubes are getting their asses handed to them , their spokespeople are huge piles of stupid.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ taylor_s_son

Because while you may be sane , your neighbor might be eating lead paint sandwiches.

Oh, wait. You can't do that either because you don't have a f*cking license!

"Joe the Plumber" believes the election of Barack Obama would bring "death to Israel."

Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," at a McCain rally in Columbus, Ohio, was asked by a Jewish McCain supporter -- identified by the Associated Press as Stan Chapman -- whether he agreed that "a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel."

Wurzelbacher replied, "I'll go ahead and agree with you on that."

Later, in an interview with Fox News' Shepard Smith, Wurzelbacher said he was simply offering his "personal opinion that I've come up with by looking into different facts," but that "you don't want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough about foreign policy to probably be dangerous."

He's not exactly Joe the Secretary of State, is he?

"You tell that guy he can find Tony Garcia down at the West Day library every day from 7 to 7 helping people early vote. I'll be there from 1 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday. You tell him if he wants to kick my ass that's where he can find me. Come beat me up."

Boy talk about star power ! Good thing they put their names up so you can figure out who they are. I thought for a minute there that Victoria Jackson was Sally Struthers.
And WTF is up with Pat Boone fishing in a swimming pool ? Is he suffering from Alzheimers , or was he doing his impression of Al Capone in the advanced stages of syphilis?

"I finally made it to Alaska last year, so I've been to all 50 states.

Sarah Palin is what Alaska's all about.

These people go there, claiming they want to get away from it all.

But when they get there-- they find out-- they don't want to leave it all behind.

They get some government job. They wish a Wal-Mart would open in their town, soon."

Oct. 8
Greenville, NC
The first Target store opened in Wasilla today. "I know, I heard," Palin told reporters.
Looking down, she added, sounding a bit wistful, "And I'm here." (hosting SNL, dropping hockey pucks)

Either she's a compulsive shopper, or she was full of $150,000 worth of shxt.

Dad's cancer prognosis looks surprisingly good.
His surgery is Nov. 5.

I don't know why I'm re-visiting this metaphor now.
Maybe it's this cheap but smooth Trader Joe's wine.
Or maybe my the back of my mind figured something out ahead of the concious part.
Either way:

Remember Jed Clampett?
"Out one day, huntin' for some food/
up from the ground/ came a bubblin' crude-- oil that is."

...Next thing you know old Jed's a millionaire. Beverly Hills, etc.

That's what I think of America. A vast untrammeled continent,
where you can't shoot a shotgun without hitting a turkey, an oil well, a gold vein, a VP candidacy,
a debt for equity swap, Paris Hilton, a sucker born every minute-- something lucrative.

Read more! »

http://ap.google.com/article /ALe qM5ij DA5bg xiHlT vS_r- SSjsk S1Tq1 wD943 1TEO2

To dream, the impossible dream...

p m carpenter on Palin's rogue wave. heh. This is funny.

What delightful intrigue. A "senior Republican" cloaked in anonymity has informed the Politico that Sarah Palin has chosen -- you've gotta love it -- to "go rogue."

That's right, you heard it here last; that was the media's weekend obsession, especially since there's nothing left of substance or suspense to talk about in this late-October campaign that was unofficially over in mid-September, if not June or March.

The initial coverage, I might add, was as delightful as Palin's intrigue itself, what with the Politico crooning with operatic understatement that her skulduggery is "complicating" John McCain's campaign.

Read more! »

Lieberman sees the direction of the political winds, and hopes to convince Democrats that while he's been a McCain sycophant, he's always been "respectful" towards Obama.

Lieberman, in other words, has to hope Democrats haven't been paying any attention at all. The party is supposed to forget, for example, when Lieberman argued that Obama doesn't put "country first."

And the time Lieberman said it was a "good question" to ask whether Obama is a "Marxist."

And the time Lieberman ironically accused the Obama campaign of "sleazy tactics."

And the time Lieberman, at the Republican National Convention, falsely accused Obama of trying to undermine the troops

"Respectful"? Nice try, Joe.

This is like a bad SNL skit , but this broad is actually a reporter (allegedly) , at an Orlanda T.V station. Maybe she's auditioning to be the next generic blond bimbo on the Faux network.

Lieberman is a pathetic, traitorous fool. I bet money that Reid will welcome him back into the fold with open arms, like some 21st century prodigal son. It's enough to harelip the Pope.

By MARK PAZNIOKAS | The Hartford Courant

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, one of John McCain's closest political allies, said Friday he does not believe that Barack Obama is unprepared to be president.

"I'm saying he is less prepared than McCain," Lieberman said.

But what about Sarah Palin?

Is she ready?

"If, God forbid, an accident occurs or something of that kind?" Lieberman said. "Um, she'll be ready. You know, she's had executive experience. She's smart and she will have had on-the-job training."

[The unctuous Lieberman speaks out of his ass]

Read more! »

Bush mass for shut ins is on the air!
LIVE FROM THE ST GEORGE THE BLESSED CATHERDRAL IN CRAWFORD TEXAS ITS
BUSH MASS FOR SHUT INS!
Good morning Bush worshippers, those who are ill and those who it's
just best not to mix with society. May Lord God Bush bless you all for
coming. For it is he who brought us life and everything else. He is a
thousand points of light! He makes the sun rise in the morning, puts
the frost on our flakes and puts the fruit on the trees. All praise
the glory of Lord God Bush. Today we celebrate Shopping for Clothes
SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES CELEBRATION
Shopping for clothes is a good holy moral thing. The RNC paying for Sarahs clothes makes it even more holy and moral. Those who oppose this hate America.
SING PRAISE TO LORD GOD BUSH
Hey there Georgie girl,
there´s another Georgie deep inside,
bring out all the love you hide,
you can´t always run away,

inside now,

Hey there Georgie girl,
why do all the boys just pass you by,
could it be you just don´t try,
or ist it the cloth you wear?

Your always window-shopping,
but never stopping to buy,
come shake those downy feathers and try,

a little bit,

Hey there Georgie girl,
there´s another Georgie deep inside,
bring out all th e love you hide,
you can´t always run away,

Don´t be so scared of changing,
and rearranging yourself,
it´s time for jumping down from the shelf,

and you´ll be
a new Georgie girl,
wake up Georgie girl
A READING FROM THE BOOK OF CHENEY
Lord God Bush smirked down upon the people and spoke. `The RNC needs to pay for Sarahs clothes, we dont want her to campaign wearing a potatoe sack. Those who question this are America
haters!'.
What is it that the Profit Cheney is trying to teach us? It is that the RNC needs to pay for Sarahs clothes, we dont want her to campaign wearing a potatoe sack. Those who question this are America haters. This the word of George.
Bush mass is over
Your attendance has been recorded and will be sent to the proper
authorities. Go in arrogance, may the Lord God George W Bush be with
you.

USA Today:
'The self-described "hockey mom" got more cheers than boos on Friday night when she ceremonially dropped the puck before the Blues played the Los Angeles Kings.'

ESPN:
'The self-described "hockey mom" got more cheers than boos on Friday night when she ceremonially dropped the puck before the Blues played the Los Angeles Kings.'

FOX:
'The self-described "hockey mom" got more cheers than boos on Friday night when she ceremonially dropped the puck before the Blues played the Los Angeles Kings.'

MSNBC:
'The self-described "hockey mom" got more cheers than boos on Friday night when she ceremonially dropped the puck before the Blues played the Los Angeles Kings.'

This one's great.

Since the USSC wouldn't play ball and disenfrachise the voters of Ohio , Little Boots decided to send in the thugs from the DOJ.

President George W. Bush late Friday asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in the battleground state of Ohio would have to verify the information on their voter registration forms or be given provisional ballots, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on last week.

The unprecedented intervention by the White House less than two weeks before the presidential election may result in at least 200,000 voters in Ohio not being able to vote on Election Day if they are forced to provide additional identification when they head to the polls.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Bush Friday asking that he order the Department of Justice to probe the matter.

“I strongly urge you to direct Attorney General Mukasey and the Department of Justice to act." Boehner said in his letter “Unless action is taken by the Department immediately, thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of names whose information has not been verified through the [Help America Vote Act] procedures mandated by Congress will remain on the voter rolls during the November 4 election; and there is a significant risk if not a certainty, that unlawful votes will be cast and counted. Given the Election Day is less than two weeks away, immediate action by the Department is not only warranted, but also crucial.”

Independent studies have shown that phony registrations rarely result in illegally cast ballots because there are so many other safeguards built into the system.
For instance, from October 2002 to September 2005, a total of 70 people were convicted for federal election related crimes, according to figures compiled by the New York Times last year. Only 18 of those were for ineligible voting.

In recent years, federal prosecutors reached similar conclusions despite pressure from the Bush administration to lodge “election fraud” charges against voter registration groups seen as bringing more Democratic voters into the democratic process.

Some of the Bush administration prosecutors who refused to seek these indictments were then fired in 2006 as part of a purge of nine U.S. Attorneys deemed not “loyal Bushies.”

This “prosecutor-gate” scandal led to the resignations of several senior White House and Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. President Bush then asserted broad executive privilege to block testimony by Karl Rove and other top White House officials.

In a statement on his website, Boehner said starting today, “Ohio elections officials will begin removing ballots cast during the state’s early voting period from their identifying envelopes, eliminating any possibility of catching fraudulently cast ballots.”

“Franklin County officials yesterday tossed out a dozen fraudulently cast absentee ballots, and the Hamilton County prosecutor has appointed an independent counsel to investigate more than 200 ballots on which the name or address does not match to state records,” Boehner said. “Prosecutor Joe Deters has asked that at least the questionable ballots remain in their identifying envelopes until voter registration information can be confirmed.”

Given the reputation of Bush's DOJ , the Democratic leadership should apply for a restraining order against them. They have no business anywhere NEAR our electoral proccess. Fucking scumbags.

Yet another moronic stunt explodes in the face of the McHindenburg train wreck Campaign.

Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

I'm sure that this Faux Noise jerk off will be voicing his disgust ove this stupid hoax any minute now... or NOT.

It had to happen.

Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it.

Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old white volunteer for John McCain’s presidential campaign, says she was mugged at an ATM machine in Pittsburgh (my hometown) by a big black man. She further says he threw her down, then disfigured her by carving the letter “B” into her face with a sharp implement when he saw that she supported McCain, not Barack Obama.

Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Senator Obama’s campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party’s presidential nomination.

That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

For Pittsburgh, a city that has done so much to shape American history over the centuries, another moment of truth is at hand.

Update:What a shock...NOT ! The McCain campaign was pushing the most extreme version of the story to the media before the police had even begun to examine the facts.

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

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

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

The KDKA reporter had called McCain's campaign office for details after seeing the story -- sans details -- teased on Drudge.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

The claims to KDKA from the McCain campaign were included in an early story that ran late yesterday on KDKA's Web site. The paragraphs containing these assertions were quickly removed from the story after the Obama campaign privately complained that KDKA was letting the McCain campaign spin a racially-charged version of the story before the facts had been established, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

This needs to be hung around McCain's neck like a flaming tire.

I was talking to a policeman earlier this evening, and he asked me what I think about the US election. I said that I think the only way Obama can lose is if the Republicans steal the election again, or do even worse -- but if either of the above happen, there will be big repercussions.
I mentioned that only 23% of the US population are stupid, and then I threw in the comment that every country in the world has about the same percentage of stupids.
The policeman chuckled in agreement.
A US policeman would have gotten pissed off.

Mathews absolutely DESTROYS Skeletor.

Or was he just thinking about Sarah Palin?

See the Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle:

http://kunstler.com/

Excerpts:
That's what I think we will get: an interval of deflationary depression followed by a destructive wave of inflation that will wipe out both constructed debt and constructed savings, scraping the financial landscape clean. There's no question that stage one is underway. But we can be sure the giant wave of money recklessly loaned into existence in just a few weeks time will wash back through the global economy leaving a swath of destruction".

To switch metaphors, let's say that we are witnessing the two stages of a tsunami. The current disappearance of wealth in the form of debts repudiated, bets welshed on, contracts cancelled, and Lehman Brothers-style sob stories played out is like the withdrawal of the sea. The poor curious little monkey-humans stand on the beach transfixed by the strangeness of the event as the water recedes and the sea floor is exposed and all kinds of exotic creatures are seen thrashing in the mud, while the skeletons of historic wrecks are exposed to view, and a great stench of organic decay wafts toward the strand. Then comes the second stage, the tidal wave itself --

Since the McHindenburg campaign is so fond of catchy nicknames for moronic Americans,(Joe the Plumber,Tito the Builder , Phil the Bricklayer,etc), I figured it would be irresponsible not to offer them our help in thinking up more "catchy" names. They are even begging us to help them by posting this personalized rally sign generator.

I'm pretty sure they haven't liked the ones I've sugested so far. Paula the Pole Dancer, Jeff the Goober Gobbler , Mark the Page Molester , but I figure it wastes their time , and might even cost them a few pennys to boot.
The best one EVAR (from Rumproast), was "Todd the Seccessionist".
Enjoy.

Here's an interactive website spoofing Palin in the Oval Office.

Click on the door several times to see all the fun.

Sure doesn't look like it based on this answer about what the VP does. Has this dumb bitch ever even HEARD of the Constitution ? It's pretty obvious that she's never read it.

http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/ page/ content.detail/ id/ 503035.html

----

Bush waited until just after the 2004 election to sort out Fallujah (Wiki). He might be planning to do something just after the 2008 election.

Iran?

The Dallas Morning News hints that Obama was raised by apes.

Also, they say Michelle Obama is nearly six feet tall "in heels". Or 7'10" on stilts.

They also manage to suggest he's a disciple of Malcolm X, a Renegade, "a white man in blackface", and a shitty bowler.

These are the things the Dallas Morning News says you "need to know" about Obama...

Expect Powell to be villified as an un-American terrorist enabler in 3..2..1..

Bush mass for shut ins is on the air!

LIVE FROM THE ST GEORGE THE BLESSED CATHERDRAL IN CRAWFORD TEXAS ITS BUSH MASS FOR SHUT INS!

Good morning Bush worshippers, those who are ill and those who it's just best not to mix with society. May Lord God Bush bless you all for coming. For it is he who brought us life and everything else. He is a thousand points of light! He makes the sun rise in the morning, puts the frost on our flakes and puts the fruit on the trees. All praise the glory of Lord God Bush. Today we celebrate Joe the Plumber.

JOE THE PLUMBER CELEBRATION

Joe the Plumber is an ordinary American who is concerned that an Obama win will mean higher taxes for him if he buys his bosses business after he pays off his back taxes and hospital bill. We all have such aspirations and raising the taxes on the rich would only serve to crush all the hopes and dreams of the little person.

SING PRAISE TO LORD GOD BUSH

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF CHENEY

And so Joe the Plumber approached Obama who is very evil and said "Your tax hike on rich people will crush my hopes and dreams of someday being rich".

What is it that the Profit Cheney is trying to teach us? It is that Obama tax hike will crush the hopes and dreams of the little person who one day dreams of being rich. This the word of George.

Bush mass is over

Your attendance has been recorded and will be sent to the proper authorities. Go in arrogance, may the Lord God George W Bush be with you.

image: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ jpeg/ PIA10486.jpg

main article: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ catalog /PIA10486

"Caption Released with Image:

Saturn's north polar hexagon appears to be a long-lived feature of the atmosphere, having been spotted in images of Saturn in the early 1980s, again in the 1990s, and then by the Cassini spacecraft in the past several years.

The persistent nature of the hexagon in imaging observations implies that it is present throughout Saturn's 29-year seasonal cycle. Two sides of the hexagon are seen here."

------------------------------------------------------

First I've heard of it. Extremely large ice crystal down there???

Any news from Spain since he went on vacation, way back when?

Top Republican fund-raiser Harry Sargeant III, has made tens of millions of dollars in profits over the last four years
because his contracting company vastly overcharged for deliveries of fuel to American air bases in Iraq.

Emails, company documents, Pentagon reports and other information to make the case
that Sargeant repeatedly received fuel contracts even though he was never the lowest bidder for the work.

In one case, Sargeant's company was actually the highest of six bids but received the contract anyway because he had the blessing of the Jordanian royal family.

I just hope that after the upcoming electoral bloodbath that a few of these types get kicked to the curb. Maybe the few remaining adults in the party can make the toddlers go sit at the kid's table until they learn some manners.

2 landlord partners came to my apartment today.

Because they have to establish that they're being responsive to my complaints.

They alluded to the possibility of filling the building with homeless men
and opening a methadone clinic upstairs.

They asked if I was Jewish, and said-- if I'm not-- I'll have no chance of fighting the
unlimited money, power, connections and lawyers of their Jewish business associates. (Those were their words.)

They said the "Patriotic Act" required that they review my background-- social security number,
whether I'm a sex offender, and more-- before they would send me a lease renewal form.

They said there was a Homeland Security investigation into whether some people living in the
building were threats to homeland security.

They said

Read more! »

Meet Joe

Pretty close to the real interview.

I was kind of pissed when Obama didn't throw this line at him during the debate , but this ad will prove WAY more effective.
You gotta love the way they used his goofy facial expressions too. McHindenburg is his own worse enemy at this point.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Social Security inflation adjustment for 2009 will be largest in 27 years.

http://ap.google.com/article /ALe qM5ij DA5bg xiHlT vS_r- SSjsk S1Tq1 wD93R J9UO3

Wednesday's sell-off began after the government's report that retail sales plunged in September by 1.2 percent — almost double the 0.7 percent analysts expected — made it clear that consumers are reluctant to spend amid a shaky economy and a punishing stock market.

From 1999 to 2004 I didn't do much spending, either. Not because I was "reluctant to spend", but because I didn't have any fvcking money to spend. I had to sell my house and relocate to fix that problem. I don't know what my kids are going to do, now. I s'pose they're among the "reluctant to spend" crowd, too.
People here look at me in wonder, when they see me rolling my own cigarettes, especially when they see me re-rolling the butts on occasions when I forgot to buy a pack of rolling tobacco.

This is pretty close to how the media have spun the horseshit. Watch it - seriously.

[shout out to homeboy danny guam]

Leader of the 1960's student take-over of Columbia University &
Weather Underground member Mark Rudd-- is now a math teacher in New Mexico.

I was talking to a relative recently, and learned that Rudd is
a Guy In His Neighborhood.

Oh-- and my relative also once went to a political event
Hosted by Rudd in His Living Room.

(I am not making this up.)

And they both spoke at Career Day, at some school.

Sooo... I guess you could call that
Palling Around With Terrorists.

So's the FBI, who invited Rudd to speak on the topic of terrorism
at their Quantico training academy in 2005.

MarkRudd.com

I predicted this, back on the ol' Titty Board.

When I was crossing the country on bicycle, and later in an old van, and a school bus-- I had mixed-feelings about Wal-mart.

On one hand Wal-mart sucks. On the other hand, it mostly sucks in Red State areas-- so why should I care if they siphon funds from fundies? Let them eat debt.

One thing I envisioned was that the over-expansion of Big Box stores would result in communities soon inheriting lots of community-sized buildings.

And that's what the above link, "Big Box Reuse" documents.

Attendance is sharply up
in recent weeks
at Trinity Church
the historic landmark between
Wall Street and Ground Zero,
according to
the Wall Street Journal.

Repent!

A tasty nugget from the Clusterfuck Nation Chronical:

http://kunstler.com/

"This is the kind of fiasco that brings down governments, propels societies into revolutions, and starts wars. In a few months, America will be full of angry economic losers. We're not the same nation that crowded around the old radio consoles for Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats. Back then, we were mostly a highly-disciplined, regimented, industrial society full of citizens who mostly did what they were told to do, and mostly trusted in authority. Today we're a nation of tattooed barbarian "consumers" with no impulse control, a swollen sense of entitlement, ruled by a set of authorities ranging from one G.W. Bush to the grifter-billionaire pantheon of Wall Street CEOs -- now heading into secret bunkers with their stashes of krugerrands, freeze-dried veal Milanese, and private security squads armed with XM-8 carbines".

Today at the dogpark, 7 skateboarders showed-up and attempted to skate on the concrete mounds, where the dogs play King Of The Hill.

Bad idea. Skateboards upset dogs. Most of the skaters were pubescent, but the ringleader was Tom Green, from TV & movies. Dog owners talked them into leaving. There was a moment when Green acted like "Duuuude, why are you hasslin' us, maaaaaan." But none of us took the bait and played the stiff authority prick role. I wanted to ask him why a 37 year old Canadian taxpayer pretends to talk like a teenage California surf-tard.

Back home, we watched the Weather Underground documentary. Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Mark Rudd and the rest are all serious, articulate adults now; and explained their past choices admirably. But the film also shows copious footage of when they were sexy hipster brat bigmouth 60's student intellectuals. Followed by the 70's-- when they tried to live-up to their rebel talk with bombs. One's serving 75 to Life in prison. The poor fxcker met a Vietnamese exchange student in 1960 and, in 1961, at age 16-- he wrote in his student paper that US involvement in Vietnam would harm democracy and lead to civil war there. No wonder he snapped! He was so far ahead in his understanding, it must have been maddening to wait for America's slothful understanding of reality!

I admire Tom Green. I understand him. We both came of age under Reagan's nuclear posturing and Desert Storm flag-waving and the Rodney King LA riots. Instead of Black Panthers, we had Public Enemy and Spike Lee-- challenging us to Fight The Power or be white pigs by default. Green & I didn't become bomb-throwers. But we did both launch awkward early-90's white rap groups. Emulating our heros as the Weathermen did theirs. Green and I are also both absurdist pranksters who can't stomach the everyday sickness what passes for normal in our society.

To him, skateboarding in a crowded dogpark is an attempt to claim a shred of freedom.
To me, it's an invitation to get bit by a confused animal. But I hope there's room for him to be free, somewhere.

Which is worse? The Weathermen for their violent, counterproductive but sincere response to a criminal war?
Or me & Tom Green for our ineffectual, didn't-do-enough ironic theatrics?

In reaction to the San Jose Mercury News editorial endorsement of Obama for president--

Online Comments section:

'whocares' writes:
That this has to be one of the most blatantly propagandist articles I have seen yet, landing on the front page of news sites is of paramount concern. It is using the same arguments for Obama as it is using against McCain and decides to support the socialist - absolutely ludicrous. It obviously doesn't care about reporting any kind of truth and so doesn't seem too concerned that it may never even be able to with Hussein in office. It may not be long before members of Acorn and the ACLU occupy editorial positions. Sure, McCain is not a very good candidate, but ANYONE CASTING A VOTE FOR OBAMA IS AN IDIOT - NOT TO MENTION UNAMERICAN!

'bubbette' opines:
The quality of alleged news reporting in this country is just as responsible for the problems in the country as the democrats and the republicans.But the news reporting agencies are right up there failing to report true and accurate news and information to the people. It is appalling to see such a blatant statement for a candidate. How much are you being paid for pieces like this. Shouldn't there be a disclaimer that it is a paid advertisement? As all of these rags and television stations are being owned by a select group of people that can slant it anyway they want is a serious problem.

mws95819 says:
This article should serve as an alert to the American public. How DARE a "news" agency throw such unabashed support and essentially instruct the election of a specific candidate. This shows just how low the US media goes to push liberal agenda. Thinking people should be outraged by this call to order!

And-- I wonder if this guy's joking:

dB024 writes:
I think this is the first time in American history that a newspaper has endorsed a candidate. G__ D___ libruls

Bush mass for shut ins is on the air!

LIVE FROM THE ST GEORGE THE BLESSED CATHERDRAL IN CRAWFORD TEXAS ITS BUSH MASS FOR SHUT INS!

Good morning Bush worshippers, those who are ill and those who it's just best not to mix with society. May Lord God Bush bless you all for coming. For it is he who brought us life and everything else. He is a thousand points of light! He makes the sun rise in the morning, puts the frost on our flakes and puts the fruit on the trees. All praise the glory of Lord God Bush. Today we celebrate My Opponent Hangs With Terrorists.

MY OPPONENT HANGS WITH TERRORISTS CELEBRATION

Obama hangs with terrorists. Even though this guy is over 60 and whatever he did was 40 years ago, he is still a dangerous terrorist. We must be afraid or we hate America.

SING PRAISE TO LORD GOD BUSH

Johnnys in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
Im on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says hes got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
Its somethin you did
God knows when
But youre doin it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phones tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early may
Orders from the d. a.
Look out kid
Dont matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Dont try no doz
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You dont need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
Youre gonna get hit
But losers, cheaters
Six-time users
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin for a new fool
Dont follow leaders
Watch the parkin meters

Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Dont steal, dont lift
Twenty years of schoolin
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Dont wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Dont wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump dont work
cause the vandals took the handles

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF CHENEY

Sarah the Pure winked at the people and spoke. `Obama hangs with terrorists. If you vote for him that makes you a terrorist and an America hater'.

What is it that the Profit Cheney is trying to teach us? It is that Obama hangs with terrorists and if we vote for him we are terrorists and an American hater to boot. This the word of George.

Bush mass is over

Your attendance has been recorded and will be sent to the proper authorities. Go in arrogance, may the Lord God George W Bush be with you.

"Before McCain spoke, a Christian pastor offered a prayer that seemed to ask for divine intervention on his behalf.

"There are millions of people around this world praying to their God -- whether it's Hindu, Buddha, Allah -- that [McCain's] opponent wins for a variety of reasons," Pastor Arnold Conrad said.

"And, Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they're going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens."

The McCain campaign said it did not condone the prayer.

On Saturday, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a central figure in the civil rights movement, accused McCain of poisoning the political atmosphere, comparing him to former Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, a proponent of racial segregation.

"He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights," wrote Lewis, who is black. "As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. . . . The American people deserve better."

At a campaign forum in August, McCain named Lewis as one of the three people he would rely on most in his administration. On Saturday, he said, "I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track."

LA Times

I wonder who the Mensan was that thought having Screech drop the first puck in Philly was a good idea? Check out the Obama/Biden signs in the crowd.

We look at the Dow dropping 20% in a week, and wonder how much of that is a phantom loss on paper.

Right?

We hear over and over that this is the "worst since the Great Depression".
But, so far, in my neighborhood; it isn't as bad as Bush Sr.'s slump.
Let-alone as bad as the Reagan farm crisis, when I was a kid in smalltown Iowa.

Well, I had a stray early-morning thought, which didn't fade with the sun.

If this mess really does hit "main street", one group which will suffer will be people who moved away from home.

If you left your hometown for a job, or education, or to expand your horizons--
there's a good chance that you are now surrounded by -strangers-.
People who give you give you the time of day-- only because you give them money.
Or labor.

Try showing up in a strange place broke, with no prospects, and see how welcome you are.
Then try offering your labor when no one is hiring.

Read more! »

In July, Wachovia Corp. announced staggering 2nd-quarter losses totaling over $9 billion -- the second-largest bank losses in history.
The crisis forced the financial giant to slash over 11,000 jobs and cut $2 billion in expenses.

They're turning down loans to "almost everybody"
Including 900 colleges, leaving the institutions unable to get access to
"dollars they depend on for salaries, campus construction, and debt payments."

But Wachovia has confirmed
"that it was extending an $8 million loan to the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee for last-minute activities to support GOP House candidates."

Where did Wachovia find that money?

Wachovia recently benefited from a government bail-out, as FDIC protection was extended to include you the taxpayer covering the risk for Citigroup's buy-out of Wachovia.

Is it appropriate for a bank that is asking for government help
to supply congressmen of one party with an 8 million dollar favoritism package?

What was once just a Pay-Per-View stunt - beautiful women running around in uniforms that would make Victoria Secret models blush - trying to compete with the bland, politically correct halftime show of the Super Bowl is now being turned into a 10-team league that will debut in the fall of 2009.

The new Lingerie Football League (LFL) - with women playing full-contact football in helmets, sports bras and panties - will feature a two conference format. The Atlanta Steam, Chicago Bliss, Miami Caliente, New England Euphoria and the Tampa Breeze will compete in the Eastern Conference. The Western Conference features the Dallas Desire, Los Angeles Temptation, Phoenix Scorch, San Diego Seduction and the Seattle Mist.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ 2008/10/08/ 2008-10-08 putting the skin in pigskin lingerie foo.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ tol/ sport/ more_sport/ us_sport/ article4916200.ece

I stole this from DU.

Getting A Parking Ticket

The other day I went downtown to run a few errands. I went into the
local coffee shop for a snack.

I was only there for about 5 minutes, and when I came out, there was
this cop writing out a parking ticket.

I said to him, 'Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a
break'?

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. His insensitivity
annoyed me, so I called him a 'Nazi.'

He glared at me and then wrote out another ticket for having worn tires.

So I proceeded to call him a 'doughnut eating Gestapo.' He finished the
second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first.

Then he wrote a third ticket when I called him a moron in blue.

This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I talked back to him the
more tickets he wrote.

Personally, I didn't really care. I came downtown on the bus, and the
car that he was putting the tickets on had one of those bumper stickers
that said, ' McCain '08.'

I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired.

The doctor tells me that it's important for my health.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect

The term Bradley effect, less commonly called[1] the Wilder effect, refers to a proposed explanation for a frequently observed discrepancy between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in American political campaigns when a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other.[2][3][4] Named for Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in voter polls, the Bradley effect refers to a tendency on the part of voters to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a Black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his/her white opponent.[5]

Read more! »

It's only a matter of time before one of these beer hall putch's campaign rallys turn violent. The rhetoric being thrown around by Grumpy and his sidekick Screech Palin goes beyond the pale, and I've got a feeling there are going to be unintended consequences as a result. Personally , I wish these fuckers would just get it over with , lets go have a mini civil war and be done with it. I have a feeling that their enthusiasm would wane pretty quickly once they figure out that liberals are in fact , well armed , and more than willing to mix it up.

I see another story of our government listening in...

"A Senate panel is probing claims top secret government workers eavesdropped on communications from American service members, journalists and aid workers overseas. "

Read more! »

From Buzzflash.

John McCain refused even to look at Barack Obama throughout their first debate. His campaign never offered an explanation for that odd reality.

Then in the second debate, John McCain pointed and called Barack Obama "That one."

At a campaign rally earlier this week, Sarah Palin announced:

"I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America … I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as 'imperfect enough' to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country."

Her supporters in that crowd said, "Boooo!" and "Kill him!" Another has shouted "treason!"

Read more! »

Enlightening analysis of McCain's mortgage rescue scheme. It also sheds light on the nature of the crisis.

Todd Palin's Troopergate testimony parsed.

The NY Times on Todd Palin's testimony.

I guess they're having a little humor break today. I thought it was a good picture.

I was in there tonoght and between the stock market and McCains diving poll numbers most of them are batshit crazy! Please remember to read home board on a must instruction on browser useage. See ya there.

The most recent news story posted on JohnMcCain.com is 14 days old:

In The News
09.26 McCain Agrees to Attend Debate in Mississippi
09.25 McCain Speaks at Clinton Initiative
09.25 McCain Says Politics Must Be Put Aside for Rescue
09.25 McCain Suspends Campaign to Work on Wall St Plan
09.24 Analysis: McCain Foreign Policy Approach Differs from Bush

But they're still issuing press releases:

Press Releases
10.09 McCain-Palin 2008 Launches New Web Ad: "Ayers"

'Golden Girl' Betty White weighs in:

The brave soul over at Blogger Interupted waded into the crowd at tne McCain/Palin rally in Strongville Ohio to capture a bit of rust belt retardation in all it's repugnant glory.
These people don't just wallow in ignorance , they bathe in it. These are the people that can LEAST afford 4 more years of Retardlican policies , but because Obama is a big scary black man , they would rather continue getting ass raped by the GOP.

Yesterday & Today & Tomorrow's work cancelled without pay-- "We'll see" about Friday; and no word beyond that. See the first "Domestic Conditions" post below, for why.

I guess I'm supposed to be stewing-- worrying about losing my job. But I'm prepared against the worst, since their email trail will vindicate a claim for unemployment benefits.
And I've got bigger concerns.

This morning Dad got word from the VA hospital that he has liver cancer. Big tumor.

Usually this is secondary to cancer spreading from elsewhere, or from cirrhocis.
But in his case it's neither. Which usually only happens in Asia & the third world;
due to exposure to heavy metals and chemicals we don't allow here.

In Vietnam, he built hospitals and radio towers and all sorts of structures which
began by spraying Agent Orange to kill the foliage, then digging & working in that dirt.

Read more! »

rooster_rob wrote:
Does throwing home owners out on the street serve any real purpose? The answer is of course no. the idea i have proposed to a number of friends, particularly those with high risk mortgages is, why cant the financial lenders put a deferment clause into there contract, stating that in the event of foreclosure the mortgage is suspended for ...lets say 2 years... and the owners can then opt to pay a weekly or monthly rental fee on the property until such time as the situation can be reassessed. 18 months to 2 years on a 25 year loan is nothing, empty houses in empty suburbs that's something......but hey I'm only a blue collar worker watching the world go by.
10/7/2008 12:02:36 PM
Recommended (2)

From the comments section on a bullsh*t Robert J. Samuelson opinion piece in the Washington Post.

This would maybe work, but the insurance companies would squawk, because now you've got "renters", instead of "owners", and that's an altogether new ballgame, and they'd have to at least double or triple their rates -- and old money and city councils would squawk, because so many rentals would violate zoning ordinances, and you'd have "welfare bums" and "Chicago types" living in their nice neighborhoods -- and the gubermint isn't going to tell or allow the banks to do that anyway, since it would actually do something to help the lower classes regain part of what's rightfully their's.

So, we're on rent strike now. Sent the landlord a list of things that need to be repaired before we'll pay, starting with closing the illegal, overcrowded flophouse they've opened upstairs.

I can't afford to move. So if they try to negotiate with a 'stick'; it won't work. Because it will only drive me further into a corner.

And yet they're unlikely to simply offer a big fat cash 'carrot' to lure me out of the building, without first attempting some intimidation and nuisance tactics. That's who they are. What they believe in. No matter how counterproductive.

Last night one of the landlord's flunkies tried to block the hallway & give me a tough look. My dog cut loose with a rebel yell like Merle Haggard singing "The Fightin' Side of Me". Good boy!

Read more! »

Federal Reserve to start issuing short term loans directly to businesses:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/ us_financial_fed_paper

And with that, the second Great Depression is averted.

(I was pretty nervous there for a couple weeks.)

Infiltrate at will but visit home board for instructions. Pay heed to the open the browser tip.

Not content with having "Free Speech Zones" , her Royal Trailer Park Highness has "Free Media Zones" too.

CLEARWATER -- Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.
When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

She's even got "motorcade theme music".

Look, we've told you how staged these political events are. Everything from the audience to the color of the backdrop is planned for effect.

Today, though, the folks running Gov. Sarah Palin's appearance in Clearwater came up with something new -- motorcade music.

A few minutes before Palin arrived, a disembodied voice instructed the several thousand supporters to turn to the right and "direct your attention" to a bridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway because Palin's motorcade was approaching.

On cue, organizers cut loose with a soaring overture, pumping it through the speakers placed around Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater. True to Palin's frontier persona, it had sort of an Aaron Copeland vibe to it. Very stirring. Very mavericky.

I forgot that the hag was going to be in town today , or I would have made a point to go "greet" her. They were predicting 20,000 for her spew fest , the news says around 4,500 showed up , which probably means 3,000 tops. Obama drew 10,000 two weeks ago , and they were turning people away.

Bush mass for shut ins is on the air!

LIVE FROM THE ST GEORGE THE BLESSED CATHERDRAL IN CRAWFORD TEXAS ITS BUSH MASS FOR SHUT INS!

Good morning Bush worshippers, those who are ill and those who it's just best not to mix with society. May Lord God Bush bless you all for coming. For it is he who brought us life and everything else. He is a thousand points of light! He makes the sun rise in the morning, puts the frost on our flakes and puts the fruit on the trees. All praise the glory of Lord God Bush. Today we celebrate Wall Street Crisis.

WALL STREET CRISIS CELEBRATION

This week the stock market crashed and it was all the fault of the liberals who didnt pass the bill. Later in the week it passed after lots of earmarks of tax breaks for corporations were added as the liberals had to buy off their fellow liberals.

SING PRAISE TO LORD GOD BUSH

We're in the money, we're in the money;
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We're in the money, that sky is sunny,
Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong.
We never see a headline about breadlines today.
And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye
We're in the money, come on, my honey,
Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!
Oh, yes we're in the money, you bet we're in the money,
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!
Let's go we're in the money, Look up the skies are sunny,
Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong.
We never see a headline about breadlines today.
And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye
We're in the money, come on, my honey,
Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF PAULSON

Lord God Bush smirked down upon the people and spoke. `Now that the bill has passed, the people may get their paychecks and the Raisin Bran sun will smile down upon America once more'.

What is it that the Profit Paulson is trying to teach us? It is that people now can get their paychecks once again thanks to the leadership of Lord God Bush and that the Raisin Bran sun is once again in the sky smiling down upon us. This the word of George.

Bush mass is over

Your attendance has been recorded and will be sent to the proper authorities. Go in arrogance, may the Lord God George W Bush be with you.

Did any of you watch the Biden vs. Palin debate on a giant HDTV?

I did-- and Biden looked like a sweaty chinese frankenstein with doll hair.

Palin's got some floppy stuff under her chin.

And they both looked like they'd sneezed into a can of pink powder.

But mostly-- Biden looked really gross.

Watching the same debate streaming in a tiny desktop window--
Palin looks 25 years younger & Biden looks like a president.

The hostess of the debate-watching party I attended, is a make-up artist for MTV.
She says that *everyone* who does make-up for TV learns to airbrush from
the same one teacher. And despite (or because-of?) that training, they
all go wild with the fleshy base coat.

So, I'm asking...

Did any of you watch the Biden vs. Palin debate on a giant HDTV?

What does Hi-def bode for the future of politics?

Is it good that every tic and flaw can be scrutinized without
a painted mask disguising reality?

Or is it bad that imperfect faces will be upstaged by surface beauty, even more than before?

In the air, the hard-partying McCain had a knack for stalling out his planes in midflight. He was still in training, in Texas, when he crashed his first plane into Corpus Christi Bay during a routine practice landing. The plane stalled, and McCain was knocked cold on impact....

Flying over the south of Spain one day, he decided to deviate from his flight plan. Rocketing along mere feet above the ground, his plane sliced through a power line. His self-described "daredevil clowning" plunged much of the area into a blackout.

That should have been the end of McCain's flying career. "In the Navy, if you crashed one airplane, nine times out of 10 you would lose your wings," says Butler, who, like his former classmate, was shot down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Spark "a small international incident" like McCain had? Any other pilot would have "found themselves as the deck officer on a destroyer someplace in a hurry," says Butler....

After a game of tennis, McCain prevailed upon the undersecretary of the Navy that he was ready for Vietnam, despite his abysmal flight record. McCain was soon transferred to McCain Field, named after his grandfather.

That December, McCain crashed again. Flying back from Philadelphia, where he had joined in the reverie of the Army-Navy football game, McCain stalled while coming in for a refueling stop in Norfolk, Virginia. This time he managed to bail out at 1,000 feet. As his parachute deployed, his plane thundered into the trees below.

By now, however, McCain's flying privileges were virtually irrevocable — and he knew it. On one of his runs at McCain Field, when ground control put him in a holding pattern, the lieutenant commander once again pulled his family's rank. "Let me land," McCain demanded over his radio, "or I'll take my field and go home!"....

It was July 29th, 1967, Lt. Cmdr. John McCain ticked through his preflight checklist.
Then, in an instant, the world around McCain erupted in flames. A six-foot-long Zuni rocket, inexplicably launched by an F-4 Phantom across the flight deck, ripped through the fuel tank of McCain's aircraft. Hundreds of gallons of fuel splashed onto the deck and came ablaze. Then: Clank. Clank. Two 1,000-pound bombs dropped from under the belly of McCain's stubby A-4, the Navy's "Tinkertoy Bomber," into the fire.

McCain leapt forward out of the cockpit, swung himself down from the refueling probe protruding from the nose cone, rolled through the flames and ran to safety across the flight deck. Just then,

Read more! »

There is currently a loophole in federal bankruptcy law that allows John McCain to protect his second through seventh homes and yachts and planes if he were to declare bankruptcy, but doesn't allow you and me to save our primary residence that we live in.

Barack Obama has called for closing this loophole, Joe Biden has called for closing this loophole.

When Gwen Ifill pressed Palin on this point of whether she was opposed, she denied it, saying, "No, that is not so."

ACORN welcomes Governor Palin's endorsement of this important provision, and hopes that this high-profile endorsement will encourage Senator McCain to change his mind and support this necessary change to assist America's struggling homeowners.

"The McCain campaign confirms to ABC News that Palin misstated McCain's position."

Sounds like the old geezer's sporting a little wood himself

You just KNOW this clown had a spankfest last night.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Projecting through the Screen [Rich Lowry]

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

10/03 12:08 PM

How old is this guy 12? When I saw the Snowbilly throwing a wink , my first thought wasn't " Hey, I think she just winked at me." , my first thought was , is she a VP candidate , or an aging hooker trolling for johns?

OK so it looks like we got our group together although we may get a few more. I would like to get some input from everyone so we can put together an action plan so post your ideas on that board and hopefully we can pull the first raid off next week. If anyone else would like to join in, let me know in the comments and I'll send you an invite.

Question:
Governor Palin, after you met with the president of Pakistan at the UN, he received a fatwa from religious leaders for the personal enthusiasm he showed toward you. As someone who regards religious faith so highly, what is your reaction?

Follow-up:
In your words, what is a "fatwa"?

The comments section below the prescient piece, "Bush Wants to Bankrupt America: There is Method To His Madness" is right up to date, and very angry. It includes opinions from ultra-rightist to ultra-leftist, attitudes from downright optimist to downright pessimist, and 'tudes from pissed off to pissed on.

Personally , I think that's an insult to pet rocks.

WASHINGTON -- There is something about Sarah Palin that gnaws at me, and it isn't that the Republican vice presidential nominee has wilted under the soft light shined upon her by CBS' Katie Couric. It isn't that I disagree with Palin on just about every single substantive issue I can think of, and probably some I haven't thought about.

What's bothering me about Palin isn't even Palin. It is that she's been made into the novelty act -- even the freak show -- of the presidential campaign.

Her mark in history may well turn out to be like that of the Pet Rock, one of those artifacts that has little value except as an object that is dissected for its cultural significance. During the brief but happy life of the Pet Rock in the 1970s, millions of Americans shelled out $3.95 to purchase an ordinary gray stone, packaged in a small cardboard box complete with an official Pet Rock training manual. The fad petered out in six months, but not before the promoter got rich and thousands of backyards became Pet Rock graveyards.

Now we prepare to watch Palin in today's vice presidential debate, compelled more by a cult-like curiosity than a call to civic duty.

Certainly some undecided voters may watch because they want to be convinced that the Alaska governor is qualified to be vice president or to determine, once and for all, that she is not. Republicans already attracted to her social conservatism and her family story will be cheering her on and will defend her against any slip or slight, real or imagined. Just as surely, some liberals will be itching to see what material Palin manages to serve up as fodder for Tina Fey and the writers at "Saturday Night Live."

Palin has become a sideshow: See Sarah stumble through the Couric interviews. Watch clips of Sarah's beauty-pageant swimsuit competition on YouTube. Laugh uproariously as Tina does a better Sarah than Sarah herself.
(snip)
The way Palin was sequestered from the media helped transform her into a calcified figure to be seen but not heard, at least not heard speaking from anything but a script. Like a Pet Rock, she wasn't supposed to escape from the yard or require genuine training. She only had to stand and absorb every odd projection of the national imagination, however awkward and demeaning a task that might be.

Now Palin goes live alongside Democrat Joe Biden, and an odder couple has rarely shared a political stage. I do not expect Biden to be anything but superior in his knowledge and in the stature he is able to project to a worried public. He will be on guard against condescension. I do not expect Palin to collapse in utter confusion or do anything less than survive -- even if she barely survives. But surviving a debate and the post-debate spin isn't qualification for the vice presidency. That is the nub of it.

Palin's candidacy isn't shattering the glass ceiling for her or any other woman. It is killing us with a thousand cuts.

I just saw a swift boat attack ad against "the Obama bailout".

They shouldn't do that. We can't afford to sabotage this bailout. We need it to keep from replaying the Great Depression.