Reaction to Last Presidential Debate of 2008

Phew, I am tired this morning – had to stay up late and watch my Tivo’d Project Runway Finale. My girl Leanne won, so I went to bed pretty stoked. And I have a new rule for presidential debates: they must always be on Tuesday night, because there’s never any good television programs on Tuesday night and it gives SNL enough time to design an appropriately mocking sketch. Wednesday and Thursday nights should always be off limits. Always!

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

Not a game-changer. Sure it was McAngry’s best performance of the last three debates – except when Obama was speaking. When McCain wasn’t trivializing women’s health or blaming the negative tone of his campaign on Obama’s refusal of multiple town hall meetings, his face was giving us a show!

His stiffness and glaring made him look like he was sitting in a strip club with his mother next to him. Those split-screen shots were priceless – I watched Gramps McCrazy way more than Obama, thinking, “Somebody get that guy his blood pressure meds!” It had such a whore-in-church feel to it.

McCain In Hot Pursuit!

Obama pretty much coasted during the debate. I thought at one time he was going to turn to McCain and say, “Be cool, baby, be cool.” I would have (with a few four-letter words). But, Obama’s rebuttals were spot on – if not delivered in an extremely forceful way. When it came to partial-birth abortion, health care, free trade, Bill Ayers, taxation policy, Obama bitch-slapped McCain’s false accusations in a very nuanced, assertive and civil manner. Without, unlike me, getting distracted by McCain’s heavy breathing. Hello! McNutty, there’s a microphone, like, six inches from your mouth!

Obama and McCain’s direct interaction was fantastic, it was what we debate watchers were waiting for while making side bets that McCain was going to come across the table and try to strangle Obama and start poking him really hard in the chest. Bob Schieffer did a great job of asking new and important questions and then letting the dudes battle it out. McCain did a good job of not declaring he wouldn’t put Bob Schieffer in his cabinet.

And how annoying is this Joe-the-plumber thing? For Christ’s sake, if you’ve watched any interviews with the guy, there was no way he was going to vote for Obama. He’s an uninformed Right winger who compared our going into Iraq like someone coming to Jesus and being saved. Ick. Hopefully his 15 seconds of fame won’t last more than 8 because any assertion that he is or was actually undecided has my bullshit siren blaring. Stop saying the poser won!

Overall, the debate was a failure for McCain. He spoke directly to his base the entire time, most likely turning off any swing voters – especially former Hillary PUMAS by calling Obama pro-abortion (good for Obama for not returning the retort by calling McCain anti-choice). McCain’s demeanor was unpresidential even if he managed to drive the discussion. His arguments lacked coherence and were all over the place, going in three seconds from saying Obama’s “associated with all these people” to “I’m not going to raise your taxes.” He brought up Herbet Hoover again which is such a ridiculous line of attack because it was so long ago and Hoover was a Republican.

His slinging of mud and constant taking of notes (with a sharpie…are we in kindergarten?) were an audio and visual turn off. Minimally, McCain did not whoop Obama’s “you know what.” He claimed he repudiated any out-of-bounds comments about Obama – which is not true seeing has how McCain has said nothing regarding Palin’s claims that Obama “palls around with terrorists.” Furthermore, he spent an exorbitant amount of time complaining about a lack of apology for statements by John Lewis, bringing up Bill Ayers and ACORN and trying unsuccessfully to bring Obama down to his level. McCain did nothing to turn the tide looming over this 2004 Bush campaign of his. Sorry, the performance – while an improvement – was worth political bupkis.

And, just for the record – I want to address a couple misstatements by the candidates:

When Obama claimed 100 percent of McCain’s ads have been negative, he meant 100 percent of the ads McCain is currently running are negative. That was true yesterday and over the last few weeks. I think he put out a positive one today.

When McCain claimed Obama didn’t vote for Justice Breyer, he meant Justice Alito.

So don’t harp on them for these mistakes. Most of us know what they meant to say. They’re tired. The slips are understandable. blah, blah, blah, you get the picture.

Awaiting the Last Presidential Debate of 2008

After 21 Republican Primary debates, 26 Democratic Primary debates, 2 presidential debates and 1 VP debate, we are now at the end presidential debate cycle of 2008. My thoughts in sheer, edge-of-my-seat anticipation for the drama to unfold tonight?

Why, oh why did baby jesus make the last presidential debate be on the same night as the Project Runway Finale?! I mean, I know I can Tivo it, but still, that’s not the point.

Anyway (moving on, baby jesus), last night, I watched the Frontline presentation “The Choice 2008” – “A compelling look at Obama and McCain and their path to their party’s nominations.” It was. Compelling, I mean. The interviews – John Weaver, David Axelrod, Peter Rouse, Mark Salter and more – I already know quite a bit about these candidate’s bios, but I was kinda riveted. You can see the PBS excellent website about the program and view it here.

From Frontline

I found myself not just mourning the John McCain that lost the 2000 primary, I found myself mourning the John McCain that won the 2008 primary. The last few months, I have been too angry at McCain to properly grieve over the loss of the stand-up guy I once hoped would beat Giuliani and Romney. After a bit of education on McCain’s past, I realize that there were hints even 30 years ago that McCain’s sense of decency was a little shoddy. The last vestige of honor McCain is holding on to is named “The Jeremiah Wright Issue” and it seems that he has decided to sit on it – at least for now. This doesn’t make him a martyr, mind you – he’d still lose. The Dow is currently down over 700 points and you could put Rev. Wright sermons on a continual loop on every radio and television station in the land, but that won’t distract voters from their diminishing investments and retirement and purchase power. Sorry, charlie, this is a Democrat year and will come packaged in a pretty little bow late Nov. 4.

One of the more surprising revelations on Frontline was Tom Daschle talking about Obama’s choice in 2006 to run for president. Now, I know that ever since 2004, Obama has been the golden child of the Democratic Party. It was amusing to watch the video of his speech at the DNC in 2004 with Hillary and curly-haired Chelsea clapping heartily and rising to their feet during one of Obama’s more stirring lines. Many of the Dems saw Obama that night and felt a re-energizing that would later turn their

From Frontline

attentions away from a Hillary 2008 victory. Obama was caught up in the desire for the Democrats to rise above the ashes of Gore and Kerry and 6 years of Repubs controlling both the Presidency and the Congress.

Obama knew he wanted to run for president some day, but Daschle explained that Obama would not always have the opportunity before him. The longer he was a senator, the more of a record he would have to attack and the more votes he would have to explain. The end of 2006 shaped up to be the “now or never” for Obama.

It doesn’t make me particularly warm inside to think about Obama’s avoidance of a prolonged senate career – whether it would have had an effect on his presidential ambitions or not. His lack of experience in comparison to Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and, yes, Hillary Clinton (whom I would never vote for) is substantial.

I vote largely on character, however, I am quite content that he is our most likely next president. I am especially looking forward to tonight’s debate with comfort in Obama’s most recent performances and the odds against McCain bringing a can of whoopass to the table. But the admission by Daschle that the lack of experience was a net positive in Obama’s White House quest reiterates how ridiculously jacked up our electoral system is and what a detriment this two-party establishment is serving our democracy. Sigh.

So, tonight the last of our presidential debates. The last of the real determining factors regarding the destination of the spoils. Since my guy’s ahead, I’m going to relish every minute of it and try to squeeze out a little pity for the old guy destined to lose after running one of the most reprehensible campaigns in history and picking one of the least qualified running mates. Pity will be hard for me. I’m not a tremendously sympathetic person by nature and have felt like burning McPalin in effigy a few times over these weeks.

What’s doubly awesome for me is not only is Obama pulling away in polls, my alma mater is #1 in college football (which is almost better than McCain losing the election). If only the Project Runway finale was tomorrow, we’d really be in business!

Knock ’em dead, Obama! Give ’em hell! And, remember, you’ve come a hell of a long way since those primary debates when you were practically sucking on a dry rock. So, in the words of Michelle that night long ago in 2004, “Don’t screw it up!”

Footnote: Sarah Palin must stop wearing that polar bear broach. Doesn’t she realize her policies would kill off every last one of them? And not in a fun way like shooting them.

Why “Drill, Baby, Drill” Chanters are Idiots

I’m sure most of you who watched the Republican National Convention saw the goobers in hardhats and safety vests which said, “Drill, baby, drill!” Their captain, Rush Limbaugh said June 18,

They’re (Democrats) going to oppose the economic growth of the country. They’re going to oppose your prosperity. They’re going to oppose all of that by standing in the way of this.

They’ve (Democrats) got their talking points and they’re lying through their teeth about it.

Bill Nelson of Florida, one of, ahem, my senators, is out there saying that, (paraphrasing) “Hey, the federal government’s already leased a whole bunch of land to the big oil companies; they’re not even using it.”  It’s such a smoke screen, the number of years left on these leases is very few, and the whole thing is a lie anyway.  I have the figures to prove it.

Entrepreneurs of all stripes, all sizes, create business of all sizes. They’re a wide range. And who is it that always sets out to punish them and destroy them?  Liberals, the American left! Absolutely right, Brian. I could read your lips in there.  Good going.  What does Obama want?  Barack Obama wants you to suffer.  Barack Obama wants higher prices on fuel. right now.  Barack Obama wants a windfall profits tax. right now.  Barack Obama wants to raise your income taxes, by the way, right now.  He wants to raise capital gains taxes, right now.  He wants to raise Social Security taxes, right now.  Obama wants you to suffer.  The Democrat Party wants you in pain.  They want you angry, and they are willing to block any remedy to this problem in order to keep you suffering and in pain and angry.  Obama wants prices up, he wants your income down, and he wants taxes up, ladies and gentlemen.

I know, he’s a crackpot. I recommend reading the whole transcript because it’s incredibly laughable. Let me continue. Here’s Sarah Palin during the VP Debate,

The chant is “drill, baby, drill.” And that’s what we hear all across this country in our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into.

Barack Obama and Senator Biden, you’ve said no to everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis that we’re in.

If that’s not enough to make you want to sprinkle cyanide on your cheerios, country singer Aaron Tippin has a new hit, “Drill here, drill now,” you can listen to here. I’m posting the second verse:

Every time a foreign tanker pulls up to our shore
They got us over a barrel while they bleed us a little more
And think how much it costs just to bring it all that way
And how many American jobs that’d make if we were drillin’ in the USA
Oh and God forbid if our oily friends should decide to cut us off
We’d be standin’ around with our britches down now listen to me ya’ll

Perhaps Aaron’s legendary tight pants have seized up blood flow to his brain.

What I’m trying to say is that all these calls for offshore drilling and energy independence have made it clear there’s a drought of information on the Right. I’ve decided to rectify the situation by gathering what we informed people call FACTS to help explain the error in this argument – which many Democrats are perpetuating as well. It’s almost criminal.

So, I beg of you – educate yourself. Even if you don’t want to read my lengthy presentation of reality and possibility, conduct your own research of the effects of increased offshore drilling, the possibility it will lower gas prices, and the addition to jobs and U.S. prominence alternative energy technology will provide.

Here’s my crack at it. It’s long, but it’s worth it. Jesuschrist, it’s worth it.

The clamors for energy independence only surfaced following the rise in gasoline/petrol prices. Because gas prices are largely determined by the decision made by OPEC regarding production levels, Americans are under the incorrect impression that drilling for more hydrocarbon off our shores will provide energy independence and lower gas prices.

OFFSHORE DRILLING ≠ ENERGY INDEPENDENCE ≠ LOW GASOLINE/PETROL PRICES

The American people are uninformed, which is nothing new, and their politicians are doing nothing to correct this problem because they are whores for campaign contributions, which lead them to feed the corporatocracy that is pimping America by trading money for favorable legislation. The oil & gas lobby is one of the biggest john of them all. According to the Federal Election Commission Sept. 2, 2008, and reported by the Center for Responsive Politics, campaign contributions for the 2008 election cycle totalled $22,543,340. Republicans were the most successful streetwalkers, receiving 75 percent of these contributions, while Democrats only garnered 25. Apparently, it’s hard out here for a pimp Democrat.

Because Americans don’t understand the realities of domestic hydrocarbon production, 67 percent answered in the affirmative to the RasmussenReports poll question, “In order to reduce the price of gas, should drilling be allowed in offshore oil wells off the coasts of California, Florida, and other states?” According to the survey, the results of which were released June 17, 64 percent of voters “believe it is at least somewhat likely that gas prices will go down if offshore oil drilling is allowed.” Now, I’m sure you know embittered former pollster for the Clintons, Dick Morris runs RasmussenReports and is now a sweetheart of the Right – which is why they quoted this survey endlessly.

The false assumption is that offshore drilling will lead to energy independence which will lead to lower gasoline prices.

Wrong.

U.S. WOULDN’T OWN OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS ONCE IT IS DRILLED

As Cenk Uygur correctly pointed out of the Huffpo, the United States government does not own all the hydrocarbon that is produced within its borders. The company that is awarded the contract to drill owns the oil or gas and may decide to sell their unrefined product to whomever they like and will likely do so to whoever is the highest bidder, be they India, China, etc. Simply because the U.S. government decides to open leases off Florida, California and ANWR does not automatically assume the U.S. markets will be the recipient of those energy resources.

Secondly, the U.S. refineries are operating near capacity. According to the latest numbers provided by U.S. Department of Energy for July 2008, U.S. refining operable capacity was 17,610,000 barrels per day. Of that capacity, U.S. refineries produced 17,464,000 barrels per day. The last major refinery built in the U.S. began operations in 1976. This is partially due to strict standards set by the EPA and the high cost of such an endeavor, but also NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard), an acronym describing a residential opposition to nearby industrial building. People want to use the oil and gas, they just don’t want to be near the production of their precious energy. With my family from in and around Lake Charles, I can see why.

The point is that politicians – Dems and Repubs alike – encourage the drill, baby, drillers; they just forget to mention that even if we increase offshore drilling, we do not have the refining capacity to ensure those energy reserves serve the American market. Sure, we can loosen environmental standards and attempt to rush the establishment of some refining infrastructure before oil companies bring that offshore hydrocarbon online. But visit Lake Charles for a weekend and decide if you want those big daddies in your backyard or if you would rather just drive less, switch to fluorescent light bulbs and inflate your tires.

U.S. ENERGY COMPANIES WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP PRICES AS HIGH AS THEY CAN

Americans are also assuming that oil and gas companies, in all their benevolence, would flood the American market with hydrocarbon to allow gasoline prices to decrease. Not gonna happen. FOR EXAMPLE, PLS’ ProspectCentre reported Oct. 1, 2008 that Chesapeake Energy, the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., will “reduce it drilling capex (17%) through year-end 2010 by ~$3.2 billion in response to recent price collapse that has driven gas prices down (~50% since July 1)…Of the capex reduction through 2010, $1.9 billion is associated with reduced drilling activity.” WHAT??? you ask. Gas prices are over $1 more than when Hurricane Katrina hit. My car cost $12.50 to fill up eight years ago and now requires $40. And Chesapeake Energy is reducing drilling because energy prices are falling. Yes, Chesapeake produces natural gas, which is different than gasoline – but prices of energy originating from hydrocarbon sources are closely related.

Translation: Chesapeake Energy is decreasing their drilling of natural gas in order to reduce supply, despite typical ravenous demand of Americans for energy, which will help keep prices high. Politicians have given Americans the idea that American oil and gas (natural gas) companies are operating at capacity and we need to open more leases to bring more energy online in American markets. False. Major companies in the United States are right now decreasing domestic energy production because prices have fallen, causing these companies what they see as budgetary constraints.

The interesting tidbit about Chesapeake’s maneuver is that they’ve done it before. BNET Sept. 27, 2006: “Effective October 1, 2006, the company plans to temporarily shut-in approximately 100 million cubic feet (mmcf) per day of net natural gas production (approximately 125-150 mmcf per day gross) in various areas of operations in the southwestern U.S. until natural gas prices recover from recently depressed levels.” What has happened since the end of 2006? Prices have risen! How surprising! Of course, I’m not suggesting Chesapeake’s activities alone have caused gasoline prices to increase, but I’m giving you an idea of how the oil and gas industry responds to any decrease in gasoline prices.

You see – and this is very important – even if oil and gas were produced as much as possible within American borders and even if refineries were built to handle the capacity of oil and gas sucked out of the ground, oil companies would keep production low. Why? Why? you ask. I will tell you.

The oil companies have discovered that Americans have a high pain tolerance when it comes to energy prices. Americans will let gasoline reach $4.00 a gallon before really pulling back. They will never allow gasoline prices – profits – to fall back to the yesteryear of cheap gas and easy energy. No matter how available or plentiful that energy is domestically, the companies will manipulate the market to keep prices high. Oh, they’ll give us a load of “reduced supply” mishegoss, but make no mistake – they only have eyes for profits. Right now, according to PLS, XTO, EOG and Petrohawk “may watch Chesapeake’s stock to determine if they should follow the same plan.”

The main point is that even if all our hydrocarbon energy supply originates within U.S. borders, prices will remain in the nose-bleeds. Them’s the brakes. Yes, we are currently experiencing a reduction in prices, but it won’t last.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT REFINING

Now let’s assume that we do open all our oil and natural gas reserves to quell demands for more resources. We throw open every lease available off various coasts and in protected wildlife preserves and give them to the exploration and production companies like letting a fat kid loose in a candy store. We would have to assume that demand would remain the same or decrease in order to bring gasoline prices down.

Just one thing. Remember that last refinery that was built in 1976? Yeah, American consumption of energy has increased 25 percent since it was built. If prices are cheap, our consumption will not decrease unless there is a national mandate Americans understand is necessary to preserve our environment and the health of our children. With demand high, prices will remain so as well.

Because American oil and gas demand will always rise above domestic supply – especially with cheap prices – we will never be energy independent as long as our main source of energy is hydrocarbon. Our demand will always outpace domestic supply. Can’t say it enough.

If we do throw open all the leases possible and build refineries to service the American market as much as possible, we will end up polluting the shit out this country. Perhaps this wouldn’t be such a big deal if the only pollution we had to deal with was only that which we create ourselves. It’s not. Pollution from China has already started having worldwide effects – especially in California, where emissions regulations for local industries will have to be sharply curbed to deal with the fallout from China’s production boom.

“GREEN REFINERIES”? SURELY, YOU JEST.

No, I don’t, Willis. There have been recent movements toward establishing “green refineries” – if there is such a thing. Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma fought for seven years and finally received a permit to build a 150,000 barrels-per-day refinery that it says will operate within strict environmental regulations. Hyperion Resources, based in Dallas, is planning an environmentally sound refinery that will turn Canadian crude into low-sulfur gasoline and diesel at a rate of 400,000 barrels per day. According to a Reuters article describing the project, it often takes five years before companies receive the required permits for construction, which can often lead to investors jumping ship.

And if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite for green gas, Hunton Energy of Houston has proposed the first green refinery on the Texas coast, shooting for a 340,000 barrels-per-day facility to convert Canadian bitumen crude into clean-burning jet fuel and diesel. According to the Houston Chronicle, “Its defining feature is the integration of a gasification facility, which would capture most of the plant’s carbon emissions before they reach the atmosphere.” It will be interesting to see whether this refinery – in ten years, if the project succeeds – will live up to its “green” claims.

There is, however, no definition for “green” and its subjectiveness has allowed it to be used as a major selling tool by energy companies who tend to be colorblind when it comes to the environment. In this case, “green” refers to reduced emissions by the refineries. It does not mean “zero emissions” as such as thing is currently impossible.

Obviously, the greenest refinery will likely do more detriment than wind and solar combined. Although one has to take into account the energy needed to produce a wind turbine, transport it and set up the massive thing (I see them in parts on 18-wheelers all over the highways here in north Texas). How long would a windmill have to generate energy before justifying its very existence? Just a question.

CLEAN COAL, JUMBO SHRIMP, PRETTY UGLY

Still, the term “green refinery” calls to mind another potential oxymoron: “clean coal.” Politicians say it all the time and the term even enjoyed a bit of attention during the recent Vice Presidential Debates. Jeff Biggers of The Washington Post has taken notice as well. He writes in a scathing opinion piece of the coal industry and its treatment by the Bush administration, “Clean coal: Never was there an oxymoron more insidious, or more dangerous to our public health. Invoked as often by the Democratic presidential candidates as by the Republicans and by liberals and conservatives alike, this slogan has blindsided any meaningful progress toward a sustainable energy policy.”

“Clean coal” is referring to reduced emissions from coal-firing plants and efforts are underway around the world to find the means to reduce the environmentally detrimental affects of this energy source. The release of carbon dioxide into the air is one of the biggest offenses of coal use and scientists are trying to discover new means to deal with this greenhouse gas, included rerouting it under ground. Capturing the CO2 is a top priority in “clean coal” technology. According to National Geographic News, however, technologist Gordon Couch, with the International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre in London, says zero-emissions coal power is a realistic goal – though years away.

“NUKULAR” ENERGY

John McCain likes to repeat that nuclear energy is just fine because he served on a Navy ship powered by nuclear energy and all Senator Obama needs to do is talk to one of our sailors serving a nuclear-powered vessel (yeah, because they’re experts) to learn the benefits of this energy. But nuclear plants are some of the most dangerous sources of energy – the fact that Chernobyl and Three Mile Island are household terms is a large indicator of public concern regarding this energy option.

Nuclear waste is an even larger concern. And since no real long-term solution has been found regarding the storage of nuclear waste, it is irresponsible for politicians to tout this as an option for energy independence. Nuclear waste is also tremendously costly to store – the Department of Energy has said the controversial proposed storage facility at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain would cost $96.2 billion to build and operate. France is repeatedly used as a positive example of the use of nuclear energy. However, France reprocesses its nuclear waste – which is banned in the United States due to proliferation risks – and still has leftovers, which it stocks in hopes that, perhaps in 100 years scientists will have found away to eliminate the toxicity of the waste. Bonne chance.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY…HEAD OUT OF THE ASS

Geothermal Plant in California

Even with the environmental benefits of nuclear energy, the question still looming is the cost-benefit ratio of investing such an enormous amount of funds into a technology that is detrimental in the long-term, rather than positive alternatives: biomass, geothermal, wind, solar, tidal, hydrogen.

Powerful lobbyists, greedy politicians and corporate executives have convinced the more uninformed Americans, including Palin – who chanted, “Drill, baby drill. Mine, baby, mine,” on the stump – that we must turn to domestic oil, gas and coal to increase energy independence, which will bring down gas prices.

I don’t just disagree with them, I have shown that they are wrong. They are incorrect. And almost every source I have provided in this blog is available on the internet.

So, why does the truth not out? Why do Democrats participate in this charade as well? Bucks, dollars, contributions. The building of the United Corporatocracy of America. The oil and gas industry has been the 12th largest campaign contributor to John McCain’s quest for the presidency, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Had we focused our surplus budget and American acumen for technological development on alternative energy sources back in the 1990’s instead of cheap housing developments, we might already be energy independent. Perhaps Detroit wouldn’t be in the economic doldrums. Perhaps we might not be transferring all of our wealth to “countries who do not have our best interests at heart.” But, then ExxonMobil and ConocoPhilips and many other oil & gas companies wouldn’t be receiving record profits this year. Without their political involvement, Halliburton probably wouldn’t have received a number of sweet, no-bid contracts in Iraq from the Bush administration.

Instead, we’re left with “shoulda, woulda, couldas” dangling in front of our rose-colored glasses to the past.

To make matters almost unpalatable, the Right continues to dupe many of its followers – legendary anti-intellectuals, consistent swallowers of Fox News Propaganda who disdain facts, truth, research, reality and education – into believing offshore drilling will produce energy independence and lower gas prices. It won’t. It will only make the same white men richer year after year and worsen our environmental contributions.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IS BEST CHANCE FOR U.S. TO RETAIN GLOBAL PROMINENCE

Renewable alternative energy is our chance to regain and retain our primary position on the world stage. Global citizens are hungry and demanding alternative power and the U.S. has every opportunity to develop it, deliver it, and benefit from it. Like Obama said, renewable resources can give the U.S. the same economic positioning as the computer. Renewable energy technologies could be a major cultivator of domestic jobs and prop the U.S. up again as a major supplier to global market demands.

U.S. domination is subsiding, our economy is not growing as fast as other countries and we are losing our hegemonic status. Instead of tackling this development head on through education and technology, the idiotic dipshits of the Right are attacking our science classes, trying to shrink budgets for math education and calling for the same failed energy policies that will cripple our best chance to retain American greatness.

Republicans are selling our future to win elections now and their mindless followers are not only heading toward that cliff, they want to drag us over the edge with them. It is shameful and embarrassing and hopefully only a footnote in our country’s history. “Drill, baby, drill” is not the answer. It is “Dead Man Walking” for the U.S. economy and perhaps if these people knew exactly what they were proposing, they wouldn’t be trying to doom our country’s attempts to lead the world into the next technological era.

Let me be clear. I am not opposed to increased offshore drilling or increasing refining capacity. I am opposed to presenting it as a method for attaining energy independence and lowering gasoline prices. Such an assertion is untrue and only increase the falsehoods with which many voters make their decisions at the polls. It is harmful to democracy and it is harmful to the economic future and sustainability of this country. We must refocus our priorities to renewable and sustainable energy sources.

UPDATE 10.15.08. FYI, beeyotches, Time (as I spotted on Think Progress) is reporting that despite Sarah Palin’s calls for energy independence, she herself has supported efforts to send domestic hydrocarbon to more-profitable foreign markets.

According to Time, “Palin personally intervened in April, 2007, but her concerns were strictly local. She asked DOE to condition its approval on guarantees that gas needed in Alaska not be diverted to the better-paying foreign venues — a position she held until this past January, when the producers reached separate agreement with the state to meet its needs.

At no time did Palin or her government cite the desire to preserve Alaskan gas for the lower 48 states. The Sempra terminal began operations just four months after Palin announced unconditional support for the Marathon and ConocoPhillips request and a month before DOE approved their plans to export gas to Asia.”

Will the hypocrisy never end???

Reaction to the Second Presidential Debate

I have a strong bias and won’t even try to be objective. Barack obviously won. But, if I was Republican, I’d think McCain won. Which means Obama won because McCain didn’t bring it home for anyone outside his base.

Here’s my lefty opinion:

All of this jibber-jabber that town halls are McCain’s forum was a bunch of hot air. Obama was a freaking professor. Um, he has experience speaking in an instructive manner to a group of people less than 20,000 – though he doesn’t do it much these days. Even with the sound off, Obama took last night like he was on a runaway train to McCain Smackdown 2008.

McCain looked decrepit, was chirpy and uncontrolled. His attempts at humor had him simply coming off as bitchy to Tom Brokaw (who was incessantly annoying when pointing out the time limits – let the men talk for chrissakes!). He repeated the same ol’ Republican line that Washington is broken and continued the “Obama you don’t know” crap that doesn’t pass the smell test. Calling Obama “my friend” and then “that one” made it clear that McCain had his holier-than-thou suit on, a failed strategy in the context of a Republican campaign trying to fight the “elitist” left.

What was really amusing was his repetition that he would be “steady hand on the tiller” as if we all have political amnesia and haven’t been paying attention to this manic, disorganized and reactionary campaign he’s running. “Steady” he’s anything but. And the viewers know it. Which is why the line shouldn’t have even been included. It just highlighted his jacked up attempt to run for president.

Obama managed to get some zingers in – something he’s not known for, included the “bomb, bomb Iran” everyone keeps talking about this morning. Relating alternative energy development to the advent of the computer was excellent – I’ve been relating the energy crisis to Sputnik, but might start using the computer comparison as well. It’s quite clear that Hillary was good practice for Obama because he’s sucking way less than expected at these face-to-faces with McCain.

There were a few times – as opposed to a lot of times in the last debate – where I wished Obama had answered McCain differently. When McCain brought up health care mandates, I wish Obama had corrected McCain by saying the old man was confusing him with Hillary Clinton. It wouldn’t have been a good line for Democrats and might have pissed off the bitter Puma crowd, but it was the first thing I thought since Obama railed against Hillary during the primary for her call for mandates. When McCain described himself as “a cool hand at the tiller,” I wanted Obama to say, reminiscent of Bentsen to Quayle, “Senator, you are no cool hand.” Again, that probably wouldn’t have garnered Obama any points – but plenty of us out here in leftyworld would have high-fived each other and clinked our beers.

Much of the pundit exchange following the debate focused on the presidential debate negotiations which allow the candidates to carefully explain their policies without really challenging their ability to articulate them. It is such a shame that easily could have been rectified by the inclusion of Nader and Barr, as I’ve said in my reaction to the first presidential debate. Obama and McCain repeated themselves and their stump speeches and prepared lines the entire duration of the debate, which was disappointing to say the least. The questions were slow-balls, pithy and triggered my gag reflex. We saw much more candor and operating from the gut during the primary debates. Alas, our world is imperfect.

It was fun, if a little boring and forgettable. On goes the march.

Go Negative, McCain! And Then Go Home!

With only 28 days left in the election, I’m hearing a lot of people saying they can’t wait until this is all over. Granted, these people are all anti-Obama. But, all politics all the time can be hard on people who are not political junkies. Unlike me.

I’m reveling in this constant political news stream. Even all the mud-slinging can’t rain on my parade. I suppose this is because the person I do not want to win will have to pull a rainbow with a pot of gold out of his ass to take home first place. After constant analysis of the men before us, I have to admit that I’m more ANTI-MCCAIN than PRO-OBAMA and really wish the left wouldn’t romanticize Obama because he’s going to have such a cesspool of crap leftover from Bush to be an extremely transcendent president – at least in his first term. Obama does have less experience than other viable Democratic candidates, his FISA vote pissed me off, he’s against gay marriage, he supports faith-based initiatives and has other “issues” which have garnered my disappointment. But as we say every four years about our respective candidates, “He’s a helluva lot better than the other guy.”

Also, this is the first time it looks like I’ll be on the winning side of a presidential election. I’ll admit it – I voted Dole in ’96, would have voted Bush in 2000 (was out of the country and didn’t get my shit together for an absentee ballot), and voted Kerry in ’04. After growing up in Texas, I was originally a Republican, but naturally moved to the left as I grew more informed – first as a social liberal/fiscal conservative, then even more to the left as I realized the lack of financial regulation results in the United Corporatocracy of America.

I’m not a straight-ticket voter by any means and support the multi-party system more than the Democratic Party, which is why I still may vote Nader in the general election as Texas is almost guaranteed to fall into McCain’s pocket despite the switch of Hispanic voters to the Democratic side. If Texas were a toss-up, I would by all means vote for Obama. Either way, I support a McCain loss above all.

Which is why I love his negative attacks. And Palin’s for that matter.

If they want to load their stump speeches with tales of domestic unrest during the turbulent 60’s – ahem, FORDEE years ago – while the U.S. is embroiled in two wars and the major financial crisis of our times, that is peachy with me. It only ensures a greater loss for them come November. There are legitimate economic policy disputes between McCain and Obama. McCain has every opportunity to present to voters a forward-looking, encouraging picture of where he wants to take the country.

Instead, he calls Obama a liar and dishonestly claims Obama wants to avoid answering questions about his record.

It’s not working. And it won’t work.

The ridiculous charade of McCain’s campaign has found their credibility on a downward slope that has paid little attention to the poll numbers. Instead of a plausible campaign on policies, McCain has given us infamous cannon fodder of stunts: the ads linking Obama to Paris and Britney, naming Palin his running mate, one dishonest ad after another – including an ad that claimed Obama wanted to teach comprehensive sex education to kindergartners, repeating the lie that the surge was responsible for the decrease in violence in Iraq, once again trying to win an election on his POW experience, the fake suspension of his campaign and attempt to take credit for a bailout legislation that failed to materialize according to McCain’s timetable, and – most recently – linking Obama to William Ayers’ activities decades ago. His campaign isn’t legitimate, it’s a joke.

The problem for McCain? The internet has provided voters quick and easy access to fact-based information, allowing people to call bullshit much earlier on lies for the sake of political expediency. Stunts are far more transparent than they were just four years ago. Would the Swiftboaters have succeeded under the current umbrella of the proliferation of information? I don’t want to give American voters too much credit, but I don’t think so.

McCain never gave his policies a chance to shine. He never gave his stance on the issues an opportunity to appeal to voters. He went Hillary on Obama way too early and the stubborn refusal of his campaign to see the error in this tactic is their death knell. Regardless of my disagreement with their policy proposals, they don’t deserve to win it. They tried generalities about his experience and his “maverick” record, but they forgot the specifics about what they are promising the American people. Basic chants about “cleaning up Washington” and “rooting out ineffeciencies” (though Palin forgot the “in” in “inefficiency” a bit too many times in interviews) and “Obama’s the most liberal Senator” don’t work. People want to know what you are GOING TO DO. Future tense, McFly.

From a politically scientific level, it’s been suicide again and again. From a leftie level, it’s been glorious.

Every time another speech by Palin or McCain is carried live on television and they are talking Ayers and calling Obama a liar, I giggle – then press the mute button. Each day they waste with these failed distractions is just another nail in the coffin of their campaign.

So, go negative, McCain! Go negative all the way! Because that road leads to second place. And when you’re looking for bozos to blame, don’t just hurl your spittle towards all the former Bushies you hired, remember that you sold your soul and with it any chance you had to win. I’m looking forward to see you do well, but not good enough, in tonight’s debate. We’ll finally get to see that Town Hall you’ve been clamoring for. Enjoy it. Maybe Bush will meet you afterward by your jet with a cake.

VP Debate and Douchebag Sean Hannity

Phew! I’m back home from Florida without any serious road-rage incidents. I thought I’d be able to blog regularly while on vacation, but I was wrong – the lure of the beach and shopping proved to be irresistible.

I did, however, manage to catch the Vice Presidential debates. Though I remember little of through the fog of wine, I took notes that grew less and less legible, as you can imagine. Apparently, the fact that Palin says NUKE-U-LAR made my inebriated self irritated because I wrote it in all caps. I know we lefties are elitist and the righties are anti-intellectuals, but you’d think they’d be embarrassed that the leaders they present for the electorate cannot even pronounce nuclear correctly. Perhaps they figured years of Bush numbed us to this mispronunciation as much as living in Texas reminds you “irregardless” is still alive and well. You’d be wrong. It’s like Obama said, “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.” I can tell you one thing – if Obama said “Nukular”, I wouldn’t vote for him. Not even if he were the second coming of George Carlin himself.

Overall, I thought Palin did well in the debate. Sure she outright lied a number of times and spoke to the camera like America was her fifth grade class. She said the word “there” 73 times to Biden’s 35 – but, when you don’t really have the skills to talk about the issues effectively, you need filler. And filler she gave us: “joe sixpack,” “dog-gone it,” “bless their hearts,” “darn right,” “say it ain’t so, Joe,” “her reward is in heaven,” and more. Her lack of understanding of basic sentence structure would make her the same kind of fun VP Dan Quayle was. You should read the transcript – it’s a hoot.  Overall, her biggest accomplishment of the debate was making me glad as hell I won’t be voting for her ticket.

My week of fun ended, however, upon my return home and subsequent relaxation, I stumble upon the Fox News special hour of royal douchebag Sean Hannity’s Hannity’s Obama & Friends; A History of Radicalism. You’d think Hannity was on the payroll of the McCain campaign. All the images of Obama were either in grainy black and white or slow-mo, with the mere visual presenting Obama in as negative a light as possible. Hannity tied Obama to Hamas and pathetically tried to convince viewers that Obama is some stealth Muslim terrorist. Fair and balanced my ass.

Hannity has the credibility of a dung beetle on any occasion, but the program presented last night was probably a last-ditch effort to scare American voters over to McCain’s side. Obviously, this grotesque excuse for journalism will prove ineffective. Dipshits like Hannity forget that Americans have more access to information and FACTS than ever before and fear-mongers who are incapable of productive information analysis are no longer convincing. Hannity’s core viewer demographic is dying off, much to the relief of those of us who have a modicum of appreciation for truth.

So, I’m back on the blogging bandwagon, well rested and well tanned. And just in time to witness the McCain campaign throwing their kitchen sink, otherwise known as William Ayers. Poor, poor McCain people. It really has to suck when the majority of American people are on to your bullshit, and lying and distracting doesn’t work anymore. I hope all your shit really stinks over there in Loserville!

Blogging About the Bailout From the Netherworlds of Anti-Obama Territory

I was on the road all day yesterday driving from Houston to Pensacola to visit my parental types with my sister. Besides all the damn convoys of electricity and tree-trimming trucks heading back home after helping get Houston power back up following Hurricane Ike (my sister says thank you) driving in the left lane trying to give me an aneurysm, the ride went pretty well. All I’m saying is that I don’t know what South Texas and South Louisiana did to make baby jesus mad. Who knew hurricanes were such a useful tool of divine justice?

As I’m playing Highway Commando and trying to make good time, we get a call that the House voted against the bailout. Against the bailout! We immediately turned my new XM radio (which rocks hard) to the news stations – which was fun because the first thing we heard was Boehner and his fellow boners blaming Pelosi for the failure of Republicans to vote for the bailout package. Apparently, Pelosi gave some partisan speech, which pissed off quite a few of the Repubs so much, they forgot their vote would affect the entire U.S. economy and that of the rest of the world and decided to use their vote for political gamesmanship and spit in Pelosi’s glossy eye with a “Nay.” What word am I thinking of? It’s another word for donkeys… Oh, yeah – Jackasses!!

Who gives a shit about people’s retirement packages? Who gives a shit about companies being able to meet payroll? Mortgages, car loans, grocery bills…who cares, who cares, who cares? The American people have been fed a lot of baloney about the free market and American capitalism and decided to call their representatives, instructing them NOT to vote for the bailout. And the House reps actually claim they listened to these people – these people who have not one iota of understanding about how the markets work and what a catastrophe it will be if the bailout fails and allows the markets to wallow, freezing credit and large portion of the exchange of monies. Even my Republican family – who is watching the retirement upon which they currently live head toward the drain – was astounded at the stratospheric stupidity of these politicians.

Just real quick – the House Repubs are LYING when they said they’re voting no because of their constituents. They’re voting no because of lobbyists. As we speak, K Street is in a tizzy over golden parachutes and regulation and anything that might redistribute wealth in this country and is threatening all those little Congresspeople up for reelection. Three words: constituents my ass. Don’t insult me. I’m mean, I’m a blogger, for chrissakes.

I don’t think this current situation is altogether a bad thing.

Pick your jaw up off the ground and take a breath.

First of all, the level of education of the American public in the areas of economics, finance, credit, etc. has increased immensely. If we have to feel pain now so that our entire country operates with a few more smarts and a tad more responsibility, it is worth it. The people of this country have been told that their monthly income should not determine their standard of living. Credit was the answer to everything, and was easy to access, encouraging every Tom, Dick, Harriet, Rumor, Tallulah and Scout to spend those george washingtons without any attention to budgets and saving. Economic retards, as it were. I used to be one. These are my people.

Well, I’ve moved on – slapped in the face by a low FICO score, and it’s time for the American people to do so as well. Hopefully, this economic crisis will move us in that direction.

So, have a margarita, a mojito, a martini, a miller lite or whatever it takes to get your blood pressure down; then save money, diversify your investments, purchase cars and homes  beneath the amount you are approved for, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses, learn the language of finance and grow old, fat and happy (well, not fat).

That’s silver lining numero uno. The next, OBVIOUSLY, is the political fallout.

How fun! How tickling! How fucking hysterical!

The Democrats are about to take over the majority of the House and the Senate and get the Executive branch. And what happens? The House Repubs group together to collectively shoot themselves in the foot and take McCain down with them. Well, yeee-fucking–haw! I didn’t think this election season could get better AFTER McCain’s fake suspension, but I was gloriously mistaken. If I wasn’t in my parents’ Republican household, I’d be cranking up all the angry liberal commentary on the boob tube I could and just enjoy watching the conservative avalanche. God, it’s like Festivus came early this year. I don’t have anything else on my wishlist.

And it only gets better. The icing this week will be the Biden-Palin debate. Even if Palin does well – and I hope she does – Biden will be drowning our little sassy Republican VP candidate in facts, names, dates, details of overseas trips. And I love Gwen Ifill. Seriously, I think we would be friends in real life.

Ultimate conclusion 09.30.08: Keep yer panties on, because the economy will do much better under Obama than McCain – so get out there and make sure your vote is on the right side of future prosperity.

And wish me well as I try to keep my angry, foul liberal mouth in check just a little bit. Because my mom (who is not crazy conversative) still hits. Backhands, to be more specific. (As my sister will testify.)

The Morning After: Debate I of the 2008 Pres. Election

Well, it certainly wasn’t a lovefest. I stayed strong and refused to play the debate drinking game, though temptations were strong, to put it mildly. I even took notes, though for some reason, my handwriting is almost illegible when I’ve written while not actually looking at the piece of paper.

Here’s my reaction.

The real loser of the debate was democracy. Debate and discussion are inherent to a healthy democracy and the Commission on Presidential Debates perpetrated a grave error by disallowing the presence of Ralph Nader and Bob Barr. The inclusion of those two, yes – serious, but fringe – candidates would have helped separate McCain and Obama from their talking points. More viewers probably would have tuned in knowing it wouldn’t just a grudge match between the two main candidates. It certainly, certainly would have been more interesting. My husband said there’s no way McCain could have taken Perot – but remember how condescending he was to Ron Paul. We would have seen McCain’s golden smugness on display like peacock ready to hit it.

Beyond the democracy thing, I thought both Obama and McCain both did well. I know, that’s such a vanilla thing to say. Obviously, if you prefer one over the other, you most likely think your guy took home the trophy. It is a little telling that HuffPo’s headlines all shout about an Obama victory and Townhall’s headlines claim nothing of the sort for their man. I’m just saying… McCain will probably have to buy a cheap plastic trophy from the trophy store while Obama is taking a three-tiered monstrosity back to campaign headquarters.

Why, you ask, you silly?

Not because Obama blew McCain out of the water, that’s for sure. After McCain’s non-suspending campaign suspension and the withering of a bailout deal after his arrival in D.C., McCain needed to hit a homerun last night. Anything less was a victory for Obama because, as Lawrence O’Donnell said last night, if there is a leader in the polls and no clear victory in the debate – the poll leader wins the debate. And there was no knocker-outer, clear victor.

Obama presented a clear comprehension of the topics discussed – despite McCain’s pitiful, “He doesn’t understand” mantra. If the viewer demographic is the informed voter – and based on a personal poll of people I know, it is – it was quite easy to see through McCain’s little tactic.

While everyone thought Obama was slow in the beginning and picked it up toward the end, I disagree. Based not on presentation of facts, but simply speaking manner, Obama was much more dominant in the beginning while McCain came in in the second half to own the discussion. While some said McCain appeared testy at the end, he was more aggressive and stronger. Obama was able to get in some good interruptions in the beginning and, at the end, when he tried to cut in, it was painful. There were so many ums, and johns, and that’s not trues. If he has spoken louder and shut McCain down, that would have looked brilliant. But he’s a measured and calm person and that’s just not party of his schtick.

In fact, there were so many easy openings that Obama just let float by while those of us at home were shouting at the screen. When McCain said, “That’s just a fact,” how easy would it have been for Obama to comment on the rampant “untruthiness” of McCain’s campaign. Would have been fish in a barrel, but I know…It’s not Obama’s style.

McCain’s refusal to look at Obama was pitiful. He really should grow up. If he was trying to appear better than Obama, it didn’t work. How fierce would McCain’s stares at Obama have been? How effective? Instead he seemed as if he wanted to avoid the whole thing, stick to his speech talking points, repeat lines that have worked in the past but now ring hollow. He looked more like Obama was breaking up with him than debating him.

The lines and phrases that stood out to me were:

Obama calling John McCain “Tom” by accident. haha. ouch!

Obama: “Orgy of spending” (eeewww)

Obama: “No soldier dies in vain.” (good rebuttal to McCain’s telling for the millionth time the story of some mother asking McCain not to let her son have died in vain and with the Iraq war.)

It was unsufferably annoying in the beginning when Jim Lehrer kept trying to get them to talk to each other. They’re grown men, they’ll talk to each other if they want to. Boo on Jim for that. These are not action figures or puppets on a little stage for you to manipulate. And maybe if you had included Nader and Barr, you would have gotten the direct action you were looking for.

Well, it wasn’t all the fireworks I was hoping to see. McCain uttered quite a few lies that he knows are lies, which was clear to those of us who follow politics. Obama wasn’t swinging hard enough to land a knockout, but that’s not his way and it seems to be working so far. Obama’s willingness to acknowledge when he agrees with McCain shows strength that people relate to and like and – more than that – it worked against Hillary.

Bob Shrum said we now know who the next president will be. Of course, he was John Kerry’s campaign manager. But I agree with him – hell, I even wrote “McCain’s Campaign Obituary” a couple months ago. This was McCain’s last, best hope to rewrite the narrative. It is signficant that the last two debates – and the ones that will stay on voters’ minds – are not in his area of strength as last night was.

Perhaps McCain has more stunts up his sleeve to try and change the game again. But after a few stunts, people start wising up. You hear me, Steve Schmidt? Sure, the polls vacillate, but this is Obama’s game. The majority of people agree with him on all the issues, the Republican brand is in tatters, Obama has lead one of the best, coherent and cohesive campaigns in recent history. I say this not to be naively overconfident, but looking at everyone’s positions on the field.

In the spirit of college football (go UT agaisnt ARK today!), McCain did nothing to move the ball last night and gave Obama the opening for the field goal. Debate I: Obama 3, McCain 0 (with lots of yardage).

Top Ten Anti-McCain Slogans II

Since my first Top Ten Anti-McCain Slogans has received so many views, as has my Anti-McCain Funnies, I’ve decided to add ten more slogan-things (they might be a little too long for slogans) plus 1 and will try to continue to do so until the election. Enjoy and laugh cause this whole election is getting my blood pressure way too high. At this point, there ain’t enough alcohol in the hemisphere to put me in the mood to party like it’s 1999.

BONUS: Is it just me or is John McCain channeling Jack Nicholson in a few good men, “You can’t handle the truth!…My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives… I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it.”  Jeez, that is so 1992.

10. McCain: With all due respect, when I was a POW, I couldn’t debate. My captors didn’t allow rebuttal periods. Also, POW, POW, POW. And POW.

9. Baby jesus, all I want for Christmas is for John McCain not to be president. If you make someone – anyone – else president, I swear to god I will not watch any soft porn on skinemax for, like, the whole rest of the year. Or a whole month or something like that.

8. If Obama were white, he’d be 15 points ahead, you fecking feckers.

7. McCain: The fundamentals of the economy are strong. And by “fundamentals” I mean “robber barons.”  Yeah. I’m bringing that phrase back.

6. Sarah what? I can’t hear you over the po-po kicking me out of my house.

5. Watching Obama’s daily increase of gray hair is more interesting than watching McCain read from a teleprompter.  “blah…blah..boring shit…blah.”  SHUT UP!! You’re killing me slowly……ack.

4. McCain: Doesn’t holier-than-thou, smug sonofabitch look good on me? I’ve ordered it in five different colors. They all include a prominent lower mandible.

3. Religious Right: Hey – once they’re out of the womb, fuck ’em!

2. Obama: I wasn’t a member of the Keating 5; I haven’t had aggressive cancer 4 times and refuse to release my health records; I didn’t choose a candy striper as my running mate; And I DON’T have a comb-over. What more do you people need?!

1. McCain: If this campaign suspension stunt doesn’t work, I’m hiring that OxyClean guy.

UPDATE: Anti-McCain Slogans III (McCain Fantasy Cabinet Included)

Release of Intelligence Report on Afghanistan Postponed Until After Election

In the ongoing campaign of secrecy an politicization of our troops and military activities by the Bush administration, the latest NIE on Afghanistan will not be made public until after the presidential election, according to Brian Ross of ABC News.

US intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as “grim”, but there are “no plans to declassify” any of it before the election, according to one US official familiar with the process.

Apparently, the NIE will report that the situation in Afghanistan is grim. Shocker.

Seth Jones, an expert on Afghanistan at the Rand Corporation think tank, called the situation in Afghanistan “dire.”

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“We are now at a tipping point, with about half of the country now penetrated by a range of Sunni militant groups including the Taliban and al Queida,” Jones said. Jones said there is growing concern that Dutch and Canadian forces in Afghanistan would “call it quits.”

“The US military would then need six, eight, maybe ten brigades but we just don’t have that many,” Jones said.

Last week, Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress “we’re running out of time” in Afghanistan. “I’m not convinced we’re winning it in Afghanistan,” Adm. Mullen testified.

I’m sure Afghanistan will be part of the dialogue during the debate Friday night. But McCain has yet to present a concise plan for a reduction in our troop levels in Iraq – despite every other major player from Obama to Bush to Maliki expressing their strategies.

The troops are overloaded with tours in quantity and in length. We’re losing major ground in the verifiable terrorist bullseye. So, I ask you, how is John McCain putting country first? All he gives is over-bloated threats about gates to hell and no substantive policy presentations on refocusing efforts toward Afghanistan.

Of course, now the Bush administration is helping him by keeping this NIE under wraps until after the election. Releasing the report would give the situation in Afghanistan the searing light of attention it deserves.

Republican leadership has not been good for the country, nor has it been good for the troops. Obviously.

McCain To Suspend Campaign To Handle Financial Crisis

McCain said he is directing his campaign to work with Obama’s campaign to postpone Friday’s debate (which would postpone my previous blog).

Rep. (D) Rahm Emanuel is saying the Congress can handle the bailout issue and the debate should continue as planned because there are still many other important issues facing this country, like the Iraq War, that require discussion and debate.

McCain also called upon Pres. Bush to convene a meeting of legislative leadership because McCain believes they can form a consensus on the bailout package before markets open Monday morning.

This looks very presidential of McCain – being the first one to propose such a drastic step to handle this crisis and issuing demands to Bush. Excellent move on his part.

It will be interesting to see how Obama handles this situation. He’s either following McCain’s lead or failing to understand the importance of the financial crisis.

Gotta give you this one, McCain Camp – way to take the upper hand and knock Obama off the airwaves.

UPDATE: MSNBC is reporting that at 8:30 this morning, Obama called McCain and asked him if he would like to join Obama for a joint statement of their view of the bailout situation. McCain called Obama at 2:30 this afternoon to say he would join him for the statement and they are currently working on their presentations.

Obama will also speak shortly.

McCain, however, jumped the gun on Obama with this speech he gave moments ago, which makes him appear as if he took the leadership role in this situation. That’s not setting politics aside. But that does make McCain look very good.

This is most likely McCain’s best chance at getting off the bailout hotseat, as many of people have placed the possibility of legislation passing on McCain’s shoulders.

UPDATE II: Despite McCain’s suspension of his campaign, Nancy Pfotenhauer was just on MSNBC talking about political priorities, basically campaigning for McCain. Hmmm.

Also, Norah O’Donnell asked her why when presidents need to multitask, McCain can’t address this financial crisis and conduct a debate. Pfotenhauer again said it goes back to priorities.

This is McCain’s way of politicizing the financial crisis, but he still looks good doing it.

UPDATE III: Obama speaking. He says he initiated the call, but gives Rep. Sen. Tom Coburn the credit for the idea of a joint statement.

Obama almost has one speed. Plod. Plod. Plod. He never gets fired up, only serious. His lack of expression bothers me.

“Senator McCain returned my call this afternoon.” He’s really trying to bring home the idea that he was the “Maverick” on this one. Too late. McCain bluffed enough to get the first word out.

Obama wanted to get the joint statement out first, before calling on a Congressional leadership meeting. Barack, remember, you’re dealing with dirty tricksters – you have them an inch and they took you for a fool. Strategic blunder, though the voters’ memories are quite short.

Obama is going to take the “Presidents need to be able to do more than one thing at a time.” This probably means the debate is on. Prepare for the spin about to be unleashed by McCain on this. Furthermore, Obama says Washington should be not be infused with presidential politics. Good line. Don’t know how it will play with voters.

Did anyone notice Obama is taking questions and McCain, surprise, surprise, did not? Taking questions is presidential…

CONCLUSION: McCain politicized the political crisis in the act of saying he was not going to politicize the political crisis. He gave Obama the impression that they would issue a joint statement before any further procedures and then ran to the cameras to call for a suspension of campaigns & the debate and beat Obama to the punch. What a dick. Not playing politics, my ass.

McCain puts himself first when he decides to place a female George W. Bush in the #2 seat and now he’s putting himself first by getting in front of the cameras before the joint statement. I’m not whining – I recognize the benefit to this strategy – but call a spade a spade: it was a dishonorable move that only a losing political shyster would make.

I am so glad I am not voting for that excuse for a man. I couldn’t feel better than I do about that decision.

UPDATE IV: The debate commission says the debate’s on. Suck it, McLoser. Orrin Hatch is saying McCain is willing to risk being president to fix this financial crisis. What a load – this is one of the biggest strategies of his presidential campaign yet. McCain just wants to stay away from media questions as much as possible and run a campaign on a myth rather than policy. McCain’s campaign is a hollow shell and avoiding the debates is just one piece of that baseless facade.

haha. Barney Franks says this is just a stunt by McCain and that he just wants to airdrop himself in the middle of the negotiations and take credit for something that’s happening without him. He said much progress is being made on the bailout package and for McCain to come in with his entourage would simply complicate the situation. Damn, Barney looks tired.

Who wants a calm, measured president? Anybody? Just me?

Who Thinks Obama Is Going To Win The Sept. 26 Debate?

I’ve seen a lot of certitude from the Democrat side that Obama is going present USC-OU 2004 National Championship-style smackdown on McCain this Friday at the first presidential debate. And while if I were christian, I’d get on my knees every night till they bleed begging baby jesus for such an outcome.

But I don’t think it’s going to happen. And here’s why.

McCain has morphed into a desperate tall-tale-teller allowing his ambition to parasitically leach the soul from our once honorable and happier warrior. All that’s left is a shell of political expediency that clings to the life-force of a five-year POW who existed forty years ago.

Given the current situation of McCain’s character – or lack thereof – how many times do you think those of us watching will want to call bullshit Friday night? How many times do you think Romney tried to call bullshit during the primaries? Probably never. My experience with Mormons is that they don’t curse.

Still, the level of untruth perpertrated by McCain and his campaign has reached atmospheric levels. They wouldn’t know reality if it bitch-slapped them in the face and called them “man-whore.”

The worse part about it is not McCain’s lying – despite it’s unprecedented levels – it’s that the type of people who would vote for McCain do not care.

Jonathan Chait offers a compelling profile of McCain’s whoppers in today’s (LEFT-LEANING) The New Republican and I’ve pulled the significant paragraphs from his 6-page report. It’s long because McCain’s told a lot of lies. Here’s what I found extremely interesting from his piece, entitled, “Liar’s Poker” (bear with me – I know it’s a long – but it’s definitely worth the read):

Here we have the distilled essence of the McCain campaign’s ethos: Perception is reality. Facts don’t matter. McCain has presented himself as the grizzled champion of timeworn values. But the defining trait of his candidacy turns out to be a postmodern disdain for truth. How could McCain–a man widely regarded, not so long ago, as one of the country’s most honor-bound politicians, and therefore an unusually honest one–have descended to this ignominious low? Part of the answer is that McCain is simply doing what works–and there is good reason to believe that his campaign’s strategy of persistent dishonesty will pay dividends come November 4. But part of the explanation for all this recent dishonesty may lie, oddly enough, in McCain’s legendary sense of honor.

If this is McCain’s strategy, then a bunch of news reports debunking his claims isn’t going to hurt. Indeed it may even help. Last February, political scientists Brendan Nyhan of Duke and Jason Reifler of Georgia State published the results of an experiment designed to test the effects of political untruths. The results would unsettle any idealist. The first conclusion they found was that lies work. When subjects were confronted with an untrue political claim (President Bush banned stem-cell research; weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq) respondents naturally moved toward those positions. When the lie was corrected, however, the effect of the untruth in moving opinions largely remained. The truth, in other words, is no antidote for a lie.

Their second conclusion was even more disturbing. Subjects who identified as politically conservative were not only immune to the effects of having a lie corrected, the correction made them even more likely to believe a lie. So, for instance, one group of conservative subjects was presented with a news story that depicted President Bush claiming weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq. A second group of conservatives was presented with the same thing, along with a paragraph noting that Bush’s statement was untrue. The second group was more likely than the first to believe that Iraq possessed WMDs. The very fact of the press challenging their beliefs seems to have made conservatives more likely to embrace them. If this finding is broadly correct, then the media’s new found willingness to fact-check McCain will only succeed in rallying the GOP base to his side.

The pattern here is perfectly clear. McCain has contempt for anybody who stands between him and the presidency. McCain views himself as the ultimate patriot. He loves his country so much that he cannot let it fall into the hands of an unworthy rival. (They all turn out to be unworthy.) Viewed in this way, doing whatever it takes to win is not an act of selfishness but an act of patriotism. McCain tells lies every day and authorizes lying on his behalf, and he probably knows it. But I would guess–and, again, guessing is all we can do–that in his mind he is acting honorably. As he might put it, there is a bigger truth out there.

Main point: Conservatives who are told a lie, then told the truth, believe the lie more after they were told the truth! This means, people, that no matter how many times Barack says (with a hint of condescension), “Now, John, you know that’s just not true,” it won’t make a smidgen of difference. Even if Obama presents a coherent, thought-out, truthful rebuttal to McCain’s lies (“He wants to tax the American people,” “He was wrong on the surge,” “He doesn’t put country first,” “Palin has more experience.”), it will not make a difference in the belief conservatives have in McCain words. It truly is a sad commentary.

I must, however, point out that most of these conservatives are evangelical christians and believe the bible is fact, the Earth is 6,000 years old, all life came from the animals Noah could round up, Jesus rose from the dead and you have to believe in him – with no evidence – or their benevolent, all-loving god will send you down to the hellfires for eternity. Critical thinking isn’t their best attribute, to say the least.

I’m not sure how many of these conservatives will be watching Friday night, but seeing as how the main convention speeches drew around 40 million viewers, I’m thinking a lot will be tuned in. These people, however, would be in the bag for the Republican candidate even it was Elmo. I know, I know – there are loads of Dems who would vote for the Cookie Monster if he said he’d end the Iraq War. I get it.

While the debates will be a vital deciding factor in the outcome of the election, I think it will be harder to decide the victor. Palin has already won the VP’s go-round on Oct. 2. The bar is so low for her (perhaps the Devil is holding it up) and there are no rebuttal periods, which means than unless her boob pops out or she says, “I’m changing my mind and voting for Barack Obama,” she’s won. Actually, she’ll probably win big time if her boob pops out. Good luck, Joe B – try to chant, “I am not a political god. I am not a political god,” before heading on stage. That will probably help impede your gaffe-propensity.

What we can conclude here is that the arguments, facts, issues, policies, etc. presented during the debate will not determine the victor. The viewship will. The more informed and analytical the viewership, the more likely Obama will win. The opposite is true for McCain. I plan on watching.

Issues Covered On Political Blip (my other blog) 09.23.08

Bill Clinton Losing His FOBs

Romney For VP, Anyone? (i’m particularly proud of my graphic on this one)

Mukasey Gets Something Right

N.Y. Times On McCain Debate Style

Update On Decrease In Violence In Iraq

In my efforts to combat the campaign of misinformation regarding the “success of the surge,” I have blogged about the efficacy of Sunni payoffs and the new strategic ops program Bob Woodward has brought to light.

I’m sure many of you saw the new report that came out yesterday indicating the ethnic cleansing in Iraqi neighborhoods has been the “primary factor” in reduced violence in Iraq, especially in Baghdad. Whether ethnic cleansing was THE primary factor or not, I cannot say, but am sure it was a very large component – much larger than Bush’s surge – in reducing violence.

Sunni payoffs are also a primary factor in their “Awakening”, placing into question the stability of the decreased violence should the U.S. decide to reduce payoffs to Sunni tribes as our forces are withdrawn. Furthermore, there are around a million Shia refugees that will be looking to return to Iraq as reconstruction, which has been an abysmal failure, continues. Violence in the Anbar province and Baghdad continues to be very fragile. Despite the existence of ethnically-cleansed neighborhoods, poverty breeds violence and the payoffs ensure tribesmen do not look singularly to killing to “get what’s theirs.”

Developments to transition the security burden to the Iraqi government, however, are in progress. As the Associated Press reported yesterday, “The Iraqi government will begin paying the salaries of about 54,000 of the mostly Sunni fighters in Baghdad Province who joined the fight against al-Qaida.” Unfortunately, the article does not state that the U.S. is currently paying those salaries and gives the impression that the Iraqi government is “all of the sudden” offering payments to Sunnis. Obviously, Iraq – who stands to make between $67 and $79 billion in oil sales this year – has the cash to offer these payments despite the ubiquitous corruption in the government’s ranks.

This increased role by the Iraqi government is certainly a sign that there is a possibility of violence remaining at a reduced state as the U.S. refocuses its military efforts where they should be: Afghanistan.

What is most irritating as the election enters its final stage is the reluctance by Democrat leaders, besides Biden, to point out the other variables that reduced violence in Iraq and suck the air out of Republicans’ continual misleading about the results of the surge. Just this Sunday on 60 Minutes, Obama again failed to give a comprehensive response to claims about the surge:

Kroft: Iraq. When we talked to you the first time, back in February of 2007, you had proposed, at that time, a piece of legislation that would have had all the troops out in 16 months. Which means they would have been out by today, if it would have been passed. We would have missed the surge. We would have missed the reduction in violence.

Obama: Oh, wait, wait, wait, Steve. I mean, now you’re just engaging in a huge hypothetical. We don’t know what would have happened if we had initiated the plan that I put forward at the beginning of 2007. And the fact of the matter is that, as successful as our troops have been in lowering the violence in Iraq, and they have performed brilliantly. But the truth of the matter is we still don’t have an oil agreement. We still don’t have provincial elections. The commanders on the ground themselves acknowledge that the political progress that’s needed has not been made. So we all welcome the reduction in violence, but the notion that somehow this was the only way for us to solve the problem, and that the problem has been solved, I completely disagree with.

He really needs to get with the program ahead of this Friday’s debate on national security. Cowtowing to uninformed notions that honesty regarding military situations – especially troop activities – is somehow unpatriotic is no way to lead. A presentation of the facts is the best and most effective way to pop McCain’s false surge balloon. Simply saying, “We don’t know what would have happened if we didn’t go ahead with the surge,” does not get the job done, and presents a weak and disingenuous message. And that goes for all Democrats – not just Obama.

Are You Scared, Democrats? You Should Be.

Not because I think we’re going to lose, but because fear is such a good motivator. Which is why the Repubs use it so frequently to win elections.

This crazy Palin bubble is pretty much mid-burst and the wall street avalanche is sending the polls back towards Obama. It’s still close, however, and it will be up to the elections. I haven’t stopped thinking Obama will win – especially because all the polls are so jacked up whether it’s due to the fact that their samples do not actually represent registered, likely voters or that the media focuses on national polls instead of swing states and swing counties.

The ability of the Repubs to steal the election through voter caging, like they’re doing up in Michigan right now, push polling, lying, etc., however, does scare me.

Democrats and lefty-leaning Independents need to be scared. This will motivate them to ensure their registration is valid, wait in those long lines at the nursing home to vote, and throw out the erroneous notion that politics is not part of polite conversation. We’re so motivated in this house, we’re going to throw a tail-gating party outside our local elementary school where the booths are set up and enjoy libations into the early morning hours of November 5 as the results finish rolling in. A few people in our little rag-tag FreeThinkers group are taking November 6 off so we can ring the future just right.

Confidence is fine – and a bit necessary keeping the blood pressure down while watching videos of McCAin telling the ladies at The View that Palin did not accept earmarks and there are no lies in their ads. But, we have to keep in mind that the McShithead IS a good debater. Americans are not informed and vote largely based on little more than aesthetics. Racism is alive and well in the good ol’ U.S. of A. And nothing less than the Supreme Court and our civil liberties, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and death of McLying-Shithead, leaving Palin free to appoint her pastor as foreign secretary are at stake.

This recent jump in the polls by team McDementia should serve as a warning to us all. This is not your typical election. This is the apocolypse of political elections. This is Platoon and we are Charlie Sheen. Yes, Charlie Sheen.

Be scared, be very scared. And then vote your asses off.

Post-Convention Election Reassessment

As we go into the fourth and final phase (after the Pre-Primary, Primary, and Post-Primary/Pre-Convention phases) of this election, the Debate/Pre-Election phase — WAIT, I have to turn off the television. McCain is speaking and I don’t want his lies to eat the good still left in my soul….OK, phew, that was close. Normally, I can watch him without a cold shudder that evil is lurking in the room. Just not while I’m blogging. — it’s time to reassess the playing field because, yes – to use the oft(ahem, over)used phrase: Palin was a frickin’ game-changer. Like a steriod shot before the final leg of the Tour de France to Floyd Landis, Sarah Palin provides a new face and new voice for the Republican lies. And, if McCain wins, she’ll be the golden girl next in line as leader of the free world. If they lose, well, look out science classes of Alaska – yer about to be churchified!

I’m going to lay it all out. Here’s where we stand:

Sarah Palin

I seriously underestimated the results the Sarah Palin Veep pick would give the McCain Campaign. Actually, I underestimated the Holy Grail of presidential elections — the Independent voter. Palin is so far right, I figured she wouldn’t appeal to Independent voters (I’m a liberal Independent – so she was definitely off my radar) because her policy opinions are beyond the pale of rational thought. However, her newness and shininess lured those other Independents – the open-mouthed, uninformed Independents who really don’t care about policy – right out of the undecided pool. See, these voters just want someone who makes ’em feel good. They have a hard time equating presidential decisions – like Supreme Court appointments – to real life scenarios.

So, in one fell swoop, the RNC had caught themselves a whole bunch of the biggest prize catch of all – voters who don’t vote on the issues.

To them it doesn’t matter that Palin attempted to fire a librarian for refusing to censor books or that she thinks Creationism should be taught in public school science class despite all the Earth’s evidence supporting Evolution. Those voters couldn’t care less that she would criminalize abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest, though pro-lifers are simply Christians wanting to wield their regimental religious umbrella over all of us free Americans. Does it matter that Palin has requested more earmarks in the last year per capita than any other governor? No. What about Palin telling her congregation that the Iraq War “is God’s plan” and asking them to pray for a $30 million dollar natural gas pipeline (video included).

These voters aren’t Independent. You see, “independence” brings to mind a voter educated on the issues who doesn’t buy the rhetoric spun into verbal gold by both blue and red candidates. They think for themselves and will not have a glass of that sugary Kool-Aid, thank you very much! No, these voters aren’t Independents in the true sense of the word.

These are undecided voters. McCain is old and boring. Obama is black and too inexperienced. They hate Bush – who doesn’t, really? – but found no galvanizing reason to back either party. The young people were excited about Obama, but he’s not shiny and new anymore. McCain was just an old man in the cheese aisle with ads comparing Obama to Britney and Paris. Who to vote for? Ho hum…

Then comes along Sarah Palin and all of the sudden the Evangelicals have someone to drool over. Who cares that her own daughter is a prime example of what abstinence-only education will getcha – teen pregnancy to boot! But Jesus is gonna love that baby and those kids are gettin’ married! The herd mentality kicked right in. Kingmaker-wannabe James Dobson helped pick her and now all the churchies can breathe a sigh of relief because crazy Palin makes the “maverick” in McCain okay. Well, the undecideds don’t want to be left out. That girl is funny! I wanna touch her! Can I have one, mom, please?! Alright, the Religioners now have their border collie and, Houston, we’re a go.

Welcome to the best democracy in the land!

If nothing else, her newness alone changes the conversation. Americans might not have the time to work through all the lies inherent in the facade the McCain campaign is presenting in her, but it doesn’t matter as long as that liberal Muslim Obama isn’t elected. They’ll hate the next four years as much as they hated the last eight – but that don’t mean shit as long as they’re guy believes we’re not descended from monkeys and potentially-aborted babies have the right to grow up and be criminals and semi-automatic weapons are still legal.

As you can imagine, I’m just dripping with pride.

John McCain

Good for John McCain, his base is fired up. Do you think he cares that it’s not him they’re voting for? NAH!! As long as the balloons fall after his speech on November 5th, it wouldn’t matter if it was the George freaking-W. Bush himself who was McCain’s running mate. And all it took was being an ankle-grabber to those “agents of intolerance” he so railed against eight years ago. What a difference losing makes. If I may, I’d like to address his electorate directly:

Note to Republicans:

You do realize you’re voting for the guy you like less than Bush, right? The majority of you are significantly unhappy with the state of the nation and its direction and, yet, against all legitimate rationality, you are supporting the candidate who came in SECOND TO BUSH and has brought all of his policies in line with the current administration. This is really one of those McFly moments.

Do you hear McCain shouting “Change is Coming” whilst having a campaign run by lobbyists and Bush cronies? Did you notice during the Convention, the Republicans never discussed policy – yet each and every speech regaled us with more stories from McCain’s POW days? That’s called DISTRACTION.

Can you ask yourselves how McCain will change Washington with a coherent answer or actually list the policies you agree with? If these are Bush policies, well, you know how the next four years will turn out.

Do you honestly believe that McCain will run the Iraq War better? Bush refused to acknowledge when we were actually losing in Iraq and wouldn’t listen to the generals when they disagreed with him on the surge. Neither did McCain. Now, McCain refused to acknowledge that Sunni payoffs and this new special operations strategy have earned us far more success in Iraq than just the surge. So, McCain will lie about the war just like who? Who? Oh, that’s right, George W. Bush.

Republican presidencies widen the wealth gap, shrink the middle class (which is what the success of our economy is based on), increase poverty, place quality medical care out of reach of a large percentage of Americans, place power in the hands of the undemocratic and unethical corporations. Job losses are at a five-year high. And you’re going to vote for them.

The Republicans win when Americans are afraid. And they’re doing their darnedest to make sure that is the case with this election. That’s why they’re telling lies about Obama’s policies – just like they do every year about Democrats. The Republican Manifesto about keeping taxes low and government small is false. It’s a lie. It wins them elections because people do not realize that the men they elect do not adhere to the manifesto. Ever.

Security matters, however, largely steer the politics of fear. Let’s examine the views of many of the delegates at last weeks’ convention, as reported by MSNBC:

“My major concern is national security: I’ve got six granddaughters and a grandson. I want them to be absolutely safe in this country and to have the same freedom I’ve experienced,” said Rex Early, an Indianapolis insurance agency owner.

Delegate Ed Failor, a low-tax state government lobbyist from Muscatine, Iowa, said his worry if Obama is elected was not what he would do, but rather that “Obama would not do those things that will keep our country safe. His willingness to negotiate with terrorists to sit down at the table with them with no expectations — that scares me. I have four kids, 13 to 18, and it scares me more than anything else.”

If Obama wins, “there will be a whole series of actions, redistributing wealth in this country, as well as changing our foreign policy to accommodate interests that are inimical to the United States, in the Middle East,” (William) Diamond fretted.

“On foreign policy I just don’t think he gets it: I’m afraid not what I’m going to think of 2:30 in the morning, but what he would think of at 2:30 in the morning when he gets the phone call about a crisis. I think his instincts are all wrong and I think America would be tested very badly under his administration.”

“As an employer I understand how hard it is to create jobs…. I am concerned that Barack Obama, a man who has never worked in the private sector, does not understand where jobs come from, how difficult it is for small businesses to create jobs and the impact of even small changes in taxes and regulations.” (– Exactly when did McCain work in the private sector?)

“For most of the problems he talks about, most of the solutions he has are just unconstitutional.” (hellooooo? It would take me all day to count the Constitutional violations committed by Bush and has minions)

That’s what we’re dealing with. That’s what Obama’s dealing with.

Barack Obama

The problem Democrats have is they’re weak. They don’t want to fight because they want to be “uniters.” Well, they want to seem like they’re “uniters.” It’s a bunch of crap and voters know it. Democrat voters want fighters who aren’t afraid of hurting feelings and punching back and saying what’s right instead of what sounds good to everybody. We’re sick of these mealy-mouthed candidates with no spine who capitulate like the Republicans were holding their grandchildren captive.

You know what, Republicans, I wish Barack Obama had had more time to marinate as well. He is very new and green compared to other politicians. But after that 2004 speech, the Democrats decided he was our boy and he has shown to have and practice much better judgment than McCain in almost every aspect of leadership and presidential job qualifications. He’s going to lower taxes for the vast majority of Americans, listen to and consider the opinions of our military leaders in security issues, place health benefits back in the hands of Americans, restore America’s standing in the world, restore law and order to the Executive Branch, place Supreme Court judges on the bench that will protect our civil liberties.

Barack Obama made the well-thought out, well-considered, intelligent and informed VP choice. He could have chosen Hillary for reasons of political expediency, but he didn’t. He chose the running mate who could help him best lead the country. John McCain opted for the political, unqualified pick and John McCain is being rewarded for it. The grotesque of political theater emerges in this election once again. In a year, when the nation is doing so terribly, it would seem that only idiots would vote for the incumbent party. It seemed even the majority of uninformed voters knew actual change was the best policy for the country. Yet, McCain supporters are lining up in droves, drawn in by the bright lights of a campaign of sarcasm and lies.

Obama now needs to regain control of the conversation. He might do so in the debates, but he needs to try now. At this point, Obama looks like a skinny, weak guy who’s on the ropes and doesn’t have the chops to put the other candidate on his back. This is the current situation. It’s do or die and lot of lives and liberties are depending on the campaign’s strategy.

The ads have to get stronger. So far, the Obama campaign has feared calling the McCain campaign (even after it copied the “change” slogan) a joke. It’s easy because it’s true, but Obama hasn’t wanted to offend the Independents. This is the curse of the Democrats. Republicans sling their poo like their whole party has dysentery and draw in undecideds by the handfuls. I still don’t understand why lefties can’t find their testicular fortitude and fucking get in this thing. Hillary needs to hold some seminars on whippin’ out the biotch. David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs – you gettin’ this??

End Game

The McCain campaign has an incredibly shitty candidate; he gave one of the worst speeches in recent convention history. But he is getting traction with lies, sarcasm, indignation and actually copying his opponent. The Democrats needs to stop assuming Americans are smarter than they actually are. Pretend these ads are for kindergartners and start launching some grenades cause we’re in the fourth quarter and there’s no trophy for second place – only a worse economy, out-of-reach health care, waning global hegemony, three more Conservative Supreme Court justices, and a potential president who – at this very moment – is being taught where she stands on the issues should McCain bite the Big One.

Democrats, it’s time for Rocky, for Charles Barkley’s elbows, it’s time for words like “LIE” and “PANDER” and “JOKE” when describing the McCain/Palin ticket. Lose, the whole “Heh, heh, you can’t just make stuff up…heh…heh” and the incessant “Uhs” and “Ahs” and calm, assertive speeches. Get fired up and remind people what they’re fighting for. Remind people why this election matters. Galvanize, motivate, and treat each speech like none of the people watching you will get off the couch and vote for you unless you seriously deliver the goods.

We don’t want Kerry again. We don’t want Gore again. We don’t want spineless weaklings. It’s time to bring it and bring it hard. We’re sick and tired of what the Republican lies and Dumb America bring us. McCain’s idiotic game-changer worked. Now it’s time to hit back. And, so far, I ain’t seen nothing. Granted, I’m in Texas and you may have some pretty good ads in the swing states, but your message needs to be national. You won’t let them continue to ravage this country the way George W. Bush has.

It’s GO TIME.

Reaction to Night 4 of the Repub Convention (blow by blow)

Three Words: SARAH PALIN HANGOVER

That was bad. That was worse than the first three nights of the Democratic Convention. In fact, last night makes the Democrats look like they were partying like it was 1999. Undoubtedly, it was Sarah Palin’s Convention. She owned that sucker and only way last night was going to top Wednesday was if we started seeing pigs twirl through the stratosphere. In the words of Dana Carvery impersonating Bush I, “Not gonna happen.” I even started to feel bad for the speakers, like – really, really bad for them.

Let’s start with Lindsey Graham.

He’s like the Dick Clark of the Senate with the never-aging thing; he still looks just like a frat boy playing politician. God bless him, trying to get that sleepy crowd going – he was more fired up than the majority of the Democratic speakers last week, but the Sarah Palin hangover hit that nursing home crowd like a ton of morphine. He gave it the good ‘ol college try and attacked Obama for failing to acknowledge the surge’s success, which Obama had done earlier on – egads – Bill O’Reilly and said, “(Refering to the surge) I’ve already said it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.” More Republican lies. Now, for my Repub friends out there – just cause I point this out doesn’t mean Democrats don’t lie, it’s just that this specifically was a lie. Falsehood. Tall Tale. You get the picture.

Another lie is the propagation that the reduced violence in Iraq is because of the surge. It’s not. It’s because we’re paying off Sunni militias. The mainstream media has largely cooperated in spreading this misinformation because it’s politically incorrect to say the truth. The only time I’ve ever heard mention of the Sunni payments was by Peter Gergen on CNN. The MSM just let the Repubs have this one. It’s called a “media blackout” or “bending over.” The Dems don’t deem it politically expedient to present an honest assesment of the reduced violence either – so they just give it to the Repubs even though it is one of their strongest arguments in the quest for reelection.

Lindsey Graham did have a bright moment of cleverness when he used Barack’s line for his own purposes, “It’s not that Barack Obama doesn’t get it (military, Iraq War), it’s that he doesn’t care.” That was really a “take that!” line and pretty successful. I give him props all the way.

Sarah Palin Video

Then came the Sarah Palin video, narrated by John Voight, and we were treated to what? 5? minutes of that horrifying synthizer in the background. It was almost as bad as that shrieking violin score in “There Will Be Blood.” Jesus – it was bad. Other than that the video was OK. Bland.

Tom Ridge

The crowd was dead for poor ol’ Tom. And I like him with that teeny little mouth of his. He had a good line, “You run to win. You win to govern.” Then he spoke about negotiating from a position of strength. Which is funny because our economy growth has slowed down and the Repubs not only want to continue with the Bush policies that weaken our economy, the Religioners are in the throws of attacking science, calling for Creationism to be taught in schools. Just ask Sarah Palin. Dumbing down our children (ahem, the future) and refusing to give tax breaks to alternative energy development – the industry that might just kick start this economy and keep us globally competetive – will insure that our dominance will wane, our strength will diminish and all of the “Might Makes Right” ideology will go down the pooper. Good job there, Repubs. Way to cut off your nose to spite your face. Makes me proud.

Then I laughed because the song “Right Now” by Van Halen came over the speakers and I remembered Van Halen was already pissed that the McCain campaign had used their tunes on the campaign trail. Tee-hee! And now Heart is mad that the McCain campaign is using their song “Barracuda” in reference to Palin.

Cindy McCain’s Video

Oh the horror! Forget more cowbell, they gave us more synthesizer! Please, anybody – is there not some seasoned filmmaker willing to help the Repubs out with these biographical presentations. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Gary Sinise – have you no enthusiasm? No inflection? That was the worst narrating job since Chelsea Clinton narrarated her mom’s video at the Dem shindig!

Kathleen Portalski, Cindy McCain's sister

Of course, the video left out Cindy’s dad’s first wife, his mob ties and stint in prison. And when Gary Sinise said, “She got all the attention of her father,” I’m sure Hensley’s other daughter, Kathleen Portalski, cringed wherever she was. I just laughed at the moment where John and Cindy met and the script read, “a handsome captain introduced himself.” See, that was funny because they meant to say, “a handsome captain, who was married and a father of three, introduced himself.” Those Repubs and their memory!

Cindy McCain

I wanted to like the speech, I did! And maybe I would have if it wasn’t the most painful speech to watch since that of Kathleen Sebelius. Even my sister called me to say, “Are you gagging??” Yes, yes I was. She gave the whole speech like she was telling me my grandpa just died. I was going into a coma, my insides pleading, “Just get on to John, for the love of everything that is good and holy!!” Mark Salter, you are fired! Stick to writing books, buddy, and save us all the pain of our brains bleeding out our ears.

John McCain Video

What do you know? More synthesizer. My finger sat there, itching over the mute button. But I persevered. The theme was “Change.” How original.

John McCain

Wooohooooo! Green screen!! I bet somebody got yelled out for that. hehe. See what had happened was…a few months ago, when Obama won the primary fight, McCain gave a speech in front of a green backdrop and was pilloried across the lands for the assault it gave the viewers’ eyeballs. Well, last night – the big screen displaying slides for the crowd inside the Xcel Center displayed this picture behind him:

Thanks to TPM for finding that one. No, it’s not one of his homes. It is some middle school. Anyhoo, during the close-ups of him, it gave him a plain green backdrop and was hysterical to those of us who have no lives and subsist on political coverage and slim jims and remember the episode from a few months ago.

He gave Obama his respect at the beginning of the speech, which was dumb because it’s hollow and EVERYONE knows it. Pander. Then the protestors came in, which too bad, because he worked hard for that moment and deserved it. He did do much better with the teleprompter this time, even though he still sucked donkey balls, but, hey, fish out of water. He just wants to get to the debates and we all know it.

He brought up the whole “I’d rather lose an election than lose a war” line again, which is so bogus because EVERYONE would rather lose an election than lose a war. Who wants to lose a war? Really? No one. The whole idea just plays to the mindless who think your character is determined by how many flags you wave and how many “support the troops” magnets you can put on your car. We ALL support the troops. We ALL want to win the war! Especially the NECESSARY war!

Then the litany of Republican economic policies began, which differed his speech from all the rest during

Available at Cafepress

the Repub Convention. The first substance of the whole week and what does he give us? The same ol’ Republican economic verbage: open markets, school vouchers, lamenting bureaucrats standing in the way of the American Dream. Newsflash: it’s not bureaucrats standing in the way, it’s unethical corporate behavior. Still, nothing here to attract Independent voters. And wasn’t that the whole point? I forgot what the point was while watching the Sarah Palin Lifetime Movie.

Of course, he marched out the POW story. He’s been winning elections with that gem since 1982. But, I have to tell you, I am POWed out! I had Vietnam Vet teachers shape parts of my youth and heard the horrific stories, but the fact that I – me – could give you a riveting, detailed and specific account of John McCain’s POW experience has cheapened the history of it and blunted it as a political tool. Sure it can still bring tears to those who can personally relate, but riding it over and over again into public office has made the rest of us cynical. At least those of us who are honest about it. “I wasn’t my own man anymore, I was my country’s.” Paging Mark Salter. Get a new line.

ABC’s Karen Travers and I had the same reaction to McCain’s call for people to make the country a better one. McCain said, “Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.” Karen said, “If a community organizer isn’t someone “defend(ing) the rights of the oppressed,” or getting involved to correct the mistakes of government, what is it?” I said, No Shit, Sherlock – what the hell do you think a community organizer does?? Community organizers have fully responded to the attacks on them by Repubs, which you can read here. But, if you’re really a masochist, you can read conservative commentator Michelle Malkin’s piece on why it’s just Obama’s community organizing that was “a joke.”

Then the whole thing ended to the tune of a country song with the lyrics “We’re all just raisin’ McCain!” And I thought claims about Sarah Palin having more experience than Obama made me gag. No. That song made me G.A.G. And roll my eyes with the elitest thought, That song sucked ass!

Basically the speech was a Sam’s Club speech for a Sam’s Club audience. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sam’s Club and all the big bottles of Ranch salad dressing, but that speech was not going to turn on anyone who isn’t already in McCain’s shirt pocket. I don’t know that it was meant to – he knows teleprompter speeches are not his forté and is probably chomping at the bit to get Obama into that debate hall.

I’m just glad the conventions are over and I can watch The Daily Show at its regular time instead of TIVOing it.

Basically, you can sum up the Republican Convention with just a few general terms: Iraq Victory, Straight Talk, POW, OBAMA BAD, BUSH BAD, Same Ol’, Same Ol’, Change facade (pronouced “fah-kaid”), SARAH PALIN. Good job, Repubs! Pat on the back! But you can still suck it.

How Obama Can Beat McCain II

I’m going to make this clear and simple.

Obama Campaign,

Create an advertisement using clips from Bush’s campaign speeches and debates. Find clips from McCain’s speeches and debates. Show a Bush sound bite. Then show a McCain sound bite saying the same thing. Repeat as necessary.

Play it in Florida. Play it in Ohio. Play it in Michigan.

Easy as pie.

Shooting fish in a barrel.

Do it.

UPDATE 09.05.08: Good Job!

MEREDITH VETO: “I’d love to have that debate.”

It’s been a while since I issued a MEREDITH VETO. I’ve been sitting on one for a time because it seemed to vanish of its own accord. Unfortunately, it reared its ugly little head again this morning and the time to act presented itself.

The handlers of presidential candidate Barack Obama must think they hit rhetorical pay-dirt with the phrase “I’d love to have that debate.” Other modifications of the phrase dot the landscape of Obama speeches: Let’s have a debate, I’d love to debate McCain on that, etc. It used to be a common inclusion in his verbal arsenal. It’s even a title of one of the blogs on Obama website.

The most famous “let’s have a debate”, however, came from Hillary Clinton last February during her now infamous “Shame On You, Barack Obama” attack before the Texas and Ohio primaries in which she said, “Meet me in Ohio, and let’s have a debate on your tactics.” Of course, as we now know, it was Hillary’s tactics that fell short and I couldn’t be happier with that outcome.

I imagine the reason we haven’t heard too many “let’s have that debate” comments from the Obama camp is due to the repeated calls by McCain for those ridiculous town hall meetings he knows would never be approved and most likely wouldn’t approve of them himself if Obama had come forward with the suggestion. If Obama had continued to pepper his speeches with the “I’d love to have that debate,” McCain could easily have turned it around on his opponent.

The reason, however, I’m relegating the “Let’s have a debate” comments to the MEREDITH VETO category is simply that Obama is having the debate. Right now. Every time he gives a speech or interview. The debate is happening right now. That’s what a presidential campaign is – an elongated debate during which the candidates give there points and counterpoints about the issues concerning voters at the time. I even had to use rocket science to figure that one out.

If I were a member of the McCain campaign – which would indicate I’d committed some heinous, unforgivable sin in a past life – I’d instruct my candidate to respond to Obama’s next “I’d love to have the debate” with a simple, “Um. We are, dipshit.” Using a most presidential tone, of course.

Edwards vs. Rove Debate Update

According to the University of Buffalo website, the Edwards/Rove Debate is still on like donkey kong. This surprises me for a couple of reasons.

1. When I first learned of the assignment of moderators of the debates, I also learned Sept. 26 was the designated first date of the presidential debates. What is interesting is that the Commission on Presidential Debates announced November ’07 the dates of the debate. That the University of Buffalo would schedule this Edwards/Rove match-up that same night indicates they either didn’t do their homework or never planned on having a large viewing audience. Is this why Edwards even agreed to the debate, knowing he’s likely to get creamed? There is no indication that I can find on the UB website that indicates the debate would be televised in any event. I would hope an attendee could at least sneak in some recording device to the event or UB post the entire footage on the website for all of us Inquiring Minds.
2. The recent broo-ha-ha over a possible illegitimate baby of Edwards would be prime meat for Rove, who had his dirty fingers in the whole McCain-has-an-illegitimate-black-baby trickery in 2000. For those of you who don’t know, back in October of last year, the National Inquirer broke a story that Edwards had fathered a child with former campaign worker Reille (do you pronounce that Riley? Cause if you do, that’s the most retarded spelling of a first name I’ve ever seen) Hunter. However shoddy the tabloid’s reporting, they managed to corner Edwards in a bathroom at the Beverly Hilton last week after he visited with Hunter and her baby. A simple DNA test would allow Edwards to put this political Pandora’s Box behind him, but he and his wife are laying low probably in attempt to let the whole think blow over. It won’t. In fact, it’s likely a volcano amassing pressure before the huge eruption. How interesting that mainstream media is avoiding this hot topic, Kristin Lin of the Fort Worth Weekly echoes my sentiments in this editorial, while The Huffington Post and Propaganda Machine Fox News are giving it air. I have no idea if Edwards was seriously a VP contender (I think if you fail to help one elect president – Kerry – as their number two, you shouldn’t get the privilege again – Lieberman). If he was, he ain’t now, in any case. And whatever hifalutin political ambitions Pretty Boy had for himself, I’m sure this baby is big enough to pop a hole in even the most modest of intentions. At least he’s not currently serving in any elected office, which would give the Republicans an unending supply of crap to sling, but I must say Edwards has some big cahones trying for the presidency despite the National Inquirer article coming out last October. Imagine where we’d all be right now if we had chosen him in the primary! I don’t want to think about it.

So, back to this debate. If the baby biz quiets, Edwards is more likely to show. If it doesn’t and Edwards still shows, he has greater powers of denial than any presidential candidate I’ve ever seen. Illegitimate child rumors followed Bill Clinton around and never really caught traction, but Edwards is not Clinton. He’s not the megalomaniacal fighter Clinton was and Edwards’ wife has cancer, which puts the whole alleged sordid affair on a repulsive level far beneath any extra-curricular boning by Clinton. Needless to say, we shall see what we shall see, won’t we?

UPDATE: 08.08.08 DI-YAMN!!! I returned home from the zoo today only to find scavengers all over my TV screen, sucking the marrow from the carrion of John Edwards’ political career. Well, Johnny Boy, this time, the bell’s tolling for thee. I’d like to say I’m sad to see you exit stage left, but I never really appreciated your trial lawyer presence on the national horizon, faking your “Man of the People” stage show. You did a good job convincing people of this role you played, thinking you finally found the golden egg that would take you up the bean stalk. You played with fire and, now I can only say that I don’t hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.

UPDATE: Wesley Clark to Replace John Edwards