Pardon? What pardon?

Bush pardoned a guy named Robert Toussie, and then took it back (can you IMAGINE how much that sucks if you're Robert Toussie?) See, Toussie's father had contributed to the Republican party, and Bush thought there might be the appearance of impropriety.

So, in Bush world, pardon a guy who is related to someone who contributed to your party has the appearance of impropriety - but pardoning your own Vice-President's chief of staff doesn't?

Oh, yeah - that makes LOADS of sense.

Merry Christmas

Warm out there.

"History will note that the point of the Constitution is that the ends don't always justify the means -- and that nowhere in the document can be found the phrase 'so what?'" - Eugene Robinson

We have our allies back

I will never, until the day I die, understand why the Bushies thought it was a good idea for America to antagonize her allies. But they pursued antagonism as though it was part of a grand master strategy. "Look how clever we are - we've pissed Europe off! Isn't that GREAT?" And that's the sort of thing where the people doing it don't seem to just have wrong opinions: they seem flat insane.

But this is an example of WHY it's actually a good thing to have some friends in the world.

Guantanamo prisoners may head to Europe
Several countries consider taking detainees after Bush leaves White House

European nations have begun intensive discussions both within and among their governments on whether to resettle detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a significant overture to the incoming Obama administration, according to senior European officials and U.S. diplomats.

The willingness to consider accepting prisoners who cannot be returned to their home countries, because of fears they may be tortured there, represents a major change in attitude on the part of European governments. Repeated requests from the Bush administration that European allies accept some Guantanamo Bay detainees received only refusals.

The Bush administration "produced the problem," Karsten Voigt, coordinator of German-American cooperation at the German Foreign Ministry, said in a telephone interview. "With Obama, the difference is that he tries to solve it."

It's time to bury laissez faire

Thus spake Arianna:

The collapse of Communism as a political system sounded the death knell for Marxism as an ideology. But while laissez-faire capitalism has been a monumental failure in practice, and soundly defeated at the polls, the ideology is still alive and kicking.

The only place you can find an American Marxist these days is teaching a college linguistic theory class. But you can find all manner of free market fundamentalists still on the Senate floor or in Governor's mansions or showing up on TV trying to peddle the deregulation snake oil.

If a politician announced he was running on a platform of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" he would be laughed off the stage. That is also the correct response to anyone who continues to make the case that markets do best when left alone.

It's time to drive the final nail into the coffin of laissez-faire capitalism by treating it like the discredited ideology it inarguably is.

In a comprehensive piece on what led to the mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial meltdown, the New York Times shows how the Bush administration's devotion to unregulated markets was a primary cause of our economy to ruin. But the otherwise fascinating piece puts too much focus on the "mistakes" the Bush team made by not paying attention to the warning signs popping up all around them.

"There is no question we did not recognize the severity of the problems," claimed Al Hubbard, Bush's former chief economic adviser. "Had we, we would have attacked them."

But the mistake wasn't in not recognizing the "severity of the problems" -- the mistake was the ideology that led to the problems. Communism didn't fail because Soviet leaders didn't execute it well enough. Same with free market fundamentalism. In fact, Bush and his team did a bang-up job executing a defective theory. The problem wasn't just the bathwater; the baby itself is rotten to the core.

Cokie wins!

She no doubt deserved it, but I think I preferred Chris Matthews finding it very troubling that Obama ordered orange juice.

Shop at Wal-Mart, get your credit slashed.

This guy got his credit limit cut despite a perfect payment record because American Express didn't like where he shopped.

See, OTHER people who had bought things there had bad credit histories. Doesn't that make LOADS of sense?

And Republicans kiss the asses of these credit companies, swear that they can do no wrong, and think we should hand them our national sovereignty, and let THEM make the rules for US.

We live in VERY hard times

Last week, Beetle Bailey had a mention of the horrors of war.

This week, Archie takes on the bad economy.



How can I put this?

When ARCHIE starts taking on social issues - we are in deep shit.

If you say so, Dick

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday vigorously defended the White House’s use of broad executive powers during the last eight years, saying he believed that historians would ultimately look favorably on the Bush administration’s efforts to keep the nation safe.

The frightening thing isn't that the poor failure is hoping that Future Historians will declare that shit smells like flowers, the frightening thing is that he flat out claims that there is no limit to Executive Power during wartime.

And, of course, we no longer need Congress to declare war. We've fought the last FOUR wars without Congress declaring one of them.

So all a President has to do is go to war - unilaterally - and he instantly assumes the powers of a dictator, according to Cheney.

That's frightening. And it's frightening that we actually had such a fascist as our Number Two (no pun intended) for eight years.

Caroline Kennedy is a celebrity

So say the New York Republicans:

Caroline Kennedy, who has placed her name in contention as a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, was slammed by New York Republicans who view her as a "celebrity" without the qualifications necessary to function in Congress.

1) I hope Paterson doesn't pick her for a Senator. She really DOESN'T have the qualifications, and just has her name.

2) I have NO PATIENCE with people who chose Sarah Palin as a Vice-Presidential candidate saying somebody ELSE is unqualified and just a celebrity.

Beetle Bailey is bit dark today.

Of all strips.

o-KAY, then

Unlike Bush's usual incoherent babble, this time he actually said what he meant to say:

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse."

Bush's comments reflect an extraordinary departure from his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market, as his administration has orchestrated unprecedented government intervention in the face of a dire financial crisis.

"I am sorry we're having to do it," Bush said.

But Bush said government action was necessary to ease the effects of the crisis, offering perhaps his most dire assessment yet of the country's economy.

"I feel a sense of obligation to my successor to make sure there is not a, you know, a huge economic crisis. Look, we're in a crisis now. I mean, this is -- we're in a huge recession, but I don't want to make it even worse."

Notice that there isn't even a HINT that maybe those "free-market principles" were simply WRONG in the first place. Faith-based ideology can't be wrong. Corporatism is Bush's actual religion, and there are few things stupider than treating an economic idea as a religion.

Phat Tacks

This is making me dislike Paterson, too:

Governor Paterson proposes 'Obesity Tax,' a tax on non-diet sodas

ALBANY - A can of Coke could soon cost New Yorkers more than just calories.

Gov. Paterson, as part of a $121 billion budget to be unveiled Tuesday, will propose an "obesity tax" of about 15% on nondiet drinks.

This means a Diet Coke might sell for a $1 - even as the same size bottle of its calorie-rich alter ego would go for $1.15.

Aside from the fact that I'm generally opposed to "sin taxes" enyway, this is just STUPID. Doesn't Paterson realize that some people are skinny? What, is a skinny guy supposed to drink diet soda or get charged more? What about people who struggle to keep their weight up? They get penalized? Obesity is a problem, but is NOT something where one size fits all.

Carolin Kennedy wants to be a Senator

Personally, I'm not sure what to think New York State Governor Paterson: so far he seems like a non-entity. But I'll probably be judging him on this nonsense. Sorry, Caroline: your father was great; your uncle was great. You need a bit more that just a last name to be a Senator, though. At least, I hope so.

Obama won

Seriously: today it's official. The electoral college - that bizarre shadowy group that does the voting for us about whom we know nothing - actually voted yesterday.

It will actually become Officially Official on January 6th, when Congress experiences an Epiphany and actually counts the votes.

And then it will become Officially Officially Official on January 20th at the inauguration.

What fun.

Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead

From Michael Moore:

Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: "UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill." In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That's what we need to do! It's the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn't enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren't opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they're opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn't given back enough, but because the UAW hadn't given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who've already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

Yours,
Michael Moore

Unfit to serve

The Illinois Attorney General is requesting that the Illinois Supreme Court declare Blago-whatever-the rest-of that-unpronouncable-name-is "unfit to serve," which would strip him of his powers, and prevent him from appointing a Senator.

Good. GET HIM OUT.

What a totally repulsive asshole.

Quote

"An Obama job approval rating of 79 percent -- that's the sort of rating you see when the public rallies around a leader after a national disaster. To many Americans, the Bush administration was a national disaster." - Bill Schneider

Ask Obama a question

President-elect Obama has set up a webpage where anyone can ask a question. It is currently for the transition team, and will be extended to the administration. In addition, there is a way for users to RATE the questions. I doubt he'll answer every one - he'd never do anything else - but it would seem to be difficult for him to NOT answer questions that have a high rating.

It seems to be a rather daring thing to do, and speaks well of openness and self-confidence. Can you IMAGINE Bush - who needed EVERYTHING scripted - doing this?

Here's to transparency.

Obama: The Blagman should resign

Good. Now say it louder.

Blago

Here's some information from a kos diary that's very interesting:

The governor, accused of seeking cash for the political appointment of Obama's Senate replacement, is not a close associate of the President-elect. Indeed, in the affidavit, Blagojevich called Obama a "motherfucker" for wanting him to appoint an official that the governor either did not like or wouldn't receive money from. Local news reports, meanwhile, suggest that it was Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel who blew the whistle on the governor.

Read the whole thing.

Good riddance. And the liberal media.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said.

While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor -- who has been under investigation on other issues for months -- Blagojevich's arrest was likely to be an embarrassment to the president-elect, who takes office on January 20

In the first place - how the HELL could this moron think he wouldn't get caught? I mean, you can't try to sell a SENATE SEAT and just tell two of your friends. There must be dozens of people you have to let know about it. So how the hell could he expect to keep it a secret? Good Riddance, Corrupt-And-Stupid.

And notice this: "While Obama has long distanced himself from the governor...Blagojevich's arrest was likely to be an embarrassment to the president-elect."

If he's "long distanced" himself from the guy, why would it be an embarrassment for him?

Because the right-wing will try to MAKE it one, and the "liberal media" will repeat whatever the right-wing says, maybe?

Why am I not surprised?

To find out that the Chairman of the South Carolina GOP belonged to a racist club?

And mind you, the guy is campaigning for leadership of the WHOLE GOP:

State GOP chairman Katon Dawson, who is campaigning to lead the national Republican Party organization, has resigned a 12-year membership in a whites-only Columbia country club.

Dawson said last week his continued membership at Forest Lake Club could become a distraction to his efforts to help win elections for Republicans in South Carolina.

He resigned Monday as The State pursued an article on his membership in the club and his role in an internal push to admit African-Americans as members.

The nearly 80-year-old Forest Lake Club — whose deed has a whites-only restriction — has no black members, said four club members. They asked not to be identified because the club does not discuss its membership.

He JUST RESIGNED because he thought it would make his push to lead the GOP problematic. He SAYS he's been opposing it since August - four months ago. He's been a member for 12 years.

"Whites only" clubs?

Seriously - those still exist?

Obama is promising to roll out the most extensive public works projects since Eisenhower. Roads, bridges, schools, internet, and increasing energy efficiency. And create jobs while doing it.

That isn't an idea whose time has come; it's an idea that's LONG overdue.

The buck stops where?

From Salon.

Scratching the poll itch

BTW, when you hear the incessant whining from the usual suspects over Obama's cabinet picks, you can always just point out that 75% seem to approve.

The remaining ones, no doubt, are largely made up of nutjobs who STILL think Bush did a good job.

And who did they THINK he was going to appoint? A bunch of Illinois State Senators? Can you IMAGINE the screaming?

All the World's a Court

1998, Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute which founded the International Criminal Court (ICC), establishing an International Court to deal with acts genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

In 2002, Bush "unsigned" it.

Currently, almost every nation in Europe belongs to the ICC. We don't.

Our company in refusing to join? China, Russia and India. Good folks, eh?

Roger Cohen thinks that getting back in should be a top priority for the Obama administration.

Of the many issues that have soured relations between Europe and the United States under the Bush administration, few have been as poisonous as America’s refusal to join the world’s first permanent war crimes court here. The snub has been seen as a symbol of U.S. contempt for the rule of law....

Only by aligning America again with international law can the damage inflicted on America’s image and appeal by the Bush administration be undone.

Bush is moving to the city

The AP says the first lady’s press secretary confirmed Wednesday that the couple are purchasing a home in Dallas.

We always knew that the Crawford "ranch" was phony PR. This just confirms it.

O Freedom

Odetta died.


When teenage kid from Hibbing, Minnesota named Robert Zimmerman heard Odetta sing Buked and Scorned - he sold his electric guitar and bought an acoustic.

This is cool

World's oldest living animal discovered after he is pictured in 1900 photograph

As a photograph it looks fairly unremarkable - a tortoise nibbles at the grass in front of a Boer War prisoner and guard.

But the pictures helps to mark the reptile as the oldest animal on the planet.

Jonathan, the tortoise, is believed to be 176-years-old and was about 70 at the time the black and white picture was taken.

He was photographed during the Boer War around 1900, and his life has spanned eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II, and 50 prime ministers.

It was taken on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, where Jonathan still lives today, along with five other tortoises David, Speedy, Emma, Fredricka and Myrtle, in a plantation.



This rare picture of a Boer war prisoner snapped on the remote island of St Helena, has shed light on one of the planets oldest living inhabitants Photo: BNPS.CO.UK


Jonathan, the tortoise, still alive today Photo: BNPS.CO.UK



The previous oldest tortoise was widely thought to be Harriet, a giant Galapagos Land tortoise, who died in 2005 aged 175 in Australia.

Despite his old age, locals say he still has the energy to regularly mate with the three younger females.

A spokesman for the island's tourist board said Jonathan is owned by the St Helena government and lives in the specially built plantation on the governor's land.

He said: "Jonathan is the sole survivor of three tortoises that arrived on St Helena Island in 1882.

"He was already mature when he arrived and was at least 50-years-old.

"Therefore his minimum age is 176-years-old. He is the oldest inhabitant on St Helena and is claimed to be the oldest living tortoise in the world.

"He lives in the grounds of Plantation House which is the governor's residence with five other tortoises who are much younger than him.

"Apparently he remained nameless for the most part of his residence in St Helena until he was named by Governor Sir Spencer Davis in the 1930s.

"He feeds on the grass of the main paddock.

"Jonathan is still very active despite his age and adores attention, he is a real poser.

"He seems to be sightless in one eye, but does not let that slow him down."

It is thought Jonathan, from the species Testudinipae cytodira, was brought to St Helena from the Seychelles as a mature adult in 1882.

His remarkable existance has come to light after the photograph was discovered as part of a collection of Boer War images taken by a man named L.A. Innes who had a studio in the British overseas territory's capital Jamestown.

The pictures were recently sold at auction for #4,000 by Andrew Smith and Son auctioneers near Winchester, Hants.

Further investigation by the auctioneers revealed the tortoise in the picture was Jonathan who was still alive.

St Helena has a population of more than 4,200. Its greatest claim to fame came when Napoleon was exiled there in 1815.

He was held prisoner there until his death in 1821 and is buried there.

Another tortoise, Timothy, who was a ship's mascot in the Crimean War, died at his home at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, Devon, in 2004, aged 160. The castle's Rose Garden had been his home since 1935.

Desperate for a legacy

Even if it means phonying up the facts

"The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq," Bush said. "I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."

Awww. He wishes the intelligence had been different.

He cherry picked to get a pre-determined result.

Remember? Joe Wilson and Scott Ritter told us that there were NO WMDs. So Bush exposed Wilson's wife as a CIA agent and invented discredited claims of pedophilia to attack Ritter.

Ain't it nice?

Hillary Clinton. Robert Gates. Janet Napolitano. Three picks. None of them cronies. None of them Yes People. None of them ideologues. Yes, I'm a bit leerry of Gates, but it may have been smart not to change horses in mid-stream during a war, so I'll withhold judgment. But Obama is obviously willing to appoint people who DISAGREE with him, as long as they are smart, pragmatic, experienced and are willing to place country before party.

That's a BIG change.

And in the neocons-gone-insane department...

Bill Kristol thinks torturers should get the medal of freedom.

I hope Bill Kristol keeps getting a forum, just so people keep being made aware, again and again, of just how bonkers these people are.

Holy crap, it's Hillary

I was waiting for the rumor to turn out to be just a rumor. But:

To make it possible for his wife to become the top U.S. diplomat, the officials said, former President Clinton agreed:

-to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.

-to refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference.

-to cease holding CGI meetings overseas.

-to volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is secretary of state.

-to submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel.

-to submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review.

For the Big Dog to agree to all that, getting the job must have been very important to both him and Hillary. They're supposed to announce Obama's appointments officially within the next half an hour.

There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

No one as Irish as Barack Obama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

You don't believe me, I hear you say
But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK
His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall
A small Irish village, well known to you all

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew
He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too
He's in the white house, He took his chance
Now let's see Barack do Riverdance

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

From Kerry and cork to old Donegal
Let's hear it for Barack from old moneygall
From the lakes of Killarney to old Connemara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara T
here's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

2008 the white house is green,
their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen.
The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama,
Are cheering for President Barack O'Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

The Hockey Moms gone, and so is McCain
They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,
In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama,
for our Famous president Barack O'Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God,
He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod
They came by bus and they came by car,
to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes's Bar

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

Bush's last gasp: Let's poison the parks.

Is ruining things sort of like scratching an itch for Bush? Here the man is about out of office, and he won't stop.

You know what will be novel? Having an Environmental Protection Agency that think its job is to protect the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing.

Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the administration's push to weaken Clean Air Act protections for "Class 1 areas" nationwide has sparked fierce resistance from senior agency officials. All but two of the regional administrators objecting to the proposed rule are political appointees.

The proposal would change the practice of measuring pollution levels near national parks, which is currently done over three-hour and 24-hour increments to capture emission spikes during periods of peak energy demand; instead, the levels would be averaged over a year. Under this system, spikes in pollution would no longer violate the law.

His defenders STILL don't get why people are so furious with George W. Bush. Well, here's a hint:

He filled the Environmental Protection Agency with friends of his who were hostile to the idea of protecting the environment.

See, it would be really hard to shut the agency down, which is what he wanted to do. So he just filled it with people who were hostile to its actual mission. Same effect without the trouble.

How is it possible not to realize how frigging insulting that is?

It's the worker's fault

You've probably heard people claim that the auto companies' woes are the fault of the unions.

Well, what do they actually make?

This is from a 2006 article:

"The average Ford worker makes $50,000 a year without overtime. "

Well, gee, THAT'S certainly living high off the hog. I can't IMAGINE why a guy with a family making 50 grand a year isn't willing to take a pay cut - when his CEO makes 28 million in four months.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Struggling Ford Motor Co., which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four months on the job, according to the company's proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.

But remember everybody - the guy making 50 grand? It's HIS fault. The Republicans say so.

Cheney indicted

Really.

McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

What's really fun is that Bush will forced to pardon them BEFORE a finding of guilt or innocence is issued.

Remember: Daddy Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and other member of his staff on Christmas Day before leaving office. And poor Junior wanted so bad to NOT be like the old man.



Like father, like son.

The lobbyist from hell.

Holy crap.

Gilbert Genn is a lobbyist. A Democratic lobbyist. He's also thoroughly insane.

This guy was leaving his house to go walk his dog and the next thing you know a deer attacked him. A buck. Stabbed him in the crotch with his antlers. Repeatedly. OPENED A WOUND. In the groin.

So you know what he did, right?

He closed the wound with a paper binder clip and went lobbying. Met with the Speaker of the Maryland House.

"There was no way I could miss this meeting," Genn said.

Uh, yeah, I guess not. Obviously, a meeting with the Pope has nothing on a meeting with the Speaker of the Maryland House.

"Not to get too partisan, but I'm convinced it was a Republican deer, because it happened right where we had our Obama sign. And all the deer could do was attack, attack, attack. So it had to be a Republican deer."

He did get himself to a hospital AFTER the meeting. What a pansy, eh?

I suppose it's a good thing that he's a Democrat, since it's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in. But a guy who thinks a lobbying meeting is more important than his dick should probably be checked out. Quickly.

I mean, what the hell is he? The Democrats' G. Gordon Liddy?

On regulation and deregulation

The real question is: "Who makes the rules?"

The idea that you can somehow have banks and corporations just moving money and goods around WITHOUT rules is a foolish pipe dream: won't happen, can't happen. So who makes the rules?

Well, we've seen that recently, haven't we? In the absence of government regulation, the rules are written by the lenders and banks. So you have the rules being written and re-written by people who are actually in the middle of playing the game.

And what do you wind up with? You wind up with rules where the lenders are almost completely unaccountable for their own risk. But they spread that risk to everybody else. They make the profit. YOU take their risk for them. Because they wrote the rules.

And that's what you get if you take the authority to regulate away from regulatory bodies. You still get regulation. But you get regulation where the consumer is the only one bound by any rules.

Iraq votes for us to leave

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact that would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq.

The agreement sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The date for all troops to leave Iraq will be December 31, 2011, he said.

These dates are "set and fixed" and are "not subject to the circumstances on the ground," he said.

This resolution isn't passed: it now goes to the Iraqi Parliament, which will very likely pass it.

A timetable. Not subject to circumstances on the ground.

This should not only accelerate President Obama's move to withdraw from Iraq - it will make it very hard for the right-wingers to oppose it.

The Moose Stops Here

We're chumps, too.

You have probably heard that AIG - after being bailed out by the taxpayer - gave $503 million dollars in bonuses to their executives.

Elijah Cummings (D-Has Spine) tore into Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and "bailout czar" Neel Kashkari and called him a chump (well, he asked if he was one, but it was a rhetorical question):

"I’m just wondering how you feel about an AIG giving $503 million worth of bonuses on the one hand, and accepting $154 billion from hard-working taxpayers. You know, because I’m trying to make sure you get it. What really bothers me is all these other people who are lined up. They say, well, is Kashkari a chump?


"I wouldn’t want to be asking my friend for some money to stay afloat....Then my friend, who can barely afford to go to McDonald’s sees me in a restaurant costing $150 a meal. There’s absolutely something wrong with that picture!" exclaimed Cummings.

Watch it. The look on Kashkari's face is priceless:




The freaky thing is that they DON'T get it. They see absolutely nothing wrong with holding up the taxpayers with tales of financial woe, and then taking $100-million-dollar bonus with the money.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

They say Obama has offered it to her.

That one, she might actually be interested in.

And BOY would it piss off the right-wingers.

A petition

Dear Sarah Palin, please shut up already.

Republican Governors dis Gidget

The Republican Governors Association announced its new leadership at the recent meeting.

Guess who they didn't pick?

Get Lieberman out.

You know why I hate Democrats? Because they really ARE spineless. Unfortunately, the jerk-offs probably won't kick Lieberman out, because they suffer severely from battered wife syndrome.

But here's Rachel Maddow on why they should:

For the sad pathetic people suffering from election withdrawal

There are still three races to be decided, and in the Alaskan Senate race, it looks like Ted Stevens - convicted felon and the moron who called the internet a "series of tubes" - is going to lose.

But how screwed up is Alaska? First they said that Stevens won by a tiny margin - but then it turned out that they hadn't counted more than 30% of the votes. 90,000 of them - uncounted.

Somebody should tell Alaska that their "hey-we're-really-an-independent-third-world-country" act gets old in a hurry.

Obama on religion

Beliefnet has just published the full transcript of President-Elect Obama's 2004 interview on the subject.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Here are some great pictures of the new President-Elect by photojournalist Callie Shell. Click on the bottom to keep seeing more of them.

Uhhh...Sarah?

The election is over.

The time to do media interviews was BEFORE the election.

Exit, stage right.

Dean is stepping down

Sic transit governor mundi, and all that.

Remember when some people said that Howard Dean was doing a TERRIBLE job as head of the DNC as though it was an established fact?

Remember when some people said that the 50-state strategy was silly, and the Democrats would be better off ignoring whole regions of the country to focus on a few swing states? Do you hear anybody say that anymore?

The Democrats have done nothing but win since he's been in charge, and you'll still hear some idiots say he's done a bad job, because they don't like this thing or that thing. Ignoring little details like the fact that he's WON.

Well, he always said he'd only serve one term. Sorry to see him go. I hope whoever takes his place was paying attention.

Good job, Governor Dean.

YEEEEAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!

Why I'm glad I don't live in Jersey

Because their politicians LITERALLY piss on the citizens.

A drunken Jersey City councilman was arrested for urinating on a crowd of concertgoers from the balcony of a Washington nightclub, police and club sources said Saturday.

Councilman Steven Lipski was caught relieving himself onto several revelers at the 9:30 Club during a concert by a Grateful Dead tribute band Friday night, club sources said.

Usually, they just do that to us figuratively.

Nice Touch

The Obama campaign has released an organizational chart of the Government.

The Constitution is on top.

It's simple

If Harry Reid decides that Joe Lieberman should remain a committee chairman, Harry Reid must go.

Enough is enough. What the hell does Lieberman have to do? Spit on Obama?

I've always liked Al Gore, but one of his worst decisions was in choosing that clown as a running mate.

My, my, my

The White House Butler

Michelle Bachmann sucks up

Oh, holy crap.

'After suggesting that Barack Obama had anti-American views in an exchange three weeks ago with MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told Politico Thursday that she was "extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year." She called his victory "a tremendous signal we sent."

A signal WE sent? Funny - I dont' recall Michelle Bachmann favoring the sending of any such signal.

I suggest that Congress investigate Michelle Bachmann to make sure she doesn't harbor any anti-American views.

Rahmbo

Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job of Obama's Chief of Staff.

You will note that the right-wing smearers have tried to paint Obama as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. And he just appointed as his chief of staff a Jew who was a civilian volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Proposition 8, California

You have probably heard that Proposition 8 - a ban on same-sex marriage which eliminates California's newly declared right of same-sex couple to marry - will probably pass in California. It hasn't been certified yet, and some votes have yet to be counted, but it will probably pass. Some groups that are reliable Democratic voters are still on the other side of this particular issue. So, in the midst of celebration, some folks who would otherwise be elated are feeling rather mournful.

I tend to write very little about same-sex marriage. I'm not sure if I've ever written about it before at all, actually. But there's a reason for that: I have absolutely no worries about the subject whatsoever. Same-sex marriage is an inevitability. Guaranteed.

If not this year, next year. Or the year after that. But it's inevitable. Gay people will NOT go back into the closet. Within a few years, same-sex marriage will be the law in the West and the Northeast. And then the rest of the states, one at a time, in fairly rapid succession.

Economic issues swing back and forth like a pendulum. But - as long as we have a democracy - civil rights issues can go in one direction only - forward. Same-sex civil rights is a rather large change, and progress has been EXTREMELY rapid. Yes, I understand that for people on the other side of the line who are still waiting to be acknowledged as legitimate it hasn't been rapid enough. But by the normal standards of such things, it's been VERY fast. Most members of the younger generation don't even UNDERSTAND homophobia - its a closed book to them. And those young people will just get older, and soon run society.

Proposition 8 was one step backwards. It may actually be ovetturned by a court anyway, but even if it isn't, it will still be succeeded by two steps forward. Guaranteed.

Patience. It's coming. And it can't be stopped.

Self-respect

Roger Cohen absolutely nails it.

Beyond Iraq, beyond the economy, beyond health care, there was something even more fundamental at stake in this U.S. election won by Barack Obama: the self-respect of the American people.

From the Onion

Heh.

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job

Krugman

The Monster Years

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Whence that wince? (A stirring song)

Quoth I, "My wench, O whence that wince?"
She blushed and said, "O, sir,
My daddy isn't stirrin' since
My momma's been in stir."
- Walt Kelly

More Good news that you may not have been aware of

Proposition 2 passed in California.

The proposition will prohibit the confinement of certain farm animals in structures or cages that do not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. The measure will phase out California’s use of battery cages for layers, veal crates, and sow gestation crates.

Unfortunately, it won't take effect until 2015 (I suppose to give farms time to replace their equipment). But it's something.

Palin greeted McCain's staff wearing only a towel

Holy crap.

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

The rest of the article makes Palin look like even more of a loose cannon and nutjob than I already thought she was.

Mandate

In 2004 Bush got 286 electoral votes. Kerry got 251.

The Republicans claimed that that was a "mandate."

Somehow, I doubt that they'll say that this time around.

Last Bush bash (maybe)

Bush called Obama last night and said this:

"You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations and go enjoy yourself."

"Go enjoy yourself"?

Does that explain George W. Bush's whole approach to the Presidency, or what?

Georgie, assuming that you don't get indicted...

go enjoy yourself.

No Republicans in New England

Last night, Chris Shays conceded defeat in the House of Representatives.

That means that there is not one single Republican Congressmen in New England.

That's astounding.

YES,
WE
DID

From FOX News:

I guess if FOX news is willing to admit it, it must be real.

I don't know if liveblogging is a good idea

11:05


California, Oregon, Washington.

It's over. I an now drinking champagne.

Obama 284.

Me and Mrs. Ignatz just did a fist bump.

11:02
From kos:
"McCain expected to concede at 8 PT/11 ET"

Break out the champagne.

10:22
Rocky Mountain News says Colorado has been won by Obama.

10:20


10:11
Ding-Dong, Karl Rove is dead.

10:01
Iowa for Obama. Montana is too close to call.

9:56
John McCain wins Texas. And it no longer means anything.

9:45
And McCain's home state is too close to call.

9:41
From kos:



9:38
Comment about Ohio from a wingnut on freerepublic:
"I’m just ashamed of the Blacks in America, not my country."

What a nice sentiment.

9:31 New Mexico. And that, friends, in 200 electoral votes. 70 to go. The West Coast states - California, Oregon and Washington - are more than 70. Holy Crap, I think it's over.

9:28 The slime-sucking weasels at FOX News also called Ohio for Obama.

9:22
MSNBC. Obama has just been projected as the winner in (ready) OHIO.

OHIO.

I think it's the beginning of the end.



9:10
Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin to Obama.
I'm starting to get worried. I'm waiting for a single state to flip and so far, none has. Every state called for Obama so far was won by Kerry.

8:54
GET TOM DELAY OFF MY TEEVEE

8:31 Liddy Dole, the godless bitch, has lost. Proving that there is a God.

8:06 Just want to point out the CNN has NOT called PA for Obama.

8:05 Maryland. Blue. New Jersey. Blue.

8:00 Florida too close

8:01 They just projected Pennsylvania for Obama. 0% of the vote in. The ecist polls must be extreme. And New Hampshire and Maine. And Delaware.

McCain just got Oklahoma. BFD.

8:00
They just called SC for JM.

7:31
North Carolina is too close to call.

7:27
MSNBC's David Gregory just said "When we come back, we'll have some characterizations." I don't know what that means, but it sounds like they're going to call McCain a fuckface or something.

7:21
Over on kos, he points out that his election guide said:

If Indiana is announced too close to call when polls close this year, it will be an indicator that Barack Obama is headed for a similar landslide victory himself, even if he isn’t quite able to carry the state.

And Indiana is too close to call.

7:10
GET PAT BUCHANAN OFF MY TEEVEE.

7:01
They say Indiana and Georgia are close.

6:51
The clown on the teevee is saying exactly what I just wrote below about Howard Dean. What, did he sneak into the back room and read this blog?

6:42
My basic idea is that if Obama wins places like Indiana, it will break the back of the Republicans.

You know who won tonight, whatever happens? Howard Dean. He pushed for the 50-state strategy, the old school DLC claimed that it was foolish, Dean got his way, and it's working in spades.

6:21pm
Your correspondent is coming to you from wild and woolly Yonkers, NY, where an election night party of his nearest and dearest is taking place. Brownies and cookies. McCain looks far ahead in the early returns. Yes, it's 1% and it's Indiana and Kentucky, but it bothers the crap out of me anyway. I WANT Indiana. The pundits are saying "That will change," I assume that they have access to exit polls they aren't telling us about.

Indiana just switched to Obama. I think it's 3% of the vote.

6:00pm
I don't quite get the point. I'm going to try doing it anyway.

Message from Governor Dean

Find you polling place here.

Just came from voting

It's usually lickety-split, but this time I was on line for a half an hour. But the voting machine was broken, and we voted by paper ballot, which probably slowed things down. I don't think there was a McCain vote in the room, but this is a REALLY liberal place.

I refuse to blog about Dixville Notch

Holy crap, it's almost over.

Some phrases I hope I never hear again:

Throw under the bus
Maverick
You betcha
My friends
Drill, baby, drill
Whitey
Muslim Marxist
57 States
Real America

How terribly sad

Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died. The day before the election that might make her grandson the President of the United States.

There is, perhaps, at least a little comfort in the idea that Barack now has a new close friend in a very high place.

This Fucking Election

Sums it up.

Good Timing

The New Republic just released a report saying that McCain should have been expelled from the Senate for the Keating Five Scandal.

"All five senators -- including McCain -- had testified under oath and under the U.S. penal code that the leaks did not come from their camps," Sahil Mahtani reports. "The leaks were also prohibited by rules of the Senate Ethics Committee; according to the rules of the Senate, anyone caught leaking such information could face expulsion from the body."

Obama voters

Chris Buckley

Ken Adelman

Charles Fried, Former Endorser and Adviser to John McCain

Colin Powell

Neoconservative Academic Francis Fukuyama

Republican Charles McC. Mathias Jr., a former Senator & Congressman from Maryland.

At least 50 newspapers that backed George W. Bush

CC Goldwater, Barry Goldwater's granddaughter

Former Republican senator and Connecticut independent Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.

Longtime Wisconsin Republican State Senator Barbara Lorman

Scott McClellan, former press secretary to President Bush.

Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson, a Republican

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican

Retired four-star Air Force General Merrill Tony McPeak

Douglas Kmiec, a professor at the Pepperdine University School of Law who was co-chairman
of Mitt Romneys presidential campaigns Committee for the Courts and the Constitution; worked in the Reagan Justice Department (sharing an office with Samuel Alito).

Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and a self-described lifelong Republican.

Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

Bill Ruckelshaus, who served in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations, announced that he is supporting Democrat Barack Obama for president.

Former L.A. mayor, Republican Richard Riordan

Linwood Holton, Former GOP Governor of Virginia

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa

Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who served in the US Senate from 1999 to 2006 as a Republican representing Rhode Island.

Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.)

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, Republican from Maryland

Source: Republicans for Obama

Heh.

Obama decided to make a commercial out of Cheney's endorsement.

Oooh Noooooooo!!!!!

Dick Cheney has endorsed John McCain.

Heh.

When your running in an election, and having a tough time gaining any traction, you know what you REALLY need?

You really need for one of the most unpopular human beings in the entire history of the world to endorse you - that's what you need.

To put it into perspective, Cheney's favorability is 18%.

Typhoid Mary is 15%.

Obama's response? He CONGRATULATED McCain. Priceless:

I'd like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington's biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years. So Senator McCain worked hard to get Dick Cheney's support.

But here's my question for you, Colorado: do you think Dick Cheney is delighted to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain's going to bring change? Do you think John McCain and Dick Cheney have been talking about how to shake things up, and get rid of the lobbyists and the old boys club in Washington?

Heh.

Whiners

You hear a lot of right-wingers whining like little children because the EEEVIL Obama want to raise taxes on those poor, poor people who make more than $250,000 a year. Well, let's look at what the actual figures are, shall we? And remember: these figures are NET income. That's $250,000 a year AFTER expenses and deductions.

According to the Tax Policy Center, here is how Obama's tax plan breaks down for individuals:

$0-$18,891 = $567 tax cut
$18,982-$37,595 = $892 tax cut
$37,596-$66,354 = $1,118 tax cut
$66,355-$111,645 = $1,264 tax cut
$111,646-$160,972 = $2,135 tax cut
$160,973-$226,918 = $2,796 tax cut
$226,919-$603,402 = $121 tax increase
$603,403-$2.87 million = $93,709 tax increase
$2.87 million-plus = $542,882 tax increase

This is the part that gets to me:

"$226,919-$603,402 = $121 tax increase"

People netting up to SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR will see there taxes go up by a HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE bucks.

And they're screaming like it's the end of the world.

That's SOCIALISM.

They will look you in the eye, and tell you that that $121 will make people not want to make half a million dollars a year.

And they actually don't realize how INSANE that is.

Ok - she lives in Bizarro world

But we knew that.

Short version: Sarah Palin thinks that a free press is a violation of the First Amendment.

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

Got that? Apparently Sarah Palin thinks the First Amendment means you can't be criticized for what you say.

This would be really funny if it WAS a comedy skit.

It's not.

Rantings of a Conservative

Who voted for Obama.

Here.

Hockey Mama for Obama

Unbelievable

Courtesy of Wonkette:



In an event sponsored by CBN, a bunch of fundamentalists all went to Wall Street, where they all laid hands on the Wall Street bull, and prayed for economic wealth.

Where is Moses when you need him?

I can just hear him yelling, "FAIL!"

I hope these morons haven't sentenced us to 40 years of Economic Depression.

Gee, how clever

Here's a screen shot from a recent McCain ad. Subtle, eh?:

Gee, John, that's really pathetic.

Remember when people respected you?

But, John, doesn't that mean you lied?

From Larry King Live:

KING: You don't believe Barack Obama is a socialist do you?

MCCAIN: "No, but i do believe that he has been in the far left of American politics and stated time after time that he believes in spreading the wealth around. He has talked about courts that redistribute the wealth. He has a record of voting against tax cuts. And for tax increases."

Meanwhile, back in the culture of corruption...

Palin faces ethics complaint over kids' travel
New complaint charges VP hopeful of charging state for kids' travel

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A new ethics complaint has been filed against Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, accusing the Alaska governor of abusing her power by charging the state when her children traveled with her.

The complaint alleges that the Republican vice presidential nominee used her official position as governor for personal gain. It follows a report by The Associated Press last week that Palin charged the state more than $21,000 for her three daughters' commercial flights, including events where they weren't invited, and later ordered their expense forms amended to specify official state business.

In some cases, Palin also has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

It's sort of amazing how much baggage this woman has and how many skeletons are in her closet. Obviously, she think public funds are her personal piggy bank.

I guess Ted Stevens WAS her mentor.

I just watched Obama's infomercial

And, for the life of me, I have no idea how anyone could watch that and STILL vote for more of the same shit we've gotten for the last eight years.

Very moving and very powerful. Is it just me, or is it a RELIEF to see a Democrat actually claim the principles and ideas that USED to go without saying in America - but which had all but disappeared?

For how many years have working people been looked down on, and treated as second class citizens, while limitless, engorging greed has been praised?

For how many years have we been told that public money shouldn't be used for the good of the public, but should be simply handed over to the richest to do with as they wished?

For how many years have we been told that the supply-side was all that counted, and the DEMAND-side (that's US) had no real say in things, and just had to make do with the leavings?

For how many years has it been ASSUMED that concentration of wealth was normal and good, and that employees only had value as tools for the employer, and no intrisic worth as human beings?

And when the hell did that nonsense START? And when did it come to be viewed as what America was about?

"They used to say it was the land of milk and honey;
Now they say it's the land of money.
Who would ever have thought that they could make that stick?" - Bob Dylan

This one has to sting

Obama confesses

That he shared toys as a kindergartner.

>

"He's spent these last few days calling me every name in the book. Lately, he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. I don't know what's next. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten."

Heh. Indeedy.

Daughter of slave votes for Obama
109-year-old Bastrop woman casts her vote by mail.

By Joshunda Sanders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, October 27, 2008

Amanda Jones, 109, the daughter of a man born into slavery, has lived a life long enough to touch three centuries. And after voting consistently as a Democrat for 70 years, she has voted early for the country's first black presidential nominee.

wow.

The Poor Victims

There's nothing like a life of privilege to make you feel persecuted.

Historically speaking, conservatism is a movement organized and funded by society's most powerful members; politically speaking, it lusts for tax cuts and government rollbacks that will benefit those same fortunate folks at the top.

But what it really is, in its own mind, is a crusade on behalf of society's most abject members: the true Americans who are victimized, sneered at and persecuted for their faithfulness.

Who persecutes them? Well, the mainstream media, to begin with, which supposedly chuckles at their unadorned heartland ways from its lofty perches in New York and Washington. Academics, for another, with their fancy rhetoric and their bottomless contempt for the red, white and blue. And the ACLU, for a third, with its unceasing war on Ten Commandments monuments and Nativity scenes.

John McCain admits his health care plan sucks

Douglas Holtz-Eakin (tough name, dude. My sympathy), McCain's senior economic advisor said THIS today about McCain's health care tax credit:

Younger, healthier workers likely wouldn't abandon their company-sponsored plans, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic policy adviser.

"Why would they leave?" said Holtz-Eakin. "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."

Oh.

Then why the hell is McCain proposing it?

Here's Obama's response:

This morning, the McCain campaigns top economic policy advisor unleashed an October Surprise of straight talk when he finally admitted that the health insurance people currently get from their employer is way better than the health care they would get if John McCain becomes President. ... Senator McCain has been trying to cover this up for months, but his advisors brutal honesty today is certainly better late than never, and it should give every American pause about electing a candidate who has proposed such radical and dangerous changes to our health care system.

Desperation: Fraud in Virginia

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, there is a flyer circulating lying about when to vote - telling Republicans to vote on November 4 and Democrats to vote on November 5:

Virginia elections officials say fliers are making the rounds in several Hampton Roads localities attempting to confuse voters.

The fliers advise Republicans to vote on one day, and Democrats on another.

Election Day for everyone, of course, is Nov. 4.

The bogus advisory features the logo of the State Board of Elections and states the two voting dates are intended to ease the load on local balloting officials.

State police are looking into the source of the fliers.

I believe that this is prosecutable. Especially since they are using the official logo of the State Board of Elections.

It also has "backfire" written all over it. It's being reported in the Virginia newspapers, on Virginia TV. Can you think of anything for likely to infuriate voters than this sort of transparent fraud?

This does an ex-telemarketers heart good.

Indiana Telemarketers Walk Off Job Rather Than Read Anti-Obama Script

This really takes guts. Telemarketers have NO money. If they could find another job, they would. They are as totally powerless in the workplace as it gets.

And they refused.

Good for them.

EVERYTHING is politics

By way of Street Prophets:

Not the least disturbing sentence in Goodstein's article is:

"Religious leaders in Alaska, including Mr. Donelson [Patrick Donelson, 'a pastor and fishing guide who helped found a spiritual warfare ministry' appointed by Palin to the only seat reserved for members of the clergy on the state’s Suicide Prevention Council], declined interviews, with several saying they had been told by the McCain-Palin campaign not to talk to members of the news media."

So Alaska's spiritual commanders are taking their marching orders from McCain-Palin headquarters?

When you have pastors taking orders from a political party, you have a total perversion.

McCain thinks liberals are a threat to economy

I guess that's if you ignore little details like Republicans leading us to the brink of a worldwide depression.

I know - those are just trivial details.

This is the Institute for America's Future's final ad in the New York Times

Culture of Corruption

Senator Ted Stevens was just found guilty on all seven counts.

Don't worry, Ted. Jail is not like a truck. It's a series of tubes.

It ain't cheap putting lipstick on a pig

You know who the highest paid person in the McCain campaign is?

Sarah Palin's makeup artist.

Are abortion clinic bombers terrorists?

Sarah Palin isn't sure.

Brian Williams: Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under this definition?

Sarah Palin: (Exasperated sigh.) There’s no question that Bill Ayers by his own admittance was one who thought to destroy our U.S. Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist. There is no question there. Now others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that it would be unacceptable to, I don’t know if you’re gonna use the word "terrorist" there.

You know what's really nuts about that $150,000?

That they spent $150,000 on clothes when the campaign was STRAPPED FOR CASH.

At McCain's spending rate of $1.5 million a day, the Arizona senator likely has only $12 million to spend in the next 11 days before the Nov. 4 election. He began the fall campaign in September with $84 million in public funds.

The McCain campaign is emailing supporters telling them about a desperate need for money.

And they spent $150,000 on clothes.

Does it even OCCUR to them?

Does it even OCCUR to the Republicans that MAYBE they should try campaigning by dealing seriously with the issues and proposing some real ideas?

Have they even thought of that as an option? Do they stand for anything except pure politics? Is governing now so far off the radar screen that they don't even think of it?

Deep thought

Do you know anyone who has spent $150,000 on clothes in their entire LIFE?

Joe the Hedge Fund Manager

The Goldwater family is endorsing Obama

Nicely, too

Being Barry Goldwater's granddaughter and living in Arizona, one would assume that I would be voting for our state's senator, John McCain. I am still struck by certain 'dyed in the wool' Republicans who are on the fence this election, as it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Myself, along with my siblings and a few cousins, will not be supporting the Republican presidential candidates this year. We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics. I learned a lot about my grandfather while producing the documentary, Mr. Conservative Goldwater on Goldwater. Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket.

My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported. I'm not sure about how he would feel about marriage rights based on same-sex orientation. I think he would feel that love and respect for ones privacy is what matters most and not the intolerance and poor judgment displayed by McCain over the years. Paka respected our civil liberties and passed on the message that that we should conduct our lives standing up for the basic freedoms we hold so dear.

For a while, there were several candidates who aligned themselves with the Goldwater version of Conservative thought. My grandfather had undying respect for the U.S. Constitution, and an understanding of its true meanings.

There always have been a glimmer of hope that someday, someone would "race through the gate" full steam in Goldwater style. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened, and the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear. Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician. The McCain/Palin plan is to appear diverse and inclusive, using women and minorities to push an agenda that makes us all financially vulnerable, fearful, and less safe.

When you see the candidate's in political ads, you can't help but be reminded of the 1964 presidential campaign of Johnson/Goldwater, the 'origin of spin', that twists the truth and obscures what really matters. Nothing about the Republican ticket offers the hope America needs to regain it's standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama. I think that Obama has shown his ability and integrity.

After the last eight years, there's a lot of clean up do. Roll up your sleeves, Senators Obama and Biden, and we Goldwaters will roll ours up with you.

"Please - may I have my soul back now?"

Scott McClellan is backing Barack Obama.

Obama's ideologies

Since McCain is claiming that Obama is a "socialist" because he proposes progressive taxation, the Rude Pundit has come up with some other things he might be:

1. Barack Obama must be an anarcho-syndicalist because he believes in the power of unions.

2. Barack Obama must be a Whig because he believes in the government's role in building infrastructure and education.

3. Barack Obama must be a Gaullist because he believes in regulating banks.

4. Barack Obama must be a neo-Aristotelianist because he was a community organizer.

5. Barack Obama must be a Dadaist because cow.

This is what the GOP does with donors' money

Nice.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

Remember when the right-wingers were all freaking out over $400 haircuts?

When they point fingers, they are doing the same thing times 10. You can almost guarantee it.

And what's Miss Small-Town-Real-America doing having shopping sprees on 5th Avenue, anyway?

$150,000 - the price of a small house - spent on clothes in a month and a half.

Not bad for someone who's just an average "hockey mom."

I'm sorry, but I can't resist

John McCain gets very confused

He apparently has a very low opinion of Western Pennsylvania:

"You know, I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama's supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately. And you know, I couldn't agree with them more."

Republican Economics

Progressive Taxation=Socialism

Nationalizing the Mortgage Industry, the Banks and the Insurance Companies=/=Socialism

Republican Math

(Republican President)+(Republicans Running Congress)+(Republicans Running The Senate)+(Republican Supreme Court)=(It's All The Democrats' Fault)

Switch their roles

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?.....think about it.

Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three-month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama wasn't?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing three planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list.

You know, when Powell gave his WMD presentation, it genuinely bothered me, because I had respected him up to that point, and he lost my respect.

This does a good deal to get it back.

Q: Sir, what role did McCain's negativity play in your decision?

POWELL: It troubled me. You know, we have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems. We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have problems around the world with our allies. And so those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers, not about who is a Muslim and who's not a Muslim. Those kinds of images going out on al Jazeera are killing us around the world. And we have got to say to the world it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are. If you're an American you're an American.

And this business of, for example, a congressman from Minnesota who's going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America or not pro-America. We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. And so that really was driving me. And to focus on people like Mr. Ayers, these trivial issues for the purpose of suggesting that somehow Mr. Obama would have some kind of terrorists' inclinations, I thought that was over the top. It was beyond just good political fighting back and forth. I think it went beyond. And then to sort of throw in this subtle Muslim connection. You know, he's a Muslim and a terrorist. And it was taking root. And we can't judge our people and we can't hold our elections on that kind of basis. And so yes, that kind of negativity troubles me and the constant shifting of the argument.

I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis the campaign said we're going to go negative and they announced it. We're going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers. And now I guess the message this week is we're going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there's nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more, who should be paying less. And for us to say that makes you a socialist I think is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate. And I don't want my taxes raised. I don't want anybody else's taxes raised. But I also want to see our infrastructure fixed. I don't want to have a $12 trillion national debt and I don't want to see an annual deficit that's over $500 billion heading toward a trillion. So how do we deal with all of this?

Powell endorses Obama

Seriously, I'm shocked. I thought the rumors were a setup.

The importance of endorsements is incredibly exaggerated. But this is one of the few, I think, that could actually affect votes. This is serious news. Not just his endorsing Obama, but his eviscerating of McCain. When a video becomes available, I'll post it. Here's the video:

On the possibility of Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama

I refuse to get too excited. I'll believe it when I see it. There is really nothing but rumors. He may endorse McCain (who I get the impression he has more in common with ideologically). He may punt and just say he likes them both.

If he DOES endorse Obama, though, it will be HUGE news.

Heh.

Gail Collins

Now is the October of our discontent.

First of all, George W. Bush showed up on TV Friday morning to reassure the nation. What could possibly be worse?

Everybody knows that anything our president says is very likely wrong, and certainly won’t happen. If he announced: “I’m sending government agents to Spokane to arrest the looters,” we would expect that the officials would get lost, nobody would be arrested, and the looters probably never existed in the first place.

Meet Joe the REAL Plumber

This is just terrific, and Obama should turn it into a commercial.

Chicago Tribune endorses Obama

Link

This is the first time the Tribune has endorsed the Democratic Candidate for President. Ever.

The paper was founded in 1847. 161 years.

This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

The Republican Party, the party of limited government, has lost its way. The government ran a $237 billion surplus in 2000, the year before Bush took office -- and recorded a $455 billion deficit in 2008. The Republicans lost control of the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 because, as we said at the time, they gave the nation rampant spending and Capitol Hill corruption. They abandoned their principles. They paid the price.

We might have counted on John McCain to correct his party's course. We like McCain. We endorsed him in the Republican primary in Illinois. In part because of his persuasion and resolve, the U.S. stands to win an unconditional victory in Iraq.

It is, though, hard to figure John McCain these days. He argued that President Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible, but he now supports them. He promises a balanced budget by the end of his first term, but his tax cut plan would add an estimated $4.2 trillion in debt over 10 years. He has responded to the economic crisis with an angry, populist message and a misguided, $300 billion proposal to buy up bad mortgages.

McCain failed in his most important executive decision. Give him credit for choosing a female running mate--but he passed up any number of supremely qualified Republican women who could have served. Having called Obama not ready to lead, McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. His campaign has tried to stage-manage Palin's exposure to the public. But it's clear she is not prepared to step in at a moment's notice and serve as president. McCain put his campaign before his country.

Funny about old Joe the Plumber...

Isn't it funny how the Republicans turn a Registered Republican into the very personification of The Undecided Voter - even though he isn't undecided? And the Liberal Media go along with it?

Fact Check: Plumber Joe's taxes

As usual, the right-wing spin is so much bullshit.

The above is by Brooke McEldowney, incidentally.
(Who does two - count'em - two cartoonist's blogs - for two cartoons).

Good

It's nice to know that Obama recognizes the danger of overconfidence:

At a breakfast fundraiser this morning, Obama used the example of the New Hampshire primary, when he lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton after a huge win in Iowa, to warn his supporters against overconfidence, Carrie Budoff Brown reports.

Otherwise, they may get "spanked," he said.

"For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky or think this is all set, I just have two words for you: New Hampshire," Mr. Obama told top contributors at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan. "I've been in these positions before when we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked."

He added, "That's another good lesson that Hillary Clinton taught me, so we want to make sure that we are closing strong, running through the tape."