And I am guessing any day now Sarah Michelle Gellar (who I love) will decide that maybe her choices of roles the last several years haven’t worked out that great and say yes to a big screen Buffy movie at last.
Watching more football and blogging about some crazy racist political imagery I took pictures of over the weekend. I’ll be writing about the sexist stuff soon as well.
Off to bed, high on Advil PM, cough suppressant, Ketel One and Ben & Jerry’s.
Taping True Blood and Entourage for Monday savoring when Tweety starts chirping at 5pm EST.
MADDOW at 9:00 tomorrow.
BO on KO at 8:00 tomorrow.
Finally. A reason to wake up.
6.
Richard Bottoms
BTW, a Buffy movie isn’t a total impossibility. Supposedly Season Eight in the comics is “Canon” but Joss himself said he’d nuke that in a minute if he got a shot a getting mback on the big screen:
As Whedon said on the panel, “many stars” would have to align — not the least of which would be a certain lead actress wanting to participate. “But if I had to shoot down everything that we’re doing in the comics because we’re doing a film,” Whedon said, “I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep over it.”
It was awesome, Desmond. I just really wish I could have heard Ian McShane say “cocksucker” in the middle of it.
9.
Phil
Since this is an open thread, here are two serious questions I’d be curious to hear an answer on from regulars here. Feel free to answer one or both:
1) In light of Charlie Rangel not declaring his home in the Dominican Republic for tax purposes, I ask the following: If not paying enough taxes IS a crime, but paying more taxes than you are required to is NOT a crime, why don’t some wealthier liberals pay more than they are required to in taxes? I could see the argument for why they wouldn’t if Republicans controlled all branches of government, but with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate now, why not pay more than your fair share of taxes? If you think taxes should be higher, why wait until it becomes law to pay that amount? Without getting too philosophical, does the existence (or non-existence) of a tax law determine “equity” according to a liberal interpretation of “justice”?
2) In light of claiming Sarah Palin is dodging interviews (even though she just agreed to an interview request), will you put pressure on the Obama campaign to do more town hall meetings with McCain as he had promised to do earlier? Will you pressure the campaign to have Joe Biden do a town hall event with Sarah Palin? I could see the argument against this before for Obama. He was ahead in the polls and had nothing to gain from doing so as they are not his strongest suit. However, now that all of today’s polls show him behind, doesn’t he have nothing to lose by doing such a format? If Palin is as dumb and horrible as you all say, wouldn’t you want her doing town hall events in front of voters, exposing how dumb and horrible she is?
I’d not asking these as a partisan, but someone genuinely curious. The second question is not even partisan at all, unless you think being for or against “town hall meetings” is somehow a left-right dynamic. Serious answers only please.
A couple of counter-serious questions for you, Phil. Since Obama went on O’Reilly’s show, when can we expect McCain to show up on Keith Olbermann’s? And why should we think you’re anything other than a partisan douchebag given the dishonesty of your questions?
12.
Phil
I’m not sure what’s partisan about my questions. Do you think it’s bad for Obama to do town hall meetings with McCain? Is it a bad idea for Biden to do the same with Palin?
13.
Richard Bottoms
Who says Sarah’s dumb?
We say she’s a smart woman who was a lousy mayor and should not be a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.
It’s not Republicans anyone thinks is dumb, just greedy. They’ve been willingly buying this kind of horseshit for 25 years, opting for greed and anti-science pandering.
No, the GOP thanks the %2 swing voters are the ones who are dumb. Dumb enough to send the very same people who caused this mess back for another four years.
“I sold it it on eBay (almost), ask me how!”
14.
Brian J
why don’t some wealthier liberals pay more than they are required to in taxes?
Let’s be clear. Nobody supports higher taxes just so more of the money of Americans is in the coffers of the government. There’s a specific purpose in mind, like paying for health insurance for people that don’t have it. I’m no expert on government accounting, but I imagine that for money to be spent in a particular way, there has to be some law mandating that money will be spent in such a manner. Thus, blindly sending more than you owe to the Treasury won’t do anything. Maybe there’s some sort of law requiring them to send it back, but it’s more likely that no one person has enough money to enact the sort of changes they’d like to see at the federal level. That requires money from many different sources.
Do you think it’s bad for Obama to do town hall meetings with McCain? Is it a bad idea for Biden to do the same with Palin?
How about town hall meetings at some of America’s colleges and universities? How would you feel about that?
16.
Porco Rosso
Right now I’m watching Skins on BBC America. (I’ll watch true blood later when it’s dark).
I’m still trying to get over the fact that they’re subtitling British dialog so that people can understand it.
17.
JL
Phil, Give it up. Last thread you were writing about Wooten not being a great character. Troopergate actually isn’t about him. She fired Monegan. She was after Wooten before she was governor and sent a complaint to the state but they could not find cause to fire him. He was suspended though. It was a he said, she said. Once governor she assumed she could order him fired. It worked when she was mayor. When it did not she fired Monegan. The problem was she abused the power of her office and she lied. I know it’s not a lie about sex but it’s still a lie. She appears to be vindictive but oh well.
I’m still trying to get over the fact that they’re subtitling British dialog so that people can understand it.
From “Snatch”:
You Brits are supposed to have invented the Queen’s fucking English, and I haven’t heard a word of it yet.
19.
Porco Rosso
Hmmm. Also trying to remember. New Robot Chicken tonight?
Anyone else going through Venture Brother’s withdrawal?
20.
Joshua Norton
I’m still trying to get over the fact that they’re subtitling British dialog so that people can understand it.
I turned on Closed Caption for BBC a long time ago. Since then I’ve found that it helps for American TV shows also. I’m amazed at how much mumbling and incoherent rambles make it out of the editing room.
Big waste of trouser treacle, or biggest waste of trouser treacle?
Operators are standing by, vote early and often.
22.
Brian J
We say she’s a smart woman who was a lousy mayor and should not be a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.
Some of the people who aren’t partisan conservatives I work with seem to be keen on Palin. They range from seemingly conservative Democrats to Independents. One, my manager, seems to be more serious than others, so I take his reactions with a little more weight than those of other people. Most of the feedback I’ve gotten seems to be that she’s an interesting woman who seems professional on television. I’m not sure of how far my manager has gone into researching her record or positions, but I’d guess it’s not very far. One of the not-so-serious guys who seems to like her claims, if I am remembering our brief conservation correctly, that she’s a serious reformer, as he called her an incredible governor.
As I learn more about her, I want to ask them a few questions. I’m not saying that she’s horribly corrupt. Hell, perhaps she could even be better than I realize. But from what I’ve seen so far, she only looks good when you compare her to other Alaskan politicians. There’s also the matter of her not having a record, not in the sense of bills passed, but having no stated opinions or set of policies on which we could evaluate her.
The last part is so important. Obama doesn’t have a particularly lengthy CV, but has a platform on which to run. Palin doesn’t. That’s why people have been digging through absurdly small-scale actions like banning library books; it’s all we have to go on.
I wonder when the conservatives are going to understand this.
23.
SGEW
I know I shouldn’t respond . . . but I can’t help it!*
. . . does the existence (or non-existence) of a tax law determine “equity” according to a liberal interpretation of “justice”?
Yes – but what is important here is the context of your question (assuming, for the nonce, that your question is: a) genuine, b) in good faith, and c) not a causus belli for a flame war). The question you are asking is a political question, not an ethical or even philosophical one. “Equity” is only defined through “justice” (which is a question of law, which is determined (ideally) through the political system. Therefore, those who philosophically/abstractly find a progressive income tax to be desirable try to shape policy (i.e., the law) to match these ideals. Ya dig?
How well this philosophy is reflected in their personal lives is a whole other question (see, e.g., Craig, Larry).
[side note: Rep. Rangel is actually my representative, and I am very disappointed and a little ashamed by the recent financial scandals. Charlie! Why’d ya have ta be so damned dumb? Dammit all. But one politician’s (as of now alleged) hypocrisy is not necessarily an indictment of an entire political philosophy. And my boy’s from Harlem, yo. We’re not actually too surprised.]
. . . will you put pressure on the Obama campaign to do more town hall meetings with McCain as he had promised to do earlier?
A valid, yet misdirected question. Category error. A town hall meeting (which Sen. Obama will, indeed, participate in come October) is analogous to a debate, not an interview.
The “when will she do a (serious!) interview” distemper has to do with vetting her, by having a legitimate, objective journalist** ask her serious questions about national and international issues and (this is the important part) following up with more questions if she makes objectively false statements.
The problem is: the public does not know what her positions are, or why she is qualified for the job. All we have to go on are her political party’s spokespeople and talking points distributed by the campaign.
Capice?
*The first step is to acknowledge that you have a problem. Is there a support group out there for troll-baiters?
**I know, right? Laugh riot.
24.
Once-ler
why don’t some wealthier liberals pay more than they are required to in taxes?
In a way, I do that. I give money to the local zoo, art museum, etc. These are owned and supported by the large city that I live near. As a resident of a suburban city, I’m not taxed for their support. I should be (these are things that benefit the whole region), but I’m not.
25.
Stuck in the Fun House
I’m not sure what’s partisan about my questions
Partisan questions are OK. Stupid ones with stupid premises are not. Your comparing Palin’s disappearance from view and scrutiny with Obama’s 20 month campaign in a fish bowl. Jesus Phil, you make my teeth hurt with your Bush League (PI) ravings. And there will be three debates which will allow Mccain to explain why he isn’t GWB even though he voted with him 90% of the Time. See we got talking points too and ours are better.
** The un-dead know only one thing. That it is better to be un-alive. Fun House Musing
26.
Brian J
I turned on Closed Caption for BBC a long time ago. Since then I’ve found that it helps for American TV shows also. I’m amazed at how much mumbling and incoherent rambles make it out of the editing room.
It’s understandable for live televison, like newscasts, but inexplicable for normal television shows. The scripts are written months in advance. What could be preventing the CC services, short of some legal issue or problem with spoilers, from having the words in advance? Why would the technology require them to type it out in real time?
27.
SGEW
See we got talking points too and ours are better.
True, but some of our slogans can use some work. “That’s not change; that’s more of the same” is not, in my opinion, a very inspired rallying call. The damned phrase requires a semi-colon to be grammatically correct, fer cryin’ out loud! How elitist is that?
28.
tomjones
What exactly would be the advantage of a town hall format v. a regular debate? Instead of moderators, people ask questions? Is that it? Whoop dee do.
One might ask conversely why, if the war in Iraq is crucial to the future of Western civilization and/or ‘a task that is from God’ as Palin described it, the Republicans haven’t been contributing voluntarily to win it.
Hey, here’s a question: how many of y’all notice a ridiculous upswing in the amount of “cut and paste” pro-McCain/Palin trolling recently? Not here, mind you: I speak of sites with much higher traffic, e.g. CNN, Yahoo, etc.
Is there any good, somewhat reliable information anyone can link to about the whole Republican trolling “industry” I’ve heard tell of? Curious.
Not you, Phil. You seem to actually write your posts out all by yourself. Kudos.
32.
Brian J
Hey, here’s a question: how many of y’all notice a ridiculous upswing in the amount of “cut and paste” pro-McCain/Palin trolling recently? Not here, mind you: I speak of sites with much higher traffic, e.g. CNN, Yahoo, etc.
If I had to guess, I’d say that formerly jaded conservatives are just coming out of the wood work because they like Palin. If campaigns are really reflections of some parts of their candidates, my guess is, a Google Bomb-style tactic isn’t going to be implemented by someone who needs help reading e-mail and refers to a search as “a Google.”
33.
Kevin
Not you, Phil. You seem to actually write your posts out all by yourself. Kudos.
Now that’s a backhanded compliment.
34.
Just Some Fuckhead
Couple serious questions since this is an open thread:
1. How does Phil keep himself so informed with his head up his ass?
2. Why does he lock his teeth into the side of his colon when you try to pull it out?
35.
Phil
How about town hall meetings at some of America’s colleges and universities? How would you feel about that?
There, happy? HTML for you. I’m quite familiar with HTML actually, as all my previous comments using HTML were done manually. I was not aware that the site had the user friendly html options already listed, so fine, i will use them more now. Anyways, moving along. No, I would not have a problem with having them at colleges and universities. I think it would be an awesome idea actually.
And I think the question still stands more than ever why Obama won’t do more town hall type meetings, given that the most recent poll shows Obama down by 10 (yes, 10) among likely voters:
In the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain leads Obama by 54%-44% among those seen as most likely to vote. The survey of 1,022 adults, including 959 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/— 3 points for both samples.
Seems like Obama should be spending more time engaging in town hall meetings and a lot less time worrying about a McCain campaign boogeyman that is questioning whether he’s a Muslim, unpatriotic because he didn’t serve in the military, or “unfamiliar” because he doesn’t show up on my nickel or quarter. McCain has never suggested any of these things, so perhaps Obama should be a little less defensive about it. It sounds kind of whiny actually. Like a “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” kind of moment.
In a way, I do that. I give money to the local zoo, art museum, etc. These are owned and supported by the large city that I live near. As a resident of a suburban city, I’m not taxed for their support. I should be (these are things that benefit the whole region), but I’m not.
While this shows consistency on your part, and you are to be applauded for that, I (and many other libertarians or conservatives) also donateto local zoos, playhouses, museums etc. However, where we differ is that we don’t think it’s right to raise other people’s taxes and empower a government entity that has the legal capability of putting you in jail if you don’t comply. Barring that government entity, this would otherwise be known as theft.
36.
Porco Rosso
Joshua,
I guess the thing that gets to me on a show like “Skins” is that the subtitling is intermittent, it’s jarring when someone else is making the decisions to switch it on and off.
37.
SGEW
Barring that government entity, this would otherwise be known as theft.
Barring that government entity, the phrase “theft” is meaningless. You know. In this millennium.
Are you familiar with the idea of what “laws” are?
38.
Phil
What exactly would be the advantage of a town hall format v. a regular debate? Instead of moderators, people ask questions? Is that it? Whoop dee do.
I didn’t suggest one had to come at the expense of the other. I was suggesting doing both. Since both the Left and Right generally disdain the media, why not bypass the media filter and let voters ask questions?
39.
Garrigus Carraig
[Lots of stuff from Phil.]
TLDR. Too lazy to send you a fail whale. Feel free to vote for John Sidney McCain III and to go away. Gbye.
40.
SGEW
Sigh. One more:
. . . worrying about a McCain campaign boogeyman that is questioning whether he’s a Muslim, unpatriotic because he didn’t serve in the military, or “unfamiliar” because he doesn’t show up on my nickel or quarter.
Sen. Obama has not said* that the John McCain himself has ever done this . . . but surely you’ve heard about a few things that have popped up on Fox News or have been spouted out of the mouths of major members of his party. This is not nickle and dime stuff (like some random DailyKos diary).
Also: have you ever heard of the phrase “deeply ingrained institutionalized racism”? Just wondering.
*Inferred, debatably, I’ll grant you.
41.
Stuck in the Fun House
And I think the question still stands more than ever why Obama won’t do more town hall type meetings, given that the most recent poll shows Obama down by 10 (yes, 10) among likely voters:
If in fact Mccain gets more votes on election day and wins the presidency, I repeat what I and others have said here many times. America will get the government it deserves and that will be that. But I wouldn’t count my Moose eggs before they hatch, as I believe it is a good thing that Obama and dems run behind in the polls for now. Maybe it will light a fire under their asses to quit playing nice with wingnuts like you.
And I think both Mcsame and the closet Muslim terrorist will be together on stage soon. Otherwise your concern for THM’s is touching there Phil. Do you get extra Mccain points for that?
42.
Kevin
Sen. Obama has not said* that the John McCain himself has ever done this . . .
There is, unfortunately, rather more evidence that another Democrat had something to do with it… Who said that Obama is not a Muslim “as far as I know”?
43.
SGEW
Even though it was a typo, I find my phrase “The John McCain” to be rather stylish.
44.
SGEW
Who said that Obama is not a Muslim “as far as I know”?
Oh jeebus, let’s not start that again.
45.
Just Some Fuckhead
Feel free to vote for John Sidney McCain III and to go away.
Right? I skim past Phil’s pages-long crap thinking how fucking out of touch do you have to be to troll websites with talking points about the stupidest shit on the planet when real people are struggling so badly in a Republican economy, we’re spending 10 billion dollars a month in Iraq with no plan to get out, Republicans have completely screwed the pooch in Afghanistan, installed incompetent anti-science Christianists in every branch of Gov’t, made an incompetent mess of everything they’ve touched except tax cuts for the super rich, helped along a meltdown of the housing sector, which is the source of most regular folks biggest investment, and presided over climate change and an energy crisis with absolutely no plan at all. In short, a reckless joyride straight to Hell.
And Phil sits in here blissfully wanking himself to Charlie Rangel outrage porn. Seriously, if ya met someone like Phil in real life would ya recognize him as a sociopath with the blackest soul imaginable or would he look like regular folks? Would he be one of those thick-glasses-wearing dudes with the one eye that isn’t really looking at you when he’s looking at you? Would he obviously be out of fucking touch with reality or would he need to speak first?
I mean, the election is real simply about do Republicans deserve to be awarded with another four year management contract after the last eight years? That’s as complicated as it gets, and yet Phil is queering every thread with nonsense designed to obscure that simple calculus. So let’s rebut his nonsense as is necessary but let’s be sure to put the situation in the clearest starkest terms possible with each exchange, whether or not Phil can bring himself to face reality.
Do Republicans deserve to be awarded another management contract after the last disastrous eight years?
Seems like Obama should be spending more time engaging in town hall meetings and a lot less time worrying about a McCain campaign boogeyman that is questioning whether he’s a Muslim, unpatriotic because he didn’t serve in the military, or “unfamiliar” because he doesn’t show up on my nickel or quarter. McCain has never suggested any of these things, so perhaps Obama should be a little less defensive about it.
Yeah, right, Phil. “McCain” didn’t say it, but his…….. aw fuck this. Life is too short.
“Trueblood” had nekkid women, and screwin’.
47.
SGEW
Also, there is not nearly enough serious debate on reform of the federal judiciary and the broken tax code. I recommend this video so that everyone can get up to speed.
In 2001, McCain’s list of spending that had been approved without the normal budget scrutiny included a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla. The Arizona senator targeted $1 million in a 2002 spending bill for an emergency communications center in town — one that local law enforcement has said is redundant and creates confusion.
McCain also criticized $450,000 set aside for an agricultural processing facility in Wasilla that was requested during Palin’s tenure as mayor and cleared Congress soon after she left office in 2002. The funding was provided to help direct locally grown produce to schools, prisons and other government institutions, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
This is golden too:
Taylor Griffin, a McCain campaign spokesman, said that when Palin became mayor in 1996, “she faced a system that was broken. Small towns like Wasilla in Alaska depended on earmarks to take care of basic needs. . . . That was something that Gov. Palin was alarmed about and was one of the formative experiences that led her toward the reform-oriented stance that she has taken as her career has progressed.”
Palin, he said, was “disgusted” that small towns like hers were dependent on earmarks.
Public records paint a different picture:
Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds — a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.
50.
Kevin
Oh jeebus, let’s not start that again.
Well, that statement did help give the whole “is he a Muslim?” crap legs that it didn’t deserve.
51.
Martin
And I think the question still stands more than ever why Obama won’t do more town hall type meetings, given that the most recent poll shows Obama down by 10 (yes, 10) among likely voters:
No crosstabs. I’d be willing to bet the party identification is 50/50 rather than the 51/38 that Pew and others are seeing as of a week ago. National polls are shit and any poll without crosstabs are shit. It’s virtually impossible that Obama could lose by 10 points with a 51/38 party identification advantage without some clearly reported issue with voters.
52.
Conservatively Liberal
Freeper Phil Says:
Am I a right wing goatfucking colostomy nozzle? Please be honest, don’t worry about hurting my feelings.
Serious answers only please.
Absofuckinglutely without a doubt. It is good to see someone who understands their place in the Universe. Very impressive.
Hmmm. Also trying to remember. New Robot Chicken tonight?
53.
Conservatively Liberal
Wrong button, CL + too many hits
Hmmm. Also trying to remember. New Robot Chicken tonight?
Yeah, actually, it did (despite the nekkid women and screwin’). I always have high hopes for Allen Ball productions, but this was a disappointment. Too bad; when Ball is good, he’s reallygood.
55.
glynor
Just finished watching True Blood and the new Entourage. I thought True Blood showed promise (and I’ll certainly give Alan Ball a chance). Entourage…. Don’t like the suited-up E. Hope they keep up the quality there.
Mclatchy has a good expose on the MCcain history of rage outbursts. God help us and the world if this crazy fucker gets his hands on the Nuclear Football.
58.
Garrigus Carraig
That “Oke” was a link to a Fail-Whale.
59.
Stuck in the Fun House
But in case MCcain goes postal, then at least we’ll have the level headed services of one Sarah Palin to bring things under control
**an Idiot in hand, is worth two in the Bush.
60.
Stuck in the Fun House
From the Anchorage Daily News.
State paid for trip when Palin told students to pray for pipeline
Gov. Sarah Palin used state funds in June when she traveled from Juneau to Wasilla to speak to graduating evangelical students and urge them to fan out through Alaska “to make sure God’s will be done here.”
Boy, I can’t wait till she can do this for the whole country.
61.
SGEW
But in case MCcain goes postal, then at least we’ll have the level headed services of one Sarah Palin to bring things under control.
Yikes.
McCain: Aggressive, unpredictable military engagements and disastrous economic policies.
Palin: Mega-Klepocracy and SCOTUS appointments that will make J. Scalia look like Richard Dawkins.
Y’know, I’m not exactly sure which would be worse.
62.
SGEW
I just realized:
M.C. Cain
Bringing tha house(s) down,yo! Got more rhymes than a master got slav(shut yo’ mouth!).
John McCain can have town hall meetings with no problem, sure. I’m sure that Obama would love to have town-hall meetings, but where’s the town hall big enough to hold all the crowds who want to go see him?
65.
Phil
I mean, the election is real simply about do Republicans deserve to be awarded with another four year management contract after the last eight years? That’s as complicated as it gets, and yet Phil is queering every thread with nonsense designed to obscure that simple calculus. So let’s rebut his nonsense as is necessary but let’s be sure to put the situation in the clearest starkest terms possible with each exchange, whether or not Phil can bring himself to face reality.
Do Republicans deserve to be awarded another management contract after the last disastrous eight years?
The problem with your analysis is you’re assuming: Bush is very disliked, ergo Democrats are popular. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bush may not be popular, but that doesn’t make the Democrats popular. In fact, Democrats in Congress are a LOT less popular than he is..
The majority party may be celebrating in Denver this week, but the percentage of voters who give the Democratic-dominated Congress good or excellent ratings has once again fallen to single digits.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just nine percent (9%) of Likely Voters give Congress positive ratings, while 51% say it’s doing a poor job.
Congressional ratings first hit nine percent (9%) back at the beginning of July, marking the lowest ratings recorded by Rasmussen Reports. Ratings hit the same low two weeks later. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of this year.
Considering that the Democrats control 2 of the 3 branches of government right now, it’s a hard sell to say Republicans control the government and are entirely responsible for a poor economy. The Democrats response to the oil crisis (Obama’s “I only wish they hadn’t gone up so fast”) has been non-existent and they are paying a very big price for it.
The poor economy is a result of many things – a simultaneous housing shock, a credit crisis, and an oil shock, among other smaller reasons – and the public does not place all the blame on the Republicans. When the Democrats took over Congress promising the most ethical Congress ever, they quickly became just as corrupt as the Republicans had and seemed callous to the impact that rising gas prices were having on average citizens. “Screw you, you SUV driving suburban mom. Move to a f*cking city next time” is not a way to win elections.
To claim the Democrats have been wonderful stewards of the economy is to ignore the fact that the bodies of government they control have a single digit approval rating among the general public. Dismiss me away as a partisan if you want, but those numbers speak pretty loudly.
I think the liberal boogeyman of George W. Bush (ironically I think you’ll miss having him to excuse away your party’s own misdeeds and failures) hides the fact that the Democratic party isn’t doing so hot right now either.
Considering that the Democrats control 2 of the 3 branches of government right now, it’s a hard sell to say Republicans control the government and are entirely responsible for a poor economy.
The Democrats have majorities in the two houses of Congress. That’s only the Legislative branch of the government. The super-majority needed to pass bills in the Senate effectively keeps the Democrats from controlling it.
67.
SGEW
Bah. Respond to rebuttals or take a break, Phil. Throwing one hand grenade of bad RNC talking points after another into the thread without apparently even reading others’ responses is bad form.
In other words: either have a debate, troll in a more interesting and/or entertaining manner, or begone.
68.
d0n Camillo
Dennis,
I think Phil means that we also control the Supreme Court. I know that might be news to Antonin Scalia, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas.
69.
Phil
The Democrats have majorities in the two houses of Congress. That’s only the Legislative branch of the government. The super-majority needed to pass bills in the Senate effectively keeps the Democrats from controlling it.
Yes, my apologies. However, while the Supreme Court has a higher approval than does Congress and the Executive, it is still a Supreme Court that sought to destroy private property rights in its Keller decision. A conservative or libertarian court would has laughed that case out of the building and probably de-barred the lawyer who had the audacity to even bring it up.
70.
Martin
The Democrats have majorities in the two houses of Congress. That’s only the Legislative branch of the government. The super-majority needed to pass bills in the Senate effectively keeps the Democrats from controlling it.
He’s talking about the liberal Supreme Court, 7 of 9 of which were appointed by Republicans.
Heads up, this comment from the previous thread should probably be deleted. No snark.
73.
patroclus
Obama has been holding town hall meetings all year – or maybe y’all don’t remember when the Republican troll went apeshit about the Pledge of Allegiance (in Ohio) or the vet question (in Virginia) or the Economic Town Hall (in NM). To assert that he hasn’t is just the usual Republican lies. Even Biden has held townhalls (in Iowa). But not Palin.
Moreover, the Republicans control the executive branch and 7 of the 9 justices on the USSC were appointed by Republicans. And, they have 49 votes in the Senate, which is enough to stop/filibuster everything (but the budget), so they effectively control the legislative branch too. Did Phil ever take Civics??
74.
matt
Ok, I suck. Carry on.
75.
SGEW
Did Phil ever take Civics?
This is an excellent, excellent question.
I suggest that we vet Phil.
76.
patroclus
Actually, Phil might indeed be a better V-P candidate than Governor Palin. At least he talks to Americans!!
77.
oh really
Comment on much of the tread above:
The only thing dumber than **** is people who waste bandwidth talking to and about him.
Next —
Dennis – SGMM Says: The super-majority needed to pass bills in the Senate effectively keeps the Democrats from controlling it.
That’s true, but the sad thing is that when the Republicans had the majority in the Senate, the need for a super-majority didn’t keep them from controlling it. What’s wrong with that picture?
The Democrats definitely need to get a reliable cushion in the Senate, but they are unlikely to get a filibuster-proof majority. That means that with McCain/Palin in the White House the Republicans will continue to effectively run the show.
JSF has spent a lot of time criticizing the way Democrats run their presidential campaigns. While I agree that they run terrible campaigns, and don’t agree that the secret to success is to be just like Republicans, it definitely does appear that Obama has gotten a hold of The Democrat’s Sacred Book of Losing Big Elections. I wish someone would burn it, but it keeps reappearing.
If either Obama or Biden ever wastes valuable campaign time again telling the world what a great guy McCain is, I may start thinking maybe I should vote for that lying, incompetent idiot myself.
There are less than three weeks until the first debate. That will give us an opportunity to see if Obama has any interest (or chance) in winning the election. Unless he completely revamps his Q&A performance, he’s going to get eaten alive by McCain. I can’t believe how many Democrats equate Obama’s speech making ability with debate skill. He sucks in debates and he’s shown no ability to improve. McCain will likely go into the first debate a huge underdog (because idiots handicap these things). Then, Obama will hem and haw his way around questions that he’s heard a million times before, while McCain will speak in simplistic black and white certainty. Result: A huge win for McCain.
One of the things I want in a president is the ability to adapt. I’m still waiting for Obama to show it, and I fear I’ll still be waiting on November 5.
The VP debate could be even worse.
Someday it’s going to dawn on Democrats that Rick Davis is right — the election isn’t about issues. That was true in 2000 and 2004 as well, when Democrats had a significant advantage over Republicans on the issues and still lost elections they should have won easily. 2000 gets an asterisk, but the sad truth is Bush shouldn’t have been close enough to allow the Republicans to steal the election.
So, JSF is right that the Democrats have to change their tactics dramatically (not falling all over McCain with praise would be a good place to begin). Obama ran a smart campaign against Clinton, but he’s in the big time now and he and his campaign seem to be clueless.
I weep for this country.
78.
patroclus
I wonder if Phil would close down GITMO and the worldwide gulag, I wonder if Phil believes in following the Geneva Conventions; I wonder if Phil favored the stunning level of corruption in the Abramoff and related scandals, and I wonder whether Phil would take bribes like Cunningham and Ney (and Young and Stevens)?; would Phil have authored the Yoo memos; does Phil think Secretary Rumsfeld did a good job?…
If Governor Palin won’t answer questions, maybe Phil will!
79.
Ash Can
I understand that this Phil guy is just a troll/spoof/random manure-flinger/whatever, but there seem to be an awful lot of people who apparently really do think this way:
In light of claiming Sarah Palin is dodging interviews (even though she just agreed to an interview request)…If Palin is as dumb and horrible as you all say, wouldn’t you want her doing town hall events in front of voters…blah, blah, blah…
In other words, we’re all wrong for believing that Palin is intentionally avoiding the news media.
My own personal take? I’m betting that Palin herself isn’t afraid of the press at all. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s champing at the bit to spout off to anyone and everyone with a microphone and credentials–and that every GOP operative from Boston to San Diego is blanching at the thought of it. Sarah Palin is Betty Loren-Maltese with a face lift, no more and no less, and nobody would understand this better than Barack Obama. Once the post-convention bumps settle out and the debates (as opposed to hand-picked-audience/planted-question town hall meetings) begin, the vast army of independent/undecided voters will start to get a good look at who and what the candidates really are. Color me guardedly optimistic.
80.
Liberaltarian
This fighting with obvious trolls is all pretty much a hand job anyway. Republicans plan to prevail in the election the old-fashioned way. They plan to steal it.
I wonder if Phil would close down GITMO and the worldwide gulag, I wonder if Phil believes in following the Geneva Conventions; I wonder if Phil favored the stunning level of corruption in the Abramoff and related scandals, and I wonder whether Phil would take bribes like Cunningham and Ney (and Young and Stevens)?; would Phil have authored the Yoo memos; does Phil think Secretary Rumsfeld did a good job?…
If Governor Palin won’t answer questions, maybe Phil will!
McCain has already said he would close Gitmo. McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars. McCain appointed Palin as his VP who doesn’t exactly have the greatest relationship with Young or Stevens. And McCain was the one who kept calling for Rumsfeld’s ouster before it happened.
Meanwhile, Obama couldn’t point to a hint of corruption in his own party, even though he’s from CHICAGO. Do you see anything wrong with that? Have you not heard of the Daley Machine?
As for Palin and the VP debates – if her performance in the debate for Governor of Alaska are any indication, she will do just fine. In fact, she will do more than fine. Biden should be worried.
83.
Ash Can
Excellent point, Liberaltarian. This can’t be stressed enough: Folks, MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN FACT ON YOUR PRECINCT’S VOTERS’ LIST, especially if you’ve moved or changed your name since the last time you voted. If there’s any uncertainty whatsoever about your status on election day, make sure you BRING VALID ID with you to your polling place in the event you need to resort to casting a provisional ballot. I’m sure there are posters here who are better versed in this issue and can correct/add to this info, but the basic issue is awfully important.
I yell because I care.
84.
Martin
JSF has spent a lot of time criticizing the way Democrats run their presidential campaigns. While I agree that they run terrible campaigns, and don’t agree that the secret to success is to be just like Republicans, it definitely does appear that Obama has gotten a hold of The Democrat’s Sacred Book of Losing Big Elections. I wish someone would burn it, but it keeps reappearing.
What a lot of people fail to respect is that if Democrats campaigned like Republicans there’d be a lot fewer Democrats. It’s a catch-22 to a certain degree.
What I think Obama/Biden are doing now is the right strategy and I think they are prepared to take advantage of the benefits of that strategy.
The Democrats, simply due to the values that Democratic voters hold, need to build a positive coalition and mobilize it. That’s what they are doing – and I think the mobilization is there. Gore and Kerry quite simply failed to mobilize the party.
Republicans, simply due to the values that Republican voters hold, need to reaffirm their coalition by drawing any and all contrasts with the opposition and then to mobilize them. Bush did a good job of that. McCain hasn’t yet – and Palin will help but not enough.
What many people are calling for is for Obama to reaffirm Democrats through contrast. Well, many Democrats aren’t interested in contrast – they’re interested in unity and deliberate efforts to draw contrast between Americans is distasteful. Democrats never complained about ‘flyover country’ – that was a fiction by Rush and Rove to draw that contrast. Indiscriminate oil drilling isn’t an inherently conservative position, but it’s a position opposed by Democrats so the contrast move is to call for it at all costs so you get a convention of Republicans calling to drill not because it would help anything, but because it pisses Democrats off.
Now, the problem that Democrats have had in the past is that they aren’t taking that less aggressive message and using it to get Democratic voters out to talk to their neighbors and get voters to the polls. Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans in 2000 and 2004. The election was largely decided by Republicans simply being more responsible voters. That’s it – they were more likely to vote than Democrats. That’s very unlikely to be the case this year. Democrats have been mobilized to register more Democrats. They’ve turned out primary voters in unprecedented numbers. That’s why the polling has been so bad – there are no reliable models. Every time you hear someone talk about Palin or Biden or whoever ‘mobilizing the base’ what you’re really talking about is a shift to the voting % within registered voters. Well, if you have that going on, then you just broke the polls that operated on the previous turnout numbers. And that’s why the polls suck so hard – they bear absolutely no relationship to what will happen on Nov 4.
You remember all the argument over polling accuracy for the Democratic primaries? Zogby sucks, Gallup is good, whatever. Do you know who was far-and-away the most accurate? Who predicted virtually every single winner as well as the delegate spread from Super Tuesday on out? Obama did – his leaked spreadsheet was almost dead on in every race – even 2 months out from the primary, even with the Wright controversy coming unexpectedly. I watched it closely and his pledged delegate predictions were within 1% of what he actually got virtually the entire way through the primaries.
The reason was that Obama was able to accurately predict and then influence turnout district by district. Go back and compare Obama’s spreadsheet to the actual results and then look at the pollsters. It’s no contest. They all fucked up the turnout model because they had no historical basis to work from. Obama didn’t pummel Clinton – he didn’t go heavily negative on her, he won the nomination with boots on the ground – millions of them. That’s how you win. The other stuff doesn’t change many minds – but it gets people off their sofa to volunteer and to vote for their guy.
Obama is running a radically different campaign than we’ve seen in decades by Democrats, but y’all keep not seeing it. It looks a LOT more like Bush’s in 2000 by mobilizing that base and then feeding them what they want. Ignore the damn polls – they’re never right.
85.
Adrienne
A conservative or libertarian court
You HAVE to be joking!!! How you can call it a liberal court when 7/9 Justices were appointed by REPUBLICAN presidents is fucking beyond me. I find it ironic how Republicans rail against the court that THEY put together – actually calling it liberal! How a court with Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas can be called liberal is a serious mystery.
86.
Martin
McCain has already said he would close Gitmo. McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars. McCain appointed Palin as his VP who doesn’t exactly have the greatest relationship with Young or Stevens. And McCain was the one who kept calling for Rumsfeld’s ouster before it happened.
McCain has already said he wouldn’t call to overturn Roe v Wade. McCain stood up to the Bush administration and called for them to end torture. McCain opposed the insertion of evangelical pastors into the Republican party and American politics.
McCain says and does a lot of things that he completely changes course on months or scant years later without explanation. It makes it difficult to take him seriously on anything. Has he given any explanation for his evolution on RvW? How do you know he won’t evolve back on a whim? McCain isn’t fucking over Democrats, he’s fucking over Republicans and Republicans are so intent on winning that they don’t realize it.
87.
Phil
McCain has already said he wouldn’t call to overturn Roe v Wade. McCain stood up to the Bush administration and called for them to end torture. McCain opposed the insertion of evangelical pastors into the Republican party and American politics.
McCain says and does a lot of things that he completely changes course on months or scant years later without explanation. It makes it difficult to take him seriously on anything. Has he given any explanation for his evolution on RvW? How do you know he won’t evolve back on a whim? McCain isn’t fucking over Democrats, he’s fucking over Republicans and Republicans are so intent on winning that they don’t realize it.
Actually a lot of people think Roe v. Wade should be overturned as I say this as a more libertarian minded and pro-choice person.
Do I want abortion to be made illegal?
No.
Do I think Roe v. Wade passes muster as a Constitutional ruling?
No.
Are there any Constitutional scholars, liberal or conservative, left anymore who argue Roe v. Wade was decided correctly on Constitutional grounds?
Also no.
You do realize Roe v. Wade doesn’t make abortion illegal don’t you? It simply takes the issue out of the federal government’s hands (where it never belonged to begin with) and gives it to the states.
OMG! What about those radical red-states?!? Well South Dakota, a state as red as they come, had a ballot measure on abortion in 2006 and it lost pretty badly, 56-44. So much for that.
So much has been made about the overthrow of Roe v. Wade as if it’s overturning is a sign of the apocalypse. In fact, it simply returns the issue of abortion back to the states, where it belongs. If a pro-life amendment loses badly in South Dakota, overturning Roe v. Wade isn’t going to affect the country in any meaningful or significant way, other than to highlight why federalism is not such a bad thing.
88.
Ash Can
Obama couldn’t point to a hint of corruption in his own party, even though he’s from CHICAGO. Do you see anything wrong with that? Have you not heard of the Daley Machine?
Actually, Phil, Senator McCain never called for Rumsfeld’s ouster – you are blatantly lying. In fact, Governor Palin was involved with Senator Stevens’ 527 and co-operated with him while both were supporting the Bridge to Nowhere. The U.S. Attorney(s) were/are responsible for putting the numerous Republicans in jail for their stunning level of bribery and corruption; not Senator McCain (yet another Civics lecture seems in order); and McCain’s position on Gitmo remains unclear due to his support of the Military Commissions Act which, in addition to allowing torture and attempting to destroy habeus corpus, also legitimized the military commissions being held at Gitmo.
I live in Chicago. I would bet that I am more aware of the local issues here than you.
Do you lie all the time??!! Is there nothing that you will not lie about??!! Seriously, dude, virtually everything you have said on this thread is not accurate. Do you think that that method of argumaentation is convincing in any way?
90.
Phil
News flash: Barack Obama is a politician. Rather than make a shitload of enemies and get frozen out as the outsider he was, he used the Chicago machine to hone his political chops. Anyone who can learn that quickly how to game the Chicago machine and then go on to beat the Clinton machine in the presidential primaries obviously knows how to crank the handle of that big, ugly sausage-making machine known as representative government.
Are you actually trying to spin this as a positive trait? I can imagine the ad for that one.
“Before I got to the Illinois State Senate, I was just another guy like you. But due to my charisma, wit and charm, I was able to grease the system to make it work for me. And because I learned how to play ball with the corrupt cronies in Chicago, I was able to use them to leverage my run to US Senate all the way to the Presidential race. If I can make the Daley Machine politics work for me as fast as I have, imagine what kind of corruption I can get away with as your President!
I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”
Somehow I don’t think that’s going to fly so well.
91.
patroclus
Actually, Phil, a number of constitutional scholars at the law school I teach at do indeed support Roe v. Wade’s constitutional basis. They’ve even written about it in legal journals. Are you seriously contending that NO constitutional scholar supports Roe v. Wade??!! This is plainly not true. Yet again I ask, is there nothing that you will not lie about??!!
92.
patroclus
Ashcan, indeed, what Chicago politicians need to do if they wish to have long-term success is avoid any whiff of corruption – that Obama has navigated that particular minefield is to his immense credit.
93.
Martin
Actually a lot of people think Roe v. Wade should be overturned as I say this as a more libertarian minded and pro-choice person…
You do realize Roe v. Wade doesn’t make abortion illegal don’t you? It simply takes the issue out of the federal government’s hands (where it never belonged to begin with) and gives it to the states.
Of course I realize that. But you deliberately evade the point that McCain a few years ago argued that overturning it was a bad thing and now has turned into a cheerleader to overturn it. How can you put McCain’s promises up as measure of anything when he changes his views without explanation. I have no problem whose views change – Sen. Byrd for instance has changed his views on race quite radically and he will willingly explain what led to those views changing and how that happened. Has McCain explained his changing views?
I’m neither arguing for or against RvW. I’m simply pointing out that your candidate offers no credibility on one side or the other of the debate. He offers no credibility on the role of faith in politics or torture or oil drilling or a host of other issues that he has clearly reversed position on without explanation. Saying he’d close Gitmo carries as much weight as saying he opposes torture considering that he voted to continue waterboarding. And you can’t argue that he doesn’t understand the distinction because he himself has claimed he was tortured using methods that the US government does not classify as torture. So either he’s hypocritical on this point or he’s a liar.
This isn’t a debate about RvW. It’s a debate on whether McCain is credible on any issue that he takes a stand on. Explain why anyone, especially a conservative, should trust him.
94.
Rome Again
why don’t some wealthier liberals people pay more than they are required to in taxes?
They do, they are called Philanthropists, and they contribute to causes that they feel are helpful to society, thereby taxing themselves and putting the money to use in areas that help others, and lessen the need for taxes to be raised for those purposes.
These people are not all liberals, although a fair amount of liberals who are less than wealthy have a tendency to do such works as well. This is all in keeping with the traditions of the Democratic belief that ‘I am my brother’s keeper’. This philosophy is completely at odds with the Republican belief that your money is your own and anyone who has less than you needs to pull up his own bootstraps to be as successful. I’m sorry that your side doesn’t seem to feel the need to care for others as the “liberals” do.
95.
Rome Again
McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars.
Yes, I understand Abramoff is singing like a bird, writing a book and laying the blame for much of what he was accused of at McCain’s feet. It seems common that the most bitter of enemies are made in relationships between two people who shared trust while involved in whichever activities they were both involved. When that trust is broken, someone feels betrayed. Why am I not surprised?
96.
Rome Again
McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars.
Yes, I understand Abramoff is singing like a bird, writing a book and laying the blame for much of what he was accused of at McCain’s feet. It seems common that the most bitter of enemies are made in relationships between two people who shared trust while involved in whichever activities they were both a part of. When that trust is broken, someone feels betrayed. Why am I not surprised?
97.
Rome Again
Sorry for the double post. :(
98.
Phil
This is all in keeping with the traditions of the Democratic belief that ‘I am my brother’s keeper’.
The Telegraph (via Drudge) reports that Italian Vanity Fair has located one of Barack Obama’s several half-brothers, George, in a hut on the outskirts of Nairobi:
Embarrassed by his penury, he said that he does not does not mention his famous half-brother in conversation.
“If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed,” he said.
They’ve only met on two occasions in their whole lives. This story definitely makes us want to read Obama’s book about his father, a man who had one son who is running for president of the United States and another living off of one dollar a month in an African shack.
Perhaps it won’t be there when you click on the link, but there is actually an ad for people to donate to Obama’s campaign on that very page right now! In light of your comments, that may be the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen.
99.
oh really
Explain why anyone, especially a conservative, should trust him.
Conservatives trust him because they have no choice. They want the power and he’s their only way to get it. When he chose Palin, he sent a thunderous signal to the base. Most presidential candidates more or less ignore the party platform; McCain has gone out of his way to support its most right wing aspects.
Bush gave many Republicans lots of reasons to dislike him. His incompetence was obvious to any but the most ideologically blind. But if Bush could run again this year, you would see the base rallying behind him just like they did in the past. And he’d probably successfully make his case to them that he is the change candidate.
Conservatives also know that on some issues — war for example — McCain is likely to be even more reliably bellicose than Bush.
Martin, what do you really think McCain’s first Supreme Court nominee will look like? A moderate (in any way)? Or yet another doctrinaire right wing judicial thug? Conservatives will do to any perceived moderate choice what they did to Miers. And having succeeded in killing the Miers nomination, they will be even more ready to do battle on another nominee perceived to be too moderate. McCain wouldn’t dare go there. Once he’s got the Oval Office his only goal will be to consolidate and expand his power. The maverick will be gone forever.
You don’t trust McCain. I don’t trust McCain. But it pisses me off when a Democrat is a hypocrite. It doesn’t seem to bother Republicans at all when one of their own changes positions any number of times as long as the current position is acceptable.
You could spend the next sixty days laying out one rational argument after another for why conservatives shouldn’t trust McCain and no matter how much incontrovertible evidence you presented, I don’t think you’d convince a single conservative of the rightness of your position.
On the other hand, you could spend ten minutes with an undecided/independent voter and with a single emotionally charged argument you could persuade him or her to vote for McCain.
It’s always going to be difficult for Democrats to win given the reality in this country. T. Jefferson would be appalled.
100.
firebrand
Phil:
You, sir, are truly a fucking idiot.
Go take your pro-McCain/Palin trolling elsewhere. You’re not going to win any converts here.
101.
Ash Can
One more cookie thrown to what’s-his-name and then I’m calling it a night (yeah, I know, feeding trolls and all, but I’ve reached my bullshit limit, and I’m having fun besides).
Let’s at least get real here: Working with corrupt politicians does not automatically equal being corrupt oneself. Furthermore, I know this may be impossible for some people to believe, but not all Chicago politicians/political workers are criminals. Finally, do you really think that Obama’s–or any politician’s–ability to persuade other people, corrupt or clean, to work and cooperate with him is a bad thing? It’s the bottom line of effective politics, for crap’s sake. I remember a time when Republicans–even Richard Nixon, at times–were good at that too. I miss those people.
As another Chicagoan once said, politics ain’t beanbag. So when purists clutch their pearls and howl about this city’s perceived corruption (and God knows we’ve cornered the market on it; Phoenix and Juneau and Wasilla, e.g., are SO squeaky clean), I find it really, really hard to keep a straight face.
102.
Conservatively Liberal
Freeper Phil is a button pusher here and that is it. Nothing productive, always vapid and a waste of time to respond to. He is only looking to get a few goats and that is all. You are better off slamming your head in your car door, repeatedly, than wasting time responding to that waste.
He is busy here polishing his turd, but I have to admit it is cute to watch the little bugger work so hard at it. It’s almost like he enjoys doing it, but deep down inside he knows that it is all for naught.
Maybe the crowd chanting “N B C” when Palin was talking about media bias during the convention paid off?
One less reason to watch MSNBC now.
104.
Rome Again
Um, sorry to get in the way of your high and mighty speech, but do you REALLY wanna go there?
Yes, I do actually.
While I agree that there is a half brother out there and I’m not sure of all the circumstances, at least Barack Obama admits that half-brother exists, which is more than I can say for Cindy McCain’s half-sisters, even going so far as to call herself “an only child” at her father’s funeral.
Careful which can of worms you open, you may find some that jump out and get on you as well.
105.
Rome Again
Oh, btw, the difference between Barack’s half-brother and Cindy’s half-sisters? Barack Obama didn’t inherit millions. This is all about greed, and Cindy Hensley McCain just wanted to make sure she got all the money and not anyone else.
I suppose you think Barack Obama should have brought George to the U.S.? Who are you to make that call? Can you tell me you know all the circumstances surrounding that situation and know for a fact it would be welcomed gesture by all concerned?
George Obama’s circumstances are shitty, I grant you that; but we are talking about someone who lives in Kenya. The best way to change that situation is not to give him some money to make his life better (that wouldn’t change anything but make him a target of all those around him who also have little to live on), the best way is to change the world and make everyone there better off.
With Barack Obama as president, and the message of hope that he gives to me, those like me, and the world at large, he can make positive changes. He can make the changes that could make George’s life better.
There is no help for Cindy McCain’s half-sisters. They are disowned, permanently, due to greed. I sure hope you are proud of the choice your candidate’s wife made. I’m not.
I saw a report on CNN regarding this and thought I remembered him saying things weren’t so bad, and I had to hunt for it, but I found it.
You not only have to own a millionairess and candidate’s wife who disowned her father’s other daughter and refused to share her inheritance with her (and not even acknowledging her mother’s own first child as well), you now also have to own the link to a dispelled story. Congratulations, Republicans are always such sinister beings… I should know, I grew up surrounded by them.
107.
Stuck in the Fun House
Dear Phil.
Obama’s half brother has been reading your vapid missives about him and offers you a response.
From Times Online – Life is good in my Nairobi slum, says Barack Obama’s younger brother
He said that he was furious at subsequent reports that he had been abandoned by the Obama family and that he was filled with shame about living in a slum. “It seems there are people who want to destroy me and my family,” he said.
“They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don’t want my brother to win.” He said that he was supported by his mother, Jael, who now lives in the US, and by a cousin in Huruma.
he also says American Wingnuts are miserable wankers.
You could spend the next sixty days laying out one rational argument after another for why conservatives shouldn’t trust McCain and no matter how much incontrovertible evidence you presented, I don’t think you’d convince a single conservative of the rightness of your position.
My argument is quite simple:
– Iraq;
– Katrina;
– Mortgage/financial crisis.
And if I could only have one, the mortgage/financial crisis will do nicely, thank you. The GOP owns this one. Google “Commodities Futures Modernization Act mortgage” and read about Phil Gramm’s little project. We’ll all be much poorer after we bail out Fannie and Freddie (let’s just hope that the boat will still stay afloat). It’s the greatest act of fiduciary irresponsibility in decades.
When you fail this badly, you go sit on the bench for a while and let others have a shot. For John McCain to campaign as a reformer is laughable.
109.
oh really
Freeper **** is a button pusher here and that is it. Nothing productive, always vapid and a waste of time to respond to.
So, why do so many people respond to it. Ignore it. It will go away.
Trolls make life more interesting. But as I told my friend whose fundie mother believes Obama is a Muslim and wants to take over the world with radical Muslim extremism, anyone who is going to vote for/troll for McCain or any republican at this point is beyond reach or reason. To play or not to play, that is the question.
111.
oh really
My argument is quite simple: – Iraq; – Katrina; – Mortgage/financial crisis.
Conservative response?
Iraq? It’s over. We won.
Katrina? Forgotten after the Telethon for Gustav.
Mortgage Crisis? Only a fiscal conservative like John McCain can address this problem. He’ll kick ass. End of story. The mortgage/financial crisises were caused by earmarks. Get rid of them (and any regulations still kicking around) and this whole problem goes away. Side benefit — we balance the budget.*
Like I said, rational arguments are not going to put a dent into the Conservatives’ impenetrable shield of intellectual dishonesty, ideological fervor, and of course, the indisputable fact that Democrats hate America.
*This is the level of stupidity one hears when talking to conservatives. Reason is less useful with them than antibiotics are against viruses.
Besides who wants reason when you can have McCain and “Country First — Reform — Prosperity — Peace”
Since Sarah is his “soulmate,” I suggest we simply refer to the two of them as “McPain.”
McPAIN — Bend Over America!
112.
Xenos
George Obama’s circumstances are shitty, I grant you that; but we are talking about someone who lives in Kenya. The best way to change that situation is not to give him some money to make his life better (that wouldn’t change anything but make him a target of all those around him who also have little to live on), the best way is to change the world and make everyone there better off.
Last I heard on the George Obama front is that he was trying to scrape together some money so he could pay tuition at a technical college and then be employable as a high-skilled worker. That sounds like a reasonable enough project, and his family, no doubt, is finding a way to do that for him.
That leaves a few million other people in Kenya’s slums who, though poor, live with more dignity and who are worthy of far more respect and regard than any 100 shit-eating Republican party activists, consultants, or delegates.
113.
Rome Again
We’ll all be much poorer after we bail out Fannie and Freddie (let’s just hope that the boat will still stay afloat). It’s the greatest act of fiduciary irresponsibility in decades.
(*link posted from a website newsletter that I receive)
114.
4tehlulz
Paulson should have just put it on his Visa; after all, this is pretty much just a balance transfer scheme with A LOW INTRODUCTORY RATE OF 1.9% which get jacked to 69.69% after six months.
115.
peach flavored shampoo
McCain up 54-44% in new poll.
Say hello to our hottest VP in the history of the US.
116.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
McCain’s convention bounce finally kicked in. EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
117.
oh really
McCain up 54-44% in new poll.
Relax. That lead will disappear when the American people start concentrating on the issues.
I can’t believe I wrote that. Maybe this is better:
Relax. That lead will disappear when Obama convinces the American people that he likes and respects John McCain more than any other human being in the world.
Nope. It’s still missing something. How about:
Relax. That lead will disappear when PIGS FLY.
Perfect.
118.
oh really
Incidentally, the day Pigs Fly is the same day the American people will start paying attention to the issues.
119.
4tehlulz
I call bullshit on that Gallup poll. How can two different polls taken over the same period have him up 3 and 10 points simultaneously?
Nate at 538 unpacks some of the bizarre internals with it too.
120.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Relax. That lead will disappear when PIGS FLY.
Yeah, it wasn’t as if this is the first time since Obama won the nomination that McCain took the lead. Or that it coincides with McCain’s convention bounce.
Oh. Wait. I’m inserting reason into the annual Progressive Blog Pity Party(tm). What am I thinking!? EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
McCain’s lead will only grow. Insiders are saying that Palin returned to Alaska in order to shoot someone in the face, thus demonstrating once and for all her qualifications to be Vice-President.
122.
Xenos
Incidentally, the day Pigs Fly is the same day the American people will start paying attention to the issues.
Now that the Bush administration has pretty much nationalized the home-lending industry, you might think they would start to pay attention soon.
123.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Elsewhere, Rasmussen has the post-Convention bounce at McCain 48, Obama 47. EVERYBODY panic… ?
124.
oh really
EVERYBODY PANIC
Of course, it’s too early to panic. And the ten point lead does seem suspect. Still, given what an incredibly boring and negative affair the Republican Convention was, it’s pretty striking that the American people are stupid enough to give McCain a bounce because of Palin. Apparently, they’re eating Palin mythology for breakfast and asking for seconds.
One thing that should make us all relax. Palin is going to be interrogated by Charles “The Human Waterboard” Gibson. He’ll rip her apart. And when the interview is over, I expect to know everything there is to know about Palin’s beauty pageant career.
Who could have predicted that media corporations would be eager to placate the Republicans?
Every day they seem to be less media, and more corporation.
126.
GSD
Americans gave Richard Nixon a landslide over McGovern.
-GSD
127.
Kilkee
I think we should stop having arguments with Phil about Roe v. Wade or any other legal issues. When the guy suggests in one of his early comments that a lawyer might be “de-barred” for making an eminent domain argument, well, I think you can pretty much guess what his level of legal training is. Or is not.
128.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Still, given what an incredibly boring and negative affair the Republican Convention was, it’s pretty striking that the American people are stupid enough to give McCain a bounce because of Palin. Apparently, they’re eating Palin mythology for breakfast and asking for seconds.
Don’t believe the hype. Rasmussen has McCain by +1. Read some Nate Silver. It’s all good.
Americans gave Richard Nixon a landslide over McGovern.
And they also voted in Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. So?
129.
Martin
Martin, what do you really think McCain’s first Supreme Court nominee will look like? A moderate (in any way)? Or yet another doctrinaire right wing judicial thug? Conservatives will do to any perceived moderate choice what they did to Miers. And having succeeded in killing the Miers nomination, they will be even more ready to do battle on another nominee perceived to be too moderate. McCain wouldn’t dare go there. Once he’s got the Oval Office his only goal will be to consolidate and expand his power. The maverick will be gone forever.
I agree it will be to consolidate and expand his power, since that’s been the basis for all of his policy shifting lately – he realized he needed the GWB wing of the party to win in 2008 and moved accordingly. But if he gets into office, who can say what path he sees for himself going forward. Honestly, when you have someone with no clear principles other than ‘I want to win’ you can’t predict what political calculus they’ll do in their head.
I mean, look back 4 years and someone seriously tell me that McCain would have picked someone like Palin as his running mate. There’s no saying what direction he’ll go in over the next 4 years. Republicans that think he’ll look out for their interests are delusional. I think the big GOP pundits were right to be pissed off when he won. Too bad that didn’t last more than 12 hours before the knobsloberring started.
McGovern took a dive because he wasn’t really representing the Democratic party, just voters.
I think what’s happening is one of two things- either McCain is too ‘maverick’ to really be in tune with the Republican party, and he’s being set up to fail- or they figure they can run with him, and they are trying to set up expectations so they can CHEAT like maniacs, squeak out a narrow victory thanks to massive, massive fraud, and then go ‘what? We predicted he’d win by a few points, because shut up’.
131.
binzinerator
Here’s Palin’s family values for ya: Palin didn’t tell her husband for three days her baby has DS, and then never told anyone else, not even her own kids. Apparently even immediately after the baby was delivered they didn’t say anything because it was her 14-year-old daughter Willow who noticed. “He looks like he has Down syndrome”, she said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Why not, indeed. I think she believed news of her pregnancy would harm her political prospects. As would having a DS newborn to care for. No abortion-no exceptions is possibly a real conviction of hers, and a ‘pro-life’ DS birth would help her politically but she was in a bind. She had to have the baby (and yes I do question how much was immoveable conviction and how much was painting herself politically in the pro-life corner) but she must have judged actually having a baby would be a disaster. So she hid the pregnancy. Since the convention it seems to have turned out she can have her cake and eat it too. But even she didn’t believe it. She still didn’t right up to the convention, her daughter is the proof.
Palin is one very ambitious, deeply cynical and deceitful person.
I wonder, too, what else isn’t Sarah Palin telling us? I have no doubt her vice presidency is going to be just like that delivery room — surprise! And I have no doubt the nation will then echo her own daughter’s accusation, “Why didn’t you tell us?”.
132.
YellowJournalism
The “when will she do a (serious!) interview” distemper has to do with vetting her, by having a legitimate, objective journalist** ask her serious questions about national and international issues and (this is the important part) following up with more questions if she makes objectively false statements.
**I know, right? Laugh riot.
Anyone know how to raise the dead? I think Edward R. Murrow would take a crack at her.
133.
YellowJournalism
Oh, and I don’t know if our Canadian movie channel is showing Trueblood. I’m just thankful that they show Dexter and can’t wait for it to come back.
134.
cyntax
oh really Says:
EVERYBODY PANIC
Of course, it’s too early to panic. And the ten point lead does seem suspect. Still, given what an incredibly boring and negative affair the Republican Convention was, it’s pretty striking that the American people are stupid enough to give McCain a bounce because of Palin. Apparently, they’re eating Palin mythology for breakfast and asking for seconds.
Yeah over at fivethirtyeight, Nate’s got a piece that pokes at the internals of that a bit. One possibility he brings up is that a lot of conservative/fundamentalist voters who weren’t participating in previous polls may have come out of the woodwork for Palin.
Bottom line is it’s a big swing but one that he thinks demonstrates broad, not deep, support.
135.
Martin
One possibility he brings up is that a lot of conservative/fundamentalist voters who weren’t participating in previous polls may have come out of the woodwork for Palin.
Except that if they weren’t participating in previous polls then they weren’t in the model. You don’t just call 1000 random people – the people you call need to be representative of the demographic. Sounds like the pollsters changed the model.
Of course that underscores why you need to ignore polls like that. Wrong model, wrong outcome. When they don’t tell you the model, you have to simply dismiss the results altogether.
136.
cyntax
When they don’t tell you the model, you have to simply dismiss the results altogether.
Yep, the picture should be clearer by the end of the week.
137.
Rome Again
I mean, look back 4 years and someone seriously tell me that McCain would have picked someone like Palin as his running mate. There’s no saying what direction he’ll go in over the next 4 years. Republicans that think he’ll look out for their interests are delusional. I think the big GOP pundits were right to be pissed off when he won. Too bad that didn’t last more than 12 hours before the knobsloberring started.
The base already knows this. I’ve spent quite a bit of time perusing wingnut sites to get their take on McCain. They were never fired up for this ticket until he introduced his running mate. McCain is only their vehicle to get Sarah Palin into the White House (who they trust with all of their hearts, bodies, minds and souls) and are truly hoping he croaks soon after. This really isn’t McCain’s race, it belongs to that unvetted and untested woman he pulled in to catch Hillary supporters.
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Mike H.
and Mad Men.
Richard Bottoms
Entourage yes. True Blood? How about Anita Blake.
And I am guessing any day now Sarah Michelle Gellar (who I love) will decide that maybe her choices of roles the last several years haven’t worked out that great and say yes to a big screen Buffy movie at last.
Incertus
Watching more football and blogging about some crazy racist political imagery I took pictures of over the weekend. I’ll be writing about the sexist stuff soon as well.
Ninerdave
How’s your hangover?
Laura W
Off to bed, high on Advil PM, cough suppressant, Ketel One and Ben & Jerry’s.
Taping True Blood and Entourage for Monday savoring when Tweety starts chirping at 5pm EST.
MADDOW at 9:00 tomorrow.
BO on KO at 8:00 tomorrow.
Finally. A reason to wake up.
Richard Bottoms
BTW, a Buffy movie isn’t a total impossibility. Supposedly Season Eight in the comics is “Canon” but Joss himself said he’d nuke that in a minute if he got a shot a getting mback on the big screen:
I do think Anita Blake will hit the big screen first.
Desmond
Anyone seen this video from the Daily Show? It’s pretty brutal:
McCain: Reformed Maverick
Incertus
It was awesome, Desmond. I just really wish I could have heard Ian McShane say “cocksucker” in the middle of it.
Phil
Since this is an open thread, here are two serious questions I’d be curious to hear an answer on from regulars here. Feel free to answer one or both:
1) In light of Charlie Rangel not declaring his home in the Dominican Republic for tax purposes, I ask the following: If not paying enough taxes IS a crime, but paying more taxes than you are required to is NOT a crime, why don’t some wealthier liberals pay more than they are required to in taxes? I could see the argument for why they wouldn’t if Republicans controlled all branches of government, but with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate now, why not pay more than your fair share of taxes? If you think taxes should be higher, why wait until it becomes law to pay that amount? Without getting too philosophical, does the existence (or non-existence) of a tax law determine “equity” according to a liberal interpretation of “justice”?
2) In light of claiming Sarah Palin is dodging interviews (even though she just agreed to an interview request), will you put pressure on the Obama campaign to do more town hall meetings with McCain as he had promised to do earlier? Will you pressure the campaign to have Joe Biden do a town hall event with Sarah Palin? I could see the argument against this before for Obama. He was ahead in the polls and had nothing to gain from doing so as they are not his strongest suit. However, now that all of today’s polls show him behind, doesn’t he have nothing to lose by doing such a format? If Palin is as dumb and horrible as you all say, wouldn’t you want her doing town hall events in front of voters, exposing how dumb and horrible she is?
I’d not asking these as a partisan, but someone genuinely curious. The second question is not even partisan at all, unless you think being for or against “town hall meetings” is somehow a left-right dynamic. Serious answers only please.
The Moar You Know
“Serious questions” indeed.
Incertus
A couple of counter-serious questions for you, Phil. Since Obama went on O’Reilly’s show, when can we expect McCain to show up on Keith Olbermann’s? And why should we think you’re anything other than a partisan douchebag given the dishonesty of your questions?
Phil
I’m not sure what’s partisan about my questions. Do you think it’s bad for Obama to do town hall meetings with McCain? Is it a bad idea for Biden to do the same with Palin?
Richard Bottoms
Who says Sarah’s dumb?
We say she’s a smart woman who was a lousy mayor and should not be a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.
It’s not Republicans anyone thinks is dumb, just greedy. They’ve been willingly buying this kind of horseshit for 25 years, opting for greed and anti-science pandering.
No, the GOP thanks the %2 swing voters are the ones who are dumb. Dumb enough to send the very same people who caused this mess back for another four years.
“I sold it it on eBay (almost), ask me how!”
Brian J
Let’s be clear. Nobody supports higher taxes just so more of the money of Americans is in the coffers of the government. There’s a specific purpose in mind, like paying for health insurance for people that don’t have it. I’m no expert on government accounting, but I imagine that for money to be spent in a particular way, there has to be some law mandating that money will be spent in such a manner. Thus, blindly sending more than you owe to the Treasury won’t do anything. Maybe there’s some sort of law requiring them to send it back, but it’s more likely that no one person has enough money to enact the sort of changes they’d like to see at the federal level. That requires money from many different sources.
Dennis - SGMM
You have a history here, Phil.
How about town hall meetings at some of America’s colleges and universities? How would you feel about that?
Porco Rosso
Right now I’m watching Skins on BBC America. (I’ll watch true blood later when it’s dark).
I’m still trying to get over the fact that they’re subtitling British dialog so that people can understand it.
JL
Phil, Give it up. Last thread you were writing about Wooten not being a great character. Troopergate actually isn’t about him. She fired Monegan. She was after Wooten before she was governor and sent a complaint to the state but they could not find cause to fire him. He was suspended though. It was a he said, she said. Once governor she assumed she could order him fired. It worked when she was mayor. When it did not she fired Monegan. The problem was she abused the power of her office and she lied. I know it’s not a lie about sex but it’s still a lie. She appears to be vindictive but oh well.
Dennis - SGMM
From “Snatch”:
Porco Rosso
Hmmm. Also trying to remember. New Robot Chicken tonight?
Anyone else going through Venture Brother’s withdrawal?
Joshua Norton
I turned on Closed Caption for BBC a long time ago. Since then I’ve found that it helps for American TV shows also. I’m amazed at how much mumbling and incoherent rambles make it out of the editing room.
jake
I too have a question about Phil:
Big waste of trouser treacle, or biggest waste of trouser treacle?
Operators are standing by, vote early and often.
Brian J
Some of the people who aren’t partisan conservatives I work with seem to be keen on Palin. They range from seemingly conservative Democrats to Independents. One, my manager, seems to be more serious than others, so I take his reactions with a little more weight than those of other people. Most of the feedback I’ve gotten seems to be that she’s an interesting woman who seems professional on television. I’m not sure of how far my manager has gone into researching her record or positions, but I’d guess it’s not very far. One of the not-so-serious guys who seems to like her claims, if I am remembering our brief conservation correctly, that she’s a serious reformer, as he called her an incredible governor.
As I learn more about her, I want to ask them a few questions. I’m not saying that she’s horribly corrupt. Hell, perhaps she could even be better than I realize. But from what I’ve seen so far, she only looks good when you compare her to other Alaskan politicians. There’s also the matter of her not having a record, not in the sense of bills passed, but having no stated opinions or set of policies on which we could evaluate her.
The last part is so important. Obama doesn’t have a particularly lengthy CV, but has a platform on which to run. Palin doesn’t. That’s why people have been digging through absurdly small-scale actions like banning library books; it’s all we have to go on.
I wonder when the conservatives are going to understand this.
SGEW
I know I shouldn’t respond . . . but I can’t help it!*
Yes – but what is important here is the context of your question (assuming, for the nonce, that your question is: a) genuine, b) in good faith, and c) not a causus belli for a flame war). The question you are asking is a political question, not an ethical or even philosophical one. “Equity” is only defined through “justice” (which is a question of law, which is determined (ideally) through the political system. Therefore, those who philosophically/abstractly find a progressive income tax to be desirable try to shape policy (i.e., the law) to match these ideals. Ya dig?
How well this philosophy is reflected in their personal lives is a whole other question (see, e.g., Craig, Larry).
[side note: Rep. Rangel is actually my representative, and I am very disappointed and a little ashamed by the recent financial scandals. Charlie! Why’d ya have ta be so damned dumb? Dammit all. But one politician’s (as of now alleged) hypocrisy is not necessarily an indictment of an entire political philosophy. And my boy’s from Harlem, yo. We’re not actually too surprised.]
A valid, yet misdirected question. Category error. A town hall meeting (which Sen. Obama will, indeed, participate in come October) is analogous to a debate, not an interview.
The “when will she do a (serious!) interview” distemper has to do with vetting her, by having a legitimate, objective journalist** ask her serious questions about national and international issues and (this is the important part) following up with more questions if she makes objectively false statements.
The problem is: the public does not know what her positions are, or why she is qualified for the job. All we have to go on are her political party’s spokespeople and talking points distributed by the campaign.
Capice?
*The first step is to acknowledge that you have a problem. Is there a support group out there for troll-baiters?
**I know, right? Laugh riot.
Once-ler
In a way, I do that. I give money to the local zoo, art museum, etc. These are owned and supported by the large city that I live near. As a resident of a suburban city, I’m not taxed for their support. I should be (these are things that benefit the whole region), but I’m not.
Stuck in the Fun House
Partisan questions are OK. Stupid ones with stupid premises are not. Your comparing Palin’s disappearance from view and scrutiny with Obama’s 20 month campaign in a fish bowl. Jesus Phil, you make my teeth hurt with your Bush League (PI) ravings. And there will be three debates which will allow Mccain to explain why he isn’t GWB even though he voted with him 90% of the Time. See we got talking points too and ours are better.
** The un-dead know only one thing. That it is better to be un-alive. Fun House Musing
Brian J
It’s understandable for live televison, like newscasts, but inexplicable for normal television shows. The scripts are written months in advance. What could be preventing the CC services, short of some legal issue or problem with spoilers, from having the words in advance? Why would the technology require them to type it out in real time?
SGEW
True, but some of our slogans can use some work. “That’s not change; that’s more of the same” is not, in my opinion, a very inspired rallying call. The damned phrase requires a semi-colon to be grammatically correct, fer cryin’ out loud! How elitist is that?
tomjones
What exactly would be the advantage of a town hall format v. a regular debate? Instead of moderators, people ask questions? Is that it? Whoop dee do.
Dennis - SGMM
One might ask conversely why, if the war in Iraq is crucial to the future of Western civilization and/or ‘a task that is from God’ as Palin described it, the Republicans haven’t been contributing voluntarily to win it.
jake
Via Jesus’ General: Palin does her part to help wounded vets.
SGEW
Hey, here’s a question: how many of y’all notice a ridiculous upswing in the amount of “cut and paste” pro-McCain/Palin trolling recently? Not here, mind you: I speak of sites with much higher traffic, e.g. CNN, Yahoo, etc.
Is there any good, somewhat reliable information anyone can link to about the whole Republican trolling “industry” I’ve heard tell of? Curious.
Not you, Phil. You seem to actually write your posts out all by yourself. Kudos.
Brian J
If I had to guess, I’d say that formerly jaded conservatives are just coming out of the wood work because they like Palin. If campaigns are really reflections of some parts of their candidates, my guess is, a Google Bomb-style tactic isn’t going to be implemented by someone who needs help reading e-mail and refers to a search as “a Google.”
Kevin
Now that’s a backhanded compliment.
Just Some Fuckhead
Couple serious questions since this is an open thread:
1. How does Phil keep himself so informed with his head up his ass?
2. Why does he lock his teeth into the side of his colon when you try to pull it out?
Phil
There, happy? HTML for you. I’m quite familiar with HTML actually, as all my previous comments using HTML were done manually. I was not aware that the site had the user friendly html options already listed, so fine, i will use them more now. Anyways, moving along. No, I would not have a problem with having them at colleges and universities. I think it would be an awesome idea actually.
And I think the question still stands more than ever why Obama won’t do more town hall type meetings, given that the most recent poll shows Obama down by 10 (yes, 10) among likely voters:
Seems like Obama should be spending more time engaging in town hall meetings and a lot less time worrying about a McCain campaign boogeyman that is questioning whether he’s a Muslim, unpatriotic because he didn’t serve in the military, or “unfamiliar” because he doesn’t show up on my nickel or quarter. McCain has never suggested any of these things, so perhaps Obama should be a little less defensive about it. It sounds kind of whiny actually. Like a “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” kind of moment.
While this shows consistency on your part, and you are to be applauded for that, I (and many other libertarians or conservatives) also donateto local zoos, playhouses, museums etc. However, where we differ is that we don’t think it’s right to raise other people’s taxes and empower a government entity that has the legal capability of putting you in jail if you don’t comply. Barring that government entity, this would otherwise be known as theft.
Porco Rosso
Joshua,
I guess the thing that gets to me on a show like “Skins” is that the subtitling is intermittent, it’s jarring when someone else is making the decisions to switch it on and off.
SGEW
Barring that government entity, the phrase “theft” is meaningless. You know. In this millennium.
Are you familiar with the idea of what “laws” are?
Phil
I didn’t suggest one had to come at the expense of the other. I was suggesting doing both. Since both the Left and Right generally disdain the media, why not bypass the media filter and let voters ask questions?
Garrigus Carraig
TLDR. Too lazy to send you a fail whale. Feel free to vote for John Sidney McCain III and to go away. Gbye.
SGEW
Sigh. One more:
Sen. Obama has not said* that the John McCain himself has ever done this . . . but surely you’ve heard about a few things that have popped up on Fox News or have been spouted out of the mouths of major members of his party. This is not nickle and dime stuff (like some random DailyKos diary).
Also: have you ever heard of the phrase “deeply ingrained institutionalized racism”? Just wondering.
*Inferred, debatably, I’ll grant you.
Stuck in the Fun House
If in fact Mccain gets more votes on election day and wins the presidency, I repeat what I and others have said here many times. America will get the government it deserves and that will be that. But I wouldn’t count my Moose eggs before they hatch, as I believe it is a good thing that Obama and dems run behind in the polls for now. Maybe it will light a fire under their asses to quit playing nice with wingnuts like you.
And I think both Mcsame and the closet Muslim terrorist will be together on stage soon. Otherwise your concern for THM’s is touching there Phil. Do you get extra Mccain points for that?
Kevin
There is, unfortunately, rather more evidence that another Democrat had something to do with it… Who said that Obama is not a Muslim “as far as I know”?
SGEW
Even though it was a typo, I find my phrase “The John McCain” to be rather stylish.
SGEW
Oh jeebus, let’s not start that again.
Just Some Fuckhead
Right? I skim past Phil’s pages-long crap thinking how fucking out of touch do you have to be to troll websites with talking points about the stupidest shit on the planet when real people are struggling so badly in a Republican economy, we’re spending 10 billion dollars a month in Iraq with no plan to get out, Republicans have completely screwed the pooch in Afghanistan, installed incompetent anti-science Christianists in every branch of Gov’t, made an incompetent mess of everything they’ve touched except tax cuts for the super rich, helped along a meltdown of the housing sector, which is the source of most regular folks biggest investment, and presided over climate change and an energy crisis with absolutely no plan at all. In short, a reckless joyride straight to Hell.
And Phil sits in here blissfully wanking himself to Charlie Rangel outrage porn. Seriously, if ya met someone like Phil in real life would ya recognize him as a sociopath with the blackest soul imaginable or would he look like regular folks? Would he be one of those thick-glasses-wearing dudes with the one eye that isn’t really looking at you when he’s looking at you? Would he obviously be out of fucking touch with reality or would he need to speak first?
I mean, the election is real simply about do Republicans deserve to be awarded with another four year management contract after the last eight years? That’s as complicated as it gets, and yet Phil is queering every thread with nonsense designed to obscure that simple calculus. So let’s rebut his nonsense as is necessary but let’s be sure to put the situation in the clearest starkest terms possible with each exchange, whether or not Phil can bring himself to face reality.
Do Republicans deserve to be awarded another management contract after the last disastrous eight years?
Montysano
Yeah, right, Phil. “McCain” didn’t say it, but his…….. aw fuck this. Life is too short.
“Trueblood” had nekkid women, and screwin’.
SGEW
Also, there is not nearly enough serious debate on reform of the federal judiciary and the broken tax code. I recommend this video so that everyone can get up to speed.
cay
“Trueblood” sucks.
Common Sense
John McCain criticized Palin’s earmarks when she was mayor:
This is golden too:
Kevin
Well, that statement did help give the whole “is he a Muslim?” crap legs that it didn’t deserve.
Martin
No crosstabs. I’d be willing to bet the party identification is 50/50 rather than the 51/38 that Pew and others are seeing as of a week ago. National polls are shit and any poll without crosstabs are shit. It’s virtually impossible that Obama could lose by 10 points with a 51/38 party identification advantage without some clearly reported issue with voters.
Conservatively Liberal
Absofuckinglutely without a doubt. It is good to see someone who understands their place in the Universe. Very impressive.
Hmmm. Also trying to remember. New Robot Chicken tonight?
Conservatively Liberal
Wrong button, CL + too many hits
Yes! Never miss it either.
Tacos Rule!
Montysano
Yeah, actually, it did (despite the nekkid women and screwin’). I always have high hopes for Allen Ball productions, but this was a disappointment. Too bad; when Ball is good, he’s really good.
glynor
Just finished watching True Blood and the new Entourage. I thought True Blood showed promise (and I’ll certainly give Alan Ball a chance). Entourage…. Don’t like the suited-up E. Hope they keep up the quality there.
Really looking forward to Dexter in a few weeks.
Garrigus Carraig
Oke.
Stuck in the Fun House
Mclatchy has a good expose on the MCcain history of rage outbursts. God help us and the world if this crazy fucker gets his hands on the Nuclear Football.
Garrigus Carraig
That “Oke” was a link to a Fail-Whale.
Stuck in the Fun House
But in case MCcain goes postal, then at least we’ll have the level headed services of one Sarah Palin to bring things under control
**an Idiot in hand, is worth two in the Bush.
Stuck in the Fun House
From the Anchorage Daily News.
Boy, I can’t wait till she can do this for the whole country.
SGEW
Yikes.
McCain: Aggressive, unpredictable military engagements and disastrous economic policies.
Palin: Mega-Klepocracy and SCOTUS appointments that will make J. Scalia look like Richard Dawkins.
Y’know, I’m not exactly sure which would be worse.
SGEW
I just realized:
M.C. Cain
Bringing tha house(s) down,yo! Got more rhymes than a master got slav(shut yo’ mouth!).
Alan
The Sarah Palin School Locker Organizer :)
jenniebee
John McCain can have town hall meetings with no problem, sure. I’m sure that Obama would love to have town-hall meetings, but where’s the town hall big enough to hold all the crowds who want to go see him?
Phil
The problem with your analysis is you’re assuming: Bush is very disliked, ergo Democrats are popular. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bush may not be popular, but that doesn’t make the Democrats popular. In fact, Democrats in Congress are a LOT less popular than he is..
Considering that the Democrats control 2 of the 3 branches of government right now, it’s a hard sell to say Republicans control the government and are entirely responsible for a poor economy. The Democrats response to the oil crisis (Obama’s “I only wish they hadn’t gone up so fast”) has been non-existent and they are paying a very big price for it.
The poor economy is a result of many things – a simultaneous housing shock, a credit crisis, and an oil shock, among other smaller reasons – and the public does not place all the blame on the Republicans. When the Democrats took over Congress promising the most ethical Congress ever, they quickly became just as corrupt as the Republicans had and seemed callous to the impact that rising gas prices were having on average citizens. “Screw you, you SUV driving suburban mom. Move to a f*cking city next time” is not a way to win elections.
To claim the Democrats have been wonderful stewards of the economy is to ignore the fact that the bodies of government they control have a single digit approval rating among the general public. Dismiss me away as a partisan if you want, but those numbers speak pretty loudly.
I think the liberal boogeyman of George W. Bush (ironically I think you’ll miss having him to excuse away your party’s own misdeeds and failures) hides the fact that the Democratic party isn’t doing so hot right now either.
Dennis - SGMM
The Democrats have majorities in the two houses of Congress. That’s only the Legislative branch of the government. The super-majority needed to pass bills in the Senate effectively keeps the Democrats from controlling it.
SGEW
Bah. Respond to rebuttals or take a break, Phil. Throwing one hand grenade of bad RNC talking points after another into the thread without apparently even reading others’ responses is bad form.
In other words: either have a debate, troll in a more interesting and/or entertaining manner, or begone.
d0n Camillo
Dennis,
I think Phil means that we also control the Supreme Court. I know that might be news to Antonin Scalia, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas.
Phil
Yes, my apologies. However, while the Supreme Court has a higher approval than does Congress and the Executive, it is still a Supreme Court that sought to destroy private property rights in its Keller decision. A conservative or libertarian court would has laughed that case out of the building and probably de-barred the lawyer who had the audacity to even bring it up.
Martin
He’s talking about the liberal Supreme Court, 7 of 9 of which were appointed by Republicans.
Dennis - SGMM
LOL! They are pretty wild at that.
matt
Heads up, this comment from the previous thread should probably be deleted. No snark.
patroclus
Obama has been holding town hall meetings all year – or maybe y’all don’t remember when the Republican troll went apeshit about the Pledge of Allegiance (in Ohio) or the vet question (in Virginia) or the Economic Town Hall (in NM). To assert that he hasn’t is just the usual Republican lies. Even Biden has held townhalls (in Iowa). But not Palin.
Moreover, the Republicans control the executive branch and 7 of the 9 justices on the USSC were appointed by Republicans. And, they have 49 votes in the Senate, which is enough to stop/filibuster everything (but the budget), so they effectively control the legislative branch too. Did Phil ever take Civics??
matt
Ok, I suck. Carry on.
SGEW
This is an excellent, excellent question.
I suggest that we vet Phil.
patroclus
Actually, Phil might indeed be a better V-P candidate than Governor Palin. At least he talks to Americans!!
oh really
Comment on much of the tread above:
The only thing dumber than **** is people who waste bandwidth talking to and about him.
Next —
That’s true, but the sad thing is that when the Republicans had the majority in the Senate, the need for a super-majority didn’t keep them from controlling it. What’s wrong with that picture?
The Democrats definitely need to get a reliable cushion in the Senate, but they are unlikely to get a filibuster-proof majority. That means that with McCain/Palin in the White House the Republicans will continue to effectively run the show.
JSF has spent a lot of time criticizing the way Democrats run their presidential campaigns. While I agree that they run terrible campaigns, and don’t agree that the secret to success is to be just like Republicans, it definitely does appear that Obama has gotten a hold of The Democrat’s Sacred Book of Losing Big Elections. I wish someone would burn it, but it keeps reappearing.
If either Obama or Biden ever wastes valuable campaign time again telling the world what a great guy McCain is, I may start thinking maybe I should vote for that lying, incompetent idiot myself.
There are less than three weeks until the first debate. That will give us an opportunity to see if Obama has any interest (or chance) in winning the election. Unless he completely revamps his Q&A performance, he’s going to get eaten alive by McCain. I can’t believe how many Democrats equate Obama’s speech making ability with debate skill. He sucks in debates and he’s shown no ability to improve. McCain will likely go into the first debate a huge underdog (because idiots handicap these things). Then, Obama will hem and haw his way around questions that he’s heard a million times before, while McCain will speak in simplistic black and white certainty. Result: A huge win for McCain.
One of the things I want in a president is the ability to adapt. I’m still waiting for Obama to show it, and I fear I’ll still be waiting on November 5.
The VP debate could be even worse.
Someday it’s going to dawn on Democrats that Rick Davis is right — the election isn’t about issues. That was true in 2000 and 2004 as well, when Democrats had a significant advantage over Republicans on the issues and still lost elections they should have won easily. 2000 gets an asterisk, but the sad truth is Bush shouldn’t have been close enough to allow the Republicans to steal the election.
So, JSF is right that the Democrats have to change their tactics dramatically (not falling all over McCain with praise would be a good place to begin). Obama ran a smart campaign against Clinton, but he’s in the big time now and he and his campaign seem to be clueless.
I weep for this country.
patroclus
I wonder if Phil would close down GITMO and the worldwide gulag, I wonder if Phil believes in following the Geneva Conventions; I wonder if Phil favored the stunning level of corruption in the Abramoff and related scandals, and I wonder whether Phil would take bribes like Cunningham and Ney (and Young and Stevens)?; would Phil have authored the Yoo memos; does Phil think Secretary Rumsfeld did a good job?…
If Governor Palin won’t answer questions, maybe Phil will!
Ash Can
I understand that this Phil guy is just a troll/spoof/random manure-flinger/whatever, but there seem to be an awful lot of people who apparently really do think this way:
In other words, we’re all wrong for believing that Palin is intentionally avoiding the news media.
We believe it because the McCain’t campaign told us that this indeed was the case in the first place. Don’t bitch at us, bitch at them.
My own personal take? I’m betting that Palin herself isn’t afraid of the press at all. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s champing at the bit to spout off to anyone and everyone with a microphone and credentials–and that every GOP operative from Boston to San Diego is blanching at the thought of it. Sarah Palin is Betty Loren-Maltese with a face lift, no more and no less, and nobody would understand this better than Barack Obama. Once the post-convention bumps settle out and the debates (as opposed to hand-picked-audience/planted-question town hall meetings) begin, the vast army of independent/undecided voters will start to get a good look at who and what the candidates really are. Color me guardedly optimistic.
Liberaltarian
This fighting with obvious trolls is all pretty much a hand job anyway. Republicans plan to prevail in the election the old-fashioned way. They plan to steal it.
Liberaltarian
And, don’t forget the perennial favorite, depriving college students of the right to vote.
Phil
McCain has already said he would close Gitmo. McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars. McCain appointed Palin as his VP who doesn’t exactly have the greatest relationship with Young or Stevens. And McCain was the one who kept calling for Rumsfeld’s ouster before it happened.
Meanwhile, Obama couldn’t point to a hint of corruption in his own party, even though he’s from CHICAGO. Do you see anything wrong with that? Have you not heard of the Daley Machine?
As for Palin and the VP debates – if her performance in the debate for Governor of Alaska are any indication, she will do just fine. In fact, she will do more than fine. Biden should be worried.
Ash Can
Excellent point, Liberaltarian. This can’t be stressed enough: Folks, MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN FACT ON YOUR PRECINCT’S VOTERS’ LIST, especially if you’ve moved or changed your name since the last time you voted. If there’s any uncertainty whatsoever about your status on election day, make sure you BRING VALID ID with you to your polling place in the event you need to resort to casting a provisional ballot. I’m sure there are posters here who are better versed in this issue and can correct/add to this info, but the basic issue is awfully important.
I yell because I care.
Martin
What a lot of people fail to respect is that if Democrats campaigned like Republicans there’d be a lot fewer Democrats. It’s a catch-22 to a certain degree.
What I think Obama/Biden are doing now is the right strategy and I think they are prepared to take advantage of the benefits of that strategy.
The Democrats, simply due to the values that Democratic voters hold, need to build a positive coalition and mobilize it. That’s what they are doing – and I think the mobilization is there. Gore and Kerry quite simply failed to mobilize the party.
Republicans, simply due to the values that Republican voters hold, need to reaffirm their coalition by drawing any and all contrasts with the opposition and then to mobilize them. Bush did a good job of that. McCain hasn’t yet – and Palin will help but not enough.
What many people are calling for is for Obama to reaffirm Democrats through contrast. Well, many Democrats aren’t interested in contrast – they’re interested in unity and deliberate efforts to draw contrast between Americans is distasteful. Democrats never complained about ‘flyover country’ – that was a fiction by Rush and Rove to draw that contrast. Indiscriminate oil drilling isn’t an inherently conservative position, but it’s a position opposed by Democrats so the contrast move is to call for it at all costs so you get a convention of Republicans calling to drill not because it would help anything, but because it pisses Democrats off.
Now, the problem that Democrats have had in the past is that they aren’t taking that less aggressive message and using it to get Democratic voters out to talk to their neighbors and get voters to the polls. Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans in 2000 and 2004. The election was largely decided by Republicans simply being more responsible voters. That’s it – they were more likely to vote than Democrats. That’s very unlikely to be the case this year. Democrats have been mobilized to register more Democrats. They’ve turned out primary voters in unprecedented numbers. That’s why the polling has been so bad – there are no reliable models. Every time you hear someone talk about Palin or Biden or whoever ‘mobilizing the base’ what you’re really talking about is a shift to the voting % within registered voters. Well, if you have that going on, then you just broke the polls that operated on the previous turnout numbers. And that’s why the polls suck so hard – they bear absolutely no relationship to what will happen on Nov 4.
You remember all the argument over polling accuracy for the Democratic primaries? Zogby sucks, Gallup is good, whatever. Do you know who was far-and-away the most accurate? Who predicted virtually every single winner as well as the delegate spread from Super Tuesday on out? Obama did – his leaked spreadsheet was almost dead on in every race – even 2 months out from the primary, even with the Wright controversy coming unexpectedly. I watched it closely and his pledged delegate predictions were within 1% of what he actually got virtually the entire way through the primaries.
The reason was that Obama was able to accurately predict and then influence turnout district by district. Go back and compare Obama’s spreadsheet to the actual results and then look at the pollsters. It’s no contest. They all fucked up the turnout model because they had no historical basis to work from. Obama didn’t pummel Clinton – he didn’t go heavily negative on her, he won the nomination with boots on the ground – millions of them. That’s how you win. The other stuff doesn’t change many minds – but it gets people off their sofa to volunteer and to vote for their guy.
Obama is running a radically different campaign than we’ve seen in decades by Democrats, but y’all keep not seeing it. It looks a LOT more like Bush’s in 2000 by mobilizing that base and then feeding them what they want. Ignore the damn polls – they’re never right.
Adrienne
You HAVE to be joking!!! How you can call it a liberal court when 7/9 Justices were appointed by REPUBLICAN presidents is fucking beyond me. I find it ironic how Republicans rail against the court that THEY put together – actually calling it liberal! How a court with Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas can be called liberal is a serious mystery.
Martin
McCain has already said he wouldn’t call to overturn Roe v Wade. McCain stood up to the Bush administration and called for them to end torture. McCain opposed the insertion of evangelical pastors into the Republican party and American politics.
McCain says and does a lot of things that he completely changes course on months or scant years later without explanation. It makes it difficult to take him seriously on anything. Has he given any explanation for his evolution on RvW? How do you know he won’t evolve back on a whim? McCain isn’t fucking over Democrats, he’s fucking over Republicans and Republicans are so intent on winning that they don’t realize it.
Phil
Actually a lot of people think Roe v. Wade should be overturned as I say this as a more libertarian minded and pro-choice person.
Do I want abortion to be made illegal?
No.
Do I think Roe v. Wade passes muster as a Constitutional ruling?
No.
Are there any Constitutional scholars, liberal or conservative, left anymore who argue Roe v. Wade was decided correctly on Constitutional grounds?
Also no.
You do realize Roe v. Wade doesn’t make abortion illegal don’t you? It simply takes the issue out of the federal government’s hands (where it never belonged to begin with) and gives it to the states.
OMG! What about those radical red-states?!? Well South Dakota, a state as red as they come, had a ballot measure on abortion in 2006 and it lost pretty badly, 56-44. So much for that.
So much has been made about the overthrow of Roe v. Wade as if it’s overturning is a sign of the apocalypse. In fact, it simply returns the issue of abortion back to the states, where it belongs. If a pro-life amendment loses badly in South Dakota, overturning Roe v. Wade isn’t going to affect the country in any meaningful or significant way, other than to highlight why federalism is not such a bad thing.
Ash Can
News flash: Barack Obama is a politician. Rather than make a shitload of enemies and get frozen out as the outsider he was, he used the Chicago machine to hone his political chops. Anyone who can learn that quickly how to game the Chicago machine and then go on to beat the Clinton machine in the presidential primaries obviously knows how to crank the handle of that big, ugly sausage-making machine known as representative government.
patroclus
Actually, Phil, Senator McCain never called for Rumsfeld’s ouster – you are blatantly lying. In fact, Governor Palin was involved with Senator Stevens’ 527 and co-operated with him while both were supporting the Bridge to Nowhere. The U.S. Attorney(s) were/are responsible for putting the numerous Republicans in jail for their stunning level of bribery and corruption; not Senator McCain (yet another Civics lecture seems in order); and McCain’s position on Gitmo remains unclear due to his support of the Military Commissions Act which, in addition to allowing torture and attempting to destroy habeus corpus, also legitimized the military commissions being held at Gitmo.
I live in Chicago. I would bet that I am more aware of the local issues here than you.
Do you lie all the time??!! Is there nothing that you will not lie about??!! Seriously, dude, virtually everything you have said on this thread is not accurate. Do you think that that method of argumaentation is convincing in any way?
Phil
Are you actually trying to spin this as a positive trait? I can imagine the ad for that one.
“Before I got to the Illinois State Senate, I was just another guy like you. But due to my charisma, wit and charm, I was able to grease the system to make it work for me. And because I learned how to play ball with the corrupt cronies in Chicago, I was able to use them to leverage my run to US Senate all the way to the Presidential race. If I can make the Daley Machine politics work for me as fast as I have, imagine what kind of corruption I can get away with as your President!
I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”
Somehow I don’t think that’s going to fly so well.
patroclus
Actually, Phil, a number of constitutional scholars at the law school I teach at do indeed support Roe v. Wade’s constitutional basis. They’ve even written about it in legal journals. Are you seriously contending that NO constitutional scholar supports Roe v. Wade??!! This is plainly not true. Yet again I ask, is there nothing that you will not lie about??!!
patroclus
Ashcan, indeed, what Chicago politicians need to do if they wish to have long-term success is avoid any whiff of corruption – that Obama has navigated that particular minefield is to his immense credit.
Martin
Of course I realize that. But you deliberately evade the point that McCain a few years ago argued that overturning it was a bad thing and now has turned into a cheerleader to overturn it. How can you put McCain’s promises up as measure of anything when he changes his views without explanation. I have no problem whose views change – Sen. Byrd for instance has changed his views on race quite radically and he will willingly explain what led to those views changing and how that happened. Has McCain explained his changing views?
I’m neither arguing for or against RvW. I’m simply pointing out that your candidate offers no credibility on one side or the other of the debate. He offers no credibility on the role of faith in politics or torture or oil drilling or a host of other issues that he has clearly reversed position on without explanation. Saying he’d close Gitmo carries as much weight as saying he opposes torture considering that he voted to continue waterboarding. And you can’t argue that he doesn’t understand the distinction because he himself has claimed he was tortured using methods that the US government does not classify as torture. So either he’s hypocritical on this point or he’s a liar.
This isn’t a debate about RvW. It’s a debate on whether McCain is credible on any issue that he takes a stand on. Explain why anyone, especially a conservative, should trust him.
Rome Again
They do, they are called Philanthropists, and they contribute to causes that they feel are helpful to society, thereby taxing themselves and putting the money to use in areas that help others, and lessen the need for taxes to be raised for those purposes.
These people are not all liberals, although a fair amount of liberals who are less than wealthy have a tendency to do such works as well. This is all in keeping with the traditions of the Democratic belief that ‘I am my brother’s keeper’. This philosophy is completely at odds with the Republican belief that your money is your own and anyone who has less than you needs to pull up his own bootstraps to be as successful. I’m sorry that your side doesn’t seem to feel the need to care for others as the “liberals” do.
Rome Again
McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars.
Yes, I understand Abramoff is singing like a bird, writing a book and laying the blame for much of what he was accused of at McCain’s feet. It seems common that the most bitter of enemies are made in relationships between two people who shared trust while involved in whichever activities they were both involved. When that trust is broken, someone feels betrayed. Why am I not surprised?
Rome Again
McCain was largely responsible for putting Abramoff behind bars.
Yes, I understand Abramoff is singing like a bird, writing a book and laying the blame for much of what he was accused of at McCain’s feet. It seems common that the most bitter of enemies are made in relationships between two people who shared trust while involved in whichever activities they were both a part of. When that trust is broken, someone feels betrayed. Why am I not surprised?
Rome Again
Sorry for the double post. :(
Phil
Um, sorry to get in the way of your high and mighty speech, but do you REALLY wanna go there?
Perhaps it won’t be there when you click on the link, but there is actually an ad for people to donate to Obama’s campaign on that very page right now! In light of your comments, that may be the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen.
oh really
Conservatives trust him because they have no choice. They want the power and he’s their only way to get it. When he chose Palin, he sent a thunderous signal to the base. Most presidential candidates more or less ignore the party platform; McCain has gone out of his way to support its most right wing aspects.
Bush gave many Republicans lots of reasons to dislike him. His incompetence was obvious to any but the most ideologically blind. But if Bush could run again this year, you would see the base rallying behind him just like they did in the past. And he’d probably successfully make his case to them that he is the change candidate.
Conservatives also know that on some issues — war for example — McCain is likely to be even more reliably bellicose than Bush.
Martin, what do you really think McCain’s first Supreme Court nominee will look like? A moderate (in any way)? Or yet another doctrinaire right wing judicial thug? Conservatives will do to any perceived moderate choice what they did to Miers. And having succeeded in killing the Miers nomination, they will be even more ready to do battle on another nominee perceived to be too moderate. McCain wouldn’t dare go there. Once he’s got the Oval Office his only goal will be to consolidate and expand his power. The maverick will be gone forever.
You don’t trust McCain. I don’t trust McCain. But it pisses me off when a Democrat is a hypocrite. It doesn’t seem to bother Republicans at all when one of their own changes positions any number of times as long as the current position is acceptable.
You could spend the next sixty days laying out one rational argument after another for why conservatives shouldn’t trust McCain and no matter how much incontrovertible evidence you presented, I don’t think you’d convince a single conservative of the rightness of your position.
On the other hand, you could spend ten minutes with an undecided/independent voter and with a single emotionally charged argument you could persuade him or her to vote for McCain.
It’s always going to be difficult for Democrats to win given the reality in this country. T. Jefferson would be appalled.
firebrand
Phil:
You, sir, are truly a fucking idiot.
Go take your pro-McCain/Palin trolling elsewhere. You’re not going to win any converts here.
Ash Can
One more cookie thrown to what’s-his-name and then I’m calling it a night (yeah, I know, feeding trolls and all, but I’ve reached my bullshit limit, and I’m having fun besides).
Let’s at least get real here: Working with corrupt politicians does not automatically equal being corrupt oneself. Furthermore, I know this may be impossible for some people to believe, but not all Chicago politicians/political workers are criminals. Finally, do you really think that Obama’s–or any politician’s–ability to persuade other people, corrupt or clean, to work and cooperate with him is a bad thing? It’s the bottom line of effective politics, for crap’s sake. I remember a time when Republicans–even Richard Nixon, at times–were good at that too. I miss those people.
As another Chicagoan once said, politics ain’t beanbag. So when purists clutch their pearls and howl about this city’s perceived corruption (and God knows we’ve cornered the market on it; Phoenix and Juneau and Wasilla, e.g., are SO squeaky clean), I find it really, really hard to keep a straight face.
Conservatively Liberal
Freeper Phil is a button pusher here and that is it. Nothing productive, always vapid and a waste of time to respond to. He is only looking to get a few goats and that is all. You are better off slamming your head in your car door, repeatedly, than wasting time responding to that waste.
He is busy here polishing his turd, but I have to admit it is cute to watch the little bugger work so hard at it. It’s almost like he enjoys doing it, but deep down inside he knows that it is all for naught.
Conservatively Liberal
MSNBC, under pressure from NBC and others, is pulling Tweety and KO from political coverage of the election. They will only be analysts of the coverage, no direct reporting. That will be covered by David Gregory.
Maybe the crowd chanting “N B C” when Palin was talking about media bias during the convention paid off?
One less reason to watch MSNBC now.
Rome Again
Yes, I do actually.
While I agree that there is a half brother out there and I’m not sure of all the circumstances, at least Barack Obama admits that half-brother exists, which is more than I can say for Cindy McCain’s half-sisters, even going so far as to call herself “an only child” at her father’s funeral.
Careful which can of worms you open, you may find some that jump out and get on you as well.
Rome Again
Oh, btw, the difference between Barack’s half-brother and Cindy’s half-sisters? Barack Obama didn’t inherit millions. This is all about greed, and Cindy Hensley McCain just wanted to make sure she got all the money and not anyone else.
I suppose you think Barack Obama should have brought George to the U.S.? Who are you to make that call? Can you tell me you know all the circumstances surrounding that situation and know for a fact it would be welcomed gesture by all concerned?
George Obama’s circumstances are shitty, I grant you that; but we are talking about someone who lives in Kenya. The best way to change that situation is not to give him some money to make his life better (that wouldn’t change anything but make him a target of all those around him who also have little to live on), the best way is to change the world and make everyone there better off.
With Barack Obama as president, and the message of hope that he gives to me, those like me, and the world at large, he can make positive changes. He can make the changes that could make George’s life better.
There is no help for Cindy McCain’s half-sisters. They are disowned, permanently, due to greed. I sure hope you are proud of the choice your candidate’s wife made. I’m not.
Rome Again
Oh, and btw, the CNN story says the Vanity Fair article is wrong.
I saw a report on CNN regarding this and thought I remembered him saying things weren’t so bad, and I had to hunt for it, but I found it.
You not only have to own a millionairess and candidate’s wife who disowned her father’s other daughter and refused to share her inheritance with her (and not even acknowledging her mother’s own first child as well), you now also have to own the link to a dispelled story. Congratulations, Republicans are always such sinister beings… I should know, I grew up surrounded by them.
Stuck in the Fun House
Dear Phil.
Obama’s half brother has been reading your vapid missives about him and offers you a response.
From Times Online – Life is good in my Nairobi slum, says Barack Obama’s younger brother
he also says American Wingnuts are miserable wankers.
Montysano
My argument is quite simple:
– Iraq;
– Katrina;
– Mortgage/financial crisis.
And if I could only have one, the mortgage/financial crisis will do nicely, thank you. The GOP owns this one. Google “Commodities Futures Modernization Act mortgage” and read about Phil Gramm’s little project. We’ll all be much poorer after we bail out Fannie and Freddie (let’s just hope that the boat will still stay afloat). It’s the greatest act of fiduciary irresponsibility in decades.
When you fail this badly, you go sit on the bench for a while and let others have a shot. For John McCain to campaign as a reformer is laughable.
oh really
So, why do so many people respond to it. Ignore it. It will go away.
harlana pepper
Trolls make life more interesting. But as I told my friend whose fundie mother believes Obama is a Muslim and wants to take over the world with radical Muslim extremism, anyone who is going to vote for/troll for McCain or any republican at this point is beyond reach or reason. To play or not to play, that is the question.
oh really
Conservative response?
Iraq? It’s over. We won.
Katrina? Forgotten after the Telethon for Gustav.
Mortgage Crisis? Only a fiscal conservative like John McCain can address this problem. He’ll kick ass. End of story. The mortgage/financial crisises were caused by earmarks. Get rid of them (and any regulations still kicking around) and this whole problem goes away. Side benefit — we balance the budget.*
Like I said, rational arguments are not going to put a dent into the Conservatives’ impenetrable shield of intellectual dishonesty, ideological fervor, and of course, the indisputable fact that Democrats hate America.
*This is the level of stupidity one hears when talking to conservatives. Reason is less useful with them than antibiotics are against viruses.
Besides who wants reason when you can have McCain and “Country First — Reform — Prosperity — Peace”
Since Sarah is his “soulmate,” I suggest we simply refer to the two of them as “McPain.”
McPAIN — Bend Over America!
Xenos
Last I heard on the George Obama front is that he was trying to scrape together some money so he could pay tuition at a technical college and then be employable as a high-skilled worker. That sounds like a reasonable enough project, and his family, no doubt, is finding a way to do that for him.
That leaves a few million other people in Kenya’s slums who, though poor, live with more dignity and who are worthy of far more respect and regard than any 100 shit-eating Republican party activists, consultants, or delegates.
Rome Again
From what I’m reading, the boat is going to be listing severely. Apparently the amount of debt the treasury is taking on from Fannie and Freddie matches the existing debt the treasury already holds*. Instead of the treasury helping to hold up Fannie and Freddie, it appears the lovely mortgage couple will end up dragging the treasury down.
(*link posted from a website newsletter that I receive)
4tehlulz
Paulson should have just put it on his Visa; after all, this is pretty much just a balance transfer scheme with A LOW INTRODUCTORY RATE OF 1.9%
which get jacked to 69.69% after six months.peach flavored shampoo
McCain up 54-44% in new poll.
Say hello to our hottest VP in the history of the US.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
McCain’s convention bounce finally kicked in. EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
oh really
Relax. That lead will disappear when the American people start concentrating on the issues.
I can’t believe I wrote that. Maybe this is better:
Relax. That lead will disappear when Obama convinces the American people that he likes and respects John McCain more than any other human being in the world.
Nope. It’s still missing something. How about:
Relax. That lead will disappear when PIGS FLY.
Perfect.
oh really
Incidentally, the day Pigs Fly is the same day the American people will start paying attention to the issues.
4tehlulz
I call bullshit on that Gallup poll. How can two different polls taken over the same period have him up 3 and 10 points simultaneously?
Nate at 538 unpacks some of the bizarre internals with it too.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Yeah, it wasn’t as if this is the first time since Obama won the nomination that McCain took the lead. Or that it coincides with McCain’s convention bounce.
Oh. Wait. I’m inserting reason into the annual Progressive Blog Pity Party(tm). What am I thinking!? EVERYBODY PANIC!!!
Dennis - SGMM
McCain’s lead will only grow. Insiders are saying that Palin returned to Alaska in order to shoot someone in the face, thus demonstrating once and for all her qualifications to be Vice-President.
Xenos
Now that the Bush administration has pretty much nationalized the home-lending industry, you might think they would start to pay attention soon.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Elsewhere, Rasmussen has the post-Convention bounce at McCain 48, Obama 47. EVERYBODY panic… ?
oh really
EVERYBODY PANIC
Of course, it’s too early to panic. And the ten point lead does seem suspect. Still, given what an incredibly boring and negative affair the Republican Convention was, it’s pretty striking that the American people are stupid enough to give McCain a bounce because of Palin. Apparently, they’re eating Palin mythology for breakfast and asking for seconds.
One thing that should make us all relax. Palin is going to be interrogated by Charles “The Human Waterboard” Gibson. He’ll rip her apart. And when the interview is over, I expect to know everything there is to know about Palin’s beauty pageant career.
Krista
Left-wing media bias, forsooth.
Who could have predicted that media corporations would be eager to placate the Republicans?
Every day they seem to be less media, and more corporation.
GSD
Americans gave Richard Nixon a landslide over McGovern.
-GSD
Kilkee
I think we should stop having arguments with Phil about Roe v. Wade or any other legal issues. When the guy suggests in one of his early comments that a lawyer might be “de-barred” for making an eminent domain argument, well, I think you can pretty much guess what his level of legal training is. Or is not.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Don’t believe the hype. Rasmussen has McCain by +1. Read some Nate Silver. It’s all good.
And they also voted in Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. So?
Martin
I agree it will be to consolidate and expand his power, since that’s been the basis for all of his policy shifting lately – he realized he needed the GWB wing of the party to win in 2008 and moved accordingly. But if he gets into office, who can say what path he sees for himself going forward. Honestly, when you have someone with no clear principles other than ‘I want to win’ you can’t predict what political calculus they’ll do in their head.
I mean, look back 4 years and someone seriously tell me that McCain would have picked someone like Palin as his running mate. There’s no saying what direction he’ll go in over the next 4 years. Republicans that think he’ll look out for their interests are delusional. I think the big GOP pundits were right to be pissed off when he won. Too bad that didn’t last more than 12 hours before the knobsloberring started.
Chris Johnson
McGovern took a dive because he wasn’t really representing the Democratic party, just voters.
I think what’s happening is one of two things- either McCain is too ‘maverick’ to really be in tune with the Republican party, and he’s being set up to fail- or they figure they can run with him, and they are trying to set up expectations so they can CHEAT like maniacs, squeak out a narrow victory thanks to massive, massive fraud, and then go ‘what? We predicted he’d win by a few points, because shut up’.
binzinerator
Here’s Palin’s family values for ya: Palin didn’t tell her husband for three days her baby has DS, and then never told anyone else, not even her own kids. Apparently even immediately after the baby was delivered they didn’t say anything because it was her 14-year-old daughter Willow who noticed. “He looks like he has Down syndrome”, she said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Why not, indeed. I think she believed news of her pregnancy would harm her political prospects. As would having a DS newborn to care for. No abortion-no exceptions is possibly a real conviction of hers, and a ‘pro-life’ DS birth would help her politically but she was in a bind. She had to have the baby (and yes I do question how much was immoveable conviction and how much was painting herself politically in the pro-life corner) but she must have judged actually having a baby would be a disaster. So she hid the pregnancy. Since the convention it seems to have turned out she can have her cake and eat it too. But even she didn’t believe it. She still didn’t right up to the convention, her daughter is the proof.
Palin is one very ambitious, deeply cynical and deceitful person.
I wonder, too, what else isn’t Sarah Palin telling us? I have no doubt her vice presidency is going to be just like that delivery room — surprise! And I have no doubt the nation will then echo her own daughter’s accusation, “Why didn’t you tell us?”.
YellowJournalism
Anyone know how to raise the dead? I think Edward R. Murrow would take a crack at her.
YellowJournalism
Oh, and I don’t know if our Canadian movie channel is showing Trueblood. I’m just thankful that they show Dexter and can’t wait for it to come back.
cyntax
Yeah over at fivethirtyeight, Nate’s got a piece that pokes at the internals of that a bit. One possibility he brings up is that a lot of conservative/fundamentalist voters who weren’t participating in previous polls may have come out of the woodwork for Palin.
Bottom line is it’s a big swing but one that he thinks demonstrates broad, not deep, support.
Martin
Except that if they weren’t participating in previous polls then they weren’t in the model. You don’t just call 1000 random people – the people you call need to be representative of the demographic. Sounds like the pollsters changed the model.
Of course that underscores why you need to ignore polls like that. Wrong model, wrong outcome. When they don’t tell you the model, you have to simply dismiss the results altogether.
cyntax
Yep, the picture should be clearer by the end of the week.
Rome Again
The base already knows this. I’ve spent quite a bit of time perusing wingnut sites to get their take on McCain. They were never fired up for this ticket until he introduced his running mate. McCain is only their vehicle to get Sarah Palin into the White House (who they trust with all of their hearts, bodies, minds and souls) and are truly hoping he croaks soon after. This really isn’t McCain’s race, it belongs to that unvetted and untested woman he pulled in to catch Hillary supporters.