No Gravel, Thank God

10:17 pm EST October 30th, 2007 | News | 4 Comments

This debate certainly benefits for the absence of Mike Gravel, a candidate on the fringe of the fringe with no discernible support whatsoever. Congressman Kucinich is able to argue from the very left without sounding like an idiot, even though I agree with him on almost nothing.

Topic: 2008 Election

Joe Biden: Line Of The Night

10:10 pm EST October 30th, 2007 | News | 1 Comment

These debates are kind of “eh”, but Joe Biden killed with “A sentence from Rudy Giuliani has three parts: a noun, a verb, and 9/11″.

Killer!

Topic: 2008 Election

Meet The Experts: Pat Buchanan

7:49 pm EST October 30th, 2007 | Media | 18 Comments

Pat Buchanan, noted expert on the black man: “Buchanan: Obama is “not what you would expect from a black guy from the South Side of Chicago”"

Michael Clayton

7:37 pm EST October 30th, 2007 | Movies | 5 Comments

michael clayton It is rare in the last 15 years that I’ve seen a movie that doesn’t treat you like you’re a drooling dummy. As my past movie reviews have made clear, I love a popcorn movie more than the average guy. But I can appreciate one that is also written for a high school graduate.

The worst example of this was the otherwise good Bond movie, Casino Royale, during the card game sequence where one character explained to the other how the game was progressing and operating. Even if you don’t know how to play the card game (like me), the sequence would have been a lot better without the guy saying “OK, JAMES BOND NEEDS A JACK OR A KING TO WIN, OR HE LOSES THE WHOLE THING, OK, CUE THE DRAMATIC TENSION”.

I liked Michael Clayton a lot, and it could have done with a little trimming, but the sophistication of the writing and plot makes up for that: 4/5

GOP Runs From Blacks, Again

4:56 pm EST October 30th, 2007 | News | 1 Comment

When black voters come calling, Republicans develop scheduling conflicts.

Topic: Race

links for 2007-10-30

8:24 am EST October 30th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

NRO contributor Smith “hard-pressed” to find U.S. service members who would say “it’s not going well” in Iraq

Another trip to conservativeland.
Britney Spears Gives Tony Romo A Lapdance

Allegedly.
Max Blumenthal: Theocracy Now!

Some day we’ll look back at these videos as the definitive chronicle of the end of the conservative empire.
Jessica Alba “Awake” Trailer
U.S. promised Blackwater guards immunity, officials say

Of course they did. Of course.
The top Republican presidential candidate on Slatecard, the knockoff of Actblue, has raised $530

By comparison, Dennis Kucinich has $72,583 on Actblue.com
Angelina Jolie shooting a big gun in “Wanted”
Iraq War Profiteer Spent $10 Million on Bat Mitzvah

Fiscal conservatism strikes again.
The Web 2.0 World is Skunk Drunk on Its Own Kool-Aid

Anyone out there want to pay me $100k/yr to write HTML? Oh, 1999 I remember you so well.
Was Bin Laden’s last video faked?

Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left.
Rudy Makes Shit Up In His New Ad

Rudy Giuliani is too crazy to be president.
“If there is a place with more abject stupidity swirling around than the right-wing blogosphere, I’d like to know where it is.”

Fox News Channel
Liberal T-Shirts

Not 100% complete, but I finally got around to it
“SPAM That I Might Actually Open”
Graphic that The Heritage Foundation is using to argue AGAINST SCHIP

Tone deaf Republicans always trump weak-kneed Democrats

Topic: Links

My Social Security Wager

10:52 pm EST October 29th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Amidst some of the talk about Sen. Obama sort of buying into conservative worry-speak about the strength of social security, I was reminded of a bet I made with a friend recently. He barely pays attention to the news – he’s got a wife and a new kid and work – or politics, but in one of those annoying “I saw it on tv somewhere” things he has it in his mind that social security won’t be around for him. Granted, he doesn’t need it by a long shot, but regardless he’d rather not have the money being taken away and thrown into the ether (he’s sort of a fiscal libertarian and he lives in one of the reddest states but he’s normal on the social issues). So I made him a bet. I bet him $10,000 that I don’t have that in 2037 or so when he’s eligible, he will get his social security check. I don’t bet much, and the only other bet I’ve ever been so sure of was when I bet on the Steelers in the Superbowl a couple years ago.

I told him already that I want the $10k in its 2037 equivalent.

Topic: Economics

“Captain Indirect”

4:21 am EST October 29th, 2007 | News | 12 Comments

That’s my new label for Sen. Obama while he keeps putting out bad commercials like this. I love the guy, but this asinine strategy that he’s going to vaguely hint at the competition without being explicit that it’s Sen. Clinton is doomed to fail. That kind of naive posture is what has killed Democratic campaigns, especially at the presidential level. The intelligence of the public and the media should not be overestimated. Hit them over the head with the simplest of language. The idea that “I like good things, and some vague person or force that I never mention by name is not quite in favor of it” is mush, and the press is not going to do the work you need to do yourself by pointing this out.

I am reminded of this Pepsi ad from a few years ago where they clearly went after their rival Coke in an unambiguous manner while reinforcing their superiority.

In other words:

OBAMA: “I like puppies, some others are not as quite as fond of dogs as I am”

CLINTON: “I love puppies, unlike Barack Obama, who does not”

OBAMA: “Puppies are great, and I like them a lot. There are some people whose enthusiasm levels for puppies are not as high as my own. They are welcome to those emotions.”

CLINTON: “I give 10% of everything I own to puppies and puppy related charities. This is not what Sen. Barack Obama does. Sen. Barack Obama does not give money to puppies as far as I know, and this probably means Barack Obama does not like puppies.”

OBAMA: “My family and I have had many puppies, and we like puppies — that much is clear. Occasionally you hear about people who don’t like puppies. That’s not us.”

CLINTON: “This is the puppy I carry with me every where I go because I love puppies so much. Because Sen. Barack Obama of 123 Cedar Lane in Chicago Illinois does not carry a puppy with him – and by him I mean Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois and my opponent in the Democratic primaries in 2008 – it’s possible he kicked a puppy once.”

Topic: 2008 Election

How Stupid Is The Anti-Immigration Element On The Right?

4:04 am EST October 29th, 2007 | News | 4 Comments

So stupid they really are believing that phony story about MECHA claiming responsibility for the California fires. The story is so fake it makes The Onion seem like straight news by comparison. And yet, they are so ready to seize on the outrage of the day about “those effing Mexicans” they believe it hook line and sinker.

To paraphrase Shrub: Some people call you the drooling morons, the idiot yokels too dumb to remember to breathe, the festering sore on the ass of humanity. Michelle Malkin calls you “the base”.

Statement From OliverWillis.com On The Washington Redskins’ Horrible Loss To The Effectively Pro-Terrorist New England Patriots

10:51 pm EST October 28th, 2007 | News | 6 Comments

“The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on. Hail to the Redskins. Bill Belichick is a cheater. He may have had the better team by far on Sunday, but Joe Gibbs has no taint on his Super Bowl victories. Are we bitter? You bet. But our resolve is strong. We will not falter. We will not waver. God Bless America. A pox on the New England Patriots.”