» Breaking News
Attorney General Mukasey Collapses, Rushed To Hospital
Paris Hilton Breaks Up With Benji Madden
Auto CEOs Took Private Jets To Beg Congress For Billions
Summit Studios Sees Dollar Signs For “Twilight” Movie
Gay Marriage Ban Going To CA Supreme Court

Archive for August, 2008

The Palin Precedent

So, considering the criteria that the Republicans are using to make up national security credentials for Sarah Palin… I qualify as an astronaut. According to them, Palin has dealt with the Russians because Alaska is near Canada. That said, I qualify as an astronaut because I watched the movie Spacecamp several times.

No Vetting Watch

The McCain campaign didn’t even check out Palin’s hometown newspaper.

Hurricane Gustav: The Response

Senator Obama will be using his e-mail list to bring in aid for those affected by Gustav:

Sen. Barack Obama announced that his campaign would mobilize supporters from his enormous e-mail list to send money or enlist as volunteers once the impact of Hurricane Gustav becomes apparent.

McCain, on the other hand, seems to look at Gustav as a campaign backdrop and not an impending national disaster. He and his entourage are planning to go into the storm zone, a move that will likely cause first responders and other authorities to have to deal with the McCain campaign’s logistics rather than the job of dealing with the hurricane.

Of course, Republican “leaders” using storm zones as window dressing is more of the same.

The Change We Need

The Democratic convention was a unique event in the way in which it continually rejected the storyline the mainstream media was determined to push. We live in a far different media environment than past elections, particularly on the liberal side. The Obama campaign has come along at a fortuitous time, recognizing that Democrats lose when they try to curry favor with the mainstream press. What exists now is a party that has alternative media to get reality out beyond the filter. Why let Fox News hold you over a barrell when you can embed bloggers or create the media for yourself, publish it online and blast it out to your supporters to pass along?

The early storyline from the fading media was about unity. Would the Clintons be pleased, would they embrace the Obama candidacy? Then the press wondered if Michelle Obama would be too “angry” for mainstream America. The most ridiculous attack was an echo of the McCain campaign’s flailing versus Senator Obama - the elitist nonsense. They attacked the stage design, even though it was as traditional American as you get. They tried and tried to make the Democratic convention something it wasn’t.

The Clintons both gave rousing speeches, unambiguous expressions of support for Sen. Obama. How stupid do you have to be to underestimate Bill Clinton’s skill at speechmaking? Quite stupid. And for Michelle Obama, her speech continued to dissolve the GOP/MSM spin against her. She came across as a likeable affable wife and mother and sister. It continues a racial pattern that has been used against the Obamas for eighteen plus months now: The desire to paint this family as something different, something “other”, to sow the seeds of doubt that it is impossible that the first major party candidate who is black could be just like you. But that’s just it: The Obamas are just like the rest of us. And they found the best way to cast aside the caricature the Republican noise machine has invested so much in creating: they spoke.

Most of all, that’s what Joe Biden and Sen. Obama did. People who are paying attention are realizing that Sen. Obama is the real deal. I hope the mainstream press and the Republicans continue to talk him down. Before the speech, we were told that it would be a speech that sailed over the heads of people, given by the aloof law professor who couldn’t possibly speak to the average American.

Except of course that Sen. Obama is a creature of the middle class in a similar way to President Clinton, and not of the elitist class like President Bush and Sen. McCain. As his speech - seen by over 38 million in real time, plus more in repeats and by over 68,000 mostly swing-state voters in person - made clear, Barack Obama is more than ready and able to communicate concrete solutions to the American people. The McCain campaign has repeatedly tried to tell us that Obama’s communication skills are no more than mere celebrity, but as history has shown us - especially the last eight years - we need an American president who can speak about issues more complex than basic sloganeering. It’s a complex world that we live in and we don’t need more of the same stupidity and irresponsibility in the highest job in the nation.

Obama and Biden refined the “change” message at the convention, now describing it as “the change we need”, bringing a sense of urgency to the ideals that the Democratic party stands behind. We no longer live in a world where the GOP’s spinners who write the mainstream media’s storylines get to define the box in which liberals operate. Obama has been able to bypass the filter right to the Democratic nomination, and he and Joe Biden now have the momentum and backing to continue the journey right to the top.

“Soulmate”?

On Fox News Sunday, McCain called Sarah Palin a “soulmate”. He’s met her twice. He must be her soulmate in the way that Bush looked in Vladmir Putin’s soul, and ended up twiddling his thumbs as Putin brings back Soviet-style government.

A Question I’d Like To See John McCain Answer

It’s pretty simple, really. Journalism 101, frankly.

“Did your campaign actually vet Sarah Palin?”

We’ve been down this road.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall has more. Like when they went into Iraq, it looks like the Republicans never actually checked this out.

First Post-Palin Attempt To Woo Clinton Voters = Epic Fail

Who didn’t see this coming? Anyone?

In just her second appearance on the campaign trail with John McCain, newly-minted GOP running mate Sarah Palin was showered with boos on Saturday for attempting to praise Clinton’s trail-blazing bid to become the first female president.

But in contrast with the mild reception that greeted her comments at the Ohio event, when Palin praised Clinton here for showing “determination and grace in her presidential campaign,” the Alaska governor was met with a noisy mix of boos, groans and grumbles around the minor league ballpark where the “Road to the Convention Rally” was held.

Increasingly, I’m beginning to believe the Palin pick is the latest manifestation of John McCain’s impulse control problem, a thread going through his entire life - from cheating on his first wife with Cindy McCain, advocating for war with Iraq right after 9/11, chanting “bomb Iran”, as well as his numerous flashes of rage both physical and verbal against his congressional colleagues. As Paul Begala notes, McCain picked someone who isn’t up to the job in a way that would endanger us all - and all based on what his ego is feeling at the moment.

Sarah Palin Mismanaged The Economy Of Wasilla

Seriously?

Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident.

Palin Laughs At Mockery Of Cancer Survivor

Yeah, she’s prettier than usual, but it’s the same old Republican conservative bull from Sarah Palin.

UPDATE: I wonder if McCain will eventually eject Palin, Harriet Miers style?

Palin Is Against Abortion Even In The Case Of Rape Or Incest

That’s a pretty extreme position Palin’s got going for her there. The latest polling I could find - from Fox no less - shows that 70% support abortion in the case of rape.

Video: Sarah Palin Said Hillary Clinton Was Whining

She apparently forgot to mention this when she was fake-praising Clinton.

Picking Palin? More Of The Same

Really?

So, even with the MSM obsessing over the made up Obama-Clinton division in the Democratic party (anybody notice that not a single voice was out of sync in the past week, no matter how hard the MSM tried to squeeze blood from stone), John McCain still has a significant gap when it comes to women voters.

So he picks Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin, currently under investigation, who said she doesn’t know what a vice president does, a creationist and an anti-choice hardliner. They keep trying to make these silly call-outs to Clinton voters, but can anyone seriously put Sen. Clinton’s stature next to Palin’s with a straight face? Plus, the Republican party spent 16 years putting down Sen. Clinton, now they care about her place in history? Please.

Even worse, the whole selling point on the Obama/Biden ticket is that Sen. Obama has the judgement to be president and commander-in-chief while Biden has the experience and breadth of knowledge to back him up. McCain doesn’t have the temperament or judgement, even with a quarter century in Washington, while Palin’s claim to fame seems to be Alaskan corruption and winning a beauty pageant.

I’m Back From Planet Awesome

Woah.

UPDATE: I’ll be traveling tomorrow, more gushing from me when I get home.

UPDATE 2: Before I go to bed, I’ll say this: Our next president spoke tonight.

Wow That Set Is Really Over The Top

Not.

Clearly There Is Nothing More Unamerican Than Using Greek Style Architecture

Lincoln Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

The National Archives (Home of the US Constitution and Declaration Of Independence)

I tell you, anyone who ever uses Greek style columns clearly hates America. This election is about the people versus the powerful… media.

They Just Gave Us Flags

See we don’t hate America.

Oh By The Way

The Democratic party just officially nominated a black man to be its nominee. I thought that was worth noting.

HRC On The Floor, Moving For Nomination By Acclamation

Well, I think we just had a moment here. The AP has detail, but it was one of those emotional moments I’m really glad I was there for.

Video:

Sidekick Strikes Columns Again

Apparently the media distraction of the day is about greek columns. Or something. It’s stupid, like all the other GOP/MSM nonsense.

Day 2.5 Notes

So, leave it to me to find the really nice seats they’ve set aside for bloggers on the last day we’re going to be inside here. Anyhow, I’m on the mid-level, which is the same level NBC, Fox, CNN and AP have their pavilions. Oh, and Al Jazeera. Which is right above where they’ve put us bloggers. Which says… something. I dunno what.

I should note for the record that at the pledge of allegiance, Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly of Fox News didn’t stand.

Highlight of Wednesday so far for me is watching Richard Dreyfuss be interviewed by Norah O’Donnell on MSNBC

MSNBC In The House? Ok.

This will be my vantage point for tonight’s events:






Privacy Policy