Requiem for a Maverick

Few reporters can tell it like Matt Taibbi. He is currently my favorite, not only great insights into people and politics, but a truly delightful use of language. Read the whole article here, and it's well worth the time spent. Below is an excerpt:

John McCain ran one of the most incompetent, schizo campaigns in history — and for that we owe him big-time

MATT TAIBBI

Up until this year, McCain had firmly rejected the emotional imperatives implicit in Bush-Rove-Gingrich conservatism, in which the relentless demonizing of liberals and liberalism was even more important than policy. While other Republicans were crusading against gay marriage in 2004, McCain bashed a proposed anti-gay-marriage amendment, calling it "antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans." While the president and other Republicans wrapped their arms around the Falwells of the world, McCain blasted those preachers as "agents of intolerance." He talked of seeing the hand of God when he hiked in the Grand Canyon, but insisted loudly that he believed in evolution. He even, for Christ's sake, supported a ban on commercial whaling. If there's anything that a decent Republican knows without being told, it's that whales are a liberal constituency.

But McCain didn't care. Back then, his political survival didn't depend on keeping voters artificially geeked up on fear and hatred for Mexicans or biology teachers or other such subversives. He was, after all, a war hero, and Sharon Stone's cousin.

In short, McCain entered this election season being the worst thing that anyone can be, in the eyes of the Rove-school Republicans: Different. Independent. His own man. He exited the campaign on his knees, all his dignity gone, having handed the White House to the hated liberals after spending the last months of the race with numb-nuts Sarah Palin on his arm and Karl Rove's cock in his mouth. Even if you wanted to vote for him, you didn't know who you were voting for. The old McCain? The new McCain? Neither? Both?

Campaign Comment

Keith Olbermann nails McCain on something that's been bugging me for quite some time. If Obama had made all the mistakes, gaffes and stupid faces and comments that McCain HAS done we would not take him seriously any more. How has McCain gotten away with this farce? Because he's the white guy or because he's the ex-prisoner of war?

McCain's Big Backfire

Just came across this article on Alternet that says all the same things I said in yesterday's post. Just in case anyone thinks I'm making any of this up or have my facts wrong check it out:

Obama has not only maintained a stable lead under the Republican barrage, he has increased his positives in the traditionally Republican territory of taxes. The final national polls before Tuesday all show a national hunger for national wealth redistribution downward. An Ipsos/McClatchy poll finds that likely voters prefer Obama's tax plan to McCain's by 8 points. Pew says Obama added to his edge on taxes and the economy between mid-September and mid-October by 6 points, jumping from 44 to 39 earlier to 50 to 35. On Oct. 30, Gallup released results showing Americans favor Obama's style of wealth spreading by a whopping 58-to-37 margin.

It appears the nation's sanity and sense of fairness has reasserted itself to wipe the floor with condescending GOP red-baiting.

As I said, money has been flowing upward for a long time, in the last 8 years 90% of all the wealth in the nation has gone to the upper 10% of wage earners. Does that seem fair or natural? No, it's greedy asholes trying to steal from the government coffers (your taxes) and getting away with it. Also wiping out the credit card so all of our children and grandchildren have to pay for our exceses. Is that family values or what? It's time to turn it around and start sending that money back down to the rest of us.

If anything Obama's plan to raise the taxes on the top 5% (making over $250,000) from 36% to 39% is much too conservative. It should be raised to 50%.

But I think he didn't want to scare the really wealthy too much. Despite the way I talk about the rich I'm sure that most of them are not too upset by this kind of tax increase. It isn't going to affect their own spending in the least and they realize they've been reaping huge benefits from Bush that they don't really deserve. Some, I think, even realize just how desparate it is getting for the people in the middle class, how close to the edge everyone is. Make a large number of people too desparate and we will have violent revolution. I'm hoping Obama will be the non-violent revolution.

It's not like the middle class is greedy and want something they don't deserve. They simply live in a system created and maintained by the wealthy that make life a difficult proposition for the non-wealthy. All most of us want is to make a decent wage - a liveable wage - for our work, and health care and retirement so no one has to face financial disaster. This doesn't seem like too much to ask, in fact it's merely what the basics SHOULD be in a modern, Democratic society.

And it's not like we are asking any sacrifice of the wealthy, either. So someone makes $10 million after taxes instead of $12. Poor guy! Death can't be far behind! But for those in the middle class who can't afford health insurance and are diagnosed with cancer they really ARE going to die! In 2005 three thousand people died in California alone because of a lack of health insurance. This is a silent holocaust. Add in the other 50 states and we are talking about tens of thousands of preventable deaths every single year in America. This happens in third world countries, not in the wealthiest Democracy on Earth, right?

We just have to ask ourselves what kind of America to we want to live in. One where 95% of us or more are prosperous and happy or one where only %5 of us are and the rest are struggling just to survive and often failing? I have trouble thinking even the richest people think that is a good idea.

Of course, there are lots of very wealthy people who think wealth is a sign of the worth of a person. Those on the lower end simply do not deserve to live if they can't afford to pay for medical treatments. It's a kind of brutal Economic Darwinism, which is truly ironic since most of them don't even believe in evolution.

So McCain's claim of socialism doen't hold much weight. Many don't even know what it is and if they did they would realize they are for quite a number of socialist things. Like Social Security and Medicare, universal health insurance and help for people in natural disasters.

Alexander Zaitchik goes on to say:

Over the last eight years, 90 percent of the new income generated has accrued to the top 10 percent, while average family incomes have dropped $2,000. These numbers have engendered bitterness on top of anxiety that has shifted the economic debate. If Democrats get a chance to seek forceful redress in the coming years, Republicans are sure to call Obama a socialist and much else besides. But that's OK. Tuesday's election is going to show that when people are hurting, they don't mind a little "socialism" -- just as long as it's pointed their way.

The wealth will ALWAYS get re-distributed in a modern society, economics is all about moving money around, it’s just a question of whether you want it flowing up or down. And we already have socialism for the rich and how does that make sense?

Redistribute the Wealth

Many of us were blown away by the McCain camp accusing Obama of socialism, what decade are we in, anyway? I wonder how many people under 30 even know what socialism is? Certainly McCain doesn't. Here is a little article by TOM TEEPEN at the SeattlePI entitled If Obama's a socialist, so is McCain:

As it happens, we have already had a revolution that redistributed the wealth. Bush's big tax overhaul redistributed it to the already rich, so they could be richer yet already.

By 2005, households enjoying the top 1 percent of incomes -- those over $348,000 a year -- were receiving the biggest share of national income since 1928. The income gap between the well off and others has stretched beyond shouting distance. Where middle and lower earners had shared in the 1990s boom, they generally lost income in the meager "Bush recovery" from the brief 2001 recession.

In their rush to make Obama out as a socialist readying tumbrels for the rich, conservatives have sometimes explicitly but for the most part implicitly reverted to the old country-club grumble that the graduated income tax is nothing more than a radical scheme to coddle the undeserving poor with the money of the deserving rich.

It's very important to remember that ever since Reagan became President we have been on a course of redistributing the wealth upwards to the rich people of this country, which W put the final period on, that has helped to bring us to our current financial crisis.

So Obama isn't redistributing the wealth, he's getting back what the Republicans and the rich have stolen from everyone in this country who makes less than $250,000 a year.

We've had a progressive tax rate since Teddy Roosevelt, John McCain's hero, first started it. Progressive means the percentage gets higher the more you make. By the early 60's the very top rate was 90%. The Republicans try to use JFK as an example of a Democrat lowering taxes on the rich as if that would make it OK for us to do. He brought it down to 75%, but also did away with many of the loopholes that allowed those in that bracket to get massive deductions, the end result was that the richest people actually paid MORE when Jack Kennedy's tax bill went into effect.

That's very similar to what is happening today with business taxes. McCain continues to claim we have the second highest tax rate on business in the world, around 34%. This is true BUT (there are always these "buts" in any claim by Republicans) there are so many loopholes that after deductions US businesses end up actually paying the second lowest taxes in the world. Obama doesn't want to increase the tax rate but to decrease the loopholes. Things like a corp getting a tax break to move their production to China. He actually wants such a company to pay MORE taxes if they want to do that. But give them tax breaks if they choose to keep their jobs in this country.

So during the most abundant times in our history, the 50's and 60's, the progressive tax rates for the rich were very, very high. Why, if the Pubs were right that high taxes on the rich depress the economy, were we so prosperous in those decades? I think we've been trickled ON by George Bush and the other Have's and Have More's long enough. Nothing like a collapsing economy to tell us we are on the wrong path. High taxes on the rich are a way of creating prosperity for the entire economy, lowering the rates creates disaster. Current tax rates for the rich are around 36%, and we are all less prosperous than we were 40 and 50 years ago when the rates were at least twice that much.

Obama just wants to bring the taxes of the top 1% of the country back to the levels they were when Clinton was president, and THIS is being a socialist? I'll tell you what being a socialist is; it's Alaska claiming that all of the state's natural resources belong to everyone - collectively - and that everyone should get a share of the profits. So Sarah Palin took money from the rich oil companies and sent every man, woman and child in Alaska a check for around $3200. That's about as socialist as it gets. Are you against that? Is it a terrible thing that the oil companies have to pay the citizens of Alaska for using their resources?

In Washington they do it a little differently; they privatize profits, and when the top people of a corporation have squeezed the company dry then the government steps in and pays for their losses! What could be better than that? Wouldn't you love to be able to spend like crazy, take all kinds of chances and when you go broke have the government give you a couple of billion dollars? Sorry, only the top one percent of the wealthiest Americans can get that kind of socialism.

Darcy

I haven't written much in here lately and it's due to depression, I'm just so far down I can't find the energy to write. The problem is because my wife, Darcy, is not feeling very well.

Since she is very, very sick when she feels worse than normal this is not good. I know she doesn't have a lot of time left but she's been bad enough these past few weeks to make me feel like it could be over at any moment.

I feel like crawling under the covers, into a fetal position and burying myself from the rest of the world.

Unfortunately I have obligations, or perhaps it's fortunate that I have them because a big one is taking care of Darcy. She can get out of bed and walk to the bathroom but getting to the kitchen for food is a little tough for her. To make matters even more fun I seem to be developing arthritis in both my hips, which is making walking very painful. Sometimes it's been so bad that *I* can hardly walk and that is the last thing we need. Pain relievers don't seem to be helping much.

Plus I have to do all the shopping and deal with all the other little things in life that comes up, like $350 I just had to spend on my car. It was actually finding the time to get to the repair shop that was the worst problem.

And I have deadlines to meet that won't go away and that's how I pay my rent, I can't just stop doing it.

But I should write in here more often, it's very therapeutic and I'm actually feeling a bit better right now because of writing this post. I write really fast so each blog entry is only about 15 minutes of my time and it's never difficult because the words just flow. And because this isn't something I get paid for there is no pressure on me to do a good job. Although I do feel an obligation to any regular readers I might have.

I also feel an obligation to get the truth out during this election season but that is one I have to let go of at the end of the day too often. But man, is McCain really pissing me off. I thought Bush was a liar but McCain is simply unbelievable. It's as if he knows most of the people he is talking to won't hear any follow ups to what he says to find out it isn't true so he can say anything he wants.

I'll have to make a couple of posts on the election campaign this weekend.

The Bizzarre McCain

This was on Huffington Post and is too good not to circulate:

The Reuters photo wire includes this shot taken after the debate last night, when McCain caught himself walking in the wrong direction on stage:

Rape and Sarah Palin

This needs to be seen by everyone. And also remember McCain in last night's debate sneering about "a woman's health" as if that was something so minor we shouldn't concern ourselves with it.

October Surprise

The surprise is that McCain still retains at least SOME degree of decency. He was at a town hall meeting, walking around the room with a microphone, when he stopped in front of one woman and handed her the mic. She said she was afraid of Obama because he was, well (she mumbled a bit) he’s an Arab (code for black). McCain shook his head and took back the microphone. He said “No he’s not, Senator Obama is a decent family man and citizen, we just have a fundamental disagreement.”

Shocking!! Apparently there IS a line he won’t cross.

At another town hall a man said he was scared of an America with a President Obama in charge. McCain again said he has no reason to be afraid, that Obama is a decent man. The crowd actually booed him, their own candidate. Boy, has he painted himself in to a corner. He’s been talking all week, along with Palin and TV ads, about how terrible Obama is, making people think he’s actually a terrorist himself. When he’s gotten the crowds worked up there have been calls of “traitor” “terrorist” and “kill him.” Imagine if such things were said at an Obama rally, the press and everyone else would be marching in the streets, burning buildings. But the white candidate’s white supporters says this and hardly anyone knows about it.

But there have been reports that the Secret Service was going to investigate any death threats and several Republican politicians have come out saying that McCain has gone too far. Perhaps yesterday he realized he did cross the line and tried to reign things back, but it got him booed by his own people. For him to do an about face now will make him lose his own supporters. But to keep going with this strategy will tarnish his image forever, even among Republicans, but to try and stop it makes him look like a fool.

Well, that’s OK, he IS a fool.

Ana Marie Cox on Rachel Maddow today said that this time, when she went to talk to the people at the rally after it was over, they were all loonies. She said there was always one or two crazies at McCain rallies but this time every one she and other reporters talked to were crazy, all believed Obama was a terrorist, Muslim and/or traitor.

What should scare McCain the most is just how stupid his followers really are. People like that can turn on you.

The Second Debate

I have one word for it - Booooorringggg. If you saw the first debate you pretty much saw the second one, almost word for word. McCain even said the same lies about Obama's tax and medical coverage plans and Obama corrected him in exactly the same way.

McCain tried to be a little more friendly, actually shook Obama's hand and smiled at him. If he made weird old-man faces while Obama was talking I didn't see them because the camera never focused on McCain during those times. What I did notice was McCain wheezing and making other weird old-man noises while he was talking. I can only assume the standing and moving around was a bit hard on him. He was all hunched over and looked really - well - old.

It came down to pretty much the same thing - Obama looked calm, cool and presidential, McCain looked like an annoyed and annoying little old man. The kind that yells at the neighborhood kids when they play on his lawn. Obama was playing on his lawn and he was pissed, called Obama "That one." Sorry old man, time for the next generation to take over. You aren't even the last generation, you are the one before the last one.

Rachel Maddow had an interesting comment, she said Obama won by acting as if McCain wasn't even there. Good one.

Update: Pat Buchanon had a good comment tonight, he said that McCain keeps painting Obama as this scary, radical, liberal, Muslim, but at every one of these debates when 50 million viewers see him, some for the first time, they don't see someone scary. They see a self possessed, cool and calm , intelligent guy, nearly regal in his manner and mien. Which completely undermines McCain's last ditch effort.

The Debate

I had really been looking forward to the debates because that was when I figured Obama would wipe the floor with McCain and the election would be in the bag.

Lots of good things happened over the last 2 weeks with McCain self-destructing on the economy and pulling what has got to be the stupidest political stunt ever. He said he was suspending his campaign (never happened) and going to Washington to lead congress out of this mess, no talk of a plan - we have to assume he will do this by sheer force of personality - and threatening to cancel the debate. Then he takes 18 hours to get from New York City to Washing DC, canceling an appearance with Letterman because of the rush. When he got there he did nothing and the Republicans rejected a deal they were going to accept because they wanted McCain to get his say first.

So McCain, the Drama Queen, actually screwed up the whole process in a bid to derail the election he was losing. The pundits said he was hitting the reset switch on his campaign, but he ends up looking like a madman. Every news person had to use a sports analogy for McCain’s pathetic ploy but I think a Hail Mary is still the best description. That’s where the quarterback, in sheer desperation, tosses a long ball into the end zone, where both teams gather, and hope his guy will come down with the reception. McCain’s entire campaign has been one Hail Mary after another, and one of them, Sarah Palin, looks like a very bad mistake. Imagine a presidency that is nothing but Hail Mary’s for 4 long years. We’d be in big trouble.

So with all that happening during this week it looked like McCain would come in rattled and off his game and Obama would take him apart.

It didn’t happen. I was actually quite impressed with McCain’s performance because he did far better than I thought he could. He was strong and aggressive and energetic. I kept wondering what kind of drugs and vitamins his campaign shot him up with so he could do that. And only 2 senior moments.

Obama still won, and by a good margin, but there was no knockout punch. Mainly Obama looked more presidential and McCain made several stupid mistakes. The most notable was mispronouncing Ahmadinejad’s name several times in a row, that was one senior moment. The other one was when he repeated his line about never winning Miss Congeniality in the Senate. He also looked like a troll, hunched down over his podium and refusing to even look at Obama. And when Obama was talking he made some really bizarre faces. The man is scary, the thought of him as president is REALLY scary. And when Obama said that Ahmadinejad was not even the top guy in Iran McCain laughed like that was the most ridiculous thing he ever heard. It scared me, though, because I think he really doesn’t know that Ahmadinejad isn’t the top guy in Iran. It’s something he really should know.

Obama was calm and cool and knowledgeable, and forceful, which is a quality he really needs to display more often. McCain’s biggest attack on Obama was that he just didn’t understand, he repeated that over and over. And it fell totally flat because every time Obama opened his mouth he proved very effectively that he understood quite well, he simply didn’t agree with McCain. But this was a debate of foreign policy which is supposed to be McCain’ biggest strength yet Obama not only matched him but exceeded his knowledge, and showing he understood even subtle nuances, which is what McCain didn’t seem to understand.

On the economy McCain seemed to be incredibly ignorant. He felt most of the budget deficit could be solved simply by getting rid of earmarks, which is totally absurd, earmarks only account for about $18 billion of the budget. But McCain had little to push with the economy since his main plan is to lower taxes even further on the rich and corporations which would only increase our debt and lower the value of the dollar.

The polls show that most think Obama won. One poll had 40% for Obama, 22% for McCain and 38% saying it was a tie. But a tie is pretty damn good since McCain had been attacking Obama as too inexperienced to be Commander In Chief, but a tie says most people think he will be just as good if not better. There were a number of places I thought Obama could have landed some real knockout punches but he didn’t go for it.

Still, a good debate, overall. There are 2 more so we can see what happens. And next Friday is the VP debate which should be hysterical. Sarah Palin against Joe Biden. I almost feel sorry for her. She should do so badly that it seals the election right there but the American public really IS stupid, which the last 2 presidential elections have proven beyond a doubt.

John McCain: The New FDR

All McCain can talk about these days is regulation and how great it is and how much he is for it and boy, when he is president he’s going to regulate those greedy Wall Streeters to within an inch of their lives!!

It’s hard to find a concept more absurd when McCain has called himself the DE-regulator for years and said he is always for less regulation. Let the markets find their own balance was his philosophy, echoing the Republican party line. Free markets should be worshipped like an omnipotent and omnibenevolent god. What an embarrassment this latest crisis must be for him - and all Republicans. Now they have all become regulators crying out against those greedy rich people who have brought us to the brink of ruin.

And make no mistake about it, we are on the brink, which means the whole world is on the brink of financial ruin. We might be back on the barter system soon, better gather up some actual products instead of money, because it will soon be worthless. But John McCain, or any Republican, sounding like a socialist calling for more and more regulation is a world turned upside down and inside out. But it’s important to note how easily and nimbly McCain has given up everything he has held dear all his life and done a complete about face and betrayed himself in order to become president. Either that or he’s lying. Take your pick on which is a worse statement on his character. What we can say now is that he IS a character, but he HAS none.

But what choice does he have? His whole life has just been shown to be a lie, that the great Republican philosophy of a free market is pure fiction and instead leads to economic ruin. Isn’t it interesting how little it means to him that his life has been a lie, he just does an about face and puts another mask on. Clearly he never believed his own philosophy, it was just convenient for getting him elected as a Republican. Now that it is no longer convenient (to say the least) he does an easy pivot and changes his basic view of the world and becomes a completely different person.

Actually, he has not become a different person, he was always an empty suit and has only reacted to the crisis in the only way possible. It’s like the old joke of a guy running behind a crowd as fast as he can and saying he has to get in front of them because he is their leader!

The Economy Stupid

I'd like to say the stupid part goes to Bush, and while he's been the biggest enabler of disastrous economic policies, the fault of this goes way back for decades. In fact, it would be hard to pinpoint where it all started, probably the 1920's is the best place. One article that explains it very nicely starting from the 1920's on up, but written well enough it's easy to understand, is Only a Roosevelt-Scale Counterrevolution Can Prevent Great Depression II By Robert Kuttner.

Free-market extremists brought us this needless economic collapse. Here's a rundown of the mistakes we've made and the reforms we need now.

Free-market extremists, otherwise known as Republicans. And one of the people most at fault is Alan Greenspan. His entire philosophy since he became head of the fed is to do what he could to make the economy business friendly. Here's an article by Digsby on how Greenspan created this current crisis, Digsby quotes Newsweek's Michael Hirsh:

This mess is mostly a titanic failure of regulation. And the largest share of blame goes back to one man: Alan Greenspan. People mainly fault the former Fed chief, who once enjoyed a near-saintly reputation because of his reputed "feel" for market conditions, for ushering in an era of easy credit that accelerated the mortgage mania. But the much bigger problem was Greenspan's Ayn Randian passion for regulatory minimalism. Under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act enacted by Congress in 1994, the Fed was given the authority to oversee mortgage loans. But Greenspan kept putting off writing any rules. As late as April 2005, when things were seriously beginning to go wrong, he was saying that subprime lending would work out for the common good—without government interference.

There were others responsible, Phil Gramm comes to mind - you know, McCain's economic adviser - but the heart of it all goes back to Reagan's election in 1980. That's when the idea that government was evil and regulations come from government and are evil too. McCain himself is one of those free-market extremists who has supported de-regulation every time he could in his 26 year senate career. But now he likes regulation (hahah).

But not to worry, the government bailout should save us all from collapse, now the Fed is running some major companies, like Fannie Mae and AIG, and actually own all or part of these companies. This means that eventually we all might make a profit from these companies.

A guy on the Today show this morning had a good analogy for it. Think of the hurricane that just wiped out Galvaston. All the people there are screwed because they are individual homeowners with limited resources. But suppose some really rich guy owned it all and could afford to sit back and take big loses for several years, eventually all that property would be rebuilt and he'd make a fortune. The key is being rich enough to get through the financial loses. When it comes to AIG and all the others the Fed has bailed out, only the government is rich enough to do that on the scale needed. Wow, the government as a solution to a major problem, what a concept!

And don't worry, the Fed has money even though the country is in debt. They are the people who print money so they can make as much as they want. But in the modern age of computers actually printing money is not necessary, so the Fed magically created billions of dollars that only exist in computer storage. Isn't that cool? Don't you wish you could make Magic Money?

The main point is that we should be OK, eventually, as long as some strong regulations are enacted to prevent this from happening again. How do we do that? By electing Democrats, especially as president, and throwing out alllthe clowns who want deregulation no matter what. And who are they? Republicans. Republicans should not be allowed to rule and they should never be given moeny to handle, and this has now been proven definitively by the current crisis.

Lipstick on a Bourgeois Pig

I'm really liking Michael Seitzman as a writer, even though I only discovered him a few days ago. He's incredibly succinct yet makes his point better than people who write longer and boring articles. In this post he says pretty much what I said about McCain but better:

Notice that the minute there is a disaster of any sort, Old Man Winter responds in two ways -- the disaster is either not actually happening and you're just whining, or, he's going to make sure it never happens again. And how exactly is he going make sure of that? Well, he says he's going to appoint a commission -- that's right, a GOVERNMENT commission. If that sounds like more of that bureaucracy he's going to shrink, it's because it is. And what do you think that commission's going to recommend? Hold on...wait for it...here it comes....REGULATION. You heard right, Seniletor McCaine and Governor I-Can-See-Russia-From-Here would officially like to change their position. It seems they've awakened to the stunning realization that "government interference" is exactly what's needed to do all that changin' and reformin' they gon' do.

It's amazing to me that McCain can suddenly change the position he's held for 26 years and get away with it. 48 hours ago he was The Deregulator (I keep picturing McCain's face with the skin gone on half of it with the metal robot showing underneath). Now - suddenly - deregulation is the problem and he is going to start regulating as soon as he gets to Washington! Does that mean he's been WRONG for the past 26 years and now - suddenly - sees the light? Perhaps now he will also see the wisdom of raising taxes on the rich and government run health care? Only if he needs to do that to win the election, because all McCain really wants is to be president, I don't think he cares much about what he will do once he's there.

I actually suspect that McCain is sick and is keeping it a secret until he gets elected. I have no direct knowledge of this, just a gut feeling based on his age, the fact that his campaign has refused to let out ALL of his health information, and the fact that Cindy is now traveling with him everywhere at all times. What is she doing for him that only the two fo them know about? Adrenaline shots to keep him going? Pain shots? Maybe a dialysis machine back in the plane? I don't know and I could be wrong but he's old and doesn't look good, which means Palin could be president in a short time if they win. Damn, is that scary.

Anyway, read Michael Seitzman article on Huffington Post, lots more good stuff than what I quoted here and well worth reading.

McCain Change

This is from Tom Toles and the Washington Post. It speaks perfectly to how ridiculous the idea is that McCain is going to Washington for change. But there is one change we can be guaranteed of, he will appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court and Roe vs Wade will be overturned. It should happen before the end of his first term.

Hillary had a great line in a speech recently: "Anyone who things Republicans can fix the problems they have created probably think the iceberg could save the Titanic."

A theocrat is a theocrat, whether Muslim or Christian.

Here is a good article by Juan Cole that is definitely worth reading:

Sept. 9, 2008 | John McCain announced that he was running for president to confront the "transcendent challenge" of the 21st century, "radical Islamic extremism," contrasting it with "stability, tolerance and democracy." But the values of his handpicked running mate, Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers. On censorship, the teaching of creationism in schools, reproductive rights, attributing government policy to God's will and climate change, Palin agrees with Hamas and Saudi Arabia rather than supporting tolerance and democratic precepts. What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick.

Walter Reed General Hospital

Was anyone as puzzled as me as to what the heck was behind McCain while he was giving his big speech last night? My first thought was "One of his houses?" Here it is:

No clue as to what this thing is. And so badly done that in close up McCain had nothing but this ugly green behind him, really bad visuals.

Turns out it's Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California. Say what? Why the heck would they put up Walter Reed Jr. High, from the Valley, no less?

The only thing anyone has come up with is that they were trying to put up Walter Reed General Hospital. However, this is what that looks like:

Has McCain put together a whiz bang crack staff or what? Or what? seems to be the answer. What if they make this kind of mistake while McCain is meeting with the head of a powerful Middle Eastern country? Fatwah!! McCain has to run for his life to get out of the country and the entire Middle East declares war on us and refuses to sell us any more oil.

Yeah, President McCain would be a force to reckon with alrighty.

Gustav

Major hurricane hitting New Orleans this morning. Almost all of the coast down there has been evacuated as the authorities overreact as usual. The reason so few left during Katrina is because they have issued evacuation warnings for decades and it was never needed. No reason to think it was needed then, or now. Those in charge just can't afford to have a repeat of Katrina. Anyway, I hope the damage is very small and no one gets killed.

The real irony here, that everyone seems to have failed to notice, is that last week James Dobson called on his followers to pray for rain during Obama's acceptance speech last Thursday because he chose to have it at Mile High Stadium instead of indoors. It didn't rain then but now we have MAJOR rain that has shut down the Republican convention, at least for today. Christians are really big on seeing signs from god, well this is one that slaps them in the face - hard, and I bet they fail to see it. Clearly god is voting for Obama.

It's also fun to watch the Republicans turn schizophrenic. They hate government and think it can't function well, yet are stuck in a situation where they HAVE to make government function well or suffer very bad press. And they have to provide aid to poor and multi-colored people when what they really want to do is leave them on their own. The core of the Republican philosphy is don't depend on government help, it's every man for himself. Now they have to pretend they care and have to make government good. I bet it's killing them. I certainly hope it's painful.

And I think losing a few days of their convention is going to hurt their chances of winning quite a bit. But they have to cancel much of it or look like the assholes they really are. God sure is a little devil, isn't he?

IDIOT PUMAS

A PUMA is a rabid Hillary supporter, it stands for Party Unity My Ass. These people are unbelievably stupid if they vote for John McCain Here is an article called When PUMAS Attack by by georgia10:

John McCain's new ad features PUMA extraordinaire, Debra Bartoshevich, proclaiming that she's a "Hillary Clinton Democrat" who will be voting for John McCain:

She claims in the ad that "lots of Democrats will vote McCain" and then tries to assure voters that "it's ok -- really." Bartoshevich, who was a delegate, was stripped of delegate status. This is the second McCain ad targeted to petulant Clinton voters.

Leaving aside the irony of calling yourself a "Hillary Clinton Democrat" and then voting for someone diametrically opposed to what Democrats--including Hillary Clinton--stand for, McCain's attempt to win this race by targeting Clinton voters is quite revealing.

It is simply amazing that anyone who could support Hillary and her positions on the issues could possibly vote for McCain, who doesn't hold ANY of the same positions, who is, in fact, against everything Hillary stands for. So any of these PUMAS who vote for McCain are betraying Hillary. I can't even begin to imagine what these people are thinking.

Here on the ground in Denver, you would be hard pressed to find someone who is willing to vote for John McCain in the fall. Sure, the place is teeming with people who voted for Hillary, but the general consenus here is that we need to get a Democrat into the White House. Period.

That won't stop television reporters from flocking to the rare PUMA in the streets wearing a Hillary or Bust t-shirt. But the force of these individuals here at the convention isn't as compelling as the media make it out to be. While PUMAs may think they're here to roar for Hillary only, in the midst of all of this energy for Obama and the Democratic Party, PUMA whining is nothing more than a barely audible meow.

I've long suspected this whole thing is being created more by the media than something real. Sure, there are nutcases in every situation but they are a small minority. No true Hillary supporter could possibly vote for McCain, no matter how upset they are by her losing.

House . . .um - Houses?

Poor John, can’t remember how many houses he has. Everybody who has ever forgotten how many houses they own please raise their hands. And so the true elitist is discovered. No one except the Ultra Rich forgets how many houses they own. McCain was born into an Admiral’s family and so was a person of privilege from the beginning. Then in the 70’s he dumped his first wife and married the younger, and very rich, Cindy. So he has really been up in the clouds ever since. Really think he can understand the problems of you and me and everyone else living normal lives? Of course the economy seems fine to him, no way one of his 7 (maybe 8) houses will ever be repossessed. Gas prices? Do you really think this guy has ever pumped his own gas in many years?

Then there is Obama, father leaves when he is 2 so he is raised by a single mom, and later by his grandparents. Nothing elitist there. He worked his way through college and law school and he and Michelle managed to pay off their student loans not too long ago. That’s because he wrote a few books so some money was coming in and they are doing very well. Worth about $2 million last I heard. Pretty damn good for a kid with humble beginnings, but he’s talented. Sure, he’s special in the fact that he is very smart and worked his way up to a nice life, but if he wasn’t special he wouldn’t be a presidential candidate at the age of 47.

But he is not that far from his roots and is less of an Elitist than anyone who has ever run for president in my lifetime. He is as close to a “regular guy” as we are ever going to get for the job. The biggest elitist to run? George Bush. Born into a very rich and very politically powerful family, he never worked a day in his life. He was just good with his "Aw shucks" act.

Still Sick But Not Smoking

My ribs still hurt really bad and I'm coughing like crazy. By the time 5 pm rolls by I am so tired I can hardly move. I was awakened at 2 am last night by a violent coughing fit that lasted at least 10 minutes and disrupted my sleep.

But I haven't had a cigarette since last Friday. That's pretty damn good for me. Even better, I've actually lost weight while I've been cutting back on smoking, really unheard of. The Chantix has killed my appetite far more than curbing my desire to smoke. If I hadn't gotten the pneumonia I probably wouldn't have quite at all.

So I'm still limping forward, waiting for my lungs to clear and my ribs to stop hurting. Even just one of those would be good. At least I know how many houses I own, which is more than McCain can say. What a senile old fool he is.

And how great is it to be Michael Phelps right now? Talk about being on top of the world, 23 years old, feeling good because he is in fantastic shape, and the greatest Olympian of all time with the most Gold medals total and most gold medals at a single Olympics. I hear he will soon be worth $40 million.