Joe you ungrateful bastard

Hey, how about taking a nice long leak over the metaphorically dead body of the guy that gave you your 15 minutes of fame. Good ole' Joe the Plumber is now shooting off his excessively dim mouth that Sen. John McCain, Republican Presidential Candidate and respected war hero "appalled him" on the campaign trail and that, yes, Gov. "Aww Shucks" was the "real deal."

Okay, Joe. Go away. Now. Your time has long passed. Your brand of hypocrisy has left the building. Maybe you could go pay your taxes.

Read the story, here.

John McCain can be pretty funny...

Again, if this guy had showed up on the campaign, we might have a different race tomorrow. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman was the running mate, that Sen. McCain wouldn't have stood by while Tina Fey, once again, made Gov. Palin look ridiculous. Could it be there is some truth to the reports of tension between McCain and Gov. Failin? My guess is, he can read. He knows this was a bad choice, and it may in the end cost him an election he could have won even though he was starting well behind thanks to eight years of President "Duh".

Testing...Testing...

John McCain now insists that America's "enemies" (a list that has grown immensely under the current administration, by the way)wouldn't dare "test" him. Perhaps because he's got such an itchy trigger finger we may be at war with Canada by the time he's through.

Nevertheless, I can't see any examples of anyone "testing" a "tough talking" Republican during his first months in the White House recently, can you....

Another one banned from the plane..the plane...

Why was Joe Klein, he of Time and Primary Colors fame, allegedly banned from the McCain Press Plane...well cuz he had the nerve, I guess, to point out this...


"John McCain had a fabulously loony weekend, flipping out charges and attacks like a mud tornado. The truly remarkable thing about McCain's attacks, especially on Obama's economic policies, is that McCain, in each case, is "guilty" of supporting some version of the policies he's attacking:



1. He attacks Obama for increasing "welfare" by providing refundable tax credits--that is giving people the cash equivalent if they don't pay enough in income taxes to reap the full benefit of the credit--but McCain's own $5000 health insurance credit is also refundable.



2. He attacks Obama for spreading "socialism," but McCain supported the bailout that enabled the Bush Administration to partially nationalize the banking system last week. If that ain't a (very mild) form of socialism, I don't know what is.



3. He attacks Obama's tax plan as a form of "spreading the wealth"--the words Obama used when talking to Joe the Unlicensed Tax Dodger in Ohio--because Obama would reduce taxes on the middle class and pay for it by restoring Clinton-era marginal tax rates on the wealthy. And yet, McCain proudly voted for a major tax hike and wealth redistribution scheme in his early days in his early days in Congress. In fact he touts it regularly, including on Fox News Sunday, as bipartisan cooperation at its finest:








Read the rest.

Way to Change it up....

And the jokes just write themselves...

Cup O' Joe...and another...and another...

Um, guys, one time is a decent example of a small business man with legitimate questions about how tax plans will impact him, his family and his business. Double Digit shout outs turns you into a caricature with nothing else to talk about.
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See, for example, Audiences Laughing at, Not With, John McCain

From TIME's Amy Sullivan:

In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg’s focus group were “audibly snickering” at John McCain’s grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to “Joe the Plumber.”

Arguably the most conservative newspaper in the country...

Tells McCain to give it a rest...The Wall Street Journal Opinion section today published the following:

"The culture wars are the familiar demagogic tactic of our own time, building monstrous offenses out of the tiniest slights. The fading rancor that each grievance is meant to revive, of course, dates to the 1960s and the antiwar protests, urban riots and annoying youth culture that originally triggered our great turn to the right.

This year the Democrats chose Barack Obama as their leader, a man who was born in 1961 and who largely missed our cultural civil war. In response, Republican campaign masterminds have sought to plunge him back into it in the most desperate and grotesque manner yet...

"Mr. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where his work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints. Herbert Walberg, an advocate of school vouchers who is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, told me he remembers Mr. Ayers as "a responsible colleague, in the professional sense of the word." Bill Schubert, who served as the chairman of UIC's Department of Curriculum and Instruction for many years, thinks so highly of Mr. Ayers that, in response to the current allegations, he compiled a lengthy résumé of the man's books, journal articles, guest lectures and keynote speeches.

Mr. Ayers has been involved with countless foundation efforts and has received various awards. He volunteers for everything. He may once have been wanted by the FBI, but in the intervening years the man has become such a good citizen he ought to be an honorary Eagle Scout...."

Full Opinion piece by Thomas Frank here.

Ain't nobody driving the bus...

Roger Simon, at Politico:

"John McCain’s campaign is pretty much a shambles right now.

If you don’t believe me, just listen to John McCain. His chief goal these days is calming down his crowds, not firing them up.

And that is an honorable thing to do. It may not be a winning thing to do. But it is honorable.

Sarah Palin, once seen as a huge plus to the ticket, is now increasingly emerging as a liability.

Forget that an independent legislative panel found Friday that she had abused her power and violated ethics laws as governor of Alaska. Forget that with the possibility of Palin being a heartbeat away from the presidency, McCain gives up the argument that his ticket represents experience and a steady hand on the tiller.

The real problem for McCain is that Palin is running a separate — and scary — campaign that does not seem to be under anybody’s control."

Keep going, here.
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Meanwhile... Columnist and Iraq War Hawk Christopher Hitchens blasts Palin on October 13...


"The most insulting thing that a politician can do is to compel you to ask yourself: "What does he take me for?" Precisely this question is provoked by the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin. I wrote not long ago that it was not right to condescend to her just because of her provincial roots or her piety, let alone her slight flirtatiousness, but really her conduct since then has been a national disgrace. It turns out that none of her early claims to political courage was founded in fact, and it further turns out that some of the untested rumors about her -- her vindictiveness in local quarrels, her bizarre religious and political affiliations -- were very well-founded, indeed..."
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And well known conservative Bill Kristol, is apparently "in the tank" for Obama according to Fox "News". Why?

For writing this:

"[McCain's] campaign is totally overmatched by Obama’s. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic. If the race continues over the next three weeks to be a conventional one, McCain is doomed."

And more like it, in the NYT.
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And another rat jumping ship--Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, passed over to be McCain's running mate in favor of Gov. YouBetcha, decided to skip a McCain Rally over the weekend to go to...Disney World. It was reported: ''When I have time to help, I'll try to do that,'' Crist said. Think Crist would have made time if he were the running mate? Check out the Miami Herald.
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Why am I posting all this...mostly because it amuses me to no end. I know three weeks is a long time in an election...but things look pretty good from where we lefties sit right now. Still, we can't coast. The state by state polls are still close in some areas, and voter turnout (and eliminating as much voter suppression as possible) will still be a key. Keep up the good work, Team O, but keep the pressure on.

Way to Support the Troops, Sen. POW

Sen. POW received a "D" for his efforts in support of veterans on a report card issued by a prominent Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Group. Again, an Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Group. This is not some "liberal" group of "tree hugging surrender monkeys." These are people trained to kill with their bare hands. They have shown McCain for the hypocrite he's become. He wasn't even a sponsor of a GI Bill for Iraq veterans--but he's watching out for them....Please. Check out the rankings here.

Sens. Obama and Biden received "Bs" by the way.

Okay so it's 13 minutes long...Watch Anyway

Prosecutor to McCain/Palin: You're Full of Crap

Bill Ayers, Bill Ayers, Bill Ayers. The economy continues to tumble into oblivion despite the bailout, and McCain and Palin want to focus instead on a man who, rightfully prosecuted in the 70s, redeemed himself to the point that he won Chicago's Citizen of the Year award in 1997 for his work on education.

The lead prosecutor on the Ayers case, William Ibershof, doesn't buy it, he said in a statement.

"I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago....


I do take issue with [reports] that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of “prosecutorial misconduct.” It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director."

It's worth the money

Hey you know that "overhead projector" Sen. Grumpy kept bitching about at the last Debate. Turns out, kinda as expected, that the request was for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago--and it was a project that was not funded. The Planetarium issued a statement:




"To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support -- which was not funded -- to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere.... To remain competitive and ensure national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math."

1) The Sky Theater, if you haven't been, is just cool. So screw off, Grumpy.

2) The attempted appropriation, which didn't even pass, is about several hundred million dollars less than what Gov. Palin took for her famous bridge that she supposedly passed on, but, as it turns out, still took the money for and spread it around her State. A State which has a population, I would gather, less than the number of people who visit the Adler Planetarium in an average year.

Yahoo has a fun story about how scientists, like many others, think Sen. Grumpy has gone over the edge. Don't Mess With Scientists.

If you can't say something to someone's face...

Part of me wants to feel sorry for Sen. Grumpy. But I get over it fast.

Sen. McCain (you know, "that one" the white guy) is clearly uncomfortable with the negative route his campaign has taken as recently as this last weekend. Why else would he completely avoid making any comments to Sen. Obama's face about William Ayers or Rev. Wright in front of a huge TV audience.

Try as he might to cover, McCain is stuck with Gov. "I can see Russia from my House" Palin as his running mate when he really wanted Joe Lieberman. He's saddled with running after eight years of disastrous policies that he originally voted against but then was forced to move to adopt to win the Repub. nomination. The economy takes a dive and everyone, including Gov. YouBetcha, calls for massive government regulation of the financial sector--something you've campaigned and voted against for many years. Everyone is thinking about Alternative Energy, and you've got a record of voting against every possible form of alternative fuels for your entire Senate career.

If your opponent wasn't a black man, and half the country really stupid, you'd be 30 points behind instead of 8.

Nevertheless, a few more points from last night's debate....

If you can't say something to someone to their face, as my momma says, you shouldn't say it. How dare you send your running mate out to blast smear tactics and then simply act like that isn't happening during the debate.

If you, a Republican, are going to announce a plan for a second massive bailout of failed mortgages on national television, you might want to 1) remember your record on deregulation; 2) actually have some specifics of the plan to talk about.

How, in the name of Michael Moore, could you to through nearly 3 hours of debates without even using the phrase "middle class." Can you pretend to care, at least? Are you that out of touch with what is happening in this country?

Stop spouting the lies. (This goes for both candidates, actually.) Isn't there enough to talk about without misstating each other's record. There's a lot of bad juju going on out there, boys and girls, and we want real answers, not fabrications and empty promises.

I'm tired of hearing McCain talk about 800 billion in "new" Obama spending without talking about the planned budgetary offsets that generally make it a wash. Stop saying you are for "alternative energy" when every single vote you have cast says otherwise. There are reasons a person could vote for you, your energy record is not it.

If you proclaim yourself a master of the "town hall" format, it helps to remember the name of the voter asking you a question. Also, going after Tom Brokaw for asking you a question wasn't funny, it made you look petulant.

Also, MSNBC and CSPAN showed Sen. Obama after the debate, staying and talking to the crowd, signing autographs, and generally making those in the room feel like he gave a damn. You were out of there when the last question ended. What does that say to the folks who came to see you? You know, the ones from the...what is it again...that group of people above the poverty line but not in the higher tax brackets...I can't remember what they are called.... can you?

Read the NYT tear McCain a new one today.

What did you expect....

At the left is good ole Sen. John McCain at a Senate Ethics Committee hearing on the Keating 5 scandal. Remember that...cost the nation billions...lots of folks their pensions (sound familiar at all)...Johnny hanging out with Charles Keating on his boat, taking to regulators to see if they would "hurry up" their investigation...



McCain sent Palin out over the weekend to bash Obama on some not very wise associations with 70s era radical William Ayers. Now, the Obama crew is spending the day spotlighting the Keating 5. What did you think was going to happen, Sen., when you went negative? What do you think resonates more with the public in the middle of a 700 billion dollar financial sector bailout--some weak ties to a guy who committed crimes when Obama was eight, or your direct involvement with a felon who helped cost this country billions.



I remember thinking that at least this campaign, between two people of respect, would be about the issues. Both sides are guilty of moving this into the gutter, but McCain, you've been universally derided for running a dishonorable campaign, and it looks like, for now, you are paying the price in the polls.

Stories I wish were from the Onion

Palin reportedly believes dinosaurs and man roamed the Earth hand in hand. Huffington Post.
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The GOP blames the failure to pass the allegedly necessary bailout bill on
sticks and stones.

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Reportedly, New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd has been banned from the McPlane for being mean to McCain/Palin. Or was that for printing the truth, such as "McCain was so aggressively erratic as he did his free-form break dance around the economy last week that it seemed the only possible explanation was that he was creating a wild diversion to distract people from Sarah Palin’s stunningly junior varsity appearance with Katie Couric."

The Biggest Liar

Sen. Testy, at the debate, and today in an ad and a speech continues to argue that Obama voted to raise taxes on people making $42,000 a year. The trust, is, as usual, something different. CNN REPORTS:

"In McCain's speech, the Republican presidential candidate was referring to votes on a resolution (Senate Concurrent Resolution 70) meant to outline the Senate's budget priorities through 2013, but the measure had no practical effect.

According to a CNN review of the resolution, it assumes that most of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts pushed by President Bush will expire in that time, which McCain says amounts to a tax increase. Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, voted "yes" on the resolution. McCain did not vote."

So, McCain thinks a budgetary vote with no practical effect amounts to tax increases, and, if so, McCain certainly didn't vote against the big bad "tax increase" because he didn't vote!!

Hmmm, also McCain's campaign just issued a press release claiming Democrats are at fault for the failure to pass today's bailout. Well, Senator, how about a lesson in simple math.

"The bill failed by a vote of 205 to 228, with 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans voting in favor and 95 Democrats joining 133 Republicans against."

Senator, you did a great job when you rushed back to Washington to "bring Republicans and Democrats" together on a bailout package.

Open Mouth, Insert Pump

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Let's review kids. Friday, Sen. Schizophrenic calls out Sen. Obama at a debate for saying that if terrorists are in Pakistan (which they most surely are) we should go after them. (Prompting a fantastic comeback reminding us how Sen Schizo likes to sing "bomb iran" to Beach Boys tunes). The next day, his brilliant running mate basically says she agrees with Sen. Obama. (Pakistan, apparently, being a country where the leaders don't fly over her house, she was rightfully confused). Sunday, McCain goes on the Sunday morning pundit shows and, again, has to cover for his running mate. This time, stating, that you shouldn't trust overheard conversations as statements of policy.

WHAT? Again, I must ask, DO YOU THINK WE ARE STUPID?? What's more likely a genuine statement of a person's beliefs, a conversation that is unscripted or the reading off of talking points scripted, apparently, in part by Henry Kissinger, Mr. Vietnam.

Sen. McCain, because the American people are generally, well, dumb, you could win this thing. It is unthinkable that you would put Gov. Palin second in line for the presidency. Do what some of your own party is starting to beg you to do. Find a nice family emergency for her to attend to and appoint Tom Ridge to take her place. You speak about "Country First" and then you pull this crap. Do you think, maybe, if you would have asked her a few questions before anointing her you may have heard how RIDICULOUS she sounds? It's Sunday morning, and you are driving me to drink, Sir.

Various Debate Pundrity

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For what it's worth, I think McCain probably won on points--but this was supposed to be his strong suit, foreign policy and his vaunted experience--and he needed to blow Sen. Obama out of Mississippi. That just didn't happen. At times, he seemed so angry it was almost, well, unpresidential. McCain basically told Vladamir Putin he's coming for him next, which is a bit worrisome. He repeated an often discredited lie about Obama voting to raise taxes on people making $42,000 a year. He repeated too many talking points from his acceptance speech. As pointed out above, the whole "I'm not looking at you" think is kinda odd. Still, his "Senator Obama doesn't understand" line, though, may have some wings and you can't doubt the foreign policy experience.

Sen. Obama, I would have liked you to have said "John's right" maybe not sooooo much. Nothing wrong with finding points of agreement, but the purpose of debate is to outline differences. Nice job tying him back to the Bush Admin., but I would like to have seen that happen more. Also, this whole Kissinger thing...don't take Kissinger's words and try and make them your own. Instead, ask, Sen. McCain why the architect of the Vietnam War and carpet bombing of Cambodia is one of his advisors!

Wow, what do you know.

An ad quotes McCain campaign manager Rick Davis: "McCain won the debate — hands down."

Hmm, interesting, since I'm posting this at 3:07 on Friday and the debate HASN'T HAPPENED YET. Idiots.