October 2008
97 posts
September 2008
63 posts
Crisis Management: Obama vs McCain →
fuddmain:
election08:
Andrew Sullivan wants to know, given this bit of reporting from CNN, why the race is not over.
Sen. Barack Obama expressed confidence Monday that lawmakers would come through with a financial rescue package, while John McCain’s campaign accused Obama and Democrats of putting “politics ahead of country.”
I’d like to know also.
In a country that elected George W. Bush...
“This afternoon, responding to the economic crisis, the Obama campaign issued a...”
– Steve Benen (via fuddmain)
“What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the...”
– Steve Schmidt, McCain’s chief strategist, on Meet the Press yesterday. Guess that didn’t work out too well. Think McCain will be willing to take the blame? (via election08) (via wayne-remy)
What Would Happen if You Bought 25 Bottles of... →
Answer: a lot of weird shit. (via psychoviolinist)
“The Bush administration has overturned a 22-year-old policy and now allows...”
– Feds give customs agents free hand to seize travelers’ documents (via datn)
shawnblog:
sarazucker:
i need a hug. re-blog/comment if you need one, too. i am bored.
Me too. Or a re-hug. I’m down with whatever. What a LONG WEEK!
Yep, me too. In fact, my therapist basically ordered my to get into bed this weekend and watch stupid TV and not think about anything. Which I will do.
National Review (yep, National Review) Columnist... →
“Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.
No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held...
“The Obama campaign has sent letters to radio stations in Ohio and Pennsylvania...”
– The Volokh Conspiracy - Obama Campaign Challenges NRA Ad:
This is rather despicable. The Obama team acts in a very thuggish manner to suppress dissent. If you’re a liberal and you’re not troubled by this, you’re not actually a liberal.
For those who care, the ads are actually accurate....
What Actually Happened Yesterday: Joe Klein
The New York Times has an excellent account of the impact of John McCain’s bailout freakout on the actual work of negotiating a compromise. There are several stunning revelations here. First, House Minority Leader John Boehner’s top aide pretty much conceded that among the motivations for the House Republicans’ refusal to go along with the plan was to save face for McCain: The...
The Power of Negative Thinking →
“Greed — and its crafty sibling, speculation — are the designated culprits for the financial crisis. But another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.
As promoted by Oprah Winfrey, scores of megachurch pastors and an endless flow of self-help best sellers, the idea is to firmly believe that you...
asprettyasasong:
spiegelman:
God, I sure hope some pointy-headed professor type Ivy League elitist doesn’t get elected to navigate this Wall Street bailout. What we need right now are some good, small town values!
Girl Scout Cookies
ubercalifragilisticxpialidocious:
ineedtoo:
itsbedtime:
The best selling Girl Scout cookies are:
* Thin Mints (25% of total sales) * Samoas (Caramel DeLites) (19%) * Tagalongs (Peanut Butter Patties) (13%) * Do-si-dos (Peanut Butter Sandwiches) (11%) * Trefoils (Shortbread) (9%)
The other varieties combined account for the remaining 23%.
I can’t believe thin Mints aren’t rocking it even...
One word
smalltowngayblog:
Answer with only one word. No explanations or elaborations.
Your hair? brown Your mother? difficult Your father? quiet Your favorite thing? baking Your dream last night? family Your dream/goal? serenity Your favorite drink? Coke The room you’re in? bedroom Your ex? dork Your hobby? knitting Your fear? separation Where do you want to be in 6 years? Canada Where were you...
“John McCain has 83 Wall Street lobbyists on staff. Given all the railing he’s...”
– Steve Benen (via fuddmain)
“Republicans lowered my taxes, and will keep them low. But the value of my home...”
– CNN Commenter (via The Anonymous Liberal) (via fuddmain)
“You know, there are a lot of things I simply did not agree with Obama. But hot...”
– John Cole (via fuddmain)
Yes, yes, yes!
(via superfluidity)
From Salon Letters
Winners and Losers
I believe it was Ms. Lamott’s friend Fr. Tom who once observed that at 6 p.m. on Good Friday, the crucifixion looked like a win for the Romans. Never, never, ever underestimate the power of love. The route of aggression may seem quicker, but it is usually just the flip side of the same coin we’re trying to get rid of. Kindness and toughness are not opposites. Christ...
“McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said this to the Politico about the increased...”
– Talking Points Memo | Spokesman On McCain Strategy of Campaign Lies (via sexartandpolitics) (via asprettyasasong)
Shorter Brian Rogers: “Yeah, we’re lying. So what? No one cares anyway.”
ABC News Edited Out Key Parts of Sarah Palin... →
bunnynico:
jeffmiller:
I stand by my prior statement that Palin’s performance was awful, but I don’t think any reasonable person could review this interview transcript and conclude that ABC did not edit the interview in an egregious and unfair manner.
The linked-to transcripts are inaccurate. I just read the transcripts of the interview that aired online where Gibson quotes Palin when she said...
She’s Not Ready →
“While watching the Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson Thursday night, and the coverage of the Palin phenomenon in general, I’ve gotten the scary feeling, for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in the U.S., but that it might actually prevail. How is it that this woman could have been selected to be the vice presidential candidate on a major party...
Sallust on Rome
Wealth began to count as honor; it led to glory and power and influence. It was then that excellence began to fade. Poverty was considered disgrace. Innocence was taken to be destructive resentment. So from affluence, the younger generation fell into extravagance and greed accompanied by arrogance. They stole, wasted, put little value on what they had, and coveted the goods of others.
(via...
Watch the hosts of ABC's The View kick John... →
Yep, you read that right — The View.
What strikes me about this interview, more than anything, is how much McCain reminds me of Bush. He doesn’t seem to be capable of giving intelligent, well-articulated answers to any of the questions, instead mumbling and tossing off stock phrases that, from all appearances, he learned in a talking-points memo. Most tellingly, when asked about the...
Guest Editorials from When the Sky Fell in 2007 →
fuddmain:
Al Giordano:
Al talks some sense to the Chicken Littles amongst the Obama supporters:
In case any of you missed it, the sky fell in 2007, and especially on Obama’s chances to win the Democratic nomination.
We should listen to those who said so then, because obviously they were right. John Edwards Hillary Clinton is now the Democratic nominee for president! And her message of...
A Previous Message Repeated, Slightly More Forcefully
Published by John Scalzi at 4:12 pm
Dear Democrats, liberals and the like:
(tough love comments hidden behind the cut)
I know it’s a lot to ask at the moment, but could you possibly please stop publicly losing your shit all over the goddamn place? Honestly, it’s embarrassing. Did you really not know that coming out of the GOP...
Kristen Breitweiser: It's Time to Ignore The Moose... →
Breitweiser is right on here. Obama’s people would do well to heed what she says.
(via thelukaskaiser)
prediction
shawnblog:
candywrapped:
mccain/palin ‘09
Sadly (and with a sort of queasy feeling in my stomach), I concur.
It’s way, way too early to make that call. While I understand the urge toward pessimism, I would hate to see Obama lose the election because his supporters throw up our hands and decide that there’s no point.
A propos the latest poll numbers, The Huffington Post has an...
5 Myths About Those Civic-Minded, Deeply Informed... →
One thing both Democrats and Republicans agreed about in their vastly different conventions: The American voter will not only decide but decide wisely. But does the electorate really know what it’s talking about? Plenty of things are hurting American democracy — gridlock, negative campaigning, special interests — but one factor lies at the root of all the others, and nobody dares...
My husbands favourite shoes need a facelift....
ubercherryred:
or maybe just some little faces. Mmmm. Gra’feet’ti.
(photo via Smaggle Style)
States Purging Registered Voters.
bunnynico:
Election officials in a handful of crucial states are allegedly purging registered voters from their voter rolls, most of whom are poor and/or Hispanic or black:
Kansas, Michigan and Louisiana have been accused of illegally purging their voter lists, ignoring the federal law dictating the way registered voters may be purged from voter rolls. (via)
Colorado dumped one fifth of...
“If Sarah Palin understood economics I wouldn’t trust her nearly as much, because...”
– Wilbur (in comments on Oliver Willis) (via fuddmain)
“I’m disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not...”
– Why I Won’t Vote for John McCain—From a Fellow POW
Interesting — and very even-handed — piece from the LA Progressive.
Watchasprettyasasong:
livejamie:
Last night’s Daily Show was one of the best episodes I’ve ever seen. You can watch the entire show here. If you don’t want to watch this entire clip, fast forward to 5:07.
Ok, listen to me. It’s true — you really do need to fast forward to 5:07 and watch. Seriously.
The 50 greatest arts videos on YouTube →
Hard to pick a favorite, but Dolly Parton and Kurt Russell are up there. (via annie0816)
Running the numbers.
bunnynico:
At the RNC, Palin said: ”But listening to [Obama] speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate.”
Giuliani and McCain similarly lied to the American public to cheers of “zero, zero” from the crowd. Zero?
Here are the real numbers: 823 and 427 and 152. (via Daily Kos)
823 is...
“I think what [Judith] Warner is dancing around, but not saying outright, is that...”
– Jezebel.com: Why Sarah Palin Incites Near-Violent Rage In Normally Reasonable Women
The Judith Warner column referred to above is also excellent, and very much worth reading.
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about...”
– Gloria Steinem, Palin: “Wrong Woman, Wrong Message”