Honest McCain Campaign Poster #45 - Unfair Edition

The negative attacks are simply disgusting. The behavior of some of McNasty's supporters ever more so. The petulant candidate seems to think he's entitled to be president.

It doesn't matter if you measure the GOP's nominee by the issues or by his character.

John McCain is the wrong man.

Catch you later.....

The You Tube Generation's First Election

The power of the InterTubes in national elections is vastly underestimated by people who should know better..

Barack Obama is redefining 21st Century politics.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #44 - Post Debate Edition

Late getaway from work here on the Left coast.

From what I saw... Not specifically too good for the Senator from Cranky.

Check this out.

Catch you later.....

Character Counts

If, as we heard from certain opponents of Bill Clinton, "Character Counts" then this story about an act of kindness toward a total stranger by Barack Obama twenty years ago is quite illuminating.

From Leisha's Random Thoughts:

ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.

...Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.-"I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her".

...She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

...The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.

Go read the whole piece, it might just change a few minds.

The picture above comes from Leisha's post and shows Mary, her husband and a letter from Barack Obama.

I'm tempted to make a snarky comparison at this point but shall refrain, as nothing more need be said.

Catch you later.....

New on the Blogroll - Mojo !

Say hello to Mojo.

"The funniest person you will ever meet."

She's got her Mojo workin', you'll love her.

Stop by and say "howdy".

Catch you later.....

Honest McCainCampaign Poster #43 - Crazy Future Edition

The base will love it! Vote the straight Jeebus ticket!

Catch you later.....

Al-Qaida: US economic crisis equals Muslim victory - Yahoo! News

Al-Qaida: US economic crisis equals Muslim victory - Yahoo! News

CAIRO, Egypt - An American member of al-Qaida pointed to economic troubles in the United States as proof that "the enemies of Islam" face defeat, in an English-language video released Saturday.

..."The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing," said Gadahn, in a clip of the message distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, a Washington-based monitor of militant Web sites.

Didn't Osama bin Laden once say victory would be theirs when the price of oil rose seven-fold?

You've done a heckuva job, Georgie.

Catch you later.....

Sen. Barbara Boxer's reply to my calls and Emails in re Bailout

Received today:

Dear _____:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the financial rescue legislation (H.R.1424). I appreciate hearing from you on this critical issue.

The fundamentals of our economy have been shaken, and Americans are deeply concerned. When Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke placed an urgent phone call a few weeks ago to Congress to say we needed emergency action to prevent a major financial meltdown, I expected they would come forward with a plan that was targeted and reasonable, with appropriate oversight and taxpayer protections.

Unfortunately, what they brought us was a $700 billion blank check, which they asked us to sign with no questions asked. This plan contained no oversight, no taxpayer equity, and no control over CEO pay. I strongly opposed this proposal - and thanks to your phone calls, e-mails, and letters, Congress stopped it in its tracks.

The Senate made major improvements designed to strengthen our economy and protect our taxpayers. Instead of a blank check, the Senate plan included significant Congressional oversight, equity for taxpayers, curbs on executive compensation, an increase in FDIC insurance protection for bank depositors, middle-class tax relief, and job-creating tax incentives for renewable energy. The bill passed the Senate by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 74-25 and the House by a vote of 263-171.

These were very important changes. But let me be honest: There were still aspects of this package that I didn't like. I preferred the government acquiring more equity instead of toxic assets. I wanted the package to be put forward in smaller installments and to include more checks and balances to make sure it would work.

For me, the deciding factor in my Yes vote was information I received from the State of California. I was told by the Treasurer's office that without access to credit, which is the goal of this legislation, California wouldn't be able to sell voter-approved highway, school, and water bonds that are desperately needed for our economy and the creation of good-paying new jobs. In addition, I was told by the Governor's office, that without action, our state might be forced to withhold funds for law enforcement, schools, and other needed services. This would bring our state to its knees and many middle-class families would be in deep trouble. Small businesses are beginning to tell me they cannot get lines of credit to meet payroll, as well.

Rest assured, I will continue to speak out forcefully about the failures that led us to this place and keep working with my colleagues to strengthen confidence in our markets, protect the American taxpayers, and enact regulatory reform to ensure that we don't end up in this mess again.

Again, thank you for writing to me about this very important matter. Even though you may feel frustrated with the outcome of the legislation that passed, your voice absolutely resulted in the enactment of a better bill. Feel free to contact me again about any issue of importance to you.

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov

So far, this is the only substantive reply to my contacts. And disappointing, too.

Rep. Darrell Issa's office sent a computer generated acknowledgment and nothing since (must be cameras around). From our old pal, Ms. Feinstein.... Nada. Zip. Zero.

Catch you later.....

The New Yorker endorses Barack Obama

The New Yorker, home of liberal east coast intellectual elites (ie. smart folks), has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President.

(Image by Tom Bachtell, The New Yorker)

"The Choice" from The New Yorker:

At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama.

These are the final three sentences in a long, detailed, reasoned analysis of what is at stake in this election. Please go read the entire endorsement and share with family and friends.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #42

Might as well make it a landslide!

Catch you later.....

Letterman Recaps Palins Debate Performance - You Tube

Remember, the road to the White House runs through Dave.

Catch you later.....

Update: In the later segment with Brian Williams, Dave brings up an interesting point. Did Caribou Barbie ask Sen. Biden if she could call him "Joe" just to set him up for the corny "Say it ain't so, Joe." schtick? Classy.

Pastafarian Pirates Drink Fred Phelps Milkshake!

(photo by Brian Chilson / Arkansas Times)

From the Arkansas Times:

What do you do to make a bunch of soulless nutcases abandon their post at the Convention Center? Send in the pirates!

Yep, the cuckoo Phelps hate group walked the plank this morning after a happy bunch dressed like pirates and holding signs saying "God hates shrimp -- Leviticus" and "God hates cotton-polyester blends" stood opposite them at the corner of Markham and Scott streets. The group, made up of Central Arkansas Pastafarians, waved swords and growled "Arrghh!" in a manner that would have made Abbie Hoffman proud.

With cars honking and waving at the pirates and a TV crew giving them all the attention, the Phelps group -- with a child in tow, sadly -- picked up their "fag" epithets and went away. Pitiful.

After all, it was National Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Catch you later.....

(h/t to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster)

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #41

Would you hitch your wagon to these two?

Look at a maverick from a certain angle and all you see is a horse's ass.

Sarah Palin, putting the "Moron" back in oxymoron!

Catch you later.....

Update: PansyPoo and I encounter asshats.

McNasty vs. The least angry man

From Joe Klein / Time Magazine:

"When was the last time Americans elected an angry President?" (Carl Rove, 2003)

...Much has been written about McCain's mercurial temperament during the past few weeks. An election campaign that was supposed to be all about Barack Obama has turned out to be all about John McCain. In the process, the other side of the equation — Obama's steadiness throughout — has been pretty much overlooked. Just after the House shot down the bailout, Obama took to the stage in Colorado, and the contrast with McCain couldn't have been greater: "Now is not the time for fear, now is not the time for panic," he said. "We may not be able to do everything overnight ... But I want you to understand, I know we can do it ... Things are never smooth in Congress. It will get done." ...

..."His performance has been polished and steady," a prominent Republican told me. "John's has not been."...

..."John's advisers are sitting around, trying figure out their next Hail Mary pass," the prominent Republican told me. "But most Hail Marys aren't successful. They fall to the ground in the end zone." Sometimes a frantic heave will net a score, but you get the sense that even if McCain stages a last-minute rally, Obama will not be daunted. Under insane pressure — as brutal a year on the stump as I've ever seen — he has kept his head. He is the least angry man.

From the Rolling Stone:

...John Sidney McCain III has spent most of his life trying to escape the shadow of greater men. His grandfather Adm. John Sidney "Slew" McCain earned his four stars commanding a U.S. carrier force in World War II. His deeply ambitious father, Adm. "Junior" McCain, reached the same rank, commanding America's forces in the Pacific during Vietnam....

...The youngest McCain was not cut from the same cloth. Even as a toddler, McCain recalls in Faith of My Fathers, his volcanic temper was on display. "At the smallest provocation," he would hold his breath until he passed out: "I would go off in a mad frenzy, and then, suddenly, crash to the floor unconscious." His parents cured him of this habit in a way only a CIA interrogator could appreciate: by dropping their blue-faced boy in a bathtub of ice-cold water....

...Back on campus, McCain's short fuse was legend. "We'd hear this thunderous screaming and yelling between him and his roommate — doors slamming — and one of them would go running down the hall," recalls Phil Butler, who lived across the hall from McCain at the academy. "It was a regular occurrence."...

...When McCain was not shown the pampering to which he was accustomed, he grew petulant — even abusive. He repeatedly blew up in the face of his commanding officer. It was the kind of insubordination that would have gotten any other midshipman kicked out of Annapolis. But his classmates soon realized that McCain was untouchable....

...Over the years, John McCain has demonstrated a streak of anger so nasty that even his former flacks make no effort to spin it away. "If I tried to convince you he does not have a temper, you should hang up on me and ridicule me in print," says Dan Schnur, who served as McCain's press man during the 2000 campaign. Even McCain admits to an "immature and unprofessional reaction to slights" that is "little changed from the reactions to such provocations I had as a schoolboy."...

...At least three of McCain's GOP colleagues have gone on record to say that they consider him temperamentally unsuited to be commander in chief. Smith, the former senator from New Hampshire, has said that McCain's "temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." Sen. Domenici of New Mexico has said he doesn't "want this guy anywhere near a trigger." And Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi weighed in that "the thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded."

Klein's piece is a quick read. The Rolling Stone is quite long but well worth your time.

Besides detailing numerous other examples of Grampa's temper, the Rolling Stone article delves deeply into the other aspects of McCain obscured by the carefully crafted, utterly phony "Maverick" persona:

His treatment of women in general and his wives in particular is note-worthy.

The Keating Five episode gets a good airing.

His academic record, flight skills and judgement, esprit de corps, military record and POW story all get a good going over. The comments from his fellow POWs are telling.

It does not paint a pretty picture. Ambition, anger, avarice, recklessness and a sense of entitlement are not qualities our nation needs in a president.

On the other hand, a calm, cool, reflective, thoughtful, educated president is exactly the sort person we need when it seems all the world has gone mad.

Catch you later.....

Much Clearer Now...

From the comments at C&L:

A little long- but great!

I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re “exotic, different.”

* If you grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you’re a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack, you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you’re a maverick.

* If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.

* If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you don’t have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you’re qualified to become the country’s second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 (16 actually, they just celebrated an anniversary) years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you’re not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state’s school system, while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you’re very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family’s values don’t represent America’s.

* If you’re husband is nicknamed “First Dude”, with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn’t register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, “much” clearer now.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #40

God knows his campaign sure could use one.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #39

Hat tip to tonight's Colbert Report!

Catch you later.....

Kieth Olbermann on Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

Time to "spend more time with family"?

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #38 - Bail Fail Edition

Let's see; McCan't suspends his campaign and rushes back to D.C. to provide leadership in a national crisis.

This morning, Sen. McCan'tbeartolookObamaintheeye, takes credit for the bill before it goes down in flames.

And he want's us to believe he should be President? If he does for America what he's done for his own campaign, we're all screwed.

Catch you later.....

What Sarah sees from her front porch...

Found on Digg w/out attribution

Asked about Alaska's part in national defense against its maritime neighbor, Fey-as-Palin explained, "Every morning when they wake up, Alaskans look to see if there are any Russians hanging around, and if so its our responsibility to say shoo!"

From the L.A. Times: People with strongly conservative views were three times more fearful than staunch liberals after the effects of gender, age, income and education were factored out.

Conservatism = Fear of the Boogeyman? Well, it explains some of the madness.

Catch you later.....

Who benefits from the bailout? Steve Greenberg Cartoon

From Steve Greenberg of the Ventura County Star.

Go to the site and check out the wingnut complaints to the editor about Steve's work.

When the facts are against you, the polls are against you and your veep pick has become a national joke, you are reduced to pounding the table and yelling "unfair!".

Catch you later.....

BBC weighs in on Presidential Debate, Round One

From the BBC:

"I would say the two candidates finished more or less even on the issue of the economy - and the moderator, Jim Lehrer, even sounded a little frustrated as he tried and failed to get them to address how their economic plans might be changed by the virus of financial decay currently spreading through the banking system.

snip

But in the foreign policy section of the debate, it seemed to me John McCain emerged a clear winner, although there were individual issues like Iraq on which the Democratic contender more or less held his own.

snip

Mr Obama had some good moments on Iraq and was able to reel off a series of charges against Mr McCain, finishing each with the phrase: "You were wrong."

snip

Expect much more on the economy in those confrontations and, if the polls show that Mr McCain's more aggressive tone has paid off in this first clash, expect all the debates which follow to be a little more bad-tempered and direct than this one."

Catch you later.....

KOS cracks a funny !

From the DailyKos:

The line of the night in re the debate:

And tonight reassured them, given his calm poise and wry humor, that Barack Obama was more like Will Smith than Wesley Snipes.

Catch you later.....

Rachel Maddow

Going off on a tangent:

I am a bigger fan of Rachel's, day by day.

Smart, informed, courteous, cheerful, bemused...

On point and undeterred...

She is shining tonight!

I'm glad MSNBC finally succumbed to my will and gave her a show.

Now, if they would only trade "Joey the Scar" to Fox for a brain to be named later...

(We'll settle for half a brain. It's not nice to take advantage of the impaired.)

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #37 - League of Democracy

I can't wait to hear how McCain won the debate.

Catch you later.....

Presidential Debates - Sept. 26, 2008 - League of Democracies, Bitches!

I have GOT to get a keyboard cover!

10:04, McCain responds to the issue of Iran with his "League of Democracies" idea. That's weird, especially because American neo-cons are the only people outside the comic book world who believe in the League of Democracies.

ROTFLMAO.

Catch you later.....

P.S. What's with the drooping left eyelid? As an eye care professional since 1975, I suspect much, none of it good, and wonder when America will be given a deserved look at all of Sen. McCain's medical records. After all, if elected, he would be the oldest President ever at the time of Inauguration. Does Sarah scare you yet?

P.P.S. 7:35 PDT McCain slips "Noun, verb, POW!" into the close. Jeebus...

Most Absent Senator? John McCain!

From GovTrak:

John McCain missed 738 of 4104 roll call votes (18%) since Feb 4, 1993. The graph below shows the percent of roll call votes John McCain was absent for during the member’s time in Congress.

100% of the votes since spring? Country before campaign? I think not.

Click on the link for all the damning details.

Catch you later.....

Craig Ferguson on McCain Campaign "Time-out"

For a campaign and party that lies so frequently, they're not very good at it.

Catch you later.....

New on the Blogroll

Please say hello to:

MsJoanne at the Zoo.

WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure - Yahoo! News

WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure - Yahoo! News

Here we gooooooooooooo!

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #36 - B.S. edition

If he's banking on the low-information vote, he might be on to something!

Catch you later.....

Repubs for Obama

Saw this terrific bumper sticker this AM on a vehicle in our patient parking lot and just had to share it with all. Eight years ago these folks had a Bush/Cheney sticker on their car.

LOVE IT!

Catch you later.....

The Raw Story | Bush Administration will keep secret 'grim' Afghanistan report quiet until after election

The Raw Story Bush Administration will keep secret 'grim' Afghanistan report quiet until after election:

A secret US intelligence report which says the political and military situation in Afghanistan is "grim" will be withheld from the public until after the election, a new report says.

Intelligence officials are finishing up the National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan, according to ABC's Brian Ross, "but there are 'no plans to declassify' any of it before the election," an official said.

Is this what McCranky means when he claims to put country before party? Hypocrites!

Catch you later.....

(photo by Violinsoldier/Flikr)

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #35

My muse.

Catch you later.....

NBC Nightly News compares Obama / McCain on taxes

I hope this goes viral. There is just too much nonsense coming out of the mouths of McGrumpy's supporters regarding Obama raising their taxes.

Under Obama's plan, taxes will go up for approximately 750,000 households. At 74,250,000 households, taxes will go down, in some cases significantly, or at least not go up.

It's middle-class spending that makes this economy work, not the trickle-down BS the party of Bush is still peddling.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #34

Catch you later...

Economist: McCain's Campaign: Lying, cynical, Divisive

It's clear from across the pond. Maybe we're too close?

America not quite at its best (final paragraph):

"What Mrs Palin does do, as a committed pro-lifer, is to ensure that the evangelical wing of the Republican party will turn out in their multitudes. Mr McCain has thus placed abortion, the most divisive cultural issue in America, at the centre of his campaign. His defenders claim that it is too big an issue to be ignored, that he has always opposed abortion, that culture wars are an inevitable part of American elections, and that it was only when he appointed Mrs Palin that the American public started to listen to him. All this is true: but the old Mr McCain, who derided the religious right as “agents of intolerance”, would not have stooped to that."

Reading the foreign press is a great way to step back and see the forest for the trees. Read it for yourself. From their point of view, it must look like "Inherit the Wind" is a current events documentary.

Thank god the GOP is there to protect the right-to-life of the HPV virus.

Schmucks!

Catch you later.....

Image courtesy of AnitWarPosters.com

What Price a Nation?

American Democracy sold out for "30 pieces of silver"; from the NY Times:

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as ____________________.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

...Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

(emphasis mine)

Go to the link and see how easily and cheaply we can sell our national soul. It's only $2,333 per man, woman and child.

As long as we no longer need our Constitution or Bill of Rights, why not get rid of that pesky Judiciary?

And Congress? Traitors and capitulators all! String 'em up.

The NeoCon (emphasis on the "con") wet dream come true.

Call and Email your representatives at once and demand Congressional debate and oversight, as well as judicial review. This is BushCo's final assault on America and it must be stopped.

Catch you later.....

(Image courtesy of AntiWarPosters.com)

Update: Email response from Rep. Darrell Issa...

Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I am honored to serve you in Congress and take my obligation to you seriously. Your thoughts and concerns are always important to me and do make a difference. Please know that I will respond to your message as soon as possible.

If your message requires immediate attention, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at 202-225-3906 and speak to a memberof my staff. You may also contact my Vista, California office at760-599-5000.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be of service.

Oh, you can be sure to hear from me, Congressman, but will you be listening?

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #33 - Corporate Welfare Edition

What is that thing, where, like, you know, government and big business are, like, you know, um, the same thing?

Catch you later.....

P.S. The answer is National Socialism. Stop the give-away, call your representatives ASAP!

Thank John McCain - You Tube

To quote an old (Cheech & Chong?) one: John McCain will do for America what panty-hose has done for finger-f#&king.

Catch you later.....

Honest McCain Campaign Poster #32 - Healthcare Edition

From Crooks and Liars:

"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation." John McCain

What do you call it when one does the same dumb thing, over and over, expecting a different result?

Catch you later.....

Update: See Anti-McCain ad posted from You Tube in post above.