A Parade of Presidents

The 41st President, George H.W. Bush, the 44th President (elect) Barack Hussein Obama, the 43rd President, George W. Bush, the 42nd President, Bill Clinton, and the 39th President, Jimmy Carter (l-r)

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The Paliban

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Merry Christmas, 2008!

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Robin Williams on Barack Hussein Obama

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Faux News Reacts!

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History

President-elect Barack Hussein Obama

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It's Time for Change

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Colbert Endorsement

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Obama on The Daily Show

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Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

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The Endorsement

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

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A Vote for the Future

click image for complete editorial

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Why they call him "McSame"

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Bush, but worse

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Vote for McCain

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

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Obama on the economy

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What Palin's candidacy says about America

Mad Dog Palin
The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is -
it's what her candidacy says about America
by Matt Taibbi
Posted Oct 02, 2008 3:00 PM

From the article:

It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag. ===== So, sure, Barack Obama might be every bit as much a slick piece of imageering as Sarah Palin. The difference is in what the image represents. The Obama image represents tolerance, intelligence, education, patience with the notion of compromise and negotiation, and a willingness to stare ugly facts right in the face, all qualities we're actually going to need in government if we're going to get out of this huge mess we're in. Here's what Sarah Palin represents: being a fat fucking pig who pins "Country First" buttons on his man titties and chants "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at the top of his lungs while his kids live off credit cards and Saudis buy up all the mortgages in Kansas. The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time. (read the entire article)

Adobe Acrobat copy of Mad Dog Palin

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Les Misbarack

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Hypocrisy, they name is…

In light of the current financial crisis I thought it would be helpful to see what the Republicans really think about the government helping to bail out financial institutions. From the 2008 Republican National Convention platform:

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all.

Flip flop...Indeed.

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A flustered rookie playing in a league too high

McCain Loses His Head
By George F. Will
Tuesday, September 23, 2008; A21
From the article:

Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either. It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? (read the entire article)

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Charlie applies the lipstick

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Task from God

Written and produced by Joe Bechtold

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Sarah in her natural habitat

Sarah Palin Bags a Big One

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Feminism's Bastardization

Thursday, September 11, 2008
Zombie feminists of the RNC
by Rebecca Traister



From the article:

In this strange new pro-woman tableau, feminism -- a word that is being used all over the country with regard to Palin's potential power -- means voting for someone who would limit reproductive control, access to healthcare and funding for places like Covenant House Alaska, an organization that helps unwed teen mothers. It means cheering someone who allowed women to be charged for their rape kits while she was mayor of Wasilla, who supports the teaching of creationism alongside evolution, who has inquired locally about the possibility of using her position to ban children's books from the public library, who does not support the teaching of sex education. In this "Handmaid's Tale"-inflected universe, in which femininity is worshipped but females will be denied rights, CNBC pundit Donny Deutsch tells us that we're witnessing "a new creation ... of the feminist ideal," the feminism being so ideal because instead of being voiced by hairy old bats with unattractive ideas about intellect and economy and politics and power, it's now embodied by a woman who, according to Deutsch, does what Hillary Clinton did not: "put a skirt on." "I want her watching my kids," says Deutsch. "I want her laying next to me in bed." Welcome to 2008, the year a tough, wonky woman won a primary (lots of them, actually), an inspiring black man secured his party's nomination for the presidency, and a television talking head felt free to opine that a woman is qualified for executive office because he wants to bed her and have her watch his kids! Stop the election; I want to get off. (read the entire article)

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A pig by any other name...

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BULLWINKLE ASSASSINATED!

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You own your own words

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I'm Thinkin' 'Bout Nailing' Sarah Palin

I'm Thinkin' 'Bout Nailing' Sarah Palin

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Some say it is Katherine Harris...

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This is sure to make your hair hurt

Ouch!

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The GOP Playbook

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Republicans: The Party of Stupid

Know-Nothing Politics
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 7, 2008

From the article: ...the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid. (read the entire article)

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The Depths of Desperation

It is always enlightening to see what a desperate campaign (or their followers) will resort to when they're down.

A current tactic by the conservatives is to cast doubt on Senator Obama's eligibility to even hold the office of the President. Article II of the US Constitution outlines the three requirements to be eligible for election as President:

• be at least thirty-five years old;
• have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years;
• be a natural-born citizen of the United States

It is on that last item, "be a natural-born citizen of the United States" on which many have tried to "disqualify" Obama. They claim that his mother had to have been 21 at the time of his birth in order for Obama to be a natural-born citizen of the United States. But is this really the case?

I would direct these "detectives" to the United States Code, Title 8 > Chapter 12 > Subchapter III > Part I > § 1405:

A person born in Hawaii on or after August 12, 1898, and before April 30, 1900, is declared to be a citizen of the United States as of April 30, 1900. A person born in Hawaii on or after April 30, 1900, is a citizen of the United States at birth. A person who was a citizen of the Republic of Hawaii on August 12, 1898, is declared to be a citizen of the United States as of April 30, 1900.

And that, my friends, answers that!

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An Answer to the White Haired Dude

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GOP "Takes Pride in Being Ignorant"

In response to a question about what individual Americans can do about the high cost of gasoline, Senator Obama replied that individuals could inflate their tires to the proper pressure in other to improve fuel efficiency.

As is typical of rightwingnuts this commonsense answer was ridiculed (by taking it out-of-context, of course) and claiming it is the centerpiece of Obama's energy policy. And on par with a junior high school joke the McCain campaign came up with this:


And without realizing it the McCain campaign simply highlighted the obvious, they take pride in being ignorant, as Obama was more than willing to point out:



Way to go, Senator Obama!

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The "Lesser of Two Evils"

Is it any wonder why so many Republicans are voting for McCain as the "lesser of two evils"? If I were a GOPher I wouldn't be too excited about my candidate, either.

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Did McCain and his team really squander a four-month head start?

It sure did.

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The G in GOP Stands for Ghoul

June 25, 2008 at 06:26

The G in GOP Stands for Ghoul
by Mary Lyon
http://www.opednews.com/

I've heard of rooting for the bad guys, but this is ridiculous. John McCain's elite adviser Charlie Black opined to Fortune magazine that if there were another terrorist strike against our country in time for the general election, it "certainly would be a big advantage" for McCain's campaign ("a candid and very disappointing glimpse into the thinking of one of McCain's closest advisers.").

Wow. Nice. Which American city would you like to see take it in the shorts this time, Mr. Black? How many thousands of us are expendable for the sake of your candidate's success? Let's see, New York City has already been there. Same thing for Arlington, Virginia, home of the Pentagon. And don't forget New Orleans. No, that wasn't terrorism, per se, but it was still a disaster that needed - but did not get - government foresight and planning wisdom from seasoned, credible public service professionals as well as swift and effective response.

Is this the newest round of "October Surprise" paranoia? Or is it paranoia? A terrorist strike on American soil would be a major campaign boost for John McCain? Does it sound at all as though someone regards such a tragedy as a good thing? Really nice.

(read the entire article)

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McCain's YouTube Problem

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GWB: Worst. President. Ever. Part II

Sorry, Mr. President, But Your Legacy Is More Awful Than You Think
by: Bob Cesca

Posted June 11, 2008 04:57 PM (EST)

From the article: War mongering is a significant aspect of your legacy, but I think we can conclude, and without much debate, that your legacy will also be one of criminality, failure and a degree of incompetence rarely achieved by any American president, much less one whose deficit of character is rivaled only by his nearly unprecedented lack of humility in the face of his unprecedented roster of inadequacies. Sorry. As it turns out, you won't have much control over your legacy and the history of your administration anyway. You might have some cursory input, but no-one really takes you seriously anymore and anything you put forth will be taken as just another work of fiction; another bit of propaganda. Your legacy will ultimately be written by those of us who have been actively documenting your presidency in real time -- millions of voices authoring the narrative of your awful regime and preserving it with digital clarity one trespass at a time. And everywhere we look, we can plainly observe your smirking, affectless footprint. Death, poverty, war, pain, ignorance, blind patriotism, joblessness, and abandoned homes. And guess what? We're writing it down on the Internets. Your history, Mr. President, is being written at this very moment by those of us who are watching our homes collapse in value and our friends and relatives sent to places like Ramadi and Fallujah and, in some cases, Walter Reed or worse. Your history, Mr. President, isn't going to be settled and published decades from now. It's being published immediately and without the fog of memory to obscure the ugly details. (read the entire article)

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Senator McCain wants context? Fine.

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Yes...An Amazing Accomplishment!

May 7, 2008 Jonathan Schwarz: What an Amazing Accomplishment It’s September 12, 2001. You’re sitting in front of a TV, watching footage of the World Trade Center collapse over and over and over again. All of a sudden, someone from seven years in the future walks out of a tiny temporal vortex, and tells you: George W. Bush is going to fuck this up so badly that in 2008, the United States of America will likely elect as president a black man whose middle name is Hussein and whose father was Muslim. Oh, and he also admits he’s used cocaine. I think it would have been easier to convince me of the reality of time travel. “No, no, I believe you really are from the future. But the other stuff, that’s CRAZY.” posted by Jonathan Schwarz at 3:33 PM

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Keeping an especially sharp eye...

According to the "Hillary is 44" Web site/About page:

"We will keep an especially sharp eye on "progressives" or Democrats who repeat Republican talking points to undermine Hillary or any of our candidates."

Any of our candidates. Okay, that's plain enough.

Then just one question: Why does the entire site seem devoted to undermining the candidacy of Barack Obama for President of the United States? For example:

"Women will NOt vote for race-baiting, gay-bashing, women-hating Barack Obama in NOvember."

You know, the same Barack Obama endorsed by Hillary Clinton:

"The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand, is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States," Clinton told a crowd of 8,000 supporters during an emotion-filled rally at the National Building Museum in Washington. "Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."

Hillary Clinton says: "And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."

That's plain to all. Apparently, though, the "Hillary is 44" people have comprehension problems.

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You'll Get What You Deserve

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Why they call him "McSame"

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The Fool on the Hill

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Mr. and Mrs. John McLieberSame

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What do you think?

I was recently watching Star Trek: Insurrection, and it struck me that Ad'har Ru'afo looks a lot like John McCain. What do you think?

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Show us the money...

If there's a so-called "whitey" tape out there I, for one, would like to see it instead of hearing all of the "I heard from someone who heard from someone who knows someone who has seen it" hype.

Even the National Review agrees.

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GWB: Worst. President. Ever.

There are those who erroneously claim that Jimmy Carter was the worst president ever. They cite the economic situation during his administration and the Iranian hostage crisis as proof of their assertion.

I would argue that, without a doubt, we are witnessing and living through this country's worst president ever: George W. Bush. It isn't a matter of the so-called "irrational hatred of President Bush." Nope. I believe that future historians will reflect what this Michael Hirsh article from Newsweek has to say, and it isn't pretty:

An Unnatural Disaster by Michael Hirsh In a month of horrific natural disasters—the China quake, the Burma cyclone—it's instructive to consider what one of the biggest unnatural disasters in memory looks like. That is the decline in America's position in the world from where we were when George W. Bush inherited power on Jan. 20, 2001, to what he will bequeath to the next president eight months from now. (read the entire article)

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The Reason for $4.00 a gallon gasoline

From our friends at Democratic Underground, and the 336th edition of The Top Ten Conservative Idiots (in this case, #7, George W. Bush):

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Debate, Charlie Gibson Style

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Rightwing Racism on Display

This continues the discussion from tonight's broadcast of The Political Atlas.

Partisanship Is Back! on The Hotline: On the right, bloggers accused Obama of offering "false moral equivalence," "blame whitey," and "the politics of grievance." ... One thing is clear: those who predicted that an Obama-John McCain race would lead to a "civil" debate about this country's future (we're looking at you, Andrew Sullivan!) are deluding themselves. If the conservative reaction to the Wright controversy is any indication, an Obama-McCain race would be just as nasty as a Hillary Clinton-McCain race. (read the entire article)

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Response to Obama's Speech on Race from Andrew Sullivan

One of the best I've read:

Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all been waiting for for a generation. Its ability to embrace both the legitimate fears and resentments of whites and the understandable anger and dashed hopes of many blacks was, in my view, unique in recent American history. And it was a reflection of faith - deep, hopeful, transcending faith in the promises of the Gospels. And it was about America - its unique promise, its historic purpose, and our duty to take up the burden to perfect this union - today, in our time, in our way. I have never felt more convinced that this man's candidacy - not this man, his candidacy - and what he can bring us to achieve - is an historic opportunity. This was a testing; and he did not merely pass it by uttering safe bromides. He addressed the intimate, painful love he has for an imperfect and sometimes embittered man. And how that love enables him to see that man's faults and pain as well as his promise. This is what my faith is about. It is what the Gospels are about. This is a candidate who does not merely speak as a Christian. He acts like a Christian. Bill Clinton once said that everything bad in America can be rectified by what is good in America. He was right - and Obama takes that to a new level. And does it with the deepest darkest wound in this country's history. I love this country. I don't remember loving it or hoping more from it than today.

Superdelegate Speaks...

Mitch Ceasar, Broward County DEC Chair, DNC Executive Committee member and Superdelegate to the Democratic Convention in August, had some great insights on this morning's broadcast of Situation Awareness:


Mitch talked about the chances of the so-called do-over election here in Florida, and what it will take to seat the Florida delegation. Plus, he answered the question, "Will the Superdelegates make the difference in Denver?"

This interview was featured on the home page of Blog Talk Radio:

Click image for larger view
The discussion continues next week when my guest will be Alison Berke Morano, Chair of the Pasco County DEC and Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Committee Chairs Association.

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The Law of Unintended Consequences

Florida's Republican-majority legislature, with bipartisan support, passed a bill moving Florida's 2008 president primary from March 11th to January 29th. Florida's Republican governor signed the bill into law. The idea was to give Florida an earlier voice in deciding who would be the nominees for the two major political parties, rather than leaving that honor to Iowa and New Hampshire and other small states.

As it turns out Florida's 2008 primary will be mostly remembered for the implosion of the Giuliani campaign and, to a lesser degree, the end of the Edwards campaign. Rather than being a "king-maker" Florida was just another early state whose primary results ended up making little difference in picking the parties’ nominees.

So, January 29, 2008 is history, as is 2008's Super Tuesday, and there's still no Democratic or Republican presidential candidate with enough delegate votes to secure the nomination.

Which brings us to the Law of Unintended Consequences. If Florida's primary was upcoming on March 11th, the nation's eyes would be focused on Florida (and Texas, a week earlier) as the real tipping point for the nominees, the “king-maker.” Instead, Florida is just an also-ran.

The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

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Liberal Ronald Reagan?

Obama emerges as a liberal Reagan who can reunite America

by Andrew Sullivan

The historical analogies for the phenomenon that is Barack Obama have already stretched credibility. For a while pundits likened him to the effete loser Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic party’s 1950s version of Labour’s Hugh Gaitskell, the greatest prime minister we never had. But Obama doesn’t seem like such an airhead after his gritty, crushing defeat of Hillary Clinton in Iowa. I long thought he’d win – but I never thought it would be by eight points, or that he’d push Clinton into third place. So now the favourite analogy is JFK: the young, hopeful rhetorician urging a New Frontier after two terms of conservatism. But that doesn’t work either: JFK won by out-hawking Nixon in 1960, and Obama is a clear antiIraq war candidate. Bobby Kennedy is more apposite: a mix of inner steel and an evolving moral candidacy. Just as a vote for RFK in 1968 was seen by many as a form of collective self-absolution for Vietnam, so Obama resonates among many Americans who do not recognise what their country has become these past few years. The analogy that worries Republicans the most is a more recent one. Could Obama be a potential liberal version of Ronald Reagan? Could he do for the Democrats what Reagan did for the Republicans a quarter century ago? (read the entire article)

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Huckabee Ties Giuliani for National Lead

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

A new American Research Group national poll shows Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee are tied for first place in the Republican presidential race with 21%, followed by Sen. John McCain at 18%, Mitt Romney at 16% and Fred Thompson at 6%.

Just a month ago, Huckabee was in fifth place in the same poll with just 6% support.

Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Clinton leads with 41% support, followed by Sen. Barack Obama at 22%, and John Edwards at 13%.

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Rudy's Latest Ad

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Nelson Rockefeller versus Barry Goldwater

This was on WorldNutDaily. If they say it, well, it must be true. Right?

Conservatism is a Tower of Babel by: Patrick J. Buchanan "I was conservative yesterday, I'm a conservative today, and I will be a conservative tomorrow," declared Fred Thompson to the Conservative Party of New York, billing himself as the "consistent conservative" in the GOP race – in contrast to ex-mayor Rudy Giuliani. In his defense, Rudy cites George Will as calling his eight years in office in the Big Apple the most conservative city government in 50 years. And, truth be told, Thompson was reliably conservative in his Senate years. But so, too, has John McCain been, and Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. Hunter, however, splits with Thompson and McCain on trade. Paul disagrees with all six of them on the war. And Tancredo assails McCain for backing Bush's amnesty for 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens. Will the real conservative please stand up? Or perhaps we should recall John 14:2, "In my father's house there are many mansions." What does it mean to be a conservative – in 2007? Sixty years ago, Robert A. Taft was the gold standard. Forty years ago, it was Barry Goldwater, who backed Bob Taft against Ike at the 1952 convention. Twenty years ago, it was Ronald Reagan, who backed Barry in 1964. Reagan remains the paragon – for the consistency of his convictions, the success of his presidency and the character he exhibited to the end of his life. About Reagan the cliché was true: The greatness of the office found out the greatness in the man. Reagan defined conservatism for his time. And the issues upon which we agreed were anti-communism, a national defense second to none, lower tax rates to unleash the engines of economic progress, fiscal responsibility, a strict-constructionist Supreme Court, law and order, the right-to-life from conception on and a resolute defense of family values under assault from the cultural revolution that hit America with hurricane force in the 1960s. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the breakup of the Soviet Union, anti-communism as the defining and unifying issue of the right was gone. The conservative crack-up commenced. With George H.W. Bush came the advent of what Fred Barnes of the New Republic hailed as Big Government Conservatism. Some thought the phrase oxymoronic. But when Bush stood at the rostrum of the U.N. General Assembly in October 1991 to declare that America's cause was the creation of a New World Order, the old right reached reflexively for their revolvers. In 1992, with foreign policy off the table, the Bush economic record a perceived failure and Ross Perot running on protectionism and populism, Bush refused to play his trump card with the Clintons: the social and moral issues he and Lee Atwater had use to beat Michael Dukakis senseless in 1988. And so, George H.W. Bush lost the presidency. Now, 15 years later, what does it mean to be a conservative? There is no pope who speaks ex cathedra. There is no bible to consult, like Goldwater's "The Conscience of a Conservative" or Reagan's "no-pale-pastels" platform of 1980. At San Diego in 1996, Bob Dole told his convention he had not bothered to read the platform. Many who heard him did not bother to vote for Bob Dole. And so, today, the once-great house of conservatism is a Tower of Babel. We are big government and small government, traditionalist and libertarian, tax-cutter and budget hawk, free trader and economic nationalist. Bush and McCain support amnesty and a "path to citizenship" for illegals. The country wants the laws enforced and a fence on the border. And Rudy? A McGovernite in 1972, he boasted in the campaign of 1993 that he would "rekindle the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition" of New York's GOP and "produce the kind of change New York City saw with ... John Lindsay." He ran on the Liberal Party line and supported Mario Cuomo in 1994. Pro-abortion, anti-gun, again and again he strutted up Fifth Avenue in the June Gay Pride parade and turned the Big Apple into a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. While Ward Connerly goes state to state to end reverse discrimination, Rudy is an affirmative-action man. Gravitating now to Rudy's camp are those inveterate opportunists, the neocons, who see in Giuliani their last hope of redemption for their cakewalk war and their best hope for a "Long War" against "Islamo-fascism." I will, Rudy promises, nominate Scalias. Only one more may be needed to overturn Roe. And I will keep Hillary out of the White House. A Giuliani presidency would represent the return and final triumph of the Republicanism that conservatives went into politics to purge from power. A Giuliani presidency would represent repudiation by the party of the moral, social and cultural content that, with anti-communism, once separated it from liberal Democrats and defined it as an institution. Rudy offers the right the ultimate Faustian bargain: retention of power at the price of one's soul.

Then it was Nelson Rockefeller versus Barry Goldwater.

Today it is cross-dressing, adulterous, thrice-married Rudy Giuliani versus Pat Buchanan.

Let the games begin!

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The Problem with Bush

Just ahead of my Saturday's broadcast of Situation Awareness ("Poison the Well, Salt the Earth") comes this excellent article from Oliver Willis ("2008: George Bush The Pariah").

In 2008, there will be a sitting Republican president with an approval rating ranging between probably 25-32% percent. In many ways the election will be the fork in the road 2004 should have been: stay the course or change direction. In order to garner their party's nomination, Republicans have pandered to the base by essentially endorsing a continuation of Bush's strategy in Iraq. It is a course of events violently opposed by Democrats and now Independents. The Republican party is going to have a George Bush problem, I think. (read the entire article)

Be sure to tune in to Situation Awareness this Saturday at 10:00am Eastern Time (-05:00 GMT) .

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