6:00pm PDT - I can see the back of Jim Lehrer’s head. He already looks annoyed that America only sees him every 4 years when he moderates a debate.
6:01 - What the hell!?? We have scorecards!! (I’m watching this on CNN) Begala, Bennett, Borger, Brazile, Castellanos, and King. Let’s get it on!
6:03 - Jim Lehrer says “there will be no noise or cheers of any kind ...except right now!” as the two walk out and shake hands awkwardly. I’m surprised McCain is here considering it took him 22 hours just to get from New York to Washington, DC.
6:04 - Castellanos already deducted a point from McCain and he hasn’t said anything yet! What the hell is going on here??? I mean, I don’t plan on voting for the guy but what could he have done even before this thing begins?
6:05 - Obama starts out talking about Main St. Stresses oversight on Wall St. This is the first of what I assume will be many sticks on McCain about those greasy corporate loopholes.
6:08 - McCain’s first words are to let us know Ted Kennedy is in the hospital - thanks for the downer! McCain cracks lame joke about his age - self-depricating humor doesn’t work when it’s true.
6:09 - McCain speaking in generalities. This will probably be a theme.
6:10 - Lehrer is annoyed that no one answered the question: do you support the bailout? Allow me to answer as if you were asking me, Jim: “no”.
6:11 - McCain says “a lot of people saw this trainwreck coming.” Apparently not you John since you said the fundamentals of the economy were strong just last Monday.
6:12 - Obama sticks it to McCain and says we need to stop helping Wall St. and start helping Main St. I have a feeling I’m going to get sick of hearing this from Barack.
6:13 - Lehrer tells Obama to speak directly to McCain - McCain jokes “do you think i can’t hear him?” John made me smile...ahhh, that probably won’t happen again.
6:14 - McCain is optimistic about America’s strength as an importer/exporter. What do we export again? Well, ya know, besides debt and arrogance.
6:15 - McCain says spending is out of control - says “Republicans came to Washington to change it but it changed the republicans”. I must not have been alive yet.
6:16 - McCain starts his rant against earmarks by citing a 3 million dollar plan to research bears in Montana. Apparently the senator doesn’t watch The Colbert Report or he’d know that bears are godless killing machines and are the number one threat to America. I fully support that earmark.
6:17 - Obama lets everyone know that McCain’s tax plan would only help the super rich while his plan lowers taxes on 95% of Americans. This is where McCain should counter with a bullshit alert (providing that claim is untrue)...he does not.
6:19 - McCain is a sheriff apparently. Splendid.
6:20 - Obama interrupts and corrects McCain on his tax plan with specific examples of who would get their taxes cut and who wouldn’t...again. How many times is he going to have to explain this?
6:21 - McCain refuses to talk directly to Obama. Now he’s talking about his business tax and how lower business taxes equal more jobs. Uh, no? That just gives businesses more opportunity to make a profit. That doesn’t necessarily mean more jobs. I wonder if regular Americans get that.
6:23 - Obama speaks directly into the camera about who will get tax cuts and tools on McCain’s business tax idea some more. I can’t wait till the economic themed debate - I’ve already heard all their talking points!
6:25 - McCain is now making things up about Obama’s tax plan (which is weird since Barack’s already stated specifics about his plan). Obama sticks it to McCain on his oil company ties and the tax breaks he’s given them. McCain has no response to this except to laugh nervously. Wow, that’s creepy.
6:28 - Obama talks about how he wants to invest in new alternative energy even after the economy forces the government to cut spending. Even talks about structural specifics that really nails home the fact that he knows what he’s talking about. This is the thing McCain has yet to do regardless of whether you like him or not - he’s given no specifics about any of his plans for anything.
6:29 - McCain says Obama has the most liberal voting record in the senate - at least he has a voting record.
6:31 - McCain “fixed and then killed a bill” that would have solidified, to him, a bad deal between DOD and Boeing. Fixed...and then killed; I think he just blew my mind.
6:32 - Obama replies to McCain’s claim of being the most liberal: “that’s just me voting against everything George Bush wanted.” Touche salesman, touche.
6:33 - McCain wants to freeze all spending except for military/defense and veteran’s funding. Obama quickly interrupts with “that makes no sense - how about education for young children, we can’t cut that?” He lists two or three other examples but I can’t type and remember that fast simultaneously.
6:38 - McCain apparently doesn’t like spending because it’s all he’s talking about. Probably should tell his wife that - I heard she has 13 cars and a $300,000 outfit! (That was a joke - I don’t care what his whore wife does.)
6:39 - Obama says “John, it’s your president who’s had an orgy of spending that you’ve supported 90% of the time.” That’s a point for the Blue Barracudas - what’s next Ole Mec?
6:40 - McCain drops the “Miss Congeniality” line again. Really, John? It’s getting tired. McCain cites no examples and calls himself a maverick and even calls Sarah Palin a maverick. In an unrelated story, I am a firefighter.
6:42 - McCain really driving home the point that the surge has worked and that we will win. He keeps stressing “victory”. If he were Giuliani right now we’d be celebrating the 100th use of the phrase “9/11” at this point in the debate by now.
6:43 - Obama responds with “the surge isn’t the issue, we shouldn’t have left Afghanistan and gone into Iraq in the first place.” I have no joke for that; it’s painfully true.
6:44 - McCains says the decision of the next president isn’t to worry about the fact that they went into Iraq initially. But they will have to figure out how to fix what McCain’s party screwed up.
6:46 - Obama stresses Biden knows a ton about foreign policy to try and shore up his own foreign policy credentials. “John you like to talk about the war starting in 2007 with the surge - it started in 2003. You were wrong about a ton of things.” I think John McCain just gave me the Eli Manning Face (if you don’t watch football I apologize for that one).
6:47 - McCain says Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy. But McCain sure knows the difference between a tactic and a stunt. Glad you could join us in Oxford!
6:49 - Obama is annoyed that McCain is distorting his votes and corrects him on the specifics of a troop funding bill that would have tricked Americans into thinking Obama didn’t want to send money to the troops. This is how politics work - you tell Americans that your opponent didn’t vote for a bill that would do good except you don’t tell them the reason they voted against it was because your side attached an amendment that would have screwed the whole operation or helped you profit in some sick way.
6:51 - McCain says Obama would have taken the troops out before the surge started working. As much as the surge has worked in Iraq it’s also helped to indirectly destabalize Afghanistan and strengthen Iran’s resolve.
6:54 - Obama talks about giving Pakistan no more free rides and basically says we can’t let them sit idly by anymore. Eff you Pakistan, we’re going into your western mountains and effing shit up.
6:55 - McCain admits a mistake in screwing the pooch on Afghanistan. McCain is not prepared to threaten Pakistan (read: I’m a huge pussy). McCain actually makes a good point that more troops aren’t the only solution - that we need a new strategy in Afghanistan/Pakistan to get bin Laden. If I were scoring this debate like the six CNN pundits I’d give McCain his first positive point.
6:57 - Obama with a solid comeback correcting McCain - “if we have bin Laden and al Qaeda in our sites we have to take them out. But I didn’t say I just want to attack Iran. But coming from someone who sings songs joking about bombing Iran, that’s not very credible.” Obama says we coddled Musharraf (and we did) and thusly we screwed ourselves in Pakistan. More Eli Manning Faces from McCain.
6:59 - McCain wants to take us on a history lesson by stating that he voted against Reagan about Iran in the early 1980s. Then says he supported the Gulf War and going into Kosovo and Bosnia. I didn’t know anyone opposed support for those last 3 wars and their human rights violations...
7:01 - McCain tells us a story about how he’s wearing a soldier’s bracelet and the soldier’s mother apparently told him not to let her son die in vain. Now he’s droning on about his war experience. bla bla bla. He’s very focused on the idea of winning an abstract war. This isn’t like Charlie, John. By the way, why were you a POW in the first place? Oh yea, because you suck at flying airplanes and arrogantly flied too far into enemy space and got shot down (the last of your five plane crashes). Slow golf clap, anyone?
7:02 - Obama: “I’ve got a bracelet too!” Barack, you don’t need to try and one-up McCain on the “who do dead soldiers’ parents love more” tip. Obama redeems himself with: “no US soldier ever dies in vain because they are carried out the mission their leaders gave them. The question is are we making good judgments?” Gets back to the point that leaving Afghanistan was the biggest problem. I think he’s trying to tell us that leaving Afghanistan to fight in Iraq was a mistake.
7:04 - McCain “I’ve traveled places!” John wants us to know he has a passport. His running mate....ooo, just barely.
7:05 - McCain drops the “we don’t want another Holocaust” line. Really, John? Wow, what a revelation.
7:08 - Obama says the biggest thing that has helped Iran grow is the Iraq war! I feel like we’re talking in circles now which is strange because it feels like we’re talking in circles and I wish I didn’t have the feeling that we were talking in circles.
7:10 - McCain can’t pronounce Mamoud Ahmadinejad’s name...consistently. says that Obama wants to talk to enemy leaders without preconditions.
7:11 - Obama says Ahmadinejad isn’t the most important person in Iran (I don’t get that). Saying McCain’s own advisors agree with Obama’s idea for preperations before meeting with enemy leaders. says his idea of meeting with enemy leaders isn’t like inviting them over “for a cup of tea”. McCain is mischaracterizing his position on this. Obama cites examples when diplomacy has worked.
7:15 - McCain corrects Obama on Kissinger agreeing with Obama’s position on meeting with enemy leaders.
7:17 - McCain cracks joke about meeting with Ahmadinejad: “oh no you won’t wipe Israel off the planet”. Funny joke but it’s a lie about what Obama meant about meeting with enemy leaders. Fortunately for McCain it came off as a good point for him. I’ll give him a point because I’m starting to feel sorry for him.
7:20 - Obama “you don’t deal with Russia by staring into Putin’s eyes and seeing his soul” Good dig on Bush’s policies. Hey, did you hear that McCain has supported Bush over 90% of the time? That means that McCain just got burned by Obama by association!
7:21 - McCain looked into Putin’s eyes and saw a “K-G-B”. Good line as well as talking about Russia’s corrupt economy and bank on petrol-dollars. However I’m not sure anyone didn’t think Putin wasn’t a part of the KGB.
7:26 - Obama says McCain has voted 23 times against alternative fuels. I think on-the-fence hippies just made up their mind.
7:27 - McCain says the opposite and claims off-shore drilling is a short-term problem for gas prices. That’s funny because we won’t see that oil for 10 years.
7:28 - McCain says we are safer now than just after 9/11. Why don’t you ask Americans if they feel safer; not sure they’d agree with you on that one regardless of what you know.
7:30 - Obama thinks we are safer in some ways but not completely. We haven’t fixed problems with ports. This is a huge point. Doesn’t think we’re spending enough money on nuclear proliferation. The ports thing is big - the idea that all those crates are coming into the country unchecked everyday scares the crap outta me. I’ve seen the second season of The Wire. That shit is crazy.
7:32 - Obama really knocking home the point that the current administration has botched spending money on a war we shouldn’t be in while help at home isn’t there. Ron Paul’s been saying this for a long time now. That old gyno comes off a little crazy sometimes but he makes sense on this issue at least.
7:33 - McCain just said Obama as stubborn as Bush. Are you serious? I think I just crapped my pants. McCain says he doesn’t need any on-the-day training. However he will require adult diaper training.
7:34 - Obama says no one around the world looks at America the same as they used to in that positive light that America is the beacon of hope in the world. It’s funny how an honest and true statement like that will get spun by Republicans to be un-Patriotic. Sorry we all don’t live in a fantasy camp with gumdrop clouds and chocolate syrup rain.
7:35 - McCain brings up his own POW story yet again. Serving your country is admirable but it does not give you credentials to be president.
7:36 - It’s over - Obama tells McCain he did a good job. Both shake hands with Jim Lehrer and meet with their wives. Obama asks Michelle, “how we doin?” I’m not sure but I think her response was “I’m wet.” I guess she thought he did well.
As an aside...
Final CNN tally:
Begala - McCain 0 Obama 9
Bennett - McCain 4 Obama 2
Borger - McCain -2 Obama 5
Brazile - McCain 1 Obama 4
Castellanos - McCain 9 Obama 11
King - McCain 7 Obama 5
McCain 19 Obama 35
That’s all she wrote. See you later in the week for the vice presidential debate running diary. I’m going to bring an extra pair of underpants as I’m prepared to piss myself laughing at Sarah Palin’s stammering incoherent responses. Until then...
Showing posts with label john mccain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john mccain. Show all posts
9.04.2008
Sarah, You Have Some 'Splainin' To Do
"We need change, all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
That's from Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday night. Either Mitt thinks it's 1994 (the last time before 2006 that the Democrats held power in Congress) or he is out of his f*cking mind. Is he not aware we've had a (awful) Republican president for the last eight years and Congress had been in Republican control up until January of 2007? Let's see what other contradictions and hypocrisy we can uncover.
And that seemed to be the theme last night at the RNC. Let's throw a ton of bullshit against the wall aka the TV screens of America and see how much sticks. Well, it's my dire hope that not much did. I pray (and I use that word symbolically) that people in this country that are undecided or teetering can see through the proverbial fecal matter on their trinitrons and plasma screens and see what the Republicans have done this week.
Last night was Sarah Palin's night and she became the queen of the poo-flinging. Lies, distortions, exaggerations all came out of her mouth like pepper shrimp out of Pierce Brosnan's mouth in Mrs. Doubtfire. Very grossly and easily identifiable.
"I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
Well, that's not true. In her first 20 months as governor of Alaska she requested $750 million of special federal funding, the most per-capita of any state in the country. Oh, and you'd be correct in assuming that $398 million of that was for the Bridge to Nowhere that she originally supported despite the fact it connects the mainland to an island comprised of 50 people and an airport with barely 200,000 passengers a year.
"There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
I guess working with Republicans to pass legislation that would seek out and destroy shipments and stockpiles of WMD's (which became law in 2007) isn't a major law. And that's just one example.
What is everyone else saying though?
John McCain: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."
Actually, it's only the largest state in the category of landmass. It's 47th in population and she has no control over the oil there. She can only tax it just like George Bush could only tax all the oil in Texas.
"She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."
True, she is the commander of the ANG. Funny story though, whenever the National Guard needs to respond militarily, you know, like actually do stuff, they report directly to the Defense Department...over her head. Therefore her responsibilities are basically nothing when it comes to the National Guard. I think she might make them lunch though.
Lest you forget about John's pill-popping wife, Cindy...
"She has made a lot of foreign policy decisions. She's very experienced...Alaska is so close to Russia."
By the way, this whole foreign policy by proximity point has been made by many Republicans in the past week. However, that just makes it even more laughable. I don't seriously believe any of these people actually believe what they're saying. This is what we call blind loyalty to get your party elected.
There are many other lies like Mike Huckabee saying that Palin received more votes when she ran for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got in his 2008 presidential bid. Even if you combine both her original and re-election campaigns stats she only received 1,525 votes. Biden received over 76,000 before he bowed out last winter. Apparently they don't teach math in Arkansas or he's just another lying Republican trying to walk the party lines.
The point is this. Before we talk about the fact that no Republican this week has talked about the economy and how they'd fix, before we talk about Sarah Palin's complete lack of real experience (being the mayor of 7,000 people and a governor of a state smaller than Austin, TX is considered real executive experience??!), before all that, we need to realize the blatant and unbelievably absurd amount of horseshit being lobbed at the American people.
It's one thing to disagree on policy issues. Palin and McCain are pro-life, Biden and Obama are pro-choice. These are the kinds of debates we can honestly have and should be having. I have my opinion on that particular issue but it doesn't matter anymore. It isn't the point. The point is deception. I'm not so naive that I don't believe the Democrats lie and twist things a little to prove their point from time to time. I'm sure they do. But if they are doing that this time, they're doing a hell of a job hiding it.
With the internet, the political landscape and reality in general are so much more transparent. Anyone can find the facts buried under the loads of dung. That means accountability is more important than ever. No one can get away with anything. I won't deny I'm not the first person to write an anti-Palin/McCain article. Hell, the last entry from last Friday was published almost simultaneously with seven others just like it from news outlets like The New York Times to the Huffington Post to the Washington Post and the Daily Kos to CNN and MSNBC. There's a reason we're all attacking her. There's a reason we're all calling shenanigans.
Because as journalists (yea, why not, I'll call myself a journalist) we're supposed to dig and find the truth. Chris Matthews said the exact same thing on his show, Hardball, yesterday. The biggest thing that pisses me off that comes out of the media trying to do its job is the idea that the media is being sexist.
THE MEDIA IS NOT BEING SEXIST.
Anyone that thinks so needs to get a reality check. If you have zero experience, blatantly lie about your opponent, have possible legal trouble and try and cover up said legal trouble and your 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy (that by itself is not an issue) when you yourself support laws that would strip rights away from the family and give them to the government when you hypocritically ask everyone to let your family deal with it (that is an issue), the media will and should come down on you.
All run-on sentences aside, you are going to feel the wrath of the truth beating you over the head. When Fox News analyst and former George Bush ventriloquist, Karl Rove says that Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia doesn't have enough experience (3 years) and whose city he was mayor of isn't big enough (200,000) and then just a month later says that Sarah Palin has plenty of experience (20 months) and was a mayor of a big enough city (7,000) you start to smell the stench of manure. You start to realize this is a microcosm of everything the conservative side of America stands for. It's a disgrace and all of them should be ashamed of themselves.
(By the way, in case you really want to get pissed off, here are the links for those two soundbytes. Thanks YouTube.
Rove on Kaine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-jrk2e0MMs
Rove on Palin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9I_5F3qXYo&feature=related)
No one honestly cares about Bristol Palin and her d-bag boyfriend. No one cares that Trig has Down syndrome (though we're all sympathetic to idea of the disability). No one cares that all of her children were seemingly named by either blindly pointing to a list of "Strange Town Names of America" or "words no one ever uses". No one cares that her husband got a DUI 19 years ago. No one cares she has a strange accent. And no one cares she was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant in 1984. No one effing cares. Those facts are not important in this debate, in this campaign, in this entire political field.
What we, the media, and subsequently the American people care about is the deception and begotten from that deception, the acquired knowledge that John McCain has no freakin' idea what he's doing anymore. That is the problem. That is what Americans need to realize is what's going on here.
Would you ever think that Republicans would actually admit they're full of shit about Sarah Palin? That all this enthusiasm and defense of her is feigned? That they in their heart of hearts and their minds (They're not stupid people by any means, the strategists and politicians at least. The citizens are a different story.) know that John McCain and Sarah Palin are the completely wrong choice and cannot win based on the truth? Nah, no way, no how - right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Oh and remember that whole thing about Obama being the elitist and being out of touch with America. Say what you want about his Columbia and Harvard education but take this nugget of info as another microcosm of what the McCains are all about (them and their seven houses). Cindy McCain's entire outfit including that hideous gold dress from a couple nights ago cost, according to Vanity Fair, roughly $300,000. I'm sure that's something the lower and middle class families in the Rust Belt can really relate to.
Lies, deception, exaggeration, hiding the truth. Welcome to your Republican Party.
It's an absolute outrage and a slap in the face to every American that we are subjected to the McCain/Palin ticket as a legitimate option for the presidency.
One last tidbit before you storm the Capitol in a fit of rage. Remember that whole rumor about Trig not being Sarah's son and really being Bristol? Remember how the conspiracy stated that Bristol was out of school with mono for five months (three months longer than the longest one would normally suffer from the virus) and that that was a cover-up because she was actually pregnant? And remember how it's easier to have a child with mental disabilities when you're much older but also much younger? Remember when Sarah Palin was dripping amniotic fluid in Texas and decided to give her speech anyway before traveling 17 hours back to Wasilla to deliver the baby? And remember when all the photos of her when she was supposedly seven months pregnant seem to show no physical change from a regular Sarah Palin especially when compared to photos of her seven months pregnant with her other children? And lastly, remember when out of the blue Palin admitted her daughter was five months pregnant last week to dispel these very rumors? Remember all of that?
Here's the deal. I'm willing to believe Trig is her son and that all of the conspirators info is false. I'll bite. But if that's the case and she didn't conduct one of the greatest conspiracies in modern political history then she is the worst mother on the planet. Here's a little graph to help you follow.
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4628/sarahpalinla4.png
Yea. Oh, and don't be surprised if "out of nowhere" Bristol has a miscarriage with her current child. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
So kudos to you Republicans. This is your ticket. Two people with horrible judgement, a complete lack of ethics, and the balls to lie and distort every shred of truth all to win an election. That is not country first. That is yourself first. That is Joe Leiberman pandering to Barack Obama in 2006 to get re-elected to the Senate and then bashing him yesterday to promote John McCain. That is Karl Rove saying 200,000 people isn't big enough but 7,000 is. That is Cindy McCain and every other Republican operative essentially telling you that since her proximity to Russia equals foreign policy experience that than apparently I should run the INS because I live two and a half hours from Mexico. That is John McCain calling himself a maverick despite voting along with George Bush nine times out of 10.
That isn't country first. That is f*cking bullshit. And you, my friend, should be enraged at the audacity of these people to think they can convince you otherwise.
That's from Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday night. Either Mitt thinks it's 1994 (the last time before 2006 that the Democrats held power in Congress) or he is out of his f*cking mind. Is he not aware we've had a (awful) Republican president for the last eight years and Congress had been in Republican control up until January of 2007? Let's see what other contradictions and hypocrisy we can uncover.
And that seemed to be the theme last night at the RNC. Let's throw a ton of bullshit against the wall aka the TV screens of America and see how much sticks. Well, it's my dire hope that not much did. I pray (and I use that word symbolically) that people in this country that are undecided or teetering can see through the proverbial fecal matter on their trinitrons and plasma screens and see what the Republicans have done this week.
Last night was Sarah Palin's night and she became the queen of the poo-flinging. Lies, distortions, exaggerations all came out of her mouth like pepper shrimp out of Pierce Brosnan's mouth in Mrs. Doubtfire. Very grossly and easily identifiable.
"I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
Well, that's not true. In her first 20 months as governor of Alaska she requested $750 million of special federal funding, the most per-capita of any state in the country. Oh, and you'd be correct in assuming that $398 million of that was for the Bridge to Nowhere that she originally supported despite the fact it connects the mainland to an island comprised of 50 people and an airport with barely 200,000 passengers a year.
"There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
I guess working with Republicans to pass legislation that would seek out and destroy shipments and stockpiles of WMD's (which became law in 2007) isn't a major law. And that's just one example.
What is everyone else saying though?
John McCain: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."
Actually, it's only the largest state in the category of landmass. It's 47th in population and she has no control over the oil there. She can only tax it just like George Bush could only tax all the oil in Texas.
"She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."
True, she is the commander of the ANG. Funny story though, whenever the National Guard needs to respond militarily, you know, like actually do stuff, they report directly to the Defense Department...over her head. Therefore her responsibilities are basically nothing when it comes to the National Guard. I think she might make them lunch though.
Lest you forget about John's pill-popping wife, Cindy...
"She has made a lot of foreign policy decisions. She's very experienced...Alaska is so close to Russia."
By the way, this whole foreign policy by proximity point has been made by many Republicans in the past week. However, that just makes it even more laughable. I don't seriously believe any of these people actually believe what they're saying. This is what we call blind loyalty to get your party elected.
There are many other lies like Mike Huckabee saying that Palin received more votes when she ran for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got in his 2008 presidential bid. Even if you combine both her original and re-election campaigns stats she only received 1,525 votes. Biden received over 76,000 before he bowed out last winter. Apparently they don't teach math in Arkansas or he's just another lying Republican trying to walk the party lines.
The point is this. Before we talk about the fact that no Republican this week has talked about the economy and how they'd fix, before we talk about Sarah Palin's complete lack of real experience (being the mayor of 7,000 people and a governor of a state smaller than Austin, TX is considered real executive experience??!), before all that, we need to realize the blatant and unbelievably absurd amount of horseshit being lobbed at the American people.
It's one thing to disagree on policy issues. Palin and McCain are pro-life, Biden and Obama are pro-choice. These are the kinds of debates we can honestly have and should be having. I have my opinion on that particular issue but it doesn't matter anymore. It isn't the point. The point is deception. I'm not so naive that I don't believe the Democrats lie and twist things a little to prove their point from time to time. I'm sure they do. But if they are doing that this time, they're doing a hell of a job hiding it.
With the internet, the political landscape and reality in general are so much more transparent. Anyone can find the facts buried under the loads of dung. That means accountability is more important than ever. No one can get away with anything. I won't deny I'm not the first person to write an anti-Palin/McCain article. Hell, the last entry from last Friday was published almost simultaneously with seven others just like it from news outlets like The New York Times to the Huffington Post to the Washington Post and the Daily Kos to CNN and MSNBC. There's a reason we're all attacking her. There's a reason we're all calling shenanigans.
Because as journalists (yea, why not, I'll call myself a journalist) we're supposed to dig and find the truth. Chris Matthews said the exact same thing on his show, Hardball, yesterday. The biggest thing that pisses me off that comes out of the media trying to do its job is the idea that the media is being sexist.
THE MEDIA IS NOT BEING SEXIST.
Anyone that thinks so needs to get a reality check. If you have zero experience, blatantly lie about your opponent, have possible legal trouble and try and cover up said legal trouble and your 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy (that by itself is not an issue) when you yourself support laws that would strip rights away from the family and give them to the government when you hypocritically ask everyone to let your family deal with it (that is an issue), the media will and should come down on you.
All run-on sentences aside, you are going to feel the wrath of the truth beating you over the head. When Fox News analyst and former George Bush ventriloquist, Karl Rove says that Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia doesn't have enough experience (3 years) and whose city he was mayor of isn't big enough (200,000) and then just a month later says that Sarah Palin has plenty of experience (20 months) and was a mayor of a big enough city (7,000) you start to smell the stench of manure. You start to realize this is a microcosm of everything the conservative side of America stands for. It's a disgrace and all of them should be ashamed of themselves.
(By the way, in case you really want to get pissed off, here are the links for those two soundbytes. Thanks YouTube.
Rove on Kaine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-jrk2e0MMs
Rove on Palin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9I_5F3qXYo&feature=related)
No one honestly cares about Bristol Palin and her d-bag boyfriend. No one cares that Trig has Down syndrome (though we're all sympathetic to idea of the disability). No one cares that all of her children were seemingly named by either blindly pointing to a list of "Strange Town Names of America" or "words no one ever uses". No one cares that her husband got a DUI 19 years ago. No one cares she has a strange accent. And no one cares she was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant in 1984. No one effing cares. Those facts are not important in this debate, in this campaign, in this entire political field.
What we, the media, and subsequently the American people care about is the deception and begotten from that deception, the acquired knowledge that John McCain has no freakin' idea what he's doing anymore. That is the problem. That is what Americans need to realize is what's going on here.
Would you ever think that Republicans would actually admit they're full of shit about Sarah Palin? That all this enthusiasm and defense of her is feigned? That they in their heart of hearts and their minds (They're not stupid people by any means, the strategists and politicians at least. The citizens are a different story.) know that John McCain and Sarah Palin are the completely wrong choice and cannot win based on the truth? Nah, no way, no how - right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Oh and remember that whole thing about Obama being the elitist and being out of touch with America. Say what you want about his Columbia and Harvard education but take this nugget of info as another microcosm of what the McCains are all about (them and their seven houses). Cindy McCain's entire outfit including that hideous gold dress from a couple nights ago cost, according to Vanity Fair, roughly $300,000. I'm sure that's something the lower and middle class families in the Rust Belt can really relate to.
Lies, deception, exaggeration, hiding the truth. Welcome to your Republican Party.
It's an absolute outrage and a slap in the face to every American that we are subjected to the McCain/Palin ticket as a legitimate option for the presidency.
One last tidbit before you storm the Capitol in a fit of rage. Remember that whole rumor about Trig not being Sarah's son and really being Bristol? Remember how the conspiracy stated that Bristol was out of school with mono for five months (three months longer than the longest one would normally suffer from the virus) and that that was a cover-up because she was actually pregnant? And remember how it's easier to have a child with mental disabilities when you're much older but also much younger? Remember when Sarah Palin was dripping amniotic fluid in Texas and decided to give her speech anyway before traveling 17 hours back to Wasilla to deliver the baby? And remember when all the photos of her when she was supposedly seven months pregnant seem to show no physical change from a regular Sarah Palin especially when compared to photos of her seven months pregnant with her other children? And lastly, remember when out of the blue Palin admitted her daughter was five months pregnant last week to dispel these very rumors? Remember all of that?
Here's the deal. I'm willing to believe Trig is her son and that all of the conspirators info is false. I'll bite. But if that's the case and she didn't conduct one of the greatest conspiracies in modern political history then she is the worst mother on the planet. Here's a little graph to help you follow.
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4628/sarahpalinla4.png
Yea. Oh, and don't be surprised if "out of nowhere" Bristol has a miscarriage with her current child. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
So kudos to you Republicans. This is your ticket. Two people with horrible judgement, a complete lack of ethics, and the balls to lie and distort every shred of truth all to win an election. That is not country first. That is yourself first. That is Joe Leiberman pandering to Barack Obama in 2006 to get re-elected to the Senate and then bashing him yesterday to promote John McCain. That is Karl Rove saying 200,000 people isn't big enough but 7,000 is. That is Cindy McCain and every other Republican operative essentially telling you that since her proximity to Russia equals foreign policy experience that than apparently I should run the INS because I live two and a half hours from Mexico. That is John McCain calling himself a maverick despite voting along with George Bush nine times out of 10.
That isn't country first. That is f*cking bullshit. And you, my friend, should be enraged at the audacity of these people to think they can convince you otherwise.
8.29.2008
Forgetting Sarah Palin
Well played, John McCain. Well played.
You aren't so senile after all. You've also proven you've still got some fish swimmin' in your man pond because you chose a former Miss Alaska runner-up to be your running mate.
That Sarah Palin is one fine piece of ace.
Unfortunately, as fine as Governor Palin is, and she's super fine (look at those glasses - she could peruse my card catalog any time), she has excruciatingly less experience in public office (at least public office that matters) than Barack Obama. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the main tenant of the McCain/Republican attack on the Democratic candidate?
Now I'm not going to sit here and jerk off Obama (I've already done that enough that any women that read this site have probably been blog-o-seminated by proximity.) However, I will try and examine why John McCain chose Sugartits (that's my new pet name for the governor - like it?).
According to her Wikipedia page (because seriously, why should I even bother doing any more research when other people have done it for me!?), Sugartits was a Wasilla, Alaska city councilwoman in 1992 until 1996 when she became mayor of Wasilla. She was re-elected in 1999 and ousted incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in 2006 where she's been ever since. Wow. That's quite the resume. I'm sure there's so much important stuff to take care of as a city councilwoman...in Wasilla, Alaska. I suppose she had a little more responsibility as mayor of a town 6,715 strong. Ah, to be fair, they give themselves the status of "first class city" on the city's web page FAQ. One can only assume it earns that label because it's the home to the Iditarod Dog Sled race. Shouldn't they then give the city the classification of "Best In Show"? What, no good?
Here's a fun fact though - Sugartits was an original supporter of the Gravina Island Bridge or as you may know it, the Bridge to Nowhere. Remember that little ditty? It was a bridge that would have cost $398 million of federal money that would connect the town of Ketchikan to its airport which for some reason is on an island off the mainland. What's the problem you ask? The airport barely has 200,000 passengers a year and already has a ferry that transports people to the airport.
The biggest gripe about the bridge besides the fact that it's only a quarter mile from the mainland to the island is that Alaska officials refused to fund the bridge themselves. They wanted all $398 million to be taxpayer money. Not only that, but when the government wanted to re-apportion all that money away from the bridge to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) threw a temper tantrum and threatened to quit the Senate.
This became a media spectacle and everyone from Alaskan residents to the media to Congress itself called the bridge project an example of porkbarrel spending which in layman's terms means "a waste of f*cking money."
Now, back to our beautiful governor.
She supported this plan...well, until it blew up in the state's face and became an embarrassment and she had to save face. So last September she officially canceled the plan. But guess what, all that taxpayer money got to stay in the state! Yup, the government said that Alaska should decide what to do with all that money. Wonder where all that money went...
A few more tidbits about Sugartits (hey, that rhymed!). She fully supports opening up the Alaska Wildlife Reserve to drill for oil that we wouldn't see for 10 years and is a metaphorical thimble full when compared to the rest of the world's supply. Also, she stated that she does not think global warming is man-made...but only after she was announced as McCain's running mate. And on that same tip, she threatened a lawsuit against a government motion (by the Repbulican Secretary of the Interior) that would put the polar bear on the endangered species list because it would "hurt oil and gas development off Alaska's north shore." Aww, isn't that nice.
Now Palin, pardon me, Sugartits isn't all bad. I'll give her one piece of credit. Remember that blank check the government gave Alaska after the Bridge to Nowhere plan was abolished? This year she's given Alaska residents an "energy debit card" worth $1,200 to help ease the crunch of gasoline prices. So actually, I think we should all feel better about ourselves because now we know where some of our tax money is going. To help all those Alaskans drive a little cheaper! Yahoo!!
That's about it for Sugartits. Remember, she's only been a governor for 21 months. I mean, I can see why John McCain picked her now. I mean she totally has more credentials than Barack Obama and his eight years as an Illinois State Senator and four as a U.S. Senator. And I mean, Sugartits's Broadcasting degree from the University of Idaho is so much more impressive than Obama's Political Science degree from Columbia and Law degree from Harvard where, oh by the way, he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.
There's no comparison, right? I mean, Obama's biggest flaw is his lack of experience right? That's what McCain is trying to convince us of. He's not experienced enough. Man, I'm sure glad he picked a running mate that has experience then. He's not throwing a Hail Mary in an attempt to convince all the pyscho-feminist Hillary supporters that they should cross party lines and choose him instead of Barack Obama whose policy stances are very similar to those of Clinton. He's not trying to do that. And I mean, it's just a coincidence that she happens to be very attractive, right? You're not going to intentionally try and convince sexist Republicans that wouldn't vote for a woman president but would let it slide if she's a VP and easy on the eyes, right John? Nah. Not calling Shenanigans on that one.
I'll assume the Republicans are trying to take the high road here. Maybe a bridge; those are high roads. Yea, that's a good metaphor.
McCain-Palin 2008: "A Bridge to Nowhere."
You aren't so senile after all. You've also proven you've still got some fish swimmin' in your man pond because you chose a former Miss Alaska runner-up to be your running mate.
That Sarah Palin is one fine piece of ace.
Unfortunately, as fine as Governor Palin is, and she's super fine (look at those glasses - she could peruse my card catalog any time), she has excruciatingly less experience in public office (at least public office that matters) than Barack Obama. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the main tenant of the McCain/Republican attack on the Democratic candidate?
Now I'm not going to sit here and jerk off Obama (I've already done that enough that any women that read this site have probably been blog-o-seminated by proximity.) However, I will try and examine why John McCain chose Sugartits (that's my new pet name for the governor - like it?).
According to her Wikipedia page (because seriously, why should I even bother doing any more research when other people have done it for me!?), Sugartits was a Wasilla, Alaska city councilwoman in 1992 until 1996 when she became mayor of Wasilla. She was re-elected in 1999 and ousted incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in 2006 where she's been ever since. Wow. That's quite the resume. I'm sure there's so much important stuff to take care of as a city councilwoman...in Wasilla, Alaska. I suppose she had a little more responsibility as mayor of a town 6,715 strong. Ah, to be fair, they give themselves the status of "first class city" on the city's web page FAQ. One can only assume it earns that label because it's the home to the Iditarod Dog Sled race. Shouldn't they then give the city the classification of "Best In Show"? What, no good?
Here's a fun fact though - Sugartits was an original supporter of the Gravina Island Bridge or as you may know it, the Bridge to Nowhere. Remember that little ditty? It was a bridge that would have cost $398 million of federal money that would connect the town of Ketchikan to its airport which for some reason is on an island off the mainland. What's the problem you ask? The airport barely has 200,000 passengers a year and already has a ferry that transports people to the airport.
The biggest gripe about the bridge besides the fact that it's only a quarter mile from the mainland to the island is that Alaska officials refused to fund the bridge themselves. They wanted all $398 million to be taxpayer money. Not only that, but when the government wanted to re-apportion all that money away from the bridge to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) threw a temper tantrum and threatened to quit the Senate.
This became a media spectacle and everyone from Alaskan residents to the media to Congress itself called the bridge project an example of porkbarrel spending which in layman's terms means "a waste of f*cking money."
Now, back to our beautiful governor.
She supported this plan...well, until it blew up in the state's face and became an embarrassment and she had to save face. So last September she officially canceled the plan. But guess what, all that taxpayer money got to stay in the state! Yup, the government said that Alaska should decide what to do with all that money. Wonder where all that money went...
A few more tidbits about Sugartits (hey, that rhymed!). She fully supports opening up the Alaska Wildlife Reserve to drill for oil that we wouldn't see for 10 years and is a metaphorical thimble full when compared to the rest of the world's supply. Also, she stated that she does not think global warming is man-made...but only after she was announced as McCain's running mate. And on that same tip, she threatened a lawsuit against a government motion (by the Repbulican Secretary of the Interior) that would put the polar bear on the endangered species list because it would "hurt oil and gas development off Alaska's north shore." Aww, isn't that nice.
Now Palin, pardon me, Sugartits isn't all bad. I'll give her one piece of credit. Remember that blank check the government gave Alaska after the Bridge to Nowhere plan was abolished? This year she's given Alaska residents an "energy debit card" worth $1,200 to help ease the crunch of gasoline prices. So actually, I think we should all feel better about ourselves because now we know where some of our tax money is going. To help all those Alaskans drive a little cheaper! Yahoo!!
That's about it for Sugartits. Remember, she's only been a governor for 21 months. I mean, I can see why John McCain picked her now. I mean she totally has more credentials than Barack Obama and his eight years as an Illinois State Senator and four as a U.S. Senator. And I mean, Sugartits's Broadcasting degree from the University of Idaho is so much more impressive than Obama's Political Science degree from Columbia and Law degree from Harvard where, oh by the way, he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.
There's no comparison, right? I mean, Obama's biggest flaw is his lack of experience right? That's what McCain is trying to convince us of. He's not experienced enough. Man, I'm sure glad he picked a running mate that has experience then. He's not throwing a Hail Mary in an attempt to convince all the pyscho-feminist Hillary supporters that they should cross party lines and choose him instead of Barack Obama whose policy stances are very similar to those of Clinton. He's not trying to do that. And I mean, it's just a coincidence that she happens to be very attractive, right? You're not going to intentionally try and convince sexist Republicans that wouldn't vote for a woman president but would let it slide if she's a VP and easy on the eyes, right John? Nah. Not calling Shenanigans on that one.
I'll assume the Republicans are trying to take the high road here. Maybe a bridge; those are high roads. Yea, that's a good metaphor.
McCain-Palin 2008: "A Bridge to Nowhere."
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