Friday, October 10, 2008

Great song title, witty lyrics (you can read them below the fold) and not a half-bad song either…

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/10/08 at 07:59 PM
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John Cole has a good rundown (titled, appropriately, “Beyond Ugly") of how the McCain/Palin camp’s new “Obama is a terrorist” angle (c’mon, that’s what they’re really saying) is exceedingly reckless and dangerous. Slate and WaPo have picked up on it, too.

And then there’s this from The Columbus Dispatch:

The “pit bull with lipstick” brought the McCain campaign’s increasingly pointed attack on Democrat Barack Obama’s character to Ohio yesterday.

“I see matters of judgment and truthfulness and ambition,” John McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, said during a rally in Clinton County. She criticized Obama’s association with 1960s radical and “unrepentant domestic terrorist” William Ayers.

A shout of “terrorist” and “liar” could be heard from the energetic crowd estimated at 10,500 inside the Roberts Center. The crowd also chanted “Nobama” and “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah” at times.

Well, they got it wrong.  There were several shouts of “terrorist.” You can watch the video here. It’s some gut-churning stuff and it’s fairly obvious that Palin is pleased as punch as she hurls chum out to her blood-hungry dark and ominous lynch mob. Ugly. Reckless. Dangerous.

And then there’s this from the Dispatch:

Palin arrived in Wilmington like a rock star, with her motor coach driving inside the Roberts Center as smoke billowed and Eye of the Tiger from Rocky III blared over the loudspeakers.

The crowed erupted as Palin emerged on stage with daughters Willow and Piper and infant son Trig.

Unbelievable, right? Remember how much crap Obama got for the Greek columns?  Well, take a look at this:

Yep, here comes Sarah Superstar, rollin’ in through the clouds with her uncaringly-overexposed prop kids in tow to accept the embrace of her mouth-foaming malcontents. And if that video clip didn’t make you queasy, well, buckle up, folks, it’s time to meet The Anointed One, our modern-day Esther, as she asks the members of her flock for an “intercession” and some heavy work on their “prayer chains” to “get us there”:

If there is a god, s/he’s got a lot of explaining to do, because this shit just ain’t right.

[Slate link via Maha]

MORE: Betty Cracker, as usual, nails it in the comments…

As someone who was raised in a wingnut church as Palin was, I can tell you with certainty that Palin is acutely aware that the biblical Esther was not only a queen but an instrument of god himself. Yet she does not demure when a supporter compares her to Esther but instead agrees and encourages him to continue viewing her this way and asking god to intercede on her behalf to ensure political victory. Holy fuck, are we in trouble if this loon makes her way into the White House.

RELATED: Every member of our media should be forced to read Max Blumenthal and David Neiwert’s “Meet Sarah Palin’s radical right-wing pals” article in Salon.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/10/08 at 11:07 AM
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Yet another brilliant video from a man named Jed:

That why I’ve been all Alfred E. Neuman and shit this whole time.  Obama’s got it goin’ on.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/10/08 at 08:30 AM
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Stripes aren’t neccessarily slimming…

Sometimes they make you look like a douchebag in bad need of a squeeze.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/10/08 at 12:31 AM
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Thursday, October 09, 2008

RUMPROAST RUSH TRANSCRIPT…

Just a few minutes ago during a town hall in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Sarah Palin had the nerve to utter the following garbled hypocritical mess about Obama:

I want to add also because I think in your question what the suggestion is also is, are Americans having an opportunity to ask all the questions and are we receiving straight answers from our opponent?

This coming from a woman who hid from the press for weeks after her veep announcement, has only given two quick press avails besides her disastrous Gibson and Couric interviews, and is now limiting her media exposure to coddling rightwing jackoffs like Hewitt, Hannity, Van Susteren and Ingraham.

MORE: Sexy NewsBuster Kyle “Pickle Barrel” Drennen was kind enough to compile a list yesterday of media folks who would love to be “having an opportunity to ask all the questions” of Palin.

UPDATE: I listened to the audio again and made a slight change to the rush transcript.

ALSO ALSO ALSO: I mentioned in the comments that Sarah Palin really likes saying “also.” Here’s the proof (MP3 file) from today’s town hall. I counted thirty-three times in approximately 15 minutes of speaking, but your mileage may vary.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/09/08 at 01:55 PM
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Here it is—the smoking gun. Let’s see Obama deny now that he was intimately involved in William Ayer’s domestic terrorist Weather Underground organization.

[Cross-posted at Betty Cracker]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 10/09/08 at 11:27 AM
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Yesterday Lehigh Valley (PA) GOP chair Bill Platt got in hot water for acting like a dick and today he unveiled his weak excuse for his abysmal behavior in The Morning Call:

Platt said in an interview with The Morning Call that he meant nothing malicious by using Obama’s middle name and said his goal was to talk up McCain’s patriotism.

‘’It wasn’t delivered with any kind of malice,’’ Platt said. ‘’It wasn’t calculated. I meant absolutely nothing by it.’’

Platt pointed out he also had referred to the Democratic candidate as ‘’Sen. Obama’’ or ‘’Mr. Obama’’ at the Bethlehem event.

‘’I could understand if it was taken out of context how someone would get angry,’’ Platt said. ‘’[But] if Barack Obama was not the nominee and it was Hillary Clinton, I would have referred to her as Hillary Rodham Clinton.’’

What a load of absolute crap. I’m still looking for a full video or transcript of his speech, but I’ll guarantee you the candidates on the Republican ticket weren’t referred to as John Sidney McCain or Sarah Louise Heath Palin in it.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/09/08 at 11:14 AM
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Late last night and into the wee hours of the morning the blogostupid was buzzing about Jonathan Martin’s Politico post:

McCain camp making news in the morning

On what, they won’t say. 

“We’ll have something to talk about,” is all a campaign aide would allow.

Check back again in this space or over on our front-page in the morning.

Speculation was running rampant everywhere.  Martin just did a follow-up and ... it’s a steaming pile o’ non-story:

That “news” in the morning

Sure enough, it’s Bill Ayers.

The McCain campaign is launching a web ad accusing Obama of trying to hide his ties to the 60s-era radical.

“Too risky for America,” the ad concludes.

The idea here is to keep Ayers in the mix without spending precious dollars to put real points behind it on TV.  Republicans know that cable TV stations will play the spot for free, regardless of it being a web ad.

Republicans also know that megaphonies like Martin will eagerly amplify their useless crap and not be remotely upset or embarrassed that they’ve, once again, been played for fools. A principled journalist would never run with a tip from that McCain camp source again.  If you know that journalist, please introduce him or her to Martin.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/09/08 at 08:53 AM
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I try not to post videos that have already had a lot of eyeballs on them, but this one is too damn funny to pass up. The YouTube description pretty much says it all: “Quite possibly the lamest self defense techniques ever taught.”

I could watch Droopy Mustache Man getting poke-choked all day long.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/09/08 at 06:03 AM
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Found it. Here’s video of Bill Platt, Pennsylvania’s GOP chairman, being a complete dick today in Bethlehem, PA during a McCain-Palin rally.  I’ll be discussing this tonight during the bloggers roundtable on Radio Rumproast at 9PM ET with Betty Cracker and Ripley. My guest will be Michael Rovito. Please tune in.  We’ll be taking calls at (347) 826-7678.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/08/08 at 07:22 PM
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Al Franken, who I hope will become a senator soon, once said something very wise about the difference between how conservatives and liberals view America:

We love America just as much as they do. But in a different way. You see, they love America the way a four-year-old loves her mommy. Liberals love America like grown-ups. To a four-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow.

This is generally true, and Governor Palin is currently behaving as if she were a prime example of the “my mommy right or wrong” type of conservative. She displays that mindset here in this snippet from her recent debate with Senator Biden:

Notice how her voice rises to a yippy Pomeranian pitch* when she indignantly pronounces the words, “hate America!” And like the incurious and/or stupid George W. Bush, she attributes the bad guys’ hatred of America entirely to their distaste for freedom, women’s rights, etc., when it is actually a whole lot more complicated than that.

Well, given the fact that Palin is literally in bed with a one-time anti-American secessionist and was providing encouragement to that anti-American group as recently as this summer, excuse me if I question her “America! Fuck Yeah!” bona fides:

But the sentiments of the yokels she’s targeting with her current rhetoric on behalf of McCain are real enough. And those people need to grow the fuck up. This isn’t about someone being mean to their mommy. This is about a planet on the brink, and we need a leader who can comprehend opposing viewpoints and thus negotiate the best course of action. Not to save us from further embarrassment on the world stage, though god knows that would be change I can believe in. But rather to save our asses, perhaps literally.

The world is getting a whole lot scarier and more complicated. It has never been as simple as wingnuts made it out to be, and the exercise of raw power was never the panacea they crowed about. But with the global financial meltdown and other gigantic, scary-as-shit issues—any one of which could easily keep a person up nights (loose nukes, global warming and terrorism, for example)—occurring simultaneously, we can’t afford a willfully simple-minded approach anymore. That’s why this election is so important.

*If anyone is tempted to accuse me of sexism for pointing out that Palin’s voice sometimes goes all screechy, spare me the lecture. It’s not a woman thing—I’m a woman, and I don’t have a screechy voice. Palin doesn’t have to have one either. She could modulate her tone to avoid sounding like a fishwife. Or she could try bourbon and cigarettes. I’ll stop comparing her voice to that of Pomeranians and fishmongers when she stops sounding like them.

[Cross-posted at Betty Cracker]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 10/08/08 at 05:19 PM
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We reported Monday how David Zucker’s rightwing “comedy” An American Carol was a total flop and yesterday Wonkette noted how the filmmakers, in a move that was funnier than anything in the film, were screaming “fraud!” (and then, apparently, withdrawing the claim by pulling down the accusatory web page). Well, events surrounding the film just got even funnier.  Look what turned up on Sacramento’s Craigslist last night:

Do you enjoy talking on the phone? Do you enjoy watching movies? Well this is the job for you! Our film marketing firm has been hired to promote the recently released film, An American Carol, and we need energetic, motivated callers to promote the movie in the 23 western United States. And we’re hiring immediately! This slapstick comedy is already in theaters and the buzz about it is already underway. Interviews will begin tomorrow. I’ll likely be giving you a call tonight. If you were born with the gift of gab and are interested, email me at caroler2008@live.com and leave both your name and phone number. If you want to check out the movie first, you can find the website at americancarolers.com.

That right there is some desperate shit. Can anyone who works in the film industry or public relations let me know if this common practice, especially several days after a film’s opening? I worked with a lot of indie film companies when I first moved to New York and they never employed telemarketing for promotion and I’m 100% certain I’ve never been prodded to see a movie via the phone. Weird. [hat tip to Jim B.]

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/08/08 at 05:16 PM
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This was just uploaded by Obama’s campaign to YouTube.  Enjoy.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/08/08 at 04:17 PM
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Point out how dirty the Republicans are getting and they just wallow in the muck even more.  Look what happened earlier in Bethlehem, PA:

[GOP chairman Bill] Platt was ridiculing Democratic rival Barack Obama for not wearing an American flag lapel.

“Certainly Barack Obama can learn a thing or two from John McCain about what it means to be a patriot,” he said. “Think about you’ll feel on Nov. 5 if you see the news that Barack Obama—Barack Hussein Obama—is president of the United States.”

MORE: And this weirdness from McCain happened in Bethlehem today as well ... “my fellow prisoners.” Huzzah?!?

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/08/08 at 02:43 PM
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I think Obama won the debate. But the most interesting conversation of the evening was the one we didn’t hear – the accusations of terrorist pallin’ and insinuations that Obama is somehow un-American that Palin has been peddling all week and that McCain has amplified in his appearances. This came as a big disappointment in National Review’s The Corner: Said Andy McCarthy:

Memo to McCain Campaign:  Someone is either a terrorist sympathizer or he isn’t; someone is either disqualified as a terrorist sympathizer or he’s qualified for public office.  You helped portray Obama as a clealy [sic] qualified presidential candidate who would fight terrorists.

Good point. You can’t really have it both ways. You either go all-in with the Rovian sleaze, or you try to win on the issues. Contra the talking heads, I don’t think McCain held his fire because of an innate sense of decency. I think he simply realized he couldn’t pull it off in that format.

For that reason, I don’t expect a change in tone on the campaign trail; McCain and Palin will go back to sliming Obama with Ayers, Wright, etc., first thing this morning. But it creates a disconnect – a sense that McCain doesn’t have the balls to slime Obama to his face.  That may change in the last debate next week, but it could be too late then.

More hate mail for KP

Wingnut columnist Kathleen Parker, who enraged her readers recently by calling Palin the buffoon she is, will get another load of hate mail for her latest effort:

The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn’t a Muslim or a terrorist, but they’re willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.

But words can have more serious consequences than lost votes and we’ve already had a glimpse of the Palin effect.

The Post’s Dana Milbank reported that media representatives in Clearwater were greeted with taunts, thunder sticks and profanity. One Palin supporter shouted an epithet at an African-American soundman and said, “Sit down, boy.”

McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates.

Don’t count on it, Kathleen. This is your new Republican Party. It’s no longer enough to paint your opponents as effete, tax-and-spend liberals. Now they must be accused of being directly in league with terrorists if not secret Muslim terrorists themselves. That’s what happens when your party declares a bankruptcy of ideas. 

Posted by Betty Cracker on 10/08/08 at 08:21 AM
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