What. The. Hell?!?

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Bachmanngate

Oh dear.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann, Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota, has dug herself a nice, deep hole.

Here's a video from TPM (Talking Points Memo) giving what I found to be a concise and informative rundown of her major unforced error...



Yesterday, the LA Times had a story about the flood of funds and support rushing to Bachmann's opponent. TPM website subsequently updated the poll numbers for Bachmann's re-election battle. Presently, Tinklenberg (what a name) is slightly up 46% to 43.5%, but the difference is within the margin of error so she could always pull out a win on election day. Full post and comments here...

From Russia With Love

Co-worker Mike sent this along to me.



Disclaimer: I cannot verify that these guys are actually Russian, but they rock that mullet-action with such pride it's hard to expect otherwise. Full post and comments here...

Obamastafari and Friends...

Forget Will.I.Am - here's a couple of songs for Barack Obama that you can dance to!

The first comes from Reggae star Coco Tea (this one's available on iTunes - yeah, I already bought it)...



Lydia didn't like how repetitive Coco Tea's song was, so I found a song by Trini sensation Mighty Sparrow...



Kenge Kenge, representin' Obama's roots in Kenya...



And reppin' West Africa, some more traditional Ghanaian music for Obama (I'm looking for some highlife or hiplife if anyone can find any)...

Full post and comments here...

RE: Make The Pros

As is the American way, it looks like Rep. Michelle Bachmann wants to try and clear her name (and stick it to the Dems) after her fateful interview with Chris Matthews (see a clip in my earlier blog). She wrote an article for Politico defending her statements. Here's a bit of what she had to say:

Despite the way the blogs and the Democratic party are spinning it, I never called all liberals anti-American, I never questioned Barack Obama's patriotism, and I never asked for some House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt into my colleagues in Congress.
. . .
It's like a political version of the children's game of telephone. I make a statement in an interview. Chris Matthews distorts it -- as he is paid so well to do. The liberal blogs contort it even more. The speaker of the House and aother Democrat leaders utter absolute lies about what was said in the interview. Then the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee picks it up and runs with it, buying $1 million for negative ads so that they don't have to talk about the issues.

And it's the issues that the voters in Minnesota's 6th District want to talk about. Everywhere I go, people ask about the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, and they want to know why we're saddling taxpayers with generations of debt to opay for risky decisions by Wall Street financiers. There's a clear distinction between my position on this bailout -- I opposed it both times it came before the House -- and that of my opponent, who saysa he would have supported it.

Boy oh boy, this woman is absolutely full of it. Though, in her defense she never actually said that all liberals are anti-American (though one could say that was pretty clearly her opinion on the matter). Also, she did not ask for a new House committee to investigate her colleagues committment or disdain for the US - she said the news media should do it. Would that be the liberal, elitist main stream news media?

What she did say during the interview, and now denies, is that she thinks Barack Obama harbors anti-American sentiments. Taken from the transcript:

MATTHEWS: So you think Barack Obama may have anti-American views?

BACHMANN: Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's the same as questioning their patriotism. Now I don't know how Matthews distorted what she said, I don't know what Pelosi and Reid and the rest of them said about it, and I haven't seen the ads that the DCCC is running, so I don't intend to defend them. But for Bachmann to somehow assert that she didn't say what she did say is the height of absurdity.

And someone should fill her in on the fact that McCain also supported that $700 billion bailout she's so against.
Full post and comments here...

D.A.R.E. (To Be Consistent...)

The New York Times had a profile on Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain, over the weekend that has incited a great deal of anger from McCain supporters calling the article a vicious attack on Cindy. Included in the criticisms, most notably from failed Republican nominee contenders Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani, is the article's reference to Cindy McCain's addiction to pain medication.

I just read the New York Times article. Here's what they said about Mrs. McCain's drug addiction:

In 1994, Mrs. McCain dissolved the charity after admitting that she had been addicted to painkillers for years and had stolen prescription drugs from it. She had used the drugs, first given for back pain, to numb herself during the Keating Five investigation, she confessed to Newsweek magazine. “The newspaper articles didn’t hurt as much, and I didn’t hurt as much,“ she wrote in an essay. “The pills made me feel euphoric and free.”

The scandal broke just as her husband had been trying to rehabilitate his reputation. He had no idea his wife had been an addict, he told the press.

That's it. That's all they said. I'll grant McCain supporters that the article had a negative undertone and, though probably not factually incorrect, wasn't really necessary or helpful to anyone, especially now that it's created a new controversy to distract from anything that actually matters. But there was plenty to moan and groan about - the mention of Cindy's self-professed addiction to prescription meds was dealt with reasonably and objectively. But McCain-ites just couldn't resist the chance to cry themselves a river over the elite media, personified in the NY Times. Here's Giuliani (what sliver of respect does this man have left?)...



First, he asserts that no one has ever investigated Obama's drug use, then says that the NY Times shouldn't. Crap - if only he'd said something earlier because they ALREADY DID! A front page story investigating Obama's claims of drug use in high school and college. In fact, the paper could find little evidence to support Obama's claim of drug use. If anything, there's more skepticism that he exaggerated his use, than that he might have actually been a dealer, as Mrs. McCain's lawyer suggested.

What's worse, I really liked Huckabee, but two weeks out everybody's gotta jump on the bandwagon I guess...



What in the world do we care who gave Obama the drugs? I would agree "Joe the Plumber" has been attacked unfairly by leftists and liberals and anti-McCain folks, so the correct answer is, "None of this actually matters to Americans presently struggling to avoid foreclosure, fighting to keep their jobs, and watching their 401k's disappear." Someone on FOX news last night even went so far as to suggest maybe Obama was even dealing drugs. Where the hell does that even come from?

Frankly, it appears to me that Rush Limbaugh's time might be better spent recalling the last time a white candidate for ANYTHING that admitted drug use was accused of being a drug dealer. Full post and comments here...

John, John, and Barack

Civil rights leader John Lewis made some comments about the McCain campaign that generated some heated back and forth. Here's what Rep. Lewis said:

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama. As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Understandably, John McCain didn't take to kindly to Lewis's remarks and obviously unappealing comparison:

"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale. The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama's record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign. I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track. I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America."

The Obama campaign responded by saying that "Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies." However, they did agree with Lewis's assessment of the increasingly negative and angry tone of McCain and Palin rallies. McCain brought the situation back up during the third presidential debate, accusing Obama of not repudiating Lewis's comments.

So the obvious question is, "What does Dan think about it?" And that's the right question to be asking. Lydia and I talked about it a good bit (well, I kept talking so she couldn't get back to what she was doing, but she engaged as well) and I think we're in agreement on some major points.

1. Obama should have emphasized his criticism of Lewis's comments at the debate: Obama had an opening to show bipartisanship and a desire to rise above exaggerated accusations at the debate and he tapdanced around it. A simple, "Senator McCain, Americans know, as I know, that your beliefs, viewpoints, and policies could not be further from those of George Wallace. He was a monster - you are not." Doing so would not necessarily mean McCain would refrain from accusing Obama of doing nothing, and Obama's campaign did essentially repudiate the linking of McCain with Wallace in their statement. But with millions of people watching, it just reaffirms the appearance that he isn't interested in prolonging irrelevant discussions.


2. McCain and Palin do need to accept some responsibility: During the same debate McCain made the astonishing claim that his campaign had been focused on the economy. Though not an outright lie (I'm sure the economy came up in stump speeches) it is no secret that the bulk of his ads, surrogates, and rally speeches centered around one questions: "Do we really know Barack Obama?" When Palin claims he thinks America so imperfect that he "pals around with terrorists" that target their own country, and that he doesn't "see America" like we do, is the response at these rallies truly surprising? What's been even more bizarre are McCain's efforts to defend these "fringe" people at his rallies. Folks like these...

At the end of the day both sides need to calm the rhetoric coming out of their respective camps. And, given John McCain's position in the polls and the current electoral map, I think the onus is on him to change the tenor in these last days, if not to begin to heal the divisions then to protect his own reputation and standing.

Full post and comments here...

Can't Wait To Make The Pros

As this is the first election I've really followed closely, the tone of the rhetoric and exchanges may be standard fare. However, I think the level of "What the hell did (s)he just say?!" is pretty high even for the most weathered politico. The latest fodder: who's pro- and who's anti-America?

And, of course, the majority of the nonsense is coming out of the McCain campaign and its surrogates. Let's start with my favorite: Sarah Palin (as reported by Elizabeth Holmes of the Wall Street Journal):

"We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe" -- here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers -- "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

She continued: "This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

Honestly, her point is understandable, although what she says is clearly absurd. Certainly the small, quiet towns scattered throughout the US are crucial to the viability of America...but so are the metropolitan cities. New York doesn't work without Harleysville and visa versa, so there's no point in singling one out as being more "real" or more "pro-America" than the other. Sometimes what you say isn't exactly what you meant (all you Michelle Obama haters should keep that in mind).

For the first time, Palin's comments weren't the worst of the bunch. Here's McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer on MSNBC (Virginians, you may want to sit down for this one):



I wonder if we'll see Pfotenhauer give any more interviews after that humdinger. We'll have to redraw the state lines now: West "Real" Virginia, "Real" Virginia, and Metro DC.

But it gets...much...worse. Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann is probably still picking rubber sole out of her vaselined teeth after this bombshell:



So to recap: small towns are pro-America, southern VA is the "real" Virginia, and some of the elected representatives to the House and Senate may be anti-American. I wonder if all of that made it into the GOP platform?

This drivel is starting to move from amusing and mildly irritating to mind-bogglingly (I think that's a dangling adverb for you grammar buffs) aggravating. I hope that John McCain loses, not just because I think Obama would make a better president, but because I think he really needs to answer for the bulls**t that's coming out of his campaign. In what kind of twisted universe would a surrogate, or a paid staffer, or the freakin' VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE dare to utter such baffling balderdash as this - especially after the incredible backlash Obama met after his Bittergate comments?

Idiots. Full post and comments here...

Leave A Message At The Beep

On TIME's Swampland blog today, Joe Klein wrote a post about the attacks that John McCain was firing off this weekend and how he is guilty, to some extent, of violating each one himself. I've copied the most interesting paradox below:

Finally, McCain had this exchange about his campaign's skeevy robo-calls this weekend on Fox:

WALLACE: ... and you said the following [after the South Carolina primary campaign in 2000], "I promise you, I have never and will never have anything to do with that kind of political tactic."

Now you've hired the same guy who did the robo calls against you to — reportedly, to do the robo calls against Obama and the Republican Senator Susan Collins, the co-chair of your campaign in Maine, has asked you to stop the robo calls. Will you do that?

MCCAIN: Of course not. These are legitimate and truthful, and they are far different than the phone calls that were made about my family and about certain aspects that — things that this is — this is dramatically different, and either you haven't — didn't see those things

Legitimate and truthful? I supposed that's why Susan Collins, one of McCain's closest friends in the Senate, criticized him for this trashball tactic. Oh, and the "same guy" Wallace was referring to is none other than Warren Tompkins, whose name was a synonym for satan among the McCain inner circle in 2000. I can imagine John breaking the news to Cindy, "Hey, honey, great news! Remember that guy who was involved in spreading the rumors about your addiction to pain killers and Bridget being an illegitimate interracial child? Well, we've got him doing that same sort of high-minded stuff for us!"

Full post and comments here...

Another Nail In The Coffin

Later on, outside NBC studios, Powell tells us how he really feels...



Here's what Limbaugh had to say:

"I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

Suffice it to say Rush Limbaugh is a blithering idiot, a wart on the backside of the American people, and (perhaps) a little prejudiced/racist? You be the judge.

In other news, Obama raised a record-breaking $150 million last month, adding over 600,000 new donors to their bank. But here's the rub: the average donation was only $86. They currently have 3.1 million registered donors!

I don't care which party you sit with - this is major stuff. Forget how much money he's raising; the extent to which average Americans are being energized and motivated to give to his campaign and support his election is astonishing. Full post and comments here...

SNL Just Dropped It Like It's Hot

Gov. Palin was in last night's funniest sketch...and had very little to do with it.

Yo! Spin that ish!

Full post and comments here...