Things That Make You Go, "Hmmmm?"

How is it "Gotcha Journalism" when your running mate was answering a question form a voter at one of your carefully controlled interactions?

What is your call for bipartisanship worth when you pair it with an ad buy slamming the other party?

Who isn't laughing?

Punitive Politics

I swear, I had nothing to do with it.

MoDo Barred From McPlane

The Observer and The Bear Trader

From The Observer.

"I have to laugh at all the folks that say "I am getting sick and tired
of having the little guy pay......"

"That notion is ridiculous"--bear trader said: 'By definition, IF YOU
are the one paying....YOU are the little guy. You have been the one paying
forever."

Trapped In A World He Never Made

Okay, let's have a quick check for clarity.

Steve Kagen and Flyin' Jim voted together on the bailout. Paul Ryan and Tammy Baldwin voted together on the bailout.

What's next?
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

A Word To The Wise

McCampaign may want to take some tips from Dana Carvey about post-debate spin on Friday morning.

Bailout Goes Down In Flames

Boehner says that because of hurt feelings the Republicans just had to put their party first.

Here are Pelosi's remarks. Pretty straightforward stuff, I'd say.

Here's the roll call. Kagen and Flyin' Jim both voted "No."

Do You Remember?

Last week John McCain said he was going to stop campaigning until a deal was reached to solve the financial crisis his guys helped to create.

Whatever happened with that? He stopped campaigning for what, twenty minutes?

I'm Sorry. I'm Not Sure I Heard That Right.

Did they say it will start with, "Only," 250 billion dollars?

Only?

Mighty Mouse Misfires

Let me get this straight.

A deal was in place, just needing to be shined up to bring to a vote, when John McCain drifted into Washington for his first vote since April, bullied GWB into a high profile publicity stunt, introduced a plan already rejected by all but the most hardened wingers in his party and busted the deal all to hell.

And then accused someone else of politicizing the debate. At least Mitt Romney would have had a clue about useful solutions.

Unrecommended Campaign Tactics

OMG.

A publicity stunt by an underdog in the race to be governor of Bangkok went
badly wrong when her campaign manager drowned as they bathed in a canal to
highlight the plight of residents who have no access to clean water.

Media Bias! Media Bias!

Look, look, look! It's clearly there. The media is biased. How else can you explain this headline?

Beltran helps Mets keep pace with Brewers

It's clear that Yahoo wants the Mets to win or they'd have listed the Brewers first. Of course, it would have helped if the Crew hadn't suspended their campign for most of last week.

I'm Not Sure I'll Care About This, Either.

SHARON Bush still wants her pound of flesh. President Bush's former
sister-in-law, who was dumped by his brother, Neil, several years ago for
another woman, has teamed up with best-selling author and lawyer Mark Smith
to pen "Bushology," a none-too-flattering look inside the Bush
dynasty.

Neil has always, always been the "fun" Bush. Whether it's been for his Moonie ties, his Ritalin rants with Lisa Marie, or his "educational" software that uses white guy rap to teach math, Neil has been good for a giggle or two. But it doesn't look as if he's laughing now.

Apparently the word is out, as Sharon already got a call from her
ex-husband, who's said to be furious about the exposé.

Ain't It Just Like A Blister?

To show up after the hard work is done.

McCain's pledge to swoop like some sort of untrammeled bird into Washington and "Solve The Problem" reminded Sven of this.

Double "L" Loser. A Morality Tale.

The guy lives in Fargo.

He stole a beer truck for himself.

But he got it stuck in the mud down by the river.

And it was empty.

And his buddy rolled over on him.

Premanufactured Opinions

When you see those letters glowingly supporting John McCain in the Gazette and the Journal in the next few weeks remember this.

The assignment is simple: We are going to write letters to the editor
and we are allowed to make up whatever we want -- as long as it adds to the
campaign. After today we are supposed to use our free moments at home to create
a flow of fictional fan mail for McCain. "Your letters," says Phil Tuchman,
"will be sent to our campaign offices in battle states. Ohio. Pennsylvania.
Virginia. New Hampshire. There we'll place them in local newspapers."

Place them? I may be wrong, but I thought that in the USA only a
newspaper's editors decided that.

"We will show your letters to our supporters in those states,"
explains Phil. "If they say: 'Yeah, he/she is right!' then we ask them to sign
your letter. And then we send that letter to the local newspaper. That's how we
send dozens of letters at once."

No newspaper can refuse a stream of articulate expressions of
support, is the thought behind it. "This way, we will always get into some
letters column."

It is the day after Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican
convention. Today, she is our main subject. The others are already
enthusiastically hammering their keyboards. I am struggling with a tiny writer's
block. "Dear Editor ..."

There's plenty more

What's The Difference? III

What's the difference between John "Haircut" Edwards and John "Celebrity" McCain?

$5183.43

McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services,
according to the Federal Election Commission.

Cool. Don't you wish you'd sent Senator Straight Talk 20 bucks out of your pay envelope?

Happy To Have Been A Part Of This

This citizen input portion of the planning for this may have been the first time I got involved in town government.

The city will celebrate the new park's opening with a ribbon cutting
ceremony at 2:45 p.m. Saturday. The park is on Sixth Street between Porter Road
and Main Street.

The park sprouted from a donation of more than 10 acres from
developers Roger Berg, Robbie Petterson and Phil Woodworth. The city later
bought more than 4 acres to make a 15-acre park, Ringhand said.

Who knew it would turn out so well.

Thanks to the scores of people who have worked on this over the last ten years.

She Stoled It

MoDo stole my MoJo.

How the mighty 85-year-old Henry the K has fallen from his days chasing Jill
St. John and running the world to his hour briefing of a 44-year-old Wasilla
hockey mom who may end up running the world.

I'll forgive her, though, just for coining "apocalipstick."

It’s sort of like villagers in those old movies who bring in the
wizened witch doctor to shake a stick over them.

Wow! I Don't Care

Clay? yawn

Lindsay? over

Now, Fred! Now you can say, "Jim. You just don't care. Admit it."

And I will.

Cause And Effect?

I hope not.

There was a Corvette convertible parked in front of the chiropractor's office last night.

Philosophy Question

If a hooky-playing hockey mom meets foreign leaders in a vacuum can anyone defend her?

It Came In Over The Transom

Too true to be good. From The Nation.

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship
with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My
country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of
800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be
most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my
replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know
him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.
This transactin is 100% safe.

There's more. h/t sven in jay's combox

If You Want People To Stop Calling You A Liar

You need to stop telling lies.

Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to
complain of being called “liars.” They pressed the media to scrutinize specific
elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.

But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact
that it may have had the opposite effect: to deepen the perception, dangerous to
McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual
accuracy.

My brother says that if enough people tell you that you look sick you should probably lie down. I think McCampaign needs a timeout.

Heard It On The TeeVee

What's the difference between Sarah Palin on the Environment and George Bush on the Environment?

Lipstick

It's Like a Poll

Leave your answer in the comments.

Is the headline below
a- Unfortunate
b- Kinda Icky
c- Whamalicious
d- Other (explain)

George Michael Arrested For Crack In Men's Bathroom

Let Me Get This Straight II

Lehman Brothers tanked last week and the scraps are being bought up by Barclay's for $1.75Billion. But before they declared Chap. 11 Lehman sectioned off $2.5Billion to be paid out to their New York employees leaving their offshore employees holding their sore parts.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that's called the High Hard One.

Packer Thoughts

I know it's just one game but it was the 'Boys, for cryin' out loud.

I'm blaming Jerry Greene. We've told that nimrod not to pick the Pack to win but he just won't listen.

At a basic level you have to be a little happy for Tony Romo. Burlington boy makes good. At my house we're always happy when somebody from Eastern does well. And now he can go home and doesn't have to explain why he's upset with Jessica.

Now I'm worried. John McCain just said that the Packer's fundamentals are sound.

Ted Thompson's Career Dissapation Light started flashing one tick faster last night. I wonder if he notices the difference.

Deep Thought

To hell with Voter ID. I'd settle for a modicum of Voter IQ.

Snopes And Bakken

There's a meme going around the Internets that the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and Montana will yield 503 billion barrels of oil that would fuel all of the nation's oil needs for 41 years if only Nancy Pelosi would stand aside.



Snopes has the scoop. It might last a year at current import rates. At least one local blogger had it right.



Sorry.

Sometimes You Have To Feel Sorry For Them

I feel bad for whoever it was who got here looking for this.



http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=define%20prominent&meta=



But I don't feel bad enough to stop.

Yikes!

Sit back and savor the beauty of this sentence.

Paul McCartney's ex-wife is donating $1 million worth of soy hamburgers, soy
hot dogs and soy chicken cutlets to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the
Bronx.

Let's deconstruct, shall we?

1- If your greatest claim to fame is that you are someones ex, you might have self-esteem problems to start with.

2- You can make something like a hamburger from soy protein. You can make something approximating an analog of a hot dog from soy protein. You can even shape a cutlet of sorts from soy. But there ain't no way that you can make chicken from soy. Chicken can only be made from dead birds.

3- $1M of food to one of the poorest neighborhoods in one of the richest countries in the world and it's got to be this dreck? That $1M could buy a lot of staples for those kids without feeding them beans all day.

She tells the New York Post that she wants to make sure children in the
neighborhood "have as many nutritional advantages as anyone else."

Well, then, buy them meal packs from Kids Against Hunger. Don't start them down the hamburger/hot dog/chickanugget path.

Nutz!

Zambrano no-hits the Brewers and then goes an inning and two thirds against the Cards. Some days you have to make your own luck.

Sauce For The Goose

It's a shame this won't play out to the end.

AUSTIN [TX] – Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr is
forcing a legal showdown in the Texas Supreme Court to keep the names of Barack
Obama and John McCain off the November ballot.

The issue is whether both parties missed a state deadline to
certify the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the
ballot. The attorney general is arguing the law was followed and that the
secretary of state has discretion on the ballot and its
appearance.

Third parties have struggled for years to get on ballots across the country. If Texas has these rules in place then the D's and R's should be looking at a write-in show-down.

Too bad it ain't happenin'. There's more. Go read it.

Holidays!

From the column that started it all.

BY DAVE BARRY

Every now and then, some visionary individuals
come along with a concept that is so original and so revolutionary that your
immediate reaction is: ''Those individuals should be on medication.''

Today I want to tell you about two such people, John Baur and Mark Summers, who have come up with a concept that is going to make you kick yourself for not thinking of it first: Talk Like a Pirate Day. As the name suggests, this is a day on
which everybody would talk like a pirate. Is that a great idea, or what? There
are so many practical benefits that I can't even begin to list them all.

Baur and Summers came up with this idea a few years ago. They were
playing racquetball, and, as so often happens, they began talking like pirates.
And then it struck them: Why not have a day when EVERYBODY talks like a pirate? They decided that the logical day would be Sept. 19, because that -- as you are no doubt aware -- is Summers' ex-wife's birthday.

Since then, Baur and Summers have made a near-superhuman effort to
promote Talk Like a Pirate Day. As Baur puts it: ``We've talked like pirates,
and encouraged our several friends to, every Sept. 19, except for a couple where
we forgot.''

You can read the rest here. Also visit my previous tribute which includes a link to McSweeney's.

What Kos Said

I don't often link to Kos. he tends to stratify readers in a hurry. But here's what he had to say about hacking private email. Emphasis is mine.

It's not cute, funny, righteous, or justifiable in any way. This is
just as odious as the gross violations that spurred the FISA battle. I hope
whoever hacked into her email gets caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent
of the law.

At least one Republican personally knows how it feels to have
someone look into her private communications without proper cause or approval. It would be nice if that spurred a renewed conservative embrace of
privacy issues and support for those key Constitutional principles designed to
protect us from the tyranny of government.

But I won't hold my breath

Where's That Blasted Plain?

It may not be enough for Sarah Palin to get a round of introductions at the UN. It's probably time for Senator Straight Talk to get a remedial session in "Countries and Their Leaders" as well.



To recap, John McCain knew the leader of Georgia was Mikheil Saakashvili. You could be snarky and say that's only because he had a lobbyist for Georgia at his elbow. Now, if only Spain would hire some lobbyists to get McCain's attention he'd know who their leader was.

Are You A Busy Professional?

You might consider It's Just Lunch as a way to meet people you've not come across in your hectic life. They'll make the introduction and the arrangements to get you the exposure and experience you've been seeking.

Or you might take a try at 8 Minute Dating if you really don't have the time to spend and you need to meet a lot of people fast. That way you can say you've met them and really, really gotten to know them, maybe even look deeply into their eyes.

But the latest way for all of the happening kids to meet new people is to have your boss introduce you at a business meeting. Then you can, at least, tell everyone how many new people you met.

Republican candidate John McCain plans to introduce the Alaska governor to
heads of state at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, although specific
names weren’t yet firmed up.

I can hardly wait to see the spin come off of this. Do you suppose she'll tell Putin, "I can see Russia from Alaska, you know?"

John Stewart is right. Palin must have won a contest on McCain's website to get this gig. There's no other reason for someone with this little experience to be playing on the big stage.

I've Said It Before...

I'll say it again. It's as if the McCain campiagn message is being run through a spell-checker without ever being proofread.

Fiorina gets a golden muzzle

JB van Hollen's Worst Nightmares

This may explain The Great Database Purge Attempt Of 2008

McCampaign Jumps The Shark

How can you tell that a campaign has whined itself into irrelevancy?

"Well, I think that she looked a bit like her. I think that, of course,
the portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin, and so in that
sense, they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive, and Sarah Palin
as totally superficial.

"I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful
in the extreme, and yes, I would say, sexist in the sense that just because
Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she
lacks substance. She has a lot of substance."

A comedy sketch, on a comedy show, featuring two women, written by women is being described by a woman as sexist. I think that Fiorina needs to step back and look at her life a little bit to see how she's being used here.

Is she surprised that SNL might poke fun at a current newsmaker? Did Fiorina truly believe that sequestering Palin could keep her from being talked about? Will another week away from the Press bring more flattering portrayals of Palin?

I'm betting not.

Getting To The Bottom Of Softness Claims

A Toilet Paper Analyst (try to not think about it too much) has said that claims of a new "softer" tp may be bogus.

Industry analyst Bill Schmitz is skeptical. He said extra layers make toilet
paper stronger, not softer, although he said Georgia Pacific may have added
extra fibers for softness.

What brought this about?

[ ] a team of them at Georgia Pacific's Innovation Institute in
Neenah has come up with a three-ply version of its Quilted Northern
product.

The new product will be launched Monday. The company touts the
toilet tissue as "ultra-soft" and says it plans to market the product to women
45 and older who view their bathroom as a "sanctuary for quality
time."

Wait just a dang minute here. If women over 45 are looking to invade the sanctity of the sanctum will men over 45 be forced back out to the taverns? This could be a disaster.

SCAM ALERTS for SOUTH Central Wisconsin

From Senator Erpenbach's Office comes word of a voter registration scam not being abetted by JB van Hollen –

Federal Trade Commission warns of Voter Registration scam. People are
receiving phone calls from phony “election officials” stating that their social
security number is needed to verify whether or not they are an eligible voter.
If you receive a call like this call the FTC at 1-877-382-4357. Anyone over 18,
who is a citizen, and not a felon can vote in Wisconsin without any
pre-registration before Election Day.

Senate Scholar Program Accepting Applications

From Senator Erpenbach's newsletter –

Those interested in the 2009 Senate Scholars program should begin their
applications. 33 young adults are chose to participate on a competitive basis
through application.

This is a great program for young adults interested in how
government works and a fun and very informative way to expand their access to
the Wisconsin Senate. The program is open to Wisconsin high school students age
16-18 years old.

Applications are due January 1st. If you would like to be
considered for a Senate Scholar position contact Senator Erpenbach’s office now
to start the process at 608-266-6670.

White Star Line Fires Captain Of The Titanic

New Captain Sveum says, "What iceberg?"

Let's Pretend

Let's pretend that NASCAR had mandated the Car of Tomorrow to be in use on Jan 1 of 2006. Now let's suppose that all of the teams went to work right away to build a brand new car, one that had never raced before and was absolutely untested.

The teams managed to come up with a version of that CoT but it had a flaw. Due to a minor parts failure it crashed one lap out of every five if the radio was turned on. No radio, no crash. The system was certainly flawed but, so long as the teams left the radio off, there were no crashes caused by the new system.

On August 6 of 2008 one of the teams (Let's call it GAB Racing) came up with a radio system which they were confident would run without causing crashes. They had failed at the letter of the law but had satisfied the (rather stupid) substance of it. They knew that the next race would be okay and, as part of their job, they said so.

But their was one team owner who was not satisfied (Let's call him AG Goodhair.) He was mad that GAB had not satisfied the fullest letter of the most draconian edict of NASCAR (Let's call them Flyin' Jim.) He sold his soul and filed a frivolous lawsuit, something he once thought he was deathly against, to force every team to run the Daytona 500 with the radios which were in use in 2006. Nevermind that there would be crashes at random 5 lap intervals. Nevermind that there was a way to run the race safely. Goodhair was convinced that if all of the other teams were caught up in the carnage that some would simply not bother with the race. Some teams, who had done all that was asked of them, would be swept aside and never scored.

AG Goodhair had a car in the race, an old and cranky car but a car nonetheless. If he could put roadblocks and obstacles in front of the other cars he thought that his car would stand a better chance of coming through in first.

It's a fable, kids but only just barely. JB van Hollen has filed suit to take an action that will cause confusion and delays based on database errors rather than criminal behaviors. He is trying to force the state to use a computer program with a proven 20% failure rate to decide who gets to vote. The state of Wisconsin does not have a 20% voter fraud problem. van Hollen knows that. But he sees a chance to create havoc at the polls and doubts in the minds of legal voters and the cynical SOB is charging into the breach.

JB van Hollen is ready to do what Steve Biskupic stood against. van Hollen is executing the GOP's voter caging program by filing suit 8 weeks before the election. He should be ashamed but I won't hold my breath.

This Might Be The Single Silliest Idea I've Ever Heard

Let me get this straight. You want a small army of people off the street to start rifling through not only the voter rolls, which now contain birth date information thatnks to the pinheads in Washington. And then you want those same volunteers to have access to the DOT records with all of our personal information on them.

Are you out of your minds? This is not just a blatant voter caging maneuver but the single biggest invitation to identity theft ever. Even AG Goodhair isn't this stupid. Is he?

McCain Says That Palin's Credentials Are Too Weak In Foreign Policy

"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been
involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I
understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge
we face from radical Islamic extremism,"
the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no
on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a
governor for a short period of time."

Wamp! There It Is

Tennessee Rep. Zach Wamp (R) has this tepid near-endorsement after Gov Palin's performance last night.

Governor Palin is confident, smart, disciplined and while not yet totally
prepared on the issues, she clearly is getting there....The country likes her so
she will get a pass or two. If she holds up beyond that, she could be a
transformative woman in American history. If not, we will all be
disappointed.

"Meh, whatever," says Wamp.

We're getting used to disappointments from the GOP. It's time to, as Grampy McSame says, CHANGE.

You Will Know Their Names

John McCain said,

"I got an old ink pen, my friends, and the first pork barrel-laden earmark,
big-spending bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. You will know their
names. I will make them famous and we’ll stop this corruption,"

But his running mate requested...

You know, it would be hard to criticize a lot of those earmarks. That's what local officials are expected to do, to get out the Federal dollars for local projects. But it becomes a farce of the first water to criticize earmarks as "corruption" while you have your face down in the trough.

Yes, folks. McCampaign really does think you're that stupid.

Remember

Crescit sub pon’dere Virtus.

Ron Paul To Senator Straight Talk, "It Ain't You, Babe"

Even Ron Paul can't bring himself to endorse McCain.

At a news conference Wednesday, Paul said he received a surprise call from
McCain's campaign on Tuesday asking for his endorsement. Paul turned them
down.

Lieberman was wacky enough to bite down but Paul wouldn't fall for it. Oh, yeah. Paul said that Cynthia McKinney would be a better choice for America than McCain.

Two Quotes From David Brooks Last Night

Brooks and EJ Dionne appeared together last night at Chapel Hill. Brooks said that...

"being a conservative columnist for The New York Times [is
like] "being the chief rabbi in Mecca."

and, on the death of Conservatism...

both agreed that the conservative era that began during the Reagan
years is intellectually bankrupt and, in a word, over.

"There are fewer intellectual oddballs in the [conservative]
movement and more sleaze balls," Brooks said.

"Conservatives have been less creative about thinking about the new
problems of today than liberals. Part of it is because conservatives have been
in power. You can't think and be in power."

How To Tell The Perfect Joke

You've got your Proposition.

Rep. Ron Paul, former Republican presidential candidate, says the Texas
congressman plans to make a "major announcement" Wednesday, to "announce his intentions for the fall presidential election."

Your Set-up.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Paul's spokesman says to expect
“something of an endorsement.”

And your Punchline.

The Boston Globe reports that Nader will be one of the special guests at
Wednesday's announcement.

Apologies and Clarification

Most of you did really well yesterday with the discussion of Hurricane Carter and Ukulele Ike but there have been lingering doubts. Please forgive me for being less than clear.





Aaron, this is Sgt. Carter.

And, unfortunately, this is also Sgt Carter.

Most importantly, this is Sgt Carter, f'reals.

The Original Original Mavericks

NOUN:
An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become
separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first
person who brands it.

So I suppose that John McCain, wandering from position to position depending on who has the latest brand on him, could be considered an original maverick. I just haven't been able to find a definition of the word "Maverick" that means unrepentant fibber to fit Sarah Palin.

Unless, of course, she means this Maverick.

Or this well-known scoundrel.

Don't Forget The Primary

Primary tomorrow in the 80th and a public hearing on the referendum for dessert.

Ain't we lucky?

Wow! Supercriminals.

From the Gazette

It appeared the suspects were not able to pick up the scrap metal during the
initial burglary so deputies set up surveillance. At 4:21 a.m. today, deputies
observed two vehicles drive behind the house and that’s when they made the
arrests, said Commander Troy Knudson.

Reuse, recycle, redneck redux

Disambiguation

For our readers who have trouble differentiating when reading news stories we provide this service.


This is Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

This is Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards.







This is Hurricane Ike







I hope that clears that up.

Sunday Music- She Spent The Money Anyway Edition

In honor of Sarah Palin who kept the money for the Bridge to Nowhere to spend on other projects but, OOHH and it's a dandy, she spent the money to build the road to the beach where the bridge would have gone rather than let it go back to the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, work is under way on a three-mile road on Gravina Island,
originally meant to connect the airport and the new bridge. State officials said
last year they were going ahead with the $25 million road because the money
would otherwise have to be returned to the federal government.

That's right. She pissed the money away after the project was dead rather than let it be spent where it was needed. This is NOT reform, kids. This is business as usual.

It's no wonder the R's want to talk about her kids.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Welcome America's Newest Celebrity, Sarah Somethingorother

Turns out that McCain was against celebrity before he was for it.

If only we'd known that he couldn't keep from flip-flopping.

The Shadow Of Your Smile

Where, oh where have we seen that image before?

Why did John McCain give arts of his speech last night standing in front of a picture of Walter Reed Middle School? Was it supposed to be Walter Reed Medical Center and somehow it got changed?



Was the good Senator just giving us a warm-fuzzy from Hollywood, or is that Fred Thompson's job?

Who will take the tumble for the Party Of Personal Responsibility this time?

Klein Was LiveBlogging- Somebody Should Explain That To The Candidate

11:04 It would be nice if McCain would release a comprehensive list of
things I should, and should not, do for my country. Yes to becoming a teacher,
no to being in a teacher's union. Yes to fighting, no to community organizing. I
need some sort of pocket guide.

11:01 It's testament to the pain of McCain's experiences that his
story remains powerful even after such relentless overuse. But can it change
minds?

10:49 I'd sort of forgotten what a bad speaker McCain is. I'd call it a
collection of one liners, but it's more a string of lonely clauses. There's no
overarching theme or message. The speech doesn't build, and thus the applause
doesn't carry it along. Instead, it punctuates it, exhausting the force of
McCain's words and forcing him to start all over on the next
sentence.

There's more

Decency Dies In Stages

From the Boston Globe Blog

The death of a taboo
Posted by Sasha Issenberg

ST. PAUL -- One of the most enduring taboos in American politics,
the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan
context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.


The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by
political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST,
when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention
included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the
towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.


The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving
campaign-season taboos.

It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to
Hitler.

Open Meetings- Open House

I know that there are true fans of the Open Meetings Law out there. I know that there are a few out there who should know more about this.

This is for you from Senator Erpenbach's newsletter.

Plan to Attend Seminar on Public Meeting and Open Record Laws –
Understand your right to know about local and state government by attending a
seminar on open meeting and open records laws hosted by the Attorney General and attorneys from the Department of Justice. These seminars are open to the public and free, but they would like you to register ahead of time.

Madison/Monona – Wednesday, October 29, 2008 9am to 12noon,
Monona Community Center,
1011 Nichols Rd.
Contact: JB Van Hollen’s office at 267-2220 or
email registration at: registration@doj.state.wi.us

Consistency Is The Key, I Reckon

And a shout out to Lynne Spears. Remember, you heard it here first.

Definition

This came in over the transom this afternoon. Thanks, Dick.

palindrone, n., a knee-jerk right-winger who has managed to convince
her- or himself that Sarah Palin is actually qualified to be one 72-
year-old heartbeat away from the Big Red Button

Rock Star Pantheon

Lance Burri says his source thinks John Gard is a "Rockstar."

I think I agree. I give you Exhibit A.

The Party Of Technology

First we get this from Lance Burri.

Next, a word about President Bush.

Or, rather, two words to President Bush's staff: web cam.President Bush
spoke to the convention via satellite feed. His speech was fine. No complaints.
Except…he couldn’t react to the crowd.

Several times, the audience stood up and applauded. Several of the
ovations were lengthy. And then they were cut short, because Bush began speaking
again, because he didn’t know we were applauding.

They can feed his speech live via satellite, but they can’t set up a
simple web cam so he knows if the audience is still applauding?

And now this via the always fawning Erickson.

According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter
continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the
speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in
the speech.

The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining
his significant deviations from his speech.

The party that wants to control the nukes can't muster the tech behind a teleprompter? A feedback link to GWB is 80's technology. Perhaps a paper copy of the prepared remarks would have been in order in the one case and hiring Sean an asset in the other.

Yikes!

The Feel-Good Story Of The RNC Convention

At least one managed to break his bad habits.

Heroin addicted elephant clean after rehab

I wonder if he had a wide stance, too.

Deep Thought

While Rudy! was excoriating Senator Obama for "Present" votes made in the Illinois Senate years ago shouldn't he have added something about John McCain being not present for at least the last four months of the current session of Congress?

Just askin'

Yippee, Skippee

Guess who's coming to my neighborhood.

We've been hearing this rumor for two months but here it comes for real.

The Night Of The Long Knives In St Paul

It was hard to keep up with all of the weirdness from St Paul last night but somebody has to try.

You had Huckabee stepping in front of a smacking by Jay.

Rudy! gave the speech he was born to give; sarcastic, caustic and filled with half-truths. But given the state of McCampaign over the last ninety six hours half-truths are looking pretty good. Rudy! snarled and grimaced and hacked his hands through the air as if they were being controlled from above. He said various versions of "Stay the course," of "100-year presence," and "permanent war," all without making use of a single usable soundbite.

There was that surreal moment when Rudy! brought down the wrath of a half-filled hall on Demon Hollywood and the crowd that had just the night before cheered for Fred Thompson, denied him. Like John McCain's captivity, the GOP has played the Hollywood card so often that it looks tawdry and a little pathetic rather than carrying the dynamic image it might have had.

Is anyone else concerned that the party that tells us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) can not be trusted with governance? They tell us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) cannot be trusted to run schools or healthcare. They tell us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) should not be looked to for leadership because government cannot do it. And then they try to tell us they are perfectly capable of being in charge of nukes and courts and prisons and torture, thank you very much. Why should we trust them now when they admit they've been lying for 8 years?

And then we get to the new doyenne of the GOP...Sarah Palin proved that as a public speaker she's no Dick Cheney. I've heard more dynamic speeches given in support of a zoning change. She didn't run on her record. How could she? Palin didn't come out and say that she supports borrow and spend budgeting. She trumpeted giving oil money back to Alaskans but forgot to tell us that the state had to borrow for to do it. She didn't speak up about earmark reform. She kept throwing the same tired talking points against the crowd hoping that they'd stick with the portion of America that hasn't been exposed to her radical ideas yet.

John McCain has managed to do what many thought impossible. He's brought to his campaign someone who makes him look like a tolerable public speaker. But, to give them both a little slack, it's hard to sound convincing when you're trying to sell snake oil. If your product is shabby and has been proven wanting it cannot be easy to stand in front of an audience, even one predisposed to acceptance, and sell it as something new and exciting.

Bill Melendez RIP

Three things I did not know about legendary animator Bill Melendez.

He was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

He was the only animator allowed by Charles Schultz to work with his characters.

One of his sons is a retired Rear Admiral.

Melendez died yesterday. The world is a poorer place for his passing but his work will live on for generations.

Questions. Still More Questions

If we're all supposed to treat Bristol Palin's pregnancy as a non-issue, and I agree we should, why in the world is McCampaign flying Levi Johnston around as a campaign prop? Are they so desperate to draw attention to their convention that they're willing to throw this 18 year old out in front of the Press Corps?

What's the over/under on "POW" tonight? How about "9/11?"

If the Republicans knew that they couldn't fill up the Excel Center why didn't they book someplace smaller that they could jam to the rafters? Was the Burnsville VFW booked?

Will Tucker Bounds last longer with McCampaign than Sarah Palin? Do you suppose he's thought of an answer for Campbell Brown or is still flopping his lower lip and hoping the beating stops soon?

When does Joe Vogler get his 15 minutes in the white-hot spotlight and what will he say when he does?

Okay, That's Too Personal

From an AP story,

McCain kissed his wife, Cindy, at the bottom of the steps

Hey! That's what we call oversharing at our house.

No Truth To The Rumor...

...that McCain nominated Palin after Lynne Spears turned him down.

Unlike Palin, has left state numerous times and is well traveled
domestically and internationally. No need for passport.

Eats meat and carries gun.

Executive record which is much longer and greater than Palin with
greater results. Managed and lead two mediocre talents to lucrative careers .

High visibilty , quick capable speaker with wider knowledge of
national issues.Actually knows GOP position on Iraq and can advise Mc Cain on
difference between Sunnis and Shites.

Go read the rest.

I think he nominated her because she's a better shot than Cheney and less likely to pepper a contributor.

Questions. I've Got Questions

How can the RNC distance John McCain from the Current Resident when GWB is speaking to the multitudes assembled?

Doesn't the Mccain/Palin roadshow appearance in Jackson MS suck resources away from those who should be responding to a hurricane?

Can any candidate show up in the middle of a hurricane without drawing a comparison to GWB's response to Katrina?

With sentiment running at 20% that Palin will pull an Under the Double Eagleton with a full twisting dismount how long will it be before Conservative Christians catch on that McCain is zooming them hard with a sentimental pitch that has nothing to do with fitness for office?

Will Karl Rove ever accept his share of the blame?

The Problems With Being Vetted In Public

It's no wonder that the Right wants to rattle on and on about Sarah Palin's daughter. They know what's coming.

Well, let's see. Your candidate is a supporter of a Dominionist Church and is being hailed as a "stealth" candidate for them.

She is a former member of the Alaska Independence Party, only giving that up to opportunistically join the Republicans in her run for Mayor of Wasilla.

She's just lawyered up and has launched a blocking manuever against the Legislative probe into her actions which she once said she welcomed. Oh, yeah and she's using a state-paid lawyer. How Fraleyesque can you get?

She thinks the Pledge of Allegiance is contemporary with the Constitution.

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of
Allegiance? Why or why not?

Palin: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding
fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of
Allegiance.

Palin has no Defense role with the Alaska National Guard even though the nattering class would have you believe she does.

Add to that her nearly being recalled as Mayor of Wasilla for firing those who weren't supportive of her and you have the perfect "Business as Usual" Republican.

Okay, Now I Get It

Sarah Palin's single qualification for the Vice-Presidency is that her daughter is preggers. Don't blame me for that. Sean found the source.

However, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and
Bristol Palin is that reaction. Sarah Palin now has the capability of being what
Hillary Clinton claimed to be — a hero of the blue collar working
class.

Sarah Palin is a working mom with five kids who managed to become
Governor of her state. Now Palin has been confronted with the great fear, and
for many, the difficult reality of a pregnant teenage daughter. Sarah Palin
lived by a code and tried to have her kids live by it as well. Did she
fail?

Maybe she did. But as many parents know, you do the best you can
with your children.

We have officially slipped into the Bizzaro World of Republican politics. John McCain is running as Jon Lovitz performing as Tommy Flanagan. All of the teen pregnancy/lobbyist connection/adultery/marry the heiress allegations are just meant to humanize McCampaign and show that they aren't perfect.

The Republicans can't even bring themselves to give lip service to the man who was he son of a single mother, who pulled himself up by his bootstraps and got a law degree, a man who gave back to his community rather than cashing in at a big law firm. All of the things the Republicans once claimed to have held dear they're now willing to throw in the gutter to get John McCain elected.

John McCain wants to win an election so badly that he's willing to put, as second in line, a woman who doesn't really think about Iraq, who lets the Fed deal with the Alaska National Guard, who's only in politics for the pork. John McCain is willing to sacrifice the safety of our country to win an election. I think it's time for us all to question his judgement.