Charlie Payne!

I loved the Kerry shout out to him! He's my favorite Barack relative. :)

Democratic National Convention

As we approach the Convention, I think back to my time four years ago. I cared almost nothing about politics, and the thoughts I had post-Convention were:

1) Barack Obama is awesome
2) John Kerry is kind of creepy

Although I was solidly anti-Bush, I really didn't pay any attention. I often think back to that in order to give myself strength. There was a time when I didn't know any poll numbers, didn't know any gaffes, and had limited grasp of anyone's positions - that is where most Americans still are, so don't sweat the small stuff.

Nostalgia

I am feeling rather sad reading over this old thread describing the hope we all felt when John Kerry picked John Edwards as his running mate... How things change.

Anti-Swift-Boating

TPM is reporting that Sen. Obama is going actually discredit the lying Swift-Boater crowd:

Obama advisers say that whenever they hear that Corsi has been booked for an appearance on a network program, they are quickly contacting the program's producers to rebut the book's charges in phone conversations and giving them a whole run-down of past Corsi quotes that are controversial.

Obama aides also vow to insist that the producers allow them to have on a campaign surrogate to attack the charges, and are expecting to recruit more campaign surrogates, well plied with talking points, to push back against the book.

The question is, why didn't Sen. Kerry do this same thing last election cycle? I mean, it just doesn't make sense to allow scurrilous accusations by deranged liars to go unanswered. The traditional media will repeat anything even bald-faced lies, so you have to get to them early before the lies become "common knowledge."

Call me crazy

But is this article pimping John Kerry for Vice President? I could think of worse choices.

Nikki Tinker is a disgrace

Sen. Obama should make an ad highlighting how great Rep. Steve Cohen is for Memphis. Nikki Tinker is not only race baiting, anti-Semitic, but she is also quite a deal less liberal than Rep. Cohen. Hell, she's Harold Ford Jr's protegy. Why the hell do you run a DLC candidate in a district that went 65-30 for Kerry?

Intellectual Dishonesty Pt. 2

Here is further Intellectual Dishonest from the same article I mentioned previously:

Despite Mr. Obama’s image as a newcomer, many of his bundlers are Democratic Party stalwarts, including people who were some of the top fund-raisers for Senator John Kerry in 2004.

WHAT??? You mean the same people who gave BIG MONEY to the uninspiring John Kerry for President, are giving BIG MONEY to the inspiring Barack Obama for President!!! Someone call the police, I think some Democrats are in the house!

T. Boon Pickens is going to the bad place

From the NYTimes interview of T. Boone Pickens:

Would you ever vote for a Democratic candidate? No. I wouldn’t. I’m a Republican. I don’t want to go to heaven and have to face my family up there and tell them I voted for a Democrat.

Also in the interview is the reason he isn't going to the good place:

You helped re-elect Bush in ’04 when you gave $3 million to the Swift Boat campaign to discredit John Kerry’s Vietnam service. Do you regret your involvement? Why would I?

Because it’s such an ugly chapter in American political history. Oh, I see. Well, it was true. Everything that went into those ads was the truth.

Really? I thought it was all invented. I never did anything dishonest.

This is the truth.

Your Media at Work

Jesse astutely points out the racism inherent in the discussion of the candidate's planes, but he misses one other instance of media bias:

Article about John Kerry:

Kerry didn't say how his new wings compare to the Gulfstream jet owned by his wife, philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Article about John McCain:

But, we have a librul media, so I shouldn't worry about things like this.

Where was this John Kerry in 2004?

TMZ: John Kerry for Party President

If only he were that cool