Whatever you think

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones had a beautiful smile. And a lot of times, that made me smile with her.

btw

I just loved seeing Barack Obama's Black Wife, half-Indonesia sister, Chinese brother-in-law and white relatives. How awesome was that?

The Saints...

I'm really happy that I didn't watch the Saints tonight. *sigh* They always start with a winning record, at least.

Never.

Never have I heard a Presidential candidate have such respect for gay rights. Yes we can!

Whoa

Looks like not only is Cindy McCain's half sister a Democrat, the sister also hates Cindy... That's some bad blood.

Hmm

Am I the only one who thinks that any ad that features John McCain speaking directly to the camera is by definition not exciting?

I agree

John Cole states:

And the best thing is what is to come- the train wreck that will be the GOP convention, and that can not be understated. It is going to be a disaster. The Democratic convention was forward looking, positive, hopeful, and constructive. For all the talks of disunity, this party is unified and ready for battle. Contrast that with what we can expect to see next week.

First, we know for a fact that the GOP, unlike the Democrats, will not be able to control themselves. They will launch attack after attack at Obama, and try to destroy him. It will fail, and they will get savaged in the media, who were all present at the DNC. The best thing about the babble all through the Democratic convention is that they will feel duty bound to do the same during the RNC, and they will be shocked and taken aback by the viciousness of the GOP. Bank on it. Either the gild will come off the McCain maverick/respectful lily, or we will have to realize that McCain wants to be President but can not even control his own convention. I will take either narrative for 1000, Alex.

I'm glad someone else agrees with me. All this hand wringing about the Democratic Convention will look absolutely silly when we see the shit show that is the Republican Party. Think they'll be loving on the Vice Presidential nominee? Think they'll have interesting speakers? Think they'll look like anything else but thugs? I don't.

Black idealism

Black people are the last idealists in this country:

Nearly two-thirds of black voters in the new poll said they could see one of their children becoming president, up 11 percentage points from the fall of 1992. At 47 percent, whites are about where they were back then on the question.

Charlie Payne!

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

Word

Noam Scheiber:

Don't get me wrong, Barack Obama was going to win the floor vote just now to suspend the rest of the roll call and proclaim him the nominee. (It was positively electric in here when Hillary made the motion.) But surely there were a couple dissenters in the house. Nancy Pelosi pulled the trigger on that gavel before she'd even finished pronouncing the word "nay."

It made me laugh, because she didn't even pause for a second. I love Speaker Pelosi!

Ray Nagin

He also talks up the 311 number.

Ray Nagin is on CNN

He thought Sen. Obama couldn't win. You would think that he would be in NOLA, but he "had to be here." Jackass says he is "cautiously optimistic" that the levees will hold. I'm "cautiously optimistic" that I'll be able to save some of my things.

Seriously

Ben Smith points out:

There was, Obama advisors point out, no low-key way to do the nomination -- you can't do it in a diner. And the Republican attacks don't depend on the reality. Still, as I wrote today, his advisors have long known, big speeches can cut both ways. That's why, at one point on the campaign, they were banished to the evenings, so that he would appear in the evening news in more intimate settings.

That's why you do it BIG and embrace it. It's going to be powerful, awesome political theater. I'm sure Sen. Obama is going to have lots of flags on the stage. Republicans are just haters.

Del Martin dies

At least she lived long enough to get married.

Bill Clinton

Genuinely loves his wife:

“I never expect to be moved again like I was last night at a convention.”

I was proud of her too.

Funniest video ever

Faux News attacks Denver protesters, protesters respond:

Joe Biden

hehe, I agree with John Cole about this:

BTW- The pick is probably gonna be Biden according to the media, who I rate as the person most likely of all the VP possibles to call Mitt Romney an asshole. Others are hoping for a casual “m____ f_____.” Either way, I call that a win.

Here's hoping for that Vice Presidential debate.

Politico..

I'm so happy that they have decided to just publish Republican oppo articles. That's classy.

wtf Barack

You make me wait forever and then you pick Biden at 2:40 am... thanks... whatever, I'm cool with it.

I'm lame too

Like Jonathan Cohn, I have nothing better to do on a Friday night than wait expectantly by my cell phone... (Although I am hanging out with friends, I'm just letting them talk amongst themselves while I sit at my computer...)

I agree

With Marc, the Obama/Bayh bumper stickers look fake.

Something is in the water

This is the third heartwarming story about Sen. Obama that I have read today. It's about Seamus Ahern, the Marine Sen. Obama mentioned in his 2004 Keynote Address. It's so powerful.

This man could be our next President

Read this:

In late January, on his campaign plane as we flew from Kansas after the El Dorado visit, I asked the senator about the wanderlust in his family that he had chosen to reject. ‘Part of me settling in Chicago and marrying Michelle was a conscious decision to root myself,’ he told me. ‘There’s a glamour, there’s a romance to that kind of life and there’s a part of that still in me. But there’s a curse to it as well. You need a frame for the canvas, because too much freedom’s not freedom.’ He laughed and added, ‘I’m waxing too poetic here.’

When was the last time we had a President with that much self-awareness?

Barry Manilow!

Barry Manilow (among others) for Obama!



Seriously, though, what is up with Forrest Whitaker rubbing his head? It almost parodies itself. Also, Margaret Cho is in it!!! I love her!

Wow!

This picture of the Democratic National Convention podium looks AWESOME! I'm super excited now for it.

Read it

This article about Sen. Obama's upbringing was incredibly moving. It's a must read.

Finally

An AP article I agree with, but only because it is appropriately worshiping Michelle Obama

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.

Chet Edwards

Would be a bizarre pick for Vice President. I like him, but it would be weird. Although, Nancy Pelosi would be happy.

More Brian Schweitzer love

Jay Newton-Small of Time states that Gov. Schweitzer is his favorite. I have a history of love for Gov. Schweitzer.

What I hate about the traditional media

Taegan Goodard writes:

Sen. John McCain's inability to tell a reporter how many home he owns became a major issue in the campaign last night, with segments on all three network news programs.

Chris Cilliza nails why it matters: "In politics, there is nothing worse than appearing out of touch."

In my perfect world, John McCain actually being out of touch, say with a ridiculous tax plan, would be what really mattered.

Obama's VP

How funny would it be if this were actually true?

Get out of Gaffe Free

Someone found McCain's "Get out of Gaffe Free" Card:

Dumb

John McCain's latest response to his forgetting how many houses he owns strikes me of desperation:

Though McCain is widely perceived to to drawn first blood by attacking Obama's character, the official said that the difference between Obama's mocking McCain for his wealth and his shaky answer on the number of homes he owns was that McCain's charge "reflects an existential reality," where Obama's charges "attack Cindy. She owns the homes. I thought he said the wives were off-limits."

Damn you Barack Obama!!

Every time I get a text message, I freak out and think it's you announcing your Vice Presidential pick! Now you are absolutely sure who it is, but won't reveal when you'll announce! Argh! I bet you picked this afternoon, but are enjoying hitting Sen. McCain over the head with his house gaffe! DAMN YOU!

Looking at Obama's Travel Schedule

Maybe there is still some hope for a Vice President Schweitzer...

Scary

The Secret Service needs to do a better job of protecting Sen. Obama from random crazy people.

Reid and Lieberman talk

During the phone call, I wish that Harry Reid said something about throwing Lieberman out of our Party, but it appears he kept it civil:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., defended Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman on Wednesday after the former Democratic vice presidential nominee accepted a speaking slot at next month's Republican convention in Minnesota.

"He has a close personal relationship with John McCain. I don't fully understand why he does," said Reid, who said Lieberman called Tuesday from the Republic of Georgia to alert him to the move.

I told him last night, 'You know, Joe, I can't stand John McCain.' He said, 'I know you feel that way,' " Reid said.

But Reid said he would continue to resist calls from the Democratic Party's base to strip Lieberman, now an independent, of his Senate positions for his disloyalty.

Why I dislike Hillary

Mark Halperin writes:

February 9, 2008: Obama wins contests in Louisiana, the Virgin Islands, Nebraska, and Washington state, beginning a month-long winning streak that effectively locks up the nomination.

And she knew it too, but chose to spend another 100 million trying to destroy Sen. Obama. Thanks.

I wish

I had no idea how many houses I owned.

MYBO

I love the new improvements to the MYBO website. It makes it so much easier to navigate.

Joe Biden pt. 2

Hmm... he's apparently more prone to racist statements than I was originally aware of. Not anything "too bad," (because it's okay to be "a little" racist, right?) but still it would be an interesting three months with Biden as VP nominee.

Joe Biden

Consider this my obligatory Joe Biden as VP post, as Mark Halperin seems to be hinting very strongly that it's Biden. He wouldn't be my first pick, or even my second, but I think he's solid. He has a good heart, smart as a whip, and seems very competent. Also, would be great on the attack, which Sen. Obama is clearly not doing so well at.

Racist drivel

This article is extremely racist, and clearly written by a disgruntled Hillary supporter. I especially hate this section:

3. Most successful black candidates have undergone a "hazing"--military service, an impoverished upbringing, etc.--which makes them acceptable to whites. Tolerating Hillary could be that hazing.

That's right. Black candidates need to be "hazed" to get elected - why don't we just send him out to the field and let Massa whip him for a while? This is terrible and I don't know how it gets published in something like the HuffPo.

Word

I agree with everything Andrew Sullivan says. He says reporters need to ask these questions of McCain:

Why did you not mention this transcendent story in 1973? Why, in discussing three Christmases in captivity in Vietnam, was this story - far more powerful than any of the other anecdotes - omitted? How was it possible for the gun guard of May 1969 to be present at Christmas that year when McCain had been transferred to another camp? Is it possible that McCain's memory has faded with time and that he has simply fused his own memories with other stories - as Clinton did with Bosnia sniper fire and as Kerry did in remembering another Christmas he could not have actually witnessed where he said he did?

To me, the most damning thing is that he wrote a book chapter on his Christmas experiences and neglected to mention this cross story. I mean, that's really just unthinkable.

Great picture

This picture is probably not something the DNC wants published all over:

Most obvious article ever

From the Politico, an article entitled: "Obama likely to announce VP this week." Really?? Considering the Convention is next week when else would he announce it? Thankfully the article elaborates:

Barack Obama is expected to choose his running mate this week in a key decision about the direction and narrative of his bid for the White House.

A person familiar with the campaign's planning noted that Obama's schedule at the end of this week is open, but said the announcement could come "as late as the weekend."

That's right. If it doesn't come this week, then it's going to come.... this weekend.

Wow

I had totally forgotten that the House Republican were still protesting. But, apparently they are still there. The best part of the article:

There have been some unusual and politically awkward moments over the last two weeks.

Take, for example, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who in front of a group of tourists, praised Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) for blowing the whistle on the House bank scandal in the 1990s.

“He was one of the courageous seven [members] who said, ‘You may ruin my career, but this is not right,’” Gohmert explained to the audience, who gave Doolittle a standing ovation.

In 2007, Doolittle's Virginia home was raided by the FBI, which is investigating his ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Following that raid, Doolittle announced he would not run for reelection.

Song of the Day

Beijing huan ying ni!

8 GOLD MEDALS!!!!

I can't believe it!!! WE ARE AWESOME!!! GO MICHAEL PHELPS!!!

As a side note

Fred Tuttle remains the greatest guy to ever run for public office.

Hot damn

Sen. Obama raised 51 million dollars in July. And he has 2,000,000 donors. SUCK ON THIS!

Rep. Loretta Sanchez is full of it

This woman pisses me off:

Rep. Loretta Sanchez says she’s happy for the chance to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Democratic National Convention—and she predicts that as many as half of the Democrats in the House could join her.

No, they won't. Hillary didn't even have that level of support to begin with, I don't know why she would have it now. Rep. Sanchez is the total idiot who refused to attend the Congressional Hispanic Caucus meeting with Sen. Obama and instead demanded that Sen. Obama come to her office and talk to her. She's full of herself and is a bitter deadender.

Sense from David Broder

There's a great article by David Broder in the WaPo about Sen. Obama's "well-oiled machine." Very worth reading, but this struck me:

I had just come from listening to George McGovern lament the lack of discipline that wrecked his 1972 nominating convention and, perhaps, his chance of challenging Richard Nixon. "My acceptance speech was the best speech I ever gave," he said, "and it went on at 3 a.m. Eastern time, so nobody saw it."

It is unlikely to happen to Obama. Now that he and Clinton have agreed -- sensibly -- on giving her the roll-call vote her ardent supporters demanded, no contentious issues of policy or procedure remain to be ironed out.

I am shocked by how many people have argued that Sen. Obama "caved into" Sen. Clinton's demands on the roll-call vote. She got almost as many votes as he did, and I'm not a Clinton supporter, but as I argued in the past, this was the only way to go.

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.

Howard Dean speaks the truth

The Democratic party is the party of minority groups. The GOP is the party of rich people and people with "racial resentment."

Song of the Day

Interesting combination of "It came upon a Midnight Clear" and "One Tin Soldier" sung by Cher (with a Sonny cameo):

Preach on

It's about time someone brought up McCain's lack of character, especially with regard to his treatment of women:

"Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. "I don't know if that is a perfect case in point, but it surely does help to juxtapose the DNA of Senator Obama, if you would, versus the DNA of Senator McCain."

The Rev. Caldwell then goes on to refer to McCain's documented history of adultery. I think leaving your crippled wife for a younger heiress does say a little something about your character.

I would be okay with this

The AP:

Ryan Lochte tried to pull off a daunting double, going against Phelps just 29 minutes after winning the 200 backstroke. He couldn't keep up, though he did hold on for bronze. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary picked up his third silver of the games - all of them trailing Phelps.

"It's not a shame," Cseh said, "to be beaten by a better one."

I would tell my grandchildren about it with pride. "I was second only to the greatest Olympian!"

David Shuster sizzles

Via Rumproast, David Shuster lays the smack down on the PUMA crowd:



It's a delicious 11 minutes of pure awesomeness.

Great headline

A great headline from Jake Tapper (who is basically my favorite traditional media blogger):

President McCain Sends Secretary of State Lieberman and Defense Secretary Graham to Tbilisi

Veterans are not a McCain group

The Chicago Tribune editorializes about the upcoming speeches of Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain before war veterans:

The last Orlando assembly, Obama's crowd. This one may be more McCain's.

No, it's still Sen. Obama's crowd, because he supported the new GI Bill, increased funding for the VA and well, the troops just like him better.

Economic Disaster

Isn't that exactly what we are already facing due to George W. Bush's failed policies? I think the new attack ad from John McCain misses the big picture that people are already hurting.

John McCain

A noun, a verb, a POW story:

Speaking to Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Institute in Colorado on Thursday, McCain found himself explaining a recent interview with Blender Magazine in which he selected ABBA’s 1976 track “Dancing Queen” as his favorite song.

“What were you thinking?,” Isaacson asked him, looking incredulous.

“If there is anything I am lacking in, I’ve got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life,” McCain joked. “I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again.”

Thank you Sen. Biden.

Bob Johnson

You can try to buy forgiveness with your money, I'll never forget this gem:

And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –­ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –­ when they have been involved.

Nation of Whiners!

I guess John McCain can't go more than a month without his "economic brain" Phil Gramm.

This is scary

I see via Mark Halperin that the FAA covered up the full-extent of Sen. Obama's emergency plane landing. Thank you God for allowing Sen. Obama's plane to land safely.

Awesome

A 41-page denunciation of all the falsehoods in the Corsi book. I love our nominee! We will not be Swift Boated is reality!

Wingnuts are not society

Even liberals fall into the trap of labeling extreme right-wing views as mainstream. Case in point is Harold Pollack blogging at Ezra Klein's blog:

I won’t bother with the fine points here. Nobody is really arguing about military readiness, any more than the battle about women soldiers concerned cost-benefit analysis of building extra latrines. Kicking out gay Arabic interpreters and the like makes no sense. Almost everyone knows it. This really is about two things: Do we believe that our LBGT brethren are entitled to the rights and obligations of American citizenship? Will we allow a particular socially conservative subculture to repel civilian control over our military?

I don’t see much reason to give ground on either front. And I don't know why our society is so crazy about this subject. [emphasis mine]

Our society isn't crazy. That's why 75% of the country supports openly gay people serving in our military. Wingnuts are crazy.

WTF!

Ahhhhhh! It's killing me! Who's going to be Sen. Obama's VP? Mark Halperin is reporting that Senators Bayh and Biden are speaking on Wednesday (VP day) along with Gov. Richardson. I need more details!

More willfull ignorance

The GOP finds oil in trees. Too bad there isn't any wildlife in ANWR. To quote Sen. Obama: "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."

Thank you Sen. Clinton

For engaging in character attacks when you knew you couldn't win. Thank you for enraging your supporters and making them think that John McCain had passed the "Commander-in-Chief threshold" and Sen. Obama hadn't.

From Slate:

When I ask what Obama would have to do to win her over, what she says first is that he'd have to adopt Hillary's health care plan. But by the end of the conversation, we get to the real bottom line, which is that she just doesn't like Obama, sees him as a total poser and nothing-burger who swooped in from nowhere and stole the thing, and all the health care reform in the world is not going to change that. At this point, she's thinking seriously about staying home on Election Day. She is not going to wake up the morning after Hillary's name is placed in nomination and have a whole new lease on Obama. And my guess is, Hillary knows that.

It's just a reminder of all we have to thank Sen. Clinton for when we are discussing the roll call vote.

Fairness Doctrine

This datum from the new Rasmussen poll stuck out to me:

Only 45% of Americans say they are following recent news stories about the Fairness Doctrine even somewhat closely, while 15% say they are not following the story at all.

Um, that's a fairly high percentage for a random legal issue. I guess it's because the conservative talk radio market is screaming to high hell about it.

More on the roll call vote

According to the NY Times, Sen. Clinton will use her superdelegate vote to vote for Sen. Obama. If I were him, I would return the favor. Nothing says unity like that.

Further prediction: I think this will be an incredibly well choreographed event and will end up being a saccharine sweet unity love fest.

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."

Word

From One Drop at Too Sense:

You want to know the real reason I get so pissed off about gangsta rap?

Suburban white kids.

They're the largest segment of the commercial audience for Hip Hop. As much as people talk about Hip Hop being of, for, and by the black community, you wouldn't see multi-platinum albums without those suburban white kids flocking to the music. Like any other business, the music industry responds to the tastes of its customers. And those suburban white kids, they love the image of the black gangsta. So the industry gives them more gangstas, takes artists that really come from middle-class upbringings and portrays them as the hardest ghetto rats in the world. And white suburbanites gobble that shit up and ask for more.

The whole thing reminds me of Bamboozled, which was fiction right?

A thinking President

This sums up my thoughts on Sen. Obama:

Peggy Noonan compared this approach to that of the Kennedy administration. “JFK and his people came into the White House,” she said in an e-mail, “with a faith they could be practical, pragmatic, worldly, that with these attributes they could manage what came over history’s transom. I see Obama as like this: things will come over the transom and he’ll approach them as a thoughtful sophisticate. He’ll think.”

For better and worse, if Obama wins, a thinking president is what we’ll have.

I am unsure if Sen. Obama will be able to live up to the enormous expectations an Obama Presidency would entail, but I am also sure that we have no other choice but to put our faith in him.

Obama and debates

Via Jake Tapper, James Fallow asks a good question why was Sen. Obama so much weaker in the debates against Sen. Clinton than against Alan Keyes?

I honestly think the problem was that he felt constrained by the Democrat on Democrat action and truly did not want to attack someone whose positions were so close to his. Also, Hillary Clinton was so sharp, that he couldn't let his guard down. I think Sen. Obama has a history of being deferential to smart, strong women. Plus, Alan Keyes is so comically stupid...

Also, he manages to bring up what's wrong with the traditional media

We don’t watch debates to learn what someone thinks about Social Security. We watch to see how the contenders look next to their opponents, how they react when challenged, how well or poorly they come up with the words we later see in print.

"We" here meaning elite beltway types, who already "know" what the candidates think and are more concerned with "looks," "image," and "expectations."

Why I stopped reading The Note

When I first starting getting serious about politics, I used to read ABC's The Note religiously. I stopped reading it a while ago, and started wondering why. It quickly became clear.

Here is the third paragraph:

(And the poll we've all been waiting for has arrived -- the one that declares the race just about even.)

It links to the Pew Poll showing Barack Obama winning 46%-43%, with a 2% margin of error. Is that even to you? No, it means that Barack is leading... by 3 points. But, like I've said previously, everything is Good News For John McCain!

Not worth the effort

If someone wants to spend $1,000 to see Sen. Obama accept the nomination, I think the Obama campaign should let them. Although, I understand that they want to control who gets in (security, security, security), I'm sure that the metal detectors will work perfectly.

Troops like Obama?

I thought they realized that Obama hates the troops! Why are they giving him so much money?

More dispatches

From the futile "War on Drugs." Read the whole thing.

At my university, if you brought a friend to the Student Health Center, you were guaranteed not to be arrested (no matter what). I think that's a good policy. What's more important - saving someone's life, or convicting a drug dealer? America currently thinks the later is a higher priority.

Song of the Day

Here's Walt Disney's favorite song:

Duh!

Of course Sen. Clinton's name is going to be placed in nomination. I could have told you this months ago. Marc Ambinder reports:

In negotiations this summer with Obama's campaign, Clinton's team did not ask for Clinton's name to be submitted.

But within the past week, Clinton advisers informed the Obama team that many of Clinton's staunchest supporters felt strongly that something had to be done, and that Clinton had concluded that, in part for the sake of unity, their wishes ought to be respected. They heard back immediately: the Obama campaign had always been open to having her name placed in nomination alongside his.

DUH! Seriously, I always knew that the deadenders were not truly representative of Sen. Clinton's feeling. I mean, she already lost, why do you want to take a vote that commemorates your lose? However, certain people are under the illusion that she can win, so they are forcing this. Whatever. I knew the Obama campaign would be okay with this. Why not? They get to win all over again.

Sen. Clinton has shown a lot more class in losing that I would have expected. Marc goes on:

Clinton aides also confirmed, and Obama aides did not dispute, that it was Clinton who informed the Obama campaign that she did not [want] to give the keynote address to the convention. It is not clear whether the Obama camp would have offered the honorific, but they did not, sources said, deliberately deny it to Clinton.

It's nice that she's getting this out there. Not that the deadenders will believe her.

But he's white, Jesse!

Jesse Taylor of Pandagon writes:

Could it be any more obvious that McCain would have leapt on any conflict anywhere in the world to play make-believe George W. Bush circa September 2001? Shadow ambassadors, asinine and utterly contradictory assertions - John McCain is so hungry to appear presidential that he’s willing to give himself a blank slate on which to project his vision of foreign policy, reality and history be damned.

One might almost call it...presumptuous. If one were into using words to describe things.

Sadly, Jesse forgets that when you get where you are based on who your parents are, that's fair, but when you get where you are based on your own merits, that's affirmative action.

Ben Smith: hack

On his blog about Sen. Obama and the Democrats, Ben Smith finds time to write about Cindy McCain's sprained wrist, but not the fact that Sen. Obama reached 2,000,000 donors.

Note to John McCain

John McCain: I do believe that he’s hell-bent on the restoration of Russia as a major power in the world.

Note to John McCain: Russia is a major power in the world.

On a lighter note

Via Ben Smith: The Obama-Rama sounds like a very tasty drink.

Bill Gwatney died

R.I.P. Bill Gwatney

You will be missed.

I agree with Al Giordano

That's hardly a surprise, as I go to The Field when I find myself thinking Chicken Little thoughts, but this is especially perceptive:

Since he became the presumptive nominee, Obama's campaign has been hitting hard at McCain and he has been hitting back at his rival's attacks. And his punches have been connecting in ways that soften McCain up for harder punches come autumn, while also giving McCain enough rope to behave in such a way that drives up the Republican's own negatives.

I read that statement earlier today, but it didn't really sink in until I read this post by Joe Klein:

But there is no excuse for what the McCain campaign is doing on the "putting America first" front. There is no way to balance it, or explain it other than as evidence of a severe character defect on the part of the candidate who allows it to be used. There is a straight up argument to be had in this election: Mcain has a vastly different view from Obama about foreign policy, taxation, health care, government action...you name it. He has lots of experience; it is always shocking to remember that this time four years ago, Barack Obama was still in the Illinois State Legislature. Apparently, though, McCain isn't confident that conservative policies and personal experience can win, given the ruinous state of the nation after eight years of Bush. So he has made a fateful decision: he has personally impugned Obama's patriotism and allows his surrogates to continue to do that. By doing so, he has allied himself with those who smeared him, his wife, his daughter Bridget, in 2000. Those tactics won George Bush a primary--and a nomination. But they proved a form of slow-acting spiritual poison, rotting the core of the Bush presidency. We'll see if the public decides to acquiesce in sleaze in 2008, and what sort of presidency--what sort of country--that will produce.

I mean, when you've lost the Joe Kleins/Thomas Friedmans of the world, who do you alienate next, Mark Halperin?

A little sadness

I'm sad to see that Gov. Brian Schweitzer will be speaking on Tuesday. There go my secret hopes for an Arabic-speaking Vice Presidential nominee. Oh well, there's still hope for someone fluent in Spanish.

Legal?

This doesn't sound legal to me:

One of the more unusual schemes to raise money for Barack Obama comes from Dr. Emil Chynn, of the Park Avenue Laser Vision Center who describes himself as an “avid” Obama supporter.

In a press release, Dr. Chynn is making the following pitch: He is proposing a fund-raising raffle to support Mr. Obama in which Dr. Chynn will perform a “no cut, no flap LASEK” procedure to “one lucky winner” of the raffle. He plans to sell 111 of the tickets, which will be priced at $20 each to the “visually challenged.” That will raise $2,220, which Dr. Chynn said he will donate to the Obama campaign.

Although, I could use the surgery...

Worst picture of McCain?

I don't know if this is the picture I want to go out publicizing my daughter's book about me:


How creepy is that?

More good news for John McCain

Barack Obama still leads 46-43. Seriously, I wish I were making this stuff up, but it seems that everything is good news for John McCain.

Meghan McCain's new book about her father's life

This is an interesting fact about the book:

Cindy McCain, along with Meghan's siblings Jack, Jimmy and Bridget, are described fondly in the book — but the children from McCain’s first marriage are left unmentioned.

We wouldn't want any children to know that daddy likes to run around on crippled mommy with a younger blonde, now would we?

Sen. Bob Casey

I'm happy to see that Sen. Casey will be speaking at the Democratic Convention. I'm less happy to see that the lie promulgated that his father wasn't allowed to speak in 1992 because the elder Robert Casey was "anti-abortion." No, Gov. Casey refused to endorse Bill Clinton.

Hillary Clinton losing does not equal Chinese Oppression

I wrote a while ago about how Hillary Clinton losing doesn't equal rape, and here is it's follow up guide to how Hillary Clinton losing doesn't equal Chinese political oppression.

From the NY Observer:

“Hi everybody. I hope that the Denver convention will be turned into the American equivalent of Tiananmen Square,” wrote a commenter named “johninca” on a Web site announcing PUMA’s 2008 “convention” in Washington.

What happened in Tiananmen Square:

In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured. The reported tolls ranged from 200–300 (PRC government figures), to 300–800 (The New York Times), and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross).

Hillary Clinton supporters are protesting this:

Hillary Clinton lost a primary Election

Participants in Tiananmen Sqaure protested this:

The PRC is known for its intolerance of organized dissent towards the government. Dissident groups are routinely arrested and imprisoned, often for long periods of time and without trial. One of the most famous dissidents is Zhang Zhixin, who is known for standing up against the ultra-left.^[31] Incidents of torture, forced confessions and forced labour are widely reported. Freedom of assembly and association is extremely limited.

Oh so similar.

New Obama Ad

Loves it. It does the following

1. Highlights link between McCain and Dubya
2. Highlights link between the Iraq War and our economy
3. Highlights Iraq's surplus due to high oil costs
4. Highlights Sen. Obama's positive message

This is the definition of a contrast ad. It's not negative, it's not false - it presents a contrast between the failed Bush/McCain economic policies and the promise of better Obama policies.

MoDo too

It seems that today I agree with those who normally I can't even read. MoDo sums up my feelings about Hillary Clinton with this:

Obama also allowed Hillary supporters to insert an absurd statement into the platform suggesting that media sexism spurred her loss and that “demeaning portrayals of women ... dampen the dreams of our daughters.” This, even though postmortems, including the new raft of campaign memos leaked by Clintonistas to The Atlantic — another move that undercuts Obama — finger Hillary’s horrendous management skills.

Besides the crashing egos and screeching factions working at cross purposes, Joshua Green writes in the magazine, Hillary’s “hesitancy and habit of avoiding hard choices exacted a price that eventually sank her chances at the presidency.”

It would have been better to put this language in the platform: “A woman who wildly mismanages and bankrupts a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar campaign operation, and then blames sexism in society, will dampen the dreams of our daughters.”

Otherness and Sen. Obama

For once, I absolutely agree with Michael Crowley:

Peter Beinart argues that race is holding Obama back in the polls, and urges him to take a high-profile stand against race-based--and in favor of class-based--affirmative action to assuage white fears.

That might be a good start. But it doesn't do much about myths that he's a Muslim and a foreigner who doesn't love the flag, etc., and I suspect those things are tied up with the race question in a way that such an affirmative action gambit wouldn't remedy.

I have always thought that the "otherness" problem for Sen. Obama is a problem that candidate would face. He's just happens to be tied into "Muslim." No Black candidate would be considered sufficiently patriotic aka grateful for America.

Interesting

Steve at The Carpetbagger Report highlights the Democratic platform's "shift" in language describing its position on abortion:

But it’s not necessarily a policy change to argue that the party “strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs.” Wallis calls this a “shift”; I call this the same policy Dems have supported for years.

Some of this may be procedural in nature. Waldman noted, “Pro-life religious liberals were included in the process like they haven’t been before. They’re thrilled with their participation and feel that the platform moved in the right direction as a result.”

I’m glad they’re encouraged; it’s a sign of respect to have a seat at the table. But the platform itself, at least in this draft form, seems pretty similar, if not identical, to the party’s position on the issue for years.

It's interesting to compare this to my time at the UN, monitoring the status of various resolutions. Giving someone a real voice in creating the document is very important, which is why we saw so many of the LDCs and LLDCs gather together into groups to influence the final resolution.

Go Mark Warner

I went to school in Virginia while Mark Warner was Governor, and let me say this: the only reason Jim Webb was able to become Senator is because Mark Warner laid a foundation of Democrat awesomeness in that state. The only reason Tim Kaine became Governor is Mark Warner. The only reason Barack Obama has a chance of winning Virginia is Mark Warner. Democrats were dead in that state before Mark Warner became Governor. If Virginia didn't have silly term-limited Governors, Mark Warner would still be Governor. There is a reason that the current Sen. Warner (R-VA) almost refused to endorse Jim Gilmore, the Republican running for his open Senate seat is Mark Warner.

Mark Warner was my early favorite for Vice President, but if he can't be a great Vice President, he can be a great Keynote speaker and a great Senator.

PS I've met Sen. John Warner several times, and let me tell you, he is hysterical. I mean, how else could he become husband #7 of Elizabeth Taylor?

Ghana

That sounds like a pretty good place for the Rev. Wright to stay until November 5.

Obama, McCain paper dolls

Is it me or do the paper dolls bear no resemblance to the actually candidate?

Lieberman

Lieberman = douche

Wow

This is the dumbest thing I've ever read. And that's saying something because it comes from the RNC. Apparently it's super elitist to ... go see Dark Knight in theaters.

Whitey

Heh. I had the same reaction as Ben Smith and Jake Tapper apparently, when reading this:

Penn wrote:

On Friday we do a media interviews (sic) and basically say that he is unvetted, discuss his ever-changing positions. Release the tapes. Create immediate pressure that deprives him of oxygen.

My first take: This will drive the crazies up the wall thinking it's a reference to the elusive "whitey" tape. Sadly, Ben Smith clears it up. I'm sure that knowing the truth will deter No Quarter.

About those anti-Obama books

The WSJ reports that several are "best sellers." I agree with this response:

Steve Ross, who originally published Obama’s best-selling memoirs “Dreams From My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” told the AP that he was doubtful anti-Obama book sales would surpass the senator’s own.

“The anti-Obama readership is largely one that has already made up its mind and is looking for validation, while the Obama readership comprises both those who have already made up their minds and those who are curious about him,” Ross said.

Exactly. These people are not looking for truth, they are looking for confirmation of their distorted worldview.

Not too avoidant

First-Read:

For the first time in recent memory, McCain avoided all talk of Obama during his remarks today, instead focusing on the need for more green technology like the hybrid train engines being developed in Erie by General Electric, the parent company of NBC. Yet he did allude to his opponent's months-old "bitter" comment about small-town Pennsylvanian voters.

Note for MSNBC: It's not avoiding "all talk of Obama" when you allude to things he said.

This is going to look sad

I think that John McCain is going to look ridiculous accepting the nomination.

Sen. Byrd is a good Democrat

I love Sen. Robert Byrd:

Be humble, honest and contemplative, Sen. Robert C. Byrd writes in his latest book, "Letter to a New President: Commonsense Lessons for Our Next Leader." [...]

But with Bush's departure comes opportunity, says the senator who has served under 11 presidents, including his favorite, Harry Truman. The book, released June 28 with little fanfare, is intended to be read by Bush's successor on inauguration day, Jan. 20.

Byrd hopes to hand-deliver a copy to Obama, the Democratic candidate, spokesman Jesse Jacobs says.

"Sen. Byrd doesn't believe Sen. McCain is going to be the next president," Jacobs adds. "But if Sen. McCain is interested in receiving a copy of the book, we'd be happy to get him a copy."

That's funny.

Btw: I know that he has an extremely racist past, but he did endorse Sen. Obama in the primary.

McCain plagiarizes

I'm sure that it will be just as big of a problem for John McCain as it was for Joe Biden.

What a huge problem!

Glenn Thrush identifies several problems for Sen. Obama:

Obama also hasn’t pulled away in other Democrat-friendly neighboring states, watching leads in Wisconsin and Minnesota erode over the last month.

Note: The last Rasmussen poll had Obama +13 in Minnesota (John Kerry won it by 3) and +7 in Wisconsin (Kerry by <1). This is very troubling.

A growing number of Democratic strategists worry that some swing state voters may opt for McCain if the economy veers from merely awful to downright terrifying.

In other words, the "swing voter" must have a thought process like this: The last Republican President was so terrifyingly bad, we can only trust another Republican President to right it!

Perfect

David Plouffe sums up the McCain campaign as "the theater of the absurd." Perfect

Deadenders

The Hill reports that:

Heidi Li Feldman, co-founder of the Denver Group, said, “There is going to be a steady stream of activities for the first three days of the convention” and predicted thousands of Clinton backers will appear at the events.

Just like the thousands tens of tens of supporters who showed up to the Rules & Bylaws meeting. At this point, I'm more embarrassed/sad for them than I am worried that thousands will actually show up.

Ridiculous

The latest from CNN:

New Jersey is one of several battleground states that McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are both pushing hard to win. A recent CNN analysis finds Obama has the edge in the state.

I wonder if by battleground they are referring to Sen. Obama's 10 point poll lead and by "pushing hard to win" they mean the one office Sen. McCain has open.

Also, that snippet was taken from an article about Linden, New Jersey's Independent mayor endorsing John McCain. Note to CNN: Linden's population is less than 40,000.

Benefits of vacation

With Sen. Obama on vacation (to a state home to his ill grandmother), it's impossible for Sen. McCain's campaign to turn anything he says into outrage. This has the great benefit of focusing everything directly on the worst campaign in modern history. This was probably discussed as one of the many benefits of a vacation.

Relevant? No

David Corn comments about Bush's attendance at the Olympics:

But as he sat there, that debate no longer seemed so relevant, for he looked irrelevant. There was no one next to him but his wife. And the question was, didn't he have anything better to do with his time? The apparent answer: no.

This was/is my exact thought every time I see President Bush in the stands. What a national disgrace.

Obama's VP?

I am so excited that Sen. Obama is announcing his Vice President choice over a text message/email. What a smart way to A) get people to sign up for your email address and B) keep the whole thing an absolute secret until the very last second. This way you announce it and people run lots of stock footage of the Vice Presidential candidate and then you have a "first Event" together and get roadblocked cable news coverage.

My prediction: Bill Richardson

Let me get this straight

John at AmericaBlog highlights this section of an ABC article:

Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABC News.com.

His response "Woulda, coulda, shoulda."

My response: Weren't Edwards and Sen. Obama splitting the anti-Clinton vote? If I recall correctly, Sen. Clinton had a ceiling of support that she never moved passed. If anything, Sen. Obama would have destroyed her even more in Iowa and then would have beaten her even more in New Hampshire.

Ed Rollins on John McCain

Ed Rollins does no favors for John McCain with this comparison:

The result is that the kitchen-sink strategy is McCain's only real option. Or, as Rollins puts it, Obama is like the new car that almost everybody wants. "McCain's challenge is to put a few dents and scratches in it, maybe spill a little coffee on the seats while reminding voters the reliable old jalopy is sitting in the garage," Rollins says.

McCain is your jalopy?

More stupid

For some reason The Field Negro discussing the stupidity of Makethemaccountable.com inspired me to visit that website... There I found more stupidity, including this quote from No Quarter:

Two months after Obama has claimed the nomination, far from abating, the clamor for Hillary to be nominated has gotten louder. PUMA has grown, for obvious reasons. One big problem: R.E.S.P.E.C.T. We can’t seem to get any. Never mind sastisfaction. We ain’t getting’ any of that either… If Obama really had respect for Hillary or Bill Clinton and was generous enough to put the interests of someone else besides himself first – you know, like the American people, he would show the respect to her and to her voters and ask for her name to be put into nomination. He would want the stronger candidate to drive us to victory – whoever that may be – and let the chips fall where they may. He would want everyone to be heard, knowing, as Hillary herself has stated, we would have a better chance then to be united as a party and win in November.

I knew it, but I'm glad that they finally admitted that nothing short of Sen. Obama dropping out and conceding the nomination to Sen. Clinton will satisfy them. Damn the voters! It's Hillary or Nothing.

I'm glad to see our President

Is keeping himself busy with current events:

Phelps swam 1.41 seconds faster than his world-record time at the United States Olympic trials in July. His face widened in surprise when he saw his time on the large videoboard. He glanced at the stands, where President Bush was vigorously waving an American flag, and gave him a nod.

Bernie Mac is dead

Long live Bernie Mac:

Two questions

1) How did I never know that Alexander Hamilton had an affair? I read *a ton* of history novels about that period of American history.

2) Steven Clemons argues:

I wish John Edwards had done what Alexander Hamilton had done in a similar situation -- as I wrote last October -- but not to be. Sad.

How is what Alexander Hamilton did any better? Hamilton confessed the affair to a couple of government insiders, who then told Thomas Jefferson, who leaked it to the press. A few years later, a member of the press confronted Hamilton with love letters to Maria, Hamilton finally admitted the affair and deny corruption. That sounds exactly like what John Edwards did.

John McCain can have Lieberman

I'm sure picking him to run with you will go over so well with your base. After all, this was a man so doctrinal Democrat that he was chosen to be run as Vice President in 2000.

In fact, this is mentioned in the article:

“Conservatives would be pissed as hell – I think you would have a revolt, but sometimes John does what John wants to do,” the McCain adviser said.

Yes, yes, they would - it hasn't been so long ago that he was Sen. Juan McCain.

Why is John McCain such an elitist?

Via, Jonathan Martin: He didn't eat a deep-fried Twinkie!!

What was he supposed to do?

Ben Smith reports:

A former aide is more understanding of his deceit: "He was running for president. What’s he supposed to do? Admit it?

Let's think. How about: not run for President? Thus he couldn't sabotage our chances of having a Democratic President with an October Surprise.

Song of the Day

It seemed appropriate:

More nonsense from Michael Crowley

His new post about the Edwards affair includes this statement:

P.S. The coming wave of debate about the relevance of a candidate's extramarital affairs may be an unwelcome development for the McCain team (although the Iseman allegations were of course denied and never proven).

Putting the Iseman allegations aside, John McCain clearly cheated on his first wife numerous times, most notably with his current wife.

Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards will be able to speak truth to power at the Democratic Convention about the need for Universal Health Care and John McCain won't be able to say squat against her. She not only has terminal cancer, but is the "cheated on" wife of a major adultery scandal.

So far between this and the Clinton delegate voting controversy, the Democratic Convention is turning into a major media Event. Just like the Obama team wants it. By contrast, the big "news" at the Republican National Convention revolves around Vice President Cheney. I like that comparison.

Raising your kids to be dumb

California has decided that it's okay to teach your kids even if you have no teaching credentials.

More thoughts on John Edwards

I'm not just happy that he didn't win the nomination, but I'm also happy that he didn't come close like Sen. Clinton. It's very good for the Democrats that John Edwards dropped out of the race in January, instead of June.

John Edwards is a douche

Apparently he did have an affair. Douche. There is never an excuse to cheat. None. Thank God we didn't pick him to be President.

Also, this doesn't make it better:

Edwards made a point of telling Woodruff that his wife's cancer was in remission when he began the affair with Hunter. Elizabeth Edwards has since been diagnosed with an incurable form of the disease.

Sen. Obama can do what he wants

Seriously, I don't know what Michael Crowley at TNR is thinking saying:

More handwringing about Obama's optics: I see that tickets for his acceptance speech at Denver's Invesco Field stadium sold out instantly. In light of the apparent traction Republicans got with their 'Celebrity' meme you have to wonder if the Obama team is reconsidering the wisdom of this move. I would recommend any possible stagecraft to minimize the event's scale.

What traction? With political pundits? I don't see any polls that support this "traction" idea. Why minimize it? Why think small? When was the last time anyone generated this much excitement? The Republicans are just jealous, small, and petty. You are going to have 75,000 people excited about politics. It's not like Sen. Obama is going to get on the stage and sing "I Kissed A Girl" to them - no, he's going to have a serious discussion about the future of our country.

John McCain and his "record"

Ben Smith argues that:

McCain needs to find a way to compete -- which he should be able to do, based on his record -- for Hispanic voters.

This is his record. That's right, he would no longer support that "Amnesty" bill he co-sponsored in 2006. After all, he had to get elected by his race-baiting, immigrant-hating base somehow.

NOLA corruption, what's new

More info on Nagin's core strategy at dealing with the NOAH investigations:

Appearing for about an hour before the council, a defensive Nagin repeatedly reassured members that he had launched an internal investigation, but declined to give details under pointed questioning. Nagin's press secretary Ceeon Quiett later said via e-mail that the investigation would be conducted by the same city office that oversaw NOAH's work in the first place, the Housing Department and Office of Federal and State Programs.

I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it!

I don't know what to say

Via Wonkette.

Apparently this guy has been listening to too many Black Republicans. For the last time: the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was NOT a Republican. This is worthwhile of all the mockery Wonkette readers give it.

Unitarian Jihad

Via John Cole:

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother/Sister Holy Spike of Wisdom. What's yours?

Hehe

Thank you

In the wake of another negative, false McCain ad, I salute those in the traditional media who are pointing this out:

But when it comes to promises, it's worth pointing out that, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center's analysis of both candidates' proposed plans, Obama would cut taxes for those making in the range of $38,000 to $66,000 three to almost eight times more than McCain would.

If only others would follow this lead.

*sigh* Paul Krugman

After such a promising start:

So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part.

Why did he have to slip in a veiled Obama insult? I mean, the primary wars are like so over.

And the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid.

He does make this great point:

Bear in mind that members of the political and media elites were more pro-war than the public at large in the fall of 2002, even though the flimsiness of the case for invading Iraq should have been even more obvious to those paying close attention to the issue than it was to the average voter.

I bet Mark Penn Leaked them

The Atlantic now has access to about 200 internal Hillary Clinton camp emails. I wonder if they reveal anything interesting about her feelings towards Sen. Obama.

Who would I choose?

Time Magazine states:

[Sen. Obama] is arguably already the best-known Hawaiian native ever

I'm willing to argue, just as soon as I finish this glass of wine.

Cheney at the Convention?

According to Mark Halperin, our illustrious Vice President will actually attend his own Republican Convention. And here I thought their "famous hatred" of John McCain would mean that he couldn't make it.

McCain's "ground game"

It's nice that Sen. McCain has a ground game, let's see what it's like:

DuHaime said that, along with the RNC’s Victory operation, they had 130 offices in their targeted states and 300 paid staffers in the field between the campaign and party committee.

Wow! 300! That sounds like such a great number:

A[n Ohio] party official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he spoke to a member of the Obama campaign who told him that the campaign plans to hire 300 paid organizers for its field work, 25 in Franklin County alone.

And it's just the campaign, it doesn't even include how many will be hired by the DNC. Hooray Fifty State Strategy! Hooray beer!

Times like this

I wish we had some moral authority to prevent Russia from invading a random country.

What will they do?

When Hillary Clinton is not nominated? I'm 100% sure there will be a floor vote. Hillary will lose. I suppose they will hope for a John McCain win, followed by Hillary 2012.... But, when Sen. Obama wins, what then?

McCain Girls

This was interesting (from McCain's EW interview):

You seem to really know your cable TV. What about the Internet? Do you ever look at the campaign spoofs on YouTube?
I've seen some of them. Some of them are too painful for me to watch. One of my favorites is ''It's Raining McCain.'' But I also like that early one they did for Obama 
[in which celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson recite lines from a speech as if it were a song]. That was really excellent.

I would have thought the McCain Girls were too painful to watch ;). Even he has to admit that "Yes We Can" is better.

As if I needed an excuse to post this:

Subtle hint to VP?

When asked who his favorite movie/TV President is, Sen. Obama replied:

You know who was a great movie president? Jeff Bridges in The Contender. That was a great movie president. He was charming and essentially an honorable person, but there was a rogue about him. The way he would order sandwiches — he was good at that.

Hmm... Who was the VP in that movie?

Misleading Headlines

Here's the WaPo headline:

Report: Exxon Execs Gave More to Obama

Here's what the report says:

Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain's $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama edges out McCain with BP $16,046 vs. $11,500. McCain leads the money race with nearly every other top giver in the oil and gas industry, though -- Koch Industries, Valero, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, the list goes on.

Notice something? Look, I work for an oil company, so technically, I am one of those oil company employees donating to Sen. Obama. Is this the same as our Company's BOD maxing out to Sen. McCain? No.

Thank you CBC

ABC's Political Punch article on Sen. Obama's denunciation of Nikki Tinker has this detail:

Cohen tried to join the Congressional Black Caucus to no avail. Only three members of the 42-member Congressional Black caucus -- Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois, and Charlie Rangel of New York -- have endorsed Cohen.

Looks like the CBC has three people that actually stand up for the interests of Black people, instead of standing up for a disgraceful Black face.

Job Killing Machine

So, I see the oppositions is going to portray Sen. Obama as a "job killing machine." Interesting, because I'm pretty sure there is someone who is a "friend of business" and "low taxes" in the White House now. How's that job growth going?

Straight Talk Express crashes

That's not a metaphor for anything is it? Notice, the bus driver was making an illegal right turn.

So much construction

God, the past two days have been so crazy at work. Replacing all the files that got ruined it taking forever! Thankfully we are almost done with that, but there is still so much construction going on. It's so hard to read anything political and stay in tune with everything, but I'm going to try to catch up.

This made me veclempt

Why does Sen. Obama need a vacation?

The [S]enator suggested this week that most of his focus would be on his wife, children and grandmother, who he has not seen in 19 months.

“Those little girls need love, as does Michelle I think,” Obama told reporters. “So we are going to take the time.”

Kawaii!

Call me crazy

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

Hey, everyone! It's homophobic platypus!

Via The Field:

Is this true?

I've never heard this before:

Obama didn’t even tell Harvard Law School that he was black on his application.

Maybe it was in his book? It seems very Obama-esque.

Deep Thought

I distrust anyone who quotes Shelby Steele.

I bet Hilzoy

She at least has a 5% chance of being female, sadly I'm only at 2%. Here are my results from this cool site that uses your browsing history to determine your gender:

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 2%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 98%

Site	Male-Female Ratio
youtube.com	1
blogspot.com	1.08
cnn.com	1.35
blogger.com	1.06
flickr.com	1.15
weather.com	1.08
nytimes.com	1.13
time.com	1.44
southwest.com	0.77
drudgereport.com	2.08
huffingtonpost.com	1.35
tmz.com	0.77
slate.com	1.11
barackobama.com	0.68
nypost.com	1.2
perezhilton.com	0.75
politico.com	1.7
johnmccain.com	1.27
realclearpolitics.com	1.82
gmail.com	0.9
thehill.com	1.67
nola.com	0.96
gallup.com	0.77
nysun.com	1.33
dailykos.com	1.56
motherjones.com	1.47
honoluluadvertiser.com	1.04

More good news for John McCain!

Obama maintains a five-point lead he had in June (right after he clenched the nomination). People like him better! People trust him more!

The headline: "Poll: Trouble Signs in Obama's Lead"

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!