It's about damn time

The Obama campaign finally responds to the lies Sen. McCain has been spewing:



Perfect. I'm all about calling a spade a spade. Glad too see it includes pictures of GWB and McSame. When the Obama campaign chooses to respond, they actually do a great job - the problem is they wait too damn long before responding.

Bizarre

Looks like the AP finally realized that McCain has no idea what he's talking about.

Desperation

Check this lede in the NYTimes article "Starry-Eyed Media Breed Green-Eyed Candidates":

That old devil “the media” is back in the news, and it’s still only summer. This particular villain is usually brought out in the fall, when one of the presidential candidates is feeling desperate and needs to blame someone else for what looks like a losing campaign.

But, no, the McCain campaign is that desperate now. I guess, he's feeling bad that the reporters are not getting him as many donuts as they used to.

The rest of the article is not that good:

Just today, the McCain camp released an ad that tries to stoke an emerging storyline about Mr. Obama — that he is arrogant and presumptuous [...] a meme that seems to be bubbling to the surface with more help from Mr. Obama than from Mr. McCain

So, in other words, it's Sen. Obama's fault that he's seen as "arrogant and presumptuous" for visiting the same countries as Sen. McCain, but doing it better... right...

Despite several other occasions of lucidity, the article itself is a paragon of the traditional media deciding that their behavior is perfectly okay.

What, you mean they don't believe the ads?

From the new CNN poll (showing Sen. Obama up 51-44 overall):

"McCain has started to run ads blaming Obama for higher gas prices, but by a 51-40 percent margin, the public thinks Obama would do a better job handling that issue than McCain," Holland said.

Gosh, you mean... the public doesn't believe that it's horrible Sen. Obama hasn't solved our dependency on foreign oil yet! Oh wait, he's not President? He hasn't been ignoring the problem for 26 years?

Of course, since everything is good news for John McCain, the title of this article: "Obama trip abroad doesn't move poll numbers." Even though, they sort of did move, because the previous poll showed Obama up 50-45.

Olmert resigns

So Prime Minester Ehud Olmert of Israel is resigning due to his involvement in a bribery scandal. What crime would it take for Bush/Cheney to do the same?

Obama smackdown!

This just in from First Read:

Obama just responded outside of Bell's Restaurant in Lebanon, MO: "You know, I don’t pay attention to John McCain’s ads, although I do notice he doesn’t seem to have anything to say very positive about himself. He seems to only be talking about me... You need to ask John McCain what he’s for and not just what he’s against."

OBAMASMASH!

Barack Obama is "Arrogant"

Mark Ambinder portrays the Republican's latest attack ads like this:

It works not because of the fact of thing -- windsurfing is not an elite sport -- but because it allows partisans to feel superior and allows Republicans to begin to build an entire narrative around their opponents' purported elitism. BTW: you can see the train of thought: Obama --> full of himself --> arrogant --> celebrity --> self-possessed --> doing things for himself, not for the country, BTW: What type of shoes does McCain wear"

Mark misses an important aspect of the attack - its inherent racism. The Republicans are trying to portray Sen. Obama as an "Uppity Black Man" who doesn't "know his place." Michelle Obama is also "ungrateful," "angry" and "bitter."

So in other words, the Obamas are nothing but Angry Black People who are not content with all the riches that the White People have given them, but who are also trying to steal something away from the White People. Somehow they think that they Deserve the Presidency. Which they haven't earned - and which, they actually can never earn.

Why do Iraqis want us to leave?

We kill unarmed men for no reason.

How many lobbyists work for John McCain?

Answer:

"How many lobbyists work here?" Couric asked from McCain HQ.

"We don't make it a litmus test for employment at the McCain campaign," Davis said. "It goes without saying that some people who are involved in the lobbying profession do it because they are interested in that side of the equation. They’re interested in government, they're interested in Congress, they're interested in public service.

They are just public servants, helping to keep toxic toys in the hands of your children and poisoned food on your table!

John McCain's attack ad

So, here's the latest attempt by John McCain to attack Obama:




I supposed the ad is trying to make the point that Sen. Obama is famous, but has nothing to back it up. It fails on several levels:

1. Um, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are crazy
2. Sen. Obama is, idk, a SENATOR, former President of Harvard Law Review, Constitutional Law scholar, author of two best-selling books, etc.
3. The ad is also incoherent, it tries to do too much by adding in the stuff about the oil/taxes
4. The "tax on electricity" claim isn't even true
5. Sen. Obama looks optimistic in the photo, whereas Sen. McCain looks angry

Benefits of my job

When Indonesians co-workers visit the office, we all get treated to free po-boys from Mother's.

Image from here

Dump Joe Lieberman

Via Wonkette:

An angry Connecticut Democrat says that he will rent a very large floating rat and display it outside the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul if Joe Lieberman decides to attend the Republican National Convention.

The guy's also started a webpage: DumpJoe.com, which contains hillarious pictures of Joe and GWB. I can't wait until Connecticut has another shot at dumping Joe.

Sen. Shepherd Douche Watch

More updates:

Sen. Shepherd is now on house arrest, and the victim has recanted, but they are still going to prosecute because the evidence backs up her original story.

Additionally:

According to court documents, Sen. Shepherd also was arrested in 2000 for simple battery and harassing phone calls involving a different woman -- a scenario similar to what deputies say happened with Ms. Ashford.

Douche.

Disney's New Princess

I knew she was Black, but I didn't realize she's from New Orleans...

via Oliver Willis, the trailer:



I have three wishes for this movie:

1. The accents aren't all that ridiculous as the lightening bug
2. They don't have any songs by Rebirth
3. They manage to not be racist

Hopefully all my wishes will be granted.

Dept of Unwanted Endorsements

Phil Spector's endorsement of Obama is probably going to help as much as OJ's endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

Damned if you do...

Here is Mark Halperin's summary of his interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe:

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mark Halperin said the McCain team is working to portray Obama as foreign, elitist, liberal and out-of-touch, even if “it’s a stretch” at times. Repeated that the election will be a referendum on Obama, said Obama could lose if he seems too presumptuous and presidential before voters weigh in.

So... it would be a problem if he were "too presidential." Funny how that starts being a problem when the black man starts running for President. Also, it's funny how the guy who just finished paying off his college bills is the out-of-touch elitist, whereas the guy with eight houses represents the "common man".

WaPo Cover

I just love how next to the article there is a huge picture of Sen. Stevens (R-AK). Birds of a feather...