BOO!

voter-suppression FAIL

one big difference between this election cycle & those in 2000 & 2004 is that the usual tricks pulled by the GOP to suppress voter turn out in swing states have failed.
TPM has a handy dandy list of how, why & where these efforts have occurred. it's interesting reading.

going out w/a 'nyaa, nyaa, nyaa'

even though BushCo. seems to have a serious case of Senioritis, behind the scenes they are still working hard to screw us all over. they are nothing if not consistent.

The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo.

(via WaPo)

Rachel talks w/Obama

2 of my favorite people sat down for a little chat today.

file under "WTF!?!"

this is what we can expect under 'President McCain'.

"Audience members escorted out of Sen. John McCain’s, R-Ariz., campaign event in Cedar Falls questioned why they were asked to leave Sunday’s rally even though they were not protesting.

"Lara Elborno, a student at the University of Iowa, said she was approached by a police officer and a McCain staffer and was told she had to leave or she would be arrested for trespassing."

"She said McCain staffers wouldn’t tell her why she was being asked to leave and when she got outside, she saw “a group of about 20 people” who had all been asked to leave."

“When I started talking to them, it kind of became clear that they were kind of just telling people to leave that they thought maybe would be disruptive, but based on what? Based on how they looked,” Elborno said. “It was pretty much all young people, the college demographic.”


“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” Elborno said. “They were handpicking these people and they had nothing to go off of, besides the way the people looked.”

round up & corral all the unsavory types.

Bueller...Bueller.....Bueller

just when you think that this campaign couldn't get any more embarrassing. oh, & then we find out that the crowd was padded:

"A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses."

Colbert Endorses Obama!

the most coveted endorsement of all.

shooting for the stars

Sally Ride, the 1st woman in space, endorses Obama.
how cool is that!?!

"Our space program is at a crossroads, and it will take a new generation of leadership to inspire our children to reach for the stars. President. John Kennedy understood that by calling on our nation to shoot for the moon, he'd inspire thousands of young people (including me) to study harder at math and science in ways that would enrich our country and expand our horizons."

"...he (Obama) also sees the potential for NASA to expand its research capabilities to study things like global warming and aeronautics. And most important to me, he has included plans to integrate our space program into educational curricula around the country so students can experience the thrill of science through remotely controlling cameras on the international space station or, perhaps one day, rovers on the moon."

(h/t OW)

Communism is the new Black

"See, under a big government, more tax agenda, what you thought was yours would really start belonging to somebody else, to everybody else. If you thought your income, your property, your inventory, your investments were, were yours, they would really collectively belong to everybody. Obama, Barack Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes, and I say this based on his record... Higher taxes, more government, misusing the power to tax leads to government moving into the role of some believing that government then has to take care of us. And government kind of moving into the role as the other half of our family, making decisions for us. Now, they do this in other countries where the people are not free. Let us fight for what is right. John McCain and I, we will put our trust in you." --Sarah Palin 10/25/08

you know things are looking bleak for McPalin when they break out this old saw.

mmmm,......pie!

with only 1 week left,
here's the latest pie chart from FiveThirtyEight.com.
looking good,
but I like mine à la mode.

down the Toobes

the GOP's latest felon is also Sarah Palin's BFF.
you betcha'!

"I have great respect for the senator…. His voice, his experience, his passion needs to be heard across America"

8 days to go

with only 8 days left, the rats continue to jump ship.
you know it's bad when even Big Daddy Rat is looking
over the ship rail.

100K+ in Denver

while McCain circles the drain w/2,000 loyalists in Cedar Falls, IA.

heartbreaking

as ecstatic as I am over the prospects of a President Obama,
I'm equally heartbroken over this story.
it just adds to the surreal quality of this campaign season.

craziest . day . EVER!

just when you thought this campaign couldn't
get any more surreal. it does.
(don't forget the cherry on top)

Sarah the Grifter

Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head last night:

Sarah Palin is pulling the biggest con in ages, on GOP campaign contributor's dime, no less.now, I don't feel too bad for those folks who have contributed $$ to this campaign.(you get what you pay for) in fact, I think we're all getting quite a kick out of this latest development. I can't wait to see what comes next out of this train wreck.

winning hearts & minds

another high profile endorsement for McCain. he's on a roll.

campaign $$ hard at work

remember when the GOP was all incensed about John Edwards $400 haircut? how could a supposed 'man of the people', a 'Joe 6-Pack' if you will, spend that much money on a single haircut. they used that issue to paint him as 'out of touch' & 'not 1 of us'. well, all I can say is payback is a bitch.

"Since her selection as John McCain's running mate, the Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothing and make-up for Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, and even her infant son, it was reported on Tuesday evening."

"During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class - and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber - it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people."

just plain sad

or downright hilarious, depending on your POV.

McCain doesn't even know what he's saying from
1 breath to the next anymore.

GOP voter suppression tactics

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was talking tonight w/Rachel about the newest GOP strategy to steal this election, as they have done in the past. it's a really chilling proposition & this strategy is already in motion. this whole kerfluffle over ACORN is really an effort to suppress Democratic voters on election day.

alternative to robo calls

note to McPalin, this is how it's done:

Real America

fact follows fiction

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".

In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.

They also blamed voters for not being more careful.

who could have predicted such a thing?

what about the chil'ren?

the McCain folks really are scumbags:

"My daughter answered the phone today and began listening to the most disturbing call regarding bombing and terrorists. She ran with the phone to get me, I heard just the end snippet of the call and immediately called the number cited as responsible," wrote a reader from North Carolina. "I was so angry and let them have it. I had to explain to my 7-year-old daughter that no one was bombing anyone else. This was a horrific experience."

100,000 strong in St. Louis

this was the scene today at an Obama rally in Missouri. 100,000 people showed up! in MISSOURI! truly amazing. we might just pull this thing off, despite all of the McCain/GOP shenanigans.

Levi Stubbs 1936 - 2008

Levi Stubb's Tears

Trib endorses Obama

for the 1st time in it's history, the Chicago Tribune has endorsed a Democrat for President. does this mean I have to rethink my boycott of the paper?

millions of words

what does it say about our news media today, when it takes David Letterman to put McCain on the hot seat. in regards to the 'pals around w/terrorists' remark, Letterman is the only person in the MSM to bring up McCains continuing relationship to G. Gordon Liddy. McCain's response at the end is priceless.

"there's millions of words said in a campaign".

yes, John, there are. unfortunately the majority of your words have been BS.

Friday funnies

"I must say I love the Waldorf Astoria. You know I hear from the doorstep, you can see all the way to the Russian Tea Room."

Joe McPlumber

was Joe the Plumber a McCain plant?
dailykos has some very interesting "coincidences".
even more intriguing is this from tristero:

Joe the Plumber, the star of tonight's debate, may have a very interesting connection to John McCain. In fact, Joe the Plumber (Joe Wurzelbacher) of Cincinnati, Ohio may be related to one Robert Wurzelbacher of Cincinnati, Ohio, who happens to be Charles Keating's son-in-law.

Robert Wurzelbacher was implicated in the Keating 5 scandal, and sentenced to 40 months in prison in 1993.

Wurzelbacher is also a huge Republican donor.

(more here & here)

most outrageous debate moment

"on the verge of perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy in this country."

this was by far, one of the more outrageous comments from McCain last night.
McCain uttered this phrase when describing the voter registration efforts of ACORN & then tried to link them back to Obama, who has had no dealings w/them in over 13 years.
of course, McCain conveniently forgot about this:

but beyond the hypocrisy, ACORN is not the evil band of dirty Commies that the right is trying to paint them as, & "voter registration fraud" is a far cry from "voter fraud".
Keith does a great job of spelling it out in this segment from Countdown:

McCranky FAIL

(it's probably best to view this video w/the sound off)
here's a nice little snippet of all the harumphing & crazy eye rolling
from last night's debate. McCain was in full on, Grampa McCrankypants, warpath mode. can anyone really envision this guy in the Oval Office?

mmmm,......pie!

I have to admit that over the past couple of weeks I've become obsessed with the pie charts over at FiveThirtyEight.com. I've taken particular glee in the Win Percentage chart. the tiny sliver of red has been shrinking & shrinking at an amazing rate lately. it's as though a maniacal blue Homer Simpson has been set loose upon it & won't be content until all the red has been devoured. I for one couldn't be happier over his gluttony.

Rachel v. Frum

David Frum was on the Rachel Maddow Show last night & they got into quite a tussle right off the bat. Rachel handled Frum perfectly, never raising her voice yet cutting through his BS succinctly. remember, Frum was w/BuschCo. from the start. (he did coin the term "Axis of Evil") his argument is absurd considering his background. it's a great segment & well worth watching. more pundits & news people should follow Rachel's tact when dealing with these hypocrites.

Krugman wins Nobel Prize

Paul Krugman has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. As one of the few voices out there that predicted this economic meltdown, it's well deserved, if not a little late.

here's the NYT announcement.

here he is speaking to one of my
other favorite people in the world.

you should also be reading his blog & columns regularly.

ethics schmethics

"The nation has had 102 major-party tickets covering 51 presidential elections over more than two centuries. And we've never had a ticket in which both candidates on the same ticket were responsible for ethics violations before a national election. McCain/Palin is the first."

(via Washington Monthly)

Saturday Night Special

Tramp the Dirt Down - Elvis Costello

this song was written in the late 80s in response to the brutal callousness of Margaret Thatcher's reign in the UK. It translates very well into the present by simply changing the reference from Thatcher to George W. Bush. I think in the future we will find a long, long line of people waiting their turn to tramp the dirt down on his grave.

quote of the week

digby doesn't mince words:

McCain has been a prick throughout this campaign and his crowds have been a bunch of jackasses.

Palin abused power

MSNBC is breaking the story now that Gov. Palin did indeed abuse her power in the Troopergate investigation. The bipartisan commission unanimously agreed to make this report public. this is huge, if not unsurprising. it will be interesting now to see how this is used in the campaign & how the McCain campaign addresses it.

Hresstu þig við!

in 2007, Iceland was #1 on the list of Most Developed Countries as compiled on the Human Development Index. Today, not so much. Iceland is the first nation in the world to be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy due to the recent global economic meltdown. what a difference a year makes.

surprise, surprise

the McCain campaign issued a report last night, ahead of today's
upcoming report out of Alaska, exonerating Sarah Palin of any wrongdoing in the whole Troopergate incident. the McPalins continue their free fall into farce.
what's more disturbing is watching their campaign rallies increasingly degenerate into rabid Klan rallies.
these are the people that we should all be very fearful of.

the Great Schlep

October 10 - 13

go to: www.thegreatschlep.com
& help swing the vote in Florida.

stupids will decide election

McCain refuses 'Handshake'

wtf!?
McCain refuses to shake Obama's hand after the debate.
what's this guys problem? oh yeah, he's losing.

'that one' !?!

in tonight's debate, McCain pointed at Obama &
referred to him as 'that one'.
racist much, John?
this is already being picked up by some pundits.
it should be noted by many, many more. especially
in light of the increasingly noxious tone that McPalin
has taken over the past few days.

UPDATE: here's the video:

McPalin gets FUGLY

over the past couple of days the Palin/McCain campaign has been getting increasingly desperate, not to mention ugly.

McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent), and McCain asked the crowd "who is Barack Obama?" Immediately you hear a supporter yell "Terrorist." McCain pauses, the audience laughs, and McCain continues on, not acknowledging, not chastising, not correcting.(via americanblog)

(huffpo has video)

but there was another incident at a Palin rally, where someone in the audience yelled
"Kill Him!" in response to her incendiary comments about Obama. seems to me that they are not only getting increasingly ugly, but are actually whipping their audiences into a violent frenzy. don't think so? here's another incident:

Worse, Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy." (via WaPo)

KEATING ECONOMICS

KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis

this is the new documentary produced by the Obama campaign that explains in great detail John McCain's links to the S&L bailout in the late 80s & in particular his close friendship to Charles Keating.

"The current economic crisis demands that we understand John McCain's attitudes about economic oversight and corporate influence in federal regulation. Nothing illustrates the danger of his approach more clearly than his central role in the savings and loan scandal of the late '80s and early '90s."

go to the site, KeatingEconomic.com, for more info.

Saturday Night Special

How Soon is Now?

drop the hammer, boyee!!

Maverick McMavericky no more,
Biden drops the hammer HARD.

she's totally into me

Joe Biden may have won last night's VP Debate, & Sarah Palin may have gotten most of her facts wrong (Gen. McClellan??) but who cares...did you see her winking at me all night!?! whatta flirt.

Ifill is not in the "tank"

there's alot of heat in the blogosphere today about Gwen Ifill's upcoming book & how this will impact her judgement as moderator of the VP debate on Thursday. wingnuts are frothing at the mouth, spewing that she is in the "tank" for Obama & therefore unfit to perform the role of moderator.

in this clip, she discusses her new book, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" & it is obvious that the book is about Race & Politics in the 21st century, as the title suggests. She discusses 4 African American politicians in the book, including Obama. but because Obama's name is in the title, some assume that the book is pro Obama. that is probably a wrong assumption, but far be it for the right to let facts get in the way of their ire.

never been an astronaut

contrary to what the liberal media may think, John McCain
asserts in this video that he has never been an astronaut.
that & a few other nuggets are revealed here.

more videos of McCain in full on
Grampa Simpson mode are here.