A tale of two campaigns

A little something for Halloween?





Then there's the campaign of "That One"




Seen earlier somewhere in the blogosphere: "Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack is running so all our kids can soar"

Excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.

Warm bread

Others may consider the game over already, but I remember what happened in 2004 and could well happen again. I will not say they are toast just yet,( see my earlier prediction re:Newt Gingrich and 2012) but McCain seems to be planning his concession speech already while Obama is planning a massive victory celebration in Chicago in the very spot where 40 years ago the whole world was watching while uniformed thugs beat and gassed and killed young people for voicing an opinion and Mayor Richard Daley famously remarked: "The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." This time around, despite the pants-pissing on the right, thing are going to be different. While some people are clearly nuts enough to keep voting for whomever they think Jesus would most like to have a beer with, people with more than a vestigial lizard brain will only eat so much shit before they get wise. Hell, even the GOP will only swallow so much crap before it just gets too embarrassing.

Meanwhile, Sadly, No reenacts great moments in geek cult cinema,

Jon Swift explains the real America and gathers all election crazy into a big pile

the General goes upriver in search of the heart of dorkness.

Block the vote

Despite the stench of death and failure that now creeps forth from the staggering McCain - Palin campaign as it lurches from one screw up to the next, the GOP machine is still lurking behind the curtain. As Palast and Kennedy point out: It ain't over 'til it's over.

crossposted from the Woodshed

From the desk of Sen. John McCain

Dear crazy Jesus freaks, Friends at InJesus.com

I know I said I wanted your help to become president and continue to carry out the Lord's work just the way our beloved President Bush has done. I even picked one of your own as my running mate to try to buy your loyalty. I know you sincerely believe all this stuff and can quote me chapter and verse in the Scriptures to support your belief. But here's the thing: Most people in America are base sinners who don't understand the threat that witches and satanism actually pose, in fact most of them think Spiritual Warfare is the stuff of cheesy horror movies and the sorts of games with all the books and dice those weird, nerdy kids in high school used to play. I'm trying to win an election here people, so I as much as I appreciate your prayers and other efforts to fight Nigerian witchcraft on my behalf, do you think you could kind of keep it on the down low?
Thanks
your pal in Jesus,
Sen. John McCain

H/T the Wingnutterer

you say "tomayto," I say "tomahto"

When Rich Lowery and many other perpetually adolescent right wingers think of Sarah Palin, they think of her as a sexy school marm at the Bible college or some damn thing. They think of this (nearly safe for work, and do, by all means read the script).

When I hear her voice, I think of Edie McClurg as Mrs Herbert R. Tarlek or the car rental clerk in Planes Trains and Automobiles

Spellink iz fur eeleetust loozurz

Here is the kind of quality control we can expect from a McCain/Palin administration. Even Joe the Plumber should be embarrassed by this.

H/T to Lawyers, Guns and Money

Racists? in the GOP?

What on earth would ever give you that idea?

Radical ties

We've mentioned a few of John McCain's unsavory associations already -- not the least of which is his "close friend" Watergate thug G. Gordon Liddy -- but what of some of his inner circles' connections? Fancy seeing this in the Wall Street Journal:

The McCain campaign, in a continuing effort to link Barack Obama to domestic terrorism, released a statement Wednesday from a New York supporter, recounting how his family home was firebombed by the radical 1960s group founded by Obama supporter William Ayers.
But the McCain supporter, John M. Murtagh, has his own ties to radical protesters: He served as a lawyer for a Catholic priest who led protests at an abortion clinic that turned violent.

Then, of course, there is Sarah Palin's consorting with wingnuts from the John Birch Society and the Alaska Independence Party :

During the 1990s, when Chryson directed the AIP, he and another radical right-winger, Steve Stoll, played a quiet but pivotal role in electing Palin as mayor of Wasilla and shaping her political agenda afterward. Both Stoll and Chryson not only contributed to Palin’s campaign financially, they played major behind-the-scenes roles in the Palin camp before, during and after her victory.
Palin backed Chryson as he successfully advanced a host of anti-tax, pro-gun initiatives, including one that altered the state Constitution’s language to better facilitate the formation of anti-government militias. She joined in their vendetta against several local officials they disliked, and listened to their advice about hiring. She attempted to name Stoll, a John Birch Society activist known in the Mat-Su Valley as “Black Helicopter Steve,” to an empty Wasilla City Council seat. “Every time I showed up her door was open,” said Chryson. “And that policy continued when she became governor.”

Meanwhile, Barrack Obama has your October Surprise right here. My guess is he either gives another hard-hitting speech on race or runs an old episode of the Beverly Hillbillies with the Palin's and the McCain's faces superimposed via CGI, depending on where things stand in the polls.
crossposted from the Woodshed

McCain needs more cowbell

From "You Are My Sunshine" to "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" campaign theme songs are a venerable part of presidential political campaigns. McCain/Palin '08 seem to be having some trouble finding someone who wants to be associated with the campaign.

Foo Fighters tell McCain to stop using song
NEW YORK (AP) — Yet another band is complaining about John McCain's use of their song to promote his campaign. This time, it's the Foo Fighters.
The rockers sent out a missive telling the Republican presidential candidate to stop using "My Hero." They said they learned it was being use through news reports.
"The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential," the band said in a statement. "To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song."
The band noted it's not the first time McCain has been told to stop using a song. John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne have also complained — Browne even filed a lawsuit.

Maybe they should ask Jackson Browne if they can use "Running on Empty"

the sheriff is a ...

With the world economy in freefall, I can't believe this even needs to be talked about, but after McCain's reference to "that one" in the debate, and the tenor of recent speeches by McCain and Palin and responses they have drawn -- it is pretty clear that the Republicans, desperate to distract, have once again hit the bottom of the barrel and started digging.

Don't for a second kid yourself that race no longer matters in America. Conservatives like the gang at the Corner like to claim that Barack Obama's nomination by the Democrats proves that discrimination against blacks no longer exists (reverse racism against white men, well according to them, that's another story ) Bullshit. Just have a look at what is going on in Virginia, in cyberspace, in Oregon, all over the place, everywhere.

The McCain campaign has given up on the dog whistle and dusted off the megaphone. (Thanks to Cynicor for the comprehensive list of recent sins)

From the LA Times Via Glenn Greenwald and Rising Hegemon :

Here (.pdf) is a newspaper column from Bobby May, the McCain campaign chair in Buchanan County, Virginia and correspondence secretary for the Buchanan County Republican Party, warning that "the platform of Barack Hussein Obama" includes:
Illegal Immigration: "Learn to Speak Spanish";
Terrorist Threat to America: "Learn to Speak Arabic";
Reparations to Black Community: Opposes before Election Day and supports after Election Day;
Freedom of Religion: Mandatory Black Liberation Theology courses taught in all churches;
Homosexual Marriage: Coddle sexual perverts. Give tax breaks for NAMBLA membership;
Drug Crisis: Raise taxes for free drugs for Obama's inner-city political base;
The White House: Hire rapper Ludacris to "paint it black."

It's a short step from "that one" to "you people" to "Sambo beat the bitch *" to the picking a new Grand Wizard. If only Barack had done those townhall meetings like McCain had asked him to, this wouldn't have had to happen.

And furthermore: A Maverick? I don't think so.

*sourcing discussed here

Crossposted from the Woodshed

palling around with terrorist

Palling around with terrorists

Sarah Palin says Barack Obama palls around with terrorists because an acquaintance of his, William Ayers,was once a member of the Weather Underground, back when Obama was eight years old. As future Alaska Gov. Dave Noon (aw cmon Dave, run! please! Wouldn't you just love to debate her yourself?) points out, the Republicans really don't want to go there.

There is also talk that the Republican smear machine is gearing up to talk about Rev. Jeremiah Wright some more. Oh yeah, lets talk about whose preacher is crazier, the ex-Marine civil rights firebrand that Obama has split with, or the gay-hating, witch-hunting brace of looney toons who speak in tongues and think the Iraq war is part of the God's plan that Palin embraces.

If Team Maverick want to talk about who has connection to shady characters, radicals or ideologues that might affect the way they govern, well, bring it on. McCain has some very, very troubling friends - the aforementioned Watergate spook G. Gordon Liddy, financial deregulator Phil Gram, American Taliban Pastor John Hagee, to say nothing of the various mobbed-up gambling industry types and assorted lobbyists.

And of course, there's this guy: