Hey, Richard, are you getting my emails, or are they still going into the Great Bit-bucket?

September 10, 2008 @ 5:38 am | Comment

I’m conservative on economics, libertarian on social issues, and I’m most definitely voting Obama now. Why, why, WHY did McCain make such a stupid choice on the VP?? I’ll take a level headed liberal that in all likelyhood will pass legislation that I disagree with along with those I do, than an impulsive conervative who is trying to get more votes by playing the gender card with this horribly unqualified VP pick.

September 10, 2008 @ 9:30 am | Comment

The latest polls suggest, if nothing else, that the Republicans being returned to office is no forlorn hope. Unthinkable.

I agree, Obama needs to toughen up – and get ready to tear McCain apart in the debates.

September 10, 2008 @ 9:56 am | Comment

Lisa, never go t a single one – please resend to my office email. I think I will change to gmail and terminate the yahoo account. Sorry for the trouble.

Chip, good that you’ve seen the light. Stuart, I thought the one big difference between the Obama and Kerry campaigns was that Obama would fight back hard when Swift Boated. The narrative is already written – Obama is a Muslim who didn’t really do community service (and if he did it was kind of girly anyway), etc. If Obama doesn’t go for the jugular he’s through. I don’t usually like Richard Cohen, but his piece about this was excellent.

September 10, 2008 @ 10:43 am | Comment

@richard

whilst in us politics obama may have to go for the jugular, i think that his habit is playing cool is what plays so well in europe. he comes across as a thoughtful man (maybe a bit too thoughtful, won’t commit?) who doesn’t see the world in black and white terms that belong in the primary school.

i think this article is bang on the money:

http://tinyurl.com/5opc7o

it argues that if obama does not win the election, then the us will irretriveably lose what international respect it has left.

and i think what russell brand (of all people) had to say the other day reflects a lot of europeans’ attitude to dubya:

“Some people, I think they’re called racists, say America is not ready for a black president.

“But I know America to be a forward thinking country because otherwise why would you have let that retard and cowboy fella be president for eight years?

“We were very impressed. We thought it was nice of you to let him have a go, because, in England, he wouldn’t be trusted with a pair of scissors.”

http://tinyurl.com/685nqt

September 10, 2008 @ 4:30 pm | Comment

Si, totally love that quote, thanks. And even bigger thanks for the other two links. The Guardian piece is awesome, the Russel Brand story is shocking. He sounds a bit overstated, but he gets the picture.

September 10, 2008 @ 7:25 pm | Comment

Richard, what do you think of Obama’s comment yesterday?

“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”

I suppose we should take the inevitable Democrat defence that it wasn’t directed at Palin at face value?

September 10, 2008 @ 11:07 pm | Comment

Raj, you totally fell for the right-wing line. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Seriously, you are like Hong Xing when it comes to US politics. Seize on the gossip, overlook what’s really going on.

http://tinyurl.com/6xzphv

http://tinyurl.com/69fpzo

http://tinyurl.com/5nyvlg

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/128711.html

I have used the term “it’s like putting lipstick on a pig,” as well as “we’re trying to turn chicken shit into chicken salad” in my work in PR for years and years. Common, everyday phrases. Obama never, ever said anything offensive about Palin and never called her a pig and unless you can show us a quote that proves this, I am declared 100 percent right.

Oh, and what did you think of the McCain joke we brought up yesterday, the one that is 100 percent without question sickening and reprehensible and deeply personal: “You know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.”

And there you have John McCain, and I challenge you to show me anything comparable that Obama has said, in which he 1.) attacks a teenager and mocks her for ugliness; attacks the attorney general for being ugly; 3.) implies that the attorney general is masculine, a play on the old line of the shit-slinging GOP that Reno was a lesbian. I hope you’re proud of that. Never forget, the maverick was one of the Keating five and has the temper of a madman and deep inside can be quite a piece of shit, and I have documenteed why I say this. Now, document what Obama said that is so bad. Becuase this is just another slick piece of political bullshit, where everybody on the right feigns total outrage over some expression a politician uses. I like the quote from the Reason link above:

Yes, Palin wears lipstick and compares herself to a pitbull wearing lipstick but that’s the only connection. To quibble about the phrase “putting lipstick on a pig” is to put conservatives in the same category as illiterate PC liberals worried about the word “niggardly.”

Further proof that the best the right can do is try to exploit bullshit “gotcha” moments like they did with Al Gore constantly in 2000, creating the narrative that he was a chronic liar, and of course the way they did with Kerry. With McCain’s joke it was premeditated and scripted; it was no off-the-cuff gaffe or a remark made in innocence. The scary thing is that McCain probably didn’t realize it was despicable. What do you think, Raj? Was it despicable? And even if it was, I would say McCain should not be judged solely for that. We all fuck up. I try to critique politicians and governments based on patterns and trends, not a one-time incident. But since you’re tring to damn Obama on this, I would sincerely like to know your thoughts on how it compares to McCain’s cruelty.

The left does this at times as well, and i hate it – seizing on a less-than-well-thought-out remark by a Republican and blowing it up and making political hay over it. It’s juvenile and it’s contemptible. To Obama’s credit, I haven’t seen him do it yet, but the media sure does, making stories out of bullshit, like Hillary Clinton’s laugh. (Talk about despicable.)

We have a two-front war to fight and an economy in the shitter and a global reputation in tatters and this is the argument of substance you raise. The real argument of substance is whether our next potential president made a cynical decision based on a one-time meeting that could affect the fate of America and the world. The Swift Boat-type tactic of trying to damn a candidate for one remark they made that was utterly, totally unvehement and uncontroversial is a big part of the reason I find the right’s way of maneuvering despicable and encrusted in slime. I admit, I admire its ruthlessness and organizational perfection, the way they pump up the Wurlitzer on a moment’s notice. They get a gold star for propaganda. And failing grades for virtually nearly everything else.

So Raj, I have responded to your question. Now please respond to my question above McCain. Also, what did you think of Powerline’s (!) quote I cited yesterday.

McCain picked someone he had only met once before. I repeat: he picked someone he had only met once before. His vetting chief sat Palin down for a face-to-face interview the Wednesday before last. It’s very hard to overstate how nutty and irresponsible this is.

Would any corporate chieftain pick a number two on those grounds and not be dismissed by his board for recklessness?

I don’t recall your reaction; would you say what he says is true or false?

September 11, 2008 @ 1:28 am | Comment

And in case anyone’s too lazy to open the first link, here’s the key phrase:

Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday that Sen. John McCain’s claim that he will shake up Washington after agreeing with President Bush for so long is like “putting lipstick on a pig” — a common colloquialism that Obama has used for years, and one that even some Republicans have been known to say. But to the McCain campaign, it was an example of unbridled sexism clearly aimed at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“Senator Obama uttered what I can only describe to be disgusting comments, comparing our vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, to a pig,” former Massachusetts governor Jane Swift declared in a conference call with reporters.

Obama uttered the phrase in the midst of ridiculing the Republican nominee’s commitment to change. “John McCain says he’s about change, too,” Obama said in an appearance here, leading into a string of ways he contends McCain represents more of the same — on economic policy, taxes, education, foreign policy, campaign tactics.

“That’s not change. That’s just calling something that’s the same thing something different. You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig,” Obama went on, and the crowd erupted in cheers. “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It’s still going to stink, after eight years. We’ve had enough of the same old thing.”

Yes, clearly, so, so clearly, a hateful remark about Palin. And this is the best the right can do to make its case that we should vote for McCain over Obama. Brilliant.

September 11, 2008 @ 1:54 am | Comment

Raj, you totally fell for the right-wing line. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Not at all – I was being sarcastic. But I think that Obama has let himself get rattled by Palin. He needs to calm down and think about things – he walked straight into something that he should have avoided.

September 11, 2008 @ 4:15 am | Comment

Thanks for answering my questions.

September 11, 2008 @ 10:55 am | Comment