YES HE DID!!

They Went There

For those of you that had any lingering doubts about whether or not Republicans would resort to the lowest, sleaziest swiftboat ads to derail Obama in the waning days of their miserable lie-filled campaign:



In fairness (and it's hard to be fair to such lowlifes) John McCain did not officially "approve" this ad, as it was released by a GOP political action group. But it does highlight the stunning desperation of the Republicans as McCain's so-called path to the White House becomes increasingly difficult.



On a related topic, who precisely are the "undecided voters"? Have these people not received enough information in the course of this seemingly interminable race to make up their damn minds? There are ONLY TWO CANDIDATES, for Christ's sake! How hard can this possibly be?? CHOOSE!

McCain Supporter Attacks Young Man!

Priceless...

Flying Low: Another Miserable Week For McCain

Let's take a quick look at the McCain campaign's latest greatest hits, shall we?

Lipstick On A Pig: The RNC disclosed that it spent $150,000 of campaign money (donated by Joe The Idiots everywhere) to buy clothes for Sarah Palin and her family at Saks Fifth Avenue and Nieman Marcus. And the highest paid person in the entire McCain campaign? Amy Strozzi (Palin's make-up stylist) who was paid $22,000 for just 2 weeks work in October, more than McCain's own chief foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann.

Crazy Runs In The Family: John McCain's 66 year old baby brother Joe decided to call 911 to complain about traffic.

Operator: 911 state your emergency

McCain: It's not an emergency but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?

Operator: Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic? (pause)

McCain: "(Expletive) you." (caller hangs up)

The 911 operator then called McCain back and left a message admonishing him for misusing the emergency service, after which he actually called 911 back to complain again!

The New "Face Of The Campaign":

By now, everyone is aware of the sad, sordid tale of self-mutilating wingnut Ashley Todd. Cruising around Pittsburgh, this dopey McCain campaign worker claimed to have been assaulted by a black Obama supporter who carved a (backwards) "B" into her face. The B, as it turns out, stands for Bullshit. After receiving sympathy calls from both John McCain and Sarah Palin, Todd admitted the whole story was made up. She is now behind bars herself. And, surprise, surprise...the McCain campaign may have been involved in pushing the whole hoax onto the media.

One wonders whether old man McCain even wants to win this thing anymore...

Presidential Debate #3

This picture basically sums up the debate, and the state of the campaigns.

Pretty much everyone (including the Fox News focus group) is calling this one another win for Obama. Too bad for Grampy McSame and Winky Mainstreet.

Overwhelmingly Underwhelmed

To paraphrase Rick Mercer's analysis:

Disappointment for Stephen Harper; no majority.

Disappointment for Stephane Dion; lost seats and lost Fortress Ontario.

Disappointment for Jack Layton; still in 4th place.

Disappointment for Elizabeth May; lost her riding and no elected MPs.

Satisfaction for Gilles Duceppe; but he's a separatist.

Cost: $300 million.

Estimated voter turnout: less than 60%

HOORAY FOR CANADA!! I'm going to bed.

You Stay Classy, Luc Harvey.

When the going gets tough, the Conservatives get ugly. Take Luc Harvey. The Conservative incumbent in Louis-Hébert decided to crash a Bloc event in the riding and heckle Gilles Duceppe to the point that the RCMP were asked to move him out of the way.

When asked to explain his less than dignified behaviour, Harvey responded with typical CPC arrogance:

“I'm in my riding here. This is the riding of Louis-Hébert, and this is Luc Harvey's riding,” he said.

Luc Harvey's riding?? In 2006, this petulant cretin won by less than one fifth of one percent, earning a whopping 34.22% of the vote. This time around, predictions are that the Bloc will re-take the riding. Harvey would do well to keep these things in mind as he stomps around, claiming ownership of Louis-Hébert, and generally acting like an ass.

Jeepers Joe-6-Pack, She's A Hockey Mom Doggonit!

Judging from the amount of right-wing self-fellating going on today, I have to conclude the following about what Republicans want in a VP.

A VP should:

• Wink a lot
• Enunciate poorly
• Use empty catch phrases and blue collar jingo in every sentence
• Use quotes out of context
• Be able to recite talking points, while demonstrating little to no understanding of issues
  
• Lapse into incoherency from time to time

But don't take it from me. Let's hear it straight from Winky Mainstreet:

"That is not so, but because that's just a quick answer, I want to talk about, again, my record on energy versus your ticket's energy ticket, also."

Well said, also.

"One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let's commit ourselves just every day American people, Joe Six Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again by those who are managing our money and loaning us these dollars."

Yes! Damn you, people lending us these...dollars. Doggone it, what'chya need is a team of mavericks who, with, reformin' and also rejiggimifyin' the whole White House thingy. Also! *wink*

My Eyes!! Ze Gogglez...Zey Do Nussing!!

Sweet Mother of God. This woman is borderline retarded.



Bailout healthcare economy stuff with jobs maverick reform and tax maverick Wall Street things and stuff maverick. She talk real good-like!

WOW. The Stupid, It Burns...

Please watch this nightmarish video of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric.



In fairness to the DOS-based Palinbot, there is no actual answer to Couric's question. McCain has been a shameless deregulator his whole career. But we'll eagerly wait for the hockey mom to research even one single example of McOld's "maverickness". Good grief.

Harper's "Ordinary" Canadians

Who are these people anyway? According to Harper, "ordinary" Canadians don't really care about arts and culture.

Harper dismissed mounting criticism of the cuts by calling it a "niche" issue that doesn't resonate with "ordinary" Canadians.

In his strongest statements to date over the cuts, Harper said regular Canadians see a "bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough, when they know those subsidies have actually gone up."

In a response, Justin Trudeau pointed out that the average salary in the arts industry is $23,000. Rich gala elites indeed.

"Ordinary" Canadians do want 14 year olds jailed for life and meaningless restrictions on house arrest sentencing. For critics of the latter, Harpo had this to say:

“That's who we're listening to, not people who work in ivory towers but people who actually work on the street and deal with crime on a day-to-day basis.”

Of course, those same people who "work on the street" also support the gun registry and the InSite clean needle program. But those folks are probably just closet ivory tower millionaires, so fuck them.

Stephen Harper: getting things done for Canadians, one culture war at a time.

Harper's "Fixed" Election

So now it's all but done. Prime Minister Tubby Lardass will take his smarmy, shit-eating grin to the Governor General this weekend and break his own fixed election date law, a fitting end to his miserable lie-filled governance.

Rex Murphy had to this to say about Harper's latest charade:

It's one thing to take politicians promises with a grain of salt. Mr. Harper is proposing a much sturdier challenge: how to believe them when they take a promise and make it the law of the land, and then ignore it, nullify it, bury that law, just because it suits them.

So the Conservatives will be taking us into another election, running on a record of broken promises, indifference to climate change, stewardship of a declining economy, and possible violations of election financing laws. And, according to the latest polls, this may be good enough to win. Hooray for Canada!

The Palin Saga

I haven't yet blogged about Sarah Palin because, frankly, all the predictable things to say have been said. Some are decrying her lack of executive experience, foreign policy credentials, and are suggesting that her pick was little more than a naked ploy to win over disaffected Hillary supporters. Others think she is a "game changer", and a clever play to the evangelical base of the Republican party, themselves uncertain about McCain's fudamentalist credentials. These people adore her hard-line support of creationist teaching, the pro-life movement, and abstinence education in schools.

Well, life is a funny thing. Today, Palin announced that her 17 year old unmarried daughter Bristol is 5 months pregnant. Now let me be clear on this: I don't believe that the bedroom antics of Palin's daughter should be used as campaign fodder for political gain by anyone. But as an item of news released by Palin herself, Bristol's pregnancy should draw attention to the unquestionable absurdity and laughable folly of "abstinence-only education". In fact, a U.S. government report in 2007 supported the notion that abstinence-only sex ed just doesn't work.

By the by, Obama has already released a statement about this story, stating unequivocally that all candidates' children should be "off limits". Agreed.

And The Winner Is...

Joe Biden! Let the swiftboating begin...

Full Metal Pantsuit

She fought hard. She fought long. But in the end, Hillary Clinton was simply unable to catch Barack Obama. Although her most ardent supporters will point accusatory fingers at the media and the DNC, the reality is that her campaign was flawed from the very beginning. At the outset, she suffered from the complacency and arrogance that accompanied her frontrunner status. Everyone assumed the nomination was Clinton's to lose. And lose it she did. Her greatest strength was supposed to be her experience. But Obama smartly picked up on voter disdain for eight years of Bush and Cheney, and delivered a promise of "change". His youth and inexperience suddenly became virtues. Hillary, on the other hand, was transformed into a representative of the old guard. While the Clinton campaign focussed on a "big state" strategy, Obama plugged away in smaller states, midwest states, and caucus states. His grassroots level fundraising was a resounding success. And by the time Hillary's team had figured all of this out, Super Tuesday was over, and Obama had a delegate lead he would never relinquish.

Now the only question is: will she be the veep?

Meet The World's Dumbest Democrats

Some supporters of Hillary Clinton's campaign have become so rabid in their pursuit of the nomination, that they have checked their brains at the door.

As members of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws panel voted in favor of the measures, some supporters of Hillary Clinton's White House bid rose from their seats and began to shout “Don’t steal my vote!” and “Let’s go, McCain!”

These primaries have certainly strained unity within the Democratic Party. But anyone who would consider voting Republican if Hillary fails to secure the nomination is beyond stupid. What could their rationale possibly be? Do they intend to fight against perceived misogyny by voting for an old conservative white guy? Are they so blind in their ambition that they would rather see four more years of Republican rule than support Barack Obama? These are the kind of people that neither campaign needs - the kind of people who allow spite to triumph over reason.

This Horse Race Is Over

From Wonkette, perhaps the most fitting metaphor for Hillary's doomed (and increasingly annoying) campaign.

JESUS, WHERE TO BEGIN: Hillary Clinton's pick to win horse racing's Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles — the only female horse in the race — finished second, broke both front ankles, and subsequently was put to death on the track. The first place horse was "Big Brown." Go nuts.

Clinton's Tortured Logic: Part II

On seating the Michigan delegates.

Part I here.

Hillary-ous: The Tortured Logic of the Clinton Campaign

From Daily Kos:

Clinton's campaign has one premise -- victory at all costs. If that requires sundering the Democratic Party, so be it. She doesn't care. Therefore, there is no logic that applies. The popular vote only matters if it favors her. The pledged delegate lead only matters if it favors her. Michigan and Florida only matter if it favors her. States only matters if they vote for her. Groups and communities in this country only matters if they supports her. Super delegates only matter if they cast their lot with her.

The central problem is this. Barring a double-digit sweep of every remaining state, Clinton will finish the primaries behind in the pledged delegate count. Still, she has argued that she should remain in the race because the votes of the people matter.

"There are some folks saying we ought to stop these elections." "I don't think we believe that in America," she said. "The more people that have a chance to vote, the better it is for our democracy." - Hillary Clinton
at a recent campaign speech.

However, her senior campaign advisor Harold Ickes has confirmed that the campaign will try to woo super-delegates even if she loses the popular vote. So the campaign is at once trying to convince people that:

1. The primaries should go on because the popular vote matters.

2. If the popular vote favours Obama, it should be overturned by superdelegates.

To even a casual observer, this is an absurdly hypocritical position. But unfortunately for Clinton, it's the only one she has left. Personally, I think she should stick around for the upcoming primaries. Her campaign has already invested enough time and money. She will likely win Pennsylvania by a reasonable margin, but at the end of the day she will probably not be able to catch Obama in pledged delegates. Both Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean have indicated that they want this race to be over by July 1st, the obvious implication being that whoever is behind in pledged delegates at that point should drop out. This would make the the most sense, and would avoid the discomfort of forcing superdelegates to be the ultimate arbiters of a supposedly democratic nomination process. It would likely also spare Clinton the task of explaining to people why their vote was so important in the spring, and less so in the fall. Again from Kos:

So we have a campaign that is losing by every metric imaginable. And now that campaign says that it doesn't care if she's losing by every metric imaginable. Her campaign will carry on regardless. No one can say that Clinton doesn't play to win. In some circumstances, that is admirable. The only problem is that she already lost.

To Anyone Who Still Thinks Hillary Can Win...

Wake up and smell the numbers. Based on current polling stats (and yes, I know these can change), Chris Bowers does some Ultimate Delegate Math. It's well worth the read. Basically, Bowers summarizes the 5 most likely scenarios going forward - including seating the FLA and MI delegates - and crunches the numbers...and they still don't look good for the former First Lady of Bosnian Sniper Fire (more on that later).

Those are some pretty big bullets to dodge, even for someone who claims to have dodged sniper fire in Bosnia. Turns out....ehhhh....not so much. From a speech she gave just this week:

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

--Hillary Clinton, speech at George Washington University, March 17, 2008.

Her travelling companions on this harrowing trip to hell? Sinbad, Sheryl Crow, and a 15 year old Chelsea Clinton. Sinbad himself has stated that the scariest part of the trip was deciding "where to eat". Michael Dobbs at the Washington Post does the rest of the fact-checking. And here's the video evidence of Clinton's Rambo-esque escape to the base on her arrival. Ready on Day One.