RELOCATION NOTICE.

The Opinionated Old Fart's blog has moved.  Please redirect your bookmarks or other links to: 

www.opinionatedoldfart.wordpress.com.

It's still a work in progress but all new posts will be posted to that site. (Note: old videos may not have transferred so if something seems missing from a post, you may need to come back here to see the video. I have uploaded recent days videos but don't plan on going back to the beginning.)

Obama Predicted It.

Obama knew what was coming and his strategy to win anticipated every move.

Quote For The Day.

"If Barack Obama needs more experience, I could give it to him."

Former Golden Girl, Betty White

It's Almost Over.

Bush signs order to ease switch to next president

Thankfully No Senator.

Sen.  Gordon Smith of Oregon thinks Sarah Palin is the governor of California. I don't think so. I am thankful for small things. (Even Arnold is better than Sarah.)

Ayers - Obama Linkage is B.S.

In a letter to the editor in the NY Times today, the lead federal prosecutor of the Weatherman in 1972, William C. Ibershof, has this to say,

I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.

But, I am sure this will not end the McCain campaign's smear campaign. I hope American voters are not going to be distracted by this and vote their self interests and vote Obama.

Too Soon To Laugh.

I've been debating if I want to see the new Oliver Stone movie, "W." Patt Morrison in the LA Times really summarizes my feelings well.

I saw "W" this week. It spends its time on the Iraq war and on Bush's formative years, and insofar as I could detach myself from my dislike of the man, I found myself feeling fleetingly sorry for him, but a whole lot sorrier for us. "W" pulled punches that I desperately wanted to connect, and if comedy equals tragedy plus time, "W" shows it's too soon to laugh and too late to do anything but endure the tragedy of this administration.

I think I may go with my better judgement and pass.  I've lived these past 8 years and 2 more hours of living it may be more than I can take.

25

Palin Screws Up On Energy.

On the issue that is supposed to be Sarah Palin's strong issue, she screwed up a question in a town hall meeting today. Per the AP.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, touted by GOP presidential candidate John McCain as his expert on energy, seemed to have problems Thursday explaining whether the government bans oil exports — especially from her state's North Slope fields.

A questioner at a town hall-style meeting in Wisconsin said he had heard that at least 75 percent of the oil drilled in Alaska was being sold to China and said, if true, he would like to know why.

"No. It's not 75 percent of our oil being exported," Palin said, suggesting some of Alaska's oil, in fact, may be going abroad but not that much.

"In fact," she added, "Congress is pretty strict on, um, export bans of oil and gas especially."

No Alaska oil has been exported since 2004, and little if any since 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Congressional Research Service.
And Congress has never imposed outright bans on oil exports. Congress prohibited exports of Alaska oil in 1973 when the Alaska oil pipeline was built. But that ban was lifted in 1996 when there were large volumes of Alaska oil coming down from the North Slope and U.S. demand was soft.

The Alaska ban has never been reinstated.

Oops. Imagine what she knows about issues where she isn't supposed to be strong.

Obama, on His Relationship With Bill Ayers.

Obama sets the record straight regarding McCain's bogus charge about his relationship with Bill Ayers.  This will air tomorrow on Philly conservative talk show host, Michael Smerconish's radio show.

Tattooing Homosexuals.

This  statement by Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Anglican rector of St Michael’s Cornhill and St Sepulchre without Newgate in the City of London, sounds a bit like it came from the Nazis in Germany 60+ years ago.  It makes me embarrassed to be an Anglican (US Anglican denomination). 

"Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS,"

The good news is that the Bishop of London may be disciplining him for his statement. Let's hope so!

A Proud American.

I just proudly voted for "that one" for President. 

Rage.

Living In A Different World.

Either I have my head completely up my a** or conservative derangement syndrome is really taking hold in a bigger way than I thought. From Andrew Sullivan we read about the title of Hugh Hewitt's proposed next book.

"How Sarah Palin Won the Election... And Saved America"

Which, thankfully it seems, has already been shot down by publishers.  Laughable. A more detailed story from the NY Observer is here.

Ode to Sean Hannity.

In case you missed it, here is a poem, by John Cleese, read last night by Keith Olberman on Countdown.

Ode to Sean Hannity

Aping urbanity
oozing with vanity
plump as a manatee
faking humanity.
Journalistic calamity
intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity.
You're a profanity, Hannity.

Watch Olberman deliver it.

Sarah Palin Photo to Believe In.

Where was Rich Lowry when this photo was taken? (Do you think this guy took a cold shower when he got back to his dorm room?)

A supporter listens to Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during a rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania October 8, 2008. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)

Ignorance and Racism in Missouri.

I guess at the end of a campaign, where the GOP is about to lose big, one expects nastiness but, as stated in several posts earlier this week, the ignorance that the Republican cheerleaders are urging on is appalling.  Here is another example from Fish Wars On Cars. 

This billboard has appeared south of Mustion Creek on the west side of U.S. 63, according to the West Plains Quill [south central Missouri in the Ozark region]. The paper said it was unable to determine who is responsible for the sign.

26 Days.

I will be away most of the day so blogging will be light.

Ignorance In Ohio.

Keep fight it. Yes We Can!

Who Won?

From McClatchy (Ipsos/McClatchy poll):

Barack Obama beat John McCain in Tuesday night's debate in the eyes of undecided voters by 61 to 39 percent, according to a new online Ipsos/McClatchy poll.

Before the debate, the 389 undecided voters favored McCain by 55-45, but after it they shifted to favor Obama over McCain by 57-43 percent.

The Appalachian Vote.

This is sad but, I am sure, true for a small portion of white America. Now you understand why the McCain campaign is trying its desperate last minute tactic of painting Obama as "foreign" and allowing surrogates to use his middle name when introducing him.

From Andrew Sullivan.

UPDATE: And, here's another sad story courtesy of AmericaBlog.

Photo Of The Day II. (For Dog Lovers Everywhere.)

Bassetts for Obama from Seattlest.

Gone in 95 Seconds.

Not sure if you saw this clip of the minutes after the debate last night (from C-Span) but while the Obamas hung around for 20+ minutes to chat and visit with fellow citizens, the McCains left in a minute and a half. Very telling in terms of their attitudes, don't you think?

Here's a tic-tock of the video and what to look for from Wonkette.

00:00:13 — Cindy McCain walks out to greet her husband, and follows him awkwardly around the room for 25 seconds, until 00:00:39, when McCain finally acknowledges her presence with a quick, one-armed hug and a split-second glance at the side of her head.

00:01:19 — McCain may have patted Obama’s back here. Impossible to tell what exactly he is doing with his left arm. But if it was a pat on the back, however patronizing, it somewhat negates the handshake snub. Somewhat. But not really.

00:01:20 — The snub. Obama reaches out to shake McCain’s hand. McCain makes a weird face and points to Cindy McCain. Nonplussed, Obama smiles and takes her hand, says some pleasantries, and returns to the voters in the audience.

00:01:34 — McCain glances at Cindy, nods towards the exit door, and gives a spastic little bug-eyed wave goodbye to … the exit door he’s approaching?

00:01:35 — That’s it, the McCains are gone.

00:01:36 — Tom Brokaw is in the room, talking to the audience members. Barack and Michelle Obama are in the room, talking to the audience members. It’s almost as if there was an agreed-upon protocol — you know, basic manners.

00:01:36 through 00:11:11 — For the next 10 minutes, Barack and Michelle talk to people, post for pictures, make jokes, have apparently serious conversations with people, sign autographs, shake hands, and otherwise engage with literally everybody in the room, a hundred people or more.

At 00:05:06, a woman slips under Barack’s arm and hugs him. He hugs her back, and she actually dances back to her seat, which makes a bunch of people laugh.

At 00:09:26, Barack starts talking to (we think!) the guy who asked the first question of the debate, the one about everybody losing all their retirement savings in the economic collapse. And he keeps talking to him, and keeps talking to him, and listening to him, for more than a minute.

At 00:10:42, a black guy in glasses and a gray sportscoat asks to have his picture taken with Obama, who motions up to the seats just out of view of the camera, and seems to say he was headed up there, but he’ll come back. At 00:11:15, he comes back to the guy and happily poses for the picture.

"My Fellow Prisoners."

I was eating lunch a bit ago and McCain was on my TEEVEE speaking in Bethlehem, PA, near my hometown. He referred to the people in the audience as, "my fellow prisoners."  (If I find a video of it I will put it up.) Is he losing it?

"Across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners and the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent."

And here's the video:

Not Going to the Back of the Bus.

Everyone in America needs to watch Donna Brazile talking about race in the presidential campaign.  It will bring tears to your eyes. Just watch it now.

Send Tina Fey To Michigan.

Sarah Palin has been crying crocodile tears over the McCain campaign giving up on Michigan now the Michigan Democrats are starting a petition to attract Tina Fey.  

Pock-i-stahn v. Eye Raq.

It seems a lot of people on the right are upset with the way Obama properly pronounced the name of the country of Pakistan. But, it's just great for Sarah Palin to mispronounce the name of Iraq. 

Why is ignorance so celebrated but speaking correctly excoriated? See this take on the subject over at Tapped.

To pronounce something correctly is to be "ostentatiously exotic," while pronouncing something incorrectly is raised to the level of something like a presidential qualification. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Americans of Pakistani descent who are themselves "ostentatiously exotic" by virtue of their names (and it would be elitist of them to expect anyone to pronounce them correctly) and ancestry.

Keep in mind that these are the same people who insist that a culture of ignorance that hold black people back while lauding Sarah Palin's vast ignorance of public policy as some kind of tremendous virtue. They demand merit from others and only mediocrity from themselves, because said mediocrity is touted as proof of authenticity.

Yes We Carve.

You can join Bethany and carve you Halloween pumpkin with a positive message this year.  See Yes We Carve for details. Hat tip: BlondesforObama.

That One.

Visit the new website for That One info and merchandise.  Somebody was on the ball fast.

Never Again.

Maybe you have to be of a certain age to get this one.

Photo Of The Day.

OK, it was taken on Sunday but I found it today. Note the great sign to the right of John Voight. "Hey Sarah, I can see the end of your political career from my house." 

Health Care Should Be a Right.

27 Days.

Probably I will have some thoughts on the debate last night as the day gets going but I just have one thing to say--"That One." WOW!

McCain's Next Big Move.

Mr. Fish comes up with McCain's next big move to capture our attention.

Man Shot for Wearing Obama T-Shirt.

OK, he was shot with a BB gun but this combined with the post below is pretty scary. And, McCain-Palin is egging it on.

GOP Obscenities.

"Terrorist!"

"Kill him!"

"Sit down, boy!"

Words of McCain-Palin supporters at various rallies yesterday, according to Christopher Orr.

None of these obscenities was uttered by anyone directly affiliated with the McCain campaign, but they are a clear consequence of the ugly turn it has taken--and shamelessly announced it would take!--over the past few days.

Quote For The Day. Understatement Edition.

"This is a much better campaign than I ran in 1988, and I'm impressed."

-- Mike Dukakis

quoted by the New York Observer

on 2008 Obama campaign

Sarah Palin v. Hillary Clinton.

Richard Cohen in today's Washington Post is a must read.  In it he excoriates both Sarah Palin and the media.  Here's his conclusion but you must read it all.

But what about Palin? Can you imagine the reaction of the press corps if Clinton had given the audience a "hiya, sailor" wink? Can you imagine the feverish blogging across the political spectrum if Clinton had claimed credit for stopping a bridge that, in fact, had set her heart aflutter? What if she had shown that she didn't know squat about the Constitution, if she could not tell Katie Couric what newspapers or magazines she read or if she had claimed an intimacy with foreign affairs based on sighting Russia through binoculars?

Ah, but the scorn, approbation and ridicule that would have descended on Clinton -- I can just imagine the Journal editorial -- have been withheld from Palin. Much of the mainstream media, grading on a curve suitable for a parrot -- "greed and corruption, greed and corruption, greed and corruption" -- gave her a passing grade or better. I agree with Palin. It's the mainstream media that flunked.

28 Days.

Can we take it for another 4 weeks?

"Swiftboaters for McCain."

Obama is taken to task for his associations.  

McCain's Not Raising Taxes To Pay For His Health Care Plan, He's Cutting Medicare.

McCain advisers have admitted that he is going to cut Medicare. The "Old Fart" isn't quite ready for Medicare but will be in the not too distant future so, to say that cutting health care benefits for one group to provide benefits for another is the answer to our health care mess is pure crap. The only candidate who will address this issue where we have any chance of seeing improvement is Obama.

From the Wall Street Journal.

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases.

But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

Lies and Misquotes from Palin Continue.

My blog friend Marianne pointed me to this and now we have a video.

Except that Albright didn't say what Palin said, as The Plank tells us:

Palin is, of course, misquoting Albright. Her actual line was not "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women," it was "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

And then there was her Darfur lie on Thursday night

Live By The Sword, Die By The Sword.

If it's all about the company one keeps, then (via Matt Yglesias):

• Watergate crook Gordon Liddy has contributed money to McCain’s campaigns, hosted a fundraiser for him, and received praise from McCain for his adherence to principle.
  
• McCain sought out, and received, the endorsement of the Rev John Hagee who believes that Katrina was God’s punishment to New Orleans for hosting a gay pride parade.
  
• McCain was a longtime associate of S&L kingpin Charles Keating, a beneficiary of Keating’s largess, and a doer of favors for Keating for which conduct he was officially reprimanded by the United States Senate.
  
• McCain has employed Richard Quinn, publisher of a Confederate nostalgia magazine.
  
• McCain served on the US Council for World Freedom, a far-right group whose parent organization was described by the Anti-Defamation League as “increasingly . . . a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact for extremists, racists and anti-semites.”
  

Remember the Keating Five.

See more details tomorrow at keatingeconomics.com. McCain-Palin throw Ayres into the political discourse, Obama comes back with a more direct  and damaging link for McCain.

Quote For The Day.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,"

Sarah Palin

October 5, 2008

San Francisco, CA

Who is The Real Barack Obama?

The McCain campaign is trying to sling mud at him but I think this story tells more about who the man really is than anything else. This happened 20 years ago before he was in politics and, I think, a true picture of the man's character. 

It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 surcharge:

When it was finally Mary’s turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said. Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.

As tears streamed down her face, she heard a "gentle and friendly voice" behind her saying, "That's okay, I'll pay for her."

Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man? Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

Who was the man?

Barack Obama.

Betty Boop For President.

1932's version of Sarah Palin.

Dodgers v. Phillies.

Now that's a predicament for this LA resident who spent the first 18 years of his life in the Philadelphia area. What to do, what to do?  

Obama's Winning.

The Amazon Halloween mask sales that is. Interesting that the numbers come close to what the polls are beginning to show.

Hey Sarah Palin.

Great new lyrics to the tune of "Hey There Delilah."

Music for A Sunday Morning.

Takin' it Back With Barack, Jack.  Enjoy!

Hat tip: Elizabeth Kaeton.

Israelis for Obama.

Be sure all your Jewish friends see this video. To email use this url (http://tinyurl.com/ObamaIsrael).

From Thatcher to Palin. Down a Steep Hill.

Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher and her policies, you can't think she achieved what she did by anything but playing by the same rules as her male contemporaries.  Andrew Sullivan has this to say as to where we have come with Sarah Palin.

Thatcher remains the standard. She was not above using feminine wiles in charming individuals; but in public, in debate, in the Commons, she beat men at their own game, using nothing but knowledge, forensics, expertise, argument and courage.

From Thatcher to Palin is not a slide downwards for conservative women. It's a free-fall. And McCain did it.

Unlearning God.

From Tony Woodlief comes something for us to think about on a Sunday.

Pondering the nature of God is essential, but it should be done with fear and trembling. We Westerners are trapped in a legalistic, contractual mindset. Many of those who led us here were hardhearted men in rebellion against Rome, yet enslaved to its juridical mentality. What can we claim to know about God, 2000 years after his Incarnation, having rejected 1500 years worth of experience and tradition, along with practically every insight taught by those who sat at the feet of the Apostles? What can we say about God? What dare we say about God?

God is love. God is a father, and a son, and a whispering ghost. God struck down nearly all of humanity in a killing flood. God nursed at the breast of a woman who freely chose to be grieved. God wept for the dead. God climbed unto a cross for his children. God is a consuming fire who will come again in power and glory and majesty.

Who then can know God by mind alone? Who will stand before him on that day and declare: This is why you have done these things, Lord, for these reasons that I have explained in my books and sermons? Who claims to discern the entire essence of God? Who sees him more than in a mirror darkly?

Intellectualize him at your peril.

Great News.

Tracking polls have been running strongly in Obama's favor for over a week now but these paragraphs from today's Rasmussen Poll results page are very, very good news. (Today's Rasmussen results O 51- M44 and Rasmussen tends to have a Republican tilt.)

Forty-five percent (45%) of voters say they are certain they will vote for Obama and will not change their mind. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say the same about McCain. Thirteen percent (13%) currently have a preference for one of the candidates but might change their mind. Four percent (4%) are either undecided or plan to vote for a third-party candidate.

One way of understanding the difficult challenge now facing McCain is to consider the relatively small group of persuadable voters who could still change their mind. The Republican hopeful would have to win nearly 80% of those votes to pull ahead in the race. That’s especially challenging because most of those voters are currently leaning towards Obama. In other words, while the race is not over, McCain needs a significant--game-changing—event to win the White House. Simply doing what he’s been doing a little better will not be enough.

He's Not A Maverick, He's A Mimic.

From a speech Hillary gave last night to the Human Rights Campaign.

Clinton sought to tie McCain to Bush, saying the Arizona senator offered voters "more of the same."

"He's not a maverick. He's a mimic," she said.

She noted that McCain doesn't support extending job discrimination and hate-crimes laws to cover sexual orientation and supports the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Another Look At The VP Debate.

From SNL. Best line: "Are we not doing the talent portion."

Make Believe Maverick.

You've got to read this article in Rolling Stone.  Read all of it. It's long but worth it for a true background on the man.  

Is Obama The Antichrist?

You betcha.  (He says tongue firmly planted in cheek.)

Quote For The Day.

"I'm a maverick and I may not answer the questions tonight."

-- NBC News anchor Brian Williams, 

on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Special Messages From Sarah Palin.

Via David Letterman last night.

Cartoon Of The Day.

From Mr. Fish.

I Will See Your 94 Tax Increases and Raise You 477.

Two can count tax increase votes the same way.

America's Cocktail Waitress.

A female reader of Andrew Sullivan's blog reacts to Rich Lowry.

In reaction to Rich Lowry, I'm sure I'm not the only woman who, upon reading his words, sat up a little straighter and said, "Is he kidding? Is he goddamn kidding me?" Is this the kind of reaction the women in this country should want men to have to the possible first female Vice Presidential candidate in history? Holy hell.

I thought Palin's performance at the debate was downright embarrassing and on top of that I have to read this clown's blog, stating more or less that Palin gave him an erection? Little starbursts my ass. Here's what I thought when Palin "dropped" that first wink at us: "Did she just wink at us like she was America's cocktail waitress?" Rich Lowry is on the verge of slapping Sarah Palin on the ass and asking her for another of those fantastic whiskey sours.

Bush Then = Palin Today.

From Keith Olberman, an interesting comparison of Bush in 2000 and Sarah Palin last night.

Sarah Is Coming.

To those in Southern California, Sarah Palin is coming to town tomorrow for a rally in Carson. 

Now, I'm not a great political strategist but the McCain campaign sending their VP to California 4 weeks before the election, when they have NO chance of winning here, makes less sense than sending McCain to Iowa earlier in the week.  I guess I should be happy they are wasting their time here and in Iowa rather than in Virginia, Florida or Ohio.  Keep up the good work.

Laughing Liberally/Drinking Liberally NYC Debate Watching Party.

Laugh For The Day.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Quote For The Day II.

One thing's for certain, nearly ever man that watched last night went to bed smiling, knowing he got not one but two winks from Ms. Wasilla.

Brian Till, The Washington Note

UPDATE: Two quotes for the price of one as I add this quote on the same subject.

I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. 

Rich Lowry, National Review Online

Blue Collar Workers For Obama.

According to the pundits, Barack Obama is supposed to not be the candidate of the blue collar voter. I don't think you could get more blue collar than mine workers in West Virginia. Now, they have taken action to protest an anti-Obama commercial being filmed at the mine where they work.  Good for them.

Quote For The Day.

For her part, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin – speaking with the programmed cadence of a GPS navigation system — used forced folksiness to deliver crammed material in the manner of a high schooler looking to score a good grade on a Spanish test. The kid may escape with a B-minus, but he wouldn’t be able to order a cup of coffee in Spain a week later.

Douglas Burns, Iowa Independent

1 Corinthians 13.

No on 8. The greatest of these is love.

Cartoon Of The Day.

Hat tip: Ellie.

Hey You, Get Away From Me!

From Politico, McCain gets testy with his base.

We just followed McCain down the steps following the vote to ask him about the reaction of House Republicans to the vote.

He didn't appreciate the company.

McCain: "Excuse me, you're bothering me."

Politico: "I'm bothering you?"

McCain: "Excuse me, I have to go."

A White Male Takes On Racism! Amen!

A great speech by the AFL-CIO's Richard Tumpka on who is responsible for the racism in white America. Watch this and tell me there is not something amazing happening in the country.

What Can I Say?

Don't Vote!

Palin Is McCain's Foreign Policy Advisor.

Now this is just beyond belief.  Can anyone seriously believe that John McCain turns to Sarah Palin for foreign policy advise? Here is what McCain said this morning on NPR.

"I've turned to her for advice many times in the past," McCain said. "I can't imagine turning to Sen. [Barack] Obama or [Sen. Joseph] Biden because they've been wrong. They were wrong about Iraq. They were wrong about Russia."

It's one thing to try to build up her foreign policy credentials but this is a flat out lie.  (But, he was a POW.)

Pro-Life, Pro Obama.

Will Samson is a Christian pro life activist who has seen the light of the moral relativism of the current "pro-life" political movement.  He has a lot to say about why he is supporting Obama, but here is a key portion of his statement.

The third thing that happened to me is that I started paying attention to how both scripture and the Church define life, this thing that we are all in favor of. Life, from a Christian perspective, is the unborn child in the womb. But it is also the child born in poverty who desperately needs a community to help raise her. From the perspective of both the Bible and the Church, life is the 18 year black male whose only perceived choices are illegal activities or joining the military to fight in Iraq. Christian social teaching rejects the simplistic definition that sees life only as the first nine months, the time in the womb.

We have, to our own discredit, conflated being pro-life to being pro-anti-abortion legislation. Has this made life more sacred? Has this improved the conditions for those most likely to have an abortion, the economically and educationally disadvantaged?

To ask these questions is to realize that there are no good answers in terms of who to support. The struggle of how to resolve these tensions is as close as my own home - my wife, Lisa, still has not committed to a candidate, given her strong opinions about abortion. I could take the path of least resistance, and choose John McCain, a clearly pro-anti-abortion legislation candidate. But, given the immense number of positions that Sen. McCain has been on both sides of, I wonder if his one and only pro-life credential is even something he will maintain.

Instead, I am choosing to make a compromise, a choice that pulls more clearly in the direction of life than all my other available choices: I am supporting Barack Obama. I am disappointed that Sen. Obama has not supported legislation that would protect the unborn, particularly in the late term. However, even through the sole lens of abortion, I truly believe that an Obama Presidency will change the culture in which unwanted pregnancies will be met with stronger economic and communal support, making the birth of the child a much more imaginable possibility.

The Cause Of Global Warming Doesn't Matter.

If you are interested in climate change and global warming then this interview clip with Palin will scare you. In it she said,

You know, there are man’s activities that can be contributed to the issues that we’re dealing with now, with these impacts. I’m not going to solely blame all of man’s activities on changes in climate because the world’s weather patterns are cyclical and over our history we have seen changes there.

Kinda doesn’t matter at this point…what caused it.

Well, it kind does matter. As Climate Progress notes:

"It kind of does matter whether man’s activities are to blame or not, because, you know, if we’re not the cause then we’re, kind of, not the solution either."

When Putin Rears His Head...

...Sarah Palin's phone doesn't ring.

The Alaska governor has no command authority over the guardians of U.S. airspace despite her recent suggestion otherwise.

"She doesn't have any role in that process," Air Force Maj. Allen Herritage, spokesman for the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Daily News.

NY Daily News

Can You Name Anything You Read?

Sarah Palin can't.

"Time Turns Elastic"

Here's a rehearsal clip of a piece co-written by my cousin, Don Hart, and Trey Anastasio of Phish, that received it's world premier this past Saturday night in Nashville.

And, here is a review of the piece.

The piece had all the elements familiar to jam-band junkies: Anastasio’s wandering, whining guitar runs and spacey, nonsensical lyrics. When paired with the crisply performed orchestration, it came off sounding more like the theme song to a Disney film on ’shrooms. It was ambitious, strange and wholly entertaining.

Fair and Balanced My Ass!

Watch this idiot Fox News reporter claim that a near unanimous preference for Obama. in this Scranton, PA diner, is  actually split between Obama and McCain.

Sarah Who?

The island to the left in this photo is Little Diomede Island, the point where Alaska is closest to Russia and thereby gives Sarah Palin foreign policy experience to be President of the US.

Gary Tuchman of CNN went there to get a closer look. It turns out that,

...many of these Alaskans had no idea who Sarah Palin was! It turns out they have no TV on the island, and therefore, many don’t follow the news.

Not only that but the only person on the island who knows who she is, Mayor Andrew Millgrock, says.

...she seems like an okay governor, but exclaims she should probably pay a visit to Little Diomede sometime. It may not help her foreign policy experience says the mayor, but would definitely help her domestic policy experience.

CNN will air the complete report tonight on AC360.

Quote For The Day.

"I think most people would take hiring someone for a summer job more seriously than Senator McCain took the choice of Governor Palin."

Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine

New Ideas v. Experience.

In a CBS interview to air tonight Sarah Palin positioned Thursday's debate between her and Joe Biden as,

"he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years."

Do you think she is aware of the dynamic at the top of the ticket.  She is after all the running mate of the old guy, John McCain.

Remedial Geography Needed.

First McCain thought Spain was in Latin America and now he has Venezuela in the Middle East. 

Cartoon Of The Day.

From Mr. Fish.

Grandpa McCain Comes to the Aid of Palin.

Now she can't even defend herself.

Happy Rosh Hashana!

From the candidates.

Light Blogging Ahead.

Not sure how much blogging I will be doing over the next week as my good friend from Germany, Sven-Uwe, farrives tomorrow. We'll be kicking around LA, eating our way around LA and I will still have to get a bit of work done. But, I suspect something crazy will happen (maybe the VP debate) that will give me something to bitch about. 

Good Job Bushie!

I've been quiet today as I've been working and I'll admit that the stock marketing and, the big subject for the day, the financial markets mess, is not my area of expertise. 

BUT, these numbers, comparing the day before Bush took office to today tell their own story.

January 19, 2001: 10,587.59
September 29, 2008: 10,365.45

NASDAQ Jan 19, 2001 = 2770.38
NASDAQ September 29, 2008 = 1983.73

CPI, January 19, 2001: 175
CPI, September 29, 2008: 219

Dollar exchange with Euro, January 19, 2001: 1.068
Dollar exchange with Euro, September 29, 2008: .695

Putin Rears His Head.

Look out Alaska.

Wedding Bells To Change The Subject.

Not sure if I believe this but I wouldn't put it past the McCain campaign as they attempt to change the subject.  From The Times of London:

In an election campaign notable for its surprises, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice- presidential candidate, may be about to spring a new one -- the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.

Inside John McCain's campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."

The Last Part of The Palin-Couric Interview from SNL.

Nightmare Scenario.

Register. Vote. To Avoid This.

"Act Your Age."

Here I go again, promoting a friend, but if you like great jazz, you won't want to miss Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's new album called "Act Your Age," which comes out on Tuesday. You can check them out and sample their music here. The musicians are among some of the best musicians in LA, like trumpeter, Wayne Bergeron and saxophonist, Eric Marienthal. Plus, this album features classic performers like Patty Austin, Dave Grusin, Chick Corea and Lee Ritenour.

In my last job, the band helped me launch our product in Hong Kong with a fabulous concert (in 2005) and I love their music. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Outta Here.

Until tomorrow. 

Nothing much happening tonight that catches my wrath or curiosity anyway. I'm off with friends for a night of theater under the stars (oh I forgot we rarely see stars here in LA) at the Getty Villa, to see Agamemnon with Tyne Daly and Delroy Lindo. 

How bad can a warm September night of theater outdoors, across the highway from the ocean, be?

Hooray!

Having spent my childhood and teenage years in the Philadelphia area, I still have a bit of residual joy when the Phillies win a pennant. 

It happens so rarely.

The Least of These.

Paul Rosenberg, over at Open Left, has a post which attempts to put some focus on the most forgotten among us.

Yet, for all the talk about being "a Christian nation" we seem utterly determined to ignore what Jesus said. This is not just a nice "spiritual" admonition. In the process of demonizing criminals, we feed a process of starving what is best about us. We legitimize a punitive state, in place of one that seeks to develop the best in each of us. The prison/industrial complex grows as the welfare state shrinks.

His post is long, with charts and other info, but well worth reading all of it.

A Retrospective of Many Artists, All of Them One Woman.

I missed this NY Times review of my friend Cathy's show at the Guggenheim in NY. Now I just have to find a reason to get to NY before January.

Exclusion versus inclusion is one of Ms. Opie’s recurrent themes. After shooting freeways in 1995, she drove cross-country to photograph women living in domestic partnerships. The result was a group of deeply felt but unsentimental marriage portraits taken in living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and back yards from San Francisco, to Tulsa, to New York; homages to families that America knew nothing about.

The bottom-line subject here, as elsewhere in Ms. Opie’s work, was community — elusive, longed-for, temporary, lost — and she addressed it again and with near-abstract subtlety in two landscape series. For one, she photographed a cluster of ice houses set up for fishing on a frozen lake in northern Minnesota. Two years later she took pictures of surfers waiting for waves to gather in becalmed California ocean water.

The Ralph Nader and Obama Girl Show.

For a Saturday afternoon laugh, watch this.

For The Youngsters.

We remember the Keating 5, which included John McCain. And, now he claims to be all in favor of regulation of the financial markets. I say what he said last night, "horsesh*t."

Quote For The Day.

"John McCain showed up without running mate Sarah Palin, which is a shame because she actually has a lot of experience with financial matters. You know, she lives right next to a bank."

--Jimmy Kimmel

Blinky.

What is wrong with him? I know there is a lot wrong but I am referring to his excessive blinking.

From a TPM reader who is a monkey scientist at a University comes this viewpoint.

I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that.

Big News In Mathematics.

Forget politics, don't you think this is the biggest news yet.

Mathematicians at UCLA have discovered a 13-million-digit prime number...

I tried to write the number out for you to see but I died trying.

One Angry Condescending Man.

Good Question.

From Joe Klein,

...one wonders what the McCain campaign would be doing to Obama today if Obama, instead of McCain, had made the major foreign policy factual errors of the debate--calling Pakistan a failed state when Musharraf took over and screwing up the name of Pakistan's new leader. (And, once again, McCain continued to insist that the flagrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the leader of Iran, even though there's another guy, Ali Khamenei, was actually has the title Supreme Leader and controls Iran's foreign policy and nuclear program. But then, as ever, McCain seems unwilling to change his locutions in this campaign, even when they are proven false.)

Look Me In The Eyes.

A lot of what America watched last night was impacted by the visual images.  Body language counts. Why can't McCain look Obama in the eyes? Even when shaking hands he looks away.

I remember in 1992 when I met Bill Clinton (briefly after a speech), the lasting impression I had was that when he shook my hand, I felt like I was the only one in the room, the only one he cared about. It's one of the reasons Clinton is so charismatic. How one greets others is a big part of how people react to others.  If you can't even look the person you are greeting in the eyes it says a lot about you.

"Horsesh*t."

At about 4:30 in this video is sure sounds like that was McCain's reaction.  Now that is presidential!

RIP.

On a very sad note, Paul Newman died last night. A long time favorite and great actor, he was one cool guy who starred in some great movies including--Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Hud, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and one of my favorite movies of all time, Cool Hand Luke.  

Who Won?

I thought Obama won the debate but I doubt if anyone who reads this blog would be surprised by that. 

Even Fox's focus group of undecided voters gave the debate to Obama. Seems to me that if Barack moved independents and undecided voters than he won. Naturally Democrats thought Obama won and Republicans thought the same about McCain so it's those who are non-affiliated who mater most.

Dan Savage Wants To Be Sarah Palin's New Gay Friend.