Last time we saw Junior Soprano...

drool was pouring out of his mouth while a cat sat on his lap at a N.J. state hospital for the elderly.

It seems not much has changed, though he can do some voice overs...

Cutting off birth control supplies to Africa

How is it that George Bush and John McCain can claim to be pro-life when this policy, in fact, proves quite the opposite?

Analyzing Gibbs's Methodology; Or, Rachel Maddow Listened to Her First-Year Composition Teacher

One of the things that I constantly tell my composition students is that they need to "show, not tell." That is to say, they should demonstrate their points through examples and description, rather than simply stating their points and expecting their audiences to concede said points without evidence.

In an effort to emphasize the importance of this rhetorical necessity, I often remind students that I am from Missouri, and that Missouri is the "Show-Me State." Consequently, if their arguments are not showing me, then they're not persuading me. And if they're not persuading me, then they're not effective. And if they are not effective, then...well, then they're far from A-territory.

On Countdown last night, Keith Olbermann discussed the Hannity-Gibbs clip that the almighty Roof posted yesterday. In doing so, he asked Rachel Maddow to comment on Gibbs's methodology and to describe how he acheived success against Hannity. Maddow's response:

He did it by showing, instead of telling.

This wonderful pedagogical moment begins at the four-minute mark.

Thursday Musical Tribute

I woke up with this song running through my head this morning. As it is a good one, I thought I'd share. . .

One of Those Songs Meant to Be Listened To At Night

Damn.

Assy McGee Award®: Camille Paglia (Heh)

Harrogate suspects there might be Board Members at least somewhat curious as to what that crazy old gal, (Heh), Camille Paglia, has to say about the election.


Well, Breaking News: Paglia still calls herself an Obama supporter, but for the life of her, cannot figure out why Palin's Veep run isn't being celebrated as a huge feminist achievment.


So here's to ya, Camille. You Betcha and you're Darned Tootin', nobody deserves the October 8th Assy McGee Award® more than you.

Your concern about the foreign-policy world-view of liberal Democrats is certainly justified. The university culture at Columbia and Harvard through which Obama passed has been drenched in a reflexive anti-Americanism for several decades. Armchair blame-America-first leftism is the default mode. Disdain for the military is rampant, and conservative voices are rarely heard.

and

Yes, both Todd and Sarah Palin, whom most people in the U.S. and abroad had never even heard of until six weeks ago, have emerged as powerful new symbols of a revived contemporary feminism. That the macho Todd, with his champion athleticism and working-class cred, can so amiably cradle babies and care for children is a huge step forward in American sexual symbolism.

and

And where is all that lurid sexual fantasy coming from? When I watch Sarah Palin, I don't think sex -- I think Amazon warrior! I admire her competitive spirit and her exuberant vitality, which borders on the supernormal.

and

People who can't see how smart Palin is are trapped in their own narrow parochialism -- the tedious, hackneyed forms of their upper-middle-class syntax and vocabulary.

That's right. But, Friends: These are only teasers. Follow the link to get the full ridiculousness.

The Obama Craft Project

Our friend Sarah introduced me to The Obama Craft Project blog:

The Obama Craft Project seeks to celebrate and archive the work of the many
crafters who have created projects inspired by Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for
the Presidency.

You really should check out some of these crafty items! Some of my faves:

The Obama Bean Portrait

The Obama "Change" Purse

My Hero, Robert Gibbs

After the debate last night, Robert Gibbs appeared on Hannity and Combs. During the appearance, Hannity and Gibbs discussed the William Ayers relationship.

In this clip, Gibbs attacked Hannity for a recent show on Hannity's America that attacked Obama and his "radical connections" and turns the tables on Hannity's guilt by association tactics. While Hannity attacked Obama's judgment because he sat on a board with Ayers, Gibbs argues that if this guilt by association tactic is correct then Hannity is anti-Semitic since Hannity allowed an anti-Semite on Hannity's America.



Besides hijacking Hannity and Combs and brining rationality to it, Gibbs takes Hannity's position to its logical conclusion, weakening Hannity's ethos and limiting his ability to make arguments.

I wonder why Hannity let Gibbs speak?

Solon's Last Post Reprised, and a Tuesday Musical Tribute

My friend, my friend hes got a knife
A statement from his former life
When he was easy but alone
Beside him was an empty throne
But what of silver silken blade
Affix his gaze, his features staid
Grasps the handle, clips the cable
One steps up, sits at his table
My friend, my friend, hes got a knife
My friend, my friend, hes got a wife

My friend, my friend, the clever ruse
Persuasion through his thoughts peruse
A hidden relic from his past
That wasnt there when he looked last
He feels it ticking like a bomb
Feeding fear, assaulting calm
Takes the object, starts the game
Moves closer to the flame

Phrase of the Night:

My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.
My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends. My Friends.

Ouch!

From The Rolling Stone:

In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the
current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker
Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born
into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both
developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a
minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At
each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward.
And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to
build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to
Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.
In one vital respect, however,
the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a
much better pilot.

Ideas Have Consequences: State of the Race

With 28 eight days to go and the second presidential debate scheduled for this evening, the bottom is about to fall out.

Currently, the Republican "mavericks" rely on guilt by association arguments. Of course, the self-defined "mavericks" do not engage in any introspection over the consequences of their actions.

Cases in point: First, at a McCain rally yesterday, McCain asks his audience, "Who is Obama," and an audience member responds a terrorist. Second, at a Palin rally, while the Hockey Mom attacks Obama as a terrorist, an audience member shouts out "Kill Him!!!" Additionally, as Matthew Yglesias notes, at the Palin rally, Palin continued to attack a press that dare ask her questions while her audience members wave thunder sticks at the press and another Palin supporter shouted a "racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'"

Democracy is quite a dangerous game when your opponent is not a colleague but your enemy and the proper course of action does not involve compromise but death. If this election concerns without outbursts of violence, I will be mildly surprised.

Thanks to A.S. for finding this above photo.

Talk About Dirty Politics

For a country that does not take its politics seriously, cutting the brake lines of the "Liberal" parties supporters is just down right wrong. I guess that is what those hockey mom's do!

Rules for Tomorow's Debate

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow....

According to Ben Smith and Lynn Sweet, here are the rules for the debate tomorrow.

Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking -- not reacting.

While there will be director's chairs (with backs and foot rests), McCain and Obama will be allowed to stand -- but they can't roam past their "designated area" to be marked on the stage. McCain and Obama are not supposed to ask each other direct questions.

[T]he candidates are banned during the debates from moving to the other side -- and from wielding proposed pledges.

From this description, no one can ask a follow up. Pander Fest USA!!!

Why should the candidates agree to this? This is even bad television as there will little chance for conflict or disagreement. At most, one can have a "I feel your pain" moment, which no one could possibly believe; one candidate could avoid providing a substantive answer to any question deemed remotely objectionable and where have we seen that; or maybe, for entertainment's sake, a candidate will look bored and stare down at his watch. What substance?

Knowing the rules, my initial take will be this will only be one ad hominem after another. Maybe McCain will call Obama a terrorist to his face.

Update: if you read Sweet's blog, you'll find out that the candidates agreed to a process that prohibited notes. Now, in the VP debate, Palin stared at notes, which means she violated the rules and brought notes or, to answer Harrogate's question, while Biden was speaking, she wrote as many topoi as possible, which means she was not listening to Biden speak. What class!!!

Say what you will about Elizabeth Hasselbeck

but she lacks the basic intelligence to be on television. And ideology is not a good replacement.

She reminds me of William Kristol....and that cannot be a good mental connection.

Today on The View, the hosts discussed political smears, especially guilt by association tactics. Conservatives are making the argument that Obama is a terrorist because he knowns William Ayers. But for some reason, Conservatives do not argue that McCain is war criminal because he signed a bill authorizing torture or hangs out with President Bush, but I digress...

Yet, displaying her intelligence like she has never has before, Hasselbeck declared that she does not like Obama because unlike Palin, Obama is not open and has not declared his connections to political radicals. I forget, what happened during the Democratic Primary? Oh.

Seriously. If Hillary Clinton could not use this information to her advantage, how could McCain? It is not if this information has just been revealed.

But as for Hasselbeck, rather than discuss all of her lies, let's just focus on her standard of Palin. To Hasselbeck, Palin is the paragon of openness; Obama just hides his radical connections. I imagine that, because of Palin's openness, we know so much about her medical health and Troopergate, as well as her basic world-view because she consistently answers questions and holds press conferences on a regular basis.

Elizabeth- please, try harder. Because you look like a damn fool every day on The View.

A Response to a Recent Comment by Oxymoron, a Monday Musical Tribute to Led Zeppelin, and a Visual Rhetoric Open Thread

Comes courtesy of Barry Blitt, the same artist who brought us the famous New Yorker cover art of Barack and Michelle Obama. The image accompanies yesterday's New York Times installment by Frank Rich, provocatively entitled "Pitbull Palin Mauls McCain"

Meanwhile, click play on the video below, and ye shall experience a great performance by Led Zeppelin, of one of their hottest and, in terms of the almighty jam, most underrated songs ever, "Trampled Under Foot." Damn, those fellas could tear it up!

Say it Ain't So Joe

Joe Lieberman introduced Sarah Palin at a rally today in Florida. During his introduction, TNR reports that he stated:

"She's so strong, she's so capable, she's so competent," Lieberman told the cheering crowd. Emphasizing her "faith," he added that she is someone who "with your help--and God's help--will be the next vice president of the United States."
The religiousity continued when Palin bounded onstage. She commented right away on the number of American flags in the crowd, declaring: "God bless America--you guys get it!"

While I should attack Lieberman and Palin for arguing thaqt this election concerns the choices of G-d rather than human agency and the colossal mistakes by humans, maybe they are right in understanding that it will take divine intervention at this point.

In addition: Earlier, I discussed Kristol's column in which he argues that Palin/ McCain need to tar and feather their opponents. In this piece, Kristol quotes Palin discussing tomorrow's debate, saying McCain should "take the gloves off." TNR makes a good point: "Wouldn't a real hockey mom recommend that McCain "drop the gloves"?"

You betcha!!!

Sarah Palin, A Governor Devoid of Irony

William "They Will Greet Us as Liberators" Kristol, a writer who possesses no knowledge of reality-- just "forms", insults the American people once again in his Times column. Writing with the assumption that the American people are stupid and what should move the people is Culture rather than a real discussion of any issues, Kristol argues that McCain/ Palin should bring up the good Rev. Wright, especially during tomorrow night's debate.

When Kristol asks Palin, Palin states:

“To tell you the truth, Bill, I don’t know why that association isn’t discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that — with, I don’t know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn’t get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up.”

This quote reveals nothing but contempt for the American people. Why would it be okay for McCain/ Palin to attack Obama because of his religious associations? Are McCain and Palin that stupid to take this route, especially with the religious associations of McCain (Hagee) and Palin (Jews for Jesus, speaking in tongues, Alaska as a place of salvation for the end times).

I would prefer Palin to actually read and then explain the comments by Rev. Wright and then explain how her religious "beliefs" and "practices" provide a better moral foundation for an individual.

For Kristol, this just reveals more pure, conservative, anti-intellectualism. For Palin, this just reveals pure stupidity.

Should we expect anything less? When you cannot offer the American people any substance, you must look to tar and feather... I hope no Wiccans will be burned at the stake.

Real Government Begins

While this presidential race is exciting, and all that, the real branch of government, the Supreme Court, begins it term today.

The New York Times argues that it will be a quiet year for the Kennedy, er, I mean Robert's Court. The Justices will hear cases on free speech (Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations), redistricting (Bartlett v. Strickland), and the ten commandments (Pleasant Grove City v. Summum).

Today's arguments concern the rights of individuals to being forth claims against cigarette companies that advertised "light" cigarettes as being "healthier."

The guiding principle for the Robert's Court has been to reduce standing and limit the people who can bring forth claims through the judiciary. The 2008 Presidential election may alter the way in which the Robert's Court can continue to do this.

During the next four years, there should be substantial shifts to the Supreme Court as Stevens and Ginsburg will most likely step down. Five other Justice may step down in the next 6 - 10 years as two Justices will have served for almost twenty years.

Nailed them both

Proving it is indeed a non-partisan show, SNL nailed both Biden and Palin in its parody of the VP Debate. I especially like how Queen Latifah imitated Gwen Ifill's obvious preference for the Obama-Biden ticket.