Friday, September 05, 2008
Your GOP VP Nominee
Troopergate. It sounds like a bad 1990s or 2000s teen movie, like Starship Troopers or Super Bad.
But seriously. Say if you wanted to vet a candidate on the cheap. If you googled her name before you nominated her, you could find out this information. She certainly fits in with the modern day GOP- let's post the ten commandments everyone even if we do not know them, right Westmoreland?
But seriously. Say if you wanted to vet a candidate on the cheap. If you googled her name before you nominated her, you could find out this information. She certainly fits in with the modern day GOP- let's post the ten commandments everyone even if we do not know them, right Westmoreland?
The Importance of Not Letting Abortion Be a Sleeper Issue
Harrogate is going to write a lot about this issue in the coming weeks. He hopes Media with big audiences will do the same, but if they insist on continuing to shield Independents from thinking about the Abortion Issue, then little bloggers like us must do the work.
So here's something interesting. Yesterday Harrogate and Roof Almighty met a self-described "Right Wing Christian" who considers Abortion to be murder, and a very fruitful conversation about abortion followed. This person said something to Harrogate that very rarely makes it past the shouting or enforced silence, when the subject is broached.
In the most affluent society on the face of the Earth, he told Harrogate. It is offensive that so many women who get pregnant feel that they have no choice but to get an abortion. That it is offensive that in America 2008, world-class health care is not available to such women not only during pregnancy, but in the years before and in the years that follow; that financial assistance is not always and immediately accessible to those who need it.
If the country was really interested in lessening abortions, he argued, it would put its money where its mouth is.
He followed up this argument by insisting that the thing he hated most about his own Republican Party, on the issue of Abortion, was its implicit and explicit opposition to contraceptives (Witness Sarah Palin). One does not have to give up on Appealing to Abstinence as a Value, simply by acknowledging that Abstinence Education doesn't cast a wide enough net.
This man candily told Harrogate he doesn't yet know who he will vote for, but he is pretty pissed at the Palin selection, and he is tired of his demographic being used by the Wall Street Republicans (his words).
Everything he said was great, and how shameful that the points he raised almost never make it into the Big Media discourse. Because the Abortion Issue is controlling our politics to an extent that we are unwilling to admit. We all know that not every abortion comes down to economics or to a lack of sex education, but isn't it reasonable to say that many abortions are tethered to these problems, and isn't that something we can all agree is sad?
Well, say what you want about him, and Lord knows Harrogate has said his share (and will continue to do so), Obama knows it is sad. Obama made the same damned argument on his Thursday night acceptance speech before some 38 million viewers, even though McCain (did you know he was a POW) snuffed it all out with the Palin pick. And that is why when you look at the options presented to you, Harrogate argues that if you care about lessening abortion rates, Obama is the right choice for President.
So here's something interesting. Yesterday Harrogate and Roof Almighty met a self-described "Right Wing Christian" who considers Abortion to be murder, and a very fruitful conversation about abortion followed. This person said something to Harrogate that very rarely makes it past the shouting or enforced silence, when the subject is broached.
In the most affluent society on the face of the Earth, he told Harrogate. It is offensive that so many women who get pregnant feel that they have no choice but to get an abortion. That it is offensive that in America 2008, world-class health care is not available to such women not only during pregnancy, but in the years before and in the years that follow; that financial assistance is not always and immediately accessible to those who need it.
If the country was really interested in lessening abortions, he argued, it would put its money where its mouth is.
He followed up this argument by insisting that the thing he hated most about his own Republican Party, on the issue of Abortion, was its implicit and explicit opposition to contraceptives (Witness Sarah Palin). One does not have to give up on Appealing to Abstinence as a Value, simply by acknowledging that Abstinence Education doesn't cast a wide enough net.
This man candily told Harrogate he doesn't yet know who he will vote for, but he is pretty pissed at the Palin selection, and he is tired of his demographic being used by the Wall Street Republicans (his words).
Everything he said was great, and how shameful that the points he raised almost never make it into the Big Media discourse. Because the Abortion Issue is controlling our politics to an extent that we are unwilling to admit. We all know that not every abortion comes down to economics or to a lack of sex education, but isn't it reasonable to say that many abortions are tethered to these problems, and isn't that something we can all agree is sad?
Well, say what you want about him, and Lord knows Harrogate has said his share (and will continue to do so), Obama knows it is sad. Obama made the same damned argument on his Thursday night acceptance speech before some 38 million viewers, even though McCain (did you know he was a POW) snuffed it all out with the Palin pick. And that is why when you look at the options presented to you, Harrogate argues that if you care about lessening abortion rates, Obama is the right choice for President.
"let me explain to them what the job involves": Making War and Banning Books
John McCain closed out his speech last night with rousing, Henry V-style calls for America to "Stand up" and to "Fight," words he used over and over again. The convention-goers went nuts. After all the ballons were dropped, at the top of the ticket what we were left with was, Fight, Fight, Fight; Did you know John McCain was a POW? He wasn't scared to fight! Now its our turn to Fight! Always Fight!
Speaking of fighting, in presenting us with Sarah Palin, a red-meat throwing politico who makes George W. Bush seem intellectually curious, John McCain started a big ole fight against our republican institutions as well.
Wednesday night both Rudy (noun, verb, 9/11) Giuliani and Palin made much of her mayoral record as part of her "executive experience." And then Palin, playing the victim, offered to "explain to them what the job" of Mayor involves. But she said nothing about her time as Mayor, opting instead for trashy, snarling, sarcastic derogations of Obama.
But, Harrogate will help Palin out. Her on-record urge to ban books as Mayor will nicely complement McCain's urge to stoke nationalistic fervor and start wars. What a team the McCain Administration promises to be, if we are ignorant enough as a people, to let them in the door.
Palin the book banner link. It also shows how she made abortion a central issue in a small-town MAYORAL race.
This bitch is a nutjob, people. The GOP's kind of nutjob.
But anyway, here's the book-banning blurb. Too bad this isn't a huge story already:
A good time to summon up some of this feeling right here, the opening seconds of this clip from the third greatest sports movie ever made:
"Ray, I just halted the spread of neo-fascism in America."
Speaking of fighting, in presenting us with Sarah Palin, a red-meat throwing politico who makes George W. Bush seem intellectually curious, John McCain started a big ole fight against our republican institutions as well.
Wednesday night both Rudy (noun, verb, 9/11) Giuliani and Palin made much of her mayoral record as part of her "executive experience." And then Palin, playing the victim, offered to "explain to them what the job" of Mayor involves. But she said nothing about her time as Mayor, opting instead for trashy, snarling, sarcastic derogations of Obama.
But, Harrogate will help Palin out. Her on-record urge to ban books as Mayor will nicely complement McCain's urge to stoke nationalistic fervor and start wars. What a team the McCain Administration promises to be, if we are ignorant enough as a people, to let them in the door.
Palin the book banner link. It also shows how she made abortion a central issue in a small-town MAYORAL race.
This bitch is a nutjob, people. The GOP's kind of nutjob.
But anyway, here's the book-banning blurb. Too bad this isn't a huge story already:
as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them.
A good time to summon up some of this feeling right here, the opening seconds of this clip from the third greatest sports movie ever made:
"Ray, I just halted the spread of neo-fascism in America."
Gloria Steinem: "Wrong woman, wrong message"
In an LA Times editorial, Gloria Steinem succinctly explains why Sarah Palin is the wrong person for the job.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
Personally, I don't get the whole "I'm gonna vote for someone else to protest the fact that my candidate got nominated" argument. Frankly, I don't even get the whole "I'm not gonna vote at all because there are no candidates I'm interested in" argument. Both seem like a cop-out on the part of the voter. Voting for McCain (and let's be real here; few people vote for a VP candidate--although Palin is being touted as a real reason to vote for McCain for some odd reason) to protest that Clinton didn't get the nomination is not stupid; it is asinine. And, as I think Harrogate would argue, is tantamount to agreeing to kill more people in the Middle East and God knows where else many Republicans would like to start wars in the name of protecting our freedoms.
What Steinem does so eloquently is remind us that we're not electing Palin. McCain is the one who needs to be held responsible for this poor choice, for treating the American public--and American women in particular--like we're stupid, and for putting our country at risk. As she points out, if he wanted to put a woman on the ticket, he had lots of other options--elected officials with real experience, who wouldn't make the rest of us cringe, and, despite their status as Republicans, actually work for the cause of gender equality. Instead he chose a woman who mirrors every single one of his policies.
If identity politics is all that matters to us, then I suggest we look past what the candidates look like and listen to how the present themselves and what they say. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden argue that women can't be equal outside the home until men do an equal amount of work inside it. That seems like a message most women would want to pay attention to.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
Personally, I don't get the whole "I'm gonna vote for someone else to protest the fact that my candidate got nominated" argument. Frankly, I don't even get the whole "I'm not gonna vote at all because there are no candidates I'm interested in" argument. Both seem like a cop-out on the part of the voter. Voting for McCain (and let's be real here; few people vote for a VP candidate--although Palin is being touted as a real reason to vote for McCain for some odd reason) to protest that Clinton didn't get the nomination is not stupid; it is asinine. And, as I think Harrogate would argue, is tantamount to agreeing to kill more people in the Middle East and God knows where else many Republicans would like to start wars in the name of protecting our freedoms.
What Steinem does so eloquently is remind us that we're not electing Palin. McCain is the one who needs to be held responsible for this poor choice, for treating the American public--and American women in particular--like we're stupid, and for putting our country at risk. As she points out, if he wanted to put a woman on the ticket, he had lots of other options--elected officials with real experience, who wouldn't make the rest of us cringe, and, despite their status as Republicans, actually work for the cause of gender equality. Instead he chose a woman who mirrors every single one of his policies.
If identity politics is all that matters to us, then I suggest we look past what the candidates look like and listen to how the present themselves and what they say. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden argue that women can't be equal outside the home until men do an equal amount of work inside it. That seems like a message most women would want to pay attention to.
Contradiction of the Past Two Days
On Wednesday, Sarah Palin delivers a partisan address to rev up the base. Last night, McCain attacked partisanship, saying that occurred because of self-interest.
Do they think that the American people are so stupid that they cannot remember receiving conflicting messages within a 24 time frame? Do they think the American people are so stupid that they do not realize that Palin has always been partisan?
It is as if they wrote McCain's speech for the selection of Joe Lieberman as his VP and never bothered to change it. Damn facts!!!
I remember teaching debate one year and a student attempted to persuade the class to vote for a particular candidate. The problem of course is that the election occurred the day before her speech and her candidate lost, badly. Technically, it was a good speech. However, it possessed no relationship to reality.
The modern day GOP is that student.
Do they think that the American people are so stupid that they cannot remember receiving conflicting messages within a 24 time frame? Do they think the American people are so stupid that they do not realize that Palin has always been partisan?
It is as if they wrote McCain's speech for the selection of Joe Lieberman as his VP and never bothered to change it. Damn facts!!!
I remember teaching debate one year and a student attempted to persuade the class to vote for a particular candidate. The problem of course is that the election occurred the day before her speech and her candidate lost, badly. Technically, it was a good speech. However, it possessed no relationship to reality.
The modern day GOP is that student.
Michelle Malkin Explains: They Weren't Denigrating Community Organization, Just Obama
Thanks for clarifying things, Michelle. And while you're certainly worthy of consderation for today's Assy McGee Award®, we must be patient--'tis early, yet.
Blech.
Blech.
Because After All, John McCain Was a POW
Normally Harrogate only posts the one song by this band, the same song, every year. But tonight demands a second one by them, for 2008. It is so fitting it hurts.
"Captive Honour" indeed.
"Captive Honour" indeed.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
More TalkLeft Sycophanting, And More Solon Kindredness
Harrogate can't help it. He's just so damned happy to see Jeralyn and TChris swinging for the fences and in peak form. Their synopses are of course not as good as Solon's, but they're pretty awesome nonetheless.
Gems from TChris:
Jeralyn is still the Champ, though
Some samples from her Live Blog of the McCain Orgy:
And look at this sequence. This is the kind of stuff that explains why we smoke blog in the first place:
Clap clap. Keep swinging away. Everybody everywhere, keep swinging away.
Gems from TChris:
I respect Sen. Obama. We're both Americans. But only one of us was a POW.
I know it's tough to be unemployed. If we didn't have a government, you'd all still have jobs. Sarah Palin will help me do away with government.
Jeralyn is still the Champ, though
Some samples from her Live Blog of the McCain Orgy:
Update: The video. Did you know John McCain was a POW?
Update: No podium. He waves to the crowd. Sure looked like he raised his arm above his chest to me.
And look at this sequence. This is the kind of stuff that explains why we smoke blog in the first place:
Throws Obama a respect bone. What's going on. Did a protester just get in? "Please Don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static? Did they plan that or did he ad lib that?
He mentions Palin and she gets more applause than him. You can't even hear him over the applause. That shows you how desperate the evangelical radical right is to get their hands on the White House.
Update: 10:33 pm. This is one of the worst speeches ever. It's boring and not saying anything.
( Note to readers: Don't forget to leave song suggestions in the comments.)
Clap clap. Keep swinging away. Everybody everywhere, keep swinging away.
Random thoughts....
We believe in communities [but not community organizers... The people can't stand up for themselves....]
I can't even comment on this speech. I can't even take it seriously. His arguments are just not even believable. It's better than Romney's (What we need to get rid of is liberal toast and replace it with conservative English Muffins) but this speech is just not realistic.
Drill Baby Drill. Choice in Education but not for Women. Blah, Blah, Blah. I was a POW so elect me president. I don't know anything but I will act with determination and from the gut. That is what this country needs, right?
I can't even comment on this speech. I can't even take it seriously. His arguments are just not even believable. It's better than Romney's (What we need to get rid of is liberal toast and replace it with conservative English Muffins) but this speech is just not realistic.
Drill Baby Drill. Choice in Education but not for Women. Blah, Blah, Blah. I was a POW so elect me president. I don't know anything but I will act with determination and from the gut. That is what this country needs, right?
Why is Obama on Fox
Vanity Fair has a piece on Rupert Murdoch that discusses the truce between Obama and Fox. The portion on Obama is halfway through the article?
Bad move Jackasses...
Let the man speak, even if he won't say anything. It is too easy to redefine the situation.
As War Dog McCain Takes The Stage
Springsteen's Rendition of this Irish Antiwar Folk Song, "Mrs. McGrath," seems the appropriate response.
Or you could just quote Megadeth:
Or you could just quote Megadeth:
Kill one, you're a murderer;
Kill many, you're a conquerer;
Kill 'em all, you're a God.
Captive Honor aint no honor.
Preview of McCain's Speech....
There is a bear in the woods...Wait, wrong script.
Tonight will be one long non-sequitur:
The 2008 election is the most important in our lifetime because of the dangers in the world. I was a POW. Vote for me. Also, I believe in tax cuts, well now I do. And to social conservatives; see my VP. Reform, reform, reform.
Just don't ask me about the issues such as the economy, the nuances in the war on terror, abortion, and a host of other issues I know nothing about. Just focus on my character because character, not knowledge or judgment is the most important characteristic in this election. See character is part of characteristic.
George Who?
Tell me if I am wrong, the NFL began tonight. The game between the Giants and Washington Ethnic Slurs will be as intellectually stimulating. Oooooooh Commercials.
Tonight will be one long non-sequitur:
The 2008 election is the most important in our lifetime because of the dangers in the world. I was a POW. Vote for me. Also, I believe in tax cuts, well now I do. And to social conservatives; see my VP. Reform, reform, reform.
Just don't ask me about the issues such as the economy, the nuances in the war on terror, abortion, and a host of other issues I know nothing about. Just focus on my character because character, not knowledge or judgment is the most important characteristic in this election. See character is part of characteristic.
George Who?
Tell me if I am wrong, the NFL began tonight. The game between the Giants and Washington Ethnic Slurs will be as intellectually stimulating. Oooooooh Commercials.
Obama camp responds on "community organizing"
According to Politico, here is the Obama campaign's response. This is a very important contrast as it exemplifies who the elitists are:
Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.This response shows the Conservative dislike of democracy.
Let's clarify something for them right now.
Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.
And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.
Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.
ZAPOW!!
The Enquirer's response to McCain's threat to sue over the reporting of Palin's alleged extramarital affair:
The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum.
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