Campaign 2008

[Gary Floyd 0]

You dont watch Letterman much.

I love Letterman. Letterman is funny though You aren't. And neither is Glenn Beck.

 

[SuperJerk 0]

Fair point, Oldskool, but it should be noted that oil companies can increase production from sources already available at any time. And market forces can explain how parts of an oligopoly arrive at similar prices independently through attempts to match a price with what the market will bear.

 

Also, I just read it again and Marvin's "let's use it all now while it is still worth something" argument is pretty damn hillarious.

 

How is it hillarious when its true? What good will the billions of barrels of oil that we're sitting on top of be for us in the 20-30 year future time frame when we no longer use it for anything? Meanwhile we're still buying other country's oil today because they're tapping it now and selling like it was going out of style, making them rich when we could be buying our own oil and contributing to our own economy.

 

I think I figured it out..when we go completely off oil and the rest of the world uses up all their oil but are still using oil cause they didn't worry about getting off oil like we did, we can sell our oil and the price will be even higher and we'll be the new Saudi Arabia! That has to be the plan, its the only way this makes any sense.

The reason your argument is hillarious is because it assumes with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY that at some point we'll be so energy efficient oil will not be worth anything, so we must use it all RIGHT NOW.

 

And yes, I'd prefer America to be the last country on Earth to have any oil left. Maybe that doesn't make me a very good liberal, but better us than some other country.

 

 

[snuffbox 0]

Latest polling indicates that the American electorate is living up to its reputation. It's tied up under the assumption that Obama is really Paris Hilton in Al Jolson blackface.

[EricMM 0]

[2GOLD 0]

Latest polling indicates that the American electorate is living up to its reputation. It's tied up under the assumption that Obama is really Paris Hilton in Al Jolson blackface.

 

"Evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

 

I think I would react differently if McCain's camp was running a solid campaign with no stupid attack ads, but he's not. His speeches I've heard have made me wonder what happened to the guy I liked many many years ago. His charisma is gone, his good ideas are gone and all that is left is a battered shell of the man who I thought was going to stand up to the Republics but instead caved in.

 

He's acting like a puppet. It's disgraceful to see a man who literally went through hell to get where he is acting like this. I have no respect left for the man other than the what he went through as a POW, but that respect can't really be touched.

[EricMM 0]

I feel the exact same way.

 

His kowtowing to Republican shit when he USED to (apparently) be this quote unquote maverick has me doubting his entire political history.

 

Frankly the man looks like grim death up there on the podium, and sounds confused and occasionally senile on the news. If Americans vote that into the oval office over Obama it will be a very disgusting thing.

[gWIL 0]

Obama is making a stop in Elkhart, Indiana on Wednesday. Rumors are abounding that he'll pick Evan Bayh as his veep there because he doesn't want to announce during the Olympics. Bayh is definately going to be there so this should be interesting. I've got tickets, i hope it happens.

[snuffbox 0]

Some lady on Hardball today accidentally referred to Bayh as "Birch." She didn't even look like she was old enough to vote when Evan's dad was blazing a bland trail throughout Indiana.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Latest polling indicates that the American electorate is living up to its reputation. It's tied up under the assumption that Obama is really Paris Hilton in Al Jolson blackface.

 

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

 

"The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other in opposite directions."

 

Thanks, George.

[SuperJerk 0]

I was hoping for Bayh back before the Democrats took Congress back over and "everyone" thought only a moderate could win. Now I'm like "meh."

 

While he is especially qualified, I'd think the guy who co-sponsored the Iraq War resolution wouldn't necessarily fit in at all with Obama's "change" message.

 

 

[SamoaRowe 0]

After spending two weeks in Maine, I am a lot more terrorfied of the upcoming elections. Basically everyone I heard talking about politics up there seems to know absolutely nothing about either candidate's positions, but they are leaning towards McCain because he's the more conventional candidate.

[SuperJerk 0]

The only thing most Americans know about Obama is that he has a crazy preacher and he's black, and Obama still leads by 3-5 point margins in most polls. Three things will happen between now and election day that'll double that lead:

1. The convention speech.

2. The debates.

3. TV advertisments that actually contrast McCain and Obama on the issues.

 

Quit worrying.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

If Obama picks Evan Bayh to be his running mate I'm going to shrug my shoulders and let out a deep sigh and resign myself to the fact that this country is never going to shift back toward the left in any meaningful way. Are we really doomed to just oscillate between center-right and far right every eight years or so? What have we done to deserve this?

[At Home 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists. It's the midwest.

[SuperJerk 0]

Oh. My. God.

 

 

My friends, this is not a man or a campiagn that can win.

 

To reinforce this point, I proudly present this article from none-other than the Wall Street Journal...

 

DANIEL HENNINGER

Is John McCain Stupid?

July 31, 2008

Is John McCain losing it?

 

On Sunday, he said on national television that to solve Social Security "everything's on the table," which of course means raising payroll taxes. On July 7 in Denver he said: "Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't."

 

This isn't a flip-flop. It's a sex-change operation.

 

 

Recent remarks by John McCain has some Republicans stewing. Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger of the WSJ Editorial page talks with Kelsey Hubbard about McCain's need for a new strategy to beat Barack Obama. (July 31)

He got back to the subject Tuesday in Reno, Nev. Reporters asked about the Sunday tax comments. Mr. McCain replied, "The worst thing you could do is raise people's payroll taxes, my God!" Then he was asked about working with Democrats to fix Social Security, and he repeated, "everything has to be on the table." But how can . . .? Oh never mind.

 

Yesterday he was in Aurora, Colo., to wit: "On Social Security, he [sen. Obama] wants to raise Social Security taxes. I am opposed to raising taxes on Social Security. I want to fix the system without raising taxes."

 

What I'm asking is, does John McCain have the mental focus, the intellectual discipline, to avoid being out-slicked by Barack Obama, if he isn't abandoned by his own voters?

 

It's not just taxes. Recently the subject came up of Al Gore's assertion that the U.S. could get its energy solely from renewables in 10 years. Sen. McCain said: "If the vice president says it's doable, I believe it's doable." What!!?? In a later interview, Mr. McCain said he hadn't read "all the specifics" of the Gore plan and now, "I don't think it's doable without nuclear power." It just sounds loopy.

 

Then this week in San Francisco, in an interview with the Chronicle, Sen. McCain called Nancy Pelosi an "inspiration to millions of Americans." Notwithstanding his promises to "work with the other side," this is a politically obtuse thing to say in the middle of a campaign. Would Bill Clinton, running for president in 1996 after losing control of the House, have called Newt Gingrich an "inspiration"? House Minority Leader John Boehner, facing a 10-to-20 seat loss in November, must be gagging.

 

The one thing -- arguably the only thing -- the McCain candidacy has going for it is a sense among voters that they don't know what Barack Obama stands for or believes. Why then would Mr. McCain give voters reason to wonder the same thing about himself? You're supposed to sow doubt about the other guy, not do it to yourself.

 

Yes, Sen. McCain must somehow appeal to independents and blue-collar Hillary Democrats. A degree of pandering to the center is inevitable. But this stuff isn't pandering; it's simply stupid. Al Gore's own climate allies separated themselves from his preposterous free-of-oil-in-10-years whopper. Sen. McCain saying off-handedly that it's "doable" is, in a word, thoughtless.

 

 

Speaker Pelosi heads a House with a 9% approval. To let her off the hook before the election reflects similar loss of thought.

 

The forces arrayed against Sen. McCain's candidacy are formidable: an unpopular president, the near impossibility of extending Republican White House rule for three terms, the GOP trailing in races at every level, a listless fundraising base, doubtful sentiments about the war, a flailing economy.

 

The generic Democratic presidential candidate should win handily. Barack Obama, though vulnerable at the margin, is a very strong candidate. This will be a turnout election. To win, Mr. McCain needs every Republican vote he can hold.

 

Why make it harder than it has to be? Given such statements on Social Security taxes, Al Gore and the "inspirational" Speaker Pelosi, is there a reason why Rush Limbaugh should not spend August teeing off on Mr. McCain?

 

Why as well shouldn't the Obama camp exploit all of this? If Sen. Obama's "inexperience" is Mr. McCain's ace in the hole, why not trump that by asking, "Does Sen. McCain know his own mind?"

 

* * *

In this sports-crazed country, everyone has learned a lot about what it takes to win. They've heard and seen it proven repeatedly that to achieve greatness, to win the big one, an athlete has to be ready to "put in the work."

 

John McCain isn't doing that, yet. He's competing as if he expects the other side to lose it for him. Sen. McCain is a famously undisciplined politician. Someone in the McCain circle had better do some straight talking to the candidate. He's not some 19-year-old tennis player who's going to win the U.S. presidential Open on raw talent and the other guy's errors. He's not that good.

 

There is a reason the American people the past 100 years elevated only two sitting senators into the White House -- JFK and Warren Harding. It's because they believe most senators, adept at compulsive compromise, have no political compass and will sell them out. Now voters have to do what they prefer not to. Yes, Sen. McCain has honor and country. Another month of illogical, impolitic remarks and Sen. McCain will erase even that. Absent a coherent message for voters, he will be one-on-one with Barack Obama in the fall. He will lose.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121745962594698731.html

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists.

 

I don't see what's so baffling about it. The right wing in this country has just managed to use race/religion/guns/"political correctness"/whatever to essentially trick a whole bunch of people into voting against their own economic interests. It's pretty simple, really.

[snuffbox 0]

If the Democrats were the ones speaking in an empty House, how many times would the Liberal Media have referred to it as 'political theatre' by now?

[Atticus Chaos 0]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

 

Paris Hilton responds to McCain's ad. Okay, I can't stand her but that is pretty damn funny. She has been redeemed (slightly) in my eyes.

[SuperJerk 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists.

 

I don't see what's so baffling about it. The right wing in this country has just managed to use race/religion/guns/"political correctness"/whatever to essentially trick a whole bunch of people into voting against their own economic interests. It's pretty simple, really.

People in small towns and rural areas, areas associated with "red states," have lost faith in the government to fix economic problems. It's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. They vote for people based on these issues instead of their economic self-interest.

 

Man, if only some politician were smart enough to realize this problem and talk about it. I'm sure if he did, the press would have no choice but to cover the problems facing these people instead of encouraging, and fanning the flames of, the name-calling and the knee-jerk moral indignation that's characterized this campaign so far.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

 

Paris Hilton responds to McCain's ad. Okay, I can't stand her but that is pretty damn funny. She has been redeemed (slightly) in my eyes.

 

I was just about to post that.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I was going to post something along the lines of "Paris Hilton would be a better President than John McCain" but then I realized that they'd both just turn out to be equally mindless pawns for corporate interests. Though I guess having someone like Paris Hilton in office could potentially expedite the sort of violent revolution necessary to finally shake this country out of its Late Capitalist doldrums. So maybe she really would be a little better???

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists.

 

I don't see what's so baffling about it. The right wing in this country has just managed to use race/religion/guns/"political correctness"/whatever to essentially trick a whole bunch of people into voting against their own economic interests. It's pretty simple, really.

People in small towns and rural areas, areas associated with "red states," have lost faith in the government to fix economic problems. It's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. They vote for people based on these issues instead of their economic self-interest.

 

Man, if only some politician were smart enough to realize this problem and talk about it. I'm sure if he did, the press would have no choice but to cover the problems facing these people instead of encouraging, and fanning the flames of, the name-calling and the knee-jerk moral indignation that's characterized this campaign so far.

[SuperJerk 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists.

 

I don't see what's so baffling about it. The right wing in this country has just managed to use race/religion/guns/"political correctness"/whatever to essentially trick a whole bunch of people into voting against their own economic interests. It's pretty simple, really.

People in small towns and rural areas, areas associated with "red states," have lost faith in the government to fix economic problems. It's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. They vote for people based on these issues instead of their economic self-interest.

 

Man, if only some politician were smart enough to realize this problem and talk about it. I'm sure if he did, the press would have no choice but to cover the problems facing these people instead of encouraging, and fanning the flames of, the name-calling and the knee-jerk moral indignation that's characterized this campaign so far.

 

*sigh*

[At Home 0]

Marvin, did you not get that reference?

[bobobrazil1984 0]

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

 

Paris Hilton responds to McCain's ad. Okay, I can't stand her but that is pretty damn funny. She has been redeemed (slightly) in my eyes.

 

That was just ridiculously clever

[Gary Floyd 0]

America is one of the few countries in the world with a traditionally conservative government and a liberal populace. It's just something that has baffled political scientists.

 

I don't see what's so baffling about it. The right wing in this country has just managed to use race/religion/guns/"political correctness"/whatever to essentially trick a whole bunch of people into voting against their own economic interests. It's pretty simple, really.

People in small towns and rural areas, areas associated with "red states," have lost faith in the government to fix economic problems. It's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. They vote for people based on these issues instead of their economic self-interest.

 

Man, if only some politician were smart enough to realize this problem and talk about it. I'm sure if he did, the press would have no choice but to cover the problems facing these people instead of encouraging, and fanning the flames of, the name-calling and the knee-jerk moral indignation that's characterized this campaign so far.

Jesus, how do you sleep at night?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Marvin, did you not get that reference?

I saw Glenn Beck live in Pennsylvania.

 

He came out with a toy gun. He talked about religion and its importance. He talked about illegal immigrants He got numerous standing ovations. People repeatedly said after seeing his tour that they would vote for him.

 

I guess hes "encouraging" the "problem"

[snuffbox 0]

If people don't give a rat's ass about those green things in their wallet or their own or their family's physical selves and instead wish to be led to care solely about abstract bullshit that will not have any bearing on their actual existences, then Glen Beck would make as good a candidate as any.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I guess hes "encouraging" the "problem"

 

Well, yeah.

[SuperJerk 0]

Marvin, did you not get that reference?

I saw Glenn Beck live in Pennsylvania.

 

He came out with a toy gun. He talked about religion and its importance. He talked about illegal immigrants He got numerous standing ovations. People repeatedly said after seeing his tour that they would vote for him.

 

I guess hes "encouraging" the "problem"

And were you aware that when Obama said what I said almost word-for-word months ago everyone blasted him for it?