100 Days Until Barack Is President

100 days until Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Inauguration Day is on January 20, 2009.

Beset By Smears, Obama Launches His Own Personal Snopes.com

Faced with a new crop of deceptive online smears, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ratcheted up his online counteroffensive Thursday with a new site aimed at debunking the latest web and e-mail rumors about him and his wife.

The site, called Fight the Smears, launched listing four claims against Obama. It counters each with a rundown of the facts, in some cases accompanied by supporting video footage.

Source: FightTheSmears.com

Palins Abused Power In Alaska

As the Republicans desperately try to sling mud, grasping at whatever connection they can make between Barack Obama and a person of questionable character from 40 years ago, the headlines of today's paper says it clearly: The Palins abused power in Alaska, violated ethics rules, treated their subordinates terribly and lied about it all. And Todd Palin, in particular, was a mad man. He made 36 phone calls over the years to get he ex-brother-in-law fired. Let it go, First Dude.

This is your “maverick” and ethics reformer who is going to clean up WaRshington? A pathological liar?

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.



This is what is happening now, today. Not decades ago. These same conservatives who who give George Bush's alcoholism and cocaine abuse up until he was 40 a free pass. It's a joke.

Source: NYT

Bush Just Makes It Worse

Since McCain like the association game, here's your current best friend 90% of the time. Not some guy from the 60's. Your party leader, the guy you had at your birthday party when Hurricane Katrina hit.

via Dan Froomkin at the WaPo:

"When it comes to the current financial crisis, it's become pretty clear that an appearance by President Bush doesn't calm nerves. It rubs them raw.

The president seems checked out. His approval ratings are in the toilet. His credibility is shot. He's arguably responsible for this mess in the first place. And his presence and his words have led to more fear and panic, not less."

And McCain thinks his 72 year-old self is up to distancing himself from the dead Republican Party, reaching out to the Democratic Party which he thinks is a treasonous, terrorist group, and somehow by his cunning wit alone run the country through it's toughest financial and economic obstacles yet? Put down the pipe, John.

Source: WaPo

Connecticut Legalizes Same-sex Marriage

My home state Connecticut steps up for equality.

With the 4-to-3 ruling, Connecticut becomes the third state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. California legalized gay marriage in May 2008, and Massachusetts in 2004.

With the ruling, Connecticut joins Massachusetts and California as the only states that allow same-sex couples to marry. Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey have civil unions, while Maine, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii have domestic partnership laws that allow same-sex couples to receive some of the same benefits granted to those in civil unions.

Source: NYT

Dow Plunges Through 9000

Dow at 8579?

Thank you Republicans. Your tax cutting, your war spending, your attack on Iraq, your lack of oversight, your open markets approach, your anti-regulation, it has come home to roost. Savor this moment, your party is destroyed. You're in "elite" status finally for worst administration ever.

George Bush, the first President with a MBA. Looks like you got into Harvard on your merits and you paid attention in class. And with Midget McCain graduating 5th from the bottom of his class, figured you'd nominate him.

Palin's "Joe Six Pack" Drinks Nattie Light And Is Retarded

CNN did a story on who "Joe Six Pack" really is. Carol Costello goes out to find this Palin mythical creature at a Philadelphia Eagle home game.

Best part: all the cro-mag Republican tailgaters who love the term are all drinking Natural Light in cans. Are you 18 years old? Learn to drink like a man.

Also, notice how all these "Joe Six Packs" are white men, Palin's term is code for average white guy.



Source: Watch the video here

Palin: The Press Frightens Me

Aside from three info-mercials with with Fox and two disastrous interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, when is Palin going to give a news conference? Is that too much to ask for? A Vice President who is afraid to answers questions, let alone be asked them, is not a good sign.

Campbell Brown Blasts McCain Campaign For "Race Baiting"

McCain and Palin only do this kind of stuff in the South.

And for Campbell's take on the "that one" comment, most racist people don't realize they are being racist. And using the "my Grandpa uses 'that one'"example always makes McCain out to be the 72 year-old out-of-touch guy he really is.

McCain's Plan Buys Bad Mortgages. Huh?

John McCain: poor judgment, bad on the economy, more of the same.



via The Washington Monthly, more on Mr. Erratic:

He said it wasn't a time for blame, and then blamed Obama. He was for and against the AIG bailout on successive days. He pushed Chris Cox's firing, then dropped it. He wanted a commission to study what had gone wrong, and then never mentioned it again. He "suspended" his campaign 10 days after the crisis began, but never actually put his campaign on hold. McCain has simply gone from one ridiculous notion to another, flailing around, looking desperately for something coherent to say.

On Tuesday night, during the debate, McCain unveiled yet another idea, explaining that he wants the Treasury to buy up bad home mortgages. At first blush, it was hard to know if there was anything new about the proposal at all, but as additional details were released yesterday afternoon, the picture of an awful policy emerged.

The Greenspan Legacy

Great NYT article on the derivatives market and how former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was such a fan of them despite other top money men predicting their dangers.

"For more than a decade, the former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has fiercely objected whenever derivatives have come under scrutiny in Congress or on Wall Street."

At the time, many saw the blinking red light:

"Felix G. Rohatyn, the investment banker who saved New York from financial catastrophe in the 1970s, described derivatives as potential “hydrogen bombs.”

And Warren E. Buffett presciently observed five years ago that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”

The derivatives became like "funny money", no one knew how they worked or who's money it was. We're talking $531 trillion in this year. With all these derivative contracts in play, leveraged 30 times their value in some cases, with no oversight or regulation, given the thumbs up by the Fed, just sprinkle on some greed and watch it all go up in smoke.

Source: NYT Times

The McCain Campaign Just Got Uglier

Send her back to the crypt. Grandpa unleashes Cindy to do his dirty work. Mrs. McCain made waves and stunned political observers when she stridently claimed that Obama had waged "the dirtiest campaign in American history." Out of touch runs in the family. I say the pill popper is now fair game.



Source: Huff Post

Pollster: National

Sleep well tonight.

Joe Six Pack = Booze

Why does evangelical Sarah Palin keep using "Joe Six Pack" as a way to refer to the average guy in America? Aren't evangelicals against liquor? They don't drink. She uses a term she knows nothing about. Not the first time.

Drinking a six pack is a lot of booze, not a social drinker. Is she appealing to the low brow, abusive, wife-beater type? After hearing what her crowds yells out, the oh-so-subtle "kill him", "treason" and "terrorist, I think she is.

She could never get away with this latent racist stuff up North, she has to get in front of her "Alaska rape capital, alcoholic oil linesmen crowd, titty bar goin'" base, otherwise know as NASCAR Nation.

She is such the interloper.

Palin: Cancer For Republican Party

Conservative op-ed NYT writer David Brooks gives his prognosis:

"[Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party".

Continuing his assessment, he notes Gov. God Squad Sarah "No Press Conference" Palin's innate distrust and "scorn" of ideas:

"Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices."

Brooks predicted an Obama victory by nine points.

Source: Huffington Post

Republicans: Party Of Bigots

Via The Washington Monthly:

Way back in February, Karl Rove heard a growing number of Republicans blasting "Barack Hussein Obama," and warned his fellow Republicans to drop the line. Rove argued it would only perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted, which in turn would hurt the party.

Hurt his party? McCain is crushing it. Look at the Congressional races, the Republicans hate McCain.

Read on....Source: Steve Benen

McCain Gives Finger To Free Market Republicans

Free Market Conservatives must love McCain's $300,000,000,000 “nationalization” of the U.S. mortgage market. Wonder what Fox Noise had to say.

On Fox, Nina Easton notes that we observed the “sinking ship of free-market Republicans” go to the “bottom of the sea,” with McCain’s proposal of a $300 billion “nationalization” of the U.S. mortgage market.

Face it, your Republican brand has been destroyed. Bush put it in the toilet and McCain is flushing it down.

Source:

McCain: You Have A Problem, I Have A Table

Grandpa will solve the world's problems by sitting at a table, no policy, no detail. Must be his charm that will win them over.

via The Washington Monthly:

This came up again last night when the debate turned to Social Security. McCain argued:

"Social Security is not that tough. We know what the problems are, my friends, and we know what the fixes are. We've got to sit down together across the table. It's been done before.

"I saw it done with our -- our wonderful Ronald Reagan, a conservative from California, and the liberal Democrat Tip O'Neill from Massachusetts. That's what we need more of, and that's what I've done in Washington."

Look, I know it's nice to think well-intentioned people can sit down in a room and resolve complex problems through discussion and negotiation. But this is just an intellectually lazy way of approaching policy challenges.

Iraq? McCain wants to sit Sunnis and Shiites down at a table. Social Security? McCain wants to sit Democrats and Republicans down at a table. The moral of the story is, if you've got a problem, John McCain has a table.

Source: Steve Benen

Obama Crushing McCain

11 point lead for Obama. Grandpa McCain is running on fumes.



Source: Gallup

A New Slogan

Grandpa McCain lets his inner racist slip out. What's next? Calling him "boy".



via Brian Beutler:

Obama breezed right past it and concisely crushed the McCain health care plan. But if "that one!" doesn't go down as "the moment" of the night, then there really is no use whatsoever for a media that only notices superficial flaws in the candidates' performances.

Palin Crowd Yells "Kill Him"

Republican Lynch Mob. At the time, Palin said nothing to condemn the outburst. Running a relentlessly negative, breathtakingly dishonest, anger-driven campaign, McCain/Palin enjoy adding to the racial tension down South.

The Republican candidates are not literally calling for violence against their political rivals, but they're nevertheless standing by, saying nothing, while their supporters are shouting words like "kill," "terrorist," and "treason" at their rallies.

Republicans used to control their intolerant masses. Rudy Giuliani gave a speech in 2006 when he was interrupted by a supporter who said terrorists reminded him of Democrats. Giuliani stopped and said, "Time out. The other thing we have to learn is that we can't get into this partisan bickering. The fact is that Republicans and Democrats have the same objectives.... Democrats are loyal Americans. Republicans are loyal Americans. I think we have better answers, but we have to respect each other."

Young Voters 2:1 For Obama

From Gallup today:

"Nearly half (44%) of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed for a USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll consider this presidential election the most important in a half-century, and most expect the outcome to directly impact their lives. They prefer Barack Obama over John McCain by a 2-to-1 margin, seeing him as a chance to achieve positive change and make history."



Source: Gallup

A Closer Look At The "First Dude"

By the look of him, he's a tool, but modern slacker Todd Palin proves he's a loser, as well. All that "Snow Machine Champion" bullshit comes crashing down:

The Palins deducted $9,000 on their 2007 return, claiming it was a loss from Mr. Palin’s snow machine racing activity.

He's so good he loses 9 grand at it. You're in your 40s, what kind of championship could you possibly be winning at? I look at the X-Games, guys like Todd are no where near these races.

Source: Tax Prof Blog

Palins Owe Thousand in Back Taxes

That vetting process is sure paying off.

Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) & Bryan Camp (Texas Tech) have independently reviewed the tax issues raised by the release of Gov. Palin's 2006 and 2007 tax returns and financial disclosure form, as well as the remarkable opinion letter issued from Washington D.C. tax lawyer Roger M. Olsen. Jack and Bryan conclude that there are serious errors in Gov. Palin's returns as filed and that she and her husband owe tens of thousands of dollars in additional taxes.

There is no serious debate (at least, none that has been brought to our attention) about the fact that at least the amounts paid for the children's travel -- $24,728.83 in 2007, according to the Washington Post -- are taxable. The campaign's tax lawyer has got at least that much of the law, and perhaps more, wrong. ... The Palins, who had their tax returns done by HR Block, simply got it wrong. And the fact that the state payroll office got it wrong, too, doesn't erase the Palins' unpaid tax liability.

Source: Tax Prof Blog

Sheriff Mike Scott: Republican Racist Of The Day

Republicans have no problem having this bald racist police officer talk at their rally in Clearwater, FL with Sarah Palin. Afterall, she's a good Christian evangelical, lot's of Jesus flowing those veins.

On it's own, no big deal, he used Hussein. But together with all the race-baiting that Palin uses in her speeches, the "pallin' around with domestic terrorists", the Republicans have gone too far. They've lost the plot, completely played they "we're white, he's black" card in the Deep South.

They would never have done this up North. Cops in the South, cops like this guy, Sheriff Mike Scott, a freakin' Sheriff, sound like they have so much contempt for people of color, that he could get in front of this crowd, in uniform, and almost make it sound like he would punch Obama if he could. Watch this short video and feel the Republican love:



If this does not give you chills as to what a Republican administration under Sarah Palin and John McCain, pulling the racialist sh*t non-stop in the waning days of their desperate campaign, nothing will. What is this 1950? Looks like he wants a lynch mob, no joking, this dude looks jacked.

Sheriff Scott is running for re-election this November, I hope he gets voted out. Could I guy like this protect Obama when he's President. The conservatives of Clearwater, FL are probably rooting for this guy.

Source: Fort Myers News Press

Pollster: October 6

Source: Pollster

Make-Believe Maverick

New Rolling Stone article on John McCain Make-Believe Maverick, is defo must-read. They also have a video with the author, Tim Dickinson, called The Top 5 McCain Myths that you have to watch. Click here to watch.



Source: Rolling Stone

Mocha Latte, Help Me With My Politics

Palin misquotes Albright, Albright responds. Was it from a book that Albright wrote that Palin was reading? No way. The quote from from the back of Palin's Starbucks's latte. Seems so appropriate, like the Dixie cup jokes from when you were a kid. That's Palin's source material.

"Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."

Note: Palin uses the back of her mocha latte for her speeches, has "providential" moment. What's next, Jesus in her foam?

Source: Huffington Post

Jim Cramer: "Put Your Money In Your Mattress" Moment

Fear and greed. Jim Cramer almost cries, says he doesn't want to say these things on TV, then says these things on TV. 20% DOW decline still to come? He seems to grasp the harsh reality of things, though, I give him props for that.



Try here is video does not load.

James K. Galbraith: Goodbye, Conservatives. Hello, Predators

Please read famed economist James K. Galbraith's article "Goodbye, Conservatives. Hello, Predators", a simple discussion about the erosion of trust and the need for government in a modern economy (to prevent the predators from taking over markets). It is powerful:

Real conservatives know that neither Bush nor McCain is one of them. Bush is a bread-and-circuses reactionary with a clientele of lobbies. McCain gets his economic ideas from Phil Gramm, the ultimate architect of the Enron culture, of libertine speculation and financial disaster. As for Sarah Palin, back in Alaska she took every dime of pork she could lay her hands on. This crowd deregulates and privatizes not because they think it might work out for the public but because they know it won't. What they care about is putting their friends in charge.

Under Bush, oil and gas, drug companies and defense contractors, insurers and usurers, banks and big media control the government of the United States. John McCain was a key member of the Keating Five and a lynchpin of the savings-and-loan debacle; then, as chair of the Senate commerce committee, he presided over Lobby Central; notoriously, his campaign is run by lobbyists to this day and until last week his policy could be summed up in slogans: he was a "free market" man, a "deregulator." Sarah Palin is an interesting case. What was she known for in Wasilla and Juneau? For trying to fire any public servant, from the town librarian to the state commissioner of public safety, who didn't toe her line. Bush and McCain are the predator state writ large, and she is the predator state writ small.

More on McCain:

The crisis forces McCain back to issues and exposed the emptiness of his campaign. He resorted to theatrics, "suspending" his campaign to fly to Washington to "work" on a bailout bill, only to demonstrate that his leadership charms were lost on Republican members of the House. At the White House summit he had nothing to say. Later he attacked the morals and ethics of Wall Street, but backed a bill that was aimed to protect the stock prices of the Wall Street firms, while imposing no new discipline and doing nothing to stop the foreclosures. And when it came time to actually cast his vote, he couldn't be bothered even to speak from the Senate floor.

It seems unlikely that John McCain, the regulation-wrecker, will become, overnight, the man who would turn vice to virtue on Wall Street. But even suppose he were serious. Who would trust him? No one with money on the line.

This is McCain's deeper problem. If he is elected, under his leadership, trust cannot be restored. No one with his philosophy or record can do that. Restoring trust requires a government of trustworthy people. Team McCain doesn't have any, and some, especially Gramm, inspire the opposite. It wouldn't matter what their policies were or pretended to be. Nothing they attempted would work.

Galbraith doesn't give Democrats a free-pass but rather a real comparison:

The Democrats did not do well in the crisis; they were conflicted, divided, unsure of their ground, and they got rolled on many details. Yet they nevertheless broke through politically; Nancy Pelosi's stinging speech last Monday was a rare statement of plain truth. And so the choice in this election is well-defined. One party believes that the government serves no public purpose. The other believes that it must. One party has turned the government over to lobbies, to cronies and to big donors. The other is beginning to realize that a real government must be rebuilt. One party would keep the same crowd in office; the other would have to begin by clearing them out. No one can say there is no difference between the parties this year, and the basic issue in this election is really just as simple as that.

Source: The Big Money

Obama's Powerful Healthcare Speech: Oct 4

"The question isn't how we can afford to focus on healthcare, the question is how we can afford not to."

Healthcare is now the campaign topic and Democrats are bringing their A-game. Joe Biden kicked it off with a devastating, and largely unchallenged, attack on McCain's healthcare plan with nearly 69 million people watching the VP debates. Now Obama is pounding the issue at a speech on Healthcare is Newport News, VA on Saturday. Watch it here:

John McCain And The Making Of A Financial Crisis

New site about the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal that has John McCain right in the middle of it. "Keating Economics: the Making of a Financial Crisis" is a documentary that shows why John McCain's failed philosophy and poor judgment are a recipe for deepening the economic crisis. Watch this amazing video:



Source: KeatingEconomics.com

Unpatriotic?

Conservatives need to remember this question: Why is it when Barack Obama is critical of the failed Bush Administration it is unpatriotic, but when John McCain wants to fix a failed "WaRshington" he's the Maverick?

This "dissent is unpatriotic" meme by the Right is stale.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” Howard Zinn

69.9 Million People

69.9 million people watched the VP debates. It was the most watched VP debate in history.
Obama supported think Biden clearly outclassed Palin. McCain supporters think Palin was enough to stop the downward trend. Most pundits and polls gave the debate to Biden. Independent voters overwhelmingly sided with Biden.

The Right Wing, like a Pat Buchanan or a Fox Noise, made it out that Palin not only won, but won huge and that Palin is the key to victory. Out of touch? In denial? That would be an understatement. The graph is worth a 1000 words:

Palin In 30 Seconds

The shallow end of the pool personified.



Source: Andrew Sullivan

Biden/Palin On SNL

Tina Fey, above and beyond, nails it. What would a maverick do? The Reagan non sequitur. The "maverick" drinking game. Classic. The line about marriage should be between two unwilling teen-agers was genius. Sarah Palin: single handily keeps SNL relevant.