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Don’t they know we have it recorded?

One of the things I really love is how the Internet has changed politics, but some people haven’t received the memo. Gone are the days when politicians and pundits could blithely contradict themselves, because now we can just look it up on on the innertubes and point out their hypocrisy. Glenn Greenwald points out a great example,

You may have heard of Dick Morris. He was one of Bill Clinton’s closest advisors, and nowadays regularly appears on Fox News. So, here is Morris on September 26 (from his Newsmax article “McCain’s Brilliant Bailout Strategy”):

McCain has transformed a minority in both houses of Congress and a losing position in the polls into the key role in the bailout package, the main man around whom the final package will take shape. … Then McCain comes out of the process as the hero who made it happen when the president couldn’t and Obama wouldn’t. He becomes the bailout expert. And, of course, the bailout will work. … Finally, McCain, as the reigning expert on bailouts, then can take the tax issue to Obama, saying that a tax increase, such as the Democrat is pushing, would destroy the bailout, ruin the economy, and trigger a collapse. This bold move by McCain is about to work. Big time.

Ok, fast forward to today in the New York Post. Hard to believe this is the same Dick Morris:

The polls now all indicate an Obama win on Nov. 4; some even suggest a landslide. … Anger over the Wall Street mess has been pushing voters to Barack Obama in droves. And John McCain’s effort to get involved in the solution only hurt him. By suspending his campaign and heading to Washington, McCain made himself a central actor in the unpopular bailout, and thus a target of populist outrage. It also hurt his his effort to show how he far he is from President Bush – there he was, shoulder to shoulder with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Bush and Wall Street.

How stupid do you have to be to believe anyone who talks out of both sides of their mouth like this?

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My husband is absolutely opposed to any negative campaigning at all

This was taped less than three months ago. What happened since then?

UPDATE: On Tuesday, just before the second presidential debate, Cindy McCain said that Barack Obama has “waged the dirtiest campaign in American history”.

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McCain is missing something


© Pat Oliphant

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The Three Graces


© hitesh

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Late Night Political Humor

“The highly-anticipated vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was held Thursday night. And the big winner was whoever you already liked.” -Amy Poehler

“Anybody see the debate last night? Whoa. And they’re saying that Sarah Palin actually did pretty well, and that Joe Biden avoided any verbal gaffes, and I’m thinking, well, what fun was that? That was no fun at all, for God sakes.” -David Letterman

“Of course, the most controversial thing Sarah Palin said last night was she felt the vice president should have more power. More power? Dick Cheney is shooting people in the face and doesn’t even get arrested. You cannot get any more powerful than that.” -Jay Leno

“The good news is, Sarah Palin can complete a sentence. The bad news is, the rest of us have to listen to it.” -Bill Maher

“Yeah, there was nothing embarrassing from either candidate. Damn! No, political analysts say it was a strong debate by both candidates and there were no losers, okay, other than gay people who want to get married.” -Jay Leno

“But this doesn’t affect the right-wingers. Today, have you heard what they’ve been saying about this? I mean, they’re in love. Rich Lowry, who is the editor of the National Review, it’s kind of a serious publication. Listen to what he said. He said, Palin projects through the screen like crazy. He said, I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when she started dropping her first wink, sat up a little straighter on my couch. And her smile, it was so sparkling, it’s like little starbursts through the screen. This man needs to get laid so badly.” -Bill Maher

“During the debate, Palin winked, wrinkled her nose, and gave a shout-out to a third-grade class. Well, you know, that says commander-in-chief to me right there. You betcha!” -David Letterman

“Sarah Palin kept winking at the camera. See that? She kept winking all the time. For a minute, I thought maybe John McCain had been captured again and she was trying it to send some kind of a signal.” -Jay Leno

“And everybody’s been asking me, they said, ‘Dave, did you see the debate last night?’ And my answer, of course, is, ‘Ohh, you betcha!'” -David Letterman

“Sarah Palin has already had an effect on foreign relations. I don’t know if you saw this story, but the new president of Pakistan, Ali Zardari, is in hot water, because last week, Sarah was on a class trip to New York, where she met foreign leaders. Oh, you betcha. Oh, you’re darn right she did. Oh yeah, God bless. And one of the leaders she met was Zardari, and he was gushing over her. He said, oh, you’re more gorgeous in person than you are on TV. And so the people in his home country of Pakistan, the Islamists, they issued a fatwa on him, for being too ‘flirty.’ And when Sarah today was told that Zardari had gotten a fatwa because of her, she said, ‘I know, I felt it when he hugged me.'” -Bill Maher

“During an interview with Katie Couric Tuesday, Sarah Palin says she is not opposed to gay people, adding ‘One of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay and I love her dearly and she doesn’t exist.'” -Amy Poehler

“But, of course, what she’s really not having an effect on is the presidential race. Even though she did well in the debate last night, McCain is still sinking in the polls. He’s getting desperate. His new campaign slogan is ‘McCain: The White Obama.'” -Bill Maher

“Here’s some good news. The bailout plan has been passed. Here’s the deal. It went from $700 billion to $800 billion. Now the reason for that, it costs the taxpayers more. If it costs the taxpayers more, the better chance that Congress will vote for it.” -David Letterman

“They passed their $800 billion bailout bill today. Although, some senators who voted for it are now very upset. They didn’t realize, they thought they were giving themselves a pay raise.” -Jay Leno

“Now [McCain] voted for the bailout, which of course passed. … They say it’s going to cost every man, woman and child in this country 2,300 dollars, and if everything goes perfectly, soon, your money will be blowing to the banks so they can lend it back to the U.S. at interest. The free market works, ladies and gentlemen.” -Bill Maher

“Some economists say all this bill really is is a bailout for companies whose bad business judgment ran their companies into the ground, to which NBC said, ‘Really? We should be eligible. We should be getting some of that.'” -Jay Leno

“Congress keeps saying that not only are taxpayers going to get back the $800 billion, oh, they’re going to make money on the deal too. Yeah, yeah. See, now you know where the ‘con’ in congressman comes from. That’s where it comes from.” -Jay Leno

“This bill went from a three-page document to the size of a novel. Literally. It’s the size of a book. You know what that means? Bush will never read it now.” -Jay Leno

“Today, President Bush signed the Wall Street bailout bill, but he said our economy continues to face serious challenges. Bush said he thought those challenges could be overcome as soon as he leaves office in two months.” -Conan O’Brien

“Well, now Europe is trying to put together their own bailout plan. They’re trying to save their banks from failing. Hey, say what you want about America, but we’re still leading the rest of the world. See what I’m saying? We were bankrupt months before them. They are copying us. We are the leaders in this deal.” -Jay Leno

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Republican Humor


© Tom Tomorrow

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Keeping abreast of politics


© guillebravo6

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Does McCain know where the word “maverick” comes from?

The New York Times has a hilarious article concerning the origin or the word “maverick”. I didn’t know that it comes from an actual person, Samuel Augustus Maverick, and his descendants, who have a long history of being (big surprise) Liberals!

Samuel himself left Boston after he got into trouble over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants. He moved to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle — the unbranded cattle were known as “Maverick’s”. Eventually, the word came to mean anyone who didn’t bear another’s brand.

Sam’s grandson carried on the family tradition. Maury Maverick was a two-term congressman from San Antonio who was labelled by local conservatives as a Communist. He also served in the Roosevelt administration, and coined the word “gobbledygook” to describe the convoluted language of bureaucrats.

Maury’s son was a civil libertarian and lawyer who defended draft resisters and atheists and was called “one of the last of the red-hot liberals”. He was known for his fiery columns in the San Antonio newspaper. His final column before he died in 2003 denounced the coming war in Iraq.

Other Mavericks have served on local boards of the ACLU. Considering the politics of the Maverick family, the following quote from Terrellita Maverick should come as no surprise to anyone:

[McCain] is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase. It’s just incredible — the nerve! — to suggest that he’s not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, ‘Oh, my God, he said it again.’ He’s a Republican, He’s branded.

No wonder a new Rolling Stone article calls McCain a “Make-Believe Maverick”.

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Lists of Voters who were purged from voter rolls!

The US has a shameful history of low voter turnout, but that hasn’t stopped some people from trying to make it as difficult to vote as possible. Now you can actually see if your name (or the names of your family or friends) have been dropped from the voter rolls, thanks to Project Vote. They currently have lists for 11 battleground states: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and hope to add others in the near future.

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I’m the candidate for change!


© Gary Markstein

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John McCain admits he has no vision

After the post-convention Palin bounce, McCain’s poll numbers started dropping rapidly and are now at an all-time low according to polling site 538.com. So what’s a candidate to do other than go sharply negative? According to the Washington Post, McCain has virtually stopped running any positive ads in order to concentrate on slamming Obama. According to the AP, he has even dispatched Palin to deliver “racially tinged” attacks.

Which is what makes this video clip from 2000 that much more hypocritical. In it, McCain asserts that negative attack ads show you have no vision. My question is, what does it mean when you only run negative attack ads?

As the humor site 236.com points out, McCain has previously apologized for his opposition to the federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., and for refusing to call for the removal of a Confederate flag from the capital in South Carolina. McCain will probably have to spend the rest of his life apologizing for what he will be doing during the next 30 days.

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Late Night Political Humor

“Political experts are saying that to succeed in the vice presidential debate, Sarah Palin needs to show that she has the same concerns as everyday Americans. For instance, Palin planned to start the debate by saying she’s really troubled by John McCain’s choice for vice president.” -Conan O’Brien

“I understand that Sarah Palin has been preparing all week at John McCain’s ranch in Arizona. She said looking out at the desert gave her a real feel for the Middle East.” -Jay Leno

“Political experts say that one mistake by Sarah Palin tonight could be crushing to John McCain’s campaign. However, they say 20 or 30 mistakes by Palin could be really funny.” -Conan O’Brien

“The big question, I don’t know if anyone has asked yet, while Sarah Palin is yammering it up with Joe Biden in St. Louis, who’s keeping an eye on the Russians? I feel very unprotected right now.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“But I try to be upbeat about things like this. And you look at that debate and by God, it was historic, it really was historic. I think it was the first time they ever used a laugh track.” -David Letterman

“I loved the back and forth arguing, both sides of the issues. And that was just Joe Biden. He was talking to himself.” -David Letterman

“Before the debate, Biden’s team said his strategy would be to avoid attacking Palin directly and instead, focus on linking John McCain to George Bush and the economy. Palin’s people said her strategy would be to stay upwind of Biden, flush him out into an open area, and then go for a clean shot through the lungs. You don’t want to mess up the head — that’s the trophy.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“But say what you will. I got to give Sarah Palin a lot of credit. I thought she did pretty well in the debate. After all, she was in over her hair.” -David Letterman

“Now, of course, everyone’s still talking about Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric, where Palin was unable to answer a question about the Supreme Court. Yeah, apparently, Palin thought the Supreme Court was a regular court with extra cheese.” -Conan O’Brien

“Did you see that interview with Katie Couric? Oh, man. Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin what newspapers she reads, and she could not name a single newspaper that she reads. Which wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t have a degree in journalism.” -Jay Leno

“This is the first time an Alaskan has ever been on a national ticket, and it also might be the last, depending on how it goes. So across the state of Alaska, all eyes were on the debate. Pipeline workers set aside their wrenches, trappers dropped their beaver pelts, whalers put down their blubber knives, Eskimo families took a break from loading their grandparents onto ice floes. There has not been this much excitement in Alaska since the last time they saw the sun, quite frankly.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“Larry Flynt announced he’s making a porn movie with a Sarah Palin look-alike. John McCain called the idea offensive. Barack Obama called it inappropriate. Bill Clinton said he’ll reserve judgment until he sees the film.” -Conan O’Brien

“According to a recent poll, 61% of people surveyed said they would rather see Sarah Palin in a bikini than Pamela Anderson. Although 99% said they would rather see Pamela Anderson as vice president.” -Jay Leno

“Last night, the Senate passed the bailout bill, 74-25. They said one of the reason it passed is that lawmakers stopped calling it a bailout bill, and started calling it a rescue bill. See, they changed the name. I’m sorry. Isn’t that called putting lipstick on a pig?” -Jay Leno

“The Senate passed it last night and they say the House will probably pass it tomorrow. In fact, the only thing that could screw it up at this is if John McCain steps in and tries to help out again.” -Jay Leno

“With the new provisions the Senate added, it’s now gonna cost $800 billion. We should have signed it two days ago when it was $700 billion. Two days later, they screwed us out of another $100 billion!” -Jay Leno

“The Senate passed the bailout bill after loading it with pork. And it just doesn’t seem right to me to pass a bill like that on Rosh Hashanah.” -David Letterman

“A new study has found that the number of illegal immigrants coming into the United States has declined as our economy has faltered. Yeah, when he heard this, President Bush said, ‘Do I know how to fix a problem or what?'” -Conan O’Brien

“President Bush said today, if our nation continues on this course, the economic damage will be painful and lasting. But the good news? After eight years of Bush, we can handle painful and lasting.” -Jay Leno

“The economy is so bad that today, Dick Cheney was waterboarding his stockbroker.” -David Letterman

“In international news, the man considered to be the leader of the Taliban … inside of Pakistan, has died of kidney failure. See, that’s when you know the war on terrorism has gone on for too long. When our enemies are dying of natural causes.” -Jay Leno

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McCain proves he is a Maverick

I know McCain keeps talking about how he has gone against his own party, in order to demonstrate that he is a maverick, but now he is even pissing off his own campaign. A few days ago, McCain pulled his people out of Michigan and shifted his resources to battleground states, effectively giving the state to Obama. Apparently, this maverick move (and the way he did it) didn’t sit well with some of his staff there..

Politico was able to get ahold of a few juicy emails, including this one sent out from county campaign chair Jack Waldvogel to a large list of other Michigan Republicans. Here are some quotes:

If you are going to end visits to the state by McCain/ Palin, do it. Just don’t formally announce that you are ‘pulling out’ of Michigan, and then come back two days later asking the base core of support to ‘keep working.’  What a slap in the face to all the thousands of people who have been energized by the addition of Sarah Palin to the ticket. I’ve been involved in County Party politics and organization for 40 years, and this is the biggest dumbass stunt I have ever seen.

He has given up on our State? What a total and complete crock of crap. Again, I think McCain owes the Republicans and the People of Michigan a HUGE APOLOGY. SOON!

How on earth are we to get people to work for McCain here, when he has already, publicly, in the media, given up on Michigan?  We feel abandoned, we are disappointed, and we are heartsick to know that we aren’t important enough for him to fight for.

I guess nobody will ever doubt his maverick-ness again!

UPDATE: Even Sarah Palin is disappointed in McCain’s decision to pull out of Michigan. In an interview with Fox News she made her opinion clear:

I fired a quick e-mail and said, ‘oh, come on! Do we have to call it there?’ Todd and I would [be] happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants [with] car manufacturers.

Which inspired this: 


© Zina Saunders

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The John McCain About-Face Rag

Click Here to Play

By Marty Gallagher.

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Politics on the Parallel Planet Earth


© Tom Tomorrow

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