A Tale of Two Monicas
Monica's Mess, Part The First: A stain on a blue dress, evidence of a private encounter that affected the country not at all, had it not been for a distorted political witch hunt conducted by two-faced Republicans.
Monica's Mess, Part the Second: A blot on the entire nation, fomented by a third-rate graduate of a joke of a law school, whose actions wrecked havoc on one of the critical components of American democracy -- that of an independent Justice Department.
Which one do you think the MSM has covered more extensively?
(With apologies to Charles Pierce of
Altercation for borrowing his fine formatting.)
McCain has your excuse right here
The entire point of McCain's recent ads is to give the independents who have typically voted Republican in the recent past an EXCUSE not to vote for Obama.
They know as well as anyone else that McCain is Bush's third term. They know he has no new ideas. They know they will continue to pay the price.
But its real hard for them to vote for a black guy and/or a Democrat. So McCain's campaign gives them all kinds of excuses. He's presumptuous (an uppity nigger). He's wussy (gay). He's a celebrity (gay). He's elite (gay). He's dangerous to white women (a nigger). His wife is too angry (a nigger). It goes on and on.
Yes, its a racist dogwhistle but the idea is to appeal to people who would never consider themselves racist but just need an excuse to vote against their own self-interests.
Season Two 'Mad Men'
Thank goodness "Mad Men" is back -- the best show on TV. Loved the season 2 premiere last night and looking forward to the rest of the season.
Don't Bring Me Down
Less than 100 days until the election.
Ten days or so ago, I read
this post by Digby about the speech Jimmy Carter gave in 1979 -- during the first major oil crisis -- trying to tell the country what we needed to do to save our country. But no, the American people had to elect a moron who made them feel good, rather than re-elect a president who had vision about our future. So now, 29 years later, we are in a major mess, in large part due to ignoring the energy crisis for all those years, but also due to Republican tactics that have just about destroyed the middle class and America's standing in the world. Thanks, assholes!
Virus
Viruses are the most bizarre things. Its amazing what such a small thing can do to you. I had a stomach virus Thursday (at least that is what I assume happened to me). I started out just feeling queasy. Then muscle aches. Then, a fever set in with chills. Then vomiting. Then violent shaking. Then sweating profusely. Then it was over. This took less than 24 hours. Friday, I still felt a little queasy, but mainly I felt just wiped out from the day before.
When I was in the throes of this, all I could think of was the dysentery segment from "On the Road." (That's a bacteria, isn't it? Also small things that can mess you up.) Ugh. Not at all pleasant, but thankfully over.
I am sure I got this from the bus. I have forgotten to post that I am now taking the bus to/from work. I've done it for 3 weeks now and its been fairly easy and pleasant. But I am quite sure that I got sick from being on the bus, probably from someone who works at the hospital.
Presumptuous
The latest right wing meme for Obama after his trip to Europe is "presumptuous." Why don't they just call him an uppity nigger and get it over with?
McCain is a Dumbass
I can't even get worked up anymore about McCain. He's such a dumbass. The latest is that he claimed that the Anbar awakening took place as a result of the escalation (known as the surge). This is, of course, not true. The Anbar awakening was before the escalation and they have nothing to do with each other.
He just keeps making mistakes on foreign policy, his supposed strength. Oh, and hey McCain, please define victory in Iraq (which he refuses to do and its one of the reasons the NY Times rejected his submission -- that and the fact that the piece contained no policy, only repeated attacks on Obama). I suspect victory by McCain's definition is staying there forever.
I recently saw some footage of McCain from a few years ago -- he has really changed. He looks much, much more elderly and fragile now then he did even 3 years ago.
No Sense of History; No Sense at All
This morning on the local NPR station, I heard something like this (which I assume was a line sent by NPR for local anchors to read in the local breaks during 'Morning Edition' promoting an upcoming segment):
"Senator Obama's visit to Germany has all the religious fervor usually reserved for a visit by the pope."
OK.
First, there isn't anything remotely religious about this.
Second, Germany has very few Catholics (remember Martin Luther?) and would not exactly get all worked up about a visit from the pope.
That reminds me of living in Buffalo, a very, very Catholic community, where there was a priest named Father Goldberg. Yes, he was German. Of course, most Americans perceive Goldberg as a Jewish name, as I did, so I found a Catholic priest named Goldberg to be incongruous.
My Thrill for the Week, Month, Year...
I was at the mall last night (the kid's IPod is acting up) and saw Tyler Hansborough and Bobby Fraser. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I didn't stop them, though. I saw Wayne Ellington at that same mall about 2 months ago. Maybe I should hang out there more often...
Airport Kabuki
This is exactly what I've always thought.
Travelling by airplane in the US is nothing more than mass training of Americans to the requirements of the coming police state. The whole point is to make you learn to acquiesce without question, en masse, to completely absurd directives by dull functionaries wearing uniforms.
Its silly, costly and doesn't make air travel any safer.
McCain is a Disgrace
I completely forgot to mention McCain's ignorant remark that Social Security is a "disgrace." It's only the most successful government program in the history of the nation, paying monthly benefits, on time, every time, for the past 68 years.
Social Security is a program that has done exactly what it was designed to do. Social Security is NOT a pension plan and was never meant to be. It's an old age, widows and disabled assistance program. It's insurance.
If the MSM had done what it should have, if seniors knew just how stupidly evil and how unqualified McCain actually is, McCain could kiss off Florida and Arizona right now.
John McCain's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
If any Democratic candidate had had the week McCain had, the media would be in a frenzy. But, oh no, they were hooked on the Jesse Jackson silliness, so once again McCain gets away with it.
What happened?
- Top McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm suggested that economic woes are basically a figment of our collective national imagination.
- During a town hall meeting Monday in Denver, a Vietnam veteran, well-armed with facts (oh those pesky things) pointed out McCain's poor record on veterans' benefits.
- McCain squirmed and hemmed and hawed when a reporter asked him about his supporter Carly Fiorina's comments that many insurance companies pay for Viagra but not birth control -- and pressed him on the fact that he has voted against insurance companies being required to pay for birth control.
- McCain responded to a question about the increase in U.S. sales of cigaretttes to Iran by joking: "Maybe that's a way of killing" Iranians.
- McCain told a Pittsburgh television station that he recited the names of the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line while under interrogation in north vietnam. One problem with that remarkable anecdote? Every other time McCain has told that story... He's named the Green Bay Packers instead.
This segment on "Countdown" (with Rachel Maddow hosting) sums up McCain's very bad week.
Stop Her Please
Today at Walmart (yeah, I sometimes shop there) I saw Rachael Ray branded dog food called "Nutrish." I can't stand that woman and her stupid words, let alone her stupid programs on Food Network and her stupid "recipes" (more blue cheese and bacon, anyone?). Ugh -- can someone please make her go away from popular culture?
The More Important Fourth
Just so we don't forget as Congress guts it in the FISA bill, here's the Fourth Amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Got that? Ya gotta have a warrant. No kings. A country ruled by law.
Fourth
A nice Fourth of July:
The good: lots of reading (started and finished
this), a little swimming, grilled chicken, deviled eggs, lemonade, s'mores.
The bad: intense thunderstorms hit just about when fireworks shows would've started.
The ugly: having to see Jesse Helms' face every time I turned on the TV. As the News & Observer put it today, he stood against history's tide.
Good Things Not to Be
I sometimes work a second job in retail. I had a customer a few weeks ago who, after I helped him find what he needed, said, "You have been most kind and helpful. That is how I know you are neither a Dukie or a Republican."
Oh Happy Day
From the ridiculous to the sublime...
The Dog has returned to A&E. New shows start July 16th.
Mad Men returns to AMC July 27th for its second season.
Me
Cats are possessed of a shy, retiring nature, cajoling, haughty, difficult to fathom. They reveal themselves only to certain favored individuals and are repelled by the faintest suggestion of insult or even by the most trifling deception.
--
Pierre Loti
More on Clark and McCain
Honestly, its been amazing to watch even the truly liberal media types (like the Daily Howler blog) react just like the conservatives want them to on this Gen. Clark comments on McCain's service thing. (Only Digby seems to have gotten it right.)
McCain's record is unassailable? Really?
Dig this --
McCain blew up when a reporter asked him why his Vietnam service qualified him to be president. (wouldn't it be great to see McCain's legendary temper played in a youtube loop?!!!) Well? Why does it?
As noted by dday on Digby:
Clark touched a nerve here by questioning the assumption that McCain's biography can stand in for his judgment or policy prescriptions. He deflated McCain's entire rationale for his candidacy.
This Clark story may look like a win for him, but it's consumed almost a week of his campaign, which again is message-free, rootless and unfocused, without any overarching narrative or reason to be President other than "I served." He's angry when challenged about the substance behind the bio, and it comes off ugly.
Yup.
Playing the Game
On Olbermann last night, Chris Kofinis (who was Edwards' communications director) said the way to counter the media hysteria over Gen. Clark's entirely appropriate comments about McCain's military service was to point out the hypocrisy of this when McCain has hired a former SwiftBoater (the hypocrisy being how the SwiftBoaters lied about Sen. Kerry's military service).
Oy.
Sorry, Chris, you are sadly wrong.
The public thinks all politicians are hypocrites so argument that doesn't hold water. The way to counter the drum beating over Clark's comments is to change the subject to the fact that all this media (and right wing) hysteria has nothing to do with the price of gas or job losses or the health care crisis. This is exactly what Obama did in the sound bite leading up to Kofinis' Countdown appearance.
And, as Digby notes here, Democrats and liberals still just don't get
how to play this game. They abandon Clark, running as fast as possible, and thereby let the right-wing nuts and the conservative-learning media dominate the angle on this story. Morons.
As Digby says, Gen. Clark is a hero for Kosovo. Point that out -- Democrats have military heroes too -- and you completely counter the tearing-at-chest outrage of the right wing nuts.
Geez -- when will we learn how to fight?
