Sunday, August 31, 2008

More Strategic Forecasting

We need to kill the mythologies; the old and currently deceptive McCain 'maverick' thing, and the phony new 'change' thing.

Has anyone yet pushed hard on the maverick thing? I mean, I have seen the ads and read the talking points showing McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time. I think we need to go that step further and start saying things like, "How can one be a Maverick while earning an A grade in politics as usual?" Well that last part can be tinkered with. "A grade in establishment politics?"

And re change?

Beyond being a woman, Gov. Palin is just another in a long line of right wing extremists.

The label fits. Anyone who can energize the evangelical wing that much is by definition one of THEM.

Most Americans consider the evangelical wing of the GOP to be extremists. Most people do not want some evangelical extremist having any say in how they should live their own lives. Most people resent that shit.

McCain made the choice to embrace the extremists. He should live with the consequences of that, and instead of being a maverick he has shown himself to be just another garden variety pandering, calculating, hypocritical republican.

Maverick my ass! Again, I highlight the rank hypocrisy. How two-faced can one be? Doing the usual thing republican POTUS wannabes do, by pandering to the extremists of the right wing, while at the same time trying to pass oneself off as a maverick and agent of change?

If McCain was a maverick and a real instrument of change, if he really was the kind of politician who puts country first, he would NOT pander to the extremists, but instead tell them something like:

"I know you all love your ideology but your ideology turns off most of the country. I know you are not gonna change your mind, but the GOP will remain a minority party in this country if we have to have that extremist shit in our platform. You people need to get over yourselves and what you all believe in. Most people resent that shit. And by that shit, I mean all that God says we are right and if you disagree with us you are evil, shit."

Oh, and since I was more meaning to talk more about what our Dem strategy should be, here is my favorite idea for a campaign ad.



John McCain picked a right wing extremist for his running mate.

McCain. Ideology first. Political expediency, second. Country? At best, third.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Not that the occasion of a Republican telling a bald-faced lie is in of itself NEWS, but seriously!

I Just turned on the TV and was watching something on CNN.

There was some Republican flack and some Dem flack there, talking about the Hockey Mom Gov.

Dem to Repub:
(nearly verbatim)
"Is she more qualified than other republicans . . than even the opponents?"
(Assume he meant McCain's opponents for the nomination)

Rep:
"She has executive experience . . . "

Dem:
"Is she more qualified than Tom Ridge?"

Rep:
"She has some of the same experience he does . . ."

Dem:

"Is she more qualified than Tom Ridge?"

Rep:

"Yes."


See what I mean? Shameless!

I am no fan of Tom Ridge, but jeeze louise, he has one of the best resumes in either freaking party.

But the issue is not Tom Ridge's resume, but the issue is how shameless a bunch of lying-assed hypocrites the Republican Party is.

Good Grief!

Oh, I almost forgot. Even before I saw/heard that crazy Republican lie, I was thinking about the immortal words of that sage and wit, Judge Judy, as published as the title of her book:

Don't Pee On My Leg
And Tell Me It's Raining!

Did I Call It, or WHAT? This is one of the MAIN reasons I Despise the Republican Party.

Hell, they did not even wait until the debate between Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin to start playing the misogyny card, card. And I am NOT talking about the hacks and the spin doctors. I am talking about how rank (pun definitely intended) and file republicans are accusing critics of the Hockey Mom Gov. of sexism, when they point out or argue ( ok, I qualified it, this time) that she was picked on account of being a female.

Never mind the fact that the Republican hacks and spin doctors and pundits have seemingly all been saying the same thing, about hoping to attract the PUMA and other dissatisfied Dem women voters. I actually heard Pat Buchanan using the word feminist for her, and not meaning it to be a bad thing. How weird is that?

But I should not be surprised that hypocritical Republicans are already attacking anyone for pointing out the fact that she is a she, at the same time they hope the trick works.

This is one of the main reasons I Despise the Republican Party, as an institution. When it comes to being two faced hypocrites they have no equal (well not in America at least. The Russians can play that shit too, invading Georgia to stop an imaginary genocide). We are talking about the same shameless institution that used the word "EXOTIC," as it's attack word against Sen. Obama, and then had the nerve to accuse him of playing the race card. They ran around deliberately using the word exotic for the man, he says generally they are going to do that sorta crap, remind people that he is black, and they then accuse him of playing the race card?

Shameless! And they are proud of it too, I bet.

We are also talking about the same sick institution that is surprised surprised that African Americans do NOT turn out and vote in anywhere near the numbers they do for a white Dem, when the GOP runs a black candidate.

In the end, they are such vile bigots that they do not get that skin color is only skin deep (don't take me too literally there; I know there is much more to matters of race than skin color. I was using a cliche there, deliberately.)

Now considering that sex is far deeper than skin color, I hope that proves to be every bit as superficial a consideration next to party affiliation as race is. I hope that not only because I want my team to win, but I do not want to see such a desperate, bigoted, and hypocritical play to win, on account of the vileness of the thinking behind the play.

People that scummy, betting on people to be as scummy as they themselves are? That is scummy (my redundancy is deliberate, as I am trying to beat that horse to death.)


***


And if only to prove I can still be objective, I do say that the McCain Team/GOP did do a very solid job of taking the Obama/Biden ticket off the front burner, and stealing the news cycle.

I still condemn the seemingly vile thinking behind the ploy, but it is helping them in the short term. I mean, if the pick have been somone already known and vetted, would the pick get this much attention?

But I agree with the commentators that said something to the effect that it is a Hail Mary pass;
not so much of a precise thing, but moreso the stuff of wishful thinking.

Friday, August 29, 2008

So McCain's Veep Choice has a Uterus (and knows how to use it. Mother of five! Yeoch!) So What?

I will tell you what.

Beyond the novelty factor (somebody tell me about how they remember the Libby Dole Administration? I must have slept through it), it comes down to one major thing, as far as the swing vote potential of the trick.

Beyond the cynicism of trying to scoop up the PUMAS, this is actually a genuine, if also cynical, tactical ploy to (they hope) neuter Sen. Biden in the Veep debates.

Follow my thinking here.

At first, my thought was:

"Biden will tear that puppy up. It's a mismatch like Ali in his prime, against anyone's gamma."

And as the words (such as they were) fell out of my mouth, I figured out the game.

If the GOP Veep pick were a man, Biden could take him to school, then to the woodshed, and then to a whole new world of pain, and it would not likely make any real difference in this campaign.

But against Mommasita?

The last thing we on my side of the aisle want is people whining about how Sen. Biden pimp-slapped that poor pretty thing, that tiny frail creature. (Never mind that a woman who pumped five babies outa her uterus is anything but frail.)

And that is likely what the GOP is hoping for; they are hoping Sen. Biden goes too hard on her and that is something they can make use of.

In other words, it is a trap. It is a roadside bomb. It is an IED. Watch out!

Sorta explains why they did not go with some GOP woman with more chops.

What do you expect from the dirty dealers who played the race card, card as soon as they could have?

Oh. And MARK ME! mark me well. No matter how lightly Sen. Biden goes on her in the debate, even if he argues right past her and makes his points and barbs against The Old Man, the GOP spin doctors will accuse him of being totally beastly to her.

You heard that one here first, kids.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Why I am a Democrat and NOT a Republican. Part Deux.

We got the better talent.

Let's recap.

Jennifer Hudson did the Anthem.

We had Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and John Legend doing the unofficial Obama song,"Yes We Can."

Then we had Sheryl Crow.

Then we had Stevie Wonder. He did two numbers, the second? "Signed Sealed Delivered."

I have been watching MSNBC, and they did a cutaway to their peeps rocking out to the song. Ok, Pat Buchanan did not really rock out, but he did put on some shades and lightened up for once!

Oh. And we have the man who's voice I want to have, coming up; Michael McDonald.

Yar. We got the good talent.

Sorry but Pat Boone ain't gonna get me on my feet.

Put me to asleep, that would do.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Short Version. Why I am a Democrat and NOT a Republican.

(I had a longer more complicated version, but I am opting for brevity.)

I think when it is all said and done Democrats care more about PEOPLE and Republicans care more about IDEOLOGY. And do not mistake me, as I said ideology, I did not mean ideas. Ideas are actually the anthesis of ideology, as ideology is characterized by words, absent the gravity, and anchor of thinking behind the words.

That is why I am a Democrat.

I care more about people and what matters to them in their lives, than ideology.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

My liege, my liege. How Impressed was I by Hillary's speech?

I was an early adopter of Sen. Obama's campaign, do tell. And I was actually nervous tonight.

But not only after but 1/2 way through I called a relative who was a solid Hillary loyalist to compliment the speech.

I will not get into the substance though. I will say this. I said,"It takes a Scorpio t o look good in Orange."

And she not only looked good but she sounded good and clearly articulated the diff between US and THEM.

Not her words, but mine, to her supporters. "We Feel your Pain. NOW COME HOME!"


Not to deliberately limit her, but I really think she will be a better succesor to Tedly in the Senate than ever being POTUS. I do not think that is in her future. However she might be the most powerful woman in the US Senate for the next two or three decades.

Now to say what I feel with out being disrespectful, being the Lion of the Dem. Party in the senate for a couple two three decades, is a rare status to achieve. Be a duke(or duchess, if you prefer) for 30 years, or a king for 8.

See what I mean?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Well, the Elderly Senator from Arizona is NOT the first GOP Candidate to make this mistake.

(and in his case, since it seems he never worked a day in his life in the private sector, almost understandable, but still weak.)

But to get to the actual topic, I will phrase it as a question:

why do these Republicans mistake Salespeople for Experts in Economics?

And in McCain's case, he has Salesperson Carly Fiorina as a chief economic advisor.

Am I being too facetious to ask the further question, is there any acceptable excuse for a not-particularly bright 8th grader to confuse a Salesperson for a Economist?

Definition time (just to beat this horse dead, fully and completely):


Salesperson.
noun: a person employed to sell merchandise (as to customers in a store or to customers that are visited).

Economist.
1archaic : one who practices economy2: a specialist in economics.

And from the Wiki article:

This article is about the profession. For the news publication, see The Economist.
An economist is an expert in the social science of economics.[1] The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are many sub-fields, ranging from the broad philosophical theories to the focused study of minutiae within specific markets, macroeconomic analysis, microeconomic analysis or financial analysis, involving analytical methods and tools such as econometrics, statistics, economics computational models, financial economics, financial mathematics and mathematical economics.
Contents[hide]



Even a successful salesperson is not an economist. So why did McCain pick a computer Salesperson as his Economic advisor?

Ask him, not me.

Oh; and how successful a computer Salesperson was Carly?

From her Wiki article:


On 9 February 2005, Carly Fiorina was dismissed as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. Fiorina said in a statement:
"While I regret that the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision. HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."[29]

She was replaced by Patricia C. Dunn as Chairman, and then-C.F.O. Robert Wayman as C.E.O.[29] Hewlett-Packard's stock jumped 7% on news of her departure.



So McCain's chief Economic Advisor is not only not an Economist, but the stock price of the company she used to run jumped up 7 points, when news of her departure hit the street.

If this is any indication of the sort of cabinet a President McCain would pick, we might actually be better off with four more years of Plastic Turkey Man, than the Old Man. Not really, but ya know??? Six of one half-a-dozen of another, at the very least.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

More Tactics from Abs. No Metaphor This Time.

Republicans are thugs. They are what happened to the schoolyard bullies; them nasty pieces of young human shit who are all terror, until someone actually calls their bluff, and stands up to them.

As soon as they end up of the defensive, they fall apart like mentally unstable pre teen girls.

So here is my tactical imperative.

Hit them hard. Do not lie. Do not bullshit. That is the gutter where they live. But hit them hard with what they really are and really say. Keep them on the defensive. They do not know how to rope a dope (like Mohammad Ali, who is showing up to OUR party. Yar!) They fall to the floor and whine like little girls being attacked by a caterpillar.

Think I am exaggerating? Did you see how bloody bezerk they went last week about the repeating the story about how the old man himself said he doesn't know how many houses he and the little heiress woman own? How about the latest? They are screaming the Florida peeps made a unwarranted attack on the Missus for showing how her face and tape of her saying something about how the only way to get around Arizona is witha a small plane. Gimmie a break.





I want to see at least four major push backs every week no matter what is coming out of the McCain Camp. Like General Grant ordering random artillery barrages of the City of Vicksburg ("Captain. What time did we hit those people yesterday?" "We hit them at 11:15 am and 2:40 pm, sir." "Well Captain. Let's mix it up. Let's hit them at 8:45am and 12:10pm today, but . . . only the the left flank batteries, first, but for 15 minutes, instead of the usual 10. And for the latter barrage? Start with the right flank batteries but for the first 10 minutes. Then both left and right flank batteries for 8 minutes. Keep them guessing and off balance." "Yes General, very good general.")


Not that I know that is the way Gen. Grant ordered his barrages, but the idea, is keep the opposition nervous, off balance, and on YOUR schedule.

Oh. One further thing. Let's start mocking the way they play. Lets make fun of the way they do things, and expose them for the weakling punk bully scardie cats they really are.

Ya know there is nothing that Republicans hate more than their short comings being pointed out.

Emperor's New Clothes, Wizard of Oz being some fake hiding behind a curtain, all that stuff. Expose them for the fakes they are.

O kay?

Friday, August 22, 2008

No I am NOT gonna talk about Sen. Obama's Veep Pick.

It ain't public yet.

So I will talk about the Old Man's choices, instead.

Since it seems that the insane Bobby Jindal is now at best, on the end of the "B" list, so they say, I am ready to say I hope it will be Plastic Man Romney.

I don't really think it is all that likely that that is going to be as guaranteed a Fluster Cluck as insane Jindal, I think the drag effect will be there.

Romney turns people off. He is creepy. You know what I mean.

It the Ick Factor.

If not him, Crist.

But I don't think there is even a remote chance of Crist.

Oh and if Sen. Obama picks Sen. Biden, then PA is in play, and the options of either Ridge or Casey become serious tactical choices.

Remember, in the end this is not a national popularity contest so much as a race for the electoral votes.

21 e-votes in PA are up for grabs. Hmmm . . . . .

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thank You Team. You Take My Advice, and Run With It.

(Not really, I mean I am not delusional, but) it was fun and comforting to see team Obama play the Chicago Way, today.

Now the McCain Gang proved that they can dish it out but can't take it. They started lashing out in every possible direction, based on a fair comment about the Old Man not even knowing how many homes he and his wifey own.

How many Americans don't know that? Really?

Here is the silver lining here in this round. It is not that Team Obama scored a good point, and proved they can do -- if not Kung Fu, at least Akido (ain't that one of the martial arts where using the energy of your opponent against them is a major feature?)Team McCain is really weak. They can't take a slap, leave alone a punch.

So let's get slap happy. Team McCain can self destruct. They just need a little good and pointed encouragement.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Chicago Way

(This is a METAPHOR, sheesh!)




It is time for that blood oath. You don't take down gangsters with out getting at least a a little ghetto/street in the play. Usually you got to get more than a little bit dirty. I am not saying go thug yourself, but I am saying, hit hard, and make them pay for each and every cheap shot, like 3 to 1.

Attrition. It is a time tried and true way of waging war.

Ya really don't have to sneak up behind the guy and blindside them. But you got to make them bleed more, spend more, use up more resources, energy, take more damage (metaphorically speaking) at the least.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

What Does My Favorite TV Drama Have to do With Presidential Elections?

Perhaps a lot, if you read between the lines of Battlestar Galactica scripts, but I am not going that deep. I am just going to quote the following bit, as said by my favorite brilliant disaster, the multitalented, and accidentally sagacious Kara Thrace, aka Starbuck:


Kara: This isn't duelling pistols at dawn. This is war. You never want to fight fair. You want to sneak up behind your enemy and club him over the head. You see, Scar understands that.



Now granted, my girl Starbuck was talking about literal life or death matters, there (although in a fictional world.) But what does that have to do with American Presidential Politics? I will tell you.

Frigging Republicans play presidential politics that hard, as if it were a kill or be killed sort of death match.


I hope there are at least some people high enough up in the Obama campaign to matter who gets that. Elsewise it is going to be Sen. Obama who is gonna get jacked and dropped.

These people might not look as scary as some Cholos, or OG's from the hood, but make no mistake: they be thugs. They might be thugs who quote the bible and wear seersucker suits, and look like the softest weakest tribe on the face of the planet, but in their house? Playing their game, the skankest of Full Contact Political Scumbaggery? They are the Original Gangsta Thugs.

Don't give them kinda bitches an inch. Word.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Experience? Doing What?

Thinking about the weird week we had and not being sure which looney story of the week to comment on, I switched on the TV and turned on, "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." I caught the tail end of a surrogates' pissing match (polite version) between Plastic Man Rommney (not to be confused with Plastic Turkey Man) and Tom Daschle. (He MUST be an alien -- Rommney that is.)

Anyway, I was listening to the back and forth and I had one of those screaming thoughts -- haven't we learned enough from the Hillary Campaign? And I mean challenging the claim of experience. Basically, Unless you are running against an incumbent POTUS, you should NEVER abandon the issue of experience to the other guy, nor let them own it as an issue. You do not have to take and hold the hill yourself, but you can not let the enemy control the hill top and set their cannon up there, as they will rain hell down on you from the heights, if you let them.

Don't let them.

So, whenever some flack, hack, or surrogate for McCain trots out the experience line, say the following:

Experience? Doing What?

And if the mouthpiece starts with the soundbites about the mythology, hit back and demand actual specifics. Demand resume bullet points. Say, "That is a . . . well, it is an argument, but that is not what I am asking you for. I am asking you for actual specifics about your candidate's experience. So I ask again. Experience? Doing What?"

Repeat the process as frequently and often as necessary to have the late night talk show hosts pick up the matter as a joke. And even after that, don't completely back off. But you can cut the frequency in half, as a weekly tactical matter.





I did not find this picture, until after finishing the post, above. In light of the homage to "Citizen Kane," let me quote my favorite line from the film:

"You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war."


Hey. Old Hearst is alleged to have actually said it. I am allegedly quoting Hearst, not his fictional altar ego, there.

Anyway . . . . same message, regardless of reference being made to art or to life.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Granted. It REALLY is Not Plastic Turkey Man's Fault, Russia Bombing Georgia, But . . .

If the USA can go half way around the planet to blow the shit out of people who were not a realistic threat to America, over in Iraq, and kill them, many if not most of them totally innocent, why can't Russia do it to one of it's neighbors?

Not to say I am not totally disgusted. I am totally disgusted, by the level of carnage and pointless death caused for something that is primarilly a pissing contest between the Kremlin (the two leaders there) and the president of Georgia.

It would have been the most atrocious, barbaric, baseless, and senseless international incident, of the past 10 years, but for Plastic Turkey Man's Invasion of Iraq.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

The Surge Was Responsible For the Drop in Violence? Not So Much. My Short Case, McCain is Too Stupid, Dishonest, or Both, to Be President . . .

Let us step back in time, only a year:

2007 August 25 Saturday.


The UN International Organization for Migration detects a huge acceleration in the rate of displacement. The Iraqi Red Crescent Organization believes the number of displaced has more than doubled to over 1 million so far in 2007.

The latest National Intelligence Estimate of the US government's intelligence agencies finds that areas where ethnic cleansing is most advanced experience less violence.

Ethnic Cleansing In Iraq Means Less Violence.

And I go into redundancy mode here. This is from a year ago.

So if The Old Man thinks the surge itself is what caused the violence to go down, and is blind to the other factors (like the fact that Iraq is fairly Ethnically Squeaky clean, well, fairly close to it, sector by sector, or 'hood by 'hood, how ever the division is found in various places), he is both a damned liar and too stupid to be leader of a score of toy soldiers, leave alone Our Nation. JMO.

Edit to add. NOT JMO:


I just found this. Here is one Iraqi journalist showing us how things really are in Beautiful post-surge Baghdad. BTW. What is the Arabic word for Balkanization? I swear I was going to use the B word when I first posted the original parts, here, and backed off. Damn. Had it right in my head. Now I have the proof; well I have the video, at least.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

It Just Gets WORSE.

(Oh, the Old Man was just making a joke).

Sorry Old Man. You pimp your wife, even jokingly, to a bunch of bikers, and you are a PIMP.

Good friggin lord.

I used that line, about "New Low," for anyone but a Republican, in my previous post, but shee-it. Even Karl Rove never (far as we know) told Plastic Turkey Man to pimp (even jokingly) his wife, and we have no evidence he ever did, even only jokingly.

Sheeit. As of today, I have more respect for GW Bush, than I do for McCain, and that is only because McCain has proven himself to have no more a sense of decency, propriety, or shame than some ghetto pimp who uses the line, from that old joke:

"Don't be call'n my bitch a ho."

Sick sick sick sick, embarassingly, and I am a Yella Dog Dem, and I embarassed, sick.


John McCain (jokingly) Pimps his wife (sick bastard he is. Make me puke.)


"Taking back the microphone, McCain joked that he wanted her to enter the beauty contest held at the site, the Buffalo Chip campground on the edge of town. "I told her with a little luck, she could be the only woman ever to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip," McCain quipped. "

Which is Worse? The Mere Fact Them Damn Republicans Got Away With Playing the Race Card (By Accusing Sen. Obama of Playing it), or the Why?

Clearly it is the WHY that is worse.

I mean, seriously! These are Republicans. What would be a NEW LOW for anyone else, for them is just another notch on their slime-gun belts.

Let's get to the why that particular shit worked, and apparently well.

No, before THAT, let me remind you of what I have been saying here, for as long as I have been posting here. There are far too many people in this country who's understanding of issues concerning race and racism is only this deep:

They Understand It is BAD to be Called a Racist.


Apparently I have not been telling you all enough. Not only do these weak peeps get that, but apparently there is a dimension I have failed to realize, fully, until I read this article over on Salon:

McCain is race-baiting smartly

The big eye-opening observation in this article is so FREAKING OBVIOUS one has to be as "Out of touch with overly-if-not-totally-clueless as to the reality of race issues, white Americans," not to have got it, the second the McCainiacs themselves dealt the race card from the bottom of the deck.

Here is the money shot (and it is a quote bit, within the article):


Add to this literature the brilliant insight by Adam Serwer over at the American Prospect about how whites respond to allegations or insinuations of racism. "In a dispute about race, the McCain campaign knows it will end up with the larger half," Serwer argues. "For the most part, most white people's experience with race isn't one of racial discrimination. They can only relate to racial discrimination in the abstract. What white people can relate to is the fear of being unjustly accused of racism. This is the larger half. This is why allegations of racism often provoke more outrage than actual racism, because most of the country can relate to one (the accusation of racism) easier than the other (actual racism). For this reason, in a political conflict over race, the McCain campaign has the advantage, because saying the race card has been played is actually the ultimate race card."


When I read this I wanted to howl out loud in frustration and rage, as I can not recall the last time I read a simple paragraph that was so obviously true, and at the same time sobering, depressing, and confirmed my worst suspicions about America and its (majority of) people.

I am going to do something I rarely if ever have done on this blog.
I am going to quote the Bible.

Here goes.


"Jesus wept."

Saturday, August 02, 2008

(Not that Republicans are Known for Respecting the Actual Meanings of Words and Phrases . . .)

I wish there were a clearer, neater, more-obvious-when-spindled-or-mutilated meaning for the phrase, "Playing the Race Card." I repeat (and have said so, ad naus., on this blog, for years) that these Republicans are constantly and historically intentionally trying to change (perception of) reality by raping the English Language. In any event, I have been analysing the Sen. Obama comment, by logical and practical standards, for its fair or not characterization as,"Playing the Race Card."

It is so obviously false, that I will resort to mockery and farce to make my point.

Now Sen. Obama was talking about how his face looks.

Forget the fawk about merely talking about how his face looks.

LOOK AT HIS FACE!

If that is not the most blatant example of Playing The Race Card, running around all day, 24/7/365 with that face, well? He is clearly out of line, doing that. Running around with that face. It's his face that is injecting race into this campaign!
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