Since 2000 the republicans have been able to get presidential politics graded on a curve by lowering expectations .  Since last Friday they have been running this ploy again. Tonight Sarah Palin gave her vice presidential acceptance speech and it will be highly graded by the media because she was competent, delivered it well and managed not to drool on herself while she gave it. Because of this low bar none of her dubious statements about Obama will get the slightest bit of scrutiny. None of the media will note that there was no concrete economic policy, also that their energy is totally nonrenewable, and that their  foreign policy consists of a map of Eastern Europe and The middle east with several  x’s marked “Bomb Here.” Not to mention health care, because she sure didn’t.  George Bush never won a debate in his life but somehow because he set expectations so low he managed to turn his inarticulateness in to an advantage. Now once again the Republicans have managed to get presidential politics graded on the curve.

So here we are officially on the first night of the RNC and all I have heard from these people is that since I am a liberal I am not a true American. I am so sick and tired of this "country first" crap. The republican platform is to impugne the patritoism of anyone who does not agree with them. I am truly disgusted.

A Pyrrhic victory (IPA: /ˈpɪrɪk/) is a victory with devastating cost to the victor. The phrase is an allusion to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War. After the latter battle, Plutarch relates in a report by Dionysius:

The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one more such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.[1]

From Wikipedia.

At the beginning of last night Hillary's campaign was $500,000 in debt. Obama had around $42,000,000 on hand. I am sure most of them have made big gains in donations since last night. Hillary says she raised 2.5 million. Lets say generously that she raises 2 million every day between now and May 6th. That still puts her at under two thirds what Obama has on hand right now. PA was Tailor made for her demographically. Indiana and North Carolina are not. Leaving North Carolina out of it she will not have the resources to keep Obama at bay in Indiana. On May 6th Obama will undo all the gains Hillary made yesterday in both the delegate count and the popular vote. Then that will be that. The problem with throwing the kitchen sink is that once it is gone there is nothing left. 

So at long last this is it. In Hillary's world anything that gets her the nomination is good. Anything that might deny her the nomination is bad. Even if these things create paradox they don't care. She does not care what is best for the party. She does not care what is best for the country. She only cares about what is best for her. This is why the disenfranchisement of Michigan and Florida despite the fact that they broke the party rules and knew full well what would happen is a heinous crime but the suggestion that pledged delegates ignore the will of the voters that sat them that is legitimate politics. This is what I mean by paradox and there are several examples. Good ole Mr. Penn and these states count but those states don't statements. Demanding the resignation of Samantha Power for an offhand comment, which she got by morning, and then letting Gerry Ferraro go off for a week about "Reverse Racism". In the end it all smacks of BS. It also proves the point. She will say or do anything to get elected.

After Barack Obama’s historic speech yesterday it seems the Right’s new talking point is to say he has not gone far enough in distancing himself from what they consider to be a racist church. As a case in I have heard it said in two different places, MSNBC and NPR, by republican commentators that Trinity Churches honoring of Louis Farrakhan with a life time achievement award is the equivalent of a white church honoring David Duke. Their point is that If John McCain had a 20 year association with such a church it would surely raise serious questions about his character. The crux of this argument is based on equating Duke to Farrakhan. This equilivency is erroneous. In its 150 year history the KKK has been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of lynchings of blacks. Their history of blood and violence is long and documented. Whereas The nation of Islam despite its long history of inflammatory racial and religious statements has never been responsible for any violence at all. If you are looking for someone to equate Farrakhan with on the other side then a good example would be Bob Jones, who has been quoted as saying “Blacks have never had a successful civilization.” and “Blacks were designed by God to be servants.” While such an association should be damming the right of this country freely associates themselves with such racists. I surely don’t defend Farrakhan or the nation of Islam but to equate them with Duke and the Klu Klux Klan is at best a false analogy.

Boxing analogies seem to be ruling here lately. As a boxing fan I am quite happy about this. Also I like the idea of casting Obama as Muhammad Ali. The GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!! So what if he is running a rope a dope here. It looks like he is going to do quite well in Wyoming and Mississippi despite Hillary’s barrage of attacks these last couple of weeks. Meanwhile just looking at Olbermann’s reaction to her “Threshold to be commander in chief” comment yesterday, along with the comment sections here and on other political blogs responding to the stories of her new and varied attacks it seems like she may already be over reaching. Does she plan on keeping this up for 7 straight weeks? If she does she be going in to Pennsylvania looking like a cross between Mitt Romney and Lee Atwater. I know that the media and most Obama supporters would like him to punch back just like the announcers and Ali fans wanted him to go after Forman, but for right now the smart thing to do may be to tuck his chin, keep his guard up and let her punch herself out.

She should have it taken away. With her coments today talking about McCain's fitnesse to be commander in chief, she has come dangerously close to if not outright breaking the Zell Miller rule. It seems like she would rather have McCain in the White House than Obama.