Yesterday a prominent Co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign brought up Barack Obama's past cocaine use on the Dennis Miller radio show.  He implied that Obama has not been honest about his past and needs to "come clean".  Now I have seen the news reports as many of you reading this have and I have read the comments left on different blogs about this situation.  The thing that I think everyone is missing about this particular interview is that the focus wasn't the cocaine.  The focus was trying to shape Barack Obama into a black man walking behind you in the dead of night with a ski mask on, pants sagging, and a gun on his person.  As a black man I would like to give my somewhat different perspective on this interview as well as the Ayer's, Rezko, and Wright connections.  Follow me over the fold to see why this is one situation where you would need a platinum race card to match the true underlying theme.

Former Governer of Oklahoma Frank Keating was a guest of Dennis Miller yesterday on his radio show as a surrogate for John McCain.  Dennis Miller has made no secret of his support for John McCain and his stark opposition to Barack Obama so it is no surprise that he would allow Mr. Keating to smear Senator Obama six ways from Sunday.  Here is the relevent exchange that has everyone buzzing today.

MILLER: It's the most liberal, let's just say that. We're talking to Frank Keating, former Oklahoma Governor, John McCain supporter. Frank, let's just say, it's the most liberal. The thing that bothers me the most about all this with Barack Obama is not the -- I know he's the most liberal guy. You know, I know he's gotten this close to the White House and I know most people don't realize he's probably the most liberal senator we have. The thing that bothers me the most is I recognize the obfuscation and the smoke and mirrors as Clinton-esque. When I hear him reduce Ayers to "this is a guy who lives in my neighborhood" or Rev. Wright, "I was there 500 times and never saw him." The acts themselves don't bother me as he's starting to treat me like an idiot too when he's blowing this smoke my way. He ought to just come clean and say, "listen, I came up through Chicago, you make some errors there." I'd almost be able to absolve it more easily then.

KEATING: Well, and that's what concerns me, Dennis, because when I was in the State Senate and statehouse of my state, if someone had voted against the entire state budget because it had too much money for corrections, all of us would have, you know, strained our necks to find out who is this because that would have been a very extreme position, basically saying to a law enforcement officer as I was or my son was a state trooper, "you know, you make an arrest, you risk your life, for nothing" because we're going to make sure that person doesn't go to prison even though the laws of the state require it. So, that puzzles me. Just he ought to admit, "you know, I've got to be honest with you. I was a guy of the street. I was way to the left. I used cocaine. I voted liberally, but I'm back at the center." I mean, I understand the big picture of America. But he hasn't done that...

MILLER: He's copped to that...

KEATING: Jeremiah Wright is...

MILLER: Wait, I've got to jump in Frank. He has copped to the blow use, right? I mean, he did so in his own book he said he did blow.

KEATING: Oh yes, he did.

MILLER: Well, I'm just saying that doesn't enter this to me.

Now first I would like to say that at the end of this Diary I am going to do what every journalist should have done as soon as John McCain started lying about why he is bringing up Ayers, that it was because Obama minimized his ties to him.  Every McCain surrogate uses the quote "This was a guy in my neighborhood" and stops and says thats all Barack Obama has ever said about his ties Bill Ayers.  This was something that came up first in a debate with Hillary Clinton and his answer was much more expansive than that.  But I digress....

Back to the Main Event.  This back and forth between Miller and Keating is almost orchestrated.  But interestingly enough each example they give of Obama not being honest with the American people is rooted in a lie.  But one quote in particular stood out to me more than the usual tripe.  and it was this.

I was a guy of the street

Now when exactly was Barack Obama a "street guy"?  What do and of you think "street guy" means?  I will tell you what it means.  It means a thug, a criminal, a con man, a bum, and every other prejudiced view that a few Americans still hold about black men.  I have noticed that many people are giving Dennis Miller props for "correcting" Keating on the fact that Barack Obama talked about his drug use in his book.  But they are missing the point of why Miller corrected him.  Dennis Miller wanted to reiterate to any and everyone listening that there is documented proof that Barack Obama did in fact use "blow".  He wasn't trying to be fair, he was trying to hammer home a point that he believes will help turn people away from Obama.  And it fits into all of the other attacks we have seen in the last week and a half.

Whether people want to accept this or not, black men are still seen by many Americans in a negative light.  I won't argue the merits of this or whether its ever warranted.  That is not my role in this Diary.  My role is explaining that the McCain campaign isn't trying to get the undecideds to see him as a terrorist.  Thats patently too far of a stretch.  No they are simply trying to make Obama look like a sterotypical N word.  

Notice a few things about the attacks.  Why exactly did John McCain say he brought up Ayers?  Was it because he thought Senator Obama wants to bomb the White House? No.  Was it because he thought Senator Obama supports terrorism?  No.  The "reason" that he gave was because Barack Obama wasn't being truthful with the American people.  This from a guy who repeated the lie yesterday that his VP pick stood up against the Bridge to Nowhere.  So its about honestly and truthfulness now.  Because you know how those black guys rarely tell you the truth!  He wants you to see Obama as a "dirty lying N word"

Why do you think they so desperately want to link Franklin Raines to Barack Obama?  The truth is James Johnson was a much better target.  He actually was a part of the campaign and he was going to help pick the VP.  He did get his golden parachute.  He did have problems at Fannie Mae.  But instead of focusing on him, the McCain campaign instead leapfrogged to the black man, Franklin Raines who had to repay his golden parachute, never was a part of the Obama campaign, and was a lot further removed from Fannie Mae than Johnson.  Then they put sandwhich between a fruity picture of  Franklin Raines and a unbecoming picture of Senator Obama, a picture of a kindly old white lady implying they helped take money from her.  VERY subtle lol. They want you to see Senator Obama as a "thuggish N word".

Look at the new attack ad with Rezko, Daley, and Ayers.  Why do you think the video shows grainy black and white photos of these men?  Its because they don't want these men looking like average everyday white men.  They want them looking darker and more like "typical" criminals.  I mean think about it, they include William Daley but the strongest thing they can list about him is that he is an "heir to the chicago machine".  So why did they include him in the ad? Because they know most people won't pay attention to what is being said about the men.  They will just notice there are three men instead of only 2 men and they all must have done something wrong since they are in the ad.  Again the meme is that all of Barack Obama's friends are "dark" and criminal.  Kinda like a what???  You guessed it friends, kinda like a gang.  I guess Barack Obama is supposed to be a political version of a Crip.  Who knew?

Here is another example.  Sean Hannity and other Wing Nuts love bringing up Reverend Wright and his comments about God Damn America (with out adding the end of that quote I might add) But you know who they love bringing up more?   Louis Farrakhan.  Now why do you think that is?  Obviously Reverend Wright has a MUCH closer tie to Barack Obama and his youtube comments are definitely controversial enough to spark a debate.  So what is the point of bringing in Farrakhan?  Because Farrakhan is a black man word that many white people love to hate.  When any discussion of bad black leaders happens you can best believe that white people will bring up Jesse, Rev Al, and Farrakhan.  He is seen as militant and anti American. And of course he has spewed hatred towards Israel.  Now notice something here.  Louis Farrakahn is the leader of the Nation of Islam, which is an organization of black muslims.  Now if any of the NeoCons really wanted to link Barack Obama to being a muslim wouldn't they bring it up when they try to link him to Farrakhan?  The fact that they never try to make that connection BUT still try to portray Obama as being a muslim goes to show you that they really arent trying very hard to prove that connection.  The muslim stuff is just a smoke screen to the bigger picture they are trying to portray of Barack Obama being a "militant N word"

Now lets look at the conflicting view points that the McCain tries to paint about Barack Obama.  On the one hand you have John McCain just totally disregarding reality and saying Barack Obama phoned it in during the Wall Street Crisis and stayed on the sidelines.  We all saw the press conferences and heard of the behind the scenes communications that Barack Obama had with with leaders on the Hill during the crisis so I don't feel the need to defend him on this.  But I am pointing out that John McCain wants to portray Obama as either lazy or spineless during the crisis.  For those counting at home he wants people to see Obama as a "lazy N word" or a "cowardly N word".  Now at the same time McCain and his surrogates decry Obama as being the leftyist of all lefty liberals.  They call him risky and that he has bad judgement.  McCain says Obama is dangerous because he wants to go into Pakistan and get Bin Ladin if the Pakistanis arent willing or able to do it.  So this time the McCain campaign wants to portray Obama as a "radical N word" or a "crazy N word"
Well thats just my take on it from listening to a lot of the speeches and the miind debates between surrogates on the cable news programs.  Maybe someone else has a different take on it.  But as a black man thats what we mean when we say "code words".    Many of us have had those same code words used against us in one way or another so we have experience to back it up.  I personally think its more than obvious that these attacks have a lot more to do with Barack Obama being black than any other reason. John McCain wants middle class undecided voters to see Senator Obama as a "lazy thuggish radical, crazy, cowardly, gang member type, militant N word" And if we don't work really hard to combat that he is going to win with some people.
 Remember this every time they try to mention Ayers though:  none of them have called for the Annenberg Foundation to fire Ayers and the Annenberg Foundation was founded by a former ambassador and close personal friend of Ronald Reagan.  Just something to point out the next time any of you have a Neocon in your face talking about Bill Ayers.

******************Attention*******************************

Now here is where the rubber hits the road.  Because the McCain campaign has pointed to the issue of honesty beign the reason why they are bringing up Bill Ayers, we all need to call for the MSM to point out that there whole premise is a lie.  In an interview with Sean Hannity, John McCain had this to say:

HANNITY: — in his house. The year was '95. You know they sat on multiple boards together. We know they've given speeches together. We know there's been sort of a back and forth financially. Ayers contributing to Obama, Obama sort of working some money back through them.

What questions, Senator, would you like answered as it relates to this relationship? And do you think the American people should care about this?

MCCAIN: I think they should care about Senator Obama's truthfulness. I don't care much about an old terrorist and his wife who are still unrepentant. By the way, she was as much or more active than Mr.Ayers was.

But the point is, it's not about them. It's about Senator Obama being candid and straight forward with the American people about their relationship. He has dismissed it by saying he was just a guy in the neighborhood. You know it's much more than that. Let's reveal all the details of that relationship and then the American people can make a judgment.

Now lets examine the record to fact check McCain.  Bill Ayers first came up during a debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (it was coordinated behind the scenes between George Stephanopolous and Sean Hannity I might add).  Here is how Barack Obama responded from the outset::

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator, if you get the nomination, you'll have to -- (applause) -- (inaudible).

I want to give Senator Clinton a chance to respond, but first a follow-up on this issue, the general theme of patriotism in your relationships. A gentleman named William Ayers, he was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol and other buildings. He's never apologized for that. And in fact, on 9/11 he was quoted in The New York Times saying, "I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough."

An early organizing meeting for your state senate campaign was held at his house, and your campaign has said you are friendly. Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?

SEN. OBAMA: George, but this is an example of what I'm talking about.

This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.

The fact is, is that I'm also friendly with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the United States Senate, who during his campaign once said that it might be appropriate to apply the death penalty to those who carried out abortions.

Do I need to apologize for Mr. Coburn's statements? Because I certainly don't agree with those either.

So this kind of game, in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, is somehow -- somehow their ideas could be attributed to me -- I think the American people are smarter than that. They're not going to suggest somehow that that is reflective of my views, because it obviously isn't.

snip

SENATOR OBAMA: I'm going to have to respond to this just really quickly, but by Senator Clinton's own vetting standards, I don't think she would make it, since President Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of two members of the Weather Underground, which I think is a slightly more significant act than me --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Applauds.)

MR. GIBSON: Please.

SENATOR OBAMA: -- than me serving on a board with somebody for actions that he did 40 years ago.

Look, there is no doubt that the Republicans will attack either of us. What I've been able to display during the course of this primary is that I can take a punch. I've taken some pretty good ones from Senator Clinton. And I don't begrudge her that. That's part of what the political contest is about.

I am looking forward to having a debate with John McCain, and I think every poll indicates that I am doing just as well, if not better, in pulling together the coalition that will defeat John McCain.

And when it comes to November, and people are going into the polling place, they're going to be asking, are we going to go through four more years of George Bush economic policies; are we going to go through four more years of George Bush foreign policy?

And if we as Democrats and if I as the nominee have put forward a clear vision for how we're going to move the country forward, deal with issues like energy dependence, lower gas prices, provide health care, get our troops out of Iraq, that is a debate that I'm happy to have and a debate that I'm confident I can win.

Now I won't pretend like I am some kind of genius because I am not, but even a blind man can see that Stephanapolous mentioned in his question the meeting that kicked off Obama's political career at Ayers house. Obama never refuted that point.  In fact he went on to acknowledge that he knows him from the neighborhood, from working at the University of Illinois and we can infer from the comment about Senator Coburn that they were "friendly" and again Stephanopolous made mention of them being friendly initially in the wording of his question.  Obama also acknowledged that he served on a board with Bill Ayers when Hillary Clinton brought it up.  Now again keeping in mind that this was his first time speaking on the subject and compared to subsequent analysis by various media outlets he gave a pretty substantial accouting of his relationship with Bill Ayers.  

This is just another example of Republicans saying the lie so many times that eventually it gets accepted as truth.  For those of you who blog on other sites please please please point out this inconsistency with John McCain's rhetoric.

I was just about to send this when a  new article came across my desk from the prosecutor or the Weather Underground.  I thought it was very releveant so take a gander

As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.

Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.

Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.

I do take issue with the statement in your news article that the Weathermen indictment was dismissed because of "prosecutorial misconduct." It was dismissed because of illegal activities, including wiretaps, break-ins and mail interceptions, initiated by John N. Mitchell, attorney general at that time, and W. Mark Felt, an F.B.I. assistant director.

William C. Ibershof
Mill Valley, Calif., Oct. 8, 2008

Sarah Palin has stepped across the line one time too many.  Its what they would call on the "Chappelle Show" habitual line stepping.  Its time for Debbie Wasserman Shultz or Claire McCaskill or another female Obama surrogate to go ahead and turn this tramp over their knees and spank her ass like the petulant little child she is.  Its not as if there isn't a plethora of good material to use.  At some point we have to draw the line in the sand and say that just because Sarah Palin is a woman doesn't mean she can say what ever in the hell she wants to!

Trooper-Gate, Disability Gate, Earmark Queen, Child Abuser,  Liar, Idiot.  These are just a few of the topics that need to be CRUSHING Sarah Palin for the next 4 weeks of this election.  I mean if we aren't going to attack her we might as well roll over and play dead.  The next thing you know she will be saying Barack Obama is a coward and is going to give up and surrender in Iraq.  Oh wait, I forgot, SHE ALREADY DID THAT with 80 million Americans watching.  My blood is seriously boiling right now and I HOPE that Obama's is as well behind the scenes.  Before I go any further I guess I should address what she said THIS TIME. These are just a few of the topics that need to be CRUSHING Sarah Palin for the next 4 weeks of this election.  I mean if we aren't going to attack her we might as well roll over and play dead.  The next thing you know she will be saying Barack Obama is a coward and is going to give up and surrender in Iraq.  Oh wait, I forgot, SHE ALREADY DID THAT with 80 million Americans watching.  My blood is seriously boiling right now and I HOPE that Obama's is as well behind the scenes.  Before I go any further I guess I should address what she said THIS TIME.

"There's been a lot of interest in what I read lately.  Well, I was reading my copy of today's New York Times and I was really interested to read about Barack's friends from Chicago.  Turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to The New York Times was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.'  These are the same guys who think patriotism is paying higher taxes.  This is not a man who sees America as you and I do - as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. This, ladies and gentlemen, has nothing to do with the kind of change anyone can believe in - not my kids and not your kids. The only man who can take on Washington is John McCain."

Now two days ago this DUMB BIOTCH couldn't even name ONE newspaper she has read.  Today she is misquoting the NYT article that actually said the OPPOSITE of what she said.  I know conventional wisdom is saying don't attack her because people will feel sorry for her.  But I also know this and I will probably catch some hell from some people about this but its my believe and I have seen it so its also my experience:  When a woman abuses a man over and over again if that man ever defends himself the people who have seen the whole saga don't harbor ill will towards him most of the time.  On the contrary in fact a lot of the times a man who allows himself to be attacked over a long period of time he tends to be come the subject of ridicule being called weak or henpecked by both men and women alike.  If a Sarah Palin is bold enough to come out her slanderous mouth that  Obama is palling around with terrorist then she had better be woman enough to withstand getting attacked about being a child abuser.  She needs to be ready to get attacked for LYING repeatedly to the American people.  She needs to be ready to be attacked for using our tax dollars like a federal welfare system for her state of Alaska.  But bigger than that WE need to be ready to attack HER and shut her damn mouth.  Its hard to throw punches when you are constantly eating them!

I know that this diary won't change anything but dammit I needed to vent.  I could take it when McCain and his cronies were making these lines.  At least they are out there to try to defend them.  She hides out in a bat cave and only comes out to make attacks.  We need to NUKE  her ass from her hiding place with our OWN attacks and then she will HAVE to talk to the MSM or risk allowing us to shape her narrative.  We need to DEMAND that this happens. 

I could say a lot of things but I think the video and commentary speaks for itself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTLQ612F-A

 James Carville once famously said "If you see your opponent drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil!"  The polls in recent weeks have taken a decided turn for Obama.  Many people have given their opinions as to why; the financial crisis, McCain's erratic behavior, McCain going too negative, Obama's performance at the debate... And the list goes on and on.  I one other hand point to what I think is the number one reason why McCain is in a free fall in the polls right now.  The selection of Sarah Palin.  Think thats too easy of an explanation?  
    Sarah Palin burst on the scene at a time when John McCain needed a huge boost in his campaign.  Because she was a relative unknown she was a seemingly perfect addition to the ticket.  After the real or percieved snub of Hillary Clinton by Barack Obama for the VP slot the GOP candidate saw this as a prime opportunity to grab some disgruntled Democrats and add them to his legion of supporters.  Sarah Palin was going to bring in the votes of white women.  She was going to bring in the evangelical vote.  She was going to bring in the Pro Life vote.  She was in effect going to save the day for McCain with demographics that he was having a hard time making in roads into.  While I admit that she did move some of those people towards McCain for good, many early admirers of Sarah Palin are now at best luke warm on her and at worst are jumping ship.  What happened?  Is it because of the liberal elitist media?  Is it because of her lack of experience?  Is it because of the perception of Alaska as being a foreign country?  No I dont believe so.  The answer in my mind is simply this.  Not content with simply allowing Sarah Palin's real accomplishments to stand on there own merits(and anyone would have to admit that her winning the governership and having a very high approval rating are in fact pretty good accomplishments)the McCain campaign decided that they need to make her into Wonder Woman.  It is the embellishment of her professional history that has become the anvil around John McCain's neck that will ultimately drag him down to the bottom of the Ocean by the time November 4th comes around.

"Thanks but no thanks to the Bridge to Nowhere!" That was a great line the first time she used it.  That she was a no nonsense anti wasteful spending candidate I believe excited a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum.  Now if she had left it at saying it just that one time maybe it could have come and gone without much fan fare.  But instead she crammed this line down the throats of the country over and over in her scripted speeches.  And wouldn't you know it, some "gotcha" journalist decided to actually look into just how she was able to tell the Congress thanks but no thanks and make them stop sending Alaska all of that money.  Now at this point there should be no reason to go throught the details because its safe to say that unless you have a Rush Limbaugh IV, you realize that Sarah Palin was lying through her teeth.  I mean every aspect of that statement was a lie.  Again at this point I truly believe that if she pulled back from saying it again the American people would have forgiven her.  But defiantly she went in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary and having been debunked on just about every fact checking website she decided to press ahead with that narrative.  Now most people allow for some lying from politicians.  I mean its kinda what they do.  But at the point that EVERYONE knows you are lying and you continue to lie then most people feel like you are trying to play them for fools or imply they are stupid.  Well we know how the media loves a feeding frenzy and what do you know they found more lies and inconsistencies in the narrative she gave in her speeches.  Then we saw the word "Troopergate" hit the headlines.  And its at this point that I think the weight of her anvil was first starting to be felt by McCain.

  The interviews, my gosh the interviews.  Where do I start?  When it was announced that Sarah Palin was going to give her first interview to Charlie Gibson there was a loud grown coming from most Democratic/Progressive circles.  Most of us pretty much assumed that this was going to be a softer than a nerfball softball interview.  Then to our amazement it turned out to be a tough interview.  Its an understatement to say that Sarah Palin didnt do well but I think that most of the attention at that time was focused on how hard Charlie Gibson had been on her.  I mean he asked her about the Bush Doctrine for crying out loud!   But after the dust settled I think a lot of people went back and looked at the interview and looked at the transcript and noticed that she did poorly in an interview that really didnt have any tough questions in it.  Now the perceptions of Sarah Palin were dinged again.  Not only was she lying about her qualifications to be the VP pick, she was also not very knowledgeable about subjects that most people would want a person a heartbeat away from the presidency to know about. Now instead of talking about his vision for the country John McCain and his surrogates were having to suspend a significant amount of time trying to defend her and her qualifications.  That anvil grew just a little bit heavier.

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong."  Those words spoken by John McCain on a day when our nation was looking down the barrel of one of the biggest financial crises in our nation's history were tabbed by the aforementioned James Carville as the words that sealed the election for Barack Obama. (Yes I admit I am a HUGE Carville fan no matter how he went after Obama.  He is great at what he does and he was doing his job.  I think if Obama used him more he could be a lot better asset than some of these schmos I see on MSNBC and FOXNEWS.  I would love to see him tear Sean Hannity's ass up on a nightly basis) All of McCain's actions since that time have been seen by most as erratic, flailing, flip flopping, trying like hell to get a solid footing in the middle of this catastrophe and seemingly making every wrong move imaginable.  So where does Sarah Palin fit into this?  Well first I think most Republicans/Conservatives would say Mitt Romney would have been a much better pick in light of this financial situation.  Now I don't know if Mitt Romney could have changed the perception of the McCain campaign and the reaction to the Wall Street crisis but I will say that there is at least the chance that he would have.  Sarah Palin had nothing of import to say on the subject of the economy.  Because of her horrible showing with Gibson and probably because the campaign itself knows she isn't very knowledgeable they have kept her in a "cone of silence" for weeks.  Kind of like the good china, they only bring her out for special occasions and campaign speeches.  So at a time when John McCain could have used all the help he could get Sarah Palin was no where to be found.  And now we know why....

Katie Couric was chosen as the 2nd journalist to interview Sarah Palin.  Again many on the left felt like this would be pretty much a fluff piece not much more serious than the Hannity fluff piece.  After watching the interview again some of the attention was turned to Katie Couric but not quite as much this time.  People had immediate reactions that this was another tough interview, but I think they quickly shifted from that focus and started to truly examine Sarah Palin.  Her response to a question on the bailout was simply mind boggling.  It is apparent that had she been put in front of the press during the crisis she would have sunk John McCain's campaign on the spot. Again I believe there were opportunities for her to save herself not just in this interview but to also smooth over some things said during the Gibson interview.  The fact that she would not only reaffirm her stance that simply being governer of a state thats close to Russia gives her foreign policy experience she now went further and claimed that Russia harrasses Alaskans all the time "when Putin raiss his head".  To make matters worse (which she should be applauded for accomplishing the almost impossible) her answers were barely coherent.  I have personally heard drunk homeless people explain the meaning of life in ways that were easier to follow than most of her answers.  This is a woman who lauded her running mate's reputation as a reformer but she couldn't even point to a single piece of important legislation he worked on as a Senator. Funny thing because McCain practically reads off her resume every where he goes. Now add on top of that the fact that we now know that cbs declined to air two OTHER clips of her making a fool of herself and it makes average people wonder what in the hell was John McCain thinking.  That anvil was getting pretty heavy at this point.

I guess someone in John McCain's campaign finally woke up and realized that Sarah Palin's favorability was in the crapper so now we are subject to the new and improved Palin roll out.  Instead of campaigning or working on the bailout John McCain was reduced to playing baby sitter to Sarah Palin in the second round with Katie Couric and make no mistake about it he was acting like her daddy.  She was only allowed to speak when he gave her permission and she still didnt exactly hit it out of the park.  Then when daddy had to go to workSarah couldn't name any magazines nor newspapers that she has read on a regular basis and she said that it doesn't matter if she believes that climate change is man made when in fact that is the CENTRAL issue in climate change and what should be done about it.  She is supposed to go on some friendly talk radio shows all week in preparation for the debate.  Somehow I don't think stories about her family and Joe six packis going to turn the tide back in her favor.  

A lot of people are saying that expectations are so low that she will inevitably been seen to have won the debate if she just doesnt make any mistakes.  But maybe I am missing something here but after those two interviews and the lies she has told repeatedly in all of her speeches does any one truly believe that she can go for 90 minutes without making a major mistake???  And if she does blow the debate, with skepticism of her rising every day how can they possibly rebrand her after the fact???  People point to Dan Quale and try to make the case that he didnt impede George H. W. Bush from the presidency but comparatively Dan Quale looks like Ronald Reagan compared to Sarah Palin.  You see average Americans on the right and the left now are pretty sure that Palin is woefully unprepared to help lead this country and be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  It has become an indictment against John McCain's character and judgement that he ever picked her in the first place.  If she blows it tomorrow even a little I think the weight of her anvil will finally be at critical mass and John McCain will plummet directly to the bottom of all of the polls.

If you want to see the linked version go to my blog

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/1/84845/8213

 

So Sarah Palin is an idiot but we already knew that.  But this interview takes her to new heights of dumbassery. What kind of moron says that Israel can do WHATEVER they want and we will support them without second guessing them??  Of course she back tracks at first then doubles down then changes her whole theory..... My head hurts listening to this woman.  I would imagine if I were drunk she would sound like a genius though lol.  Thats it by gosh.  She talks like she is perpetually drunk just with a VERY irritating accent.   Maybe if I get drunk and listen to her she will sound like Madeline Albright.  This is a the whole interview from today and it is a DOOZY lol.

The Kissinger diss comes near the end of the interview if you want to fast forward.  Katie Couric in no way can be accused of asking a gotcha question this time.  She brought up the fact that Palin had recently met Kissinger and explicitly TOLD this mental midget that  he had recently advocated direct talks with Iran and Syria.  And STILL when asked if she would agree to direct talks with Iran Baracuda Breath decided to stick closely to the talking points and try to attack Barack Obama.  Uhmmm how do you not realize that Obama and Kissinger are on the same page on this issue???  So she goes on and says that Obama is beyond naive.  Katie Couric tried to pull her back from the edge of the bridge and asked if she was calling Kissinger beyond naive.  But Sarah decides she is going head first over the edge and says "I never heard him say that".  I mean seriously how dumb is this chick???  Its only been on the news, on CNN all last week, and all over the internet about all 5 of the former Secretaries of State at a forum entitled THE NEXT PRESIDENT for heaven's sake  advocating direct talks with Iran.  But she still tries to get off with a technicality saying that Kissinger didnt say "without preconditions" I guess Couric was unsure on this point so she backed off and maybe Palin thought she was safe. Unfortunately on the actual CBS Evening News Katie Couric said she called Kissinger to double check and he reaffirmed that he supports direct talks with Iran without preconditions.. 

I know poltics has been huge the last 24 hours but how did everyone miss this???  Russia helping Venezuela go nuclear???  WTF???

 

Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, has said he wants to look at nuclear co-operation with Caracas, after meeting Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, at his residence on the outskirts of Moscow.

Putin said: "We are all ready to look at the possibility of operating in the sphere of peaceful atomic energy."

Earlier on Thursday, Moscow had announced a $1bn loan to Venezuela to buy arms.

....and she is an idiot but we already knew that.  What kind of moron says that Israel can do WHATEVER they want and we will support them without second guessing them??  Of course she back tracks at first then doubles down then changes her whole theory..... My head hurts listening to this woman.  I would imagine if I were drunk she would sound like a genius though lol.  Thats it by gosh.  She talks like she is perpetually drunk just with a VERY irritating accent.   Maybe if I get drunk and listen to her she will sound like Madeline Albright.  This is a the whole interview from today and it is a DOOZY lol.

The Kissinger diss comes near the end of the interview if you want to fast forward.  Katie Couric in no way can be accused of asking a gotcha question this time.  She brought up the fact that Palin had recently met Kissinger and explicitly TOLD this mental midget that  he had recently advocated direct talks with Iran and Syria.  And STILL when asked if she would agree to direct talks with Iran Baracuda Breath decided to stick closely to the talking points and try to attack Barack Obama.  Uhmmm how do you not realize that Obama and Kissinger are on the same page on this issue???  So she goes on and says that Obama is beyond naive.  Katie Couric tried to pull her back from the edge of the bridge and asked if she was calling Kissinger beyond naive.  But Sarah decides she is going head first over the edge and says "I never heard him say that".  I mean seriously how dumb is this chick???  Its only been on the news, on CNN all last week, and all over the internet about all 5 of the former Secretaries of State at a forum entitled THE NEXT PRESIDENT for heaven's sake  advocating direct talks with Iran.  But she still tries to get off with a technicality saying that Kissinger didnt say "without preconditions" I guess Couric was unsure on this point so she backed off and maybe Palin thought she was safe. Unfortunately on the actual CBS Evening News Katie Couric said she called Kissinger to double check and he reaffirmed that he supports direct talks with Iran without preconditions.. 

I have finally seen what it is that the McCain surrogates are talking about when they keep referring to Harry Reid asking for McCain's help.   Here is the link to the video.  Harry Reid actually said they needed "the republican nominee to let us know where he stands ON what we should do" Now the reason for the all caps of the word "on" is because the Republicans are saying that Reid said AND instead of on.  That makes a HUGE difference because what he really said makes Reid look strong in calling out McCain for not stating his stance on the situation and refusing to take a position.  But if you use the word AND that makes Reid look impotent as if everything hinged on John McCain telling everyone what to do.  Please be on guard for this and correct the trolls when they try to claim that Reid begged for McCain to help them.

I have noticed that on many progressive websites there are GOP trolls who love to come in and post ignorant bullshit just to try to rile everyone up and piss everyone off.  Well I personally think turnabout is fair play.  I happened across a very offensive and ignorant townhall.com article this morning that was trying to paint Barack Obama as clueless with McCain being a leader on this issue of whether or not to cancel the debates.  Well I have already posted and given them my two cents which I am SURE is going to piss them off over the course of the day but I am inviting others to take the fight to the wingnut websites.  It took me all of two minutes to register there and 3 minutes to type the post.  Thats just a measly 5 minutes that will now translate into those hating ignorant assholes who frequent townhall.com now having to deal with an aggressive and factually based dissenting opinion.  If they can try to infiltrate progressive blogs I think its only right and appropriate that we infiltrate AND take over THEIR blogs.  Who's coming with me???

P.S. please recommend so we can get as much participation as possible!

I have been going over and over in my mind how Barack Obama can respond to John McCain's request to come back to the Senate and help work on the financial bailout.  Notice one thing first though.  The Republicans have taken one of the columnists from yesterday's advice and they are no longer calling it a bailout but instead calling it a rescue.  Supposedly changing the name of it will make Americans endorse it.  Just FYI.  But I digress.  The problem is its a touchy subject because if Obama says he will return then he gives McCain the edge on Leadership.  If he says he won't then he risks looking like he isnt putting the Country first.  So here is what I think he should do.  He should call the Democratic leadership and have them come out and say that they are going to incorporate all of John McCain's guidelines in the legislation and that the Democrats are ready to vote for it.  Here is what that can do.  Now Barack Obama has cover because he can say that his party is ready to vote for the bill.  The other thing is it backs McCain into a corner because if they put in all of McCain's tenents then he has NO reason to say he wouldn't vote for it.  So the onus would be on him to convince the rest of his Republican friends to vote for it to.  In a nutshell if they republicans didnt vote for it then it would show that McCain has no leadership skills and he would have NO political cover because he has already stated in black and white terms what it would take for him to support the legislation.  Now if anybody else can come up with a way for Obama to handle this without running the risk of looking bad PLEASE weigh in!!!

I am sure that Sean Hannity prays in front of  a Sarah Palin shrine every night.  But it would seem that some other FAUXNEWS personalities may be pouring out the Palin Kool Aid.  Sheppard Smith for one seems like he may have found it a little to bitter. For maybe the first time ever please enjoy the scene of a FUXNEWS anchor and a Obama supporter double team the CONSERVATIVE guest.  I wonder if there has ever been a candidate whose favorables went all the way down to 0.  If Sarah Palin keeps up her cone of silence with the media she will be well on her way to becoming famous the wrong way.  lol

Boot Throws Bush Under The Bus»

Speaking at a retreat hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy over the weekend, McCain adviser Max Boot threw President Bush under the bus:

McCain’s advisers attempted to deflect comparisons between McCain and Bush. In trying to turn such comparisons against the Obama campaign, Boot noted that eight years ago he favored “another presidential candidate with not much experience in national security policy” — George W. Bush — “and we’ve seen the implications.”

For a little background on how monumentally disingenuous this is, let’s go back to October 2001, when Boot penned an article arguing that the problem with U.S. foreign policy was too little military intervention. “The problem,” Boot wrote, “has not been excessive American assertiveness but rather insufficient assertiveness. The question is whether, having now been attacked, we will act as a great power should”:

Once Afghanistan has been dealt with, America should turn its attention to Iraq. It will probably not be possible to remove Saddam quickly without a U.S. invasion and occupation — though it will hardly require half a million men, since Saddam’s army is much diminished since the Gulf War, and we will probably have plenty of help from Iraqis, once they trust that we intend to finish the job this time. Once we have deposed Saddam, we can impose an American-led, international regency in Baghdad, to go along with the one in Kabul. With American seriousness and credibility thus restored, we will enjoy fruitful cooperation from the region’s many opportunists, who will show a newfound eagerness to be helpful in our larger task of rolling up the international terror network that threatens us.

Clearly, only someone with as little foreign policy experience as George W. Bush would actually follow such knuckleheaded advice. But what’s John McCain’s excuse?

You know sometimes Karma is a wonderful thing.  Just last week Joe Biden whom has always had loose lips made the statement that the wealthy in this country needed to step up and be patriotic and pay their fair share of taxes to help right our economy for the majority of taxpaying Americans.  This comment was twisted and turned every which a way to make Joe Biden look bad.  Of course old Baracuda Breath mentioned it in her next speech that it wasn't patriotic to raise taxes.  Nobody expects her to address the nation honestly anymore so nobody cared when she took liberty with what Biden actually said.  Similarly John McCain came right behind her and said raising taxes isn't patriotic, its just dumb.  Yep that was a GREAT punchline.  Fast forward to thursday when we learn that in order to preserve Wall Street and thereby our economy, the White House was asking the Country through Congress to bankroll a $700 billion dollar bailout.  Yes for those reading thats you and me.  Who came out in support of this action???  Well good old John McCain and Barracuda Breath.  Now I am left to ask the question that CLEARLY the MSM should be asking.  Why is it patriotic for the taxpayers to bailout Wall Street but not patriotic for the wealthy in America to kick in more to help out the overwhelming majority on Main Street???  It certainly shows you who has priority in McCain's heart doesnt it?