- Iraqi journalist Muthathar al Zaidi, who was called 'courageous' by fellow Iraqi journalists, gave Bush an appropriate Iraqi farewell - with both his shoes.
Bush desperately tries to rewrite history on the Iraq war while his administration covers up the war crimes by denying the Obama transition team documents on wiretapping and torture.
Unfortunately for Bush and America, this history of failure will be with us a long time. It was an expensive failure and America is hurting for it.
A 513 page federal history on the Iraq reconstruction was compiled by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a Republican lawyer who regularly travels to Iraq and has a staff of engineers and auditors based here. Here are some of the accounts in this first official federal historical document on the Iraq reconstruction entitled “Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience" -
Ignorance: Pentagon planners efforts were crippled by spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.
Lies: when the reconstruction began to lag — particularly in the critical area of rebuilding the Iraqi police and army — the Pentagon simply put out inflated measures of progress to cover up the failures. Colin Powell said the Defense Department “kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces — the number would jump 20,000 a week"
Incompetence: The Bush Administration has in place neither the policies and technical capacity nor the organizational structure that would be needed to undertake such a program on anything approaching this scale.
Politics over planning: Republicans put a greater priority on making things "look good" for Bush because of the 2004 election instead of efficient and competent use of money. Office of Management and Budget balked at the American occupation authority’s abrupt request for about $20 billion in new reconstruction money in August 2003, a veteran Republican lobbyist working for the authority made a bluntly partisan appeal to Joshua B. Bolten, then the O.M.B. director and now the White House chief of staff. “To delay getting our funds would be a political disaster for the President,” wrote the lobbyist, Tom C. Korologos. “His election will hang for a large part on show of progress in Iraq and without the funding this year, progress will grind to a halt.” With administration backing, Congress allocated the money later that year.
Poor planning: As an example of the haphazard planning, a civilian official at the United States Agency for International Development was at one point given four hours to determine how many miles of Iraqi roads would need to be reopened and repaired. The official searched through the agency’s reference library, and his estimate went directly into a master plan.
Early miscalculations: The history records how Jay Garner, Chief of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, presented Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld with several rebuilding plans, including one that would include projects across Iraq. “What do you think that’ll cost?” Mr. Rumsfeld asked of the more expansive plan.“I think it’s going to cost billions of dollars,” Mr. Garner said.“My friend,” Mr. Rumsfeld replied, “if you think we’re going to spend a billion dollars of our money over there, you are sadly mistaken.”
Conclusions:
"...the government as a whole has never developed a legislatively sanctioned doctrine or framework for planning, preparing and executing contingency operations in which diplomacy, development and military action all figure.”
And to think in the midst of this recession in America, billions of dollars are flying out of America every week to try to repair the damage of the Bush legacy.
Patrick Fitzgerald is now the hero of conservatives. The conservative Hot Air blog says the arrest is "staggering" and "Fitzmas arrives early this year." The conservative American Thinker had several articles of this triumph of justice on their website - the arrest of Blagojevich. The Democrats applaud the arrest and are united against Blagojevich. Liberal host Rachel Maddow suggests Blagojevich is mentally ill, a sociopath.
What?
Wait a second. Isn't that the same prosecutor that when indicting Republican Scooter Libby, the conservatives called Fitzgerald "beneath contempt"?
Patrick Fitzgerald is a disgrace both to the legal profession and to the human race. His partisan allies, such as Senator Chuck Schumer and certain nameless bureaucrats at the CIA, are beneath contempt.... Patrick Fitzgerald fulminated in court about a cloud over the Vice President in an effort to suggest that there was something dark and sinister about administration officials discussing Valerie Plame with reporters after her husband injected her into a national controversy. That suggestion is pure left-wing fantasy.
Conservatives went after Patrick Fitzgerald as the noose tightened around the office of the VP in Plame case. Conservative Tucker Carlson, who once had glowingly approved Ken Starr's inquisition of Bill Clinton, said of Libby's prosecutor:
"You shouldn't have these freelancers, like the lunatic Fitzgerald, running around destroying people's lives for no good reason. I hate this trial."
Weekly Standard editor and New York Times conservative columnist Bill Kristol went after Fitzgerald over his inquiry into the Plame affair:
"You know, the leak story is absurd, but I now think the whole prosecution is absurd. ... I now think it's a politically motivated attempt to wound the Bush administration."
What is truly beneath contempt are the wingnut Republican bloggers, like the pathetic Bill Hobbs, who breathlessly try to tie Obama to this corrupt governor.
Obama has called for Blagojevich to resign. It has been reported that the Obama camp tipped off authorities to the corruption. What does Bush do about Scooter Libby? He commutes his sentence.
What this shows is that conservatives are very happy to overlook corruption, abuse of power, ignoring subpoenas, etc... when it involves Republicans. This clearly shows that for conservatives, authoritarian loyalty trumps the rule of law nearly every time.
The difference here is when a Bushie get called on corruption, conservatives circle the wagons because of their authoritarian loyalty. We've seen it time after time. When a Democrat gets charged, Democrats unite against the criminal. We can see which party values the rule of law over politics and ass-kissing authoritarianism.
The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) is the is the sixth-largest system of public higher education currently operating in the United States. MTSU is the largest University in the system and largest undergraduate University in the state.
Facing state budget shortfalls, TBR Chancellor Charles Manning proposed a “New Business Model” [pdf] for the TBR system that was potentially so destructive to sound academics, that he earned the “Turkey at the Top” Award in the Chronicle Review as the worst academic leader of the year. (Nashville Scene story). To put it in perspective, Manning beat out University of Louisville Dean Robert Felner, who was indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and tax evasion to the tune of $2 million. Manning’s proposal was to be approved by the TBR Board on Thurs Dec 4, but it didn’t happen.
Some of Manning's proposals included:
Requiring students to take a certain number of online courses en route to their bachelor’s and associate’s degrees.
Turning online learning into an entirely automated experience “with no direct support from a faculty member except oversight of testing and grading,” and providing financial incentives for students to voluntarily accept teacherless education. Even initiating mandatory online classes.
Cutting salaries and permitting furloughs as a short-term expedient in dealing with budget reductions
Use 'advanced students' to teach 'beginning students' and build that requirement into curriculum and financial aid packages.
Increase faculty workload, initiating a "students-taught” metric to supersede courseload, and “revise” summer compensation
Formalizing a system that anticipates even greater use of adjunct professors where the remaining tenure-stream faculty into their direct supervisors
Attack on education - shot down, for now
Apparently due to public and faculty outcry, and a whole lot of bad publicity, the TBR's plans to formally approve a new business model on Thur 12/4 were inexplicably rescinded. (Nashville Scene story , MTSU Sidelines article)
So what is wrong with Manning's plan?
1) It was sneaky and timed to be pushed through before anyone noticed. Everyone noticed. As MTSU Faculty Senate Prez Alfre Lutz wrote:
Chancellor Manning's memorandum was released as late as November 20, a week before Thanksgiving and about two weeks before the Board "will formalize its approval of this undertaking" at its December 4 meeting.... It is shocking to realize that TBR would (a) initiate fundamental changes to the work faculty members do ("new business model") without so much as informing, let alone consulting, them, the experts on this work; and (b) consider adopting a radical change to the Personnel Policy within two weeks, again without soliciting faculty input. This constitutes a serious breach of trust, and we will certainly no longer assume that TBR values faculty members as stakeholders crucial to the future of higher education in Tennessee.
2) The proposal would create a 2-tiered system: students will receive a tuition discount if they 'work online with no direct support from a faculty member,' setting up a scenario where the wealthier students would be able to consult faculty members, and, as a result, receive a superior education and graduate with higher GPAs.
3) TBR professors are already underpaid compared to the national averages. Adjunct professors are outrageously underpaid. As the Chronicle article stated:
...the reality is that if you’re really experienced and qualified, teaching 10 courses a year for Chuck Manning nets you about 15 grand without benefits, or less than you’d make at Wal-mart. That’s quite a bit less than half the $33, 960 that the extremely useful Living Wage Calculator says is necessary to support one adult and one child in Knox County.
Here is one professor who worked as an adjunct for nearly 10 years at MTSU for $15,000 and had to get family help, food stamps and bear the indignity of bagging groceries for his own students and their parents at a part time job. And the TBR wants more professors like this?
Disgusting. I’m glad to see students both liberal and conservative speak out against this attack on education.
Personally, I wonder how one gets to be a member of the TBR - the governing body of a major academic system. Most of these board members don’t have anywhere near the level of educational achievement and scholarship that the majority of the faculty that they’re directing have. Also, it is not a diverse group - mostly people involved in business, politics, law, and athletics, but very few individuals with backgrounds in the arts, sciences, and humanities. I don’t think I saw a single board member with any background in the arts. We sincerely hope they do the right thing.
The GOP: a regional party of the poor, white, and less educated
Question for Republicans: how does it feel to be on the political side of the least educated among us, the political party that has now fallen so far from the mainstream of America that it is now essentially a regional party of white people? NYT:
Southern counties that voted more heavily Republican this year than in 2004 tended to be poorer, less educated and whiter, a statistical analysis by The New York Times shows. Mr. Obama won in only 44 counties in the Appalachian belt, a stretch of 410 counties that runs from New York to Mississippi. Many of those counties, rural and isolated, have been less exposed to the diversity, educational achievement and economic progress experienced by more prosperous areas. ... The Republicans, meanwhile, have “become a Southernized party,” said Thomas Schaller, a political scientist who teaches at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “They have completely marginalized themselves to a mostly regional party,” he said, pointing out that nearly half of the current Republican House delegation is now Southern... Less than a third of Southern whites voted for Mr. Obama, compared with 43 percent of whites nationally.
The south remains racist
The GOP has lived up to it's reputation here in the south. Race DID matter in this election, particularly in southern states like Alabama:
“Race continues to play a major role in the state,” said Glenn Feldman, a historian at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. “Alabama, unfortunately, continues to remain shackled to the bonds of yesterday.” David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, pointed out that the 18 percent share of whites that voted for Senator John Kerry in 2004 was almost cut in half for Mr. Obama. “There’s no other explanation than race,” he said. more...
Something to be proud of?
22-year veteran Rep. Chris Shays [R-CT] was ousted giving Democrats every House seat from New England. Democrats also took control of all of New York City's delegation in Washington for the first time in 35 years. Redneck Obama bashing
Obama bashing is what you’d expect from ignorant losers who were dumb enough to support a failed incompetent president with the most consistently low approval ratings in modern history. Naturally they’re envious of a well liked president elect, one that received a unanimous international vote from 22 countries in 3 separate polls (BBC, Pew, and Gallup). One whose popularity provided coat tails for large Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress.
Nice for a change - a bright young respected president filled with positive and constructive energy. The move from incompetence to competence, I can see why they’re jealous.
Where is the Republican Party going? Answer: into the shitter.
GOP image goes from bad to worse
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Republican Party has hit a new low.
Just 34 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll released Thursday say they have a favorable view of the party, down from 40 percent from a month ago, before the election.
What’s worse: 61 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party.
According to Gallup, that unfavorable rating is the highest the polling organization has recorded for the GOP since the measure was established in 1992.
55% currently hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party and only 39% an unfavorable view
Remember this the next time you hear someone refer to Democrats as the "liberal fringe." We can see who the 'fringe' is now.
WASHINGTON -- As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.
Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party.
Here's the deal, 'pubbies: Howard Dean was right.
Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can't have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.
But, like it or not, we are a diverse nation, no longer predominantly white and Christian. The change Barack Obama promised has already occurred, which is why he won.
The young will get older, of course. Most eventually will marry, and some will become their parents. But nonwhites won't get whiter. And the nonreligious won't get religion through external conversion. It doesn't work that way.
Given those facts, the future of the GOP looks dim and dimmer if it stays the present course. Either the Republican Party needs a new base -- or the nation may need a new party.
We chose our leadership last night with a convincing voice. We can be proud of who we are as a nation because we made the right choice. This decision will be applauded by the world.
The election has happened exactly as I expected it would, predicted it would, and for the many reasons I've said that it would. This is a historic election, literally the "end of an error" in American history.
On a personal note... as I told a friend, I called the election at 8:25 pm for Obama on the TN Free political blog right after Ohio. Even so, at 10:00 pm when the networks called the presidency for Obama, I still got choked up. It's been so long in coming. 1000's of blog posts, comments, emails ... such a long hard 8 years. Almost the entire decade of my 40's. Just imagine how it feels to be an African-American this morning. (...Talk about a long time in coming!) Even though I'm not hurting at all compared to many, America is facing serious challenges.
I'm looking forward to the end of political negativity, bitterness, secrecy, lies, abuse of power, incompetence, and as Scott McClellan called it - "the perpetual campaign mentality" that has divided this nation and formed the basis for flawed leadership. President Obama will of course make mistakes, but at least I trust him. I think others will too if they give him a chance to earn it.
For me, I'll be taking some time off from political posting at here at TN Loose Canon.
In a measure of the level of delusion and denial that Republicans are experiencing, check this post and comments from Protein Wisdom's wingnut pub. They are so afraid of the truth, they deleted my comment. It will be fun to revisit this thread next Wednesday.
From the masters of delusion and denial:
I’m calling it McCain, 53%-47% popular, 281-257 electoral.
Posted by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates
It's impossible. There is no way the polls and projections could be universally this far off. If McCain wins it will be by fraud and you will see an outright riot. Imagine the LA riots in every city in America.
Rasmussen, the pollster that many see as conservative biased whose website is peppered with McCain/Palin campaign adds, has issued their election prediction:
To make this picture complete, I'd love to see the following in the Senate for a 60 seat majority:
How does the white kkkristian party inspire fear of an opposition candidate? They make him look darker.
Aswin Madia is involved in one of the most hotly contested races in the country in the third district of Minnesota. Ashwin is a veteran of the Marine Corps, the Iraq war, and the JAG corps. He is an Indian/American and graduate of NY Law School. He is a Democratic candidate for congress.
A Republican attack ad invites viewers to "meet the real Ashwin Madia," but the still photos featured in the spot present a noticeably darker version of the 3rd District DFL congressional candidate.
CBS: Mr. Bush’s approval rating [22%] equals the lowest ever achieved by a sitting president, and is matched only by President Truman in 1952. His 72% disapproval rating is a new high that has never been equaled.
Instead of touting their candidate, they're trying to spread fear. Instead of trying win votes in battleground states, they're defending states Bush had won in '04. Instead of sending a cohesive message, they are infighting... McCain aides calling Palin a "whack-job" that has "gone rogue" while Republican operatives are assuming an Obama win and forming a circular firing squad to sort out the blame. Leaving one McCain aide utterly speechless, Palin is so full of herself she's talking about 2012.
Your pre-election GOP corruption and hypocrisy UPDATE:
McCain and his surrogates have attempted to paint Obama as holding anti-Israel views because of his relationship with Palestinian-American Professor Rashid Kahlidi. McCain served as chairman of the board of the International Republican Institute that distributed several grants to Khalidi’s Center for Palestine Research and Studies - a Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi.
Palin has been calling Obama a socialist - "Barack the wealth spreader;" yet Palin boasted to a reporter, "Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth."
Palin has received another ethics complaint. Palin used her official position for personal gain by securing unwarranted reimbursements for her daughters travel expenses - often uninvited extended stays at posh hotels.
McCain is now having to defend his home state of AZ where some polls have shown the race to be as close as 2 points. Solid Bush states of GA, MT, NC, IN, and ND are now tossup states.
Reported in the Washington Times: Obama win is inevitable according to an analysis by th AP.
The GOP hate manifested itself in the type of thing I've been warning about and saying that these assholes must be beaten down. I'm talking about the skinheads - you know what side they're on, and the ATF does as well.
The desperate Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC] - losing to Kay Hagen in NC - played the jesus card in her ridiculous new ad calling Kay Hagen "godless." Hagan is an elder at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC, has taught Sunday School and accompanied youth mission trips.
The Republican's most senior Senator - from the GOP Vice Presidential nominee's state has been convicted of 7 felonies. Yet Palin has not called for him to resign.
Sometimes, when a political campaign has run out of ideas and senses that the prize is slipping through its fingers, it rolls up a sleeve and plunges an arm, shoulder deep, right down to the bottom of the barrel. The problem for John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Republican Party is that the bottom was scraped clean long before it dropped out.
Bend over Republicans, you're about to get your well deserved ass kicking.
It's easy to understand why these people are losers. It is thought by many that McCain can't win without PA. These people have earned a good ass kicking.
E&P: Obama's lopsided margin, including most of the major papers that have decided so far, is in stark contrast to John Kerry barely edging George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004 by 213 to 205. Obama, with 222, has already topped Kerry's number with many more yet to be tallied.
Sen. Ted Stevens [R-AK] - Guilty of seven felonies. Stevens becomes the first senator to be convicted of a felony since 1981.This should help the Dems take that 60 seat majority in the Senate.
Here's a campaign video with Sarah Palin appearing with and being endorsed by the now convicted felon Stevens. Palin has not called for Stevens to resign. It will be interesting to see if the RNC allows a seven time convicted felon run for reelection. As a convicted felon, Stevens can not vote.
In the first two weeks of October, Obama and the DNC spent $105 million compared to $25 million for McCain and the RNC. In some key television markets, there are seven Obama ads for every McCain ad. Ten days ago each side had about $100 million in the bank, but in the first two weeks of October, the Democrats have raised $37 million to the Republicans $15 million.
Not all the money is going to TV ads. Salaries of people on the ground are also a major expense. McCain was in the news yesterday on this score. His highest paid staffer is makeup artist Amy Strozzi who got $22,800 for 2 weeks' work and hair stylist Angela Lew didn't do badly at $10,000 for 2 weeks work, either.
What is truly pathetic, revealing and ironic is to remember how Fox News repeatedly berated John Edwards for receiving two $400 haircuts and now they are DEFENDING the RNC for spending $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe !!!
Fox News on Edwards:
"...the Democratic Party, it's out of touch with reality, it talks about the common man, but everytime you look, there's John Edwards getting a $400 haircut.
-- Fox News: Your World with Neil Cavuto
Fox News on Palin:
"Television is a cosmetic business, always has been always will be to a certain extent and so is politics... if you're in the public eye, you've got to look good."
John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.
You have to go back to the Watergate era to see numbers quite so horrible for the GOP.
McCain's awful campaign is having awful consequences down the ballot. I spoke a little while ago to a senior Republican House member. "There is not a safe Republican seat in the country," he warned. "I don't mean that we're going to lose all of them. But we could lose any of them."
In the Senate, things look, if possible, even worse.
The endorsement of John McCain by an al Qaeda-affiliated Web site isnt a surprise to security specialists Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director, and Joseph Nye, the former chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Both have suggested that Al Qaeda prefers Mr. McCain. Why? The same reason Osama bin Laden wanted Bush in '04:
"From their perspective, a continuation of Bush policies is best for recruiting," said Professor Nye, adding that Mr. McCain is far more likely to continue those policies.
Al Qaeda has simply outsmarted the feeble narrow minded alarmist and arrogant foreign policy of the Bush Administration. Al Qaeda welcomed the war in Iraq as a way to drain America's military resources and economy while building their real base in Afghanistan. Due to this Bush Administration blunder, they have been successful.
Bush obsesses about Islamic terrorism, understandably since he allowed the nation be attacked on 9/11 through gross negligence, he inclines toward military solutions and his antagonistic approach to other nations is an excellent recruiting tool for al Qaeda. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters much less fertile ground.
McCain represents the cold war mentality, where the American ideological fear of communism led us to mistake every leftist for a Soviet pawn. This myopia helped lead to catastrophe in Vietnam. In the same way today, an exaggerated fear of Islamofascism leads us to overreact and damage our own interests. Perhaps the best example is one of the least-known failures in Bush administration foreign policy: Somalia.
Today, Somalia is the worlds greatest humanitarian disaster, worse even than Darfur or Congo. The crisis has complex roots, and Somali warlords bear primary blame. But Bush administration paranoia about Islamic radicals contributed to the disaster.
Somalia has been in chaos for many years, but in 2006 an umbrella movement called the Islamic Courts Union seemed close to uniting the country. The movement included both moderates and extremists, but it constituted the best hope for putting Somalia together again. Somalis were ecstatic at the prospect of having a functional government again.
Bush administration officials, however, were aghast at the rise of an Islamist movement that they feared would be uncooperative in the war on terror. So they gave Ethiopia, a longtime rival in the region, the green light to invade, and Somalias best hope for peace collapsed.
"A movement that looked as if it might end this long national nightmare was derailed, in part because of American and Ethiopian actions," said Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College. "As a result, Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism have surged, partly because Somalis blame Washington for the brutality of the Ethiopian occupiers."
"There's a level of anti-Americanism in Somalia today like nothing Ive seen over the last 20 years," Professor Menkhaus said. Somalis are furious with us for backing the Ethiopian intervention and occupation, provoking this huge humanitarian crisis.
Bottom line:
The only winner has been Islamic militancy. Thats probably the core reason why Al Qaeda militants prefer a McCain presidency: four more years of blindness to nuance in the Muslim world would be a tragedy for Americans and virtually everyone else, but a boon for radical groups trying to recruit suicide bombers.
"Yes! Someone called me a redneck woman once and you know what I said back? I said, 'Why thank you.’"
- Sarah Palin
I guess that's a part of being "a real American."
The term redneck used to be a negative, but now is a source of rural and southern pride. However, the term to many means 'white trash'... uneducated, ignorant and bigoted. Southern comedian Jeff Foxworthy who made a career out of the humor of redneck culture defines it as "a glorious lack of sophistication."
Whatever. I could say something cynical but I'll just note that it was the states with the least educational attainment that put Bush in the White House twice... we can see how well that turned out. Let's not repeat.
In addition, a McCain campaign source said Palin is "going rogue"
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone. She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
Sounds like a self-righteous sociopath on a mission from god. Make that a redneck self-righteous sociopath...
From the mouth of the ignorant and poorly educated Sarah Palin:
You've heard about some of these pet projects they really don't make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not.
Wait a second, I thought Palin was interested in providing for 'special needs' kids?
Palin is obviously is ignorant of the fact that scientific research with fruit flies has led to valuable discoveries that have boosted autism research. A discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders. For example, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism. The study of fruit flies has also been used for other autism research and revolutionized the study of birth defects.
But of course, what would a dumbass moose hunter ditz like Palin need with science? She has the holy spirit to guide her. Her slut daughter could have been helped by the sex-ed programs that she opposes. Her retarded baby could be helped by some of the very science she dismisses. What a stupid bitch.
Response to the KKKristian right wing pig, Tracy Kerlee. If you haven't seen it, watch this first. It good to see the youth of America speaking out against bigotry and ignorance. She expresses the abject frustration many of us have with such ignorance - in no uncertain terms. Nice to see her tell us what she really thinks, BRAVO babe!!!
There is ample evidence the McCain campaign pushed this hoax - a fake racist hate crime targeting Obama supporters.
John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
In an official statement the McCain campaign says: "We're shaken up by this. It's sick and disgusting."
Most bloggers saw through this hoax from the beginning.
Some wingnuts in their desperation embraced the hoax... like at Serr8d's often cited favorite: Ace. Ace defended the victim and pushed the notion that the backward "B" on her face could have in fact been inflicted by a crazed Obama supporter:
For one thing, the image could be flipped. For another thing, she could have taken a picture of herself in a mirror. For a third -- if she were on her back, her head held by the attacker's left arm below her chin, her head between his legs as he scratched -- she'd be upside down as oriented to him.
Remember this the next time you see a link to "Ace."
UPDATE II: Drudge Report pushed the story - said she was “attacked and mutilated”
Police tell KDKA that a campaign volunteer has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.Ashley Todd, 20, of Texas, initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car. Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.
Note to little Miss Piggy - if you're going to fake a hate crime, you've got to do better, dumbass. Her ass is now in jail.
... You don't punish the Bush administration's Supreme Court's failure to overturn the murderous Roe v. Wade by electing a president who voted to let infants die.
I don't mind repeating this stuff just to show how Bill Hobbs repeats these GOP LIES. It's always fun to watch lying extremists like Bill Hobbs become more desperate, delusional, and fearful.
Man, these people deserve a good ass kicking and that's EXACTLY what they are going to get.
Hey Bill, in case you haven't noticed, like VA, Ohio is now in the Obama column. The red states of IN, MT, and ND are now considered tossup!
From the Brian Williams interview. Sarah Palin was asked about abortion clinic bombers, would they qualify as terrorists? First she sidestepped the question, went to Bill Ayres, then came this response to the question:
Brian Williams: Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under this definition?
Sarah Palin: ... I don’t know if you’re gonna use the word "terrorist" there.
Cowardly? What would you call someone who routinely deletes comments on his blog when he can't handle the truth? And this guy is supposed to be a Republican communications director? I guess that's a great example of the Republican definition of 'communication'... censor the inconvenient facts - someone might learn something.
Delusional and desperate? What would you call this recent post on his blog?
Dead Even Associated Press poll: The presidential race is basically dead even, with McCain rising. Credit goes to Joe the Plumber.
Consider the RCP poll of polls - an average of 15 recent polls has Obama +7.5%
Delusional and desperate? What would you call this recent post on his blog? Here's another:
Obama's lead in PA shrinks to 2 ...I've said many times on this blog and in other forums that I didn't think Obama could win Pennsylvania.
Personally, I think the guy needs to dump this fat dumb racist bitch. An example of the self righteous hateful assholes that have earned a good ass kicking, and they're going to get it. This is one ignorant piggish women - meet Tracy Kerlee:
Yet another poll shows America's closest allies unanimously choose Obama. The poll also shows how America's reputation has been severely damaged by the Bush Administration.
Yet another indication of the abject failure of the Bush Administration and the unanimous international support of Obama. Thanks again Bushies, your support for the worst president in history has ruined the Republican brand.
I posted immediately after watching an interview with this ignorant hateful lying Republican Congresswoman from MN calling for an investigation of "anti-American" members of Congress, including Barack Obama. Now the NRCC has pulled her funding.She reminds me soooo much of Katherine Harris - one of the people most reponsible for the coronation of Mad King George.
Well, thanks to Bush, the Republican brand is ruined and thanks to Bachmann, her opponent is received a giant boost in fund raising.
[Rep. Bachmann] earned widespread scorn for her remarks, made on MSNBC's "Hardball" last week. In the following four days, her Democratic opponent, former state Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, had raised over $1 million...
I love it... Chris Matthews gave Bachmann just enough rope to hang herself. When these GOP bimbos open their mouths, their brains fall out. Just like Palin.
The McCain nightmare of Sarah Palin continues... Palin apparently has spent more timeshopping for her wardrobe than learning her potential job duties.
Palin says she is not discouraged about the polls because she is "putting this in God's hands, the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4." Echoing the statement was one of her supporters that said she is "filled with the holy spirit."
Maybe the holy spirit could infuse her with some education?
Palin still has no idea what her prospective job entails.
In an interview with a local Colorado TV station, Palin said the vice president is "in charge of the United States Senate" and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes."
The confusion on display in Palin's interview this week suggests that she may still be wondering, as she was in July just what the VP does, anyway.
Article I of the US Constitution establishes the framework for the House and Senate and establishes the vice president's limited position therein. There is essentially no flexibility or ambiguity regarding the VP's position, and the office is mentioned only twice. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
Yea, I'd like to see her "really get in there" with Harry Reid and a Democratic Senate. Chris Matthews asked McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer to define the duties of the Vice President,she didn't know.What a bunch of dolts!!
"Simply put," said Matthews as he asked McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer to define the duties of the Vice President, "either a person understands the role of the Vice President or they don't."
"I'm not a constitutional scholar," Pfotenhauer said
No candidate this far back two weeks out has ever won.
Early voting is going strong and even if something big happens, those votes are already cast.
The Democrats have a 10% advantage in party registration; in 2004 it was even.
Obama is outspending McCain 4 to 1 in many states.
There is no evidence for the so-called Bradley effect in the past 15 years.
Obama is safe in all the Kerry states and ahead in half a dozen states Bush won.
Obama is now pulling away in the polls. The RCP avg today at Obama +7.6, he has taken the biggest lead since the RCP poll of polls began over a year ago. Obama is now polling at 50.6% which means that he can win without a single vote from undecided voters.
Two polls show Palin now a bigger drag on McCain than even the worst president in history - GW Bush. In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 55% say Palin is not qualified to serve as president, a five-point jump from the previous NBC/WSJ survey. For the first time, more voters have a negative opinion of her than a positive one. In the survey, 47% view her negatively, versus 38% who see her positively.
CNN reports McCain is dragging down GOP Congressmen up for reelection. Of the four cliff hanger Senate races in GA, KY, MN and MS, the Democrats need to win just 2 of the 4 and hold all others to win a 60 seat super majority.
Al Qaeda endorses McCain. The message, posted Monday on the al-Hesbah Web site, said if al-Qaida wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Sen. John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama had $134 million in the bank at the start of October. McCain had $47 million. Obama is continuing to pull in $5 million a day during October, which will increase his financial edge even more during the final two weeks.
The RNC shelled out $150,000 for Palin's clothes. Trying to paint lipstick on a pig... how do you think this will go over with Joe the Plumber and the working class? Palin also charged her state over $21,000 for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business when they were actually extended vacations in luxury hotels.
We now know who the winners are, here are the losers that support McCain: Evangelicals 76% to 20%, small town/rural voters 53% to 40%, and those living in the South 54% to 40%. As I said previously, some people have earned an ass kicking.
I was just at Western Carolina University in beautiful Cullowhee, NC. I was happy to see all the Obama signs that deep into rural North Carolina. I guess where there's education, there's awareness. A few Obama signs showed up yesterday I would not want to have seen.
Again, another example of the kind of people that need a good ass kicking:
News item - a black bear CUB was shot, killed and deposited on the WCU campus with 2 Obama campaign signs attached.
Maintenance workers reported about 7:45 a.m. finding a 75-pound bear cub dumped at the roundabout near the Catamount statute at the entrance to campus, said Tom Johnson, chief of university police.
“It looked like it had been shot in the head as best we can tell. A couple of Obama campaign signs had been stapled together and stuck over its head,” said Johnson.
This is an example of the gun nut cowardly assholes that we're dealing with. It takes a big man to shoot a bear cub in the head.
Delusional wingnuts repeat the lie that Kerry was this far ahead in 2004.
I guess you can tell this irritates me. The viral bullshit these people eat and regurgitate. Two regular posters on TNFree have repeated this bullshit as well as local GOP media guy, Bill Hobbs.
Notice the ‘polls’, William? Recall, do you , the great ‘lead’ that both Gore and Kerry had over Bush? Greater than the ‘lead’ Baracky has right now over McCain, weren’t they?
The cowardly comment deleting Bill Hobbs cites an outlier poll to make his case:
Four years and 3 days ago, on Oct. 17, 2004, the Washington Post released results of a poll that showed John Kerry had a lead of 53 percent to 43 percent over George W. Bush in 13 "swing states" that would decide the outcome of the election.
This thing is not over.
How about some reality? Look for yourself. Kerry was in no way "ahead by double digits"... the race was too close to call by nearly all polls, most had Bush up by a small margin:
After looking at these links you still want to spout that bullshit?
In the RCP poll of polls today (10/21/08), Obama is up by an average of +7.2 and now is polling over 50% .
Look at the pathetic Bill Hobbs... guess which of the polls he cites when declaring "the presidential race is almost dead even"?Of 12 polls, 10 of themhave Obama +5 or greater. Bill cites the clear outlier -- the Obama +1 poll from GWU/Battleground.
Like I said, these people deserve to be defeated. They deserve a good ass kicking and that's what they're going to get. Censorship, secrecy, cronyism, smear … that’s the way they do business and that’s why they’re going down.
Barack Obama raised $150 million in September, the largest monthly total any candidate has ever raised for any office in the history of the United States. The previous record was Obama's haul of $66 million in August. The money came from small donors averaging less than $100 each. This approach, many small donors, represents the opposite of the traditional GOP method - to tap a small number of rich donors with many rich friends.
This is pretty funny. Missouri, "the Show Me State" gives us a look at what may happen in this must win state for McCain.
Obama then skipped across the Show Me State and was greeted by a crowd of at least 75,000 in Kansas City.
Not to be outdone, McCain spent today hopping around Missouri. He started in the traditional Republican hotbed of St. Charles, Missouri, drawing dozens of supporters.
Then he moved on to Columbia, where he was greeted by around 15 people.That's right... 15 people. To be fair, he then went to a barbecue restaurant in Columbia with a brisk lunch crowd and probably doubled the original 15 supporters.
Two weeks before the election—in three appearances in Republican strongholds—McCain drew fewer than 10,000 people [compared to Obama's 175,000 in two appearances]
Sarah Palin is a socialist. She redistributed the wealth in Alaska - took the oil profits, imposed a tax and kicked it back to Alaskans. Palin is the governor of a state that practices collective ownership of oil and other natural resources, and equally distributes the state's cut of the revenues to every citizen.
Remember this when she appears at these campaign stops and elicits huge cheers by accusing Obama of being a socialist. Get a clue... a tax of any kind by mere definition is "redistributing wealth."
As we know Conservatism under Bush has run up the largest debt in American history, started a long expensive war, and destroyed Wall Street... but we're supposed to be afraid of Obama - the socialist.
In case you haven't heard, there's a guy running for president named Barack Hussein Osama Nobama. This Nobama was born outside America and secretly schooled in Islamic terrorism at a Wahhabi madrassa. He then moved to the United States to take up the radical '60s teachings of the Weather Underground's Bill Ayers, while also organizing for ACORN, a subprime-lending, voter fraud-committing collective of affirmative-action welfare queens. All this happened before he became an elitist celebrity advocate of socialism, infanticide, the sexual abuse of children and treason.
Suffice it to say, this caricature stretches even the limits of comic imagination.
Troubled by conservatives pushing the idea that Obama is a Muslim or of Muslim heritage, Colin Powell gave a passionate defense of Obama and Muslim Americans citing a Muslim American soldier that gave his life in Iraq.
“Well the correct answer, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian, he’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is ‘what if he is?’ Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that’s not America.” - Colin Powell, 10/19/08
Thank you General Powell for putting the white KKKristian party in it's place.
Despicable and predictable, conservatives are already implying Powell’s endorsement is about race: Drudge Report headline:
Add Colin Powell to a list of prominent Republicans and conservative newspapers that have now endorsed Barack Obama for president.
(CNN) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he is voting for Barack Obama.
"He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well," Powell said.
Conservative newspapers that backed Bush in 2004 are endorsing Obama. The LA Times, the Denver Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Kansas City Star, the Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and the Salt Lake Tribune. Some of these papers have never backed a democratic candidate for president. In E&P's count, Obama now leads 72-18 in editorial endorsements. The list is here. GAME OVER for John McCain
Submitted for your review: 1) the wingnut Ohio Christian hate contingent, 2) a sign posted in south central Missouri on the west side of U.S. 63, and 3) an illustration in a Southern California Republican newsletter.
Keep it up you extremist racist assholes. We're going to kick your asses come election day. Guaranteed.
The McCain campaign is now using "robo-calls" to inform voters that Obama "has worked closely with terrorists" and is part of a leftist conspiracy that is trying to take over the country.
I just listened to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann [R-MN] portray Obama as a part of a "leftist American-hating group that is associated with terrorists." She called upon the media to investigate these 'American hating leftists' ... a group that apparently includes her fellow Congressmen and Senators.
Anyone watching the Chris Matthews interview with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann could see she was absolutely brainless. I swear, this woman is Katherine Harris reincarnated.
My question: is this really the way the far right feel - that a portion of our Congress including Senator Obama are really part of a "leftist American-hating group that is associated with terrorists?" Or is this a last stand desperate attempt to manipulate voters with that tried and true tactic - fear?
Looking at one local conservative blogger, she asserts that Obama has a "bitter anti-American Afrocentric ideology" and alleged ties to "extremist Afrocentrists." She also says that Obama will assist Islamists in their "Twenty-Year Plan" to target America.
This and Congresswoman Bachmann's assertions clearly seem to have crossed the line into a extremist reality. Either it's pure ignorance with a tinge of racist fear, or a return to McCarthyism. Perhaps it's something more extreme, a delusional paranoid psychosis perhaps?
Whatever, it's pretty ugly and it's definitely one way to lose an election.
CNN reports: "Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin plans to appear on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, multiple sources told CNN Thursday."
The problem with Sarah is that she doesn't know anything (except maybe how to shoot an animal and memorize RNC talking points). The problem for Sarah is that to run a country, you have to know stuff. She doesn't ... that is what they're hiding, that is why she hasn't held a press conference or appeared on any Sunday talk shows. If you've noticed, the minute she opened her mouth for the 2 interviews (outside of Fox 'wingnut land' News) on ABC and CBS, her approval began to plunge.
Fear is the best way to manipulate the ignorant, particularly the older generation that tend to be less racially tolerant. This fear of people who are different, whether they be black, Arab, Islamic, liberal, whatever... seems to be a hallmark of a significant faction of the far right. (Hence, the title: "White KKKristian Party"). At times, this level of paranoia reaches an almost delusional paranoid psychosis.
Take for instance this post on Bear Creek Ledger. This is a conservative gun nut militant blogger who preaches hate of everyone who is not a white Christian conservative. (However, if you happen to be a black soldier that has died in combat, well then, you're ok).
In the post she warns of the "bitter anti-American Afrocentric ideology" of Barack Hussein Obama and his alleged ties to "extremist Afrocentrists." She also says that Obama will assist Islamists in their "Twenty-Year Plan" to target America.
People like this blogger, Toni, wrap themselves in the flag while denouncing American ideals and stoking the fear of the diversity that has made America great.
During my recent wilderness trip, I passed by Western Carolina University in beautiful Cullowhee, NC and saw this sign on the pedestrian bridge over highway 108.
The Alaska Independence Party, inconveniently for Palin, the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. (“Keep up the good work,” Palin told AIP members. “And God bless you.”)
AIP chairwoman Lynette Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. “She’s Alaskan to the bone … she sounds just like Joe Vogler.”
Meet Palin's radical right-wing pals: AIP extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll who helped launch Palin’s political career in Alaska, and in return had influence over policy.
So who are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin’ around with?
AIP party founder Joe Vogler preached armed insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, “When the [federal] bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor. That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope we don’t have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property rights, look out, we’re ready to die.”
Vogler wasn’t just a blowhard either. He put his secessionist ideas into action, working to build AIP membership to 20,000 — an impressive figure by Alaska standards — and to elect party member Walter Hickel as governor in 1990.
Vogler’s greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States “tyranny” before the entire world and to demand Alaska’s freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.
Remember McCain demonizing Obama for wanting to talk with our enemies in the debate? General Petreaus said at the Heritage Foundation yesterday:
"I do think you have to talk to enemies. ... I mean what we did do in Iraq ultimately was sit down with some of those that were shooting at us. What we tried to do was identify those who might be reconcilable."
McCain thinks the Iraq surge should be a model for the strategy in Afghanistan, according to McCain, “the same strategy that he [Obama] condemned in Iraq.” Wrong - according to both commanders - Petraeus and McKiernan.
Petraeus pointed to efforts by Hamid Karzai’s government to negotiate a deal with the Taliban that would potentially bring some Taliban members back to power, saying that if they are “willing to reconcile,” it would be “a positive step.”In saying that, Petraeus implicitly allied with U.S. Army Gen. David McKiernan, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Last week, McKiernan rejected the idea of replicating the blend of counterinsurgency strategy employed in Iraq. “The word that I don’t use in Afghanistan is the word ’surge,’” McKiernan said, opting against recruiting Pashtun tribal fighters to supplement Afghan security forces against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “There are countless other differences between Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added.
McCain, however, has argued that the Afghanistan war is ripe for a direct replication of Petraeus’ Iraq strategy of population-centric counterinsurgency. “Sen. Obama calls for more troops,” McCain said in the Sept. 26 debate, “but what he doesn’t understand, it’s got to be a new strategy, the same strategy that he condemned in Iraq. It’s going to have to be employed in Afghanistan.”
What's a "loose canon"?
Differing from a "loose cannon" which means - an irresponsible or reckless person, a "loose canon" refers to a loose set of rules, in this case ... my rules. Unlike many conservative bloggers that stifle debate and delete comments, I don't!
Conservatism: clinical tendencies
A study funded by the US Government's National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as: a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". (see report) ---------- A study by NYU and UCLA published in the Journal Nature Neuroscience showsliberals have a greater cognitive ability to problem solve and cope with changing conditions than conservativeswho are more "persistent and structured" and are more reliant on "habitual responses." From the study:
"Liberalism was associated with stronger conflict-related anterior cingulate activity, suggesting greater neurocognitive sensitivity to cues for altering a habitual response pattern."
Essentially, conservatives tend to rely on ‘persistence’ in a ‘habitual response pattern,’ despite signals that this response pattern should change... (i.e. "stay the course")
Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity - the anterior cingulate cortex, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear - the right amygdala.
