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US Republican line up for '08 McCain/Palin

 
  

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Eek! A Freek!
14:11 / 19.09.08
In the Pirate Spirit:

Arrrrrrrr! Makes the trollop and dog walk the plank! Drowning might be to good for th'likes of them! Fix them up with sand neckerchiefs and well dance and sing and pass around the best rum until the tide comes in. Arrrrrr!
 
 
Mr Tricks
22:33 / 19.09.08
The Tim Wise view on Sarah Palin and Your Nation on White Privilege
    White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”


    White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.


    White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.

    White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.




there's more but you get the idea.
 
 
This Sunday
08:37 / 20.09.08
It's probably racist of me to be annoyed with another white man speculating on racism with authoritarian tones, isn't it? Sorry.

And still more than a little annoyed that the statements of Wise's piece fail to take into account all sort of things, like, class and geography. Not every teenaged white girl who finds herself pregnant is safe from bweing run through the muck and openly bashed by media or by foks around town. That's a wealthy white politician's teenaged white girl.

Which isn't to say I think there's no value in the piece.

But, more on point: fuck I can't believe the thing that'll most help McCain and Palin win this thing is people who believe it's inevitable, that their support is growing leaps and bounds, without any massive actual realworld evidence except that sort of going with the flow of things. Fuck.
 
 
Pingle!Pop
11:58 / 20.09.08
that their support is growing leaps and bounds

It isn't. It reversed several days ago and is by now back to the position it's been in through most of the campaign of Obama with a national lead of around 3 or 4 points.
 
 
grant
13:31 / 22.09.08
You can click on a PBS poll if you think it'll help.
 
 
Closed for Business Time
13:57 / 22.09.08
0 - zero % has voted "not sure" in that poll. Polarizing Palin, indeed.
 
 
Ticker
18:44 / 22.09.08
the poll dingus doesn't appear to be IP sensitive, meaning you can click on it all you want.
 
 
penitentvandal
19:00 / 22.09.08
I saw McCain on telly saying Americans should vote for him because 'we're at war...and I know how to win wars.'

Pardon me, THE FUCK?

The only war you were in, John, was Vietnam - the one your team lost? The one that affected your needle-dicked, nano-brained, Coors-drinking Republican mates so badly that they needed to have the first gulf war 'to feel better about themselves?' The war in which your opponents provided George Lucas with the model for the frickin' Ewoks? How does being involved in a losing war against a vastly outgunned enemy make you the authority on winning wars?

Come to think of it, what did you do in the Vietnam war, daddy? Didn't you get your 'plane shot down, then spend four years in a prison camp doing fuck-all to help the war effort (I know you don't like to go on about that, John, but I do think it's germane to the matter at hand, i.e., your incredible war-winning knowledge)?

Let's face it, if John McCain 'knows how to win wars' on that basis, Rudolph Hess is the greatest tactician of all time.
 
 
Ticker
19:05 / 22.09.08
also the poll link above was also posted on 4chan's /b/ board. The kids are potentially going to start scripting against it soon. Or maybe not as it may not hold their erratic attention.
 
 
Tsuga
21:21 / 22.09.08
Polls like that are pretty useless, anyway. Also, having a poll like that on "Now" is like having a poll on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" asking
"Do you think that we should fill the Rio Grande with ravenous crocodiles to keep out the alien hordes?
a. Probably
b. Yes
c. Hell yes!
 
 
Slim
23:56 / 22.09.08
that affected your needle-dicked, nano-brained, Coors-drinking Republican mates

So I take it no one is going to complain if someone writes about "Democrats with flat tits," right?
 
 
Poke it with a stick
08:32 / 23.09.08
So I take it no one is going to complain if someone writes about "Democrats with flat tits," right?

Besmirch Obama's lack of executive experience or common touch all you like, Slim, but leave the man's rack out of this.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
09:57 / 23.09.08
People may well complain, but their reasons for doing so may well be based on gender rather than simple sensibility.

That said, the above is almost textbook on how to increase sympathy for the Republican cause without doing anything whatever to advance the Democrat cause. Most notably, there is no mention of any actual political issue. It makes at least one basic factual error. It makes vague abusive statements about Republicans without making it clear who those Republicans are, and can thus be seen as an attack on all Republicans, and a grossly unfair one, since Democrats at all levels supported the war in Iraq.

Finally, it chooses the single stupidest line of attack possible. McCain is a war hero. Before his imprisonment, he was wounded trying to save a fellow pilot from a burning jet plane. During his imprisonment, he declined an offer to be released. His heroism is unassailable. One can make the case that claims such as this are not justified because he did not hold a command ranking in any major engagement, and indeed that he came very low in his academy class rank. However, there are easy counters for both - that he did not attain an admiral's rank due to the ill-health that came from his extensive torture, and he was a fiery maverick dah de dah, but that he and indeed his father could have won Vietnam had they not had their hands tied by Washington - see his autobiography for more on this ready-cooked refutation. That the US lost in Vietnam and that US POWs were a bunch of losers is not a good angle.
 
 
Ticker
11:53 / 23.09.08
Othering the Reps serves no purpose especially as it is very loud in the undertone of conversation.

I got very tired of a round of emails with neocons who were slut shaming women who elect to have abortions inferring that many of the women were drunk and stupid at the time of the act of conception. Without being very aware of my response I went off on an ad hominem festival, because I was pissed off. When it was brought to my attention that I had done this it forced me to confront my inability to even have a sustained debate on many of these topics without reverting to a gibbering howling mass of outrage. I unintentionally reinforced the perception the other person had of feminists as, well, unpleasant people thus doing damage to a cause I would prefer to bring my best efforts to.

Ad hominem equals immediate loss of the debate.
 
 
grant
15:41 / 23.09.08
That's key to Rovian politics, too - politics of the picador.
 
 
Ticker
19:13 / 23.09.08
NO TALKING TO THE PALIN
 
 
Tsuga
01:21 / 24.09.08
Palin's handlers are fastidiously avoiding her having any real interaction or unscripted conversations with any of the media, or anyone the media can hear, for that matter. Today she met with Henry Kissinger, Hamid Karzai, and President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia for "meetings" that seemed to be simply staged photo-ops to try and give her some gravitas. No reporters were allowed to listen in or ask questions afterwards.
I'm sure they're using the ploy that the "liberal media" is only out to get her, so they're not going to play, but I wonder how long before people get suspicious of her pointed silence off the stump. The people that inexplicably love her, probably never.
Some recent polling shows Obama's continuing weakness among former supporters of Hilary Clinton, I believe 31 percent still view him unfavorably (which is up from 40), even if a chunk of them believe that McCain would continue the Bush policies in his administration. The number who say they support him is basically unchanged from June, while the number who say that they will vote for McCain is up from 21 to 28 percent.
 
 
Poke it with a stick
09:42 / 24.09.08
Lawrence Lessig on whether Palin is experienced enough.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
18:35 / 24.09.08
McCain uses another tactic from his soap opera influenced evil genius plan.
 
 
wicker woman
08:16 / 25.09.08
Perhaps the McCain campaign is starting to self-destruct. Obama is up 6 points in the polls since the MSM's focus switched back to the economy.

McCain's delaying tactic in regards to both the presidential and vice presidential debates is about as see-through as his choice of Palin in the first place. I don't think McCain is too worried about facing Obama, but I certainly think they're trying to keep Palin away from Biden in what is sure to look like a National Geographic shark special, if her interviews to date are any indication.

McCain's increasingly stony reaction to the media, combined with his campaign's blocking of media access to Palin, is frustrating an ever-increasing number of reporters.

So. The debates should be very interesting. Assuming they happen, of course.
 
 
grant
13:55 / 25.09.08
Two things:

1. Palin on Couric: Softball questions. Can't handle 'em.

It's amazing, if you haven't seen it already.

2. Is the Fed intentionally making things a little bit worse? This guy thinks so.

I don't entirely understand this, and I'm not familiar with the source, but it certainly *sounds* like a familiar vein of financial monkey business - this guy says the Fed has been removing "slosh" liquidity from markets to intentionally sink a few banks, raise fears, push through the bailout.

Folks elsewhere on the net are tinfoil-hatting this whole bailout/credit thing as an October Surprise - an economic collapse that can be blamed on slow-moving Democrats in Congress, leading to riots and who knows what all and giving former Commerce Committee Chairman McCain a boost in time for the election.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
15:12 / 25.09.08
I hope enough people still watch Katie Couric for that interview to make some impressions. It's a smoking gun. I heard the clips on the radio this morning and had problems driving straight.
 
 
electric monk
15:23 / 25.09.08
David Letterman was none too happy with McCain last night.

He mocked McCain's "suspension" of his campaign, asking, "Are we suspending it because there's an economic crisis or because the poll numbers are sliding?"

YouTube video included on the linked page.

I watched it last night, on a tip from a friend. Letterman absolutely skewered McCain. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
 
 
Eek! A Freek!
15:27 / 25.09.08
Everyone seems genuinely stunned that people would vote for a candidate that chooses a moron for a running mate.

Do you think that will really play that huge a role in peoples minds? Will it stop people from voting McCain?

Need I remind you of Dan Quayle?

Republicans will most likely vote Republican no matter what. Many have blind faith. The only hope is to not try convert them, but to mobilize the Democrats. Make sure they come out in record numbers. Too many liberal minded people are of the attitude that, "Nobody's so stupid as to vote Republican again..." Then they fail to vote themselves, figuring it's a done deal...

I feel a cold panic seizing my innards. I get worked up theorizing and speculating and double-guessing. I don't help much, in that respect. I promise to try stop being so reactionary and paranoid and I'll pray and send as much positive energy as I can to my American Cousins. Canadians rip on you guys alot, but you're in my heart and mind and I want nothing but the best for you guys.
 
 
MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!
21:52 / 25.09.08
Hey grant, you're in Florida, yeah?
 
 
grant
01:26 / 26.09.08
Believe it or not, I've got that URL open in the tab before this one.

I actually heard about the project a couple of days ago.

It's... it's far more serious than you might at first imagine. And has the potential to be huge down here.
 
 
museum in time, tiger in space
03:44 / 26.09.08
Has anyone else seen the videos of Palin at her former church? Her pastor seems like an interesting fellow - there's a video of him laying hands on Palin while shouting about witchcraft, which is apparently something of a preoccupation with him. He also had some stuff to say about 'the Israelites' and 'the way they are, even today'.
 
 
Pingle!Pop
06:40 / 26.09.08
Wait... so the idea of the Great Schlep is to convince Jewish grandparents to vote for Obama by pointing out his support for Israel's genocidal policies? Does anyone else see a problem with that?
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
07:36 / 26.09.08
See a problem, not so much. Have a problem, is perhaps closer to the mark, but then what are the available options?
 
 
Pingle!Pop
08:51 / 26.09.08
Yeah, I guess so. The alternatives? Well, for me personally advocating Obama whilst knowing his positions on such issues is far beyond anything I could stomach, even at the sime time as I obviously hope he wins given the utter horribleness of the only realistically possible alternative. Advocating based on those positions, though, just seems... well, completely fucked up. So I guess my preferred Obama-bigging-up alternative as far as I have one would be to support him as the lesser evil whilst acknowledging the nastiness of some - well, most - of his policies. I know that's not going to happen, though, so perhaps a more realistic hope is that maybe people might at least not actively tout some of his worst qualities as reasons to vote for him.
 
 
Ticker
16:40 / 26.09.08
Er, in America the common belief is Israel is not a genocidal state but rather a brave group of tough fighters holding on to what God gave 'em after the Holocaust (until the Messiah returns, at which point you know, who cares).

Seriously.

Plus there's some great intentional blindspottage on the part of the Americans because it's also commonly held that Britain 'should get out of Northern Ireland!11!!'

My people eschew thinking in depth sometimes.
 
 
Pingle!Pop
17:19 / 26.09.08
Oh, I know, I know. It's just - oh, actually, I read poorly earlier. I thought that was something resembling an endorsement of the project upthread. Looking back, clearly not so much, which is a small relief to me, even in the face of the knowledge that most USers wouldn't see anything wrong with it.
 
 
grant
17:37 / 26.09.08
Well, where I live it's even further along that spectrum XK describes.

I mean, this guy's one of my neighbors, so to speak.

I'm typing this from Boca Raton. Spam capital of the world - wealthy, socially conservative, politically split between conservative and liberal (whatever that means any more) and very Jewish. We've got our own branch of Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces here, separate from the one in Miami. (New York, by contrast, only has one.)

This is a large, influential block of people. Personally, it's my belief that a single predominantly Jewish retirement community (more Yiddish than Spanish speakers) is what swung the Bush/Gore election, because they goofed on the butterfly ballot and voted for Buchanan by mistake.

So yes, I think The Great Schlep can make a difference.
 
 
Red Concrete
17:37 / 26.09.08
Plus there's some great intentional blindspottage on the part of the Americans because it's also commonly held that Britain 'should get out of Northern Ireland!11!!'

Without wanting to get increasingly off-topic, the PoV you refer to re: Northern Ireland is probably held in many countries, obviously excluding the UK. Point being, there's probably nothing particularly blind-spotty about the US. A vested interest is a vested interest, wherever you live.
 
 
Ticker
18:47 / 26.09.08
Red, I meant specifically the blindspottage of viewing Israel as awesome !!1ROCKS!!!1! and Britain as oppressors of the Irish people, you know like St. Patrick!
(I lived, went to school, and worked in Boston for many years and am an American of Irish descent. St. Patrick's makes me want to stand outside of bars with a sign that says 'The Ancient Irish Warriors humped Each Other and LIKED IT!!' or possibly: 'Celtic: It's a hard C like a K dumbass!')

anyway...

The time waster of stupor that is myspace (which I will always love and admire for hooking me up with the spouse) is live streaming the Presidential debates tonight.

http://www.myspace.com/mydebates

Check out the stats and see how all of the interwebs is pro Obama! (ok most and just the myspace people)
 
  

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