Hilarious
Obama doesn’t talk about McCain
Looks like other people have also noticed. McCain’s entire campaign is based on Obama and Obama’s campaign is based on Obama as well. Conservatism has always been an antidote to liberalism the McCain campaign took it to an extreme when they offered no original ideas and just bashed the “evil liberals”.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 10:49 AM UTC
Even McCain knows no one under fifty is going to vote for him
Looks like people at the McCain rallys are being asked to leave when they look like they don’t belong.
Elborno said after seeing the people who were asked to leave, she was concerned that McCain’s staffers were profiling people on appearance to determine who might be a potential protester.
“When I started talking to them, it kind of became clear that they were kind of just telling people to leave that they thought maybe would be disruptive, but based on what? Based on how they looked,” Elborno said. “It was pretty much all young people, the college demographic.”
Elborno said even McCain supporters were among those being asked to leave.
“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” Elborno said. “They were handpicking these people and they had nothing to go off of, besides the way the people looked.”
McCain doesn’t thave that many supporters as it is, should he really be trying to piss them off. Part of the problem for the republicans is that they have managed to exclude almost everyone but white America over 40. My guess is that is not enough people to win many elections, so as a dedicated liberal I hope the republicans keep doing what they are doing.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 1:55 AM UTC
Where do Republicans go from here?
Watching McCain steer the SS Republican into an ice berg has been fun. In fact you can argue that the captain who should go down with the ship is George Bush but somehow like always Bush gets out at just the right time leaving someone else holding the bag.
Republicans as a political party have some real problems, their economic message of “deregulate and don’t tax” has been shown to lead to financial meltdows. Their national security message of “bomb them until they like us” has also been shown to be a failure in practice.
The only message that seems to resonate with anyone, is that we should turn the US into a christian theocracy, at least that seems to be the purpose of Sarah Palin. I think the last time the world saw a christian theocracy they called it the dark ages, but it is probably the only model that makes the republican party viable as a large minority party. The new fund-raising model of getting small contributions from a large amount of donors only works if you have a message that appeals to a large number of people. At this point the only people that still support the republican party in large numbers are christian socialists, so it seems likely that the republican party will go more towards christian socialism. This means an even more right wing position on reproductive rights which will appeal to the Dobsons of the world but no one else.
My guess is you will see some of the more hawkish Democrats start to drift towards the Republican party, as a holy war might sound good to many people, and would certainly increase the bottom line for some defense contractors but other than that if Democrats can manage to avoid corruption they may be able to maintain control of the country for a very long time; much like they did after the last depression.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 10:43 AM UTC
Best Campaign Ad So Far
The next financial crisis
Credit cards and more specificaly the banks that are counting on people to pay them back may be the next crisis. I don’t know whether or not credit card debt is sold the same way that mortgage debt is sold, but I doubt it will have the same effect on investors as the mortgage meltdown did, unless of course you happen to own bank stock.
I have argued that people need to give up their credit addiction looks like just in time for christmas Americans may be going cold turkey on easy credit.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 3:30 AM UTC
MNF Observations: Denver at New England
An early sack on Matt Cassel led to a classic Freudian slip on behalf of Ron Jaworski: As Kevin Faulk seemingly missed a block in the back field during the play, Ron went on to explain that the ‘black’ had missed his blocking assignment.
After Sammy Morris went in for the games first touchdown the TV cameras panned to the crowd and showed two male fans excitedly screaming at each other, as one of them went up for the high-five his friend had just begun to look away and left him hanging, the fan begrudgingly had to retreat from the high-five and put his hand down in shame on national TV.
On Welker’s 44 yard punt return in the 3rd quarter the end-zone camera zoomed in on Welker’s face as he awaited the snap. He looked like a man possessed; he was talking to himself and twitching his head around. I couldn’t make out the words but the intense sight of Welker before the snap led me to believe that we would see a nice return should he have the chance. Perhaps that’s what he was muttering to himself, “Just give me a chance and I’ll f’n burn you!”
Moss’s touchdown where he took a ‘Gillette Jump’ into the awaiting arms of super fan Syd Davy, who was dressed up like a Viking, was certainly highlight worthy and will be aired about 1,000 times on ESPN today alone. Some recognition has to go to the fan to the left of Davy: as Moss was pulled into the crowd and patted on the back a fan within reach was faced with a large dilemma as he was double fisting two cups of beer. You could see it playing out in is mind on TV as he looked down at his beers with a ‘what to do’ expression, he quickly overcame the obstacle as he shoved one cup in his mouth and held it with his teeth so he could join in patting Moss on the back.
On another note, the Patriot Gestapo has apparently identified who sold Davy the end-zone ticket and with any luck will be apprehending the subject swiftly so we can all sleep better at night:
“In a related story, Patriots personnel is reviewing the tape to identify the fan who sold his tickets to Davy. Suffice to say, he or she has already been identified and their ticket privileges may be severely altered in the future.” (http://chi.scout.com/a.z?s=25&p=2&c=803279)
To his credit Tony Kornheiser admitted that he was wrong at the time when he said the Patriots move to acquire Moss last year was a mistake, a rare instance of integrity from an ESPN ‘analyst’. Apparently Tony was hoping that Ron ‘Burgundy’ Jaworski would join his coming out party, when Tony asked Ron for an update on his stance that the Patriots should have acquired a veteran quarterback after Brady went down Ron went on to say how good a move it was sticking with Cassel and how over-hyped the move of bringing in veteran was. Ron apparently didn’t understand Tony and like a sheep spouted out whatever he believed went along with what Tony had said.
I am convinced had Tony said: ‘Now Ron, in hindsight don’t you think it was a mistake Belichick didn’t give the reigns back to Drew Bledsoe in 2001 after Tom Brady led them into the playoffs?’ – Ron would have gone into a 2 minute tirade about how the Patriots made a huge mistake in sticking with Brady back in ’01.
Posted by nick as sports at 10:36 AM UTC
Palin isn’t helping McCain to get elected
Latest pollo from ABC shows most te country is not impressed with Sarah Palin, nor do they want to talk about a 60′s radcal. For some reason it seems that certain politicians on both sides of the aisle are obsessed with reliving the sixties, personally I think the clothes were bad and the movies were stupid.
Sorry about the Red Sox.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 10:00 AM UTC
Last nights debate
McCain may be just smart enough to offend republicans, for example in last nights debate when he said “womens health can mean anything” or something to that effect. That is the logical conclusion of most anti-abortion rhetoric, but it is not something the anti-abortion crowd likes to talk about and most people who vote republican don’t want to think about the idea that they are depriving women of the right to make their own health care decisions if they outlaw abortion. McCain on the other hand seems to understand the implications he just doesn’t care.
Like with foreign policy, McCain understands that our current neo-con policies will require the US to have a troop presence in almost every country for hundreds of years, and he seems to think that is a good idea. Bush may have thought it was a good idea as well but, he acted like it wasn’t.
I guess in an odd way I am giving McCain a compliment, he is the first republican candidate to be honest about the implications of republican policies and in the end it will probably cost him the election. Apparentely they need to package the bad ideas in a cutesy form with no explanation as to what will happen if implemented. Look for Palin/Jindahl in 2012
Posted by John Rove as Words at 11:50 AM UTC
A Sidewalk to Nowhere
Who paid for Sarah Palin’s house?
If Palin talks to reporters ever again, hopefully someone will ask who built her house.
This Palin scandal may not go away in that it is easy to understand and involves money, unlike the somewhat questionable parentage of her youngest; which one can argue is a family matter. How she paid for her home is just straight corruption if it was built by contractors as a favor for big projects thrown their way.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 7:40 PM UTC
I love to hate the Cowboys
I am a bit of a Cardinal fan and it is great to see them expose the Cowboys for the farce they are.
Plus, how long before Cuttler becomes known as the latest Shanahan quarterback bust?
Posted by John Rove as Words at 7:41 PM UTC
Maybe some publicly traded companies are worthless
A while back I saw the CEO of GM on the Colbert show. It seemed pretty obvious the guy didn’t know much about cars. I wonder how many other CEO’s out there are just as clueless about whatever company they happen to be running.
Given the level of incompetence at the highest levels of management is it any wonder stock in these companies is losing value. It seems that some people forgot that the stock of a company is only as good as the company and some of these businesses are pretty clueless.
While no amount of government regulation can make companies hire competent management, government can pass regulations that at least require companies to disclose the real risk and value of the company and most certainly make sure social security is never invested in the largest most rigged casino on the planet.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 2:29 AM UTC
A really bad night for McCain
I don’t think McCain recovers from his debate performance this evening.
First, the only zinger of the evening came when McCain was trying to lecture Obama on the need to speak softly. Obama rightly pointed out McCain is the guy singing “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” and other war mongering threats. Obama did it in such a way that it should get replayed on news shows until Sarah Palin Says something stupid and knocks it out of the news cycle.
Next, McCain left right after the debate ended, Obama stayed around for quite some time mingling with the audience. McCain is supposed to be the guy who thrives in a townhall format, but he couldn’t wait to get away from the unwashed masses. McCain’s quick exit will get noticed and talked about.
Finally, McCain wants to add more money to the bailout plan to buy bad mortgages and renogotiate them. The idea might have some merit but I think most conservatives hated the bailout and throwing more money on top of the 700 billion already approved seems like a non-starter to me.
All and all McCain managed to be arrogant, pandering and rude all in one evening. The real McCain is not a pretty sight and the country saw him in all his glory tonight.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 1:39 AM UTC
Gilbert Gottfried
Right after 9/11, roasting Hugh Hefner…
Bonus Gilbert below the fold Read the rest of this entry
PBS is saved
Keating Economics
debate prediction
I wonder if tonight is the night McCain loses his temper. His campaign is tanking and trying to deal with all the gibberish that comes out of Palin would probably make a sane person lose their temper.
At a minimum I wonder if will look at Obama tonight. I am sure his advisors have told him he needs to make eye contact and be less troll like, but I doubt he can help himself.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 4:41 PM UTC
Stock Market open thread
I don’t know a whole lot about the stock market other than it seems to be tanking. My guess is that tomorow some bargain hunters will swoop in and push the DOW back up around 10,000 where it will stay until the election.
One thing that is worth mentioning is that more regulation and more enforcement of existing regulations may bring stock prices down. At least part of the stock boom came about because businesses have not been following existing laws when it comes to enviroment or worker safety. This may have made business more profitable but at the cost of enviromental degradation and injured workers. These costs were carried by society and maybe these costs are going to start going to the businesses that caused some of the problems that society has been paying for over the last 30 years.
Update:
I wonder if part of the problem is that America is starting to look a little third world in some areas, and the rest of the world is starting to treat the US like a third world country for investment purposes. Amazing what eight years of neglecting a countries infrastructure can do to the financial side of things.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 3:22 PM UTC
Palin the latest in packaged dog poop
Conservatism does not work, but the right wing keeps trying to re-package it and sell it to an unsispecting public. First, conservatism was packaged in the form of a loveable albeit senile old grandpa. The result were high deficits and the now unwinnable quagmire on drugs. Next it was packaged in the form of a likeable but not too bright cowboy. The result is a huge deficit, a quagmire in Iraq, and attempts to create a quagmire in Iran.
Now, conservatives are trying to package their failed policies in the form of a hockey mom, who seems a little dim, who knows what the results of a Palin presidency would be, but I bet it will be huge deficits and a quagmire somewhere.
Posted by John Rove as Words at 11:51 AM UTC
Palin did very well
At least she did very well attacking and changing the subject. Most of us know someone like Sarah Palin if they don’t know something or feel threatened they attack everyone around them. It is not surprising that Palin has surrounded herself with loyalists anyone else would run away from her.
Plus, did anyone else notice the way she handles the baby with downs syndrome, that is supposed to be hers, she looks like she can’t wait to hand that kid to her daughter. Maybe she is just happy to see the child with his mother.
I have a feeling the media will focus on some of the mistakes Palin made, but I think the average person watching the debate might focus more on her meaness
Posted by John Rove as Words at 2:34 AM UTC